Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1890-01-25

"As you win, Macumaxahn," he en-.
swered; "bus tell you that there"-and
he pointed to the peak-''there the white
man lives Turn which way you like,
but IL you turn you viii perish"
rejected for q moment Our case
was, humanity speaking, almost hopeless.
1t nlattered little which way we went
We were alone, almost without food,
with no means Of transport and child
10 carry. AS well perish in the sandy
! waste as on the rolling vefdt or among
the trees of the hillside. Providence
alone could save us, and we must trust
| to providence.
Come on" said, lifting Tota on TO
my back, for she was already tired.
"All roads lead to rest"
How am to describe the misery of
the next four dayss How am / to tell
how we stumbled on through that awful
desert, almost without food, and quite
without water, for there were no streams,
and we saw no springss We soon found
how the case was, and saved almost all
the water in our bottles for the child.
TO look back on it Is like nightmare.
can scarcely bear to dwell on It. Day
after day, by turns carrying the child
through the heavy sand; night after
night lying down in the scrub, chewing
the leaves. and licking such dew as there
was from the scanty grassl Not spring,
not pool. not head of camel It was
the third night; we were nearly mad
with thirst. Tota was In O comatosc
condition. Indaba-zimbi still had lit
tie water In his bottle--perhaps wine
glassful. We moistened her lips and
our blackened tongues with It. Then
we gave the rest to the child. Il revived
her. She awoke from her swoon to sink
into sleep.
See, the dawn was breaking. The hills
were not more than eight miles or so
away now, and they were green.
There must be water there.
"Come," said.
Indaba-zimbi lifted Tota into the kind
of sling that we had made out Of the
blanket in which to carry her on our
backs, and we staggered on for an hour
through the sand. She woke crying for
water, and alasl we had none to give
her; our tongues were hanging from our
lips; we could scarcely speak,
We rested awhile, and Tota taercifully
swooned away. Then Indaba-ximbi took
her. Though he was 90 thin, the old
mans strength was wonderful.
Another hourj the slope of the great
peak could not be mora than two miles
away now. A couple of hundred yards
off grew large baobale tree. Could we
reach its shaded We had done half the
distance when Indaba-zimbi fell from ex-
haustion. We were now so weak that
neither of us could lift the child on to
our backs. We each took one of her
hands and dragged her along the road.
Fifty yards-they seemed to be fifty
miles. All, the tree was reached at last;
compared with the heat outside, the shade
Of its dense foliage seemed like the dusk
and cool of vault. remember think
ing that it was a good place to die in.
Then I remember no more.
Invoke with feeling as though the
blessed rain were falling on my face and
head. Slowly, and with great difficulty,
opened nay eyes, then shut them again,
having seen q vision. For space lay
thus, while the rain continued to fall;
saw now that must be asleep, or of my
head with thirst or fever. II were not
off my head, how came to imagine
that lovely dark eyed girl was bending
over me, sprinkling water on my facet
A white girl, too, not Kaffir woman.
| However, the dream went on.
"Hendrika," said voice In English,
the sweetest voice that had ever heard;
somehow 1t reminded me of wind whis-
pering In the trees at night. ellen
drika, I fear he dies; there is flask Of
brandy In my saddle bag; get it."
"Ahl abr grunted o harsh voice in
answer; ''let him die, Miss Stella. He
will bring you bad luck-let him die, I
say. felt q movement of air above me
asthough the woman of my vision turned
swiftly, and once again I opened my
eyes. She had risen, this dream woman.
Now ] saw that she was tall and grace
full as reed. She was angry, too; her
dark eyes flashed, and she pointed with
her hand at a female who stood before
her, dressed in nondescript kind Of
clothes. such as might be worn by either
a man or a woman. The woman was
young, Of white blood, very short, with
bowed legs and enormous shoulders. In
| face she was not bad looking, but the
brow receded, the chin and ears were
prominent-in short, she reminded me
of nothing SO much as a very handsome
monkey. She might have been the miss
ing link.
The lady was pointing at her with her
hand. "How dare you" she said. care
you going to disobey me again? Have
you forgotten what / told you. Babyan
(baboonT
"Ah! ahl" grunted the woman, who
seemed literally to curl and shrivel up
beneath her anger. "Don't be angry
with me, Miss Stella, because I can't
bear it. I only said it because it was
true. / win fetch the brandy"
Then, dream or no dream. / determined