The Ghost Kings

  CHAPTER XXIII

  THE DREAM IN THE NORTH

  Richard Darrien remembered drinking a bowl of milk in the hut in which hewas imprisoned at Mafooti, and instantly feeling a cold chill run to hisheart and brain, after which he remembered no more for many a day. Atlength, however, by slow degrees, and with sundry slips back intounconsciousness, life and some share of his reason and memory returned tohim. He awoke to find himself lying in a hut roughly fashioned ofbranches, and attended by a Kaffir woman of middle age.

  "Who are you?" he asked.

  "I am named Mami," she answered.

  "Mami, Mami! I know the name, and I know the voice. Say, were you one ofthe wives of Ibubesi, she who spoke with me through the fence?" and hestrove to raise himself on his arm to look at her, but fell back fromweakness.

  "Yes, Inkoos, I was one of his wives."

  "Was? Then where is Ibubesi now?"

  "Dead, Inkoos. The fire has burned him up with his kraal Mafooti."

  "With the kraal Mafooti! Where, then, is the Inkosazana? Answer, woman,and be swift," he cried in a hollow voice.

  "Alas! Inkoos, alas! she is dead also, for she was in the kraal when thefire swept it, and was seen standing on the top of a hut where she hadtaken refuge, and after that she was seen no more."

  "Then let me die and go to her," exclaimed Richard with a groan, as hefell back upon his bed, where he lay almost insensible for three moredays.

  Yet he did not die, for he was young and very strong, and Mami poured milkdown his throat to keep the life in him. Indeed little by little somethingof his strength came back, so that at last he was able to think and talkwith her again, and learned all the dreadful story.

  He learned how the people of Mafooti, fearing the vengeance of Dingaan,had fled away from their kraal, carrying what they thought to be his bodywith them, lest it should remain in evidence against them, and taking allthe cattle that they could gather. Every one of them had fled that couldtravel, only Ibubesi and a few sick, and certain folk who chanced to beoutside the walls, remaining behind. It was from two of these, who escapedduring the burning of the kraal by the Zulus, or by fire from the Heavens,they knew not which, that they had heard of the awful end of Ibubesi, andof his prisoner, the Inkosazana. As for themselves, they had travellednight and day, till they reached a certain secret and almost inaccessibleplace in the great Quathlamba Mountains, in which people had lived whomChaka wiped out, and there hidden themselves. In this place they remained,hoping that Dingaan would not care to follow them so far, and purposing tomake it their home, since here they found good mealie lands, andfortunately the most of their cattle remained alive. That was all thestory, there was nothing more to tell.

  A day or two later Richard was able to creep out of the hut and see theplace. It was as Mami had said, very strong, a kind of tableland ringedround with precipices that could only be climbed through a single narrownek, and overshadowed by the great Quathlamba range. The people, who wereengaged in planting their corn, gathered round him, staring at him asthough he were one risen from the dead, and greeted him with respectfulwords. He spoke to several of them, including the two men who had seen theburning of Mafooti, though from a little distance. But they could tell himno more than Mami had done, except that they were sure that the Inkosazanahad perished in the flames, as had many of the Zulus, who broke into thetown. Richard was sure of it also--who would not have been?--and creptback broken-hearted to his hut, he who had lost all, and longed that hemight die.

  But he did not die, he grew strong again, and when he was well and fit totravel, went to the headmen of the people, saying that now he desired toleave them and return to his own place in the Cape Colony. The headmensaid No, he must not leave, for in their hearts they were sure that hewould go, not to the Cape Colony, but to Zululand, there to discover allhe could as to the death of the Inkosazana. So they told him that withthem he must bide, for then if the Zulus tracked them out they would beable to produce him, who otherwise would be put to the spear, every man ofthem, as his murderers. The sin of Ibubesi who had been their chief, clungto them, and they knew well what Dingaan and Tamboosa had sworn shouldhappen to those who harmed the white chief, Dario, who was under themantle of their Inkosazana.

  Richard reasoned with them, but it was of no use, they, would not let himgo. Therefore in the end he appeared to fall in with their humour, andmeanwhile began to plan escape. One dark night he tried it indeed, only tobe seized in the mouth of the nek, and brought back to his hut. Nextmorning the headman spoke with him, telling him that he should only departthence over their dead bodies, and that they watched him night and day;that the nek, moreover, was always guarded. Then they made an offer tohim. He was a white man, they said, and cleverer than they were; let themcome under his wing, let him be their chief, for he would know how toprotect them from the Zulus and any other enemies. He could take over thewives of Ibubesi (at this proposition Richard shuddered), and they wouldobey him in all things, only he must not attempt to leave them--which heshould never do alive.

  Richard put the proposal by, but in the end, not because he wished it,but by the mere weight of his white man's blood, and for the lack ofanything else to do, drifted into some such position. Only at the wives ofIbubesi, or any other wives, he would not so much as look, a slight thatgave offence to those women, but made the others laugh.

  So, for certain long weeks he sat in that secret nook in the mountains asthe chief of a little Kaffir tribe, occupying himself with the planting ofcrops, the building of walls and huts, the drilling of men and thesettling of quarrels. All day he worked thus, but after the day came thenight when he did not work, and those nights he dreaded. For then thelanguor, not of body, but of mind, which the poison the oldwitch-doctoress had given to Ishmael had left behind it, would overcomehim, bringing with it black despair, and his grief would get a hold ofhim, torturing his heart. For of the memory of Rachel he could never berid for a single hour, and his love for her grew deeper day by day. Andshe was dead! Oh, she was dead, leaving him living.

  One night he dreamed of Rachel, dreamed that she was searching for him andcalling him. It was a very vivid dream, but he woke up and it passed awayas such dreams do. Only all the day that followed he felt a strangethrobbing in his head, and found himself turning ever towards the north.The next night he dreamed again of her, and heard her say, "The search hasbeen far and long, but I have found you, Richard. Open your eyes now, andyou will see my face." So he opened his eyes, and there, sure enough, inthe darkness he perceived the outline of her sweet, remembered face, aboutwhich fell her golden hair. For one moment only he perceived it, then itwas gone, and after that her presence never seemed to leave him. He couldnot see her, he could not touch her, and yet she was ever at his side. Hisbrain ached with the thought of her, her breath seemed to fan his handsand hair. At night her face floated before him, and in his dreams hervoice called him, saying: _"Come to me, come to me, Richard. I am in needof you. Come to me. I myself will be your guide."_

  Then he would wake, and remembering that she was dead, grew sure and eversurer that the Spirit of Rachel was calling him down to death. It calledhim from the north, always from the north. Soon he could scarcely walksouthwards, or east or west, for ere he had gone many yards his feetturned and set his face towards the north, that was to the narrow nekbetween the precipices which the Kaffirs guarded night and day.

  One evening he went to his hut to sleep, if sleep would come to him. Itcame, and with it that face and voice, but the face seemed paler, and thevoice more insistent.

  "Will you not listen to me," it said, "you who were my love? For how longmust I plead with you? Soon my power will leave me, the opportunity willbe passed, and then how will you find me, Richard, my lover? Rise up, riseup and follow ere it be too late, for I myself will be your guide."

  He awoke. He could bear it no more. Perhaps he was mad, and these werevisions of his madness, mocking visions that led him to his death. Well,if so, he still would follow them. Perhaps he
r body was buried in thenorth. If so, he would be buried there also; perhaps her Soul dwelt in thenorth. If so, his soul would fly thither to join it. The Kaffirs wouldkill him in the pass. Well, if so, he would die with his face setnorthwards whither Rachel drew him.

  He rose up and wrapped himself in a cloak of goatskins. He filled a hidebag with sun-dried flesh and parched corn, and hung it about his shoulderswith a gourd of water, for after all he might live a little while and needfood and drink. As he had no gun he took a staff and a knife and abroad-bladed spear, and leaving the hut, set his face northward and walkedtowards the mouth of the nek. At the first step which he took the tormentin his head seemed to leave him, who fought no longer, who had seemedobedient to that mysterious summons. Quietness and confidence possessedhim. He was going to his end, but what did it matter? The dream beckonedand he must follow. The moon shone bright, but he took no trouble to hidehimself, it did not seem to be worth while.

  Now he was in the nek and drawing near to the place where the guard wasstationed, still he marched on, boldly, openly. As he thought, they wereon the alert. They drew out from behind the rocks and barred his path.

  "Whither goest thou, lord Dario?" asked their captain. "Thou knowest thathere thou mayest not pass."

  "I follow a Ghost to the north," he answered, "and living or dead, Ipass."

  "_Ow_!" said the captain. "He says that he follows a Ghost. Well, we havenothing to do with ghosts. Take him, unharmed if possible, but take him."

  So, urged thereto by their own fears, since for their safety's sake theydared not let him go, the men sprang towards him. They sprang towards himwhere he stood waiting the end, for give back he would not, and of asudden fell down upon their faces, hiding their heads among the stones.Richard did not know what had happened to them that they behaved thusstrangely, nor did he care. Only seeing them fallen he walked on overthem, and pursued his way along the nek and down it to the plains beyond.

  All that night he walked, looking behind him from time to time to see ifany followed, but none came. He was alone, quite alone, save for the dreamthat led him towards the north. At sunrise he rested and slept a while,then, awaking after midday, went on his road. He did not know the road,yet never was he in doubt for a moment. It was always clear to him whitherhe should go. That night he finished his food and again slept a while,going forward at the dawn. In the morning he met some Kaffirs, whoquestioned him, but he answered only that he was following a Dream to thenorth. They stared at him, seemed to grow frightened and ran away. Butpresently some of them came back and placed food in his path, which hetook and left them.

  He came to the kraal Mafooti. It was utterly deserted, and he wanderedamidst its ashes. Here and there he found the bones of those who hadperished in the fire, and turned them over with his staff wonderingwhether any of them had belonged to Rachel. In that place he slept a nightthinking that perhaps his journey was ended, and that here he would diewhere he believed Rachel had died. But when he waked at the dawn, it wasto find that something within him still drew him towards the north, morestrongly indeed than ever before.

  So he left what had been the town Mafooti. Walking along the edge of thecleft into which Ishmael had leapt on fire, he climbed the walls builtwith so much toil to keep out the Zulus, and at last came to the riverwhich Rachel had swum. It was low now, and wading it he entered Zululand.Here the natives seemed to know of his approach, for they gathered innumbers watching him, and put food in his path. But they would not speakto him, and when he addressed them saying that he followed a Dream andasking if they had seen the Dream, they cried out that he was _tagali_,bewitched, and fled away.

  He continued his journey, finding each night a hut prepared for him tosleep in, and food for him to eat, till at length one evening he reachedthe Great Place, Umgugundhlovu. Through its streets he marched with a setface, while thousands stared at him in silence. Then a captain pointed outa hut to him, and into it he entered, ate and slept. At dawn he rose, forhe knew that here he must not tarry; the spirit face of Rachel still hungbefore him, the spirit voice still whispered--"_Forward, forward to thenorth. I myself will be your guide_." In his path sat the King and hisCouncillors, and around them a regiment of men. He walked through themunheeding, till at length, when he was in front of the King, they barredhis road, and he halted.

  "Who art thou and what is thy business?" asked an old Councillor with awithered hand.

  "I am Richard Darrien," he answered, "and here I have no business. Ijourney to the north. Stay me not."

  "We know thee," said the Councillor, "thou art the lord Dario that didstdwell in the shadow of the Inkosazana. Thou art the white chief whom thewild beast, Ibubesi, slew at the kraal Mafooti. Why does thy ghost comehither to trouble us?"

  "Living or dead, ghost or man, I travel to the north. Stay me not," heanswered.

  "What seekest thou in the north, thou lord Dario?"

  "I seek a Dream; a Spirit leads me to find a Dream. Seest thou it not, Manwith the withered hand?"

  "Ah!" they repeated, "he seeks a Dream. A Spirit leads him to find a Dreamin the north."

  "What is this Dream like?" asked Mopo of the withered hand.

  "Come, stand at my side and look. There, dost thou see it floating in theair before us, thou who hast eyes that can read a Dream?"

  Mopo came and looked, then his knees trembled a little and he said:

  "Aye, lord Dario, I see and I know that face."

  "Thou knowest the face, old fool," broke in Dingaan angrily. "Then whoseis it?"

  "O King," answered Mopo, dropping his eyes, "it is not lawful to speak thename, but the face is the face of one who sat where that wanderer stands,and showed thee certain pictures in a bowl of water."

  Now Dingaan trembled, for the memory of those visions haunted him nightand day; moreover he thought at times that they drew near to theirfulfilment.

  "The white man is mad," he said, "and thou, Mopo, art mad also. I haveoften thought it, and that it would be well if thou wentest on a longjourney--for thy health. This Dario shall stay here a while. I will notsuffer him to wander through my land crazing the people with his tales ofdreams and visions. Take him and hold him; the Circle of the Doctors shallinquire into the matter."

  So Dingaan spoke, who in his heart was afraid lest this wild-eyed Darioshould learn that he had given the Inkosazana to the dwarf folk when shewas mad, to appease them after they had prophesied evil to him. Also heremembered that it was because of the murders done by Ibubesi that theInkosazana had gone mad, and did not understand if Dario had been killedat the kraal Mafooti how it could be that he now stood before him.Therefore he thought that he would keep him a prisoner until he found outall the truth of the matter, and whether he were still a man or a ghost ora wizard clothed in the shape of the dead.

  At the bidding of the King, guards sprang forward to seize Richard, butthe old Councillor, Mopo, shrunk away behind him hiding his eyes with hiswithered hand. They sprang forward, and yet they laid no finger on him,but fell oft to right and left, saying:

  "Kill us, if thou wilt, Black One, we cannot!"

  "The wizard has bewitched them," said Dingaan angrily. "Here, you Doctors,you whose trade it is to catch wizards, take this white fellow and bindhim."

  Unwillingly enough the Doctors, of whom there were eight or ten sittingapart, rose to do the King's bidding. They came on towards Richard, someof them singing songs, and some muttering charms, and as they came helaughed and said:

  "Beware! you _Abangoma_, the Dream is looking at you very angrily." Thenthey too broke away to right and left, crying out that this was a wizardagainst whom they had no power.

  Now Dingaan grew mad with wrath, and shouted to his soldiers to seize thewhite man, and if he resisted them to kill him with their sticks, for ofwitchcraft they had known enough in Zululand of late.

  So thick as bees the regiment formed up in front of him, shouting andwaving their kerries, for here in the King's Place they bore no spears.

  "Make way there,"
said Richard, "I can stay no longer, I must to thenorth."

  The soldiers did not stir, only a captain stepped out bidding him give uphis spear and yield himself, or be killed. Richard walked forward and at asign from the captain, men sprang at him, lifting their kerries, to dashout his brains. Then suddenly in front of Richard there appeared somethingfaint and white, something that walked before him. The soldiers saw it,and the kerries fell from their hands. The regiment behind saw it, andturning, burst away like a scared herd of cattle. They did not wait toseek the gates, they burst through the fence of the enclosure, and weregone, leaving it flat behind them. The King and his Councillors saw italso, and more clearly than the rest.

  _"The Inkosazana!"_ they cried. "It is the Inkosazana who walks before himthat she loved!" and they fell upon their faces. Only Dingaan remainedseated on his stool.

  "Go," he said hoarsely to Richard, "go, thou wizard, north or south oreast or west, if only thou wilt take that Spirit with thee, for she bodesevil to my land."

  So Richard, who had seen nothing, marched away from the kraalUmgugundhlovu, and once more set his face towards the north, the norththat drew him as it draws the needle of a compass.

  The road that Rachel and the dwarfs had travelled he travelled also.Although from day to day he knew not where his feet would lead him, stillhe travelled it step by step. Nor did any hurt come to him. In the countrywhere men dwelt, being forewarned of his coming by messengers, theybrought him food and guarded him, and when he passed out into thewilderness some other power guarded him. He had no fear at all. At nighthe would lie down without a fire, and the lions would roar about him, butthey never harmed him. He would plunge into a swamp or a river and alwayspass it safely. When water failed he would find it without search; whenthere was no food, it would seem to be brought to him. Once an eagledropped a bustard at his feet. Once he found a buck fresh slain byleopards. Once when he was very hungry he saw that he had laid down tosleep by a nest of ostrich eggs, and this food he cooked, making fireafter the native fashion with sharp sticks, as he knew how to do.

  At length all the swamps were passed and in the third week of hisjourneyings he reached the sloping uplands, on the edge of which he awokeone morning to find himself surrounded by a circle of great men, giants,who stood staring at him. He arose, thinking that at last his hour hadcome, as it seemed to him that they were about to kill him. But instead ofkilling him these huge men saluted him humbly, and offered him food upontheir knees, and new hide shoes for his feet--for his own were wornout--and cloaks and garments of skin, which things he accepted thankfully,for by now he was almost naked. Then they brought a litter and wished himto enter it, but this he refused. Heeding them no more, as soon as he hadeaten and filled his bag and water-bottle, he started on towards thenorth. Indeed, he could not have stayed if he had wished; his brain seemedto be full of one thought only, to travel till he reached his journey'send, whatever it might be, and before his eyes he saw one thing only, thespirit face of Rachel, that led him on towards that end. Sometimes it wasthere for hours, then for hours again it would be absent. When it waspresent he looked at it; when it was gone he dreamed of it, for him it wasthe same. But one thing was ever with him, that magnet in his heart whichdrew his feet towards the north, and from step to step showed him the roadthat he should travel.

  A number of the giant men accompanied him. He noticed it, but took noheed. So long as they did not attempt to stay or turn him he wasindifferent whether they came or went away. As a result he travelled inmuch more comfort, since now everything was made easy and ready for him.Thus he was fed with the best that the land provided, and at nightshelters were built for him to sleep in. He discovered that a captain ofthe giants could understand a few words of some native language which heknew, and asked him why they helped him. The captain replied by order of"Mother of Trees." Who or what "Mother of Trees" might be Richard wasunable to discover, so he gave up his attempts at talk and walked on.

  They traversed the fertile uplands and reached the edge of the fearfuldesert. It did not frighten him; he plunged into it as he would haveplunged into a sea, or a lake of fire, had it lain in his way. He was likea bird whose instinct at the approach of summer or of winter leads itwithout doubt or error to some far spot, beyond continents and oceans,some land that it has never seen, leads it in surety and peace to itsappointed rest. A guard of the giant men came with him into the desert,also carriers who bore skins of water. In that burning heat the journeywas dreadful, yet Richard accomplished it, wearing down all his escort,until at its further lip but one man was left. There even he sankexhausted and began to beat upon a little drum that he carried, which drumhad been passed on to him by those who were left behind. But Richard wasnot exhausted. His strength seemed to be greater than it had ever beenbefore, or that which drew him forward had acquired more power. Hewondered vaguely why a man should choose such a place and time to playupon a drum, and went on alone.

  Before him, some miles away, he saw a forest of towering trees thatstretched further than his eye could reach. As he approached that forestheading for a certain tall tree, why he knew not, the sunset dyed it redas though it had been on fire, and he thought that he discerned littleshapes flitting to and fro amidst the boles of trees. Then he entered theforest, whereof the boughs arched above him like the endless roof of acathedral borne upon innumerable pillars. There was deep gloom that grewpresently to darkness wherein here and there glow-worms shone faintly liketapers dying before an altar, and winds sighed like echoes of eveningprayers. He could see to walk no longer, sudden weariness overcame him, soaccording to his custom he laid himself down to sleep at the bole of agreat tree.

  A while had passed, he never knew how long, when Richard was awakened fromdeep slumber by feeling many hands fiercely at work upon him. These handswere small like those of children; this he could tell from the touch ofthem, although the darkness was so dense that he was able to see nothing.Two of them gripped him by the throat so as to prevent him from cryingout; others passed cords about his wrists, ankles and middle until hecould not stir a single limb. Then he was dragged back a few paces andlashed to the bole of a tree, as he guessed, that under which he had beensleeping. The hands let go of him, and his throat being free he called outfor help. But those vast forest aisles seemed to swallow up his voice. Itfell back on him from the canopy of huge boughs above, it was lost in theimmense silence. Only from close at hand he heard little peals of thin andmocking laughter. So he too grew silent, for who was there to help himhere? He struggled to loose himself, for the impalpable power which hadguided him so far was now at work within him more strongly than everbefore. It called to him to come, it drew him onward, it whispered to himthat the goal was near. But the more he writhed and twisted the deeper didthe cruel cords or creepers cut into his flesh. Yet he fought on till,utterly exhausted, his head fell forward, and he swooned away.