MARIE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14807, 10 October 1911, Page 3

MARIE.

BY H. rider HAGGARD.

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ? AEBANGEHEHT.

AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF THE LATE ALLAN QUARTERMAIN. COFTEIGHT. SYNOPSIS. The story opens in the Cradock district of Cape Colony, then a- very wild place. The narrator, Allan Quartermain, was th© sou of a Church of England clergyman,. and amongst the neighbours was a Boer farmer iienri Marais, who had a farm named Maraisfoutein, and who kept up a good many French customs. It was arranged that should go to Maraisfontein to study *rencn with little Marie Marais, under her tutor, Leblanc. ,On the first ■ day - Leblanc alluded to the English as pigs, which angered little Allan, and a scene took place. Henri Marai3 appeared and accused Leblanc of being a drunken sot. and apologised to the lad. Allan afterwards found Marie in tears Because of the insult offered to him. and after the manner of children they chummed up. and Marie stated that her father hated the English and she feared trouble would come of it. The Kaffir war took place in the district of Albany and Somerset, and the people of Cradock suffered little, and with natural optimism and carelessness they began to think themselves safe from attack. On a certain Sunday Leblanc had gone out to the hills, where he believed he had located a copper vein, and, leaving his horse loose, had a -bottle of peach brandy and fell asleep. His horse wandered away, and later, when he was searching for it, he found it in possession of two Kaffirs, who were really looking for the owner of the straying animal. Without asking questions'Leblanc shot one of the Kaffirs, and this happened to be the eldest son and heir of a. chief. Leblanc decided to say nothing -about the matter to Henri Marais. Allan Quartermain, at his own hoi.'.'e. is warned by an old Hottentot that the Red Kaffirs were e-oing to wipe out the Marais homestead because Leblanc had shot. Quabie's son. With little more than half-an-hotir before dawn, Allan set off for the 15-mile ride to Maraisfontein with Hans, the Hottentot, and arrived just in time to get into the house before the Kaffirs closed round. Henri Marais was away, and there were only four sruns in the house. Preparations were rapidly made to resist the attack.

CHAPTER ll.—(Continued). Now that we had made such little preparations as we could, which, :by the way, I supplemented by causing some furniture to be piled up against the front and back doors, there came a pause, which, speaking for my own part—being, after - all, only a lad at the time found very trying* to the nerves. * There I stood at my window with the two guns, one a double-barrel and one a single roer, or elephant gun, that took a tremendous charge, but both, be it remembered, flint locks; for, although percussion cape had been introduced, we were a little behind ! f the times in Cradock. There, too, 1 crouched on the ground beside me, holding the; ammunition ready for re-loading, her long, black hair flowing about her shoulders, ; was Marie Marais, now : i a well-grown young woman. In the intense- silence aha whispered to me:,' • -■' \ " Why did you come here, Allan? : ; ' You were safe yonder, and now you will probbaly be killed." ' " To try to save you," I answered simply. " What would you have had me do?" "To try to save me Oh! that is good of you, but you should have thought of yourself." " Then I x should still have thought of you, Marie.'* ; "Why, Allan ?",, • " Because you are myself and more than myself. If "anything, happened to you, what would my life be to me?" " I don't quite understand, Allan," she replied, staring down at the floor. "Tell me, what do you mean?" * ' , " Mean, you silly girl," I said; "what can I mean, except that I love you, which I thought you knew long ago." . "Oh she said " now I understand." Then she ; raised herself upon her knees, and held up her face vto me to kiss," adding, " There, that's my answer, the first and perhaps the last. Thank you, Allan dear; I am glad to have heard that, for i you eee one 'or both "of ub may ; die soon." | Au:As;Tsh'e"v spoke > the words, on 'I assegai flashed through the window-place, passing just between our heads. So we gave over love-making and turned our attention to war.■".'-''■; --'■•:... .■:-■-'"'"V-- :; "'■' -V• •* -

Now the light was beginning to t grow, flowing { ; out of . the pearly eastern "sky; but no attack had yet been - delivered,! al-'-though that one ; was imminent that spear fixed in the plaster of the wall behind us showed clearly. Perhaps the Kaffirs had been frightened by the galloping of horses through their, line in/the dark, not knowing how many of them there might have been. Or perhaps they were waiting to see better where to deliver their onset. These were the ideas that occurred to me, but both were wrong. -; »"-'■••* They were staying their hands until the mist lifted a. little from the hollow! below the stead where -the cattle kraals ; were situated, for while the fog remained they could not see to get the beasts out. These they wished to make sure of and drive away before the fighti began, lest during its progress something should happen to rob them oftheir booty.' ;'-> .;-/'•/"';. ! "v a; ?. Presently, from these kraals, where / the Heer Marais's;; horned beast& and sheep were penned at night, about one hundred and fifty of the former and - some two thousand of the latter, to say nothing of the horses, for he was a large and prosperous farmer,,there arose a sound - of bellowing, neighing, and baaing, and with it that of the shouting of men: , ": " They are driving off the stock," said Marie. " Oh! my poor father, he ; is; ruined; it will break his heart." - " Bad enough," I answered, " but there are things that might be worse. Hark !" As I spoke there came a sound of stamping feet and of a wild war chant. ::Then in the edge' of the mist that hung above the hollow where the cattle kraals were, figures appeared, moving swiftly to ; and fro, looking ghostly and unreal. The ; Kaffirs were marshalling their men for the attack. A minute more audit had begun. On up the slope they came in long, wavering lines, several hundreds of them, whist- ■ ling and screaming, shaking their spears, their war-plumes and hair trappings blown back by the breeze, the lust of slaughter in their rolling eyes. :'\ Two or three of them had guns, which they fired as they ran, but where the bullets went I do not know, over the house > probably. -v v kft '.*'•'--: I called out to Leblanc and the Kaffirs not to shoot till I did, for I knew that they were poor marksmen and that much depended upon our first volley being effec- ; tive. Then as the captain of this attack came within thirty yards of the stoep— for now the light, growing swiftly, was strong enough to enable me to distinguish him bv his \ apparel and the rifle which he held—l loosed* at him with the roer and shot him dead. Indeed the heavy bullet passing through his body; mortally wounded another of the Quabies behind. These were the first men that I ever killed in war. As they fell Leblanc, and • the rest of our people fired also, the slugs from their guns doing great execution at that range, which was just long enough ; to allow them to scatter. When ;; the i smoke cleared a little I saw that nearly a dozen men were down, and that the rest, dismayed by this reception, had halted. If they had come on then, "i while we were loading, doubtless 1 they might have rushed the place; but, being unused to the terrible effects of firearms, they paused, amazed. A number of them, twenty or- thirty perhaps, clustered about the bodies of ; the - fallen Kaffirs, and, seizing my second gun, I fired both barrels at these with such fearful effect^tbat* the whole regiment- took to; their, heels and fledpieaving their dead and wounded on the ground. As they ran our servants cheered, \h but I called -to them to be silent and load swiftly, knowing well that the enemy would soon return. ' ■ For a time, however, nothing happened, although we could hear them talking somewhere ? near • the cattle kraal, about a! hundred i and fifty yards; away. ; Marie took advantage of this pause, I remember, to fetch food and distribute it among us. I, for one, was glad enough to gti it. T Now the 'sun was up,; a sight for which I thanked - heaven, for, at; any rate, f we. could no longer be surprised. Also, with the daylight, some of my fear passed away, since darkness always makes danger twice - as ; terrible to • man and beast. Whilst we were still eating and fortifying the window-places as best we'could, so as L to make them difficult to enter« a single

Kaffir appeared, waving above his head a! stick to which was tied a ; white oxtail as a sign . of , truce. »« I ordered K that no > oh© should fire, and when the man, who was a bold fellow, had reached the spot where* th© dead : : captain lay, called.' to him, ask- :; ing his business, for -1 ;: could speak Ma language well. He answered that (he had come with i message from QuabieM- This was the message : that - Quabie's eldest son ; had * been: ■ cruelly" murdered by;!- the fat J white man called " Vulture," who lived with the Heer Marais, and i that he/ Quabie, would have ■blood for blood. ; Still, he did not wish to kill the young white xhief tainess' (that was / Marie) or the others in the house, with whom he - had no ■ ; quarrel. * Therefore .if we would give up the fat white man thathe might, make him " die slowly," Quabie would.' be content - with his life and with - the cattle that he had already taken . : by way of a fine, and leave us and the house unmolested. - - ;.-/.;.<^/■•/-v',:"''-

Now, when Leblanc ? understood th© nature of. this offer he went perfectly 'mad with mingled fear j and - rage, and began to shout and swear in French. / v - "Be silent," I said "we do not mean to surrender ' you, although you have' brought all this trouble on us. ,: Your chance of life is as good as ours. ■ Are you not ashamed to *act- so before these black people?" i : -C> 7/./ ~; >' - When at last he grew more or less quiet I called to the messenger: that we white folk were not in the habit of abandoning each other, and that, we would live or die together. Still, I bade ihim, tell Quabie , that if -we did die, the ; vengeance taken on him. and all his people .would' be to wipe them out till not one lof them was left, and therefore that he would do well not to cause any of our blood to flow. , Also, I added, that we had thirty men in the house (which, of course, was a lie) and; plenty of- ammunition and food, so > that if "he chose to continue ' the attack it would be. the worse for him and his tribe.

On hearing this the herald shouted back that we should everyone of us be dead before noon if he had his way. Still, he would report my -words faithfully to Quabie and bring his answer. _■ _. 1, Then he turned and began to walk off. Just as he did ■so a - shot was fired from the ; house, ? and - the l man pitched i forward to the ground, then -rose again and staggered back ' towards his people, with his right ,\ shoulder shattered and his arm swinging. ;';;■-. "Who did that?" I asked ; through the) smoke, which prevented me from seeing. /- "I, parbleu," shouted Leblanc. . " Sa- 1 pristi! that black devil wanted to torture me, Leblanc, 'the friend of the great Napoleon. > Well, at '■ least I have .tortured him whom I meant to kill." ■'■:■:" Yes/you fool," I answered ; " and we, too, ; shall be tortured because \of your wickedness. s; You have shot:.a/ messenger carrying a flag.of truce, and .that the Quabies will , never forgive. /Oh 1... I tell you that you have hit us; as well as him, who had it not been for you j might have been spared." These words I said i quite quietly: and in Dutch, so that our Kaffirs might understand them, though really I was boiling with wrath.

But Leblanc did hot answer quietly. ..1" Who are you," .; he shouted, ". you wretched little Englishman, who dare* to lecture me, 0 Leblanc, the friend of the great Napoleon?" /Nov/ I drew my pistol and walked up to the man. " "Be quiet, you drunken sot," I said, for I guessed that he had drunk more of „; the brandy in the darkness. "If you are "" not quiet and do not obey me,, who am in command here, either I will blow your brains out, or I will give you : [ to these : : men," and, I pointed to Hans and the ; Kaffirs, who had gathered round him, muttering ominously. "Do you know, what they will;do with you? *They will throw you out. of the house, and leave" you to settle' your quarrel with ■ alone." .Leblanc looked first at the pistol, and next at the faces of the natives, and saw, something in i one or other of them,\ or in both, that caused him to change his note. • "Pardon, monsieur," he said; "I was excited. I knew not what I said. If you are young I you are brave' and '. clever, and I will obeyhyou," and he went to V.? i station and began to re-load his gun. As he did so a great shout of fury rose ' from the cattle -kraal.. The -. wounded herald had j reached -. the Quabies and Was telling them' of the ■ treachery ; of the whits - people. CHAPTER 111. -the .asscur. , r . The second Quabie advance did not be« gin till ' about half-past . Feven." Even savages love their lives and appreciate! the fact that \ wounds hurt very much, and these were no exception to the rule. Their first rush bad taught them, a bitter lesson, of which the fruit was evident in the crippled or dying men' who rolled to and fro baked 1 in the hot sun'within a few yards of the stoep, not to speak of' those"; - who would neirer stir v again. Now,, the space around the house, being quite; open and bare of cover, it:was obvious that it could not be stormed without farther heavy losses. .„ In order to avoid- such losses a civilised people would have (advanced by means of trenches, but of these the Quabies knew nothing; moreover, ' digging tools were'lacking to them. ■<

oo 10 came aoouii mat tney nit upon another, and, in the circumstances, a'not inefficient expedient. The cattle < kraal was built of rough, nnmortared stones.' ■ Those stones, they took, each man carrying two; or I three, which, rushing" forward, they ■ piled ;up into scattered rough defences of about, eighteen ; inches or two feet high. These r defences were instantly 't occupied by as many, warriors as could take shelter behind them, lying one .on top of the other. Of course, those savages who 'carlied *■ the first stones : were : exposed '= to ? our fire, with 'the result that many of themfell, but there; were always plenty! more behind. h As .they were being- built at a dozen different points, and we had but seven guns, before wo could reload a) certain schanz, "'■ of which perhaps the v first builders had fallen, would be raised so high that our -slugs could no longer jrarfa those who lay behind it. Also, our supply of 'ammunition was limited, the constant expenditure wasted-it.so much that at length only about six charges per man remained. At last, indeed, was obliged to order the firing to - cease, so that we; might reserve oursaltrea for the great rush which ■ could not now be much delayed. Finding that they were no longer harassed by our bullets, the Quabies advanced more % rapidly, /directing their \ attack upon the south end of the house, where there was but one window, and thus avoiding the fire that* might ibe , poured upon them from the various openings under the verandah. ; At first >, I 1 wondered why they selected this end, till Marie reminded me" that • this ; part of . the - dwelling was thatched with reeds, whereas the rest of the budding, which had been -erected more recently, was slated. ; Their object; was to fire the roof. So soon -as * their last wall was near enough (that is, about , half-past ten of the clock),' they began to throw into the thatch assegais to -which ;■ were attached ; bunches of burning grass. /Many of these went out, but at length, as we gathered from-their shouts, one caught. Within ten minutes this part of the house was burning. Now our state became desperate. We retreated across the central passage,"; fearing lest the blazing rafters should; fall upon our natives, • who were : losing ; heart and would no longer stay * beneath them. But the* Quabies, ;; more'bold, .";;- clambered -'? in; through'.' the soutu window, and attacked us in the doorway of the larger sittingroom. Here the • final fight began. As they rushed at us we shot till they went down in heaps. Almost at our last charge they gave back, and just then the roof fell upon them. . " . ". ' Oh, what a terrible scene was that! The dense clouds ;of I smoke, the screams of \ the trapped and burning men, the turmoil, the agony.' The front door was burst* In "by a flank onslaught. (To be continued daily.)