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| author | pgww <pgww@lists.pglaf.org> | 2025-08-06 15:22:01 -0700 |
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| committer | pgww <pgww@lists.pglaf.org> | 2025-08-06 15:22:01 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/76643-0.txt b/76643-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..be13904 --- /dev/null +++ b/76643-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8495 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76643 *** + +Heu-Heu, or The Monster + +by H. Rider Haggard + + +Garden City New York + +Doubleday, Page & Company + +1924 + +COPYRIGHT, 1923, 1924, BY +H. RIDER HAGGARD + +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED + +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES +AT + +THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y. + +First Edition + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER I. THE STORM +CHAPTER II. THE PICTURE IN THE CAVE +CHAPTER III. THE OPENER-OF-ROADS +CHAPTER IV. THE LEGEND OF HEU-HEU +CHAPTER V. ALLAN MAKES A PROMISE +CHAPTER VI. THE BLACK RIVER +CHAPTER VII. THE WALLOO +CHAPTER VIII. THE HOLY ISLE +CHAPTER IX. THE FEAST +CHAPTER X. THE SACRIFICE +CHAPTER XI. THE SLUICE GATE +CHAPTER XII. THE PLOT +CHAPTER XIII. THE TERRIBLE NIGHT +CHAPTER XIV. THE END OF HEU-HEU +CHAPTER XV. SABEELA’S FAREWELL +CHAPTER XVI. RACE FOR LIFE + +AUTHOR’S NOTE + +The author wishes to state that this tale was written in its present +form some time before the discovery in Rhodesia of the fossilized and +immeasurably ancient remains of the proto-human person who might well +have been one of the Heuheua, the “Hairy Wood-Folk,” of which it +tells through the mouth of Allan Quatermain. + +Heu-Heu, or the Monster + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE STORM + + +Now I, the Editor, whose duty it has been as an executor or otherwise, +to give to the world so many histories of, or connected with, the +adventures of my dear friend, the late Allan Quatermain, or Macumazahn, +Watcher-by-Night, as the natives in Africa used to call him, come to +one of the most curious of them all. Here I should say at once that he +told it to me many years ago at his house called “The Grange,” in +Yorkshire, where I was staying, but a little while before he departed +with Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good upon his last expedition into +the heart of Africa, whence he returned no more. + +At the time I made very copious notes of a history that struck me as +strange and suggestive, but the fact is that afterwards I lost them and +could never trust my memory to reproduce even their substance with the +accuracy which I knew my departed friend would have desired. + +Only the other day, however, in turning out a box-room, I came upon a +hand-bag which I recognized as one that I had used in the far past when +I was practising, or trying to practise, at the Bar. With a certain +emotion such as overtakes us when, after the lapse of many years, we +are confronted by articles connected with the long-dead events of our +youth, I took it to a window and with some difficulty opened its rusted +catch. In the bag was a small collection of rubbish: papers connected +with cases on which once I had worked as “devil” for an eminent and +learned friend who afterwards became a judge, a blue pencil with a +broken point, and so forth. + +I looked through the papers and studied my own marginal notes made on +points in causes which I had utterly forgotten, though doubtless these +had been important enough to me at the time, and, with a sigh, tore +them up and threw them on the floor. Then I reversed the bag to knock +out the dust. As I was doing this there slipped from an inner pocket, a +very thick notebook with a shiny black cover such as used to be bought +for sixpence. I opened that book and the first thing that my eye fell +upon was this heading: + +“Summary of A. Q.’s Strange Story of the Monster-God, or Fetish, +Heu-Heu, which He and the Hottentot Hans Discovered in Central South +Africa.” + +Instantly everything came back to me. I saw myself, a young man in +those days, making those shorthand notes late one night in my bedroom +at the Grange before the impression of old Allan’s story had become dim +in my mind, also continuing them in the train upon my journey south on +the morrow, and subsequently expanding them in my chambers at Elm Court +in the Temple whenever I found time to spare. + +I remembered, too, my annoyance when I discovered that this notebook +was nowhere to be found, although I was aware that I had put it away in +some place that I thought particularly safe. I can still see myself +hunting for it in the little study of the house I had in a London +suburb at the time, and at last giving up the quest in despair. Then +the years went on and many things happened, so that in the end both +notes and the story they outlined were forgotten. Now they have +appeared again from the dust-heap of the past, reviving many memories, +and I set out the tale of this particular chapter of the history of the +adventurous life of my beloved friend, Allan Quatermain, who so long +ago was gathered to the Shades that await us all. + +One night, after a day’s shooting, we—that is, old Allan, Sir Henry +Curtis, Captain Good, and I—were seated in the smoking room of +Quatermain’s house, the Grange, in Yorkshire, smoking and talking of +many things. + +I happened to mention that I had read a paragraph, copied from an +American paper, which stated that a huge reptile of an antediluvian +kind had been seen by some hunters in a swamp of the Zambesi, and asked +Allan if he believed the story. He shook his head and answered in a +cautious fashion which suggested to me, I remember, his unwillingness +to give his views as to the continued existence of such creatures on +the earth, that Africa is a big place and it was possible that in its +recesses prehistoric animals or reptiles lingered on. + +“I know that this is the case with snakes,” he continued hurriedly +as though to avoid the larger topic, “for once I came across one as +large as the biggest Anaconda that is told of in South America, where +occasionally they are said to reach a length of sixty feet or even +more. Indeed, we killed it—or rather my Hottentot servant, Hans, +did—after it had crushed and swallowed one of our party. This snake was +worshipped as a kind of god, and might have given rise to the tale of +enormous reptiles. Also, to omit other experiences of which I prefer +not to speak, I have seen an elephant so much above the ordinary in +size that it might have belonged to a prehistoric age. This elephant +had been known for centuries and was named Jana.” + +“Did you kill it?” inquired Good, peering at him through his +eyeglass in his quick, inquisitive way. Allan coloured beneath his tan +and wrinkles, and said, rather sharply for him, who was so gentle and +hard to irritate, + +“Have you not learned, Good, that you should never ask a hunter, and +above all a professional hunter, whether he did or did not kill a +particular head of game unless he volunteers the information. However, +if you want to know, I did not kill that elephant; it was Hans who +killed it and thereby saved my life. I missed it with both barrels at a +distance of a few yards.” + +“Oh, I say, Quatermain!” ejaculated the irrepressible Good. +“Do you mean to tell us that _you_ missed a particularly big +elephant that was only a few yards off? You must have been in a pretty +fright to do that.” + +“Have I not said that I missed it, Good? For the rest, perhaps you are +right, and I was frightened, for as you know, I never set myself up as +a person remarkable for courage. In the circumstances of the encounter +with this beast, Jana, any one might have been frightened; indeed, even +you yourself, Good. Or, if you choose to be charitable, you may +conclude that there were other reasons for that disgraceful—yes, +disgraceful exhibition of which I cannot bear to think and much less to +talk, seeing that in the end it brought about the death of old +Hans—whom I loved.” + +Now Good was about to answer again, for argument was as the breath of +his nostrils, but I saw Sir Henry stretch out his long leg and kick him +on the shin, after which he was silent. + +“To return,” said Allan hastily, as one does who desires to escape +from an unpleasant subject, “in the course of my life I did once meet, +not with a prehistoric reptile, but with a people who worshipped a +Monster-god, or fetish, of which perhaps the origin may have been a +survival from the ancient world.” + +He stopped with the air of one who meant to say no more, and I asked +eagerly: “What was it, Allan?” + +“To answer that would involve a long story, my friend,” he replied, +“and one that, if I told it, Good, I am sure, would not believe; also, +it is getting late and might bore you. Indeed, I could not finish it +to-night.” + +“There are whisky, soda, and tobacco, and whatever Curtis and Good may +do, here, fortified by these, I remain between you and the door until +you tell me that tale, Allan. You know it is rude to go to bed before +your guests, so please get on with it at once,” I added, laughing. + +The old boy hummed and hawed and looked cross, but as we all sat round +him in an irritating silence which seemed to get upon his nerves, he +began at last: + + + +Well, if you will have it, many years ago, when by comparison I was a +young man, I camped one day well up among the slopes of the +Drakensberg. I was going up Pretoria way with a load of trade goods +which I hoped to dispose of amongst the natives beyond, and when I had +done so to put in a month or two game-shooting towards the north. As it +happened, when we were in an open space of ground between two of the +foothills of the Berg, we got caught in a most awful thunderstorm, one +of the worst that ever I experienced. If I remember right, it was about +mid-January and you, my friend [this was addressed to me], know what +Natal thunderstorms can be at that hot time of the year. It seemed to +come upon us from two quarters of the sky, the fact being that it was a +twin storm of which the component parts were travelling towards each +other. + +The air grew thick and dense; then came the usual moaning, icy wind +followed by something like darkness, although it was early in the +afternoon. On the peaks of the mountains around us lightnings were +already playing, but as yet I heard no thunder, and there was no rain. +In addition to the driver and voorlooper of the wagon I had with me +Hans, of whom I was speaking just now, a little wrinkled Hottentot who, +from my boyhood, had been the companion of my journeys and adventures. +It was he who came with me as my after-rider when as a very young man I +accompanied Piet Retief on that fatal embassy to Dingaan, the Zulu +king, of whom practically all except Hans and myself were massacred. + +He was a curious, witty little fellow of uncertain age and of his sort +one of the cleverest men in Africa. I never knew his equal in resource +or in following a spoor, but, like all Hottentots, he had his faults; +thus, whenever he got the chance, he would drink like a fish and become +a useless nuisance. He had his virtues, also, since he was faithful as +a dog and—well, he loved me as a dog loves the master that has reared +it from a blind puppy. For me he would do anything—lie or steal or +commit murder, and think it no wrong, but rather a holy duty. Yes, and +any day he was prepared to die for me, as in the end he did. + +Allan paused, ostensibly to knock out his pipe, which was unnecessary, +as he had only just filled it, but really, I think, to give himself a +chance of turning towards the fire in front of which he was standing, +and thus to hide his face. Presently he swung round upon his heel in +the light, quick fashion that was one of his characteristics, and went +on: + + + +I was walking in front of the wagon, keeping a lookout for bad places +and stones in what in those days was by courtesy called the road, +though in fact it was nothing but a track twisting between the +mountains, and just behind, in his usual place—for he always stuck to +me like a shadow—was Hans. Presently I heard him cough in a hollow +fashion, as was his custom when he wanted to call my attention to +anything, and asked over my shoulder, + +“What is it, Hans?” + +“Nothing Baas,” he answered, “only that there is a big storm +coming up. Two storms, Baas, not one, and when they meet they will +begin to fight and there will be plenty of spears flying about in the +sky, and then both those clouds will weep rain or perhaps hail.” + +“Yes,” I said, “there is, but as I don’t see anywhere +to shelter, there is nothing to be done.” + +Hans came level with me and coughed again, twirling his dirty apology +for a hat in his skinny fingers, thereby intimating that he had a +suggestion to make. + +“Many years ago, Baas,” he said, pointing with his chin towards a +mass of tumbled stones at the foot of a mountain slope about a mile to +our left, “there used to be a big cave yonder, for once when I was a +boy I sheltered in it with some Bushmen. It was after the Zulus had +cleaned out Natal and there was nothing to eat in the land, so that the +people who were left fed upon one another.” + +“Then how did the Bushmen live, Hans?” + +“On slugs and grasshoppers, for the most part, Baas, and buck when they +were lucky enough to kill any with their poisoned arrows. Fried +caterpillars are not bad, Baas, nor are locusts when you can get +nothing else. I remember that I, who was starving, grew fat on them.” + +“You mean that we had better make for this cave of yours, Hans, if you +are sure it’s there?” + +“Yes, Baas, caves can’t run away, and though it is many years ago, +I don’t forget a place where I have lived for two months.” + +I looked at those advancing clouds and reflected. They were uncommonly +black and evidently there was going to be the devil of a storm. +Moreover, the situation was not pleasant for we were crossing a patch +of ironstone on which, as I knew from experience, lightning always +strikes, and a wagon and a team of oxen have an attraction for electric +flashes. + +While I was reflecting a party of Kaffirs came up from behind, running +for all they were worth, no doubt to seek shelter. They were dressed in +their finery—evidently people going to or returning from a +wedding-feast, young men and girls, most of them—and as they went by +one of them shouted to me, whom evidently he knew, as did most of the +natives in those parts, “Hurry, hurry, Macumazahn!” as you know the +Zulus called me. “Hurry, this place is beloved of lightnings,” and +he pointed with his dancing stick first to the advancing tempest and +then to the ground where the ironstone cropped up. + +That decided me, and running back to the wagon I told the voorlooper to +follow Hans, and the driver to flog up the oxen. Then I scrambled in +behind and off we went, turning to the left and heading for the place +at the foot of the slope where Hans said the cave was. Luckily the +ground was fairly flat and open—hard, too; moreover, although he had +not been there for so many years, Hans’s memory of the spot was +perfect. Indeed, as he said, it was one of his characteristics never to +forget any place that he had once visited. + +Thus, from the driving box to which I had climbed, suddenly I saw him +direct the voorlooper to bear sharply to the right and could not +imagine why, as the surface there seemed similar to that over which we +were travelling. As we passed it, however, I perceived the reason, for +here was a ground spring which turned a large patch of an acre or more +into a swamp, where certainly we should have been bogged. It was the +same with other obstacles that I need not detail. + +By now a great stillness pervaded the air and the gloom grew so thick +that the front oxen looked shadowy; also it became very cold. The +lightning continued to play upon the mountain crests, but still there +was no thunder. There was something frightening and unnatural in the +aspect of nature; even the cattle felt it, for they strained at the +yokes and went off very fast indeed, without the urgings of whip or +shouts, as though they too knew they were flying from peril. Doubtless +they did, since instinct has its voices which speak to everything that +breathes. For my part, my nerves became affected and I hoped earnestly +that we should soon reach that cave. + +Presently I hoped it still more, for at length those clouds met and +from their edges as they kissed each other came an awful burst of +fire—perhaps it was a thunderbolt—that rushed down and struck the +earth with a loud detonation. At any rate, it caused the ground to +shake and me to wish that I were anywhere else, for it fell within +fifty yards of the wagon, exactly where we had been a minute or so +before. Simultaneously there was a most awful crash of thunder, showing +that the tempest now lay immediately overhead. + +This was the opening of the ball; the first sudden burst of music. Then +the dance began with sheets and forks of flame for dancers and the +great sky for the floor upon which they performed. + +It is difficult to describe such a hellish tempest because, as you, my +friend, who have seen them, will know, they are beyond description. +Lightnings, everywhere lightnings; flash upon flash of them of all +shapes—one, I remember, looked like a crown of fire encircling the brow +of a giant cloud. Moreover, they seemed to leap upwards from the earth +as well as downwards from the heaven, to the accompaniment of one +continuous roar of thunder. + +“Where the deuce is your cave?” I yelled into the ear of Hans, who +had climbed on to the driving box beside me. + +He shrieked something in answer which I could not catch because of the +tumult, and pointed to the base of the mountain slope, now about two +hundred yards away. + +The oxen _skrecked_ and began to gallop, causing the wagon to bump and +sway so that I thought it would overset, and the voorlooper to leave +hold of the _reim_ and run alongside of them for fear lest he should be +trodden to death, guiding them as best he could, which was not well. +Luckily, however, they ran in the right direction. + +On we tore, the driver plying his whip to keep the beasts straight, and +as I could see from the motion of his lips, swearing his hardest in +Dutch and Zulu, though not a word reached my ears. At length they were +brought to a halt by the steep slope of the mountain and proceeded to +turn round and tie themselves into a kind of knot after the fashion of +frightened oxen that for any reason can no longer pull their load. + +We leapt down and began to outspan them, getting the yokes off as +quickly as we could—no easy job, I can tell you, both because of the +mess in which they were and for the reason that it must be carried out +literally under fire, since the flashes were falling all about us. +Momentarily I expected that one of them would catch the wagon and make +an end of us and our story. Indeed, I was so frightened that I was +sorely tempted to leave the oxen to their fate and bolt to the cave, if +cave there were—for I could see none. + +However, pride came to my aid, for if I ran away, how could I ever +expect my Kaffirs to stand again in a difficulty? Be as much afraid as +you like, but never show fear before a native; if you do, your +influence over him is gone. You are no longer the great White Chief of +higher blood and breeding; you are just a common fellow like himself; +inferior to himself, indeed, if he chances to be a brave specimen of a +people among whom most of the men are brave. + +So I pretended to take no heed of the lightnings, even when one struck +a thorn tree not more than thirty paces away. I happened to be looking +in that direction and saw the thorn in the flare, every bough of it. +Next second all I saw was a column of dust; the thorn had gone and one +of its splinters hit my hat. + +With the others I tugged and kicked at the oxen, getting the thongs off +the _yoke-skeis_ as best I could, till at length all were loose and +galloping away to seek shelter under overhanging rocks or where they +could in accordance with their instincts. The last two, the pole +oxen—valuable beasts—were particularly difficult to free, as they +were trying to follow their brethren and strained at the yokes so much +that in the end I had to cut the _rimpis,_ as I could not get them out +of the notches of the _yoke-skeis._ Then they tore off after the +others, but did not get far, poor brutes, for presently I saw both of +them—they were running together—go down as though they were shot +through the heart. A flash had caught them; one of them never stirred +again; the other lay on its back kicking for a few seconds and then +grew as still as its yoke-mate. + + +“And what did you say?” inquired Good in a reflective voice. + +“What would you have said, Good?” asked Allan severely, “if +you had lost your best two oxen in such a fashion, and happened not to +have a sixpence with which to buy others? Well, we all know your +command of strong language, so I do not think I need ask you to +answer.” + +“I should have said——” began Good, bracing himself to +the occasion, but Allan cut him short with a wave of his hand. + +“Something about _Jupiter Tonans,_ no doubt,” he said. + +Then he went on. + + +Well, what I said was only overheard by the recording angel, though +perhaps Hans guessed it, for he screamed at me, + +“It might have been _us,_ Baas. When the sky is angry, it will have +_something;_ better the oxen than us, Baas.” + +“The cave, you idiot!” I roared. “Shut your mouth and take us +to the cave, if there is one, for here comes the hail.” + +Hans grinned and nodded, then hastened by a large hailstone which hit +him on the head, began to skip up the hill at a surprising rate, +beckoning to the rest of us to follow. Presently we came to a tumbled +pile of rocks through which we dodged and scrambled in the gloom that +now, when the hail had begun to fall, was denser than ever between the +flashes. At the back of the biggest of these rocks Hans dived among +some bushes, dragging me after him between two stones that formed a +kind of natural gateway to a cavity beyond. + +“This is the place, Baas,” he said, wiping the blood that ran down +his forehead from a cut in the head made by the hailstone. + +As he spoke, a particularly vivid flash showed me that we were in the +mouth of a cavern of unknown size. That it must be large, however, I +guessed from the echoes of the thunder that followed the flash, which +seemed to reverberate in that hollow place from unmeasured depths in +the bowels of the mountain. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE PICTURE IN THE CAVE + + +We did not reach the cave too soon, for as the boys scrambled into it +after us the hail began to come down in earnest, and you fellows know, +or at any rate have heard, what African hail can be, especially among +the mountains of the Berg. I have known it to go through sheets of +galvanized iron like rifle bullets, and really I believe that some of +the stones which fell on this occasion would have pierced two of them +put together, for they were as big as flints and jagged at that. If +anybody had been caught in that particular storm on the open veldt +without a wagon to creep under or a saddle to put over his head, I +doubt whether he would have lived to see a clear sky again. + +The driver, who was already almost weeping with distress over the loss +of Kaptein and Deutchmann, as the two pole oxen were named, grew almost +crazed because he thought that the hail would kill the others, and +actually wanted to run out into it with the wild idea of herding them +into some shelter. I told him to sit still and not be a fool, since we +could do nothing to help them. Hans, who had a habit of growing +religious when there was lightning about, remarked sententiously that +he had no doubt that the “Great-Great” in the sky would look after +the cattle since my Reverend Father (who had converted him to the +peculiar faith, or mixture of faiths, which, with Hans, passed for +Christianity) had told him that the cattle on a thousand hills were His +especial property, and, here in the Berg, were they not among the +thousand hills? The Zulu driver who had not “found religion,” but +was just a raw savage, replied with point that if that were so the +“Great-Great” might have protected Kaptein and Deutchmann, which He +had clearly neglected to do. Then, after the fashion of some furious +woman, by way of relieving his nerves, he fell to abusing Hans, whom he +called “a yellow jackal,” adding that the tail of the worst of the +oxen was of more value than his whole body, and that he wished his +worthless skin were catching the hailstones instead of their +inestimable hides. + +These nasty remarks about his personal appearance irritated Hans, who +drew up his lips as does an angry dog, and replied in suitable +language, which involved reflections upon that Zulu’s family, and +especially on his mother. In short, had I not intervened there would +have been a very pretty row that might have ended in a blow from a +kerry or a knife thrust. This, however, I did with vigour, saying that +he who spoke another word should be kicked out of the cave to keep +company with the hail and the lightning, after which peace was +restored. + +That storm went on for a long while, for after it had seemed to go away +it returned again, travelling in a circle as such tempests sometimes +do, and when the hail was finished, it was followed by torrential rain. +The result was that by the time the thunder had ceased to roar and echo +among the mountain-tops darkness was at hand, so it became evident that +we must stop where we were for the night, especially as the boys, who +had gone out to look for the oxen, reported that they could not find +them. This was not pleasant, as the cave was uncommonly cold and the +wagon was too soaked with the rain to sleep in. + +Here, however, once more Hans’s memory came in useful. Having borrowed +my matches, he crept off down the cave and presently returned, dragging +a quantity of wood after him, dusty and worm-eaten-looking wood, but +dry and very suitable for firing. + +“Where did you get that?” I asked. + +“Baas,” he replied, “when I lived in this place with the +Bushmen, long before those black children” (this insult referred to the +driver and the voorlooper, Mavoon and Induka by name) “were begotten of +their unknown fathers, I hid away a great stock of wood for the winter, +or in case I should ever come back here, and there it is still, covered +with stones and dust. The ants that run about the ground do the same +thing, Baas, that their children may have food when they are dead. So +now if those Kaffirs will help me to get the wood we may have a good +fire and be warm.” + +Marvelling at the little Hottentot’s foresight that was bred into his +blood by the necessities of a hundred generations of his forefathers, I +bade the others to accompany him to the cache, which they did, +glowering, with the result that presently we had a glorious fire. Then +I fetched some food, for luckily I had killed a Duiker buck that +morning, the flesh of which we toasted on the embers, and with it a +bottle of Square-face from the wagon, so that soon we were eating a +splendid dinner. I know that there are many who do not approve of +giving spirits to natives, but for my part I have found that when they +are chilled and tired a “tot” does them no harm and wonderfully +improves their tempers. The trouble was to prevent Hans from getting +more than one, to do which I made a bedfellow of that bottle of +Square-face. + +When we were filled I lit my pipe and began to talk with Hans, whom the +grog had made loquacious and therefore interesting. He asked me how old +the cave was, and I told him that it was as old as the mountains of the +Berg. He answered that he had thought so because there were footprints +stamped in the rock floor farther down it, and turned to stone, which +were not made by any beasts that he had ever heard of or seen, which +footprints he would show me on the morrow if I cared to look at them. +Further, that there were queer bones lying about, also turned to stone, +that he thought must have belonged to giants. He believed that he could +find some of these bones when the sun shone into the cave in the early +morning. + +Then I explained to Hans and the Kaffirs how once, thousands of +thousands of years ago, before there were any men in the world, great +creatures had lived there, huge elephants and reptiles as large as a +hundred crocodiles made into one, and, as I had been told, enormous +apes, much bigger than any gorilla. They were very interested, and Hans +said that it was quite true about the apes, since he had seen a picture +of one of them, or of a giant that looked like an ape. + +“Where?” I asked. “In a book?” + +“No, Baas, here in this cave. The Bushmen made it ten thousand years +ago.” By which he meant at some indefinite time in the past. + +Now I bethought me of a fabulous creature called the _Ngoloko_ which +was said to inhabit an undefined area of swamps on the East Coast and +elsewhere. This animal, in which, I may add, I did not in the least +believe, for I set it down as a native bogey, was supposed to be at +least eight feet high, to be covered with gray hair and to have a claw +in the place of toes. My chief authority for it was a strange old +Portuguese hunter whom I had once known, who swore that he had seen its +footprints in the mud, also that it had killed one of his men and +twisted the head off his body. I asked Hans if he had ever heard of it. +He replied that he had, under another name, that of _Milhoy,_ I think, +but that the devil painted in the cave was larger than that. + +Now I thought that he was pitching me a yarn, as natives will, and said +that if so he had better show me the picture forthwith. + +“Best wait until the sun shines in the morning, Baas,” he replied, +“for then the light will be good. Also this devil is not nice to look +at at night.” + +“Show it me,” I repeated with asperity; “we have lanterns +from the wagon.” + +So, somewhat unwillingly, Hans led the way up the cave for fifty paces +or more, for the place was very big, he carrying one lantern and I +another, while the two Zulus followed with candles in their hands. As +we went I saw that on the walls there were many Bushmen paintings, also +one or two of the carvings of this strange people. Some of these +paintings seemed quite fresh, while others were faded or perhaps the +ochre used by the primitive artist had flaked off. They were of the +usual character, drawings of elands and other buck being hunted by men +who shot at them with arrows; also of elephants and a lion charging at +some spearmen. + +One, however, which oddly enough was the best preserved of any of the +collection, excited me enormously. It represented men whose faces were +painted white and who seemed to wear a kind of armour and queer pointed +caps upon their heads, of the sort that I believe are known as +Phrygian, attacking a native kraal of which the reed fence was clearly +indicated, as were the round huts behind. Moreover, to the left some of +these men were dragging away women to what from a series of wavy lines, +looked like a rude representation of the sea. + +I stared and gasped, for surely here before me was a picture of +Phœnicians carrying out one of their women-hunting raids, as +ancient writers tell us it was their habit to do. And if so, that +picture must have been painted by a Bushman who lived at least two +thousand years ago, and possibly more. The thing was amazing. Hans, +however, did not seem to be interested, but pushed on as though to +finish a disagreeable task, and I was obliged to follow him, fearing +lest I should be lost in the recesses of that vast cave. + +Presently he came to a crevice in the side of the cavern which I should +have passed unnoticed, as it was exactly like many others. + +“Here is the place, Baas,” he said, “just as it used to be. +Now follow me and be careful where you step, for there are cracks in +the floor.” + +So I squeezed myself into the opening where, although I am not very +large, there was barely room for me to pass. Within its lips was a +narrow tunnel, either cut out by water or formed by the rush of +explosive gases hundreds of thousands of years ago—I think the latter, +as the roof, which was not more than eight or nine feet from the floor, +had sharp points and roughnesses that showed no water-wear. But as I +have not the faintest idea how these great African caves were formed, I +will not attempt to discuss the matter. This floor, however, was quite +smooth, as though for many generations it had been worn by the feet of +men, which no doubt was the case. + +When we had crept ten or twelve paces down the tunnel, Hans called to +me to stand quite still—not to move on any account. I obeyed him, +wondering, and by the light of my lantern saw him lift his own, which +had a loop of hide fastened through the tin eye at the top of it for +convenience in hanging it up in the wagon, and set it, or rather the +hide loop, round his neck, so that it hung upon his back. Then he +flattened himself against the side of the cavern with his face to the +wall as though he did not wish to see what was behind him, and +cautiously crept forward with sidelong steps, gripping the roughnesses +in the rock with his hands. When he had gone some twenty or thirty feet +in this crab-like fashion, he turned and said, + +“Now, Baas, you must do as I did.” + +“Why?” I asked. + +“Hold down the lantern and you will see, Baas.” + +I did so, and perceived that a pace or two farther on there was a great +chasm in the floor of the tunnel of unknown depth, since the lamplight +did not penetrate to its bottom. Also I noted that the ledge at the +side that formed the bridge by which Hans had passed, was nowhere more +than twelve inches, and in some places less than six inches wide. + +“Is it deep?” I asked. + +By way of answer Hans found a bit of broken rock and threw it into the +gulf. I listened, and it was quite a long while before I heard it +strike below. + +“I told the Baas,” said Hans in a superior tone, “that he had +better wait until to-morrow when some light comes down this hole, but +the Baas would not listen to me and doubtless he knows best. Now would +the Baas like to go back to bed, as I think wisest, and return +to-morrow?” + +If the truth were known there was nothing that I should have liked +better, for the place was detestable. But I was in such a rage with +Hans for playing me this trick that even if I thought that I was going +to break my neck I would not give him the pleasure of mocking me in his +sly way. + +“No,” I answered quietly, “I will go to bed when I have seen +this picture you talk about, and not before.” + +Now Hans grew alarmed and begged me in good earnest not to try to cross +the gulf, which reminded me vaguely of the parable of Abraham and Dives +in the Bible, with myself playing the part of Dives, except that I was +not thirsty, and Hans did not in any way resemble Abraham. + +“I see how it is,” I said, “there is not any picture and you +are simply playing one of your monkey tricks on me. Well, I’m coming to +look, and if I find you have been telling lies I’ll make you sorry for +yourself.” + +“The picture is there or was when I was young,” answered Hans +sullenly, “and for the rest, the Baas knows best. If he breaks every +bone in his body presently, don’t let him blame me, and I pray that he +will tell the truth, all of it, to his Reverend Father in the sky who +left him in my charge, saying that Hans begged him not to come but that +because of his evil temper he would not listen. Meanwhile, the Baas had +better take off his boots, since the feet of those Bushmen whose spooks +I feel all about me have made the ledge very slippery.” + +In silence I sat down and removed my boots, thinking to myself that I +would gladly give all my savings that were on deposit in the bank at +Durban, to be spared this ordeal. What a strange thing is the white +man’s pride, especially if he be of the Anglo-Saxon breed, or what +passes by that name. There was no need for me to take this risk, yet, +rather than be secretly mocked at by Hans and those Kaffirs, here I was +about to do so just for pride’s sake. In my heart I cursed Hans and the +cave and the hole and the picture and the thunderstorm that brought me +there, and everything else I could remember. Then, as it had no strap +like that of Hans, although it smelt horribly, I took the tin loop of +my lantern in my teeth because it seemed the only thing to do, put up a +silent but most earnest prayer, and started as though I liked the job. + +To tell the truth, I remember little of that journey except that it +seemed to take about three hours instead of under a minute, and the +voices of woe and lamentation from the two Zulus behind, who insisted +upon bidding me a tender farewell as I proceeded, amidst other +demonstrations of affection, calling me their father and their mother +for four generations. + +Somehow I wriggled myself along that accursed ridge, shoving my stomach +as hard as I could against the wall of the passage as though this organ +possessed some prehensile quality, and groping for knobs of rock on +which I broke two of my nails. However, I did get over all right, +although just towards the end one of my feet slipped and I opened my +mouth to say something, with the result that the lantern fell into the +abyss, taking with it a loose front tooth. But Hans stretched out his +skinny hand, and, meaning to catch me by the coat collar, got hold of +my left ear, and, thus painfully supported, I came to firm ground and +cursed him into heaps. Although some might have thought my language +pointed, he did not resent it in the least, being too delighted at my +safe arrival. + +“Never mind the tooth, Baas, he said. It is best that it should be gone +without knowing it, as it were, because you see you can now eat crusts +and hard biltong again, which you have not been able to do for months. +The lantern, however, is another matter, though perhaps we can get a +new one at Pretoria or wherever we go.” + +Recovering myself, I peered over the edge of the abyss. There, far, far +below, I saw my lantern, which was of a sort that burns oil, flaring +upon a bed of something white, for the container had burst and all the +oil was on fire. + +“What is that white stuff down there?” I asked. “Lime?” + +“No, Baas, it is the broken bones of men. Once when I was young, with +the help of the Bushmen, I let myself down by a rope that we twisted +out of rushes and buckskins, just to look, Baas. There is another cave +underneath this one, Baas, but I didn’t go into it because I was +frightened.” + +“And how did all those bones come there, Hans? Why, there must be +hundreds of them!” + +“Yes, Baas, many hundreds, and they came this way. Since the beginning +of the world the Bushmen lived in this cave and set a trap here by +laying branches over the hole and covering them with dust so that they +looked like rock, just as one makes a game pit, Baas—yes, they did this +until the last of them were killed not so long ago by the Boers and +Zulus, whose sheep and beasts they stole. Then when their enemies +attacked them, which was often, for it has always been right to kill +Bushmen—they would run down the cave and into the cleft and creep along +the narrow edge of rock, which they could do with their eyes shut. But +the silly Kaffirs, or whoever it might be, running after them to kill +them would fall through the branches and get killed themselves. They +must have done this quite often, Baas, since there are such a lot of +their skulls down there, many of them quite black with age and turned +to stone.” + +“One might have thought that the Kaffirs would have grown wiser, +Hans.” + +“Yes, Baas, but the dead keep their wisdom to themselves, for I believe +that when all the attackers were in the passage, then other Bushmen, +who had been hiding in the cave, came up behind and shot them with +poisoned arrows and drove them on into the hole so that none went back; +indeed, the Bushmen told me that this used to be their fathers’ plan. +Also, if any did escape, in a generation or two all was forgotten, and +the same thing happened again because, Baas, there are always plenty of +fools in the world and the fool who comes after is just as big as the +fool who went before. Death spills the water of wisdom upon the sand, +Baas, and sand is thirsty stuff that soon grows dry again. If it were +not so, Baas, men would soon stop falling in love with women, and yet +even great ones—like you, Baas—fall in love.” + +Having delivered this thrust, in order to prevent the possibility of +answer Hans began to chat with the driver and the voorlooper on the +other side of the gulf. + +“Be quick and come over, you brave Zulus there,” he said, +“for you are keeping your Chief waiting and me also.” + +The Zulus, holding their candles forward, peered into the pit below. + +“_Ow!_” said one of them, “are we bats that we can fly +over a hole like that or baboons that we can climb on a shelf no wider +than a spear, or flies that we can walk upon a wall? _Ow!_ we are not +coming, we will wait here. That road is only for yellow monkeys like +you or for those who have the white man’s magic like the Inkoos +Macumazahn.” + +“No,” replied Hans reflectively, “you are none of these +creatures which are all of them good in their way. You are just a +couple of low-born Kaffir cowards, black skins blown up to look like +men. I, the ‘yellow jackal’ can walk the gulf, and the Baas can +walk the gulf, but you, Windbags, cannot even float over it for fear +lest you should burst in the middle. Well, Windbags, float back to the +wagon and fetch the coil of small rope that is in the _voorkissie,_ for +we may want it.” + +One of them replied in a humbled voice that they did not take orders +from him, a Hottentot, whereon I said, + +“Go and fetch the rope and return at once.” + +So they went with a dejected air, for Hans’s winged words had gone +home, and again they learned that at the end he always got the best of +a quarrel. The truth is that they were as brave as men can be, but no +Zulu is any good underground and least of all in the dark in a place +that he thinks haunted. + +“Now, Baas,” said Hans, “we will go and look at the +picture—that is, unless you are quite sure I am lying and that there is +no picture, in which case it is not worth while to take the trouble, +and you had better sit here and cut your broken nails until Mavoon and +Induka come back with the rope.” + +“Oh, get on, you poisonous little vermin!” I said, exasperated by +his jeers, emphasizing my words with a tremendous kick. + +Here, however, I made a great mistake, since I had forgotten that at +the moment I lacked boots, and either Hans carried a collection of hard +articles in the seat of his filthy trousers or his posterior was of a +singularly stonelike nature. In short, I hurt my toes most abominably +and him not at all. + +“Ah, Baas,” said Hans with a sweet smile, “you should +remember what your Reverend Father taught me: always to put on your +boots before you kick against the thorn pricks. I have a gimlet and +some nails in my pistol pocket, Baas, that I was using this morning to +mend that box of yours.” + +Then he bolted incontinently lest I should experiment on his head and +see if there were nails in that also, and as he had the only lantern, I +was obliged to limp, or rather to hop, after him. + +The passage, of which the floor was still worn smooth by thousands of +dead feet, went on straight for eight or ten paces and then bent to the +right. When we came to this elbow in it I saw a light ahead of me which +I could not understand till presently I found myself standing in a kind +of pit or funnel—it may have measured some thirty feet across—that +rose from the level at which we stood, right through the strata to the +mountain-side eighty or a hundred feet above us. What had formed it +thus I cannot conceive, but there it was—a funnel, as I have said, in +shape exactly like those that are used when beer is poured into barrels +or port wine into a decanter, the place on which we were, being, of +course, its narrower end. The light that I had seen came, therefore, +from the sky, which, now that the tempest had passed away, was +clean-washed and beautiful, sown with stars also, for at the moment a +dense black cloud remaining from the storm hid the moon, now just past +its full. + +For a little way, perhaps five-and-twenty feet, the sides of this +tunnel were almost sheer, after which they sloped outwards steeply to +the mouth of the pit in the mountain flank. One other peculiarity I +noticed—namely, that on the western face of the tunnel which, as it +chanced, was in front of us as we stood, just where it began to expand, +projected a sloping ridge of rock like to the roof of a lean-to shed, +which ridge ran right across this face. + +“Well, Hans,” I said, when I had inspected this strange natural +cavity, “where is your picture? I don’t see it.” + +“_Wacht een beetje_” (that is, “Wait a bit”), +“Baas. The moon is climbing up that cloud; presently she will get to +the top of it and then you will see the picture, unless someone has +rubbed it out since I was young.” + +I turned to look at the cloud and to witness a sight of which I never +have grown tired: the uprising of the glorious African moon out of her +secret halls of blackness. Already silver rays of light were shooting +across the vastness of the firmament, causing the stars to pale. Then +suddenly her bent edge appeared and with extraordinary swiftness grew +and grew till the whole splendid orb emerged from a bed of inky vapour +and for a while rested on its marge, perfect, wonderful! In an instant +our hole was filled with light so strong and clear that by it I could +have read a letter. + +For a few moments I stood thrilled with the beauty of the scene, and +forgetting all else in its contemplation, till Hans said with a hoarse +cackle, + +“Now turn round, Baas, and look at the pretty picture.” + +I did so, and followed the line of his outstretched hand, which pointed +to that face of the rock with the pent roof that looked towards the +east. Next second—my friends, I am not exaggerating—I nearly fell +backwards. Have any of you fellows ever had a nightmare in which you +dreamed you were in hell and suddenly met the devil +tête-à-tête, all by your little selves? At any rate, +I have, and there in front of me was the devil, only much worse than +fond fancy can paint him even with the brush of the acutest +indigestion. + +Imagine a monster double life size—that is to say, eleven or twelve +feet high—brilliantly portrayed in the best ochres of which these +Bushmen have always had the secret, namely, white, red, black, and +yellow, and with eyes formed apparently of polished lumps of rock +crystal. Imagine this thing as a huge ape to which the biggest gorilla +would be but a child, and yet not an ape but a man, and yet not a man, +but a fiend. + +It was covered with hair like an ape, long gray hair that grew in +tufts. It had a great red, bushy beard like a man; its limbs were +tremendous, the arms being of abnormal length like to the arms of a +gorilla, but, mark this, it had no fingers, only a great claw where the +thumb should be. The rest of the hand was all grown together into one +piece like a duck’s foot, although what should have been the finger +part was flexible and could grip like fingers, as shall be seen. + +At least, that is what the picture suggested, though it occurred to me +afterwards that it might represent the creature as wearing fingerless +gloves such as men in this country use when cutting fences. The feet +however, which were certainly shown as bare, were the same; I mean that +there were no toes, only one terrible claw where the big toe should be. +The carcass was enormous; supposing it to have been drawn from life, +the original, I should guess, would have weighed at least thirty stone; +the chest was vast, indicating gigantic strength, and the paunch +beneath wrinkled and protuberant. But—and here came one of the human +touches—about its middle the thing wore a moocha or, rather, a hide +tied round it by the leg skins, which hide seemed to have been dressed. + +So much for the body. Now for the head and face. + +These I know not how to describe, but I will try. The neck was as that +of a bull, and perched horribly on the top of it was a quite small +head, which—notwithstanding the great red beard whereof I have spoken +that grew upon the chin, and a wide mouth from whose upper jaw +projected yellow tushes like to those of a baboon that hung over the +lower lip—was curiously feminine in appearance; indeed, that of an old, +old she-devil with an aquiline nose. The brow, however, was +disproportionate to the rest of the face, being prominent, massive, and +not unintellectual, while set deep in it and unnaturally far apart were +those awful glaring crystal eyes. + +That was not all, for the creature seemed to be laughing cruelly, and +the drawing showed why it laughed. One of its feet was set upon the +body of a man into which the great claw was driven deep. One of its +hands held the head of the man, that evidently it had just twisted from +the body. The other hand grasped by the hair a living naked girl badly +drawn, as though this detail had not interested the artist, whom +apparently it was about to drag away. + +“Isn’t it a pretty picture, Baas?” sniggered Hans. “Now +the Baas will not say that I tell lies, no, not for quite a week.” + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE OPENER-OF-ROADS + + +I stared and stared, then was overcome with faintness and sat down upon +the ground. + +I see you laughing at me, young man [this was addressed to me, the +recorder of the tale] who no doubt have already decided that this +drawing was the work of some imaginative Bushman who had gone mad and +set down upon the rock the hellish dream of a mind diseased. Of course, +that was the conclusion I came to myself next morning, though +afterwards I changed my opinion, but at the time it did not strike me +like that. + +The place was lonesome and eerie, a horrible place with the pit full of +bones near by; heavily silent also except for a distant hyena or jackal +howling at the moon, and I had gone through some trials that day—the +passage of the death-pit, for instance, which reminded me of the +oubliettes in ancient Norman castles that I have read of down which +prisoners were hurled to doom. Also, as you may have observed, even in +your short career, moonlight differs from sun-light and we, or some of +us, are much more affected by horrible things at night than we are by +day. At any rate, I sat down because I felt faint and thought that I +was going to be ill. + +“What is it, Baas?” queried the observant Hans, still mocking. +“If you want to be sick, Baas, please don’t mind me, for I’ll +turn my back. I remember that I was sick myself when first I saw +Heu-Heu—just there,” he added reminiscently, pointing to a certain +spot. + +“Why do you call that thing ‘Heu-Heu,’ Hans?” I asked, +trying to master the reflex action of my interior arrangements. + +“Because that is his nice name, Baas, given him by his Mammie when he +was little, perhaps.” + +(Here I nearly _was_ sick, the idea of that creature with a mother +almost finished me—like the sight and smell of a bit of fat bacon in a +gale at sea.) + +“How do you know that?” I gurgled. + +“Because the Bushmen told me, Baas. They said that their fathers, a +thousand years ago, knew this Heu-Heu far away, and that they left that +part of the country because of him as they never slept well at night +there, just like a Boer when another Boer comes and builds a house +within six miles of him, Baas. I think they meant that they heard +Heu-Heu when he talked, for they told me that their +great-great-grand-fathers could hear him doing it and beating his +breast when he was miles away. But I daresay they lied, for I don’t +believe they really knew anything about Heu-Heu, or who painted his +portrait on the rock, Baas.” + +“No,” I answered, “nor do I. Well, Hans, I think I have had +enough of your friend Heu-Heu for this evening, and should like to go +back to bed.” + +“Yes, Baas, so should I, Baas. Still, take another good look at him +before you leave. You don’t see a picture like that every night, Baas, +and you know you wanted to come.” + +Now I would have kicked Hans again, but luckily I remembered those +nails in his pocket in time, so, after one lingering glance, I only +rose and loftily motioned to him to lead on. + +This was the last that I saw of the likeness of Heu-Heu or Beelzebub, +or whoever the monster may have been. Somehow, although I intended to +return to examine it more closely by the light of day, when morning +came I thought that I would not risk another scramble over that ledge +but would be satisfied with the memory of first impressions. These they +say, are always the best—like first kisses, as Hans added when I +explained this to him. + +Not that I could forget Heu-Heu; on the contrary, it is not too much to +say that this devilish creature haunted me. I could not dismiss that +picture as some mere flight of distorted savage imagination. From a +hundred characteristics I knew or thought I knew it, erroneously as I +now believe, to be Bushmen’s work and was certain that no Bushman, even +if he had _delirium tremens_—not a complaint from which these people +ever suffered, because they lacked the opportunity of doing so, could +have evolved this monstrous creation out of his own soul—if a Bushman +has a soul. No, Bushman or not, that artist was drawing something that +he had seen, or thought that he had seen. + +Of this there were several indications. Thus, on Heu-Heu’s right arm +the elbow joint was much swollen as though he had once suffered an +injury there. Again, the claw of one of his horrible hands—the left, I +think—was broken and divided at the point. Further, there was a wart or +protuberance upon the brow, just beneath where the long iron-gray tufts +of hair parted in the middle and hung down on each side of the +demoniacal, womanish face. Now the painter must have remembered these +blemishes and set them down faithfully, copying from some original, +real or imagined. Certainly, I reflected, he would not have invented +them. + +Where, then, did he get his model? I have mentioned that I had heard +rumours of creatures called _Ngolokos,_ which I took it, if they +existed at all, were peculiarly terrific apes of an unknown variety. +Heu-Heu, then, might be a most distinguished and improved specimen of +these apes. Yet that could scarcely be, for this beast was more man +than monkey, notwithstanding his huge claws where the thumbs and big +toes should be. Or perhaps I should say that he was more devil than +either. + +Another idea occurred to me: he might have been the god of these +Bushmen, only I never heard that they had any god except their own +stomachs. Afterwards I questioned Hans on this point but he replied +that he did not know, as the Bushmen he lived with in the cave had +never told him anything to that effect. It was true, however, that they +did not go to the place where the picture was except through fear of +enemies, and that when they did they would not look or speak about it +more than they could help. Perhaps, he suggested with his usual +shrewdness, Heu-Heu might be the god of some other people with whom the +Bushmen had nothing to do. + +Another question—when was this work executed? Owing to its sheltered +position the colours were still fairly bright, but it must have been a +long while ago. Hans said that the Bushmen told him that they did not +know who painted it or what it represented, but that it was “_old, old, +old!_” which might mean anything or nothing, since to a people without +writing five or six generations become remote antiquity. One thing was +certain, however, that another of the paintings in that cave was +undoubtedly old, that of the Phœnicians raiding a kraal of which +I have spoken, which can scarcely have been executed since the time of +Christ. Of this I am sure, for I examined it carefully on the following +morning and it was not more faded than that of the Monster. Further, in +his picture a piece of the rock had scaled off just above the left +knee, and I had noticed that the surface thus exposed seemed as much +weathered as that of the surrounding rock outside the limits of the +painting. + +On the other hand, it must be remembered that the Phœnician +picture was under cover, while that of Heu-Heu was exposed to the air +and would therefore age more rapidly. + +Well, all that night I dreamed of this horrid Heu-Heu, dreamed that he +was alive and challenging me to fight him, dreamed that someone was +calling to me to rescue her—it was certainly her—not him—from +the power of the beast; dreamed that I did fight him and that he got me +down and was about to twist my head off as he had done to the man in +the picture, when something happened—I do not know what—and I woke +up covered with perspiration and in a most pitiable fright. + + +Now at the time I visited this cave I was not far from the borders of +Zululand on one of my trading expeditions, the wagon being laden with +blankets, beads, iron pots, knives, hoes, and such other articles as +the simple savage loves, or in those days loved to pay for in cattle. +Before the storm overtook us, however, I was contemplating leaving the +Zulus alone on this trip and trying to break new ground somewhere north +of Pretoria among less sophisticated natives who might put a higher +value on my wares. After seeing Heu-Heu, as it chanced, I changed my +mind for two reasons. The first of these was that the lightning had +killed my two best oxen and I thought that I could replace these +without cash expenditure in Zululand, where debts were owing to me that +I might collect in kind. The second was connected with that confounded +and obsessing Heu-Heu. I felt convinced that only one man in the world +could tell me about this monster, if, indeed, there were anything to +tell, namely, old Zikali, the wizard of the Black Kloof, the +_Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,_ as Chaka, the great Zulu +king, named him. + +I think that I have told you all about Zikali before, but in case I +have not, I will say that he was the greatest witch doctor who ever +lived in Zululand and the most terrible. No one knew when he was born, +but undoubtedly he was very ancient and under his native name of +“Opener-of-Roads” had been known and dreaded in the land for some +generations. For many years, since my boyhood, indeed, he and I had +been friends in a fashion, though of course I was aware that from the +first he was using me for his own ends, as, indeed, became very clear +before all was done and he had triumphed over and brought about the +fall of the Zulu Royal House, which he hated. + +However, Zikali, like a wise merchant, always paid those who served him +with a generous hand, in one coin or another, as he paid those he +hated. My coin was information, either historical or concerning the +hidden secrets of the strange land of Africa, of which, for all our +knowledge, we white men really understand so little. If any one could +give information about the picture in the cave and its origin, it would +be Zikali, and therefore to Zikali I would go. Curiosity about such +matters, as perhaps you have guessed, was always one of my besetting +sins. + + +We had great trouble in recovering our remaining fourteen oxen since +some of them had wandered far to find cover from the storm. At last, +however, they were found uninjured except for some bruises from the +hailstones, for it is wonderful, if they are left alone, how cattle +manage to protect themselves against the forces of nature. In Africa, +however, they seldom take shelter beneath trees during a thunderstorm, +as is their habit here in England, perhaps because, such tempests being +so frequent, they have inherited from their progenitors an instinctive +knowledge that lightning strikes trees and kills anything that happens +to be underneath them. At least, that is my experience. + +Well, we inspanned and trekked away from that remarkable cave. Many +years afterwards, by the way, when Hans was dead, I tried to find it +again and could not. I thought that I reached the same mountain slope +in which it was, but I suppose that I must have been mistaken, since in +that neighbourhood there are multitudes of such slopes and on the one +that I identified I could discover no trace of the cave. + +Perhaps this was because there had been a land-slide and, with the +funnel-like shaft in the mountain side down which the moonlight poured +on to the picture of Heu-Heu, the orifice that, it will be remembered, +was very small, had been covered up with rocks. Or it may be that I was +searching the wrong slope, not having taken my bearings sufficiently +when I visited the place at a time of tempest and hurry. + +Further, I was pressed and, desiring to reach a certain outspan before +night fell, could only give about an hour to the quest and when it +failed was obliged to get on. Nor have I ever met any one who was +acquainted with this cave, so I suppose that it must have been known to +the Bushmen and Hans only, dead now all of them, which is a pity +because of the wonderful paintings that it contains or contained. + +You will remember I told you that just before the storm broke we were +overtaken by a party of Kaffirs going to or returning from some feast. +When we had gone about half a mile we found one of those Kaffirs again +quite dead, but whether he (the body was that of a young man) had been +killed by the lightning or by the hail, I was not sure. Evidently his +companions were so frightened that they had left him where he lay, +proposing, I suppose, to return and bury him later. So you will see +that when it gave us shelter, this cave did us a good turn. + + +Now I will skip all the details of my trek into Zululand, which was as +are other treks, only slower, because it was a hard job to get that +heavily laden wagon along with but fourteen oxen. Once, indeed, we +stuck in a river, the White Umfolozi, quite near to the Nongela Rock or +Cliff which frowns above a pool of the river. I shall never forget that +accident because it caused me to be the unwilling witness of a very +dreadful sight. + +Whilst we were fast in the drift a party of men appeared upon the brow +of this Nongela Rock, about two hundred and fifty yards away, dragging +with them two young women. Studying them through my glasses, I came to +the conclusion from the way they moved their heads and stared wildly +about them, that these young women were blind or had been blinded. As I +looked at them, wondering what to do, the men seized the women by the +arms and hurled them over the edge of the cliff. With a piteous wail +the poor creatures rolled down the stratified rock into the deep pool +below and there the crocodiles got them, for distinctly I saw the rush +of the reptiles. Indeed, in this pool they were always on the look-out, +as it was a favourite place of execution under the Zulu kings. + +When their horrible business was finished the party of +“slayers”—there were about fifteen of them—came down to +the ford to interview us. At first I thought there might be trouble, +and to tell the truth, should not have been sorry, for the sight of +this butchery had made me furious and reckless. As soon as they found +out, however, that the wagon belonged to me, Macumazahn, they were all +amiability, and wading into the water, tackled on to the wheels, with +the result that by their help we came safe to the farther bank. + +There I asked their leader who the two murdered girls might be. He +replied that they were the daughters of Panda, the King. I did not +question this statement although, knowing Panda’s kindly character, I +doubted very much whether they were actually his children. Then I asked +why they were blind, and what crime they had committed. The captain +replied that they had been blinded by the order of Prince Cetywayo, who +even then was the real ruler of Zululand, because “they had looked +where they should not.” + +Further inquiry elicited the fact that these unhappy girls had fallen +in love with two young men, and run away with them against the King’s +orders, or Cetywayo’s, which was the same thing. The party were +overtaken before they could reach the Natal border, where they would +have been safe; the young men were killed at once and the girls brought +up for judgment, with the result that I have described. Such was the +end of their honeymoon! + +Moreover, the captain informed me cheerfully that a body of soldiers +had been sent out to kill the fathers and mothers of the young men and +all who could be found in their kraals. This kind of free love must be +put a stop to, he said, as there had been too much of it going on; +indeed, he did not know what had come to the young people in Zululand, +who had grown very independent of late, contaminated, no doubt, by the +example of the Zulus in Natal, where the white men allowed them to do +what they liked without punishment. + +Then with a sigh over the degeneracy of the times, this crusted old +conservative took a pinch of snuff, bade me a hearty farewell, and +departed, singing a little song which I think he must have invented, as +it was about the love of children for their parents. If it had been +safe I should have liked to let him have a charge of shot behind to +take away as a souvenir, but it was not. Also, after all, he was but an +executive officer, a product of the iron system of Zululand in the day +of the kings. + +Well, I trekked on, trading as I went, and getting paid in cows and +heifers, which I sent back to Natal, but could come by no oxen that +were fit for the yoke, and much less any that had been broken in, since +in those days such were almost unknown in Zululand. However, I did hear +of some that had been left behind by a white trader because they were +sick or footsore, I forget which, who took young cattle in exchange for +them. These were said now to be fat again, but no one seemed to know +exactly where they were. One friendly chief told me, however, that the +“Opener-of-Roads,” that is, old Zikali, might be able to do so, as +he knew everything and the oxen had been traded away in his district. + +Now by this time, although I was still obsessed about Heu-Heu, I had +almost made up my mind to abandon the idea of visiting Zikali on this +trip, because I had noticed that whenever I did so, always I became +involved in arduous and unpleasant adventures as an immediate +consequence. Being, however, badly in need of more oxen, for, not to +mention the two that were dead, others of my team seemed never to have +recovered from the effects of the hailstorm and one or two showed signs +of sickness, this news caused me to revert to my original plan. So +after consultation with Hans, who also thought it the best thing to be +done, I headed for the Black Kloof, which was only two short days’ trek +away. + +Arriving at the mouth of that hateful and forbidding gulf on the +afternoon of the second day, I outspanned by the spring and, leaving +the cattle in charge of Mavoon and Induka, walked up it accompanied by +Hans. + +The place, of course, was just as it had always been, and yet, as it +ever did, struck me with a fresh sense of novelty and amazement. In all +Africa I scarcely know a gorge that is so eerie and depressing. Those +towering cliffsides that look as though they are about to fall in upon +the traveller, the stunted, melancholy aloe plants which grow among the +rocks; the pale vegetation; the jackals and hyænas that start +away at the sound of voices or echoing footsteps; the dense, dark +shadows; the whispering winds that seem to wail about one even when the +air is still over-head, draughts, I suppose, that are drawing backwards +and forwards through the gulley; all of these are peculiar to it. The +ancients used to declare that particular localities had their own genii +or spirits, but whether these were believed to be evolved by the +locality or to come thither because it suited their character and +nature, I do not know. + +In the Black Kloof and some other spots to which I have wandered, I +have often thought of this fable and almost found myself accepting it +as true. But, then, what kind of a spirit would it be that chose to +inhabit this dreadful gorge? I think some embodiment—no, that word is a +contradiction—some impalpable essence of Tragedy, some doomed soul +whereof the head was bowed and the wings were leaded with a weight of +ineffable and unrepented crime. + +Well, what need was there to fly to fable and imagine such an invisible +inhabitant when Zikali, the _Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,_ +was, and for uncounted years had been, the Dweller in this tomb-like +gulf? Surely he was Tragedy personified, and that hoary head of his was +crowned with ineffable and unrepented crime. How many had this hideous +dwarf brought down to doom and how many were yet destined to perish in +the snares that year by year he wove for them? And yet this sinner had +been sinned against and did but pay back his sufferings in kind, he +whose wives and children had been murdered and whose tribe had been +stamped flat beneath the cruel feet of Chaka, whose House he hated and +lived on to destroy. Even for Zikali allowances could be made; he was +not altogether bad. Is any man _altogether_ bad, I wonder. + +Musing thus, I tramped on up the gorge, followed by the dejected Hans, +whom the place always depressed, even more than it did myself. + +“Baas,” he said presently in a hollow whisper, for here he did not +dare to speak aloud, “Baas, do you think that the Opener-of-Roads was +once Heu-Heu himself who has now shrunk to a dwarf with age, or at any +rate, that Heu-Heu’s spirit lives in him?” + +“No, I don’t,” I answered, “for he has fingers and toes +like the rest of us, but I do think that if there is any Heu-Heu he may +be able to tell us where to find him.” + +“Then, Baas, I hope that he has forgotten, or that Heu-Heu has gone to +heaven where the fires go on burning of themselves without the need of +wood. For, Baas, I do not want to meet Heu-Heu; the thought of him +turns my stomach cold.” + +“No, you would rather go to Durban and meet a gin bottle that would +turn your stomach warm, Hans, and your head, too, and land you in the +Trunk for seven days,” I replied, improving the occasion. + +Then we turned the corner and came upon Zikali’s kraal. As usual, I +appeared to be expected, for one of his great silent body servants was +waiting, who saluted me with uplifted spear. I suppose that Zikali must +have had a look-out man stationed somewhere who watched the plain +beneath and told him who was approaching. Or possibly he had other +methods of obtaining information. At any rate, he always knew of my +advent and often enough of why I came and whence, as, indeed, he did on +this occasion. + +“The Father of Spirits awaits you, Lord Macumazahn,” said the body +servant. “He bids the little yellow man who is named Light-in-Darkness, +to accompany you and will see you at once.” + +I nodded and the man led me to the gate of the fence that surrounded +Zikali’s great hut, on which he tapped with the handle of his spear. It +was opened, by whom I did not see, and we entered, whereon someone +slipped out of the shadows and closed the gate behind us, then +vanished. There in front of the door of his hut, with a fire burning +before him, crouched the dwarf wrapped in a fur kaross, his huge head, +on either side of which the gray locks fell down much as they did in +the picture of Heu-Heu, bent forward, and the light of the fire into +which he was staring shining in his cavernous eyes. We advanced across +the shiny beaten floor of the courtyard and stood in front of him, but +for half a minute or more he took no notice of our presence. At length, +without looking up, he spoke in that hollow, resounding voice which was +unlike to any other I ever heard, saying, + +“Why do you always come so late, Macumazahn, when the sun is off the +hut and it grows cold in the shadows? You know I hate the cold, as the +aged always do, and I was minded not to receive you.” + +“Because I could not get here before, Zikali,” I answered. + +“Then you might have waited until to-morrow morning unless, perhaps, +you thought that I should die in the night, which I shall not do. No, +nor for many nights. Well, here you are, little white Wanderer who hops +from place to place like a flea.” + +“Yes, here I am,” I replied, nettled, “to visit you who do +not wander but sit in one spot like a toad in a stone, Zikali.” + +“Ho, ho, ho!” he laughed—that wonderful laugh of his which +echoed from the rocks and always made me feel cold down the back, “Ho, +ho, ho! how easy it is to make you angry. Keep your temper, Macumazahn, +lest it should run away with you as your oxen did before the storm in +the mountains the other day. What do you want? You only come here when +you want something from him whom once you named the Old Cheat. So I +don’t wander, don’t I, but sit like a toad in a stone? How do you +know that? Is it only the body that wanders? Cannot the spirit wander +also, far, oh, far, even to the ‘Heaven Above’ sometimes, and +perhaps to that land which is under the earth, the place where they say +the dead are to be found again? Well, what do you want? Stay, and I +will tell you, who explain yourself so badly, who, although you think +that you speak Zulu like a native, have never really learned it +properly because to do that you must think in it and not in your own +stupid tongue, that has no words for many things. Man, my medicines.” + +A figure darted out of the hut, set down a cat-skin bag before him, and +was gone again. Zikali plunged his claw-like hand into the bag and drew +out a number of knuckle bones, polished, but yellow with age, which he +threw carelessly on to the ground in front of him, then glanced at +them. + +“Ha,” he said, “something about cattle, I see, yes, you want +to get oxen, broken oxen, not wild ones, and think that I can tell you +where to do it cheap. By the way, what present have you brought for me? +Is it a pound of your white man’s snuff?” (As a matter of fact, it +was a quarter of a pound.) “Now am I right about the oxen?” + +“Yes,” I replied, rather amazed. + +“That astonishes you. It is wonderful, isn’t it, that the poor Old +Cheat should know what you want. Well, I’ll tell you how it is done. +You lost two oxen by lightning, did you not? You therefore, naturally +would want others, especially as some of those which remain”—here +he glanced at the bones once more—“were hurt, yes, by hailstones, +very large hailstones, and others are showing signs of sickness, +red-water, I think. Therefore, it isn’t strange that the poor Old Cheat +should guess that you needed oxen, is it? Only a silly Zulu would put +such a thing down to magic. About the snuff, too, which I see you have +taken from your pocket—a very little parcel, by the way. You’ve +brought me snuff before, haven’t you. Therefore, it isn’t strange +that I should guess that you would do so again, is it? No magic there.” + +“None, Zikali, but how did you learn of the lightning killing the +cattle and of the hailstorm?” + +“How did I learn that the lightning killed your pole-oxen, Kaptein and +Deutchmann? Why, are you not a very great man in whom all are +interested, and is it wonderful that I should be told of accidents that +happen a hundred miles or so away? You met a party going to a wedding, +did you not, just before the storm, and found one of them dead +afterwards? By the way, he wasn’t killed either by lightning or by +hail. The flash fell near and stunned him, but really he died of the +cold during the night. I thought that you might like to know that, as +you are curious on the point. Of course, those Kaffirs would have told +me all about it, would they not? No magic, again you see. That’s how we +poor witch doctors gain repute, just by keeping our eyes and ears open. +When you are old you might set up in the trade yourself, Macumazahn, +since you do the same thing, even at night, they say.” + +Now while he went on mocking me he had gathered up the bones out of the +dust and suddenly threw them again with a curious spiral twist that +caused them to fall in a little heap, perched on one another. He looked +at them, and said, + +“Why, what do these silly things remind me of? They are some of the +tools of my trade, you know, Macumazahn, used to impress the fools that +come to see us witch doctors, who think that they tell us secrets, and +to take off their attention while we read their hearts. Somehow or +other they remind me of rocks piled one on another as on a mountain +slope, and look! there is a hollow in the middle like the mouth of a +cave. + +“Did you chance to take refuge from that storm in a cave, Macumazahn? +Oh, you did! Well, see how cleverly I guessed it. No magic there again, +only just a guess. Isn’t it likely that you would go to a cave to +escape from such a tempest, leaving the wagon outside? Look at that +bone there, lying a little distance off the others, that’s what made me +think of the wagon being outside. But the question is, what did you see +in the cave? Anything out of the way, I wonder? The bones can’t tell me +that, can they? I must guess that somehow else, mustn’t I? Well, +I’ll try to do so, just to give you, the wise white man, another lesson +in the manner that we poor rascals of witch doctors do our work and +take in fools. But won’t you tell me, Macumazahn?” + +“No, I won’t,” I answered crossly, who knew that the old +dwarf was making a butt of me. + +“Then I suppose that I must try to discover for myself, but how, how? +Come here, you little yellow monkey of a man, and sit between me and +the fire so that its light shines through you, for then perchance I may +be able to see something of what is going on in that thick head of +yours, Light-in-Darkness, as you are called, and get some light in my +darkness.” + +Hans advanced unwillingly enough and squatted down at the spot that +Zikali indicated with his bony finger, being very careful that none of +the magic bones should touch any portion of his anatomy, for fear lest +they should bewitch him, I suppose. There he sat, holding his ragged +felt hat upon the pit of his stomach as though to ward off the +gimlet-like glances of Zikali’s burning eyes. + +“Ho-ho! Yellow Man,” said the dwarf after a few seconds of +inspection, which caused Hans to wriggle uncomfortably and even to +colour beneath his wrinkled skin, like a young woman being studied by +her prospective husband, who desires to ascertain whether she will or +will not do for a fifth wife. “Ho-ho! it seems to me that you knew this +cave before you went there in the storm, but of course I should guess +that, for how otherwise would you have found it in such a hurry; also +that it had something to do with Bushmen, as most caves have in this +land. + +“The question is, what was in it? No, don’t tell me. I want to find +out for myself. It is strange that the thought comes to me of pictures. +No, it isn’t strange, since the Bushmen often used to paint pictures in +caves. Now, you shouldn’t nod your head, Yellow Man, because it makes +the riddle too easy. Just stare at me and think of nothing at all. +Pictures, lots of them, but one principal picture, I think; something +that was difficult to come at. Yes, dangerous, even. Was it perchance a +picture of yourself that a Bushman drew long ago when you were young +and handsome, Yellow Man? + +“There, again you are shaking your head. Keep it quite still, will you, +so that the thoughts in it don’t ripple like water beneath a wind. At +least it was a picture of something hideous, but much bigger than you. +Ah! it grows and grows. I am getting it now. Macumazahn, come and stand +by me, and you, Yellow Man, turn your back so that you face the fire. +Bah! it burns badly, does it not, and the air is so cold, so cold! I +must make it brighter. + +“Are you there, Macumazahn? Yes. Now look at this stuff of mine; see +what a fine blaze it causes,” and putting his hand into the bag, he +drew out some kind of powder, only a little of it, which he threw on to +the embers. Then he stretched his skinny fingers over them as though +for warmth, and slowly lifted his arms high into the air. It is a fact +that after him the flames sprang up to a height of three or four feet. +He dropped his arms again and the flames sank down. He lifted them once +more and once more they rose, only this time much higher. A third time +he repeated this performance, and now the sheet of fire sprang full +fifteen feet into the air and so remained burning steadily, like the +flame of a lamp. + +“Look at that fire, Macumazahn, and you also, Yellow Man,” he said, +in a strange new voice, a sort of dreamy far-off voice, “and tell me if +you see anything in it, for I can’t—I can’t.” + +I looked, and for a moment perceived nothing. Then some shape began to +grow upon the blazing background. It wavered; it changed; it became +fixed and definite, yes, clear and real. There before me, etched in +flame, I saw Heu-Heu—Heu-Heu as he had been in the painting on the cave +wall, only, as it seemed to me, alive, for his eyes blinked—Heu-Heu, +looking like a devil in hell. I gasped but stood firm. As for Hans, he +ejaculated in his vile Dutch, + +“_Allemaghte! Da is die leeliker auld deil!_” (that is, +“Almighty! There is the ugly old devil!”) and having said this, +rolled over on to his back and lay still, frozen with terror. + +“Ho, ho, ho!” laughed Zikali. Ho, ho, ho! and from a dozen places +the walls of the kloof echoed back, _“Ho, ho, ho!”_ + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE LEGEND OF HEU-HEU + + +Zikali stopped laughing and contemplated us with his hollow eyes. + +“Who was it who first said that all men are fools?” he asked. +“I do not know, but I think it must have been a woman, a pretty woman +who played with them and found that it was so. If so, she was wise, as +all women are in their narrow way, which the saying shows, since they +are left out of it. Well, I will add to the proverb; all men are +cowards also in one matter or another, though in the rest they may be +brave enough. Further, they are all the same, for what is the +difference between you, Macumazahn, wise White Man who have dared death +a hundred times, and yonder little yellow ape?” Here he pointed to +Hans, lying upon his back, with rolling eyes and muttering prayers to a +variety of gods between his chattering teeth. “Both of you are afraid, +one as much as the other; the only difference being that the White Lord +tries to conceal his fear, whilst the Yellow Monkey chatters it out, as +monkeys do. + +“Why are you so frightened? Just because by a common trick I show to +your eyes a picture of that which is in the minds of both of you. Mark +you again, not by magic but by a common trick which any child could +learn, if somebody taught it to him. I hope that you will not behave +like this when you see Heu-Heu himself, for if you do I shall be +disappointed in you and soon there will be two more skulls in that cave +of his. But then, perhaps, you will be brave; yes, I think so, I think +so, since never would you like to die remembering how long and loud I +should laugh when I heard of it.” + +Thus the old wizard rambled on, as was his fashion when he wished to +combine his acrid mockery with the desire to gain space for thought, +till presently he grew silent and took some of the snuff which I had +brought him, for he had been engaged in opening the packet while he +talked, all the while continuing to watch us as though he would search +out our very souls. + +Now, because I thought that I must say something, if only to show that +he had not frightened me with his accursed manifestations, or whatever +they were, I answered, + +“You are right, Zikali, when you say that all men are fools, seeing +that you are the first and biggest fool among them.” + +“I have often thought it, Macumazahn, for reasons that I keep to +myself. But why do you say so? Let me hear, who would learn whether +yours are the same as my own.” + +“First, because you talk as though there were such a creature as +Heu-Heu, which, as you know well, does not live and never did; and +secondly, because you speak as though Hans and I would meet it face to +face, which we shall never do. So cease from such nonsense and show us +how to make pictures in the fire—an art, you tell us, any child can +learn.” + +“If they are taught, Macumazahn, _if_ they are taught how. But were +I to do this, I should indeed be the first of fools. Do you think that +I wish to establish two rival cheats—you see, between ourselves, I give +myself my right name—in the land to trade against me? No, no, let each +keep the knowledge he has earned for himself, for if it becomes common +to all, who will pay for it? But why do you believe that you will never +stand face to face with Heu-Heu except in pictures on rock or fire?” + +“Because he doesn’t exist,” I answered with irritation; +“and if he does, I suppose his home is a long way off and I cannot trek +without fresh oxen.” + +“Ah!” said Zikali, “that reminds me again that those who told +me of how you refuged in the cave from the storm and the rest said that +you wanted more oxen. So, knowing that you would be in as great a hurry +to get to Heu-Heu as a young man is to find his first wife, I made +ready. The story you heard was quite true. A white trader did leave a +very fine team of footsore oxen in this neighbourhood, salted, every +one of them, which after three moons’ rest, are now fat and sound. I +will have them driven up to-morrow morning and take care of yours while +you are away.” + +“I have no money to pay for more oxen,” I said. + +“Is not the promise of Macumazahn better than any money, even the red +English gold? Does not the whole land know it? Moreover,” he added +slowly, “when you return from visiting Heu-Heu you ought to have plenty +of money—or, rather, of diamonds, which is the same thing—and +perhaps of ivory, though of that I am not so sure. No, I am not sure +whether you will be able to carry the ivory. If I do not speak truth I +will pay for the oxen myself.” + +Now at the word “diamonds” I pricked up my ears, for just then all +Africa was beginning to talk about these stones; even Hans rose from +the ground and began once more to take interest in earthly things. + +“That’s a fair offer,” I said, “but stop blowing +dust” (_i. e._, talking nonsense) “and tell me straight out +what you mean before it grows dark. I hate this kloof in the dark. Who +is Heu-Heu? And if he or it lives, or lived, where is Heu-Heu, dead or +alive? Also, supposing that there was or is a Heu-Heu, why do you, +Zikali, wish me to find him, as I perceive you do, who always have a +reason for what you wish?” + +“I will answer the last question first, Macumazahn, who, as you say, +always have a reason for what I want you or others to do.” + +Here he stopped and clapped his hands, whereon instantly one of his +great serving men appeared from the hut behind, to whom he gave some +order. The man darted away and presently was back with more of the skin +bags such as witch doctors use to carry their medicines. Zikali opened +one of these and showed me that it was almost empty, there being in it +but a pinch of brown powder. + +“This stuff, Macumazahn,” he said, “is the most wonderful of +all drugs, even more wonderful than the herb called _taduki_ that can +open the paths of the past, with which herb you will become acquainted +one day. By means of it—I speak not of _taduki_ but of the powder in +the bag—I do most of my tricks. For instance, it was with a dust of it +that I was able to show you and the little yellow man the picture of +Heu-Heu in the flames just now.” + +“You mean that it is a poison, I suppose.” + +“Oh, yes, among other things, by adding another powder it can be made +into a very deadly poison; so deadly that as little of it as will lie +upon the point of a thorn will kill the strongest man and leave no +trace. But it has other properties also that have to do with the mind +and the spirit; never mind what they are; if I tried to tell you, you +would not understand. Well, the Tree of Visions from the leaves of +which this medicine is ground grows only in the garden of Heu-Heu and +nowhere else in Africa, and I got my last supply of it thence many +years ago, long before you were born, indeed, Macumazahn; never mind +how. + +“Now I must have more, of those leaves, or what these Zulus call my +magic, which wise white men like you know to be but my tricks, will +fail me, and the world will say that the Opener-of-Roads has lost his +strength and turn to seek wiser doctors.” + +“Then why do you not send and get some, Zikali?” + +“Whom can I send that would dare to enter the land of Heu-Heu and rob +his garden? No one but yourself, Macumazahn. Ah! I read your mind. You +are wondering now if that be so, why I do not order that the leaves +should be brought to me from the place of Heu-Heu. For this reason, +Macumazahn. The dwellers there may not leave their hidden land; it is +against their law. Moreover, if they might they would not part even +with a handful of that drug, except at a great price. Once, a hundred +years ago” (by which, I suppose, he meant a long time), “I paid +such a price and bought a quantity of the stuff of which you see the +last in that bag. But that is an old story with which I will not +trouble you. Oh! many went and but two returned, and they mad, as those +are apt to be who have looked on Heu-Heu and left him living. If ever +you see Heu-Heu, Macumazahn, be sure to destroy him and all that is +his, lest his curse should follow you for the rest of your days. +Fallen, he will be powerless, but standing, his hate is very strong and +reaches far, or that of his priests does, which is the same thing.” + +“Rubbish!” I said. “If there is any Heu-Heu, he is but a big +ape, and living or dead, I am not afraid of any ape.” + +“I am glad to hear that, Macumazahn, and hope that you will always be +of the same mind. Doubtless it is only his picture painted on rock or +in the fire that frightens you, just as a dream is more terrible than +anything real. Some day you shall tell me which was the worse, +Heu-Heu’s picture or Heu-Heu himself. But you asked me other questions. +The first of them was, Who is Heu-Heu? + +“Well, I do not know. The legend tells that once, in the beginning, +there was a people white, or almost white, who lived far away to the +north. This people, says the old tale, were ruled over by a giant, very +cruel and very terrible; a great wizard also, or cheat, as you would +call him. So cruel and terrible was he, indeed, that his people rose +against him, and strong as he might be, forced him to fly southwards +with some who clung to him or could not escape him. + +“So south he came with them, thousands of miles, until he found a +secret place that suited him to dwell in. That place is beneath the +shadow of a mountain of a sort that I have heard spouted out fire when +the world was young, which even now smokes from time to time. Here this +people, who are named Walloo, built them a town after their northern +fashion out of the black stone which flowed from the mountain in past +ages. But their king, the giant wizard, continued his cruelties to them +forcing them to labour night and day at his city and Great House and a +cave in which he was worshipped as a god, till at last they could bear +no more and murdered him by night. + +“Before he died, however, which he took long to do because of his +magic, he mocked them, telling them that not thus would they be rid of +him since he would come back in a worse shape than before and still +rule over them from generation to generation. Moreover, he prophesied +disaster to them and laid this curse upon them, that if they strove to +leave the land that he had chosen, and to cross the ring of mountains +by which it is enclosed, they should die, every one of them. This, +indeed, happened, or so I have heard, since if even one of them travels +down the river, by which alone that country can be approached from the +desert, and sets foot in the desert, he dies, sometimes by sudden +sickness, or sometimes by the teeth of lions and other wild beasts that +live in the great swamp where the river enters the desert, whither the +elephants and other game come to drink from hundreds of miles around.” + +“Perhaps fever kills them,” I suggested. + +“Maybe so, or poison, or a curse. At least, soon or late they die, and +therefore it comes about that now none of them leaves that land.” + +“And what happened to the Walloos after they had finished off this kind +king of theirs?” I asked, for Zikali’s romantic fable interested +me. Of course, I knew that it was a fable, but in such tales, magnified +by native rumour, there is sometimes a grain of truth. Also Africa is a +great country, and in it there are very queer places and peoples. + +“Something very bad happened, Macumazahn, for scarcely was their king +dead when the mountain began to belch out fire and hot ashes, which +killed many of them and caused the rest to fly in boats across the lake +that makes an island of the mountain, to the forest lands that lie +around. There they live to this day upon the banks of the river which +flows through the forest, the same that passes through the gorge of the +mountains into the swamp, and there loses itself in the desert sands. +So, at least, my messengers told me a hundred years ago, when they +brought me the medicine that grows in Heu-Heu’s garden.” + +“I suppose that they were afraid to go back to their town after the +eruption was over,” I said. + +“Yes, they were afraid, at which you will not wonder when you see it, +for when the mountain blew up the gases killed very many of them and +what is more, turned them to stone. Aye, there they sit, Macumazahn, to +this day, turned to stone, and with them their dogs and cattle.” + +Now at this amazing tale I burst out laughing, and even Hans grinned. + +“I have noted, Macumazahn,” said Zikali, “that in the +beginning it is you who always laugh at me, while in the end it is I +who laugh at you, and so I believe it will be in this case also. I tell +you that there those people sit turned to stone, and if it is not so, +you need not pay me for the oxen that I bought from the white man even +should you come back with your pockets full of diamonds.” + +Now I bethought me of what happened at Pompeii, and ceased to laugh. +After all, the thing was possible. + +“That is one reason why they did not return to their town, even when +the mountain went to sleep again, but there was another, Macumazahn, +that was stronger still. Soon they found that it was haunted.” + +“Haunted! By what? By the stone men?” + +“No, they are quiet enough, though what their spirits may be I cannot +tell you. Haunted by their king whom they had killed, turned into a +gigantic ape, turned into Heu-Heu.” + +Now at this statement I did not laugh, although at first sight it +seemed much more absurd than that of the dead people who had been +petrified. For this reason: as I knew well, it is the commonest of +beliefs among savages, and especially those of Central Africa, that +dead chiefs, notably if they have been tyrants during their life, are +metamorphosed into some terrible animal, which thenceforward persecutes +them from generation to generation. The animal may be a rogue elephant +or a man-killing lion, or perhaps a very poisonous snake. But whatever +shape it takes, it always has this characteristic, that it does not die +and cannot be killed—at any rate, by any of those whom it afflicts. +Indeed, in my own experience I have come across sundry examples of this +belief among natives. Therefore, it did not strike me as strange that +these people should imagine their country to be cursed by the spirit of +a legendary tyrant turned into a monster. + +Only in the monster itself I put no faith. If it existed at all +probably it would resolve itself into a large ape, or perhaps a gorilla +living upon an island in the lake where it had become marooned, or +drifted upon a tree in a flood. + +“And what does this spirit do?” I asked Zikali incredulously. +“Throw nuts or stones at people?” + +“No, Macumazahn. According to what I have been told, it does much more. +At times it crosses to the mainland—some say upon a log, some say by +swimming, some say as spirits can. There, if it meets any one, it +twists off his or her head” (here I bethought me of the picture in the +cave), “for no man can fight against its strength, or woman either, +because if she be old and ugly, it serves her in the same fashion, but +if she be young and well favoured, then it carries her away. The island +is said to be full of such women who cultivate the garden of Heu-Heu. +Moreover, it is reported that they have children who cross the lake and +live in the forest—terrible, hairy creatures that are half human, for +they can make fire and use clubs and bows and arrows. These savage +people are named Heuheua. They dwell in the forests, and between them +and the Walloos there is perpetual war.” + +“Anything else?” I asked. + +“Yes, one thing. At a certain time of the year the Walloos must take +their fairest and best-born maiden and tie her to an appointed rock +upon the shore of the island upon a night of full moon. Then they go +away and leave her alone, returning at sunset.” + +“And what do they find?” + +“One of two things, Macumazahn; either that the maiden has gone, in +which case they are well pleased, except those of them to whom she is +related, or that she has been torn to pieces, having been rejected by +Heu-Heu, in which case they weep and groan, not for her but for +themselves.” + +“Why do they rejoice, and why do they weep, Zikali?” + +“For this reason. If the maiden has been taken, Heu-Heu, or his +servants, the Heuheua, will spare them and his priests for that year. +Moreover, their crops will prosper and they be free from sickness. If +she has been killed, he or his servants haunt them, snatching away +other women, and they will have bad harvests; also fever and other ills +fall upon them. Therefore, the Offering of the Maiden is their great +ceremony, which, should she be taken, is followed by the Feast of +Rejoicing, and should she be rejected and slain, by the Fast of +Lamentation and the sacrifice of her parents or others.” + +“A pleasant religion, Zikali. Tell me, is it one that pleases these +Walloos?” + +“Does any religion please any man, Macumazahn, and do tears, want, +sickness, bereavement, and death please those who are born into the +world? For example, like the rest of us, you white people suffer these +things, or so I have heard; also you have your own Heu-Heu or devil who +claims such sacrifices and yet avenges himself upon you. You are not +pleased with him, still you go on making your sacrifices of war and +blood and all wickedness in return for what he did to you, thereby +binding yourselves to him afresh and confirming his power over you, and +as you do, so do we all. Yet if you and the rest of us would but stand +up against him, perhaps his strength might be broken, or he might be +slain. Why, then, do we continue to sacrifice our maidens of virtue, +truth, and purity to him, and how are we better than those who worship +Heu-Heu, who do so to save their lives?” + +I considered his argument, which was subtle for a savage, however old +and instructed, to have evolved from his limited opportunities of +observation, and answered rather humbly, + +“I do not suppose that we are better at all.” Then to change the +subject to something more practical, I added, “But what about those +diamonds?” + +“The diamonds! Oho! the diamonds, which, by the way, I believe are one +of the offerings that you white people make to your own Heu-Heu. Well, +these people seem to have plenty of them. Of course, they are useless +to them, as they do not trade. Still, the women know that they are +pretty, and fasten them about themselves in little nets of hair after +polishing them upon stone, because they do not know how to make holes +in them, being so hard, and cannot set them in metals. Also they stick +them in the clay of their eating-dishes before these are dried, making +pretty patterns with them. It seems that these stones and others that +are red, are washed down by the river from some desert across which it +flows above, through a tunnel in the mountains, I believe. At any rate, +they find them in plenty in the gravel on its banks, which they set the +children to sift in a closely woven sieve of human hair, or in some +such fashion. Stay, I will show you what they are like, for my +messengers brought me a fistful or two many years ago,” and he clapped +his hands. + +Instantly, as before, one of his servants appeared, to whom he gave +certain instructions. The man went, and presently returned with a +little packet of ancient, wrinkled skin that looked like a bit of an +old glove. This he untied and gave to me. Within were a quantity of +small stones that looked and felt like diamonds, very good diamonds, as +I judged from their colour, though none of them were large. Also among +them was a sprinkling of other stones that might have been rubies, +though of this I could not be sure. At a guess I should have estimated +the value of the parcel at £200 or £300. When I had +examined them, I offered them back to Zikali, but he waved his hand and +said, + +“Keep them, Macumazahn; keep them. They are no good to me, and when you +come to the land of Heu-Heu, compare them with those you will find +there, just to show yourself that in this matter I do not lie.” + +“When I come to the land of Heu-Heu!” I exclaimed indignantly. +“Where, then, is this land, and how am I to reach it?” + +“That I propose to tell you to-morrow, Macumazahn, not to-night, since +it would be useless to waste time and breath upon the business until I +know two things: first, whether you will go there, and secondly, +whether the Walloos will receive you if you do go.” + +“When I have heard the answer to the second question, we will talk of +the first, Zikali. But why do you try to make a fool of me? These +Walloos and the savage Heuheuas with whom they fight, I understand, +dwell far away. How, then, can you have the answer by to-morrow?” + +“There are ways, there are ways,” he answered dreamily, then seemed +to go into a kind of doze with his great head sunk upon his breast. + +I stared at him for a while, till, growing weary of the occupation, I +looked about me and noted that of a sudden it was growing dusk. Whilst +I did so I began to hear screechings in the air: sharp, thin +screechings such as are made by rats. + +“Look, Baas,” whispered Hans in a frightened voice, “his +spirits come,” and he pointed upwards. + +I did look, and far above, as though they were descending from the sky, +saw some wide-winged, flittering shapes, three of them. They descended +in circles very swiftly, and I perceived that they were bats, enormous +and evil-looking bats. Now they were wheeling about us so closely that +twice their outstretched wings touched my face, sending a horrid thrill +through me; and each time that a creature passed, it screeched in my +ear, setting my teeth on edge. + +Hans tried to beat away one of them from investigating him, whereon it +clung to his hand and bit his finger, or so I judged from the yell he +gave, after which he dragged his hat down over his head and plunged his +hands into his pockets. Then the bats concentrated their attention upon +Zikali. Round and round him they went in a dizzy whirl which grew +closer and closer, till at last two of them settled on his shoulders +just by his ears, and began to twitter in them, while the third hung +itself on to his chin and thrust its hideous head against his lips. + +At this point in the proceedings Zikali seemed to wake up, for his eyes +opened and grew bright, also with his skinny hands he stroked the bats +upon his shoulders as though they were pet birds. More, he seemed to +speak with the creature that hung to his chin, talking in a language +which I could not understand, while it twittered back the answers in +its slate-pencil notes. Then suddenly he waved his arms and all three +of them took flight again, wheeling outwards and upwards, till +presently they vanished in the gloom. + +“I tame bats and these are quite fond of me,” he said by way of +explanation, then added, “Come back to-morrow morning, Macumazahn, and +perhaps I shall be able to tell you whether the Walloos wish for a +visit from you, and if so, to show you a road to their country.” + +So we went, glad enough to get away, since the Opener-of-Roads, with +his peculiar talk and manifestations, as I believe they call them in +spiritualistic circles, was a person who soon got upon one’s nerves, +especially at nightfall. As we stumbled down that hateful gorge in the +gloom, Hans asked, + +“What were those things that hung to Zikali’s shoulders and +chin?” + +“Bats, very large bats. What else?” I answered. + +“I think a great deal else, Baas. I think that they are his familiars +whom he is sending to those Walloos, just as he said.” + +“Do you believe in the Walloos and the Heuheua then, Hans? I +don’t.” + +“Yes, I do, Baas, and what is more, I believe that we shall visit them, +because Zikali means that we should, and who is there that can fight +against the will of the Opener-of-Roads?” + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ALLAN MAKES A PROMISE + + +I never could sleep well in the neighbourhood of the Black Kloof. It +always seemed to me to give out evil and disturbing emanations, nor was +this night any exception to the rule. For hour after hour, cogitating +the old wizard’s marvellous tale of the Walloos and Heu-Heu, their +devil-ghost, I lay in the midst of the intense silence of that lonely +place which was broken only by the occasional scream of a night-hawk, +or perhaps of the prey that it gripped, or the echoing bark of some +baboon among the rocks. + +The story was foolishness. And yet—and yet there were so many strange +peoples hidden away in the vast recesses of Africa, and some of them +had these extremely queer beliefs or superstitions. Indeed, I began to +wonder whether it is not possible for these superstitions, persisted in +through ages, to produce something concrete, at any rate to the minds +of those whom they affect. + +Also there were odd circumstances connected with this tale or romance +that might, in a way, be called corroborative. For instance, the +picture of Heu-Heu in the cave which Zikali, by his infernal arts or +tricks, reproduced in the flame of fire; for instance, the diamonds and +rubies, or crystals and spinels, whichever they might be, that at +present reposed in the pocket of my shooting coat. These, presuming +them to be the former, must have come from some very far-off or hidden +spot, since I had never seen or heard of such in any place that I had +visited, as they were entirely unlike those which, at that time, they +were beginning to find at Kimberley, being, for one thing, much more +water-worn. + +Still, the presence of diamonds in a certain district had nothing to do +with the possible existence of a Heu-Heu. Therefore, they proved +nothing, one way or the other. + +And if there were a Heu-Heu, did I wish to meet him face to face? In +one sense, not at all, but in another, very much indeed. My curiosity +was always great, and it would be wonderful to behold that which no +white man’s eyes had ever seen, and still more wonderful to struggle +with and kill such a monster. A vision rose before my eyes of Heu-Heu +stuffed in the British Museum with a large painted placard underneath: + + + +Shot in Central +Africa by Allan Quatermain, Esq. + + +Why, then I, the most humble and unknown of persons, would become +famous and have my likeness published in the _Graphic,_ and probably +the _Illustrated London News_ also, perhaps with my foot set upon the +breast of the prostrate Heu-Heu. + +That, indeed, would be glory! Only Heu-Heu looked a very nasty +customer, and the story might have a wrong ending; his foot might be +set upon my breast, and he might be twisting off my head, as in the +cave picture. Well, in that case the illustrated papers would publish +nothing about it. + +Then there was the story of the town full of petrified men and animals. +This must be either true or false, since it lacked ghostly +complications. Although I had never heard of anything of the sort, +there might be such a place, and if so, it would be splendid to be its +discoverer. + +Oh, of what was I thinking? Zikali’s yarn must be nonsense, and rank +fiction. Yet it reminded me of something that I had heard in my youth, +which for a long while I could not recall. At last, in a flash, it came +back to me. My old father, who was a learned scholar, had a book of +Grecian legends, and one of these about a lady called Andromeda, the +daughter of a king who, in obedience to popular pressure and in order +to avert calamities from his country, tied her up to a rock, to be +carried off by a monster that rose out of the sea. Then a magically +aided hero of the name of Perseus arrived at the critical moment, +killed the monster and took away the lady to be his wife. + +Why, this Heu-Heu story was the same thing over again. The maiden was +tied to a rock; the monster came out of the sea, or rather, the lake, +and carried her off, whereby calamities were duly averted. So similar +was it, indeed, that I began to wonder whether it were not an echo of +the ancient myth that somehow had found its way into Africa. Only +hitherto there had been no Perseus in Heuheua Land. That rôle, +apparently, was reserved for me. And if so, what should I do with the +maiden? Restore her to a grateful family, I suppose, for certainly I +had no intention of marrying her. Oh, I was growing silly with +thinking! I would go to sleep; I _would,_ I _wo——_ + + +A minute or two later, or so it seemed, I woke up thinking, not of +Andromeda, but of the prophet Samuel, and for a while wondered what on +earth could have put this austere patriarch and priest into my head. +Then, being a great student of the Old Testament, I remembered that +autocratic seer’s indignation when he heard the lowing of the oxen +which Saul spared from the general “eating up” of the Amalekites, +as the Zulus would describe it, by divine command. (What was the use of +cutting the throats of all that good stock, personally, I could never +understand.) + +Well, in my ears also was the lowing of oxen, which, of course, formed +the connecting link. I marvelled what they could be, for our own were +grazing at a little distance, and poked my head out under the +wagon-hood to perceive a really beautiful team of trek cattle, eighteen +of them, for there were two spare beasts, which had just been driven up +to my camp by two strange Kaffirs. Then, of course, I remembered about +the oxen which Zikali promised to sell me upon easy terms, or under +certain circumstances to give me, and thought to myself that in this +matter, at any rate, he had proved a wizard of his word. + +Slipping on my trousers, I descended from the wagon to examine them, +and with the most satisfactory results. They had quite recovered from +their poverty and footsoreness that had caused their former owner to +leave them behind in Zikali’s charge, and were now as fat as butter, +looking as though they would pull anything anywhere. Indeed, even the +critical Hans expressed his unqualified approval of the beasts which, +as he pointed out from various indications, really seemed to be +“salted,” and inoculated also, some of them, as could be seen from +the loss of the ends of their tails. + +Having sent them to graze in charge of the Kaffirs who had brought +them, for I did not wish them to mix with my own beasts, which showed +signs of sickness, I breakfasted in excellent spirits, as wherever I +might go I was now set up with draught beasts, and then bethought me of +my undertaking to revisit Zikali. Hans tried to excuse himself from +accompanying me, saying that he wanted to study the new oxen which +those strange Zulus might steal, etc.; the fact being, of course, that +he was afraid of the old wizard, and would not go near him again unless +he were obliged. However, I made him come, since his memory was first +rate, and four ears were better than two when Zikali was concerned. + +Off we trudged up the kloof, and as before, without delay, were +admitted within the fence surrounding the witch doctor’s hut, to find +the Opener-of-Roads seated in front of it, as usual with a fire burning +before him. However hot the weather, he always kept that fire going. + +“What do you think of the oxen, Macumazahn?” he asked abruptly. + +I replied with caution that I would tell him after I had proved them. + +“Cunning as ever,” said Zikali. “Well, you must make the best +of them, Macumazahn, and as I told you, you can pay me when you get +back.” + +“Get back from where?” I asked. + +“From wherever you are going, which at present you do not know.” + +“No, I don’t, Zikali,” I said, and was silent. + +He also was silent for a long while, so long that at last he outwore my +patience, and I inquired sarcastically whether he had heard from his +friend Heu-Heu, by bat-post. + +“Yes, yes, I have heard, or think that I have heard—not by bats, +but perchance by dreams or visions. Oho! Macumazahn, I have caught you +again. Why do you always walk into my snare so easily? You see some +bats, which in truth, as I told you, are but creatures that I have +tamed by feeding them for many years, flitter about me and fly away, +and you half believe that I have sent them a thousand miles to carry a +message and bring back an answer, which is impossible. + +“Now I will tell you the truth. Not thus do I communicate with those +who are afar. Nay, I send out my thought and it flies everywhere to the +ends of the earth, so that the whole earth might read it if it could. +Yet perchance it is attuned to one mind only among the millions, by +which mind it can be caught and interpreted. But for the vulgar—yes, +and even for the wise White Man who cannot understand—there remains the +symbol of the bats and their message. Why will you always seek the aid +of magic to explain natural things, Macumazahn?” + +Now I reflected that my idea of nature and Zikali’s differed, but +knowing that he was mocking me after his custom, and declining to enter +into argument as though it were beneath me, I said, + +“All this is so plain that I wonder you waste breath in setting it out. +I only desired to know if you have any answer to your message, however +it was sent, and if so—what answer.” + +“Yes, Macumazahn, as it happens I have; it came to me just as I was +waking this morning. This is its substance; that the chief of the +Walloos, with whom my heart talked, and, as he believes, most of his +people, will be very glad to welcome you in their land, though, as he +believes again, the priests of Heu-Heu, who worship him as a god and +are sworn to his service, will not be glad. Should you choose to come, +the chief will give you all that you desire of the river diamonds or +aught else that he possesses, and you can carry away with you, also, +the medicine that _I_ desire. Further, he will protect you from dangers +so far as he is able. Yet for these gifts he requires payment.” + +“What payment, Zikali?” + +“The overthrow of Heu-Heu at your hands.” + +“And if I cannot overthrow Heu-Heu, Zikali?” + +“Then certainly you will be overthrown and the bargain will fall to the +ground.” + +“Is it so? Well, if I go, shall I be killed, Zikali?” + +“Who am I that I should dispense life or death, Macumazahn? Yet,” +he added slowly, separating his words by deliberate pinches of +snuff—“yet I do not think that you will be killed. If I did I +should not trust you to pay me for those oxen on your return. Also I +believe that you have much work left to do in the world—my work, some +of it, Macumazahn, that could not be carried out without you. This +being so, the last thing I should wish would be to send you to your +death.” + +I reflected that probably this was true, since always the old wizard +was hinting of some great future enterprise in which we should be mixed +up together; also I knew that he had a regard for me in his own strange +way, and therefore wished me no evil. Moreover, of a sudden a great +longing seized me to undertake this adventure in which perchance I +might see remarkable new things—I who was wearying of the old ones. +However, I hid this, if anything could be hid from Zikali, and asked in +a businesslike fashion, + +“Where do you want me to go, how far off is it, and if I went, how +should I get there?” + +“Now we begin to handle our assegais, Macumazahn” (by which he +meant that we were coming to business). “Hearken, and I will tell +you.” + +Tell me he did indeed for over an hour, but I will not trouble you +fellows with all that he said, since geographical details are wearisome +and I want to get on with my story. You, my friend [this was addressed +to me, the Editor], are only stopping here over to-morrow night, and it +will take me all that time to finish it—that is, if you wish to hear +the end. + +It is enough to say, therefore, that I had to trek about three hundred +miles north, cross the Zambesi, and then trek another three hundred +miles west. After this I must travel nor’west for a rather indefinite +distance till I came to a gorge in certain hills. Here I must leave the +wagon, if by this time I had any wagon, and tramp for two days through +a waterless patch of desert till I came to a swamp-like oasis. Here the +river of which Zikali had spoken lost itself in the sands of the +desert, whence I should see on a clear day the smoke of the volcano of +which he had also spoken. Crossing the swamp, or making my way round +it, I must steer for this slope, till at length I came to a second +gorge in mountains, through which the river ran from Heuheua Land out +into the desert. There, according to Zikali, I should find a party of +Walloos waiting for me with canoes or boats, who would take me on into +their country, where things would go as they were fated. + +Before you leave, my friend, I will give you a map* of the route, which +I drew after travelling it, in case you or anybody else should like to +form a company and go to look for diamonds and fossilized men in +Heuheua Land, stipulating, however, that you do not ask me to take +shares in the venture. + + +*If Allan ever gave me this map, of which, after the lapse of so many +years, I am not sure, I have put it away so carefully that it is +entirely lost, nor do I propose to hunt for it amidst the accumulated +correspondence of some five-and-thirty years. Moreover, if it were found +and published, it might lead to foolish speculation and probable loss of +money among maiden ladies, the clergy, and other venturesome +persons—Editor. + + +“So that’s the trek,” I said, when at last Zikali had +finished. “Well, I tell you straight out that I am not going to make it +through unknown country. How could I ever find my way without a guide? +I’m off to Pretoria with your oxen or without them.” + +“Is it so, Macumazahn? I begin to think that I am very clever. I +thought that you would talk like that and therefore have made ready by +finding a man who will lead you straight to the House of Heu-Heu. +Indeed, he is here, and I will send for him,” and he summoned a servant +in his usual way and gave an order. + +“Whence does he come, who is he, and how long has he been here?” I +asked. + +“I don’t quite know who he is, Macumazahn, for he does not talk +much about himself, but I understand that he comes from the +neighbourhood of Heuheua Land, or out of it, for aught I know, and he +has been here long enough for me to be able to teach him something of +our Zulu language, though that does not matter much since you know +Arabic well, do you not?” + +“I can talk it, Zikali, and so can Hans, a little.” + +“Well, that is his tongue, Macumazahn, or so I believe, which will make +things easier. I may tell you at once that he is a strange sort of man, +not in the least like any one you would expect, but of that you will +judge for yourself.” + +I made no answer, but Hans whispered to me that doubtless he was one of +the children of Heu-Heu and just like a great monkey. Although he spoke +in a very low voice, and at a distance Zikali seemed to overhear him, +for he remarked, + +“Then you will feel as though you had found a new brother, is it not +so, Light-in-Darkness?” which, if I have not said so before, was a +title that Hans had earned upon a certain honourable occasion. + +Thereon Hans grew silent, since he dared not show his resentment of +this comparison of himself to a monkey to the mighty Opener-of-Roads. +I, too, was silent, being occupied with my own reflections, for now, in +a flash, as it were, I saw the whole trick stripped bare of its +mysterious and pseudo-magical trappings. A messenger from some strange +and distant country had come to Zikali, demanding his help for reasons +that I did not know. + +This he had determined to give through me, whom he thought suited to +the purpose. Hence his bribe of the oxen, the news of which he had +conveyed to me while I was still far off, having in some way become +acquainted with my dilemma. Indeed, it looked as though everything had +been part of a plan, though of course this was not possible, since +Zikali could not have arranged that I should take shelter in a +particular cave during a thunderstorm. + +The sum of it was, however, that I should serve his turn, though what +exactly that might be I did not know. He said that he wanted to obtain +the leaves of a certain tree, which perhaps was true, but I felt sure +that there was more behind. + +Possibly his curiosity was excited and he desired information about a +distant, secret people, since for knowledge of every kind he had a +perfect lust. Or perhaps in some occult fashion this Heu-Heu, if there +were a Heu-Heu, might be a rival who stood between him and his plans, +and therefore was one to be removed. + +Allowing ninety per cent. of Zikali’s supernatural powers to be pure +humbug, without doubt the remaining ten per cent. were genuine. +Certainly he lived and moved and had his being upon a different plane +from that of ordinary mortals, and was in touch with things and powers +of which we are ignorant. Also as I have reason to know, though I do +not trouble you with instances, he was in touch with others of the same +class or hierarchy throughout Africa—yes, thousands of miles +distant—of whom some may have been his friends and some his enemies but +all were mighty in their way. + +While I was reflecting thus and old Zikali was reading my thoughts—as I +am sure he did, for I saw him smile in his grim manner and nod his +great head as though in approval of my acumen—the servant returned from +somewhere, ushering in a tall figure picturesquely draped in a fur +kaross that covered his head as well as his body. Arrived in front of +us, this person threw off the kaross and bowed in salutation, first to +Zikali and then to myself. Indeed, so great was his politeness that he +even honoured Hans in the same way, but with a slighter bow. + +I looked at him in amazement, as well I might, since before me stood +the most beautiful man that I had ever seen. He was tall, something +over six feet high, and superbly shaped, having a deep chest, a sinewy +form, and hands and feet that would have done credit to a Greek statue. +His face, too, was wonderful, if rather sombre, perfectly chiselled and +almost white in colour, with great dark eyes, and there was something +about it that suggested high and ancient blood. He looked, indeed, as +though he had just stepped straight out of the bygone ages. He might +have been an inhabitant of the lost continent of Atlantis or a +sun-burned old Greek, for his hair, which was chestnut brown, curled +tightly, even where it hung down upon his shoulders, though none grew +upon his chin or about the curved lips. Perhaps he was shaven. In +short, he was a glorious specimen of mankind, differing from any other +I had seen. + +His costume, too, was striking and peculiar, although dilapidated; +indeed, it might have been rifled from the body of an Egyptian Pharaoh. +It consisted of a linen robe that seemed to be twisted about him, which +was broidered at the edges with faded purple, a tall and battered linen +headdress shaped like the lower half of a soda-water bottle reversed +and coming to a point, a leather apron narrow at the top but broadening +towards the knees, also broidered, and sandals of the same material. + +I stared at him amazed, wondering whether he belonged to some people +unknown to me, or was another of Zikali’s illusions, and so did Hans, +for his muddy little eyes nearly fell out of his head and he asked me +in a whisper, + +“Is he a man, Baas, or a spirit?” + +For the rest the stranger wore a plain torque or necklet apparently of +gold, and about him was girdled a cross-hilted sword with an ivory +handle and a red sheath. + +For a while this remarkable person stood before us, his hands folded +and his head bent in a humble fashion, though it was really I who +should have been humble, owing to the physical contrast between us. +Apparently he did not think it proper to speak first, while Zikali +squatted there grimly, not helping me at all. At last, seeing that +something must be done, I rose from the stool upon which I was seated +and held out my hand. After a moment’s hesitation the splendid stranger +took it, but not to shake in the usual fashion, for he bent his head +and gently touched my fingers with his lips, as though he were a French +courtier and I a pretty lady. I bowed again with the best grace I could +command, then putting my hand in my trouser pocket, said, “How do you +do?” and as he did not seem to understand, repeated it in the Zulu +word, “_Sakubona._” This also failing, I greeted him in the +name of the Prophet in my best Arabic. + +Here I struck oil, as an American friend of mine named Brother John +used to say, for he replied in the same tongue, or something like it. +Speaking in a soft and pleasing voice, but without alluding to the +Prophet, he addressed me as “Great Lord Macumazahn, whose fame and +prowess echo across the earth,” and a lot of other nonsense, with which +I could see that Zikali had stuffed him, that may be omitted. + +“Thank you,” I cut in, “thank you, Mr.——?” +and I paused. + +“My name is Issicore,” he said. + +“And a very nice name, too, though I never heard one like it,” I +replied. “Well, Issicore, what can I do for you?” An inadequate +remark, I admit, but I wanted to come to the facts. + +“Everything,” he answered fervently, pressing his hands to his +breast. “You can save from death a most beautiful lady who will love +you.” + +“Will she?” I exclaimed. “Then I will have nothing to do with +that business, which always leads to trouble.” + +Here Zikali broke in for the first time, speaking very slowly to +Issicore in Zulu, which I remembered he said he had been teaching him, +and saying, + +“The Lord Macumazahn is already full of woman’s love and has no +room for more. Speak not to him of love, O Issicore, lest you should +anger the ghost of one who haunts this spot, a certain royal Mameena +whom once he knew too well.” + +Now I turned upon Zikali, purposing to give him a piece of my mind, +when Issicore, smiling a little, repeated, + +“Who will love you—as a brother.” + +“That’s better,” I said, “though I don’t know +that I want to take on a sister at my time of life, but I suppose you +mean that she will be much obliged?” + +“That is so, O Lord. Also the reward will be great.” + +“Ah!” I replied, really interested. “Now be so good as to +tell me exactly what you want.” + +Well, to cut a long story short, with variations he repeated Zikali’s +tale. I was to travel to his remote land, bring about the destruction +of a nebulous monster, or fetish, or system of religion, and in payment +to be given as many diamonds as I could carry. + +“But why can’t you get rid of your own devil?” I asked. +“You look a warrior and are big and strong.” + +“Lord,” he replied gently, spreading out his hands in an appealing +fashion, “I am strong and I trust that I am brave, but it cannot be. No +man of my people can prevail against the god of my people, if so he may +be called. Even to revile him openly would bring a curse upon us; +moreover, his priests would murder us——” + +“So he has priests?” I interrupted. + +“Yes, Lord, the god has priests sworn to his service, evil men as he is +evil. O Lord, come, I beseech you, and save Sabeela the beautiful.” + +“Why are you so interested in this lady?” I asked. + +“Lord, because she loves me—not as a brother—and I love her. +She, the great Lady of my land and my cousin, is my betrothed and, if +the god is not overthrown, as the fairest of all our maidens she will +be taken by the god.” Here emotion seemed to overcome him, very real +emotion, which touched me, for he bowed his head and I saw tears +trickle down from his dark eyes. + +“Hearken, Lord,” he went on, “there is an ancient prophecy in +my land that this god of ours, whose hideous shape hides the spirit of +a long-dead chief, can only be destroyed by one of another race who can +see in the night, some man of great valour destined to be born in due +season. Now through our dream-doctors I caused inquiry to be made of +this Master of Spirits, who is named Zikali, for I was in despair and +knew what must happen at the appointed time. From him I learned that +there lived in the south such a man as is spoken of in the prophecy and +that his name meant Watcher-by-Night. Then I dared the journey and the +curse and came to seek you, and lo! I have found you.” + +“Yes,” I answered, “you have found one whose native name +means Watcher-by-Night, but who cannot see in the dark better than any +one else, and is not a hero or very brave, but only a trader and a +hunter of wild beasts. Yet I tell you, Issicore, that I do not wish to +interfere with your gods and priests and tribal matters, or to give +battle to some great ape, if it exists, on the chance of earning a +pocketful of bright stones should I live to take them away, and of +getting a bundle of leaves that this doctor desires. You had better +seek some other white man with eyes like a cat’s and more strength and +courage, Issicore.” + +“How can I seek another when, without doubt, you are the one appointed, +Lord? If you will not come, then I return to die with Sabeela, and all +is finished.” + +He paused a few moments, and continued, “Lord, I can offer you little, +but is not a good deed its own reward, and will not the memory of it +feed your heart through life and death? Because you are noble I beseech +you to come, not for what you may gain, but just because you are noble +and will save others from cruelty and wrong. I have spoken—choose.” + +“Why did you not bring Zikali his accursed leaves yourself?” I +asked furiously. + +“Lord, I could not come to the place where that tree grows in the +garden of Heu-Heu; nor, indeed, did I know that this Master of Spirits +needed that medicine. Lord, be noble according to your nature, which is +known afar.” + +Now I tell you fellows when I heard this I felt flattered. We all think +that we are noble at times, but there are precious few who tell us so, +and therefore the thing came as a pleasant surprise from this +extraordinarily dignified, handsome and, it would appear in his own +fashion, well-educated son of Ham—if he were a son of Ham. To my mind, +he looked more like a prince in disguise, somebody of unknown but +highly distinguished race who had walked out of a fairy book. But when +I came to think of it, that was exactly what he said he was. Anyway, he +was a most discriminating person with a singular insight into +character. (It did not occur to me at the moment that Zikali was also a +discriminating person with an insight into character which had induced +him to bring us two together for secret purposes of his own. Or that, +in order to impress me, he had stuffed Issicore with the story of a +predestined white man, told of in prophecy, who could see in the dark, +as, without doubt, he had done.) + +Also the adventure proposed was of an order so wild and unusual that it +drew me like a magnet. Supposing that I lived to old age, could I, +Allan Quatermain, bear to look back and remember that I had turned down +an opportunity of that sort and was departing into the grave without +knowing if there was or was not a Heu-Heu who snatched away lovely +Andromedas—I mean Sabeelas—off rocks, and combined in his hideous +personality the qualities of a god or fetish, a ghost, a devil, and a +super-gorilla? + +Could I bury my two humble talents of adventure and straight shooting +in that fashion? Really, I thought not, for if I did, how could I face +my own conscience in those last failing years? And yet there was so +much to be said on the other side into which I need not enter. In the +end, being unable to make up my mind, I fell into weakness and +determined to refer the matter to fate. Yes, I determined to toss up, +using Hans for the spinning coin. + +“Hans,” I said in Dutch, a tongue which neither of the other two +understood, “shall we travel to this man’s country, or shall we +stay in our own? You have heard all; speak and I will accept your +judgment. Do you understand?” + +“Yes, Baas,” said Hans, twirling his hat in his vacant fashion, +“I understand that the Baas, as is usual when he is in a deep pit, +seeks the wisdom of Hans to get him out—of Hans who has brought him up +from a child and taught him most of what he knows; of Hans upon whom +his Reverend Father, the Predikant, used to lean as upon a staff, that +is, after he had made him into a good Christian. But the matter is +important, and before I give my judgment that will settle it one way or +another, I would ask a few questions.” + +Then he wheeled round, and, addressing the patient Issicore in his vile +Arabic, said, + +“Long Baas with a hooked nose, tell me, do you know the way back to +this country of yours, and if so, how much of it can be travelled in a +wagon?” + +“I do,” answered Issicore, “and all of it can be travelled in +a wagon until the first range of hills is reached. Also along it there +is plenty of game and water, except in the desert of which you have +been told. The journey should take about three moons, though, myself +alone, I accomplished it in two.” + +“Good, and if my Baas, Macumazahn, comes to your country, how will he +be received?” + +“Well by most of the people, but not well by the priests of Heu-Heu, if +they think he comes to harm the god, and certainly not well by the +Hairy Folk who live in the forest, who are called the Children of the +god. With these he must be prepared to war, though the prophecy says +that he will conquer all of them.” + +“Is there plenty to eat in your country, and is there tobacco, and +something better than water to drink, Long Baas?” + +“There is plenty of all these things. There is wealth of every kind, O +Counsellor of the White Lord, and all of them shall be his and yours, +though,” he added with meaning, “those who have to deal with the +priests of the god and the Hairy Folk would do well to drink water, +lest they should be found asleep.” + +“Have you guns there?” Hans asked, pointing to my rifle. + +“No, our weapons are swords and spears, and the Hairy Folk shoot with +arrows from bows.” + +Hans ceased from his questions and began to yawn as though he were +tired, as he did so, staring up at the sky where some vultures were +wheeling. + +“Baas,” he said, “how many vultures do you see up there? Is +it seven or eight? I have not counted them but I think there are +seven.” + +“No, Hans, there are eight; one, the highest, was hid behind a +cloud.” + +“You are quite sure that there are eight, Baas?” + +“Quite,” I answered angrily. “Why do you ask such silly +questions when you can count for yourself?” + +Hans yawned again and said, “Then we will go with this fine, hook-nosed +Baas to the country of Heu-Heu. That is settled.” + +“What the deuce do you mean, Hans? What on earth has the number of +vultures got to do with the matter?” + +“Everything, Baas. You see, the burden of this choice was too heavy for +my shoulders, so I lifted my eyes and put up a prayer to your Reverend +Father to help me, and in doing so saw the vultures. Then your Reverend +Father in the heaven above seemed to say to me, ‘If there are an even +number of vultures, Hans, then go; if an odd number, then stop where +you are. But, Hans, do not count the vultures. Make my son, the Baas +Allan, count them, for then he will not be able to grumble at you if +things turn out badly whether you go or whether you stay behind, and +say that you counted wrong or cheated.’ And now, Baas, I have had +enough of this, and should like to return to our outspan and examine +those new oxen.” + +I looked at Hans, speechless with indignation. In my cowardice I had +left it to his cunning and experience to decide this matter, virtually +tossing up, as I have said. And what had the little rascal done? He had +concocted one of his yarns about my poor old father and tossed up in +his turn, going odd or even on the number of the vultures which he made +_me_ count! So angry was I that I lifted my foot with meaning, whereon +Hans, who had been expecting something of the sort, bolted, and I did +not see him again until I got back to the camp. + +“Oho! Oho!” laughed Zikali, “Oho!” while the dignified +Issicore studied the scene with mild astonishment. + +Then I turned on Zikali, saying, “A cheat I have called you before, and +a cheat I call you again, with all your nonsense about bat-messengers +and the tale you have taught to this man as to a prophecy of his +people, and the rest. _There_ is the bat who brought the message, or +the dream, or the vision, or whatever you like to call it, and all the +while he was hidden beneath your eaves,” and I pointed to Issicore. +“And now I have been tricked into saying that I will go upon this +fool’s errand, and as I do not turn my back upon my word, go I +must.” + +“Have you, Macumazahn?” asked Zikali innocently. “You talked +with Light-in-Darkness in Dutch, which neither I nor this man +understood, and therefore we did not know what you said. But, as out of +the honesty of your heart you have told us, we understand now, and of +course we know, as everyone knows, that your word once spoken is worth +all the writings of all the white men put together, and that only death +or sickness will prevent you from accompanying Issicore to his own +country. Oho ho! It has all come about as I would have it, for reasons +with which I will not trouble you, Macumazahn.” + +Now I saw that I was doubly tricked, hit, as it were, with the right +barrel by Hans and with the left by Zikali. To tell the truth, I had +quite forgotten that he did not understand Dutch, although I remembered +it when I began to use that tongue, and that therefore it did not in +the least matter what I had said privately to Hans. But if Zikali did +not understand Dutch, of which after all I am not so sure, at any rate +he understood human nature, and could read thoughts, for he went on: + +“Do not boil within yourself, like a pot with a stone on its lid, +Macumazahn, because your crafty foot has slipped and you have repeated +publicly in one tongue what you had already said secretly in another, +and therefore made a promise to both of us. For all the while, +Macumazahn, you had made that promise and your white heart would not +have suffered you to swallow it again just because we could not hear it +with our ears. No, that great white heart of yours would have risen +into your throat and shut it fast. So kick away the burning sticks from +beneath the water of your anger and let it cease from boiling, and go +forth as you have promised, to see wonderful things and do wonderful +deeds and snatch the pure and innocent out of the hands of evil gods or +men.” + +“Yes, and burn my fingers, scooping your porridge out of the blazing +pot, Zikali,” I said with a snort. + +“Perhaps, Macumazahn, perhaps, for if I had no porridge to be saved, +should I have taken all this trouble? But what does that matter to you, +to the brave White Lord who seeks the truth as a thrown spear seeks the +heart of the foe? You will find plenty of truth yonder, Macumazahn, new +truth, and what does it matter if the spear is a little red after it +has reached the heart of things? It can be cleaned again, Macumazahn, +it can be cleaned, and amidst many other services, you will have done +one to your old friend, Zikali the Cheat.” + + +Here Allan glanced at the clock and stopped. + +“I say—do you know what the time is?” he said. “Twenty +minutes past one—by the head of Chaka. If you fellows want to finish +the story to-night, you can do so for yourselves according to taste. +I’m off, or out shooting to-morrow I shan’t hit a haystack +sitting.” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE BLACK RIVER + + +On the following evening, pleasantly tired after a capital day’s +shooting and a good dinner, once more the four of us—Curtis, Good, +myself (the Editor) and old Allan—were gathered round the fire in his +comfortable den at “The Grange.” + +“Now then, Allan,” I said, “get on with your tale.” + +“What tale?” he asked, pretending to forget, for he was always a +bad starter where his own reminiscences were concerned. + +“That about the monkey-man and the fellow who looked like Apollo,” +answered Good. “I dreamt about it all night, and that I rescued the +lady—a dark girl dressed in blue—and that just as I was about to +receive a well-earned kiss of thanks, she changed her mind and turned +into stone.” + +“Which is just what she would have done if she had any sense in her +head and you were concerned, Good,” said Allan severely, adding, +“Perhaps it was your dream that made you shoot more vilely than usual +to-day. I saw you miss eight cock pheasants in succession at that last +corner.” + +“And I saw you kill eighteen in succession at the first,” replied +Good cheerily, “so you see the average was all right. Now then, get on +with the romance. I like romance in the evening after a dose of the +hard facts of life in the shape of impossible cock pheasants.” + +“Romance!” began Allan indignantly. “Am I romantic? Pray do +not confuse me with yourself, Good.” + +Here I intervened imploring him not to waste time in arguing with Good, +who was unworthy of his notice, and at last, mollified, he began. + + +Now I am in a hurry and want to be done with this job that dries up my +throat—who, having lived so much alone, am not used to talking like a +politician—and makes me drink more whisky and water than I ought. You +are in a hurry, too, all of you, especially Good, who wants to get to +the end of the story in order that he may argue about it and try to +show that he would have managed much better, and you, my friend, +because you have to leave to-morrow morning early and must see to your +packing before you get to bed. Therefore, I am going to skip a lot, all +about our journey, for instance, although, in fact, it was one of the +most interesting treks I ever made, and for much of the way through a +country that was quite new to me, about which one might write a book. + +I will simply say, therefore, that in due course after some necessary +delay to re-pack the wagon, leaving behind all articles that were not +wanted in Zikali’s charge, we trekked from the Black Kloof. The oxen +that I had bought—on credit—from Zikali were in the yokes, and we +drove with us his two extra beasts as well as four of the best of my +old team to serve as spares. + +Also I took, in addition to my own driver and voorlooper, Mavoon and +Induka, two other Zulus, Zikali’s servants, who I knew would be +faithful because they feared their terrible master, although I knew +also that they would spy upon me and, if ever they returned alive, make +report of everything to him. + +Well, leaving out all the details of this remarkable trek in which we +met with no fighting, disasters, or great troubles and always had +plenty to eat, game being numerous throughout, I will take up the tale +on our arrival, safe and sound, at the first line of hills that I show +upon the map, of which Zikali had spoken as bordering the desert. Here +we were obliged to leave the wagon, for it was impossible to get it +over the hills or through the desert beyond. + +This, fortunately, we were able to do at a little village of peaceable +folk who lived in a charming and well-watered situation, and, having no +near neighbours, were able to cultivate their lands unmolested. I +placed it in the charge of Mavoon and Induka, whom I could trust and +who would not run away, also the oxen, of which, by good fortune, we +had only lost three. With them, as Issicore declared that we must go on +alone, I left Zikali’s servants, knowing that they would keep an eye +upon my men, and my men on them, and promised the headman of the +village a good present if we found everything safe on our return. + +He said that he would do his best, but added impressively—he was a +melancholy person—that if we were going to the country of Heu-Heu we +never should return, as it was a land of devils. In that event he asked +what was to happen to the wagon and goods. I replied that I had given +orders that if I did not reappear within a year, it was to trek back to +whence we came and announce that we were gone, but that he need not be +afraid as, being a great magician, I knew that we should be back long +before that time. + +He shrugged his shoulders, looking doubtfully at Issicore, and there +the conversation ended. However, I persuaded him to lend us three of +his people to guide us across the mountains and to carry water through +the desert on the understanding that they should be allowed to return +as soon as we sighted the swamp. Nothing would induce them to go nearer +to the country of Heu-Heu. + + +So in due course off we started, leaving Mavoon and Induka almost in +tears, for the gloom of the headman had spread to them and they too +believed that they would see us no more. Hans, it is true, they never +would have missed, since they hated him as he hated them, but in my +case the matter was different because they loved me in their own way. + +Our baggage was light: rifles (I took a double-barrelled Express), as +much ammunition as we could manage, some medicines, blankets, etc., a +few spare clothes and boots for myself, a couple of revolvers and as +many vessels of one sort or another as possible to carry water, +including two paraffin tins slung at either end of a piece of wood +after the fashion of a milkman’s yoke. Also we had tobacco, a good +supply of matches, candles, and a bundle of dried biltong to eat in +case we found no game. It doesn’t sound much, but before we got across +that desert I felt inclined to throw away half of it; indeed, I don’t +think we could have got the stuff over the mountain pass, which proved +to be precipitous, without the assistance of the three water-bearers. + +It took us twelve hours to reach and cross that mountain’s crest, just +beneath which we camped, and another six to descend the other side next +day. At its foot was thin, tussocky grass with occasional thorn trees +growing in a barren veldt that by degrees merged into desert. By the +last water we camped for the second night; then, having filled up all +our vessels, started out into the arid, sandy wilderness. + +Now, you fellows know what an African desert is, for we went through a +worse one than this on our journey to Solomon’s Mines. Still, the +particular specimen I am speaking of was pretty bad. To begin with, the +heat was tremendous. Then, in parts, it consisted of rolling slopes or +waves of sand, up which we must scramble and down which we must slide—a +most exhausting process. Further, there grew in it a variety of +thick-leaved plant with sharp spines that, if touched, caused a painful +soreness, which abominable and useless growths made it impossible to +travel at night, or even if the light were low, when they could not be +seen and avoided. + +We spent three days crossing that wretched desert, that had another +peculiarity. Here and there in its waste, columns of stones, polished +by the blowing sand, stood up like obelisks, sometimes in one piece, +monoliths, and sometimes in several, piled on each other. I suppose +that they were the remains of strata: hard cores that had resisted the +action of wind and water, which in the course of thousands or millions +of years had worn away the softer rock, grinding it to dust. + +Those obelisk-like columns gave a very strange appearance to that +wilderness, suggesting the idea of monuments; also, incidentally, they +were useful, since it was by them that our water-bearing guides, who +were accustomed to haunt the place to kill ostriches or to steal their +eggs, steered their path. Of these ostriches we saw a good number, +which showed that the desert could not be so very wide, since in it +there seemed to be nothing for them to live on, unless they ate the +prickly plants. There was no other life in the place. + +Fortunately, by dint of economy and self-denial, our water held out, +until on the afternoon of the third day, as we trudged along parched +and weary, from the crest of one of the sand waves we saw far off a +patch of dense green that marked the end, or, rather, the beginning, of +the swamp. Now our agreement with the guides was that when they came in +sight of this swamp they should return, for which purpose we had saved +some of the water for them to drink on their homeward journey. + +After a brief consultation, however, they determined to come on with +us, and when I asked why, wheeled round and pointed to dense clouds +that were gathering in the heavens behind us. These clouds, they +explained, foretold a sand tempest in which no man could live in the +desert. Therefore they urged us forward at all speed; indeed, exhausted +as we were, we covered the last three miles between us and the edge of +the swamp at a run. As we reached the reeds the storm burst, but still +we plunged forward through them, till we came to a spot where they grew +densely and where, by digging pits in the mud with our hands, we could +get water which, thick as it was, we drank greedily. Here we crouched +for hours while the storm raged. + +It was a terrific sight, for now the face of the desert behind was +hidden by clouds of driven sand, which even among the reeds fell upon +us thickly, so that occasionally we had to rise to shake its weight off +us. Had we still been in the desert, we should have been buried alive. +As it was we escaped, though half choked and with our skins fretted by +the wear of the particles of sand. + +So we squatted all night till before dawn the storm ceased and the sun +rose in a perfectly clear sky. Having drunk more water, of which we +seemed to need enormous quantities, we struggled back to the edge of +the swamp and from the crest of a sand wave looked about us. Issicore +stretched out his arm towards the north and touched me on the shoulder. +I looked, and far away, staining the delicate blue of the heavens, +perceived a dark, mushroom-shaped patch of vapour. + +“It is a cloud,” I said. “Let us go back to the reeds; the +storm is returning.” + +“No, Lord,” he answered, “it is the smoke from the Fire +Mountain of my country.” + +I studied it and said nothing, reflecting, however, that in this +particular, at any rate, Zikali had not lied. If so, was it not +possible that he had spoken truth about other matters also? If there +existed a volcano as yet unreported by any explorer, might there not +also be a buried city filled with petrified people, and even a Heu-Heu? +No, in Heu-Heu I could not believe. + +Here, after they had filled themselves and their gourds with water, the +three natives from the village left us, saying that they would go no +farther and that they could now depart safely as the sandstorm would +not return for some weeks. They added that our magic must be very +strong, since had we delayed even for a few hours we should certainly +all have been killed. + +So they departed, and we camped by the reeds, hoping to rest after our +exhausting journey. In this, however, we were disappointed, for as soon +as the sun went down we became aware that this vast area of swampy land +was the haunt of countless game that came thither, I suppose, from all +the country round in order to drink and to fill themselves with its +succulent growths. + +By the light of the moon I saw great herds of elephants appearing out +of the shadows and marching majestically towards the water. Also there +were troops of buffalo, some of which broke out of the reeds showing +that they had hidden there during the day, and almost every kind of +antelope in plenty, while in the morass itself we could hear sea cows +wallowing and grunting, and great splashes which I suppose were caused +by frightened crocodiles leaping into pools. + +Nor was this all, since so much animal life upon which they could prey +attracted many lions that coughed and roared and slew according to +their nature. Whenever one of them sprang on to some helpless buck, a +stampede of all the game in the neighbourhood would follow. The noise +they made crashing through the reeds was terrific, so much so that +sleep was impossible. Moreover, there was always a possibility that the +lions might be tempted to try a change of diet and eat us, especially +as we had no bushes with which to form a _boma_, or fence. So we made a +big fire of dry, last year’s reeds, of which, fortunately, there were +many standing near, and kept watch. + +Once or twice I saw the long shape of a lion pass us, but I did not +fire for fear lest I should wound the beast only and perhaps cause it +to charge. In short, the place was a veritable sportsman’s paradise, +and yet quite useless from a hunter’s point of view, since, if he +killed elephants, it would be impossible to carry the ivory across the +desert, and only a boy desires to slaughter game in order to leave it +to rot. At dawn, it is true, I did shoot a reed-buck for food, which +was the only shot I fired. + +As amidst all this hubbub the idea of sleep must be abandoned, I took +the opportunity to question Issicore about his country and what lay +before us there. During our journey I had not talked much to him on the +matter, since he seemed very silent and reserved, all his energies +being concentrated upon pushing forward as quickly as possible; also, +there was no object in doing so while we were still far away. Now, +however, I thought that the time had come for a talk. + +In answer to my queries, he said that if we travelled hard, by marching +round the narrow western end of the swamp, in three days we should +arrive at the mouth of the gorge down which the river ran that flowed +through the mountains surrounding his country. These mountains, I +should add, we had sighted as a black line in the distance almost as +soon as we entered the desert, which showed that they were high. Here, +if we reached it without accident, he hoped to find a boat waiting in +which we could be paddled to his town, though why anybody should be +expecting us I could not elicit from him. + +Leaving that question unsolved, I asked him about this town and its +inhabitants. He replied that it was large and contained a great number +of people, though not so many as it used to do in bygone generations. +The race was dwindling, partly from intermarriage and partly because of +the terror in which they lived, that made the women unwilling to bear +children lest these should be snatched away by the Hairy Folk who dwelt +in the surrounding forest, or perhaps sacrificed to the god himself. I +inquired whether he really believed that there was such a god, and he +replied with earnestness that certainly he did, as once he had seen +him, though from some way off, and he was so awful that description was +impossible. I must judge of him for myself when we met—an occasion that +I began to wish might be avoided. + +I cross-examined him persistently about this god, but with small +result, for the subject seemed to be one on which he did not care to +dwell. I gathered, however, that he, Issicore, had been in a canoe when +he saw Heu-Heu on a rock at dawn, surrounded by women, upon the +occasion of some sacrifice, and that he had not looked much at him +because he was afraid to do so. He noted, however, that he was taller +than a man and walked stiffly. He added that Heu-Heu never came to the +mainland, though his priests did. + +Then, dropping the subject of Heu-Heu, he went on to tell me of the +system of government amongst the Walloos, which, it appeared, was an +hereditary chieftainship that could be held either by men or women. The +present chief, an old man, like the people was named Walloo, as indeed +were all the chiefs of the tribe in succession, for “Walloo” was +really a title which he thought had come with them from whatever land +they inhabited in the dark, forgotten ages. He had but one child +living, a daughter, the lady Sabeela, of whom he had spoken to me at +the hut of the Opener-of-Roads, she who was doomed to sacrifice. He, +Issicore, was her second cousin, being descended from the brother of +her grandfather, and therefore of the pure Walloo blood. + +“Then if this lady died, I suppose you would be the chief, +Issicore?” I said. + +“Yes, Lord, by descent,” he answered; “yet perhaps not so. +There is another power in the land greater than that of the kings or +chiefs—the power of the priests of Heu-Heu. It is their purpose, Lord, +should Sabeela die, to seize the chieftainship for themselves. A +certain Dacha, who is also of the pure Walloo blood, is the chief +priest, and he has sons to follow him.” + +“Then it is to this Dacha’s interest that Sabeela should +die?” + +“It is to his interest, Lord, that she should die and I also, or, +better still, both of us together, for then his path would be clear.” + +“But what of her father, the Walloo? He cannot desire the death of his +only child.” + +“Nay, Lord, he loves her much and desires that she should marry me. +But, as I have said, he is an old man and terror-haunted. He fears the +god, who already has taken one of his daughters; he fears the priests, +who are the oracles of the god, and, it is said, murdered his son as +they have striven to murder me. Therefore, being frozen by fear, he is +powerless, and without his leadership none can act, since all must be +done in the name of the Walloo and by his authority. Yet it was he who +sent me to seek for help from the great wizard of the South with whom +he and his fathers have had dealings in bygone years. Yes, because of +the ancient prophecy that the god could only be overthrown and the +tyranny of the priests be broken by a white man from the South, he sent +me, who am the betrothed of his daughter, secretly and without the +knowledge of Dacha, and because of Sabeela I dared the curse and went, +for which deed perchance I must pay dearly. He it is also who watches +for my return.” + +“And if he exists, which you have not proved to me, how am I to kill +this god, Issicore? By shooting him?” + +“I do not know, Lord. It is believed that he cannot be harmed by +weapons, over whom only fire and water have power, since legend tells +that he came out of the fire and certainly he lives surrounded by +water. The prophecy does not say how he will be killed by the stranger +from the South.” + +Now, listening to this weird talk in that wild-beast-peopled wilderness +from the mouth of a man who evidently was very frightened, and wearied +as I was, I confess that I grew frightened also, and wished most +heartily that I had never been beguiled into this adventure. Probably +the terrible god, of whom I could learn no details, question as I +would, was nothing but an invention of the priests, or perhaps one of +their number disguised. But, however this might be, no doubt I was +travelling to a fetish-ridden land in which witchcraft and murder were +rampant; in short, one of Satan’s peculiar possessions. Yes, I, Allan +Quatermain, was brought here to play the part of a modern Hercules and +clean out this Augean stable of bloodshed and superstitions, to say +nothing of fighting the lion in the shape of Heu-Heu, always supposing +that there was a Heu-Heu, a creature taller than a man that “walked +stiffly,” whom Issicore believed he had once seen from a distance at +dawn. + +However, I was in for it, and to show fear would be as useless as it +was undignified, since, unless I turned and ran back into the desert, +which my pride would never suffer me to do, I could see no escape. +Having put my hand to the plough I must finish the furrow. So I sat +silent, making no comment upon Issicore’s rather nebulous information. +Only after a while I asked him casually when this sacrifice was to take +place, to which he replied with evident agitation, + +“On the night of the full harvest moon, which is this moon, fourteen +days from now; wherefore we must hurry, since at best it will take us +five days to reach the town of Walloo, three in travelling round the +swamp and two upon the river. Do not delay, Lord, I pray you do not +delay, lest we should be too late and find Sabeela gone.” + +“No,” I answered, “I shall not be late, and I can assure you, +my friend Issicore, that the sooner I am through with this business one +way or another, the better I shall be pleased. And now that all those +beasts in the swamp seem to have grown a little quieter I will try to +go to sleep.” + +Happily I was successful in this effort and obtained several hours’ +sound rest, which I needed sorely, before the sun appeared and Hans +woke me. I rose, and, taking my rifle, shot a fat reed-buck, which I +selected out of a number which stood quite close by, a young female off +which we breakfasted, for, as you know, if the meat of antelopes is +cooked before it grows cold it is often as tender as though it had been +hung for a week. The odd thing was that the sound of the shot did not +seem to disturb the other beasts at all; evidently they had never heard +anything of the sort before, and thought that their companion was just +lying down. + +An hour later we started on our long tramp round the edge of that +swamp. I did not like to march before for fear lest we should get into +complications with the herds of elephants and other animals that were +trekking out of it in all directions with the light, though where they +went to feed I am sure I do not know. In all my life I never saw such +quantities of game as had collected in this place, which probably +furnished the only water for many miles round. + +However, as I have said, it was of no use to us, and therefore our +object was to keep as clear of it as possible. Even then we stumbled +right on to a sleeping white rhinoceros with the longest horn that ever +I saw. It must have measured nearly six feet, and anywhere else would +have been a great prize. Fortunately the wind was blowing from it to +us, so it did not smell us and charged off in another direction, for, +as you know, the rhinoceros is almost blind. + +Now I am not going to give all the details of that interminable trudge +through sand, for in the mud of the swamp we could not walk at all. +During the day we were scorched by the heat and at night we were +tormented by mosquitoes and disturbed by the noise of the game and the +roaring of lions, which fortunately, being so full fed, never molested +us. By the third night, bearing always to the right, we had come quite +close to the mountain range, which, although it was not so very lofty, +seemed to be absolutely precipitous, faced, indeed, by sheer cliffs +that rose to a height of from five to eight hundred feet. To what +extraordinary geological conditions these black cliffs and the desert +by which they were surrounded owe their origin, I am sure I do not know +but there they were, and no doubt are. + +Before sunset on this third day, by Issicore’s direction, we collected +a huge pile of dried reeds, which we set upon the crest of a sand +mound, and after dark fired them, so that for a quarter of an hour or +so they burned in a bright column of flame. Issicore gave no +explanation of this proceeding, but as Hans remarked, doubtless it was +a signal to his friends. Next morning, at his request, we started on +before the dawn, taking our chance of meeting with elephants or +buffaloes, and at sunrise found ourselves right under the cliffs. + +An hour later, following a little bay in them where there was no swamp, +because here the ground rose of a sudden we turned a corner and +perceived a tall, white-robed man with a big spear standing upon a +rock, evidently keeping a look-out. As soon as he saw us he leapt down +from his rock with the agility of a _klip-springer_ and came towards +us. + +After one curious glance at me he went straight to Issicore, knelt down +and, taking his hand, pressed it to his forehead, which showed me that +our guide was a venerated person. Then they conversed together in low +tones, after which Issicore came to me and said that so far all was +well, as our fire had been seen and a big canoe awaited us. We went on, +guided by the sentry, and after one turn suddenly came on quite a large +river, which had been hidden by the reeds. To the left appeared this +deep, slow-flowing river; to the right, within a hundred paces, indeed, +it changed into swamp or morass, of which the pools were fringed with +very tall and beautiful papyrus plants, such open water as there was +being almost covered by every kind of wild fowl that rose in flocks +with a deafening clamour. This stream, the Black River, as the Walloos +called it, was bordered on either side by precipices through which I +suppose it had cut its way in the course of millenniums, so high and +impending that they seemed almost to meet above, leaving the surface of +the water nearly dark. It was a stream gloomy as the Roman Styx, and, +glancing at it, I half expected to see Charon and his boat approaching +to row us to the Infernal fields. Indeed, into my mind there floated a +memory of the poet’s lines, which I hope I quote correctly: + +In Kubla Khan a river ran + +Through caverns measureless to man, + +Down to a sunless sea. + + + +I confess honestly that the aspect of the place filled me with fear: it +was forbidding—indeed, unholy—and I marvelled what kind of a +sunless sea lay beyond this hell gate. Had I been alone, or with Hans +only, I admit that I should have turned tail and marched back round +that swamp, upon which, at any rate, the sun shone, and, if I could, +across the desert beyond to where I had left the wagon. But in the +presence of the stately Issicore and his myrmidon, this I could not do +because of my white man’s pride. No, I must go on to the end, whatever +it might be. + +If I was frightened, Hans was much more so, for his teeth began to +chatter with terror. + +“Oh, Baas,” he said, “if this is the door, what will the +house beyond be like?” + +“That we shall learn in due course,” I answered, “so there is +no good in thinking about it.” + +“Follow me, Lord,” said Issicore, after some further talk with his +companion. + +I did so, accompanied by Hans, who stuck to me as closely as possible. +We advanced round the rock and discovered a little indent in the bank +of the river where a great canoe, hollowed apparently from a single +huge tree, or rather its prow, was drawn up on the sandy shore. In this +canoe sat sixteen rowers or paddle-men—I remember there were sixteen of +them because at the time Hans remarked that the number was the same as +that of a wagon team and subsequently called these paddlers “water +oxen.” + +As we approached they lifted their paddles in salute, apparently of +Issicore, since of me and my companion, except by swift, surreptitious +glances, they took no notice. + +With a kind of silent, unobtrusive haste Issicore caused our small +baggage, which consisted chiefly of cartridge bags, to be stowed away +in the prow of the canoe that for a few feet was hollowed out in such a +fashion that it made a kind of cupboard roofed with solid wood, and +showed us where to sit. Next he entered it himself, while the lookout +man ran down the canoe and took hold of the steering oar. + +Then at a word all the paddlers back-watered and the craft slid off the +sandy beach into the river which was full to the banks, almost in flood +indeed. It seemed that here the rain had been nearly incessant for some +months and the lowering sky showed that ere long there was much more to +come. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE WALLOO + + +In perfect stillness, except for the sound of the dipping of the +paddles in the water, we glided away very swiftly up the placid river. +I think that nothing upon this strange journey, or at any rate during +the first part of it, struck me more than its quietness. The water was +still, flowing peacefully between its rocky walls towards the desert in +which it would be lost, just as the life of some good old man flows +towards death. The rocky precipices on either side were still; they +were so steep that on them nothing which breathed could find a footing, +except bats, perhaps, that do not stir in the daytime. The riband of +grey sky above us was still, though occasionally a draught of air blew +between the cliffs with a moaning noise, such as one might imagine to +be caused by the passing wind of spiritual wings. But stillest of all +were those rowers who for hour after hour laboured at their task in +silence, and with a curious intentness, or, if speak they must, did so +only in a whisper. + +Gradually an impression of nightmare stole over me; I felt as though I +were a sleeper taking part in the drama of a dream. Perhaps, in fact, +this was so, since I was very tired, having rested but little for a +good many nights and laboured hard during the day trudging through the +sand with a heavy rifle and a load of cartridges upon my back. So +really I may have been in a doze, such as is easily induced in any +circumstances by the sound of lapping water. If so, it was not a +pleasant dream, for the titanic surroundings in which I found myself +and the dread possibilities of the whole enterprise oppressed my spirit +with a sensation of departure from the familiar things of life into +something unholy and unknown. + +Soon the cliffs grew so high and the light so faint that I could only +just see the stern, handsome faces of the rowers appearing as they bent +forward to their ordered stroke, and vanishing into the gloom as they +leant back after it was accomplished. The very regularity of the effort +produced a kind of mesmeric effect which was unpleasant. The faces +looked to me like those of ghosts peeping at one through cracks of the +curtains round a bed, then vanishing, continually to return and peep +again. + +I suppose that at last I went to sleep in good earnest. It was a +haunted sleep, however, for I dreamed that I was entering into some dim +Hades where all realities had been replaced by shadows, strengthless +but alarming. + +At length I was awakened by the voice of Issicore, saying that we had +come to the place where we must rest for the night, as it was +impossible to travel in the dark and the rowers were weary. Here the +cliffs widened out a little, leaving a strip of shore upon either side +of the river, upon which we landed. By the last light that struggled to +us from the line of sky above we ate such food as we had, supplemented +by biscuits of a sort that were carried in the canoe, for no fire was +lighted. Before we had finished, dense darkness fell upon us, for the +moonbeams were not strong enough to penetrate into that place, so that +there was nothing to be done except lie down upon the sand and sleep +with the wailing of the night air between the cliffs for lullaby. + +The night passed somehow. It seemed so long that I began to think or +dream that I must be dead and waiting for my next incarnation, and when +occasionally I half woke up, was only reassured by hearing Hans at my +side muttering prayers in his sleep to my old father, of which the +substance was that he should be provided with a half-gallon bottle of +gin! At last a star that shone in the black riband far above vanished +and the riband turned blue, or, rather, grey, which showed that it was +dawn. We rose and stumbled into the canoe, for it was impossible to see +where to place our feet, and started. Within a few hundred yards of our +sleeping place suddenly the cliffs that hemmed in the river widened +out, so that now they rose at a distance of a mile or more from either +bank flat, water-levelled land. + +These banks, which here were steep, were clothed with great, +dark-coloured, spreading trees of which the boughs projected far over +the water and cut off the light almost as much as the precipices had +done lower down the stream. Thus we still travelled in gloom, +especially as the sun was not yet up. Presently through this gloom, to +which my trained eyes had grown accustomed, I thought that I caught +sight of tall, dark-hued figures moving between the trees. Sometimes +these figures seemed to stand upright and walk upon their feet, and +sometimes to run swiftly upon all fours. + +“Look, Hans,” I whispered—everyone whispered in that +place—“there are baboons!” + +“Baboons, Baas!” he answered. “Were ever baboons such a size? +No, they are devils.” + +Now from behind me Issicore also whispered, + +“They are the Hairy Men who dwell in the forest, Lord. Be silent, I +pray you, lest they should attack us.” + +Then he began to consult with the rowers in low tones, apparently as to +whether we should go on or turn back. Finally we went on, paddling at a +double pace. A moment later a sound arose in that dim forest, a sound +of indescribable weirdness that was half an animal grunt and half a +human cry, which to my ears shaped itself into the syllables, +_Heu-Heu!_ In an instant it was taken up upon all sides, and from +everywhere came this wail of _Heu-Heu!_ which was so horrid to hear +that my hair stood up even straighter than usual. Listening to it, I +understood whence came the name of the god I had travelled so far to +visit. + +Nor was this all, for there followed heavy splashes in the water, like +to those made by plunging crocodiles, and in the deep shadow beneath +the spreading trees I saw hideous heads swimming towards us. + +“The Hairy Folk have smelt us,” whispered Issicore again, in a +voice that I thought perturbed. “Do nothing, Lord; they are very +curious. Perhaps when they have looked they will go away.” + +“And if they don’t?” I asked—a question to which he +returned no answer. + +The canoe was steered over towards the left bank and driven forward at +great speed with all the strength of the rowers. Now in the space of +open water, upon which the light began to shine more strongly, I saw a +beast-like, bearded head that yet undoubtedly was human, yellow-eyed, +thick-lipped, with strong, gleaming teeth, coming towards us at the +speed of a very strong swimmer, for it had entered the water above us +and was travelling down-stream. It reached us, lifted up a powerful arm +that was completely covered with brown hair like to that of a monkey, +caught hold of the gunwale of the boat just opposite to where I sat, +and reared its shoulders out of the water, thereby showing me that its +great body was for the most part also covered with long hair. + +Now its other hand was also on the gunwale, and it stood in the water, +resting on its arms, the hideous head so close to me that its stinking +breath blew into my face. Yes, there it stood and jabbered at me. I +confess that I was terrified who never before had seen a creature like +this. Still, for a while I sat quiet. + +Then of a sudden I felt that I could bear no more, who believed that +the brute was about to get into the boat, or perhaps to drag me out of +it. I lost control of myself, and drawing my heavy hunting-knife—the +one you see on the wall there, friends—I struck at the hand that was +nearest. The blow fell upon the fingers and cut one of them right off +so that it fell into the canoe. With an appalling yell the man or beast +let go and plunged into the water, where I saw him waving his bleeding +hand above his head. + +Issicore began to say something to me in frightened tones, but just +then Hans ejaculated, + +“_Allemaghter!_ here’s another!” and a second huge head +and body reared itself up, this time on his side. + +“Do nothing!” I heard Issicore exclaim. But the appearance of the +creature was too much for Hans, who drew his revolver and fired two +shots in rapid succession into its body. It also tumbled back into the +water, where it began to wallow, screaming, but in a thinner voice. I +thought, and rightly, that it must be a female. + +Before the echo of the shots had died away there rose another hideous +chorus of _Heu-Heus_ and other cries, all of them savage and terrible. +From both banks more of the creatures precipitated themselves into the +water, but luckily not to attack us because they were too much occupied +with the plight of their companion. They congregated round her and +dragged her to the shore. Yes, I saw them lift the body out of the +stream, for by this time I was sure from its hanging arms and legs that +it was dead, an act which showed me that although they had the shape +and the covering of beasts, in fact they were human. + + +“Elephants will do as much,” interrupted Curtis. + +“Yes,” said Allan, “that is true. Sometimes they will; I have +seen it twice. But everything about the behaviour of those Hairy Men +was human. For instance, their wailing over the dead, which was +dreadful and reminded me of the tales of banshees. Moreover, I had not +far to look for proof. At my feet lay the finger that I had cut off. It +was a human finger, only very thick, short, and covered with hair, +having the nail worn down, too, doubtless in climbing trees and +grubbing for roots.” + + +Even then with a shock I realized that I had stumbled on the Missing +Link, or something that resembled it very strongly. Here in this +unknown spot still survived a people such as were our forefathers +hundreds of thousands or millions of years ago. Also I reflected that I +ought to be proud, for I had made a great discovery, although, to tell +the truth, just then I should have been quite willing to resign its +glory to someone else. + +After this I began to reflect upon other things, for a large jagged +stone whizzed within an inch of my head, and presently was followed by +a rude arrow tipped with fish bone that stuck in the side of the canoe. + +Amidst a shower of these missiles, which fortunately, beyond a bruise +or two, did us no harm, we headed out into mid-stream again where they +could not reach us, and as no more of the Hairy People swam from the +banks to cut us off, soon were pursuing our way in peace. For once, +however, the imperturbable Issicore was much disturbed. He came forward +and sat by me and said: + +“A very evil thing has happened, Lord. You have declared war upon the +Hairy Men, and the Hairy Men never forget. It will be war to the end.” + +“I can’t help it,” I answered feebly, for I was sick with the +sight and sound of those creatures. “Are there many of them, and are +they all over your country?” + +“A good many, perhaps a thousand or more, Lord, but they only live in +the forests. You must never go into the forest, Lord, at any rate, not +alone; or onto the island where Heu-Heu lives, for he is their king and +keeps some of them about him.” + +“I have no present intention of doing so,” I answered. + +Now, as we went, the cliffs receded farther and farther from the river, +till at length they ceased altogether. We were through the lip of the +mountains, if I may so call it, and had entered a stretch of unbroken +virgin forest, a veritable sea of great trees that occupied the rich +land of the plain and grew to an enormous size and tallness. Moreover, +before us appeared clearly the cone of the volcano, broad but of no +great height, over which hung the mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke. + +All day long we travelled up this tranquil river, rejoicing in the +comparative brightness in its centre, although, of course, the trees +upon either edge overhung it much. + +Late in the afternoon a bend of the banks brought us within sight of a +great sheet of water from which apparently the river issued, although, +as I learned afterwards, it flowed into it upon the other side, from I +know not whence. This lake—for it was a big lake many miles in +circumference—surrounded an island of considerable size, in the centre +of which rose the volcano, now a mere grey-hued mountain that looked +quite harmless, although over it hung that ominous cloud of smoke +which, oddly enough, one could not see issuing from its crest. I +suppose that it must have gone up in steam and condensed into smoke +above. At the foot of the mountain, upon a plain between it and the +lake, with the help of my glasses I could see what looked like +buildings of some size, constructed of black stone or lava. + +“They are ruins,” said Issicore, who had observed that I was +examining them. “Once the great city of my forefathers stood yonder +until the fire from the mountain destroyed it.” + +“Then does nobody live on the island now?” I asked. + +“The priests of Heu-Heu live there, Lord. Also Heu-Heu himself lives +there in a great cave upon the farther side of the mountain, or so it +is said, for none of us has ever visited that cave, and with him some +of the Hairy People who are his servants. My grandfather did so, +however, and saw him there. Indeed, as I have told you, once I saw him +myself; but what he looked like you must not ask me, Lord, for I do not +remember,” he added hastily. “In front of the cave is his garden, +where grows the magic tree of which the Master of Spirits yonder in the +South desires leaves to mix with his medicines: the tree that gives +dreams with long life and vision.” + +“Does Heu-Heu eat of this tree?” I asked. + +“I do not know, but I know that he eats the flesh of beasts, because of +these we must make offerings to him, and sometimes of men, or so it is +said. Near the foot of the garden burn the eternal fires, and between +them is the rock upon which the offerings are made.” + +Now I thought to myself I should much like to see this place of which +it was evident that Issicore knew or would tell very little, where +there was a great cave in which dwelt a reputed demon with his slaves +and hierophants; and where too grew a tree supposed to be magical, +flanked by eternal fires. What were these eternal fires, I wondered. I +could only suppose that they had something to do with the volcano. + +As it happened, however, whilst I was preparing to question Issicore +upon the subject, we passed round a tree-clad headland, for here the +river had widened into a kind of estuary, and on the shore of the bay +beyond it discovered a town of considerable size, covering several +hundred acres of ground. The houses of this town, most of which stood +in their own gardens, though some of the smaller ones were arranged in +streets, had an Eastern appearance, inasmuch as they were low and +flat-roofed. + +Only there was this difference: Eastern houses of the primitive sort as +a rule are whitewashed, but these were all black, being built of lava, +as I discovered afterwards. All round the town also, except on the lake +side, ran a high wall likewise of black stone, the presence of which +excited my curiosity and caused me to inquire its object. + +“It is to defend us from the Hairy Folk who attack by night,” +answered Issicore. “In the daylight they never come, and therefore our +fields beyond are not walled,” and he pointed to a great stretch of +cultivated land that I suppose had been cleared of trees, which +extended for miles into the surrounding forest. + +Then he went on to explain that they laboured there while the sun was +up and at nightfall returned to the town, except certain of them who +slept in forts or blockhouses to guard the crops and cattle kraals. + +Now I looked at this place and thought to myself that never in my life +had I seen one more gloomy, especially in the late afternoon under a +sullen, rain-laden sky. The black houses, the high black walls that +reminded me of a prison, the black waters of the lake, the outlook on +to the black volcano and the black mass of the forest behind, all +contributed to this effect. + +“Oh, Baas, if I lived here I should soon go mad!” said Hans, and +upon my word, I agreed with him. + +Now we paddled towards the shore, and presently ran alongside a little +jetty formed of stones loosely thrown together, on which we landed. +Evidently our approach had been observed, for a number of people—forty +or fifty of them, perhaps—were collected at the shore end of the jetty +awaiting us. A glance showed me that although of varying ages and both +sexes, in type they all resembled our guide, Issicore. That is to say, +they were tall, well-shaped, light-coloured and extremely handsome, +also clothed in white robes, while some of the men wore hats of the +Pharaonic type that I have described. The women’s headdress, however, +consisted of a close-fitting linen cap with lappets hanging down on +either side, and was extraordinarily becoming to their severe cast of +beauty. From what race could this people have sprung, I wondered. I had +not the faintest idea; to me they looked like the survivals of some +ancient civilization. + +Conducted by Issicore, we advanced, carrying our scanty baggage, a +forlorn and battered little company. As we drew near, the crowd +separated into two lines, men to the right and women to the left, like +the congregation in a very high church, and stood quite silent, +watching us intently with their large, melancholy eyes. Never a word +did they say as we passed between them, only watched and watched till I +felt quite nervous. They did not even offer any greeting to Issicore, +although it seemed to me that he had earned one after his long and +dangerous journey. + +I observed, however, although at the time I took little notice of the +matter, and afterwards forgot all about it until Hans brought the +circumstance back to my mind, that a certain dark man of austere +countenance, clothed rather differently from the rest, approached +Issicore, addressed him, and thrust something into his hand. Issicore +glanced at this object, whatever it might be, and distinctly I saw him +tremble and turn pale. Then he hid it away, saying nothing. + +Turning to the right, we marched along a roadway that bordered the +lake, which was constructed about twelve feet above its level, perhaps +to serve as a protection against inundation, till we came to a wall in +which was a door built of solid balks of wood. This door opened as we +approached, and, passing it, we found ourselves in a large garden +cultivated with taste and refinement, for in it were beds of flowers, +the only cheerful thing I ever saw in this town that, it appeared, was +named Walloo after the tribe or its ruler. At the end of the garden +stood a long, solid, flat-roofed house built of the prevailing lava +rock. + +Entering, we found ourselves in a spacious room which, as dusk was +gathering, was lit with cresset-like lamps of elegant shape placed upon +pedestals cut from great tusks of ivory. + +In the centre of this room were two large chairs made of ebony and +ivory with high backs and footstools, and in these chairs sat a man and +a woman who were well worth seeing. The man was old, for his silver +hair hung down upon his shoulders, and his fine, sad face was deeply +wrinkled. + +At a glance I saw that he must be the king or chief, because of his +dignified if somewhat senile appearance. Moreover, his robes, with +their purple borders, had a royal look, and about his neck he wore a +heavy chain of what seemed to be gold, while in his hand was a black +staff tipped with gold, no doubt his sceptre. For the rest, his eyes +had a rather frightened air, and his whole aspect gave an idea of +weakness and indecision. + +The woman sat in the other chair with the light from one of the lamps +shining full upon her, and I knew at once that she must be the Lady +Sabeela, the love of Issicore. No wonder that he loved her, for she was +beautiful exceedingly; tall, well developed, straight as a reed, +great-eyed, with chiselled features that were yet rounded and womanly, +and wonderfully small hands and feet. She, too, wore purple-bordered +robes. About her waist hung a girdle thickly sewn with red stones that +I took to be rubies, and upon her shapely head, serving as a fillet for +her abundant hair, which flowed down her in long waving strands of a +rich and ruddy hue of brown or chestnut, was a simple golden band. +Except for a red flower on her breast she wore no other ornament, +perhaps because she knew that none was needed. + +Leaving us by the door of the chamber, Issicore advanced and knelt +before the old man, who first touched him with his staff and then laid +a land upon his head. Presently he rose, went to the lady and knelt +before her also, whereon she stretched out her fingers for him to kiss, +while a look of sudden hope and joy, which even at that distance I +could distinguish, gathered on her face. He whispered to her for a +while, then turned and began to speak earnestly to her father. At +length he crossed the room, came to me and led me forward, followed by +Hans at my heels. + +“O Lord Macumazahn,” he said, “here sit the Walloo, the +Prince of my people, and his daughter, the Lady Sabeela. O Prince my +cousin, this is the white noble famous for his skill and courage, whom +the Wizard of the South made known to me and who at my prayer, out of +the goodness of his heart, has come to help us in our peril.” + +“I thank him,” said the Walloo in the same dialect of Arabic that +was used by Issicore. “I thank him in my own name, in that of my +daughter who now alone is left to me, and in the name of my people.” + +Here he rose from his seat and bowed to me with a strange and foreign +courtesy such as I had not known in Africa, while the lady also rose +and bowed, or rather curtseyed. Seating himself again, he said, + +“Without doubt you are weary and would rest and eat, after which +perchance we may talk.” + +Then we were led away through a door at the end of the great room into +another room that evidently had been prepared for me. Also there was a +place beyond for Hans, a kind of alcove. Here water, which I noticed +had been warmed—an unusual thing in Africa—was brought in a large +earthenware vessel by two quiet women of middle age, and with it an +undershirt of beautiful fine linen which was laid upon a bed, or +cushioned couch, that was arranged upon the floor and covered by fur +rugs. + +I washed myself, pouring the warm water into a stone basin that was set +upon a stand, and put on the shirt, also the change of clothes that I +had with me, and, with the help of Hans and a pair of pocket scissors, +trimmed my beard and hair. Scarcely had I finished when the women +reappeared, bringing food on wooden platters—roast lamb, it seemed to +be—and with it drink in jars of earthenware that were of elegant shape +and powdered all over with the little rough diamonds of which Zikali +had given me specimens, that evidently had been set in it in patterns +before the clay dried. This drink, by the way was a kind of native +beer, sweet to the taste but pleasant and rather strong, so that I had +to be careful lest Hans should take too much of it. + +After we had finished our meal, which was very welcome, for we had +eaten no properly cooked food since we left the wagon, Issicore arrived +and took us back to the large room, where we found the Walloo and his +daughter seated as before, with several old men squatting about them on +the ground. A stool having been set for me the talk began. + +I need not enter into all its details, since in substance they set out +what I had already heard from Issicore; namely, that there dwelt +Something or Somebody on the island in the lake who required annually +the sacrifice of a beautiful virgin. This was demanded through the head +priest of a college, also established on the island which acknowledged +the being, real or imaginary, that lived there as its god or fetish. +Further, that creature (if he existed) was said to be the king of all +the Hairy Folk who inhabited the forests. Lastly, there was a legend +that he was the reincarnation of some ancient monarch of the Walloo +folk, who had come to a bad end at the hands of his indignant subjects +at some date undefined. Walloo, it seemed, was their correct name, that +of Heuheua applying only to the Hairy Men of the woods. + +This story I dismissed at once, being quite convinced that it was only +a variant of a very common African fable. Doubtless Heu-Heu, if there +really were a Heu-Heu, was the ruler of the savage hairy aboriginals of +the place that once in the far past had been conquered by the invading +Walloo, who poured into the country from the north or west, being +themselves the survivors of some civilized but forgotten people. This +conclusion, I may add, I never found any reason to doubt. Africa is a +very ancient land, and in it once lived many races that have vanished, +or survive only in a debased condition, dwindling from generation to +generation until the day of their extinction comes. + +Here I may state briefly the final opinions at which I have arrived +about this people. + +Almost certainly these Walloos were such a dying race, hailing, as +names among them seemed to suggest from some region in West Africa, +where their forefathers had been highly civilized. Thus, although they +could not write, they had traditions of writing and even inscriptions +graven upon stones, of which I saw several in a character that I did +not know, though to me it had the look of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Also +they still had knowledge of certain cultured arts such as the weaving +of fine linen, the carving of wood and marble, the making of pottery, +and the smelting of metals with which their land abounded, including +gold that they found in little nuggets in the gravel of the streams. + +Most of these crafts, however, were dying out except those that were +necessary to life, such as the moulding of pottery and the building of +houses and walls, and particularly agriculture, in which they were very +proficient. When I saw them all the higher arts were practised only by +very old men. As they never intermarried with any other blood, their +hereditary beauty, which was truly remarkable, remained to them, but +owing to the causes I have mentioned already, the stock was dwindling, +the total population being now not more than half of what it was within +the memory of the fathers of their oldest men. Their melancholy, which +now had become constitutional, doubtless was induced by their gloomy +surroundings and the knowledge that as a race they were doomed to +perish at the hands of the savage aboriginals who once had been their +slaves. + +Lastly, although they retained traces of some higher religion, since +they made prayer to a Great Spirit, they were fetish-ridden and +believed that they could continue to exist only by making sacrifice to +a devil who, if they neglected to do so, would crush them with +misfortunes and give them over to destruction at the hands of the +dreadful Forest-dwellers. Therefore they, or a section of them, became +the priests of this devil called Heu-Heu, and thereby kept peace +between them and the Hairy Men. + +Nor was this the end of their troubles, since, as Issicore had told me, +these priests, after the fashion of priests all the world over, now +aspired to the absolute rule of the race, and for this reason plotted +the extinction of the hereditary chief and all his family. + +Such, in substance, was the lugubrious story that the unhappy Walloo +poured into my ears that night, ending it in these words, + +“Now you will understand, O Lord Macumazahn, why in our extremity and +in obedience to the ancient prophecy, which has come down to us from +our fathers, we communicated with the great Wizard of the South, with +whom we had been in touch in ancient days, praying him to send us the +helper of the prophecy. Behold, he has sent you and now I implore you +to save my daughter from the fate that awaits her. I understand that +you will require payment in white and red stones, also in gold and +ivory. Take as much as you want. Of the stones there are jars full +hidden away and the fences of some of my courtyards at the back of this +house are made of tusks of ivory, though it is black with age, and I +know not how you would carry it hence. Also there is a quantity of gold +melted into bars, which my grandfather caused to be collected, whereof +we make little use except now and again for women’s ornaments, but +that, too, would be heavy to carry across the desert. Still, it is all +yours. Take it. Take everything you wish, only save my daughter.” + +“We will talk of the reward afterwards,” I said, for my heart was +touched at the sight of the old man’s grief. “Meanwhile, let me +hear what can be done.” + +“Lord, I do not know,” he answered, wringing his hands. “The +third night from this is that of full moon, the full moon which marks +the beginning of harvest. On that night we must carry my daughter, on +whom the lot has fallen, to the island in the lake where stands the +smoking mountain and bind her to the pillar upon the Rock of Offering +that is set between the two undying fires. There we must leave her, and +at the dawn, so it is said, Heu-Heu himself seizes her and carries her +into his cavern, where she vanishes for ever. Or, if he does not come, +his priests do, to drag her to the god, and we see her no more.” + +“Then why do you take her to the island? Why do you not call your +people together and fight and kill this god or his priests?” + +“Lord, because not one man among us, save perhaps Issicore yonder, who +can do nothing alone, would lift a hand to save her. They believe that +if they did the mountain would break into flames, as happened in the +bygone ages, turning all upon whom the ashes fell into stone; also that +the waters would rise and destroy the crops, so that we must die of +starvation, and that any who escaped the fire and the water and the +want would perish at the hands of the cruel Wood-devils. Therefore, if +I ask the Walloos to save the maiden from Heu-Heu, they will kill me +and give her up in accordance with the law.” + +“I understand,” I said, and was silent. + +“Lord,” went on the old Walloo presently, “here with me you +are safe, for none of my people will harm you or those with you. But I +learn from Issicore that you have stabbed a Hairy Man with a knife, and +that your servant slew one of their women with the strange weapons that +you carry. Therefore, from the Wood-devils you are not safe, for, if +they can, they will kill you both and feast upon your bodies.” + +“That’s cheerful,” I thought to myself, but made no further +answer, for I did not know what to say. + +Just then the Walloo rose from his chair, saying that he must go to +pray to the spirits of his ancestors to help him, but that we would +talk again upon the morrow. After this he bade us good-night and +departed without another word, followed by the old men, who all this +while had sat silent, only nodding their heads from time to time like +porcelain images of Chinese mandarins. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE HOLY ISLE + + +When the door had closed behind him, I turned to Issicore and asked him +straight out if he had any plan to suggest. He shook his noble-looking +head and answered, “None,” as it was impossible to resist both the +will of the people and the law of the priests. + +“Then what is the use of your having brought me all this way?” I +inquired with indignation. “Cannot you think of some scheme? For +instance, would it not be possible for you and this lady to fly with us +down the river and escape to a land which is not full of demons?” + +“It would not be possible,” he answered in a melancholy voice. +“Day and night we are watched and should be seized before we had +travelled a mile. Moreover, could she leave her father, and could I +leave all my relations to be murdered in payment for our sacrilege?” + +“Have you no thought in your mind at all?” I asked again. “Is +there nothing that would save the Lady Sabeela?” + +“Nothing, Lord, except the end of Heu-Heu and his priests. It is to +you, great Lord, that we look to find a way to destroy them, as the +prophecy declares will be done by the White Deliverer from the South.” + +“Oh, dash the prophecy! I never knew prophecies to help anybody +yet,” I ejaculated in English, as I contemplated that beautiful but +helpless pair. Then I added in Arabic, “I am tired and am going to bed. +I hope that I shall find more wisdom in my dreams then I do in you, +Issicore,” I added, staring at the man in whom I seemed to detect some +subtle change, some access of fatalistic helplessness, even of despair. + +Now Sabeela, seeing that I was angry, broke in, + +“O Lord, be not wrath, for we are but flies in the spider’s web, +and the threads of that web are the priests of Heu-Heu, and the posts +to which it is fixed are the beliefs of my people, and Heu-Heu himself +is the spider, and in my breast his claws are fixed.” + +Now, listening to her allegory, I thought to myself that a better one +might have been drawn from a snake and a bird, for really, like the +rest of them, this poor girl seemed to be mesmerized with terror and to +have made up her mind to sit still waiting to be struck by the poisoned +fangs. + +“Lord,” she went on, “we have done all we could. Did not +Issicore make a great journey to find you? Yes, did he not even dare +the curse which falls upon the heads of those who try to leave our +country, and travel south to seek the counsel of the Great Wizard, who +once sent messengers here to obtain the leaves of the tree that grows +in Heu-Heu’s garden, the tree that makes men drunk and gives them +visions?” + +“Yes,” I answered, “he did that, Lady, and might I say to you +that his health seems none the worse. Those curses of which you speak +have not hurt him.” + +“It is true they have not hurt his body—yet,” she said in a +musing voice, as though a new thought had struck her. + +“Well, if that is true, Sabeela, may it not be true also that all this +talk about the power of Heu-Heu is nonsense? Tell me, have you ever +spoken with or seen Heu-Heu?” + +“No, Lord, no, though unless you can save me I shall soon see him.” + +“Well, and has any one else?” + +“No, Lord, no one has ever spoken with him, except, of course, his +priests, such as my distant cousin, Dacha, who is the head of them, but +whom I used to know before he was chosen by Heu-Heu to be of their +company.” + +“Oh! So no one has seen him? Then he must be a very secret kind of god +who does not take exercise, but lives, I understand, in a cave with +priests.” + +“I did not say that no one had ever seen Heu-Heu, Lord. Many say that +they have seen him, as Issicore has done, when he came out of the cave +on a Night of Offering, but of what they saw it is death to speak. Ask +me and Issicore no more of Heu-Heu, Lord I pray you, lest the curse +should fall. It is not lawful that we should tell you of him, whose +secrets are sacred even to his priests,” she added with agitation. + +Then in despair I gave up asking questions about Heu-Heu and inquired +how many priests he had. + +“About twenty, I believe, Lord,” she answered, ceasing from +evasions, “not counting their wives and families, and it is said that +they do not live with Heu-Heu in the cave, but in houses outside of +it.” + +“And what do they do when they are not worshipping Heu-Heu, +Sabeela?” + +“Oh, they cultivate the land and they rule the Wild People of the +Woods, who, it is believed, are all Heu-Heu’s children. Also they come +here and spy on us.” + +“Do they indeed?” I remarked. “And is it true that they hope +to rule over you Walloos also?” + +“Yes, I believe that it is true. At least, should my father die and I +die, it is said that Dacha means to make war upon the Walloos and take +the chieftainship, setting aside or killing my cousin and betrothed +Issicore. For Dacha was always one who desired to be first.” + +“So you used to know Dacha pretty well, Lady?” + +“Yes, Lord, when I was quite young before he became a priest. +Also,” she added, colouring, “I have seen him since he became a +priest.” + +“And what did he say to you?” + +“He said that if I would take him for a husband perhaps I should escape +from Heu-Heu.” + +“And what did you answer, Lady?” + +“Lord, I answered that I would rather go to Heu-Heu.” + +“Why?” + +“Because Dacha, it is reported, has many wives already. Also I hate +him. Also from Heu-Heu at the last I can always escape.” + +“How?” + +“By death, Lord. We have swift poison in this country, and I carry some +of it hidden in my hair,” she added with emphasis. + +“Quite so. I understand. But, Lady Sabeela, as you have been so good as +to ask my advice about these matters, I will give you some. It is that +you should not taste that poison till all else has failed and there is +no escape. While we breathe there is hope, and all that seems lost +still may be won, but the dead do not live again, Lady Sabeela.” + +“I hear and will obey you, Lord,” she answered, weeping. “Yet +sleep is better than Dacha or Heu-Heu.” + +“And life is better than all three of them put together,” I +replied, “especially life with love.” + +Then I bowed myself off to bed, followed by Hans, also bowing—like a +monkey for pennies on a barrel-organ. At the door I looked back, and +saw these two poor people in each other’s arms, thinking, doubtless, +that we were already out of sight of them. Yes, her head was upon +Issicore’s shoulder, and from the convulsive motions of her form I +guessed that she was sobbing, while he tried to console her in the +ancient, world-wide fashion. I only hope that she got more comfort from +Issicore than I did. To me now he seemed to be but a singularly +unresourceful member of a played-out race, though it is true that he +had courage, since otherwise he would not have attempted the journey to +Zululand. Also, as I have said, quite suddenly he had changed in some +subtle fashion. + +When we were in our own room with the door bolted (it had no windows, +light and ventilation being provided by holes in the roof) I gave Hans +some tobacco and bade him sit down on the other side of the lamp, where +he squatted upon the floor like a toad. + +“Now, Hans,” I said, “tell me all the truth of this business +and what we are to do to help this pretty lady and the old chief, her +father.” + +Hans looked at the roof and looked at the wall; then he spat upon the +floor, for which I reproved him. + +“Baas,” he said at length, “I think the best thing we can do +is to find out where those bright stones are, fill our pockets with +them, and escape from this country which is full of fools and devils. I +am sure that Beautiful One would be better off with the priest called +Dacha, or even with Heu-Heu, than with Issicore, who now has become but +a carved and painted lump of wood made to look like a man.” + +“Possibly, Hans, but the tastes of women are curious, and she likes +this lump of wood, who, after all, is brave, except where ghosts and +spirits are concerned. Otherwise he would not have journeyed so far for +her sake. Moreover, we have a bargain to keep. What should we say to +the Opener-of-Roads if we returned, having run away and without his +medicine? No, Hans, we must play out this game.” + +“Yes, Baas, I thought that the Baas would say that because of his +foolishness. Had I been alone, by now, or a little later, I should have +been in that canoe going down-stream. However, the Baas has settled +that we must save the lady and give her to the Lump of Wood for a wife. +So now I think I will go to sleep, and to-morrow or the next day the +Baas can save her. I don’t think very much of the beer in this country, +Baas—it is too sweet; and all these handsome fools who talk about +devils and priests weary me. Also, it is a bad climate and very damp. I +think it is going to rain again, Baas.” + +Having nothing else at hand, I threw my tobacco-pouch at Hans’s head. +He caught it deftly, and, in an absent-minded fashion, put it into his +own pocket. + +“If the Baas really wishes to know what I think,” he said, yawning, +“it is that the medicine man named Dacha wants the pretty lady for +himself; also to rule alone over all these dull people. As for Heu-Heu, +I don’t know anything about him, but perhaps he is one of those Hairy +Men who came here at the beginning of the world. I think that the best +thing we can do, Baas, would be to take a boat to-morrow morning and go +to that island, where we can find out the truth for ourselves. Perhaps +the Lump of Wood and some of his men can row us there. And now I have +nothing more to say, so, if the Baas does not mind, I will go to sleep. +Keep your pistol ready, Baas, in case any of the Hairy People wish to +call upon us—just to talk about the one I shot.” + +Then he retired to a corner, rolling himself up in a skin rug, and +presently was snoring, though, as I knew well enough, with one eye open +all the time. No Hairy Man, or any one else, would have come near that +place without Hans hearing him, for his sleep was like to that of a dog +who watches his master. + +As I prepared to follow his example, I reflected that his remarks, +casual as they seemed, were full of wisdom. These folk were +superstition-ridden fools and useless; probably the only ones that had +wits among them became priests. But the Hairy aboriginals were an ugly +fact, as the priests knew, since apparently they had obtained rule over +them. For the rest, the only thing to do was to visit the Holy Island +and find out the truth for ourselves, as Hans had said. It would be +dangerous, no doubt, but at the least it would also be exciting. + +Next morning I rose after an excellent night’s rest and found my way +into the garden, where I amused myself by examining the shrubs and +flowers, some of which were strange to me. Also I studied the sky, +which was heavy and lowering, and seemed full of rain. I could study +nothing else because the high wall cut off the view upon every side so +that little was to be seen except the top of the volcano, which rose +from the lake at a distance of several miles, for it was a large sheet +of water. Presently the door of the garden opened and Issicore +appeared, looking weary and somewhat bewildered. It occurred to me that +he had been sitting up late with Sabeela. As they were to be parted so +soon, naturally they would see as much as they could of each other. Or +for aught I knew, he might have been praying to his ancestral spirits +and trying to make up his mind what to do, no doubt a difficult process +under the circumstances. I went to the point at once. + +“Issicore,” I said, “as soon as possible after breakfast, +will you have a canoe ready to take me and Hans to the island in the +lake?” + +“To the island in the lake, Lord!” he exclaimed, amazed. +“Why, it is holy!” + +“I daresay, but I am holy also, so that if I go there it will be +holier.” + +Then he advanced all kinds of objections, and even brought out the +Walloo and his grey-heads to reinforce his arguments. Hans and Sabeela +also joined the party; the latter, I noted, looking even more beautiful +by day than she did in the lamplight. Sabeela, indeed, proved my only +ally, for presently, when the others had talked themselves hoarse, she +said, + +“The White Lord has been brought hither that we, who are bewildered and +foolish, may drink of the cup of his wisdom. If his wisdom bids him +visit the Holy Isle, let him do so, my father.” + +As no one seemed to be convinced, I stood silent, not knowing what more +to say. Then Hans took up his parable, speaking in his bad +coast-Arabic: + +“Baas, Issicore, although he is so big and strong, and all these others +are afraid of Heu-Heu and his priests. But we, who are good Christians, +are not afraid of any devils because we know how to deal with them. +Also we can paddle, therefore let the Chief give us quite a small canoe +and show us which way to row, and we will go to the island by +ourselves.” + +In sporting parlance, this shot hit the bull in the eye, and Issicore, +who, as I have said, was a brave man at bottom, fired up and answered, + +“Am I a coward that I should listen to such words from your servant, +Lord Macumazahn? I and some others whom I can find will row you to the +island, though on it we will not set our foot because it is not lawful +for us to do so. Only, Lord, if you come back no more, blame me not.” + +“Then that is settled,” I replied quietly, “and now, if we +may, let us eat, for I am hungry.” + + +About two hours later we started from the quay, taking with us all our +small possessions, down to some spare powder in flasks which we had +brought to reload fired cartridge cases, for Hans refused to leave +anything behind with no one to watch it. The canoe which was given to +us was much smaller than that in which we had come up the river, +though, like it, hollowed from a single log; and its crew consisted of +Issicore, who steered, and four other Walloos, who paddled, stout and +determined-looking fellows, all of them. The island was about five +miles away, but we made a wide circuit to the south, I suppose in the +hope of avoiding observation, and therefore it took us the best part of +two hours to reach its southern shore. + +As we approached I examined the place carefully through my glasses, and +observed that it was much larger than I had thought—several miles in +circumference, indeed, for in addition to the central volcanic cone +there was a great stretch of low-lying land all round its base, which +land seemed not to rise more than a foot or two above the level of the +lake. In character, except on these flats by the lake, it was stony and +barren, being, in fact, strewn with lumps of lava ejected from the +volcano during the last eruption. + +Issicore informed me, however, that the northern part of the island +where the priests lived, which had not been touched by the lava stream, +was very fertile. I should add that the crater of the volcano seemed to +bear out his statement as to the direction of the flow, since on the +south it was blown away to a great depth, whereas the northern segment +rose in a high and perfect wall of rock. + +The day was very misty—a circumstance which favoured our +approach—and the sky, which, as I have said, was black and pregnant +with coming rain, seemed almost to touch the crest of the mountain. +These conditions, until we were quite close, prevented us from seeing +that a stream of glowing lava, not very broad, was pouring down the +mountain-side. When they discovered this, the Walloos grew much +alarmed, and Issicore told me that such a thing had not been known “for +a hundred years,” and that he thought it portended something unusual, +as the mountain was supposed to be “asleep.” + +“It is awake enough to smoke, anyway,” I answered, and continued my +examination. + +Among the stones, and sometimes half-buried by them, I saw what +appeared to be the remains of those buildings of which I have spoken. +These, Issicore said, had once been part of the city of his +forefathers, adding that, as he had been told, in some of them the said +forefathers were still to be seen turned into stone, which, you will +remember, exactly bore out Zikali’s story. + +Anything more desolate and depressing than the aspect of this place +seen on that grey day and beneath the brooding sky cannot be imagined. +Still I burned to examine it, for this tale of fossilized people +excited me, who have always loved the remains of antiquity and strange +sights. + +Forgetting all about Heu-Heu and his priests for the moment, I told the +Walloos to paddle to the shore, and, after a moment of mute protest, +they obeyed, running into a little bay. Hans and I stepped easily on to +the rocks and, carrying our bags and rifles, started on our search. +First, however, we arranged with Issicore that he should await our +return and then row us back round the island so that we might have a +view of the priests’ settlement. With a sigh he promised to do so, and +at once paddled out to about a hundred yards from the shore, where the +canoe was anchored by means of a pierced stone tied to a cord. + +Off went Hans and I towards the nearest group of ruins. As we +approached them, Hans said, + +“Look out, Baas! There’s a dog between those rocks.” + +I stared at the spot he indicated, and there, sure enough, saw a large +grey dog with a pointed muzzle, which seemed to be fast asleep. We drew +nearer, and as it did not stir, Hans threw a stone and hit it on the +back. Still it did not stir, so we went up and examined it. + +“It is a stone dog,” I said. “The people who lived here must +have made statues,” for as yet I did not believe the stories I had +heard about petrified creatures, which, after all, must be very +legendary. + +“If so, Baas, they put bones into their carvings. Look,” and he +touched one of the dog’s front paws which was broken off. There, in the +middle of it, appeared the bone fossilized. Then I understood. + +The animal had been fleeing away to the shore when the poisonous gases +overcame it at the time of the eruption. After this, I suppose, some +rain of petrifying fluid had fallen on it and turned it into stone. It +was a marvellous thing, but I could not doubt the evidence of my own +eyes. All the tale was true, and I had made a great discovery. + +We hurried on to the houses, which, of course, now were roofless, and +in some instances choked with lava, though the outer walls, being +strongly built of rock, still stood. On certain of these walls were the +faint remains of frescoes; one of people sitting at a feast, another of +a hunting scene, and so forth. + +We passed on to a second group of buildings standing at some distance +against the flank of the mountain and more or less protected by an +overhanging ledge or shelf of stone. These appeared to have been a +palace or a temple, for they were large, with stone columns that had +supported the roofs. We went on through the great hall to the rooms +behind, and in the furthermost, which was under the ledge of rock and +probably had been used as a store chamber, we saw an extraordinary +sight. + +There, huddled together, and in some instances clasping each other, +were a number of people, twenty or thirty of them—men, women, and +children—all turned to stone. Doubtless the petrifying fluid had flowed +into the chamber through cracks in the rock above and done its office +on them. They were naked, every one, which suggested that their +clothing had either been burnt off them or had rotted away before the +process was complete. The former hypothesis seemed to be borne out by +the fact that none of them had any hair left upon their heads. The +features were not easy to distinguish, but the general type of the +bodies was certainly very similar to that of the Walloos. + +Speechless with amazement, we emerged from that death chamber and +wandered about the place. Here and there we found the bodies of others +who had perished in the great catastrophe and once came across an arm +projecting from a mass of lava, which seemed to show that many more +were buried underneath. Also we found a number of fossilized goats in a +kraal. What a place to dig in! I thought to myself. Given some spades, +picks, and blasting-powder, what might one not find in these ruins? + +All the relics of a past civilization, perhaps—its inscriptions, its +jewellery, the statues of its gods; even, perhaps, its domestic +furniture buried beneath the lava and the dust, though probably this +had rotted. Here, certainly, was another Pompeii, and perhaps beneath +that another Herculaneum. + +Whilst I mused thus over glories passed away and wondered when they had +passed, Hans dug me in the ribs and, in his horrible Boer Dutch, +ejaculated a single word, “_Kek!_” which, as perhaps you know, +means “Look!” at the same time nodding towards the lake. + +I did look, and saw our canoe paddling for all it was worth, going +“hell for leather,” as my old father used to say, towards the +Walloo shore. + +“Now why is it doing that?” I asked. + +“I expect because something is behind it, Baas,” he replied with +resignation, then sat down on a rock, pulled out his pipe, filled it, +and lit a match. + +As usual, Hans was right, for presently from round the curve of the +island there appeared two other canoes, very large canoes, rowing after +ours with great energy and determination, and, as I guessed, with +malignant intent. + +“I think those priests have seen our boat and mean to catch it, if they +can,” remarked Hans, spitting reflectively, “though as Issicore has +got a long start, perhaps they won’t. And now, Baas, what are we to do? +We can’t live here with dead men, and stone goat is not good to +eat.” + +I considered the situation, and my heart sank into my boots, for the +position seemed desperate. A moment before I had been filled with +enthusiasm over this ruined city and its fossilized remains. Now I +hated the very thought of them, and wished that they were at the bottom +of the lake. Thus do circumstances alter cases and our poor variable +human moods. Then an idea came to me, and I said boldly, + +“Do! Why, there is only one thing to do. We must go to call on Heu-Heu, +or his priests.” + +“Yes, Baas. But the Baas remembers the picture in the cave on the Berg. +If it is a true picture, Heu-Heu knows how to twist off men’s +heads!” + +“I don’t believe there is a Heu-Heu,” I said stoutly. +“You will have noticed, Hans, that we have heard all sorts of stories +about Heu-Heu, but that no one seems to have seen him clearly enough to +give us an accurate description of what he is like or what he does—not +even Zikali. He showed us a picture of the beast on his fire, but after +all it was only what we had seen on the wall of the cave, and I think +that he got it out of our own minds. At any rate, it is just as well to +die quickly without a head, as slowly with an empty stomach, since I am +sure those Walloos will never come back to look for us.” + +“Yes, Baas, I think so, too. Issicore used to have courage, but he +seems to have changed, as though something had happened to him since he +got back into his own country. And now, if the Baas is ready, I think +we had better be trekking, unless, indeed, he would like to look at a +few more stone men first. It is beginning to rain, Baas, and we have +been much longer here than the Baas thinks, since it is a slow business +crawling about these old houses. Therefore, if we are to get to the +other side of the island before nightfall, it is time to go.” + +So off we went, keeping to the western side of the volcano, since there +it did not seem to project so far into the flat lands. A while later we +turned round and looked at the lake. There in the far distance our +canoe appeared a mere speck, with two other specks, those of the +pursuers, close upon its heels. As we watched, out of the mists on the +Walloo shore came yet other specks, which were doubtless Walloo boats +paddling to the rescue, for the priests’ canoes gave up the chase and +turned homewards. + +“Issicore will have a very nice story to tell to the Lady Sabeela,” +said Hans; “but perhaps she will not kiss him after she has heard +it.” + +“He was quite wise to go. What good could he have done by staying?” +I answered, as we trudged on, adding, “Still, you are right, Hans; +Issicore has changed.” + +It was a hard walk over that rough ground, at least at first, for so +soon as we got round the shoulder of the volcano the character of the +country altered and we found ourselves in fertile, cultivated land that +appeared to be irrigated. + +“These fields must lie very low, Baas,” said Hans, “since +otherwise how do they get the lake water on to them?” + +“I don’t know,” I replied crossly, for I was thinking of the +sky water, which was beginning to descend in a steady drizzle upon +ourselves. But all the same, the remark stuck in my mind and was useful +afterwards. On we marched, till at length we entered a grove of palm +trees that was traversed by a road. + +Presently we came to the end of the road and found ourselves in a +village of well-built stone houses, with one very large house in the +middle of it, of which the back was set almost against the foot of the +mountain. As there was nothing else to be done, we walked on into the +village, at first without being observed, for everybody was under cover +because of the rain. Soon, however, dogs began to bark, and a woman, +looking out of the doorway of one of the houses, caught sight of us and +screamed. A minute later men with shaven heads and wearing white, +priestly-looking robes, appeared and ran towards us flourishing big +spears. + +“Hans,” I said, “keep your rifle ready, but don’t shoot +unless you are obliged. In this case, words may serve us better than +bullets.” + +“Yes, Baas, though I don’t believe that either will serve us +much.” + +Then he sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree that lay by the +roadside, and waited, and I followed his example, taking the +opportunity to light my pipe. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE FEAST + + +When they were within a few paces of us the men halted, apparently +astonished at our appearance, which certainly did not compare +favourably with their own, for they were all of the splendid Walloo +type. Evidently what astonished them still more was the match with +which I was lighting my pipe, and indeed the pipe itself, for although +these people grew tobacco, they only took it in the form of snuff. + +That match went out and I struck another, and at the sight of the +sudden appearance of fire they stepped back a pace or two. At length +one of them, pointing to the burning match, asked in the same tongue +that was used by the Walloos, + +“What is that, O Stranger?” + +“Magic fire,” I answered, adding by an inspiration, “which I +am bringing as a present to the great god Heu-Heu.” + +This information seemed to mollify them, for, lowering their spears, +they turned to speak to another man who at this moment arrived upon the +scene. He was a stout, fine-looking man of considerable presence, with +a hooked nose and flashing black eyes. Also he wore a priestly cap upon +his head and his white robes were broidered. + +“Very big fellow, this, Baas,” Hans whispered to me, and I nodded, +observing as I did so that the other priests bowed as they addressed +him. + +“Dacha in person,” thought I to myself, and sure enough Dacha it +was. + +He advanced and, looking at the wax match, said: + +“Where does the magic fire of which you speak live, Stranger?” + +“In this case covered with holy secret writing,” I replied, holding +before his eyes a box labelled “Wax Vestas, Made in England,” and +adding solemnly, “Woe be to him that touches it or him that bears it +without understanding, for it will surely leap forth and consume that +foolish man, O Dacha.” + +Now Dacha followed the example of his companions and stepped back a +little way, remarking, + +“How do you know my name, and who sends this present of self-conceiving +fire to Heu-Heu?” + +“Is not the name of Dacha known to the ends of the earth?” I +asked—a remark which seemed to please him very much; “yes, as far +as his spells can travel, which is to the sky and back again. As to who +sends the magic fire, it is a great one, a wizard of the best, if not +quite so good as Dacha, who is named Zikali, who is named the +‘Opener-of-Roads,’ who is named ‘the +Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.’” + +“We have heard of him,” said Dacha. “His messengers were here +in our fathers’ day. And what does Zikali want of us, O Stranger?” + +“He wants leaves of a certain tree that grows in Heu-Heu’s garden, +that is called the Tree of Visions, that he may mix them with his +medicines.” + +Dacha nodded and so did the other priests. Evidently they knew all +about the Tree of Visions, as I, or rather Zikali, had named it. + +“Then why did he not come for them himself?” + +“Because he is old and infirm. Because he is detained by great affairs. +Because it was easier for him to send me, who, being a lover of that +which is holy, was anxious to do homage to Heu-Heu and to make the +acquaintance of the great Dacha.” + +“I understand,” the priest replied, highly gratified, as his face +shewed. “But how are you named, O Messenger of Zikali?” + +“I am named ‘Blowing-Wind’ because I pass where I would, none +seeing me come or go, and therefore am the best and swiftest of +messengers. And this little one, this small but great-souled one with +me”—here I pointed to the smirking Hans, who by now was quite alive +to the humours of the situation and to its advantages from our point of +view—“is named ‘Lord-of-the-Fire’ and +‘Light-in-Darkness’” (this was true enough and worked in very +well) “because it is he who is guardian of the magic fire” (also +true, for he had half a dozen spare boxes in his pockets that he had +stolen at one time or another) “of which, if he is offended, he can +make enough to burn up all this island and everyone thereon; yes, more +than is hidden in the womb of that mountain.” + +“Can he, by Heu-Heu!” said Dacha, regarding Hans with great +respect. + +“Certainly he can. Mighty though I be, I must be careful not to anger +him lest myself I should be burnt to cinders.” + +At this moment a doubt seemed to strike Dacha, for he asked: + +“Tell me, O Blowing-Wind and O Lord-of-Fire, how you came to this +island? We observed a canoe manned with some of our rebellious subjects +who serve that old usurper the Walloo, which is being hunted that they +may be killed for their sacrilege in approaching this holy place. Were +you perchance in that canoe?” + +“We were,” I answered boldly. “When we arrived at yonder town +I met a lady, a very beautiful lady, named Sabeela, and asked her where +dwelt the great Dacha. She said here—more, that she knew you and that +you were the most beautiful and noblest of men, as well as the wisest. +She said also that with some of her servants, including a stupid fellow +called Issicore, of whom she never can be rid wherever she goes, she +herself would paddle us to the island on the chance of seeing your face +again.” (I may explain to you fellows that this lie was perfectly safe, +as I knew Issicore and his people had escaped.) “So she brought us here +and landed us that we might look at the ruined city before coming on to +see you. But then your people roughly hunted her away, so that we were +obliged to walk to your town. That is all.” + +Now Dacha became agitated. “I pray Heu-Heu,” he said, “that +those fools may not have caught and killed her with the others.” + +“I pray so also, since she is too fair to die,” I answered, +“who would be a lovely wife for any man. But stay, I will tell you what +has chanced. Lord-of-the-Fire, make fire.” + +Hans produced a match and lit it on the seat of his trousers, which was +the only part of him that was not damp. He held it in his joined hands +and I stared at the flame, muttering. Then he whispered: + +“Be quick, Baas, it is burning my fingers!” + +“All is well,” I said solemnly. “The canoe with Sabeela the +Beautiful escaped your people, since other canoes, seven—no, eight of +them,” I corrected, studying the ashes of the match, also the blister +on Hans’s finger, “came out from the town and drove yours away just +as they were overtaking the Lady Sabeela.” + +This was a most fortunate stroke, for at that moment a messenger +arrived and gave Dacha exactly the same intelligence, which he +punctuated with many bows. + +“Wonderful!” said the priest. “Wonderful! Here we have +magicians indeed!” and he stared at us with much awe. Then again a +doubt struck him. + +“Lord,” he said, “Heu-Heu is the ruler of the savage Hairy +People who live in the woods and are named Heuheuas after him. Now a +tale has reached us that one of these people has been mysteriously +killed with a noise by some strangers. Had you aught to do with her +death, Lord?” + +“Yes,” I answered. “She annoyed the Lord-of-the-Fire with her +attentions, so he slew her, as was right and proper. I cut off the +finger of another who wished to shake hands with me when I had told him +to go away.” + +“But how did he slay her, Lord?” + +Now I may explain that there was one inhabitant of this place that +greeted us with no cordiality at all, namely a large and particularly +ferocious dog, that all this while had been growling round us and +finally had got hold of Hans’s coat, which it held between its teeth, +still growling. + +“_Scheet!_ Hans, _scheet een dood!_” (“Shoot! Hans, +shoot him dead!”) I whispered, and Hans, who was always quick to catch +an idea, put his hand into his pocket where he kept his pistol, and +pressing the muzzle against the brute’s head, fired through the cloth, +with the result that this dog went wherever bad dogs go. + +Then there was consternation. Indeed, one of the priests fell down with +fear and the others turned tail, all of them except Dacha, who stood +his ground. + +“A little of the magic fire!” I remarked airily, “and there +is plenty more where that came from,” at the same time, as though by +accident, slapping Hans’s pocket, which I saw was smouldering. “And +now, noble Dacha, it is setting in wet and we are hungry. Be pleased to +give us shelter and food.” + +“Certainly, Lord, certainly!” he exclaimed, and started off with +us, keeping me well between himself and Hans, while the others, who had +returned, followed with the dead dog. + +Presently, recovering from his fear, he asked me whether the Lady +Sabeela had said anything more about him. + +“Only one thing,” I answered: “that it was a pity that a +maiden should be obliged to marry a god when there were such men as you +in the world.” + +Here I stopped and watched the effect of my shot out of the corner of +my eye. + +His coarse but handsome face grew cunning, and he smacked his lips. + +“Yes, Lord, yes,” he said hurriedly. “But who knows? Things +are not always what they seem, Lord, and I have noted that sometimes +the faithful servant tithes the master’s offering.” + +“By Jingo! I’ve got it!” thought I to myself. +“_You,_ my friend, are Heu-Heu, or at any rate his business +part.” But aloud, glancing at the redoubtable Hans, I only remarked +something to the effect that Dacha’s powers of observation were keen +and that, like the Lord-of-the-Fire himself, as he said truly, things +were not always what they seemed. + +We crossed a bare platform of rock, to the right of which, beyond a +space of garden, I observed the mouth of a large cave. At the edge of +this platform a strange sight was to be seen, for here, just on the +borders of the lake, at a distance of about twenty paces from each +other, burned two columns of flame which hitherto had been hidden from +us by the lie of the ground and trees, between which columns was a +pillar or post of stone. + +“The ‘eternal fires,’” thought I to myself, and then +inquired casually what they were. + +“They are flames which have always burned in that place from the +beginning; we do not know why,” Dacha replied indifferently. “No +rain puts them out.” + +“Ah!” I reflected, “natural gas coming from the volcano, such +as I have heard of in Canada.” + +Then we turned to the right along the outer wall of the garden I have +mentioned, and came to some fine houses, that, to my fancy, had a kind +of collegiate appearance, all one-storied and built against the rock of +the mountain. As a matter of fact, I was right, for these were the +dwellings of the priests of Heu-Heu and their numerous female +belongings. These priests, I should say, had their privileges, for +whereas the people on the mainland for the most part married only one +wife, they were polygamous, the ladies being supplied to them through +spiritual pressure put upon the unfortunate Walloos, or, if that +failed, by the simple and ancient expedient of kidnapping. Once, +however, they had arrived upon the island and thus became dedicated to +the god, they vanished so far as their kinsfolk were concerned, and +never afterwards were they allowed to cross the water or even to +attempt any communication with them. In short, those who became alive +in Heu-Heu, became also dead to the world. + +Hans and I were led to the largest of this group of houses, that +abutting immediately on to the garden wall, the inhabitants of which +apparently had already been advised of our coming by messenger, since +we found them in a bustle of preparation. Thus I saw handsome, +white-robed women flitting about and heard hurried orders being given. +We were taken to a room where a driftwood fire had been lighted on the +hearth because the night was damp and chill, at which we warmed and +dried ourselves after we had washed. A while later a priest summoned us +to eat and then retired outside the door awaiting our convenience. + +“Hans,” I said, “all has gone well so far; we are accepted as +the friends of Heu-Heu, not as his enemies.” + +“Yes, Baas, thanks to the cleverness of the Baas about the matches and +the rest. But what has the Baas in his mind?” + +“This, Hans; that all must continue to go well, for remember what is +our duty, namely, to save the lady Sabeela, if we can, as we have sworn +to do. Now if we are to bring this about we must keep our eyes open and +our wits sharp. Hans, I daresay that they have strange liquors in this +place which will be offered to us to make us talk. But while we are +here we must drink nothing but water. Do you understand, Hans?” + +“Yes, Baas, I understand.” + +“And do you swear, Hans?” + +Hans rubbed his middle reflectively, and replied: + +“My stomach is cold, Baas, and I should like a glass of something more +warming than water after all this damp and the sight of those stone +men. Yet, Baas, I swear. Yes, I swear by your Reverend Father that I +will only drink water, or coffee if they make it, which, of course, +they don’t.” + +“That is all right, Hans. You know that if you break your oath my +Reverend Father will certainly come even with you, and so shall I in +this world or the next.” + +“Yes, Baas. But will the Baas please remember that a gin bottle is not +the only bait that the devil sets upon his hook. Different men have +different tastes, Baas. Now if some pretty lady were to come and tell +the Baas that he was oh! so beautiful and that she loved him, oh! ever +so much, someone like that Mameena, for instance, of whom old Zikali is +always talking as having been a friend of yours, will the Baas swear by +his Reverend Father——” + +“Cease from folly and be silent,” I said majestically. “Is +this the time and place to chatter of pretty women?” + +Nevertheless, in myself I appreciated the shrewdness of Hans’s +repartee, and as a matter of fact an attempt was made to play off that +trick on me, though if I am to get to the end of this story, I shall +have no time to tell you about it. + +Our compact sealed, we went through the door and found the priest +waiting outside. He led us down a passage into a fine hall plentifully +lit with lamps for now the night had fallen. Here several tables were +spread, but we were taken to one at the head of the hall where we were +welcomed by Dacha dressed in grand robes, and some other priests; also +by women, all of them handsome and beautifully arrayed in their wild +fashion, whom I took to be the wives of these worthies. One of them, I +noticed, had a singular resemblance to the Lady Sabeela, although she +appeared to be her elder by some years. + +We sat down at the table in curious, carved chairs, and I found myself +between Dacha and this lady, whose name, I discovered, was Dramana. The +feast began, and I may say at once that it was a very fine feast, for +it appeared that we had arrived upon a day of festival. Indeed, I had +not eaten such a meal for years. + +Of course, it was barbaric in its way. Thus the food was served in +great earthenware dishes, all ready cut up; there were no knives or +forks, the fingers of the eaters taking their place, and the plates +consisted of the tough green leaves of some kind of waterlily that grew +in the lake, which were removed after each course and replaced by fresh +ones. + +Of its sort, however, it was excellent and included fish of a good +flavour, kid cooked with spices, wild fowl, and a kind of pudding made +of ground corn and sweetened with honey. Also, there was plenty of the +strong native beer, which was handed round in ornamented earthenware +cups that were, however, inlaid not with small diamonds and rubies, but +with pearls found, I was informed, in the shells of freshwater mussels, +and set in the clay when damp. + +These pearls were irregular in shape and for the most part not large, +but the effect of them thus employed, was very pretty. Still, some +attained to a considerable size, since Dramana and other women wore +necklaces of them bored and strung upon fibres. Without going into +further details, I may say that this feast and its equipment convinced +me more than ever that these people had once belonged to some unknown +but highly civilized race which was now dying out in this its last home +and sinking into barbarism before it died. + +In pursuance of our agreement Hans, who squatted on a stool behind me, +for he would not sit at the table, and I, saying that we were bound by +a vow to touch nothing else, drank water only, although I heard him +groan each time the beer cups went round. I may add that this happened +frequently, and the amount of liquor consumed was considerable, as +became evident by the behaviour of the drinkers, many of whom grew more +or less intoxicated, with the usual unpleasant results that I need not +describe. Also they grew affectionate, for they threw their arms about +the women and began to kiss them in a way which I considered improper. +I observed, however, that the lady called Dramana drank but little. +Also, as she sat between me and an extremely deaf priest who became +sleepy in his cups, she was, of course, freed from any such unwelcome +attentions. + +All these circumstances, and especially the fact that Dacha was much +occupied with a handsome female on his left, gave Dramana and myself +opportunities of conversation which I think were welcome to her. After +a few general remarks, presently she said in a low voice: + +“I hear, Lord, that you have seen Sabeela, the daughter of the Walloo, +chief of the mainland. Tell me of her, for she is my sister on whom I +have not looked for a long while, for we never visit the mainland, and +those who dwell there never visit us—unless they are obliged,” she +added significantly. + +“She is beautiful but lives in great terror because she, who desires to +be married to a man, must be married to a god,” I answered. + +“She does well to be afraid, Lord, for by you sits that god,” and +with a shiver of disgust and the slightest possible motion of her head, +she indicated Dacha, who had become quite drunken and at the moment was +engaged in embracing the lady on his left, who also seemed to be +somewhat the worse for alcoholic wear, or to put it plainly, “half seas +over.” + +“Nay,” I answered, “the god I mean is called Heu-Heu, not +Dacha.” + +“Heu-Heu, Lord! You will learn all about Heu-Heu before the night is +over. It is Dacha whom she must marry.” + +“But Dacha is your husband, lady.” + +“Dacha is the husband of many, Lord,” and she glanced at several of +the most handsome women present, “for the god is liberal to his high +priest. Since I was bound between the eternal fires there have been +eight such marriages, though some of the brides have been handed on to +others or sacrificed for crimes against the god, or attempting to +escape, or for other reasons. + +“Lord,” she went on, dropping her voice till I could scarcely catch +what she said, although my hearing is so keen, “be warned by me. Unless +you are indeed a god greater than Heu-Heu, and your companion also, +whatever you may see or hear, lift neither voice nor hand. If you do, +you will be rent to pieces without helping any one and perhaps bring +about the death of many, my own among them. Hush! Speak of something +else. He is beginning to watch us. Yet, O Lord, help me if you can. +Yes, save me and my sister if you can.” + +I glanced round. Dacha, who had ceased embracing the lady, was looking +at us suspiciously, as though he had caught some word. Perhaps Hans +thought so as well, for he managed to make a great clatter, either by +tumbling off his stool or dropping his drinking cup, I know not which, +that drew away Dacha’s half-drunken attention from us and prevented him +from hearing anything. + +“You seem to find the Lady Dramana pleasant, O Lord Blowing-Wind,” +sneered Dacha. “Well, I am not jealous and I would give such guests of +the best I have, especially when the god is going to be so good to me. +Also the Lady Dramana knows better than to tell secrets and what +happens here to those who do. So talk to her as much as you like, +little Blowing-Wind, before you blow yourself away,” and he leered at +me in a manner that made me feel very uncomfortable. + +“I was asking the Lady Dramana about the sacred tree of which the great +wizard, Zikali, desires some of the leaves for his medicine,” I said, +pretending not to understand. + +“Oh!” he answered, with a change of manner which suggested that his +suspicions were in course of being dissipated, “oh, were you? I thought +you were asking of other things. Well, there is no secret about that, +and she shall show it to you to-morrow, if you like; also anything else +you wish, for I and my brethren will be otherwise engaged. Meanwhile, +here comes the Cup of Illusions that is brewed from the fruit of the +tree of which you must taste though you be a water-drinker, yes, and +the yellow dwarf, Lord-of-the-Fire, also, for in it we pledge the god +into whose presence we must enter very soon.” + +I answered hurriedly that I was weary and would not trouble the god by +paying my respects to him at present. + +“All who come here must pass the god, Lord Blowing-Wind,” he +answered, glaring at me, and adding: “Either they must pass the god +living, or, if they prefer it, they may pass him dead. Did not Zikali +tell you that, O Blowing-Wind? Choose, then. Will you wait upon the god +living, or will you wait upon him dead?” + +Now I thought it was time to assert myself, and looking this +ill-conditioned brute in the eyes, I said slowly: + +“Who is this that talks to me of death, not knowing perchance that I am +a lord of death? Does he seek such a fate as that which befell the +hound without your doors? Learn, O Priest of Heu-Heu, that it is +dangerous to use ill-omened words to me or to the Lord-of-the-Fire, +lest we should answer them with lightnings.” + +I suppose that these remarks, or something in my eye, impressed him. At +any rate, his manner became humble, almost servile indeed, especially +as Hans had risen and stood at my side, holding in his extended hand +the box of matches, at which all stared suspiciously. Well they might +have stared, had they known that his other hand, innocently buried in +his pocket, grasped the butt of an excellent Colt revolver. I should +have told you, by the way, that as we could not bring them with us to +the feast we had left our rifles hidden in our beds, loaded and full +cocked, so that they would be sure to go off if any thief began to +finger them. + +“Pardon, Lord, pardon,” said Dacha. “Could I wish to insult +one so powerful? If I said aught to offend, why, this beer is strong.” + +I bowed benignantly, but remembered the old Latin saying to the effect +that drink digs out the truth. Then, by way of changing the subject, he +pointed to the end of the room. Here appeared two pretty women dressed +in exceedingly light attire and with wreaths upon their heads, who bore +between them a large bowl of liquor in which floated red flowers. (The +whole scene, I should say, much resembled some picture I had seen of an +ancient Roman—or perhaps it was Egyptian feast taken from a fresco.) +They brought the bowl to Dacha, and with a simultaneous movement of +their graceful forms lifted it up, whereon all of the company who were +not too drunk rose, bowed towards the bowl and twice cried out +together: + +“The Cup of Illusions! The Cup of Illusions!” + +“Drink,” said Dacha to me. “Drink to the glory of +Heu-Heu.” Then observing that I hesitated, he added: “Nay, I will +drink first to show that it is not poisoned,” and muttering, “O +Spirit of Heu-Heu, descend upon thy priest!” drink he did, a +considerable quantity. + +Then the women brought the bowl, which reminded me of the loving-cup at +a Lord Mayor’s feast, and held it to my lips. I took a pull at it, +making motions of my throat as though it were a long one, though in +reality I only swallowed a sip. Next it was handed to Hans to whom I +murmured one Boer Dutch word over my shoulder. It was +“_Beetje,_” which means “little,” and as I turned +my head to watch him, I think he took the advice. + +After this the bowl, in which, I should add, the liquor was of a +greenish colour and tasted something like Chartreuse, was taken from +one to another till all present had drunk of it, the girls who bore it +finishing up the little that was left. + +This I saw, but after it I did not see much else for a while, for, +small as had been my draught, the stuff went to my head and seemed to +cloud my brain. Moreover, all kinds of queer visions, some of them not +too desirable, sprang up in my mind, and with them a sense of vastness +that was peopled by innumerable forms; beautiful forms, grotesque +forms, forms of folk that I had known, now long dead, forms of others +whom I had never seen, all of whom had this peculiarity, that they +seemed to be staring at me with a strange intentness. Also these forms +grouped themselves together and began to enact dramas of one kind or +another, dramas of war and love and death that had all the vividness of +a nightmare. + +Presently, however, these illusions passed away and I remained filled +with a great calm and a wonderful sense of well-being, also with my +powers of observation rendered most acute. + +Looking about me, I noted that all who had drunk seemed to be +undergoing similar experiences. At first they showed signs of +excitement; then they grew very still and sat like statues with their +eyes fixed on vacancy, speaking not a word, moving not a muscle. + +This state lasted quite a long time, till at length those who had drunk +first appeared to awake, for they began to talk to each other in low +tones. I noted that every sign of drunkenness had vanished; one and all +they looked as sober as a whole Bench of Judges; moreover, their faces +had grown solemn and their eyes seemed to be filled with some cold and +fateful purpose. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE SACRIFICE + + +After a solemn pause, Dacha rose and said in an icy voice: + +“I hear the god calling us. Let us pass into the presence of the god +and make offering of the yearly sacrifice.” + +Then a procession was formed. Dacha and Dramana went first, Hans and I +followed next, and after us came all who had been at the feast, to a +total of about fifty people. + +“Baas,” whispered Hans, “after I had drunk that stuff, which +was so nice and warming that I wished you had let me have more of it, +your Reverend Father came and talked to me.” + +“And what did he say to you, Hans?” + +“He said, Baas, that we were going into very queer company and had +better keep our eyes skinned. Also that it would be wise not to +interfere in matters that did not concern us.” + +I reflected to myself that within an hour I had received advice of the +same sort from a purely terrestrial source, which was an odd +coincidence, unless indeed Hans had overheard or absorbed it +subconsciously. To him I only observed, however, that such mandates +must be obeyed, and that whatever chanced, he would do well to sit +quite still, keeping his pistol ready, but only use it in case of +absolute necessity to save ourselves from death. + +The procession left the hall by a back entrance behind the table at +which we had sat, and entered a kind of tunnel that was lit with lamps, +though whether this was hollowed in the rock or built of blocks of +stone I am not sure. After walking for about fifty paces down this +tunnel, suddenly we found ourselves in a great cavern, also dimly lit +with lamps, mere spots of light in the surrounding blackness. + +Here all the priests, including Dacha, left us; at least, peering +about, I could not see any of them. The women alone remained in the +cave, where they knelt down singly and at a distance from each other +like scattered worshippers in a dimly lit cathedral when no service is +in progress. + +Dramana, to whose charge we seemed to have been consigned, led us to a +stone bench upon which she took her seat with us. I noted that she did +not kneel and worship like the others. For a while we remained thus in +silence, staring at the blackness in front where no lamps burned. It +was an eerie business in such surroundings that I confess began to get +upon my nerves. At length I could bear it no longer, and in a whisper +asked Dramana whether anything was about to happen, and if so, what. + +“The sacrifice is about to happen,” she whispered back. “Be +silent, for here the ears of the god are everywhere.” + +I obeyed, thinking it safer, and another ten minutes or so went by in +an intolerable stillness. + +“When does the play begin, Baas?” muttered Hans in my ear. (Once I +had taken him to a theatre in Durban to improve his mind, and he +thought that this was another, as indeed it was, if of an unusual +sort.) + +I kicked him on the shins to keep him quiet, and just then at a +distance I heard the sound of chanting. It was a weird and melancholy +music that seemed to swing backwards and forwards between two bands of +singers, each strophe and antistrophe, if those are the right words, +ending in a kind of wail or cry of despair which turned my blood cold. +When this had gone on for a little while, I thought that I saw figures +moving through the gloom in front of us. So did Hans, for he whispered: + +“The Hairy People are here, Baas.” + +“Can you see them?” I asked in the same low voice. + +“I think so, Baas. At any rate, I can smell them.” + +“Then keep your pistol ready,” I answered. + +A moment later I saw a lighted torch floating in the air in front of +us, though the bearer of it I could not see. The torch was bent +downwards, and I heard the sound of kindling taking fire. A little +flame sprang up revealing a pile of logs arranged for burning, and +beyond it the tall form of Dacha wearing a strange headdress and white, +priestlike robes, different from those in which he had been clad at the +feast. Between his hands, which he held in front of him, was a white +human skull reversed, I mean that its upper part was towards the floor. + +“Burn, Dust of Illusion, burn,” he cried, “and show us our +desires,” and out of the skull he emptied a quantity of powder on to +the pile of wood. + +A dense, penetrating smoke arose which seemed to fill the cave, vast +though it was, and blot out everything. It passed away and was followed +by a blaze of brilliant flame that lit up all the place and revealed a +terrific spectacle. + +Behind the fire, at a distance of ten paces or so, was an awful object, +an appalling black figure at least twelve feet in height, a figure of +Heu-Heu as we had seen him depicted in the Cave of the Berg, only there +his likeness was far too flattering. For this was the very image of the +devil as he might have been imagined by a mad monk, and from his eyes +shot a red light. + +As I have said before, the figure was like to that of a huge gorilla +and yet no ape but a man, and yet no man but a fiend. There was the +long gray hair growing in tufts about the body. There was the great, +red, bushy beard. There were the enormous limbs and the long arms and +the hands with claws on them where the thumbs should be, and the webbed +fingers. The bull neck on the top of which sat the small head that +somehow resembled an old woman’s with a hooked nose; the huge mouth +from which the baboon-like tushes protruded, the round, massive, +able-looking brow, the deepset glaring eyes, now alight with red fire, +the cruel smile—all were there intensified. There, too, was the shape +of a dead man into the breast of which the clawed foot was driven, and +in the left hand the head that had been twisted from the man’s body. + +Oh! evidently the painter of the picture in the Berg can have been no +Bushman as once I had supposed, but some priest of Heu-Heu whom fate or +chance had brought thither in past ages, and who had depicted it to be +the object of his private worship. When I saw the thing I gasped aloud +and felt as though I should fall to the ground through fear, so hellish +was it. But Hans gripped my arm and said: + +“Baas, be not afraid. It is not alive; it is but a thing of stone and +paint with fire set within.” + +I stared again; he was right. + +_Heu-Heu was but an idol! Heu-Heu did not live except in the hearts of +his worshippers!_ + +Only out of what Satanic mind had this image sprung? + +I sighed with relief as this knowledge came home to me, and began to +observe details. There were plenty to be seen. For instance, on either +side of the statue stood a line of the hideous Hairy Folk, men to the +right and women to the left, with white cloths tied about their +middles. In front of this line behind their high priest, Dacha, were +the other priests, Heu-Heu’s clergy, and on a raised table behind them +just at the foot of the base of the statue, which I now saw stood upon +a kind of pedestal so as to make it more dominant, lay a dead body, +that of one of the Hairy women, as the clear light of the flame +revealed. + +“Baas,” said Hans again, “I believe that is the gorilla-woman +I shot in the river. I seem to know her pretty face.” + +“If so, I hope we shall not join her on that table presently,” I +answered. + +After this suddenly I went mad; everybody went mad. I suppose that the +vapour from that accursed powder had got into our brains. Had not Dacha +called it the “Dust of Illusion”? Certainly of illusions there were +plenty, most of them bad, like those of a nightmare. + +Still, before they possessed me completely, I had the sense to +understand what was happening to me and to grip hold of Hans, who I saw +was going mad also, and command him to sit quiet. Then came the +illusions which really I can’t describe to you. You fellows have read +of the effects of opium smoking; well, it was that kind of thing, only +worse. + +I dreamed that Heu-Heu got off his pedestal and came dancing down the +hall, also that he bent over me and kissed me on the forehead. In fact, +I think it was Dramana who kissed me, for she, too, had gone mad. +Everything that I had done bad in my life reënacted itself in my +mind and, all put together, seemed to make me a sinner indeed, because +you see the good was entirely omitted. The Hairy Folk began an infernal +dance before the statue; the women around us raved and shouted with +extraordinary expressions upon their faces; the priests waved their +arms and set up yells of adoration as did those of Baal in the Old +Testament. In short, literally there was the devil to pay. + +Yet strangely enough it was all wildly, deliriously exciting and really +I seemed to enjoy it. It shows how wicked we must be at bottom. A sight +of hell while you remain on the _terra firma_ of our earth is not +uninteresting, even though you be temporarily affected by its +atmosphere. + +Presently the nightmare came to an end, suddenly as it had commenced, +and I woke up to find my head on Dramana’s shoulder, or hers on mine, I +forget which, with Hans engaged in kissing my boot under the impression +that it was the chaste brow of some black maiden whom he had known +about thirty years before. I kicked him on his snub nose, whereon he +rose and apologized, remarking that this was the strongest +_dacca_—the hemp which the natives smoke with intoxicating +effects—that he had ever tasted. + +“Yes,” I answered, “and now I understand where Zikali’s +magic comes from. No wonder he wants more of the leaves of that tree +and thought it worth while to send us so far to get them.” + +Then I ceased talking, for something in the atmosphere of the place +absorbed my attention. A sudden chill seemed to have fallen upon it and +its occupants who, in strange contrast to their recent excesses, now +appeared to be possessed by the very spirit of Mrs. Grundy. There they +stood, exuding piety at every pore and gazing with rapt countenances at +the hideous image of their god. Only to me those countenances had grown +very cruel. It was as though they awaited the consummation of some +dreadful drama with a kind of cold joy, which, of course, may have been +an aftermath of their unholy intoxication. It was the scene at the +feast repeated but with a difference. There they had been drunken with +liquor and sobered by the potent stuff they had swallowed after it; now +they had been made drunken with fumes and were sobered by I knew not +what. Their master Satan, perhaps! + +The fire still burnt brightly though it gave off no more of these +fumes, being fed I suppose with natural fuel, and by the light of it I +saw that Dacha was addressing the image with impassioned gestures. What +he said I do not know, for my ears were still buzzing and of it I could +hear nothing. But presently he turned and pointed to us and then began +to beckon. + +“What is it he wants us to do?” I asked of Dramana who now was +seated at my side, a perfect model of propriety. + +“He says that you must come up and make your offering to the god.” + +“What offering?” I asked, thinking that perhaps it would be of a +painful nature. + +“The offering of the sacred fire that the Lord of Fire,” and she +pointed to Hans, “bears about with him.” + +I was puzzled for a moment till Hans remarked: + +“I think she means the matches, Baas.” + +Then I understood, and bade him produce a new box of Best Wax Vestas +and hold it out in his hand. Thus armed we advanced and, passing round +the fire, bowed, as the Bible potentate whom the Prophet cured +bargained he should be allowed to do in the House of Rimmon, to the +beastly effigy of Heu-Heu. Then in obedience to the muttered directions +of Dacha, Hans solemnly deposited the box of matches upon the stone +table, after which we were allowed to retreat. + +Anything more ridiculous than this scene it is impossible to imagine. I +suppose that its intense absurdity was caused, or at any rate +accentuated by its startling and indeed horrible contrasts. There was +the towering and demoniacal idol; there were the rogue priests, their +faces alight with a fierce fanaticism; there, looking only half human, +were the long lines of savage Hairy Folk; there was the burning fire +reflecting itself to the farthest recesses of the cavern and showing +the forms of the scattered worshippers. + +Finally there was myself, a bronzed and tattered individual, and the +dirty, abject-looking Hans holding in his hand that absurd box of +matches which finally he deposited in the exact middle of the stone +table about six inches from the swollen body of the aboriginal whom he +had shot in the river. In those vast surroundings this box looked so +lonely and so small that the sight of it moved me to internal +convulsions. Shaking with hysterical laughter I returned to my seat as +quickly as I could, dragging Hans after me, for I saw that his case was +the same, although fortunately it is not the custom of Hottentots to +burst into open merriment. + +“What will Heu-Heu do with the matches, Baas?” asked Hans. +“Surely there must be plenty of fire where he is, Baas.” + +“Yes, lots,” I replied with energy, “but perhaps of another +sort.” + +Then I observed that Dacha was pointing to the right and that the eyes +of all present were fixed in that direction. + +“The sacrifice comes,” murmured Dramana, and as she spoke a woman +appeared, a tall woman covered with a white robe or veil, who was led +forward by two of the Hairy People. She was brought to the front of the +table on which lay the body and the matches, and there stood quite +still. + +“Who is this?” I asked. + +“Last year’s bride, with whom the priest has done and passes on +into the keeping of the god,” answered Dramana with a stony smile. + +“Do you mean that they are going to kill the poor thing?” I said, +horrified. + +“The god is about to take her into his keeping,” she replied +enigmatically. + +At this moment one of the savage attendants snatched away the veil +which draped the victim, revealing a very beautiful woman clad in a +white kirtle which was cut low upon her breast and reached to her +knees. Tall and stately, she stood quite still before us, her black +hair streaming down upon her shoulders. Then, as though at some signal, +all the women in the audience stood up and screamed: + +“Wed her to the god! Wed her to the god and let us drink of the cup +that through her unites us to the god!” + +Two of the Hairy Folk drew near to the girl, each of whom had something +in his hand, though what it was at the moment I could not see, and +stood still, as though waiting for a sign. Then followed a pause during +which I glanced about me at the faces of the women, made hideous by the +unholy passions that raged within them, who stood with outstretched +arms pointing at the victim. They looked horrible, and I hated them, +all except Dramana, who, I noted with relief, had not cried aloud and +did not stretch out her hands like the rest. + +What was I about to see? Some dreadful act of voodooism such as negroes +practise in Hayti and on the West Coast? Perhaps. If so I could not +bear it. Whatever the risk might be I could not bear it; almost +automatically my hand grasped the stock of my revolver. + +Dacha seemed as though he were about to say something, a word of doom +mayhap. I measured the distance between me and himself with my eyes, +calculating where I should aim to put a bullet through his large head +and give the god a sacrifice which it did not expect. Indeed, had he +spoken such a word, without doubt I should have done it, for as you +fellows know I am handy with a pistol, and probably, as a result, never +have lived to tell you this story. + +At this juncture, however, the victim waved her arms and said in a +loud, clear voice: + +“I claim the ancient right to make my prayer to the god before I am +given to the god.” + +“Speak on,” said Dacha, “and be swift.” + +She turned and curtseyed to the hideous idol, then wheeled about again +and addressed it in form although really she was speaking to the +audience. + +“O Fiend Heu-Heu,” she said in a voice filled with awful scorn and +bitterness, “whom my people worship to their ruin, I who was stolen +from my people come to thee because I would have none of yonder +high-priest and therefore must pay the price in blood. So be it, but +ere I come I have something to tell thee, O Heu-Heu, and something to +tell these priests who grow fat in wickedness. Hearken! A spirit is in +me, giving me sight. I see this place a sea of water, I see flames +bursting through the water, turning thy hideous effigy to dust and +burning up thy evil servants, so that not one of them remains. The +Prophecy! The Prophecy! Let all who hear me bethink them of the ancient +prophecy, for at length its hour is fulfilled.” + +Then she stared towards Hans and myself, waving her arms, and I thought +was about to address us. If so, she changed her mind and did not. + +So far the priests and the congregation had listened in the silence of +amazement, or perhaps of fear. Now, however, a howl of furious +execration broke from them, and when it died down I heard Dacha +shouting: + +“Let this blaspheming witch be slain. Let the sacrifice be +accomplished!” + +The two savages stepped towards her, and now I saw that what they held +in their hands were coils of rope with which doubtless she was to be +bound. If so, she was too swift for them, for with a great bound she +sprang upon the table where lay the body of the Hairy woman and the box +of matches. Next instant I saw a knife flashing in her hand; I suppose +it had been concealed somewhere in her dress. She lifted it and plunged +it to her heart, crying as she did so: + +“My blood be on you, Priests of Heu-Heu!” + +Then she fell down there upon the table and was still. + +In the hush that followed I heard Hans say: + +“That was a brave lady, Baas, and doubtless all she said will come +true. May I shoot that priest, Baas, or will you?” + +“No,” I began, but before I could get out another word my voice was +overwhelmed by a tumult of shouts, + +“The god has been robbed of his sacrifice and is hungry. Let the +strangers be offered to the god.” + +These and other like things said the shouts. + +Dacha looked towards us, hesitating, and I saw that it was time to act. +Rising, I called out: + +“Know, O Dacha, that before one hand is laid upon us I will make you as +my companion, Lord-of-the-Fire, made the dog without your doors.” + +Evidently Dacha believed me, for he grew quite humble. “Have no fear, +Lords,” he said. “Are you not our honoured guests and the +messengers of a Great One? Go in peace and safety.” + +Then at his command or sign the brightly burning fire was scattered, so +that the cave grew almost dark, especially as some of the lights had +gone out. + +“Follow me swiftly—swiftly,” said Dramana, and taking my hand +she led me away through the gloom. + +Presently we found ourselves in the passage, though for aught I know it +was another passage; at any rate, it led to the hall where we had +feasted. This was now empty, although in it lights still burned. +Crossing it, Dramana conducted us back to the house, where a hasty +examination shewed us that our rifles were just as we had left them; +nothing had been touched. Here, seeing that we were quite alone, for +all had gone to the sacrifice, I spoke to her. + +“Lady Dramana,” I said, “does my heart tell me truly or do I +only dream that you desire to depart from out of the shadow of +Heu-Heu?” + +She glanced about her cautiously, then answered in a low voice: “Lord, +there is nothing that I desire so much—unless perchance it be +death,” she added with a sigh. “Hearken! Seven years ago I was +bound upon the Rock of Offering, where my sister will stand to-morrow, +having been chosen by the god and dedicated to him by the mad terror of +my people, which means, Lord, that I had been chosen by Dacha and +dedicated to Dacha.” + +“Why, then, do you still live?” I asked, “seeing that she who +was chosen last year must be sacrificed this year.” + +“Lord, am I not the daughter of the Walloo, the ruler of the people of +the Mainland, and might not the title to that rule be acquired through +me while I breathe? It is not the best of titles, it is true, because I +was born of a lesser wife of my father, the Walloo, whereas my sister +Sabeela is born of the great wife. Still, at a pinch, it might serve. +That is why I still live.” + +“What then is Dacha’s plan, Lady Dramana?” + +“It stands thus, Lord. Hitherto for many generations, it is said since +the great fire burned upon the island and destroyed the city, there +have been two governments in this land: that of the priests of Heu-Heu, +who govern the minds of its people, also the wild Wood Folk, and that +of the Walloos, who govern their bodies and are kings by ancient right. +Now Dacha, who, when he is not lost in drink or other follies, is +farseeing and ambitious, purposes to rule both minds and bodies and it +may be to bring in new blood from outside our country and once more to +build up a great people, such as tradition tells we were in the +beginning, when we came here from the north or from the west. He does +but wait until he has married my sister, the lawful heiress to the +Walloo, my father, who by now must be an old and feeble man, to strike +his blow, and in her name to seize the government and power. + +“The priests, as you have seen, are but few and cannot do this of their +own strength, but they command all the savage folk who are called the +Children of Heu-Heu. Now these people are very angry because the other +day one of their women was killed upon the river, she who lay on the +altar before the god, and this they think was done by the Walloo, not +understanding that it was your servant, the yellow man there, who slew +her. Or if they understand, they believe that he did so by the order of +Issicore who, we hear, is betrothed to my sister Sabeela. + +“Therefore they wish to make a great war upon the Walloo under the +guidance of the priests of Heu-Heu, whom they call their Father, +because his image is like to them. Already their mankind are gathering +on the island, rowing themselves hither upon logs or bundles of reeds, +and by to-morrow night all will be collected. Then, after what is +called the Holy Marriage, when my sister Sabeela has been brought as an +offering by the Walloo and bound to the pillar between the Everlasting +Fires, led by Dacha they will attack the city on the mainland, which +they dare not do alone. It will surrender to them, and Dacha will kill +my old father and the lord Issicore who stands next to him, and any of +the ancient blood who cling to him, and cause himself to be declared +Walloo. After this his purpose is to poison the Forest folk as he well +knows how to do and as I have told you, perhaps to bring new blood into +the land which is rich and wide, and found a kingdom. + +“A big scheme,” I said, not without admiration, for on hearing it, +to tell the truth, I began to conceive a certain respect for that +villain Dacha, who, at any rate, had ideas and presented a striking +contrast to the helpless and superstition-ridden inhabitants of the +mainland. + +“But, Lady,” I went on, “what is to happen to me and to my +companion who is named Lord-of-the-Fire?” + +“I do not know, Lord, who have had little talk with Dacha since you +came, or with any to whom he reveals his secrets. I think, however, +that he is afraid of you, believing you to be magicians, or in league +with the greatest of magicians, the prophet Zikali, who dwells in the +south, with whom the priests of Heu-Heu communicate from time to time. +Also it is probable that he holds that you may be able to help him to +build up a nation and that therefore he would wish to keep you in his +service in this country, only killing you if you try to escape. On the +other hand, when the Wood Folk come to understand that it was really +you, or one of you, who killed the woman, they may clamour for your +lives. Then, if he thinks it wisest to please them, at the great feast +which is called the Finishing of the Holy Marriage, you may be tied +upon the altar as a Sacrifice while the blood is drained from you, to +be drunk by the priests with the lips of Heu-Heu. Perhaps that matter +will be settled at the Council of the Priests to-morrow, Lord.” + +“Thank you,” I said, “never mind the details.” + +“Meanwhile,” she went on, “for the present you are safe. +Indeed I, who by my rank am the Mistress of Households, have been +commanded to honour you in every way, and to-morrow, when the priests +are engaged in preparations for the Holy Marriage, to show you all that +you would see, also to provide you with boughs from the Tree of +Illusions which Zikali the prophet desires.” + +“Thank you,” I said again, “we shall be most happy to take a +walk with you, even if it rains, as I think from the sounds upon the +roof it is doing at present. Meanwhile, I understand that you wish to +get out of this place and to save your sister. Well, I may as well tell +you at once, Lady Dramana, that my companion, who chooses to assume the +shape of a yellow dwarf, and I, who choose to be as I am, _are_ in fact +great magicians with much more power than we seem to possess. +Therefore, it is quite possible that we may be able to help you in all +ways, and to do other things more remarkable. Yet we may need your aid, +since generally that which is mighty works through that which is small, +and what I want to know is whether we can count upon it.” + +“To the death, Lord,” she answered. + +“So be it, Dramana, for know that if you fail us certainly you will +die.” + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE SLUICE GATE + + +All that night it poured, not merely in the usual tropical torrent, but +positively in waterspouts. Seldom in my life have I heard such rain as +that which fell upon the roof of the house where we were, which must +have been wonderfully well built, for otherwise it would have given +way. When we rose in the morning and went to the door to look out, all +the place was swimming and a solid wall of water seemed to stretch from +earth to heaven. + +“I think there will be a flood after this, Baas,” remarked Hans. + +“I think so, too,” I answered, “and if we were not here I +wish that it might be deep enough to drown every human brute upon this +island.” + +“It cannot do that, Baas, because at the worst they would climb up the +mountain, though it might get into the cave and give Heu-Heu a +washing—which he needs.” + +“If it got into the cave, it would probably get into the mountain as +well,” I began—then stopped, for an idea occurred to me. + +I had noticed that this cave sloped downwards somewhat steeply, I mean +into the base of the mountain and towards its centre. Probably, in its +origin it was a vent blown through the rock at some time in the past +when the volcano was very active, which, for aught I knew, remained +unblocked, or only slightly blocked. Suppose now that a great volume of +water ran down that cave and vanished into the interior of the +mountain, was it not probable that something unusual would happen? The +volcano was still alive—this I knew from the smoke which hung above it, +also by the stream of red-hot lava that we had seen trickling down its +southern face—and fire and water do not agree well together. They make +steam, and steam expands. This thought took such a persistent hold on +me that I began to wonder whether it did not partake of the nature of +an inspiration. However, I said nothing of it to Hans, who, being a +savage, did not understand such matters. + +A little later food was brought to us by one of the serving priests. +With it came a message from Dacha to the effect that he grieved he +could not wait on us that day as he had many matters to which he must +attend, but that the Lady Dramana would do so shortly and show us all +there was to be seen, if the rain permitted. + +In due course she arrived—alone, as I had hoped she would—and at +once began to talk of the rainfall of the previous night, which she +said was such as had never been known in their country. She added that +all the priests had been out that morning, dragging the great stone +sluice gate into its place so as to keep out the water of the lake, +lest the arable land should be flooded and the crops destroyed. + +I told her that I was much interested in such matters, and asked +questions about this sluice which she could not answer as she knew +little of its working. She said, however, that she would show it to me +so that I might study the system. + +I thanked her and inquired whether the lake had risen much. She +answered, Not yet, but that probably it would do so during the day and +the following night when it became filled with the water brought down +by the flooded river which ran into it from the country to the north. +At any rate, this was feared, and it had been thought best to set the +sluice in place, a difficult task because of its weight. Indeed, a +woman who had gone to help out of curiosity had been caught by a +lever—I understood that was what she meant—and killed. She still +lay by the sluice, since it was not lawful for the priests of Heu-Heu +or their servants to touch a dead body between the Feast of Illusions, +which had been held on the previous night, and the Feast of Marriage, +which would be held on the night of the morrow, when, she added +significantly, they often touched plenty. + +“It is a Feast of Blood, then?” I said. + +“Yes, Lord, a Feast of Blood, and I pray that it may not be of your +blood also.” + +“Have no fear of that,” I answered airily, though in truth I felt +much depressed. Then I asked her to tell me exactly what was going to +happen as to the delivery of the “Holy Bride.” + +“This, Lord,” she said. “Before midnight, when the moon +should be at its fullest, a canoe comes, bringing the bride from the +City of the Walloos. Priests receive her and tie her to the pillar that +stands on the Rock of Offerings between the Everlasting Fires. Then the +canoe goes and waits at a distance. The priests go also and leave the +bride alone. I know it all, Lord, for I have been that bride. So she +stands until the first ray of the rising sun strikes upon her. Then +from the mouth of the cave comes out the high priest dressed in skins +to resemble the image of the god, and followed by women and some of the +Hairy savage folk shouting in triumph. He looses the bride, and they +bear her into the cave, and there, Lord, she vanishes.” + +“Do you think that she will be brought at all, Dramana?” + +“Certainly she will be brought, since if my father, the Walloo, or +Issicore, or any refused to send her, they would be killed by their own +people, who believe that then disaster would overtake them. Unless you +can save her by your arts, Lord, my sister Sabeela must become the wife +of Heu-Heu, which means the wife of Dacha.” + +“I will think the matter over,” I said. “But if I make up my +mind to help, am I right in understanding that you also desire to +escape from this island?” + +“Lord, I have told you so already, and I will only add this. Dacha +hates me and when I have served his purpose and he has in his hands +Sabeela, the true heiress to the chieftainship over our people unless +first I tread her road, certainly it will be my lot to stand where that +poor woman stood last night, who slew herself to escape worse things. +Oh, Lord, save me if you can!” + +“I will save you—if I can,” I replied, and I meant +it—almost as much as I meant to save myself. + +Then I impressed upon her that she must obey me in all things without +question, and this she swore to do. Also I asked her if she could +provide us with a canoe. + +“It is impossible,” she replied. “Dacha is clever; he has +bethought him that you might depart in a canoe. Therefore, every one of +them has been moved round to the other side of the island where they +are kept under watch of the Savage Folk. That is why he gives you leave +to roam about the place, because he knows that you cannot leave it, +unless you have wings, for the lake is too wide for any man to swim, +and if it were not, the Walloo shore is haunted by crocodiles.” + +Now, my friends, as you may guess, this was a blow indeed. However, I +kept my countenance and said that as this was the case something else +must be arranged, only asking casually if there were any crocodiles +about this part of the island coast. She answered that there were none, +because, as she supposed, the flames of the Everlasting Fires, or some +smell from the smoke of the mountain, frightened them away. + +Next, as the torrents of rain had ceased, at any rate for a while, I +suggested that we should go out, and we did so. Also I did not mind +much about the weather, as to protect us from it she had brought with +her for our use and her own three of the strangest waterproofs that +ever I saw. These consisted of two giant leaves from some kind of +waterlily that grew on the borders of the lake, sewn together, with a +hole at the top of the leaves, where the stalk comes, for the wearer’s +head to go through, and two openings left for his arms. For the rest no +mackintosh ever turned wet so well as did these leaves, the only +drawback about them, as I was informed, being that they must be renewed +once in every three days. + +Arrayed in these queer garments we went out in rain that here we should +call fairly heavy, though it was but the merest drizzle compared to +what had gone before. This rain I may explain, had great advantages so +far as we were concerned, seeing that in it not even the most curious +woman put her nose outside her own door. So it came about that we were +able to examine the village of the priests of Heu-Heu quite unobserved +and at our leisure. + +This settlement was small since there were never more than fifty +priests in the college, if so it may be called, to whom, of course, +must be added their wives and women, on an average, perhaps, of three +or four per man. + +The odd thing was that there seemed to be no children and no old +people. Either offspring did not arrive and folk died young upon the +island, or in both cases they were made away with, perhaps as +sacrifices to Heu-Heu. I am sorry to say that in the pressure of great +dangers I do not remember making any inquiry upon the point, or if I +did I cannot recall the answer given. It was only afterwards that I +reflected upon this strange circumstance. The fact remains that on the +island there were no young and no aged. Another possible explanation, +by the way, is that both may have been exported to the mainland. + +Here I will add that with the exception of Dramana and a few discarded +wives who may have been doomed to sacrifice, the women were fiercer +bigots and more cruel votaries of Heu-Heu than were the men themselves. +So, indeed, I had observed when I sat among them at the Feast of +Illusions in the cave. + +For the rest they all lived in dwellings such as that which was given +to us, and were waited upon by servants or slaves from the savage race +that was called Heuheua. Low as these Heuheua were and disgusting as +might be their appearance, like our South African Bushmen, they were +clever in their way, and, when trained, could do many things. Also they +were faithful to the commands of their god Heu-Heu, or rather to those +of his priests, though they hated the Walloos, from whom these priests +sprang, and waged continual war against them. + +Soon we had left the houses and were among the cultivated lands, all of +which Dramana informed us were worked by the Heuheua slaves. These +laboured here in gangs for a year at a time, and then were returned to +their women in the forests on the mainland, for, except as servants, +none of them were allowed upon the island. Those lands were +extraordinarily fertile, as was shewn by the crops on them, which, +although much beaten down by the torrential rain, were now ready for +harvest. They were enclosed by a kind of sea wall built of blocks of +lava and must at some time have been reclaimed from the muddy shallows +of the lake, which accounted for their richness. Everywhere about them +ran irrigation channels that were used in the dry sowing season and +controlled by the sluice gate that has been mentioned. That is all I +have to say about the gardens, except that the existence of this +irrigation system is to my mind another proof that these Walloos sprang +originally from some highly civilized race. Their fields extended to +that extremity of the island which was nearest to the Walloo coast, and +I know not how far in the other direction, for I did not go there. + +Standing upon this point we saw in the distance a number of moving +specks upon the water. I asked Dramana if they were hippopotami, and +she answered: + +“No, Lord, they are the Hairy Folk who, in obedience to the summons of +the god, cross the lake upon bundles of reeds that they may be ready to +fight in the coming war against the Walloo. Already there are hundreds +of them gathered upon the farther side of the mountain, and by to-night +all their able-bodied men will have come, leaving only the females, the +aged, and the children hidden away in the depths of the forests. On the +third day from now they will paddle back across the lake, led by the +priests under the command of Dacha, and attack Walloo.” + +“A great deal may happen in three days,” I said, and dropped the +subject. + +We walked back towards the village and the cave mouth by the sea wall, +upon the top of which ran a path, and thus at last came to the Rock of +Offering, upon each side of which burned the two curious columns of +flame that, I took it, were fed with natural gas generated in the womb +of the volcano. They were not very large fires—at any rate, when I saw +them—the flame may have been about eight or ten feet high, no more. But +there they burned, and had done so, Dramana said, from the beginning of +things. Between them, at a little distance, stood a post of stone with +rings also of stone, to which the bride was bound. I noted that from +these rings hung new ropes placed there to serve as the bonds of +Sabeela during the coming night. + +Having seen all there was to see on this Rock of Offering, including +the steps by which the victim was landed, we went on to a long shed +with a steep reed roof, which contained the machinery, if so I can call +it, that regulated the irrigation sluice. It had a heavy wooden door +which Dramana unlocked with an odd-shaped stone key that she produced +from a bag she was wearing. This key, she told us, had been given to +her by Dacha with strict orders that she was to return it after we had +examined the place, should we wish so to do. + +As it happened there was a good deal to examine. Near one end of the +shed the main irrigation canal, which may have been twelve feet wide, +passed beneath it. Here, under the centre of the roof, was a pit of +which the water that stood in it prevented us from seeing the depth. On +either side of this pit were perpendicular grooves cut in the solid +rock, very deep grooves that were exactly filled by a huge slab of +dressed stone six or seven inches thick. When this stone, or the upper +part of it, was lifted out of the rock floor of the channel, where +normally it stood in its niche, forming part of the bed of the channel, +it entirely cut off the inflow of water from the lake, and was, +moreover, tall enough to stop any possible additional inflow at a time +of flood. + +Perhaps I can make the thing clear in this way. When Good and I were +last in London together we went to Madame Tussaud’s and saw the famous +guillotine that was used in the French Revolution. The knife of that +guillotine, you will remember, was raised between uprights, and when +brought into action, let fall again to the bottom of the apparatus, +severing the neck of the victim in its course. Now imagine that those +uprights were the rock walls of the pit, and that the knife, instead of +being but a narrow thing, were a great sheet of steel, or rather stone. +Then, when it was drawn to the top of the uprights from the niche at +the bottom, it would entirely fill the space to the head of the +grooves, and none of the water that normally passed over it could flow +between the uprights, or rather walls, because the sheet of stone +barred its passage. Now do you understand? + + +As Good, who was stupid about such matters, looked doubtful, Allan went +on: + +“Perhaps a better illustration would be that of a portcullis; even you, +Good, have seen a portcullis, which, by the way, must mean a door in a +groove. Imagine a subterranean or rather subaqueous, portcullis that, +when it was desired to shut it, rose in its grooves from below instead +of falling from above, and you will have an exact idea of the water +door of the priests of Heu-Heu. I’d draw it for you if it wasn’t so +late.” + +“I see now,” said Good, “and I suppose they wound the thing +up with a windlass.” + +“Why not say with a donkey engine at once, Good? Windlasses had not +occurred to the Walloos. No, they acted on a simpler and more ancient +plan. They lifted it with a lever. Near the top of this slab of rock, +or water door, was drilled a hole. Through this hole passed a bolt of +stone, of which the ends went into the cut-out base of the lever, thus +forming a kind of hinge. The lever itself was a bar of stone—evidently +they would not trust to wood which rots—massive and about twenty feet +long, so as to obtain the best possible purchase. When the door was +quite down in its niche at the bottom of the bed of the channel, the +end of the lever naturally rose high into the air, almost to the top of +the pitched roof of the shed, indeed.” + + +When it was desired to raise the door so as to regulate the amount of +water passing into the irrigation channel beyond, or to cut it off +altogether in case of flood, the lever was pulled down by ropes that +were tied to its end by the strength of a number of men and that end +was passed into, or rather under, one or other of half a dozen hooks of +stone hollowed in a face of solid rock. Here, of course, it remained +immovable until it was released, again by the united strength of a +number of men, and flew back to the roof, letting the portcullis slab +drop into its bed or groove at the bottom of the channel, thus +admitting the lake water. + +On the present occasion, as a great flood was anticipated, this slab +was raised to its full extent, and when I saw it, the top of it stood +five or six feet above the level of the water, while the end of the +handle of the lever was made fast beneath the lowest hook of rock +within a foot of the floor. + +Hans and I examined this primitive but effective apparatus for +preventing inundations very carefully. Supposing, thought I, that any +one wanted to release that lever so that the door fell and water rushed +in over it, how could it be done? Answer: It could only be done by the +application of the united force of a great number of men pressing on +the end of the lever till it was pushed clear of the point of the hook, +when naturally it would fly upwards and the door would fall. Or, +secondly, by breaking the lever in two, when, of course, the same thing +would happen Now two men, that is Hans and myself, could not possibly +release this beam of stone from its hook; indeed, I doubt whether ten +men could have done it. Nor could two men possibly break that beam of +stone. Perhaps, if they had suitable marble saws, such as workers in +stone use, and plenty of time, they might cut it in two, although it +seemed to be made of a kind of rock that was as hard as iron. But we +had no saw. Therefore, so far as we were concerned the task was +impossible; that idea must be dismissed. + +Still, there is a way out of most difficulties if only it can be hit +upon. My own mental resources were exhausted, it is true, but Hans +remained, and possibly he might have some suggestion of value to make. +He was a curious creature, Hans, and often his concentrated primitive +instincts led him more directly to the mark than did all my civilized +reasonings. + +So speaking without emphasis in Dutch, for I did not wish Dramana to +guess my internal excitement, I put the problem to Hans in these words: + +“Supposing that you and I, Hans, with none to help, except perhaps this +woman, found it necessary to break that bar of stone and cause the +water gate to fall, so as to let in the lake flood over it, how could +we do it with such means as we have in this place?” Hans stared about +him, twiddling his hat in his usual vacuous fashion, and remarked, + +“I don’t know, Baas.” + +“Then find out, for I want to learn if your conclusions agree with my +own,” I answered. + +“I think that if they agree with the Baas’s, they will agree with +nothing at all,” said Hans, delivering this shrewd and perfectly +accurate shot with such a wooden expression of utter stupidity that I +could have kicked him. + +Next, without more words, he removed himself from my neighbourhood and +began to examine the lever in a casual fashion, especially the hook of +rock which held it in its place. Presently he remarked in Arabic, so +that Dramana might understand, that he wanted to see how deep the pit +was, which we could not do from the floor of the shed, and instantly +climbed up the slope of the beam-like lever with all the agility of a +monkey, and sat himself, cross-legged, on the top of it, just below the +stone hinge that I have described. Here he remained for a while, +apparently staring into the darkness of the hole or pit on the farther +side of the stone slab, where, of course, it was almost empty, as the +door cut off the water from the irrigation channel on the island side. + +“That hole is too dark to see into,” he said, presently, and +swarmed down the shaft again. Then he called my attention to the body +of the dead woman who Dramana had told us was struck by the lever and +killed while it was being dragged into place, which lay almost out of +sight in the shadow by the wall of the shed. We went to look at her. +She was a tall woman, handsome, like all these people, and young. +Outwardly she showed no signs of injury, for her long white robe was +unstained. I suppose that she had been crushed between the lever and +the hook, or perhaps struck on the side of the head as it was being +swung into place. Whilst we were examining the corpse of this +unfortunate, Hans said to me, still speaking in Dutch, + +“Does the Baas remember that we have two pound tins of the best rifle +powder in our bag and that he scolded me because I did not take them +out when we left the house of the Walloo, saying that it was foolish to +bring them with us as they would be quite useless to us on the island?” + +I replied that I had some recollection of the incident, and that, as a +matter of fact, they had been heavy to carry. Then Hans proceeded to +set a riddle in his irritating and sententious way, asking, + +“Who does the Baas think knows most about things that are to +happen—the Baas or the Baas’s Reverend Father in Heaven?” + +“My father, I presume, Hans,” I replied airily. + +“The Baas is right. The Baas’s father in the sky knows much more +than the Baas, but sometimes I think that Hans knows better than +either, at any rate, here on the earth.” + +I stared at the little wretch, rendered speechless by his irreverent +impudence, but he went on unabashed: + +“I did not forget to leave that powder behind, Baas; I brought it with +me thinking that it might be useful, because with powder you can blow +up men and other things. Also, I did not wish it to stay where we might +never see it again.” + +“Well, what about the powder?” I asked. + +“Nothing much, Baas. At least, only this. These Walloo do not bore +stones very well; they make the holes too big for what has to go +through them. That in the water gate is so large that there would be +room to put two pound flasks of powder beneath the pin, now that the +strain lifts it up to the top of the hole.” + +“And what would be the use of putting two flasks of powder in such a +place?” I inquired carelessly, for at the moment I was thinking about +the dead woman. + +“None at all, Baas; none at all. Only I thought the Baas asked me how +we could loose that stone arm. If two pounds of powder were put into +the hole, covered with a little mud, and fired, I think that they would +blow out the bit of rock at the top of the hole, or break the pin, or +both. Then, as there would be nothing to hold it, the stone door would +fall down and the lake would come in and water the fields of the +priests of Heu-Heu, if in his wisdom and kindness the Baas thinks they +want it at harvest time, and after so much rain.” + +“You little wretch,” I said; “you infernal, clever little +wretch! Hang me if I don’t think you have got hold of the right end of +the stick this time. Only the business will take a lot of thinking out +and arrangement.” + +“Yes, Baas, and we had better do that in the house, which, as the Baas +knows, is quite close, only about a hundred paces away. Let us get out +of this place, Baas, before the lady begins to smell rats; only, as you +go, take a good squint at that hole in the top of the stone door and +the rock pin which goes through it.” + +Then Hans, who all this while had been staring at the body of the woman +and apparently talking about her, bowed towards it, remarking in +Arabic, “Allah, I mean Heu-Heu, receive her into his bosom,” and +retreated reverentially. + +So we went away, but I, lingering behind, examined the hole and the pin +very carefully. + +Hans was quite right: there was just room left in the former to +accommodate two tin flasks of powder, also, there were not more than +three inches of rock on the topside of the hole. Surely two pounds of +powder would suffice to blow out this ring of stone and perhaps to +shatter the pin as well. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE PLOT + + +We left the shed and, after she had locked its door very carefully and +returned the stone key to her pouch, were taken by Dramana to see the +famous Tree of Illusions, of which the juice and leaves, if powdered +and burnt, could produce such strange dreams and intoxicating effects. +It grew in a large walled space that was called Heu-Heu’s Garden, +though nothing else was planted there. Dramana assured us indeed that +this tree had a poisonous effect upon all other vegetation. + +Passing the wall by a door of which she also produced some kind of key +out of her bag, we found ourselves standing in front of the famous +tree, if so it can be called, for its growth was shrub-like and its +topmost twigs were not more than twenty feet above the ground. On the +other hand, it covered a great area and had a trunk two or three feet +thick from which projected a vast number of branches whereof the +extremities lay upon the soil, and I think rooted there, after the +manner of wild figs, though of this I am not certain. + +It was an unholy product of nature, inasmuch as it had no real foliage, +only dark green, euphorbia-like and fleshy fingers—indeed, I think it +must have been some variety of euphorbia. At the extremities of these +green fingers appeared purple-coloured blooms with a most evil smell +that reminded me of the odour of something dead; also down their +sides—for, like the orange, the tree appeared to have the property of +flowering and fruiting at the same time—were yellow seed vessels about +the size of those of a prickly pear. Except that the trunk was covered +with corrugated gray bark and that the finger-like leaves were full of +resinous white milk like those of other euphorbias, there is nothing +more to say about it. I should add, however, that Dramana told us no +other specimen existed, either on the mainland or the island, and that +to attempt its propagation elsewhere was a capital offence. In short, +the Tree of Illusions was a monopoly of the priests. + +Hans set to work and cut a large faggot of the leaves, or fingers, +which he tied up with a piece of string he had in his pocket, to be +conveyed to Zikali, though there seemed to be such a small prospect of +their ever reaching him. It was not an agreeable job, for when it was +cut the white juice of the tree spurted out, and if it fell upon the +flesh, burned like caustic. + +I was glad when it came to an end because of the stench of the flowers, +but before I left I took the opportunity, when Dramana was not looking, +of picking some of the ripest of the fruits and putting them in my +pocket, with the idea of planting the seeds should we ever escape from +that country. I am sorry to say, however, that I never did so, as the +sharp spines that grew upon the fruits wore a hole in the lining of my +pocket, which already was thin from use, and they tumbled out +unobserved. Evidently the Tree of Illusions did not intend to be +reproduced elsewhere; at least, that was Hans’s explanation. + +On our way back to the house we had to pass round a lava boulder on the +lake side of the sluice shed, crossing by a little bridge the water +channel that ran beneath it, near to a flight of landing steps that +were used by fishermen. I examined this channel which pierced the sea +wall and here, outside the sluice gate, was about twenty feet wide. At +the side of it, built into the wall, was a slab of stone on which were +marks, cut there, no doubt, to indicate the height of the water level +and the rate at which it rose. I noticed that the topmost of these +marks was already covered, and that during the little while I stood and +watched, it vanished altogether, showing that the water was rising +rapidly. + +Seeing that I was interested, Dramana remarked that the priests said +that tradition never told of the water having reached that topmost mark +before, even during the greatest rains. She added that she supposed it +had done so now owing to the unprecedented wetness of the summer and +great tempests farther up the river that fed the lake, of which we were +experiencing the last. + +“It is fortunate that you have such a strong door to keep out the +water,” I said. + +“Yes, Lord,” she answered, “since if it broke all this side +of the island would be flooded. If you look you will see that already +the lake stands higher than the cultivated lands and even than the +mouth of the Cave of Heu-Heu. It is told in tradition that when first, +hundreds of years ago, these lands were reclaimed from the mud of the +lake and the wall was built to protect them, the priests of Heu-Heu +trusted to the rain for their crops. Then came many dry seasons, and +they cut a way through the wall and let in water to irrigate them, +making the sluice gate that you have seen to keep it out if it rose too +high. An old priest of that time said that this was madness and would +one day prove their destruction, but they laughed at him and made the +sluice. He was wrong also, since thenceforward their crops were +doubled, and the gate is so well-fashioned that no floods, however +great, have ever passed through or over it; nor can they do so, because +the top of the stone gate rises to the height of a child above the +level of the water wall which separates the lake from the reclaimed +land.” + +“The lake might come over the crest of the wall,” I suggested. + +“No, Lord. If you look you will see that the wall is raised far above +its level, to a height that no flood could ever reach.” + +“Then safety depends upon the gate, Dramana?” + +“Yes, Lord. If the flood were high enough, which it never has been +within the memory of man, the safety of the town would depend upon the +gate, and that of the Cave of Heu-Heu also. Before the mountain broke +into flame and destroyed the city of our ancestors, the new mouth was +made on the level, for formerly, it is said, it was entered from the +slope above. Moreover, there is no danger, because if any accident +happened and the flood broke through, all could flee up the mountain. +Only then the cultivated land would be ruined for a time and there +might be scarcity, during which people must obtain corn from the +mainland or draw it from that which is stored in pits in the hillside, +to be used in case of war or siege.” + +I thanked her for her explanation of these interesting hydraulic +problems, and after another glance at the scale rock, on which the +marks had now vanished completely, showing me that the lake was still +rising rapidly, we went to the house to rest and eat. + +Here Dramana left us, saying that she would return at sundown. I begged +her to do so without fail. This I did for her own sake, a fact that I +did not explain. Personally, I was indifferent as to whether she came +back or not, having learned all she could teach us, but as I was +planning catastrophe, I was anxious, should it come, to give her any +chance of escape that might offer for ourselves. After all, she had +been a good friend to us and was one who hated Dacha and Heu-Heu and +loved her sister Sabeela. + +Hans led her to the door and in an awkward fashion made much ado in +helping her to put on her leaf raincoat, which she had discarded and +was carrying. For now suddenly the rain, which had almost ceased while +we walked, had begun to fall again in torrents. + +When we had eaten and were left alone within closed doors, Hans and I +took counsel together. + +“What is to be done, Hans?” I asked, wishing to hear his views. + +“This, I think, Baas,” he answered. “When it draws near to +midnight we must go to hide near the steps, there by the Rock of +Offerings, not the smaller ones near the sluice gate. Then when the +canoe comes and lands the Lady Sabeela to be married, as soon as she +has been taken and tied to the post we must swim out to it, get aboard, +and go back to Walloo-town.” + +“But that would not save the Lady Sabeela, Hans.” + +“No, Baas, I was not troubling my head about the Lady Sabeela who I +hope will be happy with Heu-Heu, but it would save _us,_ though perhaps +we shall have to leave some of our things behind. If Issicore and the +rest wish to save the Lady Sabeela, they had better cease from being +cowards who are afraid of a stone statue and a handful of priests, and +do so for themselves.” + +“Listen, Hans,” I said. “We came here to get a bundle of +stinking leaves for Zikali and to save the Lady Sabeela who is the +victim of folly and wickedness. The first we have got, the second +remains to be done. I mean to save that unfortunate woman, or to die in +the attempt.” + +“Yes, Baas. I thought the Baas would say that, since we are all fools +in our different ways, and how can any one dig out of his heart the +folly that his mother put there before he was born? Therefore, since +the Baas is a fool, or in love with the Lady Sabeela because she is so +pretty—I don’t know which—we must make another plan and try +to get ourselves killed in carrying it out.” + +“What plan?” I asked, disregarding his crude satire. + +“I don’t know, Baas,” he said, staring at the roof. “If +I had something to drink, I might be able to think of one, as all this +wet has filled my head with fog, just as my stomach is full of water. +Still, Baas, do I understand the Baas to say that if that stone gate +were broken the lake would flow in and flood this place, also the Cave +of Heu-Heu, where all the priests and their wives will be gathered +worshipping him?” + +“Yes, Hans, so I believe, and very quickly. As soon as the water began +to run it would tear away the wall on either side of the sluice and +enter in a mighty flood; especially as now the rain is again falling +heavily.” + +“Then, Baas, we must let the stone fall, and as we are not strong +enough to do it ourselves, we must ask this to help us,” and he +produced from his bag the two pounds of powder done up in stout flasks +of soldered tin as it had left the maker in England. “As I am called +Lord-of-the-Fire, the priests of Heu-Heu will think it quite natural,” +he added with a grin. + +“Yes, Hans,” I said, nodding, “but the question +is—how?” + +“I think like this, Baas. We must pack these two tins tight into that +hole in the rock door beneath the pin with the help of little stones, +and cover them over thickly with mud to give the powder time to work +before the tins are blown out of the hole. But first we must bore holes +in the tins and make slow matches and put the ends of them into the +holes. Only how are we to make these slow matches?” + +I looked about me. There on a shelf in the room stood the clay lamps +with which it was lighted at night, and by them lay a coil of the wick +which these people used, made of fine and dry plaited rushes, many feet +of it. + +“There’s the very stuff!” I said. + +We got it down, we soaked it in a mixture of the native oil, mixed with +gunpowder that I extracted from a cartridge, and behold! in half an +hour we had two splendid slow matches that by experiment I reckoned +would take quite five minutes to burn before the fire reached the +powder. That was all we could do for the moment. + +“Now, Baas,” said Hans, when we had finished our preparations and +hidden the matches away to dry, “all this is very nice, but supposing +that the stone falls and the water runs in and everything goes softly, +how are we to get off the island? If we drown the priests of +Heu-Heu—though I do not think we shall drown them because they will +bolt up the mountain-side like rock rabbits—we drown ourselves also, +and travel in their company to the Place of Fires of which your +Reverend Father was so fond of talking. It will be very nice to try to +drown the priests of Heu-Heu, Baas, but we shall be no better off, nor +will the Lady Sabeela if we leave her tied to that post.” + +“We shall not leave her, Hans, that is if things go as I hope; we shall +leave someone else.” + +Hans saw light and his face brightened. + +“Oh, Baas, now I understand! You mean that you will tie to the post the +Lady Dramana, who is older and not quite so nice-looking as the Lady +Sabeela, which is why you told her she must stay with us all the time +after she comes back? That is quite a good plan, especially as it will +save us trouble with her afterwards. Only, Baas, it will be necessary +to give her a little knock on the head first lest she should make a +noise and betray us in her selfishness.” + +“Hans, you are a brute to think that I mean anything of the sort,” +I said indignantly. + +“Yes, Baas, of course I am a brute who think of you and myself before I +do of others. But then _who_ will the Baas leave? Surely he does not +mean to leave _me_ dressed up in a bride’s robe?” he added in +genuine alarm. + +“Hans, you are a fool as well as a brute, for, silly as you may be, how +could I get on without you? I do not mean to leave any one living. I +mean to leave that dead woman in the gate house.” + +He stared at me in evident admiration and answered, + +“The Baas is growing quite clever. For once he has thought of something +that I have not thought of first. It is a good plan—if we can carry her +there without any one seeing us, and the Lady Sabeela does not betray +us by making a noise, laughing and crying both together like stupid +women do. But suppose that it all happens, there will be four of us, +and how are we to get into that canoe, Baas, if those cowardly Walloos +wait so long?” + +“Thus, Hans. When the canoe lands the Lady Sabeela and she has been +tied to the post, if Dramana speaks truth, it waits for the dawn at a +little distance. While it is waiting you must swim out to it, taking +your pistol with you, which you will hold above your head with one hand +to keep the cartridges dry, but leaving everything else behind. Then +you must get into the boat, telling the Walloo and Issicore, or whoever +is there, who you are. Later, when all is quiet, the Lady Dramana and I +will carry the dead woman to the post and tie her there in place of +Sabeela. After this you will bring the canoe to the landing steps—the +small landing steps by the big boulder which we saw near to the sluice +mouth on the lake wall, those that Dramana told us were used by +fishermen, because it is not lawful for them to set foot upon the Rock +of Offerings. You remember them?” + +“Yes, Baas. You mean the ones at the end of a little pier which Dramana +also said was built to keep mud from the lake from drifting into the +sluice mouth and blocking it.” + +“When I see you coming, Hans, I shall fire the slow matches and we will +run down to the pier and get into the canoe. I hope that the priests +and their women in the cave, which is at a distance, will not hear the +powder explode beneath that shed, and that when they come out of the +cave they will find the water running in and swamping them. This might +give them something else to do besides pursuing us, as doubtless they +would otherwise, for I am sure they have canoes hidden away somewhere +near by, although Dramana may not know where they are. Now do you +understand?” + +“Oh, yes, Baas. As I said, the Baas has grown quite clever all of a +sudden. I think it must be that Wine of Dreams he drank last night that +has woke up his mind. But the Baas has missed one thing. Supposing that +I get into the canoe safely, how am I to make those people row in to +the landing steps and take you off? Probably they will be afraid, Baas, +or say that it is against their custom, or that Heu-Heu will catch them +if they do, or something of the sort. + +“You will talk to them gently, Hans, and if they will not listen, then +you will talk to them with your pistol. Yes, if necessary, you will +shoot one or more of them, Hans, after which I think the rest will obey +you. But I hope that this will not be necessary, since if Issicore is +there, certainly he will desire to win back Sabeela from Heu-Heu. Now +we have settled everything, and I am going to sleep for a while, with +the slow matches under me to dry them, as I advise you to do also. We +had little rest last night, and to-night we shall have none at all, so +we may as well take some while we can. But first bring that mat and tie +up the twigs from the stinking tree for Zikali, on whom be every kind +of curse for sending us on this job.” + +“Settled everything!” I repeated to myself with inward sarcasm as I +lay down and shut my eyes. In truth, nothing at all was ever less +settled, since success in such a desperate adventure depended upon a +string of hypotheses long enough to reach from where we were to +Capetown. Our case was an excellent example of the old proverb: + +If ifs and ands made pots and pans, + +There’d be no work for tinkers’ hands. + + + +_If_ the canoe came; _if_ it waited off the rock; _if_ Hans +could swim out to it without being observed and get aboard; _if_ he +could persuade those fetish-ridden Walloos to come to take us off; _if_ +we could carry out our little game about the powder undetected; _if_ +the powder went off all right and broke up the sluice-handle as per +plan; _if_ we could free Sabeela from the post; _if_ she did not play +the fool in some female fashion; _if_ blackguards of sorts did not +manage to cut our throats during all these operations, and a score of +other “ifs,” why, then our pots and pans would be satisfactorily +manufactured and perhaps the priests of Heu-Heu would be satisfactorily +frightened away or drowned. As it was, it looked to me as though, so +far from not getting any rest that night, we should slumber more +soundly than ever we did before—in the last long sleep of all. + +Well, it could not be helped, so I just fell back upon my favourite +fatalism, said my prayers and went off to sleep, which, thank God, I +can do at any time and under almost any circumstances. Had it not been +for that gift I should have been dead long ago. + +When I woke up it was dark, and I found Dramana standing over me; +indeed, it was her entry that roused me. I looked at my watch and +discovered to my surprise that it was past ten o’clock at night. + +“Why did you not wake me before?” I said to Hans. + +“What was the use, Baas, seeing that there was nothing to be done and +it is dull to be idle without a drop to drink?” + +That’s what he said, but the fact was that he had been fast asleep +himself. Well, I was thankful, as thus we got rid of many weary hours +of waiting. + +Suddenly I made up my mind to tell Dramana everything, and did so. +There was something about this woman that made me trust her; also, +obviously, she was mad with desire to escape from Dacha, whom she hated +and who hated her and had determined to murder her as soon as he had +obtained possession of Sabeela. + +She listened and stared at me, amazed at the boldness of my plans. + +“It may all end well,” she said, “though there is the magic +of the priests to be feared which may tell them things that their eyes +do not see.” + +“I will risk the magic,” I said. + +“There is also another thing,” she went on. “We cannot get +into the place where the stone gate is which you would destroy. As I +was bidden, when I went back to the cave, I gave up the bag in which I +carried the key and that of Heu-Heu’s Garden to Dacha, and he has put +it away, I know not where. The door is very strong, Lord, and cannot be +broken down, and if I went to ask Dacha for the key again he would +guess all, especially as the water is rising more fast than it ever +rose before in the memory of man, and priests have been to make sure +that the stone gate is fixed so that it cannot be moved—yes, and bound +down the handle with ropes.” + +Now I sat still, not knowing what to say, for I had overlooked this +matter of the key. While I did so I heard Hans chuckling idiotically. + +“What are you laughing at, you little donkey?” I asked. “Is +it a time to laugh when all our plans have come to nothing?” + +“No, Baas, or rather, yes, Baas. You see, Baas, I guessed that +something of this sort might happen, so, just in case it should, I took +the key out of the Lady Dramana’s bag and put in a stone of about the +same weight in place of it. Here it is,” and from his pocket he +produced that ponderous and archaic lock-opening instrument. + +“That was wise. Only you say, Dramana, that the priests have been to +the shed. How did they get in without the key?” I asked. + +“Lord, there are two keys. He who is called the Watcher of the Gate has +one of his own. According to his oath he carries it about him all day +at his girdle and sleeps with it at night. The key I had was that of +the high priest, who uses it, and others that he may look into all +things when he pleases, though this he does seldom, if ever.” + +“So far so good, then, Dramana. Have you aught to tell us?” + +“Yes, Lord. You will do well to escape from this island to-night, if +you can, since at to-day’s council an oracle has gone forth from +Heu-Heu that you and your companion are to be sacrificed at the bridal +feast to-morrow. It is an offering to the Wood-dwellers, who now know +that the woman was killed by you on the river and say that if you are +allowed to live they will not fight against the Walloos. I think also +that I am to be sacrificed with you.” + +“Are we indeed?” I said, reflecting to myself that any scruples I +might have had as to attempting to drown out these fanatical brutes +were now extinct for reasons which quite satisfied my conscience. I did +not intend to be sacrificed if I could help it, then or at any future +time, and evidently the best way to prevent this would be to give the +prospective sacrificers a dose of their own medicine. From that moment +I became as ruthless as Hans himself. + +Now I understood why we were being treated with so much courtesy and +allowed to see everything we wished. It was to lull our suspicions. +What did it matter how much we learned, if within a few hours we were +to be sent to a land whence we could communicate it to no one else? + +I asked more particularly about this oracle, but only got answers from +Dramana that I could not understand. It appeared, however, that as she +said, it had undoubtedly been issued in reply to prayers from the +savage Hairy Folk, who demanded satisfaction for the death of their +countrywoman on the river, and threatened rebellion if it were not +granted. This explained everything, and really the details did not +matter. + +Having collected all the information I could, we sat down to supper, +during which Dramana told us incidentally that it had been arranged +that our arms, which were known “to spit out fire,” should be +stolen from us while we slept before dawn, so as to make us helpless +when we were seized. + +So it came to this: if we were to act at all, it must be at once. + +I ate as much as I was able, because food gives strength, and Hans did +the same. Indeed, I am sure that he would have made an excellent meal +even in sight of the noose which his neck was about to occupy. Eat and +drink, for to-morrow we die, would have been Hans’s favourite motto if +he had known it, as perhaps he did. Indeed, we did drink also of some +of the native liquor which Dramana had brought with her, since I +thought that a moderate amount of alcohol would do us both good, +especially Hans, who had the prospect of a cold swim before him. +Immediately I had swallowed the stuff I regretted it, since it occurred +to me that it might be drugged. However, it was not; Dramana had seen +to that. + +When we had finished our food we packed up our small belongings in the +most convenient way we could. One half of these I gave to Dramana to +carry, as she was a strong woman, and, of course, as he had to swim, +Hans could be burdened with nothing except his pistol and the bundle of +twigs from the Tree of Illusions, which we thought might help both to +support and to conceal him in the water. + +Then about eleven o’clock we started, throwing over our heads goatskin +rugs that had served for coverings on our beds, to make us resemble +those animals if that were possible. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE TERRIBLE NIGHT + + +Leaving the house very softly, we found that the torrential rain had +dwindled to a kind of heavy drizzle which thickened the air, while on +the surface of the lake and the low-lying cultivated land there hung a +heavy mist. This, of course, was very favourable to us, since even if +there were watchers about they could not see us unless we stumbled +right into them. + +As a matter of fact I think that there was none, all the population of +the place being collected at the ceremony in the cave. We neither saw +nor heard anybody; not even a dog barked, for these animals, of which +there were few on the island, were sleeping in the houses out of the +wet and cold. Above the mist, however, the great full moon shone in a +clear sky which suggested that the weather was mending, as in fact +proved to be the case, the tempest of rain, which we learned afterwards +had raged for months with some intervals of fine weather, having worn +itself out at last. + +We reached the sluice house, and to our surprise found that the door +was unlocked. Supposing that it had been left thus through carelessness +by the inspecting priests, we entered softly and closed it behind us. +Then I lit a candle, some of which I always carried with me, and held +it up that we might look about us. Next moment I stepped back +horror-struck, for there on the coping of the water shaft sat a man +with a great spear in his hand. + +Whilst I wondered what to do, staring at this man, who seemed to be +half asleep and even more frightened than I was myself, with the +greater quickness of the savage, Hans acted. He sprang at the fellow as +a leopard springs. I think he drew his knife but I am not sure. At any +rate, I heard a blow and then the light of the candle shone upon the +soles of the man’s feet as he vanished backwards into the pit of water. +What happened to him there I do not know; so far as we were concerned +he vanished for ever. + +“How is this? You told us no one would be here,” I said to Dramana +savagely, for I suspected a trap. + +She fell upon her knees, thinking, probably, that I was going to kill +her with the man’s spear which I had picked up, and answered, + +“Lord, I do not know. I suppose that the priests grew suspicious and +set one of their number to watch. Or it may have been because of the +great flood which is rising fast.” + +Believing her explanations, I told her to rise, and we set to work. +Having fastened the door from within, Hans climbed up the lever, and by +the light of the candle, which could not betray us, as there were no +windows to the shed, fixed the two flasks of powder in the hole in the +stone gate immediately beneath the pin of the lever. Then, as we had +arranged, he wedged them tight with pebbles that we had brought with +us. + +This done, I procured a quantity of the sticky clay with which the +walls of the shed were plastered, taking it from a spot where the damp +had come through and made it moist. This clay we stuck all over the +flasks and the stones to a thickness of several inches. Only +immediately beneath the pin we left an opening, hoping thereby to +concentrate the force of the explosion on it and on the upper rim of +the hole that was bored through the sluice gate. The slow matches, +which now were dry, we inserted in the holes we had made in the flasks, +bringing them out through the clay encased in two long, hollow reeds +that we had drawn from the roof of our house where we lodged, hoping +thus to keep the damp away from them. + +Thus arranged, their ends hung to within six feet of the ground, where +they could easily be lighted, even in a hurry. + +By now it was a quarter past eleven, and the most terrible and +dangerous part of our task must be faced. Lifting the corpse of the +dead woman who had been killed, presumably, by a blow from the lever +that morning, Hans and I—Dramana would not touch her—bore her out +of the shed. Followed by Dramana with all our goods, for we dared not +leave them behind, as our retreat might be cut off, we carried her with +infinite labour, for she was very heavy, some fifty yards to a spot I +had noted during our examination in the morning at the edge of the Rock +of Offering, which spot, fortunately, rose to a height of six feet or +rather less above the level of the surrounding ground. Here there was a +little hollow in the rock face washed out by the action of water; a +small, roofless cavity large enough to shelter the three of us and the +corpse as well. + +In this place we hid, for there, fortunately, the shape of the +surrounding rock cut off the glare from the two eternal fires, which in +so much wet seemed to be burning dully and with a good deal of smoke, +the nearer of them at a distance of not more than a dozen paces from +us. The post to which the victim was to be tied was perhaps the length +of a cricket pitch away. + +In this hiding hole we could scarcely be discovered unless by ill +fortune someone walked right on to the top of us or approached from +behind. We crouched down and waited. A while later, shortly before +midnight, in the great stillness we heard a sound of paddles on the +lake. The canoe was coming! A minute afterwards we distinguished the +voices of men talking quite close to us. + +Lifting my head, I peered very cautiously over the top of the rock. A +large canoe was approaching the landing steps, or rather, where these +had been, for now, except the topmost, they were under water because of +the flood. On the rock itself four priests, clad in white and wearing +veils over their faces with eyeholes cut in them, which made them look +like monks in old pictures of the Spanish Inquisition, were marching +towards these steps. As they reached them, so did the canoe. Next, from +its prow was thrust a tall woman, entirely draped in a white cloak that +covered both head and body, who from her height might very well be +Sabeela. + +The priests received her without a word, for all this drama was enacted +in utter silence, and half led, half carried her to the stone post +between the fires, where, so far as I could see through the mist—that +night I blessed the mist, as we do in church in one of the psalms—no, +it is the mist that blesses the Lord, but it does not matter—they bound +her to the post. Then, still in utter silence, they turned and marched +away down the sloping rock to the mouth of the cave, where they +vanished. The canoe also paddled backwards a few yards—not far, I +judged from the number of strokes taken—and there floated quietly. + +So far all had happened as Dramana told us that it must. In a whisper I +asked her if the priests would return. She answered no; no one would +come on to the rock till sunrise, when Heu-Heu, accompanied by women, +would issue from the cave to take his bride. She swore that this was +true, since it was the greatest of crimes for any one to look upon the +Holy Bride between the time that she was bound to the rock and the +appearance of the sun above the horizon. + +“Then the sooner we get to business the better,” I said, setting my +teeth, and without stopping to ask her what she meant by saying that +Heu-Heu would come with the women, when, as we knew well, there was no +such person. + +“Come on, Hans, while the mist still lies thick; it may lift at any +moment,” I added. + +Swiftly, desperately, we clambered on to the rock, dragging the dead +woman after us. Staggering round the nearer fire with our awful burden, +we arrived with it behind the post—it seemed to take an age. Here by +the mercy of Providence the smoky reek from the fire propelled by a +slight breath of air, combined with the hanging fog to make us almost +invisible. On the farther side of the post stood Sabeela, bound, her +head drooping forward as though she were fainting. Hans swore that it +was Sabeela because he knew her “by her smell,” which was just like +him, but I could not be sure, being less gifted in that way. However, I +risked it and spoke to her, though doubtfully, for I did not like the +look of her. To tell the truth, I rather feared lest she should have +acted on her threat that as a last resource she would take the poison +which she said she carried hidden in her hair. + +“Sabeela, do not start or cry out. Sabeela, it is we, the Lord +Watcher-by-Night and he who is named Light-in-Darkness, come to save +you,” I said, and waited anxiously, wondering whether I should ever +hear an answer. + +Presently I gave a sigh of relief, for she moved her head slightly and +murmured, + +“I dream! I dream!” + +“Nay,” I answered, “you do not dream, or if you do, cease +from dreaming, lest we should all sleep for ever.” + +Then I crept round the post and bade her tell me where was the knot by +which the rope about her was fastened. She nodded downwards with her +head; with her hands she could not point, because they were tied, and +muttered in a shaken voice, + +“At my feet, Lord.” + +I knelt down and found the knot, since if I cut the rope we should have +nothing with which to tie the body to the post. Fortunately, it was not +drawn tight because this was thought unnecessary, as no Holy Bride had +ever been known to attempt to escape. Therefore, although my hands were +cold, I was able to loose it without much difficulty. A minute later +Sabeela was free and I had cut the lashings which bound her arms. Next +came a more difficult matter, that of setting the dead woman in her +place, for, being dead, all her weight came upon the rope. However, +Hans and I managed it somehow, having first thrown Sabeela’s cloak and +veil over her icy form and face. + +“Hope Heu-Heu will think her nice!” whispered Hans as we cast an +anxious look at our handiwork. + +Then, all being done, we retreated as we had come, bending low to keep +our bodies in the layer of the mist which now was thinning and hung +only about three feet above the ground like an autumn fog on an English +marsh. We reached our hole, Hans bundling Sabeela over its edge +unceremoniously, so that she fell on to the back of her sister, +Dramana, who crouched in it terrified. Never, I think, did two +tragically separated relations have a stranger meeting. I was the last +of our party, and as I was sliding into the hollow I took a good look +round. + +This is what I saw. Out of the mouth of the cave emerged two priests. +They ran swiftly up the gentle slope of rock till they reached the two +columns of burning natural gas or petroleum or whatever it was, one of +them halting by each column. Here they wheeled round and through the +holes in their masks or veils stared at the victim bound to the post. +Apparently what they saw satisfied them, for after one glance they +wheeled about and ran back to the cave as swiftly as they had come, but +in a methodical manner which showed no surprise or emotion. + +“What does this mean, Dramana?” I exclaimed. “You told me +that it was against the law for any one to look upon the Holy Bride +until the moment of sunrise.” + +“I don’t know, Lord,” she answered. “Certainly it is +against the law. I suppose that the diviners must have felt that +something was wrong and sent out messengers to report. As I have told +you, the priests of Heu-Heu are masters of magic, Lord.” + +“Then they are bad masters, for they have found out nothing,” I +remarked indifferently. + +But in my heart I was more thankful than words can tell that I had +persisted in the idea of lashing the dead woman to the post in place of +Sabeela. Whilst we were dragging her from the shed, and again when we +were lifting her out of the hole on to the rock, Hans had suggested +that this was unnecessary, since Dramana vowed that no man ever looked +upon the Holy Bride between her arrival upon the rock and the moment of +sunrise, and that all we needed to do was to loose Sabeela. + +Fortunately some providence warned me against giving way. Had I done so +all would have been discovered and humanly speaking we must have +perished. Probably this would have happened even had I not remembered +to run back and pick up the pieces of cord that I had cut from +Sabeela’s wrists and left lying on the rock, since the messengers might +have seen them and guessed a trick. As it was, so far we were safe. + +“Now, Hans,” I said, “the time has come for you to swim to +the canoe, which you must do quickly, for the mist seems to be melting +beneath the moon and otherwise you may be seen.” + +“No, Baas, I shall not be seen, for I shall put that bundle from the +Tree of Dreams on my head, which will make me look like floating weeds, +Baas. But would not the Baas like, perhaps, to go himself? He swims +better than I do and does not mind cold so much; also he is clever and +the Walloo fools in the boat will listen to him more than they will to +me; and if it comes to shooting, he is a better shot. I think, too, +that I can look after the Lady Sabeela and the other lady and know how +to fire a slow match as well as he can.” + +“No,” I answered, “it is too late to change our plans, though +I wish I were going to get into that boat instead of you, for I should +feel happier there.” + +“Very good, Baas. The Baas knows best,” he replied resignedly. +Then, quite indifferent to conventions, Hans stripped himself, placing +his dirty clothes inside the mat in which was wrapped the bundle of +twigs from the Tree of Illusions, because, as he said, it would be nice +to have dry things to put on when he reached the boat, or the next +world, he did not know which. + +These preparations made, having fastened the bundle on to his head by +the help of the bonds which we had cut off Sabeela’s hands, that I tied +for him beneath his armpits, he started, shivering, a hideous, +shrivelled, yellow object. First, however, he kissed my hand and asked +me whether I had any message for my Reverend Father in the Place of +Fires, where, he remarked, it would be, at any rate, warmer than it was +here. Also he declared that he thought that the Lady Sabeela was not +worth all the trouble we were taking about her, especially as she was +going to marry someone else. Lastly he said with emphasis that if ever +we got out of this country, he intended to get drunk for two whole days +at the first town we came to where gin could be bought—a promise, I +remember, that he kept very faithfully. Then he sneaked down the side +of the rock and holding his revolver and little buckskin cartridge case +above his head, glided into the water as silently as does an otter. + +By now, as I have said, the mist was vanishing rapidly, perhaps before +a draught of air which drew out of the east, as I have noticed it often +does in those parts of Africa between midnight and sunrise, even on +still nights. On the face of the water it still hung, however, so that +through it I could only discover the faint outline of the canoe about a +hundred yards away. + +Presently, with a beating heart, I observed that something was +happening there, since the canoe seemed to turn round and I thought +that I heard astonished voices speaking in it, and saw people standing +up. Then there was a splash and once more all became still and silent. +Evidently Hans reached the boat safely, though whether he had entered +it I could not tell. I could only wonder and hope. + +As we could do no good by remaining in our present most dangerous +position, I set out to return to the sluice shed where other matters +pressed, carrying all our gear as before, but, thank goodness! without +the encumbrance of the corpse. Sabeela seemed to be still half dazed, +so at present I did not try to question her. Dramana took her left arm +and I her right and, supporting her thus, we ran, doubled up, back to +the shed and entered it in safety. Leaving the two women here, I went +out on to the little pier and crouched at the top of the fishermen’s +steps, watching and waiting for the coming of Hans with the canoe to +take us off, for, as you may remember, the arrangement was that I was +not to fire the slow matches until it had arrived. + +No canoe appeared. During all the long hours—they seemed an +eternity—before the breaking of the dawn did I wait and watch, +returning now and again to the shed to make sure that Dramana and +Sabeela were safe. On one of these visits I learned that both her +father, the Walloo, and Issicore were in the canoe, which made its +non-arrival not to be explained, that is, if Hans had reached it +safely. But if he had not, or perhaps had been killed or met with some +other accident in attempting to board it, then the explanation was easy +enough, as her crew would not know our plight or that we were waiting +to be rescued. Lastly they might have refused to make the attempt—for +religious reasons. + +The problem was agonizing. Before long there would be light and without +doubt we should be discovered and killed, perhaps by torture. On the +other hand, if I fired the powder the noise of the explosion would +probably be heard, in which case also we should be discovered. Yet +there was an argument for doing this, since then, if things went well, +the water would rush in and give those priests something to think about +that would take their minds off hunting for and capturing us. + +I looked about me. The canoe was invisible in the mist. It might be +there or it might be gone, only if it had gone and Hans were still +alive, I was certain that, as arranged, to advise me he would have +fired his pistol, which, to keep the cartridges dry, he had carried +above his head in his left hand. Indeed, I thought it probable that, +rather than desert me thus, he would have swum back to the island, so +that we might see the business through together. The longer I pondered +all these and other possibilities the more confused I grew and the more +despairing. Evidently something had happened, but what—what? + +The water continued to rise; now all the steps were covered and it was +within an inch or two of the surface of the pier on which I must +crouch. It was a mighty flood that looked as though presently it would +begin to flow over the top of the sea wall, in which case the sluice +shed would undoubtedly be inundated and made uninhabitable. + +As I think I told you, a few yards to our right, rising above the top +of the sea wall to a height of seven or eight feet, was a great rock +that had the appearance of a boulder ejected at some time from the +crater of the volcano, which rock would be easy to climb and was large +enough to accommodate the three of us. Moreover, no flood could reach +its top, since to do so it must cover the land beyond to a depth of +many feet. Considering it and everything else, suddenly I came to a +conclusion, so suddenly indeed and so fixedly that I felt as though it +were inspired by some outside influence. + +I would bring the women out and make them lie down upon the top of that +boulder, trusting to Dramana’s dark cloak to hide them from observation +even in that brilliant moonlight. Then I would return to the shed and +set light to the match, and, after I had done this, join them upon the +rock whence we could see all that happened, and watch for the canoe, +though of this I had begun to despair. + +Abandoning all doubts and hesitations, I set to work to carry out this +scheme with cold yet frantic energy. I fetched the two sisters, who, +imagining that relief was in sight, came readily enough, made them +clamber up the rock and lie down there on their faces, throwing +Dramana’s large dark cloak over both of them and our belongings. Then I +went back to the shed, struck a light, and applied it to the ends of +the slow matches, that began to smoulder well and clearly. Rushing from +the shed, I locked the heavy door and sped back to the rock, which I +climbed. + +Five minutes passed, and just as I was beginning to think that the +matches had failed in some way, I heard a heavy thud. It was not very +loud; indeed, at a distance of even fifty yards I doubted whether any +one would have noticed it unless his attention were on the strain. That +shed was well built and roofed and smothered sounds. Also this one had +nothing of the crack of a rifle about it, but rather resembled that +which is caused by something heavy falling to the ground. + +After this for a while nothing particular happened. Presently, however, +looking down from my rock I saw that the water in the sluice, which, +being retained by the stone door in the shed, hitherto had been still, +was now running like a mill race, and with a thrill of triumph learned +that I had succeeded. + +_The sluice was down and the flood was rushing over it!_ + +Watching intently, a minute or so later I observed a stone fall from +the coping of the channel, for it was full to the brim, then another, +and another, till presently the whole work seemed to melt away. Where +it had been was now a great and ever-growing gap in the sea wall +through which the swollen waters of the lake poured ceaselessly and +increasingly. Next instant the shed vanished like a card house, its +foundations being washed out, and I perceived that over its site, and +beyond it, a veritable river, on the face of which floated portions of +its roof, was fast inundating the low-lying lands behind that had been +protected by the wall. + +I looked at the east; it was lightening, for now the blackness of the +sky where it seemed to meet the great lake, had turned to grey. The +dawn was at hand. + +With a steady roar, through the gap in the sea wall which grew wider +every moment, the waters rushed in, remorseless, inexhaustible; the +aspect of them was terrifying. Now our rock was a little island +surrounded by a sea, and now in the east appeared the first ray from +the unrisen sun stabbing the rain-washed sky like a giant spear. It was +a wondrous spectacle and, thinking that probably it was the last I +should ever witness upon earth, I observed it with great interest. + +By this time the women at my side were sobbing with terror, believing +that they were going to be drowned. As I was of the same opinion, for I +felt our rock trembling beneath us as though it were about to turn over +or, washed from its foundations, to sink into some bottomless gulf, and +could do nothing to help them, I pretended to take no notice of their +terror, but only stared towards the east. + + +It was just then that, emerging out of the mist on the face of the +waters within a few yards of us, I saw the canoe. Hear the sound of the +paddles I could not, because of the roar of the rushing water. In it at +the stern, with his pistol held to the head of the steersman, stood +Hans. + +I rose up, and he saw me. Then I made signs to him which way he should +come, keeping the canoe straight over the crest of the broken wall +where the water was shallow. It was a dangerous business, for every +moment I thought it would overset or be sucked into the torrent beyond, +where the sluice channel had been; but those Walloos were clever with +their paddles, and Hans’s pistol gave them much encouragement. + +Now the prow of the canoe grated against the rock, and Hans, who had +scrambled forward, threw me a rope. I held it with one hand and with +the other thrust down the shrinking women. He seized them and bundled +them into the canoe like sacks of corn. Next I threw in our gear and +then sprang wildly myself, for I felt our stone turning. I half fell +into the water, but Hans and someone else gripped me and I was dragged +in over the gunwale. Another instant and the rock had vanished beneath +the yellow, yeasty flood! + +The canoe oscillated and began to spin round; happily it was large and +strong, with at least a score of rowers, being hollowed from a single, +huge tree. Hans shrieked directions and the paddlers paddled as never +they had done before. For quite a minute our fate hung doubtful, for +the torrent was sucking at us and we did not seem to gain an inch. At +last, however, we moved forward a little, towards the Rock of Sacrifice +this time, and within sixty seconds were safe and out of the reach of +the landward rush of the water. + +“Why did you not come before, Hans?” I asked. + +“Oh, Baas, because these fools would not move until they saw the first +light, and when the Walloo and Issicore wanted to, told them that they +would kill them. They said it was against their law, Baas.” + +“Curse them all for ten generations!” I exclaimed, then was silent, +for what was the use of arguing with such a superstition-ridden set? + +Superstition is still king of most of the world, though often it calls +itself Religion. These Walloos thought themselves very religious +indeed. + +Thus ended that terrible night. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE END OF HEU-HEU + + +Opposite to the Rock of Offering the canoe came to a standstill quite +close to the edge of the rock. I inquired why, and the old Walloo, who +sat in the middle of the boat draped in wondrous and imperial garments +and a headdress, that, having worked itself to one side in the course +of our struggles, made him look as though he were drunk, answered +feebly: + +“Because it is our law, Lord. Our law bids us wait till the sun appears +and the glory of Heu-Heu comes forth to take the Holy Bride.” + +“Well,” I answered, “as the Holy Bride is sitting in this +boat with her head upon my knee” (this was true, because Sabeela had +insisted upon sticking to me as the only person upon whom she could +rely, and so, for the matter of that, had Dramana, for _her_ head was +on my other knee), “I should recommend the glory of Heu-Heu, whatever +that may be, not to come here to look for her. Unless, indeed, it wants +a hole as big as my fist blown through it,” I added with emphasis, +tapping my double-barrelled Express which was by my side, safe in its +waterproof case. + +“Yet we must wait, Lord,” answered the Walloo humbly, “for I +see that there is still a Holy Bride tied to the post, and until she is +loosed our law says that we may not go away.” + +“Yes,” I exclaimed, “the holiest of all brides, for she is +stone dead and all the dead are holy. Well, wait if you like, for I +want to see what happens, and I think they can’t get at us here.” + +So we hung upon our oars, or rather paddles, and waited, till presently +the rim of the red sun appeared and revealed the strangest of scenes. +The water of the lake, swollen by weeks of continuous rain and the +recent tempest, flowing in with a steady rush that somehow reminded me +of the ordered advance of an infinite army, through the great gap in +the lake wall that was broadening minute by minute beneath its +devouring bite—is there anything so mighty as water in the world, I +wonder—had now flooded most of the cultivated land to a depth of +several feet. + +As yet, however, it had not reached the houses built against the +mountain, in one of which we had been lodged. Nor had it overflowed the +great Rock of Offering, which, you will remember, stood about the +height of a man above the level of the plain, being in fact a large +slab of consolidated lava that once had flowed from the crater into the +lake in a glacier-like stream of limited breadth. It is true that the +circumstance that the rock sloped downwards to the cave mouth seemed to +contradict that theory, but this I attribute to some subsequent +subsidence at its base, such as often happens in volcanic areas where +hidden forces are at work beneath the surface of the earth. + +Well, I repeat, the rock was not yet flooded, and so it came about that +at the proper moment, as had happened on this day, perhaps for hundreds +of years, Heu-Heu emerged from the cave “to claim his Holy Bride.” + + +“How could he do that?” asked Good triumphantly, thinking, I +suppose, that he had caught Allan tripping. “You said that Heu-Heu was +a statue, so how could he come out of the cave?” + +“Does not it occur to you, Good,” asked Allan, “that a statue +is sometimes carried? However, in this case it was not so, for Heu-Heu +himself walked out of that cave, followed by a number of women, with +some of the Hairy Folk behind them, and looking at him as he stalked +along, hideous and gigantic, I understood two things. The first of +these was, how it came about that Sabeela had vowed to me that many had +seen Heu-Heu with their eyes, as Issicore also declared he had done +himself, ‘walking stiffly.’ The second, why it was a law that the +canoe which brought the Holy Bride should wait until she was removed at +dawn; namely in order that those in it might behold Heu-Heu and go back +to their land to testify to his bodily existence, even if they were not +allowed to give details as to his appearance, because to speak of this +would, they believed, bring a ‘curse’ upon them.” + +“But there wasn’t a Heu-Heu,” objected Good again. + +“Good,” said Allan, “really you are what Hans called +me—quite clever. With extraordinary acumen you have arrived at the +truth. There wasn’t a Heu-Heu. But, Good, if you live long enough,” +he went on with a gentle sarcasm which showed that he was annoyed, +“yes, if you live long enough, you will learn that this world is full +of deceptions, and that the Tree of Illusions does not, or rather did +not, grow only in Heu-Heu’s Garden. As you say, no Heu-Heu existed, but +there did exist an excellent copy of him made up with a skill worthy of +a high-class pantomime artist; so excellent indeed that from fifty +yards or so away, it was impossible to tell the difference between it +and the great original as depicted in the cave.” + + +There in all his hairy, grinning horror, “walking stiffly,” marched +Heu-Heu, eleven or twelve feet high. + +Or to come to the facts, there marched Dacha on stilts, artistically +draped in dyed skins and wearing on the top of or over his head a +wickerwork and canvas or cloth mask beautifully painted to resemble the +features of his amiable god. + +The pious crew of our boat saw him and bowed their classic heads in +reverence to the divinity. Even Issicore bowed, a performance that I +observed caused Dramana, yes, and the loving Sabeela herself, to favour +him with glances of indignation, not unmixed with contempt. At least +this was certainly the case with Dramana, who had lived behind the +scenes, but Sabeela may have been moved by other reflections. Perhaps +_she_ still believed that there was a Heu-Heu, and that Issicore would +have done better to show himself less devoted to these religious +observances and less willing to surrender her to the god’s divine +attentions. You may all have noticed that however piously disposed, +there is a point at which the majority of women become very practical +indeed. + +Meanwhile Heu-Heu stalked forward with a gait that might very literally +be called stilted, and the bevy of white-robed ladies followed after +him apparently singing a bridal song, while behind these, “moping and +mowing,” came their hairy attendants. By the aid of my glasses, +however, I could see that these ladies, at any rate, were not enjoying +the entertainment, whatever may have been the case with Dacha inside +his paste boards. They stared at the rising water and one of them +turned to run but was dragged back into place by her companions, for +probably on this solemn occasion flight was a capital offence. So on +they came till they reached the post to which we had tied the dead +woman, whereon according to custom, the bridesmaids skipped up to +release her, while the Hairy Folk ranged themselves behind. + +Next moment I saw the first of these bridesmaids suddenly stand still +and stare; then she emitted a yell so terrific that it echoed all over +the lake like the blast of a siren. The others stared also and in their +turn began to yell. Then Heu-Heu himself ambled round and apparently +had a look, a good look, for by now someone had torn away the veil +which I had thrown over the corpse’s head. He did not look long, for +next moment he was legging, or rather stilting, back to the cave as +fast as he could go. + +This was too much for me. By my side was my double-barrelled Express +rifle loaded with expanding bullets. I drew it from its case, lifted +it, and got a bead on to Heu-Heu just above where I guessed the head of +the man within would be, for I did not want to kill the brute but only +to frighten him. By now the light was good and so was my aim, for a +moment later the expanding bullet hit in the appointed spot and cleared +away all that top hamper of wicker and baboon skins, or whatever it may +have been. Never before was there such a sudden disrobement of an +ecclesiastical dignitary draped in all his trappings. + +Everything seemed to come off at once, as did Dacha from the stilts, +for he went a most imperial crowner that must have flattened his hooked +nose upon that lava rock. There he lay a moment, then, leaving his +stilts behind him, he rose and fled after the screaming women and their +ape-like attendants back into the cave. + +“Now,” I remarked oracularly to the old Walloo and the others who +were terrified at the report of the rifle, “now, my friends, you see +what your god is made of.” + +The Walloo attempted no reply, apparently he was too +astonished—disillusionment is often painful, you know—but one of +his company who seemed to be a kind of official timekeeper, said that +the sun being up and the Holy Bridal being accomplished, though +strangely, it was lawful for them to return home. + +“No, you don’t,” I answered. “I have waited here a long +time for you and now you shall wait a little while for me, as I want to +see what happens.” + +The timekeeper, however, a man of routine, if one devoid of curiosity, +dipped his paddle into the water as a signal to the other rowers to do +likewise, whereon Hans hit him hard over the fingers with the butt of +his revolver, and then held its barrel to his head. + +This argument convinced him that obedience was best, and he drew in his +paddle, as did the others, making polite apologies to Hans. + +So we remained where we were and watched. + +There was lots to see, for by now the water was beginning to run over +the rock. It reached the eternal fires with the result that they ceased +to be eternal, for they went out in clouds of smoke and steam. Three +minutes later it was pouring in a cataract down the slope into the +mouth of the cave. Before I could count a hundred, people began to come +out of that cave in the greatest of hurries, as wasps do if you stir up +their nest with a stick. Among them I recognized Dacha, who had a very +good idea of looking after himself. + +He and the first of those who followed, wading through the water, got +clear and began to scramble up the mountainside behind. But the rest +were not so fortunate, for by now the stream was several feet deep and +they could not fight it. For a moment they appeared struggling amid the +foam and bubbles. Then they were swept back into the mouth of the cave +and gathered to the breast of Heu-Heu for the last time. Next, as +though at a signal, all the houses, including that in which we had been +lodged, crumbled away together. They just collapsed and vanished. + +Everything seemed finished and I wondered whether I would put a bullet +into Dacha, who now was standing on a ridge of rock and wringing his +hands as he watched the destruction of his temple, his god, his town, +his women, and his servants. Concluding that I would not, for something +seemed to tell me to leave this wicked rascal to destiny, I was about +to give the order to paddle away when Hans called to me to look at the +mountain top. + +I did so, and observed that from it was rushing a great cloud of steam, +such as comes from a railway engine when it is standing still with too +much heat in its boiler, but multiplied a millionfold. Moreover, as the +engine screams in such circumstances, so did the mountain scream, or +rather roar, emitting a volume of sound that was awful to hear. + +“What’s up now, Hans?” I shouted. + +“Don’t know, Baas. Think that water and fire are having a talk +together inside that mountain, Baas, and saying they hate each other, +just like badly married man and woman who quarrel in a small hut, Baas, +and can’t get out. Hiss, spit, go woman; pop, bang, go +man——” Here he paused from his nonsense, staring at the +mountain top with all his eyes, then repeated in a slow voice, “Yes, +pop, bang, go man! Just _look_ at him, Baas!” + +At this moment, with an amazing noise like to that of a magnified +thunderclap, the volcano seemed to split in two and the crest of it to +fly off into space. + +“Baas,” said Hans, “I am called Lord-of-the-Fire, am I not? +Well, I am not Lord of that fire and I think that the farther off we +get from it, the safer we shall be. _Allemagter!_ Look there,” and +he pointed to a huge mass of flaming lava which appeared to descend +from the clouds and plunge into the lake about a couple of hundred +yards away, sending up a fountain of steam and foam, like a torpedo +when it bursts. + +“Paddle for your lives!” I shouted to the Walloos, who began to get +the canoe about in a very great hurry. + +As she came round—it seemed to take an age—I saw a strange and in a +way a terrible sight. Dacha had left his ledge and was running down +into the lake, followed by a stream of molten lava, dancing while he +ran, as though with pain, probably because the steam had scorched him. +He plunged into the water, and just then a great wave formed, driven +outwards doubtless by some subterranean explosion. It rushed towards +us, and on its very crest was Dacha. + +“I think that priest wants us to give him a row, Baas,” said Hans. +“He has had enough of his happy island home, and wishes to live on the +mainland.” + +“Does he?” I replied. “Well, there is no room in the +canoe,” and I drew my pistol. + +The wave bore Dacha quite close to us. He reared himself in the water, +or more probably was lifted up by the pressure underneath, so that +almost he appeared to be standing on the crest of the wave. He saw us, +he shouted curses upon us and shook his fists, apparently at Sabeela +and Issicore. It was a horrible sight. + +Hans, however, was not affected, for by way of reply he pointed first +to me, then to Sabeela and lastly to himself, after which, such was his +unconquerable vulgarity, he put his thumb to his nose and as schoolboys +say “cocked a snook” at the struggling high priest. + +The wave became a hollow and Dacha disappeared “to look for +Heu-Heu,” as Hans remarked. That was the end of this cruel but able +man. + +“I am glad,” said Hans after reflection, “that the Predikant +Dacha should have learned who sent him down to Heu-Heu before he went +there, which he knew well enough or he would not have been so cross, +Baas. Has it occurred to the Baas what clever people we are, all of +whose plans have succeeded so nicely? At one time I thought that things +were going wrong. It was after I scrambled into this canoe and those +fools would not move to fetch you and the women, because they said it +was against their law. While I was putting on my clothes, which got +here quite dry because I was so careful, Baas, for I had asked them to +paddle to fetch you while I was still naked and been told that they +would not, I wondered whether I should try to make them do so by +shooting one of them. Only I thought that I had better wait a while, +Baas, and see what happened, because if I had shot one, the others +might have become more stupid and obstinate than before, and perhaps +have paddled away after they had killed me. So I waited, which the Baas +will admit was the best thing to do, and everything came right in the +end, having doubtless been arranged by your Reverend Father, watching +us in the sky.” + +“Yes, Hans, but if you had made up your mind otherwise, whom would you +have shot?” I asked. “The Walloo?” + +“No, Baas, because he is old and stupid as a dead owl. I should have +shot Issicore because he tires me so much and I should like to save the +Lady Sabeela from being made weary for many years. What is the good of +a man, Baas, who, when he thinks his girl is being given over to a +devil, sits in a boat and groans and says that ancient laws must not be +broken lest a curse should follow? He did that, Baas, when I asked him +to order the men to row to the steps.” + +“I don’t know, Hans. It is a matter for them to settle between +them, isn’t it?” + +“Yes, Baas, and when the lady has got her mind again and at last that +hour comes, as it always does when there is something to pay, Baas, I +shall be sorry for Issicore, for I don’t think he will look so pretty +when she has done with him. No, I think that when he says ‘Kiss! +Kiss!’ she will answer, ‘Smack! Smack!’ on both sides of his +head, Baas. Look, she has turned her back on him already. Well, Baas, +it doesn’t matter to me, or to you either, who have the Lady Dramana +there to deal with. She isn’t turning her back, Baas, she is eating you +up with her eyes and saying in her heart that at last she has found a +Heu-Heu worth something, even though he be small and withered and ugly, +with hair that sticks up. It is what is in a man that matters, Baas, +not what he looks like outside, as women often used to say to me when I +was young, Baas.” + +Here with an exclamation that I need not repeat, for none of us really +like to have our personal appearance reflected upon by a candid friend, +however faithful, I lifted the butt of my rifle, purposing to drop it +gently on Hans’s toes. At that point, however, my attention was +diverted from this rubbish, which was Hans’s way of showing his joy at +our escape, by another blazing boulder which fell quite near to the +canoe, and immediately afterwards by the terrific spectacle of the +final dissolution of the volcano. + +I don’t know exactly what happened, but sheets of wavering flame and +clouds of steam ascended high into the heavens. These were accompanied +by earth-shaking rumblings and awful explosions that resounded like the +loudest thunder, each of them followed by the ejection of showers of +blazing stones and the rushing out of torrents of molten lava which ran +into the lake, making it hiss and boil. After this came tidal waves +that caused our canoe to rock perilously, dense clouds of ashes and a +kind of hot rain which darkened the air so much that for a while we +could see nothing, no, not for a yard before our noses. Altogether, it +was a most terrifying exhibition of the forces of nature which, by some +connection of ideas, made me think of the Day of Judgment. + +“Heu-Heu avenges himself upon us!” wailed the old Walloo, +“because we have robbed him of his Holy Bride.” + +Here his speech came to an end, for a good reason, since a large hot +stone fell upon his head, and, as Hans who was next to him explained +through the fog, “squashed him like a beetle.” + +When from the outcry of his followers Sabeela realized that her father +was dead, for he never moved or spoke again, she seemed to wake up in +good earnest, just as though she felt that the mantle of authority had +fallen upon her. + +“Throw that hot coal out of the boat,” she said, “lest it +burn through the bottom and we sink.” + +With the help of a paddle Issicore obeyed her, and, the body of the +Walloo having been covered up with a cloak, we rowed on desperately. By +good fortune about this time a strong wind began to blow from the shore +towards the island which kept back or drove away the hot rain and +pumice dust, so that we could once more see about us. Now our only +danger was from the rocks, such as that which had killed the Walloo, +that fell into the water all around, sending up spouts of foam. It was +just as though we were under heavy bombardment, but happily no more of +them hit the canoe, and as we got farther off the island the risk +became less. As we found afterwards, however, some of them were thrown +as far as the mainland. + +Still, there was one more peril to be passed, for suddenly we ran into +a whole fleet of rude canoes, or rather bundles of reeds and brushwood, +or sometimes logs sharpened at both ends by fire, on each of which one +of the Hairy savages sat astride directing it with a double-bladed +paddle. + +I presume that these people must have been a contingent of the +aboriginal Wood-folk who had started for the island in obedience to the +summons of Heu-Heu, where, as I have told, a great number of them were +already gathered preparatory to attacking the town of Walloo. Or they +may have been escaping from the island; really I do not know. One thing +was clear; however low they may have been in the scale of humanity, +they were sharp enough to connect us with the awful, natural +catastrophe that was happening, for squeaking and jabbering like so +many great apes, they pointed to that vision of hell, the flaming +volcano now sinking to dissolution, and to us. + +Then with their horrible yells of _Heu-Heu! Heu-Heu!_ they set to work +to attack us. + +There was only one thing to be done—open fire on them, which Hans and I +did with effect, and meanwhile try to escape by our superior speed. I +am bound to say that those hideous and miserable creatures showed the +greatest courage, for undeterred by the sight of the death of their +companions whom our bullets struck, they tried to close upon us with +the object, no doubt, of oversetting the canoe and drowning us all. + +Hans and I fired as rapidly as possible, but we could deal with only a +tithe of them, so that speed and manœuvring were our principal +hope. Sabeela stood up in the boat and cried directions to the +paddlers, while Hans and I shot, first with rifles and then with our +revolvers. + +Still, one huge gorilla-like fellow, whose hair grew down to his +beetling eyebrows, got hold of the gunwale and began to pull the canoe +over. We could not shoot him because both rifles and revolvers were +empty; nor did our blows make him loose his grip. The canoe rocked from +side to side increasingly, and began to take in water. + +Just as I feared that the end had come, for more hairy men were almost +on to us, Sabeela saved the situation in a bold and desperate fashion. +By her side lay the broad spear of that priest whom Hans had killed in +the sluice shed, knocking him backwards into the water pit. She seized +it and with amazing strength stabbed the great beast-like creature who +had hold of the canoe and was putting all his weight on it to force the +gunwale under water. He let go and sank. By skilful steering we avoided +the others, and in three minutes were clear of them, since they could +not keep pace with us on their rude craft. + +“Plenty to do to-night, Baas!” soliloquized Hans, wiping his brow. +“Perhaps if a crocodile does not swallow us between here and the shore, +or these fools do not sacrifice us to the ghost of Heu-Heu, or we are +not killed by lightning, the Baas will let me drink some of that native +beer when we get back to the town. All this fire about has made me very +thirsty.” + + +Well, we arrived there at last—a generation seemed to have passed since +I left that quay, which we found crowded with the entire +terror-stricken population of the place. They received the body of the +Walloo in respectful silence, but it seemed to me without any +particular grief. Indeed, these people appeared to have outworn the +acuter human emotions. All such extremes, I suppose, had been smoothed +away from their characters by time, and by the degrading action of the +vile fetishism under which they lived. In short, they had become mere +handsome, human automata who walked about with their ears cocked +listening for the voice of the god and catching it in every natural +sound. To tell the truth, however interesting may have been their +origin, in their decadence they filled me with contempt. + +The reappearance of Sabeela astonished them very much but seemed to +cause no delight. + +“She is the god’s wife,” I heard one of them say. “It +is because she has run away from the god that all these misfortunes +have happened.” She heard it also and rounded on them with spirit, +having by now quite recovered her nerve, or so it seemed, which is more +than could be said of Issicore, who, although he should have been wild +with joy, remained depressed and almost silent. + +“What misfortunes?” she asked. “My father is dead, it is +true, killed by a hot stone that fell upon him and I weep for him. +Still, he was a very old man who must soon have passed away. For the +rest, is it a misfortune that through the courage and power of these +strangers I, his daughter and heiress, have been freed from the +clutches of Dacha? I tell you that Dacha was the god; Heu-Heu whom you +worship was but a painted idol. If you do not believe it, ask the White +Lord here, and ask my sister Dramana whom you seem to have forgotten, +who in past years was given to him as a Holy Bride. Is it a misfortune +that Dacha and his priests have been destroyed, and with him the most +of the savage hairy Wood-folk, our enemies? Is it a misfortune that the +hateful smoking mountain should have melted away in fire, as it is +doing now, and with it the cave of mysteries, out of which came so many +oracles of terror, thus fulfilling the prophecy that we should be +delivered from our burdens by a white lord from the south?” + +At these vigorous words the frightened crowd grew silent and hung their +heads. Sabeela looked about her for a little while, then went on: + +“Issicore, my betrothed, come forward and tell the people you rejoice +that these things have happened. To save me from Heu-Heu, at my prayer +you travelled far to ask succour of the great Magician of the South. He +has sent the succour and I have been saved. Yet you helped to row the +boat which took me to the sacrifice. For that I do not blame you, +because you must do so, being of the rank you are, or be cursed under +the ancient law. Now I have been saved, though not by you, who, +thinking the White Lord dead upon the Holy Isle, consented to my +surrender to the god, and the law is at an end with the destruction of +Heu-Heu and his priests, slain by the wisdom and might of that White +Lord and his companion. Tell them, therefore, how greatly you rejoice +that you have not journeyed in vain, and they did not listen in vain to +your petition for help; that I stand before them here also free and +undefiled, and that henceforth the land is rid of the curse of Heu-Heu. +Yes, tell the people these things and give thanks to the noble-hearted +strangers who brought them to pass and saved me with Dramana my +sister.” + +Now, tired out as I was, I watched Issicore not without excitement, for +I was curious to hear what he had to say. Well, after a pause, he came +forward and answered in a hesitating voice, + +“I do rejoice, Beloved, that you have returned safe, though I hoped +when I led the White Lord from the South, that he would have saved you +in some fashion other than by working sacrilege and killing the priests +of the god with fire and water, men who from the beginning have been +known to be divine. You, the Lady Sabeela, declare that Heu-Heu is +dead, but how know we that he is dead? He is a spirit, and can a spirit +die? Was it a dead god who threw the stone that killed the Walloo, and +will he not perhaps throw other stones that will kill us, and +especially you, Lady, who have stood upon the Rock of Offerings, +wearing the robe of the Holy Bride?” + +“Baas,” inquired Hans reflectively, in the silence which followed +these timorous queries, “do you think that Issicore is really a man, or +is he in truth but made of wood and painted to look like one, as Dacha +was painted to look like Heu-Heu?” + +“I thought that he was a man yonder in the Black Kloof, Hans,” I +answered, “but then he was a long way off Heu-Heu. Now I am not so +sure. But perhaps he is only very frightened and will come to himself +by and by.” + +Meanwhile Sabeela was looking her extremely handsome lover up and down; +up and down she looked him, and never a word did she say—at least, to +him. Presently, however, she spoke to the crowd in a commanding voice, +thus: + +“Take notice that my father being dead, I am now the Walloo, and one to +be obeyed. Go about your tasks fearing nothing, since Heu-Heu is no +more and the most of the Hairy Folk are slain. I depart to rest, taking +with me these, my guests and deliverers,” and she pointed to me and +Hans. “Afterwards I will talk with you, and with you also, my lord +Issicore. Bear the late Walloo, my father, to the burial place of the +Walloos.” + +Then she turned and, followed by us and the members of her household, +went to her home. + +Here she bade us farewell for a while, since we were all half dead with +fatigue and sorely needed rest. As we parted, she took my hand and +kissed it, thanking me with tears welling from her beautiful eyes for +all that I had done, and Dramana did likewise. + +“How comes it, Baas,” said Hans as we ate food and drank of the +native beer before we lay down to sleep, “that those ladies did not +kiss my hand, seeing that I too have done something to help them?” + +“Because they were too tired, Hans,” I answered, “and made +one kiss serve for both of us.” + +“I see, Baas, but I expect that to-morrow they will still be too tired +to kiss poor old Hans.” + +Then he filled the cup out of which he had been drinking with the last +of the liquor from the jar and emptied it at a swallow. “There, +Baas,” he said; “that’s only right; you may take all the +kisses, so long as I get the beer.” + +Exhausted as I was I could not help laughing, although to tell the +truth, I should have liked another glass myself. Then I tumbled on to +the couch and instantly went to sleep. + + +It is a fact that we slept all the rest of that day and all the +following night, waking only when the first rays of the sun shone into +our room through the window place. At least, I did, for when I opened +my eyes, feeling a different creature and blessing Heaven for its gift +of sleep to man, Hans was already up and engaged in cleaning the rifles +and revolvers. + +I looked at the ugly little Hottentot, reflecting how wonderful it was +that so much courage, cunning, and fidelity should be packed away +within his yellow skin and projecting skull. Had it not been for Hans, +without a doubt I should now be dead, and the women also. It was he who +had conceived the idea of letting down the sluice gate by exploding +gunpowder beneath the pin of the lever. I had racked my brain for +expedients, but this, the only one possible, escaped me. How tremendous +had been the results of that inspiration—all of them due to Hans. + +Although certain ideas had occurred to me, the most that I had hoped to +do was to flood the low-lying lands, and perhaps the cave, in order to +divert the attention of the priests while we were attempting escape. As +it was we had loosed the forces of nature with the most fearful +results. The water had run down the vent-holes of the eternal fires and +into the bowels of the volcano, there to generate steam in enormous +volumes, of which the imprisoned strength had been so great that it had +rent the mountain like a rotten rag and destroyed the home of Heu-Heu +for ever, and with it all his votaries. + +It was a fearful event in which I thought I saw the mind of Providence +acting through Hans. Yes, the cunning of the Hottentot had been used by +the Powers above to sweep from the earth a vile tyranny and to destroy +a blood-soaked idol and its worshippers. + +Without a doubt—or so I believe in my simple faith—this had been +designed from the beginning. When some escaped follower of Heu-Heu +painted the picture in the Bushmen’s cave, probably hundreds of years +ago, it was already designed. So was Zikali’s desire for a certain +medicine, or his insatiable thirst for knowledge, or whatever it was +that caused him to persuade me to undertake this mission, and so was +all the rest of the story. + +Again, with what wonderful judgment Hans had acted after his brave swim +to the canoe! + +Had he tried to force those fetish-ridden cravens to come to our rescue +at once, as I directed him to do, the probability was that, fearing to +break their silly law, they would have resisted, or perhaps have rowed +right away, leaving us to our fate, after knocking him on the head with +a paddle. But he had the patience to wait, although, as he told me +afterwards, his heart was torn in two with anxiety for my sake. +Balancing everything in his artful and experienced mind he had found +patience to wait until the conditions of their “law” were +fulfilled, when they came willingly enough. + +From Hans my thoughts turned to Issicore. How was it that this man’s +character had changed so completely since he arrived in his native +country? His journey to seek aid made alone over hundreds of miles, was +a really remarkable performance, showing great courage and +determination. Also as a guide, although silent and abstracted, he had +never lacked for resource or energy. But from the day that he arrived +home, morally he had gone to pieces. It was with the greatest +difficulty that he could be persuaded to row us to the island, where at +the first sign of danger he had left us to our fate and fled away. + +Again, he had meekly helped to conduct Sabeela, whom, when he was at +the Black Kloof evidently he loved to desperation, to her doom without +lifting a finger to save her from a hideous destiny. Lastly, only a few +hours ago, he had made a pusillanimous and contemptible speech, which I +could see shocked and disgusted his betrothed, who, for her part, after +her rescue and the death of her father, seemed to have gained the +courage that he had lost, and more. + +It was inexplicable, at any rate to me, and in my bewilderment I +referred the problem to Hans. + +He listened while I set out the case as it appeared to me, then +answered, + +“The Baas does not keep his eyes open—at any rate, in the daytime, +when he thinks everything is safe. If he did, he would understand why +Issicore has become soft as a heated bar of iron. What makes men soft, +Baas?” + +“Love,” I suggested. + +“Yes. At times love makes some men soft—I mean men like the Baas. +And what else, Baas?” + +“Drink,” I answered savagely, getting it back on Hans. + +“Yes, at times drink makes some men soft. Men like me, Baas, who know +that now and again it is wise to cease from being wise, lest Heaven +should grow jealous of our wisdom and want to share it. But what makes +all men soft?” + +“I don’t know.” + +“Then once more I must teach the Baas, as his Reverend Father, the +Predikant, told me to do when I saw that the Baas had used up all his +wits, saying to me before he died, ‘Hans, whenever you perceive that my +son Allan, who does not always look where he is going, walks into water +and gets out of his depth, swim in and pull him out, Hans.’” + +“You little liar!” I ejaculated, but taking no notice, Hans went +on, + +“Baas, it is _fear_ that makes all men soft. Issicore is bending +about like a heated ramrod because within him burns the fire of fear.” + +“Fear of what, Hans?” + +“As I have said, if the Baas had kept his eyes open, he would know. Did +not the Baas notice a tall, dark-faced priest before whom the crowd +parted, who came up to Issicore when first we landed on the quay here?” + +“Yes, I saw such a man. He bowed politely and I thought was greeting +Issicore and making him some present.” + +“And did the Baas see what kind of a present he made him and hear his +words of welcome? The Baas shakes his head. Well, I did. The present he +gave to Issicore was a little skull carved out of black ivory or shell, +or it may have been of polished lava rock. And the words of welcome +were, ‘The gift of Heu-Heu to the lord Issicore, that gift which +Heu-Heu sends to all who break the law and dare to leave the Land of +the Walloos.’ Those were the words, for standing near by, I heard them, +though I kept them from the Baas, waiting to see what would happen +afterwards. + +“Then the priest went away, and what Issicore did with the little black +skull I do not know. Perhaps he wears it round his neck, as he hasn’t +got a watch chain, just as the Baas used to wear things that ladies had +given him, or their pictures in a little silver brandy flask.” + +“Well, and what about this skull, Hans? What does it mean?” + +“Baas, I made inquiries of an old man in that canoe, to pass the time +away, Baas, as Issicore was at the other end and could not hear me. It +means _death,_ Baas. Does not the Baas remember how we were told at the +Black Kloof that those who dared to leave the Land of Heu-Heu were +always smitten with some sickness and died? Well, Baas, Issicore got +out all right and left the sickness behind him, I expect because the +priests did not know that he was going. But he made a mistake, Baas, +that of coming back again, being drawn by his love of Sabeela, just as +a fish is drawn by the bait on the hook, Baas. And now the hook is fast +in his mouth, for the priests knew of his return well enough, Baas, and +of course were waiting for him.” + +“What do you mean, Hans? How can the priests hurt Issicore, especially +when they are all dead?” + +“Yes, Baas, they are all dead and can harm no one, but Issicore is +right when he says that Heu-Heu is not dead, because the devil never +dies, Baas. His priests are dead, but still Heu-Heu could kill the old +Walloo, and so he can kill Issicore. There is a great deal in this +fetish business, Baas, that good Christians like you and I do not +understand. It won’t work on Christians, Baas, which is why Heu-Heu +can’t kill us, but those who worship the Black One, at last the Black +One takes by the throat.” + +I thought to myself that here Hans, although he did not know it, was +enunciating one of the profoundest and most fundamental of truths, +since those who bow the knee to Baal are Baal’s servants and live under +his law, even to the death, and what is Baal but Heu-Heu, or Satan? The +fruit is always the same, by whatever name the tree may be called. +However, I did not enter upon this argument with Hans, whom it would +have bewildered, but only asked him what he meant and what he imagined +was going to happen to Issicore. He answered, + +“I mean just what I have said, Baas; I mean that Issicore is going to +die. That old man told me that those who ‘receive the Black Skull,’ +always die within the month, and often more quickly. From the look of +him, I should think that Issicore will not last more than a week. +Although so handsome, he is really very dull, Baas, so it does not much +matter, especially as the Lady Sabeela will get over it quite soon. +That is why Issicore has changed, Baas. It is because the fear of death +is on him. In the same way Sabeela has changed because the fear of +death and what to her, perhaps, is worse, has passed away.” + +“Bosh!” I exclaimed, but internally I had my doubts. I knew +something of this fetish business, although I believed it to be the +greatest of rubbish, I was sure that it is extremely dangerous rubbish. +The secret soul of man, especially of savage, or primitive and untaught +man, or the sub-conscious self, or whatever you choose to call it, is a +terrible entity when brought into action by the hereditary +superstitions that are born in his blood. In nine cases out of ten, if +the victim of those superstitions is told with the accustomed +ceremonies by the oracle of the god or devil from which they flow, that +he will die, he does die. Nothing kills him, but he commits a kind of +moral suicide. As Hans had said—Fear makes him soft. Then some kind of +nervous disease penetrates his system and at the appointed hour withers +up his physical life and causes him to pass away. + +Such, as it proved, was to be the fate of that Apollo-like person, the +unhappy Issicore. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +SABEELA’S FAREWELL + + +Now of this story there is little left to tell, and as it is very late +and I see that you are all yawning, my friends [this was not true, for +we were deeply interested, especially over the moral or spiritual +problem of Issicore], I will cut that little as short as I can. It +shall be a mere footnote. + +After we had eaten that morning, we went to see Sabeela, whom we found +very agitated. This was natural enough, considering all she had gone +through, as after mental strain and the passing of great perils, a +nervous reaction invariably follows. Also, in a sudden and terrible +fashion, she had lost her father, to whom she was attached. But the +real cause of her distress was different. + +Issicore, it seemed, had been taken very ill. Nobody knew what was the +matter with him, but Sabeela was persuaded that he had been poisoned. +She begged me to visit him at once and cure him—a request that made me +indignant. I explained to her that I was no authority on their native +poisons, if he suffered from anything of the sort, and had few +medicines with me, the only one of which that dealt with poisons was an +antidote to snake bites. However, as she was very insistent, I said +that I would go and see what I could do, which would probably be +nothing. + +So, together with Hans, I was conducted by some of the old headmen, or +councillors of the Walloo, such people as in Zululand we should call +_Indunas,_ to the house of Issicore, a rather fine building of its sort +at the other end of the town. We walked by the road that ran along the +edge of the lake, which gave us an opportunity to observe the island, +or rather what had been the island. + +Now it was nothing but a low, dark mass, over which hung dense clouds +of steam. When the winds stirred these clouds, I saw that beneath them +were red streams of lava that ran into the lake. There were no more +eruptions and the volcano appeared to have vanished away. Much dust was +still falling. It lay thick upon the roadway and all the trees and +other vegetation were covered with it, turning the landscape to a hue +of ashen grey. Otherwise no damage had been done on the mainland, +except that here and there boulders had fallen and some of the +lower-lying fields were inundated by the great flood, which was now +abating, although the river still overflowed its banks. + +We reached the house of Issicore and were shown into his chamber, where +he lay upon a couch of skins, attended by some women who, I understood, +were his relatives. When Hans and I entered, these women bowed and went +out, leaving us alone with the patient. A glance told me that he was a +dying man. His fine eyes were fixed on vacancy; he breathed in gasps; +his fingers clasped and unclasped themselves automatically, and from +time to time he was taken with violent shiverings. These I thought must +be due to some form of fever until I had tested his temperature with +the thermometer I had in my little medicine case and found that it was +two degrees below normal. On being questioned, he said that he had no +pain and suffered only from great weakness and from a whirling of the +head, by which I suppose he meant giddiness. + +I asked him to what he attributed his condition. He answered, + +“To the curse of Heu-Heu, Lord Macumazahn. Heu-Heu is killing me.” + +I inquired why, for to argue about the folly of the business was +futile, and he replied, + +“For two reasons, Lord: first, because I left the land without his +leave, and secondly, because I rowed you and the yellow man called +Light-in-Darkness to the Holy Isle, to visit which unsummoned is the +greatest of crimes. For this cause I must die more quickly than +otherwise I should have done, but in any case my doom was certain, +because I left the land to seek help for Sabeela. Here is the proof of +it,” and from somewhere about his person he produced the little black +Death’s Head which Hans had described to me. Then, without allowing me +to touch the horrid thing, he hid it away again. + +I tried to laugh him out of this idea, but he only smiled sadly and +said, + +“I know that you must have thought me a coward, Lord, because of the +way I have borne myself since we reached this town of Walloo, but it +was the curse of Heu-Heu working within me that changed my spirit. I +pray you to explain this to Sabeela, whom I love, but who I think also +believes me a coward, for yesterday I read it in her eyes. Now while I +have still strength I would speak to you. First, I thank you and the +yellow man, Light-in-Darkness, who by courage or by magic—I know not +which—have saved Sabeela from Heu-Heu, and have destroyed his House and +his priests and, I am told, his image. Heu-Heu, it is true, lives on +since he cannot die, but henceforward here he is without a home or a +shape or a worshipper, and therefore his power over the souls and +bodies of men is gone, and, among the Walloos, in time his worship will +die out. Perhaps no more of my people will perish by the curse of +Heu-Heu, Lord.” + +“But why should you die, Issicore?” + +“Because the curse fell on me first, Lord, while Heu-Heu reigned over +the Walloos, as he has done from the beginning, he who was once their +earthly king.” + +I began to combat this nonsense, but he waved his hand in protest, and +went on: + +“Lord, my time is short and I would say something to you. Soon I shall +be no more and forgotten, even by Sabeela, whose husband I had hoped to +become. I pray, therefore, that you will marry Sabeela.” + +Here I gasped, but held my peace till he had finished. + +“Already I have caused her to be informed that such is my last wish. +Also I have caused all the elders of the Walloos to be informed, and at +a meeting held this morning they decided that this marriage would be +right and wise, and have sent a messenger to tell me to die as quickly +as I can, in order that it may be arranged at once.” + +“Great Heavens!” I exclaimed, but again he motioned to me to be +silent, and went on: + +“Lord, although she is not of your race, Sabeela is very beautiful, +very wise also, and with you for her husband she may be able once more +to build up the Walloos into a great people, as tradition says they +were in the old days before there fell upon them the curse of Heu-Heu, +which is now broken. For you, too, are wise and bold, and know many +things which we do not know, and the people will serve you as a god and +perhaps come to worship you in place of Heu-Heu, so that you found a +mighty dynasty. At first this thought may seem strange to you, but soon +you will come to see that it is great and good. Moreover, even if you +were unwilling, things must come about as I have said.” + +“Why?” I asked, unable to contain myself any longer. + +“Because, Lord, here in this land you must spend the rest of your life, +for in it now you are a prisoner, nor with all your courage can you +escape, since none will row you down the river, nor can you force a +way, for it will be watched. Moreover, when you return to the house of +the Walloo you will find that your cartridges have been taken, so that +except for a few that you have about you, you are weaponless. +Therefore, as here you must live, it is better that you should do so +with Sabeela rather than with any other woman, since she is the fairest +and the cleverest of them all. Also by right of blood she is the ruler, +and through her you will become Walloo, as I should have done according +to our custom.” + +At this point he closed his eyes and for a while appeared to become +senseless. Presently he opened them again and, staring at me, lifted +his feeble hands and cried: + +“Greeting to the Walloo! Long life and glory to the Walloo!” + +Nor was this all, for, to my horror, from the other side of the +partition that divided the house I heard the women whom I have +mentioned echo the salutation “Greeting to the Walloo! Long life and +glory to the Walloo!” + +Then again Issicore became senseless; at least, nothing I said seemed +to reach his understanding. + +So after waiting for a time Hans and I went away, thinking that all was +over. This, however, was not so, since he lived till nightfall and, I +was told, recovered his senses for some hours before the end, during +which time Sabeela visited him, accompanied by certain of the notables +or elders. It was then, as I suppose, that this ill-fated but most +unselfish Issicore, the handsomest man whom ever I beheld, to his own +satisfaction, if not to mine, settled everything for what he conceived +to be the welfare of his country and his ladylove. + + +“Well, Baas,” said Hans when we were outside the house, “I +suppose we had better go home. It is _your_ home now, isn’t it, +Baas? No, Baas, it is no use looking at that river, for you see these +Walloos are so kind that they have already provided you with a chief’s +escort.” + +I looked. It was true enough. In place of the one man who had guided us +to the house there were now twenty great fellows armed with spears who +saluted me in a most reverential manner and insisted upon sticking +close to my heels, I presume in case I should try to take to them. So +back we went, the guard of twenty marching in a soldierlike fashion +immediately behind, while Hans declaimed at me: + +“It is just what I expected, Baas, for of course if a man is very fond +of women, in his inside, Baas, they know it and like him—no need to +tell them in so many words, Baas—and being kind-hearted, are quite +ready to be fond of him. That is what has happened here, Baas. From the +moment that the lady Sabeela saw you, she didn’t care a pinch of snuff +for Issicore, although he was so good-looking and had walked such a +long way to help her. No, Baas, she perceived something in you which +she couldn’t find in two yards and a bit of Issicore, who after all was +an empty kind of a drum, Baas, and only made a noise when you hit him—a +little noise for a small tap, Baas, and a big noise for a bang. +Moreover, whatever he was, he is done for now, so it is no use wasting +time talking about him. + +“Well, this won’t be such a bad country to live in now that the +most of those Heuheua are dead—look! there are some of their bodies +lying on the shore—and no doubt the beer can be brewed stronger, and +there is tobacco. So it will be all right till we get tired of it, +Baas, after which, perhaps, we shall be able to run away. Still, I am +glad none of them wish to marry me, Baas, and make me work like a whole +team of oxen to drag them out of their mudholes.” + +Thus he went on pouring out his bosh by the yard, and literally I was +so crushed that I couldn’t find a word in answer. Truly, it is the +unexpected that always happens. During the last few days I had foreseen +many dangers and dealt with some. But this was one of which I had never +dreamed. What a fate! To be kept a prisoner in a kind of gilded cage +and made to labour for my living too, like a performing monkey. Well, I +would find a way between the bars or my name wasn’t Allan Quatermain. +Only what way? At the time I could see none, for those bars seemed to +be thick and strong. Moreover, there were those gentlemen with the +spears behind. + +In due course we arrived at the Walloo’s house without incident and +went straight to our room where, after investigation in a corner, Hans +called out: + +“Issicore was quite right, Baas. All the cartridges have gone and the +rifles also. Now we have only got our pistols and twenty-four rounds of +ammunition between us.” + +I looked. It was so! Then I stared out of the window-place, and behold! +there in the garden were the twenty men already engaged in marking out +ground for the erection of a guard-hut. + +“They mean to settle there, so as to be nice and handy in case the Baas +wants them—or they want the Baas,” said Hans significantly, adding, +“I believe that wherever he goes the Walloo always has an escort of +twenty men!” + + +Now for the next few days I saw nothing of Sabeela, or of Dramana +either, since they were engaged in the ceremonious obsequies, first of +the Walloo and next of the unlucky Issicore, to which for some +religious reason or other, I was not invited. + +Certain headmen or Indunas, however, were always waiting to pounce on +me. Whenever I put my nose out-of-doors they appeared, bowing humbly, +and proceeded to take the occasion to instruct me in the history and +customs of the Walloo people, till I thought that my boyhood had +returned and I was once more reading “Sandford and Merton” and +acquiring knowledge through the art of conversation. Those old +gentlemen bored me stiff. I tried to get rid of them by taking long +walks at a great pace, but they responded nobly, being ready to trot by +my side till they dropped, talking, talking, talking. Moreover, if I +could outwalk those ancient councillors, the guard of twenty who formed +a kind of chorus on these expeditions, were excellent hands with their +legs, as an Irishman might say, and never turned a hair. Sometimes they +turned me, however, if they thought I was going where I should not, +since then half of them would dart ahead and politely bar the way. + +At length, on the third or fourth day, all the ceremonies were finished +and I was summoned into Sabeela’s presence. + +As Hans said afterwards, it was all very fine. Indeed, I thought it +pathetic with its somewhat tawdry conditions of ancient, almost +forgotten ceremonial inherited from a highly civilized race that was +now sinking into barbarism. There was the Lady Sabeela, very beautiful +to see, for she was a lovely woman and grandly dressed in a half-wild +fashion, who played the part of a queen and not without dignity, as +perhaps her ancestresses had done thousands of years before on some +greater stage. Here too were her white-haired attendants or Indunas, +the same who bored me out walking, representing the councillors and +high officials of forgotten ages. + +Yet the Queen was no longer a queen; she was merging into the savage +chieftainess, as the councillors were into the chattering mob that +surrounds such a person in a thousand kraals or towns of Africa. The +proceedings, too, were very long, for each of these councillors or +elders made a speech in which he repeated all that the others had said +before, narrating with variations everything that happened in the land +since I had set foot within it, together with fancy accounts of what +Hans and I had done upon the island. + +From these speeches, however, I learned one thing, namely, that most of +the wild Hairy Folk, who were named Heuheua, had perished in the great +catastrophe of the blowing up of the mountain, only a few, together +with the old men, the children and the females, being left to carry on +the race. Therefore, they said, the Walloos were safe from attack, at +any rate, for a couple of generations to come, as might be learned from +the wailings which arose in the forest at night that, as a matter of +fact, I had heard myself—pathetic and horrible sounds of almost animal +grief. This, said these merciless sages, gave the Walloos a great +opportunity, for now was the time to hunt down and kill the Wood-folk +to the last woman and child—a task which they considered I was +eminently fitted to carry out! + +When they had all spoken, Sabeela’s turn came. She rose from her +throne-like chair and addressed us with real eloquence. First of all +she pointed out that she was a woman suffering from a double grief—the +death of her father and that of the man to whom she had been affianced, +losses that made her heart heavy. Then, very touchingly, she thanked +Hans and myself for all we had done to save her. But for us, she said, +either she would now have been dead or nothing but a degraded slave in +the house of Heu-Heu, which we had destroyed together with Heu-Heu +himself, with the result that she and the land were free once more. +Next she announced in words which evidently had been prepared, that +this was no time for her to think of past sorrows or love, who now must +look to the future. For a man like myself there was but one fitting +reward, and that was the rule over the Walloo people, and with it the +gift of her own person. + +Therefore, by the wish of her Councillors, she had decreed that we were +to be wed on the fourth morning from that of the present day, after +which, by right of marriage, I was publicly to be declared the Walloo. +Meanwhile, she summoned me to her side (where an empty chair had been +set in preparation for this event) that we might exchange the kiss of +betrothal. + +Now, as may be imagined, I hung back; indeed, never have I felt more +firmly fixed to a seat than at that fearsome moment. I did not know +what to say, and my tongue seemed glued to the roof of my mouth. So I +just sat still with all those old donkeys staring at me, Sabeela +watching me out of the corners of her eyes and waiting. The silence +grew painful, and in its midst Hans coughed in his husky fashion, then +delivered himself thus. + +“Get up, Baas,” he whispered “and go through with it. It +isn’t half as bad as it looks, and indeed, some people would like it +very much. It is better to kiss a pretty lady than have your throat +cut, Baas, for that is what I think will happen if you don’t, because a +woman whom you won’t kiss, after she has asked you in public, +_always_ turns nasty, Baas.” + +I felt that there was force in this argument, and, to cut a long story +short, I went up into that chair and did—well—all that was +required. Lord! what a fool I felt while those idiots cheered and Hans +below grinned at me like a whole cageful of baboons. However, it was +but ceremonial, a mere formality, just touching the brow of the fair +Sabeela with my lips and receiving an acknowledgment in kind. + +After this we sat a while side by side listening to those old Walloo +Councillors chanting a ridiculous song, something about the marriage of +a hero to a goddess, which I presume they must have composed for the +occasion. Under cover of the noise, which was great, for they had +excellent lungs, Sabeela spoke to me in a low voice and without turning +her face or looking at me. + +“Lord,” she said, “try to look less unhappy lest these people +should suspect something and listen to what we are saying. The law is +that we should meet no more till the marriage day, but I must see you +alone to-night. Have no fear,” she added with a rather sarcastic smile, +“for, although I must be alone, you can bring your companion with you, +since what I have to say concerns you both. Meet me in the passage that +runs from this chamber to your own, at midnight when all sleep. It has +no window places and its walls are thick, so that there we can be +neither seen nor heard. Be careful to bolt the door behind you, as I +will that of this chamber. Do you understand?” + +Clapping my hands hilariously to show my delight in the musical +performance, I whispered back that I did. + +“Good. When the singing comes to an end, announce that you have a +request to make of me. Ask that to-morrow you may be given a canoe and +paddlers to row you to the island to learn what has happened there and +to discover whether any of the Wood-folk are still alive upon its +shores. Say that if so measures must be taken to make an end of them, +lest they should escape. Now speak no more.” + +At length the song was finished, and with it the ceremony. To show that +this was over, Sabeela rose from her chair and curtseyed to me, whereon +I also rose and returned the compliment with my best bow. Thus, then, +we bade a public farewell of each other until the happy marriage morn. +Before we parted, however, I asked as a favour in a loud voice that I +might be permitted to visit the island, or, at any rate, to row round +it, giving the reasons she had suggested. To this she answered, “Let it +be as my Lord wishes,” and before any one could raise objections, +withdrew herself, followed by some serving women and by Dramana, who I +thought did not seem too pleased at the turn events had taken. + + +I pass on to that midnight interview. At the appointed time, or rather +a little before it, I went into the passage accompanied by Hans, who +was most unwilling to come for reasons which he gave in a Dutch proverb +to the effect of our own; that two’s company and three’s none. Here +we stood in the dark and waited. A few minutes later the door at the +far end of it opened—it was a very long passage—and walking down it +appeared Sabeela, clad in white and bearing in her hand a naked lamp. +Somehow in this garb and these surroundings, thus illumined, she looked +more beautiful than I had ever seen her, almost spirit-like indeed. We +met, and without any greeting she said to me, + +“Lord Watcher-by-Night, I find you watching by night according to my +prayer. It may have seemed a strange prayer to you, but hearken to its +reason. I cannot think that you believe me to desire this marriage, +which I know to be hateful to you, seeing that I am of another race to +yourself and that you only look upon me as a half-savage woman whom it +has been your fortune to save from shame or death. Nay, contradict me +not, I beseech you, since at times the truth is good. Because it is so +good I will add to it, telling you the reason why I also do not desire +this marriage, or rather the greatest reason; namely, that I loved +Issicore, who from childhood had been my playmate until he became more +than playmate.” + +“Yes,” I interrupted, “and I know that he loved you. Only +then why was it that on his deathbed he himself urged on this matter?” + +“Because, Lord, Issicore had a noble heart. He thought you the greatest +man whom he had ever known, half a god indeed, for he told me so. He +held also that you would make me happy and rule this country well, +lifting it up again out of its long sleep. Lastly, he knew that if you +did not marry me, you and your companion would be murdered. + +“If he judged wrongly in these matters, it must be remembered, +moreover, that his mind was blotted with the poison that had been given +to him, for myself I am sure that he did not die of fear alone.” + +“I understand. All honour be to him,” I said. + +“I thank you. Now, Lord, know that, although I am ignorant I believe +that we live again beyond the gate of Death. Perhaps that faith has +come down to me from my forefathers when they worshipped other gods +besides the devil Heu-Heu; at least, it is mine. My hope is, therefore, +that when I have passed that gate, which perhaps will be before so very +long, on its farther side I shall once more find Issicore—Issicore as +he was before the curse of Heu-Heu fell upon him and he drank the +poison of the priests—and for this reason I desire to wed no other +man.” + +“All honour be to you also,” I murmured. + +“Again I thank you, Lord. Now let us turn to other matters. To-morrow +after midday a canoe will be ready, and in it you will find your +weapons that have been stolen and all that is yours. It will be manned +by four rowers; men known to be spies of the priests of Heu-Heu, +stationed here upon the mainland to watch the Walloos, who in time +would themselves have become priests. Therefore, now that Heu-Heu has +fallen they are doomed to die, not at once but after a while, perhaps, +as it will seem, by sickness or accident, because if they live, the +Walloo Councillors fear lest they should reëstablish the rule of +Heu-Heu. They know this well, and therefore they desire above all +things to escape the land while their life is yet in them.” + +“Have you seen these men, Sabeela?” + +“Nay, but Dramana has seen them. Now, Lord, I will tell you something, +if you have not guessed it for yourself, though I do this not without +shame. Dramana does not desire our marriage, Lord. You saved Dramana as +well as myself, and Dramana, like Issicore, has come to look on you as +half a god. Need I say more, save that, of course, for this reason she +does desire your escape, since she would rather that you went free and +were lost to both of us than that you should bide here and marry me. +Have I said enough?” + +“Plenty,” I answered, knowing that she spoke truth. + +“Then what is there to add, save that I trust all will go well, and +that by the dawn of the day that follows this, you and the yellow man, +your servant, will be safely out of this accursed land. If that comes +about, as I believe it will, for after the dusk has fallen and before +the moon rises those who guide the canoe will bring it, not to the +quay, but into the mouth of the river down which you must paddle by the +moonlight; then I pray of you at times in your own country to think of +Sabeela, the broken-hearted chieftainess of a doomed people, as day by +day, when she rises and lays herself down to sleep, she will think of +you who saved her and all of us from ruin. My Lord, farewell, and to +you, Light-in-Darkness, also farewell.” + +Then she took my hand, kissed it, and, without another word, glided +away as she had come. + + +This was the last that ever I saw or heard of Sabeela the Beautiful. I +wonder whether she lived long. Somehow I do not think so; that night I +seemed to see death in her eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +RACE FOR LIFE + + +Now, like a Scotch parson, I have come to “lastly”—that +inspiring word at which the sleepiest congregation awakes. The morning +following this strange midnight meeting, Hans and I spent in our room, +for it appeared to be the ancient Walloo etiquette that, save by +special permission, the prospective bridegroom should not go out for +several days before the marriage, I suppose because of some primitive +idea that his affections might be diverted by the sight of alien +beauty. + +At midday we ate, or, so far as I was concerned, pretended to eat, for +anxiety took away my appetite. A little while afterwards, to my intense +relief, the captain of our prison-warders, for that is what they were, +appeared and said that he was commanded to conduct us to the canoe +which was to paddle us to inspect what remained of the island, I +replied that we would graciously consent to go. So taking all our small +possessions with us, including a bundle containing our spare clothes +and the twigs from the Tree of Illusions, we departed and were escorted +to the quay by our guards, of whose faces I was heartily tired. Here we +found a small canoe awaiting us, manned by four secret-faced men, +strong fellows all of them, who raised their paddles in salute. +Apparently the place had been cleared of loiterers, since there was +only one other person present, a woman wrapped in a long cloak that hid +her face. + +As we were about to enter the canoe this woman approached us and lifted +her hood. She was Dramana. + +“Lord,” she said, “I have been sent by my sister, the new +Walloo, to tell you that you will find the iron tubes which spit out +fire and all that belongs to them under a mat in the prow of the canoe. +Also she bids me wish you a prosperous journey to the island that +aforetime was named Holy, which island she wishes never to see again.” + +I thanked her and bade her convey my greeting to the Walloo, my bride +to be, adding in a loud voice, that I hoped ere long to be able to do +this in person when her “veil fell down.” + +Then I turned to enter the canoe. + +“Lord,” said Dramana with a convulsive movement of her hands, +“I make a prayer to you. It is that you will take me with you to look +my last upon that isle where I dwelt so long a slave, which I desire to +see once more—now that I am free.” + +Instinctively I felt that a crisis had arisen which demanded firm and +even brutal treatment. + +“Nay, Dramana,” I answered, “it is always unlucky for an +escaped slave to revisit his prison, lest once more its bars should +close about that slave.” + +“Lord,” she said, “the loosed prisoner is sometimes dazed by +freedom, so that the heart cries again for its captivity. Lord, I am a +good slave and a loving. Will you not take me with you?” + +“Nay, Dramana,” I answered as I sprang into the canoe. “This +boat is fully loaded. It would not be for your welfare or for mine. +Farewell!” + +She gazed at me earnestly with a pitiful countenance that grew wrathful +by degrees, as might well happen in the case of a woman scorned; then, +muttering something about being “cast off,” burst into angry tears +and turned away. For my part I motioned to the oarsmen to loose the +craft and departed, feeling like a thief and a traitor. Yet I was not +to blame, for what else could I do? Dramana, it is true, had been a +good friend to us, and I liked her. But we had repaid her help by +saving her from Heu-Heu, and for the rest, one must draw the line +somewhere. If once she had entered that canoe, metaphorically speaking, +she would never have got out of it again. + +Presently we were out on the open lake where the wavelets danced and +the sun shone brightly, and glad I was to be clear of all those painful +complications and once more in the company of pure and natural things. +We paddled away to the island and made the land, or rather drew near to +it, at the spot where the ancient city had stood in which we had found +the petrified men and animals. But we did not set foot on it, for +everywhere little streams of glowing lava trickled down into the lake +and the ruins had vanished beneath a sea of ashes. I do not think that +any one will ever again behold those strange relics of a past I know +not how remote. + +Turning, we paddled on slowly round the island till we came to the +place where the Rock of Offering had been, upon which I had experienced +so terrible an adventure. It had vanished, and with it the cave mouth, +the garden of Heu-Heu, its Tree of Illusions, and all the rich +cultivated land. The waters of the lake, turbid and steaming, now beat +against the face of a stony hillock which was all that remained of the +Holy Isle. The catastrophe was complete; the volcano was but a lump of +lava from the dying heart of which its life-blood of flame still +palpitated in red and ebbing streams. I wonder whether its smothered +fires will ever break out again elsewhere. For aught I know they may +have done so already somewhere on the mainland. + +By the time that we had completed our journey round the place on which +no living creature now was left, though once or twice we saw the +bloated body of a Heuheua savage bobbing about in the water, the sun +was setting, and it was dark before we were again off the town of the +Walloos. While any light remained by which we could be seen, we headed +straight for the landing place, that which we had left when we started +for the island. + +The moment that its last rays faded, however, there was a whispered +conference between our four paddlemen, the ex-neophytes of Heu-Heu. +Then the direction of the canoe was altered, and instead of making for +the main land, we rowed on parallel with it till we came to the mouth +of the Black River. It was so dark that I could not discern the exact +time at which we left the lake and entered the stream; indeed, I did +not know that we were in it until the increased current told me so. +This current was now running very strongly after the great flood and +bore us along at a good pace. My fear was lest in the gloom we should +be dashed against rocks on the banks, or caught by the overhanging +branches of trees or strike a snag, but those four men seemed to know +every yard of the river and managed to keep us in its centre, probably +by following the current where it ran most swiftly. + +So we went on, not paddling very fast for fear of accidents, until the +moon rose, which, as she was only a few days past her full, gave us +considerable light even in that dark place. So soon as her rays reached +us our paddlers gave way with a will, and we shot down the flooded +stream at a great speed. + +“I think we are all right now, Baas,” said Hans, “for with so +good a start those Walloos could scarcely catch us, even if they try. +We are lucky, too, for you have left behind you two ladies who between +them would have torn you into pieces, and I have left a place where the +fools who live in it wearied me so much that I should soon have died.” + +He paused for a moment, then added in a horrified voice: + +“_Allemagter!_ we are not so lucky after all; we have forgotten +something.” + +“What?” I asked anxiously. + +“Why, Baas, those red and white stones we came to fetch, of which, +before Heu-Heu dropped a red-hot rock upon his head, that old +_kraansick_” (that is, mad) “Walloo, promised us as many as we +wished. Sabeela would have filled the boat with them if we had only +asked her, and we should never have had to work any more, but could +have sat in fine houses and drunk the best gin from morning to night.” + +At these words I felt positively sick. It was too true. Amongst other +pressing matters, concerning life, death, marriage, and liberty, I had +forgotten utterly all about the diamonds and gold. Still when I came to +think of it, although perhaps Hans might have done so, in view of the +manner of our parting, I did not quite see how I could have asked +Sabeela for them. It would have been an anticlimax and might have left +a nasty taste in her mouth. How could she continue to look upon a man +as—well, something quite out of the ordinary, who called her back to +remind her that there was a little pecuniary matter to be settled and a +fee to be paid for services rendered? Further, the sight of us bearing +sacks of treasure might have excited suspicion; unless, indeed, Sabeela +had caused them to be placed in the boat as she did in the case of the +guns. Also they would have been heavy and inconvenient to carry, as I +explained to Hans. Yet I did feel sick, for once more my hopes of +wealth, or, at any rate, of a solid competence for the rest of my days, +had vanished into thin air. + +“Life is more than gold,” I said sententiously to Hans, “and +great honour is better than both.” + +It sounded like something out of the Book of Proverbs, but somehow I +had not got it quite right though I reflected that fortunately Hans +would not know the difference. However, he knew more than I thought, +for he answered, + +“Yes, Baas, your Reverend Father used to talk like that. Also he said +that it was better to live on watercresses with an easy mind, however +angry they might make your stomach, than to dwell in a big hut with a +couple of cross women, which is what would have happened to you, Baas, +if you had stopped at Walloo. Besides, we are quite safe now, even if +we haven’t got the gold and diamonds, which, as you say, are heavy +things, so safe that I think I shall go to sleep, Baas. _Allemagter!_ +Baas, _what’s that?_” + +“Only those poor hairy women howling over their dead in the +forest,” I answered rather carelessly, for their cries, which were very +distressing in the silence of the river, still echoed in my ears. Also +I was still thinking of the lost diamonds. + +“I wish it were, Baas. They might howl till their heads fell off for +all I care. But it isn’t. It’s paddles. _The Walloos are hunting +us, Baas._ Listen!” + +I did listen, and to my horror heard the regular stroke of paddles +striking the water at a distance behind us, a great number of them, +fifty I should say. One of the big canoes must be on our track. + +“Oh, Baas!” said Hans, “it is your fault again. Without doubt +that lady Dramana loves you so much that she can’t make up her mind to +part with you and has ordered out a big canoe to fetch you back. +Unless, indeed,” he added with an access of hopefulness, “it is the +Lady Sabeela sending a farewell gift of jewels after us, having +remembered that we should like some to make us think of her +afterwards.” + +“It is those confounded Walloos sending a gift of spears,” I +answered gloomily, adding, “Get the rifles ready, Hans, for I’m not +going to be taken alive.” + +Whatever the cause, it was clear that we were being pursued, and in my +heart I did wonder whether Dramana had anything to do with it. No doubt +I had treated her rudely because I could not help it, and savage women +are sometimes very revengeful, also Dramana had been badly trained +among those rascally priests. But I hoped, and still hope, that she was +innocent of this treachery. The truth of the matter I never learned. + +Our crew of escaping priestly spies had also heard the paddles, for I +saw the frightened look they gave to each other and the fierce energy +with which they bent themselves to their work. Good heavens! how they +paddled, who knew that their lives hung upon the issue. For hour after +hour away we flew down that flooded, rushing river, while behind us, +drawing nearer minute by minute, sounded the beat of those insistent +paddles. Our canoe was swift, but how could we hope to escape from one +driven by fifty men when we had but four? + +It was just as we passed the place where we had slept on our inward +journey—for now we had left the forest behind and were between the +cliffs, travelling quite twice as fast as we had done up stream—that I +caught sight of the pursuing boat, perhaps half a mile behind us, and +saw that it was one of the largest of the Walloo fleet. After this, +owing to the position of the moon, that in this narrow place left the +surface of the water quite dark, I saw it no more for several hours. +But I heard it drawing nearer, ever nearer, like some sure and deadly +bloodhound following on the spoor of a fleeing slave. + +Our men began to tire. Hans and I took the paddles of two of them to +give the pair a rest and time to eat; then for a spell the paddles of +the other two, while they did likewise. This, however, caused us to +lose way, since we were not experts at the game, though here after the +flood the river rushed so fast that our lack of skill made little +difference. + +At length the daylight came and gathered till at last the glimmer of it +reached us in our cleft, and by that faint, uncertain light I saw the +pursuing canoe not a hundred yards behind. In its way it was a very +weird and impressive spectacle. There were the precipitous, towering +cliffs, between or rather above which appeared a line of blue sky. +There was the darksome, flood-filled, foaming river, and there on its +surface was our tiny boat propelled by four weary and perspiring men, +while behind came the great war canoe whose presence could just be +detected in a dim outline and by the white of the water where its +oarsmen smote it into froth. + +“They are coming up fast, Baas, and we still have a long way to go. +Soon they will catch us, Baas,” said Hans. + +“Then we must try to stop them for a while,” I answered grimly. +“Give me the Express rifle, Hans, and do you take the Winchester.” + +Then, lying down in the canoe and resting the rifles on its stern, we +waited our opportunity. Presently we came to a place where at some time +there had been a cliff-slide, for here the débris of it narrowed +the river, turning it, now that it was so full, into something like a +torrent. At this spot, also, because of the enlargement of the cleft, +more light reached us, so that we could see our pursuers, who were +about fifty yards away, not clearly indeed, but well enough for our +purpose. + +“Aim low and pump it into them, Hans,” I said, and next instant +discharged both barrels of the Express at the foremost rowers. + +Hans followed suit, but, as the Winchester held five cartridges, went +on firing after I had ceased. + +The result was instantaneous. Some men sank down, some paddles fell +into the water—I could not tell how many—and a great cry arose from +the smitten or their companions. He who steered or captained the canoe +from the prow apparently was among the hit. She veered round and for a +while was broadside on to the current, exposing her bottom and +threatening to turn over. Into this, having loaded, I sent two +expanding bullets, hoping to spring a leak in her, though I was not +certain if I should succeed, as the wood of these canoes is thick. I +think I did, however, since even when she had got on her course again +she came more slowly, and I thought that once I saw a man bailing. + +On we went, making the most of the advantage that this check gave to +us. But by now our men were very tired and their hands were raw from +blisters, so that only the terror of death forced them to continue +paddling. Indeed, at the last our progress grew very slow, and in fact +was due more to the current than to our own efforts. Therefore the +following canoe, which as was customary in Walloo boats of that size, +probably carried spare paddle men, once more gained upon us. + +Hereabouts the river wound between its cliffs so that we only got sight +of it from time to time. Whenever we did so I took the Winchester and +fired, no doubt inflicting some damage and checking its advance. + +At length the winding ceased and we reached the last stretch, a clear +run of a mile or so before the river ended in the swamp that I have +described. + +By this time pursuers and pursued, both of us, were going but slowly, +drifting rather than paddling, since all were exhausted. Whenever I +could get a sight I fired away, but still with a sullen determination +and in utter silence our assailants came up, till now they were +scarcely twenty paces from us, and some of them threw spears, one of +which stuck in the bottom of our canoe, just missing my foot. At this +spot the cliffs drew so near together at the top that I ceased +shooting, as I could not see to aim, and, having no cartridges to +waste, decided to keep those that remained for the emergency of the +last attack. + +Now we were in the ultimate reach of the river, and now at last we +grounded upon the first mudbank of the swamp. Those who remained unhurt +of the following Walloos made a final effort to overtake us; by the +strong light that flowed from the open land beyond us I could see their +glaring eyeballs and their tongues hanging from their jaws with +exhaustion. I yelled an order. + +“Seize everything we have and run for it!” I cried, grabbing at my +rifle and such other articles as were within reach, including the +remaining cartridges. + +The others did likewise—I do not think that anything was left in that +canoe except the paddles. Then I leapt on to the shore and ran to the +right, following the edge of the swamp, the rest coming after me. + +Fifty yards or more away I sank down upon a little ridge from sheer +exhaustion and because my cramped legs would no longer carry me, and +watched to see what would happen. Indeed, I was so worn out that I felt +I would rather die where I was than try to flee farther. + +We grouped ourselves together, awaiting the crisis, for I thought that +surely we should be attacked. But we were not. At the mudbank the +pursuing Walloos ceased from their efforts. Fora little while they sat +dejectedly in their craft till they had recovered breath. + +Then for the first time those mute hunting-hounds gave tongue, for they +shouted maledictions on us, and especially on our four paddlers, the +neophytes of Heu-Heu, telling these that although to follow them +farther was not lawful, they would die, as Issicore died who left the +land. One of our men, stung into repartee, retaliated in words to the +effect that some of them had died in attempting to keep us in the land, +as they would find if they counted their oarsmen. + +To this obvious truth the pursuers made no answer, nor did they inform +us who sent them on the chase. Securing our small canoe, they laid in +it certain dead men who had fallen beneath the bullets of Hans and +myself, and departed slowly up stream, towing it after them. This was +the last that I saw of their handsome, fanatical faces and of their +confounded country in which I went so near to death, or to becoming a +prisoner for life, that might have been worse. + +“Baas,” said Hans, lighting his pipe, “that was a great +journey and one which it will be nice to think about, now that it is +over, though I wish that we had killed more of those Walloo +men-stealers.” + +“I don’t, Hans; I hated being obliged to shoot them,” I +answered; “nor do I wish to think any more of that race for our lives, +unless it comes back in a nightmare when I can’t help doing so.” + +“Don’t you, Baas? I find such thoughts pleasant when the danger is +past and we who might have been dead are alive, and the others who were +alive are dead and telling the tale to Heu-Heu.” + +“Each to his taste; yours isn’t mine,” I muttered. + +Hans puffed at his pipe for a while, and went on, + +“It’s funny, Baas, that those _carles_ did not get out of +their canoe and come to kill us with their spears. I suppose they were +afraid of the rifles.” + +“No, Hans,” I answered, “they are brave men who would not +have stopped because of the bullets. They were afraid of more than +these: they feared the Curse which says that those who leave their land +will die and go to hell. Heu-Heu has done us a good turn there, Hans.” + +“Yes, Baas, no doubt he has become Christian in the Place of Fires and +is repaying good for evil, turning the other cheek, Baas. Bad people +often grow holy when they are dying, Baas. I felt like that myself when +I thought those Walloos were going to catch us, but now I feel quite +different. Baas, you remember how your Reverend Father used to say that +if you love Heaven, Heaven looks after you and pulls you out of every +kind of mudhole. That’s why I’m sitting here smoking, Baas, instead +of making meat for crocodiles. If it wasn’t for our forgetting about +those jewels, it has looked after us very well, but there are so many +up there that perhaps Heaven forgot them also.” + +“No, Hans,” I said, “Heaven remembered that if we had tried +to carry bags of stones out of that boat, as well as Zikali’s medicine +and the rest, the Walloos would have caught us before we got away. They +were quite close, Hans.” + +“Yes, Baas, I see, and that was very nice of Heaven. And now, Baas, I +think we had better be moving. Those Walloos might forget about the +curse for a little while and come back to look for us. Heaven is a +queer thing, Baas. Sometimes it changes its face all of a sudden and +grows angry—just like the lady Dramana did when you said that you +wouldn’t take her with you in the canoe yesterday.” + + +Allan paused to help himself to a little weak whisky and water, then +said in his jerky fashion, + +“Well, that’s the end of the story, of which I am glad, whatever +you may be, for my throat is dry with talking. We got back to the wagon +all right after sundry difficulties and a tiring march across the +desert, and it was time we did so, for when we arrived we had only +three rifle cartridges left between us. You see we were obliged to fire +such a lot at the Heuheua when they attacked us on the lake, and +afterwards at those Walloos to prevent them from catching us that +night. However, there were more in the wagon, and I shot four elephants +with them going home. They had very large tusks, which afterwards I +sold for about enough to cover the expenses of the journey.” + +“Did old Zikali make you pay for those oxen?” I asked. + +“No, he did not, because I told him that if he tried it on I would not +give him his bundle of _mouti_ that we cut from the Tree of Illusions +and carried safely all that way. So as he was very keen on the +medicine, he made me a present of the oxen. Also I found my own there +grown fat and strong again. It was a curious thing, but the old +scoundrel seemed to know most of what had happened to us before ever I +told him a word. Perhaps he learned it all from one of those acolytes +of Heu-Heu who fled with us because they feared that they would be +murdered if they stayed in their own land. I forgot to tell you that +these men—most uncommunicative persons—melted away upon our +homeward journey. Suddenly they were missing. I presume that they +departed to set up as witch doctors on their own account. If so, very +possibly one or more of them may have come into touch with Zikali, the +head of the craft in that part of Africa, and before I reached the +Black Kloof. + +“The first thing he asked me was: ‘Why did you not bring any gold +and diamonds away with you? Had you done so, you might have become rich +who now remain poor, Macumazahn.’ + +“‘Because I forgot to ask for them,’ I said. + +“‘Yes, I know you forgot to ask for them. You were thinking so much +of the pain of saying good-bye to that beautiful lady whose name I have +not learned that you forgot to ask for them. It is just like you, +Macumazahn. _Oho!_ _Oho!_ it is just like you.’ + +“Then he stared at his fire for a while, in front of which, as usual, +he was sitting, and added: ‘Yet somehow I think that diamonds will make +you rich one day, when there is no woman left to say good-bye to, +Macumazahn.’ + +“It was a good shot of his, for, as you fellows know, that came about +at King Solomon’s mines, didn’t it? when there was ‘no woman +left to say good-bye to.’” + +Here Good turned his head away, and Allan went on hurriedly, I think +because he remembered Foulata, and saw that his thoughtless remark had +given pain. + +“Zikali was very interested in all our story and made me stop at the +Black Kloof for some days to tell him every detail. + +“‘_I_ knew that Heu-Heu was an idol,’ he said, +‘though I wanted you to find it out for yourself, and therefore told +you nothing about it, just as I knew that handsome man, Issicore, would +die. But I didn’t tell him anything about that either, because, if I +had, you see he might have died before he had shown you the way to his +country, and then I shouldn’t have got my _mouti_, which is +necessary to me, for without it how should I paint more pictures on my +fire? Well, you brought me a good bundle of leaves which will last my +time, and as the Tree of Illusions is burned and there is no other left +in the world, there will be no more of it. I am glad that it is burned, +for I do not wish that any wizard should arise in the land who will be +as great as was Zikali, Opener-of-Roads. While that tree grew the high +priest of Heu-Heu was almost as great, but now he is dead and his tree +is burned, and I, Zikali, reign alone. That is what I desired, +Macumazahn, and that is why I sent you to Heuheua Land.’ + +“‘You cunning old villain!’ I exclaimed. + +“‘Yes, Macumazahn, I am cunning just as you are simple, and my +heart is black like my skin, just as yours is white like your skin. +That is why I am great, Macumazahn, and wield power over thousands and +accomplish my desires, whereas you are small and have no power and will +die with all your desires unaccomplished. Yet, in the end, who knows, +who knows? Perhaps in the land beyond it may be otherwise. Heu-Heu was +great also and where is Heu-Heu to-day?’ + +“‘There never was a Heu-Heu,’ I said. + +“‘No, Macumazahn, there never was a Heu-Heu, but there were priests +of Heu-Heu. Is it not so with many of the gods men set up? They are not +and never were, but their priests _are_ and shake the spear of power +and pierce the hearts of men with terrors. What, then, does it matter +about the gods whom no man sees, when the priest is there shaking the +spear of power and piercing the hearts of their worshippers? The god is +the priest or the priest is the god—have it which way you like, +Macumazahn.’ + +“‘Not always, Zikali.’ Then, as I did not wish to enter into +argument with him on such a subject, I asked, ‘Who carved the statue of +Heu-Heu in the Cave of Illusions? The Walloos did not know.’ + +“‘Nor do I, Macumazahn,’ he answered. ‘The world is +very old and there have been peoples in it of whom we have heard +nothing, or so my Spirit tells me. Without doubt one of those peoples +carved it thousands of years ago, an invading people, the last of their +race, who had been driven out elsewhere and coming south, those who +were left of them, hid themselves away from their enemies in this +secret place amid a horde of savages so hideous that it was reported to +be haunted by demons. There, in a cave in the midst of a lake where +they could not be come at, they carved an image of their god, or +perhaps of the god of the savages, whom it seems that it resembled. + +“‘Mayhap the savages took their name from Heu-Heu, or mayhap +Heu-Heu took his name from them. Who can tell? At any rate, when men +seek a god, Macumazahn, they make one like themselves, only larger, +uglier, and more evil, at least in this land, for what they do +elsewhere I know not. Also, often they say that this god was once their +king, since at the bottom all worship their ancestors who gave them +life, if they worship anything at all, and often, too, because they +gave them life, they think that they must have been devils. Great +ancestors were the first gods, Macumazahn, and if they had not been +evil they would never have been great. Look at Chaka, the Lion of the +Zulus. He is called great because he was so wicked and cruel, and so it +was and is with others if they succeed, though, if they fail, men speak +otherwise of them.’ + +“That is not a pretty faith, Zikali,” I said. + +“‘No, Macumazahn, but then little in the world is pretty, except +the world itself. The Heuheua are not pretty, or rather were not, for I +think that you killed most of them when you blew up the mountain, which +is a good thing. Heu-Heu was not pretty, nor were his priests. Only the +Walloos, and especially their women, remain pretty because of the old +blood that runs in them, the high old blood that Heu-Heu sucked from +their veins.’ + +“Well, Heu-Heu has gone, Zikali, and now what will become of the +Walloos?” + +“‘I cannot say, Macumazahn, but I expect they will follow Heu-Heu, +who has taken hold of their souls and will drag them after him. If so, +it does not matter, since they are but the rotting stump of a tree that +once was tall and fair. The dust of Time hides many such stumps, +Macumazahn. But what of that? Other fine trees are growing which also +will become stumps in their season, and so on for ever.’ + + +“Thus Zikali held forth, though of what he said I forget much. I +daresay that he spoke truth, but I remember that his melancholy and +pessimistic talk depressed me, and that I cut it as short as I could. +Also it did not really explain anything, since he could not tell me who +the Walloos or the Hairy Folk were, or why they worshipped Heu-Heu, or +what was their beginning, or what would be their end. + +“All these things remained and remain lost in mystery, since I have +never heard anything more of them, and if any subsequent travellers +have visited the district where they live, which is not probable, they +did not succeed in ascending the river, or if they did, they never +descended it again. So if you want to know more of the story, you must +go and find it out for yourselves. Only, as I think I said, I won’t go +with you.” + + +“Well,” said Captain Good, “it is a wonderful yarn. Hang me, +if I could have told it better myself!” + +“No, Good,” answered Allan, as he lit a hand candle, “I am +quite sure that you could not, because, you see, facts are one thing +and what you call ‘yarns’ are another. Good-night to you all, +good-night.” + + +Then he went off to bed. + +THE END + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76643 *** diff --git a/76643-h/76643-h.htm b/76643-h/76643-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..24dca30 --- /dev/null +++ b/76643-h/76643-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11224 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Heu-Heu, or The Monster, by H. Rider +Haggard</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; +margin-right: 20%; +text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; +margin-top: 0.6em; +margin-bottom: 0.6em; +letter-spacing: 0.12em; +word-spacing: 0.2em; +text-indent: 0em;} + +h2 {font-size: 110%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; +margin-top: 0.5em; +margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; +margin-left: 10%; +font-size: 90%; +margin-top: 1em; +margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; +margin-left: 10%; +margin-right: 10%; +margin-top: 1em; +margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; +text-indent: 0em; +margin-top: 1em; +margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; +margin-right: 10%; +margin-top: 1em; +margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; +text-indent: 0%; +margin-left: 10%; +margin-right: 10%; +margin-top: 1em; +margin-bottom: 1em; } + +sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + +p.asterism {text-align: center; +font-size: 110%; +margin-top: 1em; +margin-bottom: 1em; } + +div.fig { display:block; +margin:0 auto; +text-align:center; +margin-top: 1em; +margin-bottom: 1em;} + +p.caption {font-weight: bold; +text-align: center; } + +p.drama {text-indent: 0%; +margin-top: 0.5em; +margin-bottom: 0em; } + +.dropcap {float: left; padding-right: 0.5em; font-size: 2.5em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76643 ***</div> + +<h1>Heu-Heu, or The Monster</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by H. Rider Haggard</h2> + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"> +Garden City New York +</p> + +<p class="center"> +Doubleday, Page & Company +</p> + +<p class="center"> +1924 +</p> + +<p class="center"> +COPYRIGHT, 1923, 1924, BY<br /> +H. RIDER HAGGARD +</p> + +<p class="center"> +ALL RIGHTS RESERVED +</p> + +<p class="center"> +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES +AT +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +First Edition +</p> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I. THE STORM</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II. THE PICTURE IN THE CAVE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III. THE OPENER-OF-ROADS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap04">CHAPTER IV. THE LEGEND OF HEU-HEU</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap05">CHAPTER V. ALLAN MAKES A PROMISE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap06">CHAPTER VI. THE BLACK RIVER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap07">CHAPTER VII. THE WALLOO</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap08">CHAPTER VIII. THE HOLY ISLE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap09">CHAPTER IX. THE FEAST</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X. THE SACRIFICE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI. THE SLUICE GATE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII. THE PLOT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII. THE TERRIBLE NIGHT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV. THE END OF HEU-HEU</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV. SABEELA’S FAREWELL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td><a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI. RACE FOR LIFE</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<h3>AUTHOR’S NOTE</h3> + +<p> +The author wishes to state that this tale was written in its present +form some time before the discovery in Rhodesia of the fossilized and +immeasurably ancient remains of the proto-human person who might well +have been one of the Heuheua, the “Hairy Wood-Folk,” of which it +tells through the mouth of Allan Quatermain. +</p> + +<h1>Heu-Heu, or the Monster</h1> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> THE STORM</h2> +<p> +Now I, the Editor, whose duty it has been as an executor or otherwise, +to give to the world so many histories of, or connected with, the +adventures of my dear friend, the late Allan Quatermain, or Macumazahn, +Watcher-by-Night, as the natives in Africa used to call him, come to +one of the most curious of them all. Here I should say at once that he +told it to me many years ago at his house called “The Grange,” in +Yorkshire, where I was staying, but a little while before he departed +with Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good upon his last expedition into +the heart of Africa, whence he returned no more. +</p> + +<p> +At the time I made very copious notes of a history that struck me as +strange and suggestive, but the fact is that afterwards I lost them and +could never trust my memory to reproduce even their substance with the +accuracy which I knew my departed friend would have desired. +</p> + +<p> +Only the other day, however, in turning out a box-room, I came upon a +hand-bag which I recognized as one that I had used in the far past when +I was practising, or trying to practise, at the Bar. With a certain +emotion such as overtakes us when, after the lapse of many years, we +are confronted by articles connected with the long-dead events of our +youth, I took it to a window and with some difficulty opened its rusted +catch. In the bag was a small collection of rubbish: papers connected +with cases on which once I had worked as “devil” for an eminent and +learned friend who afterwards became a judge, a blue pencil with a +broken point, and so forth. +</p> + +<p> +I looked through the papers and studied my own marginal notes made on +points in causes which I had utterly forgotten, though doubtless these +had been important enough to me at the time, and, with a sigh, tore +them up and threw them on the floor. Then I reversed the bag to knock +out the dust. As I was doing this there slipped from an inner pocket, a +very thick notebook with a shiny black cover such as used to be bought +for sixpence. I opened that book and the first thing that my eye fell +upon was this heading: +</p> + +<p> +“<b>Summary of A. Q.’s Strange Story of the Monster-God, or Fetish, +Heu-Heu, which He and the Hottentot Hans Discovered in Central South +Africa.</b>” +</p> + +<p> +Instantly everything came back to me. I saw myself, a young man in +those days, making those shorthand notes late one night in my bedroom +at the Grange before the impression of old Allan’s story had become dim +in my mind, also continuing them in the train upon my journey south on +the morrow, and subsequently expanding them in my chambers at Elm Court +in the Temple whenever I found time to spare. +</p> + +<p> +I remembered, too, my annoyance when I discovered that this notebook +was nowhere to be found, although I was aware that I had put it away in +some place that I thought particularly safe. I can still see myself +hunting for it in the little study of the house I had in a London +suburb at the time, and at last giving up the quest in despair. Then +the years went on and many things happened, so that in the end both +notes and the story they outlined were forgotten. Now they have +appeared again from the dust-heap of the past, reviving many memories, +and I set out the tale of this particular chapter of the history of the +adventurous life of my beloved friend, Allan Quatermain, who so long +ago was gathered to the Shades that await us all. +</p> + +<p> +One night, after a day’s shooting, we—that is, old Allan, Sir Henry +Curtis, Captain Good, and I—were seated in the smoking room of +Quatermain’s house, the Grange, in Yorkshire, smoking and talking of +many things. +</p> + +<p> +I happened to mention that I had read a paragraph, copied from an +American paper, which stated that a huge reptile of an antediluvian +kind had been seen by some hunters in a swamp of the Zambesi, and asked +Allan if he believed the story. He shook his head and answered in a +cautious fashion which suggested to me, I remember, his unwillingness +to give his views as to the continued existence of such creatures on +the earth, that Africa is a big place and it was possible that in its +recesses prehistoric animals or reptiles lingered on. +</p> + +<p> +“I know that this is the case with snakes,” he continued hurriedly +as though to avoid the larger topic, “for once I came across one as +large as the biggest Anaconda that is told of in South America, where +occasionally they are said to reach a length of sixty feet or even +more. Indeed, we killed it—or rather my Hottentot servant, Hans, +did—after it had crushed and swallowed one of our party. This snake was +worshipped as a kind of god, and might have given rise to the tale of +enormous reptiles. Also, to omit other experiences of which I prefer +not to speak, I have seen an elephant so much above the ordinary in +size that it might have belonged to a prehistoric age. This elephant +had been known for centuries and was named Jana.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did you kill it?” inquired Good, peering at him through his +eyeglass in his quick, inquisitive way. Allan coloured beneath his tan +and wrinkles, and said, rather sharply for him, who was so gentle and +hard to irritate, +</p> + +<p> +“Have you not learned, Good, that you should never ask a hunter, and +above all a professional hunter, whether he did or did not kill a +particular head of game unless he volunteers the information. However, +if you want to know, I did not kill that elephant; it was Hans who +killed it and thereby saved my life. I missed it with both barrels at a +distance of a few yards.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, I say, Quatermain!” ejaculated the irrepressible Good. +“Do you mean to tell us that <i>you</i> missed a particularly big +elephant that was only a few yards off? You must have been in a pretty +fright to do that.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have I not said that I missed it, Good? For the rest, perhaps you are +right, and I was frightened, for as you know, I never set myself up as +a person remarkable for courage. In the circumstances of the encounter +with this beast, Jana, any one might have been frightened; indeed, even +you yourself, Good. Or, if you choose to be charitable, you may +conclude that there were other reasons for that disgraceful—yes, +disgraceful exhibition of which I cannot bear to think and much less to +talk, seeing that in the end it brought about the death of old +Hans—whom I loved.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Good was about to answer again, for argument was as the breath of +his nostrils, but I saw Sir Henry stretch out his long leg and kick him +on the shin, after which he was silent. +</p> + +<p> +“To return,” said Allan hastily, as one does who desires to escape +from an unpleasant subject, “in the course of my life I did once meet, +not with a prehistoric reptile, but with a people who worshipped a +Monster-god, or fetish, of which perhaps the origin may have been a +survival from the ancient world.” +</p> + +<p> +He stopped with the air of one who meant to say no more, and I asked +eagerly: “What was it, Allan?” +</p> + +<p> +“To answer that would involve a long story, my friend,” he replied, +“and one that, if I told it, Good, I am sure, would not believe; also, +it is getting late and might bore you. Indeed, I could not finish it +to-night.” +</p> + +<p> +“There are whisky, soda, and tobacco, and whatever Curtis and Good may +do, here, fortified by these, I remain between you and the door until +you tell me that tale, Allan. You know it is rude to go to bed before +your guests, so please get on with it at once,” I added, laughing. +</p> + +<p> +The old boy hummed and hawed and looked cross, but as we all sat round +him in an irritating silence which seemed to get upon his nerves, he +began at last: +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +</p> + +<p> +Well, if you will have it, many years ago, when by comparison I was a +young man, I camped one day well up among the slopes of the +Drakensberg. I was going up Pretoria way with a load of trade goods +which I hoped to dispose of amongst the natives beyond, and when I had +done so to put in a month or two game-shooting towards the north. As it +happened, when we were in an open space of ground between two of the +foothills of the Berg, we got caught in a most awful thunderstorm, one +of the worst that ever I experienced. If I remember right, it was about +mid-January and you, my friend [this was addressed to me], know what +Natal thunderstorms can be at that hot time of the year. It seemed to +come upon us from two quarters of the sky, the fact being that it was a +twin storm of which the component parts were travelling towards each +other. +</p> + +<p> +The air grew thick and dense; then came the usual moaning, icy wind +followed by something like darkness, although it was early in the +afternoon. On the peaks of the mountains around us lightnings were +already playing, but as yet I heard no thunder, and there was no rain. +In addition to the driver and voorlooper of the wagon I had with me +Hans, of whom I was speaking just now, a little wrinkled Hottentot who, +from my boyhood, had been the companion of my journeys and adventures. +It was he who came with me as my after-rider when as a very young man I +accompanied Piet Retief on that fatal embassy to Dingaan, the Zulu +king, of whom practically all except Hans and myself were massacred. +</p> + +<p> +He was a curious, witty little fellow of uncertain age and of his sort +one of the cleverest men in Africa. I never knew his equal in resource +or in following a spoor, but, like all Hottentots, he had his faults; +thus, whenever he got the chance, he would drink like a fish and become +a useless nuisance. He had his virtues, also, since he was faithful as +a dog and—well, he loved me as a dog loves the master that has reared +it from a blind puppy. For me he would do anything—lie or steal or +commit murder, and think it no wrong, but rather a holy duty. Yes, and +any day he was prepared to die for me, as in the end he did. +</p> + +<p> +Allan paused, ostensibly to knock out his pipe, which was unnecessary, +as he had only just filled it, but really, I think, to give himself a +chance of turning towards the fire in front of which he was standing, +and thus to hide his face. Presently he swung round upon his heel in +the light, quick fashion that was one of his characteristics, and went +on: +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +</p> + +<p> +I was walking in front of the wagon, keeping a lookout for bad places +and stones in what in those days was by courtesy called the road, +though in fact it was nothing but a track twisting between the +mountains, and just behind, in his usual place—for he always stuck to +me like a shadow—was Hans. Presently I heard him cough in a hollow +fashion, as was his custom when he wanted to call my attention to +anything, and asked over my shoulder, +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing Baas,” he answered, “only that there is a big storm +coming up. Two storms, Baas, not one, and when they meet they will +begin to fight and there will be plenty of spears flying about in the +sky, and then both those clouds will weep rain or perhaps hail.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I said, “there is, but as I don’t see anywhere +to shelter, there is nothing to be done.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans came level with me and coughed again, twirling his dirty apology +for a hat in his skinny fingers, thereby intimating that he had a +suggestion to make. +</p> + +<p> +“Many years ago, Baas,” he said, pointing with his chin towards a +mass of tumbled stones at the foot of a mountain slope about a mile to +our left, “there used to be a big cave yonder, for once when I was a +boy I sheltered in it with some Bushmen. It was after the Zulus had +cleaned out Natal and there was nothing to eat in the land, so that the +people who were left fed upon one another.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then how did the Bushmen live, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“On slugs and grasshoppers, for the most part, Baas, and buck when they +were lucky enough to kill any with their poisoned arrows. Fried +caterpillars are not bad, Baas, nor are locusts when you can get +nothing else. I remember that I, who was starving, grew fat on them.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean that we had better make for this cave of yours, Hans, if you +are sure it’s there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, caves can’t run away, and though it is many years ago, +I don’t forget a place where I have lived for two months.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked at those advancing clouds and reflected. They were uncommonly +black and evidently there was going to be the devil of a storm. +Moreover, the situation was not pleasant for we were crossing a patch +of ironstone on which, as I knew from experience, lightning always +strikes, and a wagon and a team of oxen have an attraction for electric +flashes. +</p> + +<p> +While I was reflecting a party of Kaffirs came up from behind, running +for all they were worth, no doubt to seek shelter. They were dressed in +their finery—evidently people going to or returning from a +wedding-feast, young men and girls, most of them—and as they went by +one of them shouted to me, whom evidently he knew, as did most of the +natives in those parts, “Hurry, hurry, Macumazahn!” as you know the +Zulus called me. “Hurry, this place is beloved of lightnings,” and +he pointed with his dancing stick first to the advancing tempest and +then to the ground where the ironstone cropped up. +</p> + +<p> +That decided me, and running back to the wagon I told the voorlooper to +follow Hans, and the driver to flog up the oxen. Then I scrambled in +behind and off we went, turning to the left and heading for the place +at the foot of the slope where Hans said the cave was. Luckily the +ground was fairly flat and open—hard, too; moreover, although he had +not been there for so many years, Hans’s memory of the spot was +perfect. Indeed, as he said, it was one of his characteristics never to +forget any place that he had once visited. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, from the driving box to which I had climbed, suddenly I saw him +direct the voorlooper to bear sharply to the right and could not +imagine why, as the surface there seemed similar to that over which we +were travelling. As we passed it, however, I perceived the reason, for +here was a ground spring which turned a large patch of an acre or more +into a swamp, where certainly we should have been bogged. It was the +same with other obstacles that I need not detail. +</p> + +<p> +By now a great stillness pervaded the air and the gloom grew so thick +that the front oxen looked shadowy; also it became very cold. The +lightning continued to play upon the mountain crests, but still there +was no thunder. There was something frightening and unnatural in the +aspect of nature; even the cattle felt it, for they strained at the +yokes and went off very fast indeed, without the urgings of whip or +shouts, as though they too knew they were flying from peril. Doubtless +they did, since instinct has its voices which speak to everything that +breathes. For my part, my nerves became affected and I hoped earnestly +that we should soon reach that cave. +</p> + +<p> +Presently I hoped it still more, for at length those clouds met and +from their edges as they kissed each other came an awful burst of +fire—perhaps it was a thunderbolt—that rushed down and struck the +earth with a loud detonation. At any rate, it caused the ground to +shake and me to wish that I were anywhere else, for it fell within +fifty yards of the wagon, exactly where we had been a minute or so +before. Simultaneously there was a most awful crash of thunder, showing +that the tempest now lay immediately overhead. +</p> + +<p> +This was the opening of the ball; the first sudden burst of music. Then +the dance began with sheets and forks of flame for dancers and the +great sky for the floor upon which they performed. +</p> + +<p> +It is difficult to describe such a hellish tempest because, as you, my +friend, who have seen them, will know, they are beyond description. +Lightnings, everywhere lightnings; flash upon flash of them of all +shapes—one, I remember, looked like a crown of fire encircling the brow +of a giant cloud. Moreover, they seemed to leap upwards from the earth +as well as downwards from the heaven, to the accompaniment of one +continuous roar of thunder. +</p> + +<p> +“Where the deuce is your cave?” I yelled into the ear of Hans, who +had climbed on to the driving box beside me. +</p> + +<p> +He shrieked something in answer which I could not catch because of the +tumult, and pointed to the base of the mountain slope, now about two +hundred yards away. +</p> + +<p> +The oxen <i>skrecked</i> and began to gallop, causing the wagon to bump and +sway so that I thought it would overset, and the voorlooper to leave +hold of the <i>reim</i> and run alongside of them for fear lest he should be +trodden to death, guiding them as best he could, which was not well. +Luckily, however, they ran in the right direction. +</p> + +<p> +On we tore, the driver plying his whip to keep the beasts straight, and +as I could see from the motion of his lips, swearing his hardest in +Dutch and Zulu, though not a word reached my ears. At length they were +brought to a halt by the steep slope of the mountain and proceeded to +turn round and tie themselves into a kind of knot after the fashion of +frightened oxen that for any reason can no longer pull their load. +</p> + +<p> +We leapt down and began to outspan them, getting the yokes off as +quickly as we could—no easy job, I can tell you, both because of the +mess in which they were and for the reason that it must be carried out +literally under fire, since the flashes were falling all about us. +Momentarily I expected that one of them would catch the wagon and make +an end of us and our story. Indeed, I was so frightened that I was +sorely tempted to leave the oxen to their fate and bolt to the cave, if +cave there were—for I could see none. +</p> + +<p> +However, pride came to my aid, for if I ran away, how could I ever +expect my Kaffirs to stand again in a difficulty? Be as much afraid as +you like, but never show fear before a native; if you do, your +influence over him is gone. You are no longer the great White Chief of +higher blood and breeding; you are just a common fellow like himself; +inferior to himself, indeed, if he chances to be a brave specimen of a +people among whom most of the men are brave. +</p> + +<p> +So I pretended to take no heed of the lightnings, even when one struck +a thorn tree not more than thirty paces away. I happened to be looking +in that direction and saw the thorn in the flare, every bough of it. +Next second all I saw was a column of dust; the thorn had gone and one +of its splinters hit my hat. +</p> + +<p> +With the others I tugged and kicked at the oxen, getting the thongs off +the <i>yoke-skeis</i> as best I could, till at length all were loose and +galloping away to seek shelter under overhanging rocks or where they +could in accordance with their instincts. The last two, the pole +oxen—valuable beasts—were particularly difficult to free, as they +were trying to follow their brethren and strained at the yokes so much +that in the end I had to cut the <i>rimpis,</i> as I could not get them out +of the notches of the <i>yoke-skeis.</i> Then they tore off after the +others, but did not get far, poor brutes, for presently I saw both of +them—they were running together—go down as though they were shot +through the heart. A flash had caught them; one of them never stirred +again; the other lay on its back kicking for a few seconds and then +grew as still as its yoke-mate. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“And what did you say?” inquired Good in a reflective voice. +</p> + +<p> +“What would you have said, Good?” asked Allan severely, “if +you had lost your best two oxen in such a fashion, and happened not to +have a sixpence with which to buy others? Well, we all know your +command of strong language, so I do not think I need ask you to +answer.” +</p> + +<p> +“I should have said——” began Good, bracing himself to +the occasion, but Allan cut him short with a wave of his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Something about <i>Jupiter Tonans,</i> no doubt,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +Then he went on. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Well, what I said was only overheard by the recording angel, though +perhaps Hans guessed it, for he screamed at me, +</p> + +<p> +“It might have been <i>us,</i> Baas. When the sky is angry, it will have +<i>something;</i> better the oxen than us, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“The cave, you idiot!” I roared. “Shut your mouth and take us +to the cave, if there is one, for here comes the hail.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans grinned and nodded, then hastened by a large hailstone which hit +him on the head, began to skip up the hill at a surprising rate, +beckoning to the rest of us to follow. Presently we came to a tumbled +pile of rocks through which we dodged and scrambled in the gloom that +now, when the hail had begun to fall, was denser than ever between the +flashes. At the back of the biggest of these rocks Hans dived among +some bushes, dragging me after him between two stones that formed a +kind of natural gateway to a cavity beyond. +</p> + +<p> +“This is the place, Baas,” he said, wiping the blood that ran down +his forehead from a cut in the head made by the hailstone. +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke, a particularly vivid flash showed me that we were in the +mouth of a cavern of unknown size. That it must be large, however, I +guessed from the echoes of the thunder that followed the flash, which +seemed to reverberate in that hollow place from unmeasured depths in +the bowels of the mountain. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.<br />THE PICTURE IN THE CAVE</h2> + +<p> +We did not reach the cave too soon, for as the boys scrambled into it +after us the hail began to come down in earnest, and you fellows know, +or at any rate have heard, what African hail can be, especially among +the mountains of the Berg. I have known it to go through sheets of +galvanized iron like rifle bullets, and really I believe that some of +the stones which fell on this occasion would have pierced two of them +put together, for they were as big as flints and jagged at that. If +anybody had been caught in that particular storm on the open veldt +without a wagon to creep under or a saddle to put over his head, I +doubt whether he would have lived to see a clear sky again. +</p> + +<p> +The driver, who was already almost weeping with distress over the loss +of Kaptein and Deutchmann, as the two pole oxen were named, grew almost +crazed because he thought that the hail would kill the others, and +actually wanted to run out into it with the wild idea of herding them +into some shelter. I told him to sit still and not be a fool, since we +could do nothing to help them. Hans, who had a habit of growing +religious when there was lightning about, remarked sententiously that +he had no doubt that the “Great-Great” in the sky would look after +the cattle since my Reverend Father (who had converted him to the +peculiar faith, or mixture of faiths, which, with Hans, passed for +Christianity) had told him that the cattle on a thousand hills were His +especial property, and, here in the Berg, were they not among the +thousand hills? The Zulu driver who had not “found religion,” but +was just a raw savage, replied with point that if that were so the +“Great-Great” might have protected Kaptein and Deutchmann, which He +had clearly neglected to do. Then, after the fashion of some furious +woman, by way of relieving his nerves, he fell to abusing Hans, whom he +called “a yellow jackal,” adding that the tail of the worst of the +oxen was of more value than his whole body, and that he wished his +worthless skin were catching the hailstones instead of their +inestimable hides. +</p> + +<p> +These nasty remarks about his personal appearance irritated Hans, who +drew up his lips as does an angry dog, and replied in suitable +language, which involved reflections upon that Zulu’s family, and +especially on his mother. In short, had I not intervened there would +have been a very pretty row that might have ended in a blow from a +kerry or a knife thrust. This, however, I did with vigour, saying that +he who spoke another word should be kicked out of the cave to keep +company with the hail and the lightning, after which peace was +restored. +</p> + +<p> +That storm went on for a long while, for after it had seemed to go away +it returned again, travelling in a circle as such tempests sometimes +do, and when the hail was finished, it was followed by torrential rain. +The result was that by the time the thunder had ceased to roar and echo +among the mountain-tops darkness was at hand, so it became evident that +we must stop where we were for the night, especially as the boys, who +had gone out to look for the oxen, reported that they could not find +them. This was not pleasant, as the cave was uncommonly cold and the +wagon was too soaked with the rain to sleep in. +</p> + +<p> +Here, however, once more Hans’s memory came in useful. Having borrowed +my matches, he crept off down the cave and presently returned, dragging +a quantity of wood after him, dusty and worm-eaten-looking wood, but +dry and very suitable for firing. +</p> + +<p> +“Where did you get that?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he replied, “when I lived in this place with the +Bushmen, long before those black children” (this insult referred to the +driver and the voorlooper, Mavoon and Induka by name) “were begotten of +their unknown fathers, I hid away a great stock of wood for the winter, +or in case I should ever come back here, and there it is still, covered +with stones and dust. The ants that run about the ground do the same +thing, Baas, that their children may have food when they are dead. So +now if those Kaffirs will help me to get the wood we may have a good +fire and be warm.” +</p> + +<p> +Marvelling at the little Hottentot’s foresight that was bred into his +blood by the necessities of a hundred generations of his forefathers, I +bade the others to accompany him to the cache, which they did, +glowering, with the result that presently we had a glorious fire. Then +I fetched some food, for luckily I had killed a Duiker buck that +morning, the flesh of which we toasted on the embers, and with it a +bottle of Square-face from the wagon, so that soon we were eating a +splendid dinner. I know that there are many who do not approve of +giving spirits to natives, but for my part I have found that when they +are chilled and tired a “tot” does them no harm and wonderfully +improves their tempers. The trouble was to prevent Hans from getting +more than one, to do which I made a bedfellow of that bottle of +Square-face. +</p> + +<p> +When we were filled I lit my pipe and began to talk with Hans, whom the +grog had made loquacious and therefore interesting. He asked me how old +the cave was, and I told him that it was as old as the mountains of the +Berg. He answered that he had thought so because there were footprints +stamped in the rock floor farther down it, and turned to stone, which +were not made by any beasts that he had ever heard of or seen, which +footprints he would show me on the morrow if I cared to look at them. +Further, that there were queer bones lying about, also turned to stone, +that he thought must have belonged to giants. He believed that he could +find some of these bones when the sun shone into the cave in the early +morning. +</p> + +<p> +Then I explained to Hans and the Kaffirs how once, thousands of +thousands of years ago, before there were any men in the world, great +creatures had lived there, huge elephants and reptiles as large as a +hundred crocodiles made into one, and, as I had been told, enormous +apes, much bigger than any gorilla. They were very interested, and Hans +said that it was quite true about the apes, since he had seen a picture +of one of them, or of a giant that looked like an ape. +</p> + +<p> +“Where?” I asked. “In a book?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, here in this cave. The Bushmen made it ten thousand years +ago.” By which he meant at some indefinite time in the past. +</p> + +<p> +Now I bethought me of a fabulous creature called the <i>Ngoloko</i> which +was said to inhabit an undefined area of swamps on the East Coast and +elsewhere. This animal, in which, I may add, I did not in the least +believe, for I set it down as a native bogey, was supposed to be at +least eight feet high, to be covered with gray hair and to have a claw +in the place of toes. My chief authority for it was a strange old +Portuguese hunter whom I had once known, who swore that he had seen its +footprints in the mud, also that it had killed one of his men and +twisted the head off his body. I asked Hans if he had ever heard of it. +He replied that he had, under another name, that of <i>Milhoy,</i> I think, +but that the devil painted in the cave was larger than that. +</p> + +<p> +Now I thought that he was pitching me a yarn, as natives will, and said +that if so he had better show me the picture forthwith. +</p> + +<p> +“Best wait until the sun shines in the morning, Baas,” he replied, +“for then the light will be good. Also this devil is not nice to look +at at night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Show it me,” I repeated with asperity; “we have lanterns +from the wagon.” +</p> + +<p> +So, somewhat unwillingly, Hans led the way up the cave for fifty paces +or more, for the place was very big, he carrying one lantern and I +another, while the two Zulus followed with candles in their hands. As +we went I saw that on the walls there were many Bushmen paintings, also +one or two of the carvings of this strange people. Some of these +paintings seemed quite fresh, while others were faded or perhaps the +ochre used by the primitive artist had flaked off. They were of the +usual character, drawings of elands and other buck being hunted by men +who shot at them with arrows; also of elephants and a lion charging at +some spearmen. +</p> + +<p> +One, however, which oddly enough was the best preserved of any of the +collection, excited me enormously. It represented men whose faces were +painted white and who seemed to wear a kind of armour and queer pointed +caps upon their heads, of the sort that I believe are known as +Phrygian, attacking a native kraal of which the reed fence was clearly +indicated, as were the round huts behind. Moreover, to the left some of +these men were dragging away women to what from a series of wavy lines, +looked like a rude representation of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +I stared and gasped, for surely here before me was a picture of +Phœnicians carrying out one of their women-hunting raids, as +ancient writers tell us it was their habit to do. And if so, that +picture must have been painted by a Bushman who lived at least two +thousand years ago, and possibly more. The thing was amazing. Hans, +however, did not seem to be interested, but pushed on as though to +finish a disagreeable task, and I was obliged to follow him, fearing +lest I should be lost in the recesses of that vast cave. +</p> + +<p> +Presently he came to a crevice in the side of the cavern which I should +have passed unnoticed, as it was exactly like many others. +</p> + +<p> +“Here is the place, Baas,” he said, “just as it used to be. +Now follow me and be careful where you step, for there are cracks in +the floor.” +</p> + +<p> +So I squeezed myself into the opening where, although I am not very +large, there was barely room for me to pass. Within its lips was a +narrow tunnel, either cut out by water or formed by the rush of +explosive gases hundreds of thousands of years ago—I think the latter, +as the roof, which was not more than eight or nine feet from the floor, +had sharp points and roughnesses that showed no water-wear. But as I +have not the faintest idea how these great African caves were formed, I +will not attempt to discuss the matter. This floor, however, was quite +smooth, as though for many generations it had been worn by the feet of +men, which no doubt was the case. +</p> + +<p> +When we had crept ten or twelve paces down the tunnel, Hans called to +me to stand quite still—not to move on any account. I obeyed him, +wondering, and by the light of my lantern saw him lift his own, which +had a loop of hide fastened through the tin eye at the top of it for +convenience in hanging it up in the wagon, and set it, or rather the +hide loop, round his neck, so that it hung upon his back. Then he +flattened himself against the side of the cavern with his face to the +wall as though he did not wish to see what was behind him, and +cautiously crept forward with sidelong steps, gripping the roughnesses +in the rock with his hands. When he had gone some twenty or thirty feet +in this crab-like fashion, he turned and said, +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Baas, you must do as I did.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold down the lantern and you will see, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +I did so, and perceived that a pace or two farther on there was a great +chasm in the floor of the tunnel of unknown depth, since the lamplight +did not penetrate to its bottom. Also I noted that the ledge at the +side that formed the bridge by which Hans had passed, was nowhere more +than twelve inches, and in some places less than six inches wide. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it deep?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +By way of answer Hans found a bit of broken rock and threw it into the +gulf. I listened, and it was quite a long while before I heard it +strike below. +</p> + +<p> +“I told the Baas,” said Hans in a superior tone, “that he had +better wait until to-morrow when some light comes down this hole, but +the Baas would not listen to me and doubtless he knows best. Now would +the Baas like to go back to bed, as I think wisest, and return +to-morrow?” +</p> + +<p> +If the truth were known there was nothing that I should have liked +better, for the place was detestable. But I was in such a rage with +Hans for playing me this trick that even if I thought that I was going +to break my neck I would not give him the pleasure of mocking me in his +sly way. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered quietly, “I will go to bed when I have seen +this picture you talk about, and not before.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Hans grew alarmed and begged me in good earnest not to try to cross +the gulf, which reminded me vaguely of the parable of Abraham and Dives +in the Bible, with myself playing the part of Dives, except that I was +not thirsty, and Hans did not in any way resemble Abraham. +</p> + +<p> +“I see how it is,” I said, “there is not any picture and you +are simply playing one of your monkey tricks on me. Well, I’m coming to +look, and if I find you have been telling lies I’ll make you sorry for +yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +“The picture is there or was when I was young,” answered Hans +sullenly, “and for the rest, the Baas knows best. If he breaks every +bone in his body presently, don’t let him blame me, and I pray that he +will tell the truth, all of it, to his Reverend Father in the sky who +left him in my charge, saying that Hans begged him not to come but that +because of his evil temper he would not listen. Meanwhile, the Baas had +better take off his boots, since the feet of those Bushmen whose spooks +I feel all about me have made the ledge very slippery.” +</p> + +<p> +In silence I sat down and removed my boots, thinking to myself that I +would gladly give all my savings that were on deposit in the bank at +Durban, to be spared this ordeal. What a strange thing is the white +man’s pride, especially if he be of the Anglo-Saxon breed, or what +passes by that name. There was no need for me to take this risk, yet, +rather than be secretly mocked at by Hans and those Kaffirs, here I was +about to do so just for pride’s sake. In my heart I cursed Hans and the +cave and the hole and the picture and the thunderstorm that brought me +there, and everything else I could remember. Then, as it had no strap +like that of Hans, although it smelt horribly, I took the tin loop of +my lantern in my teeth because it seemed the only thing to do, put up a +silent but most earnest prayer, and started as though I liked the job. +</p> + +<p> +To tell the truth, I remember little of that journey except that it +seemed to take about three hours instead of under a minute, and the +voices of woe and lamentation from the two Zulus behind, who insisted +upon bidding me a tender farewell as I proceeded, amidst other +demonstrations of affection, calling me their father and their mother +for four generations. +</p> + +<p> +Somehow I wriggled myself along that accursed ridge, shoving my stomach +as hard as I could against the wall of the passage as though this organ +possessed some prehensile quality, and groping for knobs of rock on +which I broke two of my nails. However, I did get over all right, +although just towards the end one of my feet slipped and I opened my +mouth to say something, with the result that the lantern fell into the +abyss, taking with it a loose front tooth. But Hans stretched out his +skinny hand, and, meaning to catch me by the coat collar, got hold of +my left ear, and, thus painfully supported, I came to firm ground and +cursed him into heaps. Although some might have thought my language +pointed, he did not resent it in the least, being too delighted at my +safe arrival. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind the tooth, Baas, he said. It is best that it should be gone +without knowing it, as it were, because you see you can now eat crusts +and hard biltong again, which you have not been able to do for months. +The lantern, however, is another matter, though perhaps we can get a +new one at Pretoria or wherever we go.” +</p> + +<p> +Recovering myself, I peered over the edge of the abyss. There, far, far +below, I saw my lantern, which was of a sort that burns oil, flaring +upon a bed of something white, for the container had burst and all the +oil was on fire. +</p> + +<p> +“What is that white stuff down there?” I asked. “Lime?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, it is the broken bones of men. Once when I was young, with +the help of the Bushmen, I let myself down by a rope that we twisted +out of rushes and buckskins, just to look, Baas. There is another cave +underneath this one, Baas, but I didn’t go into it because I was +frightened.” +</p> + +<p> +“And how did all those bones come there, Hans? Why, there must be +hundreds of them!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, many hundreds, and they came this way. Since the beginning +of the world the Bushmen lived in this cave and set a trap here by +laying branches over the hole and covering them with dust so that they +looked like rock, just as one makes a game pit, Baas—yes, they did this +until the last of them were killed not so long ago by the Boers and +Zulus, whose sheep and beasts they stole. Then when their enemies +attacked them, which was often, for it has always been right to kill +Bushmen—they would run down the cave and into the cleft and creep along +the narrow edge of rock, which they could do with their eyes shut. But +the silly Kaffirs, or whoever it might be, running after them to kill +them would fall through the branches and get killed themselves. They +must have done this quite often, Baas, since there are such a lot of +their skulls down there, many of them quite black with age and turned +to stone.” +</p> + +<p> +“One might have thought that the Kaffirs would have grown wiser, +Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, but the dead keep their wisdom to themselves, for I believe +that when all the attackers were in the passage, then other Bushmen, +who had been hiding in the cave, came up behind and shot them with +poisoned arrows and drove them on into the hole so that none went back; +indeed, the Bushmen told me that this used to be their fathers’ plan. +Also, if any did escape, in a generation or two all was forgotten, and +the same thing happened again because, Baas, there are always plenty of +fools in the world and the fool who comes after is just as big as the +fool who went before. Death spills the water of wisdom upon the sand, +Baas, and sand is thirsty stuff that soon grows dry again. If it were +not so, Baas, men would soon stop falling in love with women, and yet +even great ones—like you, Baas—fall in love.” +</p> + +<p> +Having delivered this thrust, in order to prevent the possibility of +answer Hans began to chat with the driver and the voorlooper on the +other side of the gulf. +</p> + +<p> +“Be quick and come over, you brave Zulus there,” he said, +“for you are keeping your Chief waiting and me also.” +</p> + +<p> +The Zulus, holding their candles forward, peered into the pit below. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Ow!</i>” said one of them, “are we bats that we can fly +over a hole like that or baboons that we can climb on a shelf no wider +than a spear, or flies that we can walk upon a wall? <i>Ow!</i> we are not +coming, we will wait here. That road is only for yellow monkeys like +you or for those who have the white man’s magic like the Inkoos +Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” replied Hans reflectively, “you are none of these +creatures which are all of them good in their way. You are just a +couple of low-born Kaffir cowards, black skins blown up to look like +men. I, the ‘yellow jackal’ can walk the gulf, and the Baas can +walk the gulf, but you, Windbags, cannot even float over it for fear +lest you should burst in the middle. Well, Windbags, float back to the +wagon and fetch the coil of small rope that is in the <i>voorkissie,</i> for +we may want it.” +</p> + +<p> +One of them replied in a humbled voice that they did not take orders +from him, a Hottentot, whereon I said, +</p> + +<p> +“Go and fetch the rope and return at once.” +</p> + +<p> +So they went with a dejected air, for Hans’s winged words had gone +home, and again they learned that at the end he always got the best of +a quarrel. The truth is that they were as brave as men can be, but no +Zulu is any good underground and least of all in the dark in a place +that he thinks haunted. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Baas,” said Hans, “we will go and look at the +picture—that is, unless you are quite sure I am lying and that there is +no picture, in which case it is not worth while to take the trouble, +and you had better sit here and cut your broken nails until Mavoon and +Induka come back with the rope.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, get on, you poisonous little vermin!” I said, exasperated by +his jeers, emphasizing my words with a tremendous kick. +</p> + +<p> +Here, however, I made a great mistake, since I had forgotten that at +the moment I lacked boots, and either Hans carried a collection of hard +articles in the seat of his filthy trousers or his posterior was of a +singularly stonelike nature. In short, I hurt my toes most abominably +and him not at all. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, Baas,” said Hans with a sweet smile, “you should +remember what your Reverend Father taught me: always to put on your +boots before you kick against the thorn pricks. I have a gimlet and +some nails in my pistol pocket, Baas, that I was using this morning to +mend that box of yours.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he bolted incontinently lest I should experiment on his head and +see if there were nails in that also, and as he had the only lantern, I +was obliged to limp, or rather to hop, after him. +</p> + +<p> +The passage, of which the floor was still worn smooth by thousands of +dead feet, went on straight for eight or ten paces and then bent to the +right. When we came to this elbow in it I saw a light ahead of me which +I could not understand till presently I found myself standing in a kind +of pit or funnel—it may have measured some thirty feet across—that +rose from the level at which we stood, right through the strata to the +mountain-side eighty or a hundred feet above us. What had formed it +thus I cannot conceive, but there it was—a funnel, as I have said, in +shape exactly like those that are used when beer is poured into barrels +or port wine into a decanter, the place on which we were, being, of +course, its narrower end. The light that I had seen came, therefore, +from the sky, which, now that the tempest had passed away, was +clean-washed and beautiful, sown with stars also, for at the moment a +dense black cloud remaining from the storm hid the moon, now just past +its full. +</p> + +<p> +For a little way, perhaps five-and-twenty feet, the sides of this +tunnel were almost sheer, after which they sloped outwards steeply to +the mouth of the pit in the mountain flank. One other peculiarity I +noticed—namely, that on the western face of the tunnel which, as it +chanced, was in front of us as we stood, just where it began to expand, +projected a sloping ridge of rock like to the roof of a lean-to shed, +which ridge ran right across this face. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Hans,” I said, when I had inspected this strange natural +cavity, “where is your picture? I don’t see it.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Wacht een beetje</i>” (that is, “Wait a bit”), +“Baas. The moon is climbing up that cloud; presently she will get to +the top of it and then you will see the picture, unless someone has +rubbed it out since I was young.” +</p> + +<p> +I turned to look at the cloud and to witness a sight of which I never +have grown tired: the uprising of the glorious African moon out of her +secret halls of blackness. Already silver rays of light were shooting +across the vastness of the firmament, causing the stars to pale. Then +suddenly her bent edge appeared and with extraordinary swiftness grew +and grew till the whole splendid orb emerged from a bed of inky vapour +and for a while rested on its marge, perfect, wonderful! In an instant +our hole was filled with light so strong and clear that by it I could +have read a letter. +</p> + +<p> +For a few moments I stood thrilled with the beauty of the scene, and +forgetting all else in its contemplation, till Hans said with a hoarse +cackle, +</p> + +<p> +“Now turn round, Baas, and look at the pretty picture.” +</p> + +<p> +I did so, and followed the line of his outstretched hand, which pointed +to that face of the rock with the pent roof that looked towards the +east. Next second—my friends, I am not exaggerating—I nearly fell +backwards. Have any of you fellows ever had a nightmare in which you +dreamed you were in hell and suddenly met the devil +tête-à-tête, all by your little selves? At any rate, +I have, and there in front of me was the devil, only much worse than +fond fancy can paint him even with the brush of the acutest +indigestion. +</p> + +<p> +Imagine a monster double life size—that is to say, eleven or twelve +feet high—brilliantly portrayed in the best ochres of which these +Bushmen have always had the secret, namely, white, red, black, and +yellow, and with eyes formed apparently of polished lumps of rock +crystal. Imagine this thing as a huge ape to which the biggest gorilla +would be but a child, and yet not an ape but a man, and yet not a man, +but a fiend. +</p> + +<p> +It was covered with hair like an ape, long gray hair that grew in +tufts. It had a great red, bushy beard like a man; its limbs were +tremendous, the arms being of abnormal length like to the arms of a +gorilla, but, mark this, it had no fingers, only a great claw where the +thumb should be. The rest of the hand was all grown together into one +piece like a duck’s foot, although what should have been the finger +part was flexible and could grip like fingers, as shall be seen. +</p> + +<p> +At least, that is what the picture suggested, though it occurred to me +afterwards that it might represent the creature as wearing fingerless +gloves such as men in this country use when cutting fences. The feet +however, which were certainly shown as bare, were the same; I mean that +there were no toes, only one terrible claw where the big toe should be. +The carcass was enormous; supposing it to have been drawn from life, +the original, I should guess, would have weighed at least thirty stone; +the chest was vast, indicating gigantic strength, and the paunch +beneath wrinkled and protuberant. But—and here came one of the human +touches—about its middle the thing wore a moocha or, rather, a hide +tied round it by the leg skins, which hide seemed to have been dressed. +</p> + +<p> +So much for the body. Now for the head and face. +</p> + +<p> +These I know not how to describe, but I will try. The neck was as that +of a bull, and perched horribly on the top of it was a quite small +head, which—notwithstanding the great red beard whereof I have spoken +that grew upon the chin, and a wide mouth from whose upper jaw +projected yellow tushes like to those of a baboon that hung over the +lower lip—was curiously feminine in appearance; indeed, that of an old, +old she-devil with an aquiline nose. The brow, however, was +disproportionate to the rest of the face, being prominent, massive, and +not unintellectual, while set deep in it and unnaturally far apart were +those awful glaring crystal eyes. +</p> + +<p> +That was not all, for the creature seemed to be laughing cruelly, and +the drawing showed why it laughed. One of its feet was set upon the +body of a man into which the great claw was driven deep. One of its +hands held the head of the man, that evidently it had just twisted from +the body. The other hand grasped by the hair a living naked girl badly +drawn, as though this detail had not interested the artist, whom +apparently it was about to drag away. +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t it a pretty picture, Baas?” sniggered Hans. “Now +the Baas will not say that I tell lies, no, not for quite a week.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.<br />THE OPENER-OF-ROADS</h2> + +<p> +I stared and stared, then was overcome with faintness and sat down upon +the ground. +</p> + +<p> +I see you laughing at me, young man [this was addressed to me, the +recorder of the tale] who no doubt have already decided that this +drawing was the work of some imaginative Bushman who had gone mad and +set down upon the rock the hellish dream of a mind diseased. Of course, +that was the conclusion I came to myself next morning, though +afterwards I changed my opinion, but at the time it did not strike me +like that. +</p> + +<p> +The place was lonesome and eerie, a horrible place with the pit full of +bones near by; heavily silent also except for a distant hyena or jackal +howling at the moon, and I had gone through some trials that day—the +passage of the death-pit, for instance, which reminded me of the +oubliettes in ancient Norman castles that I have read of down which +prisoners were hurled to doom. Also, as you may have observed, even in +your short career, moonlight differs from sun-light and we, or some of +us, are much more affected by horrible things at night than we are by +day. At any rate, I sat down because I felt faint and thought that I +was going to be ill. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, Baas?” queried the observant Hans, still mocking. +“If you want to be sick, Baas, please don’t mind me, for I’ll +turn my back. I remember that I was sick myself when first I saw +Heu-Heu—just there,” he added reminiscently, pointing to a certain +spot. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you call that thing ‘Heu-Heu,’ Hans?” I asked, +trying to master the reflex action of my interior arrangements. +</p> + +<p> +“Because that is his nice name, Baas, given him by his Mammie when he +was little, perhaps.” +</p> + +<p> +(Here I nearly <i>was</i> sick, the idea of that creature with a mother +almost finished me—like the sight and smell of a bit of fat bacon in a +gale at sea.) +</p> + +<p> +“How do you know that?” I gurgled. +</p> + +<p> +“Because the Bushmen told me, Baas. They said that their fathers, a +thousand years ago, knew this Heu-Heu far away, and that they left that +part of the country because of him as they never slept well at night +there, just like a Boer when another Boer comes and builds a house +within six miles of him, Baas. I think they meant that they heard +Heu-Heu when he talked, for they told me that their +great-great-grand-fathers could hear him doing it and beating his +breast when he was miles away. But I daresay they lied, for I don’t +believe they really knew anything about Heu-Heu, or who painted his +portrait on the rock, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered, “nor do I. Well, Hans, I think I have had +enough of your friend Heu-Heu for this evening, and should like to go +back to bed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, so should I, Baas. Still, take another good look at him +before you leave. You don’t see a picture like that every night, Baas, +and you know you wanted to come.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I would have kicked Hans again, but luckily I remembered those +nails in his pocket in time, so, after one lingering glance, I only +rose and loftily motioned to him to lead on. +</p> + +<p> +This was the last that I saw of the likeness of Heu-Heu or Beelzebub, +or whoever the monster may have been. Somehow, although I intended to +return to examine it more closely by the light of day, when morning +came I thought that I would not risk another scramble over that ledge +but would be satisfied with the memory of first impressions. These they +say, are always the best—like first kisses, as Hans added when I +explained this to him. +</p> + +<p> +Not that I could forget Heu-Heu; on the contrary, it is not too much to +say that this devilish creature haunted me. I could not dismiss that +picture as some mere flight of distorted savage imagination. From a +hundred characteristics I knew or thought I knew it, erroneously as I +now believe, to be Bushmen’s work and was certain that no Bushman, even +if he had <i>delirium tremens</i>—not a complaint from which these people +ever suffered, because they lacked the opportunity of doing so, could +have evolved this monstrous creation out of his own soul—if a Bushman +has a soul. No, Bushman or not, that artist was drawing something that +he had seen, or thought that he had seen. +</p> + +<p> +Of this there were several indications. Thus, on Heu-Heu’s right arm +the elbow joint was much swollen as though he had once suffered an +injury there. Again, the claw of one of his horrible hands—the left, I +think—was broken and divided at the point. Further, there was a wart or +protuberance upon the brow, just beneath where the long iron-gray tufts +of hair parted in the middle and hung down on each side of the +demoniacal, womanish face. Now the painter must have remembered these +blemishes and set them down faithfully, copying from some original, +real or imagined. Certainly, I reflected, he would not have invented +them. +</p> + +<p> +Where, then, did he get his model? I have mentioned that I had heard +rumours of creatures called <i>Ngolokos,</i> which I took it, if they +existed at all, were peculiarly terrific apes of an unknown variety. +Heu-Heu, then, might be a most distinguished and improved specimen of +these apes. Yet that could scarcely be, for this beast was more man +than monkey, notwithstanding his huge claws where the thumbs and big +toes should be. Or perhaps I should say that he was more devil than +either. +</p> + +<p> +Another idea occurred to me: he might have been the god of these +Bushmen, only I never heard that they had any god except their own +stomachs. Afterwards I questioned Hans on this point but he replied +that he did not know, as the Bushmen he lived with in the cave had +never told him anything to that effect. It was true, however, that they +did not go to the place where the picture was except through fear of +enemies, and that when they did they would not look or speak about it +more than they could help. Perhaps, he suggested with his usual +shrewdness, Heu-Heu might be the god of some other people with whom the +Bushmen had nothing to do. +</p> + +<p> +Another question—when was this work executed? Owing to its sheltered +position the colours were still fairly bright, but it must have been a +long while ago. Hans said that the Bushmen told him that they did not +know who painted it or what it represented, but that it was “<i>old, old, +old!</i>” which might mean anything or nothing, since to a people without +writing five or six generations become remote antiquity. One thing was +certain, however, that another of the paintings in that cave was +undoubtedly old, that of the Phœnicians raiding a kraal of which +I have spoken, which can scarcely have been executed since the time of +Christ. Of this I am sure, for I examined it carefully on the following +morning and it was not more faded than that of the Monster. Further, in +his picture a piece of the rock had scaled off just above the left +knee, and I had noticed that the surface thus exposed seemed as much +weathered as that of the surrounding rock outside the limits of the +painting. +</p> + +<p> +On the other hand, it must be remembered that the Phœnician +picture was under cover, while that of Heu-Heu was exposed to the air +and would therefore age more rapidly. +</p> + +<p> +Well, all that night I dreamed of this horrid Heu-Heu, dreamed that he +was alive and challenging me to fight him, dreamed that someone was +calling to me to rescue her—it was certainly her—not him—from +the power of the beast; dreamed that I did fight him and that he got me +down and was about to twist my head off as he had done to the man in +the picture, when something happened—I do not know what—and I woke +up covered with perspiration and in a most pitiable fright. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now at the time I visited this cave I was not far from the borders of +Zululand on one of my trading expeditions, the wagon being laden with +blankets, beads, iron pots, knives, hoes, and such other articles as +the simple savage loves, or in those days loved to pay for in cattle. +Before the storm overtook us, however, I was contemplating leaving the +Zulus alone on this trip and trying to break new ground somewhere north +of Pretoria among less sophisticated natives who might put a higher +value on my wares. After seeing Heu-Heu, as it chanced, I changed my +mind for two reasons. The first of these was that the lightning had +killed my two best oxen and I thought that I could replace these +without cash expenditure in Zululand, where debts were owing to me that +I might collect in kind. The second was connected with that confounded +and obsessing Heu-Heu. I felt convinced that only one man in the world +could tell me about this monster, if, indeed, there were anything to +tell, namely, old Zikali, the wizard of the Black Kloof, the +<i>Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,</i> as Chaka, the great Zulu +king, named him. +</p> + +<p> +I think that I have told you all about Zikali before, but in case I +have not, I will say that he was the greatest witch doctor who ever +lived in Zululand and the most terrible. No one knew when he was born, +but undoubtedly he was very ancient and under his native name of +“Opener-of-Roads” had been known and dreaded in the land for some +generations. For many years, since my boyhood, indeed, he and I had +been friends in a fashion, though of course I was aware that from the +first he was using me for his own ends, as, indeed, became very clear +before all was done and he had triumphed over and brought about the +fall of the Zulu Royal House, which he hated. +</p> + +<p> +However, Zikali, like a wise merchant, always paid those who served him +with a generous hand, in one coin or another, as he paid those he +hated. My coin was information, either historical or concerning the +hidden secrets of the strange land of Africa, of which, for all our +knowledge, we white men really understand so little. If any one could +give information about the picture in the cave and its origin, it would +be Zikali, and therefore to Zikali I would go. Curiosity about such +matters, as perhaps you have guessed, was always one of my besetting +sins. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +We had great trouble in recovering our remaining fourteen oxen since +some of them had wandered far to find cover from the storm. At last, +however, they were found uninjured except for some bruises from the +hailstones, for it is wonderful, if they are left alone, how cattle +manage to protect themselves against the forces of nature. In Africa, +however, they seldom take shelter beneath trees during a thunderstorm, +as is their habit here in England, perhaps because, such tempests being +so frequent, they have inherited from their progenitors an instinctive +knowledge that lightning strikes trees and kills anything that happens +to be underneath them. At least, that is my experience. +</p> + +<p> +Well, we inspanned and trekked away from that remarkable cave. Many +years afterwards, by the way, when Hans was dead, I tried to find it +again and could not. I thought that I reached the same mountain slope +in which it was, but I suppose that I must have been mistaken, since in +that neighbourhood there are multitudes of such slopes and on the one +that I identified I could discover no trace of the cave. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps this was because there had been a land-slide and, with the +funnel-like shaft in the mountain side down which the moonlight poured +on to the picture of Heu-Heu, the orifice that, it will be remembered, +was very small, had been covered up with rocks. Or it may be that I was +searching the wrong slope, not having taken my bearings sufficiently +when I visited the place at a time of tempest and hurry. +</p> + +<p> +Further, I was pressed and, desiring to reach a certain outspan before +night fell, could only give about an hour to the quest and when it +failed was obliged to get on. Nor have I ever met any one who was +acquainted with this cave, so I suppose that it must have been known to +the Bushmen and Hans only, dead now all of them, which is a pity +because of the wonderful paintings that it contains or contained. +</p> + +<p> +You will remember I told you that just before the storm broke we were +overtaken by a party of Kaffirs going to or returning from some feast. +When we had gone about half a mile we found one of those Kaffirs again +quite dead, but whether he (the body was that of a young man) had been +killed by the lightning or by the hail, I was not sure. Evidently his +companions were so frightened that they had left him where he lay, +proposing, I suppose, to return and bury him later. So you will see +that when it gave us shelter, this cave did us a good turn. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now I will skip all the details of my trek into Zululand, which was as +are other treks, only slower, because it was a hard job to get that +heavily laden wagon along with but fourteen oxen. Once, indeed, we +stuck in a river, the White Umfolozi, quite near to the Nongela Rock or +Cliff which frowns above a pool of the river. I shall never forget that +accident because it caused me to be the unwilling witness of a very +dreadful sight. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst we were fast in the drift a party of men appeared upon the brow +of this Nongela Rock, about two hundred and fifty yards away, dragging +with them two young women. Studying them through my glasses, I came to +the conclusion from the way they moved their heads and stared wildly +about them, that these young women were blind or had been blinded. As I +looked at them, wondering what to do, the men seized the women by the +arms and hurled them over the edge of the cliff. With a piteous wail +the poor creatures rolled down the stratified rock into the deep pool +below and there the crocodiles got them, for distinctly I saw the rush +of the reptiles. Indeed, in this pool they were always on the look-out, +as it was a favourite place of execution under the Zulu kings. +</p> + +<p> +When their horrible business was finished the party of +“slayers”—there were about fifteen of them—came down to +the ford to interview us. At first I thought there might be trouble, +and to tell the truth, should not have been sorry, for the sight of +this butchery had made me furious and reckless. As soon as they found +out, however, that the wagon belonged to me, Macumazahn, they were all +amiability, and wading into the water, tackled on to the wheels, with +the result that by their help we came safe to the farther bank. +</p> + +<p> +There I asked their leader who the two murdered girls might be. He +replied that they were the daughters of Panda, the King. I did not +question this statement although, knowing Panda’s kindly character, I +doubted very much whether they were actually his children. Then I asked +why they were blind, and what crime they had committed. The captain +replied that they had been blinded by the order of Prince Cetywayo, who +even then was the real ruler of Zululand, because “they had looked +where they should not.” +</p> + +<p> +Further inquiry elicited the fact that these unhappy girls had fallen +in love with two young men, and run away with them against the King’s +orders, or Cetywayo’s, which was the same thing. The party were +overtaken before they could reach the Natal border, where they would +have been safe; the young men were killed at once and the girls brought +up for judgment, with the result that I have described. Such was the +end of their honeymoon! +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, the captain informed me cheerfully that a body of soldiers +had been sent out to kill the fathers and mothers of the young men and +all who could be found in their kraals. This kind of free love must be +put a stop to, he said, as there had been too much of it going on; +indeed, he did not know what had come to the young people in Zululand, +who had grown very independent of late, contaminated, no doubt, by the +example of the Zulus in Natal, where the white men allowed them to do +what they liked without punishment. +</p> + +<p> +Then with a sigh over the degeneracy of the times, this crusted old +conservative took a pinch of snuff, bade me a hearty farewell, and +departed, singing a little song which I think he must have invented, as +it was about the love of children for their parents. If it had been +safe I should have liked to let him have a charge of shot behind to +take away as a souvenir, but it was not. Also, after all, he was but an +executive officer, a product of the iron system of Zululand in the day +of the kings. +</p> + +<p> +Well, I trekked on, trading as I went, and getting paid in cows and +heifers, which I sent back to Natal, but could come by no oxen that +were fit for the yoke, and much less any that had been broken in, since +in those days such were almost unknown in Zululand. However, I did hear +of some that had been left behind by a white trader because they were +sick or footsore, I forget which, who took young cattle in exchange for +them. These were said now to be fat again, but no one seemed to know +exactly where they were. One friendly chief told me, however, that the +“Opener-of-Roads,” that is, old Zikali, might be able to do so, as +he knew everything and the oxen had been traded away in his district. +</p> + +<p> +Now by this time, although I was still obsessed about Heu-Heu, I had +almost made up my mind to abandon the idea of visiting Zikali on this +trip, because I had noticed that whenever I did so, always I became +involved in arduous and unpleasant adventures as an immediate +consequence. Being, however, badly in need of more oxen, for, not to +mention the two that were dead, others of my team seemed never to have +recovered from the effects of the hailstorm and one or two showed signs +of sickness, this news caused me to revert to my original plan. So +after consultation with Hans, who also thought it the best thing to be +done, I headed for the Black Kloof, which was only two short days’ trek +away. +</p> + +<p> +Arriving at the mouth of that hateful and forbidding gulf on the +afternoon of the second day, I outspanned by the spring and, leaving +the cattle in charge of Mavoon and Induka, walked up it accompanied by +Hans. +</p> + +<p> +The place, of course, was just as it had always been, and yet, as it +ever did, struck me with a fresh sense of novelty and amazement. In all +Africa I scarcely know a gorge that is so eerie and depressing. Those +towering cliffsides that look as though they are about to fall in upon +the traveller, the stunted, melancholy aloe plants which grow among the +rocks; the pale vegetation; the jackals and hyænas that start +away at the sound of voices or echoing footsteps; the dense, dark +shadows; the whispering winds that seem to wail about one even when the +air is still over-head, draughts, I suppose, that are drawing backwards +and forwards through the gulley; all of these are peculiar to it. The +ancients used to declare that particular localities had their own genii +or spirits, but whether these were believed to be evolved by the +locality or to come thither because it suited their character and +nature, I do not know. +</p> + +<p> +In the Black Kloof and some other spots to which I have wandered, I +have often thought of this fable and almost found myself accepting it +as true. But, then, what kind of a spirit would it be that chose to +inhabit this dreadful gorge? I think some embodiment—no, that word is a +contradiction—some impalpable essence of Tragedy, some doomed soul +whereof the head was bowed and the wings were leaded with a weight of +ineffable and unrepented crime. +</p> + +<p> +Well, what need was there to fly to fable and imagine such an invisible +inhabitant when Zikali, the <i>Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born,</i> +was, and for uncounted years had been, the Dweller in this tomb-like +gulf? Surely he was Tragedy personified, and that hoary head of his was +crowned with ineffable and unrepented crime. How many had this hideous +dwarf brought down to doom and how many were yet destined to perish in +the snares that year by year he wove for them? And yet this sinner had +been sinned against and did but pay back his sufferings in kind, he +whose wives and children had been murdered and whose tribe had been +stamped flat beneath the cruel feet of Chaka, whose House he hated and +lived on to destroy. Even for Zikali allowances could be made; he was +not altogether bad. Is any man <i>altogether</i> bad, I wonder. +</p> + +<p> +Musing thus, I tramped on up the gorge, followed by the dejected Hans, +whom the place always depressed, even more than it did myself. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he said presently in a hollow whisper, for here he did not +dare to speak aloud, “Baas, do you think that the Opener-of-Roads was +once Heu-Heu himself who has now shrunk to a dwarf with age, or at any +rate, that Heu-Heu’s spirit lives in him?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I don’t,” I answered, “for he has fingers and toes +like the rest of us, but I do think that if there is any Heu-Heu he may +be able to tell us where to find him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Baas, I hope that he has forgotten, or that Heu-Heu has gone to +heaven where the fires go on burning of themselves without the need of +wood. For, Baas, I do not want to meet Heu-Heu; the thought of him +turns my stomach cold.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, you would rather go to Durban and meet a gin bottle that would +turn your stomach warm, Hans, and your head, too, and land you in the +Trunk for seven days,” I replied, improving the occasion. +</p> + +<p> +Then we turned the corner and came upon Zikali’s kraal. As usual, I +appeared to be expected, for one of his great silent body servants was +waiting, who saluted me with uplifted spear. I suppose that Zikali must +have had a look-out man stationed somewhere who watched the plain +beneath and told him who was approaching. Or possibly he had other +methods of obtaining information. At any rate, he always knew of my +advent and often enough of why I came and whence, as, indeed, he did on +this occasion. +</p> + +<p> +“The Father of Spirits awaits you, Lord Macumazahn,” said the body +servant. “He bids the little yellow man who is named Light-in-Darkness, +to accompany you and will see you at once.” +</p> + +<p> +I nodded and the man led me to the gate of the fence that surrounded +Zikali’s great hut, on which he tapped with the handle of his spear. It +was opened, by whom I did not see, and we entered, whereon someone +slipped out of the shadows and closed the gate behind us, then +vanished. There in front of the door of his hut, with a fire burning +before him, crouched the dwarf wrapped in a fur kaross, his huge head, +on either side of which the gray locks fell down much as they did in +the picture of Heu-Heu, bent forward, and the light of the fire into +which he was staring shining in his cavernous eyes. We advanced across +the shiny beaten floor of the courtyard and stood in front of him, but +for half a minute or more he took no notice of our presence. At length, +without looking up, he spoke in that hollow, resounding voice which was +unlike to any other I ever heard, saying, +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you always come so late, Macumazahn, when the sun is off the +hut and it grows cold in the shadows? You know I hate the cold, as the +aged always do, and I was minded not to receive you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Because I could not get here before, Zikali,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you might have waited until to-morrow morning unless, perhaps, +you thought that I should die in the night, which I shall not do. No, +nor for many nights. Well, here you are, little white Wanderer who hops +from place to place like a flea.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, here I am,” I replied, nettled, “to visit you who do +not wander but sit in one spot like a toad in a stone, Zikali.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, ho, ho!” he laughed—that wonderful laugh of his which +echoed from the rocks and always made me feel cold down the back, “Ho, +ho, ho! how easy it is to make you angry. Keep your temper, Macumazahn, +lest it should run away with you as your oxen did before the storm in +the mountains the other day. What do you want? You only come here when +you want something from him whom once you named the Old Cheat. So I +don’t wander, don’t I, but sit like a toad in a stone? How do you +know that? Is it only the body that wanders? Cannot the spirit wander +also, far, oh, far, even to the ‘Heaven Above’ sometimes, and +perhaps to that land which is under the earth, the place where they say +the dead are to be found again? Well, what do you want? Stay, and I +will tell you, who explain yourself so badly, who, although you think +that you speak Zulu like a native, have never really learned it +properly because to do that you must think in it and not in your own +stupid tongue, that has no words for many things. Man, my medicines.” +</p> + +<p> +A figure darted out of the hut, set down a cat-skin bag before him, and +was gone again. Zikali plunged his claw-like hand into the bag and drew +out a number of knuckle bones, polished, but yellow with age, which he +threw carelessly on to the ground in front of him, then glanced at +them. +</p> + +<p> +“Ha,” he said, “something about cattle, I see, yes, you want +to get oxen, broken oxen, not wild ones, and think that I can tell you +where to do it cheap. By the way, what present have you brought for me? +Is it a pound of your white man’s snuff?” (As a matter of fact, it +was a quarter of a pound.) “Now am I right about the oxen?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I replied, rather amazed. +</p> + +<p> +“That astonishes you. It is wonderful, isn’t it, that the poor Old +Cheat should know what you want. Well, I’ll tell you how it is done. +You lost two oxen by lightning, did you not? You therefore, naturally +would want others, especially as some of those which remain”—here +he glanced at the bones once more—“were hurt, yes, by hailstones, +very large hailstones, and others are showing signs of sickness, +red-water, I think. Therefore, it isn’t strange that the poor Old Cheat +should guess that you needed oxen, is it? Only a silly Zulu would put +such a thing down to magic. About the snuff, too, which I see you have +taken from your pocket—a very little parcel, by the way. You’ve +brought me snuff before, haven’t you. Therefore, it isn’t strange +that I should guess that you would do so again, is it? No magic there.” +</p> + +<p> +“None, Zikali, but how did you learn of the lightning killing the +cattle and of the hailstorm?” +</p> + +<p> +“How did I learn that the lightning killed your pole-oxen, Kaptein and +Deutchmann? Why, are you not a very great man in whom all are +interested, and is it wonderful that I should be told of accidents that +happen a hundred miles or so away? You met a party going to a wedding, +did you not, just before the storm, and found one of them dead +afterwards? By the way, he wasn’t killed either by lightning or by +hail. The flash fell near and stunned him, but really he died of the +cold during the night. I thought that you might like to know that, as +you are curious on the point. Of course, those Kaffirs would have told +me all about it, would they not? No magic, again you see. That’s how we +poor witch doctors gain repute, just by keeping our eyes and ears open. +When you are old you might set up in the trade yourself, Macumazahn, +since you do the same thing, even at night, they say.” +</p> + +<p> +Now while he went on mocking me he had gathered up the bones out of the +dust and suddenly threw them again with a curious spiral twist that +caused them to fall in a little heap, perched on one another. He looked +at them, and said, +</p> + +<p> +“Why, what do these silly things remind me of? They are some of the +tools of my trade, you know, Macumazahn, used to impress the fools that +come to see us witch doctors, who think that they tell us secrets, and +to take off their attention while we read their hearts. Somehow or +other they remind me of rocks piled one on another as on a mountain +slope, and look! there is a hollow in the middle like the mouth of a +cave. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you chance to take refuge from that storm in a cave, Macumazahn? +Oh, you did! Well, see how cleverly I guessed it. No magic there again, +only just a guess. Isn’t it likely that you would go to a cave to +escape from such a tempest, leaving the wagon outside? Look at that +bone there, lying a little distance off the others, that’s what made me +think of the wagon being outside. But the question is, what did you see +in the cave? Anything out of the way, I wonder? The bones can’t tell me +that, can they? I must guess that somehow else, mustn’t I? Well, +I’ll try to do so, just to give you, the wise white man, another lesson +in the manner that we poor rascals of witch doctors do our work and +take in fools. But won’t you tell me, Macumazahn?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I won’t,” I answered crossly, who knew that the old +dwarf was making a butt of me. +</p> + +<p> +“Then I suppose that I must try to discover for myself, but how, how? +Come here, you little yellow monkey of a man, and sit between me and +the fire so that its light shines through you, for then perchance I may +be able to see something of what is going on in that thick head of +yours, Light-in-Darkness, as you are called, and get some light in my +darkness.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans advanced unwillingly enough and squatted down at the spot that +Zikali indicated with his bony finger, being very careful that none of +the magic bones should touch any portion of his anatomy, for fear lest +they should bewitch him, I suppose. There he sat, holding his ragged +felt hat upon the pit of his stomach as though to ward off the +gimlet-like glances of Zikali’s burning eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho-ho! Yellow Man,” said the dwarf after a few seconds of +inspection, which caused Hans to wriggle uncomfortably and even to +colour beneath his wrinkled skin, like a young woman being studied by +her prospective husband, who desires to ascertain whether she will or +will not do for a fifth wife. “Ho-ho! it seems to me that you knew this +cave before you went there in the storm, but of course I should guess +that, for how otherwise would you have found it in such a hurry; also +that it had something to do with Bushmen, as most caves have in this +land. +</p> + +<p> +“The question is, what was in it? No, don’t tell me. I want to find +out for myself. It is strange that the thought comes to me of pictures. +No, it isn’t strange, since the Bushmen often used to paint pictures in +caves. Now, you shouldn’t nod your head, Yellow Man, because it makes +the riddle too easy. Just stare at me and think of nothing at all. +Pictures, lots of them, but one principal picture, I think; something +that was difficult to come at. Yes, dangerous, even. Was it perchance a +picture of yourself that a Bushman drew long ago when you were young +and handsome, Yellow Man? +</p> + +<p> +“There, again you are shaking your head. Keep it quite still, will you, +so that the thoughts in it don’t ripple like water beneath a wind. At +least it was a picture of something hideous, but much bigger than you. +Ah! it grows and grows. I am getting it now. Macumazahn, come and stand +by me, and you, Yellow Man, turn your back so that you face the fire. +Bah! it burns badly, does it not, and the air is so cold, so cold! I +must make it brighter. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you there, Macumazahn? Yes. Now look at this stuff of mine; see +what a fine blaze it causes,” and putting his hand into the bag, he +drew out some kind of powder, only a little of it, which he threw on to +the embers. Then he stretched his skinny fingers over them as though +for warmth, and slowly lifted his arms high into the air. It is a fact +that after him the flames sprang up to a height of three or four feet. +He dropped his arms again and the flames sank down. He lifted them once +more and once more they rose, only this time much higher. A third time +he repeated this performance, and now the sheet of fire sprang full +fifteen feet into the air and so remained burning steadily, like the +flame of a lamp. +</p> + +<p> +“Look at that fire, Macumazahn, and you also, Yellow Man,” he said, +in a strange new voice, a sort of dreamy far-off voice, “and tell me if +you see anything in it, for I can’t—I can’t.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked, and for a moment perceived nothing. Then some shape began to +grow upon the blazing background. It wavered; it changed; it became +fixed and definite, yes, clear and real. There before me, etched in +flame, I saw Heu-Heu—Heu-Heu as he had been in the painting on the cave +wall, only, as it seemed to me, alive, for his eyes blinked—Heu-Heu, +looking like a devil in hell. I gasped but stood firm. As for Hans, he +ejaculated in his vile Dutch, +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Allemaghte! Da is die leeliker auld deil!</i>” (that is, +“Almighty! There is the ugly old devil!”) and having said this, +rolled over on to his back and lay still, frozen with terror. +</p> + +<p> +“Ho, ho, ho!” laughed Zikali. Ho, ho, ho! and from a dozen places +the walls of the kloof echoed back, <i>“Ho, ho, ho!”</i> +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br />THE LEGEND OF HEU-HEU</h2> + +<p> +Zikali stopped laughing and contemplated us with his hollow eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Who was it who first said that all men are fools?” he asked. +“I do not know, but I think it must have been a woman, a pretty woman +who played with them and found that it was so. If so, she was wise, as +all women are in their narrow way, which the saying shows, since they +are left out of it. Well, I will add to the proverb; all men are +cowards also in one matter or another, though in the rest they may be +brave enough. Further, they are all the same, for what is the +difference between you, Macumazahn, wise White Man who have dared death +a hundred times, and yonder little yellow ape?” Here he pointed to +Hans, lying upon his back, with rolling eyes and muttering prayers to a +variety of gods between his chattering teeth. “Both of you are afraid, +one as much as the other; the only difference being that the White Lord +tries to conceal his fear, whilst the Yellow Monkey chatters it out, as +monkeys do. +</p> + +<p> +“Why are you so frightened? Just because by a common trick I show to +your eyes a picture of that which is in the minds of both of you. Mark +you again, not by magic but by a common trick which any child could +learn, if somebody taught it to him. I hope that you will not behave +like this when you see Heu-Heu himself, for if you do I shall be +disappointed in you and soon there will be two more skulls in that cave +of his. But then, perhaps, you will be brave; yes, I think so, I think +so, since never would you like to die remembering how long and loud I +should laugh when I heard of it.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus the old wizard rambled on, as was his fashion when he wished to +combine his acrid mockery with the desire to gain space for thought, +till presently he grew silent and took some of the snuff which I had +brought him, for he had been engaged in opening the packet while he +talked, all the while continuing to watch us as though he would search +out our very souls. +</p> + +<p> +Now, because I thought that I must say something, if only to show that +he had not frightened me with his accursed manifestations, or whatever +they were, I answered, +</p> + +<p> +“You are right, Zikali, when you say that all men are fools, seeing +that you are the first and biggest fool among them.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have often thought it, Macumazahn, for reasons that I keep to +myself. But why do you say so? Let me hear, who would learn whether +yours are the same as my own.” +</p> + +<p> +“First, because you talk as though there were such a creature as +Heu-Heu, which, as you know well, does not live and never did; and +secondly, because you speak as though Hans and I would meet it face to +face, which we shall never do. So cease from such nonsense and show us +how to make pictures in the fire—an art, you tell us, any child can +learn.” +</p> + +<p> +“If they are taught, Macumazahn, <i>if</i> they are taught how. But were +I to do this, I should indeed be the first of fools. Do you think that +I wish to establish two rival cheats—you see, between ourselves, I give +myself my right name—in the land to trade against me? No, no, let each +keep the knowledge he has earned for himself, for if it becomes common +to all, who will pay for it? But why do you believe that you will never +stand face to face with Heu-Heu except in pictures on rock or fire?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he doesn’t exist,” I answered with irritation; +“and if he does, I suppose his home is a long way off and I cannot trek +without fresh oxen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” said Zikali, “that reminds me again that those who told +me of how you refuged in the cave from the storm and the rest said that +you wanted more oxen. So, knowing that you would be in as great a hurry +to get to Heu-Heu as a young man is to find his first wife, I made +ready. The story you heard was quite true. A white trader did leave a +very fine team of footsore oxen in this neighbourhood, salted, every +one of them, which after three moons’ rest, are now fat and sound. I +will have them driven up to-morrow morning and take care of yours while +you are away.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have no money to pay for more oxen,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Is not the promise of Macumazahn better than any money, even the red +English gold? Does not the whole land know it? Moreover,” he added +slowly, “when you return from visiting Heu-Heu you ought to have plenty +of money—or, rather, of diamonds, which is the same thing—and +perhaps of ivory, though of that I am not so sure. No, I am not sure +whether you will be able to carry the ivory. If I do not speak truth I +will pay for the oxen myself.” +</p> + +<p> +Now at the word “diamonds” I pricked up my ears, for just then all +Africa was beginning to talk about these stones; even Hans rose from +the ground and began once more to take interest in earthly things. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a fair offer,” I said, “but stop blowing +dust” (<i>i. e.</i>, talking nonsense) “and tell me straight out +what you mean before it grows dark. I hate this kloof in the dark. Who +is Heu-Heu? And if he or it lives, or lived, where is Heu-Heu, dead or +alive? Also, supposing that there was or is a Heu-Heu, why do you, +Zikali, wish me to find him, as I perceive you do, who always have a +reason for what you wish?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will answer the last question first, Macumazahn, who, as you say, +always have a reason for what I want you or others to do.” +</p> + +<p> +Here he stopped and clapped his hands, whereon instantly one of his +great serving men appeared from the hut behind, to whom he gave some +order. The man darted away and presently was back with more of the skin +bags such as witch doctors use to carry their medicines. Zikali opened +one of these and showed me that it was almost empty, there being in it +but a pinch of brown powder. +</p> + +<p> +“This stuff, Macumazahn,” he said, “is the most wonderful of +all drugs, even more wonderful than the herb called <i>taduki</i> that can +open the paths of the past, with which herb you will become acquainted +one day. By means of it—I speak not of <i>taduki</i> but of the powder in +the bag—I do most of my tricks. For instance, it was with a dust of it +that I was able to show you and the little yellow man the picture of +Heu-Heu in the flames just now.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean that it is a poison, I suppose.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, among other things, by adding another powder it can be made +into a very deadly poison; so deadly that as little of it as will lie +upon the point of a thorn will kill the strongest man and leave no +trace. But it has other properties also that have to do with the mind +and the spirit; never mind what they are; if I tried to tell you, you +would not understand. Well, the Tree of Visions from the leaves of +which this medicine is ground grows only in the garden of Heu-Heu and +nowhere else in Africa, and I got my last supply of it thence many +years ago, long before you were born, indeed, Macumazahn; never mind +how. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I must have more, of those leaves, or what these Zulus call my +magic, which wise white men like you know to be but my tricks, will +fail me, and the world will say that the Opener-of-Roads has lost his +strength and turn to seek wiser doctors.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why do you not send and get some, Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“Whom can I send that would dare to enter the land of Heu-Heu and rob +his garden? No one but yourself, Macumazahn. Ah! I read your mind. You +are wondering now if that be so, why I do not order that the leaves +should be brought to me from the place of Heu-Heu. For this reason, +Macumazahn. The dwellers there may not leave their hidden land; it is +against their law. Moreover, if they might they would not part even +with a handful of that drug, except at a great price. Once, a hundred +years ago” (by which, I suppose, he meant a long time), “I paid +such a price and bought a quantity of the stuff of which you see the +last in that bag. But that is an old story with which I will not +trouble you. Oh! many went and but two returned, and they mad, as those +are apt to be who have looked on Heu-Heu and left him living. If ever +you see Heu-Heu, Macumazahn, be sure to destroy him and all that is +his, lest his curse should follow you for the rest of your days. +Fallen, he will be powerless, but standing, his hate is very strong and +reaches far, or that of his priests does, which is the same thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rubbish!” I said. “If there is any Heu-Heu, he is but a big +ape, and living or dead, I am not afraid of any ape.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad to hear that, Macumazahn, and hope that you will always be +of the same mind. Doubtless it is only his picture painted on rock or +in the fire that frightens you, just as a dream is more terrible than +anything real. Some day you shall tell me which was the worse, +Heu-Heu’s picture or Heu-Heu himself. But you asked me other questions. +The first of them was, Who is Heu-Heu? +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I do not know. The legend tells that once, in the beginning, +there was a people white, or almost white, who lived far away to the +north. This people, says the old tale, were ruled over by a giant, very +cruel and very terrible; a great wizard also, or cheat, as you would +call him. So cruel and terrible was he, indeed, that his people rose +against him, and strong as he might be, forced him to fly southwards +with some who clung to him or could not escape him. +</p> + +<p> +“So south he came with them, thousands of miles, until he found a +secret place that suited him to dwell in. That place is beneath the +shadow of a mountain of a sort that I have heard spouted out fire when +the world was young, which even now smokes from time to time. Here this +people, who are named Walloo, built them a town after their northern +fashion out of the black stone which flowed from the mountain in past +ages. But their king, the giant wizard, continued his cruelties to them +forcing them to labour night and day at his city and Great House and a +cave in which he was worshipped as a god, till at last they could bear +no more and murdered him by night. +</p> + +<p> +“Before he died, however, which he took long to do because of his +magic, he mocked them, telling them that not thus would they be rid of +him since he would come back in a worse shape than before and still +rule over them from generation to generation. Moreover, he prophesied +disaster to them and laid this curse upon them, that if they strove to +leave the land that he had chosen, and to cross the ring of mountains +by which it is enclosed, they should die, every one of them. This, +indeed, happened, or so I have heard, since if even one of them travels +down the river, by which alone that country can be approached from the +desert, and sets foot in the desert, he dies, sometimes by sudden +sickness, or sometimes by the teeth of lions and other wild beasts that +live in the great swamp where the river enters the desert, whither the +elephants and other game come to drink from hundreds of miles around.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps fever kills them,” I suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“Maybe so, or poison, or a curse. At least, soon or late they die, and +therefore it comes about that now none of them leaves that land.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what happened to the Walloos after they had finished off this kind +king of theirs?” I asked, for Zikali’s romantic fable interested +me. Of course, I knew that it was a fable, but in such tales, magnified +by native rumour, there is sometimes a grain of truth. Also Africa is a +great country, and in it there are very queer places and peoples. +</p> + +<p> +“Something very bad happened, Macumazahn, for scarcely was their king +dead when the mountain began to belch out fire and hot ashes, which +killed many of them and caused the rest to fly in boats across the lake +that makes an island of the mountain, to the forest lands that lie +around. There they live to this day upon the banks of the river which +flows through the forest, the same that passes through the gorge of the +mountains into the swamp, and there loses itself in the desert sands. +So, at least, my messengers told me a hundred years ago, when they +brought me the medicine that grows in Heu-Heu’s garden.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose that they were afraid to go back to their town after the +eruption was over,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, they were afraid, at which you will not wonder when you see it, +for when the mountain blew up the gases killed very many of them and +what is more, turned them to stone. Aye, there they sit, Macumazahn, to +this day, turned to stone, and with them their dogs and cattle.” +</p> + +<p> +Now at this amazing tale I burst out laughing, and even Hans grinned. +</p> + +<p> +“I have noted, Macumazahn,” said Zikali, “that in the +beginning it is you who always laugh at me, while in the end it is I +who laugh at you, and so I believe it will be in this case also. I tell +you that there those people sit turned to stone, and if it is not so, +you need not pay me for the oxen that I bought from the white man even +should you come back with your pockets full of diamonds.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I bethought me of what happened at Pompeii, and ceased to laugh. +After all, the thing was possible. +</p> + +<p> +“That is one reason why they did not return to their town, even when +the mountain went to sleep again, but there was another, Macumazahn, +that was stronger still. Soon they found that it was haunted.” +</p> + +<p> +“Haunted! By what? By the stone men?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, they are quiet enough, though what their spirits may be I cannot +tell you. Haunted by their king whom they had killed, turned into a +gigantic ape, turned into Heu-Heu.” +</p> + +<p> +Now at this statement I did not laugh, although at first sight it +seemed much more absurd than that of the dead people who had been +petrified. For this reason: as I knew well, it is the commonest of +beliefs among savages, and especially those of Central Africa, that +dead chiefs, notably if they have been tyrants during their life, are +metamorphosed into some terrible animal, which thenceforward persecutes +them from generation to generation. The animal may be a rogue elephant +or a man-killing lion, or perhaps a very poisonous snake. But whatever +shape it takes, it always has this characteristic, that it does not die +and cannot be killed—at any rate, by any of those whom it afflicts. +Indeed, in my own experience I have come across sundry examples of this +belief among natives. Therefore, it did not strike me as strange that +these people should imagine their country to be cursed by the spirit of +a legendary tyrant turned into a monster. +</p> + +<p> +Only in the monster itself I put no faith. If it existed at all +probably it would resolve itself into a large ape, or perhaps a gorilla +living upon an island in the lake where it had become marooned, or +drifted upon a tree in a flood. +</p> + +<p> +“And what does this spirit do?” I asked Zikali incredulously. +“Throw nuts or stones at people?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Macumazahn. According to what I have been told, it does much more. +At times it crosses to the mainland—some say upon a log, some say by +swimming, some say as spirits can. There, if it meets any one, it +twists off his or her head” (here I bethought me of the picture in the +cave), “for no man can fight against its strength, or woman either, +because if she be old and ugly, it serves her in the same fashion, but +if she be young and well favoured, then it carries her away. The island +is said to be full of such women who cultivate the garden of Heu-Heu. +Moreover, it is reported that they have children who cross the lake and +live in the forest—terrible, hairy creatures that are half human, for +they can make fire and use clubs and bows and arrows. These savage +people are named Heuheua. They dwell in the forests, and between them +and the Walloos there is perpetual war.” +</p> + +<p> +“Anything else?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, one thing. At a certain time of the year the Walloos must take +their fairest and best-born maiden and tie her to an appointed rock +upon the shore of the island upon a night of full moon. Then they go +away and leave her alone, returning at sunset.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what do they find?” +</p> + +<p> +“One of two things, Macumazahn; either that the maiden has gone, in +which case they are well pleased, except those of them to whom she is +related, or that she has been torn to pieces, having been rejected by +Heu-Heu, in which case they weep and groan, not for her but for +themselves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why do they rejoice, and why do they weep, Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“For this reason. If the maiden has been taken, Heu-Heu, or his +servants, the Heuheua, will spare them and his priests for that year. +Moreover, their crops will prosper and they be free from sickness. If +she has been killed, he or his servants haunt them, snatching away +other women, and they will have bad harvests; also fever and other ills +fall upon them. Therefore, the Offering of the Maiden is their great +ceremony, which, should she be taken, is followed by the Feast of +Rejoicing, and should she be rejected and slain, by the Fast of +Lamentation and the sacrifice of her parents or others.” +</p> + +<p> +“A pleasant religion, Zikali. Tell me, is it one that pleases these +Walloos?” +</p> + +<p> +“Does any religion please any man, Macumazahn, and do tears, want, +sickness, bereavement, and death please those who are born into the +world? For example, like the rest of us, you white people suffer these +things, or so I have heard; also you have your own Heu-Heu or devil who +claims such sacrifices and yet avenges himself upon you. You are not +pleased with him, still you go on making your sacrifices of war and +blood and all wickedness in return for what he did to you, thereby +binding yourselves to him afresh and confirming his power over you, and +as you do, so do we all. Yet if you and the rest of us would but stand +up against him, perhaps his strength might be broken, or he might be +slain. Why, then, do we continue to sacrifice our maidens of virtue, +truth, and purity to him, and how are we better than those who worship +Heu-Heu, who do so to save their lives?” +</p> + +<p> +I considered his argument, which was subtle for a savage, however old +and instructed, to have evolved from his limited opportunities of +observation, and answered rather humbly, +</p> + +<p> +“I do not suppose that we are better at all.” Then to change the +subject to something more practical, I added, “But what about those +diamonds?” +</p> + +<p> +“The diamonds! Oho! the diamonds, which, by the way, I believe are one +of the offerings that you white people make to your own Heu-Heu. Well, +these people seem to have plenty of them. Of course, they are useless +to them, as they do not trade. Still, the women know that they are +pretty, and fasten them about themselves in little nets of hair after +polishing them upon stone, because they do not know how to make holes +in them, being so hard, and cannot set them in metals. Also they stick +them in the clay of their eating-dishes before these are dried, making +pretty patterns with them. It seems that these stones and others that +are red, are washed down by the river from some desert across which it +flows above, through a tunnel in the mountains, I believe. At any rate, +they find them in plenty in the gravel on its banks, which they set the +children to sift in a closely woven sieve of human hair, or in some +such fashion. Stay, I will show you what they are like, for my +messengers brought me a fistful or two many years ago,” and he clapped +his hands. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly, as before, one of his servants appeared, to whom he gave +certain instructions. The man went, and presently returned with a +little packet of ancient, wrinkled skin that looked like a bit of an +old glove. This he untied and gave to me. Within were a quantity of +small stones that looked and felt like diamonds, very good diamonds, as +I judged from their colour, though none of them were large. Also among +them was a sprinkling of other stones that might have been rubies, +though of this I could not be sure. At a guess I should have estimated +the value of the parcel at £200 or £300. When I had +examined them, I offered them back to Zikali, but he waved his hand and +said, +</p> + +<p> +“Keep them, Macumazahn; keep them. They are no good to me, and when you +come to the land of Heu-Heu, compare them with those you will find +there, just to show yourself that in this matter I do not lie.” +</p> + +<p> +“When I come to the land of Heu-Heu!” I exclaimed indignantly. +“Where, then, is this land, and how am I to reach it?” +</p> + +<p> +“That I propose to tell you to-morrow, Macumazahn, not to-night, since +it would be useless to waste time and breath upon the business until I +know two things: first, whether you will go there, and secondly, +whether the Walloos will receive you if you do go.” +</p> + +<p> +“When I have heard the answer to the second question, we will talk of +the first, Zikali. But why do you try to make a fool of me? These +Walloos and the savage Heuheuas with whom they fight, I understand, +dwell far away. How, then, can you have the answer by to-morrow?” +</p> + +<p> +“There are ways, there are ways,” he answered dreamily, then seemed +to go into a kind of doze with his great head sunk upon his breast. +</p> + +<p> +I stared at him for a while, till, growing weary of the occupation, I +looked about me and noted that of a sudden it was growing dusk. Whilst +I did so I began to hear screechings in the air: sharp, thin +screechings such as are made by rats. +</p> + +<p> +“Look, Baas,” whispered Hans in a frightened voice, “his +spirits come,” and he pointed upwards. +</p> + +<p> +I did look, and far above, as though they were descending from the sky, +saw some wide-winged, flittering shapes, three of them. They descended +in circles very swiftly, and I perceived that they were bats, enormous +and evil-looking bats. Now they were wheeling about us so closely that +twice their outstretched wings touched my face, sending a horrid thrill +through me; and each time that a creature passed, it screeched in my +ear, setting my teeth on edge. +</p> + +<p> +Hans tried to beat away one of them from investigating him, whereon it +clung to his hand and bit his finger, or so I judged from the yell he +gave, after which he dragged his hat down over his head and plunged his +hands into his pockets. Then the bats concentrated their attention upon +Zikali. Round and round him they went in a dizzy whirl which grew +closer and closer, till at last two of them settled on his shoulders +just by his ears, and began to twitter in them, while the third hung +itself on to his chin and thrust its hideous head against his lips. +</p> + +<p> +At this point in the proceedings Zikali seemed to wake up, for his eyes +opened and grew bright, also with his skinny hands he stroked the bats +upon his shoulders as though they were pet birds. More, he seemed to +speak with the creature that hung to his chin, talking in a language +which I could not understand, while it twittered back the answers in +its slate-pencil notes. Then suddenly he waved his arms and all three +of them took flight again, wheeling outwards and upwards, till +presently they vanished in the gloom. +</p> + +<p> +“I tame bats and these are quite fond of me,” he said by way of +explanation, then added, “Come back to-morrow morning, Macumazahn, and +perhaps I shall be able to tell you whether the Walloos wish for a +visit from you, and if so, to show you a road to their country.” +</p> + +<p> +So we went, glad enough to get away, since the Opener-of-Roads, with +his peculiar talk and manifestations, as I believe they call them in +spiritualistic circles, was a person who soon got upon one’s nerves, +especially at nightfall. As we stumbled down that hateful gorge in the +gloom, Hans asked, +</p> + +<p> +“What were those things that hung to Zikali’s shoulders and +chin?” +</p> + +<p> +“Bats, very large bats. What else?” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“I think a great deal else, Baas. I think that they are his familiars +whom he is sending to those Walloos, just as he said.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you believe in the Walloos and the Heuheua then, Hans? I +don’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I do, Baas, and what is more, I believe that we shall visit them, +because Zikali means that we should, and who is there that can fight +against the will of the Opener-of-Roads?” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.<br />ALLAN MAKES A PROMISE</h2> + +<p> +I never could sleep well in the neighbourhood of the Black Kloof. It +always seemed to me to give out evil and disturbing emanations, nor was +this night any exception to the rule. For hour after hour, cogitating +the old wizard’s marvellous tale of the Walloos and Heu-Heu, their +devil-ghost, I lay in the midst of the intense silence of that lonely +place which was broken only by the occasional scream of a night-hawk, +or perhaps of the prey that it gripped, or the echoing bark of some +baboon among the rocks. +</p> + +<p> +The story was foolishness. And yet—and yet there were so many strange +peoples hidden away in the vast recesses of Africa, and some of them +had these extremely queer beliefs or superstitions. Indeed, I began to +wonder whether it is not possible for these superstitions, persisted in +through ages, to produce something concrete, at any rate to the minds +of those whom they affect. +</p> + +<p> +Also there were odd circumstances connected with this tale or romance +that might, in a way, be called corroborative. For instance, the +picture of Heu-Heu in the cave which Zikali, by his infernal arts or +tricks, reproduced in the flame of fire; for instance, the diamonds and +rubies, or crystals and spinels, whichever they might be, that at +present reposed in the pocket of my shooting coat. These, presuming +them to be the former, must have come from some very far-off or hidden +spot, since I had never seen or heard of such in any place that I had +visited, as they were entirely unlike those which, at that time, they +were beginning to find at Kimberley, being, for one thing, much more +water-worn. +</p> + +<p> +Still, the presence of diamonds in a certain district had nothing to do +with the possible existence of a Heu-Heu. Therefore, they proved +nothing, one way or the other. +</p> + +<p> +And if there were a Heu-Heu, did I wish to meet him face to face? In +one sense, not at all, but in another, very much indeed. My curiosity +was always great, and it would be wonderful to behold that which no +white man’s eyes had ever seen, and still more wonderful to struggle +with and kill such a monster. A vision rose before my eyes of Heu-Heu +stuffed in the British Museum with a large painted placard underneath: +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +         <b>Shot in Central +Africa by Allan Quatermain, Esq.</b> +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Why, then I, the most humble and unknown of persons, would become +famous and have my likeness published in the <i>Graphic,</i> and probably +the <i>Illustrated London News</i> also, perhaps with my foot set upon the +breast of the prostrate Heu-Heu. +</p> + +<p> +That, indeed, would be glory! Only Heu-Heu looked a very nasty +customer, and the story might have a wrong ending; his foot might be +set upon my breast, and he might be twisting off my head, as in the +cave picture. Well, in that case the illustrated papers would publish +nothing about it. +</p> + +<p> +Then there was the story of the town full of petrified men and animals. +This must be either true or false, since it lacked ghostly +complications. Although I had never heard of anything of the sort, +there might be such a place, and if so, it would be splendid to be its +discoverer. +</p> + +<p> +Oh, of what was I thinking? Zikali’s yarn must be nonsense, and rank +fiction. Yet it reminded me of something that I had heard in my youth, +which for a long while I could not recall. At last, in a flash, it came +back to me. My old father, who was a learned scholar, had a book of +Grecian legends, and one of these about a lady called Andromeda, the +daughter of a king who, in obedience to popular pressure and in order +to avert calamities from his country, tied her up to a rock, to be +carried off by a monster that rose out of the sea. Then a magically +aided hero of the name of Perseus arrived at the critical moment, +killed the monster and took away the lady to be his wife. +</p> + +<p> +Why, this Heu-Heu story was the same thing over again. The maiden was +tied to a rock; the monster came out of the sea, or rather, the lake, +and carried her off, whereby calamities were duly averted. So similar +was it, indeed, that I began to wonder whether it were not an echo of +the ancient myth that somehow had found its way into Africa. Only +hitherto there had been no Perseus in Heuheua Land. That rôle, +apparently, was reserved for me. And if so, what should I do with the +maiden? Restore her to a grateful family, I suppose, for certainly I +had no intention of marrying her. Oh, I was growing silly with +thinking! I would go to sleep; I <i>would,</i> I <i>wo——</i> +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +A minute or two later, or so it seemed, I woke up thinking, not of +Andromeda, but of the prophet Samuel, and for a while wondered what on +earth could have put this austere patriarch and priest into my head. +Then, being a great student of the Old Testament, I remembered that +autocratic seer’s indignation when he heard the lowing of the oxen +which Saul spared from the general “eating up” of the Amalekites, +as the Zulus would describe it, by divine command. (What was the use of +cutting the throats of all that good stock, personally, I could never +understand.) +</p> + +<p> +Well, in my ears also was the lowing of oxen, which, of course, formed +the connecting link. I marvelled what they could be, for our own were +grazing at a little distance, and poked my head out under the +wagon-hood to perceive a really beautiful team of trek cattle, eighteen +of them, for there were two spare beasts, which had just been driven up +to my camp by two strange Kaffirs. Then, of course, I remembered about +the oxen which Zikali promised to sell me upon easy terms, or under +certain circumstances to give me, and thought to myself that in this +matter, at any rate, he had proved a wizard of his word. +</p> + +<p> +Slipping on my trousers, I descended from the wagon to examine them, +and with the most satisfactory results. They had quite recovered from +their poverty and footsoreness that had caused their former owner to +leave them behind in Zikali’s charge, and were now as fat as butter, +looking as though they would pull anything anywhere. Indeed, even the +critical Hans expressed his unqualified approval of the beasts which, +as he pointed out from various indications, really seemed to be +“salted,” and inoculated also, some of them, as could be seen from +the loss of the ends of their tails. +</p> + +<p> +Having sent them to graze in charge of the Kaffirs who had brought +them, for I did not wish them to mix with my own beasts, which showed +signs of sickness, I breakfasted in excellent spirits, as wherever I +might go I was now set up with draught beasts, and then bethought me of +my undertaking to revisit Zikali. Hans tried to excuse himself from +accompanying me, saying that he wanted to study the new oxen which +those strange Zulus might steal, etc.; the fact being, of course, that +he was afraid of the old wizard, and would not go near him again unless +he were obliged. However, I made him come, since his memory was first +rate, and four ears were better than two when Zikali was concerned. +</p> + +<p> +Off we trudged up the kloof, and as before, without delay, were +admitted within the fence surrounding the witch doctor’s hut, to find +the Opener-of-Roads seated in front of it, as usual with a fire burning +before him. However hot the weather, he always kept that fire going. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you think of the oxen, Macumazahn?” he asked abruptly. +</p> + +<p> +I replied with caution that I would tell him after I had proved them. +</p> + +<p> +“Cunning as ever,” said Zikali. “Well, you must make the best +of them, Macumazahn, and as I told you, you can pay me when you get +back.” +</p> + +<p> +“Get back from where?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“From wherever you are going, which at present you do not know.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I don’t, Zikali,” I said, and was silent. +</p> + +<p> +He also was silent for a long while, so long that at last he outwore my +patience, and I inquired sarcastically whether he had heard from his +friend Heu-Heu, by bat-post. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes, I have heard, or think that I have heard—not by bats, +but perchance by dreams or visions. Oho! Macumazahn, I have caught you +again. Why do you always walk into my snare so easily? You see some +bats, which in truth, as I told you, are but creatures that I have +tamed by feeding them for many years, flitter about me and fly away, +and you half believe that I have sent them a thousand miles to carry a +message and bring back an answer, which is impossible. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I will tell you the truth. Not thus do I communicate with those +who are afar. Nay, I send out my thought and it flies everywhere to the +ends of the earth, so that the whole earth might read it if it could. +Yet perchance it is attuned to one mind only among the millions, by +which mind it can be caught and interpreted. But for the vulgar—yes, +and even for the wise White Man who cannot understand—there remains the +symbol of the bats and their message. Why will you always seek the aid +of magic to explain natural things, Macumazahn?” +</p> + +<p> +Now I reflected that my idea of nature and Zikali’s differed, but +knowing that he was mocking me after his custom, and declining to enter +into argument as though it were beneath me, I said, +</p> + +<p> +“All this is so plain that I wonder you waste breath in setting it out. +I only desired to know if you have any answer to your message, however +it was sent, and if so—what answer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Macumazahn, as it happens I have; it came to me just as I was +waking this morning. This is its substance; that the chief of the +Walloos, with whom my heart talked, and, as he believes, most of his +people, will be very glad to welcome you in their land, though, as he +believes again, the priests of Heu-Heu, who worship him as a god and +are sworn to his service, will not be glad. Should you choose to come, +the chief will give you all that you desire of the river diamonds or +aught else that he possesses, and you can carry away with you, also, +the medicine that <i>I</i> desire. Further, he will protect you from dangers +so far as he is able. Yet for these gifts he requires payment.” +</p> + +<p> +“What payment, Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“The overthrow of Heu-Heu at your hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if I cannot overthrow Heu-Heu, Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then certainly you will be overthrown and the bargain will fall to the +ground.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so? Well, if I go, shall I be killed, Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“Who am I that I should dispense life or death, Macumazahn? Yet,” +he added slowly, separating his words by deliberate pinches of +snuff—“yet I do not think that you will be killed. If I did I +should not trust you to pay me for those oxen on your return. Also I +believe that you have much work left to do in the world—my work, some +of it, Macumazahn, that could not be carried out without you. This +being so, the last thing I should wish would be to send you to your +death.” +</p> + +<p> +I reflected that probably this was true, since always the old wizard +was hinting of some great future enterprise in which we should be mixed +up together; also I knew that he had a regard for me in his own strange +way, and therefore wished me no evil. Moreover, of a sudden a great +longing seized me to undertake this adventure in which perchance I +might see remarkable new things—I who was wearying of the old ones. +However, I hid this, if anything could be hid from Zikali, and asked in +a businesslike fashion, +</p> + +<p> +“Where do you want me to go, how far off is it, and if I went, how +should I get there?” +</p> + +<p> +“Now we begin to handle our assegais, Macumazahn” (by which he +meant that we were coming to business). “Hearken, and I will tell +you.” +</p> + +<p> +Tell me he did indeed for over an hour, but I will not trouble you +fellows with all that he said, since geographical details are wearisome +and I want to get on with my story. You, my friend [this was addressed +to me, the Editor], are only stopping here over to-morrow night, and it +will take me all that time to finish it—that is, if you wish to hear +the end. +</p> + +<p> +It is enough to say, therefore, that I had to trek about three hundred +miles north, cross the Zambesi, and then trek another three hundred +miles west. After this I must travel nor’west for a rather indefinite +distance till I came to a gorge in certain hills. Here I must leave the +wagon, if by this time I had any wagon, and tramp for two days through +a waterless patch of desert till I came to a swamp-like oasis. Here the +river of which Zikali had spoken lost itself in the sands of the +desert, whence I should see on a clear day the smoke of the volcano of +which he had also spoken. Crossing the swamp, or making my way round +it, I must steer for this slope, till at length I came to a second +gorge in mountains, through which the river ran from Heuheua Land out +into the desert. There, according to Zikali, I should find a party of +Walloos waiting for me with canoes or boats, who would take me on into +their country, where things would go as they were fated. +</p> + +<p> +Before you leave, my friend, I will give you a map* of the route, which +I drew after travelling it, in case you or anybody else should like to +form a company and go to look for diamonds and fossilized men in +Heuheua Land, stipulating, however, that you do not ask me to take +shares in the venture. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +*If Allan ever gave me this map, of which, after the lapse of so many +years, I am not sure, I have put it away so carefully that it is +entirely lost, nor do I propose to hunt for it amidst the accumulated +correspondence of some five-and-thirty years. Moreover, if it were found +and published, it might lead to foolish speculation and probable loss of +money among maiden ladies, the clergy, and other venturesome +persons—Editor. +</p> + +<p> +“So that’s the trek,” I said, when at last Zikali had +finished. “Well, I tell you straight out that I am not going to make it +through unknown country. How could I ever find my way without a guide? +I’m off to Pretoria with your oxen or without them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so, Macumazahn? I begin to think that I am very clever. I +thought that you would talk like that and therefore have made ready by +finding a man who will lead you straight to the House of Heu-Heu. +Indeed, he is here, and I will send for him,” and he summoned a servant +in his usual way and gave an order. +</p> + +<p> +“Whence does he come, who is he, and how long has he been here?” I +asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t quite know who he is, Macumazahn, for he does not talk +much about himself, but I understand that he comes from the +neighbourhood of Heuheua Land, or out of it, for aught I know, and he +has been here long enough for me to be able to teach him something of +our Zulu language, though that does not matter much since you know +Arabic well, do you not?” +</p> + +<p> +“I can talk it, Zikali, and so can Hans, a little.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, that is his tongue, Macumazahn, or so I believe, which will make +things easier. I may tell you at once that he is a strange sort of man, +not in the least like any one you would expect, but of that you will +judge for yourself.” +</p> + +<p> +I made no answer, but Hans whispered to me that doubtless he was one of +the children of Heu-Heu and just like a great monkey. Although he spoke +in a very low voice, and at a distance Zikali seemed to overhear him, +for he remarked, +</p> + +<p> +“Then you will feel as though you had found a new brother, is it not +so, Light-in-Darkness?” which, if I have not said so before, was a +title that Hans had earned upon a certain honourable occasion. +</p> + +<p> +Thereon Hans grew silent, since he dared not show his resentment of +this comparison of himself to a monkey to the mighty Opener-of-Roads. +I, too, was silent, being occupied with my own reflections, for now, in +a flash, as it were, I saw the whole trick stripped bare of its +mysterious and pseudo-magical trappings. A messenger from some strange +and distant country had come to Zikali, demanding his help for reasons +that I did not know. +</p> + +<p> +This he had determined to give through me, whom he thought suited to +the purpose. Hence his bribe of the oxen, the news of which he had +conveyed to me while I was still far off, having in some way become +acquainted with my dilemma. Indeed, it looked as though everything had +been part of a plan, though of course this was not possible, since +Zikali could not have arranged that I should take shelter in a +particular cave during a thunderstorm. +</p> + +<p> +The sum of it was, however, that I should serve his turn, though what +exactly that might be I did not know. He said that he wanted to obtain +the leaves of a certain tree, which perhaps was true, but I felt sure +that there was more behind. +</p> + +<p> +Possibly his curiosity was excited and he desired information about a +distant, secret people, since for knowledge of every kind he had a +perfect lust. Or perhaps in some occult fashion this Heu-Heu, if there +were a Heu-Heu, might be a rival who stood between him and his plans, +and therefore was one to be removed. +</p> + +<p> +Allowing ninety per cent. of Zikali’s supernatural powers to be pure +humbug, without doubt the remaining ten per cent. were genuine. +Certainly he lived and moved and had his being upon a different plane +from that of ordinary mortals, and was in touch with things and powers +of which we are ignorant. Also as I have reason to know, though I do +not trouble you with instances, he was in touch with others of the same +class or hierarchy throughout Africa—yes, thousands of miles +distant—of whom some may have been his friends and some his enemies but +all were mighty in their way. +</p> + +<p> +While I was reflecting thus and old Zikali was reading my thoughts—as I +am sure he did, for I saw him smile in his grim manner and nod his +great head as though in approval of my acumen—the servant returned from +somewhere, ushering in a tall figure picturesquely draped in a fur +kaross that covered his head as well as his body. Arrived in front of +us, this person threw off the kaross and bowed in salutation, first to +Zikali and then to myself. Indeed, so great was his politeness that he +even honoured Hans in the same way, but with a slighter bow. +</p> + +<p> +I looked at him in amazement, as well I might, since before me stood +the most beautiful man that I had ever seen. He was tall, something +over six feet high, and superbly shaped, having a deep chest, a sinewy +form, and hands and feet that would have done credit to a Greek statue. +His face, too, was wonderful, if rather sombre, perfectly chiselled and +almost white in colour, with great dark eyes, and there was something +about it that suggested high and ancient blood. He looked, indeed, as +though he had just stepped straight out of the bygone ages. He might +have been an inhabitant of the lost continent of Atlantis or a +sun-burned old Greek, for his hair, which was chestnut brown, curled +tightly, even where it hung down upon his shoulders, though none grew +upon his chin or about the curved lips. Perhaps he was shaven. In +short, he was a glorious specimen of mankind, differing from any other +I had seen. +</p> + +<p> +His costume, too, was striking and peculiar, although dilapidated; +indeed, it might have been rifled from the body of an Egyptian Pharaoh. +It consisted of a linen robe that seemed to be twisted about him, which +was broidered at the edges with faded purple, a tall and battered linen +headdress shaped like the lower half of a soda-water bottle reversed +and coming to a point, a leather apron narrow at the top but broadening +towards the knees, also broidered, and sandals of the same material. +</p> + +<p> +I stared at him amazed, wondering whether he belonged to some people +unknown to me, or was another of Zikali’s illusions, and so did Hans, +for his muddy little eyes nearly fell out of his head and he asked me +in a whisper, +</p> + +<p> +“Is he a man, Baas, or a spirit?” +</p> + +<p> +For the rest the stranger wore a plain torque or necklet apparently of +gold, and about him was girdled a cross-hilted sword with an ivory +handle and a red sheath. +</p> + +<p> +For a while this remarkable person stood before us, his hands folded +and his head bent in a humble fashion, though it was really I who +should have been humble, owing to the physical contrast between us. +Apparently he did not think it proper to speak first, while Zikali +squatted there grimly, not helping me at all. At last, seeing that +something must be done, I rose from the stool upon which I was seated +and held out my hand. After a moment’s hesitation the splendid stranger +took it, but not to shake in the usual fashion, for he bent his head +and gently touched my fingers with his lips, as though he were a French +courtier and I a pretty lady. I bowed again with the best grace I could +command, then putting my hand in my trouser pocket, said, “How do you +do?” and as he did not seem to understand, repeated it in the Zulu +word, “<i>Sakubona.</i>” This also failing, I greeted him in the +name of the Prophet in my best Arabic. +</p> + +<p> +Here I struck oil, as an American friend of mine named Brother John +used to say, for he replied in the same tongue, or something like it. +Speaking in a soft and pleasing voice, but without alluding to the +Prophet, he addressed me as “Great Lord Macumazahn, whose fame and +prowess echo across the earth,” and a lot of other nonsense, with which +I could see that Zikali had stuffed him, that may be omitted. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” I cut in, “thank you, Mr.——?” +and I paused. +</p> + +<p> +“My name is Issicore,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“And a very nice name, too, though I never heard one like it,” I +replied. “Well, Issicore, what can I do for you?” An inadequate +remark, I admit, but I wanted to come to the facts. +</p> + +<p> +“Everything,” he answered fervently, pressing his hands to his +breast. “You can save from death a most beautiful lady who will love +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will she?” I exclaimed. “Then I will have nothing to do with +that business, which always leads to trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +Here Zikali broke in for the first time, speaking very slowly to +Issicore in Zulu, which I remembered he said he had been teaching him, +and saying, +</p> + +<p> +“The Lord Macumazahn is already full of woman’s love and has no +room for more. Speak not to him of love, O Issicore, lest you should +anger the ghost of one who haunts this spot, a certain royal Mameena +whom once he knew too well.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I turned upon Zikali, purposing to give him a piece of my mind, +when Issicore, smiling a little, repeated, +</p> + +<p> +“Who will love you—as a brother.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s better,” I said, “though I don’t know +that I want to take on a sister at my time of life, but I suppose you +mean that she will be much obliged?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is so, O Lord. Also the reward will be great.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” I replied, really interested. “Now be so good as to +tell me exactly what you want.” +</p> + +<p> +Well, to cut a long story short, with variations he repeated Zikali’s +tale. I was to travel to his remote land, bring about the destruction +of a nebulous monster, or fetish, or system of religion, and in payment +to be given as many diamonds as I could carry. +</p> + +<p> +“But why can’t you get rid of your own devil?” I asked. +“You look a warrior and are big and strong.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” he replied gently, spreading out his hands in an appealing +fashion, “I am strong and I trust that I am brave, but it cannot be. No +man of my people can prevail against the god of my people, if so he may +be called. Even to revile him openly would bring a curse upon us; +moreover, his priests would murder us——” +</p> + +<p> +“So he has priests?” I interrupted. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lord, the god has priests sworn to his service, evil men as he is +evil. O Lord, come, I beseech you, and save Sabeela the beautiful.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why are you so interested in this lady?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, because she loves me—not as a brother—and I love her. +She, the great Lady of my land and my cousin, is my betrothed and, if +the god is not overthrown, as the fairest of all our maidens she will +be taken by the god.” Here emotion seemed to overcome him, very real +emotion, which touched me, for he bowed his head and I saw tears +trickle down from his dark eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Hearken, Lord,” he went on, “there is an ancient prophecy in +my land that this god of ours, whose hideous shape hides the spirit of +a long-dead chief, can only be destroyed by one of another race who can +see in the night, some man of great valour destined to be born in due +season. Now through our dream-doctors I caused inquiry to be made of +this Master of Spirits, who is named Zikali, for I was in despair and +knew what must happen at the appointed time. From him I learned that +there lived in the south such a man as is spoken of in the prophecy and +that his name meant Watcher-by-Night. Then I dared the journey and the +curse and came to seek you, and lo! I have found you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “you have found one whose native name +means Watcher-by-Night, but who cannot see in the dark better than any +one else, and is not a hero or very brave, but only a trader and a +hunter of wild beasts. Yet I tell you, Issicore, that I do not wish to +interfere with your gods and priests and tribal matters, or to give +battle to some great ape, if it exists, on the chance of earning a +pocketful of bright stones should I live to take them away, and of +getting a bundle of leaves that this doctor desires. You had better +seek some other white man with eyes like a cat’s and more strength and +courage, Issicore.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can I seek another when, without doubt, you are the one appointed, +Lord? If you will not come, then I return to die with Sabeela, and all +is finished.” +</p> + +<p> +He paused a few moments, and continued, “Lord, I can offer you little, +but is not a good deed its own reward, and will not the memory of it +feed your heart through life and death? Because you are noble I beseech +you to come, not for what you may gain, but just because you are noble +and will save others from cruelty and wrong. I have spoken—choose.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you not bring Zikali his accursed leaves yourself?” I +asked furiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, I could not come to the place where that tree grows in the +garden of Heu-Heu; nor, indeed, did I know that this Master of Spirits +needed that medicine. Lord, be noble according to your nature, which is +known afar.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I tell you fellows when I heard this I felt flattered. We all think +that we are noble at times, but there are precious few who tell us so, +and therefore the thing came as a pleasant surprise from this +extraordinarily dignified, handsome and, it would appear in his own +fashion, well-educated son of Ham—if he were a son of Ham. To my mind, +he looked more like a prince in disguise, somebody of unknown but +highly distinguished race who had walked out of a fairy book. But when +I came to think of it, that was exactly what he said he was. Anyway, he +was a most discriminating person with a singular insight into +character. (It did not occur to me at the moment that Zikali was also a +discriminating person with an insight into character which had induced +him to bring us two together for secret purposes of his own. Or that, +in order to impress me, he had stuffed Issicore with the story of a +predestined white man, told of in prophecy, who could see in the dark, +as, without doubt, he had done.) +</p> + +<p> +Also the adventure proposed was of an order so wild and unusual that it +drew me like a magnet. Supposing that I lived to old age, could I, +Allan Quatermain, bear to look back and remember that I had turned down +an opportunity of that sort and was departing into the grave without +knowing if there was or was not a Heu-Heu who snatched away lovely +Andromedas—I mean Sabeelas—off rocks, and combined in his hideous +personality the qualities of a god or fetish, a ghost, a devil, and a +super-gorilla? +</p> + +<p> +Could I bury my two humble talents of adventure and straight shooting +in that fashion? Really, I thought not, for if I did, how could I face +my own conscience in those last failing years? And yet there was so +much to be said on the other side into which I need not enter. In the +end, being unable to make up my mind, I fell into weakness and +determined to refer the matter to fate. Yes, I determined to toss up, +using Hans for the spinning coin. +</p> + +<p> +“Hans,” I said in Dutch, a tongue which neither of the other two +understood, “shall we travel to this man’s country, or shall we +stay in our own? You have heard all; speak and I will accept your +judgment. Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas,” said Hans, twirling his hat in his vacant fashion, +“I understand that the Baas, as is usual when he is in a deep pit, +seeks the wisdom of Hans to get him out—of Hans who has brought him up +from a child and taught him most of what he knows; of Hans upon whom +his Reverend Father, the Predikant, used to lean as upon a staff, that +is, after he had made him into a good Christian. But the matter is +important, and before I give my judgment that will settle it one way or +another, I would ask a few questions.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he wheeled round, and, addressing the patient Issicore in his vile +Arabic, said, +</p> + +<p> +“Long Baas with a hooked nose, tell me, do you know the way back to +this country of yours, and if so, how much of it can be travelled in a +wagon?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do,” answered Issicore, “and all of it can be travelled in +a wagon until the first range of hills is reached. Also along it there +is plenty of game and water, except in the desert of which you have +been told. The journey should take about three moons, though, myself +alone, I accomplished it in two.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good, and if my Baas, Macumazahn, comes to your country, how will he +be received?” +</p> + +<p> +“Well by most of the people, but not well by the priests of Heu-Heu, if +they think he comes to harm the god, and certainly not well by the +Hairy Folk who live in the forest, who are called the Children of the +god. With these he must be prepared to war, though the prophecy says +that he will conquer all of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there plenty to eat in your country, and is there tobacco, and +something better than water to drink, Long Baas?” +</p> + +<p> +“There is plenty of all these things. There is wealth of every kind, O +Counsellor of the White Lord, and all of them shall be his and yours, +though,” he added with meaning, “those who have to deal with the +priests of the god and the Hairy Folk would do well to drink water, +lest they should be found asleep.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you guns there?” Hans asked, pointing to my rifle. +</p> + +<p> +“No, our weapons are swords and spears, and the Hairy Folk shoot with +arrows from bows.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans ceased from his questions and began to yawn as though he were +tired, as he did so, staring up at the sky where some vultures were +wheeling. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he said, “how many vultures do you see up there? Is +it seven or eight? I have not counted them but I think there are +seven.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Hans, there are eight; one, the highest, was hid behind a +cloud.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are quite sure that there are eight, Baas?” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite,” I answered angrily. “Why do you ask such silly +questions when you can count for yourself?” +</p> + +<p> +Hans yawned again and said, “Then we will go with this fine, hook-nosed +Baas to the country of Heu-Heu. That is settled.” +</p> + +<p> +“What the deuce do you mean, Hans? What on earth has the number of +vultures got to do with the matter?” +</p> + +<p> +“Everything, Baas. You see, the burden of this choice was too heavy for +my shoulders, so I lifted my eyes and put up a prayer to your Reverend +Father to help me, and in doing so saw the vultures. Then your Reverend +Father in the heaven above seemed to say to me, ‘If there are an even +number of vultures, Hans, then go; if an odd number, then stop where +you are. But, Hans, do not count the vultures. Make my son, the Baas +Allan, count them, for then he will not be able to grumble at you if +things turn out badly whether you go or whether you stay behind, and +say that you counted wrong or cheated.’ And now, Baas, I have had +enough of this, and should like to return to our outspan and examine +those new oxen.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked at Hans, speechless with indignation. In my cowardice I had +left it to his cunning and experience to decide this matter, virtually +tossing up, as I have said. And what had the little rascal done? He had +concocted one of his yarns about my poor old father and tossed up in +his turn, going odd or even on the number of the vultures which he made +<i>me</i> count! So angry was I that I lifted my foot with meaning, whereon +Hans, who had been expecting something of the sort, bolted, and I did +not see him again until I got back to the camp. +</p> + +<p> +“Oho! Oho!” laughed Zikali, “Oho!” while the dignified +Issicore studied the scene with mild astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +Then I turned on Zikali, saying, “A cheat I have called you before, and +a cheat I call you again, with all your nonsense about bat-messengers +and the tale you have taught to this man as to a prophecy of his +people, and the rest. <i>There</i> is the bat who brought the message, or +the dream, or the vision, or whatever you like to call it, and all the +while he was hidden beneath your eaves,” and I pointed to Issicore. +“And now I have been tricked into saying that I will go upon this +fool’s errand, and as I do not turn my back upon my word, go I +must.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you, Macumazahn?” asked Zikali innocently. “You talked +with Light-in-Darkness in Dutch, which neither I nor this man +understood, and therefore we did not know what you said. But, as out of +the honesty of your heart you have told us, we understand now, and of +course we know, as everyone knows, that your word once spoken is worth +all the writings of all the white men put together, and that only death +or sickness will prevent you from accompanying Issicore to his own +country. Oho ho! It has all come about as I would have it, for reasons +with which I will not trouble you, Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I saw that I was doubly tricked, hit, as it were, with the right +barrel by Hans and with the left by Zikali. To tell the truth, I had +quite forgotten that he did not understand Dutch, although I remembered +it when I began to use that tongue, and that therefore it did not in +the least matter what I had said privately to Hans. But if Zikali did +not understand Dutch, of which after all I am not so sure, at any rate +he understood human nature, and could read thoughts, for he went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Do not boil within yourself, like a pot with a stone on its lid, +Macumazahn, because your crafty foot has slipped and you have repeated +publicly in one tongue what you had already said secretly in another, +and therefore made a promise to both of us. For all the while, +Macumazahn, you had made that promise and your white heart would not +have suffered you to swallow it again just because we could not hear it +with our ears. No, that great white heart of yours would have risen +into your throat and shut it fast. So kick away the burning sticks from +beneath the water of your anger and let it cease from boiling, and go +forth as you have promised, to see wonderful things and do wonderful +deeds and snatch the pure and innocent out of the hands of evil gods or +men.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and burn my fingers, scooping your porridge out of the blazing +pot, Zikali,” I said with a snort. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps, Macumazahn, perhaps, for if I had no porridge to be saved, +should I have taken all this trouble? But what does that matter to you, +to the brave White Lord who seeks the truth as a thrown spear seeks the +heart of the foe? You will find plenty of truth yonder, Macumazahn, new +truth, and what does it matter if the spear is a little red after it +has reached the heart of things? It can be cleaned again, Macumazahn, +it can be cleaned, and amidst many other services, you will have done +one to your old friend, Zikali the Cheat.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Here Allan glanced at the clock and stopped. +</p> + +<p> +“I say—do you know what the time is?” he said. “Twenty +minutes past one—by the head of Chaka. If you fellows want to finish +the story to-night, you can do so for yourselves according to taste. +I’m off, or out shooting to-morrow I shan’t hit a haystack +sitting.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br />THE BLACK RIVER</h2> + +<p> +On the following evening, pleasantly tired after a capital day’s +shooting and a good dinner, once more the four of us—Curtis, Good, +myself (the Editor) and old Allan—were gathered round the fire in his +comfortable den at “The Grange.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now then, Allan,” I said, “get on with your tale.” +</p> + +<p> +“What tale?” he asked, pretending to forget, for he was always a +bad starter where his own reminiscences were concerned. +</p> + +<p> +“That about the monkey-man and the fellow who looked like Apollo,” +answered Good. “I dreamt about it all night, and that I rescued the +lady—a dark girl dressed in blue—and that just as I was about to +receive a well-earned kiss of thanks, she changed her mind and turned +into stone.” +</p> + +<p> +“Which is just what she would have done if she had any sense in her +head and you were concerned, Good,” said Allan severely, adding, +“Perhaps it was your dream that made you shoot more vilely than usual +to-day. I saw you miss eight cock pheasants in succession at that last +corner.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I saw you kill eighteen in succession at the first,” replied +Good cheerily, “so you see the average was all right. Now then, get on +with the romance. I like romance in the evening after a dose of the +hard facts of life in the shape of impossible cock pheasants.” +</p> + +<p> +“Romance!” began Allan indignantly. “Am I romantic? Pray do +not confuse me with yourself, Good.” +</p> + +<p> +Here I intervened imploring him not to waste time in arguing with Good, +who was unworthy of his notice, and at last, mollified, he began. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now I am in a hurry and want to be done with this job that dries up my +throat—who, having lived so much alone, am not used to talking like a +politician—and makes me drink more whisky and water than I ought. You +are in a hurry, too, all of you, especially Good, who wants to get to +the end of the story in order that he may argue about it and try to +show that he would have managed much better, and you, my friend, +because you have to leave to-morrow morning early and must see to your +packing before you get to bed. Therefore, I am going to skip a lot, all +about our journey, for instance, although, in fact, it was one of the +most interesting treks I ever made, and for much of the way through a +country that was quite new to me, about which one might write a book. +</p> + +<p> +I will simply say, therefore, that in due course after some necessary +delay to re-pack the wagon, leaving behind all articles that were not +wanted in Zikali’s charge, we trekked from the Black Kloof. The oxen +that I had bought—on credit—from Zikali were in the yokes, and we +drove with us his two extra beasts as well as four of the best of my +old team to serve as spares. +</p> + +<p> +Also I took, in addition to my own driver and voorlooper, Mavoon and +Induka, two other Zulus, Zikali’s servants, who I knew would be +faithful because they feared their terrible master, although I knew +also that they would spy upon me and, if ever they returned alive, make +report of everything to him. +</p> + +<p> +Well, leaving out all the details of this remarkable trek in which we +met with no fighting, disasters, or great troubles and always had +plenty to eat, game being numerous throughout, I will take up the tale +on our arrival, safe and sound, at the first line of hills that I show +upon the map, of which Zikali had spoken as bordering the desert. Here +we were obliged to leave the wagon, for it was impossible to get it +over the hills or through the desert beyond. +</p> + +<p> +This, fortunately, we were able to do at a little village of peaceable +folk who lived in a charming and well-watered situation, and, having no +near neighbours, were able to cultivate their lands unmolested. I +placed it in the charge of Mavoon and Induka, whom I could trust and +who would not run away, also the oxen, of which, by good fortune, we +had only lost three. With them, as Issicore declared that we must go on +alone, I left Zikali’s servants, knowing that they would keep an eye +upon my men, and my men on them, and promised the headman of the +village a good present if we found everything safe on our return. +</p> + +<p> +He said that he would do his best, but added impressively—he was a +melancholy person—that if we were going to the country of Heu-Heu we +never should return, as it was a land of devils. In that event he asked +what was to happen to the wagon and goods. I replied that I had given +orders that if I did not reappear within a year, it was to trek back to +whence we came and announce that we were gone, but that he need not be +afraid as, being a great magician, I knew that we should be back long +before that time. +</p> + +<p> +He shrugged his shoulders, looking doubtfully at Issicore, and there +the conversation ended. However, I persuaded him to lend us three of +his people to guide us across the mountains and to carry water through +the desert on the understanding that they should be allowed to return +as soon as we sighted the swamp. Nothing would induce them to go nearer +to the country of Heu-Heu. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +So in due course off we started, leaving Mavoon and Induka almost in +tears, for the gloom of the headman had spread to them and they too +believed that they would see us no more. Hans, it is true, they never +would have missed, since they hated him as he hated them, but in my +case the matter was different because they loved me in their own way. +</p> + +<p> +Our baggage was light: rifles (I took a double-barrelled Express), as +much ammunition as we could manage, some medicines, blankets, etc., a +few spare clothes and boots for myself, a couple of revolvers and as +many vessels of one sort or another as possible to carry water, +including two paraffin tins slung at either end of a piece of wood +after the fashion of a milkman’s yoke. Also we had tobacco, a good +supply of matches, candles, and a bundle of dried biltong to eat in +case we found no game. It doesn’t sound much, but before we got across +that desert I felt inclined to throw away half of it; indeed, I don’t +think we could have got the stuff over the mountain pass, which proved +to be precipitous, without the assistance of the three water-bearers. +</p> + +<p> +It took us twelve hours to reach and cross that mountain’s crest, just +beneath which we camped, and another six to descend the other side next +day. At its foot was thin, tussocky grass with occasional thorn trees +growing in a barren veldt that by degrees merged into desert. By the +last water we camped for the second night; then, having filled up all +our vessels, started out into the arid, sandy wilderness. +</p> + +<p> +Now, you fellows know what an African desert is, for we went through a +worse one than this on our journey to Solomon’s Mines. Still, the +particular specimen I am speaking of was pretty bad. To begin with, the +heat was tremendous. Then, in parts, it consisted of rolling slopes or +waves of sand, up which we must scramble and down which we must slide—a +most exhausting process. Further, there grew in it a variety of +thick-leaved plant with sharp spines that, if touched, caused a painful +soreness, which abominable and useless growths made it impossible to +travel at night, or even if the light were low, when they could not be +seen and avoided. +</p> + +<p> +We spent three days crossing that wretched desert, that had another +peculiarity. Here and there in its waste, columns of stones, polished +by the blowing sand, stood up like obelisks, sometimes in one piece, +monoliths, and sometimes in several, piled on each other. I suppose +that they were the remains of strata: hard cores that had resisted the +action of wind and water, which in the course of thousands or millions +of years had worn away the softer rock, grinding it to dust. +</p> + +<p> +Those obelisk-like columns gave a very strange appearance to that +wilderness, suggesting the idea of monuments; also, incidentally, they +were useful, since it was by them that our water-bearing guides, who +were accustomed to haunt the place to kill ostriches or to steal their +eggs, steered their path. Of these ostriches we saw a good number, +which showed that the desert could not be so very wide, since in it +there seemed to be nothing for them to live on, unless they ate the +prickly plants. There was no other life in the place. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately, by dint of economy and self-denial, our water held out, +until on the afternoon of the third day, as we trudged along parched +and weary, from the crest of one of the sand waves we saw far off a +patch of dense green that marked the end, or, rather, the beginning, of +the swamp. Now our agreement with the guides was that when they came in +sight of this swamp they should return, for which purpose we had saved +some of the water for them to drink on their homeward journey. +</p> + +<p> +After a brief consultation, however, they determined to come on with +us, and when I asked why, wheeled round and pointed to dense clouds +that were gathering in the heavens behind us. These clouds, they +explained, foretold a sand tempest in which no man could live in the +desert. Therefore they urged us forward at all speed; indeed, exhausted +as we were, we covered the last three miles between us and the edge of +the swamp at a run. As we reached the reeds the storm burst, but still +we plunged forward through them, till we came to a spot where they grew +densely and where, by digging pits in the mud with our hands, we could +get water which, thick as it was, we drank greedily. Here we crouched +for hours while the storm raged. +</p> + +<p> +It was a terrific sight, for now the face of the desert behind was +hidden by clouds of driven sand, which even among the reeds fell upon +us thickly, so that occasionally we had to rise to shake its weight off +us. Had we still been in the desert, we should have been buried alive. +As it was we escaped, though half choked and with our skins fretted by +the wear of the particles of sand. +</p> + +<p> +So we squatted all night till before dawn the storm ceased and the sun +rose in a perfectly clear sky. Having drunk more water, of which we +seemed to need enormous quantities, we struggled back to the edge of +the swamp and from the crest of a sand wave looked about us. Issicore +stretched out his arm towards the north and touched me on the shoulder. +I looked, and far away, staining the delicate blue of the heavens, +perceived a dark, mushroom-shaped patch of vapour. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a cloud,” I said. “Let us go back to the reeds; the +storm is returning.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Lord,” he answered, “it is the smoke from the Fire +Mountain of my country.” +</p> + +<p> +I studied it and said nothing, reflecting, however, that in this +particular, at any rate, Zikali had not lied. If so, was it not +possible that he had spoken truth about other matters also? If there +existed a volcano as yet unreported by any explorer, might there not +also be a buried city filled with petrified people, and even a Heu-Heu? +No, in Heu-Heu I could not believe. +</p> + +<p> +Here, after they had filled themselves and their gourds with water, the +three natives from the village left us, saying that they would go no +farther and that they could now depart safely as the sandstorm would +not return for some weeks. They added that our magic must be very +strong, since had we delayed even for a few hours we should certainly +all have been killed. +</p> + +<p> +So they departed, and we camped by the reeds, hoping to rest after our +exhausting journey. In this, however, we were disappointed, for as soon +as the sun went down we became aware that this vast area of swampy land +was the haunt of countless game that came thither, I suppose, from all +the country round in order to drink and to fill themselves with its +succulent growths. +</p> + +<p> +By the light of the moon I saw great herds of elephants appearing out +of the shadows and marching majestically towards the water. Also there +were troops of buffalo, some of which broke out of the reeds showing +that they had hidden there during the day, and almost every kind of +antelope in plenty, while in the morass itself we could hear sea cows +wallowing and grunting, and great splashes which I suppose were caused +by frightened crocodiles leaping into pools. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was this all, since so much animal life upon which they could prey +attracted many lions that coughed and roared and slew according to +their nature. Whenever one of them sprang on to some helpless buck, a +stampede of all the game in the neighbourhood would follow. The noise +they made crashing through the reeds was terrific, so much so that +sleep was impossible. Moreover, there was always a possibility that the +lions might be tempted to try a change of diet and eat us, especially +as we had no bushes with which to form a <i>boma</i>, or fence. So we made a +big fire of dry, last year’s reeds, of which, fortunately, there were +many standing near, and kept watch. +</p> + +<p> +Once or twice I saw the long shape of a lion pass us, but I did not +fire for fear lest I should wound the beast only and perhaps cause it +to charge. In short, the place was a veritable sportsman’s paradise, +and yet quite useless from a hunter’s point of view, since, if he +killed elephants, it would be impossible to carry the ivory across the +desert, and only a boy desires to slaughter game in order to leave it +to rot. At dawn, it is true, I did shoot a reed-buck for food, which +was the only shot I fired. +</p> + +<p> +As amidst all this hubbub the idea of sleep must be abandoned, I took +the opportunity to question Issicore about his country and what lay +before us there. During our journey I had not talked much to him on the +matter, since he seemed very silent and reserved, all his energies +being concentrated upon pushing forward as quickly as possible; also, +there was no object in doing so while we were still far away. Now, +however, I thought that the time had come for a talk. +</p> + +<p> +In answer to my queries, he said that if we travelled hard, by marching +round the narrow western end of the swamp, in three days we should +arrive at the mouth of the gorge down which the river ran that flowed +through the mountains surrounding his country. These mountains, I +should add, we had sighted as a black line in the distance almost as +soon as we entered the desert, which showed that they were high. Here, +if we reached it without accident, he hoped to find a boat waiting in +which we could be paddled to his town, though why anybody should be +expecting us I could not elicit from him. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving that question unsolved, I asked him about this town and its +inhabitants. He replied that it was large and contained a great number +of people, though not so many as it used to do in bygone generations. +The race was dwindling, partly from intermarriage and partly because of +the terror in which they lived, that made the women unwilling to bear +children lest these should be snatched away by the Hairy Folk who dwelt +in the surrounding forest, or perhaps sacrificed to the god himself. I +inquired whether he really believed that there was such a god, and he +replied with earnestness that certainly he did, as once he had seen +him, though from some way off, and he was so awful that description was +impossible. I must judge of him for myself when we met—an occasion that +I began to wish might be avoided. +</p> + +<p> +I cross-examined him persistently about this god, but with small +result, for the subject seemed to be one on which he did not care to +dwell. I gathered, however, that he, Issicore, had been in a canoe when +he saw Heu-Heu on a rock at dawn, surrounded by women, upon the +occasion of some sacrifice, and that he had not looked much at him +because he was afraid to do so. He noted, however, that he was taller +than a man and walked stiffly. He added that Heu-Heu never came to the +mainland, though his priests did. +</p> + +<p> +Then, dropping the subject of Heu-Heu, he went on to tell me of the +system of government amongst the Walloos, which, it appeared, was an +hereditary chieftainship that could be held either by men or women. The +present chief, an old man, like the people was named Walloo, as indeed +were all the chiefs of the tribe in succession, for “Walloo” was +really a title which he thought had come with them from whatever land +they inhabited in the dark, forgotten ages. He had but one child +living, a daughter, the lady Sabeela, of whom he had spoken to me at +the hut of the Opener-of-Roads, she who was doomed to sacrifice. He, +Issicore, was her second cousin, being descended from the brother of +her grandfather, and therefore of the pure Walloo blood. +</p> + +<p> +“Then if this lady died, I suppose you would be the chief, +Issicore?” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lord, by descent,” he answered; “yet perhaps not so. +There is another power in the land greater than that of the kings or +chiefs—the power of the priests of Heu-Heu. It is their purpose, Lord, +should Sabeela die, to seize the chieftainship for themselves. A +certain Dacha, who is also of the pure Walloo blood, is the chief +priest, and he has sons to follow him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then it is to this Dacha’s interest that Sabeela should +die?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is to his interest, Lord, that she should die and I also, or, +better still, both of us together, for then his path would be clear.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what of her father, the Walloo? He cannot desire the death of his +only child.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Lord, he loves her much and desires that she should marry me. +But, as I have said, he is an old man and terror-haunted. He fears the +god, who already has taken one of his daughters; he fears the priests, +who are the oracles of the god, and, it is said, murdered his son as +they have striven to murder me. Therefore, being frozen by fear, he is +powerless, and without his leadership none can act, since all must be +done in the name of the Walloo and by his authority. Yet it was he who +sent me to seek for help from the great wizard of the South with whom +he and his fathers have had dealings in bygone years. Yes, because of +the ancient prophecy that the god could only be overthrown and the +tyranny of the priests be broken by a white man from the South, he sent +me, who am the betrothed of his daughter, secretly and without the +knowledge of Dacha, and because of Sabeela I dared the curse and went, +for which deed perchance I must pay dearly. He it is also who watches +for my return.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if he exists, which you have not proved to me, how am I to kill +this god, Issicore? By shooting him?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Lord. It is believed that he cannot be harmed by +weapons, over whom only fire and water have power, since legend tells +that he came out of the fire and certainly he lives surrounded by +water. The prophecy does not say how he will be killed by the stranger +from the South.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, listening to this weird talk in that wild-beast-peopled wilderness +from the mouth of a man who evidently was very frightened, and wearied +as I was, I confess that I grew frightened also, and wished most +heartily that I had never been beguiled into this adventure. Probably +the terrible god, of whom I could learn no details, question as I +would, was nothing but an invention of the priests, or perhaps one of +their number disguised. But, however this might be, no doubt I was +travelling to a fetish-ridden land in which witchcraft and murder were +rampant; in short, one of Satan’s peculiar possessions. Yes, I, Allan +Quatermain, was brought here to play the part of a modern Hercules and +clean out this Augean stable of bloodshed and superstitions, to say +nothing of fighting the lion in the shape of Heu-Heu, always supposing +that there was a Heu-Heu, a creature taller than a man that “walked +stiffly,” whom Issicore believed he had once seen from a distance at +dawn. +</p> + +<p> +However, I was in for it, and to show fear would be as useless as it +was undignified, since, unless I turned and ran back into the desert, +which my pride would never suffer me to do, I could see no escape. +Having put my hand to the plough I must finish the furrow. So I sat +silent, making no comment upon Issicore’s rather nebulous information. +Only after a while I asked him casually when this sacrifice was to take +place, to which he replied with evident agitation, +</p> + +<p> +“On the night of the full harvest moon, which is this moon, fourteen +days from now; wherefore we must hurry, since at best it will take us +five days to reach the town of Walloo, three in travelling round the +swamp and two upon the river. Do not delay, Lord, I pray you do not +delay, lest we should be too late and find Sabeela gone.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered, “I shall not be late, and I can assure you, +my friend Issicore, that the sooner I am through with this business one +way or another, the better I shall be pleased. And now that all those +beasts in the swamp seem to have grown a little quieter I will try to +go to sleep.” +</p> + +<p> +Happily I was successful in this effort and obtained several hours’ +sound rest, which I needed sorely, before the sun appeared and Hans +woke me. I rose, and, taking my rifle, shot a fat reed-buck, which I +selected out of a number which stood quite close by, a young female off +which we breakfasted, for, as you know, if the meat of antelopes is +cooked before it grows cold it is often as tender as though it had been +hung for a week. The odd thing was that the sound of the shot did not +seem to disturb the other beasts at all; evidently they had never heard +anything of the sort before, and thought that their companion was just +lying down. +</p> + +<p> +An hour later we started on our long tramp round the edge of that +swamp. I did not like to march before for fear lest we should get into +complications with the herds of elephants and other animals that were +trekking out of it in all directions with the light, though where they +went to feed I am sure I do not know. In all my life I never saw such +quantities of game as had collected in this place, which probably +furnished the only water for many miles round. +</p> + +<p> +However, as I have said, it was of no use to us, and therefore our +object was to keep as clear of it as possible. Even then we stumbled +right on to a sleeping white rhinoceros with the longest horn that ever +I saw. It must have measured nearly six feet, and anywhere else would +have been a great prize. Fortunately the wind was blowing from it to +us, so it did not smell us and charged off in another direction, for, +as you know, the rhinoceros is almost blind. +</p> + +<p> +Now I am not going to give all the details of that interminable trudge +through sand, for in the mud of the swamp we could not walk at all. +During the day we were scorched by the heat and at night we were +tormented by mosquitoes and disturbed by the noise of the game and the +roaring of lions, which fortunately, being so full fed, never molested +us. By the third night, bearing always to the right, we had come quite +close to the mountain range, which, although it was not so very lofty, +seemed to be absolutely precipitous, faced, indeed, by sheer cliffs +that rose to a height of from five to eight hundred feet. To what +extraordinary geological conditions these black cliffs and the desert +by which they were surrounded owe their origin, I am sure I do not know +but there they were, and no doubt are. +</p> + +<p> +Before sunset on this third day, by Issicore’s direction, we collected +a huge pile of dried reeds, which we set upon the crest of a sand +mound, and after dark fired them, so that for a quarter of an hour or +so they burned in a bright column of flame. Issicore gave no +explanation of this proceeding, but as Hans remarked, doubtless it was +a signal to his friends. Next morning, at his request, we started on +before the dawn, taking our chance of meeting with elephants or +buffaloes, and at sunrise found ourselves right under the cliffs. +</p> + +<p> +An hour later, following a little bay in them where there was no swamp, +because here the ground rose of a sudden we turned a corner and +perceived a tall, white-robed man with a big spear standing upon a +rock, evidently keeping a look-out. As soon as he saw us he leapt down +from his rock with the agility of a <i>klip-springer</i> and came towards +us. +</p> + +<p> +After one curious glance at me he went straight to Issicore, knelt down +and, taking his hand, pressed it to his forehead, which showed me that +our guide was a venerated person. Then they conversed together in low +tones, after which Issicore came to me and said that so far all was +well, as our fire had been seen and a big canoe awaited us. We went on, +guided by the sentry, and after one turn suddenly came on quite a large +river, which had been hidden by the reeds. To the left appeared this +deep, slow-flowing river; to the right, within a hundred paces, indeed, +it changed into swamp or morass, of which the pools were fringed with +very tall and beautiful papyrus plants, such open water as there was +being almost covered by every kind of wild fowl that rose in flocks +with a deafening clamour. This stream, the Black River, as the Walloos +called it, was bordered on either side by precipices through which I +suppose it had cut its way in the course of millenniums, so high and +impending that they seemed almost to meet above, leaving the surface of +the water nearly dark. It was a stream gloomy as the Roman Styx, and, +glancing at it, I half expected to see Charon and his boat approaching +to row us to the Infernal fields. Indeed, into my mind there floated a +memory of the poet’s lines, which I hope I quote correctly: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +In Kubla Khan a river ran<br /> +Through caverns measureless to man,<br /> +Down to a sunless sea.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +I confess honestly that the aspect of the place filled me with fear: it +was forbidding—indeed, unholy—and I marvelled what kind of a +sunless sea lay beyond this hell gate. Had I been alone, or with Hans +only, I admit that I should have turned tail and marched back round +that swamp, upon which, at any rate, the sun shone, and, if I could, +across the desert beyond to where I had left the wagon. But in the +presence of the stately Issicore and his myrmidon, this I could not do +because of my white man’s pride. No, I must go on to the end, whatever +it might be. +</p> + +<p> +If I was frightened, Hans was much more so, for his teeth began to +chatter with terror. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Baas,” he said, “if this is the door, what will the +house beyond be like?” +</p> + +<p> +“That we shall learn in due course,” I answered, “so there is +no good in thinking about it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Follow me, Lord,” said Issicore, after some further talk with his +companion. +</p> + +<p> +I did so, accompanied by Hans, who stuck to me as closely as possible. +We advanced round the rock and discovered a little indent in the bank +of the river where a great canoe, hollowed apparently from a single +huge tree, or rather its prow, was drawn up on the sandy shore. In this +canoe sat sixteen rowers or paddle-men—I remember there were sixteen of +them because at the time Hans remarked that the number was the same as +that of a wagon team and subsequently called these paddlers “water +oxen.” +</p> + +<p> +As we approached they lifted their paddles in salute, apparently of +Issicore, since of me and my companion, except by swift, surreptitious +glances, they took no notice. +</p> + +<p> +With a kind of silent, unobtrusive haste Issicore caused our small +baggage, which consisted chiefly of cartridge bags, to be stowed away +in the prow of the canoe that for a few feet was hollowed out in such a +fashion that it made a kind of cupboard roofed with solid wood, and +showed us where to sit. Next he entered it himself, while the lookout +man ran down the canoe and took hold of the steering oar. +</p> + +<p> +Then at a word all the paddlers back-watered and the craft slid off the +sandy beach into the river which was full to the banks, almost in flood +indeed. It seemed that here the rain had been nearly incessant for some +months and the lowering sky showed that ere long there was much more to +come. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br />THE WALLOO</h2> + +<p> +In perfect stillness, except for the sound of the dipping of the +paddles in the water, we glided away very swiftly up the placid river. +I think that nothing upon this strange journey, or at any rate during +the first part of it, struck me more than its quietness. The water was +still, flowing peacefully between its rocky walls towards the desert in +which it would be lost, just as the life of some good old man flows +towards death. The rocky precipices on either side were still; they +were so steep that on them nothing which breathed could find a footing, +except bats, perhaps, that do not stir in the daytime. The riband of +grey sky above us was still, though occasionally a draught of air blew +between the cliffs with a moaning noise, such as one might imagine to +be caused by the passing wind of spiritual wings. But stillest of all +were those rowers who for hour after hour laboured at their task in +silence, and with a curious intentness, or, if speak they must, did so +only in a whisper. +</p> + +<p> +Gradually an impression of nightmare stole over me; I felt as though I +were a sleeper taking part in the drama of a dream. Perhaps, in fact, +this was so, since I was very tired, having rested but little for a +good many nights and laboured hard during the day trudging through the +sand with a heavy rifle and a load of cartridges upon my back. So +really I may have been in a doze, such as is easily induced in any +circumstances by the sound of lapping water. If so, it was not a +pleasant dream, for the titanic surroundings in which I found myself +and the dread possibilities of the whole enterprise oppressed my spirit +with a sensation of departure from the familiar things of life into +something unholy and unknown. +</p> + +<p> +Soon the cliffs grew so high and the light so faint that I could only +just see the stern, handsome faces of the rowers appearing as they bent +forward to their ordered stroke, and vanishing into the gloom as they +leant back after it was accomplished. The very regularity of the effort +produced a kind of mesmeric effect which was unpleasant. The faces +looked to me like those of ghosts peeping at one through cracks of the +curtains round a bed, then vanishing, continually to return and peep +again. +</p> + +<p> +I suppose that at last I went to sleep in good earnest. It was a +haunted sleep, however, for I dreamed that I was entering into some dim +Hades where all realities had been replaced by shadows, strengthless +but alarming. +</p> + +<p> +At length I was awakened by the voice of Issicore, saying that we had +come to the place where we must rest for the night, as it was +impossible to travel in the dark and the rowers were weary. Here the +cliffs widened out a little, leaving a strip of shore upon either side +of the river, upon which we landed. By the last light that struggled to +us from the line of sky above we ate such food as we had, supplemented +by biscuits of a sort that were carried in the canoe, for no fire was +lighted. Before we had finished, dense darkness fell upon us, for the +moonbeams were not strong enough to penetrate into that place, so that +there was nothing to be done except lie down upon the sand and sleep +with the wailing of the night air between the cliffs for lullaby. +</p> + +<p> +The night passed somehow. It seemed so long that I began to think or +dream that I must be dead and waiting for my next incarnation, and when +occasionally I half woke up, was only reassured by hearing Hans at my +side muttering prayers in his sleep to my old father, of which the +substance was that he should be provided with a half-gallon bottle of +gin! At last a star that shone in the black riband far above vanished +and the riband turned blue, or, rather, grey, which showed that it was +dawn. We rose and stumbled into the canoe, for it was impossible to see +where to place our feet, and started. Within a few hundred yards of our +sleeping place suddenly the cliffs that hemmed in the river widened +out, so that now they rose at a distance of a mile or more from either +bank flat, water-levelled land. +</p> + +<p> +These banks, which here were steep, were clothed with great, +dark-coloured, spreading trees of which the boughs projected far over +the water and cut off the light almost as much as the precipices had +done lower down the stream. Thus we still travelled in gloom, +especially as the sun was not yet up. Presently through this gloom, to +which my trained eyes had grown accustomed, I thought that I caught +sight of tall, dark-hued figures moving between the trees. Sometimes +these figures seemed to stand upright and walk upon their feet, and +sometimes to run swiftly upon all fours. +</p> + +<p> +“Look, Hans,” I whispered—everyone whispered in that +place—“there are baboons!” +</p> + +<p> +“Baboons, Baas!” he answered. “Were ever baboons such a size? +No, they are devils.” +</p> + +<p> +Now from behind me Issicore also whispered, +</p> + +<p> +“They are the Hairy Men who dwell in the forest, Lord. Be silent, I +pray you, lest they should attack us.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he began to consult with the rowers in low tones, apparently as to +whether we should go on or turn back. Finally we went on, paddling at a +double pace. A moment later a sound arose in that dim forest, a sound +of indescribable weirdness that was half an animal grunt and half a +human cry, which to my ears shaped itself into the syllables, +<i>Heu-Heu!</i> In an instant it was taken up upon all sides, and from +everywhere came this wail of <i>Heu-Heu!</i> which was so horrid to hear +that my hair stood up even straighter than usual. Listening to it, I +understood whence came the name of the god I had travelled so far to +visit. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was this all, for there followed heavy splashes in the water, like +to those made by plunging crocodiles, and in the deep shadow beneath +the spreading trees I saw hideous heads swimming towards us. +</p> + +<p> +“The Hairy Folk have smelt us,” whispered Issicore again, in a +voice that I thought perturbed. “Do nothing, Lord; they are very +curious. Perhaps when they have looked they will go away.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if they don’t?” I asked—a question to which he +returned no answer. +</p> + +<p> +The canoe was steered over towards the left bank and driven forward at +great speed with all the strength of the rowers. Now in the space of +open water, upon which the light began to shine more strongly, I saw a +beast-like, bearded head that yet undoubtedly was human, yellow-eyed, +thick-lipped, with strong, gleaming teeth, coming towards us at the +speed of a very strong swimmer, for it had entered the water above us +and was travelling down-stream. It reached us, lifted up a powerful arm +that was completely covered with brown hair like to that of a monkey, +caught hold of the gunwale of the boat just opposite to where I sat, +and reared its shoulders out of the water, thereby showing me that its +great body was for the most part also covered with long hair. +</p> + +<p> +Now its other hand was also on the gunwale, and it stood in the water, +resting on its arms, the hideous head so close to me that its stinking +breath blew into my face. Yes, there it stood and jabbered at me. I +confess that I was terrified who never before had seen a creature like +this. Still, for a while I sat quiet. +</p> + +<p> +Then of a sudden I felt that I could bear no more, who believed that +the brute was about to get into the boat, or perhaps to drag me out of +it. I lost control of myself, and drawing my heavy hunting-knife—the +one you see on the wall there, friends—I struck at the hand that was +nearest. The blow fell upon the fingers and cut one of them right off +so that it fell into the canoe. With an appalling yell the man or beast +let go and plunged into the water, where I saw him waving his bleeding +hand above his head. +</p> + +<p> +Issicore began to say something to me in frightened tones, but just +then Hans ejaculated, +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Allemaghter!</i> here’s another!” and a second huge head +and body reared itself up, this time on his side. +</p> + +<p> +“Do nothing!” I heard Issicore exclaim. But the appearance of the +creature was too much for Hans, who drew his revolver and fired two +shots in rapid succession into its body. It also tumbled back into the +water, where it began to wallow, screaming, but in a thinner voice. I +thought, and rightly, that it must be a female. +</p> + +<p> +Before the echo of the shots had died away there rose another hideous +chorus of <i>Heu-Heus</i> and other cries, all of them savage and terrible. +From both banks more of the creatures precipitated themselves into the +water, but luckily not to attack us because they were too much occupied +with the plight of their companion. They congregated round her and +dragged her to the shore. Yes, I saw them lift the body out of the +stream, for by this time I was sure from its hanging arms and legs that +it was dead, an act which showed me that although they had the shape +and the covering of beasts, in fact they were human. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Elephants will do as much,” interrupted Curtis. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Allan, “that is true. Sometimes they will; I have +seen it twice. But everything about the behaviour of those Hairy Men +was human. For instance, their wailing over the dead, which was +dreadful and reminded me of the tales of banshees. Moreover, I had not +far to look for proof. At my feet lay the finger that I had cut off. It +was a human finger, only very thick, short, and covered with hair, +having the nail worn down, too, doubtless in climbing trees and +grubbing for roots.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Even then with a shock I realized that I had stumbled on the Missing +Link, or something that resembled it very strongly. Here in this +unknown spot still survived a people such as were our forefathers +hundreds of thousands or millions of years ago. Also I reflected that I +ought to be proud, for I had made a great discovery, although, to tell +the truth, just then I should have been quite willing to resign its +glory to someone else. +</p> + +<p> +After this I began to reflect upon other things, for a large jagged +stone whizzed within an inch of my head, and presently was followed by +a rude arrow tipped with fish bone that stuck in the side of the canoe. +</p> + +<p> +Amidst a shower of these missiles, which fortunately, beyond a bruise +or two, did us no harm, we headed out into mid-stream again where they +could not reach us, and as no more of the Hairy People swam from the +banks to cut us off, soon were pursuing our way in peace. For once, +however, the imperturbable Issicore was much disturbed. He came forward +and sat by me and said: +</p> + +<p> +“A very evil thing has happened, Lord. You have declared war upon the +Hairy Men, and the Hairy Men never forget. It will be war to the end.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t help it,” I answered feebly, for I was sick with the +sight and sound of those creatures. “Are there many of them, and are +they all over your country?” +</p> + +<p> +“A good many, perhaps a thousand or more, Lord, but they only live in +the forests. You must never go into the forest, Lord, at any rate, not +alone; or onto the island where Heu-Heu lives, for he is their king and +keeps some of them about him.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have no present intention of doing so,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +Now, as we went, the cliffs receded farther and farther from the river, +till at length they ceased altogether. We were through the lip of the +mountains, if I may so call it, and had entered a stretch of unbroken +virgin forest, a veritable sea of great trees that occupied the rich +land of the plain and grew to an enormous size and tallness. Moreover, +before us appeared clearly the cone of the volcano, broad but of no +great height, over which hung the mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke. +</p> + +<p> +All day long we travelled up this tranquil river, rejoicing in the +comparative brightness in its centre, although, of course, the trees +upon either edge overhung it much. +</p> + +<p> +Late in the afternoon a bend of the banks brought us within sight of a +great sheet of water from which apparently the river issued, although, +as I learned afterwards, it flowed into it upon the other side, from I +know not whence. This lake—for it was a big lake many miles in +circumference—surrounded an island of considerable size, in the centre +of which rose the volcano, now a mere grey-hued mountain that looked +quite harmless, although over it hung that ominous cloud of smoke +which, oddly enough, one could not see issuing from its crest. I +suppose that it must have gone up in steam and condensed into smoke +above. At the foot of the mountain, upon a plain between it and the +lake, with the help of my glasses I could see what looked like +buildings of some size, constructed of black stone or lava. +</p> + +<p> +“They are ruins,” said Issicore, who had observed that I was +examining them. “Once the great city of my forefathers stood yonder +until the fire from the mountain destroyed it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then does nobody live on the island now?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“The priests of Heu-Heu live there, Lord. Also Heu-Heu himself lives +there in a great cave upon the farther side of the mountain, or so it +is said, for none of us has ever visited that cave, and with him some +of the Hairy People who are his servants. My grandfather did so, +however, and saw him there. Indeed, as I have told you, once I saw him +myself; but what he looked like you must not ask me, Lord, for I do not +remember,” he added hastily. “In front of the cave is his garden, +where grows the magic tree of which the Master of Spirits yonder in the +South desires leaves to mix with his medicines: the tree that gives +dreams with long life and vision.” +</p> + +<p> +“Does Heu-Heu eat of this tree?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, but I know that he eats the flesh of beasts, because of +these we must make offerings to him, and sometimes of men, or so it is +said. Near the foot of the garden burn the eternal fires, and between +them is the rock upon which the offerings are made.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I thought to myself I should much like to see this place of which +it was evident that Issicore knew or would tell very little, where +there was a great cave in which dwelt a reputed demon with his slaves +and hierophants; and where too grew a tree supposed to be magical, +flanked by eternal fires. What were these eternal fires, I wondered. I +could only suppose that they had something to do with the volcano. +</p> + +<p> +As it happened, however, whilst I was preparing to question Issicore +upon the subject, we passed round a tree-clad headland, for here the +river had widened into a kind of estuary, and on the shore of the bay +beyond it discovered a town of considerable size, covering several +hundred acres of ground. The houses of this town, most of which stood +in their own gardens, though some of the smaller ones were arranged in +streets, had an Eastern appearance, inasmuch as they were low and +flat-roofed. +</p> + +<p> +Only there was this difference: Eastern houses of the primitive sort as +a rule are whitewashed, but these were all black, being built of lava, +as I discovered afterwards. All round the town also, except on the lake +side, ran a high wall likewise of black stone, the presence of which +excited my curiosity and caused me to inquire its object. +</p> + +<p> +“It is to defend us from the Hairy Folk who attack by night,” +answered Issicore. “In the daylight they never come, and therefore our +fields beyond are not walled,” and he pointed to a great stretch of +cultivated land that I suppose had been cleared of trees, which +extended for miles into the surrounding forest. +</p> + +<p> +Then he went on to explain that they laboured there while the sun was +up and at nightfall returned to the town, except certain of them who +slept in forts or blockhouses to guard the crops and cattle kraals. +</p> + +<p> +Now I looked at this place and thought to myself that never in my life +had I seen one more gloomy, especially in the late afternoon under a +sullen, rain-laden sky. The black houses, the high black walls that +reminded me of a prison, the black waters of the lake, the outlook on +to the black volcano and the black mass of the forest behind, all +contributed to this effect. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Baas, if I lived here I should soon go mad!” said Hans, and +upon my word, I agreed with him. +</p> + +<p> +Now we paddled towards the shore, and presently ran alongside a little +jetty formed of stones loosely thrown together, on which we landed. +Evidently our approach had been observed, for a number of people—forty +or fifty of them, perhaps—were collected at the shore end of the jetty +awaiting us. A glance showed me that although of varying ages and both +sexes, in type they all resembled our guide, Issicore. That is to say, +they were tall, well-shaped, light-coloured and extremely handsome, +also clothed in white robes, while some of the men wore hats of the +Pharaonic type that I have described. The women’s headdress, however, +consisted of a close-fitting linen cap with lappets hanging down on +either side, and was extraordinarily becoming to their severe cast of +beauty. From what race could this people have sprung, I wondered. I had +not the faintest idea; to me they looked like the survivals of some +ancient civilization. +</p> + +<p> +Conducted by Issicore, we advanced, carrying our scanty baggage, a +forlorn and battered little company. As we drew near, the crowd +separated into two lines, men to the right and women to the left, like +the congregation in a very high church, and stood quite silent, +watching us intently with their large, melancholy eyes. Never a word +did they say as we passed between them, only watched and watched till I +felt quite nervous. They did not even offer any greeting to Issicore, +although it seemed to me that he had earned one after his long and +dangerous journey. +</p> + +<p> +I observed, however, although at the time I took little notice of the +matter, and afterwards forgot all about it until Hans brought the +circumstance back to my mind, that a certain dark man of austere +countenance, clothed rather differently from the rest, approached +Issicore, addressed him, and thrust something into his hand. Issicore +glanced at this object, whatever it might be, and distinctly I saw him +tremble and turn pale. Then he hid it away, saying nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Turning to the right, we marched along a roadway that bordered the +lake, which was constructed about twelve feet above its level, perhaps +to serve as a protection against inundation, till we came to a wall in +which was a door built of solid balks of wood. This door opened as we +approached, and, passing it, we found ourselves in a large garden +cultivated with taste and refinement, for in it were beds of flowers, +the only cheerful thing I ever saw in this town that, it appeared, was +named Walloo after the tribe or its ruler. At the end of the garden +stood a long, solid, flat-roofed house built of the prevailing lava +rock. +</p> + +<p> +Entering, we found ourselves in a spacious room which, as dusk was +gathering, was lit with cresset-like lamps of elegant shape placed upon +pedestals cut from great tusks of ivory. +</p> + +<p> +In the centre of this room were two large chairs made of ebony and +ivory with high backs and footstools, and in these chairs sat a man and +a woman who were well worth seeing. The man was old, for his silver +hair hung down upon his shoulders, and his fine, sad face was deeply +wrinkled. +</p> + +<p> +At a glance I saw that he must be the king or chief, because of his +dignified if somewhat senile appearance. Moreover, his robes, with +their purple borders, had a royal look, and about his neck he wore a +heavy chain of what seemed to be gold, while in his hand was a black +staff tipped with gold, no doubt his sceptre. For the rest, his eyes +had a rather frightened air, and his whole aspect gave an idea of +weakness and indecision. +</p> + +<p> +The woman sat in the other chair with the light from one of the lamps +shining full upon her, and I knew at once that she must be the Lady +Sabeela, the love of Issicore. No wonder that he loved her, for she was +beautiful exceedingly; tall, well developed, straight as a reed, +great-eyed, with chiselled features that were yet rounded and womanly, +and wonderfully small hands and feet. She, too, wore purple-bordered +robes. About her waist hung a girdle thickly sewn with red stones that +I took to be rubies, and upon her shapely head, serving as a fillet for +her abundant hair, which flowed down her in long waving strands of a +rich and ruddy hue of brown or chestnut, was a simple golden band. +Except for a red flower on her breast she wore no other ornament, +perhaps because she knew that none was needed. +</p> + +<p> +Leaving us by the door of the chamber, Issicore advanced and knelt +before the old man, who first touched him with his staff and then laid +a land upon his head. Presently he rose, went to the lady and knelt +before her also, whereon she stretched out her fingers for him to kiss, +while a look of sudden hope and joy, which even at that distance I +could distinguish, gathered on her face. He whispered to her for a +while, then turned and began to speak earnestly to her father. At +length he crossed the room, came to me and led me forward, followed by +Hans at my heels. +</p> + +<p> +“O Lord Macumazahn,” he said, “here sit the Walloo, the +Prince of my people, and his daughter, the Lady Sabeela. O Prince my +cousin, this is the white noble famous for his skill and courage, whom +the Wizard of the South made known to me and who at my prayer, out of +the goodness of his heart, has come to help us in our peril.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thank him,” said the Walloo in the same dialect of Arabic that +was used by Issicore. “I thank him in my own name, in that of my +daughter who now alone is left to me, and in the name of my people.” +</p> + +<p> +Here he rose from his seat and bowed to me with a strange and foreign +courtesy such as I had not known in Africa, while the lady also rose +and bowed, or rather curtseyed. Seating himself again, he said, +</p> + +<p> +“Without doubt you are weary and would rest and eat, after which +perchance we may talk.” +</p> + +<p> +Then we were led away through a door at the end of the great room into +another room that evidently had been prepared for me. Also there was a +place beyond for Hans, a kind of alcove. Here water, which I noticed +had been warmed—an unusual thing in Africa—was brought in a large +earthenware vessel by two quiet women of middle age, and with it an +undershirt of beautiful fine linen which was laid upon a bed, or +cushioned couch, that was arranged upon the floor and covered by fur +rugs. +</p> + +<p> +I washed myself, pouring the warm water into a stone basin that was set +upon a stand, and put on the shirt, also the change of clothes that I +had with me, and, with the help of Hans and a pair of pocket scissors, +trimmed my beard and hair. Scarcely had I finished when the women +reappeared, bringing food on wooden platters—roast lamb, it seemed to +be—and with it drink in jars of earthenware that were of elegant shape +and powdered all over with the little rough diamonds of which Zikali +had given me specimens, that evidently had been set in it in patterns +before the clay dried. This drink, by the way was a kind of native +beer, sweet to the taste but pleasant and rather strong, so that I had +to be careful lest Hans should take too much of it. +</p> + +<p> +After we had finished our meal, which was very welcome, for we had +eaten no properly cooked food since we left the wagon, Issicore arrived +and took us back to the large room, where we found the Walloo and his +daughter seated as before, with several old men squatting about them on +the ground. A stool having been set for me the talk began. +</p> + +<p> +I need not enter into all its details, since in substance they set out +what I had already heard from Issicore; namely, that there dwelt +Something or Somebody on the island in the lake who required annually +the sacrifice of a beautiful virgin. This was demanded through the head +priest of a college, also established on the island which acknowledged +the being, real or imaginary, that lived there as its god or fetish. +Further, that creature (if he existed) was said to be the king of all +the Hairy Folk who inhabited the forests. Lastly, there was a legend +that he was the reincarnation of some ancient monarch of the Walloo +folk, who had come to a bad end at the hands of his indignant subjects +at some date undefined. Walloo, it seemed, was their correct name, that +of Heuheua applying only to the Hairy Men of the woods. +</p> + +<p> +This story I dismissed at once, being quite convinced that it was only +a variant of a very common African fable. Doubtless Heu-Heu, if there +really were a Heu-Heu, was the ruler of the savage hairy aboriginals of +the place that once in the far past had been conquered by the invading +Walloo, who poured into the country from the north or west, being +themselves the survivors of some civilized but forgotten people. This +conclusion, I may add, I never found any reason to doubt. Africa is a +very ancient land, and in it once lived many races that have vanished, +or survive only in a debased condition, dwindling from generation to +generation until the day of their extinction comes. +</p> + +<p> +Here I may state briefly the final opinions at which I have arrived +about this people. +</p> + +<p> +Almost certainly these Walloos were such a dying race, hailing, as +names among them seemed to suggest from some region in West Africa, +where their forefathers had been highly civilized. Thus, although they +could not write, they had traditions of writing and even inscriptions +graven upon stones, of which I saw several in a character that I did +not know, though to me it had the look of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Also +they still had knowledge of certain cultured arts such as the weaving +of fine linen, the carving of wood and marble, the making of pottery, +and the smelting of metals with which their land abounded, including +gold that they found in little nuggets in the gravel of the streams. +</p> + +<p> +Most of these crafts, however, were dying out except those that were +necessary to life, such as the moulding of pottery and the building of +houses and walls, and particularly agriculture, in which they were very +proficient. When I saw them all the higher arts were practised only by +very old men. As they never intermarried with any other blood, their +hereditary beauty, which was truly remarkable, remained to them, but +owing to the causes I have mentioned already, the stock was dwindling, +the total population being now not more than half of what it was within +the memory of the fathers of their oldest men. Their melancholy, which +now had become constitutional, doubtless was induced by their gloomy +surroundings and the knowledge that as a race they were doomed to +perish at the hands of the savage aboriginals who once had been their +slaves. +</p> + +<p> +Lastly, although they retained traces of some higher religion, since +they made prayer to a Great Spirit, they were fetish-ridden and +believed that they could continue to exist only by making sacrifice to +a devil who, if they neglected to do so, would crush them with +misfortunes and give them over to destruction at the hands of the +dreadful Forest-dwellers. Therefore they, or a section of them, became +the priests of this devil called Heu-Heu, and thereby kept peace +between them and the Hairy Men. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was this the end of their troubles, since, as Issicore had told me, +these priests, after the fashion of priests all the world over, now +aspired to the absolute rule of the race, and for this reason plotted +the extinction of the hereditary chief and all his family. +</p> + +<p> +Such, in substance, was the lugubrious story that the unhappy Walloo +poured into my ears that night, ending it in these words, +</p> + +<p> +“Now you will understand, O Lord Macumazahn, why in our extremity and +in obedience to the ancient prophecy, which has come down to us from +our fathers, we communicated with the great Wizard of the South, with +whom we had been in touch in ancient days, praying him to send us the +helper of the prophecy. Behold, he has sent you and now I implore you +to save my daughter from the fate that awaits her. I understand that +you will require payment in white and red stones, also in gold and +ivory. Take as much as you want. Of the stones there are jars full +hidden away and the fences of some of my courtyards at the back of this +house are made of tusks of ivory, though it is black with age, and I +know not how you would carry it hence. Also there is a quantity of gold +melted into bars, which my grandfather caused to be collected, whereof +we make little use except now and again for women’s ornaments, but +that, too, would be heavy to carry across the desert. Still, it is all +yours. Take it. Take everything you wish, only save my daughter.” +</p> + +<p> +“We will talk of the reward afterwards,” I said, for my heart was +touched at the sight of the old man’s grief. “Meanwhile, let me +hear what can be done.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, I do not know,” he answered, wringing his hands. “The +third night from this is that of full moon, the full moon which marks +the beginning of harvest. On that night we must carry my daughter, on +whom the lot has fallen, to the island in the lake where stands the +smoking mountain and bind her to the pillar upon the Rock of Offering +that is set between the two undying fires. There we must leave her, and +at the dawn, so it is said, Heu-Heu himself seizes her and carries her +into his cavern, where she vanishes for ever. Or, if he does not come, +his priests do, to drag her to the god, and we see her no more.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why do you take her to the island? Why do you not call your +people together and fight and kill this god or his priests?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, because not one man among us, save perhaps Issicore yonder, who +can do nothing alone, would lift a hand to save her. They believe that +if they did the mountain would break into flames, as happened in the +bygone ages, turning all upon whom the ashes fell into stone; also that +the waters would rise and destroy the crops, so that we must die of +starvation, and that any who escaped the fire and the water and the +want would perish at the hands of the cruel Wood-devils. Therefore, if +I ask the Walloos to save the maiden from Heu-Heu, they will kill me +and give her up in accordance with the law.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand,” I said, and was silent. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” went on the old Walloo presently, “here with me you +are safe, for none of my people will harm you or those with you. But I +learn from Issicore that you have stabbed a Hairy Man with a knife, and +that your servant slew one of their women with the strange weapons that +you carry. Therefore, from the Wood-devils you are not safe, for, if +they can, they will kill you both and feast upon your bodies.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s cheerful,” I thought to myself, but made no further +answer, for I did not know what to say. +</p> + +<p> +Just then the Walloo rose from his chair, saying that he must go to +pray to the spirits of his ancestors to help him, but that we would +talk again upon the morrow. After this he bade us good-night and +departed without another word, followed by the old men, who all this +while had sat silent, only nodding their heads from time to time like +porcelain images of Chinese mandarins. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br />THE HOLY ISLE</h2> + +<p> +When the door had closed behind him, I turned to Issicore and asked him +straight out if he had any plan to suggest. He shook his noble-looking +head and answered, “None,” as it was impossible to resist both the +will of the people and the law of the priests. +</p> + +<p> +“Then what is the use of your having brought me all this way?” I +inquired with indignation. “Cannot you think of some scheme? For +instance, would it not be possible for you and this lady to fly with us +down the river and escape to a land which is not full of demons?” +</p> + +<p> +“It would not be possible,” he answered in a melancholy voice. +“Day and night we are watched and should be seized before we had +travelled a mile. Moreover, could she leave her father, and could I +leave all my relations to be murdered in payment for our sacrilege?” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you no thought in your mind at all?” I asked again. “Is +there nothing that would save the Lady Sabeela?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing, Lord, except the end of Heu-Heu and his priests. It is to +you, great Lord, that we look to find a way to destroy them, as the +prophecy declares will be done by the White Deliverer from the South.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, dash the prophecy! I never knew prophecies to help anybody +yet,” I ejaculated in English, as I contemplated that beautiful but +helpless pair. Then I added in Arabic, “I am tired and am going to bed. +I hope that I shall find more wisdom in my dreams then I do in you, +Issicore,” I added, staring at the man in whom I seemed to detect some +subtle change, some access of fatalistic helplessness, even of despair. +</p> + +<p> +Now Sabeela, seeing that I was angry, broke in, +</p> + +<p> +“O Lord, be not wrath, for we are but flies in the spider’s web, +and the threads of that web are the priests of Heu-Heu, and the posts +to which it is fixed are the beliefs of my people, and Heu-Heu himself +is the spider, and in my breast his claws are fixed.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, listening to her allegory, I thought to myself that a better one +might have been drawn from a snake and a bird, for really, like the +rest of them, this poor girl seemed to be mesmerized with terror and to +have made up her mind to sit still waiting to be struck by the poisoned +fangs. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” she went on, “we have done all we could. Did not +Issicore make a great journey to find you? Yes, did he not even dare +the curse which falls upon the heads of those who try to leave our +country, and travel south to seek the counsel of the Great Wizard, who +once sent messengers here to obtain the leaves of the tree that grows +in Heu-Heu’s garden, the tree that makes men drunk and gives them +visions?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “he did that, Lady, and might I say to you +that his health seems none the worse. Those curses of which you speak +have not hurt him.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is true they have not hurt his body—yet,” she said in a +musing voice, as though a new thought had struck her. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, if that is true, Sabeela, may it not be true also that all this +talk about the power of Heu-Heu is nonsense? Tell me, have you ever +spoken with or seen Heu-Heu?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Lord, no, though unless you can save me I shall soon see him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, and has any one else?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Lord, no one has ever spoken with him, except, of course, his +priests, such as my distant cousin, Dacha, who is the head of them, but +whom I used to know before he was chosen by Heu-Heu to be of their +company.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! So no one has seen him? Then he must be a very secret kind of god +who does not take exercise, but lives, I understand, in a cave with +priests.” +</p> + +<p> +“I did not say that no one had ever seen Heu-Heu, Lord. Many say that +they have seen him, as Issicore has done, when he came out of the cave +on a Night of Offering, but of what they saw it is death to speak. Ask +me and Issicore no more of Heu-Heu, Lord I pray you, lest the curse +should fall. It is not lawful that we should tell you of him, whose +secrets are sacred even to his priests,” she added with agitation. +</p> + +<p> +Then in despair I gave up asking questions about Heu-Heu and inquired +how many priests he had. +</p> + +<p> +“About twenty, I believe, Lord,” she answered, ceasing from +evasions, “not counting their wives and families, and it is said that +they do not live with Heu-Heu in the cave, but in houses outside of +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what do they do when they are not worshipping Heu-Heu, +Sabeela?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, they cultivate the land and they rule the Wild People of the +Woods, who, it is believed, are all Heu-Heu’s children. Also they come +here and spy on us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do they indeed?” I remarked. “And is it true that they hope +to rule over you Walloos also?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I believe that it is true. At least, should my father die and I +die, it is said that Dacha means to make war upon the Walloos and take +the chieftainship, setting aside or killing my cousin and betrothed +Issicore. For Dacha was always one who desired to be first.” +</p> + +<p> +“So you used to know Dacha pretty well, Lady?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lord, when I was quite young before he became a priest. +Also,” she added, colouring, “I have seen him since he became a +priest.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what did he say to you?” +</p> + +<p> +“He said that if I would take him for a husband perhaps I should escape +from Heu-Heu.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what did you answer, Lady?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, I answered that I would rather go to Heu-Heu.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because Dacha, it is reported, has many wives already. Also I hate +him. Also from Heu-Heu at the last I can always escape.” +</p> + +<p> +“How?” +</p> + +<p> +“By death, Lord. We have swift poison in this country, and I carry some +of it hidden in my hair,” she added with emphasis. +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so. I understand. But, Lady Sabeela, as you have been so good as +to ask my advice about these matters, I will give you some. It is that +you should not taste that poison till all else has failed and there is +no escape. While we breathe there is hope, and all that seems lost +still may be won, but the dead do not live again, Lady Sabeela.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear and will obey you, Lord,” she answered, weeping. “Yet +sleep is better than Dacha or Heu-Heu.” +</p> + +<p> +“And life is better than all three of them put together,” I +replied, “especially life with love.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I bowed myself off to bed, followed by Hans, also bowing—like a +monkey for pennies on a barrel-organ. At the door I looked back, and +saw these two poor people in each other’s arms, thinking, doubtless, +that we were already out of sight of them. Yes, her head was upon +Issicore’s shoulder, and from the convulsive motions of her form I +guessed that she was sobbing, while he tried to console her in the +ancient, world-wide fashion. I only hope that she got more comfort from +Issicore than I did. To me now he seemed to be but a singularly +unresourceful member of a played-out race, though it is true that he +had courage, since otherwise he would not have attempted the journey to +Zululand. Also, as I have said, quite suddenly he had changed in some +subtle fashion. +</p> + +<p> +When we were in our own room with the door bolted (it had no windows, +light and ventilation being provided by holes in the roof) I gave Hans +some tobacco and bade him sit down on the other side of the lamp, where +he squatted upon the floor like a toad. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Hans,” I said, “tell me all the truth of this business +and what we are to do to help this pretty lady and the old chief, her +father.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans looked at the roof and looked at the wall; then he spat upon the +floor, for which I reproved him. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” he said at length, “I think the best thing we can do +is to find out where those bright stones are, fill our pockets with +them, and escape from this country which is full of fools and devils. I +am sure that Beautiful One would be better off with the priest called +Dacha, or even with Heu-Heu, than with Issicore, who now has become but +a carved and painted lump of wood made to look like a man.” +</p> + +<p> +“Possibly, Hans, but the tastes of women are curious, and she likes +this lump of wood, who, after all, is brave, except where ghosts and +spirits are concerned. Otherwise he would not have journeyed so far for +her sake. Moreover, we have a bargain to keep. What should we say to +the Opener-of-Roads if we returned, having run away and without his +medicine? No, Hans, we must play out this game.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I thought that the Baas would say that because of his +foolishness. Had I been alone, by now, or a little later, I should have +been in that canoe going down-stream. However, the Baas has settled +that we must save the lady and give her to the Lump of Wood for a wife. +So now I think I will go to sleep, and to-morrow or the next day the +Baas can save her. I don’t think very much of the beer in this country, +Baas—it is too sweet; and all these handsome fools who talk about +devils and priests weary me. Also, it is a bad climate and very damp. I +think it is going to rain again, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +Having nothing else at hand, I threw my tobacco-pouch at Hans’s head. +He caught it deftly, and, in an absent-minded fashion, put it into his +own pocket. +</p> + +<p> +“If the Baas really wishes to know what I think,” he said, yawning, +“it is that the medicine man named Dacha wants the pretty lady for +himself; also to rule alone over all these dull people. As for Heu-Heu, +I don’t know anything about him, but perhaps he is one of those Hairy +Men who came here at the beginning of the world. I think that the best +thing we can do, Baas, would be to take a boat to-morrow morning and go +to that island, where we can find out the truth for ourselves. Perhaps +the Lump of Wood and some of his men can row us there. And now I have +nothing more to say, so, if the Baas does not mind, I will go to sleep. +Keep your pistol ready, Baas, in case any of the Hairy People wish to +call upon us—just to talk about the one I shot.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he retired to a corner, rolling himself up in a skin rug, and +presently was snoring, though, as I knew well enough, with one eye open +all the time. No Hairy Man, or any one else, would have come near that +place without Hans hearing him, for his sleep was like to that of a dog +who watches his master. +</p> + +<p> +As I prepared to follow his example, I reflected that his remarks, +casual as they seemed, were full of wisdom. These folk were +superstition-ridden fools and useless; probably the only ones that had +wits among them became priests. But the Hairy aboriginals were an ugly +fact, as the priests knew, since apparently they had obtained rule over +them. For the rest, the only thing to do was to visit the Holy Island +and find out the truth for ourselves, as Hans had said. It would be +dangerous, no doubt, but at the least it would also be exciting. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning I rose after an excellent night’s rest and found my way +into the garden, where I amused myself by examining the shrubs and +flowers, some of which were strange to me. Also I studied the sky, +which was heavy and lowering, and seemed full of rain. I could study +nothing else because the high wall cut off the view upon every side so +that little was to be seen except the top of the volcano, which rose +from the lake at a distance of several miles, for it was a large sheet +of water. Presently the door of the garden opened and Issicore +appeared, looking weary and somewhat bewildered. It occurred to me that +he had been sitting up late with Sabeela. As they were to be parted so +soon, naturally they would see as much as they could of each other. Or +for aught I knew, he might have been praying to his ancestral spirits +and trying to make up his mind what to do, no doubt a difficult process +under the circumstances. I went to the point at once. +</p> + +<p> +“Issicore,” I said, “as soon as possible after breakfast, +will you have a canoe ready to take me and Hans to the island in the +lake?” +</p> + +<p> +“To the island in the lake, Lord!” he exclaimed, amazed. +“Why, it is holy!” +</p> + +<p> +“I daresay, but I am holy also, so that if I go there it will be +holier.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he advanced all kinds of objections, and even brought out the +Walloo and his grey-heads to reinforce his arguments. Hans and Sabeela +also joined the party; the latter, I noted, looking even more beautiful +by day than she did in the lamplight. Sabeela, indeed, proved my only +ally, for presently, when the others had talked themselves hoarse, she +said, +</p> + +<p> +“The White Lord has been brought hither that we, who are bewildered and +foolish, may drink of the cup of his wisdom. If his wisdom bids him +visit the Holy Isle, let him do so, my father.” +</p> + +<p> +As no one seemed to be convinced, I stood silent, not knowing what more +to say. Then Hans took up his parable, speaking in his bad +coast-Arabic: +</p> + +<p> +“Baas, Issicore, although he is so big and strong, and all these others +are afraid of Heu-Heu and his priests. But we, who are good Christians, +are not afraid of any devils because we know how to deal with them. +Also we can paddle, therefore let the Chief give us quite a small canoe +and show us which way to row, and we will go to the island by +ourselves.” +</p> + +<p> +In sporting parlance, this shot hit the bull in the eye, and Issicore, +who, as I have said, was a brave man at bottom, fired up and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Am I a coward that I should listen to such words from your servant, +Lord Macumazahn? I and some others whom I can find will row you to the +island, though on it we will not set our foot because it is not lawful +for us to do so. Only, Lord, if you come back no more, blame me not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then that is settled,” I replied quietly, “and now, if we +may, let us eat, for I am hungry.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +About two hours later we started from the quay, taking with us all our +small possessions, down to some spare powder in flasks which we had +brought to reload fired cartridge cases, for Hans refused to leave +anything behind with no one to watch it. The canoe which was given to +us was much smaller than that in which we had come up the river, +though, like it, hollowed from a single log; and its crew consisted of +Issicore, who steered, and four other Walloos, who paddled, stout and +determined-looking fellows, all of them. The island was about five +miles away, but we made a wide circuit to the south, I suppose in the +hope of avoiding observation, and therefore it took us the best part of +two hours to reach its southern shore. +</p> + +<p> +As we approached I examined the place carefully through my glasses, and +observed that it was much larger than I had thought—several miles in +circumference, indeed, for in addition to the central volcanic cone +there was a great stretch of low-lying land all round its base, which +land seemed not to rise more than a foot or two above the level of the +lake. In character, except on these flats by the lake, it was stony and +barren, being, in fact, strewn with lumps of lava ejected from the +volcano during the last eruption. +</p> + +<p> +Issicore informed me, however, that the northern part of the island +where the priests lived, which had not been touched by the lava stream, +was very fertile. I should add that the crater of the volcano seemed to +bear out his statement as to the direction of the flow, since on the +south it was blown away to a great depth, whereas the northern segment +rose in a high and perfect wall of rock. +</p> + +<p> +The day was very misty—a circumstance which favoured our +approach—and the sky, which, as I have said, was black and pregnant +with coming rain, seemed almost to touch the crest of the mountain. +These conditions, until we were quite close, prevented us from seeing +that a stream of glowing lava, not very broad, was pouring down the +mountain-side. When they discovered this, the Walloos grew much +alarmed, and Issicore told me that such a thing had not been known “for +a hundred years,” and that he thought it portended something unusual, +as the mountain was supposed to be “asleep.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is awake enough to smoke, anyway,” I answered, and continued my +examination. +</p> + +<p> +Among the stones, and sometimes half-buried by them, I saw what +appeared to be the remains of those buildings of which I have spoken. +These, Issicore said, had once been part of the city of his +forefathers, adding that, as he had been told, in some of them the said +forefathers were still to be seen turned into stone, which, you will +remember, exactly bore out Zikali’s story. +</p> + +<p> +Anything more desolate and depressing than the aspect of this place +seen on that grey day and beneath the brooding sky cannot be imagined. +Still I burned to examine it, for this tale of fossilized people +excited me, who have always loved the remains of antiquity and strange +sights. +</p> + +<p> +Forgetting all about Heu-Heu and his priests for the moment, I told the +Walloos to paddle to the shore, and, after a moment of mute protest, +they obeyed, running into a little bay. Hans and I stepped easily on to +the rocks and, carrying our bags and rifles, started on our search. +First, however, we arranged with Issicore that he should await our +return and then row us back round the island so that we might have a +view of the priests’ settlement. With a sigh he promised to do so, and +at once paddled out to about a hundred yards from the shore, where the +canoe was anchored by means of a pierced stone tied to a cord. +</p> + +<p> +Off went Hans and I towards the nearest group of ruins. As we +approached them, Hans said, +</p> + +<p> +“Look out, Baas! There’s a dog between those rocks.” +</p> + +<p> +I stared at the spot he indicated, and there, sure enough, saw a large +grey dog with a pointed muzzle, which seemed to be fast asleep. We drew +nearer, and as it did not stir, Hans threw a stone and hit it on the +back. Still it did not stir, so we went up and examined it. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a stone dog,” I said. “The people who lived here must +have made statues,” for as yet I did not believe the stories I had +heard about petrified creatures, which, after all, must be very +legendary. +</p> + +<p> +“If so, Baas, they put bones into their carvings. Look,” and he +touched one of the dog’s front paws which was broken off. There, in the +middle of it, appeared the bone fossilized. Then I understood. +</p> + +<p> +The animal had been fleeing away to the shore when the poisonous gases +overcame it at the time of the eruption. After this, I suppose, some +rain of petrifying fluid had fallen on it and turned it into stone. It +was a marvellous thing, but I could not doubt the evidence of my own +eyes. All the tale was true, and I had made a great discovery. +</p> + +<p> +We hurried on to the houses, which, of course, now were roofless, and +in some instances choked with lava, though the outer walls, being +strongly built of rock, still stood. On certain of these walls were the +faint remains of frescoes; one of people sitting at a feast, another of +a hunting scene, and so forth. +</p> + +<p> +We passed on to a second group of buildings standing at some distance +against the flank of the mountain and more or less protected by an +overhanging ledge or shelf of stone. These appeared to have been a +palace or a temple, for they were large, with stone columns that had +supported the roofs. We went on through the great hall to the rooms +behind, and in the furthermost, which was under the ledge of rock and +probably had been used as a store chamber, we saw an extraordinary +sight. +</p> + +<p> +There, huddled together, and in some instances clasping each other, +were a number of people, twenty or thirty of them—men, women, and +children—all turned to stone. Doubtless the petrifying fluid had flowed +into the chamber through cracks in the rock above and done its office +on them. They were naked, every one, which suggested that their +clothing had either been burnt off them or had rotted away before the +process was complete. The former hypothesis seemed to be borne out by +the fact that none of them had any hair left upon their heads. The +features were not easy to distinguish, but the general type of the +bodies was certainly very similar to that of the Walloos. +</p> + +<p> +Speechless with amazement, we emerged from that death chamber and +wandered about the place. Here and there we found the bodies of others +who had perished in the great catastrophe and once came across an arm +projecting from a mass of lava, which seemed to show that many more +were buried underneath. Also we found a number of fossilized goats in a +kraal. What a place to dig in! I thought to myself. Given some spades, +picks, and blasting-powder, what might one not find in these ruins? +</p> + +<p> +All the relics of a past civilization, perhaps—its inscriptions, its +jewellery, the statues of its gods; even, perhaps, its domestic +furniture buried beneath the lava and the dust, though probably this +had rotted. Here, certainly, was another Pompeii, and perhaps beneath +that another Herculaneum. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst I mused thus over glories passed away and wondered when they had +passed, Hans dug me in the ribs and, in his horrible Boer Dutch, +ejaculated a single word, “<i>Kek!</i>” which, as perhaps you know, +means “Look!” at the same time nodding towards the lake. +</p> + +<p> +I did look, and saw our canoe paddling for all it was worth, going +“hell for leather,” as my old father used to say, towards the +Walloo shore. +</p> + +<p> +“Now why is it doing that?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I expect because something is behind it, Baas,” he replied with +resignation, then sat down on a rock, pulled out his pipe, filled it, +and lit a match. +</p> + +<p> +As usual, Hans was right, for presently from round the curve of the +island there appeared two other canoes, very large canoes, rowing after +ours with great energy and determination, and, as I guessed, with +malignant intent. +</p> + +<p> +“I think those priests have seen our boat and mean to catch it, if they +can,” remarked Hans, spitting reflectively, “though as Issicore has +got a long start, perhaps they won’t. And now, Baas, what are we to do? +We can’t live here with dead men, and stone goat is not good to +eat.” +</p> + +<p> +I considered the situation, and my heart sank into my boots, for the +position seemed desperate. A moment before I had been filled with +enthusiasm over this ruined city and its fossilized remains. Now I +hated the very thought of them, and wished that they were at the bottom +of the lake. Thus do circumstances alter cases and our poor variable +human moods. Then an idea came to me, and I said boldly, +</p> + +<p> +“Do! Why, there is only one thing to do. We must go to call on Heu-Heu, +or his priests.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas. But the Baas remembers the picture in the cave on the Berg. +If it is a true picture, Heu-Heu knows how to twist off men’s +heads!” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t believe there is a Heu-Heu,” I said stoutly. +“You will have noticed, Hans, that we have heard all sorts of stories +about Heu-Heu, but that no one seems to have seen him clearly enough to +give us an accurate description of what he is like or what he does—not +even Zikali. He showed us a picture of the beast on his fire, but after +all it was only what we had seen on the wall of the cave, and I think +that he got it out of our own minds. At any rate, it is just as well to +die quickly without a head, as slowly with an empty stomach, since I am +sure those Walloos will never come back to look for us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I think so, too. Issicore used to have courage, but he +seems to have changed, as though something had happened to him since he +got back into his own country. And now, if the Baas is ready, I think +we had better be trekking, unless, indeed, he would like to look at a +few more stone men first. It is beginning to rain, Baas, and we have +been much longer here than the Baas thinks, since it is a slow business +crawling about these old houses. Therefore, if we are to get to the +other side of the island before nightfall, it is time to go.” +</p> + +<p> +So off we went, keeping to the western side of the volcano, since there +it did not seem to project so far into the flat lands. A while later we +turned round and looked at the lake. There in the far distance our +canoe appeared a mere speck, with two other specks, those of the +pursuers, close upon its heels. As we watched, out of the mists on the +Walloo shore came yet other specks, which were doubtless Walloo boats +paddling to the rescue, for the priests’ canoes gave up the chase and +turned homewards. +</p> + +<p> +“Issicore will have a very nice story to tell to the Lady Sabeela,” +said Hans; “but perhaps she will not kiss him after she has heard +it.” +</p> + +<p> +“He was quite wise to go. What good could he have done by staying?” +I answered, as we trudged on, adding, “Still, you are right, Hans; +Issicore has changed.” +</p> + +<p> +It was a hard walk over that rough ground, at least at first, for so +soon as we got round the shoulder of the volcano the character of the +country altered and we found ourselves in fertile, cultivated land that +appeared to be irrigated. +</p> + +<p> +“These fields must lie very low, Baas,” said Hans, “since +otherwise how do they get the lake water on to them?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” I replied crossly, for I was thinking of the +sky water, which was beginning to descend in a steady drizzle upon +ourselves. But all the same, the remark stuck in my mind and was useful +afterwards. On we marched, till at length we entered a grove of palm +trees that was traversed by a road. +</p> + +<p> +Presently we came to the end of the road and found ourselves in a +village of well-built stone houses, with one very large house in the +middle of it, of which the back was set almost against the foot of the +mountain. As there was nothing else to be done, we walked on into the +village, at first without being observed, for everybody was under cover +because of the rain. Soon, however, dogs began to bark, and a woman, +looking out of the doorway of one of the houses, caught sight of us and +screamed. A minute later men with shaven heads and wearing white, +priestly-looking robes, appeared and ran towards us flourishing big +spears. +</p> + +<p> +“Hans,” I said, “keep your rifle ready, but don’t shoot +unless you are obliged. In this case, words may serve us better than +bullets.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, though I don’t believe that either will serve us +much.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree that lay by the +roadside, and waited, and I followed his example, taking the +opportunity to light my pipe. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br />THE FEAST</h2> + +<p> +When they were within a few paces of us the men halted, apparently +astonished at our appearance, which certainly did not compare +favourably with their own, for they were all of the splendid Walloo +type. Evidently what astonished them still more was the match with +which I was lighting my pipe, and indeed the pipe itself, for although +these people grew tobacco, they only took it in the form of snuff. +</p> + +<p> +That match went out and I struck another, and at the sight of the +sudden appearance of fire they stepped back a pace or two. At length +one of them, pointing to the burning match, asked in the same tongue +that was used by the Walloos, +</p> + +<p> +“What is that, O Stranger?” +</p> + +<p> +“Magic fire,” I answered, adding by an inspiration, “which I +am bringing as a present to the great god Heu-Heu.” +</p> + +<p> +This information seemed to mollify them, for, lowering their spears, +they turned to speak to another man who at this moment arrived upon the +scene. He was a stout, fine-looking man of considerable presence, with +a hooked nose and flashing black eyes. Also he wore a priestly cap upon +his head and his white robes were broidered. +</p> + +<p> +“Very big fellow, this, Baas,” Hans whispered to me, and I nodded, +observing as I did so that the other priests bowed as they addressed +him. +</p> + +<p> +“Dacha in person,” thought I to myself, and sure enough Dacha it +was. +</p> + +<p> +He advanced and, looking at the wax match, said: +</p> + +<p> +“Where does the magic fire of which you speak live, Stranger?” +</p> + +<p> +“In this case covered with holy secret writing,” I replied, holding +before his eyes a box labelled “Wax Vestas, Made in England,” and +adding solemnly, “Woe be to him that touches it or him that bears it +without understanding, for it will surely leap forth and consume that +foolish man, O Dacha.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Dacha followed the example of his companions and stepped back a +little way, remarking, +</p> + +<p> +“How do you know my name, and who sends this present of self-conceiving +fire to Heu-Heu?” +</p> + +<p> +“Is not the name of Dacha known to the ends of the earth?” I +asked—a remark which seemed to please him very much; “yes, as far +as his spells can travel, which is to the sky and back again. As to who +sends the magic fire, it is a great one, a wizard of the best, if not +quite so good as Dacha, who is named Zikali, who is named the +‘Opener-of-Roads,’ who is named ‘the +Thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.’” +</p> + +<p> +“We have heard of him,” said Dacha. “His messengers were here +in our fathers’ day. And what does Zikali want of us, O Stranger?” +</p> + +<p> +“He wants leaves of a certain tree that grows in Heu-Heu’s garden, +that is called the Tree of Visions, that he may mix them with his +medicines.” +</p> + +<p> +Dacha nodded and so did the other priests. Evidently they knew all +about the Tree of Visions, as I, or rather Zikali, had named it. +</p> + +<p> +“Then why did he not come for them himself?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he is old and infirm. Because he is detained by great affairs. +Because it was easier for him to send me, who, being a lover of that +which is holy, was anxious to do homage to Heu-Heu and to make the +acquaintance of the great Dacha.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand,” the priest replied, highly gratified, as his face +shewed. “But how are you named, O Messenger of Zikali?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am named ‘Blowing-Wind’ because I pass where I would, none +seeing me come or go, and therefore am the best and swiftest of +messengers. And this little one, this small but great-souled one with +me”—here I pointed to the smirking Hans, who by now was quite alive +to the humours of the situation and to its advantages from our point of +view—“is named ‘Lord-of-the-Fire’ and +‘Light-in-Darkness’” (this was true enough and worked in very +well) “because it is he who is guardian of the magic fire” (also +true, for he had half a dozen spare boxes in his pockets that he had +stolen at one time or another) “of which, if he is offended, he can +make enough to burn up all this island and everyone thereon; yes, more +than is hidden in the womb of that mountain.” +</p> + +<p> +“Can he, by Heu-Heu!” said Dacha, regarding Hans with great +respect. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly he can. Mighty though I be, I must be careful not to anger +him lest myself I should be burnt to cinders.” +</p> + +<p> +At this moment a doubt seemed to strike Dacha, for he asked: +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me, O Blowing-Wind and O Lord-of-Fire, how you came to this +island? We observed a canoe manned with some of our rebellious subjects +who serve that old usurper the Walloo, which is being hunted that they +may be killed for their sacrilege in approaching this holy place. Were +you perchance in that canoe?” +</p> + +<p> +“We were,” I answered boldly. “When we arrived at yonder town +I met a lady, a very beautiful lady, named Sabeela, and asked her where +dwelt the great Dacha. She said here—more, that she knew you and that +you were the most beautiful and noblest of men, as well as the wisest. +She said also that with some of her servants, including a stupid fellow +called Issicore, of whom she never can be rid wherever she goes, she +herself would paddle us to the island on the chance of seeing your face +again.” (I may explain to you fellows that this lie was perfectly safe, +as I knew Issicore and his people had escaped.) “So she brought us here +and landed us that we might look at the ruined city before coming on to +see you. But then your people roughly hunted her away, so that we were +obliged to walk to your town. That is all.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Dacha became agitated. “I pray Heu-Heu,” he said, “that +those fools may not have caught and killed her with the others.” +</p> + +<p> +“I pray so also, since she is too fair to die,” I answered, +“who would be a lovely wife for any man. But stay, I will tell you what +has chanced. Lord-of-the-Fire, make fire.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans produced a match and lit it on the seat of his trousers, which was +the only part of him that was not damp. He held it in his joined hands +and I stared at the flame, muttering. Then he whispered: +</p> + +<p> +“Be quick, Baas, it is burning my fingers!” +</p> + +<p> +“All is well,” I said solemnly. “The canoe with Sabeela the +Beautiful escaped your people, since other canoes, seven—no, eight of +them,” I corrected, studying the ashes of the match, also the blister +on Hans’s finger, “came out from the town and drove yours away just +as they were overtaking the Lady Sabeela.” +</p> + +<p> +This was a most fortunate stroke, for at that moment a messenger +arrived and gave Dacha exactly the same intelligence, which he +punctuated with many bows. +</p> + +<p> +“Wonderful!” said the priest. “Wonderful! Here we have +magicians indeed!” and he stared at us with much awe. Then again a +doubt struck him. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” he said, “Heu-Heu is the ruler of the savage Hairy +People who live in the woods and are named Heuheuas after him. Now a +tale has reached us that one of these people has been mysteriously +killed with a noise by some strangers. Had you aught to do with her +death, Lord?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered. “She annoyed the Lord-of-the-Fire with her +attentions, so he slew her, as was right and proper. I cut off the +finger of another who wished to shake hands with me when I had told him +to go away.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how did he slay her, Lord?” +</p> + +<p> +Now I may explain that there was one inhabitant of this place that +greeted us with no cordiality at all, namely a large and particularly +ferocious dog, that all this while had been growling round us and +finally had got hold of Hans’s coat, which it held between its teeth, +still growling. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Scheet!</i> Hans, <i>scheet een dood!</i>” (“Shoot! Hans, +shoot him dead!”) I whispered, and Hans, who was always quick to catch +an idea, put his hand into his pocket where he kept his pistol, and +pressing the muzzle against the brute’s head, fired through the cloth, +with the result that this dog went wherever bad dogs go. +</p> + +<p> +Then there was consternation. Indeed, one of the priests fell down with +fear and the others turned tail, all of them except Dacha, who stood +his ground. +</p> + +<p> +“A little of the magic fire!” I remarked airily, “and there +is plenty more where that came from,” at the same time, as though by +accident, slapping Hans’s pocket, which I saw was smouldering. “And +now, noble Dacha, it is setting in wet and we are hungry. Be pleased to +give us shelter and food.” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly, Lord, certainly!” he exclaimed, and started off with +us, keeping me well between himself and Hans, while the others, who had +returned, followed with the dead dog. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, recovering from his fear, he asked me whether the Lady +Sabeela had said anything more about him. +</p> + +<p> +“Only one thing,” I answered: “that it was a pity that a +maiden should be obliged to marry a god when there were such men as you +in the world.” +</p> + +<p> +Here I stopped and watched the effect of my shot out of the corner of +my eye. +</p> + +<p> +His coarse but handsome face grew cunning, and he smacked his lips. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lord, yes,” he said hurriedly. “But who knows? Things +are not always what they seem, Lord, and I have noted that sometimes +the faithful servant tithes the master’s offering.” +</p> + +<p> +“By Jingo! I’ve got it!” thought I to myself. +“<i>You,</i> my friend, are Heu-Heu, or at any rate his business +part.” But aloud, glancing at the redoubtable Hans, I only remarked +something to the effect that Dacha’s powers of observation were keen +and that, like the Lord-of-the-Fire himself, as he said truly, things +were not always what they seemed. +</p> + +<p> +We crossed a bare platform of rock, to the right of which, beyond a +space of garden, I observed the mouth of a large cave. At the edge of +this platform a strange sight was to be seen, for here, just on the +borders of the lake, at a distance of about twenty paces from each +other, burned two columns of flame which hitherto had been hidden from +us by the lie of the ground and trees, between which columns was a +pillar or post of stone. +</p> + +<p> +“The ‘eternal fires,’” thought I to myself, and then +inquired casually what they were. +</p> + +<p> +“They are flames which have always burned in that place from the +beginning; we do not know why,” Dacha replied indifferently. “No +rain puts them out.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” I reflected, “natural gas coming from the volcano, such +as I have heard of in Canada.” +</p> + +<p> +Then we turned to the right along the outer wall of the garden I have +mentioned, and came to some fine houses, that, to my fancy, had a kind +of collegiate appearance, all one-storied and built against the rock of +the mountain. As a matter of fact, I was right, for these were the +dwellings of the priests of Heu-Heu and their numerous female +belongings. These priests, I should say, had their privileges, for +whereas the people on the mainland for the most part married only one +wife, they were polygamous, the ladies being supplied to them through +spiritual pressure put upon the unfortunate Walloos, or, if that +failed, by the simple and ancient expedient of kidnapping. Once, +however, they had arrived upon the island and thus became dedicated to +the god, they vanished so far as their kinsfolk were concerned, and +never afterwards were they allowed to cross the water or even to +attempt any communication with them. In short, those who became alive +in Heu-Heu, became also dead to the world. +</p> + +<p> +Hans and I were led to the largest of this group of houses, that +abutting immediately on to the garden wall, the inhabitants of which +apparently had already been advised of our coming by messenger, since +we found them in a bustle of preparation. Thus I saw handsome, +white-robed women flitting about and heard hurried orders being given. +We were taken to a room where a driftwood fire had been lighted on the +hearth because the night was damp and chill, at which we warmed and +dried ourselves after we had washed. A while later a priest summoned us +to eat and then retired outside the door awaiting our convenience. +</p> + +<p> +“Hans,” I said, “all has gone well so far; we are accepted as +the friends of Heu-Heu, not as his enemies.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, thanks to the cleverness of the Baas about the matches and +the rest. But what has the Baas in his mind?” +</p> + +<p> +“This, Hans; that all must continue to go well, for remember what is +our duty, namely, to save the lady Sabeela, if we can, as we have sworn +to do. Now if we are to bring this about we must keep our eyes open and +our wits sharp. Hans, I daresay that they have strange liquors in this +place which will be offered to us to make us talk. But while we are +here we must drink nothing but water. Do you understand, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I understand.” +</p> + +<p> +“And do you swear, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +Hans rubbed his middle reflectively, and replied: +</p> + +<p> +“My stomach is cold, Baas, and I should like a glass of something more +warming than water after all this damp and the sight of those stone +men. Yet, Baas, I swear. Yes, I swear by your Reverend Father that I +will only drink water, or coffee if they make it, which, of course, +they don’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is all right, Hans. You know that if you break your oath my +Reverend Father will certainly come even with you, and so shall I in +this world or the next.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas. But will the Baas please remember that a gin bottle is not +the only bait that the devil sets upon his hook. Different men have +different tastes, Baas. Now if some pretty lady were to come and tell +the Baas that he was oh! so beautiful and that she loved him, oh! ever +so much, someone like that Mameena, for instance, of whom old Zikali is +always talking as having been a friend of yours, will the Baas swear by +his Reverend Father——” +</p> + +<p> +“Cease from folly and be silent,” I said majestically. “Is +this the time and place to chatter of pretty women?” +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, in myself I appreciated the shrewdness of Hans’s +repartee, and as a matter of fact an attempt was made to play off that +trick on me, though if I am to get to the end of this story, I shall +have no time to tell you about it. +</p> + +<p> +Our compact sealed, we went through the door and found the priest +waiting outside. He led us down a passage into a fine hall plentifully +lit with lamps for now the night had fallen. Here several tables were +spread, but we were taken to one at the head of the hall where we were +welcomed by Dacha dressed in grand robes, and some other priests; also +by women, all of them handsome and beautifully arrayed in their wild +fashion, whom I took to be the wives of these worthies. One of them, I +noticed, had a singular resemblance to the Lady Sabeela, although she +appeared to be her elder by some years. +</p> + +<p> +We sat down at the table in curious, carved chairs, and I found myself +between Dacha and this lady, whose name, I discovered, was Dramana. The +feast began, and I may say at once that it was a very fine feast, for +it appeared that we had arrived upon a day of festival. Indeed, I had +not eaten such a meal for years. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, it was barbaric in its way. Thus the food was served in +great earthenware dishes, all ready cut up; there were no knives or +forks, the fingers of the eaters taking their place, and the plates +consisted of the tough green leaves of some kind of waterlily that grew +in the lake, which were removed after each course and replaced by fresh +ones. +</p> + +<p> +Of its sort, however, it was excellent and included fish of a good +flavour, kid cooked with spices, wild fowl, and a kind of pudding made +of ground corn and sweetened with honey. Also, there was plenty of the +strong native beer, which was handed round in ornamented earthenware +cups that were, however, inlaid not with small diamonds and rubies, but +with pearls found, I was informed, in the shells of freshwater mussels, +and set in the clay when damp. +</p> + +<p> +These pearls were irregular in shape and for the most part not large, +but the effect of them thus employed, was very pretty. Still, some +attained to a considerable size, since Dramana and other women wore +necklaces of them bored and strung upon fibres. Without going into +further details, I may say that this feast and its equipment convinced +me more than ever that these people had once belonged to some unknown +but highly civilized race which was now dying out in this its last home +and sinking into barbarism before it died. +</p> + +<p> +In pursuance of our agreement Hans, who squatted on a stool behind me, +for he would not sit at the table, and I, saying that we were bound by +a vow to touch nothing else, drank water only, although I heard him +groan each time the beer cups went round. I may add that this happened +frequently, and the amount of liquor consumed was considerable, as +became evident by the behaviour of the drinkers, many of whom grew more +or less intoxicated, with the usual unpleasant results that I need not +describe. Also they grew affectionate, for they threw their arms about +the women and began to kiss them in a way which I considered improper. +I observed, however, that the lady called Dramana drank but little. +Also, as she sat between me and an extremely deaf priest who became +sleepy in his cups, she was, of course, freed from any such unwelcome +attentions. +</p> + +<p> +All these circumstances, and especially the fact that Dacha was much +occupied with a handsome female on his left, gave Dramana and myself +opportunities of conversation which I think were welcome to her. After +a few general remarks, presently she said in a low voice: +</p> + +<p> +“I hear, Lord, that you have seen Sabeela, the daughter of the Walloo, +chief of the mainland. Tell me of her, for she is my sister on whom I +have not looked for a long while, for we never visit the mainland, and +those who dwell there never visit us—unless they are obliged,” she +added significantly. +</p> + +<p> +“She is beautiful but lives in great terror because she, who desires to +be married to a man, must be married to a god,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“She does well to be afraid, Lord, for by you sits that god,” and +with a shiver of disgust and the slightest possible motion of her head, +she indicated Dacha, who had become quite drunken and at the moment was +engaged in embracing the lady on his left, who also seemed to be +somewhat the worse for alcoholic wear, or to put it plainly, “half seas +over.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” I answered, “the god I mean is called Heu-Heu, not +Dacha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Heu-Heu, Lord! You will learn all about Heu-Heu before the night is +over. It is Dacha whom she must marry.” +</p> + +<p> +“But Dacha is your husband, lady.” +</p> + +<p> +“Dacha is the husband of many, Lord,” and she glanced at several of +the most handsome women present, “for the god is liberal to his high +priest. Since I was bound between the eternal fires there have been +eight such marriages, though some of the brides have been handed on to +others or sacrificed for crimes against the god, or attempting to +escape, or for other reasons. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” she went on, dropping her voice till I could scarcely catch +what she said, although my hearing is so keen, “be warned by me. Unless +you are indeed a god greater than Heu-Heu, and your companion also, +whatever you may see or hear, lift neither voice nor hand. If you do, +you will be rent to pieces without helping any one and perhaps bring +about the death of many, my own among them. Hush! Speak of something +else. He is beginning to watch us. Yet, O Lord, help me if you can. +Yes, save me and my sister if you can.” +</p> + +<p> +I glanced round. Dacha, who had ceased embracing the lady, was looking +at us suspiciously, as though he had caught some word. Perhaps Hans +thought so as well, for he managed to make a great clatter, either by +tumbling off his stool or dropping his drinking cup, I know not which, +that drew away Dacha’s half-drunken attention from us and prevented him +from hearing anything. +</p> + +<p> +“You seem to find the Lady Dramana pleasant, O Lord Blowing-Wind,” +sneered Dacha. “Well, I am not jealous and I would give such guests of +the best I have, especially when the god is going to be so good to me. +Also the Lady Dramana knows better than to tell secrets and what +happens here to those who do. So talk to her as much as you like, +little Blowing-Wind, before you blow yourself away,” and he leered at +me in a manner that made me feel very uncomfortable. +</p> + +<p> +“I was asking the Lady Dramana about the sacred tree of which the great +wizard, Zikali, desires some of the leaves for his medicine,” I said, +pretending not to understand. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” he answered, with a change of manner which suggested that his +suspicions were in course of being dissipated, “oh, were you? I thought +you were asking of other things. Well, there is no secret about that, +and she shall show it to you to-morrow, if you like; also anything else +you wish, for I and my brethren will be otherwise engaged. Meanwhile, +here comes the Cup of Illusions that is brewed from the fruit of the +tree of which you must taste though you be a water-drinker, yes, and +the yellow dwarf, Lord-of-the-Fire, also, for in it we pledge the god +into whose presence we must enter very soon.” +</p> + +<p> +I answered hurriedly that I was weary and would not trouble the god by +paying my respects to him at present. +</p> + +<p> +“All who come here must pass the god, Lord Blowing-Wind,” he +answered, glaring at me, and adding: “Either they must pass the god +living, or, if they prefer it, they may pass him dead. Did not Zikali +tell you that, O Blowing-Wind? Choose, then. Will you wait upon the god +living, or will you wait upon him dead?” +</p> + +<p> +Now I thought it was time to assert myself, and looking this +ill-conditioned brute in the eyes, I said slowly: +</p> + +<p> +“Who is this that talks to me of death, not knowing perchance that I am +a lord of death? Does he seek such a fate as that which befell the +hound without your doors? Learn, O Priest of Heu-Heu, that it is +dangerous to use ill-omened words to me or to the Lord-of-the-Fire, +lest we should answer them with lightnings.” +</p> + +<p> +I suppose that these remarks, or something in my eye, impressed him. At +any rate, his manner became humble, almost servile indeed, especially +as Hans had risen and stood at my side, holding in his extended hand +the box of matches, at which all stared suspiciously. Well they might +have stared, had they known that his other hand, innocently buried in +his pocket, grasped the butt of an excellent Colt revolver. I should +have told you, by the way, that as we could not bring them with us to +the feast we had left our rifles hidden in our beds, loaded and full +cocked, so that they would be sure to go off if any thief began to +finger them. +</p> + +<p> +“Pardon, Lord, pardon,” said Dacha. “Could I wish to insult +one so powerful? If I said aught to offend, why, this beer is strong.” +</p> + +<p> +I bowed benignantly, but remembered the old Latin saying to the effect +that drink digs out the truth. Then, by way of changing the subject, he +pointed to the end of the room. Here appeared two pretty women dressed +in exceedingly light attire and with wreaths upon their heads, who bore +between them a large bowl of liquor in which floated red flowers. (The +whole scene, I should say, much resembled some picture I had seen of an +ancient Roman—or perhaps it was Egyptian feast taken from a fresco.) +They brought the bowl to Dacha, and with a simultaneous movement of +their graceful forms lifted it up, whereon all of the company who were +not too drunk rose, bowed towards the bowl and twice cried out +together: +</p> + +<p> +“The Cup of Illusions! The Cup of Illusions!” +</p> + +<p> +“Drink,” said Dacha to me. “Drink to the glory of +Heu-Heu.” Then observing that I hesitated, he added: “Nay, I will +drink first to show that it is not poisoned,” and muttering, “O +Spirit of Heu-Heu, descend upon thy priest!” drink he did, a +considerable quantity. +</p> + +<p> +Then the women brought the bowl, which reminded me of the loving-cup at +a Lord Mayor’s feast, and held it to my lips. I took a pull at it, +making motions of my throat as though it were a long one, though in +reality I only swallowed a sip. Next it was handed to Hans to whom I +murmured one Boer Dutch word over my shoulder. It was +“<i>Beetje,</i>” which means “little,” and as I turned +my head to watch him, I think he took the advice. +</p> + +<p> +After this the bowl, in which, I should add, the liquor was of a +greenish colour and tasted something like Chartreuse, was taken from +one to another till all present had drunk of it, the girls who bore it +finishing up the little that was left. +</p> + +<p> +This I saw, but after it I did not see much else for a while, for, +small as had been my draught, the stuff went to my head and seemed to +cloud my brain. Moreover, all kinds of queer visions, some of them not +too desirable, sprang up in my mind, and with them a sense of vastness +that was peopled by innumerable forms; beautiful forms, grotesque +forms, forms of folk that I had known, now long dead, forms of others +whom I had never seen, all of whom had this peculiarity, that they +seemed to be staring at me with a strange intentness. Also these forms +grouped themselves together and began to enact dramas of one kind or +another, dramas of war and love and death that had all the vividness of +a nightmare. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, however, these illusions passed away and I remained filled +with a great calm and a wonderful sense of well-being, also with my +powers of observation rendered most acute. +</p> + +<p> +Looking about me, I noted that all who had drunk seemed to be +undergoing similar experiences. At first they showed signs of +excitement; then they grew very still and sat like statues with their +eyes fixed on vacancy, speaking not a word, moving not a muscle. +</p> + +<p> +This state lasted quite a long time, till at length those who had drunk +first appeared to awake, for they began to talk to each other in low +tones. I noted that every sign of drunkenness had vanished; one and all +they looked as sober as a whole Bench of Judges; moreover, their faces +had grown solemn and their eyes seemed to be filled with some cold and +fateful purpose. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X.<br />THE SACRIFICE</h2> + +<p> +After a solemn pause, Dacha rose and said in an icy voice: +</p> + +<p> +“I hear the god calling us. Let us pass into the presence of the god +and make offering of the yearly sacrifice.” +</p> + +<p> +Then a procession was formed. Dacha and Dramana went first, Hans and I +followed next, and after us came all who had been at the feast, to a +total of about fifty people. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” whispered Hans, “after I had drunk that stuff, which +was so nice and warming that I wished you had let me have more of it, +your Reverend Father came and talked to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what did he say to you, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“He said, Baas, that we were going into very queer company and had +better keep our eyes skinned. Also that it would be wise not to +interfere in matters that did not concern us.” +</p> + +<p> +I reflected to myself that within an hour I had received advice of the +same sort from a purely terrestrial source, which was an odd +coincidence, unless indeed Hans had overheard or absorbed it +subconsciously. To him I only observed, however, that such mandates +must be obeyed, and that whatever chanced, he would do well to sit +quite still, keeping his pistol ready, but only use it in case of +absolute necessity to save ourselves from death. +</p> + +<p> +The procession left the hall by a back entrance behind the table at +which we had sat, and entered a kind of tunnel that was lit with lamps, +though whether this was hollowed in the rock or built of blocks of +stone I am not sure. After walking for about fifty paces down this +tunnel, suddenly we found ourselves in a great cavern, also dimly lit +with lamps, mere spots of light in the surrounding blackness. +</p> + +<p> +Here all the priests, including Dacha, left us; at least, peering +about, I could not see any of them. The women alone remained in the +cave, where they knelt down singly and at a distance from each other +like scattered worshippers in a dimly lit cathedral when no service is +in progress. +</p> + +<p> +Dramana, to whose charge we seemed to have been consigned, led us to a +stone bench upon which she took her seat with us. I noted that she did +not kneel and worship like the others. For a while we remained thus in +silence, staring at the blackness in front where no lamps burned. It +was an eerie business in such surroundings that I confess began to get +upon my nerves. At length I could bear it no longer, and in a whisper +asked Dramana whether anything was about to happen, and if so, what. +</p> + +<p> +“The sacrifice is about to happen,” she whispered back. “Be +silent, for here the ears of the god are everywhere.” +</p> + +<p> +I obeyed, thinking it safer, and another ten minutes or so went by in +an intolerable stillness. +</p> + +<p> +“When does the play begin, Baas?” muttered Hans in my ear. (Once I +had taken him to a theatre in Durban to improve his mind, and he +thought that this was another, as indeed it was, if of an unusual +sort.) +</p> + +<p> +I kicked him on the shins to keep him quiet, and just then at a +distance I heard the sound of chanting. It was a weird and melancholy +music that seemed to swing backwards and forwards between two bands of +singers, each strophe and antistrophe, if those are the right words, +ending in a kind of wail or cry of despair which turned my blood cold. +When this had gone on for a little while, I thought that I saw figures +moving through the gloom in front of us. So did Hans, for he whispered: +</p> + +<p> +“The Hairy People are here, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“Can you see them?” I asked in the same low voice. +</p> + +<p> +“I think so, Baas. At any rate, I can smell them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then keep your pistol ready,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +A moment later I saw a lighted torch floating in the air in front of +us, though the bearer of it I could not see. The torch was bent +downwards, and I heard the sound of kindling taking fire. A little +flame sprang up revealing a pile of logs arranged for burning, and +beyond it the tall form of Dacha wearing a strange headdress and white, +priestlike robes, different from those in which he had been clad at the +feast. Between his hands, which he held in front of him, was a white +human skull reversed, I mean that its upper part was towards the floor. +</p> + +<p> +“Burn, Dust of Illusion, burn,” he cried, “and show us our +desires,” and out of the skull he emptied a quantity of powder on to +the pile of wood. +</p> + +<p> +A dense, penetrating smoke arose which seemed to fill the cave, vast +though it was, and blot out everything. It passed away and was followed +by a blaze of brilliant flame that lit up all the place and revealed a +terrific spectacle. +</p> + +<p> +Behind the fire, at a distance of ten paces or so, was an awful object, +an appalling black figure at least twelve feet in height, a figure of +Heu-Heu as we had seen him depicted in the Cave of the Berg, only there +his likeness was far too flattering. For this was the very image of the +devil as he might have been imagined by a mad monk, and from his eyes +shot a red light. +</p> + +<p> +As I have said before, the figure was like to that of a huge gorilla +and yet no ape but a man, and yet no man but a fiend. There was the +long gray hair growing in tufts about the body. There was the great, +red, bushy beard. There were the enormous limbs and the long arms and +the hands with claws on them where the thumbs should be, and the webbed +fingers. The bull neck on the top of which sat the small head that +somehow resembled an old woman’s with a hooked nose; the huge mouth +from which the baboon-like tushes protruded, the round, massive, +able-looking brow, the deepset glaring eyes, now alight with red fire, +the cruel smile—all were there intensified. There, too, was the shape +of a dead man into the breast of which the clawed foot was driven, and +in the left hand the head that had been twisted from the man’s body. +</p> + +<p> +Oh! evidently the painter of the picture in the Berg can have been no +Bushman as once I had supposed, but some priest of Heu-Heu whom fate or +chance had brought thither in past ages, and who had depicted it to be +the object of his private worship. When I saw the thing I gasped aloud +and felt as though I should fall to the ground through fear, so hellish +was it. But Hans gripped my arm and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Baas, be not afraid. It is not alive; it is but a thing of stone and +paint with fire set within.” +</p> + +<p> +I stared again; he was right. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Heu-Heu was but an idol! Heu-Heu did not live except in the hearts of +his worshippers!</i> +</p> + +<p> +Only out of what Satanic mind had this image sprung? +</p> + +<p> +I sighed with relief as this knowledge came home to me, and began to +observe details. There were plenty to be seen. For instance, on either +side of the statue stood a line of the hideous Hairy Folk, men to the +right and women to the left, with white cloths tied about their +middles. In front of this line behind their high priest, Dacha, were +the other priests, Heu-Heu’s clergy, and on a raised table behind them +just at the foot of the base of the statue, which I now saw stood upon +a kind of pedestal so as to make it more dominant, lay a dead body, +that of one of the Hairy women, as the clear light of the flame +revealed. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” said Hans again, “I believe that is the gorilla-woman +I shot in the river. I seem to know her pretty face.” +</p> + +<p> +“If so, I hope we shall not join her on that table presently,” I +answered. +</p> + +<p> +After this suddenly I went mad; everybody went mad. I suppose that the +vapour from that accursed powder had got into our brains. Had not Dacha +called it the “Dust of Illusion”? Certainly of illusions there were +plenty, most of them bad, like those of a nightmare. +</p> + +<p> +Still, before they possessed me completely, I had the sense to +understand what was happening to me and to grip hold of Hans, who I saw +was going mad also, and command him to sit quiet. Then came the +illusions which really I can’t describe to you. You fellows have read +of the effects of opium smoking; well, it was that kind of thing, only +worse. +</p> + +<p> +I dreamed that Heu-Heu got off his pedestal and came dancing down the +hall, also that he bent over me and kissed me on the forehead. In fact, +I think it was Dramana who kissed me, for she, too, had gone mad. +Everything that I had done bad in my life reënacted itself in my +mind and, all put together, seemed to make me a sinner indeed, because +you see the good was entirely omitted. The Hairy Folk began an infernal +dance before the statue; the women around us raved and shouted with +extraordinary expressions upon their faces; the priests waved their +arms and set up yells of adoration as did those of Baal in the Old +Testament. In short, literally there was the devil to pay. +</p> + +<p> +Yet strangely enough it was all wildly, deliriously exciting and really +I seemed to enjoy it. It shows how wicked we must be at bottom. A sight +of hell while you remain on the <i>terra firma</i> of our earth is not +uninteresting, even though you be temporarily affected by its +atmosphere. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the nightmare came to an end, suddenly as it had commenced, +and I woke up to find my head on Dramana’s shoulder, or hers on mine, I +forget which, with Hans engaged in kissing my boot under the impression +that it was the chaste brow of some black maiden whom he had known +about thirty years before. I kicked him on his snub nose, whereon he +rose and apologized, remarking that this was the strongest +<i>dacca</i>—the hemp which the natives smoke with intoxicating +effects—that he had ever tasted. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I answered, “and now I understand where Zikali’s +magic comes from. No wonder he wants more of the leaves of that tree +and thought it worth while to send us so far to get them.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I ceased talking, for something in the atmosphere of the place +absorbed my attention. A sudden chill seemed to have fallen upon it and +its occupants who, in strange contrast to their recent excesses, now +appeared to be possessed by the very spirit of Mrs. Grundy. There they +stood, exuding piety at every pore and gazing with rapt countenances at +the hideous image of their god. Only to me those countenances had grown +very cruel. It was as though they awaited the consummation of some +dreadful drama with a kind of cold joy, which, of course, may have been +an aftermath of their unholy intoxication. It was the scene at the +feast repeated but with a difference. There they had been drunken with +liquor and sobered by the potent stuff they had swallowed after it; now +they had been made drunken with fumes and were sobered by I knew not +what. Their master Satan, perhaps! +</p> + +<p> +The fire still burnt brightly though it gave off no more of these +fumes, being fed I suppose with natural fuel, and by the light of it I +saw that Dacha was addressing the image with impassioned gestures. What +he said I do not know, for my ears were still buzzing and of it I could +hear nothing. But presently he turned and pointed to us and then began +to beckon. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it he wants us to do?” I asked of Dramana who now was +seated at my side, a perfect model of propriety. +</p> + +<p> +“He says that you must come up and make your offering to the god.” +</p> + +<p> +“What offering?” I asked, thinking that perhaps it would be of a +painful nature. +</p> + +<p> +“The offering of the sacred fire that the Lord of Fire,” and she +pointed to Hans, “bears about with him.” +</p> + +<p> +I was puzzled for a moment till Hans remarked: +</p> + +<p> +“I think she means the matches, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I understood, and bade him produce a new box of Best Wax Vestas +and hold it out in his hand. Thus armed we advanced and, passing round +the fire, bowed, as the Bible potentate whom the Prophet cured +bargained he should be allowed to do in the House of Rimmon, to the +beastly effigy of Heu-Heu. Then in obedience to the muttered directions +of Dacha, Hans solemnly deposited the box of matches upon the stone +table, after which we were allowed to retreat. +</p> + +<p> +Anything more ridiculous than this scene it is impossible to imagine. I +suppose that its intense absurdity was caused, or at any rate +accentuated by its startling and indeed horrible contrasts. There was +the towering and demoniacal idol; there were the rogue priests, their +faces alight with a fierce fanaticism; there, looking only half human, +were the long lines of savage Hairy Folk; there was the burning fire +reflecting itself to the farthest recesses of the cavern and showing +the forms of the scattered worshippers. +</p> + +<p> +Finally there was myself, a bronzed and tattered individual, and the +dirty, abject-looking Hans holding in his hand that absurd box of +matches which finally he deposited in the exact middle of the stone +table about six inches from the swollen body of the aboriginal whom he +had shot in the river. In those vast surroundings this box looked so +lonely and so small that the sight of it moved me to internal +convulsions. Shaking with hysterical laughter I returned to my seat as +quickly as I could, dragging Hans after me, for I saw that his case was +the same, although fortunately it is not the custom of Hottentots to +burst into open merriment. +</p> + +<p> +“What will Heu-Heu do with the matches, Baas?” asked Hans. +“Surely there must be plenty of fire where he is, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, lots,” I replied with energy, “but perhaps of another +sort.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I observed that Dacha was pointing to the right and that the eyes +of all present were fixed in that direction. +</p> + +<p> +“The sacrifice comes,” murmured Dramana, and as she spoke a woman +appeared, a tall woman covered with a white robe or veil, who was led +forward by two of the Hairy People. She was brought to the front of the +table on which lay the body and the matches, and there stood quite +still. +</p> + +<p> +“Who is this?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Last year’s bride, with whom the priest has done and passes on +into the keeping of the god,” answered Dramana with a stony smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean that they are going to kill the poor thing?” I said, +horrified. +</p> + +<p> +“The god is about to take her into his keeping,” she replied +enigmatically. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment one of the savage attendants snatched away the veil +which draped the victim, revealing a very beautiful woman clad in a +white kirtle which was cut low upon her breast and reached to her +knees. Tall and stately, she stood quite still before us, her black +hair streaming down upon her shoulders. Then, as though at some signal, +all the women in the audience stood up and screamed: +</p> + +<p> +“Wed her to the god! Wed her to the god and let us drink of the cup +that through her unites us to the god!” +</p> + +<p> +Two of the Hairy Folk drew near to the girl, each of whom had something +in his hand, though what it was at the moment I could not see, and +stood still, as though waiting for a sign. Then followed a pause during +which I glanced about me at the faces of the women, made hideous by the +unholy passions that raged within them, who stood with outstretched +arms pointing at the victim. They looked horrible, and I hated them, +all except Dramana, who, I noted with relief, had not cried aloud and +did not stretch out her hands like the rest. +</p> + +<p> +What was I about to see? Some dreadful act of voodooism such as negroes +practise in Hayti and on the West Coast? Perhaps. If so I could not +bear it. Whatever the risk might be I could not bear it; almost +automatically my hand grasped the stock of my revolver. +</p> + +<p> +Dacha seemed as though he were about to say something, a word of doom +mayhap. I measured the distance between me and himself with my eyes, +calculating where I should aim to put a bullet through his large head +and give the god a sacrifice which it did not expect. Indeed, had he +spoken such a word, without doubt I should have done it, for as you +fellows know I am handy with a pistol, and probably, as a result, never +have lived to tell you this story. +</p> + +<p> +At this juncture, however, the victim waved her arms and said in a +loud, clear voice: +</p> + +<p> +“I claim the ancient right to make my prayer to the god before I am +given to the god.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak on,” said Dacha, “and be swift.” +</p> + +<p> +She turned and curtseyed to the hideous idol, then wheeled about again +and addressed it in form although really she was speaking to the +audience. +</p> + +<p> +“O Fiend Heu-Heu,” she said in a voice filled with awful scorn and +bitterness, “whom my people worship to their ruin, I who was stolen +from my people come to thee because I would have none of yonder +high-priest and therefore must pay the price in blood. So be it, but +ere I come I have something to tell thee, O Heu-Heu, and something to +tell these priests who grow fat in wickedness. Hearken! A spirit is in +me, giving me sight. I see this place a sea of water, I see flames +bursting through the water, turning thy hideous effigy to dust and +burning up thy evil servants, so that not one of them remains. The +Prophecy! The Prophecy! Let all who hear me bethink them of the ancient +prophecy, for at length its hour is fulfilled.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she stared towards Hans and myself, waving her arms, and I thought +was about to address us. If so, she changed her mind and did not. +</p> + +<p> +So far the priests and the congregation had listened in the silence of +amazement, or perhaps of fear. Now, however, a howl of furious +execration broke from them, and when it died down I heard Dacha +shouting: +</p> + +<p> +“Let this blaspheming witch be slain. Let the sacrifice be +accomplished!” +</p> + +<p> +The two savages stepped towards her, and now I saw that what they held +in their hands were coils of rope with which doubtless she was to be +bound. If so, she was too swift for them, for with a great bound she +sprang upon the table where lay the body of the Hairy woman and the box +of matches. Next instant I saw a knife flashing in her hand; I suppose +it had been concealed somewhere in her dress. She lifted it and plunged +it to her heart, crying as she did so: +</p> + +<p> +“My blood be on you, Priests of Heu-Heu!” +</p> + +<p> +Then she fell down there upon the table and was still. +</p> + +<p> +In the hush that followed I heard Hans say: +</p> + +<p> +“That was a brave lady, Baas, and doubtless all she said will come +true. May I shoot that priest, Baas, or will you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I began, but before I could get out another word my voice was +overwhelmed by a tumult of shouts, +</p> + +<p> +“The god has been robbed of his sacrifice and is hungry. Let the +strangers be offered to the god.” +</p> + +<p> +These and other like things said the shouts. +</p> + +<p> +Dacha looked towards us, hesitating, and I saw that it was time to act. +Rising, I called out: +</p> + +<p> +“Know, O Dacha, that before one hand is laid upon us I will make you as +my companion, Lord-of-the-Fire, made the dog without your doors.” +</p> + +<p> +Evidently Dacha believed me, for he grew quite humble. “Have no fear, +Lords,” he said. “Are you not our honoured guests and the +messengers of a Great One? Go in peace and safety.” +</p> + +<p> +Then at his command or sign the brightly burning fire was scattered, so +that the cave grew almost dark, especially as some of the lights had +gone out. +</p> + +<p> +“Follow me swiftly—swiftly,” said Dramana, and taking my hand +she led me away through the gloom. +</p> + +<p> +Presently we found ourselves in the passage, though for aught I know it +was another passage; at any rate, it led to the hall where we had +feasted. This was now empty, although in it lights still burned. +Crossing it, Dramana conducted us back to the house, where a hasty +examination shewed us that our rifles were just as we had left them; +nothing had been touched. Here, seeing that we were quite alone, for +all had gone to the sacrifice, I spoke to her. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady Dramana,” I said, “does my heart tell me truly or do I +only dream that you desire to depart from out of the shadow of +Heu-Heu?” +</p> + +<p> +She glanced about her cautiously, then answered in a low voice: “Lord, +there is nothing that I desire so much—unless perchance it be +death,” she added with a sigh. “Hearken! Seven years ago I was +bound upon the Rock of Offering, where my sister will stand to-morrow, +having been chosen by the god and dedicated to him by the mad terror of +my people, which means, Lord, that I had been chosen by Dacha and +dedicated to Dacha.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, then, do you still live?” I asked, “seeing that she who +was chosen last year must be sacrificed this year.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, am I not the daughter of the Walloo, the ruler of the people of +the Mainland, and might not the title to that rule be acquired through +me while I breathe? It is not the best of titles, it is true, because I +was born of a lesser wife of my father, the Walloo, whereas my sister +Sabeela is born of the great wife. Still, at a pinch, it might serve. +That is why I still live.” +</p> + +<p> +“What then is Dacha’s plan, Lady Dramana?” +</p> + +<p> +“It stands thus, Lord. Hitherto for many generations, it is said since +the great fire burned upon the island and destroyed the city, there +have been two governments in this land: that of the priests of Heu-Heu, +who govern the minds of its people, also the wild Wood Folk, and that +of the Walloos, who govern their bodies and are kings by ancient right. +Now Dacha, who, when he is not lost in drink or other follies, is +farseeing and ambitious, purposes to rule both minds and bodies and it +may be to bring in new blood from outside our country and once more to +build up a great people, such as tradition tells we were in the +beginning, when we came here from the north or from the west. He does +but wait until he has married my sister, the lawful heiress to the +Walloo, my father, who by now must be an old and feeble man, to strike +his blow, and in her name to seize the government and power. +</p> + +<p> +“The priests, as you have seen, are but few and cannot do this of their +own strength, but they command all the savage folk who are called the +Children of Heu-Heu. Now these people are very angry because the other +day one of their women was killed upon the river, she who lay on the +altar before the god, and this they think was done by the Walloo, not +understanding that it was your servant, the yellow man there, who slew +her. Or if they understand, they believe that he did so by the order of +Issicore who, we hear, is betrothed to my sister Sabeela. +</p> + +<p> +“Therefore they wish to make a great war upon the Walloo under the +guidance of the priests of Heu-Heu, whom they call their Father, +because his image is like to them. Already their mankind are gathering +on the island, rowing themselves hither upon logs or bundles of reeds, +and by to-morrow night all will be collected. Then, after what is +called the Holy Marriage, when my sister Sabeela has been brought as an +offering by the Walloo and bound to the pillar between the Everlasting +Fires, led by Dacha they will attack the city on the mainland, which +they dare not do alone. It will surrender to them, and Dacha will kill +my old father and the lord Issicore who stands next to him, and any of +the ancient blood who cling to him, and cause himself to be declared +Walloo. After this his purpose is to poison the Forest folk as he well +knows how to do and as I have told you, perhaps to bring new blood into +the land which is rich and wide, and found a kingdom. +</p> + +<p> +“A big scheme,” I said, not without admiration, for on hearing it, +to tell the truth, I began to conceive a certain respect for that +villain Dacha, who, at any rate, had ideas and presented a striking +contrast to the helpless and superstition-ridden inhabitants of the +mainland. +</p> + +<p> +“But, Lady,” I went on, “what is to happen to me and to my +companion who is named Lord-of-the-Fire?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Lord, who have had little talk with Dacha since you +came, or with any to whom he reveals his secrets. I think, however, +that he is afraid of you, believing you to be magicians, or in league +with the greatest of magicians, the prophet Zikali, who dwells in the +south, with whom the priests of Heu-Heu communicate from time to time. +Also it is probable that he holds that you may be able to help him to +build up a nation and that therefore he would wish to keep you in his +service in this country, only killing you if you try to escape. On the +other hand, when the Wood Folk come to understand that it was really +you, or one of you, who killed the woman, they may clamour for your +lives. Then, if he thinks it wisest to please them, at the great feast +which is called the Finishing of the Holy Marriage, you may be tied +upon the altar as a Sacrifice while the blood is drained from you, to +be drunk by the priests with the lips of Heu-Heu. Perhaps that matter +will be settled at the Council of the Priests to-morrow, Lord.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” I said, “never mind the details.” +</p> + +<p> +“Meanwhile,” she went on, “for the present you are safe. +Indeed I, who by my rank am the Mistress of Households, have been +commanded to honour you in every way, and to-morrow, when the priests +are engaged in preparations for the Holy Marriage, to show you all that +you would see, also to provide you with boughs from the Tree of +Illusions which Zikali the prophet desires.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you,” I said again, “we shall be most happy to take a +walk with you, even if it rains, as I think from the sounds upon the +roof it is doing at present. Meanwhile, I understand that you wish to +get out of this place and to save your sister. Well, I may as well tell +you at once, Lady Dramana, that my companion, who chooses to assume the +shape of a yellow dwarf, and I, who choose to be as I am, <i>are</i> in fact +great magicians with much more power than we seem to possess. +Therefore, it is quite possible that we may be able to help you in all +ways, and to do other things more remarkable. Yet we may need your aid, +since generally that which is mighty works through that which is small, +and what I want to know is whether we can count upon it.” +</p> + +<p> +“To the death, Lord,” she answered. +</p> + +<p> +“So be it, Dramana, for know that if you fail us certainly you will +die.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br />THE SLUICE GATE</h2> + +<p> +All that night it poured, not merely in the usual tropical torrent, but +positively in waterspouts. Seldom in my life have I heard such rain as +that which fell upon the roof of the house where we were, which must +have been wonderfully well built, for otherwise it would have given +way. When we rose in the morning and went to the door to look out, all +the place was swimming and a solid wall of water seemed to stretch from +earth to heaven. +</p> + +<p> +“I think there will be a flood after this, Baas,” remarked Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“I think so, too,” I answered, “and if we were not here I +wish that it might be deep enough to drown every human brute upon this +island.” +</p> + +<p> +“It cannot do that, Baas, because at the worst they would climb up the +mountain, though it might get into the cave and give Heu-Heu a +washing—which he needs.” +</p> + +<p> +“If it got into the cave, it would probably get into the mountain as +well,” I began—then stopped, for an idea occurred to me. +</p> + +<p> +I had noticed that this cave sloped downwards somewhat steeply, I mean +into the base of the mountain and towards its centre. Probably, in its +origin it was a vent blown through the rock at some time in the past +when the volcano was very active, which, for aught I knew, remained +unblocked, or only slightly blocked. Suppose now that a great volume of +water ran down that cave and vanished into the interior of the +mountain, was it not probable that something unusual would happen? The +volcano was still alive—this I knew from the smoke which hung above it, +also by the stream of red-hot lava that we had seen trickling down its +southern face—and fire and water do not agree well together. They make +steam, and steam expands. This thought took such a persistent hold on +me that I began to wonder whether it did not partake of the nature of +an inspiration. However, I said nothing of it to Hans, who, being a +savage, did not understand such matters. +</p> + +<p> +A little later food was brought to us by one of the serving priests. +With it came a message from Dacha to the effect that he grieved he +could not wait on us that day as he had many matters to which he must +attend, but that the Lady Dramana would do so shortly and show us all +there was to be seen, if the rain permitted. +</p> + +<p> +In due course she arrived—alone, as I had hoped she would—and at +once began to talk of the rainfall of the previous night, which she +said was such as had never been known in their country. She added that +all the priests had been out that morning, dragging the great stone +sluice gate into its place so as to keep out the water of the lake, +lest the arable land should be flooded and the crops destroyed. +</p> + +<p> +I told her that I was much interested in such matters, and asked +questions about this sluice which she could not answer as she knew +little of its working. She said, however, that she would show it to me +so that I might study the system. +</p> + +<p> +I thanked her and inquired whether the lake had risen much. She +answered, Not yet, but that probably it would do so during the day and +the following night when it became filled with the water brought down +by the flooded river which ran into it from the country to the north. +At any rate, this was feared, and it had been thought best to set the +sluice in place, a difficult task because of its weight. Indeed, a +woman who had gone to help out of curiosity had been caught by a +lever—I understood that was what she meant—and killed. She still +lay by the sluice, since it was not lawful for the priests of Heu-Heu +or their servants to touch a dead body between the Feast of Illusions, +which had been held on the previous night, and the Feast of Marriage, +which would be held on the night of the morrow, when, she added +significantly, they often touched plenty. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a Feast of Blood, then?” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lord, a Feast of Blood, and I pray that it may not be of your +blood also.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have no fear of that,” I answered airily, though in truth I felt +much depressed. Then I asked her to tell me exactly what was going to +happen as to the delivery of the “Holy Bride.” +</p> + +<p> +“This, Lord,” she said. “Before midnight, when the moon +should be at its fullest, a canoe comes, bringing the bride from the +City of the Walloos. Priests receive her and tie her to the pillar that +stands on the Rock of Offerings between the Everlasting Fires. Then the +canoe goes and waits at a distance. The priests go also and leave the +bride alone. I know it all, Lord, for I have been that bride. So she +stands until the first ray of the rising sun strikes upon her. Then +from the mouth of the cave comes out the high priest dressed in skins +to resemble the image of the god, and followed by women and some of the +Hairy savage folk shouting in triumph. He looses the bride, and they +bear her into the cave, and there, Lord, she vanishes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think that she will be brought at all, Dramana?” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly she will be brought, since if my father, the Walloo, or +Issicore, or any refused to send her, they would be killed by their own +people, who believe that then disaster would overtake them. Unless you +can save her by your arts, Lord, my sister Sabeela must become the wife +of Heu-Heu, which means the wife of Dacha.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will think the matter over,” I said. “But if I make up my +mind to help, am I right in understanding that you also desire to +escape from this island?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, I have told you so already, and I will only add this. Dacha +hates me and when I have served his purpose and he has in his hands +Sabeela, the true heiress to the chieftainship over our people unless +first I tread her road, certainly it will be my lot to stand where that +poor woman stood last night, who slew herself to escape worse things. +Oh, Lord, save me if you can!” +</p> + +<p> +“I will save you—if I can,” I replied, and I meant +it—almost as much as I meant to save myself. +</p> + +<p> +Then I impressed upon her that she must obey me in all things without +question, and this she swore to do. Also I asked her if she could +provide us with a canoe. +</p> + +<p> +“It is impossible,” she replied. “Dacha is clever; he has +bethought him that you might depart in a canoe. Therefore, every one of +them has been moved round to the other side of the island where they +are kept under watch of the Savage Folk. That is why he gives you leave +to roam about the place, because he knows that you cannot leave it, +unless you have wings, for the lake is too wide for any man to swim, +and if it were not, the Walloo shore is haunted by crocodiles.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, my friends, as you may guess, this was a blow indeed. However, I +kept my countenance and said that as this was the case something else +must be arranged, only asking casually if there were any crocodiles +about this part of the island coast. She answered that there were none, +because, as she supposed, the flames of the Everlasting Fires, or some +smell from the smoke of the mountain, frightened them away. +</p> + +<p> +Next, as the torrents of rain had ceased, at any rate for a while, I +suggested that we should go out, and we did so. Also I did not mind +much about the weather, as to protect us from it she had brought with +her for our use and her own three of the strangest waterproofs that +ever I saw. These consisted of two giant leaves from some kind of +waterlily that grew on the borders of the lake, sewn together, with a +hole at the top of the leaves, where the stalk comes, for the wearer’s +head to go through, and two openings left for his arms. For the rest no +mackintosh ever turned wet so well as did these leaves, the only +drawback about them, as I was informed, being that they must be renewed +once in every three days. +</p> + +<p> +Arrayed in these queer garments we went out in rain that here we should +call fairly heavy, though it was but the merest drizzle compared to +what had gone before. This rain I may explain, had great advantages so +far as we were concerned, seeing that in it not even the most curious +woman put her nose outside her own door. So it came about that we were +able to examine the village of the priests of Heu-Heu quite unobserved +and at our leisure. +</p> + +<p> +This settlement was small since there were never more than fifty +priests in the college, if so it may be called, to whom, of course, +must be added their wives and women, on an average, perhaps, of three +or four per man. +</p> + +<p> +The odd thing was that there seemed to be no children and no old +people. Either offspring did not arrive and folk died young upon the +island, or in both cases they were made away with, perhaps as +sacrifices to Heu-Heu. I am sorry to say that in the pressure of great +dangers I do not remember making any inquiry upon the point, or if I +did I cannot recall the answer given. It was only afterwards that I +reflected upon this strange circumstance. The fact remains that on the +island there were no young and no aged. Another possible explanation, +by the way, is that both may have been exported to the mainland. +</p> + +<p> +Here I will add that with the exception of Dramana and a few discarded +wives who may have been doomed to sacrifice, the women were fiercer +bigots and more cruel votaries of Heu-Heu than were the men themselves. +So, indeed, I had observed when I sat among them at the Feast of +Illusions in the cave. +</p> + +<p> +For the rest they all lived in dwellings such as that which was given +to us, and were waited upon by servants or slaves from the savage race +that was called Heuheua. Low as these Heuheua were and disgusting as +might be their appearance, like our South African Bushmen, they were +clever in their way, and, when trained, could do many things. Also they +were faithful to the commands of their god Heu-Heu, or rather to those +of his priests, though they hated the Walloos, from whom these priests +sprang, and waged continual war against them. +</p> + +<p> +Soon we had left the houses and were among the cultivated lands, all of +which Dramana informed us were worked by the Heuheua slaves. These +laboured here in gangs for a year at a time, and then were returned to +their women in the forests on the mainland, for, except as servants, +none of them were allowed upon the island. Those lands were +extraordinarily fertile, as was shewn by the crops on them, which, +although much beaten down by the torrential rain, were now ready for +harvest. They were enclosed by a kind of sea wall built of blocks of +lava and must at some time have been reclaimed from the muddy shallows +of the lake, which accounted for their richness. Everywhere about them +ran irrigation channels that were used in the dry sowing season and +controlled by the sluice gate that has been mentioned. That is all I +have to say about the gardens, except that the existence of this +irrigation system is to my mind another proof that these Walloos sprang +originally from some highly civilized race. Their fields extended to +that extremity of the island which was nearest to the Walloo coast, and +I know not how far in the other direction, for I did not go there. +</p> + +<p> +Standing upon this point we saw in the distance a number of moving +specks upon the water. I asked Dramana if they were hippopotami, and +she answered: +</p> + +<p> +“No, Lord, they are the Hairy Folk who, in obedience to the summons of +the god, cross the lake upon bundles of reeds that they may be ready to +fight in the coming war against the Walloo. Already there are hundreds +of them gathered upon the farther side of the mountain, and by to-night +all their able-bodied men will have come, leaving only the females, the +aged, and the children hidden away in the depths of the forests. On the +third day from now they will paddle back across the lake, led by the +priests under the command of Dacha, and attack Walloo.” +</p> + +<p> +“A great deal may happen in three days,” I said, and dropped the +subject. +</p> + +<p> +We walked back towards the village and the cave mouth by the sea wall, +upon the top of which ran a path, and thus at last came to the Rock of +Offering, upon each side of which burned the two curious columns of +flame that, I took it, were fed with natural gas generated in the womb +of the volcano. They were not very large fires—at any rate, when I saw +them—the flame may have been about eight or ten feet high, no more. But +there they burned, and had done so, Dramana said, from the beginning of +things. Between them, at a little distance, stood a post of stone with +rings also of stone, to which the bride was bound. I noted that from +these rings hung new ropes placed there to serve as the bonds of +Sabeela during the coming night. +</p> + +<p> +Having seen all there was to see on this Rock of Offering, including +the steps by which the victim was landed, we went on to a long shed +with a steep reed roof, which contained the machinery, if so I can call +it, that regulated the irrigation sluice. It had a heavy wooden door +which Dramana unlocked with an odd-shaped stone key that she produced +from a bag she was wearing. This key, she told us, had been given to +her by Dacha with strict orders that she was to return it after we had +examined the place, should we wish so to do. +</p> + +<p> +As it happened there was a good deal to examine. Near one end of the +shed the main irrigation canal, which may have been twelve feet wide, +passed beneath it. Here, under the centre of the roof, was a pit of +which the water that stood in it prevented us from seeing the depth. On +either side of this pit were perpendicular grooves cut in the solid +rock, very deep grooves that were exactly filled by a huge slab of +dressed stone six or seven inches thick. When this stone, or the upper +part of it, was lifted out of the rock floor of the channel, where +normally it stood in its niche, forming part of the bed of the channel, +it entirely cut off the inflow of water from the lake, and was, +moreover, tall enough to stop any possible additional inflow at a time +of flood. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps I can make the thing clear in this way. When Good and I were +last in London together we went to Madame Tussaud’s and saw the famous +guillotine that was used in the French Revolution. The knife of that +guillotine, you will remember, was raised between uprights, and when +brought into action, let fall again to the bottom of the apparatus, +severing the neck of the victim in its course. Now imagine that those +uprights were the rock walls of the pit, and that the knife, instead of +being but a narrow thing, were a great sheet of steel, or rather stone. +Then, when it was drawn to the top of the uprights from the niche at +the bottom, it would entirely fill the space to the head of the +grooves, and none of the water that normally passed over it could flow +between the uprights, or rather walls, because the sheet of stone +barred its passage. Now do you understand? +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +As Good, who was stupid about such matters, looked doubtful, Allan went +on: +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps a better illustration would be that of a portcullis; even you, +Good, have seen a portcullis, which, by the way, must mean a door in a +groove. Imagine a subterranean or rather subaqueous, portcullis that, +when it was desired to shut it, rose in its grooves from below instead +of falling from above, and you will have an exact idea of the water +door of the priests of Heu-Heu. I’d draw it for you if it wasn’t so +late.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see now,” said Good, “and I suppose they wound the thing +up with a windlass.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not say with a donkey engine at once, Good? Windlasses had not +occurred to the Walloos. No, they acted on a simpler and more ancient +plan. They lifted it with a lever. Near the top of this slab of rock, +or water door, was drilled a hole. Through this hole passed a bolt of +stone, of which the ends went into the cut-out base of the lever, thus +forming a kind of hinge. The lever itself was a bar of stone—evidently +they would not trust to wood which rots—massive and about twenty feet +long, so as to obtain the best possible purchase. When the door was +quite down in its niche at the bottom of the bed of the channel, the +end of the lever naturally rose high into the air, almost to the top of +the pitched roof of the shed, indeed.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +When it was desired to raise the door so as to regulate the amount of +water passing into the irrigation channel beyond, or to cut it off +altogether in case of flood, the lever was pulled down by ropes that +were tied to its end by the strength of a number of men and that end +was passed into, or rather under, one or other of half a dozen hooks of +stone hollowed in a face of solid rock. Here, of course, it remained +immovable until it was released, again by the united strength of a +number of men, and flew back to the roof, letting the portcullis slab +drop into its bed or groove at the bottom of the channel, thus +admitting the lake water. +</p> + +<p> +On the present occasion, as a great flood was anticipated, this slab +was raised to its full extent, and when I saw it, the top of it stood +five or six feet above the level of the water, while the end of the +handle of the lever was made fast beneath the lowest hook of rock +within a foot of the floor. +</p> + +<p> +Hans and I examined this primitive but effective apparatus for +preventing inundations very carefully. Supposing, thought I, that any +one wanted to release that lever so that the door fell and water rushed +in over it, how could it be done? Answer: It could only be done by the +application of the united force of a great number of men pressing on +the end of the lever till it was pushed clear of the point of the hook, +when naturally it would fly upwards and the door would fall. Or, +secondly, by breaking the lever in two, when, of course, the same thing +would happen Now two men, that is Hans and myself, could not possibly +release this beam of stone from its hook; indeed, I doubt whether ten +men could have done it. Nor could two men possibly break that beam of +stone. Perhaps, if they had suitable marble saws, such as workers in +stone use, and plenty of time, they might cut it in two, although it +seemed to be made of a kind of rock that was as hard as iron. But we +had no saw. Therefore, so far as we were concerned the task was +impossible; that idea must be dismissed. +</p> + +<p> +Still, there is a way out of most difficulties if only it can be hit +upon. My own mental resources were exhausted, it is true, but Hans +remained, and possibly he might have some suggestion of value to make. +He was a curious creature, Hans, and often his concentrated primitive +instincts led him more directly to the mark than did all my civilized +reasonings. +</p> + +<p> +So speaking without emphasis in Dutch, for I did not wish Dramana to +guess my internal excitement, I put the problem to Hans in these words: +</p> + +<p> +“Supposing that you and I, Hans, with none to help, except perhaps this +woman, found it necessary to break that bar of stone and cause the +water gate to fall, so as to let in the lake flood over it, how could +we do it with such means as we have in this place?” Hans stared about +him, twiddling his hat in his usual vacuous fashion, and remarked, +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then find out, for I want to learn if your conclusions agree with my +own,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“I think that if they agree with the Baas’s, they will agree with +nothing at all,” said Hans, delivering this shrewd and perfectly +accurate shot with such a wooden expression of utter stupidity that I +could have kicked him. +</p> + +<p> +Next, without more words, he removed himself from my neighbourhood and +began to examine the lever in a casual fashion, especially the hook of +rock which held it in its place. Presently he remarked in Arabic, so +that Dramana might understand, that he wanted to see how deep the pit +was, which we could not do from the floor of the shed, and instantly +climbed up the slope of the beam-like lever with all the agility of a +monkey, and sat himself, cross-legged, on the top of it, just below the +stone hinge that I have described. Here he remained for a while, +apparently staring into the darkness of the hole or pit on the farther +side of the stone slab, where, of course, it was almost empty, as the +door cut off the water from the irrigation channel on the island side. +</p> + +<p> +“That hole is too dark to see into,” he said, presently, and +swarmed down the shaft again. Then he called my attention to the body +of the dead woman who Dramana had told us was struck by the lever and +killed while it was being dragged into place, which lay almost out of +sight in the shadow by the wall of the shed. We went to look at her. +She was a tall woman, handsome, like all these people, and young. +Outwardly she showed no signs of injury, for her long white robe was +unstained. I suppose that she had been crushed between the lever and +the hook, or perhaps struck on the side of the head as it was being +swung into place. Whilst we were examining the corpse of this +unfortunate, Hans said to me, still speaking in Dutch, +</p> + +<p> +“Does the Baas remember that we have two pound tins of the best rifle +powder in our bag and that he scolded me because I did not take them +out when we left the house of the Walloo, saying that it was foolish to +bring them with us as they would be quite useless to us on the island?” +</p> + +<p> +I replied that I had some recollection of the incident, and that, as a +matter of fact, they had been heavy to carry. Then Hans proceeded to +set a riddle in his irritating and sententious way, asking, +</p> + +<p> +“Who does the Baas think knows most about things that are to +happen—the Baas or the Baas’s Reverend Father in Heaven?” +</p> + +<p> +“My father, I presume, Hans,” I replied airily. +</p> + +<p> +“The Baas is right. The Baas’s father in the sky knows much more +than the Baas, but sometimes I think that Hans knows better than +either, at any rate, here on the earth.” +</p> + +<p> +I stared at the little wretch, rendered speechless by his irreverent +impudence, but he went on unabashed: +</p> + +<p> +“I did not forget to leave that powder behind, Baas; I brought it with +me thinking that it might be useful, because with powder you can blow +up men and other things. Also, I did not wish it to stay where we might +never see it again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, what about the powder?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing much, Baas. At least, only this. These Walloo do not bore +stones very well; they make the holes too big for what has to go +through them. That in the water gate is so large that there would be +room to put two pound flasks of powder beneath the pin, now that the +strain lifts it up to the top of the hole.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what would be the use of putting two flasks of powder in such a +place?” I inquired carelessly, for at the moment I was thinking about +the dead woman. +</p> + +<p> +“None at all, Baas; none at all. Only I thought the Baas asked me how +we could loose that stone arm. If two pounds of powder were put into +the hole, covered with a little mud, and fired, I think that they would +blow out the bit of rock at the top of the hole, or break the pin, or +both. Then, as there would be nothing to hold it, the stone door would +fall down and the lake would come in and water the fields of the +priests of Heu-Heu, if in his wisdom and kindness the Baas thinks they +want it at harvest time, and after so much rain.” +</p> + +<p> +“You little wretch,” I said; “you infernal, clever little +wretch! Hang me if I don’t think you have got hold of the right end of +the stick this time. Only the business will take a lot of thinking out +and arrangement.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, and we had better do that in the house, which, as the Baas +knows, is quite close, only about a hundred paces away. Let us get out +of this place, Baas, before the lady begins to smell rats; only, as you +go, take a good squint at that hole in the top of the stone door and +the rock pin which goes through it.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Hans, who all this while had been staring at the body of the woman +and apparently talking about her, bowed towards it, remarking in +Arabic, “Allah, I mean Heu-Heu, receive her into his bosom,” and +retreated reverentially. +</p> + +<p> +So we went away, but I, lingering behind, examined the hole and the pin +very carefully. +</p> + +<p> +Hans was quite right: there was just room left in the former to +accommodate two tin flasks of powder, also, there were not more than +three inches of rock on the topside of the hole. Surely two pounds of +powder would suffice to blow out this ring of stone and perhaps to +shatter the pin as well. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br />THE PLOT</h2> + +<p> +We left the shed and, after she had locked its door very carefully and +returned the stone key to her pouch, were taken by Dramana to see the +famous Tree of Illusions, of which the juice and leaves, if powdered +and burnt, could produce such strange dreams and intoxicating effects. +It grew in a large walled space that was called Heu-Heu’s Garden, +though nothing else was planted there. Dramana assured us indeed that +this tree had a poisonous effect upon all other vegetation. +</p> + +<p> +Passing the wall by a door of which she also produced some kind of key +out of her bag, we found ourselves standing in front of the famous +tree, if so it can be called, for its growth was shrub-like and its +topmost twigs were not more than twenty feet above the ground. On the +other hand, it covered a great area and had a trunk two or three feet +thick from which projected a vast number of branches whereof the +extremities lay upon the soil, and I think rooted there, after the +manner of wild figs, though of this I am not certain. +</p> + +<p> +It was an unholy product of nature, inasmuch as it had no real foliage, +only dark green, euphorbia-like and fleshy fingers—indeed, I think it +must have been some variety of euphorbia. At the extremities of these +green fingers appeared purple-coloured blooms with a most evil smell +that reminded me of the odour of something dead; also down their +sides—for, like the orange, the tree appeared to have the property of +flowering and fruiting at the same time—were yellow seed vessels about +the size of those of a prickly pear. Except that the trunk was covered +with corrugated gray bark and that the finger-like leaves were full of +resinous white milk like those of other euphorbias, there is nothing +more to say about it. I should add, however, that Dramana told us no +other specimen existed, either on the mainland or the island, and that +to attempt its propagation elsewhere was a capital offence. In short, +the Tree of Illusions was a monopoly of the priests. +</p> + +<p> +Hans set to work and cut a large faggot of the leaves, or fingers, +which he tied up with a piece of string he had in his pocket, to be +conveyed to Zikali, though there seemed to be such a small prospect of +their ever reaching him. It was not an agreeable job, for when it was +cut the white juice of the tree spurted out, and if it fell upon the +flesh, burned like caustic. +</p> + +<p> +I was glad when it came to an end because of the stench of the flowers, +but before I left I took the opportunity, when Dramana was not looking, +of picking some of the ripest of the fruits and putting them in my +pocket, with the idea of planting the seeds should we ever escape from +that country. I am sorry to say, however, that I never did so, as the +sharp spines that grew upon the fruits wore a hole in the lining of my +pocket, which already was thin from use, and they tumbled out +unobserved. Evidently the Tree of Illusions did not intend to be +reproduced elsewhere; at least, that was Hans’s explanation. +</p> + +<p> +On our way back to the house we had to pass round a lava boulder on the +lake side of the sluice shed, crossing by a little bridge the water +channel that ran beneath it, near to a flight of landing steps that +were used by fishermen. I examined this channel which pierced the sea +wall and here, outside the sluice gate, was about twenty feet wide. At +the side of it, built into the wall, was a slab of stone on which were +marks, cut there, no doubt, to indicate the height of the water level +and the rate at which it rose. I noticed that the topmost of these +marks was already covered, and that during the little while I stood and +watched, it vanished altogether, showing that the water was rising +rapidly. +</p> + +<p> +Seeing that I was interested, Dramana remarked that the priests said +that tradition never told of the water having reached that topmost mark +before, even during the greatest rains. She added that she supposed it +had done so now owing to the unprecedented wetness of the summer and +great tempests farther up the river that fed the lake, of which we were +experiencing the last. +</p> + +<p> +“It is fortunate that you have such a strong door to keep out the +water,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lord,” she answered, “since if it broke all this side +of the island would be flooded. If you look you will see that already +the lake stands higher than the cultivated lands and even than the +mouth of the Cave of Heu-Heu. It is told in tradition that when first, +hundreds of years ago, these lands were reclaimed from the mud of the +lake and the wall was built to protect them, the priests of Heu-Heu +trusted to the rain for their crops. Then came many dry seasons, and +they cut a way through the wall and let in water to irrigate them, +making the sluice gate that you have seen to keep it out if it rose too +high. An old priest of that time said that this was madness and would +one day prove their destruction, but they laughed at him and made the +sluice. He was wrong also, since thenceforward their crops were +doubled, and the gate is so well-fashioned that no floods, however +great, have ever passed through or over it; nor can they do so, because +the top of the stone gate rises to the height of a child above the +level of the water wall which separates the lake from the reclaimed +land.” +</p> + +<p> +“The lake might come over the crest of the wall,” I suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Lord. If you look you will see that the wall is raised far above +its level, to a height that no flood could ever reach.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then safety depends upon the gate, Dramana?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lord. If the flood were high enough, which it never has been +within the memory of man, the safety of the town would depend upon the +gate, and that of the Cave of Heu-Heu also. Before the mountain broke +into flame and destroyed the city of our ancestors, the new mouth was +made on the level, for formerly, it is said, it was entered from the +slope above. Moreover, there is no danger, because if any accident +happened and the flood broke through, all could flee up the mountain. +Only then the cultivated land would be ruined for a time and there +might be scarcity, during which people must obtain corn from the +mainland or draw it from that which is stored in pits in the hillside, +to be used in case of war or siege.” +</p> + +<p> +I thanked her for her explanation of these interesting hydraulic +problems, and after another glance at the scale rock, on which the +marks had now vanished completely, showing me that the lake was still +rising rapidly, we went to the house to rest and eat. +</p> + +<p> +Here Dramana left us, saying that she would return at sundown. I begged +her to do so without fail. This I did for her own sake, a fact that I +did not explain. Personally, I was indifferent as to whether she came +back or not, having learned all she could teach us, but as I was +planning catastrophe, I was anxious, should it come, to give her any +chance of escape that might offer for ourselves. After all, she had +been a good friend to us and was one who hated Dacha and Heu-Heu and +loved her sister Sabeela. +</p> + +<p> +Hans led her to the door and in an awkward fashion made much ado in +helping her to put on her leaf raincoat, which she had discarded and +was carrying. For now suddenly the rain, which had almost ceased while +we walked, had begun to fall again in torrents. +</p> + +<p> +When we had eaten and were left alone within closed doors, Hans and I +took counsel together. +</p> + +<p> +“What is to be done, Hans?” I asked, wishing to hear his views. +</p> + +<p> +“This, I think, Baas,” he answered. “When it draws near to +midnight we must go to hide near the steps, there by the Rock of +Offerings, not the smaller ones near the sluice gate. Then when the +canoe comes and lands the Lady Sabeela to be married, as soon as she +has been taken and tied to the post we must swim out to it, get aboard, +and go back to Walloo-town.” +</p> + +<p> +“But that would not save the Lady Sabeela, Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, I was not troubling my head about the Lady Sabeela who I +hope will be happy with Heu-Heu, but it would save <i>us,</i> though perhaps +we shall have to leave some of our things behind. If Issicore and the +rest wish to save the Lady Sabeela, they had better cease from being +cowards who are afraid of a stone statue and a handful of priests, and +do so for themselves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, Hans,” I said. “We came here to get a bundle of +stinking leaves for Zikali and to save the Lady Sabeela who is the +victim of folly and wickedness. The first we have got, the second +remains to be done. I mean to save that unfortunate woman, or to die in +the attempt.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas. I thought the Baas would say that, since we are all fools +in our different ways, and how can any one dig out of his heart the +folly that his mother put there before he was born? Therefore, since +the Baas is a fool, or in love with the Lady Sabeela because she is so +pretty—I don’t know which—we must make another plan and try +to get ourselves killed in carrying it out.” +</p> + +<p> +“What plan?” I asked, disregarding his crude satire. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, Baas,” he said, staring at the roof. “If +I had something to drink, I might be able to think of one, as all this +wet has filled my head with fog, just as my stomach is full of water. +Still, Baas, do I understand the Baas to say that if that stone gate +were broken the lake would flow in and flood this place, also the Cave +of Heu-Heu, where all the priests and their wives will be gathered +worshipping him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Hans, so I believe, and very quickly. As soon as the water began +to run it would tear away the wall on either side of the sluice and +enter in a mighty flood; especially as now the rain is again falling +heavily.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Baas, we must let the stone fall, and as we are not strong +enough to do it ourselves, we must ask this to help us,” and he +produced from his bag the two pounds of powder done up in stout flasks +of soldered tin as it had left the maker in England. “As I am called +Lord-of-the-Fire, the priests of Heu-Heu will think it quite natural,” +he added with a grin. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Hans,” I said, nodding, “but the question +is—how?” +</p> + +<p> +“I think like this, Baas. We must pack these two tins tight into that +hole in the rock door beneath the pin with the help of little stones, +and cover them over thickly with mud to give the powder time to work +before the tins are blown out of the hole. But first we must bore holes +in the tins and make slow matches and put the ends of them into the +holes. Only how are we to make these slow matches?” +</p> + +<p> +I looked about me. There on a shelf in the room stood the clay lamps +with which it was lighted at night, and by them lay a coil of the wick +which these people used, made of fine and dry plaited rushes, many feet +of it. +</p> + +<p> +“There’s the very stuff!” I said. +</p> + +<p> +We got it down, we soaked it in a mixture of the native oil, mixed with +gunpowder that I extracted from a cartridge, and behold! in half an +hour we had two splendid slow matches that by experiment I reckoned +would take quite five minutes to burn before the fire reached the +powder. That was all we could do for the moment. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Baas,” said Hans, when we had finished our preparations and +hidden the matches away to dry, “all this is very nice, but supposing +that the stone falls and the water runs in and everything goes softly, +how are we to get off the island? If we drown the priests of +Heu-Heu—though I do not think we shall drown them because they will +bolt up the mountain-side like rock rabbits—we drown ourselves also, +and travel in their company to the Place of Fires of which your +Reverend Father was so fond of talking. It will be very nice to try to +drown the priests of Heu-Heu, Baas, but we shall be no better off, nor +will the Lady Sabeela if we leave her tied to that post.” +</p> + +<p> +“We shall not leave her, Hans, that is if things go as I hope; we shall +leave someone else.” +</p> + +<p> +Hans saw light and his face brightened. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Baas, now I understand! You mean that you will tie to the post the +Lady Dramana, who is older and not quite so nice-looking as the Lady +Sabeela, which is why you told her she must stay with us all the time +after she comes back? That is quite a good plan, especially as it will +save us trouble with her afterwards. Only, Baas, it will be necessary +to give her a little knock on the head first lest she should make a +noise and betray us in her selfishness.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hans, you are a brute to think that I mean anything of the sort,” +I said indignantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, of course I am a brute who think of you and myself before I +do of others. But then <i>who</i> will the Baas leave? Surely he does not +mean to leave <i>me</i> dressed up in a bride’s robe?” he added in +genuine alarm. +</p> + +<p> +“Hans, you are a fool as well as a brute, for, silly as you may be, how +could I get on without you? I do not mean to leave any one living. I +mean to leave that dead woman in the gate house.” +</p> + +<p> +He stared at me in evident admiration and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“The Baas is growing quite clever. For once he has thought of something +that I have not thought of first. It is a good plan—if we can carry her +there without any one seeing us, and the Lady Sabeela does not betray +us by making a noise, laughing and crying both together like stupid +women do. But suppose that it all happens, there will be four of us, +and how are we to get into that canoe, Baas, if those cowardly Walloos +wait so long?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thus, Hans. When the canoe lands the Lady Sabeela and she has been +tied to the post, if Dramana speaks truth, it waits for the dawn at a +little distance. While it is waiting you must swim out to it, taking +your pistol with you, which you will hold above your head with one hand +to keep the cartridges dry, but leaving everything else behind. Then +you must get into the boat, telling the Walloo and Issicore, or whoever +is there, who you are. Later, when all is quiet, the Lady Dramana and I +will carry the dead woman to the post and tie her there in place of +Sabeela. After this you will bring the canoe to the landing steps—the +small landing steps by the big boulder which we saw near to the sluice +mouth on the lake wall, those that Dramana told us were used by +fishermen, because it is not lawful for them to set foot upon the Rock +of Offerings. You remember them?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas. You mean the ones at the end of a little pier which Dramana +also said was built to keep mud from the lake from drifting into the +sluice mouth and blocking it.” +</p> + +<p> +“When I see you coming, Hans, I shall fire the slow matches and we will +run down to the pier and get into the canoe. I hope that the priests +and their women in the cave, which is at a distance, will not hear the +powder explode beneath that shed, and that when they come out of the +cave they will find the water running in and swamping them. This might +give them something else to do besides pursuing us, as doubtless they +would otherwise, for I am sure they have canoes hidden away somewhere +near by, although Dramana may not know where they are. Now do you +understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, yes, Baas. As I said, the Baas has grown quite clever all of a +sudden. I think it must be that Wine of Dreams he drank last night that +has woke up his mind. But the Baas has missed one thing. Supposing that +I get into the canoe safely, how am I to make those people row in to +the landing steps and take you off? Probably they will be afraid, Baas, +or say that it is against their custom, or that Heu-Heu will catch them +if they do, or something of the sort. +</p> + +<p> +“You will talk to them gently, Hans, and if they will not listen, then +you will talk to them with your pistol. Yes, if necessary, you will +shoot one or more of them, Hans, after which I think the rest will obey +you. But I hope that this will not be necessary, since if Issicore is +there, certainly he will desire to win back Sabeela from Heu-Heu. Now +we have settled everything, and I am going to sleep for a while, with +the slow matches under me to dry them, as I advise you to do also. We +had little rest last night, and to-night we shall have none at all, so +we may as well take some while we can. But first bring that mat and tie +up the twigs from the stinking tree for Zikali, on whom be every kind +of curse for sending us on this job.” +</p> + +<p> +“Settled everything!” I repeated to myself with inward sarcasm as I +lay down and shut my eyes. In truth, nothing at all was ever less +settled, since success in such a desperate adventure depended upon a +string of hypotheses long enough to reach from where we were to +Capetown. Our case was an excellent example of the old proverb: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +If ifs and ands made pots and pans,<br /> +There’d be no work for tinkers’ hands.<br /> +</p> + +<p> +<i>If</i> the canoe came; <i>if</i> it waited off the rock; <i>if</i> Hans +could swim out to it without being observed and get aboard; <i>if</i> he +could persuade those fetish-ridden Walloos to come to take us off; <i>if</i> +we could carry out our little game about the powder undetected; <i>if</i> +the powder went off all right and broke up the sluice-handle as per +plan; <i>if</i> we could free Sabeela from the post; <i>if</i> she did not play +the fool in some female fashion; <i>if</i> blackguards of sorts did not +manage to cut our throats during all these operations, and a score of +other “ifs,” why, then our pots and pans would be satisfactorily +manufactured and perhaps the priests of Heu-Heu would be satisfactorily +frightened away or drowned. As it was, it looked to me as though, so +far from not getting any rest that night, we should slumber more +soundly than ever we did before—in the last long sleep of all. +</p> + +<p> +Well, it could not be helped, so I just fell back upon my favourite +fatalism, said my prayers and went off to sleep, which, thank God, I +can do at any time and under almost any circumstances. Had it not been +for that gift I should have been dead long ago. +</p> + +<p> +When I woke up it was dark, and I found Dramana standing over me; +indeed, it was her entry that roused me. I looked at my watch and +discovered to my surprise that it was past ten o’clock at night. +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you not wake me before?” I said to Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“What was the use, Baas, seeing that there was nothing to be done and +it is dull to be idle without a drop to drink?” +</p> + +<p> +That’s what he said, but the fact was that he had been fast asleep +himself. Well, I was thankful, as thus we got rid of many weary hours +of waiting. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly I made up my mind to tell Dramana everything, and did so. +There was something about this woman that made me trust her; also, +obviously, she was mad with desire to escape from Dacha, whom she hated +and who hated her and had determined to murder her as soon as he had +obtained possession of Sabeela. +</p> + +<p> +She listened and stared at me, amazed at the boldness of my plans. +</p> + +<p> +“It may all end well,” she said, “though there is the magic +of the priests to be feared which may tell them things that their eyes +do not see.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will risk the magic,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“There is also another thing,” she went on. “We cannot get +into the place where the stone gate is which you would destroy. As I +was bidden, when I went back to the cave, I gave up the bag in which I +carried the key and that of Heu-Heu’s Garden to Dacha, and he has put +it away, I know not where. The door is very strong, Lord, and cannot be +broken down, and if I went to ask Dacha for the key again he would +guess all, especially as the water is rising more fast than it ever +rose before in the memory of man, and priests have been to make sure +that the stone gate is fixed so that it cannot be moved—yes, and bound +down the handle with ropes.” +</p> + +<p> +Now I sat still, not knowing what to say, for I had overlooked this +matter of the key. While I did so I heard Hans chuckling idiotically. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you laughing at, you little donkey?” I asked. “Is +it a time to laugh when all our plans have come to nothing?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, or rather, yes, Baas. You see, Baas, I guessed that +something of this sort might happen, so, just in case it should, I took +the key out of the Lady Dramana’s bag and put in a stone of about the +same weight in place of it. Here it is,” and from his pocket he +produced that ponderous and archaic lock-opening instrument. +</p> + +<p> +“That was wise. Only you say, Dramana, that the priests have been to +the shed. How did they get in without the key?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, there are two keys. He who is called the Watcher of the Gate has +one of his own. According to his oath he carries it about him all day +at his girdle and sleeps with it at night. The key I had was that of +the high priest, who uses it, and others that he may look into all +things when he pleases, though this he does seldom, if ever.” +</p> + +<p> +“So far so good, then, Dramana. Have you aught to tell us?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lord. You will do well to escape from this island to-night, if +you can, since at to-day’s council an oracle has gone forth from +Heu-Heu that you and your companion are to be sacrificed at the bridal +feast to-morrow. It is an offering to the Wood-dwellers, who now know +that the woman was killed by you on the river and say that if you are +allowed to live they will not fight against the Walloos. I think also +that I am to be sacrificed with you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are we indeed?” I said, reflecting to myself that any scruples I +might have had as to attempting to drown out these fanatical brutes +were now extinct for reasons which quite satisfied my conscience. I did +not intend to be sacrificed if I could help it, then or at any future +time, and evidently the best way to prevent this would be to give the +prospective sacrificers a dose of their own medicine. From that moment +I became as ruthless as Hans himself. +</p> + +<p> +Now I understood why we were being treated with so much courtesy and +allowed to see everything we wished. It was to lull our suspicions. +What did it matter how much we learned, if within a few hours we were +to be sent to a land whence we could communicate it to no one else? +</p> + +<p> +I asked more particularly about this oracle, but only got answers from +Dramana that I could not understand. It appeared, however, that as she +said, it had undoubtedly been issued in reply to prayers from the +savage Hairy Folk, who demanded satisfaction for the death of their +countrywoman on the river, and threatened rebellion if it were not +granted. This explained everything, and really the details did not +matter. +</p> + +<p> +Having collected all the information I could, we sat down to supper, +during which Dramana told us incidentally that it had been arranged +that our arms, which were known “to spit out fire,” should be +stolen from us while we slept before dawn, so as to make us helpless +when we were seized. +</p> + +<p> +So it came to this: if we were to act at all, it must be at once. +</p> + +<p> +I ate as much as I was able, because food gives strength, and Hans did +the same. Indeed, I am sure that he would have made an excellent meal +even in sight of the noose which his neck was about to occupy. Eat and +drink, for to-morrow we die, would have been Hans’s favourite motto if +he had known it, as perhaps he did. Indeed, we did drink also of some +of the native liquor which Dramana had brought with her, since I +thought that a moderate amount of alcohol would do us both good, +especially Hans, who had the prospect of a cold swim before him. +Immediately I had swallowed the stuff I regretted it, since it occurred +to me that it might be drugged. However, it was not; Dramana had seen +to that. +</p> + +<p> +When we had finished our food we packed up our small belongings in the +most convenient way we could. One half of these I gave to Dramana to +carry, as she was a strong woman, and, of course, as he had to swim, +Hans could be burdened with nothing except his pistol and the bundle of +twigs from the Tree of Illusions, which we thought might help both to +support and to conceal him in the water. +</p> + +<p> +Then about eleven o’clock we started, throwing over our heads goatskin +rugs that had served for coverings on our beds, to make us resemble +those animals if that were possible. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br />THE TERRIBLE NIGHT</h2> + +<p> +Leaving the house very softly, we found that the torrential rain had +dwindled to a kind of heavy drizzle which thickened the air, while on +the surface of the lake and the low-lying cultivated land there hung a +heavy mist. This, of course, was very favourable to us, since even if +there were watchers about they could not see us unless we stumbled +right into them. +</p> + +<p> +As a matter of fact I think that there was none, all the population of +the place being collected at the ceremony in the cave. We neither saw +nor heard anybody; not even a dog barked, for these animals, of which +there were few on the island, were sleeping in the houses out of the +wet and cold. Above the mist, however, the great full moon shone in a +clear sky which suggested that the weather was mending, as in fact +proved to be the case, the tempest of rain, which we learned afterwards +had raged for months with some intervals of fine weather, having worn +itself out at last. +</p> + +<p> +We reached the sluice house, and to our surprise found that the door +was unlocked. Supposing that it had been left thus through carelessness +by the inspecting priests, we entered softly and closed it behind us. +Then I lit a candle, some of which I always carried with me, and held +it up that we might look about us. Next moment I stepped back +horror-struck, for there on the coping of the water shaft sat a man +with a great spear in his hand. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst I wondered what to do, staring at this man, who seemed to be +half asleep and even more frightened than I was myself, with the +greater quickness of the savage, Hans acted. He sprang at the fellow as +a leopard springs. I think he drew his knife but I am not sure. At any +rate, I heard a blow and then the light of the candle shone upon the +soles of the man’s feet as he vanished backwards into the pit of water. +What happened to him there I do not know; so far as we were concerned +he vanished for ever. +</p> + +<p> +“How is this? You told us no one would be here,” I said to Dramana +savagely, for I suspected a trap. +</p> + +<p> +She fell upon her knees, thinking, probably, that I was going to kill +her with the man’s spear which I had picked up, and answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, I do not know. I suppose that the priests grew suspicious and +set one of their number to watch. Or it may have been because of the +great flood which is rising fast.” +</p> + +<p> +Believing her explanations, I told her to rise, and we set to work. +Having fastened the door from within, Hans climbed up the lever, and by +the light of the candle, which could not betray us, as there were no +windows to the shed, fixed the two flasks of powder in the hole in the +stone gate immediately beneath the pin of the lever. Then, as we had +arranged, he wedged them tight with pebbles that we had brought with +us. +</p> + +<p> +This done, I procured a quantity of the sticky clay with which the +walls of the shed were plastered, taking it from a spot where the damp +had come through and made it moist. This clay we stuck all over the +flasks and the stones to a thickness of several inches. Only +immediately beneath the pin we left an opening, hoping thereby to +concentrate the force of the explosion on it and on the upper rim of +the hole that was bored through the sluice gate. The slow matches, +which now were dry, we inserted in the holes we had made in the flasks, +bringing them out through the clay encased in two long, hollow reeds +that we had drawn from the roof of our house where we lodged, hoping +thus to keep the damp away from them. +</p> + +<p> +Thus arranged, their ends hung to within six feet of the ground, where +they could easily be lighted, even in a hurry. +</p> + +<p> +By now it was a quarter past eleven, and the most terrible and +dangerous part of our task must be faced. Lifting the corpse of the +dead woman who had been killed, presumably, by a blow from the lever +that morning, Hans and I—Dramana would not touch her—bore her out +of the shed. Followed by Dramana with all our goods, for we dared not +leave them behind, as our retreat might be cut off, we carried her with +infinite labour, for she was very heavy, some fifty yards to a spot I +had noted during our examination in the morning at the edge of the Rock +of Offering, which spot, fortunately, rose to a height of six feet or +rather less above the level of the surrounding ground. Here there was a +little hollow in the rock face washed out by the action of water; a +small, roofless cavity large enough to shelter the three of us and the +corpse as well. +</p> + +<p> +In this place we hid, for there, fortunately, the shape of the +surrounding rock cut off the glare from the two eternal fires, which in +so much wet seemed to be burning dully and with a good deal of smoke, +the nearer of them at a distance of not more than a dozen paces from +us. The post to which the victim was to be tied was perhaps the length +of a cricket pitch away. +</p> + +<p> +In this hiding hole we could scarcely be discovered unless by ill +fortune someone walked right on to the top of us or approached from +behind. We crouched down and waited. A while later, shortly before +midnight, in the great stillness we heard a sound of paddles on the +lake. The canoe was coming! A minute afterwards we distinguished the +voices of men talking quite close to us. +</p> + +<p> +Lifting my head, I peered very cautiously over the top of the rock. A +large canoe was approaching the landing steps, or rather, where these +had been, for now, except the topmost, they were under water because of +the flood. On the rock itself four priests, clad in white and wearing +veils over their faces with eyeholes cut in them, which made them look +like monks in old pictures of the Spanish Inquisition, were marching +towards these steps. As they reached them, so did the canoe. Next, from +its prow was thrust a tall woman, entirely draped in a white cloak that +covered both head and body, who from her height might very well be +Sabeela. +</p> + +<p> +The priests received her without a word, for all this drama was enacted +in utter silence, and half led, half carried her to the stone post +between the fires, where, so far as I could see through the mist—that +night I blessed the mist, as we do in church in one of the psalms—no, +it is the mist that blesses the Lord, but it does not matter—they bound +her to the post. Then, still in utter silence, they turned and marched +away down the sloping rock to the mouth of the cave, where they +vanished. The canoe also paddled backwards a few yards—not far, I +judged from the number of strokes taken—and there floated quietly. +</p> + +<p> +So far all had happened as Dramana told us that it must. In a whisper I +asked her if the priests would return. She answered no; no one would +come on to the rock till sunrise, when Heu-Heu, accompanied by women, +would issue from the cave to take his bride. She swore that this was +true, since it was the greatest of crimes for any one to look upon the +Holy Bride between the time that she was bound to the rock and the +appearance of the sun above the horizon. +</p> + +<p> +“Then the sooner we get to business the better,” I said, setting my +teeth, and without stopping to ask her what she meant by saying that +Heu-Heu would come with the women, when, as we knew well, there was no +such person. +</p> + +<p> +“Come on, Hans, while the mist still lies thick; it may lift at any +moment,” I added. +</p> + +<p> +Swiftly, desperately, we clambered on to the rock, dragging the dead +woman after us. Staggering round the nearer fire with our awful burden, +we arrived with it behind the post—it seemed to take an age. Here by +the mercy of Providence the smoky reek from the fire propelled by a +slight breath of air, combined with the hanging fog to make us almost +invisible. On the farther side of the post stood Sabeela, bound, her +head drooping forward as though she were fainting. Hans swore that it +was Sabeela because he knew her “by her smell,” which was just like +him, but I could not be sure, being less gifted in that way. However, I +risked it and spoke to her, though doubtfully, for I did not like the +look of her. To tell the truth, I rather feared lest she should have +acted on her threat that as a last resource she would take the poison +which she said she carried hidden in her hair. +</p> + +<p> +“Sabeela, do not start or cry out. Sabeela, it is we, the Lord +Watcher-by-Night and he who is named Light-in-Darkness, come to save +you,” I said, and waited anxiously, wondering whether I should ever +hear an answer. +</p> + +<p> +Presently I gave a sigh of relief, for she moved her head slightly and +murmured, +</p> + +<p> +“I dream! I dream!” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” I answered, “you do not dream, or if you do, cease +from dreaming, lest we should all sleep for ever.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I crept round the post and bade her tell me where was the knot by +which the rope about her was fastened. She nodded downwards with her +head; with her hands she could not point, because they were tied, and +muttered in a shaken voice, +</p> + +<p> +“At my feet, Lord.” +</p> + +<p> +I knelt down and found the knot, since if I cut the rope we should have +nothing with which to tie the body to the post. Fortunately, it was not +drawn tight because this was thought unnecessary, as no Holy Bride had +ever been known to attempt to escape. Therefore, although my hands were +cold, I was able to loose it without much difficulty. A minute later +Sabeela was free and I had cut the lashings which bound her arms. Next +came a more difficult matter, that of setting the dead woman in her +place, for, being dead, all her weight came upon the rope. However, +Hans and I managed it somehow, having first thrown Sabeela’s cloak and +veil over her icy form and face. +</p> + +<p> +“Hope Heu-Heu will think her nice!” whispered Hans as we cast an +anxious look at our handiwork. +</p> + +<p> +Then, all being done, we retreated as we had come, bending low to keep +our bodies in the layer of the mist which now was thinning and hung +only about three feet above the ground like an autumn fog on an English +marsh. We reached our hole, Hans bundling Sabeela over its edge +unceremoniously, so that she fell on to the back of her sister, +Dramana, who crouched in it terrified. Never, I think, did two +tragically separated relations have a stranger meeting. I was the last +of our party, and as I was sliding into the hollow I took a good look +round. +</p> + +<p> +This is what I saw. Out of the mouth of the cave emerged two priests. +They ran swiftly up the gentle slope of rock till they reached the two +columns of burning natural gas or petroleum or whatever it was, one of +them halting by each column. Here they wheeled round and through the +holes in their masks or veils stared at the victim bound to the post. +Apparently what they saw satisfied them, for after one glance they +wheeled about and ran back to the cave as swiftly as they had come, but +in a methodical manner which showed no surprise or emotion. +</p> + +<p> +“What does this mean, Dramana?” I exclaimed. “You told me +that it was against the law for any one to look upon the Holy Bride +until the moment of sunrise.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, Lord,” she answered. “Certainly it is +against the law. I suppose that the diviners must have felt that +something was wrong and sent out messengers to report. As I have told +you, the priests of Heu-Heu are masters of magic, Lord.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then they are bad masters, for they have found out nothing,” I +remarked indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +But in my heart I was more thankful than words can tell that I had +persisted in the idea of lashing the dead woman to the post in place of +Sabeela. Whilst we were dragging her from the shed, and again when we +were lifting her out of the hole on to the rock, Hans had suggested +that this was unnecessary, since Dramana vowed that no man ever looked +upon the Holy Bride between her arrival upon the rock and the moment of +sunrise, and that all we needed to do was to loose Sabeela. +</p> + +<p> +Fortunately some providence warned me against giving way. Had I done so +all would have been discovered and humanly speaking we must have +perished. Probably this would have happened even had I not remembered +to run back and pick up the pieces of cord that I had cut from +Sabeela’s wrists and left lying on the rock, since the messengers might +have seen them and guessed a trick. As it was, so far we were safe. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Hans,” I said, “the time has come for you to swim to +the canoe, which you must do quickly, for the mist seems to be melting +beneath the moon and otherwise you may be seen.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, I shall not be seen, for I shall put that bundle from the +Tree of Dreams on my head, which will make me look like floating weeds, +Baas. But would not the Baas like, perhaps, to go himself? He swims +better than I do and does not mind cold so much; also he is clever and +the Walloo fools in the boat will listen to him more than they will to +me; and if it comes to shooting, he is a better shot. I think, too, +that I can look after the Lady Sabeela and the other lady and know how +to fire a slow match as well as he can.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered, “it is too late to change our plans, though +I wish I were going to get into that boat instead of you, for I should +feel happier there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very good, Baas. The Baas knows best,” he replied resignedly. +Then, quite indifferent to conventions, Hans stripped himself, placing +his dirty clothes inside the mat in which was wrapped the bundle of +twigs from the Tree of Illusions, because, as he said, it would be nice +to have dry things to put on when he reached the boat, or the next +world, he did not know which. +</p> + +<p> +These preparations made, having fastened the bundle on to his head by +the help of the bonds which we had cut off Sabeela’s hands, that I tied +for him beneath his armpits, he started, shivering, a hideous, +shrivelled, yellow object. First, however, he kissed my hand and asked +me whether I had any message for my Reverend Father in the Place of +Fires, where, he remarked, it would be, at any rate, warmer than it was +here. Also he declared that he thought that the Lady Sabeela was not +worth all the trouble we were taking about her, especially as she was +going to marry someone else. Lastly he said with emphasis that if ever +we got out of this country, he intended to get drunk for two whole days +at the first town we came to where gin could be bought—a promise, I +remember, that he kept very faithfully. Then he sneaked down the side +of the rock and holding his revolver and little buckskin cartridge case +above his head, glided into the water as silently as does an otter. +</p> + +<p> +By now, as I have said, the mist was vanishing rapidly, perhaps before +a draught of air which drew out of the east, as I have noticed it often +does in those parts of Africa between midnight and sunrise, even on +still nights. On the face of the water it still hung, however, so that +through it I could only discover the faint outline of the canoe about a +hundred yards away. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, with a beating heart, I observed that something was +happening there, since the canoe seemed to turn round and I thought +that I heard astonished voices speaking in it, and saw people standing +up. Then there was a splash and once more all became still and silent. +Evidently Hans reached the boat safely, though whether he had entered +it I could not tell. I could only wonder and hope. +</p> + +<p> +As we could do no good by remaining in our present most dangerous +position, I set out to return to the sluice shed where other matters +pressed, carrying all our gear as before, but, thank goodness! without +the encumbrance of the corpse. Sabeela seemed to be still half dazed, +so at present I did not try to question her. Dramana took her left arm +and I her right and, supporting her thus, we ran, doubled up, back to +the shed and entered it in safety. Leaving the two women here, I went +out on to the little pier and crouched at the top of the fishermen’s +steps, watching and waiting for the coming of Hans with the canoe to +take us off, for, as you may remember, the arrangement was that I was +not to fire the slow matches until it had arrived. +</p> + +<p> +No canoe appeared. During all the long hours—they seemed an +eternity—before the breaking of the dawn did I wait and watch, +returning now and again to the shed to make sure that Dramana and +Sabeela were safe. On one of these visits I learned that both her +father, the Walloo, and Issicore were in the canoe, which made its +non-arrival not to be explained, that is, if Hans had reached it +safely. But if he had not, or perhaps had been killed or met with some +other accident in attempting to board it, then the explanation was easy +enough, as her crew would not know our plight or that we were waiting +to be rescued. Lastly they might have refused to make the attempt—for +religious reasons. +</p> + +<p> +The problem was agonizing. Before long there would be light and without +doubt we should be discovered and killed, perhaps by torture. On the +other hand, if I fired the powder the noise of the explosion would +probably be heard, in which case also we should be discovered. Yet +there was an argument for doing this, since then, if things went well, +the water would rush in and give those priests something to think about +that would take their minds off hunting for and capturing us. +</p> + +<p> +I looked about me. The canoe was invisible in the mist. It might be +there or it might be gone, only if it had gone and Hans were still +alive, I was certain that, as arranged, to advise me he would have +fired his pistol, which, to keep the cartridges dry, he had carried +above his head in his left hand. Indeed, I thought it probable that, +rather than desert me thus, he would have swum back to the island, so +that we might see the business through together. The longer I pondered +all these and other possibilities the more confused I grew and the more +despairing. Evidently something had happened, but what—what? +</p> + +<p> +The water continued to rise; now all the steps were covered and it was +within an inch or two of the surface of the pier on which I must +crouch. It was a mighty flood that looked as though presently it would +begin to flow over the top of the sea wall, in which case the sluice +shed would undoubtedly be inundated and made uninhabitable. +</p> + +<p> +As I think I told you, a few yards to our right, rising above the top +of the sea wall to a height of seven or eight feet, was a great rock +that had the appearance of a boulder ejected at some time from the +crater of the volcano, which rock would be easy to climb and was large +enough to accommodate the three of us. Moreover, no flood could reach +its top, since to do so it must cover the land beyond to a depth of +many feet. Considering it and everything else, suddenly I came to a +conclusion, so suddenly indeed and so fixedly that I felt as though it +were inspired by some outside influence. +</p> + +<p> +I would bring the women out and make them lie down upon the top of that +boulder, trusting to Dramana’s dark cloak to hide them from observation +even in that brilliant moonlight. Then I would return to the shed and +set light to the match, and, after I had done this, join them upon the +rock whence we could see all that happened, and watch for the canoe, +though of this I had begun to despair. +</p> + +<p> +Abandoning all doubts and hesitations, I set to work to carry out this +scheme with cold yet frantic energy. I fetched the two sisters, who, +imagining that relief was in sight, came readily enough, made them +clamber up the rock and lie down there on their faces, throwing +Dramana’s large dark cloak over both of them and our belongings. Then I +went back to the shed, struck a light, and applied it to the ends of +the slow matches, that began to smoulder well and clearly. Rushing from +the shed, I locked the heavy door and sped back to the rock, which I +climbed. +</p> + +<p> +Five minutes passed, and just as I was beginning to think that the +matches had failed in some way, I heard a heavy thud. It was not very +loud; indeed, at a distance of even fifty yards I doubted whether any +one would have noticed it unless his attention were on the strain. That +shed was well built and roofed and smothered sounds. Also this one had +nothing of the crack of a rifle about it, but rather resembled that +which is caused by something heavy falling to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +After this for a while nothing particular happened. Presently, however, +looking down from my rock I saw that the water in the sluice, which, +being retained by the stone door in the shed, hitherto had been still, +was now running like a mill race, and with a thrill of triumph learned +that I had succeeded. +</p> + +<p> +<i>The sluice was down and the flood was rushing over it!</i> +</p> + +<p> +Watching intently, a minute or so later I observed a stone fall from +the coping of the channel, for it was full to the brim, then another, +and another, till presently the whole work seemed to melt away. Where +it had been was now a great and ever-growing gap in the sea wall +through which the swollen waters of the lake poured ceaselessly and +increasingly. Next instant the shed vanished like a card house, its +foundations being washed out, and I perceived that over its site, and +beyond it, a veritable river, on the face of which floated portions of +its roof, was fast inundating the low-lying lands behind that had been +protected by the wall. +</p> + +<p> +I looked at the east; it was lightening, for now the blackness of the +sky where it seemed to meet the great lake, had turned to grey. The +dawn was at hand. +</p> + +<p> +With a steady roar, through the gap in the sea wall which grew wider +every moment, the waters rushed in, remorseless, inexhaustible; the +aspect of them was terrifying. Now our rock was a little island +surrounded by a sea, and now in the east appeared the first ray from +the unrisen sun stabbing the rain-washed sky like a giant spear. It was +a wondrous spectacle and, thinking that probably it was the last I +should ever witness upon earth, I observed it with great interest. +</p> + +<p> +By this time the women at my side were sobbing with terror, believing +that they were going to be drowned. As I was of the same opinion, for I +felt our rock trembling beneath us as though it were about to turn over +or, washed from its foundations, to sink into some bottomless gulf, and +could do nothing to help them, I pretended to take no notice of their +terror, but only stared towards the east. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It was just then that, emerging out of the mist on the face of the +waters within a few yards of us, I saw the canoe. Hear the sound of the +paddles I could not, because of the roar of the rushing water. In it at +the stern, with his pistol held to the head of the steersman, stood +Hans. +</p> + +<p> +I rose up, and he saw me. Then I made signs to him which way he should +come, keeping the canoe straight over the crest of the broken wall +where the water was shallow. It was a dangerous business, for every +moment I thought it would overset or be sucked into the torrent beyond, +where the sluice channel had been; but those Walloos were clever with +their paddles, and Hans’s pistol gave them much encouragement. +</p> + +<p> +Now the prow of the canoe grated against the rock, and Hans, who had +scrambled forward, threw me a rope. I held it with one hand and with +the other thrust down the shrinking women. He seized them and bundled +them into the canoe like sacks of corn. Next I threw in our gear and +then sprang wildly myself, for I felt our stone turning. I half fell +into the water, but Hans and someone else gripped me and I was dragged +in over the gunwale. Another instant and the rock had vanished beneath +the yellow, yeasty flood! +</p> + +<p> +The canoe oscillated and began to spin round; happily it was large and +strong, with at least a score of rowers, being hollowed from a single, +huge tree. Hans shrieked directions and the paddlers paddled as never +they had done before. For quite a minute our fate hung doubtful, for +the torrent was sucking at us and we did not seem to gain an inch. At +last, however, we moved forward a little, towards the Rock of Sacrifice +this time, and within sixty seconds were safe and out of the reach of +the landward rush of the water. +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you not come before, Hans?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Baas, because these fools would not move until they saw the first +light, and when the Walloo and Issicore wanted to, told them that they +would kill them. They said it was against their law, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +“Curse them all for ten generations!” I exclaimed, then was silent, +for what was the use of arguing with such a superstition-ridden set? +</p> + +<p> +Superstition is still king of most of the world, though often it calls +itself Religion. These Walloos thought themselves very religious +indeed. +</p> + +<p> +Thus ended that terrible night. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br />THE END OF HEU-HEU</h2> + +<p> +Opposite to the Rock of Offering the canoe came to a standstill quite +close to the edge of the rock. I inquired why, and the old Walloo, who +sat in the middle of the boat draped in wondrous and imperial garments +and a headdress, that, having worked itself to one side in the course +of our struggles, made him look as though he were drunk, answered +feebly: +</p> + +<p> +“Because it is our law, Lord. Our law bids us wait till the sun appears +and the glory of Heu-Heu comes forth to take the Holy Bride.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” I answered, “as the Holy Bride is sitting in this +boat with her head upon my knee” (this was true, because Sabeela had +insisted upon sticking to me as the only person upon whom she could +rely, and so, for the matter of that, had Dramana, for <i>her</i> head was +on my other knee), “I should recommend the glory of Heu-Heu, whatever +that may be, not to come here to look for her. Unless, indeed, it wants +a hole as big as my fist blown through it,” I added with emphasis, +tapping my double-barrelled Express which was by my side, safe in its +waterproof case. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet we must wait, Lord,” answered the Walloo humbly, “for I +see that there is still a Holy Bride tied to the post, and until she is +loosed our law says that we may not go away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I exclaimed, “the holiest of all brides, for she is +stone dead and all the dead are holy. Well, wait if you like, for I +want to see what happens, and I think they can’t get at us here.” +</p> + +<p> +So we hung upon our oars, or rather paddles, and waited, till presently +the rim of the red sun appeared and revealed the strangest of scenes. +The water of the lake, swollen by weeks of continuous rain and the +recent tempest, flowing in with a steady rush that somehow reminded me +of the ordered advance of an infinite army, through the great gap in +the lake wall that was broadening minute by minute beneath its +devouring bite—is there anything so mighty as water in the world, I +wonder—had now flooded most of the cultivated land to a depth of +several feet. +</p> + +<p> +As yet, however, it had not reached the houses built against the +mountain, in one of which we had been lodged. Nor had it overflowed the +great Rock of Offering, which, you will remember, stood about the +height of a man above the level of the plain, being in fact a large +slab of consolidated lava that once had flowed from the crater into the +lake in a glacier-like stream of limited breadth. It is true that the +circumstance that the rock sloped downwards to the cave mouth seemed to +contradict that theory, but this I attribute to some subsequent +subsidence at its base, such as often happens in volcanic areas where +hidden forces are at work beneath the surface of the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Well, I repeat, the rock was not yet flooded, and so it came about that +at the proper moment, as had happened on this day, perhaps for hundreds +of years, Heu-Heu emerged from the cave “to claim his Holy Bride.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“How could he do that?” asked Good triumphantly, thinking, I +suppose, that he had caught Allan tripping. “You said that Heu-Heu was +a statue, so how could he come out of the cave?” +</p> + +<p> +“Does not it occur to you, Good,” asked Allan, “that a statue +is sometimes carried? However, in this case it was not so, for Heu-Heu +himself walked out of that cave, followed by a number of women, with +some of the Hairy Folk behind them, and looking at him as he stalked +along, hideous and gigantic, I understood two things. The first of +these was, how it came about that Sabeela had vowed to me that many had +seen Heu-Heu with their eyes, as Issicore also declared he had done +himself, ‘walking stiffly.’ The second, why it was a law that the +canoe which brought the Holy Bride should wait until she was removed at +dawn; namely in order that those in it might behold Heu-Heu and go back +to their land to testify to his bodily existence, even if they were not +allowed to give details as to his appearance, because to speak of this +would, they believed, bring a ‘curse’ upon them.” +</p> + +<p> +“But there wasn’t a Heu-Heu,” objected Good again. +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” said Allan, “really you are what Hans called +me—quite clever. With extraordinary acumen you have arrived at the +truth. There wasn’t a Heu-Heu. But, Good, if you live long enough,” +he went on with a gentle sarcasm which showed that he was annoyed, +“yes, if you live long enough, you will learn that this world is full +of deceptions, and that the Tree of Illusions does not, or rather did +not, grow only in Heu-Heu’s Garden. As you say, no Heu-Heu existed, but +there did exist an excellent copy of him made up with a skill worthy of +a high-class pantomime artist; so excellent indeed that from fifty +yards or so away, it was impossible to tell the difference between it +and the great original as depicted in the cave.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +There in all his hairy, grinning horror, “walking stiffly,” marched +Heu-Heu, eleven or twelve feet high. +</p> + +<p> +Or to come to the facts, there marched Dacha on stilts, artistically +draped in dyed skins and wearing on the top of or over his head a +wickerwork and canvas or cloth mask beautifully painted to resemble the +features of his amiable god. +</p> + +<p> +The pious crew of our boat saw him and bowed their classic heads in +reverence to the divinity. Even Issicore bowed, a performance that I +observed caused Dramana, yes, and the loving Sabeela herself, to favour +him with glances of indignation, not unmixed with contempt. At least +this was certainly the case with Dramana, who had lived behind the +scenes, but Sabeela may have been moved by other reflections. Perhaps +<i>she</i> still believed that there was a Heu-Heu, and that Issicore would +have done better to show himself less devoted to these religious +observances and less willing to surrender her to the god’s divine +attentions. You may all have noticed that however piously disposed, +there is a point at which the majority of women become very practical +indeed. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Heu-Heu stalked forward with a gait that might very literally +be called stilted, and the bevy of white-robed ladies followed after +him apparently singing a bridal song, while behind these, “moping and +mowing,” came their hairy attendants. By the aid of my glasses, +however, I could see that these ladies, at any rate, were not enjoying +the entertainment, whatever may have been the case with Dacha inside +his paste boards. They stared at the rising water and one of them +turned to run but was dragged back into place by her companions, for +probably on this solemn occasion flight was a capital offence. So on +they came till they reached the post to which we had tied the dead +woman, whereon according to custom, the bridesmaids skipped up to +release her, while the Hairy Folk ranged themselves behind. +</p> + +<p> +Next moment I saw the first of these bridesmaids suddenly stand still +and stare; then she emitted a yell so terrific that it echoed all over +the lake like the blast of a siren. The others stared also and in their +turn began to yell. Then Heu-Heu himself ambled round and apparently +had a look, a good look, for by now someone had torn away the veil +which I had thrown over the corpse’s head. He did not look long, for +next moment he was legging, or rather stilting, back to the cave as +fast as he could go. +</p> + +<p> +This was too much for me. By my side was my double-barrelled Express +rifle loaded with expanding bullets. I drew it from its case, lifted +it, and got a bead on to Heu-Heu just above where I guessed the head of +the man within would be, for I did not want to kill the brute but only +to frighten him. By now the light was good and so was my aim, for a +moment later the expanding bullet hit in the appointed spot and cleared +away all that top hamper of wicker and baboon skins, or whatever it may +have been. Never before was there such a sudden disrobement of an +ecclesiastical dignitary draped in all his trappings. +</p> + +<p> +Everything seemed to come off at once, as did Dacha from the stilts, +for he went a most imperial crowner that must have flattened his hooked +nose upon that lava rock. There he lay a moment, then, leaving his +stilts behind him, he rose and fled after the screaming women and their +ape-like attendants back into the cave. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” I remarked oracularly to the old Walloo and the others who +were terrified at the report of the rifle, “now, my friends, you see +what your god is made of.” +</p> + +<p> +The Walloo attempted no reply, apparently he was too +astonished—disillusionment is often painful, you know—but one of +his company who seemed to be a kind of official timekeeper, said that +the sun being up and the Holy Bridal being accomplished, though +strangely, it was lawful for them to return home. +</p> + +<p> +“No, you don’t,” I answered. “I have waited here a long +time for you and now you shall wait a little while for me, as I want to +see what happens.” +</p> + +<p> +The timekeeper, however, a man of routine, if one devoid of curiosity, +dipped his paddle into the water as a signal to the other rowers to do +likewise, whereon Hans hit him hard over the fingers with the butt of +his revolver, and then held its barrel to his head. +</p> + +<p> +This argument convinced him that obedience was best, and he drew in his +paddle, as did the others, making polite apologies to Hans. +</p> + +<p> +So we remained where we were and watched. +</p> + +<p> +There was lots to see, for by now the water was beginning to run over +the rock. It reached the eternal fires with the result that they ceased +to be eternal, for they went out in clouds of smoke and steam. Three +minutes later it was pouring in a cataract down the slope into the +mouth of the cave. Before I could count a hundred, people began to come +out of that cave in the greatest of hurries, as wasps do if you stir up +their nest with a stick. Among them I recognized Dacha, who had a very +good idea of looking after himself. +</p> + +<p> +He and the first of those who followed, wading through the water, got +clear and began to scramble up the mountainside behind. But the rest +were not so fortunate, for by now the stream was several feet deep and +they could not fight it. For a moment they appeared struggling amid the +foam and bubbles. Then they were swept back into the mouth of the cave +and gathered to the breast of Heu-Heu for the last time. Next, as +though at a signal, all the houses, including that in which we had been +lodged, crumbled away together. They just collapsed and vanished. +</p> + +<p> +Everything seemed finished and I wondered whether I would put a bullet +into Dacha, who now was standing on a ridge of rock and wringing his +hands as he watched the destruction of his temple, his god, his town, +his women, and his servants. Concluding that I would not, for something +seemed to tell me to leave this wicked rascal to destiny, I was about +to give the order to paddle away when Hans called to me to look at the +mountain top. +</p> + +<p> +I did so, and observed that from it was rushing a great cloud of steam, +such as comes from a railway engine when it is standing still with too +much heat in its boiler, but multiplied a millionfold. Moreover, as the +engine screams in such circumstances, so did the mountain scream, or +rather roar, emitting a volume of sound that was awful to hear. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s up now, Hans?” I shouted. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t know, Baas. Think that water and fire are having a talk +together inside that mountain, Baas, and saying they hate each other, +just like badly married man and woman who quarrel in a small hut, Baas, +and can’t get out. Hiss, spit, go woman; pop, bang, go +man——” Here he paused from his nonsense, staring at the +mountain top with all his eyes, then repeated in a slow voice, “Yes, +pop, bang, go man! Just <i>look</i> at him, Baas!” +</p> + +<p> +At this moment, with an amazing noise like to that of a magnified +thunderclap, the volcano seemed to split in two and the crest of it to +fly off into space. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” said Hans, “I am called Lord-of-the-Fire, am I not? +Well, I am not Lord of that fire and I think that the farther off we +get from it, the safer we shall be. <i>Allemagter!</i> Look there,” and +he pointed to a huge mass of flaming lava which appeared to descend +from the clouds and plunge into the lake about a couple of hundred +yards away, sending up a fountain of steam and foam, like a torpedo +when it bursts. +</p> + +<p> +“Paddle for your lives!” I shouted to the Walloos, who began to get +the canoe about in a very great hurry. +</p> + +<p> +As she came round—it seemed to take an age—I saw a strange and in a +way a terrible sight. Dacha had left his ledge and was running down +into the lake, followed by a stream of molten lava, dancing while he +ran, as though with pain, probably because the steam had scorched him. +He plunged into the water, and just then a great wave formed, driven +outwards doubtless by some subterranean explosion. It rushed towards +us, and on its very crest was Dacha. +</p> + +<p> +“I think that priest wants us to give him a row, Baas,” said Hans. +“He has had enough of his happy island home, and wishes to live on the +mainland.” +</p> + +<p> +“Does he?” I replied. “Well, there is no room in the +canoe,” and I drew my pistol. +</p> + +<p> +The wave bore Dacha quite close to us. He reared himself in the water, +or more probably was lifted up by the pressure underneath, so that +almost he appeared to be standing on the crest of the wave. He saw us, +he shouted curses upon us and shook his fists, apparently at Sabeela +and Issicore. It was a horrible sight. +</p> + +<p> +Hans, however, was not affected, for by way of reply he pointed first +to me, then to Sabeela and lastly to himself, after which, such was his +unconquerable vulgarity, he put his thumb to his nose and as schoolboys +say “cocked a snook” at the struggling high priest. +</p> + +<p> +The wave became a hollow and Dacha disappeared “to look for +Heu-Heu,” as Hans remarked. That was the end of this cruel but able +man. +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad,” said Hans after reflection, “that the Predikant +Dacha should have learned who sent him down to Heu-Heu before he went +there, which he knew well enough or he would not have been so cross, +Baas. Has it occurred to the Baas what clever people we are, all of +whose plans have succeeded so nicely? At one time I thought that things +were going wrong. It was after I scrambled into this canoe and those +fools would not move to fetch you and the women, because they said it +was against their law. While I was putting on my clothes, which got +here quite dry because I was so careful, Baas, for I had asked them to +paddle to fetch you while I was still naked and been told that they +would not, I wondered whether I should try to make them do so by +shooting one of them. Only I thought that I had better wait a while, +Baas, and see what happened, because if I had shot one, the others +might have become more stupid and obstinate than before, and perhaps +have paddled away after they had killed me. So I waited, which the Baas +will admit was the best thing to do, and everything came right in the +end, having doubtless been arranged by your Reverend Father, watching +us in the sky.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Hans, but if you had made up your mind otherwise, whom would you +have shot?” I asked. “The Walloo?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Baas, because he is old and stupid as a dead owl. I should have +shot Issicore because he tires me so much and I should like to save the +Lady Sabeela from being made weary for many years. What is the good of +a man, Baas, who, when he thinks his girl is being given over to a +devil, sits in a boat and groans and says that ancient laws must not be +broken lest a curse should follow? He did that, Baas, when I asked him +to order the men to row to the steps.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, Hans. It is a matter for them to settle between +them, isn’t it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, and when the lady has got her mind again and at last that +hour comes, as it always does when there is something to pay, Baas, I +shall be sorry for Issicore, for I don’t think he will look so pretty +when she has done with him. No, I think that when he says ‘Kiss! +Kiss!’ she will answer, ‘Smack! Smack!’ on both sides of his +head, Baas. Look, she has turned her back on him already. Well, Baas, +it doesn’t matter to me, or to you either, who have the Lady Dramana +there to deal with. She isn’t turning her back, Baas, she is eating you +up with her eyes and saying in her heart that at last she has found a +Heu-Heu worth something, even though he be small and withered and ugly, +with hair that sticks up. It is what is in a man that matters, Baas, +not what he looks like outside, as women often used to say to me when I +was young, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +Here with an exclamation that I need not repeat, for none of us really +like to have our personal appearance reflected upon by a candid friend, +however faithful, I lifted the butt of my rifle, purposing to drop it +gently on Hans’s toes. At that point, however, my attention was +diverted from this rubbish, which was Hans’s way of showing his joy at +our escape, by another blazing boulder which fell quite near to the +canoe, and immediately afterwards by the terrific spectacle of the +final dissolution of the volcano. +</p> + +<p> +I don’t know exactly what happened, but sheets of wavering flame and +clouds of steam ascended high into the heavens. These were accompanied +by earth-shaking rumblings and awful explosions that resounded like the +loudest thunder, each of them followed by the ejection of showers of +blazing stones and the rushing out of torrents of molten lava which ran +into the lake, making it hiss and boil. After this came tidal waves +that caused our canoe to rock perilously, dense clouds of ashes and a +kind of hot rain which darkened the air so much that for a while we +could see nothing, no, not for a yard before our noses. Altogether, it +was a most terrifying exhibition of the forces of nature which, by some +connection of ideas, made me think of the Day of Judgment. +</p> + +<p> +“Heu-Heu avenges himself upon us!” wailed the old Walloo, +“because we have robbed him of his Holy Bride.” +</p> + +<p> +Here his speech came to an end, for a good reason, since a large hot +stone fell upon his head, and, as Hans who was next to him explained +through the fog, “squashed him like a beetle.” +</p> + +<p> +When from the outcry of his followers Sabeela realized that her father +was dead, for he never moved or spoke again, she seemed to wake up in +good earnest, just as though she felt that the mantle of authority had +fallen upon her. +</p> + +<p> +“Throw that hot coal out of the boat,” she said, “lest it +burn through the bottom and we sink.” +</p> + +<p> +With the help of a paddle Issicore obeyed her, and, the body of the +Walloo having been covered up with a cloak, we rowed on desperately. By +good fortune about this time a strong wind began to blow from the shore +towards the island which kept back or drove away the hot rain and +pumice dust, so that we could once more see about us. Now our only +danger was from the rocks, such as that which had killed the Walloo, +that fell into the water all around, sending up spouts of foam. It was +just as though we were under heavy bombardment, but happily no more of +them hit the canoe, and as we got farther off the island the risk +became less. As we found afterwards, however, some of them were thrown +as far as the mainland. +</p> + +<p> +Still, there was one more peril to be passed, for suddenly we ran into +a whole fleet of rude canoes, or rather bundles of reeds and brushwood, +or sometimes logs sharpened at both ends by fire, on each of which one +of the Hairy savages sat astride directing it with a double-bladed +paddle. +</p> + +<p> +I presume that these people must have been a contingent of the +aboriginal Wood-folk who had started for the island in obedience to the +summons of Heu-Heu, where, as I have told, a great number of them were +already gathered preparatory to attacking the town of Walloo. Or they +may have been escaping from the island; really I do not know. One thing +was clear; however low they may have been in the scale of humanity, +they were sharp enough to connect us with the awful, natural +catastrophe that was happening, for squeaking and jabbering like so +many great apes, they pointed to that vision of hell, the flaming +volcano now sinking to dissolution, and to us. +</p> + +<p> +Then with their horrible yells of <i>Heu-Heu! Heu-Heu!</i> they set to work +to attack us. +</p> + +<p> +There was only one thing to be done—open fire on them, which Hans and I +did with effect, and meanwhile try to escape by our superior speed. I +am bound to say that those hideous and miserable creatures showed the +greatest courage, for undeterred by the sight of the death of their +companions whom our bullets struck, they tried to close upon us with +the object, no doubt, of oversetting the canoe and drowning us all. +</p> + +<p> +Hans and I fired as rapidly as possible, but we could deal with only a +tithe of them, so that speed and manœuvring were our principal +hope. Sabeela stood up in the boat and cried directions to the +paddlers, while Hans and I shot, first with rifles and then with our +revolvers. +</p> + +<p> +Still, one huge gorilla-like fellow, whose hair grew down to his +beetling eyebrows, got hold of the gunwale and began to pull the canoe +over. We could not shoot him because both rifles and revolvers were +empty; nor did our blows make him loose his grip. The canoe rocked from +side to side increasingly, and began to take in water. +</p> + +<p> +Just as I feared that the end had come, for more hairy men were almost +on to us, Sabeela saved the situation in a bold and desperate fashion. +By her side lay the broad spear of that priest whom Hans had killed in +the sluice shed, knocking him backwards into the water pit. She seized +it and with amazing strength stabbed the great beast-like creature who +had hold of the canoe and was putting all his weight on it to force the +gunwale under water. He let go and sank. By skilful steering we avoided +the others, and in three minutes were clear of them, since they could +not keep pace with us on their rude craft. +</p> + +<p> +“Plenty to do to-night, Baas!” soliloquized Hans, wiping his brow. +“Perhaps if a crocodile does not swallow us between here and the shore, +or these fools do not sacrifice us to the ghost of Heu-Heu, or we are +not killed by lightning, the Baas will let me drink some of that native +beer when we get back to the town. All this fire about has made me very +thirsty.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Well, we arrived there at last—a generation seemed to have passed since +I left that quay, which we found crowded with the entire +terror-stricken population of the place. They received the body of the +Walloo in respectful silence, but it seemed to me without any +particular grief. Indeed, these people appeared to have outworn the +acuter human emotions. All such extremes, I suppose, had been smoothed +away from their characters by time, and by the degrading action of the +vile fetishism under which they lived. In short, they had become mere +handsome, human automata who walked about with their ears cocked +listening for the voice of the god and catching it in every natural +sound. To tell the truth, however interesting may have been their +origin, in their decadence they filled me with contempt. +</p> + +<p> +The reappearance of Sabeela astonished them very much but seemed to +cause no delight. +</p> + +<p> +“She is the god’s wife,” I heard one of them say. “It +is because she has run away from the god that all these misfortunes +have happened.” She heard it also and rounded on them with spirit, +having by now quite recovered her nerve, or so it seemed, which is more +than could be said of Issicore, who, although he should have been wild +with joy, remained depressed and almost silent. +</p> + +<p> +“What misfortunes?” she asked. “My father is dead, it is +true, killed by a hot stone that fell upon him and I weep for him. +Still, he was a very old man who must soon have passed away. For the +rest, is it a misfortune that through the courage and power of these +strangers I, his daughter and heiress, have been freed from the +clutches of Dacha? I tell you that Dacha was the god; Heu-Heu whom you +worship was but a painted idol. If you do not believe it, ask the White +Lord here, and ask my sister Dramana whom you seem to have forgotten, +who in past years was given to him as a Holy Bride. Is it a misfortune +that Dacha and his priests have been destroyed, and with him the most +of the savage hairy Wood-folk, our enemies? Is it a misfortune that the +hateful smoking mountain should have melted away in fire, as it is +doing now, and with it the cave of mysteries, out of which came so many +oracles of terror, thus fulfilling the prophecy that we should be +delivered from our burdens by a white lord from the south?” +</p> + +<p> +At these vigorous words the frightened crowd grew silent and hung their +heads. Sabeela looked about her for a little while, then went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Issicore, my betrothed, come forward and tell the people you rejoice +that these things have happened. To save me from Heu-Heu, at my prayer +you travelled far to ask succour of the great Magician of the South. He +has sent the succour and I have been saved. Yet you helped to row the +boat which took me to the sacrifice. For that I do not blame you, +because you must do so, being of the rank you are, or be cursed under +the ancient law. Now I have been saved, though not by you, who, +thinking the White Lord dead upon the Holy Isle, consented to my +surrender to the god, and the law is at an end with the destruction of +Heu-Heu and his priests, slain by the wisdom and might of that White +Lord and his companion. Tell them, therefore, how greatly you rejoice +that you have not journeyed in vain, and they did not listen in vain to +your petition for help; that I stand before them here also free and +undefiled, and that henceforth the land is rid of the curse of Heu-Heu. +Yes, tell the people these things and give thanks to the noble-hearted +strangers who brought them to pass and saved me with Dramana my +sister.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, tired out as I was, I watched Issicore not without excitement, for +I was curious to hear what he had to say. Well, after a pause, he came +forward and answered in a hesitating voice, +</p> + +<p> +“I do rejoice, Beloved, that you have returned safe, though I hoped +when I led the White Lord from the South, that he would have saved you +in some fashion other than by working sacrilege and killing the priests +of the god with fire and water, men who from the beginning have been +known to be divine. You, the Lady Sabeela, declare that Heu-Heu is +dead, but how know we that he is dead? He is a spirit, and can a spirit +die? Was it a dead god who threw the stone that killed the Walloo, and +will he not perhaps throw other stones that will kill us, and +especially you, Lady, who have stood upon the Rock of Offerings, +wearing the robe of the Holy Bride?” +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” inquired Hans reflectively, in the silence which followed +these timorous queries, “do you think that Issicore is really a man, or +is he in truth but made of wood and painted to look like one, as Dacha +was painted to look like Heu-Heu?” +</p> + +<p> +“I thought that he was a man yonder in the Black Kloof, Hans,” I +answered, “but then he was a long way off Heu-Heu. Now I am not so +sure. But perhaps he is only very frightened and will come to himself +by and by.” +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Sabeela was looking her extremely handsome lover up and down; +up and down she looked him, and never a word did she say—at least, to +him. Presently, however, she spoke to the crowd in a commanding voice, +thus: +</p> + +<p> +“Take notice that my father being dead, I am now the Walloo, and one to +be obeyed. Go about your tasks fearing nothing, since Heu-Heu is no +more and the most of the Hairy Folk are slain. I depart to rest, taking +with me these, my guests and deliverers,” and she pointed to me and +Hans. “Afterwards I will talk with you, and with you also, my lord +Issicore. Bear the late Walloo, my father, to the burial place of the +Walloos.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she turned and, followed by us and the members of her household, +went to her home. +</p> + +<p> +Here she bade us farewell for a while, since we were all half dead with +fatigue and sorely needed rest. As we parted, she took my hand and +kissed it, thanking me with tears welling from her beautiful eyes for +all that I had done, and Dramana did likewise. +</p> + +<p> +“How comes it, Baas,” said Hans as we ate food and drank of the +native beer before we lay down to sleep, “that those ladies did not +kiss my hand, seeing that I too have done something to help them?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because they were too tired, Hans,” I answered, “and made +one kiss serve for both of us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I see, Baas, but I expect that to-morrow they will still be too tired +to kiss poor old Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he filled the cup out of which he had been drinking with the last +of the liquor from the jar and emptied it at a swallow. “There, +Baas,” he said; “that’s only right; you may take all the +kisses, so long as I get the beer.” +</p> + +<p> +Exhausted as I was I could not help laughing, although to tell the +truth, I should have liked another glass myself. Then I tumbled on to +the couch and instantly went to sleep. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It is a fact that we slept all the rest of that day and all the +following night, waking only when the first rays of the sun shone into +our room through the window place. At least, I did, for when I opened +my eyes, feeling a different creature and blessing Heaven for its gift +of sleep to man, Hans was already up and engaged in cleaning the rifles +and revolvers. +</p> + +<p> +I looked at the ugly little Hottentot, reflecting how wonderful it was +that so much courage, cunning, and fidelity should be packed away +within his yellow skin and projecting skull. Had it not been for Hans, +without a doubt I should now be dead, and the women also. It was he who +had conceived the idea of letting down the sluice gate by exploding +gunpowder beneath the pin of the lever. I had racked my brain for +expedients, but this, the only one possible, escaped me. How tremendous +had been the results of that inspiration—all of them due to Hans. +</p> + +<p> +Although certain ideas had occurred to me, the most that I had hoped to +do was to flood the low-lying lands, and perhaps the cave, in order to +divert the attention of the priests while we were attempting escape. As +it was we had loosed the forces of nature with the most fearful +results. The water had run down the vent-holes of the eternal fires and +into the bowels of the volcano, there to generate steam in enormous +volumes, of which the imprisoned strength had been so great that it had +rent the mountain like a rotten rag and destroyed the home of Heu-Heu +for ever, and with it all his votaries. +</p> + +<p> +It was a fearful event in which I thought I saw the mind of Providence +acting through Hans. Yes, the cunning of the Hottentot had been used by +the Powers above to sweep from the earth a vile tyranny and to destroy +a blood-soaked idol and its worshippers. +</p> + +<p> +Without a doubt—or so I believe in my simple faith—this had been +designed from the beginning. When some escaped follower of Heu-Heu +painted the picture in the Bushmen’s cave, probably hundreds of years +ago, it was already designed. So was Zikali’s desire for a certain +medicine, or his insatiable thirst for knowledge, or whatever it was +that caused him to persuade me to undertake this mission, and so was +all the rest of the story. +</p> + +<p> +Again, with what wonderful judgment Hans had acted after his brave swim +to the canoe! +</p> + +<p> +Had he tried to force those fetish-ridden cravens to come to our rescue +at once, as I directed him to do, the probability was that, fearing to +break their silly law, they would have resisted, or perhaps have rowed +right away, leaving us to our fate, after knocking him on the head with +a paddle. But he had the patience to wait, although, as he told me +afterwards, his heart was torn in two with anxiety for my sake. +Balancing everything in his artful and experienced mind he had found +patience to wait until the conditions of their “law” were +fulfilled, when they came willingly enough. +</p> + +<p> +From Hans my thoughts turned to Issicore. How was it that this man’s +character had changed so completely since he arrived in his native +country? His journey to seek aid made alone over hundreds of miles, was +a really remarkable performance, showing great courage and +determination. Also as a guide, although silent and abstracted, he had +never lacked for resource or energy. But from the day that he arrived +home, morally he had gone to pieces. It was with the greatest +difficulty that he could be persuaded to row us to the island, where at +the first sign of danger he had left us to our fate and fled away. +</p> + +<p> +Again, he had meekly helped to conduct Sabeela, whom, when he was at +the Black Kloof evidently he loved to desperation, to her doom without +lifting a finger to save her from a hideous destiny. Lastly, only a few +hours ago, he had made a pusillanimous and contemptible speech, which I +could see shocked and disgusted his betrothed, who, for her part, after +her rescue and the death of her father, seemed to have gained the +courage that he had lost, and more. +</p> + +<p> +It was inexplicable, at any rate to me, and in my bewilderment I +referred the problem to Hans. +</p> + +<p> +He listened while I set out the case as it appeared to me, then +answered, +</p> + +<p> +“The Baas does not keep his eyes open—at any rate, in the daytime, +when he thinks everything is safe. If he did, he would understand why +Issicore has become soft as a heated bar of iron. What makes men soft, +Baas?” +</p> + +<p> +“Love,” I suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. At times love makes some men soft—I mean men like the Baas. +And what else, Baas?” +</p> + +<p> +“Drink,” I answered savagely, getting it back on Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, at times drink makes some men soft. Men like me, Baas, who know +that now and again it is wise to cease from being wise, lest Heaven +should grow jealous of our wisdom and want to share it. But what makes +all men soft?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then once more I must teach the Baas, as his Reverend Father, the +Predikant, told me to do when I saw that the Baas had used up all his +wits, saying to me before he died, ‘Hans, whenever you perceive that my +son Allan, who does not always look where he is going, walks into water +and gets out of his depth, swim in and pull him out, Hans.’” +</p> + +<p> +“You little liar!” I ejaculated, but taking no notice, Hans went +on, +</p> + +<p> +“Baas, it is <i>fear</i> that makes all men soft. Issicore is bending +about like a heated ramrod because within him burns the fire of fear.” +</p> + +<p> +“Fear of what, Hans?” +</p> + +<p> +“As I have said, if the Baas had kept his eyes open, he would know. Did +not the Baas notice a tall, dark-faced priest before whom the crowd +parted, who came up to Issicore when first we landed on the quay here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I saw such a man. He bowed politely and I thought was greeting +Issicore and making him some present.” +</p> + +<p> +“And did the Baas see what kind of a present he made him and hear his +words of welcome? The Baas shakes his head. Well, I did. The present he +gave to Issicore was a little skull carved out of black ivory or shell, +or it may have been of polished lava rock. And the words of welcome +were, ‘The gift of Heu-Heu to the lord Issicore, that gift which +Heu-Heu sends to all who break the law and dare to leave the Land of +the Walloos.’ Those were the words, for standing near by, I heard them, +though I kept them from the Baas, waiting to see what would happen +afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +“Then the priest went away, and what Issicore did with the little black +skull I do not know. Perhaps he wears it round his neck, as he hasn’t +got a watch chain, just as the Baas used to wear things that ladies had +given him, or their pictures in a little silver brandy flask.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, and what about this skull, Hans? What does it mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Baas, I made inquiries of an old man in that canoe, to pass the time +away, Baas, as Issicore was at the other end and could not hear me. It +means <i>death,</i> Baas. Does not the Baas remember how we were told at the +Black Kloof that those who dared to leave the Land of Heu-Heu were +always smitten with some sickness and died? Well, Baas, Issicore got +out all right and left the sickness behind him, I expect because the +priests did not know that he was going. But he made a mistake, Baas, +that of coming back again, being drawn by his love of Sabeela, just as +a fish is drawn by the bait on the hook, Baas. And now the hook is fast +in his mouth, for the priests knew of his return well enough, Baas, and +of course were waiting for him.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean, Hans? How can the priests hurt Issicore, especially +when they are all dead?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, they are all dead and can harm no one, but Issicore is +right when he says that Heu-Heu is not dead, because the devil never +dies, Baas. His priests are dead, but still Heu-Heu could kill the old +Walloo, and so he can kill Issicore. There is a great deal in this +fetish business, Baas, that good Christians like you and I do not +understand. It won’t work on Christians, Baas, which is why Heu-Heu +can’t kill us, but those who worship the Black One, at last the Black +One takes by the throat.” +</p> + +<p> +I thought to myself that here Hans, although he did not know it, was +enunciating one of the profoundest and most fundamental of truths, +since those who bow the knee to Baal are Baal’s servants and live under +his law, even to the death, and what is Baal but Heu-Heu, or Satan? The +fruit is always the same, by whatever name the tree may be called. +However, I did not enter upon this argument with Hans, whom it would +have bewildered, but only asked him what he meant and what he imagined +was going to happen to Issicore. He answered, +</p> + +<p> +“I mean just what I have said, Baas; I mean that Issicore is going to +die. That old man told me that those who ‘receive the Black Skull,’ +always die within the month, and often more quickly. From the look of +him, I should think that Issicore will not last more than a week. +Although so handsome, he is really very dull, Baas, so it does not much +matter, especially as the Lady Sabeela will get over it quite soon. +That is why Issicore has changed, Baas. It is because the fear of death +is on him. In the same way Sabeela has changed because the fear of +death and what to her, perhaps, is worse, has passed away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Bosh!” I exclaimed, but internally I had my doubts. I knew +something of this fetish business, although I believed it to be the +greatest of rubbish, I was sure that it is extremely dangerous rubbish. +The secret soul of man, especially of savage, or primitive and untaught +man, or the sub-conscious self, or whatever you choose to call it, is a +terrible entity when brought into action by the hereditary +superstitions that are born in his blood. In nine cases out of ten, if +the victim of those superstitions is told with the accustomed +ceremonies by the oracle of the god or devil from which they flow, that +he will die, he does die. Nothing kills him, but he commits a kind of +moral suicide. As Hans had said—Fear makes him soft. Then some kind of +nervous disease penetrates his system and at the appointed hour withers +up his physical life and causes him to pass away. +</p> + +<p> +Such, as it proved, was to be the fate of that Apollo-like person, the +unhappy Issicore. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br />SABEELA’S FAREWELL</h2> + +<p> +Now of this story there is little left to tell, and as it is very late +and I see that you are all yawning, my friends [this was not true, for +we were deeply interested, especially over the moral or spiritual +problem of Issicore], I will cut that little as short as I can. It +shall be a mere footnote. +</p> + +<p> +After we had eaten that morning, we went to see Sabeela, whom we found +very agitated. This was natural enough, considering all she had gone +through, as after mental strain and the passing of great perils, a +nervous reaction invariably follows. Also, in a sudden and terrible +fashion, she had lost her father, to whom she was attached. But the +real cause of her distress was different. +</p> + +<p> +Issicore, it seemed, had been taken very ill. Nobody knew what was the +matter with him, but Sabeela was persuaded that he had been poisoned. +She begged me to visit him at once and cure him—a request that made me +indignant. I explained to her that I was no authority on their native +poisons, if he suffered from anything of the sort, and had few +medicines with me, the only one of which that dealt with poisons was an +antidote to snake bites. However, as she was very insistent, I said +that I would go and see what I could do, which would probably be +nothing. +</p> + +<p> +So, together with Hans, I was conducted by some of the old headmen, or +councillors of the Walloo, such people as in Zululand we should call +<i>Indunas,</i> to the house of Issicore, a rather fine building of its sort +at the other end of the town. We walked by the road that ran along the +edge of the lake, which gave us an opportunity to observe the island, +or rather what had been the island. +</p> + +<p> +Now it was nothing but a low, dark mass, over which hung dense clouds +of steam. When the winds stirred these clouds, I saw that beneath them +were red streams of lava that ran into the lake. There were no more +eruptions and the volcano appeared to have vanished away. Much dust was +still falling. It lay thick upon the roadway and all the trees and +other vegetation were covered with it, turning the landscape to a hue +of ashen grey. Otherwise no damage had been done on the mainland, +except that here and there boulders had fallen and some of the +lower-lying fields were inundated by the great flood, which was now +abating, although the river still overflowed its banks. +</p> + +<p> +We reached the house of Issicore and were shown into his chamber, where +he lay upon a couch of skins, attended by some women who, I understood, +were his relatives. When Hans and I entered, these women bowed and went +out, leaving us alone with the patient. A glance told me that he was a +dying man. His fine eyes were fixed on vacancy; he breathed in gasps; +his fingers clasped and unclasped themselves automatically, and from +time to time he was taken with violent shiverings. These I thought must +be due to some form of fever until I had tested his temperature with +the thermometer I had in my little medicine case and found that it was +two degrees below normal. On being questioned, he said that he had no +pain and suffered only from great weakness and from a whirling of the +head, by which I suppose he meant giddiness. +</p> + +<p> +I asked him to what he attributed his condition. He answered, +</p> + +<p> +“To the curse of Heu-Heu, Lord Macumazahn. Heu-Heu is killing me.” +</p> + +<p> +I inquired why, for to argue about the folly of the business was +futile, and he replied, +</p> + +<p> +“For two reasons, Lord: first, because I left the land without his +leave, and secondly, because I rowed you and the yellow man called +Light-in-Darkness to the Holy Isle, to visit which unsummoned is the +greatest of crimes. For this cause I must die more quickly than +otherwise I should have done, but in any case my doom was certain, +because I left the land to seek help for Sabeela. Here is the proof of +it,” and from somewhere about his person he produced the little black +Death’s Head which Hans had described to me. Then, without allowing me +to touch the horrid thing, he hid it away again. +</p> + +<p> +I tried to laugh him out of this idea, but he only smiled sadly and +said, +</p> + +<p> +“I know that you must have thought me a coward, Lord, because of the +way I have borne myself since we reached this town of Walloo, but it +was the curse of Heu-Heu working within me that changed my spirit. I +pray you to explain this to Sabeela, whom I love, but who I think also +believes me a coward, for yesterday I read it in her eyes. Now while I +have still strength I would speak to you. First, I thank you and the +yellow man, Light-in-Darkness, who by courage or by magic—I know not +which—have saved Sabeela from Heu-Heu, and have destroyed his House and +his priests and, I am told, his image. Heu-Heu, it is true, lives on +since he cannot die, but henceforward here he is without a home or a +shape or a worshipper, and therefore his power over the souls and +bodies of men is gone, and, among the Walloos, in time his worship will +die out. Perhaps no more of my people will perish by the curse of +Heu-Heu, Lord.” +</p> + +<p> +“But why should you die, Issicore?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because the curse fell on me first, Lord, while Heu-Heu reigned over +the Walloos, as he has done from the beginning, he who was once their +earthly king.” +</p> + +<p> +I began to combat this nonsense, but he waved his hand in protest, and +went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, my time is short and I would say something to you. Soon I shall +be no more and forgotten, even by Sabeela, whose husband I had hoped to +become. I pray, therefore, that you will marry Sabeela.” +</p> + +<p> +Here I gasped, but held my peace till he had finished. +</p> + +<p> +“Already I have caused her to be informed that such is my last wish. +Also I have caused all the elders of the Walloos to be informed, and at +a meeting held this morning they decided that this marriage would be +right and wise, and have sent a messenger to tell me to die as quickly +as I can, in order that it may be arranged at once.” +</p> + +<p> +“Great Heavens!” I exclaimed, but again he motioned to me to be +silent, and went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, although she is not of your race, Sabeela is very beautiful, +very wise also, and with you for her husband she may be able once more +to build up the Walloos into a great people, as tradition says they +were in the old days before there fell upon them the curse of Heu-Heu, +which is now broken. For you, too, are wise and bold, and know many +things which we do not know, and the people will serve you as a god and +perhaps come to worship you in place of Heu-Heu, so that you found a +mighty dynasty. At first this thought may seem strange to you, but soon +you will come to see that it is great and good. Moreover, even if you +were unwilling, things must come about as I have said.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” I asked, unable to contain myself any longer. +</p> + +<p> +“Because, Lord, here in this land you must spend the rest of your life, +for in it now you are a prisoner, nor with all your courage can you +escape, since none will row you down the river, nor can you force a +way, for it will be watched. Moreover, when you return to the house of +the Walloo you will find that your cartridges have been taken, so that +except for a few that you have about you, you are weaponless. +Therefore, as here you must live, it is better that you should do so +with Sabeela rather than with any other woman, since she is the fairest +and the cleverest of them all. Also by right of blood she is the ruler, +and through her you will become Walloo, as I should have done according +to our custom.” +</p> + +<p> +At this point he closed his eyes and for a while appeared to become +senseless. Presently he opened them again and, staring at me, lifted +his feeble hands and cried: +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting to the Walloo! Long life and glory to the Walloo!” +</p> + +<p> +Nor was this all, for, to my horror, from the other side of the +partition that divided the house I heard the women whom I have +mentioned echo the salutation “Greeting to the Walloo! Long life and +glory to the Walloo!” +</p> + +<p> +Then again Issicore became senseless; at least, nothing I said seemed +to reach his understanding. +</p> + +<p> +So after waiting for a time Hans and I went away, thinking that all was +over. This, however, was not so, since he lived till nightfall and, I +was told, recovered his senses for some hours before the end, during +which time Sabeela visited him, accompanied by certain of the notables +or elders. It was then, as I suppose, that this ill-fated but most +unselfish Issicore, the handsomest man whom ever I beheld, to his own +satisfaction, if not to mine, settled everything for what he conceived +to be the welfare of his country and his ladylove. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Well, Baas,” said Hans when we were outside the house, “I +suppose we had better go home. It is <i>your</i> home now, isn’t it, +Baas? No, Baas, it is no use looking at that river, for you see these +Walloos are so kind that they have already provided you with a chief’s +escort.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked. It was true enough. In place of the one man who had guided us +to the house there were now twenty great fellows armed with spears who +saluted me in a most reverential manner and insisted upon sticking +close to my heels, I presume in case I should try to take to them. So +back we went, the guard of twenty marching in a soldierlike fashion +immediately behind, while Hans declaimed at me: +</p> + +<p> +“It is just what I expected, Baas, for of course if a man is very fond +of women, in his inside, Baas, they know it and like him—no need to +tell them in so many words, Baas—and being kind-hearted, are quite +ready to be fond of him. That is what has happened here, Baas. From the +moment that the lady Sabeela saw you, she didn’t care a pinch of snuff +for Issicore, although he was so good-looking and had walked such a +long way to help her. No, Baas, she perceived something in you which +she couldn’t find in two yards and a bit of Issicore, who after all was +an empty kind of a drum, Baas, and only made a noise when you hit him—a +little noise for a small tap, Baas, and a big noise for a bang. +Moreover, whatever he was, he is done for now, so it is no use wasting +time talking about him. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, this won’t be such a bad country to live in now that the +most of those Heuheua are dead—look! there are some of their bodies +lying on the shore—and no doubt the beer can be brewed stronger, and +there is tobacco. So it will be all right till we get tired of it, +Baas, after which, perhaps, we shall be able to run away. Still, I am +glad none of them wish to marry me, Baas, and make me work like a whole +team of oxen to drag them out of their mudholes.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus he went on pouring out his bosh by the yard, and literally I was +so crushed that I couldn’t find a word in answer. Truly, it is the +unexpected that always happens. During the last few days I had foreseen +many dangers and dealt with some. But this was one of which I had never +dreamed. What a fate! To be kept a prisoner in a kind of gilded cage +and made to labour for my living too, like a performing monkey. Well, I +would find a way between the bars or my name wasn’t Allan Quatermain. +Only what way? At the time I could see none, for those bars seemed to +be thick and strong. Moreover, there were those gentlemen with the +spears behind. +</p> + +<p> +In due course we arrived at the Walloo’s house without incident and +went straight to our room where, after investigation in a corner, Hans +called out: +</p> + +<p> +“Issicore was quite right, Baas. All the cartridges have gone and the +rifles also. Now we have only got our pistols and twenty-four rounds of +ammunition between us.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked. It was so! Then I stared out of the window-place, and behold! +there in the garden were the twenty men already engaged in marking out +ground for the erection of a guard-hut. +</p> + +<p> +“They mean to settle there, so as to be nice and handy in case the Baas +wants them—or they want the Baas,” said Hans significantly, adding, +“I believe that wherever he goes the Walloo always has an escort of +twenty men!” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Now for the next few days I saw nothing of Sabeela, or of Dramana +either, since they were engaged in the ceremonious obsequies, first of +the Walloo and next of the unlucky Issicore, to which for some +religious reason or other, I was not invited. +</p> + +<p> +Certain headmen or Indunas, however, were always waiting to pounce on +me. Whenever I put my nose out-of-doors they appeared, bowing humbly, +and proceeded to take the occasion to instruct me in the history and +customs of the Walloo people, till I thought that my boyhood had +returned and I was once more reading “Sandford and Merton” and +acquiring knowledge through the art of conversation. Those old +gentlemen bored me stiff. I tried to get rid of them by taking long +walks at a great pace, but they responded nobly, being ready to trot by +my side till they dropped, talking, talking, talking. Moreover, if I +could outwalk those ancient councillors, the guard of twenty who formed +a kind of chorus on these expeditions, were excellent hands with their +legs, as an Irishman might say, and never turned a hair. Sometimes they +turned me, however, if they thought I was going where I should not, +since then half of them would dart ahead and politely bar the way. +</p> + +<p> +At length, on the third or fourth day, all the ceremonies were finished +and I was summoned into Sabeela’s presence. +</p> + +<p> +As Hans said afterwards, it was all very fine. Indeed, I thought it +pathetic with its somewhat tawdry conditions of ancient, almost +forgotten ceremonial inherited from a highly civilized race that was +now sinking into barbarism. There was the Lady Sabeela, very beautiful +to see, for she was a lovely woman and grandly dressed in a half-wild +fashion, who played the part of a queen and not without dignity, as +perhaps her ancestresses had done thousands of years before on some +greater stage. Here too were her white-haired attendants or Indunas, +the same who bored me out walking, representing the councillors and +high officials of forgotten ages. +</p> + +<p> +Yet the Queen was no longer a queen; she was merging into the savage +chieftainess, as the councillors were into the chattering mob that +surrounds such a person in a thousand kraals or towns of Africa. The +proceedings, too, were very long, for each of these councillors or +elders made a speech in which he repeated all that the others had said +before, narrating with variations everything that happened in the land +since I had set foot within it, together with fancy accounts of what +Hans and I had done upon the island. +</p> + +<p> +From these speeches, however, I learned one thing, namely, that most of +the wild Hairy Folk, who were named Heuheua, had perished in the great +catastrophe of the blowing up of the mountain, only a few, together +with the old men, the children and the females, being left to carry on +the race. Therefore, they said, the Walloos were safe from attack, at +any rate, for a couple of generations to come, as might be learned from +the wailings which arose in the forest at night that, as a matter of +fact, I had heard myself—pathetic and horrible sounds of almost animal +grief. This, said these merciless sages, gave the Walloos a great +opportunity, for now was the time to hunt down and kill the Wood-folk +to the last woman and child—a task which they considered I was +eminently fitted to carry out! +</p> + +<p> +When they had all spoken, Sabeela’s turn came. She rose from her +throne-like chair and addressed us with real eloquence. First of all +she pointed out that she was a woman suffering from a double grief—the +death of her father and that of the man to whom she had been affianced, +losses that made her heart heavy. Then, very touchingly, she thanked +Hans and myself for all we had done to save her. But for us, she said, +either she would now have been dead or nothing but a degraded slave in +the house of Heu-Heu, which we had destroyed together with Heu-Heu +himself, with the result that she and the land were free once more. +Next she announced in words which evidently had been prepared, that +this was no time for her to think of past sorrows or love, who now must +look to the future. For a man like myself there was but one fitting +reward, and that was the rule over the Walloo people, and with it the +gift of her own person. +</p> + +<p> +Therefore, by the wish of her Councillors, she had decreed that we were +to be wed on the fourth morning from that of the present day, after +which, by right of marriage, I was publicly to be declared the Walloo. +Meanwhile, she summoned me to her side (where an empty chair had been +set in preparation for this event) that we might exchange the kiss of +betrothal. +</p> + +<p> +Now, as may be imagined, I hung back; indeed, never have I felt more +firmly fixed to a seat than at that fearsome moment. I did not know +what to say, and my tongue seemed glued to the roof of my mouth. So I +just sat still with all those old donkeys staring at me, Sabeela +watching me out of the corners of her eyes and waiting. The silence +grew painful, and in its midst Hans coughed in his husky fashion, then +delivered himself thus. +</p> + +<p> +“Get up, Baas,” he whispered “and go through with it. It +isn’t half as bad as it looks, and indeed, some people would like it +very much. It is better to kiss a pretty lady than have your throat +cut, Baas, for that is what I think will happen if you don’t, because a +woman whom you won’t kiss, after she has asked you in public, +<i>always</i> turns nasty, Baas.” +</p> + +<p> +I felt that there was force in this argument, and, to cut a long story +short, I went up into that chair and did—well—all that was +required. Lord! what a fool I felt while those idiots cheered and Hans +below grinned at me like a whole cageful of baboons. However, it was +but ceremonial, a mere formality, just touching the brow of the fair +Sabeela with my lips and receiving an acknowledgment in kind. +</p> + +<p> +After this we sat a while side by side listening to those old Walloo +Councillors chanting a ridiculous song, something about the marriage of +a hero to a goddess, which I presume they must have composed for the +occasion. Under cover of the noise, which was great, for they had +excellent lungs, Sabeela spoke to me in a low voice and without turning +her face or looking at me. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” she said, “try to look less unhappy lest these people +should suspect something and listen to what we are saying. The law is +that we should meet no more till the marriage day, but I must see you +alone to-night. Have no fear,” she added with a rather sarcastic smile, +“for, although I must be alone, you can bring your companion with you, +since what I have to say concerns you both. Meet me in the passage that +runs from this chamber to your own, at midnight when all sleep. It has +no window places and its walls are thick, so that there we can be +neither seen nor heard. Be careful to bolt the door behind you, as I +will that of this chamber. Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +Clapping my hands hilariously to show my delight in the musical +performance, I whispered back that I did. +</p> + +<p> +“Good. When the singing comes to an end, announce that you have a +request to make of me. Ask that to-morrow you may be given a canoe and +paddlers to row you to the island to learn what has happened there and +to discover whether any of the Wood-folk are still alive upon its +shores. Say that if so measures must be taken to make an end of them, +lest they should escape. Now speak no more.” +</p> + +<p> +At length the song was finished, and with it the ceremony. To show that +this was over, Sabeela rose from her chair and curtseyed to me, whereon +I also rose and returned the compliment with my best bow. Thus, then, +we bade a public farewell of each other until the happy marriage morn. +Before we parted, however, I asked as a favour in a loud voice that I +might be permitted to visit the island, or, at any rate, to row round +it, giving the reasons she had suggested. To this she answered, “Let it +be as my Lord wishes,” and before any one could raise objections, +withdrew herself, followed by some serving women and by Dramana, who I +thought did not seem too pleased at the turn events had taken. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +I pass on to that midnight interview. At the appointed time, or rather +a little before it, I went into the passage accompanied by Hans, who +was most unwilling to come for reasons which he gave in a Dutch proverb +to the effect of our own; that two’s company and three’s none. Here +we stood in the dark and waited. A few minutes later the door at the +far end of it opened—it was a very long passage—and walking down it +appeared Sabeela, clad in white and bearing in her hand a naked lamp. +Somehow in this garb and these surroundings, thus illumined, she looked +more beautiful than I had ever seen her, almost spirit-like indeed. We +met, and without any greeting she said to me, +</p> + +<p> +“Lord Watcher-by-Night, I find you watching by night according to my +prayer. It may have seemed a strange prayer to you, but hearken to its +reason. I cannot think that you believe me to desire this marriage, +which I know to be hateful to you, seeing that I am of another race to +yourself and that you only look upon me as a half-savage woman whom it +has been your fortune to save from shame or death. Nay, contradict me +not, I beseech you, since at times the truth is good. Because it is so +good I will add to it, telling you the reason why I also do not desire +this marriage, or rather the greatest reason; namely, that I loved +Issicore, who from childhood had been my playmate until he became more +than playmate.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I interrupted, “and I know that he loved you. Only +then why was it that on his deathbed he himself urged on this matter?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because, Lord, Issicore had a noble heart. He thought you the greatest +man whom he had ever known, half a god indeed, for he told me so. He +held also that you would make me happy and rule this country well, +lifting it up again out of its long sleep. Lastly, he knew that if you +did not marry me, you and your companion would be murdered. +</p> + +<p> +“If he judged wrongly in these matters, it must be remembered, +moreover, that his mind was blotted with the poison that had been given +to him, for myself I am sure that he did not die of fear alone.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand. All honour be to him,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“I thank you. Now, Lord, know that, although I am ignorant I believe +that we live again beyond the gate of Death. Perhaps that faith has +come down to me from my forefathers when they worshipped other gods +besides the devil Heu-Heu; at least, it is mine. My hope is, therefore, +that when I have passed that gate, which perhaps will be before so very +long, on its farther side I shall once more find Issicore—Issicore as +he was before the curse of Heu-Heu fell upon him and he drank the +poison of the priests—and for this reason I desire to wed no other +man.” +</p> + +<p> +“All honour be to you also,” I murmured. +</p> + +<p> +“Again I thank you, Lord. Now let us turn to other matters. To-morrow +after midday a canoe will be ready, and in it you will find your +weapons that have been stolen and all that is yours. It will be manned +by four rowers; men known to be spies of the priests of Heu-Heu, +stationed here upon the mainland to watch the Walloos, who in time +would themselves have become priests. Therefore, now that Heu-Heu has +fallen they are doomed to die, not at once but after a while, perhaps, +as it will seem, by sickness or accident, because if they live, the +Walloo Councillors fear lest they should reëstablish the rule of +Heu-Heu. They know this well, and therefore they desire above all +things to escape the land while their life is yet in them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have you seen these men, Sabeela?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, but Dramana has seen them. Now, Lord, I will tell you something, +if you have not guessed it for yourself, though I do this not without +shame. Dramana does not desire our marriage, Lord. You saved Dramana as +well as myself, and Dramana, like Issicore, has come to look on you as +half a god. Need I say more, save that, of course, for this reason she +does desire your escape, since she would rather that you went free and +were lost to both of us than that you should bide here and marry me. +Have I said enough?” +</p> + +<p> +“Plenty,” I answered, knowing that she spoke truth. +</p> + +<p> +“Then what is there to add, save that I trust all will go well, and +that by the dawn of the day that follows this, you and the yellow man, +your servant, will be safely out of this accursed land. If that comes +about, as I believe it will, for after the dusk has fallen and before +the moon rises those who guide the canoe will bring it, not to the +quay, but into the mouth of the river down which you must paddle by the +moonlight; then I pray of you at times in your own country to think of +Sabeela, the broken-hearted chieftainess of a doomed people, as day by +day, when she rises and lays herself down to sleep, she will think of +you who saved her and all of us from ruin. My Lord, farewell, and to +you, Light-in-Darkness, also farewell.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she took my hand, kissed it, and, without another word, glided +away as she had come. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +This was the last that ever I saw or heard of Sabeela the Beautiful. I +wonder whether she lived long. Somehow I do not think so; that night I +seemed to see death in her eyes. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br />RACE FOR LIFE</h2> + +<p> +Now, like a Scotch parson, I have come to “lastly”—that +inspiring word at which the sleepiest congregation awakes. The morning +following this strange midnight meeting, Hans and I spent in our room, +for it appeared to be the ancient Walloo etiquette that, save by +special permission, the prospective bridegroom should not go out for +several days before the marriage, I suppose because of some primitive +idea that his affections might be diverted by the sight of alien +beauty. +</p> + +<p> +At midday we ate, or, so far as I was concerned, pretended to eat, for +anxiety took away my appetite. A little while afterwards, to my intense +relief, the captain of our prison-warders, for that is what they were, +appeared and said that he was commanded to conduct us to the canoe +which was to paddle us to inspect what remained of the island, I +replied that we would graciously consent to go. So taking all our small +possessions with us, including a bundle containing our spare clothes +and the twigs from the Tree of Illusions, we departed and were escorted +to the quay by our guards, of whose faces I was heartily tired. Here we +found a small canoe awaiting us, manned by four secret-faced men, +strong fellows all of them, who raised their paddles in salute. +Apparently the place had been cleared of loiterers, since there was +only one other person present, a woman wrapped in a long cloak that hid +her face. +</p> + +<p> +As we were about to enter the canoe this woman approached us and lifted +her hood. She was Dramana. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” she said, “I have been sent by my sister, the new +Walloo, to tell you that you will find the iron tubes which spit out +fire and all that belongs to them under a mat in the prow of the canoe. +Also she bids me wish you a prosperous journey to the island that +aforetime was named Holy, which island she wishes never to see again.” +</p> + +<p> +I thanked her and bade her convey my greeting to the Walloo, my bride +to be, adding in a loud voice, that I hoped ere long to be able to do +this in person when her “veil fell down.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I turned to enter the canoe. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” said Dramana with a convulsive movement of her hands, +“I make a prayer to you. It is that you will take me with you to look +my last upon that isle where I dwelt so long a slave, which I desire to +see once more—now that I am free.” +</p> + +<p> +Instinctively I felt that a crisis had arisen which demanded firm and +even brutal treatment. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Dramana,” I answered, “it is always unlucky for an +escaped slave to revisit his prison, lest once more its bars should +close about that slave.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” she said, “the loosed prisoner is sometimes dazed by +freedom, so that the heart cries again for its captivity. Lord, I am a +good slave and a loving. Will you not take me with you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Dramana,” I answered as I sprang into the canoe. “This +boat is fully loaded. It would not be for your welfare or for mine. +Farewell!” +</p> + +<p> +She gazed at me earnestly with a pitiful countenance that grew wrathful +by degrees, as might well happen in the case of a woman scorned; then, +muttering something about being “cast off,” burst into angry tears +and turned away. For my part I motioned to the oarsmen to loose the +craft and departed, feeling like a thief and a traitor. Yet I was not +to blame, for what else could I do? Dramana, it is true, had been a +good friend to us, and I liked her. But we had repaid her help by +saving her from Heu-Heu, and for the rest, one must draw the line +somewhere. If once she had entered that canoe, metaphorically speaking, +she would never have got out of it again. +</p> + +<p> +Presently we were out on the open lake where the wavelets danced and +the sun shone brightly, and glad I was to be clear of all those painful +complications and once more in the company of pure and natural things. +We paddled away to the island and made the land, or rather drew near to +it, at the spot where the ancient city had stood in which we had found +the petrified men and animals. But we did not set foot on it, for +everywhere little streams of glowing lava trickled down into the lake +and the ruins had vanished beneath a sea of ashes. I do not think that +any one will ever again behold those strange relics of a past I know +not how remote. +</p> + +<p> +Turning, we paddled on slowly round the island till we came to the +place where the Rock of Offering had been, upon which I had experienced +so terrible an adventure. It had vanished, and with it the cave mouth, +the garden of Heu-Heu, its Tree of Illusions, and all the rich +cultivated land. The waters of the lake, turbid and steaming, now beat +against the face of a stony hillock which was all that remained of the +Holy Isle. The catastrophe was complete; the volcano was but a lump of +lava from the dying heart of which its life-blood of flame still +palpitated in red and ebbing streams. I wonder whether its smothered +fires will ever break out again elsewhere. For aught I know they may +have done so already somewhere on the mainland. +</p> + +<p> +By the time that we had completed our journey round the place on which +no living creature now was left, though once or twice we saw the +bloated body of a Heuheua savage bobbing about in the water, the sun +was setting, and it was dark before we were again off the town of the +Walloos. While any light remained by which we could be seen, we headed +straight for the landing place, that which we had left when we started +for the island. +</p> + +<p> +The moment that its last rays faded, however, there was a whispered +conference between our four paddlemen, the ex-neophytes of Heu-Heu. +Then the direction of the canoe was altered, and instead of making for +the main land, we rowed on parallel with it till we came to the mouth +of the Black River. It was so dark that I could not discern the exact +time at which we left the lake and entered the stream; indeed, I did +not know that we were in it until the increased current told me so. +This current was now running very strongly after the great flood and +bore us along at a good pace. My fear was lest in the gloom we should +be dashed against rocks on the banks, or caught by the overhanging +branches of trees or strike a snag, but those four men seemed to know +every yard of the river and managed to keep us in its centre, probably +by following the current where it ran most swiftly. +</p> + +<p> +So we went on, not paddling very fast for fear of accidents, until the +moon rose, which, as she was only a few days past her full, gave us +considerable light even in that dark place. So soon as her rays reached +us our paddlers gave way with a will, and we shot down the flooded +stream at a great speed. +</p> + +<p> +“I think we are all right now, Baas,” said Hans, “for with so +good a start those Walloos could scarcely catch us, even if they try. +We are lucky, too, for you have left behind you two ladies who between +them would have torn you into pieces, and I have left a place where the +fools who live in it wearied me so much that I should soon have died.” +</p> + +<p> +He paused for a moment, then added in a horrified voice: +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Allemagter!</i> we are not so lucky after all; we have forgotten +something.” +</p> + +<p> +“What?” I asked anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Baas, those red and white stones we came to fetch, of which, +before Heu-Heu dropped a red-hot rock upon his head, that old +<i>kraansick</i>” (that is, mad) “Walloo, promised us as many as we +wished. Sabeela would have filled the boat with them if we had only +asked her, and we should never have had to work any more, but could +have sat in fine houses and drunk the best gin from morning to night.” +</p> + +<p> +At these words I felt positively sick. It was too true. Amongst other +pressing matters, concerning life, death, marriage, and liberty, I had +forgotten utterly all about the diamonds and gold. Still when I came to +think of it, although perhaps Hans might have done so, in view of the +manner of our parting, I did not quite see how I could have asked +Sabeela for them. It would have been an anticlimax and might have left +a nasty taste in her mouth. How could she continue to look upon a man +as—well, something quite out of the ordinary, who called her back to +remind her that there was a little pecuniary matter to be settled and a +fee to be paid for services rendered? Further, the sight of us bearing +sacks of treasure might have excited suspicion; unless, indeed, Sabeela +had caused them to be placed in the boat as she did in the case of the +guns. Also they would have been heavy and inconvenient to carry, as I +explained to Hans. Yet I did feel sick, for once more my hopes of +wealth, or, at any rate, of a solid competence for the rest of my days, +had vanished into thin air. +</p> + +<p> +“Life is more than gold,” I said sententiously to Hans, “and +great honour is better than both.” +</p> + +<p> +It sounded like something out of the Book of Proverbs, but somehow I +had not got it quite right though I reflected that fortunately Hans +would not know the difference. However, he knew more than I thought, +for he answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, your Reverend Father used to talk like that. Also he said +that it was better to live on watercresses with an easy mind, however +angry they might make your stomach, than to dwell in a big hut with a +couple of cross women, which is what would have happened to you, Baas, +if you had stopped at Walloo. Besides, we are quite safe now, even if +we haven’t got the gold and diamonds, which, as you say, are heavy +things, so safe that I think I shall go to sleep, Baas. <i>Allemagter!</i> +Baas, <i>what’s that?</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“Only those poor hairy women howling over their dead in the +forest,” I answered rather carelessly, for their cries, which were very +distressing in the silence of the river, still echoed in my ears. Also +I was still thinking of the lost diamonds. +</p> + +<p> +“I wish it were, Baas. They might howl till their heads fell off for +all I care. But it isn’t. It’s paddles. <i>The Walloos are hunting +us, Baas.</i> Listen!” +</p> + +<p> +I did listen, and to my horror heard the regular stroke of paddles +striking the water at a distance behind us, a great number of them, +fifty I should say. One of the big canoes must be on our track. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Baas!” said Hans, “it is your fault again. Without doubt +that lady Dramana loves you so much that she can’t make up her mind to +part with you and has ordered out a big canoe to fetch you back. +Unless, indeed,” he added with an access of hopefulness, “it is the +Lady Sabeela sending a farewell gift of jewels after us, having +remembered that we should like some to make us think of her +afterwards.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is those confounded Walloos sending a gift of spears,” I +answered gloomily, adding, “Get the rifles ready, Hans, for I’m not +going to be taken alive.” +</p> + +<p> +Whatever the cause, it was clear that we were being pursued, and in my +heart I did wonder whether Dramana had anything to do with it. No doubt +I had treated her rudely because I could not help it, and savage women +are sometimes very revengeful, also Dramana had been badly trained +among those rascally priests. But I hoped, and still hope, that she was +innocent of this treachery. The truth of the matter I never learned. +</p> + +<p> +Our crew of escaping priestly spies had also heard the paddles, for I +saw the frightened look they gave to each other and the fierce energy +with which they bent themselves to their work. Good heavens! how they +paddled, who knew that their lives hung upon the issue. For hour after +hour away we flew down that flooded, rushing river, while behind us, +drawing nearer minute by minute, sounded the beat of those insistent +paddles. Our canoe was swift, but how could we hope to escape from one +driven by fifty men when we had but four? +</p> + +<p> +It was just as we passed the place where we had slept on our inward +journey—for now we had left the forest behind and were between the +cliffs, travelling quite twice as fast as we had done up stream—that I +caught sight of the pursuing boat, perhaps half a mile behind us, and +saw that it was one of the largest of the Walloo fleet. After this, +owing to the position of the moon, that in this narrow place left the +surface of the water quite dark, I saw it no more for several hours. +But I heard it drawing nearer, ever nearer, like some sure and deadly +bloodhound following on the spoor of a fleeing slave. +</p> + +<p> +Our men began to tire. Hans and I took the paddles of two of them to +give the pair a rest and time to eat; then for a spell the paddles of +the other two, while they did likewise. This, however, caused us to +lose way, since we were not experts at the game, though here after the +flood the river rushed so fast that our lack of skill made little +difference. +</p> + +<p> +At length the daylight came and gathered till at last the glimmer of it +reached us in our cleft, and by that faint, uncertain light I saw the +pursuing canoe not a hundred yards behind. In its way it was a very +weird and impressive spectacle. There were the precipitous, towering +cliffs, between or rather above which appeared a line of blue sky. +There was the darksome, flood-filled, foaming river, and there on its +surface was our tiny boat propelled by four weary and perspiring men, +while behind came the great war canoe whose presence could just be +detected in a dim outline and by the white of the water where its +oarsmen smote it into froth. +</p> + +<p> +“They are coming up fast, Baas, and we still have a long way to go. +Soon they will catch us, Baas,” said Hans. +</p> + +<p> +“Then we must try to stop them for a while,” I answered grimly. +“Give me the Express rifle, Hans, and do you take the Winchester.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, lying down in the canoe and resting the rifles on its stern, we +waited our opportunity. Presently we came to a place where at some time +there had been a cliff-slide, for here the débris of it narrowed +the river, turning it, now that it was so full, into something like a +torrent. At this spot, also, because of the enlargement of the cleft, +more light reached us, so that we could see our pursuers, who were +about fifty yards away, not clearly indeed, but well enough for our +purpose. +</p> + +<p> +“Aim low and pump it into them, Hans,” I said, and next instant +discharged both barrels of the Express at the foremost rowers. +</p> + +<p> +Hans followed suit, but, as the Winchester held five cartridges, went +on firing after I had ceased. +</p> + +<p> +The result was instantaneous. Some men sank down, some paddles fell +into the water—I could not tell how many—and a great cry arose from +the smitten or their companions. He who steered or captained the canoe +from the prow apparently was among the hit. She veered round and for a +while was broadside on to the current, exposing her bottom and +threatening to turn over. Into this, having loaded, I sent two +expanding bullets, hoping to spring a leak in her, though I was not +certain if I should succeed, as the wood of these canoes is thick. I +think I did, however, since even when she had got on her course again +she came more slowly, and I thought that once I saw a man bailing. +</p> + +<p> +On we went, making the most of the advantage that this check gave to +us. But by now our men were very tired and their hands were raw from +blisters, so that only the terror of death forced them to continue +paddling. Indeed, at the last our progress grew very slow, and in fact +was due more to the current than to our own efforts. Therefore the +following canoe, which as was customary in Walloo boats of that size, +probably carried spare paddle men, once more gained upon us. +</p> + +<p> +Hereabouts the river wound between its cliffs so that we only got sight +of it from time to time. Whenever we did so I took the Winchester and +fired, no doubt inflicting some damage and checking its advance. +</p> + +<p> +At length the winding ceased and we reached the last stretch, a clear +run of a mile or so before the river ended in the swamp that I have +described. +</p> + +<p> +By this time pursuers and pursued, both of us, were going but slowly, +drifting rather than paddling, since all were exhausted. Whenever I +could get a sight I fired away, but still with a sullen determination +and in utter silence our assailants came up, till now they were +scarcely twenty paces from us, and some of them threw spears, one of +which stuck in the bottom of our canoe, just missing my foot. At this +spot the cliffs drew so near together at the top that I ceased +shooting, as I could not see to aim, and, having no cartridges to +waste, decided to keep those that remained for the emergency of the +last attack. +</p> + +<p> +Now we were in the ultimate reach of the river, and now at last we +grounded upon the first mudbank of the swamp. Those who remained unhurt +of the following Walloos made a final effort to overtake us; by the +strong light that flowed from the open land beyond us I could see their +glaring eyeballs and their tongues hanging from their jaws with +exhaustion. I yelled an order. +</p> + +<p> +“Seize everything we have and run for it!” I cried, grabbing at my +rifle and such other articles as were within reach, including the +remaining cartridges. +</p> + +<p> +The others did likewise—I do not think that anything was left in that +canoe except the paddles. Then I leapt on to the shore and ran to the +right, following the edge of the swamp, the rest coming after me. +</p> + +<p> +Fifty yards or more away I sank down upon a little ridge from sheer +exhaustion and because my cramped legs would no longer carry me, and +watched to see what would happen. Indeed, I was so worn out that I felt +I would rather die where I was than try to flee farther. +</p> + +<p> +We grouped ourselves together, awaiting the crisis, for I thought that +surely we should be attacked. But we were not. At the mudbank the +pursuing Walloos ceased from their efforts. Fora little while they sat +dejectedly in their craft till they had recovered breath. +</p> + +<p> +Then for the first time those mute hunting-hounds gave tongue, for they +shouted maledictions on us, and especially on our four paddlers, the +neophytes of Heu-Heu, telling these that although to follow them +farther was not lawful, they would die, as Issicore died who left the +land. One of our men, stung into repartee, retaliated in words to the +effect that some of them had died in attempting to keep us in the land, +as they would find if they counted their oarsmen. +</p> + +<p> +To this obvious truth the pursuers made no answer, nor did they inform +us who sent them on the chase. Securing our small canoe, they laid in +it certain dead men who had fallen beneath the bullets of Hans and +myself, and departed slowly up stream, towing it after them. This was +the last that I saw of their handsome, fanatical faces and of their +confounded country in which I went so near to death, or to becoming a +prisoner for life, that might have been worse. +</p> + +<p> +“Baas,” said Hans, lighting his pipe, “that was a great +journey and one which it will be nice to think about, now that it is +over, though I wish that we had killed more of those Walloo +men-stealers.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t, Hans; I hated being obliged to shoot them,” I +answered; “nor do I wish to think any more of that race for our lives, +unless it comes back in a nightmare when I can’t help doing so.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you, Baas? I find such thoughts pleasant when the danger is +past and we who might have been dead are alive, and the others who were +alive are dead and telling the tale to Heu-Heu.” +</p> + +<p> +“Each to his taste; yours isn’t mine,” I muttered. +</p> + +<p> +Hans puffed at his pipe for a while, and went on, +</p> + +<p> +“It’s funny, Baas, that those <i>carles</i> did not get out of +their canoe and come to kill us with their spears. I suppose they were +afraid of the rifles.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Hans,” I answered, “they are brave men who would not +have stopped because of the bullets. They were afraid of more than +these: they feared the Curse which says that those who leave their land +will die and go to hell. Heu-Heu has done us a good turn there, Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, no doubt he has become Christian in the Place of Fires and +is repaying good for evil, turning the other cheek, Baas. Bad people +often grow holy when they are dying, Baas. I felt like that myself when +I thought those Walloos were going to catch us, but now I feel quite +different. Baas, you remember how your Reverend Father used to say that +if you love Heaven, Heaven looks after you and pulls you out of every +kind of mudhole. That’s why I’m sitting here smoking, Baas, instead +of making meat for crocodiles. If it wasn’t for our forgetting about +those jewels, it has looked after us very well, but there are so many +up there that perhaps Heaven forgot them also.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Hans,” I said, “Heaven remembered that if we had tried +to carry bags of stones out of that boat, as well as Zikali’s medicine +and the rest, the Walloos would have caught us before we got away. They +were quite close, Hans.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Baas, I see, and that was very nice of Heaven. And now, Baas, I +think we had better be moving. Those Walloos might forget about the +curse for a little while and come back to look for us. Heaven is a +queer thing, Baas. Sometimes it changes its face all of a sudden and +grows angry—just like the lady Dramana did when you said that you +wouldn’t take her with you in the canoe yesterday.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Allan paused to help himself to a little weak whisky and water, then +said in his jerky fashion, +</p> + +<p> +“Well, that’s the end of the story, of which I am glad, whatever +you may be, for my throat is dry with talking. We got back to the wagon +all right after sundry difficulties and a tiring march across the +desert, and it was time we did so, for when we arrived we had only +three rifle cartridges left between us. You see we were obliged to fire +such a lot at the Heuheua when they attacked us on the lake, and +afterwards at those Walloos to prevent them from catching us that +night. However, there were more in the wagon, and I shot four elephants +with them going home. They had very large tusks, which afterwards I +sold for about enough to cover the expenses of the journey.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did old Zikali make you pay for those oxen?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“No, he did not, because I told him that if he tried it on I would not +give him his bundle of <i>mouti</i> that we cut from the Tree of Illusions +and carried safely all that way. So as he was very keen on the +medicine, he made me a present of the oxen. Also I found my own there +grown fat and strong again. It was a curious thing, but the old +scoundrel seemed to know most of what had happened to us before ever I +told him a word. Perhaps he learned it all from one of those acolytes +of Heu-Heu who fled with us because they feared that they would be +murdered if they stayed in their own land. I forgot to tell you that +these men—most uncommunicative persons—melted away upon our +homeward journey. Suddenly they were missing. I presume that they +departed to set up as witch doctors on their own account. If so, very +possibly one or more of them may have come into touch with Zikali, the +head of the craft in that part of Africa, and before I reached the +Black Kloof. +</p> + +<p> +“The first thing he asked me was: ‘Why did you not bring any gold +and diamonds away with you? Had you done so, you might have become rich +who now remain poor, Macumazahn.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Because I forgot to ask for them,’ I said. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, I know you forgot to ask for them. You were thinking so much +of the pain of saying good-bye to that beautiful lady whose name I have +not learned that you forgot to ask for them. It is just like you, +Macumazahn. <i>Oho!</i> <i>Oho!</i> it is just like you.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then he stared at his fire for a while, in front of which, as usual, +he was sitting, and added: ‘Yet somehow I think that diamonds will make +you rich one day, when there is no woman left to say good-bye to, +Macumazahn.’ +</p> + +<p> +“It was a good shot of his, for, as you fellows know, that came about +at King Solomon’s mines, didn’t it? when there was ‘no woman +left to say good-bye to.’” +</p> + +<p> +Here Good turned his head away, and Allan went on hurriedly, I think +because he remembered Foulata, and saw that his thoughtless remark had +given pain. +</p> + +<p> +“Zikali was very interested in all our story and made me stop at the +Black Kloof for some days to tell him every detail. +</p> + +<p> +“‘<i>I</i> knew that Heu-Heu was an idol,’ he said, +‘though I wanted you to find it out for yourself, and therefore told +you nothing about it, just as I knew that handsome man, Issicore, would +die. But I didn’t tell him anything about that either, because, if I +had, you see he might have died before he had shown you the way to his +country, and then I shouldn’t have got my <i>mouti</i>, which is +necessary to me, for without it how should I paint more pictures on my +fire? Well, you brought me a good bundle of leaves which will last my +time, and as the Tree of Illusions is burned and there is no other left +in the world, there will be no more of it. I am glad that it is burned, +for I do not wish that any wizard should arise in the land who will be +as great as was Zikali, Opener-of-Roads. While that tree grew the high +priest of Heu-Heu was almost as great, but now he is dead and his tree +is burned, and I, Zikali, reign alone. That is what I desired, +Macumazahn, and that is why I sent you to Heuheua Land.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘You cunning old villain!’ I exclaimed. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, Macumazahn, I am cunning just as you are simple, and my +heart is black like my skin, just as yours is white like your skin. +That is why I am great, Macumazahn, and wield power over thousands and +accomplish my desires, whereas you are small and have no power and will +die with all your desires unaccomplished. Yet, in the end, who knows, +who knows? Perhaps in the land beyond it may be otherwise. Heu-Heu was +great also and where is Heu-Heu to-day?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘There never was a Heu-Heu,’ I said. +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, Macumazahn, there never was a Heu-Heu, but there were priests +of Heu-Heu. Is it not so with many of the gods men set up? They are not +and never were, but their priests <i>are</i> and shake the spear of power +and pierce the hearts of men with terrors. What, then, does it matter +about the gods whom no man sees, when the priest is there shaking the +spear of power and piercing the hearts of their worshippers? The god is +the priest or the priest is the god—have it which way you like, +Macumazahn.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Not always, Zikali.’ Then, as I did not wish to enter into +argument with him on such a subject, I asked, ‘Who carved the statue of +Heu-Heu in the Cave of Illusions? The Walloos did not know.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Nor do I, Macumazahn,’ he answered. ‘The world is +very old and there have been peoples in it of whom we have heard +nothing, or so my Spirit tells me. Without doubt one of those peoples +carved it thousands of years ago, an invading people, the last of their +race, who had been driven out elsewhere and coming south, those who +were left of them, hid themselves away from their enemies in this +secret place amid a horde of savages so hideous that it was reported to +be haunted by demons. There, in a cave in the midst of a lake where +they could not be come at, they carved an image of their god, or +perhaps of the god of the savages, whom it seems that it resembled. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Mayhap the savages took their name from Heu-Heu, or mayhap +Heu-Heu took his name from them. Who can tell? At any rate, when men +seek a god, Macumazahn, they make one like themselves, only larger, +uglier, and more evil, at least in this land, for what they do +elsewhere I know not. Also, often they say that this god was once their +king, since at the bottom all worship their ancestors who gave them +life, if they worship anything at all, and often, too, because they +gave them life, they think that they must have been devils. Great +ancestors were the first gods, Macumazahn, and if they had not been +evil they would never have been great. Look at Chaka, the Lion of the +Zulus. He is called great because he was so wicked and cruel, and so it +was and is with others if they succeed, though, if they fail, men speak +otherwise of them.’ +</p> + +<p> +“That is not a pretty faith, Zikali,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, Macumazahn, but then little in the world is pretty, except +the world itself. The Heuheua are not pretty, or rather were not, for I +think that you killed most of them when you blew up the mountain, which +is a good thing. Heu-Heu was not pretty, nor were his priests. Only the +Walloos, and especially their women, remain pretty because of the old +blood that runs in them, the high old blood that Heu-Heu sucked from +their veins.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Heu-Heu has gone, Zikali, and now what will become of the +Walloos?” +</p> + +<p> +“‘I cannot say, Macumazahn, but I expect they will follow Heu-Heu, +who has taken hold of their souls and will drag them after him. If so, +it does not matter, since they are but the rotting stump of a tree that +once was tall and fair. The dust of Time hides many such stumps, +Macumazahn. But what of that? Other fine trees are growing which also +will become stumps in their season, and so on for ever.’ +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Thus Zikali held forth, though of what he said I forget much. I +daresay that he spoke truth, but I remember that his melancholy and +pessimistic talk depressed me, and that I cut it as short as I could. +Also it did not really explain anything, since he could not tell me who +the Walloos or the Hairy Folk were, or why they worshipped Heu-Heu, or +what was their beginning, or what would be their end. +</p> + +<p> +“All these things remained and remain lost in mystery, since I have +never heard anything more of them, and if any subsequent travellers +have visited the district where they live, which is not probable, they +did not succeed in ascending the river, or if they did, they never +descended it again. So if you want to know more of the story, you must +go and find it out for yourselves. Only, as I think I said, I won’t go +with you.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Well,” said Captain Good, “it is a wonderful yarn. Hang me, +if I could have told it better myself!” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Good,” answered Allan, as he lit a hand candle, “I am +quite sure that you could not, because, you see, facts are one thing +and what you call ‘yarns’ are another. Good-night to you all, +good-night.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Then he went off to bed. +</p> + +<p> +THE END +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76643 ***</div> +</body> + +</html> + diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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