The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-26

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Hurled Him Over the Edge of the
by a sound as of cultural human
voices talking in a language that she
could not understand. Rising to her
knees she peered out of the hole in the
tree. It was night but the stars shone
brightly and their light fell upon an
open circle of ground close by the edge
of the river. In this circle there burned
a great fire, and at little distance
from the fire were gathered eight or
ten horrible looking beings who APP
peared to be rejoicing over something
that lay on the ground. They were
small in stature, men and women to-
gether, but no children, and all of them
were nearly naked. Their hair was
long and thin, growing down almost to
the eyes, their Jaws and teeth pro-
truded, and the girth Of their black
bodies was out of all proportion to
their height. In their hands they held
sticks with sharp stones dashed onto
them, or rude hatchet-lilze knives of
the same material.
Now Nanea's heart shrank within
her and she nearly tainted with fear,
for she knew that she was in the
haunted forest, and without doubt
these were the Esenkofu, the evil
ghosts that dwelt in it. Yes, that was
what they were, and yet she could not
take her eyes off them; the sight of
them held her with a horrible fascina-
ton. But if they were ghosts why did
they sing and dance like men? Why
did they wave those sharp stones aloft
and quarrel and strike each other?
And why did they make a fire as men
do when they wish to cook food? More,
what was it they rejoiced over, that
long dark thing which lay so quiet
upon the ground? 1t did not look like
a head Of game, and it could scarcely
be a crocodile, yet clearly it was food
of some sort, for they were sharpening
the stone knives in order to cut it up.
Whilst she wondered thus one of the
dreadful looking little creatures adj
vanced to the fire, and taking from it a.
burning bough, held it over the thing
that lay upon the ground to give light
to a companion who was about to do
something to it with the stone knife.
Next instant Nanea drew back her
head from the hole, a stif1ed shrek
upon her lips, She saw what it was
now-it was the body of a man. Yes,
and these were no ghosts, they were
cannibals of whom, when she was lit
tie, her mother had told her tales to
keep her from wandering away from
home
But who was the man they were
about to eat? 1t could not be one of
themselves, for his stature was much
greater Oh! now she knew, it must
be Nahoon, who had been killed up
yonder, and whose dead body the
waters had brought down to the
haunted forest as they had brought
her alive. Yes, it must be Nahoon and
she would be forced to see her hus-
band devoured before her eyes. The
thought of it overwhelmed her. That
he should die by order of the king was
natural, but that he should be buried
thusi Yet, what could she do to pre-
vent it. Well, If it cost her her life,
she would prevent it. At the worst
they could only kill and eat her also,
and now that Nahoon and her father
were gone she was not greatly con-
cerned to keep her own breath in her.
Slipping through the hole in the tree
Nanea walked quietly toward the can
nibals, not knowing in the least what
she should do when she reached them.
AS she had arrived in line with the fire
this lack Of programme came home to
her mind forcibly and she paused to
reflect. Just them one Of the cannibals
looked up to see a tall and stately
figure wrapped in a white garment
which as the f1ame-light f1ickered on
it seemed now to advance from the
dense background of shadow, and now
to recede into it. The poor savage
wretch was holding a stone knife in
his teeth when he beheld her, but it
did not remain there long, for opening
his great jaws he uttered the most ter
rified and piercing yell that Nanea had
ever heard. Then the others saw her
also, and presently the forest was ring
ing with shrieks Of fear. For few
seconds the outcasts stood and gazed,
then they were gone this way and
that, bursting their path through the
underground like startled jackals. The
Esemkofu of Zulu tradition had been
routed in their own haunted home by
what they took TO be a. spirit.
Poor Esemkofu! they were but m,ser-
able and starving bushmen who, driven
into that place of i'll omen mahV years
ago, had adopted this means, the only
one open to them, to keep the lie m
their wretched bodies. Here at least
they were unmoles-ad, and as there
was little other food TO he found amid
that wilderness of trees. they took
what the river brought +henI. When
executions were lev in the Pool of
Doom times were hard FOR then, in
deed, for then they were driven tn cat
each other.
AS the inarticulate outcry died away
in the distance, Nanea ran forWeTd to
look at the body that lay on the
ground, and staggered back with a
sigh of relief. It was not Nahoon, but
she recognized the face for that Of
one of the party Of executio hers. How
did he come here? Had Nahoon Killed
him? Had Nahoon escaped? She
could not bear to leave h N lying so
near her hiding place, however, there
fore with no small toll she rolled the
corpse back into the wa.er which car
ried it swiftly away. Then size re-
turned to the tree. having first replen-
ished the fire, and awaited the light
At last it came, as much Of 1t as ever
penetrated this darksome den, and
Nanea becoming aware that she was
hungry, descended from the tree to
search for food. AL day long she
searched, finding nothing, till toward