The Wizard | Page 9

your spears have wasted beyond the banks of the
river. These are the words which he spoke to me, O King, that I pass on
to you with my tongue: "To the King Umsuka, lord of the Amasuka,
the Sons of Fire, I, Messenger, who am the servant and the ambassador
of the King of Heaven, give greeting. A year ago, King, I sent to you
saying that the message which was brought by that white man whom
you drove from your land had reached the ears of Him whom I serve,

the High and Holy One, and that, speaking in my heart, He had
commanded me to take up the challenge of your message. Here am I,
therefore, ready to abide by the law which you have laid down; for if
guile or lies be found in me, then let me travel from your land across
the bridge of spears. Still, I would dwell a little while here where I am
before I pass into the shadow of your rule and speak in the ears of your
people as I have been bidden. Know, King, that first I would learn your
tongue, and therefore I demand that one of your people may be sent to
dwell with me and to teach me that tongue. King, you heard my words
and you sent me a man to dwell with me, and that man has taught me
your tongue, and I also have taught him, converting him to my faith
and giving him a new name, the name of John. King, now I seek your
leave to visit you, and to deliver into your ears the words with which I,
Messenger, am charged. I have spoken."'
"Thus I, John, addressed the great ones, my father, and they listened in
silence. When I had done they spoke together, a word here and a word
there. Then Hokosa, the king's mouth, answered me, telling the thought
of the king: 'You are a bold man, you whose name is John, but who
once had another name--you, my servant, who dare to appear before me,
and to make it known to me that you have been turned to a new faith
and serve another king than I. Yet because you are bold, I forgive you.
Go back now to that white man who is named Messenger and who
comes upon an embassy to me from the Lord of Heaven, and bid him
come in peace. Yet warn him once again that here also we know
something of the Powers that are not seen, here also we have our
wizards who draw wisdom from the air, who tame the thunderbolt and
compel the rain, and that he must show himself greater than all of these
if he would not pass hence by the bridge of spears. Let him, therefore,
take counsel with his heart and with Him he serves, if such a One there
is, and let him come or let him stay away as it shall please him.'"
"So be it," said Owen; "the words of the king are good, and to-morrow
we will start for the Great Place."
John heard and assented, but without eagerness.
"My father," he said, in a doubtful and tentative voice, "would it not

perhaps be better to bide here awhile first?"
"Why?" asked Owen. "We have sown, and now is the hour to reap."
"It is so, my father, but as I ran hither, full of the king's words, it came
into my mind that now is not the time to convert the Sons of Fire. There
is trouble brewing at the Great Palace, father. Listen, and I will tell you;
as I have heard, so I will tell you. You know well that our King
Umsuka has two sons, Hafela and Nodwengo; and of these Hafela is
the heir-apparent, the fruit of the chief wife of the king, and Nodwengo
is sprung from another wife. Now Hafela is proud and cruel, a warrior
of warriors, a terrible man, and Nodwengo is gentle and mild, like to
his mother whom the king loves. Of late it has been discovered that
Hafela, weary of waiting for power, has made a plot to depose his
father and to kill Nodwengo, his brother, so that the land and those who
dwell in it may become his without question. This plot the king
knows--I had it from one of his women, who is my sister--and he is
very wroth, yet he dare do little, for he grows old and timid, and seeks
rest, not war. Yet he is minded, if he can find the heart, to go back upon
the law and to name Nodwengo as his heir before all the army at the
feast of the first-fruits, which shall be held on the third