Tween Snow and Fire Part 44

After so many moons of converse with the serpents, thou shouldst have been a mighty soothsayer--a mighty diviner--by now. How long did it take thee to lose thy mind? But a single day? But a day and a night?

That was quick! Ho, ho!" And the great taunting laugh was echoed by the shriller cackle of the female fiend.

"Thou wert a mighty man with thy fists, a mighty man with thy gun, O Umlilwane!" went on the savage, his mocking tones now sinking to those of devilish hatred. "But now thou art no longer a man--no longer a man.

_Au_! What were my words to thee? `Thou hadst better have cut off thy right hand before shedding the blood of Hlangani _for it is better to lose a hand than one's mind_.' What thinkest thou now of Hlangani's revenge? Hi!"

How plain now to one of the listeners were those sombre words, over whose meaning he had so anxiously pondered. This, then, was the fearful vengeance promised by the Gcaleka warrior. And for many months his wretched victim had lain here a raving maniac--had lain here in a darkness as of the very pit of h.e.l.l--had lain among noisome serpents-- among crawling horrors untold--small wonder his reason had given way after a single night of such, as his tormentor had just declared. Small wonder that he had indeed lost his mind!

A fiendish yell burst from the maniac. Suddenly a great serpent was thrown upward from the pit. Petrified with horror, the watchers saw its thick, writhing form fly through the air and light on the witch-doctress's shoulder. With a shrill laugh the hag merely seized the wriggling, squirming reptile, which, with crest waving, was hissing like a fury, and hurled it back into the pit again. What sort of devil's influence was protecting these people, that they could handle the most deadly reptiles with absolute impunity? Were they, indeed, under some demoniac spell? To one, however, among the white spectators, the real solution of the mystery may have suggested itself.

"Here are thy bones, dog," resumed the great barbarian, throwing what looked like a half-filled sack into the hole. "Here is thy drink," and he lowered a large calabash at the end of a string. "Eat, drink, and keep up thy strength. Perhaps one day I may turn thee loose again. Who knows! Then when thy people see thee coming they will cry: `Here comes Hlangani's Revenge.' And they will fly from thee in terror, as from the approach of a fell disease."

The watchers looked at each other. These last words, coupled with the act of throwing down the food, seemed to point to the speedy conclusion of the visit. They could hear the miserable victim mumbling and crunching what sounded like literally bones, and growling like a dog.

But Hlangani went on.

"Wouldst thou not rather have gone to feed the black ants, or have died the death of the red-hot stones, Umlilwane? Thou wouldst be at rest now. And now thou hast only just begun to live--alone in the darkness-- alone with the serpents--a man whose mind is gone. Thou wilt never see the light of day again. _Whau_! The sun is shining like gold outside.

And thy wife, Umlilwane--thy beautiful wife--tall and graceful, like the stem of the budding _umbona_ [Maize]--dost thou never think of her? Ha!

There is another who does--another who does. I have seen him--I have seen them both--him and thy beautiful wife--"

Eustace had nudged Josane in such wise as to make that individual understand that the curtain must be rung down on this scene--and that at once. Simultaneously the "yap" of a puppy dog burst forth almost beneath his feet. Its effect upon the pair at the pit's brink was electric.

"_Yau_!" cried Ngcenika, turning toward the sound. "The little dog has followed me in after all. Ah, the little brute. I will make him taste the stick!"

"Or throw him down to Umlilwane," laughed her companion. "He will do for him to play with, two dogs together. _Mawo_!"

Again the "yap" was heard, now several times in rapid succession. So perfect was the imitation that the watchers themselves were for a moment taken in.

"_Iza, inja! Injane, izapa_!" ["Come, dog! Little dog--come here!"]

cried the witch-doctress coaxingly, advancing into the lateral gallery, holding her lantern in front of her. Josane, with his mouth to the ground was emitting a perfect chorus of yaps.

"Now," he whispered, under cover of the echoes produced, as the width of the gallery left a clear chance at Hlangani, without endangering the witch-doctress. "Remember--the female beast, Ngcenika, is for me.

Shoot Hlangani--_Now_!"

Scarce had the word left his mouth than the shots crashed forth simultaneously.

CHAPTER FORTY SIX.

THE END OF THE WITCH-DOCTRESS.

To convey anything like an adequate idea of what followed is well-nigh impossible. The stunning, deafening roar of the volley in that narrow s.p.a.ce was as though the very earth had exploded from its foundations.

Through it came the shivering crash of gla.s.s, as Hlangani's lantern fell into the pit, but whether its owner followed it or not could not be determined through the overpowering din. Still holding the lantern, the hideous witch-doctress was seen through the sulphurous smoke, standing there as one turned to stone--then like lightning, a dark, lithe body sprang through the spectators and with a growl like that of a wild beast leaped upon the bewildered Ngcenika. There was the gleam of an a.s.segai in the air--then darkness and the shatter of gla.s.s. The lantern fell from the sorceress' hand.

"Turn on the light, Milne; quick!" cried the other two.

"I'm trying to, but the infernal thing won't work. The slide's jammed-- Oh!"

For he was swept off his feet. Two heavy bodies rolled over him-- striving, cursing, struggling, stabbing--then half stumbled, half rolled away into the gloom beyond.

The others bethought them of their candles, which, up till now, had been kept unused. Quickly two of them were produced and lighted.

The din of the scuffle seemed to be receding further and further; nor in the faint and flickering impression cast upon the cavernous gloom by the light of the candles could anything be seen of the combatants. But that the scuffle was a hard and fierce one was evident from the sounds.

Just then Eustace succeeded in opening the lantern slide, and now they were able to advance boldly in the strong disk of light. The latter revealed the object of their search.

Rolling over and over each other were two dark bodies, one now uppermost, now the other. Both seemed equally matched; even if in point of sheer physical strength the advantage did not lie slightly with the witch-doctress, for Josane, though wiry and active, was a good deal older than he looked. Each firmly gripped the other's right wrist, for the purpose of preventing the use of the broad-bladed, murderous a.s.segai with which the right hand of each was armed. Victory would lie with whoever could hold out the longest.

As soon as the light fell upon the two struggling bodies, the witch-doctress threw all her energies into afresh and violent effort.

She seemed to divine that the new arrivals would refrain from shooting at her for fear of injuring Josane. So she redoubled her struggles and kicked and bit and tore like one possessed.

"Keep her in that position a moment, Josane," sung out Hoste. "I'll put a hunk of lead through the devil's carcase. There--so!"

But it was not to be. With a supreme effort she wrenched her wrist free from her opponent's grasp, and turning with the rapidity of a cat, leaped out of sight in the darkness. But a moment later she stumbled over a boulder and sprawled headlong. Before she could rise her pursuer was upon her and had stabbed her twice through the body with his a.s.segai.

"Ha! Sp.a.w.n of a Fingo dog!" cried Josane, his voice a.s.suming a fierce, throaty growl in the delirious satiety of his vengeance. "I am Josane-- whom thou wouldst have thrown to the serpents, as thou didst this white man--ha! whom thou wouldst have given alive to feed the black ants, as thou didst Vudana, my kinsman. Ha! I am Josane, who was eaten up at thy accursed bidding. Ha! But I lived for revenge and it has come.

Ha! How does this feel?--and this?--and this?"

With each e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n "ha!" he had plunged his a.s.segai into the writhing body of the prostrate witch-doctress. To the white men his aspect was that of a fiend--standing there in the cavernous gloom, his eyes rolling in frenzy--literally digging with his spear into the body of his vanquished enemy, out of which the red blood was squirting in a dozen great jets. Not until the corpse had entirely ceased to move did he cease his furious stabs.

"The h.e.l.l-hag is dead!" he cried, as he at length turned to leave. "The h.e.l.l-hag is dead," he repeated, turning the words into a fierce chant of exultation. "The h.e.l.l-hag bleeds, and my revenge is sweet. Ha!

Revenge is brighter than the sun in the heavens, for it is red, blood red. Ha! Mine enemy is dead!"

By this time they had returned to the brink of the pit. But there was no sign of Hlangani. Something like dismay was on every face. The fragments of his shattered lantern lay strewn about at the bottom of the hole, but of the savage himself there was no sign. It was marvellous.

All three men were first-rate shots. It was impossible that any one of them could have missed him at that distance, let alone all three. How could he have got away with three bullets in his body?

Cautiously they hunted everywhere with increasing anxiety, but nothing occurred to reward their search. The latter led them almost back to the great rock-chamber where the serpents swarmed. Still no sign of Hlangani.

This was serious in the extreme. They would have their hands full enough with the wretched maniac, even if they succeeded in bringing him away at all; and the idea that the fierce Gcaleka, desperately wounded perhaps, might be lying in wait, in some awkward place, ready to fall upon them with all the reckless, despairing ferocity of a cornered leopard, was anything but encouraging. Or, what if he had escaped altogether, and were to bring back a swarm of his countrymen to cut off their retreat.

"I tell you what it is," said Hoste. "The sooner we get this poor chap out, and clear out ourselves, the better."

This was true enough; but how to act upon it was another thing.

Several candles were lighted and stuck about on the rocks, making the black, gloomy cavern a trifle less sepulchral. Then they advanced to the pit's brink. The lunatic, crouched on the ground gnawing a bone, stared stupidly at them.

"Don't you know me, Tom?" said Eustace, speaking quietly. "We are come to get you away from here, old chap. You know me? Come now!"

But the poor wretch gave no sign of intelligence, as he went on munching his revolting food. Several times they tried him, each in different ways, but always without success. It was pitiable.

"We shall have to get him out by force," said Shelton. "But how the deuce we are going to do it beats me."

"We might la.s.so him with a _reim_, and haul him up that way," suggested Hoste.

"I had thought of that," said Eustace. "First of all, though, I'm going to have another try at the _suaviter in modo_. He may recognise me-- nearer."

"Nearer? What? How? You are never going down there!" cried Shelton.

"That's just what I am going to do. Where's that long _reim_, Josane?"