"Die, Macumazahn! We do not die; it is only our flesh that dies. Yes,
yes, I have learned that since we parted. Do you not remember his last
words: 'I will haunt you while you live, and when you cease to live, ah!
then we shall meet again'? Oh! from that hour to this he has haunted
me, Macumazahn--he and the others; and now, now we are about to meet as
he promised."
Then once more he hid his eyes and groaned.
"He is mad," I whispered to Nandie.
"Perhaps. Who knows?" she answered, shaking her head.
Saduko uncovered his eyes.
"Make 'the-thing-that-burns' brighter," he gasped, "for I do not
perceive him so clearly when it is bright. Oh! Macumazahn, he is looking
at you and whispering. To whom is he whispering? I see! to Mameena,
who also looks at you and smiles. They are talking. Be silent. I must
listen."
Now, I began to wish that I were out of that hut, for really a little
of this uncanny business went a long way. Indeed, I suggested going, but
Nandie would not allow it.
"Stay with me till the end," she muttered. So I had to stay, wondering
what Saduko heard Umbelazi whispering to Mameena, and on which side of
me he saw her standing.
He began to wander in his mind.
"That was a clever pit you dug for Bangu, Macumazahn; but you would not
take your share of the cattle, so the blood of the Amakoba is not
on your head. Ah! what a fight was that which the Amawombe made at
Endondakusuka. You were with them, you remember, Macumazahn; and why was
I not at your side? Oh! then we would have swept away the Usutu as the
wind sweeps ashes. Why was I not at your side to share the glory? I
remember now--because of the Daughter of Storm. She betrayed me for
Umbelazi, and I betrayed Umbelazi for her; and now he haunts me, whose
greatness I brought to the dust; and the Usutu wolf, Cetewayo, curls
himself up in his form and grows fat on his food. And--and, Macumazahn,
it has all been done in vain, for Mameena hates me. Yes, I can read it
in her eyes. She mocks and hates me worse in death than she did in
life, and she says that--that it was not all her fault--because she
loves--because she loves--"
A look of bewilderment came upon his face--his poor, tormented
face; then suddenly Saduko threw his arms wide, and sobbed in an
ever-weakening voice: "All--all done in vain! Oh! Mameena, Ma--mee--na, Ma--meena!" and fell
back dead.
"Saduko has gone away," said Nandie, as she drew a blanket over his
face. "But I wonder," she added with a little hysterical smile, "oh!
how I wonder who it was the Spirit of Mameena told him that she
loved--Mameena, who was born without a heart?"