Part 7 (1/2)
Living alone as she does in the wilds, it is the custom of my mistress to carry a portion of this poison hidden in her hair, since a tiht come when she must use it to save herself from worse than death Now it seemed to her that this hour was upon her, and I knew that she was about to take the poison Then in h the crack in the wall, speaking in an ancient tongue which I have taught her, the tongue of : 'Hold your hand, Shepherdess; while you live you may escape, but from death there is no escape It will be time to use the poison when the worst is with you'
”She heard and understood, for I saw her bow her head slightly, and her hand fell to her side Then Pereira spoke again:
”'And now, if you are ready,' he said, 'ill be ht days' journey to my little Nest on the coast, and who can tell when the dhoill co to say before you go, my dove?'
”Now , 'I am in your power, but I do not fear you, for if need be I can escape you But I tell you this: that your wickedness shall bring your own death upon you;' and she glanced round at the bodies of those whom the slave-traders hadchains and forks of wood, and the colu from her home, for the roof of the Settleuese looked frightened, then he laughed aloud and said with an oath, crossing hiainst the curse, 'What! you prophesy, do you, my dove, and you can escapethe other ht, and Juanna, my mistress, was set upon it Then the slave-traders shot down such of the captives as they thought to be of no value, the drivers flogged the slaves with their three-thonged _sjambochs_ of hippopotamus-hide, and the caravan one I crept froht out thosethe for an opportunity to rescue the Shepherdess whom they loved But they would not do this, for the heart was out of them, they were cowed by fear, and most of the head- except weep over their dead and the burnt kraals 'You cowards,' I said, 'if you will not coo alone At the least let some of you pass up the river and search for Mavoom, to tell him what has chanced here in his house'
”Thea blanket and a little food, I followed upon the track of the slave-drivers For four days I followed, soth theof the fifth day I could go no farther, so I crept to the top of a koppie and watched their long line winding across the plain In its centre were two mules, and on one of these mules sat a woman Then I knew that no harm had befallen my mistress as yet, for she still lived
”Now froht, and to this kraal I cath I told its people that I had escaped from the slave-drivers, and they treated me kindly Here it was also I learnt that soold in these mountains, and next day I travelled on in search of the perchance they would help lish hate the slave-drivers And here, my lord, I am come at last with much toil, and now I pray you deliver my mistress the Shepherdess from the hands of the Yellow Devil Oh! my Lord, I seem poor and wretched; but I tell you that if you can deliver her you shall win a great reward Yes, I will reveal to you that which I have kept hidden all my life, ay, even from Mavoom my master; _I will reveal to you the secret treasures of my people, 'The Children of the Mist'_”
Nohen Leonard, who all the while had been listening attentively and in silence to Soa's tale, heard her last words, he raised his head and stared at her, thinking that her sorrows had made her mad There was no look of madness upon the woman's fierce face, however, but only one of thethis o by for the while, he spoke to her:
”Are you then crazed, mother?” he said ”You see that I am alone here with one servant, for my three companions, of whoh fever, and I myself am smitten with it
And yet you ask me, alone as I am, to travel to this slave-trader's cale-handed, to rescue your mistress, if indeed you have a mistress, and your tale is true Are you then mad, mother?”
”No, Lord, I am not mad, and that which I tell you is true, every word of it I know that I ask a great thing, but I know also that you Englishs when you are well paid Strive to help me and you shall have your reward Ay, should you fail, and live, I can still give you a reward; not much perhaps, but more than you have ever earned”
”Never mind the reward now, mother,” broke in Leonard testily, for the veiled sarcas him, ”unless, indeed, you can cure h
”I can do that,” she answered quietly; ”to- I will cure you”
”So much the better,” he said, with an incredulous smile ”And now of your wisdo of rescuing her, when I do not knohither she has been taken? Probably this Nest of which the Portugee talked is a secret place How long has she been carried off?”
”This will be the twelfth day, Lord As for the Nest, it is secret; that I have discovered It is to your wisdom that I look to find it”
Leonardto the dwarf, who had been sitting by listening to all that was said in stolid silence, his great head resting upon his knees, he spoke to him in Dutch:
”Otter, were you not once taken as a slave?”
”Yes, Baas, once, ten years ago”
”Hoas it?”
”Thus Baas I was hunting on the Zambesi with the soldiers of a tribe there--it was after my own people had driven ly to become their chief, as I was born to be Then the Yellow Devil, that same man of whom the woman speaks, fell upon us with Arabs, and took us to his place, there to await the slave-dhows He was a stout man, horrible to see, and elderly The day the dhows ca; and all the others who remained alive were taken off in shi+ps to Zanzibar”
”Could you find your way to that place again, Otter?”
”Yes, Baas It is a hard spot to find, for the path runs through morasses; moreover the place is secret and protected by water All of us slaves were blindfolded during the last day'snose served me well that day--and watched the path froets a road over which his feet have travelled Also I followed that path back”