WILL HE WIN HER?

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 52, 30 June 1880, Page 4

WILL HE WIN HER ?

BY JAMES GEANT.

Chapieb XXXH.

though Mariqua was m mariY; respact:' a mere savage, she was so gentle, trusting and artloss, that I was not •without some remorse of conscience for .playing the pare I did, yet) it. was forced upon me by cireumstancesrbeyond my control, -and to have attempted any explanation to her, or temporising 1 With her father, would only have insured his wrath, which was pronipt enough at all times and very prpbably led to my being broiled between red-hot stones, like the poor Dutch doc- ; I was. Fi«U of supreme joy to feel assured of the safety of Clarice Hay.■wond. I was burning with desire to: achieve my liberty and rejoin her ;■! bub bnly lvop?d to do either- by falling appareatly into the plant of my cap-; tors. ->-.-:O , :-■">.;■• _•■ •- -:--'" •■■,'■"•■ '■• ' Ev«'T Tnonipnt I perused andr«pe-j rused het: litVe notethisTlbipging grewl Btron^er on me, and yet days and even; w*ek*wer» stealing away. The words of it seemed to be-the- utterance of her own lips, aud brought her sweet arid| 'Whored ' -presoiifce more vividly before; me • but ore long the soft pencilling, became almost, affected aud the f rag-, inant of paper frayed-, yet I treasured; it with all a lover's tenderness. \ I obfai nad iome day s delay by feicnincr an illnens ; but this was done, m vnin The "Witch-doctors were sumTnonei from all quatttrs-those odious,' cruel, and cunning TTralatrjem, at the thought otwhom my ran cold-^ and. dreading a consultation with them I consented to do. anything Sanddh re-: quired of me, and so a great gathering ' bf aaraees wa» convened :in a- Grulu 1 Valley on Vi lovely ieveni rig m August andthe WdPs Den-the home farm of Sandilli— became .> scene of noisy -Whooping, TdHniJ. and rejoicing, amid wiuoliTfellth*t^rcut-a; perjlous-and absurd figure that filled my heart with ancev and .mortification. - \ The ceremony was simple enough, and consisted ch>Oi,mtlje tying of a piece of the dried chitterbng from soma wild animal round the slender throat of th I Sarittired itU headdress; of far, like one" of those which our troops found m such numbers m the royat •Gailca kraal on. the Amatolas, a kaross of tiger skin-like the crane s feathery a badge of chieftainship-was placed tibonlnmshould>rs,iand an assegai waa. l>ut m my bancl. I grasped io w,t,v .■tern iby. \ It seamed to bo ray nrst in-jitalraent/.-perhaps, of liberty— my guidb to Clarice Haywood, ... Around us the odious tTmlanjeni; performed many strands and satanic-hke capers and- incantations,^ and, all the men present, to the number of _ them«ands—wretches who would with py taveslain me, had such been the be-"Eest-of thoir lenders— whooped and dancpdlike Bends.fstrikin.er their shields of hide and brandishing their assegais to a wild chorus, m obedience to Sandilli^and^naking; a- 'horrible medley, of sound; ' . •'-.■".' „ T , , There w«r a feast at winch all kinds animal9i'wild and tamp, were d«Toured with greit relish, and plenty of Caps, wine and Dutch beer, plundered from lon^lvkranl'* land open yiliages, was drunk from yofselfi made of tht shells of oatrich eggs and land tortoises. : The' atmosphere was sickeningly redolent of the fiimes from thousands of dagha' pipas full of damp h.emp•sepd. ■ The teene around me was utterly bewildering. The bud wine, of which I had partaken ra!hftr"fr»el.y. to drown care and deßprration. with the^ intoxicating pffeet: of the daglia pipei?. made me feel n.s..one i" a dream, and I ' coiild scArcely rbplv to Sandilli when, after the abominable hubbub was over,, he proposed to dep* rt to his carrip,: which was situated I knew noi where, as he and all about' m<» toot especialcare to keep me cntiiflv m f>e dark as to tli «» movements o£ the Gaff res and our troops. . "I shall PXpeßt my dmr son— thp husband of Ma riqaa — '■o beorin soon thw proper duii>s of a gallant Caff re. chief." said lie^-Tpitb: a, strange leer m his ' eye. ■■•.; ;.■■' ■ ■"■■■. '.■' /■. ; : •■-. ' ■ ■ : "Tn what way ?" I askad, rather sulkily.; .'.-■■' . X r l|y leading, my people against the white men-^-those accursed . tortoises jn pnrticnlj»"— and by teaching ustheir. : artiw war.''- - *; > f< Agreed ; but I must have a horse arifl arms." / ;-••"" Sandilli eyed mo keenly and doubfc-. --v'&ii-V..": .-"..;'. -"-;."^ ."- ; .".':' ■"' ■■■ -■ *. . .[' „';■ •«. In time you shalL have, ■ '.' he said, after a pause, • ' . ; «,« -So am I "always told ; but whon 3 " //. ■ ■■■;■■/...■■ .=■.,..: ■ '.'Wh<>r> I return to take you with me to the field." '. " . "What;ifTshould rafuse ?'.'• ;■£■-.] ; His eye| shot fire, and tho grf«p of_ his raabogany-like; hand tightened on his assegai ; but he .said.f-quietlyj-'Mily son will know better than todo, that.^ > -■ ".'■■■■•r-;^'.- . '■ .- "If I fight, .SanijiUiiiit shall be m the vran," said I, feeling. ;jthat I; was not improving- matte.rs at presejit. and that iriy best eharico^of escape-T-jf- not shot, down by our, own : people —would be m getting a.g far to th^e, front as possible. .".Wah.wahiwah!" said he - sipproirvinAly- '. "' "- :: -- '■■ ■'• ■'■■- --^- ■■■■■■■■* ;;-' "AndiflfaU— ": -■. : : ■!.•■:■ " Who. then, will love poor Mari- ; qua?;'! said the girl,' as sac wound her •soft brown arms affectionately round - me. , • ..-"■■■•■ ■•' '"f.T '■] .■";•■•"■ "■' I shiveverl as she spoke,-for I felt all. the darlc falsehood of my present position , .., ,;*]; v •....,.. i """ At last; the^^uproarious 'arid savage "• soundsjdied. away, the Oaffres departed, «11 snv'e fwen,^ who were 'posted m and aboiT^he^rja^iTaVar guard, under Vonga tlie father of the slain Pitoi, an old and uayare chief,-nn,d after a time, we were' leftalone— lVfflriquJva'nd I.' .j . And no.WiCa'me"t>re / mo t t troublesbmd part of the task my evil fatp had; as-. . signed' mpr^toplgit^tJse P* rt «f the lover m earnest,.;when I was yearning only -to escape arid 'Be. -at liberty m the wild forest or on the distant mountain, open; . |thd free— to be with, one I might u|vcr

■ Under the effects of all I had uadergone I felt my; brain reeling ;,; yet a cool and delicious -breezei laden with, rich perfume of the orange and citron groves without, came . through. v th^ half-open windows 1 of^ the fobm,- whicß. was tlie best m kraalj; and had actually Venetian blinds. The wall was covered with French.pipßr, representing Hindoo gi rls brilliantly attired, Bayaders,, and girls dancing : and to disordered vision the room became at times as if peopled by phantoms. Seated a little way. apart from me, Mariqua was eyeing me by the liglit of oil lamp that streamed and spluttered m the currents of the night- wind. "You are thinking inofe of a horse and arms than of ine !" said she, with tender reproach/*^ .. - "Why do you think so P" I asked feeling the necessity for saying something. . ." Because I see it m your face. Your spirit Ls elsewhere;'' . "I must have a very tell-tale face, Mariqua." •" Oh, why is this. Would you really leave me.' ' I made nO'ireply, for I was not unwilling that she should think so. "Oh, do not leave your poor. Griqua girl! fcJhe will destroy herself if you do. lam yours — yours Do with me as you please, even to taking my life : but do hot leave me." And now she clung to me wildly and passionately. Tears choked her utterance. She had torn off and cast aside, as if weary and petulant, the brilliant flowers and ornamenta with which the women of the tribe had decorated her ; and her long, ; dark hair, which looked almost blue when /the lamplight struck it, fell m dishevelled masses over -her polished but olive tinted neck and shoulders. Tfie poot; girl "looked very beautiful m her grief and love, and l.must own that foil a time slie .-fairly vanquished me, though never for a moment snaking the yearnings desire to, lbftgdne--.tq; place / miles between nie_ and herself. My position was full of growing danger. In one ciß Ker nature, the love and grief of Mariqua might readily and easily turn to rage and hate. I drainad a cup of wine which she gave mey aud then the room seemed to swim round me, jind the walls to vibrate and*all the dancers; Hindoos; Alme, and rßacchantes to whirl m njasjes abound me.- ,'■ ■_■ - : _ „ ' . ... ' "Promise that you will never leave me, nOrseek to return to your own people, or, if you .do; that you will take me with you." Strange entreaties, thought I, for a girl to make >n what she deemed •her wedding day." " Tell me that you will love me—^love me erer ; and always. But you are silent ;y<>n sigh and look away," she continued, after a paus#, .while her eyes began to glow,.and drawing back wit ff her hands on ; my sho uiders seemed to loot ia.tQ my very 50u1. .-. v; , = , • ,-."-■ - . v - i ■■'■'* Mariqua why ask all this of .me-i just, now especially ?" I. murmured, not very* well knowing what io- say. while seating hoi- beside me on the couch, I endeavored to sooth her fears for the time. . .-■-,: " J ask you a questioai and you rep]y : by. asking another,", >he said m alow, saJ, voice* as she rested her head on my shoufder, and I was left thus, with my graceful Caffire bridej. clinging to me imploring me n.ojttojeave her, ftoseehing me never to leave her, m her soft arid most musical, yet -at' times deep and guttial language, for tU*fc slie loved me rfle Qp\y. Chaptee JKXZIV- • . W-hile I was a prisoner and m ignor-. ance of all that passed beyond the sequestered mountain kraal m which the . ar.tful Sandilli. keptf me, neither his people n,o.r our troops? had b^eii idle. ■fiohri Btfll' s money was; not being. spent m vain. ]/ " '. ; : ;. A;Standiug camp had been formed by tlie genaral at a place pamod Keit Fon*tein from . wl i e nee ■'patrols ,'; and, escorts went put daily. Some of thesa were under Douglas, Bonteine, Graves and other special friands who: were not without Hopes of finding or succoring me : while light infantry drill, cooking ind,iff^ronfc rations* and- patching tattered occupied the spare hours of those who remained behind. ,To; One of those patrol parties.com posed o; Piugpo Levy, T^ere 01 a rice ..Hay wood niid her sister deli vaied by an. escort of Fiugo "prisoners i libsrated by Sandilli for that ])urpose : and the ; unexpected •arrival of the ladies ; at the standing cimp. caused; a very general- feeling of rejticiiig anoong pur troops* but the hiystery. atteridjng my residence or detcn•tipn was increased by the Imnd I had m procuring their, liberty, and caused a constant speculation among the 74ili t iii whose n:e.nory:tlie-ftt.te of their bandmaaterl^iiartung^iand of several others who had unhapply fill len in^o. tho hands p.f the Caifersi was yet f resit -discovery of tlie charred reiriitins of the unfortunate Dr. Brume -Kasteel, by a p.a. l rol party under S&rgeant Robert Burns, of the 74th put an end to allxjonjactura fo,r a tirae, as they were supposed to be mine, for my fprago cap was found. on the ground close by. ; and Douglas, with great delicate tact, continuedfor a limot at least: id ke<?p all knowledge of the terrible siispicion frori|/CJai'it f e"and her sister, vvii&, attended by a^parfey of armed volunteers boors and fengoeis set out for the village, where Major Carysford was still hovering between Ufa and.dealh. General Somersetsoo^ gave old Sandilli plenty of work, and hence I was spared the inflictidh of his presence. With a- detachment of the 74th Highlanders and another of the Gape Corps; Somerset s.cp,ured all the district of Hell I*oort and the Zumberg mountains which ; lie between Jthe : province now b.earinghis own name, and that of TJitetthangeri; and;' on the 30th of August about, the veryitime Sandilli left me m the Gulu.Valley^h.e.jftttcked the Cp^Eres oa the bank of the New Year Eiyer, whersithey had a strong position m a difficulty and rugged kloof, and then he. dispersed.. thenLwithV great slaughter, capturing one hundred and sixty horses, and cattle..'^ : t. ;,. ir. Two days Afterward*, -the 2nd,, or. Queen's J&egimenit, whicu had just arrived m thp colony; and been marched ' to the front j had a : smart brush with hispebple elsowhere, and routed them with considerable loss. ; but m the w,ikl bush, near the Fish, KiyerV a party

of the 2nd was completely cut off. -The captain fell mortally wounded; while fifty-seven of his men were killed or j maimed. . The 74th attached Macomo on the heisrhts of Kromine. Mounted on a beautiful white charter, at the hoad of three hundred j picke i . Uaif :-o horsemen, who seemed j i\» a lioJy guard to accompany him, I every wnere, thi3 daring chief mado liim<elf conspicuous over all the field, and with iii» own hand dismounted Colonel Foi-dyee, o£ the Highlanders by shooting his liovi3O uudor .lim; but the heights were carried at the point of the bayo.'u 1 -;, after a terrible hand to hand conflict, m which the Bupj)!e and well greased Caffro had, m too many instances, an advantage over the. belled and h^avily-aceoutred soldier of the line. " Our gallant fellows fought most bravely," wrote su offcer. "One man, with an assegai deeply buriud between liis shoulders, singled out its' own r aud shot him dead, while tlio weapon was nearly protruding through his c-hest. One grenadier killed four Caffivs with his own hand. 1 The storming of the Water Kloof by five or six battalions of the line caused a considerable panic among the Caff re leaders, and by order of Sandilli I was conveyed, with Mariqua, far away from the Guln valley, to a place many miles — some two hundred or so — northward — a change of locality that added to my anxiaty for the future, as it gi eatly increased the difficulty of escape. Vonga and his twenty horsemen took possession of the, only house that survived m what was once a peaceful and flourishing Moravian missionary station, the name of which I never learned, JJThe others had evidently been but recently destroyed by fire, after being no doubt, completely pillaged, aud the flights of vultures hovering over particular places m an adjacent canebrake seemed to indicate that {m those spots lay th« bodies of the dead unburied. In tte upper story he placed Mariqua and myself. The lower he appropriated to his men and their horses. I had not yet procured th« long-coveted arm.-?, and even tho assegai had been taken fro.n me by Vonga ; but I hud by a lucky chance, had become proprietor of a small hatchet, and a package containing forty rounds of riflo ammunition, with percussion caps ; and these I se.-reled under S-;n o.d Dutch cabin m which stood m the corner of my sleeping room. I examined this new locality with a keen eye. Northward and eastward of the ruined station rose grand aud fcower-in-g clifff of basaltic rock, From whence sloped banks of the jjL'eenost and smoothest grass. Southward and westward — the way I must pursue if ever .1 escaped — ■trutclißd a vast plain, dotted by groves of trees. iThe country for many miles was unpleasantly open for a fugitive ; but I soon became aware that, deeming me sufficiently secure by the great distance to which they had conveyed me, .Votiga and his men relaxed, much of their vigilance, and their. j seldom passed a night on which I could not have escaped with ea»«, but for want o.f a horse and at-ms. Without the latter, wherewith to free myself, and defend me against man and beast, in'sucU a country I was helpless as a child, On the -morning after that wild orgie which I have striven to describe m the last chapter, I felt only mortification and compunction for the part I had been compelled to play, and the way I had deceived Mariqua. I would hare flud from her, and from myself; but I was a prisoner m the hands of the Eeinorseless Vcnga and liad to remain, with her and mj remorse like Ixion on his whbcl. " Oh, Clarice —Clarice Haywood !" I exclaimed, and struck, hands to-: gether m passionate grief. I . (To be continued.),