Part 25 (1/2)
It is those verdoels that played Oh! baas, if you had seen and sood See, one more second and I, who have two nostrils, should have had four”
”Never mind, Hans,” I said, ”it is only a scratch, and I will make you a present of some new trousers Also, here is tobacco for you Come to the bush; let us talk”
So ent, and when Hans was a little composed I told hiel in the air, and he told round, which, as I , did not interest ht moment to fire would be just before they pounced
Whilst ere still talking we heard a sound of shouts, and, looking over the brow of the hill that faced towards U driven up the slope towards us by three executioners and a guard of seven or eight soldiers, their hands tied behind their backs, were three e, and one a lad, who did not look le farandfather, the father, and the eldest son, who had been seized upon soe of witchcraft, but really in order that the kingbeen tried and condeas, or witch-doctors, these poor wretches were now doo the heads of the tribe, present and to coenerations, all their descendants and collaterals had already been wiped out by Dingaan, so that he ht pose as sole heir to the family cattle
Such were the dreadful cruelties that happened in Zululand in those days
CHAPTER XIV THE PLAY
The doomed three were driven by their murderers into the centre of the depression, within a few yards of which Hans and I were standing
After thereat brute ore a curiously shaped leopard-skin cap--I suppose as a badge of office--and held in his hand a heavy kerry, the shaft of which was scored witha human life
”See, White Man,” he shouted, ”here is the bait which the king sends to draw the holy birds to you Had it not been that you needed such bait, perhaps these wizards would have escaped But the Black One said the little Son of George, who is naic, and therefore they must die to-day”
Now, at this information I turned positively sick Nor did itthe executioner's words, flung hian to irandfather also addressed h if I die? I am old, and my life does not matter Or if one is not sufficient, take o free We are all of us innocent of any witchcraft, and he is not even old enough to practise such things, being but an un Would not your heart be heavy if you had to be slain when the sun of your life was still new in the sky? Think, White Chief, what your father would feel, if you have one, should he be forced to see you killed before his eyes, that soic weapon by slaying the wild things that would eat it”
Now, al to the venerableto do with me I told him that I was innocent of their blood, as forced to be there to try to shoot vultures on the wing in order to save my white companions fro a question now and again, and when he had nified callad to learn that you are not cruel, as I thought My children,” he added, turning to the others, ”let us trouble this Inkoos no more He only does what he must do to save the lives of his brethren by his skill, if he can If we continue to plead with hi in it may cause his hand to shake, and then they will die also, and their blood be on his head and ours My children, it is the king's will that we should be slain Let us , as men of our House have always done White lord, we thank you for your good words May you live long, and ood fortune sleep in your hut to the end May you shoot straight, also, with your ic tool, and thereby win the lives of your co Farewell, Inkoos,” and since he could not lift his bound hands in salutation, he bowed to me, as did the others
Then they walked to a little distance, and, seating theether, and after a while to drone souards also sat down not far away, laughing, chatting, and passing a horn of snuff from hand to hand
Indeed, I observed that the captain of them even took some snuff to the victims, and held it in his palm beneath their noses while they drew it up their nostrils and politely thanked him between the sneezes
As for myself, I lit a pipe and smoked it, for I seemed to require a stimulant, or, rather, a sedative Before it was finished Hans, as engaged in doctoring his scratches made by the vultures' beaks with a concoction of leaves which he had been chewing, exclaimed suddenly in his matter-of-fact voice:
”See, baas, here they come, the white people on one side and the black on the other, just like the goats and the sheep at Judght appeared the party of Boers, headed by the Vrouw Prinsloo, who held the remnants of an old umbrella over her head To the left advanced a number of Zulu nobles and councillors, in front of addled Dingaan arrayed in his bead dancing dress He was supported by two stalwart body-servants, whilst a third held a shi+eld over his head to protect hie stool, upon which he was to sit Behind each party, also, I perceived a number of Zulus in their war-dress, all of the spears
The two parties arrived at the stone upon which I was sitting aled that they should do, and halted, staring at each other As for me, I sat still upon my stone and smoked on
”Allemachte! Allan,” puffed the Vrouw Prinsloo, as breathless with her walk up the hill, ”so here you are! As you did not coht you had run away and left us, like that stinkcat Pereira”
”Yes, Tante (aunt), here I aloomily, ”and I wish to heaven that I was soreat bulk upon the stool and recovered his breath, called to the lad Halstead, ith him, and said:
”O Tho-maas, ask your brother, Macumazahn, if he is ready to try to shoot the vultures If not, as I wish to be fair, I will give hiic medicine”
I replied sulkily that I was as ready as I was ever likely to be