was it swoon or sleep?
at least it seemed to owen that presently once again he was gazinginto the dense intolerable blackness of the night. then a marvel cameto pass, for the blackness opened, or rather on it, framed andsurrounded by it, there appeared a vision. it was the vision of anative town, having a great bare space in the centre of it encircledby hundreds or thousands of huts. but there was no one stirring aboutthe huts, for it was night--not this his night of trial indeed, sincenow the sky was strewn with innumerable stars. everything was silentabout that town, save that now and again a dog barked or a fretfulchild wailed within a hut, or the sentries as they passed saluted eachother in the name of the king.
among all those hundreds of huts, to owen it seemed that his attentionwas directed to one which stood apart surrounded with a fence. now theinterior of the hut opened itself to him. it was not lighted, yet withhis spirit sense he could see its every detail: the polished floor,the skin rugs, the beer gourds, the shields and spears, the roof-treeof red wood, and the dried lizard hanging from the thatch, a charm toward off evil. in this hut, seated face to face halfway between thecentre-post and the door-hole, were two men. the darkness was deepabout them, and they whispered to each other through it; but in hisdream this was no bar to owen's sight. he could discern their facesclearly.
one of them was that of a man of about thirty-five years of age. instature he was almost a giant. he wore a kaross of leopard skins, andon his wrists and ankles were rings of ivory, the royal ornaments. hisface was fierce and powerful; his eyes, which were set far apart,rolled so much that at times they seemed all white; and his fingersplayed nervously with the handle of a spear that he carried in hisright hand. his companion was of a different stamp; a person of morethan fifty years, he was tall and spare in figure, with delicatelyshaped hands and feet. his hair and little beard were tinged withgrey, his face was strikingly handsome, nervous and expressive, andhis forehead both broad and high. but more remarkable still were hiseyes, which shone with a piercing brightness, almost grey in colour,steady as the flame of a well-trimmed lamp, and so cold that theymight have been precious stones set in the head of a statue.
"must i then put your thoughts in words?" said this man in a clearquick whisper. "well, so be it; for i weary of sitting here in thedark waiting for water that will not flow. listen, prince; you come totalk to me of the death of a king--is it not so? nay do not start. whyare you affrighted when you hear upon the lips of another the plotthat these many months has been familiar to your breast?""truly, hokosa, you are the best of wizards, or the worst," answeredthe great man huskily. "yet this once you are mistaken," he added witha change of voice. "i came but to ask you for a charm to turn myfather's heart----""to dust? prince, if i am mistaken, why am i the best of wizards, orthe worst, and why did your jaw drop and your face change at my words,and why do you even now touch your dry lips with your tongue? yes, iknow that it is dark here, yet some can see in it, and i am one ofthem. ay, prince, and i can see your mind also. you would be rid ofyour father: he has lived too long. moreover his love turns tonodwengo, the good and gentle; and perhaps--who can say?--it is evenin his thought, when all his regiments are about him two days hence,to declare that you, prince, are deposed, and that your brother,nodwengo, shall be king in your stead. now, nodwengo you cannot kill;he is too well loved and too well guarded. if he died suddenly, hisdead lips would call out 'murder!' in the ears of all men; and,prince, all eyes would turn to you, who alone could profit by his end.
but if the king should chance to die--why he is old, is he not? andsuch things happen to the old. also he grows feeble, and will notsuffer the regiments to be doctored for war, although day by day theyclamour to be led to battle; for he seeks to end his years in peace.""i say that you speak folly," answered the prince with vehemence.
"then, son of the great one, why should you waste time in listening tome? farewell, hafela the prince, first-born of the king, who in a dayto come shall carry the shield of nodwengo; for he is good and gentle,and will spare your life--if i beg it of him."hafela stretched out his hand through the darkness, and caught hokosaby the wrist.
"stay," he whispered, "it is true. the king must die; for if he doesnot die within three days, i shall cease to be his heir. i know itthrough my spies. he is angry with me; he hates me, and he lovesnodwengo and the mother of nodwengo. but if he dies before the lastday of the festival, then that decree will never pass his lips, andthe regiments will never roar out the name of nodwengo as the name ofthe king to come. he must die, i tell you, hokosa, and--by your hand.""by /my/ hand, prince! nay; what have you to offer me in return forsuch a deed as this? have i not grown up in umsuka's shadow, and shalli cut down the tree that shades me?""what have i to offer you? this: that next to myself you shall be thegreatest in the land, hokosa.""that i am already, and whoever rules it, that i must always be. i,who am the chief of wizards; i, the reader of men's hearts; i, thehearer of men's thoughts! i, the lord of the air and the lightning; i,the invulnerable. if you would murder, prince, then do the deed; do itknowing that i have your secret, and that henceforth you who ruleshall be my servant. nay, you forget that i can see in the dark; laydown that assegai, or, by my spirit, prince as you are, i will blastyou with a spell, and your body shall be thrown to the kites, as thatof one who would murder his king and father!"the prince heard and shook, his cheeks sank in, the muscles of hisgreat form seemed to collapse, and he grovelled on the floor of thehut.
"i know your magic," he groaned; "use it for me, not against me! whatis there that i can offer you, who have everything except the throne,whereon you cannot sit, seeing that you are not of the blood-royal?""think," said hokosa.
for a while the prince thought, till presently his form straighteneditself, and with a quick movement he lifted up his head.
"is it, perchance, my affianced wife?" he whispered; "the lady noma,whom i love, and who, according to our custom, i shall wed as thequeen to be after the feast of first-fruits? oh! say it not, hokosa.""i say it," answered the wizard. "listen, prince. the lady noma is theonly child of my blood-brother, my friend, with whom i was brought up,he who was slain at my side in the great war with the tribes of thenorth. she was my ward: she was more; for through her--ah! you knownot how--i held my converse with the things of earth and air, the veryspirits that watch us now in this darkness, hafela. thus it happened,that before ever she was a woman, her mind grew greater than the mindof any other woman, and her thought became my thought, and my thoughtbecame her thought, for i and no other am her master. still i waitedto wed her till she was fully grown; and while i waited i went upon anembassy to the northern tribes. then it was that you saw the maid invisiting at my kraal, and her beauty and her wit took hold of you; andin the council of the king, as you have a right to do, you named heras your head wife, the queen to be.
"the king heard and bowed his head; he sent and took her, and placedher in the house of the royal women, there to abide till this feast ofthe first-fruits, when she shall be given to you in marriage. yes, hesent her to that guarded house wherein not even i may set my foot.
although i was afar, her spirit warned me, and i returned, but toolate; for she was sealed to you of the blood-royal, and that is a lawwhich may not be broken.
"hafela, i prayed you to return her to me, and you mocked me. i wouldhave brought you to your death, but it could not have availed me: forthen, by that same law, which may not be broken, she who was sealed toyou must die with you; and though thereafter her spirit would sit withme till i died also, it was not enough, since i who have conqueredall, yet cannot conquer the fire that wastes my heart, nor cease tolong by night and day for a woman who is lost to me. then it was,hafela, that i plotted vengeance against you. i threw my spell overthe mind of the king, till he learnt to hate you and your evil deeds;and i, even i, have brought it about that your brother should bepreferred before you, and that you shall be the servant in his house.
this is the price that you must pay for her of whom you have robbedme; and by my spirit and her spirit you shall pay! yet listen. handback the girl, as you may do--for she is not yet your wife--and chooseanother for your queen, and i will undo all that i have done, and iwill find you a means, hafela, to carry out your will. ay, before sixsuns have set, the regiments rushing past you shall hail you king ofthe nation of the amasuka, lord of the ancient house of fire!""i cannot," groaned the prince; "death were better than this!""ay, death were better; but you shall not die, you shall live aservant, and your name shall become a mockery, a name for women tomake rhymes on."now the prince sprang up.
"take her!" he hissed; "take her! you, who are an evil ghost; you,beneath whose eyes children wail, and at whose passing the hairs onthe backs of hounds stand up! take her, priest of death and ill; buttake my curse with her! ah! i also can prophecy; and i tell you thatthis woman whom you have taught, this witch of many spells, whoseglance can shrivel the hearts of men, shall give you to drink of yourown medicine; ay, she shall dog you to the death, and mock you whileyou perish by an end of shame!""what," laughed the wizard, "have i a rival in my own arts? nay,hafela, if you would learn the trade, pay me well and i will give youlessons. yet i counsel you not; for you are flesh, nothing but flesh,and he who would rule the air must cultivate the spirit. why, i tellyou, prince, that even the love for her who is my heart, the lady whomwe both would wed, partaking of the flesh as, alas! it does, has costme half my powers. now let us cease from empty scoldings, and strikeour bargain.
"listen. on the last day of the feast, when all the regiments aregathered to salute the king there in his great place according tocustom, you shall stand forth before the king and renounce noma, andshe shall pass back to the care of my household. you yourself shallbring her to where i stand, and as i take her from you i will put intoyour hand a certain powder. then you shall return to the side of theking, and after our fashion shall give him to drink the bowl of thefirst-fruits; but as you stir the beer, you will let fall into it thatpowder which i have given you. the king will drink, and what he leavesundrunk you will throw out upon the dust.
"now he will rise to give out to the people his royal decree, whereby,prince, you are to be deposed from your place as heir, and yourbrother, nodwengo, is to be set in your seat. but of that decree nevera word shall pass his lips; if it does, recall your saying and takeback the lady noma from where she stands beside me. i tell you thatnever a word will pass his lips; for even as he rises a stroke shalltake him, such a stroke as often falls upon the fat and aged, and hewill sink to the ground snoring through his nostrils. for a whilethereafter--it may be six hours, it may be twelve--he shall lieinsensible, and then a cry will arise that the king is dead!""ay," said hafela, "and that i have poisoned him!""why, prince? few know what is in your father's mind, and with those,being king, you will be able to deal. also this is the virtue of thepoison which i choose, that it is swift, yet the symptoms of it arethe symptoms of a natural sickness. but that your safety and mine maybe assured, i have made yet another plan, though of this there will belittle need. you were present two days since when a runner came fromthe white man who sojourns beyond our border, he who seeks to teachus, the children of fire, a new faith, and gives out that he is themessenger of the king of heaven. this runner asked leave for the whiteman to visit the great place, and, speaking in the king's name, i gavehim leave. but i warned his servant that if his master came, a signshould be required of him to show that he was a true man, and had ofthe wisdom of the king of heaven; and that if he failed therein, thenthat he should die as that white liar died who visited us in bygoneyears.
"now i have so ordered that this white man, passing through the valleyof death yonder, shall reach the great place not long before the kingdrinks of the cup of the first-fruits. then if any think thatsomething out of nature has happened to the king, they will surelythink also that this strange prayer-doctor has wrought the evil. thenalso i will call for a sign from the white man, praying of him torecover the king of his sickness; and when he fails, he shall be slainas a worker of spells and the false prophet of a false god, and so weshall be rid of him and his new faith, and you shall be cleared ofdoubt. is not the plan good, prince?""it is very good, hokosa--save for one thing only.""for what thing?""this: the white man who is named messenger might chance to be a trueprophet of a true god, and to recover the king.""oho, let him do it, if he can; but to do it, first he must know thepoison and its antidote. there is but one, and it is known to me onlyof all men in this land. when he has done that, then i, yes, even i,hokosa, will begin to inquire concerning this god of his, who showshimself so mighty in person of his messenger." and he laughed low andscornfully.
"prince, farewell! i go forth alone, whither you dare not follow atthis hour, to seek that which we shall need. one word--think not toplay me false, or to cheat me of my price; for whate'er betides, besure of this, that hour shall be the hour of your dooming. hail toyou, son of the king! hail! and farewell." then, removing the door-board, the wizard passed from the hut and was gone.
*****the vision changed. now there appeared a valley walled in on eitherside with sloping cliffs of granite; a desolate place, sandy and, savefor a single spring, without water, strewn with boulders of rock, someof them piled fantastically one upon the other. at a certain spot thisvalley widened out, and in the mouth of the space thus formed, midwaybetween the curved lines of the receding cliffs, stood a little hillor koppie, also built up of boulders. it was a place of death; for allaround the hill, and piled in hundreds between the crevices of itsstones, lay the white bones of men.
nor was this all. its summit was flat, and in the midst of it stood ahuge tree. even had it not been for the fruit which hung from itsbranches, the aspect of that tree must have struck the beholder asuncanny, even as horrible. the bark on its great bole was leprouswhite; and from its gaunt and spreading rungs rose branches thatsubdivided themselves again and again, till at last they terminated inround green fingers, springing from grey, flat slabs of bark, in shapenot unlike that of a human palm. indeed, from a little distance thistree, especially if viewed by moonlight, had the appearance of bearingon it hundreds or thousands of the arms and hands of men, all of themstretched imploringly to heaven.
well might they seem to do so, seeing that to its naked limbs hung thebodies of at least twenty human beings who had suffered death by orderof the king or his captains, or by the decree of the company ofwizards, whereof hokosa was the chief. there on the hill of deathstood the tree of death; and that in its dank shade, or piled upon theground beneath it, hung and lay the pitiful remnants of the multitudeswho for generations had been led thither to their doom.
now, in owen's vision a man was seen approaching by the little pathwaythat ran up the side of the mount--the road of lost footsteps it wascalled. it was hokosa the wizard. outside the circle of the tree hehalted, and drawing a tanned skin from a bundle of medicines which hecarried, he tied it about his mouth; for the very smell of that treeis poisonous and must not be suffered to reach the lungs.
presently he was under the branches, where once again he halted; thistime it was to gaze at the body of an old man which swung to and froin the night breeze.
"ah! friend," he muttered, "we strove for many years, but it seemsthat i have conquered at the last. well, it is just; for if you couldhave had your way, your end would have been my end."then very leisurely, as one who is sure that he will not beinterrupted, hokosa began to climb the tree, till at length some ofthe green fingers were within his reach. resting his back against abough, one by one he broke off several of them, and averting his faceso that the fumes of it might not reach him, he caused the thick milk-white juice that they contained to trickle into the mouth of a littlegourd which was hung about his neck by a string. when he had collectedenough of the poison and carefully corked the gourd with a plug ofwood, he descended the tree again. at the great fork where the mainbranches sprang from the trunk, he stood a while contemplating acreeping plant which ran up them. it was a plant of naked stem, likethe tree it grew upon; and, also like the tree, its leaves consistedof bunches of green spikes having a milky juice.
"strange," he said aloud, "that nature should set the bane and theantidote side by side, the one twined about the other. well, so it isin everything; yes, even in the heart of man. shall i gather some ofthis juice also? no; for then i might repent and save him, rememberingthat he has loved me, and thus lose her i seek, her whom i must winback or be withered. let the messenger of the king of heaven save him,if he can. this tree lies on his path; perchance he may prevail uponits dead to tell him of the bane and of the antidote." and once morethe wizard laughed mockingly.
*****the vision passed. at this moment thomas owen, recovering from hisswoon, lifted his head from the window-place. the night before him wasas black as it had been, and behind him the little american clock wasstill striking the hour of midnight. therefore he could not haveremained insensible for longer than a few seconds.
a few seconds, yet how much he had seen in them. truly his want offaith had been reproved--truly he also had been "warned of god in adream,"--truly "his ears had been opened and his instruction sealed."his soul had been "kept back from the pit," and his life from"perishing by the sword"; and the way of the wicked had been madeclear to him "in a dream, in a vision of the night when deep sleepfalleth upon men."not for nothing had he endured that agony, and not for nothing had hestruggled in the grip of doubt.
