Swallow: A Tale of the Great Trek

  CHAPTER XIX

  HOW THE SCHIMMEL CROSSED THE RED WATER

  When they turned their horses' heads, Swart Piet and his men were notmuch more than a hundred paces from them, but in the wood they gainedmuch ground, for he did not think that they would dare to leave it, andhunted for them there while they were racing over the open plain morethan a mile away. At last he caught sight of them crossing a distantridge, and the long chase began. For hour after hour they galloped onthrough the moonlight across the wide and rolling veldt until the moonsank, and they must pick their way as best they could in the darkness.Then came the dawn, and still they rode forward, though now the horseswere beginning to grow weary, except the _schimmel_, who pulled uponhis bit as though he were fresh from the stable. In front of them, sometwenty miles away, rose the lofty peak for which they were heading, andbehind lay the great expanse of plain which they had passed. Suzannelooked back over her shoulder, but there was no one in sight.

  "Let us halt," she said, "and rest ourselves and the horses." So theypulled up by a stream and suffered the beasts to drink some water,though not much, while they themselves devoured biltong, of which theyhad a little in the saddle-bags.

  "Why do we ride for the peak?" asked Suzanne.

  "Because there are places where we may lie hid," Sihamba answered, "andthence we can make our way down to the seashore and so back homewards,whereas here upon the plain we can be seen from miles away."

  "Do any people live on the peak?"

  "Yes, Swallow; it is the home of the great chief Sigwe, thechief-paramount of the Red Kaffirs, who counts his spears by thousands,but I have heard that he is away to the north upon a war which he makesagainst some of the Swazi tribes with whom he has a quarrel."

  "Will the people of Sigwe protect us, Sihamba?"

  "Perhaps. We shall see. At least, you are safer with them than in thehands of Swart Piet."

  At this moment, Zinti, who was watching the plain over which they hadtravelled, uttered a cry of warning. Looking back, they saw the reasonof it, for there, crossing the crest of a wave of ground, not more thana mile away, were five horsemen riding hard upon their spoor.

  "Swart Piet and four of his men," said Sihamba, "and by my Spirit,they have fresh horses; they must have taken them from the kraal of thehalf-breed which we passed at daybreak, and that is why we lost sight ofthem for a while."

  Now even as Zinti helped her to mount the _schimmel_ Suzanne turned sofaint with terror that she almost fell to the ground again.

  "Have no fear, Swallow," said Sihamba, "he has not caught us yet, and avoice in me says that we shall escape him."

  But though she spoke thus bravely, in her heart Sihamba was much afraid,for except the _schimmel_ their horses were almost spent, whereas VanVooren was fresh mounted, and not a mile behind. Still they gallopedforward till they reached a more broken stretch of veldt, where treesgrew singly, and here and there were kloofs with bush in them.

  "Mistress," cried Zinti, "my horse can go no more, and Bull-Head is hardupon us. Of your wisdom tell me what I should do or presently I must bekilled."

  "Ride into that kloof and hide yourself," answered Sihamba, "forBull-Head will never seek you there; he hunts the white Swallow, not theblack finch. Afterwards you can follow on our spoor, and if you cannotfind us, make your way back to the Baas Botmar and tell him all youknow. Quick, into the kloof, for here they cannot see you."

  "I hear you, lady," said Zinti, and the next minute they saw him leadinghis weary horse into the shelter of the thick bush, for the poor beastcould carry him no more.

  For the next three miles the ground trended downwards to the banks of agreat river, beyond which were the gentle rising slopes that surroundedthe foot of the high peak. On they galloped, the _schimmel_ neverfaltering in his swinging stride, although his flanks grew thin and hiseyes large. But with the grey mare it was otherwise, for though she wasa gallant nag her strength was gone. Indeed, with any heavier riderupon her back, ere this she would have fallen. But still she answered toSihamba's voice and plunged on, rolling and stumbling in her gait.

  "She will last till the river," she said, seeing Suzanne look at themare.

  "And then----?" gasped Suzanne, glancing behind her to where, not fivehundred yards away, Swart Piet and his Kaffirs hunted them sullenly andin silence, as strong dogs hunt down a wounded buck.

  "And then--who knows?" answered Sihamba, and they went on without morewords, for they had no breath to spare.

  Now, not half a mile away, they came in sight of the river, which hadbeen hidden from them before by the lie of the ground, and a groan ofdespair broke from their lips, for it was in flood. Yes, the storms inthe mountains had swollen it, and it rolled towards the sea a red floodof foam-flecked water, well-nigh two hundred yards from bank to bank.Still they rode on, for they dared not stop, and presently behind themthey heard a shout of triumph, and knew that their pursuers had alsoseen the Red Water, and rejoiced because now they had them in a trap.

  Within ten yards of the lip of the river, the grey mare stoppedsuddenly, shivered like a leaf in the wind and sank to the ground.

  "Now, Swallow," said Sihamba as she slipped from the saddle, "you mustchoose between that raging torrent and Swart Piet. If you choose thetorrent the great horse is still strong and he may swim through; I cansay no more."

  "And you?" asked Suzanne.

  "I? I bide here, and oh! I would that Zinti had left the gun with me."

  "Never," cried Suzanne. "Together we will live or die. Mount, Isay--mount. Nay, if you refuse I will throw myself into the water beforeyour eyes."

  Then seeing that she would indeed do no less, Sihamba took heroutstretched hand, and placing her foot upon the foot of Suzanne,scrambled up upon the pad in front of her, whereat the pursuers, whonow were little over two hundred yards away, laughed out loud, andSwart Piet shouted to Suzanne to yield. But they did not laugh long,for Sihamba, having first bent her head and kissed Suzanne on the hand,leaned forward and began to stroke the _schimmel's_ neck and to whisperinto his ear, till indeed it seemed as though the great brute that lovedher understood. At the least he pricked his ears and tossed his head,then looked, first round at the horses that drew near, and next at thefoaming flood in front.

  "Sit fast, Swallow," said Sihamba, and then she cried a word aloud tothe horse, and struck it lightly with her hand. At the sound of thatword the stallion drew himself together, sprang forward with two boundsover the ten paces of level bank and leapt far out into the flood thatfoamed beneath. Down sank the horse and his riders till the Red Waterclosed over their heads, then they rose again and heard the shout ofwonder of their enemies, who by now had almost reached the bank. Witha yell of rage Black Piet rode his horse at the river, for to do himjustice he was a brave man, but do what he might it would not face it,so with the others he sat still and watched.

  Now the _schimmel_ struck out bravely, heading for the other bank, butin the fierce current it was not possible that any horse should reach itswimming in a straight line, for the weight of the stream was too great.Sihamba had noted, however, that from the further shore, but twoor three hundred paces lower down the river, a little point of landprojected into it, and this the horse had seen also, or perhaps she toldhim of it, at least for that point he swam steadily. In five minutesthey were in the centre of the torrent, and here it ran with a roarand mighty force so that its waves began to break over the _schimmel's_head, and they feared that he would drown. So much did Sihamba fear it,indeed, that she slipped from his back, and leaving Suzanne to clingto the saddle, caught hold of his mane, floating alongside of himand protected by his neck from the whirl of the water. Lying thus shecontinued to call to the horse and to urge him forward, and ever heanswered to her words, so that although twice he nearly sank, in theend he set his feet upon a sandbank and, having rested there a while,plunged forward, half wading and half swimming, to the projecting pointof land, up which he scrambled, still carrying Suzanne and draggingSihamba with him, until once more they
found themselves safe upon thesolid earth, where he stood shaking himself and snorting.

  Suzanne slipped from the saddle and lay flat upon the ground, looking atthe awful water they had passed, and by her lay Sihamba. Presently thelittle doctoress spoke.

  "It is well to have lived," she said, "if only to have dared that deed,for no others have ever made the passage across the Red Water in flood,two of them on one tired horse," and she caught in her arms the muzzleof the _schimmel_ that hung above her, pressing it to her breast asthough it had been a child, whereon the brute whinnied faintly, knowingwell that she was thanking him for his toil and courage.

  "I pray God that I may never be called upon to make it again," answeredSuzanne, staggering to her feet, the water running from her drippingdress as she turned to look across the river.

  Now, when Van Vooren's horse refused to face the stream, he had riddenup and down shouting like a madman; once even he lifted his gun andpointed it, then let it fall again, remembering that he could not makesure of hitting the horse, and that if he did so Suzanne must certainlybe drowned. When they were quite beyond his reach in the middle of thestream, he stood still and watched until he saw them come to the furthershore in safety. Then he called his men about him and consulted withthem, and the end of it was that they rode off in a body up the bank ofthe river.

  "They go to seek a ford," said Suzanne.

  "Yes, Swallow, but now we shall have the start of them. Come, let usmount."

  So they climbed upon the back of the _schimmel_, and once more he wenton with them, not fast, for now he could not even canter, but amblingor walking, according to the nature of the ground, at a rate perhaps ofseven miles the hour. Soon they had left the river and were toilingup the slopes of the peak, until presently they struck a well-wornfootpath.

  "I think that this must lead to the town of Sigwe," said Sihamba.

  "I pray that it does," answered Suzanne, "and that it is not far, for Ifeel as though Death were near to me."

  "Keep a great heart," said Sihamba, "for we have met Death face to faceand conquered him."

  So still they toiled on till at length the path took a turn, and there,in a fold of the hill, they beheld the great kraal of Sigwe, a verylarge Kaffir town. Before the kraal was a wide open space, and on thatspace armed men were assembled, several full regiments of them. In frontof this impi was gathered a company of chiefs.

  "Now we have no choice," said Sihamba, and turned the _schimmel_ towardsthem, while all that army stared at this strange sight of two women,one tall and fair, one black and little, riding towards them mountedtogether upon a great blood horse which was so weary that he couldscarcely set one foot before the other.

  When they reached the captains Sihamba slipped to the ground, butSuzanne remained seated upon the _schimmel_.

  "Who are you?" asked a broad man in a leopard-skin cloak, of Sihamba;but although she was small and dishevelled, her hair and garments beingwet with water, he did not laugh at her, for he saw that this strangerhad the air of one who is of the blood of chiefs.

  "I am Sihamba Ngenyanga, the doctoress, of whom you may have heard," sheanswered; and some of the people said, "We have heard of her; she is agreat doctoress."

  "To what people do you belong, Sihamba?" asked the captain again.

  "I belong to the people of Zwide, whom Chaka drove from Zululand, andby birth I am a chieftainess of the Umpondwana, who live in the mountainUmpondwana, and who were the Children of Zwide, but are now the Childrenof Chaka."

  "Why then do you wander so far from home, Sihamba?"

  "For this reason. When Zwide and his people, the Endwandwe, were drivenback, my people, the Umpondwana, who were subject to Zwide, made peacewith Chaka against my will. Therefore, because I would not live as aZulu dog, I left them."

  "Although your body is small you have a large heart," said the captain,and one of his people cried out: "The story of Sihamba is true, forwhen you sent me as messenger to the Endwandwe, I heard it--it is a talethere."

  Then the captain asked, "And who is the beautiful white woman who sitsupon the great horse?"

  "She is my mother and my sister and my mistress, whom I serve tilldeath, for she saved me from death, and her name is Swallow."

  Now at this word _Swallow_, most of those present started, and someuttered exclamations of wonder, especially a little band of people, menand women, who stood to the left, and who from their dress and othertokens it was easy to see were witch-doctors and diviners. Sihamba notedthe movements and words of wonder, but pretending to see nothing shewent on:

  "The lady Swallow and I have fled hither from far, hoping to find thechief Sigwe, for we need his counsel and protection, but he is away,making war to the north, is it not so?"

  "Nay," answered the captain. "I am the chief Sigwe, and I have not yetbegun my war."

  "I am glad," said Sihamba. "Chief, listen to my tale and suffer us tocreep into the shadow of your strength----" and in a few words she toldthem the story of the capture of Suzanne by Swart Piet and of theirflight from him. Now when she spoke of Van Vooren, or of Bull-Headrather, for she called him by his native name, she saw that Sigwe andthe captains looked at each other, and when she told how they had swumthe Red Water in flood, the two of them upon one horse, she was surethat they did not believe her, for such a deed they thought to beimpossible. But still Sihamba went on and ended--"Chief, we seek thisfrom you; protection from Bull-Head, who doubtless will be here erelong, and an escort of spears to lead us down the coast to the homeof the Swallow, a hundred miles away, where they and you will be wellrewarded for the service. Answer us quick, chief, I pray you, for ourneed is great and we are weary."