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Show I! CHAPTER XXIII. (Cont'd) What Umslopogaas Saw. wpjrrHY dill she do this? I won-Lf won-Lf dered. Perhaps to pretend to powers which she did not 'possess, perhaps out o sheer j elfish mischiof, or perhaps, as she I asserted, Just to teach us a lesson j and to humble us in our own sight. Well, if so, she had succeeded, for never did I feel so crushed and ! humiliated as at that moment. I had seemed to descend, or ascend, Into Hades, and there had only Been things that gave me little joy and did but serve to re-open old wouuds. Then, on awaking, I had been bewitched, yes, fresh from those visions of the most dear dead, I had been bewitched by the overpowering over-powering magic of this woman's loveliness and charm, and made a fool of myself, only to be brought back to my senses by her triumphant triumph-ant mockery. Oh! I had been humbled Indeed, and yet the odd thing was that I could' not feel angry with her and what Is more that, perhaps from vanity, I -believed In her professions profes-sions of friendship towards mysolf. Well, the upshot of It was that inore than anything elso in the world, like Umslopogaas, did I dc-I dc-I sire- to depart from this haunted ' Kor and to bury all Its memories ' in such activities as fortune might bring to me. And yet, and yet It was well to have seen it and to have plucked the flower of such marvellous experience nor, as I knew even then, could I ever Inter the memory of Ayesha the wise the perfect and the half-divine. When I awoke the next morning the sun was well up and after 1 had taken a swim in the old hath and dressed myself, I went to see , how it fared with Inez. I found her sitting at tho door of her houso looking extremely well and with a radiant face. She was engaged in making a Ithain of some small and beautiful' blue flowors of the iris tribe, of which quantities grew about, that she threaded together upon stalks of dry grass. This chain, which was juBt finished, she threw over her head so that it hung down upon her white rohe, for now she was dressed like an Arab woman, though without the veil. I watched her unseon for a little while, then came forward and spoke to her. She started at the sight, of me and rose as though to run away; then, apparently reassured re-assured by ray appearance, selected select-ed a particularly fine flower and offered it to me. I saw at once that she did not know me in the least and thought that she had never seen me before: In short that her mind had gone, exactly as Ayesha had said that it would do. By way of making conversation con-versation I asked her if she felt well. She replied, "Oh! yes, she had never felt better," then added" "Daddy has gone on a long Journey and will not ho back for weeks and weeks." An idea came to me and I answered: an-swered: "Yes, Inez, but I am a friend of his and he -hao sent me to take you to a place where I hope that we shall find him. Only it is far away, so you also must make a long Journey." She clasped her hand3 and answered; an-swered; "Oh! that will be nice, I do so love travelling, especially to find Daddy, who I expect will have my proper clothes with him, not these which, although they are very com- iviinuic null fjicn;, acciu uuijcub to what I used to wear. You look very nice, too, and I am sure that we shall be great friends, which I Hl am glad of, for I have been rather lonely since my mother went to live with the saints in Heaven, because Hj ybli see "Daddy is ho busy and so Hl often away that I do not see much L of'him." Upon my word, I could have wept when I heard her prattle on thus It fll 1b so terribly unnatural, almost dreadful indeed, to listen to a fnll-grown fnll-grown woman who talks in tho ac- Hl cents and expresses the thoughts of a child. However, under all the Hl circumstances, I recognized that her calamity was merciful, and re-membering re-membering that Ayesha had proph- Hl esied the recovery of her mind as well as its loss, and how great seemed to be her powers in these directions, I took such comfort as I could. Leaving her, I went to see the two Zulus who had been wounded, and found to ray joy that they were fl now quite well and fit to travel, for here, too, Ayesha's prophecy had proved good. Tho other men, also, were completely rested and anxious to bo gone, like Umslopogaas and myself. While I was eating my breakfast , Hans announced the venerable Bll-lali, Bll-lali, who, with a sweeping bow, in-formed in-formed me that ho had come to In-quire In-quire when we should be ready to start, as he had received orders to see to all the necessary arrange-roents. arrange-roents. I replied within an hour, j and he departed in a hurry. fl' But little after the appointed time he re-appeared with a number of litters and their bearers, also with a bodyguard of' twcnty.ftvo picked men, all of whom we recognized as brave fellows who had fought well in the battle. These men and the bearers old Billali harangued, tolling toll-ing them that they were to guide, carry and escort us to the other side of the great swamp, or further if we needed it, and that it was the word of Shc-who-commanded that if so much ns the smallest harm came to any one of us. even by accident, they should die every man of them "by the hot-pot," whatever that might be. for at the time 1 was noc sure of its significance. Then he asked them if they understood un-derstood They replied with fervor that they understood perfectly and would lead and guard us a3 though we were their own mothers. As a matter of fact they did and I think would have done so independently inde-pendently of Ayesha's command, since they looked upon Umslopogaas Umslop-ogaas and myself almost as gods and thought we could destroy thorn all If we wished, as we had destroyed de-stroyed Rezu and his host. I asked Billali if he were not coming with us, to which he replied, re-plied, No, as She-who-commanded had returned to her own place and he must follow her at once. I asked him again where her own place might he. to which he answered vaguely that it was everywhere, ev-erywhere, and he stared fir3t at the heavens and then at the earth as though she inhabited both of them, adding that generally it was in the Caves, though what he meant by that I did not know. Thcr he said that he was very glad to have met us and that the sight of Umslopogaas killing Rezu was a spectacle that he would vomember with pleasure all his life. Also he asked me for a present. I gave him a spare pencil that I possessed In a little German silver case, with, which he was delighted. Thus I parted with old Billali of whom 1 shall always think with a cerjain affection. Of Umslopogaas I noticed even then he kept very clear indeed, thinking, I suppose, that he might take a last opportunity to fulfil his threats and introduco him to his terrible Axe. CHAPTER XXIV. Umslopogaas Wears the Great Medicine. A LITTLE while later we started, start-ed, somo of us, Including the wounded Zulus, who I insisted should be carried for a day or two, in litters and some on foot Inez I caused to be carried immediately imme-diately in front of, myself so that I could keep an eyo upon hor. Moreover I put her in the especial espe-cial charge of Hans to whom fortunately for-tunately she took a great fancy at once, perhaps because she remembered remem-bered subconsciously that she knew him and that he had been kind to her. although when they mot aftor her long sleep, as in my own case, she did not recognise him in the least-Soon, least-Soon, however, they were again mm the fastest of friends, so nruch ao that withiiua day or two the little Hottentot practically filled the place of amaid to her, attending to her every want and looking after her exactly as a nurse does after a child, with tho result that it was quite touch. ng to see how she came to depend upon him. "her monkey," as she called him, . and how fond he grew of her. Once indeed there vns trouble, since hearing a noise, I came up to find Hans bristling with fury and threatening to shoot one of tho Zulus, who stupidly, or perhaps rudely, had knocked against the litter of Inez and nearly turned it over. For the rest, the Lady Sad-Eyes, Sad-Eyes, a3 they called' her. had for the tlmo become the Lady Glad-Eyes, Glad-Eyes, since sho was merry as tho day was., long, laughing and singing sing-ing and playing just as a healthy happy child should do. Only once did I see her wretched and weep. It was when a kitten, which she had insisted in bringing with her, sprang out of the litter and vanished into some bush whero it could not be found. Even then she was soon consoled and dried hor tears, when Hans explained to her In a mixture of bad English and worse Portugese, that it had only run away because it wished to f.et back to its mother whom it. ioved, and that it was cruel to separate it from its mother. We made good progress and by tho evening of the first day were over crest of the cliff or volcano lip that encircles the great plain of Kor. and descending rapidly to a sheltered spot on the outer slope where our camp was to be set for the night. Not very far from this place, as I think J have mentioned, stood, and I suppose still stands, a very curious, cu-rious, pinnacle of rock, which, doubtless doubt-less being of some harder sort, had remained when, hundreds of thousands thou-sands or millions of years before tho surounding lava had been washed or corroded away. This rock pillar was perhaps fifty feet high and as smooth as though it had been worked by man, indeed I remembered having remarked to Hans, or Umslopogaas I forget which, when we passed It on our Inward journey, that there was a column which no monkey could climb. As we went by it for the second time the sun had already disappeared disap-peared behind the western cliff, but a fierce ray from its sinking orb, struck upon a storm-cloud that hung over us, thence was reflected in a glow of angry light of which tho focus or centre seemed to fall upon . the summit of this strange and obelisk-like pinnacle of rock. At the time I was out of my litter lit-ter and walking with Umslopogaas nt the end of the line, to make sure that no one straggled in the oncoming on-coming darkness. When we had passed the column by some forty or fifty yards something caused Umslopogaas to turn and look hack. He uttered an exclamation which made me follow his example with (C) 1020. International the result that I saw a very wonderful won-derful thing. For there on the point of the pillar like St. Simeon Stylites on his famous column, glowing in the sunset rays as though she were on fire, stood Ayesha herself. It was a strange and in a way a glorious sight, since poised thus between earth and heaven, she looked like some glowing angel rather than a woman, standing as she seemd to do upon the darkness, sinco the shadows, save for the faintest outline, had swallowed up the column that supported her. Moreover, in the Intense, rich light that was focussed on her, we could see every detail of her form and face, for aim was unveiled, and even her large and tender eyes, which gazed upward emptily at this moment, mo-ment, they seemed very tender, yes, and the little gold studs that glittered glit-tered on her sandals and tho shine of the snake girdle she wore about her waist. We stared and stared till I said, inconsequently: "Learn, Umslopogaas, what a liar Is that old Billali, who told me that . ' She-who-commands had departed from Kor to her own place." "Perhaps this rock edge is her own place, if she be there at all, Maeumazahn." "It she be there." I answered angrily, for my nerves were at once thrilled and torn. '"Speak not empty words, Umslopogaas, for where else can she be when" we see her with our eyes?" "Who am I that I should know the ways of witches who. like the winds, are able to go and come as they will, and can a woman run up a wall of rock liko a lizard, Maeumazahn?" "Doubtless" and I began soma exnlanation which I have for gotten, when a passing cloud, or I know not what, cut off tho lighf. so that both the pinnacle and she who stood on It became invisible. A inlnute later it returned for a little while, and thero was the point of the needle-shaped rock, but it was empty, as. save for tho birds that rested there, it had been since the beginning of the world. Then Umslopogaas and I shook our 'heads and pursued our way in silence. This was the last that I saw of the glorious Ayesha, if indeed I did sec her and not her ghost. Yet it Is true that for all the first part of the journey, till we were through the great swamp indeed, from time to time I was conscious, or imagined that I was conscious of her presence. Moreover, once others' saw her, or someone who might have been her. It happened thus: We were In the centre of the great swamp and the trained guides who were loading load-ing came to a place where the path forked and were uncertain which road to take. Finally they fixed on the right hand path and wcro preparing to follow II together to-gether with those who bore the litter of Inez, by the side of which Hans was walking as usual. At this moment, as Hans told me, the guides went down upon l Feature SerrlCT. Inc. Great Di their faces and he saw standing In front of them a white veiled form who pointed to tho left hand path, and then seemed to be lost In the mis't. Without a word the guides rocc and followed this loft hand path. Hans stopped the litter till I came up, when ho told me what had happened, while Inez also began be-gan to chatter in her childish fashion fash-ion about the "White Lady." I had the curiosity to walk a little lit-tle way along the right hand path which they were about to take, and only a few yards further on found myself sinking in a floating quagmire, quag-mire, from which I extricated myself my-self with much difficulty and only just in time, for as I discovered afterwards af-terwards by probing with a pole tho water beneath the matted reeds was deep. That night I questioned the guides upon tho subject, but without with-out result, for they preteuded to have seen nothiug and not to understand un-derstand what I meant. Of neither of these incidents have I any explanation ex-planation to offer, except that once contracted it is as difficult to be rid of the habit of hallucinations as of any other. It is not necessary that I should give all the details of our long homeward journey, so I will only say that having dismissed our bearers and escort when wo reached higher ground beyond the horrible awamp. keeping only 0113 litter for Inez in which the Zulus carried her when she was tired, we accomplished it in complete safety and having crossed the Zambezi, at last one evening reached the houso called Strathmuir. Here we found the wagon and oxen quite safe and were welcomed wel-comed rapturously by my Zulu driver and th-i roorloopcr. who had made up their minds that we were dead and were thinking of trekking trek-king homeward. Here, also, Thom-aao Thom-aao greeted us, though I think that he, like the Zulus, was astonished at our safe return and, indeed, not over-pleased to see us. I told him that Captain Robertson Robert-son had been killed in a fight in which we had rescued his daughter from the cannibals who had carried her off. information which I cautioned cau-tioned him to keep to himself and nothing else that I could help. Also, I warned the Zulus, through Umslopogaas and Goroko, that no mention was to be made of our adventures cither then or afterward, after-ward, since if this were dono the curse of the White Queen would fall on them and bring them to disaster and death. I added that the name of this queen and everything that was connected con-nected with her or her doings must be locked up in their own hearts-It hearts-It must be like the name of dead kings, not to bo spoken. Nor, indeed, in-deed, did they over speak It or tell tho story of our search, he-cause he-cause they were too much afraid both of Ayesha, whom they believed be-lieved to bo the greatest of all witches, and of the axo of their captain, Umslopogaas. Inez went to bed that night without seeming to recognize her old home, to all appearance just a mindless child, as she had been ever since she awoko from her ilaln P.ichts Reserved. trance at Kor. Next morning, however, how-ever, Hans came to toll me that she was changed and that she wished to speak with me. I went, wondering, and found her in tho sitting room, dressed In European clothes, which she had taken from whero she kept them, and once more a reasoning woman. "Mr. Quatermain," she said, "I suppose that I must have been ill, for the last thing I remember is going to sleep on the night after you started for the hippopotamus hunt. Where is my father? Did any harm come to him while ho was hunting?" ' "Alas!" I answered, lying boldly, for I feared lest the truth should take away her mind again, "it did. He was trampled upon by a hippopotamus hippo-potamus bull which charged him, and killed, and we were obliged to bury him where he died." She bowed her head' for a while and muttered somo prayer for his soul, then looked at me keenly and said: "I do not think you are telling me everything, Mr. Quatermain, but something seems to say to me that this is because it is not well that I should learn everything." "No," I answered, "you have been ill and out of your mind for qulto a long while; something gave you a shock. I think that you learned of your father's death, which you - have now forgotten, and were over come with tho news. Please trust to me and believe, that if I keep anything back from you it is be-4.-cause I think It best to do so for tho nroonn t " "I trust and I believe." she answered. an-swered. "Now please leave me, but tell me first where are thoso women and their children?" "After your father died they went away," 1 replied, lying again. She looked at me again, but made no comment. Then I left her. How much Inez ever learned of the true story of her adventures I do not know to this hour, though my opinion is that it was but little. To begin with, everyone, including Tomaso, was threatened with the direst consequences if he said a word to hor on the subject; moreover, more-over, hj her way, sho was a wise womanoue who knew when it was best not to ask questions. She was aware that she had suffered suf-fered from a fit of aberration or madness and that during this time her father had died and certain peculiar things had happened. There she was content to leave tho business, and she never again spoke to me upon the subject. Of this I was very glad, as how on earth could I have explained" to her about Ayesha's prophecies as to her lapse into childishness and subsequent sub-sequent return to a normal state when she reached her home, seeing that I did not understand them myself? Onco indeed she did inquire what had 'become of Janee, to which I answered that she had died during her sickness. It was another He, at any rate by implication, but I hold that there are occasions when It is .' righteous to lie. At least these particular "falsehoods have never troubled my conscience. Here I may as well finish the H story of Inez, that is, as far as I H can. As I have shown, she was al- H ways a woman of a melancholy and H religious temperament, qualities H that seemed to grow upon her after H her return to health. Certainly the H religion did, for she was continu- H ally engaged in prayen a develop- H ment with which heredity may havo dH had something to do, since after he ""' became a reformed character and H grew unsettled in his mind her H father followed the same road. H On our return to civilization aa H i'z chanced one of the first persons H with whom she came in contact was H a very earnest and excellent old H priest of her own faith. The end of H this intimacy was much what H might hayo been expected, namely, H that she determined to renounce H the world, which I think never had H any great attraction for her, and H entered a sisterhood of an extreme- H ly strict order in Natal, where her 0 t considerable possessions, added to i her many merits, mado her very oleome indeed. Onco in after-years I saw her again, when sho expected before long to becomo the Mother-Superior j i ' of her convent. I found her very y cheerful and she told me that her happiness was complete. Even then p she dldfnot ask me the true story ! " of what had happened to her dur- ! t' ing that period when her mind was " j? a blank. She said that she knew ; something had happened but that . she no longer felt any curiosity H nbout earthly things, she did not W wish to know tho details. Again ; I rejoiced, for how could I havo m told her the .true tale and expect 1 1 to be believed, even by the most , confiding and simple-minded nun? m To return to more Immediate , M events. When we had been at Strathmuir for a day or two and I thought that her mind was clear enough to Judge of affairs, I told '-, Inez that I must journey on to , Natal, and asked her what she wished to do. Without a mo- i ment's hesitation she replied that she desired to come with mo. as now that her father was dead noth- ing would induce her to continue to live at Strathmuir without friends of the consolations of re- llgion. I; Thou she showed me a secret "if hiding place cunningly devised in I f a sort of cellar under the sitting 'Ljt room floor, where her father, was mm accustomed to keep the spirits of which, he consumed so great a fH quantity. In this hole beneath lfj some bricks we found a large sum J ' of gold stored away, as Robertson Robert-son had always told his daughter ' she would find in the event of ' anything happening to him. With the money were his will and securities, se-curities, also certain mementoes j of his youth and some love letters, together with a prayer book that his mother had given him. These valuables, of which no one knew the existence except herself, we removed and then mado our preparations for departure. depar-ture. They were simple; such ar- t tides of value as we could carry f Mi were packed into the wagon and Ml the best of the cattle we drovo Kl with us. j . Jil The 3lace with tho store and the rest of the stock were handed over to- Tomaso on a half-profit Y agreement under arrangements fl that he should remit the share M of Inez twice a year to a 9 bank on the coast, where her tm father had an account. Whether C or not he ever did this I am un- ablfi trt anv Vinf no nn . wj , ut "a uuu wisiiea w to stop at Strathmuir I could con- , ceivo no better plan because pur- H chasers of property in that dis- trict did not exist. As we trekked away ono nno fl morning I asked Inez whether Bho " 9 was sorry to leave the place. H "No," she roplied with onergr my life, there has been a hell and H I never wish to see It again." JH Now It was after this on tho fl northern borders of Zululand that fl Zikali's Great Medicine, as Hans fl called it, really played Its chief fl part, for without It I think that we fl should have been killed every one fl of us. I do not propose to set out the business in detail; It is too long and intricate. Suffice it to say, therefore, that It had to do with the plots of Umslopogaas against Cetywayo, which had been betrayed by his wife Monazl and her lover Lousta, "NB both of whom I havo mentioned' earlier in this record. The result was that a watch for him was kept on all the frontiers, because it wa3 11 guessed that sooner or later ho would return to Zululand; also it had become known that he was travelling in my company. So it came about that when my approach was reported by spies a regiment was gathered under tho command of a man connected with tho royal house, and by it we wero surrounded. IH Before attacking, however, this captain sent men to me with the message that with mo the King had jH no quarrel although I was travel-ling travel-ling in doubtful company, and that If I would deliver over to him Dm- fl slopogaas, chief of the People of the Axe, and his followers, I might fl go whither I wished unharmed, tak- fl Continued on Next Page jH ' ':;'!,:. ....... ' M 5 .i v ' : ..... ' A " ' ' ' ' I'll H Conifnucd Jront Pjrccdirtp Poize H ing my goods with me. Otherwise HI wo should be attacked at once and killed every one of us, since It was not desired "that any witnesses H ' should be left of what happened to s Umslopogaas. HI Having delivered this ultimatum B. and declined any argument as to Us J) terms, the messengers retired, say Hp ing that they would return for my HI answer within half an hour. When they wero out of hearing Umslopogaas, who had listened to their words In grim silence, turned and spoke in such fashion as might have been expected of htm. "Macumazahn," he said, "now I come to the end of an unlucky jour .hey, though mayhap it is not so evil as it seems, since I, who went JHj out to seek the dead but to be fed by yonder White Witch with the meat of mocking shadows, am about to find the dead in the only WM way in which they can be found, namely, by becoming of their com-HL com-HL pany:" H "It Beems that It 13 the case I Willi all of us, Umslopogaas." H i "Not so, Macumrizahn. That child H ' -r- of the King will give you safe con-H con-H duct. It is I and mine whose blood H he seeks, as ho has the right to do H since It Is true that I would have Ej raised rebellion against the King, I flj who wearied of my petty lot and j knew that his place was mine. In H this quarrel you have no share, Bl though you, whose heart is as white m ns your skin, are not minded to do- Isert me. Moreover, If you wished to fight, there Is one in the wagon yender whose life is not yours to , give The Lady Sad-Eyes is as a ! child In your arms and her you must bear to safety." TCnw Mi I a nrriimont wn! in nn- L answerable that I did not know what to say. So I only asked what he meant to do, as escape was impossible, im-possible, seeing that we were sur-l sur-l rounded on every side. "Make a glorious end, Macuma- I . zahn," he said with a smile. "I will II " ;. go out with (hose who cling to me, a -i tjlat js wjtQ aj wno remain 0f mv .4 men, since my fate must be theirs, . and stand .back;, to back on yonder j, . : mound and there wait till these J j ! dogs of the King come against us. J ' y j Watch a while, Macumazahn, and i; jj see how Umslopogaas, Bearer of i j the Axe, and the warriors of the ' ', ! Axe fight and die." i , Now I was silent, for I knew not ,V 1 i what to say. There we all stood s ; 1 j silent while minute by minute I g;f ; j watched tho shadow creeping for- eKt I ward toward a mark that the head I messenger had made with his spear 'V I I on the ground, for when It touched i : that mark ho would return for his l 1 answer. 1 In thl3 rather dreadful silence I KrN heard a dry little cough which I -i knew came from the throat of J Hans and was his method of indl- Jr" eating that he had a remark to 3 gi1 make. , ,M' "What is it?" I asked, with irrl- V'.M tatlon, for it was annoying to see :'siM him seated there on the ground fanning .himself with the remains .iB of a hat and staring vacantly at the sky. "Nothing, Baas, or rather, only '-m this, Baas: Those hyenas of Zulus 4 9 ' are even more afraid of the Great Medicine than were the cannibals JShH ; UP north.irsince the maker of it is nearer to them, Baas. You remem-. remem-. ber,' Bptas, they knelt to it, as It were, when we were going out of iM Zululand." T-ffl "Well, what of it, now that we av. going Into Zululand?" I inquired sharply. "Do you want me to sho-w it to them?" .rgl "No, Baas. What Is the use. see- &Jj ing that they are ready to let you pass, also tho Lady Sad-Byes, and - me and. the cattle with driver and hfjyM Toolooper, which is better still, and fitiS ' all the other goods. So what have yon to gain by showing them the p.H medicine? But perchance it it were - on the ueck of Umslopogaas and he n H 4 showed it to them and brought it hLC to their minds that those who "y.ff j touched him who is in the shadow fyjM of Zikali's Great Medicine, or aught jfl , that is his, die within three moons fflM ' fin this way or in that well, Baas, JH who knows?" and again he coughed H dryly and stared at the sky. jf'H I translated what Hans had said 'H In Dutch, to Umslopogaas, who re- H marked indifferently: H "This, little yellow man Is well 3H named Light-In-Darkness; at least fH . the plan can be tried, if it fails there JjH Is always time to die." kH' So, thinking that this was an oc- gH casion on which I might properly do hH'. bo, for the first time I took off the H talisman which I had worn for so ' long, and Umslopogaas put it over gH his head and. hid it beneath his blanket H A little -while later the messen- 3H ors returned and this time the SH ' ' captain himself came with them, as BH be sald' to sreet mo- for 1 new fSM nlm slightly, and we had dealt to- m celhor about some cattle. After a r -c L by someone who wishes to sit upon , their stool and to take the royal -salute. No one gives the royal salute to a dead king, Baas, however how-ever great he was before he died, ,and no one thinks the worse of a king who was a traitor before he became a king." CHAPTER XXXV; Allan Delivers the Message. ONCE more I sat in the Black Kloof face to face with old Zikali. "So you have got back safely, Macumazahn. Well, I told you. you would, did I not? As for what - happoned to you upon the journey, let It bo, for now that I am old, long s.torlos tire mo and I daresay dare-say that there is nothlug wonderful about this one. Where Is the charm I lent you? Give It back, now that . it has served its turn." "I have not got it, Zikali. I passed it on to Umslopogaas of . the Axe to save his life from tho "' King's men." "Ob, yes, so you did! I had forgotton. Here It Is," and opening his robe of fur 'p he showed me the hideous :lle talisman hanging about gjijfc his neck, t h , e n.a d d e d , "would you like a copy of iilgiir ..... :jf; i&i'W "There on the point of the pillar like St. Simeon Stylites on his famous ptfl 'VrlP. . ... - ' . column, glowing in the sunset rays as though she were on gmffik TSy fire, stood Ayesha herself." ' " X : ' ' " ' ' -'" .T'i'' friendly chat he turned to the matter mat-ter of Umslopogaas, explaining the case at some length. I said that I quite understod his position, but that it was a very awkward thing to interfere with a man who was the actual wearer of the Great Medicine Med-icine of Zikali itself. When he heard this his eyes almost started out of IiIb head. "The Great Medicine of the Opener-of-Roads!" he exclaimed. "Oh! now I understand why this Chief of the People of the Axe is unconquerable such a wizard that no one is able to kill him." "Yes," I replied, "and you remom-ber, remom-ber, do you not, that he who offendo the Great Medicine, or him who wears it, dies horribly within three moons, he and his house and all those with him?" "I have heard it," he said with a sickly smile. "And now you are about to learn whether tho tale Is true," I added cheerfully. Then he asked to see Umslopogaas Umslopo-gaas alone. I did not overhear their conversation, conver-sation, but the end of It was that Umslopogaas came and said in a loud voice so that no ono could miss a single word, that as resistance resist-ance was useless and he did not wish me, his friend, to be involved in any trouble, together with his men he had agreed to accompanv this king's captain to tho roval kraal, where he had been guaranteed guaran-teed a fair trial as to certain false charges which had been brought against him. He added that tho king's cap tain had sworn upon the Great Medicine of the Opener-of-Roads to give him safe conduct and attempt at-tempt no mischief against him which, as was well known throughout through-out the land, was an oath that could not bo broken by anyone who wished to continue to look upon the sun. I asked the captain If those things were so, also speaking in a loud voice. He replied, Yes, since hi3 orders were to take Umslopogaas Umslopo-gaas alive if he might. He was only to kill him if he would not come. Afterwards, while pretending to give him certain articles out of the wagon, I had a few privuto words with Umslopogaas, who told me that the arrangement wns that he should bo allowed to escape at night with his people. "Be sure of this. Macumazahn," he said, "that if I do not escape, neither will that Captain, since I walk at his side and keep my axe, and at the first sign of treachery tho axe will enter the house of that thick head of his and make friends with the brain inside. "Macumazahn." he added, "we have made a strange journey together to-gether and aeon such things as I did not think the world had lo show. Also I have fought and killed Rozu in a mad battle of ghosts and men which alone was worth all the trouble of the journey. jour-ney. Now It has como to an end, which everything must, and we part, but as I believe, not for always, al-ways, I do not think that I shall die on this journey with the cap- (C) 1020. International v m 1 tain, though I do think that others will die at the end of it," he added grimly, a saying which at the time I did not understand. "It comes into my heart, Macumazahn, Macum-azahn, that in that land of witches and wizards yonder, the spirit of prophecy got caught In my moocha and crept into my inside. Now that spirit tells me that wo shall meet again In the after years and stand together in a great fray, which will be our last, as I believe that the White Witch said. Or, perhaps, tho spirit lives in Zikali's Medicine which has gone down my throat and comes out of it in words. I cannot say, but I pray that is a true spirit, . since although you are white and I am black and you are small and I am big, and you are gentle and cunning, whoreas I am fierce and aa open aa the blade of my own axe, yet I love you as well, Macumazahn, Macuma-zahn, as though we were born of the same mother and. had been ' brought up In the same kraal. Now that captain waits and grows doubt-ful doubt-ful of our talk, so farewell. I will return the Great Medicine to Zikali, If I Uvo, and If I die he must send one of the ghosts that serve him to fetch It from among my bones. "Farewell also to you, Yellow Man," he went on to Hans, who had appeared, hovering about like a dog that is doubtful of Its welcome, "well are you named Light-in-Darkness and glad am I to have met you, who have learned from you how a snake moves and strikes, and Feature Service, Inc. Great Brl -in,--, j the king's captain, to whose side, I noted, he clung lovingly, his long, thin fingers playing about the horn handle of the axe that was namd Inkosikaas and groan maker. "I am glad that we have seen the last of bini, Baas," remarked Hans, spitting reflectively. "It is all very well to sleep in the same hut with a tame Hon sometimes, but aftor you have done so for many moons you begin to wonder when you will wake up at night to find him pulling, the blankets off you and combing your hair with his claws. Yes, I am very glad that this half-tame lion Is gone, since sometimes I have thought that I should be obliged to poison it that we might sleep in peace. "You know he called me a snake, Baas, and poison Is a snake's only spear. "Shall T tell the boys to Inspan. the oxen, Baas? I think the further we get from that king's captain and his men the more comfortably com-fortably shall we travel, especially now when we no longer have the Great Medicine to protect us." "You suggested giving it to him, Hans," I said. "Yes, Baas, I had rather that Umslopogaas went away with the Great Medicine than that you kept the Great Medicine and he stopped here. Never travol with a traitor, Baas, at any rate In the land of the king whom he wishes to "kill. Kings aro very selfish people. Baas, and do not like being killed, especially tain Rlchla reserved. . & - '- ' KM MMgrf4 it, Macumazahn, to keep as a memory? mem-ory? If so, I will carvo you one." "No." I answered, "I should not. Has Umslopogaas been here?" "Yes, he has been and gone again, which is one of the reasons I do not wish to hear your tale a second time." "Where to? The Town of the People of tho Axe?" "No, Macumazahn, he came thence, or so I understood, but thither he will return no more." "Why not, Zikali?" "Because after his fashion he made trouble thero and left some dead behind him, one Lousta, 1 believe, be-lieve, whom ho had appointed to be chief while he was away, and a woman called MonazI, who was his wife, or Lousta's wife, or the wife of both of them, I forget which. It is said that he cut off this woman's head with a sweep of the axe and made Lousta fight him till he fell, which the fool did almost before ho had lifted his shield. It served him right who should havo made sure that Umslopogaas was dead before he wrapped himself In his blanket and took tho woman to cook his porridge." "Where has he gone to?'' I asked without surprise, for this news did not astonish me. "I neither know nor care, Macumazahn. Macu-mazahn. To become a wanderer, I suppose. He will tell you the talc when you meet again in the after-days, after-days, aa I understand he thinks you will do. Hearken! I havo done with this lion's whelp, who is Chaka ( 4 ' 1 ' i over again, but without Chaka'9 j wit Yes, he is just a fighting man j ?j with a long reach, a sure eye and a i! j trick of handling an axe, and such If I are of little use to me who know i too many of them. Thrice have I j , i tried to make him till my garden, j ' i but each time ho has broken the j hoe, although the wage I promised t-him t-him was a royal kaross and noth- j "ing less. . , I j "So enough of Umslopogaas, tho jj Woodpecker. Almost I wish that f you had not lent him the charm, 1 for then the King's men would have made an end of him, who knows too much and like some silly boas- I ter may shout out the truth when' . j his axe is aloft and he is full of 'the j j wine of battle. For in battle he will live and in battle he will die, j j Macumazahn, as perhaps you may j -ri see one clay." Is I "The fate of your friends doas .( not trouble you over much, Opener- jHP of-Roads," I said, with sarcasm. MM "Not at all, Macumazahn, because H I have none. The only friends of H the old are thoso whom they can H turn to their own ends, and If those H fall them they find others." H "I understand, Zikali, and know W now what to expect from you." K He laughed in his strange way H and answered: H "Avcv nnrl It Is COOd. II good in the future as in the past, for you, Macu- Will mazahn, who are brave Mil in your own fashion, IflN without being a fool like 1H Umslopogaas, and, al BH though you know It not, 111 like some master smith fa.ge my assegais out of H the red ore I give you, III tempering them in the mM blood of men, and yet K keep your mind innocent KhI and your hands clean. Ill Such friends are useful II to such as I, Macuma- mM zahn, and must be well W.m paid in those goods that !wfl please them." The old wizard brood- 3 ed for a space, while I III reflected upon his amaz- ing cynicism, which in- m terested me In a way, H for the exteremc of im- sjj morality is as fasclnat- jjl Ing to study as the ex- Mil treme of virtue and often t ,; more so. Then Jerking up his great head, ha J asked suddenly: j "What message had : the White Queen or me?" ' "She said that you ' troubled her too much at H night in dreams, Zikali." "Aye, but it I cease to lM do so, ever she desires to know the reason why, 11 for I hear, her asking mo fjl if the voices of the wind, Fl or tl e twittering of bats. FH After all she Is a woman, IH Macumazahn, and it H must be dull sitting IH alone from year to year H with naught to stay her H appetite save the ashes H of the past, so dull that H I wonder, having once H meshed you In her web, H how she found the heart H to let you go before she BH "had sucked out your life and spirit. But what ' H other message had she HI for the poor old savage HI witch-doctor whose talk HI wearies so much at HI hilu ut0Ja,hlm of th0 Pic"" that she had shown me In the wa- II ter; the picture of a kin dying HI In a hut and of two who watched HI nis end HI Zikali listened intently to every word, then broke into a peal of his HI unholy laughter. Ill "Oho-ho!"he laughed, "so all goes well, though the road be long, since NH whatever this White Ono may have IH shown you in the fire of the heav- IH ens above she could show vou noth- IH ing but truth in the water of the EH earth below, for that is the law of IH our company of seers. You have IH worked well for me, Macumazahn, I I and you have had your fee, tho fee QtI of the vision of the dead which xon ' I I desired above all earthly things" f I "Aye," I answered indignantly, 1 I "a fee of bitter fruits whereof the juice burns and twists the mouth i I and the stones still stick fast with- h H in the gizzard. I tell you, Zikali, km that she stuffed my heart with lies." 'J H "I daresay, Macumazahn, I dare- H say ; but they wero very pretty lies, IH were they not? And after all, 'I IH am sure that thero was wisdom in IH them, as you will discover when RH you have thought them over for a II score of years. Lies, lies all Is H lies! But behind the lies stands PH Truth, as the; White Witch stands behind her veil. You drew the veil, .H Macumazahn, and saw that beneath H which brought you to your knoes. i'H "Why, it is a parable. Wander on through tho Valley of Lies till at last it takes a turn and, glitter-Ing glitter-Ing in the sunshine, glittering like gold, you perceive the Mountain of everlasting Truth, sought of all men but found by few. Lies, lies all is lies! Yet behind, I tell you. beauteous and eternal, stands the Truth, Macumazahn. Oho-ho! Ohp- ho! Fare you well, Watchor-by- Night! Fare you well, Seeker after , Truth!" THE END. H Copnirbt, 1020. hj Sir H. Rider Hacrafd. |
