two years have gone by all but a few months, and from the rectory in aquiet english village we pass to a scene in central, or south central,africa.
on the brow of a grassy slope dotted over with mimosa thorns, andclose to a gushing stream of water, stands a house, or rather a hut,built of green brick and thatched with grass. behind this hut is afence of thorns, rough but strong, designed to protect all within itfrom the attacks of lions and other beasts of prey. at present, savefor a solitary mule eating its provender by the wheel of a tented ox-waggon, it is untenanted, for the cattle have not yet been kraaled forthe night. presently thomas owen enters this enclosure by the backdoor of the hut, and having attended to the mule, which whinnies atthe sight of him, goes to the gate and watches there till he sees hisnative boys driving the cattle up the slope of the hill. at lengththey arrive, and when he has counted them to make sure that none aremissing, and in a few kind words commended the herds for theirwatchfulness, he walks to the front of the house and, seating himselfupon a wooden stool set under a mimosa tree that grows near the door,he looks earnestly towards the west.
the man has changed somewhat since last we saw him. to begin with, hehas grown a beard, and although the hot african sun has bronzed itinto an appearance of health, his face is even thinner than it was,and therein the great spiritual eyes shine still more strangely.
at the foot of the slope runs a wide river, just here broken intorapids where the waters make an angry music. beyond this riverstretches a vast plain bounded on the horizon by mountain ranges, eachline of them rising higher than the other till their topmost and moredistant peaks melt imperceptibly into the tender blue of the heavens.
this is the land of the sons of fire, and yonder amid the slopes ofthe nearest hills is the great kraal of their king, umsuka, whosename, being interpreted, means the thunderbolt.
in the very midst of the foaming rapids, and about a thousand yardsfrom the house lies a space of rippling shallow water, where, unlessit chances to be in flood, the river can be forded. it is this fordthat owen watches so intently.
"john should have been back twelve hours ago," he mutters to himself.
"i pray that no harm has befallen him at the great place yonder."just then a tiny speck appears far away on the plain. it is a mantravelling towards the water at a swinging trot. going into the hut,owen returns with a pair of field-glasses, and through themscrutinises the figure of the man.
"heaven be praised! it is john," he mutters, with a sigh of relief.
"now, i wonder what answer he brings?"half an hour later john stands before him, a stalwart native of thetribe of the amasuka, the people of fire, and with uplifted handsalutes him, giving him titles of honour.
"praise me not, john," said owen; "praise god only, as i have taughtyou to do. tell me, have you seen the king, and what is his word?""father," he answered, "i journeyed to the great town, as you bade me,and i was admitted before the majesty of the king; yes, he received mein the courtyard of the house of women. with his guards, who stood ata distance out of hearing, there were present three only; but oh!
those three were great, the greatest in all the land after the king.
they were hafela, the king that is to come, the prince nodwengo, hisbrother, and hokosa the terrible, the chief of the wizards; and i tellyou, father, that my blood dried up and my heart shrivelled when theyturned their eyes upon me, reading the thoughts of my heart.""have i not told you, john, to trust in god, and fear nothing at thehands of man?""you told me, father, but still i feared," answered the messengerhumbly. "yet, being bidden to it, i lifted my forehead from the dustand stood upon my feet before the king, and delivered to him themessage which you set between my lips.""repeat the message, john.""'o king,' i said, 'beneath those footfall the whole earth shakes,whose arms stretch round the world and whose breath is the storm, i,whose name is john, am sent by the white man whose name is messenger'
--for by that title you bade me make you known--'who for a year hasdwelt in the land that your spears have wasted beyond the banks of theriver. these are the words which he spoke to me, o king, that i passon to you with my tongue: "to the king umsuka, lord of the amasuka,the sons of fire, i, messenger, who am the servant and the ambassadorof the king of heaven, give greeting. a year ago, king, i sent to yousaying that the message which was brought by that white man whom youdrove from your land had reached the ears of him whom i serve, thehigh and holy one, and that, speaking in my heart, he had commanded meto take up the challenge of your message. here am i, therefore, readyto abide by the law which you have laid down; for if guile or lies befound in me, then let me travel from your land across the bridge ofspears. still, i would dwell a little while here where i am before ipass into the shadow of your rule and speak in the ears of your peopleas i have been bidden. know, king, that first i would learn yourtongue, and therefore i demand that one of your people may be sent todwell with me and to teach me that tongue. king, you heard my wordsand you sent me a man to dwell with me, and that man has taught meyour tongue, and i also have taught him, converting him to my faithand giving him a new name, the name of john. king, now i seek yourleave to visit you, and to deliver into your ears the words with whichi, messenger, am charged. i have spoken."'
"thus i, john, addressed the great ones, my father, and they listenedin silence. when i had done they spoke together, a word here and aword there. then hokosa, the king's mouth, answered me, telling thethought of the king: 'you are a bold man, you whose name is john, butwho once had another name--you, my servant, who dare to appear beforeme, and to make it known to me that you have been turned to a newfaith and serve another king than i. yet because you are bold, iforgive you. go back now to that white man who is named messenger andwho comes upon an embassy to me from the lord of heaven, and bid himcome in peace. yet warn him once again that here also we knowsomething of the powers that are not seen, here also we have ourwizards who draw wisdom from the air, who tame the thunderbolt andcompel the rain, and that he must show himself greater than all ofthese if he would not pass hence by the bridge of spears. let him,therefore, take counsel with his heart and with him he serves, if sucha one there is, and let him come or let him stay away as it shallplease him.'""so be it," said owen; "the words of the king are good, and to-morrowwe will start for the great place."john heard and assented, but without eagerness.
"my father," he said, in a doubtful and tentative voice, "would it notperhaps be better to bide here awhile first?""why?" asked owen. "we have sown, and now is the hour to reap.""it is so, my father, but as i ran hither, full of the king's words,it came into my mind that now is not the time to convert the sons offire. there is trouble brewing at the great palace, father. listen,and i will tell you; as i have heard, so i will tell you. you knowwell that our king umsuka has two sons, hafela and nodwengo; and ofthese hafela is the heir-apparent, the fruit of the chief wife of theking, and nodwengo is sprung from another wife. now hafela is proudand cruel, a warrior of warriors, a terrible man, and nodwengo isgentle and mild, like to his mother whom the king loves. of late ithas been discovered that hafela, weary of waiting for power, has madea plot to depose his father and to kill nodwengo, his brother, so thatthe land and those who dwell in it may become his without question.
this plot the king knows--i had it from one of his women, who is mysister--and he is very wroth, yet he dare do little, for he grows oldand timid, and seeks rest, not war. yet he is minded, if he can findthe heart, to go back upon the law and to name nodwengo as his heirbefore all the army at the feast of the first-fruits, which shall beheld on the third day from to-night. this hafela knows, and nodwengoknows it also, and each of them has summoned his following, numberingthousands and tens of thousands of spears, to attend this feast of thefirst-fruits. that feast may well be a feast of vultures, my father,and when the brothers and their regiments rush together fighting forthe throne, what will chance to the white man who comes at such amoment to preach a faith of peace, and to his servant, one john, wholed him there?""i do not know," answered owen, "and it troubles me not at all. i goto carry out my mission, and in this way or in that it will be carriedout. john, if you are fearful or unbelieving leave me to go alone.""nay, father, i am not fearful; yet, father, i would have youunderstand. yonder there are men who can work wizardry. /wow!/ i know,for i have seen it, and they will demand from you magic greater thantheir magic.""what of it, john?""only this, my father, that if they ask and you fail to give, theywill kill you. you teach beautiful things, but say, are you a wizard?
when the child of a woman yonder lay dead, you could not raise it asdid the christ; when the oxen were sick with the pest, you could notcure them; or at least, my father, you did not, although you wept forthe child and were sorry at the loss of the oxen. now, my father, ifperchance they ask you to do such things as these yonder, or die, saywhat will happen?""one of two things, john: either i shall die or i shall do thethings.""but"--hesitated john--"surely you do not believe that----" and hebroke off.
owen turned round and looked at his disciple with kindling eyes. "i dobelieve, o you of little faith!" he said. "i do believe that yonder ihave a mission, and that he whom i serve will give me power to carryout that mission. you are right, i can work no miracles; but he canwork miracles whom everything in heaven and earth obeys, and if thereis need he will work them through me, his instrument. or perhaps hewill not work them, and i shall die, because thus his ends will bestbe forwarded. at the least i go in faith, fearing nothing, for whathas he to fear who knows the will of god and does it? but to you whodoubt, i say--leave me!"the man spread out his hands in deprecation; his thick lips trembled alittle, and something like a tear appeared at the corners of his eyes.
"father," he said, "am i a coward that you should talk to me thus? i,who for twenty years have been a soldier of my king and for ten acaptain in my regiment? these scars show whether or no i am a coward,"and he pointed to his breast, "but of them i will not speak. i am nocoward, else i had not gone upon that errand of yours. why, then,should you reproach me because my ears are not so open as yours, as myheart has not understanding? i worship that god of whom you havetaught me, but he never speaks to me as he does to you. i never meethim as i walk at night; he leaves me quite alone. therefore it is thati fear that when the hour of trial comes he may desert you; and unlesshe covers you with his shield, of this i am sure, that the spear isforged which shall blush red in your heart, my father. it is for youthat i fear, who are so gentle and tender; not for myself, who am wellaccustomed to look in the eyes of death, and who expect no more thandeath.""forgive me," said owen hastily, for he was moved; "and be sure thatthe shield will be over us till the time comes for us to pass whitherwe shall need none."*****that night owen rose from the task at which he was labouring slowlyand painfully--a translation of passages from the gospel of st. johninto the language of the amasuka--and going to the open window-placeof the hut, he rested his elbows upon it and thought, staring withempty eyes into the blackness of the night. now it was as he sat thusthat a great agony of doubt took possession of his soul. the strengthwhich hitherto had supported him seemed to be withdrawn, and he wasleft, as john had said, "quite alone." strange voices seemed towhisper in his ears, reproaching and reviling him; temptations longago trampled under foot rose again in might, alluring him.
"fool," said the voices, "get you hence before it is too late. youhave been mad; you who dreamed that for your sake, to satisfy yourpride, the almighty will break his silence and strain his law. are youthen better, or greater, or purer than millions who have gone beforeyou, that for you and you alone this thing should be done? why, wereit not that you are mad, you would be among the chief of sinners; youwho dare to ask that the powers of heaven should be set within yourfeeble hand, that the angels of heaven should wait upon your mortalbreath. worm that you are, has god need of such as you? if it is hiswill to turn the heart of yonder people he will do it, but not bymeans of /you/. you and the servant whom you are deluding to his deathwill perish miserably, and this alone shall be the fruit of yourpresumptuous sin. get you back out of this wilderness before themadness takes you afresh. you are still young, you have wealth; lookwhere she stands yonder whom you desire. get you back, and forget yourfolly in her arms."these thoughts, and many others of like nature, tore owen's soul inthat hour of strange and terrible temptation. he seemed to see himselfstanding before the thousands of the savage nation he went to save,and to hear the mocking voices of their witch-finders commanding him,if he were a true man and the servant of that god of whom he prated,to give them a sign, only a little sign; perhaps to move a stonewithout touching it with his hand, or to cause a dead bough toblossom.
then he would beseech heaven with frantic prayers, and in vain, tillat length, amidst a roar of laughter, he, the false prophet and theliar, was led out to his doom. he saw the piteous wondering look ofthe believer whom he had betrayed to death; he saw the fierce facesand the spears on high. seeing all this his spirit broke, and, just asthe little clock in the room behind him struck the first stroke ofmidnight, with a great and bitter cry to god to give him back thefaith and strength that he had lost, owen's head fell forward and hesank into a swoon there upon the window-place.
