The Irish standard., 1890-03-15

that she could have murdered a man
| who has done her no evil, the man who
is the husband of her mistress. We
saved her from the babyans, we tanned
! her, we fed her, we taught her, and this
| is how she pays US back Say, my peo-
! pie, what reward shall be given to her?"
| ssDeath,s said the circle of indunas,
pointing their thumbs downwards, and
all the multitude beyond echoed the
word death"
! DEATH repeated the head induna,
! adding: eff you save her, my father, we
will Stay her with our own hands. She
| is babyan-woman, devil-woman; ali,
| yes, we have heard of such before: let
her be slain before she works more evil. !"
Then it was that Stella stepped for
ward and begged for Hendricks life in
moving terms. She pleaded the saw
agery OF the woman's nature, her long
service, and the affection that she had
; always shown towards herself. She said
/ that I, whose life had been attempted,
| forgave her, and she, my wife, who had
nearly been left widow before she was
made bride, forgave her; let them for
give her also, let her be sent away, not
slain, let not her marriage day be
stained with blood.
Now, her father listened readily
enough, for he had no intention Of kill
ing ndrika-indeed, he had already
promised not to do so. But the people
were in different humor, they looked
| upon Hendri1a as devil, and would
+ y IN,
could they have had their way. Nor
were matters mended by Indabi-zimbi.
who had already gained a great reputa~
tion for wisdom and magic in the place.
Suddenly the old man rose and made
quite an impassioned speech, urging
them to kill Hendrika at once or mis-
chief would come of it.
At last matters got very bad, for two
of the indunas came forward to drag her
off to execution, and it was not until
Stella fairly burst into tears that the
sight of her grief, backed by Mr.. Car
sons orders and my own circumstances,
carried the day. 49,.
All this while Hendrika had been
; standing quite unmoved. At last the
tumult stopped, and the leading induna
called to her to go, promising that ii
ever she showed her face near the
kraals again she should be stabbed like
iackal Then Hendrika spoke to Stella
in q low voice in English:
''Ioetter let them kill me, mistress, bet
ter for all. Without you to love j shall
go mad and become a babyan again.
her. She stepped forward and looked at
| the natives with stare of hate. Then
she turned and walked past me, and as
she passed whispered q native phrase in
my ear, that being literally TRANSLATED,
means @'till another moon;' but which
has the same significance as the French
| ''au revoir."
It frigh tened me, for l knew she
meant that she had not done with ne,
and saw that our mercy had been mis-
placed. Seeing my face change she ran
swiftly from me, and as she passed
Indaba-zimbi, with q sudden movement
snatched her great knife from his hand.
When she had gone about twenty PAGES
', she halted, looked long and earnestly
on Stella, gave one loud cry of anguish
and fed A few minutes later we saw
her far away, bounding up the face OF
an almost perpendicular clif-a cliff
that nobody except herself and the
| balloons could possibly climb.
ssLook,' said Indaba~zinbi in my
ear - s'Look, Macumazahn, there
goes the Rabyan-frau. But, Macu~
mazahn, she qoM come back agasn.
All, why will You not listen to
my words? Have they not always been
true words, Macumazahn" and he
shrugged his shoulders and turned away.
Tor awhile was much disturbed, but
at any rate Hendrika was gone for the
present, and Stella, my dear and lovely
| wife, was there at my side, and in her
smiles forgot my fears.
For the rest OF the day, why should I
| write OF it? there are things too happy
and too sacred to be written Of.
At last 7 had, if only for little
while, found that rest, shat perfect joy
which we seek so continually and so
rarely clasp.