Swallow: A Tale of the Great Trek

  Outside the hut Zinti took Suzanne by the arm and led her through themazes of the town to the open ground that lay between it and the mouthof the steep cleft which ran down to the slopes of the mountain.

  All this space was crowded with people, for as yet they could not enterthe cleft, which nowhere was more than ten feet wide, because it wasfilled with cattle, some alive and some dead, that, drawn by the smellof water beneath, had gathered as near to it as the stone walls whichblocked the pass would allow.

  Suzanne and Zinti mingled with this crowd of fugitives, taking aposition almost in the midst of it, for they did not wish to pass outeither among the first or the last. There they waited a while,none noting them, for in their great agony of thirst all thought ofthemselves and not of their neighbours. Indeed, husbands deserted theirsick wives and mothers their children, which were too heavy to carry;yes, they deserted them to be trampled by the feet of men and the hoofsof cattle.

  Now, the eastern sky grew grey, and though the sun had not yet risen thelight was such that a man could see the veins upon the back of his handand the white moons on his finger-nails. Presently, as though moved byone impulse, thousands of voices uttered a hoarse cry of "It is dawn!Open, open!"

  But it would seem that the wall still stood, for the cattle remainedpacked in so dense a mass that a man could have walked upon their backs,as, indeed, some tried to do.

  At last the sun rose, or rather its rays shot upwards across the easternskies like a fan of fire. Suzanne turned her head and watched tillpresently the arrows of light struck upon the tall chair rock which wasthe highest point of all the mountain. Yes, there in the chair sat thewhite figure and by its side stood what seemed to be a black child. Itwas Sihamba. Far below other eyes were watching also, the eyes of SwartPiet, for he would not let the people go until he knew that Suzanne andSihamba stayed behind. But now he saw them, Suzanne in her accustomedplace, and at her side Sihamba.

  "Pull down the walls," he shouted to his men, for he was eager to clearthe pass of cattle and Kaffirs that he might go up it, and they obeyedhim. Before they were more than half down the oxen, pushing and leapingforward madly, cleared what was left of them and, open-mouthed, theirlolling tongues hanging from their dry jaws, rushed downward to thewater, goring or trampling to death some of those who worked at thewall.

  "The schanzes are down," screamed the people, seeing the long line ofcattle move, and immediately they began to press forward also.

  At Suzanne's side was a young woman so weak with thirst that she couldscarcely walk, and on her back a year-old boy, insensible but living,for a red froth bubbled from his lips. A man thrust this woman to oneside and she fell; it was that aged councillor who on the yesterday hadbrought news of the surrender to Sihamba. She tried to struggle to herfeet but others trampled upon her.

  "Sister, sister!" she cried, catching Suzanne by the hide blanket whichshe wore, "I am dead, but oh! save my child."

  "Let it be," whispered Zinti, but Suzanne could not deny those piteouseyes, and as she passed she snatched up the boy and the sling in whichhe was carried by the dying woman, setting the band of it beneath herown breast. So she went forward, bearing him upon her hip, nor did thatact of mercy lack its reward, for as shall be seen it was her salvation.Also the child lived, and to this day is a faithful servant in ourhouse, though now his beard is white.

  Down the narrow way surged the crowd, scrambling over rocks and deadcattle and crushed women and children, till at the last Suzannedrew near its opening, where stood Swart Piet and some twenty of hisfollowers, watching the multitude pass out.

  "Lady," whispered Zinti into her ear, "now I fall behind, for Bull-Headmay know me. If I win through I will rejoin you on the plain, or by thesaw-edged rock; if I do not, throw away that child, and follow the roadof which I have told you, you can scarcely mistake it. Go on, showingno fear, and--stay, let that blanket hang open in front, it is not thecustom of these women to wear their garments wrapped so closely."

  Suzanne groaned, but she obeyed.