Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-01-30
THE STRANGE STORY
or
Allan 0l2termain'S Wife
BY u. RIDER uACGARD.
AUTHOR oF "SttE," king SoLoMoN's
MINES" JEss,p "CLuo-
rATHA," Ere.

MREs," "JEss,p "CLEo-
rArnA," Ere
A NEW AFRICAN ROMANCE.
Having no choice nodded my head in
assent, though | had not tic faintest
idea Of what be was about 70 do The
t.lmult lessened somewhat, and once
more the warriors drew back
Great white spirit spiritof victory
said lndaba-zimbi. addressing me aloud
and covering bis eyes with his hand,
hear me ana forgive me These chill
dren are blind with folly, and think
thee mortal because thou hast dealt
death upon a mortal who dared to stand
against thee. Deign to kneel before me
and let me pierce thy heart with this
speart, then when call upon thee arise
unhurt.
l knelt down, not because wished to,
but because | must. / had not over
much faith in Ind@ba-zimbi, and thought
1t probable that lie was in truth about 70
make an end OF nae. But really was 50
worn with fears, and the horrors Of tho
night and day had so shaken my nerves,
that / did not greatly care what befell
me. When I had been knoeling thus
for about half q minute Indaba-zimbi
spoke.
people Of the Umtetwa children Of
T'Chaka," he said, draw back little
space, lest an evil fall on you, for now
the air Is thick with ghosts
They drew back space, leaving us in
circle about twelve yards in diameter.
Look on him who kneels before
you went on Tndaba-zimbi, 'and
listen to my words, to the words OF the
witch-fnder, the words Of the rain
maker, Indaba-zimbi, whose fame is
known to you He seems to be man,
does he not? ! tell you, children of the
Umtetwa, no is no man. He is the
spirit who gives victory to the white
men, he it is who gave them assegais
that thunder and taught them how to
slay. Why were tho Impis of Dingaan
rolled back at the Blood river? Because
he was there. Why did the Amaboona
slay the people Of Mosilikaayye by the
thousand? Because he was there. And
50 say to you that, had | not drawn
him from the lager by my magic but
three hours ago, you would have been
conq ucIcu -yce, y9u -se .A 7aN hoor
blown away like the dust before the
wind; you would have been burnt up
like the dry grass in tho winter when
the fire is awake among it. Ay, be-
cause he had but been there many Of
your braves were slain in overcoming
a few-a pinch of men who could be
counted on the fingers. But because !
loved You, because your chief, Sususa,
is nv half brotheE-for had we not one
father9-I came to you, warned you.
Then you prayed me and / drew the
spirit forth. But you were not satisfied
when the victory was yours, when the.
spirit Of all you had taken asked but
one little thing-a white child to take
away and sacrifice to himself, to make
the medicine of his magic Of"
Here could hardly restrain myself
from interrupting, but thought better
of it.
"You said him nay; you said: Let
him fight with our bravest man, let him
fight with Bombyane the giant for the
child. And he deigned to Stay Bomby-
ane as you have seen, and now you say:
Stay him; he is no spirit. Now | will
show you ii he is q spirit. for will Stay
him before your eyes, and call him to
life again. But you have brought this
upon yourselves. Had you believed,
had you offered no insult to the spirit,
he would have stayed with you, and you
should have become uneonquerable.
Now he will arise and leave you, and
voc be on YOU if You try to stay him.
Now, all mon, he went on. look for q
space upon this assegai that hold up,
and he lifted tine hangwan Of the de-
ceased Bombyane high above his head
so that ali the multitude could see it..
Every eva was fxe3 upon tho broad
bright spear. For awhile he held it
still, then be moved Z round and round
in a circle, muttering as be did SO, and
still their gaze followed it, For my
part, I followed his movements with the
greatest anxiety That assegai had al
ready been nearer my person than [
found at an pleasant, and ] had no de-
sire to make further acquaintance with
it. Nor, indeed. was ! sure that lndaba-
zimbi was not really going 70 kill me.
/ could not understand his proceedings
at all, and at the best did not relish
playing the c2ypus TIE to his magical ex-
periments.
"Look 50okt l39kr1 he screamed.
Then suddenly the great spear flashed
down towards my breast, felt nothing,
but it seemed as though It passed
through me.
"See.o roarei the Zulus "Indaba-
zimbi has speared him; the red assegai
stands out behind his back"
"Roll over, Macumazahu, Indaba-
zimbi Kissed III MY ear, roll over and
pretend to die quick! quiek.'
/ lost no time in following these
strange Instructions, but falling on my
side, threw my arms wide, kicked my
legs about and died as artistically as |
could. Presently gave a stage shivor
and lay still
"see!g said tho Zulus, no is dead, the
spirit is dead. Look at the blood upon
tho assegai.
stand back stand back" cried In
Qa ba~ZluDl. OF IHs Eh4sl VIII uaIUb
YOU. Yes. he is dead. and now l Will
call him back to life again. Look" and
putting down his hand, be plucked the
spear from wherever it was fixed, and
held 1t aloft The spear is red, Is it
not? Watch, men, watch It grows
white"
Eyes, 1T grows white. they said. "oh,
it grows white.
ut grows white because the blood re-
turns to whence It came, said Indaba-
zimbi Now. great spirit, hear me.
Thou art dead, the breath has gone out
of thy mouth. Yet hear me and arise.
Awake. white spirit, awake and show
thy power. Awake! arise uuhurt.H
began to respond eheerfully to this
imposing Invocation.
'Not 50 fast. Macumazahn, 7 whispered
Indaba-zimhi.
took the hint, and first held UP ny
arm, then lifted NY head and let il fall
again.
HE lives. by tue head of T'Chaza, he
q e esH