ticipated,
when it came to winding it up again, their strength was barely
sufficient to the task. Three people could do it well, but with two the
thing was risky. Now Meyer asked--or, rather, commanded--the Molimo to
order some of his men to help him, but this the old chief refused point
blank to do.

First, he made a number of excuses. They were all employed in drilling,
and in watching for the Matabele; they were afraid to venture here, and
so forth. At last Meyer grew furious; his eyes flashed, he ground his
teeth, and began to threaten.

"White man," said the Molimo, when he had done, "it cannot be. I have
fulfilled my bargain with you. Search for the gold; find it and take it
away if you can. But this place is holy. None of my tribe, save he who
holds the office of Molimo for the time, may set a foot therein. Kill
me if you will--I care not; but so it is, and if you kill me, afterwards
they will kill you."

Now Meyer, seeing that nothing was to be gained by violence, changed his
tone, and asked if he himself would help them.

"I am old, my strength is small," he replied; "yet I will put my hand to
the chain and do my best. But, if I were you, I would not descend that
pit."

"Still, I will descend it, and to-morrow," said Meyer.

XII

THE BEGINNING OF THE SEARCH

Accordingly, on the next day the great experiment was made. The
chain and ancient winding gear had been tested and proved to be amply
sufficient to the strain. Therefore, nothing remained save for Meyer
to place himself in the wooden seat with an oil-lamp, and in case this
should be extinguished, matches and candles, of both of which they had a
large supply.

He did so boldly enough, and swung out over the mouth of the pit, while
the three of them clutched the handles of the winch. Then they began to
lower, and slowly his white face disappeared into the black depth. At
every few turns his descent was stopped that he might examine the walls
of the well, and when he was about fifty feet down he called to them to
hold on, which they did, listening while he struck at the rock with a
hammer, for here it sounded very hollow.

At length he shouted to them to lower away again, and they obeyed, until
nearly all the chain was out, and they knew he must be near the water.
Now Benita, peeping over the edge, saw that the star of light had
vanished. His lamp was out, nor did he appear to attempt to re-light it.
They shouted down the well to him, but n