diff options
Diffstat (limited to '8184-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 8184-h/8184-h.htm | 17157 |
1 files changed, 17157 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/8184-h/8184-h.htm b/8184-h/8184-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7363a5c --- /dev/null +++ b/8184-h/8184-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17157 @@ +<!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 The Ghost Kings, 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: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Ghost Kings, by H. Rider Haggard</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Ghost Kings</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: H. Rider Haggard</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 27, 2003 [eBook #8184]<br /> +[Most recently updated: August 9, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Juliet Sutherland, S. R. Ellison and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GHOST KINGS ***</div> + +<h1>The Ghost Kings</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by H. Rider Haggard</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER 1. THE GIRL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER 2. THE BOY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER 3. GOOD-BYE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">CHAPTER 4. ISHMAEL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">CHAPTER 5. NOIE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">CHAPTER 6. THE CASTING OF THE LOTS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">CHAPTER 7. THE MESSAGE OF THE KING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">CHAPTER 8. MR. DOVE VISITS ISHMAEL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">CHAPTER 9. THE TAKING OF NOIE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">CHAPTER 10. THE OMEN OF THE STAR</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">CHAPTER 11. ISHMAEL VISITS THE Inkosazana</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">CHAPTER 12. RACHEL SEES A VISION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">CHAPTER 13. RICHARD COMES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">CHAPTER 14. WHAT CHANCED AT RAMAH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">CHAPTER 15. RACHEL COMES HOME</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">CHAPTER 16. THE THREE DAYS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">CHAPTER 17. RACHEL LOSES HER SPIRIT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">CHAPTER 18. THE CURSE OF THE Inkosazana</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">CHAPTER 19. RACHEL FINDS HER SPIRIT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">CHAPTER 20. THE MOTHER OF THE TREES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap21">CHAPTER 21. THE CITY OF THE DEAD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap22">CHAPTER 22. IN THE SANCTUARY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap23">CHAPTER 23. THE DREAM IN THE NORTH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap24">CHAPTER 24. THE END AND THE BEGINNING</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2> +EXTRACT FROM LETTER HEADED “THE KING’S KRAAL, ZULULAND, 12TH MAY, 1855.” +</h2> + +<p> +“The Zulus about here have a strange story of a white girl who in +Dingaan’s day was supposed to ‘hold the spirit’ of some +legendary goddess of theirs who is also white. This girl, they say, was very +beautiful and brave, and had great power in the land before the battle of the +Blood River, which they fought with the emigrant Boers. Her title was Lady of +the Zulus, or more shortly, Zoola, which means Heaven. +</p> + +<p> +“She seems to have been the daughter of a wandering, pioneer missionary, +but the king, I mean Dingaan, murdered her parents, of whom he was jealous, +after which she went mad and cursed the nation, and it is to this curse that +they still attribute the death of Dingaan, and their defeats and other +misfortunes of that time. +</p> + +<p> +“Ultimately, it appears, in order to be rid of this girl and her evil +eye, they sold her to the doctors of a dwarf people, who lived far away in a +forest and worshipped trees, since when nothing more has been heard of her. But +according to them the curse stopped behind. +</p> + +<p> +“If I can find out anything more of this curious story I will let you +know, but I doubt if I shall be able to do so. Although fifteen years or so +have passed since Dingaan’s death in 1840 the Kaffirs are very shy of +talking about this poor lady, and, I think, only did so to me because I am +neither an official nor a missionary, but one whom they look upon as a friend +because I have doctored so many of them. When I asked the Indunas about her at +first they pretended total ignorance, but on my pressing the question, one of +them said that ‘all that tale was unlucky and “went beyond” +with Mopo.’ Now Mopo, as I think I wrote to you, was the man who stabbed +King Chaka, Dingaan’s brother. He is supposed to have been mixed up in +the death of Dingaan also, and to be dead himself. At any rate he vanished away +after Panda came to the throne.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> +THE GIRL</h2> + +<p> +The afternoon was intensely, terribly hot. Looked at from the high ground where +they were encamped above the river, the sea, a mile or two to her +right—for this was the coast of Pondo-land—to little Rachel Dove +staring at it with sad eyes, seemed an illimitable sheet of stagnant oil. Yet +there was no sun, for a grey haze hung like a veil beneath the arch of the sky, +so dense and thick that its rays were cut off from the earth which lay below +silent and stifled. Tom, the Kaffir driver, had told her that a storm was +coming, a father of storms, which would end the great drought. Therefore he had +gone to a kloof in the mountains where the oxen were in charge of the other two +native boys—since on this upland there was no pasturage to drive them +back to the waggon. For, as he explained to her, in such tempests cattle are +apt to take fright and rush away for miles, and without cattle their plight +would be even worse than it was at present. +</p> + +<p> +At least this was what Tom said, but Rachel, who had been brought up among +natives and understood their mind, knew that his real reason was that he wished +to be out of the way when the baby was buried. Kaffirs do not like death, +unless it comes by the assegai in war, and Tom, a good creature, had been fond +of that baby during its short little life. Well, it was buried now; he had +finished digging its resting-place in the hard soil before he went. Rachel, +poor child, for she was but fifteen, had borne it to its last bed, and her +father had unpacked his surplice from a box, put it on and read the Burial +Service over the grave. Afterwards together they had filled in that dry, red +earth, and rolled stones on to it, and as there were few flowers at this season +of the year, placed a shrivelled branch or two of mimosa upon the +stones—the best offering they had to make. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel and her father were the sole mourners at this funeral, if we may omit +two rock rabbits that sat upon a shelf of stone in a neighbouring cliff, and an +old baboon which peered at these strange proceedings from its crest, and +finally pushed down a boulder before it departed, barking indignantly. Her +mother could not come because she was ill with grief and fever in a little tent +by the waggon. When it was all over they returned to her, and there had been a +painful scene. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Dove was lying on a bed made of the cartel, or frame strung with strips of +green hide, which had been removed from the waggon, a pretty, pale-faced woman +with a profusion of fair hair. Rachel always remembered that scene. The hot +tent with its flaps turned up to let in whatever air there might be. Her mother +in a blue dressing-gown, dingy with wear and travel, from which one of the +ribbon bows hung by a thread, her face turned to the canvas and weeping +silently. The gaunt form of her father with his fanatical, saint-like face, +pale beneath its tan, his high forehead over which fell one grizzled lock, his +thin, set lips and far-away grey eyes, taking off his surplice and folding it +up with quick movements of his nervous hands, and herself, a scared, wondering +child, watching them both and longing to slip away to indulge her grief in +solitude. It seemed an age before that surplice was folded, pushed into a linen +bag which in their old home used to hold dirty clothes, and finally stowed away +in a deal box with a broken hinge. At length it was done, and her father +straightened himself with a sigh, and said in a voice that tried to be +cheerful: +</p> + +<p> +“Do not weep, Janey. Remember this is all for the best. The Lord hath +taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” +</p> + +<p> +Her mother sat up looking at him reproachfully with her blue eyes, and answered +in her soft Scotch accent: +</p> + +<p> +“You said that to me before, John, when the other one went, down at +Grahamstown, and I am tired of hearing it. Don’t ask me to bless the Lord +when He takes my babes, no, nor any mother, He Who could spare them if He +chose. Why should the Lord give me fever so that I could not nurse it, and make +a snake bite the cow so that it died? If the Lord’s ways are such, then +those of the savages are more merciful.” +</p> + +<p> +“Janey, Janey, do not blaspheme,” her father had exclaimed. +“You should rejoice that the child is in Heaven.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then do you rejoice and leave me to grieve. From to-day I only make one +prayer, that I may never have another. John,” she added with a sudden +outburst, “it is your fault. You know well I told you how it would be. I +told you that if you would come this mad journey the babe would die, aye, and I +tell you”—here her voice sank to a kind of wailing +whisper—“before the tale is ended others will die too, all of us, +except Rachel there, who was born to live her life. Well, for my part, the +sooner the better, for I wish to go to sleep with my children.” +</p> + +<p> +“This is evil,” broke in her husband, “evil and +rebellious—” +</p> + +<p> +“Then evil and rebellious let it be, John. But why am I evil if I have +the second sight like my mother before me? Oh! she warned me what must come if +I married you, and I would not listen; now I warn you, and you will not listen. +Well, so be it, we must dree our own weird, everyone of us, a short one; all +save Rachel, who was born to live her life. Man, I tell you, that the Spirit +drives you on to convert the heathen just for one thing, that the heathen may +make a martyr of you.” +</p> + +<p> +“So let them,” her father answered proudly. “I seek no better +end.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye,” she moaned, sinking back upon the cartel, “so let +them, but my babe, my poor babe! Why should my babe die because too much +religion has made you mad to win a martyr’s crown? Martyrs should not +marry and have children, John.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, unable to bear any more of it, Rachel had fled from the tent, and sat +herself down at a distance to watch the oily sea. +</p> + +<p> +It has been said that Rachel was only fifteen, but in Southern Africa girls +grow quickly to womanhood; also her experiences had been of a nature to ripen +her intelligence. Thus she was quite able to form a judgment of her parents, +their virtues and their weaknesses. Rachel was English born, but had no +recollection of England since she came to South Africa when she was four years +old. It was shortly after her birth that this missionary-fury seized upon her +father as a result of some meetings which he had attended in London. He was +then a clergyman with a good living in a quiet Hertfordshire parish, and +possessed of some private means, but nothing would suit him short of abandoning +all his prospects and sailing for South Africa, in obedience to his +“call.” Rachel knew all this because her mother had often told her, +adding that she and her people, who were of a good Scotch family, had struggled +against this South African scheme even to the verge of open quarrel. +</p> + +<p> +At length, indeed, it came to a choice between submission and separation. Mr. +Dove had declared that not even for her sake would he be guilty of “sin +against the Spirit” which had chosen him to bring light to those who sat +in darkness—that is, the Kaffirs, and especially to that section of them +who were in bondage to the Boers. For at this time an agitation was in progress +in England which led ultimately to the freeing of the slaves of the Cape Dutch, +and afterwards to the exodus of the latter into the wilderness and most of +those wars with which our generation is familiar. So, as she was devoted to her +husband, who, apart from his religious enthusiasm, or rather possession, was in +truth a very lovable man, she gave way and came. Before they sailed, however, +the general gloom was darkened by Mrs. Dove announcing that something in her +heart told her that neither of them would ever see home again, as they were +doomed to die at the hands of savages. +</p> + +<p> +Now whatever the reason or explanation, scientifically impossible as the fact +might be, it remained a fact that Janey Dove, like her mother and several of +her Scottish ancestors, was foresighted, or at least so her kith and kin +believed. Therefore, when she communicated to them her conviction as though it +were a piece of everyday intelligence, they never doubted its accuracy for a +minute, but only redoubled their efforts to prevent her from going to Africa. +Even her husband did not doubt it, but remarked irritably that it seemed a pity +she could not sometimes be foresighted as to agreeable future events, since for +his part he was quite willing to wait for disagreeable ones until they +happened. Not that he quailed personally from the prospect of martyrdom; this +he could contemplate with complacency and even enthusiasm, but, zealot though +he was, he did shrink from the thought that his beautiful and delicate wife +might be called upon to share the glory of that crown. Indeed, as his own +purpose was unalterable, he now himself suggested that he should go forth to +seek it alone. +</p> + +<p> +Then it was that his wife showed an unsuspected strength of character. She said +that she had married him for better or for worse against the wishes of her +family; that she loved and respected him, and that she would rather be murdered +by Kaffirs in due season than endure a separation which might be lifelong. So +in the end the pair of them with their little daughter Rachel departed in a +sailing ship, and their friends and relations knew them no more. +</p> + +<p> +Their subsequent history up to the date of the opening of this story may be +told in very few words. As a missionary the Reverend John Dove was not a +success. The Boers in the eastern part of the Cape Colony where he laboured, +did not appreciate his efforts to Christianise their slaves. The slaves did not +appreciate them either, inasmuch as, saint though he might be, he quite lacked +the sympathetic insight which would enable him to understand that a native with +thousands of generations of savagery behind him is a different being from a +highly educated Christian, and one who should be judged by another law. Their +sins, amongst which he included all their most cherished inherited customs, +appalled him, as he continually proclaimed from the housetops. Moreover, when +occasionally he did snatch a brand from the burning, and the said brand +subsequently proved that it was still alight, or worse still, replaced its +original failings by those of the white man, such as drink, theft and lying, +whereof before it had been innocent, he would openly condemn it to eternal +punishment. Further, he was too insubordinate, or, as he called it, too honest, +to submit to the authority of his local superiors in the Church, and therefore +would only work for his own hand. Finally he caused his “cup to +overflow,” as he described it, or, in plain English, made the country too +hot to hold him, by becoming involved in a bitter quarrel with the Boers. Of +these, on the whole, worthy folk, he formed the worst; and in the main a very +unjust opinion, which he sent to England to be reprinted in Church papers, or +to the Home Government to be published in Blue-books. In due course these +documents reached South Africa again, where they were translated into Dutch and +became incidentally one of the causes of the Great Trek. +</p> + +<p> +The Boers were furious and threatened to shoot him as a slanderer. The English +authorities were also furious, and requested him to cease from controversy or +to leave the country. At last, stubborn as he might be, circumstances proved +too much for him, and as his conscience would not allow him to be silent, Mr. +Dove chose the latter alternative. The only question was whither he should go. +As he was well off, having inherited a moderate fortune in addition to what he +had before he left England, his poor wife pleaded with him to return home, +pointing out that there he would be able to lay his case before the British +public. This course had attractions for him, but after a night’s +reflection and prayer, he rejected it as a specious temptation sent by Satan. +</p> + +<p> +What, he argued, should he return to live in luxury in England not only +unmartyred but a palpable failure, his mission quite unfulfilled? His wife +might go if she liked, and take their surviving children, Rachel and the +new-born baby boy, with her (they had buried two other little girls), but he +would stick to his post and his duty. He had seen some Englishmen who had +visited the country called Natal where white people were beginning to settle. +In that land it seemed there were no slave-driving Boers, and the natives, +according to all accounts, much needed the guidance of the Gospel, especially a +certain king of the people called Zulus, who was named Chaka or Dingaan, he was +not sure which. This ferocious person he particularly desired to encounter, +having little doubt that in the absence of the contaminating Boer, he would be +able to induce him to see the error of his ways and change the national +customs, especially those of fighting and, worse still, of polygamy. +</p> + +<p> +His unhappy wife listened and wept, for now the martyr’s crown which she +had always foreseen, seemed uncomfortably near, indeed as it were, it glowed +blood red within reach of her hand. Moreover, in her heart she did not believe +that Kaffirs could be converted, at any rate at present. They were fighting +men, as her Highland forefathers had been, and her Scottish blood could +understand the weakness, while, as for this polygamy, she had long ago secretly +concluded that the practice was one which suited them very well, as it had +suited David and Solomon, and even Abraham. But for all this, although she was +sure in her uncanny fashion that her baby’s death would come of her +staying, she refused to leave her husband as she had refused eleven years +before. +</p> + +<p> +Doubtless affection was at the bottom of it, for Janey Dove was a very faithful +woman; also there were other things—her fatalism, and stronger still, her +weariness. She believed that they were doomed. Well, let the doom fall; she had +no fear of the Beyond. At the best it might be happy, and at the worst deep, +everlasting rest and peace, and she felt as though she needed thousands of +years of rest and peace. Moreover, she was sure no harm would come to Rachel, +the very apple of her eye; that she was marked to live and to find happiness +even in this wild land. So it came about that she refused her husband’s +offer to allow her to return home where she had no longer any ties, and for +perhaps the twentieth time prepared herself to journey she knew not whither. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Rachel, seated there in the sunless, sweltering heat, reflected on these +things. Of course she did not know all the story, but most of it had come under +her observation in one way or other, and being shrewd by nature, she could +guess the rest, for she who was companionless had much time for reflection and +for guessing. She sympathised with her father in his ideas, understanding +vaguely that there was something large and noble about them, but in the main, +body and mind, she was her mother’s child. Already she showed her +mother’s dreamy beauty, to which were added her father’s straight +features and clear grey eyes, together with a promise of his height. But of his +character she had little, that is outside of a courage and fixity of purpose +which marked them both. For the rest she was far, or fore-seeing, like her +mother, apprehending the end of things by some strange instinct; also very +faithful in character. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel was unhappy. She did not mind the hardship and the heat, for she was +accustomed to both, and her health was so perfect that it would have needed +much worse things to affect her. But she loved the baby that was gone, and +wondered whether she would ever see it again. On the whole she thought so, for +here that intuition of hers came in, but at the best she was sure that there +would be long to wait. She loved her mother also, and grieved more for her than +for herself, especially now when she was so ill. Moreover, she knew and shared +her mind. This journey, she felt, was foolishness; her father was a man +“led by a star” as the natives say, and would follow it over the +edge of the world and be no nearer. He was not fit to have charge of her +mother. +</p> + +<p> +Of herself she did not think so much. Still, at Grahamstown, for a year or so +there had been other children for companions, Dutch most of them, it is true, +and all rough in mind and manner. Yet they were white and human. While she +played with them she could forget she knew so much more than they did; that, +for instance, she could read the Gospels in Greek—which her father had +taught her ever since she was a little child—while they could scarcely +spell them out in the Taal, or Boer dialect, and that they had never heard even +of William the Conqueror. She did not care particularly about Greek and William +the Conqueror, but she did care for friends, and now they were all gone from +her, gone like the baby, as far off as William the Conqueror. And she, she was +alone in the wilderness with a father who talked and thought of Heaven all day +long, and a mother who lived in memories and walked in the shadow of doom, and +oh! she was unhappy. +</p> + +<p> +Her grey eyes filled with tears so that she could no longer see that +everlasting ocean, which she did not regret as it wearied her. She wiped them +with the back of her hand that was burnt quite brown by the sun, and turning +impatiently, fell to watching two of those strange insects known as the Praying +Mantis, or often in South Africa as Hottentot gods, which after a series of +genuflections, were now fighting desperately among the dead stalks of grass at +her feet. Men could not be more savage, she reflected, for really their +ferocity was hideous. Then a great tear fell upon the head of one of them, and +astonished by this phenomenon, or thinking perhaps that it had begun to rain, +it ran away and hid itself, while its adversary sat up and looked about it +triumphantly, taking to itself all the credit of conquest. +</p> + +<p> +She heard a step behind her, and having again furtively wiped her eyes with her +hand, the only handkerchief available, looked round to see her father stalking +towards her. +</p> + +<p> +“Why are you crying, Rachel?” he asked in an irritable voice. +“It is wrong to cry because your little brother has been taken to +glory.” +</p> + +<p> +“Jesus cried over Lazarus, and He wasn’t even His brother,” +she answered in a reflective voice, then by way of defending herself added +inconsequently: “I was watching two Hottentot gods fight.” +</p> + +<p> +As Mr. Dove could think of no reply to her very final Scriptural example, he +attacked her on the latter point. +</p> + +<p> +“A cruel amusement,” he said, “especially as I have heard +that boys, yes, and men, too, pit these poor insects against each other, and +make bets upon them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nature is cruel, not I, father. Nature is always cruel,” and she +glanced towards the little grave under the rock. Then, while for the second +time her father hesitated, not knowing what to answer, she added quickly, +“Is mother better now?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he said, “worse, I think, very hysterical and quite +unable to see things in the true light.” +</p> + +<p> +She rose and faced him, for she was a courageous child, then asked: +</p> + +<p> +“Father, why don’t you take her back? She isn’t fit to go on. +It is wrong to drag her into this wilderness.” +</p> + +<p> +At this question he grew very angry, and began to scold and to talk of the +wickedness of abandoning his “call.” +</p> + +<p> +“But mother has not got a ‘call,’” she broke in. +</p> + +<p> +Then, as for the third time he could find no answer, he declared vehemently +that they were both in league against him, instruments used by the Evil One to +tempt him from his duty by working on his natural fears and affections, and so +forth. +</p> + +<p> +The child watched him with her clear grey eyes, saying nothing further, till at +last he grew calm and paused. +</p> + +<p> +“We are all much upset,” he went on, rubbing his high forehead with +his thin hand. “I suppose it is the heat and this—this—trial +of our faith. What did I come to speak to you about? Oh! I remember; your +mother will eat nothing, and keeps asking for fruit. Do you know where there is +any fruit?” +</p> + +<p> +“It doesn’t grow here, father.” Then her face brightened, and +she added: “Yes, it does, though. The day that we outspanned in this camp +mother and I went down to the river and walked to that kind of island beyond +the dry donga to get some flowers that grow on the wet ground. I saw lots of +Cape gooseberries there, all quite ripe.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then go and get some, dear. You will have plenty of time before +dark.” +</p> + +<p> +She started up as though to obey, then checked herself and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Mother told me that I was not to go to the river alone, because we saw +the spoor of lions and crocodiles in the mud.” +</p> + +<p> +“God will guard you from the lions and the crocodiles, if there are +any,” he answered doggedly, for was not this an opportunity to show his +faith? “You are not afraid, are you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, father. I am afraid of nothing, perhaps because I don’t care +what happens. I will get the basket and go at once.” +</p> + +<p> +In another minute she was walking quickly towards the river, a lonely little +figure in that great place. Mr. Dove watched her uneasily till she was hidden +in the haze, for his reason told him that this was a foolish journey. +</p> + +<p> +“The Lord will send His angels to protect her,” he muttered to +himself. “Oh! if only I could have more faith, all these troubles come +upon me from a lack of faith, and through that I am continually tempted. I +think I will run after her and go, too. No, there is Janey calling me, I cannot +leave her alone. The Lord will protect her, but I need not mention to Janey +that she has gone, unless she asks me outright. She will be quite safe, the +storm will not break to-night.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> +THE BOY</h2> + +<p> +The river towards which Rachel headed, one of the mouths of the Umtavuna, was +much further off than it looked; it was, indeed, not less than a mile and a +half away. She had said that she feared nothing, and it was true, for +extraordinary courage was one of this child’s characteristics. She could +scarcely ever remember having felt afraid—for herself, except sometimes +of her father when he grew angry—or was it mad that he grew?—and +raged at her, threatening her with punishment in another world in reward for +her childish sins. Even then the sensation did not last long, because she could +not believe in that punishment which he so vividly imagined. So it came about +that now she had no fear when there was so much cause. +</p> + +<p> +For this place was lonely; not a living creature could be seen. Moreover, a +dreadful hush brooded on the face of earth, and in the sky above; only far away +over the mountains the lightning flickered incessantly, as though a monster in +the skies were licking their precipices and pinnacles with a thousand tongues +of fire. Nothing stirred, not even an insect; every creature that drew breath +had hidden itself away until the coming terror was overpast. +</p> + +<p> +The atmosphere was full of electricity struggling to be free. Although she knew +not what it was, Rachel felt it in her blood and brain. In some strange way it +affected her mind, opening windows there through which the eyes of her soul +looked out. She became aware of some new influence drawing near to her life; of +a sudden her budding womanhood burst into flower in her breast, shone on by an +unseen sun; she was no more a child. Her being quickened and acknowledged the +kinship of all things that are. That brooding, flame-threaded sky—she was +a part of it, the earth she trod, it was a part of her; the Mind that caused +the stars to roll and her to live, dwelt in her bosom, and like a babe she +nestled within the arm of its almighty will. +</p> + +<p> +Now, as in a dream, Rachel descended the steep, rock-strewn banks of the dry +branch of the river-bed, wending her way between the boulders and noting that +rotten weeds and peeled brushwood rested against the stems of the mimosa thorns +which grew there, tokens which told her that here in times of flood the +water flowed. Well, there was little enough of it now, only a pool or two to +form a mirror for the lightning. In front of her lay the island where grew the +Cape gooseberries, or winter cherries as they are sometimes called, which she +came to seek. It was a low piece of ground, a quarter of a mile long, perhaps, +but in the centre of it were some great rocks and growing among the rocks, +trees, one of them higher than the rest. Beyond it ran the true river, even now +at the end of the dry season three or four hundred yards in breadth, though so +shallow that it could be forded by an ox-drawn waggon. +</p> + +<p> +It was raining on the mountains yonder, raining in torrents poured from those +inky clouds, as it had done off and on for the past twenty-four hours, and +above their fire-laced bosom floated glorious-coloured masses of misty vapour, +enflamed in a thousand hues by the arrows of the sinking sun. Above her, +however, there was no sun, nothing but the curtain of cloud which grew +gradually from grey to black and minute by minute sank nearer to the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Walking through the dry river-bed, Rachel reached the island which was the last +and highest of a line of similar islands that, separated from each other by +narrow breadths of water, lay like a chain, between the dry donga and the +river. Here she began to gather her gooseberries, picking the silvery, +octagonal pods from the green stems on which they grew. At first she opened +these pods, removing from each the yellow, sub-acid berry, thinking that thus +her basket would hold more, but presently abandoned that plan as it took too +much time. Also although the plants were plentiful enough, in that low and +curious light it was not easy to see them among the dense growth of reedy +vegetation. +</p> + +<p> +While she was thus engaged she became aware of a low moaning noise and a +stirring of the air about her which caused the leaves and grasses to quiver +without bending. Then followed an ice-cold wind that grew in strength until it +blew keen and hard, ruffling the surface of the marshy pools. Still Rachel went +on with her task, for her basket was not more than half full, till presently +the heavens above her began to mutter and to groan, and drops of rain as large +as shillings fell upon her back and hands. Now she understood that it was time +for her to be going, and started to walk across the island—for at the +moment she was near its farther side—to reach the deep, rocky river-bed +or donga. +</p> + +<p> +Before ever she came there, with awful suddenness and inconceivable fury, the +tempest burst. A hurricane of wind tore down the valley to the sea, and for a +few minutes the darkness became so dense that she could scarcely stumble +forward. Then there was light, a dreadful light; all the heavens seemed to take +fire, yes, and the earth, too; it was as though its last dread catastrophe had +fallen on the world. +</p> + +<p> +Buffeted, breathless, Rachel at length reached the edge of the deep river-bed +that may have been fifty yards in width, and was about to step into it when she +became aware of two things. The first was a seething, roaring noise so loud +that it seemed to still even the bellowing of the thunder, and the next, now +seen, now lost, as the lightning pulsed and darkened, the figure of a youth, a +white youth, who had dismounted from a horse that remained near to but above +him, and stood, a gun in his hand, upon a rock at the farther side of the +donga. +</p> + +<p> +He had seen her also and was shouting to her, of this she was sure, for +although the sound of his voice was lost in the tumult, she could perceive his +gesticulations when the lightning flared, and even the movement of his lips. +Wondering vaguely what a white boy could be doing in such a place and very glad +at the prospect of his company, Rachel began to advance towards him in short +rushes whenever the lightning showed her where to set her feet. She had made +two of these rushes when from the violence and character of his movements at +length she understood that he was trying to prevent her from coming further, +and paused confused. +</p> + +<p> +Another instant and she knew why. Some hundreds of yards above her the river +bed took a turn, and suddenly round this turn, crested with foam, appeared a +wall of water in which trees and the carcases of animals were whirled along +like straws. The flood had come down from the mountains, and was advancing on +her more swiftly than a horse could gallop. Rachel ran forward a little way, +then understanding that she had no time to cross, stood bewildered, for the +fearful tumult of the elements and the dreadful roaring of that advancing wall +of foam overwhelmed her senses. The lightnings went out for a moment, then +began to play again with tenfold frequency and force. They struck upon the +nearing torrent, they struck in the dry bed before it, and leapt upwards from +the earth as though Titans and gods were hurling spears at one another. +</p> + +<p> +In the lurid sheen of them she saw the lad leap from his rock and rush towards +her. A flash fell and split a boulder not thirty paces from him, causing him to +stagger, but he recovered himself and ran on. Now he was quite close, but the +water was closer still. It was coming in tiers or ledges, a thin sheet of foam +in front, then other layers laid upon it, each of them a few yards behind its +fellow. On the top ledge, in its very crest, was a bull buffalo, dead, but held +head on and down as though it were charging, and Rachel thought vaguely that +from the direction in which it came in a few moments its horns would strike +her. Another second and an arm was about her waist—she noted how white it +was where the sleeve was rolled up, dead white in the lightning—and she +was being dragged towards the shore that she had left. The first film of water +struck her and nearly washed her from her feet, but she was strong and active, +and the touch of that arm seemed to have given her back her wit, so she +regained them and splashed forward. Now the next tier took them both above the +knees, but for a moment shallowed so that they did not fall. The high bank was +scarce five yards away, and the wall of waters perhaps a score. +</p> + +<p> +“Together for life or death!” said an English voice in her ear, and +the shout of it only reached her in a whisper. +</p> + +<p> +The boy and the girl leapt forward like bucks. They reached the bank and +struggled up it. The hungry waters sprang at them like a living thing, grasping +their feet and legs as though with hands; a stick as it whirled by them struck +the lad upon the shoulder, and where it struck the clothes were rent away and +red blood appeared. Almost he fell, but this time it was Rachel who supported +him. Then one more struggle and they rolled exhausted on the ground just clear +of the lip of the racing flood. +</p> + +<p> +Thus through tempest, threatened by the waters of death from which he snatched +her, and companioned by heaven’s lightnings, did Richard Darrien come +into the life of Rachel Dove. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, having recovered their breath, they sat up and looked at each other +by lightning light, which was all there was. He was a handsome lad of about +seventeen, though short for his years; sturdy in build, very fair-skinned and +curiously enough with a singular resemblance to Rachel, except that his hair +was a few shades darker than hers. They had the same clear grey eyes, and the +same well-cut features; indeed seen together, most people would have thought +them brother and sister, and remarked upon their family likeness. Rachel spoke +the first. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you?” she shouted into his ear in one of the intervals of +darkness, “and why did you come here?” +</p> + +<p> +“My name is Richard Darrien,” he answered at the top of his voice, +“and I don’t know why I came. I suppose something sent me to save +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” she replied with conviction, “something sent you. If +you had not come I should be dead, shouldn’t I? In glory, as my father +says.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know about glory, or what it is,” he remarked, after +thinking this saying over, “but you would have been rolling out to sea in +the flood water, like that buffalo, with not a whole bone in you, which +isn’t my idea of glory.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s because your father isn’t a missionary,” said +Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“No, he is an officer, naval officer, or at least he was, now he trades +and hunts. We are coming down from Natal. But what’s your name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Rachel Dove.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Rachel Dove—that’s very pretty, Rachel Dove, as you +would be if you were cleaner—it is going to rain presently. Is there any +place where we can shelter here?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am as clean as you are,” she answered indignantly. “The +river muddied me, that’s all. You can go and shelter, I will stop and let +the rain wash me.” +</p> + +<p> +“And die of the cold or be struck by lightning. Of course I knew you +weren’t dirty really. Is there any place?” +</p> + +<p> +She nodded, mollified. +</p> + +<p> +“I think I know one. Come,” and she stretched out her hand. +</p> + +<p> +He took it, and thus hand in hand they made their way to the highest point of +the island where the trees grew, for here the rocks piled up together made a +kind of cave in which Rachel and her mother had sat for a little while when +they visited the place. As they groped their way towards it the lightning +blazed out and they saw a great jagged flash strike the tallest tree and +shatter it, causing some wild beast that had sheltered there to rush past them +snorting. +</p> + +<p> +“That doesn’t look very safe,” said Richard halting, +“but come on, it isn’t likely to hit the same spot twice.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hadn’t you better leave your gun?” she suggested, for all +this while that weapon had been slung to his back and she knew that lightning +has an affinity for iron. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly not,” he answered, “it is a new one which my +father gave me, and I won’t be parted from it.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they went on and reached the little cave just as the rain broke over them +in earnest. As it chanced the place was dry, being so situated that all water +ran away from it. They crouched in it shivering, trying to cover themselves +with dead sticks and brushwood that had lodged here in the wet season when the +whole island was under water. +</p> + +<p> +“It would be nice enough if only we had a fire,” said Rachel, her +teeth chattering as she spoke. +</p> + +<p> +The lad Richard thought a while. Then he opened a leather case that hung on his +rifle sling and took from it a powder flask and flint and steel and some +tinder. Pouring a little powder on the damp tinder, he struck the flint until +at length a spark caught and fired the powder. The tinder caught also, though +reluctantly, and while Rachel blew on it, he felt round for dead leaves and +little sticks, some of which were coaxed into flame. +</p> + +<p> +After this things were easy since fuel lay about in abundance, so that soon +they had a splendid fire burning in the mouth of the cave whence the smoke +escaped. Now they were able to warm and dry themselves, and as the heat entered +into their chilled bodies, their spirits rose. Indeed the contrast between this +snug hiding place and blazing fire of drift wood and the roaring tempest +without, conduced to cheerfulness in young people who had just narrowly escaped +from drowning. +</p> + +<p> +“I am so hungry,” said Rachel, presently. +</p> + +<p> +Again Richard began to search, and this time produced from the pocket of his +coat a long and thick strip of sun-dried meat. +</p> + +<p> +“Can you eat biltong?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” she answered eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you must cut it up,” he said, giving her the meat and his +knife. “My arm hurts me, I can’t.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” she exclaimed, “how selfish I am. I forgot about that +stick striking you. Let me see the place.” +</p> + +<p> +He took off his coat and knelt down while she stood over him and examined his +wound by the light of the fire, to find that the left upper arm was bruised, +torn and bleeding. As it will be remembered that Rachel had no handkerchief, +she asked Richard for his, which she soaked in a pool of rain water just +outside the cave. Then, having washed the hurt thoroughly, she bandaged his arm +with the handkerchief and bade him put on his coat again, saying confidently +that he would be well in a few days. +</p> + +<p> +“You are clever,” he remarked with admiration. “Who taught +you to bandage wounds?” +</p> + +<p> +“My father always doctors the Kaffirs and I help him,” Rachel +answered, as, having stretched out her hands for the pouring rain to wash them, +she took the biltong and began to cut it in thin slices. +</p> + +<p> +These she made him eat before she touched any herself, for she saw that the +loss of blood had weakened him. Indeed her own meal was a light one, since half +the strip of meat must, she declared, be put aside in case they should not be +able to get off the island. Then he saw why she had made him eat first and was +very angry with himself and her, but she only laughed at him and answered that +she had learned from the Kaffirs that men must be fed before women as they were +more important in the world. +</p> + +<p> +“You mean more selfish,” he answered, contemplating this wise +little maid and her tiny portion of biltong, which she swallowed very slowly, +perhaps to pretend that her appetite was already satisfied with its +superabundance. Then he fell to imploring her to take the rest, saying that he +would be able to shoot some game in the morning, but she only shook her little +head and set her lips obstinately. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you a hunter?” she asked to change the subject. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he answered with pride, “that is, almost. At any rate +I have shot eland, and an elephant, but no lions yet. I was following the spoor +of a lion just now, but it got up between the rocks and bolted away before I +could shoot. I think that it must have been after you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps,” said Rachel. “There are some about here; I have +heard them roaring at night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” he went on, “while I was staring at you running +across this island, I heard the sound of the water and saw it rushing down the +donga, and saw too that you must be drowned, and—you know the +rest.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I know the rest,” she said, looking at him with shining eyes. +“You risked your life to save mine, and therefore,” she added with +quiet conviction, “it belongs to you.” +</p> + +<p> +He stared at her and remarked simply: +</p> + +<p> +“I wish it did. This morning I wished to kill a lion with my new +<i>roer</i>,” and he pointed to the heavy gun at his side, “above +everything else, but to-night I wish that your life belonged to me—above +anything else.” +</p> + +<p> +Their eyes met, and child though she was, Rachel saw something in those of +Richard that caused her to turn her head. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are you going?” she asked quickly. +</p> + +<p> +“Back to my father’s farm in Graaf-Reinet, to sell the ivory. There +are three others besides my father, two Boers and one Englishman.” +</p> + +<p> +“And I am going to Natal where you come from,” she answered, +“so I suppose that after to-night we shall never see each other again, +although my life does belong to you—that is if we escape.” +</p> + +<p> +Just then the tempest which had lulled a little, came on again in fury, +accompanied by a hurricane of wind and deluge of rain, through which the +lightning blazed incessantly. The thunderclaps too were so loud and constant +that the sound of them, which shook the earth, made it impossible for Richard +and Rachel to hear each other speak. So they were silent perforce. Only Richard +rose and looked out of the cave, then turned and beckoned to his companion. She +came to him and watched, till suddenly a blinding sheet of flame lit up the +whole landscape. Then she saw what he was looking at, for now nearly all the +island, except that high part of it on which they stood, was under water, +hidden by a brown, seething torrent, that tore past them to the sea. +</p> + +<p> +“If it rises much more, we shall be drowned,” he shouted in her +ear. +</p> + +<p> +She nodded, then cried back: +</p> + +<p> +“Let us say our prayers and get ready,” for it seemed to Rachel +that the “glory” of which her father spoke so often was nearer to +them than ever. +</p> + +<p> +Then she drew him back into the cave and motioned to him to kneel beside her, +which he did bashfully enough, and for a while the two children, for they were +little more, remained thus with clasped hands and moving lips. Presently the +thunder lessened a little so that once more they could hear each other speak. +</p> + +<p> +“What did you pray about?” he asked when they had risen from their +knees. +</p> + +<p> +“I prayed that you might escape, and that my mother might not grieve for +me too much,” she answered simply. “And you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I? Oh! the same—that you might escape. I did not pray for my +mother as she is dead, and I forgot about father.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look, look!” exclaimed Rachel, pointing to the mouth of the cave. +</p> + +<p> +He stared out at the darkness, and there, through the thin flames of the fire, +saw two great yellow shapes which appeared to be walking up and down and +glaring into the cave. +</p> + +<p> +“Lions,” he gasped, snatching at his gun. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t shoot,” she cried, “you might make them angry. +Perhaps they only want to take refuge like ourselves. The fire will keep them +away.” +</p> + +<p> +He nodded, then remembering that the charge and priming of his flint-lock +<i>roer</i> must be damp, hurriedly set to work by the help of Rachel to draw +it with the screw on the end of his ramrod, and this done, to reload with some +powder that he had already placed to dry on a flat stone near the fire. This +operation took five minutes or more. When at length it was finished, and the +lock reprimed with the dry powder, the two of them, Richard holding the +<i>roer</i>, crept to the mouth of the cave and looked out again. +</p> + +<p> +The great storm was passing now, and the rain grew thinner, but from time to +time the lightning, no longer forked or chain-shaped, flared in wide sheets. By +its ghastly illumination they saw a strange sight. There on the island top the +two lions marched backwards and forwards as though they were in a cage, making +a kind of whimpering noise as they went, and staring round them uneasily. +Moreover, these were not alone, for gathered there were various other animals, +driven down by the flood from the islands above them, reed and water bucks, and +a great eland. Among these the lions walked without making the slightest effort +to attack them, nor did the antelopes, which stood sniffing and staring at the +torrent, take any notice of the lions, or attempt to escape. +</p> + +<p> +“You are right,” said Richard, “they are all frightened, and +will not harm us, unless the water rises more, and they rush into the cave. +Come, make up the fire.” +</p> + +<p> +They did so, and sat down on its further side, watching till, as nothing +happened, their dread of the lions passed away, and they began to talk again, +telling to each other the stories of their lives. +</p> + +<p> +Richard Darrien, it seemed, had been in Africa about five years, his father +having emigrated there on the death of his mother, as he had nothing but the +half-pay of a retired naval captain, and he hoped to better his fortunes in a +new land. He had been granted a farm in the Graaf-Reinet district, but like +many other of the early settlers, met with misfortunes. Now, to make money, he +had taken to elephant-hunting, and with his partners was just returning from a +very successful expedition in the coast lands of Natal, at that time an almost +unexplored territory. His father had allowed Richard to accompany the party, +but when they got back, added the boy with sorrow, he was to be sent for two or +three years to the college at Capetown, since until then his father had not +been able to afford him the luxury of an education. Afterwards he wished him to +adopt a profession, but on this point he—Richard—had made up his +mind, although at present he said little about that. He would be a hunter, and +nothing else, until he grew too old to hunt, when he intended to take to +farming. +</p> + +<p> +His story done, Rachel told him hers, to which he listened eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Is your father mad?” he asked when she had finished. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” she answered. “How dare you suggest it? He is only very +good; much better than anybody else.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, it seems to come to much the same thing, doesn’t it?” +said Richard, “for otherwise he would not have sent you to gather +gooseberries here with such a storm coming on.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why did your father send you to hunt lions with such a storm coming +on?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“He didn’t send me. I came of myself; I said that I wanted to shoot +a buck, and finding the spoor of a lion I followed it. The waggons must be a +long way ahead now, for when I left them I returned to that kloof where I had +seen the buck. I don’t know how I shall overtake them again, and +certainly nobody will ever think of looking for me here, as after this rain +they can’t spoor the horse.” +</p> + +<p> +“Supposing you don’t find it—I mean your +horse—tomorrow, what shall you do?” asked Rachel. “We +haven’t got any to lend you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Walk and try to catch them up,” he replied. +</p> + +<p> +“And if you can’t catch them up?” +</p> + +<p> +“Come back to you, as the wild Kaffirs ahead would kill me if I went on +alone.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! But what would your father think?” +</p> + +<p> +“He would think there was one boy the less, that’s all, and be +sorry for a while. People often vanish in Africa where there are so many lions +and savages.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel reflected a while, then finding the subject difficult, suggested that he +should find out what their own particular lions were doing. So Richard went to +look, and reported that the storm had ceased, and that by the moonlight he +could see no lions or any other animals, so he thought that they must have gone +away somewhere. The flood waters also appeared to be running down. Comforted by +this intelligence Rachel piled on the fire nearly all the wood that remained to +them. Then they sat down again side by side, and tried to continue their +conversation. By degrees it drooped, however, and the end of it was that +presently this pair were fast asleep in each other’s arms. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> +GOOD-BYE</h2> + +<p> +Rachel was the first to wake, which she did, feeling cold, for the fire had +burnt almost out. She rose and walked from the cave. The dawn was breaking +quietly, for now no wind stirred, and no rain fell. So dense was the mist which +rose from the river and sodden land, however, that she could not see two yards +in front of her, and fearing lest she should stumble on the lions or some other +animals, she did not dare to wander far from the mouth of the cave. Near to it +was a large, hollow-surfaced rock, filled now with water like a bath. From this +she drank, then washed and tidied herself as well as she could without the aid +of soap, comb or towels, which done, she returned to the cave. +</p> + +<p> +As Richard was still sleeping, very quietly she laid a little more wood on the +embers to keep him warm, then sat down by his side and watched him, for now the +grey light of the dawning crept into their place of refuge. To her this +slumbering lad looked beautiful, and as she studied him her childish heart was +filled with a strange, new tenderness, such as she had never felt before. +Somehow he had grown dear to her, and Rachel knew that she would never forget +him while she lived. Then following this wave of affection came a sharp and +sudden pain, for she remembered that presently they must part, and never see +each other any more. At least this seemed certain, for how could they when he +was travelling to the Cape and she to Natal? +</p> + +<p> +And yet, and yet a strange conviction told her otherwise. The power of +prescience which came to her from her mother and her Highland forefathers awoke +in her breast, and she knew that her life and this lad’s life were +interwoven. Perhaps she dozed off again, sitting there by the fire. At any rate +it appeared to her that she dreamed and saw things in her dream. Wild +tumultuous scenes opened themselves before her in a vision; scenes of blood and +terror, sounds, too, of voices crying war. It appeared to her as if she were +mad, and yet ruled a queen, death came near to her a score of times, but always +fled away at her command. Now Richard Darrien was with her, and now she had +lost him and sought—ah! how she sought through dark places of doom and +unnatural night. It was as though he were dead, and she yet living, searched +for him among the habitations of the dead. She found him also, and drew him +towards her. How, she did not know. +</p> + +<p> +Then there was a scene, a last scene, which remained fixed in her mind after +everything else had faded away. She saw the huge trunks of forest trees, +enormous, towering trees, gloomy trees beneath which the darkness could be +felt. Down their avenues shot the level arrows of the dawn. They fell on her, +Rachel, dressed in robes of white skin, turning her long, outspread hair to +gold. They fell upon little people with faces of a dusky pallor, one of them +crouched against the bole of a tree, a wizened monkey of a man who in all that +vastness looked small. They fell upon another man, white-skinned, half-naked, +with a yellow beard, who was lashed by hide ropes to a second tree. It was +Richard Darrien grown older, and at his feet lay a broad-bladed spear! +</p> + +<p> +The vision left her, or she was awakened from her sleep, whichever it might be, +by the pleasant voice of this same Richard, who stood yawning before her, and +said: +</p> + +<p> +“It is time to get up. I say, why do you look so queer? Are you +ill?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have been up, long ago,” she answered, struggling to her feet. +“What do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing, except that you seemed a ghost a minute ago. Now you are a girl +again, it must have been the light.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did I? Well, I dreamed of ghosts, or something of the sort,” and +she told him of the vision of the trees, though of the rest she could remember +little. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a queer story,” he said when she had finished. +“I wish you had got to the end of it, I should like to know what +happened.” +</p> + +<p> +“We shall find out one day,” she answered solemnly. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean to say that you believe it is true, Rachel?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Richard, one day I shall see you tied to that tree.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I hope you will cut me loose, that is all. What a funny girl you +are,” he added doubtfully. “I know what it is, you want something +to eat. Have the rest of that biltong.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” she answered. “I could not touch it. There is a pool of +water out there, go and bathe your arm, and I will bind it up again.” +</p> + +<p> +He went, still wondering, and a few minutes later returned, his face and head +dripping, and whispered: +</p> + +<p> +“Give me the gun. There is a reed buck standing close by. I saw it +through the mist; we’ll have a jolly breakfast off him.” +</p> + +<p> +She handed him the <i>roer</i>, and crept after him out of the cave. About +thirty yards away to the right, looming very large through the dense fog, stood +the fat reed buck. Richard wriggled towards it, for he wanted to make sure of +his shot, while Rachel crouched behind a stone. The buck becoming alarmed, +turned its head, and began to sniff at the air, whereon he lifted the gun and +just as it was about to spring away, aimed and fired. Down it went dead, +whereon, rejoicing in his triumph like any other young hunter who thinks not of +the wonderful and happy life that he has destroyed, Richard sprang upon it +exultantly, drawing his knife as he came, while Rachel, who always shrank from +such sights, retreated to the cave. Half an hour later, however, being healthy +and hungry, she had no objection to eating venison toasted upon sticks in the +red embers of their fire. +</p> + +<p> +Their meal finished at length, they reloaded the gun, and although the mist was +still very dense, set out upon a journey of exploration, as by now the sun was +shining brightly above the curtain of low-lying vapour. Stumbling on through +the rocks, they discovered that the water had fallen almost as quickly as it +rose on the previous night. The island was strewn, however, with the trunks of +trees and other debris that it had brought down, amongst which lay the carcases +of bucks and smaller creatures, and with them a number of drowned snakes. The +two lions, however, appeared to have escaped by swimming, at least they saw +nothing of them. Walking cautiously, they came to the edge of the donga, and +sat down upon a stone, since as yet they could not see how wide and deep the +water ran. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst they remained thus, suddenly through the mist they heard a voice +shouting from the other side of the donga. +</p> + +<p> +“Missie,” cried the voice in Dutch, “are you there +missie?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is Tom, our driver,” she said, “come to look for me. +Answer for me, Richard.” +</p> + +<p> +So the lad, who had very good lungs, roared in reply: +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I’m here, safe, waiting for the mist to lift, and the water +to run down.” +</p> + +<p> +“God be thanked,” yelled the distant Tom. “We thought that +you were surely drowned. But, then, why is your voice changed?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because an English heer is with me,” cried Rachel. “Go and +look for his horse and bring a rope, then wait till the mist rises. Also send +to tell the pastor and my mother that I am safe.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am here, Rachel,” shouted another voice, her father’s. +“I have been looking for you all night, and we have got the +Englishman’s horse. Don’t come into the water yet. Wait till we can +see.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s good news, any way,” said Richard, “though I +shall have to ride hard to catch up the waggons.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel’s face fell. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” she said; “very good news.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you glad that I am going, then?” he asked in an offended tone. +</p> + +<p> +“It was you who said the news was good,” she replied gently. +</p> + +<p> +“I meant I was glad that they had caught my horse, not that I had to ride +away on it. Are you sorry, then?” and he glanced at her anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I am sorry, for we have made friends, haven’t we? It +won’t matter to you who will find plenty of people down there at the +Cape, but you see when you are gone I shall have no friend left in this +wilderness, shall I?” +</p> + +<p> +Again Richard looked at her, and saw that her sweet grey eyes were full of +tears. Then there rose within the breast of this lad who, be it remembered, was +verging upon manhood, a sensation strangely similar, had he but known it, to +that which had been experienced an hour or two before by the child at his side +when she watched him sleeping in the cave. He felt as though these tear-laden +grey eyes were drawing his heart as a magnet draws iron. Of love he knew +nothing, it was but a name to him, but this feeling was certainly very new and +queer. +</p> + +<p> +“What have you done to me?” he asked brusquely. “I +don’t want to go away from you at all, which is odd, as I never liked +girls much. I tell you,” he went on with gathering vehemence, “that +if it wasn’t that it would be mean to play such a trick upon my father, I +wouldn’t go. I’d come with you, or follow after—all my life. +Answer me—what have you done?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing, nothing at all,” said Rachel with a little sob, +“except tie up your arm.” +</p> + +<p> +“That can’t be it,” he replied. “Anyone could tie up my +arm. Oh! I know it is wrong, but I hope I shan’t be able to overtake the +waggons, for if I can’t I will come back.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mustn’t come back; you must go away, quite away, as soon as +you can. Yes, as soon as you can. Your father will be very anxious,” and +she began to cry outright. +</p> + +<p> +“Stop it,” said Richard. “Do you hear me, stop it. I am not +going to be made to snivel too, just because I shan’t see a little girl +any more whom I never met—till yesterday.” +</p> + +<p> +These last words came out with a gulp, and what is more, two tears came with +them and trickled down his nose. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment they sat thus looking at each other pitifully, and—the truth +must be told—weeping, both of them. Then something got the better of +Richard, let us call it primeval instinct, so that he put his arms about Rachel +and kissed her, after which they continued to weep, their heads resting upon +each other’s shoulders. At length he let her go and stood up, saying +argumentatively: +</p> + +<p> +“You see now we are really friends.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” she answered, again rubbing her eyes with the back of her +hand for lack of a pocket handkerchief in the fashion that on the previous day +had so irritated her father, “but I don’t know why you should kiss +me like that, just because you are my friend, or” she added with an +outburst of truthfulness, “why I should kiss you.” +</p> + +<p> +Richard stood over her frowning and reflecting. Then he gave up the problem as +beyond his powers of interpretation, and said: +</p> + +<p> +“You remember that rubbish you dreamt just now, about my being tied to a +tree and the rest of it? Well, it wasn’t nice, and it gives me the creeps +to think of it, like the lions outside the cave. But I want to tell you that I +hope it is true, for then we shall meet again, if it is only to say +good-night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Richard,” she answered, placing her slim fingers into his big +brown hand, “we shall meet again, I am sure—I am quite sure. And I +think that it will be to say, not good-night,” and she looked up at him +and smiled, “but good-morning.” +</p> + +<p> +As Rachel spoke a puff of wind blew down the donga, rolling up the mist before +it, and of a sudden shining above them they saw the glorious sun. As though by +magic butterflies appeared basking upon the rain-shattered lily blooms; bright +birds flitted from tree to tree, ringdoves began to coo. The terror of the +tempest and the darkness of night were overpast; the world awoke again to life +and love and joy. Instantly this change reflected itself in their young hearts. +They whose natures had as it were ripened prematurely in the stress of danger +and the shadow of death, became children once again. The very real emotions +that they had experienced were forgotten, or at any rate sank into abeyance. +Now they thought, not of separation or of the dim, mysterious future that +stretched before them, but only of how they should ford the stream and gain its +further side, where Rachel saw her father, Tom, the driver, and the other +Kaffirs, and Richard saw his horse which he had feared was lost. +</p> + +<p> +They ran down to the brink of the water and examined it, but here it was still +too deep for them to attempt its crossing. Then, directed by the shouts and +motions of the Kaffir Tom and Mr. Dove, they proceeded up stream for several +hundred yards, till they came to a rapid where the lessening flood ran thinly +over a ridge of rock, and after investigation, proceeded to try its passage +hand in hand. It proved difficult but not dangerous, for when they came near to +the further side where the current was swift and the water rather deep, Tom +threw them a waggon rope, clinging on to which they were dragged—wet, but +laughing—in safety to the further bank. +</p> + +<p> +“Ow!” exclaimed the Kaffirs, clapping their hands. “She is +alive, the lightnings have turned away from her, she rules the waters, and the +lightnings!” and then and there, after the native fashion, they gave +Rachel a name which was destined to play a great part in her future. That name +was “Lady of the Lightnings,” or, to translate it more accurately, +“of the Heavens.” +</p> + +<p> +“I never thought to see you again,” said her father, looking at +Rachel with a face that was still white and scared. “It was very wrong of +me to send you so far with that storm coming on, and I have had a terrible +night—yes, a terrible night; and so has your poor mother. However, she +knows that you are safe by now, thank God, thank God!” and he took her in +his arms and kissed her. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, father, you said that He would look after me, didn’t you? +And so He did, for He sent Richard here. If it hadn’t been for Richard I +should have been drowned,” she added inconsequently. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes,” said Mr. Dove. “Providence manifests itself in +many ways. But who is your young friend whom you call Richard? I suppose he has +some other name.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” answered that youth himself, “everybody has +except Kaffirs. Mine is Darrien.” +</p> + +<p> +“Darrien?” said Mr. Dove. “I had a friend called Darrien at +school. I never saw him after I left, but I believe that he went into the +Navy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then he must be my father, sir, for I have heard him say that there had +been no other Darrien in the service for a hundred years.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think so,” answered Mr. Dove, “for now that I look at you, +I can see a likeness. We slept side by side in the same dormitory once +five-and-thirty years ago, so I remember. And now you have saved my daughter; +it is very strange. But tell me the story.” +</p> + +<p> +So between them they told it, although to one scene of it—the +last—neither of them thought it necessary to allude; or perhaps it was +forgotten. +</p> + +<p> +“Truly the Almighty has had you both in His keeping,” exclaimed Mr. +Dove, when their tale was done. “And now, Richard, my boy, what are you +going to do? You see, we caught your horse—it was grazing about a mile +away with the saddle twisted under its stomach—and wondered what white +man could possibly have been riding it in this desolate place. Afterwards, +however, one of my voor-loopers reported that he had seen two waggons yesterday +afternoon trekking through the poort about five miles to the north there. The +white men with them said that they were travelling towards the Cape, and +pushing on to get out of the hills before the storm broke. They bade him, if he +met you, to bid you follow after them as quickly as you could, and to say that +they would wait for you, if you did not arrive before, at the Three Sluit +outspan on this side of the Pondo country, at which you stopped some months +ago.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Richard, “I remember, but that outspan is +thirty miles away, so I must be getting on, or they will come back to hunt for +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“First you will stop and eat with us, will you not?” said Mr. Dove. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, I have eaten. Also I have saved some meat in my pouch. I must +go, I must indeed, for otherwise my father will be angry with me. You +see,” he added, “I went out shooting without his leave.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! my boy,” remarked Mr. Dove, who seldom neglected an +opportunity for a word in season, “now you know what comes of +disobedience.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I know, sir,” he answered looking at Rachel. “I was +just in time to save your daughter’s life here; as you said just now, +Providence sent me. Well, good-bye, and don’t think me wicked if I am +very glad that I was disobedient, as I believe you are, too.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I am. Good comes out of evil sometimes, though that is no reason +why we should do evil,” the missionary added, not knowing what else to +say. Richard did not attempt to argue the point, for at the moment he was +engaged in bidding farewell to Rachel. It was a very silent farewell; neither +of them spoke a word, they only shook each other’s hand and looked into +each other’s eyes. Then muttering something which it was as well that Mr. +Dove did not hear, Richard swung himself into the saddle, for his horse stood +at hand, and, without even looking back, cantered away towards the mountains. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” exclaimed Rachel presently, “call him, father.” +</p> + +<p> +“What for?” asked Mr. Dove. +</p> + +<p> +“I want to give him our address, and to get his.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have no address, Rachel. Also he is too far off, and why should you +want the address of a chance acquaintance?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because he saved my life and I do,” replied the child, setting her +face. Then, without another word, she turned and began to walk towards their +camp—a very heavy journey it was to Rachel. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +When Rachel reached the waggon she found that her mother was more or less +recovered. At any rate the attack of fever had left her so that she felt able +to rise from her bed. Now, although still weak, she was engaged in packing away +the garments of her dead baby in a travelling chest, weeping in a silent, +piteous manner as she worked. It was a very sad sight. When she saw Rachel she +opened her arms without a word, and embraced her. +</p> + +<p> +“You were not frightened about me, mother?” asked the child. +</p> + +<p> +“No, my love,” she answered, “because I knew that no harm +would come to you. I have always known that. It was a mad thing of your father +to send you to such a place at such a time, but no folly of his or of anyone +else can hurt you who are destined to live. Never be afraid of anything, +Rachel, for remember always you will only die in old age.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not sure that I am glad of that,” answered the girl, as she +pulled off her wet clothes. “Life isn’t a very happy thing, is it, +mother, at least for those who live as we do?” +</p> + +<p> +“There is good and bad in it, dear; we can’t have one without the +other—most of us. At any rate, we must take it as it comes, who have to +walk a path that we did not make, and stop walking when our path comes to an +end, not a step before or after. But, Rachel, you are changed since yesterday. +I see it in your face. What has happened to you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lots of things, mother. I will tell you the story, all of it, every +word. Would you like to hear it?” +</p> + +<p> +Her mother nodded, and, the baby-clothes being at last packed away, shut the +lid of the box with a sigh, sat down upon it and listened. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel told her of her meeting with Richard Darrien, and of how he saved her +from the flood. She told of the strange night that they had spent together in +the little cave while the lions marched up and down without. She told of her +vigil over the sleeping Richard at the daybreak, and of the dream that she had +dreamed when she seemed to see him grown to manhood, and herself grown to +womanhood, and clad in white skins, watching him lashed to the trunk of a +gigantic tree as the first arrows of sunrise struck down the lanes of some +mysterious forest. She told of how her heart had been stirred, and of how +afterwards in the mist by the water’s brink his heart had been stirred +also, and of how they had kissed each other and wept because they must part. +</p> + +<p> +Then she stopped, expecting that her mother would be angry with her and scold +her for her thoughts and conduct, as she knew well her father would have done. +But she was not angry, and she did not scold. She only stretched out her thin +hands and stroked the child’s fair hair, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t be frightened, Rachel, and don’t be sad. You think +that you have lost him, but soon or late he will come back to you, perhaps as +you dreamed—perhaps otherwise.” +</p> + +<p> +“If I were sure of that, mother, I would not mind anything,” said +the girl, “though really I don’t know why I should care,” she +added defiantly. +</p> + +<p> +“No, you don’t know now, but you will one day, and when you do, +remember that, however long it seems to wait, you may be quite sure, because I +who have the gift of knowing, told you so. Now tell me again what Richard +Darrien was like while you remember, for perhaps I may never live to see his +face, and I wish to get it into my mind.” +</p> + +<p> +So Rachel told her, and when she had described every detail, asked suddenly: +</p> + +<p> +“Must we really go on, mother, into this awful wilderness? Would not +father turn back if you asked him?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps,” she answered. “But I shall not ask. He would never +forgive me for preventing him from doing what he thinks his duty. It is a +madness when we might be happy in the Cape or in England, but that cannot be +helped, for it is also his destiny and ours. Don’t judge hardly of your +father, Rachel, because he is a saint, and this world is a bad place for saints +and their families, especially their families. You think that he does not feel; +that he is heartless about me and the poor babe, and sacrifices us all, but I +tell you he feels more than either you or I can do. At night when I pretend to +go to sleep I watch him groaning over his loss and for me, and praying for +strength to bear it, and for help to enable him to do his duty. Last night he +was nearly crazed about you, and in all that awful storm, when the Kaffirs +would not stir from the waggon, went alone down to the river guided by the +lightnings, but of course returned half dead, having found nothing. By dawn he +was back there again, for love and fear would not let him rest a minute. Yet he +will never tell you anything of that, lest you should think that his faith in +Providence was shaken. I know that he is strange—it is no use hiding it, +but if I were to thwart him he would go quite mad, and then I should never +forgive myself, who took him for better and for worse, just as he is, and not +as I should like him to be. So, Rachel, be as happy as you can, and make the +best of things, as I try to do, for your life is all before you, whereas mine +lies behind me, and yonder,” and she pointed towards the place where the +infant was buried. “Hush! here he comes. Now, help me with the packing, +for we are to trek to the ford this afternoon.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +ISHMAEL</h2> + +<p> +It may he doubted whether any well-born young English lady ever had a stranger +bringing-up than that which fell to the lot of Rachel Dove. To begin with, she +had absolutely no associates, male or female, of her own age and station, for +at that period in its history such people did not exist in the country where +she dwelt. Practically her only companions were her father, a religious +enthusiast, and her mother, a half broken-hearted woman, who never for a single +hour could forget the children she had lost, and whose constitutional mysticism +increased upon her continually until at times it seemed as though she had added +some new quality to her normal human nature. +</p> + +<p> +Then there were the natives, amongst whom from the beginning Rachel was a sort +of queen. In those first days of settlement they had never seen anybody in the +least like her, no one so beautiful—for she grew up beautiful—so +fearless, or so kind. The tale of that adventure of hers as a child upon the +island in the midst of the flooded torrent spread all through the country with +many fabulous additions. Thus the Kaffirs said that she was a +“Heaven-herd,” that is, a magical person who can ward off or direct +the lightnings, which she was supposed to have done upon this night; also that +she could walk upon the waters, for otherwise how did she escape the flood? +And, lastly, that the wild beasts were her servants, for had not the driver Tom +and the natives seen the spoor of great lions right at the mouth of the cave +where she and her companion sheltered, and had they not heard that she called +these lions into the cave to protect her and him from the other creatures? +Therefore, as has been said, they gave her a name, a very long name that meant +Chieftainess, or Lady of Heaven, <i>Inkosazana-y-Zoola;</i> for Zulu or Zoola, +which we know as the title of that people, means Heaven, and +<i>Udade-y-Silwana,</i> or Sister of wild beasts. As these appellations proved +too lengthy for general use, even among the Bantu races, who have plenty of +time for talking, ultimately it was shortened to Zoola alone, so that +throughout that part of South-Eastern Africa Rachel came to enjoy the lofty +title of “Heaven,” the first girl, probably, who was ever so +called. +</p> + +<p> +With all natives from her childhood up, Rachel was on the best of terms. She +was never familiar with them indeed, for that is not the way for a white person +to win the affection, or even the respect of a Kaffir. But she was intimate in +the sense that she could enter into their thoughts and nature, a very rare +gift. We whites are apt to consider ourselves the superior of such folk, +whereas we are only different. In fact, taken altogether, it is quite a +question whether the higher sections of the Bantu peoples are not our equals. +Of course, we have learned more things, and our best men are their betters. +But, on the other hand, among them there is nothing so low as the inhabitants +of our slums, nor have they any vices which can surpass our vices. Is an +assegai so much more savage than a shell? Is there any great gulf fixed between +a Chaka and a Napoleon? At least they are not hypocrites, and they are not +vulgar; that is the privilege of civilised nations. +</p> + +<p> +Well, with these folk Rachel was intimate. She could talk to the warrior of his +wars, to the woman of her garden and her children to the children of that +wonder world which surrounds childhood throughout the universe. And yet there +was never a one of these but lifted the hand to her in salute when her shadow +fell upon them. To them all she was the Inkosazana, the Great Lady. They would +laugh at her father and mimic him behind his back, but Rachel they never +laughed at or mimicked. Of her mother also, although she kept herself apart +from them, much the same may be said. For her they had a curious name which +they would not, or were unable to explain. They called her +“Flower-that-grows-on-a-grave.” For Mr. Dove their appellation was +less poetical. It was +“Shouter-about-Things-he-does-not-understand,” or, more briefly, +“The Shouter,” a name that he had acquired from his habit of +raising his voice when he grew moved in speaking to them. The things that he +did not understand, it may be explained, were not to their minds his religious +views, which, although they considered them remarkable, were evidently his own +affair, but their private customs. Especially their family customs that he was +never weary of denouncing to the bewilderment of these poor heathens, who for +their part were not greatly impressed by those of the few white people with +whom they came in contact. Therefore, with native politeness, they concluded +that he spoke thus rudely because he did not understand. Hence his name. +</p> + +<p> +But Rachel had other friends. In truth she was Nature’s child, if in a +better and a purer sense than Byron uses that description. The sea, the veld, +the sky, the forest and the river, these were her companions, for among them +she dwelt solitary. Their denizens, too, knew her well, for unless she were +driven to it, never would she lift her hand against anything that drew the +breath of life. The buck would let her pass quite close to them, nor at her +coming did the birds stir from off their trees. Often she stood and watched the +great elephants feeding or at rest, and even dared to wander among the herds of +savage buffalo. Of only two living things was she afraid—the snake and +the crocodile, that are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the +field, because being cursed they have no sympathy or gentleness. She feared +nothing else, she who was always fearless, nor brute or bird, did they fear +her. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +After Rachel’s adventure in the flooded river she and her parents pursued +their journey by slow and tedious marches, and at length, though in those days +this was strange enough, reached Natal unharmed. At first they went to live +where the city of Durban now stands, which at that time had but just received +its name. It was inhabited by a few rough men, who made a living by trading and +hunting, and surrounded themselves with natives, refugees for the most part +from the Zulu country. Amongst these people and their servants Mr. Dove +commenced his labours, but ere long a bitter quarrel grew up between him and +them. +</p> + +<p> +These dwellers in the midst of barbarism led strange lives, and Mr. Dove, who +rightly held it to be his duty to denounce wrong-doing of every sort, attacked +them and their vices in no measured terms, and upon all occasions. For long +years he kept up the fight, until at length he found himself ostracised. If +they could avoid it, no white men would speak to him, nor would they allow him +to instruct their Kaffirs. Thus his work came to an end in Durban as it had +done in other places. Now, again, his wife and daughter hoped that he would +leave South Africa for good, and return home. But it was not to be, for once +more he announced that it was laid upon him to follow the example of his divine +Master, and that the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. So, with a few +attendants, they trekked away from Durban. +</p> + +<p> +On this occasion it was his wild design to settle in Zululand—where +Chaka, the great king, being dead, Dingaan, his brother and murderer, ruled in +his place—and there devote himself to the conversion of the Zulus. +Indeed, it is probable that he would have carried out this plan had he not been +prevented by an accident. One night when they were about forty miles from +Durban they camped on a stream, a tributary of the Tugela River, which ran +close by, and formed the boundary of the Zulu country. It was a singularly +beautiful spot, for to the east of them, about a mile away, stretched the +placid Indian Ocean, while to the west, overshadowing them almost, rose a +towering cliff, over which the stream poured itself, looking like a line of +smoke against its rocky face. They had outspanned upon a rising hillock at the +foot of which this little river wound away like a silver snake till it joined +the great Tugela. In its general aspect the country was like an English park, +dotted here and there with timber, around which grazed or rested great elands +and other buck, and amongst them a huge rhinoceros. +</p> + +<p> +When the waggon had creaked to the top of the rise, for, of course, there was +no road, and the Kaffirs were beginning to unyoke the hungry oxen, Rachel, who +was riding with her father, sprang from her horse and ran to it to help her +mother to descend. She was now a tall young woman, full of health and vigour, +strong and straightly shaped. Mrs. Dove, frail, delicate, grey-haired, placed +her foot upon the disselboom and hesitated, for to her the ground seemed far +off, and the heels of the cattle very near. +</p> + +<p> +“Jump,” said Rachel in her clear, laughing voice, as she smacked +the near after-ox to make it turn round, which it did obediently, for all the +team knew her. “I’ll catch you.” +</p> + +<p> +But her mother still hesitated, so thrusting her way between the ox and the +front wheel Rachel stretched out her arms and lifted her bodily to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +“How strong you are, my love!” said her mother, with a sort of +wondering admiration and a sad little smile; “it seems strange to think +that I ever carried you.” +</p> + +<p> +“One had need to be in this country, dear,” replied Rachel +cheerfully. “Come and walk a little way, you must be stiff with sitting +in that horrid waggon,” and she led her quite to the top of the knoll. +“There,” she added, “isn’t the view lovely? I never saw +such a pretty place in all Africa. And oh! look at those buck, and +yes—that is a rhinoceros. I hope it won’t charge us.” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Dove obeyed, gazing first at the glorious sea, then at the plain and the +trees, and lastly behind her at the towering cliff steeped in shadow—for +the sun was westering—down the face of which the waterfall seemed to hang +like a silver rope. +</p> + +<p> +As her eyes fell upon this cliff Mrs. Dove’s face changed. +</p> + +<p> +“I know this spot,” she said in a hurried voice. “I have seen +it before.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense, mother,” answered Rachel. “We have never trekked +here, so how could you?” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t say, love, but I have. I remember that cliff and the +waterfall; yes, and those three trees, and the buck standing under them.” +</p> + +<p> +“One often feels like that, about having seen places, I mean, mother, but +of course it is all nonsense, because it is impossible, unless one dreams of +them first.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, love, unless one dreams. Well, I think that I must have dreamt. +What was the dream now? Rachel weeping—Rachel weeping—my love, I +think that we are going to live here, and I think—I +think——” +</p> + +<p> +“All right,” broke in her daughter quickly, with a shade of anxiety +in her voice as though she did not wish to learn what her mother thought. +“I don’t mind, I am sure. I don’t want to go to Zululand, and +see this horrid Dingaan, who is always killing people, and I am quite sure that +father would never convert him, the wicked monster. It is like the Garden of +Eden, isn’t it, with the sea thrown in. There are all the animals, and +that green tree with the fruit on it might be the Tree of Life, and—oh, +my goodness, there is Adam!” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Dove followed the line of her daughter’s outstretched hand, and +perceived three or four hundred yards away, as in that sparkling atmosphere it +was easy to do, a white man apparently clad in skins. He was engaged in +crawling up a little rise of ground with the obvious intention of shooting at +some blesbuck which stood in a hollow beyond with quaggas and other animals, +while behind him was a mounted Kaffir who held his master’s horse. +</p> + +<p> +“I see,” said Mrs. Dove, mildly interested. “But he looks +more like Robinson Crusoe without his umbrella. Adam did not kill the animals +in the Garden, my dear.” +</p> + +<p> +“He must have lived on something besides forbidden apples,” +remarked Rachel, “unless perhaps he was a vegetarian as father wants to +be. There—he has fired!” +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke a cloud of smoke arose above the man, and presently the loud +report of a <i>roer</i> reached their ears. One of the buck rolled over and lay +struggling on the ground, while the rest, together with many others at a +distance, turned and galloped off this way and that, frightened by this new and +terrible noise. The old rhinoceros under the tree rose snorting, sniffed the +air, then thundered away up wind towards the man, its pig-like tail held +straight above its back. +</p> + +<p> +“Adam has spoilt our Eden; I hope the rhinoceros will catch him,” +said Rachel viciously. “Look, he has seen it and is running to his +horse.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel was right. Adam—or whatever his name might be—was running +with remarkable swiftness. Reaching the horse just as the rhinoceros appeared +within forty yards of him, he bounded to the saddle, and with his servant +galloped off to the right. The rhinoceros came to a standstill for a few +moments as though it were wondering whether it dared attack these strange +creatures, then making up its mind in the negative, rushed on and vanished. +When it was gone, the white man and the Kaffir, who had pulled up their horses +at a distance, returned to the fallen buck, cut its throat, and lifted it on to +the Kaffir’s horse, then rode slowly towards the waggon. +</p> + +<p> +“They are coming to call,” said Rachel. “How should one +receive a gentleman in skins?” +</p> + +<p> +Apparently some misgivings as to the effect that might be produced by his +appearance occurred to the hunter. At any rate, he looked first at the two +white women standing on the brow, and next at his own peculiar attire, which +appeared to consist chiefly of the pelt of a lion, plus a very striking pair of +trousers manufactured from the hide of a zebra, and halted about sixty yards +away, staring at them. Rachel, whose sight was exceedingly keen, could see his +face well, for the light of the setting sun fell on it, and he wore no head +covering. It was a dark, handsome face of a man about thirty-five years of age, +with strongly-marked features, black eyes and beard, and long black hair that +fell down on to his shoulders. They gazed at each other for a while, then the +man turned to his after-rider, gave him an order in a clear, strong voice, and +rode away inland. The after-rider, on the contrary, directed his horse up the +rise until he was within a few yards of them, then sprang to the ground and +saluted. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” asked Rachel in Zulu, a language which she now spoke +perfectly. +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosikaas” (that is—Lady), answered the man, “my +master thinks that you may be hungry and sends you a present of this +buck,” and, as he spoke, he loosed the riem or hide rope by which it was +fastened behind his saddle, and let the animal fall to the ground. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel turned her eyes from it, for it was covered with blood, and unpleasant +to look at, then replied: +</p> + +<p> +“My father and my mother thank your master. How is he named, and where +does he dwell?” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, among us black people he is named Ibubesi (lion), but his white +name is Hishmel.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hishmel, Hishmel?” said Rachel. “Oh! I know, he means +Ishmael. There, mother, I told you he was something biblical, and of course +Ishmael dwelt in the wilderness, didn’t he, after his father had behaved +so badly to poor Hagar, and was a wild man whose hand was against every +man’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rachel, Rachel,” said her mother suppressing a little smile. +“Your father would be very angry if he heard you. You should not speak +lightly of holy persons.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, mother, Abraham may have been a holy person, but we should think +him a mean old thing nowadays, almost as mean as Sarah. You know they were most +of them mean, so what is the use of pretending they were not?” +</p> + +<p> +Then without waiting for an answer she asked the Kaffir again: “Where +does the Inkoos Ishmael dwell?” +</p> + +<p> +“In the wilderness,” answered the man appropriately. “Now his +kraal is yonder, two hours’ ride away. It is called Mafooti,” and +he pointed over the top of the precipice, adding: “he is a hunter and +trades with the Zulus.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is he Dutch?” asked Rachel, whose curiosity was excited. +</p> + +<p> +The Kaffir shook his head. “No, he hates the Dutch; he is of the people +of George.” +</p> + +<p> +“The people of George? Why, he must mean a subject of King +George—an Englishman.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes, Lady, an Englishman, like you,” and he grinned at her. +“Have you any message for the Inkoos Hishmel?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes. Say to the Inkoos Ishmael or Lion-who-dwells-in-the-wilderness, +hates the Dutch and wears zebra-skin trousers, that my father and my mother +thank him very much for his present, and hope that his health is good. Go. That +is all.” +</p> + +<p> +The man grinned again, suspecting a joke, for the Zulus have a sense of humour, +then repeated the message word for word, trying to pronounce Ishmael as Rachel +did, saluted, mounted his horse, and galloped off after his master. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps you should have kept that Kaffir until your father came,” +suggested Mrs. Dove doubtfully. +</p> + +<p> +“What was the good?” said Rachel. “He would only have asked +Mr. Ishmael to call in order that he might find out his religious opinions, and +I don’t want to see any more of the man.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not, Rachel?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because I don’t like him, mother. I think he is worse than any of +the rest down there, too bad to stop among them probably, and—” she +added with conviction, “I think we shall have more of his company than we +want before all is done. Oh! it is no good to say that I am prejudiced—I +do, and what is more, he came into our Garden of Eden and shot the buck. I hope +he will meet that rhinoceros on the way home. There!” +</p> + +<p> +Although she disapproved, or tried to think that she did, of such strong +opinions so strongly expressed, Mrs. Dove offered no further opposition to +them. The fact was that her daughter’s bodily and mental vigour +overshadowed her, as they did her husband also. Indeed, it seemed curious that +this girl, so powerful in body and in mind, should have sprung from such a +pair, a wrong-headed, narrow-viewed saint whose right place in the world would +have been in a cell in the monastery or one of the stricter orders, and a +gentle, uncomplaining, high-bred woman with a mind distinguished by its +affectionate and mystical nature, a mind so unusual and refined that it seemed +to be, and in truth was, open to influences whereof, mercifully enough, the +majority of us never feel the subtle, secret power. +</p> + +<p> +Of her father there was absolutely no trace in Rachel, except a certain +physical resemblance—so far as he was concerned she must have thrown back +to some earlier progenitor. Even their intellects and moral outlook were quite +different. She had, it is true, something of his scholarly power; thus, +notwithstanding her wild upbringing, as has been said, she could read the Greek +Testament almost as well as he could, or even Homer, which she liked because +the old, bloodthirsty heroes reminded her of the Zulus. He had taught her this +and other knowledge, and she was an apt pupil. But there the resemblance +stopped. Whereas his intelligence was narrow and enslaved by the priestly +tradition, hers was wide and human. She searched and she criticised; she +believed in God as he did, but she saw His purpose working in the evil as in +the good. In her own thought she often compared these forces to the Day and +Night, and believed both of them to be necessary to the human world. For her, +savagery had virtues as well as civilisation, although it is true of the latter +she knew but little. +</p> + +<p> +From her mother Rachel had inherited more, for instance her grace of speech and +bearing, and her intuition, or foresight. Only in her case this curious gift +did not dominate her, her other forces held it in check. She felt and she knew, +but feeling and knowledge did not frighten or make her weak, any more than the +strength of her frame or of her spirit made her unwomanly. She accepted these +things as part of her mental equipment, that was all, being aware that to her a +door was opened which is shut firmly enough in the faces of most folk, but not +on that account in the least afraid of looking through it as her mother was. +</p> + +<p> +Thus when she saw the man called Ishmael, she knew well enough that he was +destined to bring great evil upon her and hers, as when as a child she met the +boy Richard Darrien, she had known other things. But she did not, therefore, +fear the man and his attendant evil. She only shrank from the first and looked +through the second, onward and outward to the ultimate good which she was +convinced lay at the end of everything, and meanwhile, being young and merry, +she found his zebra-skin trousers very ridiculous. +</p> + +<p> +Just as Rachel and her mother finished their conversation about Mr. Ishmael, +Mr. Dove arrived from a little Kloof, where he had been engaged with the +Kaffirs in cutting bushes to make a thorn fence round their camp as a +protection against lions and hyenas. He looked older than when we last met him, +and save for a fringe of white hair, which increased his monkish appearance, +was quite bald. His face, too, was even thinner and more eager, and his grey +eyes were more far-away than formerly; also he had grown a long white beard. +</p> + +<p> +“Where did that buck come from?” he asked, looking at the dead +creature. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel told him the story with the result that, as her mother had expected, he +was very indignant with her. It was most unkind, and indeed, un-Christian, he +said, not to have asked this very courteous gentleman into the camp, as he +would much have liked to converse with him. He had often reproved her habit of +judging by external, and in the veld, lion and zebra skins furnish a very +suitable covering. She should remember that such were given to our first +parents. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! I know, father,” broke in Rachel, “when the climate grew +too cold for leaf petticoats and the rest. Now don’t begin to scold me, +because I must go to cook the dinner. I didn’t like the look of the man; +besides, he rode off. Then it wasn’t my business to ask him here, but +mother’s, who stood staring at him and never said a single word. If you +want to see him so much, you can go to call upon him to-morrow, only +don’t take me, please. And now will you send Tom to skin the buck?” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Dove answered that Tom was busy with the fence, and, ceasing from argument +which he felt to be useless with Rachel, suggested doubtfully that he had +better be his own butcher. +</p> + +<p> +“No, no,” she replied, “you know you hate that sort of thing, +as I do. Let it be till the Kaffirs have time. We have the cold meat left for +supper, and I will boil some mealies. Go and help with the fence, father, while +I light the fire.” +</p> + +<p> +Usually Rachel was the best of sleepers. So soon as she laid her head upon +whatever happened to serve her for a pillow, generally a saddle, her eyes shut +to open no more till daylight came. On this night, however, it was not so. She +had her bed in a little flap tent which hooked on to the side of the waggon +that was occupied by her parents. Here she lay wide awake for a long while, +listening to the Kaffirs who, having partaken heartily of the buck, were now +making themselves drunk by smoking <i>dakka</i>, or Indian hemp, a habit of +which Mr. Dove had tried in vain to break them. At length the fire around which +they sat near the thorn fence on the further side of the waggon, grew low, and +their incoherent talk ended in silence, punctuated by snores. Rachel began to +doze but was awakened by the laughing cries of the hyenas quite close to her. +The brutes had scented the dead buck and were wandering round the fence in hope +of a midnight meal. Rachel rose, and taking the gun that lay at her side, threw +a cloak over her shoulders and left the tent. +</p> + +<p> +The moon was shining brightly and by its light she saw the hyenas, two of them, +wolves as they are called in South Africa, long grey creatures that prowled +round the thorn fence hungrily, causing the oxen that were tied to the trek tow +and the horses picketed on the other side of the waggon, to low and whinny in +an uneasy fashion. The hyenas saw her also, for her head rose above the rough +fence, and being cowardly beasts, slunk away. She could have shot them had she +chose, but did not, first because she hated killing anything unnecessarily, +even a wolf, and secondly because it would have aroused the camp. So she +contented herself by throwing more dry wood on to the fire, stepping over the +Kaffirs, who slept like logs, in order to do so. Then, resting upon her gun +like some Amazon on guard, she gazed a while at the lovely moonlit sea, and the +long line of game trekking silently to their drinking place, until seeing no +more of the wolves or other dangerous beasts, she turned and sought her bed +again. +</p> + +<p> +She was thinking of Mr. Ishmael and his zebra-skin trousers; wondering why the +man should have filled her with such an unreasoning dislike. If she had +disliked him at a distance of fifty paces, how she would hate him when he was +near! And yet he was probably only one of those broken soldiers of fortune of +whom she had met several, who took to the wilderness as a last resource, and by +degrees sank to the level of the savages among whom they lived, a person who +was not worth a second thought. So she tried to put him from her mind, and by +way of an antidote, since still she could not sleep, filled it with her +recollections of Richard Darrien. Some years had gone by since they had met, +and from that time to this she had never heard a word of him in which she could +put the slightest faith. She did not even know whether he were alive or dead, +only she believed that if he were dead she would be aware of it. No, she had +never heard of him, and it seemed probable that she never would hear of him +again. Yet she did not believe that either. Had she done so her +happiness—for on the whole Rachel was a happy girl—would have +departed from her, since this once seen lad never left her heart, nor had she +forgotten their farewell kiss. +</p> + +<p> +Reflecting thus, at length Rachel fell off to sleep and began to dream, still +of Richard Darrien. It was a long dream whereof afterwards she could remember +but little, but in it there were shoutings, and black faces, and the flashing +of spears; also the white man Ishmael was present there. One part, however, she +did remember; Richard Darrien, grown taller, changed and yet the same, leaning +over her, warning her of danger to come, warning her against this man Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +She awoke suddenly to see that the light of dawn was creeping into her tent, +that low, soft light which is so beautiful in Southern Africa. Rachel was +disturbed, she felt the need of action, of anything that would change the +current of her thoughts. No one was about yet. What should she do? She knew; +the sea was not more than a mile away, she would go down to it and bathe, and +be back before the rest of them were awake. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> +NOIE</h2> + +<p> +That a girl should set out alone to bathe through a country inhabited chiefly +by wild beasts and a few wandering savages, sounds a somewhat dangerous form of +amusement. So it was indeed, but Rachel cared nothing for such dangers, in fact +she never even thought of them. Long ago she had discovered that the animals +would not harm her if she did not harm them, except perhaps the rhinoceros, +which is given to charging on sight, and that was large and could generally be +discovered at a distance. As for elephants and lions, or even buffalo, her +experience was that they ran away, except on rare occasions when they stood +still, and stared at her. Nor was she afraid of the savages, who always treated +her with the utmost respect, even if they had never seen her before. Still, in +case of accidents she took her double-barrelled gun, loaded in one barrel with +ball, and in the other with loopers or slugs, and awakened Tom, the driver, to +tell him where she was going. The man stared at her sleepily, and murmured a +remonstrance, but taking no heed of him she pulled out some thorns from the +fence to make a passage, and in another minute was lost to sight in the morning +mist. +</p> + +<p> +Following a game path through the dew-drenched grass which grew upon the swells +and valleys of the veld, and passing many small buck upon her way, in about +twenty minutes, just as the light was really beginning to grow, Rachel reached +the sea. It was dead calm, and the tide chancing to be out, soon she found the +very place she sought—a large, rock-bound pool where there would be no +fear of sharks that never stay in such a spot, fearing lest they should be +stranded. Slipping off her clothes she plunged into the cool and crystal water +and began to swim round and across the pool, for at this art she was expert, +diving and playing like a sea-nymph. Her bath done she dried herself with a +towel she had brought, all except her long, fair hair, which she let loose for +the wind to blow on, and having dressed, stood a while waiting to see the glory +of the sun rising from the ocean. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst she remained thus, suddenly she heard the sound of horses galloping +towards her, two of them, she could tell that from the hoof beats, although the +low-lying mist made them invisible. A few more seconds and they emerged out of +the fog. The first thing that she saw were stripes which caused her to laugh, +thinking that she had mistaken zebras for horses. Then the laugh died on her +lips as she recognised that the stripes were those of Mr. Ishmael’s +trousers. Yes, there was no doubt about it, Mr. Ishmael, wearing a rough coat +instead of his lion-skin, but with the rest of his attire unchanged, was +galloping down upon her furiously, leading a riderless horse. Remembering her +wet and dishevelled hair, Rachel threw the towel over it, whence it hung like +an old Egyptian head-dress, setting her beautiful face in a most becoming +frame. Next she picked up the double-barrelled gun and cocked it, for she +misdoubted her of this man’s intentions. Not many modern books came her +way, but she had read stories of young women who were carried off by force. +</p> + +<p> +For an instant she was frightened, but as she lifted the hammer of the second +barrel her constitutional courage returned. +</p> + +<p> +“Let him try it,” she thought to herself. “If he had come ten +minutes ago it would have been awful, but now I don’t care.” +</p> + +<p> +By this time Mr. Ishmael had arrived, and was dragging his horse to its +haunches; also she saw that evidently he was much more frightened than she had +been. The man’s handsome face was quite white, and his lips were +trembling. “Perhaps that rhinoceros is after him again,” thought +Rachel, then added aloud quietly: +</p> + +<p> +“What is the matter?” +</p> + +<p> +“Forgive me,” he answered in a rich, and to Rachel’s +astonishment, perfectly educated voice, “forgive me for disturbing you. I +am ashamed, but it is necessary. The Zulus—” and he paused. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, sir,” asked Rachel, “what about the Zulus?” +</p> + +<p> +“A regiment of them are coming down here on the warpath. They are hunting +fugitives. The fugitives, about fifty of them, passed my camp over an hour ago, +and I saw the Impi following them. I rode to warn you all. They told me you +were down by the sea. I came to bring you back to your waggon lest you should +be cut off.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you very much,” said Rachel. “But I am not afraid of +the Zulus. I do not think that they will hurt me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not hurt you! Not hurt you! White and beautiful as you are. Why +not?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! I don’t know,” she replied with a laugh, “but you +see I am called Inkosazana-y-Zoola. They won’t touch one with that +name.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana-y-Zoola,” he repeated astonished. “Why she is +their Spirit, yes, and I remember—white like you, so they say. How did +you get that name? But mount, mount! They will kill you first, and ask how you +were called afterwards. Your father is much afraid.” +</p> + +<p> +“My mother would not be afraid; she knows,” muttered Rachel to +herself, as she sprang to the saddle of the led-horse. +</p> + +<p> +Then, without more words, they began to gallop back towards the camp. Before +they reached the crest of the second rise the sun shone out in earnest, +thinning the seaward mist, although between them and the camp it still hung +thick. Then suddenly in the fog-edge Rachel saw this sight: Towards them ran a +delicately shaped and beautiful native girl, naked except for her moocha, and +of a very light, copper-colour, whilst after her, brandishing an assegai, came +a Zulu warrior. Evidently the girl was in the last stage of exhaustion; indeed +she reeled over the ground, her tongue protruded from her lips and her eyes +seemed to be starting from her head. +</p> + +<p> +“Come on,” shouted the man called Ishmael. “It is only one of +the fugitives whom they are killing.” +</p> + +<p> +But Rachel did nothing of the sort; she pulled up her horse and waited. The +girl caught sight of her and with a wild hoarse scream, redoubled her efforts, +so that her pursuer, who had been quite close, was left behind. She reached +Rachel and flung her arms about her legs gasping: +</p> + +<p> +“Save me, white lady, save me!” +</p> + +<p> +“Shoot her if she won’t leave go,” shouted Ishmael, +“and come on.” +</p> + +<p> +But Rachel only sprang from the horse and stood face to face with the advancing +Zulu. +</p> + +<p> +“Stand,” she said, and the man stopped. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” she asked, “what do you want with this woman?” +</p> + +<p> +“To take her or to kill her,” gasped the soldier. +</p> + +<p> +“By whose order?” +</p> + +<p> +“By order of Dingaan the King.” +</p> + +<p> +“For what crime?” +</p> + +<p> +“Witchcraft; but who are you who question me, white woman?” +</p> + +<p> +“One whom you must obey,” answered Rachel proudly. “Go back +and leave the girl. She is mine.” +</p> + +<p> +The man stared at her, then laughed aloud and began to advance again. +</p> + +<p> +“Go back,” repeated Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +He took no heed but still came on. +</p> + +<p> +“Go back or die,” she said for the third time. +</p> + +<p> +“I shall certainly die if I go back to Dingaan without the girl,” +replied the soldier who was a bold-looking savage. “Now you, Noie, will +you return with me or shall I kill you? Say, witch,” and he lifted his +assegai. +</p> + +<p> +The girl sank in a heap upon the veld. “Kill,” she murmured +faintly, “I will not go back. I did not bewitch him to make him dream of +me, and I will be Death’s wife, not his; a ghost in his kraal, not a +woman.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” said the man, “I will carry your word to the king. +Farewell, Noie,” and he raised the assegai still higher, adding: +“Stand aside, white woman, for I have no order to kill you also.” +</p> + +<p> +By way of answer Rachel put the gun to her shoulder and pointed it at him. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you mad?” shouted Ishmael. “If you touch him they will +murder every one of us. Are you mad?” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you a coward?” she asked quietly, without taking her eyes off +the soldier. Then she said in Zulu, “Listen. The land on this side of the +Tugela has been given by Dingaan to the English. Here he has no right to kill. +This girl is mine, not his. Come one step nearer and you die.” +</p> + +<p> +“We shall soon see who will die,” answered the warrior with a +laugh, and he sprang forward. +</p> + +<p> +They were his last words. Rachel aimed and pressed the trigger, the gun +exploded heavily in the mist; the Zulu leapt into the air and fell upon his +back, dead. The white man, Ishmael, rode to them, pulled up his horse and sat +still, staring. It was a strange picture in that lonely, silent spot. The +soldier so very still and dead, his face hidden by the shield that had fallen +across it; the tall, white girl, rigid as a statue, in whose hand the gun still +smoked, the delicate, fragile Kaffir maiden kneeling on the veld, and looking +at her wildly as though she were a spirit, and the two horses, one with its +ears pricked in curiosity, and the other already cropping grass. +</p> + +<p> +“My God! What have you done?” exclaimed Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +“Justice,” answered Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Then your blood be on your own head. I am not going to stop here to have +my throat cut.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t,” answered Rachel. “I have a better guardian +than you, and will look after my own blood.” +</p> + +<p> +To this speech the white man seemed to be able to find no answer. Turning his +horse he galloped off swearing, but not towards the camp, whereon the other +horse galloped after him, and presently they all vanished in the mist, leaving +the two women alone. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment from the direction of the waggon they heard the sound of +shouting and of screams, which appeared to come from the valley between them +and it. +</p> + +<p> +“The king’s men are killing my people,” muttered the girl +Noie. “Go, or they will kill you too.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel thought a moment. Evidently it was impossible to get through to the +camp; indeed, even had they tried to do so on the horses they would have been +cut off. An idea came to her. They stood upon the edge of a steep, bush-clothed +kloof, where in the wet season a stream ran down to the sea. This stream was +now represented by a chain of deep and muddy pools, one of which pools lay +directly underneath them. +</p> + +<p> +“Help me to throw him into the water,” said Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +The girl understood, and with desperate energy they seized the dead soldier, +dragged him to the edge of the little cliff and thrust him over. He fell with a +heavy splash into the pool and vanished. +</p> + +<p> +“Crocodiles live there,” said Rachel, “I saw one as I passed. +Now take the shield and spear and follow me.” +</p> + +<p> +She obeyed, for with hope her strength seemed to have returned to her, and the +two of them scrambled down the cliffs into the kloof. As they reached the edge +of the pool they saw great snouts and a disturbance in the water. Rachel was +right, crocodiles lived there. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” she said, “throw your moocha on that rock. They will +find it and think——” +</p> + +<p> +Noie nodded and did so, rending its fastening and wetting it in the water. Then +quite naked she took Rachel’s hand and swiftly, swiftly, the two of them +leapt from stone to stone, so as to leave no footprints, heading for the sea. +Only the fugitive stopped once to drink of the fresh water, for she was +perishing with thirst. Now when Rachel was bathing she had observed upon the +farther side of her pool and opening out of it, as it were, a little pocket in +the rock, where the water was not more than three feet deep and covered by a +dense growth of beautiful seaweed, some black and some ribbon-like and yellow. +The pool was long, perhaps two hundred paces in all, and to go round it they +would be obliged to expose themselves upon the sand, and thus become visible +from a long way off. +</p> + +<p> +“Can you swim?” said Rachel to Noie. +</p> + +<p> +Again she nodded, and the two of them slipped into the water and swam across +the pool till they reached the pocket-like place, on the edge of which they sat +down, covering themselves with the seaweed. +</p> + +<p> +They had not been there five minutes when they heard the sound of voices +drawing near down the kloof, and at once slid into the water, covering +themselves in it in such fashion that only their heads remained above the +surface, mixed with the black and yellow seaweed, so that without close search +none could have said which was hair and which was weed. +</p> + +<p> +“The Zulus,” said Noie, shivering so that the water shook about +her, “they seek me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lie still, then,” answered Rachel. “I can’t shoot now, +the gun is wet.” +</p> + +<p> +The voices died away, and the two girls thought that the speakers had gone, but +rendered cautious, still remained hidden in the water. It was well for them +that they did so for presently they heard the voices again and much nearer. The +Zulus were walking round the pool. Two of them came quite close to their little +hiding-place, and sat down on some rocks to rest, and talk. Peeping through her +covering of seaweed Rachel could see them, great men who held red spears in +their hands. +</p> + +<p> +“You are a fool,” said one of them to the other, “and have +given us this walk for nothing, as though our feet were not sore enough +already. The crocodiles have that Noie, her witchcraft could not save her from +them; it was a baboon’s spoor you saw in the mud, not a +woman’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would seem so, brother,” answered the other, “as we found +the moocha. Still, if so, where is Bomba who was running her down? And what +made that blood-mark on the grass?” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” replied the first man, “Bomba came up with her +there and wounded her, whereon being a woman and a coward, she ran from him and +jumped into the pool in which the crocodiles finished her. As for Bomba, I +expect that he has gone back to Zululand, or is asleep somewhere resting. The +other spoor we saw was that of a white woman, who puts skins upon her feet. +There is a camp of them up yonder, but you remember, our orders were not to +touch any of the people of George, so we need not trouble about them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, brother, if you are sure, we had better be starting back, lest +there should be trouble with the white people. Dingaan will be satisfied when +we show him the moocha, and sleep in peace henceforth. She must really have +been <i>tagati</i> (uncanny), that little Noie, for otherwise, although it is +true she was pretty, why should Dingaan who has all Zululand to choose from, +have fallen in love with her, and why should she have refused to enter his +house, and persuaded all her kraal to run away? For my part, I don’t +believe that she is dead now, notwithstanding the moocha. I think that she is a +witch, and has changed into something else—a bird or a snake, perhaps. +Well, the rest of them will never change into anything, except black mould. Let +us see. We have killed every one; all the common people, the mother of Noie, +the dwarf-wizard Seyapi her father, and her other mothers, four of them, and +her brothers and sisters, twelve in all.” +</p> + +<p> +At these words Noie again trembled beneath her seaweed, so that the water shook +all about her. +</p> + +<p> +“There is a fish there,” said the first Kaffir, “I saw it +rise. It is a small pool, shall we try to catch it?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, brother,” answered the other, “only coast people eat +fish. I am hungry, but I will wait for man’s food. Take that, +fish!” and he threw a stone into the pool which struck Rachel on the +side, and caused her fair hair to float about among the yellow seaweed. +</p> + +<p> +Then the two of them got up and went away, walking arm-in-arm like friends and +amiable men, as they were in their own fashion. +</p> + +<p> +For a long time the girls remained beneath their seaweed, fearing lest the men +or others should return, until at length they could bear the cold of the water +no longer, and crept out of it to the brink of the little pool, where, still +wreathed in seaweed, they sat and warmed themselves in the hot sunlight. Now +Noie seemed to be half dead; indeed Rachel thought that she would die. +</p> + +<p> +“Awake,” she said, “life is still before you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Would that it were behind me, Lady,” moaned the poor girl. +“You understand our tongue—did you not hear? My father, my own +mother, my other mothers, my brothers and sisters, all killed, all killed for +my sake, and I left living. Oh! you meant kindly, but why did you not let Bomba +pass his spear through me? It would have been quickly over, and now I should +sleep with the rest.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel made no answer, for she saw that talking was useless in such a case. +Only she took Noie’s hand and pressed it in silent sympathy, until at +length the poor girl, utterly outworn with agony and the fatigue of her long +flight, fell asleep, there in the sunshine. Rachel let her sleep, knowing that +she would take no harm in that warmth. Quietly she sat at her side for hour +after hour while the fierce sun, from which she protected her head with +seaweed, dried her garments. At length the shadows told her that midday was +past, and the sea water which began to trickle over the surrounding rocks that +the tide was approaching its full. They could stop there no longer unless they +wished to be drowned. +</p> + +<p> +“Come,” she said to Noie, “the Zulus have gone, and the sea +is here. We must swim to the shore and go back to my father’s +camp.” +</p> + +<p> +“What place have I in your kraal, Lady?” asked the girl when her +senses had returned to her. +</p> + +<p> +“I will find you a place,” Rachel answered; “you are mine +now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lady, that is true,” said Noie heavily, “I am yours and +no one else’s,” and taking Rachel’s hand she pressed it to +her forehead. +</p> + +<p> +Then together once more they swam the pool, and not too soon, for the tide was +pouring into it. Reaching the shore in safety, no easy task for Rachel, who +must hold the heavy gun above her head, Noie tied Rachel’s towel about +her middle to take the place of her moocha, and very cautiously they crept up +the kloof, fearing lest some of the Zulus might still be lurking in the +neighbourhood. +</p> + +<p> +At length they came to the pool into which they had thrown the soldier Bomba, +and saw two crocodiles, doubtless those that had eaten him, lying asleep in the +sun upon flat rocks at its edge. Here they were obliged to leave the kloof both +because they feared to pass the crocodiles, and for the reason that their road +to the camp ran another way. So they climbed up the cliff and looked about, but +could see only a pair of oribe bucks, one lying down under a tree, and one +eating grass quite close to its mate. +</p> + +<p> +“The Zulus have gone or there would be no buck here,” said Rachel. +“Come, now, hold the shield before you and the spear in your hand, to +hide that you are a woman, and let us go on boldly.” +</p> + +<p> +So they went till they reached the crest of the next rise, and then sprang back +behind it, for lying here and there they saw people who seemed to be asleep. +</p> + +<p> +“The Zulus resting!” exclaimed Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered the girl with a sigh. “My people, dead! See +the vultures gathered round them.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel looked again, and saw that it was so. Without a word they walked +forward, and as they passed each body Noie gave it its name. Here lay a +brother, there a sister, yonder four folk of her father’s kraal. They +came to a tall and handsome woman of middle age, and she shivered as she had +done in the pool and said in an icy voice: +</p> + +<p> +“The mother who bore me!” +</p> + +<p> +A few more steps and in a patch of high grass that grew round an ant-heap, they +found two Zulu soldiers, each pierced through with a spear. Seated against the +ant-heap also, as though he were but resting, was a light-coloured man, a dwarf +in stature, spare of frame, and with sharp features. His dress, if he wore any, +seemed to have been removed from him, for he was almost naked, and Rachel +noticed that no wound could be seen on him. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold my father!” said Noie in the same icy voice. +</p> + +<p> +“But,” whispered Rachel, “he only sleeps. No spear has +touched him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so, he is dead, dead by the White Death after the fashion of his +people.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel wondered what this White Death might be, and of which people the man +was one. That he was not a Zulu who had been stunted in his growth she could +see for herself, nor had she ever met a native who at all resembled him. Still +she could ask no questions at that time; the thing was too awful. Moreover Noie +had knelt down before the body, and with her arms thrown around its neck, was +whispering into its ear. For a full minute she whispered thus, then set her own +ear to the cold stirless lips, and for another minute or more, seemed to listen +intently, nodding her head from time to time. Never before had Rachel witnessed +anything so uncanny, and oddly enough, the fact that this scene was enacted in +the bright sunlight added to its terrors. She stood paralysed, forgetting the +Zulus, forgetting everything except that to all appearance the living was +holding converse with the dead. +</p> + +<p> +At length Noie rose, and turning to her companion said: +</p> + +<p> +“My Spirit has been good to me; I thank my Spirit, which brought me here +before it was too late for us to talk together. Now I have the message.” +</p> + +<p> +“The message! Oh! what message?” gasped Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +An inscrutable look gathered on the face of the beautiful native girl. +</p> + +<p> +“It is to me alone,” she answered, “but this I may say, much +of it was of you, Inkosazana-y-Zoola.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who told you that was my native name?” asked Rachel, springing +back. +</p> + +<p> +“It was in the message, O thou before whom kings shall bow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense,” exclaimed Rachel, “you have heard it from our +people.” +</p> + +<p> +“So be it, Lady; I have heard it from your people whom I have never seen. +Now let us go, your father is troubled for you.” +</p> + +<p> +Again Rachel looked at her sideways, and Noie went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, from henceforth I am your servant, am I not? and that service will +not be light.” +</p> + +<p> +“She thinks I shall make her dig,” thought Rachel to herself, as +the girl continued in her low, soft voice: +</p> + +<p> +“Now I ask you one thing—when I tell you my story, let it be for +your breast alone. Say only that I am a common girl whom you saved from the +soldier.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not?” answered Rachel. “That is all I have to +tell.” +</p> + +<p> +Then once more they went on, Rachel wondering if she dreamed, the girl Noie +walking at her side, stern and cold-faced as a statue. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +THE CASTING OF THE LOTS</h2> + +<p> +They reached the crest of the last rise, and there, facing them on the slope of +the opposite wave of land, stood the waggon, surrounded by the thorn fence, +within which the cattle and horses were still enclosed, doubtless for fear of +the Zulus. Nothing could be more peaceful than the aspect of that camp. To look +at it no one would have believed that within a few hundred yards a hideous +massacre had just taken place. Presently, however, voices began to shout, and +heads to bob up over the fence. Then it occurred to Rachel that they must think +she was a prisoner in the charge of a Zulu, and she told Noie to lower the +shield which she still held in front of her. The next instant some thorns were +torn out, and her father, a gun in his hand, appeared striding towards them. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank God that you are safe,” he said as they met. “I have +suffered great anxiety, although I hoped that the white man Israel—no, +Ishmael—had rescued you. He came here to warn us,” he added in +explanation, “very early this morning, then galloped off to find you. +Indeed his after-rider, whose horse he took, is still here. Where on earth have +you been, Rachel, and”—suddenly becoming aware of Noie, who, +arrayed only in a towel, a shield, and a stabbing spear, presented a curious if +an impressive spectacle—“who is this young person?” +</p> + +<p> +“She is a native girl I saved from the massacre,” replied Rachel, +answering the last question first. “It is a long story, but I shot the +man who was going to kill her, and we hid in a pool. Are you all safe, and +where is mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“Shot the man! Shed human blood! Hid in a pool!” ejaculated Mr. +Dove, overcome. “Really, Rachel, you are a most trying daughter. Why +should you go out before daybreak and do such things?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, I am sure, father; predestination, I +suppose—to save her life, you know.” +</p> + +<p> +Again he contemplated the beautiful Noie, then, murmuring something about a +blanket, ran back to the camp. By this time Mrs. Dove had climbed out of the +waggon, and arrived with the Kaffirs. +</p> + +<p> +“I knew you would be safe, Rachel,” she said in her gentle voice, +“because nothing can hurt you. Still you do upset your poor father +dreadfully, and—what are you going to do with that naked young +woman?” +</p> + +<p> +“Give her something to eat, dear,” answered Rachel. +“Don’t ask me any more questions now. We have been sitting up to +our necks in water for hours, and are starved and frozen, to say nothing of +worse things.” +</p> + +<p> +At this moment Mr. Dove arrived with a blanket, which he offered to Noie, who +took it from him and threw it round her body. Then they went into the camp, +where Rachel changed her damp clothes, whilst Noie sat by her in a corner of +the tent. Presently, too, food was brought, and Rachel ate hungrily, forcing +Noie to do the same. Then she went out, leaving the girl to rest in the tent, +and with certain omissions, such as the conduct of Noie when she found her dead +father, told all the story which, wild as were the times and strange as were +the things that happened in them, they found wonderful enough. +</p> + +<p> +When she had done Mr. Dove knelt down and offered up thanks for his +daughter’s preservation through great danger, and with them prayers that +she might be forgiven for having shot the Zulu, a deed that, except for the +physical horror of it, did not weigh upon Rachel’s mind. +</p> + +<p> +“You know, father, you would have done the same yourself,” she +explained, “and so would mother there, if she could hold a gun, so what +is the good of pretending that it is a sin? Also no one saw it except that +white man and the crocodiles which buried the body, so the less we say about +the matter the better it will be for all of us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I admit,” answered Mr. Dove, “that the circumstances +justified the deed, though I fear that the truth will out, since blood calls +for blood. But what are we to do with the girl? They will come to seek her and +kill us all.” +</p> + +<p> +“They will not seek, father, because they think that she is dead, and +will never know otherwise unless that white man tells them, which he will +scarcely do, as the Zulus would think that he shot the soldier, not I. She has +been sent to us, and it is our duty to keep her.” +</p> + +<p> +“I suppose so,” said her father doubtfully. “Poor thing! +Truly she has cause for gratitude to Providence: all her relations killed by +those bloodthirsty savages, and she saved!” +</p> + +<p> +“If all of you were killed and I were saved, I do not know that I should +feel particularly grateful,” answered Rachel. “But it is no use +arguing about such things, so let us be thankful that we are not killed too. +Now I am tired out, and going to lie down, for of course we can’t leave +this place at present, unless we trek back to Durban.” +</p> + +<p> +Such was the finding of Noie. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +When Rachel awoke from the sleep into which she had fallen, sunset was near at +hand. She left the tent where Noie still lay slumbering or lost in stupor, to +find that only her mother and Ishmael’s after-rider remained in the camp, +her father having gone out with the Kaffirs, in order to bury as many of the +dead as possible before night came, and with it the jackals and hyenas. Rachel +made up the fire and set to work with her mother’s help to cook their +evening meal. Whilst they were thus engaged her quick ears caught the sound of +horses’ hoofs, and she looked up to perceive the white man, Ishmael, +still leading the spare horse on which she had ridden that morning. He had +halted on the crest of ground where she had first seen him upon the previous +day, and was peering at the camp, with the object apparently of ascertaining +whether its occupants were still alive. +</p> + +<p> +“I will go and ask him in,” said Rachel, who, for reasons of her +own, wished to have a word or two with the man. +</p> + +<p> +Presently she came up to him, and saw at once that he seemed to be very much +ashamed of himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” she said cheerfully, “you see here I am, safe enough, +and I am glad that you are the same.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are a wonderful woman,” he replied, letting his eyes sink +before her clear gaze, “as wonderful as you are beautiful.” +</p> + +<p> +“No compliments, please,” said Rachel, “they are out of place +in this savage land.” +</p> + +<p> +“I beg your pardon, I could not help speaking the truth. Did they kill +the girl and let you go?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I managed to hide up with her; she is here now.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is very dangerous, Miss Dove. I know all about it; it is she whom +Dingaan was after. When he hears that you have sheltered her he will send and +kill you all. Take my advice and turn her out at once. I say it is most +dangerous.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps,” answered Rachel calmly, “but all the same I shall +do nothing of the sort unless she wishes to go, nor do I think that my father +will either. Now please listen a minute. If this story comes to the ears of the +Zulus—and I do not see why it should, as the crocodiles have eaten that +soldier—who will they think shot him, I or the white man who was with me? +Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand and shall hold my tongue, for your sake.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, for your own. Well, by way of making the bargain fair, for my part I +shall say as little as possible of how we separated this morning. Not that I +blame you for riding off and leaving an obstinate young woman whom you did not +know to take her chance. Still, other people might think differently.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he answered, “they might, and I admit that I am +ashamed of myself. But you don’t know the Zulus as I do, and I thought +that they would be all on us in a moment; also I was mad with you and lost my +nerve. Really I am very sorry.” +</p> + +<p> +“Please don’t apologise. It was quite natural, and what is more, +all for the best. If we had gone on we should have ridden right into them, and +perhaps never ridden out again. Now here comes my father; we have agreed that +you will not say too much about this girl, have we not?” +</p> + +<p> +He nodded and advanced with her, leading the horses, for he had dismounted, to +meet Mr. Dove at the opening in the fence. +</p> + +<p> +“Good evening,” said the clergyman, who seemed depressed after his +sad task, as he motioned to one of the Kaffirs to put down his mattock and take +the horses. “I don’t quite know what happened this morning, but I +have to thank you for trying to save my daughter from those cruel men. I have +been burying their victims in a little cleft that we found, or rather some of +them. The vultures you know——” and he paused. +</p> + +<p> +“I didn’t save her, sir,” answered the stranger humbly. +“It seemed hopeless, as she would not leave the Kaffir girl.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Dove looked at him searchingly, and there was a suspicion of contempt in +his voice as he replied: +</p> + +<p> +“You would not have had her abandon the poor thing, would you? For the +rest, God saved them both, so it does not much matter exactly how, as +everything has turned out for the best. Won’t you come in and have some +supper, Mr.—Ishmael—I am afraid I do not know the rest of your +name.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is no more to know, Mr. Dove,” he replied doggedly, then +added: “Look here, sir, as I daresay you have found out, this is a rough +country, and people come to it, some of them, whose luck has been rough +elsewhere. Now, perhaps I am as well born as you are, and perhaps <i>my</i> +luck was rough in other lands, so that I chose to come and live in a place +where there are no laws or civilisation. Perhaps, too, I took the name of +another man who was driven into the wilderness—you will remember all +about him—also that it does not seem to have been his fault. Any way, if +we should be thrown up together I’ll ask you to take me as I am, that is, +a hunter and a trader ‘in the Zulu,’ and not to bother about what I +have been. Whatever I was christened, my name is Ishmael now, or among the +Kaffirs Ibubesi, and if you want another, let us call it Smith.” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so, Mr. Ishmael. It is no affair of mine,” replied Mr. Dove +with a smile, for he had met people of this sort before in Africa. +</p> + +<p> +But within himself already he determined that this white and perchance fallen +wanderer was one whom, perhaps, it would be his duty to lead back into the +paths of Christian propriety and peace. +</p> + +<p> +These matters settled, they went into the little camp, and a sentry having been +set, for now the night was falling fast, Ishmael was introduced to Mrs. Dove, +who looked him up and down and said little, after which they began their +supper. When their simple meal was finished, Ishmael lit his pipe and sat +himself upon the disselboom of the waggon, looking extremely handsome and +picturesque in the flare of the firelight which fell upon his dark face, long +black hair and curious garments, for although he had replaced his lion-skin by +an old coat, his zebra-hide trousers and waistcoat made of an otter’s +pelt still remained. Contemplating him, Rachel felt sure that whatever his +present and past might be, he had spoken the truth when he hinted that he was +well-born. Indeed, this might be gathered from his voice and method of +expressing himself when he grew more at ease, although it was true that +sometimes he substituted a Zulu for an English word, and employed its idioms in +his sentences, doubtless because for years he had been accustomed to speak and +even to think in that language. +</p> + +<p> +Now he was explaining to Mr. Dove the political and social position among that +people, whose cruel laws and customs led to constant fights on the part of +tribes or families, who knew that they were doomed, and their consequent +massacre if caught, as had happened that day. Of course, the clergyman, who had +lived for some years at Durban, knew that this was true, although, never having +actually witnessed one of these dreadful events till now, he did not realise +all their horror. +</p> + +<p> +“I fear that my task will be even harder than I thought,” he said +with a sigh. +</p> + +<p> +“What task?” asked Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +“That of converting the Zulus. I am trekking to the king’s kraal +now, and propose to settle there.” +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael knocked out his pipe and filled it again before he answered. Apparently +he could find no words in which to express his thoughts, but when at length +these came they were vigorous enough. +</p> + +<p> +“Why not trek to hell and settle <i>there</i> at once?” he asked, +“I beg pardon, I meant heaven, for you and your likes. Man,” he +went on excitedly, “have you any heart? Do you care about your wife and +daughter?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have always imagined that I did, Mr. Ishmael,” replied the +missionary in a cold voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Then do you wish to see their throats cut before your eyes, or,” +and he looked at Rachel, “worse?” +</p> + +<p> +“How can you ask such questions?” said Mr. Dove, indignantly. +“Of course I know that there are risks among all wild peoples, but I +trust to Providence to protect us.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Ishmael puffed at his pipe and swore to himself in Zulu. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he said, when he had recovered a little, “so I suppose +did Seyapi and his people, but you have been burying them this +afternoon—haven’t you?—all except the girl, Noie, whom you +have sheltered, for which deed Dingaan will bury you all if you go into +Zululand, or rather throw you to the vultures. Don’t think that your +being an <i>umfundusi</i>, I mean a teacher, will save you. The Almighty +Himself can’t save you there. You will be dead and forgotten in a month. +What’s more, you will have to drive your own waggon in, for your Kaffirs +won’t, they know better. A Bible won’t turn the blade of an +assegai.” +</p> + +<p> +“Please, Mr. Ishmael, please do not speak so—so +irreligiously,” said Mr. Dove in an irritated but nervous voice. +“You do not seem to understand that I have a mission to perform, and if +that should involve martyrdom——” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! bother martyrdom, which is what you are after, no doubt, +‘casting down your golden crown upon a crystal sea,’ and the rest +of it—I remember the stuff. The question is, do you wish to murder your +wife and daughter, for that’s the plain English of it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course not. How can you suggest such a thing?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you had better not cross the Tugela. Go back to Durban, or stop +where you are at least, for, unless he finds out anything, Dingaan is not +likely to interfere with a white man on this side of the river.” +</p> + +<p> +“That would involve abandoning my most cherished ambition, and impulses +that—but I will not speak to you of things which perhaps you might not +understand.” +</p> + +<p> +“I dare say I shouldn’t, but I do understand what it feels like to +have your neck twisted out of joint. Look here, sir, if you want to go into +Zululand, you should go alone; it is no place for white ladies.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is for them to judge, sir,” answered Mr. Dove. “I +believe that their faith will be equal to this trial,” and he looked at +his wife almost imploringly. +</p> + +<p> +For once, however, she failed him. +</p> + +<p> +“My dear John,” she said, “if you want my opinion, I think +that this gentleman is quite right. For myself I don’t care much, but it +can never have been intended that we should absolutely throw away our lives. I +have always given way to you, and followed you to many strange places without +grumbling, although, as you know, we might be quite comfortable at home, or at +any rate in some civilised town. Now I say that I think you ought not to go to +Zululand, especially as there is Rachel to think of.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! don’t trouble about me,” interrupted that young lady, +with a shrug of her shoulders. “I can take my chance as I have often done +before—to-day, for instance.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I do trouble about you, my dear, although it is true I don’t +believe that you will be killed; you know I have always said so. Still I do +trouble, and John—John,” she added in a kind of pitiful cry, +“can’t you see that you have worn me out? Can’t you +understand that I am getting old and weak? Is there nobody to whom you have a +duty as well as to the heathen? Are there not enough heathen here?” she +went on with gathering passion. “If you must mix with them, do what this +gentleman says, and stop here, that is, if you won’t go back. Build a +house and let us have a little peace before we die, for death will come soon +enough, and terribly enough, I am sure,” and she burst into a fit of +weeping. +</p> + +<p> +“My dear,” said Mr. Dove, “you are upset; the unhappy +occurrences of to-day, which—did we but know it—are doubtless all +for the best, and your anxiety for Rachel have been too much for you. I think +that you had better go to bed, and you too, Rachel. I will talk the matter over +further with Mr. Ishmael, who, perhaps, has been sent to guide me. I am not +unreasonable, as you think, and if he can convince me that there is any risk to +your lives—for my own I care nothing—I will consider the suggestion +of building a mission-station outside Zululand, at any rate for a few years. It +may be that it is not intended that we should enter that country at +present.” +</p> + +<p> +So Mrs. Dove and her daughter went, but for two hours or more Rachel heard her +father and the hunter talking earnestly, and wondered in a sleepy fashion to +what conclusion he had come. Personally she did not mind much on which side of +the Tugela they were to live, if they must bide at all in the region of that +river. Still, for her mother’s sake she determined that if she could +bring it about, they should stay where they were. Indeed there was no choice +between this and returning to England, as her father had quarrelled too +bitterly with the white men at Durban to allow of his taking up his residence +among them again. +</p> + +<p> +When Rachel woke on the following morning the first thing she saw in the +growing light was the orphaned native Noie, seated on the further side of the +little tent, her head resting upon her hand, and gazing at her vacantly. Rachel +watched her a while, pretending to be still asleep, and for the first time +understood how beautiful this girl was in her own fashion. Although small, that +is in comparison with most Kaffir women, she was perfectly shaped and +developed. Her soft skin in that light looked almost white, although it had +about it nothing of the muddy colour of the half-breed; her hair was long, +black and curly, and worn naturally, not forced into artificial shapes as is +common among the Kaffirs. Her features were finely cut and intellectual, and +her eyes, shaded by long lashes, somewhat oblong in shape, of a brown colour, +and soft as those of a buck. Certainly for a native she was lovely, and what is +more, quite unlike any Bantu that Rachel had ever seen, except indeed that dead +man whom she said was her father, and who, although he was so small, had +managed to kill two great Zulu warriors before, mysteriously enough, he died +himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Noie,” said Rachel, when she had completed her observations, +whereon with a quick and agile movement the girl rose, sank again on her knees +beside her, took the hand that hung from the bed between her own, and pressed +it to her lips, saying in the soft Zulu tongue, +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, I am here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is that white man still asleep, Noie?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, he has gone. He and his servant rode away before the light, fearing +lest there might still be Zulus between him and his kraal.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you know anything about him, Noie?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lady, I have seen him in Zululand. He is a bad man. They call him +there ‘Lion,’ not because he is brave, but because he hunts and +springs by night.” +</p> + +<p> +“Just what I should have thought of him,” answered Rachel, +“and we know that he is not brave,” she added with a smile. +“But never mind this jackal in a lion’s hide; tell me your story, +Noie, if you will, only speak low, for this tent is thin.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” said the girl, “you who were born white in body and +in spirit, hear me. I am but half a Zulu. My father who died yesterday in the +flesh, departing back to the world of ghosts, was of another people who live +far to the north, a small people but a strong. They live among the trees, they +worship trees; they die when their tree dies; they are dealers in dreams; they +are the companions of ghosts, little men before whom the tribes tremble; who +hate the sun, and dwell in the deep of the forest. Myself I do not know them; I +have never seen them, but my father told me these things, and others that I may +not repeat. When he was a young man my father fled from his people.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” asked Rachel, for the girl paused. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, I do not know; I think it was because he would have been their +priest, or one of their priests, and he feared I think that he had seen a +woman, a slave to them, whom therefore he might not marry. I think that woman +was my mother. So he fled from them—with her, and came to live among the +Zulus. He was a great doctor there in Chaka’s time, not one of the +<i>Abangomas</i>, not one of the ‘Smellers-out-of-witches,’ not a +‘Bringer-down-to-death,’ for like all his race he hated bloodshed. +No, none of these things, but a doctor of medicines, a master of magic, an +interpreter of dreams, a lord of wisdom; yes, it was his wisdom that made Chaka +great, and when he withdrew it from him because of his cruelties, then Chaka +died. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady, Dingaan rules in Chaka’s place, Dingaan who slew him, but +although he had been Chaka’s doctor, my father was spared because they +feared him. I was the only child of my mother, but he took other wives after +the Zulu fashion, not because he loved them, I think, but that he might not +seem different to other men. So he grew great and rich, and lived in peace +because they feared him. Lady, my father loved me, and to me alone he taught +his language and his wisdom. I helped him with his medicines; I interpreted the +dreams which he could not interpret, his blanket fell upon me. Often I was +sought in marriage, but I did not wish to marry, Wisdom is my husband. +</p> + +<p> +“There came an evil day; we knew that it must come, my father and I, and +I wished to fly the land, but he could not do so because of his other wives and +children. The maidens of my district were marshalled for the king to see. His +eye fell upon me, and he thought me fair because I am different from Zulu +women, and—you can guess. Yet I was saved, for the other doctors and the +head wives of the king said that it was not wise that I should be taken into +his house, I who knew too many secrets and could bewitch him if I willed, or +prison him with drugs that leave no trace. So I escaped a while and was +thankful. Now it came about that because he might not take me Dingaan began to +think much of me, and to dream of me at nights. At last he asked me of my +father, as a gift, not as a right, for so he thought that no ill would come +with me. But I prayed my father to keep me from Dingaan, for I hated Dingaan, +and told him that if I were sent to the king, I would poison him. My father +listened to me because he loved me and could not bear to part with me, and said +Dingaan nay. Now Dingaan grew very angry and asked counsel of his other +doctors, but they would give him none because they feared my father. Then he +asked counsel of that white man, Hishmel, who is called the Lion, and who is +much at the kraal of Umgungundhlovu.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” said Rachel, “now I understand why he wished you to be +killed.” +</p> + +<p> +“The white man, Hishmel, the jackal in a lion’s skin, as you named +him, laughed at Dingaan’s fears. He said to him, ‘It is of the +father, Seyapi, you should be afraid. He has the magic, not the girl. Kill the +father, and his house, and take the daughter whom your heart desires, and be +happy.’ +</p> + +<p> +“So spoke Hishmel, and Dingaan thought his counsel good, and paid him for +it with the teeth of elephants, and certain women for whom he asked. Now my +father foreboded ill, and I also, for both of us had dreamed a dream. Still we +did not fly until the slayers were almost at the gates, because of his other +wives and his children. Nor, save for them would he have fled then, or I +either, but would have died after the fashion of his people, as he did at +last.” +</p> + +<p> +“The White Death?” queried Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lady, the White Death. Still in the end we fled, thinking to gain +the protection of the white men down yonder. I went first to escape the +king’s men who had orders to take me alive and bring me to him, that is +why we were not together at the end. Lady, you know the rest. Hishmel doubtless +had seen you, and thinking that the Impi would kill you, came to warn you. Then +we met just as I was about to die, though perhaps not by that soldier’s +spear, as you thought. I have spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +“What message came to you when you knelt down before your dead +father?” asked Rachel for the second time, since on this point she was +intensely curious. +</p> + +<p> +Again that inscrutable look gathered on the girl’s face, and she +answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I not tell you it was for my ear alone, O Inkosazana-y-Zoola? I dare +not say it, be satisfied. But this I may say. Your fate and mine are +intertwined; yours and mine and another’s, for our spirits are sisters +which have dwelt together in past days.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed,” said Rachel smiling, for she who had mixed with them from +her childhood knew something of the mysticism of the natives, also that it was +often nonsense. “Well, Noie, I love you, I know not why. Perhaps, for all +you have suffered. Yet I say to you that if you wish to remain my sister in the +spirit, you had better separate from me in the flesh. That jackal man knows +your secret, girl, and soon or late will loose the assegai on you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless,” she answered, “doubtless many things will come +about. But they are doomed to come about. Whether I go or whether I stay they +will happen. Say you therefore, Lady, and I will obey. Shall I go or shall I +stay, or shall I die before your eyes?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is on your own head,” answered Rachel shrugging her shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay, Lady, you forget, it is on yours also, seeing that if I stay I +may bring peril on you and your house. Have you then no order for me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Noie, I have answered—one. Judge you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not judge. Let Heaven-above judge. Lady, give me a hair from your +head.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel plucked out the hair and handed it, a shining thread of gold, to Noie +who drew one from her own dark tresses, and laid them side by side. +</p> + +<p> +“See,” she said, “they are of the same length. Now, without +the wind blows gently; come then to the door of the tent, and I will throw +these two hairs into the wind. If that which is black floats first to the +ground, then I stay, if that which is golden, then I go to seek my hair. Is it +agreed?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is agreed.” +</p> + +<p> +So the two girls went to the entrance of the tent, and Noie with a swift motion +tossed up the hairs. As it happened one of those little eddies of wind which +are common in South Africa, caught them, causing them to rise almost +perpendicularly into the air. At a certain height, about forty feet, the +supporting wind seemed to fail, that is so far as the hair from Noie’s +head was concerned, for there it floated high above them like a black thread in +the sunlight, and gently by slow degrees came to the earth just at their feet. +But the hair from Rachel’s head, being caught by the fringe of the +whirlwind, was borne upwards and onwards very swiftly, until at length it +vanished from their sight. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that I stay,” said Noie. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Rachel. “I am very glad; also if any evil +comes of it we are not to blame, the wind is to blame.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Lady, but what makes the wind to blow?” +</p> + +<p> +Again Rachel shrugged her shoulders, and asked a question in her turn. +</p> + +<p> +“Whither has that hair of mine been borne, Noie?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Lady. Perhaps my father’s spirit took it for his +own ends. I think so. I think it went northwards. At any rate when mine fell, +it was snatched away, was it not? And yet they both floated up together. I +think that one day you will follow that hair of yours, Lady, follow it to the +land where great trees whisper secrets to the night.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +THE MESSAGE OF THE KING</h2> + +<p> +So it chanced that Noie became a member of the Dove household. For obvious +reasons she changed her name, and thenceforward was called Nonha. Also it +happened that Mr. Dove abandoned his idea of settling as a missionary in +Zululand, and instead, took up his residence at this beautiful spot. He called +it Ramah because it was a place of weeping, for here all the family and +dependents of Seyapi had been destroyed by the spear. Mrs. Dove thought it an +ill-omened name enough, but after her manner gave way to her husband in the +matter. +</p> + +<p> +“I think there will be more weeping here before everything is +done,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel answered, however, that it was as good as any other, since names could +alter nothing. Here, then, at Ramah, Mr. Dove built him a house on that knoll +where first he had pitched his camp. It was a very good house after its +fashion, for, as has been said, he did not lack for means, and was, moreover, +clever in such matters. He hired a mason who had drifted to Natal to cut stone, +of which a plenty lay at hand, and two half-breed carpenters to execute the +wood-work, whilst the Kaffirs thatched the whole as only they can do. Then he +set to work upon a church, which was placed on the crest of the opposite knoll +where the white man, Ishmael, had appeared on the evening of their arrival. +Like the house, it was excellent of its sort, and when at length it was +finished after more than a year of labour, Mr. Dove felt a proud man. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed at Ramah he was happier than he had ever been since he landed upon the +shores of Africa, for now at length his dream seemed to be in the way of +realisation. Very soon a considerable native village sprang up around him, +peopled almost entirely by remnants of the Natal tribes whom Chaka had +destroyed and who were but too glad to settle under the aegis of the white man, +especially when they discovered how good he was. Of the doctrines which he +preached to them day and night, most of them, it is true, did not understand +much. Still they accepted them as the price of being allowed “to live in +his shadow,” but in the vast majority of cases they sturdily refused to +put away all wives but one, as he earnestly exhorted them to do. +</p> + +<p> +At first he wished to eject them from the settlement in punishment of this sin, +but when it came to the point they absolutely refused to go, demonstrating to +him that they had as much right to live there as he had, an argument that he +was unable to controvert. So he was obliged to submit to the presence of this +abomination, which he did in the hope that in time their hard hearts would be +softened. +</p> + +<p> +“Continue to preach to us, O Shouter,” they said, “and we +will listen. Mayhap in years to come we shall learn to think as you do. +Meanwhile give us space to consider the point.” +</p> + +<p> +So he continued to preach, and contented himself with baptising the children +and very old people who took no more wives. Except on this one point, however, +they got on excellently together. Indeed, never since Chaka broke upon them +like a destroying demon had these poor folk been so happy. The missionary +imported ploughs and taught them to improve their agriculture, so that ere long +this rich, virgin soil brought forth abundantly. Their few cattle multiplied +also in an amazing fashion, as did their families, and soon they were as +prosperous as they had been in the good old days before they knew the Zulu +assegai, especially as, to their amazement, the Shouter never took from them +even a calf or a bundle of corn by way of tax. Only the shadow of that Zulu +assegai still lay upon them, for if Chaka was dead Dingaan ruled a few miles +away across the Tugela. Moreover, hearing of the rise of this new town, and of +certain strange matters connected with it, he sent spies to inspect and +enquire. The spies returned and reported that there dwelt in it only a white +medicine-man with his wife, and a number of Natal Kaffirs. Also they reported +in great detail many wonderful stories concerning the beautiful maiden with a +high name who passed as the white teacher’s daughter, and who had already +become the subject of so much native talk and rumour. On learning all these +things Dingaan despatched an embassy, who delivered this message: +</p> + +<p> +“I, Dingaan, king of the Zulus, have heard that you, O White Shouter, +have built a town upon my borders, and peopled it with the puppies of the +jackals whom Chaka hunted. I send to you now to say that you and your jackals +shall have peace from me so long as you harbour none of my runaways, but if I +find but one of them there, then an Impi shall wipe you out. I hear also that +there dwells with you a beautiful white maiden said to be your daughter, who is +known, throughout the land as Inkosazana-y-Zoola. Now that is the name of our +Spirit who, the doctors say, is also white, and it is strange to us that this +maiden should bear that great name. Some of the <i>Isanusis</i>, the +prophetesses, declare that she is our Spirit in the flesh, but that meat sticks +in my throat, I cannot swallow it. Still, I invite this maiden to visit me that +I may see her and judge of her, and I swear to you, and to her, by the ghosts +of my ancestors, that no harm shall come to her then or at any time. He who so +much as lays a finger upon her shall die, he and all his house. Because of her +name, which I am told she has borne from a child, all the territories of the +Zulus are her kraal and all the thousands of the Zulus are her servants. Yea, +because of her high name I give to her power of life and death wherever men +obey my word, and for an offering I send to her twelve of my royal white cattle +and a bull, also an ox trained to riding. When she visits me let her ride upon +the white ox that she may be known, but let no man come with her, for among the +people of the Zulus she must be attended by Zulus only. I have spoken. I pray +that she who is named Princess of the Zulus will appear before my messengers +and acknowledge the gift of the King of the Zulus, that they may see her in the +flesh and make report of her to me.” +</p> + +<p> +Now when Mr. Dove had received this message, one evening at sundown, he went +into the house and repeated it to Rachel, for it puzzled him much, and he knew +not what to answer. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel in her turn took counsel with Noie who was hidden away lest some of the +embassy should see and recognise her. +</p> + +<p> +“Speak with the messengers,” said Noie, “it is well to have +power among the Zulus. I, who have some knowledge of this business, say, speak +with them alone, and speak softly, saying that one day you will come.” +</p> + +<p> +So having explained the matter to her father, and obtained his consent, Rachel, +who desired to impress these savages, threw a white shawl about her, as Noie +instructed her to do. Then, letting her long, golden hair hang down, she went +out alone carrying a light assegai in her hand, to the place where the +messengers, six of them, and those who had driven the cattle from Zululand, +were encamped in the guest kraal, at the gate of which, as it chanced, lay a +great boulder of rock. On this boulder she took her stand, unobserved, waiting +there till the full moon shone out from behind a dark cloud, turning her white +robe to silver. Now of a sudden the messengers who were seated together, +talking and taking snuff, looked up and saw her. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Inkosazana-y-Zoola</i>!” exclaimed one of them, rising, whereon +they all sprang to their feet and perceiving this beautiful and mysterious +figure, by a common impulse lifted their right arms and gave to her what no +woman had ever received before—the royal salute. +</p> + +<p> +“Bayète!” they cried, “Bayète!” then stood silent. +</p> + +<p> +“I hear you,” said Rachel, who spoke their tongue as well as she +did her own. “It has been reported to me that you wished to see me, O +Mouths of the King. Behold I am pleased to appear before you. What would you of +Inkosazana-y-Zoola, O Mouths of the King?” +</p> + +<p> +Then their spokesman, an old man of high rank, with a withered hand, stepped +forward from the line of his companions, stared at her for a while, and saluted +again. +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” he said humbly, “Lady or Spirit, we would know how +thou camest by that great name of thine.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was given me as a child far away from here,” she answered, +“because in a mighty tempest the lightnings turned aside and smote me +not; because the waters raged yet drowned me not; because the lions slept with +me yet harmed me not. It came to me from the high Heaven that was my friend. I +do not know how it came.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have heard the story,” answered the old man (which indeed they +had with many additions), “and we believe. We believe that the Heavens +above gave thee their own name which is the name of the Spirit of our people. +That Spirit I have seen in a dream, and she was like to thee, O +Inkosazana-y-Zoola.” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be so, Mouth of the King, still I am woman, not spirit.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet in every woman there dwells a spirit, or so we believe, and in thee +a great one, or so we have heard and believe, O Lady of the Heavens. To thee, +then, again we repeat the words of Dingaan and of his council which to-day we +have said in the ears of him who thinks himself thy father. To thee the roads +are open; thine are the cattle and the kraals; here is an earnest of them. +Thine are the lives of men. Command now, if thou wilt, that one of us be slain +before thee, and whilst thou watchest, he shall look his last upon the +moon.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear you,” said Rachel, quietly, “but I seek the life of +none who are good. I thank the King for his gift; I wish the King well. I +remember that life and death lie in my hands. Say these words to the +King.” +</p> + +<p> +“We will say them, but wilt thou not come, O Lady, as the King desires? A +regiment shall meet thee on the river bank and lead thee to his house. Unharmed +shalt thou come, unharmed shalt thou return, and what thou askest that shall be +given thee.” +</p> + +<p> +“One day, perchance, I will come, but not now. Go in peace, O Mouths of +the King.” +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke another dark cloud floated across the moon, and when it had passed +away she stood no more upon the rock. Then, seeing that she was gone, those +messengers gathered up their spears and mats, and returned swiftly to Zululand. +</p> + +<p> +When she reached the house again Rachel told her father and mother all that had +passed, laughing as she spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems scarcely right, my dear,” said Mr. Dove, when she had +done. “Those benighted heathens will really believe that you are +something unearthly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then let them,” she answered. “It can do no one any harm, +and the power of life and death with the rest of it, unless it was all talk as +I suspect, might be very useful one day. Who knows? And now the Princess of the +Heavens will go and set the supper, as Noie—I beg pardon, Nonha—is +off duty for the present.” +</p> + +<p> +Afterwards she asked Noie who was the old man with a withered hand who had +spoken as the “King’s Mouth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mopo is his name, Mopo or Umbopo, none other, O Zoola,” she +answered. “It was he who stabbed T’Chaka, the Black One. It is said +also that alone among men living, he has seen the White Spirit: the Inkosazana. +Thrice he has seen her, or so goes the tale that my father, who knew +everything, told to me. That is why Dingaan sent him here to make report of +you.” And she told her all the wonderful story of Mopo and of the death +of T’Chaka, which Rachel treasured in her mind.[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[*] For the history of Mopo, see “Nada the +Lily.”—A<small>UTHOR</small>. +</p> + +<p> +Such was Rachel’s first introduction to the Zulus, an occasion on which +her undoubted histrionic abilities stood her in good stead. +</p> + +<p> +This matter of the embassy happened and in due course was almost forgotten, +that is until a certain event occurred which brought it into mind. For some +time, however, Rachel thought of it a good deal, wondering how it came about +that her native name and the strange significance which they appeared to give +to it had taken such a hold of the imagination of the Zulus. Ultimately she +discovered that the white man, Ishmael, was the chief cause of these things. He +had lived so long among savages that he had caught something of their mind and +dark superstitions. To him, as to them, it seemed a marvellous thing that she +should have acquired the title of the legendary Spirit of the Zulu people. The +calm courage, too, so unusual in a woman, which she showed when she shot the +warrior, and at the risk of her own life saved that of the girl, Noie, +impressed him as something almost ultra-human, especially when he remembered +his own conduct on that occasion. All of this story, of course, he did not tell +to the Zulus for he feared lest they should take vengeance for his share in it. +But of Rachel he discoursed to the King and his <i>indunas</i>, or great men, +as a white witch-doctoress of super-natural power, whose name showed that she +was mixed up with the fortunes of the race. Therefore, in the end, Dingaan sent +Mopo, “he who knew the Spirit,” to make report of her. +</p> + +<p> +When he was not absent upon his hunting or trading expeditions, Ishmael visited +Ramah a great deal and, as Rachel soon discovered, not without an object. +Indeed, almost from the first, her feminine instincts led her to suspect that +this man who, notwithstanding his good looks, repelled her so intensely, was +falling in love with her, which in truth he had done once and for all at their +first meeting. In the beginning he did not, it is true, say much that could be +so interpreted, but his whole attitude towards her suggested it, as did other +things. For instance, when he came to visit the Doves, he discarded his +garments of hide, including the picturesque zebra-skin trousers, and appeared +dressed in smart European clothes which he had contrived to obtain from Durban, +and a large hat with a white ostrich feather, that struck Rachel as even more +ludicrous than the famous trousers. Also he was continuously sending presents +of game and of skins, or of rare karosses, that is, fur rugs, which he ordered +to be delivered to her personally—tokens, all of them, that she could not +misunderstand. Her father, however, misunderstood them persistently, although +her mother saw something of the truth, and did her best to shield her from +attentions which she knew to be unwelcome. Mr. Dove believed that it was his +company which Ishmael sought. Indeed in this matter the man was very clever, +contriving to give the clergyman the impression that he required spiritual +instruction and comfort, which, of course, he found forthcoming in an abundant +supply. When Mrs. Dove remonstrated, saying that she misdoubted her of him and +his character, her husband answered obstinately, that it was his duty to turn a +sinner from his way, and declined to pursue the conversation. So Ishmael +continued to come. +</p> + +<p> +For her part Rachel did her best to avoid him, instructing Noie to keep a +constant look-out both with her eyes and through the Kaffirs, and to warn her +of his advent. Then she would slip away into the bush or down to the seashore, +and remain there till he was gone, or if he came when she could not do so, in +the evening for instance, would keep Noie at her side, and on the first +opportunity retire to her own room. +</p> + +<p> +Now the result of this method of self-protection was to cause Ishmael to hate +Noie as bitterly as she hated him. He guessed that the girl knew the dreadful +truth about him; that it was he, and no other, who had counselled Dingaan to +kill her father and all his family, and take her by force into his house, and +although she said nothing of it, he suspected that she had told everything to +Rachel. Moreover, it was she who always thwarted him, who prevented him time +upon time from having a single word alone with her mistress. Therefore he +determined to be revenged upon Noie whenever an opportunity occurred. But as +yet he could find none, since if he were to tell the Zulus that she still +lived, and cause her to be killed or taken away, he was sure that it would mean +a final breach with the Dove family, all of whom had learned to love this +beautiful orphan maid. So he nursed his rage in secret. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile his passion increased daily, burning ever more fiercely for its +continued repression, until at length the chance for which he had waited so +long came to him. +</p> + +<p> +Having become aware of Rachel’s habit of slipping away whenever he +appeared, he showed himself on horseback at a little distance, then waited a +while and, instead of going up to the mission station, rode round it, and hid +in some bush whence he could command a view of the surrounding country. +Presently he saw Rachel, who was alone, for she had not waited to call Noie, +hurrying towards the seashore, along the edge of that kloof down which ran the +stream where the crocodiles lived. Presently, when she had gone too far to +return to the house if she caught sight of him, he followed after her, and, +leaving his horse, at last came up with her seated on a rock by the pool in +which she had bathed on the morning of the massacre. +</p> + +<p> +Walking softly in his veld-schoens, or shoes made of raw hide, on the sand, +Rachel knew nothing of his coming until his shadow fell upon her. Then she +sprang up and saw him, smiling and bowing, the ostrich-plume hat in his hand. +Her first impulse was to run away, but recovering herself she nodded in a +friendly fashion, and bade him “Good day,” adding: +</p> + +<p> +“What are you doing here, Mr. Ishmael, hunting?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he answered, “that’s it. Hunting you. It has +been a long chase, but I have caught you at last.” +</p> + +<p> +“Really, I am not a wild creature, Mr. Ishmael,” she said +indignantly. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he answered, “you are more beautiful and more dangerous +than any wild creature.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel looked at him. Then she made as though she would pass him, saying that +she was going home. Now Ishmael stood between two rocks filling the only egress +from this place. +</p> + +<p> +He stretched out his arms so that his fingers touched the rocks on either side, +and said: +</p> + +<p> +“You can’t. You must listen to me first. I came here to say what I +have wanted to tell you for a long time. I love you, and I ask you to marry +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed,” she replied, setting her face. “How can that be? I +understood that you were already married—several times over.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who told you that?” he asked, angrily. “I know—that +accursed little witch, Noie.” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t speak any ill of Noie, please; she is my friend.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you have a liar for your friend. Those women are only my +servants.” +</p> + +<p> +“It doesn’t matter to me what they are, Mr. Ishmael. I have no wish +to know your private affairs. Shall we stop this talk, which is not +pleasant?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” he answered. “I tell you that I love you and I mean to +marry you, with your will or without it. Let it be with your will, +Rachel,” he added, pleadingly, “for I will make you a good husband. +Also I am well-born, much better than you think, and I am rich, rich enough to +take you out of this country, if you like. I have thousands of cattle, and a +great deal of money put by, good English gold that I have got from the sale of +ivory. You shall come with me from among all these savage people back to +England, and live as you like.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thank you, but I prefer the savages, as you seem to have done until now. +No, do not try to touch me; you know that I can defend myself if I +choose,” and she glanced at the pistol which she always carried in that +wild land, “I am not afraid of you, Mr. Ishmael; it is you who are afraid +of me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps I am,” he exclaimed, “because those Zulus are right, +you are <i>tagati</i>, an enchantress, not like other women, white or black. If +it were not so, would you have driven me mad as you have done? I tell you I +can’t sleep for thinking of you. Oh! Rachel, Rachel, don’t be angry +with me. Have pity on me. Give me some hope. I know that my life has been rough +in the past, but I will become good again for your sake and live like a +Christian. But if you refuse me, if you send me back to hell—then you +shall learn what I can be.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know what you are, Mr. Ishmael, and that is quite enough. I do not +wish to be unkind, or to say anything that will pain you, but please go away, +and never try to speak to me again like this, as it is quite useless. You must +understand that I will never marry you, never.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you in love with somebody else?” he asked hoarsely, and at the +question, do what she would to prevent it, Rachel coloured a little. +</p> + +<p> +“How can I be in love here, unless it were with a dream?” +</p> + +<p> +“A dream, a dream of a man you mean. Well, don’t let him cross my +path, or it will soon be the dream of a ghost. I tell you I’d kill him. +If I can’t have you, no one else shall. Do you understand?” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand that I am tired of this. Let me go home, please.” +</p> + +<p> +“Home! Soon you will have no home to go to except mine—that is, if +you don’t change your mind about me. I have power here—don’t +you understand? I have power.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke these words the man looked so evil that Rachel shivered a little. +But she answered boldly enough: +</p> + +<p> +“I understand that you have no power at all against me; no one has. It is +I who have the power.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, because as I said, you are <i>tagati</i>, but there are +others——” +</p> + +<p> +As these words passed his lips someone slipped by him. Starting back, he saw +that it was Noie, draped in her usual white robe, for nothing would induce her +to wear European clothes. Passing him as though she saw him not, she went to +Rachel and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, I was at my work in the house yonder and I thought that I +heard you calling me down here by the seashore, so I came. Is it your pleasure +that I should accompany you home?” +</p> + +<p> +“For instance,” he went on furiously, “there is that black +slut whom you are fond of. Well, if I can’t hurt you, I can hurt her. +Daughter of Seyapi, you know how runaways die in Zululand, or if you +don’t you shall soon learn. I will pay you back for all your +tricks,” and he stopped, choking with rage. +</p> + +<p> +Noie looked him up and down with her soft, dreamy brown eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think so, Night-prowler?” she asked. “Do you think +that what you did to the father and his house, you will do to the daughter +also? Well, it is strange, but last night, just before the cock crew, I sat by +Seyapi’s grave, and he spoke to me of you, White Man. Listen, now, and I +will tell you what he said,” and stepping forward she whispered in his +ear. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel, watching, saw the man’s swarthy face turn pale as he hearkened, +then he lifted his hand as though to strike her, let it fall again, and +muttering curses in English and in Zulu, turned and walked, or rather staggered +away. +</p> + +<p> +“What did you tell him, Noie?” asked Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind, Zoola,” she answered. “Perhaps the truth; +perhaps what came into my mind. At any rate I frightened him away. He was +making love to you, was he not, the low <i>silwana </i>(wild beast)? Ah! I +thought so, for that he has wished to do for long. And he threatened, did he +not? Well, you are right; he cannot hurt you at all, and me only a little, I +think. But he is very dangerous and very strong, and can hurt others. If your +father is wise he will leave this place, Zoola.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think so too,” answered Rachel. “Let us go home and tell +him so.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +MR. DOVE VISITS ISHMAEL</h2> + +<p> +When Rachel and Noie reached the house, which they did not do for some time, as +they waited to make sure that Ishmael had really gone, it was to see the man +himself riding away from its gate. +</p> + +<p> +“Be prepared,” said Noie; “I think that he has been here +before us to pour poison into your father’s ears.” +</p> + +<p> +So it proved to be, indeed, for on the stoep or verandah they found Mr. Dove +walking up and down evidently much disturbed in mind. +</p> + +<p> +“What is all this trouble, Rachel?” he asked. “What have you +done to Mr. Smith”—for Mr. Dove in pursuance of the suggestion made +by the man, had adopted that name for him which he considered less peculiar +than Ishmael. “He has been here much upset, declaring that you have used +him cruelly, and that Nonha threatened him with terrible things in the future, +of which, of course, she can know nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, father, if you wish to hear,” answered Rachel, “Mr. +Ishmael, or Mr. Smith as you call him, has been asking me to marry him, and +when I refused, as of course I did, behaved very unpleasantly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, Rachel. I gathered from him that something of the sort had +happened, only his story is that it was you who behaved unpleasantly, speaking +to him as though he were dirt. Now, Rachel, of course I do not want you to +marry this person, in fact, I should dislike it, although I have seen a great +change for the better in him lately—I mean spiritually, of +course—and an earnest repentance for the errors of his past life. All I +mean is that the proffered affection of an honest man should not be met with +scorn and sharp words.” +</p> + +<p> +Up to this point Rachel endured the lecture in silence, but now she could bear +no more. +</p> + +<p> +“Honest man!” she exclaimed. “Father, are you deaf and blind, +or only so good yourself that you cannot see evil in others? Do you know that +it was this ‘honest man’ who brought about the murder of all +Noie’s people in order that he might curry favour with the Zulus?” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Dove started, and turning, asked: +</p> + +<p> +“Is that so, Nonha?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so, Teacher,” answered Noie, “although I have never +spoken of it to you. Afterwards I will tell you the story, if you wish.” +</p> + +<p> +“And do you know,” went on Rachel, “why he will never let you +visit his kraal among the hills yonder? Well, I will tell you. It is because +this ‘honest man,’ who wishes me to marry him, keeps his Kaffir +wives and children there!” +</p> + +<p> +“Rachel!” replied her father, in much distress, “I will never +believe it; you are only repeating native scandal. Why, he has often spoken to +me with horror of such things.” +</p> + +<p> +“I daresay he has, father. Well, now, I ask you to judge for yourself. +Take a guide and start two hours before daybreak to-morrow morning to visit +that kraal, and see if what I say is not true.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will, indeed,” exclaimed Mr. Dove, who was now thoroughly +aroused, for it was conduct of this sort that had caused his bitter quarrel +with the first settlers in Natal. “I cannot believe the story, Rachel, I +really cannot; but I promise you that if I should find cause to do so, the man +shall never put foot in my house again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I think that I am rid of him,” said Rachel, with a sigh of +relief, “only be careful, dear, that he does not do you a mischief, for +such men do not like to be found out.” Then she left the stoep, and went +to tell her mother all that had happened. +</p> + +<p> +When she had heard the story, Mrs. Dove, who detested Ishmael as much as her +daughter did, tried to persuade her husband not to visit his kraal, saying that +it would only breed a feud, and that under the circumstances, it would be easy +to forbid him the house upon other grounds. But Mr. Dove, obstinate as usual, +refused to listen to her, saying that he would not judge the man without +evidence, and that of the natives could not be relied on. Also, if the tale +were true, it was his duty as his spiritual adviser to remonstrate with him. +</p> + +<p> +So his poor wife gave up arguing, as she always did, and long before dawn on +the following morning, Mr. Dove, accompanied by two guides, departed upon his +errand. +</p> + +<p> +After he had ridden some twelve miles across the plain which lay behind Ramah, +just at daybreak, he reached a pass or nek between two swelling hills, beyond +which the guides said lay the kraal that was called Mafooti. Presently he saw +it, a place situated in a cup-like valley, chosen evidently because the +approaches to it were easy to defend. On a knoll in the centre of this rich +valley stood the kraal, a small native town surrounded by walls, and stone +enclosures full of cattle. As they approached the kraal, from its main entrance +issued four or five good-looking native women, one of them accompanied by a +boy, and all carrying hoes in their hands, for they were going out at sunrise +to work in the mealie fields. When they saw Mr. Dove they stood still, staring +at him, till he called to them not to be afraid, and riding up, asked them who +they were. +</p> + +<p> +“We are of the number of the wives of Ibubesi, the Lion,” answered +their spokeswoman, who held the little boy by the hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean the <i>Umlungu</i> (that is, the white man), Ishmael?” +he asked again. +</p> + +<p> +“Whom else should we mean?” she answered. “I am his head +wife, now that he has put away old Mami, and this is his son. If the light were +stronger you would see that he is almost white,” she added, with pride. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Dove knew not what to answer; this intelligence overwhelmed him, and he sat +silent on his horse. The wives of Ishmael prepared to pass on to the mealie +fields, then stopped, and began to whisper together. At length the mother of +the boy turned and addressed him, while the others crowded behind her to +listen. +</p> + +<p> +“We desire to ask you a question, Teacher,” she said, somewhat +shyly, for evidently they knew well enough who he was. “Is it true that +we are to have a new sister?” +</p> + +<p> +“A new sister! What do you mean?” asked Mr. Dove. +</p> + +<p> +“We mean, Teacher,” she replied smiling, “that we have heard +that Ibubesi is courting the beautiful Zoola, the daughter of your head wife, +and we thought that perhaps you had come to arrange about the cattle that he +must pay for her. Doubtless if she is so fair, it will be a whole herd.” +</p> + +<p> +This was too much, even for Mr. Dove. +</p> + +<p> +“How dare you talk so, you heathen hussies?” he gasped. +“Where is the white man?” +</p> + +<p> +“Teacher,” she replied with indignation, and drawing herself up, +“why do you call us bad names? We are respectable women, the wives of one +husband, as respectable as your own, although not so numerous, or so we hear +from Ibubesi. If you desire to see him, he is in the big hut, yonder, with our +youngest sister, she whom he married last month. We wish you good day, as we go +to hoe our lord’s fields, and we hope that when she comes, the +Inkosazana, your daughter, will not be as rude as you are, for if so, how shall +we love her as we wish to do?” Then wrapping her blanket round her with a +dignified air, the offended lady stalked off, followed by her various +“sisters.” +</p> + +<p> +As for Mr. Dove, who for once in his life was in a towering rage, he cut his +horse viciously with the sjambok, or hippopotamus-hide whip, which he carried, +and followed by his guides, galloped forward to a big hut in the centre of the +kraal. +</p> + +<p> +Apparently Ishmael heard the sound of his horse’s hoofs, for as the +missionary was dismounting he crawled out of the bee-hole of the hut upon his +hands and knees, as a Kaffir does, followed by a young woman in the lightest of +attire, who was yawning as though she had just been aroused from sleep. What is +more, except for the colour of his skin, he <i>was</i> a Kaffir and nothing +else, for his costume consisted of a skin moocha such as the natives wear, and +a fur kaross thrown over his shoulders. Straightening himself, Ishmael saw for +the first time who was his visitor. His jaw dropped, and he uttered an +ejaculation that need not be recorded, then stood silent. Mr. Dove was silent +also; for his wrath would not allow him to speak. +</p> + +<p> +“How do you do, sir?” Ishmael jerked out at last. “You are an +early visitor, and find me somewhat unprepared. If I had known that you were +coming I would”—then suddenly he remembered his attire, or the lack +of it, also his companion who was leaning on his shoulder, and peeping at the +white man over it. Drawing the kaross tightly about him, he gave the poor girl +a backward kick, and with a Kaffir oath bade her begone, then went on +hurriedly: “I am afraid my dress is not quite what you are accustomed to, +but among these poor heathens I find it necessary to conform more or less to +their ways in order to gain their confidence and—um—affection. Will +you come into the hut? My servant there will get you some <i>tywala</i> (Kaffir +beer)—I mean some <i>amasi</i> (curdled milk) at once, and I will have a +calf killed for breakfast.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Dove could bear it no longer. +</p> + +<p> +“Ishmael, or Smith, or Ibubesi—whichever name you may +prefer,” he broke out, “do not lie to me about your servant, for +now I know all the truth, which I refused to believe when my daughter and Nonha +told it me. You are a black-hearted villain. But yesterday you dared to come +and ask Rachel to marry you, and now I find that you are living—oh! I +cannot say it, it makes me ashamed of my race. Listen to me, sir. If ever you +dare to set foot in Ramah again, or to speak to my wife and daughter, the +Kaffirs shall whip you off the place. Indeed,” he added, shaking his +sjambok in Ishmael’s face, “although I am an older man than you +are, were it not for my office I would give you the thrashing you +deserve.” +</p> + +<p> +At first Ishmael had shrunk beneath this torrent of invective, but the threat +of violence roused his fierce nature. His face grew evil, and his long black +hair and beard bristled with wrath. +</p> + +<p> +“You had best get out of this, you prayer-snuffling old humbug,” he +said savagely, “for if you stop much longer I will make you sing another +tune. We have sea-cow whips here, too, and you shall learn what a hiding means, +such a hiding that your own family won’t know you, if you live to get +back to them. Look here, I offered to marry your daughter on the square, and I +meant what I said. I’d have got rid of all this black baggage, and she +should have been the only one. Well, I’ll marry her yet, only now +she’ll just take her place with the others. We are all one flesh and +blood, black and white, ain’t we? I have often heard you preach it. So +what will she have to complain of?” he sneered. “She can go and hoe +mealies like the rest.” +</p> + +<p> +As this brutal talk fell upon his ears Mr. Dove’s reason departed from +him entirely. After all, he was an English gentleman first, and a clergyman +afterwards; also he loved his daughter, and to hear her spoken of like this was +intolerable to him, as it would have been to any father. Lifting the sjambok he +cut Ishmael across the mouth so sharply that the blood came from his lips, then +suddenly remembering that this deed would probably mean his death, stood still +awaiting the issue. As it chanced it did not, for the man, like most brutes and +bullies, was a coward, as Rachel had already found out. Obeying his first +impulse he sprang at the clergyman with an oath, then seeing that his two +guides, who carried assegais, had ranged themselves beside him, checked +himself, for he feared lest those spears should pierce his heart. +</p> + +<p> +“You are in my house,” he said, wiping the blood from his beard, +“and an old man, so I can’t kill you as I would anyone else. But +you have made me your enemy now, you fool, and others can. I have protected you +so far for your daughter’s sake, but I won’t do it any longer. You +think of that when your time comes.” +</p> + +<p> +“My time, like yours, will come when God wills,” answered Mr. Dove +unflinchingly, “not when you or anyone else wills. I do not fear you in +the least. Still, I am sorry that I struck you, it was a sin of which I repent +as I pray that you may repent.” +</p> + +<p> +Then he mounted his horse and rode away from the kraal Mafooti. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +When Mr. Dove reached Ramah he only said to Rachel that what she had heard was +quite true, and that he had forbidden Ishmael the house. Of course, however, +Noie soon learnt the whole story from the Kaffir guides, and repeated it to her +mistress. To his wife, on the other hand, he told everything, with the result +that she was very much disturbed. She pointed out to him that this white +outcast was a most dangerous man, who would certainly be revenged upon them in +one way or another. Again she implored him, as she had often done before, to +leave these savage countries wherein he had laboured for all the best years of +his life, saying that it was not right that he should expose their daughter to +the risks of them. +</p> + +<p> +“But,” answered her husband, “you have often told me that you +were sure no harm would come to Rachel, and I think that, too.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, dear, I am sure; still, for many reasons it does not seem right to +keep her here.” She did not add, poor, unselfish woman, that there was +another who should be considered as well as Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“How can I go away,” he went on excitedly, “just when all the +seed that I have sown is ripening to harvest? If I did so, my work would be +utterly lost, and my people relapse into barbarism again. I am not afraid of +this man, or of anything that he can do to my body, but if I ran away from him +it would be injuring my soul, and what account should I give of my cowardice +when my time comes? Do you go, my love, and take Rachel with you if you wish, +leaving me to finish my work alone.” +</p> + +<p> +But now, as before, Mrs. Dove would not go, and Rachel, when she was asked, +shrugged her shoulders and answered laughing that she was not afraid of anybody +or anything, and, except for her mother’s sake, did not care whether she +went or stayed. Certainly she would not leave her, nor, she added, did she wish +to say goodbye to Africa. +</p> + +<p> +When she was asked why, she replied vaguely that she had grown up there, and it +was her home. But her mother, watching her, knew well enough that she had +another reason, although no word of it ever passed her lips. In Africa she had +met Richard Darrien as a child, and in Africa and nowhere else she believed she +would meet him again as a woman. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The weeks and months went by, bringing to the Ramah household no sight or +tidings of the white man, Ishmael. They heard through the Kaffirs, indeed, that +although he still kept his kraal at Mafooti, he himself had gone away on some +trading journey far to the north, and did not expect to return for a year, news +at which everyone rejoiced, except Noie, who shook her wise little head and +said nothing. +</p> + +<p> +So all fear of the man gradually died away, and things were very peaceful and +prosperous at Ramah. +</p> + +<p> +In fact this quiet proved to be but the lull before the storm. +</p> + +<p> +One day, about eight months after Mr. Dove had visited the kraal Mafooti, +another embassy came to Rachel from the Zulu king, Dingaan, bringing with it a +present of more white cattle. She received them as she had done before, at +night and alone, for they refused to speak to her in the presence of other +people. +</p> + +<p> +In substance their petition was the same that it had been before, namely, that +she would visit Zululand, as the king and his indunas desired her counsel upon +an important matter. When asked what this matter was they either were, or +pretended to be, ignorant, saying that it had not been confided to them. +Thereon she said that if Dingaan chose to submit the question to her by +messenger, she would give him her opinion on it, but that she could not come to +his kraal. They asked why, seeing that the whole nation would guard her, and no +hair of her head be harmed. +</p> + +<p> +“Because I am a child in the house of my people, and they will not allow +me to leave even for a day,” she answered, thinking that this reply would +appeal to a race who believe absolutely in obedience to parents and every +established authority. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so?” remarked the old induna who spoke as Dingaan’s +Mouth—not Mopo, but another. “Now, how can the Inkosazana-y-Zoola, +before whom a whole nation will bow, be in bonds to a white <i>Umfundusi</i>, a +mere sky-doctor? Shall the wide heavens obey a cloud?” +</p> + +<p> +“If they are bred of that cloud,” retorted Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“The heavens breed the cloud, not the cloud the heavens,” answered +the induna aptly. +</p> + +<p> +Now it occurred to Rachel that this thing was going further than it should. To +be set up as a kind of guardian spirit to the Zulus had seemed a very good +joke, and naturally appealed to the love of power which is common to women. But +when it involved, at any rate in the eyes of that people, dominion over her own +parents, the joke was, she felt, becoming serious. So she determined suddenly +to bring it to an end. +</p> + +<p> +“What mean you, Messenger of the King?” she asked. “I am but +the child of my parents, and the parents are greater than the child, and must +be obeyed of her.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana,” answered the old man with a deprecatory smile, +“if it pleases you to tell us such tales, our ears must listen, as if it +pleased you to order us to be killed, we must be killed. But learn that we know +the truth. We know how as a child you came down from above in the lightning, +and how these white people with whom you dwell found you lying in the mist on +the mountain top, and took you to their home in place of a babe whom they had +buried.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who told you that story?” asked Rachel amazed. +</p> + +<p> +“It was revealed to the council of the doctors, Lady.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then that was revealed which is not true. I was born as other women are, +and my name of ‘Lady of the Heavens’ came to me by chance, as by +chance I resemble the Spirit of your people.” +</p> + +<p> +“We hear you,” answered the “Mouth” politely. +“You were born as other women are, by chance you had your high name, by +chance you are tall and fair and golden-haired like the Spirit of our people. +We hear you.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Rachel gave it up. +</p> + +<p> +“Bear my words to the King,” she said, and they rose, saluted her +with a Bayète, that royal salute which never before had been given to woman, +and departed. +</p> + +<p> +When they had gone Rachel went in to supper and told her parents all the story. +Mr. Dove, now that she seemed to take a serious view of the matter, affected to +treat it as absurd, although when she had laughed, his attitude, it may be +remembered, was different. He talked of the silly Zulu superstitions, showed +how they had twisted up the story of the death of her baby brother, and her +escape from the flood in the Umtavuna river, into that which they had narrated +to her. He even suggested that the whole thing was nonsense, part of some +political move to enable the King, or a party in the state, to declare that +they had with them the word of their traditional spirit and oracle. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Dove, however, who that night was strangely depressed and uneasy, thought +far otherwise. She pointed out that they were playing with vast and cruel +forces, and that whatever these people exactly believed about Rachel, it was a +dreadful thing for a girl to be put in a position in which the lives of +hundreds might hang upon her nod. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and,” she added hysterically, “perhaps our own lives +also—perhaps our own lives also!” +</p> + +<p> +To change the conversation, which was growing painful, Rachel asked if anyone +had seen Noie. Her father answered that two hours ago, just before the embassy +arrived, he had met her going down to the banks of the stream, as he supposed, +to gather flowers for the table. Then he began to talk about the girl, saying +what a sweet creature she was, and how strange it seemed to him that although +she appeared to accept all the doctrines of the Christian faith, as yet she had +never consented to be baptised. +</p> + +<p> +It was while he was speaking thus that Rachel suddenly observed her mother fall +forward, so that her body rested on the table, as though a kind of fit had +seized her. Rachel sprang towards her, but before she reached her she appeared +to have quite recovered, only her face looked very white. +</p> + +<p> +“What on earth is the matter, mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! don’t ask me,” she answered, “a terrible thing, a +sort of fancy that came to me from talking about those Zulus. I thought I saw +this place all red with blood and tongues of fire licking it up. It went as +quickly as it came, and of course I know that it is nonsense.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +THE TAKING OF NOIE</h2> + +<p> +Presently Mrs. Dove, who seemed to have quite recovered from her curious +seizure, went to bed. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t like it, father,” said Rachel when the door had +closed behind her. “Of course it is contrary to experience and all that, +but I believe that mother is fore-sighted.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense, dear, nonsense,” said her father. “It is her +Scotch superstition, that is all. We have been married for five-and-twenty +years now, and I have heard this sort of thing again and again, but although we +have lived in wild places where anything might happen to us, nothing out of the +way ever has happened; in fact, we have always been most mercifully +preserved.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true, father, still I am not sure; perhaps because I am +rather that way myself, sometimes. Thus I <i>know</i> that she is right about +me; no harm will happen to me, at least no permanent harm. I feel that I shall +live out my life, as I feel something else.” +</p> + +<p> +“What else, Rachel?” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you remember the lad, Richard Darrien?” she asked, colouring a +little. +</p> + +<p> +“What? The boy who was with you that night on the island? Yes, I remember +him, although I have not thought of him for years.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I feel that I shall see him again.” +</p> + +<p> Mr. Dove laughed. “Is that all?” he said. “If he is +still alive and in Africa, it wouldn’t be very wonderful if you did, +would it? And at any rate, of course, you will one day when we all cease to be +alive. Really,” he added with irritation, “there are enough bothers +in life without rubbish of this kind, which comes from living among savages and +absorbing their ideas. I am beginning to think that I shall have to give way +and leave Africa, though it will break my heart just when, after all the +striving, my efforts are being crowned with success.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have always told you, father, that I don’t want to leave Africa, +still, there is mother to be considered. Her health is not what it was.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” he said impatiently, “I will talk to her and weigh +the thing. Perhaps I shall receive guidance, though for my part I cannot see +what it matters. We’ve got to die some time, and if necessary I prefer +that it should be while doing my duty. ‘Take no thought for the morrow, +sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,’ has always been my motto, +who am content with what it pleases Providence to send me.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Rachel, seeing no use in continuing the conversation, bade him good-night, +and went to look for Noie, only to discover that she was not in the house. This +disturbed her very much, although it occurred to her that she might possibly be +with friends in the village, hiding till she was sure the Zulu embassy had +gone. So she went to bed without troubling her father. +</p> + +<p> +At daybreak next morning she rose, not having slept very well, and went out to +look for the girl, without success, for no one had heard or seen anything of +her. As she was returning to the house, however, she met a solitary Zulu, a +dignified middle-aged man, whom she thought she recognised as one of the +embassy, although of this she could not be sure, as she had only seen these +people in the moonlight. The man, who was quite unarmed, except for a kerry +which he carried, crouched down on catching sight of her in token of respect. +As she approached he rose, and gave her the royal salute. Then she was sure. +</p> + +<p> +“Speak,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana,” he answered humbly, “be not angry with me, I am +Tamboosa, one of the King’s indunas. You saw me with the others last +night.” +</p> + +<p> +“I saw you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, there has been dwelling with you one Noie, the daughter of +Seyapi the wizard, who with all his house was slain at this place by order of +the King. She also should have been slain, but we have learned that you called +down lightning from Heaven, and that with it you slew the soldier who had run +her down, slew him and burned him up, as you had the right to do, and took the +girl to be your slave, as you had the right to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak on,” said Rachel, showing none of the surprise which she +felt. +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, we know that you have come to love this girl. Therefore, +yesterday before we spoke with you we seized her as we were commanded, and hid +her away, awaiting your answer to our message. Had you consented to visit the +King at his Great Place, we would have let her go. But as you did not consent +my companions have taken her to the King.” +</p> + +<p> +“An ill deed. What more, Tamboosa?” +</p> + +<p> +“This; the King says by my mouth—Let the Inkosazana come and +command, and her servant Noie shall go free and unharmed, for is she not a dog +in her hut? But if she comes not and at once, then the girl dies.” +</p> + +<p> +“How know I that this tale is true, Tamboosa?” asked Rachel, +controlling herself with an effort, for she loved Noie dearly. +</p> + +<p> +The man turned towards some bushes that grew at a distance of about twenty +paces, and cried: “Come hither.” +</p> + +<p> +Thereon from among the bushes where she lay hidden, rose a little maid of about +fourteen, whom Rachel knew well as a girl that Noie often took with her to +carry baskets and other things. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell now the tale of the taking of Noie and deliver the message that she +gave to you,” commanded Tamboosa. +</p> + +<p> +Thereon the trembling child began, and after the native fashion, suppressing no +detail or circumstance, however small, narrated how the Zulus had surprised her +and Noie while they were gathering flowers, and having bound their arms, had +caused them to be hurried away unseen to some dense bush about four miles off. +Here they had been kept hidden till in the night the embassy returned. Then +they had spoken with Noie, who in the end called her and gave her a message. +This was the message: “Say to the Inkosazana that the Zulus have caught +me, and are taking me to Dingaan the King. Say that they declare that if she is +pleased to come and speak the word, I shall be set free unharmed, that is, if +she comes at once. But if she does not come, then I shall be killed. Say to her +that I do not ask that she should come who am ready to die, and that though I +believe that no harm will happen to her in Zululand, I think that she had +better not come. Say that, living or dead, I love her.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the maid described how the embassy went on with Noie, leaving her in the +charge of the man Tamboosa, who at the first break of dawn brought her back to +Ramah, and made her hide in the bush. +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel had no more doubts. Clearly the tale was true, and the question +was—what must be done? She thought a while, then bade Tamboosa and the +child to follow her to the mission-house. On the stoep she found her father and +mother sitting in the sun and drinking coffee, after the South African fashion. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” asked Mr. Dove, looking at the man anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel ordered him to repeat his story, and this he did, addressing Rachel +alone, for of her father and mother he would take no notice. When he had done +the child told her tale also. +</p> + +<p> +“Go now, and wait without,” said Rachel, when it was finished. +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, I go,” answered the man, “but if it pleases you +to save your servant, know that you must come swiftly. If you are not across +the Tugela by sunset this night, word will be passed to the King, and she dies +at once. Know also that you must come alone with me, for if any, white or +black, accompany you, they will be killed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” said Rachel when the three of them were left alone, +“now what is to be done?” +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Dove shook her head helplessly, and looked at her husband, who broke into +a tirade against the Zulus, their superstitions, cruelties, customs, and +everything that was theirs, and ended by declaring that it was of course +utterly impossible that Rachel should go upon such a mad errand, and thus place +herself in the power of savages. +</p> + +<p> +“But, father,” she said when he had done, “do you understand +that you are pronouncing Noie’s death sentence? If you were in my place, +would you not go?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course I would. In fact I propose to do so as it is. No doubt Dingaan +will listen to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“You mean that Dingaan will kill you. Did you not hear what that man +Tamboosa said? Father, you must not go.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, John,” broke in Mrs. Dove, “Rachel is right, you must +not go, for you would never come back again. Also, how can you be so cruel as +to think of leaving me here alone?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then I suppose that we must abandon that poor girl to her fate,” +exclaimed Mr. Dove. +</p> + +<p> +“How can you suppose anything so merciless, father, when it is in my +power to save her?” asked Rachel. “If I let those horrible Zulus +kill her I shall never be happy again all my life.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what if the horrible Zulus kill you?” +</p> + +<p> +“They will not kill me, father; mother knows they will not, and so do I. +But as they have got this madness into their heads, I am sure that if I do not +go they will send an impi here to kill everybody else, and take me prisoner. +The kidnapping of Noie is only a first move. It is one of two things: either I +must visit Zululand, save Noie, and play my part there as best I can, or we +must desert Noie, and all leave this place at once, tomorrow if possible. But +then, as I told you, I shall never forgive myself, especially as I am not in +the least afraid of the Zulus.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is true that God can protect you as much in Zululand as He can +here,” replied Mr. Dove, beginning to weaken in face of this desperate +alternative. +</p> + +<p> +“Of course, father, but if I go to Zululand I want you and mother to trek +to Durban, and remain there till I return.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, Rachel? It is absurd.” +</p> + +<p> +“Because I do not think that you are safe here, and it is not at all +absurd,” she answered stubbornly. “These people choose to believe +that I am in some way in bondage to you; you remember all their talk about the +heavens and the cloud. Of course it may mean nothing, but you will be much +better in Durban for a while, where you can take to the water if +necessary.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Mr. Dove’s obstinacy asserted itself. He refused to entertain any +such idea, giving reason after reason why he should not do so. Thus for another +half hour the argument raged till at length a compromise was arrived at, as +usual in such cases, not of too satisfactory an order. Rachel was to be allowed +to undertake her mission on behalf of Noie, and her parents were to remain at +Ramah. On her return, which they hoped would be within a week or eight days, +the question of the abandonment of the mission was to be settled by the help of +the experience she had gained. To this arrangement, then, they agreed, +reluctantly enough all of them, in order to save Noie’s life, and for no +other reason. +</p> + +<p> +The momentous decision once taken, in half an hour Rachel was ready for her +journey, which she determined she would make upon her own horse, a grey mare +that she had ridden for a long while, and could rely on in every way. The white +riding-ox that Dingaan had sent as a present was also to accompany her, to +carry her spare garments and other articles packed in skin bags, such as +coffee, sugar and a few medicines, and to serve as a remount in case anything +should happen to the horse. When it was laden Rachel sent for the Zulu, +Tamboosa, and, pointing to the ox, said: +</p> + +<p> +“I come to visit Dingaan the king, and to claim my servant. Lead the +beast on, I will overtake you presently.” +</p> + +<p> +The man saluted and began to <i>bonga</i>, that is, to give her titles of +praise, but she cut him short with a wave of her hand, and he departed leading +the ox. +</p> + +<p> +Now while Mr. Dove saw to the saddling of the horses, for he was to ride with +her as far as the Tugela, Rachel went to bid farewell to her mother. She found +her by herself in the sitting-room, seated at an open window, and looking out +sadly towards the sea. +</p> + +<p> +“I am quite ready, dear,” she said in a cheerful voice. +“Don’t look so sad, I shall be back again in a week with +Noie.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Mrs. Dove, “I think that you and Noie will +come back safely, but—” and she paused. +</p> + +<p> +“But what, mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! I don’t know. I am very much oppressed, my heart is heavy in +me. I hate parting with you, Rachel. Remember we have never been separated +since you were born.” +</p> + +<p> +Her daughter looked at her, and was filled with grief and compunction. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” she said, “if you feel like that—well, I love +Noie, but after all you are more to me than Noie, and if you wish I will give +up this business and stop with you. It is very terrible, but it can’t be +helped; Noie will understand, poor thing,” and her eyes filled with tears +at the thought of the girl’s dreadful fate. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Rachel, somehow I think it best that you should go, not only for +Noie’s sake, but for your own. If your father would leave here to-day or +to-morrow, as you suggested, it might be otherwise, but he won’t do that, +so it is no use talking of it. Let us hope for the best.” +</p> + +<p> +“As you wish, mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now, dear, kiss me and go. I hear your father calling you; and, Rachel, +if we should not meet again in this world, I know you won’t forget me, or +that there is another where we shall. I did not want to frighten you with my +fancies, which come from my not being well. Goodbye, my love, good-bye. God be +with you, and make you happy, always—always.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Rachel kissed her in silence, for she could not trust herself to speak, +and turning, left the room whence her mother watched her go, also in silence. +In another minute she was mounted, and, accompanied by her father, riding on +the road along which Tamboosa had led the white ox. +</p> + +<p> +Presently they overtook him, whereon he stopped, and looking at Mr. Dove, said: +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, the King’s orders are that none should accompany you +into Zululand.” +</p> + +<p> +“Be silent,” answered Rachel, proudly. “He rides with me as +far as the river bank.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they went on, and Rachel was relieved to find that whatever might have +been her mother’s mood, that of her father was fairly cheerful. Indeed, +his mind was so occupied with the details and object of her journey that he +quite forgot its dangers. +</p> + +<p> +Two hours’ steady riding brought them to the ford of the Tugela river, +across which lay Zululand. On the hills beyond it they could see a number of +Kaffirs watching, who on catching sight of Rachel, ran down to the river and +entered it, shouting and beating the water with their sticks, as she guessed, +to scare away any crocodiles that might be lurking there. +</p> + +<p> +Now that the moment of separation had come, Mr. Dove grew loth to part with his +daughter, and again suggested to Tamboosa that he should accompany her to +Dingaan’s Great Place. +</p> + +<p> +“If you set a foot across that river, Praying Man,” answered the +induna grimly, “you shall die; look, there are the spears that will kill +you.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke he pointed to the crest of the opposing hill over which, running +swiftly in ordered companies, now appeared a Zulu regiment who carried large +white shields and wore white plumes rising from their head rings. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the escort of the Inkosazana,” he added. “Do you think +that she can take hurt among so many? And do you think, if you dare to disobey +the words of Dingaan, that you can escape so many? Go back now, lest they +should come over and kill you where you are.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, seeing that both argument and resistance were useless, and that Tamboosa +would brook no delay, Mr. Dove hurriedly embraced his daughter in farewell. +Indeed, Rachel was glad that there was no time for words, for this parting was +more terrible to her than she cared to own, and she feared lest she should +break down before the Zulu who was watching her, and thereby be lowered in his +eyes and in those of his people. +</p> + +<p> +It was over and done. She had entered the water, riding her grey mare while +Tamboosa led the white ox at her side. Presently she looked back, and saw her +father kneeling in prayer upon the bank. +</p> + +<p> +“What does the man?” asked Tamboosa, uneasily. “Is he +bewitching us?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” she answered, “he prays to the Heavens for us.” +</p> + +<p> +On they went between the two lines of natives, who ceased their beating of the +water, and were silent as she passed. The river was shallow, and they crossed +it with ease. By now the regiment was gathered on its further bank, two +thousand men or more, brought hither to do honour to this white girl in whom +they chose to consider that the guardian spirit of their people was incarnate. +Contemplating them, Rachel wondered how it came about that they should be thus +prepared for her advent. The answer rose in her mind. If she had refused to +visit Zululand, it was their mission to fetch her. It was wise, therefore, that +she had come of her own will. +</p> + +<p> +Forward she rode, a striking figure in her long white cloak, down which her +bright hair hung, sitting very proud and upright on her horse, without a sign +of doubt or fear. As she approached, the captains of the regiment ran forward +to meet her with lifted shield and crouching bodies. +</p> + +<p> +“Hail!” cried their leader. “In the name of the Great +Elephant, of Dingaan the King, hail to thee, Princess of the Heavens, Holder of +the Spirit of Nomkubulwana.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel rode on, taking no notice, marvelling who Nomkubulwana, whose spirit she +was supposed to enshrine, might be. Afterwards she discovered that it was only +another name for the Inkosazana-y-Zoola, that mysterious white ghost believed +by this people to control their destinies, with whom it had pleased them to +identify her. As her horse left the wide river and set foot upon dry land, +every man of the two thousand soldiers, who were watching, as it seemed to her, +with wonder and awe, began to beat his ox-hide shield with the handle of his +spear. They beat very softly at first, producing a sound like the distant +murmur of the sea, then harder and harder till its volume grew to a mighty +roar, impossible to describe, a sound like the sound of thunder that echoed +along the water and from hill to hill. The mighty noise sank and died away as +it had begun, and for a moment there was silence. Then at some signal every +spear flashed aloft in the sunlight, and from every throat came the royal +salute—<i>Bayète</i>. It was a tremendous and most imposing welcome, so +tremendous that Rachel could no longer doubt that this people regarded her as a +being apart, and above the other white folk whom they knew. +</p> + +<p> +At the time, however, she had little space for such thoughts, since the mare +she rode, terrified by the tumult, bucked and shied so violently that she could +scarcely keep her seat. She was a good rider, which was fortunate for her, +since, had she been ignominiously thrown upon such an occasion, her prestige +must have suffered, if indeed it were not destroyed. As it proved, it was +greatly enhanced by this accident. Many of the Zulus of that day had never even +seen a horse, which was considered by all of them to be a dangerous if not a +magical beast. That a woman could remain seated on such a wild animal when it +sprang into the air, and swerved from side to side, struck them, therefore, as +something marvellous and out of experience, a proof indeed that she was not as +others are. +</p> + +<p> +She quieted the mare, and rode on between the white-shielded ranks, who, their +greeting finished, remained absolutely still like bronze statues watching her +with wondering eyes. When at length they were passed, the captains and a guard +of about fifty men ran ahead of her. Then she came, and after her Tamboosa, +leading the white ox, followed by another guard, which in turn was followed by +the entire regiment. Thus royally escorted, asking no questions, and speaking +no word, did Rachel make her entry into Zululand. Only in her heart she +wondered whither she was going, and how that strange journey would end, +wondered, too, how it would fare with her father and her mother till she +returned to them. +</p> + +<p> +Well might she wonder. +</p> + +<p> +When she had ridden thus for about two hours an incident occurred which showed +her how great, and indeed how dreadful was the eminence on which she had been +set among these people. Suddenly some cattle, frightened by the approach of the +impi, rushed through it towards their kraal, and a bull that was with them, +seeing this unaccustomed apparition of a white woman mounted on a strange +animal, put down its head and charged her furiously. She saw it coming, and by +pulling the mare on to its haunches, avoided its rush. Now at the time she was +riding on a path which ran along the edge of a little rock-strewn donga not +more than eight or ten feet deep, but steep-sided. Into this donga the bull, +which had shut its eyes to charge after the fashion of its kind, plunged +headlong, and as it chanced struck its horns against a stone, twisting and +dislocating the neck, so that it lay there still and dead. +</p> + +<p> +When the Zulus saw what had happened they uttered a long-drawn <i>Ow-w</i> of +amazement, for had not the beast dared to attack the White Spirit, and had not +the Spirit rewarded it with instant death? Then a captain made a motion with +his hand and instantly men sprang upon the remaining cattle, four or five of +them that were following the bull, and despatched them with assegais. Before +Rachel could interfere they were pierced with a hundred wounds. Now there was a +little pause, while the carcases of the beasts were dragged out of her path, +and the bloodstains covered from her eyes with fresh earth. Just as this task +was finished there appeared, scrambling up the donga, and followed by some +men, a fat and hideous-looking woman, with fish bladders in her hair, and +snake-skins tied about her, who, from her costume, Rachel knew at once must be +an <i>Isanuzi</i> or witch-doctoress. Evidently she was in a fury, as might be +seen by the workings of her face, and the extraordinary swiftness with which +she moved notwithstanding her years and bulk. +</p> + +<p> +“Who has dared to kill my cattle?” she screamed. “Is it thou +whom men name Nomkubulwana?” +</p> + +<p> +“Woman,” answered Rachel quietly, “the Heavens killed the +bull which would have hurt me. For the rest, ask of the captains of the +King.” +</p> + +<p> +The witch-doctoress glanced at the dead bull which lay in the donga, its head +twisted up in an unnatural fashion at right angles to the body, and for a +moment seemed afraid. Then her rage at the loss of her herd broke out afresh, +for she was a person in authority, one accustomed to be feared because of her +black arts and her office. +</p> + +<p> +“When the Inkosazana is seen in Zululand,” she gasped, “death +walks with her. There is the token of it,” and she pointed to the dead +cattle. “So it has ever been and so shall it ever be. Red is thy road +through life, White One. Go back, go back now to thine own kraal, and see +whether or no my words are true,” and springing at the horse she seized +it by the bridle as though she would drag it round. +</p> + +<p> +Now in her hand Rachel held a little rod of white rhinoceros horn which she +used as a riding whip, and with this rod she pointed at the woman, meaning that +some of those with her should cause her to loose the bridle. Too late she +remembered that in this savage land such a motion when made by the King or one +in supreme command, had another dreadful interpretation—death without +pity or reprieve. +</p> + +<p> +In an instant, before she could interfere, before she could speak, the +witch-doctoress lay dead upon the carcase of the dead bull. +</p> + +<p> +“What of the others, Queen, what of the others?” asked the chief of +the slayers, bending low before her, and pointing with his spear to the +attendants of the witch-doctoress, who fled aghast. “Do they join this +evil-doer who dared to lift her hand against thee?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” she answered in a low voice, for horror had made her almost +dumb. “I give them life. Forward.” +</p> + +<p> +“She gives them life!” shouted the praisers about her. “The +Bearer of life and death gives life to the children of the evil-doer,” +and as the great cavalcade marched forward, company after company took up these +words and sang them as a song. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /> +THE OMEN OF THE STAR</h2> + +<p> +As it chanced and can easily be understood, Rachel could not have made a more +effective entry into Zululand, or one more calculated to confirm her +supernatural reputation. When the “wild beast” she rode plunged +about she had remained seated on it as though she grew there, whereas every +warrior knew that he would have fallen off. When the bull charged her that bull +had died, slain by the Heavens. When the Isanuzi, a witch of repute, had lifted +voice and hand against her she had commanded her death, showing that she feared +no rival magic. True the woman would have been killed in any case, for such was +the order of the King as to all who should dare to affront the Inkosazana, yet +the captains had waited to see what Rachel would do that they might judge her +accordingly. If she had shown fear, if she had even neglected to avenge, they +might have marvelled whether after all she were more than a beautiful white +maiden filled with the wisdom of the whites. +</p> + +<p> +Now they knew better; she was a Spirit having the power of a Spirit over beast +and man, who smote as a Spirit should. The fame of it went throughout the land, +and little chance thenceforward had Rachel of escaping from the shadow of her +own fearful renown. +</p> + +<p> +Towards sundown they came to a kraal set upon a hill, and it was asked of her +if she were pleased to spend the night there. She bowed her head in assent, and +they entered the kraal. It was quite empty save for certain maidens dressed in +bead petticoats, who waited there to serve her. All the other inhabitants had +gone. They took her to a large and beautifully clean hut. Kneeling on their +knees, the maidens presented her with food—meat and curdled milk, and +roasted cobs of corn. She ate of the corn and the milk, but the meat she sent +away as a gift to the captains. Then alone in that kraal, in which after they +had served her even the girls seemed to fear to stay, Rachel slept as best she +might in such solitude, while without the fence two thousand armed savages +watched over her safety. +</p> + +<p> +It was a troubled sleep, for she dreamed always of that dreadful-looking +Isanuzi with the fish-bladders in her hair, yelling to her that her path +through life was watered with blood, and bidding her go back to her own kraal +and see whether the words were true, an ominous saying of which she could not +read the riddle. She dreamed also of the woman’s coarse, furious face +turned suddenly to one of abject terror, and then of the dreadful end—the +red death without mercy and without appeal which she had let loose by a motion +of her hand. Another dream she had was of her father and her mother, who seemed +to be lying side by side staring towards her with wide-open eyes, and that when +she spoke to them they would not answer. +</p> + +<p> +So the long night wore away, till at length Rachel woke with a start thinking +that a hand had been laid upon her face, to see by the faint light of dawn +which struggled into the hut through the cracks of the door-boards that the +hand was only a great rat that had crawled over her and now nibbled at her +hair. She sat up, frightening it and its companions away, then rose and washed +herself with water that stood by in great gourds while without she heard the +women singing some kind of song or hymn of which she could not catch the words. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely was she ready than they entered the hut, saluting her and bringing +more food. Rachel ate, then bade one of them say to the captain of the impi +that she was ready to start. Presently the girl returned with the message that +all was prepared. She walked from the kraal to find her mare, which had been +well fed and groomed by Tamboosa, who had seen horses in Natal, and knew how +they should be treated, saddled and waiting, whilst before and behind it, +arranged as on the previous day, stood the warriors, who received her in dead, +respectful silence. +</p> + +<p> +She mounted, and the procession went forward. With a two hours’ halt at +midday they marched on over hill and dale, passing many villages of +beehive-shaped huts. As they came the inhabitants of these places deserted them +and fled, crying <i>“Nomkubulwana! Nomkubulwana!”</i> It was +evident to Rachel that the tale of the death of the Isanuzi had preceded her, +and they feared lest, should they cross her path, her fate would be their fate. +Indeed, one of the strangest circumstances of this strange adventure was the +complete loneliness in which she lived. Except those who were actually ordered +to wait upon her, none dared come near to Rachel; she was holy, a Spirit, to +approach whom unbidden might mean death. +</p> + +<p> +At nightfall they reached another empty kraal, where again she slept alone. +When they left it in the morning she called Tamboosa to her and asked him at +what hour they would come to Dingaan’s great town, Umgugundhlovo, which +means the Place of the trumpeting of the Elephant. He answered, at sunset. +</p> + +<p> +So she rode on all that day also till as the sun began to sink, from a hill +whereon grew large euphorbia trees, on a plain backed by mountains, she saw the +town surrounded by a fence, inside of which were thousands of huts, that in +their turn surrounded a great open space. Now they pushed forward quickly, and +as darkness fell approached the main gate of the place, where, as usual, there +was no one to be seen. But here they did not enter, marching on till they came +to another gate, that of the Intunkulu, the King’s house, where, their +escort done, the regiment turned and went away, leaving Rachel alone with the +envoy, Tamboosa, who still led the white ox. They entered this gate, and +presently came to a second. It was that of the Emposeni, the Dwelling of the +King’s wives, out of which appeared women crawling on the ground before +Rachel, and holding in their left hands torches of grass. These undid the +baggage from the ox, and at their signals, for they did not seem to dare to +speak to her, Rachel dismounted. Thereon Tamboosa saluted her, and taking the +horse by the bridle, led it away with the ox. +</p> + +<p> +Then Rachel felt that she was indeed alone, for Tamboosa at any rate had seen +her home, which now was so far away. Still proudly enough she followed the +women, who, bent double as before, led her to a great hut lit by a rude lamp +filled with melted hippopotamus fat, where they set down her bags, and +departed, to return presently with food and water. +</p> + +<p> +Having washed off the dust of her long journey, and combed out her hair, Rachel +ate all she could, for she was hungry, and guessed that she might need her +strength that night. Then she lay down upon a pile of beautiful karosses that +had been placed ready for her, and rested. An hour or more went by, and just as +she was beginning to fall asleep the door-board of the hut was thrust aside, +and a tall woman entered, who knelt to her and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Hail, Inkosazana! The King asks whether it be thy pleasure to appear +before him this night.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is my pleasure,” answered Rachel; “for that purpose have +I travelled here. Lead me to the King.” +</p> + +<p> +So the woman went out of the hut, Rachel following her to find that the moon +shone brightly in a clear sky. The woman conducted her through tortuous reed +fences, until presently they came to an open court where, in the shadow of a +hut, sat a number of men wrapped about with fur karosses. Guessing that she was +in the presence of Dingaan, Rachel drew her white cloak round her tall form and +walked forward slowly, till she reached the centre of the space, where she +stopped and stood quite still, looking like a ghost in the moonlight. Then all +the men to right and left rose and saluted her silently by the uplifting of one +arm; only he who was in the midst of them remained seated and did not salute. +Still she stayed motionless, uttering no word for a long while, six or seven +minutes, perhaps. Her silence fought against theirs, and she knew that the one +who spoke first would own to inferiority. +</p> + +<p> +At length, in answering salutation, she lifted the little wand of white horn +that she carried and turned slowly as though to leave the place, so that now +the moonlight glistened on her lovely hair. Then, fearing perhaps lest she +should depart or vanish away, the man seated in the centre said in a low +half-awed voice: +</p> + +<p> +“I am Dingaan, King of the Amazulu. Say, White One, who art thou?” +</p> + +<p> +“By what name am I known here, O Dingaan the King?” she replied, +answering the question with a question. +</p> + +<p> +“By a high name, White One, a name that is seldom spoken, the name of +Inkosazana-y-Zoola, the title of Nomkubulwana, the Spirit of our people. How +camest thou by that name?” +</p> + +<p> +“My name is my name,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +“We know, White One; the wind has borne all that story through the land, +it whispers it from the leaves of the forest and the reeds of the water and the +grass of the plains. We know that the Heavens gave thee their own name, O Child +of Heaven, O Holder of the Spirit of Nomkubulwana.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou sayest it, King. I do not say it, thou sayest it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I say it, and having seen thee I know that it is true, for thy beauty, +White One, is not the beauty of woman alone, although still thou beest woman. +Now I confirm to thee the words my messengers bore thee in past days. Here, +with me, thou rulest. The land is thine, my impis wait thy word. Death and life +are in thy hands; command, and they go forth to slay; command, and they return +again. Only thou rulest alone with me, and the black folk, not the white, shall +be thy servants.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear thee, King. Now, as a first fruit, give to me Noie, daughter of +Seyapi, my slave whom the soldiers stole away from Ramah beyond the river where +I dwell.” +</p> + +<p> +“She is dead, White One, she is dead for her crimes,” answered +Dingaan, looking at her. +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel’s heart sank in her, for it might well be that a trick had +been played on her, and that this was true. Or perhaps this tale of +Noie’s death was but a trap to test her powers; moreover, it was not +likely that the King, who had promised that she should live, would dare to +break his word to one whom he believed or half-believed to be a spirit. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment she thought; then, after her nature, determined to be bold and +hazard all upon a throw. Therefore she did not argue or reproach, but said: +</p> + +<p> +“She is not dead. I have questioned every spear in Zululand, and none of +them is red with her blood.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou art right,” he answered; “the spears are clean. She +died in the river.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel was sure, and answered in her clear voice: +</p> + +<p> +“I have questioned the waters, and I have questioned the crocodiles, and +they answer that Noie has passed them safely.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou art right, White One. She died by a rope in yonder huts.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel looked at the huts and cried: +</p> + +<p> +“Noie, I hear thee, I see thee, I smell thee out. Come forth, +Noie.” +</p> + +<p> +The King and his councillors stared at her, whispering to one another, and +before ever they had done their whisperings out from among the gloom of the +huts crept Noie. +</p> + +<p> +To Rachel she crept, taking no heed even of the King, and crouching down in the +faint shadow of her that the moonlight threw, she flung her arms about her +knees and pressed her forehead on her feet. Now Rachel’s heart bounded +with joy at the sight of her, and she longed to bend down and kiss her, but did +not, lest her great dignity should be lessened in the eyes of the King; only +she said: +</p> + +<p> +“I greet you, Noie; be seated in my shadow, where you are safe, and tell +me, have these men dealt well by you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so ill, Inkosazana, that is since I reached the Great Kraal. But one +of them, he who sits yonder,” and she pointed to a certain induna, +“struck me on the journey, and took away my food.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel looked at the man angrily, playing with the little wand in her hand, +whereon this induna shivered with terror, fearing lest she should point it at +him. Rising, he came to Rachel and flung himself down before her. +</p> + +<p> +“What have you to say,” asked Rachel, “you who have dared to +strike my servant?” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana,” he mumbled, “the maid was obstinate, and tried +to run away, and our orders were to bring her to the King. Spare my life, I +pray thee.” +</p> + +<p> +“King,” said Rachel, “I have power over this man, have I +not?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so,” answered Dingaan. “Kill him if thou wilt.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel seemed to consider while the poor wretch, with chattering teeth, +implored her to forgive. Then she turned to Noie, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“He struck you, not me. I give him to you to do by as you will. Shall he +sleep to-night with the living or the dead?” +</p> + +<p> +Noie looked at him, and next at a mark on her arm, and the induna, ceasing from +his prayers to Rachel, clutched Noie by the ankle, and begged her mercy. +</p> + +<p> +“Your life has been given to you,” he said, “give mine to me, +lest ill-fortune follow you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you remember,” asked Noie contemptuously, “how, when you +had beaten me, yonder by the Tugela, you said you hoped that it would be your +luck to put a spear through this heart of mine? And do you remember that I +answered you that the spear would be over your own heart first, and that +thereon you called me ‘Daughter of Wizards’ and struck me +again—me, the child of Seyapi, upon whom the mantle of the Inkosazana +lies, me who have drunk of her wisdom and of his—you struck <i>me</i>, +you dog,” and lifting her foot she spurned him in the face. +</p> + +<p> +Now the King and his company, concluding that the thing was finished, glanced +at Rachel to see her point with the rod and thus give the man to death. But +Rachel waited, sure that Noie had not done. Moreover, whatever Noie might say, +she had determined to save him. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, the girl, after a pause, said: +</p> + +<p> +“Were you a man you would be too proud to ask your life of me, but you +are a dog; and, Dog, I remember that you have children, among them a daughter +of my own age, whom I saw come out to greet you. For her sake, then, take your +life, and with it this new name that I give +you—‘Soldier-who-strikes-girls.’” +</p> + +<p> +So the man rose, and weak with shame and the agony of suspense, crept swiftly +from the place, fearing lest the Inkosazana or her servant might change her +mind and kill him after all. But Noie’s name clung to him so closely that +at length, unable to bear the ridicule of it, he and his family fled from +Zululand. +</p> + +<p> +So this matter ended. +</p> + +<p> +Now the King spoke, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“White One, thy magic is great, and thine eyes could pierce the darkness +and see thy servant hidden, and call her forth to thee. Yet know, she is mine, +not thine, for when she fled I had already chosen her to be my wife, and +afterwards I sent and killed the wizard Seyapi, and all his House.” +</p> + +<p> +“But this girl thou didst not kill, O King, for I saved her.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so, White One. I have heard lately how thou didst call down the +lightning and burn up my soldier who followed after her, so that nothing of him +remained.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Rachel quietly, “as, were it to please me, I +could burn thee up also, O King,” a saying at which. Dingaan looked +afraid. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” he went on, waving his hand as though to put aside this +unpleasant suggestion, “the maid is mine, not thine, and therefore I took +her.” +</p> + +<p> +“How didst thou learn that she dwelt at my kraal?” asked Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +The King hesitated. +</p> + +<p> +“The white man, Ishmael, he whom thou callest Ibubesi, told thee, did he +not?” +</p> + +<p> +Dingaan bowed his head. +</p> + +<p> +“And he told thee that thou couldst make what promises thou wouldst to me +as to the girl’s life, but that afterwards when thou hadst called me here +to claim it, thou mightest kill her or keep her as a wife, as it pleased +thee.” +</p> + +<p> +“I can hide nought from thee; it is so,” said Dingaan. +</p> + +<p> +“Is that still in thy mind, O King?” asked Rachel again, beginning +to play with the little wand. +</p> + +<p> +“Not so, not so,” he answered hurriedly. “Hadst thou not come +the girl would have died, as she deserved to do according to our law. But thou +hast come and claimed her, O Holder of the Spirit of Nomkubulwana, and she sits +in thy shadow and is clothed with thy garment. Take her then, for henceforth +she is holy, as thou art holy.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel heard, and without any change of countenance waved her hand to show that +this question was finished. Then she asked suddenly: +</p> + +<p> +“What is this great matter whereof thou wouldst speak with me, O +King?” +</p> + +<p> +“Surely thy wisdom has told thee, White One,” he answered uneasily. +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance, yet I would have it from thy lips, and now.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Dingaan consulted a little with his council. +</p> + +<p> +“White One,” he said presently, “the thing is grave, and we +need guidance. Therefore, as the circle of the witch-doctors have declared must +be done, we ask it of thee who art named with the name of the Spirit of our +people and hast of her wisdom. Thou knowest, White One, of the fights in past +years between the white people of Natal and the Zulus, in which many were slain +on either side. But now, when we are at peace with the English, we hear of +another white people, the Amaboona” (<i>i.e.</i> the Dutch Boers), +“who are marching towards us from the Cape, and have already fought with +Moselikatze—the traitor who was once my captain—and killed +thousands of his men. These Amaboona threaten us also, and say aloud that they +will eat us up, for they are brave and armed with the white man’s weapons +that spit out lightning. Now, White One, what shall we do? Shall I send out my +impis and fall on them while they are unprepared, and make an end of them, as +seems wisest, and is the wish of my indunas? Or, shall I sit at home and watch, +trying to be at peace with them, and only strike back if they strike at me? +Answer not lightly, O Zoola, for much may hang upon thy words. Remember also +that he whose name may not be spoken, the Lion who ruled before me and is gone, +with his last breath uttered a certain prophecy concerning the white people and +this land.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let me hear that prophecy, O King.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come forth,” said Dingaan pointing to a councillor who sat in the +circle, “come forth, thou who knowest, and tell the tale in the ears of +this White One.” +</p> + +<p> +A figure rose, a draped figure whose face was hidden in a hood of blanket. It +came forward, and as it came it drew the blanket tighter about it. Rachel, +watching all things, saw, or thought she saw, that one of its hands was white +as though it had been burned with fire. Surely she had seen such a hand before. +</p> + +<p> +“Speak,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +“Name me by my name and tell me who I am and I will obey thee,” +answered the man. +</p> + +<p> +Then she was sure, for she remembered the voice. She looked at him +indifferently and asked: +</p> + +<p> +“By what name shall I name you, O Slayer of a King? Will you be called +Mopo or Umbopa, who have borne them both?” +</p> + +<p> +Now Dingaan stared, and the shrouded form before her started as though in +surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you seek to mock me?” she went on. “Can a blanket of +bark hide that face of yours from these eyes of mine which saw it a while ago +at Ramah, when you came thither to judge of me, O Mouth of the King?” +</p> + +<p> +Now the man let the blanket slip from his head and looked at her. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems that it cannot,” he answered. “Then I told thee +that I had dreamed of the Spirit of our people, and that thou, White One, wast +like to her of whom I had dreamed. Canst thou tell me what was the fashion of +that dream of mine?” +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel understood that notwithstanding his words at Ramah, this man still +doubted her, and was set up to prove her, and all that Noie had told her about +him and the secret history of the Zulus came back into her mind. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely Mopo or Umbopa,” she replied, “you dreamed three +dreams, not one. Is it of the last you speak?—that dream at the kraal +Duguza, when the Inkosazana rode past you on a storm clothed in lightning, and +shaking in her hand a spear of fire?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I speak of it,” he replied in an awed voice, “but if +thou art but a woman as thou hast said, how knowest thou these things?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance I am both woman and spirit, and perchance the past tells them +to me,” Rachel answered; “but the past has many voices, and now +that I dwell in the flesh I cannot hear them all. Let me search you out. Let me +read your heart,” and she bent forward and fixed her eyes upon him, +holding him with her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! now I see and I hear,” she said presently. “Had you not +a sister, Mopo, a certain Baleka, who afterwards entered the house of the Black +One and bore a son and died in the Tatiyana Cleft? Shall I tell you how she +died?” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell it not! Tell it not!” exclaimed the old man quaveringly. +</p> + +<p> +“So be it. There is no need. Yet ere she died you made a promise to this +Baleka, and that promise you kept at the kraal Duguza, you and the prince +Umhlangana, and another prince whose name I forget,” and she looked at +Dingaan, who put his hand before his face. “You kept that promise with an +assegai—let me look, let me look into your heart—yes, with a little +assegai handled with the royal red wood, an assegai that had drunk much +blood.” +</p> + +<p> +Now a low moan broke from the lips of Dingaan, and those who sat with them, +while Umbopa shivered as though with cold. +</p> + +<p> +“Have mercy, I pray thee,” he gasped. “Forgive me if at times +since we met at Ramah I thought thee but a white maiden, beautiful and bold, as +thou didst declare thyself to be. Now I see thou hast the spirit, or else how +didst thou know these things?” +</p> + +<p> +Noie heard and smiled in the shadow, but Rachel stood silent. +</p> + +<p> +“I was bidden to tell thee of the last words of the Black One,” +went on Umbopa hurriedly; “but what need is there to tell thee anything +who knowest all? They were that he heard the sound of the running of the feet +of a great white people which shall stamp out the children of the Zulus.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered Rachel, “I think they were; +<i>‘Wherefore wouldst thou kill me, Mopo?’”</i> +</p> + +<p> +Again Dingaan moaned, for he had heard these very words spoken. Umbopa turned +and stared at him, and he stared at Umbopa. +</p> + +<p> +“Come hither,” said Rachel, beckoning to the old man. +</p> + +<p> +He obeyed, and she threw the corner of her cloak over his head, and whispered +into his ear. He listened to her whisperings, then with a cry broke from her +and fled away out of the council of the King. +</p> + +<p> +When he had gone there was silence, though Dingaan looked a question with his +eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Ask it not,” she said, “ask it not of me, or of him. I think +this Mopo here had his secrets in the past. I think that once he sat in a hut +at night and bargained with certain Great Ones, a prince who lives, and a +prince who died. Come hither, come hither, thou son of Senzangacona, come from +the fields of Death and tell me what was that bargain which thou madest with +Mopo, thou and another?” and once again Rachel beckoned, this time +upwards in the air. +</p> + +<p> +Now the face of Dingaan went grey, even in the moonlight it went grey beneath +the blackness of his skin, for there rose before his mind a vision of a hut and +of Mopo and of Umhlangana, the prince his brother whom he had slain, and of +himself, seated in the darkness, their heads together beneath a blanket +whispering of the murder of a king. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou knowest all,” he gasped, “thou art Nomkubulwana and no +other. Spare us, Spirit who canst summon our dead sins from the grave of time, +and make them walk alive before us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay,” she answered, mockingly, “surely I am but a +woman, daughter of a Teacher who lives yonder over the Tugela, a white maiden +who eats and sleeps and drinks as other maidens do. Take notice, King, and you +his captains, that I am no spirit, nothing but a woman who chances to bear a +high name, and to have some wisdom. Only,” she added with meaning, +“if any harm should come to me, if I should die, then I think that I +should become a spirit, a terrible spirit, and that ill would it go with that +people against whom my blood was laid.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” said the King, who still shook with fear, “we know, we +know. Mock us not, I pray. Thou art the Spirit who hast chosen to wear the robe +of woman, as flame hides itself in flint, and woe be to the hand that strikes +the fire from this stone. White One, give us now that wisdom whereof thou +speakest. Shall I fall upon the Boers or shall I let them be?” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel looked upwards, studying the stars. +</p> + +<p> +“She takes counsel with the Heavens, she who is their daughter,” +muttered one of the indunas in a low voice. +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke it chanced that a bright meteor travelling from the south-west +swept across the sky to burst and vanish over the kraal of Umgugundhlovo. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a messenger to her,” said one. “I saw the fire shine +upon her hair and vanish in her breast.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered another, “it is the <i>Ehlose</i>, the +guardian ghost of the Amazulu that appears and dies.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so,” broke in a third, “that light shows the Amaboona +travelling from the south-west to be eaten up in the blackness of our +impis.” +</p> + +<p> +“Such a star runs ever before the death of kings. It fell the night ere +the Black One died,” murmured a fourth as though he spoke to himself. +</p> + +<p> +Only Dingaan, taking no heed of them, said, addressing Rachel: +</p> + +<p> +“Read thou the omen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” she replied upon the swift impulse of the moment, “I +read it not. Interpret it as ye will. Here is my answer to thy question, King. +<i>Those who lift the spear shall perish by the spear.”</i> +</p> + +<p> +At this saying the captains murmured a little, for they, who desired war, +understood that she counselled peace between them and the Boers, though others +thought that she meant that the Boers would perish. Dingaan also looked +downcast. Watching their faces, Rachel was sure that not even her hand could +hold them back from their desire. That war must come. Again she spoke: +</p> + +<p> +“The star travels whither it is thrown by the hand of the Umkulunkulu, +the Master of men; the spear finds the heart to which it is appointed. Read you +the omen as you will. I have spoken, but ye will not understand. That which +shall be, shall be.” +</p> + +<p> +She bent her head, and turned her ear towards the ground as though to hearken. +</p> + +<p> +“What was that tale of the last words of the Great Lion who is +gone?” she went on. “Ask it of Mopo, ask it of Dingaan the King. It +seems to me that I also hear the feet of a people travelling over plain and +mountain, and the rivers behind them run red with blood. Are they black feet or +white feet? Read ye the omen as ye will. I have spoken for the first time and +the last; trouble me no more with this matter of the white men and your +war,” and turning, Rachel glided from the court, followed by Noie with +bowed head. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +ISHMAEL VISITS THE INKOSAZANA</h2> + +<p> +When at last they were in the hut and the door-board had been safely closed, +Rachel took Noie in her arms and kissed her. But Noie did not kiss her back; +she only pressed her hand against her forehead. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you not kiss me, Noie?” asked Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“How can I kiss you, Inkosazana,” replied the girl humbly, “I +who am but the dog at your feet, the dog whom twice it has pleased you to save +from death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana!” exclaimed Rachel. “I weary of that name. I am +but a woman like yourself, and I hate this part which I must play.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet it is a high part, and you play it very well. While I listened to +you to-night, Zoola, twice and thrice I wondered if you are not something more +than you deem yourself to be. That beautiful body of yours is but a cup like +those of other women, but say, who fills the cup with the wine of wisdom? Why +do kings and councillors fear you, and why do you fear nothing? Why did dead +Seyapi talk to me of you in dreams? What strange chance gave you that name of +yours and made you holy in these men’s eyes? What power teaches you the +truth and gives you wit and strength to speak it? Why are you different from +the rest of maidens, white or black?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Noie. Something tells me what to do and say. Also, I +understand these Zulus, and you have taught me much. You told me all the hidden +tale of yonder Mopo a year gone by, or more, as you have told me many of the +darkest secrets of this people that you had from your father, who knew them +all. At the pinch I remembered it, no more, and played upon them by my +knowledge.” +</p> + +<p> +“What was it you said to Mopo under your cloak, Lady?” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel smiled as she answered: +</p> + +<p> +“I only asked him if it were not in his mind, having killed one king, to +kill another also, and that spear went home.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” exclaimed Noie in admiration, “at least I never told +you that.” +</p> + +<p> +“No; I read it in his eyes; for a moment all his heart was open to +me—yes, and the heart of Dingaan also. He fears Mopo, and Mopo hates him, +and one day hate and fear will come together.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” said Noie again, “you know much.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Rachel with sudden passion, “more than I wish +to know. Noie, you are right, I am not altogether as others are; there is a +power in my blood. I see and hear what should not be seen and heard; at times +fears fill me, or joys lift me up, and I think that I draw near to another +world than ours. No; it is folly. I am over-wrought. Who would not be that must +endure so much and be set upon this throne, a goddess among barbarians with +life and death upon my lips? Oh! when the King asked me his riddle I knew not +what to answer, who feared lest ten thousand lives might pay the price of a +girl’s incautious words. Then that meteor broke; there have been several +this night, but none noted them till I looked upwards, and you know the rest. +Let them guess its meaning, which they cannot, for it has none.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you not speak more plainly, Zoola?” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! because I dared not. Who am I to meddle with such matters, who came +here but to save you? I warned them not to make war upon the Boers; what more +could I do? Moreover, it is useless, for fight they must and will and pay the +price. Of that I am sure. I feel it here,” and she pressed her hand upon +her heart. “Yes, and other nearer things! Oh! Noie, I would that I were +back at home. Say, can we start to-morrow at the dawn?” +</p> + +<p> +Noie shook her head. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not think that they will let you go; they will keep you to be their +great doctoress. You should not have come. I sent you word—what did my +life matter?” +</p> + +<p> +“Keep me,” answered Rachel, stamping her foot. “They dare +not; here at least I am the Inkosazana, and I will be obeyed.” +</p> + +<p> +Noie made no answer; only she said: +</p> + +<p> +“Ishmael is here. I have seen him. He wished to have me killed at once +because he is afraid of me. But when he was sure that you were coming, Dingaan +would not break his word which he had sent to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel’s face fell. +</p> + +<p> +“Ishmael!” she exclaimed in dismay, then recovered herself and +added: “Well, I am not afraid of Ishmael, for here his life is in my +hand. Oh! I am worn out; I cannot talk of the man to-night. I must sleep, Noie, +I must sleep. Come, lie at my side and let us sleep.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered the girl; “my place is at the door. But drink +this milk and lay you down without fear, for I will watch.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel obeyed, and Noie sat by her, holding her hand, till presently her eyes +shut and she slept. But Noie did not sleep. All that night she sat there +watching and listening, till at length the dawn came and she lay down also by +the door and rested. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +The sun was high in the heavens when Rachel woke. +</p> + +<p> +“Good morrow to you, Zoola,” said the sweet voice of Noie. +“You have slept well. Now you must rise, bathe yourself and eat, for +already messengers from the King have been to the outer gate, saying that they +wait to escort you to a better house that has been made ready for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hoped that they waited to escort me out of Zululand,” answered +Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“I asked them of that, Zoola, but they declared it must not be, as the +council of the doctors had been summoned to consider your sayings, and two days +will pass before it can meet. Also they declare that your horse is sick and not +fit to travel, meaning that they will not let you go.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I have the right to go, Noie.” +</p> + +<p> +“The bird has the right to fly, but what if it is in a cage, +Zoola?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am queen here, Noie; the bars will burst at my word.” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be so, Zoola, but what if the bird should find that it has no +nest to fly to?” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you mean?” asked Rachel, paling. +</p> + +<p> +“Only that it seems best that you should not anger these Zulus, Lady, +lest it should come into their minds to destroy your nest, thinking that so you +might come to love this cage. No, no, I have heard nothing, but I guess their +thoughts. You need rest; bide here, where you are safe, a day or two, and let +us see what happens.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak plainly, Noie. I do not understand your parable of birds and +cages.” +</p> + +<p> +“Zoola, I obey. I think that if you say you will go, none, not the King +himself, would dare to stay you, though you would have to go on foot, for then +that horse would die. But an impi would go with you, or before you, and woe +betide those who held you from returning to Zululand! Do you understand me +now?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Rachel. “You mean!—oh! I cannot speak +it. I will remain here a few days.” +</p> + +<p> +So she rose and bathed herself and was dressed by Noie, and ate of the food +that had been brought to the door of the hut. Then she went out, and in the +little courtyard found a litter waiting that was hung round with grass mats. +</p> + +<p> +“The King’s word is that you should enter the litter,” said +Noie. +</p> + +<p> +She did so, whereon Noie clapped her hands and girls in bead dresses ran in, +and having prostrated themselves before the litter, lifted it up and carried it +away, Noie walking at its side. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel, peeping between the mats, saw that she was borne out of the town, +surrounded, but at a distance, by a guard of hundreds of armed men. Presently +they began to ascend a hill, whereon grew many trees, and after climbing it for +a while, reached a large kraal with huts between the outer and inner fence, and +in its centre a great space of park-like land through which ran a stream. +</p> + +<p> +Here, by the banks of the stream, stood a large new hut, and behind at a little +distance two or three other huts. In front of this great hut the litter was set +down by the bearers, who at once went away. Then at Noie’s bidding +Rachel came out of it and looked at the place which had been given her in which +to dwell. +</p> + +<p> +It was a beautiful spot, away from the dust and the noises of the Great Kraal, +and so placed upon a shoulder of the hillside that the soldiers who guarded +this House of the Inkosazana, as it was called, could not be seen or heard. Yet +Rachel looked at it with distaste, feeling that it was that cage of which Noie +had spoken. +</p> + +<p> +A cage it proved indeed, a solitary cage, for here Rachel abode in regal +seclusion and in state that could only be called awful. No man might approach +her house unbidden, and the maidens who waited upon her did so with downcast +eyes, never speaking, and falling on to their knees if addressed. On the first +day of her imprisonment, for it was nothing less, an unhappy Zulu, through +ignorance or folly, slipped through the outer guard and came near to the inner +fence. Rachel, who was seated above, heard some shouts of rage and horror, and +saw soldiers running towards him, and in another minute a body being carried +away upon a shield. He had died for his sacrilege. +</p> + +<p> +Once a day ambassadors came to her from the King to ask of her health, and if +she had orders to give, but now even these men were not allowed to look upon +her. They were led in by the women, each of them with a piece of bark cloth +over his head, and from beneath this cloth they addressed her as though she +were in truth divine. On the first day she bade them tell the King that her +mission being ended, it was her desire to depart to her own home beyond the +river. They heard her words in silence, then asked if she had anything to add. +She replied—yes, it was her will that they should cease to wear veils in +her presence, also that no more men should be killed upon her account as had +happened that morning. They said that they would convey the order at once, as +several were under sentence of death who had argued as to whether she were +really the Inkosazana. So she sent them away instantly, fearing lest they +should be too late, and they were led off backwards bowing and giving the royal +salute. Afterwards she rejoiced to hear that her commands had arrived just in +time, and that the blood of these poor people was not upon her head. +</p> + +<p> +Next day the messengers returned at the same hour, unveiled as she desired, +bearing the answer of the King and his council. It was to the effect that the +Inkosazana had no need to ask permission to come or to go. Her Spirit, they +knew, was mighty and could wander where it willed; all the impis of the Zulus +could not hold her Spirit. But—and here came the sting of this clever +answer—it was necessary, until her sayings had been considered, that the +body in which that Spirit abode should remain with them a while. Therefore the +King and his counsellors and the whole nation of the Zulus prayed her to be +satisfied with the sending of her Spirit across the Tugela, leaving her body to +dwell a space in the House of the Inkosazana. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel looked at them in despair, for what was she to reply to such reasoning +as this? Before she could make up her mind, their spokesman said that a white +man, Ibubesi, who said that he had often spoken with her, asked leave to visit +her in her house. +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel thought a while. Ishmael was the last person in the whole world whom +she wished to see. After the interview when they parted, and all that had +happened since, it could not be otherwise. She remembered the threats he had +uttered then, and to her father afterwards, the brutal and revolting threats. +Some of these had been directed against Noie, and subsequently Noie was +kidnapped by the Zulus. That those directed at herself had not been fulfilled +was, she felt sure, due to a lack of opportunity alone. +</p> + +<p> +Little wonder, then, that she feared and hated the man. Still he was of white +blood, and perhaps for this reason had authority among the Zulus, who, as she +knew, often consulted him. Moreover, notwithstanding his vapourings, like the +Zulus whose superstitions he had contracted, he looked upon herself with +something akin to fear. If she saw him she had no cause to dread anything that +he could do to her, at any rate in this country where she was supreme, whereas +on the other hand she might obtain information from him which would be very +useful, or make use of him to enable her to escape from Zululand. On the whole, +then, it seemed wisest to grant him an interview, especially as she gathered +from the fact that the question was raised by Dingaan’s indunas, that for +some reason of his own, the King hoped that she would do so. +</p> + +<p> +Still she hesitated, loathing and despising him as she did. +</p> + +<p> +“You have heard,” she said in English to Noie, who stood behind +her. “Now what shall I say?” +</p> + +<p> +“Say—come,” answered Noie in the same tongue. +</p> + +<p> +“Read his black heart and find out truth; he no can keep it from you. +Say—come with soldiers. If he behave bad, tell them kill him. They obey +you. No mind me. I not afraid of that wild beast now.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Rachel said to the indunas: +</p> + +<p> +“I hear the King’s word, and understand that he wishes me to +receive this Ibubesi. Yet I know that man, as I know all men, white and black. +He is an evil man, and it is not my pleasure to speak with him alone. Let him +come with a guard of six captains, and let the captains be armed with spears, +so that if I give the word there may be an end of this Ibubesi.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the messengers saluted and departed as before. +</p> + +<p> +On the morrow at about the same hour a praiser, or herald, arrived outside the +inner fence of the kraal, and after he had shouted out Rachel’s titles, +attributes, beauties and supernatural powers for at least ten minutes, never +repeating himself, announced that the indunas of the King were without +accompanied by the white man, Ibubesi, awaiting her permission to enter. She +gave it through Noie; and, the horn wand in her hand, seated herself upon a +carved stool in front of the great hut. Presently an altercation arose upon the +further side of the reed fence in which she recognised Ishmael’s strident +voice, mingled with the deeper tones of the Zulus, who seemed to be insisting +upon something. +</p> + +<p> +“They command him to take off his headdress,” said Noie, “and +threaten to beat him if he will not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go, tell them to admit him as he is, that I may see his face, and learn +if he be the white man whom I knew, or another,” answered Rachel, and she +went. +</p> + +<p> +Then the gate was opened and the messengers were led in by women. After these +came six captains, carrying broad spears, as she had commanded, and last of all +Ishmael himself. Rachel’s whole nature shrank at the sight of his dark, +handsome features. She loathed the man now as always; her instinct warned her +of danger at his hands. Also she remembered his threats when last they met and +she rejected him, and what had passed between him and her father on the +following day. But of all this she showed nothing, remaining seated in silence +with calm, set face. +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael was advancing with a somewhat defiant air. Except for a kaross upon his +shoulders he wore European dress, and the ridiculous hat with the white ostrich +feather in it, both of them now much the worse for wear, which she remembered +so well. Also he had a lighted pipe in his mouth. Presently one of the captains +appeared to become suddenly aware of this pipe, for, stretching out his hand, +he snatched it away, and the hat with it, throwing them upon the ground. +Ishmael, whose teeth and lips were hurt, turned on the man with an oath and +struck him, whereon instantly he was seized, and would perhaps have been killed +before Rachel could interfere had it not been unlawful to shed blood in her +presence. As it was, with a motion of her wand, she signified that he was to be +loosed, a command that Noie interpreted to them. At any rate, they let him go, +though a captain placed his feet on the hat and pipe. Then Ishmael came forward +and said awkwardly: +</p> + +<p> +“How do you do? I did not expect to see you here,” and he devoured +her beauty with his bold, greedy eyes, though not without doubt and dread, or +so thought Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +Taking no notice of his greeting, she said in a cold voice: +</p> + +<p> +“I have sent for you here to ask if you have any reason as to why I +should not order you to be killed for your crime against my servant, Noie, and +therefore against me?” +</p> + +<p> +Now Ishmael paled, for he had not expected such a welcome, and began to deny +the thing. +</p> + +<p> +“Spare your falsehoods,” went on Rachel. “I have it from the +King’s lips, and from my own knowledge. Remember only that here I am the +Inkosazana, with power of life and death. If I speak the word, or point at you +with this wand, in a minute you will have gone to your account.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana or not,” he answered in a cowed voice, “you know +too much. Well, then, she was taken that you might follow her to Zululand to +ask her life, and you see that the plan was good, for you came; and,” he +added, recovering some of his insolence and familiarity: “we are here +together, two white people among all these silly niggers.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel looked him up and down; then she looked at the indunas seated in silence +before her, at the great limbed captains with their broad spears beyond, +reminding her in their plumes and attitudes of some picture that she had seen +of Roman gladiators about to die. Lastly she looked at the delicately shaped +Noie by her side, with her sweet, inscrutable face, the woman whose parents and +kin this outcast had brought to a bloody death, the woman whom to forward his +base ends he had vilely striven to murder. Slowly she looked at them all and at +him, and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Shall I explain to these nobles and captains what you call them, and +what you are called among your own people? Shall I tell them something of your +story, Mr. Ishmael?” +</p> + +<p> +“You can do what you like,” he answered sullenly. “You know +why I got you here—because I love you: I told you that many months ago. +While you were down at Ramah I had no chance with you, because of that old +hypocrite of a father of yours, and this black girl,” and he looked at +Noie viciously. “Here I thought that it would be different—that you +would be glad of my company, but you have turned yourself into a kind of +goddess and hold me off,” and he paused. +</p> + +<p> +“Go on,” said Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“All right, I will. You may think yourself a goddess, as I do myself +sometimes. But I know that you are a woman too, and that soon you will get +tired of this business. You want to go home to your father and mother, +don’t you? Well, you can’t. You are a prisoner here, for these +fools have got it into their heads that you are their Spirit, and that it would +be unlucky to let you out of the country. So here you must stop, for years +perhaps, or till they are sick of you and kill you. Just understand, Rachel, +that nobody can help you to escape except me, and that I shan’t do so for +nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel straightened herself upon her seat, gripping the edge of it with her +hands, for her temper was rising, while Noie bent forward and said something in +her ear. +</p> + +<p> +“What is that black devil whispering to you?” he asked. +“Telling you to have me killed, I expect. Well, you daren’t, for +what would your holy parents say? It would be murder, wouldn’t it, and +you would go to hell, where I daresay you come from, for otherwise how could +you be such a witch? Look here,” he went on, changing his tone, +“don’t let’s squabble. Make it up with me. I’ll get you +clear of this and marry you afterwards on the square. If you won’t, it +will be the worse for you—and everybody else, yes, everybody else.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Ishmael,” answered Rachel calmly, “you are making a very +great mistake, about my scruples as to taking life I mean, amongst other +things. Once when it was necessary you saw me kill a man. Well, if I am forced +to it, what I did then I will do again, only not with my own hand. Mr. Ishmael, +you said just now that you could get me out of Zululand. I take you at your +word, not for my own sake, for I am comfortable enough here, but for that of my +father and mother, who will be anxious,” and her voice weakened a little +as she spoke of them. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you? Well, I won’t. I am comfortable here also, and shall be +more so as the husband of the Inkosazana. This is a very pretty kraal, and it +is quite big enough for two,” he added with an amorous sneer. +</p> + +<p> +Now for a minute at least Rachel sat still and rigid. When she spoke again it +was in a kind of gasp: +</p> + +<p> +“Never,” she said, “have you gone nearer to your death, you +wanderer without name or shame. Listen now. I give you one week to arrange my +escape home. If it is not done within that time, I will pay you back for those +words. Be silent, I will hear no more.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she called out: +</p> + +<p> +“Rise, men, and bear the message of the Inkosazana to Dingaan, King of +the Zulus. Say to Dingaan that this wandering white dog whom he has sent into +my house has done me insult. Say that he has asked me, the Inkosazana-y-Zoola, +to be one of his wives.” +</p> + +<p> +At these words the counsellors and captains uttered a shout of rage, and two of +the latter seized Ishmael by the arm, lifting their spears to plunge them into +him. Rachel waved her wand and they let them fall again. +</p> + +<p> +“Not yet,” she said. “Take him to the King, and if my word +comes to the King, then he dies, and not till then. I would not have his vile +blood on my hands. Unless I speak, I, Queen of the Heavens, leave him to the +vengeance of the Heavens. My mantle is over him, lead him back to the King and +let me see his face no more.” +</p> + +<p> +“We hear and it shall be so,” they answered with one voice, then +forgetting their ceremony hustled Ishmael from the kraal. +</p> + +<p> +“Have I done well?” asked Rachel of Noie, when they were alone. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Zoola,” she answered, “you should have killed the snake +while you were hot against him, since when your blood grows cold you can never +do it, and he will live to bite you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have no right to kill a man, Noie, just because he makes love to me, +and I hate him. Also, if I did so he could not help me to escape from Zululand, +which he will do now because he is afraid of me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Will he be afraid of you when you are both across the Tugela?” +asked Noie. “Inkosazana, give me power and ask no questions. Ibubesi +killed my father and mother and brethren, and has tried to kill me. Therefore +my heart would not be sore if, after the fashion of this land, I paid him +spears for battle-axes, for he deserves to die.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps, Noie, but not by my word.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps by your hand, then,” said Noie, looking at her curiously. +“Well, soon or late he will die a red death—the reddest of deaths, +I learned that from the spirit of my father.” +</p> + +<p> +“The spirit of your father?” said Rachel, looking at her. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly, it speaks to me often and tells me many things, though I may +not repeat them to you till they are accomplished. Thus I was not afraid in the +hands of Dingaan, for it told me that you would save me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I wish it would speak to me and tell me when I can go home,” said +Rachel with a sigh. +</p> + +<p> +“It would if it could, Zoola, but it cannot because the curtain is too +thick. Had all you loved been slain before your eyes, then the veil would be +worn thin as mine is, and through it, you who are akin to them, would hear the +talk of the ghosts, and dimly see them wandering beneath their trees.” +</p> + +<p> +“Beneath their trees——!” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, the trees of their life, of which all the boughs are deeds and all +the leaves are words, under the shadow of which they must abide for ever. My +people could tell you of those trees, and perhaps they will one day when we +visit them together. Nay, pay no heed, I was wandering in my talk. It is the +sight of that wild beast, Ibubesi. You will not let me kill him! Well, +doubtless it is fated so. I think one day you will be sorry—but too +late.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +RACHEL SEES A VISION</h2> + +<p> +That evening Ishmael was brought before the King. He was in evil case, for the +captains, some of whom had grudges against him, when he tried to break away +from them outside the gate, had beaten him with their spear shafts nearly all +the way from the kraal to the Great Place, remarking that he fought and +remonstrated, that the Inkosazana had forbidden them to kill him, but had said +nothing as to giving him the flogging which he deserved. His clothes were torn, +his hat and pipe were lost—indeed hours before Noie had thrown both of +them into the fire—his eyes were black from the blow of a heavy stick and +he was bruised all over. +</p> + +<p> +Such was his appearance when he was thrust before Dingaan, seething with rage +which he could scarcely suppress, even in that presence. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you visit the Inkosazana to-day, White Man?” asked the King +blandly, while the indunas stared at him with grim amusement. +</p> + +<p> +Then Ishmael broke out into a recital of his wrongs, demanding that the +captains who had beaten him, a white man, and a great person, should be killed. +</p> + +<p> +“Silence,” said Dingaan at length. “The question, +Night-prowler, is whether you should not be killed, you dog who dared to insult +the Inkosazana by offering yourself to her as a husband. Had she commanded you +to be speared, she would have done well, and if you trouble me with your +shoutings, I will send you to sleep with the jackals to-night without waiting +for her word.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, seeing his danger, Ishmael was silent, and the King went on: +</p> + +<p> +“Did you discover, as I bade you, why it is that the Inkosazana desires +to leave us?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, King. It is because she would return to her own people, the old +prayer-doctor and his wife.” +</p> + +<p> +“They are not her people!” exclaimed Dingaan. “We know that +she came to them out of the storm, and that they are but the foster-parents +chosen for her by the Heavens. You were the first to tell us that story, and +how she caused the lightning to burn up my soldier yonder at Ramah. We are her +people and no others. Can the Inkosazana have a father and a mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” answered Ishmael, “but she is a woman +and I never knew a woman who was without them. At least I am sure that she +looks upon them as her father and mother, obeying them in all things, and that +she will never leave them while they live, unless they command her to do +so.” +</p> + +<p> +Dingaan stared at him with his pig-like eyes, repeating after +him—“while they live, unless they command her to do so.” Then +he asked: +</p> + +<p> +“If the Inkosazana desires to go, who is there that dares to stay her, +and if she puts out her magic, who is there that has the power? If a hand is +lifted against her, will she not lay a curse on us and bring destruction upon +us?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” answered Ishmael again, “but if she +goes back among the white folk and is angry, I think that she will bring the +Boers upon you.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Dingaan’s face grew very troubled, and bidding Ishmael stand back +awhile, he consulted with his council. Then he said: +</p> + +<p> +“Listen to me, White Man. It would be a very evil thing if the Inkosazana +were to leave us, for with her would go the Spirit of our people, and their +good luck, so say the witch-doctors with one voice, and I believe them. +Further, it is our desire that she should remain with us a while. This day the +Council of the Diviners has spoken, saying that the words of the Inkosazana +which she uttered here are too hard for them, and that other doctors of a +people who live far away, must be sent for and brought face to face with her. +Therefore here at Umgugundhlovo she should abide until they come.” +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed,” answered Ishmael indifferently. +</p> + +<p> +In the doctors who dwell far away, and the council of the Diviners he had no +belief. But understanding the natives as he did he guessed correctly enough +that the latter found themselves in a cleft stick. Worked on by their +superstitions, which he had first awakened for his own ends, they had accepted +Rachel as something more than human, as the incarnation of the Spirit of their +people. This Mopo, who was said to have killed Chaka by command of that Spirit, +had acknowledged her to be, and therefore they did not dare to declare that her +words spoken as an oracle were empty words. But neither did they dare to +interpret the saying that she meant that no attack must be made upon the Boers +and should be obeyed. To do this would be to fly in the face of the martial +aspirations of the nation and the secret wishes of the King, and perhaps if war +ultimately broke out, would cost them their lives. So it came about that they +announced that they could not understand her sayings, and had decided to thrust +off the responsibility on to the shoulders of some other diviners, though who +these men might be Ishmael neither knew nor took the trouble to ask. +</p> + +<p> +“But,” went on the King, “who can force the dove to build in +a tree that does not please it, seeing that it has wings and can fly away? Yet +if its own tree, that in which it was reared from the nest, could be brought to +it, it might be pleased to abide there. Do you understand, White Man?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” answered Ishmael, though in fact he understood well enough +that the King was playing upon Rachel’s English name of Dove, and that he +meant that her home might be moved into Zululand. “No, the Inkosazana is +not a bird, and who can carry trees about?” +</p> + +<p> +“Have the spear-shafts knocked the wit out of you, Ibubesi,” asked +Dingaan, impatiently, “or are you drunk with beer? Learn then my meaning. +The Inkosazana will not stay because her home is yonder, therefore it must be +brought here and she will stay. At first I gave orders that if this old white +teacher and his wife tried to accompany her, they should be killed. Now I eat +up those words. They must come to Zululand.” +</p> + +<p> +“How will you persuade them to be such fools?” asked Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +“How did I persuade the Inkosazana herself to come? Was it not to seek +one whom she loved?” +</p> + +<p> +“They will think that you have killed her, and wish to kill them +also.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, because you will go in command of an impi and show them +otherwise.” +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot go; your brutes of captains have hurt my head, and lamed me; I +cannot walk or ride.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then you can be carried in a litter, or,” he added threateningly, +“you can abide here with the vultures. The Inkosazana is merciful, but +why should I not avenge her wrongs upon you, white dog, who have dared to +scratch at the kraal gate of the Inkosazana-y-Zoola?” +</p> + +<p> +Now Ishmael saw that he had no choice; also a dark thought rose dimly in his +mind. He desired to win Rachel above everything on earth, he was mad with +love—or what he understood as love—of her, and this business might +be worked to his advantage. Moreover, to stay was death. So he fell to +bargaining for a reward for his services, a large reward in cattle and ivory; +half of it to be paid down at once, and it was promised to him. Then he took +his instructions. These were that he was to travel to the mission station of +Ramah in command of a small impi of three hundred men, whose only orders would +be that they were to obey him in all things! That he was to tell the Umfundusi +who was called Shouter, that if they wished to see her any more, he and his +wife must come to dwell with the Inkosazana, in Zululand: that if they refused +he was to bring them by force. If, perchance, the Inkosazana, choosing to +exercise her authority, crossed the Tugela and reached Ramah before he could do +this, he was still to bring them, for then she would follow. In the same way, +if the Shouter and his wife met her on the road, they were to travel on, for +then she would turn and accompany them. He was to go at once and execute these +orders. +</p> + +<p> +“I hear,” said Ishmael, “and will start as soon as the cattle +have been delivered and sent on with the ivory to my kraal, Mafooti.” +</p> + +<p> +There was something in the man’s voice, or in the look of low cunning +which spread itself over his face, that attracted Dingaan’s attention. +</p> + +<p> +“The cattle and the ivory shall be sent,” he said, sternly, +“but ill shall it be for you, Ibubesi, if you seek to trick me in this +matter. You have grown rich on my bounty, and yonder at your place, Mafooti, +you have many cows, many wives, many children—my spies have given me +count of all of them. Now, if you play me false, or if you dare to lift a +finger against the White One, know that I will burn that kraal and slay the +inhabitants with the spear and take the cattle, and when I catch you, Ibubesi, +I will kill you, slowly, slowly. I have spoken, go. +</p> + +<p> +“I go, Great Elephant, Calf of the Black Cow, and I will obey in all +things,” answered Ishmael in a humble voice, for he was frightened. +“The white people shall be brought, only I trust to you to protect me +from the anger of the Inkosazana for all that I may do.” +</p> + +<p> +“You must make your own peace with the Inkosazana,” answered +Dingaan, and turning, he crept into his hut. +</p> + +<p> +An hour later the great induna, Tamboosa, appeared at Rachel’s kraal, and +craved leave to speak with her. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” asked Rachel when he had been admitted. “Have +you come to lead me out of Zululand, Tamboosa?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, White One,” he answered, “the land needs you yet +awhile. I have come to tell you that Dingaan would speak with your servant +Noie, if it be your good pleasure to let her visit him. Fear not. No harm shall +come to her, if it does you may order me to be put to death. You, yourself, +could not be safer than she shall be.” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you afraid to go?” asked Rachel of Noie. +</p> + +<p> +“Not I,” answered the girl, with a laugh. “I trust to the +King’s word and to your might.” +</p> + +<p> +“Depart then,” said Rachel, “and come back as swiftly as you +may. Tamboosa shall lead you.” +</p> + +<p> +So Noie went. +</p> + +<p> +Two hours after sundown, while Rachel was eating her evening meal in her Great +Hut, attended by the maidens, the door-board was drawn aside, and Noie entered, +saluted, and sat down. Rachel signed to the women to clear away the food and +depart. When they had gone she asked what the King’s business was, +eagerly enough, for she hoped that it had to do with her leaving Zululand. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a long story, Zoola,” answered Noie, “but here is the +heart of it. I told you when first we met that I am not of this people, +although my mother was a Zulu. I told you that I am of the Dream-people, the +Ghost-people, the little Grey-people, who live away to the north beneath their +trees, and worship their trees.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Rachel, “and that is why you care nothing for +men as other women do, but dream dreams and talk with spirits. But what of +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is why I dream dreams and talk with spirits, as one day I hope that +I shall teach you to do, you whose soul is sister to my soul,” replied +Noie, her large eyes shining strangely in her delicate face. “And this of +it—the Ghost-people are diviners, they can read the future and see the +hearts of men; there are no diviners like them. Therefore chiefs and peoples +who dwell far away send to them with great gifts, and pray them come read their +fate, but they will seldom listen or obey. Now Dingaan and his councillors are +troubled about this matter of the Boers, and the meaning of the words you spoke +as to their waging war on them, and of the omen of the falling star. The +council of the doctors can interpret none of these things, nor dare they ask +you to do so, since you bade them speak no more to you of that matter, and they +know, that if they did, either you would not answer, or, worse still, say words +that would displease them.” +</p> + +<p> +“They are right there,” said Rachel. “To have to play the +dark oracle once is enough for me. If I speak again, it shall be +plainly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Therefore they have bethought them of the Dealers in Dreams and desire +to bring you face to face with their prophets, the Ghost-Kings, that these may +see your greatness and tell them the meaning of your words, and of the omen +that you caused to travel through the skies.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you mean that they wish me to visit these Ghost-Kings, Noie?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so, Zoola, for then they must part with your presence. They wish +that the priests of the Ghost-Kings should visit you, bearing with them the +word of the Mother of the Trees.” +</p> + +<p> +“Visit me! How can they? Who will bring them here?” +</p> + +<p> +“They wish that I should bring them, for as they know, I am of their +blood, and I alone can talk their language, which my father taught me from a +child.” +</p> + +<p> +“But, Noie, that would mean that we must be separated,” said +Rachel, in alarm. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it would mean that, still I think it best that you should humour +them and let me go, for otherwise I do not know how you will ever escape from +Zululand. Now I told the King that I thought you would permit it on one +condition only—that after you had been brought face to face with the +priests of the Ghost-Kings, and they had interpreted your riddle, you should be +escorted whence you came, and he answered that it should be so, and that +meanwhile you could abide here in honour, peace and safety. Moreover, he +promised that a messenger should be sent to Ramah to explain the reason of your +delay.” +</p> + +<p> +“But how long will you be on the journey, Noie, and what if these +prophets of yours refuse to visit Dingaan?” +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot tell you who have never travelled that road. But I will march +fast, and if I tire, swift runners shall bear me in a litter. To those who have +the secret of its gate that country is not so very far away. Also, the Old +Mother of the Trees is my father’s aunt, and I think that the prophets +will come at my prayer, or at the least send the answer to the question. +Indeed, I am sure of it—ask me not why.” +</p> + +<p> +Still for a long while Rachel reasoned against this separation, which she +dreaded, while Noie reasoned for it. She pointed out that here at least none +could harm her, as they had seen in the treatment meted out to Ishmael, a white +man whom the Zulus looked upon as their friend. Also she said with conviction +that these mysterious Ghost-Kings were very powerful, and could free her from +the clutches of the Zulus, and protect her from them afterwards, as they would +do when they came to know her case. +</p> + +<p> +The end of it was that Rachel gave way, not because Noie’s arguments +convinced her, but because she was sure that she had other reasons she did not +choose to advance. +</p> + +<p> +From that day when each of them tossed up a hair from her head at Ramah, +notwithstanding the difference of their race and circumstances, these two had +been as sisters. Rachel believed in Noie more, perhaps, than in any other +living being, and thus also did Noie believe in Rachel. They knew that their +destinies were intertwined, and were sure that not rivers or mountains or the +will and violence of men, could keep them separate. +</p> + +<p> +“I see,” said Rachel, at length, “that you believe that my +fate hangs upon this embassy of yours.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do believe it,” answered Noie, confidently. +</p> + +<p> +“Then go, but come back as swiftly as you may, for, my sister, I know not +how without you I shall live on in this lonely greatness,” and she took +her in her arms and kissed her lips. +</p> + +<p> +Afterwards, as they were laying themselves down to sleep, Rachel asked her if +she had heard anything about Ishmael. She answered that she learned at the +Great Kraal that he had been brought before the King that afternoon, and then +taken back to his hut, where he was under guard. One of her escort told her, +too, that since he saw the King, Ibubesi had fallen very sick, it was thought +from a blow that he had received at the house of Inkosazana, and that now he +was out of his mind and being attended by the doctors. “I wish,” +added Noie viciously, “that he were out of his body also, for then much +sorrow would be spared. But that cannot be before the time.” +</p> + +<p> +On the next day before noon, Noie departed upon her journey. Rachel sent for +the captains of her escort and the Isanusis, or doctors, who were to accompany +her, and in a few stern words gave her into their charge, saying that they +should answer for her safety with their lives, to which they replied that they +knew it, and would do so. If any harm came to the daughter of Seyapi through +their fault, they were prepared to die. Then she talked for a long while with +Noie, telling her all she knew of the Boers and the purpose of their +wanderings, that she might be able to repeat it to her people, and show them +how dreadful would be a war between this white folk and the Zulus. +</p> + +<p> +Noie answered that she would give her message, but that it was needless, since +the Ghost-Kings could see all that passed “in the bowls of water beneath +their trees, and doubtless knew already of her coming and of the cause of +it,” a reply of which Rachel had not time to inquire the meaning. After +this they embraced and parted, not without some tears. +</p> + +<p> +When the gate shut behind Noie, Rachel walked to the high ground at the back of +her hut, whence she could see over the fence of the kraal, and watched her +departure. She had an escort of a hundred picked soldiers, with whom went fifty +or sixty strong bearers, who carried food, karosses, and a litter. Also there +were three doctors of magic and medicine, and two women, widows of high rank +who were to attend upon her. At the head of this procession, save for two +guides, walked Noie herself, with sandals on her feet, a white robe about her +shoulders, and in her hand a little bough on which grew shining leaves, whereof +Rachel did not know the meaning. She watched them until they passed over the +brow of the hill, on the crest of which Noie turned and waved the bough towards +her. Then Rachel went back to her hut, and sat there alone and wept. +</p> + +<p> +This was the beginning of many dreadful days, most of which she passed +wandering about within the circuit of the kraal fence, a space of some three or +four acres, or seated under the shadow of certain beautiful trees, which +overhung a deep, clear pool of the stream that ran through the kraal, a +reed-fringed pool whereon floated blooming lilies. That quiet water, the happy +birds that nested in the trees and the flowering lilies seemed to be her only +friends. Of the last, indeed, she would count the buds, watching them open in +the morning and close again for their sleep at night, until a day came when +their loveliness turned to decay, and others appeared in their place. +</p> + +<p> +On the morrow of Noie’s departure, Tamboosa and other indunas visited +her, and asked her if she would not descend to the kraal of the King, and help +him and his council to try cases, since while she was in the land she was its +first judge. She answered, “No, that place smelt too much of +blood.” If they had cases for her to try, let them be brought before her +in her own house. This she said idly, thinking no more of it, but next day was +astonished to learn that the plaintiff and defendant in a great suit, with +their respective advocates, and from thirty to forty witnesses, were waiting +without to know when it was her pleasure to attend to their business. +</p> + +<p> +With characteristic courage Rachel answered, “Now.” Her knowledge +of law was, it is true, limited to what, for lack of anything more exciting, +she had read in some handbooks belonging to her father, who had been a justice +of the peace in the Cape Colony, and to a few cases which she had seen tried in +a rough-and-ready fashion at Durban, to which must be added an intimate +acquaintance with Kaffir customs. Still, being possessed with a sincere desire +to discover the truth and execute justice, she did very well. The matter in +dispute was a large one, that of the ownership of a great herd of cattle which +was claimed as an inheritance by each of the parties. Rachel soon discovered +that both these men were very powerful chiefs, and that the reason of their +cause being remitted to her was that the King knew that if he decided in favour +of either of them he would mortally offend the other. +</p> + +<p> +For a long while Rachel, seated on her stool, listened silently to the +impassioned pleadings of the plaintiff’s lawyers. Presently this +plaintiff was called as a witness, and in the course of his evidence said +something which convinced her that he was lying. Then breaking her silence for +the first time, she asked him how he dared to give false witness before the +Inkosazana-y-Zoola, to whom the truth was always open, and who was acquainted +with every circumstance connected with the cattle in dispute. The man, seeing +her eyes fixed upon him, and being convinced of her supernatural powers, grew +afraid, broke down, and publicly confessed his attempted fraud, into which he +said he had been led by envy of his cousin, the defendant’s, riches. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel gave judgment accordingly, commanding that he should pay the costs in +cattle and a fine to the King, and warned him to be more upright in future. The +result was that her fame as a judge spread throughout the land, and every day +her gates were beset with suitors whose causes she dealt with to the best of +her ability, and to their entire satisfaction. Criminal prosecutions that +involved the death-sentence or matters connected with witchcraft, however, she +steadily refused to try, saying that the Inkosazana should not cause blood to +flow. These things she left to the King and his Council, confining herself to +such actions as in England would come before the Court of Chancery. Thus to her +reputation as a spiritual queen, Rachel added that of an upright judge who +could not be influenced by fear or bribes, the first, perhaps, that had ever +been known in Zululand. +</p> + +<p> +But she could not try such cases all day, the strain was too great, although in +the end most of them partook of the nature of arbitrations, since the parties +involved, having come to the conclusion that it was not possible to deceive one +so wise, grew truthful and submitted their differences to the decision of her +wisdom. +</p> + +<p> +After they were dismissed, which was always at noon, for she opened her court +at seven and would not sit more than five hours, Rachel was left in her +solitary state until the next morning, and oh! the hours hung heavily upon her +hands. A messenger was despatched to Ramah, but after ten days he returned +saying that the Tugela was in flood, and he could not cross it. She sent him +out again, and a week later was told that he had been killed by a lion on his +journey. Then another messenger was chosen, but what became of him she never +knew. +</p> + +<p> +It was about this time that Rachel learned that Ishmael, having recovered from +his sickness, had escaped from Umgugundhlovo by night, whither none seemed to +know. From that moment fears gathered thick upon the poor girl. She dreaded +Ishmael and guessed that his departure without communicating with her boded her +no good. Indeed, once or twice she almost wished that she had taken +Noie’s counsel and given him over to the justice of the King. Meanwhile +of Noie herself nothing had been heard. She had vanished into the wilderness. +</p> + +<p> +Living this strange and most unnatural life, Rachel’s nerves began to +give way. While she tried her cases she seemed stern and calm. But when the +crowd of humble suitors had dispersed from the outer court in which she sat as +a judge, and the shouts of the praisers rushing up and down beyond the fence +and roaring out her titles had died away, and having dismissed the obsequious +maidens who waited upon her, she retired to the solitude of her hut to +rest—ah! then it was different. Then she lay down upon her bed of rich +furs and at times burst into tears because she who seemed to be a supernatural +queen, was really but a white girl deserted by God and man. +</p> + +<p> +Now it was the season of thunderstorms, and almost every afternoon these +dreadful tempests broke over her kraal, which shook in the roll and crash of +the meeting clouds, while beyond the fence the jagged lightning struck and +struck again upon the ironstone of the hillside. +</p> + +<p> +She had never feared such storms before, but now they terrified her. She +dreaded their advent, and the worst of it was that she must not show her dread, +she who was supposed to rule and direct the lightning. Indeed, the bounteous +rains which fell ensuring a full harvest after several years of drought, were +universally attributed to the good influence of her presence in the land. In +the same way when a thunderbolt struck the hut of a doctor who but a day or two +before had openly declared his disbelief in her powers, killing him and his +principal wife, and destroying his kraal by fire, the accident was attributed +to her vengeance, or to that of the Heavens, who were angry at this lack of +faith. After this remarkable exhibition of supernatural strength, needless to +say, the voice of adverse criticism was stayed; Rachel became supreme. +</p> + +<p> +But the storms passed, and when they had rolled away at length, doing her no +hurt, and the sun shone out again, she would go and sit beneath the trees at +the edge of the beautiful pool until the closing lilies and the chill of the +air told her that night drew on. +</p> + +<p> +Oh! those long nights—how endless they seemed to Rachel in her +loneliness. Now she who used to sleep so well, could not sleep, or when she +slept she dreamed. She dreamed of her mother, always of her mother, that she +was ill, and calling her, until she came to believe that in truth this was so. +So much did this conviction work upon her mind, that she determined not to wait +for the return of Noie, but at all costs to try to leave Zululand, and through +Tamboosa declared her will to the King. Next morning the answer came back that +of course none could control her movements, but if she would go, she must fly, +as all the rivers were in flood, as she might see if she would walk to the top +of the mountain behind her kraal. Tamboosa added that a company of men who had +been sent to recapture Ishmael, were kept for a week upon the banks of the +first of them, and at length, being unable to cross, had returned, as her +messenger had done. Knowing from other sources that this was true, Rachel made +no answer. What she did not know, however, was that Ishmael had crossed the +smaller rivers before the flood came down, and gone on to meet the soldiers, +who were ordered to await him on the banks of the Tugela. +</p> + +<p> +Escape was evidently impossible at present, and if it had been otherwise, +clearly the Zulus did not mean to let her go. She must abide here in the +company of her terrors and her dreams. +</p> + +<p> +At length, happily for her, these distressing dreams of Rachel’s began to +be varied by others of a pleasanter complexion, of which, although they were +vivid enough, she could only remember upon waking that they had to do with +Richard Darrien, the companion of her adventure in the river, of whom she had +heard nothing for so many years. For aught she knew he might have died long +ago, and yet she did not think that he was dead. Well, if he lived he might +have forgotten her, and yet she did not believe that he had forgotten her, he +who as a boy had wished to follow her all his life, and whom she had thought of +day by day from that hour to this. Yes, she had thought of him, but not thus. +Why, at such a time, did he arise in strength before her, seeming to occupy all +her soul? Why was her mind never free of him? Could it be that they were about +to meet again? She shivered as the hope took hold of her, shivered with joy, +and remembered that her mother had always said that they would meet. Could it +be that he of all men on the earth, for if he lived he was a man now, was +coming to rescue her? Oh! then she would fear nothing. Then in every peril she +would feel safe as a child in its mother’s arms. No, the thing was too +happy to come about; her imagination played tricks with her, no more. And yet, +and yet, why did he haunt her sleep? +</p> + +<p> +The dreary days went on; a month had passed since Noie vanished over yonder +ridge, and worst of all, for three nights the dreams of Richard had departed, +while those of her mother remained. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel was worn out; she was in despair. All that morning she had spent in +trying a long and heavy case, which occupied but wearied her mind, one of those +eternal cases about the inheritance of cattle which were claimed by three +brothers, descendants of different wives of a grandfather who had owned the +herd. Finally she had effected a compromise between the parties, and amidst +their salutes and acclamations, retired to her hut. But she could not eat; the +sameness of the food disgusted her. Neither could she rest, for the daily +tempest was coming up, and the heavy atmosphere, or the electricity with which +it was charged, and the overpowering heat, exasperated her nervous system and +made sleep impossible. At length came the usual rush of icy wind and the +bursting of the great storm. The thunder crashed and bellowed; the lightning +flickered and flared; the rain fell in a torrent. It passed as it always did, +and the sun shone out again. Gasping with relief, Rachel went out of the +oven-like hut into the cool, sweet air, and sat down upon a tanned bull’s +hide which she had ordered her servants to spread for her by the pool of water +upon the bank beneath the trees. It was very pleasant here, and the raindrops +shaken from the wet leaves fell upon her fevered face and hands and refreshed +her. +</p> + +<p> +She tried to forget her troubles for a little while, and began to think of +Richard Darrien, her boy-lover of a long-past hour, wondering what he looked +like now that he was grown to be a man. +</p> + +<p> +“If only you would come to help me! Oh! Richard, if only you would come +to help me,” the poor, worn-out girl murmured to herself, and so +murmuring fell asleep. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly it seemed to her that she was wide awake, and staring into a part of +the pool beneath her where the bottom was of granite and the water clear. In +this water she saw a picture. She saw a great laager of waggons, and outside of +one of them a group of bearded, jovial-looking men smoking and talking. +Presently another man of sturdy build and resolute carriage, who was followed +by a weary Kaffir, walked up to them. His back was towards her so that she +could not see his face, but now she was able to hear all that was said, +although the voices seemed thin and far away. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, Nephew?” asked the oldest of the bearded men, speaking +in Dutch. “Why are you in such a hurry?” +</p> + +<p> +“This, Uncle,” he answered, in the same language, and in a pleasant +voice that sounded familiar to Rachel’s ears. “That spy, Quabi, +whom we sent out a long time ago and who was reported dead, reached +Dingaan’s kraal, and has come back with a strange story.” +</p> + +<p> +“Almighty!” grunted the old man, “all these spies have +strange stories, but let him tell it. Speak on, swartzel.”[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[*] Black-fellow. +</p> + +<p> +Then the tired spy began to talk, telling a long tale. He described how he had +got into Zululand, and reached Umgugundhlovo and lodged there with a relative +of his, and done his best to collect information as to the attitude of the King +and indunas towards the Boers. While he was there the news came that the white +Spirit, who was called Inkosazana-y-Zoola, was approaching the kraal from +Natal, where she dwelt with her parents, who were teachers. +</p> + +<p> +“Almighty!” interrupted the old man again, “What rubbish is +this? How can a Spirit, white or black, have parents who are teachers?” +</p> + +<p> +The weary-looking spy answered that he did not know, it was not for him to +answer riddles, all he knew was that there was great excitement about the +coming of this Queen of the Heavens, and he, being desirous of obtaining +first-hand information, slipped out of the town with his relative, and walked +more than a day’s journey on the path that ran to the Tugela, till they +came to a place where they hid themselves to see her pass. This place he +described with minuteness, so minutely, indeed, that in her dream, Rachel +recognised it well. It was the spot where the witch-doctoress had died. He went +on with his story; he told of her appearance riding on the white horse and +surrounded by an impi. He described her beauty, her white cloak, her hair +hanging down her back, the rod of horn she carried in her hand, the colour of +her eyes, the shape of her features, everything about her, as only a native +can. Then he told of the incident of the cattle rushing across her path, of the +death of the bull that charged her, of the appearance of the furious +witch-doctoress who seized the rein of the horse, of the pointing of the wand, +and the instant execution of the woman. +</p> + +<p> +He told of how he had followed the impi to the Great Place, of the story of +Noie as he had heard it, and the reports that had reached him concerning the +interview between the King and this white Inkosazana, who, it was said, advised +him not to fight the Boers. +</p> + +<p> +“And where is she now?” asked the old Dutchman. +</p> + +<p> +“There, at Umgugundhlovo,” he answered, “ruling the land as +its head Isanuzi, though it is said that she desires to escape, only the Zulus +will not let her go.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think that we should find out more about this woman, especially as she +seems to be a friend to our people,” said the old Boer. “Now, who +dares to go and learn the truth?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will go,” said the young man who had brought in the spy, and as +he spoke he turned, and lo! <i>his face was the face of Richard Darrien</i>, +bearded and grown to manhood, but without doubt Richard Darrien and none other. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you offer to undertake so dangerous a mission?” asked the +Boer, looking at the young man kindly. “Is it because you wish to see +this beautiful white witch of whom yonder Quabi tells us such lies, +Nephew?” +</p> + +<p> +The shadow of Richard nodded, and his face reddened, for the Boers around him +were laughing at him. +</p> + +<p> +“That is right, Uncle,” he answered boldly. “You think me a +fool, but I am not. Many years ago I knew a little maid who was the daughter of +a teacher, and who, if she lives, must have grown into such a woman as Quabi +describes. Well, I joined you Boers last year in order to look for that maid, +and I am going to begin to look for her across the river yonder.” +</p> + +<p> +As the words reached whatever sense of Rachel’s it was that heard them, +of a sudden, in an instant, laager, Boers, and Richard vanished. In her sleep +she tried to recreate them, at first without avail, then the curtain of +darkness appeared to lift, and in the still water of the pool she saw another +picture, that of Richard Darrien mounted on a black horse with one white foot, +riding along a native path through a bush-clad country, while by his side +trotted the spy whose name was Quabi. +</p> + +<p> +They were talking together, and she heard, or, at any rate, knew their words. +</p> + +<p> +“How far is it now to Umgugundhlovo?” asked Richard. +</p> + +<p> +“Three days’ journey, Inkosi, if we are not stopped by flooded +rivers,” answered Quabi. +</p> + +<p> +For one second only Rachel saw and heard these things, then they, too, passed +away, and she awoke to see in front of her the pool empty save for its lilies, +and above to hear the whispering of the evening wind among the trees. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +RICHARD COMES</h2> + +<p> +As the sun set Rachel rose and walked to her hut. She was utterly dazed, she +could not understand. Was this but a fiction of an overwrought and disordered +mind, or had she seen a vision of things passing, or that had passed, far away? +If it were a dream, then this was but another drop in her cup of bitterness. If +a true vision—oh! then what did it mean to her? It meant that Richard +Darrien lived, Richard, of whom her heart had been full for years. It meant +that his heart was full of her also, for had she not seemed to hear him say +that he had travelled from the Cape with the Boers to look for her, and was he +not journeying alone through a hostile land to pursue his search? Who would do +such a thing for the sake of a girl unless—unless? It meant that he would +protect her, would rescue her from her terrible plight, would take her from +among these savages to her home again—oh! and perhaps much more that she +did not dare to picture to herself. +</p> + +<p> +Yet how could such things be? They were contrary to experience, at any rate, to +the experience of white folk, though natives would believe in them easily +enough. Yet in Nature things might be possible which were generally held to be +impossible. Her mother had certain gifts—had she, perhaps, inherited +them? Had her helplessness appealed to the pity of some higher power? Had her +ceaseless prayers been heard? Yet, why should the universal laws be stretched +for her? Why should she be allowed to lift a corner of the black veil of +ignorance that hems us in, and see a glimpse of what lies beyond? If Richard +were really coming, in a day or two she would have learned of his arrival +naturally; there was no need that these mysterious influences should be set to +work to inform her of his approach. +</p> + +<p> +How selfish she was. The warning might concern him, not her. It was probable +enough that the Zulus would kill a solitary white man, especially if they +discovered that he proposed to visit their Inkosazana. Well, she had the power +to protect him. If she “threw her mantle” over him, no man in all +the land would dare to do him violence. Surely it was for this reason that she +had been allowed to learn these things, if she had learned them, not for her +own sake, but his. <i>If</i> she had learned them! Well, she would take the +risk, would run the chance of failure and of mockery, yes, and of the loss of +her power among these people. It should be done at once. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel clapped her hands, and a maiden appeared whom she bade summon the +captain of the guard without the gate. Presently he came, surrounded by a band +of her women, since no man might visit the Inkosazana alone. Bidding him to +cease from his salutations, she commanded him to go swiftly to the Great Place +and pray of Dingaan that he would send her an escort and a litter, as she must +see him that night on a matter which would not brook delay. +</p> + +<p> +In an hour, just after she had finished her food, which she ate with more +appetite than she had known for days, it was reported that they were there. +Throwing on her white cloak, and taking her horn wand, she entered the litter +and, guarded by a hundred men, was borne swiftly to the House of Dingaan. At +its gate she descended, and once more entered that court by the moonlight. +</p> + +<p> +As before, there sat the King and his indunas without the Great Hut, and while +she walked towards them every man rose crying “Hail! Inkosazana.” +Yes, even Dingaan, mountain of flesh though he was, struggled from his stool +and saluted her. Rachel acknowledged the salutation by raising her wand, +motioned to them to be seated, and waited. +</p> + +<p> +“Art thou come, White One,” asked Dingaan, “to make clear +those dark words thou spokest to us a moon ago?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, King,” she answered, “what I said then, I said once and +for all. Read thou the saying as thou wilt, or let the Ghost-people interpret +it to thee. Hear me, King and Councillors. Ye have kept me here when I would be +gone, my business being ended, that I might be a judge among this people. Ye +have told me that the rivers were in flood, that the beast I rode was sick, +that evil would befall the land if I deserted you. Now I know, and ye know, +that if it pleased me I could have departed when and whither I would, but it +was not fitting that the Inkosazana should creep out of Zululand like a thief +in the night, so I abode on in my house yonder. Yet my heart grew wrath with +you, and I, to whom the white people listen also, was half minded to bring +hither the thousands of the Amaboona who are encamped beyond the Buffalo River, +that they might escort me to my home.” +</p> + +<p> +Now at these bold words the King looked uneasy, and one of the councillors +whispered to another, +</p> + +<p> +“How knows she that the white men are camped beyond the Buffalo?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet,” went on Rachel, “I did not do so, for then there must +have been much fighting and bloodshed, and blood I hate. But I have done this. +With these Amaboona travels an English chief, a young man, one Darrien, whom I +knew from long years ago, and who does me reverence. Him, then, I have +commanded to journey hither, and to lead me to my own place across the Tugela. +To-night I am told he sleeps a short three days’ journey from this town, +and I am come here to bid you send out swift messengers to guide him +hither.” +</p> + +<p> +She ceased, and they stared at her awhile. Then the King asked, +</p> + +<p> +“What messenger is it, Inkosazana, that thou hast sent to this white +chief, Dario? We have seen none pass from thy house.” +</p> + +<p> +“Dost thou think, then, King, that thou canst see my messengers? My +thoughts flew from me to him, and called in his ear in the night, and I saw his +coming in the still pool that lies near my huts.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Ow!</i>” exclaimed one of the Council, “she sent her +thoughts to him like birds, and she saw his coming in the water of the pool. +Great is the magic of the Inkosazana.” +</p> + +<p> +“The chief, Darrien,” went on Rachel, without heeding the +interruption, although she noted that it was Mopo of the withered hand who had +spoken from beneath the blanket wrapped about his head, “may be known +thus. He is fair of face, with eyes like my eyes, and beard and hair of the +colour of gold. If I saw right, he rides upon a black horse with one white foot +and his only companion is a Kaffir named Quabi who, I think,” and she +passed her hand across her forehead, “yes, who was surely visiting a +relation of his, at this, the Great Place, when I crossed the Tugela.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the King asked if any knew of this Quabi, and an induna answered in an awed +voice, that it was true that a man so called had been in the town at the time +given by the Inkosazana, staying with a soldier whose name he mentioned, but +who was now away on service. He had, however, departed before the Inkosazana +arrived, or so he believed, whither he knew not. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought it was so,” went on Rachel. “As I saw him in the +pool he is a thin man whose shoulders stoop, and whose beard is white, although +his hair is black. He wears no ring upon his head.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is the man,” said the induna, “being a stranger I noted +him well, as it was my business to do.” +</p> + +<p> +“Summon the messengers swiftly, King,” went on Rachel, “and +let them depart at once, for know that this white chief and his servant are +under the protection of the Heavens, and if harm comes to them, then I lay my +curse upon the land, and it shall break up in blood and ruin. Bid them say to +Darrien, that the Inkosazana-y-Zoola, she who stood with him once on the rock +in the river while the lightnings fell and the lions roared about them, sends +him greetings and awaits him.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Dingaan turned to an induna and said, +</p> + +<p> +“Go, do the bidding of the Inkosazana. Bid swift runners search out this +white chief, and lead him to her house, and remember that if aught of ill +befalls him, those men die, and thou diest also.” +</p> + +<p> +The induna leapt up and departed, and Rachel also made ready to go. A moment +later the captain of the gate entered, fell upon his knees before Dingaan, and +said, +</p> + +<p> +“O King, tidings.” +</p> + +<p> +“What are they, man?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“King, the watchmen report that it has been called from hilltop to +hilltop that a white man who rides a black horse, has crossed the Buffalo, and +travels towards the Great Place. What is thy pleasure? Shall he be killed or +driven back?” +</p> + +<p> +“When did that news come?” asked the King in the silence which +followed this announcement. +</p> + +<p> +“Not a minute gone,” he answered. “The inner watchman ran +with it, and is without the gates. There has been no other tidings from the +West for days.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thy watchmen call but slowly, King, the water in the pool speaks +swifter,” said Rachel, then still in the midst of a heavy silence, for +this thing was fearful to them, she turned and departed. +</p> + +<p> +“So it is true, so it is true!” Rachel kept repeating to herself, +the words suiting themselves to the time of the footfall of her bearers. She +was spent with all the labour and emotions of that long day, culminating in the +last scene, when she must play her dangerous, superhuman part before these +keen-witted savages. She could think no more; scarcely could she undress and +throw herself upon her bed in the hut. Yet that night she slept soundly, better +than she had done since Noie went away. No dreams came to trouble her and in +the morning she woke refreshed. +</p> + +<p> +But now doubts did come. Might she not be mistaken after all? She knew the +marvellous powers of the natives in the matter of the transmission of news, +powers so strange that many, even among white people, attributed them to +witchcraft. She had no doubt, therefore, as to the fact of some Englishman or +Boer having entered Zululand. Doubtless the news of his arrival had been +conveyed over scores of miles of country by the calling of it as the captain +said, from hill to hill, or in some other fashion. But might not this arrival +and the circumstance of her dream or vision be a mere coincidence? What was +there to show that the stranger who was riding a black horse was really Richard +Darrien? Perhaps it was all a mistake, and he was only one of those white +wanderers of the stamp of the outcast Ishmael who, even at that date, made +their way into savage countries for the purposes of gain or to enjoy a life of +licence. And yet, and yet Quabi, of whom she also dreamed, had visited the +Great Place—as she dreamed. +</p> + +<p> +The next two days were terrible to Rachel. She endured them as she had endured +all those that went before, trying the cases that were brought to her, keeping +up her appearance of distant dignity and utter indifference. She asked no +questions, since to do so would be to show doubt and weakness, although she was +aware that the tale of her vision had spread through the land, and that the +issue of the matter was of intense interest to thousands. From some talk which +she overheard while she pretended to be listening to evidence, she learned even +that two men going to execution had discussed it, saying that they regretted +they would not live to know the truth. On the second day she did hear one piece +of news, for although she sat by her pool and again tried to sleep by its +waters, these remained blind and dumb. +</p> + +<p> +The induna, Tamboosa, on one of his ceremonial visits, after speaking of the +health of her mare, which, it seemed was improving, mentioned incidentally that +the messengers running night and day had met the white man and “called +back” that he was safe and well. He added that had it not been for her +vision this said white man would certainly have been killed as a spy. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I knew that,” answered Rachel, indifferently, although her +heart thumped within her bosom. “I forget if I said that the Inkosi was +to be brought straight here when he arrives. If not, let it be known that such +is my command. The King can receive him afterwards if it pleases him to do so, +as probably we shall not depart until the next day.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she yawned, and as though by an afterthought asked if any news had been +“called back” from Noie. +</p> + +<p> +Tamboosa answered, No; no system of intelligence had been organised in the +direction in which she had gone, for that country was empty of enemies, and +indeed of population. However, this would not distress the Inkosazana, who had +only to consult her Spirit to see all that happened to her servant. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel replied that of course this was so, but as a matter of fact she had not +troubled about the matter, then waved her hand to show that the interview was +at an end. +</p> + +<p> +It was the morning of the third day, and while Rachel was delivering judgment +in a case, a messenger entered and whispered something to the induna on duty, +who rose and saluted her. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Only this, Inkosazana; the white Inkoos from the Buffalo River has +arrived, and is without.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” said Rachel, “let him wait there.” Then she +went on with her judgment. Yes, she went on, although her eyes were blind, and +the blood beating in her ears sounded like the roll of drums. She finished it, +and after a decent interval, bowed her head in acknowledgement of the customary +salutes, and made the sign which intimated that the Court was to be cleared. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly, slowly, all the crowd melted away, leaving her alone with her women. +</p> + +<p> +“Go,” she said to one of them, “and bid the captain admit +this white chief. Say that he is to come unarmed and alone. Then depart, all of +you. If I should need you I will call.” +</p> + +<p> +The girl went on her errand while her companions filed away through the back +gate of the inner fence. Rachel glanced round to make sure of her solitude. It +was complete, no one was left. There she sat in state upon her carved stool, +her wand in her hand, her white cloak upon her shoulders, and the sunlight that +passed over the round of the hut behind her glinting on her hair till it shone +like a crown of gold, but leaving her face in shadow; sat quite still like some +lovely tinted statue. +</p> + +<p> +The gate of the inner fence opened and closed again after a man who entered. He +walked forward a few paces, then stood still, for the flood of light that +revealed him so clearly at first prevented him from seeing her seated in the +shadow. Oh! there could be no further doubt—before her was Richard +Darrien, the lad grown to manhood, from whom she had parted so many years ago. +Now, as then, he was not tall, though very strongly built, and for the rest, +save for his short beard, the change in him seemed little. The same clear, +thoughtful, grey eyes, the same pleasant, open face, the same determined mouth. +She was not disappointed in him, she knew this at once. She liked him as well +as she had done at the first. +</p> + +<p> +Now he caught sight of her and stayed there, staring. She tried to speak, to +welcome him, but could not, no words would come. He also seemed to be smitten +with dumbness, and thus the two of them remained a while. At last he took off +his hat almost mechanically, as though from instinct, and said vaguely, +</p> + +<p> +“You are the Inkosazana-y-Zoola, are you not?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am so called,” she answered softly, and with effort. +</p> + +<p> +The moment that he heard her voice, with a movement so swift that it was almost +a spring, he advanced to her, saying, +</p> + +<p> +“Now I am sure; you are Rachel Dove, the little girl who—Oh, +Rachel, how lovely you have grown!” +</p> + +<p> +“I am glad you think so, Richard,” she answered again in the same +low, deep voice, a voice laden with the love within her, and reddening to her +eyes. Then she let fall her wand, and rising, stretched out both her hands to +him. +</p> + +<p> +They were face to face, now, but he did not take those hands; he passed his +arms about her, drew her to him unresisting, and kissed her on the lips. She +slipped from his embrace down on to her stool, white now as she had been red. +Then while he stood over her, trembling and confused, Rachel looked up, her +beautiful eyes filled with tears, and whispered, +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I be ashamed? It is Fate.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he answered, “Fate.” +</p> + +<p> +For so both of them knew it to be. Though they had seen each other but once +before, their love was so great, the bond between their natures so perfect and +complete, that this outward expression of it would not be denied. Here was a +mighty truth which burst through all wrappings of convention and proclaimed +itself in its pure strength and beauty. That kiss of theirs was the declaration +of an existent unity which circumstances did not create, nor their will +control, and thus they confessed it to each other. +</p> + +<p> +“How long?” she asked, looking up at him. +</p> + +<p> +“Eight years to-day,” he answered, “since I rode away after +those waggons.” +</p> + +<p> +“Eight years,” she repeated, “and no word from you all that +time. You have behaved badly to me, Richard.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no, I could not find out. I wrote three times, but always the +letters were returned, except one that went to the wrong people, who were angry +about it. Then two years ago, I heard that your father and mother had been in +Natal, but had gone to England, and that you were dead. Yes, a man told me that +you were dead,” he added with a gulp. “I suppose he was speaking of +somebody else, as he could not remember whether the name was Dove or Cove, or +perhaps he was just lying. At any rate, I did not believe, him. I always felt +that you were alive.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why did you not come to see, Richard?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why? Because it was impossible. For years my father was an invalid, +paralysed; and I was his only child, and could not leave him.” +</p> + +<p> +She looked a question at him. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he answered with a nod, “dead, ten months ago, and for +a few weeks I had to remain to arrange about the property, of which he left a +good deal, for we did well of late years. Just then I heard a rumour of an +English missionary and his wife and daughter who were said to be living +somewhere beyond the boundaries of Natal, in a savage place on the Transvaal +side of the Drakensberg, and as some Boers I knew were trekking into that +country I came with them on the chance—a pretty poor one, as the story +was vague enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“You came—you came to seek the girl, Rachel Dove?” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course. Otherwise why should I have left my farms down in the Cape to +risk my neck among these savages?” +</p> + +<p> +“And then,” went on Rachel, “you or somebody else sent in the +spy, Quabi, who returned to the Boer camp with his story about the +Inkosazana-y-Zoola. You remember you brought him in limping to that old fellow +with a grey beard and a large pipe, and the others who laughed at the tale. I +mean when you said that this Inkosazana seemed very like an English maid, +‘the daughter of a teacher,’ whom you were looking for, and that +you would go to find out the truth of the business.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, that’s all right; but Rachel,” he added with a start, +“how do you know anything about it—Oom Piet and the rest, and the +words I used? Your spies must be very good and quick, for you can’t have +seen Quabi.” +</p> + +<p> +“My spies are good and quick. Did you get my message sent by the +King’s men? It was that she who stood with you on the rock in the river, +greeted you and awaited you?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I could not understand. I do not understand now. Just before that +they were going to kill me as a Boer spy. Who told you everything?” +</p> + +<p> +“My heart,” she answered smiling. “I dreamed it all. I +suppose that I was allowed to save your life that I might bring you here to +save me. Listen now, Richard, while I tell you the strangest story that you +ever heard; and if you don’t believe it, go and ask the King and his +indunas.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she told him of her vision by the pool and all that happened after it. +When she had finished Richard could only shake his head and say: +</p> + +<p> +“Still I don’t understand; but no wonder these Zulus have made a +goddess of you. Well, Rachel, what is to happen now? If you are to stop here +they mayn’t care for me as a high priest.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am not; I am going home, and you must take me. I told them that you +were coming to do so. You have your horse, have you not, the black horse with +the white forefoot? Well, we will start at once—no, you must eat first, +and there are things to arrange. Now stand at a distance from me and look as +respectful as you can, for I fill a strange position here.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Rachel clapped her hands and the women came running in. +</p> + +<p> +“Bring food for the Inkosi Darrien,” she said, “and send +hither the captain of the gate.” +</p> + +<p> +Presently the man arrived crouched up in token of respect, and shouting her +titles. +</p> + +<p> +“Go to the King,” said Rachel, “and tell him the Inkosazana +commands that the horse on which she came be brought to her at once, as she +leaves Zululand for a while; also that an impi be assembled within an hour to +escort her and this white chief, her servant, to the Tugela. Say that the +Inkosi Darrien has brought her tidings which make it needful that she should +travel hence speedily if the Zulus, her people, are to be saved from great +misfortune, and say, too, that he goes with her. If the King or his indunas +would see the Inkosazana, or the chief Darrien, let him or the indunas meet +them on their road, since they have no time to visit the Great Place. Let +Tamboosa be in command of the impi, and say also that if it is not here at +once, the Inkosazana will be angry and summon an impi of her own. Go now, for +the lives of many hang upon your speed; yes, the lives of the greatest in the +land.” +</p> + +<p> +The man saluted and shot away like an arrow. +</p> + +<p> +“Will they obey you?” asked Richard. +</p> + +<p> +“I think so, because they are afraid of me, especially since I saw you +coming. At any rate we must act at once, it is our best chance—before +they have time to think. Here is some food—eat. Woman, go, tell the guard +that the Inkosi’s horse must be fed at the gate, for he will need it +presently, and his servant also.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have no servant, Inkosazana,” broke in Richard. “I left +Quabi at a kraal fifty miles away, laid up with a cut foot. As soon as he is +better he will slip back across the Buffalo River.” +</p> + +<p> +Then while Richard ate, which he did heartily enough, for joy had made him very +hungry, they talked, who had much to tell. He asked her why she thought it +necessary to leave Zululand at once. She answered, for two reasons, first +because of her desperate anxiety about her father and mother, as to whom her +heart foreboded ill, and secondly for his own sake. She explained that the +Zulus who had set her up as an image or a token of the guiding Spirit of their +nation, were madly jealous concerning her, so jealous that if he remained here +long she was by no means certain that even her power could protect him when +they came to understand that he was much to her. It was impossible that she +could see him often, and much more so that he could remain in her kraal. +Therefore if they were detained he would be obliged to live at some distance +from her where an assegai might find him at night or poison be put in his food. +At present they were impressed by her foreknowledge of his arrival, and that +was why he had been admitted to her at once. But this would wear off—and +then who could say, especially if Ishmael returned? +</p> + +<p> +He asked who Ishmael was and what he had to do with her. Rachel told him +briefly, and though she suppressed much, he looked very grave at that story. +</p> + +<p> +While she was finishing it a woman called without for leave to enter, and, as +before, Rachel bade him stand in a respectful attitude, and at a distance from +her. Richard obeyed, and the woman came in to say that certain of the +King’s indunas craved audience with her. They were admitted and saluted +her in their usual humble fashion, but of Richard, beyond eyeing him curiously +and, as she thought, hostilely, they took not the slightest heed. +</p> + +<p> +“Are all things ready for my journey, as I commanded?” asked Rachel +at once. +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana,” answered their spokesman, “they are ready, for +how canst thou be disobeyed? Tamboosa and the impi wait without. Yet, +Inkosazana, the heart of the Black One and the hearts of his councillors, and +of all the Zulu people are cut in two because thou wouldst go and leave them +mourning. Their hearts are sore also with this white man Dario, who has come to +lead thee hence, so sore, that were he not thy servant,” the induna added +grimly, “he at least should stay in Zululand.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is my servant,” answered Rachel haughtily, “whom I sent +for. Let that suffice. Remember my words, all of you, and let them be told +again in the ears of the King, that if any harm comes to this white chief who +is my guest and yours, then there will be blood between me and the people of +the Zulus that shall be terribly avenged in blood.” +</p> + +<p> +The indunas seemed to cower at this declaration, but made no answer. Only the +chief of them said: +</p> + +<p> +“The King would know if the Inkosi, thy servant, brings thee any tidings +of the Amaboona, the white folk with whom he has been journeying.” +</p> + +<p> +“He brings tidings that they seek peace with the Zulus, to whom they will +do no hurt if no hurt is done to them. Shall I tell them that the Zulus also +seek peace?” +</p> + +<p> +“The King gave us no message on that matter, Inkosazana,” replied +the induna. “He awaits the coming of the prophets of the Ghost-folk to +interpret the meaning of thy words, and of the omen of the falling star.” +</p> + +<p> +“So be it,” said Rachel. “When my servant, Noie, returns, let +her be sent on to me at once, that I may hear and consider the words of her +people,” and she began to rise from her seat to intimate that the +interview was finished. +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana,” said the induna hurriedly, “one question from +the King—when dost thou return to Zululand?” +</p> + +<p> +“I return when it is needful. Fear not, I think that I shall return, but +I say to the King and to all of you: Be careful when I come that there is no +blood between me and you, lest great evil fall upon your heads from Heaven. I +have spoken. Good fortune go with you till we meet again.” +</p> + +<p> +The indunas looked at each other, then rose and departed humbly as they had +entered. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +An hour later, surrounded by the impi, and followed by Richard, Rachel was on +the Tugela road. At the crest of a hill she pulled rein and looked back at the +great kraal, Umgugundhlovu. Then she beckoned Richard to her side and said: +</p> + +<p> +“I think that before long I shall see that hateful place again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Because of the way in which those indunas looked at each other just now. +There was some evil secret in their eyes. Richard, I am afraid.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +WHAT CHANCED AT RAMAH</h2> + +<p> +The news which reached Rachel that Ishmael had been ill after the rough +handling of the captains in her presence, was true enough. For many days he was +far too ill to travel, and when he recovered sufficiently to start he could +only journey slowly to the Tugela. +</p> + +<p> +It will be remembered that she was told that he had escaped, as indeed he +seemed to do, slipping off at night, but this escape of his was carefully +arranged beforehand, nor did any attempt to re-capture him upon his way. When +at length he came to the river he found the small impi awaiting him, not +knowing whither they were to go or what they were to do, their only orders +being that they must obey him in all things. He found also that the Tugela was +in furious flood, so that to ford it proved quite impossible. Here, then, he +was obliged to remain for ten full days while the water ran down. +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael was not idle during those ten days, which be spent in recovering his +health, and incidentally in reflection. Thus he thought a great deal of his +past life, and did not find the record satisfactory. With his exact history we +need not trouble ourselves. He was well-born, as he had told Rachel, but had +been badly brought up. His strong passions had led him into trouble while +young, and instead of trying to reform him his belongings had cast him off. +Then he had enlisted in the army, and so reached South Africa. There he +committed a crime—as a matter of fact it was murder or something like +it—and fled from justice far into the wilderness, where a touch of +imagination prompted him to take the name of Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +For a while this new existence suited him well enough. Thus he had wives in +plenty of a sort, and he grew rich, becoming just such a person as might be +expected from his environment and unchecked natural tendencies. At length it +happened that he met Rachel, who awoke in him certain forgotten associations. +She was an English lady, and he remembered that once he had been an English +gentleman, years and years ago. Also she was beautiful, which appealed to his +strong animal nature, and spiritual, which appealed to a materialist soaked in +Kaffir superstition. So he fell in love with her, really in love; that is to +say, he came to desire to make her his wife more than he desired anything else +on earth. For her sake he grew to dislike his black consorts, however handsome; +even the heaping up of herds of cattle after the native fashion ceased to +appeal to him. He wanted to live as his forbears had lived, quietly, +respectably, with a woman of his own class. +</p> + +<p> +So he made advances to her, with the results we know. For fifteen years or more +he had been a savage, and he could not hide his savagery from her eyes any more +than he could break off the ties and entanglements that had grown up about him. +Had she happened to care for him, it is very possible, however, that in this he +would have succeeded in time. He might even have reformed himself completely, +and died in old age a much-respected colonial gentleman; perhaps a member of +the local Legislature. But she did not; she detested him; she knew him for what +he was, a cowardly outcast whose good looks did not appeal to her. So the spark +of his new aspirations was trampled out beneath her merciless heel, and there +remained only the acquired savagery and superstition mixed with the inborn +instincts of a blackguard. +</p> + +<p> +It was this superstition of his that had brought all her troubles upon Rachel, +for however it came about, he had conceived the idea that she was something +more than an ordinary woman and, with many tales of her mysterious origin and +powers, imparted it to the Zulus, in whose minds it was fostered by the +accident of the coincidence of her native name and personal loveliness with +those of the traditional white Spirit of their race, and by Mopo’s +identification of her with that Spirit. Thus she became their goddess and his; +at any rate for a time. But while they desired to worship her only, and use her +rumoured wisdom as an oracle, he sought to make her his wife; the more +impossible it became, the more he sought it. She refused him with contumely, +and he laid plots to decoy her to Zululand, thinking that there she would be in +his power. In the end he succeeded, basely enough, only to find that he was in +her power, and that the contumely, and more, were still his share. +</p> + +<p> +But all this did not in the least deter him from his aim, and as it chanced, +fortune had put other cards into his hand. He knew that Rachel would not stay +among the Zulus, as they knew it. Therefore they had commissioned him to bring +her people to her. If her people were not brought he was sure that she would +come to seek them, and <i>if she found no one</i>, then where could she go, or +at least who would be at hand to help her? Surely his opportunity had come at +last, and marriage by capture did not occur to him, who had spent so many years +among savages, as a crime from which to shrink. Only he feared that the +prospective captive, the Inkosazana-y-Zoola, was not one with whom it was safe +to trifle. But his love was stronger than his fear. He thought that he would +take the risk. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the reflections of Ishmael upon the banks of the flooded Tugela, and +when at length the waters went down sufficiently to enable him and the soldiers +under his command to cross into Natal, he was fully determined to put them into +practice, if the chance came his way. How this might best be done he left to +luck, for if it could be avoided he did not wish to have more blood upon his +hands. Only Rachel must be rendered homeless and friendless, for then who could +protect her from him? An answer came into his mind—she might protect +herself, or that Power which seemed to go with her might protect her. Something +warned him that this evil enterprise was very dangerous. Yet the fire that +burnt within him drove him on to face the danger. +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael was still on the Zululand bank of the river when one day about noon an +urgent message reached him from Dingaan. It said that the King was angry as a +wounded buffalo to learn, as he had just done, that he, Ibubesi, still lingered +on his road, and had not carried out his mission. The Inkosazana, accompanied +by a white man, was travelling to Ramah, and unless he went forward at once, +would overtake him. Therefore he must march instantly and bring back the old +Teacher and his wife as he had been bidden. Should he meet the Inkosazana and +her companion as he returned with the white prisoners she must not be touched +or insulted in any way, only his ears and those of the soldiers with him were +to be deaf to her orders or entreaties to release them, for then she would +surely turn and follow of her own accord back to the Great Place. If the white +man with her made trouble or resisted, he was to be bound, but on no account +must his blood be made to flow, for if this happened it would bring a curse +upon the land, and he, Dingaan, swore by the head of the Black One who was gone +(that is Chaka) that he would kill him, Ibubesi, in payment. Yes, he would +smear him with honey and bind him over an ant-heap in the sun till he died, if +he hunted Africa from end to end to catch him. Moreover, should he fail in the +business, he would send a regiment and destroy his town at Mafooti, and put +his wives and people to the spear, and seize his cattle. All this also he swore +by the head of the Black One. +</p> + +<p> +Now when Ishmael received this message he was much frightened, for he knew that +these were not idle threats. Indeed, the exhausted messenger told him that +never had any living man seen Dingaan so mad with rage as he was when he +learned that he, Ibubesi, was still lingering on the banks of the Tugela, +adding that he had foamed at the mouth with fury and uttered terrible threats. +Ishmael sent him back with a humble answer, pointing out that it had been +impossible to cross the river, which was “in wrath,” but that now +he would do all things as he was commanded, and especially that not a hair of +the white man’s head should be harmed. +</p> + +<p> +“Then you must do them quickly,” said the messenger with a grim +smile as he rose and prepared to go, “for know that the Inkosazana is not +more than half a day’s march behind you, accompanied by the white Inkoos +Dario.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is this Dario like?” asked Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! he is young and very handsome, with hair and beard of gold, and eyes +that are such as those of the Inkosazana herself. Some say that he is her +brother, another child of the Heavens, and some that he is her husband. Who am +I that I should speak of such high things? But it is evident that she loves him +very much, for by her magic she told the King of his coming, and even when he +is behind her she is always trying to turn her head to look at him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! she loves him very much, does she?” said Ishmael, setting his +white teeth. Then he turned, and calling the captain of the impi, gave orders +that the river must be crossed at once, for so the King commanded, and it was +better to die with honour by water than with shame by the spear. +</p> + +<p> +So they waded and swam the river with great difficulty, but, as it chanced, +without loss of life, Ishmael being borne over it upon the shoulders of the +strongest men. Upon its further bank he summoned the captains and delivered to +them the orders of the King. Then they set out for Ramah, Ishmael carried in a +litter made of boughs. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst the soldiers were constructing this litter, he called two men of the +Swamp-dwellers, who had their homes upon the banks of the Tugela, and promising +them a reward, bade them run to his town, Mafooti, and tell his head man there +to come at once with thirty of the best soldiers, and to hide them in the bush +of the kloof above Ramah, where he would join them that night. The men, who +knew Ibubesi, and what happened to those who failed upon his business, went +swiftly, and a little while afterwards, the litter being finished, Ishmael +entered it, and the impi started for Ramah. +</p> + +<p> +Before sundown they appeared upon a ridge overlooking the settlement, just as +the herds were driving the cattle into their kraals. Seeing the Zulus while as +yet they were some way off, these herds shouted an alarm, whereon the people of +the place, thinking that Dingaan had sent a regiment to wipe them out, fled to +the bush, the herds driving the cattle after them. Man, woman, and child, +deserting their pastor, who knew nothing of all this, being occupied with a sad +business, they fled, incontinently, so that when Ishmael and the impi entered +Ramah, no one was left in it save a few aged and sick people, who could not +walk. +</p> + +<p> +At the outskirts of the town Ishmael descended from his litter and commanded +the soldiers to surround it, with orders that they were to hurt no one, but if +the white Umfundusi, who was called Shouter, or his wife attempted to escape, +they were to be seized and brought to him. Then taking with him some of the +captains and a guard of ten men, he advanced to the mission-house. +</p> + +<p> +The door was open, and, followed by the Zulus, he entered to search the place, +for he feared that its inhabitants might have seen them, and have gone with the +others. Looking into the first room that they reached, of which, as it chanced, +the door was also open, Ishmael saw that this was not so, for there upon the +bed lay Mrs. Dove, apparently very ill, while by the side of the bed knelt her +husband, praying. For a few moments Ishmael and the savages behind him stood +still, staring at the pair, till suddenly Mrs. Dove turned her head and saw +them. Lifting herself in the bed she pointed with her finger, and Ishmael +noticed that her lips were quite blue, and that she did not seem to be able to +speak. Then Mr. Dove, observing her outstretched hand, looked round. He had not +seen Ishmael since that day when he struck him after their stormy interview at +Mafooti, but recognising the man at once, he asked sternly: +</p> + +<p> +“What are you doing, sir, with these savages in my house? Cannot you see +that my wife is sick, and must not be disturbed?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am sorry,” Ishmael answered shamefacedly, for in his heart he +was afraid of Mr. Dove, “but I am sent to you with a message from Dingaan +the King, and,” he added as an afterthought, “from your +daughter.” +</p> + +<p> +“From my daughter!” exclaimed Mr. Dove eagerly. “What of her? +Is she well? We cannot get any certain news of her, only rumours.” +</p> + +<p> +“I saw her but once.” replied Ishmael, “and she was well +enough, then. You know the Zulus have made her their Inkosazana, and keep her +guarded.” +</p> + +<p> +“Does she live quite alone then with these savages?” +</p> + +<p> +“She did, but I am sorry I must tell you that she seems to have a +companion now, some scoundrel of a white man with whom she has taken up,” +he sneered. +</p> + +<p> +“My daughter take up with a scoundrel of a white man! It is false. What +is this man’s name?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know, but the natives call him Dario, and say that he is +young, and has fair hair, and that she is in love with him. That’s all I +can tell you about the man.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Dove shook his head, but his wife sat up suddenly in bed, and plucked him +by the sleeve, for she had been listening intently to everything that passed. +</p> + +<p> +“Dario! Young, fair hair, in love with him—” she repeated in +a thick whisper, then added, “John, it is Richard Darrien grown +up—the boy who saved her in the Umtooma River, years ago, and whom she +has never forgotten. Oh! thank God! Thank God! With him she will be safe. I +always knew that he would find her, for they belong to each other,” and +she sank back exhausted. +</p> + +<p> +“That’s what the Zulus say, that they belong to each other,” +replied Ishmael, with another sneer. “Perhaps they are married native +fashion.” +</p> + +<p> +“Stop insulting my daughter, sir,” said Mr. Dove angrily. +“She would not take a husband as you take your wives, nor if this man is +Richard Darrien, as I pray, would he be a party to such a thing. Tell me, are +they coming here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not they, they are far too comfortable where they are. Also the Zulus +would prevent them. But don’t be sad about it, for I am sent to take you +both to join her at the Great Place where you are to live.” +</p> + +<p> +“To join her! It is impossible,” ejaculated Mr. Dove, glancing at +his sick wife. +</p> + +<p> +“Impossible or not, you’ve got to come at once, both of you. That +is the King’s order and the Inkosazana’s wish, and what is more +there is an impi outside to see that you obey. Now I give you five minutes to +get ready, and then we start.” +</p> + +<p> +“Man, are you mad? How can my wife travel to Zululand in her state? She +cannot walk a step.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then she can be carried,” answered Ishmael callously. “Come, +don’t waste time in talking. Those are my orders, and I am not going to +have my throat cut for either of you. If Mrs. Dove won’t dress wrap her +up in blankets.” +</p> + +<p> +“You go, John, you go,” whispered his wife, “or they will +kill you. Never mind about me; my time has come, and I die happy, for Richard +Darrien is with Rachel.” +</p> + +<p> +The mention of Richard’s name seemed to infuriate Ishmael. At any rate he +said brutally: +</p> + +<p> +“Are you coming, or must I use force?” +</p> + +<p> +“Coming, you wicked villain! How can I come?” shouted Mr. Dove, for +he was mad with grief and rage. “Be off with your savages. I will shoot +the first man who lays a finger on my wife,” and as he spoke he snatched +a double-barrelled pistol which hung upon the wall and cocked it. +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael turned to the Zulus who stood behind him watching this scene with +curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +“Seize the Shouter,” he said, “and bind him. Lift the old +woman on her mattress, and carry her. If she dies on the road we cannot help +it.” +</p> + +<p> +The captains hesitated, not from fear, but because Mrs. Dove’s condition +moved even their savage hearts to pity. +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you not obey?” roared Ishmael. “Dogs and cowards, it +is the King’s word. Take her up or you shall die, every man of you, you +know how. Knock down the old Evildoer with your sticks if he gives +trouble.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the men hesitated no longer. Springing forward, several of them seized the +mattress and began to lift it bodily. Mrs. Dove rose and tried to struggle from +the bed, then uttered a low moaning cry, fell back, and lay still. +</p> + +<p> +“You devils, you have killed her!” gasped Mr. Dove, as lifting the +pistol he fired at the Zulu nearest to him, shooting him through the body so +that he sank upon the floor dying. Then, fearing lest he should shoot again, +the captains fell upon the poor old man, striking him with kerries and the +handles of their spears, for they sought to disable him and make him drop the +pistol. +</p> + +<p> +As it chanced, though this was not their intention, in the confusion a heavy +blow from a knobstick struck him on the temple. The second barrel of the pistol +went off, and the bullet from it but just missed Ishmael who was standing to +one side. When the smoke cleared away it was seen that Mr. Dove had fallen +backwards on to the bed. The martyrdom he always sought and expected had +overtaken him. He was quite dead. They were both dead! +</p> + +<p> +The head induna in command of the impi stepped forward and looked at them, then +felt their hearts. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Wow!</i>” he said, “these white people have ‘gone +beyond.’ They have gone to join the spirits, both of them. What now, +Ibubesi?” +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael, who stood in the corner, very white-faced, and staring with round +eyes, for the tragedy had taken a turn that he did not intend or expect, shook +himself and rubbed his forehead with his hand, answering: +</p> + +<p> +“Carry them into the Great Place, I suppose. The King ordered that they +should be brought there. Why did you kill that old Shouter, you fools?” +he added with irritation. “You have brought his blood and the curse of +the Inkosazana on our heads.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Wow!</i>” answered the induna again, “you bade us strike +him with sticks, and our orders were to obey you. Who would have guessed that +the old man’s skull was so thin from thinking? You or I would never have +felt a tap like that. But they are ‘gone beyond,’ and we will not +defile ourselves by touching them. Dead bones are of no use to anyone, and +their ghosts might haunt us. Come, brethren, let us go back to the King and +make report. The order was Ibubesi’s, and we are not to blame.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” they answered, “let us go back and make report. Are +you coming, Ibubesi?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not I,” he answered. “Do I want to have my neck twisted +because of your clumsiness? Go you and win your own peace if you can, but if +you see the Inkosazana, my advice is that you avoid her lest she learn the +truth, and bring your deaths upon you, for, know, she travels hither, and she +called these folk father and mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Without doubt we will avoid her,” said the captain, “who +fear her terrible curse. But, Ibubesi, it is on you that it will fall, not on +us who did but obey you as we were bidden; yes, on you she will bring down +death before this moon dies. Make your peace with the Heavens, if you can, +Ibubesi, as we go to try to make ours with the King.” +</p> + +<p> +“Would you bewitch me, you ill-omened dog?” shouted Ishmael, wiping +the sweat of fear off his brow. “May you soon be stiff!” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay, Ibubesi, it is you who shall be stiff. The Inkosazana will see +to that, and were I not sure of it I would make you so myself, who am a noble +who will not be called names by a white <i>umfagozan</i>, a low-born fellow who +plots for blood, but leaves its shedding to brave men. Farewell, Ibubesi; if +the jackals leave anything of you after the Inkosazana has spoken, we will +return to bury your bones,” and he turned to go. +</p> + +<p> +“Stay,” cried the dying man on the floor, “would you leave me +here in pain, my brothers?” +</p> + +<p> +The induna stepped to him and examined him. +</p> + +<p> +“It is mortal,” he said, shaking his head, “right through the +liver. Why did not the white man’s thunder smite Ibubesi instead of you, +and save the Inkosazana some trouble? Well, your arms are still strong and here +is a spear; you know where to strike. Be quick with your messages. Yes, yes, I +will see that they are delivered. Good-night, my brother. Do you remember how +we stood side by side in that big fight twenty years ago, when the Pondo giant +got me down and you fell on the top of me and thrust upwards and killed him? It +was a very good fight, was it not? We will talk it over again in the World of +Spirits. Good-night, my brother. Yes, yes, I will deliver the message to your +little girl, and tell her where the necklace is to be found, and that you wish +her to name her firstborn son after you. Good-night. Use that assegai at once, +for your wound must be painful, or perhaps as you are down upon the ground +Ibubesi will do it for you. Good-night, my brother, and Ibubesi, good-night to +you also. We cross the Tugela by another drift, wait you here for the +Inkosazana, and tell her how the Shouter died.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they turned and went. The wounded man watched them pass the door, and when +the last of them had gone he used the assegai upon himself, and with his +failing hand flung it feebly at Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +The dying Zulu’s spear struck Ishmael, who had turned his head away, upon +the cheek, just pricking it and causing the blood to flow, no more. Ishmael was +still also, paralysed almost, or so he seemed, for even the pain of the cut did +not make him move. He stared at the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Dove; he stared at +the dead Zulu, and in his heart a voice cried: “You have murdered them. +By now they are pleading to God for vengeance on you, Ishmael, the outcast. You +will never dare to be alone again, for they will haunt you.” +</p> + +<p> +As he thought it the relaxed hand of the old clergyman who had fallen in a +sitting posture on the bed, slipped from his wounded head which he had clasped +just before he died, and for a moment seemed to point at him. He shivered, but +still he could not stir. How dreadful and solemn was that face! And those eyes, +how they searched out the black record of his heart! The quiet rays of the +afternoon sun suddenly flowed in through the window place and illumined the +awful, accusing face till it shone like that of a saint in glory. A drop of +blood from the cut upon his cheek splashed on to the floor, and the noise of it +struck on his strained nerves loud as a pistol-shot. Blood, his own blood +wherewith he must pay for that which he had shed. The sight and the thought +seemed to break the spell. With an oath he bounded out of the room like a +frightened wolf, those dead staring at him as he went, and rushed from the +house that held them. +</p> + +<p> +Beyond its walls Ishmael paused. The Zulus had fled in one direction, and the +inhabitants of Ramah in another; there was no one to be seen. His eye fell upon +the dense mass of bush above the station, and he remembered the message that he +had sent to his own people to meet him there. Perhaps they had already arrived. +He would go to see, he who was in such sore need of human company. As he went +his numbed faculties returned to him, and in the open light of day some of his +terror passed. He began to think again. What was done was done; he could not +bring the dead back to life. He was not really to blame, and after all, things +had worked out well for him. Save for this white man, Dario, Rachel was now +alone in the world, and dead people did not speak, there was no one to tell her +of his share in the tragedy. Why should she not turn to him who had no one else +to whom she could go? The white man, if he were still with her, could be got +rid of somehow; very likely he would run away, and they two would be left quite +alone. At any rate it was for her sake that he had entered on this black road +of sin, and what did one step more matter, the step that led him to his reward? +Of course it might lead him somewhere else. Rachel was a woman to be feared, +and the Zulus were to be feared, and other things to which he could give no +shape or name, but that he felt pressing round him, were still more to be +feared. Perhaps he would do best to fly, far into the interior, or by ship to +some other land where none would know him and his black story. What! Fly +companioned by those ghosts, and leave Rachel, the woman for whom he burned, +with this Dario, whom the Zulus said she loved, and with whom her mother, just +before her end, had declared that she would be safe? Never. She was his; he had +bought her with blood, and he would have the due the devil owed him. +</p> + +<p> +He was in the bush now, and a voice called him, that of his head man. +</p> + +<p> +“Come out, you dog,” he said, searching the dense foliage with his +eyes, and the man appeared, saluting him humbly. +</p> + +<p> +“We received your message and we have come, Inkoos. We are but just +arrived. What has chanced here that the town is so still?” +</p> + +<p> +“The Zulus have been and gone. They have killed the white Teacher and his +wife, though I thought to save them—look at my wound. Also the people are +fled.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” replied the head man, “that was an ill deed, for he was +holy, and a great prophet, and doubtless his spirit is strong to revenge. Well +for you is it, Master, that you had no hand in the deed, as at first I feared +might be the case, for know that last night a strange dog climbed on to your +hut and howled there and would not be driven away, nor could we kill it with +spears, so we think it was a ghost. All your wives thought that evil had drawn +near to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael struck him across the mouth, exclaiming: +</p> + +<p> +“Be silent, you accursed wizard, or you shall howl louder than your +ghost-dog.” +</p> + +<p> +“I meant no harm,” answered the man humbly, but with a curious +gleam in his eye. “What are your commands, Chief?” +</p> + +<p> +“That we watch here. I think that the daughter of the Shouter, she who is +called Inkosazana-y-Zoola, is coming, and she may need help. Have you brought +thirty men with you as I bade you through my messengers?” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Ibubesi, they are all hidden in the bush. I go to summon them, +though I think that the mighty Inkosazana, who can command all the Zulu impis +and all the spirits of the dead, will need little help from us.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +RACHEL COMES HOME</h2> + +<p> +As Rachel had travelled up from the Tugela to the Great Place, so she travelled +back from the Great Place to the Tugela in state and dignity such as became a +thing divine, perhaps the first white woman, moreover, who had ever entered +Zululand. All day she rode alone, Tamboosa leading the white ox before her and +Richard following behind, while in front and to the rear marched the serried +ranks of the impi, her escort. At night, as before, she slept alone in the +empty kraals provided for her, attended by the best-born maidens, Richard being +lodged in some hut without the fence. +</p> + +<p> +So at length, about noon one day, they reached the banks of the Tugela, not +many hours after Ishmael had crossed it, and camped there. Now, after she had +eaten, Rachel sent for Richard, with whom she had found but few opportunities +to talk during that journey. He came and stood before her, as all must do, and +she addressed him in English while the spies and captains watched him sullenly, +for they were angry at this use of a foreign tongue which they could not +understand. Preserving a cold and distant air, she asked him of his health, and +how he had fared. +</p> + +<p> +“Well enough,” he answered. “And now, what are your plans? +The river is in flood, you will find it difficult to cross. Still it can be +done, for I hear that the white man, Ishmael, of whom you told me, forded it +this morning with a company of armed men.” +</p> + +<p> +Aware of the eyes that watched her, with an effort Rachel showed no surprise. +</p> + +<p> +“How is that?” she asked. “I thought the man fled from +Zululand many days ago. Why then does he leave the country with +soldiers?” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t tell you, Rachel. There is something queer about the +business. When I inquire, everyone shrugs his shoulders. They say that the King +knows his own business. If I were you I would ask no questions, for you will +learn nothing, and if you do not ask they will think that you know all.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand,” she said. “But, Richard, I must cross the +river to-day. You and I must cross it alone and reach Ramah to-night. Richard, +something weighs upon my heart; I am terribly afraid.” +</p> + +<p> +“How will you manage it?” he asked, ignoring the rest. +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t tell you yet, Richard, but keep my horse and yours saddled +there where you are encamped,” and she nodded towards a hut about fifty +yards away. “I think that I shall come to you presently. Now go.” +</p> + +<p> +So he saluted her and went. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Rachel sent for Tamboosa and the captains, and asked the state of the +river which was out of sight about half a mile from them. They replied that it +was “very angry”; none could think of attempting its passage, as +much water was coming down. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it so?” she said indifferently. “Well, I must +look,” and with slow steps she walked towards the hut where she knew the +horses were, followed by Tamboosa and the captains. +</p> + +<p> +Reaching it, she saw them standing saddled on its further side, and by them +Richard, seated on the ground smoking. As she came he rose and saluted her, +but, taking no heed of him, she went to her grey mare, and, placing her foot in +the stirrup, sprang to the saddle, motioning to him to do likewise. +</p> + +<p> +“Whither goest thou, Inkosazana?” asked Tamboosa anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +“To throw a charm on the waters,” she answered, “so that they +may run down and I can cross them to-morrow. Come, Dario, and come Tamboosa, +but let the rest stay behind, since common eyes must not look upon my magic, +and he who dares to look shall be struck with blindness.” +</p> + +<p> +The captains hesitated, and turning on them fiercely she commanded them to obey +her word lest some evil should befall them. +</p> + +<p> +Then they fell back and she rode towards the Tugela, followed by Richard on +horseback and Tamboosa on foot. Arrived at that spot on the bank where she had +received the salutation of the regiment when she entered Zululand, Rachel saw +at once that although the great river was full it could easily be forded on +horseback. Calling Richard to her, she said: +</p> + +<p> +“We must go, and now, while there is no one to stop us but Tamboosa. Do +not hurt him unless he tries to spear you, for he has been kind to me.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she addressed Tamboosa, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“I have spoken to the waters and they will not harm me. The hour has come +when I must leave my people for a while, and go forward alone with my white +servant, Dario. These are my commands, that none should dare to follow me save +only yourself, Tamboosa, who can bring on the white ox with its load so soon as +the water has run down and deliver them to me at Ramah. Do you hear me?” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear, Inkosazana,” answered the old induna, “and thy words +split my heart.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet you will obey them, Tamboosa.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I will obey them who know what would befall me otherwise, and that +it is the King’s will that none should dare to thwart thee, even if they +could. Yet I think that very soon thou wilt return to thy children. Therefore, +why not abide with us until to-morrow, when the waters will be low?” +</p> + +<p> +“Tamboosa,” said Rachel, leaning forward and looking him in the +eyes, “why did Ibubesi cross this river with soldiers but a few hours +ago—Ibubesi, who fled from the Great Place when the moon was young that +now is full? Look, there goes their spoor in the mud.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know not,” he answered, looking down. “Inkosazana, +to-morrow I will bring on the white ox to Ramah, and I will bring it +alone.” +</p> + +<p> +“So be it, Tamboosa, but if by chance you should not find me, ask where +Ibubesi is, and if need be, seek for me with an impi, Tamboosa—for me and +for this white man, Dario,” and again she bent forward and looked at him. +</p> + +<p> +“I know not what thou meanest, Inkosazana,” he replied. “But +of this be sure, that if I cannot find thee, then I will seek for thee, if need +be with every spear in Zululand at my back.” +</p> + +<p> +“Farewell, then, Tamboosa, and to the regiment farewell also. Say to the +captains that it is my will that they should return to the Great Place, bearing +my greetings to the King and those of the white lord, Dario. Look for me +to-morrow at Ramah.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, followed by Richard, she rode her horse past him into the lip of the +water. As she went Tamboosa drew himself up and gave her the Bayète, the royal +salute. +</p> + +<p> +Although it was red with earth and flecked with foam and the roar of it was +loud as it sped towards the sea, the river did not prove very difficult to +ford. But once, indeed, were the horses swept off their feet and forced to +swim, and then but for a few paces, after which they regained them, and plunged +to the farther bank without accident. +</p> + +<p> +“Free at last, Rachel, with our lives before us and nothing more to +fear,” called Richard in his cheery voice, as he forced his horse +alongside of hers. Then suddenly he caught sight of her face and saw that it +was white and drawn as though with pain; also that she leaned forward on her +saddle, clasping its pommel as though she were about to faint. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” he exclaimed in alarm. “Did the flood frighten +you, Rachel—are you ill?” +</p> + +<p> +For a few moments she made no answer, then straightened herself with a sigh and +said in a low voice: +</p> + +<p> +“Richard, I have been so long among those Zulus playing the part of a +spirit that I begin to think I am one, or that their magic has got hold of me. +I tell you that in the roar of the water I heard voices—the voices of my +father and mother calling me and speaking of you—and, Richard, they +seemed to be in great fear and pain, for a minute or more I heard them, then a +dreadful cold wind blew on me—not this wind, it seemed to come from +above—and everything passed away, leaving my mind numb and empty so that +I do not remember how we came out of the river. Don’t laugh at me, +Richard; it is so. The Kaffirs are right; I have some power of the sort. +Remember how I saw you travelling towards me in the pool.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I laugh at you, dearest?” he asked anxiously, for +something of this uncanny fear passed from her mind into his, with which it was +in tune. “Indeed, I don’t laugh who know that you are not quite +like other women. But, Rachel, the strain of those two months has worn you out, +and now the reaction is too much. Perhaps it is nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps,” she answered sadly, “I hope so. Richard, what is +the time?” +</p> + +<p> +“About a quarter to six, to judge by the sun,” he answered, +</p> + +<p> +“Then we shall not be able to reach Ramah before dark.” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Rachel, but there is a good moon.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, there is a good moon; I wonder what it will show us,” and she +shivered. +</p> + +<p> +Then they pressed their horses to a canter and rode on, speaking little, for +the fount of words seemed to be frozen in them, although Richard recollected, +with a curious sense of wonder how he had looked forward to this opportunity of +long, unfettered talk with Rachel and how much he had to tell her. Over hill +and valley, through bush and stream they rode, till at last with the short +twilight they reached the plain that ran to Ramah. Then came the dark in which +they must ride slowly, till presently the round edge of the moon pushed itself +up above the shoulder of a hill and there was light again—pure, peaceful +light that turned the veld to silver and shone whitely on the pale face of +Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +Ramah was before them. They had met no living thing save some wild game +trekking to the water, and heard no sound save the distant roar of some beast +of prey. Ramah was before them. The moon shone on the roofs of the +Mission-house and the little church and the clusters of Kaffir huts beyond. +But, oh! it was silent: no cattle lowed, no child cried, nor did the bell of +the church ring for evening prayer as at this hour it should have done. Also no +lamp showed in the windows of the Mission-house and no smoke rose from the +cooking fires of the kraals. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are all the people, Richard?” whispered Rachel. “There +is the place unharmed, but where are the people?” +</p> + +<p> +But Richard could only shake his head: the terror of something dreadful had got +hold of him also, and he knew not what to say. +</p> + +<p> +Now they had come to the wall of the Mission-house and sprang from their horses +which they left loose. As they advanced side by side towards the open gate, +something leapt the stoep and rushed through it. It was a striped hyena; they +could see the hair bristle on its back as it passed them with a whining growl. +Hand in hand they ran to the house across the little garden patch—Rachel, +led by some instinct, guiding her companion straight to her parents’ room +whereof the windows, that opened like doors, stood wide as the gate had done. +</p> + +<p> +One more moment and they were there; another, and the moonlight showed them +all. +</p> + +<p> +For a long while—to Richard it seemed hours—Rachel said nothing; +only stood still like the statue of a woman, staring at those cold faces that +looked back at her through the unearthly moonlight. Indeed, it was Richard who +spoke first, feeling that if he did not this dreadful silence would choke him +or cause him to faint. +</p> + +<p> +“The Zulus have murdered them,” he said hoarsely, glancing at the +dead Kaffir on the floor. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” she answered in a cold, small voice; “Ishmael, +Ishmael!” and she pointed to something that lay at his feet. +</p> + +<p> +Richard stooped and picked it up. It was a fly wisp of rhinoceros horn which +the man had let fall when the Zulu’s spear struck him. +</p> + +<p> +“I know it,” she went on; “he always carried it. He is the +real murderer. The Zulus would not have dared,” and she choked and was +silent. +</p> + +<p> +“Let me think,” said Richard confusedly. “There is something +in my mind. What is it? Oh! I know. If you are right that devil has not done +this for nothing. He is somewhere near; he wants to take you”; and he +ground his teeth at the thought, then added: “Rachel, we must get out of +this and ride for Durban, at once—at once; the white people will protect +you there.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who will bury my father and mother?” she asked in the same cold +voice. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, it does not matter, the living are more than the dead. I +can return and see to it afterwards.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are right,” she answered. Then she knelt down by the bed and +lifting her beautiful, agonised face, put up some silent prayer. Next she rose +and kissed first her father, then her mother, kissed their dead brows in a last +farewell and turned to go. As she went her eyes fell upon the assegai that lay +near to the dead Zulu. Stooping down, she took it and with it in her hand +passed on to the stoep. Here her strength seemed to fail her, for she reeled +against the wall, then with an effort flung herself into Richard’s arms, +moaning: +</p> + +<p> +“Only you left, Richard, only you. Oh! if you were taken from me also, +what would become of me?” +</p> + +<p> +A moment later she became aware that the stoep was swarming with men who seemed +to arise out of the shadows. A voice said in the Kaffir tongue: +</p> + +<p> +“Seize that fellow and bind him.” +</p> + +<p> +Instantly, before he could do anything, before he could even turn, Richard was +torn from her, struggling furiously, and thrown to the ground. Rachel sprang to +the wall and stood with her back to it, raising the spear she held. It flashed +into her mind that these were Zulus, and of Zulus she was not afraid. +</p> + +<p> +“What dogs are these,” she cried, “that dare to lift a hand +against the Inkosazana and her servant?” +</p> + +<p> +The black men about her swayed and murmured, then made way for a man who walked +up the steps of the stoep. The moonlight fell upon him and she saw that it was +Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +“Rachel,” he said, taking off his hat politely, “these are my +people. We saw that white scoundrel assault you, and of course seized him at +once. As you know a dreadful thing has happened here. This afternoon the Zulus +killed your father and mother, or rather they killed your father, and your +mother, who was ill, died with the shock, because they refused to go to +Zululand whither Dingaan had ordered that they should be taken. So seeing that +you were travelling here I came to rescue you, lest you should fall into their +hands, and,” he added lamely, “you know the rest.” +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael had spoken in English, but Rachel answered him in Zulu. +</p> + +<p> +“I know all, Night-prowler,” she cried aloud. “I know that my +father and mother were killed by your order, and in your presence; their +spirits told me so but now, and for that crime I sentence you to death!” +and she pointed at him with the spear. “Heaven above and earth +beneath,” she went on, “bear witness that I sentence this man to +death. People of the Zulus, hear me in your kraals far away. Hear me, Dingaan, +sitting in your Great Place. Hear me, every captain and induna, hear the voice +of your Inkosazana: I sentence this man to death, since because of him there is +blood between me and my people, the blood of my father and my mother. Now, +Night-prowler, do your worst before you die, but know this, you his servants, +that if I am harmed, or if this white man, the chief Dario, is harmed, then you +shall die also, every one of you. What is your will, Night-prowler?” +</p> + +<p> +“I will tell you that at Mafooti,” answered Ishmael, trying to look +bold. “I am not afraid of you like those Zulu savages, and Dingaan is a +long way off. Will you come quietly? I hope so, for I don’t want to hurt +you or put you to shame, but you’ve got to come, and this Dario, too. If +you make any trouble, I will have him killed at once. Understand, Rachel, that +if you don’t come, he shall be killed at once. My people may be afraid of +you, but they won’t mind cutting his throat,” he added +significantly. +</p> + +<p> +“Never mind about me,” said Richard in a choked voice from the +ground where he was pinned down by the Kaffirs. “Do what you think best +for yourself, Rachel.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel, whose wits were made keen by doubt and anguish, looked at the faces +of the natives about her, and even in that dim moonlight read them like a book, +as she could always do. She saw that they were afraid of her, and that if she +commanded them, they would let her go free, whatever their master might say or +do. But she saw also that Ishmael spoke truth when he declared that they had no +such dread of Richard, and might even believe that he was doing her some +violence. If she escaped therefore it would be at the cost of Richard’s +life. Instantly in her bold fashion she made up her mind. It was borne in upon +her that she had declared the truth; that Ishmael was doomed, that he had no +power to work her any hurt, however sore her case might seem. Since +Richard’s life hung on it she would go with him. +</p> + +<p> +“Servants of Ibubesi,” she said, “lift the white chief Dario +to his feet, and listen to my words.” +</p> + +<p> +They obeyed her at once, without even waiting for their master to speak, only +holding Richard by the arms. +</p> + +<p> +Now the most of the men went into the garden followed by Ishmael, and taking +Richard with them, but a few remained to watch her. From this garden presently +arose a sound of great quarrelling. Rachel was too far off to understand what +was said, but from the sounds she judged that Ishmael was giving orders to his +people which they refused to obey, for she could hear him cursing them +furiously. Presently she heard something else—the loud report of a gun +followed by groans. Then a Kaffir ran up to them and whispered something to +those who surrounded her; it was that head man whom Ishmael had struck on the +mouth in the bush when he told him that a dog had howled upon his hut, and his +face was very frightened. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel leaned against the wall and looked at him, for she could not speak, she +who thought that Richard had been murdered. +</p> + +<p> +“Have no fear, Inkosazana,” said the man, answering the question in +her eyes. “Ibubesi has killed one of us because we do not like this +business and would clean it off our hands, that is all. The chief Dario is +safe, and I swear to thee that no harm shall come to him from us. We will care +for him and protect him to the death, and if we lead him away a prisoner it is +because we must, since otherwise Ibubesi will kill us all. Therefore be +merciful to us when the spear of thy power is lifted.” +</p> + +<p> +Before Rachel could answer Ishmael’s voice was heard asking why they did +not bring the Inkosazana as the horses were ready. +</p> + +<p> +“I pray thee come, Zoola,” said the man hurriedly, “or he will +shoot more of us.” +</p> + +<p> +So Rachel walked down the steps of the stoep in front of them, holding her head +high, leaving behind her the house of Ramah and its dead. At the gate of the +garden stood the horses, on one of which, his own, Richard was already mounted, +his arms bound, his feet made fast beneath it with a hide rope. Her path lay +past him, and as she went by he said in a voice that was choking with rage: +</p> + +<p> +“I am helpless, I cannot save you, but our hour will come.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Richard,” she answered quietly, “our hour will come +when his has gone,” and with the spear in her hand once more she pointed +at Ishmael, who stood by watching them sullenly. Then she mounted her +horse—how she could never remember—and they were separated. +</p> + +<p> +After this she seemed to hear Ishmael talking to her, arguing, explaining, but +she made no answer to his words. Her mind was a blank, and all she knew was +that they were riding on for hours. Her tired horse stumbled up a pass and down +its further side. Then she heard dogs bark and saw lights. The horse stopped +and she slid from it, and as she was too exhausted to walk, was supported or +carried into a hut, as she thought by women who seemed very much afraid of +touching her, after which she seemed to sink into blackness. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Rachel woke from her stupor to find herself lying on a bed in a great Kaffir +hut that was furnished like a European room, for in it were chairs and a table, +also rough window places closed with reed mats that took the place of glass. +Through the smoke-hole at the top of the hut struck a straight ray of sunlight, +by which she judged that it must be about midday. She began to think, till by +degrees everything came back to her, and in that hour she nearly died of horror +and of grief. Indeed she was minded to die. There at her side lay a means of +death—the assegai which she had found by the body of the Zulu in Ramah, +and none had taken from her. She lifted it and felt its edge, then laid it down +again. Into the darkness of her despair some comfort seemed to creep. She was +sure that Richard lived, and if she died, he would die also. While he lived, +why should she die? Moreover, it would be a crime which she should only dare +when all hope had gone and she stood face to face with shame. +</p> + +<p> +Thrusting aside these thoughts she rose. On the table stood curdled milk and +other food of which she forced herself to eat, that her strength might return +to her, for she knew that she would need it all. Then she washed and dressed +herself, for in a corner of the hut was water in wooden bowls, and even a comb +and other things, that apparently had been set there for her to use. This done, +she went to the door, which was made like that of a house, and finding that it +was not secured, opened it and looked out. Beyond was a piece of ground floored +with the soil taken from ant-heaps, and polished black after the native +fashion. This space was surrounded by a high stone wall, and had at the end of +it another very strong door. In its centre grew a large, shady tree under which +was placed a bench. Taking the assegai with her she went to the door in the +high wall and found that it was barred on the further side. Then she returned +and sat down on the bench under the tree. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed that she had been observed, for a little while afterwards bolts were +shot back, the door in the wall opened, and Ishmael entered, closing it behind +him. She looked at the man, and at the sight of his handsome, furtive face, his +dark, guilt-laden eyes, her gorge rose. She was alone in this secret place with +the murderer of her father and her mother, who sought her love. Yet, strangely +enough, her heart was filled not with tears, but with contempt and icy anger. +She did not shrink away from him as he came towards her in his gaudy clothes, +with an assumed air of insolent confidence, but sat pale and proud, as she had +sat at Umgugundhlovu, when the Zulus brought their causes before her for +judgment. +</p> + +<p> +He advanced into the shadow of the tree, took off his hat with a flourish and +bowed. Then as she made no answer to these salutations, but only searched him +with her grey eyes, he began to speak in jerky sentences. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope you have slept well, Rachel; I am, glad to see you looking so +fresh. I was afraid that you would be over-tired after your long day. You rode +many miles. Of course what you found at Ramah must have been a great shock to +you. I want to explain to you quietly that I am not in the least to blame about +that terrible business. It was those accursed Zulus who exceeded their +orders.” +</p> + +<p> +So he went on, pausing between each remark for an answer, but no answer came. +At length he stopped, confused, and Rachel, lifting the assegai, examined its +blade, and asked him suddenly: +</p> + +<p> +“Whose blood is on this spear? Yours?” +</p> + +<p> +“A little of it, perhaps,” he answered. “That fool of a +Kaffir flourished it about after your father shot him and cut me with it +accidentally,” and he pointed to the wound on his face. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel bent down and began to rub the blade against the foot of the bench as +though to clean it. He did not know what she meant by this act, yet it +frightened him. +</p> + +<p> +“What are you doing?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +She paused in her task and said, looking up at him: +</p> + +<p> +“I do not wish that your blood should defile mine even in death,” +and went on with her cleansing of the spear. +</p> + +<p> +He watched her for a little while, then broke out: +</p> + +<p> +“Curse it all! I don’t understand you. What do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ask the Zulus,” she answered. “They understand me, and they +will tell you. Or if there is no time, ask my father and +mother—afterwards.” +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael paled visibly, then recovered himself with an effort and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Let us finish with all this witch-doctor nonsense, and come to business. +I had nothing to do with the death of your parents, indeed, I was wounded in +trying to protect them——” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why do I see both of them behind you with such accusing +eyes?” she asked quietly. +</p> + +<p> +He stalled, turned his head and stared about him. +</p> + +<p> +“You won’t frighten me like that,” he went on. “I am +not a silly Kaffir, so give it up. Look here, Rachel, you know I have loved you +for a long while, and though you treat me so badly I love you more than ever +now. Will you marry me?” +</p> + +<p> +“I told you last night that you would be dead in a few days. Do not waste +your time in talking of marriage. Sit in the dust and repent your sins before +you go down into the dust.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right, Rachel, I know you are a good prophet——” +</p> + +<p> +“Noie, too, is a good prophet,” she broke in reflectively. +“You used the Zulus to kill <i>her</i> father and mother also, did you +not? Do you remember a message that she gave you from Seyapi one evening, down +by the sea, before you kidnapped her to be a bait to trap me in +Zululand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Remember!” he answered, scowling. “Am I likely to forget her +devilries? If you are the witch, she is the familiar, the black <i>ehlosé</i> +(spirit) who whispers in your ears. Had she not gone I should never have caught +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“But she will come back—although I fear not in time to bid you +farewell.” +</p> + +<p> +“You tell me that I shall soon be dead,” he exclaimed, ignoring +this talk of Noie. “Well, I am not frightened. I don’t believe you +know anything about it, but if you are right the more reason I should live +while I can. According to you, Rachel, we have no time to waste in a long +engagement. When is it to be?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never!” she answered contemptuously, “in this or any other +world. Never! Why, you are hateful to me; when I see you, I shiver as though a +snake crawled across my foot, and when I look at your hands they are red with +blood, the blood of my parents and of Noie’s parents, and of many others. +That is my answer.” +</p> + +<p> +He looked at her a while, then said: +</p> + +<p> +“You seem to forget that I am only asking for what I can take. No one can +see you or hear you here, except my women. You are in my power at last, Rachel +Dove.” +</p> + +<p> +These words which Ishmael intended should frighten her, as they might well have +done, produced, as it chanced, a quite different effect. Rachel broke into a +scornful laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“Look,” she said, pointing to an eagle that circled so high in the +blue heavens above them that it seemed no larger than a hawk, “that bird +is more in your power, and nearer to you than I am. Before you laid a finger on +me I would find a dozen means of death, but that, I tell you again, you will +never live to do.” +</p> + +<p> +For a while Ishmael was silent, weighing her words in his mind. Apparently he +could find no answer to them, for when he spoke again it was of another matter. +</p> + +<p> +“You say that you hate me, Rachel. If so, it is because of that accursed +fellow, Darrien—whom you don’t hate. Well, he, at any rate, is in +my power. Now look here. You’ve got to make your choice. Either you stop +all this nonsense and become my wife, or—your friend Darrien dies. Do you +hear me?” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel made no answer. Now for the first time she was really frightened, and +feared lest her speech should show it. +</p> + +<p> +“You have been through a lot,” he went on, slowly; “you are +tired out, and don’t know what you say, and you believe that I killed the +old people, which I didn’t, and, of course, that has set you against me. +Now, I don’t want to be rough, or to hurry you, especially as I have +plenty of things to see about before we are married. So I give you three days. +If you don’t change your mind at the end of them, the young man dies, +that’s all, and afterwards we will see whether or no you are in my power. +Oh! you needn’t stare. I’ve gone too far to turn back, and I +don’t mind a few extra risks. Meanwhile make yourself easy, dear Richard +shall be well looked after, and I won’t bother you with any more +love-making. That can wait.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel rose from her seat and pointed with the spear to the door in the wall. +</p> + +<p> +“Go,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +“All right, I am going, Rachel. Good-bye till this time three days. I +hope my women will make you as comfortable as possible in this rough place. Ask +them for anything you want. Good-bye, Rachel,” and he went, bolting the +wall door behind him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +THE THREE DAYS</h2> + +<p> +He was gone, his presence had ceased to poison the air, and, the long strain +over, Rachel gave a gasp of relief. Then she sat down upon the bench and began +to think. Her position, and that of Richard, was desperate; it seemed scarcely +possible that they could escape with their lives, for if he died, she would die +also—as to that she was quite determined. But at least they had three +days, and who could say what would happen in three days? For instance, they +might escape somehow, the Providence in which she believed might intervene, or +the Zulus might come to seek her, if they only knew where she was gone. Oh! why +had she not brought a guard of them with her to Ramah? At least they would +never have insulted her, and Ishmael’s shrift would have been short. +</p> + +<p> +She wondered why he had given her three days. A reason suggested itself to her +mind. Perhaps he believed what she had told him—that she was as safe from +him as the eagle in the air—and was sure that the only way to snare her +was by using Richard as a lure, in other words, by threatening to murder him. +It is true that he could have brought the matter to a head at once, but then, +if she remained obdurate, he must carry out his threat, and this, she believed, +he was afraid to do unless it was absolutely forced upon him. Doubtless he had +reflected that in three days she might weaken and give way. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst Rachel brooded thus the door in the wall opened, and through it came +three women, who saluted her respectfully, and announced that they were sent to +clean the hut, and attend upon her. Rachel took stock of them carefully. Two of +them were young, ordinary, good-looking Kaffirs, but the third was between +thirty and forty, and no longer attractive, having become old early, as natives +do. Moreover, her face was sad and sympathetic. Rachel asked her her name. She +answered that it was Mami, and that they were all the wives of Ibubesi. +</p> + +<p> +The women went about their duties in the hut in silence, and a while afterwards +announced that all was made clean, and that they would return presently with +food. Rachel answered that it was not necessary that three of them should be +put to so much trouble. It would be enough if Mami came. She desired to be +waited on by Mami alone, her sisters need not come any more. +</p> + +<p> +They all three saluted again, and said that she should be obeyed; the two +younger ones with alacrity. To Rachel it was evident that these women were much +afraid of her. Her reputation had reached them, and they shrank from this task +of attending on the mighty Inkosazana of the Zulus in her cage, not knowing +what evil it might bring upon them. +</p> + +<p> +An hour later the door was unbolted, and Mami reappeared with the food that had +been very carefully cooked. Rachel ate of it, for she was determined to grow +strong again, she who might need all her strength, and while she ate talked to +Mami, who squatted on the ground before her. Soon she drew her story from her. +The woman was Ishmael’s first Kaffir wife, but he had never cared for +her, and against all law and custom she was discarded, and made a slave. Even +some of her cattle had been taken from her and given to other wives. So her +heart was bitter against Ishmael, and she said that although once she was proud +to be the wife of a white man, now she wished that she had never seen his face. +</p> + +<p> +Here, then, was material ready to Rachel’s hand, but she did not press +the matter too far at this time. Only she said that she wished Mami to stay +with her after the evening meal, and to sleep in her hut, as she was not +accustomed to be alone at night. Mami replied that she would do so gladly if +Ibubesi allowed it, although she was not worthy of such honour. +</p> + +<p> +As it happened, Ishmael did allow it, for he thought that he could trust this +old drudge, and told her to act as a spy upon Rachel, and report to him all +that she said or did. Very soon Rachel found this out and warned her against +obeying him, since if she did so it would come to her knowledge, and then great +evil would fall on one who betrayed the words of the Inkosazana. +</p> + +<p> +Mami answered that she knew it, and that Rachel need not be afraid. Any tale +would do for Ishmael, whom she hated. Then, saying little herself, Rachel +encouraged her to talk, which Mami did freely. So she heard some news. She +learned, for instance, that the whole town of Mafooti, whereof Ibubesi was +chief, which counted some sixty or seventy heads of families, was much +disturbed by the events of the last few days. They did not like the Inkosazana +being brought there, thinking that where she went the Zulus would follow, and +as they were of Zulu blood themselves, they knew what that meant. They were +alarmed at the deaths of the white sky-doctor, who was called Shouter, and his +wife, with which Ibubesi had something to do, for they feared lest they should +be held responsible for their blood. They objected to the imprisonment of the +white chief, Dario, among them, because “he had hurt no one, and was +under the mantle of the Inkosazana, who was a spirit, not a woman,” and +who had warned them that if any harm came to her or to him, death would be +their reward. They were angry, also, because Ibubesi had killed one of them in +some quarrel about the chief Dario at Ramah. Still, they were so much afraid of +Ibubesi, who was a great tyrant, that they did not dare to interfere with him +and his plans, lest they should lose their cattle, or, perhaps, their lives. So +they did not know what to do. As for Ibubesi himself, he was actively engaged +in strengthening the fortifications of the place; even the old people and the +children were being forced to carry stones to the walls, from which it was +evident that he feared some attack. +</p> + +<p> +When Rachel had gathered this and much other information concerning +Ishmael’s past and habits, she asked Mami if she could convey a message +from her to Richard. The woman answered that she would try on the following +morning. So Rachel told her to say that she was safe and well, but that he must +watch his footsteps, as both of them were in great danger. More she did not +dare to say, fearing lest Mami should betray her, or be beaten till she +confessed everything. Then, as there was nothing more to be done, Rachel lay +down and slept as best she could. +</p> + +<p> +The next day passed in much the same fashion as the first had done. For the +most of it Rachel sat under the tree in the walled yard, companioned only by +her terrible thoughts and fears. Nobody came near her, and nothing happened. In +the morning Mami went out, and returning at the dinner hour, told Rachel that +she had seen Ishmael, who had questioned her closely as to what the Inkosazana +had done and said, to which she replied that she had only eaten and slept, and +invoked the spirits on her knees. As for words, none had passed her lips. She +had not been able to get near the huts where Dario was in prison, as Ishmael +was watching her. For the rest, the work of fortification went on without +cease, even Ishmael’s own wives being employed thereon. +</p> + +<p> +In the afternoon Mami went out again and did not return till night, when she +had much to tell. To begin with, while the sentry was dozing, being wearied +with carrying stones to the wall, she had managed to approach the fence of the +hut where Richard was confined. She said that he was walking up and down inside +the fence with his hands tied, and she had spoken to him through a crack in the +reeds, and given him Rachel’s message. He listened eagerly, and bade her +tell the Inkosazana that he thanked her for her words; that he, too, was strong +and well, though much troubled in mind, but the future was in the hands of the +Heavens, and that she must keep a high heart. Just then the sentry woke up, so +Mami could not wait to hear any more. +</p> + +<p> +That evening, however, a lad who had been sent out of the town to drive in some +cattle, had returned with the tidings which she, Mami, heard him deliver to +Ibubesi with her own ears. +</p> + +<p> +He said that whilst he was collecting the oxen, a ringed Zulu came upon him, +who from his manner and bearing he took to be a great chief, although he was +alone, and seemed to be tired with walking. The Zulu has asked him if it were +true that the Inkosazana and the white chief Dario were in prison at Mafooti, +and when he hesitated about replying, threatened him with his assegai, saying +that he would cut out his heart unless he told the truth. The Zulu replied that +he knew it, as he had just come from Ramah, where he had seen strange things, +and spoken with a man of Ibubesi’s, whom he found dying in the garden of +the house. Then he had given him this message: +</p> + +<p> +“Say to Ibubesi that I know all his wickedness, and that if the +Inkosazana is harmed, or a drop of the blood of the white chief, Dario, is +shed, I will destroy him and everything that lives in his town down to the +rats. Say to him also that he cannot escape, as already he is ringed in by the +children of the Shouter, who have come back, and are watching him.” +</p> + +<p> +The lad had asked who it was that sent such a message, whereon he answered, +“I am the Horn of the Black Bull; I am the Trunk of the Elephant; I am +the Mouth of Dingaan.” +</p> + +<p> +Then straightway he turned and departed at a run towards Zululand. Moreover, +Mami described the man in the words of the lad, and Rachel thought that he +could be none other than Tamboosa, whom she had commanded to follow her with +the white ox. Mami added that when he received this message Ibubesi seemed much +disturbed, though to his people he declared that it was all nonsense, as +Dingaan’s Mouth would not come alone, or deliver the King’s word to +a boy. But the people thought otherwise, and murmured among themselves, fearing +the terrible vengeance of Dingaan. +</p> + +<p> +On the next day Mami went out again. At nightfall, when she returned, she told +Rachel that she had not found it possible to approach the huts where Dario was, +as the hole she made in the fence to speak with him had been discovered, and a +stricter watch was kept over him. Ibubesi, she said, was in an ill humour, and +working furiously to finish his fortifications, as he was now sure that the +town was being watched, either by the Kaffirs of Ramah, or others. As for the +people of Mafooti, they were grumbling very much, both on account of the +heavy labour of working at the walls, and because they were in terror of being +attacked and killed in payment for the evil deeds of their chief. Mami +declared, indeed, that so great was their fear and discontent, that she thought +they would desert the town in a body, were it not that they dreaded lest they +should fall into the hands of the Kaffirs who were watching it. Rachel asked +her whether they would not then take her and Dario and deliver them up to the +Zulus, or to the white people on the coast. Mami answered she thought they +would be afraid to do this, as Ibubesi alone had guns, and would shoot plenty +of them; also if the Zulus found them with their Inkosazana they would kill +them. She added that she had seen Ibubesi, who bade her tell the Inkosazana +that he was coming for her answer on the morrow. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel slept ill that night. The space of her reprieve had gone by, and next +morning she must face the issue. For herself she did not so greatly care, for +at the worst she had a refuge whither Ishmael could not follow her—the +grave. After all she had endured it seemed to her that this must be a peaceful +place; moreover, in her case what Power could blame her? But there was Richard +to be thought of. If she refused Ishmael he swore that he would kill Richard. +And yet how could she pay that price even to save her lover’s life? +Perhaps he would not kill him after all; perhaps he would be afraid of the +vengeance of the Zulus, and was only trying to frighten her. Ah! if only the +Zulus would come—before it was too late! It was scarcely to be hoped for. +Tamboosa, if it were he who had spoken with the lad, would not have had time to +return to Zululand and collect an impi, and when they did come, the deed might +be done. If only these servants of Ibubesi would rise against him and kill him, +or carry off Richard and herself! Alas! they feared the man too much, and she +could not get at them to persuade them. There was nothing that she could do +except pray. Richard and she must take their chance. Things must go as they +were decreed. +</p> + +<p> +If she could have seen Ishmael at this hour and read his thoughts, that sight +and knowledge might have brought some comfort to her tortured heart. The man +was seated in his hut alone, staring at the floor and pulling his long black +beard with hands rough from toiling at the walls. He was drinking also, stiff +tots of rum and water, but the fiery liquor seemed to bring him no comfort. As +he drank, he thought. He was determined to get possession of Rachel; that +desire had become a madness with him. He could never abandon it while he lived. +But <i>she</i> might not live. She had sworn that she would rather die than +become his wife, and she was not a woman who broke her word. Also she hated him +bitterly, and with good cause. There was only one way to work on +her—through her love for this man, Richard Darrien; for that she did love +him, he had little doubt. If it were choice between yielding and the death of +Darrien, then perhaps she might give way. But there came the rub. +</p> + +<p> +Dingaan had sworn to him that if he made Darrien’s blood to flow, then he +should be killed, and, like Rachel, Dingaan kept his oaths. Moreover, that Zulu +who met the cattle herd had sworn it again in almost the same words. Therefore +it would seem that if he wished to continue to breathe, Darrien’s blood +must not be made to flow. All the rest might be explained when the impi came, +as it would do sooner or later, especially if he could show to them that the +Inkosazana was his willing wife, but the murder of Darrien could never be +explained. Well, the man might die, or seem to die, and then who could hold him +responsible? Or if they did, if any of his people remained faithful to him, an +attack might be beaten off. Brave as they were, the Zulus could not storm those +walls on which he had spent so much labour, though now he almost wished that he +had left the walls alone and settled the affair of Rachel and of Darrien first. +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael poured out more rum and drank it, neat this time, as though to nerve +himself for some undertaking. Then he went to the door of the hut and called, +whereon presently a hideous old woman crept in and squatted down in the circle +of light thrown by the lamp. She was wrinkled and deformed, and her snake-skin +moocha, with the inflated fish-bladder in her hair, showed that she was a +witch-doctoress. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Mother,” he said, “have you made the poison?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Ibubesi, yes. I have made it as I alone can do. Oh! it is a +wonderful drug, worth many cows. How many did you say you would give me? +Six?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, three; but if it does what is wanted you shall have the other three +as well. Tell me again, how does it work?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thus, Ibubesi. Whoever drinks this medicine becomes like one +dead—none can tell the difference, no, not a doctor even—and +remains so for a long while—perhaps one day, perhaps two, perhaps even +three. Then life returns, and by degrees strength, but not memory; for whole +moons the memory is gone, and he who has drunk remains like a child that has +everything to learn.” +</p> + +<p> +“You lie, Mother. I never heard of such a medicine.” +</p> + +<p> +“You never heard of it because none can make it save me, and I had its +secret from my grandmother; also few can afford to pay me for it. Still, it has +been used, and were I not afraid I could give you cases. Stay, I will show you. +Call that beast,” and she pointed to a dog that was asleep at the side of +the hut. “Here is milk; I will show you.” +</p> + +<p> +Ishmael hesitated, for he was fond of this dog; then as he wished to test the +stuff he called it. It came and sat down beside him, looking up in his face +with faithful eyes. Then the old witch poured milk into a bowl, and in the milk +mixed some white powder which she took out of a folded leaf, and offered it to +the animal. The dog sniffed the milk, growled slightly, and refused it. +</p> + +<p> +“The evil beast does not like me; he bit me the other day,” said +the old doctoress. “Do you give it to him, Ibubesi; he will trust +you.” +</p> + +<p> +So Ishmael patted the dog on the head, then offered it the milk, which it +lapped up to the last drop. +</p> + +<p> +“There, evil beast,” said the woman, with a chuckle, “you +won’t bite me any more; you’ll forget all about me for a long time. +Look at him, Ibubesi, look at him.” +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke, the poor dog’s coat began to stare; then it uttered a low +howl, ran to Ishmael, tried to lick his hand, and rolled over, to all +appearance quite dead. +</p> + +<p> +“You have killed my dog, which I love, you hag!” he said angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“Then why did you give medicine to what you love, Ibubesi? But have no +fear, the evil beast has only taken a small dose; to-morrow morning it will +awake, but it will not know you or anyone. Who is the medicine for, Ibubesi? +The Lady Zoola? If so, it may not work on her, for she is mighty, and cannot be +harmed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Fool! Do you think that I would play tricks with the Inkosazana?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, you want to marry her, don’t you? but it seems to me that she +has no mind that way. Then it is for the man for whom she has a mind? Well, +Ibubesi, you have promised the six cows, and you saved me once from being +killed for witchcraft, so I will say something. Don’t give it to the +chief Dario.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why not, you old fool; will it kill him after all?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, no; it will do what I said, no less and no more, in this +quantity,” and she handed him another powder wrapped in dry leaves; +“but I have had bad dreams about you, Ibubesi, and they were mixed up +with the Inkosazana and this white man Dario. I dreamed they brought your death +upon you—a dreadful death. Ibubesi, be wise, set Dario free, and change +your mind as to marrying the Inkosazana, who is not for you.” +</p> + +<p> +“How can I change my mind, Descendant of Wizards?” broke out +Ishmael. “Can a river penned between rocks change its course? Can it run +backwards from the sea to the hill? This woman draws me as the sea draws the +river; because of her my blood is afire. I had rather win her and die, than +live rich and safe without her to old age. The more she hates and scorns me, +the more I love her.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand,” said the doctoress, nodding her head till the +bladder in her hair bobbed about like a float at which a fish is pulling. +“I understand. I have seen people like this before—men and women +too—when a bad spirit enters into them because of some crime they have +committed. The Inkosazana, or those who guard her, have sent you this bad +spirit, and, Ibubesi, you must run the road upon which it is appointed that you +should travel; for joy or sorrow you must run that road. But when we meet in +the world of ghosts, which I think will be soon, do not blame me, do not say +that I did not warn you. Now it is all right about those cows, is it not? +although I dare say the Zulus will milk them and not I, for to-night I seem to +smell Zulus in the air,” and she lifted her broad nose and sniffed like a +hound. “I wish you could have left the Inkosazana alone, and that Dario +too, for he is a part of her; in my dreams they seemed to be one. But you +won’t, you will walk your own path; so good night, Ibubesi. The dog will +wake again in the morning, but he will not know you. Good night, +Ibubesi—of course I understand that the cows will be young ones that have +not had more than two calves. Mix the powder in milk, or water, or anything; it +is without taste or colour. Good night, Ibubesi,” and without waiting for +an answer the old wretch crept out of the hut. +</p> + +<p> +When she was gone Ishmael cursed her aloud, then drank some more rum, which he +seemed to need. The place was very lonely, and the sight of his dog, lying to +all appearance dead at his side, oppressed him. He patted its head and it did +not move; he lifted its paw and it fell down flabbily. The brute was as dead as +anything could be. It occurred to him that before night came again he might +look like that dog. His story might be told; he might have left the earth in +company of all the deeds that he had done thereon. He had imagination enough to +know his sins, and they were an evil host to face. Old Dove and his wife, for +instance—holy people who believed in God and Vengeance, and had never +done any wrong, only striven for years and years to benefit others; it would +not be pleasant to meet them. Rachel had said that she saw them standing behind +him, and he felt as though they were there at that moment. Look, one of them +crossed between him and the lamp—there was the mark of the kerry on his +head—and the woman followed; he could see her blue lips as she bent down +to look at the dog. It was unbearable. He would go and talk to Rachel, and ask +her if she had made up her mind. No, for if he broke in on her thus at night, +he was sure that she would kill either herself or him with that spear she had +taken from the dead Zulu, reddened with his own blood. He would keep faith with +her and wait till the morrow. He would send for one of his wives. No, the +thought of those women made him sick. He would go round the fortifications and +beat any sentries whom he found asleep, or receive the reports of the spies. To +stop in that hut in the company of a dog which seemed to be dead, and of +imaginations that no rum could drown, was impossible. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Once more the morning came, and Rachel sat in the walled yard awaiting the +dreadful hour of her trial, for it was the day and time that Ishmael had +appointed for her answer. Until now Rachel had cherished hopes that something +might happen: that the people of Mafooti might intervene to save her and +Richard; that the Zulus might appear, even that Ishmael might relent and let +them go. But Mami had been out that morning and brought back tidings which +dispelled these hopes. She had ventured to sound some of the leading men, and +said that, like all the people, they were very sullen and alarmed, but +declared, as she had expected, that they dare do nothing, for Ibubesi would +kill them, and if they escape him the Zulus would kill them because the +Inkosazana was found in their possession. Of the Zulus themselves, scouts who +had been out for miles, reported that they had seen no sign. It was clear also +that Ishmael was as determined as ever, for he had sent her a message by Mami +that he would wait upon her as he had promised, and bring the white man with +him. +</p> + +<p> +Then what should she say and what should she do? Rachel could think of no plan; +she could only sit still and pray while the shadow of that awful hour crept +ever nearer. +</p> + +<p> +It had come; she heard voices without the wall, among them Ishmael’s. Her +heart stopped, then bounded like a live thing in her breast. He was commanding +someone to “catch that dog and tie it up, for it was bewitched, and did +not know him or anyone,” then the sound of a dog being dragged away, +whining feebly, and then the door opened. First Ishmael came in with an +affectation of swaggering boldness, but looking like a man suffering from the +effects of a long debauch. About his eyes were great black rings, and in them +was a stare of sleeplessness. He carried a double-barrelled gun under his arm, +but the hand with which he supported it shook visibly, and at every unusual +sound he started. After him came Richard, his wrists bound together behind him, +and on his legs hide shackles which only just allowed him to shuffle forward +slowly. Moreover he was guarded by four men who carried spears. Rachel glanced +quickly at his face, and saw that it was pale and resolute; quite untouched by +fear. +</p> + +<p> +“Are you well?” she asked quietly, taking no note of Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” he answered, “and you, Rachel?” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite well bodily, Richard, but oh! my soul is sick.” +</p> + +<p> +Before he could reply Ishmael turned on him savagely, and bade him be silent, +or it would be the worse for him. Then he took off his hat with his shaking +hand, and bowed to Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Rachel,” he said, “I have kept my promise, and left you +alone for three days, but time is up and now this gentleman and I have come to +hear your decision, which is so important to both of us.” +</p> + +<p> +“What am I to decide?” she asked in a low voice, looking straight +before her. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you forgotten? Your memory must be very bad. Well, it is best to +have no mistake, and no doubt our friend here would like to know exactly how +things stand. You have to decide whether you will take me as your husband +to-day of your own free will, or whether Mr. Richard Darrien shall suffer the +punishment of death, for having tried to kill his sentry and escape, a crime of +which he has been guilty, and afterwards I should take you as my wife with, or +without, your consent.” +</p> + +<p> +When Richard heard these words the veins in his forehead swelled with rage and +horror till it seemed as though they would burst. +</p> + +<p> +“You unutterable villain,” he gasped, “you cowardly hound! +Oh! if only my hands were free.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, they ain’t, Mr. Darrien, and it’s no use your tugging +at that buffalo hide, so hold your tongue, and let us hear the lady’s +answer,” sneered Ishmael. +</p> + +<p> +“Richard, Richard,” said Rachel in a kind of wail, “you have +heard. It is a matter of your life. What am I to do?” +</p> + +<p> +“Do?” he answered, in loud, firm tones, “do? How can you ask +me such a question? The matter is not one of my life, but of your—of +your—oh! I cannot say it. Let this foul beast kill me, of course, and +then, if you care enough, follow the same road. A few years sooner or later +make little difference, and so we shall soon be together again.” +</p> + +<p> +She thought a moment, then said quietly: +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, I care enough, and a hundred times more than that. Yes, that is the +only way out. Listen, you Ishmael:—Richard Darrien, the man to whom I am +sworn, and I, give you this answer. Murder him if you will, and bring +God’s everlasting vengeance on your head. He will not buy his life on +such terms, and if I consented to them I should be false to him. Murder him as +you murdered my father and mother, and when I know that he is dead I will go to +join him and them.” +</p> + +<p> +“All right, Rachel,” said Ishmael, whose face was white with fury, +“I think I will take you at your word, and you can go to look for him +down below, if you like, for if I am not to get you here, he shan’t. Now +then, say your prayers, Mr. Darrien,” and stepping forward slowly he +cocked the double-barrelled gun. +</p> + +<p> +“Men of Mafooti,” exclaimed Rachel in Zulu, “Ibubesi is about +to do murder on one who like myself is under the mantle of Dingaan. If his +blood should flow to-day or to-morrow, yours shall flow in payment, yours, and +that of your wives and children, for the crime of the chief is the crime of the +people.” +</p> + +<p> +At her words the four natives who had been watching this scene uneasily, +although they could not understand the English talk, called out to Ishmael in +remonstrance. His only answer was to lift the gun, and for an instant that +seemed infinite Rachel waited to hear its explosion, and to see the grey-eyed, +open-faced man she loved, who stood there like a rock, fall a shattered corpse. +Then one of the Kaffirs, bolder than the rest, struck up the barrels with his +arm, and not too soon, for whether or no he had meant to pull the trigger, the +rifle went off. +</p> + +<p> +“Try the other barrel,” said Richard sarcastically, as the smoke +cleared away, “that shot was too high.” +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps Ishmael might have done so, for the man was beside himself, but the +Kaffirs would have no more of it. They rushed between them, lifting their +spears threateningly, and shouting that they would not allow the blood of the +white lord and the curse of the Inkosazana to be brought upon their heads and +those of their families. Rather than that they would bind him, Ibubesi, and +give him over to the Zulus. Then, whether or not he had really meant to kill +Richard, Ishmael thought it politic to give way. +</p> + +<p> +“So be it,” he said to Rachel, “I am merciful, and both of +you shall have another chance. I am going with this fellow, but the woman, +Mami, shall come to you. If within three hours you send her to me with a +message to say that you have changed your mind, he shall be spared. If not, +before nightfall you shall see his body, and afterwards we will settle +matters.” +</p> + +<p> +“Rachel, Rachel,” cried Richard, “swear that you will send no +such message.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the brute, Ishmael, rushed at him to strike him in the face. But Richard +saw him coming, and bound though he was, put down his head and butted at him so +fiercely, that being much the stronger man, he knocked him to the ground, where +he lay breathless. +</p> + +<p> +“Swear, Rachel, swear,” he repeated, “or dead or living, I +will never forgive you.” +</p> + +<p> +“I swear,” she said, faintly. +</p> + +<p> +Then he shuffled towards her. Bending down he kissed her on the face, and she +kissed him back; no more words passed between them; this was their farewell. +Two of the Kaffirs lifted Ishmael, and helped him from the yard, whilst the +other two led away Richard, who made no resistance. At the gate he turned, and +their eyes met for a moment. Then it closed behind him, and she was left alone +again. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +RACHEL LOSES HER SPIRIT</h2> + +<p> +A little while later Mami entered, and said that she had been sent by Ibubesi +to serve the Inkosazana as a messenger, should she need one. Rachel, seated on +the bench, motioned to her to go into the hut and bide there, and she obeyed. +</p> + +<p> +Minute by minute the time ebbed away, and still Rachel sat motionless on the +bench. Towards the end of the third hour someone unbolted and knocked at the +door. Mami opened it and reported that Ibubesi stood without, and desired to +know whether she had any word for him. +</p> + +<p> +“None,” answered Rachel, remembering her oath, and the door was +barred again. +</p> + +<p> +After this a great silence seemed to fall upon the place. The sky was grey with +distant rain, and the air heavy, and whatever may have been the cause, no sound +came from man or beast without. To Rachel’s strained nerves it seemed as +though the Angel of Death had spread his wings above the town. There she sat +paralysed, wondering what evil thing was being worked upon her lover; wondering +if she had done right to give him as a sacrifice to this savage in order to +save herself from dreadful wrong—wondering, wondering till the powers of +her mind seemed to die within her, leaving it grey and empty as the grey and +empty sky above. +</p> + +<p> +Night drew on and the setting sun, bursting through the envelope of cloud, +filled earth and sky with fire, and it came into Rachel’s heart, she knew +not whence, that fire was near, that soon it would swallow up all this place. +</p> + +<p> +Look! the door was opening; it swung wide, and through it advanced eight +Kaffirs, carrying something on a litter made of shields, something that was +covered with a blanket of bark. They drew near to her with bent heads, and set +down their burden at her feet. Then one of them lifted the blanket, revealing +the body of Richard Darrien, and saying in an awed voice, +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, Ibubesi sends you this to look or to show you that he keeps +his word. Later he will visit you himself.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel knelt down by the litter of shields and looked at Richard’s face. +The stamp of death was on it. She felt his hand, it was turning cold; she felt +his heart, it did not beat. +</p> + +<p> +“Show me this dead lord’s wounds,” she said in an awful +whisper, “that presently mine may be like to them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana,” said the spokesman, “he has no wound.” +</p> + +<p> +“How, then, did he die? Strange that he should die, and I not feel his +spirit pass.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, he was thirsty, and drank, then he died.” +</p> + +<p> +“So, so! he was slain by poison, and I have no poison. Mami, come forth +and look on the white lord whom Ibubesi has murdered by poison.” +</p> + +<p> +The woman Mami, who had been sleeping in the hut, awoke and obeyed. She saw, +and wailed aloud. +</p> + +<p> +“Woe to Mafooti!” she cried, like one inspired, “and woe, woe +to those that dwell therein, for now vengeance, red vengeance, shall fall on +them from Heaven. The blood of the innocent is upon them, the curse of the +Inkosazana is upon them, the spears of the Zulus are upon them. Slay the +<i>silwana,</i> the wild beast—Ibubesi, and fly, people of Mafooti, fly, +fly with that dead thing. Leave it not here to bear witness against you. Carry +it far away, and heap a mountain on it. Bury it in a valley that no man can +find; bury it in the black water, lest it should arise and bear witness against +you. Leave it not here, but let the darkness cover it, and fly with it into the +darkness, as I do,” and turning she sped to the door and through it. +</p> + +<p> +The light from the sunk sun went out smothered in the gathering thunder-clouds. +Through the gloom the terrified bearers muttered to each other. +</p> + +<p> +“Throw it down and away!” said one. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered another, “wisdom has come to Mami, her +<i>ehlosé</i> has spoken to her. Take it with you, lest it should remain to +bear witness against us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Remember what the Zulu swore,” said a third, “that if harm +came to this lord they would kill all, down to the rats. Take it away so that +it may not be found. If you meet Ibubesi, spear him. If not, leave him the +vengeance for his share.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, moved as though by a common impulse, the bearers cast back the blanket +over the corpse, and lifting the litter, departed at a run. The door was shut +and bolted behind them, and darkness fell upon the earth. +</p> + +<p> +For a while Rachel stood still in the darkness. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I am alone,” she said in a quiet voice, yet to her ears the +words seemed to be uttered with a roar of thunder that echoed through the +firmament, and pierced upwards to the feet of God. +</p> + +<p> +Then suddenly something snapped in her brain and she was changed. The horror +left her, the terror left her, she felt very well and strong, so well that she +laughed aloud, and again that laugh filled earth and heaven. Oh! she was +hungry, and food stood on a table near by. She sprang to it and ate, ate +heartily. Then she drank, muttering to herself, “Richard drank before he +died. Let me drink also and cease to be alone.” +</p> + +<p> +Her meal finished, she walked up and down the place singing a song that seemed +to be caught up triumphantly by a million voices, the voices of all who had +ever lived and died. Their awful music stunned her and she ceased. Look! Wild +beasts wearing the face of Ibubesi were licking the clouds with their tongues +of fire. It was curious, but in that high-walled place she could not see it +well. Now from the top of the hut the view would be better. Yes, and Ishmael +was coming to visit her. Well, they would meet for the last time on the top of +the hut. She was not afraid of him, not at all; but it would be strange to see +him scrambling up the hut, and they would talk there for a little while with +their faces close together, till—ah!—till what—? Till +something strange happened, something unhappy for Ishmael. Oh! no, no, she +would not kill herself, she would wait to see what it was that happened to +Ishmael, that strange thing which she knew so well, and yet could not remember. +</p> + +<p> +How easy this hut was to climb, a cat could not have run up with less trouble. +Now she stood on the top of it, her spear in one hand, and holding with the +other to the pole that was set there to scare away the lightning; stood for a +long time watching the wild beasts licking the clouds with their red tongues. +</p> + +<p> +The beasts grew weary of lapping up clouds. Their appetites were satisfied for +a while, at any rate she saw their tongues no more. The air was very hot and +heavy, and the darkness very dense, it seemed to press about her as though she +were plunged in cream. Yet Rachel thought that she heard sounds through it, a +sound of feet to the west and a sound of feet to the east. +</p> + +<p> +Then she heard another sound, that of the door in the wall opening, and of a +soft, tentative footfall, like to the footfall of a questing wolf. She knew it +at once, for now her senses were sharper than those of any savage; it was the +step of Ibubesi, the Night-prowler. She felt inclined to laugh; it was so funny +to think of herself standing there on the top of a hut while the Night-prowler +slunk about below looking for her. But she refrained, remembering the dreadful +noise when all the Heavens began to laugh in answer. So she was silent, for the +Heavens do not reverberate silence, although she could hear her own thoughts +passing through them, passing up one by one on their infinite journey. +</p> + +<p> +Listen! He was walking round and round the yard. He went to the bench beneath +the tree and felt along it with his fingers to see if she were there. Now he +was entering the hut and groping at the bedstead, and now he had kindled a +light, for the rays of it shone faintly up through the smoke-hole. Discovering +nothing he came out again, leaving the lamp burning within, and called her +softly. +</p> + +<p> +“Rachel,” he said, “Rachel, where are you?” +</p> + +<p> +There was no answer, and he began to talk to himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Has she got away?” he muttered. “Some of them have gone, I +know, the accursed, cowardly fools. No, it is not possible, the watch was too +good, unless she is really a spirit, and has melted, as spirits do. I hope not, +for if so she will haunt me, and I want her company in the flesh, not in the +spirit. I ought to have it too, for it has cost me pretty dear. She must have +bewitched me, or why should I risk everything for her, just one white woman who +hates the sight of me? The devil is at the back of it. This was his road from +the first.” +</p> + +<p> +So he went on until Rachel could bear it no more, the thing was too absurd. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes,” she said from the top of the hut, “his road from +the first, and it ends not far away, at the red gates of Hell, +Night-prowler.” +</p> + +<p> +The man below gasped, and fell against the fence. +</p> + +<p> +“Whose voice is that? Where are you?” he asked of the air. +</p> + +<p> +Then as there was no answer, he added: “It sounded like Rachel, but it +spoke above me. I suppose that she has killed herself. I thought she might, but +better that she should be dead than belong to that fellow. Only then why does +she speak?” +</p> + +<p> +He started to feel his way towards the hut, perhaps to fetch the lamp, when +suddenly the skies behind were illumined in a blaze of light, a broad slow +blaze that endured for several seconds. By it the eyes of Rachel, made quick +with madness, saw many things. From her perch on the top of the hut she saw the +town of Mafooti. On the plain to the west she saw a number of black dots, which +she took to be people and cattle travelling away from the town. In the nek to +the east she saw more dots, each of them crested with white, and carrying +something white. Surely it was a Zulu impi marching! Some of these dots had +come to the wall of the town; yes, and some of them were on the crest of it, +while yet others were creeping down its main street not a hundred yards away. +</p> + +<p> +Also these caught sight of something, for they paused and seemed to fall +together as though in fear. Lastly, just before the light went out, she +perceived Ishmael in the yard below, glaring up at her, for he, too, had seen +her. Seen her standing above him in the air, the spear in her hand, and in her +eyes fire. But of the dots to the east and of the dots to the west he had seen +nothing. He appeared to fall to his knees and remain there muttering. Then the +Heavens blazed again, for the storm was coming up, and by the flare of them he +read the truth. This was no ghost, but the living woman. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh!” he said, recovering himself, “that’s where +you’ve got to, is it? Come down, Rachel, and let us talk.” +</p> + +<p> +She made no answer, none at all, she who was so curious to see what he would +do. For quite a long while he harangued her from below, walking round and round +the hut. Then at length in despair he began to climb it. But in that darkness +which now and again turned to dazzling light, unlike Rachel, he found the task +difficult, and once, missing his hold, he fell to the ground heavily. Finding +his feet he rushed at the hut with an oath, and clutching the straw and the +grass strings that bound it, struggled almost to the top, to be met by the +point of Rachel’s spear held in his face. There then he hung, looking +like a toad on the slope of a rock, unable to advance because of that spear, +and unwilling to go down, lest his labour must be begun again. +</p> + +<p> +“Rachel,” he said, “come down, Rachel. Whatever I have done +has been for your sake, come down and tell me that you forgive me.” +</p> + +<p> +She laughed out loud, a wild, screaming laugh, for really he looked most +ridiculous, sprawling there on the bend of the hut, and the lightning showed +her all sorts of pictures in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Did Richard Darrien forgive you?” she asked. “And what did +you mix that poison with? Milk? The milk of human kindness! It was a very good +poison, Toad, so good that I think you must have drawn it from your own blood. +When you are dead all the Bushmen should come and dip their arrows in you, for +then even crocodiles and the big snakes would die at a scratch.” +</p> + +<p> +He made no answer, so she went on. +</p> + +<p> +“Have your people forgiven you? If so, why do they flee away, carrying +that white thing which was a man? Have my father and mother forgiven you? Do +you hear what they are saying to me—that judgment is the Lord’s? +Have the Zulus forgiven you, the Zulus who believe that judgment is the +King’s—and the Inkosazana’s? Turn now, and ask them, for here +they are,” and she pointed over his head with her spear. “Turn, +Toad, and set out your case and I will stand above and try it, the case of +Dingaan against Ibubesi, and one by one I will call up all those who died +through you, and they shall give their evidence, and I, the Judge, will sum it +up to a jury of sharp spears. See, here come the spears. Look at the wall, +Toad, <i>look at the wall!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +As she raved on and pointed with her assegai, the lightning blazed out, and +Ishmael, who had looked round at her bidding, saw Zulu warriors leaping down +from the crest of the wall, and Zulu captains rushing in by the opened door. At +this terrible sight he slid to the ground purposing to reach his gun which he +had left there, and defend or kill himself, who knows which? But before ever he +could lay a hand upon it, those fierce men had pounced upon him like leopards +on a goat. Now they held him fast, and a voice—it was that of Tamboosa, +called through the darkness, +</p> + +<p> +“Hail to thee! Inkosazana. Come down now and pass judgment on this wild +beast who would have harmed thee.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tamboosa,” she cried, “the Inkosazana has fled away, only +the white woman in whom she dwelt remains; her spirit hangs in wrath over the +people of the Zulus, as an eagle hangs above a hare. Tamboosa, there is blood +between the Inkosazana and the people of the Zulus, the blood of those who gave +her the body that she wore, who lie slain by them upon the bed at Ramah. +Tamboosa, there is blood between her and Ibubesi, the blood of the white man +who loved the body that she wore, and whom she loved, the white lord whom +Ibubesi did to death this day because she who was the Inkosazana would not give +herself to him. Tamboosa, the Inkosazana has suffered much from this Ibubesi, +many an insult, many a shame, and when she called upon the Zulus, out of all +their thousand thousands there was not a single spear to help her, because they +were too busy killing those holy ones whom she called her father and her +mother. And so, Tamboosa, the spirit of the Inkosazana departed like a bird +from the egg, leaving but this shell behind, that is full of sorrows and of +dreams. Yet, Tamboosa, she still speaks through these lips of mine, and she +says that from the seed of blood that they have sown, her people, the Zulus, +must harvest woe upon woe, as while she dwelt among them, she warned them that +it would be if ill came to those she loved. Tamboosa, this is her +command—that ye shield the breast in which she hid from the wild beast, +Ibubesi and all evil men, and that ye lead this shape to Noie, the daughter of +Seyapi, whom Ibubesi brought to death, for with Noie it would dwell.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus she wailed through the deep darkness, while the soldiers who packed the +space below groaned in their grief and terror because the soul of the +Inkosazana had been made a wanderer by their sins, and the curse of the +Inkosazana had fallen on their land. +</p> + +<p> +Again the lightning flared, and in it they saw her standing on the crest of the +hut. She had let drop the spear as though she needed it no more, and her arms +were outstretched to the Heavens, and her beautiful face was upturned, and her +long hair floated in the wind. Seen thus by that quick, white light, which +shone in the madness of her eyes, she seemed no woman but what they had fabled +her to be, a queen of Spirits, and at the vision of her they groaned again, +while some of them fell to the earth and hid their faces with their hands. +</p> + +<p> +The darkness fell once more, and a man went into the hut to bring out the lamp +that burned there. When he returned Rachel stood among them; they had not seen +or heard her descend. Ishmael saw her also, and feeling his doom in the fierce +eyes that glowered at him, stretched out his hand and caught her by the robe, +praying for pity. +</p> + +<p> +At his touch she uttered a wild scream, which pierced like a knife through the +hearts of all that heard it. +</p> + +<p> +“Suffer it not,” she cried, “oh! my people, suffer not that I +be thus defiled.” +</p> + +<p> +They rent him from her with blows and execrations, looking up to their chief +for his word to tear him to pieces. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” said Tamboosa, grimly, “he shall to the King to tell +this story ere he die.” +</p> + +<p> +“Save me, Rachel, save me,” he moaned. “You don’t know +what they mean. I was mad with love for you, do not judge me harshly and send +me to be tortured.” +</p> + +<p> +This appeal of his seemed to pierce the darkness of her brain, and for a little +while her face grew human. +</p> + +<p> +“I judge not,” she answered in Zulu; “pray to the Great One +above who judges. Oh! man, man,” she went on in a kind of eerie whisper, +“what have I done to you that you should treat me thus? Why did you +command the soldiers to kill my father and my mother? Why did you poison my +lover? Why did you drive away my soul, and fill me with this madness? Take me +away from this accursed town, Tamboosa, before Heaven’s vengeance falls +on it, and let me see that face no more.” +</p> + +<p> +Then some of them made a guard about her and led her thence, along the central +street, and through the barricaded gates, that they broke down for her passage. +They led her to a little cave in the slope of the opposing hill, for although +no rain fell, the gathered storm was breaking; the lightning flashed thick and +fast, the thunder groaned and bellowed, and a wild wind beat the screeching +trees. +</p> + +<p> +Here in the mouth of this cave Rachel sat herself down and looked at the kraal, +Mafooti, awaiting she knew not what, while the impi pillaged the town, and +Ishmael, already half dead with fear, remained bound to the roof-tree of the +hut that had been her prison. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst she waited thus, and watched, of a sudden one of the outer huts began to +burn, though whether the lightning or some soldier had fired it none could +tell. Then, in an instant, as it seemed, driven by the raging wind, the flame +leapt from roof to roof till Mafooti was but a sheet of fire. The soldiers at +their work of pillage saw, and rushed hither and thither, confusedly, for they +did not know the paths, and were tangled in the fences. +</p> + +<p> +A figure appeared running down the central street, a figure of flame, for his +clothes burned on him, and those by Rachel said, +</p> + +<p> +“See, see, <i>Ibubesi!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +He could not reach the gate, for a blazing hut fell across his path. Turning he +sped to the edge of a cliff that rose near by, where, because of its steepness, +there was no wall. Here for a while he ran up and down till the wind-driven +fire from new-lit huts at its brink leapt out upon him like thin, scarlet +tongues. He threw himself to the ground, he rose again, beating his head with +his hand, for his long hair was ablaze. Then in his torment and despair, of a +sudden he threw himself backwards into the dark gulf beneath. Fifty feet and +more he fell to the rocks below, and where he fell there he lay till he died, +and on the morrow the Zulus found and buried him. +</p> + +<p> +Thus did Ishmael depart out of the life of Rachel to the end which he had +earned. +</p> + +<p> +Nor did he go alone, for of the Zulus in the town many were caught by the fire, +and perished, so many that when the regiment mustered at dawn, that same +regiment which had escorted the Inkosazana to the banks of the Tugela, fifty +and one men were missing, whilst numbers of others appeared burned and +blistered. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” said Tamboosa as he surveyed the injured and counted the +dead, “the curse is quickly at work among us, and I think that this is +but the beginning of evil. Well, I expected it, no less.” +</p> + +<p> +As for the town of Mafooti it was utterly destroyed. To this day the place is a +wilderness where the grass grows rank between the crumbling, fire-blackened +walls. For the people of Ibubesi who had fled, returned thither no more, nor +would others build where it had been, since still they swear that the spot is +haunted by the figure of a white man who, in times of thunder, rushes across it +wrapped in fire, and plunges blazing into the gulf upon its northern side. +</p> + +<p> +After the storm came the rain which poured all night long, a steady sheet of +water reaching from earth to heaven. Rachel watched it vacantly for a while, +then went to the head of the little cave and lay down wrapped in karosses that +they had made ready for her. Moreover, she slept as a child sleeps until the +sun shone bright on the morrow, then she woke and asked for food. +</p> + +<p> +But the impi did not sleep. All night long the soldiers stood in huddled groups +beneath such shelter as the trees and rocks would give to them, while the water +poured on them pitilessly till their teeth chattered and their limbs were +frozen. Some died of the cold that night, and afterwards many others fell sick +of agues and fevers of the lungs which killed a number of them. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning when the storm was past and the sun shone hotly Tamboosa called +the Council of the captains together, and consulted with them as to whether +they should follow after the people of Mafooti who had fled, and destroy them, +or return straight to Zululand. Most of the captains answered that of Mafooti +and its people they had seen enough. Ibubesi was dead, slain by the vengeance +of Heaven; the Inkosazana they had rescued, alive, though filled with madness; +the white lord, Dario, had been murdered by Ibubesi, it was said with poison, +and doubtless his body was burned in the fire. As for the people of Mafooti +themselves, it would seem that most of them were innocent as they had fled the +place, deserting their chief. To these arguments other captains answered that +the people of Mafooti were not innocent inasmuch as they had helped Ibubesi to +carry off the Inkosazana and the white lord, Dario, from Ramah, and consented +to their imprisonment and to the death of one of them, only flying when they +had tidings that the impi was on the way. Moreover the command was that every +one of these dogs should be killed, whereas they had killed none of them, but +only taken those cattle which were left behind in their flight. At length the +dispute growing fierce, the captains being unable to come to an agreement, +decided that they would lay the matter before the Inkosazana, and be guided by +the words that fell from her, if they could understand them. +</p> + +<p> +So Tamboosa went into the cave with one other man, and talked to Rachel, who +sat staring at him with stony eyes as though she understood nothing. When at +length he ceased, however, she cried: +</p> + +<p> +“Lead me to Noie at the Great Place. Lead me to Noie,” nor would +she say any more. +</p> + +<p> +So, as the people of Mafooti had fled they knew not where, and they had secured +some of the cattle, and as many of the soldiers were sick from the cold and +burns received in the fire, Tamboosa told the regiment that it was the will of +the Inkosazana that they should return to Zululand. +</p> + +<p> +A while later they started, those of them who were so badly burned that they +could not travel, being carried on shields. But Rachel would not be carried, +choosing to walk alone surrounded at a distance by a ring of soldiers who +guarded her. For hours she walked thus, showing no sign of weariness, but now +and again bursting out into shrill laughter, as though she saw things that +moved her to merriment. Only the regiment that listened was not merry, for it +had heard the words that the Inkosazana spoke in the town of Mafooti, +foretelling evil to the Zulus because of the blood that was between them and +her. They thought that she laughed over the misfortunes that were to come, and +over those that had already befallen them in the fire and in the rain. +</p> + +<p> +About midday they halted to eat, and as before Rachel took food in plenty, for +now that her mind was wandering her body seemed to call for sustenance. When +their meal was finished they moved down to the banks of the Buffalo River, +which ran near by, to find that it was in great flood after the heavy rain and +that it was not safe to try the ford. So they determined to camp there on the +banks, murmuring among themselves that all went ill with them upon this +journey, as was to be expected, and that they would have done better if they +had spent the time in hunting down the people of Mafooti, instead of sitting +idle like tired storks upon the banks of a river. Yet bad as things might seem, +they were destined to be worse, for while some of them were cutting boughs and +grass to make a hut for the Inkosazana, Rachel, who stood watching them with +empty eyes, of a sudden laughed in her mad fashion, and sped like a swallow to +the lip of the foaming ford. Here, before they could come up with her, she +threw off the outer cloak she wore and rushed into the water till the current +bore her from her feet. Then while the whole regiment shouted in dismay, she +began to swim, striking out for the further bank, and being swept downwards by +the stream. Now Tamboosa, who was almost crazed with fear lest she should +drown, called out that where the Inkosazana went, they must follow, even to +their deaths. +</p> + +<p> +“It is so!” answered the soldiers, as each man locking his arms +round the middle of him who stood in front, company by company, they plunged +into the water in a fourfold chain, hoping thus to bridge it from bank to bank. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Rachel swam on in the strength of her madness as a woman has seldom +swum before. Again and again the muddy waters broke over her head and the +soldiers groaned, thinking that she was drowned. But always that golden hair +reappeared above them. A great tree swept down upon her but she dived beneath +it. She was dashed against a tall rock, but she warded herself away from it +with her hands and still swam on, till at length with a shout of joy the Zulus +saw her find her feet and struggle slowly to the further bank. Yes, and up it +till she reached its crest where she stood and watched them idly as though +unconscious of the danger she had passed, and of the water that ran from her +hair and breast. +</p> + +<p> +“Where a woman can go, we can follow,” said some, but others +answered: +</p> + +<p> +“She is not a woman, but a spirit. Death himself cannot kill her.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the fourfold chain was near the centre of the ford, when suddenly those at +the tip of it were lifted from their feet as Rachel had been, nor could those +behind hold on to them. They were torn from their grasp and swept away, the +most of them never to be seen again, for of these men but few could swim. +Thrice this happened until strong swimmers were sent to the front, and at +length these men won across as Rachel had done, and caught hold of the stones +on the further side, thus forming a living chain from bank to bank, whereof the +centre floated and was bent outwards by the weight of the water as the back of +a bow bends when the string is drawn. +</p> + +<p> +By the help of this human rope thus formed the companies began to come over, +supporting themselves against it, till presently the strain and the push of +them and of the angry river overcame its strength, and the chain burst in the +middle so that many were borne down the stream and drowned. Yet with risk and +toil and loss it joined itself together again and held fast until every man was +over, save the sick and some lads who were left to tend them and the cattle on +the further bank. Then that cable of brave warriors began to struggle forward +like a great snake dragging its tail after it, and, so by degrees drew itself +to safety and gasping out foam and water saluted the Inkosazana where she +stood. +</p> + +<p> +Many were drowned, and others were bruised by rocks, but of this they thought +little since she was safe and they had found her again, to have lost whom would +have been a shame from generation to generation. She watched the captains +reckoning up the number of the dead, and when Tamboosa and some of them came to +make report of it to her, a shadow as of pity floated across her stony eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Not on my head,” she cried, “not on my head! There is blood +between the Inkosazana and her people of the Zulus, and that blood avenges +itself in blood,” and she laughed her eerie laugh. +</p> + +<p> +“It is true, it is just, O Queen,” answered Tamboosa solemnly; +“the nation must pay for the sin of its children as the wild beast, +Ibubesi, has paid for his sins.” +</p> + +<p> +Then as they could travel no further that day, they built a hut, and lit a +great fire by which Rachel sat and dried herself, nor did she take any harm +from the water, for as the Zulus had said, it seemed as though nothing could +harm her now. +</p> + +<p> +The soldiers also lit fires and despatched messengers to neighbouring kraals +commanding them to bring food, and to send maidens to attend on the Inkosazana, +while others went to a mountain to call all this ill-tidings from hill to hill +till it came to the Great Place of the King. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> +THE CURSE OF THE INKOSAZANA</h2> + +<p> +That night the regiment and Rachel slept upon the bank of the river, and +nothing happened save that lions carried off two soldiers, while two more who +had been injured against the rocks, died. Also others fell sick. On the +following morning food arrived in plenty from the neighbouring kraals, and with +it some girls of high birth to attend upon the Inkosazana. +</p> + +<p> +But with these Rachel would have nothing to do, and when they came near to her +only said: +</p> + +<p> +“Where is Noie, daughter of Seyapi? Lead me to Noie.” +</p> + +<p> +So they began their march again, Rachel walking as before in the centre of a +ring of soldiers, and that night slept at a kraal upon a hill. Here messengers +from the King met them charged with many fine words, to which Rachel listened +without understanding them, and then scared them away with her laughter. Also +they brought a beautiful cloak made of the skins of a rare white monkey, and +this she took and wrapped herself in it, for she seemed to understand that her +clothes were ragged. +</p> + +<p> +That day they passed through fertile country, where much corn was grown. Here +they saw a strange sight, for as they went clouds seemed to arise in the sky +from behind them, which presently were seen to be not clouds, but tens of +millions of great winged grasshoppers that lit upon the corn, devouring it and +every other green thing. Within a few hours nothing was left except the roots +and bare branches, while the women of that land ran to and fro wailing, knowing +that next winter they and their children must starve, and the cattle lowed +about them hungrily, for the locusts had devoured all the grass. Moreover, +having eaten everything, these insects themselves began to die in myriads so +that soon the air was poisoned. The waters were also poisoned with their dead +bodies, and at once sickness came which presently grew into a pestilence. +</p> + +<p> +Now the men of the country sent a deputation to the Inkosazana, praying her to +remove the curse, but when they had spoken she only repeated the words she had +used upon the banks of the Buffalo River. +</p> + +<p> +“Not on my head, not on my head! There is blood between the Inkosazana +and her people of the Zulus. Famine and war and death upon the people of the +Zulus because they have shed the holy blood!” +</p> + +<p> +Then the men grew afraid and went away, and the regiment marched on accompanied +by the myriads of the locusts that wasted all the land through which they +passed. +</p> + +<p> +At length, followed by a wail of misery, they came to the Great Place and +entered it, preceded by the locusts which already were heaped up in the streets +like winter leaves, and for lack of other provender gnawed at the straw of the +huts, and the shields and moochas of the soldiers. It was a strange sight to +see the men trying to stamp them to death, and the women and children rushing +to and fro shrieking and brushing them from their hair. +</p> + +<p> +Amid such scenes as these they passed through the town of Umgugundhlovu into +which Rachel had been brought in order that the people might see that their +Inkosazana had returned, and on to that kraal upon the hill, where she had +spent all those weary weeks until Richard came. She reached it as the sun was +setting, and although she did not seem to know any of them was received with +joy and adoration by the women who had been her attendants. Here she slept that +night, for they thought that she must be too weary to see the King at once; +moreover, he desired first to receive the reports of Tamboosa and the captains, +and to learn all that had happened in this strange business. +</p> + +<p> +Next morning, whilst Rachel sat by the pool in which, once she had seen the +vision of Richard, Tamboosa and an escort came to bring her to Dingaan. When +they told her this, she said neither yea nor nay, but, refusing to enter a +litter they had brought, walked at the head of them, back to the Great Place, +and, watched by thousands, through the locust-strewn streets to the Intunkulu, +the House of the King. Here, in front of his hut, and surrounded by his +Council, sat Dingaan and the indunas who rose to greet her with the royal +salute. She advanced towards them slowly, looking more beautiful than ever she +had done, but with wild, wandering eyes. They set a stool for her, and she sat +down on the stool, staring at the ground. Then as she said nothing, Dingaan, +who seemed very sad and full of fear, commanded Tamboosa to report all that had +happened in the ears of the Council, and he took up his tale. +</p> + +<p> +He told of the journey to the Tugela, and of how the Inkosazana and the white +lord, Dario, had crossed the river alone but a few hours after Ibubesi, +ordering him to follow next day, also alone, with the white ox that bore her +baggage. He told how he had done so, and on reaching Ramah had found the white +Umfundusi and his wife lying dead in their room, and on the floor of it a Zulu +of the men who had been sent with Ibubesi, also dead, and in the garden of the +house a man of the people of Ibubesi, dying, who, with his last breath narrated +to him the story of the taking of the Inkosazana and the white lord, by +Ibubesi. He told of how he had run to the town of Mafooti, to find out the +truth, and of the message that he had sent by the herd boy to Ibubesi and his +people. Lastly he told all the rest of that story, of how he had come back to +Zululand “as though he had wings,” and finding the regiment that +had escorted the Inkosazana still in camp near the river, had returned with +them to attack Mafooti, which they discovered to be deserted by its people. +</p> + +<p> +While he described how by the flare of the lightning they saw the Inkosazana +standing on the roof of a hut, how they captured the wild beast, Ibubesi, how +they learned that the Spirit of the Inkosazana was “wandering,” and +the dreadful words she said, the burning of Mafooti, and the fearful death of +Ibubesi by fire, all the Council listened in utter silence. Thus they listened +also whilst he showed how evil after evil had fallen upon the regiment, evil by +fire and water and sickness, as evil had fallen upon the land also by the +plague of locusts. +</p> + +<p> +At length Tamboosa’s story was finished, and certain men were brought +forward bound, who had been the captains of the band that went with Ishmael, +among them those who had killed, or caused to die, the white teacher and his +wife. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the stern command of the King these men also told their story, saying that +they had not meant to kill the white man and that what they did was done at the +word of Ibubesi, whom they were ordered to obey in all things, but who, as they +now understood, had dared to lay a plot to capture the Inkosazana for himself. +When they had finished the King rose and poured out his wrath on them, because +through their deeds the Spirit of the Inkosazana had been driven away, and her +curse laid upon the land, where already it was at work. Then he commanded that +they should be led thence, all of them, and put to a terrible death, and with +them those captains of the regiment who had spoken against the following of the +people of Mafooti, who should, he said, have been destroyed, every one. +</p> + +<p> +At his words executioners rushed in to seize these wretched men, and then it +was that Rachel, who all this while had sat as though she heard nothing, lifted +her head and spoke, for the first time. +</p> + +<p> +“Set them free, set them free!” she commanded. “Vengeance is +from Heaven, and Heaven will pour it out in plenty. Not on my hands, not on my +hands shall be the blood of those who sent the Spirit of the Inkosazana to +wander in the skies. Who was it that bade an impi run to Ramah, and what did +they there in the house of those who gave me birth? When the Master calls, the +dogs must search and kill. Set them free, lest there be more blood between the +Inkosazana and her people of the Zulus.” +</p> + +<p> +When he heard these words, spoken in a strange, wailing voice, Dingaan +trembled, for he knew that it was he who had bidden his dogs to run. +</p> + +<p> +“Let them go,” he said, “and let the land see them no more +for ever.” +</p> + +<p> +So those men went thankfully enough, and the land saw them no more. As they +passed the gate other men entered, starved and hungry-looking men, whose bones +almost pierced their skins, and who carried in their hands remnants of shields +that looked as though they had been gnawed by rats. They saluted the King with +feeble voices, and squatted down upon the ground. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are those skeletons,” he asked angrily, “who dare to +break in upon my Council?” +</p> + +<p> +“King,” answered their spokesman, “we are captains of the +Nobambe, the Nodwenge, and the Isangu regiments whom thou didst send to destroy +the chief, Madaku and his people, who dwell far away in the swamp land to the +north near where the Great River runs into the sea. King, we could not come at +this chief because he fled away on rafts and in boats, he and his people, and +we lost our path among the reeds where again and again we were ambushed, and +many of us sank in the swamps and were drowned. Also, we found no food, and +were forced to live upon our shields,” and he held up a gnawed fragment +in his hand. “So we perished by hundreds, and of all who went forth but +twenty-one times ten remain alive.” +</p> + +<p> +When Dingaan heard this he groaned, for his arms had been defeated and three of +his best regiments destroyed. But Rachel laughed aloud, the terrible laugh at +which all who heard it shivered. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I not say,” she asked, “that Heaven would pour out its +vengeance in plenty because of the blood that runs between the Spirit of the +Inkosazana and her people of the Zulus?” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly this curse works fast and well,” exclaimed Dingaan. Then, +turning to the men, he shouted: “Be gone, you starved rats, you cowards +who do not know how to fight, and be thankful that the Great Elephant (Chaka) +is dead, for surely he would have fed you upon shields until you +perished.” +</p> + +<p> +So these captains crept away also. +</p> + +<p> +Ere they were well gone a man appeared craving audience, a fat man who wore a +woeful countenance, for tears ran down his bloated cheeks. Dingaan knew him +well, for every week he saw him, and sometimes oftener. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, Movo, keeper of the kine,” he asked anxiously, +“that you break in on me thus at my Council?” +</p> + +<p> +“O King,” answered the fat man, “pardon me, but, O King, my +tidings are so sad that I availed myself of my privilege, and pushed past the +guards at the gate.” +</p> + +<p> +“Those who bear ill news ever run quickly,” grunted the King. +“Stop that weeping and out with it, Movo.” +</p> + +<p> +“Shaker of the Earth! Eater up of Enemies!” said Movo, “thou +thyself art eaten up, or at least thy cattle are, the cattle that I love. A +sore sickness has fallen on the great herd, the royal herd, the white herd with +the twisted horns, and,” here he paused to sob, “a thousand of them +are dead, and many more are sick. Soon there will be no herd left,” and +he wept outright. +</p> + +<p> +Now Dingaan leapt up in his wrath and struck the man so sharply with the shaft +of the spear he held that it broke upon his head. +</p> + +<p> +“Fat fool that you are,” he exclaimed. “What have you done to +my cattle? Speak, or you shall be slain for an evil-doer who has bewitched +them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it a crime to be fat, O King,” answered the indignant Movo, +rubbing his skull, “when others are so much fatter?” and he looked +reproachfully at Dingaan’s enormous person. “Can I help it if a +thousand of thy oxen are now but hides for shields?” +</p> + +<p> +“Will you answer, or will you taste the other end of the spear?” +asked Dingaan, grasping the broken shaft just above the blade. “What have +you done to my cattle?” +</p> + +<p> +“O King, I have done nothing to them. Can I help it if those accursed +beasts choose to eat dead locusts instead of grass, and foam at the mouth and +choke? Can the cattle help it if all the grass has become locusts so that there +is nothing else for them to eat? I am not to blame, and the cattle are not to +blame. Blame the Heavens above, to whom thou, or rather,” he added +hastily, “some wicked wizard must have given offence, for no such thing +as this has been known before in Zululand.” +</p> + +<p> +Again Rachel broke in with her wild laughter, and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Did I not tell thee that vengeance would be poured down in plenty, +poured down like the rain, O Dingaan? Vengeance on the King, vengeance on the +people, vengeance on the soldiers, vengeance on the corn, vengeance on the +kine, vengeance on the whole land, because blood runs between the Spirit of the +Inkosazana and the race of the Amazulu, whom once she loved!” +</p> + +<p> +“It is true, it is true, White One, but why dost thou say it so +often?” groaned the maddened Dingaan. “Why show the whip to those +who must feel the blow? Now, you Movo, have you done?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not quite, O King,” answered the melancholy Movo, still rubbing +his head. “The cattle of all the kraals around are dying of this same +sickness, and the crops are quite eaten, so that next winter everyone must +perish of famine.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is that all, O Movo?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not quite, O King, since messengers have come to me, as head keeper of +the kine, to say that all the other royal herds within two days’ journey +are also stricken, although if I understand them right, of some other pest. +Also, which I forgot to add—” +</p> + +<p> +“Hunt out this bearer of ill-tidings,” roared Dingaan, “hunt +him out, and send orders that his own cattle be taken to fill up the holes in +my blanket.” +</p> + +<p> +Now some attendants sprang on the luckless Movo and began to beat him with +their sticks. Still, before he reached the gates he succeeded in turning round +weeping in good earnest and shouted: +</p> + +<p> +“It is quite useless, O King, all my cattle are dead, too. They will find +nothing but the horns and the hoofs, for I have sold the hides to the +shield-makers.” +</p> + +<p> +Then they thrust him forth. +</p> + +<p> +He was gone, and for a while there was silence, for despair filled the hearts +of the King and his Councillors, as they gazed at Rachel dismayed, wondering +within themselves how they might be rid of her and of the evils which she had +brought upon them because of the blood of her people which lay at their doors. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst they still stared thus in silence yet another messenger came running +through the gate like one in great haste. +</p> + +<p> +“Now I am minded to order this fellow to be killed before he opens his +mouth,” said Dingaan, “for of a surety he also is a bearer of +ill-tidings.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, O King,” cried out the man in alarm, “my news is only +that an embassy awaits without.” +</p> + +<p> +“From whom?” asked Dingaan anxiously. “The white +Amaboona?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, O King, from the queen of the Ghost-people to whom thou didst +dispatch Noie, daughter of Seyapi, a while ago.” +</p> + +<p> +Hearing the name Noie, Rachel lifted her head, and for the first time her face +grew human. +</p> + +<p> +“I remember,” said Dingaan. “Admit the embassy.” +</p> + +<p> +Then followed a long pause. At length the gate opened and through it appeared +Noie herself, clad in a garb of spotless white, and somewhat travel-worn, but +beautiful as ever. She was escorted by four gigantic men who were naked except +for their moochas, but wore copper ornaments on their wrists and ankles, and +great rings of copper in their ears. After her came three litters whereof the +grass curtains were tightly drawn, carried by bearers of the same size and +race, and after these a bodyguard of fifty soldiers of a like stature. This +strange and barbarous-looking company advanced slowly, whilst the Council +stared at them wondering, for never before had they seen people so huge, and +arriving in front of the King set down the litters, staring back in answer with +their great round eyes. +</p> + +<p> +As they came Rachel rose from her stool and turned slowly so that she and Noie, +who walked in front of the embassy, stood face to face. For a moment they gazed +at each other, then Noie, running forward, knelt before Rachel and kissed the +hem of her robe, but Rachel bent down and lifted her up in her strong arms, +embracing her as a mother embraces a child. +</p> + +<p> +“Where hast thou been, Sister?” she asked. “I have sought +thee long.” +</p> + +<p> +“Surely on thy business, Zoola,” answered Noie, scanning her +curiously. “Dost thou not remember?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, I remember naught, Noie, save that I have sought thee long. My +Spirit wanders, Noie.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lady,” she said, “my people told me that it was so. They +told me many terrible things, they who can see afar, they for whom distance has +no gates, but I did not believe them. Now I see with my own eyes. Be at peace, +Lady, my people will give thee back thy Spirit, though perchance thou must +travel to find it, for in their land all spirits dwell. Be at peace and +listen.” +</p> + +<p> +“With thee, Noie, I am at peace,” replied Rachel, and still holding +her hand, she reseated herself upon the stool. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are the messengers?” asked Dingaan. “I see +none.” +</p> + +<p> +“King,” answered Noie, “they shall appear.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she made signs to the escort of giants, some of whom came forward and drew +the curtains of the litters, whilst others opened huge umbrellas of split cane +which they carried in their hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Now what weapons are these?” asked Dingaan. “Daughter of +Seyapi, you know that none may appear before the King armed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Weapons against the sun, O King, which my people hate.” +</p> + +<p> +“And who are the wizards that hate the sun?” queried Dingaan again +in an astonished voice. Then he was silent, for out of the first litter came a +little man, pale as the shoot from a bulb that has grown in darkness, with +large, soft eyes like the eyes of an owl, that blinked in the light, and long +hair out of which all the colour seemed to have faded. +</p> + +<p> +As the man, who, like Noie, was dressed in a white robe, and in size measured +no more than a twelve-year-old child, set his sandalled feet upon the ground, +one of the huge guards sprang forward to shield him with the umbrella, but +being awkward, struck his leg against the pole of the litter and stumbled +against him, nearly knocking him to the ground, and in his efforts to save +himself, letting fall the umbrella. The little man turned on him furiously, and +holding one hand above his head as though to shield himself from the sun, with +the other pointed at him, speaking in a low sibilant voice that sounded like +the hiss of a snake. Thereon the guard fell to his knees, and bending down with +outstretched arms, beat his forehead on the earth as though in prayer for +mercy. The sight of this giant making supplication to one whom he could have +killed with a blow, was so strange that Dingaan, unable to restrain his +curiosity, asked Noie if the dwarf was ordering the other to be killed. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, King,” answered Noie, “for blood is hateful to these +people. He is saying that the soldier has offended many times. Therefore he +curses him and tells him that he shall wither like a plucked leaf and die +without seeing his home again.” +</p> + +<p> +“And will he die?” asked Dingaan. +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly, King; those upon whom the Ghost-people lay their curse must +obey the curse. Moreover, this man deserves his doom, for on the journey he +killed another to take his food.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of a truth a terrible people!” said Dingaan uneasily. “Bid +them lay no curse on me lest they should see more blood than they wish +for.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is foolish to threaten the Great Ones of the Ghost-folk, King, for +they hear even what they seem not to understand,” answered Noie quietly. +</p> + +<p> +“Wow!” exclaimed the King; “let my words be forgotten. I am +sorry that I troubled them to come so far to visit me.” +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the offender had crept back upon his hands and knees, looking like a +great beaten dog, whilst another soldier, taking his umbrella, held it over the +angry dwarf. Also from the other litters two more dwarfs had descended, so like +to the first that it was difficult to tell them apart, and were in the same +fashion sheltered by guards with umbrellas. Mats were brought for them also, +and on these they sat themselves down at right angles to Dingaan, and to +Rachel, whose stool was set in front of the King, whilst behind them stood +three of their escort, each holding an umbrella over the head of one of them +with the left hand, while with the right they fanned them with small branches +upon which the leaves, although they were dead, remained green and shining. +</p> + +<p> +With Dingaan and his Council the three dwarfs did not seem to trouble +themselves, but at Rachel they peered earnestly. Then one of them made a sign +and muttered something, whereon a soldier of the escort stepped forward with a +fourth umbrella, which he opened over the heads of Rachel, and of Noie who +stood at her side. +</p> + +<p> +“Why does he do that?” asked Dingaan. “The Inkosazana is not +a bat that she fears the sun.” +</p> + +<p> +“He does it,” answered Noie, “that the Inkosazana may sit in +the shade of the wisdom of the Ghost-people, and that her heart which is hot +with many wrongs, may grow cool in the shade.” +</p> + +<p> +“What does he know about the Inkosazana and her wrongs?” asked +Dingaan again, but Noie only shrugged her shoulders and made no answer. +</p> + +<p> +Now one of the dwarfs made another sign, whereon more guards advanced, carrying +small bowls of polished wood. These bowls they set upon the ground before the +three dwarfs, one before each of them, filling them to the brim with water from +a gourd. +</p> + +<p> +“If your people are thirsty, Noie,” exclaimed the King, “I +have beer for them to drink, for at least the locusts have left me that. Bid +them throw away the water, and I will give them beer.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not water, King,” she answered, “but dew gathered from +certain trees before sunrise, and it is their spirits that are thirsty for +knowledge, not their bodies, for in this dew they read the truth.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then the Inkosazana must be of their family, Noie, for she read of the +coming of the white chief Dario in water, or so they say.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps, O King, if it is so these prophets will know it and acknowledge +her.” +</p> + +<p> +Now for a long while there was silence, so long a while indeed that Dingaan and +his Councillors began to move uneasily, for they felt as though the dwarf men +were fingering their heart-strings. At length the three dwarfs lifted their +wrinkled faces that were bleached to the colour of half-ripe corn, and gazed at +each other with their round, owl-like eyes; then as though with one accord they +said to each other: +</p> + +<p> +“What seest thou, Priest?” and at some sign from them Noie +translated the words into Zulu. +</p> + +<p> +Now the first of them, he who had cursed the soldier, spoke in his low hissing +voice, a voice like to the whisper of leaves in the wind, Noie rendering his +words. +</p> + +<p> +“I see two maidens standing by a house that moves when cattle draw it. +One of them is dark-skinned, it is she,” and he pointed to Noie, +“the other is fair-skinned, it is she,” and he pointed to Rachel. +“They cast, each of them, a hair from her head into the air. The black +hair falls to the ground, but a spirit catches the hair of gold and bears it +northward. It is the spirit of Seyapi whom the Zulus slew. Northwards he bears +it, and lays it in the hand of the Mother of the Trees, and with it a +message.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, with it a message,” repeated the other two nodding their +heads. +</p> + +<p> +Then one of them drew a little package wrapped in leaves from his robe, and +motioned to Noie that she should give it to Rachel. Noie obeyed, and the man +said: +</p> + +<p> +“Let us see if she has vision. Tell us, thou White One, what lies within +the leaves.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel, who had been sitting like a person in a dream, took the packet, and, +without looking at it, answered: +</p> + +<p> +“Many other leaves, and within the last of them a hair from this head of +mine. I see it, but three knots have been tied therein. They are three great +troubles.” +</p> + +<p> +“Open,” said the dwarf to Noie, who cut the fibre binding the +packet, and unfolded many layers of leaves. Within the last leaf was a golden +hair, and in it were tied three knots. +</p> + +<p> +Noie laid the hair upon the head of Rachel—it was hers. Then she showed +it to the King and his Council, who stared at the knots not knowing what to +say, and after they had looked at it, refolded it in the leaves and returned +the packet to the dwarf. +</p> + +<p> +Now the dwarf who had read the picture in his bowl turned to him who sat +nearest and asked: +</p> + +<p> +“What seest thou, Priest?” +</p> + +<p> +The man stared at the limpid water and answered: +</p> + +<p> +“I see this place at night. I see yonder King and his Councillors talking +to a white man with evil eyes and the face of a hawk, who has been wounded on +the head and foot. I read their lips. They bargain together; it is of the +bringing of an old prophet and his wife hither by force. I see the prophet and +his wife in a house, and with them Zulus. By the command of the white man with +the evil eyes the Zulus kill the prophet whose head is bald, and his wife dies +upon the bed. Before they kill the prophet he slays one of the Zulus with smoke +that comes from an iron tube.” +</p> + +<p> +When he heard all this Dingaan groaned, but the dwarf who had spoken, taking no +heed of him, said to the third dwarf: +</p> + +<p> +“What seest thou, Priest?” to which that dwarf answered: +</p> + +<p> +“I see the White One yonder standing on a hut, but her Spirit has fled +from her, it has fled from her to haunt the Trees. In her hand is a spear, and +below is the white man with the evil eyes, held by Zulus. I read her words: +she says that there is blood,” and he shivered as he said the word, +“yes, blood between her Spirit and the people of the Zulus. She +prophesies evil to them. I see the ill; I see many burnt in a great fire. I see +many drowned in an angry river. I see the demons of sickness lay hold of many. +I see her Spirit call up the locusts from the coast land. I see it bring +disaster on their arms; I see it scatter plague among their cattle; I see a dim +shape that it summons striding towards this land. It travels fast over a winter +veld, and the head of it is the head of a skull, and the name of it is +Famine.” +</p> + +<p> +As he ended his words the three dwarfs bent forward, and with one movement +seized their bowls and emptied them on to the ground, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“Earth, Earth, drink, drink and bear record of these visions!” +</p> + +<p> +Now the Council was much disturbed, for, although there were great witch +doctors among them, none had known magic like to this. Only Dingaan stared down +brooding. Then he looked up, and his fat body shook with hoarse laughter. +</p> + +<p> +“You play pretty tricks, little men,” he said, “with your +giants and your boughs and your huts that open, and your bowls of water. But +for all that they are only tricks, since Noie, or others have told you of these +things that happened in the past. Now if you are wizards indeed, read me the +riddle of the words of the Inkosazana that she spoke before her Spirit left her +because of the evil acts of the wolf, Ibubesi. Show me the answer to them in +your bowls of water, little men, or be driven hence as cheats and liars. Also +tell us your names by which we may know you.” +</p> + +<p> +When Noie had translated this speech the three dwarfs gathered themselves under +one umbrella, and spoke to each other; then they slid back to their places, and +the first of them, he who had cursed the soldier, said: +</p> + +<p> +“King of the Zulus, I am Eddo, this on my right is Pani, and that on my +left is Hana. We are children of the Mother of the Trees; we are high-priests +of the Grey-people, the Dream-people, who rule by dreams and wisdom, not by +spears as thou dost, O King. We are the Ghost-kings whom the ghosts obey, we +are the masters of the dead, and the readers of hearts. Those are our names and +titles, O King. We have travelled hither because thou sentest a messenger of +our own blood who whispered a strange tale in the ear of the Mother of the +Trees, a tale of one of whom we knew already but desired to see,” and all +three of them nodded towards Rachel seated on her stool. “We will read +thy riddle, O King, but first thou must fix the fee.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you demand, Ghost-people?” asked Dingaan. “Cattle +are somewhat scarce here just now, and wives, I think, would be of little use +to you. What is there, then, that you desire, and I can give?” +</p> + +<p> +They looked at each other, then Eddo said, pointing with his thin hand upon +which the nails grew long: +</p> + +<p> +“We ask for the White One who sits there. We think that her Spirit dwells +with us already, and we ask her body that we may join it to the Spirit +again.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the Council murmured, but Dingaan replied: +</p> + +<p> +“Once we sought to keep her in whom dwelt the Inkosazana of the Zulus. +But things have gone amiss, and she brings curses on us. If shape and spirit +were joined together again, mayhap the curses would be taken off our heads. Yet +we dare not give her to you, unless she gives herself of her own will. +Moreover, first the divination, then the pay. Is that enough?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is enough,” they answered, speaking all together. “Set +out the matter, King of the Zulus, and we will see what we can do.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Dingaan beckoned to a man with a withered hand who sat close to him, +listening and noting all things, but saying nothing, and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Stand forth, thou Mopo, and tell the tale.” +</p> + +<p> +So Mopo rose and began his story. He told how he alone among the people of the +Zulus had thrice seen the spirit of the Inkosazana in the days of the +“Black-One-who-was-gone.” He told how many moons ago the white man, +Ibubesi, had come to the Great Place speaking of a beautiful white maiden who +was known by the name of the Inkosazana-y-Zoola, a maiden who ruled the +lightning, and was not as other maidens are, and how he had been sent to see +her, and found that as was the Spirit of the Inkosazana which he knew, so was +this maiden. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Wow</i>!” he added, “save that the one walked on air and +the other on earth, they are the same.” +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, as a spirit she seemed wise. He told of the trapping of Noie, and of +the decoying of Rachel into Zululand, and of the interview between her and the +King by moonlight when she smelt out Noie. Now he was going on to speak of the +question put by Dingaan to the Inkosazana, and the answer that she gave to him, +when one of the little men who all this while sat as though they were asleep, +blinking their eyes in the light—it was Eddo—said: +</p> + +<p> +“Surely thou forgettest something, Tongue of the King, thou who are named +Mopo, or Umbopa, Son of Makedama; thou forgettest certain words which the +Inkosazana whispered to thee when she threw her cloak about thy head ere thou +fleddest away from the Council of the King. Of course, we do not know the +words, but why dost thou not repeat them, Tongue of the King?” +</p> + +<p> +Mopo stared at them, and his teeth chattered, then he answered: +</p> + +<p> +“Because they have nothing to do with the story, Ghost-men; because they +were of my own death, which is a little matter.” +</p> + +<p> +The three dwarfs turned their heads towards each other and said, each to the +other: +</p> + +<p> +“Hearest thou, Priest, and hearest thou, Priest, and hearest thou, +Priest? He says that the words were of his own death and have nothing to do +with the story,” and they smiled and nodded, and appeared to go to sleep +again. +</p> + +<p> +Now Mopo went on with his tale. He told of the question of the King, how he had +asked the Inkosazana whether he should fall upon the Boers or let them be; of +how she had searched the Heavens with her eyes; of how the meteor had travelled +before them, and burst over the kraal, Umgugundhlovu, that star which she said +was thrown by the hand of the Great-Great, the Umkulunkulu, and of how she had +sworn that she also heard the feet of a people travelling over plain and +mountain, and saw the rivers behind them running red with blood. Lastly, he +told of how she had refused to add to or take from her words, or to set out +their meaning. +</p> + +<p> +Then Mopo sat himself down again in the circle of the Councillors, and watched +and hearkened like a hungry wolf. +</p> + +<p> +“Ye have heard, Ghost-men,” said the King. “Now, if ye are +really wise, interpret to us the meaning of this saying of the Inkosazana, and +of the running star which none can read.” +</p> + +<p> +The priests awoke and consulted with each other, then Eddo said: +</p> + +<p> +“This matter is too high for us, King of the Zulus.” +</p> + +<p> +Dingaan heard, and laughed angrily. +</p> + +<p> +“I thought it, I thought it!” he cried. “Ye are but cheats +after all who, like any common doctor, repeat the gossip that ye have heard, +and pretend that it is a message from Heaven. Now why should I not whip you +from my town with rods till ye see that red blood which ye so greatly +fear?” +</p> + +<p> +At the mention of the word blood, the little men seemed to curl up like cut +grass before fire; then Eddo smiled, a sickly smile, and answered: +</p> + +<p> +“Be gentle, King, walk softly, King. We are but poor cheats, yet we will +do our best, we, or another for us. A new bowl, a big bowl, a red bowl for the +red King, and fill it to the brink with dew.” +</p> + +<p> +As he piped out the words a man from among their company appeared with a vessel +much larger than those into which they had gazed, and made of beautiful, +polished, blood-hued wood that gleamed in the sunlight. Eddo took it in his +hand and another slave filled it with water from the gourd; the last drop of +the water filled it to the brim. Then the three of them muttered invocations +over it, and Eddo, beckoning to Noie, bade her bear it to the Inkosazana that +she might gaze therein. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel received it and looked; as she looked all the emptiness left her eyes +which grew quick and active and full of horror. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou seest something, Maiden?” queried Eddo. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye,” answered Rachel, “I see much. Must I speak?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay! Breathe on the water thrice and fix the visions. Now bear the +bowl to yonder King and let him look. Perchance he also will see +something.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel breathed on the water thrice, rose like one in a trance, and advancing +to Dingaan placed the brimming bowl upon his knees. +</p> + +<p> +“Look, King, look,” cried Eddo, “and tell us if in what thou +seest lies an answer to the oracle of the Inkosazana.” +</p> + +<p> +Dingaan stared at the water, angrily at first, as one who smells a trick. Then +his face changed. +</p> + +<p> +“By the head of the Black One,” he said, “I see people +fighting in this kraal, white men and Zulus, and the white men are mastered and +the Zulus drag them out to death. The Zulus conquer, O my people. It is as I +thought that it would be—that is the meaning of the riddle of the +Inkosazana.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good, good,” said the Council. “Doubtless it shall come to +pass.” +</p> + +<p> +But the dwarf Eddo only smiled again and waved his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Look once more, King,” he said in his low, hissing voice, and +Dingaan looked. +</p> + +<p> +Now his face darkened. “I see fire,” he said. “Yes, in this +kraal. Umgugundhlovu burns, my royal House burns, and yonder come the white men +riding upon horses. Oh! they are gone.” +</p> + +<p> +Eddo waved his hand, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“Look again and tell us what thou seest, King.” +</p> + +<p> +Unwillingly enough, but as though he could not resist, Dingaan looked and said: +</p> + +<p> +“I see a mountain whereof the top is like the shape of a woman, and +between her knees is the mouth of a cave. Beneath the floor of that cave I see +bodies, the body of a great man and the body of a girl; she must have been +fair, that girl.” +</p> + +<p> +Now when he heard this the Councillor who was named Mopo, he with the withered +hand, started up, then sat down again, but all were so intent upon listening to +Dingaan that none noticed his movements save Noie and the priests of the +ghosts. +</p> + +<p> +“I see a man, a fat man come out of the cave,” went on Dingaan. +“He seems to be wounded and weary, also his stomach is sunken as though +with hunger. Two other men seize him, a tall warrior with muscles that stand +out on his legs, and another that is thin and short. They drag him up the +mountain to a great cleft that is between the breasts of her who sits thereon. +They speak with him, but I cannot see their faces, for they are wrapped in +mist, or the face of the fat man, for that also is wrapped in mist. They hale +him to the edge of the cleft, they hurl him over, he falls headlong, and the +mist is swept from his face. Ah! <i>it is my own face!</i>”[*] +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +[*] See “Nada the Lily,” CHAPTER XXXV. +</p> + +<p> +“Priest,” whispered each of the little men to his fellow in the +dead silence that followed, “Priest, this King says that he sees his own +face. Priest, tell me now, has not the spirit of the Inkosazana interpreted the +oracle of the Inkosazana? Will not yonder King be hurled down this cleft? Is +<i>he</i> not the star that falls?” +</p> + +<p> +And they nodded and smiled at each other. +</p> + +<p> +But Dingaan leapt up in his rage and terror, and with him leapt up the +Councillors and witch doctors, all save he who was named Mopo, son of Makedama, +who sat still gazing at the ground. Dingaan leapt up, and seizing the bowl +hurled it from him so that the water in it fell over Rachel like rain from the +clouds. He leapt up, and he cursed the Ghost-priests as evil wizards, bidding +them begone from his land. He raved at them, he threatened them, he cursed them +again and again. The little men sat still and smiled till he grew weary and +ceased. Then they spoke to each other, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“He has sprinkled the White One with the dew of out Trees, and henceforth +she belongs to the Trees. Is it not so, Priest?” +</p> + +<p> +They nodded in assent, and Eddo rose and addressed the King in a new voice, a +shrill commanding voice, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“O man, thou that art called a King and causest much blood to flow, thou +are but a bubble on a river of blood, thou slayer that shalt be slain, thou +thrower of spears upon whom the spear shall fall, thou who shalt look upon the +Face of Stone that knows not pity, thou whom the earth shall swallow, thou who +shalt perish at the hands of—” +</p> + +<p> +“The faces of the slayers were veiled, Priest,” broke in the other +two dwarfs, peeping up at him from beneath the shadow of their umbrellas; +“surely the faces of those slayers were veiled, O Priest.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou who shalt perish at the hands of avengers whose faces are veiled, +thy riddle is read for thee as the Mother of the Trees decreed that it should +be read. It is well read, it is truly read, it shall befall in its season. Now +give to thy servants their reward and let them depart in peace. Give to them +that White One whose lost Spirit spoke to thee from the water.” +</p> + +<p> +“Take her,” roared Dingaan, “take her and begone, for to the +Zulus she and Noie, the witch, bring naught but ill.” +</p> + +<p> +But one of the Council cried: +</p> + +<p> +“The Inkosazana cannot be sent away with these magicians unless it is her +will to go.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the little men nodded to Noie, and Noie whispered in the ear of Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel listened and answered: “Whither thou goest, Noie, thither I go +with thee, I who seek my Spirit.” +</p> + +<p> +So Noie took Rachel by the hand and led her from the Council-place of the King, +and as she went, followed by the Ghost-priests and their escort, for the last +time all the Councillors rose up and gave to her the royal salute. Only Dingaan +sat upon the ground and beat it with his fists in fury. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Thus did the Inkosazana-y-Zoola depart from the Great Place of the King of the +Zulus, and Mopo, the son of Makedama, shading his eyes with his hand, watched +her go from between his withered fingers. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> +RACHEL FINDS HER SPIRIT</h2> + +<p> +Northward, ever northward, journeyed Rachel with the Ghost-priests; for days +and weeks they journeyed, slowly, and for the most part at night, since these +people dreaded the glare of the sun. Sometimes she was borne along in a litter +with Noie upon the shoulders of the huge slaves, but more often she walked +between the litters in the midst of a guard of soldiers, for now she was so +strong that she never seemed to weary, nor even in the fever swamps where many +fell ill, did any sickness touch her. Also this labour of the body seemed to +soothe her wandering and tormented mind, as did the touch of Noie’s hand +and the sound of Noie’s voice. At times, however, her madness got hold of +her and she broke out into those bursts of wild laughter which had scared the +Zulus. Then Eddo would descend from his litter and lay his long fingers on her +forehead and look into her eyes in such a fashion that she went to sleep and +was at peace. But if Noie spoke to her in these sleeps, she answered her +questions, and even talked reasonably as she had done before the people of +Mafooti laid the body of Richard at her feet, and she stood upon the roof of +the hut which Ishmael strove to climb. +</p> + +<p> +Thus it was that Noie came to learn all that had happened to her since they +parted, for though she had gathered much from them, the Zulus could not, or +would not tell her everything. In past days she had heard from Rachel of the +lad, Richard Darrien, who had been her companion years before through that +night of storm on the island in the river, and now she understood that her lady +loved this Richard, and that it was because of his murder by the wild brute, +Ibubesi, that she had become mad. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, she was mad, and for that reason Noie rejoiced that the dwarf people were +taking her to their home, since if she could be cured at all, they were able to +heal her, they the great doctors. Moreover, if these priests and the Zulus +would have let her go, whither else could she have gone whose parents and lover +were dead, except to the white people on the coast, who did not reverence the +insane, as do all black folk, but would have locked her up in a house with +others like her until she died. No, although she knew that there were dangers +before them, many and great dangers, Noie rejoiced that things had befallen +thus. +</p> + +<p> +Also in her tender care already Rachel improved much, and Noie believed that +one day she would be herself again. Only she wished that she and her lady were +alone together; that there were no priests with them, and above all no Eddo. +For Eddo as she knew well was jealous of her authority over Rachel; jealous too +of the love that they bore one to the other. He wished to use this crazed white +chieftainess who had been accepted as their Inkosazana by the great Zulu +people, for his own purposes. This had been clear from the beginning, and that +was why when he first heard of her he had consented to go on the embassy to +Dingaan, since by his magic he could foresee much of the future that was dark +to Noie, whose blood was mixed and who had not all the gifts of the +Ghost-kings. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, the Mother of the Trees was Noie’s great aunt, being the sister +of her grandfather, or of his father, Noie was not sure which, for she had +dwelt among them but a few days, and never thought to inquire of the matter. +But of one thing she was sure, that Eddo the first priest, hated this Mother of +the Trees, who was named Nya, and desired that “when her tree fell” +the next mother should be his servant, which Nya was not. Perhaps, reflected +Noie, it was in his mind that her lady would fill this part, and being mad, +obey him in all things. +</p> + +<p> +Still she kept a watch upon her words, and even on her thoughts, for Eddo and +his fellow-priests, Pani and Hana, were able to peer into human hearts, and +read their secrets. Also she protected Rachel from him as much as she was able, +never leaving her side for a moment, however weary she might be, for she feared +lest he should become the master of her will. Only when the fits of madness +fell upon her mistress, she was forced to allow Eddo to quell them with his +touch and eye, since herself she lacked this power, nor dared she call the +others to her help, for they were under the hand of Eddo. +</p> + +<p> +Northward, ever northward. First they passed through the Zulus and their +subject tribes who knew of them and of the Inkosazana. All of these were +suffering from the curse that lay upon the land because, as they believed, +there was blood between the Inkosazana and her people. The locusts devoured +their crops and the plague ravaged their cattle, so that they were terrified of +her, and of the little Grey-folk with whom she travelled, the wizards who had +shown fearful things to Dingaan and left him sick with dread. They fled at +their approach, only leaving a few of their old people to prostrate themselves +before this Inkosazana who wandered in search of her own Spirit, and the +Dream-men who dwelt with the ghosts in the heart of a forest, and to pray her +and them to lift this cloud of evil from the land, bringing gifts of such +things as were left to them. +</p> + +<p> +At length all the Zulus were passed, and they entered into the territories of +other tribes, wild, wandering tribes. But even these knew of the Ghost-kings, +and attempted nothing against them, as they had attempted nothing against Noie +and her escort when she travelled through this land on her embassy to the +People of the Trees. Indeed, some of their doctors would visit them at their +camps and ask an oracle, or an interpretation of dreams, or a charm against +their enemies, or a deadly poison, offering great gifts in return. At times +Eddo and his fellow-priests would listen, and the giants would bring a tiny +bowl filled with dew into which they gazed, telling them the pictures they saw +there, though this they did but seldom, as the supply of dew which they had +brought with them from their own country ran low, and since it could not be +used twice they kept it for their own purposes. +</p> + +<p> +Next they came to a country of vast swamps, where dwelt few men and many wild +beasts, a country full of fevers and reeds and pools, in which lived snakes and +crocodiles. Yet no harm came to them from these things, for the Ghost-priests +had medicines that warded off sickness, and charms that protected them from all +evil creatures, and in their bowls they read what road to take and how dangers +could be avoided. So they passed the swamps safely; only here that slave whom +Eddo had cursed at the kraal of Dingaan, and who from that day onward had +wasted till he seemed to be nothing but a great skeleton, sickened and died. +</p> + +<p> +“Did I not tell you that it should be so?” said Eddo to the other +slaves, who trembled before him as reeds tremble in the wind. “Be warned, +ye fools, who think that the strength of men lies in their bodies and their +spears.” Then he kicked the corpse of the dead giant gently with his +sandalled foot, and bade his brothers throw him into a pool for the crocodiles +to eat. +</p> + +<p> +Having passed the swamps and many rivers, at length they turned westward, +travelling for days over grassy uplands like to those of Natal, among which +wandered pastoral tribes with their herds of cattle. On these plains were +multitudes of game and many lions, especially in the bush-clad slopes of great +isolated mountains that rose up here and there. These lions roared round them +at night, but the priests did not seem to be afraid, for when the brutes became +overbold they placed deadly poison in the carcases of buck that the nomad +tribes brought them as offerings, of which the lions ate and died in numbers. +Also they sold some of the poison to the tribe for a great price in cattle, as +to the delivery of which cattle they gave minute directions, for they knew that +none dared to cheat the Mother of the Trees and her prophets. +</p> + +<p> +After the plains were left behind, they reached a vast, fertile and low-lying +country that sloped upwards for miles and miles, which, as Noie explained to +Rachel, when she would listen, was the outer territory of the Ghost-people, for +here dwelt the race of the Umkulus, or Great Ones, who were their slaves, that +folk to which the soldiers of their escort belonged. Of these there were +thousands and tens of thousands who earned their living by agriculture, since +although they were so huge and fierce-looking, they did not fight unless they +were attacked. The chiefs of this people had their dwellings in vast caves in +the sides of cliffs which, if need be, could be turned into impregnable +fortresses, but their real ruler was the Mother of the Trees, and their office +was to protect the country of the Trees and furnish it with food, since the +Tree-people were dreamers who did little work. +</p> + +<p> +While they travelled through this land all the headmen of the Umkulus +accompanied them, and every morning a council was held at which these made +report to the priests of all that had chanced of late, and laid their causes +before them for judgment. These causes Eddo and his fellow-priests heard and +settled as seemed best to them, nor did any dare to dispute their rulings. +Indeed, even when they deposed a high chief and set another in his place, the +man who had lost all knelt before them and thanked them for their goodness. +Also they tried criminals who had stolen women or committed murder, but they +never ordered such men to be slain outright. Sometimes Eddo would look at them +dreamily and curse them in his slow, hissing voice, bidding them waste in body +and in mind, as he had done to the soldier at Umgugundhlovu, and die within one +year, or two, or three, as the case might be. Or sometimes, if the crime was +very bad, he would command that they should be sent to “travel in the +desert,” that is, wander to and fro without food or water until death +found them. Now and again miserable-looking men, mere skeletons, with hollow +cheeks, and eyes that seemed to start from their heads, would appear at their +camps weeping and imploring that the curse which had been laid upon them in +past days should be taken off their heads. At such people Eddo and his +brother-priests, Pani and Hana, would laugh softly, asking them how they throve +upon the wrath of the Mother of the Trees, and whether they thought that others +who saw them would be encouraged to sin as they had done. But when the poor +wretches prayed that they might be killed outright with the spear, the priests +shrank up in horror beneath their umbrellas, and asked if they were mad that +they should wish them to “sprinkle their trees with blood.” +</p> + +<p> +One morning a number of these bewitched Umkulus, men, women and children, +appeared, and when the three priests mocked them, as was their wont, and the +guards, some of whom were their own relatives, sought to beat them away with +sticks, threw themselves upon the ground and burst into weeping. Rachel, who +was camped at a little distance with Noie, in a reed tent that the guard had +made for her, which they folded up and carried as they did the umbrellas, heard +the sound of this lamentation, and came out followed by Noie. For a space she +stood contemplating their misery with a troubled air, then asked Noie why these +people seemed so starved and why they wept. Noie told her that when she was on +her embassy the head of their kraal, an enormous man of middle age, whom she +pointed out to Rachel, had sought to detain her because she was beautiful, and +he wished to make her his wife, although he knew well that she was on an +embassy to the Mother of the Trees. She had escaped, but it was for this reason +that the curse of which they were perishing had been laid upon him and his +folk. +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel went on to where the three priests sat beneath their umbrellas +dozing away the hours of sunlight, beckoning to the doomed family to follow +her. +</p> + +<p> +“Wake, priests,” she cried in a loud voice, and they looked up +astonished, rubbing their eyes, and asked what was the matter. +</p> + +<p> +“This,” said Rachel. “I command you to lift the weight of +your malediction off the head of these people who have suffered enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou commandest us!” exclaimed Eddo astonished. “And if we +will not, Beautiful One, what then?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” answered Rachel, “<i>I</i> will lift it and set it on +to your heads, and you shall perish as they are perishing. Oh! you think me +mad, you priests, who kill more cruelly than did the Zulus, and mad I am whose +Spirit wanders. Yet I tell you that new powers grow within me, though whence +they come I know not, and what I say I can perform.” +</p> + +<p> +Now they stared at her muttering together, and sending for a wooden bowl, +peeped into it. Whatever it was they saw there did not please them, for at +length Eddo addressed the crowd of suppliants, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“The Mother of the Trees forgives; the knot she tied she looses; the tree +she planted she digs up. You are forgiven. Bones, put on strength; mouths, +receive food; eyes, forget your blindness, and feet, your wanderings. Grow fat +and laugh; increase and multiply; for the curse we give you a blessing, such is +the will of the Mother of the Trees.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay,” cried Rachel, when she understood their words, +“believe him not, ye starvelings. Such is the will of the Inkosazana of +the Zulus, she who has lost her Spirit and another’s, and travels all +this weary way to find them.” +</p> + +<p> +Then her madness seemed to come upon her again, for she tossed her arms on high +and burst into one of her wild fits of laughter. But those whom she had +redeemed heeded it not, for they ran to her, and since they dared not touch +her, or even her robe, kissed the ground on which she had stood and blessed +her. Moreover from that moment they began to mend, and within a few days were +changed folk. This Noie knew, for they followed up Rachel to the confines of +the desert, and she saw it with her eyes. Also the fame of the deed spread +among the Umkulu people who groaned under the cruel rule of the Ghost-kings, +and mad or sane, from that day forward they adored Rachel even more than the +Zulus had done, and like the Zulus believed her to be a Spirit. No mere human +being, they declared, could have lifted off the curse of the Mother of the +Trees from those upon whom it had fallen. +</p> + +<p> +Thenceforward Eddo, Pani, and Hana hid their judgments from Rachel, and would +not suffer such suppliants to approach the camp. Also when they seized a number +of men because these had conspired together to rebel against the Ghost-people, +and brought them on towards their own country for a certain purpose, they +forced them to act as bearers like the others, so that Rachel might not guess +their doom. For now, with all their power, they also were afraid of this white +Inkosazana, as Dingaan had been afraid. +</p> + +<p> +So they travelled up this endless slope of fertile land, leaving all the kraals +of the giant Umkulus behind them, and one morning at the dawn camped upon the +edge of a terrible desert; a place of dry sands and sun-blasted rocks, that +looked like the bottom of a drained ocean, where nothing lived save the fire +lizards and certain venomous snakes that buried themselves in the sand, all +except their heads, and only crawled out at night. After the people of the +Umkulus this horrible waste was the great defence of the Ghost-kings, whose +country it ringed about, since none could pass it without guides and water. +Indeed, Noie had been forced to stay here for days with her escort, until the +Mother of the Trees, learning of her coming in some strange fashion, had sent +priests and guards to bring her to her land. But the Zulus who were with her +they did not bring, except one witch-doctor to bear witness to her words. These +they left among the Umkulus till she should return, nor were those Zulus sorry +who had already heard enough of the magic of the Ghost-kings, and feared to +come face to face with them. +</p> + +<p> +But it is true that they also feared the Umkulus, whom, because of their great +size and the fierceness of their air, the Zulus took to be evil spirits, though +if this were so, they could not understand why they should obey a handful of +grey dwarfs who lived far from them beyond the desert. Still these Umkulus did +them no harm, for on her return Noie found them all safe and well. +</p> + +<p> +That afternoon Rachel and the dwarfs plunged into the dreadful wilderness, +heading straight for the ball of the sinking sun. Here, although she wished to +do so, she was not allowed to walk, for fear lest the serpents should bite her, +said Eddo, but must journey in the litter with Noie. So they entered it, and +were borne forward at a great pace, the bearers travelling at a run, and being +often changed. Also many other bearers came with them, and on the shoulders of +each of them was strapped a hide bag of water. Of this they soon discovered the +reason, for the sand of that wilderness was white with salt; the air also +seemed to be full of salt, so that the thirst of those who travelled there was +sharp and constant, and if it could not be satisfied they died. +</p> + +<p> +It was a very strange journey, and although she did not seem to take much note +of them at the time, its details and surroundings burned themselves deeply into +Rachel’s mind. The hush of the infinite desert, the white moonlight +gleaming upon the salt, white sand; the tall rocks which stood up here and +there like unfinished obelisks and colossal statues, the snowy clouds of dust +that rose beneath the feet of the company; the hoarse shouts of the guides, the +close heat, the halts for water which was greedily swallowed in great gulps; +the occasional cry and confusion when a man fell out exhausted, or because he +had been bitten by one of the serpents—all these things, amongst others, +were very strange. +</p> + +<p> +Once Rachel asked vaguely what became of these outworn and snake-poisoned men, +and Noie only shook her head in answer, for she did not think fit to tell her +that they were left to find their way back, or to perish, as might chance. +</p> + +<p> +All that night and for the first hours of the day that followed, they went +forward swiftly, camping at last to eat and sleep in the shadow of a mass of +rock that looked like a gigantic castle with walls and towers. Here they +remained in the burning heat until the sun began to sink once more, and then +went on again, leaving some of the bearers behind them, because there was no +longer water for so many. There the great men sat in patient resignation and +watched them go, they who knew that having little or no water, few of them +could hope to see their homes again. Still, so great was their dread of the +Ghost-priests, that they never dared to murmur, or to ask that any of the store +of water should be given to them, they who were but cattle to be used until +they died. +</p> + +<p> +The second night’s journey was like the first, for this desert never +changed its aspect, and on the following morning they halted beneath another +pile of fantastic, sand-burnished rocks, from some of which hung salt like +icicles. Here one of the bearers who had been denied water as a punishment for +laziness, although in truth he was sick, began to suck the salt-icicles. +Suddenly he went raving mad, and rushing with a knife at Eddo, Pani, and Hana +where they sat under their cane umbrellas that, for the sake of coolness, were +damped with this precious water, he tried to kill them. +</p> + +<p> +Then as they saw the knife gleaming, all their imperturbable calm departed from +these dwarfs. They squeaked in terror with thin voices as rats speak; they +rolled upon the ground yelling to the slaves to save them from a “red +death.” The man was seized and, though he fought with all his giant +strength, held down and choked in the sand. Once, however, he twisted his head +free, howling a curse at them. Also he managed to hurl his knife at Eddo, and +the point of it scratched him on the hand, causing the pale blood to flow, a +sight at which Eddo and the other priests broke into tears and lamentations, +that continued long after the Umkulu was dead. +</p> + +<p> +“Why are they such cowards?” asked Rachel, dreamily, for she had +not seen the murder of the slave, and thought that Eddo had only scratched +himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Because they fear the sight of blood, Zoola,” answered Noie, +“which is a very evil omen to them. Death they do not fear who are +already among ghosts, but if it is a red death, their souls are spilt with +their life, or so they believe.” +</p> + +<p> +Towards noon that day the sky banked up with lurid-coloured clouds; the sun +which should have shone so hotly, went out, and a hush that was almost fearful +in its heat and intensity, fell upon the desert. The Umkulu bearers became +disturbed, and gathered together into knots, talking in low tones. Eddo and his +brother priests who, either because of the adventure of the morning or the +oppressive air, could not sleep, as was usual with them, were also disturbed. +They crept from beneath their umbrellas which, as the sun had vanished, were of +no use to them, and stood together staring at the salty plain, which under that +leaden and lowering sky looked white as snow, and at the brooding clouds above. +They even sent for their bowls to read in them pictures of what was about to +happen, but there was no dew left, so these could not be used. +</p> + +<p> +Then they consulted with the captains of the bearers, who told them what no +magic was needed to guess—that a mighty storm was gathering, and that if +it overtook them in the desert, they would be buried beneath the drifting sand. +Now this was a “white death” which the dwarfs did not seem to +desire, so they ordered an instant departure, instead of delaying the start +until sunset, as they had intended, for then, if all went well, they would have +arrived at their homes by dawn, and not in the middle of the night. So that +litters were made ready, and they went forward through the overpowering heat, +that caused the bearers to hang out their tongues and reel as they walked. +</p> + +<p> +Towards evening the storm began to stir. Little wandering puffs of wind blew +upon them and died away, and lightnings flickered intermittently. Then a hot +breeze sprang up that gradually increased in strength until the sand rolled and +rippled before it, now one way and now another, for this breeze seemed to blow +in turn from every quarter of the heavens. Suddenly, however, after trying them +all, it settled in the west, and drove straight into their faces with ever +increasing force. Now Eddo thrust out his head between the curtains of his +litter and called to the bearers to hurry, as they had but a little distance of +desert left to pass, after which came the grass country where there would be no +danger from the sand. They heard and obeyed, changing the pole gangs +frequently, as those who carried the litters became exhausted. +</p> + +<p> +But the storm was quicker than they; it burst upon them while they were still +in the waste, though not in its full strength. Then the darkness came, utter +darkness, for no moon or stars could be seen, and salt and sand drove down on +them like hail. Through it all, the bearers fought on, though how they found +their way Noie, who was watching them, could not guess, since no landmarks were +left to guide them. They fought on, blinded, choked with the salt sand that +drove into their eyes and lungs, till man after man, they fell down and +perished. Others took their places, and yet they fought on. +</p> + +<p> +It must have been near to midnight when the company, or those who were left of +them, staggered to the edge of that dreadful wilderness which was but a vast +plain of stone and sand, bordered on the west as on the east by slopes of +fertile soil. For a while the fierce tempest lifted a little, and the light of +the stars which struggled through breaks in the clouds showed that they were +marching down a steep descent of grassland. Thus they went on for several more +hours, till at length the bearers of the litter in which were Rachel and Noie, +who for a long time had been staggering to and fro like drunken men, came to a +halt, and litter and all, sank to the ground, utterly exhausted. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel and Noie disentangled themselves from the litter, for they were unhurt, +and stood by it, not knowing where to go, till presently two other litters +containing the priests came up, for the third had been abandoned, and its +occupant crowded in with Eddo. Now a great clamour arose in the darkness, the +priests hissing commands to the surviving bearers to take up the litter and +proceed. But great as was their strength, this the poor men could not do. There +they lay upon the ground answering that Eddo might curse them if he wished, or +even kill them as their brothers had been killed, but they were unable to stir +another step until they had rested and drunk. Where they were, there they must +lie until rain fell. Then the priests wished Rachel to enter one of their +litters, leaving Noie to walk, which they were afraid to do themselves. But +when she understood, Rachel cut the matter short by answering, +</p> + +<p> +“Not so, I will walk,” and picking up the spear of one of the +fallen Umkulu to serve as a staff, she took Noie by the hand and started +forward down the hill. +</p> + +<p> +One of the priests clasped her robe to draw her back, but she turned on him +with the spear, whereon he shrank back into his litter like a snail into his +shell and left her alone. So following the steep path they marched on, and +after them came the two litters with the priests, carried by all the bearers +who could still stand, for these old men weighed no more than children. From +far below them rose a mighty sound as of an angry sea. +</p> + +<p> +“What is that noise?” called Rachel into the ear of Noie, for the +gale was rising again. +</p> + +<p> +“The sound of wind in the forest where the Tree-folk dwell,” she +answered. +</p> + +<p> +Then the dawn broke, an awful, blood-red dawn, and by degrees they saw. Beneath +them ran a shallow river, and beyond it, stretching for league upon league +farther than the eye could see, lay the mighty forest whereof the trees soared +two hundred feet or more into the air; the dark illimitable forest that rolled +as the sea rolls beneath the pressure of the gale, and indeed, seen from above, +looked like a green and tossing ocean. At the sight of the water Rachel and +Noie began to run towards it hand in hand, for they were parched with thirst +whose mouths were full of the salt dust of the desert. The bearers of the +litters in which were the three priests ran also, paying no heed to the cries +of the dwarfs within. At length it was reached, and throwing themselves down +they drank until that raging thirst of theirs was satisfied; even Eddo and his +companions crawled out of their litters and drank. Then having washed their +hands and faces in the cool water, they forded the fleet stream, and, filled +with a new life, followed the road that ran beyond towards the forest. Scarcely +had they set foot upon the farther bank when the heart of the tempest, which +had been eddying round them all night long, burst over them in its fury. The +lightnings blazed, the thunder rolled, and the wild wind grew to a hurricane, +so fierce that the litters in which were Eddo, Pani, and Hana were torn from +the grasp of the bearers and rolled upon the ground. From the wreck of them, +for they were but frail things, the little grey priests emerged trembling, or +rather were dragged by the hands of their giant bearers, to whom they clung as +a frightened infant clings to its mother. Rachel saw them and laughed. +</p> + +<p> +“Look at the Masters of Magic!” she cried to Noie, “those who +kill with a curse, those who rule the Ghosts,” and she pointed to the +tiny, contemptible figures with fluttering robes being dragged along by those +giants whom but a little while before they had threatened with death. +</p> + +<p> +“I see them,” answered Noie into her ear. “Their spirits are +strong when they are at peace, but in trouble they fear doom more than others. +Now, if I were those Umkulu, I would make an end of them while they can.” +</p> + +<p> +But these great, patient men did otherwise; indeed, when the dwarfs, worn out +and bewildered by the hurricane, could walk no more, they took them up and +carried them as a woman carries a babe. +</p> + +<p> +Now they were passing a belt of open land between the river and the forest in +which terrified mobs of cattle rushed to and fro, while their herds, slave-men +of large size like the Umkulu, tried to drive them to some place where they +would be safe from the tempest. In this belt also grew broad fields of grain, +which furnished food for the Tree-folk. At last they came to the confines of +the forest, and Rachel, looking round her with wondering eyes, saw at the foot +of each great tree a tiny hut shaped like a tent, and in front of the hut a +dwarf seated on the ground staring into a bowl of water, and beating his breast +with his hands. +</p> + +<p> +“What do they?” she asked of Noie. +</p> + +<p> +“They strive to read their fates, Lady, and weep because the wind ripples +the dew in their bowls, so that they can see nothing, and cannot be sure +whether their tree will stand or fall. Follow me, follow me; I know the way, +here we are not safe.” +</p> + +<p> +The hurricane was at its height; the huge trees about them rocked and bent like +reeds, great boughs came crashing down; one of them fell upon a praying dwarf +and crushed him to a pulp. Those around him saw it and uttered a wild shrill +scream; Eddo, Pani, and Hana saw it and screamed also, in the arms of their +bearers, for this sight of blood was terrible to them. The forest was alive +with the voices of the storm, it seemed to howl and groan, and the lightnings +illumined its gloomy aisles. The grandeur and the fearfulness of the scene +excited Rachel; she waved the spear she carried, and began to laugh in the wild +fashion of her madness, so that even the grey dwarfs, seated each at the foot +of his tree, ceased from his prayers to glance at her askance. +</p> + +<p> +On they went, expecting death at every step, but always escaping it, until they +reached a wide clearing in the forest. In the centre of this clearing grew a +tree more huge than any that Rachel had ever dreamed of, the bole of it, that +sprang a hundred feet without a branch, was thicker than Dingaan’s Great +Hut, and its topmost boughs were lost in the scudding clouds. In front of this +tree was gathered a multitude of people, men, women, and children, all dwarfs, +and all of them on their knees engaged in prayer. At its bole, by a tent-shaped +house, stood a little figure, a woman whose long grey hair streamed upon the +wind. +</p> + +<p> +“The Mother of the Trees,” cried Noie through the screaming gale. +“Come to her, she will shelter us,” and she gripped Rachel’s +arm to lead her forward. +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had they gone a step when the lightning blazed above them fearfully, +and with it came an awful rush of wind. Perhaps that flash fell upon the tree, +or perhaps the wind snapped its roots. At least its mighty trunk burst in +twain, and with a crash that for a moment seemed to master even the roar of the +volleying thunder, down it came to earth. Two huge limbs fell on either side of +Rachel and Noie, but they were not touched. A bough struck the Umkulu slave who +was carrying Eddo, and swept off his head, leaving the dwarf unharmed. Another +bough fell upon Pani and his bearer, and buried them in the earth beneath its +bulk, so that they were never seen again. As it chanced the most of the +worshippers were beyond the reach of the falling branches, but some of these +that were torn loose in the fall, or shattered by the lightning, the wind +caught and hurled among them, slaying several and wounding others. +</p> + +<p> +In ten seconds the catastrophe had come and gone, the Queen-Tree that had ruled +the forest for a thousand years was down, a stack of green leaves, through +which the shattered branches showed like bones, and a prostrate, splintered +trunk. The shock threw Noie and Rachel to the ground, but Rachel, rising +swiftly, pulled Noie to her feet after her; then, acting upon some impulse, +leapt forward, and climbing on to the trunk where it forked, ran down it till +she almost reached its base, and stood there against the great shield of earth +that had been torn up with the roots. After that last fearful outburst a +stillness fell, the storm seemed to have exhausted itself, at any rate for a +while. Rachel was able to get her breath and look about her. +</p> + +<p> +All around were lines of enormous trees, solemn aisles that seemed to lead up +to the Queen of the Trees, and down these aisles, piercing the shadows cast by +the interlacing branches overhead, shone the lights of that lurid morning. +Rachel saw, and something struggled in the darkness of her brain, as the light +struggled in the darkness of the forest aisles. She remembered—oh! what +was it she remembered? Now she knew. It was the dream she had dreamed upon the +island in the river, years and years ago, a dream of such trees as these, and +of little grey people like to these, and of the boy, Richard, grown to manhood, +lashed to the trunk of one of the trees. What had happened to her? She could +recall nothing since she saw the body of Richard upon its bier in the kraal +Mafooti. +</p> + +<p> +But this was not the kraal Mafooti, nor had Noie, who stood at her side, been +with her there, Noie, who had gone on an embassy to her father’s folk, +the dwarf people. Ah! these people were dwarfs. Look at them running to and fro +screaming like little monkeys. She must have been dreaming a long, bad dream, +whereof the pictures had escaped her. Doubtless she was still dreaming and +presently would awake. Well, the torment had gone out of it, and the fear, only +the wonder remained. She would stand still and see what happened. Something was +happening now. A little thin hand appeared, gripping the rough bark at the side +of the fallen tree. +</p> + +<p> +She peeped over the swell of it and saw an old dwarf woman with long white +hair, whose feet were set in a cleft of the shattered bole, and who hung to it +as an ape hangs. Beneath her to the ground was a fall of full thirty feet, for +the base of the bole was held high up by the roots, so that the little +woman’s hair hung down straight towards the ground, whither she must +presently fall and be killed. Rachel wondered how she had come there, if she +had clung to the trunk when it fell, or been thrown up by the shock, or lifted +by a bough. Next she wondered how long it would be before she was obliged to +leave go, and whether her white head or her back would first strike the earth +all that depth beneath. Then it occurred to her that she might be saved. +</p> + +<p> +“Hold my feet,” she said to Noie, who had followed her along the +trunk, speaking in her own natural voice, at the sound of which Noie looked at +her in joyful wonder. “Hold my feet; I think I can reach that old +woman,” and without waiting for an answer she laid herself down upon the +bole, her body hanging over the curve of it. +</p> + +<p> +Now Noie saw her purpose, and seating herself with her heels set against the +roughness of the bark, grasped her by the ankles. Supporting some of her weight +on one hand, with the other Rachel reached downwards all the length of her long +arm, and just as the grasp of the old woman below was slackening, contrived to +grip her by the wrist. The dwarf swung loose, hanging in the air, but she was +very light, of the weight of a five-year-old child, perhaps, no more, and +Rachel was very strong. With an effort she lifted her up till the monkey-like +fingers gripped the rough bark again. Another effort and the little body was +resting on the round of the tree, one more and she was beside her. +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel rose to her feet again and laughed, but it was not the mad laughter +that had scared Ishmael and the Zulus; it was her own laughter, that of a +healthy, cultured woman. +</p> + +<p> +The little creature, crouching on hands and knees at Rachel’s feet, +lifted her head and stared with her round eyes. At that moment, too, the sun +broke out, and its rays, shining where they had never shone for ages, fell upon +Rachel, upon her bright hair, and the white robes in which the dwarfs had +clothed her, and the gleaming spear in her hand, causing her to look like some +ancient statue of a goddess upon a temple roof. +</p> + +<p> +“Who art thou,” said the dwarf woman in the hissing voice of her +race, “thou Beautiful One? I know! I know! Thou art that Inkosazana of +the Zulus of whom we have had many visions, she for whom I sent. But the +Inkosazana was mad, she had lost her Spirit; it has been seen here. Beautiful +One, <i>thou</i> art not mad.” +</p> + +<p> +“What does she say, Noie?” asked Rachel. “I can only +understand some words.” +</p> + +<p> +Noie told her, and Rachel hid her eyes in her hand. Presently she let it fall, +saying: +</p> + +<p> +“She is right. I lost my Spirit for a while; it went away with another +Spirit. But I think that I have found it again. Tell her, Noie, that I have +travelled far to seek my Spirit, and that I have found it again.” +</p> + +<p> +Noie, who could scarcely take her eyes from Rachel’s face, obeyed, but +the old woman hardly seemed to heed her words; a grief had got hold of her. She +rocked herself to and fro like a monkey that has lost its young, and cried out: +</p> + +<p> +“My tree has fallen, the tree of my House, which stood from the beginning +of the world, has fallen, but that of Eddo still stands,” and she pointed +to another giant of the forest that soared up, unharmed, at a little distance. +“Nya’s tree has fallen—Eddo’s tree still stands. His +magic has prevailed against me, his magic has prevailed against me!” +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke a man appeared scrambling along the bole towards them; it was Eddo +himself. His round eyes shone, on his pale face there was a look of triumph, +for whoever might be lost, the danger had passed him by. +</p> + +<p> +“Nya,” he piped, tapping her on the shoulder, “thy Ghost has +deserted thee, old woman, thy tree is down. See, I spit upon it,” and he +did so. “Thou art no longer Mother of the Trees; thou art only the old +woman Nya. The Ghost people, the Dream people, the little Grey people, have a +new queen, and I am her minister, for I rule her Spirit. Yonder she +stands,” and he pointed at the tall and glittering Rachel. “Now, +thou new-born Mother of the Trees, who wast the Inkosazana of the Zulus, obey +me. Give death to this old woman, the Red Death, that her spirit may be spilt +with her blood, and lost for ever. Give it to her with that spear in thy hand, +while I hide my eyes, and reign thou in her place through me,” and he +bowed his head and waited. +</p> + +<p> +“Not the Red Death, not the Red Death,” wailed Nya. “Give me +the White Death and save my soul, Beautiful One, and in return I will give thee +something that thou desirest, who am still the wisest of them all, although my +Tree is down.” +</p> + +<p> +Noie whispered for a while in Rachel’s ear. Then while all the dwarf +people gathered beneath them, watching, Rachel bent forward, and putting her +arms about the trembling creature, lifted her up as though she were a child, +and held her to her bosom. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” she said, “I give thee no death, red or white; I +give thee love. Thy tree is down; sit thou in my shadow and be safe. On him who +harms thee”—and she looked at Eddo—“on him shall the +Red Death fall.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br /> +THE MOTHER OF THE TREES</h2> + +<p> +When Eddo understood these words he lifted his head and stared at Rachel +amazed. +</p> + +<p> +“This is thy doing, Bastard,” he said savagely, addressing Noie, +who had translated them. “I have felt thee fighting against me for long, +and now thou causest this Inkosazana to defy me. It was thou who didst work +upon that old woman, thine aunt, to command that the white witch should be +brought hither, and because as yet I dared not disobey, I made a terrible +journey to bring her. Yes, and I did this gladly, for when my eyes fell upon +her, there in the town of Dingaan, I saw that she was great and beautiful, but +that her Spirit had gone, and I knew that I could make her mouth to speak my +words, and her pure eyes to see things that are denied to mine, even the future +as, when I bade her, she saw it yonder in the court of Dingaan. But now it +seems that her Spirit has returned to her, so that there is no room for mine in +her heart, and she speaks her own words, not my words. And thou hast done this +thing, O Bastard.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps,” answered Noie unconcernedly. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou thinkest,” went on Eddo, in his fury beating the bole on +which he sat, “thou thinkest to protect that old hag, Nya, because her +blood runs in thee. But, fool, it is in vain, for her tree is down, her tree is +down, and as its leaves wither, and its sap dries up, so must she wither and +her blood dry up until she dies, she who thought to live on for many +years.” +</p> + +<p> +“What does that matter?” asked Noie, “seeing that then she +will only join the great company of the ghosts with whom she longs to be, and +return with them to torment thee, Eddo, until thou, too, art one of them, and +lookest on the face of Judgment.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou thinkest,” screamed the dwarf, ignoring this ominous +suggestion, “thou thinkest, when she is gone, to be queen in her place, +or to rule as high priestess through this White One.” +</p> + +<p> +“If I do, that will be a bad hour for thee, Eddo,” replied Noie. +</p> + +<p> +“It shall not be, woman. No bastard shall reign here as Mother of the +Trees while the nations round cringe before her feet. I have spells; I have +poisons; I have slaves who can shoot with arrows.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then use them if thou canst, thou evil-doer,” said “Noie +contemptuously. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, I will use them all, and not on thee only, but on that white witch +whom thou lovest. She shall never pass living from this land that is ringed in +by the desert and the forest. She shall choose me to reign through her as her +high priest, or she shall die—die miserably. For a little while that old +hag, Nya, may protect her with her wisdom, but when she passes, as she must, +and quickly, for I will light fires beneath this fallen tree of hers, then I +tell thee the Beautiful One shall choose between my rule and doom.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Noie would hear no more. +</p> + +<p> +“Dog,” she cried, “filthy night-bird, darest thou speak thus +of the Inkosazana? Another word and I will offer that heart of thine to the sun +thou hatest,” and snatching the spear from Rachel’s hand, she +charged at him, holding it aloft. +</p> + +<p> +Eddo saw her come. With a scream of fear he leapt to his feet, and ran swiftly +along the bole till he reached the mass of the fallen branches. Into these he +sprang, swinging himself from bough to bough like an ape until he vanished +amongst the dark green foliage. Then, having quite lost sight of him, Noie +returned laughing to Rachel, by whom stood the old Mother of the Trees who had +slid from her arms, and gave her back the spear, saying in the dwarf language: +</p> + +<p> +“This Eddo speaks great words, but he is also a great coward.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes,” answered the old woman, “he is a great coward, +because like all our folk he fears the Red Death; but, child, I tell thee he is +terrible. He hates me because I rule through the white art, not the black, but +while my tree stood he must obey me, and I was safe. Now it is down, and he may +kill me if he can, according to the custom of my land, and set up another to be +queen, she at whose feet my tree bowed itself and fell by the will of the +Heavens, and whom, therefore, the people will accept. Through her he will wield +all the power of the Ghost-kings, over whom no man may rule, but a woman only. +Come, Child, and thou, White One, come also. I know where we may hide. Lady, +the power that was mine is thine; protect me till I die, and in payment I will +give thee whatever thy heart desires.” +</p> + +<p> +“I ask no payment,” Rachel answered wearily, when she understood +the words; “and I think that it is I who need protection from that wicked +dwarf.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, guided by Nya, who clung to Rachel’s hand, they walked down the +bole of the tree and along a great branch, till at length they reached a place +whence they could climb to the ground. Before they were clear of the boughs the +dethroned Mother, from whose round eyes the tears fell, turned and kissed the +bark of one of them, wailing aloud. +</p> + +<p> +“Farewell, thou mighty one, under whose shade I, and the queens of my +race before me, have dreamed for centuries. Thou art fallen beneath the stroke +of Heaven, and great was thy fall, and I am fallen with thee. Save me from the +Red Death, O Spirit of my tree, that in the land of ghosts I still may sleep +beneath thy shade for ever.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she ran to the very point of the tree and broke off its topmost twig, +which was covered with narrow and shining green leaves, and holding it in her +hand, returned to Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“I will plant it,” she said, “and perchance it will grow to +be the house of queens unborn. Come, now, come,” and she turned her face +towards the forest. +</p> + +<p> +The thunder had rolled away, and from time to time the sun shone fiercely, so +fiercely that, unable to bear its rays, all the dwarfs who were gathered about +the fallen tree had retreated into the shadow of the other trees around the +open space. There they stood and sat watching the three of them go by. Men, +women and children, they all watched, and Rachel they saluted with their raised +hands; but to her who had been their mother for unknown years they did no +reverence. Only one hideous little man ran up to her and called out: +</p> + +<p> +“Thou didst punish me once, old woman, now why should I not kill thee in +payment? Thy tree is down at last.” +</p> + +<p> +Nya looked at him sadly, and answered: +</p> + +<p> +“I remember. Thou shouldst have died, for thy sin was great, but I laid a +lesser burden on thee. Man, thou canst not kill me yet; my tree is down, but it +is not dead.” +</p> + +<p> +She held up the green bough in her hand and looked at him from beneath it, then +went on slowly: “Man, my wisdom remains within me, and I tell thee that +before I die thou shalt die, and not as thou desirest. Remember my words, +people of the Ghosts.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she walked on with the others, leaving the dwarf staring after her with a +face wherein hate struggled with fear. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou liest,” he screamed after her; “thy power is gone with +thy tree.” +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely were the words out of his mouth when they heard a crash which caused +them to look round. A bough, broken by the storm, had fallen from on high. It +had fallen on to the head of the dwarf, and there he lay crushed and dead. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” piped the other dwarfs, pointing towards the corpse with +their fingers, and closing their eyes to shut out the sight of blood, +“ah! Nya is right; she still has power. Those who would kill her must +wait till her tree dies.” +</p> + +<p> +Taking no heed of what had happened, Nya walked on into the forest. For a while +Rachel noted the little huts built, each of them, at the foot of a tree. There +were hundreds of these huts that they could see, showing that the people were +many, but by degrees they grew fewer, only one was visible here and there, set +beneath some particularly vigorous and handsome timber. At last they ceased +altogether; they had passed through that city, the strangest city in the world. +</p> + +<p> +Trees—everywhere trees, hundreds of trees, tens of thousands of trees +soaring up to heaven, making a canopy of their interlacing boughs, shutting out +the light so that beneath them was a deep oppressive gloom. There was silence +also, for if any beasts or birds dwelt there the hurricane had scared them +away, silence only broken from time to time by the crash of some giant of the +forest that, its length of days fulfilled at last, sank suddenly to ruin, to be +buried in a tomb of brushwood whence in due course its successor would arise. +</p> + +<p> +“Another life gone,” said the old woman, Nya, flitting before them +like a little grey ghost, every time that this weird sound struck upon their +ears; “whose was it, I wonder? I will look in my bowl, I will look in my +bowl.” +</p> + +<p> +For, as Rachel discovered afterwards, these people believed that the spirit of +each tree of the forest is attached to the spirit of a human being, although +that being may dwell in other lands, far away, which dies when the tree dies, +sometimes slowly by disease, and sometimes in swift collapse, so that they pass +together into the world of ghosts. +</p> + +<p> +On they flitted through the gloom, on for mile after mile. Although the +leaf-strewn ground showed no traces of it, evidently they were following some +kind of path, for no fallen trunks barred their progress, nor were there any +creepers or brushwood, although to right and left of them all these could be +seen in plenty. At last, quite of a sudden, for the bole of a tree at the end +of the path had hidden it from them, they came upon a clearing in the forest. +It seemed to be a natural, or, at any rate, a very ancient clearing, since in +it no stumps were visible, nor any scrub, or creepers, only tall grass and +flowering plants. In the centre of this place, covering a quarter of it, +perhaps, was a vast circular wall, fifty feet or more in height, and clothed +with ferns. This wall, they noted, was built of huge blocks of stone, so huge +indeed that it seemed wonderful that they could have been moved by human +beings. At the sight of that marvellous wall Rachel and Noie halted +involuntarily, and Noie asked: +</p> + +<p> +“Who made it, Mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“The giants who lived when the world was young. Can our hands lift such +stones?” Nya answered, as, bending down, she thrust the top shoot from +her fallen tree deep into the humid soil, then added: “On, child; there +is danger here.” +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke something hissed through the air just above her head, and stuck +fast in the bark of a sapling. Noie sprang forward and plucked it out. It was a +little reed, feathered with grasses, and having a sharp ivory point, smeared +with some green substance. +</p> + +<p> +“Touch it not,” cried Nya, “it is deadly poison. Eddo’s +work, Eddo’s work! but my hour is not yet. Into the open before another +comes.” +</p> + +<p> +So they ran forward, all three of them, seeing and hearing nothing of the +shooter of the arrow. As they approached the titanic wall they saw that it +enclosed a mound, on the top of which mound grew a cedar-like tree with +branches so wide that they seemed to overshadow half of the enclosure. There +were no gates to this wall, but while they wondered how it could be entered, +Nya led them to a kind of cleft in its stones, not more than two feet in width, +across which cleft were stretched strings of plaited grass. She pressed herself +against them, breaking them, and walked forward, followed by Rachel and Noie. +Suddenly they heard a noise above them, and, looking up, saw white-robed dwarfs +perched upon the stones of the cleft, holding bent bows in their hands, whereof +the arrows were pointed at their breasts. Nya halted, beckoning to them, +whereon, recognising her, they dropped the arrows into the little quivers which +they wore, and scrambled off, whither Rachel could not see. +</p> + +<p> +“These are the guardians of the Temple that cannot either speak or hear, +who were summoned by the breaking of the thread,” said Nya, and went +forward again. +</p> + +<p> +Now to the right, and now to the left, ran the narrow path that wound its way +in the thickness of the mighty wall, which towered so high above them that they +walked almost in darkness, and at each turn of it were recesses; and above +these projecting stones, where archers could stand for its defence. At length +this path ended in a <i>cul-de-sac</i>, for in front of them was nothing but +blank masonry. Whilst Rachel and Noie stared at it wondering whither they +should go now, a large stone in this wall turned, leaving a narrow doorway +through which they passed, whereon it shut again behind them, though by what +machinery they could not see. +</p> + +<p> +Thus they passed through the wall, emerging, however, at a different point in +its circumference to that at which they had entered. In the centre of the +enclosure rose the hill of earth that they had seen from without, which +evidently was kept free from weeds and swept, and on its crest grew the huge +cedar-like tree, the Tree of the Tribe. Between the base of this hill and the +foot of the wall was a wide ring of level ground, also swept and weeded, and on +this space, neatly arranged in lines, were hundreds of little hillocks that +resembled ant-heaps. +</p> + +<p> +“The burying-place of the Ghost-priests, Lady,” said Nya, nodding +at the hillocks. “Soon my bones will be added to them.” +</p> + +<p> +Walking across this strange cemetery, they came to the foot of the mound that +was entirely overshadowed by the cedar above, from the outspread limbs of which +hung long grey moss, that swayed ceaselessly in the wind. Here dwarfs appeared +from right and left, the same whom they had seen within the thickness of the +wall, or others like to them, some male and some female; melancholy-eyed little +creatures who bowed to Nya, and looked with fear and wonder at the tall white +Rachel. Evidently they were all of them deaf mutes, for they made signs to Nya, +who answered them with other signs, the purport of which seemed to sadden and +disturb them greatly. +</p> + +<p> +“They have seen the fall of my tree in their bowls,” explained Nya +to Noie, “and ask me if it is a true vision. I tell them that I am come +here to die and that is why they are sad. This is the place of dying of all the +Ghost-priests, whence they pass into the world of spirits, and here no blood +may be shed, no, not that of the most wicked evil-doer. If any one of the +family of the priests reaches this place living, the glory of the White Death +is won. Follow and see.” +</p> + +<p> +So they followed her up the mound, past what looked like the entrance to a +cave, until they reached a low fence of reeds whereof the gate stood open. +</p> + +<p> +“The gate is open, but enter not there,” whispered the old Mother +of the Trees, “for those who enter there live not long. Look, Lady, +look.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel peered through the gate, but so dense was the gloom in that holy spot +that at first she could only see the enormous red bole of the cedar, and the +ghostly, moss-clad branches which sprang from it at no great height above the +ground. Presently, however, her eyes, grown accustomed to the light, +distinguished several little white-robed figures seated upon the earth at some +distance from the trunk staring into vessels of wood which were placed before +them. These figures appeared to be those of both men and women, while one was +that of a child. Even as they watched, the figure nearest to them fell forward +over its bowl and lay quite still, whereon those around it set up a feeble, +piping cry, that yet had in it a note of gladness. The dwarf-mutes who had +accompanied them, and who alone seemed to have a right of entry into this sad +place, ran forward and looked. Then very gently they lifted up the fallen +figure and bore it out. As it was carried past them Rachel noted that it was +the body of quite a young woman, whose little face, wasted to nothing, still +looked sweet and gentle. +</p> + +<p> +“Was she ill?” asked Rachel in an awed voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps,” answered the Mother, shaking her grey head, “or +perhaps she was very unhappy, and came here to die. What does it matter? She is +happy now.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ask her, Noie, if all must die who sit beneath that tree,” said +Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye,” answered Nya, “all save these dumb people who have +been priests of the Tree from generation to generation. To touch its stem is to +perish soon or late, for it is the Tree of Life and Death, and in it dwells the +Spirit of the whole race.” +</p> + +<p> +“What then would happen if it fell down, or was destroyed like your tree, +Mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then the race would perish also,” answered Nya, “since their +Spirit would lack a home and depart to the world of Ghosts, whither they must +follow. When it dies of old age, if it should ever die, then the race will die +with it.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if someone should cut it down, Mother, what then?” +</p> + +<p> +Now when Noie translated these words to her, the face of the old queen was +filled with horror, and as her face was, so was Noie’s face. +</p> + +<p> +“White Maiden,” she gasped, “speak not such wickedness lest +the very thought of it should bring the curse upon us all. He who destroyed +that tree would bring ruin upon this people. They would fly away, every one of +them, far into the heart of the forest, and be seen no more by man. Moreover, +he who did this evil thing would perish and pass down to vengeance among the +ghosts, such vengeance as may not be spoken. Put that thought from thy mind, I +pray thee, and let it never pass thy lips again.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you believe all this, Noie?” asked Rachel in English with a +smile. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Zoola,” answered Noie, shuddering, “for it is true. My +father told me of it, and of what happened once to some wild men who broke into +the sanctuary, and shot arrows at the Tree. No, no, I will not tell the story; +it is dreadful.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet it must be foolishness, Noie, for how can a tree have power over the +lives of men?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, but it has, it has! If I were but to cast a stone at it, +I should be dead in a day, and so would you—yes, even you—nothing +could save you. Oh!” she went on earnestly, “swear to me, Sister, +that you will never so much as touch that tree; I pray you, swear.” +</p> + +<p> +So Rachel swore, to please her, for she was tired of this tree and its powers. +</p> + +<p> +Then they went down the hill again, till they came to the mouth of the cave. +</p> + +<p> +“Enter, Lady,” Nya said, “for this must be thy home a while +until thou goest to rule as Mother of the Trees after me, or, if it pleases +thee better, up yonder to die.” +</p> + +<p> +They went into the cave, having no choice. It was a great place lit dimly by +the outer light, and farther down its length with lamps. Looking round her, +Rachel saw that its roof was supported by white columns which she knew to be +stalactites, for as a child she had seen their like. At the end of it, where +the lamps burned and a fountain bubbled from the ground, rose a very large +column shaped like the trunk of a tree, with branches at the top that looked +like the boughs of a tree. Gazing at it Rachel understood why these dwarfs, or +some ancient people before them, had chosen this cave as their temple. +</p> + +<p> +“The ghost Tree of my race,” said old Nya, pointing to it, +“the only tree that never falls, the Tree that lives and grows for ever. +Yes, it grows, for it is larger now than when my mother was a child.” +</p> + +<p> +As they drew near to this wondrous and ghostly looking object Rachel saw piled +around and beyond it many precious things. There was gold in dust and heaps, +and rings and nuggets; there were shining stones, red and green and white, that +she knew were jewels; there were tusks of ivory and carvings in ivory; there +were karosses and furs mouldering to decay; there were grotesque gods, fetishes +of wood and stone. +</p> + +<p> +“Offerings,” said Nya, “which all the nations that live in +darkness bring to the Mother of the Trees, and the priests of the Cave. Costly +things which they value, but we value them not, who prize power and wisdom +only. Yes, yes, costly things which they give to the Mother of the Trees, the +fools without a spirit, when they come here to ask her oracle. Look, there are +some of the gifts which were sent by Dingaan of the Zulus in payment for the +oracle of his death. Thou broughtest them, Noie, my child.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered Noie, “I brought them, and the Inkosazana +here, she delivered the oracle. Eddo gave her the bowl, and she saw pictures in +the bowl and showed them to Dingaan.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay,” said the old woman testily, “it was I who saw the +pictures, and I showed them to Eddo and to this white virgin. You cannot +understand, but it was so, it was so. Eddo’s gift of vision is small, +mine is great. None have ever had it as I have it, and that is why Eddo and the +others have suffered my tree to live so long, because the light of my wisdom +has shone about their heads and spoken through their tongues, and when I am +gone they will seek and find it not. In thee they might have found it, Maiden, +had thy heart remained empty, but now, it is full again and what room is there +for wisdom such as ours?—the wisdom of the ghosts, not the wisdom of life +and love and beating hearts.” +</p> + +<p> +Noie translated the words, but Rachel seemed to take no heed of them. +</p> + +<p> +“Dingaan?” she asked. “Is Dingaan dead? He was well enough +when—when Richard came to Zululand, and since then I have seen nothing of +him. How did he die?” +</p> + +<p> +“He did not die, Zoola,” answered Noie, “though I think that +ere long he will die, for you told him so. It was you who died for a while, not +Dingaan. By-and-bye you shall learn all that story. Now you are very weary and +must rest.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Rachel with a sob, “I think I died when Richard +died, but now I seem to have come to life again—that is the worst of it. +Oh!! Noie, Noie, why did you not let me remain dead, instead of bringing me to +life again in this dreadful place?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because it was otherwise fated, Sister,” replied Noie. “No, +do not begin to laugh and cry; it was otherwise fated,” and bending down +she whispered something into Nya’s ear. +</p> + +<p> +The old dwarf nodded, then, taking Rachel by the hand, led her to where some +skins were spread upon the floor. +</p> + +<p> +“Lie down,” she said, “and rest. Rest, beautiful White One, +and wake up to eat and be strong again,” and she gazed into +Rachel’s eyes as Eddo had done when the fits of wild laughter were on +her, singing something as she gazed. +</p> + +<p> +While she sang the madness that was gathering there again went out of +Rachel’s eyes, the lids closed over them, and presently they were fast +shut in sleep, nor did she open them again for many hours. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Rachel awoke and sat up looking round her wonderingly. Then by the dim light of +the lamps she saw Noie seated at her side, and the old dwarf-woman, who was +called Mother of the Trees, squatted at a little distance watching them +both—and remembered. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou hast had happy dreams, Lady, and thou art well again, is it not +so?” queried Nya. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Mother,” she answered, “too happy, for they make my +waking the more sad. And I am well, I who desire to die.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then go up through the open gate which thou sawest not so long ago, and +satisfy thy desire, as it is easy to do,” replied Nya grimly. +“Nay,” she added in a changed voice, “go not up, thou art too +young and fair, the blood runs too red in those blue veins of thine. What hast +thou to do with ghosts and death, and the darkness of the trees, thou child of +the air and sunshine? Death for the dwarf-folk, death for the dealers in +dreams, death for the death-lovers, but for thee life—life.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell her, Noie,” said Rachel, “that my mother, who was +fore-sighted, always said that I should live out my days, and I fear that it is +true, who must live them out alone.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes, she was right, that mother of thine,” answered Nya, +“and for the rest, who knows? But thou art hungry, eat; afterwards we +will talk,” and she pointed to a stool upon which was food. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel tasted and found it very good, a kind of porridge, made of she knew not +what, and with it forest fruits, but no flesh. So she ate heartily, and Noie +ate with her. Nya ate also, but only a very little. +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I trouble to eat?” she said, “I to whom death +draws near?” +</p> + +<p> +When they had finished eating, at some signal which Rachel did not perceive, +mutes came in who bore away the fragments of the meal. After they had gone the +three women washed themselves in the water of the fountain. Then Noie combed +out Rachel’s golden hair, and clothed her again in her robe of silken fur +that she had cleansed, throwing over it a mantle of snowy white fibre, such as +the dwarfs wove into cloth, which she and Nya had made ready while Rachel +slept. +</p> + +<p> +As Noie put it about her mistress and stepped back to see how it became her +beauty, two of the dwarf-mutes appeared creeping up the cave, and squatting +down before Nya began to make signs to her. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” asked Rachel nervously. +</p> + +<p> +“Eddo is without,” answered the Mother, “and would speak with +us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I fear Eddo and will not go,” exclaimed Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, have no fear, Maiden, for here he can not harm thee or any of us; +it is the place of sanctuary. Come, let us see this priest; perhaps we may +learn something from him.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap21"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> +THE CITY OF THE DEAD</h2> + +<p> +Nya led the way down the cave, followed by Rachel and Noie. Squatted in its +entrance, so as to be out of reach of the rays of the sun, sat Eddo, looking +like a malevolent toad, and with him were Hana and some other priests. As +Rachel approached they all rose and saluted, but to Nya and Noie they gave no +salute. Only to Nya Eddo said: +</p> + +<p> +“Why art thou not within the Fence, old woman?” and he pointed with +his chin towards the place of death above. “Thy tree is down, and all +last night we were hacking off its branches that it may dry up the sooner. It +is time for thee to die.” +</p> + +<p> +“I die when my tree dies, not before, Priest,” answered Nya. +“I have still some work to do before I die, also I have planted my tree +again in good soil, and it may grow.” +</p> + +<p> +“I saw,” said Eddo; “it is without the wall there, but many a +generation must go by before a new Mother sits beneath its shade. Well, die +when it pleases you, it does not matter when, since thou art no more our +Mother. Moreover, learn that all have deserted thee, save a very few, most of +whom have just now passed within the Fence above that they may attend thee +amongst the ghosts.” +</p> + +<p> +“I thank them,” said Nya simply, “and in that world we will +rule together.” +</p> + +<p> +“The rest,” went on Eddo, “have turned against thee, having +heard how thou didst bring one of us to the Red Death yesterday by thy evil +magic, him upon whom the bough fell.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who was it that strove to bring me to the Red Death before I reached the +sanctuary? Who shot the poisoned arrow, Priest?” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know,” answered Eddo, “but it seems that he shot +badly for thou art still here. Now enough of thee, old woman. For many years we +bore thy rule, which was always foolish, and sometimes bad, because we could +not help it, for the tree of her who went before thee fell at thy feet, as thy +tree has fallen at the feet of the White Virgin there. For long thou and I have +struggled for the mastery, and now thou art dead and I have won, so be silent, +old woman, and since that arrow missed thee, go hence in peace, for none need +thee any more, who hast neither youth, nor comeliness, nor power.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye,” answered Nya, stung to fury by these insults, “I shall +go hence in peace, but thou shalt not abide in peace, thou traitor, nor those +who follow thee. When youth and comeliness fade then wisdom grows, and wisdom +is power, Eddo, true power. I tell thee that last night I looked in my bowl and +saw things concerning thee—aye, and all of our people, that are hid from +thy eyes, terrible things, things that have not befallen since the Tree of the +Tribe was a seed, and the Spirit of the Tribe came to dwell within it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak them, then,” said Eddo, striving to hide the fear which +showed through his round eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Priest, I speak them not. Live on and thou shalt discover them, +thou and thy traitors. Well have I served you all for many years, mercy have I +given to all, white magic have I practised and not black, none have died that I +could save, none have suffered whom I could protect, no, not even the +slave-peoples beneath our rule. All this have I done, knowing that ye plotted +against me, knowing that ye strove to kill my tree by spells, knowing what the +end must be. It has come at last, as come it must, and I do not grieve. Fool, I +knew that it would come, and I knew the manner of its coming. It was I who sent +for this virgin queen whom ye would set up to rule over you, foreseeing that at +her feet my tree would fall. The ghost of Seyapi, who is of my blood, Seyapi +whom years ago ye drove away for no offence, to dwell in a strange land, told +me of her and of this Noie, his daughter, and of the end of it all. So she +came; thou didst not bring her as thou thoughtest, <i>I</i> brought her, and my +tree fell at her feet as it was doomed to fall, and she saved me from the Red +Death as she was doomed to do, giving me love, not hate, as I gave her love not +hate. For the rest ye shall see—all of you. I am finished—I am +dead—but I live on elsewhere, and ye shall see.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Eddo would have answered, but the priest Hana, who appeared to be much +frightened by Nya’s words, plucked at his sleeve, whispering in his ear, +and he was silent. Presently he spoke again, but to Rachel, bidding Noie +translate: +</p> + +<p> +“Thou White Maid,” he said, “who wast called Princess of the +Zulus, pay no heed to this old dotard, but listen to me. When thy Spirit +wandered yonder, even then I saw the seeds of greatness in thee, and begged +thee from the savage Dingaan. Also I and Pani, who is dead, and Hana, who +lives, read by our magic that at thy feet the tree of Nya would fall, and that +after her thou wast appointed to rule over us. All the Ghost-people read it +also, and now they have named thee their Mother, and chosen thee a tree, a +great tree, but young and strong, that shall stand for ages. Come forth, then, +and take thy seat beneath that tree, and be our queen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I come?” asked Rachel. “It seems that you dwarfs +bring your queens to ill ends. Choose you another Mother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana, we cannot if we would,” answered Eddo, “for +these matters are not in our hands, but in those of our Spirit. Hearken, we +will deal well with thee; we will make thee great, and grow in thy greatness, +for thou shall give us of thy wisdom, that although thou knowest it not, thou +hast above all other women. We weary of little things, we would rule the world. +All the nations from sea to sea shall bow down before thee, and seek thine +oracle. Thou shall take their wealth, thou shalt drive them hither and thither +as the wind drives clouds. Thou shalt make war, thou shalt ordain peace. At thy +pleasure they shall rise up in life and lie down in death. Their kings shall +cower before thee, their princes shall bring thee tribute, thou shalt reign a +god.” +</p> + +<p> +“Until it shall please Eddo to bring thee to thine end, Lady, as it +pleases him to bring me to mine,” muttered Nya behind her. “Be not +beguiled, Maiden; remain a woman and uncrowned, for so thou shalt find most +joy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou meanest, Eddo,” said Rachel, “that thou wilt rule and I +do thy bidding. Noie, tell him that I will have none of it. When I came here a +great sorrow had made me mad, and I knew nothing. Now I have found my Spirit +again, and presently I go hence.” +</p> + +<p> +At this answer Eddo grew very angry. +</p> + +<p> +“One thing I promise thee, Zoola,” he said; “in the name of +all the Ghost-people I promise it, that thou shalt not go hence alive. In this +sanctuary thou art safe indeed, seated in the shadow of the Death-tree that is +the Tree of Life, but soon or late a way will be found to draw thee hence, and +then thou shalt learn who is the stronger—thou or Eddo—as the old +woman behind thee has learned. Fare thee well for a while. I will tell the +people that thou art weary and restest, and meanwhile I rule in thy name. Fare +thee well, Inkosazana, till we meet without the wall,” and he rose and +went, accompanied by Hana and the other priests. +</p> + +<p> +When he had gone a little way he turned, and pointing up the hill, screamed +back to Nya: +</p> + +<p> +“Go and look within the Fence, old hag. There thou wilt see the best of +those that clung to thee, seeking for peace. Art thou a coward that thou +lingerest behind them?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Eddo,” she answered, “thou art the coward that hast +driven them to death, because they are good and thou art evil. When my hour is +ripe I join them, not before. Nor shalt thou abide here long behind me. One +short day of triumph for thee, Eddo, and then night, black night for +ever.” +</p> + +<p> +Eddo heard, and his yellow face grew white with rage, or fear. He stamped upon +the ground, he shook his small fat fists, and spat out curses as a toad spits +venom. Nya did not stay to listen to them, but walked up the cave and sat +herself down upon her mat. +</p> + +<p> +“Why does he hate thee so, Mother?” asked Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Because those that are bad hate those that are good, Maiden. For many a +year Eddo has sought to rule through me, and to work evil in the world, but I +have not suffered it. He would abandon our secret, ancient faith, and reign a +king, as Dingaan the Zulu reigns. He would send the slave-tribes out to war and +conquer the nations, and build him a great house, and have many wives. But I +held him fast, so that he could do few of these things. Therefore he plotted +against me, but my magic was greater than his, and while my tree stood he could +not prevail. At length it fell at thy feet, as he knew that it was doomed to +fall, for all these things are fore-ordained, and at once he would have slain +me by the Red Death, but thou didst protect me, and for that blessed be thou +for ever.” +</p> + +<p> +“And why does he wish to make me Mother in thy place, Nya?” +</p> + +<p> +“Because my tree fell at thy feet, and all the people demand it. Because +he thinks that once the bond of the priesthood is tied between you, and his +blood runs in thee, thy pure spirit will protect his spirit from its sins, and +that thy wisdom, which he sees in thee, will make him greater than any of the +Ghost-people that ever lived. Yet consent not, for afterwards if thou dost +thwart him, he will find a way to bring down thy tree, and with it thy life, +and set another to rule in thy place. Consent not, for know that here thou art +safe from him.” +</p> + +<p> +“It may be so, Mother, but how can I dwell on in this dismal place? +Already my heart is broken with its sorrows, and soon, like those poor folk, I +should seek peace within the Fence.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me of those sorrows,” said Nya gently. “Perhaps I do +not know them all, and perhaps I could help thee.” +</p> + +<p> +So Rachel sat herself down also, and Noie, interpreting for her, told all her +tale up to that point when she saw the body of Richard borne away, for after +this she remembered nothing until she found herself standing upon the fallen +tree in the land of the Ghost Kings. It was a long tale, and before ever she +finished it night fell, but throughout its telling the old dwarf-woman said +never a word, only watched Rachel’s face with her kind, soft eyes. At +last it was done, and she said: +</p> + +<p> +“A sad story. Truly there is much evil in the world beyond the country of +the Trees, for here at least we shed little blood. Now, Maiden, what is thy +desire?” +</p> + +<p> +“This is my desire,” said Rachel, “to be joined again to him +I love, whom Ishmael slew; yes, and to my father and mother also, whom the +Zulus slew at the command of Ishmael.” +</p> + +<p> +“If they are all dead, how can that be, Maiden, unless thou seekest them +in death? Pass within the Fence yonder, and let the poison of the Tree of the +Tribe fall upon thee, and soon thou wilt find them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Mother, I may not, for it would be self-murder, and my faith knows +few greater crimes.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then thou must wait till death finds thee, and that road may be very +long.” +</p> + +<p> +“Already it is long, Mother, so long that I know not how to travel it, +who am alone in the world without a friend save Noie here,” and she began +to weep. +</p> + +<p> +“Not so. Thou hast another friend,” and she laid her hand upon +Rachel’s heart, “though it is true that I may bide with thee but a +little while.” +</p> + +<p> +After this they were all silent for a space, until Nya looked up at Rachel and +asked suddenly: +</p> + +<p> +“Art thou brave?” +</p> + +<p> +“The Zulus and others thought so, Mother; but what can courage avail me +now?” +</p> + +<p> +“Courage of the body, nothing, Maiden; courage of the spirit much, +perhaps. If thou sawest this lover of thine, and knew for certain that he lives +on beneath the world awaiting thee, would it bring thee comfort?” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel’s breast heaved and her eyes sparkled with joy, as she answered: +</p> + +<p> +“Comfort! What is there that could bring so much? But how can it be, +Mother, seeing that the last gulf divides us, a gulf which mortals may not pass +and live?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou sayest it; still I have great power, and thy spirit is white and +clean. Perhaps I could despatch it across that gulf and call it back to earth +again. Yet there are dangers, dangers to me of which I reck little, and dangers +to thee. Whither I sent thee, there thou mightest bide.” +</p> + +<p> +“I care not if I bide there, Mother, if only it be with him! Oh! send me +on this journey to his side, and living or dead I will bless thee.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Nya thought a while and answered: +</p> + +<p> +“For thy sake I will try what I would try for none other who has +breathed, or breathes, for thou didst save me from the Red Death at the hands +of Eddo. Yes, I will try, but not yet—first thou must eat and rest. Obey, +or I do nothing.” +</p> + +<p> +So Rachel ate, and afterwards, feeling drowsy, even slept a while, perhaps +because she was still weary with her journeying and her new-found mind needed +repose, or perhaps because some drug had been mingled with her drink. When she +awoke Nya led her to the mouth of the cave. There they stood awhile studying +the stars. No breath of air stirred, and the silence was intense, only from +time to time the sound of trees falling in the forest reached their ears. +Sometimes it was quite soft, as though a fleece of wool had been dropped to the +earth, that was when the tree that died had grown miles and miles away from +them; and sometimes the crash was as that of sudden thunder, that was when the +tree which died had grown near to them. +</p> + +<p> +A sense of the mystery and wonder of the place and hour sank into +Rachel’s heart. The stars above, the mighty entombing forest, in which +the trees fell unceasingly after their long centuries of life, the encircling +wall, built perhaps by hands that had ceased from their labours hundreds of +thousands of years before those trees began to grow; the huge moss-clad cedar +upon the mound beneath the shadow of whose branches day by day its worshippers +gave up their breath, that immemorial cedar whereof, as they believed, the life +was the life of the nation; the wizened little witch-woman at her side with the +seal of doom already set upon her brow and the stare of farewell in her eyes; +the sad, spiritual face of Noie, who held her hand, the loving, faithful Noie, +who in that light seemed half a thing of air; the grey little dwarf-mutes who +squatted on their mats staring at the ground, or now and again passed down the +hill from the Fence of Death above, bearing between them a body to its burial; +all were mysterious, all were wonderful. +</p> + +<p> +As she looked and listened, a new strength stirred in Rachel’s heart. At +first she had felt afraid, but now courage flowed into her, and it seemed to +come from the old, old woman at her side, the mistress of mysteries, the mother +of magic, in whom was gathered the wisdom of a hundred generations of this half +human race. +</p> + +<p> +“Look at the stars, and the night,” she was saying in her soft +voice, “for soon thou shalt be beyond them all, and perchance thou shall +never see them more. Art thou fearful? If so, speak, and we will not try this +journey in search of one whom we may not find.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” answered Rachel; “but, Mother, whither go we?” +</p> + +<p> +“We go to the Land of Death. Come, then, the moment is at hand. It is +hard on midnight. See, yonder star stands above the holy Tree,” and she +pointed to a bright orb that hung almost over the topmost bough of the cedar, +“it marks thy road, and if thou wouldst pass it, now is the hour.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” asked Noie, “may I come with her? I also have my +dead, and where my Sister goes I follow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, if thou wilt, daughter of Seyapi, the path is wide enough for +three, and if I stay on high, perchance thou that art of my blood mayest find +strength to guide her earthwards through the wandering worlds.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Nya walked up the cave and sat herself down within the circle of the lamps +with her back to the stalactite that was shaped like a tree, bidding Rachel and +Noie be seated in front of her. Two of the dwarf-mutes appeared, women both of +them, and squatted to right and left, each gazing into a bowl of limpid dew. +Nya made a sign, and still gazing into their bowls, these dwarfs began to beat +upon little drums that gave out a curious, rolling noise, while Nya sang to the +sound of the drums a wild, low song. With her thin little hands she grasped the +right hand of Rachel and of Noie and gazed into their eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Things changed to Rachel. The dwarfs to right and left vanished away, but the +low murmuring of their drums grew to a mighty music, and the stars danced to +it. The song of Nya swelled and swelled till it filled all the space between +earth and heaven; it was the rush of the gale among the forests, it was the +beating of the sea upon an illimitable coast, it was the shout of all the +armies of the world, it was the weeping of all the women of the world. It +lessened again, she seemed to be passing away from it, she heard it far beneath +her, it grew tiny in its volume—tiny as if it were an infinite speck or +point of sound which she could still discern for millions and millions of +miles, till at length distance and vastness overcame it, and it ceased. It +ceased, this song of the earth, but a new song began, the song of the rushing +worlds. Far away she could hear it, that ineffable music, far in the utter +depths of space. Nearer it would come and nearer, a ringing, glorious sound, a +sound and yet a voice, one mighty voice that sang and was answered by other +voices as sun crossed the path of sun, and caught up and re-echoed by the +innumerable choir of the constellations. +</p> + +<p> +They were falling past her, those vast, glowing suns, those rounded planets +that were now vivid with light, and now steeped in gloom, those infinite +showers of distant stars. They were gone, they and their music together; she +was far beyond them in a region where all life was forgotten, beyond the rush +of the uttermost comet, beyond the last glimmer of the spies and outposts of +the universe. One shape of light she sped into the black bosom of fathomless +space, and its solitude shrivelled up her soul. She could not endure, she +longed for some shore on which to set her mortal feet. +</p> + +<p> +Behold! far away a shore appeared, a towering, cliff-bound shore, upon whose +iron coasts all the black waves of space beat vainly and were eternally rolled +back. Here there was light, but no such light as she had ever known; it did not +fall from sun or star, but, changeful and radiant, welled upward from that land +in a thousand hues, as light might well from a world of opal. In its dazzling, +beautiful rays she saw fantastic palaces and pyramids, she saw seas and pure +white mountains, she saw plains and new-hued flowers, she saw gulfs and +precipices, and pale lakes pregnant with wavering flame. All that she had ever +conceived of as lovely or as fearful, she beheld, far lovelier or a +thousandfold more fearful. +</p> + +<p> +Like a great rose of glory that world bloomed and changed beneath her. Petal by +petal its splendours fell away and were swallowed in the sea of space, whilst +from the deep heart of the immortal rose new splendours took their birth, and +fresh-fashioned, mysterious, wonderful, reappeared the measureless city with +its columns, its towers, and its glittering gates. It endured a moment, or a +million years, she knew not which, and lo! where it had been, stood another +city, different, utterly different, only a hundred times more glorious. Out of +the prodigal heart of the world-rose were they created, into the black bosom of +nothingness were they gathered; whilst others, ever more perfect, pressed into +their place. So, too, changed the mountains, and so the trees, while the gulfs +became a garden and the fiery lakes a pleasant stream, and from the seed of the +strange flowers grew immemorial forests wreathed about with rosy mists and +bedecked in glimmering dew. With music they were born, on the wings of music +they fled away, and after them that sweet music wailed like memories. +</p> + +<p> +A hand took hers and drew her downwards, and up to meet her leapt myriads of +points of light, in every point a tiny face. They gazed at her with their +golden eyes; they whispered together concerning her, and the sound of their +whispering was the sound of a sea at peace. They accompanied her to the very +heart of the opal rose of life whence all these wonders welled, they set her in +a great grey hall roofed in with leaning cliffs, and there they left her +desolate. +</p> + +<p> +Fear came upon her, the loneliness choked her, it held her by the throat like a +thing alive. She seemed about to die of it, when she became aware that once +more she was companioned. Shapes stood about her. She could not see the shapes, +save dimly now and again as they moved, but their eyes she could see, their +great calm, pitiful eyes, which looked down on her, as the eye of a giant might +look down upon a babe. They were terrible, but she did not fear them so much as +the loneliness, for at least they lived. +</p> + +<p> +One of the shapes bent over her, for its holy eyes drew near to her, and she +heard a voice in her heart asking her for what great cause she had dared to +journey hither before the time. She answered, in her heart, not with her lips, +that she was bereaved of all she loved and came to seek them. Then, still in +her heart, she heard that voice command: +</p> + +<p> +“Let all this Rachel’s dead be brought before her.” +</p> + +<p> +Instantly doors swung open at the end of that grey hall, and through them with +noiseless steps, with shadowy wings, floated a being that bore in its arms a +child. Before her it stayed, and the light of its starry head illumined the +face of the child. She knew it at once—it was that baby brother whose +bones lay by the shore of the African sea. It awoke from its sleep, it opened +its eyes, it stretched out its arms and smiled at her. Then it was gone. +</p> + +<p> +Other Shapes appeared, each of them bearing its burden—a companion who +had died at school, friends of her youth and childhood whom she had thought yet +living, a young man who once had wished to marry her and who was drowned, the +soldier whom she had killed to save the life of Noie. At the sight of him she +shrank, for his blood was on her hands, but he only smiled like the rest, and +was borne away, to be followed by that witch-doctoress whom the Zulus had slain +because of her, who neither smiled nor frowned but passed like one who wonders. +</p> + +<p> +Then another shadow swept down the hall, and in its arms her mother—her +mother with joyful eyes, who held thin hands above her as though in blessing, +and to whom she strove to speak but strove in vain. She was borne on still +blessing her, and where she had been was her father, who blessed her also, and +whose presence seemed to shed peace upon her soul. He pointed upwards and was +gone, gazing at her earnestly, and lo! a form of darkness cast something at her +feet. It was Ishmael who knelt before her, Ishmael whose tormented face gazed +up at her as though imploring pardon. +</p> + +<p> +A struggle rent her heart. Could she forgive? Oh! could she forgive him who had +slain them all? Now she was aware that the place was filled with the points of +light that were Spirits, and that every one of them looked at her awaiting the +free verdict of her heart. Rank upon rank, also, the mighty Shapes gathered +about her, and in their arms her dead, and all of them looked and looked, +awaiting the free verdict of her heart. Then it arose within her, drawn how she +knew not from every fibre of her infinite being, it arose within her, that +spirit of pity and of pardon. As the dead had stretched out their arms above +her, so she stretched out her arms over the head of that tortured soul, and for +the first time her lips were given power to speak. +</p> + +<p> +“As I hope for pardon, so I pardon,” she said. “Go in +peace!” +</p> + +<p> +Voices and trumpets caught up the words, and through the grey hall they rang +and echoed, proclaimed for ever and as they died away he too was gone, and with +him went the myriad points of flame, in each of which gleamed a tiny face. She +looked about her seeking another Spirit, that Spirit she had travelled so far +and dared so much to find. But there came only a little dwarf that shambled +alone down the great hall. She knew him at once for Pani, the priest, he who +had been crushed in the tempest, Pani, the brother of Eddo. No Shape bore him, +for he who on earth had been half a ghost, could walk this ghost-world on his +mortal feet, or so her mind conceived. Past her he shuffled shamefaced, and was +gone. +</p> + +<p> +Now the great doors at the end of the hall closed; from far away she could see +them roll together like lightning-severed clouds, and once more that awful +loneliness overcame her. Her knees gave way beneath her, she sank down upon the +floor, one little spot of white in its expanse, wishing that the roof of rock +would fall and hide her. She covered her face with her golden hair, and wept +behind its veil. She looked up and saw two great eyes gazing at her—no +face, only two great, steady eyes. Then a voice speaking in her heart asked her +why she wept, whose desire had been fulfilled, and she answered that it was +because she could not find him whom she sought, Richard Darrien. Instantly the +tongues and trumpets took up the name. +</p> + +<p> +“Richard Darrien!” they cried, “Richard Darrien!” +</p> + +<p> +But no Shape swept in bearing the spirit of Richard in its arms. +</p> + +<p> +“He is not here,” said the voice in her heart. “Go, seek him +in some other world.” +</p> + +<p> +She grew angry. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou mockest me,” she answered, “He is dead, and this is the +home of the dead; therefore he must be here. Shadow, thou mockest me.” +</p> + +<p> +“I mock not,” came the swift answer. “Mortal, look now and +learn.” +</p> + +<p> +Again the doors burst open, and through them poured the infinite rout of the +dead. That hall would not hold them all, therefore it grew and grew till her +sight could scarcely reach from wall to wall. Shapes headed and marshalled them +by races and by generations, perhaps because thus only could her human heart +imagine them, but now none were borne in their arms. They came in myriads and +in millions, in billions and tens of billions, men and women and children, +kings and priests and beggars, all wearing the garments of their age and +country. They came like an ocean-tide, and their floating hair was the foam on +the tide, and their eyes gleamed like the first shimmer of dawn above the +snows. They came for hours and days and years and centuries, they came +eternally, and as they came every finger of that host, compared to which all +the sands of all the seas were but as a handful, was pointed at her, and every +mouth shaped the words: +</p> + +<p> +“Is it I whom thou seekest?” +</p> + +<p> +Million by million she scanned them all, but the face of Richard Darrien was +not there. +</p> + +<p> +Now the dead Zulus were marching by. Down the stream of Time they marched in +their marshalled regiments. Chaka stood over her—she knew him by his +likeness to Dingaan—and threatened her with a little, red-handled spear, +asking her how she dared to sit upon the throne of the Spirit of his nation. +She began to tell him her story, but as she spoke the wide receding walls of +that grey hall fell apart and crumbled, and amidst a mighty laughter the +great-eyed Shapes rebuilt them to the fashion of the cave in the mound beneath +the tree of the dwarf-folk. The sound of the trumpets died away, the shrill, +sweet music of the spheres grew far and faint. +</p> + +<p> +Rachel opened her eyes. There in front of her sat Nya, crooning her low song, +and there, on either side crouched the mutes tapping upon their little drums +and gazing into their bowls of water, while against her leaned Noie, who +stirred like one awaking from sleep. Ages and ages ago when she started on that +dread journey, the dwarf to her left was stretching out her hand to steady the +bowl at her feet, and now it had but just reached the bowl. A great moth had +singed its wings in the lamp, and was fluttering to the ground—it was +still in mid-air. Noie was placing her arm about her neck, and it had but begun +to fall upon her shoulder! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap22"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<br /> +IN THE SANCTUARY</h2> + +<p> +Nya ceased her singing, and the dwarf women their beating on the drums. +</p> + +<p> +“Hast thou been a journey, Maiden?” she asked, looking at Rachel +curiously. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Mother,” she answered in a faint voice, “and a journey +far and strange.” +</p> + +<p> +“And thou, Noie, my niece?” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Mother,” she answered, shivering as though with cold or fear, +“but I went not with my Sister here, I went alone—for years and +years.” +</p> + +<p> +“A far journey thou sayest, Inkosazana, and one that was for years and +years, thou sayest, Noie, yet the eyes of both of you have been shut for so +long only as it takes a burnt moth to fall from the lamp flame to the ground. I +think that you slept and dreamed a moment, that is all.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mayhap, Mother,” replied Rachel, “but if so mine was a most +wondrous dream, such as has never visited me before, and as I pray, never may +again. For I was borne beyond the stars into the glorious cities of the dead, +and I saw all the dead, and those that I had known in life were brought to me +by Shapes and Powers whereof I could only see the eyes.” +</p> + +<p> +“And didst thou find him whom thou soughtest most of all?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” she answered, “him alone I did not find. I sought him, +I prayed the Guardians of the dead to show him to me, and they called up all +the dead, and I scanned them every one, and they summoned him by his name, but +he was not of their number, and he came not. Only they spoke in my heart, +bidding me to look for him in some other world.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” exclaimed Nya starting a little, “they said that to +thee, did they? Well, worlds are many, and such a search would be long.” +Then as though to turn the subject, she added, “And what sawest thou, +Noie?” +</p> + +<p> +“I, Mother? I went not beyond the stars, I climbed down endless ladders +into the centre of the earth, my feet are still sore with them. I reached vast +caves full of a blackness that shone, and there many dead folk were walking, +going nowhere, and coming back from nowhere. They seemed strengthless but not +unhappy, and they looked at me and asked me tidings of the upper world, but I +could not answer them, for whenever I opened my lips to speak a cold hand was +laid upon my mouth. I wandered among them for many moons, only there was no +moon, nothing but the blackness that shone like polished coal, wandered from +cave to cave. At length I came to a cave in which sat my father, Seyapi, and +near to him my mother, and my other mothers, his wives, and my brothers and +sisters, all of whom the Zulus killed, as the wild beast, Ibubesi, told them to +do.” +</p> + +<p> +“I saw Ibubesi, and he prayed me for my pardon, and I granted it to +him,” broke in Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“I did not see him,” went on Noie fiercely, “nor would I have +pardoned him if I had. Nor do I think that my father and his family pardon him; +I think that they wait to bear testimony against him before the Lord of the +dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“Did Seyapi tell you so?” asked Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, he sat there beneath a black tree whereof I could not see the top, +and gazed into a bowl of black water, and in that bowl he showed me many +pictures of things that have been and things that are to come, but they are +secret, I may say nothing of them.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what was the end of it, my niece?” asked Nya, bending forward +eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother, the end of it was that the black tree which was shaped like the +tree of our tribe above us, took fire and went up in a fierce flame. Then the +roofs of the caves fell in and all the people of the dwarfs flew through the +roofs, singing and rejoicing, into a place of light; only,” she added +slowly, “it seemed to me that I was left alone amidst the ruins of the +caves, I and the white ghost of the tree. Then a voice cried to me to make my +heart bold, to bear all things with patience, since to those who dare much for +love’s sake, much will be forgiven. So I woke, but what those words mean +I cannot guess, seeing that I love no man, and never shall,” and she +rested her chin upon her hand and sat there musing. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” replied Nya, “thou lovest no man, and therefore the +riddle is hard,” but as she spoke her eyes fell upon Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” said Rachel presently, “my heart is the hungrier +for all that it has fed upon. Can thy magic send me back to that country of the +dead that I may search for him again? If so, for his sake I will dare the +journey.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so,” answered Nya shaking her head; “it is a road that +very few have travelled, and none may travel twice and live.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Rachel began to weep. +</p> + +<p> +“Weep not, Maiden, there are other roads and perchance to-morrow thou +shall walk them. Now lie down and sleep, both of you, and fear no +dreams.” +</p> + +<p> +So they laid themselves down and slept, but the old witch-wife, Nya, sat +waiting and watched them. +</p> + +<p> +“I think I understand,” she murmured to herself, as she gazed at +the slumbering Rachel, “for to her who is so pure and good, and who has +suffered such cruel wrong, the Guardians would not lie. I think that I +understand and that I can find a path. Sleep on, sweet maiden, sleep on in +hope.” +</p> + +<p> +Then she looked at Noie and shook her grey head. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not understand,” she muttered. “The black tree shaped +like the Tree of our Tribe, and Seyapi of the old blood seated beneath it. The +tree that went up in fire, and the maid of the old blood left alone with the +ghost of it, while the dwarf people fled into light and freedom. What does it +mean? Ah! that picture in the bowl! Now I can guess. ‘Those who dare much +for love.’ It did not say for love of man, and woman can love woman. But +would she dare a deed that none of our race could even dream? Well, the Zulu +blood is bold. Perhaps, perhaps. Oh! Eddo, thou black sorcerer, whither art +thou leading the Children of the Tree? On thy head be it, Eddo, not on mine; on +thy head for ever and for ever.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +When Rachel awoke, refreshed, on the following day, she lay a while thinking. +Every detail of her vision was perfectly clear in her mind, only now she was +sure that it had been but a dream. Yet what a wonderful dream! How, even in her +sleep, had she found the imagination to conceive circumstances so +inconceivable? That magic rush beyond the stars; that mighty world set round +with black cliffs against which rolled the waves of space; that changeful, +wondrous world which unfolded itself petal by petal like a rose, every petal +lovelier and different from the last; that grey hall roofed with tilted +precipices; and then those dead, those multitudes of the dead! +</p> + +<p> +What power had been born in her that she could imagine such things as these? +Vision she had, like her mother, but not after this sort. Perhaps it was but an +aftermath of her madness, for into the minds of the mad creep strange sights +and sounds, and this place, and the people amongst whom she sojourned, the +Ghost-people, the grey Dwarf-people, the Dealers in dreams, the Dwellers in the +sombre forest, might well open new doors in such a soul as hers. Or perhaps she +was still mad. She did not know, she did not greatly care. All she knew was +that her poor heart ached with love for a man who was dead, and yet whom she +could not find even among the dead. She had wished to die, but now she longed +for death no more, fearing lest after all there should be something in that +vision which the magic of Nya had summoned up, and that when she reached the +further shore she might not find him who dwelt in a different world. Oh! if +only she could find him, then she would be glad enough to go wherever it was +that he had gone. +</p> + +<p> +Now Noie was awake at her side, and they talked together. +</p> + +<p> +“We must have dreamt dreams, Noie,” she said. “Perhaps the +Mother mingled some drug with our food.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know, Zoola,” answered Noie; “but, if so, I want no +more of those dreams which bode no good to me. Besides, who can tell what is +dream and what is truth? Mayhap this world is the dream, and the truth is such +things as we saw last night,” and she would say no more on the matter. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing happened within the Wall that day—that is, nothing out of the +common. A certain number of the privileged, priestly caste of the dwarfs were +carried or conducted into the holy place, and up to the Fence of Death that +they might die there, and a certain number were brought out for burial. Some of +those who came in were folk weary of life, or, in other words, suicides, and +these walked; and some were sick of various diseases, and these were carried. +But the end was the same, they always died, though whether this result was +really brought about by some poison distilled from the tree, as Nya alleged, or +whether it was the effect of a physical collapse induced by that inherited +belief, Rachel never discovered. +</p> + +<p> +At least they died, some almost at once, and some within a day or two of +entering that deadly shade, and were borne away to burial by the mutes who +spent their spare time in the digging of little graves which they must fill. +Indeed, these mutes either knew, or pretended that they knew who would be the +occupant of each grave. At least they intimated by signs that this was revealed +to them in their bowls, and when the victims appeared within the Wall, took +pleasure in leading them to the holes they had prepared, and showing to them +with what care these had been dug to suit their stature. For this service they +received a fee that such moribund persons brought with them, either of finely +woven robes, or of mats, or of different sorts of food, or sometimes of gold +and copper rings manufactured by the Umkulu or other subject savages, which +they wore upon their wrists and ankles. +</p> + +<p> +Certain of these doomed folk, however, went to their fate with no light hearts, +which was not wonderful, as it seemed that these were neither ill nor sought a +voluntary euthanasia. They were political victims sent thither by Eddo as an +alternative to the terror of the Red Death, whereby according to their strange +and ancient creed, they would have risked the spilling of their souls. For the +most part the crime of these poor people was that they had been adherents and +supporters of the old Mother of the Tree, Nya, over whom Eddo was at last +triumphant. On their way up to the Fence such individuals would stop to +exchange a last few, sad words with their dethroned priestess. +</p> + +<p> +Then without any resistance they went on with the rest, but from them the mutes +received scant offerings, or none at all, with the result that they were cast +into the worst situated and most inconvenient graves, or even tumbled two or +three together into some shapeless corner hole. But, after all, that mattered +nothing to them so long as they received sepulchre within the Wall, which was +their birth-or, rather, their death-right. +</p> + +<p> +The priest-mutes themselves were a strange folk, and, oddly enough, Rachel +observed, by comparison, quite cheerful in their demeanour, for when off duty +they would smile and gibber at each other like monkeys, and carry on a kind of +market between themselves. They lived in that part of the circumference of the +Wall which was behind the hill whereon grew the sacred tree. Here no burials +took place, and instead of graves appeared their tiny huts arranged in neat +streets and squares. In these they and their forefathers had dwelt from time +immemorial; indeed, each little hut with a few yards of fenced-in ground about +it ornamented with dwarf trees, was a freehold that descended from father to +son. For the mutes married, and were given in marriage, like other folk, though +their children were few, a family of three being considered very large, while +many of the couples had none at all. But those who were born to them were all +deaf-mutes, although their other senses seemed to be singularly acute. +</p> + +<p> +These mutes had their virtues; thus some of them were very kind to each other, +and especially to those from the outer forest world who came hither to bid +farewell to that world, and others, renouncing marriage and all earthly joys, +devoted their lives, which appeared to be long, to the worship of the Spirit of +the Tree. Also they had their vices, such as theft, and the seducing away of +the betrothed of others, but the chief of them was jealousy, which sometimes +led to murder by poisoning, an art whereof they were great masters. +</p> + +<p> +When such a crime was discovered, and a case of it happened during the first +days of Rachel’s sojourn among them, the accused was put upon his trial +before the chief of the mutes, evidence for and against him being given by +signs which they all understood. Then if a case were established against him, +he was forced to drink a bowl of medicine. If he did this with impunity he was +acquitted, but if it disagreed with him his guilt was held to be established. +Now came the strange part of the matter. All his life the evil-doer had been +accustomed to go within the Fence about his business and take no harm, but +after such condemnation he was conducted there with the usual ceremonies and +very shortly perished like any other uninitiated person. Whether this issue was +due to magic or to mental collapse, or to the previous administration of +poison, no one seemed to know, not even Nya herself. So, at least, she declared +to Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +At each new moon these mutes celebrated what Rachel was informed they looked +upon as a festival. That is, they climbed the Tree of the Tribe and scattered +themselves among its enormous branches, where for several hours they mumbled +and gibbered in the dark like a troop of baboons. Then they came down, and +mounting the huge, surrounding wall, crept around its circumference. +Occasionally this journey resulted in an accident, as one of them would fall +from the wall and be dashed to pieces, although it was noticed that the +unfortunate was generally a person who, although guilty of no actual crime, +chanced to be out of favour with the other priests and priestesses. After the +circuit of the wall had been accomplished, with or without accidents, the +dwarfs feasted round a fire, drinking some spirit that threw them into a sleep +in which wonderful visions appeared to them. Such was their only entertainment, +if so it could be called, since doubtless the ceremony was of a religious +character. For the rest they seldom if ever left the holy place, which was +known as “Within the Wall,” most of them never doing so in the +course of a long life. +</p> + +<p> +Beyond the burial of the dead they did no work, as their food was brought to +them daily by outside people, who were called “the slaves of the +Wall.” Their only method of conversation was by signs, and they seemed to +desire no other. Indeed, if, as occasionally happened, a child was born to any +of them who could hear or speak like other human beings, it was either given +over to the other dwarfs, or if the discovery was not made until it was old +enough to observe, it was sacrificed by being bound to the trunk of the tribal +tree “lest it should tell the secret of the Tree.” +</p> + +<p> +Such were the weird, half-human folk among whom Rachel was destined to dwell. +The Zulus had been bad and bloodthirsty, but compared to these little wizards +they seemed to her as angels. The Zulus at any rate had left her her thoughts, +but these stunted wretches, she was sure, pried into them and read them with +the help of their bowls, for often she caught sight of them signing to each +other about her as she passed, and pointing with grins to pictures which they +saw in the water. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +It was night again, still, silent night made odorous with the heavy cedar +scents of the huge tree upon the mound. Rachel and Noie sat before Nya in the +cave beneath the burning lamp about which fluttered the big-winged, gilded +moths. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou didst not find him yonder among the Shades,” said Nya +suddenly, as though she were continuing a conversation. “Say now, Maiden, +art thou satisfied, or wouldst thou seek for him again?” +</p> + +<p> +“I would seek him through all the heavens and all the earths. Mother, my +soul burns for a sight of him, and if I cannot find him, then I must die, and +go perchance where he is not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” said Nya; “the effort wearies me, for I grow weak, +yet for thy sake I will try to help thee, who saved me from the Red +Death.” +</p> + +<p> +Then the dwarf-women came in and beat upon their drums, and, as before, the old +Mother of the Trees began to sing, but Noie sat aside, for in this +night’s play she would take no part. Again Rachel sank into sleep, and +again it seemed to her that she was swept from the earth into the region of the +stars and there searched world after world. +</p> + +<p> +She saw many strange and marvellous things, things so wonderful that her memory +was buried beneath the mass of them, so that when she woke again she could not +recall their details. Only of Richard she saw nothing. Yet as her life returned +to her, it seemed to Rachel that for one brief moment she was near to Richard. +She could not see him, and she could not hear him, yet certainly he was near +her. Then her eyes opened, and Nya ceasing from her song, asked: +</p> + +<p> +“What tidings, Wanderer?” +</p> + +<p> +“Little,” she answered feebly, for she was very tired, and in a +faint voice she told her all. +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” said Nya, nodding her grey head. “This time he was +not so far away. To-morrow I will make thy spirit strong, and then perhaps he +will come to thee. Now rest.” +</p> + +<p> +So next night Nya laid her charm upon Rachel as before, and again her spirit +sought for Richard. This time it seemed to her that she did not leave the +earth, but with infinite pain, with terrible struggling, wandered to and fro +about it, bewildered by a multitude of faces, led astray by myriads of +footsteps. Yet in the end she found him. She heard him not, she saw him not, +she knew not where he was, but undoubtedly for a while she was with him, and +awoke again, exhausted, but very happy. +</p> + +<p> +Nya heard her story, weighing every word of it but saying nothing. Then she +signed to the dwarfs to bring her a bowl of dew, and stared in it for a long +while. The dwarf-women also stared into their bowls, and afterwards came to +her, talking to her on their fingers, after which all three of them upset the +dew upon a rock, “breaking the pictures.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hast thou seen aught?” asked Rachel eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Maiden,” answered the mother. “I and these wise women +have seen something, the same thing, and therefore a true thing. But ask not +what it was, for we may not tell thee, nor would it help thee if we did. Only +be of a good courage, for this I say, there is hope for thee.” +</p> + +<p> +So Rachel went to sleep, pondering on these words, of which neither she nor +Noie could guess the meaning. The next night when she prayed Nya to lay the +spell upon her, the old Mother would not. +</p> + +<p> +“Not so,” she said. “Thrice have I rent thy soul from thy +body and sent it afar, and this I may do no more and keep thee living, nor +could I if I would, for I grow feeble. Neither is it necessary, seeing that +although thou knowest it not, that spirit of thine, having found him, is with +him wherever he may be, yes, at his side comforting him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, but where is he, Mother? Let me look in the bowl and see his face, +as I believe that thou hast done.” +</p> + +<p> +“Look if thou wilt,” and she motioned to one of the dwarf-women to +place a bowl before her. +</p> + +<p> +So Rachel looked long and earnestly, but saw nothing of Richard, only many +fantastic pictures, most of which she knew again for scenes from her own past. +At length, worn out, she thrust away the bowl, and asked in a bitter voice why +they mocked her, and how it came about that she who had seen the coming of +Richard in the pool in Zululand, and the fate of Dingaan the King in the bowl +of Eddo, could now see nothing of any worth. +</p> + +<p> +“As regards the vision of the pool I cannot say, Maiden,” replied +Nya, “for that was born of thine own heart, and had nothing to do with +our magic. As regards the visions in the bowl of Eddo, they were his visions, +not thine, or rather my visions that I saw before he started hence. I passed +them on to him, and he passed them on to thee, and thou didst pass them on to +King Dingaan. Far-sighted and pure-souled as thou art, yet not having been +instructed in their wizardry, thou wilt see nothing in the bowls of the dwarfs +unless their blood is mingled with thy blood.” +</p> + +<p> +“‘Their blood mingled with my blood?’ What dost thou mean, +Mother?” +</p> + +<p> +“What I say, neither more nor less. If Eddo has his will, thou wilt rule +after me here as Mother of the Trees. But first thy veins must be opened, and +the veins of Eddo must be opened, and Eddo’s blood must be poured into +thee, and thy blood into him. Then thou wilt be able to read in the bowls as we +can, and Eddo will be thy master, and thou must do his bidding while you both +shall live.” +</p> + +<p> +“If so,” answered Rachel, “I think that neither of us will +live long.” +</p> + +<p> +That night Rachel felt too exhausted to sleep, though why this should be she +could not guess, as she had done nothing all day save watch the mutes at their +dreary tasks, and it was strange, therefore, that she should feel as though she +had made a long journey upon her feet. About an hour before the dawn she saw +Nya rise and glide past her towards the mouth of the cave, carrying in her hand +a little drum, like those used by the mute women. Something impelled her to +follow, and waking Noie at her side, she bade her come also. +</p> + +<p> +Outside of the cave by the faint starlight they saw the little shape of Nya +creeping down the mound, and thence across the open space towards the wall, and +went after her, thinking that she intended to pass the wall. But this she did +not do, for when she came to its foot Nya, notwithstanding her feebleness, +began to climb the rough stones as actively as any cat, and though their ascent +seemed perilous enough, reached the crest of the wall sixty feet above in +safety, and there sat herself down. Next they heard her beating upon the drum +she bore, single strokes always, but some of them slow, and some rapid, with a +pause between every five or ten strokes, “as though she were spelling out +words,” thought Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +After a while Nya ceased her beating, and in the utter silence of the night, +which was broken only, as always, by the occasional crash of falling trees, for +no breath of air stirred, and all the beasts of prey had sought their lairs +before light came, both she and Noie seemed to hear, far, infinitely far away, +the faint beat of an answering drum. It would appear that Nya heard it also, +for she struck a single note upon hers as though in acknowledgement, after +which the distant beating went on, paused as though for a reply from some other +unheard drum, and again from time to time went on, perhaps repeating that +reply. +</p> + +<p> +For a long while this continued until the sky began to grow grey indeed, when +Nya beat for several minutes and was answered by a single, far-off note. Then +glancing at the heavens she prepared to descend the wall, while Rachel and Noie +slipped back to the cave and feigned to be asleep. Soon she entered, and stood +over them shaking her grey head and asking how it came about that they thought +that she, the Mother of the Trees, should be so easily deceived. +</p> + +<p> +“So thou sawest us,” said Rachel, trying not to look ashamed. +</p> + +<p> +“No; I saw you not with my eyes, either of you, but I felt both of you +following me, and heard in my heart what you were whispering to each other. +Well, Inkosazana, art thou the wiser for this journey?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Mother, but tell us if thou wilt what thou wast beating on that +drum.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gladly,” she answered. “I was sending certain orders to the +slave peoples who still know me as Mother of the Trees, and obey my words. +Perhaps thou dost not believe that while I sat upon yonder wall I talked across +the desert to the chiefs of the marches upon the far border of the land of the +Umkulu, and that by now at my bidding they have sent out men upon an errand of +mine.” +</p> + +<p> +“What was the errand, Mother?” asked Rachel curiously. +</p> + +<p> +“I said the errand was mine, not thine, Maiden. It is not pressing, but +as I do not know how long my strength will last, I thought it well that it +should be settled.” Then without more words she coiled herself up on her +mat and seemed to go to sleep. +</p> + +<p> +It was after this incident of the drums that Rachel experienced the strangest +days, or rather weeks of her life. Nya sent her into no more trances, and to +all outward seeming nothing happened. Yet within her much did happen. Her +madness had utterly left her and still she was not as other women are, or as +she herself had been in health. Her mind seemed to wander and she knew not +whither it wandered. Yet for long hours, although she was awake and, so Noie +said, talking or eating or walking as usual, it was away from her, and +afterwards she could remember nothing. Also this happened at night as well as +during the day, and ever more and more often. +</p> + +<p> +She could remember nothing, yet out of this nothingness there grew upon her a +continual sense of the presence of Richard Darrien, a presence that seemed to +come nearer and nearer, closer and closer to her heart. It was the assurance of +this presence that made those long days so happy to her, though when she was +herself, she felt that it could be naught but a dream. Yet why should a dream +move her so strangely, and why should a dream weary her so much? Why, after +sleeping all night, should she awake feeling as though she had journeyed all +night? Why should her limbs ache and she grow thin like one who travels without +cease? Why should she seem time after time to have passed great dangers, to +have known cold, and heat and want and struggle against waters and the battling +against storms? Why should her knowledge of this Richard, of the very heart and +soul of Richard, grow ever deeper till it was as though they were not twain, +but one? +</p> + +<p> +She could not answer these questions, and Noie could not answer them, and when +she asked Nya the old Mother shook her head and could not, or would not answer. +Only the dwarf-mutes seemed to know the answer, for when she passed them they +nudged each other, and grinned and thrust their little woolly heads together +staring, several of them, into one bowl. But if Noie and Nya knew nothing of +the cause of these things the effect of them stirred them both, for they saw +that Rachel, the tall and strong, grew faint and weak and began to fade away as +one fades upon whom deadly sickness has laid its hand. +</p> + +<p> +Thus three weeks or so went by, until one day in some fashion of her own Nya +caused to arise in the mind of Eddo a knowledge of her desire to speak with +him. Early the next morning Eddo arrived at the Holy Place accompanied only by +his familiar, Hana, and Nya met them alone in the mouth of the cave. +</p> + +<p> +“I see that thou art very white and thin, but still alive, old +woman,” sneered Eddo, adding: “All the thousands of the people +yonder thought that long ere this thou wouldst have passed within the Fence. +May I take back that good tidings to them?” +</p> + +<p> +The ancient Mother of the Trees looked at him sternly. +</p> + +<p> +“It is true, thou evil mocker,” she said, “that I am white +and thin. It is true that I grow like to the skeleton of a rotted leaf, all +ribs and netted veins without substance. It is true that my round eyes start +from my head like to those of a bush plover, or the tree lizard, and that soon +I must pass within the Fence, as thou hast so long desired that I should do +that thou mayest reign alone over the thousands of the People of the Dwarfs and +wield their wisdom to increase thy power, thou poison-bloated toad. All these +things are true, Eddo, yet ere I go I have a word to say to thee to which thou +wilt do well to listen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak on,” said Eddo. “Without doubt thou hast wisdom of a +sort; honey thou hast garnered during many years, and it is well that I should +suck the store before it is too late.” +</p> + +<p> +“Eddo,” said Nya, “I am not the only one in this Holy Place +who grows white and thin. Look, there is another,” and she nodded towards +Rachel, who walked past them aimlessly with dreaming eyes, attended by Noie, +upon whose arm she leant. +</p> + +<p> +“I see,” answered Eddo; “this haunted death-prison presses +the life out of her, also I think that thou hast sent her Spirit travelling, as +thou knowest how to do, and such journeys sap the strength of flesh and +blood.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps; but now before it is too late I would send her body travelling +also; only thou, who hast the power for a while, dost bar the road.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know,” said Eddo, nodding his head and looking at his companion. +“We all know, do we not, Hana? we who have heard certain beatings of +drums in the night, and studied dew drops beneath the trees at dawn. Thou +wouldst send her to meet another traveller.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and if thou art wise thou wilt let her go.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why should I let her go,” asked the priest passionately, +“and with her all my greatness? She must reign here after thee, for at +her feet thy Tree fell, and it is the will of the people, who weary of dwarf +queens and desire one that is tall and beautiful and white. Moreover, when my +blood has been poured into her, her wisdom will be great, greater than thine or +that of any Mother that went before thee, for she is ‘<i>Wensi</i>’ +the Virgin, and her soul is purer than them all. I will not let her go. If she +leaves this Holy Place where none may do her harm, she shall die, and then her +Spirit may go to seek that other traveller.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou art mad, Eddo, mad and blind with pride and folly. Let her be, and +choose another Mother. Now, there is Noie.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thy great-niece, Nya, who thinks as thou thinkest, and hates those whom +thou hatest. Nay, I will have none of that half-breed. Yonder white Inkosazana +shall be our queen and no other.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Eddo,” whispered Nya, leaning forward and looking into his +eyes, “she shall be the last Mother of this people. Fool, there are those +who fight for her against whom thou canst not prevail. Thou knowest them not, +but I know them, and I tell thee that they make ready thy doom. Have thy way, +Eddo; it was not for her that I pleaded with thee, but for the sake of the +ancient People of the Ghosts, whose fate draws nigh to them. Fool, have thy +way, spin thy web, and be caught in it thyself. I tell thee, Eddo, that thy +death shall be redder than any thou hast ever dreamed, nor shall it fall on +thee alone. Begone now, and trouble me no more till in another place all that +is left of thee shall creep to my feet, praying me for a pardon thou shalt not +find. Begone, for the last leaf withers on my Tree and to-morrow I pass within +the Fence. Say to the people that their Mother against whom they rebelled is +dead, and that she bids them prepare to meet the evil which, alive, she warded +from their heads.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Eddo strove to answer, but could not, for there was something in the +flaming eyes of Nya which frightened him. He looked at Hana, and Hana looked +back at him, then taking each other’s hand they slunk away towards the +wall, staggering blindly through the sunshine towards the shade. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap23"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> +THE DREAM IN THE NORTH</h2> + +<p> +Richard Darrien remembered drinking a bowl of milk in the hut in which he was +imprisoned at Mafooti, and instantly feeling a cold chill run to his heart and +brain, after which he remembered no more for many a day. At length, however, by +slow degrees, and with sundry slips back into unconsciousness, life and some +share of his reason and memory returned to him. He awoke to find himself lying +in a hut roughly fashioned of branches, and attended by a Kaffir woman of +middle age. +</p> + +<p> +“Who are you?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“I am named Mami,” she answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Mami, Mami! I know the name, and I know the voice. Say, were you one of +the wives of Ibubesi, she who spoke with me through the fence?” and he +strove to raise himself on his arm to look at her, but fell back from weakness. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Inkoos, I was one of his wives.” +</p> + +<p> +“Was? Then where is Ibubesi now?” +</p> + +<p> +“Dead, Inkoos. The fire has burned him up with his kraal Mafooti.” +</p> + +<p> +“With the kraal Mafooti! Where, then, is the Inkosazana? Answer, woman, +and be swift,” he cried in a hollow voice. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas! Inkoos, alas! she is dead also, for she was in the kraal when the +fire swept it, and was seen standing on the top of a hut where she had taken +refuge, and after that she was seen no more.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then let me die and go to her,” exclaimed Richard with a groan, as +he fell back upon his bed, where he lay almost insensible for three more days. +</p> + +<p> +Yet he did not die, for he was young and very strong, and Mami poured milk down +his throat to keep the life in him. Indeed little by little something of his +strength came back, so that at last he was able to think and talk with her +again, and learned all the dreadful story. +</p> + +<p> +He learned how the people of Mafooti, fearing the vengeance of Dingaan, had +fled away from their kraal, carrying what they thought to be his body with +them, lest it should remain in evidence against them, and taking all the cattle +that they could gather. Every one of them had fled that could travel, only +Ibubesi and a few sick, and certain folk who chanced to be outside the walls, +remaining behind. It was from two of these, who escaped during the burning of +the kraal by the Zulus, or by fire from the Heavens, they knew not which, that +they had heard of the awful end of Ibubesi, and of his prisoner, the +Inkosazana. As for themselves, they had travelled night and day, till they +reached a certain secret and almost inaccessible place in the great Quathlamba +Mountains, in which people had lived whom Chaka wiped out, and there hidden +themselves. In this place they remained, hoping that Dingaan would not care to +follow them so far, and purposing to make it their home, since here they found +good mealie lands, and fortunately the most of their cattle remained alive. +That was all the story, there was nothing more to tell. +</p> + +<p> +A day or two later Richard was able to creep out of the hut and see the place. +It was as Mami had said, very strong, a kind of tableland ringed round with +precipices that could only be climbed through a single narrow nek, and +overshadowed by the great Quathlamba range. The people, who were engaged in +planting their corn, gathered round him, staring at him as though he were one +risen from the dead, and greeted him with respectful words. He spoke to several +of them, including the two men who had seen the burning of Mafooti, though from +a little distance. But they could tell him no more than Mami had done, except +that they were sure that the Inkosazana had perished in the flames, as had many +of the Zulus, who broke into the town. Richard was sure of it also—who +would not have been?—and crept back broken-hearted to his hut, he who had +lost all, and longed that he might die. +</p> + +<p> +But he did not die, he grew strong again, and when he was well and fit to +travel, went to the headmen of the people, saying that now he desired to leave +them and return to his own place in the Cape Colony. The headmen said No, he +must not leave, for in their hearts they were sure that he would go, not to the +Cape Colony, but to Zululand, there to discover all he could as to the death of +the Inkosazana. So they told him that with them he must bide, for then if the +Zulus tracked them out they would be able to produce him, who otherwise would +be put to the spear, every man of them, as his murderers. The sin of Ibubesi +who had been their chief, clung to them, and they knew well what Dingaan and +Tamboosa had sworn should happen to those who harmed the white chief, Dario, +who was under the mantle of their Inkosazana. +</p> + +<p> +Richard reasoned with them, but it was of no use, they would not let him go. +Therefore in the end he appeared to fall in with their humour, and meanwhile +began to plan escape. One dark night he tried it indeed, only to be seized in +the mouth of the nek, and brought back to his hut. Next morning the headman +spoke with him, telling him that he should only depart thence over their dead +bodies, and that they watched him night and day; that the nek, moreover, was +always guarded. Then they made an offer to him. He was a white man, they said, +and cleverer than they were; let them come under his wing, let him be their +chief, for he would know how to protect them from the Zulus and any other +enemies. He could take over the wives of Ibubesi (at this proposition Richard +shuddered), and they would obey him in all things, only he must not attempt to +leave them—which he should never do alive. +</p> + +<p> +Richard put the proposal by, but in the end, not because he wished it, but by +the mere weight of his white man’s blood, and for the lack of anything +else to do, drifted into some such position. Only at the wives of Ibubesi, or +any other wives, he would not so much as look, a slight that gave offence to +those women, but made the others laugh. +</p> + +<p> +So, for certain long weeks he sat in that secret nook in the mountains as the +chief of a little Kaffir tribe, occupying himself with the planting of crops, +the building of walls and huts, the drilling of men and the settling of +quarrels. All day he worked thus, but after the day came the night when he did +not work, and those nights he dreaded. For then the languor, not of body, but +of mind, which the poison the old witch-doctoress had given to Ishmael had left +behind it, would overcome him, bringing with it black despair, and his grief +would get a hold of him, torturing his heart. For of the memory of Rachel he +could never be rid for a single hour, and his love for her grew deeper day by +day. And she was dead! Oh, she was dead, leaving him living. +</p> + +<p> +One night he dreamed of Rachel, dreamed that she was searching for him and +calling him. It was a very vivid dream, but he woke up and it passed away as +such dreams do. Only all the day that followed he felt a strange throbbing in +his head, and found himself turning ever towards the north. The next night he +dreamed again of her, and heard her say, “The search has been far and +long, but I have found you, Richard. Open your eyes now, and you will see my +face.” So he opened his eyes, and there, sure enough, in the darkness he +perceived the outline of her sweet, remembered face, about which fell her +golden hair. For one moment only he perceived it, then it was gone, and after +that her presence never seemed to leave him. He could not see her, he could not +touch her, and yet she was ever at his side. His brain ached with the thought +of her, her breath seemed to fan his hands and hair. At night her face floated +before him, and in his dreams her voice called him, saying: <i>“Come to +me, come to me, Richard. I am in need of you. Come to me. I myself will be your +guide.”</i> +</p> + +<p> +Then he would wake, and remembering that she was dead, grew sure and ever surer +that the Spirit of Rachel was calling him down to death. It called him from the +north, always from the north. Soon he could scarcely walk southwards, or east +or west, for ere he had gone many yards his feet turned and set his face +towards the north, that was to the narrow nek between the precipices which the +Kaffirs guarded night and day. +</p> + +<p> +One evening he went to his hut to sleep, if sleep would come to him. It came, +and with it that face and voice, but the face seemed paler, and the voice more +insistent. +</p> + +<p> +“Will you not listen to me,” it said, “you who were my love? +For how long must I plead with you? Soon my power will leave me, the +opportunity will be passed, and then how will you find me, Richard, my lover? +Rise up, rise up and follow ere it be too late, for I myself will be your +guide.” +</p> + +<p> +He awoke. He could bear it no more. Perhaps he was mad, and these were visions +of his madness, mocking visions that led him to his death. Well, if so, he +still would follow them. Perhaps her body was buried in the north. If so, he +would be buried there also; perhaps her Soul dwelt in the north. If so, his +soul would fly thither to join it. The Kaffirs would kill him in the pass. +Well, if so, he would die with his face set northwards whither Rachel drew him. +</p> + +<p> +He rose up and wrapped himself in a cloak of goatskins. He filled a hide bag +with sun-dried flesh and parched corn, and hung it about his shoulders with a +gourd of water, for after all he might live a little while and need food and +drink. As he had no gun he took a staff and a knife and a broad-bladed spear, +and leaving the hut, set his face northward and walked towards the mouth of the +nek. At the first step which he took the torment in his head seemed to leave +him, who fought no longer, who had seemed obedient to that mysterious summons. +Quietness and confidence possessed him. He was going to his end, but what did +it matter? The dream beckoned and he must follow. The moon shone bright, but he +took no trouble to hide himself, it did not seem to be worth while. +</p> + +<p> +Now he was in the nek and drawing near to the place where the guard was +stationed, still he marched on, boldly, openly. As he thought, they were on the +alert. They drew out from behind the rocks and barred his path. +</p> + +<p> +“Whither goest thou, lord Dario?” asked their captain. “Thou +knowest that here thou mayest not pass.” +</p> + +<p> +“I follow a Ghost to the north,” he answered, “and living or +dead, I pass.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Ow</i>!” said the captain. “He says that he follows a +Ghost. Well, we have nothing to do with ghosts. Take him, unharmed if possible, +but take him.” +</p> + +<p> +So, urged thereto by their own fears, since for their safety’s sake they +dared not let him go, the men sprang towards him. They sprang towards him where +he stood waiting the end, for give back he would not, and of a sudden fell down +upon their faces, hiding their heads among the stones. Richard did not know +what had happened to them that they behaved thus strangely, nor did he care. +Only seeing them fallen he walked on over them, and pursued his way along the +nek and down it to the plains beyond. +</p> + +<p> +All that night he walked, looking behind him from time to time to see if any +followed, but none came. He was alone, quite alone, save for the dream that led +him towards the north. At sunrise he rested and slept a while, then, awaking +after midday, went on his road. He did not know the road, yet never was he in +doubt for a moment. It was always clear to him whither he should go. That night +he finished his food and again slept a while, going forward at the dawn. In the +morning he met some Kaffirs, who questioned him, but he answered only that he +was following a Dream to the north. They stared at him, seemed to grow +frightened and ran away. But presently some of them came back and placed food +in his path, which he took and left them. +</p> + +<p> +He came to the kraal Mafooti. It was utterly deserted, and he wandered amidst +its ashes. Here and there he found the bones of those who had perished in the +fire, and turned them over with his staff wondering whether any of them had +belonged to Rachel. In that place he slept a night thinking that perhaps his +journey was ended, and that here he would die where he believed Rachel had +died. But when he waked at the dawn, it was to find that something within him +still drew him towards the north, more strongly indeed than ever before. +</p> + +<p> +So he left what had been the town Mafooti. Walking along the edge of the cleft +into which Ishmael had leapt on fire, he climbed the walls built with so much +toil to keep out the Zulus, and at last came to the river which Rachel had +swum. It was low now, and wading it he entered Zululand. Here the natives +seemed to know of his approach, for they gathered in numbers watching him, and +put food in his path. But they would not speak to him, and when he addressed +them saying that he followed a Dream and asking if they had seen the Dream, +they cried out that he was <i>tagali</i>, bewitched, and fled away. +</p> + +<p> +He continued his journey, finding each night a hut prepared for him to sleep +in, and food for him to eat, till at length one evening he reached the Great +Place, Umgugundhlovu. Through its streets he marched with a set face, while +thousands stared at him in silence. Then a captain pointed out a hut to him, +and into it he entered, ate and slept. At dawn he rose, for he knew that here +he must not tarry; the spirit face of Rachel still hung before him, the spirit +voice still whispered—“<i>Forward, forward to the north. I myself +will be your guide</i>.” In his path sat the King and his Councillors, +and around them a regiment of men. He walked through them unheeding, till at +length, when he was in front of the King, they barred his road, and he halted. +</p> + +<p> +“Who art thou and what is thy business?” asked an old Councillor +with a withered hand. +</p> + +<p> +“I am Richard Darrien,” he answered, “and here I have no +business. I journey to the north. Stay me not.” +</p> + +<p> +“We know thee,” said the Councillor, “thou art the lord Dario +that didst dwell in the shadow of the Inkosazana. Thou art the white chief whom +the wild beast, Ibubesi, slew at the kraal Mafooti. Why does thy ghost come +hither to trouble us?” +</p> + +<p> +“Living or dead, ghost or man, I travel to the north. Stay me not,” +he answered. +</p> + +<p> +“What seekest thou in the north, thou lord Dario?” +</p> + +<p> +“I seek a Dream; a Spirit leads me to find a Dream. Seest thou it not, +Man with the withered hand?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” they repeated, “he seeks a Dream. A Spirit leads him to +find a Dream in the north.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is this Dream like?” asked Mopo of the withered hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, stand at my side and look. There, dost thou see it floating in the +air before us, thou who hast eyes that can read a Dream?” +</p> + +<p> +Mopo came and looked, then his knees trembled a little and he said: +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, lord Dario, I see and I know that face.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou knowest the face, old fool,” broke in Dingaan angrily. +“Then whose is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“O King,” answered Mopo, dropping his eyes, “it is not lawful +to speak the name, but the face is the face of one who sat where that wanderer +stands, and showed thee certain pictures in a bowl of water.” +</p> + +<p> +Now Dingaan trembled, for the memory of those visions haunted him night and +day; moreover he thought at times that they drew near to their fulfilment. +</p> + +<p> +“The white man is mad,” he said, “and thou, Mopo, art mad +also. I have often thought it, and that it would be well if thou wentest on a +long journey—for thy health. This Dario shall stay here a while. I will +not suffer him to wander through my land crazing the people with his tales of +dreams and visions. Take him and hold him; the Circle of the Doctors shall +inquire into the matter.” +</p> + +<p> +So Dingaan spoke, who in his heart was afraid lest this wild-eyed Dario should +learn that he had given the Inkosazana to the dwarf folk when she was mad, to +appease them after they had prophesied evil to him. Also he remembered that it +was because of the murders done by Ibubesi that the Inkosazana had gone mad, +and did not understand if Dario had been killed at the kraal Mafooti how it +could be that he now stood before him. Therefore he thought that he would keep +him a prisoner until he found out all the truth of the matter, and whether he +were still a man or a ghost or a wizard clothed in the shape of the dead. +</p> + +<p> +At the bidding of the King, guards sprang forward to seize Richard, but the old +Councillor, Mopo, shrunk away behind him hiding his eyes with his withered +hand. They sprang forward, and yet they laid no finger on him, but fell off to +right and left, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“Kill us, if thou wilt, Black One, we cannot!” +</p> + +<p> +“The wizard has bewitched them,” said Dingaan angrily. “Here, +you Doctors, you whose trade it is to catch wizards, take this white fellow and +bind him.” +</p> + +<p> +Unwillingly enough the Doctors, of whom there were eight or ten sitting apart, +rose to do the King’s bidding. They came on towards Richard, some of them +singing songs, and some muttering charms, and as they came he laughed and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Beware! you <i>Abangoma</i>, the Dream is looking at you very +angrily.” Then they too broke away to right and left, crying out that +this was a wizard against whom they had no power. +</p> + +<p> +Now Dingaan grew mad with wrath, and shouted to his soldiers to seize the white +man, and if he resisted them to kill him with their sticks, for of witchcraft +they had known enough in Zululand of late. +</p> + +<p> +So thick as bees the regiment formed up in front of him, shouting and waving +their kerries, for here in the King’s Place they bore no spears. +</p> + +<p> +“Make way there,” said Richard, “I can stay no longer, I must +to the north.” +</p> + +<p> +The soldiers did not stir, only a captain stepped out bidding him give up his +spear and yield himself, or be killed. Richard walked forward and at a sign +from the captain, men sprang at him, lifting their kerries, to dash out his +brains. Then suddenly in front of Richard there appeared something faint and +white, something that walked before him. The soldiers saw it, and the kerries +fell from their hands. The regiment behind saw it, and turning, burst away like +a scared herd of cattle. They did not wait to seek the gates, they burst +through the fence of the enclosure, and were gone, leaving it flat behind them. +The King and his Councillors saw it also, and more clearly than the rest. +</p> + +<p> +<i>“The Inkosazana!”</i> they cried. “It is the Inkosazana +who walks before him that she loved!” and they fell upon their faces. +Only Dingaan remained seated on his stool. +</p> + +<p> +“Go,” he said hoarsely to Richard, “go, thou wizard, north or +south or east or west, if only thou wilt take that Spirit with thee, for she +bodes evil to my land.” +</p> + +<p> +So Richard, who had seen nothing, marched away from the kraal Umgugundhlovu, +and once more set his face towards the north, the north that drew him as it +draws the needle of a compass. +</p> + +<p> +The road that Rachel and the dwarfs had travelled he travelled also. Although +from day to day he knew not where his feet would lead him, still he travelled +it step by step. Nor did any hurt come to him. In the country where men dwelt, +being forewarned of his coming by messengers, they brought him food and guarded +him, and when he passed out into the wilderness some other power guarded him. +He had no fear at all. At night he would lie down without a fire, and the lions +would roar about him, but they never harmed him. He would plunge into a swamp +or a river and always pass it safely. When water failed he would find it +without search; when there was no food, it would seem to be brought to him. +Once an eagle dropped a bustard at his feet. Once he found a buck fresh slain +by leopards. Once when he was very hungry he saw that he had laid down to sleep +by a nest of ostrich eggs, and this food he cooked, making fire after the +native fashion with sharp sticks, as he knew how to do. +</p> + +<p> +At length all the swamps were passed and in the third week of his journeyings +he reached the sloping uplands, on the edge of which he awoke one morning to +find himself surrounded by a circle of great men, giants, who stood staring at +him. He arose, thinking that at last his hour had come, as it seemed to him +that they were about to kill him. But instead of killing him these huge men +saluted him humbly, and offered him food upon their knees, and new hide shoes +for his feet—for his own were worn out—and cloaks and garments of +skin, which things he accepted thankfully, for by now he was almost naked. Then +they brought a litter and wished him to enter it, but this he refused. Heeding +them no more, as soon as he had eaten and filled his bag and water-bottle, he +started on towards the north. Indeed, he could not have stayed if he had +wished; his brain seemed to be full of one thought only, to travel till he +reached his journey’s end, whatever it might be, and before his eyes he +saw one thing only, the spirit face of Rachel, that led him on towards that +end. Sometimes it was there for hours, then for hours again it would be absent. +When it was present he looked at it; when it was gone he dreamed of it, for him +it was the same. But one thing was ever with him, that magnet in his heart +which drew his feet towards the north, and from step to step showed him the +road that he should travel. +</p> + +<p> +A number of the giant men accompanied him. He noticed it, but took no heed. So +long as they did not attempt to stay or turn him he was indifferent whether +they came or went away. As a result he travelled in much more comfort, since +now everything was made easy and ready for him. Thus he was fed with the best +that the land provided, and at night shelters were built for him to sleep in. +He discovered that a captain of the giants could understand a few words of some +native language which he knew, and asked him why they helped him. The captain +replied by order of “Mother of Trees.” Who or what “Mother of +Trees” might be Richard was unable to discover, so he gave up his +attempts at talk and walked on. +</p> + +<p> +They traversed the fertile uplands and reached the edge of the fearful desert. +It did not frighten him; he plunged into it as he would have plunged into a +sea, or a lake of fire, had it lain in his way. He was like a bird whose +instinct at the approach of summer or of winter leads it without doubt or error +to some far spot, beyond continents and oceans, some land that it has never +seen, leads it in surety and peace to its appointed rest. A guard of the giant +men came with him into the desert, also carriers who bore skins of water. In +that burning heat the journey was dreadful, yet Richard accomplished it, +wearing down all his escort, until at its further lip but one man was left. +There even he sank exhausted and began to beat upon a little drum that he +carried, which drum had been passed on to him by those who were left behind. +But Richard was not exhausted. His strength seemed to be greater than it had +ever been before, or that which drew him forward had acquired more power. He +wondered vaguely why a man should choose such a place and time to play upon a +drum, and went on alone. +</p> + +<p> +Before him, some miles away, he saw a forest of towering trees that stretched +further than his eye could reach. As he approached that forest heading for a +certain tall tree, why he knew not, the sunset dyed it red as though it had +been on fire, and he thought that he discerned little shapes flitting to and +fro amidst the boles of trees. Then he entered the forest, whereof the boughs +arched above him like the endless roof of a cathedral borne upon innumerable +pillars. There was deep gloom that grew presently to darkness wherein here and +there glow-worms shone faintly like tapers dying before an altar, and winds +sighed like echoes of evening prayers. He could see to walk no longer, sudden +weariness overcame him, so according to his custom he laid himself down to +sleep at the bole of a great tree. +</p> + +<p> +A while had passed, he never knew how long, when Richard was awakened from deep +slumber by feeling many hands fiercely at work upon him. These hands were small +like those of children; this he could tell from the touch of them, although the +darkness was so dense that he was able to see nothing. Two of them gripped him +by the throat so as to prevent him from crying out; others passed cords about +his wrists, ankles and middle until he could not stir a single limb. Then he +was dragged back a few paces and lashed to the bole of a tree, as he guessed, +that under which he had been sleeping. The hands let go of him, and his throat +being free he called out for help. But those vast forest aisles seemed to +swallow up his voice. It fell back on him from the canopy of huge boughs above, +it was lost in the immense silence. Only from close at hand he heard little +peals of thin and mocking laughter. So he too grew silent, for who was there to +help him here? He struggled to loose himself, for the impalpable power which +had guided him so far was now at work within him more strongly than ever +before. It called to him to come, it drew him onward, it whispered to him that +the goal was near. But the more he writhed and twisted the deeper did the cruel +cords or creepers cut into his flesh. Yet he fought on till, utterly exhausted, +his head fell forward, and he swooned away. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap24"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.<br /> +THE END AND THE BEGINNING</h2> + +<p> +On the day following that when she had summoned Eddo to speak with her, Nya sat +at the mouth of the cave. It was late afternoon, and already the shadows +gathered so quickly that save for her white hair, her little childlike shape, +withered now almost to a skeleton, was scarcely visible against the black rock. +Walking to and fro in her aimless fashion, as she would do for hours at a time, +Rachel accompanied by Noie passed and repassed her, till at length the old +woman lifted her head and listened to something which was quite inaudible to +their ears. Then she beckoned to Noie, who led Rachel to her. +</p> + +<p> +“Maiden beloved,” she said in a feeble voice, after they had sat +down in front of her, “my hour has come, I have sent for thee to bid thee +farewell till we meet again in a country where thou hast travelled for a little +while. Before the sun sets I pass within the Fence.” +</p> + +<p> +At this tidings Rachel began to weep, for she had learned to love this old +dwarf-woman who had been so kind to her in her misery, and she was now so weak +that she could not restrain her fears. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother,” she said, “for thee it is joy to go. I know it, and +therefore cannot wish that thou shouldst stay. Yet what shall I do when thou +hast left me alone amidst all these cruel folk? Tell me, what shall I +do?” +</p> + +<p> +“Perchance thou wilt seek another helper, Maiden, and perchance thou +shall find another to guard and comfort thee. Follow thy heart, obey thy heart, +and remember the last words of Nya—that no harm shall come to thee. +Nay—if I know it, I may tell thee no more, thou who couldst not hear what +the drums said to me but now. Farewell,” and turning round she made a +sign to certain dwarf-mutes who were gathered behind her as though they awaited +her commands. +</p> + +<p> +“Hast thou no last word for me, Mother?” asked Noie. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Child,” she answered. “Thy heart is very bold, and thou +also must follow it. Though thy sin should be great, perchance thy greater love +may pay its price. At least thou art but an arrow set upon the string, and that +which must be, will be. I think that we shall meet again ere long. Come hither +and kneel at my side.” +</p> + +<p> +Noie obeyed, and for a little space Nya whispered in her ear, while as she +listened Rachel saw strange lights shining in Noie’s eyes, lights of +terror and of pride, lights of hope and of despair. +</p> + +<p> +“What did she say to you, Noie?” asked Rachel presently. +</p> + +<p> +“I may not tell, Zoola,” she answered. “Question me no +more.” +</p> + +<p> +Now the mutes brought forward a slight litter woven of boughs on which the +withered leaves still hung, boughs from Nya’s fallen tree. In this litter +they placed her, for she could no longer walk, and lifted it on to their +shoulders. For one moment she bade them halt, and calling Rachel and Noie to +her, kissed them upon the brow, holding up her thin child-like hands over them +in blessing. Then followed by them both, the bearers went forward with their +burden, taking the road that ran up the hill towards the sacred tree. As the +sun set they passed within the Fence, and laying down the litter without a word +by the bole of the tree, turned and departed. +</p> + +<p> +The darkness fell, and through it Rachel and Noie heard Nya singing for a +little while. The song ceased, and they descended the hill to the cave, for +there they feared to stay lest the Tree should draw them also. They ate a +little food whilst the two women mutes who had sat on each side of Nya when she +showed her magic, stared, now at them, and now into the bowls of dew that were +set before them, wherein they seemed to find something that interested them +much. Noie prayed Rachel to sleep, and she tried to do so, and could not. For +hour after hour she tossed and turned, and at length sat up, saying to Noie: +</p> + +<p> +“I have fought against it, and I can stay here no longer. Noie, I am +being drawn from this place out into the forest, and I must go.” +</p> + +<p> +“What draws thee, Sister?” asked Noie. “Is it Eddo?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I think not, nothing to do with Eddo. Oh! Noie, Noie, it is the +spirit of Richard Darrien. He is dead, but for days and weeks his spirit has +been with my spirit, and now it draws me into the forest to die and find +him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then that is an evil journey thou wouldst take, Zoola?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so, Noie, it is the best and happiest of journeys. The thought of it +fills me with joy. What said Nya? Follow thy heart. So I follow it. Noie, +farewell, for I must go away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” answered Noie, “if thou goest I go, who also was +bidden to follow my heart that is sister to thy heart.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel reasoned with her, but she would not listen. The end of it was that the +two of them rose and threw on their cloaks; also Rachel took the great Umkulu +spear which she had used as a staff on her journey from the desert to the +forest. All this while the dwarf-women watched her, but did nothing, only +watched. +</p> + +<p> +They left the cave and walked to the mouth of the zig-zag slit in the great +wall which was open. +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps the mutes will kill us in the heart of the wall,” said +Noie. +</p> + +<p> +“If so the end will be soon and swift,” answered Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +Now they were in the cleft, following its slopes and windings. Above them they +could hear the movements of the guardians of the wall who sat amongst the rough +stones, but these did not try to stop them; indeed once or twice when they did +not know which way to turn in the darkness, little hands took hold of +Rachel’s cloak and guided her. So they passed through the wall in safety. +Outside of it Rachel paused a moment, looking this way and that. Then of a +sudden she turned and walked swiftly towards the south. +</p> + +<p> +It was dark, densely dark in the forest, yet she never seemed to lose her path. +Holding Noie by the hand she wound in and out between the tree-trunks without +stumbling or even striking her foot against a root. For an hour or more they +walked on this, the strangest of strange journeys, till at length Rachel +whispered: +</p> + +<p> +“Something tells me to stay here,” and she leaned against a tree +and stayed, while Noie, who was tired, sat down between the jutting roots of +the tree. +</p> + +<p> +It was a dead tree, and the top of it had been torn off in some hurricane so +that they could see the sky above them, and by the grey hue of it knew that it +was drawing near to dawn. +</p> + +<p> +The sun rose, and its arrows, that even at midday could never pass the canopy +of foliage, shot straight and vivid between the tall bare trunks. Oh! Rachel +knew the place. It was that place which she had dreamed of as a child in the +island of the flooded river. Just so had the light of the rising sun fallen on +the boles of the great trees, and on her white cloak and out-spread hair, +fallen on her and on another. She strained her eyes into the gloom. Now those +rays pierced it also, and now by them she saw the yellow-bearded, half-naked +man of that long-dead dream leaning against the tree. His eyes were shut, +without doubt he was dead, this was but a vision of him who had drawn her +hither to share his death. It was the spirit of Richard Darrien! +</p> + +<p> +She drew a little nearer, and the eyes opened, gazing at her. Also from that +form of his was cast a long shadow—there it lay upon the dead leaves. How +came it, she wondered, that a spirit could throw a shadow, and why was a spirit +bound to a tree, as now she perceived he was? He saw her, and in those grey +eyes of his there came a wonderful look. He spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“You have drawn me from far, Rachel, but I have never seen all of you +before, only your face floating in the air before me, although others saw you. +Now I see you also, so I suppose that my time has come. It will soon be over. +Wait a little there, where I can look at you, and presently we shall be +together again. I am glad.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel could not speak. A lump rose in her throat and choked her. Betwixt fear +and hope her heart stood still. Only with the spear in her hand she pointed at +her own shadow thrown by the level rays of the rising sun. He looked, and +notwithstanding the straitness of his bonds she saw him start. +</p> + +<p> +“If you are a ghost why have you a shadow?” he asked hoarsely. +“And if you are not a ghost, how did you come into this haunted +place?” +</p> + +<p> +Still Rachel did not seem to be able to speak. Only she glided up to him and +kissed him on the lips. Now at length he understood—they both understood +that they were still living creatures beneath the sky, not the denizens of some +dim world which lies beyond. +</p> + +<p> +“Free me,” he said in a faint voice, for his brain reeled. “I +was bound here in my sleep. They will be back presently.” +</p> + +<p> +Her intelligence awoke. With a few swift cuts of the spear she held Rachel +severed his bonds, then picked up his own assegai that lay at his feet she +thrust it into his numbed hand. As he took it the forest about them seemed to +become alive, and from behind the boles of the trees around appeared a number +of dwarfs who ran towards them, headed by Eddo. Noie sprang forward also, and +stood at their side. Rachel turned on Eddo swiftly as a startled deer. She +seemed to tower over him, the spear in her hand. +</p> + +<p> +“What does this mean, Priest?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Inkosazana,” he answered humbly, “it means that I have found +a way to tempt thee from within the Wall where none might break thy sanctuary. +Thou drewest this man to thee from far with the strength that old Nya gave +thee. We knew it all, we saw it all, and we waited. Day by day in our bowls of +dew we watched him coming nearer to thee. We heard the messages of Nya on the +drums, bidding the Umkulu meet and escort him; we heard the last answering +message from the borders of the desert, telling her that he was nigh. Then +while he followed his magic path through the darkness of the forest we seized +and bound him, knowing well that if he could not come to thee, thou wouldst +come to him. And thou hast come.” +</p> + +<p> +“I understand. What now, Eddo?” +</p> + +<p> +“This, Inkosazana: Thou hast been named Mother of the Trees by the people +of the Dwarfs; be pleased to come with us that we may instal thee in thy great +office.” +</p> + +<p> +“This lord here,” said Rachel, “is my promised husband. What +of him?” +</p> + +<p> +Eddo bowed and smiled, a fearful smile, and answered: +</p> + +<p> +“The Mother of the Trees has no husband. Wisdom is her husband. He has +served his purpose, which was to draw thee from within the Wall, and for this +reason only we permitted him to enter the holy forest living. Now he bides here +to die, and since he has won thy love we will honour him with the White Death. +Bind him to the tree again.” +</p> + +<p> +In an instant the spear that Rachel held was at Eddo’s throat. +</p> + +<p> +“Dwarf,” she cried, “this is my man, and I am no Mother of +Trees and no pale ghost, but a living woman. Let but one of these monkeys of +thine lay a hand upon him, and thou diest, by the Red Death, Eddo, aye, by the +Red Death. Stir a single inch, and this spear goes through thy heart, and thy +spirit shall be spilled with thy blood.” +</p> + +<p> +The little priest sank to his knees trembling, glancing about him for a means +of escape. +</p> + +<p> +“If thou killest me, thou diest also,” he hissed. +</p> + +<p> +“What do I care if I die?” she answered. “If my man dies, I +wish to die,” then added in English: “Richard, take hold of him by +one arm, and Noie, take the other. If he tries to escape kill him at once, or +if you are afraid, I will.” +</p> + +<p> +So they seized him by his arms. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” said Rachel, “let us go back to the Sanctuary, for +there they dare not touch us. We cannot try the desert without water; also +they would follow and kill us with their poisoned arrows. Tell them, Noie, that +if they do not attempt to harm us, we will set this priest of theirs free +within the Wall. But if a hand is lifted against us, then he dies at +once—by the Red Death.” +</p> + +<p> +“Touch them not, touch them not,” piped Eddo, “lest my ghost +should be spilt with my blood. Touch them not, I command you.” +</p> + +<p> +The company of dwarfs chattered together like parrots at the dawn, and the +march began. First went Eddo, dragged along between Richard and Noie, and after +them, the raised spear in her hand, followed Rachel, while on either side, +hiding themselves behind the boles of the trees, scrambled the people of the +dwarfs. Back they went thus through the forest, Rachel telling them the road +till at length the huge grey wall loomed up before them. They came to the slit +in it, and Noie asked: +</p> + +<p> +“What shall we do now? Kill this priest, take him in with us as a +hostage, or let him go?” +</p> + +<p> +“I said that he should be set free,” answered Rachel, “and he +would do us more harm dead than living; also his blood would be on our hands. +Take him through the Wall, and loose him there.” +</p> + +<p> +So once more they passed the slopes and passages, while the mutes above watched +them from their stones with marvelling eyes, till they reached the open space +beyond, and there they loosed Eddo. The priest sprang back out of reach of the +dreaded spears, and in a voice thick with rage, cried to them: +</p> + +<p> +“Fools! You should have killed me while you could, for now you are in a +trap, not I. You are strong and great, but you cannot live without food. We may +not enter here to hurt you, but you shall starve, you shall starve until you +creep out and beg my mercy.” +</p> + +<p> +Then making signs to the dwarfs who sat about above, he vanished between the +stones. +</p> + +<p> +“You should have killed him, Zoola,” said Noie, “for now he +will live to kill us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I think not, Sister,” answered Rachel. “Nya said that I +should follow my heart, and my heart bid me let him go. Our hands are clean of +his blood, but if he had died, who can tell? Blood is a bad seed to sow.” +</p> + +<p> +Then, forgetting Eddo, she turned to Richard and began to ply him with +questions. +</p> + +<p> +But he seemed to be dazed and could answer little. It was as though some +unnatural, supporting strength had been withdrawn, and now all the fatigues of +his fearful journey were taking effect upon him. He could scarcely stand, but +reeled to and fro like a man in drink, so that the two women were obliged to +support him across the burial ground towards the cave. Advancing thus they +entered into the shadow of the Holy Tree, and there at the edge of it met +another procession descending from the mound. Eight mutes bore a litter of +boughs, and on it lay Nya, dead, her long white hair hanging down on either +side of the litter. With bowed heads they stood aside to let her pass to the +grave made ready for her in a place of honour near the Wall where for a +thousand years only the Mothers of the Trees had been laid to rest. +</p> + +<p> +Then they went on, and entered the cave where the lamps burned before the great +stalactite and the heap of offerings that were piled about it. Here sat the two +women priests gazing into their bowls as they had left them. The death of Nya +had not moved them, the advent of this white man did not seem to move them. +Perhaps they expected him; at any rate food was made ready, and a bed of rugs +prepared on which he could lie. +</p> + +<p> +Richard ate some of the food, staring at Rachel all the while with vacant eyes +as though she were still but a vision, the figment of a dream. Then he muttered +something about being very tired, and sinking back upon the rugs fell into a +deep sleep. +</p> + +<p> +In that sleep he remained scarcely stirring for full four-and-twenty hours, +while Rachel watched by his side, till at length her weariness overcame her, +and she slept also. When she opened her eyes again they saw no other light than +that which crept in from the mouth of the cave. The lamps which always burned +there were out. Noie, who was seated near by, heard her stir, and spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“If thou art rested, Zoola,” she said, “I think that we had +better carry the white lord from this place, for the two witch-women have gone, +and I can find no more oil to fill the lamps.” +</p> + +<p> +So they felt their way to Richard, purposing to lift him between them, but at +Rachel’s touch he awoke, and with their help walked out of the cave. In +the open space beyond they saw a strange sight, for across it were streaming +all the dwarf-mutes carrying their aged and sick and infants, and bearing on +their backs or piled up in litters their mats and cooking utensils. Evidently +they were deserting the Sanctuary. +</p> + +<p> +“Why are they going?” asked Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“I do not know,” answered Noie, “but I think it is because no +food has been brought to them as usual, and they are hungry. You remember that +Eddo said we should starve. Only fear of death by hunger would make them leave +a place where they and their forefathers have lived for generations.” +</p> + +<p> +Presently they were all gone. Not a living creature was left within the Wall +except these three, nor were any more dwarfs brought in to die beneath the Holy +Tree. Now, at length Richard seemed to awake, and taking Rachel by the hand +began to ask questions of her in a low stammering voice, since words did not +seem to come readily to him who had not spoken his own language for so long. +</p> + +<p> +“Before you begin to talk, Sister,” broke in Noie, “let us go +and see if we can close the cleft in the Wall, for otherwise how shall we sleep +in peace? Eddo and the dwarfs might creep in by night and murder us.” +</p> + +<p> +“I do not think they dare shed blood in their Holy Place,” answered +Rachel. “Still, let us see what we can do; it may be best.” +</p> + +<p> +So they went to the cleft, and as the stone door was open and they could not +shut it, at one very narrow spot they rolled down rocks from the loose sides of +the ancient wall above in such a fashion that it would be difficult to pass +through or over them from without. This hard task took them many hours, +moreover, it was labour wasted, since, as Rachel had thought probable, the +dwarfs never tried to pass the Wall, but waited till hunger forced them to +surrender. +</p> + +<p> +Towards evening they returned to the cave and collected what food they could +find. It was but little, enough for two spare meals, no more; nor could they +discover any in the town of the dwarfs behind the Tree. Only of water they had +plenty from the stream that ran out of the cave. +</p> + +<p> +They ate a few mouthfuls, then took their mats and cloaks and went to camp by +the opening in the wall, so that they might guard against surprise. Now for the +first time they found leisure to talk, and Rachel and Richard told each other a +little of their wonderful stories. But they did not tell them all, for their +minds seemed to be bewildered, and there was much that they were not able to +explain. It was enough for them to know that they had been brought together +again thus marvellously, by what power they knew not, and that still living, +they who for long weeks had deemed the other dead, were able to hold each +other’s hands and gaze into each other’s eyes. Moreover, now that +this had been brought about they were tired, so tired that they could scarcely +speak above a whisper. The end of it was that they fell asleep, all of them, +and so slept till morning, when they awoke somewhat refreshed, and ate what +remained of the food. +</p> + +<p> +The second day was like the first, only hotter and more sultry. Noie climbed to +the top of the wall to watch, while Richard and Rachel wandered about among the +little, antheap-like graves, and through the dwarf village, talking and +wondering, happy even in their wretchedness. But before the day was gone hunger +began to get a hold of them; also the terrible, stifling heat oppressed them so +that their words seemed to die between their lips, and they could only sit +against the wall, looking at one another. +</p> + +<p> +Towards evening Noie descended from the Wall and reported that large numbers of +the dwarfs were keeping watch without, flitting to and fro between the trunks +of the trees like shadows. The stifling night went by, and another day dawned. +Having no food they went to the stream and drank water. Then they sat down in +the shadow and waited through the long hot hours. Towards evening, when it grew +a little cooler, they gathered up their strength and tried to find some way of +escape before it was too late. Richard suggested that as flight was impossible +they should give themselves up to the dwarfs, but Rachel answered No, for then +Eddo would certainly kill him and Noie, and take her to fill the place of +Mother of the Trees until she became useless to him, when she would be murdered +also. +</p> + +<p> +“Then there is nothing left for us but to die,” said Richard. +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing but to die,” she answered, “to die together; and, +dear, that should not be so hard, seeing that for so long we have thought each +other dead apart.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet it is hard,” answered Richard, “after living through so +much and being led so far to die at last and go whither we know not, before our +time.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel looked at Noie, who sat opposite to them, her head rested on her hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Have you anything to say, Sister?” she asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Zoola. Here is a little moss that I have found upon the +stones,” and she produced a small bundle. “Let us boil it and eat, +it will keep us alive for another day.” +</p> + +<p> +“What is the use?” asked Rachel, “unless there is +more.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is no more,” said Noie, “for the leaves of yonder tree +are deadly poison, and here grows no other living thing. Still, eat and live +on, for I wait a message.” +</p> + +<p> +“A message from whom?” asked Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“A message from the dead, Sister. It was promised to me by Nya before she +passed, and if it does not come, then it will be time to die.” +</p> + +<p> +So they made fire and boiled the moss till it was a horrible, sticky substance, +which they swallowed as best they could, washing it down with gulps of water. +Still it was food of a kind, and for a while stayed the gnawing, empty pains +within them; only Noie ate but little, so that there might be more for the +others. +</p> + +<p> +That night was even hotter than those that had gone before, and during the day +which followed the place became like a hell. They crept into the cave and lay +there gasping, while from without came loud cracking sounds, caused, as they +thought, by the trees of the forest splitting in the heat. About midday the sky +suddenly became densely overcast, although no breath stirred; the air was +thicker than ever, to breathe it was like breathing hot cream. In their +restless despair they wandered out of the cave, and to their surprise saw a +dwarf standing upon the top of the wall. It was Eddo, who called to them to +come out and give themselves up. +</p> + +<p> +“What are the terms?” asked Noie. +</p> + +<p> +“That thou and the Wanderer shall die by the White Death, and that the +Inkosazana shall be installed Mother of the Trees,” was the answer. +</p> + +<p> +“We refuse them,” said Noie. “Let us go now and give us food +and escort, and thou shall be spared. Refuse, and it is thou and thy people who +will die by that Red Death which Nya promised thee.” +</p> + +<p> +“That we shall learn before to-morrow,” said Eddo with a mocking +laugh, and vanished down the wall. +</p> + +<p> +As he went a hot gust of wind burst upon them, causing the forest without to +rock and groan. Noie turned her face towards it and seemed to listen. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” asked Rachel. +</p> + +<p> +“I heard a voice in the wind, Sister,” she answered. “The +message I awaited has come to me.” +</p> + +<p> +“What message?” asked Richard listlessly. +</p> + +<p> +“That I will tell you by and by, Chief,” she answered. “Come +to the cave, it is no longer safe here, the hurricane breaks.” +</p> + +<p> +So supporting each other they crept back to the cave, and there Noie made fire, +feeding it with the idols and precious woods that had been brought thither as +offerings. Richard and Rachel watched her wondering, for it seemed strange that +she should make a fire in that heat where there was nothing to cook. Meanwhile +gust succeeded gust, until a tempest of screaming wind swept over them, though +no rain fell. Soon it was so fierce that the deep-rooted Tree of the Tribe +rocked above them, and loose stones were blown from the crest of the great +wall. +</p> + +<p> +Then of a sudden Noie sprang up, and seized a flaming brand from the fire; it +was the limb of a fetish, made of some resinous wood. She ran from the cave +swiftly, before they could stop her, and vanished in the gathering gloom, to +return again in a few moments weak and breathless. “Come out, now,” +she said, “and see a sight such as you shall never behold again,” +and there was something so strange in her voice that, notwithstanding their +weakness, they rose and followed her. +</p> + +<p> +Outside the cave they could not stand because of the might of the hurricane, +but cast themselves upon the ground, and following Noie’s outstretched +arm, looked up towards the top of the mound. Then they saw that the Tree of the +Tribe was <i>on fire</i>. Already its vast trunk and boughs were wrapped in +flame, which burnt furiously because of the resin within them, while long +flakes of blazing moss were being swept away to leeward, to fall among the +forest that lay beyond the wall. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you do this?” cried Rachel to Noie. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, Zoola, who else? That was the message which came to me. Now my +office is fulfilled, but you two will live though I must die, I who have +destroyed the People of the Dwarfs; I who was born that I should destroy +them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Destroyed them!” exclaimed Rachel. “What do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“I mean that when their Tree dies, they die, the whole race of them. Oh! +Nya told me, Nya told me—they die as their Tree dies, by fire. To the +Wall, to the Wall now, and look. Follow me.” +</p> + +<p> +Forgetting their hunger-bred weakness in the wild excitement of that moment, +Rachel and Richard struggled hand in hand, after Noie’s thin, ethereal +form. Across the open space they struggled, through the furious bufferings of +the gale, sometimes on their feet, sometimes on their hands and knees, till +they came to the great wall where a stairway ran up it to an outlook tower. Up +this stair they climbed slowly since at times the weight of the wind pinned +them against the blocks of stone, till at length they reached its crest and +crept into the shelter of the hollow tower. Hence, looking through the +loopholes in the ancient masonry, they saw a fearful sight. The flakes of +burning moss from the Tree of the Tribe had fallen among the tops of the +forest, parched almost to tinder with drought and heat, and fired them here and +there. Fanned by the screaming gale the flames spread rapidly, leaping from +tree to tree, now in one direction, now in another, as the hurricane veered, +which it did continually, till the whole green forest became a sheet of fire, +an ever-widening sheet which spread east and west and north and south for miles +and miles and tens of miles. +</p> + +<p> +Earth and sky were one blaze of light given out by the torch-like resinous +trees as they burned from the top downwards. By that intense light the three +watchers could see hundreds of the People of the Dwarfs flitting about between +the trunks. Waving their arms and gibbering, they rushed this way and that, to +the north to be met by fire, to the south to be met by fire, till at length the +blazing boughs and boles fell upon them and they disappeared in showers of red +sparks, or, more fortunate, fled away, never to return, before the flame that +leapt after them. One company of them ran towards the Sanctuary; they could see +them threading their path between the trees, and growing ever fewer as the +burning branches fell among them from above. They leapt, they ran, they +battled, springing this way and that, but ever the great flaring boughs crashed +down among them, crushing them, shrivelling them up, till at length of all +their number but a single man staggered into the open belt between the edge of +the forest and the wall. His white hair and his garments seemed to be +smouldering. He gripped at them with his hands, then coming to a little +bush—it was the top of Nya’s tree which she had thrust into the +ground to grow there—dragged it up and began to beat himself with it as +though to extinguish the flames. In an instant it took fire also, burning him +horribly, so that with a yell he threw it to the ground, and ran on towards the +wall. As he came they saw his face. It was that of Eddo. +</p> + +<p> +At this moment, seized by some sudden weakness, Noie sank down upon the stones. +Richard bent over her to lift her to her feet again, but she thrust him away, +saying slowly and in gasps: +</p> + +<p> +“Let me be, the doom has hold of me, I am dying. I passed within the +Fence to fire the Tree, and its poison is at work within me, and the curse of +all my people has fallen on my head. Yet I have saved thee, my sister, I have +saved thee and thy lover, for the Dwarfs are no more, the Grey People are grey +ashes. For my love’s sake I did the sin; let my love atone the sin if it +may, or at the least think kindly of me through the long, happy years that are +to come, and at the end of them then seek for lost Noie in the World of Ghosts +if she may be found there.” +</p> + +<p> +As she spoke they heard a sound of something scrambling among the stones, and +at one of the four entrances of the turret there appeared a hideous, +fire-twisted face, and a little form about which hung charred and smouldering +strips of raiment. It was Eddo, who had climbed the wall and found them out. +There he sat glowering at them, or rather at Noie, who was crouched upon the +floor. +</p> + +<p> +“Come hither, daughter of Seyapi,” he screamed in his hissing, +snake-like voice, “come hither, and see thy work, thou who hast made an +end of the ancient People of the Ghosts. Come hither and tell me why thou didst +this thing, for I would learn the truth before I die, that I may make report of +it to the Fathers of our race.” +</p> + +<p> +Noie heard, and crept towards him; to Rachel and Richard it seemed as though +she could not disobey that summons. Now they sat face to face outside the +turret, clinging to the stones, and her long hair flowed outwards on the gale. +</p> + +<p> +“I did it, Eddo,” she said, “to save one whom I love, and him +whom she loves. I did it to avenge the death of Nya upon you all, as she bade +me to do. I did it because the cup of thy wickedness is full, and because I was +appointed to bring thy doom upon thee. Thus ends the greatness thou hast +plotted so many years to win, Eddo.” +</p> + +<p> +“Aye,” he answered, “thus it ends, for the magic of the White +One there has overcome me, and thus with it ends the reign of the Ghost Kings, +and the forest wherein they reigned, and thus too, thou endest, traitress, who +hast murdered them and whose soul shall be spilt with their souls.” +</p> + +<p> +As the words left his lips suddenly Eddo sprang upon Noie and gripped her about +the middle. Richard and Rachel leapt forward, but before ever they could lay a +hand upon her to save her, the dwarf in his rage and agony had dragged her to +the edge of the wall. For a moment they struggled there in the vivid light of +the flaming forest. Then Eddo screamed aloud, one wild savage shriek, and still +holding Noie in his arms hurled himself from the wall, to fall crushed upon its +foundation stones sixty feet beneath. +</p> + +<p> +Thus perished Noie, who, for love’s sake, gave her life to save Rachel, +as once Rachel had saved her. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +It was morning, and after the tempest the sky was clear and cool, for heavy +rain had fallen when the wind dropped, although far away the dense clouds of +rolling smoke showed where the great fire still ate into the heart of the +forest. Rachel and Richard, seated hand in hand in the little tower on the +wall, looked at one another in that pure light, and saw signs in each +other’s face that could not be mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +“What shall we do?” asked Richard. “Death is very near to +us.” +</p> + +<p> +Rachel thought awhile, then answered: +</p> + +<p> +“The dwarfs are gone, we have nothing more to fear from them. Yonder +where the fire did not burn, dwell their slaves, whose villages are full of +food, and beyond them live the Umkulu, who know and would befriend me. Let us +go and seek food who desire to live on together, if we may.” +</p> + +<p> +So they climbed down the wall, and with difficulty, for they were very feeble, +crawled over the stones which they had piled up in the passage to keep out the +dwarfs, and thus passed to the open belt beyond. A strange scene met their +eyes, all the wide lands that had been covered with giant trees were now piled +over with white ashes amongst which, here and there, stood a black and +smouldering trunk. The journey was terrible, but following a ridge of rock +whereon no great trees had grown, hand in hand they passed through the outer +edge of the burnt forest in safety, until they came to one of the towns of the +slaves upon the fertile plain beyond, which led up to the desert. No human +being could they see, since all had fled, but the kraal was full of sheep and +cattle that had been penned there before the fire began, and in the huts were +milk and food in plenty. They drank of the milk and, after a while, ate a +little, then rested and drank more milk, till their strength began to return to +them. Towards evening they went out of the town, and standing on a mound looked +at the fire-wasted plain behind, and the green, grassy slopes in front. +</p> + +<p> +They seemed quite alone in the world, those two, and yet their hearts were full +of joy and thankfulness, for while they were left to each other they knew that +they could never be alone. +</p> + +<p> +“See, Rachel,” said Richard, pointing to the smouldering wreck of +the forest, “there lies our past, and here in front of us spreads the +future clothed with flowers.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Richard,” she answered, “but Noie and all whom I love +save you are buried in that past, and in front of us the desert is not far +away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Life is ours, Rachel, and love is ours, and that which saved us through +many a danger and brought me back to you, will surely keep us safe. Do you fear +to pass the desert at my side?” +</p> + +<p> +She looked at him with shining eyes, and answered: +</p> + +<p> +“No, Richard, I fear no more, for now I seem to hear the voice of Noie +speaking in my heart, telling me that trouble is behind us, and that we shall +live out our lives together, as my mother foresaw that we should do.” +</p> + +<p> +And there on the mound, standing between that dead sea of ashes and the green +slopes of flowering plain, Rachel stretched out her arms to the man to whom she +was decreed. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GHOST KINGS ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 8184-h.htm or 8184-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/8/1/8/8184/</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</body> + +</html> + + |