CHAPTER XXXV.
"Priest," whispered each of the little men to his fellow in the dead
silence that followed, "Priest, this King says that he sees his own face.
Priest, tell me now, has not the spirit of the Inkosazana interpreted the
oracle of the Inkosazana? Will not yonder King be hurled down this cleft?
Is _he_ not the star that falls?"
And they nodded and smiled at each other.
But Dingaan leapt up in his rage and terror, and with him leapt up the
Councillors and witch doctors, all save he who was named Mopo, son of
Makedama, who sat still gazing at the ground. Dingaan leapt up, and
seizing the bowl hurled it from him so that the water in it fell over
Rachel like rain from the clouds. He leapt up, and he cursed the
Ghost-priests as evil wizards, bidding them begone from his land. He raved
at them, he threatened them, he cursed them again and again. The little
men sat still and smiled till he grew weary and ceased. Then they spoke to
each other, saying:
"He has sprinkled the White One with the dew of out Trees, and henceforth
she belongs to the Trees. Is it not so, Priest?"
They nodded in assent, and Eddo rose and addressed the King in a new
voice, a shrill commanding voice, saying:
"O man, thou that art called a King and causest much blood to flow, thou
are but a bubble on a river of blood, thou slayer that shalt be slain,
thou thrower of spears upon whom the spear shall fall, thou who shalt look
upon the Face of Stone that knows not pity, thou whom the earth shall
swallow, thou who shalt perish at the hands of--"
"The faces of the slayers were veiled, Priest," broke in the other two
dwarfs, peeping up at him from beneath the shadow of their umbrellas;
"surely the faces of those slayers were veiled, O Priest."
"Thou who shalt perish at the hands of avengers whose faces are veiled,
thy riddle is read for thee as the Mother of the Trees decreed that it
should be read. It is well read, it is truly read, it shall befall in its
season. Now give to thy servants their reward and let them depart in
peace. Give to them, that White One whose lost Spirit spoke to thee from
the water."
"Take her," roared Dingaan, "take her and begone, for to the Zulus she and
Noie, the witch, bring naught but ill."
But one of the Council cried:
"The Inkosazana cannot be sent away with these magicians unless it is her
will to go."
Then the little men nodded to Noie, and Noie whispered in the ear of
Rachel.
Rachel listened and answered: "Whither thou goest, Noie, thither I go with
thee, I who seek my Spirit."
So Noie took Rachel by the hand and led her from the Council-place of the
King, and as she went, followed by the Ghost-priests and their escort, for
the last time all the Councillors rose up and gave to her the royal
salute. Only Dingaan sat upon the ground and beat it with his fists in
fury.
Thus did the Inkosazana-y-Zoola depart from the Great Place of the King of
the Zulus, and Mopo, the son of Makedama, shading his eyes with his hand,
watched her go from between his withered fingers.
