CHAPTER IX
THE MEETING IN THE DESERT
Now I do not propose to describe all our journey to Kendahland, or atany rate the first part thereof. It was interesting enough in its wayand we met with a few hunting adventures, also some others. But there isso much to tell of what happened to us after we reached the place thatI have not the time, even if I had the inclination to set all thesematters down. Let it be sufficient, then, to say that although owingto political events the country happened to be rather disturbed at thetime, we trekked through Zululand without any great difficulty. Forhere my name was a power in the land and all parties united to help me.Thence, too, I managed to dispatch three messengers, half-bred bordermen, lean fellows and swift of foot, forward to the king of the Mazitu,as Hans had suggested that I should do, advising him that his oldfriends, Macumazana, Watcher-by-Night, and the yellow man who was namedLight-in-Darkness and Lord-of-the-Fire, were about to visit him again.
As I knew we could not take the wagons beyond a certain point wherethere was a river called the Luba, unfordable by anything on wheels, Irequested him, moreover, to send a hundred bearers with whatever escortmight be necessary, to meet us on the banks of that river at a spotwhich was known to both of us. These words the messengers promised todeliver for a fee of five head of cattle apiece, to be paid on theirreturn, or to their families if they died on the road, which cattle wepurchased and left in charge of a chief, who was their kinsman. As ithappened two of the poor fellows did die, one of them of cold in a swampthrough which they took a short cut, and the other at the teeth of ahungry lion. The third, however, won through and delivered the message.
After resting for a fortnight in the northern parts of Zululand, to givetime to our wayworn oxen to get some flesh on their bones in the warmbushveld where grass was plentiful even in the dry season, we trekkedforward by a route known to Hans and myself. Indeed it was thesame which we had followed on our journey from Mazituland after ourexpedition in search for the Holy Flower.
We took with us a small army of Zulu bearers. This, although they weredifficult to feed in a country where no corn could be bought, provedfortunate in the end, since so many of our cattle died from tsetse bitethat we were obliged to abandon one of the wagons, which meant thatthe goods it contained must be carried by men. At length we reached thebanks of the river, and camped there one night by three tall peaksof rock which the natives called "The Three Doctors," where I hadinstructed the messengers to tell the Mazitu to meet us. For four dayswe remained here, since rains in the interior had made the river quiteimpassable. Every morning I climbed the tallest of the "Doctors" andwith my glasses looked over its broad yellow flood, searching the wide,bush-clad land beyond in the hope of discovering the Mazitu advancing tomeet us. Not a man was to be seen, however, and on the fourth evening,as the river had now become fordable, we determined that we would crosson the morrow, leaving the remaining wagon, which it was impossible todrag over its rocky bottom, to be taken back to Natal by our drivers.
Here a difficulty arose. No promise of reward would induce any of ourZulu bearers even to wet their feet in the waters of this River Luba,which for some reason that I could not extract from them they declaredto be _tagati_, that is, bewitched, to people of their blood. When Ipointed out that three Zulus had already undertaken to cross it, theyanswered that those men were half-breeds, so that for them it was onlyhalf bewitched, but they thought that even so one or more of them wouldpay the penalty of death for this rash crime.
It chanced that this happened, for, as I have said, two of the poorfellows did die, though not, I think, owing to the magical propertiesof the waters of the Luba. This is how African superstitions are keptalive. Sooner or later some saying of the sort fulfils itself and thenthe instance is remembered and handed down for generations, whileother instances in which nothing out of the common has occurred are notheeded, or are forgotten.
This decision on the part of those stupid Zulus put us in an awkwardfix, since it was impossible for us to carry over all our baggage andammunition without help. Therefore glad was I when before dawn on thefifth morning the nocturnal Hans crept into the wagon, in the afterpart of which Ragnall and I were sleeping, and informed us that he heardmen's voices on the farther side of the river, though how he could hearanything above that roar of water passed my comprehension.
At the first break of dawn again we climbed the tallest of the "Doctor"rocks and stared into the mist. At length it rolled away and there onthe farther side of the river I saw quite a hundred men who by theirdress and spears I knew to be Mazitu. They saw me also and raising acheer, dashed into the water, groups of them holding each other roundthe middle to prevent their being swept away. Thereupon our silly Zulusseized their spears and formed up upon the bank. I slid down the steepside of the "Great Doctor" and ran forward, calling out that these werefriends who came.
"Friends or foes," answered their captain sullenly, "it is a pity thatwe should walk so far and not have a fight with those Mazitu dogs."
Well, I drove them off to a distance, not knowing what might happen ifthe two peoples met, and then went down to the bank. By now the Mazituwere near, and to my delight at the head of them I perceived no otherthan my old friend, their chief general, Babemba, a one-eyed man withwhom Hans and I had shared many adventures. Through the water he plungedwith great bounds and reaching the shore, greeted me literally withrapture.
"O Macumazana," he said, "little did I hope that ever again I shouldlook upon your face. Welcome to you, a thousand welcomes, and to youtoo, Light-in-Darkness, Lord-of-the-Fire, Cunning-one whose wit saved usin the battle of the Gate. But where is Dogeetah, where is Wazeela, andwhere are the Mother and the Child of the Flower?"
"Far away across the Black Water, Babemba," I answered. "But here aretwo others in place of them," and I introduced him to Ragnall and Savageby their native names of Igeza and Bena.
He contemplated them for a moment, then said:
"This," pointing to Ragnall, "is a great lord, but this," pointing toSavage, who was much the better dressed of the two, "is a cock of theashpit arrayed in an eagle's feathers," a remark I did not translate,but one which caused Hans to snigger vacuously.
While we breakfasted on food prepared by the "Cock of the Ashpit," whoamongst many other merits had that of being an excellent cook, I heardall the news. Bausi the king was dead but had been succeeded by oneof his sons, also named Bausi, whom I remembered. Beza-Town had beenrebuilt after the great fire that destroyed the slavers, and much morestrongly fortified than before. Of the slavers themselves nothing morehad been seen, or of the Pongo either, though the Mazitu declared thattheir ghosts, or those of their victims, still haunted the island in thelake. That was all, except the ill tidings as to two of our messengerswhich the third, who had returned with the Mazitu, reported to us.
After breakfast I addressed and sent away our Zulus, each with ahandsome present from the trade goods, giving into their charge theremaining wagon and our servants, none of whom, somewhat to my relief,wished to accompany us farther. They sang their song of good-bye,saluted and departed over the rise, still looking hungrily behind themat the Mazitu, and we were very pleased to see the last of them withoutbloodshed or trouble.
When we had watched the white tilt of the wagon vanish, we set to workto get ourselves and our goods across the river. This we accomplishedsafely, for the Mazitu worked for us like friends and not as do hiredmen. On the farther bank, however, it took us two full days so to divideup the loads that the bearers could carry them without being overladen.
At length all was arranged and we started. Of the month's trek thatfollowed there is nothing to tell, except that we completed it withoutnotable accidents and at last reached the new Beza-Town, which muchresembled the old, where we were accorded a great public reception.Bausi II himself headed the procession which met us outside the southgate on that very mound which we had occupied in the great fight, wherethe bones of the gallant Mavovo and my other hunters lay buried. Almostdid i
t seem to me as though I could hear their deep voices joining inthe shouts of welcome.
That night, while the Mazitu feasted in our honour, we held an _indaba_in the big new guest house with Bausi II, a pleasant-faced youngman, and old Babemba. The king asked us how long we meant to stay atBeza-Town, intimating his hope that the visit would be prolonged. Ireplied, but a few days, as we were travelling far to the north to finda people called the Kendah whom we wished to see, and hoped that hewould give us bearers to carry our goods as far as the confines of theircountry. At the name of Kendah a look of astonishment appeared upontheir faces and Babemba said:
"Has madness seized you, Macumazana, that you would attempt this thing?Oh surely you must be mad."
"You thought us mad, Babemba, when we crossed the lake to Rica Town, yetwe came back safely."
"True, Macumazana, but compared to the Kendah the Pongo were but as thesmallest star before the face of the sun."
"What do you know of them then?" I asked. "But stay--before you answer,I will speak what I know," and I repeated what I had learned from Hans,who confirmed my words, and from Harut and Marut, leaving out, however,any mention of their dealings with Lady Ragnall.
"It is all true," said Babemba when I had finished, "for that old womanof whom Light-in-the-Darkness speaks, was one of the wives of my uncleand I knew her well. Hearken! These Kendah are a terrible nation andcountless in number and of all the people the fiercest. Their king iscalled Simba, which means Lion. He who rules is always called Simba,and has been so called for hundreds of years. He is of the Black Kendahwhose god is the elephant Jana, but as Light-in-Darkness has said, thereare also the White Kendah who are Arab men, the priests and traders ofthe people. The Kendah will allow no stranger within their doors; if onecomes they kill him by torment, or blind him and turn him out into thedesert which surrounds their country, there to die. These things theold woman who married my uncle told me, as she told them toLight-in-Darkness, also I have heard them from others, and what shedid not tell me, that the White Kendah are great breeders of the beastscalled camels which they sell to the Arabs of the north. Go not nearthem, for if you pass the desert the Black Kendah will kill you; andif you escape these, then their king, Simba, will kill you; and if youescape him, then their god Jana will kill you; and if you escape him,then their white priests will kill you with their magic. Oh! long beforeyou look upon the faces of those priests you will be dead many timesover."
"Then why did they ask me to visit them, Babemba?"
"I know not, Macumazana, but perhaps because they wished to make anoffering of you to the god Jana, whom no spear can harm; no, nor evenyour bullets that pierce a tree."
"I am willing to make trial of that matter," I answered confidently,"and any way we must go to see these things for ourselves."
"Yes," echoed Ragnall, "we must certainly go," while even Savage, for Ihad been translating to them all this while, nodded his head although helooked as though he would much rather stay behind.
"Ask him if there are any snakes there, sir," he said, and foolishlyenough I put the question to give me time to think of other things.
"Yes, O Bena. Yes, O Cock of the Ashpit," replied Babemba. "My uncle'sKendar wife told me that one of the guardians of the shrine of the WhiteKendah is such a snake as was never seen elsewhere in the world."
"Then say to him, sir," said Savage, when I had translated almostautomatically, "that shrine ain't a church where _I_ shall go to say myprayers."
Alas! poor Savage little knew the future and its gifts.
Then we came to the question of bearers. The end of it was that aftersome hesitation Bausi II, because of his great affection for us,promised to provide us with these upon our solemnly undertaking todismiss them at the borders of the desert, "so that they might escapeour doom," as he remarked cheerfully.
Four days later we started, accompanied by about one hundred and twentypicked men under the command of old Babemba himself, who, he explained,wished to be the last to see us alive in the world. This was depressing,but other circumstances connected with our start were calculated toweigh even more upon my spirit. Thus the night before we left Hansarrived and asked me to "write a paper" for him. I inquired what hewanted me to put in the paper. He replied that as he was going to hisdeath and had property, namely the L650 that had been left in a bank tohis credit, he desired to make a "white man's will" to be left in thecharge of Babemba. The only provision of the said will was that I was toinherit his property, if I lived. If I died, which, he added, "of courseyou must, Baas, like the rest of us," it was to be devoted to furnishingpoor black people in hospital with something comforting to drink insteadof the "cow's water" that was given to them there. Needless to sayI turned him out at once, and that testamentary deposition remainedunrecorded. Indeed it was unnecessary, since, as I reminded him, on myadvice he had already made a will before we left Durban, a circumstancethat he had quite forgotten.
The second event, which occurred about an hour before our departure,was, that hearing a mighty wailing in the market-place where once Hansand I had been tied to stakes to be shot to death with arrows, I wentout to see what was the matter. At the gateway I was greeted by thesight of about a hundred old women plastered all over with ashes,engaged in howling their loudest in a melancholy unison. Behind thesestood the entire population of Beza-Town, who chanted a kind of chorus.
"What the devil are they doing?" I asked of Hans.
"Singing our death-song, Baas," he replied stolidly, "as they say thatwhere we are going no one will take the trouble to do so, and it isnot right that great lords should die and the heavens above remainuninformed that they are coming."
"That's cheerful," I remarked, and wheeling round, asked Ragnallstraight out if he wished to persevere in this business, for to tell thetruth my nerve was shaken.
"I must," he answered simply, "but there is no reason why you and Hansshould, or Savage either for the matter of that."
"Oh! I'm going where you go," I said, "and where I go Hans will go.Savage must speak for himself."
This he did and to the same effect, being a very honest and faithfulman. It was the more to his credit since, as he informed me in private,he did not enjoy African adventure and often dreamed at nights ofhis comfortable room at Ragnall whence he superintended the socialactivities of that great establishment.
So we departed and marched for the matter of a month or more throughevery kind of country. After we had passed the head of the great lakewherein lay the island, if it really was an island, where the Pongo usedto dwell (one clear morning through my glasses I discerned the mountaintop that marked the former residence of the Mother of the Flower, and bycontrast it made me feel quite homesick), we struck up north, followinga route known to Babemba and our guides. After this we steered by thestars through a land with very few inhabitants, timid and nondescriptfolk who dwelt in scattered villages and scarcely understood the art ofcultivating the soil, even in its most primitive form.
A hundred miles or so farther on these villages ceased and thenceforwardwe only encountered some nomads, little bushmen who lived on game whichthey shot with poisoned arrows. Once they attacked us and killed twoof the Mazitu with those horrid arrows, against the venom of which noremedy that we had in our medicine chest proved of any avail. On thisoccasion Savage exhibited his courage if not his discretion, for rushingout of our thorn fence, after missing a bushmen with both barrels at adistance of five yards--he was, I think, the worst shot I ever saw--heseized the little viper with his hands and dragged him back to camp. HowSavage escaped with his life I do not know, for one poisoned arrow wentthrough his hat and stuck in his hair and another just grazed his legwithout drawing blood.
This valorous deed was of great service to us, since we were ablethrough Hans, who knew something of the bushmen's language, to explainto our prisoner that if we were shot at again he would be hung. Thisinformation he contrived to shout, or rather to squeak and grunt, tohis amiable tribe, of which it appeared he was a kind of chief,
with theresult that we were no more molested. Later, when we were clear of thebushmen country, we let him depart, which he did with great rapidity.
By degrees the land grew more and more barren and utterly devoid ofinhabitants, till at last it merged into desert. At the edge of thisdesert which rolled away without apparent limit we came, however, toa kind of oasis where there was a strong and beautiful spring of waterthat formed a stream which soon lost itself in the surrounding sand.As we could go no farther, for even if we had wished to do so, and wereable to find water there, the Mazitu refused to accompany us into thedesert, not knowing what else to do, we camped in the oasis and waited.
As it happened, the place was a kind of hunter's paradise, since everykind of game, large and small, came to the water to drink at night, andin the daytime browsed upon the saltish grass that at this season of theyear grew plentifully upon the edge of the wilderness.
Amongst other creatures there were elephants in plenty that travelledhither out of the bushlands we had passed, or sometimes emerged fromthe desert itself, suggesting that beyond this waste there lay fertilecountry. So numerous were these great beasts indeed that for my part Ihoped earnestly that it would prove impossible for us to continue ourjourney, since I saw that in a few months I could collect an enormousamount of ivory, enough to make me comparatively rich, if only I wereable to get it away. As it was we only killed a few of them, ten in allto be accurate, that we might send back the tusks as presents to BausiII. To slaughter the poor animals uselessly was cruel, especially asbeing unaccustomed to the sight of man, they were as easy to approach ascows. Even Savage slew one--by carefully aiming at another five paces toits left.
For the rest we lived on the fat of the land and, as meat was necessaryto us, had as much sport as we could desire among the various antelope.
For fourteen days or so this went on, till at length we grew thoroughlytired of the business, as did the Mazitu, who were so gorged with fleshthat they began to desire vegetable food. Twice we rode as far into thedesert as we dared, for our horses remained to us and had grown freshagain after the rest, but only to return without information. The placewas just a vast wilderness strewn with brown stones beautifully polishedby the wind-driven sand of ages, and quite devoid of water.
After our second trip, on which we suffered severely from thirst, weheld a consultation. Old Babemba said that he could keep his men nolonger, even for us, as they insisted upon returning home, and inquiredwhat we meant to do and why we sat here "like a stone." I answered thatwe were waiting for some of the Kendah who had bid me to shoot gamehereabouts until they arrived to be our guides. He remarked that theKendah to the best of his belief lived in a country that was stillhundreds of miles away and that, as they did not know of our presence,any communication across the desert being impossible, our proceedingsseemed to be foolish.
I retorted that I was not quite so sure of this, since the Kendah seemedto have remarkable ways of acquiring information.
"Then, Macumazana, I fear that you will have to wait by yourselves untilyou discover which of us is right," he said stolidly.
Turning to Ragnall, I asked him what he would do, pointing out thatto journey into the desert meant death, especially as we did not knowwhither we were going, and that to return alone, without the storeswhich we must abandon, through the country of the bushmen to Mazituland,would also be a risky proceeding. However, it was for him to decide.
Now he grew much perturbed. Taking me apart again he dwelt earnestlyupon his secret reasons for wishing to visit these Kendah, with which ofcourse I was already acquainted, as indeed was Savage.
"I desire to stay here," he ended.
"Which means that we must all stay, Ragnall, since Savage will notdesert you. Nor will Hans desert me although he thinks us mad. He pointsout that I came to seek ivory and here about is ivory in plenty for thetrouble of taking."
"I might remain alone, Quatermain----" he began, but I looked at him insuch a way that he never finished the sentence.
Ultimately we came to a compromise. Babemba, on behalf of the Mazitu,agreed to wait three more days. If nothing happened during that periodwe on our part agreed to return with them to a stretch of well-wateredbush about fifty miles behind us, which we knew swarmed with elephants,that by now were growing shy of approaching our oasis where there was somuch noise and shooting. There we would kill as much ivory as we couldcarry, an operation in which they were willing to assist for the fun ofit, and then go back with them to Mazituland.
The three days went by and with every hour that passed my spirits rose,as did those of Savage and Hans, while Lord Ragnall became more andmore depressed. The third afternoon was devoted to a jubilant packing ofloads, for in accordance with the terms of our bargain we were to startbackwards on our spoor at dawn upon the morrow. Most happily did I laymyself down to sleep in my little bough shelter that night, feeling thatat last I was rid of an uncommonly awkward adventure. If I thought thatwe could do any good by staying on, it would have been another matter.But as I was certain that there was no earthly chance of our findingamong the Kendah--if ever we reached them--the lady who had tumbled inthe Nile in Egypt, well, I was glad that Providence had been so good asto make it impossible for us to commit suicide by thirst in a desert, orotherwise. For, notwithstanding my former reasonings to the contrary,I was now convinced that this was what had happened to poor Ragnall'swife.
That, however, was just what Providence had not done. In the middle ofthe night, to be precise, at exactly two in the morning, I was awakenedby Hans, who slept at the back of my shanty, into which he had creptthrough a hole in the faggots, exclaiming in a frightened voice,
"Open your eyes and look, Baas. There are two _spooks_ waiting to seeyou outside, Baas."
Very cautiously I lifted myself a little and stared out into themoonlight. There, seated about five paces from the open end of the hutwere the "spooks" sure enough, two white-robed figures squatting silentand immovable on the ground. At first I was frightened. Then I bethoughtme of thieves and felt for my Colt pistol under the rug that served meas a pillow. As I got hold of the handle, however, a deep voice said:
"Is it your custom, O Macumazana, Watcher-by-Night, to receive guestswith bullets?"
Now thought I to myself, who is there in the world who could see a mancatch hold of the handle of a pistol in the recesses of a dark place andunder a blanket at night, except the owner of that voice which I seemedto remember hearing in a certain drawing-room in England?
"Yes, Harut," I answered with an unconcerned yawn, "when the guests comein such a doubtful fashion and in the middle of the night. But as youare here at last, will you be so good as to tell us why you have kept uswaiting all this time? Is that your way of fulfilling an engagement?"
"O Lord Macumazana," answered Harut, for of course it was he, in quite aperturbed tone, "I offer to you our humble apologies. The truth isthat when we heard of your arrival at Beza-Town we started, or tried tostart, from hundreds of miles away to keep our tryst with you here aswe promised we would do. But we are mortal, Macumazana, and accidentsintervened. Thus, when we had ascertained the weight of your baggage,camels had to be collected to carry it, which were grazing at adistance. Also it was necessary to send forward to dig out a certainwell in the desert where they must drink. Hence the delay. Still, youwill admit that we have arrived in time, five, or at any rate four hoursbefore the rising of that sun which was to light you on your homewardway."
"Yes, you have, O Prophets, or O Liars, whichever you may be," Iexclaimed with pardonable exasperation, for really their knowledge of myprivate affairs, however obtained, was enough to anger a saint. "So asyou are here at last, come in and have a drink, for whether you are menor devils, you must be cold out there in the damp."
In they came accordingly, and, not being Mohammedans, partook of a totof square-face from a bottle which I kept locked in a box to put Hansbeyond the reach of temptation.
"To your health, Harut and Marut," I said, drinking a little o
ut of thepannikin and giving the rest to Hans, who gulped the fiery liquor downwith a smack of his lips. For I will admit that I joined in this unholymidnight potation to gain time for thought and to steady my nerve.
"To your health, O Lord Macumazana," the pair answered as they swallowedtheir tots, which I had made pretty stiff, and set down their pannikinsin front of them with as much reverence as though these had been holyvessels.
"Now," I said, throwing a blanket over my shoulders, for the airwas chilly, "now let us talk," and taking the lantern which Hans hadthoughtfully lighted, I held it up and contemplated them.
There they were, Harut and Marut without doubt, to all appearancetotally unchanged since some years before I had seen them at Ragnallin England. "What are you doing here?" I asked in a kind of fieryindignation inspired by my intense curiosity. "How did you get out ofEngland after you had tried to steal away the lady to whom you sent thenecklace? What did you do with that lady after you had beguiled her fromthe boat at Abu-Simbel? In the name of your Holy Child, or of Shaitanof the Mohammedans, or of Set of the Egyptians, answer me, lest I shouldmake an end of both of you, which I can do here without any questionsbeing asked," and I whipped out my pistol.
"Pardon us," said Harut with a grave smile, "but if you were to do asyou say, Lord Macumazana, many questions would be asked which _you_might find it hard to answer. So be pleased to put that death-dealerback into its place, and to tell us before we reply to you, what youknow of Set of the Egyptians."
"As much or as little as you do," I replied.
Both bowed as though this information were of the most satisfactoryorder. Then Harut went on: "In reply to your requests, O Macumazana, weleft England by a steamboat and in due course after long journeyings wereached our own country. We do not understand your allusions to a placecalled Abu-Simbel on the Nile, whence, never having been there, we havetaken no lady. Indeed, we never meant to take that lady to whom we senta necklace in England. We only meant to ask certain questions of her, asshe had the gift of vision, when you appeared and interrupted us. Whatshould we want with white ladies, who have already far too many of ourown?"
"I don't know," I replied, "but I do know that you are the biggest liarsI ever met."
At these words, which some might have thought insulting, Harut and Marutbowed again as though to acknowledge a great compliment. Then Harutsaid:
"Let us leave the question of ladies and come to matters that have to dowith men. You are here as we told you that you would be at a time whenyou did not believe us, and we here to meet _you_, as we told you thatwe would be. How we knew that you were coming and how we came do notmatter at all. Believe what you will. Are you ready to start with us,O Lord Macumazana, that you may bring to its death the wicked elephantJana which ravages our land, and receive the great reward of ivory? Ifso, your camel waits."
"One camel cannot carry four men," I answered, avoiding the question.
"In courage and skill you are more than many men, O Macumazana, yet inbody you are but one and not four."
"If you think that I am going with you alone, you are much mistaken,Harut and Marut," I exclaimed. "Here with me is my servant without whomI do not stir," and I pointed to Hans, whom they contemplated gravely."Also there is the Lord Ragnall, who in this land is named Igeza, andhis servant who here is named Bena, the man out of whom you drew snakesin the room in England. They also must accompany us."
At this news the impassive countenances of Harut and Marut showed, Ithought, some signs of disturbance. They muttered together in an unknowntongue. Then Harut said:
"Our secret land is open to you alone, O Macumazana, for one purposeonly--to kill the elephant Jana, for which deed we promise you a greatreward. We do not wish to see the others there."
"Then you can kill your own elephant, Harut and Marut, for not one stepdo I go with you. Why should I when there is as much ivory here as Iwant, to be had for the shooting?"
"How if we take you, O Macumazana?"
"How if I kill you both, O Harut and Marut? Fools, here are many bravemen at my command, and if you or any with you want fighting it shall begiven you in plenty. Hans, bid the Mazitu stand to their arms and summonIgeza and Bena."
"Stay, Lord," said Harut, "and put down that weapon," for once more Ihad produced the pistol. "We would not begin our fellowship by sheddingblood, though we are safer from you than you think. Your companionsshall accompany you to the land of the Kendah, but let them know thatthey do so at their own risk. Learn that it is revealed to us that ifthey go in there some of them will pass out again as spirits but not asmen."
"Do you mean that you will murder them?"
"No. We mean that yonder are some stronger than us or any men, who willtake their lives in sacrifice. Not yours, Macumazana, for that, it isdecreed, is safe, but those of two of the others, which two we do notknow."
"Indeed, Harut and Marut, and how am I to be sure that any of us aresafe, or that you do not but trick us to your country, there to kill uswith treachery and steal our goods?"
"Because we swear it by the oath that may not be broken; we swear it bythe Heavenly Child," both of them exclaimed solemnly, speaking with onevoice and bowing till their foreheads almost touched the ground.
I shrugged my shoulders and laughed a little.
"You do not believe us," went on Harut, "who have not heard what happensto those who break this oath. Come now and see something. Within fivepaces of your hut is a tall ant-heap upon which doubtless you have beenaccustomed to stand and overlook the desert." (This was true, but howdid they guess it, I wondered.) "Go climb that ant-heap once more."
Perhaps it was rash, but my curiosity led me to accept this invitation.Out I went, followed by Hans with a loaded double-barrelled rifle, andscrambled up the ant-heap which, as it was twenty feet high and therewere no trees just here, commanded a very fine view of the desertbeyond.
"Look to the north," said Harut from its foot.
I looked, and there in the bright moonlight five or six hundred yardsaway, ranged rank by rank upon a slope of sand and along the crest ofthe ridge beyond, I saw quite two hundred kneeling camels, and by eachcamel a tall, white-robed figure who held in his hand a long lance tothe shaft of which, not far beneath the blade, was attached a littleflag. For a while I stared to make sure that I was not the victim of anillusion or a mirage. Then when I had satisfied myself that these wereindeed men and camels I descended from the ant-heap.
"You will admit, Macumazana," said Harut politely, "that if we had meantyou any ill, with such a force it would have been easy for us to take asleeping camp at night. But these men come here to be your escort, notto kill or enslave you or yours. And, Macumazana, we have sworn toyou the oath that may not be broken. Now we go to our people. In themorning, after you have eaten, we will return again unarmed and alone."
Then like shadows they slipped away.