CHAPTER ONE.
THE TALE OF THE RED DEATH.
There was that about the look of your oxen just now, _Nkose_--shadowedlike black ghosts against the mist--that brought back to my old mind astrange and wonderful time. And the night is yet young. Nor will thattale take very long in telling, unless--ah, that tale is but the dooropening into a still greater one; but of that we shall see--yes, weshall see.
I have already unfolded to you, _Nkose_, all that befell at the Place ofthe Three Rifts, and how at that place we met in fierce battle androlled back the might of Dingane and thus saved the Amandebeli as anation. Also have I told the tale of how I gained the White Shield bysaving the life of a king, and how it in turn saved the life of anation. Further have I told how I took for principal wife Lalusini, thesorceress, in whose veins ran the full blood of the House ofSenzangakona, the royal House of Zululand, and whom I had first foundmaking strange and powerful _muti_ among the Bakoni, that disobedientpeople whom we stamped flat.
For long after these events there was peace in our land. The arm ofDingane was stretched out against us no more, and Umzilikazi, our king,who had meditated moving farther northward, had decided to sit still inthe great kraal, Kwa'zingwenya, yet a little longer. But though we hadpeace from our more powerful enemies, the King would not suffer themight of our nation to grow soft and weak for lack of practice in thearts of war--oh, no. The enrolling of warriors was kept up withunabated vigour, and the young men thus armed were despatched at once totry their strength upon tribes within striking distance, and even farbeyond the limits of the same. Many of these were mountain tribes,small in numbers, but brave and fierce, and gave our fiery youths justas much fighting as they could manage ere wetting their victoriousspears in blood.
Now, although we had peace from our more formidable foes, yet the mindof the King seemed not much easier on that account, for all fears as todisturbance from without being removed, it seemed that Umzilikazi wasnot wholly free from dread of conspiracy within. And, indeed, I haveobserved that it is ever so, _Nkose_. When the greater troubles whichbeset a man, and which he did not create, beset him no longer, does henot at once look around to see what troubles he can create for himself?_Whau_! I am old. I have seen.
So it was with Umzilikazi. The fear of Dingane removed, therecollection of the conspiracy of Tyuyumane and the others returned--that conspiracy to hand over our new nation to the invading Amabuna--that conspiracy which so nearly succeeded, and, indeed, would havecompletely, but for the watchfulness and craft of the old Mosutu witchdoctor. Wherefore, with this suspicion ever in the King's mind we,_izinduna_, seemed to have fallen upon uneasy times. Yet the principalobject of dislike and distrust to the Great Great One was not, in thefirst place, one of ourselves. No councillor or fighting man was it,but a woman--and that woman Lalusini, my principal wife.
"Ha, Untuswa!" would the King say, talking dark, but his tone full ofgloomy meaning. "Ha, Untuswa, but thine _amahlose_ [Tutelary spirits]watch over thee well. Tell me, now, where is there a man the might ofwhose spear and the terror of whose name sweeps the world--whoseslumbers are lulled by the magic of the mighty, and who is greater eventhan kings? Tell me, Untuswa, where is such a man?"
"I think such is to be found not far hence, Great Great One. Even inthis house," I answered easily, yet with a sinking fear of evil atheart, for his words were plain in their meaning; my successes in warsurpassed by none; my beautiful wife, the great sorceress of the Bakoni,the wandering daughter of Tshaka the Terrible. And his tone--ah, that,too, spoke.
"Even in this house! _Yeh bo_! Untuswa--thou sayest well," went on theKing softly, his head on one side, and peering at me with an expressionthat boded no good. "Even in this house! Ha! Name him, Untuswa. Namehim."
"Who am I that I should sport with the majesty of the King's name?" Ianswered. "Is not the son of Matyobane--the Founder of Mighty Nations--the Elephant of the Amandebeli--such a man? Doth not his spear rule theworld, and the terror of his name--_au_!--who would hear it and laugh?And is not the bearer of that name greater than other kings--greatereven than the mighty one of the root of Senzangakona--whose might hasfled before the brightness of the great king's head-ring? And again,who sleeps within the shadow of powerful and propitious magic but theFather and Founder of this great nation?"
"Very good, Untuswa. Very good. Yet it may be that the man of whom Iwas speaking is no king at all--great, but no king."
"No king at all! _Hau_! I know not such a man, Father of the World," Ianswered readily. "There is but one who is great, and that _is_ theKing. All others are small--small indeed."
I know not how much further this talk would have gone, _Nkose_; andindeed of it I, for my part, was beginning to have more than enough.For, ever now, when Umzilikazi summoned me to talk over matters ofstate, would he soon lead the conversation into such channels; and,indeed, I saw traps and pitfalls beneath every word. But now the voiceof an _inceku_--or household attendant--was heard without singing thewords of _sibonga_, and by the way in which he praised we knew hedesired to announce news of importance. At a sign from the King Iadmitted the man.
"There are men without, O Divider of the Sun," he began--when he hadmade prostration--"men from the kraals of Maqandi-ka-Mahlu, who beg theprotection of the King's wise ones. The Red Magic has been among themagain."
"Ha! The Red Magic!" said Umzilikazi, with a frown. "It seems I haveheard enough of such childish tales. Yet, let the dogs enter and whineout their own story."
Through the door of the royal dwelling, creeping on hands and knees,came two men. They were not of our blood, but of a number whom the Kinghad spared, with their wives and children, and had located in a regionsome three days to the northward as far as a swift walker could travel.It was a wild and mountainous land--a land of black cliffs andthunderous waterfalls--cold, and sunless, and frowning--a meet abode ofghosts and all evil things. Here they had been located, and, beingskilled in ironwork, were employed in forging spear-heads and axes forour nation. They were in charge of Maqandi-ka-Mahlu--a man of our race,and a chief--and who, having been "smelt out" by our witch doctors, theKing had spared--yet had banished in disgrace to rule over theseiron-workers in the region of ghosts and of gloom.
Their tale now was this: The stuff which they dug from the bowels of theearth to make the metal for our spears and axes was mostly procured in along, deep, gloomy valley, running right up into the heart of themountains. Here they bored holes and caves for digging the stuff. But,for some time past, they had not been able to go there--for the placehad become a haunt of _tagati_. A terrible ghost had taken up its abodein the caves, and did a man wander but the shortest space of time fromhis fellows, that man was never again seen.
He was seen, though, but not alive. His body was found weltering inblood, and ripped, not as with a spear, but as though by the horn of afierce and furious bull. This had befallen several times, and had dulybeen reported to the King--who would know everything--but Umzilikazionly laughed, saying that he cared nothing that the spirits of evilchose to devour, from time to time, such miserable prey as these slaves.There were plenty more of them, and if the wizard animals, who dwelt inthe mountains, wanted to slay such, why, let them.
But now, the tale which these men told was serious. They could no morego to that place for the terror which haunted it. They had triedkeeping together, so that none might fall a prey to the evil monster--and, for some while, none had. But there came a day when travellingthus, in a body close together, through the gloom of the forest, asudden and frightful roaring, as of the advance of a herd of savagebulls, burst upon them. Some fell, half dead with fear; others, cryingout that they could see fearful shapes, with gigantic horns and flamingeyes, moving among the trees, rushed blindly in all directions. Ofthirty men who had entered that dreadful valley, ten only came forth,nor of these could any be persuaded to return and see what had happenedto the remaining score. But the seer, Gasitye, who knew no terror ofthings of the other
world, had ventured in. Twenty bodies had he seen--lying scattered--no two together--no, not anywhere two together--and allhad died the Red Death.
"And was this by day or by night?" said the King, who had been listeningwith great attention to this tale.
"By day, O Ruler of the World. While yet the sun was straightoverhead," replied the men.
"Well, I care not," said Umzilikazi, with a sneer. "Go back now andcause your seer, Gasitye, to charm away that _tagati_, and that soon,lest I visit him and you with the fate of those who make witchcraft.Shall we keep a dog who cannot guard our house? For to what other usecan we turn such a dog? Begone."
There was despair upon the faces of the two messengers as the meaning ofthese words became plain to them--and in truth were they between twoperils, even as one who travels, and, being beset by a great fire,fleeth before it, only to find himself stopped by a mighty and ragingriver, whose flood he cannot hope to cross. Yet the man who had spoken,instead of immediate obedience, ventured further to urge his prayer withthe intrepidity and hopeless courage of such despair.
"Who are we that we should weary the ears of the Father of the Great?"he went on. "Yet, even a dog cannot entirely guard a house if he is buta small dog, and they who would enter are many and strong. He can butgive warning of their approach--and this is what we have done. But theKing's magicians are many and powerful, and ours are weak. Besides, OBlack Elephant, how shall metal be procured for the spears of the GreatGreat One's warriors, when the place where it is procured is guarded bythe horns of the ghost-bulls, who slay all who go in?"
Now, I thought those slaves must indeed have touched the lowest depth ofdespair and terror, that they dared to use such speech to the King. Andupon the countenance of Umzilikazi came that look which was wont to meanthat somebody would never behold another sun to rise.
"Enough!" he said, pointing at the two messengers with his short-handledspear. "Return ye hence. For the rest of you--hearken now, Untuswa.Send one half of thy regiment of `Scorpions' under an experiencedcaptain, that they may drive the whole of the people of Maqandi withinthis Ghost-Valley. Then let them draw a line across the month thereof,and slay every one who shall attempt to escape. So shall the people ofMaqandi either slay this ghost or be slain by it. I care not which.Go?"
I rose to carry out the King's orders, and upon the faces of thegrovelling messengers was an awful expression of set, hopeless despair.But, before I could creep through the low doorway, a sign fromUmzilikazi caused me to halt. At the same time, a frightful hubbubarose from without--the hubbub of a volume of deep, excited voices--mingled with a wild bellowing, which was enough to make a man deaf.
"I think these ghost-bulls are upon us, too," said the King, with anangry sneer. "Look forth, Untuswa, and see whether all the world hasgone mad."
Quickly I gained the gate in the woven fence which surrounded the_isigodhlo_. From far and near people were flocking, while the greatopen space within the kraal was becoming more and more densely packed;and, making their way through the blackness of the crowd, which partedeagerly to give them passage, came a weird and hideous throng, deckedwith horrid devices of teeth and claws and the skulls of beasts, theirbodies hung with clusters of bleeding entrails and all the foolerieswhich our _izanusi_ hang about themselves to strike terror into thefearful. These, leaping and bounding in the air, rushed forward till itseemed they were about to bear me down and pour into the _isigodhlo_itself. But they halted--halted almost in the very gate--and redoubledtheir bellowings, howling about the Valley of the Red Death and the woewhich should come upon our nation. And all the people, their facesturned earthward, howled in response. Looking upon this, I bethought methat there seemed truth in the King's words, and that all the world hadindeed gone mad. Making a sign to the _izanusi_ to desist theirhowlings--a sign, however, which they did not obey--I returned to theroyal presence to report what I had seen.
"Send my guard, Untuswa, to beat back this mob," said theKing. "This must be looked into. As for these"--pointing to themessengers--"custody them forth, for it may be I have further use forthem."
Quickly I went out to issue my orders, and hardly had I done so, thanthe King himself came forward, and making a sign to myself and two orthree other _izinduna_ to attend him, sat himself down at the head ofthe open space. The while the roars of _bonga_ which greeted hisappearance mingled with the howling of the gang of witch doctors and theshouting and blows of the royal guard, beating back the excited crowdwith their sticks and shields. In very truth, _Nkose_, it seemed asthough the whole nation were gathered there.
Suddenly a silence fell upon the multitude, and even the bellowing ofthe _izanusi_ was stayed, as there came through the throng, creepingupon their hands and knees, nearly a score of men. Their leader was afine and well-built warrior of middle age, whom I knew as a fierce andfearless fighter, and they had returned from "eating up" the kraal ofone of the subject tribes in accordance with the King's mandate. Nowthe leader reported having carried out his orders fully. The evil-doerswere destroyed, their houses burnt, and their cattle swept off asforfeit to the King.
"It is well," said Umzilikazi. "Yet not for that ye have obeyed yourorders has the whole nation gone mad."
"There is more to tell, Great Great One," answered the warrior, uponwhose countenance, and upon the countenances of his band, I could descrysigns of dread. "In returning we had to pass through the land ofMaqandi. Two of us fell to the Red Death."
"To the Red Death?" repeated the King, speaking softly and pleasantly."Ha! How and where was that, Hlatusa?"
Then the leader explained how he had allowed two of his followers towander into the Ghost Valley in pursuit of a buck they had wounded.They had not returned, and when sought for had been found lying somelittle distance apart, each terribly ripped and covered with blood, asthough they had been rolled in it.
"So?" said the King, who had been listening attentively with his head onone side. "So, Hlatusa? And what did you do next, Hlatusa?"
"This, Black Elephant," answered the man. "Every corner of that_tagati_ place did we search, but found in it no living thing that couldhave done this--ghost or other. In every cave and hole we penetrated,but nothing could we find, Father of the Wise."
"In this instance, Father of the Fools," sneered Umzilikazi, a black andterrible look taking the place of the pleasant and smiling expressionhis face had hitherto worn. "Yet, stay. What else did you find there?No sign, perchance?"
"There was a sign, Divider of the Sun," replied Hlatusa, who nowconsidered himself, and they that were with him, already dead. "Therewas a sign. The hoof-mark as of a huge bull was imprinted in the groundbeside the bodies."
"And wherefore did ye not rout out that bull and return hither with hishead, O useless ones?" said the King.
"No bull was it, but a ghost, Great Great One," replied the leader. Andthey who had been with him murmured strongly in support of his words.
"Now have I heard enough," said Umzilikazi. "You, Hlatusa, you I sendforth at the head of twenty men, and you return, having lost two--not onthe spears of a fighting enemy, but in strange fashion. And no one doye hold accountable for this, but return with a child-tale about ghostsand the hoof-mark of a ghost-bull. _Hamba gahle_, Hlatusa. Thealligators are hungry. _Take him hence_!"
With these fatal words the throng of slayers sprang forward to seizehim. But Hlatusa waited not to be seized. Rising, he saluted the King;then turning, he stalked solemnly and with dignity to his doom--downthrough the serried ranks of the people, down through the further gateof the kraal, away over the plain, keeping but two paces in front of hisguards. A dead silence fell upon all, and every face was turned hisway. We saw him stand for a moment on the brow of the cliff whichoverhung the Pool of the Alligators, wherein evil-doers were cast. Thenwe saw him leap; and in the dead silence it seemed we could hear thesplash--the snapping of jaws and the rush through the water of thosehorrible monsters, now ever ravening for the flesh of men.
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