The Irish standard., 1890-03-15

I 81
despair Of the people when they learned
that we were going to leave them was
something quite pitiable. could only
console them by declaring that we were
but on Journey, and would return the
| following year.
sThey had lived in the shadow OF her
father, who was dead, they declared;
sever since they were little they had
lived in his shadow. He had received
them when they were outcasts and wan
derers, without mat to lie on or a blan-
ket to cover them, and they had grown
fat in his shadow. Then he had died,
| and the Star, their fathers daughter,
| had married me, Macumazahn, and they
had believed that I should take their
fathers place and let them live in my
shadow. What should they do when
there was no one to protect them? Inc
tribes were kept from attacking them
| by fear of the white man. II he went
thew would be eaten up" and so on.
Alas! there was but too much founda-
| ton for their fears.
I returned to the huts atmidday to get
! some dinner. Stella said that she was
| going to pack during the afternoon, so l
did not think it necessary to caution her
/ about going out alone, as gid not W'sn
| 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 native kraals
| to sort out such cattles as belonged 10
Mr.. Carson from those which belonged
| to the Kaffirs, for I proposed to take
| them with us. 1t was large herd, and
| the business took an incalculable time.
! At length, little before shutdown, l
gave it up, and leaving Indaba-zimbl to
| finish the job, got my horse and rooe
! homewards.
Arriving, I 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
| Law about the floor. passed first into
| our sleeping hut, thence one by one into
| all the others, but still saw no sign or
her. Then I went out, and calling
| Kafflr in the garden, asked him II ne
| had seen his mistress.
| He answered: ssYes' He had seen
| her carrying flowers, walking towards
the graveyard, holding the little white
girl-my daughter-as he called her, py
the hand, when the sun stood there" "
and he pointed to spot in the horizon
| where it woul have been about al. nour
| and {, half before. '"The two dogs were
with them,'' be added. [ turned AND ran
towards the graveyard, which was about
! q quarter of a mile from the nuts. VI
course there was no reason to De anx-
ious-evidently she had gone to lay the
flowers on her fathers grave. And yet
was anxious
When I 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 he was rub
bling his eyes and yawning. Clearly ne
had been asleep. l asked him II ne 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 to the
graveyard. There, on Mr.. Carsons
grave, lay tho dropping flowers which
Stella had been carrying. and there in
the fresh mold was the spoor OF Tota's
yeldschoon, or hide slipper. But where
were they?
Iran from the graveyard and called
aloud at the top of my voi;e, but no an
swer came. Meanwhile the native was
more profitably engaged in tracing their
gpoor He followed it about a hundred
yards till he came to a clump OF mimosa
bush that was situated between the
stream and the ancient marble quarries
lust above the waterfall and at the
mouth of the ravine. Here be stopped,
and [ heard him give startled cry. l
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 thr4e
human feet-two shod, one naked
Stella's, Totals and He15d43ha's Nor was
this all. There, close by, lay the frag-
ments of the two dogs--they were
nothing more-and one baboon, not yet
o11ite dead which had been bitten in
the throat by the dogs, All around 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 off
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
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