San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-02-04

L aWDke anu bOuuutl HUN lliC Deus
the cold perspiration pouring from me
In the darkness on the other side of tho
hut | heard sounds of furious struggling
Luckily | kept my head. Just by me
was a chair on which were matches and
a rush taper. | struck a match and held
it to the taper. Now in the glowing
light | could see two forms rolling one
over the ether on the floor and from be-
tween them came the flash of steel. The
fat melted and the light burnt up. 1t
was mdaba-zimbi and the woman Hen
drika who were struggling, and, what
was more the woman was getting the
better of the man, strong as he was. l
rushed toward them. Now she was up
permoSt now she had wrenched herself
from his fierce grip. and now the great
knife she had in her hand flashed up.
But was behind her, and, getting my
hands beneath her arms, jerked with all
my strength. She fell backwards, and.
in her effort to save herself, most for
tunately dropped the knife. Then we
flung ourselves upon her Heavens! the
strength of that she devil! Nobody who
has not experienced it could believe 1T.
She fought and scratched and bit, and
at one time nearly mastered the two CT
us. As it was she did break loose.
She rushed at the bed, sprung OIL it, and
bounded thence straight up at the roof
of the hut. | never saw such a jump,
and could not conceive what she meant
to do. In the roof were the peculiar
were designed to admit light, and COW
cred with Overhanging caves. She sprung
straight and true like a monkey, and,
catching the edge of the hole with her
hands strove to draw herself through it.
But here her strength, exhausted with
the long struggle. failed her. For mo-
ment she swung, then dropped to the
ground and fell senseless.
Our gasped Indaba-zimbi. Let us
tie the devil up before she comes to life
again"
thought this a good counsel, so we
took a rein that lay in the corner of the
room. and dashed her hands and feet in
such fashion that even she could
scarcely escape. Then we carried her
into the passage, and Indaba-zimbi sat
over her, the knife in his hand, for | did
not wish to raise an alarm at that hour
of the night.
do YOU know how caught her, Macu-
mazahn:" he said. For several nights
| have slept here with one eye open, for
| thought she had made a plan. To-
night kept wide awake, though | pre-
tended to be asleep. An hour after you
got into the blankets the moon rose, and
| saw beam of light come into the hut
| through the hole in the roof. Presently
| | saw the beam of light vanish. At first
| thought that a cloud was passing over
| the moon, but ] listened and heard a
noise as though some one was squeezing
| himself through a narrow place. Pres
| emily he was through and hanging by
| his hands. Then the light came in again,
and in the middle of it saw the babyan-
| frau swinging from the roof, and about
| to drop into the hut. She chung by both
| hands, and in her mouth was a great
knife. She dropped, and | ran forward
to seize her as she dropped, and gripped
her round the middle. But she heard
me come, and, Selling the knife, struck
| at me in the dark and missed me. Then
we struggled, and you know the rest.
You were very nearly dead tonight,
| MaCumazahn."
every nearly, indeed" l answered.
still painting and arranging the rags of
| my night dress around me as best |
might. Then the memory of my horrid
| dream flashed into my mind. Doubtless
it had been conjured up by the sound of
| Hendrika dropping to the foor-in my
| dream it had been Il grave that she
dropped into. All of it had been expert
enced in that second of time. Well,
dreams are swift; perhaps time itself is
nothing but dream, and events that
seem far apart really occur simultane-
Ously.
We passed the rest of the night watch
ing Hendrika. Presently she came to
herself and struggled furiously to break
| the rein. But it was too strong even FOR
her, and, moreover, Indaba-zimbi uncer-
| enormously sat upon her to keep her
quiet. At last she gave it up.
In due course the day broke-my mar.
riage day. Leaving Indaba- zimbi to
watch my wOuld-be murderess, | went
and fetched some natives from the
| stables, and with their aid bore Hen
| drika to the prison hut-that same hut
in which she had been confined when
| she had been brought baboon child
from the rocks Here we shut her up,
| and, leaving Indaba-zimbi to watch out