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Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 50, 23 June 1880, Page 4

. ; I 'loved Oliriife^sib^traly that this pa&aipn; ,ma.4e inef nervously gentlej tender^ an'd i %ue, ; i 'und -full bf,' feari for; how-fafje'wQuld deal. \r^ffi usi' and, hb'w | • 1 --'-:'^^;^;-:' ;l My craving« tq; es,ca^e ? . and, if pps-i sible, Her^W.ere' ! iii tense ;*buti , ■ to Escape a/uhoxse -'andi secessarj^-the t;mtter> at ! least, imperatively so ! . iTne; 'meansrofi .procuriiiK/biftuTiWeEe sedulously denie.d] n)^:;i,),eti[-:hapedjj.iby. dissembling, inj the -end tOQbtain jbQtfe.^ u^ k i^uA " ! I

After, long con«ultation, "with, myself &nd finding that SandilH was inexorablo :id kis resolution. £d detain me— a resolution, if hich, if I proved very refractory, he might readily change for the more cruel one of destroying lno — I 1 re'lolfect to temporize with himj and to dispemble'witli tlie ajtful savage, aajthe ■ onlymeianS).bf. sa'ving>iniy life, andjpgaining my liberty, , : -. . .. ; * Moreover, he seemed very impatient to have his absurd matrimonial scheme carried out at] once, as he "«:as in haste to take the field .personally; against' us once more, for ou^trppps were, pressing onward, and to have uie despatclied further — " more hopelessly as it seemed — into the interior of the coun-. try. SomehW, unhappily for myself, he seemed to view me as a kind of hostage, with whom he feared to part, "I want neillicr your horses nor your thousand head of cattle. If I marry your daughter it shall be without these bribes," said I, when ho was urgiug this matter for perhaps,. tb,e hundredth time upon me. " Agreed i but how will you stock your kraal ?'* • ' " With iny own hands, if 1 yon. will but arm rue. I shall fight the Troiikvolk of Mark Graaf, and the plundering Amaponda*.." "But you will be. the friend of the Amatola CaffcYes ?" " Yes," said I, gulping down my intense repugnance. "Good— wall, wall!" cried the saYage£chieE, as he patted my shoulder ; " but in lieu of the fine horses and th« fst cattle '•'■ "I shall- ask you to do me a fa-. your". "And the favour once, don,e you will marry my little daughter Mari- . qua ?■ ' ' '•' Yes," said I, making a very wry face indeed, as I thought of the dark skin, the woolly head, the greased limbs, and tiger tooth necklass of my sable intended, for- whom 1 was to jilt my beautiful and delicati Clarice. "Then name the favour." " You will free and bring hither the the two white ladies you are in the hands of Mark G-raaf." " I shall free them willingly, but I shall not bring them here to the Gula Yailey,'-'- --" Why ?"■ " You shall neither see nor meet them/' "Why do, you decide thus?" I asked with irrepressible anxieiy. " I have my reasons," replied Sandilli, with a louring brow. " These women wjll bo pa,te as the flpwers of tlie mini,os.a, and Mariqua ; is. dark, like the girls of the Eoussie." Erom this remark, I could plainly see that he feared my intended might suffer by comparison,.' " If I free those women/' added the w,ily Sandilli, after a pause, "I shall give them a« wives, or spoil to. two of our young Inkosi." My blood curdled &.fc this proposition as I knc»v but too well that if they had already escaped maltreatment at the hands of the bushrangers they would ne^t be cast on, the. mercy of savages Twho had neither pity nor scruple— the Inkosi. of the CafrYea. " This must not be," said I, reap-, lutely. " What if- Sandilli wills it ?" was. the haughty question. ■ . "They must be rescued, and sent in. safety to -the nearest British camp or lager village, otherwise I shall nob marry yonr daughter.- I shall refuse your friendship" arid alliance, and shall seek only to. escape, even at the risk of being cut to pieces, joint by joint. : "And if I do as you propose: — save land send thorn to their friends — what prooFaml to giv^e you of having done so ?" " A letter^— even the tiniest scrap of paper — written by either one of ladies will suffice as proof." X stu.Qk.jni^r hands despairingly together &ai spoke, for how I yearned, craved, and longed for the sight of a single word pencilled ever so hastily by the, beloved hand of Clarice is known only to heaven and myself. ; ; '■' Wah, Wah, it shall be done." ' ".When?."- : "Immediately." "May I go with you," I asked, plead'ingly.' .';•: '■'. • "JS T o.' ? ;.....'" ,Oh, Sandilli, in gratitude forsaying you from death !" "For that good deed I shall not permit you to risk your life. Sandilli has enough of. warriors enough and to spare, and; this; night shall see the torch planted in the kraal of'M-ark. G*raf£:"- --■" '•! This ni^ht," thought I. " Then' they are. nearer this place than I supposed. Oh, Clarice, Clarice! how great is all this, misery — how agonizing the. suspense. "Vyould; thajb I could fly to you !";' On the flyleaf of an old Dutch book which had beenibrought in with other nbjnder— i| was l^ugo de G.root's '• H-is-. tbry of jHoiland," Iremembsr — I wrote an exglanatjory note to Clarice, entreating her to send a. reply as soon as she. founcLherseliand her sister rescued and in' save' hands ; adding, that I prayed heaven to bless and protect her and ■ '^anny, that I was a captive with San-, j diliiin.the Gulu Vallay, and that, unless reseued by General Somerset, as yet I saw no mean? of escape — in short my captivity was to be the price of. : their, liberation. I shrank from the shame and absurdity- of stating exactly the politic Sandilli. - As soon as this document was vrritten ; torn from, the volume,' and. folded, it was given to "Sandilli, 1 who 1 about mid- ! day departed with] ttjparty of chosen Caffres chiefly on horseback, leaving me mnder the close guard of another select cban.d^. and indeed, I'was plainly; told by him that any attempt to escape .would only ensure' death at their. hands. j ,; ('■Fo,ty.copt}nupd;J i .