"GIVE ME A BLACK GOAT!".
THE, conversation after this was of such a desultory order that I do not quite recollect it.For some reason, perhaps from a desire to keep her identity and character in reserve, Ayesha did not talk freely, as she usually did.Presently, however, she informed Leo that she had arranged a dance that night for our amusement.I was astonished to hear this, as: Ifancied that the Amahagger were much too gloomy a folk to indulge in any such frivolity; but, as will presently more clearly appear, it turned out an Amahagger dance has little in common with such fantastic festivities in other countries, savage or civilized.Then, as we were about to withdraw, she suggested that Leo might like to see some of the wonders of the caves, and, as he gladly assented, thither we departed, accompanied by Job and Billali.
To describe our visit would only be to repeat a great deal of what I have already said.The tombs we entered were indeed.different, for the whole rock was a honeycomb of sepulchres, but the contents were nearly always similar.Afterwards we visited the pyramid of bones that had haunted my dreams on the previous night, and from thence went down a long passage to one of the great vaults occupied by the bodies of the poorer citizens of Imperial Ko^r.These bodies were not nearly so well preserved as were those of the wealthier classes.Many of them had no linen covering on them, also they were buried from five hundred to one thousand in a single large vault, the corpses in some instances being thickly piled one upon another, like a heap of slain.
Leo was of course intensely interested in this stupendous and unequalled sight, which was, indeed, enough to awaken all the imagination a man had in him into the most active life.But to poor Job it did not prove attractive.His nervesalready seriously shaken by what he had undergone since we had arrived in this terrible countrywere, as may be imagined, still further disturbed by the spectacle of these masses of departed humanity, whereof the forms still remained perfect before his eyes, though their voices were forever lost in the eternal silence of the tomb.Nor was he comforted when old Billali, by way of soothing his evident agitation, informed him that he should not be frightened at these dead things, as he would soon be like them himself.
"There's a nice thing to say of a man, sir," he ejaculated, when I translated this little remark; "but there, what can one expect of an old man-eating savage? Not but what I dare say he's right," and Job sighed.
When we had finished inspecting the caves we returned and had our meal, for it was now past four in the afternoon, and we allspecially Leoneeded some food and rest.At six o'clock we, together with Job, waited on Ayesha, who set to work to terrify our poor servant still further by showing him pictures on the pool of water in the font like vessel._i_ She _i_ learned from me that he was one of seventeen children, and then bid him think of all his brothers and sisters, or as many of them as he could, gathered together in his father's cottage.Then she told him to look in the water, and there, reflected from its stilly surface, was that dead scene of many years gone by, as it was recalled to our retainer's brain.Some of the faces were clear enough, but some were mere blurs and splotches, or with one feature grossly exaggerated;the fact being that, in these instances, Job had been unable to recall the exact appearances of the individuals, or remembered them only by a peculiarity of his tribe, and the water could only reflect what he saw with his mind's eye.For it must be remembered that _i_ She _i_ 's power in this matter was strictly limited; she could, apparently, except in very rare instances, only photograph upon the water what was actually in the mind of some one present, and then only by his will.But if she was personally acquainted with a locality she could, as in the case of ourselves and the whale-boat, throw its reflection upon the water, and also it seems the reflection of anything extraneous that was passing there at the time.This power, however, did not extend to the minds of others.
For instance, she could show me the interior of my college chapel, as I remembered it, but not as it was at the moment of reflection; for, where other people were concerned, her art was strictly limited to the facts or memories present to their consciousness at the moment.So much was this so that, when we tried, for her amusement, to show her pictures of noted buildings, such as St.Paul's or the Houses of Parliament, the result was most imperfect; for, of course, though we had a good general idea of their appearance, we could not recall all the architectural details, and therefore the minutiae necessary to a perfect reflection were wanting.But Job could not be got to understand this, and so far from accepting a natural explanation of the matter, which was, after all, though strange enough in all conscience, nothing more than an instance of glorified and perfected telepathy, he set the whole thing down as a manifestation of the blackest magic.I shall never forget the howl of terror which he uttered when he saw the more or less perfect portraits of his long-scattered brethren staring at him from the quiet water, or the merry peal of laughter with which Ayesha greeted his consternation.As for Leo, he did not altogether like it either, but ran his fingers through his yellow curls, and remarked that it gave him the creeps.
