Telling Umslopogaas to wait, I tumbled into my clothes and went offwith him to Sir Henry's room, where the Zulu repeated his story word forword. It was a sight to watch Curtis' face as he heard it.
'Great Heavens!' he said: 'here have I been sleeping away while Nylepthawas nearly murdered--and all through me, too. What a fiend that Soraismust be! It would have served her well if Umslopogaas had cut her downin the act.'
'Ay,' said the Zulu. 'Fear not; I should have slain her ere she struck.I was but waiting the moment.'
I said nothing, but I could not help thinking that many a thousanddoomed lives would have been saved if he had meted out to Sorais thefate she meant for her sister. And, as the issue proved, I was right.
After he had told his tale Umslopogaas went off unconcernedly to get hismorning meal, and Sir Henry and I fell to talking.
At first he was very bitter against Good, who, he said, was no longerto be trusted, having designedly allowed Sorais to escape by some secretstair when it was his duty to have handed her over to justice. Indeed,he spoke in the most unmeasured terms on the matter. I let him runon awhile, reflecting to myself how easy we find it to be hard on theweaknesses of others, and how tender we are to our own.
'Really, my dear fellow,' I said at length, 'one would never think, tohear you talk, that you were the man who had an interview with thissame lady yesterday, and found it rather difficult to resist herfascinations, notwithstanding your ties to one of the loveliest and mostloving women in the world. Now suppose it was Nyleptha who had tried tomurder Sorais, and _you_ had caught her, and she had pleaded with you,would you have been so very eager to hand her over to an open shame, andto death by fire? Just look at the matter through Good's eyeglass for aminute before you denounce an old friend as a scoundrel.'
He listened to this jobation submissively, and then frankly acknowledgedthat he had spoken hardly. It is one of the best points in Sir Henry'scharacter that he is always ready to admit it when he is in the wrong.
But, though I spoke up thus for Good, I was not blind to the fact that,however natural his behaviour might be, it was obvious that he was beinginvolved in a very awkward and disgraceful complication. A foul andwicked murder had been attempted, and he had let the murderess escape,and thereby, among other things, allowed her to gain a completeascendency over himself. In fact, he was in a fair way to become hertool--and no more dreadful fate can befall a man than to become the toolof an unscrupulous woman, or indeed of any woman. There is but oneend to it: when he is broken, or has served her purpose, he is thrownaway--turned out on the world to hunt for his lost self-respect. WhilstI was pondering thus, and wondering what was to be done--for the wholesubject was a thorny one--I suddenly heard a great clamour in thecourtyard outside, and distinguished the voice of Umslopogaas andAlphonse, the former cursing furiously, and the latter yelling interror.
Hurrying out to see what was the matter, I was met by a ludicrous sight.The little Frenchman was running up the courtyard at an extraordinaryspeed, and after him sped Umslopogaas like a great greyhound. Just as Icame out he caught him, and, lifting him right off his legs, carried himsome paces to a beautiful but very dense flowering shrub which bore aflower not unlike the gardenia, but was covered with short thorns. Next,despite his howls and struggles, he with one mighty thrust plunged poorAlphonse head first into the bush, so that nothing but the calves of hislegs and heels remained in evidence. Then, satisfied with what hehad done, the Zulu folded his arms and stood grimly contemplating theFrenchman's kicks, and listening to his yells, which were awful.
'What art thou doing?' I said, running up. 'Wouldst thou kill the man?Pull him out of the bush!'
With a savage grunt he obeyed, seizing the wretched Alphonse by theankle, and with a jerk that must have nearly dislocated it, tearinghim out of the heart of the shrub. Never did I see such a sight as hepresented, his clothes half torn off his back, and bleeding as he wasin every direction from the sharp thorns. There he lay and yelled androlled, and there was no getting anything out of him.
At last, however, he got up and, ensconcing himself behind me, cursedold Umslopogaas by every saint in the calendar, vowing by the blood ofhis heroic grandfather that he would poison him, and 'have his revenge'.
At last I got to the truth of the matter. It appeared that Alphonsehabitually cooked Umslopogaas's porridge, which the latter ate forbreakfast in the corner of the courtyard, just as he would have done athome in Zululand, from a gourd, and with a wooden spoon. Now Umslopogaashad, like many Zulus, a great horror of fish, which he considered aspecies of water-snake; so Alphonse, who was as fond of playing tricksas a monkey, and who was also a consummate cook, determined to make himeat some. Accordingly he grated up a quantity of white fish very finely,and mixed it with the Zulu's porridge, who swallowed it nearly all downin ignorance of what he was eating. But, unfortunately for Alphonse, hecould not restrain his joy at this sight, and came capering and peeringround, till at last Umslopogaas, who was very clever in his way,suspected something, and, after a careful examination of the remains ofhis porridge, discovered 'the buffalo heifer's trick', and, in revenge,served him as I have said. Indeed, the little man was fortunate notto get a broken neck for his pains; for, as one would have thought, hemight have learnt from the episode of his display of axemanship that 'leMonsieur noir' was an ill person to play practical jokes upon.
This incident was unimportant enough in itself, but I narrate it becauseit led to serious consequences. As soon as he had stanched the bleedingfrom his scratches and washed himself, Alphonse went off still cursing,to recover his temper, a process which I knew from experience would takea very long time. When he had gone I gave Umslopogaas a jobation andtold him that I was ashamed of his behaviour.
'Ah, well, Macumazahn,' he said, 'you must be gentle with me, forhere is not my place. I am weary of it, weary to death of eating anddrinking, of sleeping and giving in marriage. I love not this softlife in stone houses that takes the heart out of a man, and turns hisstrength to water and his flesh to fat. I love not the white robes andthe delicate women, the blowing of trumpets and the flying of hawks.When we fought the Masai at the kraal yonder, ah, then life was worththe living, but here is never a blow struck in anger, and I begin tothink I shall go the way of my fathers and lift Inkosi-kaas no more,'and he held up the axe and gazed at it in sorrow.
'Ah,' I said, 'that is thy complaint, is it? Thou hast theblood-sickness, hast thou? And the Woodpecker wants a tree. And at thyage, too. Shame on thee! Umslopogaas.'
'Ay, Macumazahn, mine is a red trade, yet is it better and more honestthan some. Better is it to slay a man in fair fight than to suck out hisheart's blood in buying and selling and usury after your white fashion.Many a man have I slain, yet is there never a one that I should fear tolook in the face again, ay, many are there who once were friends, andwhom I should be right glad to snuff with. But there! there! thou hastthy ways, and I mine: each to his own people and his own place. Thehigh-veldt ox will die in the fat bush country, and so is it with me,Macumazahn. I am rough, I know it, and when my blood is warm I know notwhat to do, but yet wilt thou be sorry when the night swallows me andI am utterly lost in blackness, for in thy heart thou lovest me, myfather, Macumazahn the fox, though I be nought but a broken-down Zuluwar-dog--a chief for whom there is no room in his own kraal, an outcastand a wanderer in strange places: ay, I love thee, Macumazahn, for wehave grown grey together, and there is that between us that cannot beseen, and yet is too strong for breaking;' and he took his snuff-box,which was made of an old brass cartridge, from the slit in his ear wherehe always carried it, and handed it to me for me to help myself.
I took the pinch of snuff with some emotion. It was quite true, I wasmuch attached to the bloodthirsty old ruffian. I do not know what wasthe charm of his character, but it had a charm; perhaps it was itsfierce honesty and directness; perhaps one admired his almost superhumanskill and strength, or it may have been simply that he was so absolutelyunique. Frankly, with all my experience of savage
s, I never knew a manquite like him, he was so wise and yet such a child with it all; andthough it seems laughable to say so, like the hero of the Yankee parody,he 'had a tender heart'. Anyway, I was very fond of him, though I shouldnever have thought of telling him so.
'Ay, old wolf,' I said, 'thine is a strange love. Thou wouldst split meto the chin if I stood in thy path tomorrow.'
'Thou speakest truth, Macumazahn, that would I if it came in the way ofduty, but I should love thee all the same when the blow had gone fairlyhome. Is there any chance of some fighting here, Macumazahn?' he went onin an insinuating voice. 'Methought that what I saw last night did showthat the two great Queens were vexed one with another. Else had the"Lady of the Night" not brought that dagger with her.'
I agreed with him that it showed that more or less pique and irritationexisted between the ladies, and told him how things stood, and that theywere quarrelling over Incubu.
'Ah, is it so?' he exclaimed, springing up in delight; 'then will therebe war as surely as the rivers rise in the rains--war to the end. Womenlove the last blow as well as the last word, and when they fight forlove they are pitiless as a wounded buffalo. See thou, Macumazahn, awoman will swim through blood to her desire, and think nought of it.With these eyes have I seen it once, and twice also. Ah, Macumazahn,we shall see this fine place of houses burning yet, and hear the battlecries come ringing up the street. After all, I have not wandered fornothing. Can this folk fight, think ye?'
Just then Sir Henry joined us, and Good arrived, too, from anotherdirection, looking very pale and hollow-eyed. The moment Umslopogaas sawthe latter he stopped his bloodthirsty talk and greeted him.
'Ah, Bougwan,' he cried, 'greeting to thee, Inkoos! Thou art surelyweary. Didst thou hunt too much yesterday?' Then, without waiting for ananswer, he went on--
'Listen, Bougwan, and I will tell thee a story; it is about a woman,therefore wilt thou hear it, is it not so?
'There was a man and he had a brother, and there was a woman who lovedthe man's brother and was beloved of the man. But the man's brother hada favourite wife and loved not the woman, and he made a mock of her.Then the woman, being very cunning and fierce-hearted for revenge, tookcounsel with herself and said to the man, "I love thee, and if thou wiltmake war upon thy brother I will marry thee." And he knew it was a lie,yet because of his great love of the woman, who was very fair, did helisten to her words and made war. And when many people had been killedhis brother sent to him, saying, "Why slayest thou me? What hurt have Idone unto thee? From my youth up have I not loved thee? When thou wastlittle did I not nurture thee, and have we not gone down to war togetherand divided the cattle, girl by girl, ox by ox, and cow by cow? Whyslayest thou me, my brother, son of my own mother?"
'Then the man's heart was heavy, and he knew that his path was evil,and he put aside the tempting of the woman and ceased to make war on hisbrother, and lived at peace in the same kraal with him. And after a timethe woman came to him and said, "I have lost the past, I will be thywife." And in his heart he knew that it was a lie and that she thoughtthe evil thing, yet because of his love did he take her to wife.
'And the very night that they were wed, when the man was plunged into adeep sleep, did the woman arise and take his axe from his hand and creepinto the hut of his brother and slay him in his rest. Then did she slinkback like a gorged lioness and place the thong of the red axe back uponhis wrist and go her ways.
'And at the dawning the people came shouting, "Lousta is slain in thenight," and they came unto the hut of the man, and there he lay asleepand by him was the red axe. Then did they remember the war and say, "Lo!he hath of a surety slain his brother," and they would have taken andkilled him, but he rose and fled swiftly, and as he fleeted by he slewthe woman.
'But death could not wipe out the evil she had done, and on him restedthe weight of all her sin. Therefore is he an outcast and his name ascorn among his own people; for on him, and him only, resteth the burdenof her who betrayed. And, therefore, does he wander afar, without akraal and without an ox or a wife, and therefore will he die afar like astricken buck and his name be accursed from generation to generation,in that the people say that he slew his brother, Lousta, by treachery inthe night-time.'
The old Zulu paused, and I saw that he was deeply agitated by his ownstory. Presently he lifted his head, which he had bowed to his breast,and went on:
'I was the man, Bougwan. Ou! I was that man, and now hark thou! Even asI am so wilt thou be--a tool, a plaything, an ox of burden to carry theevil deeds of another. Listen! When thou didst creep after the "Ladyof the Night" I was hard upon thy track. When she struck thee with theknife in the sleeping place of the White Queen I was there also; whenthou didst let her slip away like a snake in the stones I saw thee, andI knew that she had bewitched thee and that a true man had abandoned thetruth, and he who aforetime loved a straight path had taken a crookedway. Forgive me, my father, if my words are sharp, but out of a fullheart are they spoken. See her no more, so shalt thou go down withhonour to the grave. Else because of the beauty of a woman that wearethas a garment of fur shalt thou be even as I am, and perchance with morecause. I have said.'
Throughout this long and eloquent address Good had been perfectlysilent, but when the tale began to shape itself so aptly to his owncase, he coloured up, and when he learnt that what had passed betweenhim and Sorais had been overseen he was evidently much distressed. Andnow, when at last he spoke, it was in a tone of humility quite foreignto him.
'I must say,' he said, with a bitter little laugh, 'that I scarcelythought that I should live to be taught my duty by a Zulu; but it justshows what we can come to. I wonder if you fellows can understand howhumiliated I feel, and the bitterest part of it is that I deserve itall. Of course I should have handed Sorais over to the guard, butI could not, and that is a fact. I let her go and I promised to saynothing, more is the shame to me. She told me that if I would sidewith her she would marry me and make me king of this country, but thankgoodness I did find the heart to say that even to marry her I could notdesert my friends. And now you can do what you like, I deserve it all.All I have to say is that I hope that you may never love a woman withall your heart and then be so sorely tempted of her,' and he turned togo.
'Look here, old fellow,' said Sir Henry, 'just stop a minute. I have alittle tale to tell you too.' And he went on to narrate what had takenplace on the previous day between Sorais and himself.
This was a finishing stroke to poor Good. It is not pleasant to any manto learn that he has been made a tool of, but when the circumstances areas peculiarly atrocious as in the present case, it is about as bitter apill as anybody can be called on to swallow.
'Do you know,' he said, 'I think that between you, you fellows haveabout worked a cure,' and he turned and walked away, and I for one feltvery sorry for him. Ah, if the moths would always carefully avoid thecandle, how few burnt wings there would be!
That day was a Court day, when the Queens sat in the great hall andreceived petitions, discussed laws, money grants, and so forth, andthither we adjourned shortly afterwards. On our way we were joined byGood, who was looking exceedingly depressed.
When we got into the hall Nyleptha was already on her throne andproceeding with business as usual, surrounded by councillors, courtiers,lawyers, priests, and an unusually strong guard. It was, however,easy to see from the air of excitement and expectation on the facesof everybody present that nobody was paying much attention to ordinaryaffairs, the fact being that the knowledge that civil war was imminenthad now got abroad. We saluted Nyleptha and took our accustomed places,and for a little while things went on as usual, when suddenly thetrumpets began to call outside the palace, and from the great crowd thatwas gathered there in anticipation of some unusual event there rose aroar of '_Sorais! Sorais!_'
Then came the roll of many chariot wheels, and presently the greatcurtains at the end of the hall were drawn wide and through them enteredthe 'Lady of the Night' herself. Nor did she come alone. Preceding herw
as Agon, the High Priest, arrayed in his most gorgeous vestments, andon either side were other priests. The reason for their presence wasobvious--coming with them it would have been sacrilege to attempt todetain her. Behind her were a number of the great lords, and behind thema small body of picked guards. A glance at Sorais herself was enough toshow that her mission was of no peaceful kind, for in place of her goldembroidered 'kaf' she wore a shining tunic formed of golden scales, andon her head a little golden helmet. In her hand, too, she bore a toyspear, beautifully made and fashioned of solid silver. Up the hall shecame, looking like a lioness in her conscious pride and beauty, and asshe came the spectators fell back bowing and made a path for her. By thesacred stone she halted, and laying her hand on it, she cried out with aloud voice to Nyleptha on the throne, 'Hail, oh Queen!'
'All hail, my royal sister!' answered Nyleptha. 'Draw thou near. Fearnot, I give thee safe conduct.'
Sorais answered with a haughty look, and swept on up the hall till shestood right before the thrones.
'A boon, oh Queen!' she cried again.
'Speak on, my sister; what is there that I can give thee who hath halfour kingdom?'
'Thou canst tell me a true word--me and the people of Zu-Vendis. Artthou, or art thou not, about to take this foreign wolf,' and she pointedto Sir Henry with her toy spear, 'to be a husband to thee, and share thybed and throne?'
Curtis winced at this, and turning towards Sorais, said to her in a lowvoice, 'Methinks that yesterday thou hadst other names than wolf to callme by, oh Queen!' and I saw her bite her lips as, like a danger flag,the blood flamed red upon her face. As for Nyleptha, who is nothing ifnot original, she, seeing that the thing was out, and that there wasnothing further to be gained by concealment, answered the question ina novel and effectual manner, inspired thereto, as I firmly believe, bycoquetry and a desire to triumph over her rival.
Up she rose and, descending from the throne, swept in all the gloryof her royal grace on to where her lover stood. There she stopped anduntwined the golden snake that was wound around her arm. Then she badehim kneel, and he dropped on one knee on the marble before her, andnext, taking the golden snake with both her hands, she bent the puresoft metal round his neck, and when it was fast, deliberately kissed himon the brow and called him her 'dear lord'.
'Thou seest,' she said, when the excited murmur of the spectators haddied away, addressing her sister as Sir Henry rose to his feet, 'Ihave put my collar round the "wolf's" neck, and behold! he shall be mywatchdog, and that is my answer to thee, Queen Sorais, my sister, and tothose with thee. Fear not,' she went on, smiling sweetly on her lover,and pointing to the golden snake she had twined round his massivethroat, 'if my yoke be heavy, yet is it of pure gold, and it shall notgall thee.'
Then, turning to the audience, she continued in a clear proud tone, 'Ay,Lady of the Night, Lords, Priests, and People here gathered together, bythis sign do I take the foreigner to husband, even here in the face ofyou all. What, am I a Queen, and yet not free to choose the man whomI will love? Then should I be lower than the meanest girl in all myprovinces. Nay, he hath won my heart, and with it goes my hand, andthrone, and all I have--ay, had he been a beggar instead of a great lordfairer and stronger than any here, and having more wisdom and knowledgeof strange things, I had given him all, how much more so being what heis!' And she took his hand and gazed proudly on him, and holding it,stood there boldly facing the people. And such was her sweetness and thepower and dignity of her person, and so beautiful she looked standinghand in hand there at her lover's side, so sure of him and of herself,and so ready to risk all things and endure all things for him, that mostof those who saw the sight, which I am sure no one of them will everforget, caught the fire from her eyes and the happy colour from herblushing face, and cheered her like wild things. It was a bold strokefor her to make, and it appealed to the imagination; but human naturein Zu-Vendis, as elsewhere, loves that which is bold and not afraid tobreak a rule, and is moreover peculiarly susceptible to appeals to itspoetical side.
And so the people cheered till the roof rang; but Sorais of the Nightstood there with downcast eyes, for she could not bear to see hersister's triumph, which robbed her of the man whom she had hoped to win,and in the awfulness of her jealous anger she trembled and turned whitelike an aspen in the wind. I think I have said somewhere of her that shereminded me of the sea on a calm day, having the same aspect of sleepingpower about her. Well, it was all awake now, and like the face of thefurious ocean it awed and yet fascinated me. A really handsome womanin a royal rage is always a beautiful sight, but such beauty and sucha rage I never saw combined before, and I can only say that the effectproduced was well worthy of the two.
She lifted her white face, the teeth set, and there were purple ringsbeneath her glowing eyes. Thrice she tried to speak and thrice shefailed, but at last her voice came. Raising her silver spear, she shookit, and the light gleamed from it and from the golden scales of hercuirass.
'And thinkest thou, Nyleptha,' she said in notes which pealed throughthe great hall like a clarion, 'thinkest thou that I, Sorais, a Queenof the Zu-Vendi, will brook that this base outlander shall sit upon myfather's throne and rear up half-breeds to fill the place of the greatHouse of the Stairway? Never! never! while there is life in my bosom anda man to follow me and a spear to strike with. Who is on my side? Who?
'Now hand thou over this foreign wolf and those who came hither to preywith him to the doom of fire, for have they not committed the deadly sinagainst the sun? or, Nyleptha, I give thee War--red War! Ay, I say tothee that the path of thy passion shall be marked out by the blazing ofthy towns and watered with the blood of those who cleave to thee. On thyhead rest the burden of the deed, and in thy ears ring the groans of thedying and the cries of the widows and those who are left fatherless forever and for ever.
'I tell thee I will tear thee, Nyleptha, the White Queen, from thythrone, and that thou shalt be hurled--ay, hurled even from the topmoststair of the great way to the foot thereof, in that thou hast coveredthe name of the House of him who built it with black shame. And I tellye strangers--all save Bougwan, whom because thou didst do me a serviceI will save alive if thou wilt leave these men and follow me' (herepoor Good shook his head vigorously and ejaculated 'Can't be done' inEnglish)--'that I will wrap you in sheets of gold and hang you yet alivein chains from the four golden trumpets of the four angels that fly eastand west and north and south from the giddiest pinnacles of the Temple,so that ye may be a token and a warning to the land. And as for thee,Incubu, thou shalt die in yet another fashion that I will not tell theenow.'
She ceased, panting for breath, for her passion shook her like a storm,and a murmur, partly of horror and partly of admiration, ran through thehall. Then Nyleptha answered calmly and with dignity:
'Ill would it become my place and dignity, oh sister, so to speak asthou hast spoken and so to threat as thou hast threatened. Yet if thouwilt make war, then will I strive to bear up against thee, for if myhand seem soft, yet shalt thou find it of iron when it grips thinearmies by the throat. Sorais, I fear thee not. I weep for that whichthou wilt bring upon our people and on thyself, but for myself I say--Ifear thee not. Yet thou, who but yesterday didst strive to win my loverand my lord from me, whom today thou dost call a "foreign wolf", to be_thy_ lover and _thy_ lord' (here there was an immense sensation in thehall), 'thou who but last night, as I have learnt but since thou didstenter here, didst creep like a snake into my sleeping-place--ay, even bya secret way, and wouldst have foully murdered me, thy sister, as I layasleep--'
'It is false, it is false!' rang out Agon's and a score of other voices.
'It is _not_ false,' said I, producing the broken point of the daggerand holding it up. 'Where is the haft from which this flew, oh Sorais?'
'It is not false,' cried Good, determined at last to act like a loyalman. 'I took the Lady of the Night by the White Queen's bed, and on mybreast the dagger broke.'
'Who is on my side?' cried Sorais, shaking her silv
er spear, for shesaw that public sympathy was turning against her. 'What, Bougwan, thoucomest not?' she said, addressing Good, who was standing close to her,in a low, concentrated voice. 'Thou pale-souled fool, for a reward thoushalt eat out thy heart with love of me and not be satisfied, and thoumightest have been my husband and a king! At least I hold _thee_ inchains that cannot be broken.
'_War! War! War!_' she cried. 'Here, with my hand upon the sacred stonethat shall endure, so runs the prophecy, till the Zu-Vendi set theirnecks beneath an alien yoke, I declare war to the end. Who followsSorais of the Night to victory and honour?'
Instantly the whole concourse began to break up in indescribableconfusion. Many present hastened to throw in their lot with the 'Lady ofthe Night', but some came from her following to us. Amongst the formerwas an under officer of Nyleptha's own guard, who suddenly turned andmade a run for the doorway through which Sorais' people were alreadypassing. Umslopogaas, who was present and had taken the whole scene in,seeing with admirable presence of mind that if this soldier got awayothers would follow his example, seized the man, who drew his swordand struck at him. Thereon the Zulu sprang back with a wild shout, and,avoiding the sword cuts, began to peck at his foe with his terrible axe,till in a few seconds the man's fate overtook him and he fell with aclash heavily and quite dead upon the marble floor.
This was the first blood spilt in the war.
'Shut the gates,' I shouted, thinking that we might perhaps catch Soraisso, and not being troubled with the idea of committing sacrilege. Butthe order came too late, her guards were already passing through them,and in another minute the streets echoed with the furious galloping ofhorses and the rolling of her chariots.
So, drawing half the people after her, Sorais was soon passing like awhirlwind through the Frowning City on her road to her headquarters atM'Arstuna, a fortress situated a hundred and thirty miles to the northof Milosis.
And after that the city was alive with the endless tramp of regimentsand preparations for the gathering war, and old Umslopogaas oncemore began to sit in the sunshine and go through a show of sharpeningInkosi-kaas's razor edge.
CHAPTER XIX A STRANGE WEDDING