Sunbird (90 page)

^{He picked up his belt on which were strung the little horn pots of pigment, each plugged with a piece of wood, and he went to the wall at the rear of the cavern.}

^{He made the outline of the figure in charcoal upon the smoothest place of the wall. He worked slowly and carefully, with great love.}

^{Then he mixed his pigment and began to paint the proud god-like figure with its white face, red-gold beard and majestic vaunting manhood, and as he worked it seemed as though ghost voices whispered deep in the rock, down in the vault of the kings.}

^{'Huy, I am cold. Favour me, old friend. Give me the hand of friendship that the oracle foresaw.'}

^{'I cannot, Lannon. I cannot do it.'}

^{'I am cold and in pain, Huy. If you love me, you will do it.'}

^{'I love you.'}

^{'Fly for me, Bird of the Sun.'}

^{As the old man worked, the wind whispered and sighed along the cliffs, and the sigh was that which a man might make when he has lost his love and his land, has denied his gods and has given mercy to his friend. He might sigh like that as he takes the sword still dulled with his friend's blood and sets the hilt firmly in a niche of the stone floor and places the point up under his ribs, and falls forward on it.}

^{THE RAND DAILY MAIL}

^{27th May}

^{Death of Multi-Millionaire Financier}

^{Louren Sturvesant Dies of Mystery Disease}

^{BOTSWANA, SATURDAY. The well-known millionaire financier and sportsman, Mr Louren Sturvesant of Kleine Schuur, Sandown, Johannesburg, died here yesterday after a brief illness.}

^{Mr Sturvesant was visiting the site of the recently discovered ancient Carthaginian city in Botswana. The leader of the expedition, Dr Benjamin Kazin, has also contracted the disease which is believed to be infectious.}

^{Dr Kazin has been flown to Johannesburg where a hospital spokesman stated that his condition was critical.}

^{THE FINANCIAL GAZETTE}

^{28th May}

^Stop
Press

^{Anglo-Sturvesant Crashes 97 Points}

^{Panic on Exchange}

^{HOLLARD STR. MONDAY. Following reports of the death of Mr Louren Sturvesant, Chairman of Anglo-Sturvesant, quoted prices of the Sturvesant Group of Companies fell sharply on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange today.}

^{THE STAR}

^{3rd June}

^{Famous Archaeologist Regains}

^{Consciousness}

^{JOHANNESBURG, FRIDAY. After ten days in coma, Dr Benjamin Kazin today regained consciousness, according to a hospital spokesman.}

^{Dr Kazin is the Director of the Institute of Anthropology and African Prehistory, and the discoverer of the ancient Carthaginian city of Opet. He was suffering from a rare fungus infection contracted while working on the site of his recent find.}

^{Today Dr Kazin was visited by his assistant, Dr Sally Benator, who said afterwards that Dr Kazin was 'very much better but still terribly upset by the death of Mr Sturvesant'.}

^{THE STAR}

^{6th September}

^{Well-known Archaeologists Marry}

^{CAPE TOWN, FRIDAY. The discoverer of the city of Opet, Dr Benjamin Kazin, was married to his long-time assistant, Dr Sally Benator, in a brief civil ceremony here today. The bride said that she planned a working honeymoon at the site of the ancient city of Opet.}

^{THE TIMES}

^{20th April}

^{Archaeologist Honoured}

^{LONDON, SATURDAY. At the Royal Geographical Society, an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society was held today during which Dr Benjamin Kazin was awarded the Society's much-prized Founder's and Patron's Medal.}

^{After the meeting there was a short ceremony at which a portrait of Dr Kazin by the well-known artist Pietro Annigoni was hung in the Society.}

^{Dr Kazin was accompanied by his wife, Dr Sally Kazin, formerly Benator, who is also a well-known figure in archaeological circles. The couple will spend two weeks holidaying in Britain and on the continent before returning to Africa.}

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