Moreover,
from one of the caves at the end of it issued a procession, a horrible
procession of fierce-looking, savage warriors, with spears and
knobkerries, who between them half dragged, half carried a young woman
and an elderly man.
They advanced. They passed within a few feet of her, and observing
the condition of the woman and the man, she saw that these must be led
because for a certain reason they could not see where to go,--oh! never
mind what she saw.
The procession reached the edge of the rock where the railing was, only
now the railing had gone like the house. Then for the first time Dorcas
heard, for hitherto all had seemed to happen in silence.
"Die, _Umtakati!_ Die, you wizard, as the King commands, and feed the
river-dwellers," said a deep voice.
There followed a struggle, a horrible twisting of shapes, and the
elderly man vanished over the cliff, while a moment later from below
came the noise of a great splash.
Next the girl was haled forward, and the words of doom were repeated.
She seemed to break from her murderers and stagger to the edge of the
precipice, crying out:
"O Father, I come!"
Then, with one blood-curdling shriek, she vanished also, and again
there followed the sound of a great splash that slowly echoed itself to
silence.
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