Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-19
CHAPTER XyII-Contirued

CHAPTER NNII-ContInued
DRESENTLY they came five of them,
L great truculcntooldug fellows OF a sur
| pr;sinE blackness, uuarmed, for they had
| not been allowed to bring their weapons INTO
| the town. but adorned with the usual silver
| chains across their breasts to- show their
| rank, and other savage hnery In the man
! who was their leader | recognized one "i
| those messengers who had aCcoSted US Wh"n
| first we entered their territory on our way
! from the south. before that fight in Whlch
| | was taken prisoner. Stepping forward ana
| addressing himself to lIarut, he said;
| "a while ago q Prophet Of the child I,
/ the messenger of the god Jana, speaking
! through the mouth of Smha the King gave
! to you and your brother Marut a certain
warning to which you did not listen Now
| Jana has Marut, and again come to warn
! you IIarur."
"If remember right" interrupted Harut
| blandly, 81 think that on that occasion two
! of you delivered the message and that the
! child marked one Of YOU upon the brow.
If Jana has my brother, say, where Is
| yours?'
we warned YOU" went on the messcn-
| GET. "and you cursed ua in the name OF the
| child
Yes" interrupted Ilarut again, I'VE
| cursed YOU with three curses The first
| was the curse of Heaven by storm or
| drought. which has fallen upon you. Inc
| second was the curse of famine, when Is
| falling upon you; and the thlrd was the
curse of war which is yet to fall on you
1T is of war that we come to speak
! replied the messenger. diplOmatically avoid
| ing the other two topics, which perhaps ne
| found it awkward to discuss
! "That is foolish of you" replied the
| bland Harut seeing that the other day
you matched yourselves against us Wi'h
! small success Many Of you were killed,
| but only a very few of MS, and the whlte
! lord whom you took captive escaped OUT
| of your hands and from the tusks OF Jana,
| who, | think, now lacks an eye II he is
| god how comes il that he lacks an eye
and could not kill an unarmcd white man
| Let lana answer for himself. as he viii
| do ere long. q Harut. Meanwhile these
/ are the words of Jana spoken through the
! mouth of Simba the King: The child has
| destroyed my harvest and, therefore. !
demand this of the people of the Chlld-that
| they give me three-fourths of their harvest
| reapng the same and delivering IL on the
south bank of the River TaVa' Ihat they
| give me the two white lords To he sacrlilced
| to me. That they give the white lady who Is
| Guardian of the child to be wife of Simba
| the King and with her hundred virgins OF
| your people. That the image or the Chlld
| he brought to the banks of the River TaVa,
| there to make obeisance to the god Jana in
| tha nresence of his priests and Smba the
| King These are the demands of Jana
| snoken through the mouth of Simba the
| King"
And if we refuse the demands, what
! then?'
then lana declares war upon yoh the last
war of all, war till every one of your men
| be dead and the Child You worship is burnt
| to gray ashes with fire. war M your
! women are taken as slaves and the corn
| which vou refuse is stored i'm our grain pits
! ond vour land is a waste and your name
| forgotten Already the hosts of Jana are
| gathered and the trumpet OF Jana calls
| then, 10 the fight Tomorrow or the next
| day they advance upon YOU and ere the
moon Is full not one Of you will be left to
| look upon her ~
Won will ride hard for the rver There Is
| such rain upon the mountains as l have
never seen before, and YOU will be fortunate
| ~ Won cross It before the flood comes down,
the greatest flood that had happened in our
| day"
This intelligence seemed to disturb the
| messengers for they, too stepped out Of
| the shed and stared at the mountains, NUT
| tering TO each other something that l could
| not understand. Then they returned, and
| with n fine appearance of indifference de-
manded an immediate answer to their chal-
| lenge. ,,, -, W.,
| Then changing his tone he drew himself
TO his full height and Numbered out at
| them: "Get you back to your evil spirit of
| god that macs III tne bHdpo VI ptdSt oI
| the forest and to his slave who calls him
self a king, and say to them Thus speaks
the Child to his rebelous servants, the
Black Kendah dogs; Swim my river when
YOU can, which will not be yet, and come
| up against me when you Will; for when
ever YOU come l shall be ready for you,
| You are already dead, o jana You are
| already dead, o Simba the slaves You are
scattered and lost dogs of the Black
| Kendall, and the home of such Of you as
remain shall he far away in a barren land.
| where YOU must dig deep for water and
| live upon the wild game because there little
| corn will grow Now begone. and swiftly,
| lest YOU stop here for ever"
So they turned and went. leaving me full
of admiration at the histrionic powers Of
| Harut.
That very evening we began our prepara-
tions to meet an attack which was now
Inevitable. Putting aside the supposed rival
powers Of the tribal dlvinltles worshiped
under the names OF the Child and Jana.
which, while they added kind OF Homeric
interest to the contest, could. we felt.
scarcely AFFECT an issue that must be de-
cidsd With, cold stssl and athsr- -Saqztal
s rs y 1|,il " ~ & N w u X III