Part 15 (1/2)
”Is there any place here where your father locked up things? As I have shown you, you are his heiress, and if so it ht be as well in this house that you should possess yourself of his property”
”There is a safe in the corner,” she answered, ”of which he always kept the key in his trouser pocket”
”Then with your leave I will open it in your presence”
Going to the dead man I searched his pocket and found in it a bunch of keys These I withdrew and went to the safe over which a skin rug was thrown I unlocked it easily enough Within were two bags of gold, eachmarked ”My wife's jewelry For Heda”; also so in the sitting-rooe of these?” I asked ”I do not think it safe to leave them here”
”You, of course,” said Ansob, while Heda nodded
So with a groan I consigned all these valuables to my capacious pockets Then I locked up the empty safe, replaced the keys where I had found them on Marnham, fastened the shutter and left the roo for a while outside till Heda joined us, sobbing a little After this we got so the saht, na in the little hospital of which I have spoken, departing towards the bush-veld, those of the the others They were already some distance away, too far indeed for me to follow, as I did not wish to leave the house The incident filled me with suspicion, and I went round to the back to make inquiries, but could find no one As I passed the hospital door, however, I heard a voice calling in Sisutu-
”Do not leave me behind, my brothers”
I entered and saw thein bed and quite alone I asked hione At first he would not answer, but when I pretended to leave him, called out that it was back to their own country Finally, to cut the story short, I extracted from him that they had left because they had news that the Te to be attacked by Sekukuni and did not wish to be here when I and Ansob were killed How the news reached him he refused, or could not, say; nor did he see of the death of Marnharoaned and cried for water, for he was in pain and thirsty I asked him who had told Sekukuni's people to kill us, but he refused to speak
”Very well,” I said, ”then you shall lie here alone and die of thirst,” and again I turned towards the door
At this he cried out-
”I will tell you It was the white ed it all a few days ago because he hates you Last night he rode to tell the impi when to co of water towards hiet far away before the dawn My people are thirsty for your blood and for that of the other white chief, because you killed so many of them by the river The others they will not harain, but without result, for he beca left alone because the others could not carry hiave him some water, after which he fell asleep, or pretended to do so, and I left hi whether he was delirious, or spoke truth As I passed the stables I saw that my own horse was there, for in this district horses are always shut up at night to keep the sickness, but that the four beasts that had brought Heda froh it was evident that they had been kraaled here till within an hour or two I threw e and returned to the house by the back entrance The kitchen was empty, but crouched by the door of Marnham's room sat the boy who had found him dead He had been attached to his master and seemed half dazed I asked him where the other servants were, to which he replied that they had all run away Then I asked him where the horses were He answered that the Baas Rodd had ordered the I bade him accoht, which he did unwillingly enough
There I found Ansob and Heda They were seated side by side upon the couch Tears were running down her face and he, looking very troubled, held her by the hand Somehow that picture of Heda has always remained fixed in my mind Sorrow becorey eyes did not grow red eeping; the tears just welled up in them and fell like dewdrops froht and very still, as he did, looking straight in front of her, while a ray of sunshi+ne, falling on her head, showed the chestnut-hued lights in her waving hair, of which she had a great abundance
Indeed the pair of the I had seen soyptian tomb With just such a look did the wo in patient hope into the darkness of the future Death had one by, and the little wistful sest that in this darkness her sorrowful eyes already saw the stirring of the new life to be Moreover, was not the man she loved the companion of her hopes as he had been of her woes Such was the fanciful thought that sprang up in reat anxieties, like a single flower in a stony wilderness of thorns or one star on the blackness of the night
In athem of what I had learned They listened till I had finished Then Ansob said slowly-
”Two of us can't hold this house against an iet out of it”
”Both your conclusions seem quite sound,” I re the truth But the question is-how? We can't all three of us ride on one nag, as you are still a cripple”
”There is the Cape cart,” suggested Heda
”Yes, but the horses have been turned out, and I don't knohere to look for them Nor dare I send that boy alone, for probably he would bolt like the others I think that you had better get onus to take our chance I daresay the whole thing is a lie and that we shall be in no danger,” I added by way of softening the suggestion