Catoctin clarion., 1908-10-22
MAIWA'S REVENGE
ALLAN QUATERMAIN'S GREATEST ADVENTURE.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.
Authsr Of "She." )" "King Solomon's Mines" Etc.

few .len came in in little knots, and
took possession of their hunts.
1t was, of course, rather difficult to
prevent our men from looting. and
generally going on as natives, and,
for the matter of that. white men,
too, are in the habit of doing after a
victory.
But one man who. after warning,
was caught maltreating woman. was
brought out and killed by Nala's or
der, and though there was a littlel
grumhlipg that put stop to furtherl
trouble.
On the second morning the headmenl
and numbers of their followeds came I'M
in groups, and about midday depu-i
tatlon of the former presented them
selves before us without their weap-!
| Ons.
They were conquered, they said, and
| Wambe was dead. so they came toI
! hear the words Of the great lion whol
! had eaten them up. and of the crafty
white man, the jackal who had dug ai
hole for them to fall in, and Of Maiwa,'
Lady of War, who had led the CHARGE
and turned the fate of the battle.
So we let them hear the words; and,
when we had done an old man rose;
and said that in the name Of the people
he accepted the yoke that was laid
upon their shoulders. and that the
more gladly because even the rule Of Il
woman could not be worse than the
rule of Wambe.
Moreover, they knew Maiwa. the
Lady of War, and feared her not
though she was witch, and terrible
to see in battle.
Then Nala asked his daughter If she
was willing to become chieftainess Of
the tribe under him.
Maiwa, who had been very silent
since her revenge was accomplished,
answered yes, that she was, and that
her rule should be good and gentle to
those who. were good and gentle to
her, but the forward and rebellious
she would smite with rod of iron,
which, from my knowledge Of her char
acter, thought exceedingly probable.
The headmen replied that that was
good saying, and they did not COM
plain at it, and so the meeting ended.
Next day we spent in preparation for
departure.
Mine consisted chiefly in superin-
tending the digging up of the stockade
of ivory tusks, which I did with the
| greatest satisfaction.
There were some five hundred Of
them altogether.
made inquiries about 1t from Ev-
cry, who told Inc that the stockade had
been there so long that nobody seemed
to exactly know who had originally
collected the tusks.
There was, however, a kind of super
stitious feeling about them, which had
always prevented the chiefs from try.
ing to sell this great mass Of ivory.
Every and 4 examined it carefully,
and found that although it was so old,
Its quality was really as good as ever,
and there was very little soft ivory in
the lot.
At first was rather afraid lest, now.
that my services had been rendered,
| Nala should hesitate to part with so
much valuable property; but this was
not the case.
When l spoke to him on the subject
he merely said:
"Take 1t, Macumazahn, take it-you
have earned it WELL"
And to speak the truth, though I say
1t who shouldn't, think had.
| So we pressed several hundred Matu.
ku bearers into our service, and next
day marched off with the lot.
Before we went took formal fare
we'll Of Maiwa. whom we left with a
bodyguard Of 300 men to assist her in
settling the country.
She gave me her hand to kiss In
queenly sort Of way, and then said:
"Macumazahn, you are brave man,
and have been good friend to me in
my need.
"If ever you want help or shelter, re-
member that Maiwa has a good mem
ory for friend and foe.
cali have Is yours"
|
She certainly was very remarkable
woman.
! A year or two ago I heard that her
father Nala was dead, and that she
had succeeded to the chieftainshlp of
both tribes, which she ruled with great
justice and 1rmness.
l can assure you that we ascended
the pass leading to Wambes town with
feelings very different from those with
which we had descended 1t few days
before
But If was grateful for the issue of
events, you can easily imagine what
poor Every's feelings were.
When we got to the top of the pass
he actually, before the whole Impi,
Topped down upon his knees and
thanked heaven for his escape, with
tears running down his face.
But then, as have said, his nerves
were shaken; though now that his
beard was trimmed, and he had got
some sort of clothes on his back and
hope In his heart. he looked very
different man from the poor wretch
whom we had rescued from death by
torture.
Well, we separated from Nala at the
little stairway or pass over the mount
min, Every and and the ivory going
down the river which we had come up
"a few weeks before. and the chief re-
turning to his own kraal on the farther
side of the mountain.
He gave us an. escort of $50 men.