For a moment there was silence, then a great cry arose--a cry of "Ourfather is dead!" Presently with it were mingled other and angriershouts of "The king is murdered!" and "He is bewitched, the whitewizard has bewitched the king! He prophesied evil upon him, and now hehas bewitched him!"Meanwhile the captains and councillors formed a ring about Umsuka, andHokosa bending over him examined him.
"Princes and Councillors," he said presently, "your father yet lives,but his life is like the life of a dying fire and soon he must bedead. This is sure, that one of two things has befallen him: eitherthe heat has caused the blood to boil in his veins and he is smittenwith a stroke from heaven, such as men who are fat and heavy sometimesdie of; or he has been bewitched by a wicked wizard. Yonder standsone," and he pointed to Owen, "who not an hour ago prophesied thatbefore the sun was down great evil should overtake the king. The sunis not yet down, and great evil has overtaken him. Perchance, Princesand Councillors, this white prophet can tell us of the matter.""Perchance I can," answered Owen calmly.
"He admits it!" cried some. "Away with him!""Peace!" said Owen, holding the crucifix towards those whose spearsthreatened his life.
They shrank back, for this symbol of a dying man terrified them whocould not guess its significance.
"Peace," went on Owen, "and listen. Be sure of this, Councillors, thatif I die, your king will die; whereas if I live, your king may live.
You ask me of this matter. Where shall I begin? Shall I begin with thetale of two men seated together some nights ago in a hut so dark thatno eyes could see in it, save perchance the eyes of a wizard? What didthey talk of in that hut, and who were those men? They talked, Ithink, of the death of a king and of the crowning of a king. Theytalked of a price to be paid for a certain medicine; and one of themhad a royal air, and one----""Will ye hearken to this wild babbler while your king lies dyingbefore your eyes?" broke in Hokosa, in a shrill, unnatural voice; foralmost palsied with fear as he was at Owen's mysterious words, hestill retained his presence of mind. "Listen now: what is he, and whatdid he say? He is one who comes hither to preach a new faith to us; hecomes, he says, on an embassy from the King of Heaven, who has powerover all things, and who, so these white men preach, can give power toHis servants. Well, let this one cease prating and show us hisstrength, as he has been warned he would be called upon to do. Let himgive us a sign. There before you lies your king, and he is past thehelp of man; even I cannot help him. Therefore, let this messengercure him, or call upon his God to cure him; that seeing, we may knowhim to be a true messenger, and one sent by that King of whom hespeaks. Let him do this now before our eyes, or let him perish as awizard who has bewitched the king. Do you hear my words, Messenger,and can you draw this one back from between the Gates of Death?""I hear them," answered Owen quietly; "and I can--or if I cannot, thenI am willing to pay the penalty with my life. You who are a doctor saythat your king is as one who is already dead, so that whatever I maydo I cannot hurt him further. Therefore I ask this of you, that youstand round and watch, but molest me neither by word nor deed while Iattempt his cure. Do you consent?""It is just; we consent," said the councillors. "Let us see what thewhite man can do, and by the issue let him be judged." But Hokosastared at Owen wondering, and made no answer.
"Bring some clean water to me in a gourd," said Owen.
It was brought and given to him. He looked round, searching the facesof those about him. Presently his eye fell upon the Prince Nodwengo,and he beckoned to him, saying:--"Come hither, Prince, for you are honest, and I would have you to helpme, and no other man."The prince stepped forward and Owen gave him the gourd of water. Thenhe drew out the little bottle wherein he had stored the juice of thecreeper, and uncorking it, he bade Nodwengo fill it up with water.
This done, he clasped his hands, and lifting his eyes to heaven, heprayed aloud in the language of the Amasuka.
"O God," he prayed, "upon whose business I am here, grant, I beseechThee, that by Thy Grace power may be given to me to work this miraclein the face of these people, to the end that I may win them to ceasefrom their iniquities, to believe upon Thee, the only true God, and tosave their souls alive. Amen."Having finished his prayer, he took the bottle and shook it; then hecommanded Nodwengo to sit upon the ground and hold his father's headupon his knee. Now, as all might see by many signs, the king was uponthe verge of death, for his lips were purple, his breathing was rareand stertorous, and his heart stood well-nigh still.
"Open his mouth and hold down the tongue," said Owen.
The prince obeyed, pressing down the tongue with a snuff spoon. Thenplacing the neck of the bottle as far into the throat as it wouldreach, Owen poured the fluid it contained into the body of the king,who made a convulsive movement and instantly seemed to die.
"He is dead," said one; "away with the false prophet!""It may be so, or it may not be so," answered Owen. "Wait for the halfof an hour; then, if he shows no sign of life, do what you will withme.""It is well," they said; "so be it."Slowly the minutes slipped by, while the king lay like a corpse beforethem, and outside of that silent ring the soldiers murmured as thewind. The sun was sinking fast, and Hokosa watched it, counting theseconds. At length he spoke:--"The half of the hour that you demanded is dead, White Man, as dead asthe king; and now the time has come for you to die also," and hestretched out his hand to take him.
Owen looked at his watch and replied:--"There is still another minute; and you, Hokosa, who are skilled inmedicines, may know that this antidote does not work so swiftly as thebane."The shot was a random one, but it told, for Hokosa fell back and wassilent.
The seconds passed on as the minute hand of the watch went round fromten to twenty, from twenty to thirty, from thirty to forty. A few moreinstants and the game was played. Had that dream of his been vainimagining, and was all his faith nothing but a dream wondered Owen?
Well, if so, it would be best that he should die. But he did notbelieve that it was so; he believed that the Power above him wouldintervene to save--not him, indeed, but all this people.
"Let us make an end," said Hokosa, "the time is done.""Yes," said Owen, "the time is done--and /the king lives!/"Even as he spoke the pulses in the old man's forehead were seen tothrob, and the veins in his neck to swell as they had swollen after hehad swallowed the poison; then once more they shrank to their naturalsize. Umsuka stirred a hand, groaned, sat up, and spoke:--"What has chanced to me?" he said. "I have descended into deepdarkness, now once again I see light."No one answered, for all were staring, terrified and amazed, at theMessenger--the white wizard to whom had been given power to bring menback from the gate of death. At length Owen said:--"This has chanced to you, King: that evil which I prophesied to you ifyou refused to listen to the voice of mercy has fallen upon you. Bynow you would have been dead, had it not pleased Him Whom I serve,working through me, His messenger, to bring you back to look upon thesun. Thank Him, therefore, and worship Him, for He alone is Master ofthe Earth," and he held the crucifix before his eyes.
The humbled monarch lifted his hand--he who for many years had madeobeisance to none--and saluted the symbol, saying:--"Messenger, I thank Him and I worship Him, though I know Him not. Saynow, how did His magic work upon me to make me sick to death and torecover me?""By the hand of man, King, and by the virtues that lie hid in Nature.
Did you not drink of a cup, and were not many things mixed in thedraught? Was it not but now in your mind to speak words that shouldbring down the head of pride and evil, and lift up the head of truthand goodness?""O White Man, how know you these things?" gasped the king.
"I know them, it is enough. Say, who was it that stirred the bowl,King, and who gave you to drink?"Now Umsuka staggered to his feet, and cried aloud in a voice that wasthick with rage:--"By my head and the heads of my fathers I smell the plot! My son, thePrince Hafela, has learned my counsel, and would have slain me beforeI said words that should set him beneath the feet of Nodwengo. Seizehim, captains, and let him be brought before me for judgment!"Men looked this way and that to carry out the command of the king, butHafela was gone. Already he was upon the hillside, running as a manhas rarely run before--his face set towards that fastness in themountains where he could find refuge among his mother's tribesmen andthe regiments which he commanded. Of late they had been sent thitherby the king that they might be far from the Great Place when theirprince was disinherited.
"He is fled," said one; "I saw him go.""Pursue him and bring him back, dead or alive!" thundered the king. "Ahundred head of cattle to the man who lays hand upon him before hereaches the /impi/ of the North, for they will fight for him!""Stay!" broke in Owen. "Once before this day I prayed of you, King, toshow mercy, and you refused it. Will you refuse me a second time?
Leave him his life who has lost all else.""That he may rebel against me? Well, White Man, I owe you much, andfor this time your wisdom shall be my guide, though my heart speaksagainst such gentleness. Hearken, councillors and people, this is mydecree: that Hafela, my son, who would have murdered me, be deposedfrom his place as heir to my throne, and that Nodwengo, his brother,be set in that place, to rule the People of Fire after me when I die.""It is good, it is just!" said the council. "Let the king's word bedone.""Hearken again," said Umsuka. "Let this white man, who is namedMessenger, be placed in the House of Guests and treated with allhonour; let oxen be given him from the royal herds and corn from thegranaries, and girls of noble blood for wives if he wills them.
Hokosa, into your hand I deliver him, and, great though you are, knowthis, that if but a hair of his head is harmed, with your goods andyour life you shall answer for it, you and all your house.""Let the king's word be done," said the councillors again.
"Heralds," went on Umsuka, "proclaim that the feast of the first-fruits is ended, and my command is that every regiment should seek itsquarters, taking with it a double gift of cattle from the king, whohas been saved alive by the magic of this white man. And now,Messenger, farewell, for my head grows weary. To-morrow I will speakwith you."Then the king was led away into the royal house, and save those whowere quartered in it, the regiments passed one by one through thegates of the kraal, singing their war-songs as they went. Darknessfell upon the Great Place, and through it parties of men might be seendragging thence the corpses of those who had fallen in the fight withsticks, or been put to death thereafter by order of the king.
"Messenger," said Hokosa, bowing before Owen, "be pleased to followme." Then he led him to a little kraal numbering five or six large andbeautifully made huts, which stood by itself, within its own fence, atthe north end of the Great Place, not far from the house of the king.
In front of the centre hut a fire was burning, and by its light womenappeared cleaning out the huts and bringing food and water.
"Here you may rest in safety, Messenger," said Hokosa, "seeing thatnight and day a guard from the king's own regiment will stand beforeyour doors.""I do not need them," answered Owen, "for none can harm me till myhour comes. I am a stranger here and you are a great man; yet, Hokosa,which of us is the safest this night?""Your meaning?" said Hokosa sharply.
"O man!" answered Owen, "when in a certain hour you crept up thevalley yonder, and climbing the Tree of Death gathered its poison,went I not with you? When, before that hour, you sat in yonder hutbargaining with the Prince Hafela--the death of a king for the priceof a girl--was I not with you? Nay, threaten me not--in your own wordsI say it--'lay down that assegai, or by my spirit your body shall bethrown to the kites, as that of one who would murder the king'--andthe king's guest!""White Man," whispered Hokosa throwing down the spear, "how can thesethings be? I was alone in the hut with the prince, I was alone beneaththe Tree of Doom, and you, as I know well, were beyond the river. Yourspies must be good, White Man.""My spirit is my only spy, Hokosa. My spirit watched you, and fromyour own lips he learned the secret of the bane and of the antidote.
Hafela mixed the poison as you taught him; I gave the remedy, andsaved the king alive."Now the knees of Hokosa grew weak beneath him, and he leaned againstthe fence of the kraal for support.
"I have skill in the art," he said hoarsely; "but, Messenger, yourmagic is more than mine, and my life is forfeit to you. To-morrowmorning, you will tell the king all, and to-morrow night I shall hangupon the dreadful Tree. Well, so be it; I am overmatched at my owntrade, and it is best that I should die. You have plotted well and youhave conquered, and to you belong my place and power.""It was you who plotted, and not I, Hokosa. Did you not contrive thatI should reach the Great Place but a little before the poison wasgiven to the king, so that upon me might be laid the crime of hisbewitching? Did you not plan also that I should be called upon to curehim--a thing you deemed impossible--and when I failed that I should bestraightway butchered?""Seeing that it is useless to lie to you, I confess that it was so,"answered Hokosa boldly.
"It was so," repeated Owen; "therefore, according to your law yourlife is forfeit, seeing that you dug a pit to snare the innocent feet.
But I come to tell you of a new law, and that which I preach Ipractise. Hokosa, I pardon you, and if you will put aside your evil-doing, I promise you that no word of all your wickedness shall pass mylips.""It has not been my fashion to take a boon at the hand of any man,save of the king only," said the wizard in a humble voice; "but now itseems that I am come to this. Tell me, White Man, what is the paymentthat you seek of me?""None, Hokosa, except that you cease from evil and listen with an openheart to that message which I am sworn to deliver to you and to allyour nation. Also you would do well to put away that fair woman whoseprice was the murder of him that fed you.""I cannot do it," answered the wizard. "I will listen to yourteaching, but I will not rob my heart of her it craves alone. WhiteMan, I am not like the rest of my nation. I have not sought afterwomen; I have but one wife, and she is old and childless. Now, for thefirst time in my days, I love this girl--ah, you know not how!--and Iwill take her, and she shall be the mother of my children.""Then, Hokosa, you will take her to your sorrow," answered Owensolemnly, "for she will learn to hate you who have robbed her ofroyalty and rule, giving her wizardries and your grey hairs in placeof them."And thus for that night they parted.