Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-01-12

off my head, how came l to imagine
that a lovely dark eyed girl waa bending
over me, sprinkhng water On my face:
A white girl, too, not q KafRr woman.
However, the dream went on.
Hendrix" said voice IN English,
the sweetest voice that had ever heard
somehow 1t reminded me of wind whis.
pering in the trees at night. '.Hen.
drika, fear he dies; there ID flask OF
brandy in my saddle bag; get it,
"Ah! ah.' grunted a harsh voice in
answer; ''let him die, Hiss Stella. He
will bring you bad luck-let him die,
say. / felt movement of air above me
as though the woman Of nay vision turned
swiftly, and once again opened my
eyes. she had risen, this dream VIC nan.
Now I saw that she was tall and grace
full as reed. She was angry. too; her
dark eyes flashed, and she pointed with
her hand at female who stood before
her, dressed in nondescript kind of
clothes, such as might be worn by either
a man or a woman. The woman was
young, of white blood, very short, with
bowed legs and enormous shoulders. In
face she was not bad looking, but the
brow receded, the chin and ears were
prominent-in short, she reminded me
OF nothing so much as a very handsome
monkey. She might have been the miss
ing link.
The lady was pointing at her with her
hand '.How dare your she said. care
you going to disobey me again? Have
you forgotten what told you, Babyan
(oaboonE"
"Ah! abr grunted the woman, wlzo
seemed literally to curl and shrivel up
beneath her anger. Don't be angry
with me, Miss Stella, because I can't
bear it. I only said it because it was
| true. will fetch the brandy"
| Then, dream or no dream, determined
to speak.
mot brandy" I gasped in English as
well as my swollen tongue would allow;
/ give me water"
/ '.Ah, he Hves.' cried the beautiful
| girl, .and he talks English. See, sir,
here is water in your own bottle; you
were quite close to a spring On the other
side of the tree"
l struggled to sitting position. lifted
the bottle to my Lips, and drained it. Oh.
that drink Of cool, pure water. never had
1 tested anything SO delicious. At the
/ first gulp felt life flow back into me.
But wisely enough she would not let me
have much. NO more! no more,4 she
said. and dragged the bottle from me al
most by force.
1.-The child" I said-''is the child
dead:'
81 do not know yet" she answered.
eve have only just found you, and I
tried to revive you first"
turned and crept TO where Tota lay
by the side of Indaba-zimbi. 1t was i'm
possible to say if they were dead or
swooning. The lady sprinkled Tota's
face with the water. which I watched
greedily, for my thirst was stin awful,
while the woman Hendrika did the same
Office for Indaba-Imbi. Presently. to my
vast delight, Tota opened her eyes and
tried to cry, but could not, poor little
thing, because her tongue and lips were
so swollen. But the lady got some water
into her mouth, and, as in my case. the
effect was magical We allowed her to
drink about quarter Of pint, and no
more, though she cried bitterly for it.
Just then old Indaba-zinbi came TO with
a groan. He opened his eyes, glanced
round and took in the situation.
What did l tell you, Macumazahn?"
and be seized the bottle and took long
pull at it.
Meanwhile sat with my back against
the trunk of the great tree and tried TO
realize the situation. Looking to my
left 1 saw two good horses-one bare
backed and one with lady's rude
saddle on it. By the side of the horses
were two dogs, of stout greyhound
breed, that sat watching US, and near
the dogs lay dead Airie buck. which
they had evidently been coursing.
''Hendrika," said the lady presently,
@they must not eat meat just yet. Go
and look up the tree and see if there is
any ripe fruit on it
The woman ran swiftly into the plain
and obeyed. Presently she returned.
u see some ripe fruit she said, ''but it
is high, quite at the .op.'
Fetch it" said the lady.
Easier said than DONE" thought to
myself: but was much mistaken. Sud
denly the woman bounded at least three
feet into the air and caught one Of the
spreading boughs in her large, fiat hands
"a swing that would have filed an aero
bat with envy-and she was on it,
i + q,
the next bough was beyond her reach.
But again | was mistaken. She stood up
on the bough. gripping it with her bare
feet, and once more sprang at the one
above, caught it and swung herself into
it.
suppose that the lady saw my look Of
establishment. DO not wonder, sir"
she said; ''Hendrika is not Ike other peo- /.
pie. She viii not fall"
l made no answer, but watched the 4
progress of this extraordinary person /
with the most breathless interest. On she 1
went. swinging herself from bough to /
bough. and running along them like a /
monkey. At last she got to the top and /.
began TO swarm along thin branch /
towards the ripe fruit. When she was I
near enough she shook the branch vio- /
lently. There was crack-a crash-it 4
broke. shut nv eyes, expecting to see (
her crushed on the ground before me.
Don't be afraid, said the lady again /
laughing gently. Look, she is quite
safe"
I looked. and so she was. She had
caught bough as she fell, chung 70 it,
and was now calmly dropping to an
other. Old Indaoa-1mbi had also