Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) HE BY THE AUTHOR OF 'IT' 'KING SOLOMON'S WIVES' 'BESS' 'MUCH DARKER DAYS' 'MR MORTON'S SUBTLER' AND OTHER ROMANCES LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 1887 All rights reserved PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON 'SHE.' _TO H. RIDER HAGGARD._ _Not in the waste beyond the swamp and sand, The fever-haunted forest and lagoon, Mysterious Kôr, thy fanes forsaken stand, With lonely towers beneath the lonely Moon! Not there doth Ayesha linger,--rune by rune Spelling the scriptures of a people banned,-- The world is disenchanted! oversoon Shall Europe send her spies through all the land!_ _Nay, not in Kôr, but in whatever spot, In fields, or towns, or by the insatiate sea, Hearts brood o'er buried Loves and unforgot, Or wreck themselves on some Divine decree, Or would o'er-leap the limits of our lot, There in the Tombs and deathless, dwelleth SHE!_ DEDICATION. _KÔR_, _Jan._ 30, 1887. _DEAR ALLAN QUATERMAIN, You, who, with others, have aided so manfully in the Restoration of King Romance, know that His Majesty is a Merry Monarch. You will not think, therefore, that the respectful Liberty we have taken with your Wondrous Tale (as Pamela did with the 137th Psalm) indicates any lack of Loyalty to our Lady Ayesha. Her beauties are beyond the reach of danger from Burlesque, nor does_ her _form flit across our humble pages. May you restore to us yet the prize of her perfections, for we, at least, can never believe that she wholly perished in the place of the Pillar of Fire! Yours ever, TWO OF THE AMA LO-GROLLA._ CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 1 II. POLLY'S NARRATIVE 12 III. LEONORA'S DISCOVERY 18 IV. THE EQUIPMENT 27 V. DOWN THE DARK RIVER 31 VI. THE ZÛ 41 VII. AMONG THE LO-GROLLAS 49 VIII. HE 59 IX. THE POWER OF HE 76 X. A BODY IN PAWN 81 XI. THE WIZARD UNBOSOMS 91 XII. THE WIZARD'S SCHEME 97 XIII. THE PERILOUS PATH 103 XIV. THE MAGIC CHAIR 113 XV. THE END 116 HE. CHAPTER I. EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION. As I sat, one evening, idly musing on memories of roers and Boers, and contemplating the horns of a weendigo I had shot in Labrador and the head of a Moo Cow[1] from Canada, I was roused by a ring at the door bell.