 Chapter 15 of She and Alan This is a LibriVox recording, or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Reading by Lars Rolander She and Alan by H. Ryder Haggard Chapter 15 Robertson is Lost So I went and was contacted by Bilali, the old chamblin, for such seemed to be his office, who had been waiting patiently without all this while, back to our rest house. On my way I picked up Hans, whom I found sitting outside the arch, and found that as usual, that worthy had been keeping his eyes and ears open. Baaas, he said, did the White Witch tell you that there is a big impi, encamped over jaunder outside the houses, in what looks like a great dry ditch, and on the edge of the plain beyond? No, Hans, but she said that this evening she would show us those in whose company we must fight. Well, Baaas, they are there, some thousands of them, for I crept through the broken walls like a snake and saw them, and Baaas, I do not think they are men, I think that they are evil spirits who walk at night only. Why, Hans? Because when the sun is high, Baaas, as it is now, they are all sleeping. Yes, there they lie a bed, fast asleep, as other people do at night, with only a few sentries out on guard, and these are joining and rubbing their eyes. I have heard that there are folk like that in the middle of Africa, where the sun is very hot, Hans, I answered, which perhaps is why she, you commands, is going to take us to see them at night. Also, these people, it seems, are worshippers of the moon. No, Baaas, they are worshippers of the devil and that white witch is his wife. You had better keep your thoughts to yourself, Hans, for whatever she is, I think that she can read thoughts from far away, as you guessed last night. Therefore I would not have any if I were you. No, Baaas, or if I must think henceforth it shall be only of Jin, which in this place is also far away," he replied, grinning. Then we came to the rest house, where I found Roberson had already eaten his midday meal, and, like the Armahager, gone to sleep, while apparently Omslopogas had done the same. At least I saw nothing of him. Of this I was glad, since that wondrous Asha seemed to draw vitality out of me, and after my long talk with her I felt very tired. So I too ate and then went to lie down under an old wall in the shade at a little distance and to reflect upon the marvellous things that I had heard. Here it said at once that I believed nothing of them, or at least very little indeed. All the involved tale of Asha's long life I dismissed at once as incredible. Clearly she was some beautiful woman who was more or less mad and suffered from megalomania, probably an Arab who had wandered to this place for reasons of her own, and become the chief tenets of a savage tribe whose traditions she had absorbed and reduced as personal experiences, again for reasons of her own. For the rest she was now threatened by another tribe and knowing that we had guns and could fight from what happened on the yesterday wished naturally enough for our assistance in the coming battle. As for the marvellous chief racer, or rather for his supernatural attributes there was a cock-and-ball story about an axe. Well, it was humbug like the rest, and if she believed in it she must be more foolish than I took her to be, even if she were unhinged on certain points. For the rest her information about myself and Oslo Pogas doubtless had reached her from Sikali in some obscure fashion as she herself acknowledged. What heavens, how beautiful she was! That flash of loveliness when out of peak or cocketry she lifted her veil, blinded like the lightning. But thank goodness also, like the lightning it frightened. Instinctively one felt that it was very dangerous, even to death, and with it I for one wished no closer acquaintance. Fire may be lovely and attractive, also comforting at a proper distance, but he who sits on the top of it is cremated as many a moth has found. So I argued, knowing well enough all the while that if this particular human or inhuman fire decided to make an holocaust on me it could do so easily enough. And that in reality I owed my safety so far to lack of that desire on its part. The glorious Asha saw nothing to attract her in an insignificant and withered hunter, or at any rate in his exterior, though with his mind she might find some small affinity. Moreover, to make a fool of him just for the fun of it would not serve her purpose, since she needed his assistance in a business that necessitated clear wits and unprejudiced judgment. Lastly she had declared herself to be absorbed in some tiresome complication with another man, a which it was rather difficult to follow the details. It is true that she described him as a handsome but somewhat empty-headed person whom she had last seen two thousand years ago but probably this only meant that she thought poorly of him because he had preferred some other woman to herself while the two thousand years were added to the tale to give it atmosphere. The worst of scandals becomes romantic and even respectable in two thousand years. Witness that of Cleopatra with Caesar, Mark Antony, and other gentlemen. The most virtuous reed of Cleopatra with sympathy even in boarding schools and it is felt that where she buys some miracle to be blotted out of the book of history the loss would be enormous. The same applied to Helen, Freen and other bad lots. In fact now that one comes to think of it most of the attractive personages in history male or female especially the latter were bad lots. When we find someone to whose name is added the good we skip. No doubt Asha being very clever appreciated this regrettable truth and therefore moved her murky entanglements of the past decade or so back for a couple of thousand years as many of us would like to do. There remain the very curious circumstance of her apparent correspondence with old Sicali who lived far away. This however after all was not inexplicable. In the course of a great deal of experience I have absurd that all the which doctor family to which doubtless she belonged had strange means of communication. In most instances these are no doubt physical carried on by help of messengers or messages passed from one to the other but sometimes it is reasonable to assume what is known as telepathy as their link of intercourse. Between two such highly developed experts as Asha and Sicali it might for the sake of argument safely be supposed that it was thus they learned each other's mind and cooperated in each other's projects though perhaps this end was affected by commoner methods. Whatever its interpretations the issue of the business seemed to be that I was to be let in for more fighting. Well in any case this could not be avoided since Robertson's daughter Ines had to be saved at all costs if it could possibly be done even if we lost our lives in the attempt. Therefore fight we must so there was nothing more to be said. Also without doubt this adventure was particularly interesting and I could only hope that good luck or Sicali's great medicine or rather Providence would see me through it safely. For the rest the fact that our help was necessary to her in this warlike venture showed me clearly enough that all this wonderful woman's pretensions to supernatural powers were the sheerest nonsense. Had they been otherwise she would not have needed our help in her tribal fights not withstanding the rubbish she talked about the chief racer who according to her account of him must resemble one of the fabulous trolls half human and half ghostly evil creatures of whom I have read in the Norse sagas who could only be slain by some particular hero armed with a particular weapon. Reflecting thus I went to sleep and did not wake until the sun was setting finding that Hans was also sleeping at my feet just like a faithful dog I woke him up and we went back together to the rest house which we reached as the darkness fell with extraordinary swiftness as it does in those latitudes especially in a place surrounded by cliffs. Not finding Robertson in the house I concluded that he was somewhere outside possibly making a reconnaissance on his own account and told Hans to get supper ready for both of us. While he was doing so the Amahager lamps and Slopoga suddenly appeared in the circle of light and looking about him said Where is Redbird, Makumasan? I answered that I did not know and waited for I felt sure that he had something to say I think you had better keep Redbird close to you, Makumasan He went on afternoon when you had returned from visiting the white doctoris and having eaten had gone to sleep under the wall, Jonder I saw Redbird come out of the house carrying a gun and a bag of cartridges His eyes rolled wildly and he turned first this way and then that sniffing at the air like a buck that sensed danger Then he began to talk loud in his own tongue and as I saw that he was speaking with his spirit as those two who are mad I went away and left him Why? I asked Because as you know, Makumasan it is a law among us Sules never to disturb one who is mad and engaged in talking with his spirit Moreover, had I done so he would have shot me nor should I have been complained who would have thrust myself in where I had no right to be Then why did you not come to call me, Umslopogas? Because then he might have shot you for as I have seen for some time he is inspired of heaven and knows not what he does upon the earth thinking only of the lady's sad eyes who has been stolen away from him as is but natural So I left him walking up and down and when I returned later to look so that he was gone as I thought into this walled heart Now, when Hans tells me that he is not here I have come to speak to you about him No, certainly he is not here, I said and I went to look at the bed where Robertson slept to see if it had been used that evening Then for the first time I saw lying on it a piece of paper torn from a pocketbook and addressed to myself I ceased and read it It ran thus The merciful Lord has sent me a vision of Enus and shown me where she is over the cliff edge of way to the west also the road to her In my sleep I heard her talking to me She told me that she is in great danger that they are going to marry her to some brute and call to me to come at once and save her Yes, and come alone without saying anything to anyone So I am going at once Don't be frightened or troubled about me All will be well, all will be quite well I will tell you the rest when we meet Horror struck I translated this insane screed-tone Slopogos and Hans the former nodded gravely Did I not tell you that he was talking with his spirit, Magumasan? I had rendered the merciful Lord as the good spirit Well, he has gone and doubtless his spirit will take care of him It is finished At any rate we cannot pass Broke in Hans who I think feared that I might send him out to look for Robertson I can follow most spores but not on such a night as this when one could cut the blackness into lumps and build a wall of it Yes, I answered He has gone and nothing can be done at present Though to myself I reflected that probably he had not gone far and would be found when the moon rose or at any rate on the following morning Still I was most uneasy about the man who, as I had noted for a long while was losing his balance more and more The shock of the barbarous and dreadful slaughter of his half-bred children and of the abduction of enus by these grim man-eating savages began the business and I think that it was increased and accentuated by his sudden conversion to complete temperance after years of heavy drinking When I persuaded him to this course I was very proud of myself thinking that I had done a clever thing but now I was not so sure Perhaps it would have been better if he had continued to drink something at any rate for a while but the trouble is that in such cases there's generally no halfway house a man or still more a woman given to this frailty either turns aggressively sober or remains very drunken At any rate, even if I had made a mess of it I had acted for the best and could not blame myself For the rest it was clear that in this new phase the religious associations of his youth had reasserted themselves with a remarkable vigor for I gathered that he had been brought up almost as a Calvinist and in the rush of their return had over-set his equilibrium As I have said, he prayed night and day without any of those reserves which most people prefer in their religious exercises and when he talked to mattress outside our quest his conversation generally revolved round the devil or hell and his torments which, to say the truth did not make him a cheerful companion Indeed, in this respect I liked him much better in his old unregenerate days being, I fear, myself a somewhat wordless soul Well, the sum of it was that a poor fellow had gone mad and given us the slip and as Hans said to search for him at once in that darkness was impossible Indeed, even if it had been lighter I do not think that it would have been safe among these Amahagar nightbirds whom I did not trust Certainly, I could not have asked Hans to undertake the task and if I had I do not think he would have gone since he was afraid of the Amahagar Therefore, there was nothing to be done except wait and hope for the best So, I waited till at last the moon came and with it Asha as she had promised Clad in a rich dark cloak she arrived in some pomp heralded by Bilali followed by women also cloaked and surrounded by a guard of tall spearmen I was seated outside the house smoking when suddenly she arrived from the shadows and stood before me I rose respectfully and bowed Mylonslopogas, Goroko and the other Soulos who were with me gave her the royal salute and Hans cringed like a dog that is afraid of being kicked After a swift glance at them as I guessed by the motion of her veiled head she seemed to fix her gaze upon my pipe that evidently excited her curiosity and asked me what it was I explained as well as I could expatiating on the charms of smoking So, men have learned another useless vice since I left the world and one that is filthy also she said sniffing at the smoke and waving her hand before her face whereon I dropped the pipe into my pocket where, being a light it burnt a hole in my best remaining coat I remember the remark because it showed me what a clever actress she was who, to keep up her character on an antiquity pretended to be astonished at a habit with which she must have been well acquainted although I believe that it was unknown in the ancient world You are troubled she went on swiftly changing the subject I read it in your face one of your company is missing Who is it? Ah, I see the white man you name Avenger Where is he gone? That is what I wished to ask you, Arsha I said How can I tell you, Alan who in this place lack any glass into which to look for things that pass afar Still, let me try and pressing her hands to her forehead she remained silent for perhaps a minute and spoke slowly I think that he has gone over the mountain lip towards the worshippers of Riser I think that he is mad sorrow and something else which I do not understand have turned his brain something that has to do with the heavens I think also that we shall recover him living if only for a little while though of this I cannot be sure since it is not given to me to read the future but only the past and sometimes the things that happen in the present though they be far away Will you send to search for him, or Arsha I asked anxiously Nay, it is useless for he is already distant Moreover, those who went might be taken by the outposts of Riser as perhaps has happened to your companion wandering in his madness Do you know what he went to see More or less, I answered and translated to her the letter that Roberson had left for me It may be as the man writes she commented since the mad often see well in their dreams though these are not sent by a god as he imagines the mind in its secret places knows all things Oh Alan, although it seems to know little or nothing and when the breath of vision or the fury of a soul distraught blows away the veil so burns through the gates of distance then for a while it sees and learns since whatever fools may think often madness is true wisdom Now follow me with the little jello man and the warrior of the axe stay, let me look upon that axe I interpreted it her wish to Mslopogas who held it out to her but refused to lose it from his wrist to which it was attached by the leaven thong Does the black one think that I shall cut him down with his own weapon? I who am so weak and gentle she asked laughing Nay, Asha but it is his law not apart with this drinker of lives which he names chieftainess and groan maker and clings to closer by day and night than a man does to his wife There is wise Alan since a savage captain may get more wives but never such another axe the thing is ancient she added musingly after examinates every detail and who knows it may be that whereof the legend tells which is fated to bring razor to the dust now ask this fierce eyed slayer whether on with his axe he can find courage to face the most terrible of all men and the strongest one who is a wizard also of whom it is prophesied that only by such an axe as this can he be made to bite the dust I obeyed Omslopogas laughed grimly and answered Say to the white witch that there is no man living upon the earth whom I would not face in war I who have never been conquered in fair fight though once a chance blow brought me to the doors of death and he touched the great hole in his forehead say to her also that I have no fear of defeat I from whom doom is as I think still far away though the opener of roads has told me that among a strange people I shall die in war at last as I desire to do who from my boyhood have lived in war he speaks well she answered with a note of admiration in her voice by Isis worry but white I would set him to rule this Amahagar under me tell him Alan that if he lays three so low he shall have a great reward and tell the white witch Omslopogas replied when I had translated that I seek no reward save glory only and with it the sight of one who is lost to me but with whom my heart still dwells if indeed this witch has strength to break the wall of blackness that is built between me and her who is gone down strange reflected Asha when she understood that this grim destroyer should yet be bound by the silken bonds of love and yearn for one whom the grave has taken learn from it Alan that all humanity is cast in the same mould since my longings and your longings are his also though the three of us be far apart as are the sun and the moon and the earth and as different in every other quality yet it is true that sun and moon and earth are one of the same black womb of chaos therefore in the beginning they were identical as doubtless they will be in the end when their journey is done they rush together to light space with a flame at which the mocking gods that made them may warm their hands well so it is with men Alan who soul stuff is drawn from the gulf for spirit by nature's hand and cast upon the cold air of this death driven world freezes into a million shapes each different to the other and yet be sure the same now talk no more but follow me slave this was addressed to Bilali pit the guards lead me on to the camp of the servants of Lulala so we went through the silent ruins as I walked or rather glided a pace or two ahead then came on Slopogos and I side by side while at our heels followed hands very close at our heels since he did not wish to be out of reach of the virtue of the great medicine and incidentally of the protection of axe and rifle thus we march surrounded by their solemn guard for something between a quarter and a half a mile till at length we climbed the debris of a mighty wall that once had encompassed the city and by the moonlight so beneath us a vast hollow which clearly at some unknown time had been the bed of an enormous moat and filled with water now however it was dry and all about his service were dotted numerous campfires round which men were moving also some women who appear to be engaged in cooking food had a little distance too upon the further edge of the moat like depression were a number of white road individuals gathered in a circle about a large stone upon which something was stretched that resembled the carcass of a sheep or goat and round these a great number of spectators the priests of Lulala who make sacrifice to the moon as they do night by night save when she's dead said Asha turning back towards me as though in answer to the query which I had conceived but left unuttered what struck me about the whole scene was its extraordinary animation and briskness all the fork round the fires and outside of them moved about quickly and with the same kind of liveliness which might animate a camp of more natural people at the rising of the sun it was as though they had just got up full of vigor to commence their daily or rather their nightly round which in truth was the case since as Hans discovered by habitude these Amahagar preferred to sleep during the day unless something prevented them and to carry on the activities of life at night it only remains to add that there seemed to be a great number of them for their fires following the round of the dry moat stretch further than I could see scrambling down the crumpled wall by a zigzag pathway we came upon the outposts of the army beneath us who challenged then seeing with whom they had to do fell flat upon their faces leaving their great spears which had iron sparks on their shafts like those of the Maasai sticking in the ground beside them we passed on between some of the fires and I noted how solemn and gloomy although handsome were the countenances of the fork by whom these were surrounded indeed they looked like densions of a different world to ours one alien of the kindly race of men there was nothing social about these Amahagar who seemed to be people laboring under some ancient ancestral curse of which they could never shake off the memory even the women rarely smiled their clear-cut stately countenances remained stern and set except when they glowed at us incuriously only when Asha passed they prostrated themselves like the rest we went on through them and across them out climbing its further slope and here suddenly came upon a host of men gathered in a hollow square apparently in order to receive us they stood in ranks of five or six deep and their spear points glimmering in the moonlight looked like long bands of level steel as we entered the open side of the square all these spears were lifted thrice they were lifted and at each uplifting the rose a deep-throated cry of here which is the Arabic for she and I suppose was a salutation to Asha she swept on taking no heed till we came to the center of the square where a number of men were gathered who prostrated themselves in the usual fashion motioning to them to rise she said captains this very night within two hours we marched against Risu and the sun worshippers since otherwise as my arch tell me they march against us she who commands is immortal as your fathers have known from generation to generation and cannot be destroyed but you her servants can be destroyed and Risu who also strunk of the cup of life outnumbers you by three to one and prepares a queen to be set up in my place over his own people and such of you as remain as though she added with a contemptous laugh any woman of a day could take my place she paused and the spokesman of the captains said we hear Ohiya and we understand what wouldst thou have us to do O lulala come to earth the armies of Risu are great and from the beginning he has hated thee and us also his magic is as thy magic and his length of days as thy length of days how then can we who are few three thousand men at the most match ourselves against Risu son of the son would it not be better that we should accept the terms of Risu which are light and acknowledge him as our king as she heard these words I saw the tall shape of Arsha quiver beneath her ropes as I think not with fear but with rage because the meaning of them was clear enough namely that rather than risk a battle with Risu these people were contemplating surrender and her own deposition if indeed she could be deposed still she answered in a quiet voice it seems that I have dealt too gently with you and with your fathers children of Lulala whose shadow I am here upon the earth so that because you only see the scabbard you have forgotten the sword within and that it can shine forth and smite well why should I be wrath because the brutish will follow the law of the brutes though it be true that I am minded to slay you where you stand harken were I less merciful I would leave you to the clutching hands of Risu who would drag you one by one to the stone of sacrifice and there offer up your hearts to his god of fire and devour your bodies with his heat but I bethink me of your wives and children and of your forefathers whom I knew in the dead days and therefore if I may I still would save you from yourselves and your heads from the glowing pot take counsels together now and say will you fight against Risu or will you yield if that is your desire speak it my tomorrow's son I will be gone taking these with me and she pointed to us whom I have summoned to help us in the war I I will be gone and when you are stretched upon the stone of sacrifice and your women and children are the slaves of the men of Risu then shall you cry oh where is he whom our fathers knew will she not return and save us from this hell yes so shall you cry but there shall come no answer since then she will have departed to her own habitations in the moon and then appear no more now consult together and answer swiftly since I weary of you and your ways the captains drew apart and began to talk in low voices while Asha stood still apparently quite unconcerned and I considered the situation it was obvious to me that these people were almost in rebellion against their strange ruler whose power over them was of a purely moral nature one that emanated from her personality alone what I wondered was being what she seemed to be why she thought it worthwhile to exercise it at all then I remembered her statement that here and nowhere else she must abide for some secret reason until a certain mystical gentleman with a Greek name came to fetch her away from this appointed rendezvous therefore I suppose she had no choice or rather suffering as she did from hallucinations believed herself to have no choice and was obliged to put up with a crowd of disagreeable savages in quarters which were sadly out of repair presently the spokesman return saluted with a spear and asked if we go up to fight against Risu who will lead us in the battle Ohiya my wisdom shall be your guide she answered this white man shall be your general and there stands the warrior who shall meet Risu face to face and bring him to the dust and she pointed to Umslopogas leaning upon his axe and watching them with a contemptuous smile this reply did not seem to please the man for he withdrew to consult again with his companions after a debate which I suppose was animated for the Amahager men of few words who did not indulge in oratory all of them advanced on us and the spokesman said the choice of a general does not please us here we know that the white man is brave because of the fight he made against the men of Risu over the mountain yonder also that he and his followers have weapons that deal death from afar but there is a prophecy among us of which none know the beginning that he who commands in the last great battle between Lulala and Risu must produce before the eyes of the people of Lulala a certain holy thing a charm of power without which defeat will be the portion of Lulala of this holy thing this spirit-haunted shape of power we know the likeness and the fashion for these have come down among our priests though who told it to them we cannot tell but of it I will say this only the spirit and the body of man and yet of more than man and if this wondrous charm this talisman of might cannot be shown by the white lord here what then? asked Asha coldly then here this is the word of the people of Lulala that we will not serve under him in the battle and this also is their word that he will not go up against Risu but thou are mighty we know well here also that thou canst slay if thou wilt but we know also that Risu's mightier and that against him thou has no power therefore kill us if thou dost so desire until thy heart is satisfied with death for it is better that we should perish thus than upon the altar of sacrifice wearing the red hot crowns of Risu so say we all exclaim the rest of the company when he had finished the thought comes to me to begin to satisfy my heart with thy coward blood and that of thy companions said Asha contemptuously then she paused and turning to me added oh watcher by night what council is there ought that will convince these chicken-hearted ones over whom I have spread my feathers for so long I shook my head blankly wear it they murmured together and made as though they would go then it was that Hans who understood something of Arabic as he did of most African tongues pulled my sleeve and whispered in my ear the great medicine bars show them Sicali's great medicine here was an idea the description of the article said a spirit-haunted shape of power that spoke of both the spirit and the body of man and yet of more than man was so vague that it might mean anything or nothing and yet I turned to Asha and prayed her to ask them if what they wanted should be produced whether they would follow me bravely and fight Risu to the death she did so and when one voice they replied I bravely and to the death him and the bearer of the axe of whom I also are legend tells then with deliberation I opened my shirt and holding out the image of Sicali as far as the chain of elephant hair would allow I asked is this the holy thing the charm of power of which your legend tells oh people of the Amahagar and worshipers the spokesman glanced at it then snatching a brand from a watch fire that burnt near by held it over the carring and stared and stared again and as he did so did the others bending over him dog would you cinch my beard I cried in affected rage and ceasing the brand from his hand I smote him with it over the head but he took no heed of the front which I had offered to him nearly to assert my authority still for a few moments he stared although the sparks from the wood were frisling in his greasy hair then of a sudden went down on his face before me as did all the others and cried out it is the holy thing it is the spirit haunted shape of power itself and we the worshipers will follow thee to the death oh white lord watcher by night yes there thou ghost and he goes who bears the axe thither we will follow till no one of us is left upon his feet then that settled I said yawning since it is never wise to show concern about anything before savages indeed personally I had no wish to be the leader of this very peculiar tribe an adventure of which I knew nothing and therefore had hoped that they would leave the honor to someone else then I turned and told Omslopogas what had passed a tale at which he only shrugged his great shoulders handling his axe as though he were minded to try its edge upon some of these dark lovers as he named the Amahaggar people because of their nocturnal habits meanwhile Asha gave certain orders then she came to me and said these men march at once three thousand strong and by dawn will camp on the northern mountain crest at sunrise litters will come to bear you and those with you if they will to join them which you should do by midday in the afternoon marshal them as you think wise for the battle will take place of the following morning since the people of Lulala only fight at night I have said do you not come with us I ask dismayed nay not in a war against Riser why it matters not yet my spirit will go with you for I shall watch all that passes how it matters not and perhaps you may see it there I know not on the third day from tomorrow we shall meet again in the flesh or beyond it but as I think in the flesh and you can claim the reward which you journeyed here to seek a place shall be prepared for the white lady whom Riser would have set up as a rival queen to me Farewell and Farewell also to yonder bearer of the axe that shall drink the blood of Riser also to the little yellow man who is rightly named light in darkness as you shall learn ere all is done then before I could speak she turned and glided away swiftly surrounded by her guards leaving me astonished and very uncomfortable End of Chapter 15 of She and Alan by H. Rider Haggard read by Laush Rulander Chapter 16 of She and Alan this is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org reading by Laush Rulander She and Alan by H. Rider Haggard Chapter 16 Alan's Vision the old chamberlain Alan Bilali conducted us back to our camp as we went he discourse to me of these Amahager of whom it seemed he was himself a developed specimen one who threw back perhaps tens of generations to some superior ancestor who lived before they became debased in substance he told me that they were a wild and lawless lot who lived amongst ruins or in caves some of them in swamp dwellings in small separate communities each governed by its pity headman who was generally a priest of their goddess Lulala originally they and the people of Reso were the same in times when they worshiped the sun and the moon jointly but thousands of years ago as he expressed it they had separated the Resweets having gone to dwell to the north of the great mountain whence they continually threatened the Lulalaites whom had it not been for Shiyu commands they would have destroyed long before the Resweets it seemed were habitual cannibals whereas the Lulalaite branch of the Amahager only practiced cannibalism occasionally when by a lack of chance they got hold of strangers such as yourself watcher by night and your companions he added with meaning if their crime were discovered however here Shiyu commands punished it by death I asked if she exercised an active rule over these people he answered that she did not as she lacked sufficient interest in them only when she was angry with individuals she would destroy some of them by her arch as she had power to do if she choose most of them indeed had never seen her and only knew of her existence by rumor to them she was a spirit or a goddess who inhabited the ancient tombs that lay to the south of the old city whether she had come because of the threatened war with Risu whom alone she feared he did not know why he told me again moreover that she was the greatest magician who had ever been and that it was certain she did not die since their forefathers knew her generations ago still she seemed to be under some curse like the Amahaggar themselves who were the descendants of those who had once inhabited core and the country rounded as far as the sea coast and for hundreds of miles inland having been a mighty people day before a great plague destroyed them for the rest he thought that she was a very unhappy woman who lived with her own soul mourning the dead and consorting with none upon the earth I asked him why she stayed here where it he shook his head and replied he supposed because of the curse since he could conceive of no other reason he informed me also that her moods varied very much sometimes she was fierce and active and others by comparison mild and low spirited just now she was passing through one of the latter stages perhaps because of the race of trouble for she did not wish her people to be destroyed by this terrible person or perhaps for some other reason with which she was not acquainted when she choose she knew all things except the distant future thus she knew that we were coming also the details of our march and that we would be attacked by the resweets who were going out to meet their returning company that had been sent afar to find a white queen therefore she had ordered him to go with soldiers to our assistance I asked why she went veiled because of her beauty which drew even savage men mad so that in old days she had been obliged to kill a number of them that was all he seemed to know about her except that she was kind to those who served her well like himself and protected them from evil of every sort then I asked him about Resu he answered that he was a dreadful person and dying it was said like she who commands though he had never seen the man himself and never wanted to do so his followers being cannibals and having literally eaten up all those that they could reach were now desires of conquering the people of Lulala that they might eat them also at their leisure each other they did not eat because dog does not eat dog and therefore they were beginning to grow hungry although they had plenty of grain and cattle of which they used the milk and hides as for the coming battle he knew nothing about it or what would happen save that she who commands said that it would go well for the Lulala eaters under my direction she was so sure that it would go well that she did not think it worthwhile to accompany the army with noise and bloodshed it occurred to me that perhaps she was afraid that she too would be taken captive and eaten but I kept my reflection to myself just then we arrived at our camp house where Bilali made me far well saying that he wished to rest as he must be back at dawn with litters when he hoped to find us ready to start then he departed Umslopogas and Hans also went away to sleep leaving me alone who having taken my repose in the afternoon did not feel drowsy at the moment so lovely was the night indeed that I made up my mind to take a little walk during the midnight hours after the manner of the Amahagar themselves for having now been recognized as generalissimo of their forces I had little fear of being attacked especially as I carried a pistol in my pocket so off I set strolling slowly down what seemed to have been a main street of the ancient city which in its general appearance resembled excavated Pompeii only on an infinitely larger scale as I went I meditated on the strange circumstances in which I found myself really they tempted me to believe that I was suffering from delusions and perhaps all the while in fact lay stretched upon a bed in the delirium of fever that marvelous woman for instance even rejecting her tale of miraculously extended life which I did what was I to make of her I did not know except that wondrous as she was it remained clear that she claimed a great deal more power than she possessed this was evident from her tone in the interview with the captains and from the fact that she had shuffled off the command of her tribe onto my shoulders if she were so mighty why did she not command it herself and bring her celestial or infernal powers to bear upon the enemy again I could not say but one fact emerged namely that she was as interesting as she was beautiful and uncommonly clever into the bargain but what a task was this that she had laid upon me to lead into battle with a foe of uncertain strength a mob of savages probably quite undisciplined of whose fighting qualities I knew nothing and whom I had no opportunity of organizing the affair seemed madness and I could only hope that luck or destiny would take me through somehow to tell the truth I believed it would for I had grown almost as superstitious about Sicali and his great medicine as was Hans himself certainly the effect of it upon those captains was very odd or would have been had not the explanation come to me in a flash on the first night of our meeting as I have described I showed this talisman to Asha as a kind of letter of credentials and now I could see that it was she who had arranged all the scene with the captains or their tribal magician in order to get away about my appointment to the command everything about her conduct bore this out even her feigning ignorance of the existence of the charm and leaving it to Hans to suggest its production which perhaps fitted by influencing his mind subconsciously no doubt more or less it fitted in with one of those nebulous traditions which are so common amongst ancient savage races and therefore once shown to her confederate or confederates would be accepted by the common people as a holy sign after which the rest was easy such an obvious explanation involved the death of any illusions I might still cherish about this Arab lady Asha and it is true that I parted with them with regret as we all do when we think we have discovered something wonderful in the female line but there it was and to bother any more about her, her history and aims seemed useless so dismissing her and all present anxieties from my mind I began to look about me and to wonder at the marvelous scene which unfolded itself before me in the moonlight that I might see it better although I was rather afraid of snakes which might hide among the stones by an easy ascent I climbed a mount of ruins and up the broad slope of a tumbled massive wall which from its thickness I judge must have been that of some fort or temple on the crest of this wall some 70 or 80 feet above the level of the streets I sat down and looked about me everywhere around me stretched the ruins of the great city now as fallen and as deserted as Babylon herself the majestic loneliness of the place was something awful even the vision of companies and battalions of men crossing the plain towards the north with a moonlight glistening their spare points did little to lessen the sense of loondiness I knew that these were the regiments which I was destined to command traveling to the camp but I must meet them but in such silence did they move that no sound came from them even in the deathly stillness of the perfect night so that almost I was tempted to believe them to be the shadow ghosts of some army of old Cor they vanished and musing thus I think I must have dosed at any rate it seemed to me that of a sudden the city was as it had been in the day of its glory I saw it brilliant with a hundred colors everywhere was color on the painted walls and roofs the flowering trees that line the streets and the bright dresses of the men and women who by thousands crowded them and the march and squares even the chariots that moved to and fro were colored as were the countless banners which floated from palace walls and temple tops the enormous place teamed with every activity of life brides being born to marriage and dead men to burial squadrons marching clad in glittering armor merchants chaffering white-robed priests and priestesses and who or what did they worship I wondered children breaking out of school grave philosophers debating in the shadow of a cool arcade a royal person making a progress preceded by runners and surrounded by slaves and lastly the multitudes of citizens going about the daily business of life even details were visible such as those of officers of the law chasing a prisoner who had a broken rope tied to his arm and a collision between two chariots in a narrow street about the wrecks of which an idle mob gathered as it does today if two vehicles collide while the owners argued gesticulating angrily and the police and grooms try to lift a fallen horse onto its feet only no sound of the argument or anything else reached me and that was all the silence remained intense as well it might do since those chariots must have come to grieve thousands upon thousands of years ago a cloud seemed to pass before my eyes a thin gorsy cloud which somehow reminded me of the veil that Asha wore indeed at the moment although I could not see her I found that she was present at my side and what is more that she was mocking me who had set her down as so impotent a trick-stress which doubtless was part of the dream at any rate I returned to my normal state and there about me were the miles of desolate streets and the thousands of broken walls and the black plots of ruthless houses and the wide untananted plane bounded by the settlemented line of encircling mountain crests and above all the great moon shining softly in a tender sky I looked and thrilled though oppressed by the drear and desolate beauty of the scene around me descended the wall and the ruined slope and made my way homewards afraid even of my own shadow for I seem to be the only living thing among the dead habitations of immemorial core reaching our camp I found hands awake and watching for me I was just coming to look for your bars he said indeed I should have done so before only I knew that you had gone to pay a visit to that tall white mrs who ties upper head in a blanket and thought that neither of you would like to be disturbed then you thought wrong I answered and what is more if you had made that visit I think it might have been one from which you would never have come back oh yes pass snigger hands the tall white lady would not have minded it is you who are so particular after the fashion of men whom heaven made very shy without deigning to reply to the gibbs of hands I went to lie down wondering what kind of bed poor robertson occupied that night and soon fell asleep as fortunately for myself I have the power to do whatever my circumstances at the moment men who can sleep are those who do the work of the world and succeed though personally I have had more of the work than of the success I was awakened at the first gray dawn by hands who informed me that Bilali was waiting outside with litters also that Goroko had already made his incantations and doctored Oslo Porgas and his two men for war after the Sulu fashion when battle was expected he added that these Sulus had refused to be left behind to guard and nurse their wounded companions and said that rather than do so they would kill them now he informed me in what way he could not guess this had come to the ears of the white lady who hid her face from men because it was so ugly and she had sent women to attend to the sick ones with word that they should be well cared for all of this proved to be true enough but I need not enter into the details in the end of we went I in my litter following Bilalis I expressed in the repeating rifle and plenty of ammunition for both and Hans also well armed in that which had been sent for Oslo Porgas who prefer to walk with Goroko and the two other Sulus for a little while Hans enjoyed the sensation of being carried by somebody else and lay upon the cushion smoking with a seraphic smile and addressing sarcastic remarks to the bearers who fortunately did not understand them soon however he wear it of these novel delights and as he was still determined not to walk until he was obliged climbing on to the roof of the litter a stride of it he sat as though it were a horse looking for all the word like a toy monkey on a horizontal stick our road ran across the level fertile plain but a small portion of which was cultivated though I could see that at some time or other when its population was greater every inch of it had been undercrop now it was largely covered by trees many of them fruit bearing between which mendered streams of water which once I think had been irrigation channels about ten o'clock we'd reached the foot of the encircling cliffs and began the climb of the escarpment which was steep, torturous and difficult by noon we reached its crest and here found all our little army in camp and except for the centuries sleeping as seemed to be the invariable custom of these people in the daytime I caused the chief captains to be awakened and with them made a circuit of the camp reckoning the numbers of the men which came to about three thousand two hundred and fifty and learning what I could concerning them and their way of fighting then accompanied by umslopogas and hans with the sulus as a guard also by three of the head captains of the amahagger I walked forward to study the lie of the land coming to the further edge of the escarpment I found that at this place two broad-based ridges shaped like those that spring from the bowls and tropical forest trees ran from its crest to the plane beneath a gentle slope moreover I saw that on this plane between the ends of the ridges an army was in camp which by the aid of my glasses I examined an estimated to number at least ten thousand men this army the amahagger captains inform me was that of reso who they said intended to commence his attack on the following morning since the people of reso being sun worshipers would never fight until their god appeared above the horizon having studied all there was to see I asked the captains to set out their plan of battle if they had a plan the chief of them answered that it was to advance halfway down the right hand ridge to a spot where there was a narrow flat piece of ground and there a weight attack since at this place their smaller numbers would not so much matter whereas these made it impossible for them to assail the enemy but suppose that reso should choose to come up to the other ridge and get behind you what would happen then I inquired he replied that he did not know his ideas of strategy being it was clear of a primitive order do your people fight best at night or in the day I went on he said undoubtedly at night indeed in all their history there was no record of there having done so in the daytime and yet you propose to let reso join battle with you when the sun is high or in other words to court defeat I remarked then I went aside and discussed things for a while with the umslupogas and hans after which I returned and gave my orders declining all argument briefly these were that in the dusk before the rising of the moon our amahagar must advance down the right hand ridge in complete silence and hide themselves among the scrub which I saw grew thickly near its root a small party however under the leadership of Goroko whom I knew to be a brave and clever captain was to pass half way down the left hand ridge and there like fires over a wide area so as to make the enemy think that our whole force had encamped there then at the proper moment which I had not yet decided upon we would attack the army of reso the amahagar captains did not seem pleased with this plan which I think was too bold for their fancy and began to murmur together seeing that I must assert my authority at once I walked up to them and said to their chief man hark in my friend by your own wish not mine I have been appointed your general and I expect to be obeyed without question from the moment that the advance begins you will keep close to me and to the black one and if so much as one of your men hesitates or turns back you will die and I nodded towards the axe of umslupogas moreover afterwards she who commands should you die should you escape in the fight still they hesitated thereon without another word I produced sycales great medicine and held it before their eyes with the result that the sight of this ugly thing did what even the threat of death could not do they went flat on the ground every one of them and swore by lullala and by she who commands her priestess that they would do all I said to them good I answered now go back and make ready and for the rest by this time tomorrow we shall know who is or is not mad from that moment till the end I had no more trouble with these amahugger I will get on quickly with the story of this fight where all the preliminary details do not matter at the proper time Gorko went off with 250 men or the two sulus to light the fires and at an agreed signal namely the firing of two shots in rapid succession by myself to begin shouting and generally make as much noise as they could we also went off with the remaining 3000 and before the moon rose crept as quietly as ghosts down the right hand ridge being such a silent fork who were accustomed to move at night and could see in the dark as well as cats the amahugger executed this manoeuvre splendidly wrapping their spear blades in bands of dry grass lest light should glint on them and betray our movements so in due course we came to the patch of bush where the ridge widened out about 500 yards from the plain beneath and there lay down in four companies or regiments each of them about 750 strong now the moon had risen but because of the mist which had covered the surface of the plain we could see nothing of the camp of Rezu which we knew must be within a thousand yards of us unless indeed it had been moved as the silence seemed to suggest this circumstance gave me much anxiety since I feared lest abandoning their reputed habits these stressweets were also contemplating a night attack Umslopogastu was disturbed on the subject though because of Goroko and his men whose fires began to twinkle on the opposing ridge something over a mile away they could not pass up there without our knowledge still for all I knew there might be other ways of scaling this mountain I did not trust the amahugger who declared that none existed since their local knowledge was slight as they never visited these northern slopes because of their fear of Rezu supposing that the enemy gained the crest and suddenly assaulted us in the rear the thought of it made me feel cold down the back while I was wondering how I could find out the truth Hans who was squatted behind a bush suddenly rose and gave the rifle he was carrying to the remaining Sulu but he said I was going to look and find out what those people are doing if they are still there and then you will know how and when to attack them don't be afraid for me, Baz it will be easy in that mist and you know I can move like a snake also if I should not come back it does not matter and it will tell you that they are there I hesitated who did not wish to expose and thought to such risks but when he understood Umslopogas said let the man go it is his gift and duty to spy as it is mine to smite with the axe and yours to lead Magumasan let him go I say I nodded my head and having kissed my hand in his silly fashion in token of much that he did not wish to say hands slipped out of sight saying that he hoped to be back within an hour except for his great knife he went unarmed who feared that if he took a pistol he might be tempted to fire it and make a noise End of Chapter 16 of She and Alan by H. Rider Haggard Read by Lars Rolander Chapter 17 of She and Alan This is a LibriVox recording or LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Reading by Lars Rolander She and Alan by H. Rider Haggard Chapter 17 The Midnight Battle That hour went by very slowly again and again I consulted my watch by the light of the moon which was now rising high in the heavens and thought that it would never come to an end Listen as I would there was nothing to be heard and as the mist still prevailed the only thing I could see except the heavens was the twinkling of the fire slit by Goroko and his party At length it was done and there was no sign of hands another half hour passed and still no sign of hands I think that light in darkness is dead or taken prisoner said Omsloporgas I answered that I fear so but that I would give him another 15 minutes and then if it did not appear I proposed to order in advance hoping to find the enemy where we had last seen them from the top of the mountain The 15 minutes went by also and as I could see that the Amarager captain who sat at a little distance were getting very nervous I picked up my double-barred rifle and turned round so that I faced uphill with a view of firing it as had been agreed with Goroko but in such a fashion that the flashes perhaps would not be seen from the plane below For this purpose I moved a few yards to the left to get behind the trunk of a tree that grew there and was already lifting the rifle to my shoulder when a yellow hand clasped the barrel and a husky voice said Don't fire yet, Baz as I want to tell you my story first I looked down and there was the ugly face of Hans wearing a grin that might have frightened the man in the moon Well, I said in cold indifference assumed, I admit to hide my excessive joy at his safe return Tell on and be quick about it I suppose you lost your way and never found them Yes, Baz I lost my way for the fog was very thick down there but in the end I found them all right by my nose, Baz for those man-eating people smelled strong for their centuries it was easy to pass him in the mist Baz so easy that I was tempted to cut his throat as I went but I didn't for fear lest he should make a noise No, I walked on right into the middle of them which was easy to for they were all asleep wrapped up in blankets they hadn't any fire perhaps because they didn't want them to be seen or perhaps because it is so hot down in that low land I don't know which so I gripped on taking note of all I saw till at last I came to a little hill at which the top rose above the level of the mist so that I could see on it a long hut built of green bows with the leaves still fresh upon them now I thought that I would crawl up to the hut since it came into my mind that a wolf must be sleeping there and that I might kill him but while I stood hesitating I heard a noise like to that made by an old woman whose husband had thrown a blanket over her to keep her quiet or to that of a bee in a bottle a sort of droning noise that reminded me of something I thought of while and remember that when Redbeard was on a sneeze praying to heaven as is his habit when he has nothing else to do, bars he makes a noise just like that I crept towards the sound and presently there I found Redbeard himself tied upon a stone and looking as mad as a buffalo bull stuck in a swamp for he shook his head and rolled his eyes about just as though he had two bottles of bad gin bars and all the while he kept saying prayers now I thought that I would cut him loose and bent over him to do so when by ill luck he saw my face and began to shout saying go away you yellow devil I know you have come to take me to hell but you are too soon and if my hands were loose I would twist your head off your shoulders he said this in English bars which as you know I can understand quite well after which I was sure that I had better leave him alone whilst I was thinking they came out of the hut above two old men dressed in night shirts such as you white people wear with jello things upon their heads that had a metal picture of the sun in front of them medicine men I suggested yes, bars or predicands of some sort for they were rather like your reverent father when he dressed himself up and went into a box to preach seeing them I slipped back a little way to where the mist began lay down and listened they looked at red bear for his shouts at me had brought them out but he took no notice of them only went on making a noise like a beetle in a tin can it is nothing said one of the predicands to the other in the same tongue that these amahagar use he to be sacrificed soon I hope for I cannot sleep because of the noise he makes when the edge of the sun appears not before answered the other predicand then the new queen will be brought out of the hut and this white man will be sacrificed to her I think it is a pity to wait so long said the first predicand for never shall we sleep in peace until the red hot pot is on his head first the victory then the feast answered the second predicand though he will not be so good to eat as that fat young woman was with the new queen then they both smacked their lips and one of them went back towards the hut but the other did not go back no he sat down on the ground and glowed at bath's red bear upon the stone more he struck him on the face to make him quiet now bath's when I saw this and remembered that they had said that they had eaten Jenny whom I liked although she was such a fool the spirit in me grows so very angry and I thought that I would give this old skellum that is rascal of a predicand the taste of sacrifice himself after which I proposed to creep up to the hut and see if I could get speech with the lady's sad eyes if she was there so I wriggled up behind the predicand as he sat glowering over red bear and stuck my knife into his back where I thought it would kill him at once but it didn't bath's for he fell onto his face and began to make a noise like a wounded hyena before I could finish him then I heard a sound of shouts and to say my life I was obliged to run away into the mist without losing red bear or seeing lady's sad eyes I ran very hard bath's making a white circle to the left and so at last got back here that's all bath's and quite enough to I answered though if they did not see you the death of the medicine man may frighten them poor Jenny well I hope to come even with those devils before they are three hours older then I called up Omslupogas and the Amahager's captains and told them the substance of the story also that Hans had located the army or part of it the end of it was that we made up our minds to attack at once indeed I insisted on this as I was determined if I could to save that unfortunate man Robertson who from Hans account evidently was now quite mad and raving so I fired the two shots as had been arranged and presently heard the sound of distant shouting on the slope of the opposing bridge a few minutes later we started Omslupogas and I leading the vanguard and the Amahager captains following with the three company now the reader presuming the existence of such a person will think that everything is sure to go right that this cunning old fellow Alan Quatermain is going to surprise and wipe the floor with those resweets who were already beguiled by the trick he had instructed Koroko to play that after this he will rescue Robertson who doubtless shortly recovers his mind also Ines with the modest ease in fact that everything will happen as it ought to do if this were a romance instead of a mere record of remarkable facts but being the latter as it happened matters did not work out quite in this convenient way to begin with when those Amahager told me that the resweets never fought in the dark or before the sun was well up either they lied or they were much mistaken or at any rate on this occasion they did the exact contrary all the while that we thought we were stalking them they were stalking us the Koroko maneuver had not deceived them in the least since from their spies they knew its exact significance here I may add that those spies were in our ranks traitors in short who were really in the pay of Risu and possibly belonged to his abominable faith some of whom slipped away from time to time to the enemy to report our progress and plans so far as they knew them further what Hans had stumbled on was a mere rearguard left around the place of sacrifice and the hut where Ines was confined the real army he never found at all that was divided into two bodies and hidden in bush to the right and left of the ridge which we were descending just at the spot where it joined the plane beneath and into the jaws of these two armies we marched gaily now that hypothetical reed will say why didn't that silly old fool Alan think of all these things why didn't he remember that he was commanding a pack of savages with whom he had no real acquaintance among whom there were sure to be traitors especially as they were of the same blood as the resweets and take precautions ah my dear reader I will only answer that I wish you had handled the job yourself and enjoy the opportunity of seeing what you could do in the circumstances do you suppose I didn't think of all these points? of course I did but have you ever heard of the difficulty of making silk purses out of souce ears or of turning a lot of gloomy and disagreeable barbarians whom you had never even drilled into trustworthy and efficient soldiers ready to fight three times their own number and beat them also I beg to observe that I did get through somehow as you shall learn which is more than you might have done Mr. Wisdom though I admit not without help from another quarter it is all very well for you to sit in your arm chair and be sapient and turn up your learned nose like the gentlemen who criticize place and poems an easy job compared to the writing of them from all of which however you will understand that I am to tell the truth rather ashamed of what followed since as we slank down that hill in the moonlight a queer looking crowd I admit also that I felt very uncomfortable to begin with I did not like that remark of the medicine man which Hans reported to the effect that the feast must come after the victory especially as he had said just before that Robertson was to be sacrificed as the sun rose which would seem to suggest that the victory was planned to take place before that event while I was ruminating upon this subject I looked round for Hans to cross examine him as to the priest's exact words only to find that he had slunk off somewhere a few minutes later he reappeared running back towards us swiftly and I noticed taking shelter behind tree trunks and rocks as he came Bas he gasped for he was out of breath be careful those resummen are on either side ahead I went forward and ran into them they threw many spears at me look and he showed a slight cut on his arm from which blood was flowing instantly I understood that we were ambushed and began to think very hard indeed as a chance we were passing across a large flat space upon the ridge seven or eight acres in extent where the bush grew lightly though owing to the soil being better the trees were tall on the steep slope below this little plane it seemed to be denser and there it was according to Hans that the ambush was set I halted my regiment and sent back messengers to the others that they were to halt also as they came up on the pretext to bring them a rest before they were marshaled and we advanced to the battle then I told Omslopogas what Hans said and asked him to send out his Sulu soldier whom he could trust to see if he could obtain confirmation of the report this he did at once also I asked him what he thought should be done supposing that it was true form the Amahagar into ring or a square and a weight attack he answered I nodded for that was my own opinion but replied if they were Sulus the plan would be good but how do we know that these men will stand we know nothing Makumasan and therefore can only try if they run it must be uphill then I called the captains and told them what was toward which seemed to allow them very much indeed one or two of them wanted to retreat at once but I said I would shoot the first man who tried to do so in the end they agreed to my plan and said that it would post their best soldiers above at the top of the square with the orders to stop any attempt at a flight up the mountain after this we formed up the square as best we could in a rather rough fourfold dine while we were doing this we heard some shouts below and presently the Sulu returned who reported that all was as Hans had said and that Rhesus men were moving round us having discovered as he thought that we had halted and escaped their ambush still the attack did not develop at once for the reason that the Rhesus army was crawling up the steep flanks of the spur on either side of the level piece of ground with a view of encircling us all together as to make a clean sweep of our force as a matter of fact considered from our point of view this was a most fortunate move since thereby they stopped any attempt at a retreat on the part of our Amahager whose bolt hole was now blocked when we had done all we could we sat down waited and waited the night I remember was strangely still only from the slopes on either side of our plateau came a kind of rustling sound which in fact was caused by the feet of Rhesus people as they marched to surround us it ceased at last and the silence grew complete so much so that I could hear the teeth of some of our tall Amahager chatting with fear gave me little confidence and caused Omslopogastra remark that the harsh of these big men had never grown they remained as those of babies I told the captains to pass the word down the ranks that those who stood might live but those who fled would certainly die therefore if they wish to see their homes again they had better stand and fight like men otherwise most of them would be killed and the rest eaten by Rhesus this was done and I observed that the message seemed to produce a steady effect upon our ranks suddenly all around us from below from above and on either side there broke a most awful roar which seemed to shape itself into the word Rhesus and next minute also from above below and either side some ten thousand men poured forth upon our square in the moonlight they looked very terrible with their flowing white robes and great gleaming spears Hans and I fired some shot though for all the effect they produced we might as well have pelted a breaker with pebbles then as I thought that I should be more useful alive than dead I retreated to the square Umslopogas, his Sulu and Hans coming with me on the whole our ammo-huggers stood the attack better than I expected they beat back the first rush with considerable loss to the enemy also the second after a longer struggle then there was a pause during which we reformed our ranks dragging the wounded men into the square scarcely had we done this when with another mighty shout of Reisu the enemy attacked again that was about an hour after the battle had begun but now they had changed their tactics for instead of trying to rush all sides to the square at once they concentrated their efforts on the western front that which faced towards the plain below on they came and among them in the forefront of the battle now and again I caught sight of a gigantic man, a huge creature who seemed to me to be seven feet high and big in proportion I could not see him clearly because of the uncertain moonlight but I noted his fierce aspect also that he had an enormous beard black streaked with gray that flowed down to his middle and that his hair hung in masses upon his shoulders Reisu himself I shouted to Umslopogas I, Magma-san Reisu himself without doubt and I rejoiced to see him for he will be a worthy foe to fight look, he carries an axe as I do now I must say my strength for when we come face to face I shall need it all I thought that I would spare Umslopogas this exertion and watched my opportunity to put a bullet through this giant but I could never get one once when I had covered him an Amahaga rushed in front on my gun so that I could not shoot and when a second chance came a little cloud floated over the face of the moon and made him invisible after that I had other things to which to attend since as I expected would happen the western face of our squared gave and gelling like devils the enemy began to pour in through the gap a cold thrill went through me for I saw that the game was up to reform this undisciplined Amahaga was impossible nothing was to be expected except panic, rout and slaughter I cursed my folly for ever having had anything to do with the business while hands screamed to me in a thin voice that the only chance was for us three and the Sulu to bolt and hide in the bush I did not answer him because apart from any nasty pride the thing was impossible for how could we get through those struggling masses of men which surrounded us on every side no my clock had struck so I went on making a kind of sandwich of prayers and curses prayers for my soul and forgiveness for my sins and curses on the Amahaga and everything to do with them especially Sikali and the woman called Asha who between them had led me into this affair perhaps the great medicine of Sikali piped hands again as he fired a rifle at the advancing foe hang the great medicine in I shouted back and Asha with it no wonder she declined to take a hand in this business as I spoke the words I saw old Bilali who not being a man of war was keeping as close to us as he could go flat onto his venerable face and reflected that he must have got a thrown spear through him casting a hurried glance at him to see if he were done for or only wounded out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of something deophonus which gleamed in the moonlight and reminded me of I knew not what at the moment I looked round quickly to see what it might be and lo there almost at my side was the veiled Asha herself holding in her hand a little rod made of black wood inlaid with ivory like a field marshal's baton or a scepter I never saw her come and to this day I do not know how she did so she was just there and what is more she must have put luminous paint or something else on her robes for they gleamed with the sort of faint phosphorus and fire which in the moonlight made her conspicuous all over the field of battle nor did she speak a single word pointed with it toward the fierce hordes who were drawing near to us killing as they came and began to move forward with a gliding motion now from every side that went up a roar of she you commands she you commands while the people of reso in front shouted lulala lulala fly lulala is upon us with the witchcrafts of the moon she moved forward and by some strange impulse for no order was given we all began to move after her yes, the ranks that a minute before were beginning to give way to wild panic became filled with the marvelous courage and moved after her the men of reso also and I suppose with them reso himself for I saw no more of him at that time began to move uncommonly fast over the edge of the plateau towards the plain beneath in fact they broke into flight and leaping over dead and dying we rushed after them always following the gleaming robe of Asha who must have been an extremely agile person since without any apparent exertion she held her place a few steps ahead of us there was another curious circumstance about this affair namely that terrified though they were those three sweets after the first break soon seemed to find it impossible to depart with speed they kept turning round to look behind them at that following vision as though they were so many of lots wives moreover the same fate overtook many of them which fell upon that scriptural lady since they appeared to become petrified and stood there quite still like rabbits fascinated by a snake until our people came up and killed them this slaying went on all down the last steep slope of the ridge on which I suppose at least two-thirds of the army of reso must have perished since our Amahagar showed themselves very handy men when it came to exterminating the terror struck to fight and accelerated by the occupation gained courage every moment End of Chapter 17 of She and Allan by H. Rider Haggard read by Laush Rolander