Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1890-01-04

moFe. VI TINS Am sure, That when ne
has slain my son he viii STAY me, me
ALSO and make himself chief in my plaza.
I fear Indaba-ximbi. Ont"
"Biack one," answered the Induna,
wizards die as dogs die, and, once dead,
dogs bark no more"
"And once dead" said the chief, "wiK-
ards work no more spells" and he bent
and whispered In the Induna's ear, look
ing at the assegai in his hand as he whis-
pered.
''Good, my father, goodl" said the In
duna, presently. "It shall be done to-
night, II the lightning does not do 1t
first"
"a bad lookout for old Indaba-zimbi,"
I said to myself. "They mean to kill
him." Then / thought no more Of the
matter for while--the scene before me
was too tremendous.
The two storms were rapidly rushing
together.
The silence deepened and deepened,
the shadows grew blacker and blacker,
then suddenly all nature began to moan
beneath the breath OF an icy wind. On
came tho wind; the smooth surface Of
the river was ruffled by it into little
waves, the tall grass bowed low before it, ,
and in It's wake came the Kissing sound
Of furious rain.
Ahl the storms had met. From each
there burst an awful dazzling blaze Of
light. and now the hill on which we SAT
rocked in the noise Of the following
thunder. The light went out of the sky.
darkness fell suddenly on the land, but
not for long Presently the whole land
scape grew vivid in the flashes; it APP
peared and Disappeared; now every
thing was visible for miles. now even
the men at my side vanished in the
blackness.
Suddenly tho thunder and lightning
ceased for minute, and everything
grew black. and. except for the rain, ST.
lent.
"Itis over, one way or the other. chief"
called out into the darkness.
"Wait, white man, wait" answered the
chief in a voice thick with anxiety and
fear.
Hardly were the words out of his mouth
when the heavens were lit up again till
they literally seemed to flame. There
were the men, not four PAGES apart. A
great flash fell between them; / saw them
stagger beneath the shock. Indaba-zimbi
recovered himself first--at any rate, when
the next flash came he was standing bolt
upright. pointing with his assegai to-
wards his enemy. The chiefs son was
cAs h,xt hf. 90
like drunken man, and the assegai had
fallen from his hand
Darkness, then again u fash, more
fearful, IL possible, than any that had
gone before. To ME it seemed to come
from the east, right over the head OF
Indaba-zimbi. Next instant saw the
chiefs son wrapped, as It were, in the
heart of 1t. Then the thunder pealed,
the rain burst over us like torrent, and
saw no more.
The worst Of the storm was done, but
for while the darkness was 80 dense
that we could not move, nor, indeed,
was / inclined to leave the safety of the
hillside where the lightning was never
known to strike and venture down to
the ironstone. Occasionally there still
came flashes, but, search as we would.
we could see no trace Of either of the
wizards. For my part, believed that
they were both dead. Now the clouds
slowly rolled away down the course Of
the river, and with 1t went the rain; and
now the stars shone out in their wake.
"Let us go and see," said the old chief,
rising and shaking the water from his
hair. "The fire fight has ended, let us
go and see who has conquered"
rose and followed him, dripping as
though had swum hundred yards
with my clothes on, and after me came
all the people of the kraaL B
We reached the spot; even in that
light could SEQ where the ironstone
had been split and fused by the thunder
bolts. While / was looking about me,
suddenly heard the chief, who was ON
my right, give low moan, and saw the
people cluster round him. went up
and hooked. There, on the ground, lay
the body of his son. he was dreadful
sight. His hair was burned off his head.
the copper rings upon his arms were
fused, the assegai handle which lay near
was literally shivered into threads, and,
when l took hold of his arm, it seemed
to me that every bone of 1t was broken.
The men with the chief stood gazing
silently, while the women walled.
"Great is the magic of Indaba-zimbi,"
said q man at length. The chief turned
and struck him a heavy blow with the
kerrie in his hand.
''Great or not, thou dog, he shall de-"
he cried, land so shalt thou if thou sing
est his praises so loudly"
/ said nothing, but thinking it probable
that Indaba-zimbi had shared the fate OF
his enemy, went to look. But | could
see nothing of him, and at length, being
thoroughly chilled with the wet, started
back to my wagon TO get change of
clothes. On reaching 1t, was rather sur
prised to see strange Kaffir seated on