The Irish standard., 1890-03-08
THE STRANGE STORY
ag OF
Allan Quatermatn' Wife
By II. RIDER HAGGARD,
AUTHOR OF sSnE," stKlNe SoLoMoN's
M1rEs," SC JESS, !" "ClEo-
PATRA," Eric.
A NEW AFRICAN ROMANCE.

thick eeAn of the whitest and most
beaa1ifo, marble. know another like
it il, Natal. But by whom it had been
worked can not say. Not by natives.
thai is certain, though the builders OF
tho kraals had condescended to borrow
the shape Of native huts for theirmodel.
The only celic of those builders that ]
ever saw was highly-fnished bronze
pick-axe which Stella found one day in
Che quarry. After we had examined the
quarry we climbed the slope of the hill!
till we camo to the mouth of the ancient
mines situated in kind of gorge. be
licve them to have been silver mines.
The gorge was long and narrow, and the
moment wo entered it there rose from
evory s;lo a sound of groaning and bark
ing tina: was almost enough to deafen
one. knew what it was at once; the
whole place was filled with balloons,
which clambered down the rocks to-
wards us from every direction, in a man
ner that struck me as being unusually
fearless. Stella turned little pale and
chung to my arm. .,...
"1t is very silly of me-" she whis-
percd. II am not at all nervous, but I
can not bear the sight of those animals
ever since they killed Hendrix. al
ways think there is something human
about them"
Meanwhile the balloons came nearer,
talking to each other as they came.
Tota began to cry and chung to Stella.
Stella chung to me, while and Indaba-
Eimbi put as bold a front ON the matter
us we could. Only Hendrika stood look
ing at the brutes with an unconcerned
smile on her monkey face. When the
great apes were quite near she sudden
ly called out aloud. Instantly they
stopped their hidcous clamor as though
at word Of command. Then Hendrika
addressed them. can only describe it
80. That is to say, that they began to
make IL noise such as balloons do when
they converse with each other. have
known Hottentots and Bushmen who
sid that they could talk with the ba-
b. ons and understand their language,
hst confess I never heard it done be-
he or since.
From the mouth of Hendrika CAME a
succession of grunts, groans, squeaks,
fh.t can be conceived. To my mind the
W ole conveyed an idea of expostula-
Atn. At any rate the balloons listened.
Ole of them grunted back some answer,
ard then the whole mob drew off to the
rocks.
stood astonished, and without word
we turned back to the kraal, for Hen
drika was too close for me to speak.
When wo reached the dining-hut Stella
went in, followed by Hendrika. But In
daba-zimbi plucked me by the sleeve,
and I stopped outside.
"Macumazahn," he said, 'sBaboon-
woman -- devil-woman. Be careful,
Macumazahn. She loves that Star (the
natives aptly enough called Stella the
Starr, and is jealous. Be careful,
MacumaEahn, or the Star will set!'
CHAPTER TX.
1t Is very difficult for me to describe
the period which elapsed between my
arrival at Babyan's Peak and my mar
riage with Stella. When look back on
1t it seems sweet as with the edor Of
flowers and dim as with tbs happy dusk
of summer ewes, while through the
sweetness comes the sound Of Stella's
voic6 and through the gloom shines the
starlight of her eyes. think that we
loved each other from the first, though
for awnilo we said no word of love. Day
by day went about the place with her,
accompanied by little Tota and Hen
drika only, while she attended to the
-. sot, lo~ e.
theirs eycr-growing weakness had laid
upon hor: or, rather, as time drew on,
attended to the business and she ac-
companied ms. ALI day through we
were together. Then after supper, when
the night had fallen, we would walk to-
gether in the garden and come in at
length to hear her father read aloud,
sometimes from tho works of poet,
sometimes from history, or, If he did
not feel we'll, Stella would read, and
when this was done Mr.. Carson would
celebrate short form OF prayer, and
wo would separate till the morning
onco more brought our happy hour of
meeting.
So the wooks went by, and with every
week grew to know my darling better.
Often, I wonder now, If my fond fancy
dccciycs me, or If indeed there are
women as sweet and dear as she. Was
It solitude that had given such depth
and genLloness to her? Was it the long
years OF communing with nature that
had endowed her with such peculiar 4
grace, tho grace we find in opening
lowers and budding trees? Had she
caught that murmuring voice from the
sound OF the streams that fall contin-
nally about her rocky homer Was 1t
the tenderness Of the evening sky be-
meath which she loved to walk that lay
like shadow on her face, and the light
of tho cvcning stars that shone in her
nuiet eyes2 AT the least to me she was
tho realization 81 the dream which
!taunts esleep of sin-stained men; 50
nv memory paints her. SO hope TO find
her when sc last the sleep has relied
away and the .fevered dreams are done
last here came q the most
blessed of life, when We told our
toai y ha.d been her al the {
lass n inner