The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1890-05-07

ion VI nhbiVeb nhu bQunJLeu themselves
in circle on the ground in front Of us
1--WE know her; she Is the white babyan
woman; she is Hendrika, the body-sery
ant of the Star" Wfia afg' sff.s
"You know her." said Mr.. Carson
'but you do not know her altogether
Stand forward, Indaba-zimbi, and tel.
the people what came about last night
in the hut of Macumazahn. = n a.
Accordingly lndaba-zimbi came for.
ward, and squatting down told his NOV.
ing tale with much descriptive force and
many gestures, finishing up by produc-
ing the great knife from which his
watchfulness had saved me.
Then was called upon, and In few
brief words substantiated his story; in
deed, my face did thatin the sight Of all
| men
Then Mr. Carson turned to Hendrika,
who stood In sullen silence, her eyes
fixed upon the ground, and asked her II
she had any thing to say.
She looked up boldly and answered:
"Macumazahn has robbed me of the
love Of my mistress. would have
robbed him of his life, which is a
little thing compared to that which
have lost at his hands. l have failed,
and am sorry for 1t, for had l killed
him and left no trace the Star would
have forgotten him and shone on me
again"
''Never," murmured Stella in my ear;
but Mr.. Carson turned white with wrath
"My people," he said, 'you hear the
words Of this woman. You hear how
she pays me back, me and my daughter,
whom she swears she loves. She says
that she could have murdered 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?''
Death" said the circle OF indunas,
pointing their thumbs downwards, and
all the multitude beyond echoed the
word death"
Death" repeated the head induna,
adding: "If you save her, my father, we
will slay her with our own hands. She
is Q babyan-woman, q devil-woman; ah,
yes, we have heard of such before; let
her be slain before she works more evil" "
Then 1t 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 affecti that she had
always shown towards herself She said
that !, 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 Hendrika-indeed, he had already
promised not TO do so. But the people
were in different humor, they looked
upon Hendrika as q devil, and would
have torn her to pieces there and then
could they have had their way. Nor
were matters mended by Indabi-zimbi,
who had already gained great reputa-
ton for wisdom and magic in the place.
Suddenly the old man rose and made
quite an impassioned speech, urging
hem TO kill Hendrika at once or mis-
,hief would come OF 1t.
At last matters get very bad, for two
II the indunas cam &forward TO drag her
fl to execution, and 1t was Mt until
Stella fairly burst into tears hat tho
light Of her grief, backed by Mr.. Car
on's orders and my own romonstrances,
arried the day.
All this while H,ndrika had been
tanding quite unmoved. At last the ,
umult stopped, and the leading induna
allied TO her to go, promising that II
yer she showed her face near the I
,raals again she should be stabbed like
jackal. Then Hendril-a spoke to Stella a
n low voice in English:
Better let them kill me, mistress, bet 7
er for all. Without you to love shall :
o mad and become babyan again. /
Stella did not answer, and they loosed v
er. She stepped forward and looked at {
be natives with stare Of hate. Thon
be turned and walked past me, and as &
be passed whispered native phrase in .
" ear, that being literally translated, o
ieans "till apother noon" but which b
as the same significance as the French a
an revoir." |,
II frightened me, for I knew she a
cant that she had not done with me, n
i'd saw that our mercy had been mis- @
Iaced Seeing my face change she ran Il
yiftly from me, and as she passed Z,
idaba-zimbi, with . sudden movement
latched her great knife from his hand
hen she had. gone about twenty PAGES u
10 halted, looked long and earnestly
! Stella, gave one loud cry of anguish
ID fed. A few minutes later we saw 0,
n far away. bounding up the face Of ID
! almost perpendicular clif-a oliff In
at nobody except herself and the cl
boons could possibly climb. IL
Look" said Indaba-zimbi in my IT
r = "Look, Macumazahn, there In
es the Babysn!frau But, Macu- b,
szahn, hs ioM come back a0oin. ds
i, why will you not listen TO ad
7 words7 Have they not always been bl
10 words. Maoumazahn2' and he 10
rugged his shoulders and turned away. &c
For awhile ! was much disturbed, but tr
any rate Hendrika was gone for tho W
ssent and Stella, my dear and lovely Oh
70 mas thara az x,nx otda ax1 T. a =. m,