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第67章

marie-第67章

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may be made in writing。〃



〃It shall be done;〃 said the commandant; and laboriously he made the

note on the paper before him。



When he had finished he looked up and said: 〃The charge against you;

Allan Quatermain; is that; being one of the commission who recently

visited the Zulu king Dingaan; under command of the late Governor and

General Pieter Retief; you did falsely and wickedly urge the said

Dingaan to murder the said Pieter Retief and his companions; and

especially Henri Marais; your father…in…law; and Hernando Pereira; his

nephew; with both of whom you had a quarrel。  Further; that afterwards

you brought about the said murder; having first arranged with the king

of the Zulus that you should be removed to a place of safety while it

was done。  Do you plead Guilty or Not guilty?〃



Now when I heard this false and abominable charge my rage and

indignation caused me to laugh aloud。



〃Are you mad; commandant;〃 I exclaimed; 〃that you should say such

things?  On what evidence is this wicked lie advanced against me?〃



〃No; Allan Quatermain; I am not mad;〃 he replied; 〃although it is true

that through your evil doings I; who have lost my wife and three

children by the Zulu spears; have suffered enough to make me mad。  As

for the evidence against you; you shall hear it。  But first I will write

down that you plead Not guilty。〃



He did so; then said:



〃If you will acknowledge certain things it will save us all much time;

of which at present we have little to spare。  Those things are that

knowing what was going to happen to the commission; you tried to avoid

accompanying it。  Is that true?〃



〃No;〃 I answered。  〃I knew nothing of what was going to happen to the

commission; though I feared something; having but just saved my friends

there〃and I pointed to the Prinsloos〃from death at the hands of

Dingaan。  I did not wish to accompany it for another reason: that I had

been married on the day of its starting to Marie Marais。  Still; I went

after all because the General Retief; who was my friend; asked me to

come; to interpret for him。〃



Now some of the Boers present said:



〃That is true。  We remember。〃



But the commandant continued; taking no heed of my answer or these

interruptions。



〃Do you acknowledge that you were on bad terms with Henri Marais and

with Hernan Pereira?〃



〃Yes;〃 I answered; 〃because Henri Marais did all in his power to prevent

my marriage with his daughter Marie; behaving very ill to me who had

saved his life and that of his people who remained to him up by Delagoa;

and afterwards at Umgungundhlovu。  Because; too; Hernan Pereira strove

to rob me of Marie; who loved me。  Moreover; although I had saved him

when he lay sick to death; he afterwards tried to murder me by shooting

me down in a lonely place。  Here is the mark of it;〃 and I touched the

little scar upon the side of my forehead。



〃That is true; he did so; the stinkcat;〃 shouted the Vrouw Prinsloo; and

was ordered to be silent。



〃Do you acknowledge;〃 went on the commandant; 〃that you sent to warn

your wife and those with her to depart from the camp on the Bushman's

River; because it was going to be attacked; charging them to keep the

matter secret; and that afterwards both you and your Hottentot servant

alone returned safely from Zululand; where all those who went with you

lie dead?〃



〃I acknowledge;〃 I answered; 〃that I wrote to tell my wife to come to

this place where I had been building houses; as you see; and to bring

with her any of our companions who cared to trek here; or; failing that;

to go alone。  This I did because Dingaan had told me; whether in jest or

in earnest I did not know; that he had given orders that my said wife

should be kidnapped; as he desired to make her one of his women; having

thought her beautiful when he saw her。  Also what I did was done with

the knowledge and by the wish of the late Governor Retief; as can be

shown by his writing on my letter。  I acknowledge also that I escaped

when all my brothers were killed; as did the Hottentot Hans; and if you

wish to know I will tell you how we escaped and why。〃



The commandant made a further note; then he said:



〃Let the witness Hernan Pereira be called and sworn。〃



This was done and he was ordered to tell his tale。



As may be imagined; it was a long tale; and one that had evidently been

prepared with great care。  I will only set down its blackest falsehoods。

 He assured the court that he had no enmity against me and had never

attempted to kill me or do me any harm; although it was true that his

heart felt sore because; against her father's will; I had stolen away

the affection of his betrothed; who was now my wife。  He said that he

had stopped in Zululand because he knew that I should marry her as soon

as she came of age; and it was too great pain for him to see this done。 

He said that while he was there; before the arrival of the commission;

Dingaan and some of his captains had told him that I had again and again

urged him; Dingaan; to kill the Boers because they were traitors to the

sovereign of England; but that he; Dingaan; had refused to do so。  He

said that when Retief came up with the commission he tried to warn him

against me; but that Retief would not listen; being infatuated with me

as many others were; and he looked towards the Prinsloos。



Then came the worst of all。  He said that while he was engaged in

mending some guns for Dingaan in one of his private huts; he overheard a

conversation between myself and Dingaan which took place outside the

hut; I; of course; not knowing that he was within。  The substance of

this conversation was that I again urged Dingaan to kill the Boers and

afterwards to send an impi to massacre their wives and families。  Only I

asked him to give me time to get away a girl whom I had married from

among them; and with her a few of my own friends whom I wished should be

spared; as I intended to become a kind of chief over them; and if he

would grant it me; to hold all the land of Natal under his rule and the

protection of the English。  To these proposals Dingaan answered that

〃they seemed wise and good; and that he would think them over very

carefully。〃



Pereira said further that coming out of the hut after Dingaan had gone

away he reproached me bitterly for my wickedness; and announced that he

would warn the Boers; which he did subsequently by word of mouth and in

writing。  That thereon I caused him to be detained by the Zulus while I

went to Retief and told him some false story about him; Pereira; which

caused Retief to drive him out of his camp and give orders that none of

the Boers should so much as speak to him。  That then he did the only

thing he could。  Going to his uncle; Henri Marais; he told him; not all

the truth; but that he had learnt for certain that his daughter Marie

was in dreadful danger of her life because of some intended attack of

the Zulus; and that all the Boers among whom she dwelt were also in

danger of their lives。



Therefore he suggested to Henri Marais that as the General Retief was

besotted and would not listen to his story; the best thing they could do

was to ride away and warn the Boers。  This then they did secretly;

without the knowledge of Retief; but being delayed upon their journey by

one accident and another; which he set out in detail; they only reached

the Bushman's River too late; after the massacre had taken place。 

Subsequently; as the commandant knew; hearing a rumour that Marie Marais

and other Boers had trekked to this place before the slaughter; they

came here and learned that they had done so upon a warning sent to them

by Allan Quatermain; whereon they returned and communicated the news to

the surviving Boers at Bushman's River。



That was all he had to say。



Then; as I reserved my cross…examination until I heard all the evidence

against me; Henri Marais was sworn and corroborated his

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