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New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16627, 25 August 1917, Page 3 (Supplement)

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BY H. RIDER HAGGARD, Author of " Kins Solomon's Mines." « Allan £•«» oj th ß World?*' aD She. The People of the Mist " Cleopatra." (COPYRIGHT.) CHAPTER XlV.—(Continued.) On the third morning, that of the day of the full moon, Goza came and informed mo that Zikali had arrived at the Valley of Bones before dawn. I asked him how he, who was so old and feeble, had walked so far. He answered that he had not walked, or so he understood, but had been carried in a litter, or rather in two litters, one for himself and one for his spirit." This staggered me even where Zikali was concerned, and I inquired what on earth he meant. " Macumazahn, how can I tell you who only know what I myself am told?" he exclaimed. " Such is the report that the Opener of Roads has made himself by messengers, to the king. None have seen him, for he journeys only in the night. .Moreover, when Zikali passes, all men are blind and even women's tongues grow dumb. Perchance by ' his spirit' he means his medicine or the witch-doctoress Nombe, whom folks say he created, since none have seen her father or her mother or heard who begat her; or perchance his snako is hid behind the mats of the second litter, if in truth there was one " '• It may be so," I id, feeling that it was useless to pursue the matter- "Now Goza. I would see Zikali and at once." ' "That cannot be, Macumazahn, since he has given out that he will see no one, who rests after his journey, and the king has issued orders that any who attempt to

approach the Valley of Bones shall die, even if they be of the royal blood. Yes, if so much as a dog dares to draw near that place, it must die. The soldiers who ring it round have killed one already, so strict are the orders; also a boy who ' went towards it searching for a. calf, which I think a bad omen." "Then I will send a message to him," I persisted"Do so," mocked Goza. "Look, yonder - sails an eagle. Ask it to take your message, for nothing else will. Be not 1 foolish, Macumazahn, but have patience, for to-night you shall see the Opener of Roads when he attends the council of the king in the Valley of Bones. This is the order of the kingthat at the rising of the moon I lead you thither, so that you may be present at the council in case he J wishes to ask any questions about the i white people or to give you any message to the Government in Natal. Therefore I at sunset I will come for you. Till then, | farewell. I have business that cannot wait." " Can I see the king?" I cried. " Not so, .Macumazahn. All to-day he makes sacrifice to the spirits of his > ancestors and must not be approached," he called back as he departed. Availing myself of the permission of the king to go where I would, a little later in the day I walked out of the town towards the Valley of Bones in order to ascertain for myself whether what Goza had told me was true. So it proved, for about three hundred yards from the mouth of the valley, which at that distance looked like a black hole in the hills, I found soldiers stationed about ten paces apart in a great circle which ran right up the hillside and vanished over the crestStrolling up to one of these, whose face 1 thought I knew, I asked him if he would let me pass to see my friend, the Opener o£ Roads. The man, who was something of a humourist, replied : " Certainly, if you wish, Macumazahn. That is to say, I will let your spirit pass, but to do this, if you come one step nearer I must first make a hole in you_ with my spear, out of which it can fly.' I thanked him for his information, and gave him some snuff, which he took gratefull v, being bored by his long vigil. Then 1 a'cked him how many people the great witch-doctor had with them- He said he did not know, but he had seen a number of tall men come to the mouth of the donga to fetch food that had been placed there. Again I inquired if he had i seen any women, whereon he replied none, i Zikali being, he understood, too old to trouble himself about the other sex. Just then an officer, making his rounds, came up and looked at me so sternly that I thought it well to retreat. Evidently there was' no chance of getting through the line. On my way back I walked as near the fence of the king's house as I dared, and saw w itch -doctors passing in and out in their hideous official panoply. This told me that here also Goza had spoken the truth—the king was performing magical ceremonies, which meant that it would be impossible to approach him. In every direction I met with failure. The fates wire against me ; it lay over me like a spell. Indeed, I grew superstitious and began to think that Zikali had bewitched me, as he was said to have the power to do. Well, perhaps he had. for the mere fact of finding myself opposed by this persistent wall of difficulties and silence convinced me that there was something behind it to be learned.

and BEwh. ck ver y Ejected to my hut and *!S5J° my mare, which whinnied SL»S* v* lts nose a S ainst ffi e, for, the S 5 Was W6U fed and looked after SS.S? bast seemed M ael y M I was it™, . N ° ponder, since, like* myself, ' weaTnf Par^ d from & i*» Wand S!& -T£° n ,; After this > I ate an- 1 vS It, dozed > no more, for whenever I tried to go to deep I bought that I heard Zikali laughing at me. tn£»™i 8 -. t ! iafc wearisome day drew rink tV*' d 0 8- The «n b egan to S; a ,?, red , Mof fire, now " d SI by clouds, for the sky was otw y " i*£ fierce ra8 ' striking upon hS«« Cl °^ d ' , P e °P led th * enormous beavens ,th fantastic shapes of light, which were th.ckest " the hills herein ZKa «. VaUfl ! of , Bones - To my strained ™ . th 186I 86 clouds looked like battling armies, figures of flame warring against figures of darkness. The darkness won; no, the light broke out again and conKT d * „ 4 nd see > the ™ above them both squatted a strange black prestlT «f 0 2 n, ? d o wl * fire - Xt might L been that of Zikali magnified ten thousand times and hark! it laughed with the low reverberating voice of distant thunder. Suddenly I felt that I was no longer side 6 ' lookin S round, saw Goza at my "What do you see up there, Macumazahn that you stare so hard?" he asked, pointing at the sky with his stick. "Impia fighting," I answered briefly. "Then you must be a 'heaven-doctor,' Macumazahn, for I only see black and red clouds. Well, it is time to go to learn whether or no the impia will fight, for Zikali waits us, and the council has started already. By the wav, the king says that you will do well to put your pistol in your pocket, in case any should seek to harm you in the dark." "It is there. But, Goza, I pray you to protect mo, since in the dark bullets fly wide, and if I began to shoot, one might hit you, Goza."

He smiled, making no answer, but I noticed that during the rest of that ni"-ht he was careful to keep behind me as much as possible. Once out of the town we saw no one mtil we came to the circle of guards, who stood there like an endless line of black statues. In answer to their challenge, Goza gave some complicated password in which my name occurred, whereon they opened out and let us through. rhen we marched on to the mouth of the kloof. The place was very dark, for now ;he sun was down in the west, and th? moon in the east was cut off from us by the hills, and would not be visible here for half an hour or more. Presently I saw a spot of light. It was a small fire burning near the foot of the tongue of rock which I have described. At a distance, in front of the fire on the patch of prepared ground, squatted a number of men, between twenty and thirty of them, in a semi-circle. They were wrapped up in karosses and blankets, and in their centre sat a large figure on a chair of wood. " The king and. the Great Council," whispered Goza. One of them looked round and saw us. At some sign from the king he rose, and against the fire I saw that he was th« Prime Minister, Umnyamana. He cam« to me, and, with a nod of recognition; conducted me some paces to the right where a euphorbia tree grew among th« rank herbage. Here I found a stool placec ready, on which I sat down, Goza, who of course, was not of the council, squat ting at my side in the grass. Now I found that I was so situated thai I could not well be seen from the fire, oi even the rock above it, while I, by moving my head a little, could see both quiti clearly. After this, as the last reflectioi from the sunk sun faded, the darkness in

creased until nothing remained visible except the fire and the massive outline of the rock behind. The silence was complete, for none of the council spoke. They were so still that they might have been dead, so atill that a beetle suddenly booming past me made me start as though it had been a bullet. The general effect was almost mesmeric. I felt as though I were going to sleep and yet my mind remained painfully awake, so that I was able to think things out. I understood clearly that the body of men to my left had come together to decide whether there should be peace or war; that there were divisions of opinion among them; that the king was ready to follow the party which should prove itself the strongest, but thai the real voice of decision would speak from behind that fire. It was the cast ' of the Delphic Oracle over again with a priest instead of a priestess, and what a priest! It was clear to me also that Zikali, who knew human nature and especially savage human nature, hac arranged all this with a view to scenic and, indeed, supernatural effect. More over, he had done it very well, since 1 knew myself that in this place and houi words and occurrences would affect mi deeply, at which I should have laughec in the sunlight and open plain. Alreadj the Zulus were affected, for I could heai the teeth of some of them chattering, anc Goza began to shiver at my side. H< muttered that it was cold, and lied, fo: the donga was extremely hot and stuffy. At length the silver radiance of th' moon spread itself on the high curtain o the dark. Then the edge of her orb ap peared above the hill and an arrow o white light fell into the little valley. I i struck upon the rbck and revealed a mis shapen, white-headed figure squatted be tween it and the fire, the figure of Zikali. I (To be continued en Wednesday next.)