The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-18
 THE LADY OF THE HEAVENS.
Copyright, 1908. by H. Rider Haggard
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in the country where she dwelt. Prac- tlcally her only companions were her father, religious enthusiast and her mother, half broken-hearted wom- an who never for @ single hour could forget the children she had lost, and whose constitutional mysticism in- creased upon her continually until at times it seemed as though she had added some new quality to her nor. mai human nature.
 Then there were the natives amongst whom from the beginning Rachel was a sort of queen In those first days of settlement they had nev- CT seen anybody in the least like her, no one so beautiful-for she grew up beautiful-so fearless, or so kind. The tale of that adventure of hers as child upon the island in the midst of the flooded torrent, spread all through the country with many fabulous ad- ditions. Thus the Kaffirs said that she was a ''Heaven-herd,' that is, magical person who can ward off or direct the lightnings, which she was supposed to have done upon this night; also that she could walk upon the waters, for otherwise how did she escape the flood? And lastly, that the wild beasts were her servants, for had not the driver Tom and the natives seen the spoOr of great lions right at the mouth of the cave where she and her companion sheltered, and had they not heard, that she called these lions into the cave to protect her and him from the other creatures? There fore, as has been said, they gave her a name, a very long name that meant Chieftainess or Lady of Heaven, Inko- sazana-v-Zoola: for Zulu or Zoola, which we know as the title of that people, means Heaven, and Udadey- Silwana or Sister of wild beasts. As these appellations proved too lengthy for general use, even among the Ban tu races who have plenty of time for talking, ultimately 1t was shortened to Zoola alone, so that throughout that part of South Eastern Africa Rachel came to enjoy the lofty title of "Heav- en-" the first girl, probably, who was ever so called.
 With all natives from her child hood up, Rachel was on the best of terms. She was never familiar with them indeed, for that is not the wa,' for 8 white person to win the affec- tion, or even the respect of a Kaffir. But she was intimate in the sense that she could enter into their thoughts and nature, a. very rare gift We whites are apt to consider our selves the superior of such folk. where as we are only different. In fact, talk en altogether it is quite 8 question
 
 Bantu peoples are not our equals. Of course we have learned more things and our best men are their betters. But on the other hand among them there is nothing so low as the inhab- itants of our slums, nor have they any vices which can surpass our vices. Is an assegai so much more savage than a shell? Is there any great gulf fixed between a Chaka and Napoleon :? At least they are not hypocrites, and they are not vulgar; that is the priv ilege of civilized nations
 Well, with these folk Rachel was intimate. She could talk to the war rior of his wars, to the woman of hel garden and her children, to the cf1il- dren of that wonder world which sur- rounds childhood throughout the uni verse. And yet there was never one of these but lifted the hand to her in salute when her shadow fell upon them. To them all she was the Inkosazana, the Great Lady. They would laugh at her father and mimic him behind his back, but Rachel they never laughed at or mimicked. Of her mother also. although she kept herself apart from them, much the same may be said. For her they had a curious name which they would not, or were unable to explain They called her "F1ower- rows-on-a- 0A CIV II OI MI. DOVC IIIGIT dpp0lId- tion was less poetical. It was shout er-about Things-h under stand" or more briefly, '"The Shouter,' name that he had acquired from his habit of raising his voice when he grew moved in speaking to them. The things that he did not understand, it may be explained, were not to their minds his religious views, which al- though they considered them remark able, were evidently his own affair. but their private customs. Especially their family customs that he was never weary of denouncing to the bewilder- ment of these poor heathens. who for their part were not greatly impressed by those of the few white people with whom they came in contact. There fore, with native politeness, they con- cluded that he spoke thus rrudely be- cause he did not understand. Hence his name.
 <To be Continued.)