"Yes,we found him.And now I have promised ye that if ye can find that chamber,and the stones are there -""The,stone upon thy forehead proves that they are there,"I put in,pointing to the great diamond I had taken from Twala's dead brows.
"Mayhap;if they are there,"he said,"ye shall have as many as ye can take hence -if,indeed,ye would leave me,my brothers.""First we must find the chamber,"said I.
"There is but one who can show it to thee -Gagool.',"And if she will not?""Then shall she die,"said Ignosi,sternly."I have saved her alive but for this.Stay,she shall choose,"and,calling to a messenger,he ordered Gagool to be brought.
In a few minutes she came,hurried along by two guards,whom she was cursing as she walked.
"Leave her,"said the king to the guards.
As soon as their support was withdrawn the withered old bundle,for she looked more like a bundle than anything else,sank into a heap on the floor out of which her two bright,wicked eyes gleamed like a snake's.
"What will ye with me,Ignosi?"she piped."Ye dare not touch me.If ye touch me I will blast ye as ye sit.Beware of my magic.""Thy magic could not save Twala,old she-wolf,and it cannot hurt me."was the answer."Listen:I will this of thee,that thou reveal where is the chamber where are the shining stones.""Ha!ha!"she piped,"none know but I,and I will never tell thee.
The white devils shall go hence empty-handed.""Thou wilt tell me.I will make thee tell me.""How,O king?Thou art great,but can thy power wring the truth from a woman?""It is difficult,yet will I do it."
"How,O king?"
"Nay,thus;if thou tellest not thou shalt slowly die.""Die!"she shrieked,in terror and fury;"ye dare not touch me man,ye know not who I am.How old think ye am I?I knew your fathers,and your fathers'fathers'fathers.When the country was young I was here,when the country grows old I shall still be here.I cannot die unless Ibe killed by chance,for none dare slay me."
"Yet will I slay thee.See,Gagool,mother of evil,thou art so old thou canst no longer love thy life:What can life be to such a hag as thee,who hast no shape,nor form,nor hair,nor teeth -hast naught,save wickedness and evil eyes?It will be mercy to slay thee,Gagool.""Thou fool,"shrieked the old fiend,"thou accursed fool,thinkest thou that life is sweet only to the young?It is not so,and naught thou knowest of the heart of man to think it.To the young,indeed,death is sometimes welcome,for the young can feel.They love and suffer,and it wrings them to see their beloved pass to the land of shadows.But the old feel not,they love not,and,ha!they laugh to see another go out into the dark;ha!ha!they laugh to see the evil that is done under the sun.
All they love is life,the warm,warm sun,and the sweet,sweet air.They are afraid of the cold;afraid of the cold and the dark,ha!ha!ha!"and the old hag writhed in ghastly merriment on the ground.
"Cease thine evil talk and answer me,"said Ignosi,angrily."Wilt thou show the place where the stones are,or wilt thou not?If thou wilt not,thou diest,even now,"and he seized a spear and held it over her.
"I will not show it;thou darest not kill me,darest not.He who slays me.will be accursed forever."Slowly Ignosi brought down the spear till it pricked the prostrate heap of rags.
With a wild yell she sprang to her feet,and then again fell and rolled upon the floor.
"Nay;I will show it.Only let me live,let me sit in the sun and have a bit of meat to suck,and I will show thee.""It is well.I thought I should find a way to reason with thee.
To-morrow shalt thou go with Infadoos and my white brothers to the place,and beware how thou failest,for if thou showest it not,then shalt thou slowly die.I have spoken.""1will not fail,Ignosi.I always keep my word:ha!ha!ha!Once a woman showed the place to a white man before,and behold evil befell him,"and here her wicked eyes glinted."Her name was Gagool,too.Perchance I was that woman.""Thou liest,"I said,"that was ten generations gone.""Mayhap,mayhap;when one lives long one forgets.Perhaps it was my mother's mother who told me;surely her name was Gagool,also,But mark,ye will find in the place where the bright playthings are a bag of hide full of stones.The man filled that bag,but he never took it away.Evil befell him,I say;evil befell him!Perhaps it was my mother's mother who told me.It will be a merry journey -we can see the bodies of those who died in the battle as we go.Their eyes will be gone by now,and their ribs will be hollow.Ha!ha!ha!"