'Tween Snow and Fire by Bertram Mitford (world best books to read txt) đ
- Author: Bertram Mitford
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Man, woman, or demonâwhich was it?
A grim, massive face, a pair of fierce, rolling eyes, which seemed to sparkle with a cruel and blood thirsty scintillation, a large, strongly built trunk, whose conformation alone betrayed the sex of the creature. Limbs and body were hung around thickly with barbarous âcharmsâ in hideous and disgusting profusionâbirdsâ heads and claws, frogs and lizards, snakesâ skins, mingling with the fresh and bloody entrails of some animal. But the head of this revolting object was simply demoniacal in aspect. The hair, instead of being short and woolly, had been allowed to attain some length, and hung down on each side of the frightful face in a black, kinky mane, save for two lengths of it, which, stiffened with some sort of horrid pigment, stood erect like a couple of long red horns on each side of the wearerâs ears. Between these âhorns,â and crowning the creatureâs head, grinned a human skull, whose eyeless sockets were smeared round with a broad circle in dark crimson. And that nothing should be wanting to complete the diabolical horror of her appearance, the repulsive and glistening coils of a live serpent were folding and unfolding about the left arm and shoulder of the sorceress.
Something like a shudder of fear ran through the ranks of the armed warriors as they gazed upon this frightful apparition. Brave men allâfearless fighters when pitted against equal forcesânow they quailed, sat there in their armed might, thoroughly cowed before this female fiend. She would require bloodâwould demand a life, perhaps severalâthat was certain. Whose would it be?
The wild, beast-like bounds of the witch-doctress subsided into a kind of half-gliding, half-dancing stepâher demoniacal words into a weird nasal sort of chantâas she approached the chief and his councillors.
âSeek not for Ngcenika, O son of Hintza, father of the children of Xosa!â she cried in a loud voice, fixing her eyes upon Kreli. âSeek not for Ngcenika, O amapakati, wise men of the House of GcalĂ©ka, when your wisdom is defeated by the witchcraft of your enemies. Seek not Ngcenika, O ye fighting men, children of the Great Chief, your father, when your blood is spilled in battle, and your bullets fly harmless from the bodies of the whites because of the evil wiles of the enemy within your ranks. Seek her not, for she is hereâhere to protect youâhere to âsmell outâ the evil wizard in your midst. She needs no seeking; she needs no calling. She is here!â
âHa! ha!â ejaculated the warriors in a kind of gasping roar, for those ominous words told but too truly what would presently happen. Not a man but dreaded that he might be the victim, and in proportion as each man stood well in rank or possessions, so much the greater was his apprehension.
âI hear the voices of the shadowy dead!â went on the sorceress, striking an attitude of intense listening, and gazing upwards over the heads of her audience. âI hear their voices like the whispering murmur of many waters. I hear them in the air? No. I hear them in the roar of the salt waves of yonder blue sea? No. I hear them in the whispering leaves of the forestâin the echoing voices of the rocks? No. In the sunshine? No. I am in the darkâin the dark!â she repeated, raising her tone to a high, quavering shriek, while her features began to work, her eyes to roll wildly. âI am in the gloom of the far depths, and the world itself is rolling above me. The air is thick. I choke. I suffocate. I am in the tomb. The rock walls close me in. There are faces around meâeyesâmyriads of eyesâserpent eyesâhissing tongues. They come about me in the black gloom. They scorchâthey burn. Ah-ah!â
An awful change had come over the speaker. Her features were working convulsivelyâshe foamed at the mouthâher eyes were turned literally inward so that nothing but the white was visible. Her body swayed to and fro in short, irregular jerks, as though avoiding the attack of unseen enemies. The live serpent, which, grasped by the neck, she held aloft in the air, writhed its sinuous length, and with hood expanded and eyes scintillating, was hissing ferociously. The effect upon the savage audience was striking. Not a word was utteredânot a finger moved. All sat motionless, like so many statues of bronze, every eye bent in awesome entrancement upon the seer. Even Eustace felt the original contemptuous interest with which he had watched the performance deepen into a blood-curdling sort of repulsion. From the stage of mere jugglery the case had entered upon one which began to look uncommonly like genuine diabolical possession.
âI am in the gloom of the depths,â shrieked the hideous sorceress, âeven the Home of the Immortal Serpents, which none can find save those who are beloved of the spirits. The air is black and thick. It is shining with eyesâeyes, eyesâeverywhere eyes. The ground is alive with serpents, even the spirits of our valiant dead, and they speak. They speak but one word and that is âBlood! Bloodâbloodâblood!ââ repeated the frightful monster. âBlood must flow! blood! blood!â And uttering a series of deafening howls she fell prone to the earth in frightful convulsions.
Not one of the spectators moved. The hideous features working, the eyes rolling till they seemed about to drop from their sockets, the foam flying from the lipsâthe body of Ngcenika seeming to stiffen itself like a corpse, bounded many feet in the air, and falling to the earth with a heavy thud, bounded and rebounded againâthe festoons of barbarous and disgusting ornaments which adorned her person, twisting and untwisting in the air like clusters of snakes. The live rinkhaals, which had escaped from her grasp, lay coiled in an attitude of defence, its head reared threateningly.
For some minutes this appalling scene continued. Then the horrible contortions of the body ceased. The witch-doctress lay motionless; the swollen eyes, the terrible face, set and rigid, staring up to Heaven. She might have been dead. So, too, might have been the spectators, so still, so motionless were they.
The suspense was becoming horrible, the silence crushing. There was just a whisper of air among the leaves of the surrounding forest, causing a faint rustle, otherwise not a soundânot even the distant call of a bird. Eustace, gazing upon the motionless dark forms that surrounded him and upon the immeasurably repulsive figure of the prostrate demoniac, felt that he could stand it no longerâthat he must do something to break that awful silence even though it should cost him his life, when an interruption occurred, so sudden, so startling in its unexpectedness, that he could hardly believe his eyes.
The witch-doctress, who had seemed prone in the powerlessness of extreme exhaustion for hours at least, suddenly sprang to her feet with a blood-curdling yell.
âThe white wizard!â she shrieked. âThe white wizard!â
âHa! The white wizard! The white wizard!â echoed the warriors, relieved that the storm had passed them by this time. âLet us see. Is his charm too strong for Ngcenika?â
The time had come. Though unarmed, Eustace was still unbound. Instinctively and warily he glanced around, eager to grasp at some means of doing battle for his life. But no such means rewarded his glance.
Ngcenika walked up to one of the guards, and laid her hand on the bundle of assegais which he carried. The man surrendered it with alacrity, striving to conceal the apprehension which came over his features as he came face to face with the terrible witch-doctress. She chose a short-handled, broad-bladed stabbing assegai, examined it critically, and returned to her former position.
Placing the weapon on the ground she proceeded to dance round it in a circle, chanting a weird, droning incantation. The prisoner watched her keenly. No attempt had been made to bind him. At last her song ceased. Grasping the assegai in her powerful right hand, she advanced towards Eustace.
At a sign from Ngcenika the guards fell back some twenty yards. Behind them were the dense ranks of armed warriors, all craning eagerly forward to watch what was to follow. At about the same distance in front sat the group of chiefs and councillors, so that the prisoner and the sorceress were completely hemmed in.
âWhite wizardâwhite dog!â she began, standing within striking distance. âWizard indeed! What is thy magic worth? Dost thou not fear me?â
Eustace, seeing through the repulsive mass of gew-gaws which represented the juggling line of business, realised that he had to deal with a powerful, broadly built, middle-aged woman of about five foot ten. She looked hard and muscular, and as strong as any two menâin fact, no mean antagonist, even had he been similarly armed, and he was unarmed.
âNo, I do not fear you,â he replied quietly, keeping his eyes upon hers, like a skilful fencer. The answer seemed rather to amuse than irritate her.
âHe does not fear me!â she repeated. âHa! Inyoka, (Serpent), does he fear thee!â she cried, darting the serpentâs head within a couple of inches of the prisonerâs face. The reptile hissed hideously, but Eustace, who knew that it had been rendered harmless, and that it must long since have spat its venom glands empty, did not allow himself to be disconcerted by this. A murmur of wonder arose from the spectators.
(The rinkhaal, a variety of cobra, has the faculty of being able, when angry, to eject an acrid, venomous saliva, to a distance of about six feet.)
âHe is not afraid! The white wizard is not afraid!â they cried.
âDost thou dare to stand before me while I strike thee? Is thy charm potent enough, O white wizard?â said Ngcenika, raising the assegai in the air.
âI dare.â
âPresent thy breast, then. Give thy heart to my stroke. Let thy âcharmâ protect thee if it can.â
A desperate plan had occurred to Eustaceâto wrench the assegai from the hagâs hand and make a dash for the forest. But even concurrently with the idea, he realised the absolute impracticability of it. He more, than doubted his ability to disarm his adversary; he had no doubt at all as to the certainty of his being seized long before he could accomplish that feat. Noâhe must stand up to the blow. It was his only chance, and at any rate his death would be a swift and painless one.
The dark, brawny arm of the sorceress was upraised, her muscular fingers gripped the assegai haft a few inches from the blade. The shining spear-head gleamed aloft.
Not once did his glance wander from that cruel demon-face confronting him. Yet between it and him floated the sweet, oval contour of another very different countenance.
âLove of my lifeâpreserve that life once more for thyself!â he murmured with the impassioned fervour of an invocation of faith. His lips moved.
âHa! Thou repeatest thy charm, O white wizard,â said Ngcenika. âIs it stronger than mine? Is it stronger than mine?â
One might have heard a pin drop. That fierce, excitable crowd, bending forward, straining their eyes upon this unwonted scene, held their very breath as they gazed.
The prisoner stood with chest expandedâerectâfacing the witch-doctress. There was a flash of light through the air, and the spear descended. No writhing body, gushing with blood, sank to the earth. The prisoner stood, erect and smiling.
âHau!â cried the warriors. âThe âcharmâ is too strong. The white man is unhurtâMawo!â
Ngcenika could be seen examining the point of her assegai in scowling concern. It was completely flattened and turned.
It must not be supposed that Eustace was so simple as to imagine that the sorceress would strike at the spot where she knew the impediment was concealedâover his heart, to wit. That cunning she-devil, as he well knew, would aim just to the right of this, and would reckon infallibly upon transfixing him.
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