| Show I BLACK HEART AND I WHITE HEART I E A ZULU IDYLL BY H RIDER HAGGARD Copyright 1895 br H Rider Haggard CHAPTER CONTINUED Then the Bee slipped back her kaross and stood before them bending over the fire Into which she threw herbs taken from a pouch that was bound about her middle She was still a finely fine-ly shaped woman and she wore none of the abominations which Hadden had been accustomed to see upon the persons L per-sons of witch doctresses About her neck however was a curious ornament orna-ment a small live snake red and gray in hue which her visitors recognized as one of the most deadly to be found in that part of the country It is not unusual for Bantu witch doctors thus TO decorate themselves with snakes though whether or not their fangs have first been extracted no one seems to know Presently the herbs began to smould i er and the smoke of them rose up in a thin straight stream that striking MO the face of the Bee clung about her cad enveloping it as though with a strange blue veil Then of a sudden she stretched out her hands and let fall the two locks of hair upon the burning herbs where they writhed themselves to ashes like things alive Next she opened her mouth and began to draw the fumes of the hair and herbs into her iungs in great gulps while the snake feeling the influence of the medicine hissed and uncoiling itself from about her neck crept upward and took refuge among the black sacca boola feathers of her headdress Soon the vapors began to do their work she swayed to and fro muttering then sank back against the hut upon the straw of which her head rested Now the Bees face was turned upward toward to-ward the light and it was ghastly toehold to-ehold for it had become blue in color and the open eyes were sunken like thee the-e > es of one dead while above her forehead fore-head the red snake wavered and hissed reminding Hadden of the Uraeus creston crest-on the brow of Egyptian kings For ten seconds or more she remained thus then she spoke in a hollow unnatural voice O Black Heart and body that is white and beautiful I look into your heart and it is black as < blood and it shall be black with blood Beautiful white body with a black heart you shall find your game and hunt it and < it shall lead you into the House of the Homeless into the Home of the Dead nd it shall be shaped as a bull it shall be shaped as a tiger it shall be shaped as a woman whom kings and paters cannot harm Beautiful white body and black heart you shall be paid your wages money for money and blow for blow Think of my word when the spotted cat purrs above your breast think of it when the battler battle-r < lars about you think of it when you pratp your great reward and for the ast time stand face to face with the ghost of the dead in the Home of the Dead DeRdWhite O White Heart and black body I look into your heart and it Is white as milk and the milk of innocence shall erve it Fool why do you strike that low Let him be who Is loved of the tiger and whose love is as the love of a tiger Ah what face is that In the battle Follow it follow it 0 swift of foot but follow warily for the tongup that has lied will never plead for mercy and the hand that can betray be-tray is strong in war White Heart what is death In death life lives and among the dead you shall find the life you lost for there awaits you she whom kings and waters cannot harm As the Bee spoke by degrees her voVe sank lower and lower until It was almost inaudible Then it ceased altogether al-together and she seemed to pass from trance to sleep Hadden who had been listening to her with an amused nJd cynical smile now laughed aloud Why do you laugh White Man asked Kiahoon angrily I laugh at my own folly in wasting time listening to the nonsense of that lying fraud I It is no nonsense White Man Indeed Then will you tell me what St means I cannot tell you what it means yet 7ut her words have to do with a woman wo-man and a leopard and with your fate and my fate Hadden shrugged his shoulders not thinking the matter worth further argument and at that moment the Bee woke up shivering drew the red snake rom her headdres and coiling it about her throat wrapped herself again < in the greasy kaross Arc you satisfied with my wisdom Inkoos she asked of Hadden I am satisfied that you are one of I the cleverest cheats in Zululand mother he answered cooly Now what is there to pay The Bee took no offense at this rude Bp < Hch though for a second or two the 3onk in her eyes grew strangely like thit which they saw in those of the s take when the fumes of the fire had I made it angry If the white lord says I am a cheat I it mi be so she answered for he of all mm should be able to discern a cheat I have said that I ask no fee I yes give me a little tobacco from your pouch I Hadden opened the bag of antelope I bide and drawing some tobacco from it gave it to her In taking it she clasped I his hand and examined the gold ring that was upon the third finger a ring fashioned like a snake with two little rubies set in the head to represent the eYJ I wear a snake about my neck and you wear one upon your hand Inkoos I should like to have this ring to wear upon my hand so that the snake about my neck may be less lonely there Then I am afraid you will have to wait till I am dead raid Hadden Yes yes she answered in a pleased vroe it f s a good word I will wait till you are dead and then I will take the ring and none can say that I have stolen it for Nahoon there will bear me witness that you gave mo permis sjm to do so For the first time Hadden started since there was something about the Bees tone that jarred upon him Had she addressed him In her professional manner he would have thought noth 4 r L hu tuK wi i ic uui in uer cupiauy she had beCome natural and it was evident that she spoke from conviction believ ing her own words She saw him start and instantly changed her note Let the white lord forgive the jest of a poor old witch doctoress she said in a whining voice I have so much to do with Death that his name leaps to my lips and she glanced first at the circle of skulls about her then up towards the waterfall that fed the gloomy pool upon whose banks her hut was placed ook she said simply Following the line of her outstretched outstretch-ed hand Haddens eyes fell upon two withered mimosa trees which grew over the fall almost at right angles to its reeky edge These trees were join ed together by a rude platform made cf logs of wood lashed down with rIems of hide Upon this platform stood three figures and notwithstand ing the distance and the spray of the fall he could see that they were those of two men and a girl far their shapes stood out distinctly against the fiery red of the sunset sky One instant there were three the next there were two for the girl had gone and something some-thing dark rushing struck the face of the fall striking the surface of the pool with a heavy thud while a faint and piteous cry broke upon his ear What is the meaning of that he asked horrified and amazed Nothing answered the Bee with a laugh Do you not know then that this is the place where faithless women wo-men or girls who have loved without the leave of the king are brought to meet their death and with them their accomplices Oh they die here thus each day and I watch them die and keep the count of the number of them and drawing a tallystick from the thatch of the hut she took a knife and added a notch to the many that appeared ap-peared upon it looking at Nahoon the while with a half questioning half warning gaze Yes yes it is a place of death she muttered Up yonder the quick die day by day and down there and she pointed along the course of the river beyond the pool to where the forest began be-gan some two hundred yards from her Imtthe ghosts of them have their home Listen c As shf spoke a sound reached their ears that seemed to swell from the dim I skirts of the forests a peculiar and un I holy sound which it is impossible to define de-fine more accurately than by saying that it seemed beastlike and almost Inarticulate in-articulate Listen repeated the Bee they are merry yonder Who asked Hadden The baboons ba-boons No Inkoos the Amatongo the ghosts that welcome her who has just become of their number Ghosts said Hadden roughly for he was angry at his own tremors I should like to see those ghosts Do you think that I never heard a troop of monkeys In the bush before mother Come Nahoon let us be going while there is light to climb the cliff Farewell Fare-well Farewell Inkoos and doubt not that your wish will be fulfilled Go in peace Inkoosto sleep in peace CHAPTER HI The prayer of the Bee notwithstanding notwithstand-ing Philip Hadden slept ill that night He felt in the best of health and his conscience was not troubling him more than usual but rest he could not Whenever he closed his eyes his mind conjured up a picture of the grim witch doctoress so strangely named the Bee and the sound of her evilomened words as he had heard them that afternoon after-noon He was neither a superstitious man nor a timid one and any supernatural super-natural beliefs that might linger in his mind were tosay the least of it dormant But do what he would he could not shake off a certain eerie sensation of fear lest there should be some grains of truth in the prophesy ings of this hag What if it were a fact that he was near his death and that the heart which beat so strongly in his breast would soon be still forever for-ever no he would not think of It This gloomy place and the dreadful sight which he saw that day had upset up-set his nerves The domestic customs of these Zulus were not pleasant and for his part he was determined to be clear of them so soon as he was able to escape the country In fact if he could in any way manage man-age it it was his intention to make a dash for the border on the following night To do this with a good prospect of success however it was necessary that he should kill a buffalo or some other head of game Then as he knew well the hunters with him would feast upon meat until they could scarcely stir and that would be his opportunity opportuni-ty Nahoon however might not succumb suc-cumb to this temptation therefore he must trust to luck to be rid of him If it came to the worst he could put a bullet through him which he considered consider-ed he would be justified in doing seeing see-ing that in reality the man was his jailer Should this necessity arise he felt indeed that he could face it without I with-out undue compunction for in truth he disliked Nahoon at times he even hated him Their natures were antagonistic antag-onistic and he knew that the great Zulu distrusted and looked down upon him and to be looked down upon by a savage nigger was more than his pride could stomach At the first break of dawn Hadden rose and roused his escort who were still stretched in sleep around the dy ing fire each man wrapped in his kaross or blanket Nahoon stood up and shook himself looking gigantic in the shadows of the morning What is your will Umlungu white man that you are up before the sun My will Muntumpofu yellow man is to hunt baffalo answered Hadden I z L3 frl I Saw the Zulu Flying Into the Air I coolly It irritated him that this savage sav-age should give him no title of any sortYour Your pardon said the Zulu reading read-ing his thoughts but I cannot call you Inkoos because you are not my chief or any mans still if the title White Man offends you we will give you a name As you will answered Hadden briefly Accordingly they gave him a name Inhliziu Myana by which he was j known among them thereafter but Hadden was not best pleased when he found that the meaning of these soft sounding syllables was Black Heart That was how the inyanga had addressed ad-dressed him only she used different words An hour later and they were in the swampy bush country that lay behind the encampment searching for their game Within a very little while Na hoon held up his hand then pointed to the ground Hadden looked there > r D pressed deep in the marshy soil and to all appearance not ten minutes old was the spoor of a small herd of buffalo buf-falo I knew that we should find game today whispered Nahoon because the Bee said so Curse the Bee answered Hadden below his breath Come on For a quarter of an hour or more they followed the spoor through thick reeds till suddenly Nahoon whistled very softly and touched Haddens arm He looked up and there about three hundred yards away feeding on some higher gronnd among a patch of mimosa mi-mosa trees were the buffaloes six of them an old bull with a splendid head three cows a heifer and a calf about four months old Neither the wind nor the nature of the veldt were favorable for them to stalk the game from their the bulls spine he fired There was an awful bellow and the next instant the brute was up and at them Na hoon flung bis broad spear which sank deep into its chest then they fled this way and that The buffalo stood still for a moment its forelegs straggled Wide and its head down looking after the one then the other till of a sudden it uttered a low moaning moan-ing sound and rolled over dead smashing Nagoons assegai to fragments frag-ments as it fell There hes finished said Hadden and I believe it was your assegai that killed him Hullo whats that noise Nahoon listened In several quarters quar-ters of the forest but from how faraway far-away it was impossible to tell there I rose a curious sound as of people calling call-ing to each other in fear but in no I A c h i a = t p THE INOARUrAfMOV OP THE BEE present position so they made a detour of half a mile and very carefully crept toward them up the wind slipping from trunk to trunk of the mimosas and when these failed them crawling on their stomachs under cover of the tall tanfbuti grass At last they were within forty yards and a further advance ad-vance seemed impracticable for although al-though he could not smell them it was evident from his movements that the old bull had heard some unusual sound and was growing suspicious Nearest to Hadden who alone of the party had a rifle stood the heifer broadside on a beautiful shot Remembering that she would make the best beef he lifted his Martini and aiming at her immediately immedi-ately behind the shoulder gently squeezed the trigger The rifle exploded ex-ploded and the heifer fell dead shot through the heart Strangely enough the other buffaloes did not at once runaway run-away On the contrary they seemed puzzled to account for the sudden noise and not being able to wind anything lifted their heads and stared round them The pause gave Hadden space to get in a fresh cartridge and to aim again this time at the old bull The bullet struck him somewhere in the neck or shoulder for he came to his knees but in another second was up and having caught sight of the cloud of smoke he charged straight at it Because Be-cause of this smoke or for some other reason Hadden did not see him coming and in consequence would most certainly cer-tainly have been trampled or gored had not Nahoon sprung forward at the imminent risk of his own life and dragged him down behind an ant heap A moment more and the great beast had thundered by taking no further notice of them Forward said Hadden and leaving most of the men to cut up the heifer and carry the best of her meat to camp they started on the blood spoor For some hours they followed the bull till at last they lost the spoor on a patch of stony ground thickly covered with brush and exhausted exhaust-ed by the heat sat down to rest and to eat some bittong or sundnied flesh which they had with them They finished their meal < and were preparing to return to the camp when one of the four Zulus who were with them went to drink at a little stream that ran at a distance of not more than ten paces away Half a minute later they heard a hideous grunting noise and a splashing of water and saw the Zulu fly into the air All the while that they were eating the wounded buffalo had been lying in wait for them under a thick bush on the banks of the streamlet knowing cunning brute that he was that sooner or later his turn would come With a shout of consternation they hushed forward to see the bull vanish over the rise before Haddin could get a chance of hung at him and to find their companion dying for the great horn had pierced his lungIt It is not a buffalo It is a dtevil the poor fellow gasped and expired Devil or not I mean to kill it exclaimed Hadden So leaving the others to carry the body of their comrade com-rade to < he camp started on accompanied accom-panied by Nahoon only Now the ground was more open and the chase easier for they frequently sighted their quarry though they could not came near enough to fire at it Presently Pres-ently they traveled down a steep cliff Do you know where we are asked ask-ed Nahoon pointing to a belt of forest opposite That is Emaerudu the Home of the Dead and look the bull heads for it Hadden glanced round him It was true yonder to the left were the Fall the Pool of Doom and the hut of the Bee Very well he answered then wo must head for it too Nahoon halted Surely you would not enter tlere he exclaimed Surely I will replied Hadden but there is no need for you to do so if you are afraid I am afraidof ghosts said the Zulu but I will come So they crossed the strip of turf and entered the haunted wood It was a gloomy place indeed great wide topped trees grew thick there shut ting out the sight of the sky more aver the air init wMch no breeze stirred was heavy with the exhala tions of rotten foliage There seemed to be no life here and no sound only now and again a lothsome spotted snake would uncoil itself and glide away ana now and again a heavy bough would fall with a crash I Hadden was too intent upon the buffalo however to be much Impress ed by his surroundings He only remarked re-marked that the light would be bad for shooting and went on They must have pentrated a mile or more into the forest when the sud den increase of blood upon the spoor told them that the bulls wound was proving fatal to him Run now said Hadden cheer fullyNay Nay hamba gachle go softly answered Nahoon The devil is dy ing but he win try to play us another anoth-er trick before he d es and he went on peering ahead of him cautiously It is all right here siny way said Hadden pointing to the spoor that ran straight forward printed deep in the marshy ground Nahoon did not answer but stared < adilv at the trunk of two trees a J8ev paces in front of them and to their right Look he whispered Haddin did < so and at length made r nt the outline of something brown that was crouched behind the tree He is dead he exclaimed No answered Nahoon he has come back on his own path and is waiting for us He knows that we following hts spoor Now if you stand here I think that you can shoot him through the back between he tree trunks Hadden knelt down and aiming very carefully at a point just below iiitET articulate language Nahoon shivered shiver-ed It is the Esemkofu he said the ghosts who have no tongue and who can only wail like infants Let us be going this place is bad for mortals And worse for buffaloes said Hadden giving the dead bull a kick but I suppose we must leave him here for your friends the Esemkofu as we have meat enough and cant carry his head So they started back toward the open country As they treaded their way slowly through the tree trunks a new idea came into Haddens mind Once out of this forest he was with in an hours run of the Zulu border and once over the Zulu border he would feel a happier man than he did at that moment As has been said he had intended to attempt to escape in the darkness but the plan was risky All the Zulus might not overeat themselves them-selves and go to sleep especially after the death of their comrade Nahoon who watched him day and night cer tainly would not This was his oppor tunity tout there remained the ques tion of Nahoon Well if it came to the worst Na hoon must die it would be easy he had a loaded rifle and now that his assegal was gone Nahoon had only a kerry He did > not wish to kill the man though it was clear to him see ing that his own safety was at stake that he would be amply justified in so doing Why should he not put it to himand then be guided by cir cumstances Nlahoon was walking across a little open space about ten paces ahead of him where he could see him very well while he himself was under the shad ow of a large tree with horizontal branches running out from the trunk Nahoon he said The Zulu turned round and took a step toward him No do mot move I pray Stand where you are or I shall be obliged to shoot you Listen now do not be afraid for I shall not fire without warning I am your prisoner and you are charged to take me back to the I king to be his servant But I believe I a war is going to break out between your people and mine and this being so you will understand that I do not wish to go to Cetewayos kraal because I should either come to a violent death there or my own brothers will believe I am a traitor and treat me according ly The Zulu border is not much more that an hours journey away let us say an hour and a halfs I mean to be across it < before the moon is up Now I Nahoon will you lose me in the forest and give this hour and a halfs start or will you stop here with that ghost people with whom you talk Do you understand No please do not move I understand you answered the Zu lu in a perfectly composed voice and I think that was a good name which we gave you this morning though Black Heart there is some justice in your words and more wisdom Your oppor tunity is good and one which a man named as you are should not let fall I am glad to find that you take that view of the matter Nahoon And now will you be so kind as to lose me and promise not to look for me till the moon Is up What do you mean Black Heart What I say Come I have no time to spare You are a strange man said the Zulu reflectively you heard the kings order to me would you have me diso bey the order of the kins Certainly I would You have no reason rea-son to love Cetywayo and it does not matter to you whether or mo I return to his kraal to mend guns there If you think he will be angry because I am missing you had better cross the bor der also we can go together And leave my father and all my brethren to his vengeance Black Heart you do not understand How I can you being so named I am a sol 1 dier and the kings word is the kings word I hoped to have died fighting but I am the bird in your noose Come shoot or you will not reach the border before moonrise and he opened < his arms and smiled If it must be so let it be Farewell Fare-well Nahoon at least you are a brave man but every one of us must cherish his owm life answered Hadden calm lyThen Then with much deliberation > he raised his rifle and covered the Zulus breast Alreadywhile his victim stood there still smiling although the twitching of his lipS betrayed the natural terrors that no bravery can banishalready his finger was contracting on the trigger trig-ger when suddenly as instantly indeed in-deed as though he had been struck by lightning Hadden went down backward back-ward and behold there stood upon him a great spotted beast that waved its tall to and fro and glared down into his eyes It was a leopard a tiger as they call it in Africa which crouched upon a bow of the tree above had been unable una-ble to resist the temptation of satisfying satisfy-ing its savage appetite on the man below be-low For a second or two there was silence broken only by the purring or rather the snoring sound made by the leopard and in > those seconds there sprang up before Haddens mental vision a picture of the inyanna called the Invoci or Bee her deathlike head resting agafcist the thatch of the hut and her deathlike lips muttering think of my word when the great cat purrs above your face Then the brute put out its strength The claws of one paw drove deep into the muscles of his left thigh while with another it scratched at his breast tearing the clothes from it and furrowing fur-rowing the flesh beneath The sigh of the white skin seemed to madden it and In its fierce desire for blood it dropped its square muzzle and buried ftc fangs in Its victims shoulder Next moment there was a sound of rushing feet and a club falling heavily Up relared the leopard with an angr snarl up till it stood as thigh as the ll = 1bl Zulu Who struck it At him it came striking out savagely and tearing the black man as it had torn the white Again the kerry fell full on its jaws and down it went backward Before it could rise again or rather as it was in the act of rising the heavy knob stick struck it once more and with fearful fear-ful force this time it chanced full on the nape of the neck paralyzing it It writhed and bit and twisted throwing throw-ing up the earth and the leaves and I blow after blow was rained upon it till at length with a convulsive struggle strug-gle and stifled roar it lay still the brains oozing from its shattered skull Hidden sat up the blood running from his wounds You have saved my life Nahoon he said faintly and I thank you Do not thank me Black Heart answered an-swered the Zulu it was the kings word that I should keep you safely Still this tiger has been hardly dealt with for certainly he has saved my life and lifting the Martini rifle he unloaded it At this I juncture Hadden swooned away Twentyfour hours had gone by when after what seemed to him to be but a t little time of troubled and dreamful sleep through which he could hear voices without understanding what they said and feel himself borne he knew not whither Hadden awoke to find himself lying upon a kaross in a large and beautifully clean Kaffir hut with a bundle of furs for a pillow There was a bowl of milk at his side and tortured as he was by thirst he tried to stretch out his arm to reach it and lift it to his lips only to find to his astonishment that his hand fell back to his side like that of a dead man Looking round the hut impatiently impa-tiently he found that there was nobody in it to assist him so he did the only filing which remained for him to do and lay still He did mot fall asleep but his eyes closed and a kind of gentle I torpor crept over him half obscuring Ibis recovered senses Presently he iheard a soft voice speaking it seemed far away but he could clearly distinguish distin-guish the words Black Heart still sleeps it said but there is color in his face I think that he will wake soon and find his thoughts again Have no fear Nanea he will surely wake his hurts are not dangerous answered another voice that of Na hoon He fell heavily with the weight of the tiger on top of him and that is why < his senses have been shaken for so long He went near to death but certainly be will not die It would have been a pity if he had died answered the soft voice he is so beautiful never have I seen a white man who was so beautiful I did not think him beautiful when he stood with his rifle pointed at my heart answered Nahoon sulkily Well there is < this to be said she replied he wished to escape tfrom Ce tywayo and that is not to be wondered at and she sighed Moreover he asked you to come with him and it might have been well if you had done so that is if he would have taken me with you How could I have done it girl Z he asked angrily Would you have me set at nothing tne order ot tne King The king she replied raising her voice What do you owe to this king You have served him faithfully and your reward is that within a few days he will take me from you me who should have been your wife and I must I mustand she began to weep softly adding between her sobs if you loved me truly you would think more of me and of yourself and less of the black one and his orders Oh let us fly Nahoon let us fly to Natal before be-fore this spear pierces me Weep not Nanea he said why do you tear my heart in two between my duty and my love You know that I am a soldier and that I must walk the path whereon the king has set my feet Soon I think I shall be dead for I seek death and then it will matter mat-ter nothing Nothing to you Nahoon who are at peace but to me Yes you are right and I know it therefore forgive me who am no warrior but a woman and who must alsoobey the will of the king and she cast her arms about his neck sobbing her fill upon his breast To be continued GOSB DOWN WITH ALL HANDS When we read such an announcement as this it sends a thrill of horror through our very being And yet the number of lives lost by accident at sea are very few compared to the number which are sacrificed to single diseases on land Take consumption Statistics show that twenty per cent of all deaths are due to this fatal malady It would be easier to reconcile ourselves to the fearful fact if there were no remedy But there Is Dr Pierces Golden Medical Med-ical Discovery has cured thousands and among them many whom the Sectors Sec-tors have given up to die If seeing Is believing then the thousands of living witnesses to its marvelous efficacy incases in-cases of this kind ought to convince the most skeptical Dr R V Pierce Dear SirTwo of our best doctors pronounced my case consumption I spent nearly 300 and was no better I concluded to try the Golden Medical Discovery I bought eight bottles and I can now say with truth that I feel just as well today as I did at twentyfive and can do just as good a days work on the farm although al-though I had not done any work for several years I give you all the thanks Truly your friend WILLIAM DULANEY Campbell Ohio o < |
