CHAPTER XXIII
HOW SUZANNE BECAME A CHIEFTAINESS
So the cattle were handed over, and the girl Batwa was given to Sigwe,whom by the way she made unhappy for the rest of his days. Indeed, shebrought about his ruin, for being ambitious she persuaded him to makewar upon the white people in the Transkei, of which the end was thatfrom a great chief he became a very small one. When all was accomplishedSigwe waited upon Suzanne.
"Lady Swallow," he said, "in three days I begin my homeward march, andnow I have come to ask whither you wish to go, since you cannot stophere in the veldt alone."
"I would return with you to the Transkei," she answered, "and seek outmy own home."
"Lady," he said shamefacedly, "alas! that may not be. You remember thedream of the diviner, and you know how that all which she foretold, andmore, has come to pass, for you, the White Swallow, appeared and flewin front of my impi, and from that hour we have had the best of luck.By your wisdom we outwitted the Pondos and seized their cattle; by yourwisdom we have conquered the Endwandwe without lifting a single spear,and that Batwa, whom I desired, is mine; while of the great force whichcame out with me to war but twenty-one are dead, twelve by drowning,eight by sickness, and one by snakebite. All things have gone well,and she who dreamed the dream of the White Swallow is the greatest ofdiviners.
"But, lady, this was not all the dream, for it said that if you, theSwallow, should set your face southward with us then the best of luckwould turn to the worst, for then utter misfortune should overwhelm meand my regiments. Now, lady, I cannot doubt that as the first part ofthe prophecy has come true, so the last part would come true also didI tempt the spirits of my ancestors by disregarding it, and, therefore,White Swallow, though all I have is yours, yet you cannot fly home withus."
Now Suzanne pleaded with him long and earnestly, as did Sihamba, butwithout avail, for he could not be moved. Indeed, had he consented thecaptains and the army would have disobeyed his order in this matter,for they believed, every man of them, that to take the Swallow with themhomewards would be to run to their own deaths. Nor was it safe that sheshould attempt to follow in the path of the impi, since then in theirsuperstitious fear they might send back and kill her to avert the evilfate.
"Now, Swallow," said Sihamba, "there is but one thing for us to do, andit is to seek refuge among my people, the Umpondwana, whose mountainstronghold lies at a distance of four days' journey from this place. Butto speak truth, I am not sure how they will receive me, seeing that Iparted from them in anger twelve years ago, having quarrelled with them,first about a matter of policy, and secondly about a matter of marriage,and that my half-brother, the son of my father by a slave, was promotedto rule in my place. Still to them we must go, and with them we muststay, if they will suffer it, until we find an opportunity of travellingsouth in safety."
"If it must be so," answered Suzanne, sighing, "perhaps Sigwe willescort us to the house of the Umpondwana before he turns homewards, forthey will think the more of us if they see us at the head of a greatarmy."
To this plan Sigwe and his captains assented with gladness, for theyloved and honoured the Swallow, and were sore at heart because theirfears forced them to leave her alone in the wilderness. But first theymade sure that the mountain Umpondwana lay to the west, and not to thesouth, for not one step to the southward would they allow Suzanne totravel with them.
On the morrow, then, they marched, and the evening of the third daythey set their camp in a mountain pass which led to a wide plain. Beforesunrise next morning Sihamba woke Suzanne.
"Dress yourself, Swallow," she said, "and come to see the light break onthe house of my people."
So they went out in the grey dawn, and climbing a koppie in the mouth ofthe pass, looked before them. At first they could distinguish nothing,for all the plain beneath was a sea of mist through which in thedistance loomed something like a mountain, till presently the raysof the rising sun struck upon it and the veils of vapour partedlike curtains that are drawn back, and there before them was themountain-fortress of Umpondwana separated from the pass by a great spaceof mist-clad plain. Suzanne looked and knew it.
"Sihamba," she said, "it is the place of my vision and none other. See,the straight sides of red rock, the five ridges upon the eastern slopefashioned like the thumb and fingers of the hand of a man. Yes, andthere between the thumb and first finger a river runs."
"I told you that it was so from the beginning, Swallow, for in all thecountry there is no other such hill as this, and because of the aspectof those ridges when seen from a distance it is named the Mountain ofthe Great Hand."
Before the words had left her lips another voice spoke, at the sound ofwhich Suzanne nearly fell to the earth.
"Good day to you, Suzanne," it said in Dutch and was silent.
"Sihamba, did you hear, Sihamba?" she gasped. "Do I dream, or did PietVan Vooren speak to me?"
"You did not dream," answered Sihamba, "for that voice was the voice ofSwart Piet and no other, and he is hidden somewhere among the rocksof yonder cliff wall. Quick, Swallow, kneel behind this stone lest heshould shoot."
She obeyed, and at that moment the voice spoke again out of the shadowsof the cliff that bordered the pass twenty or thirty paces from them.
"What, Suzanne," it said, "is that little witch-doctoress telling youthat I shall fire on you? Had I wished I could have shot you three timesover while you were standing upon that rock. But why should I desire tokill one who will be my lover? Sihamba I wished to shoot indeed, but herfamiliar set her so that the bullet must pass through you to reach herheart. Suzanne, you are going to hide yourself among the people of theUmpondwana. Oh! yes, I know your plan. Well, when once you are behindthe walls of that mountain it may be difficult to speak to you for awhile, so listen to me. You thought that you had left me far away, didyou not? but I have followed you step by step and twice I have beenvery near to you, although I could never find a chance to carry you offsafely. Well, I wish to tell you that sooner or later I shall find thatchance; sooner or later you will come out of the mountain or I shall getinto it, and then it will be my turn; so, love, till that hour fare youwell. Stay, I forgot, I have news for you; your husband, the Englishcastaway, is dead."
At this tidings a low moan of pain broke from Suzanne's lips.
"Be silent and take no heed," whispered Sihamba, who was kneeling at herside behind the shelter of the stone, "he does but lie to torment you."
"The bullet and the water together were too much for him," went on SwartPiet, "and he died on the second night after he reached the stead. Yourfather came to seek me in the place you know, and was carried home badlywounded for his pains, but whether he lived or died I cannot tell you,but I heard that your mother, the good Vrouw Botmar, is very sick, forthings have so fallen out lately that her mind is troubled, and sheflies to drink to comfort it."
Now when she heard this, Sihamba could keep silence no longer, but criedin a mocking voice:
"Get you gone, Bull-Head, and take lessons in lying from your friendsof my trade, the Kaffir witch-doctors, for never before did I hear a manbear false witness so clumsily. On the third night of his illness thehusband of Swallow was alive and doing well; the Heer Jan Botmar was notwounded at all, and as for the Vrouw Botmar, never in her life did shedrink anything stronger than coffee, for the white man's firewater ispoison to her. Get you gone, you silly half-breed, who seek to deceivethe ears of Sihamba, and I counsel you, hold fast to your business oftheft and murder and give up that of lying, in which you will neversucceed. Now be off, you stink-cat of the rocks, lest I send some tohunt you from your hole who this time will use the points and not theshafts of their assegais. Come, Swallow, let us be going."
So they went, keeping under cover all the way to the camp, which,indeed, was quite close to them, and if Swart Piet made any answer theydid not hear it. So soon as they reached it Sihamba told Sigwe what hadpassed and he sent men to scour the cliff and the bush behind it, but ofVan Vooren they could find no trace
, no, not even the spot where he hadbeen hidden, so that Sigwe came to believe that they had been fooled byechoes and had never heard him at all.
But both Suzanne and Sihamba knew that this was not so; indeed, thishearing of the voice of Swart Piet filled Suzanne with fear, since wherethe voice was, there was the man, her hateful enemy, who had given hislife to her ruin and to that of those she loved. Whatever lies he mighthave spoken--and her heart told her that all his ill tidings were but acruel falsehood--this at least was true, that he had dogged her step bystep through the vast wilderness, and so craftily that none guessed hispresence. What might not be feared from such a foe as this, half mad andall wicked, armed with terrible cunning and untiring patience? If theUmpondwana would not receive her she must fall into his hands at once,and if they did receive her she would never dare to leave their kraal,for always, always he would be watching and waiting for her. Littlewonder then that she felt afraid, though, just as the sun shines everbehind the blackest cloud, still in her heart shone the sure comfort ofher hope, and more than hope that in the end God would give her backher husband and her to him unharmed. Yet, which ever way she looked thecloud was very black, and through it she could see no ray of light.