CHAPTER FOUR.
THE ABODE OF THE TERROR.
Through the whole of the following day, and the night after, wetravelled; and on the next morning, before the son had arisen, we cameupon a large kraal. The land lay enshrouded in heavy mist, and thehoarse barking of many dogs sounded thick and muffled. Armed men sprangto the gate to inquire our errand, but one word from my slave, Jambula,caused them to give us immediate admission. This was the kraal ofMaqandi-ka-Mahlu, the chief over the workers in iron, in whose midst thehorror named the Red Death had broken forth.
As I strode across the centre space--the domes of the encircling hutslooming shadowy through the mist--Maqandi himself came forth to meet me.Yet although showing me this mark of deference, I liked not his manner,which was sullen, and somewhat lacking in the respect due from aninferior and disgraced chief towards one who dwelt at the right hand ofthe King, and who was, moreover, the second in command of the King'sarmy. But it seemed to me that fear was in his mind, for he could notthink that an induna of my rank would arrive alone, attended by oneslave, and I think he expected every moment the signal which shouldbring my followers swarming into the kraal to put him and his to theassegai and his possessions to the flames.
"What is the will of the Great Great One, son of Ntelani?" he said, aswe sat together within his hut alone. "_Hau_! I am an old man now, andtroubles grow thick on every side. I have no people, and am buttaskmaster over a set of miserable slaves--I, who fought with theassegai and led warriors to victory at the Place of the Three Rifts,even as you did yourself, Untuswa. Yes, troubles are upon me on everyside, and I would fain sit down at rest within the Dark Unknown."
I looked at Maqandi, and I pitied him. He had, indeed, grown old sincewe had fought together in that great battle. His face was lined and hisbeard had grown grey; and his hair--which, being in some measure indisgrace, he had neglected to shave--seemed quite white against theblackness of his head-ring. Yet with all his desire to sleep the sleepof death, there was in his eyes a look of fear; such a look as may bedescried in the faces of those to whom the witch-finder's rod draws verynear. Yes, I pitied him.
"The will of the Great Great One is not with thee for the present,Maqandi," I said, desiring to reassure him. "Now, hearken, and give mesuch aid as I need, and it may be that the head-ring of the son of Mahlumay yet shine once more in its place among the nation."
"Ha! Sayest thou so, holder of the White Shield?" he answered quickly,a look of joy lighting up his face. "Is not all I have at the disposalof the second induna of the King?"
"That is rightly said, Maqandi," I replied. "For never yet did I failthose who did well by me. And now we will talk."
I unfolded my plan to the chief over the ironworkers, and as I did sohis face grew sad and heavy again--for I could see he doubted my successin ridding the land of this terror--and then would not he, too, besacrificed to the anger of the King? But I enjoined upon him silenceand secrecy--telling him that his part lay in strictly obeying my ordersand supplying my need. This, so far, lay in requiring two of the slaveironworkers to be in attendance upon me at sundown, for I intendedproceeding to the Valley of the Red Death that very night.
Food was brought in, and _tywala_, and we ate and drank. Then I laydown and slept--slept hard and soundly throughout the heat and length ofthe day.
When I awoke the sun was declining from his highest point in theheavens. My slave Jambula was already waiting and armed before the doorof my hat. Beside him, too, were those I required to be in attendance.Both went before me, uttering words of _bonga_.
"Why are these armed?" I said, noting that the two ironworkers carriedspears and axes. "I need no armed force. Let them leave their weaponshere."
A look of fear spread over the faces of both slaves at these words, andthey reckoned themselves already dead men. For although weapons couldbe of no avail against a thing of _tagati_ and of terror, such as hadalready laid low so many of their number, and indeed two of our owntried warriors, in a death of blood, yet it is in the nature of man tofeel more confident when his hand holds a spear. But at my word theydropped their weapons and stood helpless.
Now, _Nkose_, not without reason did I so act. The King's word had beenthat I should slay this horror accompanied by no armed force, andalthough two such miserable fighters as this race of slaves could supplywere of no more use with arms in their hands than without, yet I wouldnot give Umzilikazi any chance of saying I had not fulfilled hisconditions. Besides, I had a purpose to which I intended putting thesetwo, wherein weapons would avail them nothing at all.
I took leave of Maqandi-ka-Mahlu and set forth--I and Jambula and thetwo workers in iron. Such men of our people as I encountered saluted mein gloomy silence, and as I passed the kraals of the iron-workers thepeople came forth and prostrated themselves on the ground, for myimportance was twofold; I represented the majesty of the King, andfurther, some inkling had got abroad that my errand lay to investigate,and, if possible, bring to an end the terror of the Red Magic.
From the kraal of Maqandi we could already see the great mountain rangein whose heart lay the locality of this terror, and shortly, ere thelast rays of the sun faded from the world, we stood before a dark andnarrow defile. We had left behind the dwellings of men, thoughplentiful traces of their occupation would meet our eyes, being left bythe iron-working parties. Through this defile a thin trickle of waterran, though in times of rain and storm the place showed signs of pouringdown a mighty and formidable flood. High overhead the slopes werecovered with thick bush and forest trees, and above this, again, wallsof red-faced rock seemed to cleave the sky. As we entered this gloomyplace the terror on the faces of the slaves deepened, and even I,_Nkose_, felt not so easy in my mind as I would have it appear.
Soon we came out into more open ground; open immediately around us, foron raising my eyes I saw that we were in a large valley, or hollow. Aring of immense cliffs shut in the place as with a wall, nor, save theway by which we had come in, could my glance, keen and searching as itwas, descry any means by which a man might find a way out.
The bottom of this strange valley was nearly level, and well grown withtall forest trees and undergrowth; not so thick, however, but that therewere grassy open spaces, bestrewn with large rocks and boulders. Butfrom the level floor of the hollow robe little or no slope. The greatiron faces of the cliffs rose immediately, either in terraces or soaringup to a great height. Such was the aspect of the Valley of the RedDeath.
That it was indeed the dreaded valley, the looks on the faces of the twoiron-workers were sufficient to show. But I, gazing earnestly aroundand noting that there was but one way in or out, reckoned that the firstpart of my errand would not be hard--to find the accursed thing. Then afurther examination of the cliffs, and I felt not so sure, forirregularly along their faces were black spots of all shapes and sizes.These were the mouths of caves.
Now, as we stood there, the light of day had all but faded from theworld, and already one or two stars were peeping over the rim of thevast cliff-wall rearing up misty and dim to the height of the heavens.Little sound of life was there, from bird, or beast, or insect; and thisof itself added to the grey and ghostly chill which seemed to brood overthe place; for in that country night was wont to utter with more voicesthan day. But the golden bow of a young moon, bright and clear, gave asufficient light to make out anything moving, save under the blackdarkness of the trees.
"What is thy name?" I said suddenly, turning to one of the slaves.
"Suru, father," he replied.
"Well then, Suru, attend," I said. "Remain here, in this open spacebeside this small rock, and stir not hence until I send for or callthee. To fail in thy orders in the smallest particular is death."
But the man sank on the ground at my feet.
"Slay me now, father," he entreated, "for death by one blow of the spearof the mighty do I prefer to the awfulness and horror of the death whichshall come upon me here alone."
"But d
eath by one blow of the spear shall not be thy portion, oh fool,"I answered, mocking him. "Ah, ah! No such easy way is thine, oh dog,oh slave. The stake of impalement shall be thy lot, oh Suru. Think ofit, thou hast never seen it. Ask Jambula here how long a man may livewhen seated upon that sharp throne. For days and days may he beg fordeath, with blackened face and bursting eyeballs and lolling tongue, andevery nerve and muscle cracking and writhing with the fiery torture.Why surely the death which this ghost could bring upon thee here wouldbe mercy compared with such a death as that. But I think I will leavethee no choice. Bind him, Jambula. Even a bound sentinel is betterthan none, though more helpless. If Suru will not keep his watch a freeman he shall keep it bound. Ah, ah!"
That settled all his doubts. As Jambula made a step towards him, Surucried out to me to pardon his first hesitation, and to allow him to obeymy orders at any rate unbound. I agreed to this, for he was frightenedenough, and indeed, _Nkose_, as he moved away to take up the position Ihad assigned to him, his look was that of one who stands on the brink ofthe Pool of the Alligators with the slayers beside him.
Leaving Suru to his solitary post, I moved back with Jambula and theother slave to near the neck of the narrow passage by which we hadentered the hollow, for I wanted to see whether the thing of dread camein when night fell, or whether it abode within the place itself. Thiswe could do, for I chose a position a little way up the hillside,whence, by the light of the moon, I could command a clear space overwhich anything approaching from without could not but pass. So we satbeneath a cluster of rocks, and watched, and watched.
Night had fallen, mysterious and ghostly. The stars burned bright inthe heavens, yet it seemed as though some black cloud of fear hungabove, blurring their light. From the open country far beyond came thecry of hyaenas, and the sharp barking yelp of the wild hunting dogcalling to its mates; but in the drear gloom of this haunted valley, nosound of bird or beast was there to break the silence. So the nightwatches rolled on.
I know not whether I slept, _Nkose_; it may be that I partly did; butthere came a feeling over me as of the weight of some great terror, andindeed it seemed to hold me as though I could not move. Was it an evildream? Scarcely, for, as with a mighty effort, I partly threw off thespell, my glance fell upon the face of Jambula.
He was gazing upward--gazing behind him--gazing behind him and me. Hisjaw had fallen as that of a man not long dead, and his eyeballs seemedbursting from their sockets, and upon his face was the same awful lookof fear as that worn by the slave, Suru, when left to his solitarywatch. I followed his glance, and then I too felt the blood run chillwithin me.
Rising above the rocks, at the foot of which we sat, a pair of greatbranching horns stood forth black against the sky. Slowly, slowly, thehead followed, till a pair of flaming eyes shone beneath, seeming toburn us as we crouched there. But the size of it! _Whau_! No animalthat ever lived--even the largest bull in the King's herd--ever attainedto half the size. Thoughts of the _tagati_ terror rushed through mymind. Should I creep round the rocks and slay the monster, while itsattention was taken up watching my slaves? Would it indeed fall tomortal weapon? And at that moment, I, the fearless, the foremost in thefiercest battle, the second commander of the King's armies, felt myheart as water within me. But before I could decide on any plan thething vanished--vanished as I gazed.
It was coming round the rocks, of course. In a moment we should receiveits onslaught, and three more would be added to the number of thevictims of the Red Death.
But--after? I thought of my beautiful wife, writhing her life out uponthe stake of agony. I thought of my kinsmen and followers given over tothe death of the alligators, and in a moment my heart grew strong again.I felt nerved with the strength of ten men. Let the thing come; andgripping my broad assegai, the royal spear, and my great white shield,the royal gift, I stood above the two scared and cowering slaves, readyto give battle to this terror from the unseen world. And in the shortspace of silence, of waiting, it seemed that I lived the space of mywhole life.
But as I thus waited there rang forth upon the night a shrill, wildechoing yell--such a cry as might issue from the throat of one sufferingsuch unheard of torments as the mind of man could ever invent. Itpealed forth again louder, more quavering, rending the night with itsindescribable notes of terror and agony--and it rose from where we hadleft the slave, Suru, to keep his grisly watch alone in the blackness ofthe forest. There was silence, but immediately that was rent by anothersound--a terrible sound, too--the savage growling roars as of aninfuriated bull--receding further and further from the place whence thedeath cry had arisen, together with a crashing sound as though a greatwind were rushing away further and further up the haunted valley.
For long did that fearful death-yell ring in my ears, as I stoodthroughout the night watches, grasping my spear, every moment expectingthe onslaught of the thing--for, of course, it would return, where morevictims awaited. Then the thought came to me that it only dared attackand slay the unarmed; that at the sight of a warrior like myself, armedand ready for battle, it had retired to vent its rage upon an easierprey; and this thought brought strength and encouragement, for I wouldfind no great difficulty in slaying such. But with the thought cameanother. The two men of Hlatusa's band had been slain as easily andmysteriously as the iron-working slaves--slain in broad daylight--andthey were well-armed warriors, and men of tried valour. In truth, theundertaking seemed as formidable as ever.
Even that night came to an end, and the cheerfulness and warmth of thenewly-arisen sunbeams put heart even into the two badly-frightenedslaves; and, feeling strong in my presence, their fears yielded tocuriosity to learn the exact fate of Suru--not that any of us reallydoubted what that fate had been.
With spear held ready, and none the less alert because it was day, andthe valley was now flooded with the broad light of the sun, I quicklymade my way down, followed by Jambula and the other, to where I had leftthe slave the night before. It was as I thought. There he lay--dead;crushed and crumpled into a heap of body and limbs. He had tried torun. I could see that by the tracks, but before he had run ten stepsthe terrible ghost-bull had overtaken him and flung him forward. Thegreat hole made by the entering horn gaped wide between his ribs, and,tearing forward, had half ripped him in two. The grass around was allred and wet with half-congealed blood, and in the midst, imprinted deepand clear as in the muddy earth after rain, two great hoof marks, andthose of such a size as to be imprinted by no living animal.
So now I had seen with my own eyes a victim of the terror of the RedDeath, and now I myself must slay this horror. But how to slay a greatand terrible ghost--a fearful thing not of this world?