Part 5 (2/2)

The door was unlocked, and in sped a terrified man He was one of the spies who had been sent out

'My father,' he cried, 'the Masai are on us! A great body of the towards the old stone kraal down by the little strea thy heart! In the midst of them I saw the white ass, and on it sat the Water-lily [Flossie] An El warrior] led the ass, and by its side walked the nurse weeping TheI saw not'

'Was the child alive?' asked Mr Mackenzie, hoarsely

'She hite as the snow, but well,up froainst the sky'

'God help her and us!' groaned the clergyman

'How many are there of them?' I asked

'More than two hundred--two hundred and half a hundred'

Once more we looked one on the other What was to be done? Just then there rose a loud insistent cry outside the wall

'Open the door, white man; open the door! A herald--a herald to speak with thee' Thus cried the voice

U arazed over

'I see but one man,' he said 'He is armed, and carries a basket in his hand'

'Open the door,' I said 'Uaas, take thine axe and stand thereby

Let one man pass If another follows, slay'

The door was unbarred In the shadow of the wall stood Uaas, his axe raised above his head to strike Just then the moon came out There was a moment's pause, and then in stalked a Masai Elmoran, clad in the full war panoply that I have already described, but bearing a large basket in his hand The reat spear as he walked He was physically a splendid e Indeed, none of the Masai that I saere under six feet high, though ot opposite to us he halted, put down the basket, and stuck the spike of his spear into the ground, so that it stood upright

'Let us talk,' he said 'The first er we sent to you could not talk;' and he pointed to the head which lay upon the paving of the stoep--a ghastly sight in the ht; 'but I have words to speak if ye have ears to hear Also I bring presents;' and he pointed to the basket and laughed with an air of swaggering insolence that is perfectly indescribable, and yet which one could not but ad that he was surrounded by eneonani” [war captain] of a party of the Masai of the Guasa Amboni I and my men followed these three white men,' and he pointed to Sir Henry, Good, and myself, 'but they were too clever for us, and escaped hither We have a quarrel with the to kill them'

'Are you,these ht two black irl One of the black men we killed--there is his head upon the paveirl, and the white ass we took and brought with us In proof thereof have I brought this basket that she carried Is it not thy daughter's basket?'

Mr Mackenzie nodded, and the warrior went on

'Good! With thee and thy daughter we have no quarrel, nor do ish to harathered, two hundred and forty head--a beast for every roan, as he greatly valued this herd of cattle, which he bred with much care and trouble

'So, save for the cattle, thouat the wall, 'as this place would be a difficult one to take But as to these hts and days, anddone so, all the girls would make a mock of us So, however troublesome it may be, they must die

'Now I have a proposition for thee We would not harirl; she is too fair to harm, and has besides a brave spirit Give us one of these three o, and throw in the black woman with her also This is a fair offer, white man We ask but for one, not for the three; we must take another opportunity to kill the other two I do not even pickto Sir Henry; 'he looks strong, and would die more slowly'

'And if I say I will not yield the man?' said Mr Mackenzie

'Nay, say not so, white hter dies at dawn, and the woman with her says thou hast no other child Were she older I would take her for a servant; but as she is so young I will slay her with my own hand--ay, with this very spear Thou canst coive thee a safe conduct;' and the fiend laughed aloud as his brutal jest

Meanwhile I had been thinking rapidly, as one does in eencies, and had coainst Flossie I scarcely like to mention the matter for fear it should bethat there was anything heroic about this, or any such nonsense It was merely a matter of common sense and common justice My life was an old and worthless one, hers was young and valuable Her death would pretty well kill her father and mother also, whilst nobody would be much the worse for mine; indeed, several charitable institutions would have cause to rejoice thereat It was indirectly through irl was in her present position Lastly, a man was better fitted togirl Not, however, that I entry torture me to death--I a naturally a tied and then to shoot hty would take the peculiar circumstances of the case into consideration and pardon the act All this and h my mind in very few seconds