The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-11-17
At length Nobela spoke:
DO you smell him, sistersr

At length Nobela spoke:
DO you smell him. sisters2~
We smell him, they answered
Does he sit in the east, sisters?'
He sits in the east, they answered.
is he the son of a stranger, sisters?"
He is the son of stranger"
Then they crept nearer. crept on their
hands and knees till they were within
ten PAGES of where sat among the in
dumas near to the ling. The indunas
looked on each other and grew gray
with fear, and for me, my father, my
knees were loosened and my marrow
turned to water in my bones. For l
knew well who was that son of a
stranger of whom they spoke. 1t was l,
my father, was about to be smelled out,
and it was smelled out, Ishould be slain
with all my house, for the kings oath
would scarcely avail me against the
witch doctors. | looked on the fierce
faces of the lsanusis before me as they
crept--crept like snakes. glanced be-
hind and saw the slayers grasping their
kerries for the deed of death, and say
! felt like one for whom the bitterness
is overpast Then ! remembered the
words which the king and had whis-
pered together of the cause for which
this lngomboco was set, and hope crept
back to me like the first CLEAN of the
dawn upon stormy night Still hoped
not overmuch, for it we'll might happen
that the king had but set trap to
catch me.
Now they were quite near and halted.
Have we dreamed falsely, sistersg'
asked Nobela. the aged.
What we dreamed in the night we
see in the day" they answered.
Shall | whisper his name in your
ears, sisters?"
They lifted their heads from the
ground like snakes and nodded, and as
they nodded the necklets of bones ratified
on their skinny necks. Then they drew
their heads to circle, and Nobela thrust
hers into the center of the circle an6
said word.
"Ha! har' they laughed, 1--WE hear
you! His is the name. Let him be
named by it in the face of heaven, he
and all his house; then let him hear no
other name foreverr'
And suddenly they sprang up and
rushed toward me, Nobela, the aged Is
anusa, at their head. They rushed at
me, pointing to me with the tails of the
vilderbeestes in their hands. Then No
bella switched me in the face with the
tail of the beast and cried aloud:
Greeting. Mopo, son of Makedamal
Thou art the man who smotest blood on
the doorposts of the king to bewitch the
king. Let thy house be stamped fat!"
saw it all, | felt the blow on my face,
Is man feels in dream. heard the
feet of the slayers, as they bounded for
ward to hale me to the dreadful death.
but my tongue clave to the roof of my
mouth could not say a word. /
glanced at the king. and, as did so, |
thought heard him mutter, Near the
mark. not in it.
Then he held up his spear and all was
silence The slayers stopped in their
stride. the witch doctors stood with out
stretched arms, the world of men was as
though it had been frozen into sleep.
Hold" he said Stand aside, son of
Makedarna, who art named an evil doer!
Stand aside, thou, Nobela. and those
with thee who have named him evil
doer! What! Shall be satisfied with
the life Of one dog2 Smell on, ye vul-
lures, company by company, smell onl
For the day the labor, at night the
feasti'
So arose, astonished. and stood on
one side. The witch doctresses also
stood on one side, smitten with wonder,
since no such smelling out as this had
been seen in the land. For till this hour,
when man was swept with the gnu tail
of the lsanusi that was the instant of his
death. Why. then, men asked in their
hearts, was the death delayed2 The
witch doctors asked it also, and looked
to the king for light, as men look to a
thundercloud for the flash. But from
the Black One there came no word.
So we stood on one side. and a second
party of the lsanusi women began their
rites. As the others had done, so they
did. and yet they worked otherwise, fol-
this is the fashion Of the lsanusis, that
no two of them smell out in the same
way And this party swept the faces Of
certain Of the kings councillors, nam
ing them guilty of the witch work.
Stand ye on one side!" said the king
to those who had been smelled out; and
ye who have hunted out their wicked
ness, stand We with those who named
Mopo son of Makedama. It we'll may
be that all are guilty"
So these stood on one side also, and q
third party took up the tale. And they
named certain of the great generals. and
were III turn hidden to stand on one
side, together with those they had
named.
So it went on through all that day.
At length it drew on to evening and
the last company of the witch doctors
did their work, smelling out some OF
the keepers of the Emposeni, the house
of the women But there was one man
of their company, young man and q
tall, who held back and took no share in
the work, but stood by himself in the
center of the great circle, fixing his eyes
on the heavens