atcher-by-Night who has
served her turn and vanished into the night.

"But what other message had the White Queen for the poor old savage
witch-doctor whose talk wearies her so much in her haunted sleep?"

Then I told him of the picture that Ayesha had shown me in the water;
the picture of a king dying in a hut and of two who watched his end.

Zikali listened intently to every word, then broke into a peal of his
unholy laughter.

"_Oho-ho!_" he laughed, "so all goes well, though the road be long,
since whatever this White One may have shown you in the fire of the
heavens above, she could show you nothing but truth in the water of
the earth below, for that is the law of our company of seers. You have
worked well for me, Macumazahn, and you have had your fee, the fee of
the vision of the dead which you desired above all mortal things."

"Aye," I answered indignantly, "a fee of bitter fruits whereof the juice
burns and twists the mouth and the stones still stick fast within the
gizzard. I tell you, Zikali, that she stuffed my heart with lies."

"I daresay, Macumazahn, I daresay, but they were very pretty lies, were
they not? And after all I am sure that there was wisdom in them, as you
will discover when you have thought them over for a score of years.

"Lies, lies, all is lies! But beyond the lie stands Truth, as the White
Witch stands behind her veil. You drew the veil, Macumazahn, and saw
that beneath which brought you to your knees. Why, it is a parable.
Wander on through the Valley of Lies till at last it takes a turn,
and, glittering in the sunshine, glittering like gold, you perceive the
Mountain of everlasting Truth, sought of all men but found by few.

"Lies, lies, all is lies! Yet beyond I tell you, beauteous and
eternal stands the Truth, Macumazahn. _Oho-ho! Oho-ho!_ Fare you well,
Watcher-by-Night, fare you well, Seeker after Truth. After the Night
comes Dawn and after Death comes what--Macumazahn? Well, you will learn
one day, for always the veil is lifted, at last, as the White Witch
shewed you yonder, Macumazahn."

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