The Induna's Wife Part 4

"But death 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 of it, thou hast never seen it. Ask Jambula here how long a man may live when seated upon that sharp throne. For days and days may he beg for death, with blackened face and bursting eyeb.a.l.l.s and lolling tongue, and every nerve and muscle cracking and writhing with the fiery torture.

Why surely the death which this ghost could bring upon thee here would be mercy compared with such a death as that. But I think I will leave thee no choice. Bind him, Jambula. Even a bound sentinel is better than none, though more helpless. If Suru will not keep his watch a free man he shall keep it bound. Ah, ah!"

That settled all his doubts. As Jambula made a step towards him, Suru cried out to me to pardon his first hesitation, and to allow him to obey my orders at any rate unbound. I agreed to this, for he was frightened enough, and indeed, _Nkose_, as he moved away to take up the position I had a.s.signed to him, his look was that of one who stands on the brink of the Pool of the Alligators with the slayers beside him.

Leaving Suru to his solitary post, I moved back with Jambula and the other slave to near the neck of the narrow pa.s.sage by which we had entered the hollow, for I wanted to see whether the thing of dread came in when night fell, or whether it abode within the place itself. This we 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 s.p.a.ce over which anything approaching from without could not but pa.s.s. So we sat beneath a cl.u.s.ter of rocks, and watched, and watched.

Night had fallen, mysterious and ghostly. The stars burned bright in the heavens, yet it seemed as though some black cloud of fear hung above, blurring their light. From the open country far beyond came the cry of hyaenas, and the sharp barking yelp of the wild hunting dog calling to its mates; but in the drear gloom of this haunted valley, no sound of bird or beast was there to break the silence. So the night watches rolled on.

I know not whether I slept, _Nkose_; it may be that I partly did; but there came a feeling over me as of the weight of some great terror, and indeed it seemed to hold me as though I could not move. Was it an evil dream? Scarcely, for, as with a mighty effort, I partly threw off the spell, my glance fell upon the face of Jambula.

He was gazing upward--gazing behind him--gazing behind him and me. His jaw had fallen as that of a man not long dead, and his eyeb.a.l.l.s seemed bursting from their sockets, and upon his face was the same awful look of fear as that worn by the slave, Suru, when left to his solitary watch. I followed his glance, and then I too felt the blood run chill within me.

Rising above the rocks, at the foot of which we sat, a pair of great branching horns stood forth black against the sky. Slowly, slowly, the head followed, till a pair of flaming eyes shone beneath, seeming to burn us as we crouched there. But the size of it! _Whau_! No animal that ever lived--even the largest bull in the King's herd--ever attained to half the size. Thoughts of the _tagati_ terror rushed through my mind. Should I creep round the rocks and slay the monster, while its attention was taken up watching my slaves? Would it indeed fall to mortal weapon? And at that moment, I, the fearless, the foremost in the fiercest battle, the second commander of the King's armies, felt my heart as water within me. But before I could decide on any plan the thing vanished--vanished as I gazed.

It was coming round the rocks, of course. In a moment we should receive its onslaught, and three more would be added to the number of the victims of the Red Death.

But--after? I thought of my beautiful wife, writhing her life out upon the stake of agony. I thought of my kinsmen and followers given over to the 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; and gripping my broad a.s.segai, the royal spear, and my great white shield, the royal gift, I stood above the two scared and cowering slaves, ready to give battle to this terror from the unseen world. And in the short s.p.a.ce of silence, of waiting, it seemed that I lived the s.p.a.ce of my whole life.

But as I thus waited there rang forth upon the night a shrill, wild echoing yell--such a cry as might issue from the throat of one suffering such unheard of torments as the mind of man could ever invent. It pealed forth again louder, more quavering, rending the night with its indescribable notes of terror and agony--and it rose from where we had left the slave, Suru, to keep his grisly watch alone in the blackness of the forest. There was silence, but immediately that was rent by another sound--a terrible sound, too--the savage growling roars as of an infuriated bull--receding further and further from the place whence the death cry had arisen, together with a crashing sound as though a great wind were rushing away further and further up the haunted valley.

For long did that fearful death-yell ring in my ears, as I stood throughout the night watches, grasping my spear, every moment expecting the onslaught of the thing--for, of course, it would return, where more victims awaited. Then the thought came to me that it only dared attack and slay the unarmed; that at the sight of a warrior like myself, armed and ready for battle, it had retired to vent its rage upon an easier prey; and this thought brought strength and encouragement, for I would find no great difficulty in slaying such. But with the thought came another. The two men of Hlatusa's band had been slain as easily and mysteriously as the iron-working slaves--slain in broad daylight--and they were well-armed warriors, and men of tried valour. In truth, the undertaking seemed as formidable as ever.

Even that night came to an end, and the cheerfulness and warmth of the newly-arisen sunbeams put heart even into the two badly-frightened slaves; and, feeling strong in my presence, their fears yielded to curiosity to learn the exact fate of Suru--not that any of us really doubted what that fate had been.

With spear held ready, and none the less alert because it was day, and the valley was now flooded with the broad light of the sun, I quickly made my way down, followed by Jambula and the other, to where I had left the 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 to run. I could see that by the tracks, but before he had run ten steps the terrible ghost-bull had overtaken him and flung him forward. The great hole made by the entering horn gaped wide between his ribs, and, tearing forward, had half ripped him in two. The gra.s.s around was all red and wet with half-congealed blood, and in the midst, imprinted deep and clear as in the muddy earth after rain, two great hoof marks, and those 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 Red Death, and now I myself must slay this horror. But how to slay a great and terrible ghost--a fearful thing not of this world?

CHAPTER FIVE.

GASITYE THE WIZARD.

For long I stood there thinking. I looked at the ground, all red and splashed with blood. I looked at the distorted body of the dead slave and the great gaping wound which had let out the life--the sure and certain mark of the dreaded Red Death--always dealt as it was, in the same part of the body--and for all my thought I could think out no method of finding and slaying this evil thing. Then I thought of the _muti_--the amulet which Lalusini had hung around my neck. Should I look within it? Her words came back to me. "Seek not to look within until such time as thy wit _and the wit of others_ fail thee." Yet, had not that time come? I could think of no plan. The monster was not of this world. No weapon ever forged could slay it; still there must be a way. Ha! "_the wit of others_!" Old Masuka had departed to the land of spirits himself. He might have helped me. Who could those "others" be, of whom my sorceress-wife had spoken while her spirit was away among the spirits of those unseen?

"Remain here," I said suddenly, to Jambula and the other slave. "Remain here, and watch, and stir not from this spot until I return."

They made no murmur against this--yet I could see they liked not the order. But I gave no thought to them as I moved forward with my eyes fixed upon the tracks of the retreating monster.

The b.l.o.o.d.y imprint of the huge hoofs was plain enough, and to follow these was a work of no difficulty. Soon, however, as the hoofs had become dry, it was not so easy. Remembering the crashing noise I had heard as the thing rushed on its course, I examined the bushes and trees. No leaves or twigs were broken off such as could not but have happened with such a heavy body plunging through them. Then the hoof-marks themselves suddenly ceased, and with that, _Nkose_, the blood once more seemed to tingle within me, for if the thing had come no further was it not lying close at hand--those fiery eyes perhaps at that very moment watching me--those awful horns even now advancing silent and stealthy to rip and tear through my being? Ha! It seemed to me that this hunting of a terrible ghost was a thing to turn the bravest man into a coward.

Then as I stood, my hearing strained to its uttermost, my hand gripping my broad spear ready at any rate to fight valiantly for life, and all that life involved, something happened which well-nigh completed the transformation into a coward of a man who had never known fear.

For now a voice fell upon my ears--a voice low and quavering, yet clear--a voice with a strange and distant sound as though spoken afar off.

"Ho! fearless one who art now afraid! Ho! valiant leader of armies!

Ho! mighty induna of the Great King! Thou art as frightened as a little child. Ha, ha, ha!"

This last was very nearly true, _Nkose_--but hearing it said, and the hideous mocking laugh that followed, very nearly turned it into a lie.

"I know not who speaks," I growled, "save that by the voice it is a very old man. Were it not so he should learn what it means to name me a coward."

"Ha, ha, ha!" screamed the voice again. "Brave words, O holder of the King's a.s.segai. Why, thy voice shakes almost as much as mine. Come hither--if thou art not afraid."

From where the bush grew darkest and thickest the voice seemed to come.

I moved cautiously forward, prepared at every step to fall into some trap--to meet with some manifestation of abominable witchcraft. For long did I force my way through the thick growth, but cautiously ever, and at last stood once more in the open. Then astonishment was my lot.

Right before me rose a great rock wall. I had reached the base of one of the heights which shut in the hollow.

"Welcome, Untuswa," cackled the voice again. "Art thou still afraid?"

Now, _Nkose_, I could see n.o.body; but remembering the Song of the Shield, and how Lalusini had caused it to sound forth from the cliff to hearten us during the battle--she herself being some way off--I was not so much amazed as I might have been, for the voice came right out of the cliff.

"If thou art not afraid, Untuswa," it went on, "advance straight, and touch the rock with thy right hand."

I liked not this order, but, _Nkose_, I had ever had to do with magicians, and had dipped somewhat into their art, as I have already shown. Here, I thought, was more sorcery to be looked into, and how should I root out the sorcery of the Red Magic save by the aid of other sorcery? So I advanced boldly, yet warily. And then, indeed, amazement was my lot.

For, as my right hand touched it, the hard rock moved, shivered. Then a portion of this smooth, unbroken wall seemed to fall inward, leaving a black gaping hole like a doorway, through which a man might enter upright.

"Ho, ho! Untuswa!" cackled the voice again, now from within the hole.

"Welcome, valiant fighter. Enter. Yet, wilt thou not leave thy weapons outside?"

"Not until I stand once more in the presence of him who sent me do I disarm, O Unknown One. And now, where art thou? for I like better to talk to a man with a voice than to a voice without the man."

"And how knowest thou that I am a man, O Fearless One? Yet, enter, weapons and all. Ha! Knowest thou not _this_ voice?"

_Whau_! It seemed to me then that my flesh crept indeed, for I did know that voice. Ah, yes, well indeed; and it was the voice of one who had long since sat down in the sleep of death--the voice of old Masuka, the mightiest magician our nation had ever seen.

Then, indeed, did I enter, for, even though dead, the voice was that of one who had done naught but well by me during life, and I feared not a change the other way now. I entered, and, as I did so, I stood in darkness once more. The rock wall had closed up behind me.

Now my misgivings returned, for, _Nkose_, no living man, be he never so brave, can find himself suddenly entombed within the heart of the earth alone, the voice of one who has long been dead talking with him in the black, moist darkness, and not feel some alarm. Again the voice spoke, and this time it was not that of Masuka, but the mocking cackle which had at first startled me.

"Ho, ho! Untuswa, the valiant, the fearless. Dost thou not tremble-- thou who art even now within the portal of the Great Unknown? Did ever peril of spear, or of the wrath of kings, make thy face cold as it now is? Ha, ha!"

True indeed were the words, for the position was fearful; but then so was that which had been the means of driving me into it. But I answered:

"I have seen strange and mysterious and terrifying things before, my father, else would I fear greatly now. Yet let us talk face to face."

For a moment there was no reply, then with startling suddenness a light flashed forth. On the floor just in front of me burned a small fore-- throwing a ball of green misty light upon the tomb-like blackness.

Within this I could make out the figure of a man--a very old man.

A man, did I say? _Whau_! It was more like that of a monkey, or a great crouching spider. The limbs were thin as the shaft of a spear-- too withered and dried even to show the wrinkles of age; the face, too, was like a dry piece of skin spread over the skull; and on the head a wisp or two of white hair. If it was a man, in truth he must have lived nearly as long as the world itself. His hands, which were like the claws of a bird, were spread over the fire, which burned not upon the floor, but in a large clay bowl. Into this he seemed to be sprinkling some kind of powder which caused the green flame to leap and hiss.

But now another sound stopped my ears; an awesome and terrible sound--a sound full of fear and agony indescribable--for it was again the death-yell, such as I had heard in the darkness of the night when the slave, Suru, looked upon the Red Terror and parted with life. And now it was not night, but broad, clear, golden day--outside the cavern at least--and the other slave had parted with life by the same dread means; and I--while this thing of horror was abroad--this monster I had come to slay--here was I imprisoned within the heart of the earth--held there at the will of a being who seemed less a man than the ghost of one who had died while the world was yet young. I leaped to my feet.

"Ha, ha, ha! Sit again, induna of the King, who knows not fear,"

cackled the shrivelled old monkey before me. "Ha, ha, ha! But now I think thou art afraid."