CHAPTER XXIV
THE END AND THE BEGINNING
On the day following that when she had summoned Eddo to speak with her,Nya sat at the mouth of the cave. It was late afternoon, and already theshadows gathered so quickly that save for her white hair, her littlechildlike shape, withered now almost to a skeleton, was scarcely visibleagainst the black rock. Walking to and fro in her aimless fashion, as shewould do for hours at a time, Rachel accompanied by Noie passed andrepassed her, till at length the old woman lifted her head and listened tosomething which was quite inaudible to their ears. Then she beckoned toNoie, who led Rachel to her.
"Maiden beloved," she said in a feeble voice, after they had sat down infront of her, "my hour has come, I have sent for thee to bid thee farewelltill we meet again in a country where thou hast travelled for a littlewhile. Before the sun sets I pass within the Fence."
At this tidings Rachel began to weep, for she had learned to love this olddwarf-woman who had been so kind to her in her misery, and she was now soweak that she could not restrain her fears.
"Mother," she said, "for thee it is joy to go. I know it, and thereforecannot wish that thou shouldst stay. Yet what shall I do when thou hastleft me alone amidst all these cruel folk? Tell me, what shall I do?"
"Perchance thou wilt seek another helper. Maiden, and perchance thou shallfind another to guard and comfort thee. Follow thy heart, obey thy heart,and remember the last words of Nya--that no harm shall come to thee.Nay--if I know it, I may tell thee no more, thou who couldst not hear whatthe drums said to me but now. Farewell," and turning round she made a signto certain dwarf-mutes who were gathered behind her as though they awaitedher commands.
"Hast thou no last word for me, Mother?" asked Noie.
"Aye, Child," she answered. "Thy heart is very bold, and thou also mustfollow it. Though thy sin should be great, perchance thy greater love maypay its price. At least thou art but an arrow set upon the string, andthat which must be, will be. I think that we shall meet again ere long.Come hither and kneel at my side."
Noie obeyed, and for a little space Nya whispered in her ear, while as shelistened Rachel saw strange lights shining in Noie's eyes, lights ofterror and of pride, lights of hope and of despair.
"What did she say to you, Noie?" asked Rachel presently.
"I may not tell, Zoola," she answered. "Question me no more."
Now the mutes brought forward a slight litter woven of boughs on which thewithered leaves still hung, boughs from Nya's fallen tree. In this litterthey placed her, for she could no longer walk, and lifted it on to theirshoulders. For one moment she bade them halt, and calling Rachel and Noieto her, kissed them upon the brow, holding up her thin child-like handsover them in blessing. Then followed by them both, the bearers wentforward with their burden, taking the road that ran up the hill towardsthe sacred tree. As the sun set they passed within the Fence, and layingdown the litter without a word by the bole of the tree, turned anddeparted.
The darkness fell, and through it Rachel and Noie heard Nya singing for alittle while. The song ceased, and they descended the hill to the cave,for there they feared to stay lest the Tree should draw them also. Theyate a little food whilst the two women mutes who had sat on each side ofNya when she showed her magic, stared, now at them, and now into the bowlsof dew that were set before them, wherein they seemed to find somethingthat interested them much. Noie prayed Rachel to sleep, and she tried todo so, and could not. For hour after hour she tossed and turned, and atlength sat up, saying to Noie:
"I have fought against it, and I can stay here no longer. Noie, I ambeing drawn from this place out into the forest, and I must go."
"What draws thee, Sister?" asked Noie. "Is it Eddo?"
"No, I think not, nothing to do with Eddo. Oh! Noie, Noie, it is thespirit of Richard Darrien. He is dead, but for days and weeks his spirithas been with my spirit, and now it draws me into the forest to die andfind him."
"Then that is an evil journey thou wouldst take, Zoola?"
"Not so, Noie, it is the best and happiest of journeys. The thought of itfills me with joy. What said Nya? Follow thy heart. So I follow it. Noie,farewell, for I must go away."
"Nay," answered Noie, "if thou goest I go, who also was bidden to followmy heart that is sister to thy heart."
Rachel reasoned with her, but she would not listen. The end of it was thatthe two of them rose and threw on their cloaks; also Rachel took the greatUmkulu spear which she had used as a staff on her journey from the desertto the forest. All this while the dwarf-women watched her, but didnothing, only watched.
They left the cave and walked to the mouth of the zig-zag slit in thegreat wall which was open.
"Perhaps the mutes will kill us in the heart of the wall," said Noie.
"If so the end will be soon and swift," answered Rachel.
Now they were in the cleft, following its slopes and windings. Above themthey could hear the movements of the guardians of the wall who sat amongstthe rough stones, but these did not try to stop them; indeed once or twicewhen they did not know which way to turn in the darkness, little handstook hold of Rachel's cloak and guided her. So they passed through thewall in safety. Outside of it Rachel paused a moment, looking this way andthat. Then of a sudden she turned and walked swiftly towards the south.
It was dark, densely dark in the forest, yet she never seemed to lose herpath. Holding Noie by the hand she wound in and out between thetree-trunks without stumbling or even striking her foot against a root.For an hour or more they walked on this, the strangest of strangejourneys, till at length Rachel whispered;
"Something tells me to stay here," and she leaned against a tree andstayed, while Noie, who was tired, sat down between the jutting roots ofthe tree.
It was a dead tree, and the top of it had been torn off in some hurricaneso that they could see the sky above them, and by the grey hue of it knewthat it was drawing near to dawn.
The sun rose, and its arrows, that even at midday could never pass thecanopy of foliage, shot straight and vivid between the tall bare trunks.Oh! Rachel knew the place. It was that place which she had dreamed of as achild in the island of the flooded river. Just so had the light of therising sun fallen on the boles of the great trees, and on her white cloakand out-spread hair, fallen on her and on another. She strained her eyesinto the gloom. Now those rays pierced it also, and now by them she sawthe yellow-bearded, half-naked man of that long-dead dream leaning againstthe tree. His eyes were shut, without doubt he was dead, this was but avision of him who had drawn her hither to share his death. It was thespirit of Richard Darrien!
She drew a little nearer, and the eyes opened, gazing at her. Also fromthat form of his was cast a long shadow--there it lay upon the deadleaves. How came it, she wondered, that a spirit could throw a shadow, andwhy was a spirit bound to a tree, as now she perceived he was? He saw her,and in those grey eyes of his there came a wonderful look. He spoke.
"You have drawn me from far, Rachel, but I have never seen all of youbefore, only your face floating in the air before me, although others sawyou. Now I see you also, so I suppose that my time has come. It will soonbe over. Wait a little there, where I can look at you, and presently weshall be together again. I am glad."
Rachel could not speak. A lump rose in her throat and choked her. Betwixtfear and hope her heart stood still. Only with the spear in her hand shepointed at her own shadow thrown by the level rays of the rising sun. Helooked, and notwithstanding the straitness of his bonds she saw him start.
"If you are a ghost why have you a shadow?" he asked hoarsely. "And if youare not a ghost, how did you come into this haunted place?"
Still Rachel did not seem to be able to speak. Only she glided up to himand kissed him on the lips. Now at length he understood--they bothunderstood that they were still living creatures beneath the sky, not thedenizens of some dim world which lies beyond.
"Free me," he said in a faint voice, for his brain reeled. "I was boundhere in my sleep. Th
ey will be back presently."
Her intelligence awoke. With a few swift cuts of the spear she held Rachelsevered his bonds, then picked up his own assegai that lay at his feet shethrust it into his numbed hand. As he took it the forest about them seemedto become alive, and from behind the boles of the trees around appeared anumber of dwarfs who ran towards them, headed by Eddo. Noie sprang forwardalso, and stood at their side. Rachel turned on Eddo swiftly as a startleddeer. She seemed to tower over him, the spear in her hand.
"What does this mean, Priest?" she asked.
"Inkosazana," he answered humbly, "it means that I have found a way totempt thee from within the Wall where none might break thy sanctuary. Thoudrewest this man to thee from far with the strength that old Nya gavethee. We knew it all, we saw it all, and we waited. Day by day in ourbowls of dew we watched him coming nearer to thee. We heard the messagesof Nya on the drums, bidding the Umkulu meet and escort him; we heard thelast answering message from the borders of the desert, telling her that hewas nigh. Then while he followed his magic path through the darkness ofthe forest we seized and bound him, knowing well that if he could not cometo thee, thou wouldst come to him. And thou hast come."
"I understand. What now, Eddo?"
"This, Inkosazana: Thou hast been named Mother of the Trees by the peopleof the Dwarfs; be pleased to come with us that we may instal thee in thygreat office."
"This lord here," said Rachel, "is my promised husband. What of him?"
Eddo bowed and smiled, a fearful smile, and answered:
"The Mother of the Trees has no husband. Wisdom is her husband. He hasserved his purpose, which was to draw thee from within the Wall, and forthis reason only we permitted him to enter the holy forest living. Now hebides here to die, and since he has won thy love we will honour him withthe White Death. Bind him to the tree again."
In an instant the spear that Rachel held was at Eddo's throat.
"Dwarf," she cried, "this is my man, and I am no Mother of Trees and nopale ghost, but a living woman. Let but one of these monkeys of thine laya hand upon him, and thou diest, by the Red Death, Eddo, aye, by the RedDeath. Stir a single inch, and this spear goes through thy heart, and thyspirit shall be spilled with thy blood."
The little priest sank to his knees trembling, glancing about him for ameans of escape.
"If thou killest me, thou diest also," he hissed.
"What do I care if I die?" she answered. "If my man dies, I wish to die,"then added in English: "Richard, take hold of him by one arm, and Noie,take the other. If he tries to escape kill him at once, or if you areafraid, I will."
So they seized him by his arms.
"Now," said Rachel, "let us go back to the Sanctuary, for there they darenot touch, us. We cannot try the desert without water; also they wouldfollow and kill us with their poisoned arrows. Tell them, Noie, that ifthey do not attempt to harm us, we will set this priest of theirs freewithin the Wall. But if a hand is lifted against us, then he dies atonce--by the Red Death."
"Touch them not, touch them not," piped Eddo, "lest my ghost should bespilt with my blood. Touch them not, I command you."
The company of dwarfs chattered together like parrots at the dawn, and themarch began. First went Eddo, dragged along between Richard and Noie, andafter them, the raised spear in her hand, followed Rachel, while on eitherside, hiding themselves behind the boles of the trees, scrambled thepeople of the dwarfs. Back they went thus through the forest, Racheltelling them the road till at length the huge grey wall loomed up beforethem. They came to the slit in it, and Noie asked:
"What shall we do now? Kill this priest, take him in with us as a hostage,or let him go?"
"I said that he should be set free," answered Rachel, "and he would do usmore harm dead than living; also his blood would be on our hands. Take himthrough the Wall, and loose him there."
So once more they passed the slopes and passages, while the mutes abovewatched them from their stones with marvelling eyes, till they reached theopen space beyond, and there they loosed Eddo. The priest sprang back outof reach of the dreaded spears, and in a voice thick with rage, cried tothem:
"Fools! You should have killed me while you could, for now you are in atrap, not I. You are strong and great, but you cannot live without food.We may not enter here to hurt you, but you shall starve, you shall starveuntil you creep out and beg my mercy."
Then making signs to the dwarfs who sat about above, he vanished betweenthe stones.
"You should have killed him, Zoola," said Noie, "for now he will live tokill us."
"I think not, Sister," answered Rachel. "Nya said that I should follow myheart, and my heart bid me let him go. Our hands are clean of his blood,but if he had died, who can tell? Blood is a bad seed to sow."
Then, forgetting Eddo, she turned to Richard and began to ply him withquestions.
But he seemed to be dazed and could answer little. It was as though someunnatural, supporting strength had been withdrawn, and now all thefatigues of his fearful journey were taking effect upon him. He couldscarcely stand, but reeled to and fro like a man in drink, so that the twowomen were obliged to support him across the burial ground towards thecave. Advancing thus they entered into the shadow of the Holy Tree, andthere at the edge of it met another procession descending from the mound.Eight mutes bore a litter of boughs, and on it lay Nya, dead, her longwhite hair hanging down on either side of the litter. With bowed headsthey stood aside to let her pass to the grave made ready for her in aplace of honour near the Wall where for a thousand years only the Mothersof the Trees had been laid to rest.
Then they went on, and entered the cave where the lamps burned before thegreat stalactite and the heap of offerings that were piled about it. Heresat the two women priests gazing into their bowls as they had left them.The death of Nya had not moved them, the advent of this white man did notseem to move them. Perhaps they expected him; at any rate food was madeready, and a bed of rugs prepared on which he could lie.
Richard ate some of the food, staring at Rachel all the while with vacanteyes as though she were still but a vision, the figment of a dream. Thenhe muttered something about being very tired, and sinking back upon therugs fell into a deep sleep.
In that sleep he remained scarcely stirring for full four-and-twentyhours, while Rachel watched by his side, till at length her wearinessovercame her, and she slept also. When she opened her eyes again they sawno other light than that which crept in from the mouth of the cave. Thelamps which always burned there were out. Noie, who was seated near by,heard her stir, and spoke.
"If thou art rested, Zoola," she said, "I think that we had better carrythe white lord from this place, for the two witch-women have gone, and Ican find no more oil to fill the lamps."
So they felt their way to Richard, purposing to lift him between them, butat Rachel's touch he awoke, and with their help walked out of the cave. Inthe open space beyond they saw a strange sight, for across it werestreaming all the dwarf-mutes carrying their aged and sick and infants,and bearing on their backs or piled up in litters their mats and cookingutensils. Evidently they were deserting the Sanctuary.
"Why are they going?" asked Rachel.
"I do not know," answered Noie, "but I think it is because no food hasbeen brought to them as usual, and they are hungry. You remember that Eddosaid we should starve. Only fear of death by hunger would make them leavea place where they and their forefathers have lived for generations."
Presently they were all gone. Not a living creature was left within theWall except these three, nor were any more dwarfs brought in to diebeneath the Holy Tree. Now, at length Richard seemed to awake, and takingRachel by the hand began to ask questions of her in a low stammeringvoice, since words did not seem to come readily to him who had not spokenhis own language for so long.
"Before you begin to talk, Sister," broke in Noie, "let us go and see ifwe can close the cleft in the Wall, for otherwise how shall we sleep inpeace? Eddo and the dwarfs might creep in by night and
murder us."
"I do not think they dare shed blood in their Holy Place," answeredRachel. "Still, let us see what we can do; it may be best."
So they went to the cleft, and as the stone door was open and they couldnot shut it, at one very narrow spot they rolled down rocks from the loosesides of the ancient wall above in such a fashion that it would bedifficult to pass through or over them from without. This hard task tookthem many hours, moreover, it was labour wasted, since, as Rachel hadthought probable, the dwarfs never tried to pass the Wall, but waited tillhunger forced them to surrender.
Towards evening they returned to the cave and collected what food theycould find. It was but little, enough for two spare meals, no more; norcould they discover any in the town of the dwarfs behind the Tree. Only ofwater they had plenty from the stream that ran out of the cave.
They ate a few mouthfuls, then took their mats and cloaks and went to campby the opening in the wall, so that they might guard against surprise. Nowfor the first time they found leisure to talk, and Rachel and Richard toldeach other a little of their wonderful stories. But they did not tell themall, for their minds seemed to be bewildered, and there was much that theywere not able to explain. It was enough for them to know that they hadbeen brought together again thus marvellously, by what power they knewnot, and that still living, they who for long weeks had deemed the otherdead, were able to hold each other's hands and gaze into each other'seyes. Moreover, now that this had been brought about they were tired, sotired that they could scarcely speak above a whisper. The end of it wasthat they fell asleep, all of them, and so slept till morning, when theyawoke somewhat refreshed, and ate what remained of the food.
The second day was like the first, only hotter and more sultry. Noieclimbed to the top of the wall to watch, while Richard and Rachel wanderedabout among the little, antheap-like graves, and through the dwarfvillage, talking and wondering, happy even in their wretchedness. Butbefore the day was gone hunger began to get a hold of them; also theterrible, stifling heat oppressed them so that their words seemed to diebetween their lips, and they could only sit against the wall, looking atone another.
Towards evening Noie descended from the Wall and reported that largenumbers of the dwarfs were keeping watch without, flitting to and frobetween the trunks of the trees like shadows. The stifling night went by,and another day dawned. Having no food they went to the stream and drankwater. Then they sat down in the shadow and waited through the long hothours. Towards evening, when it grew a little cooler, they gathered uptheir strength and tried to find some way of escape before it was toolate. Richard suggested that as flight was impossible they should givethemselves up to the dwarfs, but Rachel answered No, for then Eddo wouldcertainly kill him and Noie, and take her to fill the place of Mother ofthe Trees until she became useless to him, when she would be murderedalso.
"Then there is nothing left for us but to die," said Richard.
"Nothing but to die," she answered, "to die together; and, dear, thatshould not be so hard, seeing that for so long we have thought each otherdead apart."
"Yet it is hard," answered Richard, "after living through so much andbeing led so far to die at last and go whither we know not, before ourtime."
Rachel looked at Noie, who sat opposite to them, her head rested on herhand.
"Have you anything to say, Sister?" she asked.
"Yes, Zoola. Here is a little moss that I have found upon the stones," andshe produced a small bundle. "Let us boil it and eat, it will keep usalive for another day."
"What is the use?" asked Rachel, "unless there is more."
"There is no more," said Noie, "for the leaves of yonder tree are deadlypoison, and here grows no other living thing. Still, eat and live on, forI wait a message."
"A message from whom?" asked Rachel.
"A message from the dead, Sister. It was promised to me by Nya before shepassed, and if it does not come, then it will be time to die."
So they made fire and boiled the moss till it was a horrible, stickysubstance, which they swallowed as best they could, washing it down withgulps of water. Still it was food of a kind, and for a while stayed thegnawing, empty pains within them; only Noie ate but little, so that theremight be more for the others.
That night was even hotter than those that had gone before, and during theday which followed the place became like a hell. They crept into the caveand lay there gasping, while from without came loud cracking sounds,caused, as they thought, by the trees of the forest splitting in the heat.About midday the sky suddenly became densely overcast, although no breathstirred; the air was thicker than ever, to breathe it was like breathinghot cream. In their restless despair they wandered out of the cave, and totheir surprise saw a dwarf standing upon the top of the wall. It was Eddo,who called to them to come out and give themselves up.
"What are the terms?" asked Noie.
"That thou and the Wanderer shall die by the White Death, and that theInkosazana shall be installed Mother of the Trees," was the answer.
"We refuse them," said Noie. "Let us go now and give us food and escort,and thou shall be spared. Refuse, and it is thou and thy people who willdie by that Red Death which Nya promised thee."
"That we shall learn before to-morrow," said Eddo with a mocking laugh,and vanished down the wall.
As he went a hot gust of wind burst upon them, causing the forest withoutto rock and groan. Noie turned her face towards it and seemed to listen.
"What is it?" asked Rachel.
"I heard a voice in the wind, Sister," she answered. "The message Iawaited has come to me."
"What message?" asked Richard listlessly.
"That I will tell you by and by, Chief," she answered. "Come to the cave,it is no longer safe here, the hurricane breaks."
So supporting each other they crept back to the cave, and there Noie madefire, feeding it with the idols and precious woods that had been broughtthither as offerings. Richard and Rachel watched her wondering, for itseemed strange that she should make a fire in that heat where there wasnothing to cook. Meanwhile gust succeeded gust, until a tempest ofscreaming wind swept over them, though no rain fell. Soon it was so fiercethat the deep-rooted Tree of the Tribe rocked above them, and loose stoneswere blown from the crest of the great wall.
Then of a sudden Noie sprang up, and seized a flaming brand from the fire;it was the limb of a fetish, made of some resinous wood. She ran from thecave swiftly, before they could stop her, and vanished in the gatheringgloom, to return again in a few moments weak and breathless. "Come out,now," she said, "and see a sight such as you shall never behold again,"and there was something so strange in her voice that, notwithstandingtheir weakness, they rose and followed her.
Outside the cave they could not stand because of the might of thehurricane, but cast themselves upon the ground, and following Noie'soutstretched arm, looked up towards the top of the mound. Then they sawthat the Tree of the Tribe was _on fire_. Already its vast trunk andboughs were wrapped in flame, which burnt furiously because of the resinwithin them, while long flakes of blazing moss were being swept away toleeward, to fall among the forest that lay beyond the wall.
"Did you do this?" cried Rachel to Noie.
"Aye, Zoola, who else? That was the message which came to me. Now myoffice is fulfilled, but you two will live though I must die, I who havedestroyed the People of the Dwarfs; I who was born that I should destroythem."
"Destroyed them!" exclaimed Rachel. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that when their Tree dies, they die, the whole race of them. Oh!Nya told me, Nya told me--they die as their Tree dies, by fire. To theWall, to the Wall now, and look. Follow me."
Forgetting their hunger-bred weakness in the wild excitement of thatmoment, Rachel and Richard struggled hand in hand, after Noie's thin,ethereal form. Across the open space they struggled, through the furiousbufferings of the gale, sometimes on their feet, sometimes on their handsand knees, till they came to the great wall where a stairway ran up it toan
outlook tower. Up this stair they climbed slowly since at times theweight of the wind pinned them against the blocks of stone, till at lengththey reached its crest and crept into the shelter of the hollow tower.Hence, looking through the loopholes in the ancient masonry, they saw afearful sight. The flakes of burning moss from the Tree of the Tribe hadfallen among the tops of the forest, parched almost to tinder with droughtand heat, and fired them here and there. Fanned by the screaming gale theflames spread rapidly, leaping from tree to tree, now in one direction,now in another, as the hurricane veered, which it did continually, tillthe whole green forest became a sheet of fire, an ever-widening sheetwhich spread east and west and north and south for miles and miles andtens of miles.
Earth and sky were one blaze of light given out by the torch-like resinoustrees as they burned from the top downwards. By that intense light thethree watchers could see hundreds of the People of the Dwarfs flittingabout between the trunks. Waving their arms and gibbering, they rushedthis way and that, to the north to be met by fire, to the south to be metby fire, till at length the blazing boughs and boles fell upon them andthey disappeared in showers of red sparks, or, more fortunate, fled away,never to return, before the flame that leapt after them. One company ofthem ran towards the Sanctuary; they could see them threading their pathbetween the trees, and growing ever fewer as the burning branches fellamong them from above. They leapt, they ran, they battled, springing thisway and that, but ever the great flaring boughs crashed down among them,crushing them, shrivelling them up, till at length of all their number buta single man staggered into the open belt between the edge of the forestand the wall. His white hair and his garments seemed to be smouldering. Hegripped at them with his hands, then coming to a little bush--it was thetop of Nya's tree which she had thrust into the ground to growthere--dragged it up and began to beat himself with it as though toextinguish the flames. In an instant it took fire also, burning himhorribly, so that with a yell he threw it to the ground, and ran ontowards the wall. As he came they saw his face. It was that of Eddo.
At this moment, seized by some sudden weakness, Noie sank down upon thestones. Richard bent over her to lift her to her feet again, but shethrust him away, saying slowly and in gasps:
"Let me be, the doom has hold of me, I am dying. I passed within the Fenceto fire the Tree, and its poison is at work within me, and the curse ofall my people has fallen on my head. Yet I have saved thee, my sister, Ihave saved thee and thy lover, for the Dwarfs are no more, the Grey Peopleare grey ashes. For my love's sake I did the sin; let my love atone thesin if it may, or at the least think kindly of me through the long, happyyears that are to come, and at the end of them then seek for lost Noie inthe World of Ghosts if she may be found there."
As she spoke they heard a sound of something scrambling among the stones,and at one of the four entrances of the turret there appeared a hideous,fire-twisted face, and a little form about which hung charred andsmouldering strips of raiment. It was Eddo, who had climbed the wall andfound them out. There he sat glowering at them, or rather at Noie, who wascrouched upon the floor.
"Come hither, daughter of Seyapi," he screamed in his hissing, snake-likevoice, "come hither, and see thy work, thou who hast made an end of theancient People of the Ghosts. Come hither and tell me why thou didst thisthing, for I would learn the truth before I die, that I may make report ofit to the Fathers of our race."
Noie heard, and crept towards him; to Rachel and Richard it seemed asthough she could not disobey that summons. Now they sat face to faceoutside the turret, clinging to the stones, and her long hair flowedoutwards on the gale.
"I did it, Eddo," she said, "to save one whom I love, and him whom sheloves. I did it to avenge the death of Nya upon you all, as she bade me todo. I did it because the cup of thy wickedness is full, and because I wasappointed to bring thy doom upon thee. Thus ends the greatness thou hastplotted so many years to win, Eddo."
"Aye," he answered, "thus it ends, for the magic of the White One therehas overcome me, and thus with it ends the reign of the Ghost Kings, andthe forest wherein they reigned, and thus too, thou endest, traitress, whohast murdered them and whose soul shall be spilt with their souls."
As the words left his lips suddenly Eddo sprang upon Noie and gripped herabout the middle. Richard and Rachel leapt forward, but before ever theycould lay a hand upon her to save her, the dwarf in his rage and agony haddragged her to the edge of the wall. For a moment they struggled there inthe vivid light of the flaming forest. Then Eddo screamed aloud, one wildsavage shriek, and still holding Noie in his arms hurled himself from thewall, to fall crushed upon its foundation stones sixty feet beneath.
Thus perished Noie, who, for love's sake, gave her life to save Rachel, asonce Rachel had saved her.
* * * * *
It was morning, and after the tempest the sky was clear and cool, forheavy rain had fallen when the wind dropped, although far away the denseclouds of rolling smoke showed where the great fire still ate into theheart of the forest. Rachel and Richard, seated hand in hand in the littletower on the wall, looked at one another in that pure light, and saw signsin each other's face that could not be mistaken.
"What shall we do?" asked Richard. "Death is very near to us."
Rachel thought awhile, then answered:
"The dwarfs are gone, we have nothing more to fear from them. Yonder wherethe fire did not burn, dwell their slaves, whose villages are full offood, and beyond them live the Umkulu, who know and would befriend me. Letus go and seek food who desire to live on together, if we may."
So they climbed down the wall, and with difficulty, for they were veryfeeble, crawled over the stones which they had piled up in the passage tokeep out the dwarfs, and thus passed to the open belt beyond. A strangescene met their eyes, all the wide lands that had been covered with gianttrees were now piled over with white ashes amongst which, here and there,stood a black and smouldering trunk. The journey was terrible, butfollowing a ridge of rock whereon no great trees had grown, hand in handthey passed through the outer edge of the burnt forest in safety, untilthey came to one of the towns of the slaves upon the fertile plain beyond,which led up to the desert. No human being could they see, since all hadfled, but the kraal was full of sheep and cattle that had been pennedthere before the fire began, and in the huts were milk and food in plenty.They drank of the milk and, after a while, ate a little, then rested anddrank more milk, till their strength began to return to them. Towardsevening they went out of the town, and standing on a mound looked at thefire-wasted plain behind, and the green, grassy slopes in front.
They seemed quite alone in the world, those two, and yet their hearts werefull of joy and thankfulness, for while they were left to each other theyknew that they could never be alone.
"See, Rachel," said Richard, pointing to the smouldering wreck of theforest, "there lies our past, and here in front of us spreads the futureclothed with flowers."
"Yes, Richard," she answered, "but Noie and all whom I love save you areburied in that past, and in front of us the desert is not far away."
"Life is ours, Rachel, and love is ours, and that which saved us throughmany a danger and brought me back to you, will surely keep us safe. Do youfear to pass the desert at my side?"
She looked at him with shining eyes, and answered:
"No, Richard, I fear no more, for now I seem to hear the voice of Noiespeaking in my heart, telling me that trouble is behind us, and that weshall live out our lives together, as my mother foresaw that we shoulddo."
And there on the mound, standing between that dead sea of ashes and thegreen slopes of flowering plain, Rachel stretched out her arms to the manto whom she was decreed.
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