The Induna's Wife Part 5

"Afraid or not, thou evil scorpion--thou creeping wizard--if I stand not in the light of day before I strike the ground with my foot three times, this spear shall see if there be any blood to run from thy dried-up old heart." And, raising the blade aloft, I struck the ground once with my foot.

"Ha, ha, ha!" cackled the wizard again, still scattering his magic powder into the fire. "Look again, Untuswa; look again."

I did look again, I could not do otherwise, and then I stood as one turned into stone--with the spear still uplifted--unable to move hand or foot, as I glared in front of me. For the whole vault was filled with a vivid green flash, and in it the wizard seemed to dissolve.

His shrivelled limbs seemed to turn into black, horrible snakes, which glided away hissing into the darkness beyond; then the light sank somewhat, and before me there started up faces dim and shadowy, and their aspect turned my heart into water indeed, for I was gazing upon the faces of those I knew had long been dead.

Dim and shadowy as they were, I knew them all, knew them at first sight.

There was Hlatusa, who had been sent to "feed the alligators" by reason of this very magic I was here to destroy. There was Tyuyumane, who had conspired with the Amabuna to overthrow our nation; and Notalwa, the chief of our _iza.n.u.si_, who had aided him, both faces wreathed with hate and torture as I had last beheld them, writhing on the stake of impalement. There were many others who had died for the conspiracy of Ncwelo's Pool. There was the face of my brother, Sekweni--he who had been slain for sleeping at his post--and that of Gungana, the induna whom I myself slew, and to whose command I had succeeded. All these were glowering upon me with a very whirlwind of hate and vengeance, and I--_whau_!--I was as a man who had died ten deaths. Then I saw the face of Tauane, the chief of the People of the Blue Cattle, and--Ha! what was that? The face of Lalusini, beautiful, but sad and agonised? Yet no.

But as a flash I had seen it, and lo! it became that of Nangeza, my erstwhile _inkosikazi_, even as when she had failed in her attempt upon the life of the song. And then indeed did I know what hate and vengeance could look like. For long it seemed I stood there face to face with that terrible countenance--with it alone--and my lungs now seemed to fill with choking fiery air. I beheld a vast array defiling before me--of warriors I had met in battle, of all races, but chiefly those of our parent nation. On, ever, they pa.s.sed, silent grim spectres, with broad spear and tufted shield, even as in life. Others followed densely in rank, company upon company. _Hau_! Once more the battle! I heard the clash of shields, the shiver of a.s.segai hafts, the flash and flame as of fire weapons. I saw the red blood spout and flow; I heard the roaring of an army of warriors in the full career of their victorious charge; my ears were dulled by the screams of the vanquished, for mercy, for pity; the wild hiss and whistle of the conquerors as they stabbed and stabbed; and lo! blood swirled around my feet in rivers, and still the screaming and wailing of those beneath the spear went on.

Then I could no longer breathe. The earth itself seemed to be heaping on high to fall on me and crush me to dust. I sank down, as it seemed, in death.

CHAPTER SIX.

THE GHOST-BULL.

I was not dead, _Nkose_; or, indeed, how should I be here telling you my story? Or, if I were--well, at any rate, the magic which had been powerful enough to draw me through the abode of those who had become ghosts was powerful enough to bring me back to life and to the world again--and yet I know not. It is a terrible thing to look upon the faces of those who have long been dead; and how shall a man--being a man--do this unless he join their number? Such faces, however, had I looked upon, for, as I opened my eyes once more to the light of the sun, no dim recollection of one who has slept and dreamed was mine. No; the mysterious cave, the magic fire, the fearsome sights I had beheld--all was real--as real as the trees and rocks upon which I now looked--as real as the sky above and the sun shining from it.

Yes; I was in the outer air once more. I rose and stood up. My limbs were firm and strong as before, my hand still grasped the broad spear-- the white shield lay at my feet. Before me was the smooth rock wall, there the exact spot where it had opened to receive me. But there it might remain, closed for ever, for all I cared. I had no wish to look further into its dark and evil mysteries. But now, again, the voice came back to my ears, faint and far away this time, but without the mocking mirth which had lured me before to what might have been my doom.

"Ho, Untuswa!" it cried; "wouldst thou see more of the unseen? Wouldst thou look further into the future?"

"I think not, my father," I answered. "To those who deal in magic be the ways of magic, to warriors the ways of war--and I am a warrior."

"And thine _inkosikazi_, Untuswa, what of her?"

"Help me to slay the ghost-bull who deals forth the Red Death, my father!" I pleaded eagerly.

There was no answer to this for long. Then, weary of waiting, I was about to turn away, when once more the voice spake from within the rock--faint, as before.

"Great is the House of Matyobane; great is the House of Senzangakona; Umzilikazi is ruler of the world to-day--but Dingane is greater. Yet to-morrow, where now are the many nations they have stamped flat there shall _they_ be. Dust--all dust! Gasitye sees it."

"Ha! And shall I see it too, my father?"

"Thou shalt see it, Untuswa. Thou, too, shalt see it."

Now, when I heard the name of Gasitye, I knew it as the name of a great seer and prophet who dwelt alone among the mountains, and who was held in wide repute among all tribes and peoples, near and far. His own tribe n.o.body knew exactly, but it was supposed that his age was three times that of the oldest man known. Even Umzilikazi himself had more than once sent secretly to consult him, with gifts; for the rest, n.o.body cared to interfere with him, for even the most powerful of kings does not desire the enmity of a great and dreaded sorcerer, whose magic, moreover, is real, and not as that of the tribal _iza.n.u.si_--a cheat to encompa.s.s the death of men. And now I had encountered this world-famed wizard; had beheld him alone in the heart of the rock, whose face he had the power to open and shut at will.

"Help me to slay the ghost-bull, my father," I entreated again.

"And when thou hast slain it--what then?"

"Then it shall be well with me and mine."

"Well with thee and thine? Will it then--with thee and thine! Ha, ha!"

repeated the voice within the cliff, in the same tone of mockery as before. "Go now and slay it, Untuswa, thou valiant one. Go!"

I waited some little time, but no further answer could I obtain, though I spoke both loud and softly. Then I turned away.

As I did so a strange feeling came over me, a feeling as of the faintness caused by starvation. The fumes of the wizard fire had worn off in the clear open air, and I felt as though I could spend the rest of my life eating, so hungry was I. So, losing no time, I started back to where I had left Jambula.

Then upon my mind came the recollection of the death-yell I had heard when within the vault. Ha! I must proceed with care. I glanced upward. The sun was well up when I entered the rock; now it was at its highest overhead. I had not been as long in that vault of fear as it seemed.

Now there struck upon my nostrils a most horrible stench as of death and putrefaction. What did it mean? I had pa.s.sed this spot this very morning and the air was pure and clear. Death might have taken place-- but putrefaction?--_au_, there was not time for that. Yet this was a place of witchcraft, where everything was possible. And, thus thinking, I came right upon a human body.

It was in a horrible state, _Nkose_, in the state of one who has been dead eight or ten days. Yet here such could not have been the case, for in the swollen, half-decayed features, as well as by articles of clothing, I recognised the second of the two slaves, whom I had left alive and well that same morning, but a very few hours before. Yet, there it lay, beneath a tree, with upturned face, and across the decaying ribs the rending gash left by the horn of the ghost-bull.

Now I heard a voice in salute, behind me--a voice I knew. Looking up, I beheld my slave, Jambula.

He was looking strangely at me. Then he broke forth into extravagant words of welcome, and it seemed to me he had been badly frightened, and was glad enough to behold me once more. That was it, of course; so giving no further thought to the matter at all, I bade him find food.

He had a number of speckled pigeons, which he had knocked over with his kerries; and having kindled a fire on the flat top of a high rock for safety's sake--_whau, Nkose_!--there was soon nothing left of those birds. The while Jambula eyed me strangely.

Now this Jambula--although my slave--was a man I held in great favour.

He was not of any of the races we had conquered, but came of a tribe further to the southward than even the Zulu arms had ever reached. Him I had captured while storming the fortress of a mountain tribe, and the King had allotted him to me: He was a tall, strong man, and knew not fear, and was faithful and devoted to me as any dog. Now he said:

"I think _this_ night must this thing of _tagati_ be slain, my father."

"We think the same, Jambula," I answered. "But what I cannot quite think out is _how_. But that will come."

"Nevertheless, let it be this night, father. I have a plan."

This plan he then unfolded to me, and by the time we had talked it out and around it was nearly dark--nearly time to set it working.

Never had any spot struck upon my mind as more ghostly and even terrifying than that haunted valley when night drew fairly down; and, _Nkose_, what I had seen and gone through in the wizard cave that morning seemed to have sapped my former fearlessness. A low-lying mist wreathed around the tree-stems and bushes, thick to near the height of a man, then thinning out dimly just enough to show out the twinkle of a star or two. But there was light enough for our purpose.

Hard by the place where Suru, the first slave, had been killed was an open s.p.a.ce, thickly studded with rocks embedded in the earth, and one side of this open was overhung with mimosas of a good height and strength. Clambering up one of these, I lay out upon the spreading branches. Jambula remained below.

The night watch wore on--even the night side of life seemed hushed in this abode of wizardry and fear. Suddenly all the blood within me tingled and burned. Something was moving. And then above the ghostly wreathings of the white mist I could see the gigantic head--the huge horns curving upwards--of the ghost-beast.

Only the head was visible as, tilted upwards, nose in air, it moved above the sea of vapour, to and fro, as though seeking for something or somebody--for a fresh victim, perhaps--and I thought it might indeed soon find one. And as I looked the mist suddenly rolled away, revealing the dark form of Jambula, standing upright against a small rock.

For the moment the beast did not see him. It continued to run hither and thither in the moonlight, and as I marked its gigantic proportions, my heart sank, for I knew that to kill such a thing as this single-handed was very nearly the hardest task ever entrusted to me.

It was huge in the dim light--black as night, and as large as an elephant almost. There was that in the very size of the thing no less than in the glaring ferocity of its eyes--which was enough to turn a man's heart to water--for it could not be a thing of this earth. How, then, could it be slain?

Now it began to mutter, like the growlings of a heavy thunderstorm, as it ran to and fro, shaking its horrible head, and its dark, s.h.a.ggy frontlet of hair. _Whau_! That was a fearful sight as the thing drew nearer. What of Jambula! He had not moved, beyond half turning his head to get a better view of the horror. Would his heart fail him? I almost expected it would.

Ha! It had seen him. It dropped into a sort of stealthy crouch, more like that of a leopard or a lion than the movement of any horned animal; and thus it came up swiftly behind him.

But Jambula was not asleep--oh no! There was no lack of wakefulness in him. In a moment he whirled behind a rock, as the ghost-bull, uttering a roar that shook the world, came at him with the swiftness of a lightning flash.

Then began a scene indeed. Jambula, watching his opportunity, flitted from rock to rock, but not less swiftly did the monster come after him-- seeming to fly through the air as it leaped over some of the lower rocks which were in its way. _Hau_! Could this last? Would not Jambula, out of breath, falter for one instant? Would not his foot stumble in the tortuous rapidity of his flight? _Au_! Did that happen he were lost-- we both were lost.

Hither and thither he sped, the horrible beast ever behind him, roaring in a fashion to turn a man's heart to water--the foam flying from its mouth, the points of its huge horns tossing wildly, its savage eyes seeming indeed to flash flame. Would they never come beneath the tree where I--the great a.s.segai gripped and ready--lay out along the bough waiting my chance?

This came. Jambula, who had been drawing the thing nearer and nearer to my side of the ground, now broke from his shelter, and ran with all the swiftness of which he was capable beneath my place of ambush. After him came the ghost-beast, right under me.