CHAPTER XVIII
THE CURSE OF THE INKOSAZANA
That night the regiment and Rachel slept upon the bank of the river, andnothing happened save that lions carried off two soldiers, while two morewho had been injured against the rocks, died. Also others fell sick. Onthe following morning food arrived in plenty from the neighbouring kraals,and with it some girls of high birth to attend upon the Inkosazana.
But with these Rachel would have nothing to do, and when they came near toher only said:
"Where is Noie, daughter of Seyapi? Lead me to Noie."
So they began their march again, Rachel walking as before in the centre ofa ring of soldiers, and that night slept at a kraal upon a hill. Heremessengers from the King met them charged with many fine words, to whichRachel listened without understanding them, and then scared them away withher laughter. Also they brought a beautiful cloak made of the skins of arare white monkey, and this she took and wrapped herself in it, for sheseemed to understand that her clothes were ragged.
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 inthe sky from behind them, which presently were seen to be not clouds, buttens of millions of great winged grasshoppers that lit upon the corn,devouring it and every other green thing. Within a few hours nothing wasleft except the roots and bare branches, while the women of that land ranto and fro wailing, knowing that next winter they and their children muststarve, and the cattle lowed about them hungrily, for the locusts haddevoured all the grass. Moreover, having eaten everything, these insectsthemselves began to die in myriads so that soon the air was poisoned. Thewaters were also poisoned with their dead bodies, and at once sicknesscame which presently grew into a pestilence.
Now the men of the country sent a deputation to the Inkosazana, prayingher to remove the curse, but when they had spoken she only repeated thewords she had used upon the banks of the Buffalo River.
"Not on my head, not on my head! There is blood between the Inkosazana andher people of the Zulus. Famine and war and death upon the people of theZulus because they have shed the holy blood!"
Then the men grew afraid and went away, and the regiment marched onaccompanied by the myriads of the locusts that wasted all the land throughwhich they passed.
At length, followed by a wail of misery, they came to the Great Place andentered it, preceded by the locusts which already were heaped up in thestreets like winter leaves, and for lack of other provender gnawed at thestraw of the huts, and the shields and moochas of the soldiers. It was astrange sight to see the men trying to stamp them to death, and the womenand children rushing to and fro shrieking and brushing them from theirhair.
Amid such scenes as these they passed through the town of Umgugundhlovuinto which Rachel had been brought in order that the people might see thattheir Inkosazana had returned, and on to that kraal upon the hill, whereshe had spent all those weary weeks until Richard came. She reached it asthe sun was setting, and although she did not seem to know any of them wasreceived 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 tosee the King at once; moreover, he desired first to receive the reports ofTamboosa and the captains, and to learn all that had happened in thisstrange business.
Next morning, whilst Rachel sat by the pool in which, once she had seenthe vision of Richard, Tamboosa and an escort came to bring her toDingaan. 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 thelocust-strewn streets to the Intunkulu, the House of the King. Here, infront of his hut, and surrounded by his Council, sat Dingaan and theindunas who rose to greet her with the royal salute. She advanced towardsthem 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 verysad and full of fear, commanded Tamboosa to report all that had happenedin the ears of the Council, and he took up his tale.
He told of the journey to the Tugela, and of how the Inkosazana and thewhite lord, Dario, had crossed the river alone but a few hours afterIbubesi, ordering him to follow next day, also alone, with the white oxthat bore her baggage. He told how he had done so, and on reaching Ramahhad found the white Umfundusi and his wife lying dead in their room, andon the floor of it a Zulu of the men who had been sent with Ibubesi, alsodead, 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 takingof the Inkosazana and the white lord, by Ibubesi. He told of how he hadrun to the town of Mafooti, to find out the truth, and of the message thathe had sent by the herd boy to Ibubesi and his people. Lastly he told allthe rest of that story, of how he had come back to Zululand "as though hehad wings," and finding the regiment that had escorted the Inkosazanastill in camp near the river, had returned with them to attack Mafooti,which they discovered to be deserted by its people.
While he described how by the flare of the lightning they saw theInkosazana standing on the roof of a hut, how they captured the wildbeast, Ibubesi, how they learned that the Spirit of the Inkosazana was"wandering," and the dreadful words she said, the burning of Mafooti, andthe fearful death of Ibubesi by fire, all the Council listened in uttersilence. Thus they listened also whilst he showed how evil after evil hadfallen upon the regiment, evil by fire and water and sickness, as evil hadfallen upon the land also by the plague of locusts.
At length Tamboosa's story was finished, and certain men were broughtforward bound, who had been the captains of the band that went withIshmael, among them those who had killed, or caused to die, the whiteteacher and his wife.
Upon the stern command of the King these men also told their story, sayingthat they had not meant to kill the white man and that what they did wasdone 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 theInkosazana for himself. When they had finished the King rose and pouredout his wrath on them, because through their deeds the Spirit of theInkosazana had been driven away, and her curse laid upon the land, wherealready 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 ofthe regiment who had spoken against the following of the people ofMafooti, who should, he said, have been destroyed, every one.
At his words executioners rushed in to seize these wretched men, and thenit was that Rachel, who all this while had sat as though she heardnothing, lifted her head and spoke, for the first time.
"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 handsshall be the blood of those who sent the Spirit of the Inkosazana towander in the skies. Who was it that bade an impi run to Ramah, and whatdid they there in the house of those who gave me birth? When the Mastercalls, the dogs must search and kill. Set them free, lest there be moreblood between the Inkosazana and her people of the Zulus."
When he heard these words, spoken in a strange, wailing voice, Dingaantrembled, for he knew that it was he who had bidden his dogs to run.
"Let them go," he said, "and let the land see them no more for ever."
So those men went thankfully enough, and the land saw them no more. Asthey passed the gate other men entered, starved and hungry-looking men,whose bones almost pierced their skins, and who carried in their handsremnants of shields that looked as though they had been gnawed by rats.They saluted the King with feeble voices, and squatted down upon theground.
"Who are those skeletons," he asked angrily, "who dare to break in upon myCouncil?"
"King," answered their spokesman, "we are captains of the Nobambe, theNodwenge, and the Isangu regiments whom thou didst send to destroy thechief, Madaku and his people, who dwell far away in the s
wamp land to thenorth near where the Great River runs into the sea. King, we could notcome at this chief because he fled away on rafts and in boats, he and hispeople, and we lost our path among the reeds where again and again we wereambushed, and many of us sank in the swamps and were drowned. Also, wefound no food, and were forced to live upon our shields," and he held up agnawed fragment in his hand. "So we perished by hundreds, and of all whowent forth but twenty-one times ten remain alive."
When Dingaan heard this he groaned, for his arms had been defeated andthree of his best regiments destroyed. But Rachel laughed aloud, theterrible laugh at which all who heard it shivered.
"Did I not say," she asked, "that Heaven would pour out its vengeance inplenty because of the blood that runs between the Spirit of the Inkosazanaand her people of the Zulus?"
"Truly this curse works fast and well," exclaimed Dingaan. Then, turningto the men, he shouted: "Be gone, you starved rats, you cowards who do notknow how to fight, and be thankful that the Great Elephant (Chaka) isdead, for surely he would have fed you upon shields until you perished."
So these captains crept away also.
Ere they were well gone a man appeared craving audience, a fat man whowore a woeful countenance, for tears ran down his bloated cheeks. Dingaanknew him well, for every week he saw him, and sometimes oftener.
"What is it, Movo, keeper of the kine," he asked anxiously, "that youbreak in on me thus at my Council?"
"O King," answered the fat man, "pardon me, but, O King, my tidings are sosad that I availed myself of my privilege, and pushed past the guards atthe gate."
"Those who bear ill news ever run quickly," grunted the King. "Stop thatweeping and out with it, Movo."
"Shaker of the Earth! Eater up of Enemies!" said Movo, "thou thyself arteaten up, or at least thy cattle are, the cattle that I love. A soresickness has fallen on the great herd, the royal herd, the white herd withthe twisted horns, and," here he paused to sob, "a thousand of them aredead, and many more are sick. Soon there will be no herd left," and hewept outright.
Now Dingaan leapt up in his wrath and struck the man so sharply with theshaft of the spear he held that it broke upon his head.
"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."
"Is it a crime to be fat, O King," answered the indignant Movo, rubbinghis skull, "when others are so much fatter?" and he looked reproachfullyat Dingaan's enormous person. "Can I help it if a thousand of thy oxen arenow but hides for shields?"
"Will you answer, or will you taste the other end of the spear?" askedDingaan, grasping the broken shaft just above the blade. "What have youdone to my cattle?"
"O King, I have done nothing to them. Can I help it if those accursedbeasts choose to eat dead locusts instead of grass, and foam at the mouthand choke? Can the cattle help it if all the grass has become locusts sothat there is nothing else for them to eat? I am not to blame, and thecattle are not to blame. Blame the Heavens above, to whom thou, orrather," he added hastily, "some wicked wizard must have given offence,for no such thing as this has been known before in Zululand."
Again Rachel broke in with her wild laughter, and said:
"Did I not tell thee that vengeance would be poured down in plenty, poureddown like the rain, O Dingaan? Vengeance on the King, vengeance on thepeople, vengeance on the soldiers, vengeance on the corn, vengeance on thekine, vengeance on the whole land, because blood runs between the Spiritof the Inkosazana and the race of the Amazulu, whom once she loved!"
"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 feelthe blow? Now, you Movo, have you done?"
"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, andthe crops are quite eaten, so that next winter everyone must perish offamine."
"Is that all, O Movo?"
"Not quite, O King, since messengers have come to me, as head keeper ofthe kine, to say that all the other royal herds within two days' journeyare also stricken, although if I understand them right, of some otherpest. Also, which I forgot to add--"
"Hunt out this bearer of ill-tidings," roared Dingaan, "hunt him out, andsend orders that his own cattle be taken to fill up the holes in myblanket."
Now some attendants sprang on the luckless Movo and began to beat him withtheir sticks. Still, before he reached the gates he succeeded in turninground weeping in good earnest and shouted:
"It is quite useless, O King, all my cattle are dead, too. They will findnothing but the horns and the hoofs, for I have sold the hides to theshield-makers."
Then they thrust him forth.
He was gone, and for a while there was silence, for despair filled thehearts 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 evilswhich she had brought upon them because of the blood of her people whichlay at her doors.
Whilst they still stared thus in silence yet another messenger camerunning through the gate like one in great haste.
"Now I am minded to order this fellow to be killed before he opens hismouth," said Dingaan, "for of a surety he also is a bearer ofill-tidings."
"Nay, O King," cried out the man in alarm, "my news is only that anembassy awaits without."
"From whom?" asked Dingaan anxiously. "The white Amaboona?"
"Nay, O King, from the queen of the Ghost-people to whom thou didstdispatch Noie, daughter of Seyapi, a while ago."
Hearing the name Noie, Rachel lifted her head, and for the first time herface grew human.
"I remember," said Dingaan. "Admit the embassy."
Then followed a long pause. At length the gate opened and through itappeared Noie herself, clad in a garb of spotless white, and somewhattravel-worn, but beautiful as ever. She was escorted by four gigantic menwho were naked except for their moochas, but wore copper ornaments ontheir wrists and ankles, and great rings of copper in their ears. Afterher came three litters whereof the grass curtains were tightly drawn,carried by bearers of the same size and race, and after these a bodyguardof fifty soldiers of a like stature. This strange and barbarous-lookingcompany advanced slowly, whilst the Council stared at them wondering, fornever before had they seen people so huge, and arriving in front of theKing set down the litters, staring back in answer with their great roundeyes.
As they came Rachel rose from her stool and turned slowly so that she andNoie, who walked in front of the embassy, stood face to face. For a momentthey gazed at each other, then Noie, running forward, knelt before Racheland kissed the hem of her robe, but Rachel bent down and lifted her up inher strong arms, embracing her as a mother embraces a child.
"Where hast thou been, Sister?" she asked. "I have sought thee long."
"Surely on thy business, Zoola," answered Noie, scanning her curiously."Dost thou not remember?"
"Nay, I remember naught, Noie, save that I have sought thee long. MySpirit wanders, Noie."
"Lady," she said, "my people told me that it was so. They told me manyterrible things, they who can see afar, they for whom distance has nogates, but I did not believe them. Now I see with my own eyes. Be atpeace, Lady, my people will give thee back thy Spirit, though perchancethou must travel to find it, for in their land all spirits dwell. Be atpeace and listen."
"With thee, Noie, I am at peace," replied Rachel, and still holding herhand, she reseated herself upon the stool.
"Where are the messengers?" asked Dingaan. "I see none."
"King," answered Noie, "they shall appear."
Then she made signs to the escort of giants, some of whom came forward anddrew the curtains of the litters, whilst others opened huge umbrellas ofsplit cane which they carried in their hands.
"Now what weapons are these?" asked Dingaan. "Daughter of Seyapi, you knowthat none may appear before the King armed."
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"Weapons against the sun, O King, which my people hate."
"And who are the wizards that hate the sun?" queried Dingaan again in anastonished voice. Then he was silent, for out of the first litter came alittle man, pale as the shoot from a bulb that has grown in darkness, withlarge, soft eyes like the eyes of an owl, that blinked in the light, andlong hair out of which all the colour seemed to have faded.
As the man, who, like Noie, was dressed in a white robe, and in sizemeasured no more than a twelve-year-old child, set his sandalled feet uponthe ground, one of the huge guards sprang forward to shield him with theumbrella, but being awkward, struck his leg against the pole of the litterand stumbled against him, nearly knocking him to the ground, and in hisefforts to save himself, letting fall the umbrella. The little man turnedon him furiously, and holding one hand above his head as though to shieldhimself from the sun, with the other pointed at him, speaking in a lowsibilant voice that sounded like the hiss of a snake. Thereon the guardfell to his knees, and bending down with outstretched arms, beat hisforehead on the earth as though in prayer for mercy. The sight of thisgiant making supplication to one whom he could have killed with a blow,was so strange that Dingaan, unable to restrain his curiosity, asked Noieif the dwarf was ordering the other to be killed.
"Nay, King," answered Noie, "for blood is hateful to these people. He issaying that the soldier has offended many times. Therefore he curses himand tells him that he shall wither like a plucked leaf and die withoutseeing his home again."
"And will he die?" asked Dingaan.
"Certainly, King; those upon whom the Ghost-people lay their curse mustobey the curse. Moreover, this man deserves his doom, for on the journeyhe killed another to take his food."
"Of a truth a terrible people!" said Dingaan uneasily. "Bid them lay nocurse on me lest they should see more blood than they wish for."
"It is foolish to threaten the Great Ones of the Ghost-folk, King, forthey hear even what they seem not to understand," answered Noie quietly.
"Wow!" exclaimed the King; "let my words be forgotten. I am sorry that Itroubled them to come so far to visit me."
Meanwhile the offender had crept back upon his hands and knees, lookinglike a great beaten dog, whilst another soldier, taking his umbrella, heldit over the angry dwarf. Also from the other litters two more dwarfs haddescended, 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 werebrought for them also, and on these they sat themselves down at rightangles to Dingaan, and to Rachel, whose stool was set in front of theKing, whilst behind them stood three of their escort, each holding anumbrella over the head of one of them with the left hand, while with theright they fanned them with small branches upon which the leaves, althoughthey were dead, remained green and shining.
With Dingaan and his Council the three dwarfs did not seem to troublethemselves, but at Rachel they peered earnestly. Then one of them made asign and muttered something, whereon a soldier of the escort steppedforward with a fourth umbrella, which he opened over the heads of Rachel,and of Noie who stood at her side.
"Why does he do that?" asked Dingaan. "The Inkosazana is not a bat thatshe fears the sun."
"He does it," answered Noie, "that the Inkosazana may sit in the shade ofthe wisdom of the Ghost-people, and that her heart which is hot with manywrongs, may grow cool in the shade."
"What does he know about the Inkosazana and her wrongs?" asked Dingaanagain, but Noie only shrugged her shoulders and made no answer.
Now one of the dwarfs made another sign, whereon more guards advanced,carrying small bowls of polished wood. These bowls they set upon theground before the three dwarfs, one before each of them, filling them tothe brim with water from a gourd.
"If your people are thirsty, Noie," exclaimed the King, "I have beer forthem to drink, for at least the locusts have left me that. Bid them throwaway the water, and I will give them beer."
"It is not water, King," she answered, "but dew gathered from certaintrees before sunrise, and it is their spirits that are thirsty forknowledge, not their bodies, for in this dew they read the truth."
"Then the Inkosazana must be of their family, Noie, for she read of thecoming of the white chief Dario in water, or so they say."
"Perhaps, O King, if it is so these prophets will know it and acknowledgeher."
Now for a long while there was silence, so long a while indeed thatDingaan and his Councillors began to move uneasily, for they felt asthough the dwarf men were fingering their heart-strings. At length thethree dwarfs lifted their wrinkled faces that were bleached to the colourof half-ripe corn, and gazed at each other with their round, owl-likeeyes; then as though with one accord they said to each other:
"What seest thou, Priest?" and at same sign from them Noie translated thewords into Zulu.
Now the first of them, he who had cursed the soldier, spoke in his lowhissing voice, a voice like to the whisper of leaves in the wind, Noierendering his words.
"I see two maidens standing by a house that moves when cattle draw it. Oneof them is dark-skinned, it is she," and he pointed to Noie, "the other isfair-skinned, it is she," and he pointed to Rachel. "They cast, each ofthem, a hair from her head into the air. The black hair falls to theground, but a spirit catches the hair of gold and bears it northward. Itis the spirit of Seyapi whom the Zulus slew. Northwards he bears it, andlays it in the hand of the Mother of the Trees, and with it a message."
"Yes, with it a message," repeated the other two nodding their heads.
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, andthe man said:
"Let us see if she has vision. Tell us, thou White One, what lies withinthe leaves."
Rachel, who had been sitting like a person in a dream, took the packet,and, without looking at it, answered:
"Many other leaves, and within the last of them a hair from this head ofmine. I see it, but three knots have been tied therein. They are threegreat troubles."
"Open," said the dwarf to Noie, who cut the fibre binding the packet, andunfolded many layers of leaves. Within the last leaf was a golden hair,and in it were tied three knots.
Noie laid the hair upon the head of Rachel--it was hers. Then she showedit to the King and his Council, who stared at the knots not knowing whatto say, and after they had looked at it, refolded it in the leaves andreturned the packet to the dwarf.
Now the dwarf who had read the picture in his bowl turned to him who satnearest and asked:
"What seest thou, Priest?"
The man stared at the limpid water and answered:
"I see this place at night. I see yonder King and his Councillors talkingto a white man with evil eyes and the face of a hawk, who has been woundedon the head and foot. I read their lips. They bargain together; it is ofthe bringing of an old prophet and his wife hither by force. I see theprophet and his wife in a house, and with them Zulus. By the command ofthe white man with the evil eyes the Zulus kill the prophet whose head isbald, and his wife dies upon the bed. Before they kill the prophet heslays one of the Zulus with smoke that comes from an iron tube."
When he heard all this Dingaan groaned, but the dwarf who had spoken,taking no heed of him, said to the third dwarf:
"What seest thou, Priest?" to which that dwarf answered:
"I see the White One yonder standing on a hut, but her Spirit has fledfrom 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 herwords: 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 prophesiesevil to them. I see the ill; I see many burnt in a great fire. I see manydrowned 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 bringdisaster on their arms; I see it scatter plague among their cattle; I seea dim sh
ape that it summons striding towards this land. It travels fastover a winter veld, and the head of it is the head of a skull, and thename of it is Famine."
As he ended his words the three dwarfs bent forward, and with one movementseized their bowls and emptied them on to the ground, saying:
"Earth, Earth, drink, drink and bear record of these visions!"
Now the Council was much disturbed, for, although there were great witchdoctors among them, none had known magic like to this. Only Dingaan stareddown brooding. Then he looked up, and his fat body shook with hoarselaughter.
"You play pretty tricks, little men," he said, "with your giants and yourboughs and your huts that open, and your bowls of water. But for all thatthey are only tricks, since Noie, or others have told you of these thingsthat happened in the past. Now if you are wizards indeed, read me theriddle of the words of the Inkosazana that she spoke before her Spiritleft her because of the evil acts of the wolf, Ibubesi. Show me the answerto them in your bowls of water, little men, or be driven hence as cheatsand liars. Also tell us your names by which we may know you."
When Noie had translated this speech the three dwarfs gathered themselvesunder one umbrella, and spoke to each other; then they slid back to theirplaces, and the first of them, he who had cursed the soldier, said:
"King of the Zulus, I am Eddo, this on my right is Pani, and that on myleft is Hana. We are children of the Mother of the Trees; we arehigh-priests of the Grey-people, the Dream-people, who rule by dreams andwisdom, not by spears as thou dost, O King. We are the Ghost-kings whomthe ghosts obey, we are the masters of the dead, and the readers ofhearts. Those are our names and titles, O King. We have travelled hitherbecause thou sentest a messenger of our own blood who whispered a strangetale in the ear of the Mother of the Trees, a tale of one of whom we knewalready but desired to see," and all three of them nodded towards Rachelseated on her stool. "We will read thy riddle, O King, but first thou mustfix the fee."
"What do you demand, Ghost-people?" asked Dingaan. "Cattle are somewhatscarce 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?"
They looked at each other, then Eddo said, pointing with his thin handupon which the nails grew long:
"We ask for the White One who sits there. We think that her Spirit dwellswith us already, and we ask her body that we may join it to the Spiritagain."
Now the Council murmured, but Dingaan replied:
"Once we sought to keep her in whom dwelt the Inkosazana of the Zulus. Butthings have gone amiss, and she brings curses on us. If shape and spiritwere joined together again, mayhap the curses would be taken off ourheads. Yet we dare not give her to you, unless she gives herself of herown will. Moreover, first the divination, then the pay. Is that enough?"
"It is enough," they answered, speaking all together. "Set out the matter,King of the Zulus, and we will see what we can do."
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:
"Stand forth, thou Mopo, and tell the tale."
So Mopo rose and began his story. He told how he alone among the people ofthe 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 maidenwho was known by the name of the Inkosazana-y-Zoola, a maiden who ruledthe lightning, and was not as other maidens are, and how he had been sentto see her, and found that as was the Spirit of the Inkosazana which heknew, so was this maiden.
"_Wow_!" he added, "save that the one walked on air and the other onearth, they are the same."
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 betweenher and the King by moonlight when she smelt out Noie. Now he was going onto speak of the question put by Dingaan to the Inkosazana, and the answerthat she gave to him, when one of the little men who all this while sat asthough they were asleep, blinking their eyes in the light--it wasEddo--said:
"Surely thou forgettest something. Tongue of the King, thou who are namedMopo, or Umbopa, Son of Makedama; thou forgettest certain words which theInkosazana whispered to thee when she threw her cloak about thy head erethou fleddest away from the Council of the King. Of course, we do not knowthe words, but why dost thou not repeat them, Tongue of the King?"
Mopo stared at them, and his teeth chattered, then he answered:
"Because they have nothing to do with the story, Ghost-men; because theywere of my own death, which is a little matter."
The three dwarfs turned their heads towards each other and said, each tothe other:
"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 withthe story," and they smiled and nodded, and appeared to go to sleep again.
Now Mopo went on with his tale. He told of the question of the King, howhe had asked the Inkosazana whether he should fall upon the Boers or letthem be; of how she had searched the Heavens with her eyes; of how themeteor had travelled before them, and burst over the kraal, Umgugundhlovu,that star which she said was thrown by the hand of the Great-Great, theUmkulunkulu, and of how she had sworn that she also heard the feet of apeople travelling over plain and mountain, and saw the rivers behind themrunning red with blood. Lastly, he told of how she had refused to add toor take from her words, or to set out their meaning.
Then Mopo sat himself down again in the circle of the Councillors, andwatched and hearkened like a hungry wolf.
"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 therunning star which none can read."
The priests awoke and consulted with each other, then Eddo said:
"This matter is too high for us, King of the Zulus."
Dingaan heard, and laughed angrily.
"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 pretendthat it is a message from Heaven. Now why should I not whip you from mytown with rods till ye see that red blood which ye so greatly fear?"
At the mention of the word blood, the little men seemed to curl up likecut grass before fire; then Eddo smiled, a sickly smile, and answered:
"Be gentle, King, walk softly, King. We are but poor cheats, yet we willdo our best, we, or another for us. A new bowl, a big bowl, a red bowl forthe red King, and fill it to the brink with dew."
As he piped out the words a man from among their company appeared with avessel much larger than those into which they had gazed, and made ofbeautiful, polished, blood-hued wood that gleamed in the sunlight. Eddotook 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 themmuttered invocations over it, and Eddo, beckoning to Noie, bade her bearit to the Inkosazana that she might gaze therein.
Rachel received it and looked; as she looked all the emptiness left hereyes which grew quick and active and full of horror.
"Thou seest something, Maiden?" queried Eddo.
"Aye," answered Rachel, "I see much. Must I speak?"
"Nay, nay! Breathe on the water thrice and fix the visions. Now bear thebowl to yonder King and let him look. Perchance he also will seesomething."
Rachel breathed on the water thrice, rose like one in a trance, andadvancing to Dingaan placed the brimming bowl upon his knees.
"Look, King, look," cried Eddo, "and tell us if in what thou seest lies ananswer to the oracle of the Inkosazana."
Dingaan stared at the water, angrily at first, as one who smells a trick.Then his face changed.
"By the head of the Black One," he said, "I see people fighting in thiskraal, white men and Zulus, and the white men are mastered and the Zulusdrag them out to death. The Zulus conquer, O my peopl
e. It is as I thoughtthat it would be--that is the meaning of the riddle of the Inkosazana."
"Good, good," said the Council. "Doubtless it shall come to pass."
But the dwarf Eddo only smiled again and waved his hand.
"Look once more, King," he said in his low, hissing voice, and Dingaanlooked.
Now his face darkened. "I see fire," he said. "Yes, in this kraal.Umgugundhlovu burns, my royal House burns, and yonder come the white menriding upon horses. Oh! they are gone."
Eddo waved his hand, saying:
"Look again and tell us what thou seest, King."
Unwillingly enough, but as though he could not resist, Dingaan looked andsaid:
"I see a mountain whereof the top is like the shape of a woman, andbetween her knees is the mouth of a cave. Beneath the floor of that cave Isee bodies, the body of a great man and the body of a girl; she must havebeen fair, that girl."
Now when he heard this the Councillor who was named Mopo, he with thewithered hand, started up, then sat down again, but all were so intentupon listening to Dingaan that none noticed his movements save Noie andthe priests of the ghosts.
"I see a man, a fat man come out of the cave," went on Dingaan. "He seemsto 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 hislegs, and another that is thin and short. They drag him up the mountain toa great cleft that is between the breasts of her who sits thereon. Theyspeak with him, but I cannot see their faces, for they are wrapped inmist, or the face of the fat man, for that also is wrapped in mist. Theyhale him to the edge of the cleft, they hurl him over, he falls headlong,and the mist is swept from his face. Ah! _it is my own face!_" [Footnote:See "Nada the Lily," CHAPTER XXXV.]
"Priest," whispered each of the little men to his fellow in the deadsilence that followed, "Priest, this King says that he sees his own face.Priest, tell me now, has not the spirit of the Inkosazana interpreted theoracle of the Inkosazana? Will not yonder King be hurled down this cleft?Is _he_ not the star that falls?"
And they nodded and smiled at each other.
But Dingaan leapt up in his rage and terror, and with him leapt up theCouncillors and witch doctors, all save he who was named Mopo, son ofMakedama, who sat still gazing at the ground. Dingaan leapt up, andseizing the bowl hurled it from him so that the water in it fell overRachel like rain from the clouds. He leapt up, and he cursed theGhost-priests as evil wizards, bidding them begone from his land. He ravedat them, he threatened them, he cursed them again and again. The littlemen sat still and smiled till he grew weary and ceased. Then they spoke toeach other, saying:
"He has sprinkled the White One with the dew of out Trees, and henceforthshe belongs to the Trees. Is it not so, Priest?"
They nodded in assent, and Eddo rose and addressed the King in a newvoice, a shrill commanding voice, saying:
"O man, thou that art called a King and causest much blood to flow, thouare 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 lookupon the Face of Stone that knows not pity, thou whom the earth shallswallow, thou who shalt perish at the hands of--"
"The faces of the slayers were veiled, Priest," broke in the other twodwarfs, peeping up at him from beneath the shadow of their umbrellas;"surely the faces of those slayers were veiled, O Priest."
"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 itshould be read. It is well read, it is truly read, it shall befall in itsseason. Now give to thy servants their reward and let them depart inpeace. Give to them, that White One whose lost Spirit spoke to thee fromthe water."
"Take her," roared Dingaan, "take her and begone, for to the Zulus she andNoie, the witch, bring naught but ill."
But one of the Council cried:
"The Inkosazana cannot be sent away with these magicians unless it is herwill to go."
Then the little men nodded to Noie, and Noie whispered in the ear ofRachel.
Rachel listened and answered: "Whither thou goest, Noie, thither I go withthee, I who seek my Spirit."
So Noie took Rachel by the hand and led her from the Council-place of theKing, and as she went, followed by the Ghost-priests and their escort, forthe last time all the Councillors rose up and gave to her the royalsalute. Only Dingaan sat upon the ground and beat it with his fists infury.
Thus did the Inkosazana-y-Zoola depart from the Great Place of the King ofthe Zulus, and Mopo, the son of Makedama, shading his eyes with his hand,watched her go from between his withered fingers.
The Ghost Kings Page 18