CHAPTER XI
A FIGHT AND A SHOT
Early the next morning I sought for Ralph to speak to him on thematter of his marriage, which, to tell truth, I longed to see safelyaccomplished. But I could not find him anywhere, or learn where he hadgone, though one of the slaves told me that they had seen him mount hishorse at the stable.
I went down to the cattle kraal to look if he were there, and as Ireturned, I saw Sihamba seated by the door of her hut engaged in combingher hair and powdering it with the shining blue dust.
"Greeting, Mother of Swallow," she said. "Whom do you seek?"
"You know well," I answered.
"Yes, I know well. At the break of dawn he rode over yonder rise."
"Why?" I asked.
"How can I tell why? But Swart Piet lives out yonder."
"Had he his gun with him?" I asked again and anxiously.
"No, there was nothing but a sjambock, a very thick sjambock, in hishand."
Then I went back to the house with a heavy heart, for I was sure thatRalph had gone to seek Piet van Vooren, though I said nothing of itto the others. So it proved indeed. Ralph had sworn to Suzanne that hewould not try to kill Piet, but here his oath ended, and thereforehe felt himself free to beat him if he could find him, for he wasaltogether mad with hate of the man. Now he knew that when he was athome it was Swart Piet's habit to ride of a morning, accompanied by oneKaffir only, to visit a certain valley where he kept a large number ofsheep. Thither Ralph made his way, and when he reached the place he sawthat, although it was time for them to be feeding, the sheep were stillin their kraal, baa-ing, stamping, and trying to climb the gate, forthey were hungry to get at the green grass.
"So," thought Ralph, "Swart Piet means to count the flock out himselfthis morning. He will be here presently."
Half an hour afterwards he came sure enough, and with him the one Kaffiras was usual. Then the bars of the gate were let down, and the sheepsuffered to escape through them, Swart Piet standing upon one side andthe Kaffir upon the other, to take tale of their number. When all thesheep were out, and one of the herds had been brought before him andbeaten by the Kaffir, because some lambs were missing, Swart Piet turnedto ride homewards, and in a little gorge near by came face to face withRalph, who was waiting for him. Now he started and looked to see if hecould escape, but there was no way of doing it without shame, so he rodeforward and bid Ralph good-day boldly, asking him if he had ever seen afiner flock of sheep.
"I did not come here to talk of sheep," answered Ralph, eyeing him.
"Is it of a lamb, then, that you come to talk, Heer Kenzie, a ewe lamb,the only one of your flock?" sneered Piet, for he had a gun in his handand he saw that Ralph had none.
"Aye," said Ralph, "it is of a white ewe lamb whose fleece has beensoiled by a bastard thief who would have stolen her," and he looked athim.
"I understand," said Piet coldly, for he was a bold man; "and now, HeerKenzie, you had best let me ride by."
"Why should I let you ride by when I have come out to seek you?"
"For a very good reason, Heer Kenzie; because I have a gun in my handand you have none, and if you do not clear the road presently it may gooff."
"A good reason, indeed," said Ralph, "and one of which I admit theweight," and he drew to one side of the path as though to let Piet pass,which he began to do holding the muzzle of the gun in a line with theother's head. Ralph sat upon his horse staring moodily at the ground, asthough he was trying to make up his mind to say something or other, butall the time he was watching out of the corner of his quick eye. Just asSwart Piet drew past him, and was shaking the reins to put his horse toa canter, Ralph slid from the saddle, and springing upon him like light,he slipped his strong arm round him and dragged him backwards to theground over the crupper of the horse. As Piet fell he stretched outhis hands to grip the saddle and save himself, so that the gun which hecarried resting on his knees dropped upon the grass. Ralph seized itand fired it into the air; then he turned to face his enemy, who by thistime had found his feet.
"Now we are more equally matched, myn Heer van Vooren," he said, "andcan talk further about that ewe lamb, the only one of the flock. Nay,you need not look for the Kaffir to help you, for he has run after yourhorse, and at the best he will hardly dare to thrust himself between twoangry white men. Come, let us talk, myn Heer."
Black Piet made no answer, so for a while the two stood facing eachother, and they were a strange pair, as different as the light from thedarkness. Ralph fair-haired, grey-eyed, stern-faced, with thinnostrils, that quivered like those of a well-bred horse, narrow-flanked,broad-chested, though somewhat slight of limb and body, for he was butyoung, and had scarcely come to a man's weight, but lithe and wiry as atiger. Piet taller and more massive, for he had the age of him by fiveyears, with round Kaffir eyes, black and cruel, coarse black hair thatgrew low upon his brow, full red lips, the lower drooping so that thelarge white teeth and a line of gums could be seen within. Great-limbedhe was also, firm-footed and bull-strengthed, showing his face thecruelty and the cunning of a black race, mingled with the mind andmastery of the white; an evil and a terrible man, knowing no lordsave his own passions, and no religion but black witchcraft and vilesuperstition; a foe to be feared indeed, but one who loved better tostab in the dark than to strike in the open day.
"Well, myn Heer van Vooren," mocked Ralph, "you could fling your armsabout a helpless girl and put her to shame before the eyes of men, nowdo the same by me if you can," and he took one step towards him.
"What is this monkey's chatter?" asked Piet, in his slow voice. "Is itbecause I gave the girl a kiss that you would fix a quarrel upon me?Have you not done as much yourself many times, and for a less stake thanthe life of one who has been doomed to die?"
"If I have kissed her," answered Ralph, "it is with her consent, andbecause she will be my wife; but you worked upon her pity to put her toshame and now you shall pay the price of it. Do you see that whip?" andhe nodded toward the sjambock that was lying on the grass. "Let him whoproves the best man use it upon the other."
"Will be your wife----" sneered Piet, "the wife of the English castaway!She might have been, but now she never shall, unless she cares to weda carcase cut into rimpis. You want a flogging, and you shall have it,yes, to the death, but Suzanne shall be--not your wife but----"
He got no further, for at that moment Ralph sprang at him like a wildcat, stopping his foul mouth with a fearful blow upon the lips. Thenthere followed a dreadful struggle between these two. Black Piet rushedagain and again, striving to clasp his antagonist in his great arms andcrush him, whereas Ralph, who, like all Englishmen, loved to use hisfists, and knew that he was no match for Piet in strength, soughtto avoid him and plant blow after blow upon his face and body. This,indeed, he did with such success that soon the Boer was covered withblood and bruises. Again and again he charged at him, roaring with painand rage, and again and again Ralph first struck and then slipped to oneside.
At length Piet's turn came, for Ralph in leaping back caught his footagainst a stone and stumbled, and before he could recover himselfthe iron arms were round his middle, and they were wrestling for themastery.
Still, at the first it was Ralph who had the best of it, for he wasskilful at the game, and before Swart Piet could put out his fullstrength he tripped him so that he fell heavily upon his back, Ralphstill locked in his arms. But he could not keep him there, for the Boerwas the stronger; moreover, as they fought they had worked their way upthe steep side of the kloof so that the ground was against him. Thus itcame about that soon they began to roll down hill fixed to each other asthough by ropes, and gathering speed at every turn. Doubtless, the endof this would have been Ralph's defeat, and perhaps his death, for Ithink that, furious as he was, Black Piet would certainly have killedhim had he found himself the master. But it chanced that his hand wasstayed, and thus. Near the bottom of the slope lay a sharp stone, andas they rolled in their fierce struggle, Piet's head struck against thisstone
so that for a few moments he was rendered helpless. Feelingthe grip of his arms loosen, Ralph freed himself, and running to thesjambock snatched it from the ground. Now Piet sat up and stared athim stupidly, but he made no effort to renew the fight, whereon Ralphgasped:
"I promised you a flogging, but since it is chance that has conqueredyou more than I, I will take no advantage of it, save this----" and hestruck him once or twice across the face with the whip, but not so as todraw blood, and added, "Now, at least, I am free from a certain promisethat I made--that I would not kill you--and should you attempt furtherharm or insult towards Suzanne Botmar, kill you I will, Piet vanVooren."
At first Swart Piet did not seem to feel the blows, but presently heawoke, as it were, and touched his cheeks where the sjambock had struckhim as though to assure himself that he was not dreaming some evildream. Then he spoke in a hollow, unnatural voice. "You have won forthis time, Ralph Kenzie," he said, "or, rather, Fate fighting for youhas won. But it would have been better for you and your dear also, ifyou had never struck those blows, for I tell you, Ralph Kenzie, that asyour whip touched me something broke in my brain, and now I think that Iam mad."
"Mad or bad, it is all one to me," replied Ralph. "You have had yourwarning, and you had best keep sane enough to remember it." Then turninghe went to his horse, which was standing close by, mounted and rodeaway, the other answering him nothing.
Still Ralph did not get home without another adventure, for when he hadgone a little way he came to a stream that ran from a hillside which wasthick with trees, and here he stopped to doctor his hurts and bruises,since he did not wish to appear at the house covered with blood. Nowthis was a foolish enough thing to do, seeing the sort of man withwhom he had to deal, and that there was bush where anyone could hideto within a hundred and twenty yards of his washing place. So it provedindeed, for just as Ralph had mounted his horse and was about to rideon, he felt a sharp stinging pain across his shoulders, as thoughsomeone had hit him on the back with a stick, and heard the sound ofa gunshot fired from the cover of the bush, for there above the greenleaves hung a cloud of smoke.
"That is Swart Piet who has crept round to cut me off," Ralph thought tohimself, and for a moment was minded to ride to the smoke to seek him.Then he remembered that he had no gun, and that that of his enemy mightbe loaded again before he found him, and judged it wisest to canter intothe open plain and so homewards. Of the hurt which he had taken from thebullet he thought little, yet when he reached the house it was seen thathis escape had been narrow indeed, for the great ball had cut throughhis clothes beneath his shoulders, so that they hung down leaving hisback naked. Also it had furrowed the skin, causing the blood to flowcopiously, and making so horrible a sight of him that Suzanne nearlyfainted when she saw it. For my part I made certain that the lad wasshot through the body, although, as it turned out, in a week, except forsome soreness he was as well as ever.
Now this matter caused no little stir among us, and Jan was so angrythat, without saying a word to anyone, he mounted his horse and, takingsome armed servants with him, set out to seek Black Piet, but not tofind him, for the man had gone, nobody knew whither. Indeed this was aswell, or so we thought at the time, for though Jan is slow to move, whenonce he is moved he is a very angry man, and I am sure that if he hadmet Piet van Vooren that day the grasses would have been richer by theblood of one or both of them. But he did not meet him and so the thingpassed over, for afterwards we remembered that Ralph had been theaggressor, since no one would take count of this story of the kissing ofa girl, and also that there was no proof at all that it was Piet who hadattempted his life, as that shot might have been fired by anyone.
Now from this day forward Suzanne went in terror of Swart Piet, andwhenever Ralph rode, he rode armed, for though it was said that he hadgone on one of his long journeys trading among the Kaffirs, both of themguessed that they had not seen the last of Van Vooren. Jan and I wereafraid also, for we knew the terrible nature of the man and of hisfather before him, and that they came of a family which never forgot aquarrel or left a desire ungratified.
About fourteen days after Ralph had been shot at and wounded, a Kaffirbrought a letter for Jan, which, on being opened, proved to have beenwritten by Swart Piet, or on his behalf, since his name was set at thebottom of it. It read thus:--
"To the Heer Jan Botmar,
"Well-beloved Heer, this is to tell you that your daughter, Suzanne,holds my heart, and that I desire to make her my wife. As it is notconvenient for me to come to see you at present, I write to ask you thatyou will consent to our betrothal. I will make a rich woman of her as Ican easily satisfy you, and you will find it better to have me as a dearson-in-law and friend than as a stranger and an enemy, for I am a goodfriend and a bad enemy. I know there has been some talk of love betweenSuzanne and the English foundling at your place; but I can overlookthat, although you may tell the lad that if he is impertinent to meagain as he was the other day, he will not for the second time get offwith a whipping only. Be so good as to give your answer to the bearer,who will pass it on to those that can find me, for I am travelling abouton business, and do not know where I shall be from day to day. Give alsomy love to Suzanne, your daughter, and tell her that I think often ofthe time when she shall be my wife.
"I am, well-beloved Heer, your friend,
"Piet van Vooren."
Now, when Ralph had finished reading this letter aloud, for it had beengiven to him as the best scholar among us, you might have thought therewere four crazy people in the room, so great was our rage. Jan and Ralphsaid little indeed, although they looked white and strange with anger,and Suzanne not over much, for it was I who talked for all of them.
"What is your answer, girl?" asked her father presently with an angrylaugh.
"Tell the Heer Piet van Vooren," she replied, smiling faintly, "that ifever his lips should touch my face again it will be only when that faceis cold in death. Oh! Ralph," she cried, turning to him suddenly andlaying her hand upon his breast, "it may be that this man will bringtrouble and separation on us; indeed, my heart warns me of it, but,whatever chances, remember my words, dead I may be, but faithful I shallbe--yes, to death and through death."
"Son, take pen and write," said Jan before Ralph could answer. So Ralphwrote down these words as Jan told them to him:
"Piet van Vooren,
"Sooner would I lay my only child out for burial in the grave than leadher to the house of a coloured man, a consorter with witch-doctors andblack women and a would-be murderer. That is my answer, and I addthis to it. Set no foot within a mile of my house, for here we shootstraighter than you do, and if we find you on this place, by the help ofGod we will put a bullet through your carcase."
At the foot of this writing, which he would not suffer to be altered,Jan printed his name in big letters; then he went out to seek themessenger, whom he found talking to Sihamba, and having given him thepaper bade him begone swiftly to wherever it was he came from. The man,who was a strong red-coloured savage, marked with a white scar acrossthe left cheek, and naked except for his moocha and the kaross rolled upupon his shoulders, took the letter, hid it in his bundle, and went.
Jan also turned to go, but I who had followed him and was watching him,although he did not know it, saw him hesitate and stop.
"Sihamba," he said, "why were you talking to that man?"
"Because it is my business to know of things, Father of Swallow, and Iwished to learn whence he came."
"Did you tell you then?"
"Not altogether, for someone whom he fears has laid a weight uponhis tongue, but I learned that he lives at a kraal far away in themountains, and that this kraal is owned by a white man who keeps wivesand cattle at it, although he is not there himself just now. The rest Ihope to hear when Swart Piet sends him back again, for I have given theman a medicine to cure his child, who is sick, and he will be gratefulto me."
"How do you know that Swart Piet sent the man?" asked Jan.
She laughed and said:
"Surely that was easy to guess; it is my businessto twine little threads into a rope."
Again he turned to go and again came back to speak to her.
"Sihamba," he said, "I have seen you talking to that man before. Iremember the scar upon his face."
"The scar upon his face you may remember," she answered, "but you havenot seen us talking together, for until this hour we never met."
"I can swear it," he said angrily. "I remember the straw hat, the shapeof the man's bundle, the line where the shadow fell upon his foot, andthe tic-bird that came and sat near you. I remember it all."
"Surely, Father of Swallow," Sihamba replied, eyeing him oddly, "youtalk of what you have just seen."
"No, no," he said, "I saw it years ago."
"Where?" she asked, staring at him.
He started and uttered some quick words. "I know now," he said. "I sawit in your eyes the other day."
"Yes," she answered quietly, "I think that, if anywhere, you saw itin my eyes, since the coming of this messenger is the first of all thegreat things that are to happen to the Swallow and to those who live inher nest. I do not know the things; still, it may happen that anotherwho has Vision may see them in the glass of my eyes."