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Black Heart and White Heart - H Rider Haggard · Legend of Sleepy Hollow

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  Speaker 1: Chapter one of Black Heart and Whitehart, a Zulu idel.
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  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Alvera in Pretoria, South Africa.
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  Speaker 1: Blackhart and Whitehart by Sir Henry Ryder Haggard, dedication to
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  Speaker 1: the memory of the child Nada Burnham, who bound all
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  Speaker 1: to her and while her father cut his way through
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  Speaker 1: the hordes of the Ngorbo Regiment, perished of the hardships
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  Speaker 1: of war at Bulawayo on nineteenth of May eighteen ninety six.
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  Speaker 1: I dedicate these tales and more, particularly the last that
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  Speaker 1: of a faith which triumphed over savagery and death. H
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  Speaker 1: Ryder Haggard, Ditchingham Chapter one, Philip Hadden and King Katie Wayyu.
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  Speaker 1: At the date of our introduction to him, Philip Hadden
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  Speaker 1: was a transport rider and trader in the Zulu still
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  Speaker 1: on the right side of forty. In appearance, he was
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  Speaker 1: singularly handsome, tall, dark upright, with keen eyes, short pointed beard,
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  Speaker 1: curling hair, and clear cut features. His life had been varied,
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  Speaker 1: and there were passages in it which he did not narrate,
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  Speaker 1: even to his most intimate friends. He was of gentle birth, however,
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  Speaker 1: and it was said that he had received a public
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  Speaker 1: school and university education in England. At any rate, he
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  Speaker 1: could quote the classics with aptitude on occasion, an accomplishment which,
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  Speaker 1: coupled with his refined voice and a bearing not altogether
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  Speaker 1: common in the wild places of the world, had earned
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  Speaker 1: for him among his rough companions, the soubriquet of the Prince.
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  Speaker 1: However these things may have been, it is certain that
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  Speaker 1: he had emigrated to Natel under a cloud, and equally
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  Speaker 1: certain that his relatives at home were content to take
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  Speaker 1: no further interest in his fortunes. During the fifteen or
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  Speaker 1: sixteen years which he had spent in or about the colony,
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  Speaker 1: hadn't followed many trades, and did no good at any
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  Speaker 1: of them. A clever man, of agreeable and prepossessing manner,
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  Speaker 1: he always found it easy to form friendships and to
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  Speaker 1: secure a fresh start in life. But by degrees the
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  Speaker 1: friends were seized with a vague distrust of him, and
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  Speaker 1: after a period of more or less application, he himself
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  Speaker 1: would close the opening that he had made by a
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  Speaker 1: sudden disappearance from the locality, leaving behind him a doubtful
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  Speaker 1: reputation and some bad debts. Before the beginning of this
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  Speaker 1: story of the most remarkable episodes in his life, Philip
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  Speaker 1: Hadden was engaged for several years in transport riding, that is,
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  Speaker 1: in carrying goods on ox wagons from Durban or Maritzburg
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  Speaker 1: to various points in the interior. A difficulty, such as
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  Speaker 1: had more than once confronted him in the course of
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  Speaker 1: his career, led to his temporary abandonment of this means
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  Speaker 1: of earning a livelihood. On arriving at the little frontier
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  Speaker 1: town of Utrecht in the Transvole, in charge of two
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  Speaker 1: wagon loads of mixed goods consigned to a shopkeeper. There,
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  Speaker 1: it was discovered that out of six cases of brandy,
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  Speaker 1: five were missing from his wagon. Haddn't explained the matter
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  Speaker 1: by throwing the blame upon his Kaffir boys, but the storekeeper,
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  Speaker 1: a rough tongued man, openly called him a thief and
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  Speaker 1: refused to pay the freight on any of the load.
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  Speaker 1: From words, the two men came to blows. Knives were drawn,
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  Speaker 1: and before anybody could interfere, the shopkeeper received a nasty
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  Speaker 1: wound in his side. That night, without waiting till the
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  Speaker 1: matter could be inquired into by the landrost or magistrate
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  Speaker 1: hadn't slipped away and trek back into Natel as quickly
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  Speaker 1: as his oxen would travel. Feeling that even here he
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  Speaker 1: was not safe, he left one of his wagons at Newcastle,
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  Speaker 1: loaded up the other with kaffir goods such as blankets,
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  Speaker 1: calico and hardware, and crossed into Zulu land, where in
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  Speaker 1: those days no sheriff's officer would be likely to follow him.
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  Speaker 1: Being well acquainted with the language and customs of the natives,
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  Speaker 1: he took good trade with them, and soon found himself
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  Speaker 1: possessed of some cash and a small herd of cattle,
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  Speaker 1: which he received in exchange for his wares. Meanwhile, news
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  Speaker 1: reached him that the man whom he had injured still
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  Speaker 1: avowed vengeance against him and was in communication with the
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  Speaker 1: authorities in Natel. These reasons making his return to civilization
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  Speaker 1: undesirable for the moment, and further business being impossible until
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  Speaker 1: he could receive a fresh supply of trade stuff, Hadden,
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  Speaker 1: like a wise man, turned his thoughts to pleasure, sending
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  Speaker 1: his cattle and wagon over the border to be left
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  Speaker 1: in charge of a native headman with whom he was friendly.
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  Speaker 1: He went on foot to Ulundi to obtain permission from
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  Speaker 1: the King Pete Wayo to hunt game in his country.
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  Speaker 1: Somewhat to his surprise, the inDunas or head men received
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  Speaker 1: him courteously, for Hadden's visit took place within a few
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  Speaker 1: months of the outbreak of the Zulu War in eighteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy eight, when Thretty Wayo was already showing unfriendliness to
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  Speaker 1: the English traders and others. Though why the king did
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  Speaker 1: so they knew not. On the occasion of his first
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  Speaker 1: and last interview with Etty Wayo, Hadden got a hint
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  Speaker 1: of the reason it happened. Thus, on the second morning
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  Speaker 1: after his arrival at the Royal Kraal, a messenger came
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  Speaker 1: to inform him that the elephant whose tread shook the
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  Speaker 1: earth had signified that it was his pleasure to see him. Accordingly,
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  Speaker 1: he was led through the thousands of huts and across the
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  Speaker 1: great place to the little enclosure, where at Yuayu, a
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  Speaker 1: royal looking Zulu, seated on a stool and wearing a
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  Speaker 1: cross of leopard skins, was holding an endaba or conference,
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  Speaker 1: surrounded by his counselors. The inDuna, who had conducted him
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  Speaker 1: to the august presence, went down upon his hands and knees, and,
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  Speaker 1: uttering the royal salute of bay Yeah, crawled forward to
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  Speaker 1: announce that the white man was waiting. Let him wait,
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  Speaker 1: said the king angrily, and turning, he continued the discussion
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  Speaker 1: with his counselors. Now, as has been said, hadn't thoroughly
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  Speaker 1: understood Zulu. And when from time to time the king
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  Speaker 1: raised his voice, some of the words he spoke reached
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  Speaker 1: his air. What att Yuwayu said to a wizened and
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  Speaker 1: aged man who seemed to be pleading with him earnestly?
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  Speaker 1: Am I a dog? That these white hyaenas should hunt me? Thus?
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  Speaker 1: Is not the land mine? And was it not my
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  Speaker 1: father's before me? Are not the people mine to save
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  Speaker 1: or to slay? I tell you that I will stamp
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  Speaker 1: out these little white men. My im beeast shall eat
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  Speaker 1: them up. I have said again. The withered aged man interposed,
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  Speaker 1: evidently in the character of a peacemaker. Hadden could not
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  Speaker 1: hear his talk, but he rose and pointed towards the sea,
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  Speaker 1: while from his expressive gestures and sorrowful men he seemed
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  Speaker 1: to be prophesying disaster should a certain course of action
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  Speaker 1: be followed. For a while the king listened to him.
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  Speaker 1: Then he sprang up from his seat, his eyes literally
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  Speaker 1: ablaze with rage. Hearken, he cried to the counselor. I
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  Speaker 1: have guessed it for long, and now I am sure
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  Speaker 1: of it. You are a traitor. You are Simsail's dog, Samseil,
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  Speaker 1: being so Theophilus Shepstone's and the dog of the Natal government.
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  Speaker 1: And I will not keep another man's dog to bite
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  Speaker 1: me in my own house. Take him away. A slight
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  Speaker 1: involuntary murmur rose from the ring of inDunas, but the
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  Speaker 1: old man never flinched, not even when the soldiers who
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  Speaker 1: presently would murder him came and seized him roughly for
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  Speaker 1: a few seconds, perhaps five. He covered his face with
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  Speaker 1: the corner of the cross he wore. Then he looked
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  Speaker 1: up and spoke to the king in a clear voice,
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  Speaker 1: O King, he said, I am a very old man.
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  Speaker 1: As a youth, I served under Shaka the Lion, and
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  Speaker 1: I heard his dying prophecy of the coming of the
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  Speaker 1: white man. Then the white men came, and I fought
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  Speaker 1: for Dingan at the Battle of Blood River. They slew Dingan,
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  Speaker 1: and for many years I was the counselor of Banda,
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  Speaker 1: your father. I stood by you, O King, at the
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  Speaker 1: Battle of Tegela, when its gray waters were turned to
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  Speaker 1: red with the blood of Umbulazi, your brother, and of
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  Speaker 1: the tens of thousands of his people. Afterwards, I became
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  Speaker 1: your counselor, O King, and I was with you when
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  Speaker 1: Somseu set the crown upon your head, and you made
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  Speaker 1: promises to som Seu, promises that you have not kept.
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  Speaker 1: Now you are weary of me, and it is well
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  Speaker 1: for I am very old, and doubtless my talk is foolish,
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  Speaker 1: as it chances to the old. Yet I think that
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  Speaker 1: the prophecy of Shaka, your great uncle, will come true,
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  Speaker 1: and that the white men will prevail against you, and
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  Speaker 1: that through them you shall find your death. I would
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  Speaker 1: that I might have stood in one more battle and
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  Speaker 1: fought for you, O King, since fight you will. But
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  Speaker 1: the end which you choose is for me the best end.
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  Speaker 1: Sleep in peace, O King, and farewell by Yea Deh.
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  Speaker 1: This being the royal salute of the Zulus. For his base,
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  Speaker 1: there was silence, a silence of expectation, while men waited
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  Speaker 1: to hear the tyrant reverse his judgment, but it did
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  Speaker 1: not please him to be merciful, or the needs of
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  Speaker 1: policy outweighed his pity. Take him away, he repeated. Then,
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  Speaker 1: with a slow smile on his face and one word
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  Speaker 1: good night upon his lips. Supported by the arm of
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  Speaker 1: a soldier, the old warrior and stay Batsman shuffled forth
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  Speaker 1: to the place of death. Hadden watched and listened in amazement,
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  Speaker 1: not unmixed with fear. If he treats his own servants
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  Speaker 1: like this, what will happen to me? He reflected. We
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  Speaker 1: English must have fallen out of favor since I left Natal.
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  Speaker 1: I wonder whether he means to make war on us
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  Speaker 1: or what if so, this isn't my place. Just then,
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  Speaker 1: the King, who had been gazing moodily at the ground,
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  Speaker 1: chanced to look up. Bring the stranger here, he said.
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  Speaker 1: Hadden heard him, and, coming forth, offered that guire his
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  Speaker 1: hand in as cool and nonchalant a manner as he
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  Speaker 1: could command. Somewhat to his surprise, it was accepted. At least,
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  Speaker 1: white Man, said the King, glancing at his visitor's tall,
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  Speaker 1: spare form and cleanly cut face. You are no umphag gozane,
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  Speaker 1: which means low fellow. You are of the blood of chiefs, yes, King,
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  Speaker 1: answered Hadden, with a little sigh. I am with the
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  Speaker 1: blood of chiefs. What do you want in my country?
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  Speaker 1: White man? Very little king. I have been trading here,
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  Speaker 1: as I dare say, you have heard and have sold
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  Speaker 1: all my goods. Now I ask your leave to hunt
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  Speaker 1: buffalo and other big game for a while before I
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  Speaker 1: returned to Natal. I cannot grant it, answered pretty, while
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  Speaker 1: you are a spy sent by some sail or by
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  Speaker 1: the queens in Duna. In Natal, get you gone, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: said Hadden, with a shrug of his shoulders. Then I
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  Speaker 1: hope that some sail or, the queens in Duna, or
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  Speaker 1: both of them will pay me when I return to
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  Speaker 1: my own. Meanwhile, I will obey you because I must,
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  Speaker 1: But I should first like to make your present. What present,
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  Speaker 1: asked the king. I want no presents. We are rich
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  Speaker 1: here a white man, so be it. King, It was
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  Speaker 1: nothing worthy of your taking, only a rifle. A rifle,
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  Speaker 1: white man, where is it? Without I would have brought it,
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  Speaker 1: but your servants told me that it is death to
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  Speaker 1: come armed before the elephant who shakes the earth. Etty
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  Speaker 1: while frowned for the note of sarcasm did not escape
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  Speaker 1: his quick ear. Let this white man's offering be brought.
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  Speaker 1: I will consider the thing instantly. The inDuna, who had
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  Speaker 1: accompanied hadn't darted to the gateway, running with his body
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  Speaker 1: bent so low that it seemed as though at every
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  Speaker 1: step he must fall upon his face. Presently he returned
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  Speaker 1: with the weapon in his hand, and presented it to
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  Speaker 1: the King, holding it so that the muzzle was pointed
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  Speaker 1: straight at the royal breast. I crave leave to say,
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  Speaker 1: o elephant, remarked Hadden, in a drawling voice, that it
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  Speaker 1: might be well to command your servant to lift the
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  Speaker 1: mouth of that gun from your heart. Why, asked the king,
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  Speaker 1: Only because it is loaded and at full cock, O elephant,
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  Speaker 1: who probably desires to continue to shake the earth. At
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  Speaker 1: these words, the elephant uttered a sharp exclamation and rolled
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  Speaker 1: from his stool in a most unkingly manner, whilst the
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  Speaker 1: terrified in Duna, springing backwards, contrived to touch the trigger
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  Speaker 1: of the rifle and discharge a bullet through the exact
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  Speaker 1: spot that a second before had been occupied by his
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  Speaker 1: monarch's head. Let him be taken away, shouted the incensed
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  Speaker 1: king from the ground. But long before the words had
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  Speaker 1: passed his his lips. The inDuna, with the cry that
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  Speaker 1: the gun was bewitched, had cast it down and fled
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  Speaker 1: at full speed through the gate. He has already taken
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  Speaker 1: himself away, suggested Hadden, while the audience tittered. No, King,
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  Speaker 1: do not touch it rashly. It is a repeating rifle.
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  Speaker 1: Look and lifting the winchester, he fired the four remaining
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  Speaker 1: shots in quick succession into the air, striking the top
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  Speaker 1: of a tree at which he aimed with every one
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  Speaker 1: of them. Wow, it is wonderful, said the company, in astonishment.
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  Speaker 1: Has the thing finished, asked the King for the present
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  Speaker 1: it has, answered Hadden, look at it. Daddy Wild took
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  Speaker 1: the repeater in his hand and examined it with caution,
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  Speaker 1: swinging the muzzle horizontally in an exact line with the
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  Speaker 1: stomachs of some of his most eminent inDunas, who shrank
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  Speaker 1: to this side, and that as the barrel was brought
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  Speaker 1: to bear on them. See what cowards they are, white man,
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  Speaker 1: said the king, with indignation. They fear lest there should
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  Speaker 1: be another bullet in this gun. Yes, answered Hadden, they
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  Speaker 1: are cowards. Indeed, I believe that if they were seated
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  Speaker 1: on stools they would tumble off them, just as it
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  Speaker 1: chanced to your majesty to do just now. Do you
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  Speaker 1: understand the making of guns, white Man, asked the king hastily,
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  Speaker 1: while the inDunas won and all turned their heads and
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  Speaker 1: contemplated the fence behind them. No, King, I cannot make guns,
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  Speaker 1: but I can mend them if I paid you well,
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  Speaker 1: white Man, would you stop here at my krawl and
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  Speaker 1: mend guns for me? Asked Betty Wire anxiously. It might
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  Speaker 1: depend on the pay, answered Hadden, But for a while,
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  Speaker 1: I am tired of work and wish to rest. If
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  Speaker 1: the King gives me the permission to hunt for which
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  Speaker 1: I asked, and men to go with me, and when
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  Speaker 1: I return, perhaps we can bargain on the matter. If not,
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  Speaker 1: I will bid the King farewell and journey to Natal
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  Speaker 1: in order to make report of what he has seen
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  Speaker 1: and heard here, muttered Tetti Waile. At this moment the
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  Speaker 1: talk was interrupted for the soldiers who had led away
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  Speaker 1: the old inDuna returned at speed and prostrated themselves before
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  Speaker 1: the King. Is he dead? He asked, he has traveled
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  Speaker 1: the king's bridge, though answered grimly. He died singing a
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  Speaker 1: song of praise of the King Good said tetti waile
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  Speaker 1: that stone shall hurt my feet. No more, go tell
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  Speaker 1: the tale of its casting away to Somseu and to
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  Speaker 1: the Queen's inDuna. In natal, he added, with bitter emphasis, Baba,
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  Speaker 1: hear our fathers speak. Listen to the rumbling of the elephant,
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  Speaker 1: said the inDunas, taking the point, while one bolder than
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  Speaker 1: the rest, added, soon we will tell them another tale,
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  Speaker 1: the white talking ones, A red tale, a tale of spears,
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  Speaker 1: and the regiments shall sing it in their ears. At
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  Speaker 1: the words, an enthusiasm caught hold of the listeners. As
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  Speaker 1: the sudden flame catches hold of dry grass, they sprang up,
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  Speaker 1: for the most of them were seated on their haunches
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  Speaker 1: and stamping their feet upon the ground. In unison repeated
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  Speaker 1: in daba ibom in daba yemkonto lizo dunyiswa nge impin
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  Speaker 1: desh lebeni yahoo, which means a red tale, a red tail,
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  Speaker 1: a tale of spears, and the impist shall sing it
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  Speaker 1: in their ears. One of them, indeed, a great fierce
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: faced fellow, too near to hadden, and shaking his fist
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  Speaker 1: before his eyes. Fortunately, being in the royal presence, he
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  Speaker 1: had no Assagai shouted the sentences at him. The king
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: saw that the fire he had lit was burning too fiercely. Silence,
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  Speaker 1: he thundered in the deep voice for which he was remarkable,
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  Speaker 1: and instantly each man became as if he were turned
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  Speaker 1: to stone. Only their echoes still answered back. And the
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: embst shall sing it in their ears, in their ears,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: The EMBs shall sing it in their ears, in their ears.
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  Speaker 1: I am growing certain that this is no place for me,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: thought Hadden. If that scoundrel had been armed, he might
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: have temporarily forgotten himself. HALLO, who's this? Just then there
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: appeared through the gate of the fence a splendid specimen
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  Speaker 1: of the Zulu race. The man, who was about thirty
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  Speaker 1: five years of age, was arrayed in a full war
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: dress of a captain of the Intigitue regiment. From the
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: circlet of otter skin on his brow rose his crest
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: of plumes. Round his middle arms and knees hung the
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: long fingers of black ox tails, and in one hand
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  Speaker 1: he bore a little dancing shield, also black in color.
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  Speaker 1: The other was empty, since he might not appear before
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  Speaker 1: the king bearing arms in countenance. The man was handsome,
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  Speaker 1: and though just now, they betrayed some anxiety. His eyes
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  Speaker 1: were genial and honest, and his mouth sensitive. In height,
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  Speaker 1: he must have measured six foot two inches, yet he
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: did not strike the observer as being tall, perhaps because
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: of his width of chest and the solidity of his limbs.
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  Speaker 1: They were in a curious contrast to the delicate and
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: almost womanish hands and feet which so often marked the
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  Speaker 1: Zulu of noble blood. In short, the man was what
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  Speaker 1: he seemed to be, a savage gentleman of birth, dignity,
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  Speaker 1: and courage. In company with him was another man, plainly
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  Speaker 1: dressed in a moocha and a blanket, whose grizzled hairs
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: showed him to be over fifty years of age. His
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: face was also pleasant and even refined, but the eyes
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  Speaker 1: were timorous and the mouth lacked character. Who are these?
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: Asked the king. The two men fell on their knees
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  Speaker 1: before him and bowed till their foreheads touched the ground,
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  Speaker 1: the while giving him his sibonga, or titles of praise.
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  Speaker 1: Speak he said, impatiently, O King, said the young warrior,
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  Speaker 1: seating himself in Zulu fashion, I am Nahoon, the son
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  Speaker 1: of Zomba, a captain of the Umtrithu. And this is
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: my uncle Umgona, the brother of one of my mothers,
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: my father's youngest wife eighty while frown, what do you
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: hear away from your regiment? Nahoon? May it please the King?
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: I have leave of absence from the head captains, and
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I come to ask a boon of the King's bounty.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Be swift. Nahoon. It is this, O King, said the captain,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: with some embarrassment. A while ago, the King was pleased
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: to make a geshla of me because of certain service
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: that I did out yonder. And he touched the black
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: ring which he wore in the hair of his head.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Being now a ringed man and a captain, I crave
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: the right of a man at the hands of the king,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: the right to marry. Right. Speak more humbly, son of Zomba.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: My soldiers and my cattle have no rights. Nahoon bit
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: his lip, for he had made a serious mistake. Pardon,
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: O King. The matter stands. Thus, my uncle Umgona here
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: has a fair daughter named Nanea, whom I desire to wife,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: and who desires me to husband. Awaiting the King's leave,
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: I am betrothed to her, and in earnest of it
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: I have paid to Umgona a lobola of fifteen head
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: of cattle, cows and calves together. But Umgona has a
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: powerful neighbor, an old chief named Maputa, the warden of
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: the crocodile drift, who doubtless is known to the king.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: And this chief also seeks Nanea in marriage and harry
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: is Umgona, threatening him with many evils if he will
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: not give the girl to him. But Umgona's heart is
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: white towards me, and towards Maputa it is black. Therefore
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: together we come to crave the spoon of the king.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: It is so he speaks the truth, said Umgona sees,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: answered Tetyuay angrily. Is this a time that my soldiers
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: should seek wives in marriage, wives to turn their hearts
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: to water? Know that? But yesterday, for this crime I
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: commanded that twenty girls who had dared without my leave
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: to marry men of the Undi regiment should be strangled
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: and their bodies laid upon the cross roads, and with
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: them the bodies of their fathers, that all might know
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: their sin and be warned thereby. Ay, Umgona, it is
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: well for you and for your daughter that you sought
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: my word before she was given in marriage to this man.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Now this is my award. I refuse your prayer, Nahoun,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: since you Umana are troubled with whom you would not
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: take as a son in law, the old chief Maputa,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: I will free you from this importunity. The girl says,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Nahoon is fair good. I myself will be gracious to her,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: and she shall be numbered among the wives of the
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: royal House within thirty days from now, in a week
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: of the next new moon. Let her be delay to
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: the Sigodla, the royal house of the women, and with
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: her those cattle, the cows and the calves together that
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Nahoon has given you, of which I find him, because
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: he has dared to think of marriage without the leave
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: of the king. End of chapter one. Recording by Elvera.
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: Chapter two of Black Heart and White Heart. This is
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: Recording by Alvera, Chapter two, the b Prophesies, A Daniel
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: came to judgment. Indeed, reflected Hadden, who had been watching
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: this savage comedy with interest. Our love sick friend has
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: got more than a bark for while that comes of
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: appealing to Caesar, and he turned to look at the
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: two suppliants. The old man Umgona merely started, then began
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: to pour out sentences of conventional thanks and praise to
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: the King for his goodness and condescension. Lettiwayo listened to
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: his talk in silence, and when he had done, answered
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: by reminding him tersely that if Nanea did not appear
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: at the date named, both she and he her father
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: would in due course certainly decorate a cross road in
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: their own immediate neighborhood. The Captain Nahoon afforded a more
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: curious study. As the fatal words crossed the King's lips,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: his face took an expression of absolute astonishment, which was
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: presently replaced by one of fury, the just fury of
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: a man who suddenly has suffered an unutterable wrong. His
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: whole frame quivered, the veins stood out in knots on
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: his neck and forehead, and his fingers closed convulsively, as
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: though they were grasping the handle of a spear. Presently
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: the rage passed away, for as well might a man
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: be wroth with fate, as with the Zulu despot, to
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: be succeeded by a look of the most hopeless misery.
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: The proud, dark eyes grew dull, The copper colored face
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: sank in and turned ashen. The mouth drooped, and down
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: one corner of it there trickled a little line of
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: blood springing from the lip bitten through in their effort
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: to keep silence. Lifting his hand in salute to the king,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: the great Man rose and staggered rather than walked towards
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: the gate. As he reached it, the voice of Petty
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: Waire commanded him to stop. Stay. He said, I have
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: a service for you, Nahoon, that shall drive out of
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: your head these thoughts of wives and marriage. You see
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: this white man here, He is my guest and would
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: hunt buffalo and big game in the bush country. I
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: put him in your charge. Take men with you and
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: see that he comes to no hurt. See also that
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: you bring him before me within a month, or your
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: life shall answer for it. Let him be here at
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: my royal Kraal in the first week of the new
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: moon when Nanea comes, and then I will tell you
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: whether or not I agree with you that she is fair.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Go now, my child, and you, white man, go. Also
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: those who are to accompany you shall be with you
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: at the dawn. Farewell. But remember we meet again at
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: the new moon, when we will settle what pay you
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: shall receive as keeper of my guns. Do not fail me,
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: white man, or I shall send after you. And my
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: messengers are sometimes rough. This means that I am a prisoner,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: thought Adam. But it will go hard if I cannot
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: manage to give them the slip. Somehow, I don't intend
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: to stand. This country of war is declared to be
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: pounded into mooti, which means medicine, or have my eyes
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: put out, or any little joke of that sort. Ten
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: days had passed, and one evening Hadden and his escort
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: were encamped in a wild stretch of mountainous country, lying
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: between the Blood and Umvunyana rivers, not more than eight
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: miles from that place of the Little Hand, which within
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: a few weeks was to become famous throughout the world
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: by its native name of Isandulquyana. For three days they
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: had been tracking the spoor of a small herd of
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: buffalo that still inhabited the district, but as yet they
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: had not come up with them. The Zulu hunters had
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: suggested that they should follow the Unvunyana down towards the sea,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: where game was more plentiful, but this neither Hadden nor
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: the captain Nahoon had been anxious to do, for reasons
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: which each of them kept secret to himself. Hadden's object
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: was to work gradually down to the Buffalo River, across
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: which he hoped to effect a retreat into Natal. That
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: of Nahoon was to linger in the neighborhood of the
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Kraal of Umgona, which was situated not very far from
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: their present camping place, in the vague hope that he
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: might find an opportunity of speaking with, or at least
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: seeing Nanea, the girl to whom he was affianced, who
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: within a few weeks must be taken from him and
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: given over to the king. A more airy looking spot
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: than that where they were encamped Hadden had never seen.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: Behind them lay a tract of land, half swamp and
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: half bush, in which the buffalo was supposed to be hiding.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Beyond a lonely grandeur rose the mountain of Isandlwana, while
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: in front was an amphitheater of the most gloomy forest
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: ringed round in the distance by sheer sided hills. In
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: this forest there ran a river which drained the swamp
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: placidly enough upon the level, but it was not always level,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: for within three hundred yards of them, it dashed suddenly
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: over a precipice of no great height but very steep,
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: falling into a boiling rock bound pool that the light
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: of the sun never seemed to reach. What is the
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: name of that forest, Nahoon, asked Hadden. It is named Emagudu,
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: the home of the dead. The Zulu replied absently, for
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: he was looking towards the kraal of Nanea, which was
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: situated in an hour's walk away over the reach to
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: the right. The home of the dead. Why because the
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: dead lived there, those whom we name the Essemkofu, the
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: speechless ones, and with them other spirits, the amah Lausi,
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: from whom the breath of life has passed away, and
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: who yet live on. Indeed, said Hadden, and have you
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: ever seen these ghosts? Am I mad that I should
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: go to look for them, white man. Only the dead
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: enter that forest, and it is on the borders of
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: it that our people make offerings to the dead. Followed
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: by Nahoon. Hadden walked to the edge of the cliff
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: and looked over it. To the left lay the deep
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: and dreadful looking pool, while close to the bank of it,
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: placed upon a narrow strip of turf. Between the cliff
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: and the commencement of the forest, was a hut. Who
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: lives there, asked Hadden, the great ISANUSI she who is
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: named Inyanga or doctors, She who is named in Yozi,
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: the bee, because she gathers wisdom from the dead who
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: grow in the forest. Do you think that she could
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: gather enough wisdom to tell me whether I am going
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: to kill any buffalon? Nahoon? Mayhap, white man, but he
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: added with a little smile, those who visit the bees
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: hive may hear nothing, or they may hear more than
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: they wish. For the words of that bee have a
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: sting good. I will see if she can sting me.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: So be it, said Nahoon, and turning, he led the
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: way along the cliff till he reached a native path
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: which sigzag down its face. By this path they climbed
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: till they came to the sword at the foot of
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: the descent, and walked up it to the hut, which
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: was surrounded by a low fence of reeds, enclosing a
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: small courtyard paved with ant heap earth beaten hard and polished.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: In this courtyard sat the Bee, her stool being placed
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: almost at the mouth of the round opening that served
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: as a doorway to the hut. At first, all that
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: Hadden could see of her, crouched as she was in
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: the shadow, was a huddled shape, wrapped round with the
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: greasy and tattered catskin currows, above the edge of which
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: appeared two eyes, fierce and quick as those of a leopard.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: At her feet smolded a little fire, and ranged around
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: it in a semicircle were a number of human skulls
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: placed in pairs, as though they were talking together, whilst
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: other bones, to all appearance also human, were festooned about
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: the hut and the fence of the courtyard. I see
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: that the old lady is set up with the usual properties,
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: thought Hadden. But he said nothing, nor did the witch
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: doctors say anything. She only fixed her beady eyes upon
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: his face. Hadn't returned the compliments, staring at her with
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: all his might, till suddenly he became aware that he
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: was vanquished in this curious duwel. His brain grew confused,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: and to his fancy, it seemed that the woman before
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: him had shifted shape into the likeness of a colossal
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: and horrid spider sitting at the mouth of her trap,
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: and that these bones were the relics of her victims.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: Why do you not speak, white man, she said at last,
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: in a slow, clear voice. Well, there is no need,
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: since I can read your thoughts. You are thinking that I,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: who am called the bee, should be better named the spider.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Have no fear. I did not kill these white men.
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: What would it profit me when the dead are so many.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: I suck the souls of men, not their bodies, white men.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: It is their living hearts. I loved to look on,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: for therein I read much, and thereby I grow wise.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: Now what would you of the bee, white man, the
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: bee that labors in this garden of death? And what
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: brings you here, son of Zomba? Why are you not
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: with umtiou, now that they doctor themselves for the great war,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: the last war, the war of the White and the Black?
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: Or if ye have no stomach for fighting, why are
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: ye not at the side of Nanea, the tall Nanea,
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: the fair Nahoon made no answer, but Hadden said, as
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: small thing, mother, I would know if I shall prosper
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: in my hunting. In your hunting, white man, what hunting
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: the hunting of game, of money or of women? Well
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: one of them? For a hunting you must ever be.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: That is your nature to hunt and be hunted. Tell
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: me now how goes the wound of that trader who
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: tasted of your steel yonder in the town of ma
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: Boon boers. No need to answer, white man, But what
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: fee chief for the poor witch doctores whose skill you seek,
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: she added, in a whining voice. Surely you would not
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: that an old woman should work without a fee. I
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: have nothing to offer you, mother, So I will be going,
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: said Adan, who began to feel himself satisfied with this
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: display of the bee's powers of observation, thought reading nay,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: he she answered with an unpleasant laugh. Would you ask
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: a question and not wait for the answer. I will
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: take no fee from you at present, white man. You
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: shall pay me later on when we meet again. And
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: once more, she laughed. Let me look in your face,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: she continued, rising and standing before him. Then of a
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: sudden Hadden felt something cold at the back of his neck,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: and the next instant the bee had sprung from him,
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: holding between her thumb and finger a curl of dark
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: hair which she had cut from his head. The action
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: was so instantaneous that he had neither time to avoid
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: nor to resent it, but stood still, staring at her stupidly.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: That is all I need, she cried, for like my heart,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: my magic is white. Stay, son of Zomba, give me
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: also of your hair. For those who visit the bee
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: must listen to her humming. Lahona bayed, cutting a little
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: lock from his head with the sharp edge of his assagai,
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: though it was very evident that he did this not
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: because he wished to do so, but because he feared
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: to refuse. Then the bee slipped back her cross and
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: stood bending over the fire before them, into which she
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: threw herbs taken from a pouch that was bound about
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: her middle. She was still a finely shaped woman, and
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: she wore none of the abominations which hadn't it been
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: accustomed to see upon the persons of which Doctoressus. About
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: her neck, however, was a curious ornament, a small live snake,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: red and gray in hue, which her visitors recognized as
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: one of the most deadly to be found in that
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: part of the country. It is not unusual for bunt
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: to witch doctors thus to decorate themselves with snakes, though
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: whether or not their fangs have first been extracted no
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: one seems to know. Presently, the herbs began to smolder,
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: and the smoke of them rose up in a thin
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: straight stream that striking upon the face of the bee,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: clung about her head, enveloping it as though with a
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: strange blue veil. Then of a sudden she stretched out
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: her hands and let all the two locks of hair
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: upon the burning herbs, where they writhed themselves into ashes,
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: like things alive. Next, she opened her mouth and began
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: to draw the fumes of the hair and herbs into
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: her lungs in great gulps, while the snake, feeling the
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: influence of the medicine, hissed, and, uncoiling itself from her neck,
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: crept upwards and took refuge among the black suckersula feathers
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: of her head dress. Soon the vapors began to do
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: their work. She swayed to and fro muttering, then sank
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: back against the hut upon the straw of which her
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: head rested. Now the bee's face was turned upwards towards
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: the light, and it was ghastly to behold, for it
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: had become blue in color, and the open eyes were sunken,
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: like the eyes of one dead. Whilst above her forehead
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: the red snake wavered and hissed, reminding Hadden of the
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: Eureea's crest on the brow of statues of Egyptian kings.
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: For ten seconds or more she remained thus, Then she
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: spoke in a hollow and unnatural voice, O black heart
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: and body that is white and beautiful. I look into
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: your heart, and it is black as blood, and it
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: shall be black with blood. Beautiful white body with a
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: black heart. You shall find your game and hunt it,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: and it shall lead you into the house of the homeless,
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: into the home of the dead. And it shall be
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: shaped as a bull. It shall be shaped as a tiger.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: It shall be shaped as a woman, whom kings and
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: waters cannot harm. Beautiful white body and black heart. You
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: shall be paid your wages, money for money, and blow
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: for blow. Think of my word when the spotted cat
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: purrs above your breast, Think of it when the battle
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: roars about you. Think of it when you grasp your
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: great reward and for the last time, stand face to
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: face with the ghost of the dead, in the home
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: of the dead, O, white heart, in a black body.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: I look into your heart, and it is white as milk,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: and the milk of innocence shall save it. Fool, Why
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: do you strike that blow? Let him be who is
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: loved of the tiger, and whose love is as the
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: love of a tiger. Ah, what face is that in
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: the battle? Follow it? Follow it, O swift of foot,
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: But follow warily, For the tongue that has lied will
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: never plead for mercy, and the hand that can betray
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: is strong in war? White heart? What is death? In death?
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: Life lives? And among the dead you shall find the
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: life you lost, For there awaits you, she whom kings
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: and waters cannot harm. As the best spoke by degrees,
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: her voice sank lower and lower till it was almost inaudible.
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: Then it ceased altogether, and she seemed to pass from
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: trance to sleep. Hadden, who had been listening to her
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: with an amused and cynical smile, now laughed aloud. Why
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: do you laugh, white man, asked Nahoon angrily. I laugh
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: at my own folly in wasting time listening to the
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: nonsense of that lying fraud. It is no nonsense, white man. Indeed,
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: then will you tell me what it means? I cannot
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: tell you what it means yet, But her words have
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: to do with a woman and a leopard, and with
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: your face and my fate. Hadden shrugged his shoulders, not
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: thinking the matter worth further argument, And at that moment
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: the bee woke up, shivering, drew the red snake from
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: her head dress, and coiling it about her throat, wrapped
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: herself again in the greasy cross. Are you satisfied with
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: my wisdom? In course, she asked of Hadden, I am
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: satisfied that you are one of the cleverest cheats in
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: Zululand mother, he answered coolly, Now what is there to pay?
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: The bee took no offense at this rude speech, though
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: for a second or two the look in her eyes
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: grew strangely like that which they had seen in those
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: of the snake, when the fumes of the fire made
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: it angry. If the white lord says I am a cheat,
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: it must be so, she answered, for he of all
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: men should be able to soon a cheat. I have
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: said that I ask no fee. Yes, give me a
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: little tobacco from your pouch. Hadden opened the bag of
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: antelope hide, and, drawing some tobacco from it, gave it
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: to her. In taking it, she clasped his hand and
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: examined the gold ring that was upon the third finger,
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: a ring fashioned like a snake, with two little rubies
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: set in the head to represent the eyes. I wear
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: a snake about my neck, and you wear one upon
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: your hand. In course, I should like to have this
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: ring to wear upon my hand, so that the snake
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: about my neck may be less lonely. There. Then, I'm
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: afraid you'll have to wait till I'm dead, said Hadden. Yes, yes,
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: she answered in a pleased voice. It is a good word.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: I will wait till you are dead, and then I
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: will take the ring, and none can say that I've
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: stolen it. For Nahoum, there will bear me witness that
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: you gave me permission to do so. For the first time.
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: Hadn't started since there was something about the bee's tone
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: that jarred upon him. Had she addressed him in her
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: professional manner, he would have thought nothing of it. But
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: in her cupidity she had become natural, and it was
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: evident that she spoke from conviction. Believing her own words,
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: she saw him start and instantly changed her note. Let
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: the White Lord forgive the jest of a poor old
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: witch doctor ress, she said, in a whining voice. I
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: have so much to do with death that his name
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: leaves to my lips. And she glanced first at the
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: circle of scowls about her, then towards the waterfall that
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: fed the gloomy pool, upon whose banks her hut was placed. Look,
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: she said, simply following the line of her outstretched hand.
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: Hadden's eyes fell upon two withered mimosa trees which grew
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: over the fall, almost at right angles to its rocky ledge.
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: These trees were joined together by a rude platform made
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: of logs of wood, lashed down with rims of hide.
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: Upon his platforms to three figures. Notwithstanding the distance and
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: the spray of the fall, he could see that there
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: were those of two men and a girl, for their
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: shape stood out distinctly against the fiery red of the
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: sunset sky. One instant there were three, the next there
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: were two, for the girl had gone, and something dark
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: rushing down the face of the fall, struck the surface
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: of the pool with a heavy thud, while a faint
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: and piteous cry broke upon his ear. What is the
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: meaning of that? He asked, horrified and amazed, nothing, answered
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: the bee with a laugh. Do you not know then,
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: that this is the place where faithless women are, Girls
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: who have loved without the leave of the king are
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: brought to meet their death, and with them their accomplices.
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: O they die here thus each day, and I watched
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: them die, and keep the count of the number of them.
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: And drawing a tally stick from the thatch of the hut,
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: she took a knife and added a notch to the
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: many that appeared upon it, looking at Nahoon the while
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: with a half questioning, half warning gaze. Yes, yes, it
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: is a place of death, she muttered. Up yonder the
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: quick dye day by day, and down there she pointed,
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: along the course of the river, beyond the pool, to
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: where the forest began, some two hundred yards from her hut.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: The ghosts of them have their home. Listen. As she spoke,
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: a sound reached their ears that seemed to swell from
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: the dim skirts of the forests, a peculiar and unholy
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: sound which it is impossible to define more accurately than
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: by saying it seemed beastlike and almost inarticulate, Listen repeated
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: the bee. They are merry yonder, who asked Hadden the baboons, no,
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: in cause the amatongo the ghosts that welcome her, who
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: has just become of their number ghosts, said Adden roughly,
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: for he was angry at his own tremors. I should
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: like to see these ghosts. Do you think that I
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: have never heard a troop of monkeys in the bush before? Mother? Come, nahoun,
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: let us be going while there is light to climb
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: the clok. Farewell, farewell in coorse, and doubt not that
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: your wish will be fulfilled. Go in peace, in cause
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: to sleep in peace. End of chapter two recording by Elvera.
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: Chapter three of Black Heart and White Heart by Sir
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: Henry Ryder Haggard. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: Recording by Elvira, Chapter three, the end of the hunt,
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: the prayer of the Bee. Notwithstanding, Philip hadn't slept ill
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: that night. He felt in the best of health, and
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: his conscience was not troubling him more than usual, but
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: rest he could not. Whenever he closed his eyes, his
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: mind conjured up a picture of the grim which doctoress
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: so strangely named the bee, and the sound of her
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: evil omened words. As he had heard them that afternoon.
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: He was neither a suspicious nor a timid man, and
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: any supernatural beliefs that might linger in his mind were,
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: to say the least of it dormant. But do what
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: he might, he could not shake of a certain eerie
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: sensation of fear lest there should be some grains of
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: truth in the prophesyings of this hag. What if it
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: were a fact that he was near his death, and
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: that the heart which beat so strongly in his breast
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: must soon be still for ever? No, he would not
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: think of it. This gloomy place and the dreadful sight
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: which he saw that day had upset his nerves. The
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: domestic customs of these Zulus were not pleasant, and for
• 52:49
  Speaker 1: his party was determined to be clear of them so
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: soon as he was able to escape the country. In fact,
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: if he could in any way manage it, it was
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: his intention to make a dash for the border on
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: the following night. To do this with a good prospect
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: of success, however, it was necessary that he should kill
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: a buffalo or some other head of game. Then, as
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: he knew well the hunters with him would feast upon
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: meat until they could scarcely stir, and that would be
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: his opportunity. Nahoon, however, might not succumb to this temptation.
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: Therefore he mistrust to luck to be rid of him.
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: If it came to the worst, he could put a
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: bullet through him, which he considered he would be justified
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: in doing, seeing that in reality the man was his jailer.
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: Should this necessity arise, he felt, indeed that he could
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: face it without undue compunction, for in truth he disliked Nahoon,
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: at times he even hated him. Their natures were antagonistic,
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: and he knew that the great Zulu distrusted and looked
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: down upon him, And to be looked down upon by
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: a savage negger was more than his pride could stomach.
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: At the first break of dawn, Hadden rose and roused
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: his escort, who was still stretched in sleep around the
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: dying fire, each man wrapped in his carosso blanket. Nahoon
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: stood up and shook himself, looking gigantic in the shadows
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: of the morning. What is your will umbungu, which means
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: white man, that you are up before the sun. My
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: will mundumpofu yellow man is to hunt buffalo, answered Hadden coolly.
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: It irritated him that this savage should give him no
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: title of any sort. Your pardon, said the Zulu, reading
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: his thoughts. But I cannot call you in course, because
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: you are not my chief or any man's. Still, if
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: the title white man offends you, we will give you
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: a name as you wish, answered Hadden briefly. Accordingly, they
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: gave him a name in Helenzi and Gamma, by which
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: he was known among them thereafter. But Hadden was not
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: best pleased when he found that the meaning of those
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: soft sounding syllables was black heart. That was how they
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: an younger had addressed him, only she had used different words.
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: An hour later, and they were in the swampy bush
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: country that lay behind the encampment, searching for their game.
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: Within a little while, Nahoon held up his hand, then
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: pointed to the ground. Hadden looked there, pressed deeply in
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: the marshy soil, and to all appearance, not ten minutes old,
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: was the spoor of a small herd of buffalo. I
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: knew that we should find game to day, whispered Nahoon,
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: because the bees said so. Curse the bee answered Hadden
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: below his breath come on. For a quarter of an
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: hour or more, they followed the spur through thick reeds
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: till suddenly Nahoon whistled very softly and touched Hadden's arm.
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: He looked up, and there about two hundred yards away,
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: feeding on some higher ground among a patch of mimosa trees,
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: with the buffaloes, six of them, an old bull with
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: a splendid head, three cows, a heifer and a calf
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: about four months old. Neither the wind nor the nature
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: of the fault were favorable for them to stalk the
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: game from their present position, so they made a detail
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: of half a mile and very carefully crept towards them
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: up the wind, slipping from trunk to trunk of the mimosas,
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: and when these failed, them crawling on their stomachs under
• 56:39
  Speaker 1: cover of tall tambouti grass. At last they were within
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: forty yards, and a further advance seemed impracticable, for although
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: he could not smell them, it was evident from his
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: movements that the old bull heard some unusual sound and
• 56:54
  Speaker 1: was growing suspicious. Nearest to Hadden, who alone of the
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: party had a rifle, stood the heifer broadside on a
• 57:03
  Speaker 1: beautiful shot. Remembering that she would make the best beef,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: he lifted his martini, and, aiming at her immediately behind
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: the shoulder, gently squeezed the trigger. The rifle exploded, and
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: the heifer fell dead, shot through the heart. Strangely enough,
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: the other buffaloes did not at once run away. On
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: the contrary, they seemed puzzled to account for the sudden noise, and,
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: not being able to wound anything, lifted their heads and
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: stared round them. The paws gave Hadden's space to get
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: in a fresh cartridge and to aim again, this time
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: at the old bull. The bullet struck him somewhere in
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: the neck or shoulder, for he came to his knees,
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: but in another second was up, and, having caught sight
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: of the cloud of smoke, he charged straight at it.
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: Because of the smoke or for some other reason, Hadden
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: did not see him coming, and in consequence would most
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: certainly have been trampled or gaud had not Nahoon sprung
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: forward at the imminent risk of his own life, and
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: dragged him down behind an empty A moment more, and
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: the great beast had thundered by, taking no further notice
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: of them forward, said Hadden, and leaving most of the
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: men to cut up the heaper and carry the best
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: of her meat to camp, they started on the blood spoor.
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: For some hours they followed the bull till at last
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: they lost the trail on a patch of stony ground,
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: thickly covered with bush, and exhausted by the heat, sat
• 58:31
  Speaker 1: down to rest and to eat some bull tong or
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: sun dried flesh, which they had with them. They finished
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: their meal and were preparing to return to the camp
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: when one of the four zulus who were with them
• 58:42
  Speaker 1: went to drink at a little stream that ran at
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: a distance of not more than ten paces away. Half
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: a minute later they heard a hideous grunting noise and
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: a splashing of water, and saw the zulu fly into
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: the air. All the while that they were eating, the
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: wounded buffalo had been lying in weit for them under
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: a thick bush on the banks of the streamlet Knowing
• 59:05
  Speaker 1: cunning brute that he was that sooner or later his
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: turn would come. With a shout of consternation, they rushed
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: forward to see the bull vanish over the rise before
• 59:15
  Speaker 1: Hadden could get a chance of firing at him, and
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: to find their companion, dying with a great horner pierced
• 59:22
  Speaker 1: his lung. It is not a buffalo, it is a devil.
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: The poor fellow gasped and expired. Devil or not, I
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: meant to kill it, exclaimed Hadden, so leaving the others
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: to carry the body of their comrade to camp, he
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: started on, accompanied by Nahoon. Only now the ground was
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: more open and the chase easier, for they sighted their
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: quarry frequently, though they could not come near enough to fire. Presently,
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: they traveled down a steep cliff. Do you know where
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: we are, asked Nahoon, pointing to the belt of forest
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: opposite That is Emma Gudu, the home of the dead.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: And look the bull head's thither. Haddn't glanced round him.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: It was true. Yonder to the left were the fall,
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: the pool of doom, and the hut of the bee.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: Very well, he answered, then we must head for it too,
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: Nahoon halted. Surely you would not enter there, he exclaimed.
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: Surely I will, replied Hadden. But there is no need
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: for you to do so if you are afraid. I
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: am afraid of ghosts, said the Zulu, But I will come.
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: So they crossed the strip of turf, and entered the
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: haunted wood twas a gloomy place. Indeed, the great white
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: topped trees grew thick there, shutting out the sight of
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: the sky. And moreover, the air in it, which no
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: breeze stirred, was heavy with the exhalation of rotting foliage.
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: There seemed to be no life here and no sound.
• 1:01:05
  Speaker 1: Only now and again a loathsome spotted snake would uncoil
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: itself and glide away, And now and again a heavy
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: rotten bough fell with a crash. Hadden was too intent
• 1:01:18
  Speaker 1: upon the buffalo, however, to be much impressed by his surroundings.
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: He only remarked that the light would be bad for shooting,
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: and went on. They must have penetrated a mile or
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: more into the forest when the sudden increase of blood
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: upon the spore told them that the bull's wound was
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: proving fatal to him. Run now, said Hadden, cheerfully. Nay,
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: humbugdly go softly, answered nahoon. The devil is dying, but
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: he will try to play us another trick before he dies.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 1: And he went on peering ahead of him cautiously. It
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: is all right here any way, said Hadden, pointing to
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: the spur that ran straight forward printed deep in the
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: marshy ground. Nahoun did not answer, but stared steadily at
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: the trunks of two trees a few paces in front
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: of them, and to their right. Look, he whispered. Hadden
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: did so, and at length made out the outline of
• 1:02:21
  Speaker 1: something brown that was crouched behind the trees. He is dead,
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: he exclaimed. No, answered Nahoon. He has come back on
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: his own path and is waiting for us. He knows
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: that we are following his spur. Now, if you stand there,
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: I think that you can shoot him through the back
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: between the tree trunks. Hadden knelt down, and, aiming very
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: carefully at a point just below the bull's spine, he fired.
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: There was an awful bellow, and the next instant the
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: brute was up and at them. Nahoon flung his broad spear,
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 1: which sank deep into its chest. Then they fled this
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: way and that The buffalo stood still for a moment,
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: its four legs straddled wide, and its head down, looking
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: first after the one and then the other, till of
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: a sudden it uttered a low moaning sound and rolled
• 1:03:16
  Speaker 1: over dead, smashing Nahoun's assagua int to fragments as it
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: fell there. He's finished, said Hadden, and I believe it
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: was your assagai that killed him. Hallo, what's that noise?
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 1: Nahoon listened in several quarters of the forest, but from
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: how far away it was impossible to tell. There rose
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: a curious sound, as of people calling to each other
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: in fear, but in no articulate language. Nahoon shivered. It
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: is the essem Corfu, he said, The ghosts to have
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: no tongue, and who can only weih like infants. Let
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: us be going. This place is bad for more and
• 1:04:02
  Speaker 1: worse for buffalo's, said Hadden, giving the dead bull a kick.
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 1: But I suppose that we must leave him here for
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: your friends there, seem Corfu, as we have got neat
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: enough and can't carry his head. So they started back
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 1: towards the open country. As they threaded their way slowly
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: through the tree trunks, a new idea came into Hadden's head.
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: Once out of this forest, he was within an hour's
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: run of the Zulu border, and once over the Zulu border,
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: he would feel a happier man than he did at
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: that moment. As has been said, he had intended to
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: attempt to escape in the darkness. But the plan was risky.
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: All the Zulus might not overeat themselves and go to sleep,
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: especially after the death of their comrade. Nahoon, who watched
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: him day and night, certainly would not. This was his opportunity.
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: There remained the question of Nahoon. Well, if it came
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: to the worst, Nahoon must die. It would be easy.
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: He had a loaded rifle, and now that his assegar
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: was gone, Nahoon had only a kiddy. He did not
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: wish to kill the man. That was clear to him,
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: seeing that his own safety was at stake, that he
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: would be amply justified in so doing. Why should he
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: not put it to him and then be guided by circumstances.
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: Nahoun was walking across a little open space about ten
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: feet ahead of him, where hadn't could see him very well,
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: whilst he himself was under the shadow of a large
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: tree with low horizontal branches running out from the trunk. Nahoon,
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: he said. The Zulu turned round and took a step
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 1: towards him. No, do not move, I pray stand where
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: you are, or I shall be obliged to shoot you.
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: Listen now, do not be afraid, for I shall not
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: fire without warning. I am your prisoner. And you are
• 1:05:59
  Speaker 1: charged to take me back to the king to be
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 1: his servant. But I believe that a war is going
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: to break up between your people and mine, And this
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: being so, you will understand that I do not wish
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: to go to Thretywayo's kraal, because I should either come
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: to a violent death there or my own brothers will
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: believe that I am a traitor and treat me accordingly.
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: The Zulu border is not much more than an hour's
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: journey away. Let us say an hour and a half.
• 1:06:27
  Speaker 1: I mean to be acrosst before the moon is up. Now, Nahoum,
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: will you lose me in the forest and give me
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: this hour and a half start? Or will you stop
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: here with that ghost people of whom you talk do
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: you understand? No, please do not move. I understand you
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 1: answered the Zulu in a perfectly composed voice. And I
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: think that was a good name which we gave you
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: this morning. Though, black heart, there is some justice in
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: your words and more wisdom. Your opportunity is good and
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: one which a man named as you are should not
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: let fall. I am glad that you take this view
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: of the matter, Nahoon. And now will you be so
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: kind as to lose me and to promise not to
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: look for me till the moon is up. What do
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: you mean, black heart? What I say? Come? I have
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: no time to spare. You are a strange man, said
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: the Zulu reflectively. You heard the king's order to me.
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 1: Would you have me disobey the order of the king?
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: Certainly I would. You have no reason to love tretty while,
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 1: And it does not matter to you whether or no
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: I returned to his crow to mend guns there. If
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: you think that he will be angry because I am missing,
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: you had better cross the border. Also, we can go
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: together and leave my father and all my brethren to
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: his vengeance. Black Heart, you do not understand. How can
• 1:08:02
  Speaker 1: you being so named? I am a soldier, and the
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 1: king's word is the king's word. I hoped to have
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: died fighting, But I am the bird in your noose.
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 1: Come shoot, or you will not reach the border before moonrise.
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: And he opened his arms and smiled. If it must
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: be so, let it be farewell, Nahoon. At least you
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: are a brave man, But every one of us must
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: cherish his own life, answered Hadden calmly. Then, with much deliberation,
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: he raised his rifle and covered the zulu's breast already,
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: whilst his victims stood there still smiling, although a twitching
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: of his lips betrayed the natural terrors that no bravery
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: can banish. Already his finger was contracting on the trigger,
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: when of a sudden, as instantly as though he had
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: been struck by lightning, Hadden went down backwards, and behold
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: there stood upon him a great spotted beast that waved
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: its long tail to and fro, and glared down into
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 1: his eyes. It was a leopard, a tiger as they
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: call it in Africa, which crouched upon a bough of
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: the tree above, had been unable to resist the temptation
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: of satisfying its savage appetite on the man below. For
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: a second or two there was silence, broken only by
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 1: the purring, rather the snoring sound made by the leopard
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: in those seconds. Strangely enough, there sprang up before Hadden's
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: mental vision a picture of the innjanga called Inyosi, or
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: the bee, her deathlike head resting against the thatch of
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: the hut, and her deathlike lips muttering, think of my word.
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: When the great cat purs above your face, then the
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: brute put out its strength the claws of one poet
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: drove deep into the muscles of his left thigh, while
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: with another it scratched at his breast, tearing the clothes
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: from it and furrowing the flesh beneath. The sight of
• 1:10:09
  Speaker 1: the white skin seemed to madden it, and in its
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: fierce desire for blood, it drooped its square muzzle and
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: buried its fangs in its victim's shoulder. Next moment there
• 1:10:19
  Speaker 1: was a sound of running feet and of a club
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: falling heavily up reared the leopard, with an angry snarl,
• 1:10:26
  Speaker 1: up till it stood as high as the attacking Zulu.
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: At him it came, striking out savagely and tearing the
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: black man as it had torn the white Again, the
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 1: kyrie fell full on its jaws, and down it went backwards.
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 1: Before it could rise again, or rather, as it was
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: in the act of rising, the heavy knobstick struck it
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: once more, and with fearful force this time, as it
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 1: chanced full on the nape of the neck and paralyzing
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: the brute, it writhed and bit and twisted, throwing up
• 1:10:57
  Speaker 1: the earth and leaves, while blow of the blow was
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 1: reigned upon it till at length with a convulsive struggle
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: and a stifled drawer. It lay still, the brains oozing
• 1:11:08
  Speaker 1: from its shattered skull. Hadden sat up, the blood running
• 1:11:15
  Speaker 1: from his wounds. You have saved my life, nahoon, he
• 1:11:21
  Speaker 1: said faintly, And I thank you. Do not thank me,
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: black heart, answered the Zulu. It was the King's word
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: that I should keep you safely Still. This tiger has
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: been hardly dealt with, For certainly he has saved my life.
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: And lifting the martini, he unloaded the rifle. At this juncture,
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 1: Hadden swooned away. Twenty four hours had gone by, when
• 1:11:50
  Speaker 1: afterward seemed to him to be but a little time
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: of troubled and dreamful sleep, through which he could hear
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: voices without understanding what they said, and feel himself borne.
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: He knew not whither had a work to find himself
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: lying upon a caross in a large and beautifully clean
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: kaffer hut with a bundle of those for a pillow.
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: There was a bowl of milk at his side, and
• 1:12:14
  Speaker 1: tortured as he was by thirst, he tried to stretch
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 1: out his arm to lift it to his lips, only
• 1:12:20
  Speaker 1: to find, to his astonishment that his hand fell back
• 1:12:23
  Speaker 1: to his sight like that of a dead man. Looking
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 1: round the hut impatiently, he found that there was nobody
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: in it to assist him. So he did the only
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: thing which remained for him to do. He lay still.
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 1: He did not fall asleep, but his eyes closed, and
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: a kind of gentle torpor crept over him, half obscuring
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: his recovered senses. Presently he heard a soft voice speaking.
• 1:12:49
  Speaker 1: It seemed far away, but he could clearly distinguish the words.
• 1:12:55
  Speaker 1: Black heart still sleeps, the voice said, but there is
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 1: color in his I think that he will wake soon
• 1:13:02
  Speaker 1: and find his thoughts again. Have no fear, Nanea. He
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 1: will surely wake. His hearts are not dangerous, answered another voice,
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: that of Nahoon. He fell heavily with the weight of
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: the tiger on top of him, and that is why
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: his senses have been shaken for so long. He went
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: near to death, but certainly he will not die. It
• 1:13:27
  Speaker 1: would have been a pity if he had died, answered
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: the soft voice. He is so beautiful. Never have I
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: seen a white man who was so beautiful. I did
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: not think him beautiful when he stood with his rifle
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 1: pointed at my heart, answered Noon sulkily. Well, there is
• 1:13:45
  Speaker 1: this to be said, she replied, he wished to escape
• 1:13:49
  Speaker 1: from thirty while, and that is not to be wondered at,
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: and she sighed moreover. He asked you to come with him,
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: and it might have been well if you had done
• 1:13:59
  Speaker 1: so so, that is, if he would have taken me
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 1: with you. How could I have done it? Girl, he
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 1: answered angrily. Would you have me? Said at nothing? The
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 1: order of the king? The king, she replied, raising her voice.
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 1: What do you owe to this king? You have served
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: him faithfully, and your reward is that within a few
• 1:14:23
  Speaker 1: days he will take me from you, me who should
• 1:14:26
  Speaker 1: have been your wife. And I must, I must, And
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: she began to weep softly, adding between her sobs, if
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: you love me truly, you would think more of me
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: and of yourself, and less of the Black One and
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 1: his orders. Oh, let us fly, nahoon, let us fly
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 1: to natal before the spear pierces me. Wep not nanea,
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 1: he said, Why do you tear my heart in two
• 1:14:54
  Speaker 1: between my duty and my love? You know that I
• 1:14:58
  Speaker 1: am a soldier and that I must walk the path
• 1:15:01
  Speaker 1: wherein the King has set my feet. Soon I think
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: I shall be dead, for I seek death, and then
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 1: it will matter nothing, nothing to you, Nahoon, who are
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 1: at peace. But to me, yet you are right, and
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 1: I know it. Therefore forgive me, who am no warrior,
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 1: but a woman who must also obey the will of
• 1:15:24
  Speaker 1: the king. And she cast her arms about his neck,
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 1: sobbing her fill upon his breast end of chapter three.
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: Recording by Alba. Chapter four of Black Heart and White Heart.
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: the public domain. Recording by Alvera. Black Heart and White
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 1: Heart by Sir Henry Rider Haggard, Chapter four, Nanea presently
• 1:16:05
  Speaker 1: muttering something that the listener could not catch. Nahoon left
• 1:16:09
  Speaker 1: Nanea and crept out of the hut by its beehole entrance.
• 1:16:13
  Speaker 1: Then Haddena opened his eyes and looked round him. The
• 1:16:17
  Speaker 1: sun was sinking, and a ray of its red light
• 1:16:20
  Speaker 1: streaming through the little opening filled the place with a
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: soft and crimson glow. In the center of the hut,
• 1:16:26
  Speaker 1: supporting it, stood a thornwood roof tree, colored black by
• 1:16:30
  Speaker 1: the smoke of the fire. And against this, the rich
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: light falling full upon her, leaned the girl Nanea, a
• 1:16:39
  Speaker 1: very picture of gentle despair, as is occasionally the case
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 1: among Zulu women. She was beautiful, so beautiful that the
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: sight of her went straight to the white man's heart
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 1: for a moment, causing the breath to catch in his throat.
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 1: Her dress was very simple. On her shoe orders hanging
• 1:17:01
  Speaker 1: open in front, lay a mantle of soft white stuff
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 1: edged with blue beads. About her middle was a buckskin moocha,
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 1: also embroidered with blue beads, while round her forehead and
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 1: left knee were strips of gray fur, and on her
• 1:17:17
  Speaker 1: right wrist a shining bangle of copper. Her naked, bronze
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: hued figure was tall and perfect in its proportions. While
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: her face had little in common with that of the
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: ordinary native girl, showing as it did strong traces of
• 1:17:32
  Speaker 1: the ancestral Arabian or Semitic blood. It was oval in shape,
• 1:17:37
  Speaker 1: with delicate aquiline features, arched eyebrows, a full mouth that
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: drooped a little at the corners, tiny ears, behind which
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 1: the wavy coal black hair hung down to the shoulders,
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 1: and the very loveliest pair of dark and liquid eyes
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: that it is possible to imagine for a minute or
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: Mournanea stood Thus, her sweet face bathed in the sunbeam,
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: while Hadden feasted his eyes upon its beauty. Then, sighing heavily,
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: she turned, and, seeing that he was awake, started drew
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 1: her mantle over her breast and came, or rather glided
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 1: towards him. The chief is awake, she said, in her
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 1: soft zurlely accents. Does he need aught? Yes, lady, he answered,
• 1:18:26
  Speaker 1: I need to drink, but alas I am too weak.
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: She knelt down beside him, and, supporting him with her
• 1:18:34
  Speaker 1: left arm, with her right held the gourd to his lips.
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 1: I it came about, Haddn't never knew. But before that
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: draft was finished, a change passed over him. Whether it
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 1: was the savage girl's touch or her strange and fawn
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: like loveliness with a tender pity in her eyes, mattered not.
• 1:18:54
  Speaker 1: The issue was the same. She struck some cord in
• 1:18:58
  Speaker 1: his turbulent, uncurbed nature, and of a sudden it was
• 1:19:02
  Speaker 1: filled full with passion for her, a passion which, if
• 1:19:06
  Speaker 1: not elevated, at least was real. He did not, for
• 1:19:10
  Speaker 1: a moment mistake the significance of the flood of feeling
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: that surged through his veins. Haddn't never shirked facts by heaven,
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: he said to himself. I have fallen in love with
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: the black beauty at first sight, more in love than
• 1:19:26
  Speaker 1: I have ever been before. It's awkward, but there will
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: be compensations, so much the worse for Nahoon, or for
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: thirty while, or for both of them. After all, I
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: can always get rid of her if she becomes a nuisance. Then,
• 1:19:44
  Speaker 1: in a fit of renewed weakness brought about by the
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 1: turmoil of his blood, he lay back upon the pillow
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: of furs, watching the Nair's face, while with a native
• 1:19:54
  Speaker 1: sorrow of pounded leaves, she posied herself dressing the wounds
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 1: that the leopard had made. It almost seemed as though
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: something of what was passing in his mind communicated itself
• 1:20:07
  Speaker 1: to that of the girl. At least her hand shook
• 1:20:11
  Speaker 1: a little at her task, and, getting done with it
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 1: as quickly as she could, she rose from her knees
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: with a courteous it is finished, in course, and once
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: more took up her position by the roof tree. I
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: thank you, lady, he said, your hand is kind. You
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 1: must not call me lady. In course, she answered, I
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 1: am no chieftainess, but only the daughter of a headman Umgona,
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 1: and named Nanea, He said, Nay, do not be surprised.
• 1:20:44
  Speaker 1: I have heard of you. Well, Nanea, perhaps you will
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 1: soon become a chief deainness up at the King's Kraal
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 1: yonder Alais and Alas, she said, covering her face with
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 1: her hands. Do not grieve, Nanea, A hedge is never
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: so tall and thick, but that it cannot be climbed
• 1:21:05
  Speaker 1: or crept through. She let fall her hands and looked
• 1:21:09
  Speaker 1: at him eagerly, but he did not pursue the subject.
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: Tell me how did I come here, Nanea. Nahoon and
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: his companions carried you. In course, indeed, I begin to
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: be thankful to the lepid that struck me down. Well,
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: Nahoon is a brave man, and he has done me
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 1: a great service. I trust that I may be able
• 1:21:34
  Speaker 1: to repay it to you, Nanea. This was the first
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 1: meeting of Nanea and Hadden, But although she did not
• 1:21:42
  Speaker 1: seek them, the necessities of his sickness and of the
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: situation brought about many another. Never for a moment did
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 1: the white man waver in his determination to get into
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 1: his keeping the native girl who had captivated him, and
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 1: to attain his end, he brought to bear all his
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: powers and charm to detach her from Nahoon and win
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: her affections for himself. He was no rough wooer, however,
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: but proceeded warily weaving her about with a weber flattery
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 1: and attention that must, he thought, produce the desired effect
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: upon her mind. Without a doubt. Indeed, it would have
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 1: done so, for she was but a woman, and an
• 1:22:23
  Speaker 1: untutored one, had it not been for a simple fact
• 1:22:27
  Speaker 1: which dominated her whole nature. She loved Nahoon, and there
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 1: was no room in her heart for any other man,
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 1: white or black to haddn't She was courteous and kindly,
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 1: but no more, nor did she appear to notice any
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 1: of the subtle advances by which he attempted to win
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: a foothold in her heart. For a while this puzzled him,
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 1: but he remembered that the Zulu women do not usually
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: permit themselves to show feeling towards an undeclared suitor. Therefore
• 1:22:59
  Speaker 1: it became necessar that he should speak out his mind.
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: Once made up, he had not to wait long for
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: an opportunity. He was now quite recovered from his hurts
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 1: and accustomed to walk in the neighborhood of the Kraal.
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 1: About two hundred yards from Ungona's huts rose a spring,
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 1: and thither it was Nanea's habit to resort in the
• 1:23:20
  Speaker 1: evening to bring back drinking water for the use of
• 1:23:23
  Speaker 1: her father's household. The path between this spring and the
• 1:23:27
  Speaker 1: krawl ran through a patch of bush, where, on a
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: certain afternoon towards sundown, hadn't took his seat under a tree,
• 1:23:35
  Speaker 1: having first seen an air go down to the little stream,
• 1:23:38
  Speaker 1: as was her custom. A quarter of an hour later
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 1: she reappeared, carrying a large gourd upon her head. She
• 1:23:47
  Speaker 1: wore no garment now except her moocha, for she had
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 1: but one mantle, and was afraid lest the water should
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 1: splash it. He watched her advancing along the path, her
• 1:23:58
  Speaker 1: hands resting on her hips, whose splendid naked figure outlined
• 1:24:02
  Speaker 1: against the westering sun, and wondered what excuse he could
• 1:24:05
  Speaker 1: make to talk with her as he chanced. Fortune favored him,
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: for when she was near him, a snake lighted across
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: the path in front of the girl's feet, causing her
• 1:24:15
  Speaker 1: to spring backwards in alarm and overset the gourd of water.
• 1:24:20
  Speaker 1: He came forward and picked it up wait here, he said, laughing,
• 1:24:25
  Speaker 1: I will bring it to you, fool. Nay, in course,
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 1: she remonstrated. That is woman's work among my people, he said,
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: the men loved to work for the women. And he
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: started for the spring, leaving her wandering. Before he reached
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: her again, he regretted his gallantry, for it was necessary
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 1: to carry the handleless gird upon his shoulder, and the
• 1:24:49
  Speaker 1: contents of its spilling over the edge soaked him. Of this. However,
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: he said nothing to Nanea. There is your water, Nanea.
• 1:24:59
  Speaker 1: Shall I carry it for you to the krawl? Nay?
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 1: In course, I thank you, but give it to me.
• 1:25:06
  Speaker 1: You are weary with its weight. Stay awhile and I
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 1: will accompany you. Ah, Nanea, I am still weak, and
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: had it not been for you, I think that I
• 1:25:17
  Speaker 1: should be dead. It was Nahoon who saved you, not I.
• 1:25:21
  Speaker 1: In course, Nahoon saved my body. But you, Nanea, you
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 1: alone can save my heart. You talk darkly? In course,
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: then I must make my meaning clear. Nanea, I love you.
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: She opened her brown eyes wide. You a white lord
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 1: love me a Zulu girl? How can that be? I
• 1:25:47
  Speaker 1: do not know, Nanea, but it is so and were
• 1:25:50
  Speaker 1: you not blind, you would have seen it. I love you,
• 1:25:53
  Speaker 1: and I wish to take you to wife. Nay, in
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 1: course it is impossible. I am ready betrothed, Aye, he answered,
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 1: betrothed to the king. No, betrothed to Nahoon. But it
• 1:26:11
  Speaker 1: is the king who will take you within a week,
• 1:26:13
  Speaker 1: Is it not so? And would you not rather that
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: I should take you than the king? It seems to
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: be so. In course, I would rather go with you
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 1: than with the king. But most of all I desire
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 1: to marry Nahoon. It may be that I shall not
• 1:26:29
  Speaker 1: be able to marry him. But if that is so,
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: at least I will never become one of the King's women.
• 1:26:36
  Speaker 1: How will you prevent it? Nanea? There are waters in
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 1: which a maid may drown, and trees upon which she
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 1: can hang. She answered, with the quick setting of the mouth.
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 1: That were a pity. Nanea, you are too fair to
• 1:26:51
  Speaker 1: die fair or fowl? Yet I die in course, no, no,
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 1: come with me. I will find a way and be
• 1:27:01
  Speaker 1: my wife. And he put his arm about her waist
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: and strove to draw her to him, without any violence
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: of movement, and with the most perfect dignity. The girl
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: disengaged herself from his embrace. You have honored me, and
• 1:27:18
  Speaker 1: I thank you, in course, she said quietly, But you
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 1: do not understand. I am the wife of Nahoon. I
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: belonged to Nahoon. Therefore I cannot look on any other
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 1: man while Nahoon lives. It is not our custom, in course,
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 1: for we are not as the white woman, but ignorant
• 1:27:37
  Speaker 1: and simple. And when we vow ourselves to a man,
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 1: we abide by that vow till death. Indeed, said Adden.
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: And so now you go to tell Nahoon that I
• 1:27:48
  Speaker 1: have offered to make you my wife. No, in course,
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: why should I tell Nahoon your secrets? I have said
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 1: nay to you, not yea. Therefore he has no right
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: to know. And she stooped to lift the gourd of water.
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: Hadn't considered the situation rapidly, for his repulse only made
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 1: him the more determined to succeed of a sudden. Under
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: the emergency, he conceived a scheme, or rather its rough outline.
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 1: It was not a nice scheme, and some men might
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: have shrunk from it, but as he had no intention
• 1:28:25
  Speaker 1: of suffering himself to be defeated by a Zulu girl,
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 1: he decided with regret. It is true that having failed
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 1: to attain his ends by means which he considered fair,
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: he must resort to others of more doubtful character. Nanea,
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 1: He said, you are a good and honest woman, and
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 1: I respect you as I have told you. I love
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: you also. But if he refused to listen to me,
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: there is nothing more to be said. And after all,
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 1: perhaps it would be better that you should marry one
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: of your own people. But Nanea, you will never marry him,
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 1: for the King will take you, and if he does
• 1:29:04
  Speaker 1: not give you to some other man, either you will
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: become one of his sisters, or to be free of him.
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: As you say, you will die. Now, hear me, for
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: it is because I love you and wish your welfare
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: that I speak. Thus, why do you not escape into Natal,
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 1: taking Nahoon with you, For there, as you know, you
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: may live in peace, out of reach of the arm
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: of thirty while that is my desire in course, But
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 1: Nahoon will not consent. He says that there is to
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: be war between us and you white men, and he
• 1:29:39
  Speaker 1: will not break the command of the king and desert
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: from his army. Then he cannot love you much, Nanea,
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: And at least you have to think of yourself, whisper
• 1:29:50
  Speaker 1: into the air of your father, and fly together. For
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 1: be sure that Nahoon will soon follow you. Ay, and
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 1: I myself will fly with you, for I too believe
• 1:30:00
  Speaker 1: that there must be war, and then a white man
• 1:30:03
  Speaker 1: in this country will be as a lamb among the eagles.
• 1:30:07
  Speaker 1: If Nahoon will come, I will go in course. But
• 1:30:10
  Speaker 1: I cannot fly without Nahoon. It is better I should
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: stay here and kill myself. Surely, then, being so fair
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 1: and loving him so well, you can teach him to
• 1:30:20
  Speaker 1: forget his folly and to escape with you. In four
• 1:30:24
  Speaker 1: days time we must start for the King's Kraal, And
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 1: if you win over Nahoon, it will be easy for
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: us to turn our faces southwards and across the river
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 1: that lies between the land of the AmaZulu and Matal.
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 1: For the sake of all of us, but most of
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 1: all for your own sake. Try to do this. Nanea,
• 1:30:42
  Speaker 1: whom I have loved and whom I now would save,
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: see him and plead with him as you know how.
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 1: But as yet, do not tell him that I dream
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 1: of flight, for then I should be watched. In truth,
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 1: I will in course, she answered earnestly. And oh, thank
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 1: you for your goodness, fear not that I will betray you.
• 1:31:04
  Speaker 1: First I would die. Farewell, farewell, Nanea, and taking her hand,
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: he raised it to his lips. Late that night, just
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 1: as Hadden was beginning to prepare himself for sleep, he
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 1: heard a gentle tapping at the board which closed the
• 1:31:23
  Speaker 1: entrance to his hut. Enter, he said, unfastening the door,
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: and presently, by the light of the little lantern that
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: he had with him, he saw Nanea creep into the hut,
• 1:31:35
  Speaker 1: followed by the great form of Nahoon. In course, she
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: said in a whisper, when the door was closed again.
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 1: I have pleaded with Nahoon, and he has consented to
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 1: fly moreover. My father will come also, Is it so,
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: Nahoon asked Hadden. It is so, answered the Zudu, looking
• 1:31:56
  Speaker 1: down shame facedly. To save this girl from the king,
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: and because the love of her eats out my heart,
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 1: I have bartered away my honor. But I tell you Nanea,
• 1:32:07
  Speaker 1: and you white man, as I told him, gone at
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: us now that I think no good will come of
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: this flight. And if we are caught or betrayed, we
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: shall be killed. Every one of us court we can
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 1: scarcely be broke in Nanea anxiously, for who could betray
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 1: us except the incoursia, which he is not likely to do,
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: said Hadden, quietly, seeing that he desires to escape with you,
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 1: and that his life is also at stake. That is so,
• 1:32:39
  Speaker 1: black heart, said Nanoon. Otherwise I tell you that I
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 1: should not have trusted you. Hadden took no notice of
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: this outspoken saying, but until very late that night they
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 1: sat there together making their plans. On the following morning,
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 1: Hadden was awakened by signs of violent altercation. Goung out
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 1: of his hut, he found that the disputants were Umgona
• 1:33:03
  Speaker 1: and a fat and evil looking Cafer chief who had
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: arrived at the Kraal on a pony. This chief, he
• 1:33:09
  Speaker 1: soon discovered, was named Maputa, being none other than the
• 1:33:13
  Speaker 1: man who had sought Nanea in marriage and brought about
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 1: Nahoon's and Umgona's unfortunate appeal to the king. At present,
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: he was engaged in abusing Umgona, furiously charging him with
• 1:33:26
  Speaker 1: having stolen certain of his oxen and bewitched his cows
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 1: so that they would not give milk the alleged theft,
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: it was comparatively easy to disprove, but the wizardry remained
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: a matter of argument. You are a dog and a
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: son of a dog, shouted Naputa, shaking his fat fist
• 1:33:47
  Speaker 1: in the face of the trembling but indignant Umgona, you
• 1:33:51
  Speaker 1: promised me your daughter in marriage, then having vowed her
• 1:33:55
  Speaker 1: to that Umpha Guzan, that low lout of a soldier, Nahoon,
• 1:33:59
  Speaker 1: the son of Zomba, You went, the two of you
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 1: and poisoned the king's air against me, bringing me into
• 1:34:06
  Speaker 1: trouble with the king. And now you have bewitched my cattle.
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 1: Well wait, I will be even with you, wizard. Wait
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: till you wake up in the cold morning to find
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 1: your fence red with fire and the slayers standing outside
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 1: your gates to eat up you and yours with spears.
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 1: At this juncture, Nahoon, who till now had been listening
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 1: in silence, intervened with effect good. He said, we will wait,
• 1:34:33
  Speaker 1: but not in your company, Chief Maputa Amba, which means go,
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 1: And seizing the fat old raffian by the scruff of
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 1: his neck, he flung him backwards with such violence that
• 1:34:45
  Speaker 1: he rolled over and over down the little slope. Hadden
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 1: laughed and passed on towards the stream where he proposed
• 1:34:54
  Speaker 1: to bathe. Just as he reached it, he caught sight
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: of Maputa riding along the footpath, his headring covered with mud,
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 1: his lips purple, and his black face livid with rage.
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: There goes an angry man. He said to himself, Now,
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 1: how would it be? And he looked upwards like one
• 1:35:14
  Speaker 1: seeking an inspiration. It seemed to come. Perhaps the devil,
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 1: finding it open, whispered in his ear. At any rate,
• 1:35:22
  Speaker 1: in a few seconds his plan was formed, and he
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 1: was walking through the bush to meet Maputa. Go in peace, chief,
• 1:35:30
  Speaker 1: he said, they seem to have treated you roughly up yonder,
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 1: having no power to interfere, I came away, for I
• 1:35:38
  Speaker 1: could not bear the sight. It is indeed shameful that
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 1: an old and venerable man of rank should be struck
• 1:35:45
  Speaker 1: into the dirt and beaten by a soldier drunk with beer.
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 1: Shameful white man gasped, Maputa. Your words are true, indeed,
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 1: But a wait a while, a Maputa will roll that
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 1: stone over. I will throw that bull upon its back.
• 1:36:01
  Speaker 1: When next the harvest ripens. This I promise that neither Nahoon,
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: nor Umgona, nor any of his crows shall be left
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: to gather it. And how will you manage that, Maputa?
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: I do not know, but I will find a way. Oh,
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: I tell you, a way shall be found. Hadden patted
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 1: the pony's neck meditatively. Then, leaning forward, he looked the
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: chief in their eyes and said, what will you give me, Maputa?
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 1: If I show you that way, a sure and certain one,
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 1: whereby you may be avenged to the death upon Nahoon,
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: whose violence I also have seen, and upon Umgona, whose
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 1: witchcraft brought sore sickness upon me. What reward do you see,
• 1:36:48
  Speaker 1: quite man, asked Maputa eagerly. A little thing, Chief, a
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 1: thing of no account, Only the girl Nanaya, to whom,
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: as it chances, I have taken a fancy. I wanted
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 1: her for myself, white Man. But he who sits at
• 1:37:05
  Speaker 1: Ulundi has laid his hand upon her. That is nothing Chief,
• 1:37:11
  Speaker 1: I can arrange with him who sits at Lundi. It
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 1: is with you, who are great here that I wish
• 1:37:16
  Speaker 1: to come to terms. Listen, if you grant my desire,
• 1:37:21
  Speaker 1: not only will I fulfill yours upon your foes. But
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 1: when the girl is delivered into my hands, I will
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 1: give you this rifle and a hundred rounds of cartridges.
• 1:37:33
  Speaker 1: Maputa looked at the sporting martini and his eyes glistened.
• 1:37:37
  Speaker 1: It is good, he said, it is very good. Often
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 1: have I wished for such a gun that will enable
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 1: me to shoot game and to talk with my enemies
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 1: from far away. Promise it to me, white man, and
• 1:37:51
  Speaker 1: you shall take the girl if I can give her
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: to you. You swear it, Maputa. I swear it by
• 1:37:58
  Speaker 1: the head of Shaka, and this spirits of my father's good.
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 1: At dawn on the fourth day from now, it is
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: the purpose of Umgona, his daughter Nanea, and Nahoon to
• 1:38:10
  Speaker 1: cross the river into Natal by the drift that is
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 1: called crocodile drift, taking their cattle with them, and flying
• 1:38:17
  Speaker 1: from the king. I also shall be of their company,
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 1: for they know that I have learned their secret, and
• 1:38:24
  Speaker 1: would murder me if I tried to leave them. Now, you,
• 1:38:27
  Speaker 1: who are chief of the border and guardian of that drift,
• 1:38:30
  Speaker 1: must hide at night with some men among the rocks,
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 1: in the shallows of the drift, and await our coming. First,
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 1: Nanea will cross, driving the cows and calves, for so
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 1: it is arranged, and I shall help her. Then will
• 1:38:45
  Speaker 1: follow Umgona and Nahoon with the oxen and heifers. On
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 1: these two you must fall, killing them and capturing the cattle,
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 1: And afterwards I will give you the rifle. What if
• 1:38:59
  Speaker 1: the king should ask for the girl, white Man, then
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: you shall answer that in the uncertain light, you did
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: not recognize her, and so she slipped away from you. Moreover,
• 1:39:11
  Speaker 1: that at first you feared to seize the girl lest
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 1: her cries should alarm the men and they should escape.
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 1: You good, But how can I be sure that you
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 1: will give me the gun once you are across the river. Thus,
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: before I enter the ford, I will lay the rifle
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 1: and cartridges upon a stone by the bank, telling naneiha
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 1: that I shall return to fetch them when I have
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 1: driven over the cattle. It is well, white Man, I
• 1:39:39
  Speaker 1: will not fail you. So the plot was made, and
• 1:39:43
  Speaker 1: after some further conversations upon points of detail, the two
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: conspirators shook hands and parted. That ought to come afore right,
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: reflected Hadden to himself as he plunged and floated in
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 1: the waters of the stream. But somehow I don't quite
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 1: trust our friend Maputa. It would have been better if
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 1: I could have relied upon myself to get rid of
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 1: Nahoon and his respected uncle. A couple of shots would
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 1: do it in the water, but then that would be murder,
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 1: and murder is unpleasant, whereas the other thing is only
• 1:40:17
  Speaker 1: the delivery to justice of two base deserters, a laudable
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 1: action in a military country. Also, personal interference upon my
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 1: part might turn the girl against me, while after Igorna
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: and Nahoon have been wiped out by Maputa, she must
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 1: accept my escort. Of course, there is a risk, but
• 1:40:39
  Speaker 1: in every walk of life, the most cautious have to
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 1: take risks at times. As it challenged, Philip Hadden was
• 1:40:47
  Speaker 1: correct in his suspicions of his coadjutor Maputa. Even before
• 1:40:53
  Speaker 1: that worthy chief reached his own crawl, he had come
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: to the conclusion that the white Man's plan, though attractive
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: in some ways, was too dangerous, since it was certain
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 1: that if the girl Nanea escaped, the king would be indignant. Moreover,
• 1:41:08
  Speaker 1: the men he took with him to do the killing
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: in the drift would suspect something and talk. On the
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 1: other hand, he would earn much credit with his majesty
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 1: by revealing the plot, saying that he had learned it
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: from the lips of the white hunter. Whom Umgona and
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 1: Nahoon had forced to participate in it, and of whose
• 1:41:26
  Speaker 1: covered to rifle he must trust a chance to possess himself.
• 1:41:30
  Speaker 1: An hour later, two discreet messengers were bounding across the plains,
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 1: bearing words from the Chief Maputa, the warden of the border,
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 1: to the great black Elephant at Ulundi. End of chapter
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 1: four recording by Albera. Chapter five of Black Heart and
• 1:41:56
  Speaker 1: Whitehat by Sir Henry Rider Haggard. This is a LibriVox recording.
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 1: by Alvera. The doom Pool fortune showed itself strangely favorable
• 1:42:20
  Speaker 1: to the plans of Nahoon and Nanea. One of the
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 1: Zulu captain's perplexities was as to how he should lull
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: the suspicions and evade the vigilance of his own companions, who,
• 1:42:32
  Speaker 1: together with himself, had been detailed by the king to
• 1:42:36
  Speaker 1: assist Hadden in his hunting and to guard against his escape.
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 1: As it chanced. However, on the day after the incident
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 1: of the visit of Maputa, a messenger arrived from no
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 1: less a person than the great military and Duna Tingwayo Camarolo,
• 1:42:53
  Speaker 1: who afterwards commanded the Zulu Army at Isandulwaana, ordering these
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 1: men to return to their regiment, the Umtetu Kor, which
• 1:43:02
  Speaker 1: was to be placed upon full war footing. Accordingly, Nahoon
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 1: sent them saying that he himself would follow with black
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 1: Heart in the course of a few days. As at
• 1:43:13
  Speaker 1: present the white man was not sufficiently recovered from his
• 1:43:16
  Speaker 1: hurts to allow of his traveling fast and foul, so
• 1:43:21
  Speaker 1: the soldiers went doubting nothing. Then Umgona gave it out that,
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 1: in obedience to the command of the king, he was
• 1:43:30
  Speaker 1: about to start for Ulundi, taking with him his daughter Nanea,
• 1:43:34
  Speaker 1: to be delivered over into the Sikhotla, and also those
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 1: fifteen head of cattle that had been lobola'd by Nahoon
• 1:43:42
  Speaker 1: in consideration of his forthcoming marriage, whereof he had been
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 1: fined by thirty while under pretense that they required a
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 1: change of felt. The rest of his cattle he sent
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 1: away in charge of a bassou to herd, who knew
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 1: nothing of their plans, telling him to keep them by
• 1:43:59
  Speaker 1: the croc at our drift, as there the grass was
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 1: good and sweet. All preparations being completed. On the third day,
• 1:44:08
  Speaker 1: the party started heading straight for Ulundi. After they had
• 1:44:12
  Speaker 1: traveled some miles, however, they left the road, and turning
• 1:44:15
  Speaker 1: sharp to the right, passed unobserved of any through a
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 1: great stretch of uninhabited bush. Their path now lay not
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 1: far from the Pool of Doom, which indeed was close
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 1: to Umgona's kraal and the forest that was called Home
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 1: of the Dead, but out of sight of these, it
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 1: was their plan to travel by night, reaching the broken
• 1:44:37
  Speaker 1: country near the Crocodile drift on the following morning. Here
• 1:44:42
  Speaker 1: they proposed to lie head that day and through the night, then,
• 1:44:46
  Speaker 1: having first collected the cattle which had preceded them, to
• 1:44:50
  Speaker 1: cross the river at the break of dawn and escape
• 1:44:53
  Speaker 1: into Natal. At least this was the plan of his companions,
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 1: but as we know, Hadden had ano the program, whereon,
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: after one last appearance, two of the party would play
• 1:45:05
  Speaker 1: no part. During that long afternoon's journey. Umgona, who knew
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 1: every inch of the country, walked ahead, driving the fifteen
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 1: cattle and carrying in his hand a long traveling stick
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: of black and white umzim beat wood. For in truth,
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: the old man was in a hurry to reach his
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 1: journey's end. Next came Nahoon, armed with a broad assagai,
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: but naked except for his moocha and necklet of Baboon's teeth,
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 1: and with em nanea in her white bead bordered mantle. Hadden,
• 1:45:38
  Speaker 1: who brought up the rear, noticed that the girl seemed
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 1: to be under the spell of an eminent apprehension, for
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 1: from time to time she clasped her lover's arm, and,
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: looking up into his face, addressed him with vehemence, almost
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: with passion. Curiously enough, the sight touched Hadden, and once
• 1:45:58
  Speaker 1: or twice he was shaken by so sharp a pang
• 1:46:01
  Speaker 1: of remorse at the thought of his share in this tragedy,
• 1:46:05
  Speaker 1: that he cast about in his mind, seeking a means
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: to unravel the web of death which he himself had woven.
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 1: But ever, that evil voice was whispering at his ear.
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 1: It reminded him that he the white incourse, had been
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 1: refused by this dusky beauty, and that if he found
• 1:46:24
  Speaker 1: a way to save him, within some few hours, she
• 1:46:27
  Speaker 1: would be the wife of the savage gentleman. At her side,
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 1: the man who had named him Black heart, and who
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 1: despised him the man whom he had meant to murder,
• 1:46:37
  Speaker 1: and who immediately repaid his treachery by rescuing him from
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 1: the jaws of the leopard at the risk of his
• 1:46:43
  Speaker 1: own life. Moreover, it was a law of Hadden's existence
• 1:46:48
  Speaker 1: never to deny himself of anything that he desired if
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 1: it lay within his power to take it, a law
• 1:46:55
  Speaker 1: which had led him always deeper into sin in other respects. Indeed,
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 1: it had not carried him far, for in the past
• 1:47:03
  Speaker 1: he had not desired much, and he had won little.
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 1: But this particular flower was to his hand, and he
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 1: would pluck it. If Nahoon stood between him and the flower,
• 1:47:16
  Speaker 1: so much the worse for Nahoon. And if it should
• 1:47:19
  Speaker 1: wither in his grasp, so much the worse for the flower.
• 1:47:23
  Speaker 1: It could always be thrown away. Thus it came about that,
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 1: not for the first time in his life, Philip Hadden
• 1:47:31
  Speaker 1: discarded the somewhat spasmodic prickings of conscience and listened to
• 1:47:36
  Speaker 1: that evil whispering at his ear. About half past five
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 1: o'clock in the afternoon, the four refugees passed the stream
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: that a mile or so down fell over the little
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 1: precipice into the doom pool, and, entering a patch of
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 1: thorn trees on the further side, walked straight into the
• 1:47:54
  Speaker 1: midst of two and twenty soldiers who were beguiling the
• 1:47:57
  Speaker 1: tedium of expectancy by the taker of snuff and the
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 1: smoking of daha or native hemp. With these soldiers, seated
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 1: on his pony, for he was too fat to walk,
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 1: waited the Chief Maputa. Observing that their expected guests had arrived.
• 1:48:15
  Speaker 1: The men knocked out the dhaka pipe, replaced the snuff
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 1: boxes in the slits made in the lobes of their ears,
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 1: and secured the four of them. What is the meaning
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 1: of this o King's soldiers asked Umgona in a quavering voice.
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: We journey to the krawl of Utitti Wayu. Why do
• 1:48:35
  Speaker 1: you molest us? Indeed, wherefore then are your faces set
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 1: towards the south? Does the black one live in the south? Well,
• 1:48:45
  Speaker 1: you will journey to another kraal, presently, answered the jovial
• 1:48:49
  Speaker 1: looking captain of the party with a callous laugh. I
• 1:48:53
  Speaker 1: do not understand, stammered Umgona. Then I will explain while
• 1:48:59
  Speaker 1: you rest, said the captain. The Chief Maputa yonder sent
• 1:49:03
  Speaker 1: word to the black one at Ulundi that he had
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 1: learned of your intended flight to Natal from the lips
• 1:49:09
  Speaker 1: of this white man who had warned him of it.
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 1: The black one was angry and despatched us to catch
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 1: you and make an end of you. That is all,
• 1:49:18
  Speaker 1: Come on now quietly and let us finish the matter.
• 1:49:22
  Speaker 1: As the doom pool is near, your deaths will be easy.
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 1: Nahoon heard the words and sprang straight at the throat
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: of Hadden, but he did not reach it, for the
• 1:49:34
  Speaker 1: soldiers pulled him down. Nanea heard them also, and turning,
• 1:49:39
  Speaker 1: looked the traitor in the eyes. She said nothing, She
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 1: only looked, but he could never forget that look. The
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 1: white man, for his part, was filled with a fiery
• 1:49:51
  Speaker 1: indignation against Maputa, you wicked villain. He gasped whereat. The
• 1:49:57
  Speaker 1: chief smiled in a sickly fashion and turned away. Then
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 1: they were marched along the banks of the stream till
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 1: they reached the waterfall that fell into the pool of doom.
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 1: Hadden was a brave man after his fashion, but his
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: heart quailed as he gazed into that abyss. Are you
• 1:50:16
  Speaker 1: going to throw me in there? He asked of the
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 1: Zulu captain in a thick voice. You white man, replied
• 1:50:23
  Speaker 1: the soldier unconcernedly. No. Our orders are to take you
• 1:50:28
  Speaker 1: to the king. But what he will do with you
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 1: I do not know. There is to be war between
• 1:50:34
  Speaker 1: your people and ours, so perhaps he means to pound
• 1:50:37
  Speaker 1: you into medicine for the use of the witch doctors,
• 1:50:40
  Speaker 1: or to peg you over an ant heap as a
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 1: warning to other white men. Hadden received this information in silence,
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 1: but its effect upon his brain was bracing. For instantly
• 1:50:52
  Speaker 1: he began to search out some means of escape. By
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 1: now the party had halted near the two thorn trees
• 1:51:00
  Speaker 1: that hung over the waters of the pool. Who dives first,
• 1:51:05
  Speaker 1: asked the captain of the chief Maputa, the old wizard,
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 1: he replied, nodding at Umgona, then his daughter after him,
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 1: and last of all this fellow. And he struck Nahoon
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 1: in the face with his open hand. Come on, wizard,
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 1: said the captain, grasping Umgona by the arm, and let
• 1:51:27
  Speaker 1: us see how you can swim. At the words of doom,
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 1: Umgona seemed to recover his self command after the fashion
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 1: of his race. No need to lead me, soldier, he said,
• 1:51:41
  Speaker 1: shaking himself loose, who am old and ready to die?
• 1:51:46
  Speaker 1: Then he kissed his daughter at his side, wrung Nahoon
• 1:51:49
  Speaker 1: by the hand, and, turning from Hadden, with a gesture
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 1: of contempt, walked out upon the platform that joined the
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 1: two thorn trunks. Here for a moment, looking at the
• 1:52:02
  Speaker 1: setting sun. Then suddenly, and without a sound, he hurled
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 1: himself into the abyss below and vanished. That was a
• 1:52:12
  Speaker 1: brave one, said the captain with admiration. Can you spring too, girl,
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 1: or must we throw you? I can walk my father's path,
• 1:52:24
  Speaker 1: Nanea answered faintly, But first I crave leave to say
• 1:52:29
  Speaker 1: one word. It is true that we were escaping from
• 1:52:32
  Speaker 1: the king, and therefore by the law we must die.
• 1:52:37
  Speaker 1: But it was black Heart here who made the plot,
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: and he who has betrayed us. Would you know why
• 1:52:44
  Speaker 1: he has betrayed us? Because he sought my favor and
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: I refused him. And this is the vengeance that he takes,
• 1:52:53
  Speaker 1: a white man's vengeance, how broke in the chief Maputa.
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 1: This pretty one speaks truth, for the white man would
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: have made a bargain with me under which Umgona the
• 1:53:06
  Speaker 1: wizard and Nahoon the soldier were to be killed at
• 1:53:09
  Speaker 1: the crocodile drift, and he himself suffered to escape with
• 1:53:13
  Speaker 1: the girl. I spoke him softly and said yes. And then,
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 1: like a loyal man, I reported to the king you hear,
• 1:53:23
  Speaker 1: sighed Nanea, Nahoon, fare you well, though presently perhaps we
• 1:53:29
  Speaker 1: shall be together again. It was I who tempted you
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 1: from your duty. For my sake. You forgot your honor,
• 1:53:38
  Speaker 1: and I am repaid. Farewell, my husband. It is better
• 1:53:43
  Speaker 1: to die with you than to enter the house of
• 1:53:46
  Speaker 1: the King's woman. And Nanea stepped on to the platform. Here,
• 1:53:52
  Speaker 1: holding to a bough of one of the thorn trees,
• 1:53:55
  Speaker 1: she turned and addressed Hadden, saying, black Eye, you seem
• 1:54:01
  Speaker 1: to have won the day, but me at least you lose.
• 1:54:06
  Speaker 1: The sun is not yet set. After sunset comes the night,
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: black Heart, And in that night I pray that you
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: may wander eternally and be given to drink of my
• 1:54:18
  Speaker 1: blood and the blood of Umgona, my father, and the
• 1:54:22
  Speaker 1: blood of Nahoon, my husband, who saved your life, and
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: whom you have murdered. Perchance, black Heart, we may yet
• 1:54:30
  Speaker 1: meet yonder in the house of the dead. Then, uttering
• 1:54:35
  Speaker 1: a low cry, Nanea clasped her hands and sprang upwards
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 1: and outwards from the platform. The watchers bent their heads
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 1: forward to look. They saw her rush headlong down the
• 1:54:50
  Speaker 1: face of the fall, to strike the water fifty feet below.
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 1: A few seconds and for the last time they caught
• 1:54:59
  Speaker 1: sight of her white garment glimmering on the surface of
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 1: the gloomy pool. Then the shadows and mistreaths hid it,
• 1:55:07
  Speaker 1: and she was gone. Now, husband, cried the cheerful voice
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 1: of the captain. Yonder is your marriage bed. So be
• 1:55:17
  Speaker 1: swift to follow a bride who is so ready to
• 1:55:20
  Speaker 1: lead the way. How but you are good people to kill.
• 1:55:25
  Speaker 1: Never have I had to do with any who gave
• 1:55:28
  Speaker 1: less trouble you. And he stopped, for mental agony had
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: done its work, and suddenly Nahoon went mad before his
• 1:55:39
  Speaker 1: eyes with a roar like that of a lion. The
• 1:55:43
  Speaker 1: great man cast off those who held him, and, seizing
• 1:55:47
  Speaker 1: one of them round the waist and thigh, he put
• 1:55:49
  Speaker 1: out all his terrible strength, lifting him as though he
• 1:55:53
  Speaker 1: had been an infant. He hurled him over the edge
• 1:55:55
  Speaker 1: of the cliff, to find his death on the rocks
• 1:55:57
  Speaker 1: of the pool of doom. Then cry black heart, your turn,
• 1:56:03
  Speaker 1: black heart, the traitor. He rushed at Hadden, his eyes
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 1: rolling and foam flying from his lips as he passed,
• 1:56:11
  Speaker 1: striking the chief Maputa from his horse with a backward
• 1:56:14
  Speaker 1: blow of his hand. Ill would it have gone with
• 1:56:18
  Speaker 1: the white man if Nahoon had caught him. But he
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 1: could not come at him, for the soldiers sprang upon him,
• 1:56:25
  Speaker 1: and notwithstanding his fearful struggles, they pulled him to the ground,
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 1: as at certain festivals, the Zulu regiments, with their naked hands,
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 1: pull down a bull in the presence of the king,
• 1:56:38
  Speaker 1: cast him over before he can work more mischief, said
• 1:56:41
  Speaker 1: a voice. But the captain cried out, Nay, nay, he
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 1: is sacred. The fire from heaven has fallen on his brain,
• 1:56:50
  Speaker 1: and we may not harm him. Else evil would overtake us.
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 1: All bind him hand and foot, and bear him tenderly
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: to where he can be cared. For surely I thought
• 1:57:02
  Speaker 1: that these evildoers were giving us too little trouble, and
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 1: thus it has proved. So they set themselves to make
• 1:57:10
  Speaker 1: fast Nahoon's hands and wrists, using as much gentleness as
• 1:57:14
  Speaker 1: they might. For among the Zulus a lunatic as accounted Holy,
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: it was no easy task, and it took time. Hadden
• 1:57:23
  Speaker 1: glanced around him and saw his opportunity on the ground.
• 1:57:28
  Speaker 1: Close beside him lay his rifle, where one of the
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 1: soldiers had placed it, and about a dozen yards away
• 1:57:35
  Speaker 1: Maputa's pony was grazing. With the swift movement he seized
• 1:57:40
  Speaker 1: the Martini, and five seconds later he was on the
• 1:57:43
  Speaker 1: back of the pony, heading for the crocodile drift at
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 1: a gallop. So quickly, indeed, did he execute his masterly
• 1:57:50
  Speaker 1: retreat that occupied as they all were in binding nahoon
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: for half a minute or more, none of the soldiers
• 1:57:57
  Speaker 1: noticed what had happened. Then my put our chance to see,
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 1: and waddled after him to the top of the rise, screaming,
• 1:58:05
  Speaker 1: the white thief, he has stolen my horse, and the
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 1: gun too, the gun that he promised to give me. Hadden,
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 1: who by this time was a hundred yards away, heard
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 1: him clearly, and a rage filled his heart. This man
• 1:58:21
  Speaker 1: had made an open murderer of him. More, he had
• 1:58:25
  Speaker 1: been the means of robbing him of the girl for
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: whose sake he had dipped his hands in these iniquities.
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: He glanced over his shoulder. Maputa was still running and alone. Yes,
• 1:58:36
  Speaker 1: there was time. At any rate he would risk it,
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 1: Pulling up the pony with a jerk, he leaped from
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 1: its back, slipping his arm through the rein with an
• 1:58:47
  Speaker 1: almost simultaneous movement as it chanced, and as he had
• 1:58:51
  Speaker 1: hoped would be the case, the animal was a trained
• 1:58:54
  Speaker 1: shooting horse and stood still. Hadden planted his feet firmly
• 1:58:59
  Speaker 1: on the ground, and, drawing a deep breath, he cocked
• 1:59:02
  Speaker 1: the rifle and covered the advancing chief. Now Maputta saw
• 1:59:07
  Speaker 1: his purpose, and with a yell of terror, turned to fly.
• 1:59:11
  Speaker 1: Hadden waited a second to get the sight fair on
• 1:59:14
  Speaker 1: his broad back, then, just as the soldiers appeared above
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 1: the rise, he pressed the trigger. He was a noted shot,
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 1: and in this instance his skill did not fail him,
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: for before he heard the bullet twell, Maputa flung his
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: arms wide and plunged to the ground dead. Three seconds more,
• 1:59:35
  Speaker 1: and with a savage curse, Hadden had remounted the pony
• 1:59:39
  Speaker 1: and was riding for his life towards the river, which
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 1: a while later he crossed in safety. End of Chapter
• 1:59:47
  Speaker 1: five recording by Alvera. Chapter six of Black Heart and
• 1:59:58
  Speaker 1: White Art a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please
• 2:00:07
  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Alvera black Heart and
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 1: white art by Sir Henry Ryder Haggard, Chapter six, The
• 2:00:18
  Speaker 1: Ghost of the Dead. When Nanea leapt from the dizzy
• 2:00:23
  Speaker 1: platform that overhung the Pool of Doom, a strange fortune
• 2:00:26
  Speaker 1: befell her. Close into the precipice were many jagged rocks,
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: and on these the waters of the fall fell and thundered,
• 2:00:34
  Speaker 1: bounding from them in spouts of spray into the troubled
• 2:00:37
  Speaker 1: depths of the foss beyond. It was on these stones
• 2:00:41
  Speaker 1: that the life was dashed out from the bodies of
• 2:00:43
  Speaker 1: the wretched victims who were hurled from above. But Nanea,
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 1: it will be remembered, had not waited to be treated thus.
• 2:00:51
  Speaker 1: And as it chanced, the strong spring with which she
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: had leapt to death, carried her clear of the rocks
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: by a very little she missed the edge of them, and,
• 2:01:00
  Speaker 1: striking the deep water head first, like some practiced diver,
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 1: she sank down and down, until she thought that she
• 2:01:07
  Speaker 1: would never rise again. Yet she did rise at the
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 1: end of the pool, in the mouth of the rapid
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 1: along which she sped swiftly carried down by the rush
• 2:01:17
  Speaker 1: of the water. Fortunately there were no rocks here, and
• 2:01:21
  Speaker 1: since she was a skillful swimmer, she escaped the danger
• 2:01:24
  Speaker 1: of being thrown against the banks. For a long distance
• 2:01:28
  Speaker 1: she was borne thus till at length she saw that
• 2:01:31
  Speaker 1: she was in a forest. For trees cut off the
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 1: light from the water, and their drooping branches swept its surface.
• 2:01:38
  Speaker 1: One of these, Nanea caught with her hand, and by
• 2:01:41
  Speaker 1: the help of which she dragged herself from the river
• 2:01:43
  Speaker 1: of death, whence none had escaped before. Now she stood
• 2:01:48
  Speaker 1: upon the bank, gasping, but quite unharmed. There was not
• 2:01:51
  Speaker 1: a scratch on her body. Even her white garment was
• 2:01:55
  Speaker 1: still fast about her neck. But though she had suffered
• 2:01:58
  Speaker 1: no hurt in her terrible voyage, so exhausted was in
• 2:02:02
  Speaker 1: an air that she could scarcely stand here the gloom
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: was that of night, and shivering with cold, she looked
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 1: helplessly to find some refuge. Close to the water's edge
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: grew an enormous yellow wood tree, and to this she staggered,
• 2:02:17
  Speaker 1: thinking to climate and seek shelter in its boughs, where
• 2:02:21
  Speaker 1: as she hoped she would be saved from wild beasts. Again,
• 2:02:25
  Speaker 1: fortune befriended her, for at a distance of a few
• 2:02:28
  Speaker 1: feet from the ground, there was a great hole in
• 2:02:31
  Speaker 1: the tree, which she discovered was hollow. Into this hole
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 1: she crept, taking her chance of its being the home
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 1: of snakes or other evil creatures, to find that the
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 1: interior was wide and warm. It was dry, also, for
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 1: at the bottom of the cavity lay a foot or
• 2:02:47
  Speaker 1: mall of rotten tinder and moss, brought there by rats
• 2:02:51
  Speaker 1: or birds. Upon this tinder, she lay down, and, covering
• 2:02:55
  Speaker 1: herself with the moss and leaves, soon sank into sleep
• 2:02:59
  Speaker 1: or Stupor how long Nanea slept she did not know.
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 1: But at length she was awakened by a sound as
• 2:03:06
  Speaker 1: of guttural human voices, talking in a language that she
• 2:03:09
  Speaker 1: could not understand. Rising to her knees, she peered out
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 1: of the hole in the tree. It was night, but
• 2:03:16
  Speaker 1: the stars shone brilliantly, and their light fell upon an
• 2:03:20
  Speaker 1: open circle of ground close by the edge of the river.
• 2:03:24
  Speaker 1: In this circle they burned a great fire, and at
• 2:03:27
  Speaker 1: a little distance from the fire were gathered eight or
• 2:03:30
  Speaker 1: ten horrible looking beings who appeared to be rejoicing over
• 2:03:34
  Speaker 1: something that lay upon the ground. They were small in stature,
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: men and women together, but no children, and all of
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 1: them were nearly naked. Their hair was long and thin,
• 2:03:45
  Speaker 1: growing down almost to the eyes, their jaws and teeth protruded,
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 1: and the girth of their black bodies was out of
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 1: all proportion to their height. In their hands they held
• 2:03:56
  Speaker 1: sticks with sharp stones lashed to them, a rude hatchet
• 2:04:00
  Speaker 1: like knives of the same material. Naninea's heart sank within her,
• 2:04:06
  Speaker 1: and she nearly fainted with fear, for she knew that
• 2:04:09
  Speaker 1: she was in the haunted forest, and without a doubt,
• 2:04:13
  Speaker 1: these were the essem Corfu, the evil ghosts that dwelt
• 2:04:16
  Speaker 1: therein Yes, that was what they were, and yet she
• 2:04:20
  Speaker 1: could not take her eyes off them. The sight of
• 2:04:23
  Speaker 1: them held her with a horrible fascination. But if they
• 2:04:26
  Speaker 1: were ghosts, why did they sing and dance like men?
• 2:04:31
  Speaker 1: Why did they wave those sharp stones aloft and quarrel
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 1: and strike each other, And why did they make a
• 2:04:37
  Speaker 1: fire as men do when they wished to cook food? More,
• 2:04:42
  Speaker 1: what was it that they rejoiced over that long, dark
• 2:04:45
  Speaker 1: thing which lay so quiet upon the ground. It did
• 2:04:48
  Speaker 1: not look like a head of game, and it could
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 1: scarcely be a crocodile, Yet clearly it was food of
• 2:04:54
  Speaker 1: some sort, for they were sharpening the stone knives in
• 2:04:57
  Speaker 1: order to cut it up. Wh while she wandered. Thus,
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 1: one of the dreadful looking little creatures advanced to the fire, and,
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 1: taking from it a burning bough, held it over the
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 1: thing that lay upon the ground, to give light to
• 2:05:10
  Speaker 1: a companion who was about to do something to it
• 2:05:13
  Speaker 1: with the stone knife. Next instant, Nenia drew back her
• 2:05:17
  Speaker 1: head from the hall, a stifled shriek upon her lips.
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 1: She saw what it was. Now It was the body
• 2:05:24
  Speaker 1: of a man. Yes, and these were no ghosts. They
• 2:05:28
  Speaker 1: were cannibals, of whom when she was little her mother
• 2:05:31
  Speaker 1: had told her tales to keep her from wandering away
• 2:05:34
  Speaker 1: from home. But who was the man they were about
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 1: to eat. It could not be one of themselves, for
• 2:05:40
  Speaker 1: his stature was much greater. Oh, now she knew. It
• 2:05:45
  Speaker 1: must be Nahoon, who had been killed up Yonder, and
• 2:05:48
  Speaker 1: whose dead body the waters had brought down to the
• 2:05:50
  Speaker 1: haunted forest as they had brought her alive. Yes, it
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 1: must be Nahoon, and she would be forced to see
• 2:05:58
  Speaker 1: her husband devoured before her eyes eyes. The thought of
• 2:06:02
  Speaker 1: it overwhelmed her, that he should die by order of
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 1: the king was natural, but that he should be buried. Thus,
• 2:06:10
  Speaker 1: Yet what could she do to prevent it? Well, if
• 2:06:13
  Speaker 1: it cost her her life, it should be prevented. At
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 1: the worst, they could only kill and eat her also.
• 2:06:20
  Speaker 1: And now that Nahoon and her father were gone, being
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 1: untroubled by any religious or spiritual hopes and fears, she
• 2:06:27
  Speaker 1: was not greatly concerned to keep her own breath in
• 2:06:29
  Speaker 1: her Slipping through the hole in the tree, Nanea walked
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 1: quietly towards the cannibals, not knowing in the least what
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 1: she should do when she reached them. As she arrived
• 2:06:41
  Speaker 1: in line with the fire, this lack of program came
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 1: home to her mind forcibly, and she paused to reflect.
• 2:06:48
  Speaker 1: Just then one of the cannibals looked up to see
• 2:06:51
  Speaker 1: a tall and stately figure wrapped in a white garment, which,
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 1: as the flamelight flickered on it, seemed now to advance
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 1: from the dense background of shadow, and now to recede
• 2:07:03
  Speaker 1: into it. The poor savage wretch was holding a stone
• 2:07:08
  Speaker 1: knife in his teeth when he beheld her, but it
• 2:07:10
  Speaker 1: did not remain there long, for opening his great jaws,
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 1: he uttered, the most terrified and piercing yell that Nanea
• 2:07:18
  Speaker 1: had ever heard. Then the others saw her also, and
• 2:07:22
  Speaker 1: presently the forest was ringing with shrieks of fear. For
• 2:07:26
  Speaker 1: a few seconds the outcasts stood and gazed. Then they
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 1: were gone this way and that, bursting their path through
• 2:07:33
  Speaker 1: the undergrowth like startled jackals. The esm Corfu of Zulu
• 2:07:38
  Speaker 1: tradition had been routed in their own wonted home by
• 2:07:41
  Speaker 1: what they took to be a spirit, poor essem coufu.
• 2:07:46
  Speaker 1: They were but miserable and starving bushmen who driven into
• 2:07:50
  Speaker 1: that place of ill omen many years ago, had adopted
• 2:07:53
  Speaker 1: this means, the only one opened to them to keep
• 2:07:56
  Speaker 1: the life in their wretched bodies. Here at least they
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: were unmolested, and as there was little other food to
• 2:08:03
  Speaker 1: be found amidst that wilderness of trees, that took what
• 2:08:07
  Speaker 1: the river brought them. When executioners were few in the
• 2:08:11
  Speaker 1: pool of doom, times were hard for them. Indeed, for
• 2:08:14
  Speaker 1: then they were driven to eat each other. That is
• 2:08:17
  Speaker 1: why there were no children. As their inarticulate outcry died
• 2:08:22
  Speaker 1: away in the distance, Nanea ran forward to look at
• 2:08:25
  Speaker 1: the body that lay on the ground, and staggered back
• 2:08:28
  Speaker 1: with a sigh of relief. It was not Nahoon, but
• 2:08:31
  Speaker 1: she recognized the face for that of one of the
• 2:08:34
  Speaker 1: party of executioners. How did he come here? Had Nahoon
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 1: killed him? Had Nahoon escaped? She could not tell, and
• 2:08:43
  Speaker 1: at the best it was improbable. But still the sight
• 2:08:46
  Speaker 1: of this dead soldier lit her heart with a faint
• 2:08:49
  Speaker 1: ray of hope, for how did he come to be dead?
• 2:08:52
  Speaker 1: If Nahoon had no hand in his death, she could
• 2:08:56
  Speaker 1: not bear to leave him lying so near her hiding place. However, therefore,
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 1: with no small toil, she rolled the corpse back into
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 1: the water, which carried it swiftly away. Then she returned
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 1: to the tree, having first replenished the fire, and awaited
• 2:09:11
  Speaker 1: the light. At last it came, so much of it
• 2:09:16
  Speaker 1: as ever, penetrated this darksome den, and Nanea, becoming aware
• 2:09:21
  Speaker 1: that she was hungry, descended from the tree to search
• 2:09:24
  Speaker 1: for food. All day long, she searched, finding nothing, till
• 2:09:29
  Speaker 1: towards sunset she remembered that on the outskirts of the
• 2:09:32
  Speaker 1: forest there was a flat rock where it was the
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 1: custom of those who had been in any way afflicted,
• 2:09:38
  Speaker 1: or who considered themselves or their belongings to be bewitched.
• 2:09:42
  Speaker 1: To place propitiary offerings of food, wherewith the Esimkofu and
• 2:09:47
  Speaker 1: Amahlausi were supposed to satisfy their spiritual cravings urged by
• 2:09:52
  Speaker 1: the pinch of starvation. To this spot, Nanea journeyed rapidly
• 2:09:57
  Speaker 1: and found to her joy that some neighboring kraal had
• 2:10:00
  Speaker 1: evidently been in recent trouble, for the rock of offering
• 2:10:04
  Speaker 1: was laden with cobs of corn, gods of milk, porridge,
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 1: and even meat. Helping herself as much as she could carry,
• 2:10:12
  Speaker 1: she returned to her lair, where she drank of the
• 2:10:15
  Speaker 1: milk and cooked meat and mealies at the fire. Then
• 2:10:18
  Speaker 1: she crept back into the tree and slept for nearly
• 2:10:23
  Speaker 1: two months. Nanea lived thus in the forest, since she
• 2:10:26
  Speaker 1: could not venture out of it, fearing lest she should
• 2:10:29
  Speaker 1: be seized, and for a second time taste of the
• 2:10:32
  Speaker 1: judgment of the king. In the forest, at least she
• 2:10:35
  Speaker 1: was safe, for none dad enter there, nor did there
• 2:10:39
  Speaker 1: Semkofer give her further trouble. Once or twice she saw them,
• 2:10:44
  Speaker 1: but on each occasion they fled from her presence, seeking
• 2:10:47
  Speaker 1: some distant retreat where they hid themselves or perished. Nor
• 2:10:52
  Speaker 1: did food fail her for finding that it was taken,
• 2:10:55
  Speaker 1: the pious givers brought it in plenty to the rock
• 2:10:58
  Speaker 1: of offering. But oh, the life was dreadful, and the
• 2:11:04
  Speaker 1: gloom and loneliness, coupled with her sorrows, at times drove
• 2:11:07
  Speaker 1: her almost to insanity. Still she lived on, though often
• 2:11:12
  Speaker 1: she desired to die, for if her father was dead,
• 2:11:16
  Speaker 1: the corpse she had found was not the corpse of Nahoon,
• 2:11:19
  Speaker 1: and in her heart there still shone that spark of hope.
• 2:11:23
  Speaker 1: Yet what she hoped for she could not tell. When
• 2:11:28
  Speaker 1: Philip Hadden reached civilized regions, he found that war was
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 1: about to be declared between the Queen and Lady Wayo,
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 1: king of the AmaZulu. Also that in the prevailing excitement,
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 1: his little adventure with the Utrecht's storekeeper had been overlooked
• 2:11:41
  Speaker 1: or forgotten. He was the owner of two good buck
• 2:11:45
  Speaker 1: wagons with spans of salted oxen, and at that time
• 2:11:48
  Speaker 1: vehicles were much in request to carry military stores for
• 2:11:51
  Speaker 1: the columns which were to advance into Zulu land. Indeed,
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 1: the transport authorities were glad to pain ninety pounds of
• 2:12:00
  Speaker 1: month for the hire of each wagon and to guarantee
• 2:12:03
  Speaker 1: the owners against all loss of cattle. Although it was
• 2:12:07
  Speaker 1: not desirous of returning to Zulu land. This bait proved
• 2:12:10
  Speaker 1: too much for Hadden, who accordingly leased out his wagons
• 2:12:14
  Speaker 1: to the commissariat. Together with his own services as conductor
• 2:12:18
  Speaker 1: and interpreter. He was attached to number three column of
• 2:12:22
  Speaker 1: the invading force, which, it may be remembered, was under
• 2:12:26
  Speaker 1: the immediate command of Lord Chelmsford, and on the twentieth
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 1: of January eighteen seventy nine he marched with it by
• 2:12:33
  Speaker 1: the road that runs from Rourke's Drift to the Indeni Forest,
• 2:12:37
  Speaker 1: and encamped that night beneath the shadow of the steep
• 2:12:39
  Speaker 1: and desolate mountain known as Isandlwayana. That day also a
• 2:12:45
  Speaker 1: great army of King fretty Wayo's, numbering twenty thousand men
• 2:12:49
  Speaker 1: and more, moved down from the Upendor Hill and camped
• 2:12:53
  Speaker 1: upon the stony plain that lies a mile and a
• 2:12:55
  Speaker 1: half to the east of Isandulwayana. No fires will it,
• 2:13:00
  Speaker 1: and it lay there in utter silence, for the warriors
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: were sleeping on their spears. With that IMPI was the
• 2:13:08
  Speaker 1: Umphitchu Regiment, three thousand, five hundred strong. At the first
• 2:13:13
  Speaker 1: break of dawn, the inDuna, in command of the Umphitchu
• 2:13:16
  Speaker 1: looked up from beneath the shelter of the black shield
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 1: with which he had covered his body, and through the
• 2:13:22
  Speaker 1: thick mist he saw a great man standing before him,
• 2:13:25
  Speaker 1: clothed only in a moocha, a gaunt, wild eyed man
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 1: who held a rough club in his hand. When he
• 2:13:33
  Speaker 1: was spoken to, the man made no answer. He only
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: leaned upon his club, looking from left to right along
• 2:13:39
  Speaker 1: the dense array of innumerable shields. Who is this Silwana
• 2:13:46
  Speaker 1: wild creature, asked the inDuna of his captains wandering. The
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 1: captain stared at the wanderer, and one of them replied,
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 1: this is Nahoon ka Zomba. It is the son of Zomba,
• 2:13:58
  Speaker 1: who not long ago held thank in this regiment of
• 2:14:01
  Speaker 1: um Fechu. His betrothed nanea daughter of Umgona, was killed
• 2:14:07
  Speaker 1: together with her father by order of the Black One,
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 1: and Nahoon went mad with grief at the sight of it.
• 2:14:13
  Speaker 1: For the fire of heaven entered his brain, and mad
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 1: he has wandered ever since. What would you hear, Nahoon Kazomba,
• 2:14:22
  Speaker 1: asked the inDuna. Then Nahoon spoke slowly, My regiment goes
• 2:14:28
  Speaker 1: down to war against the white men. Give me a
• 2:14:31
  Speaker 1: shield and a spear, O Captain of the King, that
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 1: I may fight with my regiment, for I seek a
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 1: face in the battle. So they gave him a shield
• 2:14:41
  Speaker 1: and a spear, for they dared not turn away one
• 2:14:44
  Speaker 1: whose brain was alight with the fire of heaven. When
• 2:14:48
  Speaker 1: the sun was high that day, bullets began to fall
• 2:14:51
  Speaker 1: among the ranks of wom Fetu. Then the black shielded,
• 2:14:55
  Speaker 1: black bloomed, and Fetu arose company by company, and after
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 1: them arose the whole vast Zulu army, breast and horns together,
• 2:15:05
  Speaker 1: and swept down in silence upon the doomed British camp,
• 2:15:09
  Speaker 1: a moving sheen of spears. The bullets pattered on the shields.
• 2:15:14
  Speaker 1: The shells tore long lines through their array, but they
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 1: never halted or wavered forward on either side, shot out
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 1: the horns of armed men, clasping the camp in an
• 2:15:24
  Speaker 1: embrace of steel. Then as these began to close, outburst
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 1: the war cry of the Zulus, and with the roar
• 2:15:32
  Speaker 1: of a torrent, and the rush of a storm, with
• 2:15:35
  Speaker 1: a sounding like the humming of a billion bees, wave
• 2:15:38
  Speaker 1: after wave, the deep breast of the Empi rolled down
• 2:15:42
  Speaker 1: upon the White Man. With it went the black shielded
• 2:15:46
  Speaker 1: ump Fetu, and with them went Nahoon, the son of Zomba.
• 2:15:51
  Speaker 1: A bullet struck him in the side, glancing from his ribs.
• 2:15:55
  Speaker 1: He did not heed. A white man fell from his
• 2:15:58
  Speaker 1: horse before him. He did not stab, for he sought
• 2:16:02
  Speaker 1: but one face in the battle he sought, and at
• 2:16:06
  Speaker 1: last he found there among the wagons, where the spears
• 2:16:10
  Speaker 1: were busiest. There stood by his horse, and firing rapidly,
• 2:16:14
  Speaker 1: was black Heart, he who had given nan Eir, his betrothed,
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 1: to death. Three soldiers stood between them. One of them
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 1: Nahoon stabbed, and two he brushed aside. Then he rushed
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 1: straight at Hadden. But the white man saw him come,
• 2:16:32
  Speaker 1: and even through the mask of his madness, he knew
• 2:16:34
  Speaker 1: Nahoon again, and terror took hold of him. Throwing away
• 2:16:39
  Speaker 1: his empty rifle, for his ammunition was spent, he leaped
• 2:16:42
  Speaker 1: upon his horse and drove his spurs into its flanks.
• 2:16:46
  Speaker 1: Awad went among the carnage, springing over the dead and
• 2:16:49
  Speaker 1: bursting through the lines of shields. And after it came Nahoon,
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 1: running long and low, with head stretched forward and trailing spear,
• 2:16:58
  Speaker 1: running as a hound runs, and the buck is at view.
• 2:17:02
  Speaker 1: Hadden's first plan was to head for Rourk's drift, but
• 2:17:05
  Speaker 1: a glance to the left showed him that the masses
• 2:17:08
  Speaker 1: of the Undi barred that way, so he fled straight on,
• 2:17:11
  Speaker 1: leaving his path to fortune. In five minutes he was
• 2:17:15
  Speaker 1: over a ridge, and there was nothing of the battle
• 2:17:17
  Speaker 1: to be seen. In ten all sounds of it had
• 2:17:20
  Speaker 1: died away, For few guns were fired in the dread
• 2:17:23
  Speaker 1: rays to fugitives drift, and the Assagai makes no noise.
• 2:17:28
  Speaker 1: In some strange fashion, even at this moment, the contrast
• 2:17:32
  Speaker 1: between the dreadful scene of blood and turmoil that he
• 2:17:35
  Speaker 1: had left and the peaceful face of nature over which
• 2:17:39
  Speaker 1: he was passing came home to his brain. Vividly. Here
• 2:17:43
  Speaker 1: birds sang and cattle grazed. Here the sun shone, undimmed
• 2:17:47
  Speaker 1: by the smoke of cannon. Only high up in the
• 2:17:50
  Speaker 1: blue and silent air, long streams of vultures could be
• 2:17:54
  Speaker 1: seen winging their way to the plain of Isandlwana. The
• 2:17:59
  Speaker 1: ground was very rough, and Hadden's horse began to tire.
• 2:18:03
  Speaker 1: He looked over his shoulder. There, some two hundred yards behind,
• 2:18:07
  Speaker 1: came the Zulu grim as death. Unswerving as fate. He
• 2:18:12
  Speaker 1: examined the pistol in his belt. There was but one
• 2:18:15
  Speaker 1: undischarged cartridge left. All the rest had been fired, and
• 2:18:19
  Speaker 1: the pouch was empty. Well, one bullet should be enough
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 1: for one savage. The question was should he stop and
• 2:18:27
  Speaker 1: use it now? No, he might miss or fail to
• 2:18:30
  Speaker 1: kill the man. He was on horseback and his foe
• 2:18:33
  Speaker 1: on foot. Surely he could tire him out. A while passed,
• 2:18:38
  Speaker 1: and they dashed through a little stream. It seemed familiar
• 2:18:41
  Speaker 1: to Hadden. Yes, that was the pool where he used
• 2:18:44
  Speaker 1: to bathe when he was the guest of Umgona, the
• 2:18:47
  Speaker 1: father of Nanea. And there on the knoll to his
• 2:18:50
  Speaker 1: right were the huts, or rather the remains of them,
• 2:18:53
  Speaker 1: for they had been burnt with fire. What chance had
• 2:18:57
  Speaker 1: brought him to this place? He wandered. Then again he
• 2:19:00
  Speaker 1: looked behind him at no Noon, who seemed to read
• 2:19:03
  Speaker 1: his thoughts, for he shook his spear and pointed to
• 2:19:06
  Speaker 1: the ruined kraal On He went at speed, for here
• 2:19:11
  Speaker 1: the land was level, and to his joy, he lost
• 2:19:13
  Speaker 1: sight of his pursuer. But presently there came a mile
• 2:19:17
  Speaker 1: of rocky ground, and when it was past, glancing back,
• 2:19:21
  Speaker 1: he saw that Nahoon was once more in his old place,
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: His horse's strength was almost spent, but hadn't spurred it
• 2:19:29
  Speaker 1: forward blindly whither he knew not. Now he was traveling
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 1: along a strip of turf, and ahead of him he
• 2:19:36
  Speaker 1: heard the music of a river, while to his left
• 2:19:39
  Speaker 1: rose a high bank. Presently the turf bent inwards, and
• 2:19:43
  Speaker 1: there not twenty yards away from him was a kaffir
• 2:19:47
  Speaker 1: hut standing on the brink of a river. He looked
• 2:19:50
  Speaker 1: at it. Yes, it was the hut of that accursed
• 2:19:53
  Speaker 1: in younger the bee, and standing by the fence of
• 2:19:57
  Speaker 1: it was none other than the Beer herself. At the
• 2:20:00
  Speaker 1: sight of her, the exhausted horse swerved violently, stumbled, and
• 2:20:05
  Speaker 1: came to the ground where it lay panting. Hadden was
• 2:20:09
  Speaker 1: thrown from the saddle, but sprang to his feet unhurt. Ah,
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: black Heart, is it you? What news of the battle?
• 2:20:19
  Speaker 1: Black Heart, cried the bee in a mocking voice. Help me, mother,
• 2:20:24
  Speaker 1: I am pursued, He gasped, What of it, black Heart?
• 2:20:29
  Speaker 1: It is? But by one tired man, stand then and
• 2:20:33
  Speaker 1: face him, For now black Heart and white Heart are
• 2:20:37
  Speaker 1: together again. You will not then away to the forest
• 2:20:42
  Speaker 1: and seek shelter among the dead. Who await you there?
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 1: Tell me? Tell me was it the face of Nanea
• 2:20:50
  Speaker 1: that I saw beneath the waters a while ago. Good
• 2:20:55
  Speaker 1: bear my greetings to her when you two meet in
• 2:20:58
  Speaker 1: the House of the Dead. Hadden looked at the stream.
• 2:21:02
  Speaker 1: It was in flood. He could not swim it, so,
• 2:21:05
  Speaker 1: followed by the evil laugh of the propheties, he sped
• 2:21:08
  Speaker 1: towards the forest. After him came Nahoon, his tongue hanging
• 2:21:13
  Speaker 1: from his jaws like the tongue of a wolf. Now
• 2:21:16
  Speaker 1: he was in the shadow of the forest, but still
• 2:21:19
  Speaker 1: he sped on, following the course of the river till
• 2:21:22
  Speaker 1: at length his breath failed, and he halted on the
• 2:21:25
  Speaker 1: further side of a little glade, beyond which a great
• 2:21:28
  Speaker 1: tree grew. Nahoon was more than a spear's throw behind him.
• 2:21:33
  Speaker 1: Therefore he had time to draw his pistol and make
• 2:21:36
  Speaker 1: ready halt. Nahoon, he cried, as once before he had cried,
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 1: I would speak with you. The Zulu heard his voice
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 1: and obeyed. Listen, said Hadden. We have run a long
• 2:21:51
  Speaker 1: race and fought a long fight, you and I, and
• 2:21:54
  Speaker 1: we are still alive, both of us. Very soon if
• 2:21:58
  Speaker 1: you come on, one of a as must be dead,
• 2:22:00
  Speaker 1: and it will be you Nahoon, For I am armed,
• 2:22:04
  Speaker 1: and as you know, I can shoot straight. What do
• 2:22:07
  Speaker 1: you say? Nahoon made no answer, but stood still at
• 2:22:12
  Speaker 1: the edge of the glade, his wide and glowering eyes
• 2:22:15
  Speaker 1: fixed on the white man's face, and his breath coming
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 1: in short gasps. Will you let me go if I
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 1: let you go? Hadn't asked once more. I know why
• 2:22:27
  Speaker 1: you hate me, But the past cannot be undone, nor
• 2:22:30
  Speaker 1: can the dead be brought to earth again. Still, Nahoon
• 2:22:35
  Speaker 1: made no answer, and his silence seemed more faithful and
• 2:22:39
  Speaker 1: more crushing than any speech. No spoken accusation would have
• 2:22:45
  Speaker 1: been so terrible in Hadden's ear. He made no answer,
• 2:22:50
  Speaker 1: but lifting his assagai, he stalked grimly toward his foe.
• 2:22:56
  Speaker 1: When he was within five paces, hadn't covered him, and
• 2:23:01
  Speaker 1: Nahoon sprang aside, but the bullet struck him somewhere, for
• 2:23:05
  Speaker 1: his right arm dropped, and the stabbing spear that he
• 2:23:08
  Speaker 1: held was jerked from it harmlessly over the white man's head,
• 2:23:14
  Speaker 1: but still making no sound. The Zulu came on and
• 2:23:18
  Speaker 1: gripped him by the throat with his left hand. For
• 2:23:22
  Speaker 1: a space there struggled terribly, swaying to and fro, but
• 2:23:27
  Speaker 1: Hadden was unhurt and fought with the fury of despair.
• 2:23:31
  Speaker 1: While Nahoon had been twice wounded, and there remained to
• 2:23:34
  Speaker 1: him but one sound arm wherewith to strike. Presently forced
• 2:23:39
  Speaker 1: to earth by the white man's iron strength, the soldier
• 2:23:43
  Speaker 1: was down, nor could he rise again. Now we will
• 2:23:47
  Speaker 1: make an end, muttered Hadden savagely, and he turned to
• 2:23:51
  Speaker 1: seek the Assagai, then staggered slowly back with starting eyes
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 1: and reeling gait, for there before him, still clad in
• 2:24:00
  Speaker 1: her white robe, a spear in her hand, stood the
• 2:24:04
  Speaker 1: spirit of Nanea. Think of it, he said to himself, dimly,
• 2:24:10
  Speaker 1: remembering the words of their younger. When you stand face
• 2:24:14
  Speaker 1: to face with the ghost of the dead in the
• 2:24:16
  Speaker 1: home of the dead, think of it. There was a
• 2:24:22
  Speaker 1: cry and a flash of steel. The broad spear leaped
• 2:24:26
  Speaker 1: towards him to bury itself in his breast. He swayed,
• 2:24:30
  Speaker 1: he fell, and presently black heart clasped that great reward
• 2:24:35
  Speaker 1: which the word of the bee had promised him. Nahoon,
• 2:24:42
  Speaker 1: Nahoon murmured a soft voice, awake. It is no ghost,
• 2:24:47
  Speaker 1: but I Nanea, your living wife, to whom my e
• 2:24:52
  Speaker 1: closse or guardian spirit has given it me to save you,
• 2:24:58
  Speaker 1: Nahoon heard and open his eyes to look, and his
• 2:25:02
  Speaker 1: madness left him. Welcome wife, he said faintly. Now I
• 2:25:09
  Speaker 1: will live, since death has brought you back to me
• 2:25:12
  Speaker 1: in the house of the dead. To day, Nahoon is
• 2:25:18
  Speaker 1: one of the Endunas of the English government in Zululand,
• 2:25:21
  Speaker 1: and there are children about his krown. It was from
• 2:25:25
  Speaker 1: the lips of none other than an Air, his wife.
• 2:25:29
  Speaker 1: The teller of this tale heard its substance. The bee
• 2:25:34
  Speaker 1: also lives and practices as much magic as she dares
• 2:25:37
  Speaker 1: under the white man's rule. On her black hand shines
• 2:25:42
  Speaker 1: a golden ring shaped like a snake with ruby eyes.
• 2:25:46
  Speaker 1: And of this trinket the bee is very proud. End
• 2:25:52
  Speaker 1: of chapter six. End of Black Heart and White Art
• 2:25:58
  Speaker 1: Buy Sir Henry Ryder Haggard