The Priests Tale - Père Etienne | Page 6

but once that you saw the figure in your dream, and that years ago. You dreamt of a white man dressed as I. Well, I belong to a regiment of white men who dress alike, and for many lives it has been the custom of that regiment to dress so. Doubtless as a boy you had seen one of my brethren, or perchance a picture of one, and your spirit saw him again in a dream. If I am right, and your home is on that great river which we white men call the Zambesi, then it is not unlikely that such a thing happened. Perhaps you have forgotten. Now in me you see him whom you seek.'
"The old fellow's keen eyes flashed angrily. 'The white stranger mocks me,' he said.
"I protested. 'No, father, I do not mean to mock you. Why should I do so? But come now, can you describe the face of the man you saw?'
"'I can, and easily. His beard was white and not as thine. Moreover, he was bald-headed, and beneath his right eye was there a little scar such as he had perhaps received in the hunt from some beast or the other. His face was long and thin, and his nose bigger. Am I a child that I should not know one man from another? Thou art not he.'
"It was foolish of me, but I was surprised out of all caution. 'How could you see so much in the dark of your hut?' I exclaimed.
"Mwezi rose to his feet and made a pathetic effort to hold his head erect. With true native dignity, he ignored me and turned to the chief. 'With the leave of the chief, I go,' he said. 'I am old and would rest in my place. Fare thee well, father of thy people. The Heavens guard thee. Be in peace.'
"I realised that I had blundered, but at the moment there was nothing to do. We watched the procession move away again almost in silence, and I noticed curiously that the crowd were even more interested in Mwezi than in myself, a white stranger. When he was out of sight, I apologised to the chief, who, however, would not hear that I had done any wrong. He himself showed me back to the house set apart for us and invited me to feast with him in the evening. He gave me leave to speak to his people, and I remember that I was so dog-tired that I lay down at once and slept for the rest of the day.
"In the morning, however, I remembered Mwezi, and told the chief that I would like to go and call on him. I determined to do what I could for the old fellow's peace of mind, and, with a guide and one of my own boys, we set out.
"The way led through the native huts and without them. It was downhill going, as the village, in African fashion, was built on the side of a rise which culminated in the chief's hut, while Mwezi lived, very close to the source of the river I have mentioned. We emerged through trees into a grassy open space of perhaps thirty paces wide, and I saw at once the old fellow sitting at the door of his hut beneath the shade of a wild vine which grew luxuriantly over the porch and roof. I was too much occupied in greeting him to take note at once of the building, but when we were seated, and he had been thawed out of his first coolness, I looked more closely at it. It interested me. It was long in shape, much longer than the usual native hut, and with three windows narrow and pointed, one of them now roughly blocked with sods. I examined the stones of the walls, getting up to do so. They struck me as being old and much more carefully laid than is usual in native work.
"'Did you build this house yourself, old man?' I asked. 'It is well made.'
"'I did not build it,' he said. 'I found it here. When I came to Mtakatifuni, it was empty and had been empty for long. There was no roof to it in those days, and few came near the place. But that suited me. My mind was full of him whom I had seen, and my spirit told me that I should await him here. The father of the chief then gave it me, no councillor knowing aught about it.'
"'And you planted this vine and cleared this space, perhaps?'
"'I did not. I did but train the vine which had blocked the door, and cut down for the wood of the roof the young trees that had grown here. But some other had cleared the ground