The weeks passed by, and Hokosa sat in his kraal weaving a great plot.

　　None suspected him any more, for though he did not belong to it, hewas heard to speak well of the new faith, and to acknowledge that thegod of fire which he had worshipped was a false god. He was humblealso towards the king, but he craved to withdraw himself from allmatters of the State, saying that now he had but one desire--to tendhis herds and garden, and to grow old in peace with the new wife whomhe had chosen and whom he loved. Owen, too, he greeted courteouslywhen he met him, sending him gifts of corn and cattle for the serviceof his church. Moreover, when a messenger came from Hafela, makingproposals to him, he drove him away and laid the matter before thecouncil of the king. Yet that messenger, who was hunted from thekraal, took back a secret word for Hafela's ear.

　　"It is not always winter," was the word, "and it may chance that inthe springtime you shall hear from me." And again, "Say to the PrinceHafela, that though my face towards him is like a storm, yet behindthe clouds the sun shines ever."At length there came a day when Noma, his wife, was brought to bed.

　　Hokosa, her husband, tended her alone, and when the child was born hegroaned aloud and would not suffer her to look upon its face. Yet,lifting herself, she saw.

　　"Did I not tell you it was accursed?" she wailed. "Take it away!" andshe sank back in a swoon. So he took the child, and buried it deep inthe cattle-yard by night.

　　After this it came about that Noma, who, though her mind owned thesway of his, had never loved him over much, hated her husband Hokosa.

　　Yet he had this power over her that she could not leave him. But heloved her more and more, and she had this power over him that shecould always draw him to her. Great as her beauty had ever been, afterthe birth of the child it grew greater day by day, but it was an evilbeauty, the beauty of a witch; and this fate fell upon her, that shefeared the dark and would never be alone after the sun had set.

　　When she was recovered from her illness, Noma sat one night in herhut, and Hokosa sat there also watching her. The evening was warm, buta bright fire burned in the hut, and she crouched upon a stool by thefire, glancing continually over her shoulder.

　　"Why do you bide by the fire, seeing that it is so hot, Noma?" heasked.

　　"Because I fear to be away from the light," she answered; adding, "Oh,accursed man! for your own ends you have caused me to be bewitched,ah! and that which was born of me also, and bewitched I am by thoseshadows that you bade me seek, which now will never leave me. Nor, isthis all. You swore to me that if I would do your will I should becomegreat, ay! and you took me from one who would have made me great andwhom I should have pushed on to victory. But now it seems that fornothing I made that awful voyage into the deeps of death; and fornothing, yet living, am I become the sport of those that dwell there.

　　How am I greater than I was--I who am but the second wife of a fallenwitch-doctor, who sits in the sun, day by day, while age gathers onhis head like frost upon a bush? Where are all your high schemes now?

　　Where is the fruit of wisdom that I gathered for you? Answer, Wizard,whom I have learned to hate, but from whom I cannot escape!""Truly," said Hokosa in a bitter voice, "for all my sins against themthe heavens have laid a heavy fate upon my head, that thus with fleshand spirit I should worship a woman who loathes me. One comfort onlyis left to me, that you dare not take my life lest another should beadded to those shadows who companion you, and what I bid you, that youmust still do. Ay, you fear the dark, Noma; yet did I command you torise and go stand alone through the long night yonder in the burying-place of kings, why, you must obey. Come, I command you--go!""Nay, nay!" she wailed in an extremity of terror. Yet she rose andwent towards the door sideways, for her hands were outstretched insupplication to him.

　　"Come back," he said, "and listen: If a hunter has nurtured up afierce dog, wherewith alone he can gain his livelihood, he tries totame that dog by love, does he not? And if it will not become gentle,then, the brute being necessary to him, he tames it by fear. I am thehunter and, Noma, you are the hound; and since this curse is on methat I cannot live without you, why I must master you as best I may.

　　Yet, believe me, I would not cause you fear or pain, and it saddens methat you should be haunted by these sick fancies, for they are nothingmore. I have seen such cases before to-day, and I have noted that theycan be cured by mixing with fresh faces and travelling in newcountries. Noma, I think it would be well that, after your latesickness, according to the custom of the women of our people, youshould part from me a while, and go upon a journey of purification.""Whither shall I go and who will go with me?" she asked sullenly.

　　"I will find you companions, women discreet and skilled. And as towhere you shall go, I will tell you. You shall go upon an embassy tothe Prince Hafela.""Are you not afraid that I should stop there?" she asked again, with aflash of her eyes. "It is true that I never learned all the story, yetI thought that the prince was not so glad to hand me back to you asyou would have had me to believe. The price you paid for me must havebeen good, Hokosa, and mayhap it had to do with the death of a king.""I am not afraid," he answered, setting his teeth, "because I knowthat whatever your heart may desire, my will follows you, and while Ilive that is a cord you cannot break unless I choose to loose it,Noma. I command you to be faithful to me and to return to me, andthese commands you must obey. Hearken: you taunted me just now, sayingthat I sat like a dotard in the sun and advanced you nothing. Well, Iwill advance you, for both our sakes, but mostly for your own, sinceyou desire it, and it must be done through the Prince Hafela. I cannotleave this kraal, for day and night I am watched, and before I hadgone an hour's journey I should be seized;............