The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1890-12-03

be kept there guarded by mad thing,
half ape. half woman, till we persisted
miserably. Then l thought of you,
dear, and of all that you must be suffer-
ing, and my heart nearly broke. 1 could
only pray to God that | might either be
! rescued or die swiftly.
las prayed l dropped into kind Of
doze from utter WEAKNESS, and then
had the strangest dream. | dreamed
that linda ba-zimbi stood over me nod
ding his white lock, and spoke to me in
Kaffir, telling me not to be frightened,
for you would soon be with me, and that
meanwhile must humor Hendrika. pre-
tending to be pleased to have her near
me. The cream was so vivid that | act
ually seemed to see and hear him, as
see and hear him now
Here l looked up and glanced at old
Indaba-zimbi, who was sitting near. But
it was not till afterwards that l told
Stella of how her vision was brought
about.
SAT any rate" she went on, ''when
awoke determined to act on my dream.
l took Hendricks hand and pressed it.
She actually laughed in wild kind of
way with happiness and laid her head
upon my knee. Then l made signs that
l wanted food. and she threw wood on
the fire, which 1 forgot 10 tell you was
burning in the cave, and began to make
some of the broth that she used to cook
very we'll, and she did not seem to have
forgotten all about it. AT any rate the
broth was not bad, though neither TOta
or l could drink much of it. Fright and
WEAKNESS had taken away our appetites.
after the meal was done-and pro-
longed it as much as possible-1 saw
that HenGrika was beginning to get jeal-
Gus of Tota again. She glared at her
and then at the big knife which was
tied round her own body. l knew the
knife again: it was the one with which
she tried to murder you, dear. At last
she went so far as to draw the knife. l
was paralyzed with fear: then suddenly
| remembered that when she was our
servant, and used to get out of temper
and sulk, l could always calm her by
singing to her. So 1 began to sing
hymns. Instantly she forgot her jeal-
ousy and put the knife back into its
sheath. She knew the sound of the sing
ing and sat listening to it with rapt
face: the balloons, too, crowded in at
the entrance of the cave to listen. l
must have sung for an hour or more all
the HYMNS that | could remember. It
was so very strange and dreadful sitting
there singing to mad Hendrika and
those hideous man-like apes that shut
their eyes and nodded their great heads
as sang. 1t was like a horrible night
mare. but believe that the balloons
are almost as human as the Bushmen.
We'll. this went on for a long time
till my voice was getting exhausted.
Then suddenly l heard the balloons out
side raise loud noise. as they do when
they are angry. Then, dear, 1 heard
the boom of your elephant gun, and
think it was the sweetest sound that
ever came to my ears. Hendrika heard
it too. She sprang up, stood for mo-
ment, then. 20 my horror, swept Tota
into her arms and rushed down the cave.
OF course I could not stir TO follow her,
for my feet were tied. Next instant
heard the sound of rock being moved,
and presently the lessening OF the light
in the cave told me that 1 was shut in.
Now the sound even of the elephant gun
only reached me very family. and pres
entity could hear nothing more, strain
ing my ears as would.
AT last heard faint shouting that
reached me through the wall of rock.
answered as loud as could. You know
the rest; and oh, my dear husband,
thank God! thank Godr' and she fell
weeping into my arms.
TO BE CONTINUED.