"what would you?" asked hokosa of the herald as he halted a shortspear-cast from the wall.
"my master, the prince hafela, desires to treat with your master,nodwengo. many men have fallen on either side, and if this war goeson, though victory must be his at last, many more will fall.
therefore, if any plan can be found, he desires to spare their lives."now hokosa spoke with the king, and answered:--"then let hafela come beneath the wall and we will talk with him.""not so," answered the herald. "does a buck walk into an open pit?
were the prince to come here it might chance that your spears wouldtalk with him. let nodwengo follow me to the camp yonder, where wepromise him safe conduct.""not so," answered hokosa. "'does a buck walk into an open pit?' setout your message, and we will consider it.""nay, i am but a common man without authority; but i am charged tomake you another offer, and if you will not hear it then there is anend. let hokosa advance alone to that flat rock you see yonder, andthere he shall be met, also alone, by one having power to talk withhim, namely, by the lady noma, who was once his wife. thus they canconfer together midway between the camps and in full sight of both ofthem, nor, no man being near, can he find cause to be afraid of anunarmed girl. what say you?"hokosa turned and talked with the king.
"i think it well that you should not go," said nodwengo. "the offerseems fair, and the stone is out of reach of their spears; still,behind it may lurk a scheme to kill or capture you, for hafela is verycunning.""it may be so, king," answered hokosa; "still, my heart tells me it iswisest that i should do this thing, for our case is desperate, and ifi do it not, that may be the cause of the death of all of usto-morrow. at the worst, i am but one man, and it matters little whatmay chance to me; nor shall i come to any harm unless it is the willof heaven that it should be so; and be sure of this, that out of theharm will arise good, for where i go there the spirit of the messengergoes with me. remember that he bade you listen to my counsel while iremain with you, seeing that i do not speak of my own wisdom.
therefore let me go, and if it should chance that i am taken, troublenot about the matter, for thus it will be fated to some great end.
above all, though often enough i have been a traitor in the past, donot dream that i betray you, keeping in mind that so to do would be tobetray my own soul, which very soon must render its account on high.""as you will, hokosa," answered the king. "and now tell those rebeldogs that on these terms only will i make peace with them--that theywithdraw across the mountains by the path which their women andchildren have taken, leaving this land for ever without liftinganother spear against us. if they will do this, notwithstanding allthe wickedness and slaughter that they have worked, i will sendcommand to my /impi/ to let them go unharmed. if they will not dothis, i put my trust in the god i worship and will fight this fray outto the end, knowing that if i and my people perish, they shall perishalso."now nodwengo himself spoke to the herald who was waiting beyond thewall.
"go back to him you serve," he said, "and say that hokosa will meether who was his wife upon the flat stone and talk with her in thesight of both armies, bearing my word with him. at the sound of theblowing of a horn shall each of them advance unarmed and alone fromeither camp. say to my brother also that it will indeed be ill for himif he attempts treachery upon hokosa, for the man who causes his bloodto flow will surely die, and after death shall be accursed for ever."the herald went, and presently a horn was blown.
"now it comes into my mind that we part for the last time," saidnodwengo in a troubled voice as he took the hand of hokosa.
"it may be so, king; in my heart i think that it is so; yet i do notaltogether grieve thereat, for the burden of my past sins crushes me,and i am weary and seek for rest. yet we do not part for the lasttime, because whatever chances, in the end i shall make my report toyou yonder"--and he pointed upwards. "reign on for long years, king--reign well and wisely, clinging to the faith, for thus at the lastshall you reap your reward. farewell!"now again the horn blew, and in the bright moonlight the slight figureof noma could be seen advancing towards the stone.
then hokosa sprang from the wall and advanced also, till at the samemoment they climbed upon the stone.
"greeting, hokosa," said noma, and she stretched out her hand to him.
by way of answer he placed his own behind his back, saying: "to yourbusiness, woman." yet his eyes searched her face--the face which inhis folly he still loved; and thus it came about that he never sawsundry of the dead bodies, which lay in the shadow of the stone, beginto quicken into life, and inch by inch to arise, first to their kneesand next to their feet. he never saw or heard them, yet, as the wordsleft his lips, they sprang upon him from every side, holding him sothat he could not move.
"away with him!" cried noma with a laugh of triumph; and at hercommand he was half-dragged and half-carried across the open space andthrust violently over a stone wall into the camp of hafela.
now nodwengo and his soldiers saw what had happened, and with a shoutof "treachery!" some hundreds of them leapt into the plain and beganto run towards the koppie to rescue their envoy.
hokosa heard the shout, and wrenching himself round, beheld them.
"back!" he cried in a clear, shrill voice. "back! children ofnodwengo, and leave me to my fate, for the foe waits for you bythousands behind the wall!"a soldier struck him across the mouth, bidding him be silent; but hiswarning had come to the ears of nodwengo, causing him and his warriorsto halt and begin a retreat. it was well that they did so, for seeingthat they would not come on, from under the shelter of the wall and ofevery rock and stone soldiers jumped up by companies and charged,driving them back to their own schanse. but the king's men had thestart of them, and had taken shelter behind it, whence they greetedthem with a volley of spears, killing ten and wounding twice as manymore.
now it was hokosa's turn to laugh, and laugh he did, saying:--"my taking is well paid for already, prince. a score of your bestwarriors is a heavy price to give for the carcase of one weary andaging man. but since i am here among you, captured with so much painand loss, tell me of your courtesy why i have been brought."then the prince shook his spear at him and cursed him.
"would you learn, wizard and traitor?" he cried. "we have caught youbecause we know well that while you stay yonder your magic counselwill prevail against our might; whereas, when once we hold you fast,nodwengo will wander to his ruin like a blind and moonstruck man, foryou were to him both eyes and brain.""i understand," said hokosa calmly. "but, prince, how if i left mywisdom behind me?""that may not be," answered hafela, "since even a wizard cannot throwhis thoughts into the heart of another from afar.""ah! you think so, prince. well, ask noma yonder if i cannot throw mythoughts into her heart from afar: though of late i have not chosen todo so, having put aside such spells. but let it pass, and tell me,having taken me, what is it you propose to do with me? first, however,i will give you for nothing some of that wisdom which you grudge tonodwengo the king. be advised by me, prince, and take the terms thathe offers to you--namely, to turn this very night and begone from theland without harm or hindrance. will you receive my gift, hafela?""what will happen if i refuse it?" asked the prince slowly.
now hokosa looked at the dust at his feet, then he gazed upwardssearching the heavens, and answered:--"did not i tell you yesterday? i think that this will happen. i think--but who can be quite sure of the future, hafela?--that you and themost of your army by this hour to-morrow night will be lying fastasleep about this place, with jackals for your bedfellows."the prince heard and trembled at his words, for he believed that if hewilled it, hokosa could prophesy the truth.
"accursed dog!" he said. "i am minded to be guided by your saying; butbe sure of this, that if i follow it, you shall stay here to sleepwith jackals, yes, this very night."then noma broke in.
"be not mad, hafela!" she said. "will you listen to the lies that thisrenegade tells to work upon your fears? will you abandon victory whenit lies within your grasp, and in place of a great king become afugitive whom all men mock at, an outcast to be hunted down at leisureby that brother against whom you dared to rebel, but on whom you didnot dare to shut your hand when he lay in its hollow? silence thetongue of this captive rogue for ever and become a man again, with theheart of a man.""now," said hokosa gently; "many would find it hard to believe that ireared this woman from childhood, nursing her with my own hands whenshe was sick and giving her of the best i had; that afterwards, whenyou stole her from me, prince, i sinned deeply to win her back. that imarried her and sinned yet more deeply to give her the greatness shedesired; and at last, of my own will, i loosed the bonds by which iheld her, although i could not thrust her memory from my heart. yet ihave earned it all, for i made her the tool of my witchcraft, andtherefore it is just that she should turn and rend me. well, if youlike it, take her counsel, prince, and let mine go, for i care nothingwhich you take; only, forgive me if i prophesy once more and for thelast time--i am sure that nodwengo yonder spoke truth when he badeyour herald tell me that he who causes my blood to flow shall surelydie and for it be called to a strict account. prince, i am a christiannow, and believe me, whatever you may do, i seek no revenge upon you;having been myself forgiven so much, in my turn i have learned toforgive. yet it may be ill for that man who causes my blood to flow.""let him be strangled," said a captain who stood near by, "and thenthere will be no blood in the matter.""friend," answered hokosa, "you should have been not a soldier but apleader of causes. true it is then that the prince will only cause mylife to fly, but whether that is a smaller sin i leave you to judge.""keep him prisoner," said another, "till we learn how these mattersend.""nay," answered hafela, "for then he will surely outwit us and escape.
noma, what shall we do with this man who was your husband? tell us,for you should know best how to deal with him.""let me think," she answered, and she looked first at the groundbeneath her, next around her, then upwards toward the skies.
now they stood at the foot of the koppie, on the flat top of whichgrew the great tree of doom, that for generations had served thepeople of fire as a place of execution of their criminals, or of thosewho fell under the ban of the king or of the witch-doctors. among andabove the finger-like fronds of this strange and dreadful-looking treetowered that white dead limb shaped like a cross, which owen hadpointed out to his disciple john, taking it to be a sign and apromise. this cross stood out clear against the sinking moon. itcaught noma's eye, and a devilish thought entered into her heart.
"you would keep this fellow alive?" she said, "and yet you would notsuffer him to escape. see, there above you is a cross such as heworships. bind him to it as he says the man whom he worships wasbound, and let that dead man help him if he may."the prince and those about noma shrank back a little in horror. theywere cruel men rendered more cruel by their superstitious fear of onewhom they believed to be uncanny; one to whom they attributed inhumanpowers which he was exercising to their destruction, but still thisdoom seemed dreadful to them. noma read their minds and went onpassionately:--"you deem me unmerciful, but you do not know what i have suffered atthis wizard's hands. for his sake and because of him i am haunted. forhis own purposes he opened the gates of distance, he sent me downamong the dwellers in death, causing me to interpret their words forhim. i did so, but the dwellers came back out of death with me, andfrom that hour they have not left me, nor will they ever leave me; fornight by night they sojourn at my side, tormenting me with terrors. hehas told me that through my mouth that spirit whom he drew into mybody prophesied that he should be 'lifted up above the people.' letthe prophecy be fulfilled, let him be lifted up, for then perchancethe ghosts will depart from me and i shall win peace and sleep. also,thus alone can you hold him safe and yet shed no blood.""be it so," said the prince. "when we plotted together of the death ofthe king, and as your price, hokosa, you bargained for the girl whom ihad chosen to wife, did i not warn you that this witch of many spells,who holds both our hearts in her little hands, should yet hound you todeath and mock you while you perished by an end of shame? what did itell you, hokosa?"now when he heard his fate, hokosa bowed his head and trembled alittle. then he lifted it, and exclaimed in a clear voice:--"it is true, prince, but i will add to your words. she shall bring/both/ of us to death. for me, i am honoured indeed in that there hasbeen allotted to me that same end which my master chose. to that crosslet my sins be fastened and with them my body."now the moon sank, but in the darkness men were found who dared toclimb the tree, taking with them strips of raw hide. they reached thetop of it, four of them, and seating themselves upon the arms of thecross, they let down a rope, the noose of which was placed about thebody of hokosa. as it tightened upon him, he turned his calm anddreadful eyes on to the eyes of noma and said to her:--"woman, i do not reproach you; but i lay this fate upon you, that youshall watch me die. thereafter, let god deal with you as he maychoose."now, when she heard these words noma shrieked aloud, for of a suddenshe felt that the power of the will of hokosa, from which she had beenfreed by him, had once more fallen upon her, and that come what mightshe was doomed to obey his last commands.
little by little the soldiers drew him up and in the darkness theybound him fast there upon the lofty cross. then they descended andleft him, and would have led noma with them from the tree. but thisthey could not do, for always she broke from them screaming, and fledback to its shadow.
then, seeing that she was bewitched, hafela commanded that they shouldbind a cloth about her mouth and leave her there till her sensesreturned to her in the sunlight--for none of them dared to stop withher in the shadow of that tree, since the odours of it were poisonousto man. also they believed the place to be haunted by evil spirits.
