The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1890-11-21
AN AFRICAN ROMANCE.
CHAPTER XL.-CoyT1NUED.

CHAPTER XL-CoNTINUED.
/ have little doubt that he was ad
dressing his lost wife, some vision o
whom had flashed across his dyin,
senses. Stella, of course, was over
iwhelmed with grief at her loss Till
came her father had been her sole com
panion, and therefore, as may be imag
ined, the tie between them was mucl
closer than is usual even in the case o
father and daughter. So deeply did sht
lmourn that began to fear for the eff
feet upon her health. Nor were we tn,
lonly ones to grieve; all the natives OF
the settlement called Mr.. Carson STA
tther," and as a father they lamentet
thim. The air resounded with the wall
ing of women, and the men went abou
with bowed heads, saying that ''the SUI
had set in the heavens, now only the
lStar (Stella) remained" Indaba-zimb
alone did not mourn. He said that Il
was best that the Inkoos should die, fol-
what was life worth when one lay like 6
log?-moreover, that it would have beer
well for all if he had died sooner.
On the following day we buried him in
the little graveyard near the waterfall
1T was sad business, and Stella cried
very much, in spite of all could do tc
comfort her.
That night as l sat outside the hut
smoking-for the weather was hot and
Stella was lying down inside-old linda
ba-zimbi came up, saluted and squatted
at my feet.
'What is it, Indaba-zimbi?'' Isaid-
''This, Macumazahn. When are yor
going to trek towards the coast?"
81 don't know" 1 answered. "The
Star is not fit to travel now, we must
wait awhile"
"No, Macumazahn, you must not wait
you must go, and the Star must take hel
chance. She is strong. 1t is nothing
All will be we'll"
''Why do you say SOP Why must we
goP"
"For this reason, Macumazahn," and
he looked cautiously round and spoke
dow. 1.-THE balloons have come back in
thousands. All the mountain is full of
them" ... .
81 did not know that they had gone, "
] said.
"Yes," he answered, ''they went after
the marriage, all but one or two; now
they are back, all the balloons in the
world, think. / saw whole cliff black
with them"
els that alp" said, for saw that he
had something behind. 81 am not
afraid of pack of balloons" .H. F..
mo, Maeumazahn, it is not all. The
Babyan-frau, Hendrika, is with them"
Now, nothing had been heard or seen
of Hendrika since her expulsion, and
though at first she and her threats
haunted me somewhat, by degrees she
had to a great extent passed out of my
mind, which was fully preoccupied with
Stella and my father-in-law's illness. 1
started violently. ''How do you know
this?" / asked.o ...
81 know it because saw her, Macu-
mazahn. She is disguised, she is
dressed up in baboon skins, and her face
Is stained dark. But though she was a
eong way off knew her by her size, and
saw the white flesh of her arm when
the skins slipped aside. She has come
back, Macumazahn, with all the balloons
in the world, and she has come back to
do evil. Now do you understand why
you should trek?"
YES" / said; though / don't see
how she and the balloons can harm US,
I think that it will be better to go. II
necessary we can camp the wagons
somewhere for awhile on the journey.
Rearken, Indaba-zimbi; say nothing of
this to the Star. will not have her
frightened. And hearken again. Speak
to the head men, and see tina. watchers
are set around all the huts and gardens,
and kept there night and day. Te-mor-
row we will get the wagons ready, and
next day we will trek"
he nodded his white lock and went to
do my bidding, leaving me not little
disturbed-unreasonably so, indeed. 1t
was a strange story. That this woman
had the power of conyersing with
balloons / knew. That was not so very
wonderful, seeing that the Bushmen
claim to be able to do the same thing,
and she had been nurtured by them.
D06 6LdG SAlC nd4 Dtcn dDlo W
them, and by the strength of her human
will and intelligence muster them in
order to forward her ends of revenge,
seemed to me so incredible that, after
reflection, my fears grew light. Still /
determined to trek. After all, a Jour
neV in an OK wagon would not be such
a very terrible thing to strong woman
accustomed to roughing it, whatever
her state of health. And when all was
said and done l did not like this tale of
the presence of Hendrika with count
less hosts of balloons.
So went to Stella, and without say
ing word to her of the baboon story,
told her l had been thinking matters
over, and had come to the conclusion
that it was our duty to follow her
fathers instructions to the letter, and
leaTe Babyan Naal at once. Into all
bur talk need not enter, but the end
of it was that she agreed with me and
declared that she could quite well man
age the journey, saying, moreover,
that now that her dear father was dead
she would be glad to get away.