Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-04-18

a spirit then be killed."
Spear him! spear him. they roared in
fury. Let US see if be is a spirit. How
did d spirit slay BOmbyane with an as
segai2 Spear him, rain-maker, and we
shall see"
stand back" cried Indaba-zimbi again
and | viii show you if he can be killed.
/ will kill him myself, and call him back
to life again before your eyes. Macuma-
zahl trust me, !" he whispered in my ear
in the Sisutu tongue, which the Zulus did
not understand Trust me; kneel on the
grass before me, and when | strike at vol.
with the spear roll over like one dead
then, when you hear my voice again, get
up. Trust melt is your only hope"
Having no choice, l nodded nv head in
assent, though | had not the faintes5 idea
of what he was about to do. The tumult
Iessened somewhat, and once more the
warriors drew back.
Great white spirit-spirit Of victOCy,"
said Indaba-zimbi, addressing me aloud
and covering his eyes with his hand,
"hear me and forgive me. These children
are blind with folly, and think thee NOR.
tai because thou has dealt death upon
mortal who dared to stand against thee.
Deign to kneel before me and let me pierce
thy heart with this spear, then when call
upon thee, arise unhurt.
I kuelt down, not because l wished to-
but because must. had not overmuch
faith in Indaba-zimbi. and thought 1t
probable that he was in truth about tC
make an end of me. But really l was so
worn with fears, and the horrors of the
night and day had so shaken my nerves
that / did not greatly care what befeiI
L l. fr,gr E,
about half minute Indaba zinlb spoke.
People of the Umtetwa, children Of
TCnaka," he said. draw back a little
space, lest an evil fall on you, for now the
air is thick with ghosts"
They drew back pace, leaving us in a
circle about twelve yards in diameter.
Look on him who kneeIs before you"
went on Indaba-zimbi, land listen to my
words, to the words of the witch-finder,
the words of the rain-maker, Indaba-
zimbi, whose fame is known to you. He
seems TO be a man, does he not? | tell
you, children Of the Umtetwa, he is no
man. lie is the spirit who gives victory
to the white men, he it is who gave them
assegais that thunder and taught them
how to slav. Why were the Impis OF
Drngaan rolled back at the Blood Riveri
Because he was there. Why did the Anna.
boobna slay the people of Mosilikaaye by
the thousand? Because he was there And
so | say to you that, had | not drawn him
from the laager by my magic but three
hours ago, you would have been conquer
ed-yes, You would have been blown away
like the dust before the wind: you would
have been burnt up like the dry grass in
the winter when the fire is awake among
it. Az, because had he but been there
many of your bravest were slain in over
coming Il few-a pinch of men who could
be counted on the fingers. But because
loved YOU, because your chief SuSuSa is
my INSTRUMENTATION had we not one faith
er?-l came to you, | warned you. Then
yoU prayed me and drew the spirit forth.
But yOu were not satisfied when the vic
tory 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 mag
ic Of"
Hele / could hardly restrain myself
from interruptinE, but thought better OF
it.
"Nou said him ma you said, Let him
fight with our brIvest man, let him fight
with Bombyane the giant for the child
And he deigned to STAY Bombyane rs you
lave seen, and now you say, Stay him
he is no spirit Now | will show you il
he is a spirit. for | will Stay him before
| Your eye, and call him to life again. But
| you have brought this upon yourselves.
| Had you believed, had you offered no in
| suit to the spirit, he would have stayed
with You, and you should have become
! unconquerahle Now he will arise and
| leave you, and woe be ON YOU if you try to
| stay him. Now all men" he went on,
| ''look for space upon this assegai that ]
hold up" and he lifted the bangwan of
| the deceased Bombyaue high above his
| head so that all the multitude could see
! it. Every eye was fixed upon the broad
! bright spear.
For a while he held it still, then he
moved it round and round in a circle,
| muttering as he did so, and still their gaze
! followed il. For my part, followed his
| movements with the greatest anxiety.
| That asseCai had already been nearer my
| person then l found at all pleasant, and l
| had no desire to make a further acquaint-
ance with it. Nor, indeed, was | sure that
| lndabazimbi was not really going TO Kill
| me. could not understand his proceed
inGs at all. and at the best did not relish
! playing the corpus UuC to his magical ex-
! perments.
Look look! lookup he screamed.
| Then suddenly the great spear flashed
down towards my breast, felt nothing,
| but it seemed as though it had passed
! through me.
"See!" roared the Tulus. "Tndaba-zimbi
| has speared him; the red assegai stands
out behind his back"
Roll over, Macumazahn," Indaba-zim-
! bi Kissed in my ear, roll over and pretend
to die-quick! quickr'
! lost no time in following these strange
| instructions, but, falling on my side,
| threw my arms aside kicked my legs
about and died as artistically as l could.
! Presently gave a stage shiver and lay
still
| "Seep' said the Zulus che is dead, the
| spirit is dead Look at the blood upon the
| aSSegai.'
"Stand back! stand backp' cried India
! baZimbi, "or the ghost will haunt you.
Yes, he is dead, and now l will call him
back to life again. Lookl'' and putting
down his hand, he plucked the spear from
wherever it was fixed, and held it aloft.
The spear is red, is it not? Watch, men,
watchl it grows winter
Yes, it grows white" they said. ooh,
! II grows WnlJe.
at grows white because the blood re-
turns to whence it came" said Iudaba-
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.
Awakel arise unhurtr'
l began to respond cheerfully to this i'm
posing invocation.
Not SO fast, Macumazahu," whispered
! lndaba-zimbi.
took the hint. and first held up my
arm, then lifted my head and let it fall
again.
He livesl by the head of T'Chaka he
| livesl" roared the soldiers, stricken with
mortal fear.
Then slowly and with the greatest dig
nifty | gradually arose. stretched my arms,
yawned like one awakening from heavy
sleep, turned and looked upon them IN
coucernedly. As did so, l noticed that
old Iudaba-zimbi was almost fajnting
from exhaustion. Beads of perspiration
stood upon his brow, his limbs trembled
and his breast heaved.
As for tie Zulus, they waited for no
more. With a howl of terror the whole
regiment turned and fed across the rise,
so that presently we were left alone with
the dead and the swoouing child.
How on earth did you do that, Tndaba-
zimbi?" l asked in amazemeut
Don't ask me MacumZahn - he vaSped