Part 28 (1/2)
”Oh but, you are doing a grave thing, son of Mala further ruin upon the nation of Zulu than that which has already befallen it We are peaceful traders, and there is no war in the land, yet you rush our caain--kill our oxen and our servants, and treat us with indignity and even threaten us with death Do you think our people will allow that to pass unavenged? _Whau_, Laliswayo! it may mean that such conduct may make the downfall of the Great Great One, the son of Mpande, more complete”
”Peaceable traders!” echoed the chief, with an evil sneer, for he was striving to lash hi which these words caused him ”Peaceable traders, _Whau_! Such do not join with those like Inxele You have shot several of our people Is not that uns Except for mine that went off by accident they have not even been fired You can see for yourself All the shooting was done by Inxele Ask him”
”_Yeh-bo_! Inxele,” echoed the bystanders ”We will bring hiain and ask him,” and a rush was made for the spot where Bully Rawson had fallen, stunned and unconscious
He was no longer there
Then, indeed, surprise, consternation, was their portion Why he had been alht it worth the trouble of securing hih a few hours of discomfort in which live ashes would play a pro hieneral, and now he had disappeared The thing was incredible It was a thing of _tagati_
How could it have been? How could he have slipped through and got clean away? It was true they had forgotten hiht between Mtezani and Tulazi, but how could he get away unseen? Further, he was nearly killed Well, he could not have gone far
With shouts of ferocious anticipation they started to quarter the surroundings in search of him--the _scherm_ had been pulled down froone far, and when they did find hiuns supplied to the eneround in every direction No sign of their quest Then the bush line was entered Here they would have hio far
But whether he could go far or not, certain it was that they failed to find him They searched and searched, far beyond the distance he could possibly have reached within the time, but all to no purpose Well there were still two upon whoe aroused within the what they should do with these other then the chief had given them over, as of course he would
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
”JEALOUSY IS CRUEL AS THE GRAVE”
Warren was seated in his office at Gydisdorp, and his whole power of ht was concentrated on a letter
It lay on the table before hi object It was covered with thu was in a laboured, unforrammar were vile and the contents cryptic Yet to hi upon it the coiving was that it ist of the document was to announce the death of one who had been his friend
”Jealousy is cruel as the grave,” sings the Wise Man Warren was not familiar with the quotation but he instinctively, if unconsciously, realised its purport as he sat there conning the greasy, ill-spelt missive whose contents he knew by heart And yet so paradoxically logical was his own particular temperament that side by side with the wild jubilation that thrilled his whole being over the certainty that the one obstacle in his as in it no longer, never would be in it again, ran a vein of real regret for the man for whoenuine friendshi+p That he, Gilbert Warren, sat there, in intent, at any rate, ain the world to occur to him In intent only, as it happened, for the main substance of the communication lay in one sentence, penned in an utterly uneducated style To be exact it ran thus:
”Wivern and jo fletwood have bin kild by the Usootos”
And then followed further particulars
Warren had little doubt as to the genuineness of the missive It was matter of common report that there had been serious disturbances in the remoter parts of Zululand between the faction which cleaved to the captive and exiled King, and that which did not, to wit that influenced by lets appointed under the Wolseley settleot mixed up in one of these ructions, and--there was an end of theot out the portrait of Lalante, and set it upright before him She was his now; not all at once of course, but when she began to get over her loss, when the first sense of it began to be bluntened He was far too cautious in his knowledge of human nature to hurry matters; to seem to ”rush” her in any way His was the part of earnest sympathiser He would sound the dead man's praises in every way, and on every available opportunity He wouldthis when other people had practically forgotten that any such person had ever existed In tiht be--Warren was shrewd enough to realise this--but ti and he could afford to wait, even as he had waited already, and he knew full well that next to Wyvern there was no her opinion than himself
The river incident had hadthis Fervently Warren blessed that incident, and had done his best toon it in any way, on the contrary if it was ever e the subject But he was ood deal of his welcoe himself he had a powerful and steadfast ally
All this ran through his busy azed at the portrait in a perfect ecstasy of love and passion; taking in the splendid outlines of the forlance of the fearless wide-opened eyes, the seductive attractiveness of the face, firm, yet so sweet and tender
His! his at last I and yet he would need all his patience Then a tap at the door brought hiain Drawing so out:
”Come in”
A clerk entered
”There's a party downstairs wants to see you, sir Roughish looking customer too”