when owen heard that it was hokosa who had poisoned him, he groanedand hid his face in his hands, and thus he remained till the evil talewas finished. now he lifted his head and spoke, but not to hokosa.
"o god," he said, "i thank thee that at the cost of my poor life thouhast been pleased to lead this sinner towards the gate ofrighteousness, and to save alive those whom thou hast sent me togather to thy fold."then he looked at hokosa and said:--"unhappy man, is not your cup full enough of crime, and have you notsufficiently tempted the mercy of heaven, that you would add to allyour evil deeds that of self-murder?""it is better to die to-day by my own hand," answered hokosa, "thanto-morrow among the mockery of the people to fall a victim to yourvengeance, messenger.""vengeance! did i speak to you of vengeance? who am i that i shouldtake vengeance upon one who has repented? hokosa, freely do i forgiveyou all, even as in some few days i hope to be forgiven. freely andfully from my heart do i forgive you, nor shall my lips tell one wordof the sin that you have worked against me."now, when hokosa heard those words, for a moment he stared stupefied;then he fell upon his knees before owen, and bowing his head till ittouched the teacher's feet, he burst into bitter weeping.
"rise and hearken," said owen gently. "weep not because i have shownkindness to you, for that is my duty and no more, but for your sins inyour own heart weep now and ever. yet for your comfort i tell you thatif you do this, of a surety they shall be forgiven to you. /hokosa,you have indeed lost that which you loved, and henceforth you mustfollow after that which you did not desire. in the very grave of erroryou have found truth, and from the depths of sin you shall pluckrighteousness. ay, that cross which you deemed accursed shall lift youup on high, for by it you shall be saved./"hokosa heard and shivered.
"who set those words between your lips, messenger?" he whispered.
"who set them, hokosa? nay, i know not--or rather, i know well. he setthem who teaches us to speak all things that are good.""it must be so, indeed," replied hokosa. "yet i have heard thembefore; i have heard them from the lips of the dead, and with themwent this command: that when they fell upon my ears again i should'take them for a sign, and let my heart be turned.'""tell me that tale," said owen.
so he told him, and this time it was the white man who trembled.
"horrible has been your witchcraft, o son of darkness!" said owen,when he had finished; "yet it would seem that it was permitted to youto find truth in the pit of sorcery. obey, obey, and let your heart beturned. the dead told you that you should be set high above the nationand its king, and that saying i cannot read, though it may befulfilled in some fashion of which to-day you do not think. at theleast, the other saying is true, that in the end comes judgment, andthat there shall the sin and the atonement strive together; thereforefor judgment prepare yourself. and now depart, for i must talk withthe king as to this matter of the onslaught of hafela.""then, that will be the signal for my death, for what king can forgiveone who has plotted such treachery against him?" said hokosa.
"fear not," answered owen, "i will soften his heart. go you into thechurch and pray, for there you shall be less tempted; but before yougo, swear to me that you will work no evil on yourself.""i swear it, messenger, since now i desire to live, if only forawhile, seeing that death shuts every door."then he went to the church and waited there. an hour later he wassummoned, and found the king seated with owen.
"man," said nodwengo, "i am told by the messenger here that you haveknowledge of a plot which my brother the prince hafela has made tofall treacherously upon me and put me and my people to the spear. howyou come to be acquainted with the plot, and what part you have playedin it, i will not now inquire, for so much have i promised to themessenger. yet i warn you it will be well that you should tell me allyou know, and that should you lie to me or attempt to deceive me, thenyou shall surely die.""king, hear all the truth," answered hokosa in a voice of desperatecalm. "i have knowledge of the plot, for it was i who wove it; butwhether or not hafela will carry it out altogether i cannot say, foras yet no word has reached me from him. king, this was the plan that imade." and he told him everything.
"it is fortunate for you, hokosa," said nodwengo grimly when he hadfinished, "that i gave my word to the messenger that no harm shouldcome to you, seeing that you have repented and confessed. this iscertain, that hafela has listened to your evil counsels, for i gave myconsent to his flight from this land with all his people, and alreadyhis women and children have crossed the mountain path in thousands.
well, this i swear, that their feet shall tread it no more, for wherethey are thither he shall go to join them, should he chance to live todo so. hokosa, begone, and know that day and night you will bewatched. should you so much as dare to approach one of the gates ofthe great place, that moment you shall die.""have no fear, o king," said hokosa humbly, "for i have emptied all myheart before you. the past is the past, and cannot be recalled. forthe future, while it pleases you to spare me, i am the most loyal ofyour servants.""can a man empty a spring with a pitcher?" asked the kingcontemptuously. "by to-morrow this heart of yours may be full againwith the blackest treachery, o master of sin and lies. many months agoi spared you at the prayer of the messenger; and now at his prayer ispare you again, yet in doing so i think that i am foolish.""nay, i will answer for him," broke in owen. "let him stay here withme, and set your guard without my gates.""how do i know that he will not murder you, friend?" asked the king.
"this man is a snake whom few can nurse with safety.""he will not murder me," said owen smiling, "because his heart isturned from evil to good; also, there is little need to murder a dyingman.""nay, speak not so," said the king hastily; "and as for this man, beit as you will. come, i must take counsel with my captains, for ourdanger is near and great."so it came about that hokosa stayed in the house of owen.
on the morrow the great place was full of the bustle of preparation,and by dawn of the following day an /impi/ of some seventeen thousandspears had started to ambush hafela and his force in a certain woodeddefile through which he must pass on his way to the mountain passwhere his women and children were gathered. the army was not large, atleast in the eyes of the people of fire who, before the death ofumsuka and the break up of the nation, counted their warriors by tensof thousands. but after those events the most of the regiments haddeserted to hafela, leaving to nodwengo not more than two-and-twentythousand spears upon which he could rely. of these he kept less than athird to defend the great place against possible attacks, and all therest he sent to fall upon hafela far away, hoping there to make an endof him once and for all. this counsel the king took against the betterjudgment of many of his captains, and as the issue proved, it wasmistaken.
when owen told hokosa of it, that old general shrugged his shoulders.
"the king would have done better to keep his regiments at home," hesaid, "and fight it out with hafela here, where he is well prepared.
yonder the country is very wide, and broken, and it may well chancethat the /impi/ will miss that of hafela, and then how can the kingdefend this place with a handful, should the prince burst upon him atthe head of forty thousand men? but who am i that i should givecounsel for which none seek?""as god wills, so shall it befall," answered owen wearily; "but oh!
the thought of all this bloodshed breaks my heart. i trust that itsbeatings may be stilled before my eyes behold the evil hour."on the evening of that day hokosa was baptised. the ceremony tookplace, not in the church, for owen was too weak to go there, but inthe largest room of his house and before some few witnesses chosenfrom the congregation. even as he was being signed with the sign ofthe cross, a strange and familiar attraction caused the convert tolook up, and behold, before him, watching all with mocking eyes, stoodnoma his wife. at length the rite was finished, and the littleaudience melted away, all save noma, who stood silent and beautiful asa statue, the light of mockery still gleaming in her eyes. then shespoke, saying:--"i greet you, husband. i have returned from doing your business afar,and if this foolishness is finished, and the white man can spare you,i would talk with you alone.""i greet you, wife," answered hokosa. "say out your say, for none arepresent save us three, and from the messenger here i have no secrets.""what, husband, none? do you ever talk to him of certain fruit thatyou ripened in a garden yonder?""from the messenger i have no secrets," repeated hokosa in a heavyvoice.
"then his heart must be full of them indeed, and it is little wonderthat he seems sick," replied noma, gibing. "tell me, hokosa, is ittrue that you have become a christian, or would you but fool the whiteman and his following?""it is true."at the words her graceful shape was shaken with a little gust ofsilent laughter.
"the wizard has turned saint," she said. "well, then, what of thewizard's wife?""you were my wife before i became christian; if the messenger permitsit, you can still abide with me.""if the messenger permits it! so you have come to this, hokosa, thatyou must ask the leave of another man as to whether or no you shouldkeep your own wife! there is no other thing that i could not havethought of you, but this i would never have believed had i not heardit from your lips. say now, do you still love me, hokosa?""you know well that i love you, now and always," he answered, in avoice that sounded like a groan; "as you know that for love of you ihave done many sins from which otherwise i should have turned aside.""grieve not over them, hokosa; after all, in such a count as yoursthey will make but little show. well, if you love me, i hate you,though through your witchcraft your will yet has the mastery of mine.
i demand of you now that you should loose that bond, for i do notdesire to become a christian; and surely, o most good and holy man,having one wife already, it will not please you henceforth to live insin with a heathen woman."now hokosa turned to owen:--"in the old days," he said, "i could have answered her; but now i amfallen; or raised up--at the least i am changed and cannot. o prophetof heaven, tell me what i shall do.""sever the bond that you have upon her and let her go," answered owen.
"this love of yours is unnatural, unholy and born of witchcraft; havedone with it, or if you cannot, at the least deny it, for such awoman, a woman who hates you, can work you no good. moreover, sinceshe is a second wife, you being a christian, are bound to free hershould she so desire.""she can work me no good, messenger, that i know; but i know also thatwhile she struggles in the net of my will she can work me no evil. ifi loose the net and the fish swims free, it may be otherwise.""loose it," answered owen, "and leave the rest to providence.
henceforth, hokosa, do right, and take no thought for the morrow, forthe morrow is with god, and what he decrees, that shall befall.""i hear you," said hokosa, "and i obey." for a while he rocked himselfto and fro, staring at the ground, then he lifted his head andspoke:--"woman," he said, "the knot is untied and the spell is broken. begone,for i release you and i divorce you. flesh of my flesh have you been,and soul of my soul, for in the web of sorceries are we knit together.
yet be warned and presume not too far, for remember that which i havelaid down i can take up, and that should i choose to command, you muststill obey. farewell, you are free."noma heard, and with a sigh of ecstasy she sprang into the air as aslave might do from whom the fetters have been struck off.
"ay," she cried, "i am free! i feel it in my blood, i who have lain inbondage, and the voice of freedom speaks in my heart and the breath offreedom blows in my nostrils. i am free from you, o dark and accursedman; but herein lies my triumph and revenge--/you/ are not free fromme. in obedience to that white fool whom you have murdered, you haveloosed me; but you i will not loose and could not if i would. listennow, hokosa: you love me, do you not?--next to this new creed ofyours, i am most of all to you. well, since you have divorced me, iwill tell you, i go straight to another man. now, look your last onme; for you love me, do you not?" and she slipped the mantle from hershoulders and except for her girdle stood before him naked, andsmiled.
"well," she went on, resuming her robe, "the last words of those welove are always dear to us; therefore, hokosa, you who were myhusband, i leave mine with you. you are a coward and a traitor, andyour doom shall be that of a coward and a traitor. for my sake youbetrayed umsuka, your king and benefactor; for your own sake youbetrayed nodwengo, who spared you; and now, for the sake of yourmiserable soul, you have betrayed hafela to nodwengo. nay, i know thetale, do not answer me, but the end of it--ah! that is yet to learn.
lie there, snake, and lick the hand that you have bitten, but i, thebird whom you have loosed, i fly afar--taking your heart with me!" andsuddenly she turned and was gone.
presently hokosa spoke in a thick voice:--"messenger," he said, "this cross that you have given me to bear isheavy indeed.""yes, hokosa," answered owen, "for to it your sins are nailed."
