Part 26 (1/2)

Still, now that lad to have known the dear breath of woman's love, and that true friendshi+p which can even surpass the love of wohter of little children, to have seen the sun and the moon and the stars, to have felt the kiss of the salt sea on aht But I should not wish to live again!

Everything is changing to ht departs And yet it seeh that darkness I can already see the shi+ning welco-lost face Harry is there, and others; one above all, to laddened this grey earth But of her I have already written elsewhere, and at length, so why speak of her now? Why speak of her after this long silence, now that she is again so near tosun is turning the golden roof of the great Teers tire

So to all who have known ht of the old hunter, I stretch outfarewell

And now into the hands of Alhty God, who sent it, do I commit my spirit

'_I have spoken,_' as the Zulus say

CHAPTER XXIV BY ANOTHER HAND

A year has elapsed since our most dear friend Allan Quatermain wrote the words '_I have spoken_' at the end of his record of our adventures Nor should I have ventured to make any additions to the record had it not happened that by aconveyed to England The chance is but a faint one, it is true; but, as it is not probable that another will arise in our lifetimes, Good and myself think that wethe last six months several Frontier Commissions have been at work on the various boundaries of Zu-Vendis, with a view of discovering whether there exists any possible ress from the country, with the result that a channel of communication with the outer world hitherto overlooked has been discovered This channel, apparently the only one (for I have discovered that it was by it that the native who ultimately reached Mr Mackenzie's ether with the fact of his expulsion--for he _did_ arrive about three years before ourselves--was for reasons of their own kept a dead secret by the priests to whoht), is about to be effectually closed But before this is done, awith him this manuscript, and also one or two letters froe, whoain, infor them, as our next heirs, that they are welcoland, if the Court of Probate will allow them to take them {Endnote 22}, inasmuchas we have made up our minds never to return to Europe Indeed, it would be impossible for us to leave Zu-Vendis even if ished to do so

The o--and I wish hi while he has been wearied to death of Zu-Vendis and its inhabitants 'Oh, oui, c'est beau,' he says, with an expressive shrug; 'ain, he complains dreadfully of the absence of cafes and theatres, and moans continually for his lost Annette, of whom he says he dreaust at the country, putting aside the homesickness to which every Frenchh at hireat battle of the Pass about eighteen o, when he hid beneath a banner in Sorais's tent in order to avoid being sent forth to fight, which he says would have gone against his conscience Even the little boys call out at hi his life unbearable At any rate, he has determined to brave the horrors of a journey of aler, and also to run the risk of falling into the hands of the French police to answer for a certain little indiscretion of his own soh I do not consider that a very serious matter), rather than remain in ce triste pays Poor Alphonse! we shall be very sorry to part with him; but I sincerely trust, for his own sake and also for the sake of this history, which is, I think, worth giving to the world, that he may arrive in safety If he does, and can carry the treasure we have provided hiold, he will be, co, a rich man for life, and well able toand willing to marry her Alphonse

Anyhow, on the chance, I may as well add a word or two to dear old Quater that on which he wrote the last words of the last chapter Nyleptha, Good andand yet in its way beautiful scene it was An hour before the daybreak it beca, and our distress was very keen Indeed, Good melted into tears at the idea--a fact that called forth a last gentle flicker of hu friend, for even at that hour he could be hu the lass to fall from its accusto, observed this also

'At last,' he gasped, with an attelass'

After that he said no more till the day broke, when he asked to be lifted up to watch the rising of the sun for the last ti earnestly at it, 'I shall have passed through those golden gates'

Ten minutes afterwards he raised hi a stranger journey than any we have ever taken together

Think of me sometimes,' he murmured 'God bless you all I shall wait for you' And with a sigh he fell back dead

And so passed away a character that I consider went as near perfection as any it has ever been my lot to encounter