Books: Nada the Lily

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"How is it that ye dare to come before me armed? Know ye not the rule
that he who appears armed before the king dies?"

"We have not heard that law, O King," said Umslopogaas. "Moreover,
there is this to be told: my virtue of the axe I bear I rule alone. If
I am seen without the axe, then any man may take my place who can, for
the axe is chieftainess of the People of the Axe, and he who holds it
is its servant."

"A strange custom," said Dingaan, "but let it pass. And thou, Wolf,
what hast thou to say of that great club of thine?"

"There is this to be told of the club, O King," answered Galazi: "by
virtue of the club I guard my life. If I am seen without the club,
then may any man take my life who can, for the club is my Watcher, not
I Watcher of the club."

"Never wast thou nearer to the losing of both club and life," said
Dingaan, angrily.

"It may be so, O King," answered the Wolf. "When the hour is, then,
without a doubt, the Watcher shall cease from his watching."

"Ye are a strange pair," quoth Dingaan. "Where have you been now, and
what is your business at the Place of the Elephant?"

"We have been in a far country, O King!" answered Umslopogaas. "We
have wandered in a distant land to search for a Flower to be a gift to
a king, and in our searching we have trampled down a Swazi garden, and
yonder are some of those who tended it"--and he pointed to the
captives--"and without are the cattle that ploughed it."

"Good, Slaughterer! I see the gardeners, and I hear the lowing of the
cattle, but what of the Flower? Where is this Flower ye went so far to
dig in Swazi soil? Was it a Lily-bloom, perchance?"

"It was a Lily-bloom, O King! and yet, alas! the Lily has withered.
Nothing is left but the stalk, white and withered as are the bones of
men."

"What meanest thou?" said Dingaan, starting to his feet.

"That the king shall learn," answered Umslopogaas; and, turning, he
spoke a word to the captains who were behind him. Presently the ranks
opened up, and four men ran forward from the rear of the companies. On
their shoulders they bore a stretcher, and upon the stretcher lay
something wrapped about with raw ox-hides, and bound round with
rimpis. The men saluted, and laid their burden down before the king.

"Open!" said the Slaughterer; and they opened, and there within the
hides, packed in salt, lay the body of a girl who once was tall and
fair.

"Here lies the Lily's stalk, O King!" said Umslopogaas, pointing with
the axe, "but if her flower blooms on any air, it is not here."

Now Dingaan stared at the sight of death, and bitterness of heart took
hold of him, since he desired above all things to win the beauty of
the Lily for himself.

"Bear away this carrion and cast it to the dogs!" he cried, for thus
he could speak of her whom he would have taken to wife, when once he
deemed her dead. "Take it away, and thou, Slaughterer, tell me how it
came about that the maid was slain. It will be well for thee if thou
hast a good answer, for know thy life hangs on the words."

So Umslopogaas told the king all that tale which had been made ready
against the wrath of Dingaan. And when he had finished Galazi told his
story, of how he had seen the soldier kill the maid, and in his wrath
had killed the soldier. Then certain of the captains who had seen the
soldier and the maid lying in one death came forward and spoke to it.

Now Dingaan was very angry, and yet there was nothing to be done. The
Lily was dead, and by no fault of any except of one, who was also dead
and beyond his reach.

"Get you hence, you and your people," he said to the Wolf-Brethren. "I
take the cattle and the captives. Be thankful that I do not take all
your lives also--first, because ye have dared to make war without my
word, and secondly, because, having made war, ye have so brought it
about that, though ye bring me the body of her I sought, ye do not
bring the life."

Now when the king spoke of taking the lives of all the People of the
Axe, Umslopogaas smiled grimly and glanced at his companies. Then
saluting the king, he turned to go. But as he turned a man sprang
forwards from the ranks and called to Dingaan, saying:--

"Is it granted that I may speak truth before the king, and afterwards
sleep in the king's shadow?"

Now this was that man who had been captain of the guard on the night
when three passed out through the archway and two returned, that same
man whom Umslopogaas had degraded from his rank.

"Speak on, thou art safe," answered Dingaan.

"O King, thy ears have been filled with lies," said the soldier.
"Hearken, O King! I was captain of the guard of the gate on that night
of the slaying of the Halakazi. Three came to the gate of the mountain
--they were Bulalio, the Wolf Galazi, and another. That other was tall
and slim, bearing a shield high--so. As the third passed the gate, the
kaross he wore brushed against me and slipped aside. Beneath that
kaross was no man's breast, O King, but the shape of a woman, almost
white in colour, and very fair. In drawing back the kaross this third
one moved the shield. Behind that shield was no man's face, O King,
but the face of a girl, lovelier than the moon, and having eyes
brighter than the stars. Three went out at the mountain gate, O King,
only two returned, and, peeping after them, it seemed that I saw the
third running swiftly across the plains, as a young maid runs, O King.
This also, Elephant, Bulalio yonder denied me when, as captain of the
guard, I asked for the third who had passed the gate, saying that only
two had passed. Further, none of the captives were called to swear to
the body of the maid, and now it is too late, and that man who lay
beside her was not killed by Galazi in the cave. He was killed outside
the cave by a blow of a Halakazi kerrie. I saw him fall with my own
eyes, and slew the man who smote him. One thing more, King of the
World, the best of the captives and the cattle are not here for a gift
to thee--they are at the kraal of Bulalio, Chief of the People of the
Axe. I have spoken, O King, yes, because my heart loves not lies. I
have spoken the truth, and now do thou protect me from these Wolf-
Brethren, O King, for they are very fierce."

Now all this while that the traitor told his tale Umslopogaas, inch by
inch, was edging near to him and yet nearer, till at length he might
have touched him with an outstretched spear. None noted him except I,
Mopo, alone, and perhaps Galazi, for all were watching the face of
Dingaan as men watch a storm that is about to burst.

"Fear thou not the Wolf-Brethren, soldier," gasped Dingaan, rolling
his red eyes; "the paw of the Lion guards thee, my servant."

Ere the words had left the king's lips the Slaughterer leapt. He
leaped full on to the traitor, speaking never a word, and oh! his eyes
were awful. He leaped upon him, he seized him with his hands, lifting
no weapon, and in his terrible might he broke him as a child breaks a
stick--nay, I know not how, it was too swift to see. He broke him,
and, hurling him on high, cast him dead at the feet of Dingaan, crying
in a great voice:--

"Take thy servant, King! Surely he 'sleeps in thy shadow'!"

Then there was silence, only through the silence was heard a gasp of
fear and wonder, for no such deed as this had been wrought in the
presence of the king--no, not since the day of Senzangacona the Root.

Now Dingaan spoke, and his voice came thick with rage, and his limbs
trembled.

"Slay him!" he hissed. "Slay the dog and all those with him!"

"Now we come to a game which I can play," answered Umslopogaas. "Ho,
People of the Axe! Will you stand to be slaughtered by these singed
rats?" and he pointed with Groan-Maker at those warriors who had
escaped without hurt in the fire, but whose faces the fire had
scorched.

Then for answer a great shout went up, a shout and a roar of laughter.
And this was the shout:--

"No, Slaughterer, not so are we minded!" and right and left they faced
to meet the foe, while from all along the companies came the crackling
of the shaken shields.

Back sprang Umslopogaas to head his men; forward leaped the soldiers
of the king to work the king's will, if so they might. And Galazi the
Wolf also sprang forward, towards Dingaan, and, as he sprang, swung up
the Watcher, crying in a great voice:--

"Hold!"

Again there was silence, for men saw that the shadow of the Watcher
lay dark upon the head of Dingaan.

"It is a pity that many should die when one will suffice," cried the
Wolf again. "Let a blow be struck, and where his shadow lies there
shall the Watcher be, and lo! the world will lack a king. A word,
King!"

Now Dingaan looked up at the great man who stood above him, and felt
the shadow of the shining club lie cold upon his brow, and again he
shook--this time it was with fear.

"Begone in peace!" he said.

"A good word for thee, King," said the Wolf, grinning, and slowly he
drew himself backwards towards the companies, saying, "Praise the
king! The king bids his children go in peace."

But when Dingaan felt that his brow was no longer cold with the shadow
of death his rage came back to him, and he would have called to the
soldiers to fall upon the People of the Axe, only I stayed him,
saying:--

"Thy death is in it, O King; the Slaughterer will grind such men as
thou hast here beneath his feet, and then once more shall the Watcher
look upon thee."

Now Dingaan saw that this was true, and gave no command, for he had
only those men with him whom the fire had left. All the rest were gone
to slaughter the Boers in Natal. Still, he must have blood, so he
turned on me.

"Thou art a traitor, Mopo, as I have known for long, and I will serve
thee as yonder dog served his faithless servant!" and he thrust at me
with the assegai in his hand.

But I saw the stroke, and, springing high into the air, avoided it.
Then I turned and fled very swiftly, and after me came certain of the
soldiers. The way was not far to the last company of the People of the
Axe; moreover, it saw me coming, and, headed by Umslopogaas, who
walked behind them all, ran to meet me. Then the soldiers who followed
to kill me hung back out of reach of the axe.

"Here with the king is no place for me any more, my son," I said to
Umslopogaas.

"Fear not, my father, I will find you a place," he answered.

Then I called a message to the soldiers who followed me, saying:--

"Tell this to the king: that he has done ill to drive me from him, for
I, Mopo, set him on the throne and I alone can hold him there. Tell
him this also, that he will do yet worse to seek me where I am, for
that day when we are once more face to face shall be his day of death.
Thus speaks Mopo the inyanga, Mopo the doctor, who never yet
prophesied that which should not be."

Then we marched from the kraal Umgugundhlovu, and when next I saw that
kraal it was to burn all of it which Dingaan had left unburnt, and
when next I saw Dingaan--ah! that is to be told of, my father.

We marched from the kraal, none hindering us, for there were none to
hinder, and after we had gone a little way Umslopogaas halted and
said:--

"Now it is in my mind to return whence we came and slay this Dingaan,
ere he slay me."

"Yet it is well to leave a frightened lion in his thicket, my son, for
a lion at bay is hard to handle. Doubt not that every man, young and
old, in Umgugundhlovu now stands armed about the gates, lest such a
thought should take you, my son; and though just now he was afraid,
yet Dingaan will strike for his life. When you might have killed you
did not kill; now the hour has gone."

"Wise words!" said Galazi. "I would that the Watcher had fallen where
his shadow fell."

"What is your counsel now, father?" asked Umslopogaas.

"This, then: that you two should abide no more beneath the shadow of
the Ghost Mountain, but should gather your people and your cattle, and
pass to the north on the track of Mosilikatze the Lion, who broke away
from Chaka. There you may rule apart or together, and never dream of
Dingaan."

"I will not do that, father," he answered. "I will dwell beneath the
shadow of the Ghost Mountain while I may."

"And so will I," said Galazi, "or rather among its rocks. What! shall
my wolves lack a master when they would go a-hunting? Shall Greysnout
and Blackfang, Blood and Deathgrip, and their company black and grey,
howl for me in vain?"

"So be it, children. Ye are young and will not listen to the counsel
of the old. Let it befall as it chances."

I spoke thus, for I did not know then why Umslopogaas would not leave
his kraals. It was for this reason: because he had bidden Nada to meet
him there.

Afterwards, when he found her he would have gone, but then the sky was
clear, the danger-clouds had melted for awhile.

Oh! that Umslopogaas my fosterling had listened to me! Now he would
have reigned as a king, not wandered an outcast in strange lands I
know not where; and Nada should have lived, not died, nor would the
People of the Axe have ceased to be a people.

This of Dingaan. When he heard my message he grew afraid once more,
for he knew me to be no liar.

Therefore he held his hand for awhile, sending no impi to smite
Umslopogaas, lest it might come about that I should bring him his
death as I had promised. And before the fear had worn away, it
happened that Dingaan's hands were full with the war against the
Amaboona, because of his slaughter of the white people, and he had no
soldiers to spare with whom to wreak vengeance on a petty chief living
far away.

Yet his rage was great because of what had chanced, and, after his
custom, he murdered many innocent people to satisfy it.

CHAPTER XXIX

MOPO TELLS HIS TALE

Now afterwards, as we went upon our road, Umslopogaas told me all
there was to tell of the slaying of the Halakazi and of the finding of
Nada.

When I heard that Nada, my daughter, still lived, I wept for joy,
though like Umslopogaas I was torn by doubt and fear, for it is far
for an unaided maid to travel from Swaziland to the Ghost Mountain.
Yet all this while I said nothing to Umslopogaas of the truth as to
his birth, because on the journey there were many around us, and the
very trees have ears, and the same wind to which we whispered might
whisper to the king. Still I knew that the hour had come now when I
must speak, for it was in my mind to bring it about that Umslopogaas
should be proclaimed the son of Chaka, and be made king of the Zulus
in the place of Dingaan, his uncle. Yet all these things had gone
cross for us, because it was fated so, my father. Had I known that
Umslopogaas still lived when I slew Chaka, then I think that I could
have brought it about that he should be king. Or had things fallen out
as I planned, and the Lily maid been brought to Dingaan, and
Umslopogaas grew great in his sight, then, perhaps, I could have
brought it about. But all things had gone wrong. The Lily was none
other than Nada; and how could Umslopogaas give Nada, whom he thought
his sister, and who was my daughter, to Dingaan against her will?
Also, because of Nada, Dingaan and Umslopogaas were now at bitter
enmity, and for this same cause I was disgraced and a fugitive, and my
counsels would no longer be heard in the ear of the king.

So everything must be begun afresh: and as I walked with the impi
towards the Ghost Mountain, I thought much and often of the manner in
which this might be done. But as yet I said nothing.

Now at last we were beneath the Ghost Mountain, and looked upon the
face of the old Witch who sits there aloft forever waiting for the
world to die; and that same night we came to the kraal of the People
of the Axe, and entered it with a great singing. But Galazi did not
enter at that time; he was away to the mountain to call his flock of
wolves, and as we passed its foot we heard the welcome that the wolves
howled in greeting to him.

Now as we drew near the kraal, all the women and children came out to
meet us, headed by Zinita, the head wife of Umslopogaas. They came
joyfully, but when they found how many were wanting who a moon before
had gone thence to fight, their joy was turned to mourning, and the
voice of their weeping went up to heaven.

Umslopogaas greeted Zinita kindly; and yet I thought that there was
something lacking. At first she spoke to him softly, but when she
learned all that had come to pass, her words were not soft, for she
reviled me and sang a loud song at Umslopogaas.

"See now, Slaughterer," she said, "see now what has came about because
you listened to this aged fool!"--that was I, my father--"this fool
who calls himself 'Mouth'! Ay, a mouth he is, a mouth out of which
proceed folly and lies! What did he counsel you to do?--to go up
against these Halakazi and win a girl for Dingaan! And what have you
done?--you have fallen upon the Halakazi, and doubtless have killed
many innocent people with that great axe of yours, also you have left
nearly half of the soldiers of the Axe to whiten in the Swazi caves,
and in exchange have brought back certain cattle of a small breed, and
girls and children whom we must nourish!

"Nor does the matter end here. You went, it seems, to win a girl whom
Dingaan desired, yet when you find that girl you let her go, because,
indeed, you say she was your sister and would not wed Dingaan.
Forsooth, is not the king good enough for this sister of yours? Now
what is the end of the tale? You try to play tricks on the king,
because of your sister, and are found out. Then you kill a man before
Dingaan and escape, bringing this fool of an aged Mouth with you, that
he may teach you his own folly. So you have lost half of your men, and
you have gained the king for a foe who shall bring about the death of
all of us, and a fool for a councillor. Wow! Slaughterer, keep to your
trade and let others find you wit."

Thus she spoke without ceasing, and there was some truth in her words.
Zinita had a bitter tongue. I sat silent till she had finished, and
Umslopogaas also remained silent, though his anger was great, because
there was no crack in her talk through which a man might thrust a
word.

"Peace, woman!" I said at length, "do not speak ill of those who are
wise and who had seen much before you were born."

"Speak no ill of him who is my father," growled Umslopogaas. "Ay!
though you do not know it, this Mouth whom you revile is Mopo, my
father."

"Then there is a man among the People of the Axe who has a fool for a
father. Of all tidings this is the worst."

"There is a man among the People of the Axe who has a jade and a scold
for a wife," said Umslopogaas, springing up. "Begone, Zinita!--and
know this, that if I hear you snarl such words of him who is my
father, you shall go further than your own hut, for I will put you
away and drive you from my kraal. I have suffered you too long."

"I go," said Zinita. "Oh! I am well served! I made you chief, and now
you threaten to put me away."

"My own hands made me chief," said Umslopogaas, and, springing up, he
thrust her from the hut.

"It is a poor thing to be wedded to such a woman, my father," he said
presently.

"Yes, a poor thing, Umslopogaas, yet these are the burdens that men
must bear. Learn wisdom from it, Umslopogaas, and have as little to do
with women as may be; at the least, do not love them overmuch, so
shall you find the more peace." Thus I spoke, smiling, and would that
he had listened to my counsel, for it is the love of women which has
brought ruin on Umslopogaas!

All this was many years ago, and but lately I have heard that
Umslopogaas is fled into the North, and become a wanderer to his death
because of the matter of a woman who had betrayed him, making it seem
that he had murdered one Loustra, who was his blood brother, just as
Galazi had been. I do not know how it came about, but he who was so
fierce and strong had that weakness like his uncle Dingaan, and it has
destroyed him at the last, and for this cause I shall behold him no
more.

Now, my father, for awhile we were silent and alone in the hut, and as
we sat I thought I heard a rat stir in the thatch.

Then I spoke. "Umslopogaas, at length the hour has come that I should
whisper something into your ear, a word which I have held secret ever
since you were born."

"Speak on, my father," he said, wondering.

I crept to the door of the hut and looked out. The night was dark and
I could see none about, and could hear no one move, yet, being
cautious, I walked round the hut. Ah, my father, when you have a
secret to tell, be not so easily deceived. It is not enough to look
forth and to peer round. Dig beneath the floor, and search the roof
also; then, having done all this, go elsewhere and tell your tale. The
woman was right: I was but a fool, for all my wisdom and my white
hairs. Had I not been a fool I would have smoked out that rat in the
thatch before ever I opened my lips. For the rat was Zinita, my father
--Zinita, who had climbed the hut, and now lay there in the dark, her
ear upon the smoke-hole, listening to every word that passed. It was a
wicked thing to do, and, moreover, the worst of omens, but there is
little honour among women when they learn that which others wish to
hide away from them, nor, indeed, do they then weight omens.

So having searched and found nothing, I spoke to Umslopogaas, my
fosterling, not knowing that death in a woman's shape lay on the hut
above us. "Hearken," I said, "you are no son of mine, Umslopogaas,
though you have called me father from a babe. You spring from a
loftier stock, Slaughterer."

"Yet I was well pleased with my fathering, old man," said Umslopogaas.
"The breed is good enough for me. Say, then, whose son am I?"

Now I bent forward and whispered to him, yet, alas! not low enough.
"You are the son of the Black One who is dead, yea, sprung from the
blood of Chaka and of Baleka, my sister."

"I still have some kinship with you then, Mopo, and that I am glad of.
Wow! who would have guessed that I was the son of the Silwana, of that
hyena man? Perhaps it is for this reason that, like Galazi, I love the
company of the wolves, though no love grows in my heart for my father
or any of his house."

"You have little cause to love him, Umslopogaas, for he murdered your
mother, Baleka, and would have slain you also. But you are the son of
Chaka and of no other man."

"Well, his eyes must be keen indeed, my uncle, who can pick his own
father out of a crowd. And yet I once heard this tale before, though I
had long forgotten it."

"From whom did you hear it, Umslopogaas? An hour since, it was known
to one alone, the others are dead who knew it. Now it is known to two"
--ah! my father, I did not guess of the third;--"from whom, then, did
you hear it?"

"It was from the dead; at least, Galazi the Wolf heard it from the
dead One who sat in the cave on Ghost Mountain, for the dead One told
him that a man would come to be his brother who should be named
Umslopogaas Bulalio, son of Chaka, and Galazi repeated it to me, but I
had long forgotten it."

"It seems that there is wisdom among the dead," I answered, "for lo!
to-day you are named Umslopogaas Bulalio, and to-day I declare you the
son of Chaka. But listen to my tale."

Then I told him all the story from the hour of his birth onwards, and
when I spoke of the words of his mother, Baleka, after I had told my
dream to her, and of the manner of her death by the command of Chaka,
and of the great fashion in which she had died, then, I say,
Umslopogaas wept, who, I think, seldom wept before or after. But as my
tale drew it its end I saw that he listened ill, as a man listens who
has a weightier matter pressing on his heart, and before it was well
done he broke in:--

"So, Mopo, my uncle, if I am the son of Chaka and Baleka, Nada the
Lily is no sister to me."

"Nay, Umslopogaas, she is only your cousin."

"Over near of blood," he said; "yet that shall not stand between us,"
and his face grew glad.

I looked at him in question.

"You grow dull, my uncle. This is my meaning: that I will marry Nada
if she still lives, for it comes upon me now that I have never loved
any woman as I love Nada the Lily," and while he spoke, I heard the
rat stir in the thatch of the hut.

"Wed her if you will, Umslopogaas," I answered, "yet I think that one
Zinita, your Inkosikasi, will find words to say in the matter."

"Zinita is my head wife indeed, but shall she hold me back from taking
other wives, after the lawful custom of our people?" he asked angrily,
and his anger showed that he feared the wrath of Zinita.

"The custom is lawful and good," I said, "but it has bred trouble at
times. Zinita can have little to say if she continues in her place and
you still love her as of old. But enough of her. Nada is not yet at
your gates, and perhaps she will never find them. See, Umslopogaas, it
is my desire that you should rule in Zululand by right of blood, and,
though things point otherwise, yet I think a way can be found to bring
it about."

"How so?" he asked.

"Thus: Many of the great chiefs who are friends to me hate Dingaan and
fear him, and did they know that a son of Chaka lived, and that son
the Slaughterer, he well might climb to the throne upon their
shoulders. Also the soldiers love the name of Chaka, though he dealt
cruelly with them, because at least he was brave and generous. But
they do not love Dingaan, for his burdens are the burdens of Chaka but
his gifts are the gifts of Dingaan; therefore they would welcome
Chaka's son if once they knew him for certain. But it is here that the
necklet chafes, for there is but my word to prove it. Yet I will try."

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