The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-08-22
THE STRANGE STORY
OF
Allan Quatermain'S Wife
BY II. RIDER NAGGAED,
AUTHOR OF "SuE," "KING SoLoMoN'a
MMEs," "JEss," "CLEo-
-PATRA," ETC.
A NEW AFRICAN ROMANCE

A NEW AFRICAN ROMANCE
"Indaba-zimbi," said, ''we can never
cross this if We take six days"
Gas you will, Macumazahn," he an
swered; ''but I tell you that there
and he pointed to the peak-"there the
white man lives Turn which way you
like, but if you turn you will perish
T reflected for a r12mcnt. Our case
was, humanity speaking, almost hopeless.
It mattered little which way we went
We were alone, almost without food,
with no means OF transport, and child
to carry. AS we'll perish in the sandy
waste as on the rolling vcldt or among
the trees of the hillside. Providence
alone could save US, and we must trust to
Providence.
s'Come on" said, lifting. Tota on to
nv back, for she was already tired. "All
| roads lead to rest"
How am to describe the misery OF the
| next four days? How am to tell how
| we stumbled on through that awful des-
ert, almost without food and quite with
out water, for there were no streams,
and we saw no springs? We soon found
how the case was, and saved almost all
the water in our bottles for the child.
To look back on iti like a nightmare.
can scarcely bear to dwell on it. Day
after day, by turns carrying the child
through the heavy, sand; night after
| night.lying down in the scrub, chewing
the leaves and licking such dew as there
was from the scanty grass! Nota spring,
not pool, not head of game! 1t was
the third night; we were nearly mad
with thirst. Tota was in comatose
| condition. Indaba-zimbi still had a lit
tie water in his bottlo-perhaps wine
elassful. We moistened her lips and
our blackened tongues with it. Thon
we gave the rest to the child. 1t revived
her. She awoke from her swoon to sink
into sleep.
See, the dawn was breaking. The
hills were not more than eight miles or
so away now, and they were green.
| There must be water there.
Come" I said.
Indaba-zimbi lifted Tota into the
kind of sling that we had made out of
| the blanket in which to carry her on
our backs, and we staggered on for an
hour through the sand. She woke cry
ing for water, and, alas! we had mono to
! give her; our tongues were hanging
from our lips, we could scarcely speak.
| 4.
fully swooned away. Then 1ndaba-
zinbi took, her. Though he was SO
thin the old mans strength was Won
| derfuL
Another hour; the slope of the great
peak could not be m ore than two miles
away now. A couple of hundred yards
| off grew a large, baobale tree. Conld
we reach it's shade! We had done half
the distance when Indaba-zimbi fell
! from exhaustion. We were now SC
weak that neither of US could lift the
child on to our backs. We each took
one of her hands and dragged her
along the road. Fifty yards-they
seemed to be fifty miles. All! the tree
was reached at last; compared with the
heat outside, the shade of its dense
foliage seemed like the dusk and cool OF
a vault. remember thinking that ii
was good place to die in. Then I re-
member no more.
| woke with feeling as though the
blessed rain were falling on my face
and head. Slowly and with great diff
ficulty I opened my eyes, then shut
| them again, having seen vision. For
a space lay thus, while the rain con-
| tinued to fall; I saw now that must be
asleep, or of my head with thirst or
fever. If I were not off my head how
came I to imagine that a lovely, dark
eyed girl was bending over me sprink-
ling water on my face? A white girl,
| too, not Kafir woman However, the
| dream went on.
sHendrika," said voice in English,
the sweetest voice that I had ever heard;
somehow it reminded me of wind whis-
pering in the trees at night. "Hendrika,
| l fear he dies;: there is-a flask of brandy
in my saddle-bag; getit.''
"Ah! ah!' grunted harsh voice in
answer; ''let him die, Miss Stella He
will bring you bad luck-let h T. die l
say" felt a movement of T .bove
me as though the woman Of IL vision
turned swiftly, and once again opene
my eyes. She had risen. this dream
woman. Now I saw that she as IL
and graceful as reed. She was ngrv,
too; her dark eyes flashed, and she
pointed with her hand at female who
stood before her, dressed in nondescri +
kind of clothes such as might be worn
by either man or woman. 'Fh"
woman was young, of white blood, We y
short, with bowed legs and enormous
shoulders. In face she was not bad