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Page 62
When the chosen girls had all danced, the king lifted his hand.
"Which deem ye the fairest, white men?" he asked.
"The first," said I unthinkingly. Next second I regretted it, for I
remembered that Infadoos had told us that the fairest woman must be
offered up as a sacrifice.
"Then is my mind as your minds, and my eyes as your eyes. She is the
fairest! and a sorry thing it is for her, for she must die!"
"/Ay, must die!/" piped out Gagool, casting a glance of her quick eyes
in the direction of the poor girl, who, as yet ignorant of the awful
fate in store for her, was standing some ten yards off in front of a
company of maidens, engaged in nervously picking a flower from her
wreath to pieces, petal by petal.
"Why, O king?" said I, restraining my indignation with difficulty;
"the girl has danced well, and pleased us; she is fair too; it would
be hard to reward her with death."
Twala laughed as he answered--
"It is our custom, and the figures who sit in stone yonder," and he
pointed towards the three distant peaks, "must have their due. Did I
fail to put the fairest girl to death to-day, misfortune would fall
upon me and my house. Thus runs the prophecy of my people: 'If the
king offer not a sacrifice of a fair girl, on the day of the dance of
maidens, to the Old Ones who sit and watch on the mountains, then
shall he fall, and his house.' Look ye, white men, my brother who
reigned before me offered not the sacrifice, because of the tears of
the woman, and he fell, and his house, and I reign in his stead. It is
finished; she must die!" Then turning to the guards--"Bring her
hither; Scragga, make sharp thy spear."
Two of the men stepped forward, and as they advanced, the girl, for
the first time realising her impending fate, screamed aloud and turned
to fly. But the strong hands caught her fast, and brought her,
struggling and weeping, before us.
"What is thy name, girl?" piped Gagool. "What! wilt thou not answer?
Shall the king's son do his work at once?"
At this hint, Scragga, looking more evil than ever, advanced a step
and lifted his great spear, and at that moment I saw Good's hand creep
to his revolver. The poor girl caught the faint glint of steel through
her tears, and it sobered her anguish. She ceased struggling, and
clasping her hands convulsively, stood shuddering from head to foot.
"See," cried Scragga in high glee, "she shrinks from the sight of my
little plaything even before she has tasted it," and he tapped the
broad blade of his spear.
"If ever I get the chance you shall pay for that, you young hound!" I
heard Good mutter beneath his breath.
"Now that thou art quiet, give us thy name, my dear. Come, speak out,
and fear not," said Gagool in mockery.
"Oh, mother," answered the girl, in trembling accents, "my name is
Foulata, of the house of Suko. Oh, mother, why must I die? I have done
no wrong!"
"Be comforted," went on the old woman in her hateful tone of mockery.
"Thou must die, indeed, as a sacrifice to the Old Ones who sit
yonder," and she pointed to the peaks; "but it is better to sleep in
the night than to toil in the daytime; it is better to die than to
live, and thou shalt die by the royal hand of the king's own son."
The girl Foulata wrung her hands in anguish, and cried out aloud, "Oh,
cruel! and I so young! What have I done that I should never again see
the sun rise out of the night, or the stars come following on his
track in the evening, that I may no more gather the flowers when the
dew is heavy, or listen to the laughing of the waters? Woe is me, that
I shall never see my father's hut again, nor feel my mother's kiss,
nor tend the lamb that is sick! Woe is me, that no lover shall put his
arm around me and look into my eyes, nor shall men children be born of
me! Oh, cruel, cruel!"
And again she wrung her hands and turned her tear-stained flower-
crowned face to Heaven, looking so lovely in her despair--for she was
indeed a beautiful woman--that assuredly the sight of her would have
melted the hearts of any less cruel than were the three fiends before
us. Prince Arthur's appeal to the ruffians who came to blind him was
not more touching than that of this savage girl.
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