Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-02-27
THE STRANGE STORY
OF
Allan Quatermain' Wife
BY II. RIDER HAGGARD.
t-UTHoR OF "SHE." KING SoLoMoN's
MINES" "JEss.' CLEO
- PArRA'' Ere.
BY H. RIDER HAGGAKD.
A NEW AFRICAN ROMANCE.

Accordingly lndaba-zimbi came for
ward, and squatting down told his NOV
ing tale with much des, riptive 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:
sMacumazahn has robbed me of the
love Of my mistress. would have
robbed him of his life, which is
little thing compared TO that which, l
have lost at his hands. | have failed,
and | am sorry for it, for had | 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.
NY people, he said, you hear the
words of this woman. You hear Eo,y
she pays me back, me and my daughter,
whom she swears she loves She says
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?'
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 Stay her with our own hands. She
is babyan-woman, devil-woman; ah,
yes. we have heard of such before; let
Ter be slain before she works more evil. I"
Then it was that Stella stepped for
ward and begged for Hendricks .re in
moving terms. she pleade1 6ue Va I,
agery of the woman's nature, her long
service and the affection 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 a 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 a 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 a great reputa-
ton 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.
All this while Hendrika had been
standing quite unmoved. At last the
tumult stopped, and thedeading induna
called to her to 60, promising that if
ever she showed her face near the
kraals again she should be stabbed like
a jackal. Then Hendrika spoke to Stella
in a low voice in English:
Better let them kill me, mistress, bet
ter for all. Without you to love shall
60 mad and become babyan again"
Stella did not answer, and they loosed
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 native phrase in
my ear, that being literally translated,
means It'll another noon" but which
has the same significance as the French
Eau revoir."
1t frightened me, for | knew she
meant that she had not done with me,
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 sudden movement
SuaIChtu utE BiedO hHiAS iIoh hAo hdnu-
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 cliff-a cliff
that nobody except herself and the
balloons could possibly climb.
Look said Indaba-zimbi in my
ear - Look. Macumazahn, there
goes the Babyan-frau. But, Macu-
mazahn, ste ,rW conn hack again.
All. why viii you not listen te
my words2 Have they not always been
true words. Macumazahn?' and he
shrugged his shoulders and turned away.
For awhile was much disturbed, but