Witch-Doctors Part 28

"Already is his soul bewitched," muttered Bak.u.ma.

"Is it not so?" persisted Birnier.

"Aye," admitted Mungongo, moving uneasily and speaking as if humouring a dangerous lunatic. "It is the eye of the angry spirit of the rock."

Birnier saw his danger and made another effort.

"Even so. Also thou knowest that thou canst make fire by the rubbing together of two sticks. Is that then magic also?"

"Truly," continued Mungongo in the same tone. "Can the spirits of the souls of the twigs be summoned without the incantations by the Keeper of Fires?"

"O my G.o.d!" groaned Birnier, sotto voce, and he abandoned the effort to explain combustion. "Thus is it then with these that ye call the magic fire twigs."

"Even as we have said," a.s.serted Mungongo triumphantly.

Birnier lapsed into silent defeat. Bak.u.ma began to edge away. As Mungongo rose came a stifled scream from Bak.u.ma who sprang to her feet and dashed towards the tent; then as if recollecting that her saviour had been bewitched by Bakahenzie, fled into the gloom beyond. Mungongo had seized a spear stuck in the earth near to him. As appeared the wizened figure of Marufa, who saluted as he squatted in the native manner, Birnier recollected that he had been with Bakahenzie and wondered what he wanted.

Mungongo replaced his spear and came to the tent.

"Greeting, O son of MTungo!"

Marufa mumbled the orthodox return.

"Thou hast need of Moonspirit?" demanded Mungongo, some of his officious confidence in Birnier returning.

"Doth the leopard go to the goat pen to seek nuts?" grumbled the old man.

He tapped out snuff slowly and grunted.

Presently said Marufa:

"Moonspirit is the brother of Eyes-in-the-hands?"

"Nay," answered Birnier, wondering at the persistency of this idea.

"Eyes-in-the-hands is of another tribe ten moons distant from Moonspirit."

Marufa grunted. Another long pause. Then:

"The magic of Moonspirit hath blunted the spears of Bakahenzie?"

"Even so," said Birnier modestly.

"The son of Maliko maketh much magic that the bride of the Banana be taken from the white stranger."

"The monkey makes many faces and much noise, but does he eat up the leopard?"

"The bite of the spear is more deadly than the bleat of a goat," retorted Marufa.

"Doth the wise man eat the heart of a goat to gain courage?"

"The louder the lion roars the less teeth has he!"

"But only the fool opens his mouth to see how many he has!"

"The wise father examines the grain of the tusks before he sells his daughter."

"But the wise man sees the daughter before he offers the tusks!"

"Ugm!"

Marufa took more snuff and contemplated the interior of the tent where a native was lighting a lamp. Birnier reflected. Evidently Marufa had come with an object and had inferred that he had something to bargain about.

What was it? Also he wanted to be sure that he was setting his trap at the right pool. Birnier decided that he was probably acting on his own initiative and willing to conspire against Bakahenzie. An impulse to experiment upon him as he had upon Mungongo and Bak.u.ma was repressed, for from the previous effort he had cemented the conclusion that it was impossible to explain rational phenomena to irrational minds; that as ever the adventurous champion of reason would be either regarded as insane or inspired; that which is not comprehended is divine or ridiculous. However, through Marufa might come a suggestion for the tactics of campaign to gain the good-will of Bakahenzie or Zalu Zako and the attainment of his scientific object-as well as to give Bak.u.ma the torches he had promised her. Whether I will or no, he reflected smiling in the dark, must I be either a magician or a fool. Fools get nowhere; witch-doctors do here as elsewhere. He saw that in order to influence these peoples or any others, he had perforce to work in terms of their own understanding, as the early Christian missionaries practised in their conversion of the Teutons, the Scandinavians and the Britons. A nucleus of a plan had been given by Mungongo's impetuous suggestion. He decided to develop it. But through Marufa, who first of all must be impressed with the fact that Moonspirit was the greatest magician the world had ever seen. So therefore he called to the native within: "O Bakombi, put out the light." And to Marufa: "O wise man, thunder has not always lightning. Behold! I am part of that which is and is not!"

"Clk!"

A click of astonishment was squeezed from Marufa by the chance mystic phrase which was interpreted by him as referring to the Unmentionable One.

Then taking out his metal box of vestas Birnier moistened one. As he rubbed around his eyes Marufa, who was expecting a miracle, observed the growing phosph.o.r.escence in stoical calm, while Mungongo, delighted at the long deferred proof of his boasts, grunted admiringly.

But when a glowing skeleton hand, which Birnier had prepared behind his back, hovered over the old wizard's head, he grunted and made a slight convulsive movement.

"Have no fear, O my friend," came Birnier's voice, "the spirit loves my friends and destroys my enemies."

That belly grunt had registered the degree of impression that Birnier sought. So he lighted the lamp, bade the excited Mungongo to bring out the phonograph, a machine adjusted with the recording cylinders as well as the reproduction, and after a successful demonstration of magic, discussed with Marufa a certain scheme to which the old wizard, quick to see the possibilities, afforded many invaluable suggestions.

CHAPTER 19

When Zalu Zako was notified of the verdict of the Council and the words of Tarum the sense of the inevitable returned, extinguis.h.i.+ng the spark of rebellion that had been kindled by his pa.s.sion for Bak.u.ma. To Bakahenzie, or to the wizards separately, or collectively, he had had the strength to voice his own desires, but to the veritable voice of Tarum was no resistance dared. He was bidden to preside by right and precedent at the anointing of the warriors. He did not make any feint at refusal, for his will was crushed, as it had been weeks before by the doom of G.o.dhood and celibacy.

Beyond the fact that Bak.u.ma would soon be forbidden to him for ever, he did not think; desire was strangled. Even the recollection that Bakahenzie had stated that Moonspirit had taken her gave him no reaction. To him as to his brethren, while in physical love is bound up the control of the universe, because it is vaguely apprehended as a creative force, it is of no importance to the individual lover unless he be guilty of breaking the s.e.xual tabu: if the girl is not a consenting party to the illicit union then she is free; if she is, then it is death to both of them, for as every one knows, such criminal action endangers the balance of the burden of the world upon the shoulders of the King-G.o.d. Thus it was that the words of Bakahenzie had produced no reaction against Moonspirit in the mind of Zalu Zako; indeed, if the words were true and he could yet obtain Bak.u.ma, she might have a son by the white which would obviously bring the marvellous power of white magic to his successor, the next King-G.o.d; and possibly, had mused Zalu Zako, dimly straining at such a radical thought against the influence of the priesthood, make the king more powerful a magician than the witch-doctors themselves.

But he obeyed the mandate and took his place as bidden. Bakahenzie had caused preparation to be begun immediately for the ceremony of making enchantment against the spirits of the night. In the circle of cleared ground, where sat the temporary Council of Elders, big fires were lighted as the dark wall of the forest drew in upon them. Bakahenzie squatted before a big calabash, specially reserved and enchanted for the making of magic, in which a mess of certain herbs whose spirits were violent haters of the demons of all trees, rocks and streams, were to be released from the vegetable bondage by stewing that they might be distributed among the warriors for the night a.s.sault. These warriors, some fifty chosen from the followers of Bakahenzie and Marufa, sat on their hams within the circle of fires, uneasily casting glances behind them at the deepening sepia, from whence arose the nocturnal chant of the spirits of the forest. In order to insure no interference from malign animals, Bakahenzie caused to be brought a pure white goat whose throat was cut and bled into the cauldron; for as any one knows, that soul which is white must necessarily fight well against anything that be black. Yet in spite of this potent magic the warriors grew unquiet; they felt, rather than thought, that if the magic of their witch-doctors had failed against one white why should it succeed against another like unto him? And their faith thus weakened, doubts regarding the efficacy of the same magic against spirits of the forest bred as mosquitoes after rain.

Bakahenzie remarked the uneasiness, but the stronger grew his need to restore the waning confidence in his powers by removing the white; the blood desire had now been transferred from Bak.u.ma to Moonspirit as the most effective demonstration possible to him.

The fires smouldered and flickered yellow tongues upon the greens of the warriors' bodies and the blues of the wizards' head-dresses. Faint blue vapour swirled around the scarlet feather above Bakahenzie's graven face as he muttered incantations and stirred the cauldron. Then as the drums throbbed and the warriors grunted rhythmically to Bakahenzie's song of enchantment came a squawk as of a parrot. The chant ceased. Branches rustled. Every head quirked automatically towards the sound. Came a low belly grunt of terror as if an invisible hand had punched them in their solar plexus.

Just in the shadow line where the glow of the fires faintly tinted and greened the curves of his bronze body against the sepia of his feathers, appeared the figure of Marufa, his spear lifted on high as he cried out in a loud voice:

"Greetings, O people of the Banana, I bring you tidings of him who is and is not, of him who was lost and yet is come. 'Behold, I show you a sign!'"

Against the gloom his left arm and hand glowed with a strange light. An unanimous "Ehh!" rose from the a.s.sembled warriors and wizards alike.

"Raise your ears!" continued Marufa, "that the Voice may speak unto you!"

In the silence came a subdued click and commenced a high-pitched voice in the dialect: