CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
OF A NEW WITCH-FINDING.
Dingane was very angry when we returned to Nkunkundhlovu, and, indeed atfirst, it looked as though some would pay for our repulse with theirlives. But that was no time for sacrificing skilled leaders of men, andwinning the resentment of their relatives and following; and this theKing knew. So, with gloomy and bitter reproaches, he dismissed us.
The first step taken by the two principal _izinduna_, Tambusa andUmhlela, was to send out and muster every available man throughout theland. All were enrolled, even those whose youth would have precludedthem from bearing arms yet awhile, and several new regiments wereformed; and while this was going on, a careful watch was kept upon themovements of the Amabuna, for we knew not what they might attempt next.It was intended to attack them again before more could join them, butthe idea was abandoned, for careful observation showed that we shouldstand but small chance of success, so warily did they move; scouting theland far and wide, and camping in such strength. So our people watchedand waited, biding their time.
Now all this, _Nkose_, in no wise helped forward my plans. I had hopedthat we should have made an end of these invaders, and that then Dinganewould have sent forth a strong _impi_ to crush Umzilikazi. So should Ihave obtained my revenge. But with such a formidable foe upon ourborders as these Amabuna, the King would not have a single regiment outof call; wherein, of course, he was wise.
All of which did not help me, for now there was no more fighting myheart grew heavy once more as I thought of Lalusini and how she was lostto me; of my high position among my former nation forfeited for ever.And, indeed, my position among the parent stock was becoming daily farfrom secure, and I was looked coldly on by many who had been mostfriendly before, and even by the King himself. This I attributed to theinfluence of Tambusa, who had always hated me, and would be glad if byany means he could compass my death. Afterwards I learned that I wasright, for, in his jealousy of me, Tambusa never lost a chance ofpoisoning the mind of Dingane against me, more than hinting that therepulse of the _impi_ was due to my presence in the battle in a positionof command. More and more then did I feel that I was stumbling upon theedge of a very high cliff. More and more did I awaken each morning towonder if I should see the setting of another sun.
Then something occurred which still farther deepened my forebodings. Onreturning from an expedition which had lasted but a few days, I foundthat one of my Swazi wives had disappeared. None knew what had happenedto her, but I could see by their looks that it were better not toinquire too closely. Well, it mattered not. One girl was as good asanother since the loss of Lalusini, and I still had two remaining. Butshe who had disappeared was that same girl who had been by my side whattime I had dreamed; and she, too, had awakened in fear, declaring that avision had passed through the hut, and I thought that the disappearanceof this one, rather than that of the other two, augured ill--how, I knewnot.
As the days went by, the gloom that lay upon the mind of the Kingdeepened, and herein the _izanusi_--ever eager for blood, or for gain--saw their opportunity. The wizardry which had wrought ill for our armsmust be removed. So there was "smelling out," and many were killed; butstill the invaders did not melt away in fear, as the witch doctors hadpromised. On the contrary, they grew stronger; for others crossedKwahlamba to join them.
Then the _izanusi_ declared they had seen other visions--had received anew and important revelation, to the effect that the workers of _tagati_had not yet been discovered, but should be by an entirely new method.But Dingane was becoming weary of them and their trickeries. He sentfor Tola, the chief of the _izanusi_, and roundly told him to use whatmethods he liked, but if his prophecies fell short of fulfilment thistime death should be his reward.
The land seemed shaken by a shudder of ill-ease. The warriors weregrowing impatient once more to be sent against the Amabuna, but thecounsels of Umhlela, that we should wait for our enemies to make thefirst move--as they surely would--prevailed. So when the word wentforth that all were to assemble at Nkunkundhlovu for a greatwitch-finding, an eagerness of relief went through all; for now we wouldsee what the new method, as announced by the _izanusi_, would bringforth.
Many a "smelling out" had I witnessed, _Nkose_, as you know, and thetruth was, I hated them. I had been too much among the heads of thenation not to know what their real object was, however much the commonpeople might be deceived, and believe--or pretend to--in the power ofthe _izanusi_. I had known but two real magicians in my life--Masuka,the old Mosutu, and Lalusini, my sorceress wife--and these used nottheir powers to destroy any, save real evil-doers; never to take thelives of brave men for the sake of gain or malice. All others I knew tobe jugglers and impostors, and that Tola and his following were of thisorder I had long since determined. So there was no eagerness in my mindas on the day appointed I sat near the King, in the midst of the other_izinduna_, while the witch doctors began in their usual way.
The open space within the great kraal was densely packed, save that roomwas left for the wild dancing and other ceremonies employed by the_izanusi_. These ran up and down, mouthing and bellowing, and shakingthe ornaments of their calling--bladders filled with blood, festoons ofentrails of sacrificed beasts, bunches of feathers and bird's claws, andsnakes and lizards. Now and again they would halt, and pointing withtheir wands, tipped with giraffe tail, at some one in the crowd, wouldname him, calling, out a string of instances of witch dealing. This oneheld converse with a black baboon, that one slept all day and only movedout at night, another was reputed to eat snakes, and so forth. All sonamed were immediately led forth to the place of slaughter; but Inoticed that among them was no person of any consequence. The witchdoctors, to all appearance, were destroying them out of sheer wantoncraving for blood.
Dingane was growing impatient. His brows were wrinkled into a heavyfrown. Not for such a well-worn exhibition as this, surely, had thebulk of the nation been convened. If so, then indeed it would go illwith Tola and his following. This was running in the mind of the King;and I, who sat near him, could see into his thoughts.
Now the witch doctors ceased in their mouthings, and suddenly, frombehind them, appeared a band of girls. There might have been threescore of them, and they seemed to have been chosen from the handsomestand finest of the nation. They were arrayed in the richest beadwork,and wore wreaths of green leaves upon their heads and twined aroundtheir shapely limbs. A strange band, indeed, to spring up suddenly fromthe midst of those wizard-hounds of blood and of death.
They advanced, swaying to a measured dancing step, and softly singing.A deep murmur of amazement and delight arose from all; for this was afair and goodly sight, and all welcomed it as a relief from the grimhideousness of the witch doctors. A weight of fear seemed lifted fromthe minds of many. These, surely, were not here to doom to death.
But as their singing rose louder and louder, as I caught the burden oftheir song, I, for one, felt by no means so sure. They sang of a nationcursed by an evil blight, of the counsels of strangers, of the firstrepulse the great Zulu power had ever known, of the presence ofstrangers in the ranks of the lion-cubs, of the presence _of astranger_. And every time they repeated the words they would sway roundso as to face me, as I sat among the _izinduna_ at the right hand of theKing.
Then, _Nkose_, the nerves within me seemed to tingle. Well knew I themeaning of this. _I_ was the object of their denunciations. Any momentnow I might step into the Dark Unknown. Doom had found me at last. _Iwas being "smelt out_."
Well, indeed, could I see through it all now. This had been arrangedbetween Tambusa, my enemy, and Tola, the head _izanusi_. The singingband of girls, designed to add novelty to the witch finding, as well asto please Dingane, had for its object my death. The red cloud began tosurge around my brain as I sat there. Not in me was it to die tamely;and softly I reached forth for the stick which was the only approach toa weapon which custom allowed upon such an occasion, and calculated howgreat a spring wo
uld enable me to crush in Tambusa's skull ere theycould lay hands on me. The death of the stake would be my lot; nomatter--I must slay somebody.
The band of singing-girls swayed nearer and nearer; then with a rush oftheir light feet they came straight for me. Now for the doom. But--notyet. Some unseen force seemed to turn them back again. They held onaround the circle, not having pointed at or named me.
This happened several times, and each time I looked to hear the word ofdoom, each time I tightened up my muscles for my spring upon Tambusa.Each time, too, the song denunciatory of "the stranger" grew fiercer,each time only to sink and die away in their throats. Then the_izanusi_, as in encouragement, lifted up their deep hoarse voices, asthe voices of beasts growling for blood.
_Whau, Nkose_! I can see it all still--for at such moments a man mayseem to live a thousand lifetimes--the immense kraal, with its ringedfences and vast circles of yellow huts--the assembled multitudeblackening the earth in its awed hush--the sea of expectant faces--thecountenance of the King sternly set, those of the _izinduna_expressionless as stones--the band of singing-girls--the savage eyes ofthe witch doctors--and, as a background to the whole, a brooding sky,blue-black with the threatenings of its pent-up storm.
Once more, encouraged by the wild howling of the _izanusi_, this strangeband of doom came whirling towards me. This time I was gone. But, no!They halted more suddenly than before, and their song seemed to die ontheir very lips. Then I looked up from calculating the distance betweenmy stick and the skull of Tambusa, and beheld--a woman!
She was standing alone in the open, midway between the cloud of scowlingwitch doctors and the band of girls, and there was that in her wondrouseyes which constrained and controlled the latter. She, too, was arrayedin rich beadwork, but wore no wreaths or garlands of leaves, and as Igazed upon her standing there--a splendid and majestic form--why then,_Nkose_, anybody who chose might have stepped up and slain me,unresisting in my amazement. For she who stood there was none otherthan my lost sorceress-wife, Lalusini.
Had the shades sent forth their spirits? Had the grim alligators inUmzilikazi's pool of death shrank back in fear from so royal a prey?Was I dreaming, or had I gone mad with the prolonged suspense of myimpending doom? No! In the very life there she stood--she to avengewhom I would have slain a king--would have destroyed a whole mightynation. And she stood there to avert from me the sure and dreadfuldeath--the death of the man at whom the witch-wand has been pointed.
One glance she flashed upon me from her wonderful eyes--quick, full,penetrating--one glance and no more; but in that glance I knew I wassafe, for who should harm one whom the most marvellous magic ever knownnow protected?
For some time thus she stood, speaking no word, only gazing around withcalm commanding eyes. Then the King grew impatient.
"Have done," he exclaimed, with a frown. "Let us see whether the magicof Mahlula is greater than that of Tola."
"The magic of Mahlula," had said Dingane. Then Lalusini was not known.Yet it seemed to me the majesty of the House of Senzangakona was sostamped upon every feature that her very look must betray her.
"Judge now for thyself, Father of the Wise," she replied. "This is theword of Mahlula. The `stranger' of whom Tola speaks, of whom hiscompany did but now sing, is not here, else these"--showing with a sweepof the hand the band of girls, who had ceased their movements and werenow sitting in a ring around her--"these whom I have trained and taughtwould have found him--for my will works through theirs--my eyes seethrough theirs. Therefore, he cannot be here."
"Why, then, are we?" said Dingane, with a meaning in his tone that bodedill for Tola and his following.
"Was it to learn the fate of a nation, Great Great One?" answeredLalusini, or Mahlula, as she was known here. "Learn it then so far.The end is not yet. But--I see the shook of war. I see men and horsesadvancing. The lion-cubs of Zulu flee before them. But lying behindthe hills on either side is a dark cloud of terrible ones. Still theyadvance, those whites. Then that cloud whirls down upon them, breaksover them. Ha! There are death-screams as the flash of the spearsrises and falls, and horses straggling, hoofs in air, and the song ofthose black ones is a battle-song of triumph."
Now I saw that the speaker had fallen into one of those divining trancesI knew so well, and in which all she foretold had come to pass.Dingane, too, began to see this, and asked eagerly, yet not without awein his tone:
"And when shall this be, sister?"
"Hearken to no idle counsels. Heed no false magic," she answered, withmeaning. "I, and I alone, can see into the future. Be led by me ifthis nation would live."
With these words, I, who looked, saw the vision pass away fromLalusini's countenance, and her eyes were as those of one who awakensout of a deep sleep. The King, too, must have seen it, for he foreboreto question her further. Then he spoke, low at first, but raising hisvoice in a black and terrible burst of wrath.
"Now of yon impostors I will make an end. Take them away, ye blackones." And he pointed with his spear at Tola and his following.
At the word of the King, the slayers sprang forward. But the witchdoctors fled howling, and keeping in a compact body, broke through allwho stood in their path, and the lower end of the kraal became full ofthe kicking, tumbling bodies of men. But the slayers were among them;and the people barring their way to the lower gate, they were seized anddragged, howling and shrieking, without the kraal. And as theknobkerries fell with a heavy thud upon their cunning and bloodthirstybrains, a murmur of fierce delight escaped all who heard, for the peoplehated these wolves of _izanusi_, and rejoiced that they themselvesshould taste the death they loved to deal out to others.
There was one, however, who did not so rejoice, and that was Tambusa;indeed at first he had made a movement to stay the word, which was thatof doom to the _izanusi_; but the look on the face of Dingane was sofell and deadly, that even the boldness of Tambusa quailed before it.
And I--_Whau_!--I rejoiced that I still lived, and that Tola was dead.But Tambusa did not.