The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-26
(Continued.l

we nave nearQ the story, answer ed the old man (which indeed they had
 with many additions), "and we believe We believe that the Heavens above 1 gave the their own name which is the name of the Spirit of our people. That l Spirit I have seen in a dream, and
 she was like to thee, O Inkosazana-y- | Zoola'
 Tt may be so, Mouth of the King, | still I am woman, not spirit | "Yet in every woman there dWells
 a spirit, or so we believe and in thee 1 a great one, or so we have heard and l believe, Lady of the Heavens. To | thee, then, again we repeat the words
 of Dingaan and of his council which 1 to-day we have said in the ears o1 l him who thinks himself thy father. To l thee the roads are open; thine are the l cattle in the kraalS, here is an ear nest of them. Thine are the lives of
 men. Command now, if thou wilt, that
 one of us be slain before thee, and
 whilst thou watchest, he shall look his l last upon the moon.'
 1T hear you,' said Rachel, quietly,
 ':but I seek the life of none who are | good. I thank the King for his gift; l I wish the King well. I remember that life and death lie in my hands.
 Say these words to the King We will say them, but wilt thou not come, O Lady, as the King desires? A regiment shall meet thee on the river bank and lead thee to his house. Un- harmed shalt thou come, unharn.ed shalt thou return, and what thou ask est that shall be given thee."
 "One day, perchance, I will come, but now now. Go in peace, o Mouths 1 of the King
 As she spoke another dark cloud l noated acros sthe moon, and whom it
 had parsed away she stood no more upon the rock. Then, seeing that 1 she was gone, those messengers gath cred up their spears and mats and l returned swiftly to Zululand. When she reached the house again Rachel told her father and mother all that had passed, laughing as she spoke.
 s.It seems scarcely right, my dear.'' | said MT. Dove, when she had done. 'Tl,o benighted heathens will really believe that you are something un- earthly"
 ."Then let them,;' she answered. "1t can do no one any harm, and the power of life and death with the rest of it, unless it was all talk as I sus- rcct, might be very useful one day. Who knows? And now the Princess of the Heavens will go and Set the supper, as Noic-I beg pardon, Non- 1ia-is off duty for the present" Afterwards she asked Noie who was tke old man with withered hand who had spoken as the kings
 Mouth
 "Mopo is his name, Mopo or Um- bopo, none other. O Zoola,' she an- swered. ''It was he who stabbed TChaka, the Black One. It is said | also that alone among men living, he has seen the White Spirit: the Inko- sazana. Thrice has he seen her, or so goes the tale that my father, who knew everything. told to me. That is why Dingaan sent him here to make report of you" And she told her all the death of T'Chaka, which Rachel treasured in her mind.
 Such was RachePs first introduction to the Zulus, an occasion on which her undoubted histrionic abilities stood her in good stead.
 This matter of the embassy happen ed and in due course was almost for gotten, that is until certain event occurred which brought it into mind. For some time, however, Rachel thought of it a, good deal, wondering how it came about that her native name and the strange significance which they appeared to give to it had taken such hold of the imagination of the Zulus. Ultimately she discov- cred that the white man, Ishmael, was the chief cause of these things He had lived so long among savages that he had caught something of their mind and dark superstitions To him, as to them, it seemed a marvellous thing that she should have acquired the title of the legendary Spirit of the Zulu people. The calm courage, too, so unusual in a woman, which she showed when she shot the warrior, and at the risk of her own life saved that of the girl, Noie, impressed him as something almost ultra human, es- pecially when he remembered his own conduct on that occasion. All of this story, of course, he did not tell to the Zulus for he feared lest they should take vengeance for his share in It. But of Rachel he discoursed to the King and his indunas, or great men, as white witch dOctoress of super natural power, whose name showed that she was mixed up with the for tunes of the race. Therefore, in the knew the Spirit" to make report of her.
 When he was not absent upon his hunting or trading expeditions, Isf- mael visited Ramah a great deal and, as Rachel soon discovered, not without an object Indeed, almost from the first her feminine instincts led her to suspect that this man who, notwith- standing his good looks, repeIled her so intensely, was falling in love with her, which in truth he had done once and for all at their first meeting. Tn the beginning he did not, it is true, say much that could be so interpreted, but his whole attitude towards her suggested it, as did other things. For