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第60章

marie-第60章

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Senior; all of them persons of standing and judgment。  I also was

ordered to be present。  When Pereira arrived; Retief charged him openly

with having plotted my murder; and asked him what he had to say。  Of

course; his answer was a flat denial; and an accusation against me of

having invented the tale because we had been at enmity over a maiden

whom I had since married。



〃Then; Mynheer Pereira;〃 said Retief; 〃as Allan Quatermain here has won

the maiden who is now his wife; it would seem that his cause of enmity

must have ceased; whereas yours may well have remained。  However; I have

no time to try cases of the sort now。  But I warn you that this one will

be looked into later on when we get back to Natal; whither I shall take

you with me; and that meanwhile an eye is kept on you and what you do。 

Also I warn you that I have evidence for all that I say。  Now be so good

as to go; and to keep out of my sight as much as possible; for I do not

like a man whom these Kaffirs name 'Two…faces。'  As for you; friend

Henri Marais; I tell you that you would do well to associate yourself

less with one whose name is under so dark a cloud; although he may be

your own nephew; whom all know you love blindly。〃



So far as I recollect neither of them made any answer to this direct

speech。  They simply turned and went away。  But on the next morning;

that of the fatal 6th of February; when I chanced to meet the Commandant

Retief as he was riding through the camp making arrangements for our

departure to Natal; he pulled up his horse and said:



〃Allan; Hernan Pereira has gone; and Henri Marais with him; and for my

part I am not sorry; for doubtless we shall meet again; in this world or

the next; and find out all the truth。  Here; read this; and give it back

to me afterwards〃; and he threw me a paper and rode on。



I opened the folded sheet and read as follows:





〃To the Commandant Retief; Governor of the Emigrant Boers;



〃Mynheer Commandant;





〃I will not stay here; where such foul accusations are laid on me by

black Kaffirs and the Englishman; Allan Quatermain; who; like all his

race; is an enemy of us Boers; and; although you do not know it; a

traitor who is plotting great harm against you with the Zulus。 

Therefore I leave you; but am ready to meet every charge at the right

time before a proper Court。  My uncle; Henri Marais; comes with me; as

he feels that his honour is also touched。  Moreover; he has heard that

his daughter; Marie; is in danger from the Zulus; and returns to protect

her; which he who is called her husband neglects to do。  Allan

Quatermain; the Englishman; who is the friend of Dingaan; can explain

what I mean; for he knows more about the Zulu plans than I do; as you

will find out before the end。〃



Then followed the signatures of Hernan Pereira and Henri Marais。



I put the letter in my pocket; wondering what might be its precise

meaning; and in particular that of the absurd and undefined charge of

treachery against myself。  It seemed to me that Pereira had left us

because he was afraid of somethingeither that he might be placed upon

his trial or of some ultimate catastrophe in which he would be involved。

 Marais probably had gone with him for the same reason that a bit of

iron follows a magnet; because he never could resist the attraction of

this evil man; his relative by birth。  Or perhaps he had learned from

him the story of his daughter's danger; upon which I had already acted;

and really was anxious about her safety。  For it must always be

remembered that Marais loved Marie passionately; however ill the reader

of this history may think that he behaved to her。  She was his darling;

the apple of his eye; and her great offence in his sight was that she

cared for me more than she did for him。  That is one of the reasons why

he hated me as much as he loved her。



Almost before I had finished reading this letter; the order came that we

were to go in a body to bid farewell to Dingaan; leaving our arms piled

beneath the two milk trees at the gate of the town。  Most of our

after…riders were commanded to accompany usI think because Retief

wished to make as big a show as possible to impress the Zulus。  A few of

these Hottentots; however; were told to stay behind that they might

collect the horses; that were knee…haltered and grazing at a distance;

and saddle them up。  Among these was Hans; for; as it chanced; I saw and

sent him with the others; so that I might be sure that my own horses

would be found and made ready for the journey。



Just as we were starting; I met the lad William Wood; who had come down

from the Mission huts; where he lived with Mr。 Owen; and was wandering

about with an anxious face。



〃How are you; William?〃 I asked。



〃Not very well; Mr。 Quatermain;〃 he answered。  〃The fact is;〃 he added

with a burst of confidence; 〃I feel queerly about you all。  The Kaffirs

have told me that something is going to happen to you; and I think you

ought to know it。  I daren't say any more;〃 and he vanished into the

crowd。



At that moment I caught sight of Retief riding to and fro and shouting

out orders。  Going to him; I caught him by the sleeve; saying:



〃Commandant; listen to me。〃



〃Well; what is it now; nephew? 〃 he asked absently。



I told him what Wood had said; adding that I also was uneasy; I did not

know why。



〃Oh!〃 he answered with impatience; 〃this is all hailstones and burnt

grass〃 (meaning that the one would melt and the other blow away; or in

our English idiom; stuff and rubbish)。  〃Why are you always trying to

scare me with your fancies; Allan?  Dingaan is our friend; not our

enemy。  So let us take the gifts that fortune gives us and be thankful。 

Come; march。〃



This he said about eight o'clock in the morning。



We strolled through the gates of the Great Kraal; most of the Boers;

who; as usual; had piled their arms under the two milk trees; lounging

along in knots of four or five; laughing and chatting as they went。  I

have often thought since; that although every one of them there; except

myself; was doomed within an hour to have taken the dreadful step from

time into eternity; it seems strange that advancing fate should have

thrown no shadow on their hearts。  On the contrary; they were quite gay;

being extremely pleased at the successful issue of their mission and the

prospect of an immediate return to their wives and children。  Even

Retief was gay; for I heard him joking with his companions about myself

and my 〃white…bread…week;〃 or honeymoon; which; he said; was drawing

very near。



As we went; I noticed that most of the regiments who had performed the

great military dances before us on the previous day were gone。  Two;

however; remainedthe Ischlangu Inhlope; that is the 〃White Shields;〃

who were a corps of veterans wearing the ring on their heads; and the

Ischlangu Umnyama; that is the 〃Black Shields;〃 who were all of them

young men without rings。  The 〃White Shields〃 were ranged along the

fence of the great open place to our left; and the 〃Black Shields〃 were

similarly placed to our right; each regiment numbering about fifteen

hundred men。  Except for their kerries and dancing…sticks they were

unarmed。



Presently we reached the head of the dancing ground; and found Dingaan

seated in his chair with two of his great indunas; Umhlela and Tambusa;

squatting on either side of him。  Behind him; standing in and about the

entrance to the labyrinth through which the king had come; were other

indunas and captains。  On arriving in front of Dingaan we saluted him;

and he acknowledged the salutation with pleasant words and smiles。  Then

Retief; two or three of the other Boers; Thomas Halstead and I went

forward; whereon the treaty was produced again and identified as the

same document that we had seen on the previous day。



At the foot of it someoneI forget whowrote in Dutch; 〃De merk van

Koning Dingaan〃 'that is; 

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