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THE FATE OF KLAAS.
the demon within me by calling me ' Count,' when I had taught her to use.no other name but "Klaas ; ' and thus bringing all my wrongs before me, I vowed to sacrifice our child to the gods of my country should its eyes ever see the light. Oh, then, call me not ' Count' in this wild ravine, where everything breathes an air of freedom, although I am obliged to bear it (but not for long, I hope) before the abhorred Christians. Oh ! call me not ' Count,' unless—" and he flung his arms on high, while his eyeballs rolled in fire, and every nerve quivered with emotion—" unless you wish to see me, like the hunted lanté, turn on all alike. But enough ;"—and by strong effort he mastered his turbulent passions, although the perspiration flowed from off his forehead in large drops, and his breast heaved like the stormy billow ;—" I came not here to-night to recite my wrongs, or the wrongs of these my comrades ; but to plan our redemption from them, and the destruction of our enemies. To business, then. But first let me ask you, Morah, has Obeah given the sign ? " " An' think you me come here to-night had he not?'' returned the old woman, doggedly ; " ay, that he has, and a good sign it is ; but p'raps you no want white man dead, eh? And again the hag uttered her horrible laugh, which seemed still more so in the midst of a clap of thunder, while her miserable form looked more unearthly in the lightning's flash. " Death to our foes!" broke from the lips of the leader,., w hich was repeated by all the band ; and then breaking up the circle in which they had been standing, they proceeded to prepare the different articles used in their superstitious orgies, under the inspection of old Morah, while Klaas and his general, Tomboy, conferred apart. A large hole being dug in the middle of the ravine, and all things properly arranged, the king and his companion were called ; when, joining in a rank around the opening, the mysterious rites began.
Morah, squatting at one end of