The covenant - James A. Michener [346]
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: to keep thee from . . . the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids . . . Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
He was about to close the book when he realized that he required much more help than he could find by himself, and he sought out Theunis Nel, sleeping alone, for his wife was away committing sin, and he said to the sick-comforter, 'Come read the Bible with me and instruct me.'
Always prepared for such calls, Theunis rose, wrapped himself in a blanket, and accompanied Tjaart to where the Bible stood open under the lamp, and he grasped at once the significance of Tjaart's having been reading Proverbs Six. But he said nothing of adultery or lusting in one's heart.
'Theunis, this time we face terrible odds.' 'We did last time.'
'But then we didn't know. Now, with the De Groots dead, we do.' 'God rides with us.' 'Are you sure?'
The little man quickly turned the pages from Proverbs and closed the book, then placed his hands upon it and said, 'I know that God intends our people to establish a new nation in His image. If He sends us on this mission, surely He will protect us.'
'Then why didn't he send his predikants to accompany us? To give us guidance in His word?'
'I've wondered about that, Tjaart. I think He sent common folk like you and me because He wanted His word to work up slowly from the ground. Not thundering down in sermons written by learned Scottish predikants.'
'Is that a possibility?'
In the flickering shadows the sick-comforter said, 'If we had with us a learned dominee, we'd put all the burdens on him, let him tell us what God intended. This way, it's simple people like you and me. And when we work out our solutions, they will come from the heart of the Voortrekker, not from outside.' Rising and striding about the tent, if a man so slight could be said to stride, he told Tjaart, 'You will gain victory. You will slay the Canaanites. You will lead us across Jordan into our inheritance.'
And these two unhappy menthe stronger torn apart by sin and confusion, the weaker desolated by the misconduct of his wifeknelt and prayed.
In these years Mzilikazi commanded fifty-six regiments of highly trained infantry, so that had he wished, he might have sent twenty thousand men against the Voortrekkers, but despite his losses at the Van Doorn laager, he still could not believe that white men with guns and horses and interlocked wagons could prevail against his power. So he sent south only some six thousand men, not all of whom would be in position to attack the main laager when the battle joined.
A resolute body of Voortrekkers, consisting of some forty men, an equal number of women, about sixty-five children and the normal proportion of Coloureds, had moved to institute a massive laager of fifty-one wagons securely tied together and protected by solid interweavings of heavy thorn. Peculiar to this laager, where all participants knew that they must triumph or they would perish in hideous mutilation, was a block of four wagons kept at the center and covered with boards and heavy canvas: in these the women and children would take refuge during the battle, but it was foreseen that steadfast women like Jakoba van Doorn and Minna Nel would stay outside to help in the fighting, while many boys like Paulus de Groot would be at the barricades, firing guns at times and running powder to their mothers.