Part 34 (2/2)
”Yes,” said Ansob, ”I re of all this business”
”After a while Kaatje went away, still weeping, and then I fell asleep in earnest and did not wake until the sun was going dohen I roused Maurice and we both went back to the hut, where I found that No meal I looked for Kaatje, but could not find her Also in searching throughof jewels I called to Nombe and asked where Kaatje hereon she s with her This pained me, for I had always found Kaatje quite honest-”
”Which she is,” I re”
Heda nodded and went on, ”I a what Zikali had said, I never really suspected her of being a thief, but thought it was all part of sos went on as before, except that Noht Of Kaatje's disappearance she would say nothing Zikali we did not see
”On the third evening after the vanishi+ng of Kaatje, Nombe came and said that I must make ready for a journey, and while she spokeround it No cape and put it over me, also a kind of veil of white stuff which she threw over my head, so as to hideood-bye to Maurice for a while There was a scene as you ry and said that he would come with me, whereon armed men appeared, six of them, and pushed him aith the handles of their spears In another minute I was lifted into the litter which No if we should ever see each other more At the mouth of the kloof I saw another litter surrounded by a number of Zulus, which Noht and two succeeding nights, resting during the day in deserted kraals that appeared to have been h the armed men flitted about us, neither they nor the bearers ever spoke, nor did I see Zikali, or indeed any one else Only No ht we travelled over some hills and I was put into a new hut and told that my journey was done as we had reached a place near Ulundi
”I sleptday, but after I had eaten towards evening, Zikali crept into the hut, just as a great toad ht do, and squatted down in front of ht, perhaps one hour after sundown, perhaps two, perhaps three, Nombe will lead you, dressed in a certain fashi+on, froue of rock up which you may cli stones Look,' and he showed h the door-hole 'The path ends on a flat boulder at the end of the rock There you will take your stand, holding in your right hand a little assegai which will be given to you Nombe will not accompany you to the rock, but she will crouch between the stones at the head of the path and perhaps from time to time whisper to you what to do Thus when she tells you, you must throw the little spear into the air, so that it falls aathered in debate ill be seated about twenty paces fro nothing and showing no alar the men before you may be your friend, Macunize him, and if he speaks to you, you must make no answer Even if he should seem to shoot at you, do not be afraid Do you understand? If so, repeat what I have told you' I obeyed his, or some of them
”He answered, 'You will be killed, Nombe will be killed, the lord Mauriti your lover will be killed, and your friend Macumazahn will be killed Perhaps even I shall be killed and ill talk thethis I said I would dome repeat them once more, he went away Later, Nolittering powder into my hair and touched avequite still with it raised inme that when I heard her say the word 'Throw,' I was to cast it into the air Then theat a distance At last some one came to the hut and whispered to Nombe, who led me out to the little path between the rocks
”This in to talk-”
”Excuse me,” I interrupted, ”but where was Nombe all those two hours?”
”With me She never left my side, Mr Quatermain, and while I was on the rock she was crouched within three paces ofstones at the mouth of the path”
”Indeed,” I replied faintly, ”this is very interesting Please continue-but one word, hoas Nombe dressed? Did she wear a necklace of blue beads?”
”Just as she always is, or rather less so, for she had nothing on except her moocha, and certainly no blue beads But why do you ask?”
”Froo on”
”Well, I stepped forward on to the rock and at first saw nothing, because at that moment the moon was hid by a cloud; indeed Nombe had waited for the cloud to pass over its face, before she thruststraight in front of me Presently the cloud passed, the sea leopard's skin cloak who I guessed was the king You I did not see, Mr Quatermain, because you were behind a tree, yet I felt that you were there, a friend aht to do, and heard the ht from the white feathers that were sewn uponfrom beneath He called on you to co, ordered you to obey You appeared from behind the tree, and I was certain from the look upon your face that at that distance you did not knoho I was inraiment You lifted the pistol and I was terribly afraid, for I had seen you shoot with it before on the verandah of the Temple and kneell that you do not miss Very nearly I screa that after all it did not much matter if I died, except for the sake of Maurice here Also by now I guessed that I was being used to deceive those men before me into some terrible act, and that if I died, at least they would be undeceived
”I thought that an age passed between the time you pointed the pistol and I saw the flash for which I aiting”
”You need not have waited, Heda,” I interposed, ”for if I had really aimed at you you would never have seen that flash, at least so it is said I too guessed enough to shoot above you, although at the tiht it was No overyou to shoot him, and to tell the truth, hoped that you would do so Just before you fired for the second time, Nombe whispered to me-'Throw' and I threw the little red-handled spear into the air Then as the pistol went off Nombe whispered-'Come' I slipped away down the path and back with her into the hut, where she kissed me and said that I had done well indeed, after which she took off e robe and helped me to put on my own dress
”That is all I know, except that some hours later I akened froain, for what I had gone through tired me very much I need not trouble you with the rest, for we journeyed here in the saht I did not see Zikali, but in answer to ainst the English What part in the business I had played, she would not tell me, and I do not know to this hour, but I areat one
”So we came back to the Black Kloof, where I found Maurice quite well, and now he had better go on with the tale, for if I begin to tell you of ourI shall become foolish”
”There isn't much more to tell,” said Ansob, ”except about yourself While Heda ay I was kept a prisoner and watched day and night by Zikali's people ould not let me stir a yard, but otherwise treated me kindly Then one day at sunrise, or shortly after it, Heda re-appeared and told ine, I thanked God
”After that we just lived on here, happily enough since ere together, until one day Noreat battle in which the Zulus had wiped out the English, killing hundreds and hundreds of theh for every soldier that they killed, they had lost two Of course this ht be with our troops We asked Nombe if you were present at the battle She answered that she would inquire of her Spirit and went through soe performances with ashes and knuckle bones, after which she announced that you had been in the battle but were alive and cohed at her, saying that she could not possibly know anything of the sort, also that dogs as a rule did not carry silver Whereon she only smiled and said-'Wait'
”I think it was three days later that one night towards daakened by hearing a dog barking outside h it wished to call attention to its presence It barked so persistently and in a way so unlike a Kaffir dog, that at length about daent out of the hut to see as thea few yards away surrounded by some of Zikali's people, I saw Lost and knew at once that it was an English Airedale, for I have had several of the breed It looked very tired and frightened, and while I ondering whence on earth it could have come, I noticed that it had a silver-mounted collar and re that carried silver on it From that moment, Allan, I was certain that you were somewhere near, especially as the beast ran up totowards the h it wishedthe dog looked at e for you froh Heda, who by now had arrived upon the scene, having also been aroused by Lost's barking 'It is that if you wish to take a ith a strange dog you can do so, and bring back anything you may find'”