Power Of The Sword Part 24

Then he looked again at the eyes and felt a chill of awe at what he had loosed upon the world.

He's a killer. He recognized it. He has the instinct of the leopard who kills for the taste of blood and the simple joy of it. He no longer sees me. He sees only the prey before him. That knowledge had distracted him. He caught a right-hander on his upper arm and it jarred the teeth in his jaws and the bones of his ankles. He knew it would bruise him from the shoulder to the elbow, and his breath burned in his throat. His legs were turning to lead. He could feel his heart drumming against his ribs. Twenty-two years since he had been in the ring; twenty-two years of Trudi's cooking and his most vigorous exercise undertaken either at his desk or in the pulpit, while the youth before him was like a machine, boring in remorselessly, both fists swinging, those yellow eyes fixed upon him in a murderous myopic stare.

Uncle Tromp gathered himself, waited for the opening as Manfred swung right-handed, and then he counter-punched with his left, always his best, the same blow that had dropped black Jephta in the third, and it went in with that beautiful little click of bone against bone.

Manfred dropped to his knees, stunned, the killing yellow light fading from his eyes to be replaced by a dull bemused look, as though awakening from a trance.

That's it, Jong. The Trumpet of G.o.d's fine note was reduced to a breathy gasp. Down on your knees and give thanks to your Maker. Uncle Tromp lowered his bulk beside Manfred and placed a thick arm around his shoulders. He raised his face and his unsteady voice to heaven. Almighty G.o.d, we give You thanks for the strong body with which You have endowed Your young servant. We give You thanks also for his natural left, while realizing that it will need a lot of hard work - and we humbly beseech You to look favourably upon our efforts to instil in him even the rudiments of footwork. His right hand is a blessing directly from You, for which we will always be eternally grateful, though he will have to learn not to telegraph it five days in advance of the punch. Manfred was still shaking his head and rubbing his jaw, but he responded to the probing thumb in his ribs with a fervent Amen. We will begin roadwork immediately, O Lord, while we set up a ring in the tool-shed in which to learn the ropes, and we humbly beseech Your blessing on our enterprise and Your cooperation in keeping it from coming to the notice of Your servant's partner in holy matrimony, Trudi Bierman. Most afternoons, under the pretext of visiting one of his parishioners, Uncle Bierman would put the pony in the trap and drive out of the front gate with a flourish, waving to his wife on the front stoep. Manfred would be waiting at the clump of camel-thorn trees beside the main Windhoek road, already barefoot and stripped to khaki shorts, and he would trot out and fall in beside the trap as Uncle Tromp shook the fat pony into a canter.

five miles today, Jong, down to the river bridge and back, and we'll do it a bit faster than yesterday. The gloves that Uncle Tromp had smuggled down from the trunk in the loft were cracked with age, but they patched them with wood-glue and the first time he laced them onto Manfred's hands he watched while the lad lifted them to his nose and sniffed them.

The smell of leather and sweat and blood, long. Fill your nostrils with it. You'll live with it from now on. Manfred punched the tattered old gloves together, and for a moment that flat yellow light glowed in his eyes again, then he grinned.

They feel good, he said.

Nothing feels better, Uncle Tromp agreed, and led him to the heavy canvas kitbag filled with river sand that hung from the rafters in the corner of the tool-shed.

To begin with I want to see that left hand do some work.

it's like a wild horse; we have to break it and train it, teach it not to waste strength and effort. it has to learn to do our bidding, not flap around in the air. They built the ring together, quarter-full size for the tool-shed would take no more, and they sank the corner poles deep in the earthern floor and cemented them in. Then they stretched a sheet of canvas over the floor. The canvas and the cement had been commandeered from one of Uncle Tromp's wealthy parishioners, For the glory of G.o.d and the VoLk, an appeal that could not be lightly dismissed.

Sarah, sworn to secrecy by the most solemn and dreadful oath that Manfred and Uncle Tromp could concoct between them, was allowed to watch the ring-work, even though she was a thoroughly partisan audience and she cheered shrilly and shamelessly for the younger partic.i.p.ant.

After two of these sessions, which left Uncle Tromp unmarked but blowing like a steam engine, he shook his head ruefully. It's no use, Jong, either we have to find you another sparring partner, or I'll have to start training again myself., Thereafter the pony was left tethered in the camel-thorn clump and Uncle Tromp grunted and gasped beside Manfred on the long runs, while the sweat fell from his beard like the first rains of summer.

However, his protuberant gut shrivelled miraculously, and soon from under the layers of soft fat that covered his shoulders and chest the outline of hard muscle reappeared.

Gradually they stepped up the rounds from two to four minutes with Sarah, elected official timekeeper, measuring each round with Uncle Tromp's cheap silver pocket watch which made up for its dubious accuracy by its size.

It was almost a month before Uncle Tromp could say to himself, though he would never have dreamed of saying it to Manfred, He is starting to look like a boxer now., Instead he said: Now I want speed.

I want you to be fast as a mamba brave as a ratel. The mamba was the most dreaded of all Africa's serpents.

It could grow as thick as a man's wrist and reach twenty feet in length. Its venom could inflict death on a fully grown man in four minutes, an excruciating death. The mamba was so swift that it could overhaul a galloping horse, and the strike was so swift as to cheat the eye.

Fast as a mamba, brave as a ratel,Uncle Tromp repeated, as he would a hundred, a thousand times in the years ahead.

The ratel was the African honey badger, a small animal with a loose but thick tough skin that could defy the bite of a mastiff or the fangs of a leopard, a ma.s.sive flattened skull from which the heaviest club bounced harmlessly, and the heart of a lion, the courage of a giant. Normally mild and forbearing, it would fearlessly attack the largest adversary the instant that it was provoked. Legend had it that the ratel possessed an instinct for the groin and that it would rush in and rip the t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es out of any male animal, man or bull buffalo or lion, who threatened it.

I've got something to show you, Jong. Uncle Tromp led Manfred to the big wooden chest against the back wall of the tool-shed and opened the lid. It's for you. I ordered it by mail order from Cape Town. It arrived on the train yesterday. He placed the tangle of leather and rubber in Manfred's arms.

What is it, Uncle Tromp? Come, I'll show you. Within minutes Uncle Tromp had rigged the complicated contraption.

Well, what do you think, Jong? He stood back, beaming hugely through his beard.

It's the best present anyone has ever given me, Uncle Tromp. But what is it? You call yourself a boxer and you don't know a speed bag when you see one! A speed bag! It must have cost a lot of money. it did, Jong, but don't tell your Aunt Trudi. What do we do with it? 'This is what we do! cried Uncle Tromp, and he started the bag rattling against the frame in a rapid staccato rhythm, using both fists, taking the ball on the bounce, keeping it going unerringly until at last he stepped back panting.

Speed, jong, fast as a mamba. Faced with Uncle Tromp's generosity and enthusiasm, Manfred had to gather all his courage to speak the words that had been burning his tongue all these weeks.

He waited until the last possible moment of the last possible day before blurting out. I have to go away, Uncle Tromp, and he watched in agony the disappointment and disbelief flood over the craggy bearded face that he had come so swiftly and naturally to love.

Go away? You want to leave my house? Uncle Tromp stopped short in the dust of the Windhoek road and wiped the sweat from his face with the threadbare towel draped around his neck. Why, Jong, why? My pa, Manfred answered. My pa's trial starts in three days time. I have to be there, Uncle Tromp. I have to go, but I will come back. I swear I will come back, just as soon as I can. Uncle Tromp turned from him and began to run again, pounding down the long straight road, the dust puffing from under his bearlike feet at each pace, and Manfred sprinted up beside him. Neither of them spoke again until they reached the clump of trees where the pony trap was. .h.i.tched.

Oom Tromp climbed up into the driver's seat and picked up the reins. He looked down at Manfred standing beside the front wheel.

I wish, Jong, that I had a son of my own to show me such loyalty, he rumbled softly, and shook the pony into a trot.

The following evening, long after dinner and the evening prayers, Manfred lay on his bed, the candle on the shelf above his head carefully screened so that not a glimmer could alert Aunt Trudi to his extravagance. He was reading Goethe, his father's favourite author. It wasn't easy. His German had improved vastly. On two days a week Aunt Trudi insisted that no other language was spoken in the household, and she initiated erudite discussion at the dinner-table in which all members of the family were expected nay, forced, to partic.i.p.ate. Still Goethe wasn't a Tromp, and Manfred was concentrating so fiercely on his convoluted use of verbs that he didn't know Uncle Tromp was in the room until his shadow fell across the bed and the book was lifted from his hand.

you will ruin your eyes, Jong. Manfred sat up quickly and swung his legs off the bed while Uncle Tromp sank down beside him.

For a few moments the old man leafed through the book.

Then he spoke without looking up. Rautenbach is going in to Windhoek tomorrow in his T-model Ford. He is taking in a hundred turkeys to market, but he will have room for you on the back. You'll have to put up with flying feathers and turkey s.h.i.t, but it's cheaper than the train. Thank you, Uncle Tromp. There is an old widow in town, devout and decent, also a very good cook. She'll take you in. I've written to her. He drew a sheet of his notepaper from his pocket and placed it in Manfred's lap. The single sheet was folded and sealed with a blob of red wax, a back country minister's stipend could not encompa.s.s the luxury of envelopes.

Thank you, Uncle Tromp. Manfred could think of nothing else to say. He wanted to fling his arms round that thick bearlike neck and lay his cheek against the coa.r.s.e grey-shot beard, but he controlled himself.

There may be other expenses, Uncle Tromp gruffed. I don't know how you will get back here. Anyway, He groped in his pocket, seized Manfred's wrist with the other hand, and pressed something into his open palm.

Manfred looked down at the two bright half-crown coins in his hand and shook his head slowly.

Uncle Tromp Say nothing, jong, especially not to your Aunt Trudi. Uncle Tromp began to stand, but Manfred caught his sleeve.

Uncle Tromp. I can pay you back, for this and all the other things. I know you will, Jong. You will pay me back a thousand times, in pride and joy one day. No, no, not one day. Now. I can pay you back now. Manfred sprang eagerly from the bed and ran to the upended packing case standing on four bricks that was his wardrobe. He knelt and thrust his arm into the s.p.a.ce below the box and brought out a yellow tobacco bag. He hurried back to where Uncle Tromp sat on the iron bed, pulling open the drawstring of the small pouch, his hands shaking with excitement and eagerness to please.

Here, Uncle Tromp, open your hand. Smiling indulgently Uncle Tromp held out his huge paw, the back of it covered with coa.r.s.e black curls, the fingers thick as good farmer's sausages.

What have you here, Jong? he demanded jovially, and then the smile froze as Manfred spilled a cascade of glittering stones into his hand.

Diamonds, Uncle Tromp, Manfred whispered. Enough to make you a rich man. Enough to buy you anything you need. Where did you get these, Jong? Uncle Tromp's voice was calm and dispa.s.sionate. How did you come by these? My pa, my father. He put them into the lining of my jacket. He said they were for me, to pay for my education and my upbringing to pay for all the things that he wanted to do for me but had never been able. So! said Uncle Tromp softly. It is all true then, all of what the newspapers say. It isn't just English lies. Your father is a brigand and a robber. The huge hand clenched into a fist over the glittering treasure. And you were with him, jong. You must have been there when he did these terrible things that they accuse him of, that they will try and condemn him for. Were you with him, Jong? Answer me! His voice was rising like a storm wind, and now he let out a bellow. Did you commit this great evil with him, Jong? The other hand shot out and seized the front of Manfred's shirt. He pulled Manfred's face to within inches of his own jutting beard. Confess to me, jong. Tell it all to me, every last sc.r.a.p of evil. Were you with him when your father attacked this Englishwoman and robbed her? No! No! Manfred shook his head wildly. It's not true.

My father wouldn't do a thing like that. They were our diamonds. He explained it to me. He went to get back what was rightfully ours. 'Were you with him when he did this thing, Jong? Tell me the truth, Uncle Tromp interrupted him with another roar.

Tell me, were you with him? No, Uncle Tromp. He went alone. And when he came back he was hurt. His hand, his wrist, Thank you, Lord! Uncle Tromp looked upwards with relief. Forgive him for he knew not what he did, O Lord.

He was led into sin by an evil man. My father isn't evil, Manfred protested. He was cheated out of what was truly his. 'Silence, Jong. Oom Tromp rose to his full height, splendid and awesome as a biblical prophet. Your words are an offence in the sight of G.o.d. You will make retribution here and now. He dragged Manfred across the toolroom and pushed him in front of the black iron anvil.

Thou shalt not steal. That is the very word of G.o.d. He placed one of the diamonds in the centre of the anvil. These stones are the ill-begotten fruits of a terrible evil. He reached to the rack beside him and brought down a fourpound sledgehammer. They must be destroyed. He thrust the hammer into Manfred's hands.

Pray for forgiveness, Jong. Beg the Lord for his charity and forgiveness, and strike! Manfred stood with the hammer in his hands, holding it at high port across his chest, staring at the diamond on the anvil.

Strike, Jong! Break that cursed thing or be for ever cursed by it, roared Uncle Tromp. Strike, in the name of G.o.d. Rid yourself of the guilt and the shame. Slowly Manfred raised the hammer on high and then paused. He turned and looked at the fierce old man.

Strike swiftly, roared Uncle Tromp. Now! And Manfred swung, the same fluid, looping, overhead blow with which he chopped wood, and he grunted with effort as the head of the hammer rang on the anvil.

Manfred lifted the hammer slowly. The diamond was crushed to white powder, finer than sugar, but still the vestiges of its fire and beauty remained as each minute crystal caught and magnified the candlelight; and when Uncle Tromp brushed the diamond dust from the anvil top with his open hand it fell in a luminous rainbow cloud to the earthen floor.

Uncle Tromp laid another fiery stone upon the anvil, a fortune such as few men could ama.s.s in ten years of unremitting labour, and stood back.

Strike! he cried, and the hammer hissed as it turned in the air, and the anvil rang like a great gong. The precious dust was brushed aside and another stone laid in its place.

Strike! roared the Trumpet of G.o.d, and Manfred worked with the hammer, grunting and sobbing in his throat with each fateful blow until at last Uncle Tromp cried: Praised be the name of the Lord. It is done! And he fell on his knees, dragging Manfred down with him, and side by side they knelt before the anvil as though it were an altar and the white diamond dust coated their knees as they prayed.

Oh Lord Jesus, look upon this act of penance with favour.

Thou who gave up Thy life for our redemption, forgive Thy young servant whose ignorance and childishness has led him into grievous sin. It was after midnight and the candle was guttering in a puddle of its own wax before Uncle Tromp rose from his knees and pulled Manfred up with him.

Go to your bed now, jong. We have done all we can to save your soul for the time being. He watched while Manfred undressed and slipped under the grey blanket. Then he asked quietly: If I forbade you to go to Windhoek in the morning, would you obey me? My father, whispered Manfred.

Answer me, Jong, would you obey me? I don't know, Uncle Tromp, but I don't think I could. My pa, I You have so much to repent already. It would not do to add the sin of disobedience to your load. Therefore, I place no such restriction upon you. You must do what loyalty and your conscience dictate. But for your own sake and mine, when you reach Windhoek, use the name of Bierman not De La Rey, Jong, do you hear me? Judgement today! I make a rule never to predict the outcome of any piece of legislation or judicial process, Abe Abrahams announced from his chair facing Centaine Courtney's desk. However, today I break my own rule. I predict that the man will get the rope. No question about it. How can you be that certain, Abe? Centaine asked quietly, and Abe looked at her with covert admiration for a moment before replying. She was wearing a simple lowwaisted dress which could justify its expense only by its exquisite cut and the fineness of the silk jersey material. It showed off her fashionable small bosom and boyishly slim hips as she stood against the french windows. The bright white African sunlight behind her formed a nimbus about her head, and it took an effort to look away from her and to concentrate on the burning cheroot which he held up to enumerate his points.

Firstly, the small matter of guilt. n.o.body, not even the defence, has made any serious attempt to suggest anything other than he is guilty as all h.e.l.l. Guilty in intention and execution, guilty of planning it in detail and carrying it out as planned, guilty of all manner of aggravating circ.u.mstances, including attacking and robbing a military remount depot, firing on the police and wounding one of them with a grenade. The defence has as good as admitted their only hope will be to pull some arcane technical rabbit from the legal hat to impress His Lordship, a hope which so far has not materialized. Centaine sighed. She had spent two days in the witness stand. Though she had remained calm and unshakable in the face of the most rigorous and aggressive cross-examination, she was exhausted by it, and haunted by a sense of culpability, of having driven Lothar to that desperate criminal folly, and now guilty of heading the pack that was pulling him down and would soon rend him with all the vindictiveness that the law allowed.

Secondly, Abe waved the cheroot, the man's record.

During the war he was a traitor and a rebel with a price on his head, a desperado with a long string of violent crimes to his discredit. He was pardoned for his wartime crimes, Centaine pointed out. A full pardon signed by the prime minister and the minister of justice. Still, they will count against him. Abe wagged his head knowingly. Even the pardon will make it worse for him: biting the hand of mercy, flouting the dignity of the law.

The judge won't like that, believe me. Abe inspected the end of the cheroot. It was burning evenly with a firm inch of grey ash and he nodded approvingly. Thirdly, he went on, the man has shown no remorse, not a jot nor a shred of it. He has refused to tell anybody what he did with the filthy loot. M He broke off as he saw Centaine's distress at the mention of the missing diamonds, and continued hurriedly: Fourthly, the emotional aspects of the crime, attacking a lady of the highest standing in the community. He grinned suddenly.

A helpless female so unable to defend herself that she bit his arm off. She frowned and he became serious again. Your own courage and integrity will count heavily against him, your dignity in the witness box. You have seen the newspapers: Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale in one person, the veiled suggestion that his attack upon you might have been more dastardly and beastly than modesty will allow you to tell. The judge will want to reward you with the man's head on a platter. She looked at her wrist.w.a.tch. The court will reconvene in forty minutes. We should go up the hill. Abe stood up immediately. 'I love to watch the law in operation, the dignified and measured pace of it, the trappings and ritual of it, the slow grinding of evidence, the sorting of the chaff from the wheat Not now, Abe, she stopped him as she adjusted her hat in the mirror above the mantel, draping the black veil over one eye, setting the small brim at an elegant angle and then picking up her crocodile-skin handbag and tucking it under her arm. Without any further oratory from you, let's just go and see this awful thing through. They drove up the hill in Abe's Ford. The press was waiting for them in front of the courthouse, thrusting their cameras into the open window of the Ford and blinding Centaine with bursting flash bulbs. She shielded her eyes with her handbag but the moment she stepped out of the automobile they were around her in a pack, yelling their questions.

Arhat will you feel if they hang him? What about the diamonds? Can your company survive without them, Mrs Courtney? Do you think they'll do a deal for the diamonds? What are your feelings? Abe ran interference for her, barging his way through the crowd, dragging her by the wrist into the comparative quiet of the courthouse.

Wait here for me, Abe, she ordered, and slipped away down the pa.s.sageway, weaving through the crowd that was waiting for the doors of the main courtroom to open. Heads turned to watch her and a buzz of comment followed her down the pa.s.sage, but she ignored it and turned the corner towards the ladies toilets. The office set aside for the defence was directly opposite the ladies room and Centaine glanced around to make sure she was un.o.bserved, then turned to that door, tapped upon it sharply, pushed it open and stepped inside. She shut the door behind her and, as the defence counsel looked up, she said: 'Excuse this intrusion, gentlemen, but I must speak to you. Abe was still waiting where she had left him when Centaine returned only minutes later.

Colonel Malcomess is here, he told her, and all her other preoccupations were forgotten for the moment.

Where is he? she demanded eagerly. She had not seen Blaine since the second day of the trial when he had given his evidence in that ringing tenor lilt that raised the fine hair on the back of Centaine's neck, evidence that was all the more d.a.m.ning for its balanced unemotional presentation. The defence had tried to trip him on his description of the shooting of the horses and the grenade attack, but had swiftly sensed that he would provide little for their comfort and let him leave the stand after a few futile minutes of cross-examination. Since then Centaine had looked for him unavailingly each day.

Where is he? she repeated.

He has gone in already, Abe replied, and Centaine saw that while she had been away the ushers had opened the double doors to the main courtroom.

Charlie is holding seats for us. No need to join the scrum. Abe took her arm and eased her through the moving crowd.

The ushers recognized her and helped clear the aisle for her to reach the seats in the third row that Abe's a.s.sistant was holding for them.

Centaine was covertly searching through the bustle for Blaine's tall form, and she started when the press of bodies opened for a moment and she saw him on the opposite side of the aisle. He was searching also and saw her a moment later; his reaction was as sharp as hers had been. They stared at each other from a few yards that seemed to Centaine to be an abyss wide as an ocean; neither of them smiled as they held each other's eyes. Then the crowd in the aisle intervened once again, and she lost sight of him. She sank down in the seat beside Abe and made a little show of searching in her handbag to give herself time to recover her composure.

Here he is, Abe exclaimed, and for a moment she thought he was referring to Blaine. Then she saw that the warders were bringing Lothar De La Rey through from the cells.

Although she had seen him in the dock for every one of the last five days, she was still not hardened to the change in him. Today wore a workman's shirt and dark slacks. The clothes seemed too large for him, and one sleeve was pinned up loosely over his stump. He shuffled like an old man and one of the warders had to help him up the steps into the dock.

His hair was completely white now, even his thick dark eyebrows were laced with silver. He was impossibly thin and his skin had a greyish lifeless look; it hung in little loose folds under his jaw and on his scrawny neck. His tan had faded to the yellowish colour of old putty.

As he sank onto the bench in the dock, he lifted his head and searched the gallery of the court. There was a pathetic anxiety in his expression as he ran his eyes swiftly over the packed benches. Then Centaine saw the little flare of joy in his eyes and his masked smile as he found what he was seeking. She had watched this scene enacted every morning for five days, and she twisted in her seat and looked up at the gallery behind her. But from where she sat the angle was wrong.

She could not see who or what had attracted Lothar's attention.

Silence in court, the usher called and there was a shuffling and scrabbling as the body of the court came to its feet and judge Hawthorne led his two a.s.sessors to their seats.

He was a silver-haired little man with a benign expression and lively sparkling eyes behind his pince-nez. He looked more like a schoolmaster than the hanging judge that Abe said he was.

Neither he nor his a.s.sessors wore wigs or the colourful robes of the English courts. Roman Dutch law was more sombre in its trappings. They wore simple black gowns and white swallow-tailed neckties, and the three of them conferred quietly, inclining their heads together while the body of the court settled down and the coughing and throatclearing and foot-shuffling abated. Then judge Hawthorne looked up and went through the formality of convening the court and the charge sheet was read once again.

Now an expectant hush fell over the courtroom. The reporters leaned forward with their notebooks poised; even the barristers in the front row of benches were silenced and stilled. Lothar was expressionless but deathly pale as he watched the judge's face.

judge Hawthorne was concentrating on his notes, heightening the tension with subtle showmanship until it was barely supportable. Then he looked up brightly and launched without preliminaries into the delivery of his summation and judgement.

First he detailed each of the charges, beginning with the most serious: three counts of attempted murder, two of a.s.sault with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, one of armed robbery. There were twenty-six charges in all and it took almost twenty minutes for the judge to cover each of them.

The prosecution has presented all these charges in an orderly and convincing manner. The red-faced prosecutor preened at the compliment and Centaine felt an unreasonable irritation at this petty vanity.

This court was particularly impressed with the evidence of the main prosecution witnesses. His Excellency the Administrator's testimony was a great help to me and my a.s.sessors. We were most fortunate in having a witness of this calibre to relate the details of the pursuit and arrest of the accused, from which arise some of the most serious charges in this case. The judge looked up from his notes directly at Blaine Malcomess. I wish to record the most favourable impression that Colonel Malcomess made upon this court, and we have accepted his evidence without reservation. From where she was sitting Centaine could see the back of Blaine's head. The tips of his large ears turned pink as the judge looked at him, and Centaine felt a rush of tenderness as she noticed. His embarra.s.sment was somehow endearing and touching.

Then the judge looked at her.

The other prosecution witness who conducted herself impeccably and whose evidence was unimpeachable, was Mrs Centaine Courtney. The court is fully aware of the great hardship with which Mrs Courtney has been inflicted and the courage which she has displayed, not only in this courtroom. Once again, we were most fortunate to have the benefit of her evidence in a.s.sisting us to reach our verdict., While the judge was speaking, Lothar De La Rey turned his head and looked at Centaine steadily. Those pale accusing eyes disconcerted her and she dropped her own gaze to the handbag in her lap to avoid them.

In contrast, the defence was able to call only one witness, and that was the accused himself. After due consideration, we are of the opinion that much of the accused's evidence was unacceptable. The witness's att.i.tude was at all times hostile and uncooperative. In particular we reject the witness's a.s.sertion that the offences were committed singlehanded, and that he had no accomplices in their commission. Here the evidence of Colonel Malcomess, of Mrs Courtney and of the police troopers is unequivocal and collaborative. Lothar De La Rey turned his head slowly in the judge's direction once more and stared at him with that flat, hostile expression which had so antagonized judge Hawthorne over the five long days of the trial, and the judge returned his gaze levelly as he went on.

Thus we have considered all the facts and the evidence presented to us and are unanimous in our verdict. On all twenty-six charges we find the accused, Lothar De La Rey, guilty as charged.

Lothar neither flinched nor blinked, but there was a concerted gasp from the body of the court, followed immediately by a buzz of comment. Three of the reporters leapt up and scampered from the courtroom, and Abe nodded smugly beside Centaine.

I told you, the rope, he murmured. He will swing, for sure. The ushers were attempting to restore order. The judge came to their a.s.sistance.

He rapped his gavel sharply and raised his voice. I will not hesitate to have this court cleared, he warned, and once again a hush settled over the courtroom.

Before pa.s.sing sentence, I will listen to any submissions in mitigation that the defence may wish to put to the bench. judge Hawthorne inclined his head towards the young barrister charged with the defence, who immediately rose to his feet.

Lothar De La Rey was dest.i.tute and unable to afford his own defence. Mr Reginald Osinond had been appointed by the court to defend him. Despite his youth and inexperience, it was his first defence on a capital charge, Osmond had thus far acquitted himself as well as could have been expected, given the hopeless circ.u.mstances of his client's case. His cross-examination had been spirited and nimble, if ineffectual, and he had not allowed the prosecution to make any gratuitous gains.

If it please my lord, I should like to call a witness to give evidence in mitigation. Come now, Mr Osmond, surely you don't intend to introduce a witness at this stage? Do you have precedents for this? The judge frowned.

I respectfully commend your lordship to the matter of the Crown versus Van der Spuy 1923 and to the Crown versus Alexander 1914. The judge conferred for a few moments with his a.s.sessors and then looked up with a stagy sigh of exasperation. Very well, Mr Osmond. I am going to allow you your witness. Thank you, my lord. Mr Osmond was so overcome with his own success that he stuttered a little as he blurted eagerly: I call Mrs Centaine de Thiry Courtney to the stand. This time there was a stunned silence. Even judge Hawthorne fell back in his tall carved chair before a buzz of surprise and delight and antic.i.p.ation swept through the court. The press were standing to get a view of Centaine as she rose and from the gallery a voice called: Put the noose around the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's neck, luv. Judge Hawthorne recovered'swiftly and his eyes flashed behind his pince-nez as he glared up at the gallery, trying to identify the wag.

I will not tolerate a further outburst. There are severe penalties for contempt of court, he snapped, and even the journalists sat down again hurriedly and, chastened, applied themselves to their notepads.

The usher handed Centaine into the witness stand and then swore her in while every man in the room, including those on the bench, watched, most of them in open admiration, but a few, including Blaine and Abraham Abrahams, with puzzlement and perturbation.

Mr Osmond stood to open his examination, his voice pitched low with nervous respect.

Mrs Courtney, will you please tell the court how long you have known the accused, he corrected himself hurriedly, for now Lothar De La Rey was no longer merely accused, he had been convicted. the prisoner. I have known Lothar De La Rey for nearly fourteen years., Centaine looked across the room at the stooped grey figure in the dock.

Would you be good enough to describe, in your own words, the circ.u.mstances of your first meeting, It was in 1919. I was lost in the desert. I had been a castaway on the Skeleton Coast after the sinking of the Protea Castle. For a year and a half I had been wandering in the Kalahari desert with a small group of San Bushmen., All of them knew the story. At the time it had been a sensation, but now Centaine's narrative, related in her French accent, brought it all vividly to life.

She conjured up the desolation and misery, the fearful hardships and loneliness that she had endured, and the room was deathly quiet. Even judge Hawthorne was hunched down in his chair, supporting his chin on his clenched fist, absolutely still as he listened. They were all with her as she struggled through the clinging sand of the Kalahari, dressed in the skins of wild animals, her infant son on her hip, following the tracks of a horse, a shod horse, the first sign of civilized man that she had encountered in all those desperate months.