Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1890-02-08

married me, Macumazahn, and they had
believed that should take their fathers
| place, and let them live in my shadow.
What should they do when there was nc
one to protect them? The tribes were
kept from attacking them by fear of the
white man. If he went, they would be
eaten up" and so on. Alasl there was
but too much foundation for their fears.
Ireturned to the huts at midday to get
some dinner. Stella said that she was
| going to pack during the afternoon, so ]
did not think it necessary to caution her
about going out alone, as l did not wish
to allude to the subject of Hendrika and
the balloons unless was obliged to.
told her, however, that / would come
back to help her as soon as / could
| get away. Then went down to the ma
| tive kraals to sort out such cattle as had
belonged to Mr.. Carson from those which
belonged to the Kaffirs, for proposed to
take them with us. 1t was large herd,
and the business took an incalculable
time. AT length, little before sun
down, gave it up, and leaving Indaba-
zimbi to finish the job, got on my horse
and rode homewards.
Arriving, gave the horse to one Of
the stable boys, and went into the CEN
trail hut. There was no sign of Stella,
though the things she had been packing
lay about the floor. passed first into
our sleeping hut, thence one by one into
all the others, but still saw no sign of her.
Then | went out, and calling to Kaffir
N fhn ac1~o1 I, H. l,
his mistress.
He answered yves" He had seen her
carrying flowers walking towards the
graveyard, holding the little white girl
my daughter-as he called her, by the
hand, when the sun stood "there," and
he pointed to spot in the horizon where
it would have been about an hour and
half before. "The two dogs were with
them," he added. / turned and ran
towards the graveyard, which was about
a quarter of a mile from the huts. OF
course there was no reason to be anxious
evidently she had gone to lay the
flowers on her fathers grave. And yet
| was anxious.
When l got near the graveyard met
one of the natives, who, by my orders.
had been set round the kraals to watch
the place, and noticed that hewas rub
bling his eyes and yawning. Clearly he
had been asleep. / asked him if he had
seen his mistress, and he answered that
he had not, which under the circum.
stances was not wonderful. Without
stopping to reproach him, ordered the
man to follow me, and went on to the
graveyard. There, on Mr.. Carson's
grave, lay the dropping flowers which
Stella had been carrying, and there in
the fresh mold was the spoor of Tota's
veldschoon, or hide slipper. But where
were they?
ran from the graveyard and called
aloud at the top of my voice, but no an
swer came. Meanwhile the native was
more profitably engaged in tracing their
spoor. He followed it for about hun
dred yards till he came to clump of
mimosa bush that was situated between
the stream and the ancient marble quar-
ries just above the waterfall, and at the
mouth of the ravine. Here he stopped,
and ] heard him give a startled cry.
rushed to the spot, passed through the
trees, and saw this. The little open
space in the center of the glade had been
the scene Of a struggle. There, in the
soft earth, were the marks of three hui
man feet-two shod, one naked-Stella's,
Totals and Hendricks. Nor was this all.
There, close by, lay the fragments of the
two dogs-they were nothing more-and
one baboon, not yet quite dead, which
had been bitten in the throat by the
dogs. All round us was the spoor of
numberless balloons. The full horror of
what had happened flashed into my mind.
My wife and Tota had been carried of
by the balloons. AS yet they had not
been killed, for if SO their remains would
have been found with those of the dogs.
They had been carried off. The brutes,
acting under the direction of the woman
monkey, Hendrika, had dragged them
away to some secret den, there to keep
them till they died-or kill them!
For moment literally staggered be-
meath the terror of the shock. Then ]
reused myself from my despair. babe
the native run and alarm the people at
the kraals, telling them to come armed,
duu OIluS llo SuiiS anu dLlliuullbIOIl. lie
went like the wind, and turned to fol-
low the spoor. For few yards it was
plain enough-Stella had been dragged
along. 1 could see where her heels had
struck the ground; the child had, pre-
sumed, been carried-at least there were
no marks of her feet. At the waters
edge the spoor vanished. The water was
shallow, and they had gone along in it,
or at least Hendrika and her victims
had, in order to obliterate the trail.
could see where moss grown stone had
been freshly turned over in the water
bed. ran along the bank some way up
the ravine, in the vain hope of catching
a sight of them. Presently / heard
bark in the cliffs above me; it was an
swered by another, and then saw that
scores of balloons were hidden about
among the rocks on either side, and were