Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 March 1889 — KING SOLOMON’S MINES. [ARTICLE]

KING SOLOMON’S MINES.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD. '.-I . ' ~ CHAPTER XT- Conti^vw : T; inacum. Taking our rifles andammunitloifirith UB 80 as to have Xhem : hasdy in case we had to fly, as ? suggested by Infadoos. we started boldly enough, though with inward fear and trembling. The great space in front of the king's kraal presented a very different appearance from what it had done on the previous evening. In the place.of tbqjjrim and serried ranks of warriors were company after company of Kukuana girls, ndt overdressed so far as clothing went, but each was crowned with a .wreath of floWens, and was holding a palm leaf in • one hand and a tall white lily 'the arum) in the otto r. I u the center of the open space sat I wala the king,with old Gagool at his feet, by the boy Scragga, and about a dozen guards. There were also present about a score of chiefs, amongst whom I recognized ~ most of our friends of the night before. Twala greeted us with much apparent cordiality, though I saw him fix his one eye viciously oh Uinboph. “Welcome, white men from the stars,’’ he said;“lhisis adifferent sight from what your eyes gazed on by the light of last night’s moon,but it is not Bo good a sight. Girls are pleasant, and were it not for such as these” (and be pointed round him) “we should none of us be here today; but men are better. Kisses and the tender w< rls of women are sweet, but the sound of the clashing of men’s spears, and the smell of men’s blood, are sweeter far! Would ye have wives from among our people, white men? I so, choose the fairest here, and ye shal have them, as many as ye will,” and he paused for an answer. the prospect did not seem to be without attractions to Good, who was, like most saiiors, of a susceptible nature, I, being elderly and wise, and foreseeing the endless complications that anything of the sort would involve (for women bring trouble as surely as the night follows the day), put in a hasty answer—/.“Thanks, 0 king! but we white men wed onlv with white women like ourselves. Your maidens are fair, but they are not for us!" The king laughed. “It is well. In our land there is a proverb which says, ‘Woman’s eyes are always bright; whatever the color,’ and another which savs, ‘Love her who is present, for be sure she who is absent is false to thee;’ but perhaps these things are not so in the stars. In a land where men are white all things are possible. So be it, white men, the girls will not go begging! Welcome again; and welcome, too, thou black one; if Gagool here had had her way thou wouldst have been stiff and cold now. It is lucky that thou, too, earnest from the stare; ha! ha!” “I can kill thee before thou killest me, Oh, king!” was Ignosi’s calm answer, “and thou shalt be stiff before my limbs cease to bend.” Twala started. “Thou speakest boldly, boy," he replied, angrily; “presume not too far.” “He may well be bild in whose lips are truth.' The truth is a sharp spear which flies home and fails not It is a message from ‘the stars,’ Oh, king!” Twala scowled, 'and his one eye gleamed fiercely, hut he said nothing more. “Let the dance begin,” he cried, and the next second the girls sprung forward in companies, singing a sweet song and waving the delicate palms and white flowers. On they danced, now whirling round and rotind.now meeting in mimic warfare, swaying, eddying herer» and there, coming* forward, falling back in an ordered confusion delightful to witness. At last they paused, and a beautiful young woman sprung out of the ranksand began to pirouette in front of us with a grace and vigor which would have put most ballet girls to shame. At length she fell back exhausted, and another took her place, then another and another, but none of them, either in) grace, skill or personal attractions, came up to the first. At length the king lifted his hand. “Which think ye the fairest, white men?” he asked. “The first,” said I.unthinkinfcly. Next second I regretted it, for I remembered that Infadoos had said that the fairest woman was offered as a sacrifice. “Then is my mind as your minds, and my eves as your eyes. She is the fairest; and a sorry thing it is for her, for she must die!” ■ “Ay, must die!” pined out Gagool, casting a glance from her quick eyes in the direction of the poor girl, who, as yet ignorant of the awful fate in store for her, was standing some twenty yards ofl in front of a co npany of girls, engaged in nervously picking a flower from her wreath to pieces, petal by petal. < “Why. Oh. king?” sa’-ctol, restraining my indignation with difficulty; ‘ the girl has danced well and pleased us; she is fair, too; it would be hard to reward her with death.” Twala laughed as he answered—“lt is our custom, and the figures who sit in stone yonder” (and he pointed toward the three distant peaks) “must have their due. Did I fail to put the fairest girl to death to-day misfortune , would fall upon me and my house. Thus < runs the prophecy of my people: ‘lf the | king offer not a sacrifice of a fair girl on ( the day of the dance of maidens to the I old ones who sit and watch on the' mountains, then shall he fall and his house.’ Look ye, white men, my brother, who reigned before me, offered not the sacrifice because of the tears of the woman, and he fell, and his house, and I reign in his stead. It is finished; she must die!” Then turning to the guards —“Bring her hither, Scragga, make sharp thy spear.” Two of the men stepped forward, and, as they did so, the girl, for the first time realizing her impending fate, screamed aloud and turned to fly. But the strong hands caught her fast, and brought her, struggling and weeping before us. “ What is thy name, girl?” piped Gagool. “What! wilt thou not answer; shall the king’s son do his work at once?” At this hint Scragga, looking more -evil than ever,advanced a step and lifted his great spear, and is he did so I saw Sir Henry’s hand creep to his revolver. The poor girl caught the glint of the cold steel through her tears, and it sobered her anguish. She ceased struggling, but merely clasped her hands convulsively, and stood shuddering from head to foei. “See,” cried Scragga in high glee, “she shrinks from the sight of my little plaything even before she has tasted it," I

and he tapped the bright blade of the spear. “If ever I get the chance you shal) pay fpr that, you ! youeg bpundl” !. heard Good mutter to-neain bis breath. “Nbw Vhat thou irt quiet, give us thy name, my dean Come, speak up, and fear not,” said Gagool, in mockery. . “Oh, mother,” answered the girl in trembling accents, “my name is Foulata, of the ho>’se of Suko. Oh, mother, why must I die? 1 have done no wrong.” “Be comforted,” went on the old woman, in her hateful tone of mockery. “Thou must die, indeed, as a sacrifice to the old ones who sit yonder” (and she pointed to the peaks); “but it is better to sleep in the night than to toil in the day time; jt is better to die than to live, and thou shalt die by the royal hand of the king’s owd eon.” The girl Eoulata wrung her hands in anguish, and cried out aloud: "Oft, cruel; and Iso young! What iqyjgj done that! should never again seethe sun rise out ol the night or the stars come following on his track in the evening, that ‘ 1 should no more gather the flowers when the dew is heavy, or Ujsten to the laughing oi the waters. Woe is me, that 1 shall never see my father’s hut again, nor feel my mother’s kiss, nor tend the kid that is sick! Woe is me, that no lover shall put his arm around me and look into my eyes nor shall men children be born of me! Oh. cruel, cruel!” and again she turned .her tear-stained, flower crowned face to Heaven, looking so lovely iu her despair—for sue was indeed a beautiful women—that it would assuredly bay*e melted the hearts of any one less cruel than the three fiends before us. Prince Arthur's appeal to the ruffians who came to bind him was not more touching than this savage girl’s. But it did not move Gagool or Gagool’s master, though I saw signs of pity among the guard behind, and on the faces of the chief’s; and as for Good, he' gave a short of indignation, and a motion as though to go to her. With all a woman’s quickness, the doomed girl interpreted what was passing in his mind, and with a sudden movement flung herself before him,, and clasped his “beautiful white lejta” with her hands. , “0 white father from the start-!” she cried, “throw over me the mantle of thy protection; let me creep into the shadow of thy strength, that I may be saved. Oh, keep me from these cruel men and from the mercies of Gagool!” . “All righty my hearty, I’ll look after you,” sung out Good, in nervous Saxon. ‘Come, get up, there’s a good girl,” and he stooped and caught her hand. Twala turned and motioned to his son who advanced with his spear lifted. “Now’s your time,” whispered Sir Henry to me; “what are you waiting for?’’ “I am waiting for the eclipse,” I answered; “I have had my eye on the sun for the last half-hour and I never saw it look healthier.” “Well, you must risk it now, or the girl will be killed. jTwala is loosing patience. Recognizing the force of the argument, having cast one more despairing look at the bright face of the sun, for never did most ardent astronomer await a celestial event with such anxiety, 1 stepped with all the dignity I could Command between the prostrate girl and the advancing spear of Scragga. , “King,” Lsaid, “this shall not be, we will not tolerate such a thing; let the girl go in safety." Twala rose from his seat in his wrath and astonishment, and from the chiefs and serried ranks of girls, who had slowly closed up upon us in anticipation of the tragedy, came a murmur of amUze ment. “Shall not be, thou wnite dog, who yaps at the lion in his caVe, -hall not be?, art thou mad? Be careiul lest chicken’s fate overtake thee, and those with thee. How canst thou prevent it? Who art thou that thou Blandest be-’ tween me and my will? Withdraw, say. Scragga, kill her. Ho. guards!' seize these men.” At this cry armed men came running swiftly from behind the hut, where they had evidently been placed beforehand. Sir Henry, Good, and Umbopa ranged themselves*alongside of me, and lifted their rifles. “Stop!” I shouted boldly, though at the moment my heart was in my boots. “Stop! we, the white men from the stars, say that it shall nbt be. Come but one pace nearer, and we will put put the sun and plunge the land in darkness. Ye shall taste of our magic.” My threat produced an effect; the men halted, and Scragga stood still before us, his spear lifted. “Hear him! hear him!” piped Gagoo’; “hear the liar who sa> she wili put out the sun like a lamp. Yes, let him do it, or die with the girl, he and those wtlh him ” . • I glanced up at the sun, and to my intense joy saw that ve had made no mistake. On the edge of its brilliant surface was a faint rim of -halow. I lifted my hand solemnly toward the sky. an example which Sir Henry and] Good followed, and quoted a line or two of the “ingbtosby Legends” at it in the most impressive tones I could command. Sir Henrv followed suit with a ver>e out of tne Old Testament, whilst . Good addressed the King of Day in a ' volume of the most da-sical bad lan- ' guaze that he could think of. : Slowly th • dark rim crept on over the , blazing surface, find as it did so, I heard i a deep gasp of fear rise from the multi- , tude around, ’ I * Look, Oking! look, Gagool! Look, ■ chiefs and people and women, and see if the white men from the -stars keep their word, or if they be but empty, liars! The sun grows dark before your' eyes; soon there will be night—ay, night in the noon time. Ye have asked fora sign; it is given ye. Grow dark. 0 sun! withdraw thy light, thou bright one; bring the proud heart to the dUst, and eat up the world w ith shadows.” A groan of terror rose 1 ’ from the onlookers. Some stood petrified with fear, others threw themselves upon their knees, and cried outAs for the king, he sat still and turned pale beneath his dusky skin. Only Gagool kept, her courage. “It will pass, ’ she cried; “I have seen the like before; man cannot put out the sun; lose not heart; sit still—the shadow will pass. I ! - “Wait, and ye shall see,” I replied, hopping with excitement. “Keep it np. Good. I can’t remember any more poetry. Curse away, there’s a good fellow.” Good responded nobly to the tax upon his inventive faculties. Never before had- I the faintest conception of the breadth and depth and height of a naval officer's objurgatory powers. Far ten

hiintites he went on without stopping, and he scarcely ever repeated himself. Meanwhilethe dark rujg crept on. Strange and unholy shadows encroachpe<i upon the sunlight, an ominous quiet filled the place, the birds chirped out frightened notes, and then were still; only the cocks began to crow. On, yet on, ,crept the ring of darkness; it was now more than half over the reddening orb. The air grew thick and dusky. Ou, yet on, till we could scarcely see the fierce faced of the group before us. No sound rose now from the spec tators, and Good stopped swearing.” “The sun is dying—the wizards have killed the sun,” yelled out the boy Scragga at last. "We shall all. die in the dark,” and animated by fear or fury, or both, he lifted his spear, and drove it with all his force at Sir Henry’s broad chest. But he had forgotten the mail shirts that the king had given us, and which we wore beneath our clothing; The steel rebounded harmless, and before he could repeat the the blow Sir Henry had spatdhed the spear frbm his hand, and sent it straight-through him. He dropped dead. ’ At the sight, and driven mad with fear at the gathering gloom, the companies of girls broke up in wild confusion, and ran screeching for the gate-ways. Nor did the panic stop there. The king himself, followed by the guards, some : of the chiefs, and Gagool, who hobbled awav after them with marvelous alacrity, fled for the huts, so that in another minute or so ourselves, the would-be victim, Foulata, Infadoos, and some of the chiefs, who had interviewed us on . the previous night, were left alone upon the scene with the dead body of Scragga. “Now, chief,’’ I said, “we have given vou the sign. If ye are satisfied, let us fly.swiftly to the place ye spoke of. The charm can not be stopped. It will work for an hour. Let us take advantage of the darkness.” “Come,” said Infadoos, turning to go, an example which was followed by the awed chiefs, ourselves, and the girl Foulata. whom Good took by the hand. Before we reached the gate of the kraal the sun went out altogether. Holding each ot tier by the hand we stumbled on through the darkness. Continued next week.