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diff --git a/711-0.txt b/711-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..28b494a --- /dev/null +++ b/711-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10536 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Allan Quatermain, by H. Rider Haggard + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Allan Quatermain + +Author: H. Rider Haggard + +Release Date: November, 1996 [eBook #711] +[Most recently updated: December 29, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: Ng E-Ching, Singapore and David Widger + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALLAN QUATERMAIN *** + +[Illustration] + + + + +Allan Quatermain + +by H. Rider Haggard + + +Contents + + INTRODUCTION + + CHAPTER I. THE CONSUL’S YARN + CHAPTER II. THE BLACK HAND + CHAPTER III. THE MISSION STATION + CHAPTER IV. ALPHONSE AND HIS ANNETTE + CHAPTER V. UMSLOPOGAAS MAKES A PROMISE + CHAPTER VI. THE NIGHT WEARS ON + CHAPTER VII. A SLAUGHTER GRIM AND GREAT + CHAPTER VIII. ALPHONSE EXPLAINS + CHAPTER IX. INTO THE UNKNOWN + CHAPTER X. THE ROSE OF FIRE + CHAPTER XI. THE FROWNING CITY + CHAPTER XII. THE SISTER QUEENS + CHAPTER XIII. ABOUT THE ZU-VENDI PEOPLE + CHAPTER XIV. THE FLOWER TEMPLE + CHAPTER XV. SORAIS’ SONG + CHAPTER XVI. BEFORE THE STATUE + CHAPTER XVII. THE STORM BREAKS + CHAPTER XVIII. WAR! RED WAR! + CHAPTER XIX. A STRANGE WEDDING + CHAPTER XX. THE BATTLE OF THE PASS + CHAPTER XI. AWAY! AWAY! + CHAPTER XII. HOW UMSLOPOGAAS HELD THE STAIR + CHAPTER XIII. I HAVE SPOKEN + CHAPTER XIV. BY ANOTHER HAND + + NOTE BY GEORGE CURTIS, Esq. + AUTHORITIES + + + + +I inscribe this book of adventure to my son ARTHUR JOHN RIDER HAGGARD + +in the hope that in days to come he, and many other boys whom I shall +never know, may, in the acts and thoughts of Allan Quatermain and his +companions, as herein recorded, find something to help him and them to +reach to what, with Sir Henry Curtis, I hold to be the highest rank +whereto we can attain—the state and dignity of English gentlemen. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +December 23 + +“I have just buried my boy, my poor handsome boy of whom I was so +proud, and my heart is broken. It is very hard having only one son to +lose him thus, but God’s will be done. Who am I that I should complain? +The great wheel of Fate rolls on like a Juggernaut, and crushes us all +in turn, some soon, some late—it does not matter when, in the end, it +crushes us all. We do not prostrate ourselves before it like the poor +Indians; we fly hither and thither—we cry for mercy; but it is of no +use, the black Fate thunders on and in its season reduces us to powder. + +“Poor Harry to go so soon! just when his life was opening to him. He +was doing so well at the hospital, he had passed his last examination +with honours, and I was proud of them, much prouder than he was, I +think. And then he must needs go to that smallpox hospital. He wrote to +me that he was not afraid of smallpox and wanted to gain the +experience; and now the disease has killed him, and I, old and grey and +withered, am left to mourn over him, without a chick or child to +comfort me. I might have saved him, too—I have money enough for both of +us, and much more than enough—King Solomon’s Mines provided me with +that; but I said, ‘No, let the boy earn his living, let him labour that +he may enjoy rest.’ But the rest has come to him before the labour. Oh, +my boy, my boy! + +“I am like the man in the Bible who laid up much goods and builded +barns—goods for my boy and barns for him to store them in; and now his +soul has been required of him, and I am left desolate. I would that it +had been my soul and not my boy’s! + +“We buried him this afternoon under the shadow of the grey and ancient +tower of the church of this village where my house is. It was a dreary +December afternoon, and the sky was heavy with snow, but not much was +falling. The coffin was put down by the grave, and a few big flakes lit +upon it. They looked very white upon the black cloth! There was a +little hitch about getting the coffin down into the grave—the necessary +ropes had been forgotten: so we drew back from it, and waited in +silence watching the big flakes fall gently one by one like heavenly +benedictions, and melt in tears on Harry’s pall. But that was not all. +A robin redbreast came as bold as could be and lit upon the coffin and +began to sing. And then I am afraid that I broke down, and so did Sir +Henry Curtis, strong man though he is; and as for Captain Good, I saw +him turn away too; even in my own distress I could not help noticing +it.” + +The above, signed “Allan Quatermain”, is an extract from my diary +written two years and more ago. I copy it down here because it seems to +me that it is the fittest beginning to the history that I am about to +write, if it please God to spare me to finish it. If not, well it does +not matter. That extract was penned seven thousand miles or so from the +spot where I now lie painfully and slowly writing this, with a pretty +girl standing by my side fanning the flies from my august countenance. +Harry is there and I am here, and yet somehow I cannot help feeling +that I am not far off Harry. + +When I was in England I used to live in a very fine house—at least I +call it a fine house, speaking comparatively, and judging from the +standard of the houses I have been accustomed to all my life in +Africa—not five hundred yards from the old church where Harry is +asleep, and thither I went after the funeral and ate some food; for it +is no good starving even if one has just buried all one’s earthly +hopes. But I could not eat much, and soon I took to walking, or rather +limping—being permanently lame from the bite of a lion—up and down, up +and down the oak-panelled vestibule; for there is a vestibule in my +house in England. On all the four walls of this vestibule were placed +pairs of horns—about a hundred pairs altogether, all of which I had +shot myself. They are beautiful specimens, as I never keep any horns +which are not in every way perfect, unless it may be now and again on +account of the associations connected with them. In the centre of the +room, however, over the wide fireplace, there was a clear space left on +which I had fixed up all my rifles. Some of them I have had for forty +years, old muzzle-loaders that nobody would look at nowadays. One was +an elephant gun with strips of rimpi, or green hide, lashed round the +stock and locks, such as used to be owned by the Dutchmen—a “roer” they +call it. That gun, the Boer I bought it from many years ago told me, +had been used by his father at the battle of the Blood River, just +after Dingaan swept into Natal and slaughtered six hundred men, women, +and children, so that the Boers named the place where they died +“Weenen”, or the “Place of Weeping”; and so it is called to this day, +and always will be called. And many an elephant have I shot with that +old gun. She always took a handful of black powder and a three-ounce +ball, and kicked like the very deuce. + +Well, up and down I walked, staring at the guns and the horns which the +guns had brought low; and as I did so there rose up in me a great +craving:—I would go away from this place where I lived idly and at +ease, back again to the wild land where I had spent my life, where I +met my dear wife and poor Harry was born, and so many things, good, +bad, and indifferent, had happened to me. The thirst for the wilderness +was on me; I could tolerate this place no more; I would go and die as I +had lived, among the wild game and the savages. Yes, as I walked, I +began to long to see the moonlight gleaming silvery white over the wide +veldt and mysterious sea of bush, and watch the lines of game +travelling down the ridges to the water. The ruling passion is strong +in death, they say, and my heart was dead that night. But, +independently of my trouble, no man who has for forty years lived the +life I have, can with impunity go coop himself in this prim English +country, with its trim hedgerows and cultivated fields, its stiff +formal manners, and its well-dressed crowds. He begins to long—ah, how +he longs!—for the keen breath of the desert air; he dreams of the sight +of Zulu impis breaking on their foes like surf upon the rocks, and his +heart rises up in rebellion against the strict limits of the civilized +life. + +Ah! this civilization, what does it all come to? For forty years and +more I lived among savages, and studied them and their ways; and now +for several years I have lived here in England, and have in my own +stupid manner done my best to learn the ways of the children of light; +and what have I found? A great gulf fixed? No, only a very little one, +that a plain man’s thought may spring across. I say that as the savage +is, so is the white man, only the latter is more inventive, and +possesses the faculty of combination; save and except also that the +savage, as I have known him, is to a large extent free from the greed +of money, which eats like a cancer into the heart of the white man. It +is a depressing conclusion, but in all essentials the savage and the +child of civilization are identical. I dare say that the highly +civilized lady reading this will smile at an old fool of a hunter’s +simplicity when she thinks of her black bead-bedecked sister; and so +will the superfine cultured idler scientifically eating a dinner at his +club, the cost of which would keep a starving family for a week. And +yet, my dear young lady, what are those pretty things round your own +neck?—they have a strong family resemblance, especially when you wear +that _very_ low dress, to the savage woman’s beads. Your habit of +turning round and round to the sound of horns and tom-toms, your +fondness for pigments and powders, the way in which you love to +subjugate yourself to the rich warrior who has captured you in +marriage, and the quickness with which your taste in feathered +head-dresses varies—all these things suggest touches of kinship; and +you remember that in the fundamental principles of your nature you are +quite identical. As for you, sir, who also laugh, let some man come and +strike you in the face whilst you are enjoying that marvellous-looking +dish, and we shall soon see how much of the savage there is in _you_. + +There, I might go on for ever, but what is the good? Civilization is +only savagery silver-gilt. A vainglory is it, and like a northern +light, comes but to fade and leave the sky more dark. Out of the soil +of barbarism it has grown like a tree, and, as I believe, into the soil +like a tree it will once more, sooner or later, fall again, as the +Egyptian civilization fell, as the Hellenic civilization fell, and as +the Roman civilization and many others of which the world has now lost +count, fell also. Do not let me, however, be understood as decrying our +modern institutions, representing as they do the gathered experience of +humanity applied for the good of all. Of course they have great +advantages—hospitals for instance; but then, remember, we breed the +sickly people who fill them. In a savage land they do not exist. +Besides, the question will arise: How many of these blessings are due +to Christianity as distinct from civilization? And so the balance sways +and the story runs—here a gain, there a loss, and Nature’s great +average struck across the two, whereof the sum total forms one of the +factors in that mighty equation in which the result will equal the +unknown quantity of her purpose. + +I make no apology for this digression, especially as this is an +introduction which all young people and those who never like to think +(and it is a bad habit) will naturally skip. It seems to me very +desirable that we should sometimes try to understand the limitations of +our nature, so that we may not be carried away by the pride of +knowledge. Man’s cleverness is almost indefinite, and stretches like an +elastic band, but human nature is like an iron ring. You can go round +and round it, you can polish it highly, you can even flatten it a +little on one side, whereby you will make it bulge out the other, but +you will _never_, while the world endures and man is man, increase its +total circumference. It is the one fixed unchangeable thing—fixed as +the stars, more enduring than the mountains, as unalterable as the way +of the Eternal. Human nature is God’s kaleidoscope, and the little bits +of coloured glass which represent our passions, hopes, fears, joys, +aspirations towards good and evil and what not, are turned in His +mighty hand as surely and as certainly as it turns the stars, and +continually fall into new patterns and combinations. But the composing +elements remain the same, nor will there be one more bit of coloured +glass nor one less for ever and ever. + +This being so, supposing for the sake of argument we divide ourselves +into twenty parts, nineteen savage and one civilized, we must look to +the nineteen savage portions of our nature, if we would really +understand ourselves, and not to the twentieth, which, though so +insignificant in reality, is spread all over the other nineteen, making +them appear quite different from what they really are, as the blacking +does a boot, or the veneer a table. It is on the nineteen rough +serviceable savage portions that we fall back in emergencies, not on +the polished but unsubstantial twentieth. Civilization should wipe away +our tears, and yet we weep and cannot be comforted. Warfare is +abhorrent to her, and yet we strike out for hearth and home, for honour +and fair fame, and can glory in the blow. And so on, through +everything. + +So, when the heart is stricken, and the head is humbled in the dust, +civilization fails us utterly. Back, back, we creep, and lay us like +little children on the great breast of Nature, she that perchance may +soothe us and make us forget, or at least rid remembrance of its sting. +Who has not in his great grief felt a longing to look upon the outward +features of the universal Mother; to lie on the mountains and watch the +clouds drive across the sky and hear the rollers break in thunder on +the shore, to let his poor struggling life mingle for a while in her +life; to feel the slow beat of her eternal heart, and to forget his +woes, and let his identity be swallowed in the vast imperceptibly +moving energy of her of whom we are, from whom we came, and with whom +we shall again be mingled, who gave us birth, and will in a day to come +give us our burial also. + +And so in my trouble, as I walked up and down the oak-panelled +vestibule of my house there in Yorkshire, I longed once more to throw +myself into the arms of Nature. Not the Nature which you know, the +Nature that waves in well-kept woods and smiles out in corn-fields, but +Nature as she was in the age when creation was complete, undefiled as +yet by any human sinks of sweltering humanity. I would go again where +the wild game was, back to the land whereof none know the history, back +to the savages, whom I love, although some of them are almost as +merciless as Political Economy. There, perhaps, I should be able to +learn to think of poor Harry lying in the churchyard, without feeling +as though my heart would break in two. + +And now there is an end of this egotistical talk, and there shall be no +more of it. But if you whose eyes may perchance one day fall upon my +written thoughts have got so far as this, I ask you to persevere, since +what I have to tell you is not without its interest, and it has never +been told before, nor will again. + + + + +CHAPTER I. +THE CONSUL’S YARN + + +A week had passed since the funeral of my poor boy Harry, and one +evening I was in my room walking up and down and thinking, when there +was a ring at the outer door. Going down the steps I opened it myself, +and in came my old friends Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good, RN. +They entered the vestibule and sat themselves down before the wide +hearth, where, I remember, a particularly good fire of logs was +burning. + +“It is very kind of you to come round,” I said by way of making a +remark; “it must have been heavy walking in the snow.” + +They said nothing, but Sir Henry slowly filled his pipe and lit it with +a burning ember. As he leant forward to do so the fire got hold of a +gassy bit of pine and flared up brightly, throwing the whole scene into +strong relief, and I thought, What a splendid-looking man he is! Calm, +powerful face, clear-cut features, large grey eyes, yellow beard and +hair—altogether a magnificent specimen of the higher type of humanity. +Nor did his form belie his face. I have never seen wider shoulders or a +deeper chest. Indeed, Sir Henry’s girth is so great that, though he is +six feet two high, he does not strike one as a tall man. As I looked at +him I could not help thinking what a curious contrast my little +dried-up self presented to his grand face and form. Imagine to yourself +a small, withered, yellow-faced man of sixty-three, with thin hands, +large brown eyes, a head of grizzled hair cut short and standing up +like a half-worn scrubbing-brush—total weight in my clothes, nine stone +six—and you will get a very fair idea of Allan Quatermain, commonly +called Hunter Quatermain, or by the natives “Macumazahn”—Anglicè, he +who keeps a bright look-out at night, or, in vulgar English, a sharp +fellow who is not to be taken in. + +Then there was Good, who is not like either of us, being short, dark, +stout—_very_ stout—with twinkling black eyes, in one of which an +eyeglass is everlastingly fixed. I say stout, but it is a mild term; I +regret to state that of late years Good has been running to fat in a +most disgraceful way. Sir Henry tells him that it comes from idleness +and over-feeding, and Good does not like it at all, though he cannot +deny it. + +We sat for a while, and then I got a match and lit the lamp that stood +ready on the table, for the half-light began to grow dreary, as it is +apt to do when one has a short week ago buried the hope of one’s life. +Next, I opened a cupboard in the wainscoting and got a bottle of whisky +and some tumblers and water. I always like to do these things for +myself: it is irritating to me to have somebody continually at my +elbow, as though I were an eighteen-month-old baby. All this while +Curtis and Good had been silent, feeling, I suppose, that they had +nothing to say that could do me any good, and content to give me the +comfort of their presence and unspoken sympathy; for it was only their +second visit since the funeral. And it is, by the way, from the +_presence_ of others that we really derive support in our dark hours of +grief, and not from their talk, which often only serves to irritate us. +Before a bad storm the game always herd together, but they cease their +calling. + +They sat and smoked and drank whisky and water, and I stood by the fire +also smoking and looking at them. + +At last I spoke. “Old friends,” I said, “how long is it since we got +back from Kukuanaland?” + +“Three years,” said Good. “Why do you ask?” + +“I ask because I think that I have had a long enough spell of +civilization. I am going back to the veldt.” + +Sir Henry laid his head back in his arm-chair and laughed one of his +deep laughs. “How very odd,” he said, “eh, Good?” + +Good beamed at me mysteriously through his eyeglass and murmured, “Yes, +odd—very odd.” + +“I don’t quite understand,” said I, looking from one to the other, for +I dislike mysteries. + +“Don’t you, old fellow?” said Sir Henry; “then I will explain. As Good +and I were walking up here we had a talk.” + +“If Good was there you probably did,” I put in sarcastically, for Good +is a great hand at talking. “And what may it have been about?” + +“What do you think?” asked Sir Henry. + +I shook my head. It was not likely that I should know what Good might +be talking about. He talks about so many things. + +“Well, it was about a little plan that I have formed—namely, that if +you were willing we should pack up our traps and go off to Africa on +another expedition.” + +I fairly jumped at his words. “You don’t say so!” I said. + +“Yes I do, though, and so does Good; don’t you, Good?” + +“Rather,” said that gentleman. + +“Listen, old fellow,” went on Sir Henry, with considerable animation of +manner. “I’m tired of it too, dead-tired of doing nothing more except +play the squire in a country that is sick of squires. For a year or +more I have been getting as restless as an old elephant who scents +danger. I am always dreaming of Kukuanaland and Gagool and King +Solomon’s Mines. I can assure you I have become the victim of an almost +unaccountable craving. I am sick of shooting pheasants and partridges, +and want to have a go at some large game again. There, you know the +feeling—when one has once tasted brandy and water, milk becomes insipid +to the palate. That year we spent together up in Kukuanaland seems to +me worth all the other years of my life put together. I dare say that I +am a fool for my pains, but I can’t help it; I long to go, and, what is +more, I mean to go.” He paused, and then went on again. “And, after +all, why should I not go? I have no wife or parent, no chick or child +to keep me. If anything happens to me the baronetcy will go to my +brother George and his boy, as it would ultimately do in any case. I am +of no importance to any one.” + +“Ah!” I said, “I thought you would come to that sooner or later. And +now, Good, what is your reason for wanting to trek; have you got one?” + +“I have,” said Good, solemnly. “I never do anything without a reason; +and it isn’t a lady—at least, if it is, it’s several.” + +I looked at him again. Good is so overpoweringly frivolous. “What is +it?” I said. + +“Well, if you really want to know, though I’d rather not speak of a +delicate and strictly personal matter, I’ll tell you: I’m getting too +fat.” + +“Shut up, Good!” said Sir Henry. “And now, Quatermain, tell us, where +do you propose going to?” + +I lit my pipe, which had gone out, before answering. + +“Have you people ever heard of Mt Kenia?” I asked. + +“Don’t know the place,” said Good. + +“Did you ever hear of the Island of Lamu?” I asked again. + +“No. Stop, though—isn’t it a place about 300 miles north of Zanzibar?” + +“Yes. Now listen. What I have to propose is this. That we go to Lamu +and thence make our way about 250 miles inland to Mt Kenia; from Mt +Kenia on inland to Mt Lekakisera, another 200 miles, or thereabouts, +beyond which no white man has to the best of my belief ever been; and +then, if we get so far, right on into the unknown interior. What do you +say to that, my hearties?” + +“It’s a big order,” said Sir Henry, reflectively. + +“You are right,” I answered, “it is; but I take it that we are all +three of us in search of a big order. We want a change of scene, and we +are likely to get one—a thorough change. All my life I have longed to +visit those parts, and I mean to do it before I die. My poor boy’s +death has broken the last link between me and civilization, and I’m off +to my native wilds. And now I’ll tell you another thing, and that is, +that for years and years I have heard rumours of a great white race +which is supposed to have its home somewhere up in this direction, and +I have a mind to see if there is any truth in them. If you fellows like +to come, well and good; if not, I’ll go alone.” + +“I’m your man, though I don’t believe in your white race,” said Sir +Henry Curtis, rising and placing his arm upon my shoulder. + +“Ditto,” remarked Good. “I’ll go into training at once. By all means +let’s go to Mt Kenia and the other place with an unpronounceable name, +and look for a white race that does not exist. It’s all one to me.” + +“When do you propose to start?” asked Sir Henry. + +“This day month,” I answered, “by the British India steamboat; and +don’t you be so certain that things have no existence because you do +not happen to have heard of them. Remember King Solomon’s mines!” + +Some fourteen weeks or so had passed since the date of this +conversation, and this history goes on its way in very different +surroundings. + +After much deliberation and inquiry we came to the conclusion that our +best starting-point for Mt Kenia would be from the neighbourhood of the +mouth of the Tana River, and not from Mombassa, a place over 100 miles +nearer Zanzibar. This conclusion we arrived at from information given +to us by a German trader whom we met upon the steamer at Aden. I think +that he was the dirtiest German I ever knew; but he was a good fellow, +and gave us a great deal of valuable information. “Lamu,” said he, “you +goes to Lamu—oh ze beautiful place!” and he turned up his fat face and +beamed with mild rapture. “One year and a half I live there and never +change my shirt—never at all.” + +And so it came to pass that on arriving at the island we disembarked +with all our goods and chattels, and, not knowing where to go, marched +boldly up to the house of Her Majesty’s Consul, where we were most +hospitably received. + +Lamu is a very curious place, but the things which stand out most +clearly in my memory in connection with it are its exceeding dirtiness +and its smells. These last are simply awful. Just below the Consulate +is the beach, or rather a mud bank that is called a beach. It is left +quite bare at low tide, and serves as a repository for all the filth, +offal, and refuse of the town. Here it is, too, that the women come to +bury coconuts in the mud, leaving them there till the outer husk is +quite rotten, when they dig them up again and use the fibres to make +mats with, and for various other purposes. As this process has been +going on for generations, the condition of the shore can be better +imagined than described. I have smelt many evil odours in the course of +my life, but the concentrated essence of stench which arose from that +beach at Lamu as we sat in the moonlit night—not under, but _on_ our +friend the Consul’s hospitable roof—and sniffed it, makes the +remembrance of them very poor and faint. No wonder people get fever at +Lamu. And yet the place was not without a certain quaintness and charm +of its own, though possibly—indeed probably—it was one which would +quickly pall. + +“Well, where are you gentlemen steering for?” asked our friend the +hospitable Consul, as we smoked our pipes after dinner. + +“We propose to go to Mt Kenia and then on to Mt Lekakisera,” answered +Sir Henry. “Quatermain has got hold of some yarn about there being a +white race up in the unknown territories beyond.” + +The Consul looked interested, and answered that he had heard something +of that, too. + +“What have you heard?” I asked. + +“Oh, not much. All I know about it is that a year or so ago I got a +letter from Mackenzie, the Scotch missionary, whose station, ‘The +Highlands’, is placed at the highest navigable point of the Tana River, +in which he said something about it.” + +“Have you the letter?” I asked. + +“No, I destroyed it; but I remember that he said that a man had arrived +at his station who declared that two months’ journey beyond Mt +Lekakisera, which no white man has yet visited—at least, so far as I +know—he found a lake called Laga, and that then he went off to the +north-east, a month’s journey, over desert and thorn veldt and great +mountains, till he came to a country where the people are white and +live in stone houses. Here he was hospitably entertained for a while, +till at last the priests of the country set it about that he was a +devil, and the people drove him away, and he journeyed for eight months +and reached Mackenzie’s place, as I heard, dying. That’s all I know; +and if you ask me, I believe that it is a lie; but if you want to find +out more about it, you had better go up the Tana to Mackenzie’s place +and ask him for information.” + +Sir Henry and I looked at each other. Here was something tangible. + +“I think that we will go to Mr Mackenzie’s,” I said. + +“Well,” answered the Consul, “that is your best way, but I warn you +that you are likely to have a rough journey, for I hear that the Masai +are about, and, as you know, they are not pleasant customers. Your best +plan will be to choose a few picked men for personal servants and +hunters, and to hire bearers from village to village. It will give you +an infinity of trouble, but perhaps on the whole it will prove a +cheaper and more advantageous course than engaging a caravan, and you +will be less liable to desertion.” + +Fortunately there were at Lamu at this time a party of Wakwafi Askari +(soldiers). The Wakwafi, who are a cross between the Masai and the +Wataveta, are a fine manly race, possessing many of the good qualities +of the Zulu, and a great capacity for civilization. They are also great +hunters. As it happened, these particular men had recently been on a +long trip with an Englishman named Jutson, who had started from +Mombasa, a port about 150 miles below Lamu, and journeyed right round +Kilimanjaro, one of the highest known mountains in Africa. Poor fellow, +he had died of fever when on his return journey, and within a day’s +march of Mombasa. It does seem hard that he should have gone off thus +when within a few hours of safety, and after having survived so many +perils, but so it was. His hunters buried him, and then came on to Lamu +in a dhow. Our friend the Consul suggested to us that we had better try +and hire these men, and accordingly on the following morning we started +to interview the party, accompanied by an interpreter. + +In due course we found them in a mud hut on the outskirts of the town. +Three of the men were sitting outside the hut, and fine frank-looking +fellows they were, having a more or less civilized appearance. To them +we cautiously opened the object of our visit, at first with very scant +success. They declared that they could not entertain any such idea, +that they were worn and weary with long travelling, and that their +hearts were sore at the loss of their master. They meant to go back to +their homes and rest awhile. This did not sound very promising, so by +way of effecting a diversion I asked where the remainder of them were. +I was told there were six, and I saw but three. One of the men said +they slept in the hut, and were yet resting after their labours—“sleep +weighed down their eyelids, and sorrow made their hearts as lead: it +was best to sleep, for with sleep came forgetfulness. But the men +should be awakened.” + +Presently they came out of the hut, yawning—the first two men being +evidently of the same race and style as those already before us; but +the appearance of the third and last nearly made me jump out of my +skin. He was a very tall, broad man, quite six foot three, I should +say, but gaunt, with lean, wiry-looking limbs. My first glance at him +told me that he was no Wakwafi: he was a pure bred Zulu. He came out +with his thin aristocratic-looking hand placed before his face to hide +a yawn, so I could only see that he was a “Keshla” or ringed man,[1] +and that he had a great three-cornered hole in his forehead. In another +second he removed his hand, revealing a powerful-looking Zulu face, +with a humorous mouth, a short woolly beard, tinged with grey, and a +pair of brown eyes keen as a hawk’s. I knew my man at once, although I +had not seen him for twelve years. “How do you do, Umslopogaas?” I said +quietly in Zulu. + + [1] Among the Zulus a man assumes the ring, which is made of a species + of black gum twisted in with the hair, and polished a brilliant black, + when he has reached a certain dignity and age, or is the husband of a + sufficient number of wives. Till he is in a position to wear a ring he + is looked on as a boy, though he may be thirty-five years of age, or + even more.—A. Q. + +The tall man (who among his own people was commonly known as the +“Woodpecker”, and also as the “Slaughterer”) started, and almost let +the long-handled battleaxe he held in his hand fall in his +astonishment. Next second he had recognized me, and was saluting me in +an outburst of sonorous language which made his companions the Wakwafi +stare. + +“Koos” (chief), he began, “Koos-y-Pagete! Koos-y-umcool! (Chief from of +old—mighty chief) Koos! Baba! (father) Macumazahn, old hunter, slayer +of elephants, eater up of lions, clever one! watchful one! brave one! +quick one! whose shot never misses, who strikes straight home, who +grasps a hand and holds it to the death (i.e. is a true friend) Koos! +Baba! Wise is the voice of our people that says, ‘Mountain never meets +with mountain, but at daybreak or at even man shall meet again with +man.’ Behold! a messenger came up from Natal, ‘Macumazahn is dead!’ +cried he. ‘The land knows Macumazahn no more.’ That is years ago. And +now, behold, now in this strange place of stinks I find Macumazahn, my +friend. There is no room for doubt. The brush of the old jackal has +gone a little grey; but is not his eye as keen, and are not his teeth +as sharp? Ha! ha! Macumazahn, mindest thou how thou didst plant the +ball in the eye of the charging buffalo—mindest thou—” + +I had let him run on thus because I saw that his enthusiasm was +producing a marked effect upon the minds of the five Wakwafi, who +appeared to understand something of his talk; but now I thought it time +to put a stop to it, for there is nothing that I hate so much as this +Zulu system of extravagant praising—“bongering” as they call it. +“Silence!” I said. “Has all thy noisy talk been stopped up since last I +saw thee that it breaks out thus, and sweeps us away? What doest thou +here with these men—thou whom I left a chief in Zululand? How is it +that thou art far from thine own place, and gathered together with +strangers?” + +Umslopogaas leant himself upon the head of his long battleaxe (which +was nothing else but a pole-axe, with a beautiful handle of rhinoceros +horn), and his grim face grew sad. + +“My Father,” he answered, “I have a word to tell thee, but I cannot +speak it before these low people (umfagozana),” and he glanced at the +Wakwafi Askari; “it is for thine own ear. My Father, this will I say,” +and here his face grew stern again, “a woman betrayed me to the death, +and covered my name with shame—ay, my own wife, a round-faced girl, +betrayed me; but I escaped from death; ay, I broke from the very hands +of those who came to slay me. I struck but three blows with this mine +axe Inkosikaas—surely my Father will remember it—one to the right, one +to the left, and one in front, and yet I left three men dead. And then +I fled, and, as my Father knows, even now that I am old my feet are as +the feet of the Sassaby,[2] and there breathes not the man who, by +running, can touch me again when once I have bounded from his side. On +I sped, and after me came the messengers of death, and their voice was +as the voice of dogs that hunt. From my own kraal I flew, and, as I +passed, she who had betrayed me was drawing water from the spring. I +fleeted by her like the shadow of Death, and as I went I smote with +mine axe, and lo! her head fell: it fell into the water pan. Then I +fled north. Day after day I journeyed on; for three moons I journeyed, +resting not, stopping not, but running on towards forgetfulness, till I +met the party of the white hunter who is now dead, and am come hither +with his servants. And nought have I brought with me. I who was +high-born, ay, of the blood of Chaka, the great king—a chief, and a +captain of the regiment of the Nkomabakosi—am a wanderer in strange +places, a man without a kraal. Nought have I brought save this mine +axe; of all my belongings this remains alone. They have divided my +cattle; they have taken my wives; and my children know my face no more. +Yet with this axe”—and he swung the formidable weapon round his head, +making the air hiss as he clove it—“will I cut another path to fortune. +I have spoken.” + + [2] One of the fleetest of the African antelopes.—A. Q. + +I shook my head at him. “Umslopogaas,” I said, “I know thee from of +old. Ever ambitious, ever plotting to be great, I fear me that thou +hast overreached thyself at last. Years ago, when thou wouldst have +plotted against Cetywayo, son of Panda, I warned thee, and thou didst +listen. But now, when I was not by thee to stay thy hand, thou hast dug +a pit for thine own feet to fall in. Is it not so? But what is done is +done. Who can make the dead tree green, or gaze again upon last year’s +light? Who can recall the spoken word, or bring back the spirit of the +fallen? That which Time swallows comes not up again. Let it be +forgotten! + +“And now, behold, Umslopogaas, I know thee for a great warrior and a +brave man, faithful to the death. Even in Zululand, where all the men +are brave, they called thee the ‘Slaughterer’, and at night told +stories round the fire of thy strength and deeds. Hear me now. Thou +seest this great man, my friend”—and I pointed to Sir Henry; “he also +is a warrior as great as thou, and, strong as thou art, he could throw +thee over his shoulder. Incubu is his name. And thou seest this one +also; him with the round stomach, the shining eye, and the pleasant +face. Bougwan (glass eye) is his name, and a good man is he and a true, +being of a curious tribe who pass their life upon the water, and live +in floating kraals. + +“Now, we three whom thou seest would travel inland, past Dongo Egere, +the great white mountain (Mt Kenia), and far into the unknown beyond. +We know not what we shall find there; we go to hunt and seek +adventures, and new places, being tired of sitting still, with the same +old things around us. Wilt thou come with us? To thee shall be given +command of all our servants; but what shall befall thee, that I know +not. Once before we three journeyed thus, in search of adventure, and +we took with us a man such as thou—one Umbopa; and, behold, we left him +the king of a great country, with twenty Impis (regiments), each of +3,000 plumed warriors, waiting on his word. How it shall go with thee, +I know not; mayhap death awaits thee and us. Wilt thou throw thyself to +Fortune and come, or fearest thou, Umslopogaas?” + +The great man smiled. “Thou art not altogether right, Macumazahn,” he +said; “I have plotted in my time, but it was not ambition that led me +to my fall; but, shame on me that I should have to say it, a fair +woman’s face. Let it pass. So we are going to see something like the +old times again, Macumazahn, when we fought and hunted in Zululand? Ay, +I will come. Come life, come death, what care I, so that the blows fall +fast and the blood runs red? I grow old, I grow old, and I have not +fought enough! And yet am I a warrior among warriors; see my scars”—and +he pointed to countless cicatrices, stabs and cuts, that marked the +skin of his chest and legs and arms. “See the hole in my head; the +brains gushed out therefrom, yet did I slay him who smote, and live. +Knowest thou how many men I have slain, in fair hand-to-hand combat, +Macumazahn? See, here is the tale of them”—and he pointed to long rows +of notches cut in the rhinoceros-horn handle of his axe. “Number them, +Macumazahn—one hundred and three—and I have never counted but those +whom I have ripped open,[3] nor have I reckoned those whom another man +had struck.” + + [3] Alluding to the Zulu custom of opening the stomach of a dead foe. + They have a superstition that, if this is not done, as the body of + their enemy swells up so will the bodies of those who killed him swell + up.—A. Q. + +“Be silent,” I said, for I saw that he was getting the blood-fever on +him; “be silent; well art thou called the ‘Slaughterer’. We would not +hear of thy deeds of blood. Remember, if thou comest with us, we fight +not save in self-defence. Listen, we need servants. These men,” and I +pointed to the Wakwafi, who had retired a little way during our +“indaba” (talk), “say they will not come.” + +“Will not come!” shouted Umslopogaas; “where is the dog who says he +will not come when my Father orders? Here, thou”—and with a single +bound he sprang upon the Wakwafi with whom I had first spoken, and, +seizing him by the arm, dragged him towards us. “Thou dog!” he said, +giving the terrified man a shake, “didst thou say that thou wouldst not +go with my Father? Say it once more and I will choke thee”—and his long +fingers closed round his throat as he said it—“thee, and those with +thee. Hast thou forgotten how I served thy brother?” + +“Nay, we will come with the white man,” gasped the man. + +“White man!” went on Umslopogaas, in simulated fury, which a very +little provocation would have made real enough; “of whom speakest thou, +insolent dog?” + +“Nay, we will go with the great chief.” + +“So!” said Umslopogaas, in a quiet voice, as he suddenly released his +hold, so that the man fell backward. “I thought you would.” + +“That man Umslopogaas seems to have a curious moral ascendency over his +companions,” Good afterwards remarked thoughtfully. + + + + +CHAPTER II. +THE BLACK HAND + + +In due course we left Lamu, and ten days afterwards we found ourselves +at a spot called Charra, on the Tana River, having gone through many +adventures which need not be recorded here. Amongst other things we +visited a ruined city, of which there are many on this coast, and which +must once, to judge from their extent and the numerous remains of +mosques and stone houses, have been very populous places. These ruined +cities are immeasurably ancient, having, I believe, been places of +wealth and importance as far back as the Old Testament times, when they +were centres of trade with India and elsewhere. But their glory has +departed now—the slave trade has finished them—and where wealthy +merchants from all parts of the then civilized world stood and +bargained in the crowded market-places, the lion holds his court at +night, and instead of the chattering of slaves and the eager voices of +the bidders, his awful note goes echoing down the ruined corridors. At +this particular place we discovered on a mound, covered up with rank +growth and rubbish, two of the most beautiful stone doorways that it is +possible to conceive. The carving on them was simply exquisite, and I +only regret that we had no means of getting them away. No doubt they +had once been the entrances to a palace, of which, however, no traces +were now to be seen, though probably its ruins lay under the rising +mound. + +Gone! quite gone! the way that everything must go. Like the nobles and +the ladies who lived within their gates, these cities have had their +day, and now they are as Babylon and Nineveh, and as London and Paris +will one day be. Nothing may endure. That is the inexorable law. Men +and women, empires and cities, thrones, principalities, and powers, +mountains, rivers, and unfathomed seas, worlds, spaces, and universes, +all have their day, and all must go. In this ruined and forgotten place +the moralist may behold a symbol of the universal destiny. For this +system of ours allows no room for standing still—nothing can loiter on +the road and check the progress of things upwards towards Life, or the +rush of things downwards towards Death. The stern policeman Fate moves +us and them on, on, uphill and downhill and across the level; there is +no resting-place for the weary feet, till at last the abyss swallows +us, and from the shores of the Transitory we are hurled into the sea of +the Eternal. + +At Charra we had a violent quarrel with the headman of the bearers we +had hired to go as far as this, and who now wished to extort large +extra payment from us. In the result he threatened to set the +Masai—about whom more anon—on to us. That night he, with all our hired +bearers, ran away, stealing most of the goods which had been entrusted +to them to carry. Luckily, however, they had not happened to steal our +rifles, ammunition, and personal effects; not because of any delicacy +of feeling on their part, but owing to the fact that they chanced to be +in the charge of the five Wakwafis. After that, it was clear to us that +we had had enough of caravans and of bearers. Indeed, we had not much +left for a caravan to carry. And yet, how were we to get on? + +It was Good who solved the question. “Here is water,” he said, pointing +to the Tana River; “and yesterday I saw a party of natives hunting +hippopotami in canoes. I understand that Mr Mackenzie’s mission station +is on the Tana River. Why not get into canoes and paddle up to it?” + +This brilliant suggestion was, needless to say, received with +acclamation; and I instantly set to work to buy suitable canoes from +the surrounding natives. I succeeded after a delay of three days in +obtaining two large ones, each hollowed out of a single log of some +light wood, and capable of holding six people and baggage. For these +two canoes we had to pay nearly all our remaining cloth, and also many +other articles. + +On the day following our purchase of the two canoes we effected a +start. In the first canoe were Good, Sir Henry, and three of our +Wakwafi followers; in the second myself, Umslopogaas, and the other two +Wakwafis. As our course lay upstream, we had to keep four paddles at +work in each canoe, which meant that the whole lot of us, except Good, +had to row away like galley-slaves; and very exhausting work it was. I +say, except Good, for, of course, the moment that Good got into a boat +his foot was on his native heath, and he took command of the party. And +certainly he worked us. On shore Good is a gentle, mild-mannered man, +and given to jocosity; but, as we found to our cost, Good in a boat was +a perfect demon. To begin with, he knew all about it, and we didn’t. On +all nautical subjects, from the torpedo fittings of a man-of-war down +to the best way of handling the paddle of an African canoe, he was a +perfect mine of information, which, to say the least of it, we were +not. Also his ideas of discipline were of the sternest, and, in short, +he came the royal naval officer over us pretty considerably, and paid +us out amply for all the chaff we were wont to treat him to on land; +but, on the other hand, I am bound to say that he managed the boats +admirably. + +After the first day Good succeeded, with the help of some cloth and a +couple of poles, in rigging up a sail in each canoe, which lightened +our labours not a little. But the current ran very strong against us, +and at the best we were not able to make more than twenty miles a day. +Our plan was to start at dawn, and paddle along till about half-past +ten, by which time the sun got too hot to allow of further exertion. +Then we moored our canoes to the bank, and ate our frugal meal; after +which we ate or otherwise amused ourselves till about three o’clock, +when we again started, and rowed till within an hour of sundown, when +we called a halt for the night. On landing in the evening, Good would +at once set to work, with the help of the Askari, to build a little +“scherm”, or small enclosure, fenced with thorn bushes, and to light a +fire. I, with Sir Henry and Umslopogaas, would go out to shoot +something for the pot. Generally this was an easy task, for all sorts +of game abounded on the banks of the Tana. One night Sir Henry shot a +young cow-giraffe, of which the marrow-bones were excellent; on another +I got a couple of waterbuck right and left; and once, to his own +intense satisfaction, Umslopogaas (who, like most Zulus, was a vile +shot with a rifle) managed to kill a fine fat eland with a Martini I +had lent him. Sometimes we varied our food by shooting some +guinea-fowl, or bush-bustard (paau)—both of which were numerous—with a +shot-gun, or by catching a supply of beautiful yellow fish, with which +the waters of the Tana swarmed, and which form, I believe, one of the +chief food-supplies of the crocodiles. + +Three days after our start an ominous incident occurred. We were just +drawing in to the bank to make our camp as usual for the night, when we +caught sight of a figure standing on a little knoll not forty yards +away, and intensely watching our approach. One glance was +sufficient—although I was personally unacquainted with the tribe—to +tell me that he was a Masai Elmoran, or young warrior. Indeed, had I +had any doubts, they would have quickly been dispelled by the terrified +ejaculation of “_Masai!_” that burst simultaneously from the lips of +our Wakwafi followers, who are, as I think I have said, themselves +bastard Masai. + +And what a figure he presented as he stood there in his savage +war-gear! Accustomed as I have been to savages all my life, I do not +think that I have ever before seen anything quite so ferocious or +awe-inspiring. To begin with, the man was enormously tall, quite as +tall as Umslopogaas, I should say, and beautifully, though somewhat +slightly, shaped; but with the face of a devil. In his right hand he +held a spear about five and a half feet long, the blade being two and a +half feet in length, by nearly three inches in width, and having an +iron spike at the end of the handle that measured more than a foot. On +his left arm was a large and well-made elliptical shield of buffalo +hide, on which were painted strange heraldic-looking devices. On his +shoulders was a huge cape of hawk’s feathers, and round his neck was a +“naibere”, or strip of cotton, about seventeen feet long, by one and a +half broad, with a stripe of colour running down the middle of it. The +tanned goatskin robe, which formed his ordinary attire in times of +peace, was tied lightly round his waist, so as to serve the purposes of +a belt, and through it were stuck, on the right and left sides +respectively, his short pear-shaped sime, or sword, which is made of a +single piece of steel, and carried in a wooden sheath, and an enormous +knobkerrie. But perhaps the most remarkable feature of his attire +consisted of a headdress of ostrich-feathers, which was fixed on the +chin, and passed in front of the ears to the forehead, and, being +shaped like an ellipse, completely framed the face, so that the +diabolical countenance appeared to project from a sort of feather +fire-screen. Round the ankles he wore black fringes of hair, and, +projecting from the upper portion of the calves, to which they were +attached, were long spurs like spikes, from which flowed down tufts of +the beautiful black and waving hair of the Colobus monkey. Such was the +elaborate array of the Masai Elmoran who stood watching the approach of +our two canoes, but it is one which, to be appreciated, must be seen; +only those who see it do not often live to describe it. Of course I +could not make out all these details of his full dress on the occasion +of this my first introduction, being, indeed, amply taken up with the +consideration of the general effect, but I had plenty of subsequent +opportunities of becoming acquainted with the items that went to make +it up. + +Whilst we were hesitating what to do, the Masai warrior drew himself up +in a dignified fashion, shook his huge spear at us, and, turning, +vanished on the further side of the slope. + +“Hulloa!” holloaed Sir Henry from the other boat; “our friend the +caravan leader has been as good as his word, and set the Masai after +us. Do you think it will be safe to go ashore?” + +I did not think it would be at all safe; but, on the other hand, we had +no means of cooking in the canoes, and nothing that we could eat raw, +so it was difficult to know what to do. At last Umslopogaas simplified +matters by volunteering to go and reconnoitre, which he did, creeping +off into the bush like a snake, while we hung off in the stream waiting +for him. In half an hour he returned, and told us that there was not a +Masai to be seen anywhere about, but that he had discovered a spot +where they had recently been encamped, and that from various +indications he judged that they must have moved on an hour or so +before; the man we saw having, no doubt, been left to report upon our +movements. + +Thereupon we landed; and, having posted a sentry, proceeded to cook and +eat our evening meal. This done, we took the situation into our serious +consideration. Of course, it was possible that the apparition of the +Masai warrior had nothing to do with us, that he was merely one of a +band bent upon some marauding and murdering expedition against another +tribe. But when we recalled the threat of the caravan leader, and +reflected on the ominous way in which the warrior had shaken his spear +at us, this did not appear very probable. On the contrary, what did +seem probable was that the party was after us and awaiting a favourable +opportunity to attack us. This being so, there were two things that we +could do—one of which was to go on, and the other to go back. The +latter idea was, however, rejected at once, it being obvious that we +should encounter as many dangers in retreat as in advance; and, +besides, we had made up our minds to journey onwards at any price. +Under these circumstances, however, we did not consider it safe to +sleep ashore, so we got into our canoes, and, paddling out into the +middle of the stream, which was not very wide here, managed to anchor +them by means of big stones fastened to ropes made of coconut-fibre, of +which there were several fathoms in each canoe. + +Here the mosquitoes nearly ate us up alive, and this, combined with +anxiety as to our position, effectually prevented me from sleeping as +the others were doing, notwithstanding the attacks of the aforesaid +Tana mosquitoes. And so I lay awake, smoking and reflecting on many +things, but, being of a practical turn of mind, chiefly on how we were +to give those Masai villains the slip. It was a beautiful moonlight +night, and, notwithstanding the mosquitoes, and the great risk we were +running from fever from sleeping in such a spot, and forgetting that I +had the cramp very badly in my right leg from squatting in a +constrained position in the canoe, and that the Wakwafi who was +sleeping beside me smelt horribly, I really began to enjoy myself. The +moonbeams played upon the surface of the running water that speeded +unceasingly past us towards the sea, like men’s lives towards the +grave, till it glittered like a wide sheet of silver, that is in the +open where the trees threw no shadows. Near the banks, however, it was +very dark, and the night wind sighed sadly in the reeds. To our left, +on the further side of the river, was a little sandy bay which was +clear of trees, and here I could make out the forms of numerous +antelopes advancing to the water, till suddenly there came an ominous +roar, whereupon they all made off hurriedly. Then after a pause I +caught sight of the massive form of His Majesty the Lion, coming down +to drink his fill after meat. Presently he moved on, then came a +crashing of the reeds about fifty yards above us, and a few minutes +later a huge black mass rose out of the water, about twenty yards from +me, and snorted. It was the head of a hippopotamus. Down it went +without a sound, only to rise again within five yards of where I sat. +This was decidedly too near to be comfortable, more especially as the +hippopotamus was evidently animated by intense curiosity to know what +on earth our canoes were. He opened his great mouth, to yawn, I +suppose, and gave me an excellent view of his ivories; and I could not +help reflecting how easily he could crunch up our frail canoe with a +single bite. Indeed, I had half a mind to give him a ball from my +eight-bore, but on reflection determined to let him alone unless he +actually charged the boat. Presently he sank again as noiselessly as +before, and I saw no more of him. Just then, on looking towards the +bank on our right, I fancied that I caught sight of a dark figure +flitting between the tree trunks. I have very keen sight, and I was +almost sure that I saw something, but whether it was bird, beast, or +man I could not say. At the moment, however, a dark cloud passed over +the moon, and I saw no more of it. Just then, too, although all the +other sounds of the forest had ceased, a species of horned owl with +which I was well acquainted began to hoot with great persistency. After +that, save for the rustling of trees and reeds when the wind caught +them, there was complete silence. + +But somehow, in the most unaccountable way, I had suddenly become +nervous. There was no particular reason why I should be, beyond the +ordinary reasons which surround the Central African traveller, and yet +I undoubtedly was. If there is one thing more than another of which I +have the most complete and entire scorn and disbelief, it is of +presentiments, and yet here I was all of a sudden filled with and +possessed by a most undoubted presentiment of approaching evil. I would +not give way to it, however, although I felt the cold perspiration +stand out upon my forehead. I would not arouse the others. Worse and +worse I grew, my pulse fluttered like a dying man’s, my nerves thrilled +with the horrible sense of impotent terror which anybody who is subject +to nightmare will be familiar with, but still my will triumphed over my +fears, and I lay quiet (for I was half sitting, half lying, in the bow +of the canoe), only turning my face so as to command a view of +Umslopogaas and the two Wakwafi who were sleeping alongside of and +beyond me. + +In the distance I heard a hippopotamus splash faintly, then the owl +hooted again in a kind of unnatural screaming note,[4] and the wind +began to moan plaintively through the trees, making a heart-chilling +music. Above was the black bosom of the cloud, and beneath me swept the +black flood of the water, and I felt as though I and Death were utterly +alone between them. It was very desolate. + + [4] No doubt this owl was a wingless bird. I afterwards learnt that + the hooting of an owl is a favourite signal among the Masai tribes.—A. + Q. + +Suddenly my blood seemed to freeze in my veins, and my heart to stand +still. Was it fancy, or were we moving? I turned my eyes to look for +the other canoe which should be alongside of us. I could not see it, +but instead I saw a lean and clutching black hand lifting itself above +the gunwale of the little boat. Surely it was a nightmare! At the same +instant a dim but devilish-looking face appeared to rise out of the +water, and then came a lurch of the canoe, the quick flash of a knife, +and an awful yell from the Wakwafi who was sleeping by my side (the +same poor fellow whose odour had been annoying me), and something warm +spurted into my face. In an instant the spell was broken; I knew that +it was no nightmare, but that we were attacked by swimming Masai. +Snatching at the first weapon that came to hand, which happened to be +Umslopogaas’ battleaxe, I struck with all my force in the direction in +which I had seen the flash of the knife. The blow fell upon a man’s +arm, and, catching it against the thick wooden gunwale of the canoe, +completely severed it from the body just above the wrist. As for its +owner, he uttered no sound or cry. Like a ghost he came, and like a +ghost he went, leaving behind him a bloody hand still gripping a great +knife, or rather a short sword, that was buried in the heart of our +poor servant. + +Instantly there arose a hubbub and confusion, and I fancied, rightly or +wrongly, that I made out several dark heads gliding away towards the +right-hand bank, whither we were rapidly drifting, for the rope by +which we were moored had been severed with a knife. As soon as I had +realised this fact, I also realised that the scheme had been to cut the +boat loose so that it should drift on to the right bank (as it would +have done with the natural swing of the current), where no doubt a +party of Masai were waiting to dig their shovel-headed spears into us. +Seizing one paddle myself, I told Umslopogaas to take another (for the +remaining Askari was too frightened and bewildered to be of any use), +and together we rowed vigorously out towards the middle of the stream; +and not an instant too soon, for in another minute we should have been +aground, and then there would have been an end of us. + +As soon as we were well out, we set to work to paddle the canoe +upstream again to where the other was moored; and very hard and +dangerous work it was in the dark, and with nothing but the notes of +Good’s stentorian shouts, which he kept firing off at intervals like a +fog-horn, to guide us. But at last we fetched up, and were thankful to +find that they had not been molested at all. No doubt the owner of the +same hand that severed our rope should have severed theirs also, but +was led away from his purpose by an irresistible inclination to murder +when he got the chance, which, while it cost us a man and him his hand, +undoubtedly saved all the rest of us from massacre. Had it not been for +that ghastly apparition over the side of the boat—an apparition that I +shall never forget till my dying hour—the canoe would undoubtedly have +drifted ashore before I realised what had happened, and this history +would never have been written by me. + + + + +CHAPTER III. +THE MISSION STATION + + +We made the remains of our rope fast to the other canoe, and sat +waiting for the dawn and congratulating ourselves upon our merciful +escape, which really seemed to result more from the special favour of +Providence than from our own care or prowess. At last it came, and I +have not often been more grateful to see the light, though so far as my +canoe was concerned it revealed a ghastly sight. There in the bottom of +the little boat lay the unfortunate Askari, the sime, or sword, in his +bosom, and the severed hand gripping the handle. I could not bear the +sight, so hauling up the stone which had served as an anchor to the +other canoe, we made it fast to the murdered man and dropped him +overboard, and down he went to the bottom, leaving nothing but a train +of bubbles behind him. Alas! when our time comes, most of us like him +leave nothing but bubbles behind, to show that we have been, and the +bubbles soon burst. The hand of his murderer we threw into the stream, +where it slowly sank. The sword, of which the handle was ivory, inlaid +with gold (evidently Arab work), I kept and used as a hunting-knife, +and very useful it proved. + +Then, a man having been transferred to my canoe, we once more started +on in very low spirits and not feeling at all comfortable as to the +future, but fondly hoping to arrive at the “Highlands” station by +night. To make matters worse, within an hour of sunrise it came on to +rain in torrents, wetting us to the skin, and even necessitating the +occasional baling of the canoes, and as the rain beat down the wind we +could not use the sails, and had to get along as best as we could with +our paddles. + +At eleven o’clock we halted on an open piece of ground on the left bank +of the river, and, the rain abating a little, managed to make a fire +and catch and broil some fish. We did not dare to wander about to +search for game. At two o’clock we got off again, taking a supply of +broiled fish with us, and shortly afterwards the rain came on harder +than ever. Also the river began to get exceedingly difficult to +navigate on account of the numerous rocks, reaches of shallow water, +and the increased force of the current; so that it soon became clear to +us that we should not reach the Rev. Mackenzie’s hospitable roof that +night—a prospect that did not tend to enliven us. Toil as we would, we +could not make more than an average of a mile an hour, and at five +o’clock in the afternoon (by which time we were all utterly worn out) +we reckoned that we were still quite ten miles below the station. This +being so, we set to work to make the best arrangements we could for the +night. After our recent experience, we simply did not dare to land, +more especially as the banks of the Tana were clothed with dense bush +that would have given cover to five thousand Masai, and at first I +thought that we were going to have another night of it in the canoes. +Fortunately, however, we espied a little rocky islet, not more than +fifteen miles or so square, situated nearly in the middle of the river. +For this we paddled, and, making fast the canoes, landed and made +ourselves as comfortable as circumstances would permit, which was very +uncomfortable indeed. As for the weather, it continued to be simply +vile, the rain coming down in sheets till we were chilled to the +marrow, and utterly preventing us from lighting a fire. There was, +however, one consoling circumstance about this rain; our Askari +declared that nothing would induce the Masai to make an attack in it, +as they intensely disliked moving about in the wet, perhaps, as Good +suggested, because they hate the idea of washing. We ate some insipid +and sodden cold fish—that is, with the exception of Umslopogaas, who, +like most Zulus, cannot bear fish—and took a pull of brandy, of which +we fortunately had a few bottles left, and then began what, with one +exception—when we same three white men nearly perished of cold on the +snow of Sheba’s Breast in the course of our journey to Kukuanaland—was, +I think, the most trying night I ever experienced. It seemed absolutely +endless, and once or twice I feared that two of the Askari would have +died of the wet, cold, and exposure. Indeed, had it not been for timely +doses of brandy I am sure that they would have died, for no African +people can stand much exposure, which first paralyses and then kills +them. I could see that even that iron old warrior Umslopogaas felt it +keenly; though, in strange contrast to the Wakwafis, who groaned and +bemoaned their fate unceasingly, he never uttered a single complaint. +To make matters worse, about one in the morning we again heard the +owl’s ominous hooting, and had at once to prepare ourselves for another +attack; though, if it had been attempted, I do not think that we could +have offered a very effective resistance. But either the owl was a real +one this time, or else the Masai were themselves too miserable to think +of offensive operations, which, indeed, they rarely, if ever, undertake +in bush veldt. At any rate, we saw nothing of them. + +At last the dawn came gliding across the water, wrapped in wreaths of +ghostly mist, and, with the daylight, the rain ceased; and then, out +came the glorious sun, sucking up the mists and warming the chill air. +Benumbed, and utterly exhausted, we dragged ourselves to our feet, and +went and stood in the bright rays, and were thankful for them. I can +quite understand how it is that primitive people become sun +worshippers, especially if their conditions of life render them liable +to exposure. + +In half an hour more we were once again making fair progress with the +help of a good wind. Our spirits had returned with the sunshine, and we +were ready to laugh at difficulties and dangers that had been almost +crushing on the previous day. + +And so we went on cheerily till about eleven o’clock. Just as we were +thinking of halting as usual, to rest and try to shoot something to +eat, a sudden bend in the river brought us in sight of a +substantial-looking European house with a veranda round it, splendidly +situated upon a hill, and surrounded by a high stone wall with a ditch +on the outer side. Right against and overshadowing the house was an +enormous pine, the top of which we had seen through a glass for the +last two days, but of course without knowing that it marked the site of +the mission station. I was the first to see the house, and could not +restrain myself from giving a hearty cheer, in which the others, +including the natives, joined lustily. There was no thought of halting +now. On we laboured, for, unfortunately, though the house seemed quite +near, it was still a long way off by river, until at last, by one +o’clock, we found ourselves at the bottom of the slope on which the +building stood. Running the canoes to the bank, we disembarked, and +were just hauling them up on to the shore, when we perceived three +figures, dressed in ordinary English-looking clothes, hurrying down +through a grove of trees to meet us. + +“A gentleman, a lady, and a little girl,” ejaculated Good, after +surveying the trio through his eyeglass, “walking in a civilized +fashion, through a civilized garden, to meet us in this place. Hang me, +if this isn’t the most curious thing we have seen yet!” + +Good was right: it certainly did seem odd and out of place—more like a +scene out of a dream or an Italian opera than a real tangible fact; and +the sense of unreality was not lessened when we heard ourselves +addressed in good broad Scotch, which, however, I cannot reproduce. + +“How do you do, sirs,” said Mr Mackenzie, a grey-haired, angular man, +with a kindly face and red cheeks; “I hope I see you very well. My +natives told me an hour ago they spied two canoes with white men in +them coming up the river; so we have just come down to meet you.” + +“And it is very glad that we are to see a white face again, let me tell +you,” put in the lady—a charming and refined-looking person. + +We took off our hats in acknowledgment, and proceeded to introduce +ourselves. + +“And now,” said Mr Mackenzie, “you must all be hungry and weary; so +come on, gentlemen, come on, and right glad we are to see you. The last +white who visited us was Alphonse—you will see Alphonse presently—and +that was a year ago.” + +Meanwhile we had been walking up the slope of the hill, the lower +portion of which was fenced off, sometimes with quince fences and +sometimes with rough stone walls, into Kaffir gardens, just now full of +crops of mealies, pumpkins, potatoes, etc. In the corners of these +gardens were groups of neat mushroom-shaped huts, occupied by Mr +Mackenzie’s mission natives, whose women and children came pouring out +to meet us as we walked. Through the centre of the gardens ran the +roadway up which we were walking. It was bordered on each side by a +line of orange trees, which, although they had only been planted ten +years, had in the lovely climate of the uplands below Mt Kenia, the +base of which is about 5,000 feet above the coastline level, already +grown to imposing proportions, and were positively laden with golden +fruit. After a stiffish climb of a quarter of a mile or so—for the +hillside was steep—we came to a splendid quince fence, also covered +with fruit, which enclosed, Mr Mackenzie told us, a space of about four +acres of ground that contained his private garden, house, church, and +outbuildings, and, indeed, the whole hilltop. And what a garden it was! +I have always loved a good garden, and I could have thrown up my hands +for joy when I saw Mr Mackenzie’s. First there were rows upon rows of +standard European fruit-trees, all grafted; for on top of this hill the +climate was so temperate that nearly all the English vegetables, trees, +and flowers flourished luxuriantly, even including several varieties of +the apple, which, generally, runs to wood in a warm climate and +obstinately refuses to fruit. Then there were strawberries and tomatoes +(such tomatoes!), and melons and cucumbers, and, indeed, every sort of +vegetable and fruit. + +“Well, you have something like a garden!” I said, overpowered with +admiration not untouched by envy. + +“Yes,” answered the missionary, “it is a very good garden, and has well +repaid my labour; but it is the climate that I have to thank. If you +stick a peach-stone into the ground it will bear fruit the fourth year, +and a rose-cutting will bloom in a year. It is a lovely clime.” + +Just then we came to a ditch about ten feet wide, and full of water, on +the other side of which was a loopholed stone wall eight feet high, and +with sharp flints plentifully set in mortar on the coping. + +“There,” said Mr Mackenzie, pointing to the ditch and wall, “this is my +_magnum opus;_ at least, this and the church, which is the other side +of the house. It took me and twenty natives two years to dig the ditch +and build the wall, but I never felt safe till it was done; and now I +can defy all the savages in Africa, for the spring that fills the ditch +is inside the wall, and bubbles out at the top of the hill winter and +summer alike, and I always keep a store of four months’ provision in +the house.” + +Crossing over a plank and through a very narrow opening in the wall, we +entered into what Mrs Mackenzie called _her_ domain—namely, the flower +garden, the beauty of which is really beyond my power to describe. I do +not think I ever saw such roses, gardenias, or camellias (all reared +from seeds or cuttings sent from England); and there was also a patch +given up to a collection of bulbous roots mostly collected by Miss +Flossie, Mr Mackenzie’s little daughter, from the surrounding country, +some of which were surpassingly beautiful. In the middle of this +garden, and exactly opposite the veranda, a beautiful fountain of clear +water bubbled up from the ground, and fell into a stone-work basin +which had been carefully built to receive it, whence the overflow found +its way by means of a drain to the moat round the outer wall, this moat +in its turn serving as a reservoir, whence an unfailing supply of water +was available to irrigate all the gardens below. The house itself, a +massively built single-storied building, was roofed with slabs of +stone, and had a handsome veranda in front. It was built on three sides +of a square, the fourth side being taken up by the kitchens, which +stood separate from the house—a very good plan in a hot country. In the +centre of this square thus formed was, perhaps, the most remarkable +object that we had yet seen in this charming place, and that was a +single tree of the conifer tribe, varieties of which grow freely on the +highlands of this part of Africa. This splendid tree, which Mr +Mackenzie informed us was a landmark for fifty miles round, and which +we had ourselves seen for the last forty miles of our journey, must +have been nearly three hundred feet in height, the trunk measuring +about sixteen feet in diameter at a yard from the ground. For some +seventy feet it rose a beautiful tapering brown pillar without a single +branch, but at that height splendid dark green boughs, which, looked at +from below, had the appearance of gigantic fern-leaves, sprang out +horizontally from the trunk, projecting right over the house and +flower-garden, to both of which they furnished a grateful proportion of +shade, without—being so high up—offering any impediment to the passage +of light and air. + +“What a beautiful tree!” exclaimed Sir Henry. + +“Yes, you are right; it is a beautiful tree. There is not another like +it in all the country round, that I know of,” answered Mr Mackenzie. “I +call it my watch tower. As you see, I have a rope ladder fixed to the +lowest bough; and if I want to see anything that is going on within +fifteen miles or so, all I have to do is to run up it with a spyglass. +But you must be hungry, and I am sure the dinner is cooked. Come in, my +friends; it is but a rough place, but well enough for these savage +parts; and I can tell you what, we have got—a French cook.” And he led +the way on to the veranda. + +As I was following him, and wondering what on earth he could mean by +this, there suddenly appeared, through the door that opened on to the +veranda from the house, a dapper little man, dressed in a neat blue +cotton suit, with shoes made of tanned hide, and remarkable for a +bustling air and most enormous black mustachios, shaped into an upward +curve, and coming to a point for all the world like a pair of +buffalo-horns. + +“Madame bids me for to say that dinnar is sarved. Messieurs, my +compliments;” then suddenly perceiving Umslopogaas, who was loitering +along after us and playing with his battleaxe, he threw up his hands in +astonishment. “_Ah, mais quel homme!_” he ejaculated in French, “_quel +sauvage affreux!_ Take but note of his huge choppare and the great pit +in his head.” + +“Ay,” said Mr Mackenzie; “what are you talking about, Alphonse?” + +“Talking about!” replied the little Frenchman, his eyes still fixed +upon Umslopogaas, whose general appearance seemed to fascinate him; +“why I talk of him”—and he rudely pointed—“of _ce monsieur noir_.” + +At this everybody began to laugh, and Umslopogaas, perceiving that he +was the object of remark, frowned ferociously, for he had a most lordly +dislike of anything like a personal liberty. + +“_Parbleu!_” said Alphonse, “he is angered—he makes the grimace. I like +not his air. I vanish.” And he did with considerable rapidity. + +Mr Mackenzie joined heartily in the shout of laughter which we indulged +in. “He is a queer character—Alphonse,” he said. “By and by I will tell +you his history; in the meanwhile let us try his cooking.” + +“Might I ask,” said Sir Henry, after we had eaten a most excellent +dinner, “how you came to have a French cook in these wilds?” + +“Oh,” answered Mrs Mackenzie, “he arrived here of his own accord about +a year ago, and asked to be taken into our service. He had got into +some trouble in France, and fled to Zanzibar, where he found an +application had been made by the French Government for his extradition. +Whereupon he rushed off up-country, and fell in, when nearly starved, +with our caravan of men, who were bringing us our annual supply of +goods, and was brought on here. You should get him to tell you the +story.” + +When dinner was over we lit our pipes, and Sir Henry proceeded to give +our host a description of our journey up here, over which he looked +very grave. + +“It is evident to me,” he said, “that those rascally Masai are +following you, and I am very thankful that you have reached this house +in safety. I do not think that they will dare to attack you here. It is +unfortunate, though, that nearly all my men have gone down to the coast +with ivory and goods. There are two hundred of them in the caravan, and +the consequence is that I have not more than twenty men available for +defensive purposes in case they should attack us. But, still, I will +just give a few orders;” and, calling a black man who was loitering +about outside in the garden, he went to the window, and addressed him +in a Swahili dialect. The man listened, and then saluted and departed. + +“I am sure I devoutly hope that we shall bring no such calamity upon +you,” said I, anxiously, when he had taken his seat again. “Rather than +bring those bloodthirsty villains about your ears, we will move on and +take our chance.” + +“You will do nothing of the sort. If the Masai come, they come, and +there is an end on it; and I think we can give them a pretty warm +greeting. I would not show any man the door for all the Masai in the +world.” + +“That reminds me,” I said, “the Consul at Lamu told me that he had had +a letter from you, in which you said that a man had arrived here who +reported that he had come across a white people in the interior. Do you +think that there was any truth in his story? I ask, because I have once +or twice in my life heard rumours from natives who have come down from +the far north of the existence of such a race.” + +Mr Mackenzie, by way of answer, went out of the room and returned, +bringing with him a most curious sword. It was long, and all the blade, +which was very thick and heavy, was to within a quarter of an inch of +the cutting edge worked into an ornamental pattern exactly as we work +soft wood with a fret-saw, the steel, however, being invariably pierced +in such a way as not to interfere with the strength of the sword. This +in itself was sufficiently curious, but what was still more so was that +all the edges of the hollow spaces cut through the substance of the +blade were most beautifully inlaid with gold, which was in some way +that I cannot understand welded on to the steel.[5] + + [5] Since I saw the above I have examined hundreds of these swords, + but have never been able to discover how the gold plates were inlaid + in the fretwork. The armourers who make them in Zu-vendis bind + themselves by oath not to reveal the secret.—A. Q. + +“There,” said Mr Mackenzie, “did you ever see a sword like that?” + +We all examined it and shook our heads. + +“Well, I have got it to show you, because this is what the man who said +he had seen the white people brought with him, and because it does more +or less give an air of truth to what I should otherwise have set down +as a lie. Look here; I will tell you all that I know about the matter, +which is not much. One afternoon, just before sunset, I was sitting on +the veranda, when a poor, miserable, starved-looking man came limping +up and squatted down before me. I asked him where he came from and what +he wanted, and thereon he plunged into a long rambling narrative about +how he belonged to a tribe far in the north, and how his tribe was +destroyed by another tribe, and he with a few other survivors driven +still further north past a lake named Laga. Thence, it appears, he made +his way to another lake that lay up in the mountains, ‘a lake without a +bottom’ he called it, and here his wife and brother died of an +infectious sickness—probably smallpox—whereon the people drove him out +of their villages into the wilderness, where he wandered miserably over +mountains for ten days, after which he got into dense thorn forest, and +was one day found there by some _white men_ who were hunting, and who +took him to a place where all the people were white and lived in stone +houses. Here he remained a week shut up in a house, till one night a +man with a white beard, whom he understood to be a ‘medicine-man’, came +and inspected him, after which he was led off and taken through the +thorn forest to the confines of the wilderness, and given food and this +sword (at least so he said), and turned loose.” + +“Well,” said Sir Henry, who had been listening with breathless +interest, “and what did he do then?” + +“Oh! he seems, according to his account, to have gone through +sufferings and hardships innumerable, and to have lived for weeks on +roots and berries, and such things as he could catch and kill. But +somehow he did live, and at last by slow degrees made his way south and +reached this place. What the details of his journey were I never +learnt, for I told him to return on the morrow, bidding one of my +headmen look after him for the night. The headman took him away, but +the poor man had the itch so badly that the headman’s wife would not +have him in the hut for fear of catching it, so he was given a blanket +and told to sleep outside. As it happened, we had a lion hanging about +here just then, and most unhappily he winded this unfortunate wanderer, +and, springing on him, bit his head almost off without the people in +the hut knowing anything about it, and there was an end of him and his +story about the white people; and whether or no there is any truth in +it is more than I can tell you. What do you think, Mr Quatermain?” + +I shook my head, and answered, “I don’t know. There are so many queer +things hidden away in the heart of this great continent that I should +be sorry to assert that there was no truth in it. Anyhow, we mean to +try and find out. We intend to journey to Lekakisera, and thence, if we +live to get so far, to this Lake Laga; and, if there are any white +people beyond, we will do our best to find them.” + +“You are very venturesome people,” said Mr Mackenzie, with a smile, and +the subject dropped. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. +ALPHONSE AND HIS ANNETTE + + +After dinner we thoroughly inspected all the outbuildings and grounds +of the station, which I consider the most successful as well as the +most beautiful place of the sort that I have seen in Africa. We then +returned to the veranda, where we found Umslopogaas taking advantage of +this favourable opportunity to clean all the rifles thoroughly. This +was the only _work_ that he ever did or was asked to do, for as a Zulu +chief it was beneath his dignity to work with his hands; but such as it +was he did it very well. It was a curious sight to see the great Zulu +sitting there upon the floor, his battleaxe resting against the wall +behind him, whilst his long aristocratic-looking hands were busily +employed, delicately and with the utmost care, cleaning the mechanism +of the breech-loaders. He had a name for each gun. One—a double +four-bore belonging to Sir Henry—was the Thunderer; another, my 500 +Express, which had a peculiarly sharp report, was “the little one who +spoke like a whip”; the Winchester repeaters were “the women, who +talked so fast that you could not tell one word from another”; the six +Martinis were “the common people”; and so on with them all. It was very +curious to hear him addressing each gun as he cleaned it, as though it +were an individual, and in a vein of the quaintest humour. He did the +same with his battle-axe, which he seemed to look upon as an intimate +friend, and to which he would at times talk by the hour, going over all +his old adventures with it—and dreadful enough some of them were. By a +piece of grim humour, he had named this axe “Inkosi-kaas”, which is the +Zulu word for chieftainess. For a long while I could not make out why +he gave it such a name, and at last I asked him, when he informed me +that the axe was very evidently feminine, because of her womanly habit +of prying very deep into things, and that she was clearly a +chieftainess because all men fell down before her, struck dumb at the +sight of her beauty and power. In the same way he would consult +“Inkosi-kaas” if in any dilemma; and when I asked him why he did so, he +informed me it was because she must needs be wise, having “looked into +so many people’s brains”. + +I took up the axe and closely examined this formidable weapon. It was, +as I have said, of the nature of a pole-axe. The haft, made out of an +enormous rhinoceros horn, was three feet three inches long, about an +inch and a quarter thick, and with a knob at the end as large as a +Maltese orange, left there to prevent the hand from slipping. This horn +haft, though so massive, was as flexible as cane, and practically +unbreakable; but, to make assurance doubly sure, it was whipped round +at intervals of a few inches with copper wire—all the parts where the +hands grip being thus treated. Just above where the haft entered the +head were scored a number of little nicks, each nick representing a man +killed in battle with the weapon. The axe itself was made of the most +beautiful steel, and apparently of European manufacture, though +Umslopogaas did not know where it came from, having taken it from the +hand of a chief he had killed in battle many years before. It was not +very heavy, the head weighing two and a half pounds, as nearly as I +could judge. The cutting part was slightly concave in shape—not convex, +as is generally the case with savage battle-axes—and sharp as a razor, +measuring five and three-quarter inches across the widest part. From +the back of the axe sprang a stout spike four inches long, for the last +two of which it was hollow, and shaped like a leather punch, with an +opening for anything forced into the hollow at the punch end to be +pushed out above—in fact, in this respect it exactly resembled a +butcher’s pole-axe. It was with this punch end, as we afterwards +discovered, that Umslopogaas usually struck when fighting, driving a +neat round hole in his adversary’s skull, and only using the broad +cutting edge for a circular sweep, or sometimes in a _mêlée_. I think +he considered the punch a neater and more sportsmanlike tool, and it +was from his habit of pecking at his enemy with it that he got his name +of “Woodpecker”. Certainly in his hands it was a terribly efficient +one. + +Such was Umslopogaas’ axe, Inkosi-kaas, the most remarkable and fatal +hand-to-hand weapon that I ever saw, and one which he cherished as much +as his own life. It scarcely ever left his hand except when he was +eating, and then he always sat with it under his leg. + +Just as I returned his axe to Umslopogaas, Miss Flossie came up and +took me off to see her collection of flowers, African liliums, and +blooming shrubs, some of which are very beautiful, many of the +varieties being quite unknown to me and also, I believe, to botanical +science. I asked her if she had ever seen or heard of the “Goya” lily, +which Central African explorers have told me they have occasionally met +with and whose wonderful loveliness has filled them with astonishment. +This lily, which the natives say blooms only once in ten years, +flourishes in the most arid soil. Compared to the size of the bloom, +the bulb is small, generally weighing about four pounds. As for the +flower itself (which I afterwards saw under circumstances likely to +impress its appearance fixedly in my mind), I know not how to describe +its beauty and splendour, or the indescribable sweetness of its +perfume. The flower—for it has only one bloom—rises from the crown of +the bulb on a thick fleshy and flat-sided stem, the specimen that I saw +measured fourteen inches in diameter, and is somewhat trumpet-shaped +like the bloom of an ordinary “longiflorum” set vertically. First there +is the green sheath, which in its early stage is not unlike that of a +water-lily, but which as the bloom opens splits into four portions and +curls back gracefully towards the stem. Then comes the bloom itself, a +single dazzling arch of white enclosing another cup of richest velvety +crimson, from the heart of which rises a golden-coloured pistil. I have +never seen anything to equal this bloom in beauty or fragrance, and as +I believe it is but little known, I take the liberty to describe it at +length. Looking at it for the first time I well remember that I +realised how even in a flower there dwells something of the majesty of +its Maker. To my great delight Miss Flossie told me that she knew the +flower well and had tried to grow it in her garden, but without +success, adding, however, that as it should be in bloom at this time of +the year she thought that she could procure me a specimen. + +After that I fell to asking her if she was not lonely up here among all +these savage people and without any companions of her own age. + +“Lonely?” she said. “Oh, indeed no! I am as happy as the day is long, +and besides I have my own companions. Why, I should hate to be buried +in a crowd of white girls all just like myself so that nobody could +tell the difference! Here,” she said, giving her head a little toss, “I +am _I;_ and every native for miles around knows the ‘Water-lily’,—for +that is what they call me—and is ready to do what I want, but in the +books that I have read about little girls in England it is not like +that. Everybody thinks them a trouble, and they have to do what their +schoolmistress likes. Oh! it would break my heart to be put in a cage +like that and not to be free—free as the air.” + +“Would you not like to learn?” I asked. + +“So I do learn. Father teaches me Latin and French and arithmetic.” + +“And are you never afraid among all these wild men?” + +“Afraid? Oh no! they never interfere with me. I think they believe that +I am ‘Ngai’ (of the Divinity) because I am so white and have fair hair. +And look here,” and diving her little hand into the bodice of her dress +she produced a double-barrelled nickel-plated Derringer, “I always +carry that loaded, and if anybody tried to touch me I should shoot him. +Once I shot a leopard that jumped upon my donkey as I was riding along. +It frightened me very much, but I shot it in the ear and it fell dead, +and I have its skin upon my bed. Look there!” she went on in an altered +voice, touching me on the arm and pointing to some far-away object, “I +said just now that I had companions; there is one of them.” + +I looked, and for the first time there burst upon my sight the glory of +Mount Kenia. Hitherto the mountain had always been hidden in mist, but +now its radiant beauty was unveiled for many thousand feet, although +the base was still wrapped in vapour so that the lofty peak or pillar, +towering nearly twenty thousand feet into the sky, appeared to be a +fairy vision, hanging between earth and heaven, and based upon the +clouds. The solemn majesty and beauty of this white peak are together +beyond the power of my poor pen to describe. There it rose straight and +sheer—a glittering white glory, its crest piercing the very blue of +heaven. As I gazed at it with that little girl I felt my whole heart +lifted up with an indescribable emotion, and for a moment great and +wonderful thoughts seemed to break upon my mind, even as the arrows of +the setting sun were breaking upon Kenia’s snows. Mr Mackenzie’s +natives call the mountain the “Finger of God”, and to me it did seem +eloquent of immortal peace and of the pure high calm that surely lies +above this fevered world. Somewhere I had heard a line of poetry, + +A thing of beauty is a joy for ever, + +and now it came into my mind, and for the first time I thoroughly +understood what it meant. Base, indeed, would be the man who could look +upon that mighty snow-wreathed pile— that white old tombstone of the +years—and not feel his own utter insignificance, and, by whatever name +he calls Him, worship God in his heart. Such sights are like visions of +the spirit; they throw wide the windows of the chamber of our small +selfishness and let in a breath of that air that rushes round the +rolling spheres, and for a while illumine our darkness with a far-off +gleam of the white light which beats upon the Throne. + +Yes, such things of beauty are indeed a joy for ever, and I can well +understand what little Flossie meant when she talked of Kenia as her +companion. As Umslopogaas, savage old Zulu that he was, said when I +pointed out to him the peak hanging in the glittering air: “A man might +look thereon for a thousand years and yet be hungry to see.” But he +gave rather another colour to his poetical idea when he added in a sort +of chant, and with a touch of that weird imagination for which the man +was remarkable, that when he was dead he should like his spirit to sit +upon that snow-clad peak for ever, and to rush down the steep white +sides in the breath of the whirlwind, or on the flash of the lightning, +and “slay, and slay, and slay”. + +“Slay what, you old bloodhound?” I asked. + +This rather puzzled him, but at length he answered— + +“The other shadows.” + +“So thou wouldst continue thy murdering even after death?” I said. + +“I murder not,” he answered hotly; “I kill in fair fight. Man is born +to kill. He who kills not when his blood is hot is a woman, and no man. +The people who kill not are slaves. I say I kill in fair fight; and +when I am ‘in the shadow’, as you white men say, I hope to go on +killing in fair fight. May my shadow be accursed and chilled to the +bone for ever if it should fall to murdering like a bushman with his +poisoned arrows!” And he stalked away with much dignity, and left me +laughing. + +Just then the spies whom our host had sent out in the morning to find +out if there were any traces of our Masai friends about, returned, and +reported that the country had been scoured for fifteen miles round +without a single Elmoran being seen, and that they believed that those +gentry had given up the pursuit and returned whence they came. Mr +Mackenzie gave a sigh of relief when he heard this, and so indeed did +we, for we had had quite enough of the Masai to last us for some time. +Indeed, the general opinion was that, finding we had reached the +mission station in safety, they had, knowing its strength, given up the +pursuit of us as a bad job. How ill-judged that view was the sequel +will show. + +After the spies had gone, and Mrs Mackenzie and Flossie had retired for +the night, Alphonse, the little Frenchman, came out, and Sir Henry, who +is a very good French scholar, got him to tell us how he came to visit +Central Africa, which he did in a most extraordinary lingo, that for +the most part I shall not attempt to reproduce. + +“My grandfather,” he began, “was a soldier of the Guard, and served +under Napoleon. He was in the retreat from Moscow, and lived for ten +days on his own leggings and a pair he stole from a comrade. He used to +get drunk—he died drunk, and I remember playing at drums on his coffin. +My father—” + +Here we suggested that he might skip his ancestry and come to the +point. + +“Bien, messieurs!” replied this comical little man, with a polite bow. +“I did only wish to demonstrate that the military principle is not +hereditary. My grandfather was a splendid man, six feet two high, broad +in proportion, a swallower of fire and gaiters. Also he was remarkable +for his moustache. To me there remains the moustache and—nothing more. + +“I am, messieurs, a cook, and I was born at Marseilles. In that dear +town I spent my happy youth. For years and years I washed the dishes at +the Hôtel Continental. Ah, those were golden days!” and he sighed. “I +am a Frenchman. Need I say, messieurs, that I admire beauty? Nay, I +adore the fair. Messieurs, we admire all the roses in a garden, but we +pluck one. _I_ plucked one, and alas, messieurs, it pricked my finger. +She was a chambermaid, her name Annette, her figure ravishing, her face +an angel’s, her heart—alas, messieurs, that I should have to own +it!—black and slippery as a patent leather boot. I loved to +desperation, I adored her to despair. She transported me—in every +sense; she inspired me. Never have I cooked as I cooked (for I had been +promoted at the hotel) when Annette, my adored Annette, smiled on me. +Never”—and here his manly voice broke into a sob—“never shall I cook so +well again.” Here he melted into tears. + +“Come, cheer up!” said Sir Henry in French, smacking him smartly on the +back. “There’s no knowing what may happen, you know. To judge from your +dinner today, I should say you were in a fair way to recovery.” + +Alphonse stopped weeping, and began to rub his back. “Monsieur,” he +said, “doubtless means to console, but his hand is heavy. To continue: +we loved, and were happy in each other’s love. The birds in their +little nest could not be happier than Alphonse and his Annette. Then +came the blow—sapristi!—when I think of it. Messieurs will forgive me +if I wipe away a tear. Mine was an evil number; I was drawn for the +conscription. Fortune would be avenged on me for having won the heart +of Annette. + +“The evil moment came; I had to go. I tried to run away, but I was +caught by brutal soldiers, and they banged me with the butt-end of +muskets till my mustachios curled with pain. I had a cousin a +linen-draper, well-to-do, but very ugly. He had drawn a good number, +and sympathized when they thumped me. ‘To thee, my cousin,’ I said, ‘to +thee, in whose veins flows the blue blood of our heroic grandparent, to +thee I consign Annette. Watch over her whilst I hunt for glory in the +bloody field.’ + +“‘Make your mind easy,’ said he; ‘I will.’ As the sequel shows, he did! + +“I went. I lived in barracks on black soup. I am a refined man and a +poet by nature, and I suffered tortures from the coarse horror of my +surroundings. There was a drill sergeant, and he had a cane. Ah, that +cane, how it curled! Alas, never can I forget it! + +“One morning came the news; my battalion was ordered to Tonquin. The +drill sergeant and the other coarse monsters rejoiced. I—I made +enquiries about Tonquin. They were not satisfactory. In Tonquin are +savage Chinese who rip you open. My artistic tastes—for I am also an +artist—recoiled from the idea of being ripped open. The great man makes +up his mind quickly. I made up my mind. I determined not to be ripped +open. I deserted. + +“I reached Marseilles disguised as an old man. I went to the house of +my cousin—he in whom runs my grandfather’s heroic blood—and there sat +Annette. It was the season of cherries. They took a double stalk. At +each end was a cherry. My cousin put one into his mouth, Annette put +the other in hers. Then they drew the stalks in till their eyes met—and +alas, alas that I should have to say it!—they kissed. The game was a +pretty one, but it filled me with fury. The heroic blood of my +grandfather boiled up in me. I rushed into the kitchen. I struck my +cousin with the old man’s crutch. He fell—I had slain him. Alas, I +believe that I did slay him. Annette screamed. The gendarmes came. I +fled. I reached the harbour. I hid aboard a vessel. The vessel put to +sea. The captain found me and beat me. He took an opportunity. He +posted a letter from a foreign port to the police. He did not put me +ashore because I cooked so well. I cooked for him all the way to +Zanzibar. When I asked for payment he kicked me. The blood of my heroic +grandfather boiled within me, and I shook my fist in his face and vowed +to have my revenge. He kicked me again. At Zanzibar there was a +telegram. I cursed the man who invented telegraphs. Now I curse him +again. I was to be arrested for desertion, for murder, and _que +sais-je?_ I escaped from the prison. I fled, I starved. I met the men +of Monsieur le Curé. They brought me here. I am full of woe. But I +return not to France. Better to risk my life in these horrible places +than to know the Bagne.” + +He paused, and we nearly choked with laughter, having to turn our faces +away. + +“Ah! you weep, messieurs,” he said. “No wonder—it is a sad story.” + +“Perhaps,” said Sir Henry, “the heroic blood of your grandparent will +triumph after all; perhaps you will still be great. At any rate we +shall see. And now I vote we go to bed. I am dead tired, and we had not +much sleep on that confounded rock last night.” + +And so we did, and very strange the tidy rooms and clean white sheets +seemed to us after our recent experiences. + + + + +CHAPTER V. +UMSLOPOGAAS MAKES A PROMISE + + +Next morning at breakfast I missed Flossie and asked where she was. + +“Well,” said her mother, “when I got up this morning I found a note put +outside my door in which—But here it is, you can read it for yourself,” +and she gave me the slip of paper on which the following was written:— + +“DEAREST M—,—It is just dawn, and I am off to the hills to get Mr Q—a +bloom of the lily he wants, so don’t expect me till you see me. I have +taken the white donkey; and nurse and a couple of boys are coming with +me—also something to eat, as I may be away all day, for I am determined +to get the lily if I have to go twenty miles for it.—FLOSSIE.” + +“I hope she will be all right,” I said, a little anxiously; “I never +meant her to trouble after the flower.” + +“Ah, Flossie can look after herself,” said her mother; “she often goes +off in this way like a true child of the wilderness.” But Mr Mackenzie, +who came in just then and saw the note for the first time, looked +rather grave, though he said nothing. + +After breakfast was over I took him aside and asked him whether it +would not be possible to send after the girl and get her back, having +in view the possibility of there still being some Masai hanging about, +at whose hands she might come to harm. + +“I fear it would be of no use,” he answered. “She may be fifteen miles +off by now, and it is impossible to say what path she has taken. There +are the hills;” and he pointed to a long range of rising ground +stretching almost parallel with the course followed by the river Tana, +but gradually sloping down to a dense bush-clad plain about five miles +short of the house. + +Here I suggested that we might get up the great tree over the house and +search the country round with a spyglass; and this, after Mr Mackenzie +had given some orders to his people to try and follow Flossie’s spoor, +we did. + +The ascent of the mighty tree was rather an alarming performance, even +with a sound rope-ladder fixed at both ends to climb up, at least to a +landsman; but Good came up like a lamplighter. + +On reaching the height at which the first fern-shaped boughs sprang +from the bole, we stepped without any difficulty upon a platform made +of boards, nailed from one bough to another, and large enough to +accommodate a dozen people. As for the view, it was simply glorious. In +every direction the bush rolled away in great billows for miles and +miles, as far as the glass would show, only here and there broken by +the brighter green of patches of cultivation, or by the glittering +surface of lakes. To the northwest, Kenia reared his mighty head, and +we could trace the Tana river curling like a silver snake almost from +his feet, and far away beyond us towards the ocean. It is a glorious +country, and only wants the hand of civilized man to make it a most +productive one. + +But look as we would, we could see no signs of Flossie and her donkey, +so at last we had to come down disappointed. On reaching the veranda I +found Umslopogaas sitting there, slowly and lightly sharpening his axe +with a small whetstone he always carried with him. + +“What doest thou, Umslopogaas?” I asked. + +“I smell blood,” was the answer; and I could get no more out of him. + +After dinner we again went up the tree and searched the surrounding +country with a spyglass, but without result. When we came down +Umslopogaas was still sharpening Inkosi-kaas, although she already had +an edge like a razor. Standing in front of him, and regarding him with +a mixture of fear and fascination, was Alphonse. And certainly he did +seem an alarming object—sitting there, Zulu fashion, on his haunches, a +wild look upon his intensely savage and yet intellectual face, +sharpening, sharpening, sharpening at the murderous-looking axe. + +“Oh, the monster, the horrible man!” said the little French cook, +lifting his hands in amazement. “See but the hole in his head; the skin +beats on it up and down like a baby’s! Who would nurse such a baby?” +and he burst out laughing at the idea. + +For a moment Umslopogaas looked up from his sharpening, and a sort of +evil light played in his dark eyes. + +“What does the little ‘buffalo-heifer’ [so named by Umslopogaas, on +account of his mustachios and feminine characteristics] say? Let him be +careful, or I will cut his horns. Beware, little man monkey, beware!” + +Unfortunately Alphonse, who was getting over his fear of him, went on +laughing at “_ce drôle d’un monsieur noir_”. I was about to warn him to +desist, when suddenly the huge Zulu bounded off the veranda on to the +open space where Alphonse was standing, his features alive with a sort +of malicious enthusiasm, and began swinging the axe round and round +over the Frenchman’s head. + +“Stand still,” I shouted; “do not move as you value your life—he will +not hurt you;” but I doubt if Alphonse heard me, being, fortunately for +himself, almost petrified with horror. + +Then followed the most extraordinary display of sword, or rather of +axemanship, that I ever saw. First of all the axe went flying round and +round over the top of Alphonse’s head, with an angry whirl and such +extraordinary swiftness that it looked like a continuous band of steel, +ever getting nearer and yet nearer to that unhappy individual’s skull, +till at last it grazed it as it flew. Then suddenly the motion was +changed, and it seemed to literally flow up and down his body and +limbs, never more than an eighth of an inch from them, and yet never +striking them. It was a wonderful sight to see the little man fixed +there, having apparently realised that to move would be to run the risk +of sudden death, while his black tormentor towered over him, and +wrapped him round with the quick flashes of the axe. For a minute or +more this went on, till suddenly I saw the moving brightness travel +down the side of Alphonse’s face, and then outwards and stop. As it did +so a tuft of something black fell to the ground; it was the tip of one +of the little Frenchman’s curling mustachios. + +Umslopogaas leant upon the handle of Inkosi-kaas, and broke into a +long, low laugh; and Alphonse, overcome with fear, sank into a sitting +posture on the ground, while we stood astonished at this exhibition of +almost superhuman skill and mastery of a weapon. “Inkosi-kaas is sharp +enough,” he shouted; “the blow that clipped the ‘buffalo-heifer’s’ horn +would have split a man from the crown to the chin. Few could have +struck it but I; none could have struck it and not taken off the +shoulder too. Look, thou little heifer! Am I a good man to laugh at, +thinkest thou? For a space hast thou stood within a hair’s-breadth of +death. Laugh not again, lest the hair’s-breadth be wanting. I have +spoken.” + +“What meanest thou by such mad tricks?” I asked of Umslopogaas, +indignantly. “Surely thou art mad. Twenty times didst thou go near to +slaying the man.” + +“And yet, Macumazahn, I slew not. Thrice as Inkosi-kaas flew the spirit +entered into me to end him, and send her crashing through his skull; +but I did not. Nay, it was but a jest; but tell the ‘heifer’ that it is +not well to mock at such as I. Now I go to make a shield, for I smell +blood, Macumazahn—of a truth I smell blood. Before the battle hast thou +not seen the vulture grow of a sudden in the sky? They smell the blood, +Macumazahn, and my scent is more keen than theirs. There is a dry +ox-hide down yonder; I go to make a shield.” + +“That is an uncomfortable retainer of yours,” said Mr Mackenzie, who +had witnessed this extraordinary scene. “He has frightened Alphonse out +of his wits; look!” and he pointed to the Frenchman, who, with a scared +white face and trembling limbs, was making his way into the house. “I +don’t think that he will ever laugh at ‘le monsieur noir’ again.” + +“Yes,” answered I, “it is ill jesting with such as he. When he is +roused he is like a fiend, and yet he has a kind heart in his own +fierce way. I remember years ago seeing him nurse a sick child for a +week. He is a strange character, but true as steel, and a strong stick +to rest on in danger.” + +“He says he smells blood,” said Mr Mackenzie. “I only trust he is not +right. I am getting very fearful about my little girl. She must have +gone far, or she would be home by now. It is half-past three o’clock.” + +I pointed out that she had taken food with her, and very likely would +not in the ordinary course of events return till nightfall; but I +myself felt very anxious, and fear that my anxiety betrayed itself. + +Shortly after this, the people whom Mr Mackenzie had sent out to search +for Flossie returned, stating that they had followed the spoor of the +donkey for a couple of miles and had then lost it on some stony ground, +nor could they discover it again. They had, however, scoured the +country far and wide, but without success. + +After this the afternoon wore drearily on, and towards evening, there +still being no signs of Flossie, our anxiety grew very keen. As for the +poor mother, she was quite prostrated by her fears, and no wonder, but +the father kept his head wonderfully well. Everything that could be +done was done: people were sent out in all directions, shots were +fired, and a continuous outlook kept from the great tree, but without +avail. + +And then it grew dark, and still no sign of fair-haired little Flossie. + +At eight o’clock we had supper. It was but a sorrowful meal, and Mrs +Mackenzie did not appear at it. We three also were very silent, for in +addition to our natural anxiety as to the fate of the child, we were +weighed down by the sense that we had brought this trouble on the head +of our kind host. When supper was nearly at an end I made an excuse to +leave the table. I wanted to get outside and think the situation over. +I went on to the veranda and, having lit my pipe, sat down on a seat +about a dozen feet from the right-hand end of the structure, which was, +as the reader may remember, exactly opposite one of the narrow doors of +the protecting wall that enclosed the house and flower garden. I had +been sitting there perhaps six or seven minutes when I thought I heard +the door move. I looked in that direction and I listened, but, being +unable to make out anything, concluded that I must have been mistaken. +It was a darkish night, the moon not having yet risen. + +Another minute passed, when suddenly something round fell with a soft +but heavy thud upon the stone flooring of the veranda, and came +bounding and rolling along past me. For a moment I did not rise, but +sat wondering what it could be. Finally, I concluded it must have been +an animal. Just then, however, another idea struck me, and I got up +quick enough. The thing lay quite still a few feet beyond me. I put +down my hand towards it and it did not move: clearly it was not an +animal. My hand touched it. It was soft and warm and heavy. Hurriedly I +lifted it and held it up against the faint starlight. + +_It was a newly severed human head!_ + +I am an old hand and not easily upset, but I own that that ghastly +sight made me feel sick. How had the thing come there? Whose was it? I +put it down and ran to the little doorway. I could see nothing, hear +nobody. I was about to go out into the darkness beyond, but remembering +that to do so was to expose myself to the risk of being stabbed, I drew +back, shut the door, and bolted it. Then I returned to the veranda, and +in as careless a voice as I could command called Curtis. I fear, +however, that my tones must have betrayed me, for not only Sir Henry +but also Good and Mackenzie rose from the table and came hurrying out. + +“What is it?” said the clergyman, anxiously. + +Then I had to tell them. + +Mr Mackenzie turned pale as death under his red skin. We were standing +opposite the hall door, and there was a light in it so that I could +see. He snatched the head up by the hair and held it against the light. + +“It is the head of one of the men who accompanied Flossie,” he said +with a gasp. “Thank God it is not hers!” + +We all stood and stared at each other aghast. What was to be done? + +Just then there was a knocking at the door that I had bolted, and a +voice cried, “Open, my father, open!” + +The door was unlocked, and in sped a terrified man. He was one of the +spies who had been sent out. + +“My father,” he cried, “the Masai are on us! A great body of them have +passed round the hill and are moving towards the old stone kraal down +by the little stream. My father, make strong thy heart! In the midst of +them I saw the white ass, and on it sat the Water-lily [Flossie]. An +Elmoran [young warrior] led the ass, and by its side walked the nurse +weeping. The men who went with her in the morning I saw not.” + +“Was the child alive?” asked Mr Mackenzie, hoarsely. + +“She was white as the snow, but well, my father. They passed quite +close to me, and looking up from where I lay hid I saw her face against +the sky.” + +“God help her and us!” groaned the clergyman. + +“How many are there of them?” I asked. + +“More than two hundred—two hundred and half a hundred.” + +Once more we looked one on the other. What was to be done? Just then +there rose a loud insistent cry outside the wall. + +“Open the door, white man; open the door! A herald—a herald to speak +with thee.” Thus cried the voice. + +Umslopogaas ran to the wall, and, reaching with his long arms to the +coping, lifted his head above it and gazed over. + +“I see but one man,” he said. “He is armed, and carries a basket in his +hand.” + +“Open the door,” I said. “Umslopogaas, take thine axe and stand +thereby. Let one man pass. If another follows, slay.” + +The door was unbarred. In the shadow of the wall stood Umslopogaas, his +axe raised above his head to strike. Just then the moon came out. There +was a moment’s pause, and then in stalked a Masai Elmoran, clad in the +full war panoply that I have already described, but bearing a large +basket in his hand. The moonlight shone bright upon his great spear as +he walked. He was physically a splendid man, apparently about +thirty-five years of age. Indeed, none of the Masai that I saw were +under six feet high, though mostly quite young. When he got opposite to +us he halted, put down the basket, and stuck the spike of his spear +into the ground, so that it stood upright. + +“Let us talk,” he said. “The first messenger we sent to you could not +talk;” and he pointed to the head which lay upon the paving of the +stoep—a ghastly sight in the moonlight; “but I have words to speak if +ye have ears to hear. Also I bring presents;” and he pointed to the +basket and laughed with an air of swaggering insolence that is +perfectly indescribable, and yet which one could not but admire, seeing +that he was surrounded by enemies. + +“Say on,” said Mr Mackenzie. + +“I am the ‘Lygonani’ [war captain] of a party of the Masai of the Guasa +Amboni. I and my men followed these three white men,” and he pointed to +Sir Henry, Good, and myself, “but they were too clever for us, and +escaped hither. We have a quarrel with them, and are going to kill +them.” + +“Are you, my friend?” said I to myself. + +“In following these men we this morning caught two black men, one black +woman, a white donkey, and a white girl. One of the black men we +killed—there is his head upon the pavement; the other ran away. The +black woman, the little white girl, and the white ass we took and +brought with us. In proof thereof have I brought this basket that she +carried. Is it not thy daughter’s basket?” + +Mr Mackenzie nodded, and the warrior went on. + +“Good! With thee and thy daughter we have no quarrel, nor do we wish to +harm thee, save as to thy cattle, which we have already gathered, two +hundred and forty head—a beast for every man’s father.”[6] + + [6] The Masai Elmoran or young warriors can own no property, so all + the booty they may win in battle belongs to their fathers alone.—A. Q. + +Here Mr Mackenzie gave a groan, as he greatly valued this herd of +cattle, which he bred with much care and trouble. + +“So, save for the cattle, thou mayst go free; more especially,” he +added frankly, glancing at the wall, “as this place would be a +difficult one to take. But as to these men it is otherwise; we have +followed them for nights and days, and must kill them. Were we to +return to our kraal without having done so, all the girls would make a +mock of us. So, however troublesome it may be, they must die. + +“Now I have a proposition for thee. We would not harm the little girl; +she is too fair to harm, and has besides a brave spirit. Give us one of +these three men—a life for a life—and we will let her go, and throw in +the black woman with her also. This is a fair offer, white man. We ask +but for one, not for the three; we must take another opportunity to +kill the other two. I do not even pick my man, though I should prefer +the big one,” pointing to Sir Henry; “he looks strong, and would die +more slowly.” + +“And if I say I will not yield the man?” said Mr Mackenzie. + +“Nay, say not so, white man,” answered the Masai, “for then thy +daughter dies at dawn, and the woman with her says thou hast no other +child. Were she older I would take her for a servant; but as she is so +young I will slay her with my own hand—ay, with this very spear. Thou +canst come and see, an’ thou wilt. I give thee a safe conduct;” and the +fiend laughed aloud at his brutal jest. + +Meanwhile I had been thinking rapidly, as one does in emergencies, and +had come to the conclusion that I would exchange myself against +Flossie. I scarcely like to mention the matter for fear it should be +misunderstood. Pray do not let any one be misled into thinking that +there was anything heroic about this, or any such nonsense. It was +merely a matter of common sense and common justice. My life was an old +and worthless one, hers was young and valuable. Her death would pretty +well kill her father and mother also, whilst nobody would be much the +worse for mine; indeed, several charitable institutions would have +cause to rejoice thereat. It was indirectly through me that the dear +little girl was in her present position. Lastly, a man was better +fitted to meet death in such a peculiarly awful form than a sweet young +girl. Not, however, that I meant to let these gentry torture me to +death—I am far too much of a coward to allow that, being naturally a +timid man; my plan was to see the girl safely exchanged and then to +shoot myself, trusting that the Almighty would take the peculiar +circumstances of the case into consideration and pardon the act. All +this and more went through my mind in very few seconds. + +“All right, Mackenzie,” I said, “you can tell the man that I will +exchange myself against Flossie, only I stipulate that she shall be +safely in this house before they kill me.” + +“Eh?” said Sir Henry and Good simultaneously. “That you don’t.” + +“No, no,” said Mr Mackenzie. “I will have no man’s blood upon my hands. +If it please God that my daughter should die this awful death, His will +be done. You are a brave man (which I am not by any means) and a noble +man, Quatermain, but you shall not go.” + +“If nothing else turns up I shall go,” I said decidedly. + +“This is an important matter,” said Mackenzie, addressing the Lygonani, +“and we must think it over. You shall have our answer at dawn.” + +“Very well, white man,” answered the savage indifferently; “only +remember if thy answer is late thy little white bud will never grow +into a flower, that is all, for I shall cut it with this,” and he +touched the spear. “I should have thought that thou wouldst play a +trick and attack us at night, but I know from the woman with the girl +that your men are down at the coast, and that thou hast but twenty men +here. It is not wise, white man,” he added with a laugh, “to keep so +small a garrison for your ‘boma’ [kraal]. Well, good night, and good +night to you also, other white men, whose eyelids I shall soon close +once and for all. At dawn thou wilt bring me word. If not, remember it +shall be as I have said.” Then turning to Umslopogaas, who had all the +while been standing behind him and shepherding him as it were, “Open +the door for me, fellow, quick now.” + +This was too much for the old chief’s patience. For the last ten +minutes his lips had been, figuratively speaking, positively watering +over the Masai Lygonani, and this he could not stand. Placing his long +hand on the Elmoran’s shoulder he gripped it and gave him such a twist +as brought him face to face with himself. Then, thrusting his fierce +countenance to within a few inches of the Masai’s evil feather-framed +features, he said in a low growling voice:— + +“Seest thou me?” + +“Ay, fellow, I see thee.” + +“And seest thou this?” and he held Inkosi-kaas before his eyes. + +“Ay, fellow, I see the toy; what of it?” + +“Thou Masai dog, thou boasting windbag, thou capturer of little girls, +with this ‘toy’ will I hew thee limb from limb. Well for thee that thou +art a herald, or even now would I strew thy members about the grass.” + +The Masai shook his great spear and laughed loud and long as he +answered, “I would that thou stoodst against me man to man, and we +would see,” and again he turned to go still laughing. + +“Thou shalt stand against me man to man, be not afraid,” replied +Umslopogaas, still in the same ominous voice. “Thou shalt stand face to +face with Umslopogaas, of the blood of Chaka, of the people of the +Amazulu, a captain in the regiment of the Nkomabakosi, as many have +done before, and bow thyself to Inkosi-kaas, as many have done before. +Ay, laugh on, laugh on! tomorrow night shall the jackals laugh as they +crunch thy ribs.” + +When the Lygonani had gone, one of us thought of opening the basket he +had brought as a proof that Flossie was really their prisoner. On +lifting the lid it was found to contain a most lovely specimen of both +bulb and flower of the Goya lily, which I have already described, in +full bloom and quite uninjured, and what was more a note in Flossie’s +childish hand written in pencil upon a greasy piece of paper that had +been used to wrap up some food in:— + +“DEAREST FATHER AND MOTHER,” ran the note, “The Masai caught us when we +were coming home with the lily. I tried to escape but could not. They +killed Tom: the other man ran away. They have not hurt nurse and me, +but say that they mean to exchange us against one of Mr Quatermain’s +party. _I will have nothing of the sort_. Do not let anybody give his +life for me. Try and attack them at night; they are going to feast on +three bullocks they have stolen and killed. I have my pistol, and if no +help comes by dawn I will shoot myself. They shall not kill me. If so, +remember me always, dearest father and mother. I am very frightened, +but I trust in God. I dare not write any more as they are beginning to +notice. Goodbye.—FLOSSIE.” + +Scrawled across the outside of this was “Love to Mr Quatermain. They +are going to take the basket, so he will get the lily.” + +When I read those words, written by that brave little girl in an hour +of danger sufficiently near and horrible to have turned the brain of a +strong man, I own I wept, and once more in my heart I vowed that she +should not die while my life could be given to save her. + +Then eagerly, quickly, almost fiercely, we fell to discussing the +situation. Again I said that I would go, and again Mackenzie negatived +it, and Curtis and Good, like the true men that they are, vowed that, +if I did, they would go with me, and die back to back with me. + +“It is,” I said at last, “absolutely necessary that an effort of some +sort should be made before the morning.” + +“Then let us attack them with what force we can muster, and take our +chance,” said Sir Henry. + +“Ay, ay,” growled Umslopogaas, in Zulu; “spoken like a man, Incubu. +What is there to be afraid of? Two hundred and fifty Masai, forsooth! +How many are we? The chief there [Mr Mackenzie] has twenty men, and +thou, Macumazahn, hast five men, and there are also five white men—that +is, thirty men in all—enough, enough. Listen now, Macumazahn, thou who +art very clever and old in war. What says the maid? These men eat and +make merry; let it be their funeral feast. What said the dog whom I +hope to hew down at daybreak? That he feared no attack because we were +so few. Knowest thou the old kraal where the men have camped? I saw it +this morning; it is thus:” and he drew an oval on the floor; “here is +the big entrance, filled up with thorn bushes, and opening on to a +steep rise. Why, Incubu, thou and I with axes will hold it against an +hundred men striving to break out! Look, now; thus shall the battle go. +Just as the light begins to glint upon the oxen’s horns—not before, or +it will be too dark, and not later, or they will be awakening and +perceive us—let Bougwan creep round with ten men to the top end of the +kraal, where the narrow entrance is. Let them silently slay the sentry +there so that he makes no sound, and stand ready. Then, Incubu, let +thee and me and one of the Askari—the one with the broad chest—he is a +brave man—creep to the wide entrance that is filled with thorn bushes, +and there also slay the sentry, and armed with battle-axes take our +stand also one on each side of the pathway, and one a few paces beyond +to deal with such as pass the twain at the gate. It is there that the +rush will come. That will leave sixteen men. Let these men be divided +into two parties, with one of which shalt thou go, Macumazahn, and with +one the ‘praying man’ [Mr Mackenzie], and, all armed with rifles, let +them make their way one to the right side of the kraal and one to the +left; and when thou, Macumazahn, lowest like an ox, all shall open fire +with the guns upon the sleeping men, being very careful not to hit the +little maid. Then shall Bougwan at the far end and his ten men raise +the war-cry, and, springing over the wall, put the Masai there to the +sword. And it shall happen that, being yet heavy with food and sleep, +and bewildered by the firing of the guns, the falling of men, and the +spears of Bougwan, the soldiers shall rise and rush like wild game +towards the thorn-stopped entrance, and there the bullets from either +side shall plough through them, and there shall Incubu and the Askari +and I wait for those who break across. Such is my plan, Macumazahn; if +thou hast a better, name it.” + +When he had done, I explained to the others such portions of his scheme +as they had failed to understand, and they all joined with me in +expressing the greatest admiration of the acute and skilful programme +devised by the old Zulu, who was indeed, in his own savage fashion, the +finest general I ever knew. After some discussion we determined to +accept the scheme, as it stood, it being the only one possible under +the circumstances, and giving the best chance of success that such a +forlorn hope would admit of—which, however, considering the enormous +odds and the character of our foe, was not very great. + +“Ah, old lion!” I said to Umslopogaas, “thou knowest how to lie in wait +as well as how to bite, where to seize as well as where to hang on.” + +“Ay, ay, Macumazahn,” he answered. “For thirty years have I been a +warrior, and have seen many things. It will be a good fight. I smell +blood—I tell thee, I smell blood.” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. +THE NIGHT WEARS ON + + +As may be imagined, at the very first sign of a Masai the entire +population of the Mission Station had sought refuge inside the stout +stone wall, and were now to be seen—men, women, and countless +children—huddled up together in little groups, and all talking at once +in awed tones of the awfulness of Masai manners and customs, and of the +fate that they had to expect if those bloodthirsty savages succeeded in +getting over the stone wall. + +Immediately after we had settled upon the outline of our plan of action +as suggested by Umslopogaas, Mr Mackenzie sent for four sharp boys of +from twelve to fifteen years of age, and despatched them to various +points where they could keep an outlook upon the Masai camp, with +others to report from time to time what was going on. Other lads and +even women were stationed at intervals along the wall in order to guard +against the possibility of surprise. + +After this the twenty men who formed his whole available fighting force +were summoned by our host into the square formed by the house, and +there, standing by the bole of the great conifer, he earnestly +addressed them and our four Askari. Indeed, it formed a very impressive +scene—one not likely to be forgotten by anybody who witnessed it. +Immediately by the tree stood the angular form of Mr Mackenzie, one arm +outstretched as he talked, and the other resting against the giant +bole, his hat off, and his plain but kindly face clearly betraying the +anguish of his mind. Next to him was his poor wife, who, seated on a +chair, had her face hidden in her hand. On the other side of her was +Alphonse, looking exceedingly uncomfortable, and behind him stood the +three of us, with Umslopogaas’ grim and towering form in the +background, resting, as usual, on his axe. In front stood and squatted +the group of armed men—some with rifles in their hands, and others with +spears and shields—following with eager attention every word that fell +from the speaker’s lips. The white light of the moon peering in beneath +the lofty boughs threw a strange wild glamour over the scene, whilst +the melancholy soughing of the night wind passing through the millions +of pine needles overhead added a sadness of its own to what was already +a sufficiently tragic occasion. + +“Men,” said Mr Mackenzie, after he had put all the circumstances of the +case fully and clearly before them, and explained to them the proposed +plan of our forlorn hope—“men, for years I have been a good friend to +you, protecting you, teaching you, guarding you and yours from harm, +and ye have prospered with me. Ye have seen my child—the Water-lily, as +ye call her—grow year by year, from tenderest infancy to tender +childhood, and from childhood on towards maidenhood. She has been your +children’s playmate, she has helped to tend you when sick, and ye have +loved her.” + +“We have,” said a deep voice, “and we will die to save her.” + +“I thank you from my heart—I thank you. Sure am I that now, in this +hour of darkest trouble; now that her young life is like to be cut off +by cruel and savage men—who of a truth ‘know not what they do’—ye will +strive your best to save her, and to save me and her mother from broken +hearts. Think, too, of your own wives and children. If she dies, her +death will be followed by an attack upon us here, and at the best, even +if we hold our own, your houses and gardens will be destroyed, and your +goods and cattle swept away. I am, as ye well know, a man of peace. +Never in all these years have I lifted my hand to shed man’s blood; but +now I say strike, strike, in the name of God, Who bade us protect our +lives and homes. Swear to me,” he went on with added fervour—“swear to +me that whilst a man of you remains alive ye will strive your uttermost +with me and with these brave white men to save the child from a bloody +and cruel death.” + +“Say no more, my father,” said the same deep voice, that belonged to a +stalwart elder of the Mission; “we swear it. May we and ours die the +death of dogs, and our bones be thrown to the jackals and the kites, if +we break the oath! It is a fearful thing to do, my father, so few to +strike at so many, yet will we do it or die in the doing. We swear!” + +“Ay, thus say we all,” chimed in the others. + +“Thus say we all,” said I. + +“It is well,” went on Mr Mackenzie. “Ye are true men and not broken +reeds to lean on. And now, friends—white and black together—let us +kneel and offer up our humble supplication to the Throne of Power, +praying that He in the hollow of Whose hand lie all our lives, Who +giveth life and giveth death, may be pleased to make strong our arms +that we may prevail in what awaits us at the morning’s light.” + +And he knelt down, an example that we all followed except Umslopogaas, +who still stood in the background, grimly leaning on Inkosi-kaas. The +fierce old Zulu had no gods and worshipped nought, unless it were his +battleaxe. + +“Oh God of gods!” began the clergyman, his deep voice, tremulous with +emotion, echoing up in the silence even to the leafy roof; “Protector +of the oppressed, Refuge of those in danger, Guardian of the helpless, +hear Thou our prayer! Almighty Father, to Thee we come in supplication. +Hear Thou our prayer! Behold, one child hast Thou given us—an innocent +child, nurtured in Thy knowledge—and now she lies beneath the shadow of +the sword, in danger of a fearful death at the hands of savage men. Be +with her now, oh God, and comfort her! Save her, oh Heavenly Father! Oh +God of battle, Who teacheth our hands to war and our fingers to fight, +in Whose strength are hid the destinies of men, be Thou with us in the +hour of strife. When we go forth into the shadow of death, make Thou us +strong to conquer. Breathe Thou upon our foes and scatter them; turn +Thou their strength to water, and bring their high-blown pride to +nought; compass us about with Thy protection; throw over us the shield +of Thy power; forget us not now in the hour of our sore distress; help +us now that the cruel man would dash our little ones against the +stones! Hear Thou our prayer! And for those of us who, kneeling now on +earth in health before Thee, shall at the sunrise adore Thy Presence on +the Throne, hear our prayer! Make them clean, oh God; wash away their +offences in the blood of the Lamb; and when their spirits pass, oh +receive Thou them into the haven of the just. Go forth, oh Father, go +forth with us into the battle, as with the Israelites of old. Oh God of +battle, hear Thou our prayer!” + +He ceased, and after a moment’s silence we all rose, and then began our +preparations in good earnest. As Umslopogaas said, it was time to stop +“talking” and get to business. The men who were to form each little +party were carefully selected, and still more carefully and minutely +instructed as to what was to be done. After much consideration it was +agreed that the ten men led by Good, whose duty it was to stampede the +camp, were not to carry firearms; that is, with the exception of Good +himself, who had a revolver as well as a short sword—the Masai “sime” +which I had taken from the body of our poor servant who was murdered in +the canoe. We feared that if they had firearms the result of three +cross-fires carried on at once would be that some of our own people +would be shot; besides, it appeared to all of us that the work they had +to do would best be carried out with cold steel—especially to +Umslopogaas, who was, indeed, a great advocate of cold steel. We had +with us four Winchester repeating rifles, besides half a dozen +Martinis. I armed myself with one of the repeaters—my own; an excellent +weapon for this kind of work, where great rapidity of fire is +desirable, and fitted with ordinary flap-sights instead of the +cumbersome sliding mechanism which they generally have. Mr Mackenzie +took another, and the two remaining ones were given to two of his men +who understood the use of them and were noted shots. The Martinis and +some rifles of Mr Mackenzie’s were served out, together with a +plentiful supply of ammunition, to the other natives who were to form +the two parties whose duty it was to be to open fire from separate +sides of the kraal on the sleeping Masai, and who were fortunately all +more or less accustomed to the use of a gun. + +As for Umslopogaas, we know how he was armed—with an axe. It may be +remembered that he, Sir Henry, and the strongest of the Askari were to +hold the thorn-stopped entrance to the kraal against the anticipated +rush of men striving to escape. Of course, for such a purpose as this +guns were useless. Therefore Sir Henry and the Askari proceeded to arm +themselves in like fashion. It so happened that Mr Mackenzie had in his +little store a selection of the very best and English-made +hammer-backed axe-heads. Sir Henry selected one of these weighing about +two and a half pounds and very broad in the blade, and the Askari took +another a size smaller. After Umslopogaas had put an extra edge on +these two axe-heads, we fixed them to three feet six helves, of which +Mr Mackenzie fortunately had some in stock, made of a light but +exceedingly tough native wood, something like English ash, only more +springy. When two suitable helves had been selected with great care and +the ends of the hafts notched to prevent the hand from slipping, the +axe-heads were fixed on them as firmly as possible, and the weapons +immersed in a bucket of water for half an hour. The result of this was +to swell the wood in the socket in such a fashion that nothing short of +burning would get it out again. When this important matter had been +attended to by Umslopogaas, I went into my room and proceeded to open a +little tin-lined deal case, which contained—what do you think?—nothing +more or less than four mail shirts. + +It had happened to us three on a previous journey that we had made in +another part of Africa to owe our lives to iron shirts of native make, +and remembering this, I had suggested before we started on our present +hazardous expedition that we should have some made to fit us. There was +a little difficulty about this, as armour-making is pretty well an +extinct art, but they can do most things in the way of steel work in +Birmingham if they are put to it and you will pay the price, and the +end of it was that they turned us out the loveliest steel shirts it is +possible to see. The workmanship was exceedingly fine, the web being +composed of thousands upon thousands of stout but tiny rings of the +best steel made. These shirts, or rather steel-sleeved and high-necked +jerseys, were lined with ventilated wash leather, were not bright, but +browned like the barrel of a gun; and mine weighed exactly seven pounds +and fitted me so well that I found I could wear it for days next to my +skin without being chafed. Sir Henry had two, one of the ordinary make, +viz. a jersey with little dependent flaps meant to afford some +protection to the upper part of the thighs, and another of his own +design fashioned on the pattern of the garments advertised as +“combinations” and weighing twelve pounds. This combination shirt, of +which the seat was made of wash-leather, protected the whole body down +to the knees, but was rather more cumbersome, inasmuch as it had to be +laced up at the back and, of course, involved some extra weight. With +these shirts were what looked like four brown cloth travelling caps +with ear pieces. Each of these caps was, however, quilted with steel +links so as to afford a most valuable protection for the head. + +It seems almost laughable to talk of steel shirts in these days of +bullets, against which they are of course quite useless; but where one +has to do with savages, armed with cutting weapons such as assegais or +battle-axes, they afford the most valuable protection, being, if well +made, quite invulnerable to them. I have often thought that if only the +English Government had in our savage wars, and more especially in the +Zulu war, thought fit to serve out light steel shirts, there would be +many a man alive today who, as it is, is dead and forgotten. + +To return: on the present occasion we blessed our foresight in bringing +these shirts, and also our good luck, in that they had not been stolen +by our rascally bearers when they ran away with our goods. As Curtis +had two, and after considerable deliberation, had made up his mind to +wear his combination one himself—the extra three or four pounds’ weight +being a matter of no account to so strong a man, and the protection +afforded to the thighs being a very important matter to a fighting man +not armed with a shield of any kind—I suggested that he should lend the +other to Umslopogaas, who was to share the danger and the glory of his +post. He readily consented, and called the Zulu, who came bearing Sir +Henry’s axe, which he had now fixed up to his satisfaction, with him. +When we showed him the steel shirt, and explained to him that we wanted +him to wear it, he at first declined, saying that he had fought in his +own skin for thirty years, and that he was not going to begin now to +fight in an iron one. Thereupon I took a heavy spear, and, spreading +the shirt upon the floor, drove the spear down upon it with all my +strength, the weapon rebounding without leaving a mark upon the +tempered steel. This exhibition half converted him; and when I pointed +out to him how necessary it was that he should not let any +old-fashioned prejudices he might possess stand in the way of a +precaution which might preserve a valuable life at a time when men were +scarce, and also that if he wore this shirt he might dispense with a +shield, and so have both hands free, he yielded at once, and proceeded +to invest his frame with the “iron skin”. And indeed, although made for +Sir Henry, it fitted the great Zulu like a skin. The two men were +almost of a height; and, though Curtis looked the bigger man, I am +inclined to think that the difference was more imaginary than real, the +fact being that, although he was plumper and rounder, he was not really +bigger, except in the arm. Umslopogaas had, comparatively speaking, +thin arms, but they were as strong as wire ropes. At any rate, when +they both stood, axe in hand, invested in the brown mail, which clung +to their mighty forms like a web garment, showing the swell of every +muscle and the curve of every line, they formed a pair that any ten men +might shrink from meeting. + +It was now nearly one o’clock in the morning, and the spies reported +that, after having drunk the blood of the oxen and eaten enormous +quantities of meat, the Masai were going to sleep round their +watchfires; but that sentries had been posted at each opening of the +kraal. Flossie, they added, was sitting not far from the wall in the +centre of the western side of the kraal, and by her were the nurse and +the white donkey, which was tethered to a peg. Her feet were bound with +a rope, and warriors were lying about all round her. + +As there was absolutely nothing further that could be done then we all +took some supper, and went to lie down for a couple of hours. I could +not help admiring the way in which old Umslopogaas flung himself upon +the floor, and, unmindful of what was hanging over him, instantly sank +into a deep sleep. I do not know how it was with the others, but I +could not do as much. Indeed, as is usual with me on these occasions, I +am sorry to say that I felt rather frightened; and, now that some of +the enthusiasm had gone out of me, and I began to calmly contemplate +what we had undertaken to do, truth compels me to add that I did not +like it. We were but thirty men all told, a good many of whom were no +doubt quite unused to fighting, and we were going to engage two hundred +and fifty of the fiercest, bravest, and most formidable savages in +Africa, who, to make matters worse, were protected by a stone wall. It +was, indeed, a mad undertaking, and what made it even madder was the +exceeding improbability of our being able to take up our positions +without attracting the notice of the sentries. Of course if we once did +that—and any slight accident, such as the chance discharge of a gun, +might do it—we were done for, for the whole camp would be up in a +second, and our only hope lay in surprise. + +The bed whereon I lay indulging in these uncomfortable reflections was +near an open window that looked on to the veranda, through which came +an extraordinary sound of groaning and weeping. For a time I could not +make out what it was, but at last I got up and, putting my head out of +the window, stared about. Presently I saw a dim figure kneeling on the +end of the veranda and beating his breast—in which I recognized +Alphonse. Not being able to understand his French talk or what on earth +he was at, I called to him and asked him what he was doing. + +“Ah, monsieur,” he sighed, “I do make prayer for the souls of those +whom I shall slay tonight.” + +“Indeed,” I said, “then I wish that you would do it a little more +quietly.” + +Alphonse retreated, and I heard no more of his groans. And so the time +passed, till at length Mr Mackenzie called me in a whisper through the +window, for of course everything had now to be done in the most +absolute silence. “Three o’clock,” he said: “we must begin to move at +half-past.” + +I told him to come in, and presently he entered, and I am bound to say +that if it had not been that just then I had not got a laugh anywhere +about me, I should have exploded at the sight he presented armed for +battle. To begin with, he had on a clergyman’s black swallow-tail and a +kind of broad-rimmed black felt hat, both of which he had donned on +account, he said, of their dark colour. In his hand was the Winchester +repeating rifle we had lent him; and stuck in an elastic cricketing +belt, like those worn by English boys, were, first, a huge +buckhorn-handled carving knife with a guard to it, and next a +long-barrelled Colt’s revolver. + +“Ah, my friend,” he said, seeing me staring at his belt, “you are +looking at my ‘carver’. I thought it might come in handy if we came to +close quarters; it is excellent steel, and many is the pig I have +killed with it.” + +By this time everybody was up and dressing. I put on a light Norfolk +jacket over my mail shirt in order to have a pocket handy to hold my +cartridges, and buckled on my revolver. Good did the same, but Sir +Henry put on nothing except his mail shirt, steel-lined cap, and a pair +of “veldt-schoons” or soft hide shoes, his legs being bare from the +knees down. His revolver he strapped on round his middle outside the +armoured shirt. + +Meanwhile Umslopogaas was mustering the men in the square under the big +tree and going the rounds to see that each was properly armed, etc. At +the last moment we made one change. Finding that two of the men who +were to have gone with the firing parties knew little or nothing of +guns, but were good spearsmen, we took away their rifles, supplied them +with shields and long spears of the Masai pattern, and took them off to +join Curtis, Umslopogaas, and the Askari in holding the wide opening; +it having become clear to us that three men, however brave and strong, +were too few for the work. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. +A SLAUGHTER GRIM AND GREAT + + +Then there was a pause, and we stood there in the chilly silent +darkness waiting till the moment came to start. It was, perhaps, the +most trying time of all—that slow, slow quarter of an hour. The minutes +seemed to drag along with leaden feet, and the quiet, the solemn hush, +that brooded over all—big, as it were, with a coming fate, was most +oppressive to the spirits. I once remember having to get up before dawn +to see a man hanged, and I then went through a very similar set of +sensations, only in the present instance my feelings were animated by +that more vivid and personal element which naturally appertains rather +to the person to be operated on than to the most sympathetic spectator. +The solemn faces of the men, well aware that the short passage of an +hour would mean for some, and perhaps all of them, the last great +passage to the unknown or oblivion; the bated whispers in which they +spoke; even Sir Henry’s continuous and thoughtful examination of his +woodcutter’s axe and the fidgety way in which Good kept polishing his +eyeglass, all told the same tale of nerves stretched pretty nigh to +breaking-point. Only Umslopogaas, leaning as usual upon Inkosi-kaas and +taking an occasional pinch of snuff, was to all appearance perfectly +and completely unmoved. Nothing could touch his iron nerves. + +The moon went down. For a long while she had been getting nearer and +nearer to the horizon. Now she finally sank and left the world in +darkness save for a faint grey tinge in the eastern sky that palely +heralded the dawn. + +Mr Mackenzie stood, watch in hand, his wife clinging to his arm and +striving to stifle her sobs. + +“Twenty minutes to four,” he said, “it ought to be light enough to +attack at twenty minutes past four. Captain Good had better be moving, +he will want three or four minutes’ start.” + +Good gave one final polish to his eyeglass, nodded to us in a jocular +sort of way—which I could not help feeling it must have cost him +something to muster up—and, ever polite, took off his steel-lined cap +to Mrs Mackenzie and started for his position at the head of the kraal, +to reach which he had to make a detour by some paths known to the +natives. + +Just then one of the boys came in and reported that everybody in the +Masai camp, with the exception of the two sentries who were walking up +and down in front of the respective entrances, appeared to be fast +asleep. Then the rest of us took the road. First came the guide, then +Sir Henry, Umslopogaas, the Wakwafi Askari, and Mr Mackenzie’s two +mission natives armed with long spears and shields. I followed +immediately after with Alphonse and five natives all armed with guns, +and Mr Mackenzie brought up the rear with the six remaining natives. + +The cattle kraal where the Masai were camped lay at the foot of the +hill on which the house stood, or, roughly speaking, about eight +hundred yards from the Mission buildings. The first five hundred yards +of this distance we traversed quietly indeed, but at a good pace; after +that we crept forward as silently as a leopard on his prey, gliding +like ghosts from bush to bush and stone to stone. When I had gone a +little way I chanced to look behind me, and saw the redoubtable +Alphonse staggering along with white face and trembling knees, and his +rifle, which was at full cock, pointed directly at the small of my +back. Having halted and carefully put the rifle at “safety”, we started +again, and all went well till we were within one hundred yards or so of +the kraal, when his teeth began to chatter in the most aggressive way. + +“If you don’t stop that I will kill you,” I whispered savagely; for the +idea of having all our lives sacrificed to a tooth-chattering cook was +too much for me. I began to fear that he would betray us, and heartily +wished we had left him behind. + +“But, monsieur, I cannot help it,” he answered, “it is the cold.” + +Here was a dilemma, but fortunately I devised a plan. In the pocket of +the coat I had on was a small piece of dirty rag that I had used some +time before to clean a gun with. “Put this in your mouth,” I whispered +again, giving him the rag; “and if I hear another sound you are a dead +man.” I knew that that would stifle the clatter of his teeth. I must +have looked as if I meant what I said, for he instantly obeyed me, and +continued his journey in silence. + +Then we crept on again. + +At last we were within fifty yards of the kraal. Between us and it was +an open space of sloping grass with only one mimosa bush and a couple +of tussocks of a sort of thistle for cover. We were still hidden in +fairly thick bush. It was beginning to grow light. The stars had paled +and a sickly gleam played about the east and was reflected on the +earth. We could see the outline of the kraal clearly enough, and could +also make out the faint glimmer of the dying embers of the Masai +camp-fires. We halted and watched, for the sentry we knew was posted at +the opening. Presently he appeared, a fine tall fellow, walking idly up +and down within five paces of the thorn-stopped entrance. We had hoped +to catch him napping, but it was not to be. He seemed particularly wide +awake. If we could not kill that man, and kill him silently, we were +lost. There we crouched and watched him. Presently Umslopogaas, who was +a few paces ahead of me, turned and made a sign, and next second I saw +him go down on his stomach like a snake, and, taking an opportunity +when the sentry’s head was turned, begin to work his way through the +grass without a sound. + +The unconscious sentry commenced to hum a little tune, and Umslopogaas +crept on. He reached the shelter of the mimosa bush unperceived and +there waited. Still the sentry walked up and down. Presently he turned +and looked over the wall into the camp. Instantly the human snake who +was stalking him glided on ten yards and got behind one of the tussocks +of the thistle-like plant, reaching it as the Elmoran turned again. As +he did so his eye fell upon this patch of thistles, and it seemed to +strike him that it did not look quite right. He advanced a pace towards +it—halted, yawned, stooped down, picked up a little pebble and threw it +at it. It hit Umslopogaas upon the head, luckily not upon the armour +shirt. Had it done so the clink would have betrayed us. Luckily, too, +the shirt was browned and not bright steel, which would certainly have +been detected. Apparently satisfied that there was nothing wrong, he +then gave over his investigations and contented himself with leaning on +his spear and standing gazing idly at the tuft. For at least three +minutes did he stand thus, plunged apparently in a gentle reverie, and +there we lay in the last extremity of anxiety, expecting every moment +that we should be discovered or that some untoward accident would +happen. I could hear Alphonse’s teeth going like anything on the oiled +rag, and turning my head round made an awful face at him. But I am +bound to state that my own heart was at much the same game as the +Frenchman’s castanets, while the perspiration was pouring from my body, +causing the wash-leather-lined shirt to stick to me unpleasantly, and +altogether I was in the pitiable state known by schoolboys as a “blue +fright”. + +At last the ordeal came to an end. The sentry glanced at the east, and +appeared to note with satisfaction that his period of duty was coming +to an end—as indeed it was, once and for all—for he rubbed his hands +and began to walk again briskly to warm himself. + +The moment his back was turned the long black snake glided on again, +and reached the other thistle tuft, which was within a couple of paces +of his return beat. + +Back came the sentry and strolled right past the tuft, utterly +unconscious of the presence that was crouching behind it. Had he looked +down he could scarcely have failed to see, but he did not do so. + +He passed, and then his hidden enemy erected himself, and with +outstretched hand followed in his tracks. + +A moment more, and, just as the Elmoran was about to turn, the great +Zulu made a spring, and in the growing light we could see his long lean +hands close round the Masai’s throat. Then followed a convulsive +twining of the two dark bodies, and in another second I saw the Masai’s +head bent back, and heard a sharp crack, something like that of a dry +twig snapping, and he fell down upon the ground, his limbs moving +spasmodically. + +Umslopogaas had put out all his iron strength and broken the warrior’s +neck. + +For a moment he knelt upon his victim, still gripping his throat till +he was sure that there was nothing more to fear from him, and then he +rose and beckoned to us to advance, which we did on all fours, like a +colony of huge apes. On reaching the kraal we saw that the Masai had +still further choked this entrance, which was about ten feet wide—no +doubt in order to guard against attack—by dragging four or five tops of +mimosa trees up to it. So much the better for us, I reflected; the more +obstruction there was the slower would they be able to come through. +Here we separated; Mackenzie and his party creeping up under the shadow +of the wall to the left, while Sir Henry and Umslopogaas took their +stations one on each side of the thorn fence, the two spearmen and the +Askari lying down in front of it. I and my men crept on up the right +side of the kraal, which was about fifty paces long. + +When I was two-thirds up I halted, and placed my men at distances of +four paces from one another, keeping Alphonse close to me, however. +Then I peeped for the first time over the wall. It was getting fairly +light now, and the first thing I saw was the white donkey, exactly +opposite to me, and close by it I could make out the pale face of +little Flossie, who was sitting as the lad had described, some ten +paces from the wall. Round her lay many warriors, sleeping. At +distances all over the surface of the kraal were the remains of fires, +round each of which slept some five-and-twenty Masai, for the most part +gorged with food. Now and then a man would raise himself, yawn, and +look at the east, which was turning primrose; but none got up. I +determined to wait another five minutes, both to allow the light to +increase, so that we could make better shooting, and to give Good and +his party—of whom we could see or hear nothing—every opportunity to +make ready. + +The quiet dawn began to throw her ever-widening mantle over plain and +forest and river—mighty Kenia, wrapped in the silence of eternal snows, +looked out across the earth—till presently a beam from the unrisen sun +lit upon his heaven-kissing crest and purpled it with blood; the sky +above grew blue, and tender as a mother’s smile; a bird began to pipe +his morning song, and a little breeze passing through the bush shook +down the dewdrops in millions to refresh the waking world. Everywhere +was peace and the happiness of arising strength, everywhere save in the +heart of cruel man! + +Suddenly, just as I was nerving myself for the signal, having already +selected my man on whom I meant to open fire—a great fellow sprawling +on the ground within three feet of little Flossie—Alphonse’s teeth +began to chatter again like the hoofs of a galloping giraffe, making a +great noise in the silence. The rag had dropped out in the agitation of +his mind. Instantly a Masai within three paces of us woke, and, sitting +up, gazed about him, looking for the cause of the sound. Moved beyond +myself, I brought the butt-end of my rifle down on to the pit of the +Frenchman’s stomach. This stopped his chattering; but, as he doubled +up, he managed to let off his gun in such a manner that the bullet +passed within an inch of my head. + +There was no need for a signal now. From both sides of the kraal broke +out a waving line of fire, in which I myself joined, managing with a +snap shot to knock over my Masai by Flossie, just as he was jumping up. +Then from the top end of the kraal there rang an awful yell, in which I +rejoiced to recognize Good’s piercing notes rising clear and shrill +above the din, and in another second followed such a scene as I have +never seen before nor shall again. With an universal howl of terror and +fury the brawny crowd of savages within the kraal sprang to their feet, +many of them to fall again beneath our well-directed hail of lead +before they had moved a yard. For a moment they stood undecided, and +then hearing the cries and curses that rose unceasingly from the top +end of the kraal, and bewildered by the storm of bullets, they as by +one impulse rushed down towards the thorn-stopped entrance. As they +went we kept pouring our fire with terrible effect into the thickening +mob as fast as we could load. I had emptied my repeater of the ten +shots it contained and was just beginning to slip in some more when I +bethought me of little Flossie. Looking up, I saw that the white donkey +was lying kicking, having been knocked over either by one of our +bullets or a Masai spear-thrust. There were no living Masai near, but +the black nurse was on her feet and with a spear cutting the rope that +bound Flossie’s feet. Next second she ran to the wall of the kraal and +began to climb over it, an example which the little girl followed. But +Flossie was evidently very stiff and cramped, and could only go slowly, +and as she went two Masai flying down the kraal caught sight of her and +rushed towards her to kill her. The first fellow came up just as the +poor little girl, after a desperate effort to climb the wall, fell back +into the kraal. Up flashed the great spear, and as it did so a bullet +from my rifle found its home in the holder’s ribs, and over he went +like a shot rabbit. But behind him was the other man, and, alas, I had +only that one cartridge in the magazine! Flossie had scrambled to her +feet and was facing the second man, who was advancing with raised +spear. I turned my head aside and felt sick as death. I could not bear +to see him stab her. Glancing up again, to my surprise I saw the +Masai’s spear lying on the ground, while the man himself was staggering +about with both hands to his head. Suddenly I saw a puff of smoke +proceeding apparently from Flossie, and the man fell down headlong. +Then I remembered the Derringer pistol she carried, and saw that she +had fired both barrels of it at him, thereby saving her life. In +another instant she had made an effort, and assisted by the nurse, who +was lying on the top, had scrambled over the wall, and I knew that she +was, comparatively speaking, safe. + +All this takes time to tell, but I do not suppose that it took more +than fifteen seconds to enact. I soon got the magazine of the repeater +filled again with cartridges, and once more opened fire, not on the +seething black mass which was gathering at the end of the kraal, but on +fugitives who bethought them to climb the wall. I picked off several of +these men, moving down towards the end of the kraal as I did so, and +arriving at the corner, or rather the bend of the oval, in time to see, +and by means of my rifle to assist in, the mighty struggle that took +place there. + +By this time some two hundred Masai—allowing that we had up to the +present accounted for fifty—had gathered together in front of the +thorn-stopped entrance, driven thither by the spears of Good’s men, +whom they doubtless supposed were a large force instead of being but +ten strong. For some reason it never occurred to them to try and rush +the wall, which they could have scrambled over with comparative ease; +they all made for the fence, which was really a strongly interwoven +fortification. With a bound the first warrior went at it, and even +before he touched the ground on the other side I saw Sir Henry’s great +axe swing up and fall with awful force upon his feather head-piece, and +he sank into the middle of the thorns. Then with a yell and a crash +they began to break through as they might, and ever as they came the +great axe swung and Inkosi-kaas flashed and they fell dead one by one, +each man thus helping to build up a barrier against his fellows. Those +who escaped the axes of the pair fell at the hands of the Askari and +the two Mission Kaffirs, and those who passed scatheless from them were +brought low by my own and Mackenzie’s fire. + +Faster and more furious grew the fighting. Single Masai would spring +upon the dead bodies of their comrades, and engage one or other of the +axemen with their long spears; but, thanks chiefly to the mail shirts, +the result was always the same. Presently there was a great swing of +the axe, a crashing sound, and another dead Masai. That is, if the man +was engaged with Sir Henry. If it was Umslopogaas that he fought with +the result indeed would be the same, but it would be differently +attained. It was but rarely that the Zulu used the crashing +double-handed stroke; on the contrary, he did little more than tap +continually at his adversary’s head, pecking at it with the pole-axe +end of the axe as a woodpecker[7] pecks at rotten wood. Presently a +peck would go home, and his enemy would drop down with a neat little +circular hole in his forehead or skull, exactly similar to that which a +cheese-scoop makes in a cheese. He never used the broad blade of the +axe except when hard pressed, or when striking at a shield. He told me +afterwards that he did not consider it sportsmanlike. + + [7] As I think I have already said, one of Umslopogaas’s Zulu names + was the “Woodpecker”. I could never make out why he was called so + until I saw him in action with Inkosi-kaas, when I at once recognized + the resemblance.—A. Q. + +Good and his men were quite close by now, and our people had to cease +firing into the mass for fear of killing some of them (as it was, one +of them was slain in this way). Mad and desperate with fear, the Masai +by a frantic effort burst through the thorn fence and piled-up dead, +and, sweeping Curtis, Umslopogaas, and the other three before them, +into the open. And now it was that we began to lose men fast. Down went +our poor Askari who was armed with the axe, a great spear standing out +a foot behind his back; and before long the two spearsmen who had stood +with him went down too, dying fighting like tigers; and others of our +party shared their fate. For a moment I feared the fight was +lost—certainly it trembled in the balance. I shouted to my men to cast +down their rifles, and to take spears and throw themselves into the +_mêlée_. They obeyed, their blood being now thoroughly up, and Mr +Mackenzie’s people followed their example. + +This move had a momentary good result, but still the fight hung in the +balance. + +Our people fought magnificently, hurling themselves upon the dark mass +of Elmoran, hewing, thrusting, slaying, and being slain. And ever above +the din rose Good’s awful yell of encouragement as he plunged to +wherever the fight was thickest; and ever, with an almost machine-like +regularity, the two axes rose and fell, carrying death and disablement +at every stroke. But I could see that the strain was beginning to tell +upon Sir Henry, who was bleeding from several flesh wounds: his breath +was coming in gasps, and the veins stood out on his forehead like blue +and knotted cords. Even Umslopogaas, man of iron that he was, was hard +pressed. I noticed that he had given up “woodpecking”, and was now +using the broad blade of Inkosi-kaas, “browning” his enemy wherever he +could hit him, instead of drilling scientific holes in his head. I +myself did not go into the _mêlée_, but hovered outside like the swift +“back” in a football scrimmage, putting a bullet through a Masai +whenever I got a chance. I was more use so. I fired forty-nine +cartridges that morning, and I did not miss many shots. + +Presently, do as we would, the beam of the balance began to rise +against us. We had not more than fifteen or sixteen effectives left +now, and the Masai had at least fifty. Of course if they had kept their +heads, and shaken themselves together, they could soon have made an end +of the matter; but that is just what they did not do, not having yet +recovered from their start, and some of them having actually fled from +their sleeping-places without their weapons. Still by now many +individuals were fighting with their normal courage and discretion, and +this alone was sufficient to defeat us. To make matters worse just +then, when Mackenzie’s rifle was empty, a brawny savage armed with a +“sime”, or sword, made a rush for him. The clergyman flung down his +gun, and drawing his huge carver from his elastic belt (his revolver +had dropped out in the fight), they closed in desperate struggle. +Presently, locked in a close embrace, missionary and Masai rolled on +the ground behind the wall, and for some time I, being amply occupied +with my own affairs, and in keeping my skin from being pricked, +remained in ignorance of his fate or how the duel had ended. + +To and fro surged the fight, slowly turning round like the vortex of a +human whirlpool, and the matter began to look very bad for us. Just +then, however, a fortunate thing happened. Umslopogaas, either by +accident or design, broke out of the ring and engaged a warrior at some +few paces from it. As he did so, another man ran up and struck him with +all his force between his shoulders with his great spear, which, +falling on the tough steel shirt, failed to pierce it and rebounded. +For a moment the man stared aghast—protective armour being unknown +among these tribes—and then he yelled out at the top of his voice— + +“_They are devils—bewitched, bewitched!_” And seized by a sudden panic, +he threw down his spear, and began to fly. I cut short his career with +a bullet, and Umslopogaas brained his man, and then the panic spread to +the others. + +“_Bewitched, bewitched!_” they cried, and tried to escape in every +direction, utterly demoralized and broken-spirited, for the most part +even throwing down their shields and spears. + +On the last scene of that dreadful fight I need not dwell. It was a +slaughter great and grim, in which no quarter was asked or given. One +incident, however, is worth detailing. Just as I was hoping that it was +all done with, suddenly from under a heap of slain where he had been +hiding, an unwounded warrior sprang up, and, clearing the piles of +dying dead like an antelope, sped like the wind up the kraal towards +the spot where I was standing at the moment. But he was not alone, for +Umslopogaas came gliding on his tracks with the peculiar swallow-like +motion for which he was noted, and as they neared me I recognized in +the Masai the herald of the previous night. Finding that, run as he +would, his pursuer was gaining on him, the man halted and turned round +to give battle. Umslopogaas also pulled up. + +“Ah, ah,” he cried, in mockery, to the Elmoran, “it is thou whom I +talked with last night—the Lygonani! the Herald! the capturer of little +girls—he who would kill a little girl! And thou didst hope to stand man +to man and face to face with Umslopogaas, an Induna of the tribe of the +Maquilisini, of the people of the Amazulu? Behold, thy prayer is +granted! And I didst swear to hew thee limb from limb, thou insolent +dog. Behold, I will do it even now!” + +The Masai ground his teeth with fury, and charged at the Zulu with his +spear. As he came, Umslopogaas deftly stepped aside, and swinging +Inkosi-kaas high above his head with both hands, brought the broad +blade down with such fearful force from behind upon the Masai’s +shoulder just where the neck is set into the frame, that its razor edge +shore right through bone and flesh and muscle, almost severing the head +and one arm from the body. + +“_Ou!_” ejaculated Umslopogaas, contemplating the corpse of his foe; “I +have kept my word. It was a good stroke.” + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +ALPHONSE EXPLAINS + + +And so the fight was ended. On returning from the shocking scene it +suddenly struck me that I had seen nothing of Alphonse since the +moment, some twenty minutes before—for though this fight has taken a +long while to describe, it did not take long in reality—when I had been +forced to hit him in the wind with the result of nearly getting myself +shot. Fearing that the poor little man had perished in the battle, I +began to hunt among the dead for his body, but, not being able either +to see or hear anything of it, I concluded that he must have survived, +and walked down the side of the kraal where we had first taken our +stand, calling him by name. Now some fifteen paces back from the kraal +wall stood a very ancient tree of the banyan species. So ancient was it +that all the inside had in the course of ages decayed away, leaving +nothing but a shell of bark. + +“Alphonse,” I called, as I walked down the wall. “Alphonse!” + +“Oui, monsieur,” answered a voice. “Here am I.” + +I looked round but could see nobody. “Where?” I cried. + +“Here am I, monsieur, in the tree.” + +I looked, and there, peering out of a hole in the trunk of the banyan +about five feet from the ground, I saw a pale face and a pair of large +mustachios, one clipped short and the other as lamentably out of curl +as the tail of a newly whipped pug. Then, for the first time, I +realised what I had suspected before—namely, that Alphonse was an +arrant coward. I walked up to him. “Come out of that hole,” I said. + +“Is it finished, monsieur?” he asked anxiously; “quite finished? Ah, +the horrors I have undergone, and the prayers I have uttered!” + +“Come out, you little wretch,” I said, for I did not feel amiable; “it +is all over.” + +“So, monsieur, then my prayers have prevailed? I emerge,” and he did. + +As we were walking down together to join the others, who were gathered +in a group by the wide entrance to the kraal, which now resembled a +veritable charnel-house, a Masai, who had escaped so far and been +hiding under a bush, suddenly sprang up and charged furiously at us. +Off went Alphonse with a howl of terror, and after him flew the Masai, +bent upon doing some execution before he died. He soon overtook the +poor little Frenchman, and would have finished him then and there had I +not, just as Alphonse made a last agonized double in the vain hope of +avoiding the yard of steel that was flashing in his immediate rear, +managed to plant a bullet between the Elmoran’s broad shoulders, which +brought matters to a satisfactory conclusion so far as the Frenchman +was concerned. But just then he tripped and fell flat, and the body of +the Masai fell right on the top of him, moving convulsively in the +death struggle. Thereupon there arose such a series of piercing howls +that I concluded that before he died the savage must have managed to +stab poor Alphonse. I ran up in a hurry and pulled the Masai off, and +there beneath him lay Alphonse covered with blood and jerking himself +about like a galvanized frog. Poor fellow! thought I, he is done for, +and kneeling down by him I began to search for his wound as well as his +struggles would allow. + +“Oh, the hole in my back!” he yelled. “I am murdered. I am dead. Oh, +Annette!” + +I searched again, but could see no wound. Then the truth dawned on +me—the man was frightened, not hurt. + +“Get up!” I shouted, “Get up. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? You are +not touched.” + +Thereupon he rose, not a penny the worse. “But, monsieur, I thought I +was,” he said apologetically; “I did not know that I had conquered.” +Then, giving the body of the Masai a kick, he ejaculated triumphantly, +“Ah, dog of a black savage, thou art dead; what victory!” + +Thoroughly disgusted, I left Alphonse to look after himself, which he +did by following me like a shadow, and proceeded to join the others by +the large entrance. The first thing that I saw was Mackenzie, seated on +a stone with a handkerchief twisted round his thigh, from which he was +bleeding freely, having, indeed, received a spear-thrust that passed +right through it, and still holding in his hand his favourite carving +knife now bent nearly double, from which I gathered that he had been +successful in his rough and tumble with the Elmoran. + +“Ah, Quatermain!” he sang out in a trembling, excited voice, “so we +have conquered; but it is a sorry sight, a sorry sight;” and then +breaking into broad Scotch and glancing at the bent knife in his hand, +“It fashes me sair to have bent my best carver on the breastbone of a +savage,” and he laughed hysterically. Poor fellow, what between his +wound and the killing excitement he had undergone his nerves were much +shaken, and no wonder! It is hard upon a man of peace and kindly heart +to be called upon to join in such a gruesome business. But there, fate +puts us sometimes into very comical positions! + +At the kraal entrance the scene was a strange one. The slaughter was +over by now, and the wounded men had been put out of their pain, for no +quarter had been given. The bush-closed entrance was trampled flat, and +in place of bushes it was filled with the bodies of dead men. Dead men, +everywhere dead men—they lay about in knots, they were flung by ones +and twos in every position upon the open spaces, for all the world like +the people on the grass in one of the London parks on a particularly +hot Sunday in August. In front of this entrance, on a space which had +been cleared of dead and of the shields and spears which were scattered +in all directions as they had fallen or been thrown from the hands of +their owners, stood and lay the survivors of the awful struggle, and at +their feet were four wounded men. We had gone into the fight thirty +strong, and of the thirty but fifteen remained alive, and five of them +(including Mr Mackenzie) were wounded, two mortally. Of those who held +the entrance, Curtis and the Zulu alone remained. Good had lost five +men killed, I had lost two killed, and Mackenzie no less than five out +of the six with him. As for the survivors they were, with the exception +of myself who had never come to close quarters, red from head to +foot—Sir Henry’s armour might have been painted that colour—and utterly +exhausted, except Umslopogaas, who, as he grimly stood on a little +mound above a heap of dead, leaning as usual upon his axe, did not seem +particularly distressed, although the skin over the hole in his head +palpitated violently. + +“Ah, Macumazahn!” he said to me as I limped up, feeling very sick, “I +told thee that it would be a good fight, and it has. Never have I seen +a better, or one more bravely fought. As for this iron shirt, surely it +is ‘tagati’ [bewitched]; nothing could pierce it. Had it not been for +the garment I should have been _there_,” and he nodded towards the +great pile of dead men beneath him. + +“I give it thee; thou art a brave man,” said Sir Henry, briefly. + +“Koos!” answered the Zulu, deeply pleased both at the gift and the +compliment. “Thou, too, Incubu, didst bear thyself as a man, but I must +give thee some lessons with the axe; thou dost waste thy strength.” + +Just then Mackenzie asked about Flossie, and we were all greatly +relieved when one of the men said he had seen her flying towards the +house with the nurse. Then bearing such of the wounded as could be +moved at the moment with us, we slowly made our way towards the +Mission-house, spent with toil and bloodshed, but with the glorious +sense of victory against overwhelming odds glowing in our hearts. We +had saved the life of the little maid, and taught the Masai of those +parts a lesson that they will not forget for ten years—but at what a +cost! + +Painfully we made our way up the hill which, just a little more than an +hour before, we had descended under such different circumstances. At +the gate of the wall stood Mrs Mackenzie waiting for us. When her eyes +fell upon us, however, she shrieked out, and covered her face with her +hands, crying, “Horrible, horrible!” Nor were her fears allayed when +she discovered her worthy husband being borne upon an improvised +stretcher; but her doubts as to the nature of his injury were soon set +at rest. Then when in a few brief words I had told her the upshot of +the struggle (of which Flossie, who had arrived in safety, had been +able to explain something) she came up to me and solemnly kissed me on +the forehead. + +“God bless you all, Mr Quatermain; you have saved my child’s life,” she +said simply. + +Then we went in and got our clothes off and doctored our wounds; I am +glad to say I had none, and Sir Henry’s and Good’s were, thanks to +those invaluable chain shirts, of a comparatively harmless nature, and +to be dealt with by means of a few stitches and sticking-plaster. +Mackenzie’s, however, were serious, though fortunately the spear had +not severed any large artery. After that we had a bath, and what a +luxury it was! And having clad ourselves in ordinary clothes, proceeded +to the dining-room, where breakfast was set as usual. It was curious +sitting down there, drinking tea and eating toast in an ordinary +nineteenth-century sort of way just as though we had not employed the +early hours in a regular primitive hand-to-hand Middle-Ages kind of +struggle. As Good said, the whole thing seemed more as though one had +had a bad nightmare just before being called, than as a deed done. When +we were finishing our breakfast the door opened, and in came little +Flossie, very pale and tottery, but quite unhurt. She kissed us all and +thanked us. I congratulated her on the presence of mind she had shown +in shooting the Masai with her Derringer pistol, and thereby saving her +own life. + +“Oh, don’t talk of it!” she said, beginning to cry hysterically; “I +shall never forget his face as he went turning round and round, never—I +can see it now.” + +I advised her to go to bed and get some sleep, which she did, and awoke +in the evening quite recovered, so far as her strength was concerned. +It struck me as an odd thing that a girl who could find the nerve to +shoot a huge black ruffian rushing to kill her with a spear should have +been so affected at the thought of it afterwards; but it is, after all, +characteristic of the sex. Poor Flossie! I fear that her nerves will +not get over that night in the Masai camp for many a long year. She +told me afterwards that it was the suspense that was so awful, having +to sit there hour after hour through the livelong night utterly +ignorant as to whether or not any attempt was to be made to rescue her. +She said that on the whole she did not expect it, knowing how few of +us, and how many of the Masai—who, by the way, came continually to +stare at her, most of them never having seen a white person before, and +handled her arms and hair with their filthy paws. She said also that +she had made up her mind that if she saw no signs of succour by the +time the first rays of the rising sun reached the kraal she would kill +herself with the pistol, for the nurse had heard the Lygonani say that +they were to be tortured to death as soon as the sun was up if one of +the white men did not come in their place. It was an awful resolution +to have to take, but she meant to act on it, and I have little doubt +but what she would have done so. Although she was at an age when in +England girls are in the schoolroom and come down to dessert, this +“child of the wilderness” had more courage, discretion, and power of +mind than many a woman of mature age nurtured in idleness and luxury, +with minds carefully drilled and educated out of any originality or +self-resource that nature may have endowed them with. + +When breakfast was over we all turned in and had a good sleep, only +getting up in time for dinner; after which meal we once more adjourned, +together with all the available population—men, women, youths, and +girls—to the scene of the morning’s slaughter, our object being to bury +our own dead and get rid of the Masai by flinging them into the Tana +River, which ran within fifty yards of the kraal. On reaching the spot +we disturbed thousands upon thousands of vultures and a sort of brown +bush eagle, which had been flocking to the feast from miles and miles +away. Often have I watched these great and repulsive birds, and +marvelled at the extraordinary speed with which they arrive on a scene +of slaughter. A buck falls to your rifle, and within a minute high in +the blue ether appears a speck that gradually grows into a vulture, +then another, and another. I have heard many theories advanced to +account for the wonderful power of perception nature has given these +birds. My own, founded on a good deal of observation, is that the +vultures, gifted as they are with powers of sight greater than those +given by the most powerful glass, quarter out the heavens among +themselves, and hanging in mid-air at a vast height—probably from two +to three miles above the earth—keep watch, each of them, over an +enormous stretch of country. Presently one of them spies food, and +instantly begins to sink towards it. Thereon his next neighbour in the +airy heights sailing leisurely through the blue gulf, at a distance +perhaps of some miles, follows his example, knowing that food has been +sighted. Down he goes, and all the vultures within sight of him follow +after, and so do all those in sight of them. In this way the vultures +for twenty miles round can be summoned to the feast in a few minutes. + +We buried our dead in solemn silence, Good being selected to read the +Burial Service over them (in the absence of Mr Mackenzie, confined to +bed), as he was generally allowed to possess the best voice and most +impressive manner. It was melancholy in the extreme, but, as Good said, +it might have been worse, for we might have had “to bury ourselves”. I +pointed out that this would have been a difficult feat, but I knew what +he meant. + +Next we set to work to load an ox-wagon which had been brought round +from the Mission with the dead bodies of the Masai, having first +collected the spears, shields, and other arms. We loaded the wagon five +times, about fifty bodies to the load, and emptied it into the Tana. +From this it was evident that very few of the Masai could have escaped. +The crocodiles must have been well fed that night. One of the last +bodies we picked up was that of the sentry at the upper end. I asked +Good how he managed to kill him, and he told me that he had crept up +much as Umslopogaas had done, and stabbed him with his sword. He +groaned a good deal, but fortunately nobody heard him. As Good said, it +was a horrible thing to have to do, and most unpleasantly like +cold-blooded murder. + +And so with the last body that floated away down the current of the +Tana ended the incident of our attack on the Masai camp. The spears and +shields and other arms we took up to the Mission, where they filled an +outhouse. One incident, however, I must not forget to mention. As we +were returning from performing the obsequies of our Masai friends we +passed the hollow tree where Alphonse had secreted himself in the +morning. It so happened that the little man himself was with us +assisting in our unpleasant task with a far better will than he had +shown where live Masai were concerned. Indeed, for each body that he +handled he found an appropriate sarcasm. Alphonse throwing Masai into +the Tana was a very different creature from Alphonse flying for dear +life from the spear of a live Masai. He was quite merry and gay, he +clapped his hands and warbled snatches of French songs as the grim dead +warriors went “splash” into the running waters to carry a message of +death and defiance to their kindred a hundred miles below. In short, +thinking that he wanted taking down a peg, I suggested holding a +court-martial on him for his conduct in the morning. + +Accordingly we brought him to the tree where he had hidden, and +proceeded to sit in judgment on him, Sir Henry explaining to him in the +very best French the unheard-of cowardice and enormity of his conduct, +more especially in letting the oiled rag out of his mouth, whereby he +nearly aroused the Masai camp with teeth-chattering and brought about +the failure of our plans: ending up with a request for an explanation. + +But if we expected to find Alphonse at a loss and put him to open shame +we were destined to be disappointed. He bowed and scraped and smiled, +and acknowledged that his conduct might at first blush appear strange, +but really it was not, inasmuch as his teeth were not chattering from +fear—oh, dear no! oh, certainly not! he marvelled how the “messieurs” +could think of such a thing—but from the chill air of the morning. As +for the rag, if monsieur could have but tasted its evil flavour, being +compounded indeed of a mixture of stale paraffin oil, grease, and +gunpowder, monsieur himself would have spat it out. But he did nothing +of the sort; he determined to keep it there till, alas! his stomach +“revolted”, and the rag was ejected in an access of involuntary +sickness. + +“And what have you to say about getting into the hollow tree?” asked +Sir Henry, keeping his countenance with difficulty. + +“But, monsieur, the explanation is easy; oh, most easy! it was thus: I +stood there by the kraal wall, and the little grey monsieur hit me in +the stomach so that my rifle exploded, and the battle began. I watched +whilst recovering myself from monsieur’s cruel blow; then, messieurs, I +felt the heroic blood of my grandfather boil up in my veins. The sight +made me mad. I ground my teeth! Fire flashed from my eyes! I shouted +‘En avant!’ and longed to slay. Before my eyes there rose a vision of +my heroic grandfather! In short, I was mad! I was a warrior indeed! But +then in my heart I heard a small voice: ‘Alphonse,’ said the voice, +‘restrain thyself, Alphonse! Give not way to this evil passion! These +men, though black, are brothers! And thou wouldst slay them? Cruel +Alphonse!’ The voice was right. I knew it; I was about to perpetrate +the most horrible cruelties: to wound! to massacre! to tear limb from +limb! And how restrain myself? I looked round; I saw the tree, I +perceived the hole. ‘Entomb thyself,’ said the voice, ‘and hold on +tight! Thou wilt thus overcome temptation by main force!’ It was +bitter, just when the blood of my heroic grandfather boiled most +fiercely; but I obeyed! I dragged my unwilling feet along; I entombed +myself! Through the hole I watched the battle! I shouted curses and +defiance on the foe! I noted them fall with satisfaction! Why not? I +had not robbed them of their lives. Their gore was not upon my head. +The blood of my heroic—” + +“Oh, get along with you, you little cur!” broke out Sir Henry, with a +shout of laughter, and giving Alphonse a good kick which sent him +flying off with a rueful face. + +In the evening I had an interview with Mr Mackenzie, who was suffering +a good deal from his wounds, which Good, who was a skilful though +unqualified doctor, was treating him for. He told me that this +occurrence had taught him a lesson, and that, if he recovered safely, +he meant to hand over the Mission to a younger man, who was already on +his road to join him in his work, and return to England. + +“You see, Quatermain,” he said, “I made up my mind to it, this very +morning, when we were creeping down those benighted savages. ‘If we +live through this and rescue Flossie alive,’ I said to myself, ‘I will +go home to England; I have had enough of savages.’ Well, I did not +think that we should live through it at the time; but thanks be to God +and you four, we have lived through it, and I mean to stick to my +resolution, lest a worse thing befall us. Another such time would kill +my poor wife. And besides, Quatermain, between you and me, I am well +off; it is thirty thousand pounds I am worth today, and every farthing +of it made by honest trade and savings in the bank at Zanzibar, for +living here costs me next to nothing. So though it will be hard to +leave this place, which I have made to blossom like a rose in the +wilderness, and harder still to leave the people I have taught, I shall +go.” + +“I congratulate you on your decision,” answered I, “for two reasons. +The first is, that you owe a duty to your wife and daughter, and more +especially to the latter, who should receive some education and mix +with girls of her own race, otherwise she will grow up wild, shunning +her kind. The other is, that as sure as I am standing here, sooner or +later the Masai will try to avenge the slaughter inflicted on them +today. Two or three men are sure to have escaped the confusion who will +carry the story back to their people, and the result will be that a +great expedition will one day be sent against you. It might be delayed +for a year, but sooner or later it will come. Therefore, if only for +that reason, I should go. When once they have learnt that you are no +longer here they may perhaps leave the place alone.”[8] + + [8] By a sad coincidence, since the above was written by Mr + Quatermain, the Masai have, in April 1886, massacred a missionary and + his wife—Mr and Mrs Houghton—on this very Tana River, and at the spot + described. These are, I believe, the first white people who are known + to have fallen victims to this cruel tribe.—Editor. + +“You are quite right,” answered the clergyman. “I will turn my back +upon this place in a month. But it will be a wrench, it will be a +wrench.” + + + + +CHAPTER IX. +INTO THE UNKNOWN + + +A week had passed, and we all sat at supper one night in the Mission +dining-room, feeling very much depressed in spirits, for the reason +that we were going to say goodbye to our kind friends, the Mackenzies, +and depart upon our way at dawn on the morrow. Nothing more had been +seen or heard of the Masai, and save for a spear or two which had been +overlooked and was rusting in the grass, and a few empty cartridges +where we had stood outside the wall, it would have been difficult to +tell that the old cattle kraal at the foot of the slope had been the +scene of so desperate a struggle. Mackenzie was, thanks chiefly to his +being so temperate a man, rapidly recovering from his wound, and could +get about on a pair of crutches; and as for the other wounded men, one +had died of gangrene, and the rest were in a fair way to recovery. Mr +Mackenzie’s caravan of men had also returned from the coast, so that +the station was now amply garrisoned. + +Under these circumstances we concluded, warm and pressing as were the +invitations for us to stay, that it was time to move on, first to Mount +Kenia, and thence into the unknown in search of the mysterious white +race which we had set our hearts on discovering. This time we were +going to progress by means of the humble but useful donkey, of which we +had collected no less than a dozen, to carry our goods and chattels, +and, if necessary, ourselves. We had now but two Wakwafis left for +servants, and found it quite impossible to get other natives to venture +with us into the unknown parts we proposed to explore—and small blame +to them. After all, as Mr Mackenzie said, it was odd that three men, +each of whom possessed many of those things that are supposed to make +life worth living—health, sufficient means, and position, etc.—should +from their own pleasure start out upon a wild-goose chase, from which +the chances were they never would return. But then that is what +Englishmen are, adventurers to the backbone; and all our magnificent +muster-roll of colonies, each of which will in time become a great +nation, testify to the extraordinary value of the spirit of adventure +which at first sight looks like a mild form of lunacy. “Adventurer”—he +that goes out to meet whatever may come. Well, that is what we all do +in the world one way or another, and, speaking for myself, I am proud +of the title, because it implies a brave heart and a trust in +Providence. Besides, when many and many a noted Croesus, at whose feet +the people worship, and many and many a time-serving and word-coining +politician are forgotten, the names of those grand-hearted old +adventurers who have made England what she is, will be remembered and +taught with love and pride to little children whose unshaped spirits +yet slumber in the womb of centuries to be. Not that we three can +expect to be numbered with such as these, yet have we done +something—enough, perhaps, to throw a garment over the nakedness of our +folly. + +That evening, whilst we were sitting on the veranda, smoking a pipe +before turning in, who should come up to us but Alphonse, and, with a +magnificent bow, announce his wish for an interview. Being requested to +“fire away”, he explained at some length that he was anxious to attach +himself to our party—a statement that astonished me not a little, +knowing what a coward the little man was. The reason, however, soon +appeared. Mr Mackenzie was going down to the coast, and thence on to +England. Now, if he went down country, Alphonse was persuaded that he +would be seized, extradited, sent to France, and to penal servitude. +This was the idea that haunted him, as King Charles’s head haunted Mr +Dick, and he brooded over it till his imagination exaggerated the +danger ten times. As a matter of fact, the probability is that his +offence against the laws of his country had long ago been forgotten, +and that he would have been allowed to pass unmolested anywhere except +in France; but he could not be got to see this. Constitutional coward +as the little man was, he infinitely preferred to face the certain +hardships and great risks and dangers of such an expedition as ours, +than to expose himself, notwithstanding his intense longing for his +native land, to the possible scrutiny of a police officer—which is +after all only another exemplification of the truth that, to the +majority of men, a far-off foreseen danger, however shadowy, is much +more terrible than the most serious present emergency. After listening +to what he had to say, we consulted among ourselves, and finally +agreed, with Mr Mackenzie’s knowledge and consent, to accept his offer. +To begin with, we were very short-handed, and Alphonse was a quick, +active fellow, who could turn his hand to anything, and cook—ah, he +_could_ cook! I believe that he would have made a palatable dish of +those gaiters of his heroic grandfather which he was so fond of talking +about. Then he was a good-tempered little man, and merry as a monkey, +whilst his pompous, vainglorious talk was a source of infinite +amusement to us; and what is more, he never bore malice. Of course, his +being so pronounced a coward was a great drawback to him, but now that +we knew his weakness we could more or less guard against it. So, after +warning him of the undoubted risks he was exposing himself to, we told +him that we would accept his offer on condition that he would promise +implicit obedience to our orders. We also promised to give him wages at +the rate of ten pounds a month should he ever return to a civilized +country to receive them. To all of this he agreed with alacrity, and +retired to write a letter to his Annette, which Mr Mackenzie promised +to post when he got down country. He read it to us afterwards, Sir +Henry translating, and a wonderful composition it was. I am sure the +depth of his devotion and the narration of his sufferings in a +barbarous country, “far, far from thee, Annette, for whose adored sake +I endure such sorrow,” ought to have touched the feelings of the +stoniest-hearted chambermaid. + +Well, the morrow came, and by seven o’clock the donkeys were all +loaded, and the time of parting was at hand. It was a melancholy +business, especially saying goodbye to dear little Flossie. She and I +were great friends, and often used to have talks together—but her +nerves had never got over the shock of that awful night when she lay in +the power of those bloodthirsty Masai. “Oh, Mr Quatermain,” she cried, +throwing her arms round my neck and bursting into tears, “I can’t bear +to say goodbye to you. I wonder when we shall meet again?” + +“I don’t know, my dear little girl,” I said, “I am at one end of life +and you are at the other. I have but a short time before me at best, +and most things lie in the past, but I hope that for you there are many +long and happy years, and everything lies in the future. By-and-by you +will grow into a beautiful woman, Flossie, and all this wild life will +be like a far-off dream to you; but I hope, even if we never do meet +again, that you will think of your old friend and remember what I say +to you now. Always try to be good, my dear, and to do what is right, +rather than what happens to be pleasant, for in the end, whatever +sneering people may say, what is good and what is happy are the same. +Be unselfish, and whenever you can, give a helping hand to others—for +the world is full of suffering, my dear, and to alleviate it is the +noblest end that we can set before us. If you do that you will become a +sweet and God-fearing woman, and make many people’s lives a little +brighter, and then you will not have lived, as so many of your sex do, +in vain. And now I have given you a lot of old-fashioned advice, and so +I am going to give you something to sweeten it with. You see this +little piece of paper. It is what is called a cheque. When we are gone +give it to your father with this note—not before, mind. You will marry +one day, my dear little Flossie, and it is to buy you a wedding present +which you are to wear, and your daughter after you, if you have one, in +remembrance of Hunter Quatermain.” + +Poor little Flossie cried very much, and gave me a lock of her bright +hair in return, which I still have. The cheque I gave her was for a +thousand pounds (which being now well off, and having no calls upon me +except those of charity, I could well afford), and in the note I +directed her father to invest it for her in Government security, and +when she married or came of age to buy her the best diamond necklace he +could get for the money and accumulated interest. I chose diamonds +because I think that now that King Solomon’s Mines are lost to the +world, their price will never be much lower than it is at present, so +that if in after-life she should ever be in pecuniary difficulties, she +will be able to turn them into money. + +Well, at last we got off, after much hand-shaking, hat-waving, and also +farewell saluting from the natives, Alphonse weeping copiously (for he +has a warm heart) at parting with his master and mistress; and I was +not sorry for it at all, for I hate those goodbyes. Perhaps the most +affecting thing of all was to witness Umslopogaas’ distress at parting +with Flossie, for whom the grim old warrior had conceived a strong +affection. He used to say that she was as sweet to see as the only star +on a dark night, and was never tired of loudly congratulating himself +on having killed the Lygonani who had threatened to murder her. And +that was the last we saw of the pleasant Mission-house—a true oasis in +the desert—and of European civilization. But I often think of the +Mackenzies, and wonder how they got down country, and if they are now +safe and well in England, and will ever see these words. Dear little +Flossie! I wonder how she fares there where there are no black folk to +do her imperious bidding, and no sky-piercing snow-clad Kenia for her +to look at when she gets up in the morning. And so goodbye to Flossie. + +After leaving the Mission-house we made our way, comparatively +unmolested, past the base of Mount Kenia, which the Masai call “Donyo +Egere”, or the “speckled mountain”, on account of the black patches of +rock that appear upon its mighty spire, where the sides are too +precipitous to allow of the snow lying on them; then on past the lonely +lake Baringo, where one of our two remaining Askari, having +unfortunately trodden on a puff-adder, died of snake-bite, in spite of +all our efforts to save him. Thence we proceeded a distance of about a +hundred and fifty miles to another magnificent snow-clad mountain +called Lekakisera, which has never, to the best of my belief, been +visited before by a European, but which I cannot now stop to describe. +There we rested a fortnight, and then started out into the trackless +and uninhabited forest of a vast district called Elgumi. In this forest +alone there are more elephants than I ever met with or heard of before. +The mighty mammals literally swarm there entirely unmolested by man, +and only kept down by the natural law that prevents any animals +increasing beyond the capacity of the country they inhabit to support +them. Needless to say, however, we did not shoot many of them, first +because we could not afford to waste ammunition, of which our stock was +getting perilously low, a donkey loaded with it having been swept away +in fording a flooded river; and secondly, because we could not carry +away the ivory, and did not wish to kill for the mere sake of +slaughter. So we let the great beasts be, only shooting one or two in +self-protection. In this district, the elephants, being unacquainted +with the hunter and his tender mercies, would allow one to walk up to +within twenty yards of them in the open, while they stood, with their +great ears cocked for all the world like puzzled and gigantic +puppy-dogs, and stared at that new and extraordinary phenomenon—man. +Occasionally, when the inspection did not prove satisfactory, the +staring ended in a trumpet and a charge, but this did not often happen. +When it did we had to use our rifles. Nor were elephants the only wild +beasts in the great Elgumi forest. All sorts of large game abounded, +including lions—confound them! I have always hated the sight of a lion +since one bit my leg and lamed me for life. As a consequence, another +thing that abounded was the dreadful tsetse fly, whose bite is death to +domestic animals. Donkeys have, together with men, hitherto been +supposed to enjoy a peculiar immunity from its attacks; but all I have +to say, whether it was on account of their poor condition, or because +the tsetse in those parts is more poisonous than usual, I do not know, +but ours succumbed to its onslaught. Fortunately, however, that was not +till two months or so after the bites had been inflicted, when +suddenly, after a two days’ cold rain, they all died, and on removing +the skins of several of them I found the long yellow streaks upon the +flesh which are characteristic of death from bites from the tsetse, +marking the spot where the insect had inserted his proboscis. On +emerging from the great Elgumi forest, we, still steering northwards, +in accordance with the information Mr Mackenzie had collected from the +unfortunate wanderer who reached him only to die so tragically, struck +the base in due course of the large lake, called Laga by the natives, +which is about fifty miles long by twenty broad, and of which, it may +be remembered, he made mention. Thence we pushed on nearly a month’s +journey over great rolling uplands, something like those in the +Transvaal, but diversified by patches of bush country. + +All this time we were continually ascending at the rate of about one +hundred feet every ten miles. Indeed the country was on a slope which +appeared to terminate at a mass of snow-tipped mountains, for which we +were steering, and where we learnt the second lake of which the +wanderer had spoken as the lake without a bottom was situated. At +length we arrived there, and, having ascertained that there _was_ a +large lake on top of the mountains, ascended three thousand feet more +till we came to a precipitous cliff or edge, to find a great sheet of +water some twenty miles square lying fifteen hundred feet below us, and +evidently occupying an extinct volcanic crater or craters of vast +extent. Perceiving villages on the border of this lake, we descended +with great difficulty through forests of pine trees, which now clothed +the precipitous sides of the crater, and were well received by the +people, a simple, unwarlike folk, who had never seen or even heard of a +white man before, and treated us with great reverence and kindness, +supplying us with as much food and milk as we could eat and drink. This +wonderful and beautiful lake lay, according to our aneroid, at a height +of no less than 11,450 feet above sea-level, and its climate was quite +cold, and not at all unlike that of England. Indeed, for the first +three days of our stay there we saw little or nothing of the scenery on +account of an unmistakable Scotch mist which prevailed. It was this +rain that set the tsetse poison working in our remaining donkeys, so +that they all died. + +This disaster left us in a very awkward position, as we had now no +means of transport whatever, though on the other hand we had not much +to carry. Ammunition, too, was very short, amounting to but one hundred +and fifty rounds of rifle cartridges and some fifty shot-gun +cartridges. How to get on we did not know; indeed it seemed to us that +we had about reached the end of our tether. Even if we had been +inclined to abandon the object of our search, which, shadow as it was, +was by no means the case, it was ridiculous to think of forcing our way +back some seven hundred miles to the coast in our present plight; so we +came to the conclusion that the only thing to be done was to stop where +we were—the natives being so well disposed and food plentiful—for the +present, and abide events, and try to collect information as to the +countries beyond. + +Accordingly, having purchased a capital log canoe, large enough to hold +us all and our baggage, from the headman of the village we were staying +in, presenting him with three empty cold-drawn brass cartridges by way +of payment, with which he was perfectly delighted, we set out to make a +tour of the lake in order to find the most favourable place to make a +camp. As we did not know if we should return to this village, we put +all our gear into the canoe, and also a quarter of cooked water-buck, +which when young is delicious eating, and off we set, natives having +already gone before us in light canoes to warn the inhabitants of the +other villages of our approach. + +As we were paddling leisurely along Good remarked upon the +extraordinary deep blue colour of the water, and said that he +understood from the natives, who were great fishermen—fish, indeed, +being their principal food—that the lake was supposed to be wonderfully +deep, and to have a hole at the bottom through which the water escaped +and put out some great fire that was raging below. + +I pointed out to him that what he had heard was probably a legend +arising from a tradition among the people which dated back to the time +when one of the extinct parasitic volcanic cones was in activity. We +saw several round the borders of the lake which had no doubt been +working at a period long subsequent to the volcanic death of the +central crater which now formed the bed of the lake itself. When it +finally became extinct the people would imagine that the water from the +lake had run down and put out the big fire below, more especially as, +though it was constantly fed by streams running from the snow-tipped +peaks about, there was no visible exit to it. + +The farther shore of the lake we found, on approaching it, to consist +of a vast perpendicular wall of rock, which held the water without any +intermediate sloping bank, as elsewhere. Accordingly we paddled +parallel with this precipice, at a distance of about a hundred paces +from it, shaping our course for the end of the lake, where we knew that +there was a large village. + +As we went we began to pass a considerable accumulation of floating +rushes, weed, boughs of trees, and other rubbish, brought, Good +supposed, to this spot by some current, which he was much puzzled to +account for. Whilst we were speculating about this, Sir Henry pointed +out a flock of large white swans, which were feeding on the drift some +little way ahead of us. Now I had already noticed swans flying about +this lake, and, having never come across them before in Africa, was +exceedingly anxious to obtain a specimen. I had questioned the natives +about them, and learnt that they came from over the mountain, always +arriving at certain periods of the year in the early morning, when it +was very easy to catch them, on account of their exhausted condition. I +also asked them what country they came from, when they shrugged their +shoulders, and said that on the top of the great black precipice was +stony inhospitable land, and beyond that were mountains with snow, and +full of wild beasts, where no people lived, and beyond the mountains +were hundreds of miles of dense thorn forest, so thick that even the +elephants could not get through it, much less men. Next I asked them if +they had ever heard of white people like ourselves living on the +farther side of the mountains and the thorn forest, whereat they +laughed. But afterwards a very old woman came and told me that when she +was a little girl her grandfather had told her that in his youth _his_ +grandfather had crossed the desert and the mountains, and pierced the +thorn forest, and seen a white people who lived in stone kraals beyond. +Of course, as this took the tale back some two hundred and fifty years, +the information was very indefinite; but still there it was again, and +on thinking it over I grew firmly convinced that there was some truth +in all these rumours, and equally firmly determined to solve the +mystery. Little did I guess in what an almost miraculous way my desire +was to be gratified. + +Well, we set to work to stalk the swans, which kept drawing, as they +fed, nearer and nearer to the precipice, and at last we pushed the +canoe under shelter of a patch of drift within forty yards of them. Sir +Henry had the shot-gun, loaded with No. 1, and, waiting for a chance, +got two in a line, and, firing at their necks, killed them both. Up +rose the rest, thirty or more of them, with a mighty splashing; and, as +they did so, he gave them the other barrel. Down came one fellow with a +broken wing, and I saw the leg of another drop and a few feathers start +out of his back; but he went on quite strong. Up went the swans, +circling ever higher till at last they were mere specks level with the +top of the frowning precipice, when I saw them form into a triangle and +head off for the unknown north-east. Meanwhile we had picked up our two +dead ones, and beautiful birds they were, weighing not less than about +thirty pounds each, and were chasing the winged one, which had +scrambled over a mass of driftweed into a pool of clear water beyond. +Finding a difficulty in forcing the canoe through the rubbish, I told +our only remaining Wakwafi servant, whom I knew to be an excellent +swimmer, to jump over, dive under the drift, and catch him, knowing +that as there were no crocodiles in this lake he could come to no harm. +Entering into the fun of the thing, the man obeyed, and soon was +dodging about after the winged swan in fine style, getting gradually +nearer to the rock wall, against which the water washed as he did so. + +Presently he gave up swimming after the swan, and began to cry out that +he was being carried away; and, indeed, we saw that, though he was +swimming with all his strength towards us, he was being drawn slowly to +the precipice. With a few desperate strokes of our paddles we pushed +the canoe through the crust of drift and rowed towards the man as hard +as we could, but, fast as we went, he was drawn faster to the rock. +Suddenly I saw that before us, just rising eighteen inches or so above +the surface of the lake, was what looked like the top of the arch of a +submerged cave or railway tunnel. Evidently, from the watermark on the +rock several feet above it, it was generally entirely submerged; but +there had been a dry season, and the cold had prevented the snow from +melting as freely as usual; so the lake was low and the arch showed. +Towards this arch our poor servant was being sucked with frightful +rapidity. He was not more than ten fathoms from it, and we were about +twenty when I saw it, and with little help from us the canoe flew along +after him. He struggled bravely, and I thought that we should have +saved him, when suddenly I perceived an expression of despair come upon +his face, and there before our eyes he was sucked down into the cruel +swirling blue depths, and vanished. At the same moment I felt our canoe +seized as with a mighty hand, and propelled with resistless force +towards the rock. + +We realised our danger now and rowed, or rather paddled, furiously in +our attempt to get out of the vortex. In vain; in another second we +were flying straight for the arch like an arrow, and I thought that we +were lost. Luckily I retained sufficient presence of mind to shout out, +instantly setting the example by throwing myself into the bottom of the +canoe, “Down on your faces—down!” and the others had the sense to take +the hint. In another instant there was a grinding noise, and the boat +was pushed down till the water began to trickle over the sides, and I +thought that we were gone. But no, suddenly the grinding ceased, and we +could again feel the canoe flying along. I turned my head a little—I +dared not lift it—and looked up. By the feeble light that yet reached +the canoe, I could make out that a dense arch of rock hung just over +our heads, and that was all. In another minute I could not even see as +much as that, for the faint light had merged into shadow, and the +shadows had been swallowed up in darkness, utter and complete. + +For an hour or so we lay there, not daring to lift our heads for fear +lest the brains should be dashed out of them, and scarcely able to +speak even, on account of the noise of the rushing water which drowned +our voices. Not, indeed, that we had much inclination to speak, seeing +that we were overwhelmed by the awfulness of our position and the +imminent fear of instant death, either by being dashed against the +sides of the cavern, or on a rock, or being sucked down in the raging +waters, or perhaps asphyxiated by want of air. All of these and many +other modes of death presented themselves to my imagination as I lay at +the bottom of the canoe, listening to the swirl of the hurrying waters +which ran whither we knew not. One only other sound could I hear, and +that was Alphonse’s intermittent howl of terror coming from the centre +of the canoe, and even that seemed faint and unnatural. Indeed, the +whole thing overpowered my brain, and I began to believe that I was the +victim of some ghastly spirit-shaking nightmare. + + + + +CHAPTER X. +THE ROSE OF FIRE + + +On we flew, drawn by the mighty current, till at last I noticed that +the sound of the water was not half so deafening as it had been, and +concluded that this must be because there was more room for the echoes +to disperse in. I could now hear Alphonse’s howls much more distinctly; +they were made up of the oddest mixture of invocations to the Supreme +Power and the name of his beloved Annette that it is possible to +conceive; and, in short, though their evident earnestness saved them +from profanity, were, to say the least, very remarkable.[9] Taking up a +paddle I managed to drive it into his ribs, whereon he, thinking that +the end had come, howled louder than ever. Then I slowly and cautiously +raised myself on my knees and stretched my hand upwards, but could +touch no roof. Next I took the paddle and lifted it above my head as +high as I could, but with the same result. I also thrust it out +laterally to the right and left, but could touch nothing except water. +Then I bethought me that there was in the boat, amongst our other +remaining possessions, a bull’s-eye lantern and a tin of oil. I groped +about and found it, and having a match on me carefully lit it, and as +soon as the flame had got a hold of the wick I turned it on down the +boat. As it happened, the first thing the light lit on was the white +and scared face of Alphonse, who, thinking that it was all over at +last, and that he was witnessing a preliminary celestial phenomenon, +gave a terrific yell and was with difficulty reassured with the paddle. +As for the other three, Good was lying on the flat of his back, his +eyeglass still fixed in his eye, and gazing blankly into the upper +darkness. Sir Henry had his head resting on the thwarts of the canoe, +and with his hand was trying to test the speed of the water. But when +the beam of light fell upon old Umslopogaas I could really have +laughed. I think I have said that we had put a roast quarter of +water-buck into the canoe. Well, it so happened that when we all +prostrated ourselves to avoid being swept out of the boat and into the +water by the rock roof, Umslopogaas’s head had come down uncommonly +near this roast buck, and so soon as he had recovered a little from the +first shock of our position it occurred to him that he was hungry. +Thereupon he coolly cut off a chop with Inkosi-kaas, and was now +employed in eating it with every appearance of satisfaction. As he +afterwards explained, he thought that he was going “on a long journey”, +and preferred to start on a full stomach. It reminded me of the people +who are going to be hanged, and who are generally reported in the +English daily papers to have made “an excellent breakfast”. + + [9] Sir Henry afterwards wrote down one of Alphonse’s prayers as he + overheard it. It ran thus: “Oh, save me! lake me out of this hole! I + will promise never to go exploring again! Oh, Annette, why did I leave + thee? Oh, my false cousin! Oh, deliver me from this horrible main + drain! Never mind the others! Let them drown; they are more used to it + than I am, and they cannot cook! Oh Annette! Annette [_cresendo_]! + Annette [_fortissimo_]!” + +As soon as the others saw that I had managed to light the lamp, we +bundled Alphonse into the farther end of the canoe with a threat which +calmed him down wonderfully, that if he would insist upon making the +darkness hideous with his cries we would put him out of suspense by +sending him to join the Wakwafi and wait for Annette in another sphere, +and began to discuss the situation as well as we could. First, however, +at Good’s suggestion, we bound two paddles mast-fashion in the bows so +that they might give us warning against any sudden lowering of the roof +of the cave or waterway. It was clear to us that we were in an +underground river or, as Alphonse defined it, “main drain”, which +carried off the superfluous waters of the lake. Such rivers are well +known to exist in many parts of the world, but it has not often been +the evil fortune of explorers to travel by them. That the river was +wide we could clearly see, for the light from the bull’s-eye lantern +failed to reach from shore to shore, although occasionally, when the +current swept us either to one side or the other, we could distinguish +the rock wall of the tunnel, which, as far as we could make out, +appeared to arch about twenty-five feet above our heads. As for the +current itself, it ran, Good estimated, at least eight knots, and, +fortunately for us, was, as is usual, fiercest in the middle of the +stream. Still, our first act was to arrange that one of us, with the +lantern and a pole there was in the canoe, should always be in the bows +ready, if possible, to prevent us from being stove in against the side +of the cave or any projecting rock. Umslopogaas, having already dined, +took the first turn. This was absolutely, with one exception, all that +we could do towards preserving our safety. The exception was that +another of us took up a position in the stern with a paddle by means of +which it was possible to steer the canoe more or less and to keep her +from the sides of the cave. These matters attended to, we made a +somewhat sparing meal off the cold buck’s meat (for we did not know how +long it might have to last us), and then feeling in rather better +spirits I gave my opinion that, serious as it undoubtedly was, I did +not consider our position altogether without hope, unless, indeed, the +natives were right, and the river plunged straight down into the bowels +of the earth. If not, it was clear that it must emerge somewhere, +probably on the other side of the mountains, and in that case all we +had to think of was to keep ourselves alive till we got there, wherever +“there” might be. But, of course, as Good lugubriously pointed out, on +the other hand we might fall victims to a hundred unsuspected +horrors—or the river might go on winding away inside the earth till it +dried up, in which case our fate would indeed be an awful one. + +“Well, let us hope for the best and prepare ourselves for the worst,” +said Sir Henry, who is always cheerful and even spirited—a very tower +of strength in the time of trouble. “We have come out of so many queer +scrapes together, that somehow I almost fancy we shall come out of +this,” he added. + +This was excellent advice, and we proceeded to take it each in our +separate way—that is, except Alphonse, who had by now sunk into a sort +of terrified stupor. Good was at the helm and Umslopogaas in the bows, +so there was nothing left for Sir Henry and myself to do except to lie +down in the canoe and think. It certainly was a curious, and indeed +almost a weird, position to be placed in—rushing along, as we were, +through the bowels of the earth, borne on the bosom of a Stygian river, +something after the fashion of souls being ferried by Charon, as Curtis +said. And how dark it was! The feeble ray from our little lamp did but +serve to show the darkness. There in the bows sat old Umslopogaas, like +Pleasure in the poem,[10] watchful and untiring, the pole ready to his +hand, and behind in the shadow I could just make out the form of Good +peering forward at the ray of light in order to make out how to steer +with the paddle that he held and now and again dipped into the water. + + [10] Mr Allan Quatermain misquotes—Pleasure sat at the helm.—Editor. + +“Well, well,” thought I, “you have come in search of adventures, Allan +my boy, and you have certainly got them. At your time of life, too! You +ought to be ashamed of yourself; but somehow you are not, and, awful as +it all is, perhaps you will pull through after all; and if you don’t, +why, you cannot help it, you see! And when all’s said and done an +underground river will make a very appropriate burying-place.” + +At first, however, I am bound to say that the strain upon the nerves +was very great. It is trying to the coolest and most experienced person +not to know from one hour to another if he has five minutes more to +live, but there is nothing in this world that one cannot get accustomed +to, and in time we began to get accustomed even to that. And, after +all, our anxiety, though no doubt natural, was, strictly speaking, +illogical, seeing that we never know what is going to happen to us the +next minute, even when we sit in a well-drained house with two +policemen patrolling under the window—nor how long we have to live. It +is all arranged for us, my sons, so what is the use of bothering? + +It was nearly midday when we made our dive into darkness, and we had +set our watch (Good and Umslopogaas) at two, having agreed that it +should be of a duration of five hours. At seven o’clock, accordingly, +Sir Henry and I went on, Sir Henry at the bow and I at the stern, and +the other two lay down and went to sleep. For three hours all went +well, Sir Henry only finding it necessary once to push us off from the +side; and I that but little steering was required to keep us straight, +as the violent current did all that was needed, though occasionally the +canoe showed a tendency which had to be guarded against to veer and +travel broadside on. What struck me as the most curious thing about +this wonderful river was: how did the air keep fresh? It was muggy and +thick, no doubt, but still not sufficiently so to render it bad or even +remarkably unpleasant. The only explanation that I can suggest is that +the water of the lake had sufficient air in it to keep the atmosphere +of the tunnel from absolute stagnation, this air being given out as it +proceeded on its headlong way. Of course I only give the solution of +the mystery for what it is worth, which perhaps is not much. + +When I had been for three hours or so at the helm, I began to notice a +decided change in the temperature, which was getting warmer. At first I +took no notice of it, but when, at the expiration of another half-hour, +I found that it was getting hotter and hotter, I called to Sir Henry +and asked him if he noticed it, or if it was only my imagination. +“Noticed it!” he answered; “I should think so. I am in a sort of +Turkish bath.” Just about then the others woke up gasping, and were +obliged to begin to discard their clothes. Here Umslopogaas had the +advantage, for he did not wear any to speak of, except a moocha. + +Hotter it grew, and hotter yet, till at last we could scarcely breathe, +and the perspiration poured out of us. Half an hour more, and though we +were all now stark naked, we could hardly bear it. The place was like +an antechamber of the infernal regions proper. I dipped my hand into +the water and drew it out almost with a cry; it was nearly boiling. We +consulted a little thermometer we had—the mercury stood at 123 degrees. +From the surface of the water rose a dense cloud of steam. Alphonse +groaned out that we were already in purgatory, which indeed we were, +though not in the sense that he meant it. Sir Henry suggested that we +must be passing near the seat of some underground volcanic fire, and I +am inclined to think, especially in the light of what subsequently +occurred, that he was right. Our sufferings for some time after this +really pass my powers of description. We no longer perspired, for all +the perspiration had been sweated out of us. We simply lay in the +bottom of the boat, which we were now physically incapable of +directing, feeling like hot embers, and I fancy undergoing very much +the same sensations that the poor fish do when they are dying on +land—namely, that of slow suffocation. Our skins began to crack, and +the blood to throb in our heads like the beating of a steam-engine. + +This had been going on for some time, when suddenly the river turned a +little, and I heard Sir Henry call out from the bows in a hoarse, +startled voice, and, looking up, saw a most wonderful and awful thing. +About half a mile ahead of us, and a little to the left of the centre +of the stream—which we could now see was about ninety feet broad—a huge +pillar-like jet of almost white flame rose from the surface of the +water and sprang fifty feet into the air, when it struck the roof and +spread out some forty feet in diameter, falling back in curved sheets +of fire shaped like the petals of a full-blown rose. Indeed this awful +gas jet resembled nothing so much as a great flaming flower rising out +of the black water. Below was the straight stalk, a foot or more thick, +and above the dreadful bloom. And as for the fearfulness of it and its +fierce and awesome beauty, who can describe it? Certainly I cannot. +Although we were now some five hundred yards away, it, notwithstanding +the steam, lit up the whole cavern as clear as day, and we could see +that the roof was here about forty feet above us, and washed perfectly +smooth with water. The rock was black, and here and there I could make +out long shining lines of ore running through it like great veins, but +of what metal they were I know not. + +On we rushed towards this pillar of fire, which gleamed fiercer than +any furnace ever lit by man. + +“Keep the boat to the right, Quatermain—to the right,” shouted Sir +Henry, and a minute afterwards I saw him fall forward senseless. +Alphonse had already gone. Good was the next to go. There they lay as +though dead; only Umslopogaas and I kept our senses. We were within +fifty yards of it now, and I saw the Zulu’s head fall forward on his +hands. He had gone too, and I was alone. I could not breathe; the +fierce heat dried me up. For yards and yards round the great rose of +fire the rock-roof was red-hot. The wood of the boat was almost +burning. I saw the feathers on one of the dead swans begin to twist and +shrivel up; but I would not give in. I knew that if I did we should +pass within three or four yards of the gas jet and perish miserably. I +set the paddle so as to turn the canoe as far from it as possible, and +held on grimly. + +My eyes seemed to be bursting from my head, and through my closed lids +I could see the fierce light. We were nearly opposite now; it roared +like all the fires of hell, and the water boiled furiously around it. +Five seconds more. We were past; I heard the roar behind me. + +Then I too fell senseless. The next thing that I recollect is feeling a +breath of air upon my face. My eyes opened with great difficulty. I +looked up. Far, far above me there was light, though around me was +great gloom. Then I remembered and looked. The canoe still floated down +the river, and in the bottom of it lay the naked forms of my +companions. “Were they dead?” I wondered. “Was I left alone in this +awful place?” I knew not. Next I became conscious of a burning thirst. +I put my hand over the edge of the boat into the water and drew it up +again with a cry. No wonder: nearly all the skin was burnt off the back +of it. The water, however, was cold, or nearly so, and I drank pints +and splashed myself all over. My body seemed to suck up the fluid as +one may see a brick wall suck up rain after a drought; but where I was +burnt the touch of it caused intense pain. Then I bethought myself of +the others, and, dragging myself towards them with difficulty, I +sprinkled them with water, and to my joy they began to +recover—Umslopogaas first, then the others. Next they drank, absorbing +water like so many sponges. Then, feeling chilly—a queer contrast to +our recent sensations—we began as best we could to get into our +clothes. As we did so Good pointed to the port side of the canoe: it +was all blistered with heat, and in places actually charred. Had it +been built like our civilized boats, Good said that the planks would +certainly have warped and let in enough water to sink us; but +fortunately it was dug out of the soft, willowy wood of a single great +tree, and had sides nearly three inches and a bottom four inches thick. +What that awful flame was we never discovered, but I suppose that there +was at this spot a crack or hole in the bed of the river through which +a vast volume of gas forced its way from its volcanic home in the +bowels of the earth towards the upper air. How it first became ignited +is, of course, impossible to say—probably, I should think, from some +spontaneous explosion of mephitic gases. + +As soon as we had got some things together and shaken ourselves +together a little, we set to work to make out where we were now. I have +said that there was light above, and on examination we found that it +came from the sky. Our river that was, Sir Henry said, a literal +realization of the wild vision of the poet,[11] was no longer +underground, but was running on its darksome way, not now through +“caverns measureless to man”, but between two frightful cliffs which +cannot have been less than two thousand feet high. So high were they, +indeed, that though the sky was above us, where we were was dense +gloom—not darkness indeed, but the gloom of a room closely shuttered in +the daytime. Up on either side rose the great straight cliffs, grim and +forbidding, till the eye grew dizzy with trying to measure their sheer +height. The little space of sky that marked where they ended lay like a +thread of blue upon their soaring blackness, which was unrelieved by +any tree or creeper. Here and there, however, grew ghostly patches of a +long grey lichen, hanging motionless to the rock as the white beard to +the chin of a dead man. It seemed as though only the dregs or heavier +part of the light had sunk to the bottom of this awful place. No +bright-winged sunbeam could fall so low: they died far, far above our +heads. + + [11] +In Kubla Khan a river ran +Through caverns measureless to man +Down to a sunless sea + +By the river’s edge was a little shore formed of round fragments of +rock washed into this shape by the constant action of water, and giving +the place the appearance of being strewn with thousands of fossil +cannon balls. Evidently when the water of the underground river is high +there is no beach at all, or very little, between the border of the +stream and the precipitous cliffs; but now there was a space of seven +or eight yards. And here, on this beach, we determined to land, in +order to rest ourselves a little after all that we had gone through and +to stretch our limbs. It was a dreadful place, but it would give an +hour’s respite from the terrors of the river, and also allow of our +repacking and arranging the canoe. Accordingly we selected what looked +like a favourable spot, and with some little difficulty managed to +beach the canoe and scramble out on to the round, inhospitable pebbles. + +“My word,” called out Good, who was on shore the first, “what an awful +place! It’s enough to give one a fit.” And he laughed. + +Instantly a thundering voice took up his words, magnifying them a +hundred times. “_Give one a fit—Ho! ho! ho!”—“A fit, Ho! ho! ho!_” +answered another voice in wild accents from far up the cliff—_a fit! a +fit! a fit!_ chimed in voice after voice—each flinging the words to and +fro with shouts of awful laughter to the invisible lips of the other +till the whole place echoed with the words and with shrieks of fiendish +merriment, which at last ceased as suddenly as they had begun. + +“Oh, mon Dieu!” yelled Alphonse, startled quite out of such +self-command as he possessed. + +“_Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!_” the Titanic echoes thundered, +shrieked, and wailed in every conceivable tone. + +“Ah,” said Umslopogaas calmly, “I clearly perceive that devils live +here. Well, the place looks like it.” + +I tried to explain to him that the cause of all the hubbub was a very +remarkable and interesting echo, but he would not believe it. + +“Ah,” he said, “I know an echo when I hear one. There was one lived +opposite my kraal in Zululand, and the Intombis [maidens] used to talk +with it. But if what we hear is a full-grown echo, mine at home can +only have been a baby. No, no—they are devils up there. But I don’t +think much of them, though,” he added, taking a pinch of snuff. “They +can copy what one says, but they don’t seem to be able to talk on their +own account, and they dare not show their faces,” and he relapsed into +silence, and apparently paid no further attention to such contemptible +fiends. + +After this we found it necessary to keep our conversation down to a +whisper—for it was really unbearable to have every word one uttered +tossed to and fro like a tennis-ball, as precipice called to precipice. + +But even our whispers ran up the rocks in mysterious murmurs till at +last they died away in long-drawn sighs of sound. Echoes are delightful +and romantic things, but we had more than enough of them in that +dreadful gulf. + +As soon as we had settled ourselves a little on the round stones, we +went on to wash and dress our burns as well as we could. As we had but +a little oil for the lantern, we could not spare any for this purpose, +so we skinned one of the swans, and used the fat off its breast, which +proved an excellent substitute. Then we repacked the canoe, and finally +began to take some food, of which I need scarcely say we were in need, +for our insensibility had endured for many hours, and it was, as our +watches showed, midday. Accordingly we seated ourselves in a circle, +and were soon engaged in discussing our cold meat with such appetite as +we could muster, which, in my case at any rate, was not much, as I felt +sick and faint after my sufferings of the previous night, and had +besides a racking headache. It was a curious meal. The gloom was so +intense that we could scarcely see the way to cut our food and convey +it to our mouths. Still we got on pretty well, till I happened to look +behind me—my attention being attracted by a noise of something crawling +over the stones, and perceived sitting upon a rock in my immediate rear +a huge species of black freshwater crab, only it was five times the +size of any crab I ever saw. This hideous and loathsome-looking animal +had projecting eyes that seemed to glare at one, very long and flexible +antennae or feelers, and gigantic claws. Nor was I especially favoured +with its company. From every quarter dozens of these horrid brutes were +creeping up, drawn, I suppose, by the smell of the food, from between +the round stones and out of holes in the precipice. Some were already +quite close to us. I stared quite fascinated by the unusual sight, and +as I did so I saw one of the beasts stretch out its huge claw and give +the unsuspecting Good such a nip behind that he jumped up with a howl, +and set the “wild echoes flying” in sober earnest. Just then, too, +another, a very large one, got hold of Alphonse’s leg, and declined to +part with it, and, as may be imagined, a considerable scene ensued. +Umslopogaas took his axe and cracked the shell of one with the flat of +it, whereon it set up a horrid screaming which the echoes multiplied a +thousandfold, and began to foam at the mouth, a proceeding that drew +hundreds more of its friends out of unsuspected holes and corners. +Those on the spot perceiving that the animal was hurt fell upon it like +creditors on a bankrupt, and literally rent it limb from limb with +their huge pincers and devoured it, using their claws to convey the +fragments to their mouths. Seizing whatever weapons were handy, such as +stones or paddles, we commenced a war upon the monsters—whose numbers +were increasing by leaps and bounds, and whose stench was overpowering. +So fast as we cracked their armour others seized the injured ones and +devoured them, foaming at the mouth, and screaming as they did so. Nor +did the brutes stop at that. When they could they nipped hold of us—and +awful nips they were—or tried to steal the meat. One enormous fellow +got hold of the swan we had skinned and began to drag it off. Instantly +a score of others flung themselves upon the prey, and then began a +ghastly and disgusting scene. How the monsters foamed and screamed, and +rent the flesh, and each other! It was a sickening and unnatural sight, +and one that will haunt all who saw it till their dying day—enacted as +it was in the deep, oppressive gloom, and set to the unceasing music of +the many-toned nerve-shaking echoes. Strange as it may seem to say so, +there was something so shockingly human about these fiendish +creatures—it was as though all the most evil passions and desires of +man had got into the shell of a magnified crab and gone mad. They were +so dreadfully courageous and intelligent, and they looked as if they +_understood_. The whole scene might have furnished material for another +canto of Dante’s “Inferno”, as Curtis said. + +“I say, you fellows, let’s get out of this or we shall all go off our +heads,” sung out Good; and we were not slow to take the hint. Pushing +the canoe, around which the animals were now crawling by hundreds and +making vain attempts to climb, off the rocks, we bundled into it and +got out into mid-stream, leaving behind us the fragments of our meal +and the screaming, foaming, stinking mass of monsters in full +possession of the ground. + +“Those are the devils of the place,” said Umslopogaas with the air of +one who has solved a problem, and upon my word I felt almost inclined +to agree with him. + +Umslopogaas’ remarks were like his axe—very much to the point. + +“What’s to be done next?” said Sir Henry blankly. + +“Drift, I suppose,” I answered, and we drifted accordingly. All the +afternoon and well into the evening we floated on in the gloom beneath +the far-off line of blue sky, scarcely knowing when day ended and night +began, for down in that vast gulf the difference was not marked, till +at length Good pointed out a star hanging right above us, which, having +nothing better to do, we observed with great interest. Suddenly it +vanished, the darkness became intense, and a familiar murmuring sound +filled the air. “Underground again,” I said with a groan, holding up +the lamp. Yes, there was no doubt about it. I could just make out the +roof. The chasm had come to an end and the tunnel had recommenced. And +then there began another long, long night of danger and horror. To +describe all its incidents would be too wearisome, so I will simply say +that about midnight we struck on a flat projecting rock in mid-stream +and were as nearly as possible overturned and drowned. However, at last +we got off, and went upon the uneven tenor of our way. And so the hours +passed till it was nearly three o’clock. Sir Henry, Good, and Alphonse +were asleep, utterly worn out; Umslopogaas was at the bow with the +pole, and I was steering, when I perceived that the rate at which we +were travelling had perceptibly increased. Then, suddenly, I heard +Umslopogaas make an exclamation, and next second came a sound as of +parting branches, and I became aware that the canoe was being forced +through hanging bushes or creepers. Another minute, and the breath of +sweet open air fanned my face, and I felt that we had emerged from the +tunnel and were floating upon clear water. I say felt, for I could see +nothing, the darkness being absolutely pitchy, as it often is just +before the dawn. But even this could scarcely damp my joy. We were out +of that dreadful river, and wherever we might have got to this at least +was something to be thankful for. And so I sat down and inhaled the +sweet night air and waited for the dawn with such patience as I could +command. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. +THE FROWNING CITY + + +For an hour or more I sat waiting (Umslopogaas having meanwhile gone to +sleep also) till at length the east turned grey, and huge misty shapes +moved over the surface of the water like ghosts of long-forgotten +dawns. They were the vapours rising from their watery bed to greet the +sun. Then the grey turned to primrose, and the primrose grew to red. +Next, glorious bars of light sprang up across the eastern sky, and +through them the radiant messengers of the dawn came speeding upon +their arrowy way, scattering the ghostly vapours and awaking the +mountains with a kiss, as they flew from range to range and longitude +to longitude. Another moment, and the golden gates were open and the +sun himself came forth as a bridegroom from his chamber, with pomp and +glory and a flashing as of ten million spears, and embraced the night +and covered her with brightness, and it was day. + +But as yet I could see nothing save the beautiful blue sky above, for +over the water was a thick layer of mist exactly as though the whole +surface had been covered with billows of cotton wool. By degrees, +however, the sun sucked up the mists, and then I saw that we were +afloat upon a glorious sheet of blue water of which I could not make +out the shore. Some eight or ten miles behind us, however, there +stretched as far as the eye could reach a range of precipitous hills +that formed a retaining wall of the lake, and I have no doubt but that +it was through some entrance in these hills that the subterranean river +found its way into the open water. Indeed, I afterwards ascertained +this to be the fact, and it will be some indication of the +extraordinary strength and directness of the current of the mysterious +river that the canoe, even at this distance, was still answering to it. +Presently, too, I, or rather Umslopogaas, who woke up just then, +discovered another indication, and a very unpleasant one it was. +Perceiving some whitish object upon the water, Umslopogaas called my +attention to it, and with a few strokes of the paddle brought the canoe +to the spot, whereupon we discovered that the object was the body of a +man floating face downwards. This was bad enough, but imagine my horror +when Umslopogaas having turned him on to his back with the paddle, we +recognized in the sunken features the lineaments of—whom do you +suppose? None other than our poor servant who had been sucked down two +days before in the waters of the subterranean river. It quite +frightened me. I thought that we had left him behind for ever, and +behold! borne by the current, he had made the awful journey with us, +and with us had reached the end. His appearance also was dreadful, for +he bore traces of having touched the pillar of fire—one arm being +completely shrivelled up and all his hair being burnt off. The features +were, as I have said, sunken, and yet they preserved upon them that +awful look of despair that I had seen upon his living face as the poor +fellow was sucked down. Really the sight unnerved me, weary and shaken +as I felt with all that we had gone through, and I was heartily glad +when suddenly and without any warning the body began to sink just as +though it had had a mission, which having been accomplished, it +retired; the real reason no doubt being that turning it on its back +allowed a free passage to the gas. Down it went to the transparent +depths—fathom after fathom we could trace its course till at last a +long line of bright air-bubbles, swiftly chasing each other to the +surface, alone remained where it had passed. At length these, too, were +gone, and that was an end of our poor servant. Umslopogaas thoughtfully +watched the body vanish. + +“What did he follow us for?” he asked. “’Tis an ill omen for thee and +me, Macumazahn.” And he laughed. + +I turned on him angrily, for I dislike these unpleasant suggestions. If +people have such ideas, they ought in common decency to keep them to +themselves. I detest individuals who make on the subject of their +disagreeable presentiments, or who, when they dream that they saw one +hanged as a common felon, or some such horror, will insist upon telling +one all about it at breakfast, even if they have to get up early to do +it. + +Just then, however, the others woke up and began to rejoice exceedingly +at finding that we were out of that dreadful river and once more +beneath the blue sky. Then followed a babel of talk and suggestions as +to what we were to do next, the upshot of all of which was that, as we +were excessively hungry, and had nothing whatsoever left to eat except +a few scraps of biltong (dried game-flesh), having abandoned all that +remained of our provisions to those horrible freshwater crabs, we +determined to make for the shore. But a new difficulty arose. We did +not know where the shore was, and, with the exception of the cliffs +through which the subterranean river made its entry, could see nothing +but a wide expanse of sparkling blue water. Observing, however, that +the long flights of aquatic birds kept flying from our left, we +concluded that they were advancing from their feeding-grounds on shore +to pass the day in the lake, and accordingly headed the boat towards +the quarter whence they came, and began to paddle. Before long, +however, a stiffish breeze sprang up, blowing directly in the direction +we wanted, so we improvised a sail with a blanket and the pole, which +took us along merrily. This done, we devoured the remnants of our +biltong, washed down with the sweet lake water, and then lit our pipes +and awaited whatever might turn up. + +When we had been sailing for an hour, Good, who was searching the +horizon with the spy-glass, suddenly announced joyfully that he saw +land, and pointed out that, from the change in the colour of the water, +he thought we must be approaching the mouth of a river. In another +minute we perceived a great golden dome, not unlike that of St Paul’s, +piercing the morning mists, and while we were wondering what in the +world it could be, Good reported another and still more important +discovery, namely, that a small sailing-boat was advancing towards us. +This bit of news, which we were very shortly able to verify with our +own eyes, threw us into a considerable flutter. That the natives of +this unknown lake should understand the art of sailing seemed to +suggest that they possessed some degree of civilization. In a few more +minutes it became evident that the occupant or occupants of the +advancing boat had made us out. For a moment or two she hung in the +wind as though in doubt, and then came tacking towards us with great +swiftness. In ten more minutes she was within a hundred yards, and we +saw that she was a neat little boat—not a canoe “dug out”, but built +more or less in the European fashion with planks, and carrying a +singularly large sail for her size. But our attention was soon diverted +from the boat to her crew, which consisted of a man and a woman, +_nearly as white as ourselves_. + +We stared at each other in amazement, thinking that we must be +mistaken; but no, there was no doubt about it. They were not fair, but +the two people in the boat were decidedly of a white as distinguished +from a black race, as white, for instance, as Spaniards or Italians. It +was a patent fact. So it was true, after all; and, mysteriously led by +a Power beyond our own, we had discovered this wonderful people. I +could have shouted for joy when I thought of the glory and the wonder +of the thing; and as it was, we all shook hands and congratulated each +other on the unexpected success of our wild search. All my life had I +heard rumours of a white race that existed in the highlands of this +vast continent, and longed to put them to the proof, and now here I saw +it with my own eyes, and was dumbfounded. Truly, as Sir Henry said, the +old Roman was right when he wrote “Ex Africa semper aliquid novi”, +which he tells me means that out of Africa there always comes some new +thing. + +The man in the boat was of a good but not particularly fine physique, +and possessed straight black hair, regular aquiline features, and an +intelligent face. He was dressed in a brown cloth garment, something +like a flannel shirt without the sleeves, and in an unmistakable kilt +of the same material. The legs and feet were bare. Round the right arm +and left leg he wore thick rings of yellow metal that I judged to be +gold. The woman had a sweet face, wild and shy, with large eyes and +curling brown hair. Her dress was made of the same material as the +man’s, and consisted, as we afterwards discovered, first of a linen +under-garment that hung down to her knee, and then of a single long +strip of cloth, about four feet wide by fifteen long, which was wound +round the body in graceful folds and finally flung over the left +shoulder so that the end, which was dyed blue or purple or some other +colour, according to the social standing of the wearer, hung down in +front, the right arm and breast being, however, left quite bare. A more +becoming dress, especially when, as in the present case, the wearer was +young and pretty, it is quite impossible to conceive. Good (who has an +eye for such things) was greatly struck with it, and so indeed was I. +It was so simple and yet so effective. + +Meanwhile, if we had been astonished at the appearance of the man and +woman, it was clear that they were far more astonished at us. As for +the man, he appeared to be overcome with fear and wonder, and for a +while hovered round our canoe, but would not approach. At last, +however, he came within hailing distance, and called to us in a +language that sounded soft and pleasing enough, but of which we could +not understand one word. So we hailed back in English, French, Latin, +Greek, German, Zulu, Dutch, Sisutu, Kukuana, and a few other native +dialects that I am acquainted with, but our visitor did not understand +any of these tongues; indeed, they appeared to bewilder him. As for the +lady, she was busily employed in taking stock of us, and Good was +returning the compliment by staring at her hard through his eyeglass, a +proceeding that she seemed rather to enjoy than otherwise. At length, +the man, being unable to make anything of us, suddenly turned his boat +round and began to head off for the shore, his little boat skimming +away before the wind like a swallow. As she passed across our bows the +man turned to attend to the large sail, and Good promptly took the +opportunity to kiss his hand to the young lady. I was horrified at this +proceeding, both on general grounds and because I feared that she might +take offence, but to my delight she did not, for, first glancing round +and seeing that her husband, or brother, or whoever he was, was +engaged, she promptly kissed hers back. + +“Ah!” said I. “It seems that we have at last found a language that the +people of this country understand.” + +“In which case,” said Sir Henry, “Good will prove an invaluable +interpreter.” + +I frowned, for I do not approve of Good’s frivolities, and he knows it, +and I turned the conversation to more serious subjects. “It is very +clear to me,” I said, “that the man will be back before long with a +host of his fellows, so we had best make up our minds as to how we are +going to receive them.” + +“The question is how will they receive us?” said Sir Henry. + +As for Good he made no remark, but began to extract a small square tin +case that had accompanied us in all our wanderings from under a pile of +baggage. Now we had often remonstrated with Good about this tin case, +inasmuch as it had been an awkward thing to carry, and he had never +given any very explicit account as to its contents; but he had insisted +on keeping it, saying mysteriously that it might come in very useful +one day. + +“What on earth are you going to do, Good?” asked Sir Henry. + +“Do—why dress, of course! You don’t expect me to appear in a new +country in these things, do you?” and he pointed to his soiled and worn +garments, which were however, like all Good’s things, very tidy, and +with every tear neatly mended. + +We said no more, but watched his proceedings with breathless interest. +His first step was to get Alphonse, who was thoroughly competent in +such matters, to trim his hair and beard in the most approved fashion. +I think that if he had had some hot water and a cake of soap at hand he +would have shaved off the latter; but he had not. This done, he +suggested that we should lower the sail of the canoe and all take a +bath, which we did, greatly to the horror and astonishment of Alphonse, +who lifted his hands and ejaculated that these English were indeed a +wonderful people. Umslopogaas, who, though he was, like most high-bred +Zulus, scrupulously cleanly in his person, did not see the fun of +swimming about in a lake, also regarded the proceeding with mild +amusement. We got back into the canoe much refreshed by the cold water, +and sat to dry in the sun, whilst Good undid his tin box, and produced +first a beautiful clean white shirt, just as it had left a London steam +laundry, and then some garments wrapped first in brown, then in white, +and finally in silver paper. We watched this undoing with the tenderest +interest and much speculation. One by one Good removed the dull husks +that hid their splendours, carefully folding and replacing each piece +of paper as he did so; and there at last lay, in all the majesty of its +golden epaulettes, lace, and buttons, a Commander of the Royal Navy’s +full-dress uniform—dress sword, cocked hat, shiny patent leather boots +and all. We literally gasped. + +“_What!_” we said, “_what!_ Are you going to put those things on?” + +“Certainly,” he answered composedly; “you see so much depends upon a +first impression, especially,” he added, “as I observe that there are +ladies about. One at least of us ought to be decently dressed.” + +We said no more; we were simply dumbfounded, especially when we +considered the artful way in which Good had concealed the contents of +that box for all these months. Only one suggestion did we make—namely, +that he should wear his mail shirt next his skin. He replied that he +feared it would spoil the set of his coat, now carefully spread in the +sun to take the creases out, but finally consented to this +precautionary measure. The most amusing part of the affair, however, +was to see old Umslopogaas’s astonishment and Alphonse’s delight at +Good’s transformation. When at last he stood up in all his glory, even +down to the medals on his breast, and contemplated himself in the still +waters of the lake, after the fashion of the young gentleman in ancient +history, whose name I cannot remember, but who fell in love with his +own shadow, the old Zulu could no longer restrain his feelings. + +“Oh, Bougwan!” he said. “Oh, Bougwan! I always thought thee an ugly +little man, and fat—fat as the cows at calving time; and now thou art +like a blue jay when he spreads his tail out. Surely, Bougwan, it hurts +my eyes to look at thee.” + +Good did not much like this allusion to his fat, which, to tell the +truth, was not very well deserved, for hard exercise had brought him +down three inches; but on the whole he was pleased at Umslopogaas’s +admiration. As for Alphonse, he was quite delighted. + +“Ah! but Monsieur has the beautiful air—the air of the warrior. It is +the ladies who will say so when we come to get ashore. Monsieur is +complete; he puts me in mind of my heroic grand—” + +Here we stopped Alphonse. + +As we gazed upon the beauties thus revealed by Good, a spirit of +emulation filled our breasts, and we set to work to get ourselves up as +well as we could. The most, however, that we were able to do was to +array ourselves in our spare suits of shooting clothes, of which we +each had several, all the fine clothes in the world could never make it +otherwise than scrubby and insignificant; but Sir Henry looked what he +is, a magnificent man in his nearly new tweed suit, gaiters, and boots. +Alphonse also got himself up to kill, giving an extra turn to his +enormous moustaches. Even old Umslopogaas, who was not in a general way +given to the vain adorning of his body, took some oil out of the +lantern and a bit of tow, and polished up his head-ring with it till it +shone like Good’s patent leather boots. Then he put on the mail shirt +Sir Henry had given him and his “moocha”, and, having cleaned up +Inkosi-kaas a little, stood forth complete. + +All this while, having hoisted the sail again as soon as we had +finished bathing, we had been progressing steadily for the land, or, +rather, for the mouth of a great river. Presently—in all about an hour +and a half after the little boat had left us—we saw emerging from the +river or harbour a large number of boats, ranging up to ten or twelve +tons burden. One of these was propelled by twenty-four oars, and most +of the rest sailed. Looking through the glass we soon made out that the +row-boat was an official vessel, her crew being all dressed in a sort +of uniform, whilst on the half-deck forward stood an old man of +venerable appearance, and with a flowing white beard, and a sword +strapped to his side, who was evidently the commander of the craft. The +other boats were apparently occupied by people brought out by +curiosity, and were rowing or sailing towards us as quickly as they +could. + +“Now for it,” said I. “What is the betting? Are they going to be +friendly or to put an end to us?” + +Nobody could answer this question, and, not liking the warlike +appearance of the old gentleman and his sword, we felt a little +anxious. + +Just then Good spied a school of hippopotami on the water about two +hundred yards off us, and suggested that it would not be a bad plan to +impress the natives with a sense of our power by shooting some of them +if possible. This, unluckily enough, struck us as a good idea, and +accordingly we at once got out our eight-bore rifles, for which we +still had a few cartridges left, and prepared for action. There were +four of the animals, a big bull, a cow, and two young ones, one three +parts grown. We got up to them without difficulty, the great animals +contenting themselves with sinking down into the water and rising again +a few yards farther on; indeed, their excessive tameness struck me as +being peculiar. When the advancing boats were about five hundred yards +away, Sir Henry opened the ball by firing at the three parts grown +young one. The heavy bullet struck it fair between the eyes, and, +crashing through the skull, killed it, and it sank, leaving a long +train of blood behind it. At the same moment I fired at the cow, and +Good at the old bull. My shot took effect, but not fatally, and down +went the hippopotamus with a prodigious splashing, only to rise again +presently blowing and grunting furiously, dyeing all the water round +her crimson, when I killed her with the left barrel. Good, who is an +execrable shot, missed the head of the bull altogether, the bullet +merely cutting the side of his face as it passed. On glancing up, after +I had fired my second shot, I perceived that the people we had fallen +among were evidently ignorant of the nature of firearms, for the +consternation caused by our shots and their effect upon the animals was +prodigious. Some of the parties in the boats began to cry out in fear; +others turned and made off as hard as they could; and even the old +gentleman with the sword looked greatly puzzled and alarmed, and halted +his big row-boat. We had, however, but little time for observation, for +just then the old bull, rendered furious by the wound he had received, +rose fair within forty yards of us, glaring savagely. We all fired, and +hit him in various places, and down he went, badly wounded. Curiosity +now began to overcome the fear of the onlookers, and some of them +sailed on up close to us, amongst these being the man and woman whom we +had first seen a couple of hours or so before, who drew up almost +alongside. Just then the great brute rose again within ten yards of +their base, and instantly with a roar of fury made at it open-mouthed. +The woman shrieked, and the man tried to give the boat way, but without +success. In another second I saw the huge red jaws and gleaming ivories +close with a crunch on the frail craft, taking an enormous mouthful out +of its side and capsizing it. Down went the boat, leaving its occupants +struggling in the water. Next moment, before we could do anything +towards saving them, the huge and furious creature was up again and +making open-mouthed at the poor girl, who was struggling in the water. +Lifting my rifle just as the grinding jaws were about to close on her, +I fired over her head right down the hippopotamus’s throat. Over he +went, and commenced turning round and round, snorting, and blowing red +streams of blood through his nostrils. Before he could recover himself, +however, I let him have the other barrel in the side of the throat, and +that finished him. He never moved or struggled again, but instantly +sank. Our next effort was directed towards saving the girl, the man +having swum off towards another boat; and in this we were fortunately +successful, pulling her into the canoe (amidst the shouts of the +spectators) considerably exhausted and frightened, but otherwise +unhurt. + +Meanwhile the boats had gathered together at a distance, and we could +see that the occupants, who were evidently much frightened, were +consulting what to do. Without giving them time for further +consideration, which we thought might result unfavourably to ourselves, +we instantly took our paddles and advanced towards them, Good standing +in the bow and taking off his cocked hat politely in every direction, +his amiable features suffused by a bland but intelligent smile. Most of +the craft retreated as we advanced, but a few held their ground, while +the big row-boat came on to meet us. Presently we were alongside, and I +could see that our appearance—and especially Good’s and +Umslopogaas’s—filled the venerable-looking commander with astonishment, +not unmixed with awe. He was dressed after the same fashion as the man +we first met, except that his shirt was not made of brown cloth, but of +pure white linen hemmed with purple. The kilt, however, was identical, +and so were the thick rings of gold around the arm and beneath the left +knee. The rowers wore only a kilt, their bodies being naked to the +waist. Good took off his hat to the old gentleman with an extra +flourish, and inquired after his health in the purest English, to which +he replied by laying the first two fingers of his right hand +horizontally across his lips and holding them there for a moment, which +we took as his method of salutation. Then he also addressed some +remarks to us in the same soft accents that had distinguished our first +interviewer, which we were forced to indicate we did not understand by +shaking our heads and shrugging our shoulders. This last Alphonse, +being to the manner born, did to perfection, and in so polite a way +that nobody could take any offence. Then we came to a standstill, till +I, being exceedingly hungry, thought I might as well call attention to +the fact, and did so first by opening my mouth and pointing down it, +and then rubbing my stomach. These signals the old gentleman clearly +understood, for he nodded his head vigorously, and pointed towards the +harbour; and at the same time one of the men on his boat threw us a +line and motioned to us to make it fast, which we did. The row-boat +then took us in tow, and went with great rapidity towards the mouth of +the river, accompanied by all the other boats. In about twenty minutes +more we reached the entrance to the harbour, which was crowded with +boats full of people who had come out to see us. We observed that all +the occupants were more or less of the same type, though some were +fairer than others. Indeed, we noticed certain ladies whose skin was of +a most dazzling whiteness; and the darkest shade of colour which we saw +was about that of a rather swarthy Spaniard. Presently the wide river +gave a sweep, and when it did so an exclamation of astonishment and +delight burst from our lips as we caught our first view of the place +that we afterwards knew as Milosis, or the Frowning City (from the +prefix _mi_, which means city, and _losis_, a frown). + +At a distance of some five hundred yards from the river’s bank rose a +sheer precipice of granite, two hundred feet or so in height, which had +no doubt once formed the bank itself—the intermediate space of land now +utilized as docks and roadways having been gained by draining, and +deepening and embanking the stream. + +On the brow of this precipice stood a great building of the same +granite that formed the cliff, built on three sides of a square, the +fourth side being open, save for a kind of battlement pierced at its +base by a little door. This imposing place we afterwards discovered was +the palace of the queen, or rather of the queens. At the back of the +palace the town sloped gently upwards to a flashing building of white +marble, crowned by the golden dome which we had already observed. The +city was, with the exception of this one building, entirely built of +red granite, and laid out in regular blocks with splendid roadways +between. So far as we could see also the houses were all one-storied +and detached, with gardens round them, which gave some relief to the +eye wearied with the vista of red granite. At the back of the palace a +road of extraordinary width stretched away up the hill for a distance +of a mile and a half or so, and appeared to terminate at an open space +surrounding the gleaming building that crowned the hill. But right in +front of us was the wonder and glory of Milosis—the great staircase of +the palace, the magnificence of which took our breath away. Let the +reader imagine, if he can, a splendid stairway, sixty-five feet from +balustrade to balustrade, consisting of two vast flights, each of one +hundred and twenty-five steps of eight inches in height by three feet +broad, connected by a flat resting-place sixty feet in length, and +running from the palace wall on the edge of the precipice down to meet +a waterway or canal cut to its foot from the river. This marvellous +staircase was supported upon a single enormous granite arch, of which +the resting-place between the two flights formed the crown; that is, +the connecting open space lay upon it. From this archway sprang a +subsidiary flying arch, or rather something that resembled a flying +arch in shape, such as none of us had seen in any other country, and of +which the beauty and wonder surpassed all that we had ever imagined. +Three hundred feet from point to point, and no less than five hundred +and fifty round the curve, that half-arc soared touching the bridge it +supported for a space of fifty feet only, one end resting on and built +into the parent archway, and the other embedded in the solid granite of +the side of the precipice. + +This staircase with its supports was, indeed, a work of which any +living man might have been proud, both on account of its magnitude and +its surpassing beauty. Four times, as we afterwards learnt, did the +work, which was commenced in remote antiquity, fail, and was then +abandoned for three centuries when half-finished, till at last there +rose a youthful engineer named Rademas, who said that he would complete +it successfully, and staked his life upon it. If he failed he was to be +hurled from the precipice he had undertaken to scale; if he succeeded, +he was to be rewarded by the hand of the king’s daughter. Five years +was given to him to complete the work, and an unlimited supply of +labour and material. Three times did his arch fall, till at last, +seeing failure to be inevitable, he determined to commit suicide on the +morrow of the third collapse. That night, however, a beautiful woman +came to him in a dream and touched his forehead, and of a sudden he saw +a vision of the completed work, and saw too through the masonry and how +the difficulties connected with the flying arch that had hitherto +baffled his genius were to be overcome. Then he awoke and once more +commenced the work, but on a different plan, and behold! he achieved +it, and on the last day of the five years he led the princess his bride +up the stair and into the palace. And in due course he became king by +right of his wife, and founded the present Zu-Vendi dynasty, which is +to this day called the “House of the Stairway”, thus proving once more +how energy and talent are the natural stepping-stones to grandeur. And +to commemorate his triumph he fashioned a statue of himself dreaming, +and of the fair woman who touched him on the forehead, and placed it in +the great hall of the palace, and there it stands to this day. + +Such was the great stair of Milosis, and such the city beyond. No +wonder they named it the “Frowning City”, for certainly those mighty +works in solid granite did seem to frown down upon our littleness in +their sombre splendour. This was so even in the sunshine, but when the +storm-clouds gathered on her imperial brow Milosis looked more like a +supernatural dwelling-place, or some imagining of a poet’s brain, than +what she is—a mortal city, carven by the patient genius of generations +out of the red silence of the mountain side. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +THE SISTER QUEENS + + +The big rowing-boat glided on up the cutting that ran almost to the +foot of the vast stairway, and then halted at a flight of steps leading +to the landing-place. Here the old gentleman disembarked, and invited +us to do so likewise, which, having no alternative, and being nearly +starved, we did without hesitation—taking our rifles with us, however. +As each of us landed, our guide again laid his fingers on his lips and +bowed deeply, at the same time ordering back the crowds which had +assembled to gaze on us. The last to leave the canoe was the girl we +had picked out of the water, for whom her companion was waiting. Before +she went away she kissed my hand, I suppose as a token of gratitude for +having saved her from the fury of the hippopotamus; and it seemed to me +that she had by this time quite got over any fear she might have had of +us, and was by no means anxious to return in such a hurry to her lawful +owners. At any rate, she was going to kiss Good’s hand as well as mine, +when the young man interfered and led her off. As soon as we were on +shore, a number of the men who had rowed the big boat took possession +of our few goods and chattels, and started with them up the splendid +staircase, our guide indicating to us by means of motions that the +things were perfectly safe. This done, he turned to the right and led +the way to a small house, which was, as I afterwards discovered, an +inn. Entering into a good-sized room, we saw that a wooden table was +already furnished with food, presumably in preparation for us. Here our +guide motioned us to be seated on a bench that ran the length of the +table. We did not require a second invitation, but at once fell to +ravenously on the viands before us, which were served on wooden +platters, and consisted of cold goat’s-flesh, wrapped up in some kind +of leaf that gave it a delicious flavour, green vegetables resembling +lettuces, brown bread, and red wine poured from a skin into horn mugs. +This wine was peculiarly soft and good, having something of the flavour +of Burgundy. Twenty minutes after we sat down at that hospitable board +we rose from it, feeling like new men. After all that we had gone +through we needed two things, food and rest, and the food of itself was +a great blessing to us. Two girls of the same charming cast of face as +the first whom we had seen waited on us while we ate, and very nicely +they did it. They were also dressed in the same fashion namely, in a +white linen petticoat coming to the knee, and with the toga-like +garment of brown cloth, leaving bare the right arm and breast. I +afterwards found out that this was the national dress, and regulated by +an iron custom, though of course subject to variations. Thus, if the +petticoat was pure white, it signified that the wearer was unmarried; +if white, with a straight purple stripe round the edge, that she was +married and a first or legal wife; if with a black stripe, that she was +a widow. In the same way the toga, or “kaf”, as they call it, was of +different shades of colour, from pure white to the deepest brown, +according to the rank of the wearer, and embroidered at the end in +various ways. This also applies to the “shirts” or tunics worn by the +men, which varied in material and colour; but the kilts were always the +same except as regards quality. One thing, however, every man and woman +in the country wore as the national insignia, and that was the thick +band of gold round the right arm above the elbow, and the left leg +beneath the knee. People of high rank also wore a torque of gold round +the neck, and I observed that our guide had one on. + +So soon as we had finished our meal our venerable conductor, who had +been standing all the while, regarding us with inquiring eyes, and our +guns with something as like fear as his pride would allow him to show, +bowed towards Good, whom he evidently took for the leader of the party +on account of the splendour of his apparel, and once more led the way +through the door and to the foot of the great staircase. Here we paused +for a moment to admire two colossal lions, each hewn from a single +block of pure black marble, and standing rampant on the terminations of +the wide balustrades of the staircase. These lions are magnificently +executed, and it is said were sculptured by Rademas, the great prince +who designed the staircase, and who was without doubt, to judge from +the many beautiful examples of his art that we saw afterwards, one of +the finest sculptors who ever lived, either in this or any other +country. Then we climbed almost with a feeling of awe up that splendid +stair, a work executed for all time and that will, I do not doubt, be +admired thousands of years hence by generations unborn unless an +earthquake should throw it down. Even Umslopogaas, who as a general +rule made it a point of honour not to show astonishment, which he +considered undignified, was fairly startled out of himself, and asked +if the “bridge had been built by men or devils”, which was his vague +way of alluding to any supernatural power. But Alphonse did not care +about it. Its solid grandeur jarred upon the frivolous little +Frenchman, who said that it was all “tres magnifique, mais triste—ah, +triste!” and went on to suggest that it would be improved if the +balustrades were _gilt_. + +On we went up the first flight of one hundred and twenty steps, across +the broad platform joining it to the second flight, where we paused to +admire the glorious view of one of the most beautiful stretches of +country that the world can show, edged by the blue waters of the lake. +Then we passed on up the stair till at last we reached the top, where +we found a large standing space to which there were three entrances, +all of small size. Two of these opened on to rather narrow galleries or +roadways cut in the face of the precipice that ran round the palace +walls and led to the principal thoroughfares of the city, and were used +by the inhabitants passing up and down from the docks. These were +defended by gates of bronze, and also, as we afterwards learnt, it was +possible to let down a portion of the roadways themselves by +withdrawing certain bolts, and thus render it quite impracticable for +an enemy to pass. The third entrance consisted of a flight of ten +curved black marble steps leading to a doorway cut in the palace wall. +This wall was in itself a work of art, being built of huge blocks of +granite to the height of forty feet, and so fashioned that its face was +concave, whereby it was rendered practically impossible for it to be +scaled. To this doorway our guide led us. The door, which was massive, +and made of wood protected by an outer gate of bronze, was closed; but +on our approach it was thrown wide, and we were met by the challenge of +a sentry, who was armed with a heavy triangular-bladed spear, not +unlike a bayonet in shape, and a cutting sword, and protected by breast +and back plates of skilfully prepared hippopotamus hide, and a small +round shield fashioned of the same tough material. The sword instantly +attracted our attention; it was practically identical with the one in +the possession of Mr Mackenzie which he had obtained from the +ill-starred wanderer. There was no mistaking the gold-lined fretwork +cut in the thickness of the blade. So the man had told the truth after +all. Our guide instantly gave a password, which the soldier +acknowledged by letting the iron shaft of his spear fall with a ringing +sound upon the pavement, and we passed on through the massive wall into +the courtyard of the palace. This was about forty yards square, and +laid out in flower-beds full of lovely shrubs and plants, many of which +were quite new to me. Through the centre of this garden ran a broad +walk formed of powdered shells brought from the lake in the place of +gravel. Following this we came to another doorway with a round heavy +arch, which is hung with thick curtains, for there are no doors in the +palace itself. Then came another short passage, and we were in the +great hall of the palace, and once more stood astonished at the simple +and yet overpowering grandeur of the place. + +The hall is, as we afterwards learnt, one hundred and fifty feet long +by eighty wide, and has a magnificent arched roof of carved wood. Down +the entire length of the building there are on either side, and at a +distance of twenty feet from the wall, slender shafts of black marble +springing sheer to the roof, beautifully fluted, and with carved +capitals. At one end of this great place which these pillars support is +the group of which I have already spoken as executed by the King +Rademas to commemorate his building of the staircase; and really, when +we had time to admire it, its loveliness almost struck us dumb. The +group, of which the figures are in white, and the rest is black marble, +is about half as large again as life, and represents a young man of +noble countenance and form sleeping heavily upon a couch. One arm is +carelessly thrown over the side of this couch, and his head reposes +upon the other, its curling locks partially hiding it. Bending over +him, her hand resting on his forehead, is a draped female form of such +white loveliness as to make the beholder’s breath stand still. And as +for the calm glory that shines upon her perfect face—well, I can never +hope to describe it. But there it rests like the shadow of an angel’s +smile; and power, love, and divinity all have their part in it. Her +eyes are fixed upon the sleeping youth, and perhaps the most +extraordinary thing about this beautiful work is the success with which +the artist has succeeded in depicting on the sleeper’s worn and weary +face the sudden rising of a new and spiritual thought as the spell +begins to work within his mind. You can see that an inspiration is +breaking in upon the darkness of the man’s soul as the dawn breaks in +upon the darkness of night. It is a glorious piece of statuary, and +none but a genius could have conceived it. Between each of the black +marble columns is some such group of figures, some allegorical, and +some representing the persons and wives of deceased monarchs or great +men; but none of them, in our opinion, comes up to the one I have +described, although several are from the hand of the sculptor and +engineer, King Rademas. + +In the exact centre of the hall was a solid mass of black marble about +the size of a baby’s arm-chair, which it rather resembled in +appearance. This, as we afterwards learnt, was the sacred stone of this +remarkable people, and on it their monarchs laid their hand after the +ceremony of coronation, and swore by the sun to safeguard the interests +of the empire, and to maintain its customs, traditions, and laws. This +stone was evidently exceedingly ancient (as indeed all stones are), and +was scored down its sides with long marks or lines, which Sir Henry +said proved it to have been a fragment that at some remote period in +its history had been ground in the iron jaws of glaciers. There was a +curious prophecy about this block of marble, which was reported among +the people to have fallen from the sun, to the effect that when it was +shattered into fragments a king of alien race should rule over the +land. As the stone, however, looked remarkably solid, the native +princes seemed to have a fair chance of keeping their own for many a +long year. + +At the end of the hall is a dais spread with rich carpets, on which two +thrones are set side by side. These thrones are shaped like great +chairs, and made of solid gold. The seats are richly cushioned, but the +backs are left bare, and on each is carved the emblem of the sun, +shooting out his fiery rays in all directions. The footstools are +golden lions couchant, with yellow topazes set in them for eyes. There +are no other gems about them. + +The place is lighted by numerous but narrow windows, placed high up, +cut on the principle of the loopholes to be seen in ancient castles, +but innocent of glass, which was evidently unknown here. + +Such is a brief description of this splendid hall in which we now found +ourselves, compiled of course from our subsequent knowledge of it. On +this occasion we had but little time for observation, for when we +entered we perceived that a large number of men were gathered together +in front of the two thrones, which were unoccupied. The principal among +them were seated on carved wooden chairs ranged to the right and the +left of the thrones, but not in front of them, and were dressed in +white tunics, with various embroideries and different coloured edgings, +and armed with the usual pierced and gold-inlaid swords. To judge from +the dignity of their appearance, they seemed one and all to be +individuals of very great importance. Behind each of these great men +stood a small knot of followers and attendants. + +Seated by themselves, in a little group to the left of the throne, were +six men of a different stamp. Instead of wearing the ordinary kilt, +they were clothed in long robes of pure white linen, with the same +symbol of the sun that is to be seen on the back of the chairs, +emblazoned in gold thread upon the breast. This garment was girt up at +the waist with a simple golden curb-like chain, from which hung long +elliptic plates of the same metal, fashioned in shiny scales like those +of a fish, that, as their wearers moved, jingled and reflected the +light. They were all men of mature age and of a severe and impressive +cast of features, which was rendered still more imposing by the long +beards they wore. + +The personality of one individual among them, however, impressed us at +once. He seemed to stand out among his fellows and refuse to be +overlooked. He was very old—eighty at least—and extremely tall, with a +long snow-white beard that hung nearly to his waist. His features were +aquiline and deeply cut, and his eyes were grey and cold-looking. The +heads of the others were bare, but this man wore a round cap entirely +covered with gold embroidery, from which we judged that he was a person +of great importance; and indeed we afterwards discovered that he was +Agon, the High Priest of the country. As we approached, all these men, +including the priests, rose and bowed to us with the greatest courtesy, +at the same time placing the two fingers across the lips in salutation. +Then soft-footed attendants advanced from between the pillars, bearing +seats, which were placed in a line in front of the thrones. We three +sat down, Alphonse and Umslopogaas standing behind us. Scarcely had we +done so when there came a blare of trumpets from some passage to the +right, and a similar blare from the left. Next a man with a long white +wand of ivory appeared just in front of the right-hand throne, and +cried out something in a loud voice, ending with the word _Nyleptha_, +repeated three times; and another man, similarly attired, called out a +similar sentence before the other throne, but ending with the word +_Sorais_, also repeated thrice. Then came the tramp of armed men from +each side entrance, and in filed about a score of picked and +magnificently accoutred guards, who formed up on each side of the +thrones, and let their heavy iron-handled spears fall simultaneously +with a clash upon the black marble flooring. Another double blare of +trumpets, and in from either side, each attended by six maidens, swept +the two Queens of Zu-Vendis, everybody in the hall rising to greet them +as they came. + +I have seen beautiful women in my day, and am no longer thrown into +transports at the sight of a pretty face; but language fails me when I +try to give some idea of the blaze of loveliness that then broke upon +us in the persons of these sister Queens. Both were young—perhaps +five-and-twenty years of age—both were tall and exquisitely formed; but +there the likeness stopped. One, Nyleptha, was a woman of dazzling +fairness; her right arm and breast bare, after the custom of her +people, showed like snow even against her white and gold-embroidered +“kaf”, or toga. And as for her sweet face, all I can say is, that it +was one that few men could look on and forget. Her hair, a veritable +crown of gold, clustered in short ringlets over her shapely head, half +hiding the ivory brow, beneath which eyes of deep and glorious grey +flashed out in tender majesty. I cannot attempt to describe her other +features, only the mouth was most sweet, and curved like Cupid’s bow, +and over the whole countenance there shone an indescribable look of +loving-kindness, lit up by a shadow of delicate humour that lay upon +her face like a touch of silver on a rosy cloud. + +She wore no jewels, but on her neck, arm, and knee were the usual +torques of gold, in this instance fashioned like a snake; and her dress +was of pure white linen of excessive fineness, plentifully embroidered +with gold and with the familiar symbols of the sun. + +Her twin sister, Sorais, was of a different and darker type of beauty. +Her hair was wavy like Nyleptha’s but coal-black, and fell in masses on +her shoulders; her complexion was olive, her eyes large, dark, and +lustrous; the lips were full, and I thought rather cruel. Somehow her +face, quiet and even cold as it is, gave an idea of passion in repose, +and caused one to wonder involuntarily what its aspect would be if +anything occurred to break the calm. It reminded me of the deep sea, +that even on the bluest days never loses its visible stamp of power, +and in its murmuring sleep is yet instinct with the spirit of the +storm. Her figure, like her sister’s, was almost perfect in its curves +and outlines, but a trifle more rounded, and her dress was absolutely +the same. + +As this lovely pair swept onwards to their respective thrones, amid the +deep attentive silence of the Court, I was bound to confess to myself +that they did indeed fulfil my idea of royalty. Royal they were in +every way—in form, in grace, and queenly dignity, and in the barbaric +splendour of their attendant pomp. But methought that they needed no +guards or gold to proclaim their power and bind the loyalty of wayward +men. A glance from those bright eyes or a smile from those sweet lips, +and while the red blood runs in the veins of youth women such as these +will never lack subjects ready to do their biddings to the death. + +But after all they were women first and queens afterwards, and +therefore not devoid of curiosity. As they passed to their seats I saw +both of them glance swiftly in our direction. I saw, too, that their +eyes passed by me, seeing nothing to charm them in the person of an +insignificant and grizzled old man. Then they looked with evident +astonishment on the grim form of old Umslopogaas, who raised his axe in +salutation. Attracted next by the splendour of Good’s apparel, for a +second their glance rested on him like a humming moth upon a flower, +then off it darted to where Sir Henry Curtis stood, the sunlight from a +window playing upon his yellow hair and peaked beard, and marking the +outlines of his massive frame against the twilight of the somewhat +gloomy hall. He raised his eyes, and they met the fair Nyleptha’s full, +and thus for the first time the goodliest man and woman that it has +ever been my lot to see looked one upon another. And why it was I know +not, but I saw the swift blood run up Nyleptha’s skin as the pink +lights run up the morning sky. Red grew her fair bosom and shapely arm, +red the swanlike neck; the rounded cheeks blushed red as the petals of +a rose, and then the crimson flood sank back to whence it came and left +her pale and trembling. + +I glanced at Sir Henry. He, too, had coloured up to the eyes. + +“Oh, my word!” thought I to myself, “the ladies have come on the stage, +and now we may look to the plot to develop itself.” And I sighed and +shook my head, knowing that the beauty of a woman is like the beauty of +the lightning—a destructive thing and a cause of desolation. By the +time that I had finished my reflections both the Queens were on the +thrones, for all this had happened in about six seconds. Once more the +unseen trumpets blared out, and then the Court seated itself, and Queen +Sorais motioned to us to do likewise. + +Next from among the crowd whither he had withdrawn stepped forward our +guide, the old gentleman who had towed us ashore, holding by the hand +the girl whom we had seen first and afterwards rescued from the +hippopotamus. Having made obeisance he proceeded to address the Queens, +evidently describing to them the way and place where we had been found. +It was most amusing to watch the astonishment, not unmixed with fear, +reflected upon their faces as they listened to his tale. Clearly they +could not understand how we had reached the lake and been found +floating on it, and were inclined to attribute our presence to +supernatural causes. Then the narrative proceeded, as I judged from the +frequent appeals that our guide made to the girl, to the point where we +had shot the hippopotami, and we at once perceived that there was +something very wrong about those hippopotami, for the history was +frequently interrupted by indignant exclamations from the little group +of white-robed priests and even from the courtiers, while the two +Queens listened with an amazed expression, especially when our guide +pointed to the rifles in our hands as being the means of destruction. +And here, to make matters clear, I may as well explain at once that the +inhabitants of Zu-Vendis are sun-worshippers, and that for some reason +or another the hippopotamus is sacred among them. Not that they do not +kill it, because at a certain season of the year they slaughter +thousands—which are specially preserved in large lakes up the +country—and use their hides for armour for soldiers; but this does not +prevent them from considering these animals as sacred to the sun.[12] +Now, as ill luck would have it, the particular hippopotami we had shot +were a family of tame animals that were kept in the mouth of the port +and daily fed by priests whose special duty it was to attend to them. +When we shot them I thought that the brutes were suspiciously tame, and +this was, as we afterwards ascertained, the cause of it. Thus it came +about that in attempting to show off we had committed sacrilege of a +most aggravated nature. + + [12] Mr Quatermain does not seem to have been aware that it is common + for animal-worshipping people to annually sacrifice the beasts they + adore. See Herodotus, ii. 45.—Editor. + +When our guide had finished his tale, the old man with the long beard +and round cap, whose appearance I have already described, and who was, +as I have said, the High Priest of the country, and known by the name +of Agon, rose and commenced an impassioned harangue. I did not like the +look of his cold grey eye as he fixed it on us. I should have liked it +still less had I known that in the name of the outraged majesty of his +god he was demanding that the whole lot of us should be offered up as a +sacrifice by means of being burnt alive. + +After he had finished speaking the Queen Sorais addressed him in a soft +and musical voice, and appeared, to judge from his gestures of dissent, +to be putting the other side of the question before him. Then Nyleptha +spoke in liquid accents. Little did we know that she was pleading for +our lives. Finally, she turned and addressed a tall, soldierlike man of +middle age with a black beard and a long plain sword, whose name, as we +afterwards learnt, was Nasta, and who was the greatest lord in the +country; apparently appealing to him for support. Now when Sir Henry +had caught her eye and she had blushed so rosy red, I had seen that the +incident had not escaped this man’s notice, and, what is more, that it +was eminently disagreeable to him, for he bit his lip and his hand +tightened on his sword-hilt. Afterwards we learnt that he was an +aspirant for the hand of this Queen in marriage, which accounted for +it. This being so, Nyleptha could not have appealed to a worse person, +for, speaking in slow, heavy tones, he appeared to confirm all that the +High Priest Agon had said. As he spoke, Sorais put her elbow on her +knee, and, resting her chin on her hand, looked at him with a +suppressed smile upon her lips, as though she saw through the man, and +was determined to be his match; but Nyleptha grew very angry, her cheek +flushed, her eyes flashed, and she did indeed look lovely. Finally she +turned to Agon and seemed to give some sort of qualified assent, for he +bowed at her words; and as she spoke she moved her hands as though to +emphasize what she said; while all the time Sorais kept her chin on her +hand and smiled. Then suddenly Nyleptha made a sign, the trumpets blew +again, and everybody rose to leave the hall save ourselves and the +guards, whom she motioned to stay. + +When they were all gone she bent forward and, smiling sweetly, +partially by signs and partially by exclamations made it clear to us +that she was very anxious to know where we came from. The difficulty +was how to explain, but at last an idea struck me. I had my large +pocket-book in my pocket and a pencil. Taking it out, I made a little +sketch of a lake, and then as best I could I drew the underground river +and the lake at the other end. When I had done this I advanced to the +steps of the throne and gave it to her. She understood it at once and +clapped her hands with delight, and then descending from the throne +took it to her sister Sorais, who also evidently understood. Next she +took the pencil from me, and after examining it with curiosity +proceeded to make a series of delightful little sketches, the first +representing herself holding out both hands in welcome, and a man +uncommonly like Sir Henry taking them. Next she drew a lovely little +picture of a hippopotamus rolling about dying in the water, and of an +individual, in whom we had no difficulty in recognizing Agon the High +Priest, holding up his hands in horror on the bank. Then followed a +most alarming picture of a dreadful fiery furnace and of the same +figure, Agon, poking us into it with a forked stick. This picture +perfectly horrified me, but I was a little reassured when she nodded +sweetly and proceeded to make a fourth drawing—a man again uncommonly +like Sir Henry, and of two women, in whom I recognized Sorais and +herself, each with one arm around him, and holding a sword in +protection over him. To all of these Sorais, who I saw was employed in +carefully taking us all in—especially Curtis—signified her approval by +nodding. + +At last Nyleptha drew a final sketch of a rising sun, indicating that +she must go, and that we should meet on the following morning; whereat +Sir Henry looked so disappointed that she saw it, and, I suppose by way +of consolation, extended her hand to him to kiss, which he did with +pious fervour. At the same time Sorais, off whom Good had never taken +his eyeglass during the whole indaba [interview], rewarded him by +giving him her hand to kiss, though, while she did so, her eyes were +fixed upon Sir Henry. I am glad to say that I was not implicated in +these proceedings; neither of them gave _me_ her hand to kiss. + +Then Nyleptha turned and addressed the man who appeared to be in +command of the bodyguard, apparently from her manner and his frequent +obeisances, giving him very stringent and careful orders; after which, +with a somewhat coquettish nod and smile, she left the hall, followed +by Sorais and most of the guards. + +When the Queens had gone, the officer whom Nyleptha had addressed came +forward and with many tokens of deep respect led us from the hall +through various passages to a sumptuous set of apartments opening out +of a large central room lighted with brazen swinging lamps (for it was +now dusk) and richly carpeted and strewn with couches. On a table in +the centre of the room was set a profusion of food and fruit, and, what +is more, flowers. There was a delicious wine also in ancient-looking +sealed earthenware flagons, and beautifully chased golden and ivory +cups to drink it from. Servants, male and female, also were there to +minister to us, and whilst we ate, from some recess outside the +apartment + +“The silver lute did speak between +The trumpet’s lordly blowing;” + +and altogether we found ourselves in a sort of earthly paradise which +was only disturbed by the vision of that disgusting High Priest who +intended to commit us to the flames. But so very weary were we with our +labours that we could scarcely keep ourselves awake through the +sumptuous meal, and as soon as it was over we indicated that we desired +to sleep. As a further precaution against surprise we left Umslopogaas +with his axe to sleep in the main chamber near the curtained doorways +leading to the apartments which we occupied respectively, Good and I in +the one, and Sir Henry and Alphonse in the other. Then throwing off our +clothes, with the exception of the mail shirts, which we considered it +safer to keep on, we flung ourselves down upon the low and luxurious +couches, and drew the silk-embroidered coverlids over us. + +In two minutes I was just dropping off when I was aroused by Good’s +voice. + +“I say, Quatermain,” he said, “did you ever see such eyes?” + +“Eyes!” I said, crossly; “what eyes?” + +“Why, the Queen’s, of course! Sorais, I mean—at least I think that is +her name.” + +“Oh, I don’t know,” I yawned; “I didn’t notice them much: I suppose +they are good eyes,” and again I dropped off. + +Five minutes or so elapsed, and I was once more awakened. + +“I say, Quatermain,” said the voice. + +“Well,” I answered testily, “what is it now?” + +“Did you notice her ankle? The shape—” + +This was more than I could stand. By my bed stood the veldtschoons I +had been wearing. Moved quite beyond myself, I took them up and threw +them straight at Good’s head—and hit it. + +Afterwards I slept the sleep of the just, and a very heavy sleep it +must be. As for Good, I don’t know if he went to sleep or if he +continued to pass Sorais’ beauties in mental review, and, what is more, +I don’t care. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. +ABOUT THE ZU-VENDI PEOPLE + + +And now the curtain is down for a few hours, and the actors in this +novel drama are plunged in dewy sleep. Perhaps we should except +Nyleptha, whom the reader may, if poetically inclined, imagine lying in +her bed of state encompassed by her maidens, tiring women, guards, and +all the other people and appurtenances that surround a throne, and yet +not able to slumber for thinking of the strangers who had visited a +country where no such strangers had ever come before, and wondering, as +she lay awake, who they were and what their past has been, and if she +was ugly compared to the women of their native place. I, however, not +being poetically inclined, will take advantage of the lull to give some +account of the people among whom we found ourselves, compiled, needless +to state, from information which we subsequently collected. + +The name of this country, to begin at the beginning, is Zu-Vendis, from +Zu, “yellow”, and Vendis, “place or country”. Why it is called the +Yellow Country I have never been able to ascertain accurately, nor do +the inhabitants themselves know. Three reasons are, however, given, +each of which would suffice to account for it. The first is that the +name owes its origin to the great quantity of gold that is found in the +land. Indeed, in this respect Zu-Vendis is a veritable Eldorado, the +precious metal being extraordinarily plentiful. At present it is +collected from purely alluvial diggings, which we subsequently +inspected, and which are situated within a day’s journey from Milosis, +being mostly found in pockets and in nuggets weighing from an ounce up +to six or seven pounds in weight. But other diggings of a similar +nature are known to exist, and I have besides seen great veins of +gold-bearing quartz. In Zu-Vendis gold is a much commoner metal than +silver, and thus it has curiously enough come to pass that silver is +the legal tender of the country. + +The second reason given is, that at certain times of the year the +native grasses of the country, which are very sweet and good, turn as +yellow as ripe corn; and the third arises from a tradition that the +people were originally yellow skinned, but grew white after living for +many generations upon these high lands. Zu-Vendis is a country about +the size of France, is, roughly speaking, oval in shape; and on every +side cut off from the surrounding territory by illimitable forests of +impenetrable thorn, beyond which are said to be hundreds of miles of +morasses, deserts, and great mountains. It is, in short, a huge, high +tableland rising up in the centre of the dark continent, much as in +southern Africa flat-topped mountains rise from the level of the +surrounding veldt. Milosis itself lies, according to my aneroid, at a +level of about nine thousand feet above the sea, but most of the land +is even higher, the greatest elevation of the open country being, I +believe, about eleven thousand feet. As a consequence the climate is, +comparatively speaking, a cold one, being very similar to that of +southern England, only brighter and not so rainy. The land is, however, +exceedingly fertile, and grows all cereals and temperate fruits and +timber to perfection; and in the lower-lying parts even produces a +hardy variety of sugar-cane. Coal is found in great abundance, and in +many places crops out from the surface; and so is pure marble, both +black and white. The same may be said of almost every metal except +silver, which is scarce, and only to be obtained from a range of +mountains in the north. + +Zu-Vendis comprises in her boundaries a great variety of scenery, +including two ranges of snow-clad mountains, one on the western +boundary beyond the impenetrable belt of thorn forest, and the other +piercing the country from north to south, and passing at a distance of +about eighty miles from Milosis, from which town its higher peaks are +distinctly visible. This range forms the chief watershed of the land. +There are also three large lakes—the biggest, namely that whereon we +emerged, and which is named Milosis after the city, covering some two +hundred square miles of country—and numerous small ones, some of them +salt. + +The population of this favoured land is, comparatively speaking, dense, +numbering at a rough estimate from ten to twelve millions. It is almost +purely agricultural in its habits, and divided into great classes as in +civilized countries. There is a territorial nobility, a considerable +middle class, formed principally of merchants, officers of the army, +etc.; but the great bulk of the people are well-to-do peasants who live +upon the lands of the lords, from whom they hold under a species of +feudal tenure. The best bred people in the country are, as I think I +have said, pure whites with a somewhat southern cast of countenance; +but the common herd are much darker, though they do not show any negro +or other African characteristics. As to their descent I can give no +certain information. Their written records, which extend back for about +a thousand years, give no hint of it. One very ancient chronicler does +indeed, in alluding to some old tradition that existed in his day, talk +of it as having probably originally “come down with the people from the +coast”, but that may mean little or nothing. In short, the origin of +the Zu-Vendi is lost in the mists of time. Whence they came or of what +race they are no man knows. Their architecture and some of their +sculptures suggest an Egyptian or possibly an Assyrian origin; but it +is well known that their present remarkable style of building has only +sprung up within the last eight hundred years, and they certainly +retain no traces of Egyptian theology or customs. Again, their +appearance and some of their habits are rather Jewish; but here again +it seems hardly conceivable that they should have utterly lost all +traces of the Jewish religion. Still, for aught I know, they may be one +of the lost ten tribes whom people are so fond of discovering all over +the world, or they may not. I do not know, and so can only describe +them as I find them, and leave wiser heads than mine to make what they +can out of it, if indeed this account should ever be read at all, which +is exceedingly doubtful. + +And now after I have said all this, I am, after all, going to hazard a +theory of my own, though it is only a very little one, as the young +lady said in mitigation of her baby. This theory is founded on a legend +which I have heard among the Arabs on the east coast, which is to the +effect that “more than two thousand years ago” there were troubles in +the country which was known as Babylonia, and that thereon a vast horde +of Persians came down to Bushire, where they took ship and were driven +by the north-east monsoon to the east coast of Africa, where, according +to the legend, “the sun and fire worshippers” fell into conflict with +the belt of Arab settlers who even then were settled on the east coast, +and finally broke their way through them, and, vanishing into the +interior, were no more seen. Now, I ask, is it not at least possible +that the Zu-Vendi people are the descendants of these “sun and fire +worshippers” who broke through the Arabs and vanished? As a matter of +fact, there is a good deal in their characters and customs that tallies +with the somewhat vague ideas that I have of Persians. Of course we +have no books of reference here, but Sir Henry says that if his memory +does not fail him, there was a tremendous revolt in Babylon about 500 +BC, whereon a vast multitude were expelled from the city. Anyhow, it is +a well-established fact that there have been many separate emigrations +of Persians from the Persian Gulf to the east coast of Africa up to as +lately as seven hundred years ago. There are Persian tombs at Kilwa, on +the east coast, still in good repair, which bear dates showing them to +be just seven hundred years old.[13] + + [13] There is another theory which might account for the origin of the + Zu-Vendi which does not seem to have struck my friend Mr Quatermain + and his companions, and that is, that they are descendants of the + Phœnicians. The cradle of the Phœnician race is supposed to have been + on the western shore of the Persian Gulf. Thence, as there is good + evidence to show, they emigrated in two streams, one of which took + possession of the shores of Palestine, while the other is supposed by + savants to have immigrated down the coast of Eastern Africa where, + near Mozambique, signs and remains of their occupation are not + wanting. Indeed, it would have been very extraordinary if they did + not, when leaving the Persian Gulf, make straight for the East Coast, + seeing that the north-east monsoon blows for six months in the year + dead in that direction, while for the other six months it blows back + again. And, by the way of illustrating the probability, I may add that + to this day a very extensive trade is carried on between the Persian + Gulf and Lamu and other East African ports as far south as Madagascar, + which is of course the ancient Ebony Isle of the “Arabian + Nights”.—Editor. + +In addition to being an agricultural people, the Zu-Vendi are, oddly +enough, excessively warlike, and as they cannot from the exigencies of +their position make war upon other nations, they fight among each other +like the famed Kilkenny cats, with the happy result that the population +never outgrows the power of the country to support it. This habit of +theirs is largely fostered by the political condition of the country. +The monarchy is nominally an absolute one, save in so far as it is +tempered by the power of the priests and the informal council of the +great lords; but, as in many other institutions, the king’s writ does +not run unquestioned throughout the length and breadth of the land. In +short, the whole system is a purely feudal one (though absolute serfdom +or slavery is unknown), all the great lords holding nominally from the +throne, but a number of them being practically independent, having the +power of life and death, waging war against and making peace with their +neighbours as the whim or their interests lead them, and even on +occasion rising in open rebellion against their royal master or +mistress, and, safely shut up in their castles and fenced cities, as +far from the seat of government, successfully defying them for years. + +Zu-Vendis has had its king-makers as well as England, a fact that will +be well appreciated when I state that eight different dynasties have +sat upon the throne in the last one thousand years, every one of which +took its rise from some noble family that succeeded in grasping the +purple after a sanguinary struggle. At the date of our arrival in the +country things were a little better than they had been for some +centuries, the last king, the father of Nyleptha and Sorais, having +been an exceptionally able and vigorous ruler, and, as a consequence, +he kept down the power of the priests and nobles. On his death, two +years before we reached Zu-Vendis, the twin sisters, his children, +were, following an ancient precedent, called to the throne, since an +attempt to exclude either would instantly have provoked a sanguinary +civil war; but it was generally felt in the country that this measure +was a most unsatisfactory one, and could hardly be expected to be +permanent. Indeed, as it was, the various intrigues that were set on +foot by ambitious nobles to obtain the hand of one or other of the +queens in marriage had disquieted the country, and the general opinion +was that there would be bloodshed before long. + +I will now pass on to the question of the Zu-Vendi religion, which is +nothing more or less than sun-worship of a pronounced and highly +developed character. Around this sun-worship is grouped the entire +social system of the Zu-Vendi. It sends its roots through every +institution and custom of the land. From the cradle to the grave the +Zu-Vendi follows the sun in every sense of the saying. As an infant he +is solemnly held up in its light and dedicated to “the symbol of good, +the expression of power, and the hope of Eternity”, the ceremony +answering to our baptism. Whilst still a tiny child, his parents point +out the glorious orb as the presence of a visible and beneficent god, +and he worships it at its up-rising and down-setting. Then when still +quite small, he goes, holding fast to the pendent end of his mother’s +“kaf” (toga), up to the temple of the Sun of the nearest city, and +there, when at midday the bright beams strike down upon the golden +central altar and beat back the fire that burns thereon, he hears the +white-robed priests raise their solemn chant of praise and sees the +people fall down to adore, and then, amidst the blowing of the golden +trumpets, watches the sacrifice thrown into the fiery furnace beneath +the altar. Here he comes again to be declared “a man” by the priests, +and consecrated to war and to good works; here before the solemn altar +he leads his bride; and here too, if differences shall unhappily arise, +he divorces her. + +And so on, down life’s long pathway till the last mile is travelled, +and he comes again armed indeed, and with dignity, but no longer a man. +Here they bear him dead and lay his bier upon the falling brazen doors +before the eastern altar, and when the last ray from the setting sun +falls upon his white face the bolts are drawn and he vanishes into the +raging furnace beneath and is ended. + +The priests of the Sun do not marry, but are recruited as young men +specially devoted to the work by their parents and supported by the +State. The nomination to the higher offices of the priesthood lies with +the Crown, but once appointed the nominees cannot be dispossessed, and +it is scarcely too much to say that they really rule the land. To begin +with, they are a united body sworn to obedience and secrecy, so that an +order issued by the High Priest at Milosis will be instantly and +unhesitatingly acted upon by the resident priest of a little country +town three or four hundred miles off. They are the judges of the land, +criminal and civil, an appeal lying only to the lord paramount of the +district, and from him to the king; and they have, of course, +practically unlimited jurisdiction over religious and moral offences, +together with a right of excommunication, which, as in the faiths of +more highly civilized lands, is a very effective weapon. Indeed, their +rights and powers are almost unlimited, but I may as well state here +that the priests of the Sun are wise in their generation, and do not +push things too far. It is but very seldom that they go to extremes +against anybody, being more inclined to exercise the prerogative of +mercy than run the risk of exasperating the powerful and +vigorous-minded people on whose neck they have set their yoke, lest it +should rise and break it off altogether. + +Another source of the power of the priests is their practical monopoly +of learning, and their very considerable astronomical knowledge, which +enables them to keep a hold on the popular mind by predicting eclipses +and even comets. In Zu-Vendis only a few of the upper classes can read +and write, but nearly all the priests have this knowledge, and are +therefore looked upon as learned men. + +The law of the country is, on the whole, mild and just, but differs in +several respects from our civilized law. For instance, the law of +England is much more severe upon offences against property than against +the person, as becomes a people whose ruling passion is money. A man +may half kick his wife to death or inflict horrible sufferings upon his +children at a much cheaper rate of punishment than he can compound for +the theft of a pair of old boots. In Zu-Vendis this is not so, for +there they rightly or wrongly look upon the person as of more +consequence than goods and chattels, and not, as in England, as a sort +of necessary appendage to the latter. For murder the punishment is +death, for treason death, for defrauding the orphan and the widow, for +sacrilege, and for attempting to quit the country (which is looked on +as a sacrilege) death. In each case the method of execution is the +same, and a rather awful one. The culprit is thrown alive into the +fiery furnace beneath one of the altars to the Sun. For all other +offences, including the offence of idleness, the punishment is forced +labour upon the vast national buildings which are always going on in +some part of the country, with or without periodical floggings, +according to the crime. + +The social system of the Zu-Vendi allows considerable liberty to the +individual, provided he does not offend against the laws and customs of +the country. They are polygamous in theory, though most of them have +only one wife on account of the expense. By law a man is bound to +provide a separate establishment for each wife. The first wife also is +the legal wife, and her children are said to be “of the house of the +Father”. The children of the other wives are of the houses of their +respective mothers. This does not, however, imply any slur upon either +mother or children. Again, a first wife can, on entering into the +married state, make a bargain that her husband shall marry no other +wife. This, however, is very rarely done, as the women are the great +upholders of polygamy, which not only provides for their surplus +numbers but gives greater importance to the first wife, who is thus +practically the head of several households. Marriage is looked upon as +primarily a civil contract, and, subject to certain conditions and to a +proper provision for children, is dissoluble at the will of both +contracting parties, the divorce, or “unloosing”, being formally and +ceremoniously accomplished by going through certain portions of the +marriage ceremony backwards. + +The Zu-Vendi are on the whole a very kindly, pleasant, and +light-hearted people. They are not great traders and care little about +money, only working to earn enough to support themselves in that class +of life in which they were born. They are exceedingly conservative, and +look with disfavour upon changes. Their legal tender is silver, cut +into little squares of different weights; gold is the baser coin, and +is about of the same value as our silver. It is, however, much prized +for its beauty, and largely used for ornaments and decorative purposes. +Most of the trade, however, is carried on by means of sale and barter, +payment being made in kind. Agriculture is the great business of the +country, and is really well understood and carried out, most of the +available acreage being under cultivation. Great attention is also +given to the breeding of cattle and horses, the latter being +unsurpassed by any I have ever seen either in Europe or Africa. + +The land belongs theoretically to the Crown, and under the Crown to the +great lords, who again divide it among smaller lords, and so on down to +the little peasant farmer who works his forty “reestu” (acres) on a +system of half-profits with his immediate lord. In fact the whole +system is, as I have said, distinctly feudal, and it interested us much +to meet with such an old friend far in the unknown heart of Africa. + +The taxes are very heavy. The State takes a third of a man’s total +earnings, and the priesthood about five per cent on the remainder. But +on the other hand, if a man through any cause falls into _bona fide_ +misfortune the State supports him in the position of life to which he +belongs. If he is idle, however, he is sent to work on the Government +undertakings, and the State looks after his wives and children. The +State also makes all the roads and builds all town houses, about which +great care is shown, letting them out to families at a small rent. It +also keeps up a standing army of about twenty thousand men, and +provides watchmen, etc. In return for their five per cent the priests +attend to the service of the temples, carry out all religious +ceremonies, and keep schools, where they teach whatever they think +desirable, which is not very much. Some of the temples also possess +private property, but priests as individuals cannot hold property. + +And now comes a question which I find some difficulty in answering. Are +the Zu-Vendi a civilized or barbarous people? Sometimes I think the +one, sometimes the other. In some branches of art they have attained +the very highest proficiency. Take for instance their buildings and +their statuary. I do not think that the latter can be equalled either +in beauty or imaginative power anywhere in the world, and as for the +former it may have been rivalled in ancient Egypt, but I am sure that +it has never been since. But, on the other hand, they are totally +ignorant of many other arts. Till Sir Henry, who happened to know +something about it, showed them how to do it by mixing silica and lime, +they could not make a piece of glass, and their crockery is rather +primitive. A water-clock is their nearest approach to a watch; indeed, +ours delighted them exceedingly. They know nothing about steam, +electricity, or gunpowder, and mercifully for themselves nothing about +printing or the penny post. Thus they are spared many evils, for of a +truth our age has learnt the wisdom of the old-world saying, “He who +increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.” + +As regards their religion, it is a natural one for imaginative people +who know no better, and might therefore be expected to turn to the sun +and worship him as the all-Father, but it cannot justly be called +elevating or spiritual. It is true that they do sometimes speak of the +sun as the “garment of the Spirit”, but it is a vague term, and what +they really adore is the fiery orb himself. They also call him the +“hope of eternity”, but here again the meaning is vague, and I doubt if +the phrase conveys any very clear impression to their minds. Some of +them do indeed believe in a future life for the good—I know Nyleptha +does firmly—but it is a private faith arising from the promptings of +the spirit, not an essential of their creed. So on the whole I cannot +say that I consider this sun-worship as a religion indicative of a +civilized people, however magnificent and imposing its ritual, or +however moral and high-sounding the maxims of its priests, many of +whom, I am sure, have their own opinions on the whole subject; though +of course they have nothing but praise for a system which provides them +with so many of the good things of this world. + +There are now only two more matters to which I need allude—namely, the +language and the system of calligraphy. As for the former, it is +soft-sounding, and very rich and flexible. Sir Henry says that it +sounds something like modern Greek, but of course it has no connection +with it. It is easy to acquire, being simple in its construction, and a +peculiar quality about it is its euphony, and the way in which the +sound of the words adapts itself to the meaning to be expressed. Long +before we mastered the language, we could frequently make out what was +meant by the ring of the sentence. It is on this account that the +language lends itself so well to poetical declamation, of which these +remarkable people are very fond. The Zu-Vendi alphabet seems, Sir Henry +says, to be derived, like every other known system of letters, from a +Phœnician source, and therefore more remotely still from the ancient +Egyptian hieratic writing. Whether this is a fact I cannot say, not +being learned in such matters. All I know about it is that their +alphabet consists of twenty-two characters, of which a few, notably B, +E, and O, are not very unlike our own. The whole affair is, however, +clumsy and puzzling.[14] But as the people of Zu-Vendi are not given to +the writing of novels, or of anything except business documents and +records of the briefest character, it answers their purpose well +enough. + + [14] There are twenty-two letters in the Phœnician alphabet (_see_ + Appendix, Maspero’s _Histoire ancienne des peuples de l’Orient_, etc.) + Unfortunately Mr Quatermain gives us no specimen of the Zu-Vendi + writing, but what he here states seems to go a long way towards + substantiating the theory advanced in the note on p. 139.—Editor. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. +THE FLOWER TEMPLE + + +It was half-past eight by my watch when I woke on the morning following +our arrival at Milosis, having slept almost exactly twelve hours, and I +must say that I did indeed feel better. Ah, what a blessed thing is +sleep! and what a difference twelve hours of it or so makes to us after +days and nights of toil and danger. It is like going to bed one man and +getting up another. + +I sat up upon my silken couch—never had I slept upon such a bed +before—and the first thing that I saw was Good’s eyeglass fixed on me +from the recesses of his silken couch. There was nothing else of him to +be seen except his eyeglass, but I knew from the look of it that he was +awake, and waiting till I woke up to begin. + +“I say, Quatermain,” he commenced sure enough, “did you observe her +skin? It is as smooth as the back of an ivory hairbrush.” + +“Now look here, Good,” I remonstrated, when there came a sound at the +curtain, which, on being drawn, admitted a functionary, who signified +by signs that he was there to lead us to the bath. We gladly consented, +and were conducted to a delightful marble chamber, with a pool of +running crystal water in the centre of it, into which we gaily plunged. +When we had bathed, we returned to our apartment and dressed, and then +went into the central room where we had supped on the previous evening, +to find a morning meal already prepared for us, and a capital meal it +was, though I should be puzzled to describe the dishes. After breakfast +we lounged round and admired the tapestries and carpets and some pieces +of statuary that were placed about, wondering the while what was going +to happen next. Indeed, by this time our minds were in such a state of +complete bewilderment that we were, as a matter of fact, ready for +anything that might arrive. As for our sense of astonishment, it was +pretty well obliterated. Whilst we were still thus engaged, our friend +the captain of the guard presented himself, and with many obeisances +signified that we were to follow him, which we did, not without doubts +and heart-searchings—for we guessed that the time had come when we +should have to settle the bill for those confounded hippopotami with +our cold-eyed friend Agon, the High Priest. However, there was no help +for it, and personally I took great comfort in the promise of the +protection of the sister Queens, knowing that if ladies have a will +they can generally find a way; so off we started as though we liked it. +A minute’s walk through a passage and an outer court brought us to the +great double gates of the palace that open on to the wide highway which +runs uphill through the heart of Milosis to the Temple of the Sun a +mile away, and thence down the slope on the farther side of the temple +to the outer wall of the city. + +These gates are very large and massive, and an extraordinarily +beautiful work in metal. Between them—for one set is placed at the +entrance to an interior, and one at that of the exterior wall—is a +fosse, forty-five feet in width. This fosse is filled with water and +spanned by a drawbridge, which when lifted makes the palace nearly +impregnable to anything except siege guns. As we came, one half of the +wide gates were flung open, and we passed over the drawbridge and +presently stood gazing up one of the most imposing, if not the most +imposing, roadways in the world. It is a hundred feet from curb to +curb, and on either side, not cramped and crowded together, as is our +European fashion, but each standing in its own grounds, and built +equidistant from and in similar style to the rest, are a series of +splendid, single-storied mansions, all of red granite. These are the +town houses of the nobles of the Court, and stretch away in unbroken +lines for a mile or more till the eye is arrested by the glorious +vision of the Temple of the Sun that crowns the hill and heads the +roadway. + +As we stood gazing at this splendid sight, of which more anon, there +suddenly dashed up to the gateway four chariots, each drawn by two +white horses. These chariots are two-wheeled, and made of wood. They +are fitted with a stout pole, the weight of which is supported by +leathern girths that form a portion of the harness. The wheels are made +with four spokes only, are tired with iron, and quite innocent of +springs. In the front of the chariot, and immediately over the pole, is +a small seat for the driver, railed round to prevent him from being +jolted off. Inside the machine itself are three low seats, one at each +side, and one with the back to the horses, opposite to which is the +door. The whole vehicle is lightly and yet strongly made, and, owing to +the grace of the curves, though primitive, not half so ugly as might be +expected. + +But if the chariots left something to be desired, the horses did not. +They were simply splendid, not very large but strongly built, and well +ribbed up, with small heads, remarkably large and round hoofs, and a +great look of speed and blood. I have often wondered whence this breed, +which presents many distinct characteristics, came, but like that of +its owners, its history is obscure. Like the people the horses have +always been there. The first and last of these chariots were occupied +by guards, but the centre two were empty, except for the driver, and to +these we were conducted. Alphonse and I got into the first, and Sir +Henry, Good, and Umslopogaas into the one behind, and then suddenly off +we went. And we did go! Among the Zu-Vendi it is not usual to trot +horses either riding or driving, especially when the journey to be made +is a short one—they go at full gallop. As soon as we were seated the +driver called out, the horses sprang forward, and we were whirled away +at a speed sufficient to take one’s breath, and which, till I got +accustomed to it, kept me in momentary fear of an upset. As for the +wretched Alphonse, he clung with a despairing face to the side of what +he called this “devil of a fiacre”, thinking that every moment was his +last. Presently it occurred to him to ask where we were going, and I +told him that, as far as I could ascertain, we were going to be +sacrificed by burning. You should have seen his face as he grasped the +side of the vehicle and cried out in his terror. + +But the wild-looking charioteer only leant forward over his flying +steeds and shouted; and the air, as it went singing past, bore away the +sound of Alphonse’s lamentations. + +And now before us, in all its marvellous splendour and dazzling +loveliness, shone out the Temple of the Sun—the peculiar pride of the +Zu-Vendi, to whom it was what Solomon’s, or rather Herod’s, Temple was +to the Jews. The wealth, and skill, and labour of generations had been +given to the building of this wonderful place, which had been only +finally completed within the last fifty years. Nothing was spared that +the country could produce, and the result was indeed worthy of the +effort, not so much on account of its size—for there are larger fanes +in the world—as because of its perfect proportions, the richness and +beauty of its materials, and the wonderful workmanship. The building +(that stands by itself on a space of some eight acres of garden ground +on the hilltop, around which are the dwelling-places of the priests) is +built in the shape of a sunflower, with a dome-covered central hall, +from which radiate twelve petal-shaped courts, each dedicated to one of +the twelve months, and serving as the repositories of statues reared in +memory of the illustrious dead. The width of the circle beneath the +dome is three hundred feet, the height of the dome is four hundred +feet, and the length of the rays is one hundred and fifty feet, and the +height of their roofs three hundred feet, so that they run into the +central dome exactly as the petals of the sunflower run into the great +raised heart. Thus the exact measurement from the centre of the central +altar to the extreme point of any one of the rounded rays would be +three hundred feet (the width of the circle itself), or a total of six +hundred feet from the rounded extremity of one ray or petal to the +extremity of the opposite one.[15] + + [15] These are internal measurements.—A. Q. + +The building itself is of pure and polished white marble, which shows +out in marvellous contrast to the red granite of the frowning city, on +whose brow it glistens indeed like an imperial diadem upon the forehead +of a dusky queen. The outer surface of the dome and of the twelve petal +courts is covered entirely with thin sheets of beaten gold; and from +the extreme point of the roof of each of these petals a glorious golden +form with a trumpet in its hand and widespread wings is figured in the +very act of soaring into space. I really must leave whoever reads this +to imagine the surpassing beauty of these golden roofs flashing when +the sun strikes—flashing like a thousand fires aflame on a mountain of +polished marble—so fiercely that the reflection can be clearly seen +from the great peaks of the range a hundred miles away. + +It is a marvellous sight—this golden flower upborne upon the cool white +marble walls, and I doubt if the world can show such another. What +makes the whole effect even more gorgeous is that a belt of a hundred +and fifty feet around the marble wall of the temple is planted with an +indigenous species of sunflower, which were at the time when we first +saw them a sheet of golden bloom. + +The main entrance to this wonderful place is between the two +northernmost of the rays or petal courts, and is protected first by the +usual bronze gates, and then by doors made of solid marble, beautifully +carved with allegorical subjects and overlaid with gold. When these are +passed there is only the thickness of the wall, which is, however, +twenty-five feet (for the Zu-Vendi build for all time), and another +slight wall also of white marble, introduced in order to avoid causing +a visible gap in the inner skin of the wall, and you stand in the +circular hall under the great dome. Advancing to the central altar you +look upon as beautiful a sight as the imagination of man can conceive. +You are in the middle of the holy place, and above you the great white +marble dome (for the inner skin, like the outer, is of polished marble +throughout) arches away in graceful curves something like that of St +Paul’s in London, only at a slighter angle, and from the funnel-like +opening at the exact apex a bright beam of light pours down upon the +golden altar. At the east and the west are other altars, and other +beams of light stab the sacred twilight to the heart. In every +direction, “white, mystic, wonderful”, open out the ray-like courts, +each pierced through by a single arrow of light that serves to illumine +its lofty silence and dimly to reveal the monuments of the dead.[16] + + [16] Light was also admitted by sliding shutters under the eaves of + the dome and in the roof.—A. Q. + +Overcome at so awe-inspiring a sight, the vast loveliness of which +thrills the nerves like a glance from beauty’s eyes, you turn to the +central golden altar, in the midst of which, though you cannot see it +now, there burns a pale but steady flame crowned with curls of faint +blue smoke. It is of marble overlaid with pure gold, in shape round +like the sun, four feet in height, and thirty-six in circumference. +Here also, hinged to the foundations of the altar, are twelve petals of +beaten gold. All night and, except at one hour, all day also, these +petals are closed over the altar itself exactly as the petals of a +water-lily close over the yellow crown in stormy weather; but when the +sun at midday pierces through the funnel in the dome and lights upon +the golden flower, the petals open and reveal the hidden mystery, only +to close again when the ray has passed. + +Nor is this all. Standing in semicircles at equal distances from each +other on the north and south of the sacred place are ten golden angels, +or female winged forms, exquisitely shaped and draped. These figures, +which are slightly larger than life-size, stand with bent heads in an +attitude of adoration, their faces shadowed by their wings, and are +most imposing and of exceeding beauty. + +There is but one thing further which calls for description in this +altar, which is, that to the east the flooring in front of it is not of +pure white marble, as elsewhere throughout the building, but of solid +brass, and this is also the case in front of the other two altars. + +The eastern and western altars, which are semicircular in shape, and +placed against the wall of the building, are much less imposing, and +are not enfolded in golden petals. They are, however, also of gold, the +sacred fire burns on each, and a golden-winged figure stands on either +side of them. Two great golden rays run up the wall behind them, but +where the third or middle one should be is an opening in the wall, wide +on the outside, but narrow within, like a loophole turned inwards. +Through the eastern loophole stream the first beams of the rising sun, +and strike right across the circle, touching the folded petals of the +great gold flower as they pass till they impinge upon the western +altar. In the same way at night the last rays of the sinking sun rest +for a while on the eastern altar before they die away into darkness. It +is the promise of the dawn to the evening and the evening to the dawn. + +With the exception of those three altars and the winged figures about +them, the whole space beneath the vast white dome is utterly empty and +devoid of ornamentation—a circumstance that to my fancy adds greatly to +its splendour. + +Such is a brief description of this wonderful and lovely building, to +the glories of which, to my mind so much enhanced by their complete +simplicity, I only wish I had the power to do justice. But I cannot, so +it is useless talking more about it. But when I compare this great work +of genius to some of the tawdry buildings and tinsel ornamentation +produced in these latter days by European ecclesiastical architects, I +feel that even highly civilized art might learn something from the +Zu-Vendi masterpieces. I can only say that the exclamation which sprang +to my lips as soon as my eyes first became accustomed to the dim light +of that glorious building, and its white and curving beauties, perfect +and thrilling as those of a naked goddess, grew upon me one by one, +was, “Well! a dog would feel religious here.” It is vulgarly put, but +perhaps it conveys my meaning more clearly than any polished utterance. + +At the temple gates our party was received by a guard of soldiers, who +appeared to be under the orders of a priest; and by them we were +conducted into one of the ray or “petal” courts, as the priests call +them, and there left for at least half-an-hour. Here we conferred +together, and realizing that we stood in great danger of our lives, +determined, if any attempt should be made upon us, to sell them as +dearly as we could—Umslopogaas announcing his fixed intention of +committing sacrilege on the person of Agon, the High Priest, by +splitting his head with Inkosi-kaas. From where we stood we could +perceive that an immense multitude were pouring into the temple, +evidently in expectation of some unusual event, and I could not help +fearing that we had to do with it. And here I may explain that every +day, when the sunlight falls upon the central altar, and the trumpets +sound, a burnt sacrifice is offered to the Sun, consisting generally of +the carcase of a sheep or ox, or sometimes of fruit or corn. This event +comes off about midday; of course, not always exactly at that hour, but +as Zu-Vendis is situated not far from the Line, although—being so high +above the sea it is very temperate—midday and the falling of the +sunlight on the altar were generally simultaneous. Today the sacrifice +was to take place at about eight minutes past twelve. + +Just at twelve o’clock a priest appeared, and made a sign, and the +officer of the guard signified to us that we were expected to advance, +which we did with the best grace that we could muster, all except +Alphonse, whose irrepressible teeth instantly began to chatter. In a +few seconds we were out of the court and looking at a vast sea of human +faces stretching away to the farthest limits of the great circle, all +straining to catch a glimpse of the mysterious strangers who had +committed sacrilege; the first strangers, mind you, who, to the +knowledge of the multitude, had ever set foot in Zu-Vendis since such +time that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. + +As we appeared there was a murmur through the vast crowd that went +echoing away up the great dome, and we saw a visible blush of +excitement grow on the thousands of faces, like a pink light on a +stretch of pale cloud, and a very curious effect it was. On we passed +down a lane cut through the heart of the human mass, till presently we +stood upon the brazen patch of flooring to the east of the central +altar, and immediately facing it. For some thirty feet around the +golden-winged figures the space was roped off, and the multitudes stood +outside the ropes. Within were a circle of white-robed gold-cinctured +priests holding long golden trumpets in their hands, and immediately in +front of us was our friend Agon, the High Priest, with his curious cap +upon his head. His was the only covered head in that vast assemblage. +We took our stand upon the brazen space, little knowing what was +prepared for us beneath, but I noticed a curious hissing sound +proceeding apparently from the floor for which I could not account. +Then came a pause, and I looked around to see if there was any sign of +the two Queens, Nyleptha and Sorais, but they were not there. To the +right of us, however, was a bare space that I guessed was reserved for +them. + +We waited, and presently a far-off trumpet blew, apparently high up in +the dome. Then came another murmur from the multitude, and up a long +lane, leading to the open space to our right, we saw the two Queens +walking side by side. Behind them were some nobles of the Court, among +whom I recognized the great lord Nasta, and behind them again a body of +about fifty guards. These last I was very glad to see. Presently they +had all arrived and taken their stand, the two Queens in the front, the +nobles to the right and left, and the guards in a double semicircle +behind them. + +Then came another silence, and Nyleptha looked up and caught my eye; it +seemed to me that there was meaning in her glance, and I watched it +narrowly. From my eye it travelled down to the brazen flooring, on the +outer edge of which we stood. Then followed a slight and almost +imperceptible sidelong movement of the head. I did not understand it, +and it was repeated. Then I guessed that she meant us to move back off +the brazen floor. One more glance and I was sure of it—there was danger +in standing on the floor. Sir Henry was placed on one side of me, +Umslopogaas on the other. Keeping my eyes fixed straight before me, I +whispered to them, first in Zulu and then in English, to draw slowly +back inch by inch till half their feet were resting on the marble +flooring where the brass ceased. Sir Henry whispered on to Good and +Alphonse, and slowly, very very slowly, we shifted backwards; so slowly +that nobody, except Nyleptha and Sorais, who saw everything, seemed to +notice the movement. Then I glanced again at Nyleptha, and saw that, by +an almost imperceptible nod, she indicated approval. All the while +Agon’s eyes were fixed upon the altar before him apparently in an +ecstasy of contemplation, and mine were fixed upon the small of his +back in another sort of ecstasy. Suddenly he flung up his long arm, and +in a solemn and resounding voice commenced a chant, of which for +convenience’ sake I append a rough, a _very_ rough, translation here, +though, of course, I did not then comprehend its meaning. It was an +invocation to the Sun, and ran somewhat as follows:— + +There is silence upon the face of the Earth and the waters thereof! +Yea, the silence doth brood on the waters like a nesting bird; +The silence sleepeth also upon the bosom of the profound darkness, +Only high up in the great spaces star doth speak unto star, +The Earth is faint with longing and wet with the tears of her desire; +The star-girdled night doth embrace her, but she is not comforted. +She lies enshrouded in mists like a corpse in the grave-clothes, +And stretches her pale hands to the East. + +Lo! away in the farthest East there is the shadow of a light; +The Earth seeth and lifts herself. She looks out from beneath +the hollow of her hand. +Then thy great angels fly forth from the Holy Place, oh Sun, +They shoot their fiery swords into the darkness and shrivel it up. +They climb the heavens and cast down the pale stars from their thrones; +Yea, they hurl the changeful stars back into the womb of the night; +They cause the moon to become wan as the face of a dying man, +And behold! Thy glory comes, oh Sun! + +Oh, Thou beautiful one, Thou drapest thyself in fire. +The wide heavens are thy pathway: thou rollest o’er them as a chariot. +The Earth is thy bride. Thou dost embrace her and +she brings forth children; +Yea, Thou favourest her, and she yields her increase. +Thou art the All Father and the giver of life, oh Sun. +The young children stretch out their hands and grow in thy brightness; +The old men creep forth and seeing remember their strength. +Only the dead forget Thee, oh Sun! + +When Thou art wroth then Thou dost hide Thy face; +Thou drawest around Thee a thick curtain of shadows. +Then the Earth grows cold and the Heavens are dismayed; +They tremble, and the sound thereof is the sound of thunder: +They weep, and their tears are outpoured in the rain; +They sigh, and the wild winds are the voice of their sighing. +The flowers die, the fruitful fields languish and turn pale; +The old men and the little children go unto their appointed place +When Thou withdrawest thy light, oh Sun! + +Say, what art Thou, oh Thou matchless Splendour— +Who set Thee on high, oh Thou flaming Terror? +When didst Thou begin, and when is the day of Thy ending? +Thou art the raiment of the living Spirit.[17] +None did place Thee on high, for Thou wast the Beginning. +Thou shalt not be ended when thy children are forgotten; +Nay, Thou shalt never end, for thy hours are eternal. +Thou sittest on high within thy golden house and +measurest out the centuries. +Oh Father of Life! oh dark-dispelling Sun! + + [17] This line is interesting as being one of the few allusions to be + found in the Zu-Vendi ritual to a vague divine essence independent of + the material splendour of the orb they worship. “_Ptia_”, the word + used here, has a very indeterminate meaning, and signifies _essence, + vital principle, spirit_, or even _God_. + +He ceased this solemn chant, which, though it seems a poor enough thing +after going through my mill, is really beautiful and impressive in the +original; and then, after a moment’s pause, he glanced up towards the +funnel-sloped opening in the dome and added— + +Oh Sun, descend upon thine Altar! + +As he spoke a wonderful and a beautiful thing happened. Down from on +high flashed a splendid living ray of light, cleaving the twilight like +a sword of fire. Full upon the closed petals it fell and ran shimmering +down their golden sides, and then the glorious flower opened as though +beneath the bright influence. Slowly it opened, and as the great petals +fell wide and revealed the golden altar on which the fire ever burns, +the priests blew a blast upon the trumpets, and from all the people +there rose a shout of praise that beat against the domed roof and came +echoing down the marble walls. And now the flower altar was open, and +the sunlight fell full upon the tongue of sacred flame and beat it +down, so that it wavered, sank, and vanished into the hollow recesses +whence it rose. As it vanished, the mellow notes of the trumpets rolled +out once more. Again the old priest flung up his hands and called +aloud— + +We sacrifice to thee, oh Sun! + +Once more I caught Nyleptha’s eye; it was fixed upon the brazen +flooring. + +“Look out,” I said, aloud; and as I said it, I saw Agon bend forward +and touch something on the altar. As he did so, the great white sea of +faces around us turned red and then white again, and a deep breath went +up like a universal sigh. Nyleptha leant forward, and with an +involuntary movement covered her eyes with her hand. Sorais turned and +whispered to the officer of the royal bodyguard, and then with a +rending sound the whole of the brazen flooring slid from before our +feet, and there in its place was suddenly revealed a smooth marble +shaft terminating in a most awful raging furnace beneath the altar, big +enough and hot enough to heat the iron stern-post of a man-of-war. + +With a cry of terror we sprang backwards, all except the wretched +Alphonse, who was paralysed with fear, and would have fallen into the +fiery furnace which had been prepared for us, had not Sir Henry caught +him in his strong hand as he was vanishing and dragged him back. + +Instantly there arose the most fearful hubbub, and we four got back to +back, Alphonse dodging frantically round our little circle in his +attempts to take shelter under our legs. We all had our revolvers +on—for though we had been politely disarmed of our guns on leaving the +palace, of course these people did not know what a revolver was. +Umslopogaas, too, had his axe, of which no effort had been made to +deprive him, and now he whirled it round his head and sent his piercing +Zulu war-shout echoing up the marble walls in fine defiant fashion. +Next second, the priests, baffled of their prey, had drawn swords from +beneath their white robes and were leaping on us like hounds upon a +stag at bay. I saw that, dangerous as action might be, we must act or +be lost, so as the first man came bounding along—and a great tall +fellow he was—I sent a heavy revolver ball through him, and down he +fell at the mouth of the shaft, and slid, shrieking frantically, into +the fiery gulf that had been prepared for us. + +Whether it was his cries, or the, to them, awful sound and effect of +the pistol shot, or what, I know not, but the other priests halted, +paralysed and dismayed, and before they could come on again Sorais had +called out something, and we, together with the two Queens and most of +the courtiers, were being surrounded with a wall of armed men. In a +moment it was done, and still the priests hesitated, and the people +hung in the balance like a herd of startled buck as it were, making no +sign one way or the other. + +The last yell of the burning priest had died away, the fire had +finished him, and a great silence fell upon the place. + +Then the High Priest Agon turned, and his face was as the face of a +devil. “Let the sacrifice be sacrificed,” he cried to the Queens. “Has +not sacrilege enough been done by these strangers, and would ye, as +Queens, throw the cloak of your majesty over evildoers? Are not the +creatures sacred to the Sun dead? And is not a priest of the Sun also +dead, but now slain by the magic of these strangers, who come as the +winds out of heaven, whence we know not, and who are what we know not? +Beware, oh Queens, how ye tamper with the great majesty of the God, +even before His high altar! There is a Power that is more than your +power; there is a Justice that is higher than your justice. Beware how +ye lift an impious hand against it! Let the sacrifice be sacrificed, oh +Queens.” + +Then Sorais made answer in her deep quiet tones, that always seemed to +me to have a suspicion of mockery about them, however serious the +theme: “Oh, Agon, thou hast spoken according to thy desire, and thou +hast spoken truth. But it is thou who wouldst lift an impious hand +against the justice of thy God. Bethink thee the midday sacrifice is +accomplished; the Sun hath claimed his priest as a sacrifice.” + +This was a novel idea, and the people applauded it. + +“Bethink thee what are these men? They are strangers found floating on +the bosom of a lake. Who brought them here? How came they here? How +know you that they also are not servants of the Sun? Is this the +hospitality that ye would have our nation show to those whom chance +brings to them, to throw them to the flames? Shame on you! Shame on +you! What is hospitality? To receive the stranger and show him favour. +To bind up his wounds, and find a pillow for his head, and food for him +to eat. But thy pillow is the fiery furnace, and thy food the hot +savour of the flame. Shame on thee, I say!” + +She paused a little to watch the effect of her speech upon the +multitude, and seeing that it was favourable, changed her tone from one +of remonstrance to one of command. + +“Ho! place there,” she cried; “place, I say; make way for the Queens, +and those whom the Queens cover with their ‘kaf’ (mantle).” + +“And if I refuse, oh Queen?” said Agon between his teeth. + +“Then will I cut a path with my guards,” was the proud answer; “ay, +even in the presence of thy sanctuary, and through the bodies of thy +priests.” + +Agon turned livid with baffled fury. He glanced at the people as though +meditating an appeal to them, but saw clearly that their sympathies +were all the other way. The Zu-Vendi are a very curious and sociable +people, and great as was their sense of the enormity that we had +committed in shooting the sacred hippopotami, they did not like the +idea of the only real live strangers they had seen or heard of being +consigned to a fiery furnace, thereby putting an end for ever to their +chance of extracting knowledge and information from, and gossiping +about us. Agon saw this and hesitated, and then for the first time +Nyleptha spoke in her soft sweet voice. + +“Bethink thee, Agon,” she said, “as my sister Queen has said, these men +may also be servants of the Sun. For themselves they cannot speak, for +their tongues are tied. Let the matter be adjourned till such time as +they have learnt our language. Who can be condemned without a hearing? +When these men can plead for themselves, then it will be time to put +them to the proof.” + +Here was a clever loophole of escape, and the vindictive old priest +took it, little as he liked it. + +“So be it, oh Queens,” he said. “Let the men go in peace, and when they +have learnt our tongue then let them speak. And I, even I, will make +humble supplication at the altar lest pestilence fall on the land by +cause of the sacrilege.” + +These words were received with a murmur of applause, and in another +minute we were marching out of the temple surrounded by the royal +guards. + +But it was not till long afterwards that we learnt the exact substance +of what had passed, and how hardly our lives had been wrung out of the +cruel grip of the Zu-Vendi priesthood, in the face of which even the +Queens were practically powerless. Had it not been for their strenuous +efforts to protect us we should have been slain even before we set foot +in the Temple of the Sun. The attempt to drop us bodily into the fiery +pit as an offering was a last artifice to attain this end when several +others quite unsuspected by us had already failed. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. +SORAIS’ SONG + + +After our escape from Agon and his pious crew we returned to our +quarters in the palace and had a very good time. The two Queens, the +nobles and the people vied with each other in doing us honour and +showering gifts upon us. As for that painful little incident of the +hippopotami it sank into oblivion, where we were quite content to leave +it. Every day deputations and individuals waited on us to examine our +guns and clothing, our chain shirts, and our instruments, especially +our watches, with which they were much delighted. In short, we became +quite the rage, so much so that some of the fashionable young swells +among the Zu-Vendi began to copy the cut of some of our clothes, +notably Sir Henry’s shooting jacket. One day, indeed, a deputation +waited on us and, as usual, Good donned his full-dress uniform for the +occasion. This deputation seemed somehow to be a different class to +those who generally came to visit us. They were little insignificant +men of an excessively polite, not to say servile, demeanour; and their +attention appeared to be chiefly taken up with observing the details of +Good’s full-dress uniform, of which they took copious notes and +measurements. Good was much flattered at the time, not suspecting that +he had to deal with the six leading tailors of Milosis. A fortnight +afterwards, however, when on attending court as usual he had the +pleasure of seeing some seven or eight Zu-Vendi “mashers” arrayed in +all the glory of a very fair imitation of his full-dress uniform, he +changed his mind. I shall never forget his face of astonishment and +disgust. It was after this, chiefly to avoid remark, and also because +our clothes were wearing out and had to be saved up, that we resolved +to adopt the native dress; and a very comfortable one we found it, +though I am bound to say that I looked sufficiently ridiculous in it, +and as for Alphonse! Only Umslopogaas would have none of these things; +when his moocha was worn out the fierce old Zulu made him a new one, +and went about unconcerned, as grim and naked as his own battleaxe. + +Meanwhile we pursued our study of the language steadily and made very +good progress. On the morning following our adventure in the temple, +three grave and reverend signiors presented themselves armed with +manuscript books, ink-horns and feather pens, and indicated that they +had been sent to teach us. So, with the exception of Umslopogaas, we +all buckled to with a will, doing four hours a day. As for Umslopogaas, +he would have none of that either. He did not wish to learn that +“woman’s talk”, not he; and when one of the teachers advanced on him +with a book and an ink-horn and waved them before him in a mild +persuasive way, much as a churchwarden invitingly shakes the offertory +bag under the nose of a rich but niggardly parishioner, he sprang up +with a fierce oath and flashed Inkosi-kaas before the eyes of our +learned friend, and there was an end of the attempt to teach _him_ +Zu-Vendi. + +Thus we spent our mornings in useful occupation which grew more and +more interesting as we proceeded, and the afternoons were given up to +recreation. Sometimes we made trips, notably one to the gold mines and +another to the marble quarries both of which I wish I had space and +time to describe; and sometimes we went out hunting buck with dogs +trained for that purpose, and a very exciting sport it is, as the +country is full of agricultural enclosures and our horses were +magnificent. This is not to be wondered at, seeing that the royal +stables were at our command, in addition to which we had four splendid +saddle horses given to us by Nyleptha. + +Sometimes, again, we went hawking, a pastime that is in great favour +among the Zu-Vendi, who generally fly their birds at a species of +partridge which is remarkable for the swiftness and strength of its +flight. When attacked by the hawk this bird appears to lose its head, +and, instead of seeking cover, flies high into the sky, thus offering +wonderful sport. I have seen one of these partridges soar up almost out +of sight when followed by the hawk. Still better sport is offered by a +variety of solitary snipe as big as a small woodcock, which is +plentiful in this country, and which is flown at with a very small, +agile, and highly-trained hawk with an almost red tail. The zigzagging +of the great snipe and the lightning rapidity of the flight and +movements of the red-tailed hawk make the pastime a delightful one. +Another variety of the same amusement is the hunting of a very small +species of antelope with trained eagles; and it certainly is a +marvellous sight to see the great bird soar and soar till he is nothing +but a black speck in the sunlight, and then suddenly come dashing down +like a cannon-ball upon some cowering buck that is hidden in a patch of +grass from everything but that piercing eye. Still finer is the +spectacle when the eagle takes the buck running. + +On other days we would pay visits to the country seats at some of the +great lords’ beautiful fortified places, and the villages clustering +beneath their walls. Here we saw vineyards and corn-fields and +well-kept park-like grounds, with such timber in them as filled me with +delight, for I do love a good tree. There it stands so strong and +sturdy, and yet so beautiful, a very type of the best sort of man. How +proudly it lifts its bare head to the winter storms, and with what a +full heart it rejoices when the spring has come again! How grand its +voice is, too, when it talks with the wind: a thousand aeolian harps +cannot equal the beauty of the sighing of a great tree in leaf. All day +it points to the sunshine and all night to the stars, and thus +passionless, and yet full of life, it endures through the centuries, +come storm, come shine, drawing its sustenance from the cool bosom of +its mother earth, and as the slow years roll by, learning the great +mysteries of growth and of decay. And so on and on through generations, +outliving individuals, customs, dynasties—all save the landscape it +adorns and human nature—till the appointed day when the wind wins the +long battle and rejoices over a reclaimed space, or decay puts the last +stroke to his fungus-fingered work. + +Ah, one should always think twice before one cuts down a tree! + +In the evenings it was customary for Sir Henry, Good, and myself to +dine, or rather sup, with their Majesties—not every night, indeed, but +about three or four times a week, whenever they had not much company, +or the affairs of state would allow of it. And I am bound to say that +those little suppers were quite the most charming things of their sort +that I ever had to do with. How true is the saying that the very +highest in rank are always the most simple and kindly. It is from your +half-and-half sort of people that you get pomposity and vulgarity, the +difference between the two being very much what one sees every day in +England between the old, out-at-elbows, broken-down county family, and +the overbearing, purse-proud people who come and “take the place”. I +really think that Nyleptha’s greatest charm is her sweet simplicity, +and her kindly genuine interest even in little things. She is the +simplest woman I ever knew, and where her passions are not involved, +one of the sweetest; but she can look queenly enough when she likes, +and be as fierce as any savage too. + +For instance, never shall I forget that scene when I for the first time +was sure that she was really in love with Curtis. It came about in this +way—all through Good’s weakness for ladies’ society. When we had been +employed for some three months in learning Zu-Vendi, it struck Master +Good that he was getting rather tired of the old gentlemen who did us +the honour to lead us in the way that we should go, so he proceeded, +without saying a word to anybody else, to inform them that it was a +peculiar fact, but that we could not make any real progress in the +deeper intricacies of a foreign language unless we were taught by +ladies—young ladies, he was careful to explain. In his own country, he +pointed out, it was habitual to choose the very best-looking and most +charming girls who could be found to instruct any strangers who +happened to come that way, etc. + +All of this the old gentlemen swallowed open-mouthed. There was, they +admitted, reason in what he said, since the contemplation of the +beautiful, as their philosophy taught, induced a certain porosity of +mind similar to that produced upon the physical body by the healthful +influences of sun and air. Consequently it was probable that we might +absorb the Zu-Vendi tongue a little faster if suitable teachers could +be found. Another thing was that, as the female sex was naturally +loquacious, good practice would be gained in the _viva voce_ department +of our studies. + +To all of this Good gravely assented, and the learned gentlemen +departed, assuring him that their orders were to fall in with our +wishes in every way, and that, if possible, our views should be met. + +Imagine, therefore the surprise and disgust of myself, and I trust and +believe Sir Henry, when, on entering the room where we were accustomed +to carry on our studies the following morning, we found, instead of our +usual venerable tutors, three of the best-looking young women whom +Milosis could produce—and that is saying a good deal—who blushed and +smiled and curtseyed, and gave us to understand that they were there to +carry on our instruction. Then Good, as we gazed at one another in +bewilderment, thought fit to explain, saying that it had slipped his +memory before—but the old gentlemen had told him, on the previous +evening, that it was absolutely necessary that our further education +should be carried on by the other sex. I was overwhelmed, and appealed +to Sir Henry for advice in such a crisis. + +“Well,” he said, “you see the ladies are here, ain’t they? If we sent +them away, don’t you think it might hurt their feelings, eh? One +doesn’t like to be rough, you see; and they look regular _blues_, don’t +they, eh?” + +By this time Good had already begun his lessons with the handsomest of +the three, and so with a sigh I yielded. That day everything went very +well: the young ladies were certainly very clever, and they only smiled +when we blundered. I never saw Good so attentive to his books before, +and even Sir Henry appeared to tackle Zu-Vendi with a renewed zest. +“Ah,” thought I, “will it always be thus?” + +Next day we were much more lively, our work was pleasingly interspersed +with questions about our native country, what the ladies were like +there, etc., all of which we answered as best as we could in Zu-Vendi, +and I heard Good assuring his teacher that her loveliness was to the +beauties of Europe as the sun to the moon, to which she replied with a +little toss of the head, that she was a plain teaching woman and +nothing else, and that it was not kind “to deceive a poor girl so”. +Then we had a little singing that was really charming, so natural and +unaffected. The Zu-Vendi love-songs are most touching. On the third day +we were all quite intimate. Good narrated some of his previous love +affairs to his fair teacher, and so moved was she that her sighs +mingled with his own. I discoursed with mine, a merry blue-eyed girl, +upon Zu-Vendian art, and never saw that she was waiting for an +opportunity to drop a specimen of the cockroach tribe down my back, +whilst in the corner Sir Henry and his governess appeared, so far as I +could judge, to be going through a lesson framed on the great +educational principles laid down by Wackford Squeers Esq., though in a +very modified or rather spiritualized form. The lady softly repeated +the Zu-Vendi word for “hand”, and he took hers; “eyes”, and he gazed +deep into her brown orbs; “lips”, and—but just at that moment _my_ +young lady dropped the cockroach down my back and ran away laughing. +Now if there is one thing I loathe more than another it is cockroaches, +and moved quite beyond myself, and yet laughing at her impudence, I +took up the cushion she had been sitting on and threw it after her. +Imagine then my shame—my horror, and my distress—when the door opened, +and, attended by two guards only, in walked _Nyleptha_. The cushion +could not be recalled (it missed the girl and hit one of the guards on +the head), but I instantly and ineffectually tried to look as though I +had not thrown it. Good ceased his sighing, and began to murder +Zu-Vendi at the top of his voice, and Sir Henry whistled and looked +silly. As for the poor girls, they were utterly dumbfounded. + +And Nyleptha! she drew herself up till her frame seemed to tower even +above that of the tall guards, and her face went first red, and then +pale as death. + +“Guards,” she said in a quiet choked voice, and pointing at the fair +but unconscious disciple of Wackford Squeers, “slay me that woman.” + +The men hesitated, as well they might. + +“Will ye do my bidding,” she said again in the same voice, “or will ye +not?” + +Then they advanced upon the girl with uplifted spears. By this time Sir +Henry had recovered himself, and saw that the comedy was likely to turn +into a tragedy. + +“Stand back,” he said in a voice of thunder, at the same time getting +in front of the terrified girl. “Shame on thee, Nyleptha—shame! Thou +shalt not kill her.” + +“Doubtless thou hast good reason to try to protect her. Thou couldst +hardly do less in honour,” answered the infuriated Queen; “but she +shall die—she shall die,” and she stamped her little foot. + +“It is well,” he answered; “then will I die with her. I am thy servant, +oh Queen; do with me even as thou wilt.” And he bowed towards her, and +fixed his clear eyes contemptuously on her face. + +“I could wish to slay thee too,” she answered; “for thou dost make a +mock of me;” and then feeling that she was mastered, and I suppose not +knowing what else to do, she burst into such a storm of tears and +looked so royally lovely in her passionate distress, that, old as I am, +I must say I envied Curtis his task of supporting her. It was rather +odd to see him holding her in his arms considering what had just +passed—a thought that seemed to occur to herself, for presently she +wrenched herself free and went, leaving us all much disturbed. + +Presently, however, one of the guards returned with a message to the +girls that they were, on pain of death, to leave the city and return to +their homes in the country, and that no further harm would come to +them; and accordingly they went, one of them remarking philosophically +that it could not be helped, and that it was a satisfaction to know +that they had taught us a little serviceable Zu-Vendi. Mine was an +exceedingly nice girl, and, overlooking the cockroach, I made her a +present of my favourite lucky sixpence with a hole in it when she went +away. After that our former masters resumed their course of +instruction, needless to say to my great relief. + +That night, when in fear and trembling we attended the royal supper +table, we found that Nyleptha was laid up with a bad headache. That +headache lasted for three whole days; but on the fourth she was present +at supper as usual, and with the most gracious and sweet smile gave Sir +Henry her hand to lead her to the table. No allusion was made to the +little affair described above beyond her saying, with a charming air of +innocence, that when she came to see us at our studies the other day +she had been seized with a giddiness from which she had only now +recovered. She supposed, she added with a touch of the humour that was +common to her, that it was the sight of people working so hard which +had affected her. + +In reply Sir Henry said, dryly, that he had thought she did not look +quite herself on that day, whereat she flashed one of those quick +glances of hers at him, which if he had the feelings of a man must have +gone through him like a knife, and the subject dropped entirely. +Indeed, after supper was over Nyleptha condescended to put us through +an examination to see what we had learnt, and to express herself well +satisfied with the results. Indeed, she proceeded to give us, +especially Sir Henry, a lesson on her own account, and very interesting +we found it. + +And all the while that we talked, or rather tried to talk, and laughed, +Sorais would sit there in her carven ivory chair, and look at us and +read us all like a book, only from time to time saying a few words, and +smiling that quick ominous smile of hers which was more like a flash of +summer lightning on a dark cloud than anything else. And as near to her +as he dared would sit Good, worshipping through his eyeglass, for he +really was getting seriously devoted to this sombre beauty, of whom, +speaking personally, I felt terribly afraid. I watched her keenly, and +soon I found out that for all her apparent impassibility she was at +heart bitterly jealous of Nyleptha. Another thing I found out, and the +discovery filled me with dismay, and that was, that she _also_ was +growing devoted to Sir Henry Curtis. Of course I could not be sure; it +is not easy to read so cold and haughty a woman; but I noticed one or +two little things, and, as elephant hunters know, dried grass shows +which way the wind has set. + +And so another three months passed over us, by which time we had all +attained to a very considerable mastery of the Zu-Vendi language, which +is an easy one to learn. And as the time went on we became great +favourites with the people, and even with the courtiers, gaining an +enormous reputation for cleverness, because, as I think I have said, +Sir Henry was able to show them how to make glass, which was a national +want, and also, by the help of a twenty-year almanac that we had with +us, to predict various heavenly combinations which were quite +unsuspected by the native astronomers. We even succeeded in +demonstrating the principle of the steam-engine to a gathering of the +learned men, who were filled with amazement; and several other things +of the same sort we did. And so it came about that the people made up +their minds that we must on no account be allowed to go out of the +country (which indeed was an apparent impossibility even if we had +wished it), and we were advanced to great honour and made officers to +the bodyguards of the sister Queens while permanent quarters were +assigned to us in the palace, and our opinion was asked upon questions +of national policy. + +But blue as the sky seemed, there was a cloud, and a big one, on the +horizon. We had indeed heard no more of those confounded hippopotami, +but it is not on that account to be supposed that our sacrilege was +forgotten, or the enmity of the great and powerful priesthood headed by +Agon appeased. On the contrary, it was burning the more fiercely +because it was necessarily suppressed, and what had perhaps begun in +bigotry was ending in downright direct hatred born of jealousy. +Hitherto, the priests had been the wise men of the land, and were on +this account, as well as from superstitious causes, looked on with +peculiar veneration. But our arrival, with our outlandish wisdom and +our strange inventions and hints of unimagined things, dealt a serious +blow to this state of affairs, and, among the educated Zu-Vendi, went +far towards destroying the priestly prestige. A still worse affront to +them, however, was the favour with which we were regarded, and the +trust that was reposed in us. All these things tended to make us +excessively obnoxious to the great sacerdotal clan, the most powerful +because the most united faction in the kingdom. + +Another source of imminent danger to us was the rising envy of some of +the great lords headed by Nasta, whose antagonism to us had at best +been but thinly veiled, and which now threatened to break out into open +flame. Nasta had for some years been a candidate for Nyleptha’s hand in +marriage, and when we appeared on the scene I fancy, from all I could +gather, that though there were still many obstacles in his path, +success was by no means out of his reach. But now all this had changed; +the coy Nyleptha smiled no more in his direction, and he was not slow +to guess the cause. Infuriated and alarmed, he turned his attention to +Sorais, only to find that he might as well try to woo a mountain side. +With a bitter jest or two about his fickleness, that door was closed on +him for ever. So Nasta bethought himself of the thirty thousand wild +swordsmen who would pour down at his bidding through the northern +mountain passes, and no doubt vowed to adorn the gates of Milosis with +our heads. + +But first he determined, as I learned, to make one more attempt and to +demand the hand of Nyleptha in the open Court after the formal annual +ceremony of the signing of the laws that had been proclaimed by the +Queens during the year. + +Of this astounding fact Nyleptha heard with simulated nonchalance, and +with a little trembling of the voice herself informed us of it as we +sat at supper on the night preceding the great ceremony of the +law-giving. + +Sir Henry bit his lip, and do what he could to prevent it plainly +showed his agitation. + +“And what answer will the Queen be pleased to give to the great Lord?” +asked I, in a jesting manner. + +“Answer, Macumazahn” (for we had elected to pass by our Zulu names in +Zu-Vendis), she said, with a pretty shrug of her ivory shoulder. “Nay, +I know not; what is a poor woman to do, when the wooer has thirty +thousand swords wherewith to urge his love?” And from under her long +lashes she glanced at Curtis. + +Just then we rose from the table to adjourn into another room. +“Quatermain, a word, quick,” said Sir Henry to me. “Listen. I have +never spoken about it, but surely you have guessed: I love Nyleptha. +What am I to do?” + +Fortunately, I had more or less already taken the question into +consideration, and was therefore able to give such answer as seemed the +wisest to me. + +“You must speak to Nyleptha tonight,” I said. “Now is your time, now or +never. Listen. In the sitting-chamber get near to her, and whisper to +her to meet you at midnight by the Rademas statue at the end of the +great hall. I will keep watch for you there. Now or never, Curtis.” + +We passed on into the other room. Nyleptha was sitting, her hands +before her, and a sad anxious look upon her lovely face. A little way +off was Sorais talking to Good in her slow measured tones. + +The time went on; in another quarter of an hour I knew that, according +to their habit, the Queens would retire. As yet, Sir Henry had had no +chance of saying a word in private: indeed, though we saw much of the +royal sisters, it was by no means easy to see them alone. I racked my +brains, and at last an idea came to me. + +“Will the Queen be pleased,” I said, bowing low before Sorais, “to sing +to her servants? Our hearts are heavy this night; sing to us, oh Lady +of the Night” (Sorais’ favourite name among the people). + +“My songs, Macumazahn, are not such as to lighten the heavy heart, yet +will I sing if it pleases thee,” she answered; and she rose and went a +few paces to a table whereon lay an instrument not unlike a zither, and +struck a few wandering chords. + +Then suddenly, like the notes of some deep-throated bird, her rounded +voice rang out in song so wildly sweet, and yet with so eerie and sad a +refrain, that it made the very blood stand still. Up, up soared the +golden notes, that seemed to melt far away, and then to grow again and +travel on, laden with all the sorrow of the world and all the despair +of the lost. It was a marvellous song, but I had not time to listen to +it properly. However, I got the words of it afterwards, and here is a +translation of its burden, so far as it admits of being translated at +all. + +SORAIS’ SONG + +As a desolate bird that through darkness its lost way is winging, +As a hand that is helplessly raised when Death’s sickle is swinging, +So is life! ay, the life that lends passion and breath to my singing. + +As the nightingale’s song that is full of a sweetness unspoken, +As a spirit unbarring the gates of the skies for a token, +So is love! ay, the love that shall fall when his pinion is broken. + +As the tramp of the legions when trumpets their challenge are sending, +As the shout of the Storm-god when lightnings the black sky are +rending, +So is power! ay, the power that shall lie in the dust at its ending. + +So short is our life; yet with space for all things to forsake us, +A bitter delusion, a dream from which nought can awake us, +Till Death’s dogging footsteps at morn or at eve shall o’ertake us. + +Refrain + +Oh, the world is fair at the dawning—dawning—dawning, +But the red sun sinks in blood—the red sun sinks in blood. + +I only wish that I could write down the music too. + +“Now, Curtis, now,” I whispered, when she began the second verse, and +turned my back. + +“Nyleptha,” he said—for my nerves were so much on the stretch that I +could hear every word, low as it was spoken, even through Sorais’ +divine notes—“Nyleptha, I must speak with thee this night, upon my life +I must. Say me not nay; oh, say me not nay!” + +“How can I speak with thee?” she answered, looking fixedly before her; +“Queens are not like other people. I am surrounded and watched.” + +“Listen, Nyleptha, thus. I will be before the statue of Rademas in the +great hall at midnight. I have the countersign and can pass in. +Macumazahn will be there to keep guard, and with him the Zulu. Oh come, +my Queen, deny me not.” + +“It is not seemly,” she murmured, “and tomorrow—” + +Just then the music began to die in the last wail of the refrain, and +Sorais slowly turned her round. + +“I will be there,” said Nyleptha, hurriedly; “on thy life see that thou +fail me not.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. +BEFORE THE STATUE + + +It was night—dead night—and the silence lay on the Frowning City like a +cloud. + +Secretly, as evildoers, Sir Henry Curtis, Umslopogaas, and myself +threaded our way through the passages towards a by-entrance to the +great Throne Chamber. Once we were met by the fierce rattling challenge +of the sentry. I gave the countersign, and the man grounded his spear +and let us pass. Also we were officers of the Queens’ bodyguard, and in +that capacity had a right to come and go unquestioned. + +We gained the hall in safety. So empty and so still was it, that even +when we had passed the sound of our footsteps yet echoed up the lofty +walls, vibrating faintly and still more faintly against the carven +roof, like ghosts of the footsteps of dead men haunting the place that +once they trod. + +It was an eerie spot, and it oppressed me. The moon was full, and threw +great pencils and patches of light through the high windowless openings +in the walls, that lay pure and beautiful upon the blackness of the +marble floor, like white flowers on a coffin. One of these silver +arrows fell upon the statue of the sleeping Rademas, and of the angel +form bent over him, illumining it, and a small circle round it, with a +soft clear light, reminding me of that with which Catholics illumine +the altars of their cathedrals. + +Here by the statue we took our stand, and waited. Sir Henry and I close +together, Umslopogaas some paces off in the darkness, so that I could +only just make out his towering outline leaning on the outline of an +axe. + +So long did we wait that I almost fell asleep resting against the cold +marble, but was suddenly aroused by hearing Curtis give a quick +catching breath. Then from far away there came a little sound as though +the statues that lined the walls were whispering to each other some +message of the ages. + +It was the faint sweep of a lady’s dress. Nearer it grew, and nearer +yet. We could see a figure steal from patch to patch of moonlight, and +even hear the soft fall of sandalled feet. Another second and I saw the +black silhouette of the old Zulu raise its arm in mute salute, and +Nyleptha was before us. + +Oh, how beautiful she looked as she paused a moment just within the +circle of the moonlight! Her hand was pressed upon her heart, and her +white bosom heaved beneath it. Round her head a broidered scarf was +loosely thrown, partially shadowing the perfect face, and thus +rendering it even more lovely; for beauty, dependent as it is to a +certain extent upon the imagination, is never so beautiful as when it +is half hid. There she stood radiant but half doubting, stately and yet +so sweet. It was but a moment, but I then and there fell in love with +her myself, and have remained so to this hour; for, indeed, she looked +more like an angel out of heaven than a loving, passionate, mortal +woman. Low we bowed before her, and then she spoke. + +“I have come,” she whispered, “but it was at great risk. Ye know not +how I am watched. The priests watch me. Sorais watches me with those +great eyes of hers. My very guards are spies upon me. Nasta watches me +too. Oh, let him be careful!” and she stamped her foot. “Let him be +careful; I am a woman, and therefore hard to drive. Ay, and I am a +Queen, too, and can still avenge. Let him be careful, I say, lest in +place of giving him my hand I take his head,” and she ended the +outburst with a little sob, and then smiled up at us bewitchingly and +laughed. + +“Thou didst bid me come hither, my Lord Incubu” (Curtis had taught her +to call him so). “Doubtless it is about business of the State, for I +know that thou art ever full of great ideas and plans for my welfare +and my people’s. So even as a Queen should I have come, though I +greatly fear the dark alone,” and again she laughed and gave him a +glance from her grey eyes. + +At this point I thought it wise to move a little, since secrets “of the +State” should not be made public property; but she would not let me go +far, peremptorily stopping me within five yards or so, saying that she +feared surprise. So it came to pass that, however unwillingly, I heard +all that passed. + +“Thou knowest, Nyleptha,” said Sir Henry, “that it was for none of +these things that I asked thee to meet me at this lonely place. +Nyleptha, waste not the time in pleasantry, but listen to me, for—I +love thee.” + +As he said the words I saw her face break up, as it were, and change. +The coquetry went out of it, and in its place there shone a great light +of love which seemed to glorify it, and make it like that of the marble +angel overhead. I could not help thinking that it must have been a +touch of prophetic instinct which made the long dead Rademas limn, in +the features of the angel of his inspiring vision, so strange a +likeness of his own descendant. Sir Henry, also, must have observed and +been struck by the likeness, for, catching the look upon Nyleptha’s +face, he glanced quickly from it to the moonlit statue, and then back +again at his beloved. + +“Thou sayest thou dost love me,” she said in a low voice, “and thy +voice rings true, but how am I to know that thou dost speak the truth?” + +“Though,” she went on with proud humility, and in the stately third +person which is so largely used by the Zu-Vendi, “I be as nothing in +the eyes of my lord,” and she curtseyed towards him, “who comes from +among a wonderful people, to whom my people are but children, yet here +am I a queen and a leader of men, and if I would go to battle a hundred +thousand spears shall sparkle in my train like stars glimmering down +the path of the bent moon. And although my beauty be a little thing in +the eyes of my lord,” and she lifted her broidered skirt and curtseyed +again, “yet here among my own people am I held right fair, and ever +since I was a woman the great lords of my kingdom have made quarrel +concerning me, as though forsooth,” she added with a flash of passion, +“I were a deer to be pulled down by the hungriest wolf, or a horse to +be sold to the highest bidder. Let my lord pardon me if I weary my +lord, but it hath pleased my lord to say that he loves me, Nyleptha, a +Queen of the Zu-Vendi, and therefore would I say that though my love +and my hand be not much to my lord, yet to me are they all.” + +“Oh!” she cried, with a sudden and thrilling change of voice, and +modifying her dignified mode of address. “Oh, how can I know that thou +lovest but me? How can I know that thou wilt not weary of me and seek +thine own place again, leaving me desolate? Who is there to tell me but +that thou lovest some other woman, some fair woman unknown to me, but +who yet draws breath beneath this same moon that shines on me tonight? +Tell me _how_ am I to know?” And she clasped her hands and stretched +them out towards him and looked appealingly into his face. + +“Nyleptha,” answered Sir Henry, adopting the Zu-Vendi way of speech; “I +have told thee that I love thee; how am I to tell thee how much I love +thee? Is there then a measure for love? Yet will I try. I say not that +I have never looked upon another woman with favour, but this I say that +I love thee with all my life and with all my strength; that I love thee +now and shall love thee till I grow cold in death, ay, and as I believe +beyond my death, and on and on for ever: I say that thy voice is music +to my ear, and thy touch as water to a thirsty land, that when thou art +there the world is beautiful, and when I see thee not it is as though +the light was dead. Oh, Nyleptha, I will never leave thee; here and now +for thy dear sake I will forget my people and my father’s house, yea, I +renounce them all. By thy side will I live, Nyleptha, and at thy side +will I die.” + +He paused and gazed at her earnestly, but she hung her head like a +lily, and said never a word. + +“Look!” he went on, pointing to the statue on which the moonlight +played so brightly. “Thou seest that angel woman who rests her hand +upon the forehead of the sleeping man, and thou seest how at her touch +his soul flames up and shines out through his flesh, even as a lamp at +the touch of the fire, so is it with me and thee, Nyleptha. Thou hast +awakened my soul and called it forth, and now, Nyleptha, it is not +mine, not mine, but _thine_ and thine only. There is no more for me to +say; in thy hands is my life.” And he leaned back against the pedestal +of the statue, looking very pale, and his eyes shining, but proud and +handsome as a god. + +Slowly, slowly she raised her head, and fixed her wonderful eyes, all +alight with the greatness of her passion, full upon his face, as though +to read his very soul. Then at last she spoke, low indeed, but clearly +as a silver bell. + +“Of a truth, weak woman that I am, I do believe thee. Ill will be the +day for thee and for me also if it be my fate to learn that I have +believed a lie. And now hearken to me, oh man, who hath wandered here +from far to steal my heart and make me all thine own. I put my hand +upon thy hand thus, and thus I, whose lips have never kissed before, do +kiss thee on the brow; and now by my hand and by that first and holy +kiss, ay, by my people’s weal and by my throne that like enough I shall +lose for thee—by the name of my high House, by the sacred Stone and by +the eternal majesty of the Sun, I swear that for thee will I live and +die. And I swear that I will love thee and thee only till death, ay, +and beyond, if as thou sayest there be a beyond, and that thy will +shall be my will, and thy ways my ways. + +“Oh see, see, my lord! thou knowest not how humble is she who loves; I, +who am a Queen, I kneel before thee, even at thy feet I do my homage;” +and the lovely impassioned creature flung herself down on her knees on +the cold marble before him. And after that I really do not know, for I +could stand it no longer, and cleared off to refresh myself with a +little of old Umslopogaas’ society, leaving them to settle it their own +way, and a very long time they were about it. + +I found the old warrior leaning on Inkosi-kaas as usual, and surveying +the scene in the patch of moonlight with a grim smile of amusement. + +“Ah, Macumazahn,” he said, “I suppose it is because I am getting old, +but I don’t think that I shall ever learn to understand the ways of you +white people. Look there now, I pray thee, they are a pretty pair of +doves, but what is all the fuss about, Macumazahn? He wants a wife, and +she wants a husband, then why does he not pay his cows down[18] like a +man and have done with it? It would save a deal of trouble, and we +should have had our night’s sleep. But there they go, talk, talk, talk, +and kiss, kiss, kiss, like mad things. Eugh!” + + [18] Alluding to the Zulu custom.—A. Q. + +Some three-quarters of an hour afterwards the “pair of doves” came +strolling towards us, Curtis looking slightly silly, and Nyleptha +remarking calmly that the moonlight made very pretty effects on the +marble. Then, for she was in a most gracious mood, she took my hand and +said that I was “her Lord’s” dear friend, and therefore most dear to +her—not a word for my own sake, you see. Next she lifted Umslopogaas’ +axe, and examined it curiously, saying significantly as she did so that +he might soon have cause to use it in defence of her. + +After that she nodded prettily to us all, and casting a tender glance +at her lover, glided off into the darkness like a beautiful vision. + +When we got back to our quarters, which we did without accident, Curtis +asked me jocularly what I was thinking about. + +“I am wondering,” I answered, “on what principle it is arranged that +some people should find beautiful queens to fall in love with them, +while others find nobody at all, or worse than nobody; and I am also +wondering how many brave men’s lives this night’s work will cost.” It +was rather nasty of me, perhaps, but somehow all the feelings do not +evaporate with age, and I could not help being a little jealous of my +old friend’s luck. Vanity, my sons; vanity of vanities! + +On the following morning, Good was informed of the happy occurrence, +and positively rippled with smiles that, originating somewhere about +the mouth, slowly travelled up his face like the rings in a duckpond, +till they flowed over the brim of his eyeglass and went where sweet +smiles go. The fact of the matter, however, was that not only was Good +rejoiced about the thing on its own merits but also for personal +reasons. He adored Sorais quite as earnestly as Sir Henry adored +Nyleptha, and his adoration had not altogether prospered. Indeed, it +had seemed to him and to me also that the dark Cleopatra-like queen +favoured Curtis in her own curious inscrutable way much more than Good. +Therefore it was a relief to him to learn that his unconscious rival +was permanently and satisfactorily attached in another direction. His +face fell a little, however, when he was told that the whole thing was +to be kept as secret as the dead, above all from Sorais for the +present, inasmuch as the political convulsion which would follow such +an announcement at the moment would be altogether too great to face and +would very possibly, if prematurely made, shake Nyleptha from her +throne. + +That morning we again attended in the Throne Hall, and I could not help +smiling to myself when I compared the visit to our last, and reflecting +that, if walls could speak, they would have strange tales to tell. + +What actresses women are! There, high upon her golden throne, draped in +her blazoned “kaf” or robe of state, sat the fair Nyleptha, and when +Sir Henry came in a little late, dressed in the full uniform of an +officer of her guard and humbly bent himself before her, she merely +acknowledged his salute with a careless nod and turned her head coldly +aside. It was a very large Court, for not only did the signing of the +laws attract many outside of those whose duty it was to attend, but +also the rumour that Nasta was going to publicly ask the hand of +Nyleptha in marriage had gone abroad, with the result that the great +hall was crowded to its utmost capacity. There were our friends the +priests in force, headed by Agon, who regarded us with a vindictive +eye; and a most imposing band they were, with their long white +embroidered robes girt with a golden chain from which hung the +fish-like scales. There, too, were a number of the lords, each with a +band of brilliantly attired attendants, and prominent among them was +Nasta, stroking his black beard meditatively and looking unusually +pleasant. It was a splendid and impressive sight, especially when the +officer after having read out each law handed them to the Queens to +sign, whereon the trumpets blared out and the Queens’ guard grounded +their spears with a crash in salute. This reading and signing of the +laws took a long time, but at length it came to an end, the last one +reciting that “whereas distinguished strangers, etc.”, and proceeding +to confer on the three of us the rank of “lords”, together with certain +military commands and large estates bestowed by the Queen. When it was +read the trumpets blared and the spears clashed down as usual, but I +saw some of the lords turn and whisper to each other, while Nasta +ground his teeth. They did not like the favour that was shown to us, +which under all the circumstances was not perhaps unnatural. + +Then there came a pause, and Nasta stepped forward and bowing humbly, +though with no humility in his eye, craved a boon at the hands of the +Queen Nyleptha. + +Nyleptha turned a little pale, but bowed graciously, and prayed the +“well-beloved lord” to speak on, whereon in a few straightforward +soldier-like words he asked her hand in marriage. + +Then, before she could find words to answer, the High Priest Agon took +up the tale, and in a speech of real eloquence and power pointed out +the many advantages of the proposed alliance; how it would consolidate +the kingdom, for Nasta’s dominions, of which he was virtually king, +were to Zu-Vendis much what Scotland used to be to England; how it +would gratify the wild mountaineers and be popular among the soldiery, +for Nasta was a famous general; how it would set her dynasty firmly on +the throne, and would gain the blessing and approval of the “Sun”, +_i.e._, of the office of the High Priest, and so on. Many of his +arguments were undoubtedly valid, and there was, looking at it from a +political point of view, everything to be said for the marriage. But +unfortunately it is difficult to play the game of politics with the +persons of young and lovely queens as though they were ivory effigies +of themselves on a chessboard. Nyleptha’s face, while Agon spouted +away, was a perfect study; she smiled indeed, but beneath the smile it +set like a stone, and her eyes began to flash ominously. + +At last he stopped, and she prepared herself to answer. Before she did +so, however, Sorais leant towards her and said in a voice sufficiently +loud for me to catch what she said, “Bethink thee well, my sister, ere +thou dost speak, for methinks that our thrones may hang upon thy +words.” + +Nyleptha made no answer, and with a shrug and a smile Sorais leant back +again and listened. + +“Of a truth a great honour has been done to me,” she said, “that my +poor hand should not only have been asked in marriage, but that Agon +here should be so swift to pronounce the blessing of the Sun upon my +union. Methinks that in another minute he would have wed us fast ere +the bride had said her say. Nasta, I thank thee, and I will bethink me +of thy words, but now as yet I have no mind for marriage, that is a cup +of which none know the taste until they begin to drink it. Again I +thank thee, Nasta,” and she made as though she would rise. + +The great lord’s face turned almost as black as his beard with fury, +for he knew that the words amounted to a final refusal of his suit. + +“Thanks be to the Queen for her gracious words,” he said, restraining +himself with difficulty and looking anything but grateful, “my heart +shall surely treasure them. And now I crave another boon, namely, the +royal leave to withdraw myself to my own poor cities in the north till +such time as the Queen shall say my suit nay or yea. Mayhap,” he added, +with a sneer, “the Queen will be pleased to visit me there, and to +bring with her these stranger lords,” and he scowled darkly towards us. +“It is but a poor country and a rough, but we are a hardy race of +mountaineers, and there shall be gathered thirty thousand swordsmen to +shout a welcome to her.” + +This speech, which was almost a declaration of rebellion, was received +in complete silence, but Nyleptha flushed up and answered it with +spirit. + +“Oh, surely, Nasta, I will come, and the strange lords in my train, and +for every man of thy mountaineers who calls thee Prince, will I bring +two from the lowlands who call me Queen, and we will see which is the +staunchest breed. Till then farewell.” + +The trumpets blared out, the Queens rose, and the great assembly broke +up in murmuring confusion, and for myself I went home with a heavy +heart foreseeing civil war. + +After this there was quiet for a few weeks. Curtis and the Queen did +not often meet, and exercised the utmost caution not to allow the true +relation in which they stood to each other to leak out; but do what +they would, rumours as hard to trace as a buzzing fly in a dark room, +and yet quite as audible, began to hum round and round, and at last to +settle on her throne. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. +THE STORM BREAKS + + +And now it was that the trouble which at first had been but a cloud as +large as a man’s hand began to loom very black and big upon our +horizon, namely, Sorais’ preference for Sir Henry. I saw the storm +drawing nearer and nearer; and so, poor fellow, did he. The affection +of so lovely and highly-placed a woman was not a thing that could in a +general way be considered a calamity by any man, but, situated as +Curtis was, it was a grievous burden to bear. + +To begin with, Nyleptha, though altogether charming, was, it must be +admitted, of a rather jealous disposition, and was sometimes apt to +visit on her lover’s head her indignation at the marks of what Alphonse +would have called the “distinguished consideration” with which her +royal sister favoured him. Then the enforced secrecy of his relation to +Nyleptha prevented Curtis from taking some opportunity of putting a +stop, or trying to put a stop, to this false condition of affairs, by +telling Sorais, in a casual but confidential way, that he was going to +marry her sister. A third sting in Sir Henry’s honey was that he knew +that Good was honestly and sincerely attached to the ominous-looking +but most attractive Lady of the Night. Indeed, poor Bougwan was wasting +himself to a shadow of his fat and jolly self about her, his face +getting so thin that his eyeglass would scarcely stick in it; while +she, with a sort of careless coquetry, just gave him encouragement +enough to keep him going, thinking, no doubt, that he might be useful +as a stalking-horse. I tried to give him a hint, in as delicate a way +as I could, but he flew into a huff and would not listen to me, so I +was determined to let ill alone, for fear of making it worse. Poor +Good, he really was very ludicrous in his distress, and went in for all +sorts of absurdities, under the belief that he was advancing his suit. +One of them was the writing—with the assistance of one of the grave and +revered signiors who instructed us, and who, whatever may have been the +measure of his erudition, did not understand how to scan a line—of a +most interminable Zu-Vendi love-song, of which the continually +recurring refrain was something about “I will kiss thee; oh yes, I will +kiss thee!” Now among the Zu-Vendi it is a common and most harmless +thing for young men to serenade ladies at night, as I believe they do +in the southern countries of Europe, and sing all sorts of nonsensical +songs to them. The young men may or may not be serious; but no offence +is meant and none is taken, even by ladies of the highest rank, who +accept the whole thing as an English girl would a gracefully-turned +compliment. + +Availing himself of this custom, Good bethought him that he would +serenade Sorais, whose private apartments, together with those of her +maidens, were exactly opposite our own, on the further side of a narrow +courtyard which divided one section of the great palace from another. +Accordingly, having armed himself with a native zither, on which, being +an adept with the light guitar, he had easily learned to strum, he +proceeded at midnight—the fashionable hour for this sort of +caterwauling—to make night hideous with his amorous yells. I was fast +asleep when they began, but they soon woke me up—for Good possesses a +tremendous voice and has no notion of time—and I ran to my window-place +to see what was the matter. And there, standing in the full moonlight +in the courtyard, I perceived Good, adorned with an enormous ostrich +feather head-dress and a flowing silken cloak, which it is the right +thing to wear upon these occasions, and shouting out the abominable +song which he and the old gentleman had evolved, to a jerky, jingling +accompaniment. From the direction of the quarters of the maids of +honour came a succession of faint sniggerings; but the apartments of +Sorais herself—whom I devoutly pitied if she happened to be there—were +silent as the grave. There was absolutely no end to that awful song, +with its eternal “I will kiss thee!” and at last neither I nor Sir +Henry, whom I had summoned to enjoy the sight, could stand it any +longer; so, remembering the dear old story, I put my head to the window +opening, and shouted, “For Heaven’s sake, Good, don’t go on talking +about it, but _kiss_ her and let’s all go to sleep!” That choked him +off, and we had no more serenading. + +The whole thing formed a laughable incident in a tragic business. How +deeply thankful we ought to be that even the most serious matters have +generally a silver lining about them in the shape of a joke, if only +people could see it. The sense of humour is a very valuable possession +in life, and ought to be cultivated in the Board schools—especially in +Scotland. + +Well, the more Sir Henry held off the more Sorais came on, as is not +uncommon in such cases, till at last things got very queer indeed. +Evidently she was, by some strange perversity of mind, quite blinded to +the true state of the case; and I, for one, greatly dreaded the moment +of her awakening. Sorais was a dangerous woman to be mixed up with, +either with or without one’s consent. At last the evil moment came, as +I saw it must come. One fine day, Good having gone out hawking, Sir +Henry and I were sitting quietly talking over the situation, especially +with reference to Sorais, when a Court messenger arrived with a written +note, which we with some difficulty deciphered, and which was to the +effect that “the Queen Sorais commanded the attendance of the Lord +Incubu in her private apartments, whither he would be conducted by the +bearer”. + +“Oh my word!” groaned Sir Henry. “Can’t you go instead, old fellow?” + +“Not if I know it,” I said with vigour. “I had rather face a wounded +elephant with a shot-gun. Take care of your own business, my boy. If +you will be so fascinating you must take the consequences. I would not +be in your place for an empire.” + +“You remind me of when I was going to be flogged at school and the +other boys came to console me,” he said gloomily. “What right has this +Queen to command my attendance, I should like to know? I won’t go.” + +“But you must; you are one of her officers and bound to obey her, and +she knows it. And after all it will soon be over.” + +“That’s just what they used to say,” he said again. “I only hope she +won’t put a knife into me. I believe that she is quite capable of it.” +And off he started very faintheartedly, and no wonder. + +I sat and waited, and at the end of about forty-five minutes he +returned, looking a good deal worse than when he went. + +“Give me something to drink,” he said hoarsely. + +I got him a cup of wine, and asked what was the matter. + +“What is the matter? Why if ever there was trouble there’s trouble now. +You know when I left you? Well, I was shown straight into Sorais’ +private chamber, and a wonderful place it is; and there she sat, quite +alone, upon a silken couch at the end of the room, playing gently upon +that zither of hers. I stood before her, and for a while she took no +notice of me, but kept on playing and singing a little, and very sweet +music it was. At last she looked up and smiled. + +“‘So thou art come,’ she said. ‘I thought perchance thou hadst gone +about the Queen Nyleptha’s business. Thou art ever on her business, and +I doubt not a good servant and a true.’ + +“To this I merely bowed, and said I was there to receive the Queen’s +word. + +“‘Ah yes, I would talk with thee, but be thou seated. It wearies me to +look so high,’ and she made room for me beside her on the couch, +placing herself with her back against the end, so as to have a view of +my face. + +“‘It is not meet,’ I said, ‘that I should make myself equal with the +Queen.’ + +“‘I said be seated,’ was her answer, so I sat down, and she began to +look at me with those dark eyes of hers. There she sat like an +incarnate spirit of beauty, hardly talking at all, and when she did, +very low, but all the while looking at me. There was a white flower in +her black hair, and I tried to keep my eyes on it and count the petals, +but it was of no use. At last, whether it was her gaze, or the perfume +in her hair, or what I do not know, but I almost felt as though I was +being mesmerized. At last she roused herself. + +“‘Incubu,’ she said, ‘lovest thou power?’ + +“I replied that I supposed all men loved power of one sort or another. + +“‘Thou shalt have it,’ she said. ‘Lovest thou wealth?’ + +“I said I liked wealth for what it brought. + +“‘Thou shalt have it,’ she said. ‘And lovest thou beauty?’ + +“To this I replied that I was very fond of statuary and architecture, +or something silly of that sort, at which she frowned, and there was a +pause. By this time my nerves were on such a stretch that I was shaking +like a leaf. I knew that something awful was going to happen, but she +held me under a kind of spell, and I could not help myself. + +“‘Incubu,’ she said at length, ‘wouldst thou be a king? Listen, wouldst +thou be a king? Behold, stranger, I am minded to make thee king of all +Zu-Vendis, ay and husband of Sorais of the Night. Nay, peace and hear +me. To no man among my people had I thus opened out my secret heart, +but thou art an outlander and therefore I speak without shame, knowing +all I have to offer and how hard it had been thee to ask. See, a crown +lies at thy feet, my lord Incubu, and with that fortune a woman whom +some have wished to woo. Now mayst thou answer, oh my chosen, and soft +shall thy words fall upon mine ears.’ + +“‘Oh Sorais,’ I said, ‘I pray thee speak not thus’—you see I had not +time to pick and choose my words—‘for this thing cannot be. I am +betrothed to thy sister Nyleptha, oh Sorais, and I love her and her +alone.’ + +“Next moment it struck me that I had said an awful thing, and I looked +up to see the results. When I spoke, Sorais’ face was hidden in her +hands, and as my words reached her she slowly raised it, and I shrank +back dismayed. It was ashy white, and her eyes were flaming. She rose +to her feet and seemed to be choking, but the awful thing was that she +was so quiet about it all. Once she looked at a side table, on which +lay a dagger, and from it to me, as though she thought of killing me; +but she did not take it up. At last she spoke one word, and one only— + +“‘_Go!_’ + +“And I went, and glad enough I was to get out of it, and here I am. +Give me another cup of wine, there’s a good fellow, and tell me, what +is to be done?” + +I shook my head, for the affair was indeed serious. As one of the poets +says, + +“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” + +more especially if the woman is a queen and a Sorais, and indeed I +feared the very worst, including imminent danger to ourselves. + +“Nyleptha had better be told of this at once,” I said, “and perhaps I +had better tell her; she might receive your account with suspicion.” + +“Who is captain of her guard tonight?” I went on. + +“Good.” + +“Very well then, there will be no chance of her being got at. Don’t +look surprised. I don’t think that her sister would stick at that. I +suppose one must tell Good of what has happened.” + +“Oh, I don’t know,” said Sir Henry. “It would hurt his feelings, poor +fellow! You see, he takes a lively personal interest in Sorais.” + +“That’s true; and after all, perhaps there is no need to tell him. He +will find out the truth soon enough. Now, you mark my words, Sorais +will throw in her lot with Nasta, who is sulking up in the North there, +and there will be such a war as has not been known in Zu-Vendis for +centuries. Look there!” and I pointed to two Court messengers, who were +speeding away from the door of Sorais’ private apartments. “Now follow +me,” and I ran up a stairway into an outlook tower that rose from the +roof of our quarters, taking the spyglass with me, and looked out over +the palace wall. The first thing we saw was one of the messengers +speeding towards the Temple, bearing, without any doubt, the Queen’s +word to the High Priest Agon, but for the other I searched in vain. +Presently, however, I spied a horseman riding furiously through the +northern gate of the city, and in him I recognized the other messenger. + +“Ah!” I said, “Sorais is a woman of spirit. She is acting at once, and +will strike quick and hard. You have insulted her, my boy, and the +blood will flow in rivers before the stain is washed away, and yours +with it, if she can get hold of you. Well, I’m off to Nyleptha. Just +you stop where you are, old fellow, and try to get your nerves straight +again. You’ll need them all, I can tell you, unless I have observed +human nature in the rough for fifty years for nothing.” And off I went +accordingly. + +I gained audience of the Queen without trouble. She was expecting +Curtis, and was not best pleased to see my mahogany-coloured face +instead. + +“Is there aught wrong with my Lord, Macumazahn, that he waits not upon +me? Say, is he sick?” + +I said that he was well enough, and then, without further ado, I +plunged into my story and told it from beginning to end. Oh, what a +rage she flew into! It was a sight to see her, she looked so lovely. + +“How darest thou come to me with such a tale?” she cried. “It is a lie +to say that my Lord was making love to Sorais, my sister.” + +“Pardon me, oh Queen,” I answered, “I said that Sorais was making love +to thy lord.” + +“Spin me no spiders’ webs of words. Is not the thing the same thing? +The one giveth, the other taketh; but the gift passes, and what matters +it which is the most guilty? Sorais! oh, I hate her—Sorais is a queen +and my sister. She had not stooped so low had he not shown the way. Oh, +truly hath the poet said that man is like a snake, whom to touch is +poison, and whom none can hold.” + +“The remark, oh Queen, is excellent, but methinks thou hast misread the +poet. Nyleptha,” I went on, “thou knowest well that thy words are empty +foolishness, and that this is no time for folly.” + +“How darest thou?” she broke in, stamping her foot. “Hast my false lord +sent thee to me to insult me also? Who art thou, stranger, that thou +shouldst speak to me, the Queen, after this sort? How darest thou?” + +“Yea, I dare. Listen. The moments which thou dost waste in idle anger +may well cost thee thy crown and all of us our lives. Already Sorais’ +horsemen go forth and call to arms. In three days’ time Nasta will +rouse himself in his fastnesses like a lion in the evening, and his +growling will be heard throughout the North. The ‘Lady of the Night’ +(Sorais) hath a sweet voice, and she will not sing in vain. Her banner +will be borne from range to range and valley to valley, and warriors +will spring up in its track like dust beneath a whirlwind; half the +army will echo her war-cry; and in every town and hamlet of this wide +land the priests will call out against the foreigner and will preach +her cause as holy. I have spoken, oh Queen!” + +Nyleptha was quite calm now; her jealous anger had passed; and putting +off the character of a lovely headstrong lady, with a rapidity and +completeness that distinguished her, she put on that of a queen and a +woman of business. The transformation was sudden but entire. + +“Thy words are very wise, Macumazahn. Forgive me my folly. Ah, what a +Queen I should be if only I had no heart! To be heartless—that is to +conquer all. Passion is like the lightning, it is beautiful, and it +links the earth to heaven, but alas it blinds! + +“And thou thinkest that my sister Sorais would levy war upon me. So be +it. She shall not prevail against me. I, too, have my friends and my +retainers. There are many, I say, who will shout ‘Nyleptha!’ when my +pennon runs up on peak and pinnacle, and the light of my beacon fires +leaps tonight from crag to crag, bearing the message of my war. I will +break her strength and scatter her armies. Eternal night shall be the +portion of Sorais of the Night. Give me that parchment and the ink. So. +Now summon the officer in the ante-room. He is a trusty man.” + +I did as I was bid! and the man, a veteran and quiet-looking gentleman +of the guard, named Kara, entered, bowing low. + +“Take this parchment,” said Nyleptha; “it is thy warrant; and guard +every place of in and outgoing in the apartments of my sister Sorais, +the ‘Lady of the Night’, and a Queen of the Zu-Vendi. Let none come in +and none go out, or thy life shall pay the cost.” + +The man looked startled, but he merely said, “The Queen’s word be +done,” and departed. Then Nyleptha sent a messenger to Sir Henry, and +presently he arrived looking uncommonly uncomfortable. I thought that +another outburst was about to follow, but wonderful are the ways of +woman; she said not a word about Sorais and his supposed inconstancy, +greeting him with a friendly nod, and stating simply that she required +his advice upon high matters. All the same there was a look in her eye, +and a sort of suppressed energy in her manner towards him, that makes +me think that she had not forgotten the affair, but was keeping it for +a private occasion. + +Just after Curtis arrived the officer returned, and reported that +Sorais was _gone_. The bird had flown to the Temple, stating that she +was going, as was sometimes the custom among Zu-Vendi ladies of rank, +to spend the night in meditation before the altar. We looked at each +other significantly. The blow had fallen very soon. + +Then we set to work. + +Generals who could be trusted were summoned from their quarters, and as +much of the State affairs as was thought desirable was told to each, +strict injunctions being given to them to get all their available force +together. The same was done with such of the more powerful lords as +Nyleptha knew she could rely on, several of whom left that very day for +distant parts of the country to gather up their tribesmen and +retainers. Sealed orders were dispatched to the rulers of far-off +cities, and some twenty messengers were sent off before nightfall with +instructions to ride early and late till they reached the distant +chiefs to whom their letters were addressed: also many spies were set +to work. All the afternoon and evening we laboured, assisted by some +confidential scribes, Nyleptha showing an energy and resource of mind +that astonished me, and it was eight o’clock before we got back to our +quarters. Here we heard from Alphonse, who was deeply aggrieved because +our non-return had spoilt his dinner (for he had turned cook again +now), that Good had come back from his hawking and gone on duty. As +instructions had already been given to the officer of the outer guard +to double the sentries at the gate, and as we had no reason to fear any +immediate danger, we did not think it worth while to hunt him up and +tell him anything of what had passed, which at best was, under the +peculiar circumstances of the case, one of those tasks that one prefers +to postpone, so after swallowing our food we turned in to get some +much-needed rest. Before we did so, however, it occurred to Curtis to +tell old Umslopogaas to keep a look-out in the neighbourhood of +Nyleptha’s private apartments. Umslopogaas was now well known about the +place, and by the Queen’s order allowed to pass whither he would by the +guards, a permission of which he often availed himself by roaming about +the palace during the still hours in a nocturnal fashion that he +favoured, and which is by no means uncommon amongst black men +generally. His presence in the corridors would not, therefore, be +likely to excite remark. Without any comment the Zulu took up his axe +and departed, and we also departed to bed. + +I seemed to have been asleep but a few minutes when I was awakened by a +peculiar sensation of uneasiness. I felt that somebody was in the room +and looking at me, and instantly sat up, to see to my surprise that it +was already dawn, and that there, standing at the foot of my couch and +looking peculiarly grim and gaunt in the grey light, was Umslopogaas +himself. + +“How long hast thou been there?” I asked testily, for it is not +pleasant to be aroused in such a fashion. + +“Mayhap the half of an hour, Macumazahn. I have a word for thee.” + +“Speak on,” I said, now wide enough awake. + +“As I was bid I went last night to the place of the White Queen and hid +myself behind a pillar in the second anteroom, beyond which is the +sleeping-place of the Queen. Bougwan (Good) was in the first anteroom +alone, and outside the curtain of that room was a sentry, but I had a +mind to see if I could pass in unseen, and I did, gliding behind them +both. There I waited for many hours, when suddenly I perceived a dark +figure coming secretly towards me. It was the figure of a woman, and in +her hand she held a dagger. Behind that figure crept another unseen by +the woman. It was Bougwan following in her tracks. His shoes were off, +and for so fat a man he followed very well. The woman passed me, and +the starlight shone upon her face.” + +“Who was it?” I asked impatiently. + +“The face was the face of the ‘Lady of the Night’, and of a truth she +is well named. + +“I waited, and Bougwan passed me also. Then I followed. So we went +slowly and without a sound up the long chamber. First the woman, then +Bougwan, and then I; and the woman saw not Bougwan, and Bougwan saw not +me. At last the ‘Lady of the Night’ came to the curtains that shut off +the sleeping place of the White Queen, and put out her left hand to +part them. She passed through, and so did Bougwan, and so did I. At the +far end of the room is the bed of the Queen, and on it she lay very +fast asleep. I could hear her breathe, and see one white arm lying on +the coverlid like a streak of snow on the dry grass. The ‘Lady of the +Night’ doubled herself thus, and with the long knife lifted crept +towards the bed. So straight did she gaze thereat that she never +thought to look behind her. When she was quite close Bougwan touched +her on the arm, and she caught her breath and turned, and I saw the +knife flash, and heard it strike. Well was it for Bougwan that he had +the skin of iron on him, or he had been pierced. Then for the first +time he saw who the woman was, and without a word he fell back +astonished, and unable to speak. She, too, was astonished, and spoke +not, but suddenly she laid her finger on her lip, thus, and walked +towards and through the curtain, and with her went Bougwan. So close +did she pass to me that her dress touched me, and I was nigh to slaying +her as she went. In the first outer room she spoke to Bougwan in a +whisper and, clasping her hands thus, she pleaded with him, but what +she said I know not. And so they passed on to the second outer room, +she pleading and he shaking his head, and saying, ‘Nay, nay, nay’. And +it seemed to me that he was about to call the guard, when she stopped +talking and looked at him with great eyes, and I saw that he was +bewitched by her beauty. Then she stretched out her hand and he kissed +it, whereon I gathered myself together to advance and take her, seeing +that now had Bougwan become a woman, and no longer knew the good from +the evil, when behold! she was gone.” + +“Gone!” I ejaculated. + +“Ay, gone, and there stood Bougwan staring at the wall like one asleep, +and presently he went too, and I waited a while and came away also.” + +“Art thou sure, Umslopogaas,” said I, “that thou hast not been a +dreamer this night?” + +In reply he opened his left hand, and produced about three inches of a +blade of a dagger of the finest steel. “If I be, Macumazahn, behold +what the dream left with me. The knife broke upon Bougwan’s bosom and +as I passed I picked this up in the sleeping-place of the White Queen.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. +WAR! RED WAR! + + +Telling Umslopogaas to wait, I tumbled into my clothes and went off +with him to Sir Henry’s room, where the Zulu repeated his story word +for word. It was a sight to watch Curtis’ face as he heard it. + +“Great Heavens!” he said: “here have I been sleeping away while +Nyleptha was nearly murdered—and all through me, too. What a fiend that +Sorais must be! It would have served her well if Umslopogaas had cut +her down in the act.” + +“Ay,” said the Zulu. “Fear not; I should have slain her ere she struck. +I was but waiting the moment.” + +I said nothing, but I could not help thinking that many a thousand +doomed lives would have been saved if he had meted out to Sorais the +fate she meant for her sister. And, as the issue proved, I was right. + +After he had told his tale Umslopogaas went off unconcernedly to get +his morning meal, and Sir Henry and I fell to talking. + +At first he was very bitter against Good, who, he said, was no longer +to be trusted, having designedly allowed Sorais to escape by some +secret stair when it was his duty to have handed her over to justice. +Indeed, he spoke in the most unmeasured terms on the matter. I let him +run on awhile, reflecting to myself how easy we find it to be hard on +the weaknesses of others, and how tender we are to our own. + +“Really, my dear fellow,” I said at length, “one would never think, to +hear you talk, that you were the man who had an interview with this +same lady yesterday, and found it rather difficult to resist her +fascinations, notwithstanding your ties to one of the loveliest and +most loving women in the world. Now suppose it was Nyleptha who had +tried to murder Sorais, and _you_ had caught her, and she had pleaded +with you, would you have been so very eager to hand her over to an open +shame, and to death by fire? Just look at the matter through Good’s +eyeglass for a minute before you denounce an old friend as a +scoundrel.” + +He listened to this jobation submissively, and then frankly +acknowledged that he had spoken hardly. It is one of the best points in +Sir Henry’s character that he is always ready to admit it when he is in +the wrong. + +But, though I spoke up thus for Good, I was not blind to the fact that, +however natural his behaviour might be, it was obvious that he was +being involved in a very awkward and disgraceful complication. A foul +and wicked murder had been attempted, and he had let the murderess +escape, and thereby, among other things, allowed her to gain a complete +ascendency over himself. In fact, he was in a fair way to become her +tool—and no more dreadful fate can befall a man than to become the tool +of an unscrupulous woman, or indeed of any woman. There is but one end +to it: when he is broken, or has served her purpose, he is thrown +away—turned out on the world to hunt for his lost self-respect. Whilst +I was pondering thus, and wondering what was to be done—for the whole +subject was a thorny one—I suddenly heard a great clamour in the +courtyard outside, and distinguished the voice of Umslopogaas and +Alphonse, the former cursing furiously, and the latter yelling in +terror. + +Hurrying out to see what was the matter, I was met by a ludicrous +sight. The little Frenchman was running up the courtyard at an +extraordinary speed, and after him sped Umslopogaas like a great +greyhound. Just as I came out he caught him, and, lifting him right off +his legs, carried him some paces to a beautiful but very dense +flowering shrub which bore a flower not unlike the gardenia, but was +covered with short thorns. Next, despite his howls and struggles, he +with one mighty thrust plunged poor Alphonse head first into the bush, +so that nothing but the calves of his legs and heels remained in +evidence. Then, satisfied with what he had done, the Zulu folded his +arms and stood grimly contemplating the Frenchman’s kicks, and +listening to his yells, which were awful. + +“What art thou doing?” I said, running up. “Wouldst thou kill the man? +Pull him out of the bush!” + +With a savage grunt he obeyed, seizing the wretched Alphonse by the +ankle, and with a jerk that must have nearly dislocated it, tearing him +out of the heart of the shrub. Never did I see such a sight as he +presented, his clothes half torn off his back, and bleeding as he was +in every direction from the sharp thorns. There he lay and yelled and +rolled, and there was no getting anything out of him. + +At last, however, he got up and, ensconcing himself behind me, cursed +old Umslopogaas by every saint in the calendar, vowing by the blood of +his heroic grandfather that he would poison him, and “have his +revenge”. + +At last I got to the truth of the matter. It appeared that Alphonse +habitually cooked Umslopogaas’s porridge, which the latter ate for +breakfast in the corner of the courtyard, just as he would have done at +home in Zululand, from a gourd, and with a wooden spoon. Now +Umslopogaas had, like many Zulus, a great horror of fish, which he +considered a species of water-snake; so Alphonse, who was as fond of +playing tricks as a monkey, and who was also a consummate cook, +determined to make him eat some. Accordingly he grated up a quantity of +white fish very finely, and mixed it with the Zulu’s porridge, who +swallowed it nearly all down in ignorance of what he was eating. But, +unfortunately for Alphonse, he could not restrain his joy at this +sight, and came capering and peering round, till at last Umslopogaas, +who was very clever in his way, suspected something, and, after a +careful examination of the remains of his porridge, discovered “the +buffalo heifer’s trick”, and, in revenge, served him as I have said. +Indeed, the little man was fortunate not to get a broken neck for his +pains; for, as one would have thought, he might have learnt from the +episode of his display of axemanship that “le Monsieur noir” was an ill +person to play practical jokes upon. + +This incident was unimportant enough in itself, but I narrate it +because it led to serious consequences. As soon as he had stanched the +bleeding from his scratches and washed himself, Alphonse went off still +cursing, to recover his temper, a process which I knew from experience +would take a very long time. When he had gone I gave Umslopogaas a +jobation and told him that I was ashamed of his behaviour. + +“Ah, well, Macumazahn,” he said, “you must be gentle with me, for here +is not my place. I am weary of it, weary to death of eating and +drinking, of sleeping and giving in marriage. I love not this soft life +in stone houses that takes the heart out of a man, and turns his +strength to water and his flesh to fat. I love not the white robes and +the delicate women, the blowing of trumpets and the flying of hawks. +When we fought the Masai at the kraal yonder, ah, then life was worth +the living, but here is never a blow struck in anger, and I begin to +think I shall go the way of my fathers and lift Inkosi-kaas no more,” +and he held up the axe and gazed at it in sorrow. + +“Ah,” I said, “that is thy complaint, is it? Thou hast the +blood-sickness, hast thou? And the Woodpecker wants a tree. And at thy +age, too. Shame on thee! Umslopogaas.” + +“Ay, Macumazahn, mine is a red trade, yet is it better and more honest +than some. Better is it to slay a man in fair fight than to suck out +his heart’s blood in buying and selling and usury after your white +fashion. Many a man have I slain, yet is there never a one that I +should fear to look in the face again, ay, many are there who once were +friends, and whom I should be right glad to snuff with. But there! +there! thou hast thy ways, and I mine: each to his own people and his +own place. The high-veldt ox will die in the fat bush country, and so +is it with me, Macumazahn. I am rough, I know it, and when my blood is +warm I know not what to do, but yet wilt thou be sorry when the night +swallows me and I am utterly lost in blackness, for in thy heart thou +lovest me, my father, Macumazahn the fox, though I be nought but a +broken-down Zulu war-dog—a chief for whom there is no room in his own +kraal, an outcast and a wanderer in strange places: ay, I love thee, +Macumazahn, for we have grown grey together, and there is that between +us that cannot be seen, and yet is too strong for breaking;” and he +took his snuff-box, which was made of an old brass cartridge, from the +slit in his ear where he always carried it, and handed it to me for me +to help myself. + +I took the pinch of snuff with some emotion. It was quite true, I was +much attached to the bloodthirsty old ruffian. I do not know what was +the charm of his character, but it had a charm; perhaps it was its +fierce honesty and directness; perhaps one admired his almost +superhuman skill and strength, or it may have been simply that he was +so absolutely unique. Frankly, with all my experience of savages, I +never knew a man quite like him, he was so wise and yet such a child +with it all; and though it seems laughable to say so, like the hero of +the Yankee parody, he “had a tender heart”. Anyway, I was very fond of +him, though I should never have thought of telling him so. + +“Ay, old wolf,” I said, “thine is a strange love. Thou wouldst split me +to the chin if I stood in thy path tomorrow.” + +“Thou speakest truth, Macumazahn, that would I if it came in the way of +duty, but I should love thee all the same when the blow had gone fairly +home. Is there any chance of some fighting here, Macumazahn?” he went +on in an insinuating voice. “Methought that what I saw last night did +show that the two great Queens were vexed one with another. Else had +the ‘Lady of the Night’ not brought that dagger with her.” + +I agreed with him that it showed that more or less pique and irritation +existed between the ladies, and told him how things stood, and that +they were quarrelling over Incubu. + +“Ah, is it so?” he exclaimed, springing up in delight; “then will there +be war as surely as the rivers rise in the rains—war to the end. Women +love the last blow as well as the last word, and when they fight for +love they are pitiless as a wounded buffalo. See thou, Macumazahn, a +woman will swim through blood to her desire, and think nought of it. +With these eyes have I seen it once, and twice also. Ah, Macumazahn, we +shall see this fine place of houses burning yet, and hear the battle +cries come ringing up the street. After all, I have not wandered for +nothing. Can this folk fight, think ye?” + +Just then Sir Henry joined us, and Good arrived, too, from another +direction, looking very pale and hollow-eyed. The moment Umslopogaas +saw the latter he stopped his bloodthirsty talk and greeted him. + +“Ah, Bougwan,” he cried, “greeting to thee, Inkoos! Thou art surely +weary. Didst thou hunt too much yesterday?” Then, without waiting for +an answer, he went on— + +“Listen, Bougwan, and I will tell thee a story; it is about a woman, +therefore wilt thou hear it, is it not so? + +“There was a man and he had a brother, and there was a woman who loved +the man’s brother and was beloved of the man. But the man’s brother had +a favourite wife and loved not the woman, and he made a mock of her. +Then the woman, being very cunning and fierce-hearted for revenge, took +counsel with herself and said to the man, ‘I love thee, and if thou +wilt make war upon thy brother I will marry thee.’ And he knew it was a +lie, yet because of his great love of the woman, who was very fair, did +he listen to her words and made war. And when many people had been +killed his brother sent to him, saying, ‘Why slayest thou me? What hurt +have I done unto thee? From my youth up have I not loved thee? When +thou wast little did I not nurture thee, and have we not gone down to +war together and divided the cattle, girl by girl, ox by ox, and cow by +cow? Why slayest thou me, my brother, son of my own mother?’ + +“Then the man’s heart was heavy, and he knew that his path was evil, +and he put aside the tempting of the woman and ceased to make war on +his brother, and lived at peace in the same kraal with him. And after a +time the woman came to him and said, ‘I have lost the past, I will be +thy wife.’ And in his heart he knew that it was a lie and that she +thought the evil thing, yet because of his love did he take her to +wife. + +“And the very night that they were wed, when the man was plunged into a +deep sleep, did the woman arise and take his axe from his hand and +creep into the hut of his brother and slay him in his rest. Then did +she slink back like a gorged lioness and place the thong of the red axe +back upon his wrist and go her ways. + +“And at the dawning the people came shouting, ‘Lousta is slain in the +night,’ and they came unto the hut of the man, and there he lay asleep +and by him was the red axe. Then did they remember the war and say, +‘Lo! he hath of a surety slain his brother,’ and they would have taken +and killed him, but he rose and fled swiftly, and as he fleeted by he +slew the woman. + +“But death could not wipe out the evil she had done, and on him rested +the weight of all her sin. Therefore is he an outcast and his name a +scorn among his own people; for on him, and him only, resteth the +burden of her who betrayed. And, therefore, does he wander afar, +without a kraal and without an ox or a wife, and therefore will he die +afar like a stricken buck and his name be accursed from generation to +generation, in that the people say that he slew his brother, Lousta, by +treachery in the night-time.” + +The old Zulu paused, and I saw that he was deeply agitated by his own +story. Presently he lifted his head, which he had bowed to his breast, +and went on: + +“I was the man, Bougwan. Ou! _I_ was that man, and now hark thou! Even +as I am so wilt thou be—a tool, a plaything, an ox of burden to carry +the evil deeds of another. Listen! When thou didst creep after the +‘Lady of the Night’ _I_ was hard upon thy track. When she struck thee +with the knife in the sleeping place of the White Queen _I_ was there +also; when thou didst let her slip away like a snake in the stones _I_ +saw thee, and I knew that she had bewitched thee and that a true man +had abandoned the truth, and he who aforetime loved a straight path had +taken a crooked way. Forgive me, my father, if my words are sharp, but +out of a full heart are they spoken. See her no more, so shalt thou go +down with honour to the grave. Else because of the beauty of a woman +that weareth as a garment of fur shalt thou be even as I am, and +perchance with more cause. I have said.” + +Throughout this long and eloquent address Good had been perfectly +silent, but when the tale began to shape itself so aptly to his own +case, he coloured up, and when he learnt that what had passed between +him and Sorais had been overseen he was evidently much distressed. And +now, when at last he spoke, it was in a tone of humility quite foreign +to him. + +“I must say,” he said, with a bitter little laugh, “that I scarcely +thought that I should live to be taught my duty by a Zulu; but it just +shows what we can come to. I wonder if you fellows can understand how +humiliated I feel, and the bitterest part of it is that I deserve it +all. Of course I should have handed Sorais over to the guard, but I +could not, and that is a fact. I let her go and I promised to say +nothing, more is the shame to me. She told me that if I would side with +her she would marry me and make me king of this country, but thank +goodness I did find the heart to say that even to marry her I could not +desert my friends. And now you can do what you like, I deserve it all. +All I have to say is that I hope that you may never love a woman with +all your heart and then be so sorely tempted of her,” and he turned to +go. + +“Look here, old fellow,” said Sir Henry, “just stop a minute. I have a +little tale to tell you too.” And he went on to narrate what had taken +place on the previous day between Sorais and himself. + +This was a finishing stroke to poor Good. It is not pleasant to any man +to learn that he has been made a tool of, but when the circumstances +are as peculiarly atrocious as in the present case, it is about as +bitter a pill as anybody can be called on to swallow. + +“Do you know,” he said, “I think that between you, you fellows have +about worked a cure,” and he turned and walked away, and I for one felt +very sorry for him. Ah, if the moths would always carefully avoid the +candle, how few burnt wings there would be! + +That day was a Court day, when the Queens sat in the great hall and +received petitions, discussed laws, money grants, and so forth, and +thither we adjourned shortly afterwards. On our way we were joined by +Good, who was looking exceedingly depressed. + +When we got into the hall Nyleptha was already on her throne and +proceeding with business as usual, surrounded by councillors, +courtiers, lawyers, priests, and an unusually strong guard. It was, +however, easy to see from the air of excitement and expectation on the +faces of everybody present that nobody was paying much attention to +ordinary affairs, the fact being that the knowledge that civil war was +imminent had now got abroad. We saluted Nyleptha and took our +accustomed places, and for a little while things went on as usual, when +suddenly the trumpets began to call outside the palace, and from the +great crowd that was gathered there in anticipation of some unusual +event there rose a roar of “_Sorais! Sorais!_” + +Then came the roll of many chariot wheels, and presently the great +curtains at the end of the hall were drawn wide and through them +entered the “Lady of the Night” herself. Nor did she come alone. +Preceding her was Agon, the High Priest, arrayed in his most gorgeous +vestments, and on either side were other priests. The reason for their +presence was obvious—coming with them it would have been sacrilege to +attempt to detain her. Behind her were a number of the great lords, and +behind them a small body of picked guards. A glance at Sorais herself +was enough to show that her mission was of no peaceful kind, for in +place of her gold embroidered “kaf” she wore a shining tunic formed of +golden scales, and on her head a little golden helmet. In her hand, +too, she bore a toy spear, beautifully made and fashioned of solid +silver. Up the hall she came, looking like a lioness in her conscious +pride and beauty, and as she came the spectators fell back bowing and +made a path for her. By the sacred stone she halted, and laying her +hand on it, she cried out with a loud voice to Nyleptha on the throne, +“Hail, oh Queen!” + +“All hail, my royal sister!” answered Nyleptha. “Draw thou near. Fear +not, I give thee safe conduct.” + +Sorais answered with a haughty look, and swept on up the hall till she +stood right before the thrones. + +“A boon, oh Queen!” she cried again. + +“Speak on, my sister; what is there that I can give thee who hath half +our kingdom?” + +“Thou canst tell me a true word—me and the people of Zu-Vendis. Art +thou, or art thou not, about to take this foreign wolf,” and she +pointed to Sir Henry with her toy spear, “to be a husband to thee, and +share thy bed and throne?” + +Curtis winced at this, and turning towards Sorais, said to her in a low +voice, “Methinks that yesterday thou hadst other names than wolf to +call me by, oh Queen!” and I saw her bite her lips as, like a danger +flag, the blood flamed red upon her face. As for Nyleptha, who is +nothing if not original, she, seeing that the thing was out, and that +there was nothing further to be gained by concealment, answered the +question in a novel and effectual manner, inspired thereto, as I firmly +believe, by coquetry and a desire to triumph over her rival. + +Up she rose and, descending from the throne, swept in all the glory of +her royal grace on to where her lover stood. There she stopped and +untwined the golden snake that was wound around her arm. Then she bade +him kneel, and he dropped on one knee on the marble before her, and +next, taking the golden snake with both her hands, she bent the pure +soft metal round his neck, and when it was fast, deliberately kissed +him on the brow and called him her “dear lord”. + +“Thou seest,” she said, when the excited murmur of the spectators had +died away, addressing her sister as Sir Henry rose to his feet, “I have +put my collar round the ‘wolf’s’ neck, and behold! he shall be my +watchdog, and that is my answer to thee, Queen Sorais, my sister, and +to those with thee. Fear not,” she went on, smiling sweetly on her +lover, and pointing to the golden snake she had twined round his +massive throat, “if my yoke be heavy, yet is it of pure gold, and it +shall not gall thee.” + +Then, turning to the audience, she continued in a clear proud tone, +“Ay, Lady of the Night, Lords, Priests, and People here gathered +together, by this sign do I take the foreigner to husband, even here in +the face of you all. What, am I a Queen, and yet not free to choose the +man whom I will love? Then should I be lower than the meanest girl in +all my provinces. Nay, he hath won my heart, and with it goes my hand, +and throne, and all I have—ay, had he been a beggar instead of a great +lord fairer and stronger than any here, and having more wisdom and +knowledge of strange things, I had given him all, how much more so +being what he is!” And she took his hand and gazed proudly on him, and +holding it, stood there boldly facing the people. And such was her +sweetness and the power and dignity of her person, and so beautiful she +looked standing hand in hand there at her lover’s side, so sure of him +and of herself, and so ready to risk all things and endure all things +for him, that most of those who saw the sight, which I am sure no one +of them will ever forget, caught the fire from her eyes and the happy +colour from her blushing face, and cheered her like wild things. It was +a bold stroke for her to make, and it appealed to the imagination; but +human nature in Zu-Vendis, as elsewhere, loves that which is bold and +not afraid to break a rule, and is moreover peculiarly susceptible to +appeals to its poetical side. + +And so the people cheered till the roof rang; but Sorais of the Night +stood there with downcast eyes, for she could not bear to see her +sister’s triumph, which robbed her of the man whom she had hoped to +win, and in the awfulness of her jealous anger she trembled and turned +white like an aspen in the wind. I think I have said somewhere of her +that she reminded me of the sea on a calm day, having the same aspect +of sleeping power about her. Well, it was all awake now, and like the +face of the furious ocean it awed and yet fascinated me. A really +handsome woman in a royal rage is always a beautiful sight, but such +beauty and such a rage I never saw combined before, and I can only say +that the effect produced was well worthy of the two. + +She lifted her white face, the teeth set, and there were purple rings +beneath her glowing eyes. Thrice she tried to speak and thrice she +failed, but at last her voice came. Raising her silver spear, she shook +it, and the light gleamed from it and from the golden scales of her +cuirass. + +“And thinkest thou, Nyleptha,” she said in notes which pealed through +the great hall like a clarion, “thinkest thou that I, Sorais, a Queen +of the Zu-Vendi, will brook that this base outlander shall sit upon my +father’s throne and rear up half-breeds to fill the place of the great +House of the Stairway? Never! never! while there is life in my bosom +and a man to follow me and a spear to strike with. Who is on my side? +Who? + +“Now hand thou over this foreign wolf and those who came hither to prey +with him to the doom of fire, for have they not committed the deadly +sin against the sun? or, Nyleptha, I give thee War—red War! Ay, I say +to thee that the path of thy passion shall be marked out by the blazing +of thy towns and watered with the blood of those who cleave to thee. On +thy head rest the burden of the deed, and in thy ears ring the groans +of the dying and the cries of the widows and those who are left +fatherless for ever and for ever. + +“I tell thee I will tear thee, Nyleptha, the White Queen, from thy +throne, and that thou shalt be hurled—ay, hurled even from the topmost +stair of the great way to the foot thereof, in that thou hast covered +the name of the House of him who built it with black shame. And I tell +ye strangers—all save Bougwan, whom because thou didst do me a service +I will save alive if thou wilt leave these men and follow me” (here +poor Good shook his head vigorously and ejaculated “Can’t be done” in +English)—“that I will wrap you in sheets of gold and hang you yet alive +in chains from the four golden trumpets of the four angels that fly +east and west and north and south from the giddiest pinnacles of the +Temple, so that ye may be a token and a warning to the land. And as for +thee, Incubu, thou shalt die in yet another fashion that I will not +tell thee now.” + +She ceased, panting for breath, for her passion shook her like a storm, +and a murmur, partly of horror and partly of admiration, ran through +the hall. Then Nyleptha answered calmly and with dignity: + +“Ill would it become my place and dignity, oh sister, so to speak as +thou hast spoken and so to threat as thou hast threatened. Yet if thou +wilt make war, then will I strive to bear up against thee, for if my +hand seem soft, yet shalt thou find it of iron when it grips thine +armies by the throat. Sorais, I fear thee not. I weep for that which +thou wilt bring upon our people and on thyself, but for myself I say—I +fear thee not. Yet thou, who but yesterday didst strive to win my lover +and my lord from me, whom today thou dost call a ‘foreign wolf’, to be +_thy_ lover and _thy_ lord” (here there was an immense sensation in the +hall), “thou who but last night, as I have learnt but since thou didst +enter here, didst creep like a snake into my sleeping-place—ay, even by +a secret way, and wouldst have foully murdered me, thy sister, as I lay +asleep—” + +“It is false, it is false!” rang out Agon’s and a score of other +voices. + +“It is _not_ false,” said I, producing the broken point of the dagger +and holding it up. “Where is the haft from which this flew, oh Sorais?” + +“It is not false,” cried Good, determined at last to act like a loyal +man. “I took the Lady of the Night by the White Queen’s bed, and on my +breast the dagger broke.” + +“Who is on my side?” cried Sorais, shaking her silver spear, for she +saw that public sympathy was turning against her. “What, Bougwan, thou +comest not?” she said, addressing Good, who was standing close to her, +in a low, concentrated voice. “Thou pale-souled fool, for a reward thou +shalt eat out thy heart with love of me and not be satisfied, and thou +mightest have been my husband and a king! At least I hold _thee_ in +chains that cannot be broken. + +“_War! war! war!_” she cried. “Here, with my hand upon the sacred stone +that shall endure, so runs the prophecy, till the Zu-Vendi set their +necks beneath an alien yoke, I declare war to the end. Who follows +Sorais of the Night to victory and honour?” + +Instantly the whole concourse began to break up in indescribable +confusion. Many present hastened to throw in their lot with the “Lady +of the Night”, but some came from her following to us. Amongst the +former was an under officer of Nyleptha’s own guard, who suddenly +turned and made a run for the doorway through which Sorais’ people were +already passing. Umslopogaas, who was present and had taken the whole +scene in, seeing with admirable presence of mind that if this soldier +got away others would follow his example, seized the man, who drew his +sword and struck at him. Thereon the Zulu sprang back with a wild +shout, and, avoiding the sword cuts, began to peck at his foe with his +terrible axe, till in a few seconds the man’s fate overtook him and he +fell with a clash heavily and quite dead upon the marble floor. + +This was the first blood spilt in the war. + +“Shut the gates,” I shouted, thinking that we might perhaps catch +Sorais so, and not being troubled with the idea of committing +sacrilege. But the order came too late, her guards were already passing +through them, and in another minute the streets echoed with the furious +galloping of horses and the rolling of her chariots. + +So, drawing half the people after her, Sorais was soon passing like a +whirlwind through the Frowning City on her road to her headquarters at +M’Arstuna, a fortress situated a hundred and thirty miles to the north +of Milosis. + +And after that the city was alive with the endless tramp of regiments +and preparations for the gathering war, and old Umslopogaas once more +began to sit in the sunshine and go through a show of sharpening +Inkosi-kaas’s razor edge. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. +A STRANGE WEDDING + + +One person, however, did not succeed in getting out in time before the +gates were shut, and that was the High Priest Agon, who, as we had +every reason to believe, was Sorais’ great ally, and the heart and soul +of her party. This cunning and ferocious old man had not forgiven us +for those hippopotami, or rather that was what he said. What he meant +was that he would never brook the introduction of our wider ways of +thought and foreign learning and influence while there was a +possibility of stamping us out. Also he knew that we possessed a +different system of religion, and no doubt was in daily terror of our +attempting to introduce it into Zu-Vendis. One day he asked me if we +had any religion in our country, and I told him that so far as I could +remember we had ninety-five different ones. You might have knocked him +down with a feather, and really it is difficult not to pity a high +priest of a well-established cult who is haunted by the possible +approach of one or all of ninety-five new religions. + +When we knew that Agon was caught, Nyleptha, Sir Henry, and I discussed +what was to be done with him. I was for closely incarcerating him, but +Nyleptha shook her head, saying that it would produce a disastrous +effect throughout the country. “Ah!” she added, with a stamp of her +foot, “if I win and am once really Queen, I will break the power of +those priests, with their rites and revels and dark secret ways.” I +only wished that old Agon could have heard her, it would have +frightened him. + +“Well,” said Sir Henry, “if we are not to imprison him, I suppose that +we may as well let him go. He is of no use here.” + +Nyleptha looked at him in a curious sort of way, and said in a dry +little voice, “Thinkest thou so, my lord?” + +“Eh?” said Curtis. “No, I do not see what is the use of keeping him.” + +She said nothing, but continued looking at him in a way that was as shy +as it was sweet. + +Then at last he understood. + +“Forgive me, Nyleptha,” he said, rather tremulously. “Dost thou mean +that thou wilt marry me, even now?” + +“Nay, I know not; let my lord say,” was her rapid answer; “but if my +lord wills, the priest is there and the altar is there”—pointing to the +entrance to a private chapel—“and am I not ready to do the will of my +lord? Listen, oh my lord! In eight days or less thou must leave me and +go down to war, for thou shalt lead my armies, and in war—men sometimes +fall, and so I would for a little space have had thee all my own, if +only for memory’s sake;” and the tears overflowed her lovely eyes and +rolled down her face like heavy drops of dew down the red heart of a +rose. + +“Mayhap, too,” she went on, “I shall lose my crown, and with my crown +my life and thine also. Sorais is very strong and very bitter, and if +she prevails she will not spare. Who can read the future? Happiness is +the world’s White Bird, that alights seldom, and flies fast and far +till one day he is lost in the clouds. Therefore should we hold him +fast if by any chance he rests for a little space upon our hand. It is +not wise to neglect the present for the future, for who knows what the +future will be, Incubu? Let us pluck our flowers while the dew is on +them, for when the sun is up they wither and on the morrow will others +bloom that we shall never see.” And she lifted her sweet face to him +and smiled into his eyes, and once more I felt a curious pang of +jealousy and turned and went away. They never took much notice of +whether I was there or not, thinking, I suppose, that I was an old +fool, and that it did not matter one way or the other, and really I +believe that they were right. + +So I went back to our quarters and ruminated over things in general, +and watched old Umslopogaas whetting his axe outside the window as a +vulture whets his beak beside a dying ox. + +And in about an hour’s time Sir Henry came tearing over, looking very +radiant and wildly excited, and found Good and myself and even +Umslopogaas, and asked us if we should like to assist at a real +wedding. Of course we said yes, and off we went to the chapel, where we +found Agon looking as sulky as any High Priest possibly could, and no +wonder. It appeared that he and Nyleptha had a slight difference of +opinion about the coming ceremony. He had flatly refused to celebrate +it, or to allow any of his priests to do so, whereupon Nyleptha became +very angry and told him that she, as Queen, was head of the Church, and +meant to be obeyed. Indeed, she played the part of a Zu-Vendi Henry the +Eighth to perfection, and insisted that, if she wanted to be married, +she would be married, and that he should marry her.[19] + + [19] In Zu-Vendis members of the Royal House can only be married by + the High Priest or a formally appointed deputy.—A. Q. + +He still refused to go through the ceremony, so she clinched her +argument thus— + +“Well, I cannot execute a High Priest, because there is an absurd +prejudice against it, and I cannot imprison him because all his +subordinates would raise a crying that would bring the stars down on +Zu-Vendis and crush it; but I _can_ leave him to contemplate the altar +of the Sun without anything to eat, because that is his natural +vocation, and if thou wilt not marry me, O Agon! thou shalt be placed +before the altar yonder with nought but a little water till such time +as thou hast reconsidered the matter.” + +Now, as it happened, Agon had been hurried away that morning without +his breakfast, and was already exceedingly hungry, so he presently +modified his views and consented to marry them, saying at the same time +that he washed his hands of all responsibility in the matter. + +So it chanced that presently, attended only by two of her favourite +maidens, came the Queen Nyleptha, with happy blushing face and downcast +eyes, dressed in pure white, without embroidery of any sort, as seems +to be the fashion on these occasions in most countries of the world. +She did not wear a single ornament, even her gold circlets were +removed, and I thought that if possible she looked more lovely than +ever without them, as really superbly beautiful women do. + +She came, curtseyed low to Sir Henry, and then took his hand and led +him up before the altar, and after a little pause, in a slow, clear +voice uttered the following words, which are customary in Zu-Vendis if +the bride desires and the man consents:— + +“Thou dost swear by the Sun that thou wilt take no other woman to wife +unless I lay my hand upon her and bid her come?” + +“I swear it,” answered Sir Henry; adding in English, “One is quite +enough for me.” + +Then Agon, who had been sulking in a corner near the altar, came +forward and gabbled off something into his beard at such a rate that I +could not follow it, but it appeared to be an invocation to the Sun to +bless the union and make it fruitful. I observed that Nyleptha listened +very closely to every word, and afterwards discovered that she was +afraid lest Agon should play her a trick, and by going through the +invocations backwards divorce them instead of marry them. At the end of +the invocations they were asked, as in our service, if they took each +other for husband and wife, and on their assenting they kissed each +other before the altar, and the service was over, so far as their rites +were concerned. But it seemed to me that there was yet something +wanting, and so I produced a Prayer-Book, which has, together with the +“Ingoldsby Legends”, that I often read when I lie awake at night, +accompanied me in all my later wanderings. I gave it to my poor boy +Harry years ago, and after his death I found it among his things and +took it back again. + +“Curtis,” I said, “I am not a clergyman, and I do not know if what I am +going to propose is allowable—I know it is not legal—but if you and the +Queen have no objection I should like to read the English marriage +service over you. It is a solemn step which you are taking, and I think +that you ought, so far as circumstances will allow, to give it the +sanction of your own religion.” + +“I have thought of that,” he said, “and I wish you would. I do not feel +half married yet.” + +Nyleptha raised no objection, fully understanding that her husband +wished to celebrate the marriage according to the rites prevailing in +his own country, and so I set to work and read the service, from +“Dearly beloved” to “amazement”, as well as I could; and when I came to +“I, Henry, take thee, Nyleptha,” I translated, and also “I, Nyleptha, +take thee, Henry,” which she repeated after me very well. Then Sir +Henry took a plain gold ring from his little finger and placed it on +hers, and so on to the end. The ring had been Curtis’ mother’s +wedding-ring, and I could not help thinking how astonished the dear old +Yorkshire lady would have been if she could have foreseen that her +wedding-ring was to serve a similar purpose for Nyleptha, a Queen of +the Zu-Vendi. + +As for Agon, he was with difficulty kept calm while this second +ceremony was going on, for he at once understood that it was religious +in its nature, and doubtless bethought him of the ninety-five new +faiths which loomed so ominously in his eyes. Indeed, he at once set me +down as a rival High Priest, and hated me accordingly. However, in the +end off he went, positively bristling with indignation, and I knew that +we might look out for danger from his direction. + +And off went Good and I, and old Umslopogaas also, leaving the happy +pair to themselves, and very low we all felt. Marriages are supposed to +be cheerful things, but my experience is that they are very much the +reverse to everybody, except perhaps the two people chiefly interested. +They mean the breaking-up of so many old ties as well as the +undertaking of so many new ones, and there is always something sad +about the passing away of the old order. Now to take this case for +instance: Sir Henry Curtis is the best and kindest fellow and friend in +the world, but he has never been quite the same since that little scene +in the chapel. It is always Nyleptha this and Nyleptha that—Nyleptha, +in short, from morning till night in one way or another, either +expressed or understood. And as for the old friends—well, of course +they have taken the place that old friends ought to take, and which +ladies are as a rule very careful to see they do take when a man +marries, and that is, the second place. Yes, he would be angry if +anybody said so, but it is a fact for all that. He is not quite the +same, and Nyleptha is very sweet and very charming, but I think that +she likes him to understand that she has married _him_, and not +Quatermain, Good, and Co. But there! what is the use of grumbling? It +is all very right and proper, as any married lady would have no +difficulty in explaining, and I am a selfish, jealous old man, though I +hope I never show it. + +So Good and I went and ate in silence and then indulged in an extra +fine flagon of old Zu-Vendian to keep our spirits up, and presently one +of our attendants came and told a story that gave us something to think +about. + +It may, perhaps, be remembered that, after his quarrel with +Umslopogaas, Alphonse had gone off in an exceedingly ill temper to sulk +over his scratches. Well, it appears that he walked right past the +Temple to the Sun, down the wide road on the further side of the slope +it crowns, and thence on into the beautiful park, or pleasure gardens, +which are laid out just beyond the outer wall. After wandering about +there for a little he started to return, but was met near the outer +gate by Sorais’ train of chariots, which were galloping furiously along +the great northern road. When she caught sight of Alphonse, Sorais +halted her train and called to him. On approaching he was instantly +seized and dragged into one of the chariots and carried off, “crying +out loudly”, as our informant said, and as from my general knowledge of +him I can well believe. + +At first I was much puzzled to know what object Sorais could have had +in carrying off the poor little Frenchman. She could hardly stoop so +low as to try to wreak her fury on one whom she knew was only a +servant. At last, however, an idea occurred to me. We three were, as I +think I have said, much revered by the people of Zu-Vendis at large, +both because we were the first strangers they had ever seen, and +because we were supposed to be the possessors of almost supernatural +wisdom. Indeed, though Sorais’ cry against the “foreign wolves”—or, to +translate it more accurately, “foreign hyenas”—was sure to go down very +well with the nobles and the priests, it was not as we learnt, likely +to be particularly effectual amongst the bulk of the population. The +Zu-Vendi people, like the Athenians of old, are ever seeking for some +new thing, and just because we were so new our presence was on the +whole acceptable to them. Again, Sir Henry’s magnificent personal +appearance made a deep impression upon a race who possess a greater +love of beauty than any other I have ever been acquainted with. Beauty +may be prized in other countries, but in Zu-Vendis it is almost +worshipped, as indeed the national love of statuary shows. The people +said openly in the market-places that there was not a man in the +country to touch Curtis in personal appearance, as with the exception +of Sorais there was no woman who could compete with Nyleptha, and that +therefore it was meet that they should marry; and that he had been sent +by the Sun as a husband for their Queen. Now, from all this it will be +seen that the outcry against us was to a considerable extent +fictitious, and nobody knew it better than Sorais herself. Consequently +it struck me that it might have occurred to her that down in the +country and among the country people, it would be better to place the +reason of her conflict with her sister upon other and more general +grounds than Nyleptha’s marriage with the stranger. It would be easy in +a land where there had been so many civil wars to rake out some old cry +that would stir up the recollection of buried feuds, and, indeed, she +soon found an effectual one. This being so, it was of great importance +to her to have one of the strangers with her whom she could show to the +common people as a great Outlander, who had been so struck by the +justice of her cause that he had elected to leave his companions and +follow her standard. + +This, no doubt, was the cause of her anxiety to get a hold of Good, +whom she would have used till he ceased to be of service and then cast +off. But Good having drawn back she grasped at the opportunity of +securing Alphonse, who was not unlike him in personal appearance though +smaller, no doubt with the object of showing him off in the cities and +country as the great Bougwan himself. I told Good that I thought that +that was her plan, and his face was a sight to see—he was so horrified +at the idea. + +“What,” he said, “dress up that little wretch to represent me? Why, I +shall have to get out of the country! My reputation will be ruined for +ever.” + +I consoled him as well as I could, but it is not pleasant to be +personated all over a strange country by an arrant little coward, and I +can quite sympathize with his vexation. + +Well, that night Good and I messed as I have said in solitary grandeur, +feeling very much as though we had just returned from burying a friend +instead of marrying one, and next morning the work began in good +earnest. The messages and orders which had been despatched by Nyleptha +two days before now began to take effect, and multitudes of armed men +came pouring into the city. We saw, as may be imagined, but very little +of Nyleptha and not too much of Curtis during those next few days, but +Good and I sat daily with the council of generals and loyal lords, +drawing up plans of action, arranging commissariat matters, the +distribution of commands, and a hundred and one other things. Men came +in freely, and all the day long the great roads leading to Milosis were +spotted with the banners of lords arriving from their distant places to +rally round Nyleptha. + +After the first few days it became clear that we should be able to take +the field with about forty thousand infantry and twenty thousand +cavalry, a very respectable force considering how short was the time we +had to collect it, and that about half the regular army had elected to +follow Sorais. + +But if our force was large, Sorais’ was, according to the reports +brought in day by day by our spies, much larger. She had taken up her +headquarters at a very strong town called M’Arstuna, situated, as I +have said, to the north of Milosis, and all the countryside was +flocking to her standard. Nasta had poured down from his highlands and +was on his way to join her with no less than twenty-five thousand of +his mountaineers, the most terrible soldiers to face in all Zu-Vendis. +Another mighty lord, named Belusha, who lived in the great +horse-breeding district, had come in with twelve thousand cavalry, and +so on. Indeed, what between one thing and another, it seemed certain +that she would gather a fully armed host of nearly one hundred thousand +men. + +And then came news that Sorais was proposing to break up her camp and +march on the Frowning City itself, desolating the country as she came. +Thereon arose the question whether it would be best to meet her at +Milosis or to go out and give her battle. When our opinion was asked +upon the subject, Good and I unhesitatingly gave it in favour of an +advance. If we were to shut ourselves up in the city and wait to be +attacked, it seemed to us that our inaction would be set down to fear. +It is so important, especially on an occasion of this sort, when a very +little will suffice to turn men’s opinions one way or the other, to be +up and doing something. Ardour for a cause will soon evaporate if the +cause does not move but sits down to conquer. Therefore we cast our +vote for moving out and giving battle in the open, instead of waiting +till we were drawn from our walls like a badger from a hole. + +Sir Henry’s opinion coincided with ours, and so, needless to say, did +that of Nyleptha, who, like a flint, was always ready to flash out +fire. A great map of the country was brought and spread out before her. +About thirty miles this side of M’Arstuna, where Sorais lay, and ninety +odd miles from Milosis, the road ran over a neck of land some two and a +half miles in width, and flanked on either side by forest-clad hills +which, without being lofty, would, if the road were blocked, be quite +impracticable for a great baggage-laden army to cross. She looked +earnestly at the map, and then, with a quickness of perception that in +some women amounts almost to an instinct, she laid her finger upon this +neck of rising ground, and turning to her husband, said, with a proud +air of confidence and a toss of the golden head— + +“Here shalt thou meet Sorais’ armies. I know the spot, here shalt thou +meet them, and drive them before thee like dust before the storm.” + +But Curtis looked grave and said nothing. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. +THE BATTLE OF THE PASS + + +It was on the third morning after this incident of the map that Sir +Henry and I started. With the exception of a small guard, all the great +host had moved on the night before, leaving the Frowning City very +silent and empty. Indeed, it was found impossible to leave any garrison +with the exception of a personal guard for Nyleptha, and about a +thousand men who from sickness or one cause or another were unable to +proceed with the army; but as Milosis was practically impregnable, and +as our enemy was in front of and not behind us, this did not so much +matter. + +Good and Umslopogaas had gone on with the army, but Nyleptha +accompanied Sir Henry and myself to the city gates, riding a +magnificent white horse called Daylight, which was supposed to be the +fleetest and most enduring animal in Zu-Vendis. Her face bore traces of +recent weeping, but there were no tears in her eyes now, indeed she was +bearing up bravely against what must have been a bitter trial to her. +At the gate she reined in her horse and bade us farewell. On the +previous day she had reviewed and addressed the officers of the great +army, speaking to them such high, eloquent words, and expressing so +complete a confidence in their valour and in their ultimate victory, +that she quite carried their hearts away, and as she rode from rank to +rank they cheered her till the ground shook. And now today the same +mood seemed to be on her. + +“Fare thee well, Macumazahn!” she said. “Remember, I trust to thy wits, +which are as a needle to a spear-handle compared to those of my people, +to save us from Sorais. I know that thou wilt do thy duty.” + +I bowed and explained to her my horror of fighting, and my fear lest I +should lose my head, at which she laughed gently and turned to Curtis. + +“Fare thee well, my lord!” she said. “Come back with victory, and as a +king, or on thy soldiers’ spears.”[20] + + [20] Alluding to the Zu-Vendi custom of carrying dead officers on a + framework of spears. + +Sir Henry said nothing, but turned his horse to go; perhaps he had a +bit of a lump in his throat. One gets over it afterwards, but these +sort of partings are trying when one has only been married a week. + +“Here,” added Nyleptha, “will I greet thee when ye return in triumph. +And now, my lords, once more, farewell!” + +Then we rode on, but when we had gone a hundred and fifty yards or so, +we turned and perceived her still sitting on her horse at the same +spot, and looking out after us beneath her hand, and that was the last +we saw of her. About a mile farther on, however, we heard galloping +behind us, and looking round, saw a mounted soldier coming towards us, +leading Nyleptha’s matchless steed—Daylight. + +“The Queen sends the white stallion as a farewell gift to her Lord +Incubu, and bids me tell my lord that he is the fleetest and most +enduring horse in all the land,” said the soldier, bending to his +saddle-bow before us. + +At first Sir Henry did not want to take the horse, saying that he was +too good for such rough work, but I persuaded him to do so, thinking +that Nyleptha would be hurt if he did not. Little did I guess at the +time what service that noble horse would render in our sorest need. It +is curious to look back and realise upon what trivial and apparently +coincidental circumstances great events frequently turn as easily and +naturally as a door on its hinges. + +Well, we took the horse, and a beauty he was, it was a perfect pleasure +to see him move, and Curtis having sent back his greetings and thanks, +we proceeded on our journey. + +By midday we overtook the rear-guard of the great army of which Sir +Henry then formally took over the command. It was a heavy +responsibility, and it oppressed him very much, but the Queen’s +injunctions on the point were such as did not admit of being trifled +with. He was beginning to find out that greatness has its +responsibilities as well as its glories. + +Then we marched on without meeting with any opposition, almost indeed +without seeing anybody, for the populations of the towns and villages +along our route had for the most part fled, fearing lest they should be +caught between the two rival armies and ground to powder like grain +between the upper and the nether stones. + +On the evening of the fourth day, for the progress of so great a +multitude was necessarily slow, we camped two miles this side of the +neck or ridge I have spoken of, and our outposts brought us word that +Sorais with all her power was rolling down upon us, and had pitched her +camp that night ten miles the farther side of the neck. + +Accordingly before dawn we sent forward fifteen hundred cavalry to +seize the position. Scarcely had they occupied it, however, before they +were attacked by about as many of Sorais’ horsemen, and a very smart +little cavalry fight ensued, with a loss to us of about thirty men +killed. On the advance of our supports, however, Sorais’ force drew +off, carrying their dead and wounded with them. + +The main body of the army reached the neck about dinner-time, and I +must say that Nyleptha’s judgment had not failed her, it was an +admirable place to give battle in, especially to a superior force. + +The road ran down a mile or more, through ground too broken to admit of +the handling of any considerable force, till it reached the crest of a +great green wave of land, that rolled down a gentle slope to the banks +of a little stream, and then rolled away again up a still gentler slope +to the plain beyond, the distance from the crest of the land-wave down +to the stream being a little over half a mile, and from the stream up +to the plain beyond a trifle less. The length of this wave of land at +its highest point, which corresponded exactly with the width of the +neck of the land between the wooded hills, was about two miles and a +quarter, and it was protected on either side by dense, rocky, bush-clad +ground, that afforded a most valuable cover to the flanks of the army +and rendered it almost impossible for them to be turned. + +It was on the hither slope of this neck of land that Curtis encamped +his army in the same formation that he had, after consultation with the +various generals, Good, and myself, determined that they should occupy +in the great pitched battle which now appeared to be imminent. + +Our force of sixty thousand men was, roughly speaking, divided as +follows. In the centre was a dense body of twenty thousand +foot-soldiers, armed with spears, swords, and hippopotamus-hide +shields, breast and back plates.[21] These formed the chest of the +army, and were supported by five thousand foot, and three thousand +horse in reserve. On either side of this chest were stationed seven +thousand horse arranged in deep, majestic squadrons; and beyond and on +either side but slightly in front of them again were two bodies, each +numbering about seven thousand five hundred spearmen, forming the right +and left wings of the army, and each supported by a contingent of some +fifteen hundred cavalry. This makes in all sixty thousand men. + + [21] The Zu-Vendi people do not use bows.—A. Q. + +Curtis commanded in chief, I was in command of the seven thousand horse +between the chest and right wing, which was commanded by Good, and the +other battalions and squadrons were entrusted to Zu-Vendis generals. + +Scarcely had we taken up our positions before Sorais’ vast army began +to swarm on the opposite slope about a mile in front of us, till the +whole place seemed alive with the multitude of her spearpoints, and the +ground shook with the tramp of her battalions. It was evident that the +spies had not exaggerated; we were outnumbered by at least a third. At +first we expected that Sorais was going to attack us at once, as the +clouds of cavalry which hung upon her flanks executed some threatening +demonstrations, but she thought better of it, and there was no fight +that day. As for the formation of her great forces I cannot now +describe it with accuracy, and it would only serve to bewilder if I +did, but I may say, generally, that in its leading features it +resembled our own, only her reserve was much greater. + +Opposite our right wing, and forming Sorais’ left wing, was a great +army of dark, wild-looking men, armed with sword and shield only, +which, I was informed, was composed of Nasta’s twenty-five thousand +savage hillsmen. + +“My word, Good,” said I, when I saw them, “you will catch it tomorrow +when those gentlemen charge!” whereat Good not unnaturally looked +rather anxious. + +All day we watched and waited, but nothing happened, and at last night +fell, and a thousand watch-fires twinkled brightly on the slopes, to +wane and die one by one like the stars they resembled. As the hours +wore on, the silence gradually gathered more deeply over the opposing +hosts. + +It was a very wearying night, for in addition to the endless things +that had to be attended to, there was our gnawing suspense to reckon +with. The fray which tomorrow would witness would be so vast, and the +slaughter so awful, that stout indeed must the heart have been that was +not overwhelmed at the prospect. And when I thought of all that hung +upon it, I own I felt ill, and it made me very sad to reflect that +these mighty forces were gathered for destruction, simply to gratify +the jealous anger of a woman. This was the hidden power which was to +send those dense masses of cavalry, flashing like human thunderbolts +across the plain, and to roll together the fierce battalions as clouds +when hurricane meets hurricane. It was a dreadful thought, and set one +wondering about the responsibilities of the great ones of the earth. +Deep into the night we sat, with pale faces and heavy hearts, and took +counsel, whilst the sentries tramped up and down, down and up, and the +armed and plumed generals came and went, grim and shadow-like. + +And so the time wore away, till everything was ready for the coming +slaughter; and I lay down and thought, and tried to get a little rest, +but could not sleep for fear of the morrow—for who could say what the +morrow would bring forth? Misery and death, this was certain; beyond +that we knew not, and I confess I was very much afraid. But as I +realised then, it is useless to question that eternal Sphinx, the +future. From day to day she reads aloud the riddles of the yesterday, +of which the puzzled wordlings of all ages have not answered one, nor +ever will, guess they never so wildly or cry they never so loud. + +And so at length I gave up wondering, being forced humbly to leave the +issue in the balancing hands of Providence and the morrow. + +And at last up came the red sun, and the huge camps awoke with a clash, +and a roar, and gathered themselves together for battle. It was a +beautiful and awe-inspiring scene, and old Umslopogaas, leaning on his +axe, contemplated it with grim delight. + +“Never have I seen the like, Macumazahn, never,” he said. “The battles +of my people are as the play of children to what this will be. Thinkest +thou that they will fight it out?” + +“Ay,” I answered sadly, “to the death. Content thyself, ‘Woodpecker’, +for once shalt thou peck thy fill.” + +Time went on, and still there was no sign of an attack. A force of +cavalry crossed the brook, indeed, and rode slowly along our front, +evidently taking stock of our position and numbers. With this we did +not attempt to interfere, as our decision was to stand strictly on the +defensive, and not to waste a single man. The men breakfasted and stood +to their arms, and the hours wore on. About midday, when the men were +eating their dinner, for we thought they would fight better on full +stomachs, a shout of “_Sorais, Sorais_” arose like thunder from the +enemy’s extreme right, and taking the glass, I was able to clearly +distinguish the “Lady of the Night” herself, surrounded by a glittering +staff, and riding slowly down the lines of her battalions. And as she +went, that mighty, thundering shout rolled along before her like the +rolling of ten thousand chariots, or the roaring of the ocean when the +gale turns suddenly and carries the noise of it to the listener’s ears, +till the earth shook, and the air was full of the majesty of sound. + +Guessing that this was a prelude to the beginning of the battle, we +remained still and made ready. + +We had not long to wait. Suddenly, like flame from a cannon’s mouth, +out shot two great tongue-like forces of cavalry, and came charging +down the slope towards the little stream, slowly at first, but +gathering speed as they came. Before they got to the stream, orders +reached me from Sir Henry, who evidently feared that the shock of such +a charge, if allowed to fall unbroken upon our infantry, would be too +much for them, to send five thousand sabres to meet the force opposite +to me, at the moment when it began to mount the stiffest of the rise +about four hundred yards from our lines. This I did, remaining behind +myself with the rest of my men. + +Off went the five thousand horsemen, drawn up in a wedge-like form, and +I must say that the general in command handled them very ably. Starting +at a hand gallop, for the first three hundred yards he rode straight at +the tip of the tongue-shaped mass of cavalry which, numbering, so far +as I could judge, about eight thousand sabres, was advancing to charge +us. Then he suddenly swerved to the right and put on the pace, and I +saw the great wedge curl round, and before the foe could check himself +and turn to meet it, strike him about halfway down his length, with a +crashing rending sound, like that of the breaking-up of vast sheets of +ice. In sank the great wedge, into his heart, and as it cut its way +hundreds of horsemen were thrown up on either side of it, just as the +earth is thrown up by a ploughshare, or more like still, as the foaming +water curls over beneath the bows of a rushing ship. In, yet in, vainly +does the tongue twist its ends round in agony, like an injured snake, +and strive to protect its centre; still farther in, by Heaven! right +through, and so, amid cheer after cheer from our watching thousands, +back again upon the severed ends, beating them down, driving them as a +gale drives spray, till at last, amidst the rushing of hundreds of +riderless horses, the flashing of swords, and the victorious clamour of +their pursuers, the great force crumples up like an empty glove, then +turns and gallops pell-mell for safety back to its own lines. + +I do not think it reached them more than two-thirds as strong as it +went out ten minutes before. The lines which were now advancing to the +attack, opened and swallowed them up, and my force returned, having +only suffered a loss of about five hundred men—not much, I thought, +considering the fierceness of the struggle. I could also see that the +opposing bodies of cavalry on our left wing were drawing back, but how +the fight went with them I do not quite know. It is as much as I can do +to describe what took place immediately around me. + +By this time the dense masses of the enemy’s left, composed almost +entirely of Nasta’s swordsmen, were across the little stream, and with +alternate yells of “Nasta” and “Sorais”, with dancing banners and +gleaming swords, were swarming up towards us like ants. + +Again I received orders to try and check this movement, and also the +main advance against the chest of our army, by means of cavalry +charges, and this I did to the best of my ability, by continually +sending squadrons of about a thousand sabres out against them. These +squadrons did the enemy much damage, and it was a glorious sight to see +them flash down the hillside, and bury themselves like a living knife +in the heart of the foe. But, also, we lost many men, for after the +experience of a couple of these charges, which had drawn a sort of +bloody St Andrew’s cross of dead and dying through the centre of +Nasta’s host, our foes no longer attempted to offer an unyielding front +to their irresistible weight, but opened out to let the rush go +through, throwing themselves on the ground and hamstringing hundreds of +horses as they passed. + +And so, notwithstanding all that we could do, the enemy drew nearer, +till at last he hurled himself upon Good’s force of seven thousand five +hundred regulars, who were drawn up to receive them in three strong +squares. About the same time, too, an awful and heartshaking roar told +me that the main battle had closed in on the centre and extreme left. I +raised myself in my stirrups and looked down to my left; so far as the +eye could see there was a long dazzling shimmer of steel as the sun +glanced upon falling sword and thrusting spear. + +To and fro swung the contending lines in that dread struggle, now +giving way, now gaining a little in the mad yet ordered confusion of +attack and defence. But it was as much as I could do to keep count of +what was happening to our own wing; and, as for the moment the cavalry +had fallen back under cover of Good’s three squares, I had a fair view +of this. + +Nasta’s wild swordsmen were now breaking in red waves against the +sullen rock-like squares. Time after time did they yell out their +war-cries, and hurl themselves furiously against the long triple ridges +of spear points, only to be rolled back as billows are when they meet +the cliff. + +And so for four long hours the battle raged almost without a pause, and +at the end of that time, if we had gained nothing we had lost nothing. +Two attempts to turn our left flank by forcing a way through the wood +by which it was protected had been defeated; and as yet Nasta’s +swordsmen had, notwithstanding their desperate efforts, entirely failed +to break Good’s three squares, though they had thinned their numbers by +quite a third. + +As for the chest of the army where Sir Henry was with his staff and +Umslopogaas, it had suffered dreadfully, but it had held its own with +honour, and the same may be said of our left battle. + +At last the attacks slackened, and Sorais’ army drew back, having, I +began to think, had enough of it. On this point, however, I was soon +undeceived, for splitting up her cavalry into comparatively small +squadrons, she charged us furiously with them, all along the line, and +then once more sullenly rolled her tens of thousands of sword and +spearmen down upon our weakened squares and squadrons; Sorais herself +directing the movement, as fearless as a lioness heading the main +attack. On they came like an avalanche—I saw her golden helm gleaming +in the van—our counter charges of cavalry entirely failing to check +their forward sweep. Now they had struck us, and our centre bent in +like a bow beneath the weight of their rush—it parted, and had not the +ten thousand men in reserve charged down to its support it must have +been utterly destroyed. As for Good’s three squares, they were swept +backwards like boats upon an incoming tide, and the foremost one was +burst into and lost half its remaining men. But the effort was too +fierce and terrible to last. Suddenly the battle came, as it were, to a +turning-point, and for a minute or two stood still. + +Then it began to move towards Sorais’ camp. Just then, too, Nasta’s +fierce and almost invincible highlanders, either because they were +disheartened by their losses or by way of a ruse, fell back, and the +remains of Good’s gallant squares, leaving the positions they had held +for so many hours, cheered wildly, and rashly followed them down the +slope, whereon the swarms of swordsmen turned to envelop them, and once +more flung themselves upon them with a yell. Taken thus on every side, +what remained of the first square was quickly destroyed, and I +perceived that the second, in which I could see Good himself mounted on +a large horse, was on the point of annihilation. A few more minutes and +it was broken, its streaming colours sank, and I lost sight of Good in +the confused and hideous slaughter that ensued. + +Presently, however, a cream-coloured horse with a snow-white mane and +tail burst from the ruins of the square and came rushing past me +riderless and with wide streaming reins, and in it I recognized the +charger that Good had been riding. Then I hesitated no longer, but +taking with me half my effective cavalry force, which now amounted to +between four and five thousand men, I commended myself to God, and, +without waiting for orders, I charged straight down upon Nasta’s +swordsmen. Seeing me coming, and being warned by the thunder of my +horses’ hoofs, the majority of them faced round, and gave us a right +warm welcome. Not an inch would they yield; in vain did we hack and +trample them down as we ploughed a broad red furrow through their +thousands; they seemed to re-arise by hundreds, driving their terrible +sharp swords into our horses, or severing their hamstrings, and then +hacking the troopers who came to the ground with them almost into +pieces. My horse was speedily killed under me, but luckily I had a +fresh one, my own favourite, a coal-black mare Nyleptha had given me, +being held in reserve behind, and on this I afterwards mounted. +Meanwhile I had to get along as best I could, for I was pretty well +lost sight of by my men in the mad confusion of the moment. My voice, +of course, could not be heard in the midst of the clanging of steel and +the shrieks of rage and agony. Presently I found myself mixed up with +the remnants of the square, which had formed round its leader Good, and +was fighting desperately for existence. I stumbled against somebody, +and glancing down, caught sight of Good’s eyeglass. He had been beaten +to his knee. Over him was a great fellow swinging a heavy sword. +Somehow I managed to run the man through with the sime I had taken from +the Masai whose hand I had cut off; but as I did so, he dealt me a +frightful blow on the left side and breast with the sword, and though +my chain shirt saved my life, I felt that I was badly hurt. For a +minute I fell on to my hands and knees among the dead and dying, and +turned sick and faint. When I came to again I saw that Nasta’s +spearmen, or rather those of them who remained, were retreating back +across the stream, and that Good was there by me smiling sweetly. + +“Near go that,” he shouted; “but all’s well that ends well.” + +I assented, but I could not help feeling that it had not ended well for +me. I was sorely hurt. + +Just then we saw the smaller bodies of cavalry stationed on our extreme +right and left, and which were now reinforced by the three thousand +sabres which we had held in reserve, flash out like arrows from their +posts and fall upon the disordered flanks of Sorais’ forces, and that +charge decided the issue of the battle. In another minute or two the +enemy was in slow and sullen retreat across the little stream, where +they once more re-formed. Then came another lull, during which I +managed to get a second horse, and received my orders to advance from +Sir Henry, and then with one fierce deep-throated roar, with a waving +of banners and a wide flashing of steel, the remains of our army took +the offensive and began to sweep down, slowly indeed, but irresistibly +from the positions they had so gallantly held all day. + +At last it was our turn to attack. + +On we moved, over the piled-up masses of dead and dying, and were +approaching the stream, when suddenly I perceived an extraordinary +sight. Galloping wildly towards us, his arms tightly clasped around his +horse’s neck, against which his blanched cheek was tightly pressed, was +a man arrayed in the full costume of a Zu-Vendi general, but in whom, +as he came nearer, I recognized none other than our lost Alphonse. It +was impossible even then to mistake those curling mustachios. In a +minute he was tearing through our ranks and narrowly escaped being cut +down, till at last somebody caught his horse’s bridle, and he was +brought to me just as a momentary halt occurred in our advance to allow +what remained of our shattered squares to form into line. + +“Ah, monsieur,” he gasped out in a voice that was nearly inarticulate +with fright, “grace to the sky, it is you! Ah, what I have endured! But +you win, monsieur, you win; they fly, the lâches. But listen, +monsieur—I forget, it is no good; the Queen is to be murdered tomorrow +at the first light in the palace of Milosis; her guards will leave +their posts, and the priests are going to kill her. Ah yes! they little +thought it, but I was ensconced beneath a banner, and I heard it all.” + +“What?” I said, horror-struck; “what do you mean?” + +“What I say, monsieur; that devil of a Nasta he went last night to +settle the affair with the Archbishop [Agon]. The guard will leave open +the little gate leading from the great stair and go away, and Nasta and +Agon’s priests will come in and kill her. Themselves they would not +kill her.” + +“Come with me,” I said, and, shouting to the staff-officer next to me +to take over the command, I snatched his bridle and galloped as hard as +I could for the spot, between a quarter and half a mile off, where I +saw the royal pennon flying, and where I knew that I should find Curtis +if he were still alive. On we tore, our horses clearing heaps of dead +and dying men, and splashing through pools of blood, on past the long +broken lines of spearmen to where, mounted on the white stallion +Nyleptha had sent to him as a parting gift, I saw Sir Henry’s form +towering above the generals who surrounded him. + +Just as we reached him the advance began again. A bloody cloth was +bound around his head, but I saw that his eye was as bright and keen as +ever. Beside him was old Umslopogaas, his axe red with blood, but +looking quite fresh and uninjured. + +“What’s wrong, Quatermain?” he shouted. + +“Everything. There is a plot to murder the Queen tomorrow at dawn. +Alphonse here, who has just escaped from Sorais, has overheard it all,” +and I rapidly repeated to him what the Frenchman had told me. + +Curtis’ face turned deadly pale and his jaw dropped. + +“At dawn,” he gasped, “and it is now sunset; it dawns before four and +we are nearly a hundred miles off—nine hours at the outside. What is to +be done?” + +An idea entered into my head. “Is that horse of yours fresh?” I said. + +“Yes, I have only just got on to him—when my last was killed, and he +has been fed.” + +“So is mine. Get off him, and let Umslopogaas mount; he can ride well. +We will be at Milosis before dawn, or if we are not—well, we cannot +help it. No, no; it is impossible for you to leave now. You would be +seen, and it would turn the fate of the battle. It is not half won yet. +The soldiers would think you were making a bolt of it. Quick now.” + +In a moment he was down, and at my bidding Umslopogaas sprang into the +empty saddle. + +“Now farewell,” I said. “Send a thousand horsemen with remounts after +us in an hour if possible. Stay, despatch a general to the left wing to +take over the command and explain my absence.” + +“You will do your best to save her, Quatermain?” he said in a broken +voice. + +“Ay, that I will. Go on; you are being left behind.” + +He cast one glance at us, and accompanied by his staff galloped off to +join the advance, which by this time was fording the little brook that +now ran red with the blood of the fallen. + +As for Umslopogaas and myself, we left that dreadful field as arrows +leave a bow, and in a few minutes had passed right out of the sight of +slaughter, the smell of blood, and the turmoil and shouting, which only +came to our ears as a faint, far-off roaring like the sound of distant +breakers. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. +AWAY! AWAY! + + +At the top of the rise we halted for a second to breathe our horses; +and, turning, glanced at the battle beneath us, which, illumined as it +was by the fierce rays of the sinking sun staining the whole scene red, +looked from where we were more like some wild titanic picture than an +actual hand-to-hand combat. The distinguishing scenic effect from that +distance was the countless distinct flashes of light reflected from the +swords and spears, otherwise the panorama was not so grand as might +have been expected. The great green lap of sward in which the struggle +was being fought out, the bold round outline of the hills behind, and +the wide sweep of the plain beyond, seemed to dwarf it; and what was +tremendous enough when one was in it, grew insignificant when viewed +from the distance. But is it not thus with all the affairs and doings +of our race about which we blow the loud trumpet and make such a fuss +and worry? How utterly antlike, and morally and physically +insignificant, must they seem to the calm eyes that watch them from the +arching depths above! + +“We win the day, Macumazahn,” said old Umslopogaas, taking in the whole +situation with a glance of his practised eye. “Look, the Lady of the +Night’s forces give on every side, there is no stiffness left in them, +they bend like hot iron, they are fighting with but half a heart. But +alas! the battle will in a manner be drawn, for the darkness gathers, +and the regiments will not be able to follow and slay!”—and he shook +his head sadly. “But,” he added, “I do not think that they will fight +again. We have fed them with too strong a meat. Ah! it is well to have +lived! At last I have seen a fight worth seeing.” + +By this time we were on our way again, and as we went side by side I +told him what our mission was, and how that, if it failed, all the +lives that had been lost that day would have been lost in vain. + +“Ah!” he said, “nigh on a hundred miles and no horses but these, and to +be there before the dawn! Well—away! away! man can but try, Macumazahn; +and mayhap we shall be there in time to split that old ‘witch-finder’s’ +[Agon’s] skull for him. Once he wanted to burn us, the old +‘rain-maker’, did he? And now he would set a snare for my mother +[Nyleptha], would he? Good! So sure as my name is the name of the +Woodpecker, so surely, be my mother alive or dead, will I split him to +the beard. Ay, by T’Chaka’s head I swear it!” and he shook Inkosi-kaas +as he galloped. By now the darkness was closing in, but fortunately +there would be a moon later, and the road was good. + +On we sped through the twilight, the two splendid horses we bestrode +had got their wind by this, and were sweeping along with a wide steady +stride that neither failed nor varied for mile upon mile. Down the side +of slopes we galloped, across wide vales that stretched to the foot of +far-off hills. Nearer and nearer grew the blue hills; now we were +travelling up their steeps, and now we were over and passing towards +others that sprang up like visions in the far, faint distance beyond. + +On, never pausing or drawing rein, through the perfect quiet of the +night, that was set like a song to the falling music of our horses’ +hoofs; on, past deserted villages, where only some forgotten starving +dog howled a melancholy welcome; on, past lonely moated dwellings; on, +through the white patchy moonlight, that lay coldly upon the wide bosom +of the earth, as though there was no warmth in it; on, knee to knee, +for hour after hour! + +We spake not, but bent us forward on the necks of those two glorious +horses, and listened to their deep, long-drawn breaths as they filled +their great lungs, and to the regular unfaltering ring of their round +hoofs. Grim and black indeed did old Umslopogaas look beside me, +mounted upon the great white horse, like Death in the Revelation of St +John, as now and again lifting his fierce set face he gazed out along +the road, and pointed with his axe towards some distant rise or house. + +And so on, still on, without break or pause for hour after hour. + +At last I felt that even the splendid animal that I rode was beginning +to give out. I looked at my watch; it was nearly midnight, and we were +considerably more than half way. On the top of a rise was a little +spring, which I remembered because I had slept by it a few nights +before, and here I motioned to Umslopogaas to pull up, having +determined to give the horses and ourselves ten minutes to breathe in. +He did so, and we dismounted—that is to say, Umslopogaas did, and then +helped me off, for what with fatigue, stiffness, and the pain of my +wound, I could not do so for myself; and then the gallant horses stood +panting there, resting first one leg and then another, while the sweat +fell drip, drip, from them, and the steam rose and hung in pale clouds +in the still night air. + +Leaving Umslopogaas to hold the horses, I hobbled to the spring and +drank deep of its sweet waters. I had had nothing but a single mouthful +of wine since midday, when the battle began, and I was parched up, +though my fatigue was too great to allow me to feel hungry. Then, +having laved my fevered head and hands, I returned, and the Zulu went +and drank. Next we allowed the horses to take a couple of mouthfuls +each—no more; and oh, what a struggle we had to get the poor beasts +away from the water! There were yet two minutes, and I employed it in +hobbling up and down to try and relieve my stiffness, and in inspecting +the condition of the horses. My mare, gallant animal though she was, +was evidently much distressed; she hung her head, and her eye looked +sick and dull; but Daylight, Nyleptha’s glorious horse—who, if he is +served aright, should, like the steeds who saved great Rameses in his +need, feed for the rest of his days out of a golden manger—was still +comparatively speaking fresh, notwithstanding the fact that he had had +by far the heavier weight to carry. He was “tucked up”, indeed, and his +legs were weary, but his eye was bright and clear, and he held his +shapely head up and gazed out into the darkness round him in a way that +seemed to say that whoever failed _he_ was good for those +five-and-forty miles that yet lay between us and Milosis. Then +Umslopogaas helped me into the saddle and—vigorous old savage that he +was!—vaulted into his own without touching a stirrup, and we were off +once more, slowly at first, till the horses got into their stride, and +then more swiftly. So we passed over another ten miles, and then came a +long, weary rise of some six or seven miles, and three times did my +poor black mare nearly come to the ground with me. But on the top she +seemed to gather herself together, and rattled down the slope with +long, convulsive strides, breathing in gasps. We did that three or four +miles more swiftly than any since we had started on our wild ride, but +I felt it to be a last effort, and I was right. Suddenly my poor horse +took the bit between her teeth and bolted furiously along a stretch of +level ground for some three or four hundred yards, and then, with two +or three jerky strides, pulled herself up and fell with a crash right +on to her head, I rolling myself free as she did so. As I struggled to +my feet the brave beast raised her head and looked at me with piteous +bloodshot eyes, and then her head dropped with a groan and she was +dead. Her heart was broken. + +Umslopogaas pulled up beside the carcase, and I looked at him in +dismay. There were still more than twenty miles to do by dawn, and how +were we to do it with one horse? It seemed hopeless, but I had +forgotten the old Zulu’s extraordinary running powers. + +Without a single word he sprang from the saddle and began to hoist me +into it. + +“What wilt thou do?” I asked. + +“Run,” he answered, seizing my stirrup-leather. + +Then off we went again, almost as fast as before; and oh, the relief it +was to me to get that change of horses! Anybody who has ever ridden +against time will know what it meant. + +Daylight sped along at a long stretching hand-gallop, giving the gaunt +Zulu a lift at every stride. It was a wonderful thing to see old +Umslopogaas run mile after mile, his lips slightly parted and his +nostrils agape like the horse’s. Every five miles or so we stopped for +a few minutes to let him get his breath, and then flew on again. + +“Canst thou go farther,” I said at the third of these stoppages, “or +shall I leave thee to follow me?” + +He pointed with his axe to a dim mass before us. It was the Temple of +the Sun, now not more than five miles away. + +“I reach it or I die,” he gasped. + +Oh, that last five miles! The skin was rubbed from the inside of my +legs, and every movement of my horse gave me anguish. Nor was that all. +I was exhausted with toil, want of food and sleep, and also suffering +very much from the blow I had received on my left side; it seemed as +though a piece of bone or something was slowly piercing into my lung. +Poor Daylight, too, was pretty nearly finished, and no wonder. But +there was a smell of dawn in the air, and we might not stay; better +that all three of us should die upon the road than that we should +linger while there was life in us. The air was thick and heavy, as it +sometimes is before the dawn breaks, and—another infallible sign in +certain parts of Zu-Vendis that sunrise is at hand—hundreds of little +spiders pendant on the end of long tough webs were floating about in +it. These early-rising creatures, or rather their webs, caught upon the +horse’s and our own forms by scores, and, as we had neither the time +nor the energy to brush them off, we rushed along covered with hundreds +of long grey threads that streamed out a yard or more behind us—and a +very strange appearance they must have given us. + +And now before us are the huge brazen gates of the outer wall of the +Frowning City, and a new and horrible doubt strikes me: What if they +will not let us in? + +“_Open! open!_” I shout imperiously, at the same time giving the royal +password. “_Open! open!_ a messenger, a messenger with tidings of the +war!” + +“What news?” cried the guard. “And who art thou that ridest so madly, +and who is that whose tongue lolls out”—and it actually did—“and who +runs by thee like a dog by a chariot?” + +“It is the Lord Macumazahn, and with him is his dog, his black dog. +_Open! open!_ I bring tidings.” + +The great gates ran back on their rollers, and the drawbridge fell with +a rattling crash, and we dashed on through the one and over the other. + +“What news, my lord, what news?” cried the guard. + +“Incubu rolls Sorais back, as the wind a cloud,” I answered, and was +gone. + +One more effort, gallant horse, and yet more gallant man! + +So, fall not now, Daylight, and hold thy life in thee for fifteen short +minutes more, old Zulu war-dog, and ye shall both live for ever in the +annals of the land. + +On, clattering through the sleeping streets. We are passing the Flower +Temple now—one mile more, only one little mile—hold on, keep your life +in thee, see the houses run past of themselves. Up, good horse, up, +there—but fifty yards now. Ah! you see your stables and stagger on +gallantly. + +“Thank God, the palace at last!” and see, the first arrows of the dawn +are striking on the Temple’s golden dome.[22] But shall I get in here, +or is the deed done and the way barred? + + [22] Of course, the roof of the Temple, being so high, caught the + light some time before the breaking of the dawn.—A. Q. + +Once more I give the password and shout “_Open! open!_” + +No answer, and my heart grows very faint. + +Again I call, and this time a single voice replies, and to my joy I +recognize it as belonging to Kara, a fellow-officer of Nyleptha’s +guards, a man I know to be as honest as the light—indeed, the same whom +Nyleptha had sent to arrest Sorais on the day she fled to the temple. + +“Is it thou, Kara?” I cry; “I am Macumazahn. Bid the guard let down the +bridge and throw wide the gate. Quick, quick!” + +Then followed a space that seemed to me endless, but at length the +bridge fell and one half of the gate opened and we got into the +courtyard, where at last poor Daylight fell down beneath me, as I +thought, dead. Except Kara, there was nobody to be seen, and his look +was wild, and his garments were all torn. He had opened the gate and +let down the bridge alone, and was now getting them up and shut again +(as, owing to a very ingenious arrangement of cranks and levers, one +man could easily do, and indeed generally did do). + +“Where are the guard?” I gasped, fearing his answer as I never feared +anything before. + +“I know not,” he answered; “two hours ago, as I slept, was I seized and +bound by the watch under me, and but now, this very moment, have I +freed myself with my teeth. I fear, I greatly fear, that we are +betrayed.” + +His words gave me fresh energy. Catching him by the arm, I staggered, +followed by Umslopogaas, who reeled after us like a drunken man, +through the courtyards, up the great hall, which was silent as the +grave, towards the Queen’s sleeping-place. + +We reached the first ante-room—no guards; the second, still no guards. +Oh, surely the thing was done! we were too late after all, too late! +The silence and solitude of those great chambers was dreadful, and +weighed me down like an evil dream. On, right into Nyleptha’s chamber +we rushed and staggered, sick at heart, fearing the very worst; we saw +there was a light in it, ay, and a figure bearing the light. Oh, thank +God, it is the White Queen herself, the Queen unharmed! There she +stands in her night gear, roused, by the clatter of our coming, from +her bed, the heaviness of sleep yet in her eyes, and a red blush of +fear and shame mantling her lovely breast and cheek. + +“Who is it?” she cries. “What means this? Oh, Macumazahn, is it thou? +Why lookest thou so wildly? Thou comest as one bearing evil tidings—and +my lord—oh, tell me not my lord is dead—not dead!” she wailed, wringing +her white hands. + +“I left Incubu wounded, but leading the advance against Sorais last +night at sundown; therefore let thy heart have rest. Sorais is beaten +back all along her lines, and thy arms prevail.” + +“I knew it,” she cried in triumph. “I knew that he would win; and they +called him Outlander, and shook their wise heads when I gave him the +command! Last night at sundown, sayest thou, and it is not yet dawn? +Surely—” + +“Throw a cloak around thee, Nyleptha,” I broke in, “and give us wine to +drink; ay, and call thy maidens quick if thou wouldst save thyself +alive. Nay, stay not.” + +Thus adjured she ran and called through the curtains towards some room +beyond, and then hastily put on her sandals and a thick cloak, by which +time a dozen or so of half-dressed women were pouring into the room. + +“Follow us and be silent,” I said to them as they gazed with wondering +eyes, clinging one to another. So we went into the first ante-room. + +“Now,” I said, “give us wine to drink and food, if ye have it, for we +are near to death.” + +The room was used as a mess-room for the officers of the guards, and +from a cupboard some flagons of wine and some cold flesh were brought +forth, and Umslopogaas and I drank, and felt life flow back into our +veins as the good red wine went down. + +“Hark to me, Nyleptha,” I said, as I put down the empty tankard. “Hast +thou here among these thy waiting-ladies any two of discretion?” + +“Ay,” she said, “surely.” + +“Then bid them go out by the side entrance to any citizens whom thou +canst bethink thee of as men loyal to thee, and pray them come armed, +with all honest folk that they can gather, to rescue thee from death. +Nay, question not; do as I say, and quickly. Kara here will let out the +maids.” + +She turned, and selecting two of the crowd of damsels, repeated the +words I had uttered, giving them besides a list of the names of the men +to whom each should run. + +“Go swiftly and secretly; go for your very lives,” I added. + +In another moment they had left with Kara, whom I told to rejoin us at +the door leading from the great courtyard on to the stairway as soon as +he had made fast behind the girls. Thither, too, Umslopogaas and I made +our way, followed by the Queen and her women. As we went we tore off +mouthfuls of food, and between them I told her what I knew of the +danger which encompassed her, and how we found Kara, and how all the +guards and men-servants were gone, and she was alone with her women in +that great place; and she told me, too, that a rumour had spread +through the town that our army had been utterly destroyed, and that +Sorais was marching in triumph on Milosis, and how in consequence +thereof all men had fallen away from her. + +Though all this takes some time to tell, we had not been but six or +seven minutes in the palace; and notwithstanding that the golden roof +of the temple being very lofty was ablaze with the rays of the rising +sun, it was not yet dawn, nor would be for another ten minutes. We were +in the courtyard now, and here my wound pained me so that I had to take +Nyleptha’s arm, while Umslopogaas rolled along after us, eating as he +went. + +Now we were across it, and had reached the narrow doorway through the +palace wall that opened on to the mighty stair. + +I looked through and stood aghast, as well I might. The door was gone, +and so were the outer gates of bronze—entirely gone. They had been +taken from their hinges, and as we afterwards found, hurled from the +stairway to the ground two hundred feet beneath. There in front of us +was the semicircular standing-space, about twice the size of a large +oval dining-table, and the ten curved black marble steps leading on to +the main stair—and that was all. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. +HOW UMSLOPOGAAS HELD THE STAIR + + +We looked at one another. + +“Thou seest,” I said, “they have taken away the door. Is there aught +with which we may fill the place? Speak quickly for they will be on us +ere the daylight.” I spoke thus, because I knew that we must hold this +place or none, as there were no inner doors in the palace, the rooms +being separated one from another by curtains. I also knew that if we +could by any means defend this doorway the murderers could get in +nowhere else; for the palace is absolutely impregnable, that is, since +the secret door by which Sorais had entered on that memorable night of +attempted murder had, by Nyleptha’s order, been closed up with masonry. + +“I have it,” said Nyleptha, who, as usual with her, rose to the +emergency in a wonderful way. “On the farther side of the courtyard are +blocks of cut marble—the workmen brought them there for the bed of the +new statue of Incubu, my lord; let us block the door with them.” + +I jumped at the idea; and having despatched one of the remaining +maidens down the great stair to see if she could obtain assistance from +the docks below, where her father, who was a great merchant employing +many men, had his dwelling-place, and set another to watch through the +doorway, we made our way back across the courtyard to where the hewn +marble lay; and here we met Kara returning from despatching the first +two messengers. There were the marble blocks, sure enough, broad, +massive lumps, some six inches thick, and weighing about eighty pounds +each, and there, too, were a couple of implements like small +stretchers, that the workmen used to carry them on. Without delay we +got some of the blocks on to the stretchers, and four of the girls +carried them to the doorway. + +“Listen, Macumazahn,” said Umslopogaas, “if those low fellows come, it +is I who will hold the stair against them till the door is built up. +Nay, nay, it will be a man’s death: gainsay me not, old friend. It has +been a good day, let it now be good night. See, I throw myself down to +rest on the marble there; when their footsteps are nigh, wake thou me, +not before, for I need my strength,” and without a word he went outside +and flung himself down on the marble, and was instantly asleep. + +At this time, I too was overcome, and was forced to sit down by the +doorway, and content myself with directing operations. The girls +brought the block, while Kara and Nyleptha built them up across the +six-foot-wide doorway, a triple row of them, for less would be useless. +But the marble had to be brought forty yards and then there were forty +yards to run back, and though the girls laboured gloriously, even +staggering along alone, each with a block in her arms, it was slow +work, dreadfully slow. + +The light was growing now, and presently, in the silence, we heard a +commotion at the far-bottom of the stair, and the faint clinking of +armed men. As yet the wall was only two feet high, and we had been +eight minutes at the building of it. So they had come. Alphonse had +heard aright. + +The clanking sound came nearer, and in the ghostly grey of the dawning +we could make out long files of men, some fifty or so in all, slowly +creeping up the stair. They were now at the half-way standing place +that rested on the great flying arch; and here, perceiving that +something was going on above, they, to our great gain, halted for three +or four minutes and consulted, then slowly and cautiously advanced +again. + +We had been nearly a quarter of an hour at the work now, and it was +almost three feet high. + +Then I woke Umslopogaas. The great man rose, stretched himself, and +swung Inkosi-kaas round his head. + +“It is well,” he said. “I feel as a young man once more. My strength +has come back to me, ay, even as a lamp flares up before it dies. Fear +not, I shall fight a good fight; the wine and the sleep have put a new +heart into me. + +“Macumazahn, I have dreamed a dream. I dreamed that thou and I stood +together on a star, and looked down on the world, and thou wast as a +spirit, Macumazahn, for light flamed through thy flesh, but I could not +see what was the fashion of mine own face. The hour has come for us, +old hunter. So be it: we have had our time, but I would that in it I +had seen some more such fights as yesterday’s. + +“Let them bury me after the fashion of my people, Macumazahn, and set +my eyes towards Zululand;” and he took my hand and shook it, and then +turned to face the advancing foe. + +Just then, to my astonishment, the Zu-Vendi officer Kara clambered over +our improvised wall in his quiet, determined sort of way, and took his +stand by the Zulu, unsheathing his sword as he did so. + +“What, comest thou too?” laughed out the old warrior. “Welcome—a +welcome to thee, brave heart! Ow! for the man who can die like a man; +ow! for the death grip and the ringing of steel. Ow! we are ready. We +wet our beaks like eagles, our spears flash in the sun; we shake our +assegais, and are hungry to fight. Who comes to give greeting to the +Chieftainess [Inkosi-kaas]? Who would taste her kiss, whereof the fruit +is death? I, the Woodpecker, I, the Slaughterer, I the Swiftfooted! I, +Umslopogaas, of the tribe of the Maquilisini, of the people of Amazulu, +a captain of the regiment of the Nkomabakosi: I, Umslopogaas, the son +of Indabazimbi, the son of Arpi the son of Mosilikaatze, I of the royal +blood of T’Chaka, I of the King’s House, I the Ringed Man, I the +Induna, I call to them as a buck calls, I challenge them, I await them. +Ow! it is thou, it is thou!” + +As he spake, or rather chanted, his wild war-song, the armed men, among +whom in the growing light I recognized both Nasta and Agon, came +streaming up the stair with a rush, and one big fellow, armed with a +heavy spear, dashed up the ten semicircular steps ahead of his comrades +and struck at the great Zulu with the spear. Umslopogaas moved his body +but not his legs, so that the blow missed him, and next instant +Inkosi-kaas crashed through headpiece, hair and skull, and the man’s +corpse was rattling down the steps. As he dropped, his round +hippopotamus-hide shield fell from his hand on to the marble, and the +Zulu stooped down and seized it, still chanting as he did so. + +In another second the sturdy Kara had also slain a man, and then began +a scene the like of which has not been known to me. + +Up rushed the assailants, one, two, three at a time, and as fast as +they came, the axe crashed and the sword swung, and down they rolled +again, dead or dying. And ever as the fight thickened, the old Zulu’s +eye seemed to get quicker and his arm stronger. He shouted out his +war-cries and the names of chiefs whom he had slain, and the blows of +his awful axe rained straight and true, shearing through everything +they fell on. There was none of the scientific method he was so fond of +about this last immortal fight of his; he had no time for it, but +struck with his full strength, and at every stroke a man sank in his +tracks, and went rattling down the marble steps. + +They hacked and hewed at him with swords and spears, wounding him in a +dozen places till he streamed red with blood; but the shield protected +his head and the chain-shirt his vitals, and for minute after minute, +aided by the gallant Zu-Vendi, he still held the stair. + +At last Kara’s sword broke, and he grappled with a foe, and they rolled +down together, and he was cut to pieces, dying like the brave man that +he was. + +Umslopogaas was alone now, but he never blenched or turned. Shouting +out some wild Zulu battle-cry, he beat down a foe, ay, and another, and +another, till at last they drew back from the slippery blood-stained +steps, and stared at him with amazement, thinking that he was no mortal +man. + +The wall of marble block was four feet six high now, and hope rose in +my heart as I leaned there against it a miserable helpless log, and +ground my teeth, and watched that glorious struggle. I could do no more +for I had lost my revolver in the battle. + +And old Umslopogaas, he leaned too on his good axe, and, faint as he +was with wounds, he mocked them, he called them “women”—the grand old +warrior, standing there one against so many! And for a breathing space +none would come against him, notwithstanding Nasta’s exhortations, till +at last old Agon, who, to do him justice, was a brave man, mad with +baffled rage, and seeing that the wall would soon be built and his +plans defeated, shook the great spear he held, and rushed up the +dripping steps. + +“Ah, ah!” shouted the Zulu, as he recognized the priest’s flowing white +beard, “it is thou, old ‘witch-finder’! Come on! I await thee, white +‘medicine man’; come on! come on! I have sworn to slay thee, and I ever +keep my faith.” + +On he came, taking him at his word, and drave the big spear with such +force at Umslopogaas that it sunk right through the tough shield and +pierced him in the neck. The Zulu cast down the transfixed shield, and +that moment was Agon’s last, for before he could free his spear and +strike again, with a shout of “_There’s for thee, Rain-maker!_” +Umslopogaas gripped Inkosi-kaas with both hands and whirled on high and +drave her right on to his venerable head, so that Agon rolled down dead +among the corpses of his fellow-murderers, and there was an end to him +and his plots altogether. And even as he fell, a great cry rose from +the foot of the stair, and looking out through the portion of the +doorway that was yet unclosed, we saw armed men rushing up to the +rescue, and called an answer to their shouts. Then the would-be +murderers who yet remained on the stairway, and amongst whom I saw +several priests, turned to fly, but, having nowhere to go, were +butchered as they fled. Only one man stayed, and he was the great lord +Nasta, Nyleptha’s suitor, and the father of the plot. For a moment the +black-bearded Nasta stood with bowed face leaning on his long sword as +though in despair, and then, with a dreadful shout, he too rushed up at +the Zulu, and, swinging the glittering sword around his head, dealt him +such a mighty blow beneath his guard, that the keen steel of the heavy +blade bit right through the chain armour and deep into Umslopogaas’ +side, for a moment paralysing him and causing him to drop his axe. + +Raising the sword again, Nasta sprang forward to make an end of him, +but little he knew his foe. With a shake and a yell of fury, the Zulu +gathered himself together and sprang straight at Nasta’s throat, as I +have sometimes seen a wounded lion spring. He struck him full as his +foot was on the topmost stair, and his long arms closing round him like +iron bands, down they rolled together struggling furiously. Nasta was a +strong man and a desperate, but he could not match the strongest man in +Zululand, sore wounded though he was, whose strength was as the +strength of a bull. In a minute the end came. I saw old Umslopogaas +stagger to his feet—ay, and saw him by a single gigantic effort swing +up the struggling Nasta and with a shout of triumph hurl him straight +over the parapet of the bridge, to be crushed to powder on the rocks +two hundred feet below. + +The succour which had been summoned by the girl who had passed down the +stair before the assassins passed up was at hand, and the loud shouts +which reached us from the outer gates told us that the town was also +aroused, and the men awakened by the women were calling to be admitted. +Some of Nyleptha’s brave ladies, who in their night-shifts and with +their long hair streaming down their backs, just as they had been +aroused from rest, went off to admit them at the side entrance, whilst +others, assisted by the rescuing party outside, pushed and pulled down +the marble blocks they had placed there with so much labour. + +Soon the wall was down again, and through the doorway, followed by a +crowd of rescuers, staggered old Umslopogaas, an awful and, in a way, a +glorious figure. The man was a mass of wounds, and a glance at his wild +eye told me that he was dying. The “keshla” gum-ring upon his head was +severed in two places by sword-cuts, one just over the curious hole in +his skull, and the blood poured down his face from the gashes. Also on +the right side of his neck was a stab from a spear, inflicted by Agon; +there was a deep cut on his left arm just below where the mail +shirt-sleeve stopped, and on the right side of his body the armour was +severed by a gash six inches long, where Nasta’s mighty sword had +bitten through it and deep into its wearer’s vitals. + +On, axe in hand, he staggered, that dreadful-looking, splendid savage, +and the ladies forgot to turn faint at the scene of blood, and cheered +him, as well they might, but he never stayed or heeded. With +outstretched arms and tottering gait he pursued his way, followed by us +all along the broad shell-strewn walk that ran through the courtyard, +past the spot where the blocks of marble lay, through the round arched +doorway and the thick curtains that hung within it, down the short +passage and into the great hall, which was now filling with +hastily-armed men, who poured through the side entrance. Straight up +the hall he went, leaving behind him a track of blood on the marble +pavement, till at last he reached the sacred stone, which stood in the +centre of it, and here his strength seemed to fail him, for he stopped +and leaned upon his axe. Then suddenly he lifted up his voice and cried +aloud— + +“I die, I die—but it was a kingly fray. Where are they who came up the +great stair? I see them not. Art thou there, Macumazahn, or art thou +gone before to wait for me in the dark whither I go? The blood blinds +me—the place turns round—I hear the voice of waters.” + +Next, as though a new thought had struck him, he lifted the red axe and +kissed the blade. + +“Farewell, Inkosi-kaas,” he cried. “Nay, nay, we will go together; we +cannot part, thou and I. We have lived too long one with another, thou +and I. + +“One more stroke, only one! A good stroke! a straight stroke! a strong +stroke!” and, drawing himself to his full height, with a wild +heart-shaking shout, he with both hands began to whirl the axe round +his head till it looked like a circle of flaming steel. Then, suddenly, +with awful force he brought it down straight on to the crown of the +mass of sacred stone. A shower of sparks flew up, and such was the +almost superhuman strength of the blow, that the massive marble split +with a rending sound into a score of pieces, whilst of Inkosi-kaas +there remained but some fragments of steel and a fibrous rope of +shattered horn that had been the handle. Down with a crash on to the +pavement fell the fragments of the holy stone, and down with a crash on +to them, still grasping the knob of Inkosi-kaas, fell the brave old +Zulu—_dead_. And thus the hero died. + +A gasp of wonder and astonishment rose from all those who witnessed the +extraordinary sight, and then somebody cried, “_The prophecy! the +prophecy!_ He has shattered the sacred stone!” and at once a murmuring +arose. + +“Ay,” said Nyleptha, with that quick wit which distinguishes her. “Ay, +my people, he has shattered the stone, and behold the prophecy is +fulfilled, for a stranger king rules in Zu-Vendis. Incubu, my lord, +hath beat Sorais back, and I fear her no more, and to him who hath +saved the Crown it shall surely be. And this man,” she said, turning to +me and laying her hand upon my shoulder, “wot ye that, though wounded +in the fight of yesterday, he rode with that old warrior who lies +there, one hundred miles “twixt sun set and rise to save me from the +plots of cruel men. Ay, and he has saved me, by a very little, and +therefore because of the deeds that they have done—deeds of glory such +as our history cannot show the like—therefore I say that the name of +Macumazahn and the name of dead Umslopogaas, ay, and the name of Kara, +my servant, who aided him to hold the stair, shall be blazoned in +letters of gold above my throne, and shall be glorious for ever while +the land endures. I, the Queen, have said it.” + +This spirited speech was met with loud cheering, and I said that after +all we had only done our duty, as it is the fashion of both Englishmen +and Zulus to do, and there was nothing to make an outcry about; at +which they cheered still more, and then I was supported across the +outer courtyard to my old quarters, in order that I might be put to +bed. As I went, my eyes lit upon the brave horse Daylight that lay +there, his white head outstretched on the pavement, exactly as he had +fallen on entering the yard; and I bade those who supported me take me +near him, that I might look on the good beast once more before he was +dragged away. And as I looked, to my astonishment he opened his eyes +and, lifting his head a little, whinnied faintly. I could have shouted +for joy to find that he was not dead, only unfortunately I had not a +shout left in me; but as it was, grooms were sent for and he was lifted +up and wine poured down his throat, and in a fortnight he was as well +and strong as ever, and is the pride and joy of all the people of +Milosis, who, whenever they see him, point him out to the little +children as the “horse which saved the White Queen’s life”. + +Then I went on and got off to bed, and was washed and had my mail shirt +removed. They hurt me a great deal in getting it off, and no wonder, +for on my left breast and side was a black bruise the size of a saucer. + +The next thing that I remember was the tramp of horsemen outside the +palace wall, some ten hours later. I raised myself and asked what was +the news, and they told me that a large body of cavalry sent by Curtis +to assist the Queen had arrived from the scene of the battle, which +they had left two hours after sundown. When they left, the wreck of +Sorais’ army was in full retreat upon M’Arstuna, followed by all our +effective cavalry. Sir Henry was encamping the remains of his worn-out +forces on the site (such is the fortune of war) that Sorais had +occupied the night before, and proposed marching to M’Arstuna on the +morrow. Having heard this, I felt that I could die with a light heart, +and then everything became a blank. + +When next I awoke the first thing I saw was the round disc of a +sympathetic eyeglass, behind which was Good. + +“How are you getting on, old chap?” said a voice from the neighbourhood +of the eyeglass. + +“What are you doing here?” I asked faintly. “You ought to be at +M’Arstuna—have you run away, or what?” + +“M’Arstuna,” he replied cheerfully. “Ah, M’Arstuna fell last +week—you’ve been unconscious for a fortnight, you see—with all the +honours of war, you know—trumpets blowing, flags flying, just as though +they had had the best of it; but for all that, weren’t they glad to go. +Israel made for his tents, I can tell you—never saw such a sight in my +life.” + +“And Sorais?” I asked. + +“Sorais—oh, Sorais is a prisoner; they gave her up, the scoundrels,” he +added, with a change of tone—“sacrificed the Queen to save their skins, +you see. She is being brought up here, and I don’t know what will +happen to her, poor soul!” and he sighed. + +“Where is Curtis?” I asked. + +“He is with Nyleptha. She rode out to meet us today, and there was a +grand to-do, I can tell you. He is coming to see you tomorrow; the +doctors (for there is a medical ‘faculty’ in Zu-Vendis as elsewhere) +thought that he had better not come today.” + +I said nothing, but somehow I thought to myself that notwithstanding +the doctors he might have given me a look; but there, when a man is +newly married and has just gained a great victory, he is apt to listen +to the advice of doctors, and quite right too. + +Just then I heard a familiar voice informing me that “Monsieur must now +couch himself,” and looking up perceived Alphonse’s enormous black +mustachios curling away in the distance. + +“So you are here?” I said. + +“Mais oui, Monsieur; the war is now finished, my military instincts are +satisfied, and I return to nurse Monsieur.” + +I laughed, or rather tried to; but whatever may have been Alphonse’s +failings as a warrior (and I fear that he did not come up to the level +of his heroic grandfather in this particular, showing thereby how true +is the saying that it is a bad thing to be overshadowed by some great +ancestral name), a better or kinder nurse never lived. Poor Alphonse! I +hope he will always think of me as kindly as I think of him. + +On the morrow I saw Curtis and Nyleptha with him, and he told me the +whole history of what had happened since Umslopogaas and I galloped +wildly away from the battle to save the life of the Queen. It seemed to +me that he had managed the thing exceedingly well, and showed great +ability as a general. Of course, however, our loss had been dreadfully +heavy—indeed, I am afraid to say how many perished in the desperate +battle I have described, but I know that the slaughter has appreciably +affected the male population of the country. He was very pleased to see +me, dear fellow that he is, and thanked me with tears in his eyes for +the little that I had been able to do. I saw him, however, start +violently when his eyes fell upon my face. + +As for Nyleptha, she was positively radiant now that “her dear lord” +had come back with no other injury than an ugly scar on his forehead. I +do not believe that she allowed all the fearful slaughter that had +taken place to weigh ever so little in the balance against this one +fact, or even to greatly diminish her joy; and I cannot blame her for +it, seeing that it is the nature of loving woman to look at all things +through the spectacles of her love, and little does she reck of the +misery of the many if the happiness of the _one_ be assured. That is +human nature, which the Positivists tell us is just perfection; so no +doubt it is all right. + +“And what art thou going to do with Sorais?” I asked her. + +Instantly her bright brow darkened to a frown. + +“Sorais,” she said, with a little stamp of the foot; “ah, but Sorais!” + +Sir Henry hastened to turn the subject. + +“You will soon be about and all right again now, old fellow,” he said. + +I shook my head and laughed. + +“Don’t deceive yourselves,” I said. “I may be about for a little, but I +shall never be all right again. I am a dying man, Curtis. I may die +slow, but die I must. Do you know I have been spitting blood all the +morning? I tell you there is something working away into my lung; I can +feel it. There, don’t look distressed; I have had my day, and am ready +to go. Give me the mirror, will you? I want to look at myself.” + +He made some excuse, but I saw through it and insisted, and at last he +handed me one of the discs of polished silver set in a wooden frame +like a hand-screen, which serve as looking-glasses in Zu-Vendis. I +looked and put it down. + +“Ah,” I said quietly, “I thought so; and you talk of my getting all +right!” I did not like to let them see how shocked I really was at my +own appearance. My grizzled stubby hair was turned snow-white, and my +yellow face was shrunk like an aged woman’s and had two deep purple +rings painted beneath the eyes. + +Here Nyleptha began to cry, and Sir Henry again turned the subject, +telling me that the artists had taken a cast of the dead body of old +Umslopogaas, and that a great statue in black marble was to be erected +of him in the act of splitting the sacred stone, which was to be +matched by another statue in white marble of myself and the horse +Daylight as he appeared when, at the termination of that wild ride, he +sank beneath me in the courtyard of the palace. I have since seen these +statues, which at the time of writing this, six months after the +battle, are nearly finished; and very beautiful they are, especially +that of Umslopogaas, which is exactly like him. As for that of myself, +it is good, but they have idealized my ugly face a little, which is +perhaps as well, seeing that thousands of people will probably look at +it in the centuries to come, and it is not pleasant to look at ugly +things. + +Then they told me that Umslopogaas’ last wish had been carried out, and +that, instead of being cremated, as I shall be, after the usual custom +here, he had been tied up, Zulu fashion, with his knees beneath his +chin, and, having been wrapped in a thin sheet of beaten gold, entombed +in a hole hollowed out of the masonry of the semicircular space at the +top of the stair he defended so splendidly, which faces, as far as we +can judge, almost exactly towards Zululand. There he sits, and will sit +for ever, for they embalmed him with spices, and put him in an +air-tight stone coffer, keeping his grim watch beneath the spot he held +alone against a multitude; and the people say that at night his ghost +rises and stands shaking the phantom of Inkosi-kaas at phantom foes. +Certainly they fear during the dark hours to pass the place where the +hero is buried. + +Oddly enough, too, a new legend or prophecy has arisen in the land in +that unaccountable way in which such things do arise among barbarous +and semi-civilized people, blowing, like the wind, no man knows whence. +According to this saying, so long as the old Zulu sits there, looking +down the stairway he defended when alive, so long will the New House of +the Stairway, springing from the union of the Englishman and Nyleptha, +endure and flourish; but when he is taken from thence, or when, ages +after, his bones at last crumble into dust, the House will fall, and +the Stairway shall fall, and the Nation of the Zu-Vendi shall cease to +be a Nation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. +I HAVE SPOKEN + + +It was a week after Nyleptha’s visit, when I had begun to get about a +little in the middle of the day, that a message came to me from Sir +Henry to say that Sorais would be brought before them in the Queen’s +first antechamber at midday, and requesting my attendance if possible. +Accordingly, greatly drawn by curiosity to see this unhappy woman once +more, I made shift, with the help of that kind little fellow Alphonse, +who is a perfect treasure to me, and that of another waiting-man, to +reach the antechamber. I got there, indeed, before anybody else, except +a few of the great Court officials who had been bidden to be present, +but I had scarcely seated myself before Sorais was brought in by a +party of guards, looking as beautiful and defiant as ever, but with a +worn expression on her proud face. She was, as usual, dressed in her +royal “kaf”, emblazoned with the emblem of the Sun, and in her right +hand she still held the toy spear of silver. A pang of admiration and +pity went through me as I looked at her, and struggling to my feet I +bowed deeply, at the same time expressing my sorrow that I was not +able, owing to my condition, to remain standing before her. + +She coloured a little and then laughed bitterly. “Thou dost forget, +Macumazahn,” she said, “I am no more a Queen, save in blood; I am an +outcast and a prisoner, one whom all men should scorn, and none show +deference to.” + +“At least,” I replied, “thou art still a lady, and therefore one to +whom deference is due. Also, thou art in an evil case, and therefore it +is doubly due.” + +“Ah!” she answered, with a little laugh, “thou dost forget that I would +have wrapped thee in a sheet of gold and hung thee to the angel’s +trumpet at the topmost pinnacle of the Temple.” + +“No,” I answered, “I assure thee that I forgot it not; indeed, I often +thought of it when it seemed to me that the battle of the Pass was +turning against us; but the trumpet is there, and I am still here, +though perchance not for long, so why talk of it now?” + +“Ah!” she went on, “the battle! the battle! Oh, would that I were once +more a Queen, if only for one little hour, and I would take such a +vengeance on those accursed jackals who deserted me in my need; that it +should only be spoken of in whispers; those women, those pigeon-hearted +half-breeds who suffered themselves to be overcome!” and she choked in +her wrath. + +“Ay, and that little coward beside thee,” she went on, pointing at +Alphonse with the silver spear, whereat he looked very uncomfortable; +“he escaped and betrayed my plans. I tried to make a general of him, +telling the soldiers it was Bougwan, and to scourge valour into him” +(here Alphonse shivered at some unhappy recollection), “but it was of +no avail. He hid beneath a banner in my tent and thus overheard my +plans. I would that I had slain him, but, alas! I held my hand. + +“And thou, Macumazahn, I have heard of what thou didst; thou art brave, +and hast a loyal heart. And the black one too, ah, he was _a man_. I +would fain have seen him hurl Nasta from the stairway.” + +“Thou art a strange woman, Sorais,” I said; “I pray thee now plead with +the Queen Nyleptha, that perchance she may show mercy unto thee.” + +She laughed out loud. “_I_ plead for mercy!” she said and at that +moment the Queen entered, accompanied by Sir Henry and Good, and took +her seat with an impassive face. As for poor Good, he looked intensely +ill at ease. + +“Greeting, Sorais!” said Nyleptha, after a short pause. “Thou hast rent +the kingdom like a rag, thou hast put thousands of my people to the +sword, thou hast twice basely plotted to destroy my life by murder, +thou hast sworn to slay my lord and his companions and to hurl me from +the Stairway. What hast thou to say why thou shouldst not die? Speak, O +Sorais!” + +“Methinks my sister the Queen hath forgotten the chief count of the +indictment,” answered Sorais in her slow musical tones. “It runs thus: +‘Thou didst strive to win the love of my lord Incubu.’ It is for this +crime that my sister will slay me, not because I levied war. It is +perchance happy for thee, Nyleptha, that I fixed my mind upon his love +too late. + +“Listen,” she went on, raising her voice. “I have nought to say save +that I would I had won instead of lost. Do thou with me even as thou +wilt, O Queen, and let my lord the King there” (pointing to Sir +Henry)—“for now will he be King—carry out the sentence, as it is meet +he should, for as he is the beginning of the evil, let him also be the +end.” And she drew herself up and shot one angry glance at him from her +deep fringed eyes, and then began to toy with her spear. + +Sir Henry bent towards Nyleptha and whispered something that I could +not catch, and then the Queen spoke. + +“Sorais, ever have I been a good sister to thee. When our father died, +and there was much talk in the land as to whether thou shouldst sit +upon the throne with me, I being the elder, I gave my voice for thee +and said, ‘Nay, let her sit. She is twin with me; we were born at a +birth; wherefore should the one be preferred before the other?’ And so +has it ever been “twixt thee and me, my sister. But now thou knowest in +what sort thou hast repaid me, but I have prevailed, and thy life is +forfeit, Sorais. And yet art thou my sister, born at a birth with me, +and we played together when we were little and loved each other much, +and at night we slept in the same cot with our arms each around the +other’s neck, and therefore even now does my heart go out to thee, +Sorais. + +“But not for that would I spare thy life, for thy offence has been too +heavy; it doth drag down the wide wings of my mercy even to the ground. +Also, while thou dost live the land will never be at peace. + +“Yet shalt thou not die, Sorais, because my dear lord here hath begged +thy life of me as a boon; therefore as a boon and as a marriage gift +give I it to him, to do with even as he wills, knowing that, though +thou dost love him, he loves thee not, Sorais, for all thy beauty. Nay, +though thou art lovely as the night in all her stars, O Lady of the +Night, yet it is me his wife whom he loves, and not thee, and therefore +do I give thy life to him.” + +Sorais flushed up to her eyes and said nothing, and I do not think that +I ever saw a man look more miserable than did Sir Henry at that moment. +Somehow, Nyleptha’s way of putting the thing, though true and forcible +enough, was not altogether pleasant. + +“I understood,” stammered Curtis, looking at Good, “I understood that +you were attached—eh—attached to—to the Queen Sorais. I am—eh—not aware +what the—in short, the state of your feelings may be just now; but if +they happened to be that way inclined, it has struck me that—in short, +it might put a satisfactory end to an unpleasant business. The lady +also has ample private estates, where I am sure she would be at liberty +to live unmolested as far as we are concerned, eh, Nyleptha? Of course, +I only suggest.” + +“So far as I am concerned,” said Good, colouring up, “I am quite +willing to forget the past; and if the Lady of the Night thinks me +worth the taking I will marry her tomorrow, or when she likes, and try +to make her a good husband.” + +All eyes were now turned to Sorais, who stood with that same slow smile +upon her beautiful face which I had noticed the first time that I ever +saw her. She paused a little while, and cleared her throat, and then +thrice she curtseyed low, once to Nyleptha, once to Curtis, and once to +Good, and began to speak in measured tones. + +“I thank thee, most gracious Queen and royal sister, for the +loving-kindness thou hast shown me from my youth up, and especially in +that thou hast been pleased to give my person and my fate as a gift to +the Lord Incubu—the King that is to be. May prosperity, peace and +plenty deck the life-path of one so merciful and so tender, even as +flowers do. Long mayst thou reign, O great and glorious Queen, and hold +thy husband’s love in both thy hands, and many be the sons and +daughters of thy beauty. And I thank thee, my Lord Incubu—the King that +is to be—I thank thee a thousand times in that thou hast been pleased +to accept that gracious gift, and to pass it on to thy comrade in arms +and in adventure, the Lord Bougwan. Surely the act is worthy of thy +greatness, my Lord Incubu. And now, lastly, I thank thee also, my Lord +Bougwan, who in thy turn hast deigned to accept me and my poor beauty. +I thank thee a thousand times, and I will add that thou art a good and +honest man, and I put my hand upon my heart and swear that I would that +I could say thee ‘yea’. And now that I have rendered thanks to all in +turn”—and again she smiled—“I will add one short word. + +“Little can you understand of me, Queen Nyleptha and my lords, if ye +know not that for me there is no middle path; that I scorn your pity +and hate you for it; that I cast off your forgiveness as though it were +a serpent’s sting; and that standing here, betrayed, deserted, +insulted, and alone, I yet triumph over you, mock you, and defy you, +one and all, and _thus_ I answer ye.” And then, of a sudden, before +anybody guessed what she intended to do, she drove the little silver +spear she carried in her hand into her side with such a strong and +steady aim that the keen point projected through her back, and she fell +prone upon the pavement. + +Nyleptha shrieked, and poor Good almost fainted at the sight, while the +rest of us rushed towards her. But Sorais of the Night lifted herself +upon her hand, and for a moment fixed her glorious eyes intently on +Curtis’ face, as though there were some message in the glance, then +dropped her head and sighed, and with a sob her dark but splendid +spirit passed. + +Well, they gave her a royal funeral, and there was an end of her. + +It was a month after the last act of the Sorais tragedy that a great +ceremony was held in the Flower Temple, and Curtis was formally +declared King-Consort of Zu-Vendis. I was too ill to go myself; and +indeed, I hate all that sort of thing, with the crowds and the +trumpet-blowing and banner-waving; but Good, who was there (in his +full-dress uniform), came back much impressed, and told me that +Nyleptha had looked lovely, and Curtis had borne himself in a right +royal fashion, and had been received with acclamations that left no +doubt as to his popularity. Also he told me that when the horse +Daylight was led along in the procession, the populace had shouted +“_Macumazahn, Macumazahn!_” till they were hoarse, and would only be +appeased when he, Good, rose in his chariot and told them that I was +too ill to be present. + +Afterwards, too, Sir Henry, or rather the King, came to see me, looking +very tired, and vowing that he had never been so bored in his life; but +I dare say that that was a slight exaggeration. It is not in human +nature that a man should be altogether bored on such an extraordinary +occasion; and, indeed, as I pointed out to him, it was a marvellous +thing that a man, who but little more than one short year before had +entered a great country as an unknown wanderer, should today be married +to its beautiful and beloved Queen, and lifted, amidst public +rejoicings, to its throne. I even went the length to exhort him in the +future not to be carried away by the pride and pomp of absolute power, +but always to strive to remember that he was first a Christian +gentleman, and next a public servant, called by Providence to a great +and almost unprecedented trust. These remarks, which he might fairly +have resented, he was so good as to receive with patience, and even to +thank me for making them. + +It was immediately after this ceremony that I caused myself to be moved +to the house where I am now writing. It is a very pleasant country +seat, situated about two miles from the Frowning City, on to which it +looks. That was five months ago, during the whole of which time I have, +being confined to a kind of couch, employed my leisure in compiling +this history of our wanderings from my journal and from our joint +memories. It is probable that it will never be read, but it does not +much matter whether it is or not; at any rate, it has served to while +away many hours of suffering, for I have suffered a deal of pain +lately. Thank God, however, there will not be much more of it. + +It is a week since I wrote the above, and now I take up my pen for the +last time, for I know that the end is at hand. My brain is still clear +and I can manage to write, though with difficulty. The pain in my lung, +which has been very bad during the last week, has suddenly quite left +me, and been succeeded by a feeling of numbness of which I cannot +mistake the meaning. And just as the pain has gone, so with it all fear +of that end has departed, and I feel only as though I were going to +sink into the arms of an unutterable rest. Happily, contentedly, and +with the same sense of security with which an infant lays itself to +sleep in its mother’s arms, do I lay myself down in the arms of the +Angel Death. All the tremors, all the heart-shaking fears which have +haunted me through a life that seems long as I look back upon it, have +left me now; the storms have passed, and the Star of our Eternal Hope +shines clear and steady on the horizon that seems so far from man, and +yet is so very near to me tonight. + +And so this is the end of it—a brief space of troubling, a few +restless, fevered, anguished years, and then the arms of that great +Angel Death. Many times have I been near to them, and now it is my turn +at last, and it is well. Twenty-four hours more and the world will be +gone from me, and with it all its hopes and all its fears. The air will +close in over the space that my form filled and my place know me no +more; for the dull breath of the world’s forgetfulness will first dim +the brightness of my memory, and then blot it out for ever, and of a +truth I shall be dead. So is it with us all. How many millions have +lain as I lie, and thought these thoughts and been forgotten!—thousands +upon thousands of years ago they thought them, those dying men of the +dim past; and thousands on thousands of years hence will their +descendants think them and be in their turn forgotten. “As the breath +of the oxen in winter, as the quick star that runs along the sky, as a +little shadow that loses itself at sunset,” as I once heard a Zulu +called Ignosi put it, such is the order of our life, the order that +passeth away. + +Well, it is not a good world—nobody can say that it is, save those who +wilfully blind themselves to facts. How can a world be good in which +Money is the moving power, and Self-interest the guiding star? The +wonder is not that it is so bad, but that there should be any good left +in it. + +Still, now that my life is over, I am glad to have lived, glad to have +known the dear breath of woman’s love, and that true friendship which +can even surpass the love of woman, glad to have heard the laughter of +little children, to have seen the sun and the moon and the stars, to +have felt the kiss of the salt sea on my face, and watched the wild +game trek down to the water in the moonlight. But I should not wish to +live again! + +Everything is changing to me. The darkness draws near, and the light +departs. And yet it seems to me that through that darkness I can +already see the shining welcome of many a long-lost face. Harry is +there, and others; one above all, to my mind the sweetest and most +perfect woman that ever gladdened this grey earth. But of her I have +already written elsewhere, and at length, so why speak of her now? Why +speak of her after this long silence, now that she is again so near to +me, now that I go where she has gone? + +The sinking sun is turning the golden roof of the great Temple to a +fiery flame, and my fingers tire. + +So to all who have known me, or known of me, to all who can think one +kindly thought of the old hunter, I stretch out my hand from the +far-off shore and bid a long farewell. + +And now into the hands of Almighty God, who sent it, do I commit my +spirit. + +“I have spoken,” as the Zulus say. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. +BY ANOTHER HAND + + +A year has elapsed since our most dear friend Allan Quatermain wrote +the words “_I have spoken_” at the end of his record of our adventures. +Nor should I have ventured to make any additions to the record had it +not happened that by a most strange accident a chance has arisen of its +being conveyed to England. The chance is but a faint one, it is true; +but, as it is not probable that another will arise in our lifetimes, +Good and myself think that we may as well avail ourselves of it, such +as it is. During the last six months several Frontier Commissions have +been at work on the various boundaries of Zu-Vendis, with a view of +discovering whether there exists any possible means of ingress or +egress from the country, with the result that a channel of +communication with the outer world hitherto overlooked has been +discovered. This channel, apparently the only one (for I have +discovered that it was by it that the native who ultimately reached Mr +Mackenzie’s mission station, and whose arrival in the country, together +with the fact of his expulsion—for he _did_ arrive about three years +before ourselves—was for reasons of their own kept a dead secret by the +priests to whom he was brought), is about to be effectually closed. But +before this is done, a messenger is to be despatched bearing with him +this manuscript, and also one or two letters from Good to his friends, +and from myself to my brother George, whom it deeply grieves me to +think I shall never see again, informing them, as our next heirs, that +they are welcome to our effects in England, if the Court of Probate +will allow them to take them,[23]} inasmuchas as we have made up our +minds never to return to Europe. Indeed, it would be impossible for us +to leave Zu-Vendis even if we wished to do so. + + [23] Of course the Court of Probate would allow nothing of the + sort.—Editor. + +The messenger who is to go—and I wish him joy of his journey—is +Alphonse. For a long while he has been wearied to death of Zu-Vendis +and its inhabitants. “Oh, oui, c’est beau,” he says, with an expressive +shrug; “mais je m’ennuie; ce n’est pas chic.” Again, he complains +dreadfully of the absence of cafes and theatres, and moans continually +for his lost Annette, of whom he says he dreams three times a week. But +I fancy his secret cause of disgust at the country, putting aside the +homesickness to which every Frenchman is subject, is that the people +here laugh at him so dreadfully about his conduct on the occasion of +the great battle of the Pass about eighteen months ago, when he hid +beneath a banner in Sorais’s tent in order to avoid being sent forth to +fight, which he says would have gone against his conscience. Even the +little boys call out at him in the streets, thereby offending his pride +and making his life unbearable. At any rate, he has determined to brave +the horrors of a journey of almost unprecedented difficulty and danger, +and also to run the risk of falling into the hands of the French police +to answer for a certain little indiscretion of his own some years old +(though I do not consider that a very serious matter), rather than +remain in _ce triste pays_. Poor Alphonse! we shall be very sorry to +part with him; but I sincerely trust, for his own sake and also for the +sake of this history, which is, I think, worth giving to the world, +that he may arrive in safety. If he does, and can carry the treasure we +have provided him with in the shape of bars of solid gold, he will be, +comparatively speaking, a rich man for life, and well able to marry his +Annette, if she is still in the land of the living and willing to marry +her Alphonse. + +Anyhow, on the chance, I may as well add a word or two to dear old +Quatermain’s narrative. + +He died at dawn on the day following that on which he wrote the last +words of the last chapter. Nyleptha, Good and myself were present, and +a most touching and yet in its way beautiful scene it was. An hour +before the daybreak it became apparent to us that he was sinking, and +our distress was very keen. Indeed, Good melted into tears at the +idea—a fact that called forth a last gentle flicker of humour from our +dying friend, for even at that hour he could be humorous. Good’s +emotion had, by loosening the muscles, naturally caused his eyeglass to +fall from its accustomed place, and Quatermain, who always observed +everything, observed this also. + +“At last,” he gasped, with an attempt at a smile, “I have seen Good +without his eyeglass.” + +After that he said no more till the day broke, when he asked to be +lifted up to watch the rising of the sun for the last time. + +“In a very few minutes,” he said, after gazing earnestly at it, “I +shall have passed through those golden gates.” + +Ten minutes afterwards he raised himself and looked us fixedly in the +face. + +“I am going a stranger journey than any we have ever taken together. +Think of me sometimes,” he murmured. “God bless you all. I shall wait +for you.” And with a sigh he fell back dead. + +And so passed away a character that I consider went as near perfection +as any it has ever been my lot to encounter. + +Tender, constant, humorous, and possessing of many of the qualities +that go to make a poet, he was yet almost unrivalled as a man of action +and a citizen of the world. I never knew any one so competent to form +an accurate judgment of men and their motives. “I have studied human +nature all my life,” he would say, “and I ought to know something about +it,” and he certainly did. He had but two faults—one was his excessive +modesty, and the other a slight tendency which he had to be jealous of +anybody on whom he concentrated his affections. As regards the first of +these points, anybody who reads what he has written will be able to +form his own opinion; but I will add one last instance of it. + +As the reader will doubtless remember, it is a favourite trick of his +to talk of himself as a timid man, whereas really, though very +cautious, he possessed a most intrepid spirit, and, what is more, never +lost his head. Well, in the great battle of the Pass, where he got the +wound that finally killed him, one would imagine from the account which +he gives of the occurrence that it was a chance blow that fell on him +in the scrimmage. As a matter of fact, however, he was wounded in a +most gallant and successful attempt to save Good’s life, at the risk +and, as it ultimately turned out, at the cost of his own. Good was down +on the ground, and one of Nasta’s highlanders was about to dispatch +him, when Quatermain threw himself on to his prostrate form and +received the blow on his own body, and then, rising, killed the +soldier. + +As regards his jealousy, a single instance which I give in justice to +myself and Nyleptha will suffice. The reader will, perhaps, recollect +that in one or two places he speaks as though Nyleptha monopolised me, +and he was left by both of us rather out in the cold. Now Nyleptha is +not perfect, any more than any other woman is, and she may be a little +_exigeante_ at times, but as regards Quatermain the whole thing is pure +imagination. Thus when he complains about my not coming to see him when +he is ill, the fact was that, in spite of my entreaties, the doctors +positively forbade it. Those little remarks of his pained me very much +when I read them, for I loved Quatermain as dearly as though he were my +own father, and should never have dreamed of allowing my marriage to +interfere with that affection. But let it pass; it is, after all, but +one little weakness, which makes no great show among so many and such +lovable virtues. + +Well, he died, and Good read the Burial Service over him in the +presence of Nyleptha and myself; and then his remains were, in +deference to the popular clamour, accorded a great public funeral, or +rather cremation. I could not help thinking, however, as I marched in +that long and splendid procession up to the Temple, how he would have +hated the whole thing could he have been there to see it, for he had a +horror of ostentation. + +And so, a few minutes before sunset, on the third night after his +death, they laid him on the brazen flooring before the altar, and +waited for the last ray of the setting sun to fall upon his face. +Presently it came, and struck him like a golden arrow, crowning the +pale brows with glory, and then the trumpets blew, and the flooring +revolved, and all that remained of our beloved friend fell into the +furnace below. + +We shall never see his like again if we live a hundred years. He was +the ablest man, the truest gentleman, the firmest friend, the finest +sportsman, and, I believe, the best shot in all Africa. + +And so ended the very remarkable and adventurous life of Hunter +Quatermain. + +Since then things have gone very well with us. Good has been, and still +is, busily employed in the construction of a navy on Lake Milosis and +another of the large lakes, by means of which we hope to be able to +increase trade and commerce, and also to overcome some very troublesome +and warlike sections of the population who live upon their borders. +Poor fellow! he is beginning to get over the sad death of that +misguided but most attractive woman, Sorais, but it is a sad blow to +him, for he was really deeply attached to her. I hope, however, that he +will in time make a suitable marriage and get that unhappy business out +of his head. Nyleptha has one or two young ladies in view, especially a +daughter of Nasta’s (who was a widower), a very fine imperial-looking +girl, but with too much of her father’s intriguing, and yet haughty, +spirit to suit my taste. + +As for myself, I should scarcely know where to begin if I set to work +to describe my doings, so I had best leave them undescribed, and +content myself with saying that, on the whole, I am getting on very +well in my curious position of King-Consort—better, indeed, than I had +any right to expect. But, of course, it is not all plain sailing, and I +find the responsibilities very heavy. Still, I hope to be able to do +some good in my time, and I intend to devote myself to two great +ends—namely, to the consolidation of the various clans which together +make up the Zu-Vendi people, under one strong central government, and +to the sapping of the power of the priesthood. The first of these +reforms will, if it can be carried out, put an end to the disastrous +civil wars that have for centuries devastated this country; and the +second, besides removing a source of political danger, will pave the +road for the introduction of true religion in the place of this +senseless Sun worship. I yet hope to see the shadow of the Cross of +Christ lying on the golden dome of the Flower Temple; or, if I do not, +that my successors may. + +There is one more thing that I intend to devote myself to, and that is +the total exclusion of all foreigners from Zu-Vendis. Not, indeed, that +any more are ever likely to get here, but if they do, I warn them +fairly that they will be shown the shortest way out of the country. I +do not say this from any sense of inhospitality, but because I am +convinced of the sacred duty that rests upon me of preserving to this, +on the whole, upright and generous-hearted people the blessings of +comparative barbarism. Where would all my brave army be if some +enterprising rascal were to attack us with field-guns and +Martini-Henrys? I cannot see that gunpowder, telegraphs, steam, daily +newspapers, universal suffrage, etc., etc., have made mankind one whit +the happier than they used to be, and I am certain that they have +brought many evils in their train. I have no fancy for handing over +this beautiful country to be torn and fought for by speculators, +tourists, politicians and teachers, whose voice is as the voice of +Babel, just as those horrible creatures in the valley of the +underground river tore and fought for the body of the wild swan; nor +will I endow it with the greed, drunkenness, new diseases, gunpowder, +and general demoralization which chiefly mark the progress of +civilization amongst unsophisticated peoples. If in due course it +pleases Providence to throw Zu-Vendis open to the world, that is +another matter; but of myself I will not take the responsibility, and I +may add that Good entirely approves of my decision. Farewell. + +HENRY CURTIS. + +December 15, 18—. + +PS—I quite forgot to say that about nine months ago Nyleptha (who is +very well and, in my eyes at any rate, more beautiful than ever) +presented me with a son and heir. He is a regular curly-haired, +blue-eyed young Englishman in looks, and, though he is destined, if he +lives, to inherit the throne of Zu-Vendis, I hope I may be able to +bring him up to become what an English gentleman should be, and +generally is—which is to my mind even a prouder and a finer thing than +being born heir apparent to the great House of the Stairway, and, +indeed, the highest rank that a man can reach upon this earth. + +H. C. + + + + +NOTE BY GEORGE CURTIS, Esq. + + +The MS of this history, addressed to me in the handwriting of my dear +brother Henry Curtis, whom we had given up for dead, and bearing the +Aden postmark, reached me in safety on December 20, 18—, or a little +more than two years after it left his hands in the far centre of +Africa, and I hasten to give the astonishing story it contains to the +world. Speaking for myself, I have read it with very mixed feelings; +for though it is a great relief to know that he and Good are alive and +strangely prosperous, I cannot but feel that for me and for all their +friends they might as well be dead, since we can never hope to see them +more. + +They have cut themselves off from old England and from their homes and +their relations for ever, and perhaps, under the circumstances, they +were right and wise to do so. + +How the MS came to be posted I have been quite unable to discover; but +I presume, from the fact of its being posted at all, that the little +Frenchman, Alphonse, accomplished his hazardous journey in safety. I +have, however, advertised for him and caused various inquiries to be +made in Marseilles and elsewhere with a view of discovering his +whereabouts, but so far without the slightest success. Possibly he is +dead, and the packet was posted by another hand; or possibly he is now +happily wedded to his Annette, but still fears the vengeance of the +law, and prefers to remain incognito. I cannot say, I have not yet +abandoned my hopes of finding him, but I am bound to say that they grow +fainter day by day, and one great obstacle to my search is that nowhere +in the whole history does Mr Quatermain mention his surname. He is +always spoken of as “Alphonse”, and there are so many Alphonses. The +letters which my brother Henry says he is sending with the packet of +manuscript have never arrived, so I presume that they are lost or +destroyed. + +George Curtis + + + + +AUTHORITIES + + +A novelist is not usually asked, like a historian, for his “Quellen”. +As I have, however, judging from certain experiences in the past, some +reason to anticipate such a demand, I wish to acknowledge my +indebtedness to Mr Thomson’s admirable history of travel “Through Masai +Land” for much information as to the habits and customs of the tribes +inhabiting that portion of the East Coast, and the country where they +live; also to my brother, John G. Haggard, RN, HBM’s consul at +Madagascar, and formerly consul at Lamu, for many details furnished by +him of the mode of life and war of those engaging people the Masai; +also to my sister-in-law, Mrs John Haggard, who kindly put the lines of +p. 183 into rhyme for me; also to an extract in a review from some book +of travel of which I cannot recollect the name, to which I owe the idea +of the great crabs in the valley of the subterranean river.[24] But if +I remember right, the crabs in the book when irritated projected their +eyes quite out of their heads. I regret that I was not able to +“plagiarize” this effect, but I felt that, although crabs may, and +doubtless do, behave thus in real life, in romance they “will not do +so.” + + [24] It is suggested to me that this book is The Cruise of the + ‘Falcon’, with which work I am personally unacquainted. + +There is an underground river in “Peter Wilkins”, but at the time of +writing the foregoing pages I had not read that quaint but entertaining +work. + +It has been pointed out to me that there exists a similarity between +the scene of Umslopogaas frightening Alphonse with his axe and a scene +in Far from the Madding Crowd. I regret this coincidence, and believe +that the talented author of that work will not be inclined to accuse me +of literary immorality on its account. + +Finally, I may say that Mr Quatermain’s little Frenchman appears to +belong to the same class of beings as those English ladies whose long +yellow teeth and feet of enormous size excite our hearty amusement in +the pages of the illustrated Gallic press. + +The Writer of “Allan Quatermain.” + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALLAN QUATERMAIN *** + +***** This file should be named 711-0.txt or 711-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/7/1/711/ + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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