CHAPTER TWO.
"BEHOLD THE SIGN!"
The silence was broken by a long, muttering roll of thunder. Masses ofdark cloud were lying low down on the further sky, but overhead the sundarted his beams upon us in all the brightness of his mid-dayfierceness, causing the great white shield held above the King to shinelike polished metal. To many of us it seemed that the thunder-voice,coming as it did, was an omen. The wizard spell of the Red Death seemedto lie heavy upon us; and now that two of ourselves had fallen to itsunseen terror, men feared, wondering lest it should stalk through theland, laying low the very pick and flower of the nation. Murmurs--deep,threatening, ominous--rose among the dense masses of the crowd. TheKing had decreed one victim, the people demanded another; for such wasthe shape which now those murmurs took.
Umzilikazi sat in gloomy silence. He liked not the sacrifice of goodand brave fighting men, and the thing that had happened had thrown himinto a dark mood indeed. Not until the murmurs became loud anddeafening did he seem to notice them. Then the _izanusi_, deeming thattheir moment had come, took up the tale. Shaking their hideousornaments and trappings, they came howling before the King; calling outthat such dark witchcraft was within the nation as could not fail todestroy it. But upon these the Great Great One gazed with moody eyes,giving no sign of having heard them; and I, watching, wondered, for Iknew not what was going to follow. Suddenly the King looked up.
"Enough of your bellowings, ye snakes, ye wizard cheats!" he thundered."I have a mind to send ye all into this Ghost Valley, to slay the thingor be slain by it. Say; why are ye not ridding me of this evil thingwhich has crept into the nation?"
"That is to be done, Ruler of the World!" cried the chief of the_izanusi_. "That is to be done; but the evil-doer is great--great!"
"The evil-doer is great--great!" howled the others, in response.
"Find him, then, jackals, impostors!" roared the King. "_Whau_! Sinceold Masuka passed into the spirit-land never an _izanusi_ have we known.Only a crowd of bellowing jackal-faced impostors."
For, _Nkose_, old Masuka was dead. He had died at a great age, and hadbeen buried with sacrifices of cattle as though one of our greatestchiefs. In him, too, I had lost a friend, but of that have I more totell.
Now some of the _izanusi_ dived in among the crowd and returned draggingalong several men. These crawled up until near the King, and laytrembling, their eyes starting from their heads with fear. And now, forthe first time, a strange and boding feeling came over me, as Irecognised in these some of the Bakoni, who had been at a distance whenwe stamped flat that disobedient race, and had since been spared andallowed to live among us as servants.
"Well, dogs! What have ye to say?" quoth the King. "Speak, and thatquickly, for my patience today is short."
_Whau! Nkose_! They did speak, indeed, those dogs. They told how theRed Death was no new thing--at least to them--for periodically it waswont to make its appearance among the Bakoni. When it did so, itpresaged the succession of a new chief; indeed, just such amanifestation had preluded the accession to the supreme chieftainship ofTauane, whom we had burned amid the ashes of his own town. The RedDeath was among the darker mysteries of the Bakoni _muti_.
Not all at once did this tale come out, _Nkose_, but bit by bit, andthen only when the Great Great One had threatened them with thealligators--even the stake of impalement--if they kept back aught. AndI--I listening--_Hau_! My blood seemed first to freeze, then to boilwithin me, as I saw through the ending of that tale. The darkermysteries of the Bakoni _muti_!--preluding the accession of a new king?The countenance of the Great Great One grew black as night.
"It is enough," he said. "Here among us, at any rate, is one to whomsuch mysteries are not unknown. The Queen of the Bakoni _muti_--whoshall explain them better than she?"
The words, taken up by the _izanusi_ and bellowed aloud, soon wentrolling in chorus among the densely-packed multitude, and from everymouth went up shouts for Lalusini--the Queen of the Bakoni _muti_.Then, _Nkose_, the whole plot burst in upon my mind. Our witch doctorshad always hated my _inkosikazi_, because she was greater than they;even as they had always hated me, because I had old Masuka on my side,and was high in the King's favour, and therefore cared nothing aboutthem, never making them gifts. Now their chance had come, since oldMasuka was dead and could befriend me no more, and my favour in theKing's sight was waning. Moreover, they had long suspected that ofLalusini the Great Great One would fain be rid; yet not against her hadthey dared to venture upon the "smelling out" in the usual way, lest sheproved too clever for them; for the chief of the _izanusi_ had a livelyrecollection of the fate of Notalwa and Isilwana, his predecessors.Wherefore they had carefully and craftily laid their plot, using for thepurpose the meanest of the conquered peoples whose very existence we hadby that time forgotten.
Now the shouts for Lalusini were deafening, and should have reached mykraal, which, from where I sat, I could just see away against thehillside. But the shouters had not long to shout, for again a way wasopened up, and through it there advanced she whom they sought.
No dread or misgiving was on the face of my beautiful wife, as sheadvanced with a step majestic and stately as became her royal blood.She drew near to the King, then halted, and, with hand upraised, utteredthe "_Bayete_" for no prostration or humbler mode of address wasUmzilikazi wont to exact from her, the daughter of Tshaka the Terrible,by reason of her mighty birth. Thus she stood before the King, her headslightly thrown back, a smile of entire fearlessness shining from herlarge and lustrous eyes.
"Greeting, Daughter of the Great," said Umzilikazi, speaking softly."Hear you what these say?"
"I have heard them, son of Matyobane," she answered.
"Ha! Yet they spoke low, and thou wert yet afar off," went on the Kingcraftily.
"What is that to me, Founder of a New Nation? Did I not hear the quiverof the spear-hafts of Mhlangana's host long before it reached the Placeof the Three Rifts?"
"The Place of the Three Rifts," growled the King. "_Hau_! It seems tome we have heard overmuch of that tale. Here, however, is a new tale,not an old one. What of the Red Death? Do these dogs lie?" pointing tothe grovelling Bakoni.
Lalusini glanced at them for a moment--the deepest scorn and disgustupon her royal features--the disgust felt by a real magician for thosewho would betray the mysteries of their nation's magic, and I, gazing,felt I would rather encounter the most deadly frown that ever rested onthe face of the King himself than meet such a look upon that of my_inkosikazi_, if directed against myself.
"They lie, Great Great One," she answered shortly.
Then the King turned such a deadly look upon the crouching slaves thatthese cried aloud in their fear. They vociferated that they weretelling the truth, and more--that they themselves had witnessed theoperations of the Red Death among their own people; that Lalusiniherself and her mother, Laliwa, had actually brought about thedestruction of Tauane's predecessor by its means, and that that ofTauane himself had been decreed--that it always meant the accession of anew ruler.
Now I, sitting near Umzilikazi, knew well what was passing in his mind.As he grew older he had become more and more sour and suspicious. Nowhe was thinking that he himself was destined to die in blood, even asthat Great One, Tshaka, had died, that I, his second fighting induna,his favourite war-councillor, should succeed him, and so win back notonly the seat of Matyobane, but the throne of Senzangakona for thissorceress--this splendid daughter of Tshaka the Terrible. So, too,would the death of Tshaka be avenged. And in Umzilikazi's look I couldread my own doom, and yet, _Nkose_, even at that moment not of myselfdid I think. I had only eyes for the tall, shapely form of my beautifulwife thus put upon her trial before the King and the whole nation. ThenUmzilikazi spoke.
"It seems we have spared too many slaves of this race of _Abatagati_.Take these hence," pointing to the grovelling Bakoni. "The alligatorsare hungry."
There was a roar of delight from all who heard. The slay
ers flungthemselves upon the shrieking slaves, dragging them away by the heels asthey rolled upon the ground imploring mercy, for they were too sick withterror to stand upon their legs. Shouts of hate and wrath followed themas they were hurried away to the pool of death. Indeed, such a rain ofblows and kicks fell upon them from those through whose midst they weredragged that it seemed doubtful whether most of them would ever reachthe alligators alive. For, _Nkose_, although in dead silence and pitiedby all, Hlatusa had gone through these same people to his doom, he wasone of ourselves, and a brave fighter; but these were of an inferior andconquered race, and withal miserable cowards, wherefore our people couldnot restrain their hatred and contempt.
"Hold!" roared the King, before the slayers had quite dragged these dogsoutside the kraal, and at his voice again silence fell upon the throng."Hold! After feeding upon the flesh of a brave man I will not that myalligators be poisoned with such carrion as this. There may yet be moreroyal meat for them," he put in, in a lower tone, and with a savage anddeadly sneer. Then, raising his voice, "Let these dogs be taken up toyonder hill and burnt."
A roar of delight broke from all, mingled with shouts of _bonga_ as tothe King's justice and wisdom. And none were more pleased, I thought,than the slayers, men of fierce and savage mind, who, from constantlymeting out torture and death, loved their occupation the more thefarther they pursued it.
For awhile there was silence. Away upon a round-topped hillock, withinsight of all, the slayers were collecting great piles of dry wood, andupon these the condemned slaves were flung, bound. Then amid the fierceroar and crackle of the flames wild tortured shrieks burst from thosewho writhed there and burned, and to the people the shrieks were thepleasantest of sounds, for the terror of the Red Death had strangelyfastened upon all minds, and they could not but hold that these who thusdied had in some way brought the curse of it upon them.
Again upon the stillness arose a long roll of thunder--this time loudand near, for the great cloud which had been lying low down upon thefurther sky was now towering huge and black, almost above the very spotwhere burned those wretches, and the pointed flash which followed seemedto dart in and out of the smoke which rose from the crackling wood pile.The multitude, watching, began to murmur about an omen.
"Talk we now of this thing of evil," said Umzilikazi, at last. "Thou,Lalusini, art a pestilent witch. For long hast thou been among us. Forlong has thy greatness been honoured, thou false prophetess, whosepromise is as far from fulfilment as ever. Now thou shalt travel theway of those whose predictions are false."
Black and bitter wrath was in the King's mind. Hardly could he containhimself, hardly could he speak for rage. He must stop perforce, halfchoking for breath. And I, _Nkose_, I sitting there, how did I containmyself, as I was obliged to behold my beautiful wife--whom I loved witha love far surpassing that which I felt for King and nation, or my ownlife a hundred times over--standing thus awaiting the word which shouldadjudge her to a shameful and agonising death! _Hau_! I am an old mannow--a very old man--still can I see it before me; the huge kraal like afull moon, the yellow domes of the huts within the ring fences, thegreat open space in the middle black with listening people, bright withdistended eyeballs, and gleaming teeth showing white between partedlips, and away beyond this the heavy smoke-wreath mounting from theglowing wood-pile, the cries and groans of the expiring slaves, theblackness of the thunder cloud, the fierce pale glare of the sun uponthe assegais of the armed guard, and upon the blaze of white of thegreat shield held above the King. _Yeh-bo_--I see it all--the angryinfuriated countenance of Umzilikazi, the dread anxiety on the faces ofthe other _izinduna_, which was as the shrinking before a great andterrible storm about to burst. _Haul_ and I see more. I see, as I sawit then, the face of my beautiful wife, Lalusini, Daughter of theMighty--as she stood there before the Great One, in whose hand wasdeath--proud, fearless, and queenly. And she was awaiting her doom.
Now she threw back her head, and in her eyes shone the light which mustoft-times have shone in the eyes of that Mighty One from whom she hadsprung. Then she spoke:
"In the hand of the King is death, and even the greatest of those whopractise sorcery cannot withstand such--at least not always. But knowthis, son of Matyo-bane, with my death shall utterly perish all hope ofthe seat of Senzangakona to thee and thine. Further, know that, withoutmy help, the very House of Matyobane shall in two generations be rootedup and utterly destroyed, scattered to the winds, and the people of theAmandebeli shall become even as Amaholi to those who are stronger."
Those who heard these words murmured in awe, for over Lalusini's facehad come that inspired look which it wore when the spirit of divinationwas on her. But the King was beside himself with fury, and his featureswere working as those of a man who has gone mad.
"So!" he hissed. "So! And I sit in my seat only by permission of awitch--by permission of one who is greater than I! So I am no longer aKing!" he mocked. "Yet two bulls cannot rule in one kraal. So, sister,thou shalt have a high throne to rule this nation from--as high a throneas had the traitor Tyuyumane before thee." Then raising his voice--forthey had hitherto talked in a tone low enough to be heard only by theKing and the few who sat in attendance round him--"Make ready thestake--the stake of impalement--for the _inkosikazi_ of Untuswa. Makeready a high throne for the Queen of the Bakoni _muti_."
_Whau, Nkose_! I had fought at the side of Umzilikazi ever since Icould fight. I had stood beside him when, single-handed, we huntedfierce and dangerous game. I had stood beside him in every peril, openor secret, that could beset the path of the founder of a great andwarrior nation, who must ever rule that nation with a strong and ironhand. In short, there was no peril to which the King had been exposedthat I had not shared, and yet, _Nkose_, I who sat there among the_izinduna_, unarmed and listening, knew that never, since the day of hisbirth, had he gone in such peril of instant death as at that moment whenhe sat there, his own broad spear in his right hand, and guarded by theshields and gleaming assegais of his body-guard--pronouncing the wordswhich should consign my _inkosikazi_ to a death of shame and offrightful agony. For the spell of Lalusini's witchcraft lay potent andsweet upon my soul--and I was mad--yet not so mad but that as I satthere unarmed, I could measure the few paces that intervened betweenmyself and the Great Great One--_could mark how carelessly he held thebroad-bladed spear within his grasp_.
Even the slayers--for not all had gone forth to the burning of theBakoni--even the slayers stared as though half stupefied, hesitating tolay hands upon that queenly form, standing there erect and unutterablymajestic. Upon us the spell of the moment was complete. We leanedforward as we sat, we _izinduna_, and for the rest of us it was asthough stone figures sat there watching, not living men of flesh andbones. For myself, I know not how I looked. But how I felt--ah! it waswell my thoughts were buried. The armed guards, too, seemed bewilderedwith awe and amazement. The moment had come. The Red Death had indeedpresaged the accession of a new King--but for the daughter of Tshaka theMighty, the swift and merciful stroke of a royal spear should end herlife, instead of the stake of agony and shame. For myself I cared not.I was mad. The whole world was whizzing round.
Through it all I heard the voice of Lalusini.
"Pause a moment, Ruler of the Great," she was saying, and her voice wasfirm and sweet and musical as ever, and utterly without fear. "Pause amoment for a sign."
She had half turned, and with one hand was pointing towards theascending smoke-cloud towering above the hill of death. A sharp,crashing peal of thunder shook the world, and the lightning-gleam seemedto flash down right upon the smouldering pile. A silence was upon allas, with upturned faces, King, _izinduna_, guards, slayers, the wholemultitude sat motionless, waiting for what should next befall. Not longhad we to wait.
Lalusini stood, her eyes turned skyward, her hand outstretched, her lipsmoving. To many minds there came the recollection of her as she hadthus stood, long ago, singing the Song of the Shield--that glorio
uswar-song which had inspired each of our warriors with the daring of ten,which had saved the day to us at the Place of the Three Rifts. Thenthere came such a deafening crash that the very earth rocked and reeled;and from the rent thunder cloud a jagged stream of fire poured itselfdown upon the remainder of the burning wood, scattering logs, sparks,cinders, and the bones of the tortured slaves, whirling them in a mightyshower far and wide over the plain. Those of the slayers who stilllingered around the spot lay as dead men.
"Behold the sign, O son of Matyobane!" cried Lalusini, in clear, ringingtones, turning again to the King. "Yonder are the dogs who lied againstme. The heavens above would not suffer their very bones to rest, buthave scattered them far and wide over the face of the world. No othershave met with harm."
Now all began to cry aloud that indeed it was so; and from the multitudea great murmur of wonderment went up. For then those of our men who hadbeen struck down were seen to rise and walk slowly down towards thekraal--stupified, but alive and unharmed. Then I, who could no longersit still, came before the King.
"A boon, Great Great One," I cried. "Suffer me to go and root out thismystery of the Red Death, and slay for ever this evil thing that causethit; I alone. So shall it trouble the land no more."
A hum of applause rose from among my fellow _izinduna_, who joined withme in praying that my undertaking be allowed.
"Ever fearless, Untuswa," said the King, half sneering; yet I could seethat the wrathful mood was fast leaving him. "Yet thou art half amagician thyself, and this thing seems a thing of fearful and evilwitchcraft. But hear me. Thou shalt proceed to the Valley of the RedDeath, but with no armed force; and before this moon is full thou shaltslay this horror, that its evil deeds may be wrought no more. Ifsuccess is thine, it shall be well with thee and thine; if failure, thouand thy house shall become food for the alligators; and as for thine_inkosikazi_, the stake which she has for the time being escaped shallstill await her. I have said it, and my word stands. Now let thepeople go home."
With these words Umzilikazi rose and retired within the _isigodhlo_,and, as the rain began to fall in cold torrents, in a very short timethe open space was clear, all men creeping within the huts to takeshelter and to talk over the marvel that had befallen. But while onlythe _izanusi_ retired growling with discontent, all men rejoiced thatLalusini had so narrowly escaped what had seemed a certain doom.
Such doom, too, _Nkose_, had the King himself narrowly escaped; but thatall men did not know, it being, indeed, only known to me.