The Iola register., 1890-10-31

prisonment, whipping and loss OF goods,
other and graver transgressions by ex-
pulsiop from the community, a fat
which to one of these favored natives
must have seemed as heavy as the de-
cree that drove Adam from the garden
of Eden.
Old Mr.. Carson leaned upon his daugh-
ter's arm and contemplated the scene
with pride.
81 have done all this, Allan Quater-
main," he said. "When renouncing
civilization first, / wandered here by
chance; seeking home in the remotest
places in the world, found this lonely
spot a wilderness. Nothing was to
be seen except the site, the domes
of the marble huts and the
waterfalls. 1 took possession of
the huts. cleared the patch of garden
land and planted the orange grove. /
had only six natives then, but by de-
grees others joined me; now my tribe is
thousand strong. Here we live in
profound peace and plenty. 1 have all l
need, and / ask no more. Heaven has
prospered me so far-may it be so to the
end, which for me draws nigh. And
now am tired and will go back. If you
wish to see the old quarry and the
mouth of the ancient mines, Stella will
show them to you. No, my love, you
age alone. Look, some of the head men
are waiting to see me-"
So he went, but, still followed by
Hendrika and Indaba-zimbi, we turned,
and, walking along the bank of one of
the rivers, passed up behind the marble
kraals, and came to the quarry, whence
the material had been cut in some re-
mote age. The pit opened up very
thick seam of the whitest and most
beautiful marble. l know another like
it in Natal. But by whom it had been
worked can not say. Not by natives,
that is certain, though the builders OF
the kraals had condescended to borrow
the shape of native huts for their model.
The only relic of those builders that /
ever saw was a highly-finished bronze
pick-axe which Stella found one day in
the quarry. After we had examined the
quarry we climbed the slope of the hill
till we came to the mouth of the ancient
mines situated in kind of gorge. / be-
lieve them to have been silver mines.
The gorge was long and narrow, and the
moment we entered it there rose from
every side sound of groaning and bark
ing that was almost enough to deafen
one. / knew what it was at once; the
whole place was filed with balloons,
which clambered down the rocks to-
wards US from every direction, in man
ner that struck me as being unusually
fearless. Stella turned little pale and
clung to my arm.
sit is very silly of me-" she whis-
pered. 81 am not at all nervous, but l
can not bear the sight of those animals
ever since they killed Hendrix. l al
ways think there is something human
about them"
Meanwhile the balloons came nearer,
talking to each other as they came.
Tota began to cry and clung to Stella.
Stella clung to me, while and Indaba-
zimbi put as bold front on the matter
as we could. Only Hendrika stood look
ing at the brutes with an unconcerned
smile on her monkey face. When the
great apes were quite near she sudden
ly called out aloud. Instantly they
stopped their hideous clamor as though
at word of command. Then Herdrika
addressed them. l can only describe it
SO. That is to say, that they began to
make noise such as balloons do when
they converse with each other. 1 have
known Hottentots and Bushmen who
said that they could talk with the ba-
boons and understand their language,
but confess l never heard it done be-
fore or since.
From the mouth of Hendrika came a
succession of grunts, groans, squeaks,
clicks and every other abominable noise
that can be conceived. To my mind the
whole conveyed an idea of expostula-
ton. At any rate the baboons listened.
One of them grunted back some answer,
and then the whole mob drew off to the
rocks.
I stood astonished, and without word
we turned back to the kraal, for Hen
drika was too close for me to speak.
When we reached the dining-hut Stella
went in, followed by Hendrika. But In
daba-zimbi plucked me by the sleeve,
and stopped outside.
'sMacumazahn," he said, "Baboon-
woman - devil-woman. Be careful,
Macumazahn. She loves that Star (the
natives aptly enough called Stella the
Starr, and is Jealous. Be careful,
Macumazahn, or the Star will set!'
CHAPTER IX