em sad, Macumazahn," she said at length.

"Yes, Nombe, I am sad. This place makes me so."

"Is it the place, Macumazahn, or is it the thought of one whom
once you met in the place, one who is dead?"

I looked at her, pretending not to understand, and she went on--

"I have the gift of vision, Macumazahn, which comes at times to
those of my trade, and now and again, amongst others, I have
seemed to see the spirit of a certain woman haunting this kloof
as though she were waiting for some one."

"Indeed, and what may that woman be like?" I inquired carelessly.

"As it chances I can see her now gliding backwards in front of you
just there, and therefore am able to answer your question,
Macumazahn. She is tall and slender, beautifully made, and
light-coloured for one of us black people. She has large eyes
like a buck, and those eyes are full of fire that does not come
from the sun but from within. Her face is tender yet proud, oh!
so proud that she makes me afraid. She wears a cloak of grey
fur, and about her neck there is a circlet of big blue beads with
which her fingers play. A thought comes from her to me. These
are the words of the thought: 'I have waited long in this dark
place, watching by day and night till you, the Watcher-by-Night,
return to meet me here. At length you have come, and in this
enchanted place my hungry spirit can feed upon your spirit for a
while. I thank you for coming, who now am no more lonely. Fear
nothing, Macumazahn, for by a certain kiss I swear to you that
till the appointed hour when you become as I am, I will be a
shield upon your arm and a spear in your hand.' Such are the
words of her thought, Macumazahn, but she has gone away and I
hear no more. It was as though your horse rode over her and she
passed through you."

Then, like one who wished to answer no questions, Nombe turned
and went back to the cart, where she began to talk indifferently
with Heda, for as soon as we entered the kloof her servants had
drawn back the curtains and let fall the blanket. As for me, I
groaned, for of course I knew that Zikali, who was well
acquainted with the appearance of Mameena, had instructed Nombe
to say all this to me in order to impress my mind for some reason
of his own. Yet he had done it cleverly, for such words as those
Mameena might well have uttered could her great spirit have need
to walk the earth again. Was such a thing possible, I wondered?
No, it was not possible,