Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1890 — ALLAN QUATERMAIN. [ARTICLE]

ALLAN QUATERMAIN.

A Record of Remarkable Adventures and Discoveries.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

CHAPTER XlV —Continued. Agon turned livid with baffled fury. He gLanoed at the people as though meditating an appeal to them, but saw dearly that their sympathies were all the other way. The Zu-Vendi are a very ourious and sociable people, and great as was their sense of the enormity that we had committed in shooting the sacred hippopotami, they did not like the idea of the only real live strangers they had seen or heard of being consigned to a fiery furnace, thereby putting an end forever to their chance of extracting knowledge and information from and gossiping about us. Agon saw this and hesitated, and then for the first time Nyleptha spoke in her soft, sweet voice. “Bethink thee, Agon,”Bhe said, “as my sister queen hath said, these men may also be servants of the Sun. For themselves they cannot speak, for their tongues are tied. Let the matter be adjourned till such time as they have learned our language. Who can be condemned without a hearing? When these men can plead for themselves, then it will be time to put them to the proof.” Here was a clever loop-hole of escape, and the vindictive old priest took it, little as he liked it. “So be it, oh queens,” he said. “Let the men go in peace, and when they have learned our tongue, then let them speak. And I, even I, will make humble supplication at the altar lest pestilence fall on the land by cause of thesaorilege.” These words were received with a murmur of applause, and in another minute we were marching out of the temple surrounded by the royal guards. But it was not till long afterward that we learned the exact substance of what had passed, and how hardly our lives had been wrung out of the cruel grip of the Zu-Vendi priesthood, in the face of which even the queens were practically powerless. Had It not. been for their strenuous efforts to protect us we should have been slain even before we set foot in the Temple of the Sun. The attempt to drop us bodily into the fiery pit as a sacrifice was a last artifice to attain this end when several others quite unexpected by us had failod.

CHAPTER XV. SORAIS’S SONG. After our escape from Agon and his pious orew we returned to our quarters in the palace and had a very good time. The two queens, the nobles, and the people vied with each other in doing us honor and snowering gifts upon us. As for that painful little incident of the hippopotami, it sunk into oblivion, where we were quite content to leave it. Every day deputations and individuals waited on us to examine our guns and clothing, our chain shirts, and our instruments, especially our watches, with which last they were muoh delighted. In short, we became quite the rage, so much so that some of the fashionable young swells among the Zu-Vendi began to copy the cut of some of. our clothes, notably Sir Henry’s shooting-jacket One day, indeed, a deputation waited on us, and, as usual. Good donned his full-dress uniform for the occasion. This deputation seemed somehow to be of a different class to those who generally came to visit us. They were little insignificant looking men of an excessively polite, not to say servile, demeanor; and their attention appeared to be chiefly taken up with observing the details of Good’s u 11-dress uniform, of which they took ■copious notes and measurements. Good was much flattered at the time, not suspecting that he had to deal with the six leading tailors of Milosis. A fortnight afterward, however, when on attending court as usual he had the pleasure of seeing some : ven or eight Zu-Vendi “mashers” arrayed in all the glory of a very fair imitation of his full-dress uniform, he changed his mind. I shall never forget his face of astonishment and disgust. It was after this that, chiefly in order to avoid remark, and also because our olothes were wearing out and had to he saved up, we resolved to adopt the native dress; and a very comfortable one we found it, though I am bound to say that I looked sufficiently ludicrous in it, and as for Alphonse! Only Umslopogaas would have none of these things; when his moocha was worn out the fierce old Zulu made him a new one, and went about Unconcerned m grim and naked as his own battleax. Meanwhile we pursued our study of the language steadily and made very good progress. On the morning following our adventure in the temple three grave and reverend signors presented themselves armed with manu-

script books, ink horns and feathered pens, and indicated that they had been sent to teach us, and, with the exception of Umslopogaas, we all buckled to with a will, doing four hours a day. As for Umslopogaas he would have none of either. He”“dl3' not wish to learn that ‘‘woman’s talk,” not he, and when one of the teachers advanced on him with a book and an iak horn and waved them before him in a mild and persuasive way, much as a churchwarden invitingly shakes the offertory bag under the nose of a rich but niggardly parishioner, he sprung up with a fierce oath and flashed Inkosi-kaas before the eyes of our learned friend, and ti»*-e was an end of the attempt to teach him Zu-Vendl. * ‘ Thus we spent our mornings in useful oocupation, which grew more am more interesting as we proceeded, and the afternoons were given up to recreation. Sometimes we made trips, notably earn to the gold mines and another

to the marble quarries, both of which I wish I had space and time to describe, and sometimes we went out hunting buck with dogs trained for that purpose, and a very exciting sport it is, as the country is full of agricultural inclosures and our horses were magnificent. This is not to be wondered at, seeing that the royal stables were at our command; in addition to which we had fodr splendid saddlehorses given to us by Nyleptha. Bometimes;again, we went hawking, a pastime that is in great favor among the Zu-Vendi, who generally fly their birds at a species of partridge which is remarkable for the swiftness and strength of its flight. When attacked by the hawk this bird appears to lose its head, and, instead of seeking cover, flies high into the air, thus offering wonderful sport. I have seen one of these partridges soar up almost out of sight when fol'owed by the hawk. Still better sport Is offered by a variety of solitary snipe as big as a small woodcock, which is plentiful in this country, and which is flown at with a very small, agile and highly trained hawk with an almost red tail. The zigza~ing of the great snipe and the lightning rapidity of the flight and movements of the red-tailed hawk make the pastime a delightful one. Another variety of the same amusement is the hunting of the very small species of antelope with trained eagles; and it certainly is a marvelous sight to see the great bird soar and soar till he is nothing but a black speck in the sunlight, and then suddenly come dashing down like a cannon ball upon some oowering buck that is hidden in a patch of grass from everything except that piercing eye. Still finer is the spectacle when the eagle takes the buck running.

On other days we would pay visits to the country seats at 9ome of the great lords’s beautiful fortified places, and the villages clustering beneath their walls. Here we saw vineyards and cornfields and well kept park-like grounds, with such timber in them as Ailed me with delight, for I do love a good tree. There it stands so strong and sturdy, and yet so beautiful, a very type of the best sort of man. How proudly it lifts its bare head to the winter storms, and with what a full heart it rejoices when the spring has come again! How grand its voioe is, too, when it talks with the wind: a thousand seolian harps can not equal the beauty of the sighing of a great tree in leaf. All day it points to the sunshine and all night to the stars, and thus passionless, and yet full of endures through the centuries, c^ifie''storm, come shine, drawing its sustenance from the cool bosom of its mother earth, and, as the slow years roll by, learning the great mysteries of growth and of decay. And so on and on through generations, outliving individuals, customs, dynasties—all save the landscape it adorns and human nature, till the appointed day when the wind wins the long battle and rejoices over a reclaimed space, or decay puts 'the last stroke to his fungusfingered work, Ah, one should always think twice before one cuts down a tree!

In the evenings it was customary for Sir Henry, Good, and mysolf to dine, or rather sup with their majesties—not every night, indeed, but about three or four times a week, whenever they had not much company, or the affairs of State would allow of it. And lam bound to say that those little suppers were quite the most charming things of their sort that I ever had to do with. How true is the saying that the very highest in rank are always the most simple and/ kindly. It is from your half-and-half sort of, people that you get ponrprralty' and vulgarity, the difference between the two being very much what one sees every day in England between the old, out-at-elbows, broken-down county family, and the overbearing, purse-proud people who come aqd “take the place.” I really think that Nyleptha’s greatest charm is her sweet simplicity, and her kindly genuine interest, even in little things. She is the simplest woman I ever knew, and where her passions are not involved, one of the sweetest; but she can look queenly enough when she likes, and be as fierce as any savage, too. For instance, never shall I forget that scene when I for the first time was sure that she was really in love with Curtis. It came about in this way— all through Good’s weakness for ladies’ society. When we had been employed for some three months in learning Zu-Vendi, it struck Master Good that he was getting rather tired of the old gentlemen who did us the honor to lead us in the way that we should go, so he proceeded, without saying a word to anybody else, to inform them that it was a peculiar fact, but that we could not make any real progress in the deeper intricacies of a foreign language unless we were taught by ladies—young ladies, he was careful to explain. In his own country, he pointed out, it was habitual to choose the vary best looking and most charming girls who could be found to instruct any strangers who happened to come that way, etc. All of this the old gentlemen s—al-

lowed open-mouthed. There was, they admitted, reason in what he said, since the contemplation of the beautiful, as their philosophy taught, induced a certain porosity of mind similar to that produced upon the physical body by the healthful influences of sun and air. Consequently it was probable that we might absorb the ZuVendi tongue a little faster if suitable teachers could be found. Another thing was that, as the female sex was naturally loquacious, good practice would be gained in the viva voce department of our studies. To all of this Good gravely assented, and tbs learned gentlemen departed, assuring him that their orders wars to toll to with ear wishes in

ervery way, and that, If possible, omr vie ws should be met. Imagine, therefore, the surprise and disgust of myself, and I trust and believe Sir Henry, when, on entering the room where we were accustomed to carry on our studies the following morning, we found, instead of our usual venerable tutors, three of the best looking young women whom Milosis could produce—and that is saying a good deal—who blushed and smiled and courtesied, and gave us to understand that they were there to carry on our instruction. Then Good, as we gazed at one another in bewilderment, thought fit to explain, saying that it had slipped bis memory before—but the old gentlemen had told him, on the previous evening, that it was absolutely necessary that our further education should be carried on by the other sex. I was appalled, and appealed to Sir Henry for advice in such a crisis.

“Well,” he said, “you see the ladies are here, ain’t they? If we sent them away, don’t you think it might hurt their feelings, eh? One doesn’t like to be rough, you see; and they look regular blues, don’t they, eh?” By this time Goo<J had already begun his lessons with the handsomest of the three, and so with a sigh I yielded. That day everything went very well; the young ladies were certainly very clever, and they only smiled when we blundered. I never saw Good so attentive to his books before, and even Sir Henry appeared to tackle Zu-Vendi with a renewed zest. “Ah,” thought I, “will it always be thus?”

Next day we were much more lively, our work was pleasingly interspersed with questions about our native country, what the ladies were like there, etc., all of which we answered as best we could in Zu-Vendi, and I heard Good assuring his teacher that her loveliness was to the beauties of Europe as the sun to the moon, to which she replied with a little toss of the head that she was a plain teaching woman and nothing else, and that it was not kind “to deceive a poor girl so.” Then we had a little singing that was really charming, so natural and unaffected. The Zu-Vendi love songs are most touching. On the third day we were all quite intimate. Good narrated some of his previous love affairs to his fair teacher, and so moved was she that her tears mingled with his own. I discoursed with mine, a merry, blue-eyed girl, upon Zu-Vendian art, and never saw -that she was waiting for an opportunity to drop a specimen of the cockroach tribe down my back, whilst in the corner Sir Henry and his governess appeared, so far as X could judge, to be going through a lesson framed on the great educational principles laid down by Wackford Squeers, Esq., though in a very modified or rather spiritualized form. The lady softly repeated the Zu-Vendi word for the “hand,” and he took hers; “eyes,” and he gazed deep into her brown orbs; “lips,” and —but just at that moment the young lady dropped the cockroach down my back and ran away laughing. Now if there is one thing 1 loathe more than another it is cockroaches, and moved quite beyond myself, yet laughing at her impudence, I took up the cushion she had been sitting upon and threw it after her. Imagine then my shhme —my horror, and my distress, when the door opened, and, attended by two guards only, in walked Nyleptha. The cushion could not be recalled (it missed the girl and hit one of the guards on the head), but I instantly and ineffectually tried to look as though I had not thrown it. Good ceased his sighing, and began to murder Zu-Vondiat the top of his voice, and Sir Henry whistled and looked silly. As for the poor girls, they were utterly dumbfounded. And Nyleptha! she drew herself till her frame seemed to tower even above that of the tall guards, and her face went first red, and then pale as death. “Guards,” she said, in a quietchoked voice, and pointing at the fair but unconscious desipleof WackfordSqueers, “slay me that woman.” The men hesitated, as well they might. “Will ye do my bidding,” she said again in the same voice, “or will ye not?”

Then they advanced upon the gir with uplifted spears. By this time Sir Henry had recovered himjelf, and saw that the comedy was likely to turn into a tragedy. “Stand back,” he said, jn a voice of thunder, at the same time getting in front of the terrified girl. * ‘Shame on thee, N>leptha—shame! Thou shalt not kill her!” “Doubtless thou hast good reason to try to protect her. Thou couldst hardly do less in honor,” answered the infuriated queen; “but she shall die—she shall die, ” and she stamped her little foot.

“It is well,” he answered, “then l will die with her. lam thy servant, oh, queen; do with me even as thou wilt,” and he bowed toward her, and fixed his clear eyes contemptuously on her face. “I could wish to -slay tfaeg tro;™ SKe~ answered: “for thou dost make a mock of me;” and then feeling that she was mastered, and I suppose not knowing what else to do, she burst into such a storm of tears, and looked so royally lovely in her passionate distress, that old as I am, I must say I envied Curtis his task of supporting her. It was rather odd to see him holding her in his arms considering what had just passed—a thought that seemed to occur to herself, for presently she wrenched herself free and went, leaving us all much disturbed. Presently, however, one of the guards returned with a meaeagetothe girls that they were, on pain of death, to leave the city and return to their homes in the oountry, and that no

* \ ' **¥ ' further harm would eone to ffcrm ;and ! accordingly they went, one of them remarking philosophically that it could not be helped, and that it was a satisfaction to know that they had taught jus a little serviceable Zu-VendL Mine ; was an exceedingly nice girl, and, overlooking the cockroach, I made her a present of my favorite lucky sixpence with a hole in it when she went away. After that our former masters resumed their course of instruction, needless to 6ay to my great relief.. That night, _ when in fear and trembling we attended tfee royal suppertable, we found that Nyleptha was laid up with a bad headache- That headache lasted for three whole days; but on the fourth she was present at supper as usual, and with the most sweet and gracious smile gave Sir Henry her hand to lead her to the table. No allusion was made to the little affair described above beyond her saying with a charming air of innocence, that when she came to see us at our studies the other day she had been seized with a giddiness from which she had only now recovered. She supposed, sh'e added, with the touch of the humor that was common to her, that it was the sight of people working so hard which had affected her.

In reply Sir Henry said, dryly, that he had thought she did not look quite herself on that day, whereat she flashed one of those quick glances of hers at him, which if he had the feelings of a man must have gone through him like a knife, and the subject dropped entirely. Indeed, after supper was over Nyleptha, condescended to put us through an examination to see what we had learned, and to expre js herself well satisfied with the results. Indeed, she proceeded to give us, esr peoially Sir Henry, a lesson on her own account, and very interesting we found it.

And all the while that we talked, or rather tried to talk, and laughed, Sorais would sit there in her carven ivory chair, and look at us and read us all like a book, only from time to time saying a few words, and smiling that quick, ominous smile of hers which was more like a flash of lightning on a dark summer cloud than anything else. 1 And as near to her as he dared would sit Good, worshiping through his eyeglass, for he was really getting seriously devoted to this somber beauty, of whom, speaking personally, I felt terribly afraid. I watched her keenly, and I found out that for all her apparent impassibility she was at heart bitterly jealous of Nyleptha. Another thing I found out and the discovery Allied me with dismay, and that was she also was growing devoted to Sir Henry Curtis. Of course, I could not be sure; it is not easy to read so cold and haughty a woman; but I noticed one or two little things, and, as elephant hunters know, dried grass shows which way the wind has set. And so another three months passed over us. by which time we had all attained to a very considerable mastery of the Zu-Vendi language, which is an easy one to learn. And as the time went on we became great favorites with the people, and even with the courtiers, gaining an enormous reputation for cleverness, because, as I think I have said. Sir Henry was able to show them how to make glass, which was a national want, and also, by the help of a twenty year almanac that we had with us to predict the various heavenly combinations which were quite unsuspected by the native astronomers. We even succeeded in demonstrating the principle of the steam-iengine to a gathering- of the learned men, who were filled . with amazement; and several other things of the same sort we did. And so it came about that the people made up their minds that we must on no account be allowed to go out of the country (which indeed was an apparent impossibility even if we had wished it), and we were advanced to great honor and made officers of the body-guards* of the sister queens, while permanent quarters were assigned to us in the palace, and our opinion was asked upon questions of national policy. But blue as the sky seemed there was a cloud, and a big one on the horrizon. Wo had indeed heard no more of those confounded hippopotami, but it is not on that account to be supposed that our sacrilege was forgotten, or the enmity of the great and powerful priesthood, headed by Agon appeased. On the contrary, it was burning the more fiercely because it was necessarily suppressed, and what had perhaps begun in bigotry was ending cia downright direct hatred born of jealousy. Hitherto, the priests had been the wise men of the land, and were on this account, as well as from superstitious causes, looked on with peculiar veneration. But our arrival with our outlandish wisdopi and our strange inventions and hints of unimagined things, dealt a serious blow to this state of affairs, and to use vulgar language, went far toward upsetting the sacerdotal applecart. A still worse affront to them, however, was the favor with which, we were and thejtrust that was reposed in us. Alt these things tended to make us excessively obnoxious to the great priestly clan, the most powerful because the most united faction in the kingdom. To Ba Continued