Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner
from--'
"And he said, 'Oh my wife, what are the Boer, and the Russian, and theTurk to me; am I responsible for their action? It is my own nation,mine, which I love as a man loves his own soul, whose acts touch me. Iwould that wherever our flag was planted the feeble or oppressed peoplesof earth might gather under it, saying, 'Under this banner is freedomand justice which knows no race or colour.' I wish that on our bannerwere blazoned in large letters "Justice and Mercy", and that in everynew land which our feet touch, every son among us might see everblazoned above his head that banner, and below it the great order:--"Bythis sign, Conquer!"--and that the pirate flag which some men now wavein its place, may be torn down and furled for ever! Shall I condone theaction of some, simply because they happen to be of my own race, when inBushman or Hottentot I would condemn it? Shall men belonging to one ofthe mightiest races of earth, creep softly on their bellies, to attackan unwarned neighbour; when even the Kaffir has again and again givennotice of war, saying, 'Be ready, on such and such a day I come to fightyou?' Is England's power so broken, and our race so enfeebled, that wedare no longer to proclaim war; but must creep silently upon our belliesin the dark to stab, like a subject people to whom no other course isopen? These men are English; but not English-MEN. When the men of ourrace fight, they go to war with a blazoned flag and the loud trumpetbefore them. It is because I am an Englishman that these things crushme. Better that ten thousand of us should lie dead and defeated on onebattlefield, fighting for some great cause, and my own sons amongthem, than that those twelve poor boys should have fallen at Doornkop,fighting to fill up the pockets of those already oe'r-heavy with gold.'
"And she said, 'YOU, what does it matter what you feel or think; YOUwill never be able to do anything!'
"And he said, 'Oh my wife, stand by me; do not crush me. For me in thismatter there is no path but one on which light shines.'
"And she said, 'You are very unkind; you don't care what the people sayabout us!' and she wept bitterly, and went out of the room. But as soonas the door was shut, she dried her tears; and she said to herself, 'Nowhe will never dare to preach such a sermon again. He dares never opposeme when once I have set down my foot.'
"And the man spoke to no one, and went out alone in the veld. All theafternoon he walked up and down among the sand and low bushes; and Iwalked there beside him.
"And when the evening came, he went back to his chapel. Many wereabsent, but the elders sat in their places, and his wife also was there.And the light shone on the empty benches. And when the time came heopened the old book of the Jews; and he turned the leaves and read:--'Ifthou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those thatare ready to be slain; if thou sayest, 'Behold we knew it not!' Doth nothe that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul,doth he not know it?'
"And he said, 'This morning we considered the evils this land issuffering under at the hands of men whose aim is the attainment ofwealth and power. Tonight we shall look at our own share in the matter.I think we shall realise that with us, and not with the men we havelifted up on high, lies the condemnation.' Then his wife rose and wentout, and others followed her; and the little man's voice rolled amongthe empty benches; but he spoke on.
"And when the service was over he went out. No elder came to the porchto greet him; but as he stood there one, he saw not whom, slipped aleaflet into his hand. He held it up, and read in the lamplight what waswritten on it in pencil. He crushed it up in his hand, as a man crushesthat which has run a poisonous sting into him; then he dropped it onthe earth as a man drops that he would forget. A fine drizzly rain wasfalling, and he walked up the street with his arms folded behind him,and his head bent. The people walked up the other side; and it seemed tohim he was alone. But I walked behind him."
"And then," asked Peter, seeing that the stranger was silent, "whathappened to him after that?"
"That was only last Sunday," said the stranger.
There was silence again for some seconds.
Then Peter said, "Well, anyhow, at least he didn't die!"
The stranger crossed his hands upon his knees. "Peter Simon Halket,"he said, "it is easier for a man to die than to stand alone. He who canstand alone can, also, when the need be, die."
Peter looked up wistfully into the stranger's face. "I should not liketo die myself," he said, "not yet. I shall not be twenty-one till nextbirthday. I should like to see life first."
The stranger made no answer.
Presently Peter said, "Are all the men of your company poor men?"
The stranger waited a while before he answered; then he said,--"Therehave been rich men who have desired to join us. There was a young manonce; and when he heard the conditions, he went away sorrowful, for hehad great possessions."
There was silence again for a while.
"Is it long since your company was started?" asked Peter.
"There is no man living who can conceive of its age," said the stranger."Even here on this earth it began, when these hills were young, andthese lichens had hardly shown their stains upon the rocks, and manstill raised himself upwards with difficulty because the sinews in histhighs were weak. In those days, which men reck not of now, man, whenhe hungered, fed on the flesh of his fellow man and found it sweet. Yeteven in those days it came to pass that there was one whose head washigher than her fellows and her thought keener, and, as she picked theflesh from a human skull, she pondered. And so it came to pass the nextnight, when men were gathered around the fire ready to eat, that shestole away, and when they went to the tree where the victim was bound,they found him gone. And they cried one to another, 'She, only she, hasdone this, who has always said, 'I like not the taste of man-flesh; menare too like me; I cannot eat them.' 'She is mad,' they cried; 'let uskill her!' So, in those dim, misty times that men reck not of now, thatthey hardly believe in, that woman died. But in the heads of certain menand women a new thought had taken root; they said, 'We also will not eatof her. There is something evil in the taste of human flesh.' And everafter, when the fleshpots were filled with man-flesh, these stood aside,and half the tribe ate human flesh and half not; then, as the yearspassed, none ate.
"Even in those days, which men reck not of now, when men fell easilyopen their hands and knees, they were of us on the earth. And, if youwould learn a secret, even before man trod here, in the days when thedicynodont bent yearningly over her young, and the river-horse which youfind now nowhere on earth's surface, save buried in stone, called withlove to his mate; and the birds whose footprints are on the rocks flewin the sunshine calling joyfully to one another--even in those days whenman was not, the fore-dawn of this kingdom had broken on the earth. Andstill as the sun rises and sets and the planets journey round, we growand grow."
The stranger rose from the fire, and stood upright: around him, andbehind him, the darkness stood out.
"All earth is ours. And the day shall come, when the stars, looking downon this little world, shall see no spot where the soil is moist and darkwith the blood of man shed by his fellow man; the sun shall rise in theEast and set in the West and shed his light across this little globe;and nowhere shall he see man crushed by his fellows. And they shallbeat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks:nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learnwar any more. And instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree;and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and man shallnowhere crush man on all the holy earth. Tomorrow's sun shall rise,"said the stranger, "and it shall flood these dark kopjes with light, andthe rocks shall glint in it. Not more certain is that rising than thecoming of that day. And I say to you that even here, in the land wherenow we stand, where today the cries of the wounded and the curses ofrevenge ring in the air; even here, in this land where man creeps onhis belly to wound his fellow in the dark, and where an acre of goldis worth a thousand souls, and a reef of shining dirt is worth half apeople, and the vultures are heavy with man's flesh--even here that dayshall come. I tell you,
Peter Simon Halket, that here on the spot wherenow we stand shall be raised a temple. Man shall not gather in it toworship that which divides; but they shall stand in it shoulder toshoulder, white man with black, and the stranger with the inhabitant ofthe land; and the place shall be holy; for men shall say, 'Are we notbrethren and the sons of one Father?'"
Peter Halket looked upward silently. And the stranger said: "Certainmen slept upon a plain, and the night was chill and dark. And, as theyslept, at that hour when night is darkest, one stirred. Far off to theeastward, through his half-closed eyelids, he saw, as it were, one faintline, thin as a hair's width, that edged the hill
"And he said, 'Oh my wife, what are the Boer, and the Russian, and theTurk to me; am I responsible for their action? It is my own nation,mine, which I love as a man loves his own soul, whose acts touch me. Iwould that wherever our flag was planted the feeble or oppressed peoplesof earth might gather under it, saying, 'Under this banner is freedomand justice which knows no race or colour.' I wish that on our bannerwere blazoned in large letters "Justice and Mercy", and that in everynew land which our feet touch, every son among us might see everblazoned above his head that banner, and below it the great order:--"Bythis sign, Conquer!"--and that the pirate flag which some men now wavein its place, may be torn down and furled for ever! Shall I condone theaction of some, simply because they happen to be of my own race, when inBushman or Hottentot I would condemn it? Shall men belonging to one ofthe mightiest races of earth, creep softly on their bellies, to attackan unwarned neighbour; when even the Kaffir has again and again givennotice of war, saying, 'Be ready, on such and such a day I come to fightyou?' Is England's power so broken, and our race so enfeebled, that wedare no longer to proclaim war; but must creep silently upon our belliesin the dark to stab, like a subject people to whom no other course isopen? These men are English; but not English-MEN. When the men of ourrace fight, they go to war with a blazoned flag and the loud trumpetbefore them. It is because I am an Englishman that these things crushme. Better that ten thousand of us should lie dead and defeated on onebattlefield, fighting for some great cause, and my own sons amongthem, than that those twelve poor boys should have fallen at Doornkop,fighting to fill up the pockets of those already oe'r-heavy with gold.'
"And she said, 'YOU, what does it matter what you feel or think; YOUwill never be able to do anything!'
"And he said, 'Oh my wife, stand by me; do not crush me. For me in thismatter there is no path but one on which light shines.'
"And she said, 'You are very unkind; you don't care what the people sayabout us!' and she wept bitterly, and went out of the room. But as soonas the door was shut, she dried her tears; and she said to herself, 'Nowhe will never dare to preach such a sermon again. He dares never opposeme when once I have set down my foot.'
"And the man spoke to no one, and went out alone in the veld. All theafternoon he walked up and down among the sand and low bushes; and Iwalked there beside him.
"And when the evening came, he went back to his chapel. Many wereabsent, but the elders sat in their places, and his wife also was there.And the light shone on the empty benches. And when the time came heopened the old book of the Jews; and he turned the leaves and read:--'Ifthou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those thatare ready to be slain; if thou sayest, 'Behold we knew it not!' Doth nothe that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul,doth he not know it?'
"And he said, 'This morning we considered the evils this land issuffering under at the hands of men whose aim is the attainment ofwealth and power. Tonight we shall look at our own share in the matter.I think we shall realise that with us, and not with the men we havelifted up on high, lies the condemnation.' Then his wife rose and wentout, and others followed her; and the little man's voice rolled amongthe empty benches; but he spoke on.
"And when the service was over he went out. No elder came to the porchto greet him; but as he stood there one, he saw not whom, slipped aleaflet into his hand. He held it up, and read in the lamplight what waswritten on it in pencil. He crushed it up in his hand, as a man crushesthat which has run a poisonous sting into him; then he dropped it onthe earth as a man drops that he would forget. A fine drizzly rain wasfalling, and he walked up the street with his arms folded behind him,and his head bent. The people walked up the other side; and it seemed tohim he was alone. But I walked behind him."
"And then," asked Peter, seeing that the stranger was silent, "whathappened to him after that?"
"That was only last Sunday," said the stranger.
There was silence again for some seconds.
Then Peter said, "Well, anyhow, at least he didn't die!"
The stranger crossed his hands upon his knees. "Peter Simon Halket,"he said, "it is easier for a man to die than to stand alone. He who canstand alone can, also, when the need be, die."
Peter looked up wistfully into the stranger's face. "I should not liketo die myself," he said, "not yet. I shall not be twenty-one till nextbirthday. I should like to see life first."
The stranger made no answer.
Presently Peter said, "Are all the men of your company poor men?"
The stranger waited a while before he answered; then he said,--"Therehave been rich men who have desired to join us. There was a young manonce; and when he heard the conditions, he went away sorrowful, for hehad great possessions."
There was silence again for a while.
"Is it long since your company was started?" asked Peter.
"There is no man living who can conceive of its age," said the stranger."Even here on this earth it began, when these hills were young, andthese lichens had hardly shown their stains upon the rocks, and manstill raised himself upwards with difficulty because the sinews in histhighs were weak. In those days, which men reck not of now, man, whenhe hungered, fed on the flesh of his fellow man and found it sweet. Yeteven in those days it came to pass that there was one whose head washigher than her fellows and her thought keener, and, as she picked theflesh from a human skull, she pondered. And so it came to pass the nextnight, when men were gathered around the fire ready to eat, that shestole away, and when they went to the tree where the victim was bound,they found him gone. And they cried one to another, 'She, only she, hasdone this, who has always said, 'I like not the taste of man-flesh; menare too like me; I cannot eat them.' 'She is mad,' they cried; 'let uskill her!' So, in those dim, misty times that men reck not of now, thatthey hardly believe in, that woman died. But in the heads of certain menand women a new thought had taken root; they said, 'We also will not eatof her. There is something evil in the taste of human flesh.' And everafter, when the fleshpots were filled with man-flesh, these stood aside,and half the tribe ate human flesh and half not; then, as the yearspassed, none ate.
"Even in those days, which men reck not of now, when men fell easilyopen their hands and knees, they were of us on the earth. And, if youwould learn a secret, even before man trod here, in the days when thedicynodont bent yearningly over her young, and the river-horse which youfind now nowhere on earth's surface, save buried in stone, called withlove to his mate; and the birds whose footprints are on the rocks flewin the sunshine calling joyfully to one another--even in those days whenman was not, the fore-dawn of this kingdom had broken on the earth. Andstill as the sun rises and sets and the planets journey round, we growand grow."
The stranger rose from the fire, and stood upright: around him, andbehind him, the darkness stood out.
"All earth is ours. And the day shall come, when the stars, looking downon this little world, shall see no spot where the soil is moist and darkwith the blood of man shed by his fellow man; the sun shall rise in theEast and set in the West and shed his light across this little globe;and nowhere shall he see man crushed by his fellows. And they shallbeat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks:nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learnwar any more. And instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree;and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and man shallnowhere crush man on all the holy earth. Tomorrow's sun shall rise,"said the stranger, "and it shall flood these dark kopjes with light, andthe rocks shall glint in it. Not more certain is that rising than thecoming of that day. And I say to you that even here, in the land wherenow we stand, where today the cries of the wounded and the curses ofrevenge ring in the air; even here, in this land where man creeps onhis belly to wound his fellow in the dark, and where an acre of goldis worth a thousand souls, and a reef of shining dirt is worth half apeople, and the vultures are heavy with man's flesh--even here that dayshall come. I tell you,
Peter Halket looked upward silently. And the stranger said: "Certainmen slept upon a plain, and the night was chill and dark. And, as theyslept, at that hour when night is darkest, one stirred. Far off to theeastward, through his half-closed eyelids, he saw, as it were, one faintline, thin as a hair's width, that edged the hill