CHAPTER I. THE DEPUTATION Has the age of miracle quite gone by, or is it still possible to the voice of faith calling aloud upon the earth to ring from the dumb heavens an audible answer to its prayer? Does the promise uttered by the master of mankind upon the eve of the end, who so that believeth in me, the works that I do, he shall do also, and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, still hold good to such as do ask and do believe? Let those who care to study the history of the Reverend Thomas Owen, and of that strange man who carried on and completed his work, answer this question according to their judgment. The time was a Sunday afternoon in summer, and the place, a church in the Midland Counties. It was a beautiful church, ancient and spacious. Moreover it had recently been restored at great cost. Seven or eight hundred people could have found sittings in it, and doubtless they had done so when Buscombe was a large manufacturing town, before the failure of the coal supply and other causes drove away its trade. Now it was much what it had been in the time of the Normans, a little agricultural village with a population of three hundred souls. Out of this population, including the choir boys, exactly thirty-nine had elected to attend church on this particular Sunday, and of these three were fast asleep, and four were dozing. The Reverend Thomas Owen counted them from his seat in the chancel, for another clergyman was preaching, and as he counted, bitterness and disappointment took hold of him. The preacher was a deputation, sent by one of the large missionary societies to arouse the indifferent to a sense of duty towards their unconverted black brethren in Africa, and incidentally to collect cash to be spent in the conversion of the said brethren. The Reverend Thomas Owen himself suggested the visit of the deputation, and had labored hard to secure him a good audience. The beauty of the weather, or terror of the inevitable subscription, prevailed against him, hence his disappointment. Well, he thought with a sigh, I have done my best, and I must make it up out of my own pocket. Then he settled himself to listen to the sermon. The preacher, a battered-looking individual of between fifty and sixty years of age, was gaunt with recent sickness, patient and unimaginative in aspect. He preached extemporarily, with the aid of notes, and it cannot be said that his discourse was remarkable for interest, at any rate in its beginning. Doubtless the sparse congregation so prone to slumber discouraged him. For offering exhortations to empty benches is but weary work. Indeed he was meditating the advisability of bringing his argument to an abrupt conclusion when, chanting to glance round, he became aware that he had at least one sympathetic listener, his host, the reverend Thomas Owen. From that moment the sermon improved by degrees, till at length it reached a really high level of excellence. Ceasing from rhetoric the speaker began to tell of his own experience and sufferings in the cause among savage tribes, for he himself was a missionary of many years standing. He told how once he and a companion had been sent to a nation who named themselves the sons of fire, because their god was the lightning. If indeed they could be said to boast any gods other than the spear and the king. In simple language he narrated his terrible adventures among these savages, the murder of his companion by the command of the Council of Wizards, and his own flight for his life. A tale so interesting in visit that even the bucolic sleepers awakened and listened opened mouth. But this is by the way, he went on, for my society does not ask you to subscribe towards the conversion of the children of fire. Until that people is conquered, which very likely will not be for generations, seeing that they live in Central Africa, occupying a territory that white men do not desire, no missionary will dare again to visit them. At this moment something caused him to look a second time at Thomas Owen. He was leaning forward in his place, listening eagerly, and a strange light filled the large dark eyes that shone in the pallor of his delicate nervous face. There is a man who would dare, if he were put to it, thought the deputation to himself. Then he ended his sermon. That evening the two men sat at dinner in the rectory. It was a very fine rectory, beautifully furnished, for Owen was a man of taste which he had the means to gratify. Although, although they were alone, the dinner was good. So good that the poor broken-down missionary, sipping his unaccustomed port of vintage wine, sighed aloud in admiration and involuntary envy. What is the matter, asked Owen? Nothing, Mr. Owen, and then of a sudden thawing into candor he added, that is, everything. Heaven forgive me, but I, who enjoy your hospitality, am envious of you. Don't think too hardly of me, I have a large family to support, and if only you knew what a struggle my life is, and has been for the last twenty years, you would not, I am sure. But you have never experienced it and could not understand. The laborer is worthy of his hire. Well, my hire is under two hundred a year, and eight of us must live, or starve, on it. And I have worked, I, until my health is broken, a laborer indeed.   Yes, viewed from a distance, were you asked to leave this living of two thousand a year? I see that is what they put it at in Crockford. With its English comforts and easy work, that you might lead that life and attain that death, then you would think differently. But why should I bore you with such talk? Thank heaven that your lines are cast in pleasant places. Yes, please, I will take one more glass. It does me good. Tell me some more about that tribe you were speaking of in your sermon. The Sons of Fire, I think you called them, said Owen as he passed him the decanter. So with an eloquence induced by the generous wine and a quickened imagination, the deputation told him, told him many strange things, and terrible. For this people was an awful people, vigorous in mind and body, and warriors from generation to generation, but superstition-ridden and cruel. They lived in the far interior, some month's journey by boat and ox wagon from the coast, and of white men in their ways they knew but little. How many of them are there? asked Owen. Who can say? he answered. Nearly half a million, perhaps. At least they pretend that they can put sixty thousand men under arms. And did they treat you badly when you first visited them? Not at first. They received us civilly enough, and on a given day we were requested to explain to the king and the council of wizards the religion which we came to teach. All that day we explained, and all the next, or rather my friend did, for I knew very little of the language. And they listened with great interest. At last the chief of the wizards and the first prophet to the king rose to question us. He was named Hokusah, a tall, thin man with a spiritual face and terrible calm eyes.  You tell us that this God of yours whom you desire that we should take as our God, so that you may become his chief prophets in the land, was a wizard such as we are, though greater than we are. For not only did he know the past and the future as we do, but also he could cure those who were smitten with hopeless sickness, and raise those who were dead, which we cannot do. You tell us moreover that by faith those who believe on him can do works as great as he did, and that you do believe on him. Therefore we will put you to the proof. Ho! There! Lead forth that evil one. As he spoke a man was placed before us, one who had been convicted of witchcraft or some other crime. Kill him! said Hokusah. There was a faint cry, a scuffle, and a flash of spears, and the man lay still before us. Now followers of the new God, said Hokusah, raise him from the dead as your master did. In vain did we offer explanations. Peace! said Hokusah at length. Your words weary us. Look now!  Since lacking faith in him, you cannot do such works as he gives power to do to those who have faith in him. Out of your own mouths are you judged, white men. Choose which horn of the bull you will, you hang to one of them. And it shall pierce you. This is the sentence of the king.  I can hardly bear to tell you the rest of it, Mr. Owen. They gave my poor friend ten minutes to talk to his spirit, then they speared him before my face.  For in itself it sounds good and beautiful in their ears, if it be true. Tell them that having proved you liars, they dealt with you as all honest men seek that liars should be dealt with. Tell them that they desired to hear more of this matter, and if one can be sent to them who has no false tongue, who in all things fulfills the promises of his lips, that they will hearken to him and treat him well. But that for such as you they keep a spear. And who went after you got back? asked Owen, who was listening with the deepest interest. Who went? Do you suppose there are many mad clergymen in Africa, Mr. Owen? Nobody went. And yet, said Owen, speaking more to himself than to his guest, the man Hokusah was right, and the Christian who of a truth believes the promises of our religion should trust to them and go. Then perhaps you would like to undertake the mission, Mr. Owen, said the deputation for the reflection stung him unintentionally as it was. Owen started. That is a new idea, he said. And now perhaps you wish to go to bed. It is past eleven o'clock. End of chapter one. Chapter two of The Wizard by H. Rider Haggard. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Thomas Owen. Thomas Owen went to his room, but not to bed. Hearing a Bible from the table, he consulted reference after reference. The promise is clear, he said aloud presently as he shut the book, clear and often repeated. There is no escape from it, and no possibility of a double meaning. If it is not true, then it would seem that nothing is true, and that every Christian in the world is tricked and deluded. But if it is true, why do we never hear of miracles? The answer is easy, because we have not faith enough to work them. The apostles worked miracles, for they had seen, therefore their faith was perfect. Since their day nobody's faith has been quite perfect, at least I think not, the physical part of our nature prevents it. Or perhaps the miracles still happen, but they are spiritual miracles. Then he sat down by the open window, and gazing at the dreamy beauty of the summer night he thought, for his soul was troubled. Once before it had been troubled thus, that was nine years ago, for now he was little over thirty. Then a call had come to him, a voice that seemed to speak in his ears, bidding him to lay down great possessions, and to follow whither heaven should lead him. Thomas Owen had obeyed the voice, though, owing to circumstances which need not be detailed, to do so he was obliged to renounce his succession to a very large estate, and to content himself with the younger son's portion of thirty thousand pounds, and the reversion to the living which he had now held for some five years. Even in there, with singular unanimity and dispatch, his relations came to the conclusion that he was mad. To this hour indeed, those who stand in his place, and enjoy the wealth and position that were his by right, speak of him as poor Thomas, and mark their disapprobation of his peculiar conduct by refusing with an unvarying steadiness to subscribe even a single shilling to a missionary society. How poor Thomas speaks of them, in the place where he is we may wonder. But as yet we cannot know, probably with the gentle love and charity that marked his every action upon earth. But this is, by the way, he had entered the church. But what had he done in its shadow? This was the question which Owen asked himself as he sat that night by the open window, arraigning his past before the judgment seat of conscience. For three years he had worked hard somewhere in the slums, then this living had fallen to him. He had taken it, and from that day forward his record was very much of a blank. The parish was small and well-ordered, there was little to do in it, and the Salvation Army had seized upon and reclaimed two of the three confirmed drunkards it could boast.  Supposing that he were bidden to do so now, this very night, would he indeed think differently? He had become a priest to serve his maker. How would it be were that maker to command that he should serve him in this extreme and heroic fashion? Would he flinch from the steel, or would he meet it as the martyrs met at a bold? Physically he was little suited to such an enterprise, for in appearance he was slight and pale, and in constitution delicate. Also there was another reason against the thing. High church and somewhat ascetic in his principles, in the beginning he had admired celibacy, and in secret dedicated himself to that state. But at heart Thomas was very much a man, and of late he had come to see that which is against nature is presumably not right, though fanatics may not hesitate to pronounce it wrong. Possibly this conversion to more genial views of life was quickened by the presence in the neighborhood of a young lady whom he chanced to admire. At least it is certain that the mere thought of seeing her no more forever smote him like a sword of sudden pain. That very night her so it seemed to him, and so he believed, the angel of the Lord stood before him as he was want to stand before the men of old, and spoke a summons in his ear. How or in what seeming that summons came, Thomas Owen never told, and we need not inquire. At the least he heard it, and like the apostles he arose and girded his loins to obey. For now in the hour of trial it proved that this man's faith partook of the nature of their faith. It was utter and virgin. It was not clogged with nineteenth-century qualifications. It had never dallied with strange doctrines, or kissed the feet of pinch-beck substitutes for God. In his heart he believed that the Almighty, without intermediary, but face to face, had bidden him to go forth into the wilderness there to perish.  On the following morning at breakfast Owen had some talk with his friend the deputation. You asked me last night, he said quietly, whether I would undertake a mission to that people of whom you were telling me, the Sons of Fire. Well I have been thinking it over, and come to the conclusion that I will do so. At this point the deputation, concluding that his host must be mad, moved quietly but decidedly towards the door. Wait a moment, went on Owen, in a matter-of-fact voice. The dog-cart will not be round for another three-quarters of an hour. Tell me, if it were offered to you, and on investigation you proved suitable, would you care to take over this living? Would I care to take over this living? gasped the astonished deputation. Would I care to walk down that garden and find myself in heaven? But why are you making fun of me? I am not making fun of you. If I go to Africa I must give up the living, of which I own the Edvalson, and it occurred to me that it might suit you. That is all. You have done your share. Your health is broken, and you have many dependent upon you. It seems right, therefore, that you should rest, and that I should work. If I do know good yonder, at the least you and yours will be a little benefited. That same day Owen chanced to meet the lady who has been spoken of as having caught his heart. He had meant to go away without seeing her, but Fortune brought them together. Hitherto, wilched in reality leading him on, she had seemed to keep him at a distance, with the result that he did not know that it was her fixed intention to marry him. To her, with some hesitation, he told his plans. Surprised and frightened into candor, the lady reasoned with him warmly, and when reason failed to move him she did more. By some subtle movement, with some sudden word, she lifted the veil of her reserve and suffered him to see her heart. "'If you will not stay for odd else,' said her troubled eyes, "'then love, stay for me!' For a moment he was shaken. Then he answered to look straight out as was his nature. "'I never guessed,' he said. "'I did not presume to hope. Now it is too late. Listen, I will tell you what I have told no living soul, though thereafter you may think me mad. Weak and humble as I am, I believe myself to have received of divine mission. I believe that I shall execute it, or bring about its execution, but at the ultimate cost of my own life. Still, in such a service, two are better than one. If you can care enough, if you—' But the lady had already turned away, and was murmuring her farewell in accents that sounded like a sob. Love and faith after this sort were not given to her. Of all Owen's trials this was the sharpest. Of all his sacrifices this was the most complete. CHAPTER III The Temptation Two years have gone by all but a few months, and from the rectory in a quiet English village we pass to a scene in Central or South Central Africa. On the brow of a grassy slope dotted over with memosa thorns, and close 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 a fence of thorns, rough but strong, designed to protect all within it from the attacks of lions and other beasts of prey. At present, save for a solitary mule eating its provender by the wheel of a tented ox wagon, it is untenanted, for the cattle have not yet been crawled for the night. Presently Thomas Owen enters this enclosure by the back door of the hut, and having attended to the mule, which Winnie's at the side of him, goes to the gate and watches there till he sees his native boys driving the cattle up the slope of the hill. At length they arrive, and when he has counted them to make sure that none are missing, and in a few kind words commended the herds for their watchfulness, he walks to the front of the house, and seating himself upon a wooden stool set under a memosa tree that grows near the door, he looks earnestly toward the west. The man has changed somewhat since last we saw him. To begin with he has grown a beard, and although the hot African sun has bronzed it into 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 into rapids where the waters make an angry music. Beyond this river stretches a vast plain bounded on the horizon by mountain ranges, each line of them rising higher than the other, till their topmost and more distant peaks melt imperceptibly into the tender blue of the heavens. This is the land of the suns of fire, and yonder, amid the slopes of the nearest hills, is the great crawl of their king, Amsuka, whose name being interpreted means the Thunderbolt. In the very midst of the foaming rapids, and about 1,000 yards from the house, lies a space of rippling shallow water, where, unless it chance us to be in flood, the river can be forwarded. It is this ford that 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 plane. It is a man traveling towards the water at a swinging trot. Going into the hut, Owen returns with a pair of field glasses, and through them scrutinizes 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 the tribe of the Amasuka, the people of fire, and with uplifted hand salutes him, giving him titles of honor. Praise me not, John, said Owen, praise God only as I have taught you 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'd received me in the courtyard of the house of women. With his guards, who stood at a 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 Hafella, the king that is to come, the prince Nanwingo, his brother, and Hokusah, the terrible, the chief of the wizards.  Have I not told you, John, to trust in God, and fear nothing at the hands of man? You told me, father, but still I feared, answered the messenger humbly. Yet, being bidden to it, I lifted my forehead from the dust, and stood upon my feet before the king, and delivered to him the message which you set between my lips. Repeat the message, John. O king, I said, beneath whose 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 has dwelt in the land that your spears have wasted beyond the banks of the river. These are the words which he spoke to me, O king, that I pass on to you with my tongue. To the king Amsuka, lord of the Amasuka, the sons of fire, I, messenger, who am the servant and the ambassador of the king of heaven, give greeting. A year ago, king, I sent to you saying that the message which was brought by that white man whom you drove from your land had reached the ears of him whom I serve, the high and holy one. And that, speaking in my heart, he had commanded me to take up the challenge of your message. Here am I, therefore, ready to abide by the law which you have laid down. For if guile or lies be found in me, then let me travel from your land across the bridge of spears. Still, I would dwell a little while here where I am, before I pass into the shadow of your rule and speak in the ears of your people as I have been bidden. Know, king, that first I would learn your tongue, and therefore I demand that one of your people may be sent to dwell with me and to teach me that tongue. King, you heard my words, and you sent me a man to dwell with me, and that man has taught me your tongue, and I also have taught him, converting him to my faith, and giving him a new name, the name of John. King, now I seek your leave to visit you, and to deliver into your ears the words which I messenger am charged. I have spoken. Thus I, John, addressed the great ones, my father, and they listened in silence. When I had done they spoke together, a word here and a word there. Then, Hokusah, the king's mouth, answered me, telling me the thought of the king.  You my servant, who dared to appear before me, and to make it known to me that you have been turned to a new faith, and serve another king than I. Yet because you are bold, I forgive you. Go back now to that white man who is named messenger, and who comes upon an embassy to me from the Lord of Heaven, and bid him come in peace. Let warn him once again that here also we know something of the powers that are not seen. Here also we have our wizards, who draw wisdom from the air, who tame the thunderbolt, and compel the rain, and that he must show himself greater than all of these 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 such a one there is, and let him come, or let him stay away as it shall please him. So be it, said Owen, the words of the king are good, and to-morrow we will start for the great place. John heard, and assented, but without eagerness. My father, he said, in a doubtful, tentative voice, would it not perhaps be better to bide here a while first? Why, asked Owen, we have sown, and now it is the hour to reap. It is so, my father, but as I ran hither full of the king's gods, it came into my mind that now is not the time to convert the sons of fire. 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 know well that our king, Umsuka, has two sons, Huffella and Nodwingo, and of these Huffella is the heir apparent, the fruit of the chief wife of the king, and Nodwingo is sprung from another wife.  Of late it has been discovered that Huffella, weary of waiting for power, has made a plot to depose his father and to kill Nodwingo his brother, so that the 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 my sister, and he is very wroth. Yet he dare do little, for he grows old and timid, and seeks rest, not war. Yet he is minded, if he can find the heart, to go back upon the law, and to name Nodwingo as his heir before all the army at the feast of the first fruits, which shall be held on the third day from tonight. This Huffella knows, and Nodwingo knows it also. And each of them has summoned his following, numbering thousands and tens of thousands of spears, to attend this feast of the first fruits. That feast may well be a feast of vultures, my father, and when the brothers and their regiments rush together fighting for the throne, what will chance to the white man who comes at such a moment to preach a faith of peace, and to his servant, one John, who led him there? I do not know, answered Owen, and it troubles me not at all. I go to carry out my mission, and in this way or in that it will be carried out. John, if you are fearful or unbelieving, leave me to go alone. Nay, father, I am not fearful. Yet, father, I would have you understand. Yonder, there are men who can work wizardry. Wow! I know, for I have seen it, and they will demand from you magic greater than their magic. What of it, John? Only this, my father.  You teach beautiful things, but say, are you a wizard? When the child of a woman Yonder lay dead, you could not raise it as did the Christ. When the oxen were sick with the pest, you could not cure them, at least my father, you did not, although you wept for the child, and were sorry at the loss of the oxen. Now, my father, if perchance they ask you to do such things as these Yonder, or die, say what will happen? One of two things, John, either I shall die, or I shall do the things. But, hesitated John, surely you do not believe that, and he broke off. Owen turned round, and looked at his disciple with kindling eyes. I do believe, O ye of little faith, he said, I do believe that Yonder I have a mission, and that he whom I serve will give me power to carry out that mission. You are right, I can work no miracles, but he can work miracles, whom everything in heaven and earth obeys, and if there is need he will work them through me his instrument. Or perhaps he will not work them, and I shall die, because thus his ends will best be forwarded. At the least I go in faith, fearing nothing, for what has he to fear who knows the will of God and does it? But to you who doubt, I say, leave me.  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 a captain 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 no coward, 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 my heart has not understanding? I worship that God of whom you have taught me. But he never speaks to me as he does to you. I never meet him as I walk at night. He leaves me quite alone. Therefore it is that I fear that when the hour of trial comes he may desert you, and unless he covers you with his shield, of this I am sure that the spear is forged which shall blush red in your heart, my father. It is for you that I fear, who are so gentle and tender, not for myself, who am well accustomed to look in the eyes of death, in whom I expect no more than death. Forgive me, said Owen hastily, for he was moved, and be sure that the shield will be over us till the time comes for us to pass, whether we shall need none. That night Owen rose from the task at which he was laboring slowly and painfully, a translation of passages from the Gospel of John into the language of the Amazuka. And going to the open window-place of the hut he rested his elbows upon it and thought, staring with empty eyes into the blackness of the night. Now it was as he sat thus that a great agony of doubt took possession of his soul. The strength which hitherto had supported him seemed to be withdrawn, and he was left, as John had said, quite alone. Each voices seemed to whisper in his ears, reproaching and reviling him. Temptations long ago trampled underfoot rose again in might, alluring him. Fools, said the voices, get you hence before it is too late. You have been mad! You who dreamed that for your sake to satisfy your pride, the Almighty will break his silence and strain his law.  Why, were it not that you were mad, you would be among the chief of sinners, you who dare to ask that the powers of heaven should be set within your feeble hand, that the angels of heaven should wait upon your mortal breath? Worm that you are, is God need of such as you? If it is his will to turn the heart of yonder people, he will do it, but not by means of you.   You are still young, you have wealth? Look where she stands yonder, whom you desire.  These thoughts and many others of like nature tore Owen's soul in that hour of strange and terrible temptation. He seemed to see himself standing before the thousands of the savage nation that he went to save, and to hear the mocking voices of their witchfinders commanding him, if he were a true man and the servant of that God of whom he praded, to give them a sign, only a little sign, perhaps to move a stone without touching it with his hand, or to cause a dead bow to blossom. Then he would beseech heaven with frantic prayers, and in vain, till at length amidst a roar of laughter, he, the false prophet and the liar, was led out to his doom. He saw the piteous wondering look of the believer whom he had betrayed to death. He saw the fierce faces and the spears on high. Seeing all this his spirit broke, and just as the little clock in the room behind him struck the first stroke of midnight, with a great and bitter cry to God to give him back the faith and strength that he had lost, Owen's head fell forward, and he sank into a swoon there upon the window-place. End of Chapter 3 Chapter 4 of The Wizard by H. Ryder Haggard. This Librivox recording is in the public domain. The Vision Was it swoon or sleep? At least it seemed to Owen that presently once again he was gazing into the dense intolerable blackness of the night. Then a marvel came to pass, for the blackness opened, or rather on it, framed and surrounded by it, there appeared a vision. It was the vision of a native town having a great bear-space in the center of it encircled by hundreds or thousands of huts. But there was no one stirring about the huts, for it was night. Not this his night of trial indeed, since now the sky was strewn with innumerable stars. Everything was silent about that town, save that now and again a dog barked, or a fretful child wailed within a hut, or the centuries as they passed saluted each other in the name of the king. Among all those hundreds of huts, to Owen it seemed that his attention was directed to one which stood apart surrounded with a fence. Now the interior of the hut opened itself to him. It was not lighted, yet with his spirit sense he could see its every detail. The polished floors, the skin rugs, the beer-gords, the shields and spears, the roof-tree of redwood, and the dried lizard hanging from the thatch, a charm to ward off evil. In this hut, seated face to face, half way between the center post and the door-hole, were two men. The darkness was deep about them, and they whispered to each other through it. But in his dream this was no bar to Owen's sight. He could discern their faces clearly. One of them was that of a man of about thirty-five years of age. In stature he was almost a giant. He wore a carass of leopard skins, and on his wrists and ankles were rings of ivory, the royal ornaments. His face was fierce and powerful. His eyes, which were set far apart, rolled so much that at times they seemed all white, and his fingers played nervously with the handle of a spear that he carried in his right hand. His companion was of a different stamp, a person of more than fifty years. He was tall and spare in figure, with delicately shaped hands and feet. His hair and little beard were tinged with gray. His face was strikingly handsome, nervous and expressive, and his forehead both broad and high. But more remarkable still were his eyes, which shone with a piercing brightness, almost gray in color, steady as the flame of a well-trimmed lamp, and so cold that they might have been precious stones set in the head of a statue. "'Must I, then, put your thoughts in words?' said this man in a clear, quick whisper. "'Well, so be it, for I weary of sitting here in the dark, waiting for water that will not flow. "'Listen, Prince, you come to talk to me of the death of a king. Is it not so? Nay, do not start. Why are you affrighted when you hear upon the lips of another the plot that these many months have been familiar to your breast?' "'Truly, Kokosa, you are the best of wizards, or the worst,' answered the great man huskily. "'Yet this once you are mistaken,' he added with a change of voice. "'I came but to ask you for a charm to turn my father's heart. "'To dust, Prince, if I am mistaken, why am I the best of wizards or the worst?  And why do you even now touch your dry lips with your tongue?' "'Yes, I know that it is dark here. Yet some can see in it, and I am one of them. I, Prince, and I can see your mind also. "'You would be rid of your father. He has lived too long. Moreover, his love turns to Nodwingo, the good and gentle, and perhaps, who can say, it is even in his thought, when all his regiments are about him, two days hence, to declare that you, Prince, are deposed, and that your brother, Nodwingo, shall be king in your stead. Now, Nodwingo, you cannot kill. He is too well loved and too well guarded. If he died suddenly, his dead 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, and such things happen to the old. Also he grows feeble, and will not suffer the regiments to be doctored for war, although day by day they clamor to be led to battle, for he seeks to end his years in peace. I say to you, speak folly, answered the prince with vehemence. Then, son of the great one, why should you waste time in listening to me? Farewell, Hafella, the prince, first born of the king, who in a day to come shall carry the shield of Nodwingo, for he is good and gentle, and will spare your life, if I beg it of him. Hafella stretched out his hand through the darkness and caught Hokusah by the wrist. Stay, he whispered, it is true, the king must die, for if he does not die within three days I shall cease to be his heir. I know it through my spies.  But if he dies before the last day of the festival, then that decree will never pass his lips, and the regiments will never roar out the name of Nodwingo as the name of the king to come.  By my hand, prince, nay, what have you to offer me in return for such a deed as this? Have I not grown up in Amsuka's shadow, and shall I cut down the tree that shades me? What have I to offer you? Notice that next to myself you shall be the greatest in the land, Hokusah. 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 the hearer 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.  Nay, you forget that I can see in the dark. Lay down that assagai. Or by my spirit, prince, as you are, I will blast you with a spell, and your body shall be thrown to the kites, as that of one who would murder his king and father. The prince heard and shook. His cheeks sank in. The muscles of his great form seemed to collapse, and he groveled on the floor of the hut. I know your magic, he groaned. Use it for me, not against me. What is 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 Hukosa. For a while the prince thought. Till presently his form straightened itself, and with a quick movement he lifted up his head. Is it perchance? My Afian's wife, he whispered, the Lady Noma whom I love, and whom, according to our custom, I shall wed as the queen to be after the feast of first fruits? Oh, say it's not, Hukosa. I say it, answered the wizard. Listen, prince, the Lady Noma is the only 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 the north. She was my ward, she was more. For through her, ah, you know not how. I held my converse with the things of earth and air, the very spirits that watch us now in this darkness, Hafella. Thus it happened, that before ever she was a woman, her mind grew greater than the mind of any other woman. And her thought became my thought, and my thought became her thought, for I and no other am her master. Still I waited to wed her till she was fully grown, and while I waited I went upon an embassy to the northern tribes. Then it was that you saw the maid in visiting at my crawl, and her beauty and her wit took hold of you, and in the council of the king, as you have a right to do, you named her as your head wife, the queen to be. The king heard and bowed his head. He sent and took her, and placed her in the house of the royal women, there to abide till this feast of the first fruits, when she shall be given to you in marriage. Yes, he sent 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 too late, for she was sealed to you of the blood royal, and that is a law which may not be broken. Hafella, I prayed you to return her to me, and you mocked me. I would have brought you to your death, but it could not have availed me, for then, by that same law which may not be broken, she who was sealed to you must die with you. And though thereafter her spirit would sit with me until I died also, it was not enough, since I who have conquered all, yet cannot conquer the fire that wastes my heart, nor cease too long by night and day for a woman who is lost to me. Then it was, Hafella, that I plotted my vengeance against you.  This is the price that you must pay for her of whom you have robbed me, and by my spirit and her spirit you shall pay. Yet listen, hand back the girl, as you may do, for she is not yet your wife, and choose another for your queen. And I will undo all that I have done, and I will find you a means, Hafella, to carry out your will. I, before six sons have set, the regiments rushing past you shall hail you king of the nation of the Amasuka, lord of the ancient house of fire. I cannot, grown the prince, death were better than this.   Now the prince sprang up, take her, he hissed.  Take her, priest of death and ill, but take my curse with her. I also can prophesy, and I tell you that this woman whom you have taught, this witch of many spells, whose clans can shrivel the hearts of men, shall give you to drink of your own medicine.  What, laughed the wizard, have I a rival in my own arts? Nay, Hafella, if you would learn the trade, pay me well, and I will give you lessons. 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 tell you, prince, that even the love for her who is my heart, the lady whom we both would wed, partaking of the flesh, as alas it does, has cost me half my powers. Now let us cease from empty scoldings, and strike our bargain. Listen, on the last day of the feast, when all the regiments are gathered to salute the king there in his great place according to custom, you shall stand forth before the king, and renounce Noma, and she shall pass back to the care of my household.  Then you shall return to the side of the king, and after our fashion shall give him to drink the bowl of the first fruits. But as you stir the beer, you will let fall into it that powder which I have given you. The king will drink, and what he leaves undrunk, 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 air, and your brother, Nodwingo, is to be set in your seat. But of that decree never a word shall pass his lips. If it does, recall your saying, and take back the Lady Noma from where she stands beside me. I tell you, that never a word shall pass his lips, for even as he rises a stroke shall take him. Such a stroke as often falls upon the fat and aged, and he will sink to the ground snoring through his nostrils. For a while thereafter, it may be six hours, it may be 12, he shall lie insensible.  I, said Hafella, 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 the poison which I choose, that it is swift, yet the symptoms of it are the symptoms of a natural sickness. But that your safety in mind may be assured, I have made yet another plan, though of this there will be little need. You were present two days since when a runner came from the white man, who sojourns beyond our border. He who seeks to teach us, the children of fire, a new faith, and gives out that he is the messenger of the king of heaven. This runner asked leave for the white man to visit the great place, and speaking in the king's name, I gave him leave. But I warned his servant that if his master came, a sign should be required of him to show that he was a true man, and had of the wisdom of the king of heaven, and that if he failed therein, then that he should die as that white liar died who visited us in bygone years. Now I have so ordered that this white man, passing through the valley of death yonder, shall reach the great place not long before the king drinks of the cup of the first fruits. Then, if any think that something out of nature has happened to the king, they will surely think also that this strange prayer-doctor has wrought the evil. Then also I will call for a sign from the white man, praying of him to recover the king of his sickness, and when he fails, he shall be slain as a worker of spells and the false prophet of a false god, and so we shall be rid of him and his new faith, and you shall be cleared of doubt. Is not the plan good, Prince? It is very good, Hukosa, save for one thing only. For what thing? This, the white man who is named messenger, might chance to be a true prophet of a true god, and to recover the king. Oh, let him do it if he can, but to do it, first he must know the poison and its antidote. There is but one, and it is known to me only of all men in this land. When he has done that, then I, yes, even I, Hukosa, will begin to inquire concerning this god of his, who shows himself so mighty in person of his messenger. And he laughed low and scornfully. Prince, farewell. I go forth alone, whither you dare not follow at this hour, to seek that which we shall need. One word. Think not to play me false, or to cheat me of my price, for what ere betide be sure of this? That hour shall be the hour of your dooming.  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 either side with sloping cliffs of granite, a desolate place, sandy, and save for a single spring without water, strewn with boulders of rock, some of them piled fantastically one upon the other. At a certain spot this valley widened out, and in the mouth of the space thus formed, midway between the curved lines of the receding cliffs, stood a little hill, or copy, also built up of boulders. It was a place of death, for all around the hill, and piled in hundreds between the crevices of its stones, lay the white bones of men. Nor was this all. Its summit was flat, and in the midst of it stood a huge tree. Even had it not been for the fruit which hung from its branches, the aspect of that tree must have struck the beholder as uncanny, even as horrible. The bark on its great bowl was leprous white, and from its gaunt and spreading rungs rose branches that subdivided themselves again and again, till at last they terminated in round green fingers, springing from gray, flat slabs of bark, in shape not unlike that of a human palm. Indeed, from a little distance this tree, especially if viewed by moonlight, had the appearance of bearing on it hundreds or thousands of the arms and hands of men, all of them stretched imploringly to heaven. Well might they seem to do so, seeing that to its naked limbs hung the bodies of at least twenty human beings who had suffered death by order of the king or his captains, or by the decree of the company of wizards, whereof Hokusso was the chief. There on the hill of death stood the tree of death, and that in its dank shade, or piled upon the ground beneath it, hung and lay the pitiful remnants of the multitudes who for generations had been led thither to their doom. Now in Owen's vision a man was seen approaching by the little pathway that ran up the side of the mount, the road of lost footsteps it was called. It was Hokusso, the wizard. Outside the circle of the tree he halted, and drawing a tanned skin from a bundle of medicines which he carried, he tidied about his mouth, for the very smell of that tree is poisonous, and must not be suffered to reach the lungs. Presently he was under the branches, where once again he halted. This time it was to gaze at the body of an old man which swung to and fro in the night breeze. Ah, friend! he muttered. We strove for many years, but it seems that I have conquered at the last. Well, it is just, for if you could have had your way, your end would have been my end. Then very leisurely as one who is sure that he will not be interrupted, Hokusso began to climb the tree, till at length some of the green fingers were within his reach. Resting his back against a bow, one by one he broke off several of them, and averting his face so 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 little gourd which was hung about his neck by a string. When he had collected enough of the poison, and carefully corked the gourd with a plug of wood, he descended the tree again. At the great fork where the main branches sprang from the trunk, he stood awhile contemplating a creeping plant which ran up them. It was a plant of naked stem, like the tree it grew upon, and also like the tree its leaves consisted of bunches of green spikes having milky juice. Strange, he said aloud, that nature should set the bane and the antidote side by side, the one twined about the other. Well, so it is in everything, yes, even in the heart of man. Shall I gather some of this juice also? No, for then I might repent and save him, remembering that he has loved me, and thus lose her I seek, her whom I must win back 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 upon its dead to tell him of the bane and of the antidote. And once more the wizard laughed mockingly. The vision passed. At this moment Thomas Owen, recovering from his swoon, lifted his head from the window-place. The night before him was as black as it had been, and behind him the little American clock was still striking the hour of midnight. Therefore he could not have remained insensible for longer than a few seconds. A few seconds, yet how much he had seen in them! Truly his want of faith had been reproved. Truly he also had been warned of God in a dream. Truly his ears had been opened and his instructions 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 made clear to him, in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men. Not for nothing had he endured that agony. And not for nothing had he struggled in the grip of doubt. End of Chapter 4 Chapter 5 of The Wizard by H. Ryder Haggard. This Librivox recording is in the public domain. THE FEAST OF THE FIRST FRUITS On the third morning from this night, whereof the strange events have been described, an ox-wagon might have been seen outspanned on the hither side of those ranges of hills that were visible from the river. These mountains, which, although not high, are very steep, form the outer barrier and defense of the kingdom of the Amasuka. Within five hundred yards of where the wagon stood, however, a sheer clift gorge, fire-riven and water-hewn, pierced the range, and looking on it, Owen knew it for the gorge of his dream. Night and day the mouth of it was guarded by a company of armed soldiers, whose huts were built high on outlook places in the mountains, whence their keen eyes could scan the vast expanses of plain. A full day before it reached them they had seen the white-capped wagon crawling across the veld, and swift runners had reported its advent to the king at his great place. Back came the word of the king that the white man, with the wagon and his servant, were to be led on towards the great place, as such speed as would bring him there in time for him to behold the last ceremony of the feast of first fruits. But for the present, that the wagon itself and the oxen were to be left at the mouth of the gorge, in charge of a guard who would be answerable for them. Now on this morning the captain of the guard and his orderlies advanced to the wagon and stood in front of it. They were splendid men, armed with great spears and shields, and adorned with feather-head dresses, and all the wild finery of their regiment. Owen descended from the wagon and came to meet them, and so for a few moments they remained face to face in silence, a strange contrast they presented as they stood there. The bare-headed white man, frail, delicate, spiritual of countenance, and the warriors, great, grave, powerful, a very embodiment of the essence of untamed humanity, an incarnate presentation of the spirit of savage warfare. How are you named, white man? asked the captain. Chief, I am named messenger. The peace of the king be with you, messenger, said the captain, lifting his spear. The peace of God be with you, chief, answered Owen, holding up his hands in blessing. Who is God? asked the captain. Chief, he is the king I serve, and his word is between my lips. Then pass on, messenger of God, and deliver the word of God your king into the ears of my king, at his great place yonder. Pass on, riding the beast you have brought with you, for the way is rough. Teacher Wagon, your oxen, and your servants, save this man only, who is of the children of fire, must stay here in my keeping. Fear not, messenger, I will hold them safe. I do not fear, chief, there is honor in your eyes.   Why are you still afraid? asked Owen. Ah, Father, because this is a place of fear. Here in this valley men are led to die. Presently you will see. I have seen, answered Owen, yonder where we shall halt as a mount, and on that mount stands a tree. It is called the Tree of Death, and it stretches a thousand hands to heaven, praying for mercy that does not come, and from its bowels there hangs fruit, a fruit of dead men. Yes, twenty of them hang there this day. How know you these things, my Father? asked the man amazed, seeing that I have never spoken to you of them. Nay, he answered, God has spoken to me, my God and your God. Another hour passed, and they were resting by the spring of water near to the shadow of the dreadful tree, for in that gorge the sun burned fiercely. Owen counted the bodies that swung upon it, and again looked fearfully at Owen, for there were twenty of them. I desire to go up to that tree, Owen said to the guard. As you will, messenger, answered their leader, I have no orders to prevent you from so doing. Still, he added with a solemn smile, it is a place that few seek of their own will, and because I like you well, messenger, I pray it may never be my duty to lead you there of the king's will. Then Owen went up to the tree, and John with him. Only John would not pass beneath the shadow of its branches, but stood by, wondering, while his master bound a handkerchief about his mouth. How did he know that the breath of the tree is poisonous? John wondered. Owen walked to the bowl of the tree, and, breaking off some of the finger-like leaves of the creeper that twined about it, he pressed their milky juice into a little bottle that he had made ready. Then he returned quickly, for the sights and odors of the place were not to be borne. Outside the circle of the branches he halted, and removed the handkerchief from his mouth. Be of good cheer, he said to John, and if it should chance that I am called away before my words come true, yet remember my words. I tell you that this tree of death shall become the tree of life for all the children of your people. Look, there above you is its sign and promise. John lifted his eyes, following the line of Owen's outstretched hand, and saw this. High up upon the tree, and standing clear of all the other branches, was one straight dead limb, and from this dead limb two arms projected at right angles, also dead, and snapped off short. Had a carpenter fashioned a cross of wood and set it there, its proportions could not have been more proper and exact. It was very strange to find this symbol of the Christian hope towering above that place of human terror, and stranger still was the purpose which it must serve in a day to come. Owen and John returned to the guard in silence, and presently they set forward on their journey. At length, passing beneath a natural arch of rock, they were out of the valley of death, and before them, not five hundred paces away, appeared the fence of the great place. This great place stood upon a high plateau, in the lap of the surrounding hills, all of which were strongly fortified with sconces, pitfalls, and rough walls of stone. That plateau may have measured fifteen miles in circumference, and the fence of the town itself was about four miles in circumference. Within the fence, and following its curve, for it was round, stood thousands of dome-shaped huts carefully set out in streets. Within these again was a stout stockade of timber, in closing a vast arena of trodden earth, large enough to contain all the cattle of the people of fire in times of danger, and to serve as a review-ground for their MPs in time of peace or festival. At the outer gate of the crawl there was a halt, while the keepers of the gate dispatched a messenger to their king to announce the advent of the white man. Of this pause, Owen took advantage to array himself in the surplus and hood which he had brought with him in readiness for that hour. Then he gave the mule to John to lead behind him. What do you do, messenger? asked the leader of the guard, astonished. I clothed myself in my wardress, he answered. Where then is your spear, messenger? Here, said Owen, presenting to his eyes a crucifix of ivory, most beautifully carved. I perceive that you are of the family of wizards, said the man, and fell back. Now they entered the crawl, and passed for three hundred yards or more through rows of huts, till they reached the gate of the stockade which was opened to them. Once within it Owen saw a wonderful sight, such a sight as few white men have seen. The ground of the enormous oval before him was not flat. Either from natural accident or by design it sloped gently upwards, so that the spectator, standing by the gate or at the head of it before the house of the king, could take in its whole expanse, and if his sight were keen enough could see every individual gathered there. In the particular day of Owen's arrival it was crowded with regiments, twelve of them, all dressed in their different uniforms and bearing shields to match, not one of which was less than two thousand five hundred strong. At this moment the regiments were masked in deep lines, each battalion by itself, on either side of the broad roadway that ran straight up the crawl to where the king, his sons, his advisors and guards, together with the company of wizards, were placed in front of the royal house. There they stood in absolute silence, like tens of thousands of bronze statues, and Owen perceived that either they were resting or they were gathered thus to receive him. That the latter was the case soon became evident, for as he appeared, a white spot at the foot of the slope, countless heads turned and myriads of eyes fastened themselves upon him. For an instant he was dismayed. There was something terrifying in this numberless multitude of warriors, and the thought of the task that he had undertaken crushed his spirit. Then he remembered, and shaking off his fear and doubt, alone, save for his disciple John, holding the crucifix aloft, he walked slowly up the wide road towards the place where he guessed that the king must be. His arm was weary ere he ever reached it, but at length he found himself standing before a thick-set old man, who was clad in leopard skins and seated upon a stool of polished wood. It is the king, whispered John, behind him. Peace be to you, said Owen, breaking the silence. The wish is good. May it be fulfilled, answered the king in a deep voice, sighing as he said the words. Yet yours is a strange greeting, he added. Whence came you white man? How are you named? And what is your mission to me and to my people? King, I come from beyond the sea. I am named messenger, and my mission is to deliver to you the saying of God, my king, and yours. At these words a gasp of astonishment went up from those who stood within hearing, expecting, as they did, to see them rewarded by instant death. But Umsuka only said, my king and yours, bold words, messenger, where then is this king to whom I, Umsuka, should bow the knee? He is everywhere, in the heavens, on the earth, and below the earth. If he is everywhere, then he is here. Show me the likeness of this king, messenger. Behold it! Owen answered, thrusting forward the crucifix. Now all the great ones about the king stared at this figure of a dying man crowned with thorns and hanging on a cross, and then drew up their lips to laugh. But that laugh never left them. A sudden impulse, a mysterious wave of feeling, choked it in their throats. A sense of the strangeness, of the contrast between themselves in their armed multitudes, and this one white-robed man in his loneliness took hold of them, and with it another sense of something not far removed from fear. A wizard indeed. They thought in their hearts. And what they thought the king uttered.  Mad you do not seem to be, for your eyes are calm. Therefore a wizard you must be. Well, stand behind me. By and by I will hear your message, and ask of you to show me your powers. But before then there are things which I must do. Are the lads ready? Oh, you! Loose the ball! At the command a line of soldiers moved from the right, forming itself up in front of the king in his attendance, revealing a number of youths, of from sixteen to seventeen years of age, armed with sticks only, who stood in companies outside a massive gate. Presently this gate was opened, and through it with a mad bellow rushed a wild buffalo-bowl. On seeing them, the brute halted, and for a few moments stood pawing the earth, and tearing it with its great horns. Then it put down its head and charged. Instead of making way for it, uttering a shrill whistling sound, the youths rushed at the beast, striking with their sticks. Another instant, and one of them appeared above the heads of his companions, thrown high into the air, to be followed by a second, and a third. Now the animal was through the throng, and carrying a poor boy on its horn, whence presently he fell dead. Through and through the ranks of the regiments, it charged furiously backward and forward. Watching it fascinated, Owen noted that it was a point of honor for no man to stir before its rush. There they stood, and if the bull gored them, there they fell. At length, exhausted and terrified, the brute headed back straight up the lane where the main body of the youths were waiting for it. Now it was among them, and reckless of wounds or death, they swarmed about it like bees, seizing it by legs, nose, horns, and tail, till with desperate efforts they dragged it to the ground and beat the life out of it with their sticks. This done they formed up before the king and saluted him. "'How many are killed?' he asked. "'Eight in all,' was the answer. "'And fifteen gored.' "'A good bull,' he said with a smile. "'That of last year killed but five.' "'Well, the lads fought him bravely.  And to the rest give a double ration of beer. Ho now! Fall back, men, and make a space for the bees and the wasps to fight in!' Some orders were given, and a great ring was formed, leaving an arena clear that may have measured a hundred and fifty yards in diameter. Then suddenly, from opposite sides, the two regiments, known as the bees and the wasps, respectively, rushed upon each other, uttering their war cries. "'I put ten head of cattle on the bees.' "'Who wagers on the wasps?' cried the king. "'I, Lord,' answered the prince Huffella, stepping forward. "'Your prince,' said the king, with a quick frown. "'Well, you are right to back them. They are your own regiment. Ah, they are at it!' By this time the scene was that of a hill, broken loose upon the earth. The two regiments, numbering some five thousand men in all, had come together, and the roar of their meeting shields was like the roar of thunder. They were armed with caries only, and not with spears, for the fight was supposed to be a mimic one. But these weapons they used with such effect that soon hundreds of them were down dead, or with shattered skulls and bruised limbs. Fiercely they fought, while the whole army watched, for their rivalry was keen. And for many months they had known that they were to be pitted one against the other on this day. Fiercely they fought, while the captains cried their orders, and the dust rose up in clouds as they swung to and fro, breast thrusting against breast. At length the end came, the bees began to give. They fell back ever more quickly till their retreat was a rout, and leaving many stretched upon the ground, amid the mocking cries of the army they were driven to the fence, by touching which they obtained peace at the hands of their victors. The king saw, and his somewhat heavy, quiet face grew alive with rage. Search and see, he said, if the captain of the bees is alive and unhurt. Messengers went to do his bidding, and presently they returned, bringing with them a man of magnificent appearance in middle age, whose left arm had been broken by a blow from a carry. With his right hand he saluted first the king, then the prince Nodwingo, a kindly faced, mild-eyed man, in whose command he was. What have you to say? asked the king, in a cold voice of anger. Know you that you have cost me ten head of the royal white cattle? King, I have nothing to say, answered the captain calmly, except that my men are cowards. That is certainly so, said the king. Let all the wounded among them be carried away.  As for your regiment, I banish it to the fever country, there to hunt elephants for three years, since it is not fit to fight with men. It is well, replied the captain, since death is better than shame. Only king, I have done you good service in the past. I ask that it may be presently, and by the spear. So be it, said the king. I crave his life, father, said the prince Nodwingo, he is my friend. A prince should not choose cowards for his friends, replied the king. Let him be killed, I say. Then Owen, who had been watching and listening, his heart sick with horror, stood forward and said, King, in the name of him I serve, I conjure you to spare this man and those others that are hurt, who have done no crime except to be driven back by soldiers stronger than themselves. Messenger, answered the king, I bear with you because you are ignorant. Know that, according to our customs, this crime is the greatest of crimes, for here we show no mercy to the conquered. Yet you should do so, said Owen, seeing that you also must ere long be conquered by death. And then how can you expect mercy, who have shown none? Let him be killed, said the king. King! cried Owen once more.   Well, we will see. Let him be killed, I say. Even the man was led away. But before he went he found time to thank Owen and nod wingo the prince and to call down good fortune upon them. End of Chapter 5. Chapter 6 of the Wizard by H. Ryder Haggard. This Librivox recording is in the public domain. The drinking of the cup. Now the king's word was done. The anger went out of his eyes, and once more his countenance grew weary. A command was issued, and with the most perfect order moving like one man the regiments changed their array, forming up battalion upon battalion in face of the king, that they might give him the royal salute so soon as he had drunk the cup of the first fruits.  Hark, and you children of Omsuka, shaker of the earth! Have any of you a boon to ask of the king? Men stood forward, and having saluted one by one, asked this thing or that. The king heard their requests, and as he nodded or turned his head away, so they were granted or refused. When all had done the prince Hafella came forward, lifted his spear, and cried, A boon king! What is it? asked his father, eyeing him curiously. A small matter, king! he replied. A while ago I named a certain woman Noma, the ward of Hokusah, the wizard, and she was sealed to me to fill the place of my first wife, the queen that is to be. She passed into the house of the royal women, and by your command, king, it was fixed that I should marry her, according to our customs, tomorrow, after the feast of the first fruits is ended. King, my heart has changed towards that woman. I no longer desire to take her to wife, and I pray that you will order that she shall now be handed back to Hokusah, her guardian.  And in love or war I do not like such men. What have you to say to this demand, Hokusah? Now Hokusah stepped forward from where he stood at the head of the company of wizards. His dress, like that of his companions, was simple, but in its way striking. On his shoulders he wore a cloak of shining snakeskin. About his loins was a short kilt of the same material, and round his forehead, arms and knees were fillets of snakeskin. At his side hung his pouch of medicines, and in his hand he held no spear but a wand of ivory, whereof the top was roughly carved so as to resemble the head of a cobra reared up to strike. King, he said, I have heard the words of the prince, and I do not think that this insult should have been put upon the Lady Noma, my ward, or upon me, her guardian. Still let it be, for I would not that one should pass from under the shadow of my house, whither she is not welcome. Without my leave the prince named this woman as his queen, as he had the right to do, and without my leave he unnames her, as he has the right to do. Were the prince a common man, according to custom, he should pay a fine of cattle, to be held by me and trust for her whom he discards. But this is a matter that I leave to you, King. You do well, Hokusah, answered Umsuka, to leave this to me. Prince, you would not wish the fine that you should pay to be that of any common man? With the girl shall be handed over two hundred head of cattle. More I will do justice, unless she herself consents, she shall not be put away. Let the Lady Noma be summoned. Now the face of her fellow grew sullen, and watching Owen saw a swift change pass over that of Hokusah. Evidently he was not certain of the woman. Presently there was a stirrer, and from the gates of the royal house the Lady Noma appeared, attended by women, and stood before the king. She was a tall and lovely girl, and the sunlight flashed upon her bronze-hued breast, and her ornaments of ivory. Her black hair was fastened in a knot upon her neck, her features were fine and small, her gait was delicate and sure as that of an antelope, and her eyes were beautiful and full of pride. There she stood before the king, looking round her like a stag. Seeing her thus, Owen understood how it came about that she held two men so strangely different in the hollow of her hand, for her charm was of a nature to appeal to both of them, a charm of the spirit as well as of the flesh.  "'You sent for me, and I am here, O king,' she said, in a slow and quiet voice. "'Listen, girl,' answered the king, "'a while ago the Prince of the fellow, my son, named you as her who should be his queen, whereon you were taken and placed in the house of the royal women, to abide the day of your marriage, which should be to-morrow. "'It is true that the Prince has honored me thus, and that you have been pleased to approve of his choice,' she said, lifting her eyebrows. "'What of it, O king?' "'This girl, the Prince who is pleased to honor you, is now pleased to dishonor you. Here in the presence of the council and army, he prays of me to annul his sealing to you, and to send you back to the house of your guardian, Hokusah the wizard. No must start it, and her face grew hard. "'Is it so?' she said. "'Then it would seem that I have lost favor in the eyes of my Lord the Prince, or that some fairer woman has found it. "'Of these matters I know nothing,' replied the king, "'but this I know, that if you seek justice, you shall have it. Say but the word, and he to whom you were promised in marriage, shall take you in marriage, whether he wills or wills it's not.' At this speech the face of Haffella was suddenly lit up, as with the fire of hope, while over that of Hokusah there passed another subtle change. The girl glanced at them both, and was silent for a while.  To Owen, who noted all, it was clear that rival passions were struggling in her heart, the passion of power and the passion of love, or of some emotion which he did not understand. Hokusah fixed his calm eyes upon her with a strange intensity of gaze, and while he gazed his form quivered with a suppressed excitement, much as a snake quivers that is about to strike its prey. To the careless eye there was nothing remarkable about his look and attitude. To the observer it was evident that both were full of extraordinary purpose. He was talking to the girl, not with words, but in some secret language that he and she understood alone. She started, as one starts who catches the tone of a well- remembered voice in a crowd of strangers. And lifting her eyes from the ground, whether she had turned them in meditation, she looked up at Hokusah. Instantly her face began to change. The haughtiness and anger went out of it. She grew troubled. The lips parted in a sigh. First she bent her head and body towards him. Then without more ado she walked to where he stood and took him by the hand. Here at some whispered word or sign she seemed to recover herself, and again resuming the character of a proud, offended beauty, she curtsied to Umsuka and spoke, "'O king, as you see, I have made my choice. I will not force myself upon a man who scorns me. No, not even to share his place and power, though it is true that I love them both. Nay, I will return to Hokusah my guardian, and to his wife, Zenti, who has been as my mother, and with them be at peace.' "'It is well,' said the king, and perhaps girl, your choice is wise. Perhaps your loss is not so great as you have thought. O'fella, take you the hand of Hokusah, and release the girl back to him according to the law, promising in the ears of men before the first month of winter, to pay him two hundred head of cattle as forfeit, to be held by him in trust for the girl. In a sullen voice, his lips trembling with rage, O'fella did as the king commanded, and when the hands of the conspirators unclassed, Owen perceived that in that of the prince lay a tiny packet. Mix me the cup of the first fruits, and swiftly, said the king again, for the sun grows low in the heavens, and air it sinks, I have words to say. Now a polished gourd filled with native beer was handed to Nodwingo, the second son of the king, and one by one the great counselors approached, and with appropriate words let fall into it offerings emblematic of fertility and increase. The first cast in a grain of corn, the second a blade of grass, the third a shaving from an oxhorn, the fourth a drop of water, the fifth a woman's hair, the sixth a particle of earth, and so on, until every ingredient was added to it that was necessary to the magic brew. Then Hokusah, as chief of the medicine men, blessed the cup according to the ancient forms, praying that he whose body was the heavens, whose eyes were lightning, and whose voice was thunder, the spirit whom they worshiped, might increase and multiply to them during the coming year all those fruits and elements that were present in the cup, and that every virtue which they contained might comfort the body of the king. His prayer finished, it was the turn of Huffella to play his part as the eldest born of the king. Kneeling over the cup which stood upon the ground, a spear was handed to him that had been made red hot in the fire. Taking the spear he stabbed with it towards the four quarters of the horizon. Then muttering some invocation he plunged it into the bowl, stirring its contents till the iron grew black. Now he threw aside the spear, and lifting the bowl in both hands he carried it to his father, and offered it to him. Although he had been unable to see him drop the poison into the cup, a glance at Huffella told Owen that it was there, for though he kept his face under control, he could not prevent his hands from twitching, or the sweat from starting upon his brow and breast. The king rose, and taking the bowl held it on high, saying, In this cup, which I drink on behalf of the nation, I pledge you my people! It was the signal for the royal salute, for which each regiment had been prepared. As the last word left the king's lips, every one of the thirty thousand men present in that great place began to rattle his carry against the surface of his ox-hide shield. At first the sound produced resembled that of the murmur of the sea, but by slow and just degrees it grew louder, and ever louder, till the roar of it was like the deepest voice of thunder, a sound awe-inspiring, terrible. Suddenly when its volume was most, four spears were thrown into the air, and at this signal every man ceased to beat upon his shield. In the place itself there was silence, but from the mountains around the echoes still crashed and volleied. When the last of them had died away, the king brought the cup to the level of his lips. Owen saw, and knowing its contents was almost moved to cry out a warning.  When by chance he noticed Hokoso watching him, and remembered, to act now would be madness, his time had not yet come. The cup touched the king's lips, and at the sign, from every throat in that countless multitude sprang the word King, and every foot stamped upon the ground shaking the solid earth. Thrice the monarch drank, and thrice this tremendous salute, the salute of the whole nation to its ruler was repeated, each time more loudly than the last. Then pouring the rest of the liquor on the ground, Umsuka set aside the cup, and in the midst of a silence that seemed deep after the crash of the great salute he began to address the multitude. Harkin, counsellors and captains, and you, my people, Harkin! As you know, I have two sons, calves of the black bull, princes of the land. My son Hafello, the eldest born, and my son Nodwingo, his half-brother. At this point the king began to grow confused. He hesitated, passing his hand over his eyes. Then slowly and with difficulty repeated those words which he had already said. We hear you, father!" cried the counsellors in encouragement. As for the second time he paused. While they still spoke, the veins in the king's neck were seen to swell suddenly. Thumb, flecked with blood, burst from his lips, and he fell headlong to the ground. CHAPTER VII The King is murdered, and he is bewitched. The white wizard has bewitched the king. He prophesied evil upon him, and now he has bewitched him. Meanwhile, the captains and counsellors formed a ring about Umsuka, and Hokusah, bending over him, examined him. Princes and counsellors, he said presently, your father yet lives, but his life is like the life of a dying fire, and soon he must be dead. This is sure, that one of two things has befallen him. Either the heat has caused the blood to boil in his veins, and he has smitten with a stroke from heaven such as men who are fat and heavy sometimes die of, or he has been bewitched by a wicked wizard. Yonder stands one. And he pointed to Owen, who not an hour ago prophesied that before the sun was down great evil should overtake the king. The sun is not yet down, and great evil has overtaken him. Perchance, princes and counsellors, 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 toward those whose spears threatened his life. They shrank back, for this symbol of a dying man terrified them who could not guess its significance. Peace went on, Owen, and listen. Be sure of this, counsellors, that if 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 the tale of two men seated together some nights ago in a hut so dark that no eyes could see in it, save Perchance the eyes of a wizard? What did they talk of in that hut, and who were those men? They talked, I think, of the death of a king, and of the crowning of a king. They talked of a price to be paid for a certain medicine, and one of them had a royal air, and one, will ye hearken to this wild babbler, while your king lies dying before your eyes? broke in Hokusah, in a shrill unnatural voice, for almost palsied with fear as he was at Owen's mysterious words, he still retained his presence of mind. Listen now, what is he, and what did he say? He is one who comes hither to preach a new faith to us. He comes, he says, on an embassy from the king of heaven, who has power over all things, and who, so these white men preach, can give power to his servants. Well let this one cease preting, and show us his strength, as he has been warned he would be called upon to do. Let him give us a sign. Very before you lies your king, and he has passed the help of man. Even I cannot help him.  That seeing, we may know him to be a true messenger, and one sent by that king of whom he speaks. Let him do this now before our eyes, or let him perish as a wizard 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, then I am willing to pay the penalty with my life.  Therefore I ask this of you, that you stand round and watch, but molest me neither by word nor deed while I attempt his cure. Do you consent? It is just we consent, said the counselors. Let us see what the white man can do, and by the issue let him be judged. But Hokusah stared 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 faces of those about him. Presently his eye fell upon the prince Nodwingo, and he beckoned to him, saying, Come hither, prince, for you are honest, and I would have you to help me, and no other man. The prince stepped forward, and Owen gave him the gourd of water. Then he drew out the little bottle wherein he had stored the juice of the creeper, and uncorking it, he bade Nodwingo fill it up with water. This done he clasped his hands, and lifting his eyes to heaven he prayed aloud in the language of the Amasuka. O God, he prayed, upon whose business I am here, grant I beseech thee, that by thy grace power may be given to me to work this miracle in the face of these people, to the end that I may win them to cease from their iniquities, to believe upon thee the only true God, and to save their souls alive. Amen. Having finished his prayer he took the bottle and shook it.  Now, as all might see, by many signs, the king was upon the verge of death, for his lips were purple, his breathing was rare and sturdorous, and his heart stood well nigh still.  The prince obeyed, pressing down the tongue with a snuff-spoon. Then placing the neck of the bottle as far into the throat as it would reach, 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 half of an hour. Then if he shows no sign of life, do what you will with me. It is well, they said, so be it. Slowly the minute slipped by, while the king lay like a corpse before them, and outside of that silent ring the soldiers murmured as the wind. The sun was sinking fast, and Hokusah watched it, counting the seconds.  Owen looked at his watch and replied, There is still another minute, and you, Hokusah, who are skilled in medicines, may know that this antidote does not work so swiftly as the bane. The shot was a random one, but it told, for Hokusah fell back and was silent. The seconds passed on as the minute hand of the watch went round from ten to twenty, from twenty to thirty, from thirty to forty. A few more instance, and the game was played. Had that dream of his been vain imagining, 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 not believe that it was so. He believed that the power above him would intervene to save, not him indeed, but all this people. Let us make an end, said Hokusah. 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 to throb, and the veins in his neck to swell as they had swollen after he had swallowed the poison. Then once more they shrank to their natural size. Umsuka stirred a hand, groaned, sat up, and spoke. What has chanced to me? He said, I have descended into deep darkness. Now once again I see light. No one answered, for all were staring, terrified and amazed at the messenger, the white wizard to whom had been given power to bring men back from the gate of death.  By now 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 the sun. Thank him therefore, and worship him, for he alone is master of the earth. And he held the crucifix before his eyes. The humbled monarch lifted his hand. He who for many years had made obeisance to none, and saluted the symbol, saying, Messenger, I thank him, and I worship him, though I know him not. Say now, how did his magic work upon me to make me sick to death, and to recover 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 the draft? Was it not but now in your mind to speak words that should bring down the head of pride and evil, and lift up the head of truth and goodness? O white man, how know you these things, guess the king. I know them, it is enough. Say who was it that stirred the bowl, king, and who gave you to drink? Now Omsuka staggered to his feet, and cried aloud in a voice that was thick with rage. By my head, and the heads of my fathers I smell the plot. My son, the Prince Hafele, has learned my counsel, and would have slain me before I said words that should set him beneath the feet of Nodwingo. Seize him, captains, and let him be brought before me for judgment. Men looked this way and that to carry out the command of the king, but Hafele was gone. Already he was upon the hillside, running as a man has rarely run before. His face set towards that fastness in the mountains, where he could find refuge among his mother's tribesmen, and the regiments which he commanded. Of late they had been sent thither by the king that they might be far from the great place when their prince was disinherited. He is fled, said one, I saw him go. Pursue him, and bring him back, dead or alive, thundered the king, a hundred head of cattle to the man who lays hand upon him before he reaches the MP of the north, for they will fight for him. Today, broken Owen, once before this day I prayed of you king to show 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?   It is good, it is just, said the council, let the king's word be done. Harken again, said Umsuka, let this white man, who is named messenger, be placed in the house of guests, and treated with all honour. Let oxen be given him from the royal herds, and corn from the granaries, and girls of noble blood for wives, if he wills them.  Let the king's word be done, said the counsellors again. Heralds went on Umsuka, proclaimed that the feast of the first fruits is ended, and my command is that every regiment should seek its quarters, taking with it a double gift of cattle from the king, who has been saved alive by the magic of this white man. And now messenger, farewell, for my head grows weary. Tomorrow I will speak with you. Then the king was led away into the royal house, and save those who were quartered in it, the regiments passed one by one through the gates of the crawl, singing their war songs as they went. Darkness fell upon the great place, and through it parties of men might be seen dragging fence the corpses of those who had fallen in the fight with sticks, or been put to death thereafter by order of the king. Messenger, said Hokusah, bowing before Owen, be pleased to follow me. Then he led him to a little crawl, numbering five or six large and beautifully made huts, which stood by itself within its own fence at the north end of the great place, not far from the house of the king. In front of the center hut a fire was burning, and by its light women appeared cleaning out the huts and bringing food and water. Here you may rest in safety, messenger, said Hokusah, seeing that night and day a guard from the king's own regiment will stand before your doors. I do not need them, answered Owen, for none can harm me till my hour comes. I am a stranger here, and you are a great man. Yet, Hokusah, which of us is the safest this night? Your meaning? said Hokusah sharply. O man, answered Owen, when in a certain hour you crept up the valley yonder, and climbing the tree of death gathered its poison, went I not with you? When before that hour you sat in yonder hut, bargaining with the Prince of Fela, the death of a king for the price of a girl, was I not with you? Nay, threaten me not, in your own words I say it. Lay down that asagai, or by my spirit your body shall be thrown to the kites, as that of one who would murder the king. And the king's guest, white man, whispered Hokusah throwing down the spear, how can these things be? I was alone in the hut with the Prince. I was alone beneath the tree of doom. And you, as I know well, were beyond the river. Your spies must be good, white man. My spirit is my only spy, Hokusah. My spirit watched you, and from your own lips he learned the secret of the bane and of the antidote. A fellow mixed the poison as you taught him. I gave the remedy, and saved the king alive. Now the knees of Hokusah grew weak beneath him, and he leaned against the fence of the crawl for support. I have skill in the art, he said hoarsely, but messenger, your magic is more than mine, and my life is forfeit to you. Tomorrow morning you will tell the king all, and tomorrow night I shall hang upon the dreadful tree. Well, so be it. I am overmatched at my own trade, and it is best that I should die. You have plotted well, and you have conquered, and to you belong my place and power. It was you who plotted, and not I, Hokusah. Did you not contrive that I should reach the great place, but a little before the poison was given to the king, so that upon me might be laid the crime of his bewitching? Did you not plan also that I should be called upon to cure him, a thing you deemed impossible, and when I failed that I should be straightway butchered?  It was so, repeated Owen. Therefore, according to your law, your life 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, I practice. Hokusah, I pardon you.  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 it seems that I am come to this. Tell me, white man, what is the payment that you seek of me? None, Hokusah, except that you cease from evil, and listen with an open heart to that message which I am sworn to deliver to you and to all your nation. Also you would do well to put away that fair woman whose price was the murder of him that fed you. I cannot do it, answered the wizard. I will listen to your teaching. But I will not rob my heart of her it craves alone. White man, I am not like the rest of my nation. I have not sought after women. I have but one wife. And she is old and childless. Now for the first time in my days I love this girl. You know not how. And I will take her, and she shall be the mother of my children.  And thus for that night they parted. End of Chapter 7