Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-21

| OF you. but I felt both Of you following
me, and heard in my heart what You
were whispering each other. Well 1nko-
sazana, art thou the wiser for this jour
ney?"
mo. mother. but tell US If thou wilt
what thou vast beating on that drum.
Gladly she answered. Il was send
| ing certain orders to the slave people
who still know me as Mother of the
| Trees, and obey my words. Perhaps thou
| dost not believe that while sat upon
yonder wall 1 talked across the desert
| to the chiefs of the marches upon the
far border OF the land of the Umkulu.
| and that by now at my bidding they have
| sent out men upon an errand of mine.
What was the errand. mother" ask
! ed Rachel curiously.
II said the GRAND was mine. not thine,
Maiden. 1t Is not pressing, but as 1 do
| not know how long my strength Will last,
| l thought 1t we'll that it should be set
tied" Then without more words she
| coiled herself up on her mat and seemed
| to go TO sleep.
| 1t was after this incident Of the drums
| that Rachel experienced the strangest
/ days. or rather weeks of her life. Nya
| sent her into no more frances, and to all
outward seeming nothing happened Yet
| within her much did happen. Her mad
| ness had utterly left her and still she was
not as other women are, or as she her
| self had been in health. Her mind SEEM
\ ed to wander and che knew not whittier
/ il wandered. Yet for long hours. although
| she was awake and. SO Mole said, talking
or eating or walking as usual, 1t was
away from her. and afterward she could
remember nothing. Also this happened
| at night as well as during the day. and
| ever more and more often.
| She could remember nothing. yet out OF
| this nothingness there grew upon her a
/ continual sense OF the presence OF Rich
| ard Darrien, a presence that seemed 10
| come nearer and nearer. closer and closer
to her heart. 1t was the assurance Of
this presence that made those long days
] so happy to her, though when she was
| herself, she felt that it could be naught
but a dream. Yet why should a dream
move her so strangely. and why should
| dream weary her so much? Why, after
sleeping all night, should she awake feel
| ing as though she had journeyed all
| night? Why should her limbs ache and
| she grow thin like one who travels with
/ out cease? Why should she seem time
| after time TO have passed great dangers.
| 10 have known cold. and heat and want
i and the struggle against waters and the
| battling against storms? why should her
! knowledge OF this Richard, OF the very
/ heart and soul OF Richard. grow ever
deeper till 1t was as though they were not
| twain but one?
She could not answer these questions.
! and Mole could not answer them. and
| when she asked Nya the old mother shook
/ her head and could not or would not an
| swer. Only the dwarf-mutes seemed to
| know the answer. for when she passed
1 them thew nudged eacn OtneF. ana grim
ned and thrust their little woolly heads
| together staring. several OF them into one
/ bowl But IL Mole and Nya knew nothing
/ Of the cause Of these things the effect
/ of them stirred them both. for they saw
I that Rachel. the tall and strong. grew
i faint and weak and began to fade away
as one fades upon whom deadly sickness
] has laid its hand.
/ Thus three weeks or so went by, until
one day IN some fashion of her own Nya
! caused TO arise in the mind of Edo a
\ knowledge of her desire TO speak with
him Early the next morning Edo ar
, rived at the Holy Place. accompanied
/ only by his familiar Hama. and Nya met
! them alone in the mouth of the cave.
II see that thou art very white and
4 thin. but still alive, old woman" sneered
| E.ddo. adding: "All the thousands of the
people yonder thought that long ere this
thou wouldst have passed within the
fence. May / take back that good It'd
ings to them?"
The ancient Mother Of the Trees looked
at him sternly
at is true. thou evil mocker" she said
| that ] am white and thin. 1t is true
that | grow like TO the skeleton OF a rot
ted leaf all ribs and netted veins with
out substance. 1t is true that my round
eyes start from my head like to those OF
| a bush plover, or the tree lizard, and that
soon I must pass within the fence. as
thou hast so long desired that / should