cognisant of. I found myself standing up, looking at the figure of the
old Boer, which stood on the other side of the fire. It was splashed by
the flickering flame against the black night, and as clear to my
startled gaze as you are at this moment. The sightless eyes were wide
open and full of unwonted expression, and one arm was extended
imperatively in the direction of the homestead. There was an expression
of sternness on the worn face which I had never previously seen, and the
wasted form seemed instinct with dignity.
"I never doubted that it was indeed the old Boer in the flesh that stood
before me, but my mind was in a whirl of wonder as to how he had managed
to follow me, and I never doubted that Alida was at hand, but an eddying
gust of smoke filled my eyes, and I closed them for an instant. When I
opened them again the figure had vanished, and then I knew it for a
vision.
"In an instant the truth, clear and inevitable, pierced my brain--Alida
was in danger and the old man was dead; his spirit had come to warn me.
I seized my gun and bandolier from where they lay, close to the head of
my couch, took a hurried glance at old Danster, who was huddled,
snoring, close to the fire, and plunged into the darkness.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Three_.
"I had a long distance to cover, so I husbanded my strength. The night
was calm, still and starlit when I started. I judged the time to be
about midnight. My mind was in a curiously exalted condition; clear,
tense and braced to its purpose like a tempered steel spring. I felt
that I could have swept an army of men or devils from my path. My
course lay across a succession of low, wide ridges with gently sloping
sides, each culminating in an abrupt backbone of bare boulders, the
whole inclining slightly towards the river.
"Whenever my way led up hill I walked. On reaching the top I drew
breath for a few seconds, and then went down the next slope at a
swinging trot. I found both strength and wind improve as I proceeded.
Dawn just began to flicker as I reached the comb of the last ridge, from
which I knew that the homestead was visible by daylight about three
miles away. Then something which I had taken for a stone in my path
arose before me, and in a few seconds Alida stood revealed. She
stretched out her hand towards me with a gesture of appeal; I dropped my
gun and folded her in my arms. Neither of us spoke a word.
"After a few seconds she disengaged herself from my embrace, took my
hand and led me forward towards the homestead. The glimmer of dawn
began to merge into the gold of morning, and by the time we reached the
dwelling the level shafts of sunlight were searching the crests of every
tree and kopje. Although Alida had not once broken her silence I knew
that something terrible had occurred, but I felt no curiosity; I did not
wish the ear to anticipate the eye in the revelation which was about to
be made. The front door of the homestead stood wide open; no sign of
life was visible, and the only sound which smote on my tense ear was the
howling of a door down near the river.
"Pausing before the doorway, Alida and I looked into each other's eyes
for an instant, during which earth and sky seemed to pause in dreadful
expectancy, and the pulse of time to cease. The girl's face was drawn
and pallid, and wore an expression of the bitterest agony. She took my
hand and drew me into the house.
"The front room was in the same condition as when I had last seen it,
except that the table bore the remains of last evening's meal, and that
a chair lay overturned against the wall, as though it had been hurriedly
flung out of someone's way. The old man's bedroom opened to the left,
and into it Alida led me.
"The wooden shutters were closed, so the only light was the faint
glimmer which filtered through the front room. Alida strode to the
window and, avoiding something which lay on the floor, threw back one
shutter. In an instant the room was flooded with sunshine. On the bed
lay the old man, dead, with the same expression on the worn face which I
had noticed in my vision of the previous night. Under the window lay
the corpse of Sandy, with a deep gash on the right temple, from which a
trickle of black blood had oozed and congealed upon the clay floor.
"The whole room was in a state of disorder, and showed signs of a
violent struggle. I passed my arm round Alida's body and drew her,
half-fainting, from the room. We walked some distance from the house
and seated ourselves in the pure, bright sunshine. Then she told me her
tale.
"The old man had been taken with what must have been a fit immediately
after supper on the previous evening, and died within a few minutes.
Sandy went outside, and Alida remained with the body to carry out the
necessary arrangements. About midnight Sandy returned, and tried to
induce her to go to her room. She refused, and he began to use force.
Then his brutish intention became clear to her. In the very room where
the dead man lay this fiend laid his hot hands upon the girl who had
grown up in the house with him like his sister. Fortunately she was
strong, and able to make an effective resistance. In the struggle his
foot slipped, and he fell with his head against the sharp wooden corner
of his father's cartel bedstead; this pierced to his brain through the
thin bone, and the foul brute fell, dead, to the floor.
"She showed me the black bruises upon her beautiful arms and shoulders,
and I kissed them, one by one. Then I left her sitting upon the stone
and went to drive up the cattle, which, fortunately, were close at hand
in the big river bend. I could not find old Danster's grandson; in
fact, not a soul was to be seen about the place. The Hottentots had
evidently got scent of the tragedy, and bolted.
"After driving the cattle into the kraal, I called Alida to my
assistance, and together we selected sixteen of the best. She knew all
the animals individually. We caught them by passing reims over their
horns. Then we filled the wagon--which stood close by--with provisions,
ammunition, and other necessary things. My goods had been stored in a
little outhouse; I selected some of these and added them to the load.
Before noon the team stood ready in the yoke. I entered the house and
took a last look at the scene of the tragedy. Upon coming from the room
Alida met me in the doorway--
"`Bring him with you, and we will bury him beyond the river,' she said.
"I returned to the room and wrapped the body in a large kaross which lay
upon the bed. Although much emaciated, the body seemed strangely light
for its build. We laid it reverently upon the wagon-cartel, and I
seized the whip. Alida took her place in front of the team as leader,
and the heavy wagon rumbled down the stony track towards the river
drift.
"We travelled about six hours before outspanning. It was then sundown,
and we were on the southern verge of the great Kalihari waste, which is
usually an arid desert, but was then like a rich meadow. In the
darkness I set to work and dug a deep grave in the sand. Before we
lowered the body into it, Alida drew the kaross back from the face and
imprinted a long kiss upon the dead, smoothed-out brow of the man who
had been for so long a father to her, and who had wearied so sorely for
his death. Then she threw herself upon the ground at the grave-side and
burst into passionate weeping. I placed heavy stones over the grave and
burnt loose gunpowder among them for the purpose of scaring off the
jackals.
"At the first gleam of dawn we were again on our way. We knew we should
be pursued, sooner or later, and I wanted to get beyond the range of
pursuit so as to avoid, if possible, the necessity for shedding blood.
In this there was no element of fear, for I felt strong and confident of
being able to overcome the two ruffians. But I knew it would be
necessary to kill them if they overtook us, and I had always shrunk from
taking the life of a fellow-creature--no matter how vile--even in
self-defence.
"We had no fixed plans. Alida knew no more than I of the country before
us. We were on no track, but just steered vaguely northward, taking our
direction from the sun and the stars. Water was to be found almost
everywhere; besides, the whole desert was strewn with `tsamai' melons,
on which we, as well as the cattle, could exist should the water fail.
Game was plentiful and tame, so we never lacked meat. Each night as we
camped we collected fuel, and built two large fires for the purpose of
keeping off the lions, one just behind the wagon and the other in front
of the team. The front yoke we used to peg down firmly, to prevent the
oxen, which were tied in pairs along the chain, from rushing back on the
wagon, in the event of a panic being caused by wild beasts. We divided
the night into two watches, of which I took the first. The oxen were
well trained, so the services of a leader were not often required, and
Alida was thus enabled to sleep for long periods as the wagon crawled
slowly over the velvet-like sand.
"Thus passed five days, and on the morning of the sixth old Danster
turned up. He had waited for my return a day and a night, and then gone
back to the homestead on my spoor, arriving on the evening of the second
day after I had left him. He found the house just as we had left it,
but feeling that something was wrong, had been afraid to enter, so he
took cover close by and waited for daylight, when he traced the
wheel-tracks of our wagon down to the river. Little Slinger, his
grandson, he could not find, although he searched for him far and near.
In the afternoon Piet and Gerrit arrived. Danster stole up to a bush,
from which he could observe all that went on near the house. He saw the
brothers moving about excitedly and gesticulating wildly. Little
Slinger soon afterwards appeared; he had evidently been hiding in the
bush, and emerged, driven out by starvation. The boy was seized by
Gerrit and dragged into the house. He was shortly afterwards dragged
out again, and then Piet shot him dead before the door.
"Danster saw the brothers drive in the mob of horses, saddle up two, and
place a small pack upon a third. Then they started on the track of our
wagon. Danster followed on foot, and passed the two when camped for the
night. Since then he had travelled night and day to overtake us, and he
only arrived just in time to give warning. I at once determined to
await the approach of our pursuers, who were now so close that we could
not hope to escape them. Personally, I had no doubt as to the result of
the encounter. I did not want the woman I loved to stain her sinless
hands in blood, be it ever so guilty, so I refused her offer of
assistance in the conflict. But she took a solemn oath that if I were
killed she would take her own life.
"I knew that I should inevitably have to destroy these men, but I,
nevertheless, determined not to do so without having absolute proof that
they meant to murder me. In the long silent watches of the recent
nights, when earth lay speechless to the stars, I had thought out a plan
in view of the probable contingency, and this plan I proceeded to put
into execution. These men should have their chance, and if they meant
anything less than absolute murder, my right hand might perish before I
would slay them.
"So I yoked the team to the wagon once more, and drew it onward for a
few hundred yards to a spot where two dunes nearly met, and where the
drift-sand lay loose and soft. Then I halted the wagon, letting it
appear as though the oxen had been unable to draw it any farther. The
oxen I unyoked and sent forward in charge of Danster, telling him, if he
heard shooting, shortly followed by a shout from me, to bring them back
at once.
"Then I gathered a quantity of fuel, carefully selecting a number of
logs of heavy, close-grained wood, which might be depended upon to keep
alight for hours. I felt so sure that no attack would be made before
dark, that I proceeded with my preparations in a most leisurely manner.
We built the pile ready for kindling, but waited for sundown before
setting it alight.
"In the meantime, Alida had--under my directions--taken a couple of
yokes and some pillows, and of these made dummy figures, which
she dressed in some of our garments. Then I scooped out a
comfortable-looking couch in the soft dune-side, close to the pile of
fuel, and in the bottom of it laid a kaross. Upon this we placed the
two figures, side by side, and over them we spread another kaross.
Above the head of one figure was laid Alida's `cappie,' with the hood
drawn over the face as though to keep off the dew. Over the head of the
other my coat was laid in the same manner, my hat being carelessly
thrown down alongside. Within arm's-reach one of my spare guns lay
propped upon forked sticks, so as to keep it clear of the sand.
"We finished our preparations just after the sun had sunk, but I
afterwards added a slight touch here and there for the purpose of
improving the general effect. I remember Alida clinging to my arm in
terror, because, just as dusk was setting in, I returned and placed one
of my pipes on top of the hat, where the metal top glinted brightly in
the firelight. Then we climbed into the wagon, let the canvas flap
fall, and sat silently awaiting developments.
"The sides of the canvas cover buttoned to the woodwork of the tilt, but
we unbuttoned sufficient of it to give us, when we lifted it slightly, a
good view of the fire, the couch with the dummies lying in it, and a
considerable space surrounding these.
"I sat in the wagon grasping my double-barrelled gun. My pulse beat no
faster than usual. The only emotion I was conscious of was extreme
impatience. I was not even uneasy about Danster and the cattle,
although I knew there were many lions about. I was quite certain that
the two human jackals would fall into the trap I had so carefully set
for them, but the waiting, which lasted until after midnight, seemed
long and wearisome. It was Alida who first, with the sharp ear of the
desert-bred, heard their approaching stealthy steps. She grasped my arm
suddenly, and I knew quite well what she meant to convey, so I
noiselessly cocked both barrels of my gun. Then she lifted the edge of
the canvas a few inches, and I looked cautiously out.
"Gerrit was the first to appear; he had an evil smile on his face, and
his wicked black eyes glittered like sparks. Immediately following came
Piet. He looked haggard, and his pale lips moved convulsively. Both
men were barefoot, and without hats or boots. They had, Danster
afterwards ascertained when he traced their spoors backwards for the
purpose of getting their horses, watched our camp for some time from the
top of a dune a few hundred yards away, and there discarded their boots
and superfluous clothing before advancing to their cowardly attack.
"Gerrit leading, the two stole up to within two yards of my supposed
figure, and then Piet stretched out his hand and took possession of my
gun, which he placed out of reach. The two then pointed their guns,
Gerrit at the head and Piet at the breast of the dummy. I noticed that
both took some pains to avoid the possibility of wounding the other
supposed sleeper with their shots, and for this a faint throb of
something like pity woke in my mind. I saw the muzzles of the guns drop
slightly in unison once, twice, and then, at the third drop, both
weapons were discharged.
"I had covered Gerrit, and an instant after he fired he dropped with my
bullet through his brain. Piet sprang wildly to one side, only,
however, to meet my second shot, which pierced his chest from the
left-hand side. He fell on his face with a gurgling groan, and died,
clutching wildly at the grass.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Four_.
"I sprang out of the wagon, ran to the top of the dune and shouted to
old Danster, who, to my astonishment, emerged from under a bush a few
yards off. He had stolen back after leaving the oxen, replete and
happy, lying down about a quarter of a mile away. The old Hottentot was
filled with savage delight at little Slinger's death having been so
completely avenged. He had his gun ready to shoot Piet had I fallen.
Soon afterwards he brought up the oxen at a run, and we tied them to the
yokes.
"We then dragged the two bodies to the back of the dune, and there left
them to such sepulture as the vultures and the jackals might give. A
few spadefuls of clean white sand obliterated all superficial traces of
the gruesome happenings in the vicinity of the wagon. Then Alida and I
sat on the wagon-box, hand in hand, and watched until the night died and
the gracious morning smiled upon the desert.
"I felt no remorse for what I had done, then or ever afterwards. My
deed had been an execution, not a murder--an act of self-defence under
the direst necessity. But I preferred to look upon it as a kind of
judicial proceeding in which the culprits had been tried and sentenced
at the bar of eternal justice, and handed over to me, unwilling, for
execution.
"When the sweet, pure influences of dawn descended upon us after that
night of blood, my heartstrings sang aloud and I thrilled with a sense
of elation such as I had never previously experienced. I seemed to be
king of a boundless realm, and my queen sat in beauty at my side. No
word of love had passed between us since our flight, but she was now
mine by every law of heaven and earth. The face of love had hitherto
been shaded by terror and tears, but now it shone upon us, unclouded and
bright as the morning. We were alone in the wild, untracked and
boundless desert, but we would not have exchanged our wagon for a
palace. To us a world of men would have been unbearable; the convulsion
we had passed through had whirled us to some zone far from the ways of
ordinary humanity. We were like two peerless eagles soaring in the
heart of the infinite blue, forgetful of the inconspicuous earth.
"Northward and ever northward we travelled. Wayward Nature spread a
carpet for our delighted feet, and laid the fruits of the earth ready
for our banquet. I felt so happy that it gave me pain to slay the
innocent desert creatures when meat was required. I knew not fear of
anything. I have looked calmly into the eyes of a furious lion when he
crouched ready to spring at me, and laid him quivering at my feet with a
shot which seemed as though it could not err.
"We happened upon the bitter wells quite by accident. Alida took a
fancy to this spot, so we here formed our camp. We never dreamt of
having to depend upon the bitter water for our sustenance, for the well
in the donga close at hand looked as though it could never run dry. The
Bushmen soon became our fast friends. Alida spoke their language, and
they used to bring their sick and hurt to her for treatment. In one or
two serious cases I was called in, and, owing to the fact of fortunate
recoveries resulting, I acquired the reputation of a great magician.
This reputation I have never lost.
"For a year no two human beings were ever happier than we. Alida could
use a gun quite as well as I, so I felt no uneasiness about leaving her
alone when hunting took me far afield. The desert, after rain, is full
of wholesome vegetable food, and with this the Bushmen kept us well
supplied. We had no want or desire which we could not satisfy. Yes,
that year was enough to atone for an eternity of pain.
"One thing only I dreaded--the possibility of Alida's becoming a mother,
and at length the day came when I knew that my dread would be realised.
This was just a year after our union.
"Soon afterwards the land began to dry up, and it was then I should have
escaped to the Great Lake. But I was new to the climate, and I could
make no guess as to what was coming. I hoped against hope for rain, but
the sun scorched fiercer and fiercer. Now and then the clouds came up
to mock our misery, but no drop fell from them. One by one the
water-places failed, and the Bushmen began to flock in to the bitter
wells from every direction. All had the same tale to tell. The desert,
which had been awakened to beauty by the kiss of the fickle sky, was
falling back into its ancient, deathlike sleep. Until this present
season it has never since awakened.
"The well in the donga close at hand held out long after the others had
dried up, but it, too, began to show signs of soon becoming exhausted.
The Bushmen still said that rain might come, and once, when the
lightnings flickered on the north-eastern horizon, they held a dance to
show their joy at the prospect of a deluge. But soon afterwards the air
grew cooler, with a clear sky, and then the dwellers of the desert told
us to bid good-bye to hope.
"The child was born--a strong, lusty boy--and Alida stood the ordeal
bravely. But the sides of our well began to crumble in, and the water
to become horribly less. At length, after we had spent nearly a whole
day in squeezing a single pannikin of moisture from the sand scraped up
at the bottom of the pit, we sadly moved over to the bitter wells. The
child was then two months old.
"Alida sickened from the water at once. Strangely enough, it had no
effect upon me. Then the kind Bushmen searched all over the desert for
the ostrich egg-shells which they had filled with rain-water and buried
here and there so that the hunters might not die of thirst when their
pursuit of game had taken them far away from their camps. This stuff,
horrible as it proved, Alida was able to exist upon, but the supply soon
became exhausted, and then the bitter water made her more ill than ever.
Her illness poisoned the child; it wasted quickly and died in cruel
pain.
"Alida never lifted her head after the child's death. By her wish I
carried it over here for burial. At one time it seemed as though she
might possibly become accustomed to the bitter water. Then, after
unusually hot weather, its poison grew so virulent that even some of the
Bushmen sickened. Alida became suddenly worse, and two days afterwards
she died in my arms.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"All this happened twenty years ago. On these notched sticks I have
kept a record of the slow time. Alida and the child lie buried beneath
the spot where we are sitting now; I shall never leave the place. Every
day the Bushmen bring me enough meat and water for my needs. Old
Danster died of thirst when hunting in the desert, years ago.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The wild animals seem to know me, for they never attempt to do me any
hurt. I do not think I am unhappy, for I can sleep when I like, and in
my dreams I go over the past again and again. They used to teach me
that another life comes after death. I do not know... I know that if
the soul lives when the body dies, our souls will be together... But
now I dream... and dream..."
CHAPTER TWELVE.
THE HUNTER OF THE DIDIMA.
"You say, my Chief, that you wish me to relate a tale of the days of my
youth, which are now so very far away. Well, I owe you homage for that
you opened the door of the prison wherein my grandson lay, accused of a
crime which another had committed. Last year I might have sent you a
cow, which would have kept your children's calabash always full, but now
that the Rinderpest has emptied my kraal I am a poor man--so poor that I
cannot even offer you a drink of sour milk. There, behind that mat, lie
the calabashes splitting from dryness. _Wau_, but it is hard for an old
man who has owned cattle all his life to look every day into an empty
kraal.
"Oh yes--about the tale. Well, I can tell you of an occasion when I was
so near my death that for months afterwards I would start up in my sleep
of nights and shriek aloud. The tale has often been told, but never the
whole of it, for it is shameful for a man to relate how he wept like a
woman and begged for his life. But now all the others are dead--and,
for myself, why, I am only an old man of no account who will soon be
dead too.