 Author's note to The Spirit of Bambatsi by H. Ryder Haggard This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org The Spirit of Bambatsi. A Romance by H. Ryder Haggard. Author of She, Aisha, King Solomon's Mines, Alan Quater Main, etc. etc. New York, Longmans Green & Company, 91 and 93 Fifth Avenue, 1906 Author's note. It may interest readers of this story to know that its author believes it to have a certain foundation in fact. It was said about 5 and 20 or 30 years ago that an adventurous trader, hearing from some natives in the territory that lies at the back of Kilimanne, the legend of a great treasure buried in or about the 16th century by a party of Portuguese who were afterwards massacred as a last resource attempted its discovery by the help of a mesmerist. According to this history, the child who was used as a subject in the experiment, when in a state of trance, detailed the adventures and death of the unhappy Portuguese men and women, two of whom leapt from the point of a high rock into the Zambezi. Although he knew no tongue but English, this clairvoyant child is declared to have repeated in Portuguese the prayers these unfortunate offered up and even to have sung the very hymns they sang. Moreover, with much other detail, he described the burial of the great treasure and its exact situation so accurately that the white man and the mesmerist were able to dig for and find the place where it had been. For the bags were gone, swept out by the floods of the river. Some gold coins remained however, one of them a due cat of Aloysius, Muchenigo, doge of Venice. Afterwards the boy was again thrown into a trance. In all he was mesmerised eight times and revealed where the sacs still lay. But before the white trader could renew his search for them, the party was hunted out of the country by natives whose superstitious fears were aroused, barely escaping with their lives. It should be added that, as in the following tale, the chief who was ruling there when the tragedy happened declared the place to be sacred and that if it were entered evil would befall his tribe. Thus it came about that for generations it was never violated until at length his descendants were driven farther from the river by war, and from some of them the white man heard the legend. The man was taken to the sea by the sea, like vast floating ostrich plumes that vanished one by one in the starlight. Benita Beatrix Clifford, for that was her full name, who had been christened Benita after her mother and Beatrix after her father's only sister, leaning idly over the bullock rail, thought to herself that a child might have sailed in that sea in a boat of bark and come safely into port. The woman of about 30 years of age who was smoking a cigar strolled up to her. At his coming she moved a little as though to make room for him beside her, and there was something in the motion which, had anyone been there to observe it, might have suggested that these two were upon terms of friendship or still greater intimacy. For a moment he hesitated, and while he did so, an expression of doubt, of distress even, gathered on his face. It was as though he understood that a great deal depended upon whether he accepted or declined that gentle invitation and knew not which to do. Indeed, much did depend upon it, no less than the destinies of both of them. If Robert Seymour had gone by to finish his cigar in solitude, why then this story would have had a very different ending? Or rather, who can say how it might have ended? The dread for doomed events with which that night was big would have come to its awful birth, leaving certain words unspoken. Violent separation must have ensued, and even if both of them had survived the terror, what prospect was there that their lives would again have crossed each other in that wide Africa? But it was not so fated, for just as he put his foot forward to continue his march, Benita spoke in her low and pleasant voice. Are you going to the smoking room, or to the saloon to dance, Mr Seymour? One of the officers just told me that there is to be a dance, she added in explanation, because it is so calm that we might fancy ourselves ashore. Neither, he answered, the smoking room is stuffy, and my dancing days are over. No, I propose to take exercise after that big dinner, and then to sit in a chair and fall asleep. But, he added, and his voice grew interested, how did you know that it was I? You never turned your head. I have ears in my head as well as eyes, she answered with a little laugh, and after we have been nearly a month together on this ship, I ought to know your step. I never remember that anyone ever recognised it before, he said, more to himself than to her, then came and leaned over the rail at her side. His doubts were gone, fate had spoken. For a while there was silence between them, then he asked her if she was not going to the dance. Benita shook her head, why not, you are fond of dancing, and you dance very well. I had to have offices for partners, especially Captain, and he checked himself. I know, she said, it would be pleasant, but Mr Seymour, will you think me foolish if I tell you something? I have never thought you foolish yet, Miss Clifford, so I don't know why I should begin now. What is it? I'm not going to the dance, because I'm afraid. Yes, horribly afraid. Afraid? Afraid of what? I don't quite know, but, Mr Seymour, I feel as though we were all of us upon the edge of some dreadful catastrophe, as though they were about to be a mighty change, and beyond it another life, something new and unfamiliar. It came over me at dinner. That's why I left the table. Quite suddenly I looked, and all the people were different. Yes, all, except a few. Was I different? he asked curiously. No, you were not, and he thought he heard a ad. Thank God, beneath her breath. And were you different? I don't know, I never looked at myself. I was the seer, not the scene. I have always been like that. Indigestion, he said, reflectively. We eat too much on board ship, and the dinner was very long and heavy. I told you so, that's why I'm taking. I mean, why I wanted to take exercise. And to go to sleep afterwards. Yes, firstly exercise, then the sleep. Miss Clifford, that is the rule of life and death. With sleep thought ends, therefore for some of us your catastrophe is much to be desired, for it would mean long sleep and no thought. I said that they were changed, not that they had ceased to think. Perhaps they thought the more. Then let us pray that your catastrophe may be averted. I prescribe for you bismuth and carbonate of soda. Also, in this weather it seems difficult to imagine such a thing. Luke now, Miss Clifford, he added with a note of enthusiasm in his voice, pointing towards the east. Luke. Her eyes followed his outstretched hand, and there, above the level ocean, rose the great orb of the African moon. Low, of a sudden, all that ocean turned to silver. A wide path of rippling silver stretched from it to them. It might have been the road of angels. The sweet, soft light beat upon their ship, showing its tapering masts and every detail of the rigging. It's passed on beyond them, and revealed the low foam-fringed coastline, rising here and there, dotted with cloofs and their clinging bush. Even the round huts of kaffir-krahls became faintly visible in that radiance. Other things became visible also, for instance, the features of this pair. The man was light in his colouring, fair-skinned with fair hair, which already showed a tendency towards grayness, especially in the moustache, for he wore no beard. His face was clean-cut, not particularly handsome, since, their fineness notwithstanding, his features lacked regularity. The cheekbones were too high, and the chin was too small, faults redeemed to some extent by the steady and cheerful grey eyes. For the rest he was broad-shouldered and well-set up, sealed with the indescribable stamp of the English gentleman. Such was the appearance of Robert Seymour. In that light the girl at his side looked lovely, though in fact she had no real claims to loveliness, except perhaps as regards her figure, which was agile, rounded, and peculiarly graceful. Her foreign-looking face was unusual, dark-eyed, a somewhat large and very mobile mouth, fair and waving hair, a broad forehead, a sweet and at times wistful face, thoughtful for the most part, but apt to be irradiated by sudden smiles. Not a beautiful woman at all, but exceedingly attractive, one possessing magnetism. She gazed first at the moon and the silver road beneath it, then turning at the land beyond. We are very near to Africa at last, she said. Too near, I think, he answered, if I were the captain I should stand out a point or two. It is a strange country, full of surprises. Miss Clifford, would you think me rude if I asked you why you were going there? You have never told me quite. No, because the story is rather a sad one, but you shall hear it if you wish, do you? He nodded and drew up two deck-chairs in which they settled themselves in a corner made by one of the inboard boats, their faces still towards the sea. You know, I was born in Africa, she said, and lived there till I was thirteen years old. Why, I find that I can still speak Zulu, I did so this afternoon. My father was one of the early settlers in Natal. His father was a clergyman, a younger son of the Lincolnshire Cliffords. They are great people there still, though I don't suppose they are aware of my existence. I know them, answered Robert Seymour. Indeed, oddly enough, I was shooting at their place last November when the smash came. I decide. But go on. Well, my father quarreled with his father. I don't know what about, and emigrated. In Natal he married my mother, a Miss Ferreira, whose name like mine and her mother's was Benita. She was one of two sisters, and her father, Andreas Ferreira, who married an English lady, was half Dutch and half Portuguese. I remember him well, a fine old man with dark eyes and an eye-engraved beard. He was wealthiest things went in those days. That is to say, he had lots of land in Natal and the Transvaal, and great herds of stock. So you see, I am half English, some Dutch, and more than a quarter Portuguese. Quite a mixture of races. My father and mother did not get on well together. Mr. Seymour, I may as well tell you all the truth. He drank, and although he was passionately fond of her, she was jealous of him. Also, he gambled away most of her patrimony, and after old Andreas Ferreira's death they grew poor. One night there was a dreadful scene between them, and in his madness he struck her. Well, she was a very proud woman, determined too, and she turned on him and said, For I heard her, I will never forgive you, we have done with each other. Next morning, when my father was sober, he begged her pardon, but she made no answer, although he was starting somewhere on a fortnight's trek. When he had gone, my mother ordered the Cape Carts, picked up her clothes, took some money that she had put away, drove to Durban, and after making arrangements at the bank about a small private income of her own, sailed with me for England, leaving a letter for my father, in which she said that she would never see him again, and if he tried to interfere with me, she would put me under the protection of the English courts, which would not allow me to be taken to the home of a drunkard. In England we went to live in London with my aunt, who had married a major king, but was a widow with five children. My father often wrote to persuade my mother to go back to him, but she never would, which I think was wrong of her. So things went on for twelve years or more. Till one day my mother died suddenly, and I came into her little fortune at between two hundred and three hundred pounds a year, which she had tied up so that nobody can touch it. That was about a year ago. I wrote to tell my father of her death, and received back a pitiful letter. Indeed, I have had several of them. He implored me to come out to him, and not to leave him to die in his loneliness, as he soon would do of a broken heart, if I did not. He said that he had long ago given up drinking, which was the cause of the ruin of his life, and sent a certificate signed by a magistrate and a doctor to that effect. Well, in the end, although all my cousins and their mother advised me against it, I consented, and here I am. He is to meet me at Durban, but how we shall get on together is more than I can say, though I long to see him, for after all, he is my father. It was good of you to come under all the circumstances. You must have a brave heart, said Robert reflectively. It is my duty, she answered, and for the rest I am not afraid who was born to Africa. Indeed, often and often have I wished to be back there again, out on the belt, far away from the London streets and fog. I am young and strong, and I want to see things, natural things, not those made by man, you know, the things I remember as a child. One can always go back to London. Yes, or at least some people can. It's a curious thing, Miss Clifford, but as it happens, I have met your father. You always reminded me of the man, but I had forgotten his name. Now it comes back to me. It was Clifford. Where on earth, she asked, astonished. In a queer place. As I told you, I have visited South Africa before under different circumstances. Four years ago I was out here big game shooting. Going in from the east coast, my brother and I, his dead now poor fellow, got up somewhere on the Matabele country, on the banks of the Zambezi. As we didn't find much game there, we were going to strike south when some natives told us of a wonderful ruin that stood on a hill overhanging the river a few miles farther on. So, leaving the wagon on the hither side of the steep neck, over which it would have been difficult to drag it, my brother and I took our rifles and a bag of food and started. The place was farther off than we thought, although from the top of the neck we could see it clearly enough. And before we reached it, dark had fallen. Now, we had observed a wagon and a tent outside the wall which we thought must belong to white men, and headed for them. There was a light in the tent and the flap was open, the night being very hot. Inside, two men were seated, one old with a grey beard and the other a good-looking fellow and a faulty I should say, with a Jewish face, dark piercing eyes and a black pointed beard. They were engaged in examining a heap of gold beads and bangles which lay on the table between them. As I was about to speak, the black-bearded man heard or caught sight of us and seizing a rifle that leaned against the table, swung round and covered me. But God say, don't shoot Jacob, said the old man. They're English. Best dead anyway, answered the other, in a soft voice with a slight foreign accent. We don't want spies or thieves here. We are neither, but I can shoot as well as you, friend, I remarked, for by this time my rifle was on him. Then he thought better of it and dropped his gun and we explained that we were merely on an archaeological expedition. The end of it was that we became capital friends, though neither of us could cotton much to Mr. Jacob. I forget his other name. He struck us as too handy with his rifle, and was, I gathered, an individual with a mysterious and rather lurid past. To cut a long story short, when he found out that we had no intention of poaching, your father, for it was he, told us frankly that they were treasure hunting, having got hold of some story about a vast store of gold which had been hidden away there by Portuguese two or three centuries before. Their trouble was, however, that the Macalanga, who lived in the fortress, which was called Banbatse, would not allow them in to dig, because they said the place was haunted and if they did so, it would bring bad luck to the tribe. And did they ever get in, asked Benita. I'm sure I don't know, for we went away next day, though before we left we called on the Macalanga, who admitted us all readily enough as long as we brought no spades with us. By the way, the gold we saw your father and his friend examining was found in some ancient graves outside the walls, but had nothing to do with the big and mythical treasure. What was the place like? I love old ruins, broke in Benita again. Oh, wonderful! A gigantic circular wall built by heaven knows who. Then, halfway up the hill, another wall, and near the top a third wall, which, I understood, surrounded a sort of holy of holies, and above everything, on the brink of the precipice, a great cone of granite. Artificial or natural, I don't know, they would not let us up there, but we were introduced to their chief and high priest, church and state in one, and a wonderful old man he was, very wise and very gentle. I remember he told me that he believed we should meet again, which seemed an odd thing for him to say. I asked him about the treasure, and why he would not let the other white men look for it. He answered that it would never be found by any man, white or black, that only a woman would find it at the appointed time when it pleased the spirit of Bambatse under whose guardianship it was. Who was the spirit of Bambatse, Mr. Seymour? I can't tell you, I can't make out anything definite about her, except that she was said to be white and to appear sometimes at sunrise, or in the moonlight, standing upon the tall point of rock, of which I told you. I remember that I got up before the dawn to look for her, like an idiot, for of course I saw nothing, and that's all I know about the matter. Did you have any talk with my father, Mr. Seymour? Alone, I mean. Yes, a little. The next day he walked back to our wagon with us, being glad I fancy ever change from the perpetual society of his partner Jacob. That wasn't wonderful in a man who had been brought up at Eaton and Oxford, as I found out he had, like myself, and whatever his failings may have been, although we saw no sign of them for he would not touch a drop of spirits, was a gentleman which Jacob wasn't. Still he, Jacob, had read a lot, especially on out-of-the-way subjects, and could talk every language under the sun, a clever and agreeable scoundrel in short. Did my father say anything about himself? Yes, he told me that he had been an unsuccessful man all his life, and had much to reproach himself with, for he got quite confidential at last. He added that he had had a family in England, what family he didn't say, whom he was anxious to make wealthy by way of reparation for past misdeeds, and that was why he was treasure-hunting. However, from what you tell me, I fear he never found anything. No, Mr. Seymour, he never found it, and never will. But all the same, I'm glad to hear that he was thinking of us. Also, I should like to explore that place, Bambatze. So should I, Miss Clifford, in your company and your father's, but not in that of Jacob. If ever you should go there with him, I say, beware of Jacob. Oh, I'm not afraid of Jacob, she answered with a laugh, although I believe that my father still has something to do with him. At least in one of his letters he mentioned his partner, who was a German. A German? I think that he must have meant a German Jew. After this there was silence between them for a time. Then he said suddenly, you have told me your story, would you like to hear mine? Yes, she answered. Well, it won't take you long to listen to it. For, Miss Clifford, like Canning's needy knife grinder, I have really none to tell. You see before you one of the most useless persons in the world, an undistinguished member of what is called in England the Leisured Class, who can do absolutely nothing that is worth doing, except shoot straight. Indeed, said Benita, you do not seem impressed with that accomplishment, he went on. Yet it is an honest fact that for the last 15 years I was 32 this month practically my whole time has been given up to it with a little fishing thrown in in the spring. As I want to make the most of myself I will add that I am supposed to be amongst the six best shots in England and that my ambition, yes, great heavens, my ambition was to become better than the other five. By that sin fell the poor man who speaks to you. I was supposed to have abilities but I neglected them all to pursue this form of idleness. I entered no profession I did no work with the results that at 32 I am ruined and almost hopeless. Why ruined and hopeless? She asked anxiously for the way in which they were spoken grieved her more than the words themselves. Ruined because my old uncle the honourable John Seymour Seymour, whose heir I was, committed the indiscretion of marrying a young lady who has presented him with thriving twins. With the appearance of those twins my prospects disappeared as did the allowance of £1,500 a year that he was good enough to make me on which to keep up a position as his next of kin. I had something of my own but also I had debts and at the present moment a draft in my pocket for £2,163 £14 shillings and 5 pence and a little loose cash represent the total of my worldly goods just about the sum I have been accustomed to spend per annum. I don't call that ruined I call that riches, said Benita relieved. With £2,000 to begin on you may make a fortune in Africa but how about the hopelessness? I am hopeless because I have absolutely nothing to which to look forward really when that £2,000 is gone I do not know how to earn a 6 pence in this dilemma it occurred to me that the only thing I could do was to turn my shooting to practical account and become a hunter of big game therefore I propose to kill elephants until an elephant kills me. At least he added in a changed voice I did so propose until half an hour ago. Chapter 2 of The Spirit of Bambatsi by H. Ryder Haggard this LibriVox recording is in the public domain the end of the Zanzibar until half an hour ago then why? and Benita stopped have I changed my very modest scheme of life? Miss Clifford, as you are so good to be sufficiently interested I will tell you it is because a temptation which hitherto I have been able to resist has during the last 30 minutes become too strong for me you know, everything has its breaking strain he puffed nervously at his cigar threw it into the sea paused then went on Miss Clifford, I have dared to fall in love with you. No, hear me out when I have done it will be quite time enough to give me the answer that I expect meanwhile for the first time in my life allow me the luxury of being in earnest to me it is a new sensation and therefore very priceless may I go on? Benita made no answer he rose with a certain deliberateness which characterised all his movements for Robert Seymour never seemed to be in a hurry and stood in front of her so that the moonlight shone upon her face while his own remained in shadow beyond that two thousand pounds of which I have spoken and incidentally its owner I have nothing whatsoever to offer you I am an indigent and worthless person even in my prosperous days when I could look forward to a large estate although it was often suggested to me I never considered myself justified in asking any lady to share the prospective estate I think now that the real reason was that I never cared sufficiently for any lady since otherwise my selfishness would probably have overcome my scruples as it does tonight Benita for I will call you so if for the first and last time I I love you listen now he went on dropping his measured manner and speaking hurriedly like a man with an earnest message and little time in which to deliver it it is an old thing an incomprehensible thing but true true I fell in love with you the first time I saw your face you remember you stood there in front of the bullock when I came on board at Southampton and as I walked up the gangway I looked and my eyes met yours then I stopped and that stout old lady who got off at Madeira bumped into me and asked me to be good enough to make up my mind if I were going backward or forward do you remember yes she answered in a low voice which things are an allegory he continued I felt it so at the time I had to answer backward and give up my birth in this ship then I looked at you again and something inside of me said forward so I came up the rest of the gangway and took off my hat to you a salutation I had no right to make but which I recall you acknowledged he paused then continued as it began so it has gone on it is always like that is it not the beginning is everything the end must follow and now it has come out as I was fully determined that it should not do half an hour ago when suddenly you developed eyes in the back of your head and oh dearest I love you no please be quiet I have not done I have told you what I am and really there isn't much more to say about me for I have no particular vices except the worst of them all idleness and not the slightest trace of any virtue that I can discover but I have a certain knowledge of the world acquired in a long course of shooting parties and as a man of the world I will venture to give you a bit of advice it is possible that to you my life and death affair is a mere matter of board ship amusement yet it is possible also that you might take another view of the matter in that case as a friend and a man of the world I entreat you don't have nothing to do with me send me about my business you will never regret it are you making fun there is all this meant Mr Seymour asked Benita still speaking beneath her breath and looking straight before her meant of course it is meant how can you ask because I have always understood that on such occasions people wish to make the best of themselves quite so but I never do what I ought a fact for which I am grateful now that I come to think of it since otherwise I cannot be here tonight I wish to make the worst of myself the very worst but whatever I am not at least I am honest now having told you that I am or was half an hour ago an idler a good for nothing prospectless failure I ask you if you care to hear any more she half rose and glancing at him for the first time saw his face contract itself and turn pale in the moonlight maybe that the sight of it affected her even to the extent of removing some adverse impression left by the bitter mocking of his self-blame at any rate Benita seemed to change her mind and sat down again saying go on if you wish he bowed slightly and said I thank you I have told you what I was half an hour ago now hoping that you will believe me I will tell you what I am I am a truly repentant man one upon whom a new light has risen I am not very old and I think that underneath it all I have some ability opportunity may still come my way if it does not for your sake I will make the opportunity I do not believe that you can ever find anyone who would love you better or care for you more tenderly I desire to live for you in the future more completely even than in the past I have lived for myself I do not wish to influence you by personal appeals but in fact I stand at the parting of the ways if you will give yourself to me I feel as though I might still become a husband of whom you could be proud if not I right to finish upon the tombstone of the possibilities of Robert Seymour I adore you you are the one woman with whom I desire to pass my days it is you who have always been lacking to my life I ask you to be brave to take the risk of marrying me although I can see nothing but poverty ahead of us right I am an adventurer don't speak like that she said quickly we are all of us adventurers in this world and I more than you we have just to consider ourselves not what we have or have not so be it Miss Clifford then I have nothing more to say now it is for you to answer just then the sound of the piano the fiddle in the saloon ceased one of the waltzes was over and some of the dancers came upon deck to flirt or to cool themselves one pair engaged very obviously in the former occupation stationed themselves so near to Robert and Benita that further conversation between them was impossible and there proceeded to interchange the remarks common to such occasions for a good ten minutes did they stand thus carrying on a mock quarrel as to a dance of which one of them was supposed to have been defrauded until Robert Seymour generally a very philosophical person could have slain those innocent lovers he felt he knew not why that his chances were slipping away from him that sensation of something bad about to happen of which Benita had spoken spread from her to him the suspense grew exasperating terrible even nor could it be ended to ask her to come elsewhere was under the circumstances not feasible especially as he would also have been obliged to request the other pair to make way for them and all this time with a sinking of the heart he felt that probably Benita was beating down any tenderness which he might feel towards him that when her long delayed answer did come chances were it would be no the piano began to play again in the saloon of the young people still squabbling archly at length prepared to depart suddenly there was a stir upon the bridge and against the tender sky Robert saw a man dash forward next instance the engine room bell rang fiercely he knew the signal it was stop followed at once by other ringings that meant full speed of stern I wonder what is up said the young man to the young woman before the words had left his lips I knew there was a sensation as though all the hull of the great ship to come to a complete standstill while the top part of her continued to travel forward followed by another sensation still more terrible and sickening in its nature that of slipping over something helplessly heavily as a man slips upon ice or a polish floor spars cracked ropes flew into with a noise as a pistol shots heavy objects rushed about the deck travelling forwards all of them Benita was hurled from her chair against Robert so the two of them rolled into the scuppers he was on her to pick himself up but she lay still and he saw that something has struck her upon the head the blood was running down her cheek he lifted her and filled with black horror and despair but he thought her gone and upon her heart thank god it began to beat again she still lived the music in the saloon had stopped and for a little while there was silence then of an instant there arose the horrible clamour of shipwreck wild eyed people rushed to and throw aimlessly here and there women and children shrieked clergymen fell upon his knees and began to pray this went on for a space till presently the second officer appeared and affecting an unconcerned air called out that it was all right the captain said no one was to be afraid he added that they were not more than six miles from the shore and that the ship would be beached in half an hour indeed as he spoke the engines which had been stopped commenced to work again and her head swung round in a wild circle pointing to the land evidently they had passed over the rock and were once more in deep water through which they travelled at a good speed but with a heavy list to starboard pumps got to work also with a monotonous clanging beat throwing out great columns of foaming water onto the oily sea men began to cut the covers off the boats and to swing some of them outboard such were the things that went on about them with the senseless Benita clasped to his breast the blood from her cut head running down his shoulder Robert stood still a while thinking then he made up his mind as it chanced she had a debt cabin and thither he forced his way carrying her tenderly and with patience through the distracted throng of passengers for there were 500 souls on board that ship he reached the place to find that it was quite empty her cabin mate having fled laying Benita upon the lower bunk he lit the swinging candle as soon as it burned up he searched for the life belts and by good fortune found two of them one of which not without great difficulty he succeeded in fastening round her then he took a sponge and bathed her head with water there was a great bruise upon her temple where the block or whatever it was had struck her and the blood still flowed but the wound was not very deep or extensive nor so far as he could discover did the bone appear to be broken or driven in he had good hope that she was only stunned and would revive presently unable to do more for her a thought struck him on the floor of the cabin thrown by the shock from the rack lay her writing case he opened it and taking a piece of paper wrote these words hurriedly in pencil you gave me no answer and it is more than probable that I shall receive none in this world which one or both of us may be upon the verge of leaving in the latter case we can settle the matter elsewhere perhaps in the former should it be my lot to go and yours to stay I hope that you will think kindly of me at times as of one who loved you truly should it be yours to go then you will never read these words yet if to the dead is given knowledge be assured that as you left me so you shall find me yours and yours alone or perhaps we both may live I pray so SRS folding up the paper he undid a button of Benita's blouse and thrust it away there knowing that thus she would certainly find it should she survive then he stepped out onto the deck to see what was happening the vessel still steamed but made slow progress the list to starboard was now so pronounced that it was difficult to stand upright on account of it nearly all the passengers were huddled together upon the port side having instinctively taken refuge as far as possible above the water a man with a white distraught face staggered towards him supporting himself by the bullocks it was the captain for a moment he paused as though to think holding to a stanchion Robert Seymour saw his opportunity and addressed him forgive me he said I do not like interfering with other people's business but for reasons unconnected with myself I suggest to you that it would be wise to stop this ship and get out the boats the sea is calm if it is not left till too late there should be no difficulty in launching them the man stared at him absently then said they won't hold everybody Mr. Seymour I hope to beat her at least they will hold some he answered whereas and he pointed to the water which was by now almost level with the deck perhaps you are right Mr. Seymour it doesn't matter to me anyway I am a ruined man but the poor passengers the poor passengers and he scrambled away fiercely towards the bridge like a wounded cat along the bow of a tree when in a few seconds Robert heard him shouting orders a minute also afterwards the steamer stopped too late the captain had decided to sacrifice his ship and save those she carried now they were beginning to get out the boats now Robert returned to the cabin where Benita was still lying senseless and wrapped her up in a cloak and some blankets then seeing the second life belt on the floor by an afterthought he put it on knowing that there was time to spare next he lifted Benita and feeling sure that the rush would be for the starboard side on which the boats were quite near the water carried her with difficulty for the slope was steep to the port cutter which he knew would be in the charge of a good man the second officer whom he had seen in command there at Sunday boat drills here as he had anticipated the crowd was small since most people thought that it would not be possible to get this boat down safely to the water or if their powers of reflection were gone instinct told them so that skillful seaman the second officer and his appointed crew however were already at work lowering the cutter from the davits now he said women and children first a number rushed in and Robert saw that the boats would soon be full I'm afraid he said that I must count myself as a woman as I carry one and by a great effort holding Benita with one arm with the other he let himself down the falls and assisted by a quarter master gained the boat in safety one or two other men scrambled after him lower away said the officer she can hold no more and the ropes began to creak in the blocks when they were about 12 feet down the ship's side from which they thrust themselves clear with oars there came a rush of people disappointed of places in the starboard boats a few of the boldest of these swarmed down the falls others jumped and fell among them or missed and dropped into the sea or struck upon the sides of the boat and were killed still she reached the water upon an even keel though now much overladen the oars were got out and they rode round the bow of the great ship wallowing in her death throes their first idea being to make for the shore which was not three miles away this brought them to the starboard side where they saw a hideous scene hundreds of people seem to be fighting for room with the results that some of the boats were overturned precipitating their occupants into the water others hung by the prow or the stern the ropes having jammed in the davits and the frantic haste and confusion while from them human beings dropped one by one round others not yet launched a hellish struggle was in progress the struggle of men women and children battling for their lives in which the strong mad with terror showed no mercy to the weak from that massive humanity most of them about to perish went up a babel of sounds which in its some shaped itself to one prolonged scream such as might proceed from a titan in his agony or this beneath the brooding moonlit sky and on a sea as smooth as glass upon the ship itself which now lay upon her side the siren still sent up its yells for sucker and some brave man continued to fire rockets which rushed heavenwards and burst in showers of stars Robert remembered that the last rocket he had seen was fired at an evening fate for the amusement of the audience the contrast struck him as dreadful he wondered whether there were any lower or infernal population that could be amused by a tragedy such as enacted itself before his eyes how it came about also such a tragedy was permitted by the merciful strength in which mankind put their faith the vessel was turning over compressed air or steam burst up the decks with loud reports of wreckage flew into the air there the poor captain still clung to the rail of the bridge Seymour could see his white face the moonlight seemed to paint it with a ghastly smile the officer in command of their boat shouted to the crew to give way lest they should be sucked down with the steamer Luke now she wallowed like a dying whale the moon rays shone white upon her bottom showing the jagged plant made in it by the rock on which she struck and now she was gone only a little cloud of smoke and steam remained to mark where the Zanzibar had been End of Chapter 2 Chapter 3 of The Spirit of Bambatsi by H. Rider Haggard this LibriVox recording is in the public domain how Robert came ashore in place of the Zanzibar a great pit on the face of the ocean in which the waters boiled and black objects appeared and disappeared sit still for your life's sake said the officer in a quiet voice the suck is coming in another minute it came dragging them downward till the water trickled over the sides of the boat and backward towards the pit but before ever they reached it the deep had digested its prey and saved for the great air bubbles which burst about them and a mixed unnatural swell was calm again for the moment they were safe Passengers said the officer I'm going to put out to sea at any rate till daylight we may meet a vessel there and if we try to row ashore we shall certainly be swamped in the breakers no one objected they seemed to stunned to speak but Robert thought to himself they began to move but before they had gone a dozen yards something dark rose beside them it was a piece of wreckage and clinging to it a woman who clasped a bundle to her breast more she was alive but she began to cry to them to take her in save me and my child she cried for God's sake save me Robert recognized the choking voice it was that of a young married lady with whom he had been very friendly he was going out with her baby to join her husband in Natal he stretched out his hand and caught hold of her whereon the officer said heavily the boat is already overladen I must warn you that to take more on board is not safe thereon the passengers awoke from their stupor push her off said a voice she must take a chance and there was a murmur of approval at the dreadful words for Christ's sake she unveiled the drowning woman who clung desperately to Robert's hand if you try to pull her in we will throw you overboard said the voice again and a knife was lifted as though to hack at his arm then the officer spoke once more this lady cannot come into the boat unless someone goes out of it I would myself but it's my duty to stay is there any man here who will make place for her but all the men there seven of them besides the crew hung their heads and were silent give way said the officer in the same heavy voice she will drop off presently while the words passed his lips Robert seemed to live a year here was an opportunity of atonement for his idle and luxurious life an hour ago he would have taken it gladly but now now with Benita senseless on his breast and that answer still locked in her sleeping heart yet Benita would approve of such a death as this and even if she loved him not in life would learn to love his memory in an instant his mind was made up and he was speaking rapidly Thompson he said to the officer if I go will you swear to take her in and her child certainly Mr Seymour then lay to I am going if any of you live tell this lady how I died and he pointed to Benita and say I thought that she would wish it she shall be told said the officer again and save too if I can do it hold Mrs Jeffries then till I am out of this I leave my coat to cover her a sailor obeyed and with difficulty Robert wrenched free his hand very deliberately he pressed Benita to his breast and kissed her on the forehead then let her gently slide on to the bottom of the boat next he slipped off his overcoat and slowly rolled himself over the gunnel into the sea now he said pull Mrs Jeffries in with some difficulty it was done and he saw her and her child sink swooning into the place that he had left God bless you you're a brave man said Thompson I shall remember you if I live a hundred years no one else said anything perhaps they were all too much ashamed even then I've only done my duty Seymour answered from the water how far is it to shore about three miles shouted Thompson but keep on that planker you will never live through the rollers goodbye goodbye answered Robert then the boat passed away from him and soon vanished on the misty face of the deep resting on the plank which had saved the life of Mrs Jeffries but Seymour looked about him and listened now and again he heard a faint joking scream uttered by some drowning wretch and a few hundred yards away caught sight of a black object which he thought might be a boat if so he reflected that it must be full moreover he could not overtake it no his only chance was to make for the shore he was a strong swimmer he was almost as warm as milk there seemed to be no reason why he should not reach it supported as he was by a life belt if the sharks would leave him alone which they might as there was plenty for them to feed on the direction he knew well enough but now in the great silence of the sea he could hear the boom of the mighty rollers breaking on the beach ah those rollers he remembered how that very afternoon Benita and he had watched them through his field glass spouting up against the cruel walls of rock and wondered that when the ocean was so calm they still had such power now should he live to reach them he was doomed to match himself against that power well sooner he did so the sooner it would be over one way or the other this was in his favour the tide had turned and was flowing shorewards indeed little to do but to rest upon his plank which he placed crosswise beneath his breast and steer himself with his feet even thus he made good progress nearly a mile an hour perhaps he could have gone faster had he swum but he was saving his strength it was a strange journey upon that silent sea beneath those silent stars and strange thoughts came into Robert's soul he wondered whether Benita would live what she would say perhaps however she was already dead and he would meet her presently he wondered if he would doom to die and whether this sacrifice of his would be allowed to atone for his past errors he hoped so had put up a petition to that effect for himself and for Benita and for all the poor people who had gone before hurled from their pleasure into the halls of death so he floated on while the boom of the breakers grew ever nearer companioned by his wild fitful thoughts till at length what he took to be a shark appeared quite close to him and in the urgency of the moment he gave up wondering it's proved to be only a piece of wood but later on a real shark did come for he saw its back fin however this cruel creature was either gorged or timid for when he splashed upon the water and shouted he went away to return no more now at length Robert entered upon the deep hill and valley swell which preceded the field of the rollers suddenly he shot down a smooth slope and without effort of his own found himself born up an opposing steep from the crest of which he had a view of white lines of foam and beyond them have a dim and rocky shore at one spot to his right the foam seemed thinner and the line of cliff to be broken as though here there was a cleft for this cleft then he steered his plank taking the swell obliquely which by good fortune the set of the tide enabled him to do without any great exertion the valleys grew deeper and the tops of the opposing ridges were crested with foam he had entered the rollers and the struggle for life began before him they rushed solemnly and mighty viewed from some safe place even the sight of these comas is terrible as any who have watched them from this coast or from that of the island of Ascension can bear witness what their aspect was to the shipwrecked man supported by a single plank may therefore be imagined seen as he saw them in the mysterious moonlight of loneliness yet his spirit rose to meet the dread emergency if he were to die he would die fighting he had grown cold and tired but now the chill and weariness left him he felt warm and strong from the crest of one of the high rollers he thought he saw that about half a mile away from him a little river ran down the centre of the gorge and for the mouth of this river he could not wait his course at first all went well he was born up the seas he slid down the seas in a lather of white foam presently the rise and fall grew steeper and the foam began to break over his head Robert could no longer guide himself he must go as he was carried then in an instant he entered into a hell of waters where had it not been the life-belt and the plank he must have been beaten down and have perished as it was now he was driven into the depths and now he emerged upon their surface to hear their seething hiss around him and above it all a continuous boom as of great guns the boom of the breaking seas the plank was almost twisted from his grasp but he clung to it desperately although its edges tore his arms when the rollers broke over him he held his breath and when he was tossed skywards on their curves drew it in again in quick sweet gasps now he sat on the very brow of one of them as a merman might now he dived like a dolphin and now just as his senses were leaving him his feet touched bottom another moment and Robert was being rolled along that bottom with a weight on him like the weight of mountains the plank was rent from him but his cork jackets brought him up the backwash drew him with it into deeper water where he lay helpless and despairing for he no longer had any strength to struggle against his doom then it was that there came a mighty roller bigger than any that he had seen such a one as on that coast the cafes call a father of waves it caught him in the embrace of its vast green curve it's bore him forward as though he were but a straw far forward over the stretch of cruel rocks it's broken thunder dashing him again upon the stones and sand of that little riverbar rolling him along with its resistless might till even that might was exhausted and its foam began to return seawards sucking him with it Robert's mind was almost gone but enough of it remained to tell him that if once more he was dragged into the deep water he must be lost as the current hailed him along he gripped at the bottom with his hands and by the mercy of heaven they closed on something it may have been a tree stump embedded there or a rock he never knew at least it was firm and to it he hung despairingly but that rush never go by his lungs were bursting he must let go oh the foam was thinning his head was above it now it had departed leaving him like a stranded fish upon the shingle for half a minute or more he lay there gasping then looked behind him to see another coma approaching through the gloom he struggled to his feet fell, rose again and ran or rather staggered forward with that tigerish water hissing at his heels forward, still forward till he was beyond it's reach yes, on dry sand then his vital forces failed him one of his legs gave way and bleeding from a hundred hertz he fell heavily onto his face and there was still the boat in which Benita lay being so deep in the water proved very hard to row against the tide for the number of its passengers encumbered the oarsmen after a while a light off-land breeze sprang up as here it often does towards morning and the officer Thompson determined to risk hoisting the sail accordingly this was done with some difficulty for the mast had to be drawn out and shipped although the women screamed as the weight of the air bent their frail craft over till the gunnel was almost level with the water anyone who moves should be thrown overboard said the officer who steered after which they were quiet now they made good progress seawards but the anxieties of those who knew were very great since the wind showed signs of rising and if any swell should spring up that crowded cutter could scarcely hope to live in fact two hours later they were forced to lower the sail again and drift waiting for the dawn Mr Thompson strove to cheer them saying that now they were in the track of vessels and if they could see none when the light came he would run along the shore in hope of finding a place free of breakers where they might land if they did not inspire hope at least his words calmed them and they sat in heavy silence watching the sky at length it grew gray and then with a sudden glory peculiar to South Africa the great red sun arose and began to dispel the mist from the surface of the sea half an hour more and this was gone and now the bright rays brought life back into their chilled frames as they stared at each other to see which of their company was still left alive they even asked for food it was given to them with water all this while Benita remained unconscious indeed one callous fellow who had been using her body as a footstool said that she must be dead and had better be thrown overboard as it would lighten the boat if you throw that lady into the sea living or dead said Mr Thompson with an ominous lift of his eye you go with her Mr Batten remember who brought her here he died then Mr Batten held his piece while Thompson stood up and scanned the wide expanse of sea presently he whispered to a sailor near him who also stood up looked and nodded that will be the other lines intermediate boat he said and the passengers craning their heads round saw far away to the right a streak of smoke upon the horizon orders were given a little corner of sail was hoisted with a white cloth of some sort tied above it and the oars were got out once more the cutter moved forward bearing to the left in the hope of intercepting the steamer she came on with terrible swiftness and they who had miles of water to cover dared hoist no more sail in that breeze in half an hour she was nearly opposite to them and they were still far away a little more sail was let out driving them through the water at as quick a rate as they could venture to go the steamer was passing three miles or so away and black despair took hold of them now the resourceful Thompson without apologies undressed and removing the white shirt that he had worn at the dance bade a sailor tie it to an oar and wave it to and fro still the steamer went on until presently they heard her siren going and saw that she was putting about she's seen us said Thompson thank God all of you for there is wind coming up pull down that sail we shan't need it anymore half an hour later with many precautions for the wind he prophesied was already troubling the sea and sending little splashes of water over the stern of their deeply laden boat they were fast to a line thrown from the deck of the 3,000 ton steamer castle bound for Natal then with a rattle down came the accommodation ladder and strong armed men standing on its grating dragged them one by one from the death to which they had been so near the last to be lifted up except Thompson was Benita round whom it was necessary to reave a rope any use asked the officer on the grating as he glanced at her quiet form can't say I hope so answered Thompson called your doctor and gently enough she was born up the ship's side they wanted to cast off the boat but Thompson remonstrated that in the end that also was dragged to deck meanwhile the news had spread and the awakened passengers of the castle clad in pyjamas dressing gowns and even blankets were crowding round the poor castaways or helping them to their cabins I'm a teetotaler said second officer Thompson when he had made a brief report to the captain of the castle but if anyone will stand me a whiskey and soda I shall be obliged to him End of Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Of the Spirit of Bambatse by H. Ryder Haggard this Libby Vox recording is in the public domain Mr. Clifford although the shock of the blow she had received upon her head was sufficient to make her insensible for so many hours Benita's injures were not of a really serious nature for as it happened the falling block or whatever it may have been had hit her forehead slant wise and not full to which accident she owed it that although her skin was torn and the scalp bruised her skull had escaped fracture under proper medical care her senses soon came back to her but as she was quite dazed and thought herself still on board the Zanzibar the doctor considered it wise to preserve her in that illusion for a while so after she had swallowed some broth he gave her a sleeping draught the effects of which she did not shake off till the following morning then she came to herself completely and was astonished to feel the pain in her head which had been bandaged and to see a strange stewardess sitting by her with a cup of beef tea in her hand where am I is it a dream? she asked drink this and I will tell you answered the stewardess Benita obeyed for she felt hungry then repeated her question your steamer was shipwrecked said the stewardess and a great many poor people were drowned but you were saved in a boat look there are your clothes they were never in the water who carried me into the boat? asked Benita in a low voice a gentleman they say miss who had wrapped you in a blanket and put a life belt on you now Benita remembered everything that had happened before the darkness fell the question to which she had given no answer the young couple who stood flirting by her all came back to her was Mr Seymour saved? she whispered her face grey with dread I dare say miss? answered the stewardess evasively but there is no gentleman named aboard this ship at that moment the doctor came in and him too she plied with questions but having learned the story of Robert's self sacrifice for Mr Thompson and others he would give her no answer for he guessed how matters had stood between them and feared the effects of the shock all he could say was that he hoped Mr Seymour had escaped in some other boat it was not until the third morning that Benita was allowed to learn the truth which indeed it was impossible to conceal any longer Mr Thompson came to her cabin and told her everything while she listened silently horrified amazed miss Clifford he said I think it was one of the bravest things that a man ever did on the ship I always thought him a rather head in the air kind of swell but he was a splendid fellow and I pray God that he has lived and offered himself up have done but they are both well again yes she repeated after him mechanically splendid fellow indeed and she added with a strange flash of conviction I believe that he is still alive if he were dead I should know it I'm glad to hear you say so said Mr Thompson who believed the exact contrary listen she went on I will tell you something an accident occurred Mr Seymour had just asked me to marry him and I was going to answer that I would because I love him I believe that I shall still give him that answer Mr Thompson replied again that he hoped so which being as honest and tender hearted as he was brave and capable he did most earnestly but in his heart he reflected that her answer would not be given this side of the grave then as he had been deputed to do he handed her the note which had been found in the bosom of her dress and able to bear no more of this painful scene hurried from the cabin she read it greedily twice and pressed it to her lips murmuring yes I will think kindly of you Robert Seymour kindly as woman can of man and now or afterwards you shall have your answer if you still wish for it whenever you come or wherever I go it should be ready for you that afternoon when she was more composed Mrs Jeffries came to see Benita bringing her baby with her the poor woman was still pale and shaken but the child had taken no hurt at all from its immersion in that warm water what can you think of me she said falling on her knees by Benita but oh I did not know what I was doing it was terror of my child and she kissed the sleeping infants passionately also I did not understand at the time I was two days and that hero he gave his life for me when the others wished to beat me off with wars yes his blood is upon my hands he who died that I am my child might live Benita looked at her and answered very gently perhaps he did not die after all do not grieve for if he did it was a very glorious death and I am prouder of him than I could have been had he lived on like the others who wished to beat you off with oars whatever is is by God's will and doubtless for the best at the least you and your child will be restored to your husband though it cost me one who would have been my husband that evening Benita came up upon the deck and spoke with the other ladies who were saved learning every detail that she could gather but to none of the men except to Mr Thompson would she say a single word and soon seeing how the matter stood they hid themselves away from her as they had already done for Mrs Jeffries the castle had hung about the scene of the shipwreck for thirty hours and rescued one other boatload of survivors also a stoker clinging to a piece of wreckage but with the shore she had been unable to communicate for the dreaded wind had risen and the breakers were quite impassable to any boat to a passing steamer bound for Port Elizabeth however she had reported the terrible disaster which by now was known all over the world together with the names of those whom she had picked up in the boats on the night of the day of Benita's interview with Mrs Jeffries the castle arrived off Durban and anchored since she was too big a vessel to cross the bar as it was in those days at dawn the stewardess awoke Benita from the uneasy sleep in which she lay to tell her that an old gentleman had come off in the tug and wished to see her for fear of exciting false hopes she was very careful to add that word old with her help Benita dressed herself and as the sun rose flooding the barrier the point, the white town and fair Natal beyond with light she went onto the deck and saw there leaning over the bullock a thin grey bearded man of whom after all these years the aspect was still familiar a curious thrill went through her as she looked at him leaning there lost in thought after all he was her father the man to whom she owed her presence upon this bitter earth this place of terrors and delights of devastation and hope supernal perhaps too he had been as much sinned against as sinning she stepped up to him and touched him on the shoulder he turned round with all the quickness of a young man for about him there was a peculiar agility which his daughter had inherited like his mind his body was still nimble my darling he said I should have known your voice anywhere it has haunted my sleep for years my darling thank you for coming back to me and thank God for preserving you when so many were lost then he threw his arms about her and kissed her she shrank from him a little for by an advertence he had pressed upon the wound in her forehead forgive me she said it is my head it was injured you know then he saw the bandage about her brow and was very penitent they did not tell me that you'd been hurt Benita he exclaimed in his light refined voice one of the stamps of that gentility of blood and breeding where of all his rough years and able to deprive him they only told me that you were saved it is part of my ill fortune that at our first moment of meeting I should give you pain who have caused you so much already Benita felt that the words were an apology for the past and her heart was touched it is nothing she answered you did not know or mean it no dear I never knew or meant it believe me I was not a willing sinner only a weak one you are a beautiful woman Benita far more so than I expected what she answered smiling with this bandage round my head well in your eyes perhaps but inwardly she thought to herself that the description would be more applicable to her father who in truth not withstanding his years was wonderfully handsome with his quick blue eyes mobile face gentle mouth with the wistful droop at the corners so like her own and grey beard how she wondered could this be the man who had struck her mother then she remembered him as he had been years before when he was a slave to liquor and knew that the answer was simple tell me about your escape love he said patting her hand with his thin fingers you don't know what I have suffered I was waiting at the Royal Hotel here when the cable came announcing the loss of the Zanzibar on board for the first time for many a year I drank spirits to drown my grief don't be afraid dear for the first time and the last then afterwards came another cable giving the names of those who were known to be saved and thank god oh thank god yours among them he gasped at the recollection of that relief yes she said I suppose I should thank him and another have you heard the story about how Mr Seymour saved me I mean some of it while you were dressing yourself I have been talking to the officer who was in command of your boat he was a brave man Benita and I'm sorry I must tell you he is gone she grasped a stanchion and clung there staring at him with a wild white face how do you know that father Mr Clifford drew a copy of the Natal Mercury of the previous day in the pocket of his Ulster and while she waited in an agony he hunted through the long columns descriptive of the loss of the Zanzibar presently he came to the paragraph he sought and read it aloud to her it ran the searchers on the coast opposite the scene of the shipwreck reports that they met a kafir who was travelling along the seashore who produced a gold watch which he said he had taken from the body of a white man that he found lying on the sand at the mouth of the sea river inside the watch is engraved to Seymour Robert Seymour from his uncle on his 21st birthday the name of Mr Seymour appears as a first-class passenger to Durban by the steamer Zanzibar he was a member of an old English family in Lincolnshire this was his second journey to South Africa which he visited some years ago with his brother upon a big game shooting expedition all who knew him then will join with us in deploring his loss Mr Seymour was a noted shot and an English gentleman of the best stamp he was last seen by one of the survivors of the catastrophe carrying Miss Clifford the daughter of the well-known Natal pioneer of that name into a boat but as this young lady is reported to have been saved and as he entered the boat with her no explanation is yet forthcoming as to how he came to his sad end I fear that is clear enough said Mr Clifford as he folded up his paper yes, clear enough she repeated in a strained voice and yet, yet, oh father he had just asked me to marry him and I can't believe that he is dead before I had time to answer good heavens said the old man they never told me that it is dreadfully sad God help you my poor child there is nothing more to say there was only one among 300 who have gone with him be brave now, before all these people look, here comes the tug the following week was very much of a blank to Benita when they reached shore some old friends of her fathers took her and him to their house a quiet place upon the barrier here, now that the first excitement of rescue and grief was over the inevitable reaction set in bringing with it weakness stressing that the doctor insisted upon her going to bed where she remained for the next five days with the healing up of the wound in her head her strength came back to her at last but it was a very sad Benita who crept from her room one afternoon on to the veranda and looked out at the cruel sea peaceful now as the sky above her father who had nursed her tenderly during these dark days came and sat by her hand in his this is capital he said glancing at her anxiously you are getting quite yourself again I shall never be myself again she answered my old self is dead although the outside of me has recovered father I suppose that it is wrong but I wish that I were dead too I wish that he had taken me with him when he jumped into the sea to lighten the boat don't speak like that distantly of course I know that I'm not much to you how can I be after all that is past but I love you dear and if I were left quite alone again and he broke off you shall not be left alone if I can help it she replied looking at the old man with her dark and tender eyes we have only each other in the world now have we the rest have gone never to return he threw his arms about her to him kissed her passionately if only you could learn to love me he said I do love you she answered who now shall never love any other man upon the earth this was the beginning of a deep affection which sprang up between Mr Clifford and his daughter and continued to the end is there any news she asked a little later none, none about him the tide took his body away after the kafir had gone I remember him well now he was a fine young man and it comes into my mind that when I said goodbye to him up above those old ruins I wished that I had a son like that and to think that he went so near to becoming a son to me well the grass must bend when the wind blows as the natives say I'm glad that you knew him she answered simply then they began talking about other matters he told her that all the story had become known and that people spoke of Robert Seymour as the hero also that there was a great deal of curiosity about her then let us get away as soon as we can she said nervously but father where are we going that will be for you to decide love listen now this is my position I have been quite steady for years and worked hard that I and my partner have a fine farm on the transfer on the high land near Lake Chrissy out to Wackestromway we breed horses there and have done very well with them I have £1,500 saved and the farm brings us in quite £600 a year beyond the expenses but this is a lonely place with only a few boars about although they are good fellows enough you might not care to live there with no company I don't think that I should mind she answered smiling not now but by and by you would when you know what it is like now I might sell my share in the farm to my partner who I think would buy it or I might trust to him to send me a part of the profits which perhaps he would not then if you wish it we could live in or near one of the towns or even as you have an income of your own go home to England if that is your will is it your will she asked he shook his head no all my life is here also I have something to find before I die for your sake dear do you mean up among those ruins she asked looking at him curiously yes so you know about it he answered with a flash of his blue eyes oh of course Seymour told you yes I mean among the ruins but I will tell you that story another time not here not here what do you wish to do Benita remember I am in your hands I will obey you in all things not to stop in a town and not to go to England she replied while he hung eagerly upon her words for this has become my holy land father I will go with you to your farm there I can be quiet you and I together yes he answered rather uneasily but you see Benita we shall not be quite alone there my partner Jakob Meyer lives with me Jakob Meyer ah I remember and she winced he is a German is he not and odd German drew I imagine and very odd should have made his fortune a dozen times over and yet has never done anything for the scheming not a good man Benita although he suits me and for the matter of that under our agreement I cannot get rid of him how did he become your partner she asked oh a good many years ago he turned up at the place with a doleful story said that he had been trading among the Zulus he was what we call a smouse out here and got into a row with them I don't know how he executed his trade goods and oxen and killed his servants they would have killed him too only according to his own account he escaped in a very queer fashion how well he says by mesmerizing the chief and making the man lead him through his followers an odd story enough but I can quite believe it of Jakob he worked for me for six months and showed himself very clever then one night I remember it was a few days after I had told him the story of the Portuguese treasure in Matabelele land he produced five hundred pounds in Bank of England notes out of the lining of his waistcoat and offered to buy a half interest in the farm yes, five hundred pounds although for all those months I had believed him to be a beggar well, as he was so slim and better than no company in that lonely place in the end I accepted well since except for the expedition after the treasure which we did not get although we more than paid our expenses out of the ivory we bought but next time we shall succeed I am sure he added with enthusiasm that is, if we can persuade those Macalanga to let us search on the mountains Benita smiled I think you have better stick to the horse breeding she said you shall judge when you hear the story but you have been brought up in England will you not be afraid to go to Lake Chrissy afraid of what she asked oh, of the loneliness and of Jacob Mayor I was born on the felt father and I have always hated London as for your odd friend Mr Mayor I am not afraid of any man on earth I have done with men, at the least I will try the place and see how I get on very well I have accepted her father with a sigh of relief you can always come back, can't you? yes, she said indifferently I suppose that I can always come back End of Chapter 4 Chapter 5 of the Spirit of Bambatse by H. Ryder Haggard this Librivox recording is in the public domain Jacob Mayor over three weeks had gone by when one morning Benita who slept upon the cartel in a white-strung bed in the wagon having dressed herself as best she could in that confined place thrust aside the curtain and seated herself upon the vorkissa or driving-box the sun was not yet up and the air was cold with frost for they were on the transval high felt at the end of winter even through her thick cloak Benita shivered and called to the driver of the wagon who also acted as cook and whose blanket draped form she could see bending over a fire into which he was blowing life to make haste with the coffee buy and buy missy buy and buy he answered coughing the rank smoke from his lungs kettle no sing yet and fire black as hell Benita reflected the popular report painted this locality red but without entering into argument sat still upon the chest waiting till the water boiled and a father appeared presently he emerged from under the side flap of the wagon where he slept and remarking that it was really too cold to think of washing climbed to her side by help of the distal boom and kissed her how far are we now from Roy Krantz, father, she asked for that was the name of Mr Clifford's farm about 40 miles dear the wagon cannot make it tonight with these two sick oxen but after the midday outspan we will ride on and be there by sundown I'm afraid you are tired of this trekking no she answered I like it very much it is so restful and I sleep sound upon that cartel I feel as though I should like to trek on for the rest of my life so you shall if you wish dear for whole months South Africa is big and when the grass grows if you still wish it we will take a long journey she smiled but made no answer knowing that he was thinking of the place so far away where he believed that once the Portuguese had buried gold the kettle was singing now merrily enough and hence the cook lifting it from the fire in triumph that his blowing exertions had been severe poured into it a quantity of ground coffee from an old mustard tin then having stirred the mixture with a stick he took a red ember from the fire and dropped it into the kettle a process which the travellers in the veldt knew well as a clearing effect upon the coffee next he produced panikins and handed them up with a pickle jar full of sugar to Mr Clifford upon the wagon chest milk they had none yet that coffee tasted a great deal better than it looked indeed Benita drank two cups of it to warm herself and washed down the hard biscuit before the day was over glad enough was she that she had done so the sun was rising huge and red it looked seen through the clinging mist and their breakfast finished Mr Clifford gave orders that the oxen which were filling themselves with the dry grass near at hand should be got up and in spanned the fourlopa a zulu boy who had left them for a little while to share the rest of the coffee with Hans rose from his haunches with a grunt and departed to fetch them a minute or two later Hans ceased from his occupation of packing up the things and said in a low voice kaik bas that is look following the line of his outstretched hand Benita and her father perceived not more than a hundred yards away from them a great trooper wildebeaster one new travelling along a ridge and pausing now and again to indulge in those extraordinary gambles which caused the boars to declare that these brutes have a worm in their brains give me my rifle Hans said Mr Clifford we won't meet by the time that the westly richards was drawn from its case and loaded only one book remained for having caught sight of the wagon it turned to stare at it suspiciously Mr Clifford aimed and fired down went the book then springing to its feet again vanished behind the ridge Mr Clifford shook his head sadly I don't often do that sort of thing my dear but the light is still very bad still he's hit what do you say shall we get on the horses and catch him the canter would warm you Benita who was tender hearted reflected that it would be kinder to put the poor creature out of its pain and nodded her head five minutes later they were cantering together up the rise Mr Clifford having first ordered the wagon to trek on till they rejoined it and slipped a packet of cartridges into his pocket beyond this rise lay a wide stretch of marshy ground bordered by another rise half a mile or more away from the crest of which for now the air was clear enough they saw the wounded bull standing on they went after him but before they could come within shot he had moved forward once more for he was only lightly hurt in the flank and guessed whence his trouble came again and again did he retreat as they drew near until at length just as Mr Clifford was about to dismount to risk a long shot the beast took to his heels in earnest come on he said don't let's be beat for by this time the hunter was alive in him so off they went as a gallop up slopes and down slopes that reminded Benita of the Bay of Biscay in a storm across half dried of lays as in the wet season were ponds through stony ground and patches of ant bear holes in which they nearly came to grief for five miles at least that chase went on since at the end of winter the wildebeaster was thin and could gallop well not withstanding its injury faster even than their good horses at last rising a ridge they found wither it was going for suddenly were in the midst of vast herds of game thousands and tens of thousands of them stretching as far as the eye could reach it was a wonderous sight that now alas will be seen no more at any rate upon the transvaal belt wildebeaster blessbok springbok in countless multitudes and amongst them a few quagga and heartebeaster with a sound like that of thunder crashing myriad hooves casting up clouds of dust from the fire blackened belt the great herds separated at the appearance of their enemy man this way and that they went in groups and long brown lines leaving the wounded and exhausted wildebeaster behind them so that presently he was the sole tenant of that great cup of land at him they rode till Mr. Clifford who was a little ahead of his daughter almost alongside then the poor maddened brute tried its last shift stopping suddenly its wheeled round and charged head down Mr. Clifford as it came held out his rifle in his right hand and fired at a hazard the bullets passed through the bull but could not stop its charge its horns held low struck the four legs of the horse the next instant horse man and wildebeest rolled on the felt together Benita who was 50 yards behind uttered a little cry of fear but before ever she reached him her father had risen laughing for he was quite unhurt the horse too was getting up but the bull could rise no more it struggled to its four feet uttered a kind of sobbing groan stared round wildly and rolled over dead I never knew the wildebeest charge like that before said Mr. Clifford can't found it I believe my horse is blamed blamed it was indeed where the bull had struck the four leg though as it chanced not badly having tied a handkerchief to the horn of the buck in order to scare away the vultures and thrown some tufts of dry grass upon its body which he proposed if possible to fetch or send for Mr. Clifford mounted his lame horse and headed for the wagon but they had galloped further than they thought and it was midday before they came to what they took to be the road as there was no spore upon it they followed this track backwards expecting to find the wagon out spanned but although they rode for mile upon mile no wagon could they see then realising their mistake they retraced their steps and leaving this path at the spot where they had found it struck off again to the right meanwhile the sky was darkening and at about three o'clock in the afternoon a thunderstorm broke over them accompanied by torrents of icy rain the first fall of the spring and a bitter wind which chilled them through more after the heavy rain came drizzle and a thick mist that deepened as evening approached now their plight was very wretched lost, starved, soaked to the skin with tired horses one of which was lame they wandered about in the lonely veldt only one stroke of fortune came to them as the sun set for a few minutes its rays pierced the mist telling them in which direction they should go turning their horses they headed for it and so rode on until the darkness fell then they halted a while but feeling that if they stood still in that horrible cold they would certainly perish before morning once more pushed on again by now Mr Clifford's horse was too lame to ride so he led it walking at his daughter's side and reproaching himself bitterly for his foolishness in having brought her into this trouble it doesn't matter father she answered wearily she was very tired nothing matters one may as well die upon the veldt as in the sea or anywhere else on they plodded they knew not wither Bodita fell asleep upon her saddle and was awakened once by a hyena howling quite close to them and once by her horse falling to its knees what is the time? she said at last her father struck a match and looked at his watch it was ten o'clock they had been fifteen hours away from the wagon and without food at intervals Mr Clifford had fired his rifle now there was but one cartridge left and having caught sight of his daughter's exhausted face by the light of the match he fired this also though in that desperate wilderness there was little hope of its bringing sucker shall we stop or go on? he asked I do not care only if I stop I think it will be forever let us go on now the rain had ceased but the mist was as dense as before also they seem to have got among bush wet leaves brushed their faces utterly exhausted they stumbled forward till suddenly Bodita felt her horse stop as though her hand had seized its bridle and heard a man's voice speaking with a foreign accent say my god where are you going? I wish I knew she answered like one in a dream at this instant the moon rose above the mists and Benita saw Jakob Mayer for the first time in that light his appearance was not unpleasing a man of about forty years of age not over tall slight and active in build with a pointed black beard regular semitic features a complexion of an ivory pallor which even the African sun did not seem to tan and dark lustrous eyes that appeared now to sleep and now to catch the fire of the thoughts within yet weary though she was there was something in the man's personality which repelled and alarmed Benita something wild and cruel she felt that he was filled with unsatisfied ambitions and desires and that to attain them he would drink at nothing in a moment he was speaking again in tones that compelled her attention it was a good thought that brought me here to look for you no not a thought what do you call it an instinct I think your minds must have spoken to my mind and called me to save you see now Clifford my friend where you have led your daughter see see and he pointed downwards they leaned forward and stared there immediately beneath them was a mighty gulf whereof the moonlight did not reveal the bottom you are no good-felt traveller Clifford my friend one more step of those silly beasts and down below there would have been two red heaps with bits of bones sticking out of them yes there on the rocks five hundred feet beneath ah you would have slept sound tonight both of you what is the place asked Mr Clifford in a dazed fashion Leopard's Cloof yes Leopard's Cloof no other you have travelled along the top of the hill not at the bottom certainly that was a good thought which came to me from the lady your daughter for she is one of the thought senders I am sure ah it came to me suddenly it hit me like a stick while I was searching for you having found that you had lost the wagon it said to me ride to the top of Leopard's Cloof ride hard I rode hard through the rocks and the darkness through the mist and the rain and not one minute had I been here when you came and I caught the lady's bridle I am sure we are very grateful to you then I am paid back ten thousand times no it is I who am grateful I who have saved your life through the thought you sent me thought or no thought all's well that ends well broken Mr Clifford impatiently and thank heaven we are not more than three miles from home will you lead the way Jacob you always could see in the dark yes yes and he took hold of Benita's bridle with his firm white hand oh my horse will follow your arm through his reign so now come on Miss Clifford and be afraid no more with Jacob Mayor you are safe so they began their descent of the hill Mayor did not speak again all his attention seemed to be concentrated upon finding a safe path on which the horses would not stumble nor did Benita speak she was too utterly exhausted so exhausted indeed that she could no longer control her mind imagination these seem to lose themselves from her and to acquire new powers notably that of entering into the secret thoughts of the man at her side she saw them pass before her like living things and yet she could not read them still something she did understand that she has suddenly grown important to this man not in the way in which women are generally important to men but otherwise she felt as though she had become interwoven with the objects of his life and was henceforth necessary to their fulfilment as though she was someone whom he had been seeking for years on years the one person who could give him light in his darkness these imaginings troubled her so that she was very thankful when they passed away as swiftly as they had arisen and she knew only that she was half dead with weariness and cold that her limbs ached and that the steep path seemed endless at length they reached level ground and after travelling along it for a while and crossing the bed of a stream passed through a gate and stopped suddenly at the door of a house with lighted windows here is your home at last Miss Clifford said the musical voice of Jacob Meyer and I thank the fate which rules us that it has taught me to bring you to it safely making no answer she slid from the saddle only to find she could not stand for she sank into a heap upon the ground with a gentle exclamation he lifted her and calling to two caffers who had appeared to take the horses led her into the house you must go to bed at once he said conducting her to a door which opened out of the sitting-room I have had a fire lit in your chamber in case you should come and old Tantas Ali will bring you soup with brandy in it water for your feet ah there you are old Farao come now help the lady your mistress is all ready al bas answered the woman a stout half-breed with kindly face come now my little one and I will undress you half an hour later Benita having drunk more brandy than ever she had done in her life before was wrapped up in blankets and fast asleep when she awoke the sun was streaming through the curtain window of her room and by the light of it she saw that the clock which stood upon the mantelpiece pointed to half past eleven she had slept for nearly twelve hours and felt that not withstanding the cold and exposure save for stiffness and a certain numb feeling in her head the result perhaps of the unaccustomed brandy she was well and what was more quite hungry outside on the veranda she heard the voice of Yakob Meir with which she seemed already to have become familiar telling some natives to stop singing as they would awake the chieftainess inside he used the Zulu word in Kosikas which she remembered meant headlady or chieftainess he was very thoughtful for her she reflected and was grateful till suddenly she remembered the dislike she had taken to the man then she looked round her room and saw that it was very pretty well furnished and papered with watercolour pictures of no mean merit on the walls things that she had not expected in this far off place also on a table stood a great bowl of arum lilies she wondered who had put them there whether it's with the old half-breed Sali or Yakob Meir also she wondered who had painted the pictures which were all of african scenery and nothing told her that both the flowers and the pictures came from Yakob Meir on the little table by her bed was a hand-bell which presently she rang instantly she heard the voice of Sali calling for the coffee quick and next minute the woman entered bringing a tray with it and bread and butter yes and toast and eggs that had evidently been made ready for her speaking in English mixed with Dutch words Sali asked her father that her father was still in bed but sent her his love and wished to know how she did then while she ate her breakfast with appetite Sali set her a bath and subsequently appeared carrying the contents of the box she had used upon the wagon which had now arrived safely at the farm Benita asked who had ordered the box to be unpacked and Sali answered that the Heermeyer had ordered it so that she might not be disturbed in her sleep and that her things should be ready for her when she woke the Heermeyer thinks a great deal about other people said Benita Yaa yaa answered the old half-breed he think much about people when he want to think about them but he think most about himself Basmeer he a very clever man oh a very clever man who want to be a great man too and one day Missy he be a great man which if the here god almighty let him end of chapter 5