CHAPTER XXI
THE VISION OF RALPH AND SUZANNE
"Sihamba," said the chief Sigwe, "this man who was found wandering uponthe outskirts of the town, declares that he is your servant, and that hecomes to seek you. Is it so?"
"It is so, indeed, chief," she answered, "though I scarcely expected tosee him again," and she told how they two and Zinti had parted.
Then Zinti was commanded to tell his tale, and from it it seemed thatafter he had rested some hours in the kloof he crept to the mouth of it,and, hidden behind a stone, saw Swart Piet and his servants pass quiteclose to him on their homeward way. A sorry sight they were, for threeof their horses were lame, so that the riders were obliged to walkand lead them, and the men themselves had been so bruised with thespear-shafts that they seemed more dead than alive. Swart Piet rode lastof all, and just then he turned, and looking towards the peak shook hisfist as though threatening it, and cursed aloud in Dutch and Kaffir.Indeed, Zinti said that his head and face were so swollen with blowsthat had it not been for his large round eyes he could not have knownhim, and Sihamba thought that very good tidings.
Well, when they had gone Zinti took heart, for it was plain that theyhad been roughly handled, and had failed to catch his mistress or theSwallow. So he went back to where he had left his horse eating a littlegrass, and since it was too weak to carry him he led it, following VanVooren's spoor backwards till in the evening he came to the ford of theRed River. Here he halted for the night, knee-haltering the horse, andleaving it loose to graze, though he himself had nothing to eat. At thefirst grey of dawn he awoke, and was astonished to see a second animalfeeding with the horse, which proved to be none other than the mulethat, as these creatures sometimes will, had followed the spoor ofhis companion, Sihamba's horse, till it found it again. After this hecrossed the drift, riding slowly and leading the mule, till shortlyafter sunrise he came to the outskirts of the town, where Sigwe'swatchmen found him and brought him to the chief.
"This man is a servant worth having," said Sigwe when he had heard thestory. "Let food be given to him and to the beasts."
When Zinti had gone Sigwe spoke to Suzanne.
"Lady Swallow," he said, "as you have heard, by the command of thespirits of my ancestors speaking through the mouth of the diviner, whileyou are with us, you and not I are the captain of my army, and mustlead it in this great war which I make against the Endwandwe. Now theregiments are ready to march, and I ask if it be your pleasure thatwe should set out to-morrow at the dawn, for time presses, and theEndwandwe live very far away?"
"Your will is my will, chief," she answered, for she could see no wayof escape from this strange journey, "but I desire to learn the causeof this war which I must lead by the decree of the spirits of yourancestors."
Now Sigwe gave an order to some attendants waiting upon him, who wentaway to return presently leading with them a woman. This woman was aboutfifty years of age, very fat in person, sour-faced, yellow-toothed, andwith one eye only.
"There is the cause," exclaimed the chief, at the same time turning hisback upon the woman and spitting upon the ground as though in disgust.
"I do not understand," said Suzanne.
"Then listen, Lady Swallow. Sikonyana, the chief of the Endwandwe, has asister named Batwa, whose beauty is famous throughout all the world,and for her by my envoys I made an offer of marriage, intending thatshe should be my head wife, for I desired to be the husband of the mostbeautiful woman in the world."
"I saw Batwa when she was still a child," broke in Sihamba; "indeed, sheis my cousin, and it is true that she is most beautiful."
"The chief Sikonyana," went on Sigwe, "answered me that he was muchhonoured by my offer since he knew me to be the greatest man of all thiscountry, but that at the same time his sister was not to be won with asmall price; yet if I would send a thousand head of cattle, half ofthem black and half white, she should be mine. Then with much painI collected these cattle, two years did it take me to gather themtogether, for here oxen and cows pure white and pure black are notcommon, and I sent them with an impi to guard them, for nothing lesswould suffice, to the kraal of the chief of the Endwandwe.
"Four moons was that impi gone, while I awaited its return, eating outmy heart with impatience. At length it did return, bringing with it mybride. At nightfall it marched into the town hungry and tired, for ithad suffered much upon the journey, and twice had been forced to givebattle to the armies of other chiefs, but although I was eager tosee her I did not look upon my new wife that night. No, I sent outmessengers and gathered together all my army and all the people youngand old, yonder in the plain of assembly. Then when they were musteredfrom far and near, I commanded that Batwa, the sister of Sikonyana,should be produced in the face of the people that her loveliness mightshine upon me and upon them as the sun shines equally upon us all.
"Lady Swallow, the moment came, and this old woman was brought out;yes, she strutted before us proudly, this one-eyed hag, this cat of themountains. For her I had sent an impi, for her I had paid a thousandhead of cattle, half of them pure black and half pure white----" andSigwe ceased, gasping with rage.
Now at this story Suzanne, who had not smiled for days, laughed aloud,while even Sihamba the wise looked down studying the earth. But therewas one who did not laugh, and it was the one-eyed woman. No, she sprangup and screamed aloud:
"Dog of a red Kaffir, who are you that dare to talk thus of a princessof the blood of the Endwandwe, a princess whom Chaka, the great king,wished to take to wife? You asked for Batwa in marriage, Batwa, thesister to Sikonyana, and I am Batwa the sister of Sikonyana."
"Then, hag, there must be two Batwas," shouted Sigwe in answer.
"Two Batwas!" she screamed. "Fool and beast, there are _four_! In ourrace all the women of the royal blood are named Batwa, and I am theeldest and the wisest and the best of them, for I am older than mybrother Sikonyana by twenty years, I, who have had three husbands andoutlived them all; whereas the chit of whom you talk, a thing with awaist like a reed and an eye like a sick buck, is his junior by tenyears, being a child of our father's last wife."
"It may be so," answered Sigwe, "for aught I know, every woman of youraccursed tribe is named Batwa, but this I say, that every soon therewill be few Batwas left to look upon the sun, for to-morrow I marchagainst them and I will stamp the house of Batwa flat, and you I willhang to the roof-tree of the hut of the chief your brother; yes, I keepyou alive that I may hang you there, so until then you have nothing tofear from me."
"Is it is, is it so, indeed?" shrieked the virago; "then I am safe, for,little red Kaffir, I shall live to see you and your cowards beaten outof the country of the Endwandwe with whips of hide."
"Take her away," groaned Sigwe, "before I break my word and hang her atonce, which I do not wish to do," and Batwa the eldest was led off stillscreaming curses.