digital editor's note: italics are represented in the text with _underscores_. in the interest of readability, where italics are used to indicate non-english words, i have silently omitted them or replaced them with quotation marks. haggard's spelling, especially of zulu terms, is wildly inconsistent; likewise his capitalization, especially of zulu terms. for example, masapo is the chief of the amansomi until chapter ix; thereafter his tribe is consistently referred to as the "amasomi". in general, i have retained haggard's spellings. some obvious spelling mistakes (as "quartermain" for "quatermain" in one instance) have been silently corrected. some diacriticals in the text could not be represented in -bit ascii text and have been approximated here. to restore all formatting, do the following throughout the text: replace the pound symbol "#" with the english pound symbol place an acute accent over the "e" in "nombe", "acces", "amawombe", and "fiance", and the first "e" in "bayete" place a circumflex accent over the "u" in "harut" and the "o" in "role" place a grave accent over the "a" and circumflex accents over the first and third "e" in "tete-a-tete" replace "oe" with the oe ligature in "manoeuvring" finished by h. rider haggard dedication ditchingham house, norfolk, may, . my dear roosevelt,-- you are, i know, a lover of old allan quatermain, one who understands and appreciates the views of life and the aspirations that underlie and inform his manifold adventures. therefore, since such is your kind wish, in memory of certain hours wherein both of us found true refreshment and companionship amidst the terrible anxieties of the world's journey along that bloodstained road by which alone, so it is decreed, the pure peak of freedom must be scaled, i dedicate to you this tale telling of the events and experiences of my youth. your sincere friend, h. rider haggard. to colonel theodore roosevelt, sagamore hill, u.s.a. contents: i. allan quatermain meets anscombe ii. mr. marnham iii. the hunters hunted iv. doctor rodd v. a game of cards vi. miss heda vii. the stoep viii. rodd's last card ix. flight x. nombe xi. zikali xii. trapped xiii. cetewayo xiv. the valley of bones xv. the great council xvi. war xvii. kaatje brings news xviii. isandhlwana xix. allan awakes xx. heda's tale xxi. the king visits zikali xxii. the madness of nombe xxiii. the kraal jazi introduction this book, although it can be read as a separate story, is the third of the trilogy of which _marie_ and _child of storm_ are the first two parts. it narrates, through the mouth of allan quatermain, the consummation of the vengeance of the wizard zikali, alias the opener of roads, or "the-thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," upon the royal zulu house of which senzangacona was the founder and cetewayo, our enemy in the war of , the last representative who ruled as a king. although, of course, much is added for the purposes of romance, the main facts of history have been adhered to with some faithfulness. with these the author became acquainted a full generation ago, fortune having given him a part in the events that preceded the zulu war. indeed he believes that with the exception of colonel phillips, who, as a lieutenant, commanded the famous escort of twenty-five policemen, he is now the last survivor of the party who, under the leadership of sir theophilus shepstone, or sompseu as the natives called him from the zambesi to the cape, were concerned in the annexation of the transvaal in . recently also he has been called upon as a public servant to revisit south africa and took the opportunity to travel through zululand, in order to refresh his knowledge of its people, their customs, their mysteries, and better to prepare himself for the writing of this book. here he stood by the fatal mount of isandhlawana which, with some details of the battle, is described in these pages, among the graves of many whom once he knew, colonels durnford, pulleine and others. also he saw ulundi's plain where the traces of war still lie thick, and talked with an old zulu who fought in the attacking impi until it crumbled away before the fire of the martinis and shells from the heavy guns. the battle of the wall of sheet iron, he called it, perhaps because of the flashing fence of bayonets. lastly, in a mealie patch, he found the spot on which the corn grows thin, where king cetewayo breathed his last, poisoned without a doubt, as he has known for many years. it is to be seen at the kraal, ominously named jazi or, translated into english, "finished." the tragedy happened long ago, but even now the quiet-faced zulu who told the tale, looking about him as he spoke, would not tell it all. "yes, as a young man, i was there at the time, but i do not remember, i do not know--the inkoosi lundanda (i.e., this chronicler, so named in past years by the zulus) stands on the very place where the king died--his bed was on the left of the door-hole of the hut," and so forth, but no certain word as to the exact reason of this sudden and violent death or by whom it was caused. the name of that destroyer of a king is for ever hid. in this story the actual and immediate cause of the declaration of war against the british power is represented as the appearance of the white goddess, or spirit of the zulus, who is, or was, called nomkubulwana or inkosazana-y-zulu, i.e., the princess of heaven. the exact circumstances which led to this decision are not now ascertainable, though it is known that there was much difference of opinion among the zulu indunas or great captains, and like the writer, many believe that king cetewayo was personally averse to war against his old allies, the english. the author's friend, mr. j. y. gibson, at present the representative of the union in zululand, writes in his admirable history: "there was a good deal of discussion amongst the assembled zulu notables at ulundi, but of how counsel was swayed it is not possible now to obtain a reliable account." the late mr. f. b. fynney, f.r.g.s., who also was his friend in days bygone, and, with the exception of sir theophilus shepstone, who perhaps knew the zulus and their language better than any other official of his day, speaking of this fabled goddess wrote: "i remember that just before the zulu war nomkubulwana appeared revealing something or other which had a great effect throughout the land." the use made of this strange traditional guardian angel in the following tale is not therefore an unsupported flight of fancy, and the same may be said of many other incidents, such as the account of the reading of the proclamation annexing the transvaal at pretoria in , which have been introduced to serve the purposes of the romance. mameena, who haunts its pages, in a literal as well as figurative sense, is the heroine of _child of storm,_ a book to which she gave her own poetic title. . the author. chapter i allan quatermain meets anscombe you, my friend, into whose hand, if you live, i hope these scribblings of mine will pass one day, must well remember the th of april of the year at pretoria. sir theophilus shepstone, or sompseu, for i prefer to call him by his native name, having investigated the affairs of the transvaal for a couple of months or so, had made up his mind to annex that country to the british crown. it so happened that i, allan quatermain, had been on a shooting and trading expedition at the back of the lydenburg district where there was plenty of game to be killed in those times. hearing that great events were toward i made up my mind, curiosity being one of my weaknesses, to come round by pretoria, which after all was not very far out of my way, instead of striking straight back to natal. as it chanced i reached the town about eleven o'clock on this very morning of the th of april and, trekking to the church square, proceeded to outspan there, as was usual in the seventies. the place was full of people, english and dutch together, and i noted that the former seemed very elated and were talking excitedly, while the latter for the most part appeared to be sullen and depressed. presently i saw a man i knew, a tall, dark man, a very good fellow and an excellent shot, named robinson. by the way you knew him also, for afterwards he was an officer in the pretoria horse at the time of the zulu war, the corps in which you held a commission. i called to him and asked what was up. "a good deal, allan," he said as he shook my hand. "indeed we shall be lucky if all isn't up, or something like it, before the day is over. shepstone's proclamation annexing the transvaal is going to be read presently." i whistled and asked, "how will our boer friends take it? they don't look very pleased." "that's just what no one knows, allan. burgers the president is squared, they say. he is to have a pension; also he thinks it the only thing to be done. most of the hollanders up here don't like it, but i doubt whether they will put out their hands further than they can draw them back. the question is--what will be the line of the boers themselves? there are a lot of them about, all armed, you see, and more outside the town." "what do you think?" "can't tell you. anything may happen. they may shoot shepstone and his staff and the twenty-five policemen, or they may just grumble and go home. probably they have no fixed plan." "how about the english?" "oh! we are all crazy with joy, but of course there is no organization and many have no arms. also there are only a few of us." "well," i answered, "i came here to look for excitement, life having been dull for me of late, and it seems that i have found it. still i bet you those dutchmen do nothing, except protest. they are slim and know that the shooting of an unarmed mission would bring england on their heads." "can't say, i am sure. they like shepstone who understands them, and the move is so bold that it takes their breath away. but as the kaffirs say, when a strong wind blows a small spark will make the whole veld burn. it just depends upon whether the spark is there. if an englishman and a boer began to fight for instance, anything might happen. goodbye, i have got a message to deliver. if things go right we might dine at the european tonight, and if they don't, goodness knows where we shall dine." i nodded sagely and he departed. then i went to my wagon to tell the boys not to send the oxen off to graze at present, for i feared lest they should be stolen if there were trouble, but to keep them tied to the trek-tow. after this i put on the best coat and hat i had, feeling that as an englishman it was my duty to look decent on such an occasion, washed, brushed my hair--with me a ceremony without meaning, for it always sticks up--and slipped a loaded smith & wesson revolver into my inner poacher pocket. then i started out to see the fun, and avoiding the groups of surly-looking boers, mingled with the crowd that i saw was gathering in front of a long, low building with a broad stoep, which i supposed, rightly, to be one of the government offices. presently i found myself standing by a tall, rather loosely-built man whose face attracted me. it was clean-shaven and much bronzed by the sun, but not in any way good-looking; the features were too irregular and the nose was a trifle too long for good looks. still the impression it gave was pleasant and the steady blue eyes had that twinkle in them which suggests humour. he might have been thirty or thirty-five years of age, and notwithstanding his rough dress that consisted mainly of a pair of trousers held up by a belt to which hung a pistol, and a common flannel shirt, for he wore no coat, i guessed at once that he was english-born. for a while neither of us said anything after the taciturn habit of our people even on the veld, and indeed i was fully occupied in listening to the truculent talk of a little party of mounted boers behind us. i put my pipe into my mouth and began to hunt for my tobacco, taking the opportunity to show the hilt of my revolver, so that these men might see that i was armed. it was not to be found, i had left it in the wagon. "if you smoke boer tobacco," said the stranger, "i can help you," and i noted that the voice was as pleasant as the face, and knew at once that the owner of it was a gentleman. "thank you, sir. i never smoke anything else," i answered, whereon he produced from his trousers pocket a pouch made of lion skin of unusually dark colour. "i never saw a lion as black as this, except once beyond buluwayo on the borders of lobengula's country," i said by way of making conversation. "curious," answered the stranger, "for that's where i shot the brute a few months ago. i tried to keep the whole skin but the white ants got at it." "been trading up there?" i asked. "nothing so useful," he said. "just idling and shooting. came to this country because it was one of the very few i had never seen, and have only been here a year. i think i have had about enough of it, though. can you tell me of any boats running from durban to india? i should like to see those wild sheep in kashmir." i told him that i did not know for certain as i had never taken any interest in india, being an african elephant-hunter and trader, but i thought they did occasionally. just then robinson passed by and called to me-- "they'll be here presently, quatermain, but sompseu isn't coming himself." "does your name happen to be allan quatermain?" asked the stranger. "if so i have heard plenty about you up in lobengula's country, and of your wonderful shooting." "yes," i replied, "but as for the shooting, natives always exaggerate." "they never exaggerated about mine," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "anyhow i am very glad to see you in the flesh, though in the spirit you rather bored me because i heard too much of you. whenever i made a particularly bad miss, my gun-bearer, who at some time seems to have been yours, would say, 'ah! if only it had been the inkosi macumazahn, how different would have been the end!' my name is anscombe, maurice anscombe," he added rather shyly. (afterwards i discovered from a book of reference that he was a younger son of lord mountford, one of the richest peers in england.) then we both laughed and he said-- "tell me, mr. quatermain, if you will, what those boers are saying behind us. i am sure it is something unpleasant, but as the only dutch i know is 'guten tag' and 'vootsack' (good-day and get out) that takes me no forwarder." "it ought to," i answered, "for the substance of their talk is that they object to be 'vootsacked' by the british government as represented by sir theophilus shepstone. they are declaring that they won the land 'with their blood' and want to keep their own flag flying over it." "a very natural sentiment," broke in anscombe. "they say that they wish to shoot all damned englishmen, especially shepstone and his people, and that they would make a beginning now were they not afraid that the damned english government, being angered, would send thousands of damned english rooibatjes, that is, red-coats, and shoot _them_ out of evil revenge." "a very natural conclusion," laughed anscombe again, "which i should advise them to leave untested. hush! here comes the show." i looked and saw a body of blackcoated gentlemen with one officer in the uniform of a colonel of engineers, advancing slowly. i remember that it reminded me of a funeral procession following the corpse of the republic that had gone on ahead out of sight. the procession arrived upon the stoep opposite to us and began to sort itself out, whereon the english present raised a cheer and the boers behind us cursed audibly. in the middle appeared an elderly gentleman with whiskers and a stoop, in whom i recognized mr. osborn, known by the kaffirs as malimati, the chief of the staff. by his side was a tall young fellow, yourself, my friend, scarcely more than a lad then, carrying papers. the rest stood to right and left in a formal line. _you_ gave a printed document to mr. osborn who put on his glasses and began to read in a low voice which few could hear, and i noticed that his hand trembled. presently he grew confused, lost his place, found it, lost it again and came to a full stop. "a nervous-natured man," remarked mr. anscombe. "perhaps he thinks that those gentlemen are going to shoot." "that wouldn't trouble him," i answered, who knew him well. "his fears are purely mental." that was true since i know that this same sir melmoth osborn as he is now, as i have told in the book i called _child of storm_, swam the tugela alone to watch the battle of indondakasuka raging round him, and on another occasion killed two kaffirs rushing at him with a right and left shot without turning a hair. it was reading this paper that paralyzed him, not any fear of what might happen. there followed a very awkward pause such as occurs when a man breaks down in a speech. the members of the staff looked at him and at each other, then behold! you, my friend, grabbed the paper from his hand and went on reading it in a loud clear voice. "that young man has plenty of nerve," said mr. anscombe. "yes," i replied in a whisper. "quite right though. would have been a bad omen if the thing had come to a stop." well, there were no more breakdowns, and at last the long document was finished and the transvaal annexed. the britishers began to cheer but stopped to listen to the formal protest of the boer government, if it could be called a government when everything had collapsed and the officials were being paid in postage stamps. i can't remember whether this was read by president burgers himself or by the officer who was called state secretary. anyway, it was read, after which there came an awkward pause as though people were waiting to see something happen. i looked round at the boers who were muttering and handling their rifles uneasily. had they found a leader i really think that some of the wilder spirits among them would have begun to shoot, but none appeared and the crisis passed. the crowd began to disperse, the english among them cheering and throwing up their hats, the dutch with very sullen faces. the commissioner's staff went away as it had come, back to the building with blue gums in front of it, which afterwards became government house, that is all except you. you started across the square alone with a bundle of printed proclamations in your hand which evidently you had been charged to leave at the various public offices. "let us follow him," i said to mr. anscombe. "he might get into trouble and want a friend." he nodded and we strolled after you unostentatiously. sure enough you nearly did get into trouble. in front of the first office door to which you came, stood a group of boers, two of whom, big fellows, drew together with the evident intention of barring your way. "mynheeren," you said, "i pray you to let me pass on the queen's business." they took no heed except to draw closer together and laugh insolently. again you made your request and again they laughed. then i saw you lift your leg and deliberately stamp upon the foot of one of the boers. he drew back with an exclamation, and for a moment i believed that he or his fellow was going to do something violent. perhaps they thought better of it, or perhaps they saw us two englishmen behind and noticed anscombe's pistol. at any rate you marched into the office triumphant and delivered your document. "neatly done," said mr. anscombe. "rash," i said, shaking my head, "very rash. well, he's young and must be excused." but from that moment i took a great liking to you, my friend, perhaps because i wondered whether in your place i should have been daredevil enough to act in the same way. for you see i am english, and i like to see an englishman hold his own against odds and keep up the credit of the country. although, of course, i sympathized with the boers who, through their own fault, were losing their land without a blow struck. as you know well, for you were living near majuba at the time, plenty of blows were struck afterwards, but of that business i cannot bear to write. i wonder how it will all work out after i am dead and if i shall ever learn what happens in the end. now i have only mentioned this business of the annexation and the part you played in it, because it was on that occasion that i became acquainted with anscombe. for you have nothing to do with this story which is about the destruction of the zulus, the accomplishment of the vengeance of zikali the wizard at the kraal named finished, and incidentally, the love affairs of two people in which that old wizard took a hand, as i did to my sorrow. it happened that mr. anscombe had ridden on ahead of his wagons which could not arrive at pretoria for a day or two, and as he found it impossible to get accommodation at the european or elsewhere, i offered to let him sleep in mine, or rather alongside in a tent i had. he accepted and soon we became very good friends. before the day was out i discovered that he had served in a crack cavalry regiment, but resigned his commission some years before. i asked him why. "well," he said, "i came into a good lot of money on my mother's death and could not see a prospect of any active service. while the regiment was abroad i liked the life well enough, but at home it bored me. too much society for my taste, and that sort of thing. also i wanted to travel; nothing else really amuses me." "you will soon get tired of it," i answered, "and as you are well off, marry some fine lady and settle down at home." "don't think so. i doubt if i should ever be happily married, i want too much. one doesn't pick up an earthly angel with a cast-iron constitution who adores you, which are the bare necessities of marriage, under every bush." here i laughed. "also," he added, the laughter going out of his eyes, "i have had enough of fine ladies and their ways." "marriage is better than scrapes," i remarked sententiously. "quite so, but one might get them both together. no, i shall never marry, although i suppose i ought as my brothers have no children." "won't you, my friend," thought i to myself, "when the skin grows again on your burnt fingers." for i was sure they had been burnt, perhaps more than once. how, i never learned, for which i am rather sorry for it interests me to study burnt fingers, if they do not happen to be my own. then we changed the subject. anscombe's wagons were delayed for a day or two by a broken axle or a bog hole, i forget which. so, as i had nothing particular to do until the natal post-cart left, we spent the time in wandering about pretoria, which did not take us long as it was but a little dorp in those days, and chatting with all and sundry. also we went up to government house as it was now called, and left cards, or rather wrote our names in a book for we had no cards, being told by one of the staff whom we met that we should do so. an hour later a note arrived asking us both to dinner that night and telling us very nicely not to mind if we had no dress things. of course we had to go, anscombe rigged up in my second best clothes that did not fit him in the least, as he was a much taller man than i am, and a black satin bow that he had bought at becket's store together with a pair of shiny pumps. i actually met you, my friend, for the first time that evening, and in trouble too, though you may have forgotten the incident. we had made a mistake about the time of dinner, and arriving half an hour too soon, were shown into a long room that opened on to the verandah. you were working there, being i believe a private secretary at the time, copying some despatch; i think you said that which gave an account of the annexation. the room was lit by a paraffin lamp behind you, for it was quite dark and the window was open, or at any rate unshuttered. the gentleman who showed us in, seeing that you were very busy, took us to the far end of the room, where we stood talking in the shadow. just then a door opened opposite to that which led to the verandah, and through it came his excellency the administrator, sir theophilus shepstone, a stout man of medium height with a very clever, thoughtful face, as i have always thought, one of the greatest of african statesmen. he did not see us, but he caught sight of you and said testily-- "are you mad?" to which you answered with a laugh-- "i hope not more than usual, sir, but why?" "have i not told you always to let down the blinds after dark? yet there you sit with your head against the light, about the best target for a bullet that could be imagined." "i don't think the boers would trouble to shoot me, sir. if you had been here i would have drawn the blinds and shut the shutters too," you answered, laughing again. "go to dress or you will be late for dinner," he said still rather sternly, and you went. but when you had gone and after we had been announced to him, he smiled and added something which i will not repeat to you even now. i think it was about what you did on the annexation day of which the story had come to him. i mention this incident because whenever i think of shepstone, whom i had known off and on for years in the way that a hunter knows a prominent government official, it always recurs to my mind, embodying as it does his caution and appreciation of danger derived from long experience of the country, and the sternness he sometimes affected which could never conceal his love towards his friends. oh! there was greatness in this man, although they did call him an "african talleyrand." if it had not been so would every native from the cape to the zambesi have known and revered his name, as perhaps that of no other white man has been revered? but i must get on with my tale and leave historical discussions to others more fitted to deal with them. we had a very pleasant dinner that night, although i was so ashamed of my clothes with smart uniforms and white ties all about me, and anscombe kept fidgeting his feet because he was suffering agony from his new pumps which were a size too small. everybody was in the best of spirits, for from all directions came the news that the annexation was well received and that the danger of any trouble had passed away. ah! if we had only known what the end of it would be! it was on our way back to the wagon that i chanced to mention to anscombe that there was still a herd of buffalo within a few days' trek of lydenburg, of which i had shot two not a month before. "are there, by jove!" he said. "as it happens i never got a buffalo; always i just missed them in one sense or another, and i can't leave africa with a pair of bought horns. let's go there and shoot some." i shook my head and replied that i had been idling long enough and must try to make some money, news at which he seemed very disappointed. "look here," he said, "forgive me for mentioning it, but business is business. if you'll come you shan't be a loser." again i shook my head, whereat he looked more disappointed than before. "very well," he exclaimed, "then i must go alone. for kill a buffalo i will; that is unless the buffalo kills me, in which case my blood will be on your hands." i don't know why, but at that moment there came into my mind a conviction that if he did go alone a buffalo or something would kill him and that then i should be sorry all my life. "they are dangerous brutes, much worse than lions," i said. "and yet you, who pretend to have a conscience, would expose me to their rage unprotected and alone," he replied with a twinkle in his eye which i could see even by moonlight. "oh! quatermain, how i have been mistaken in your character." "look here, mr. anscombe," i said, "it's no use. i cannot possibly go on a shooting expedition with you just now. only to-day i have heard from natal that my boy is not well and must undergo an operation which will lay him up for quite six weeks, and may be dangerous. so i must get down to durban before it takes place. after that i have a contract in matabeleland whence you have just come, to take charge of a trading store there for a year; also perhaps to try to shoot a little ivory for myself. so i am fully booked up till, let us say, october, , that is for about eighteen months, by which time i daresay i shall be dead." "eighteen months," replied this cool young man. "that will suit me very well. i will go on to india as i intended, then home for a bit and will meet you on the st of october, , after which we will proceed to the lydenburg district and shoot those buffalo, or if they have departed, other buffalo. is it a bargain?" i stared at him, thinking that the administrator's champagne had got into his head. "nonsense," i exclaimed. "who knows where you will be in eighteen months? why, by that time you will have forgotten all about me." "if i am alive and well, on the st of october, , i shall be exactly where i am now, upon this very square in pretoria, with a wagon, or wagons, prepared for a hunting trip. but as not unnaturally you have doubts upon that point, i am prepared to pay forfeit if i fail, or even if circumstances cause you to fail." here he took a cheque-book from his letter-case and spread it out on the little table in the tent, on which there were ink and a pen, adding-- "now, mr. quatermain, will it meet your views if i fill this up for # ?" "no," i answered; "taking everything into consideration the sum is excessive. but if you do not mind facing the risks of my non-appearance, to say nothing of your own, you may make it # ." "you are very moderate in your demands," he said as he handed me the cheque which i put in my pocket, reflecting that it would just pay for my son's operation. "and you are very foolish in your offers," i replied. "tell me, why do you make such crack-brained arrangements?" "i don't quite know. something in me seems to say that we _shall_ make this expedition and that it will have a very important effect upon my life. mind you, it is to be to the lydenburg district and nowhere else. and now i am tired, so let's turn in." next morning we parted and went our separate ways. chapter ii mr. marnham so much for preliminaries, now for the story. the eighteen months had gone by, bringing with them to me their share of adventure, weal and woe, with all of which at present i have no concern. behold me arriving very hot and tired in the post-cart from kimberley, whither i had gone to invest what i had saved out of my matabeleland contract in a very promising speculation whereof, today, the promise remains and no more. i had been obliged to leave kimberly in a great hurry, before i ought indeed, because of the silly bargain which i have just recorded. of course i was sure that i should never see mr. anscombe again, especially as i had heard nothing of him during all this while, and had no reason to suppose that he was in africa. still i had taken his # and he _might_ come. also i have always prided myself upon keeping an appointment. the post-cart halted with a jerk in front of the european hotel, and i crawled, dusty and tired, from its interior, to find myself face to face with anscombe, who was smoking a pipe upon the stoep! "hullo, quatermain," he said in his pleasant, drawling voice, "here you are, up to time. i have been making bets with these five gentlemen," and he nodded at a group of loungers on the stoep, "as to whether you would or would not appear, i putting ten to one on you in drinks. therefore you must now consume five whiskies and sodas, which will save them from consuming fifty and a subsequent appearance at the police court." i laughed and said i would be their debtor to the extent of one, which was duly produced. after it was drunk anscombe and i had a chat. he said that he had been to india, shot, or shot at whatever game he meant to kill there, visited his relations in england and thence proceeded to keep his appointment with me in africa. at durban he had fitted himself out in a regal way with two wagons, full teams, and some spare oxen, and trekked to pretoria where he had arrived a few days before. now he was ready to start for the lydenburg district and look for those buffalo. "but," i said, "the buffalo probably long ago departed. also there has been a war with sekukuni, the basuto chief who rules all that country, which remains undecided, although i believe some kind of a peace has been patched up. this may make hunting in this neighborhood dangerous. why not try some other ground, to the north of the transvaal, for instance?" "quatermain," he answered, "i have come all the way from england, i will not say to kill, but to try to kill buffalo in the lydenburg district, with you if possible, if not, without you, and thither i am going. if you think it unsafe to accompany me, don't come; i will get on as best i can alone, or with some other skilled person if i can find one." "if you put it like that i shall certainly come," i replied, "with the proviso that should the buffalo prove to be non-existent or the pursuit of them impossible, we either give up the trip, or go somewhere else, perhaps to the country at the back of delagoa bay." "agreed," he said; after which we discussed terms, he paying me my salary in advance. on further consideration we determined, as two were quite unnecessary for a trip of the sort, to leave one of my wagons and half the cattle in charge of a very respectable man, a farmer who lived about five miles from pretoria just over the pass near to the famous wonder-boom tree which is one of the sights of the place. should we need this wagon it could always be sent for; or, if we found the lydenburg hunting-ground, which he was so set upon visiting, unproductive or impossible, we could return to pretoria over the high-veld and pick it up before proceeding elsewhere. these arrangements took us a couple of days or so. on the third we started, without seeing you, my friend, or any one else that i knew, since just at that time every one seemed to be away from pretoria. you, i remember, had by now become the master of the high court and were, they informed me at your office, absent on circuit. the morning of our departure was particularly lovely and we trekked away in the best of spirits, as so often happens to people who are marching into trouble. of our journey there is little to say as everything went smoothly, so that we arrived at the edge of the high-veld feeling as happy as the country which has no history is reported to do. our road led us past the little mining settlement of pilgrim's rest where a number of adventurous spirits, most of them english, were engaged in washing for gold, a job at which i once took a turn near this very place without any startling success. of the locality i need only say that the mountainous scenery is among the most beautiful, the hills are the steepest and the roads are, or were, the worst that i have ever travelled over in a wagon. however, "going softly" as the natives say, we negotiated them without accident and, leaving pilgrim's rest behind us, began to descend towards the low-veld where i was informed a herd of buffalo could still be found, since, owing to the war with sekukuni, no one had shot at them of late. this war had been suspended for a while, and the land-drost at pilgrim's rest told me he thought it would be safe to hunt on the borders of that chief's country, though he should not care to do so himself. game of the smaller sort began to be plentiful about here, so not more than a dozen miles from pilgrim's rest we outspanned early in the afternoon to try to get a blue wildebeeste or two, for i had seen the spoor of these creatures in a patch of soft ground, or failing them some other buck. accordingly, leaving the wagon by a charming stream that wound and gurgled over a bed of granite, we mounted our salted horses, which were part of anscombe's outfit, and set forth rejoicing. riding through the scattered thorns and following the spoor where i could, within half an hour we came to a little glade. there, not fifty yards away, i caught sight of a single blue wildebeeste bull standing in the shadow of the trees on the further side of the glade, and pointed out the ugly beast, for it is the most grotesque of all the antelopes, to anscombe. "off you get," i whispered. "it's a lovely shot, you can't miss it." "oh, can't i!" replied anscombe. "do you shoot." i refused, so he dismounted, giving me his horse to hold, and kneeling down solemnly and slowly covered the bull. bang went his rifle, and i saw a bough about a yard above the wildebeeste fall on to its back. off it went like lightning, whereon anscombe let drive with the left barrel of the express, almost at hazard as it seemed to me, and by some chance hit it above the near fore-knee, breaking its leg. "that was a good shot," he cried, jumping on to his horse. "excellent," i answered. "but what are you going to do?" "catch it. it is cruel to leave a wounded animal," and off he started. of course i had to follow, but the ensuing ride remains among the more painful of my hunting memories. we tore through thorn trees that scratched my face and damaged my clothes; we struck a patch of antbear holes, into one of which my horse fell so that my stomach bumped against its head; we slithered down granite koppies, and this was the worst of it, at the end of each chapter, so to speak, always caught sight of that accursed bull which i fondly hoped would have vanished into space. at length after half an hour or so of this game we reached a stretch of open, rolling ground, and there not fifty yards ahead of us was the animal still going like a hare, though how it could do so on three legs i am sure i do not know. we coursed it like greyhounds, till at last anscombe, whose horse was the faster, came alongside of the exhausted creature, whereon it turned suddenly and charged. anscombe held out his rifle in his right hand and pulled the trigger, which, as he had forgotten to reload it, was a mere theatrical performance. next second there was such a mix-up that for a while i could not distinguish which was anscombe, which was the wildebeeste, and which the horse. they all seemed to be going round and round in a cloud of dust. when things settled themselves a little i discovered the horse rolling on the ground, anscombe on his back with his hands up in an attitude of prayer and the wildebeeste trying to make up its mind which of them it should finish first. i settled the poor thing's doubts by shooting it through the heart, which i flatter myself was rather clever of me under the circumstances. then i dismounted to examine anscombe, who, i presumed, was done for. not a bit of it. there he sat upon the ground blowing like a blacksmith's bellows and panting out-- "what a glorious gallop. i finished it very well, didn't i? you couldn't have made a better shot yourself." "yes," i answered, "you finished it very well as you will find out if you will take the trouble to open your rifle and count your cartridges. i may add that if we are going to hunt together i hope you will never lead me such a fool's chase again." he rose, opened the rifle and saw that it was empty, for although he had never re-loaded he had thrown out the two cartridges which he had discharged in the glen. "by jingo," he said, "you must have shot it, though i could have sworn that it was i. quatermain, has it ever struck you what a strange thing is the human imagination?" "drat the human imagination," i answered, wiping away the blood that was trickling into my eye from a thorn scratch. "let's look at your horse. if it is lamed you will have to ride imagination back to the wagon which must be six miles away, that is if we can find it before dark." sighing out something about a painfully practical mind, he obeyed, and when the beast was proved to be nothing more than blown and a little bruised, made remarks as to the inadvisability of dwelling on future evil events, which i reminded him had already been better summed up in the new testament. after this we contemplated the carcasse of the wildebeeste which it seemed a pity to leave to rot. just then anscombe, who had moved a few yards to the right out of the shadow of an obstructing tree, exclaimed-- "i say, quatermain, come here and tell me if i have been knocked silly, or if i really see a quite uncommon kind of house built in ancient greek style set in a divine landscape." "temple to diana, i expect," i remarked as i joined him on the further side of the tree. i looked and rubbed my eyes. there, about half a mile away, situated in a bay of the sweeping hills and overlooking the measureless expanse of bush-veld beneath, was a remarkable house, at least for those days and that part of africa. to begin with the situation was superb. it stood on a green and swelling mound behind which was a wooded kloof where ran a stream that at last precipitated itself in a waterfall over a great cliff. then in front was that glorious view of the bush-veld, at which a man might look for a lifetime and not grow tired, stretching away to the oliphant's river and melting at last into the dim line of the horizon. the house itself also, although not large, was of a kind new to me. it was deep, but narrow fronted, and before it were four columns that carried the roof which projected so as to form a wide verandah. moreover it seemed to be built of marble which glistened like snow in the setting sun. in short in that lonely wilderness, at any rate from this distance, it did look like the deserted shrine of some forgotten god. "well, i'm bothered!" i said. "so am i," answered anscombe, "to know the name of the lydenburg district architect whom i should like to employ; though i suspect it is the surroundings that make the place look so beautiful. hullo! here comes somebody, but he doesn't look like an architect; he looks like a wicked baronet disguised as a boer." true enough, round a clump of bush appeared an unusual looking person, mounted on a very good horse. he was tall, thin and old, at least he had a long white beard which suggested age, although his figure, so far as it could be seen beneath his rough clothes, seemed vigorous. his face was clean cut and handsome, with a rather hooked nose, and his eyes were grey, but as i saw when he came up to us, somewhat bloodshot at the corners. his general aspect was refined and benevolent, and as soon as he opened his mouth i perceived that he was a person of gentle breeding. and yet there was something about him, something in his atmosphere, so to speak, that i did not like. before we parted that evening i felt sure that in one way or another he was a wrong-doer, not straight; also that he had a violent temper. he rode up to us and asked in a pleasant voice, although the manner of his question, which was put in bad dutch, was not pleasant, "who gave you leave to shoot on our land?" "i did not know that any leave was required; it is not customary in these parts," i answered politely in english. "moreover, this buck was wounded miles away." "oh!" he exclaimed in the same tongue, "that makes a difference, though i expect it was still on our land, for we have a lot; it is cheap about here." then after studying a little, he added apologetically, "you mustn't think me strange, but the fact is my daughter hates things to be killed near the house, which is why there's so much game about." "then pray make her our apologies," said anscombe, "and say that it shall not happen again." he stroked his long beard and looked at us, for by now he had dismounted, then said-- "might i ask you gentlemen your names?" "certainly," i replied. "i am allan quatermain and my friend is the hon. maurice anscombe." he started and said-- "of allan quatermain of course i have heard. the natives told me that you were trekking to those parts; and if you, sir, are one of lord mountford's sons, oddly enough i think i must have known your father in my youth. indeed i served with him in the guards." "how very strange," said anscombe. "he's dead now and my brother is lord mountford. do you like life here better than that in the guards? i am sure i should." "both of them have their advantages," he answered evasively, "of which, if, as i think, you are also a soldier, you can judge for yourself. but won't you come up to the house? my daughter heda is away, and my partner mr. rodd" (as he mentioned this name i saw a blue vein, which showed above his cheek bone, swell as though under pressure of some secret emotion) "is a retiring sort of a man--indeed some might think him sulky until they came to know him. still, we can make you comfortable and even give you a decent bottle of wine." "no, thank you very much," i answered, "we must get back to the wagon or our servants will think that we have come to grief. perhaps you will accept the wildebeeste if it is of any use to you." "very well," he said in a voice that suggested regret struggling with relief. to the buck he made no allusion, perhaps because he considered that it was already his own property. "do you know your way? i believe your wagon is camped out there to the east by what we call the granite stream. if you follow this kaffir path," and he pointed to a track near by, "it will take you quite close." "where does the path run to?" i asked. "there are no kraals about, are there?" "oh! to the temple, as my daughter calls our house. my partner and i are labour agents, we recruit natives for the kimberley mines," he said in explanation, adding, "where do you propose to shoot?" i told him. "isn't that rather a risky district?" he said. "i think that sekukuni will soon be giving more trouble, although there is a truce between him and the english. still he might send a regiment to raid that way." i wondered how our friend knew so much of sekukuni's possible intentions, but only answered that i was accustomed to deal with natives and did not fear them. "ah!" he said, "well, you know your own business best. but if you should get into any difficulty, make straight for this place. the basutos will not interfere with you here." again i wondered why the basutos should look upon this particular spot as sacred, but thinking it wisest to ask no questions, i only answered-- "thank you very much. we'll bear your invitation in mind, mr.--" "marnham." "marnham," i repeated after him. "good-bye and many thanks for your kindness." "one question," broke in anscombe, "if you will not think me rude. what is the name of the architect who designed that most romantic-looking house of yours which seems to be built of marble?" "my daughter designed it, or at least i think she copied it from some old drawing of a ruin. also it _is_ marble; there's a whole hill of the stuff not a hundred yards from the door, so it was cheaper to use than anything else. i hope you will come and see it on your way back, though it is not as fine as it appears from a distance. it would be very pleasant after all these years to talk to an english gentleman again." then we parted, i rather offended because he did not seem to include me in the description, he calling after us-- "stick close to the path through the patch of big trees, for the ground is rather swampy there and it's getting dark." presently we came to the place he mentioned where the timber, although scattered, was quite large for south africa, of the yellow-wood species, and interspersed wherever the ground was dry with huge euphorbias, of which the tall finger-like growths and sad grey colouring looked unreal and ghostlike in the waning light. following the advice given to us, we rode in single file along the narrow path, fearing lest otherwise we should tumble into some bog hole, until we came to higher land covered with the scattered thorns of the country. "did that bush give you any particular impression?" asked anscombe a minute or two later. "yes," i answered, "it gave me the impression that we might catch fever there. see the mist that lies over it," and turning in my saddle i pointed with the rifle in my hand to what looked like a mass of cotton wool over which, without permeating it, hung the last red glow of sunset, producing a curious and indeed rather unearthly effect. "i expect that thousands of years ago there was a lake yonder, which is why trees grow so big in the rich soil." "you are curiously mundane, quatermain," he answered. "i ask you of spiritual impressions and you dilate to me of geological formations and the growth of timber. you felt nothing in the spiritual line?" "i felt nothing except a chill," i answered, for i was tired and hungry. "what the devil are you driving at?" "have you got that flask of hollands about you, quatermain?" "oh! those are the spirits you are referring to," i remarked with sarcasm as i handed it to him. he took a good pull and replied-- "not at all, except in the sense that bad spirits require good spirits to correct them, as the bible teaches. to come to facts," he added in a changed voice, "i have never been in a place that depressed me more than that thrice accursed patch of bush." "why did it depress you?" i asked, studying him as well as i could in the fading light. to tell the truth i feared lest he had knocked his head when the wildebeeste upset him, and was suffering from delayed concussion. "can't tell you, quatermain. i don't look like a criminal, do i? well, i entered those trees feeling a fairly honest man, and i came out of them feeling like a murderer. it was as though something terrible had happened to me there; it was as though i had killed someone there. ugh!" and he shivered and took another pull at the hollands. "what bosh!" i said. "besides, even if it were to come true, i am sorry to say i've killed lots of men in the way of business and they don't bother me overmuch." "did you ever kill one to win a woman?" "certainly not. why, that would be murder. how can you ask me such a thing? but i have killed several to win cattle," i reflected aloud, remembering my expedition with saduko against the chief bangu, and some other incidents in my career. "i appreciate the difference, quatermain. if you kill for cows, it is justifiable homicide; if you kill for women, it is murder." "yes," i replied, "that is how it seems to work out in africa. you see, women are higher in the scale of creation than cows, therefore crimes committed for their sake are enormously greater than those committed for cows, which just makes the difference between justifiable homicide and murder." "good lord! what an argument," he exclaimed and relapsed into silence. had he been accustomed to natives and their ways he would have understood the point much better than he did, though i admit it is difficult to explain. in due course we reached the wagon without further trouble. while we were shielding our pipes after an excellent supper i asked anscombe his impressions of mr. marnham. "queer cove, i think," he answered. "been a gentleman, too, and still keeps the manners, which isn't strange if he is one of the marnhams, for they are a good family. i wonder he mentioned having served with my father." "it slipped out of him. men who live a lot alone are apt to be surprised into saying things they regret afterwards, as i noticed he did. but why do you wonder?" "because as it happens, although i have only just recalled it, my father used to tell some story about a man named marnham in his regiment. i can't remember the details, but it had to do with cards when high stakes were being played for, and with the striking of a superior officer in the quarrel that ensued, as a result of which the striker was requested to send in his papers." "it may not have been the same man." "perhaps not, for i believe that more than one marnham served in that regiment. but i remember my father saying, by way of excuse for the person concerned, that he had a most ungovernable temper. i think he added, that he left the country and took service in some army on the continent. i should rather like to clear the thing up." "it isn't probable that you will, for even if you should ever meet this marnham again, i fancy you would find he held his tongue about his acquaintance with your father." "i wonder what miss heda is like," went on anscombe after a pause. "i am curious to see a girl who designs a house on the model of an ancient ruin." "well, you won't, for she's away somewhere. besides we are looking for buffalo, not girls, which is a good thing as they are less dangerous." i spoke thus decisively because i had taken a dislike to mr. marnham and everything to do with him, and did not wish to encourage the idea of further meetings. "no, never, i suppose. and yet i feel as though i were certainly destined to see that accursed yellow-wood swamp again." "nonsense," i replied as i rose to turn in. ah! if i had but known! chapter iii the hunters hunted while i was taking off my boots i heard a noise of jabbering in some native tongue which i took to be sisutu, and not wishing to go to the trouble of putting them on again, called to the driver of the wagon to find out what it was. this man was a cape colony kaffir, a fingo i think, with a touch of hottentot in him. he was an excellent driver, indeed i do not think i have ever seen a better, and by no means a bad shot. among europeans he rejoiced in the name of footsack, a boer dutch term which is generally addressed to troublesome dogs and means "get out." to tell the truth, had i been his master he would have got out, as i suspected him of drinking, and generally did not altogether trust him. anscombe, however, was fond of him because he had shown courage in some hunting adventure in matabeleland, i think it was at the shooting of that very dark-coloured lion whose skin had been the means of making us acquainted nearly two years before. indeed he said that on this occasion footsack had saved his life, though from all that i could gather i do not think this was quite the case. also the man, who had been on many hunting trips with sportsmen, could talk dutch well and english enough to make himself understood, and therefore was useful. he went as i bade him, and coming back presently, told me that a party of basutos, about thirty in number, who were returning from kimberley, where they had been at work in the mines, under the leadership of a bastard named karl, asked leave to camp by the wagon for the night, as they were afraid to go on to "tampel" in the dark. at first i could not make out what "tampel" was, as it did not sound like a native name. then i remembered that mr. marnham had spoken of his house as being called the temple, of which, of course, tampel was a corruption; also that he said he and his partner were labour agents. "why are they afraid?" i asked. "because, baas, they say that they must go through a wood in a swamp, which they think is haunted by spooks, and they much afraid of spooks;" that is of ghosts. "what spooks?" i asked. "don't know, baas. they say spook of some one who has been killed." "rubbish," i replied. "tell them to go and catch the spook; we don't want a lot of noisy fellows howling chanties here all night." then it was that anscombe broke in in his humorous, rather drawling voice. "how can you be so hard-hearted, quatermain? after the supernatural terror which, as i told you, i experienced in that very place, i wouldn't condemn a kicking mule to go through it in this darkness. let the poor devils stay; i daresay they are tired." so i gave in, and presently saw their fires beginning to burn through the end canvas of the wagon which was unlaced because the night was hot. also later on i woke up, about midnight i think, and heard voices talking, one of which i reflected sleepily, sounded very like that of footsack. waking very early, as is my habit, i peeped out of the wagon, and through the morning mist perceived footsack in converse with a particularly villainous-looking person. i at once concluded this must be karl, evidently a bastard compounded of about fifteen parts of various native bloods to one of white, who, to add to his attractions, was deeply scarred with smallpox and possessed a really alarming squint. it seemed to me that footsack handed to this man something that looked suspiciously like a bottle of squareface gin wrapped up in dried grass, and that the man handed back to footsack some small object which he put in his mouth. now, i wondered to myself, what is there of value that one who does not eat sweets would stow away in his mouth. gold coin perhaps, or a quid of tobacco, or a stone. gold was too much to pay for a bottle of gin, tobacco was too little, but how about the stone? what stone? who wanted stones? then suddenly i remembered that these people were said to come from kimberley, and whistled to myself. still i did nothing, principally because the mist was still so dense that although i could see the men's faces, i could not clearly see the articles which they passed to each other about two feet lower, where it still lay very thickly, and to bring any accusation against a native which he can prove to be false is apt to destroy authority. so i held my tongue and waited my chance. it did not come at once, for before i was dressed those basutos had departed together with their leader karl, for now that the sun was up they no longer feared the haunted bush. it came later, thus: we were trekking along between the thorns upon a level and easy track which enabled the driver footsack to sit upon the "voorkisse" or driving box of the wagon, leaving the lad who is called the voorlooper to lead the oxen. anscombe was riding parallel to the wagon in the hope of killing some guineafowl for the pot (though a very poor shot with a rifle he was good with a shot-gun). i, who did not care for this small game, was seated smoking by the side of footsack who, i noted, smelt of gin and generally showed signs of dissipation. suddenly i said to him-- "show me that diamond which the bastard karl gave you this morning in payment for the bottle of your master's drink." it was a bow drawn at a venture, but the effect of the shot was remarkable. had i not caught it, the long bamboo whip footsack held would have fallen to the ground, while he collapsed in his seat like a man who has received a bullet in his stomach. "baas," he gasped, "baas, how did you know?" "i knew," i replied grandly, "in the same way that i know everything. show me the diamond." "baas," he said, "it was not the baas anscombe's gin, it was some i bought in pilgrim's rest." "i have counted the bottles in the case and know very well whose gin it was," i replied ambiguously, for the reason that i had done nothing of the sort. "show me the diamond." footsack fumbled about his person, his hair, his waistcoat pockets and even his moocha, and ultimately from somewhere produced a stone which he handed to me. i looked at it, and from the purity of colour and size, judged it to be a diamond worth # , or possibly more. after careful examination i put it into my pocket, saying, "this is the price of your master's gin and therefore belongs to him as much as it does to anybody. now if you want to keep out of trouble, tell me--whence came it into the hands of that man, karl?" "baas," replied footsack, trembling all over, "how do i know? he and the rest have been working at the mines; i suppose he found it there." "indeed! and did he find others of the same sort?" "i think so, baas. at least he said that he had been buying bottles of gin with such stones all the way down from kimberley. karl is a great drunkard, baas, as i am sure, who have known him for years." "that is not all," i remarked, keeping my eyes fixed on him. "what else did he say?" "he said, baas, that he was very much afraid of returning to the baas marnham whom the kaffirs call white-beard, with only a few stones left." "why was he afraid?" "because the baas whitebeard, he who dwells at tampel, is, he says, a very angry man if he thinks himself cheated, and karl is afraid lest he should kill him as another was killed, he whose spook haunts the wood through which those silly people feared to pass last night." "who was killed and who killed him?" i asked. "baas, i don't know," replied footsack, collapsing into sullen silence in a way that kaffirs have when suddenly they realize that they have said too much. nor did i press the matter further, having learned enough. what had i learned? this: that messrs. marnham & rodd were illicit diamond buyers, i.d.b.'s as they are called, who had cunningly situated themselves at a great distance from the scene of operations practically beyond the reach of civilized law. probably they were engaged also in other nefarious dealings with kaffirs, such as supplying them with guns wherewith to make war upon the whites. sekukuni had been fighting us recently, so that there would be a very brisk market for rifles. this, too, would account for marnham's apparent knowledge of that chief's plans. possibly, however, he had no knowledge and only made a pretence of it to keep us out of the country. later on i confided the whole story and my suspicions to anscombe, who was much interested. "what picturesque scoundrels!" he exclaimed, "we really ought to go back to the temple. i have always longed to meet some real live i.d.b.'s." "it is probable that you have done that already without knowing it. for the rest, if you wish to visit that den of iniquity, you must do so alone." "wouldn't whited sepulchre be a better term, especially as it seems to cover dead men's bones?" he replied in his frivolous manner. then i asked him what he was going to do about footsack and the bottle of gin, which he countered by asking me what i was going to do with that diamond. "give it to you as footsack's master," i said, suiting the action to the word. "i don't wish to be mixed up in doubtful transactions." then followed a long argument as to who was the real owner of the stone, which ended in its being hidden away be produced if called for, and in footsack, who ought have had a round dozen, receiving a scolding from his master, coupled with the threat that if he stole more gin he would be handed over to a magistrate--when we met one. on the following day we reached the hot, low-lying veld which the herd of buffalo was said to inhabit. next morning, however, when we were making ready to begin hunting, a basuto kaffir appeared who, on being questioned, said that he was one of sekukuni's people sent to this district to look for two lost oxen. i did not believe this story, thinking it more probable that he was a spy, but asked him whether in his hunt for oxen he had come across buffalo. he replied that he had, a herd of thirty-two of them, counting the calves, but that they were over the oliphant's river about five-and-twenty miles away, in a valley between some outlying hills and the rugged range of mountains, beyond which was situated sekukuni's town. moreover, in proof of his story he showed me spoor of the beasts heading in that direction which was quite a week old. now for my part, as i did not think it wise to get too near to sekukuni, i should have given them up and gone to hunt something else. anscombe, however, was of a different opinion and pleaded hard that we should follow them. they were the only herd within a hundred miles, he said, if indeed there were any others this side of the lebombo mountains. as i still demurred, he suggested, in the nicest possible manner, that if i thought the business risky, i should camp somewhere with the wagon, while he went on with footsack to look for the buffalo. i answered that i was well used to risks, which in a sense were my trade, and that as he was more or less in my charge i was thinking of him, not of myself, who was quite prepared to follow the buffalo, not only to sekukuni's mountains but over them. then fearing that he had hurt my feelings, he apologized, and offered to go elsewhere if i liked. the upshot was that we decided to trek to the oliphant's river, camp there and explore the bush on the other side on horseback, never going so far from the wagon that we could not reach it again before nightfall. this, then, we did, outspanning that evening by the hot but beautiful river which was still haunted by a few hippopotamus and many crocodiles, one of which we shot before turning in. next morning, having breakfasted off cold guineafowl, we mounted, crossed the river by a ford that was quite as deep as i liked, to which the kaffir path led us, and, leaving footsack with the two other boys in charge of the wagon, began to hunt for the buffalo in the rather swampy bush that stretched from the further bank to the slope of the first hills, eight or ten miles away. i did not much expect to find them, as the basuto had said that they had gone over these hills, but either he lied or they had moved back again. not half a mile from the river bank, just as i was about to dismount to stalk a fine waterbuck of which i caught sight standing among some coarse grass and bushes, my eye fell upon buffalo spoor that from its appearance i knew could not be more than a few hours old. evidently the beasts had been feeding here during the night and at dawn had moved away to sleep in the dry bush nearer the hills. beckoning to anscombe, who fortunately had not seen the waterbuck, at which he would certainly have fired, thereby perhaps frightening the buffalo, i showed him the spoor that we at once started to follow. soon it led us into other spoor, that of a whole herd of thirty or forty beasts indeed, which made our task quite easy, at least till we came to harder ground, for the animals had gone a long way. an hour or more later, when we were about seven miles from the river, i perceived ahead of us, for we were now almost at the foot of the hills, a cool and densely-wooded kloof. "that is where they will be," i said. "now come on carefully and make no noise." we rode to the wide mouth of the kloof where the signs of the buffalo were numerous and fresh, dismounted and tied our horses to a thorn, so as to approach them silently on foot. we had not gone two hundred yards through the bush when suddenly about fifty paces away, standing broadside on in the shadow between two trees, i saw a splendid old bull with a tremendous pair of horns. "shoot," i whispered to anscombe, "you will never get a better chance. it is the sentinel of the herd." he knelt down, his face quite white with excitement, and covered the bull with his express. "keep cool," i whispered again, "and aim behind the shoulder, half-way down." i don't think he understood me, for at that moment off went the rifle. he hit the beast somewhere, as i heard the bullet clap, but not fatally, for it turned and lumbered off up the kloof, apparently unhurt, whereon he sent the second barrel after it, a clean miss this time. then of a sudden all about us appeared buffaloes that had, i suppose, been sleeping invisible to us. these, with snorts and bellows, rushed off towards the river, for having their senses about them, they had no mind to be trapped in the kloof. i could only manage a shot at one of them, a large and long-horned cow which i knocked over quite dead. if i had fired again it would have been but to wound, a thing i hate. the whole business was over in a minute. we went and looked at my dead cow which i had caught through the heart. "it's cruel to kill these things," i said, "for i don't know what use we are going to make of them, and they must love life as much as we do." "we'll cut the horns off," said anscombe. "you may if you like," i answered, "but you will find it a tough job with a sheath knife." "yes, i think that shall be the task of the worthy footsack to-morrow," he replied. "meanwhile let us go and finish off my bull, as footsack & co. may as well bring home two pair of horns as one." i looked at the dense bush, and knowing something of the habits of wounded buffaloes, reflected that it would be a nasty job. still i said nothing, because if i hesitated, i knew he would want to go alone. so we started. evidently the beast had been badly hit, for the blood spoor was easy to follow. yet it had been able to retreat up to the end of the kloof that terminated in a cliff over which trickled a stream of water. here it was not more than a hundred paces wide, and on either side of it were other precipitous cliffs. as we went from one of these a war-horn, such as the basutos use, was blown. although i heard it, oddly enough, i paid no attention to it at the time, being utterly intent upon the business in hand. following a wounded buffalo bull up a tree-clad and stony kloof is no game for children, as these beasts have a habit of returning on their tracks and then rushing out to gore you. so i went on with every sense alert, keeping anscombe well behind me. as it happened our bull had either been knocked silly or inherited no guile from his parents. when he found he could go no further he stopped, waited behind a bush, and when he saw us he charged in a simple and primitive fashion. i let anscombe fire, as i wished him to have the credit of killing it all to himself, but somehow or other he managed to miss both barrels. then, trouble being imminent, i let drive as the beast lowered its head, and was lucky enough to break its spine (to shoot at the head of a buffalo is useless), so that it rolled over quite dead at our feet. "you have got a magnificent pair of horns," i said, contemplating the fallen giant. "yes," answered anscombe, with a twinkle of his humorous eyes, "and if it hadn't been for you i think that i should have got them in more senses than one." as the words passed his lips some missile, from its peculiar sound i judged it was the leg off an iron pot, hurtled past my head, fired evidently from a smoothbore gun with a large charge of bad powder. then i remembered the war-horn and all that it meant. "off you go," i said, "we are ambushed by kaffirs." we were indeed, for as we tailed down that kloof, from the top of both cliffs above us came a continuous but luckily ill-directed fire. lead-coated stones, pot legs and bullets whirred and whistled all round us, yet until the last, just when we were reaching the tree to which we had tied our horses, quite harmlessly. then suddenly i saw anscombe begin to limp. still he managed to run on and mount, though i observed that he did not put his right foot into the stirrup. "what's the matter?" i asked as we galloped off. "shot through the instep, i think," he answered with a laugh, "but it doesn't hurt a bit." "i expect it will later," i replied. "meanwhile, thank god it wasn't at the top of the kloof. they won't catch us on the horses, which they never thought of killing first." "they are going to try though. look behind you." i looked and saw twenty or thirty men emerging from the mouth of the kloof in pursuit. "no time to stop to get those horns," he said with a sigh. "no," i answered, "unless you are particularly anxious to say good-bye to the world pinned over a broken ant-heap in the sun, or something pleasant of the sort." then we rode on in silence, i thinking what a fool i had been first to allow myself to be overruled by anscombe and cross the river, and secondly not to have taken warning from that war-horn. we could not go very fast because of the difficult and swampy nature of the ground; also the great heat of the day told on the horses. thus it came about that when we reached the ford we were not more than ten minutes ahead of our active pursuers, good runners every one of them, and accustomed to the country. i suppose that they had orders to kill or capture us at any cost, for instead of giving up the chase, as i hoped they would, they stuck to us in surprising fashion. we splashed through the river, and luckily on the further bank were met by footsack who had seen us coming and guessed that something was wrong. "inspan!" i shouted to him, "and be quick about it if you want to see tomorrow's light. the basutos are after us." off he went like a shot, his face quite green with fear. "now," i said to anscombe, as we let our horses take a drink for which they were mad, "we have got to hold this ford until the wagon is ready, or those devils will get us after all. dismount and i'll tie up the horses." he did so with some difficulty, and at my suggestion, while i made the beasts fast, cut the lace of his boot which was full of blood, and soaked his wounded foot, that i had no time to examine, in the cool water. these things done, i helped him to the rear of a thorn tree which was thick enough to shield most of his body, and took my own stand behind a similar thorn at a distance of a few paces. presently the basutos appeared, trotting along close together whereon anscombe, who was seated behind the tree, fired both barrels of his express at them at a range of about two hundred yards. it was a foolish thing to do, first because he missed them clean, for he had over-estimated the range and the bullets went above their heads, and secondly because it caused them to scatter and made them careful, whereas had they come on in a lump we could have taught them a lesson. however i said nothing, as i knew that reproaches would only make him nervous. down went those scoundrels on to their hands and knees and, taking cover behind stones and bushes on the further bank, began to fire at us, for they were all armed with guns of one sort and another, and there was only about a hundred yards of water between us. as they effected this manoeuvre i am glad to say i was able to get two of them, while anscombe, i think, wounded another. after this our position grew quite warm, for as i have said the thorn trunks were not very broad, and three or four of the natives, who had probably been hunters, were by no means bad shots, though the rest of them fired wildly. anscombe, in poking his head round the tree to shoot, had his hat knocked off by a bullet, while a slug went through the lappet of my coat. then a worse thing happened. either by chance or design anscombe's horse was struck in the neck and fell struggling, whereon my beast, growing frightened, broke its riem and galloped to the wagon. that is where i ought to have left them at first, only i thought that we might need them to make a bolt on, or to carry anscombe if he could not walk. quite a long while went by before, glancing behind me, i saw that the oxen that had been grazing at a little distance had at length arrived and were being inspanned in furious haste. the basutos saw it also, and fearing lest we should escape, determined to try to end the business. suddenly they leapt from their cover, and with more courage than i should have expected of them, rushed into the river, proposing to storm us, which, to speak truth, i think they would have done had i not been a fairly quick shot. as it was, finding that they were losing too heavily from our fire, they retreated in a hurry, leaving their dead behind them, and even a wounded man who was clinging to a rock. he, poor wretch, was in mortal terror lest we should shoot him again, which i had not the heart to do, although as his leg was shattered above the knee by an express bullet, it might have been true kindness. again and again he called out for mercy, saying that he only attacked us because his chief, who had been warned of our coming "by the white man," ordered him to take our guns and cattle. "what white man?" i shouted. "speak or i shoot." there was no answer, for at this moment he fainted from loss of blood and vanished beneath the water. then another basuto, i suppose he was their captain, but do not know for he was hidden in some bushes, called out-- "do not think that you shall escape, white men. there are many more of our people coming, and we will kill you in the night when you cannot see to shoot us." at this moment, too, footsack shouted that the wagon was inspanned and ready. now i hesitated what to do. if we made for the wagon, which must be very slowly because of anscombe's wounded foot, we had to cross seventy or eighty yards of rising ground almost devoid of cover. if, on the other hand, we stayed where we were till nightfall a shot might catch one of us, or other basutos might arrive and rush us. there was also a third possibility, that our terrified servants might trek off and leave us in order to save their own lives, which verily i believe they would have done, not being of zulu blood. i put the problem to anscombe, who shook his head and looked at his foot. then he produced a lucky penny which he carried in his pocket and said-- "let us invoke the fates. heads we run like heroes; tails we stay here like heroes," and he spun the penny, while i stared at him open-mouthed and not without admiration. never, i thought to myself, had this primitive method of cutting a gordian knot been resorted to in such strange and urgent circumstances. "heads it is!" he said coolly. "now, my boy, do you run and i'll crawl after you. if i don't arrive, you know my people's address, and i bequeath to you all my african belongings in memory of a most pleasant trip." "don't play the fool," i replied sternly. "come, put your right arm round my neck and hop on your left leg as you never hopped before." then we started, and really our transit was quite lively, for all those basutos began what for them was rapid firing. i think, however, that their best shots must have fallen, for not a bullet touched us, although before we got out of their range one or two went very near. "there," said anscombe, as a last amazing hop brought him to the wagon rail, "there, you see how wise it is give providence a chance sometimes." "in the shape of a lucky penny," i grumbled as i hoisted him up. "certainly, for why should not providence inhabit a penny as much as it does any other mundane thing? oh, my dear quatermain, have you never been taught to look to the pence and let the rest take care of itself?" "stop talking rubbish and look to your foot, for the wagon is starting," i replied. then off we went at a good round trot, for never have i seen oxen more scientifically driven than they were by footsack and his friends on this occasion, or a greater pace got out of them. as soon as we reached a fairly level piece of ground i made anscombe lie down on the cartel of the wagon and examined his wound as well as circumstances would allow. i found that the bullet or whatever the missile may have been, had gone through his right instep just beneath the big sinew, but so far as i could judge without injuring any bone. there was nothing to be done except rub in some carbolic ointment, which fortunately he had in his medicine chest, and bind up the wound as best i could with a clean handkerchief, after which i tied a towel, that was _not_ clean, over the whole foot. by this time evening was coming on, so we ate of such as we had with us, which we needed badly enough, without stopping the wagon. i remember that it consisted of cheese and hard biscuits. at dark we were obliged to halt a little by a stream until the moon rose, which fortunately she did very soon, as she was only just past her full. as soon as she was up we started again, and with a breathing space or two, trekked all that night, which i spent seated on the after part of the wagon and keeping a sharp look out, while, notwithstanding the roughness of the road and his hurt, anscombe slept like a child upon the cartel inside. i was very tired, so tired that the fear of surprise was the only thing that kept me awake, and i recall reflecting in a stupid kind of way, that it seemed always to have been my lot in life to watch thus, in one sense or another, while others slept. the night passed somehow without anything happening, and at dawn we halted for a while to water the oxen, which we did with buckets, and let them eat what grass they could reach from their yokes, since we did not dare to outspan them. just as we were starting on again the voortrekker, whom i had set to watch at a little distance, ran up with his eyes bulging out of his head, and reported that he had seen a basuto with an assegai hanging about in the bush, as though to keep touch with us, after which we delayed no more. all that day we blundered on, thrashing the weary cattle that at every halt tried to lie down, and by nightfall came to the outspan near to the house called the temple, where we had met the kaffirs returning from the diamond fields. this journey we had accomplished in exactly half the time it had taken on the outward trip. here we were obliged to stop, as our team must have rest and food. so we outspanned and slept that night without much fear, since i thought it most improbable that the basutos would attempt to follow us so far, as we were now within a day's trek of pilgrim's rest, whither we proposed to proceed on the morrow. but that is just where i made a mistake. chapter iv doctor rodd i did get a little sleep that night, with one eye open, but before dawn i was up again seeing to the feeding of our remaining horse with some mealies that we carried, and other matters. the oxen we had been obliged to unyoke that they might fill themselves with grass and water, since otherwise i feared that we should never get them on to their feet again. as it was, the poor brutes were so tired that some of them could scarcely eat, and all lay down at the first opportunity. having awakened footsack and the other boys that they might be ready to take advantage of the light when it came, for i was anxious to be away, i drank a nip of hollands and water and ate a biscuit, making anscombe do the same. coffee would have been more acceptable, but i thought it wiser not to light a fire for fear of showing our whereabouts. now a faint glimmer in the east told me that the dawn was coming. just by the wagon grew a fair-sized, green-leaved tree, and as it was quite easy to climb even by starlight, up it i went so as to get above the ground mist and take a look round before we trekked. presently the sky grew pearly and light began to gather; then the edge of the sun appeared, throwing long level rays across the world. everywhere the mist lay dense as cotton wool, except at one spot about a mile behind us where there was a little hill or rather a wave of the ground, over which we had trekked upon the preceding evening. the top of this rise was above mist level, and on it no trees grew because the granite came to the surface. having discovered nothing, i called to the boys to drive up the oxen, some of which had risen and were eating again, and prepared to descend from my tree. as i did so, out of the corner of my eye i caught sight of something that glittered far away, so far that it would only have attracted the notice of a trained hunter. yes, something was shining on the brow of the rise of which i have spoken. i stared at it through my glasses and saw what i had feared to see. a body of natives was crossing the rise and the glitter was caused by the rays of dawn striking on their spears and gun-barrels. i came down out of that tree like a frightened wild cat and ran to the wagon, thinking hard as i went. the basutos were after us, meaning to attack as soon as there was sufficient light. in ten minutes or less they would be here. there was no time to inspan the oxen, and even if there had been, stiff and weary as the beasts were, we should be overtaken before we had gone a hundred yards on that bad road. what then was to be done? run for it? it was impossible, anscombe could not run. my eye fell upon the horse munching the last of his mealies. "footsack," i said as quietly as i could, "never mind about inspanning yet, but saddle up the horse. be quick now." he looked at me doubtfully, but obeyed, having seen nothing. if he had seen i knew that he would have been off. i nipped round to the end of the wagon, calling to the other two boys to let the oxen be a while and come to me. "now, anscombe," i said, "hand out the rifles and cartridges. don't stop to ask questions, but do what i tell you. they are on the rack by your side. so. now put on your revolver and let me help you down. man, don't forget your hat." he obeyed quickly enough, and presently was standing on one leg by my side, looking cramped and tottery. "the basutos are on us," i said. he whistled and remarked something about chapter no. . "footsack," i called, "bring the horse here; the baas wishes to ride a little to ease his leg." he did so, stopping a moment to pull the second girth tight. then we helped anscombe into the saddle. "which way?" he asked. i looked at the long slope in front of us. it was steep and bad going. anscombe might get up it on the horse before the kaffirs overtook us, but it was extremely problematical if we could do so. i might perhaps if i mounted behind him and the horse could bear us both, which was doubtful, but how about our poor servants? he saw the doubt upon my face and said in his quiet way, "you may remember that our white-bearded friend told us to make straight for his place in case of any difficulty with the basutos. it seems to have arisen." "i know he did," i answered, "but i cannot make up my mind which is the more dangerous, marnham or the basutos. i rather think that he set them on to us." "it is impossible to solve problems at this hour of the morning, quatermain, and there is no time to toss. so i vote for the temple." "it seems our best chance. at any rate that's your choice, so let's go." then i sang out to the kaffirs, "the basutos are on us. we go to tampel for refuge. run!" my word! they did run. i never saw athletes make better time over the first quarter of a mile. we ran, too, or at least the horse did, i hanging on to the stirrup and anscombe holding both the rifles beneath his arm. but the beast was tired, also blown out with that morning feed of mealies, so our progress was not very fast. when we were about two hundred yards from the wagon i looked back and saw the basutos beginning to arrive. they saw us also, and uttering a sort of whistling war cry, started in pursuit. after this we had quite an interesting time. i scrambled on to the horse behind anscombe, whereon that intelligent animal, feeling the double weight, reduced its pace proportionately, to a slow tripple, indeed, out of which it could not be persuaded to move. so i slipped off again over its tail and we went on as before. meanwhile the basutos, very active fellows, were coming up. by this time the yellow-wood grove in the swamp, of which i have already written, was close to us, and it became quite a question which of us would get there first (i may mention that footsack & co. had already attained its friendly shelter). anscombe kicked the horse with his sound heel and i thumped it with my fist, thereby persuading it to a hand gallop. as we reached the outlying trees of the wood the first basuto, a lank fellow with a mouth like a rat trap, arrived and threw an assegai at us which passed between anscombe's back and my nose. then he closed and tried to stab with another assegai. i could do nothing, but anscombe showed himself cleverer than i expected. dropping the reins, he drew his pistol and managed to send a bullet through that child of nature's head, so that he went down like a stone. "and you tell me i am a bad shot," he drawled. "it was a fluke," i gasped, for even in these circumstances truth would prevail. "wait and you'll see," he replied, re-cocking the revolver. as a matter of fact there was no need for more shooting, since at the verge of the swamp the basutos pulled up. i do not think that the death of their companion caused them to do this, for they seemed to take no notice of him. it was as though they had reached some boundary which they knew it would not be lawful for them to pass. they simply stopped, took the dead man's assegai and shield from the body and walked quietly back towards the wagon, leaving him where he lay. the horse stopped also, or rather proceeded at a walk. "there!" exclaimed anscombe. "did i not tell you i had a presentiment that i should kill a man in this accursed wood?" "yes," i said as soon as i had recovered my breath, "but you mixed up a woman with the matter and i don't see one." "that's true," he replied, "i hope we shan't meet her later." then we went on as quickly as we could, which was not very fast, for i feared lest the basutos should change their minds and follow us. as the risk of this became less our spirits rose, since if we had lost the wagon and the oxen, at least we had saved our lives, which was almost more than we could have expected in the circumstances. at last we came to that glade where we had killed the wildebeeste not a week before. there lay its skeleton picked clean by the great brown kites that frequent the bush-veld, some of which still sat about in the trees. "well, i suppose we must go on to tampel," said anscombe rather faintly, for i could see that his wound was giving him a good deal of pain. as he spoke from round the tree whence he had first emerged, appeared mr. marnham, riding the same horse and wearing the same clothes. the only difference between his two entries was that the first took place in the late evening and the second in the early morning. "so here you are again," he said cheerfully. "yes," i answered, "and it is strange to meet you at the same spot. were you expecting us?" "not more than i expect many things," he replied with a shrewd glance at me, adding, "i always rise with the sun, and thinking that i heard a shot fired in the distance, came to see what was happening. the basutos attacked you at daybreak, did they not?" "they did, but how did you know that, mr. marnham?" "your servants told me. i met them running to the house looking very frightened. you are wounded, mr. anscombe?" "yes, a couple of days ago on the border of sekukuni's country where the natives tried to murder us." "ah!" he replied without surprise. "i warned you the trip was dangerous, did i not? well, come on home where my partner, rodd, who luckily has had medical experience, will attend to you. mr. quatermain can tell me the story as we go." so we went on up the long slope, i relating our adventures, to which mr. marnham listened without comment. "i expect that the kaffirs will have looted the wagon and be on the way home with your oxen by now," he said when i had finished. "are you not afraid that they will follow us here?" i asked. "oh no, mr. quatermain. we do business with these people, also they sometimes come to be doctored by rodd when they are sick, so this place is sacred ground to them. they stopped hunting you when they got to the yellow-wood swamp where our land begins, did they not?" "yes, but now i want to hunt them. can you give me any help? those oxen are tired out and footsore, so we might be able to catch them up." he shook his head. "we have very few people here, and by the time that you could get assistance from the camp at barberton, if the commandant is able and willing to give you any, which i rather doubt, they will be far away. moreover," he added, dropping his voice, "let us come to an understanding. you are most welcome to any help or hospitality that i can offer, but if you wish to do more fighting i must ask you to go elsewhere. as i have told you, we are peaceful men who trade with these people, and do not wish to be involved in a quarrel with them, which might expose us to attack or bring us into trouble with the british government which has annexed but not conquered their country. do i make myself clear?" "perfectly. while we are with you we will do nothing, but afterwards we hold ourselves at liberty to act as we think best." "quite so. meanwhile i hope that you and mr. anscombe will make yourselves comfortable with us for as long as you like." in my own mind i came to the conclusion that this would be for the shortest time possible, but i only said-- "it is most kind of you to take in complete strangers thus. no, not complete," i added, looking towards anscombe who was following on the tired horse a few paces behind, "for you knew his father, did you not?" "his father?" he said, lifting his eyebrows. "no. oh! i remember, i said something to that effect the other night, but it was a mistake. i mixed up two names, as one often does after a lapse of many years." "i understand," i answered, but remembering anscombe's story i reflected to myself that our venerable host was an excellent liar. or more probably he meant to convey that he wished the subject of his youthful reminiscences to be taboo. just then we reached the house which had a pretty patch of well-kept flower-garden in front of it, surrounded by a fence covered with wire netting to keep out buck. by the gate squatted our three retainers, looking very blown and rather ashamed of themselves. "your master wishes to thank you for your help in a dark hour, footsack, and i wish to congratulate you all upon the swiftness of your feet," i said in dutch. "oh! baas, the basutos were many and their spears are sharp," he began apologetically. "be silent, you running dog," i said, "and go help your master to dismount." then we went through the gate, anscombe leaning on my shoulder and on that of mr. marnham, and up the path which was bordered with fences of the monthly rose, towards the house. really this was almost as charming to look at near at hand as it had been from far away. of course the whole thing was crude in detail. rough, half-shaped blocks of marble from the neighbouring quarry had been built into walls and columns. nothing was finished, and considered bit by bit all was coarse and ugly. yet the general effect was beautiful because it was an effect of design, the picture of an artist who did not fully understand the technicalities of painting, the work of a great writer who had as yet no proper skill in words. never did i see a small building that struck me more. but then what experience have i of buildings, and, as anscombe reminded me afterwards, it was but a copy of something designed when the world was young, or rather when civilization was young, and man new risen from the infinite ages of savagery, saw beauty in his dreams and tried to symbolize it in shapes of stone. we came to the broad stoep, to which several rough blocks of marble served as steps. on it in a long chair made of native wood and seated with hide rimpis, sat or rather lolled a man in a dressing-gown who was reading a book. he raised himself as we came and the light of the sun, for the verandah faced to the east, shone full upon his face, so that i saw him well. it was that of a man of something under forty years of age, dark, powerful, and weary--not a good face, i thought. indeed, it gave me the impression of one who had allowed the evil which exists in the nature of all of us to become his master, or had even encouraged it to do so. in the psalms and elsewhere we are always reading of the righteous and the unrighteous until those terms grow wearisome. it is only of late years that i have discovered, or think that i have discovered, what they mean. our lives cannot be judged by our deeds; they must be judged by our desires or rather by our moral attitude. it is not what we do so much as what we try to do that counts in the formation of character. all fall short, all fail, but in the end those who seek to climb out of the pit, those who strive, however vainly, to fashion failure to success, are, by comparison, the righteous, while those who are content to wallow in our native mire and to glut themselves with the daily bread of vice, are the unrighteous. to turn our backs thereon wilfully and without cause, is the real unforgiveable sin against the spirit. at least that is the best definition of the problem at which i in my simplicity can arrive. such thoughts have often occurred to me in considering the character of dr. rodd and some others whom i have known; indeed the germ of them arose in my mind which, being wearied at the time and therefore somewhat vacant, was perhaps the more open to external impressions, as i looked upon the face of this stranger on the stoep. moreover, as i am proud to record, i did not judge him altogether wrongly. he was a blackguard who, under other influences or with a few added grains of self-restraint and of the power of recovery, might have become a good or even a saintly man. but by some malice of fate or some evil inheritance from an unknown past, those grains were lacking, and therefore he went not up but down the hill. "case for you, rodd," called out marnham. "indeed," he answered, getting to his feet and speaking in a full voice, which, like his partner's, was that of an educated englishman. "what's the matter. horse accident?" then we were introduced, and anscombe began to explain his injury. "um!" said the doctor, studying him with dark eyes. "kaffir bullet through the foot some days ago. ought to be attended to at once. also you look pretty done, so don't tire yourself with the story, which i can get from mr. quatermain. come and lie down and i'll have a look at you while they are cooking breakfast." then he guided us to a room of which the double french windows opened on to the stoep, a very pretty room with two beds in it. making anscombe lie down on one of these he turned up his trouser, undid my rough bandage and examined the wound. "painful?" he asked. "very," answered anscombe, "right up to the thigh." after this he drew off the nether garments and made a further examination. "um," he said again, "i must syringe this out. stay still while i get some stuff." i followed him from the room, and when we were out of hearing on the stoep inquired what he thought. i did not like the look of that leg. "it is very bad," he answered, "so bad that i am wondering if it wouldn't be best to remove the limb below the knee and make it a job. you can see for yourself that it is septic and the inflammation is spreading up rapidly." "good heavens!" i exclaimed, "do you fear mortification?" he nodded. "can't say what was on that slug or bit of old iron and he hasn't had the best chance since. mortification, or tetanus, or both, are more than possible. is he a temperate man?" "so far as i know," i answered, and stared at him while he thought. then he said with decision, "that makes a difference. to lose a foot is a serious thing; some might think almost as bad as death. i'll give him a chance, but if those symptoms do not abate in twenty-four hours, i must operate. you needn't be afraid, i was house surgeon at a london hospital--once, and i keep my hand in. lucky you came straight here." having made his preparations and washed his hands, he returned, syringed the wound with some antiseptic stuff, and dressed and bandaged the leg up to the knee. after this he gave anscombe hot milk to drink, with two eggs broken into it, and told him to rest a while as he must not eat anything solid at present. then he threw a blanket over him, and, signing to me to come away, let down a mat over the window. "i put a little something into that milk," he said outside, "which will send him to sleep for a few hours. so we will leave him quiet. now you'll want a wash." "where are you going to take mr. quatermain?" asked marnham who was seated on the stoep. "into my room," he answered. "why? there's heda's ready." "heda might return at any moment," replied the doctor. "also mr. quatermain had better sleep in mr. anscombe's room. he will very likely want some one to look after him at night." marnham opened his mouth to speak again, then changed his mind and was silent, as a servant is silent under rebuke. the incident was quite trifling, yet it revealed to me the relative attitude of these two men. without a doubt rodd was the master of his partner, who did not even care to dispute with him about the matter of the use of his daughter's bedroom. they were a queer couple who, had it not been for my anxiety as to anscombe's illness, would have interested me very much, as indeed they were destined to do. well, i went to tidy up in the doctor's room, and as he left me alone while i washed, had the opportunity of studying it a little. like the rest of the house it was lined with native wood which was made to serve as the backs of bookshelves and of cupboards filled with medicines and instruments. the books formed a queer collection. there were medical works, philosophical works, histories, novels, most of them french, and other volumes of a sort that i imagine are generally kept under lock and key; also some that had to do with occult matters. there was even a bible. i opened it thoughtlessly, half in idle curiosity, to see whether it was ever used, only to replace it in haste. for at the very page that my eye fell on, i remember it was one of my favourite chapters in isaiah, was a stamp in violet ink marked h. m.'s prison--well, i won't say where. i may state, however, that the clue enabled me in after years to learn an episode in this man's life which had brought about his ruin. there is no need to repeat it or to say more than that gambling and an evil use of his medical knowledge to provide the money to pay his debts, were the cause of his fall. the strange thing is that he should have kept the book which had probably been given to him by the prison chaplain. still everybody makes mistakes sometimes. or it may have had associations for him, and of course he had never seen this stamp upon an unread page, which happened to leap to my eye. now i was able to make a shrewd guess at his later career. after his trouble he had emigrated and began to practise in south africa. somehow his identity had been discovered; his past was dragged up against him, possibly by rivals jealous of his skill; his business went and he found it advisable to retire to the transvaal before the annexation, at that time the home of sundry people of broken repute. even there he did not stop in a town, but hid himself upon the edge of savagery. here he foregathered with another man of queer character, marnham, and in his company entered upon some doubtful but lucrative form of trade while still indulging his love of medicine by doctoring and operating upon natives, over whom he would in this way acquire great influence. indeed, as i discovered before the day was over, he had quite a little hospital at the back of the house in which were four or five beds occupied by kaffirs and served by two male native nurses whom he had trained. also numbers of out-patients visited him, some of whom travelled from great distances, and occasionally, but not often, he attended white people who chanced to be in the neighbourhood. the three of us breakfasted in a really charming room from the window of which could be studied a view as beautiful as any i know. the kaffirs who waited were well trained and dressed in neat linen uniforms. the cooking was good; there was real silver on the table, then a strange sight in that part of africa, and amongst engravings and other pictures upon the walls, hung an oil portrait of a very beautiful young woman with dark hair and eyes. "is that your daughter, mr. marnham?" i asked. "no," he replied rather shortly, "it is her mother." immediately afterwards he was called from the room to speak to some one, whereon the doctor said-- "a foreigner as you see, a hungarian; the hungarian women are very good looking and very charming." "so i have understood," i answered, "but does this lady live here?" "oh, no. she is dead, or i believe that she is dead. i am not sure, because i make it a rule never to pry into people's private affairs. all i know about her is that she was a beauty whom marnham married late in life upon the continent when she was but eighteen. as is common in such cases he was very jealous of her, but it didn't last long, as she died, or i understand that she died, within a year of her daughter's birth. the loss affected him so much that he emigrated to south africa with the child and began life anew. i do not think that they correspond with hungary, and he never speaks of her even to his daughter, which suggests that she is dead." i reflected that all these circumstances might equally well suggest several other things, but said nothing, thinking it wisest not to pursue the subject. presently marnham returned and informed me that a native had just brought him word that the basutos had made off homeward with our cattle, but had left the wagon and its contents quite untouched, not even stealing the spare guns and ammunition. "that's luck," i said, astonished, "but extremely strange. how do you explain it, mr. marnham?" he shrugged his shoulders and answered-- "as every one knows, you are a much greater expert in native habits and customs than i am, mr. quatermain." "there are only two things that i can think of," i said. "one is that for some reason or other they thought the wagon tagati, bewitched you know, and that it would bring evil on them to touch it, though this did not apply to the oxen. the other is that they supposed it, but not the oxen, to belong to some friend of their own whose property they did not wish to injure." he looked at me sharply but said nothing, and i went on to tell them the details of the attack that had been made upon us, adding-- "the odd part of the affair is that one of those basutos called out to us that some infernal scoundrel of a white had warned sekukuni of our coming and that he had ordered them to take our guns and cattle. this basuto, who was wounded and praying for mercy, was drowned before he could tell me who the white man was." "a boer, i expect," said marnham quietly. "as you know they are not particularly well affected towards us english just now. also i happen to be aware that some of them are intriguing with sekukuni against the british through makurupiji, his 'mouth' or prime-minister, a very clever old scamp who likes to have two stools to sit on." "and doubtless will end by falling between them. well, you see, now that i think of it, the wounded kaffir only said that they were ordered to take our guns and oxen, and incidentally our lives. the wagon was not mentioned." "quite so, mr. quatermain. i will send some of our boys to help your servants to bring everything it contains up here." "can't you lend me a team of oxen," i asked, "to drag it to the house?" "no, we have nothing but young cattle left. both red-water and lung-sickness have been so bad this season that all the horned stock have been swept out of the country. i doubt whether you could beg, borrow or steal a team of oxen this side of pretoria, except from some of the dutchmen who won't part." "that's awkward. i hoped to be able to trek in a day or two." "your friend won't be able to trek for a good many days at the best," broke in the doctor, who had been listening unconcernedly, "but of course you could get away on the horse after it has rested." "you told me you left a span of oxen at pretoria," said marnham. "why not go and fetch them here, or if you don't like to leave mr. anscombe, send your driver and the boys." "thanks for the idea. i will think it over," i answered. that morning after footsack and the voorlooper had been sent with some of the servants from the temple to fetch up the contents of the wagon, for i was too tired to accompany them, having found that anscombe was still asleep, i determined to follow his example. finding a long chair on the stoep, i sat down and slumbered in it sweetly for hours. i dreamt of all sorts of things, then through my dreams it seemed to me that i heard two voices talking, those of our marnham and rodd, not on the stoep, but at a distance from it. as a matter of fact they were talking, but so far away that in my ordinary waking state i could never have heard them. my own belief is that the senses, and i may add the semi-spiritual part of us, are much more acute when we lie half bound in the bonds of sleep, than when we are what is called wide awake. doubtless when we are quite bound they attain the limits of their power and, i think, sail at times to the uttermost ends of being. but unhappily of their experiences we remember nothing when we awake. in half sleep it is different; then we do retain some recollection. in this curious condition of mind it seemed to me that rodd said to marnham-- "why have you brought these men here?" "i did not bring them here," he answered. "luck, fate, fortune, god or the devil, call it what you will, brought them here, though if you had your wish, it is true they would never have come. still, as they have come, i am glad. it is something to me, living in this hell, to get a chance of talking to english gentlemen again before i die." "english gentlemen," remarked rodd reflectively, "well, anscombe is of course, but how about that other hunter? after all, in what way is he better than the scores of other hunters and kaffir traders and wanderers whom one meets in this strange land?" "in what way indeed?" thought i to myself, in my dream. "if you can't see, i can't explain to you. but as i happen to know, the man is of blood as good as mine--and a great deal better than yours," he added with a touch of insolence. "moreover, he has an honest name among white and black, which is much in this country." "yes," replied the doctor in the same reflective voice, "i agree with you, i let him pass as a gentleman. but i repeat, why did you bring them here when with one more word it would have been so easy--" and he stopped. "i have told you, it was not i. what are you driving at?" "do you think it is exactly convenient, especially when we are under the british flag again, to have two people who, we both admit, are english gentlemen, that is, clean, clear-eyed men, considering us and our affairs for an indefinite period, just because you wish for the pleasure of their society? would it not have been better to tell those basutos to let them trek on to pretoria?" "i don't know what would have been better. i repeat, what are you driving at? "heda is coming home in a day or two; she might be here any time," remarked rodd as he knocked the ashes out of his pipe. "yes, because you made me write and say that i wanted her. but what of that?" "nothing in particular, except that i am not sure that i wish her to associate with 'an english gentleman' like this anscombe." marnham laughed scornfully. "ah! i understand," he said. "too clean and straight. complications might ensue and the rest of it. well, i wish to god they would, for i know the anscombes, or used to, and i know the genus called rodd." "don't be insulting; you may carry the thing too far one day, and whatever i have done i have paid for. but you've not paid--yet." "the man is very ill. you are a skilled doctor. if you're afraid of him, why don't you kill him?" asked marnham with bitter scorn. "there you have me," replied rodd. "men may shed much, but most of them never shed their professional honour. i shall do my honest best to cure mr. anscombe, and i tell you that he will take some curing." then i woke up, and as no one was in sight, wondered whether or no i had been dreaming. the upshot of it was that i made up my mind to send footsack to pretoria for the oxen, not to go myself. chapter v a game of cards i slept in anscombe's room that night and looked after him. he was very feverish and the pain in his leg kept him awake a good deal. he told me that he could not bear dr. rodd and wished to get away at once. i had to explain to him that this was impossible until his spare oxen arrived which i was going to send for to pretoria, but of other matters, including that of the dangerous state of his foot, i said nothing. i was thankful when towards two in the morning, he fell into a sound sleep and allowed me to do the same. before breakfast time, just as i had finished dressing myself in some of the clean things which had been brought from the wagon, rodd came and made a thorough and business-like examination of his patient, while i awaited the result with anxiety on the stoep. at length he appeared and said-- "well, i think that we shall be able to save the foot, though i can't be quite sure for another twenty-four hours. the worst symptoms have abated and his temperature is down by two degrees. anyway he will have to stay in bed and live on light food till it is normal, after which he might lie in a long chair on the stoep. on no account must he attempt to stand." i thanked him for his information heartily enough and asked him if he knew where marnham was, as i wanted to speak to him with reference to the despatch of footsack to fetch the oxen from pretoria. "not up yet, i think," he answered. "i fancy that yesterday was one of his 'wet' nights, excitement of meeting strangers and so on." "wet nights?" i queried, wishing for a clearer explanation. "yes, he is a grand old fellow, one of the best, but like most other people he has his little weaknesses, and when the fit is on him he can put away a surprising amount of liquor. i tell you so that you should not be astonished if you notice anything, or try to argue with him when he is in that state, as then his temper is apt to be--well, lively. now i must go and give him a pint of warm milk; that is his favourite antidote, and in fact the best there is." i thought to myself that we had struck a nice establishment in which to be tied, literally by the leg, for an indefinite period. i was not particularly flush at the time, but i know i would have paid a # to be out of it; before the end i should have been glad to throw in everything that i had. but mercifully that was hidden from me. rodd and i breakfasted together and discoursed of kaffir customs, as to which he was singularly well informed. then i accompanied him to see his native patients in the little hospital of which i have spoken. believing the man to be a thorough scamp as i did, it was astonishing to me to note how gentle and forbearing he was to these people. of his skill i need say nothing, as that was evident. he was going to perform an internal operation upon a burly old savage, rather a serious one i believe; at any rate it necessitated chloroform. he asked me if i would like to assist, but i declined respectfully, having no taste for such things. so i left him boiling his instruments and putting on what looked like a clean nightgown over his clothes, and returned to the stoep. here i found marnham, whose eyes were rather bloodshot, though otherwise, except for a shaky hand, he seemed right enough. he murmured something about having overslept himself and inquired very politely, for his manners were beautiful, after anscombe and as to whether we were quite comfortable and so forth. after this i consulted him as to the best road for our servants to travel by to pretoria, and later on despatched them, giving footsack various notes to ensure the delivery of the oxen to him. also i gave him some money to pay for their keep and told him with many threats to get back with the beasts as quick as he could travel. then i sent him and the two other boys off, not without misgivings, although he was an experienced man in his way and promised faithfully to fulfil every injunction to the letter. to me he seemed so curiously glad to go that i inquired the reason, since after a journey like ours, it would have been more natural if he had wished to rest. "oh! baas," he said, "i don't think this tampel very healthy for coloured people. i am told of some who have died here. that man karl who gave me the diamond, i think he must have died also, at least i saw his spook last night standing over me and shaking his head, and the boys saw it too." "oh! be off with your talk of spooks," i said, "and come back quickly with those oxen, or i promise you that you will die and be a spook yourself." "i will, baas, i will!" he ejaculated and departed almost at a run, leaving me rather uncomfortable. i believed nothing of the tale of the spook of karl, but i saw that footsack believed in it, and was afraid lest he might be thereby prevented from returning. i would much rather have gone myself, but it was impossible for me to leave anscombe so ill in the hands of our strange hosts. and there was no one else whom i could send. i might perhaps have ridden to pilgrim's rest and tried to find a white messenger there; indeed afterwards i regretted not having done so, although it would have involved at least a day's absence at a very critical time. but the truth is i never thought of it until too late, and probably if i had, i should not have been able to discover anyone whom i could trust. as i walked back to the house, having parted from footsack on the top of a neighbouring ridge whence i could point out his path to him, i met marnham riding away. he pulled up and said that he was going down to the granite stream to arrange about setting some one up to watch the wagon. i expressed sorrow that he should have the trouble, which should have been mine if i could have got away, whereon he answered that he was glad of the opportunity for a ride, as it was something to do. "how do you fill in your time here," i asked carelessly, "as you don't farm?" "oh! by trading," he replied, and with a nod set his horse to a canter. a queer sort of trading, thought i to myself, where there is no store. now what exactly does he trade in, i wonder? as it happened i was destined to find out before i was an hour older. having given anscombe a look and found that he was comfortable, i thought that i would inspect the quarry whence the marble came of which the house was built, as it had occurred to me that if there was plenty of it, it might be worth exploiting some time in the future. it had been pointed out to me in the midst of some thorns in a gully that ran at right angles to the main kloof not more than a few hundred yards from the house. following a path over which the stones had been dragged originally, i came to the spot and discovered that a little cavity had been quarried in what seemed to me to be a positive mountain of pure white marble. i examined the place as thoroughly as i could, climbing among some bushes that grew in surface earth which had been washed down from the top, in order to do so. at the back of these bushes there was a hole large enough for a man to creep through. i crept through with the object of ascertaining whether the marble veins continued. to my surprise i found a stout yellow-wood door within feet of the mouth of the hole. reflecting that no doubt it was here that the quarrymen kept, or had kept tools and explosives, i gave it a push. i suppose it had been left unfastened accidentally, or that something had gone wrong with the lock; at any rate it swung open. pursuing my researches as to the depth of the marble i advanced boldly and, the place being dark, struck a match. evidently the marble did continue, as i could see by the glittering roof of a cavern, for such it was. but the floor attracted my attention as well as the roof, for on it were numerous cases not unlike coffins, bearing the stamp of a well-known birmingham firm, labelled "fencing iron" and addressed to messrs. marnham & rodd, transvaal, _via_ delagoa bay. i knew at once what they were, having seen the like before, but if any doubt remained in my mind it was easy to solve, for as it chanced one of the cases was open and half emptied. i slipped my hand into it. as i thought it contained the ordinary kaffir gun of commerce, cost delivered in africa, say s.; cost delivered to native chief in cash or cattle, say # , which, when the market is eager, allows for a decent profit. contemplating those cases, survivors probably of a much larger stock, i understood how it came about that sekukuni had dared to show fight against the government. doubtless it was hence that the guns had come which sent a bullet through anscombe's foot and nearly polished off both of us. moreover, as further matches showed me, that cave contained other stores--item, kegs of gunpowder; item, casks of cheap spirit; item, bars of lead, also a box marked "bullet moulds" and another marked "percussion caps." i think, too, there were some innocent bags full of beads and a few packages of birmingham-made assegai blades. there may have been other things, but if so i did not wait to investigate them. gathering up the ends of my matches and, in case there should be any dust in the place that would show footmarks, flapping the stone floor behind me with my pocket handkerchief, i retired and continued my investigations of that wonderful marble deposit from the bottom of the quarry, to which, having re-arranged the bushes, i descended by another route, leaping like a buck from stone to stone. it was just as well that i did so, for a few minutes later dr. rodd appeared. "made a good job of your operation?" i asked cheerfully. "pretty fair, thanks," he answered, "although that kaffir tried to brain the nurse-man when he was coming out of the anesthetic. but are you interested in geology?" "a little," i replied, "that is if there is any chance of making money out of it, which there ought to be here, as this marble looks almost as good as that of carrara. but flint instruments are more my line, that is in an ignorant and amateur way, as i think they are in yours, for i saw some in your room. tell me, what do you think of this. is it a scraper?" and i produced a stone out of my pocket which i had found a week before in the bush-veld. at once he forgot his suspicions, of which i could see he arrived very full indeed. this curious man, as it happened, was really fond of flint instruments, of which he knew a great deal. "did you find this here?" he asked. i led him several yards further from the mouth of the cave and pointed out the exact spot where i said i had picked it up amongst some quarry debris. then followed a most learned discussion, for it appeared that this was a flint instrument of the rarest and most valuable type, one that noah might have used, or job might have scraped himself with, and the question was how the dickens had it come among that quarry debris. in the end we left the problem undecided, and having presented the article to dr. rodd, a gift for which he thanked me with real warmth, i returned to the house filled with the glow that rewards one who has made a valuable discovery. of the following three days i have nothing particular to say, except that during them i was perhaps more acutely bored than ever i had been in my life before. the house was beautiful in its own fashion; the food was excellent; there was everything i could want to drink, and rodd announced that he no longer feared the necessity of operation upon anscombe's leg. his recovery was now a mere matter of time, and meanwhile he must not use his foot or let the blood run into it more than could be helped, which meant that he must keep himself in a recumbent position. the trouble was that i had nothing on earth do except study the characters of our hosts, which i found disagreeable and depressing. i might have gone out shooting, but nothing of the sort was allowed upon the property in obedience to the wish of miss heda, a mysterious young person who was always expected and never appeared, and beyond it i was afraid to travel for fear of basutos. i might have gone to pilgrim's rest or lydenburg to make report of the nefarious deeds of the said basutos, but at best it would have taken one or two days, and possibly i should have been detained by officials who never consider any one's time except their own. this meant that i should have been obliged to leave anscombe alone, which i did not wish to do, so i just sat still and, as i have said, was intensely bored, hanging about the place and smoking more than was good for me. in due course anscombe emerged on to the stoep, where he lay with his leg up, and was also bored, especially after he had tried to pump old marnham about his past in the guards and completely failed. it was in this mood of utter dejection that we agreed to play a game of cards one evening. not that either of us cared for cards; indeed, personally, i have always detested them because, with various-coloured counters to represent money which never passed, they had formed one of the afflictions of my youth. it was so annoying if you won, to be handed a number of green counters and be informed that they represented so many hundreds or thousands of pounds, or vice-versa if you lost, for as it cost no one anything, my dear father insisted upon playing for enormous stakes. never in any aspect of life have i cared for fooling. anscombe also disliked cards, i think because his ancestors too had played with counters, such as some that i have seen belonging to the cocoa-tree club and other gambling places of a past generation, marked as high as a thousand guineas, which counters must next morning be redeemed in hard cash, whereby his family had been not a little impoverished. "i fancy you will find they are high-fliers," he said when the pair had left to fetch a suitable table, for the night being very hot we were going to play on the stoep by the light of the hanging paraffin lamp and some candles. i replied to the effect that i could not afford to lose large sums of money, especially to men who for aught i knew might then be engaged in marking the cards. "i understand," he answered. "don't you bother about that, old fellow. this is my affair, arranged for my special amusement. i shan't grumble if the fun costs something, for i am sure there will be fun." "all right," i said, "only if we should happen to win money, it's yours, not mine." to myself i reflected, however, that with these two opponents we had about as much chance of winning as a snowflake has of resisting the atmosphere of the lower regions. presently they returned with the table, which had a green cloth over it that hung down half-way to the ground. also one of the native boys brought a tray with spirits, from which i judged by various signs, old marnham, who had already drunk his share at dinner, had helped himself freely on the way. soon we were arranged, anscombe, who was to be my partner, opposite to me in his long chair, and the game began. i forget what particular variant of cards it was we played, though i know it admitted of high and progressive stakes. at first, however, these were quite moderate and we won, as i suppose we were meant to do. after half an hour or so marnham rose to help himself to brandy and water, a great deal of brandy and very little water, while i took a nip of hollands, and anscombe and rodd filled their pipes. "i think this is getting rather slow," said rodd to anscombe. "i vote we put a bit more on." "as much as you like," answered anscombe with a little drawl and twinkle of the eye, which always showed that he was amused. "both quatermain and i are born gamblers. don't look angry, quatermain, you know you are. only if we lose you will have to take a cheque, for i have precious little cash." "i think that will be good enough," replied the doctor quietly--"if you lose." so the stakes were increased to an amount that made my hair stand up stiffer even than usual, and the game went on. behold! a marvel came to pass. how it happened i do not know, unless marnham had brought the wrong cards by mistake or had grown too fuddled to understand his partner's telegraphic signals, which i, being accustomed to observe, saw him make, not once but often, still we won! what is more, with a few set-backs, we went on winning, till presently the sums written down to our credit, for no actual cash passed, were considerable. and all the while, at the end of each bout marnham helped himself to more brandy, while the doctor grew more mad in a suppressed-thunder kind of a way. for my part i became alarmed, especially as i perceived that anscombe was on the verge of breaking into open merriment, and his legs being up i could not kick him under the table. "my partner ought to go to bed. don't you think we should stop?" i said. "on the whole i do," replied rodd, glowering at marnham, who, somewhat unsteadily, was engaged in wiping drops of brandy from his long beard. "d----d if i do," exclaimed that worthy. "when i was young and played with gentlemen they always gave losers an opportunity of revenge." "then," replied anscombe with a flash of his eyes, "let us try to follow in the footsteps of the gentlemen with whom you played in your youth. i suggest that we double the stakes." "that's right! that's the old form!" said marnham. the doctor half rose from his chair, then sat down again. watching him, i concluded that he believed his partner, a seasoned vessel, was not so drunk as he pretended to be, and either in an actual or a figurative sense, had a card up his sleeve. if so, it remained there, for again we won; all the luck was with us. "i am getting tired," drawled anscombe. "lemon and water are not sustaining. shall we stop?" "by heaven! no," shouted marnham, to which anscombe replied that if it was wished, he would play another hand, but no more. "all right," said marnham, "but let it be for double or quits." he spoke quite quietly and seemed suddenly to have grown sober. now i think that rodd made up his mind that he really was acting and that he really had that card up his sleeve. at any rate he did not object. i, however, was of a different opinion, having often seen drunken men succumb to an access of sobriety under the stress of excitement and remarked that it did not last long. "do you really mean that?" i said, speaking for the first time and addressing myself to the doctor. "i don't quite know what the sum involved is, but it must be large." "of course," he answered. then remembering that at the worst anscombe stood to lose nothing, i shrugged my shoulders and held my tongue. it was marnham's deal, and although he was somewhat in the shadow of the hanging lamp and the candles had guttered out, i distinctly saw him play some hocus-pocus with the cards, but in the circumstances made no protest. as it chanced he must have hocus-pocused them wrong, for though _his_ hand was full of trumps, rodd held nothing at all. the battle that ensued was quite exciting, but the end of it was that an ace in the hand of anscombe, who really was quite a good player, did the business, and we won again. in the rather awful silence that followed anscombe remarked in his cheerful drawl-- "i'm not sure that my addition is quite right; we'll check that in the morning, but i make out that you two gentlemen owe quatermain and myself # s." then the doctor broke out. "you accursed old fool," he hissed--there is no other word for it--at marnham. "how are you going to pay all this money that you have gambled away, drunken beast that you are!" "easily enough, you felon," shouted marnham. "so," and thrusting his hand into his pocket he pulled out a number of diamonds which he threw upon the table, adding, "there's what will cover it twice over, and there are more where they came from, as you know well enough, my medical jailbird." "you dare to call me that," gasped the doctor in a voice laden with fury, so intense that it had deprived him of his reason, "you--you--murderer! oh! why don't i kill you as i shall some day?" and lifting his glass, which was half full, he threw the contents into marnham's face. "that's a nice man for a prospective, son-in-law, isn't he?" exclaimed the old scamp, as, seizing the brandy decanter, he hurled it straight at rodd's head, only missing him by an inch. "don't you think you had both better go to bed, gentlemen?" i inquired. "you are saying things you might regret in the morning." apparently they did think it, for without another word they rose and marched off in different directions to their respective rooms, which i heard both of them lock. for my part i collected the i.o.u.'s; also the diamonds which still lay upon the table, while anscombe examined the cards. "marked, by jove!" he said. "oh! my dear quatermain, never have i had such an amusing evening in all my life." "shut up, you silly idiot," i answered. "there'll be murder done over this business, and i only hope it won't be on us." chapter vi miss heda it might be thought that after all this there would have been a painful explanation on the following morning, but nothing of the sort happened. after all the greatest art is the art of ignoring things, without which the world could scarcely go on, even among the savage races. thus on this occasion the two chief actors in the scene of the previous night pretended that they had forgotten what took place, as i believe, to a large extent truly. the fierce flame of drink in the one and of passion in the other had burnt the web of remembrance to ashes. they knew that something unpleasant had occurred and its main outlines; the rest had vanished away; perhaps because they knew also that they were not responsible for what they said and did, and therefore that what occurred had no right to a permanent niche in their memories. it was, as it were, something outside of their normal selves. at least so i conjectured, and their conduct seemed to give colour to my guess. the doctor spoke to me of the matter first. "i fear there was a row last night," he said; "it has happened here before over cards, and will no doubt happen again until matters clear themselves up somehow. marnham, as you see, drinks, and when drunk is the biggest liar in the world, and i, i am sorry to say, am cursed with a violent temper. don't judge either of us too harshly. if you were a doctor you would know that all these things come to us with our blood, and we didn't fashion our own clay, did we? have some coffee, won't you?" subsequently when rodd wasn't there, marnham spoke also and with that fine air of courtesy which was peculiar to him. "i owe a deep apology," he said, "to yourself and mr. anscombe. i do not recall much about it, but i know there was a scene last night over those cursed cards. a weakness overtakes me sometimes. i will say no more, except that you, who are also a man who perhaps have felt weaknesses of one sort or another, will, i hope, make allowances for me and pay no attention to anything that i may have said or done in the presence of guests; yes, that is what pains me--in the presence of guests." something in his distinguished manner caused me to reflect upon every peccadillo that i had ever committed, setting it in its very worst light. "quite so," i answered, "quite so. pray do not mention the matter any more, although--" these words seemed to jerk themselves out of my throat, "you did call each other by such very hard names." "i daresay," he answered with a vacant smile, "but if so they meant nothing." "no, i understand, just like a lovers' quarrel. but look here, you left some diamonds on the table which i took to keep the kaffirs out of temptation. i will fetch them." "did i? well, probably i left some i.o.u.'s also which might serve for pipelights. so suppose we set the one against the other. i don't know the value of either the diamonds or the pipelights, it may be less or more, but for god's sake don't let me see the beastly things again. there's no need, i have plenty." "i must speak to anscombe," i answered. "the money at stake was his, not mine." "speak to whom you will," he replied, and i noted that the throbbing vein upon his forehead indicated a rising temper. "but never let me see those diamonds again. throw them into the gutter if you wish, but never let me see them again, or there will be trouble." then he flung out of the room, leaving his breakfast almost untasted. reflecting that this queer old bird probably did not wish to be cross-questioned as to his possession of so many uncut diamonds, or that they were worth much less than the sum he had lost, or possibly that they were not diamonds at all but glass, i went to report the matter to anscombe. he only laughed and said that as i had got the things i had better keep them until something happened, for we had both got it into our heads that something would happen before we had done with that establishment. so i went to put the stones away as safely as i could. while i was doing so i heard the rumble of wheels, and came out just in time to see a cape cart, drawn by four very good horses and driven by a hottentot in a smart hat and a red waistband, pull up at the garden gate. out of this cart presently emerged a neatly dressed lady, of whom all i could see was that she was young, slender and rather tall; also, as her back was towards me, that she had a great deal of auburn hair. "there!" said anscombe. "i knew that something would happen. heda has happened. quatermain, as neither her venerated parent nor her loving fiance, for such i gather he is, seems to be about, you had better go and give her a hand." i obeyed with a groan, heartily wishing that heda hadn't happened, since some sense warned me that she would only add to the present complications. at the gate, having given some instructions to a very stout young coloured woman who, i took it, was her maid, about a basket of flower roots in the cart, she turned round suddenly and we came face to face with the gate between us. for a moment we stared at each other, i reflecting that she really was very pretty with her delicately-shaped features, her fresh, healthy-looking complexion, her long dark eyelashes and her lithe and charming figure. what she reflected about me i don't know, probably nothing half so complimentary. suddenly, however, her large greyish eyes grew troubled and a look of alarm appeared upon her face. "is anything wrong with my father?" she asked. "i don't see him." "if you mean mr. marnham," i replied, lifting my hat, "i believe that dr. rodd and he--" "never mind about dr. rodd," she broke in with a contemptuous little jerk of her chin, "how is my father?" "i imagine much as usual. he and dr. rodd were here a little while ago, i suppose that they have gone out" (as a matter of fact they had, but in different directions). "then that's all right," she said with a sigh of relief. "you see, i heard that he was very ill, which is why i have come back." so, thought i to myself, she loves that old scamp and she--doesn't love the doctor. there will be more trouble as sure as five and two are seven. all we wanted was a woman to make the pot boil over. then i opened the gate and took a travelling bag from her hand with my politest bow. "my name is quatermain and that of my friend anscombe. we are staying here, you know," i said rather awkwardly. "indeed," she answered with a delightful smile, "what a very strange place to choose to stay in." "it is a beautiful house," i remarked. "not bad, although i designed it, more or less. but i was alluding to its inhabitants." this finished me, and i am sure she felt that i could think of nothing nice to say about those inhabitants, for i heard her sigh. we walked side by side up the rose-fringed path and presently arrived at the stoep, where anscombe, whose hair i had cut very nicely on the previous day, was watching us from his long chair. they looked at each other, and i saw both of them colour a little, out of mere foolishness, i suppose. "anscombe," i said, "this is--" and i paused, not being quite certain whether she also was called marnham. "heda marnham," she interrupted. "yes--miss heda marnham, and this is the honourable maurice anscombe." "forgive me for not rising, miss marnham," said anscombe in his pleasant voice (by the way hers was pleasant too, full and rather low, with just a suggestion of something foreign about it). "a shot through the foot prevents me at present." "who shot you?" she asked quickly. "oh! only a kaffir." "i am so sorry, i hope you will get well soon. forgive me now, i must go to look for my father." "she is uncommonly pretty," remarked anscombe, "and a lady into the bargain. in reflecting on old marnham's sins we must put it to his credit that he has produced a charming daughter." "too pretty and charming by half," i grunted. "perhaps dr. rodd is of the same way of thinking. great shame that such a girl should be handed over to a medical scoundrel like dr. rodd. i wonder if she cares for him?" "just about as much as a canary cares for a tom-cat. i have found that out already." "really, quatermain, you are admirable. i never knew anyone who could make a better use of the briefest opportunity." then we were silent, waiting, not without a certain impatience, for the return of miss heda. she did return with surprising quickness considering that she had found time to search for her parent, to change into a clean white dress, and to pin a single hibiscus flower on to her bodice which gave just the touch of colour that was necessary to complete her costume. "i can't find my father," she said, "but the boys say he has gone out riding. i can't find anybody. when you have been summoned from a long way off and travelled post-haste, rather to your own inconvenience, it is amusing, isn't it?" "wagons and carts in south africa don't arrive like express trains, miss marnham," said anscombe, "so you shouldn't be offended." "i am not at all offended, mr. anscombe. now that i know there is nothing the matter with my father i'm--but, tell me, how did you get your wound?" so he told her with much amusing detail after his fashion. she listened quietly with a puckered up brow and only made one comment. it was,-- "i wonder what white man told those sekukuni kaffirs that you were coming." "i don't know," he answered, "but he deserves a bullet through him somewhere above the ankle." "yes, though few people get what they deserve in this wicked world." "so i have often thought. had it been otherwise, for example, i should have been--" "what would you have been?" she asked, considering him curiously. "oh! a better shot than mr. allan quatermain, and as beautiful as a lady i once saw in my youth." "don't talk rubbish before luncheon," i remarked sternly, and we all laughed, the first wholesome laughter that i had heard at the temple. for this young lady seemed to bring happiness and merriment with her. i remember wondering what it was of which her coming reminded me, and concluding that it was like the sight and smell of a peach orchard in full bloom stumbled on suddenly in the black desert of the burnt winter veld. after this we became quite friendly. she dilated on her skill in having produced the temple from an old engraving, which she fetched and showed to us, at no greater an expense than it would have cost to build an ordinary house. "that is because the marble was at hand," said anscombe. "quite so," she replied demurely. "speaking in a general sense one can do many things in life--if the marble is at hand. only most of us when we look for marble find sandstone or mud." "bravo!" said anscombe, "i have generally lit upon the sandstone." "and i on the mud," she mused. "and i on all three, for the earth contains marble and mud and sandstone, to say nothing of gold and jewels," i broke in, being tired of silence. but neither of them paid much attention to me. anscombe did say, out of politeness, i suppose, that pitch and subterranean fires should be added, or some such nonsense. then she began to tell him of her infantile memories of hungary, which were extremely faint; of how they came this place and lived first of all in two large kaffir huts, until suddenly they began to grow rich; of her school days at maritzburg; of the friends with whom she had been staying, and i know not what, until at last i got up and went out for a walk. when i returned an hour or so later they were still talking, and so continued to do until dr. rodd arrived upon the scene. at first they did not see him, for he stood at an angle to them, but i saw him and watched his face with a great deal of interest. it, or rather its expression, was not pleasant; before now i have seen something like it on that of a wild beast which thinks that it is about to be robbed of its prey by a stronger wild beast, in short, a mixture of hate, fear and jealousy--especially jealousy. at the last i did not wonder, for these two seemed to be getting on uncommonly well. they were, so to speak, well matched. she, of course, was the better looking of the two, a really pretty and attractive young woman indeed, but the vivacity of anscombe's face, the twinkle of his merry blue eyes and its general refinement made up for what he lacked--regularity of feature. i think he had just told her one of his good stories which he always managed to make so humorous by a trick of pleasing and harmless exaggeration, and they were both laughing merrily. then she caught sight of the doctor and her merriment evaporated like a drop of water on a hot shovel. distinctly i saw her pull herself together and prepare for something. "how do you do?" she said rapidly, rising and holding out her slim sun-browned hand. "but i need not ask, you look so well." "how do you do, my dear," with a heavy emphasis on the "dear" he answered slowly. "but i needn't ask, for i see that you are in perfect health and spirits," and he bent forward as though to kiss her. somehow or other she avoided that endearment or seal of possession. i don't quite know how, as i turned my head away, not wishing to witness what i felt to be unpleasant. when i looked up again, however, i saw that she had avoided it, the scowl on his face the demureness of hers and anscombe's evident amusement assured me of this. she was asking about her father; he answered that he also seemed quite well. "then why did you write to tell me that i ought to come as he was not at all well?" she inquired, with a lifting of her delicate eyebrows. the question was never answered, for at that moment marnham himself appeared. "oh! father," she said, and rushed into his arms, while he kissed her tenderly on both cheeks. so i was not mistaken, thought i to myself, she does really love this moral wreck, and what is more, he loves her, which shows that there must be good in him. is anyone truly bad, i wondered, or for the matter of that, truly good either? is it not all a question of circumstance and blood? neither then or at any other time have i found an answer to the problem. at any rate to me there seemed something beautiful about the meeting of these two. the influence of miss heda in the house was felt at once. the boys became smarter and put on clean clothes. vases of flowers appeared in the various rooms; ours was turned out and cleaned, a disagreeable process so far as we were concerned. moreover, at dinner both marnham and rodd wore dress clothes with short jackets, a circumstance that put anscombe and myself to shame since we had none. it was curious to see how with those dress clothes, which doubtless awoke old associations within him, marnham changed his colour like a chameleon. really he might have been the colonel of a cavalry regiment rising to toast the queen after he had sent round the wine, so polite and polished was his talk. who could have identified the man with the dry old ruffian of twenty-four hours before, he who was drinking claret (and very good claret too) mixed with water and listening with a polite interest to all the details of his daughter's journey? even the doctor looked a gentleman, which doubtless he was once upon a time, in evening dress. moreover, some kind of truce had been arranged. he no longer called miss heda "my dear" or attempted any familiarities, while she on more than one occasion very distinctly called him dr. rodd. so much for that night and for several others that followed. as for the days they went by pleasantly and idly. heda walked about on her father's arm, conversed in friendly fashion with the doctor, always watching him, i noticed, as a cat watches a dog that she knows is waiting an opportunity to spring, and for the rest associated with us as much as she could. particularly did she seem to take refuge behind my own insignificance, having, i suppose, come to the conclusion that i was a harmless person who might possibly prove useful. but all the while i felt that the storm was banking up. indeed marnham himself, at any rate to a great extent, played the part of the cloud-compelling jove, for soon it became evident to me, and without doubt to dr. rodd also, that he was encouraging the intimacy between his daughter and anscombe by every means in his power. in one way and another he had fully informed himself as to anscombe's prospects in life, which were brilliant enough. moreover he liked the man who, as the remnant of the better perceptions of his youth told him, was one of the best class of englishmen, and what is more, he saw that heda liked him also, as much indeed as she disliked rodd. he even spoke to me of the matter in a round-about kind of fashion, saying that the young woman who married anscombe would be lucky and that the father who had him for a son-in-law might go to his grave confident of his child's happiness. i answered that i agreed with him, unless the lady's affections had already caused her to form other ties. "affections!" he exclaimed, dropping all pretence, "there are none involved in this accursed business, as you are quite sharp enough to have seen for yourself." "i understood that an engagement was involved," i remarked. "on my part, perhaps, not on hers," he answered. "oh! can't you understand, quatermain, that sometimes men find themselves forced into strange situations against their will?" remembering the very ugly name that i had heard rodd call marnham on the night of the card party, i reflected that i could understand well enough, but i only said-- "after all marriage is a matter that concerns a woman even more than it does her father, one, in short, of which she must be the judge." "quite so, quatermain, but there are some daughters who are prepared to make great sacrifices for their fathers. well, she will be of age ere long, if only i can stave it off till then. but how, how?" and with a groan he turned and left me. that old gentleman's neck is in some kind of a noose, thought i to myself, and his difficulty is to prevent the rope from being drawn tight. meanwhile this poor girl's happiness and future are at stake. "allan," said anscombe to me a little later, for by now he called me by my christian name, "i suppose you haven't heard anything about those oxen, have you?" "no, i could scarcely expect to yet, but why do you ask?" he smiled in his droll fashion and replied, "because, interesting as this household is in sundry ways, i think it is about time that we, or at any rate that i, got out of it." "your leg isn't fit to travel yet, anscombe, although rodd says that all the symptoms are very satisfactory." "yes, but to tell you the truth i am experiencing other symptoms quite unknown to that beloved physician and so unfamiliar to myself that i attribute them to the influences of the locality. altitude affects the heart, does it not, and this house stands high." "don't play off your jokes on me," i said sternly. "what do you mean?" "i wonder if you find miss heda attractive, allan, or if you are too old. i believe there comes an age when the only beauties that can move a man are those of architecture, or scenery, or properly cooked food." "hang it all! i am not methusaleh," i replied; "but if you mean that you are falling in love with heda, why the deuce don't you say so, instead of wasting my time and your own?" "because time was given to us to waste. properly considered it is the best use to which it can be put, or at any rate the one that does least mischief. also because i wished to make you say it for me that i might judge from the effect of your words whether it is or is not true. i may add that i fear the former to be the case." "well, if you are in love with the girl you can't expect one so ancient as myself, who is quite out of touch with such follies, to teach you how to act." "no, allan. unfortunately there are occasions when one must rely upon one's own wisdom, and mine, what there is of it, tells me i had better get out of this. but i can't ride even if i took the horse and you ran behind, and the oxen haven't come." "perhaps you could borrow miss marnham's cart in which to run away from her," i suggested sarcastically. "perhaps, though i believe it would be fatal to my foot to sit up in a cart for the next few days, and the horses seem to have been sent off somewhere. look here, old fellow," he went on, dropping his bantering tone, "it's rather awkward to make a fool of oneself over a lady who is engaged to some one else, especially if one suspects that with a little encouragement she might begin to walk the same road. the truth is i have taken the fever pretty bad, worse than ever i did before, and if it isn't stopped soon it will become chronic." "oh no, anscombe, only intermittent at the worst, and african malaria nearly always yields to a change of climate." "how can i expect a cynic and a misogynist to understand the simple fervour of an inexperienced soul--oh! drat it all, quatermain, stop your acid chaff and tell me what is to be done. really i am in a tight place." "very; so tight that i rejoice to think, as you were kind enough to point out, that my years protect me from anything of the sort. i have no advice to give; i think you had better ask it of the lady." "well, we did have a little conversation, hypothetical of course, about some friends of ours who found themselves similarly situated, and i regret to say without result." "indeed. i did not know you had any mutual acquaintances. what did she say and do?" "she said nothing, only sighed and looked as though she were going to burst into tears, and all she did was to walk away. i'd have followed her if i could, but as my crutch wasn't there it was impossible. it seemed to me that suddenly i had come up against a brick wall, that there was something on her mind which she could not or would not let out." "yes, and if you want to know, i will tell you what it is. rodd has got a hold over marnham of a sort that would bring him somewhere near the gallows. as the price of his silence marnham has promised him his daughter. the daughter knows that her father is in this man's power, though i think she does not know in what way, and being a good girl--" "an angel you mean--do call her by her right name, especially in a place where angels are so much wanted." "well, an angel if you like--she has promised on her part to marry a man she loathes in order to save her parent's bacon." "just what i concluded, from what we heard in the row. i wonder which of that pair is the bigger blackguard. well, allan, that settles it. you and i are on the side of the angel. you will have to get her out of this scrape and--if she'll have me, i'll marry her; and if she won't, why it can't be helped. now that's a fair division of labour. how are you going to do it? i haven't an idea, and if i had, i should not presume to interfere with one so much older and wiser than myself." "i suppose that by the time you appeared in it, the game of heads i win and tails you lose had died out of the world," i replied with an indignant snort. "i think the best thing i can do will be to take the horse and look for those oxen. meanwhile you can settle your business by the light of your native genius, and i only hope you'll finish it without murder and sudden death." "i say, old fellow," said anscombe earnestly, "you don't really mean to go off and leave me in this hideousness? i haven't bothered much up to the present because i was sure that you would find a way out, which would be nothing to a man of your intellect and experience. i mean it honestly, i do indeed." "do you? well, i can only say that my mind is a perfect blank, but if you will stop talking i will try to think the matter over. there's miss heda in the garden cutting flowers. i will go to help her, which will be a very pleasant change." and i went, leaving him to stare after me jealously. chapter vii the stoep when i reached miss heda she was collecting half-opened monthly roses from the hedge, and not quite knowing what to say i made the appropriate quotation. at least it was appropriate to my thought, and, from her answer, to hers also. "yes," she said, "i am gathering them while i may," and she sighed and, as i thought, glanced towards the verandah, though of this i could not be sure because of the wide brim of the hat she was wearing. then we talked a little on indifferent matters, while i pricked my fingers helping to pluck the roses. she asked me if i thought that anscombe was getting on well, and how long it would be before he could travel. i replied that dr. rodd could tell her better than myself, but that i hoped in about a week. "in a week!" she said, and although she tried to speak lightly there was dismay in her voice. "i hope you don't think it too long," i answered; "but even if he is fit to go, the oxen have not come yet, and i don't quite know when they will." "too long!" she exclaimed. "too long! oh! if you only knew what it is to me to have such guests as you are in this place," and her dark eyes filled with tears. by now we had passed to the side of the house in search of some other flower that grew in the shade, i think it was mignonette, and were out of sight of the verandah and quite alone. "mr. quatermain," she said hurriedly, "i am wondering whether to ask your advice about something, if you would give it. i have no one to consult here," she added rather piteously. "that is for you to decide. if you wish to do so i am old enough to be your father, and will do my best to help." we walked on to an orange grove that stood about forty yards away, ostensibly to pick some fruit, but really because we knew that there we should be out of hearing and could see any one who approached. "mr. quatermain," she said presently in a low voice, "i am in great trouble, almost the greatest a woman can have. i am engaged to be married to a man whom i do not care for." "then why not break it off? it may be unpleasant, but it is generally best to face unpleasant things, and nothing can be so bad as marrying a man whom you do not--care for." "because i cannot--i dare not. i have to obey." "how old are you, miss marnham?" "i shall be of age in three months' time. you may guess that i did not intend to return here until they were over, but i was, well--trapped. he wrote to me that my father was ill and i came." "at any rate when they are over you will not have to obey any one. it is not long to wait." "it is an eternity. besides this is not so much a question of obedience as of duty and of love. i love my father who, whatever his faults, has always been very kind to me." "and i am sure he loves you. why not go to him and tell him your trouble?" "he knows it already, mr. quatermain, and hates this marriage even more than i do, if that is possible. but he is driven to it, as i am. oh! i must tell the truth. the doctor has some hold over him. my father has done something dreadful; i don't know what and i don't want to know, but if it came out it would ruin my father, or worse, worse. i am the price of his silence. on the day of our marriage he will destroy the proofs. if i refuse to marry him, they will be produced and then--" "it is difficult," i said. "it is more than difficult, it is terrible. if you could see all there is in my heart, you would know how terrible." "i think i can see, miss heda. don't say any more now. give me time to consider. in case of necessity come to me again, and be sure that i will protect you." "but you are going in a week." "many things happen in a week. sufficient to the day is its evil. at the end of the week we will come to some decision unless everything is already decided." for the next twenty-four hours i reflected on this pretty problem as hard as ever i did on anything in all my life. here was a young woman who must somehow be protected from a scoundrel, but who could not be protected because she herself had to protect another scoundrel--to wit, her own father. could the thing be faced out? impossible, for i was sure that marnham had committed a murder, or murders, of which rodd possessed evidence that would hang him. could heda be married to anscombe at once? yes, if both were willing, but then marnham would still be hung. could they elope? possibly, but with the same result. could i take her away and put her under the protection of the court at pretoria? yes, but with the same result. i wondered what my hottentot retainer, hans, would have advised, he who was named light-in-darkness, and in his own savage way was the cleverest and most cunning man that i have met. alas! i could not raise him from the grave to tell me, and yet i knew well what he would have answered. "baas," he would have said, "this is a rope which only the pale old man (i.e., death) can cut. let this doctor die or let the father die, and the maiden will be free. surely heaven is longing for one or both of them, and if necessary, baas, i believe that i can point out a path to heaven!" i laughed to myself at the thought, which was one that a white man could not entertain even as a thought. and i felt that the hypothetical hans was right, death alone could cut this knot, and the reflection made me shiver. that night i slept uneasily and dreamed. i dreamed that once more i was in the black kloof in zululand, seated in front of the huts at the end of the kloof. before me squatted the old wizard, zikali, wrapped up in his kaross--zikali, the "thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," whom i had not seen for years. near him were the ashes of a fire, by the help of which i knew he had been practising divination. he looked up and laughed one of his terrible laughs. "so you are here again, macumazahn," he said, "grown older, but still the same; here at the appointed hour. what do you come to seek from the opener of roads? not mameena as i think this time. no, no, it is she who seeks you this time, macumazahn. she found you once, did she not? far away to the north among a strange people who worshipped an ivory child, a people of whom i knew in my youth, and afterwards, for was not their prophet, harut, a friend of mine and one of our brotherhood? she found you beneath the tusks of the elephant, jana, whom macumazahn the skilful could not hit. oh! do not look astonished." "how do you know?" i asked in my dream. "very simply, macumazahn. a little yellow man named hans has been with me and told me all the story not an hour ago, after which i sent for mameena to learn if it were true. she will be glad to meet you, macumazahn, she who has a hungry heart that does not forget. oh! don't be afraid. i mean here beneath the sun, in the land beyond there will be no need for her to meet you since she will dwell ever at your side." "why do you lie to me, zikali?" i seemed to ask. "how can a dead man speak to you and how can i meet a woman who is dead?" "seek the answer to that question in the hour of the battle when the white men, your brothers, fall beneath assegai as weeds fall before the hoe--or perhaps before it. but have done with mameena, since she who never grows more old can well afford to wait. it is not of mameena that you came to speak to me; it is of a fair white woman named heddana you would speak, and of the man she loves, you, who will ever be mixing yourself up in affairs of others, and therefore must bear their burdens with no pay save that of honour. hearken, for the time is short. when the storm bursts upon them bring hither the fair maiden, heddana, and the white lord, mauriti, and i will shelter them for your sake. take them nowhere else. bring them hither if they would escape trouble. i shall be glad to see you, macumazahn, for at last i am about to smite the zulu house of senzangacona, my foes, with a bladder full of blood, and oh! it stains their doorposts red." then i woke up, feeling afraid, as one does after a nightmare, and was comforted to hear anscombe sleeping quietly on the other side of the room. "mauriti. why did zikali call him mauriti?" i wondered drowsily to myself. "oh! of course his name is maurice, and it was a zulu corruption of a common sort as was heddana of heda." then i dozed off again, and by the morning had forgotten all about my dream until it was brought back to me by subsequent events. still it was this and nothing else that put it into my head to fly to zululand on an emergency that was to arise ere long.* [*--for the history of zikali and mameena see the book called _child of storm_ by h. rider haggard.] that evening rodd was absent from dinner, and on inquiring where he might be, i was informed that he had ridden to visit a kaffir headman, a patient of his who lived at a distance, and would very probably sleep at the kraal, returning early next day. one of the topics of conversation during dinner was as to where the exact boundary line used to run between the transvaal and the country over which the basuto chief, sekukuni, claimed ownership and jurisdiction. marnham said that it passed within a couple of miles of his house, and when we rose, the moon being very bright, offered to show me where the beacons had been placed years before by a boer commission. i accepted, as the night was lovely for a stroll after the hot day. also i was half conscious of another undefined purpose in my mind, which perhaps may have spread to that of marnham. those two young people looked very happy together there on the stoep, and as they must part so soon it would, i thought, be kind to give them the opportunity of a quiet chat. so off we went to the brow of the hill on which the temple stood, whence old marnham pointed out to me a beacon, which i could not see in the dim, silvery bush-veld below, and how the line ran from it to another beacon somewhere else. "you know the yellow-wood swamp," he said. "it passes straight through that. that is why those basutos who were following you pulled up upon the edge of the swamp, though as a matter of fact, according to their ideas, they had a perfect right to kill you on their side of the line which cuts through the middle." i made some remark to the effect that i presumed that the line had in fact ceased to exist at all, as the basuto territory had practically become british; after which we strolled back to the house. walking quietly between the tall rose hedges and without speaking, for each of us was preoccupied with his own thoughts, suddenly we came upon a very pretty scene. we had left anscombe and heda seated side by side on the stoep. they were still there, but much closer together. in fact his arms were round her, and they were kissing each other in a remarkably whole-hearted way. about this there could be no mistake, since the rimpi-strung couch on which they sat was immediately under the hanging lamp--a somewhat unfortunate situation for such endearments. but what did they think of hanging lamps or any other lights, save those of their own eyes, they who were content to kiss and murmur words of passion as though they were as much alone as adam and eve in eden? what did they think either of the serpent coiled about the bole of this tree of knowledge whereof they had just plucked the ripe and maddening fruit? by a mutual instinct marnham and i withdrew ourselves, very gently indeed, purposing to skirt round the house and enter it from behind, or to be seized with a fit of coughing at the gate, or to do something to announce our presence at a convenient distance. when we had gone a little way we heard a crash in the bushes. "another of those cursed baboons robbing the garden," remarked marnham reflectively. "i think he is going to rob the house also," i replied, turning to point to something dark that seemed to be leaping up on to the verandah. next moment we heard heda utter a little cry of alarm, and a man say in a low fierce voice-- "so i have caught you at last, have i!" "the doctor has returned from his business rounds sooner than was expected, and i think that we had better join the party," i remarked, and made a bee line for the stoep, marnham following me. i think that i arrived just in time to prevent mischief. there, with a revolver in his hand, stood rodd, tall and formidable, his dark face looking like that of satan himself, a very monument of rage and jealousy. there in front of him on the couch sat heda, grasping its edge with her fingers, her cheeks as pale as a sheet and her eyes shining. by her side was anscombe, cool and collected as usual, i noticed, but evidently perplexed. "if there is any shooting to be done," he was saying, "i think you had better begin with me." his calmness seemed to exasperate rodd, who lifted the revolver. but i too was prepared, for in that house i always went armed. there was no time to get at the man, who was perhaps fifteen feet away, and i did not want to hurt him. so i did the best i could; that is, i fired at the pistol in his hand, and the light being good, struck it near the hilt and knocked it off the barrel before the he could press the trigger, if he really meant to shoot. "that's a good shot," remarked anscombe who had seen me, while rodd stared at the hilt which he still held. "a lucky one," i answered, walking forward. "and now, dr. rodd, will you be so good as to tell me what you mean by flourishing a revolver, presumably loaded, in the faces of a lady and an unarmed man?" "what the devil is that to you," he asked furiously, "and what do you mean by firing at me?" "a great deal," i answered, "seeing that a young woman and my friend are concerned. as for firing at you, had i done so you would not be asking questions now. i fired at the pistol in your hand, but if there is more trouble next time it shall be at the holder," and i glanced at my revolver. seeing that i meant business he made no reply, but turned upon marnham who had followed me. "this is your work, you old villain," he said in a low voice that was heavy with hate. "you promised your daughter to me. she is engaged to me, and now i find her in this wanderer's arms." "what have i to do with it?" said marnham. "perhaps she has changed her mind. you had better ask her." "there is no need to ask me," interrupted heda, who now seemed to have got her nerve again. "i _have_ changed my mind. i never loved you, dr. rodd, and i will not marry you. i love mr. anscombe here, and as he has asked me to be his wife i mean to marry him." "i see," he sneered, "you want to be a peeress one day, no doubt. well, you never shall if i can help it. perhaps, too, this fine gentleman of yours will not be so particularly anxious to marry you when he learns that you are the daughter of a murderer." that word was like a bombshell bursting among us. we looked at each other as people, yet dazed with the shock, might on a battlefield when the noise of the explosion has died and the smoke cleared away, to see who is still alive. anscombe spoke the first. "i don't know what you mean or to what you refer," he said quietly. "but at any rate this lady who has promised to marry me is innocent, and therefore if all her ancestors had been murderers it would not in the slightest turn me from my purpose of marrying her." she looked at him, and all the gratitude in the world shone in her frightened eyes. marnham stepped, or rather staggered forward, the blue vein throbbing on forehead. "he lies," he said hoarsely, tugging at his long beard. "listen now and i will tell you the truth. once, more than a year ago, i was drunk and in a rage. in this state i fired at a kaffir to frighten him, and by some devil's chance shot him dead. that's what he calls being a murderer." "i have another tale," said rodd, "with which i will not trouble this company just now. look here, heda, either you fulfil your promise and marry me, or your father swings." she gasped and sank together on the seat as though she had been shot. then i took up my parable. "are you the man," i asked, "to accuse others of crime? let us see. you have spent several months in an english prison (i gave the name) for a crime i won't mention." "how do you know--" he began. "never mind, i do know and the prison books will show it. further, your business is that of selling guns and ammunition to the basutos of sekukuni's tribe, who, although the expedition against them has been temporarily recalled, are still the queen's enemies. don't deny it, for i have the proofs. further, it was you who advised sekukuni to kill us when we went down to his country to shoot the other day, because you were afraid that we should discover whence he got his guns." (this was a bow drawn at a venture, but the arrow went home, for i saw his jaw drop.) "further, i believe you to be an illicit diamond buyer, and i believe also that you have again been arranging with the basutos to make an end of us, though of these last two items at present i lack positive proof. now, dr. rodd, i ask you for the second time whether you are a person to accuse others of crimes and whether, should you do so, you will be considered a credible witness when your own are brought to light?" "if i had been guilty of any of these things, which i am not, it is obvious that my partner must have shared in all of them, except the first. so if you inform against me, you inform against him, and the father of heda, whom your friend wishes to marry, will, according to your showing, be proved a gun-runner, a thief and a would-be murderer of his guests. i should advise you to leave that business alone, mr. quatermain." the reply was bold and clever, so much so that i regarded this blackguard with a certain amount of admiration, as i answered-- "i shall take your advice if you take mine to leave another business alone, that of this young lady and her father, but not otherwise." "then spare your breath and do your worst; only careful, sharp as you think yourself, that your meddling does not recoil on your own head. listen, heda, either you make up your mind to marry me at once and arrange that this young gentleman, who as a doctor i assure you is now quite fit to travel without injury to his health, leaves this house to-morrow with the spy quatermain--you might lend him the cape cart to go in--or i start with the proofs to lay a charge of murder against your father. i give you till to-morrow morning to have a family council to think it over. good-night." "good-night," i answered as he passed me, "and please be careful that none of us see your face again before to-morrow morning. as you may happen to have heard, my native name means watcher-by-night," and i looked at the revolver in my hand. when he had vanished i remarked in as cheerful voice as i could command, that i thought it was bedtime, and as nobody stirred, added, "don't be afraid, young lady. if you feel lonely, you must tell that stout maid of yours to sleep in your room. also, as the night is so hot i shall take my nap on the stoep, there, just opposite your window. no, don't let us talk any more now. there will be plenty of time for that to-morrow." she rose, looked at anscombe, looked at me, looked at her father very pitifully; then with a little exclamation of despair passed into her room by the french window, where presently i heard her call the native maid and tell her that she was to sleep with her. marnham watched her depart. then he too went with his head bowed and staggering a little in his walk. next anscombe rose and limped off into his room, i following him. "well, young man," i said, "you have put us all in the soup now and no mistake." "yes, allan, i am afraid i have. but on the whole don't you think it rather interesting soup--so many unexpected ingredients, you see!" "interesting soup! unexpected ingredients!" i repeated after him, adding, "why not call it hell's broth at once?" then he became serious, dreadfully serious. "look here," he said, "i love heda, and whatever her family history may be i mean to marry her and face the row at home." "you could scarcely do less in all the circumstances, and as for rows, that young lady would soon fit herself into any place that you can give her. but the question is, how can you marry her?" "oh! something will happen," he replied optimistically. "you are quite right there. something will certainly happen, but the point is--what? something was very near happening when i turned up on that stoep, so near that i think it was lucky for you, or for miss heda, or both, that i have learned how to handle a pistol. now let me see your foot, and don't speak another word to me about all this business to-night. i'd rather tackle it when i am clear-headed in the morning." well, i examined his instep and leg very carefully and found that rodd was right. although it still hurt him to walk, the wound was quite healed and all inflammation had gone from the limb. now it was only a question of time for the sinews to right themselves. while i was thus engaged he held forth on the virtues and charms of heda, i making no comment. "lie down and get to sleep, if you can," i said when i had finished. "the door is locked and i am going on to the stoep, so you needn't be afraid of the windows. good-night." i went out and sat myself down in such a position that by the light of the hanging lamp, which still burned, i could make sure that no one could approach either heda's or my room without my seeing him. for the rest, all my life i have been accustomed to night vigils, and the loaded revolver hung from my wrist by a loop of hide. moreover, never had i felt less sleepy. there i sat hour after hour, thinking. the substance of my thoughts does not matter, since the events that followed make them superfluous to the story. i will merely record, therefore, that towards dawn a great horror took hold of me. i did not know of what i was afraid, but i was much afraid of something. nothing was passing in either heda's or our room, of that i made sure by personal examination. therefore it would seem that my terrors were unnecessary, and yet they grew and grew. i felt sure that something was happening somewhere, a dread occurrence which it was beyond my power to prevent, though whether it were in this house or at the other end of africa i did not know. the mental depression increased and culminated. then of a sudden it passed completely away, and as i mopped the sweat from off my brow i noticed that dawn was breaking. it was a tender and beautiful dawn, and in a dim way i took it as a good omen. of course it was nothing but the daily resurrection of the sun, and yet it brought to me comfort and hope. the night was past with all its fears; the light had come with all its joys. from that moment i was certain that we should triumph over these difficulties and that the end of them would be peace. so sure was i that i ventured to take a nap, knowing that the slightest movement or sound would wake me. i suppose i slept until six o'clock, when i was aroused by a footfall. i sprang up, and saw before me one of our native servants. he was trembling and his face was ashen beneath the black. moreover he could not speak. all he did was to put his head on one side, like a dead man, and keep on pointing downwards. then with his mouth open and starting eyes he beckoned to me to follow him. i followed. chapter viii rodd's last card the man led me to marnham's room, which i had never entered before. all i could see at first, for the shutters were closed, was that the place seemed large, as bedchambers go in south africa. when my eyes grew accustomed to the light, i made out the figure of a man seated in a chair with his head bent forward over a table that was placed at the foot of the bed almost in the centre of the room. i threw open the shutters and the morning light poured in. the man was marnham. on the table were writing materials, also a brandy bottle with only a dreg of spirit in it. i looked for the glass and found it by his side on the floor, shattered, not merely broken. "drunk," i said aloud, whereon the servant, who understood me, spoke for the first time, saying in a frightened voice in dutch-- "no, baas, dead, half cold. i found him so just now." i bent down and examined marnham, also felt his face. sure enough, he was dead, for his jaw had fallen; also his flesh was chill, and from him came a horrible smell of brandy. i thought for a moment, then bade the boy fetch dr. rodd and say nothing to any one else, he went, and now for the first time i noticed a large envelope addressed "allan quatermain, esq." in a somewhat shaky hand. this i picked up and slipped into my pocket. rodd arrived half dressed. "what's the matter now?" he growled. i pointed to marnham, saying-- "that is a question for you to answer. "oh! drunk again, i suppose," he said. then he did as i had done, bent down and examined him. a few seconds later he stepped or reeled back, looking as frightened as a man could be, and exclaiming-- "dead as a stone, by god! dead these three hours or more." "quite so," i answered, "but what killed him?" "how should i know?" he asked savagely. "do you suspect me of poisoning him?" "my mind is open," i replied; "but as you quarrelled so bitterly last night, others might." the bolt went home; he saw his danger. "probably the old sot died in a fit, or of too much brandy. how can one know without a post-mortem? but that mustn't be made by me. i'm off to inform the magistrate and get hold of another doctor. let the body remain as it is until i return." i reflected quickly. ought i to let him go or not? if he had any hand in this business, doubtless he intended to escape. well, supposing this were so and he did escapee, that would be a good thing for heda, and really it was no affair of mine to bring the fellow to justice. moreover there was nothing to show that he was guilty; his whole manner seemed to point another way, though of course he might be acting. "very well," i replied, "but return as quickly as possible." he stood for a few seconds like a man who is dazed. it occurred to me that it might have come into his mind with marnham's death that he had lost his hold over heda. but if so he said nothing of it, but only asked-- "will you go instead of me?" "on the whole i think not," i replied, "and if i did, the story i should have to tell might not tend to your advantage." "that's true, damn you!" he exclaimed and left the room. ten minutes later he was galloping towards pilgrim's rest. before i departed from the death chamber i examined the place carefully to see if i could find any poison or other deadly thing, but without success. one thing i did discover, however. turning the leaf of a blotting-book that was by marnham's elbow, i came upon a sheet of paper on which were written these words in his hand, "greater love hath no man than this--" that was all. either he had forgotten the end of the quotation or changed his mind, or was unable through weakness to finish the sentence. this paper also i put in my pocket. bolting the shutters and locking the door i returned to the stoep, where i was alone, for as yet no one else was stirring. then i remembered the letter in my pocket and opened it. it ran-- "dear mr. quatermain,-- "i have remembered that those who quarrel with dr. rodd are apt to die soon and suddenly; at any rate life at my age is always uncertain. therefore, as i know you to be an honest man, i am enclosing my will that it may be in safe keeping and purpose to send it to your room to-morrow morning. perhaps when you return to pretoria you will deposit it in the standard bank there, and if i am still alive, forward me the receipt. you will see that i leave everything to my daughter whom i dearly love, and that there is enough to keep the wolf from her door, besides my share in this property, if it is ever realized. "after all that has passed to-night i do not feel up to writing a long letter, so "remain sincerely yours, "h. a. marnham." "ps.--i should like to state clearly upon paper that my earnest hope and wish are that heda may get clear of that black-hearted, murderous, scoundrel rodd and marry mr. anscombe, whom i like and who, i am sure, would make her a good husband." thinking to myself this did not look very like the letter of a suicide, i glanced through the will, as the testator seemed to have wished that i should do so. it was short, but properly drawn, signed, and witnessed, and bequeathed a sum of # , , which was on deposit at the standard bank, together with all his other property, real and personal, to heda for her own sole use, free from the debts and engagements of her husband, should she marry. also she was forbidden to spend more than # , of the capital. in short the money was strictly tied up. with the will were some other papers that apparently referred to certain property in hungary to which heda might become entitled, but about these i did not trouble. replacing these documents in a safe inner pocket in the lining of my waistcoat, i went into our room and woke up anscombe who was sleeping soundly, a fact that caused an unreasonable irritation in my mind. when at length he was thoroughly aroused i said to him-- "you are in luck's way, my friend. marnham is dead." "oh! poor heda," he exclaimed, "she loved him. it will half break her heart." "if it breaks half of her heart," i replied, "it will mend the other half, for now her filial affection can't force her to marry rodd, and that is where you are in luck's way." then i told him all the story. "was he murdered or did he commit suicide?" he asked when i had finished. "i don't know, and to tell you the truth i don't want to know; nor will you if you are wise, unless knowledge is forced upon you. it is enough that he is dead, and for his daughter's sake the less the circumstances of his end are examined into the better." "poor heda!" he said again, "who will tell her? i can't. _you_ found him, allan." "i expected that job would be my share of the business, anscombe. well, the sooner it is over the better. now dress yourself and come on to the stoep." then i left him and next minute met heda's fat, half-breed maid, a stupid but good sort of a woman who was called kaatje, emerging from her mistress's room with a jug, to fetch hot water, i suppose. "kaatje," i said, "go back and tell the missie heda that i want to speak to her as soon as i can. never mind the hot water, but stop and help her to dress." she began to grumble a little in a good-natured way, but something in my eye stopped her and she went back into the room. ten minutes later heda was by my side. "what is it, mr. quatermain?" she asked. "i feel sure that something dreadful has happened." "it has, my dear," i answered, "that is, if death is dreadful. your father died last night." "oh!" she said, "oh!" and sank back on to the seat. "bear up," i went on, "we must all die one day, and he had reached the full age of man." "but i loved him," she moaned. "he had many faults i know, still i loved him." "it is the lot of life, heda, that we should lose what we love. be thankful, therefore, that you have some one left to love." "yes, thank god! that's true. if it had been him--no, it's wicked to say that." then i told her the story, and while i was doing so, anscombe joined us, walking by aid of his stick. also i showed them both marnham's letter to me and the will, but the other bit of paper i did not speak of or show. she sat very pale and quiet and listened till i had done. then she said-- "i should like to see him." "perhaps it is as well," i answered. "if you can bear it, come at once, and do you come also, anscombe." we went to the room, anscombe and heda holding each other by the hand. i unlocked the door and, entering, threw open a shutter. there sat the dead man as i had left him, only his head had fallen over a little. she gazed at him, trembling, then advanced and kissed his cold forehead, muttering, "good-bye, father. oh! good-bye, father." a thought struck me, and i asked-- "is there any place here where your father locked up things? as i have shown you, you are his heiress, and if so it might be as well in this house that you should possess yourself of his property." "there is a safe in the corner," she answered, "of which he always kept the key in his trouser pocket." "then with your leave i will open it in your presence." going to the dead man i searched his pocket and found in it a bunch of keys. these i withdrew and went to the safe over which a skin rug was thrown. i unlocked it easily enough. within were two bags of gold, each marked # ; also another larger bag marked "my wife's jewelry. for heda"; also some papers and a miniature of the lady whose portrait hung in the sitting-room; also some loose gold. "now who will take charge of these?" i asked. "i do not think it safe to leave them here." "you, of course," said anscombe, while heda nodded. so with a groan i consigned all these valuables to my capacious pockets. then i locked up the empty safe, replaced the keys where i had found them on marnham, fastened the shutter and left the room with anscombe, waiting for a while outside till heda joined us, sobbing a little. after this we got something to eat, insisting on heda doing the same. on leaving the table i saw a curious sight, namely, the patients whom rodd was attending in the little hospital of which i have spoken, departing towards the bush-veld, those of them who could walk well and the attendants assisting the others. they were already some distance away, too far indeed for me to follow, as i did not wish to leave the house. the incident filled me with suspicion, and i went round to the back to make inquiries, but could find no one. as i passed the hospital door, however, i heard a voice calling in sisutu-- "do not leave me behind, my brothers." i entered and saw the man on whom rodd had operated the day of our arrival, lying in bed and quite alone. i asked him where the others had gone. at first he would not answer, but when i pretended to leave him, called out that it was back to their own country. finally, to cut the story short, i extracted from him that they had left because they had news that the temple was going to be attacked by sekukuni and did not wish to be here when i and anscombe were killed. how the news reached him he refused, or could not, say; nor did he seem to know anything of the death of marnham. when i pressed him on the former point, he only groaned and cried for water, for he was in pain and thirsty. i asked him who had told sekukuni's people to kill us, but he refused to speak. "very well," i said, "then you shall lie here alone and die of thirst," and again i turned towards the door. at this he cried out-- "i will tell you. it was the white medicine-man who lives here; he who cut me open. he arranged it all a few days ago because he hates you. last night he rode to tell the impi when to come." "when is it to come?" i asked, holding the jug of water towards him. "to-night at the rising of the moon, so that it may get far away before the dawn. my people are thirsty for your blood and for that of the other white chief, because you killed so many of them by the river. the others they will not harm." "how did you learn all this?" i asked him again, but without result, for he became incoherent and only muttered something about being left alone because the others could not carry him. so i gave him some water, after which he fell asleep, or pretended to do so, and i left him, wondering whether he was delirious, or spoke truth. as i passed the stables i saw that my own horse was there, for in this district horses are always shut up at night to keep them from catching sickness, but that the four beasts that had brought heda from natal in the cape cart were gone, though it was evident that they had been kraaled here till within an hour or two. i threw my horse a bundle of forage and returned to the house by the back entrance. the kitchen was empty, but crouched by the door of marnham's room sat the boy who had found him dead. he had been attached to his master and seemed half dazed. i asked him where the other servants were, to which he replied that they had all run away. then i asked him where the horses were. he answered that the baas rodd had ordered them to be turned out before he rode off that morning. i bade him accompany me to the stoep, as i dared not let him out of my sight, which he did unwillingly enough. there i found anscombe and heda. they were seated side by side upon the couch. tears were running down her face and he, looking very troubled, held her by the hand. somehow that picture of heda has always remained fixed in my mind. sorrow becomes some women and she was one of them. her beautiful dark grey eyes did not grow red with weeping; the tears just welled up in them and fell like dewdrops from the heart of a flower. she sat very upright and very still, as he did, looking straight in front of her, while a ray of sunshine, falling on her head, showed the chestnut-hued lights in her waving hair, of which she had a great abundance. indeed the pair of them, thus seated side by side, reminded me of an engraving i had seen somewhere of the statues of a husband and wife in an old egyptian tomb. with just such a look did the woman of thousands of years ago sit gazing in patient hope into the darkness of the future. death had made her sad, but it was gone by, and the little wistful smile about her lips seemed to suggest that in this darkness her sorrowful eyes already saw the stirring of the new life to be. moreover, was not the man she loved the companion of her hopes as he had been of her woes. such was the fanciful thought that sprang up in my mind, even in the midst of those great anxieties, like a single flower in a stony wilderness of thorns or one star on the blackness of the night. in a moment it had gone and i was telling them of what i had learned. they listened till i had finished. then anscombe said slowly-- "two of us can't hold this house against an impi. we must get out of it." "both your conclusions seem quite sound," i remarked, "that is if yonder old kaffir is telling the truth. but the question is--how? we can't all three of us ride on one nag, as you are still a cripple." "there is the cape cart," suggested heda. "yes, but the horses have been turned out, and i don't know where to look for them. nor dare i send that boy alone, for probably he would bolt like the others. i think that you had better get on my horse and ride for it, leaving us to take our chance. i daresay the whole thing is a lie and that we shall be in no danger," i added by way of softening the suggestion. "that i will never do," she replied with so much quiet conviction that i saw it was useless to pursue the argument. i thought for a moment, as the position was very difficult. the boy was not to be trusted, and if i went with him i should be leaving these two alone and, in anscombe's state, almost defenceless. still it seemed as though i must. just then i looked up, and there at the garden gate saw anscombe's driver, footsack, the man whom i had despatched to pretoria to fetch his oxen. i noted that he looked frightened and was breathless, for his eyes started out of his head. also his hat was gone and he bled a little from his face. seeing us he ran up the path and sat down as though he were tired. "where are the oxen?" i asked. "oh! baas," he answered, "the basutos have got them. we heard from an old black woman that sekukuni had an impi out, so we waited on the top of that hill about an hour's ride away to see if it was true. then suddenly the doctor baas appeared riding, and i ran out and asked him if it were safe to go on. he knew me again and answered-- "'yes, quite safe, for have i not just ridden this road without meeting so much as a black child. go on, man; your masters will be glad to have their oxen, as they wish to trek, or will by nightfall.' then he laughed and rode away. "so we went on, driving the oxen. but when we came to the belt of thorns at the bottom of the hill, we found that the doctor baas had either lied to us or he had not seen. for there suddenly the tall grass on either side of the path grew spears; yes, everywhere were spears. in a minute the two voorloopers were assegaied. as for me, i ran forward, not back, since the kaffirs were behind me, across the path, baas, driving off the oxen. they sprang at me, but i jumped this way and that way and avoided them. then they threw assegais--see, one of them cut my cheek, but the rest missed. they had guns in their hands also, but none shot. i think they did not wish to make a noise. only one of them shouted after me-- "'tell macumazahn that we are going to call on him tonight when he cannot see to shoot. we have a message for him from our brothers whom he killed at the drift of the oliphant's river.' "then i ran on here without stopping, but i saw no more kaffirs. that is all, baas." now i did not delay to cross-examine the man or to sift the true from the false in his story, since it was clear to me that he had run into a company of basutos, or rather been beguiled thereto by rodd, and lost our cattle, also his companions, who were either killed as he said, or had escaped some other way. "listen, man," i said. "i am going to fetch some horses. do you stay here and help the missie to pack the cart and make the harness ready. if you disobey me or run away, then i will find you and you will never run again. do you understand?" he vowed that he did and went to get some water, while i explained everything to anscombe and heda, pointing out that all the information we could gather seemed to show that no attack was to be made upon the house before nightfall, and that therefore we had the day before us. as this was so i proposed to go to look for the horses myself, since otherwise i was sure we should never find them. meanwhile heda must pack and make ready the cart with the help of footsack, anscombe superintending everything, as he could very well do since he was now able to walk leaning on a stick. of course neither of them liked my leaving them, but in view of our necessities they raised no objection. so off i went, taking the boy with me. he did not want to go, being, as i have said, half dazed with grief or fear, or both, but when i had pointed out to him clearly that i was quite prepared to shoot him if he played tricks, he changed his mind. having saddled my mare that was now fresh and fat, we started, the boy guiding me to a certain kloof at the foot of which there was a small plain of good grass where he said the horses were accustomed to graze. here sure enough we found two of them, and as they had been turned out with their headstalls on, were able to tie them to trees with the riems which were attached to the headstalls. but the others were not there, and as two horses could not drag a heavy cape cart, i was obliged to continue the search. oh! what a hunt those beasts gave me. finding themselves free, for as rodd's object was that they should stray, he had ordered the stable-boy not to kneel-halter them, after filling themselves with grass they had started off for the farm where they were bred, which, it seemed, was about fifty miles away, grazing as they went. of course i did not know this at the time, so for several hours i rode up and down the neighbouring kloofs, as the ground was too hard for me to hope to follow them by their spoor. it occurred to me to ask the boy where the horses came from, a question that he happened to be able to answer, as he had brought them home when they were bought the year before. having learned in what direction the place lay i rode for it at an angle, or rather for the path that led to it, making the boy run alongside, holding to my stirrup leather. about three o'clock in the afternoon i struck this path, or rather track, at a point ten or twelve miles away from the temple, and there, just mounting a rise, met the two horses quietly walking towards me. had i been a quarter of an hour later they would have passed and vanished into a sea of thorn-veld. we caught them without trouble and once more headed homewards, leading them by their riems. reaching the glade where the other two were tied up, we collected them also and returned to the house, where we arrived at five o'clock. as everything seemed quiet i put my mare into the stable, slipped its bit and gave it some forage. then i went round the house, and to my great joy found anscombe and heda waiting anxiously, but with nothing to report, and with them footsack. very hastily i swallowed some food, while footsack inspanned the horses. in a quarter of an hour all was ready. then suddenly, in an inconsequent female fashion, heda developed a dislike to leaving her father unburied. "my dear young lady," i said, "it seems that you must choose between that and our all stopping to be buried with him." she saw the point and compromised upon paying him a visit of farewell, which i left her to do in anscombe's company, while i fetched my mare. to tell the truth i felt as though i had seen enough of the unhappy marnham, and not for # would i have entered that room again. as i passed the door of the hospital, leading my horse, i heard the old kaffir screaming within and sent the boy who was with me to find out what was the matter with him. that was the last i saw of either of them, or ever shall see this side of kingdom come. i wonder what became of them? when i got back to the front of the house i found the cart standing ready at the gate, footsack at the head of the horses and heda with anscombe at her side. it had been neatly packed during the day by heda with such of her and our belongings as it would hold, including our arms and ammunition. the rest, of course, we were obliged to abandon. also there were two baskets full of food, some bottles of brandy and a good supply of overcoats and wraps. i told footsack to take the reins, as i knew him to be a good driver, and helped anscombe to a seat at his side, while heda and the maid kaatje got in behind in order to balance the vehicle. i determined to ride, at any rate for the present. "which way, baas?" asked footsack. "down to the granite stream where the wagon stands," i answered. "that will be through the yellow-wood swamp. can't we take the other road to pilgrim's rest and lydenburg, or to barberton?" asked anscombe in a vague way, and as i thought, rather nervously. "no," i answered, "that is unless you wish to meet those basutos who stole the oxen and dr. rodd returning, if he means to return." "oh! let us go through the yellow-wood," exclaimed heda, who, i think, would rather have met the devil than dr. rodd. ah! if i had but known that we were heading straight for that person, sooner would i have faced the basutos twice over. but i did what seemed wisest, thinking that he would be sure to return with another doctor or a magistrate by the shorter and easier path which he had followed in the morning. it just shows once more how useless are all our care and foresight, or how strong is fate, have it which way you will. so we started down the slope, and i, riding behind, noted poor heda staring at the marble house, which grew ever more beautiful as it receded and the roughness of its building disappeared, especially at that part of it which hid the body of her old scamp of a father whom still she loved. we came down to the glen and once more saw the bones of the blue wildebeeste that we had shot--oh! years and years ago, or so it seemed. then we struck out for the granite stream. before we reached the patch of yellow-wood forest where i knew that the cart must travel very slowly because of the trees and the swampy nature of the ground, i pushed on ahead to reconnoitre, fearing lest there might be basutos hidden in this cover. riding straight through it i went as far as the deserted wagon at a sharp canter, seeing nothing and no one. once indeed, towards the end of the wood where it was more dense, i thought that i heard a man cough and peered about me through the gloom, for here the rays of the sun, which was getting low in the heavens, scarcely penetrated. as i could perceive no one i came to the conclusion that i must have been deceived by my fancy. or perhaps it was some baboon that coughed, though it was strange that a baboon should have come to such a low-lying spot where there was nothing for it to eat. the place was eerie, so much so that i bethought me of tales of the ghosts whereby it was supposed to be haunted. also, oddly enough, of anscombe's presentiment which he had fulfilled by killing a basuto. look! there lay his grinning skull with some patches of hair still on it, dragged away from the rest of the bones by a hyena. i cantered on down the slope beyond the wood and through the scattered thorns to the stream on the banks of which the wagon should be. it had gone, and by the freshness of the trail, within an hour or two. a moment's reflection told me what had happened. having stolen our oxen the basutos drove them to the wagon, inspanned them and departed with their loot. on the whole i was glad to see this, since it suggested that they had retired towards their own country, leaving our road open. turning my horse i rode back again to meet the cart. as i reached the edge of the wood at the top of the slope i heard a whistle blown, a very shrill whistle, of which the sound would travel for a mile or two on that still air. also i heard the sound of men's voices in altercation and caught words, such as--"let go, or by heaven--!" then a furious laugh and other words which seemed to be--"in five minutes the kaffirs will be here. in ten you will be dead. can i help it if they kill you after i have warned you to turn back?" then a woman's scream. rodd's voice, anscombe's voice and kaatje's scream--not heda's but kaatje's! then as i rode furiously round the last patch of intervening trees the sound of a pistol shot. i was out of them now and saw everything. there was the cart on the further side of a swamp. the horses were standing still and snorting. holding the rein of one of the leaders was rodd, whose horse also stood close by. he was rocking on his feet and as i leapt from my mare and ran up, i saw his face. it was horrible, full of pain and devilish rage. with his disengaged hand he pointed to anscombe sitting in the cart and grasping a pistol that still smoked. "you've killed me," he said in a hoarse, choking voice, for he was shot through the lung, "to get her," and he waved his hand towards heda who was peering at him between the heads of the two men. "you are a murderer, as her father was, and as david was before you. well, i hope you won't keep her long. i hope you'll die as i do and break her false heart, you damned thief." all of this he said in a slow voice, pausing between the words and speaking ever more thickly as the blood from his wound choked him. then of a sudden it burst in a stream from his lips, and still pointing with an accusing finger at anscombe, he fell backwards into the slimy pool behind him and there vanished without a struggle. so horrible was the sight that the driver, footsack, leapt from the cart, uttering a kind of low howl, ran to rodd's horse, scrambled into the saddle and galloped off, striking it with his fist, where to i do not know. anscombe put his hand before his eyes, heda sank down on the seat in a heap, and the coloured woman, kaatje, beat her breast and said something in dutch about being accursed or bewitched. luckily i kept my wits and went to the horses' heads, fearing lest they should start and drag the trap into the pool. "wake up," i said. "that fellow has only got what he deserved, and you were quite right to shoot him." "i am glad you think so," answered anscombe absently. "it was so like murder. don't you remember i told you i should kill a man in this place and about a woman?" "i remember nothing," i answered boldly, "except that if we stop here much longer we shall have those basutos on us. that brute was whistling to them and holding the horses till they came to kill us. pull yourself together, take the reins and follow me." he obeyed, being a skilful whip enough who, as he informed me afterwards, had been accustomed to drive a four-in-hand at home. mounting my horse, which stood by, i guided the cart out of the wood and down the slope beyond, till at length we came to our old outspan where i proposed to turn on to the wagon track which ran to pilgrim's rest. i say proposed, for when i looked up it i perceived about five hundred yards away a number of armed basutos running towards us, the red light of the sunset shining on their spears. evidently the scout or spy to whom rodd whistled, had called them out of their ambush which they had set for us on the pilgrim's rest road in order that they might catch us if we tried to escape that way. now there was only one thing to be done. at this spot a native track ran across the little stream and up a steepish slope beyond. on the first occasion of our outspanning here i had the curiosity to mount this slope, reflecting as i did so that although rough it would be quite practicable for a wagon. at the top of it i found a wide flat plain, almost high-veld, for the bushes were very few, across which the track ran on. on subsequent inquiry i discovered that it was one used by the swazis and other natives when they made their raids upon the basutos, or when bodies of them went to work in the mines. "follow me," i shouted and crossed the stream which was shallow between the little pools, then led the way up the stony slope. the four horses negotiated it very well and the cape cart, being splendidly built, took no harm. at the top i looked back and saw that the basutos were following us. "flog the horses!" i cried to anscombe, and off we went at a hand gallop along the native track, the cart swaying and bumping upon the rough veld. the sun was setting now, in half an hour it would be quite dark. could we keep ahead of them for that half hour? chapter ix flight the sun sank in a blaze of glory. looking back by the light of its last rays i saw a single native silhouetted against the red sky. he was standing on a mound that we had passed a mile or more behind us, doubtless waiting for his companions whom he had outrun. so they had not given up the chase. what was to be done? once it was completely dark we could not go on. we should lose our way; the horses would get into ant-bear holes and break their legs. perhaps we might become bogged in some hollow, therefore we must wait till the moon rose, which would not be for a couple of hours. meanwhile those accursed basutos would be following us even in the dark. this would hamper them, no doubt, but they would keep the path, with which they were probably familiar, beneath their feet, and what is more, the ground being soft with recent rain, they could feel the wheel spoor with their fingers. i looked about me. just here another track started off in a nor'-westerly direction from that which we were following. perhaps it ran to lydenburg; i do not know. to our left, not more than a hundred yards or so away, the higher veld came to an end and sloped in an easterly direction down to bush-land below. should i take the westerly road which ran over a great plain? no, for then we might be seen for miles and cut off. moreover, even if we escaped the natives, was it desirable we should plunge into civilization just now and tell all our story, as in that case we must do. rodd's death was quite justified, but it had happened on transvaal territory and would require a deal of explanation. fortunately there was no witness of it, except ourselves. yes, there was though--the driver footsack, if he had got away, which, being mounted, would seem probable, a man who, for my part, i would not trust for a moment. it would be an ugly thing to see anscombe in the dock charged with murder and possibly myself, with footsack giving evidence against us before a boer jury who might be hard on englishmen. also there was the body with a bullet in it. suddenly there came into my mind a recollection of the very vivid dream of zikali which had visited me, and i reflected that in zululand there would be little need to trouble about the death of rodd. but zululand was a long way off, and if we were to avoid the transvaal, there was only one way of going there, namely through swaziland. well, among the swazis we should be quite safe from the basutos, since the two peoples were at fierce enmity. moreover i knew the swazi chiefs and king very well, having traded there, and could explain that i came to collect debts owing to me. there was another difficulty. i had heard that the trouble between the english government and cetewayo, the zulu king, was coming to a head, and that the high commissioner, sir bartle frere, talked of presenting him with an ultimatum. it would be awkward if this arrived while we were in the country, though even so, being on such friendly terms with the zulus of all classes, i did not think that i, or any with me, would run great risks. all these thoughts rushed through my brain while i considered what to do. at the moment it was useless to ask the opinion of the others who were but children in native matters. i and i alone must take the responsibility and act, praying that i might do so aright. another moment and i had made up my mind. signing to anscombe to follow me, i rode about a hundred yards or more down the nor'-westerly path. then i turned sharply along a rather stony ridge of ground, the cart following me all the time, and came back across our own track, my object being of course to puzzle any kaffirs who might spoor us. now we were on the edge of the gentle slope that led down to the bush-veld. over this i rode towards a deserted cattle kraal built of stones, in the rich soil of which grew sundry trees; doubtless one of those which had been abandoned when mosilikatze swept all this country on his way north about the year . the way to it was easy, since the surrounding stones had been collected to build the kraal generations before. as we passed over the edge of the slope in the gathering gloom, heda cried-- "look!" and pointed in the direction whence we came. far away a sheet of flame shot upwards. "the house is burning," she exclaimed. "yes," i said, "it can be nothing else;" adding to myself, "a good job too, for now there will be no postmortem on old marnham." who fired the place i never learnt. it may have been the basutos, or marnham's body-servant, or footsack, or a spark from the kitchen fire. at any rate it blazed merrily enough notwithstanding the marble walls, as a wood-lined and thatched building of course would do. on the whole i suspected the boy, who may very well have feared lest he should be accused of having had a hand in his master's death. at least it was gone, and watching the distant flames i bethought me that with it went all heda's past. twenty-four hours before her father was alive, the bondservant of rodd and a criminal. now he was ashes and rodd was dead, while she and the man she loved were free, with all the world before them. i wished that i could have added that they were safe. afterwards she told me that much the same ideas passed through her own mind. dismounting i led the horses into the old kraal through the gap in the wall which once had been the gateway. it was a large kraal that probably in bygone days had held the cattle of some forgotten head chief whose town would have stood on the brow of the rise; so large that notwithstanding the trees i have mentioned, there was plenty of room for the cart and horses in its centre. moreover, on such soil the grass grew so richly that after we had slipped their bits, the horses were able to fill themselves without being unharnessed. also a little stream from a spring on the brow ran within a few yards whence, with the help of kaatje, a strong woman, i watered them with the bucket which hung underneath the cart. next we drank ourselves and ate some food in the darkness that was now complete. then leaving kaatje to stand at the head of the horses in case they should attempt any sudden movement, i climbed into the cart, and we discussed things in low whispers. it was a curious debate in that intense gloom which, close as our faces were together, prevented us from seeing anything of each other, except once when a sudden flare of summer lightning revealed them, white and unnatural as those of ghosts. on our present dangers i did not dwell, putting them aside lightly, though i knew they were not light. but of the alternative as to whether we should try to escape to lydenburg and civilization, or to zululand and savagery, i felt it to be my duty to speak. "to put it plainly," said anscombe in his slow way when i had finished, "you mean that in the transvaal i might be tried as a murderer and perhaps convicted, whereas if we vanish into zululand the probability is that this would not happen." "i mean," i whispered back, "that we might both be tried and, if footsack should chance to appear and give evidence, find ourselves in an awkward position. also there is another witness--kaatje, and for the matter of that, heda herself. of course her evidence would be in our favour, but to make it understood by a jury she would have to explain a great deal of which she might prefer not to speak. further, at the best, the whole business would get into the english papers, which you and your relatives might think disagreeable, especially in view of the fact that, as i understand, you and heda intend to marry." "still i think that i would rather face it out," he said in his outspoken way, "even if it should mean that i could never return to england. after all, of what have i to be afraid? i shot this scoundrel because i was obliged to do so." "yes, but it is of this that you may have to convince a jury who might possibly find a motive in rodd's past, and your present, relationship to the same lady. but what has she to say?" "i have to say," whispered heda, "that for myself i care nothing, but that i could never bear to see all these stories about my poor father raked up. also there is maurice to be considered. it would be terrible if they put him in prison--or worse. let us go to zululand, mr. quatermain, and afterwards get out of africa. don't you agree, maurice?" "what does mr. quatermain think himself?" he answered. "he is the oldest and by far the wisest of us and i will be guided by him." now i considered and said-- "there is such a thing as flying from present troubles to others that may be worse, the 'ills we know not of.' zululand is disturbed. if war broke out there we might all be killed. on the other hand we might not, and it ought to be possible for you to work up to delagoa bay and there get some ship home, that is if you wish to keep clear of british law. i cannot do so, as i must stay in africa. nor can i take the responsibility of settling what you are to do, since if things went wrong, it would be on my head. however, if you decide for the transvaal or natal and we escape, i must tell you that i shall go to the first magistrate we find and make a full deposition of all that has happened. it is not possible for me to live with the charge of having been concerned in the shooting of a white man hanging over me that might be brought up at any time, perhaps when no one was left in the country to give evidence on my behalf, for then, even if i were acquitted my name would always be tarnished. in zululand, on the other hand, there are no magistrates before whom i could depose, and if this business should come out, i can always say that we went there to escape from the basutos. now i am going to get down to see if the horses are all right. do you two talk the thing over and make up your minds. whatever you agree on, i shall accept and do my best to carry through." then, without waiting for an answer, i slipped from the cart. having examined the horses, who were cropping all the grass within reach of them, i crept to the wall of the kraal so as to be quite out of earshot. the night was now pitch dark, dark as it only knows how to be in africa. more, a thunderstorm was coming up of which that flash of sheet lightning had been a presage. the air was electric. from the vast bush-clad valley beneath us came a wild, moaning sound caused, i suppose, by wind among the trees, though here i felt none; far away a sudden spear of lightning stabbed the sky. the brooding trouble of nature spread to my own heart. i was afraid, and not of our present dangers, though these were real enough, so real that in a few hours we might all be dead. to dangers i was accustomed; for years they had been my daily food by day and by night, and, as i think i have said elsewhere, i am a fatalist, one who knows full well that when god wants me he will take me; that is if he can want such a poor, erring creature. nothing that i did or left undone could postpone or hasten his summons for a moment, though of course i knew it to be my duty to fight against death and to avoid it for as long as i might, because that i should do so was a portion of his plan. for we are all part of a great pattern, and the continuance or cessation of our lives re-acts upon other lives, and therefore life is a trust. no, it was of greater things that i felt afraid, things terrible and imminent which i could not grasp and much less understand. i understand them now, but who would have guessed that on the issue of that whispered colloquy in the cart behind me, depended the fate of a people and many thousands of lives? as i was to learn in days to come, if anscombe and heda had determined upon heading for the transvaal, there would, as i believe, have been no zulu war, which in its turn meant that there would have been no boer rebellion and that the mysterious course of history would have been changed. i shook myself together and returned to the cart. "well," i whispered, but there was no answer. a moment later there came another flash of lightning. "there," said heda, "how many do you make it? "ninety-eight," he answered. "i counted ninety-nine," she said, "but anyway it was within the hundred. mr. quatermain, we will go to zululand, if you please, if you will show us the way there." "right," i answered, "but might i ask what that has to do with your both counting a hundred?" "only this," she said, "we could not make up our minds. maurice was for the transvaal, i was for zululand. so you see we agreed that if another flash came before we counted a hundred, we would go to zululand, and if it didn't, to pretoria. a very good way of settling, wasn't it?" "excellent!" i replied, "quite excellent for those who could think of such a thing." as a matter of fact i don't know which of them thought of it because i never inquired. but i did remember afterwards how anscombe had tossed with a lucky penny when it was a question whether we should or should not run for the wagon during our difficulty by the oliphant's river; also when i asked him the reason for this strange proceeding he answered that providence might inhabit a penny as well as anything else, and that he wished to give it--i mean providence--a chance. how much more then, he may have argued, could it inhabit a flash of lightning which has always been considered a divine manifestation from the time of the roman jove, and no doubt far before him. forty or fifty generations ago, which is not long, our ancestors set great store by the behaviour of lightning and thunder, and doubtless the instinct is still in our blood, in the same way that all our existing superstitions about the moon come down to us from the time when our forefathers worshipped her. they did this for tens of hundreds or thousands of years, and can we expect a few coatings of the veneer that we politely call civilization, which after all is only one of our conventions that vanish in any human stress such as war, to kill out the human impulse it seems to hide? i do not know, though i have my own opinion, and probably these young people never reasoned the matter out. they just acted on an intuition as ancient as that which had attracted them to each other, namely a desire to consult the ruling fates by omens or symbols. or perhaps anscombe thought that as his experience with the penny had proved so successful, he would give providence another "chance." if so it took it and no mistake. confound it! i don't know what he thought; i only dwell on the matter because of the great results which followed this consultation of the sybilline books of heaven. as it happened my speculations, if i really indulged in any at that time, were suddenly extinguished by the bursting of the storm. it was of the usual character, short but very violent. of a sudden the sky became alive with lightnings and the atmosphere with the roar of winds. one flash struck a tree quite near the kraal, and i saw that tree seem to melt in its fiery embrace, while about where it had been, rose a column of dust from the ground beneath. the horses were so frightened that luckily they stood quite quiet, as i have often known animals to do in such circumstances. then came the rain, a torrential rain as i, who was out in it holding the horses, became painfully aware. it thinned after a while, however, as the storm rolled away. suddenly in a silence between the tremendous echoes of the passing thunder i thought that i heard voices somewhere on the brow of the slope, and as the horses were now quite calm, i crept through the trees to that part of the enclosure which i judged to be nearest to them. voices they were sure enough, and of the basutos who were pursuing us. what was more, they were coming down the slope. the top of the old wall reached almost to my chin. taking off my hat i thrust my head forward between two loose stones, that i might hear the better. the men were talking together in sisutu. one, whom i took to be their captain, said to the others-- "that white-headed old jackal, macumazahn, has given us the slip again. he doubled on his tracks and drove the horses down the hillside to the lower path in the valley. i could feel where the wheels went over the edge." "it is so, father," answered another voice, "but we shall catch him and the others at the bottom if we get there before the moon rises, since they cannot have moved far in this rain and darkness. let me go first and guide you who know every tree and stone upon this slope where i used to herd cattle when i was a child." "do so," said the captain. "i can see nothing now the lightning has gone, and were it not that i have sworn to dip my spear in the blood of macumazahn who has fooled us again, i would give up the hunt." "i think it would be better to give it up in any case," said a third voice, "since it is known throughout the land that no luck has ever come to those who tried to trap the watcher-by-night. oh! he is a leopard who springs and is gone again. how many are the throats in which his fangs have met. leave him alone, i say, lest our fate should be that of the white doctor in the yellow-wood swamp, he who set us on this hunt. we have his wagon and his cattle; let us be satisfied." "i will leave him alone when he sleeps for the last time, and not before," answered the captain, "he who shot my brother in the drift the other day. what would sekukuni say if we let him escape to bring the swazis on us? moreover, we want that white maiden for a hostage in case the english should attack us again. come, you who know the road, and lead us." there was some disturbance as this man passed to the front. then i heard the line move forward. presently they were going by the wall within a foot or two of me. indeed by ill-luck just as we were opposite to each other the captain stumbled and fell against the wall. "there is an old cattle kraal here," he said. "what if those white rats have hidden in it?" i trembled as i heard the words. if a horse should neigh or make any noise that could be heard above the hiss of the rain! i did not dare to move for fear lest i should betray myself. there i stood so close to the kaffirs that i could smell them and hear the rain pattering on their bodies. only very stealthily i drew my hunting knife with my right hand. at that moment the lightning, which i thought had quite gone by, flashed again for the last time, revealing the fat face of the basuto captain within a foot of my own, for he was turned towards the wall on which one of his hands rested. moreover, the blue and ghastly light revealed mine to him thrust forward between the two stones, my eyes glaring at him. "the head of a dead man is set upon the wall!" he cried in terror. "it is the ghost of--" he got no further, for as the last word passed his lips i drove the knife at him with all my strength deep into his throat. he fell back into the arms of his followers, and next instant i heard the sound of many feet rushing in terror down the hill. what became of him i do not know, but if he still lives, probably he agrees with his tribesman that macumazahn--watcher-by-night, or his ghost "is a leopard who springs and kills and is gone again"; also, that those who try to trap him meet with no luck. i say, or his ghost--because i am sure he thought that i was a spirit of the dead; doubtless i must have looked like one with my white, rain-drowned face appearing there between the stones and made ghastly and livid by the lightning. well, they had gone, the whole band of them, not less than thirty or forty men, so i went also, back to the cart where i found the others very comfortable indeed beneath the rainproof tilt. saying nothing of what had happened, of which they were as innocent as babes, i took a stiff tot of brandy, for i was chilled through by the wet, and while waiting for the moon to rise, busied myself with getting the bits back into the horses' mouths--an awkward job in the dark. at length it appeared in a clear sky, for the storm had quite departed and the rain ceased. as soon as there was light enough i took the near leader by the bridle and led the cart to the brow of the hill, which was not easy under the conditions, making kaatje follow with my horse. then, as there were no signs of any basutos, we started on again, i riding about a hundred yards ahead, keeping a sharp look-out for a possible ambush. fortunately, however, the veld was bare and open, consisting of long waves of ground. one start i did get, thinking that i saw men's heads just on the crest of a wave, which turned out to be only a herd of springbuck feeding among the tussocks of grass. i was very glad to see them, since their presence assured me that no human being had recently passed that way. all night long we trekked, following the kaffir path for as long as i could see it, and after that going by my compass. i knew whereabouts the drift of the crocodile river should be, as i had crossed it twice before in my life, and kept my eyes open for a certain tall koppie which stood within half a mile it on the swazi side of the river. ultimately to my joy i caught sight of this hill faintly outlined against the sky and headed for it. half a mile further on i struck a wagon-track made by boers trekking into swazi-land to trade or shoot. then i knew that the drift was straight ahead of us, and called to anscombe to flog up the weary horses. we reached the river just before the dawn. to my horror it was very full, so full that the drift looked dangerous, for it had been swollen by the thunder-rain of the previous night. indeed some wandering swazis on the further bank shouted to us that we should be drowned if we tried to cross. "which means that the only thing to do is to stay until the water runs down," i said to anscombe, for the two women, tired out, were asleep. "i suppose so," he answered, "unless those basutos--" i looked back up the long slope down which we had come and saw no one. then i raised myself in my stirrups and looked along another track that joined the road just here, leading from the bush-veld, as ours led from the high-veld. the sun was rising now, dispersing the mist that hung about the trees after the wet. searching among these with my eyes, presently i perceived the light gleaming upon what i knew must be the points of spears projecting above the level of the ground vapour. "those devils are after us by the lower road," i said to anscombe, adding, "i heard them pass the old cattle kraal last night. they followed our spoor over the edge of the hill, but in the dark lost it among the stones." he whistled and asked what was to be done. "that is for you to decide," i answered. "for my part i'd rather risk the river than the basutos," and i looked at the slumbering heda. "can we bolt back the way we came, allan?" "the horses are very spent and we might meet more basutos," and again i looked at heda. "a hard choice, allan. it is wonderful how women complicate everything in life, because they are life, i suppose." he thought a moment and went on, "let's try the river. if we fail, it will be soon over, and it is better to drown than be speared." "or be kept alive by savages who hate us," i exclaimed, with my eyes still fixed upon heda. then i got to business. there were hide riems on the bridles of the leaders. i undid these and knotted their loose ends firmly together. to them i made fast the riem of my own mare, slipping a loop i tied in it, over my right hand and saying-- "now i will go first, leading the horses. do you drive after me for all you are worth, even if they are swept off their feet. i can trust my beast to swim straight, and being a mare, i hope that the horses will follow her as they have done all night. wake up heda and kaatje." he nodded, and looking very pale, said-- "heda my dear, i am sorry to disturb you, but we have to get over a river with a rough bottom, so you and kaatje must hang on and sit tight. don't be frightened, you are as safe as a church." "god forgive him for that lie," thought i to myself as, having tightened the girths, i mounted my mare. then gripping the riem i kicked the beast to a canter, anscombe flogging up the team as we swung down the bank to the edge of the foaming torrent, on the further side of which the swazis shouted and gesticulated to us to go back. we were in it now, for, as i had hoped, the horses followed the mare without hesitation. for the first twenty yards or so all went well, i heading up the stream. then suddenly i felt that the mare was swimming. "flog the horses and don't let them turn," i shouted to anscombe. ten more yards and i glanced over my shoulder. the team was swimming also, and behind them the cart rocked and bobbed like a boat swinging in a heavy sea. there came a strain on the riem; the leaders were trying to turn! i pulled hard and encouraged them with my voice, while anscombe, who drove splendidly, kept their heads as straight as he could. mercifully they came round again and struck out for the further shore, the water-logged cart floating after them. would it turn over? that was the question in my mind. five seconds; ten seconds and it was still upright. oh! it was going. no, a fierce back eddy caught it and set it straight again. my mare touched bottom and there was hope. it struggled forward, being swept down the stream all the time. now the horses in the cart also found their footing and we were saved. no, the wet had caused the knot of one of the riems to slip beneath the strain, or perhaps it broke--i don't know. feeling the pull slacken the leaders whipped round on to the wheelers. there they all stood in a heap, their heads and part of their necks above water, while the cart floated behind them on its side. kaatje screamed and anscombe flogged. i leapt from my mare and struggled to the leaders, the water up to my chin. grasping their bits i managed to keep them from turning further. but i could do no more and death came very near to us. had it not been for some of those brave swazis on the bank it would have found us, every one. but they plunged in, eight of them, holding each other's hands, and half-swimming, half-wading, reached us. they got the horses by the head and straightened them out, while anscombe plied his whip. a dash forward and the wheels were on the bottom again. three minutes later we were safe on the further bank, which my mare had already reached, where i lay gasping on my face, ejaculating prayers of thankfulness and spitting out muddy water. chapter x nombe the swazis, shivering, for all these people hate cold, and shaking themselves like a dog when he comes to shore, gathered round, examining me. "why!" said one of them, an elderly man who seemed to be their leader, "this is none other than macumazahn, watcher-by-night, the old friend of all us black people. surely the spirits of our fathers have been with us who might have risked our lives to save a boer or a half-breed." (the swazis, i may explain, did not like the boers for reasons they considered sound.) "yes," i said, sitting up, "it is i, macumazahn." "then why," asked the man, "did you, whom all know to be wise, show yourself to have suddenly become a fool?" and he pointed to the raging river. "and why," i asked, "do you show yourself a fool by supposing that i, whom you know to be none, am a fool? look across the water for your answer." he looked and saw the basutos, fifty or more of them, arriving, just too late. "who are these?" he asked. "they are the people of sekukuni whom you should know well enough. they have hunted us all night, yes, and before, seeking to murder us; also they have stolen our oxen, thirty-two fine oxen which i give to your king if he can take them back. now perhaps you understand why we dared the crocodile river in its rage." at the name of sekukuni the man, who it seemed was the captain of some border guards, stiffened all over like a terrier which perceives a rat. "what!" he exclaimed, "do these dirty basuto dogs dare to carry spears so near our country? have they not yet learned their lesson?" then he rushed into the water, shaking an assegai he had snatched up, and shouted, "bide a while, you fleas from the kaross of sekukuni, till i can come across and crack you between my thumb and finger. or at the least wait until macumazahn has time to get his rifle. no, put down those guns of yours; for every shot you fire i swear that i will cut ten basuto throats when we come to storm your koppies, as we shall do ere long." "be silent," i said, "and let me speak." then i, too, called across the river, asking where was that fat captain of theirs, as i would talk with him. one of the men shouted back that he had stopped behind, very sick, because of a ghost that he had seen. "ah!" i answered, "a ghost who pricked him in the throat. well, i was that ghost, and such are the things that happen to those who would harm macumazahn and his friends. did you not say last night that he is a leopard who leaps out in the dark, bites and is gone again?" "yes," the man shouted back, "and it is true, though had we known, o macumazahn, that you were the ghost hiding in those stones, you should never have leapt again. oh! that white medicine-man who is dead has sent us on a mad errand." "so you will think when i come to visit you among your koppies. go home and take a message from macumazahn to sekukuni, who believes that the english have run away from him. tell him that they will return again and these swazis with them, and that then he will cease to live and his town will be burnt and his tribe will no more be a tribe. away now, more swiftly than you came, since the water by which you thought to trap us is falling, and a swazi impi gathers to make an end of every one of you." the man attempted no answer, nor did his people so much as fire on us. they turned tail and crept off like a pack of frightened jackals--pursued by the mocking of the swazis. still in a way they had the laugh of us, seeing that they gave us a terrible fright and stole our wagon and thirty-two oxen. well, a year or two later i helped to pay them back for that fright and even recovered some of the oxen. when they had gone the swazis led us to a kraal about two miles from the river, sending on a runner with orders to make huts and food ready for us. it was just as much as we could do to reach it, for we were all utterly worn out, as were the horses. still we did get there at last, the hot sun warming us as we went. arrived at the kraal i helped heda and kaatje from the cart--the former could scarcely walk, poor dear--and into the guest hut which seemed clean, where food of a sort and fur karosses were brought to them in which to wrap themselves while their clothes dried. leaving them in charge of two old women, i went to see to anscombe, who as yet could not do much for himself, also to the outspanning of the horses which were put into a cattle kraal, where they lay down at once without attempting to eat the green forage which was given to them. after this i gave our goods into the charge of the kraal-head, a nice old fellow whom i had never met before, and he led anscombe to another hut close to that where the women were. here we drank some maas, that is curdled milk, ate a little mutton, though we were too fatigued to be very hungry, and stripping off our wet clothes, threw them out into the sun to dry. "that was a close shave," said anscombe as he wrapped up in the kaross. "very," i answered. "so close that i think you must have been started in life with an extra strong guardian angel well accustomed to native ways." "yes," he replied, "and, old fellow, i believe that on earth he goes by the name of allan quatermain." after this i remember no more, for i went to sleep, and so remained for about twenty-four hours. this was not wonderful, seeing that for two days and nights practically i had not rested, during which time i went through much fatigue and many emotions. when at length i did wake up, the first thing i saw was anscombe already dressed, engaged in cleaning my clothes with a brush from his toilet case. i remember thinking how smart and incongruous that dressing-bag, made appropriately enough of crocodile hide, looked in this kaffir hut with its silver-topped bottles and its ivory-handled razors. "time to get up, sir. bath ready, sir," he said in his jolly, drawling voice, pointing to a calabash full of hot water. "hope you slept as well as i did, sir." "you appear to have recovered your spirits," i remarked as i rose and began to wash myself. "yes, sir, and why not? heda is quite well, for i have seen her. these swazis are very good people, and as kaatje understands their language, bring us all we want. our troubles seem to be done with. old marnham is dead, and doubtless cremated; rodd is dead and, let us hope, in heaven; the basutos have melted away, the morning is fine and warm and a whole kid is cooking for breakfast." "i wish there were two, for i am ravenous," i remarked. "the horses are getting rested and feeding well, though some of their legs have filled, and the trap is little the worse, for i have walked to look at them, or rather hopped, leaning on the shoulder of a very sniffy swazi boy. do you know, old fellow, i believe there never were any basutos; also that the venerable marnham and the lurid rodd had no real existence, that they were but illusions, a prolonged nightmare--no more. here is your shirt. i am sorry that i have not had time to wash it, but it has cooked well in the sun, which, being flannel, is almost as good." "at any rate heda remains," i remarked, cutting his nonsense short, "and i suppose she is not a nightmare or a delusion." "yes, thank god! she remains," he replied with earnestness. "oh! allan, i thought she must drown in that river, and if i had lost her, i think i should have gone mad. indeed, at the moment i felt myself going mad while i dragged and flogged at those horses." "well, you didn't lose her, and if she had drowned, you would have drowned also. so don't talk any more about it. she is safe, and now we have got to keep her so, for you are not married yet, my boy, and there are generally more trees in a wood than one can see. still we are alive and well, which is more than we had any right to expect, and, as you say, let us thank god for that." then i put on my coat and my boots which anscombe had greased as he had no blacking, and crept from the hut. there, only a few yards away, engaged in setting the breakfast in the shadow of another hut on a tanned hide that served for a tablecloth while kaatje saw to the cooking close by, i found heda, still a little pale and sorrowful but otherwise quite well and rested. moreover, she had managed to dress herself very nicely, i suppose by help of spare clothes in the cart, and therefore looked as charming as she always did. i think that her perfect manners were one of her greatest attractions. thus on this morning her first thought was to thank me very sweetly for all she was good enough to say i had done for her and anscombe, thereby, as she put it, saving their lives several times over. "my dear young lady," i answered as roughly as i could, "don't flatter yourself on that point; it was my own life of which i was thinking." but she only smiled and, shaking her head in a fascinating way that was peculiar to her, remarked that i could not deceive her as i did the kaffirs. after this the solid kaatje brought the food and we breakfasted very heartily, or at least i did. now i am not going to set out all the details of our journey through swazi-land, for though in some ways it was interesting enough, also as comfortable as a stay among savages can be, for everywhere we were kindly received, to do so would be too long, and i must get on with my story. at the king's kraal, which we did not reach for some days as the absence of roads and the flooded state of the rivers, also the need of sparing our horses, caused us to travel very slowly, i met a boer who i think was concession hunting. he told me that things were really serious in zululand, so serious that he thought there was a probability of immediate war between the english and the zulus. he said also that cetewayo, the zulu king, had sent messengers to stir up the basutos and other tribes against the white men, with the result that sekukuni had already made a raid towards pilgrim's rest and lydenburg. i expressed surprise and asked innocently if he had done any harm. the boer replied he understood that they had stolen some cattle, killed two white men, if not more, and burnt their house. he added, however, that he was not sure whether the white men had been killed by the kaffirs or by other white men with whom they had quarrelled. there was a rumour to this effect, and he understood that the magistrate of barberton had gone with some mounted police and armed natives to investigate the matter. then we parted, as, having got his concession to which the king umbandine had put his mark when he was drunk on brandy that the boer himself had brought with him as a present, he was anxious to be gone before he grew sober and revoked it. indeed, he was in so great a hurry that he never stopped to inquire what i was doing in swazi-land, nor do i think he realized that i was not alone. certainly he was quite unaware that i had been mixed up in these basuto troubles. still his story as to the investigation concerning the deaths of marnham and rodd made me uneasy, since i feared lest he should hear something on his journey and put two and two together, though as a matter of fact i don't think he ever did either of these things. the swazis told me much the same story as to the brewing zulu storm. in fact an old induna or councillor, whom i knew, informed me that cetewayo had sent messengers to them, asking for their help if it should come to fighting with the white men, but that the king and councillors answered that they had always been the queen's children (which was not strictly true, as they were never under english rule) and did not wish to "bite her feet if she should have to fight with her hands." i replied that i hoped they would always act up to these fine words, and changed the subject. now once more the question arose as to whether we should make for natal or press on to zululand. the rumour of coming war suggested that the first would be our better course, while the boer's story as to the investigation of rodd's death pointed the other way. really i did not know which to do, and as usual anscombe and heda seemed inclined to leave the decision to me. i think that after all natal would have gained the day had it not been for a singular circumstance, not a flash of lightning this time. indeed, i had almost made up my mind to risk trouble and inquiry as to rodd's death, remembering that in natal these two young people could get married, which, being in loco parentis, i thought it desirable they should do as soon as possible, if only to ease me of my responsibilities. also thence i could attend to the matter of heda's inheritance and rid myself of her father's will that already had been somewhat damaged in the crocodile river, though not as much as it might have been since i had taken the precaution to enclose it in anscombe's sponge bag before we left the house. the circumstance was this: on emerging from the cart one morning, where i slept to keep an eye upon the valuables, for it will be remembered that we had a considerable sum in gold with us, also heda's jewels, a swazi informed me that a messenger wished to see me. i asked what messenger and whence did he come. he replied that the messenger was a witch-doctoress named nombe, and that she came from zululand and said that i knew her father. i bade the man bring her to me, wondering who on earth she could be, for it is not usual for the zulus to send women as messengers, and from whom she came. however, i knew exactly what she would be like, some hideous old hag smelling horribly of grease and other abominations, with a worn snake skin and some human bones tied about her. presently she came, escorted by the swazi who was grinning, for i think he guessed what i expected to see. i stared and rubbed my eyes, thinking that i must still be asleep, for instead of a fat old isanusi there appeared a tall and graceful young woman, rather light-coloured, with deep and quiet eyes and a by no means ill-favoured face, remarkable for a fixed and somewhat mysterious smile. she was a witch-doctoress sure enough, for she wore in her hair the regulation bladders and about her neck the circlet of baboon's teeth, also round her middle a girdle from which hung little bags of medicines. she contemplated me gravely and i contemplated her, waiting till she should choose to speak. at length, having examined me inch by inch, she saluted by raising her rounded arm and tapering hand, and remarked in a soft, full voice-- "all is as the picture told. i perceive before me the lord macumazahn." i thought this a strange saying, seeing that i could not recollect having given my photograph to any one in zululand. "you need no magic to tell you that, doctoress," i remarked, "but where did you see my picture?" "in the dust far away," she replied. "and who showed it to you?" "one who knew you, o macumazahn, in the years before i came out of the darkness, one named opener of roads, and with him another who also knew you in those years, one who has gone down to the darkness." now for some occult reason i shrank from asking the name of this "one who had gone down to the darkness," although i was sure that she was waiting for the question. so i merely remarked, without showing surprise-- "so zikali still lives, does he? he should have been dead long ago." "you know well that he lives, macumazahn, for how could he die till his work was accomplished? moreover, you will remember that he spoke to you when last moon was but just past her full--in a dream, macumazahn. i brought that dream, although you did not see me." "pish!" i exclaimed. "have done with your talk of dreams. who thinks anything of dreams?" "you do," she replied even more placidly than before, "you whom that dream has brought hither--with others." "you lie," i said rudely. "the basutos brought me here." "the watcher-by-night is pleased to say that i lie, so doubtless i do lie," she answered, her fixed smile deepening a little. then she folded her arms across her breast and remained silent. "you are a messenger, o seer of pictures in the dust and bearer of the cup of dreams," i said with sarcasm. "who sends a message by your lips for me, and what are the words of the message?" "my lords the spirits spoke the message by the mouth of the master zikali. he sends it on to you by the lips of your servant, the doctoress nombe." "are you indeed a doctoress, being so young?" i asked, for somehow i wished to postpone the hearing of that message. "o macumazahn, i have heard the call, i have felt the pain in my back, i have drunk of the black medicine and of the white medicine, yes, for a whole year. i have been visited by the multitude of spirits and seen the shades of those who live and of those who are dead. i have dived into the river and drawn my snake from its mud; see, its skin is about me now," and opening the mantle she wore she showed what looked like the skin of a black mamba, fastened round her slender body. "i have dwelt in the wilderness alone and listened to its voices. i have sat at the feet of my master, the opener of roads, and looked down the road and drunk of his wisdom. yes, i am in truth a doctoress." "well, after all this, you should be as wise as you are pretty." "once before, macumazahn, you told a maid of my people that she was pretty and she came to no good end; though to one that was great. therefore do not say to me that i am pretty, though i am glad that you should think so who can compare me with so many whom you have known," and she dropped her eyes, looking a little shy. it was the first human touch i had seen about her, and i was glad to have found a weak spot in her armour. moreover, from that moment she was always my friend. "as you will, nombe. now for your message." "my lords the spirits, speaking through zikali as one who makes music speak through a pipe of reeds, say--" "never mind what the spirits say. tell me what zikali says," i interrupted. "so be it, macumazahn. these are the words of zikali: 'o watcher-by-night, the time draws on when the thing-who-should-never-have-been-born will be as though he never had been born, whereat he rejoices. but first there is much for him to do, and as he told you nearly three hundred moons ago, in what must be done you will have your part. of that he will speak to you afterwards. macumazahn, you dreamed a dream, did you not, lying asleep in the house that was built of white stone which now is black with fire? i, zikali, sent you that dream through the arts of a child of mine who is named nombe, she to whom i have given a spirit to guide her feet. you did well to follow it, macumazahn, for had you tried the other path, which would have led you back to the towns of the white men, you and those with you must have been killed, how it does not matter. now by the mouth of nombe i say to you, do not follow the thought that is in your mind as she speaks to you and go to natal, since if you do so, you and those with you will come to much shame and trouble that to you would be worse than death, over the matter of the killing of a certain white doctor in a swamp where grow yellow-wood trees. for there in natal you will be taken, all of you, and sent back to the transvaal to be tried before a man who wears upon his head horse's hair stained white. but if you come to zululand this shadow shall pass away from you, since great things are about to happen which will cause so small a matter to be forgot. moreover, i zikali, who do not lie, promise this: that however great may be their dangers here in zululand, those half-fledged ones whom you, the old night-hawk, cover with your wings, shall in the end suffer no harm; those of whom i spoke to you in your dream, the white lord, mauriti, and the white lady, heddana, who stretch out their arms one to another. i wait to welcome you, here at the black kloof, whither my daughter nombe will guide you. cetewayo, the king, also will welcome you, and so will another whose name i do not utter. now choose. i have spoken.'" having delivered her message nombe stood quite still, smiling as before, and apparently indifferent as to its effect. "how do i know that you come from zikali?" i asked. "you may be but the bait set upon a trap." from somewhere within her robe she produced a knife and handed it to me, remarking-- "the master says you will remember this, and by it know that the message comes from him. he bade me add that with it was carved a certain image that once he gave to you at panda's kraal, wrapped round with a woman's hair, which image you still have." i looked at the knife and did remember it, for it was one of those of swedish make with a wooden handle, the first that i had ever seen in africa. i had made a present of it to zikali when i returned to zululand before the war between the princes. the image, too, i still possessed. it was that of the woman called mameena who brought about the war, and the wrapping which covered it was of the hair that once grew upon her head. "the words are zikali's," i said, returning her the knife, "but why do you call yourself the child of one who is too old to be a father?" "the master says that my great-grandmother was his daughter and that therefore i am his child. now, macumazahn, i go to eat with my people, for i have servants with me. then i must speak with the swazi king, for whom i also have a message, which i cannot do at present because he is still drunk with the white man's liquor. after that i shall be ready to return with you to zululand." "i never said that i was going to zululand, nombe." "yet your heart has gone there already, macumazahn, and you must follow your heart. does not the image which was carved with the knife you gave, hold a white heart in its hand, and although it seems to be but a bit of umzimbeete wood, is it not alive and bewitched, which perhaps is why you could never make up your mind to burn it, macumazahn?" "i wish i had," i replied angrily; but having thrown this last spear, with a flash of her unholy eyes nombe had turned and gone. a clever woman and thoroughly coached, thought i. well, zikali was never one to suffer fools, and doubtless she is another of the pawns whom he uses on his board of policy. oh! she, or rather he was right; my heart was in zululand, though not in the way he thought, and i longed to see the end of that great game played by a wizard against a despot and his hosts. so we went to zululand because after talking it over we all came to the conclusion that this was the best thing to do, especially as there we seemed to be sure of a welcome. for later in the day nombe repeated to anscombe and heda the invitation which she had delivered to me, assuring them also that in zululand they would come to no harm. it was curious to watch the meeting between heda and nombe. the doctoress appeared just as we had risen from breakfast, and heda, turning round, came face to face with her. "is this your witch, mr. quatermain?" she asked me in her vivacious way. "why, she is different from what i expected, quite good-looking and, yes, impressive. i am not sure that she does not frighten me a little." "what does the inkosikaasi (i.e., the chieftainess) say concerning me, macumazahn?" asked nombe. "only what i said, that you are young who she thought would be old, and pretty who she thought would be ugly." "to grow old we must first be young, macumazahn, and in due season all of us will become ugly, even the inkosikaasi. but i thought she said also that she feared me." "do you know english, nombe?" "nay, but i know how to read eyes, and the inkosikaasi has eyes that talk. tell her that she has no reason to fear me who would be her friend, though i think that she will bring me little luck." it was scarcely necessary, so far as heda was concerned, but i translated, leaving out the last sentence. "say to her that i am grateful who have few friends, and that i will fear her no more," said heda. again i translated, whereon nombe stretched out her hand, saying-- "let her not scorn to take it, it is clean. it has brought no man to his death--" here she looked at heda meaningly. "moreover, though she is white and i am black, i like herself am of high blood and come of a race of warriors who did nothing small, and lastly, we are of an age, and if she is beautiful, i am wise and have gifts great as her own." once more i interpreted for the benefit of anscombe, for heda understood zulu well enough, although she had pretended not to do so, after which the two shook hands, to anscombe's amusement and my wonder. for i felt this scene to be strained and one that hid, or presaged, something i did not comprehend. "this is the chief she loves?" said nombe to me, studying anscombe with her steady eyes after heda had gone. "well, he is no common man and brave, if idle; one, too, who may grow tall in the world, should he live, when he has learned to think. but, macumazahn, if she met you both at the same time why did she not choose you?" "just now you said you were wise, nombe," i replied laughing, "but now i see that, like most of your trade, you are but a vain boaster. is there a hat upon my head that you cannot see the colour of my hair, and is it natural that youth should turn to age?" "sometimes if the mind is old, macumazahn, which is why i love the spirits only who are more ancient than the mountains, and with them zikali their servant, who was young before the zulus were a people, or so he says, and still year by year gathers wisdom as the bee gathers honey. inspan your horses, macumazahn, for i have done my business and am ready to start." chapter xi zikali ten days had gone by when once more i found myself drawing near to the mouth of the black kloof where dwelt zikali the wizard. our journey in zululand had been tedious and uneventful. it seemed to me that we met extraordinarily few people; it was as though the place had suddenly become depopulated, and i even passed great kraals where there was no one to be seen. i asked nombe what was the meaning of this, for she and three silent men she had with her were acting as our guides. once she answered that the people had moved because of lack of food, as the season had been one of great scarcity owing to drought, and once that they had been summoned to a gathering at the king's kraal near ulundi. at any rate they were not there, and the few who did appear stared at us strangely. moreover, i noticed that they were not allowed to speak to us. also heda was kept in the cart and nombe insisted that the rear canvas curtain should be closed and a blanket fastened behind anscombe who drove, evidently with the object that she should not be seen. further, on the plea of weariness, from the time that we entered zulu territory nombe asked to be allowed to ride in the cart with kaatje and heda, her real reason, as i was sure, being that she might keep a watch on them. lastly we travelled by little-frequented tracks, halting at night in out-of-the-way places, where, however, we always found food awaiting us, doubtless by arrangement. with one man whom i had known in past days and who recognized me, i did manage to have a short talk. he asked me what i was doing in zululand at that time. i replied that i was on a visit to zikali, whereon he said i should be safer with him than with any one else. our conversation went no further, for just then one of nombe's servants appeared and made some remark to the man of which i could not catch the meaning, whereon he promptly turned and deported, leaving me wondering and uneasy. evidently we were being isolated, but when i remonstrated with nombe she only answered with her most unfathomable smile-- "o macumazahn, you must ask zikali of all these things. i am no one and know nothing, who only do what the master tells me is for your good." "i am minded to turn and depart from zululand," i said angrily, "for in this low veld whither you have led us there is fever and the horses will catch sickness or be bitten by the tsetse fly and perish." "i cannot say, macumazahn, who only travel by the road the master pointed out. yet if you will be guided by me, you will not try to leave zululand." "you mean that i am in a trap, nombe." "i mean that the country is full of soldiers and that all white men have fled from it. therefore, even if you were allowed to pass because the zulus love you, macumazahn, it might well happen that those with you would stay behind, sound asleep, macumazahn, for which, like you, i should be sorry." after this i said no more, for i knew that she meant to warn me. we had entered on this business and must see it through to its end, sweet or bitter. as for anscombe and heda their happiness seemed to be complete. the novelty of the life charmed them, and of its dangers they took no thought, being content to leave me, in whom they had a blind faith, to manage everything. moreover, heda, who in the joy of her love was beginning to forget the sorrow of her father's death and the other tragic events through which she had just passed, took a great fancy to the young witch-doctoress who conversed with her in zulu, a language of which, having lived so long in natal, heda knew much already. indeed, when i suggested to her that to be over-trusting was not wise, she fired up and replied that she had been accustomed to natives all her life and could judge them, adding that she had every confidence in nombe. after this i held my tongue and said no more of my doubts. what was the use since heda would not listen to them, and at that time anscombe was nothing but her echo? so this, for me, very dull journey continued, till at length, after being held up for a couple of days by a flooded river where there was nothing to do but sit and smoke, as nombe requested me not to make a noise by shooting at the big game that abounded, we began to emerge from the bush-veld on to the lovely uplands in the neighbourhood of nongoma. leaving these on our right we headed for a place called ceza, a natural stronghold consisting of a flat plain on the top of a mountain, which plain is surrounded by bush. it is at the foot of this stronghold that the black kloof lies, being one of the ravines that run up into the mountain. so thither we came at last. it was drawing towards sunset, a tremendous and stormy sunset, as we approached the place, and lo! it looked exactly as it had done when first i saw it more than a score of years before, forbidding as the mouth of hell, vast and lonesome. there stood the columns of boulders fantastically piled one upon another; there grew the sparse trees upon its steep sides, mingled with aloes that looked like the shapes of men; there was the granite bottom swept almost clean by floods in some dim age, and the little stream that flowed along it. there, too, was the spot where once i had outspanned my wagons on the night when my servants swore that they saw the imikovu, or wizard-raised spectres, floating past them on the air in the shapes of the princes and others who were soon to fall at the battle of the tugela. up it we went, i riding and nombe, who had descended from the cart that followed, walking by my side and watching me. "you seem sad, macumazahn," she said at length. "yes, nombe, i am sad. this place makes me so." "is it the place, macumazahn, or is it the thought of one whom once you met in the place, one who is dead?" i looked at her, pretending not to understand, and she went on-- "i have the gift of vision, macumazahn, which comes at times to those of my trade, and now and again, amongst others, i have seemed to see the spirit of a certain woman haunting this kloof as though she were waiting for some one." "indeed, and what may that woman be like?" i inquired carelessly. "as it chances i can see her now gliding backwards in front of you just there, and therefore am able to answer your question, macumazahn. she is tall and slender, beautifully made, and light-coloured for one of us black people. she has large eyes like a buck, and those eyes are full of fire that does not come from the sun but from within. her face is tender yet proud, oh! so proud that she makes me afraid. she wears a cloak of grey fur, and about her neck there is a circlet of big blue beads with which her fingers play. a thought comes from her to me. these are the words of the thought: 'i have waited long in this dark place, watching by day and night till you, the watcher-by-night, return to meet me here. at length you have come, and in this enchanted place my hungry spirit can feed upon your spirit for a while. i thank you for coming, who now am no more lonely. fear nothing, macumazahn, for by a certain kiss i swear to you that till the appointed hour when you become as i am, i will be a shield upon your arm and a spear in your hand.' such are the words of her thought, macumazahn, but she has gone away and i hear no more. it was as though your horse rode over her and she passed through you." then, like one who wished to answer no questions, nombe turned and went back to the cart, where she began to talk indifferently with heda, for as soon as we entered the kloof her servants had drawn back the curtains and let fall the blanket. as for me, i groaned, for of course i knew that zikali, who was well acquainted with the appearance of mameena, had instructed nombe to say all this to me in order to impress my mind for some reason of his own. yet he had done it cleverly, for such words as those mameena might well have uttered could her great spirit have need to walk the earth again. was such a thing possible, i wondered? no, it was not possible, yet it was true that her atmosphere seemed to cling about this place and that my imagination, excited by memory and nombe's suggestions, seemed to apprehend her presence. as i reflected the horse advanced round the little bend in the ever-narrowing cliffs, and there in front of me, under the gigantic mass of overhanging rock, appeared the kraal of zikali surrounded by its reed fence. the gate of the fence was open, and beyond it, on his stool in front of the large hut, sat zikali. even at that distance it was impossible to mistake his figure, which was like no other that i had known in the world. a broad-shouldered dwarf with a huge head, deep, sunken eyes and snowy hair that hung upon his shoulders; the whole frame and face pervaded with an air of great antiquity, and yet owing to the plumpness of the flesh and that freshness of skin which is sometimes seen in the aged, comparatively young-looking. such was the great wizard zikali, known throughout the land for longer than any living man could remember as "opener of roads," a title that referred to his powers of spiritual vision, also as the "thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," a name given to him by chaka, the first and greatest of the zulu kings, because of his deformity. there he sat silent, impassive, staring open-eyed at the red ball of the setting sun, looking more like some unshapely statue than a man. his silent, fierce-faced servants appeared. to me they looked like the same men whom i had seen here three and twenty years before, only grown older. indeed, i think they were, for they greeted me by name and saluted by raising their broad spears. i dismounted and waited while anscombe, whose foot was now quite well again, helped heda from the cart which was led away by the servants. anscombe, who seemed a little oppressed, remarked that this was a strange place. "yes," said heda, "but it is magnificent. i like it." then her eye fell upon zikali seated before the hut and she turned pale. "oh! what a terrible-looking man," she murmured, "if he is a man." the maid kaatje saw him also and uttered a little cry. "don't be frightened, dear," said anscombe, "he is only an old dwarf." "i suppose so," she exclaimed doubtfully, "but to me he is like the devil." nombe slid past us. she threw off the kaross she wore and for the first time appeared naked except for the mucha about her middle and her ornaments. down she went on her hands and knees and in this humble posture crept towards zikali. arriving in front of him she touched the ground with her forehead, then lifting her right arm, gave the salute of makosi, to which as a great wizard he was entitled, being supposed to be the home of many spirits. so far as i could see he took no notice of her. presently she moved and squatted herself down on his right hand, while two of his attendants appeared from behind the hut and took their stand between him and its doorway, holding their spears raised. about a minute later nombe beckoned to us to approach, and we went forward across the courtyard, i a little ahead of the others. as we drew near zikali opened his mouth and uttered a loud and terrifying laugh. how well i remembered that laugh which i had first heard at dingaan's kraal as a boy after the murder of retief and the boers.* [*--see the book called _marie,_ by h. rider haggard.] "i begin to think that you are right and that this old gentleman must be the devil," said anscombe to heda, then lapsed into silence. as i was determined not to speak first i took the opportunity to fill my pipe. zikali, who was watching me, although all the while he seemed to be staring at the setting sun, made a sign. one of the servants dashed away and immediately returned, bearing a flaming brand which he proffered to me as a pipe-lighter. then he departed again to bring three carved stools of red wood which he placed for us. i looked at mine and knew it again by the carvings. it was the same on which i had sat when first i met zikali. at length he spoke in his deep, slow voice. "many years have gone by, macumazahn, since you made use of that stool. they are cut in notches upon the leg you hold and you may count them if you will." i examined the leg. there were the notches, twenty-two or three of them. on the other legs were more notches too numerous to reckon. "do not look at those, macumazahn, for they have nothing to do with you. they tell the years since the first of the house of senzangacona sat upon that stool, since chaka sat upon it, since dingaan and others sat upon it, one mameena among them. well, much has happened since it served you for a rest. you have wandered far and seen strange things and lived where others would have died because it was your lot to live, of all of which we will talk afterwards. and now when you are grey you have come back here, as the opener of roads told you you would do, bringing with you new companions, you who have the art of making friends even when you are old, which is one given to few men. where are those with whom you used to company, macumazahn? where are saduko and mameena and the rest? all gone except the thing-who-should-never-have-been-born," and again he laughed loudly. "and who it seems has never learned when to die," i remarked, speaking for the first time. "just so, macumazahn, because i cannot die until my work is finished. but thanks be to the spirits of my fathers and to my own that i live on to glut with vengeance, the end draws near at last, and as i promised you in the dead days, you shall have your share in it, macumazahn." he paused, then continued, still staring at the sinking sun, which made his remarks about us, whom he did not seem to see, uncanny-- "that white man with you is brave and well-born, one who loves fighting, i think, and the maiden is fair and sweet, with a high spirit. she is thinking to herself that i am an old wizard whom, if she were not afraid of me, she would ask to tell her her fortune. see, she understands and starts. well, perhaps i will one day. meanwhile, here is a little bit of it. she will have five children, of whom two will die and one will give her so much trouble that she will wish it had died also. but who their father will be i do not say. nombe my child, lead away this white one and her woman to the hut that has been made ready for her, for she is weary and would rest. see, too, that she lacks for nothing which we can give her who is our guest. let the white lord, mauriti, accompany her to the hut and be shown that next to it in which he and macumazahn will sleep, so that he may be sure that she is safe, and attend to the horses if he wills. there is a place to tether them behind the huts, and the men who travelled with you will help him. afterwards, when i have spoken with him, macumazahn can join them that they may eat before they sleep." these directions i translated to anscombe, who went gladly enough with heda, for i think they were both afraid of the terrible old dwarf and did not desire his company in the gathering gloom. "the sun sinks once more, macumazahn," he said when they were gone, "and the air grows chill. come with me now into my hut where the fire burns, for i am aged and the cold strikes through me. also there we can be alone." so speaking he turned and crawled into the hut, looking like a gigantic white-headed beetle as he did so, a creature, i remembered, to which i had once compared him in the past. i followed, carrying the historic stool, and when he had seated himself on his kaross on the further side of the fire, took up my position opposite to him. this fire was fed with some kind of root or wood that gave a thin clear flame with little or no smoke. over it he crouched, so closely that his great head seemed to be almost in the flame at which he stared with unblinking eyes as he had done at the sun, circumstances which added to his terrifying appearance and made me think of a certain region and its inhabitants. "why do you come here, macumazahn?" he asked after studying me for a while through that window of fire. "because you brought me, zikali, partly through your messenger, nombe, and partly by means of a dream which she says you sent." "did i, macumazahn? if so, i have forgotten it. dreams are as many as gnats by the water; they bite us while we sleep, but when we wake up we forget them. also it is foolishness to say that one man can send a dream to another." "then your messenger lied, zikali, especially as she added that she brought it." "of course she lied, macumazahn. is she not my pupil whom i have trained from a child? moreover, she lied well, it would seem, who guessed what sort of a dream you would have when you thought of turning your steps to zululand." "why do you play at sticks (i.e., fence) with me, zikali, seeing that neither of us are children?" "o macumazahn, that is where you are mistaken, seeing that both of us, old though we be and cunning though we think ourselves, are nothing but babes in the arms of fate. well, well, i will tell you the truth, since it would be foolish to try to throw dust into such eyes as yours. i knew that you were down in sekukuni's country and i was watching you--through my spies. you have been nowhere during all these years that i was not watching you--through my spies. for instance, that arab-looking man named harut, whom first you met at a big kraal in a far country, was a spy of mine. he has visited me lately and told me much of your doings. no, don't ask me of him now who would talk to you of other matters--" "does harut still live then, and has he found a new god in place of the ivory child?" i interrupted. "macumazahn, if he did not live, how could he visit and speak with me? well, i watched you there by the oliphant's river where you fought sekukuni's people, and afterwards in the marble hut where you found the old white man dead in his chair and got the writings that you have in your pocket which concern the maiden heddana; also afterwards when the white man, your friend, killed the doctor who fell into a mud hole and the basutos stole his cattle and wagon." "how do you know all these things, zikali?" "have i not told you--through my spies. was there not a half-breed driver called footsack, and do not the basutos come and go between the black kloof and sekukuni's town, bearing me tidings?" "yes, zikali, and so does the wind and so do the birds." "true! o macumazahn, i see that you are one who has watched nature and its ways as closely as my spies watch you. so i learned these matters and knew that you were in trouble over the death of these white men, and your friends likewise, and as you were always dear to me, i sent that child nombe to bring you to me, thinking from what i knew of you that you would be more likely to follow a woman who is both wise and good to look at, than a man who might be neither. i told her to say to you that you and the others would be safer here than in natal at present. it seems that you hearkened and came. that is all." "yes, i hearkened and came. but, zikali, that is not all, for you know well that you sent for me for your own sake, not for mine." "o macumazahn, who can prevent a needle from piercing cloth when it is pushed by a finger like yours? your wits are too sharp for me, macumazahn; your eyes read through the blanket of cunning with which i would hide my thought. you speak truly. i did send for you for my own sake as well as for yours. i sent for you because i wanted your counsel, macumazahn, and because cetewayo the king also wants your counsel, and i wished to see you before you saw cetewayo. now you have the whole truth." "what do you want my counsel about, zikali?" he leaned forward till his white locks almost seemed to mingle with the thin flame, through which he glared at me with eyes that were fiercer than the fire. "macumazahn, you remember the story that i told you long ago, do you not?" "very well, zikali. it was that you hate the house of senzangacona which has given all its kings to zululand. first, because you are one of the dwandwe tribe whom the zulus crushed and mocked at. secondly, because chaka the lion named you the 'thing-that-should-never-have-been-born' and killed your wives, for which crime you brought about the death of chaka. thirdly, because you have matched your single wit for many years against all the power of the royal house and yet kept your life in you, notably when panda threatened you in my presence at the trial of one who has 'gone down,' and you told him to kill you if he dared. now you would prove that you were right by causing your cunning to triumph over the royal house." "true, quite true, o macumazahn. you have a good memory, macumazahn, especially for anything that has to do with that woman who has 'gone down.' i sent her down, but how was she named, macumazahn? i forget, i forget, whose mind being old, falls suddenly into black pits of darkness--like her who went down." he paused and we stared at each other through the veil of fire. then as i made no answer, he went on-- "oh! i remember now, she was called mameena, was she not, a name taken from the wailing of the wind? hark! it is wailing now." i listened; it was, and i shivered to hear it, since but a minute before the night had been quite still. yes, the wind moaned and wailed about the rocks of the black kloof. "well, enough of her. why trouble about the dead when there are so many to be sent to join them? macumazahn, the hour is at hand. the fool cetewayo has quarrelled with your people, the english, and on my counsel. he has sent and killed women, or allowed others to do so, across the river in natal. his messengers came to me asking what he should do. i answered, 'shall a king of the blood of chaka fear to allow his own wicked ones to be slain because they have stepped across a strip of water, and still call himself king of the zulus?' so those women were dragged back across the water and killed; and now the queen's man from the cape asks many things, great fines of cattle, the giving up of the slayers, and that an end should be made of the zulu army, which is to lay down its spears and set to hoeing like the old women in the kraals." "and if the king refuses, what then, zikali?" "then, macumazahn, the queen's man will declare war on the zulus; already he gathers his soldiers for the war." "will cetewayo refuse, zikali?" "i do not know. his mind swings this way and that, like a pole balanced on a rock. the ends of the pole are weighted with much counsel, and it hangs so even that if a grasshopper lit on one end or the other, it would turn the scale." "and do you wish me to be that grasshopper, zikali?" "who else? that is why i brought you to zululand." "so you wish me to counsel cetewayo to lie down in the bed that the english have made for him. if he seeks my advice i will do so gladly, for so i am sure he will sleep well." "why do you mock me, macumazahn? i wish you to counsel cetewayo to throw back his word into the teeth of the queen's man and to fight the english." "and thus bring destruction on the zulus and death to thousands of them and of my own people, and in return gain nothing but remorse. do you think me mad or wicked, or both, that i should do this thing?" "nay, macumazahn, you would gain much. i could show you where the king's cattle are hidden. the english will never find them, and after the war you might take as many as you chose. but it would be useless, for knowing you well, i am sure that you would only hand them over to the british government, as once you handed over the cattle of bangu, being fashioned that way by the great-great, macumazahn." "perhaps i might, but then what should i gain, zikali?" "this: you would so bring things about that, being broken by war, the zulu power could never again menace the white men, which would be a great and good deed, macumazahn." "mayhap--i am not sure. but of this i am sure, that i will not thrust my face into your nest of wasps, that the english hornets may steal the honey when they are disturbed. i leave such matters to the queen and those who rule under her. so have done with such talk, for you do but waste your breath, zikali." "it is as i guessed it would be," he answered, shaking his great head. "you are too honest to prosper in the world, macumazahn. well, i must find other means to bring the house of cetewayo to the end that he deserves, who has been an evil and a cruel king." all this he said, showing neither surprise nor resentment, which convinced me of what i had suspected throughout, that never for an instant did he believe that i should fall in with his suggestions and try to influence the zulus to declare war. no, this talk of his was but a blind; there was some deeper scheme at work in his cunning old brain which he was hiding from me. why exactly had he beguiled me to zululand? i could not divine, and to ask him would be worse than useless, but then and there i made up my mind that i would get away from the black kloof early on the following morning, if that were possible. he began to speak of other matters in a low, droning voice, like a man who converses with himself. sad, all of them, such as the haunted death of saduko who had betrayed his lord, the prince umbelazi, because of a woman, every circumstance of which seemed to be familiar to him. i made no answer, who was waiting for an opportunity to leave the hut, and did not care to dwell on these events. he ceased and brooded for a while, then said suddenly-- "you are hungry and would eat, macumazahn, and i who eat little would sleep, for in sleep the multitudes of spirits visit me, bringing tidings from afar. well, we have spoken together and of that i am glad, for who knows when the chance will come again, though i think that soon we shall meet at ulundi, ulundi where fate spreads its net. what was it i had to say to you? ah! i remember. there is one who is always in your thoughts and whom you wish to see, one too who wishes to see you. you shall, you shall in payment for the trouble you have taken in coming so far to visit a poor old zulu doctor whom, as you told me long ago, you know to be nothing but a cheat." he paused and, why i could not tell, i grew weak with fear of i knew not what, and bethought me of flight. "it is cold in this hut, is it not?" he went on. "burn up, fire, burn up!" and plunging his hand into a catskin bag of medicines which he wore, he drew out some powder which he threw upon the embers that instantly burst into bright flame. "look now, macumazahn," he said, "look to your right." i looked and oh heaven! there before me with outstretched arms and infinite yearning on her face, stood mameena, mameena as i had last seen her after i gave her the promised kiss that she used to cover her taking of the poison. for five seconds, mayhap, she stood thus, living, wonderful, but still as death, the fierce light showing all. then the flame died down again and she was gone. i turned and next instant was out of the hut, pursued by the terrible laughter of zikali. chapter xii trapped outside in the cool night air i recovered myself, sufficiently at any rate to be able to think, and saw at once that the thing was an illusion for which zikali had prepared my mind very carefully by means of the young witch-doctoress, nombe. he knew well enough that this remarkable woman, mameena, had made a deep impression on me nearly a quarter of a century before, as she had done upon other men with whom she had been associated. therefore it was probable that she would always be present to my thought, since whatever a man forgets, he remembers the women who have shown him favour, true or false, for nature has decreed it thus. moreover, this was one to be remembered for herself, since she was beautiful and most attractive in her wild way. also she had brought about a great war, causing the death of thousands, and lastly her end might fairly be called majestic. all these impressions zikali had instructed nombe to revivify by her continual allusions to mameena, and lastly by her pretence that she saw her walking in front of me. then when i was tired and hungry, in that place which for me was so closely connected with this woman, and in his own uncanny company, either by mesmerism or through the action of the drug he threw upon the fire, he had succeeded in calling up the illusion of her presence to my charmed sight. all this was clear enough, what remained obscure was his object. possibly he had none beyond an impish desire to frighten me, which is common enough among practitioners of magic in all lands. well, for a little while he had succeeded, although to speak truth i remained uncertain whether in a sense i was not more thrilled and rejoiced than frightened. mameena had never been so ill to look upon, and i knew that dead or living i had nothing to fear from her who would have walked through hell fire for my sake, would have done anything, except perhaps sacrifice her ambition. no, even if this were her ghost i should have been glad to see her again. but it was not a ghost; it was only a fancy reproduced exactly as my mind had photographed her, almost as my eyes last saw her, when her kiss was still warm upon my lips. such were my thoughts as i stood outside that hut with the cold perspiration running down my face, for to tell the truth my nerves were upset, although without reason. so upset were they that when suddenly a silent-footed man appeared out of the darkness i jumped as high as though i had set my foot on a puff-adder, and until i recognized him by his voice as one of nombe's servants who had accompanied us from swazi-land, felt quite alarmed. as a matter of fact he had only come to tell me that our meal was ready and that the other "high white ones" were waiting for me. he led me round the fence that encircled zikali's dwelling-place, to two huts that stood nearly behind it, almost against the face of the rock which, overhanging in a curve, formed a kind of natural roof above them. i thought they must have been built since i visited the place, as i, who have a good memory for such things, did not remember them. indeed, on subsequent examination i found that they were quite new, for the poles that formed their uprights were still green and the grass of the thatch was scarcely dry. it looked to me as if they had been specially constructed for our accommodation. in one of these huts, that to the right which was allotted to anscombe and myself, i found the others waiting for me, also the food. it was good of its sort and well cooked, and we ate it by the light of some candles that we had with us, kaatje serving us. yet, although a little while before i had been desperately hungry, now my appetite seemed to have left me and i made but a poor meal. heda and anscombe also seemed oppressed and ate sparingly. we did not talk much until kaatje had taken away the tin plates and gone to eat her own supper by a fire that burned outside the hut. then heda broke out, saying that she was terrified of this place and especially of its master, the old dwarf, and felt sure that something terrible was going to happen to her. anscombe did his best to calm her, and i also told her she had nothing to fear. "if there is nothing to fear, mr. quatermain," she answered, turning on me, "why do you look so frightened yourself? by your face you might have seen a ghost." this sudden and singularly accurate thrust, for after all i had seen something that looked very like a ghost, startled me, and before i could invent any soothing and appropriate fib, nombe appeared, saying that she had come to lead heda to her sleeping-place. after this further conversation was impossible since, although nombe knew but few words of english, she was a great thought-reader and i feared to speak of anything secret in her presence. so we all went out of the hut, nombe and i drawing back a little to the fire while the lovers said good-night to each other. "nombe," i said, "the inkosikazi heddana is afraid. the rocks of this kloof lie heavy on her heart; the face of the opener of roads is fearful to her and his laughter grates upon her ears. do you understand?" "i understand, macumazahn, and it is as i expected. when you yourself are frightened it is natural that she, an untried maiden, should be frightened also in this home of spirits." "it is men we fear, not spirits, now when all zululand is boiling like a pot," i replied angrily. "have it as you will, macumazahn," she said, and at that moment her quiet, searching eyes and fixed smile were hateful to me. "at least you admit that you do fear. well, for the lady heddana fear nothing. i sleep across the door of her hut, and while i who have learned to love her, live, i say--for her fear nothing, whatever may chance or whatever you may see or hear." "i believe you, but, nombe, you might die." "yes, i may die, but be sure of this, that when i die she will be safe, and he who loves her also. sleep well, macumazahn, and do not dream too much of what you heard and saw in zikali's house." then before i could speak she turned and left me. i did _not_ sleep well; i slept very badly. to begin with, maurice anscombe, generally the most cheerful and nonchalant of mortals with a jest for every woe, was in a most depressed condition, and informed me of it several times, while i was getting ready to turn in. he said he thought the place hateful and felt as if people he could not see were looking at him (i had the same sensation but did not mention the fact to him). when i told him he was talking stuff, he only replied that he could not help it, and pointed out that it was not his general habit to be downcast in any danger, which was quite true. now, he added, he was enjoying much the same sensations as he did when first he saw the yellow-wood swamp and got the idea into his head that he would kill some one there, which happened in due course. "do you mean that you think you are going to kill somebody else?" i asked anxiously. "no," he answered, "i think i am going to be killed, or something like it, probably by that accursed old villain of a witch-doctor, who i don't believe is altogether human." "others have thought that before now, anscombe, and to be plain, i don't know that he is. he lives too much with the dead to be like other people." "and with satan, to whom i expect he makes sacrifices. the truth is i'm afraid of his playing some of his tricks with heda. it is for her i fear, not for myself, allan. oh! why on earth did you come here?" "because you wished it and it seemed the safest thing to do. look here, my boy, as usual the trouble comes through a woman. when a man's single--you know the rest. you used to be able to laugh at anything, but now that you are practically double you can't laugh any more. well, that's the common lot of man and you've got to put up with it. adam was pretty jolly in his garden until eve was started, but you know what happened afterwards. the rest of his life was a compound of temptation, anxiety, family troubles, remorse, hard labour with primitive instruments, and a flaming sword behind him. if you had left your eve alone you would have escaped all this. but you see you didn't, and as a matter of fact, nobody ever does who is worth his salt, for nature has arranged it so." "you appear to talk with experience, allan," he retorted blandly. "by the way, that girl nombe, when she isn't star-gazing or muttering incantations, is always trying to explain to heda some tale about you and a lady called mameena. i gather that you were introduced to her in this neighbourhood where, nombe says, you were in the habit of kissing her in public, which sounds an odd kind of a thing to do; all of which happened before she, nombe, was born. she adds, according to kaatje's interpretation, that you met her again this afternoon, which, as i understand the young woman has been long dead, seems so incomprehensible that i wish you would explain." "with reference to heda," i said, ignoring the rest as unworthy of notice, "i think you may make your mind easy. zikali knows that she is in my charge and i don't believe that he wants to quarrel with me. still, as you are uncomfortable here, the best thing to do will be to get away as early as possible to-morrow morning, where to we can decide afterwards. and now i am going to sleep, so please stop arguing." as i have already hinted, my attempts in the sleep line proved a failure, for whenever i did drop off i was pursued by bad dreams, which resulted from lying down so soon after supper. i heard the cries of desperate men in their mortal agony. i saw a rain-swollen river; its waters were red with blood. i beheld a vision of one who i knew by his dress to be a zulu king, although i could not see his face. he was flying and staggering with weariness as he fled. a great hound followed him. it lifted its head from the spoor; it was that of zikali set upon the hound's body, zikali who laughed instead of baying. then one whose copper ornaments tinkled as she walked, entered beside me, whispering into my ear. "a quarter of a hundred years have gone by since we talked together in this haunted kloof," she seemed to whisper, "and before we talk again face to face there remain to pass of years"-- here she ceased, though naturally i should have liked to hear the number. but that is just where dreams break down. they tell us only of what we know, or can evolve therefrom. of what it is impossible for us to know they tell us nothing--at least as a general rule. i woke up with a start, and feeling stifled in that hot place and aggravated by the sound of anscombe's peaceful breathing, threw a coat about me and, removing the door-board, crept into the air. the night was still, the stars shone, and at a little distance the embers of the fire still glowed. by it was seated a figure wrapped in a kaross. the end of a piece of wood that the fire had eaten through fell on to the red ashes and flamed up brightly. by its light i saw that the figure was nombe's. the eternal smile was still upon her face, the smile which suggested a knowledge of hidden things that from moment to moment amused her soul. her lips moved as though she were talking to an invisible companion, and from time to time, like one who acts upon directions, she took a pinch of ashes and blew them, either towards heda's hut or ours. yes, she did this when all decent young women should have been asleep, like one who keeps some unholy, midnight assignation. talking with her master, zikali, or trying to cast spells upon us, confound her! thought i to myself, and very silently crept back into the hut. afterwards it occurred to me that she might have had another motive, namely of watching to see that none of us left the huts. the rest of the night went by somehow. once, listening with all my ears, i thought that i caught the sound of a number of men tramping and of some low word of command, but as i heard no more, concluded that fancy had deceived me. there i lay, puzzling over the situation till my head ached, and wondering how we were to get clear of the black kloof and zikali, and out of zululand which i gathered was no place for white people at the moment. it seemed to me that the only thing was to make start for dundee on the natal border, and for the rest to trust to fortune. if we got into trouble over the death of rodd, unpleasant as this would be, the matter must be faced out, that was all. for even if any witness appeared against us, the man had been killed in self-defence whilst trying to bring about our deaths at the hands of basutos. i could see now that i was foolish not to have taken this line from the first, but as i think i have already explained, what weighed with me was the terror of involving these young people in a scandal which might shadow all their future lives. also some fate inch by inch had dragged me into zululand. fortunately in life there are few mistakes, and even worse than mistakes that cannot be repaired, if the wish towards reparation is real and earnest. were it otherwise not many of us would escape destruction in one form or another. thus i reflected until at length light flowing faintly through the smoke-hole of the hut told me that dawn was at hand. seeing it i rose quietly, for i did not wish to wake anscombe, dressed and left the hut. my object was to find nombe, who i hoped would be still sitting by the fire, and send her to zikali with a message that i wished to speak with him at once. glancing round me in the grey dawn i saw that she was gone and that as yet no one seemed to be stirring. hearing a horse snort at a little distance, i made my way towards the sound and in a little bay of the overhanging cliff discovered the cart and near by our beasts tied up with a plentiful supply of forage. since so far as i could judge in that uncertain light, nothing seemed to be wrong with them except weariness, for three of them were still lying down, i walked on to the gate of the fence which surrounded zikali's big hut, proposing to wait there until some one appeared by whom i could send my message. i reached the gate which i tried and found to be fastened on its inner side. then i sat down, lit my pipe and waited. it was extraordinarily lonesome in that place; at least this was the feeling that came over me. no doubt the sun was up behind the ceza stronghold that i have mentioned, which towered high behind me, for the sky above grew light with the red rays of its rising. but all the vast black kloof with its huge fantastic rocks was still plunged in gloom, whereof the shadows seemed to oppress my heart, weary as i was with my wakeful night and many anxieties. i was horribly nervous also and, as it proved, not without reason. presently i heard rustlings on the further side of the fence as of people creeping about cautiously, and the sound of whispering. then of a sudden the gate was thrown open and through it emerged about a dozen zulu warriors, all of them ringed men, who instantly surrounded me, seated there upon the ground. i looked at them and they looked at me for quite a long while, since following my usual rule, i determined not to be the first to speak. moreover, if they meant to kill me there was no use in speaking. at length their leader, an elderly man with thin legs, a large stomach and a rather pleasant countenance, saluted politely, saying-- "good morning, o macumazahn." "good morning, o captain, whose name and business i do not know," i answered. "the winds know the mountain on which they blow, but the mountain does not know the winds which it cannot see," he remarked with poetical courtesy; a zulu way of saying that more people are acquainted with tom fool than tom fool is aware of. "perhaps, captain; yet the mountain can feel the winds," and i might have added, smell them, for the kloof was close and these kaffirs had not recently bathed. "i am named goza and come on an errand from the king, o macumazahn." "indeed, goza, and is your errand to cut my throat?" "not at present, macumazahn, that is, unless you refuse to do what the king wishes." "and what does the king wish, goza?" "he wishes, macumazahn, that you, his friend, should visit him." "which is just what i was on my way to do, goza." (this was not true, but it didn't matter, for, if a lie, in the words of the schoolgirl's definition, is an abomination to the lord, it is a very present help in time of trouble.) "after we have eaten i and my friends will accompany you to the king's kraal at ulundi." "not so, macumazahn. the king said nothing about your friends, of whom i do not think he has ever heard any more than we have. moreover, if your friends are white, you will do well not to mention them, since the order is that all white people in zululand who have not come here by the king's desire, are to be killed at once, except yourself, macumazahn." "is it so, goza? well, as you will have understood, i am quite alone here and have no friends. only i did not wish to travel so early." "of course we understand that you are quite alone and have no friends, is it not so, my brothers?" "yes, yes, we understand," they exclaimed in chorus, one of them adding, "and shall so report to the king." "what kind of blankets do you like; the plain grey ones or the white ones with the blue stripes?" i asked, desiring to confirm them in this determination. "the grey ones are warmer, macumazahn, and do not show dirt so much," answered goza thoughtfully. "good, i will remember when i have the chance." "the promise of macumazahn is known from of old to be as a tree that elephants cannot pull down and white ants will not eat," said the sententious goza, thereby intimating his belief that some time or other they would receive those blankets. as a matter of fact the survivors of the party and the families of the others did receive them after the war, for in dealing with natives i have always made a point of trying to fulfil any promise or engagement made for value received. "and now," went on goza, "will the inkosi be pleased to start, as we have to travel far to-day?" "impossible," i replied. "before i leave i must eat, for who can journey upon yesterday's food? also i must saddle my horse, collect what belongs to me, and bid farewell to my host, zikali." "of meat we have plenty with us, macumazahn, and therefore you will not hunger on the way. your horse and everything that is yours shall be brought after you; since were you mounted on that swift beast and minded to escape, how could we catch you with our feet, and did you please to shoot us with your rifle, how could we who have only spears, save ourselves from dying? as for the opener of roads, his servants have told us that he means to sleep all to-day that he may talk with spirits in his dreams, and therefore it is useless for you to wait to bid him farewell. moreover, the orders of the king are that we should bring you to him at once." after this for a time there was silence, while i sat immovable revolving the situation, and the zulus regarded me with a benignant interest. goza took his snuff-box from his ear, shook out some into the palm of his hand and, after offering it to me in vain, inhaled it himself. "the orders of the king are (sneeze) that we should bring you to him alive if possible, and if not (sneeze) dead. choose which you will, macumazahn. perhaps you may prefer to go to ulundi dead, which would--ah! how strong is this snuff, it makes me weep like a woman--save you the trouble of walking. but if you prefer that we should carry you, be so good, macumazahn, first to write the words which will cause the grey blankets to be delivered to us, for we know well that even your bones would desire to keep your promise. is it not a proverb in the land from the time of the slaying of bangu when you gave the cattle you had earned to saduko's wanderers?" i listened and an idea occurred to me, as perhaps it had to goza. "i hear you, goza," i said, "and i will start for ulundi on my feet--to save _you_ the trouble of carrying me. but as the times are rough and accidents may always happen; as, too, i wish to make sure that you should get those blankets, and it may chance that i shall arrive there on my back, first i will write words which, if they are delivered to the witch-doctoress nombe, will, sooner or later, turn into blankets." "write the words quickly, macumazahn, and they will be delivered," said goza. so i drew out my pocket-book and wrote-- "dear anscombe,-- "there is treachery afoot and i think that zikali is at the bottom of it. i am being carried off to cetewayo at ulundi, by a party of armed zulus who will not allow me to communicate with you, probably by zikali's orders. you must do the best you can for heda and yourself. escape to natal if you are able. of course i will help if i get the chance, but if war is about to break out cetewayo may kill me. i think that you can trust nombe; also that zikali does not wish to work you any ill unless he is obliged, though i have no doubt that he has trapped us here for some dark purpose of his own. tell him through nombe that if harm comes to you i will kill him if i live, and that if i die, i will settle the score with him afterwards. god save and bless you both. keep up your courage and use your wits. "your friend, "a. q." i tore out the sheet, folded, addressed it and presented it to goza, remarking that although it seemed to be but paper, it really was fourteen blankets--if given at once to nombe. he nodded and handed it to one of his men, who departed in the direction of our huts. so, thought i to myself, nombe knows all about this business, which means that it is being worked by zikali. that is why she spoke to me as she did last night. "it is time to start, macumazahn, and i think you told us that you would prefer to do so on your feet," said goza, looking suggestively at his spear. "i am ready," i said, rising because i must. for a moment i contemplated the door in the kraal fence, wondering whether it would be safe to bolt through it and take refuge with zikali. no, it was not safe, since zikali sat there in his hut pulling the strings and probably might refuse to see me. moreover, it was likely enough that before i could find him one of those broad spears would find my heart. there was nothing to be done except submit. still i did call out in a loud voice-- "farewell, zikali. i leave you without a present against my will who am being taken by soldiers to visit the king at ulundi. when we meet again i will talk all this matter over with you." there was no answer, and as goza took the opportunity to say that he disliked the noise of shouting extremely, which sometimes made him do things that he afterwards regretted, i became silent. then we departed, i in the exact centre of that guard of zulus, heavy-hearted and filled with fears both for myself and those i left behind me. down the black kloof we tramped, emerging on the sunlit plain beyond without meeting any one. a couple of miles further on we came to a small stream where goza announced we would halt to eat. so we ate of cold toasted meat which one of the men produced from a basket he carried, unpalatable food but better than nothing. just as we had finished i looked up and saw the soldier to whom my note had been given. he was leading my mare that had been saddled. on it were my large saddle-bags packed with my belongings, also my thick overcoat, mackintosh, waterbottle, and other articles down to a bag of tobacco, a spare pipe and a box of wax matches. moreover, the man carried my double-barrelled express rifle and a shot-gun that could be used for ball, together with two bags of cartridges. practically nothing belonging to me had been forgotten. i asked him who had collected the things. he replied the doctress nombe had done so and had brought him the horse saddled to carry them. he did not know who saddled the horse as he had seen no one but nombe to whom he had given the writing which she hid away. in answer to further questions, he said that nombe had sent me a message. it was-- "i bid farewell to macumazahn for a little while and wish him good fortune till we meet again. let him not be afraid in the battle, for even if he is hurt it will not be to death, since those go with him whom he cannot see, and protect him with their shields. say to macumazahn that i, nombe, remember in the morning what i said in the night and that what seems to be quite lost is ofttimes found again. wish him good fortune and tell him i am sorry that i had not time to cause his spare garments to be cleansed with water, but that i have been careful to find his little box with the white man's medicines." i could extract nothing more from this soldier, who was either very stupid, or chose to appear so; nor indeed did i dare to put direct questions about the cart and those who travelled in it. soon we marched again, for goza would not allow me to ride the horse, fearing that i should escape on it. nor would he let me carry either of the guns lest i should make use of them. all day we travelled, reaching the nongoma heights in the late afternoon. on this beautiful spot we found a kraal situated where afterwards a magistracy was built when we conquered the country, whence there is one of the finest views in zululand. there was no one in the kraal except two old women who appeared to be deaf and dumb for all i could get out of them. these aged dames, however, or others who were hidden, had made ready for our arrival, since a calf lay skinned and prepared for cooking, and by it big gourds filled with kaffir beer and "maas" or curdled milk. in due course we ate of these provisions, and after we had finished i gave goza a stiff tot of brandy, of which nombe, or perhaps anscombe, had thoughtfully sent a bottle with my other baggage. the strong liquor made the old fellow talkative and enabled me to get a good deal of information out of him. thus i learned that certain demands, as to which he was rather vague, had been made upon cetewayo by the english government, and that the king was now considering whether he should accede to them or fight. the great council of the nation was summoned to attend at ulundi within a few days, when the matter would be decided. meanwhile all the regiments were being gathered, or, as we should say, mobilized; an army, said goza, greater than any that chaka had ever led. i asked him what i had to do with this business, that i, a peaceful traveller and an old friend of the zulus, should be made prisoner and dragged off to ulundi. he replied he did not know who was not in the council of the high ones, but he thought that cetewayo the king wished to see me because i was their friend, perhaps that he might send me as a messenger to the white people. i asked him how the king knew that i was in the country, to which he replied that zikali had told him i was coming, he did not know how, whereon he, goza, was sent at once to fetch me. i could get no more out of him. i wondered if it would be worth while to make him quite drunk and then attempt to escape on the horse, but gave up the idea. to begin with, his men were at hand and there was not enough brandy to make them all drunk. also even if i succeeded in winning away here in the heart of zululand, it would not help anscombe or heda and i should probably be cut off and killed before i could get out of the country. so i abandoned the plan and went to sleep instead. next morning we left nongoma early in the hope of reaching ulundi that evening if the ivuna and black umfolozi rivers proved fordable. as it chanced, although they were high, we were able to cross them, i seated on the horse which two of the zulus led. next we tramped for miles through the terrible bekameezi valley, a hot and desolate place which the zulus swear is haunted. so unhealthy is this valley, which is the home of large game, that whole kraals full of people who have tried to cultivate the rich land, have died in it of fever, or fled away leaving their crops unreaped. now no man dwells there. after this we climbed a terrible mount to the high land of mahlabatini, and having eaten, pushed on once more. at length we sighted the great hill-encircled plain of ulundi which may be called the cradle of the zulu race as, politically speaking, it was destined to be its coffin. on the ridge to the west once stood the nobamba kraal where dwelt senzangacona, the father of chaka the lion. nearer to the white umfolozi was panda's dwelling-place, nodwengu, which once i knew so well, while on the slope of the hills of the north-east stood the town of ulundi in which cetewayo dwelt, bathed in the lights of sunset. indeed it and all the vast plain were red as though with blood, red as they were destined to be on the coming day of the last battle of the zulus. chapter xiii cetewayo it was dark when at last we reached the ulundi kraal, for the growing moon was obscured by clouds. therefore i could see nothing and was only aware, by the sound of voices and the continual challenging, that we were passing through great numbers of men. at length we were admitted at the eastern gate and i was taken to a hut where i at once flung myself down to sleep, being so weary that i could not attempt to eat. next morning as i was finishing my breakfast in the little fenced courtyard of this guest-hut, goza appeared and said that the king commanded me to be brought to him at once, adding that i must "speak softly" to him, as he was "very angry." so off we went across the great cattle kraal where a regiment of young men, two thousand strong or so, were drilling with a fierce intensity which showed they knew that they were out for more than exercise. about the sides of the kraal also stood hundreds of soldiers, all of them talking and, it seemed to me, excited, for they stamped upon the ground and even jumped into the air to give point to their arguments. suddenly some of them caught sight of me, whereon a tall, truculent fellow called out-- "what does a white man at ulundi at such a time, when even john dunn dare not come? let us kill him and send his head as a present to the english general across the tugela. that will settle this long talk about peace or war." others of a like mind echoed this kind proposal, with the result that presently a score or so of them made a rush at me, brandishing their sticks, since they might not carry arms in the royal kraal. goza did his best to keep them off, but was swept aside like a feather, or rather knocked over, for i saw him on his back with his thin legs in the air. "you must climb out of this pit by yourself," he began, addressing me in his pompous and figurative way. then somebody stamped on his face, and fixing his teeth in his assailant's heel, he grew silent for a while. the truculent blackguard, who was about six feet three high and had a mouth like a wolf's throat, arrived in front of me and, bending down, roared out-- "we are going to kill you, white man." i had a pistol in my pocket and could perfectly well have killed him, as i was much tempted to do. a second's reflection showed me, however, that this would be useless, and in a sense put me in the wrong, though when the matter came on for argument it would interest me no more. so i just folded my arms and, looking up at him, said-- "why, black man?" "because your face is white," he roared. "no," i answered, "because your heart is black and your eyes are so full of blood that you do not know macumazahn when you see him." "wow!" said one, "it is watcher-by-night whom our fathers knew before us. leave him alone." "no," shouted the great fellow, "i will send him to watch where it is always night, i who keep a club for white rats," and he brandished his stick over me. now my temper rose. watching my opportunity, i stretched out my right foot and hooked him round the ankle, at the same time striking up with all my force. my fist caught him beneath the chin and over he went backwards sprawling on the ground. "son of a dog!" i said, "if a single stick touches me, at least you shall go first," and whipping out my revolver, i pointed it at him. he lay quiet enough, but how the matter would have ended i do not know, for passion was running high, had not goza at this moment risen with a bleeding nose and called out-- "o fools, would you kill the king's guest to whom the king himself has given safe-conduct. surely you are pots full of beer, not men." "why not?" answered one. "this is the place of soldiers. the king's house is yonder. give the old jackal a start of a length of ten assegais. if he reaches it first, he can shake hands with his friend, the king. if not we will make him into medicine." "yes, yes, run for it, jackal," clamoured the others, knocking their shields with their sticks, as men do who would frighten a buck, and opening out to make a road for me. now while all this was going on, with some kind of sixth sense i had noted a big man whose face was shrouded by a blanket thrown over his head, who very quietly had joined these drunken rioters, and vaguely wondered who he might be. "i will not run," i said slowly, "that i may be saved by the king. nay, i will die here, though some of you shall die first. go to the king, goza, and tell him how his servants have served his guest," and i lifted my pistol, waiting till the first stick touched me to put a bullet through the bully on the ground. "there is no need," said a deep voice that proceeded from the draped man of whom i have spoken, "for the king has come to see for himself." then the blanket was thrown back, revealing cetewayo grown fat and much aged since last i saw him, but undoubtedly cetewayo. "bayete!" roared the mob in salute, while some of those who had been most active in the tumult tried to slip away. "let no man stir," said cetewayo, and they stood as though they were rooted to the ground, while i slipped my pistol back into my pocket. "who are you, white man?" he asked, looking at me, "and what do you here?" "the king should know macumazahn," i answered, lifting my hat, "whom dingaan knew, whom panda knew well, and whom the king knew before he was a king." "yes, i know you," he answered, "although since we spoke together you have shrunk like an oxhide in the sun, and time has stained your beard white." "and the king has grown fat like the ox on summer grass. as for what i do here, did not the king send for me by goza, and was i not brought like a baby in a blanket." "the last time we met," he went on, taking no heed of my words, "was yonder at nodwengu when the witch mameena was tried for sorcery, she who made my brother mad and brought about the great battle, in which you fought for him with the amawombe regiment. do you not remember how she kissed you, macumazahn, and took poison between the kisses, and how before she grew silent she spoke evil words to me, saying that i was doomed to pull down my own house and to die as she died, words that have haunted me ever since and now haunt me most of all? i wish to speak to you concerning them, macumazahn, for it is said in the land that this beautiful witch loved you alone and that you only knew her mind." i made no reply, who was heartily tired of this subject of mameena whom no one seemed able to forget. "well," he went on, "we will talk of that matter alone, since it is not natural that you should wish to speak of your dead darlings before the world," and with a wave of the hand he put the matter aside. then suddenly his attitude changed. his face, that had been thoughtful and almost soft, became fierce, his form seemed to swell and he grew terrible. "what was that dog doing?" he asked of goza, pointing to the brute whom i had knocked down and who still lay prostrate on his back, afraid to stir. "o king," answered goza, "he was trying to kill macumazahn because he is a white man, although i told him that he was your guest, being brought to you by the royal command. he was trying to kill him by giving him a start of ten spears' length and making him run to the isigodhlo (the king's house) and beating him to death with the sticks of these men if they caught him, which, as he is old and they are young, they must have done. only the watcher-by-night would not run; no, although he is so small he knocked him to the earth with his fist, and there he lies. that is all, o king." "rise, dog," said cetewayo, and the man rose trembling with fear, and, being bidden, gave his name, which i forget. "listen, dog," went on the king in the same cold voice. "what goza says is true, for i saw and heard it all with my eyes and ears. you would have made yourself as the king. you dared to try to kill the king's guest to whom he had given safe-conduct, and to stain the king's doorposts with his blood, thereby defiling his house and showing him to the white people as a murderer of one of them whom he had promised to protect. macumazahn, do _you_ say how he shall die, and i will have it done." "i do not wish him to die," i answered, "i think that he and those with him were drunk. let him go, o king." "aye, macumazahn, i will let him go. see now, we are in the centre of the cattle-kraal, and to the eastern gate is as far as to the isigodhlo. let this man have a start of ten spears' length and run to the eastern gate, as he would have made macumazahn run to the king's house, and let his companions, those who would have hunted macumazahn, hunt him. "if he wins through to the gate he can go on to the government in natal and tell them of the cruelty of the zulus. only then, let those who hunted him be brought before me for trial and perhaps we shall see how _they_ can run." now the poor wretch caught hold of my hand, begging me to intercede for him, but soldiers who had come up dragged him away and, having measured the distance allowed him, set him on a mark made upon the ground. presently at a word off he sped like an arrow, and after him went his friends, ten or more of them. i think they caught him just by the gate doubling like a hare, or so the shouts of laughter from the watching regiment told me, for myself i would not look. "that dog ate his own stomach," said cetewayo grimly, thereby indicating in native fashion that the biter had been bit or the engineer hoist with his petard. "it is long since there has been a war in the land, and some of these young soldiers who have never used an assegai save to skin an ox or cut the head from a chicken, shout too loud and leap too high. now they will be quieter, and while you stay here you may walk where you will in safety, macumazahn," he added thoughtfully. then dismissing the matter from his mind, as we white people dismiss any trivial incident in a morning stroll, he talked for a few minutes to the commanding officer of the regiment that was drilling, who ran up to make some report to him, and walked back towards the isigodhlo, beckoning me to follow with goza. after waiting for a little while outside the gate in the surrounding fence, a body-servant ordered us to enter, which we did to find the king seated on the shady side of his big hut quite alone. at a sign i also sat myself down upon a stool that had been set for me, while goza, whose nose was still bleeding, squatted at my side. "your manners are not so good as they were once, macumazahn," said cetewayo presently, "or perhaps you have been so long away from the royal kraal that you have forgotten its customs." i stared at him, wondering what he could mean, whereon he added with a laugh-- "what is that in your pocket? is it not a loaded pistol, and do you not remember that it is death to appear before the king armed? now i might kill you and have no blame, although you are my guest, for who knows that you are not sent by the english queen to shoot me?" "i ask the king's pardon," i said humbly enough. "i did not think about the pistol. let your servants take it away." "perhaps it is safer in your pocket, where i saw you place it in the cattle-kraal, macumazahn, than in their hands, which do not know how to hold such things. moreover, i know that you are not one who stabs in the dark, even when our peoples growl round each other like two dogs about to fight, and if you were, in this place your life would have to pay for mine. there is beer by your side; drink and fear nothing. did you see the opener of roads, goza, and if so, what is his answer to my message?" "o king, i saw him," answered goza. "the father of the doctors, the friend and master of the spirits, says he has heard the king's word, yes, that he heard it as it passed the king's lips, and that although he is very old, he will travel to ulundi and be present at the great council of the nation which is to be summoned on the eighth day from this, that of the full moon. yet he makes a prayer of the king. it is that a place may be prepared for him, for his people and for his servants who carry him, away from this town of ulundi, where he may sojourn quite alone, a decree of death being pronounced against any who attempt to break in upon his privacy, either where he dwells or upon his journey. these are his very words, o king: "'i, who am the most ancient man in zululand, dwell with the spirits of my fathers, who will not suffer strangers to come nigh them and who, if they are offended, will bring great woes upon the land. moreover, i have sworn that while there is a king in zululand and i draw the breath of life, never again will i set foot in a royal kraal, because when last i did so at the slaying of the witch, mameena, the king who is dead thought it well to utter threats against me, and never more will i, the opener of roads, be threatened by a mortal. therefore if the king and his council seek to drink of the water of my wisdom, it must be in the place and hour of my own choosing. if this cannot be, let me abide here in my house and let the king seek light from other doctors, since mine shall remain as a lamp to my own heart.'" now i saw that these words greatly disturbed cetewayo who feared zikali, as indeed did all the land. "what does the old wizard mean?" he asked angrily. "he lives alone like a bat in a cave and for years has been seen of none. yet as a bat flies forth at night, ranging far and wide in search of prey, so does his spirit seem to fly through zululand. everywhere i hear the same word. it is--'what says the opener of roads?' it is--'how can aught be done unless the opener of roads has declared that it shall be done, he who was here before the black one (chaka) was born, he who it is said was the friend of inkosi umkulu, the father of the zulus who died before our great-grandfathers could remember; he who has all knowledge and is almost a spirit, if indeed he be not a spirit?' i ask you, macumazahn, who are his friend, what does he mean, and why should i not kill him and be done?" "o king," i answered, "in the days of your uncle dingaan, when dingaan slew the boers who were his guests, and thus began the war between the white and the black, i, who was a lad, heard the laughter of zikali for the first time yonder at the kraal ungungundhlovu, i who rode with retief and escaped the slaughter, but his face i did not see. many years later, in the days of panda your father, i saw his face and therefore you name me his friend. yet this friend who drew me to visit him, perhaps by your will, o king, has now caused me to be brought here to ulundi doubtless by your will, o king, but against my own, for who wishes to come to a town where he is well-nigh slain by the first brawler he meets in the cattle kraal?" "yet you were not slain, macumazahn, and perhaps you do not know all the story of that brawler," replied cetewayo almost humbly, like one who begs pardon, though the rest of what i had said he ignored. "but still you are zikali's friend, for between you and him there is a rope which enabled him to draw you to zululand, which rope i have heard called by a woman's name. therefore by the spirit of that woman, which still can draw you like a rope, i charge you, tell me--what does this old wizard mean, and why should i not kill him and be rid of one who haunts my heart like an evil vision of the night and, as i sometimes think, is an umtakati, an evil-doer, who would work ill to me and all my house, yes, and to all my people?" "how should i know what he means, o king?" i answered with indignation, though in fact i could guess well enough. "as for killing him, cannot the king kill whom he will? yet i remember that once i heard you father ask much the same question and of zikali himself, saying that he was minded to find out whether or no he were mortal like other men. i remember also zikali answered that there was a saying that when the opener of roads came to the end of his road, there would be no more a king of zululand, as there was none when first he set foot upon his road. now i have spoken, who am a white man and do not understand your sayings." "i remember it also, macumazahn, who was present at the time," he replied heavily. "my father feared this zikali and his father feared him, and i have heard that the black one himself, who feared nothing, feared him also. and i, too, fear him, so much that i dare not make up my mind upon a great matter without his counsel, lest he should bewitch me and the nation and bring us to nothing." he paused, then turning to goza, asked, "did the opener of roads tell you where he wished to dwell when he comes to visit me here at ulundi?" "o king," answered goza, "yonder in the hills, not further away than an aged man can walk in the half of an hour, is a place called the valley of bones, because there in the days of those who went before the king, and even in the king's day, many evildoers have been led to die. zikali would dwell in this valley of bones, and there and nowhere else would meet the king and the great council, not in the daylight but after sunset when the moon has risen." "why," said cetewayo, starting, "the place is ill-omened and, they say, haunted, one that no man dares to approach after the fall of darkness for fear lest the ghosts of the dead should leap upon him gibbering." "such were the words of the opener of roads, o king," replied goza. "there and nowhere else will he meet the king, and there he demands that three huts should be built to shelter him and his folk and stored with all things needful. if this be not granted to him, then he refuses to visit the king or to give counsel to the nation." "so be it then," said cetewayo. "send messengers to the opener of roads, goza, saying that what he desires shall be done. let my command go out that under pain of death none spy upon him while he journeys hither or returns. let the huts be built forthwith, and when it is known that he is coming, let food in plenty be placed in them and afterwards morning by morning taken to the mouth of the valley. bid him announce his arrival and the hour he chooses for our meeting by messenger. begone." goza leapt up, gave the royal salute, and retreated backwards from the presence of the king, leaving us alone. i also rose to depart, but cetewayo motioned to me to be seated. "macumazahn," he said, "the great queen's man who has come to natal (sir bartle frere) threatens me with war because two evil-doing women were taken on the natal side of the tugela and brought back to zululand and killed by mehlokazulu, being the wives of his father, sirayo, which was done without my knowledge. also two white men were driven away from an island in the tugela river by some of my soldiers." "is that all, o king?" i asked. "no. the queen's man says i kill my people without trial, which is a lie told him by the missionaries, and that girls have been killed also who refused to marry those to whom they were given and ran away with other men. also that wizards are smelt out and slain, which happens but rarely now; all of this contrary to the promises i made to sompseu when he came to recognize me as king upon my father's death, and some other such small matters." "what is demanded if you would avoid war, o king?" "nothing less than this, macumazahn: that the zulu army should be abolished and the soldiers allowed to marry whom and when they please, because, says the queen's man, he fears lest it should be used to attack the english, as though i who love the english, as those have done who went before me, desire to lay a finger on them. also that another queen's man should be sent to dwell here in my country, to be the eyes and ears of the english government and have power with me in the land; yes, and more demands which would destroy the zulus as a people and make me, their king, but a petty kraal-head." "and what will the king answer?" i asked. "i know not what to answer. the fine of two thousand cattle i will pay for the killing of the women. if it may be, i wish no quarrel with the english, though gladly i would have fought the dutch had not sompseu stretched out his arm over their land. but how can i disband the army and make an end of the regiments that have conquered in so many wars? macumazahn, i tell you that if i did this, in a moon i should be dead. oh! you white people think there is but one will in zululand, that of the king. but it is not so, for he is but a single man among ten thousand thousand, who lives to work the people's wish. if he beats them with too thick a stick, or if he brings them to shame or does what the most of them do not wish, then where is the king? then, i say, he goes a road that was trodden by chaka and dingaan who were before me, yes, the red road of the assegai. therefore today, i stand like a man between two falling cliffs. if i run towards the english the zulu cliff falls upon me. if i run towards my own people, the english cliff falls upon me, and in either case i am crushed and no more seen. tell me then, macumazahn, you whose heart is honest, what must i do?" so he spoke, wringing his hands, with tears starting to his eyes, and upon my word, although i never liked cetewayo as i had liked his father, panda, perhaps because i loved his brother, umbelazi, whom he killed, and had known him do many cruel deeds, my heart bled for him. "i cannot tell you, king," i answered, thinking that i must say something, "but i pray you do not make war against the queen, for she is the most mighty one in the whole earth, and though her foot, of which you see but the little toe here in africa, seems small to you, yet if she is angered, it will stamp the zulus flat, so that they cease to be." "many have told me this, macumazahn. yes, even uhamu, the son of my uncle unzibe, or, as some say, the son of his spirit, to which his mother was married after unzibe was dead, and others throughout the land, and in truth i think it myself. but who can hold the army which shouts for war? ow! the council must decide, which, means perhaps that zikali will decide, for now all hang upon his lips." "then i am sorry," i exclaimed. he looked at me shrewdly. "are you? so am i. yet his counsel must be asked, and better that it should be here in my presence than yonder secretly at the black kloof. i would kill him if i dared, but i dare not, who am sure--why i may not say--that the same sun will see his death and mine." he waved his hand to show that the talk on this matter was ended, then added-- "macumazahn, you are my prisoner for a while, but give me your word that you will not try to escape and you may go where you will within an hour's ride of ulundi. i would pay you well to stop here with me, but this i know you would never do should there be trouble between us and your people. therefore i promise you that if war breaks out i will send you safely to natal, or perhaps sooner, as my messenger, whence doubtless you will return to fight against me. know that i have given orders that every other white man or woman who is found in zululand shall be killed as a spy. even john dunn has fled or is flying, or so i hear, john dunn who has fed out of my hand and grown rich on my gifts. you yourself would have been killed as you came from swazi-land in your cart, had not command been sent to those chiefs through whose lands you passed that neither they nor their people were so much as to look at you." now for one intense moment i thought, as hard as ever i had done in my life. it was evident--unless he dealing very cunningly with me, which i did not believe--that cetewayo knew nothing of anscombe and heda, but thought that i had come into zululand alone. should i or should i not tell him and beg his protection for them? if i did so he might refuse or be unable to give it to them far away in the midst of a savage population aflame with the lust of war. as the incident of the morning showed, it was as much as he could do to protect myself, although the zulus knew me for their friend. on the other hand no one who dwelt under zikali's blanket, to use the kaffir idiom, would be touched, because he was looked on as half divine and therefore everything under it down to the rat in his thatch was sacred. now zikali by implication and nombe with emphasis, had promised to safeguard these two. surely, therefore, they would run less risk in the black kloof than here at ulundi, if ever they got so far. all this went through my brain in an instant, with the result that i made up my mind to say nothing. as the issue proved, this was a terrible mistake, but who can always judge rightly? had i spoken out it seems to me probable that cetewayo would have granted my prayer and ordered that these two should be escorted out of zululand before hostilities began, although of course they might have been murdered on the way. also, for a reason that will become evident later, it is possible that there would never have been any hostilities. all i can plead is, that i acted for the best and fate would have it so. another moment and the chance was gone. the gate opened and a body-servant appeared announcing that one of the great captains with some of his officers waited to see the king. cetewayo made a sign, whereon the servant called out something, and they entered, three or four of them, saluting loudly. seeing me they stopped and stared, whereon cetewayo shortly, but with much clearness, repeated to them and to an induna who accompanied them, what he had already said to me, namely that i was his guest, sent for by him that he might use me as a messenger if he thought fit. he added that the man who dared to speak a word against me, or even to look at me askance, should pay the price with his life, however high his station, and he commanded that the heralds should proclaim this his decree throughout ulundi and the neighbouring kraals. then he held out his hand to me in token of friendship, bidding me to "go softly" and come to see him whenever i wished, and dismissed me in charge of the induna, one of the captains and some soldiers. within five minutes of reaching my hut i heard a loud-voiced crier proclaiming the order of the king and knew that i had no more to fear. chapter xiv the valley of bones the week that followed my interview with cetewayo was indeed a miserable time for me. for myself, as i have said, i had no fear, for the king's orders were strictly obeyed. moreover, the tale of what had happened to the brute who wished to hunt me down in the cattle-kraal had travelled far and wide and none sought to share his fate. my hut was inviolate and well supplied with necessary food, as was my mare, and i could wander where i liked and talk with whom i would. i could even ride to exercise the horse, though this i did very sparingly and only in the immediate neighbourhood of the town for fear of exciting suspicion or meeting zulus whom the king's word had not reached. indeed on these occasions i was always accompanied by a guard of swift-footed and armed soldiers sent "to protect me," or more probably to kill me if i did anything that seemed suspicious. in the course of my rambles i met sundry natives whom i had known in the old days, some of them a long while ago. they all seemed glad to see me and were quite ready to talk of past times, but of the present they would say little or nothing, except that they were certain there would be war. of anscombe and heda i could hear nothing, and indeed did not dare to make any direct inquiries concerning them, but several reliable men assured me that the last missionaries and traders having departed, there was not a white man, woman or child left in zululand except myself. it was "all black" they said, referring to the colour of their people, as it had been before the time of chaka. so i was forced to eat out my heart with anxiety in silence, hoping and praying that zikali had played an honest part and sent them away safely. why should he not have done so, seeing that it was my presence he had desired, not theirs? they were only taken, or rather snared, because they were with me and could not be separated, or so i believed at the time. one ray of comfort i did get. about the fifth day after my interview i saw goza, who told me that the king's messengers were back from the black kloof and had brought "a word" for me from zikali himself. the word was-- "bid goza say to macumazahn that i was sorry not to see him to say good-bye, because that morning i slept heavily. bid him say that i am glad he has seen the king, since for this purpose i sought his presence in zululand. bid him say that he is to fear nothing, and that if his heart is heavy about others whom he loves, he should make it light again, since the spirits have them in their keeping as they have him, and never were they or he more safe than they are to-day." now i looked at goza and asked if i could see this messenger. he replied, no, as he had already been despatched upon another errand. then i asked him if the messenger had said anything else. he answered, yes, one thing that he had forgotten, namely that the writing about blankets should now be in natal. then suddenly he changed the subject and asked me if i would like to accompany him to the valley of bones where he was ordered to inspect the huts which were being built for zikali and his people. of course i said i should, hoping, quite without result, that i might get something more out of him on the road. now this town of cetewayo's stands, or rather stood, for it has long been burnt, on the slope of the hills to the north-east of the plains of ulundi. above it these hills grow steeper, and deep in the recesses of one of them is the valley of bones. there is nothing particularly imposing about the place; no towering cliffs or pillars of piled granite, as at the black kloof. it is just a vale cut out by water, bordered by steep slopes on either side, and a still steeper slope strown with large rocks at its end. dotted here and there on these slopes grew tall aloes that from a little distance looked like scattered men, whereof the lower leaves were shrivelled and blackened by veld fires. also there were a few euphorbias, grey, naked-looking things that end in points like fingers on a hand, and among them some sparse thorn trees, struggling to live in an inhospitable soil. the place has one peculiarity. jutting into it from the hillside is a ridge or spur, sixty or seventy yards in length by perhaps twenty broad, that ends in a flat point of rock which stands about forty feet above the level of the rest of the little valley. on this ridge also grew tall aloes until near its extremity the soil ceased, or had been washed away from the water-worn core of rock. it was, and no doubt still is, a desolate-looking spot, at any rate for most of the day when owing to the shadow of the surrounding hills, it receives but little sun. everything about it, especially when i was there in a time of rain, seemed dank and miserable, although the flat floor of the kloof was clothed with a growth of tall, coarse grass, and weeds that bore an evil-smelling flower. perhaps some sense of appropriateness had caused the zulu kings to choose this lonesome, deathly-looking gorge as one of their execution grounds. at any rate many had been slain here, for skulls and the larger human bones, some of them black with age, lay all about among the grass, as they had been scattered by hyenas and jackals. they were particularly thick beneath and around the table-like rock that i have mentioned. goza told me that this was because the king's slayers made a custom of dragging the victim along the projecting tongue to the edge of this rock and hurling him, either dead or living, to the ground beneath; or, in the case of witches; driving them over after they had been blinded. such was the spot that zikali had selected to abide in during his visit to ulundi. certainly where privacy was an object it was well chosen, for, as cetewayo had said and as goza emphasized to me, it had the repute of being the most thoroughly haunted place in all zululand, with the sole exception, perhaps, of the ridge opposite to dingaan's old kraal where once i shot the vultures for my life and those of my companions.* even in the daytime people gave it a wide berth, and at night nothing would induce them to approach it, at any rate alone. [*--see the book called _marie,_ by h. rider haggard.] here to one side of and near the root of the tongue of land of which i have spoken, the huts that zikali had demanded for himself and his company were being rapidly built, close to a spring of water, by a large body of men who laboured as though they wished to be done with their task. also about half way up the donga, for really it was nothing more, at a distance of perhaps five and twenty paces from its flat point whence the condemned were hurled, a circular space of ground had been cleared and levelled which was large enough to accommodate fifty or sixty men. on this space, goza told me, the king and the council were to sit when they came to seek light from zikali. in my heart i reflected that the light they were likely to get from him would be such as may be supposed to be thrown by hell fire. for be it remembered i knew what these people never seemed to understand, that zikali was the most bitter of their enemies. to begin with, he was of undwandwe blood, one of the people whom the great king chaka had destroyed. then this same chaka had robbed him of his wives and murdered his children, in revenge for which he had plotted the slaying of chaka, as he did that of his brothers, umhlangana and dingaan, the latter of whom he involved in a quarrel with the boers. subsequently he brought about the war between the princes cetewayo and umbelazi, in which i played a part. now i was certain that he intended to bring about another war between the english and the zulus, knowing well that in the end the latter would be destroyed, and with them the royal house of senzangacona which he had sworn to level with the dust. had he not told me as much years ago, and was he one to go back upon his word? had he not used mameena with her beauty and ambitions as his tool, and when she was of no further service to him, given her to death, as he had used scores of others and in due season given them to death? was i not myself perhaps one of those tools destined to be thrown into the pit of doom when my turn came, though in what way i could help his plots was more than i could see, since he knew well that i should do my best to oppose him? oh! i had half a mind to go to cetewayo and tell him all i knew about zikali, even if it involved the breaking of confidences. but stay! even if i were believed, this far-seeing wizard held hostages for my good behaviour, and if i betrayed him what would happen to those hostages? he sent me messages saying that they were safe, suggesting that they had escaped to natal. how was i to know that these were true? i was utterly bewildered; i could not guess why i had been beguiled into zululand, and i dared not step either this way or that for fear lest i should fall into some pit dug by his cunning hands and, what was worse, drag down others with me. moreover, was this man quite human, or perhaps an emissary of satan upon earth who had knowledge denied to other men and a certain mastery over the powers of ill? again i could not say. his term of life seemed to be extraordinarily prolonged, though none knew how old exactly he might be. also he had a wonderful knowledge of what was passing in the minds of others, and by his arts, as i had experienced only the other day, could summon up apparitions or illusions before their eyes. further, he was aware of events which had happened at a distance and could send or read dreams, since otherwise how did nombe know what i had dreamt at marnham's house? lastly he could foretell the future, as once he had done in my own case, prophecying that i should be injured by a buffalo with a split horn. yet all of this might be nothing more than a mixture of keen observation, clever spying, trickery and mesmerism. i could not say which it was, nor can i with certainty to this hour. such were the thoughts that passed through my mind as i walked back from the vale of bones by the side of the big-paunched goza, whom i caught eyeing me from time to time as a curious crow eyes any object that has attracted his attention. "goza," i said at last, "do the zulus really mean to fight the english?" he turned and pointed to a spot where the hills ran down into the great plain. here two regiments were manoeuvring. one of these held the slopes of the hill and the other was attacking them from the plain, so fiercely that at a distance their onslaught looked like that of actual warfare. "that looks like fighting, does it not, macumazahn?" he replied. "yes, goza, yet it may be but play." "quite so, macumazahn. it may be fighting or it may be but play. am i a prophet that i should be able to say which it is? of that there is but one man in zululand who knows the truth. it is he for whom the new huts are being built up yonder." "you think he really knows, goza?" "no, macumazahn, i do not think, i am sure. he is the greatest of all wizards, as he was when my father held on to his mother's apron. he pulls the strings and the great-ones of the country dance. if he wishes war, there will be war. if he wishes peace, there will be peace." "and which does he wish, goza?" "i thought perhaps you could tell me that, macumazahn, who, he says, are such an old friend of his; also why he chooses to sojourn in a dark hole among the dead instead of in the sunshine among the living, here at ulundi." "well, i cannot, goza, since the opener of roads does not open his heart to me but keeps his secrets to himself. for the rest, those who talk with the dead may prefer to dwell among the dead." "now as always you speak truth, macumazahn," said goza, looking at me in a way which suggested to me that he believed i spoke anything but the truth. indeed i am convinced he thought that i was in the council of zikali and acquainted with his plans. also i am sure he knew that i had not come to zululand alone, the incident of the blankets, which i had promised to him a bribe to keep silence, showed it, and suspected that my companions were parties to some plot together with myself. and yet at the time i could not be quite sure, and therefore dared not ask anything concerning them lest thus i should reveal their existence and bring them to death. as a matter of fact i need not have been anxious on this point, since if goza, who i may state, was a kind of secret service officer as well as a head messenger, knew, as i think probable, he had been commanded by zikali to hold his tongue under penalty of a curse. perhaps the same was true of the soldiers who had come with him to take me to ulundi. the hint of zikali was as powerful as the word of the king, since they, like thousands of others, believed that whereas cetewayo could kill them, zikali, like satan, could blast their spirits as well as their bodies. but how was i to guess all these things at that time? during the next two days nothing happened, though i heard that there had been one if not two meetings of the council at the king's house during which the position of affairs was discussed. cetewayo i did not see, although twice he sent messengers to me bringing gifts of food, who were charged to inquire whether i was well and happy and if any had offered me hurt or insult. to these i answered that i was well and unmolested but not happy, who grew lonesome, being but a solitary white man among so many thousands of the zulus. on the third morning, that of the day of the full moon, goza came and informed me that zikali had arrived at the valley of bones before dawn. i asked him how he, who was so old and feeble, had walked so far. he answered that he had not walked, or so he understood, but had been carried in a litter, or rather in two litters, one for himself and one for his "spirit." this staggered me even where zikali was concerned, and i inquired what on earth goza meant. "macumazahn, how can i tell you who only know what i myself am told?" he exclaimed. "such is the report that the opener of roads has made himself by messengers to the king. none have seen him, for he journeys only in the night. moreover, when zikali passes all men are blind and even women's tongues grow dumb. perchance by 'his spirit' he means his medicine or the witch-doctoress, nombe, whom folks say he created, since none have seen her father or her mother, or heard who begat her; or perchance his snake is hid behind the mats of the second litter, if in truth there was one." "it may be so," i said, feeling that it was useless to pursue the matter. "now, goza, i would see zikali and at once." "that cannot be, macumazahn, since he has given out that he will see no one, who rests after his journey, and the king has issued orders that any who attempt to approach the valley of bones shall die, even if they be of the royal blood. yes, if so much as a dog dares to draw near that place, it must die. the soldiers who ring it round have killed one already, so strict are the orders, also a boy who went towards it searching for a calf, which i think a bad omen." "then i will send a message to him," i persisted. "do so," mocked goza. "look, yonder sails a vulture. ask it to take your message, for nothing else will. be not foolish, macumazahn, but have patience, for to-night you shall see the opener of roads when he attends the council of the king in the valley of bones. this is the order of the king--that at the rising of the moon i lead you thither, so that you may be present at the council in case he wishes to ask you any questions about the white people or to give you any message to the government in natal. therefore at sunset i will come for you. till then, farewell. i have business that cannot wait." "can i see the king?" i cried. "not so, macumazahn. all to-day he makes sacrifice to the spirits of his ancestors and must not be approached," goza called back as he departed. availing myself of the permission of the king to go where i would, a little later in the day i walked out of the town towards the valley of bones in order to ascertain for myself whether what goza had told me was true. so it proved, for about three hundred yards from the mouth of the valley, which at that distance looked like a black hole in the hills, i found soldiers stationed about ten paces apart in a great circle which ran right up the hillside and vanished over the crest. strolling up to one of these, whose face i thought i knew, i asked him if he would let me pass to see my friend, the opener of roads. the man, who was something of a humourist replied-- "certainly if you wish, macumazahn. that is to say, i will let your spirit pass, but to do this, if you come one step nearer i must first make a hole in you with my spear out of which it can fly." i thanked him for his information and gave him some snuff, which he took gratefully, being bored by his long vigil. then i asked him how many people the great witch-doctor had with him. he said he did not know, but he had seen a number of tall men come to the mouth of the donga to fetch food that had been placed there. again i inquired if he had seen any women, whereon he replied none, zikali being, he understood, too old to trouble himself about the other sex. just then an officer, making his rounds, came up and looked at me so sternly that i thought it well to retreat. evidently there was no chance of getting through that line. on my way back i walked as near the fence of the king's house as i dared, and saw witch-doctors passing in and out in their hideous official panoply. this told me that here also goza had spoken the truth--the king was performing magical ceremonies, which meant that it would be impossible to approach him. in every direction i met with failure. the fates were against me; it lay over me like a spell. indeed i grew superstitious and began to think that zikali had bewitched me, as he was said to have the power to do. well, perhaps he had, for the mere fact of finding myself opposed by this persistent wall of difficulties and silence convinced me that there was something behind it to be learned. i went back very dejected to my hut and talked to my mare which whinnied and rubbed its nose against me, for although it was well fed and looked after, the poor beast seemed as lonely as i was myself. no wonder, since like myself it was separated from all its kind and weary of inaction. after this i ate and smoked and finally dozed, no more, for whenever i tried to go to sleep i thought that i heard zikali laughing at me, as mayhap he was doing yonder in his hut. at length that wearisome day drew towards its end. the sun began to sink, a huge red ball of fire, now and again veiled by clouds, for the sky was stormy. its fierce rays, striking upon other clouds, peopled the enormous heavens with fantastic shapes of light which were thickest over the hills wherein was the valley of bones. to my strained mind these clouds looked like battling armies, figures of flame warring against figures of darkness. the darkness won; no, the light broke out again and conquered it. and see, there above them both squatted a strange black presence crowned with fire. it might have been that of zikali magnified ten thousand times, and hark! it laughed with the low reverberating voice of distant thunder. suddenly i felt that i was no longer alone and looking round, saw goza at my side. "what do you see up there, macumazahn, that you stare so hard?" he asked, pointing at the sky with his stick. "impis fighting," i answered briefly. "then you must be a 'heaven-doctor,' macumazahn, for i only see black and red clouds. well, it is time to go to learn whether or no the impis will fight, for zikali awaits us and the council has started already. by the way, the king says that you will do well to put your pistol in your pocket in case any should seek to harm you in the dark." "it is there. but, goza, i pray you to protect me, since in the dark bullets fly wide, and if i began to shoot, one might hit you, goza." he smiled, making no answer, but i noticed that during the rest of that night he was careful to keep behind me as much as possible. our way led us through the town where everybody seemed to be standing about doing nothing and speaking very little. there was a curious air of expectancy upon their faces. they knew that the crisis was at hand, that their nation's fate hung upon the scales, and they watched my every look and movement as though in them they expected to read an omen. i too watched them out of the corners of my eyes, wondering whether i should escape from their savage company alive. if once the blood lust broke out among them, it seemed to me that i should have about as much chance as a chopped fox among a pack of hungry hounds. once out of the town we saw no one until we came to the circle of guards which i have already mentioned, who stood there like an endless line of black statues. in answer to their challenge goza gave some complicated password in which my name occurred, whereon they opened out and let us through. then we marched on to the mouth of the kloof. the place was very dark, for now the sun was down in the west and the moon in the east was cut off from us by the hills and would not be visible here for half an hour or more. presently i saw a spot of light. it was a small fire burning near the tongue of rock which i have described. at a distance, in front of the fire on the patch of prepared ground, squatted a number of men, between twenty and thirty of them, in a semicircle. they were wrapped up in karosses and blankets, and in their centre sat a large figure on a chair of wood. "the king and the great council," whispered goza. one of them looked round and saw us. at some sign from the king he rose, and against the fire i saw that he was the prime minister, umnyamana. he came to me and, with a nod of recognition, conducted me some paces to the right where a euphorbia tree grew among the rank herbage. here i found a stool placed ready on which i sat down, goza, who of course was not of the council, squatting at my side in the grass. now i found that i was so situated that i could not well be seen from the fire, or even from the rock above it, while i, by moving my head a little, could see both quite clearly. after this as the last reflection from the sunk sun faded, the darkness increased until nothing remained visible except the fire and the massive outline of the rock behind. the silence was complete, for none of the council spoke. they were so still that they might have been dead, so still that a beetle suddenly booming past me made me start as though it had been a bullet. the general impression was almost mesmeric. i felt as though i were going to sleep and yet my mind remained painfully awake, so that i was able to think things out. i understood clearly that the body of men to my left had come together to decide whether there should be peace or war; that there were divisions of opinion among them; that the king was ready to follow the party which should prove itself the strongest, but that the real voice of decision would speak from behind that fire. it was the case of the delphic oracle over again with a priest instead of a priestess, and what a priest! it was evident to me also that zikali, who knew human nature, and especially savage human nature, had arranged all this with a view to scenic and indeed supernatural effect. moreover, he had done it very well, since i knew myself that in this place and hour words and occurrences would affect me deeply at which i should have laughed in the sunlight and open plain. already the zulus were affected, for i could hear the teeth of some of them chattering, and goza began to shiver at my side. he muttered that it was cold, and lied for the donga was extremely hot and stuffy. at length the silver radiance of the moon spread itself on the high curtain of the dark. then the edge of her orb appeared above the hill and an arrow of white light fell into the little valley. it struck upon and about the jutting rock, revealing a misshapen, white-headed figure squatted between its base and the fire, the figure of zikali. chapter xv the great council none had seen or heard him come, and though doubtless he had but crept round the rock and taken his place in the darkness, there appeared to be something mysterious about this sudden appearance of zikali. so the zulu nobles thought at any rate, for they uttered a low "ow!" of fear and wonder. there he sat like a huge ape staring at the sky, for the firelight shone on his deep and burning eyes. the moonlight increased, but now and again it was broken by little clouds which caused strange shadows to appear about the rock. some of these shadows looked as though veiled figures were approaching the wizard, bending over him and departing again, after giving him their message or counsel. "his spirits visit him," whispered goza, but i made no answer. this went on for quite a long time, until the full round of the moon appeared above the hill indeed, and, for the while, the clouds had cleared away. still zikali sat silent and i, who was acquainted with the habits of this people, knew that i was witnessing a conflict between two they considered to be respectively a spiritual and an earthly king. it is my belief that unless he were first addressed, zikali would have sat all night without opening his lips. possibly cetewayo would have done the same if the impatience of public opinion had allowed him. at any was rate it was he who gave way. "makosi, master of many spirits, on behalf of the council and the people of the zulus i, the king, greet you here in the place that you have chosen," said cetewayo. zikali made no answer. the silence went on as before, till at length, after a pause and some whispering, cetewayo repeated his salutation, adding-- "has age made you deaf, o opener of roads, that you cannot hear the voice of the king?" then at last zikali answered in his low voice that yet seemed to fill all the kloof-- "nay, child of senzangacona, age has not made me deaf, but my spirit in these latter days floats far from my body. it is like a bladder filled with air that a child holds by a string, and before i can speak i must draw it from the heavens to earth again. what did you say about the place that i have chosen? well, what better place could i choose, seeing that it was here in this very vale of bones that i met the first king of the zulus, chaka the wild beast, who was your uncle? why then should i not choose it to meet the last king of the zulus?" now i, listening, knew at once that this saying might be understood in two ways, namely that cetewayo was the reigning king, or that he was the last king who would ever reign. but the council interpreted it in the latter and worse sense, for i saw a quiver of fear go through them. "why should i not choose it," went on zikali, "seeing also that this place is holy to me? here it was, o son of panda, that chaka brought my children to be killed and forced me, sitting where you sit, to watch their deaths. there on the rock above me they were killed, four of them, three sons and a daughter, and the slayers--they came to an evil end, those slayers, as did chaka--laughed and cast them down from the rock before me. yes, and chaka laughed, and i too laughed, for had not the king the right to kill my children and to steal their mothers, and was i not glad that they should be taken from the world and gathered to that of spirits whence they always talk to me, yes, even now? that is why i did not hear you at first, king, because they were talking to me." he paused, turning one ear upwards, then continued in a new and tender voice, "what is it you say to me, noma, my dear little noma? oh! i hear you, i hear you." now he shifted himself along the ground on his haunches some paces to the right, and began to search about, groping with his long fingers. "where, where?" he muttered. "oh, i understand, further under the root, a jackal buried it, did it? pah! how hard is this soil. ah! i have it, but look, noma, a stone has cut my finger. i have it, i have it," and from beneath the root of some fallen tree he drew out the skull of a child and, holding it in his right hand, softly rubbed the mould off it with his left. "yes, noma, it might be yours, it is of the right size, but how can i be sure? what is it you say? the teeth? ah! now i remember. only the day before you were taken i pulled out that front tooth, did i not, and beneath it was another that was strangely split in two. if this skull was yours, it will be there. come to the fire, noma, and let us look; the moonlight is faint, is it not?" back to the fire he shifted himself, and bending towards the blaze, made an examination. "true, noma, true! here is the split tooth, white as when i saw it all those years ago. oh! dear child of my body, dear child of my spirit, for we do not beget with the body alone, noma, as you know better than i do to-day, i greet you," and pressing the skull to his lips, he kissed it, then set it down in front of him between himself and the fire with the face part pointing to the king, and burst into one of his eerie and terrible laughs. a low moan went up from his audience, and i felt the skin of goza, who had shrunk against me, break into a profuse sweat. then suddenly zikali's voice changed one more and became hard and businesslike, if i may call it so, similar to that of other professional doctors. "you have sent for me, o king, as those who went before you have sent when great things were about to happen. what is the matter on which you would speak to me?" "you know well, opener of roads," answered cetewayo, rather shakily i thought. "the matter is one of peace or war. the english threaten me and my people and make great demands on me; amongst others that the army should be disbanded. i can set them all out if you will. if i refuse to do as they bid me, then within a few days they will invade zululand; indeed their soldiers are already gathered at the drifts." "it is not needful, king," answered zikali, "since i know what all know, neither more nor less. the winds whisper the demands of the white men, the birds sing them, the hyenas howl them at night. let us see how the matter stands. when your father died sompseu (sir t. shepstone), the great white chief, came from the english government to name you king. this he could not do according to our law, since how can a stranger name the king of the zulus? therefore the council of the nation and the doctors--i was not among them, king--moved the spirit of chaka the lion into the body of sompseu and made him as chaka was and gave him power to name you to rule over the zulus. so it came about that to the english queen through the spirit of chaka you swore certain things; that slaying for witchcraft should be abolished; that no man should die without fair and open trial, and other matters." he paused a while, then went on, "these oaths you have broken, o king, as being of the blood you are and what you are, you must do." here there was disturbance among the council and cetewayo half rose from his seat, then sat down again. zikali, gazing at the sky, waited till it had died away, then went on-- "do any question my words? if so, then let them ask of the white men whether they be true or no. let them ask also of the spirits of those who have died for witchcraft, and of the spirits of the women who have been slain and whose bodies were laid at the cross-roads because they married the men they chose and not the soldiers to whom the king gave them." "how can i ask the white men who are far away?" broke out cetewayo, ignoring the rest. "are the white men so far away, king? it is true that i see none and hear none, yet i seem to smell one of them close at hand." here he took up the skull which he had laid down and whispered to it. "ah! i thank you, my child. it seems, king, that there is a white man here hidden in this kloof, he who is named macumazahn, a good man and a truthful, known to many of us from of old, who can tell you what his people think, though he is not one of their indunas. if you question my words, ask him." "we know what the white men think," said cetewayo, "so there is no need to ask macumazahn to sing us an old song. the question is--what must the zulus do? must they swallow their spears and, ceasing to be a nation, become servants, or must they strike with them and drive the english into the sea, and after them the boers?" "tell me first, king, who dwell far away and alone, knowing little of what passes in the land of life, what the zulus desire to do. before me sits the great council of the nation. let it speak." then one by one the members of the council uttered their opinions in order of rank or seniority. i do not remember the names of all who were present, or what each of them said. i recall, however, that sigananda, a very old chief--he must have been over ninety--spoke the first. he told them that he had been friend of chaka and one of his captains, and had fought in most of his battles. that afterwards he had been a general of dingaan's until that king killed the boers under retief, when he left him and finally sided with panda in the civil war in which dingaan was killed with the help of the boers. that he had been present at the battle of the tugela, though he took no actual part in the fighting, and afterwards became a councillor of panda's and then of cetewayo his son. it was a long and interesting historical recital covering the whole period of the zulu monarchy which ended suddenly with these words-- "i have noted, o king and councillors, that whenever the black vulture of the zulus was content to attack birds of his own feather, he has conquered. but when it has met the grey eagles of the white men, which come from over the sea, he has been conquered, and my heart tells me that as it was in the past, so it shall be in the future. chaka was a friend of the english, so was panda, and so has cetewayo been until this hour. i say, therefore, let not the king tear the hand which fed him because it seems weak, lest it should grow strong and clutch him by the throat and choke him." next spoke undabuko, dabulamanzi and magwenga, brothers of the king, who all favoured war, though the two last were guarded in their speech. after these came uhamu, the king's uncle--he who was said to be the son of a spirit--who was strong for peace, urging that the king should submit to the demands of the english, making the best terms he could, that he "should bend like a reed before the storm, so that after the storm had swept by, he might stand up straight again, and with him all the other reeds of the people of the zulus." so, too, said seketwayo, chief of the umdhlalosi, and more whom i cannot recall, six or seven of them. but usibebu and the induna untshingwayo, who afterwards commanded at isandhlwana, were for fighting, as were sirayo, the husband of the two women who had been taken on english territory and killed, and umbilini, the chief of swazi blood whose surrender was demanded by sir bartle frere and who afterwards commanded the zulus in the battle at ihlobane. last of all spoke the prime minister, umnyamana, who declared fiercely that if the zulu buffalo hid itself in the swamp like a timid calf when the white bull challenged it on the hills, the spirits of chaka and all his forefathers would thrust its head into the mud and choke it. when all had finished cetewayo spoke, saying-- "that is a bad council which has two voices, for to which of them must the captain listen when the impis of the foe gather in front of him? here i have sat while the moon climbs high and counted, and what do i find? that one half of you, men of wisdom and renown, say yes, and that the other half of you, men of wisdom and renown, say no. which then is it to be, yes or no? are we to fight the english, or are we to sit still?" "that is for the king to decide," said a voice. "see what it is to be a king," went on cetewayo with passion. "if i declare for war and we win, shall i be greater than i am? if victory gives me more land, more subjects, more wives and more cattle, what is the use of these things to me who already have enough of all of them? and if defeat should take everything from me, even my life perhaps, then what shall i have gained? i will tell you--the curse of the zulus upon my name from father to son for ever. they will say, 'cetewayo, son of panda, pulled down a house that once was great. because of some small matter he quarrelled with the english who were always the friends of our people, and brought the zulus to the dust.' sintwangu, my messenger, who brought heavy words from the queen's induna which we must answer with other words or with spears, says that the english soldiers in natal are few, so few that we zulus can swallow them like bits of meat and still be hungry. but are these all the soldiers of the english? i am not sure. you are one of that people, macumazahn," he added, turning his massive shape towards me, "tell us now, how many soldiers has your queen?" "king," i answered, "i do not know for certain. but if the zulus can muster fifty thousand spears, the queen, if there be need, can send against them ten times fifty thousand, and if she grows angry, another ten times fifty, every one armed with a rifle that will fire five bullets a minute, and to accompany the soldiers, hundreds of cannon whereof a single shot would give ulundi to the flames. out of the sea they will come, shipload after shipload, white men from where the sun sets and black men from where the sun rises, so many that zululand would not hold them." now at these words, which i delivered as grandly as i could, something like a groan burst from the council, though one man cried-- "do not listen to the white traitor, o king, who is sent here to turn our hearts to water with his lies." "macumazahn may lie to us," went on cetewayo, "though in the past none in the land have ever known him to lie, but he was not sent to do so, for i brought him here. for my part i do not believe that he lies. i believe that these english are as many as the pebbles in a river bed, and that to them natal, yes, and all the cape is but as a single, outlying cattle kraal, one cattle kraal out of a hundred. did not sompseu once tell us that they were countless, on that day when he came many years ago after the battle of the tugela to name me to succeed my father panda, the day when my faction, the usutu, roared round him for hours like a river in flood, and he sat still like a rock in the centre of a river? also i am minded of the words that chaka said when dingaan and umbopa had stabbed him and he lay dying at the kraal duguza, that although the dogs of his own house whom his hand fed, had eaten him up, he heard the sound of the running of the feet of a great white people that should stamp them and the zulus flat." he paused; and the silence was so intense that the crackling of zikali's fire, which kept on burning brightly although i saw no fuel added to it, sounded quite loud. presently it was broken, first by a dog near at hand, howling horribly at the moon, and next by the hooting of a great owl that flitted across the donga, the shadow of its wide wings falling for a moment on the king. "listen!" exclaimed cetewayo, "a dog that howls! methinks that it stands upon the roof of the house of senzangacona. and an owl that hoots. methinks that owl has its nest in the world of spirits! are these good omens, councillors? i trow not. i say that i will not decide this matter of peace or war. if there is one of my own blood here who will do so, come, let him take my place and let me go away to my own lordship of gikazi that i had when i was a prince before the witch mameena who played with all men and loved but one"--here everybody turned and stared towards me, yes, even zikali whom nothing else had seemed to move, till i wished that the ground would swallow me up--"caused the war between me and my brother umbelazi whose blood earth will not swallow nor suns dry--" "how can that be, o king?" broke in umnyamana the prime minister. "how can any of your race sit in your seat while you still live? then indeed there would be war, war between tribe and tribe and zulu and zulu till none were left, and the white hyenas from natal would come and chew our bones and with them the boers that have passed the vaal. see now. why is this nyanga (i.e. witch-doctor) here?" and he pointed to zikali beyond the fire. "why has the opener of roads been brought from the black kloof which he has not left for years? is it not that he may give us counsel in our need and show us a sign that his counsel is good, whether it be for war or peace? then when he has made divination and given the counsel and shown the sign, then, o king, do you speak the word of war or peace, and send it to the queen by yonder white man, and by that word we, the people, will abide." at this suggestion, which i had no doubt was made by some secret agreement between umnyamana and zikali, cetewayo seemed to grasp. perhaps this was because it postponed for a little while the dreadful moment of decision, or perhaps because he hoped that in the eyes of the nation it would shift the responsibility from his shoulders to those of the spirits speaking through the lips of their prophet. at any rate he nodded and answered-- "it is so. let the opener of roads open us a road through the forests and the swamps and the rocks of doubt, danger and fear. let him give us a sign that it is a good road on which we may safely travel, and let him tell us whether i shall live to walk that road and what i shall meet thereon. i promise him in return the greatest fee that ever yet was paid to a doctor in zululand." now zikali lifted his big head, shook his grey locks, and opening his wide mouth as though he expected manna to fall into it from the sky, he laughed out loud. "o-ho-ho," he laughed, "oho-ho-ho-o, it is worth while to have lived so long when life has brought me to such an hour as this. what is it that my ears hear? that i, the indwande dwarf, i whom chaka named 'the-thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,' i, one of the race conquered and despised by the zulus, am here to speak a word which the zulus dare not utter, which the king of the zulus dares not utter. o-ho-ho-ho! and what does the king offer to me? a fee, a great fee for the word that shall paint the zulus red with blood or white with the slime of shame. nay, i take no fee that is the price of blood or shame. before i speak that word unknown--for as yet my heart has not heard it, and what the heart has not heard the lips cannot shape--i ask but one thing. it is an oath that whatever follows on the word, while there is a zulu left living in the world, i, the voice of the spirits, shall be safe from hurt or from reproach, i and those of my house and those over whom i throw my blanket, be they black or be they white. that is my fee, without which i am silent." "izwa! we hear you. we swear it on behalf of the people," said every councillor in the semi-circle in front of him; yes, and the king said it also, stretching out his hand. "good," said zikali, "it is an oath, it is an oath, sworn here upon the bones of the dead. evil-doers you call them, but i say to you that many of those who sit before me have more evil in their hearts than had those dead. well, let it be proclaimed, o king, and with it this--that ill shall it go with him who breaks the oath, with his family, with his kraal and all with whom he has to do. "now what is it you ask of me? first of all, counsel as to whether you should fight the english queen, a matter on which you, the great ones, are evenly divided in opinion, as is the nation behind you. o king, indunas, and captains, who am i that i should judge of such a matter which is beyond my trade, a matter of the world above and of men's bodies, not of the world below and of men's spirits? yet there was one who made the zulu people out of nothing, as a potter fashions a vessel from clay, as a smith fashions an assegai out of the ore of the hills, yes, and tempers it with human blood.* chaka the lion, the wild beast, the king among kings, the conqueror. i knew chaka as i knew his father, yes, and _his_ father. others still living knew him also, say you, sigananda there for instance," and he pointed to the old chief who had spoken first. "yes, sigananda knew him as a boy knows a great man, as a soldier knows a general. but i knew his heart, aye, i shaped his heart, i was its thought. had it not been for me he would never have been great. then he wronged me"--here zikali took up the skull which he said was that of his daughter, and stroked it--"and i left him. [*--the old zulu smiths dipped their choicest blades in the blood of men.--a. q.] "he was not wise, he should have killed one whom he had wronged, but perhaps he knew that i could not be killed; perhaps he had tried and found that he was but throwing spears at the moon which fell back on his own head. i forget. it is so long ago, and what does it matter? at least i took away from him the prop of my wisdom, and he fell--to rise no more. and so it has been with others. so it has been with others. yet while he was great i knew his heart who lived in his heart, and therefore i ask myself, had he been sitting where the king sits to-day, what would chaka have done? i will tell you. if not only the english but the boers also and with them the pondos, the basutos and all the tribes of africa had threatened him, he would have fought them--yes, and set his heel upon their necks. therefore, although i give no counsel upon such a matter, i say to you that the counsel of chaka is--fight--and conquer. hearken to it or pass it by--i care not which." he paused and a loud "ow" of wonder and admiration rose from his audience. myself i nearly joined in it, for i thought this one of the cleverest bits of statecraft that ever i had heard of or seen. the old wizard had taken no responsibility and given no answer to the demand for advice. all this he had thrust on to the shoulders of a dead man, and that man one whose name was magical to every zulu, the king whose memory they adored, the great general who had gorged them with victory and power. speaking as chaka, after a long period of peace, he urged them once more to lift their spears and know the joys of triumph, thereby making themselves the greatest nation in southern africa. from the moment i heard this cunning appeal, i know what the end would be; all the rest was but of minor and semi-personal interest. i knew also for the first time how truly great was zikali and wondered what he might have become had fortune set him in different circumstances among a civilized people. now he was speaking again, and quickly before the impression died away. "such is the word of chaka spoken by me who was his secret councillor, the councillor who was seldom seen, and never heard. does not sigananda yonder know the voice which amongst all those present echoes in his ears alone?" "i know it," cried the old chief. then with his eyes starting almost from his head, sigananda leapt up and raising his hand, gave the royal salute, the bayete, to the spirit of chaka, as though the dead king stood before him. i think that most of those there thought that it did stand before him, for some of them also gave the bayete and even cetewayo raised his arm. sigananda squatted down again and zikali went on. "you have heard. this captain of the lion knows his voice. so, that is done with. now you ask of me something else--that i who am a doctor, the oldest of all the doctors and, it is thought--i know not--the wisest, should be able to answer. you ask of me--how shall this war prosper, if it is made--and what shall chance to the king during and after the war, and lastly you ask of me a sign. what i tell to you is true, is it not so?" "it is true," answered the council. "asking is easy," continued zikali in a grumbling voice, "but answering is another matter. how can i answer without preparation, without the needful medicines also that i have not with me, who did not know what would be sought of me, who thought that my opinion was desired and no more? go away now and return on the sixth night and i will tell you what i can do." "not so," cried the king. "we refuse to go, for the matter is immediate. speak at once, opener of roads, lest it should be said in the land that after all you are but an ancient cheat, a stick that snaps in two when it is leant on." "ancient cheat! i remember that is what macumazahn yonder once told me i am, though afterwards--perhaps he was right, for who in his heart knows whether or not he be a cheat, a cheat who deceives himself and through himself others. a stick that snaps in two when it is leant on! some have thought me so and some have thought otherwise. well, you would have answers which i know not how to give, being without medicine and in face of those who are quite ignorant and therefore cannot lend me their thoughts, as it sometimes happens that men do when workers of evil are sought out in the common fashion. for then, as you may have guessed, it is the evil-doer who himself tells the doctor of his crime, though he may not know that he is telling it. yet there is another stone that i alone can throw, another plan that i alone can practise, and that not always. but of this i would not make use since it is terrible and might frighten you or even send you back to your huts raving so that your wives, yes, and the very dogs fled, from you." he stopped and for the first time did something to his fire, for i saw his hands going backwards and forwards, as though he warmed them at the flames. at length an awed voice, i think it was that of dabulamanzi, asked-- "what is this plan, inyanga? let us hear that we may judge." "the plan of calling one from the dead and hearkening to the voice of the dead. is it your desire that i should draw water from this fount of wisdom, o king and councillors?" chapter xvi war now men began to whisper together and goza groaned at my side. "rather would i look down a live lion's throat than see the dead," he murmured. but i, who was anxious to learn how far zikali would carry his tricks, contemptuously told him to be silent. presently the king called me to him and said-- "macumazahn, you white men are reported to know all things. tell me now, is it possible for the dead to appear?" "i am not sure," i answered doubtfully; "some say that it is and some say that it is not possible." "well," said the king. "have you ever seen one you knew in life after death?" "no," i replied, "that is--yes. that is--i do not know. when you will tell me, king, where waking ends and sleep begins, then i will answer." "macumazahn," he exclaimed, "just now i announced that you were no liar, who perceive that after all you are a liar, for how can you both have seen, and not seen, the dead? indeed i remember that you lied long ago, when you gave it out that the witch mameena was not your lover, and afterwards showed that she was by kissing her before all men, for who kisses a woman who is not his lover, or his mother? return, since you will not tell me the truth." so i went back to my stool, feeling very small and yet indignant, for how was it possible to be definite about ghosts, or to explain the exact facts of the mameena myth which clung to me like a wait-a-bit thorn. then after a little consultation cetewayo said-- "it is our desire, o opener of roads, that you should draw wisdom from the fount of death, if indeed you can do so. now let any who are afraid depart and wait for us who are not afraid, alone and in silence at the mouth of the kloof." at this some of the audience rose, but after hesitating a little, sat down again. only goza actually took a step forward, but on my remarking that he would probably meet the dead coming up that way, collapsed, muttering something about my pistol, for the fool seemed to think i could shoot a spirit. "if indeed i can do so," repeated zikali in a careless fashion. "that is to be proved, is it not? perhaps, too, it may be better for every one of you if i fail than if i succeed. of one thing i warn you, should the dead appear stir not, and above all touch not, for he who does either of these things will, i think, never live to look upon the sun again. but first let me try an easier fashion." then once again he took up the skull that he said had been his daughter's, and whispered to it, only to lay it down presently. "it will not serve," he said with a sigh and shaking his locks. "noma tells me that she died a child, one who had no knowledge of war or matters of policy, and that in all these things of the world she still remains a child. she says that i must seek some one who thought much of them; one, too who still lives in the heart of a man who is present here, if that be possible, since from such a heart alone can the strength be drawn to enable the dead to appear and speak. now let there be silence--let there be silence, and woe to him that breaks it." silence there was indeed, and in it zikali crouched himself down till his head almost rested on his knee, and seemed to go to sleep. he awoke again and chanted for half a minute or so in some language i could not understand. then voices began to answer him, as it seemed to me from all over the kloof, also from the sky or rock above. whether the effect was produced by ventriloquism or whether he had confederates posted at various points, i do not know. at any rate this lord of "multitudes of spirits" seemed to be engaged in conversation with some of them. what is more, the thing was extremely well done, since each voice differed from the other; also i seemed to recognize some of them, dingaan's for instance, and panda's, yes, and that of umbelazi the handsome, the brother of the king whose death i witnessed down by the tugela. you will ask me what they said. i do not know. either the words were confused or the events that followed have blotted them from my brain. all i remember is that each of them seemed to be speaking of the zulus and their fate and to be very anxious to refer further discussion of the matter to some one else. in short they seemed to talk under protest, or that was my impression, although goza, the only person with whom i had any subsequent debate upon the subject, appeared to have gathered one that was different, though what it was i do not recall. the only words that remained clear to me must, i thought, have come from the spirit of chaka, or rather from zikali or one of his myrmidons assuming that character. they were uttered in a deep full voice, spiced with mockery, and received by the wizard with "sibonga," or titles of praise, which i who am versed in zulu history and idiom knew had only been given to the great king, and indeed since his death had become unlawful, not to be used. the words were-- "what, thing-that-should-never-have-been-born, do you think yourself a thing-that-should-never-die, that you still sit beneath the moon and weave witchcrafts as of old? often have i hunted for you in the under-world who have an account to settle with you, as you have an account to settle with me. so, so, what does it matter since we must meet at last, even if you hide yourself at the back of the furthest star? why do you bring me up to this place where i see some whom i would forget? yes, they build bone on bone and taking the red earth, mould it into flesh and stand before me as last i saw them newly dead. oh! your magic is good, spell-weaver, and your hate is deep and your vengeance is keen. no, i have nothing to tell you to-day, who rule a greater people than the zulus in another land. who are these little men who sit before you? one of them has a look of dingaan, my brother who slew me, yes, and wears his armlet. is he the king? answer not, for i do not care to know. surely yonder withered thing is sigananda. i know his eye and the iziqu on his breast. yes, i gave it to him after the great battle with zweede in which he killed five men. does he remember it, i wonder? greeting, sigananda; old as you are you have still twenty and one years to live, and then we will talk of the battle with zweede. let me begone, this place burns my spirit, and in it there is a stench of mortal blood. farewell, o conqueror!" these were the words that i thought i heard chaka say, though i daresay that i dreamt them. indeed had it been otherwise, i mean had they really been spoken by zikali, there would surely have been more in them, something that might have served his purpose, not mere talk which had all the inconsequence of a dream. also no one else seemed to pay any particular attention to them, though this may have been because so many voices were sounding from different places at once, for as i have said, zikali arranged his performance very well, as well as any medium could have done on a prepared stage in london. in a moment, as though at a signal, the voices died away. then other things happened. to begin with i felt very faint, as though all the strength were being taken out of me. some queer fancy got a hold of me. i don't quite know what it was, but it had to do with the bible story of adam when he fell asleep and a rib was removed from him and made into a woman. i reflected that i felt as adam must have done when he came out of his trance after this terrific operation, very weak and empty. also, as it chanced, presently i saw eve--or rather a woman. looking at the fire in a kind of disembodied way, i perceived that dense smoke was rising from it, which smoke spread itself out like a fan. it thinned by degrees, and through the veil of smoke i perceived something else, namely, a woman very like one whom once i had known. there she stood, lightly clad enough, her fingers playing with the blue beads of her necklace, an inscrutable smile upon her face and her large eyes fixed on nothingness. oh! heaven, i knew her, or rather thought i did at the moment, for now i am almost sure that it was nombe dressed, or undressed, for the part. that knowledge came with reflection, but then i could have sworn, being deceived by the uncertain light, that the long dead mameena stood before us as she had seemed to stand before me in the hut of zikali, radiating a kind of supernatural life and beauty. a little wind arose, shaking the dry leaves of the aloes in the kloof; i thought it whispered--_hail, mameena!_ some of the older men, too, among them a few who had seen her die, in trembling voices murmured, "it is mameena!" whereon zikali scowled at them and they grew silent. as for the figure it stood there patient and unmoved, like one who has all time at its disposal, playing with the blue beads. i heard them tinkle against each other, which proves that it was human, for how could a wraith cause beads to tinkle, although it is true that christmas-story ghosts are said to clank their chains. her eyes roved idly and without interest over the semi-circle of terrified men before her. then by degrees they fixed themselves upon the tree behind which i was crouching, whereon goza sank paralyzed to the ground. she contemplated this tree for a while that seemed to me interminable; it reminded me of a setter pointing game it winded but could not see, for her whole frame grew intent and alert. she ceased playing with the beads and stretched out her slender hand towards me. her lips moved. she spoke in a sweet, slow voice, saying-- "o watcher-by-night, is it thus you greet her to whom you have given strength to stand once more beneath the moon? come hither and tell me, have you no kiss for one from whom you parted with a kiss?" i heard. without doubt the voice was the very voice of mameena (so well had nombe been instructed). still i determined not to obey it, who would not be made a public laughing-stock for a second time in my life. also i confess this jesting with the dead seemed to me somewhat unholy, and not on any account would i take a part in it. all the company turned and stared at me, even goza lifted his head and stared, but i sat still and contemplated the beauties of the night. "if it is the spirit of mameena, he will come," whispered cetewayo to umnyamana. "yes, yes," answered the prime minister, "for the rope of his love will draw him. he who has once kissed mameena, _must_ kiss her again when she asks." hearing this i grew furiously indignant and was about to break into explanations, when to my horror i found myself rising from that stool. i tried to cling to it, but, as it only came into the air with me, let it go. "hold me, goza," i muttered, and he like a good fellow clutched me by the ankle, whereon i promptly kicked him in the mouth, at least my foot kicked him, not my will. now i was walking towards that shape--shadow or woman--like a man in his sleep, and as i came she stretched out her arms and smiled oh! as sweetly as an angel, though i felt quite sure that she was nothing of the sort. now i stood opposite to her alongside the fire of which the smoke smelt like roses at the dawn, and she seemed to bend towards me. with shame and humiliation i perceived that in another moment those arms would be about me. but somehow they never touched me; i lost sight of them in the rose-scented smoke, only the sweet, slow voice which i could have sworn was that of mameena, murmured in my ear--well, words known to her and me alone that i had never breathed to any living being, though of course i am aware now that they must also have been known to somebody else. "do you doubt me any longer?" went on the murmuring. "say, am i nombe now? or--or am i in truth that mameena, whose kiss thrills your lips and soul? hearken, macumazahn, for the time is short. in the rout of the great battle that shall be, do not fly with the white men, but set your face towards ulundi. one who was your friend will guard you, and whoever dies, no harm shall come to you now that the fire which burns in my heart has set all zululand aflame. hearken once more. hans, the little yellow man who was named light-in-darkness, he who died among the kendah people, sends you salutations and gives you praise. he bids me tell you that now of his own accord he renders to me, mameena, the royal salute, because royal i must ever be; because also he and i who are so far apart are yet one in the love that is our life." the smoke blew into my face, causing me to reel back. cetewayo caught me by the arm, saying-- "tell us, are the lips of the dead witch warm or cold?" "i do not know," i groaned, "for i never touched her." "how he lies! oh! how he lies even about what our eyes saw," said cetewayo reflectively as i blundered past him back to my seat, on which i sank half swooning. when i got my wits again the figure that pretended to be mameena was speaking, i suppose in answer to some question of zikali's which i had not heard. it said-- "o lord of the spirits, you have called me from the land of spirits to make reply as to two matters which have not yet happened upon the earth. these replies i will give but no others, since the mortal strength that i have borrowed returns whence it came. the first matter is, if there be war between the white and black, what will happen in that war? i see a plain ringed round with hills and on it a strange-shaped mount. i see a great battle; i see the white men go down like corn before a tempest; i see the spears of the impis redden; i see the white soldiers lie like leaves cut from a tree by frost. they are dead, all dead, save a handful that have fled away. i hear the ingoma of victory sung here at ulundi. it is finished. "the second matter is--what shall chance to the king? i see him tossed on the black water; i see him in a land full of houses, talking with a royal woman and her councillors. there, too, he conquers, for they offer him tribute of many gifts. i see him here, back here in zululand, and hear him greeted with the royal salute. last of all i see him dead, as men must die, and hear the voice of zikali and the mourning of the women of his house. it is finished. farewell, king cetewayo, i pass to tell panda, your father, how it fares with you. when last we parted did i not prophesy to you that we should meet again at the bottom of a gulf? was it this gulf, think you, or another? one day you shall learn. farewell, or fare ill, as it may happen!" once more the smoke spread out like a fan. when it thinned and drew together again, the shape was gone. now i thought that the zulus would be so impressed by this very queer exhibition, that they would seek no more supernatural guidance, but make up their minds for war at once. this, however, was just what they did not do. as it happened, among the assembled chiefs, was one who himself had a great repute as a witch-doctor, and therefore burned with jealousy of zikali who appeared to be able to do things that he had never even attempted. this man leapt up and declared that all which they had seemed to hear and see was but cunning trickery, carried out after long preparation by zikali and his confederates. the voices, he said, came from persons placed in certain spots, or sometimes were produced by zikali himself. as for the vision, it was not that of a spirit but of a real woman, in proof of which he called attention to certain anatomical details of the figure. finally, with much sense, he pointed out that the council would be mad to come to any decision upon such evidence, or to give faith to prophecies, whereof the truth or falsity could only be known in the future. now a fierce debate broke out, the war party maintaining that the manifestations were genuine, the peace party that they were a fraud. in the end, as neither side would give way and as zikali, when appealed to, sat silent as a stone, refusing any explanation, the king said-- "must we sit here talking, talking, till daylight? there is but one man who can know the truth, that is macumazahn. let him deny it as he will, he was the lover of this mameena while she was alive, for with my own eyes i saw him kiss her before she killed herself. it is certain, therefore, that he knows if the woman we seemed to see was mameena or another, since there are things which a man never forgets. i propose, therefore, that we should question him and form our own judgment of his answer." this advice, which seemed to promise a road out of a blind ally, met with instant acceptance. "let it be so," they cried with one voice, and in another minute i was once more conducted from behind my tree and set down upon the stool in front of the council, with my back to the fire and zikali, "that his eyes might not charm me." "now, watcher-by-night," said cetewayo, "although you have lied to us in a certain matter, of this we do not think much, since it is one upon which both men and women always lie, as every judge will know. therefore we still believe you to be an honest man, as your dealings have proved for many years. as an honest man, therefore, we beg you to give us a true answer to a plain question. was the shape we saw before us just now a woman or a spirit, and if a spirit, was it the ghost of mameena, the beautiful witch who died near this place nearly the quarter of a hundred years ago, she whom you loved, or who loved you, which is just the same thing, since a man always loves a woman who loves him, or thinks that he does?" now after reflection i replied in these words and as conscientiously as i could-- "king and councillors, i do not know if what we all saw was a ghost or a living person, but, as i do not believe in ghosts, or at any rate that they come back to the world on such errands, i conclude that it was a living person. still it may have been neither, but only a mere picture produced before us by the arts of zikali. so much for the first question. your second is--was this spirit or woman or shadow, that of her whom i remember meeting in zululand many years ago? king and councillors, i can only say that it was very like her. still one handsome young woman often greatly resembles another of the same age and colouring. further, the moon gives an uncertain light, especially when it is tempered by smoke from a fire. lastly, memory plays strange tricks with all of us, as you will know if you try to think of the face of any one who has been dead for more than twenty years. for the rest, the voice seemed similar, the beads and ornaments seemed similar, and the figure repeated to me certain words which i thought i alone had heard come from the lips of her who is dead. also she gave me a strange message from another who is dead, referring to a matter which i believed was known only to me and that other. yet zikali is very clever and may have learned these things in some way unguessed by me, and what he has learned, others may have learned also. king and councillors, i do not think that what we saw was the spirit of mameena. i think it a woman not unlike to her who had been taught her lesson. i have nothing more to say, and therefore i pray you not to ask me any further questions about mameena of whose name i grow weary." at this point zikali seemed to wake out of his indifference, or his torpor, for he looked up and said darkly-- "it is strange that the cleverest are always those who first fall into the trap. they go along, gazing at the stars at night, and forget the pit which they themselves have dug in the morning. o-ho-ho! oho-ho!" now the wrangling broke out afresh. the peace party pointed triumphantly to the fact that i, the white man who ought to know, put no faith in this apparition, which was therefore without doubt a fraud. the war party on the other hand declared that i was deceiving them for reasons of my own, one of which would be that i did not wish to see the zulus eat up my people. so fierce grew the debate that i thought it would end in blows and perhaps in an attack on myself or zikali who all the while sat quite careless and unmoved, staring at the moon. at length cetewayo shouted for silence, spitting, as was his habit when angry. "make an end," he cried, "lest i cause some of you to grow quiet for ever," whereon the recriminations ceased. "opener of roads," he went on, "many of those who are present think like macumazahn here, that you are but an old cheat, though whether or no i be one of these i will not say. they demand a sign of you that none can dispute, and i demand it also before i speak the word of peace or war. give us then that sign or begone to whence you came and show your face no more at ulundi." "what sign does the council require, son of panda?" asked zikali quietly. "let them agree on one together and tell me now at once, for i who am old grow weary and would sleep. then if it can be given i will give it; and if i cannot give it, i will get me back to my own house and show my face no more at ulundi, who do not desire to listen again to fools who babble like contending waters round a stone and yet never stir the stone because they run two ways at once." now the councillors stared at each other, for none knew what sign to ask. at length old sigananda said-- "o king, it is well known that the black one who went before you had a certain little assegai handled with the royal red wood, which drank the blood of many. it was with this assegai that mopo his servant, who vanished from the land after the death of dingaan, let out the life of the black one at the kraal duguza, but what became of it afterwards none have heard for certain. some say that it was buried with the black one, some that mopo stole it. others that dingaan and umhlagana burned it. still a saying rose like a wind in the land that when that spear shall fall from heaven at the feet of the king who reigns in the place of the black one, then the zulus shall make their last great war and win a victory of which all the world shall hear. now let the opener of roads give us this sign of the falling of the black one's spear and i shall be content." "would you know the spear if it fell?" asked cetewayo. "i should know it, o king, who have often held it in my hand. the end of the haft is gnawed, for when he was angry the black one used to bite it. also a thumb's length from the blade is a black mark made with hot iron. once the black one made a bet with one of his captains that at a distance of ten paces he would throw the spear deeper into the body of a chief whom he wished to kill, than the captain could. the captain threw first, for i saw him with my eyes, and the spear sank to that place on the shaft where the mark is, for the black one burned it there. then the black one threw and the spear went through the body of the chief who, as he died, called to him that he too should know the feel of it in his heart, as indeed he did." i think that cetewayo was about to assent to this suggestion, since he who desired peace believed it impossible that zikali should suddenly cause this identical spear to fall from heaven. but umnyamana, the prime induna, interposed hurriedly-- "it is not enough, o king. zikali may have stolen the spear, for he was living and at the kraal duguza at that time. also he may have put about the prophecy whereof sigananda speaks, or at least so men would say. let him give us a greater sign than this that all may be content, so that whether we make war or peace it may be with a single mind. now it is known that we zulus have a guardian spirit who watches over us from the skies, she who is called nomkubulwana, or by some the inkosazana-y-zulu, the princess of heaven. it is known also that this princess, who is white of skin and ruddy-haired, appears always before great things happen in our land. thus she appeared before the black one died. also she appeared to a number of children before the battle of the tugela. it is said, too, that but lately she appeared to a woman near the coast and warned her to cross the tugela because there would be war, though this woman cannot now be found. let the opener of roads call down nomkubulwana before our eyes from heaven and we will admit, every man of us, that this is a sign which cannot be questioned." "and if he does this thing, which i hold no doctor in the world can do, what shall it signify?" asked cetewayo. "o king," answered umnyamana, "if he does so, it shall signify war and victory. if he does not do so, it shall signify peace, and we will bow our heads before the amalungwana basi bodwe" (i.e., "the little english," used as a term of derision). "do all agree?" asked cetewayo. "we agree," answered every man, stretching out his hand. "then, opener of roads, it stands thus: if you can call nomkubulwana, should there be such a spirit, to appear before our eyes, the council will take it as a sign that the heavens direct us to fight the english." so spoke cetewayo, and i noted a tone of triumph in his voice, for his heart shrank from this war, and he was certain that zikali could do nothing of the sort. still the opinion of the nation, or rather of the army, was so strong in favour of it that he feared lest his refusal might bring about his deposition, if not his death. from this dilemma the supernatural test suggested by the prime minister and approved by the council that represented the various tribes of people, seemed to offer a path of escape. so i read the situation, as i think rightly. upon hearing these words for the first time that night zikali seemed to grow disturbed. "what do my ears hear?" he exclaimed excitedly. "am i the umkulukulu, the great-great (i.e., god) himself, that it should be asked of me to draw the princess of heaven from beyond the stars, she who comes and goes like the wind, but like the wind cannot be commanded? do they hear that if she will not come to my beckoning, then the great zulu people must put a yoke upon their shoulders and be as slaves? surely the king must have been listening to the doctrines of those english teachers who wear a white ribbon tied about their necks, and tell us of a god who suffered himself to be nailed to a cross of wood, rather than make war upon his foes, one whom they call the prince of peace. times have changed indeed since the days of the black one. yes, generals have become like women; the captains of the impis are set to milk the cows. well, what have i to do with all this? what does it matter to me who am so very old that only my head remains above the level of the earth, the rest of me being buried in the grave, who am not even a zulu to boot, but a dwandwe, one of the despised dwandwe whom the zulus mocked and conquered? "hearken to me, spirits of the house of senzangacona"--here he addressed about a dozen of cetewayo's ancestors by name, going back for many generations. "hearken to me, o princess of heaven, appointed by the great-great to be the guardian of the zulu race. it is asked that you should appear, should it be your wish to signify to these your children that they must stand upon their feet and resist the white men who already gather upon their borders. and should it be your wish that they should lay down their spears and go home to sleep with their wives and hoe the gardens while the white men count the cattle and set each to his work upon the roads, then that you should not appear. do what you will, o spirits of the house of senzangacona, do what you will, o princess of heaven. what does it matter to the thing-that-never-should-have-been-born, who soon will be as though he never had been born, whether the house of senzangacona and the zulu people stand or fall? "i, the old doctor, was summoned here to give counsel. i gave counsel, but it passed over the heads of these wise ones like a shadow of which none took note. i was asked to prophesy of what would chance if war came. i called the dead from their graves; they came in voices, and one of them put on the flesh again and spoke from the lips of flesh. the white man to whom she spoke denied her who had been his love, and the wise ones said that she was a cheat, yes, a doll that i had dressed up to deceive them. this spirit that had put on flesh, told of what would chance in the war, if war there were, and what would chance to the king, but they mock at the prophecy and now they demand a sign. come then, nomkubulwana, and give them the sign if you will and let there be war. or stay away and give them no sign if you will, and let there be peace. it is nought to me, nought to the thing-that-should-never-have-been-born." thus he rambled on, as it occurred to me who watched and listened, talking against time. for i observed that while he spoke a cloud was passing over the face of the moon, and that when he ceased speaking it was quite obscured by this cloud, so that the vale of bones was plunged in a deep twilight that was almost darkness. further, in a nervous kind of way, he did something more to his wizard's fire which again caused it to throw out a fan of smoke that hid him and the execution rock in front of which he sat. the cloud floated by and the moon came out as though from an eclipse; the smoke of the fire, too, thinned by degrees. as it melted and the light grew again, i became aware that something was materializing, or had appeared on the point of the rock above us. a few seconds later, to my wonder and amazement, i perceived that this something was the spirit-like form of a white woman which stood quite still upon the very point of the rock. she was clad in some garment of gleaming white cut low upon her breast, that may have been of linen, but from the way it shone, suggested that it was of glittering feathers, egrets' for instance. her ruddy hair was outspread, and in it, too, something glittered, like mica or jewels. her feet and milk-hued arms were bare and poised in her right hand was a little spear. nor did i see alone, since a moan of fear and worship went up from the councillors. then they grew silent stared and stared. suddenly zikali lifted his head and looked at them through the thin flame of the fire which made his eyes shine like those of a tiger or of a cornered baboon. "at what do you gaze so hard, king and councillors?" he asked. "i see nothing. at what then do you gaze so hard?" "on the rock above you stands a white spirit in her glory. it is the inkosazana herself," muttered cetewayo. "has she come then?" mocked the old wizard. "nay, surely it is but a dream, or another of my tricks; some black woman painted white that i have smuggled here in my medicine bag, or rolled up in the blanket on my back. how can i prove to you that this is not another cheat like to that of the spirit of mameena whom the white man, her lover, did not know again? go near to her you must not, even if you could, seeing that if by chance she should _not_ be a cheat, you would die, every man of you, for woe to him whom nomkubulwana touches. how then, how? ah! i have it. doubtless in his pocket macumazahn yonder hides a little gun, macumazahn who with such a gun can cut a reed in two at thirty paces, or shave the hair from the chin of a man, as is well known in the land. let him then take his little gun and shoot at that which you say stands upon the rock. if it be a black woman painted white, doubtless she will fall down dead, as so many have fallen from that rock. but if it be the princess of heaven, then the bullet will pass through her or turn aside and she will take no harm, though whether macumazahn will take any harm is more than i can say." now when they heard this many remained silent, but some of the peace party began to clamour that i should be ordered to shoot at the apparition. at length cetewayo seemed to give way to this pressure. i say seemed, because i think he wished to give way. whether or not a spirit stood before him, he knew no more than the rest, but he did know that unless the vision were proved to be mortal he would be driven into war with the english. therefore he took the only chance that remained to him. "macumazahn," he said, "i know you have your pistol on you, for only the other day you brought it into my presence, and through light and darkness you nurse it as a mother does her firstborn. now since the opener of roads desires it, i command you to fire at that which seems to stand above us. if it be a mortal woman, she is a cheat and deserves to die. if it be a spirit from heaven it can take no harm. nor can you take harm who only do that which you must." "woman or spirit, i will not shoot, king," i answered. "is it so? what! do you defy me, white man? do so if you will, but learn that then your bones shall whiten here in this vale of bones. yes, you shall be the first of the english to go below," and turning, he whispered something to two of the councillors. now i saw that i must either obey or die. for a moment my mind grew confused in face of this awful alternative. i did not believe that i saw a spirit. i believed that what stood above me was nombe cunningly tricked out with some native pigments which at that distance and in that light made her look like a white woman. for oddly enough at that time the truth did not occur to me, perhaps because i was too surprised. well, if it were nombe, she deserved to be shot for playing such a trick, and what is more her death, by revealing the fraud of zikali, would perhaps avert a great war. but then why did he make the suggestion that i should be commanded to fire at this figure? slowly i drew out my pistol and brought it to the full cock, for it was loaded. "i will obey, king," i said, "to save myself from being murdered. but on your head be all that may follow from this deed." then it was for the first time that a new idea struck me so clearly that i believe it was conveyed direct from zikali's brain to my own. _i might shoot, but there was no need for me to hit._ after that everything grew plain. "king," i said, "if yonder be a mortal, she is about to die. only a spirit can escape my aim. watch now the centre of her forehead, for there the bullet will strike!" i lifted the pistol and appeared to cover the figure with much care. as i did so, even from that distance i thought i saw a look of terror in its eyes. then i fired, with a little jerk of the wrist sending the ball a good yard above her head. "she is unharmed," cried a voice. "macumazahn missed her." "macumazahn does not miss," i replied loftily. "if that at which he aimed is unharmed, it is because it cannot be hit." "o-ho-o!" laughed zikali, "the white man who does not know the taste of his own love's lips, says that he has fired at that which cannot be hit. let him try again. no, let him choose another target. the spirit is the spirit, but he who summoned her may still be a cheat. there is another bullet in your little gun, white man; see if it can pierce the heart of zikali, that the king and council may learn whether he be a true prophet, the greatest of all the prophets that ever was, or whether he be but a common cheat." now a sudden rage filled me against this old rascal. i remembered how he had brought mameena to her death, when he thought that it would serve him, and since then filled the land with stories concerning her and me, which met me whatever way i turned. i remembered that for years he had plotted to bring about the destruction of the zulus, and to further his dark ends, was now engaged in causing a fearful war which would cost the lives of thousands. i remembered that he had trapped me into zululand and then handed me over to cetewayo, separating me from my friends who were in my charge, and for aught i knew, giving them to death. surely the world would be well rid of him. "have your will," i shouted and covered him with the pistol. then there came into my mind a certain saying--"judge not that ye be not judged." who and what was i that i should dare to arraign and pass sentence upon this man who after all had suffered many wrongs? as i was about to fire i caught sight of some bright object flashing towards the king from above, and instantaneously shifted my aim and pressed the trigger. the thing, whatever it might be, flew in two. one part of it fell upon zikali, the other part travelled on and struck cetewayo upon the knee. there followed a great confusion and a cry of "the king is stabbed!" i ran forward to look and saw the blade of a little assegai lying on the ground and on cetewayo's knee a slight cut from which blood trickled. "it is nothing," i said, "a scratch, no more, though had not the spear been stopped in its course it might have been otherwise." "yes," cried zikali, "but what was it that caused the cut? take this, sigananda, and tell me what it may be," and he threw towards him a piece of red wood. sigananda looked at it. "it is the haft of the black one's spear," he exclaimed, "which the bullet of macumazahn has severed from the blade." "aye," said zikali, "and the blade has drawn the blood of the black one's child. read me this omen, sigananda; or ask it of her who stands above you." now all looked to the rock, but it was empty. the figure had vanished. "your word, king," said zikali. "is it for peace or war?" cetewayo looked at the assegai, looked at the blood trickling from his knee, looked at the faces of the councillors. "blood calls for blood," he moaned. "my word is--_war!_" chapter xvii kaatje brings news zikali burst into one of his peals of laughter, so unholy that it caused the blood in me to run cold. "the king's word is _war_," he cried. "let nomkubulwana take that word back to heaven. let macumazahn take it to the white men. let the captains cry it to the regiments and let the world grow red. the king has chosen, though mayhap, had i been he, i should have chosen otherwise; yet what am i but a hollow reed stuck in the ground up which the spirits speak to men? it is finished, and i, too, am finished for a while. farewell, o king! where shall we meet again, i wonder? on the earth or under it? farewell, macumazahn, i know where we shall meet, though you do not. o king, i return to my own place, i pray you to command that none come near me or trouble me with words, for i am spent." "it is commanded," said cetewayo. as he spoke the fire went out mysteriously, and the wizard rose and hobbled off at a surprising pace round the corner of the projecting rock. "stay!" i called, "i would speak with you;" but although i am sure he heard me, he did not stop or look round. i sprang up to follow him, but at some sign from cetewayo two indunas barred my way. "did you not hear the king's command, white man?" one of them asked coldly, and the tone of his question told me that war having been declared, i was now looked upon as a foe. i was about to answer sharply when cetewayo himself addressed me. "macumazahn," he said, "you are now my enemy, like all your people, and from sunrise to-morrow morning your safe-conduct here ends, for if you are found at ulundi two hours after that time, it will be lawful for any man to kill you. yet as you are still my guest, i will give you an escort to the borders of the land. moreover, you shall take a message from me to the queen's officers and captains. it is--that i will send an answer to their demands upon the point of an assegai. yet add this, that not i but the english, to whom i have always been a friend, sought this war. if sompseu had suffered me to fight the boers as i wished to do, it would never have come about. but he threw the queen's blanket over the transvaal and stood upon it, and now he declares that lands which were always the property of the zulus, belong to the boers. therefore i take back all the promises which i made to him when he came hither to call me king in the queen's name, and no more do i call him my father. as for the disbanding of my impis, let the english disband them if they can. i have spoken." "and i have heard," i answered, "and will deliver your words faithfully, though i hold, king, that they come from the lips of one whom the heavens have made mad." at this bold speech some of the councillors started up with threatening gestures. cetewayo waved them back and answered quietly, "perhaps it was the queen of heaven who stood on yonder rock who made me mad. or perhaps she made me wise, as being the spirit of our people she should surely do. that is a question which the future will decide, and if ever we should meet after it is decided, we will talk it over. now, hamba gachle! (go in peace)." "i hear the king and i will go, but first i would speak with zikali." "then, white man, you must wait till this war is finished or till you meet him in the land of spirits. goza, lead macumazahn back to his hut and set a guard about it. at the dawn a company of soldiers will be waiting with orders to take him to the border. you will go with him and answer for his safety with your life. let him be well treated on the road as my messenger." then cetewayo rose and stood while all present gave him the royal salute, after which he walked away down the kloof. i remained for a moment, making pretence to examine the blade of the little assegai that had been thrown by the figure on the rock, which i had picked from the ground. this historical piece of iron which i have no doubt is the same that chaka always carried, wherewith, too, he is said to have killed his mother, nandie, by the way i still possess, for i slipped it into my pocket and none tried to take it from me. really, however, i was wondering whether i could in any way gain access to zikali, a problem that was settled for me by a sharp request to move on, uttered in a tone which admitted of no further argument. well, i trudged back to my hut in the company of goza, who was so overcome by all the wonders he had seen that he could scarcely speak. indeed, when i asked him what he thought of the figure that had appeared upon the rock, he replied petulantly that it was not given to him to know whence spirits came or of what stuff they were made, which showed me that he at any rate believed in its supernatural origin and that it had appeared to direct the zulus to make war. this was all i wanted to find out, so i said nothing more, but gave up my mind to thought of my own position and difficulties. here i was, ordered on pain of death to depart from ulundi at the dawn. and yet how could i obey without seeing zikali and learning from him what had happened to anscombe and heda, or at any rate without communicating with him? once more only did i break silence, offering to give goza a gun if he would take a message from me to the great wizard. but with a shake of his big head, he answered that to do so would mean death, and guns were of no good to a dead man since, as i had shown myself that night, they had no power to shoot a spirit. this closed the business on which i need not have troubled to enter, since an answer to all my questionings was at hand. we reached the hut where goza gave me over to the guard of soldiers, telling their officer that none were to be permitted to enter it save myself and that i was not to be to permitted to come out of it until he, goza, came to fetch me a little before the dawn. the officer asked if any one else was to be permitted to come out, a question that surprised me, though vaguely, for i was thinking of other things. then goza departed, remarking that he hoped i should sleep better than he would, who "felt spirits in his bones and did not wish to kiss them as i seemed to like to do." i replied facetiously, thinking of the bottle of brandy, that ere long i meant to feel them in my stomach, whereat he shook his head again with the air of one whom nothing connected with me could surprise, and vanished. i crawled into the hut and put the board over the bee-hole-like entrance behind me. then i began to hunt for the matches in my pocket and pricked my finger with the point of chaka's historical assegai. while i was sucking it to my amazement i heard the sound of some one breathing on the further side of the hut. at first i thought of calling the guard, but on reflection found the matches and lit the candle, which stood by the blankets that served me as a bed. as soon as it burned up i looked towards the sound, and to my horror perceived the figure of a sleeping woman, which frightened me so much that i nearly dropped the candle. to tell the truth, so obsessed was i with zikali and his ghosts that for a few moments it occurred to me that this might be the shape with which i had talked an hour or two before. i mean that which had seemed to resemble the long-dead lady mameena, or rather the person made up to her likeness, come here to continue our conversation. at any rate i was sure, and rightly, that here was more of the handiwork of zikali who wished to put me in some dreadful position for reasons of his own. pulling myself together i advanced upon the lady, only to find myself no wiser, since she was totally covered by a kaross. now what was to be done? to escape, of which of course i had thought at once, was impossible since it meant an assegai in my ribs. to call to the guard for help seemed indiscreet, for who knew what those fools might say? to kick or shake her would undoubtedly be rude and, if it chanced to be the person who had played mameena, would certainly provoke remarks that i should not care to face. there seemed to be only one resource, to sit down and wait till she woke up. this i did for quite a long time, till at last the absurdity of the position and, i will admit, my own curiosity overcame me, especially as i was very tired and wanted to go to sleep. so advancing most gingerly, i turned down the kaross from over the head of the sleeping woman, much wondering whom i should see, for what man is there that a veiled woman does not interest? indeed, does not half the interest of woman lie in the fact that her nature is veiled from man, in short a mystery which he is always seeking to solve at his peril, and i might add, never succeeds in solving? well, i turned down that kaross and next instant stepped back amazed and, to tell the truth, somewhat disappointed, for there, with her mouth open, lay no wondrous and spiritual mameena, but the stout, earthly and most prosaic--kaatje! "confound the woman!" thought i to myself. "what is she doing here?" then i remembered how wrong it was to give way to a sense of romantic disappointment at such a time, though as a matter of fact it is always in a moment of crisis or of strained nerves that we are most open to the insidious advances of romance. also that there was no one on earth, or beyond it, whom i ought more greatly to have rejoiced to see. i had left kaatje with anscombe and heda; therefore kaatje could tell me what had become of them. and at this thought my heart sank--why was she here in this most inappropriate meeting-place, alone? feeling that these were questions which must be answered at once, i prodded kaatje in the ribs with my toe until, after a good deal of prodding, she awoke, sat up and yawned, revealing an excellent set of teeth in her cavernous, quarter-cast mouth. then perceiving a man she opened that mouth even wider, as i thought with the idea of screaming for help. but here i was first with her, for before a sound could issue i had filled it full with the corner of the kaross, exclaiming in dutch as i did so-- "idiot of a woman, do you not know the heer quatermain when you see him?" "oh! baas," she answered, "i thought you were some wicked zulu come to do me a mischief." then she burst into tears and sobs which i could not stop for at least three minutes. "be quiet, you fat fool!" i cried exasperated, "and tell me, where are your mistress and the heer anscombe?" "i don't know, baas, but i hope in heaven" (kaatje was some kind of a christian), she replied between her sobs. "in heaven! what do you mean?" i asked, horrified. "i mean, baas, that i hope they are in heaven, because when last i saw them they were both dead, and dead people must be either in heaven or hell, and heaven, they say, is better than hell." "_dead!_ where did you see them dead?" "in that black kloof, baas, some days after you left us and went away. the old baboon man who is called zikali gave us leave through the witch-girl, nombe, to go also. so the baas anscombe set to work to inspan the horses, the missie heda helping him, while i packed the things. when i had nearly finished nombe came, smiling like a cat that has caught two mice, and beckoned to me to follow her. i went and saw the cart inspanned with the four horses all looking as though they were asleep, for their heads hung down. then after she had stared at me for a long while nombe led me past the horses into the shadow of the overhanging cliff. there i saw my mistress and the baas anscombe lying side by side quite dead." "how do you know that they were dead?" i gasped. "what had killed them?" "i know that they were dead because they _were_ dead, baas. their mouths and eyes were open and they lay upon their backs with their arms stretched out. the witch-girl, nombe, said some kaffirs had come and strangled them and then gone away again, or so i understood who cannot speak zulu so very well. who the kaffirs were or why they came she did not say." "then what did you do?" i asked. i ran back to the hut, baas, fearing lest i should be strangled also, and wept there till i grew hungry. when i came out of it again they were gone. nombe showed me a place under a tree where the earth was disturbed. she said that they were buried there by order of her master, zikali. i don't know what became of the horses or the cart." "and what happened to you afterwards?" "baas, i was kept for several days, i cannot remember how many, and only allowed out within the fence round the huts. nombe came to see me once, bringing this," and she produced a package sewn up in a skin. "she said that i was to give it to you with a message that those whom you loved were quite safe with one who is greater than any in the land, and therefore that you must not grieve for them whose troubles were over. i think it was two nights after this that four zulus came, two men and two women, and led me away, as i thought to kill me. but they did not kill me; indeed they were very kind to me, although when i spoke to them they pretended not to understand. they took me a long journey, travelling for the most part in the dark and sleeping in the day. this evening when the sun set they brought me through a kaffir town and thrust me into the hut where i am without speaking to any one. here, being very tired, i went to sleep, and that is all." and quite enough too, thought i to myself. then i put her through a cross-examination, but kaatje was a stupid woman although a good and faithful servant, and all her terrible experiences had not sharpened her intelligence. indeed, when i pressed her she grew utterly confused, began to cry, thereby taking refuge in the last impregnable female fortification, and snivelled out that she could not bear to talk of her dear mistress any more. so i gave it up, and two minutes later she was literally snoring, being very tired, poor thing. now i tried to think matters out as well as this disturbance would allow, for nothing hinders thought so much as snores. but what was the use of thinking? there was her story to take or to leave, and evidently the honest creature believed what she said. further, how could she be deceived on such a point? she swore that she had seen anscombe and heda dead and afterwards had seen their graves. moreover, there was confirmation in nombe's message which could not well have been invented, that spoke of their being well in the charge of a "great one," a term by which the zulus designate god, with all their troubles finished. the reason and manner of their end were left unrevealed. zikali might have murdered them for his own purposes, or the zulus might have killed them in obedience to the king's order that no white people in the land were to be allowed to live. or perhaps the basutos from sekukuni's country, with whom the zulus had some understanding, had followed and done them to death; indeed the strangling sounded more basuto than zulu--if they were really strangled. almost overcome though i was, i bethought me of the package and opened it, only to find another apparent proof of their end, for it contained heda's jewels as i had found them in the bag in the safe; also a spare gold watch belonging to anscombe with his coat-of-arms engraved upon it. that which he wore was of silver and no doubt was buried with him, since for superstitious reasons the natives would not have touched anything on his person after death. this seemed to me to settle the matter, presumptively at any rate, since to show that robbery was not the cause of their murder, their most valuable possessions which were not upon their persons had been sent to me, their friend. so this was the end of all my efforts to secure the safety and well-being of that most unlucky pair. i wept when i thought of it there in the darkness of the hut, for the candle had burned out, and going on to my knees, put up an earnest prayer for the welfare of their souls; also that i might be forgiven my folly in leading them into such danger. and yet i did it for the best, trying to judge wisely in the light of such experience of the world as i possessed. now alas! when i am old i have come to the conclusion that those things which one tries to do for the best one generally does wrong, because nearly always there is some tricky fate at hand to mar them, which in this instance was named zikali. the fact is, i suppose, that man who thinks himself a free agent, can scarcely be thus called, at any rate so far as immediate results are concerned. but that is a dangerous doctrine about which i will say no more, for i daresay that he is engaged in weaving a great life-pattern of which he only sees the tiniest piece. one thing comforted me a little. if these two were dead i could now leave zululand without qualms. of course i was obliged to leave in any case, or die, but somehow that fact would not have eased my conscience. indeed i think that had i believed they still lived, in this way or in that i should have tried not to leave, because i should have thought it for the best to stay to help them, whereby in all human probability i should have brought about my own death without helping them at all. well, it had fallen out otherwise and there was an end. now i could only hope that they had gone to some place where there are no more troubles, even if, at the worst, it were a place of rest too deep for dreams. musing thus at last i dozed off, for i was so tired that i think i should have slept although execution awaited me at the dawn instead of another journey. i did not sleep well because of that snoring female on the other side of the hut whose presence outraged my sense of propriety and caused me to be invaded by prophetic dreams of the talk that would ensue among those scandalmongering zulus. yes, it was of this i dreamed, not of the great dangers that threatened me or of the terrible loss of my friends, perhaps because to many men, of whom i suppose i am one, the fear of scandal or of being the object of public notice, is more than the fear of danger or the smart of sorrow. so the night wore away, till at length i woke to see the gleam of dawn penetrating the smoke-hole and dimly illuminating the recumbent form of kaatje, which to me looked most unattractive. presently i heard a discreet tapping on the doorboard of the hut which i at once removed, wriggling swiftly through the hole, careless in my misery as to whether i met an assegai the other side of it or not. without a guard of eight soldiers was standing, and with them goza, who asked me if i were ready to start. "quite," i answered, "as soon as i have saddled my horse," which by the way had been led up to the hut. very soon this was done, for i brought out most of my few belongings with me and the bag of jewels was in my pocket. then it was that the officer of the guard, a thin and melancholy-looking person, said in a hollow voice, addressing himself to goza-- "the orders are that the white man's wife is to go with him. where is she?" "where a man's wife should be, in his hut i suppose," answered goza sleepily. rage filled me at the words. seldom do i remember being so angry. "yes," i said, "if you mean that half-cast whom someone has thrust upon me, she is in there. so if she is to come with us, perhaps you will get her out." thus adjured the melancholy-looking captain, who was named indudu, perhaps because he or his father had longed to the dudu regiment, crawled into the hut, whence presently emerged sounds not unlike those which once i heard when a ringhals cobra followed a hare that i had wounded into a hole, a muffled sound of struggling and terror. these ended in the sudden and violent appearance of kaatje's fat and dishevelled form, followed by that of the snakelike indudu. seeing me standing there before a bevy of armed zulus, she promptly fell upon my neck with a cry for help, for the silly woman thought she was going to be killed by them. gripping me as an octopus grips its prey, she proceeded to faint, dragging me to my knees beneath the weight of eleven stone of solid flesh. "ah!" said one of the zulus not unkindly, "she is much afraid for her husband whom she loves." well, i disentangled myself somehow, and seizing what i took to be a gourd of water in that dim light, poured it over her head, only to discover too late that it was not water but clotted milk. however the result was the same, for presently she sat up, made a dreadful-looking object by this liberal application of curds and whey, whereon i explained matters to her to the best of my power. the end of it was that after indudu and goza had wiped her down with tufts of thatch dragged from the hut and i had collected her gear with the rest of my own, we set her on the horse straddlewise, and started, the objects of much interest among such zulus as were already abroad. at the gate of the town there was a delay which made me nervous, since in such a case as mine delay might always mean a death-warrant. i knew that it was quite possible cetewayo had changed, or been persuaded to change his mind and issue a command that i should be killed as one who had seen and knew too much. indeed this fear was my constant companion during all the long journey to the drift of the tugela, causing me to look askance at every man we met or who overtook us, lest he should prove to be a messenger of doom. nor were these doubts groundless, for as i learned in the after days, the prime minister, umnyamana, and others had urged cetewayo strongly to kill me, and what we were waiting for at the gate were his final orders on the subject. however, in this matter, as in more that i could mention, the king played the part of a man of honour, and although he seemed to hesitate for reasons of policy, never had any intention of allowing me to be harmed. on the contrary the command brought was that any one who harmed macumazahn, the king's guest and messenger, should die with all his house. whilst we tarried a number of women gathered round us whose conversation i could not help overhearing. one of them said to another-- "look at the white man, watcher-by-night, who can knock a fly off an ox's horn with a bullet from further away than we could see it. he it was who loved and was loved by the witch mameena, whose beauty is still famous in the land. they say she killed herself for his sake, because she declared that she would never live to grow old and ugly, so that he turned away from her. my mother told me all about it only last night." then you have a liar for a mother, thought i to myself, for to contradict such a one openly would have been undignified. "is it so?" asked one of her friends, deeply interested. "then the lady mameena must have had a strange taste in men, for this one is an ugly little fellow with hair like the grey ash of stubble and a wrinkled face of the colour of a flayed skin that has lain unstretched in the sun. however, i have been told that witches always love those who look unnatural." "yes," said number one, "but you see now that he is old he has to be satisfied with a different sort of wife. she is not beautiful, is she, although she has dipped her head in milk to make herself look white?" so it went on till at length a runner arrived and whispered something to indudu who saluted, showing me that it was a royal message, and ordered us to move. of this i was glad, for had i stopped there much longer, i think i should have personally assaulted those gossiping female idiots. of our journey through zululand there is nothing particular to say. we saw but few people, since most of the men had been called up to the army, and many of the kraals seemed to be deserted by the women and children who perhaps were hidden away with the cattle. once, however, we met an impi about five thousand strong, that seemed to cover the hillside like a herd of game. it consisted of the nodwengu and the nokenke regiments, both of which afterwards fought at isandhlwana. some of their captains with a small guard came to see who we were, fine, fierce-looking men. they stared at me curiously, and with one of them, whom i knew, i had a little talk. he said that i was the last white man in zululand and that i was lucky to be alive, for soon these, and he pointed to the hordes of warriors who were streaming past, would eat up the english to "the last bone." i answered that this remained to be seen, as the english were also great eaters, whereat he laughed, replying, that it was true that the white men had already taken the first bite--a very little one, from which i gathered that some small engagement had happened. "well, farewell, macumazahn," he said, as he turned to go, "i hope that we shall meet in the battle, for i want to see if you can run as well as you can shoot." this roused my temper and i answered him-- "i hope for your sake that we shall not meet, for if we do i promise that before i run i will show you what you never saw before, the gateway of the world of spirits." i mention this conversation because by some strange chance it happened at isandhlwana that i killed this man, who was named simpofu. during all those days of trudging through hot suns and thunderstorms, for i had to give up the mare to kaatje who was too fat to walk, or said she was, i was literally haunted by thoughts of my murdered friends. heaven knows how bitterly i reproached myself for having brought them into zululand. it seemed so terribly sad that these young people who loved each other and had so bright a future before them, should have escaped from a tragic past merely to be overwhelmed by such a fate. again and again i questioned that lump kaatje as to the details of their end and of all that went before and followed after the murder. but it was quite useless; indeed, as time went on she seemed to become more nebulous on the point as though a picture were fading from her mind. but as to one thing she was always quite clear, that she had seen them dead and had seen their new-made grave. this she swore "by god in heaven," completing the oath with an outburst of tears in a way that would have carried conviction to any jury, as it did to me. and after all, what was more likely in the circumstances? zikali had killed them, or caused them to be killed; or possibly they were killed in spite of him in obedience to the express, or general, order of the king, if the deed was not done by the basutos. and yet an idea occurred to me. how about the woman on the rock that the zulus thought was their princess of the heavens? obviously this must be nonsense, since no such deity existed, therefore the person must either have been a white woman or one painted up to resemble a white woman; seen from a distance in moonlight it was impossible to say which. now, if it were a white woman, she might, from her shape and height and the colour of her hair, be heda herself. yet it seemed incredible that heda, whom kaatje had seen dead some days before, could be masquerading in such a part and make no sign of recognition to me, even when i covered her with my pistol, whereas that nombe would play it was likely enough. only then nombe must be something of a quick-change artist since but a little while before she was beyond doubt personating the dead mameena. if it were not so i must have been suffering from illusions, for certainly i seemed to see some one who looked like mameena, and only zikali, and through him nombe, had sufficient knowledge to enable her to fill that role with such success. perhaps the whole business was an illusion, though if so zikali's powers must be great indeed. but then how about the assegai that nomkubulwana, or rather her effigy, had seemed to hold and throw, whereof the blade was at present in my saddle-bag. that at any rate was tangible and real, though of course there was nothing to prove that it had really been chaka's famous weapon. another thing that tormented me was my failure to see zikali. i felt as though i had committed a crime in leaving zululand without doing this and hearing from his own lips--well, whatever he chose to tell me. i forget if i said that while we were waiting at the gate where those silly women talked so much nonsense about mameena and kaatje, that i made another effort through goza to get into touch with the wizard, but quite without avail. goza only answered what he said before, that if i wished to die at once i had better take ten steps towards the valley of bones, whence, he added parenthetically, the opener of roads had already departed on his homeward journey. this might or might not be true; at any rate i could find no possible way of coming face to face with him, or even of getting a message to his ear. no, i was not to blame; i had done all i could, and yet in my heart i felt guilty. but then, as cynics would, say, failure is guilt. at length we came to the ford of the tugela, and as fortunately the water was just low enough, bade farewell to our escort before crossing to the natal side. my parting with goza was quite touching, for we felt that it partook of the nature of a deathbed adieu, which indeed it did. i told him and the others that i hoped their ends be easy, and that whether they met them by bullets or by bayonet thrusts, the wounds would prove quickly mortal so that they might not linger in discomfort or pain. recognizing my kind thought for their true welfare they thanked me for it, though with no enthusiasm. indudu, however, filled with the spirit of repartee, or rather of "tu quoque", said in his melancholy fashion that if he and i came face to face in war, he would be sure to remember my words and to cut me up in the best style, since he could not bear to think of me languishing on a bed of sickness without my wife kaatje to nurse me (they knew i was touchy about kaatje). then we shook hands and parted. kaatje, hung round with paraphernalia like the white knight in "alice through the looking-glass," clinging to a cooking-pot and weeping tears of terror, faced the foaming flood upon the mare, while i grasped its tail. when we were as i judged out of assegai shot, i turned, with the water up to my armpits, and shouted some valedictory words. "tell your king," i said, "that he is the greatest fool in the world to fight the english, since it will bring his country to destruction and himself to disgrace and death, as at last, in the words of your proverb, 'the swimmer goes down with the stream.'" here, as it happened, i slipped off the stone on which i was standing and nearly went down with the stream myself. emerging with my mouth full of muddy water i waited till they had done laughing and continued-- "tell that old rogue, zikali, that i know he has murdered my friends and that when we meet again he and all who were in the plot shall pay for it with their lives." now an irritated zulu flung an assegai, and as the range proved to be shorter than i thought, for it went through kaatje's dress, causing her to scream with alarm, i ceased from eloquence, and we struggled on to the further bank, where at length we were safe. thus ended this unlucky trip of mine to zululand. chapter xviii isandhlwana we had crossed the tugela by what is known as the middle drift. a mile or so on the further side of it i was challenged by a young fellow in charge of some mounted natives, and found that i had stumbled into what was known as no. column, which consisted of a rocket battery, three battalions of the native contingent and some troops of mounted natives, all under the command of colonel durnford, r.e. after explanations i was taken to this officer's head-quarter tent. he was a tall, nervous-looking man with a fair, handsome face and long side-whiskers. one of his arms, i remember, was supported by a sling, i think it had been injured in some kaffir fighting. when i was introduced to him he was very busy, having, i understood from some one on his staff, just received orders to "operate against matshana." learning that i had come from zululand and was acquainted with the zulus, he at once began to cross-examine me about matshana, a chief of whom he seemed to know very little indeed. i told him what i could, which was not much, and before i could give him any information of real importance, was shown out and most hospitably entertained at luncheon, a meal of which i partook with gratitude in some garments that i had borrowed from one of the officers, while my own were set in the sun to dry. well can i recall how much i enjoyed the first whisky and soda that i had tasted since i left "the temple," and the good english food by which it was accompanied. presently i remembered kaatje, whom i had left outside with some native women, and went to see what had happened to her. i found her finishing a hearty meal and engaged in conversation with a young gentleman who was writing in a notebook. afterwards i discovered that he was a newspaper correspondent. what she told him and what he imagined, i do not know, but i may as well state the results at once. within a few days there appeared in one of the natal papers and, for aught i know, all over the earth, an announcement that mr. allan quatermain, a well-known hunter in zululand, after many adventures, had escaped from that country, "together with his favourite native wife, the only survivor of his extensive domestic establishment." then followed some wild details as to the murder of my other wives by a zulu wizard called "road mender, or sick ass" (i.e., opener of roads, or zikali), and so on. i was furious and interviewed the editor, a mild and apologetic little man, who assured me that the despatch was printed exactly as it had been received, as though that bettered the case. after this i commenced an action for libel, but as i was absent through circumstances over which i had no control when it came on for trial, the case was dismissed. i suppose the truth was that they mixed me up with a certain well-known white man in zululand, who had a large "domestic establishment," but however this may be, it was a long while before i heard the last of that "favourite native wife." later in the day i and kaatje, who stuck to me like a burr, departed from the camp. the rest of our journey was uneventful, except for more misunderstandings about kaatje, one of which, wherein a clergyman was concerned, was too painful to relate. at last we reached maritzburg, where i deposited kaatje in a boarding-house kept by another half-cast, and with a sigh of relief betook myself to the plough hotel, which was a long way off her. subsequently she obtained a place as a cook at howick, and for a while i saw her no more. at maritzburg, as in duty bound, i called upon various persons in authority and delivered cetewayo's message, leaving out all zikali's witchcraft which would have sounded absurd. it did not produce much impression as, hostilities having already occurred, it was superfluous. also no one was inclined to pay attention to the words of one who was neither an official nor a military officer, but a mere hunter supposed to have brought a native wife out of zululand. i did, however, report the murder of anscombe and heda, though in such times this caused no excitement, especially as they were not known to the officials concerned with such matters. indeed the occurrence never so much as got into the papers, any more than did the deaths of rodd and marnham on the borders of sekukuni's country. when people are expecting to be massacred themselves, they do not trouble about the past killing of others far away. lastly, i posted marnham's will to the pretoria bank, advising them that they had better keep it safely until some claim arose, and deposited heda's jewels and valuables in another branch of the same bank in maritzburg with a sealed statement as to how they came into my possession. these things done, i found it necessary to turn myself to the eternal problem of earning my living. i am a very rich man now as i write these reminiscences here in yorkshire--king solomon's mines made me that--but up to the time of my journey to kukuana land with my friends, curtis and good, although plenty of money passed through my hands on one occasion and another, little of it ever seemed to stick. in this way or that it was lost or melted; also i was not born one to make the best of his opportunities in the way of acquiring wealth. perhaps this was good for me, since if i had gained the cash early i should not have met with the experiences, and during our few transitory years, experience is of more real value than cash. it may prepare us for other things beyond, whereas the mere possession of a bank balance can prepare us for nothing in a land where gold ceases to be an object of worship as it is here. yet wealth is our god, not knowledge or wisdom, a fact which shows that the real essence of christianity has not yet permeated human morals. it just runs over their surface, no more, and for every eye that is turned towards the divine vision, a thousand are fixed night and day upon mammon's glittering image. now i owned certain wagons and oxen, and just then the demand for these was keen. so i hired them out to the military authorities for service in the war, and incidentally myself with them. i drove what i considered a splendid bargain with an officer who wrote as many letters after his name as a governor-general, but was really something quite humble. at least i thought it splendid until outside his tent i met a certain transport rider of my acquaintance whom i had always looked upon as a perfect fool, who told me that not half an hour before he had got twenty per cent. more for unsalted oxen and very rickety wagons. however, it did not matter much in the end as the whole outfit was lost at isandhlwana, and owing to the lack of some formality which i had overlooked, i never recovered more than a tithe of their value. i think it was that i neglected to claim within a certain specified time. at last my wagons were laden with ammunition and other government goods and i trekked over awful roads to helpmakaar, a place on the highlands not far from rorke's drift where no. column was stationed. here we were delayed awhile, i and my wagons having moved to a ford of the buffalo, together with many others. it was during this time that i ventured to make very urgent representations to certain highly placed officers, i will not mention which, as to the necessity of laagering, that is, forming fortified camps, as soon as zululand was entered, since from my intimate knowledge of its people i was sure that they would attack in force. these warnings of mine were received with the most perfect politeness and offers of gin to drink, which all transport riders were supposed to love, but in effect were treated with the contempt that they were held to deserve. the subject is painful and one on which i will not dwell. why should i complain when i know that cautions from notable persons such as sir melmoth osborn, and j. j. uys, a member of one the old dutch fighting families, met with a like fate. by the way it was while i was waiting on the banks of the river that i came across an old friend of mine, a zulu named magepa, with whom i had fought at the battle of the tugela. a few days later this man performed an extraordinary feat in saving his grandchild from death by his great swiftness in running, whereof i have preserved a note somewhere or other. ultimately on january we received our marching orders and crossed the river by the drift, the general scheme of the campaign being that the various columns were to converge upon ulundi. the roads, if so they can be called, were in such a fearful state that it took us ten days to cover as many miles. at length we trekked over a stony nek about five hundred yards in width. to the right of us was a stony eminence and to our left, its sheer brown cliffs of rock rising like the walls of some cyclopean fortress, the strange, abrupt mount of isandhlwana, which reminded me of a huge lion crouching above the hill-encircled plain beyond. at the foot of this isolated mount, whereof the aspect somehow filled me with alarm, we camped on the night of january , taking no precautions against attack by way of laagering the wagons. indeed the last thing that seemed to occur to those in command was that there would be serious fighting; men marched forward to their deaths as though they were going on a shooting-party, or to a picnic. i even saw cricketing bats and wickets occupying some of the scanty space upon the wagons. now i am not going to set out all the military details that preceded the massacre of isandhlwana, for these are written in history. it is enough to say that on the night of january , major dartnell, who was in command of the natal mounted police and had been sent out to reconnoitre the country beyond isandhlwana, reported a strong force of zulus in front of us. thereon lord chelmsford, the general-in-chief, moved out from the camp at dawn to his support, taking with him six companies of the th regiment, together with four guns and the mounted infantry. there were left in the camp two guns and about eight hundred white and nine hundred native troops, also some transport riders such as myself and a number of miscellaneous camp-followers. i saw him go from between the curtains of one of my wagons where i had made my bed on the top of a pile of baggage. indeed i had already dressed myself at the time, for that night i slept very ill because i knew our danger, and my heart was heavy with fear. about ten o'clock in the morning colonel durnford, whom i have mentioned already, rode up with five hundred natal zulus, about half of whom were mounted, and two rocket tubes which, of course, were worked by white men. this was after a patrol had reported that they had come into touch with some zulus on the left front, who retired before them. as a matter of fact these zulus were foraging in the mealie fields, since owing to the drought food was very scarce in zululand that year and the regiments were hungry. i happened to see the meeting between colonel pulleine, a short, stout man who was then in command of the camp, and colonel durnford who, as his senior officer, took it over from him, and heard colonel pulleine say that his orders were "to defend the camp," but what else passed between them i do not know. presently colonel durnford saw and recognized me. "do you think the zulus will attack us, mr. quatermain?" he said. "i don't think so, sir," i answered, "as it is the day of the new moon which they hold unlucky. but to-morrow it may be different." then he gave certain orders, dispatching captain george shepstone with a body of mounted natives along the ridge to the left, where presently they came in contact with the zulus about three miles away, and making other dispositions. a little later he moved out to the front with a strong escort, followed by the rocket battery, which ultimately advanced to a small conical hill on the left front, round which it passed, never to return again. just before he started colonel durnford, seeing me still standing there, asked me if i would like to accompany him, adding that as i knew the zulus so well i might be useful. i answered, certainly, and called to my head driver, a man named jan, to bring me my mare, the same that i had ridden out of zululand, while i slipped into the wagon and, in addition to the beltful that i wore, filled all my available pockets with cartridges for my double-barrelled express rifle. as i mounted i gave jan certain directions about the wagon and oxen, to which he listened, and then to my astonishment held out his hand to me, saying-- "good-bye, baas. you have been a kind master to me and i thank you." "why do you say that?" i asked. "because, baas, all the kaffirs declare that the great zulu impi will be on to us in an hour or two and eat up every man. i can't tell how they know it, but so they swear." "nonsense," i answered, "it is the day of new moon when the zulus don't fight. still if anything of the sort should happen, you and the other boys had better slip away to natal, since the government must pay for the wagons and oxen." this i said half joking, but it was a lucky jest for jan and the rest of my servants, since they interpreted it in earnest and with the exception of one of them who went back to get a gun, got off before the zulu horn closed round the camp, and crossed the river in safety. next moment i was cantering away after colonel durnford, whom i caught up about a quarter of a mile from the camp. now of course i did not see all of the terrible battle that followed and can only tell of that part of it in which i had a share. colonel durnford rode out about three and a half miles to the left front, i really don't quite know why, for already we were hearing firing on the top of the nqutu hills almost behind us, where captain shepstone was engaging the zulus, or so i believe. suddenly we met a trooper of the natal carabineers whose name was whitelaw, who had been out scouting. he reported that an enormous impi was just ahead of us seated in an umkumbi, or semi-circle, as is the fashion of the zulus before they charge. at least some of them, he said, were so seated, but others were already advancing. presently these appeared over the crest of the hill, ten thousand of them i should say, and amongst them i recognized the shields of the nodwengu, the dududu, the nokenke and the ingoba-makosi regiments. now there was nothing to be done except retreat, for the impi was attacking in earnest. the general untshingwayo, together with undabuko, cetewayo's brother, and the chief usibebu who commanded the scouts, had agreed not to fight this day for the reason i have given, because it was that of the new moon, but circumstances had forced their hand and the regiments could no longer be restrained. so to the number of twenty thousand or more, say one-third of the total zulu army, they hurled themselves upon the little english force that, owing to lack of generalship, was scattered here and there over a wide front and had no fortified base upon which to withdraw. we fell back to a donga which we held for a little while, and then as we saw that there we should presently be overwhelmed, withdrew gradually for another two miles or so, keeping off the zulus by our fire. in so doing we came upon the remains of the rocket battery near the foot of the conical hill i have mentioned, which had been destroyed by some regiment that passed behind us in its rush on the camp. there lay all the soldiers dead, assegaied through and through, and i noticed that one young fellow who had been shot through the head, still held a rocket in his hands. now somewhat behind and perhaps half a mile to the right of this hill a long, shallow donga runs across the isandhlwana plain. this we gained, and being there reinforced by about fifty of the natal carabineers under captain bradstreet, held it for a long while, keeping off the zulus by our terrible fire which cut down scores of them every time they attempted to advance. at this spot i alone killed from twelve to fifteen of them, for if the big bullet from my express rifle struck a man, he did not live. messengers were sent back to the camp for more ammunition, but none arrived, heaven knows why. my own belief is that the reserve cartridges were packed away in boxes and could not be got at. at last our supply began to run short, so there was nothing to be done except retreat upon the camp which was perhaps half a mile behind us. taking advantage of a pause in the zulu advance which had lain down while waiting for reserves, colonel durnford ordered a retirement that was carried out very well. up to that time we had lost only quite a few men, for the zulu fire was wild and high and they had not been able to get at us with the assegai. as we rode towards the mount i observed that firing was going on in all directions, especially on the nek that connected it with the nqutu range where captain shepstone and his mounted basutos were wiped out while trying to hold back the zulu right horn. the guns, too, were firing heavily and doing great execution. after this all grew confused. colonel durnford gave orders to certain officers who came up to him, captain essex was one and lieutenant cochrane another. then his force made for their wagons to get more ammunition. i kept near to the colonel and a while later found myself with him and a large, mixed body of men a little to the right of the nek which we had crossed in our advance from the river. not long afterwards there was a cry of "the zulus are getting round us!" and looking to the left i saw them pouring in hundreds across the ridge that joins isandhlwana mountain to the nqutu range. also they were advancing straight on to the camp. then the rout began. already the native auxiliaries were slipping away and now the others followed. of course this battle was but a small affair, yet i think that few have been more terrible, at any rate in modern times. the aspect of those plumed and shielded zulus as they charged, shouting their war-cries and waving their spears, was awesome. they were mown down in hundreds by the martini fire, but still they came on, and i knew that the game was up. a maddened horde of fugitives, mostly natives, began to flow past us over the nek, making for what was afterwards called fugitives' drift, nine miles away, and with them went white soldiers, some mounted, some on foot. mingled with all these people, following them, on either side of them, rushed zulus, stabbing as they ran. other groups of soldiers formed themselves into rough squares, on which the savage warriors broke like water on a rock. by degrees ammunition ran out; only the bayonet remained. still the zulus could not break those squares. so they took another counsel. withdrawing a few paces beyond the reach of the bayonets, they overwhelmed the soldiers by throwing assegais, then rushed in and finished them. this was what happened to us, among whom were men of the th, natal carabineers and mounted police. some had dismounted, but i sat on my horse, which stood quite still, i think from fright, and fired away so long as i had any ammunition. with my very last cartridge i killed the captain indudu who had been in charge of the escort that conducted me to the tugela. he had caught sight of me and called out-- "now, macumazahn, i will cut you up nicely as i promised." he got no further in his speech, for at that moment i sent an express bullet through him and his tall, melancholy figure doubled up and collapsed. all this while colonel durnford had been behaving as a british officer should do. scorning to attempt flight, whenever i looked round i caught sight of his tall form, easy to recognize by the long fair moustaches and his arm in a sling, moving to and fro encouraging us to stand firm and die like men. then suddenly i saw a kaffir, who carried a big old smooth-bore gun, aim at him from a distance of about twenty yards, and fire. he went down, as i believe dead, and that was the end of a very gallant officer and gentleman whose military memory has in my opinion been most unjustly attacked. the real blame for that disaster does not rest upon the shoulders of either colonel durnford or colonel pulleine. after this things grew very awful. some fled, but the most stood and died where they were. oddly enough during all this time i was never touched. men fell to my right and left and in front of me; bullets and assegais whizzed past me, yet i remained quite unhurt. it was as though some power protected me, which no doubt it did. at length when nearly all had fallen and i had nothing left to defend myself with except my revolver, i made up my mind that it was time to go. my first impulse was to ride for the river nine miles away. looking behind me i saw that the rough road was full of zulus hunting down those who tried to escape. still i thought i would try it, when suddenly there flashed across my brain the saying of whoever it was that personated mameena in the valley of bones, to the effect that in the great rout of the battle i was not to join the flying but to set my face towards ulundi and that if i did so i should be protected and no harm would come to me. i knew that all this prophecy was but a vain thing fondly imagined, although it was true that the battle and the rout had come. and yet i acted on it--why heaven knows alone. setting the spurs to my horse i galloped off past isandhlwana mount, on the southern slopes of which a body of the th were still fighting their last fight, and heading for the nqutu range. the plain was full of zulus, reserves running up; also to the right of me the ulundi and gikazi divisions were streaming forward. these, or some of them, formed the left horn of the impi, but owing to the unprepared nature of the zulu battle, for it must always be remembered that they did not mean to fight that day, their advance had been delayed until it was too late for them entirely to enclose the camp. thus the road, if it can so be called, to fugitives' drift was left open for a while, and by it some effected their escape. it was this horn, or part of it, that afterwards moved on and attacked rorke's drift, with results disastrous to itself. for some hundreds of yards i rode on thus recklessly, because recklessness seemed my only chance. thrice i met bodies of zulus, but on each occasion they scattered before me, calling out words that i could not catch. it was as though they were frightened of something they saw about me. perhaps they thought that i was mad to ride thus among them. indeed i must have looked mad, or perhaps there was something else. at any rate i believed that i was going to win right through them when an accident happened. a bullet struck my mare somewhere in the back. i don't know where it came from, but as i saw no zulu shoot, i think it must have been one fired by a soldier who was still fighting on the slopes of the mount. the effect of it was to make the poor beast quite ungovernable. round she wheeled and galloped at headlong speed back towards the peak, leaping over dead and dying and breaking through the living as she went. in two minutes we were rushing up its northern flank, which seemed to be quite untenanted, towards the sheer brown cliff which rose above it, for the fighting was in progress on the other side. suddenly at the foot of this cliff the mare stopped, shivered and sank down dead, probably from internal bleeding. i looked about me desperately. to attempt the plain on foot meant death. what then was i to do? glancing at the cliff i saw that there was a gully in it worn by thousands of years of rainfall, in which grew scanty bushes. into this i ran, and finding it practicable though difficult, began to climb upwards, quite unnoticed by the zulus who were all employed upon the further side. the end of it was that i reached the very crest of the mount, a patch of bare, brown rock, except at one spot on its southern front where there was a little hollow in which at this rainy season of the year herbage and ferns grew in the accumulated soil, also a few stunted, aloe-like plants. into this patch i crept, having first slaked my thirst from a little pool of rain water that lay in a cup-like depression of the rock, which tasted more delicious than any nectar, and seemed to give me new life. then covering myself as well as i could with grasses and dried leaves from the aloe plants, i lay still. now i was right on the brink of the cliff and had the best view of the isandhlwana plain and the surrounding country that can be imagined. from my lofty eyrie some hundreds of feet in the air, i could see everything that happened beneath. thus i witnessed the destruction of the last of the soldiers on the slopes below. they made a gallant end, so gallant that i was proud to be of the same blood with them. one fine young fellow escaped up the peak and reached a plateau about fifty feet beneath me. he was followed by a number of zulus, but took refuge in a little cave whence he shot three or four of them; then his cartridges were exhausted and i heard the savages speaking in praise of him--dead. i think he was the last to die on the field of isandhlwana. the looting of the camp began; it was a terrible scene. the oxen and those of the horses that could be caught were driven away, except certain of the former which were harnessed to the guns and some of the wagons and, as i afterwards learned, taken to ulundi in proof of victory. then the slain were stripped and kaffirs appeared wearing the red coats of the soldiers and carrying their rifles. the stores were broken into and all the spirits drunk. even the medical drugs were swallowed by these ignorant men, with the result that i saw some of them reeling about in agony and others fall down and go to sleep. an hour or two later an officer who came from the direction in which the general had marched, cantered right into the camp where the tents were still standing and even the flag was flying. i longed to be able to warn him, but could not. he rode up to the headquarters marquee, whence suddenly issued a zulu waving a great spear. i saw the officer pull up his horse, remain for a moment as though indecisive, then turn and gallop madly away, quite unharmed, though one or two assegais were thrown and many shots fired at him. after this considerable movements of the zulus went on, of which the net result was, that they evacuated the place. now i hoped that i might escape, but it was not to be, since on every side numbers of them crept up isandhlwana mountain and hid behind rocks or among the tall grasses, evidently for purposes of observation. moreover some captains arrived on the little plateau where was the cave in which the soldier had been killed, and camped there. at least at sundown they unrolled their mats and ate, though they lighted no fire. the darkness fell and in it escape for me from that guarded place was impossible, since i could not see where to set my feet and one false step on the steep rock would have meant my death. from the direction of rorke's drift i could hear continuous firing; evidently some great fight was going on there, i wondered vaguely--with what result. a little later also i heard the distant tramp of horses and the roll of gun wheels. the captains below heard it too and said one to another that it was the english soldiers returning, who had marched out of the camp at dawn. they debated one with another whether it would be possible to collect a force to fall upon them, but abandoned the idea because the regiments who had fought that day were now at a distance and too tired, and the others had rushed forward with orders to attack the white men on and beyond the river. so they lay still and listened, and i too lay still and listened, for on that cloudy, moonless night i could see nothing. i heard smothered words of command. i heard the force halt because it could not travel further in the gloom. then they lay down, the living among the dead, wondering doubtless if they themselves would not soon be dead, as of course must have happened had the zulu generalship been better, for if even five thousand men had been available to attack at dawn not one of them could have escaped. but providence ordained it otherwise. some were taken and the others left. about an hour before daylight i heard them stirring again, and when its first gleams came all of them had vanished over the nek of slaughter, with what thoughts in their hearts, i wondered, and to what fate. the captains on the plateau beneath had gone also, and so had the circle of guards upon the slopes of the mount, for i saw these depart through the grey mist. as the light gathered, however, i observed bodies of men collecting on the nek, or rather on both neks, which made it impossible for me to do what i had hoped, and run to overtake the english troops. from these i was utterly cut off. nor could i remain longer without food on my point of rock, especially as i was sure that soon some zulus would climb there to use it as an outlook post. so while i was still more or less hidden by the mist and morning shadows, i climbed down it by the same road that i had climbed up, and thus reached the plain. not a living man, white or black, was to be seen, only the dead, only the dead. i was the last englishman to stand upon the plain of isandhlwana for weeks or rather months to come. of all my experiences this was, i think, the strangest, after that night of hell, to find myself alone upon this field of death, staring everywhere at the distorted faces which on the previous morn i had seen so full of life. yet my physical needs asserted themselves. i was very hungry, who for twenty-four hours had eaten nothing, faint with hunger indeed. i passed a provision wagon that had been looted by the zulus. tins of bully beef lay about, also, among a wreck of broken glass, some bottles of bass's beer which had escaped their notice. i found an assegai, cleaned it in the ground which it needed, and opening one of the tins, lay down in a tuft of grass by a dead man, or rather between him and some zulus whom he had killed, and devoured its contents. also i knocked the tops off a couple of the beer bottles and drank my fill. while i was doing this a large rough dog with a silver-mounted collar on its neck, i think of the sort that is called an airedale terrier, came up to me whining. at first i thought it was an hyena, but discovering my mistake, threw it some bits of meat which it ate greedily. doubtless it had belonged to some dead officer, though there was no name on the collar. the poor beast, which i named lost, at once attached itself to me, and here i may say that i kept it till its death, which occurred of jaundice at durban not long before i started on my journey to king solomon's mines. no man ever had a more faithful friend and companion. when i had eaten and drunk i looked about me, wondering what i should do. fifty yards away i saw a stout basuto pony still saddled and bridled, although the saddle was twisted out of its proper position, which was cropping the grass as well as it could with the bit in its mouth. advancing gently i caught it without trouble, and led it back to the plundered wagon. evidently from the marks upon the saddlery it had belonged to captain shepstone's force of mounted natives. here i filled the large saddlebags made of buckskin with tins of beef, a couple more bottles of beer and a packet of tandstickor matches which i was fortunate enough to find. also i took the martini rifle from a dead soldier, together with a score or so of cartridges that remained in his belt, for apparently he must have been killed rather early in the fight. thus equipped i mounted the pony and once more bethought me of escaping to natal. a look towards the nek cured me of that idea, for coming over it i saw the plumed heads of a whole horde of warriors. doubtless these were returning from the unsuccessful attack on rorke's drift, though of that i knew nothing at the time. so whistling to the dog i bore to the left for the nqutu hills, riding as fast as the rough ground would allow, and in half an hour was out of sight of that accursed plain. one more thing too i did. on its confines i came across a group of dead zulus who appeared to have been killed by a shell. dismounting i took the headdress of one of them and put it on, for i forgot to say that i had lost my hat. it was made of a band of otterskin from which rose large tufts of the black feathers of the finch which the natives call "sakabula." also i tied his kilt of white oxtails about my middle, precautions to which i have little doubt i owe my life, since from a distance they made me look like a kaffir mounted on a captured pony. then i started on again, whither i knew not. chapter xix allan awakes now i have no intention of setting down all the details of that dreadful journey through zululand, even if i could recall them, which, for a reason to be stated, i cannot do. i remember that at first i thought of proceeding to ulundi with some wild idea of throwing myself on the mercy of cetewayo under pretence that i brought him a message from natal. within a couple of hours, however, from the top of a hill i saw ahead of me an impi and with it captured wagons, which was evidently heading for the king's kraal. so as i knew what kind of a greeting these warriors would give me, i bore away in another direction with the hope of reaching the border by a circuitous route. in this too i had no luck, since presently i caught sight of outposts stationed upon rocks, which doubtless belonged to another impi or regiment. indeed one soldier, thinking from my dress that i also was a zulu, called to me for news from about half a mile away, in that peculiar carrying voice which kaffirs can command. i shouted back something about victory and that the white men were wiped out, then put an end to the conversation by vanishing into a patch of dense bush. it is a fact that after this i have only the dimmest recollection of what happened. i remember off-saddling at night on several occasions. i remember being very hungry because all the food was eaten and the dog, lost, catching a bush buck fawn, some of which i partially cooked on a fire of dead wood, and devoured. next i remember--i suppose this was a day or two later--riding at night in a thunderstorm and a particularly brilliant flash of lightning which revealed scenery that seemed to be familiar to me, after which came a shock and total unconsciousness. at length my mind returned to me. it was reborn very slowly and with horrible convulsions, out of the womb of death and terror. i saw blood flowing round me in rivers, i heard the cries of triumph and of agony. i saw myself standing, the sole survivor, on a grey field of death, and the utter loneliness of it ate into my soul, so that with all its strength it prayed that it might be numbered in this harvest. but oh! it was so strong, that soul which could not, would not die or fly away. so strong, that then, for the first time, i understood its immortality and that it could _never_ die. this everlasting thing still clung for a while to the body of its humiliation, the mass of clay and nerves and appetites which it was doomed to animate, and yet knew its own separateness and eternal individuality. striving to be free of earth, still it seemed to walk the earth, a spirit and a shadow, aware of the hatefulness of that to which it was chained, as we might imagine some lovely butterfly to be that is fated by nature to suck its strength from carrion, and remains unable to soar away into the clean air of heaven. something touched my hand and i reflected dreamily that if i had been still alive, for in a way i believed that i was dead, i should have thought it was a dog's tongue. with a great effort i lifted my arm, opened my eyes and looked at the hand against the light, for there was light, to see it was so thin that this light shone through between the bones. then i let it fall again, and lo! it rested on the head of a dog which went on licking it. a dog! what dog? now i remembered; one that i had found on the field of isandhlwana. then i must be still alive. the thought made me cry, for i could feel the tears run down my cheeks, not with joy but with sorrow. i did not wish to go on living. life was too full of struggle and of bloodshed and bereavement and fear and all horrible things. i was prepared to exchange my part in it just for rest, for the blessing of deep, unending sleep in which no more dreams could come, no more cups of joy could be held to thirsting lips, only to be snatched away. i heard something shuffling towards me at which the dog growled, then seemed to slink away as though it were afraid. i opened my eyes again, looked, and closed them once more in terror, for what i saw suggested that perhaps i was dead after all and had reached that hell which a certain class of earnest christian promises to us as the reward of the failings that nature and those who begat us have handed on to us as a birth doom. it was something unnatural, grey-headed, terrific--doubtless a devil come to torment me in the inquisition vaults of hades. yet i had known the like when i was alive. how had it been called? i remembered, "the-thing-that-never-should-have-been-born." hark! it was speaking in that full deep voice which was unlike to any other. "greeting, macumazahn," it said. "i see that you have come back from among the dead with whom you have been dwelling for a moon and more. it is not wise of you, macumazahn, yet i am glad who have matched my skill against death and won, for now you will have much to tell me about his kingdom." so it was zikali--zikali who had butchered my friends. "away from me, murderer!" i said faintly, "and let me die, or kill me as you did the others." he laughed, but very softly, not in his usual terrific fashion, repeating the word "murderer" two or three times. then with his great hand he lifted my head gently as a woman might, saying-- "look before you, macumazahn." i looked and saw that i was in some kind of a cave. outside the sun was setting and against its brightness i perceived two figures, a white man and a white woman who were walking hand in hand and gazing into each other's eyes. they were anscombe and heda passing the mouth of the cave. "behold the murdered, o macumazahn, dealer of hard words." "it is only a trick," i murmured. "kaatje saw them dead and buried." "yes, yes, i forgot. the fat fool-woman saw them dead and buried. well, sometimes the dead come to life again and for good purpose, as you should know, macumazahn, who followed the counsel of a certain mameena and wandered here instead of rushing onto the zulu spears." i tried to think the thing out and could not, so only asked-- "how did i come? what happened to me?" "i think the sun smote you first who had no covering on your head and the lightning smote you afterwards. yet all the while that reason had left you, one led your horse and after the heavens had tried to kill you and failed, perhaps because my magic was too strong for them, one sent that beast which you found, yes, sent it here to lead us to where you lay. there you were discovered and brought hither. now sleep lest you should go further than even i can fetch you back again." he held his hands above my head, seeming to grow in stature till his white hair touched the roof of the cave, and in an instant i fancied that i was falling away, deep, deep into a gulf of nothingness. there followed another period of dreaming, in which dreams i seemed to meet all sorts of people, dead and living, especially lady ragnall, a friend of mine with whom i had been concerned in a very strange adventure among the kendah people* and with whom in days to come i was destined to be concerned again, although of course i knew nothing of this, in a still stranger adventure of what i may call a spiritual order, which i may or may not try to reduce to writing. it seemed to me that i was constantly dining with her tete-a-tete and that she told me all sorts of queer things between the courses. doubtless these illusions occurred when i was fed. [*--see the book called _the ivory child._--editor.] at length i woke up again, feeling much stronger, and saw the dog, lost, watching me with its great tender eyes--oh! they talk of the eyes of women, but are they ever as beautiful as those of a loving dog? it lay by my low bed-stead, a rough affair fashioned of poles and strung with rimpis or strings of raw hide, and by it, stroking its head, sat the witch-doctoress, nombe. i remember how pleasing she looked, a perfect type of the eternal feminine with her graceful, rounded shape and her continual, mysterious smile which suggested so much more than any mortal woman has to give. "good-day to you, macumazahn," she said in her gentle voice, "you have gone through much since last we met on the night before goza took you away to ulundi." now remembering all, i was filled with indignation against this little humbug. "the last time we met, nombe," i said, "was when you played the part of a woman who is dead in the vale of bones by the king's kraal." she regarded me with a kindly commiseration, and answered, shaking her head-- "you have been very ill, macumazahn, and your spirit still tricks you. i played the part of no woman in any valley by the king's kraal, nor were my eyes rejoiced with the sight of you there or elsewhere till they brought you to this place, so changed that i should scarcely have known you." "you little liar!" i said rudely. "do the white people always name those liars who tell them true things they cannot understand?" she inquired with a sweet innocence. then without waiting for an answer, she patted my hand as though i were a fretful child and gave me some soup in a gourd, saying, "drink it, it is good. the lady heddana made it herself in the white man's fashion." i drank the soup, which was very good, and as i handed back the gourd, answered-- "kaatje has told me that the lady heddana is dead. can the dead make soup?" she considered the point while she threw some bits of meat out of the bottom of the gourd to the dog, lost, then replied-- "i do not know, macumazahn, or indeed whether the dead eat as we do. next time my spirit visits me i will make inquiry and tell you the answer. but i do know that it is very strange that you, who always turn your back upon the truth, are so ready to accept falsehoods. why should you believe that the lady heddana is dead just because kaatje told you so, when i who am still alive had sworn to you that i would protect her with my life? nay, speak no more now. to-morrow if you are well enough you shall see and judge for yourself." she drew up the kaross over me, again patted my hand in her motherly fashion and departed, still smiling, after which i went to sleep again, so dreamlessly that i think there was some native soporific in that soup. on the following day two of zikali's servants who did the rougher work of my sick room, if i may so call it, arrived and said that they were going to carry me out of the cave for a while, if that were my will. i who longed to breathe the fresh air again, said that it was very much my will, whereon they grasped the rough bedstead which i have described by either end and very carefully bore me down the cave and through its narrow entrance, where they set the bedstead in the shadow of the overhanging rock without. when i had recovered a little, for even that short journey tired me, i looked about me and perceived that as i had expected, i was in the black kloof, for there in front of me were the very huts which we had occupied on our arrival from swazi-land. i lay a while drawing in the sweet air which to me was like a draught of nectar, and wondering whether i were not still in a dream. for instance, i wondered if i had truly seen the figures of anscombe and heda pass the mouth of the cave, on that day when i awoke, or if these were but another of zikali's illusions imprinted on my weakened mind by his will power. for of what he and nombe told me i believed nothing. thus marvelling i fell into a doze and in my doze heard whisperings. i opened my eyes and lo! there before me stood anscombe and heda. it was she who spoke the first, for i was tongue-tied; i could not open my lips. "dear mr. quatermain, dear mr. quatermain!" she murmured in her sweet voice, then paused. now at last words came to me. "i thought you were both dead," i said. "tell me, are you really alive?" she bent down and kissed my brow, while anscombe took my hand. "now you know," she answered. "we are both of us alive and well." "thank god!" i exclaimed. "kaatje swore that she saw you dead and buried." "one sees strange things in the black kloof," replied anscombe speaking for the first time, "and much has happened to us since we were parted, to which you are not strong enough to listen now. when you are better, then we will tell you all. so grow well as soon as you can." after this i think i fainted, for when i came to myself again i was back in the cave. another ten days or so went by before i could even leave my bed, for my recovery was very slow. indeed for weeks i could scarcely walk at all, and six whole months passed before i really got my strength again and became as i used to be. during those days i often saw anscombe and heda, but only for a few minutes at a time. also occasionally zikali would visit me, speaking a little, generally about past history, or something of the sort, but never of the war, and go away. at length one day he said to me-- "macumazahn, now i am sure you are going to live, a matter as to which i was doubtful, even after you seemed to recover. for, macumazahn, you have endured three shocks, of which to-day i am not afraid to talk to you. first there was that of the battle of isandhlwana where you were the last white man left alive." "how do you know that, zikali?" i asked. "it does not matter. i do know. did you not ride through the zulus who parted this way and that before you, shouting what you could not understand? one of them you may remember even saluted with his spear." "i did, zikali. tell me, why did they behave thus, and what did they shout?" "i shall not tell you, macumazahn. think over it for the rest of your life and conclude what you choose; it will not be so wonderful as the truth. at least they did so, as a certain doll i dressed up yonder in the vale of bones told you they would, she whose advice you followed in riding towards ulundi instead of back to the river where you would have met your death, like so many others of the white people." "who was that doll, zikali?" "nay, ask me not. perhaps it was nombe, perhaps another. i have forgotten. i am very old and my memory begins to play me strange tricks. still i recollect that she was a good doll, so like a dead woman called mameena that i could scarcely have known them apart. ah! that was a great game i played in the vale of bones, was it not, macumazahn?" "yes, zikali, yet i do not understand why it was played." "being so young you still have the impatience of youth, macumazahn, although your hair grows white. wait a while and you will understand all. well, you lay that night on the topmost rock of isandhlwana, and there you saw and heard strange things. you heard the rest of the white soldiers come and lie down to rest among their dead brothers, and depart again unharmed. oh! what fools are these zulu generals nowadays. they send out an impi to attack men behind walls, spears against rifles, and are defeated. had they kept that impi to fall on the rest of the english when they walked into the trap, not a man of your people would have been left alive. would that have happened in the time of chaka?" "i think not, zikali. still i am glad that it did happen." "i think not too, macumazahn, but small men, small wit. also like you i am glad that it did not happen, since it is the zulus i hate, not the english who have now learned a lesson and will not be caught again. oh! many a captain in zululand is to-day flat as a pricked bladder, and even their victory, as they call it, cost them dear. for, mind you, macumazahn, for every white man they killed two of them died. so, so! in the morning you left the hill--do not look astonished, macumazahn. perhaps those captains on the rock beneath you let you go for their own purposes, or because they were commanded, for though weak i can still lift a stone or two, macumazahn, and afterwards told me all about it. then you found yourself alone among the dead, like the last man in the world, macumazahn, and that dog at your side, also a horse came to you. perhaps i sent them, perhaps it was a chance. who knows? not i myself, for as i have said, my memory has grown so bad. that was your first shock, macumazahn, the shock of standing alone among the dead like the last man in the world. you felt it, did you not?" "as i hope i shall never feel anything again. it nearly drove me mad," i answered. "very nearly indeed, though i have felt worse things and only laughed, as i would tell you, had i the time. well, then the sun struck you, for at this season of the year it is very hot in those valleys for a white man with no covering to his head, and you went quite mad, though fortunately the dog and the horse remained as heaven had made them. that was the second shock. then the storm burst and the lightning fell. it ran down the rifle that you still carried, macumazahn. i will show it to you and you will see that its stock is shattered. perhaps i turned the flash aside, for i am a great thunder-herd, or perhaps it was one mightier than i. that was the third shock, macumazahn. then you were found, still living--how, the white man, your friend, will tell you. but you should cherish that dog of yours, macumazahn, for many a man might have served you worse. and being strong, though small, or perhaps because you still have work left to do in the world before you leave it for a while, you have lived through all these things and will in time recover, though not yet." "i hope so, zikali, though on the whole i am not sure that i wish to recover." "yes, you do, macumazahn, because the religion of you white men makes you fear death and what may come after it. you think of what you call your sins and are afraid lest you should be tortured because of them, not understanding that the spirit must be judged not by what the flesh has done but by what the spirit desired to do, by _will_ not by _deed,_ macumazahn. the evil man is he who wishes to do evil, not he who wishes to do good and falls now and again into evil. oh! i have hearkened to your white teachers and i know, i know." "then by your own standard you are evil, zikali, since you wished to bring about war, and not in vain." "oho! macumazahn, you think that, do you, who cannot understand that what seems to be evil is often good. i wished to bring about war and brought it about, and maybe what bred the wish was all that i have suffered in the past. but say you, who have seen what the zulu power means, who have seen men, women and children killed by the thousand to feed that power, and who have seen, too, what the english power means, is it evil that i should wish to destroy the house of the zulu kings that the english house may take its place and that in a time to come the black people may be free?" "you are clever, zikali, but it is of your own wrongs that you think. how about that skull which you kissed in the vale of bones?" "mayhap, macumazahn, but my wrongs are the wrongs of a nation, therefore i think of the nation, and at least i do not fear death like you white men. now hearken. presently your friends will tell you a story. the lady heddana will tell you how i made use of her for a certain purpose, for which purpose indeed i drew the three of you into zululand, because without her i could not have brought about this war into which cetewayo did not wish to enter. when you have heard that story, do not judge me too hardly, macumazahn, who had a great end to gain." "yet whatever the story may be, i do judge you hardly, zikali, who tormented me with a false tale, causing the woman kaatje to lie to me and swear that she saw these two dead before her--how i know not." "she did not lie to you, macumazahn. has not such a one as i the power to make a fat fool think that she saw what she did not see? as to how! how did i make you think in yonder hut of mine that you saw what you did not see--perhaps." "but why did you mock me in this fashion, zikali?" "truly, macumazahn, you are blind as a bat in sunlight. when your friends have told you the story, you will understand why. yet i admit to you that things went wrong. you should have heard that tale _before_ cetewayo brought you to the vale of bones. but the fool-woman delayed and blundered, and when she reached ulundi the gates were shut against her as a spy, and not opened till too late, so that you only found her when you returned from the council. i knew this, and that was why i dared to bid you fire at that which stood upon the rock. had you heard kaatje's tale you might have aimed straight, as also you would have certainly shot straight at me, out of revenge for the deaths of those you loved, macumazahn, though whether you could have killed me before all the game is played is another matter. as it was, i was sure that you would not pierce the heart of one who _might_ be a certain white woman, sure also that you would not pierce my heart whose death _might_ bring about her death and that of another." "you are very subtle, zikali," i said in astonishment. "so you hold because i am very simple, who understand the spirit of man--and some other things. for the rest, had you not believed that these two were dead, you would never have left zululand. you would have tried to escape to get to them and have been killed. is it not so?" "yes, i think i should have tried, zikali. but why did you keep them prisoner?" "for the same reason that i still keep them--and you--to hold them back a while from the world of ghosts. had i sent them away after that night of the declaration of war, they would have been killed before they had gone an hour's journey. oh! i am not so bad as you think, macumazahn, and i never break my word. now i have done." "how goes the war?" i asked as he shuffled to his feet. "as it must go, very ill for the zulus. they have driven back the white men who gather strength from over the black water and will come on presently and wipe them out. umnyamana would have had cetewayo invade natal and sweep it clean, as of course he should have done. but i sent him word that if he did so nomkubulwana, yes, she and no other, had told me that all the spirits would be against him, and he hearkened. when next you think me wicked, remember that, macumazahn. now it is but a matter of time, and here you must bide till all is finished. that will be good for you who need rest, though the other two find it wearisome. still for them it is good also to watch the fruit ripen on their tree of love. it will be the sweeter when they eat it, macumazahn, and teach them how to live together. oho! oho-ho!" and he shambled off. chapter xx heda's tale that evening when i was lying on my bed outside the cave, i heard the tale of anscombe and heda. up to a certain point he told it, then she went on with the story. "on the morning after our arrival at this place, allan," said anscombe, "i woke up to find you gone from the hut. as you did not come back i concluded that you were with zikali, and walked about looking for you. then food was brought to us and heda and i breakfasted together, after which we went to where we heard the horses neighing and found that yours was gone. returning, much frightened, we met nombe, who gave me your note which explained everything, and we inquired of her why this had been done and what was to become of us. she smiled and answered that we had better ask the first question of the king and the second of her master zikali, and in the meanwhile be at peace since we were quite safe. "i tried to see zikali but could not. then i went to inspan the horses with the idea of following you, only to find that they were gone. indeed i have not seen them from that day to this. next we thought of starting on foot, for we were quite desperate. but nombe intervened and told us that if we ventured out of the black kloof we should be killed. in short we were prisoners. "this went on for some days, during which we were well treated but could not succeed in seeing zikali. at length one morning he sent for us and we were taken to the enclosure in front of his hut, kaatje coming with us as interpreter. for a while he sat still, looking very grim and terrible. then he said-- "'white chief and lady, you think ill of me because macumazahn has gone and you are kept prisoners here, and before all is done you will think worse. yet i counsel you to trust me since everything that happens is for your good.' "at this point heda, who, as you know, talked zulu fairly well, though not so well as she does now, broke in, and said some very angry things to him." "yes," interrupted heda. "i told him that he was a liar and i believed that he had murdered you and meant to murder us." "he listened stonily," continued anscombe, "and answered, 'i perceive, lady heddana, that you understand enough of our tongue to enable me to talk to you; therefore i will send away this half-breed woman, since what i have to say is secret.' "then he called servants by clapping his hands and ordered them to remove kaatje, which was done. "'now, lady heddana,' he said, speaking very slowly so that heda might interpret to me and repeating his words whenever she did not understand, 'i have a proposal to make to you. for my own ends it is necessary that you should play a part and appear before the king and the council as the goddess of this land who is called the chieftainess of heaven, which goddess is always seen as a white woman. therefore you must travel with me to ulundi and there do those things which i shall tell you.' "'and if i refuse to play this trick,' said heda, 'what then?' "'then, lady heddana, this white lord whom you love and who is to be your husband will--die--and after he is dead you must still do what i desire of you, or--die also.' "'would he come with me to ulundi?' asked heda. "'not so, lady. he would stay here under guard, but quite safe, and you will be brought back to him, safe. choose now, with death on the one hand and safety on the other. i would sleep a little. talk the matter over in your own tongue and when it is settled awaken me again,' and he shut his eyes and appeared to go to sleep. "so we discussed the situation, if you can call it discussion when we were both nearly mad. heda wished to go. i begged her to let me be killed rather than trust herself into the hands of this old villain. she pointed out that even if i were killed, which she admitted might not happen, she would still be in his hands whence she could only escape by her own death, whereas if she went there was a chance that we might both continue to live, and that after all death was easy to find. so in the end i gave way and we woke up zikali and told him so. "he seemed pleased and spoke to us gently, saying, 'i was sure that wisdom dwelt behind those bright eyes of yours, lady, and again i promise you that neither you nor the lord your lover shall come to any harm. also that in payment i and my child, nombe, will protect you even with our lives, and further, that i will bring back your friend, macumazahn, to you, though not yet. now go and be happy together. nombe will tell the lady heddana when she is to start. of all this say nothing on your peril to the woman kaatje, since if you do, it will be necessary that she should be made silent. indeed, lest she should learn something, to-morrow i shall send her on to await you at ulundi, therefore be not surprised if you see her go, and take no heed of aught she may say in going. nombe, my child, will fill her place as servant to the lady heddana and sleep with her at night that she may not be lonely or afraid.' "then he clapped his hands again and servants came and conducted us back to the huts. and now, allan, heda will go on with the story." "well, mr. quatermain," she said, "nothing more happened that day which we spent with bursting hearts. kaatje did not question us as to what the witch-doctor had said after she was sent away. indeed i noticed that she was growing very stupid and drowsy, like a person who has been drugged, as i daresay she was, and would insist upon beginning to pack up the things in a foolish kind of way, muttering something about our trekking on the following day. the night passed as usual, kaatje sleeping very heavily by my side and snoring so much" (here i groaned sympathetically) "that i could get little rest. on the next morning after breakfast as the huts were very hot, nombe suggested that we should sit under the shadow of the overhanging rock, just where we are now. accordingly we went, and being tired out with all our troubles and bad nights, i fell into a doze, and so, i think, did maurice, nombe sitting near to us and singing all the while, a very queer kind of song. "presently, through my doze as it were, i saw kaatje approaching. nombe went to meet her, still singing, and taking her hand, led her to the cart, where they seemed to talk to the horses, which surprised me as there were no horses. then she brought her round the cart and pointed to us, still singing. now kaatje began to weep and throw her hands about, while nombe patted her on the shoulder. i tried to speak to her but could not. my tongue was tied, why i don't know, but i suppose because i was really asleep, and maurice also was asleep and did not wake at all." "yes," said anscombe, "i remember nothing of all this business." "after a while kaatje went away, still weeping, and then i fell asleep in earnest and did not wake until the sun was going down, when i roused maurice and we both went back to the hut, where i found that nombe had cooked our evening meal. i looked for kaatje, but could not find her. also in searching through my things i missed the bag of jewels. i called to nombe and asked where kaatje was, whereon she smiled and said that she had gone away, taking the bag with her. this pained me, for i had always found kaatje quite honest--" "which she is," i remarked, "for those jewels are now in a bank at maritzburg." heda nodded and went on, "i am glad to hear it; indeed, remembering what zikali had said, i never really suspected her of being a thief, but thought it was all part of some plan. after this things went on as before, except that nombe took kaatje's place and was with me day and night. of kaatje's disappearance she would say nothing. zikali we did not see. "on the third evening after the vanishing of kaatje, nombe came and said that i must make ready for a journey, and while she spoke men arrived with a litter that had grass mats hung round it. nombe brought out my long cape and put it over me, also a kind of veil of white stuff which she threw over my head, so as to hide my face. i think it was made out of one of our travelling mosquito nets. then she said i must say good-bye to maurice for a while. there was a scene as you may imagine. he grew angry and said that he would come with me, whereon armed men appeared, six of them, and pushed him away with the handles of their spears. in another minute i was lifted into the litter which nombe entered with me, and so we were parted, wondering if we should ever see each other more. at the mouth of the kloof i saw another litter surrounded by a number of zulus, which nombe said contained zikali. "we travelled all that night and two succeeding nights, resting during the day in deserted kraals that appeared to have been made ready for us. it was a strange journey, for although the armed men flitted about us, neither they nor the bearers ever spoke, nor did i see zikali, or indeed any one else. only nombe comforted me from time to time, telling me there was nothing to fear. towards dawn on the third night we travelled over some hills and i was put into a new hut and told that my journey was done as we had reached a place near ulundi. "i slept most of the following day, but after i had eaten towards evening, zikali crept into the hut, just as a great toad might do, and squatted down in front of me. "'lady,' he said, 'listen. to-night, perhaps one hour after sundown, perhaps two, perhaps three, nombe will lead you, dressed in a certain fashion, from this hut. see now, outside of it there is a tongue of rock up which you may climb unnoted by the little path that runs between those big stones. look,' and he showed me the place through the door-hole. 'the path ends on a flat boulder at the end of the rock. there you will take your stand, holding in your right hand a little assegai which will be given to you. nombe will not accompany you to the rock, but she will crouch between the stones at the head of the path and perhaps from time to time whisper to you what to do. thus when she tells you, you must throw the little spear into the air, so that it falls among a number of men gathered in debate who will be seated about twenty paces from the rock. for the rest you are to stand quite still, saying nothing and showing no alarm whatever you may hear or see. among the men before you may be your friend, macumazahn, but you must not appear to recognize him, and if he speaks to you, you must make no answer. even if he should seem to shoot at you, do not be afraid. do you understand? if so, repeat what i have told you.' i obeyed him and asked what would happen if i did not do these things, or some of them. "he answered, 'you will be killed, nombe will be killed, the lord mauriti your lover will be killed, and your friend macumazahn will be killed. perhaps even i shall be killed and we will talk the matter over in the land of ghosts.' "on hearing this i said i would do my best to carry out his orders, and after making me repeat them once more, he went away. later, nombe dressed me up as you saw me, mr. quatermain, put some glittering powder into my hair and touched me beneath the eyes with a dark kind of pigment. also she gave me the little spear and made me practise standing quite still with it raised in my right hand, telling me that when i heard her say the word 'throw,' i was to cast it into the air. then the moon rose and we heard men talking at a distance. at last some one came to the hut and whispered to nombe, who led me out to the little path between the rocks. "this must have been nearly two hours after i heard the men begin to talk--" "excuse me," i interrupted, "but where was nombe all those two hours?" "with me. she never left my side, mr. quatermain, and while i was on the rock she was crouched within three paces of me between two big stones at the mouth of the path." "indeed," i replied faintly, "this is very interesting. please continue--but one word, how was nombe dressed? did she wear a necklace of blue beads?" "just as she always is, or rather less so, for she had nothing on except her moocha, and certainly no blue beads. but why do you ask?" "from curiosity merely. i mean, i will tell you afterwards, pray go on." "well, i stepped forward on to the rock and at first saw nothing, because at that moment the moon was hid by a cloud; indeed nombe had waited for the cloud to pass over its face, before she thrust me forward. also some smoke from a fire below was rising straight in front of me. presently the cloud passed, the smoke thinned, and i saw the circle of those savage men seated beneath, and in their centre a great chief wearing a leopard's skin cloak who i guessed was the king. you i did not see, mr. quatermain, because you were behind a tree, yet i felt that you were there, a friend among all those foes. i stood still, as i had been taught to do, and heard the murmur of astonishment and caught the gleam of the moonlight from the white feathers that were sewn upon my robe. "then i heard also the voice of zikali speaking from beneath. he called on you to come out to shoot at me, and the man whom i took to be the king, ordered you to obey. you appeared from behind the tree, and i was certain from the look upon your face that at that distance you did not know who i was in my strange and glittering raiment. you lifted the pistol and i was terribly afraid, for i had seen you shoot with it before on the verandah of the temple and knew well that you do not miss. very nearly i screamed out to you, but remembered and was silent, thinking that after all it did not much matter if i died, except for the sake of maurice here. also by now i guessed that i was being used to deceive those men before me into some terrible act, and that if i died, at least they would be undeceived. "i thought that an age passed between the time you pointed the pistol and i saw the flash for which i was waiting." "you need not have waited, heda," i interposed, "for if i had really aimed at you you would never have seen that flash, at least so it is said. i too guessed enough to shoot above you, although at the time i did not know that it was you on the rock; indeed i thought it was nombe painted up." "yes, i heard the bullet sing over me. then i heard the voice of zikali challenging you to shoot him, and to tell the truth, hoped that you would do so. just before you fired for the second time, nombe whispered to me--'throw' and i threw the little red-handled spear into the air. then as the pistol went off nombe whispered--'come.' i slipped away down the path and back with her into the hut, where she kissed me and said that i had done well indeed, after which she took off my strange robe and helped me to put on my own dress. "that is all i know, except that some hours later i was awakened from sleep and put into the litter where i went to sleep again, for what i had gone through tired me very much. i need not trouble you with the rest, for we journeyed here in the same way that we had journeyed to ulundi--by night. i did not see zikali, but in answer to my questions, nombe told me that the zulus had declared war against the english. what part in the business i had played, she would not tell me, and i do not know to this hour, but i am sure that it was a great one. "so we came back to the black kloof, where i found maurice quite well, and now he had better go on with the tale, for if i begin to tell you of our meeting i shall become foolish." "there isn't much more to tell," said anscombe, "except about yourself. while heda was away i was kept a prisoner and watched day and night by zikali's people who would not let me stir a yard, but otherwise treated me kindly. then one day at sunrise, or shortly after it, heda re-appeared and told me all this story, for the end of which, as you may imagine, i thanked god. "after that we just lived on here, happily enough since we were together, until one day nombe told us that there had been a great battle in which the zulus had wiped out the english, killing hundreds and hundreds of them, although for every soldier that they killed, they had lost two. of course this made us very sad, especially as we were afraid you might be with our troops. we asked nombe if you were present at the battle. she answered that she would inquire of her spirit and went through some very strange performances with ashes and knuckle bones, after which she announced that you had been in the battle but were alive and coming this way with a dog that had silver on it. we laughed at her, saying that she could not possibly know anything of the sort, also that dogs as a rule did not carry silver. whereon she only smiled and said--'wait.' "i think it was three days later that one night towards dawn i was awakened by hearing a dog barking outside my hut, as though it wished to call attention to its presence. it barked so persistently and in a way so unlike a kaffir dog, that at length about dawn i went out of the hut to see what was the matter. there, standing a few yards away surrounded by some of zikali's people, i saw lost and knew at once that it was an english airedale, for i have had several of the breed. it looked very tired and frightened, and while i was wondering whence on earth it could have come, i noticed that it had a silver-mounted collar and remembered nombe and her talk about you and a dog that carried silver on it. from that moment, allan, i was certain that you were somewhere near, especially as the beast ran up to me--it would take no notice of the kaffirs--and kept looking towards the mouth of the kloof, as though it wished me to follow it. just then nombe arrived, and on seeing the dog looked at me oddly. "'i have a message for you from my master, mauriti,' she said to me through heda, who by now had arrived upon the scene, having also been aroused by lost's barking. 'it is that if you wish to take a walk with a strange dog you can do so, and bring back anything you may find.'" "the end of it was that after we had fed lost with milk and meat, i and six of zikali's men started down the kloof, lost going ahead of us and now and again running back and whining. at the mouth of the kloof it led us over a hill and down into a bush-veld valley where the thorns grew very thick. when we had gone along the valley for about two miles, one of the kaffirs saw a basuto pony still saddled, and caught it. the dog went on past the pony to a tree that had been shattered by lightning, and there within a few yards of the tree we found you lying senseless, allan, or, as i thought at first, dead, and by your side a martini rifle of which the stock also seemed to have been broken by lightning. "well, we put you on a shield and carried you here, meeting no one, and that is all the story, allan." he stopped and we stared at each other. then i called lost and patted its head, and the dear beast licked my hand as though it understood that it was being thanked. "a strange tale," i said, "but god almighty has put much wisdom into his creatures of which we know nothing. let us thank him," and in our hearts we did. thus was i rescued from death by the intelligence and fidelity of a four-footed creature. doubtless in my semi-conscious state that resulted from shock, weariness and sun-stroke, i had all the while headed sub-consciously and without any definite object for the black kloof. when i was within a few miles of it i was stunned by the lightning which ran down the rifle to the ground, though not actually struck. then the dog, which had escaped, played its part, wandering about the country to find help for me, and so i was saved. now of the long months that followed i have little to tell. they were not unhappy in their way, for week by week i felt myself growing stronger, though very slowly. there was a path, steep, difficult and secret, which could be gained through one of the caves in the precipice, not that in which i slept. this path ran up a water-cut kloof through a patch of thorns to a flat tableland that was part of the ceza stronghold. by it, when i had gained sufficient strength, sometimes we used to climb to the plateau, and there take exercise. it was an agreeable change from the stifling atmosphere of the black kloof. the days were very dull, for we were as much out of the world as though we had been marooned on a desert island. still from time to time we heard of the progress of the war through nombe, for zikali i saw but seldom. she told of disasters to the english, of the death of a great young chief who was deserted by his companions and died fighting bravely--afterwards i discovered that this was the prince imperial of france--of the advance of our armies, of defeats inflicted upon cetewayo's impis, and finally of the destruction of the zulus on the battlefield of ulundi, where they hurled themselves by thousands upon the british square, to be swept away by case-shot and the hail of bullets. this battle, by the way, the zulus call, not ulundi or nodwengu, for it was fought in front of panda's old kraal of that name, but ocwecweni, which means--"the fight of the sheet-iron fortress." i suppose they give it this name because the hedge of bayonets, flashing in the sunlight, reminded them of sheet-iron. or it may be because these proved as impenetrable as would have done walls of iron. at any rate they dashed their naked bodies against the storm of lead and fell in heaps, only about a dozen of our men being killed, as the little graveyard in the centre of the square entrenchment, about which still lie the empty cartridge cases, records to-day. there, then, on that plain perished the zulu kingdom which was built up by chaka. now it was after this event that i saw zikali and begged him to let us go. i found him triumphant and yet strangely disturbed and, as i thought, more apprehensive than i had ever seen him. "so, zikali," i said, "if what i hear is true, you have had your way and destroyed the zulu people. now you should be happy." "is man ever happy, macumazahn, when he has gained that which he sought for years? the two out there sigh and are sad because they cannot be married after their own white fashion, though what there is to keep them apart i do not know. well, in time they will be married, only to find that they are not so happy as they thought they would be. oh! a day will come when they will talk to each other and say--'those moons which we spent waiting together in the black kloof were the true moons of sweetness, for then we had something to gain; now we have gained all--and what is it?' "so it is with me, macumazahn. since the zulus under chaka killed out my people, the ndwandwe, year by year i have plotted and waited to see them wedded to the assegai. now it has come about. you white men have stamped them flat upon the plain of ulundi; they are no more a nation. and yet i am not happy, for after all it was the house of senzangacona and not the people of the zulus, that harmed me and mine, and cetewayo still lives. while the queen bee remains there may be a hive again. while an ember still glows in the dead ashes, the forest may yet be fired. perhaps when cetewayo is dead, then i shall be happy. only his death and mine are set by fate as close together as two sister grains of corn upon the cob." i turned the subject, again asking his leave to depart to natal or to join the english army. "you cannot go yet," he answered sternly, "so trouble me no more. the land is full of wandering bands of zulus who would kill you and your blood would be on my head. moreover, if they saw a white woman who had sheltered with me, might they not guess something? to dress a doll for the part of the inkosazana-y-zulu is the greatest crime in the world, macumazahn, and what would happen to the opener of roads and all his house if it were even breathed that he had dressed that doll and thus brought about the war which ruined them? when cetewayo is killed and the dead are buried and peace falls upon the land, the peace of death, then you shall go, macumazahn, and not before." "at least, zikali, send a message to the captains of the english army and tell them that we are here." "send a message to the hyenas and tell them where the carcase is; send a message to the hunters and tell them where the buck zikali crouches on its form! hearken, macumazahn, if you do this, or even urge me again to do it, neither you nor your friends shall ever leave the black kloof. i have spoken." then understanding that the case was hopeless, i left him and he glowered after me, for fear had made him cruel. he had won the long game and success had turned to ashes in his mouth. or rather, he had not won--yet--since his war was against the house of senzangacona from which he and his tribe had suffered cruel wrong. to pull it down he must pull down the zulu nation; it was like burning a city to destroy a compromising letter. he had burnt the city, but the letter still remained intact and might be produced in evidence against him. in other words cetewayo yet lived. therefore his vengeance remained quite unslaked and his danger was as great, or perhaps greater than it had ever been before. for was he not the prophet who by producing the princess of heaven, the traditional goddess of the zulus, before the eyes of the king and council, had caused them to decide for war? and supposing it were so much as breathed that this spirit which they seemed to see, had been but a trick and a fraud, what then? he would be tortured to death if his dupes had time, or torn limb from limb if they had not, that is if he could die like other men--a matter as to which personally i had no doubts. shortly after i left zikali heda and i ate our evening meal together. anscombe, as it chanced, had gone by the secret path to the tableland of which i have spoken, where he amused himself, as of course we were not allowed to fire a gun, by catching partridges, with the help of an ingenious system of grass nets which he had invented. there were springs on this tableland that formed little pools of water, at which the partridges, also occasionally guineafowl and bush pheasants, came to drink at sunrise and sunset. here it was that he set his nets and retired to work them at those hours by means of strings that he pulled from hiding-places. so heda and i were alone. i told her of my ill success with zikali, at which she was much disappointed. then by an afterthought i suggested that perhaps she might try to do something in the way of getting a message through to the english camp at ulundi, or elsewhere, by help of the witch-doctoress, nombe, adding that i would speak to her myself had i not observed that i seemed to be out of favour with her of late. heda shook her head and answered that she thought it would be useless to try, also too dangerous. remembering zikali's threat, on reflection i agreed with her. "tell me, mr. quatermain," she added, "is it possible for one woman to be in love with another?" i stared at her and replied that i did not understand what she meant, since women, so far as i had observed them, were generally in love either with a man or with themselves, perhaps more often with the latter than the former. rather a cheap joke i admit, with just enough truth in it to make it acceptable--in the black kloof. "so i thought," she answered, "but really nombe behaves in a most peculiar way. as you know she took a fancy to me from the beginning, perhaps because she had never had any other woman with whom to associate, having, so far as i can make out, been brought up here among men from a child. indeed, her story is that she was one of twins and therefore as the younger, was exposed to die according to the zulu superstition. zikali, however, or a servant of his who knew what was happening, rescued and reared her, so practically i am the only female with whom she has ever been intimate. at any rate her affection for me has grown and grown until, although it seems ungrateful to say so, it has become something of a nuisance. she has told me again and again that she would die to protect me, and that if by chance anything happened to me, she would kill herself and follow me into another world. she is continually making divinations about my future, and as these, in which she entirely believes, always show me as living without her, she is much distressed and at times bursts into tears." "hysteria! it is very common among the zulu women, and especially those of them who practise magic arts," i answered. "perhaps, but as it results in the most intense jealousy, nombe's hysteria is awkward. for instance, she is horribly jealous of maurice." "the instincts of a chaperone developed early," i suggested again. "that won't quite do, mr. quatermain," answered heda with a laugh, "since she is even more jealous of you. with reference to maurice, she explains frankly that if we marry she might, as she puts it, 'continue to sit outside the hut,' but that in your case you live 'in my head,' where she cannot come between you and me." "mad," i remarked, "quite mad. still madness has to be dealt with in this world like other things, and nombe, being an abnormal person, may suffer from abnormal ideas. it just amounts to this; she has conceived a passionate devotion to you, at which i am sure neither maurice nor i can wonder." "are those the kind of compliments you used to pay in your youth, mr. quatermain? i expect so, and now that you are old you cannot stop them. well, i thank you all the same, because perhaps you mean what you say. but what is to be done about nombe? hush! here she comes. i will leave you to reason with her, if you get the chance," and she departed in a hurry. nombe arrived, and something in her aspect told me that i was going to get the chance. her eternal smile was almost gone and her dark, beautiful eyes flashed ominously. still she began by asking in a mild voice whether the lady heddana had eaten her supper with appetite. it will be observed that she was not interested in my appetite or whether enough was left for anscombe when he returned. i replied that so far as i noted she had consumed about half a partridge, with other things. "i am glad," said nombe, "since i was not here to attend upon her, having been summoned to speak with the master." then she sat down and looked at me like a thunder storm. "i nursed you when you were so ill, macumazahn," she began, "but now i learn that for the milk with which i fed you, you would force me to drink bitter water that will poison me." i replied i was well aware that without her nursing i should long ago have been dead, which was what caused me to love her like my own daughter. but would she kindly explain? this she did at once. "you have been plotting to take away from me the lady heddana who to me is as mother and sister and child. it is useless to lie to me, for the master has told me all; moreover, i knew it for myself, both through my spirit and because i had watched you." "i have no intention of lying to you, nombe, about this or any other matter, though i think that sometimes in the past you have lied to me. tell me, do you expect the inkosi mauriti, the lady heddana and myself to pass the rest of our lives in the black kloof, when they wish to get married and go across the black water to where their home will be, and i wish to attend to my affairs?" "i do not know what i expect, macumazahn, but i do know that never while i live will i be parted from the lady heddana. at last i have found some one to love, and you and the other would steal her away from me." i studied her for a while, then asked-- "why do you not marry, nombe, and have a husband, and children to love?" "marry?" she replied. "i am married to my spirit which does not dwell beneath the sun, and my children are not of earth; moreover, all men are hateful to me," and her eyes added, "especially you." "that is a calf with a dog's head," i replied in the words of the native proverb, meaning that she said what was not natural. "well, nombe, if you are so fond of the lady heddana, you had better arrange with her and the inkosi mauriti to go away with them." "you know well i cannot, macumazahn. i am tied to my master by ropes that are stronger than iron, and if i attempted to break them my spirit would wither and i should wither with it." "dear me! what a dreadful business. that is what comes of taking to magic. well, nombe, i am afraid i have nothing to suggest, nor, to tell you the truth, can i see what i have to do with the matter." then she sprang up in a rage, saying-- "i understand that not only will you give me no help, but that you also mock at me, macumazahn. moreover, as it is with you, so it is with mauriti, who pretends to love my lady so much, though i love her more with my little finger than he does with all his body and what he calls his soul. yes, he too mocks at me. now if you were both dead," she added with sudden venom, "my lady would not wish to go away. be careful lest a spell should fall upon you, macumazahn," and without more words she turned and went. at first i was inclined to laugh; the whole thing seemed so absurd. on reflection, however, i perceived that in reality it was very serious to people situated as we were. this woman was a savage; more, a mystic savage of considerable powers of mind--a formidable combination. also there were no restraints upon her, since public opinion had as little authority in the black kloof as the queen's writ. lastly, it was not unknown for women to conceive these violent affections which, if thwarted, filled them with something like madness. thus i remembered a very terrible occurrence of my youth which resulted in the death of one who was most dear to me. i will not dwell on it, but this, too, was the work of a passionate creature, woman i can scarcely call her, who thought she was being robbed of one whom she adored. the end of it was that i did not enjoy my pipe that night, though luckily anscombe returned after a successful evening's netting, about which he was so full of talk that there was no need for me to say much. so i put off any discussion of the problem until the morrow. chapter xxi the king visits zikali next morning, as a result of my cogitations, i went to see zikali. i was admitted after a good deal of trouble and delay, for although his retinue was limited and, with the exception of nombe, entirely male, this old prophet kept a kind of semi-state and was about as difficult to approach as a european monarch. i found him crouching over a fire in his hut, since at this season of the year even in that hot place the air was chilly until midday. "what is it, macumazahn?" he asked. "as to your going away, have patience. i learn that he who was king of the zulus is in full flight, with the white men tracking him like a wounded buck. when the buck is caught and killed, then you can go." "it is about nombe," i answered, and told him all the story, which did not seem to surprise him at all. "now see, macumazahn," he said, taking some snuff, "how hard it is to dam up the stream of nature. this child, nombe, is of my blood, one whom i saved from death in a strange way, not because she was of my blood but that i might make an experiment with her. women, as you who are wise and have seen much will know, are in truth superior to men, though, because they are weaker in body, men have the upper hand of them and think themselves their masters, a state they are forced to accept because they must live and cannot defend themselves. yet their brains are keener, as an assegai is keener than a hoe; they are more in touch with the hidden things that shape out fate for people and for nations; they are more faithful and more patient, and by instinct if not by reason, more far-seeing, or at least the best of them are so, and by their best, like men, they should be judged. yet this is the hole in their shield. when they love they become the slaves of love, and for love's sake all else is brought to naught, and for this reason they cannot be trusted. with men, as you know, this is otherwise. they, too, love, by nature's law, but always behind there is something greater than love, although often they do not understand what that may be. to be powerful, therefore, a woman must be one who does not love too much. if she cannot love at all, then she is hated and has no power, but she must not love too much. "once i thought that i had found such a woman; she was named mameena, whom all men worshipped and who played with all men, as i played with her. but what was the end of it? just as things were going very well she learned to love too much some man of strange notions, who would have thwarted me and brought everything to nothing, and therefore i had to kill her, for which i was sorry." here he paused to take some more snuff, watching me over the spoon as he drew it up his great nostrils, but as i said nothing, went on-- "now after mameena was dead i bethought me that i would rear up a woman who could still love but should never love a man and therefore never become mad or foolish, because i believed that it was only man who in taking her heart from woman, would take her wits also. this child, nombe, came to my hand, and as i thought, so i did. never mind how i did it, by medicine perhaps, by magic perhaps, by watering her pride and making it grow tall perhaps, or by all three. at least it was done, and this i know of nombe, she will never care for any man except as a woman may care for a brother. "but now see what happens. she, the wise, the instructed, the man-despiser, meets a woman of another race who is sweet and good, and learns to love her, not as maids and mothers love, but as one loves the spirit that she worships. yes, yes, to her she is a goddess to be worshipped, one whom she desires to serve with all her heart and strength, to bow down before, making offerings, and at the end to follow into death. so it comes about that this nombe, whose mind i thought to make as the wings of a bird floating on the air while it searches for its prey, has become even madder than other women. it is a disappointment to me, macumazahn." "it may be a disappointment to you, zikali, and all that you say is very interesting. but to us it is a danger. tell me, will you command nombe to cease from her folly?" "will i forbid the mist to rise, or the wind to blow, or the lightning to strike? as she is, she is. her heart is filled with black jealousy of mauriti and of you, as a butcher's gourd is filled with blood, for she is not one who desires that her goddess should have other worshippers; she would keep her for herself alone." "then in this way or in that the gourd must be emptied, zikali, lest we should be forced to drink from it and that black blood should poison us." "how, unless it be broken, macumazahn? if heddana departs and leaves her, she will go mad, and accompany her she cannot, for her spirit dwells here," and he tapped his own breast. "it would pull her back again and she would become a great trouble to me, for then that spirit of hers would not suffer me to sleep, with its continual startings in search of what it had lost, and its returnings empty-handed. well, have no fear, for at the worst the bowl can be broken and the blood poured upon the earth, as i have broken finer bowls than this before; had i all the bits of them they would make a heap so high, macumazahn!" and he held out his hand on a level with his head, a gesture that made my back creep. "i will tell her this and it may keep her quiet for a while. of poison you need not be afraid, since unlike mine, her spirit hates it. poison is not one of its weapons as it is with mine. but of spells, beware, for her spirit has some which are very powerful." now i jumped up, filled with indignation, saying-- "i do not believe in nombe's spells, and in any case how am i to guard against them?" "if you do not believe there is no need to guard, and if you do believe, then it is for you to find out how to guard, macumazahn. oh! i could tell you the story of a white teacher who did not believe and would not guard--but never mind, never mind. good-bye, macumazahn, i will speak with nombe. ask her for a lock of her hair to wear upon your heart after she has enchanted it. the charm is good against spells. o-ho--oho-o! what fools we are, white and black together! that is what cetewayo is thinking to-day." after this nombe became much more agreeable. that is to say she was very polite, her smile was more fixed and her eyes more unfathomable than ever. evidently zikali had spoken to her and she had listened. yet to tell the truth my distrust of this handsome young woman grew deeper day by day. i recognized that there was a great gulf between her and the normal, that she was a creature fashioned by zikali who had trained her as a gardener trains a tree, nay, who had done more, who had grafted some foreign growth of exotic and unnatural spiritualism on to her primitive nature. the nature remained the same, but the graft or grafts bore strange flowers and fruit, unholy flowers and poisonous fruit. therefore she was not to blame--sometimes i wonder whether in this curious world, could one see their past and their future, anybody is to blame for anything--but this did not make her the less dangerous. some talks i had with her only increased my apprehensions, for i found that in a way she had no conscience. life, she told me, was but a dream, and all its laws as evolved by man were but illusions. the real life was elsewhere. there was the distant lake on which the flower of our true existence floated. without this unseen lake of supernatural water the flower could not float; indeed there would be no flower. moreover, the flower did not matter; sometimes it would have this shape and colour, sometimes that. it was but a thing destined to grow and bloom and rot, and during its day to be ugly or to be beautiful, to smell sweet or ill, as it might chance, and ultimately to be absorbed back into the general water of life. i pointed out to her that all flowers had roots which grew in soil. looking at an orchid-like plant that crept along the bough of a tree, she answered that this was not true as some grew upon air. but however this might be, the soil, or the moisture in the air, was distilled from thousands of other flower lives that had flourished in their day and been forgotten. it did not matter when they died or how many other flowers they choked that they might live. yet each flower had its own spirit which always had been and always would be. i asked her of the end and the object of that spirit. she answered darkly that she did not know and if she did, would not say, but that these were very dreadful. such were some of her vague and figurative assertions which i only record to indicate their uncomfortable and indeed but half human nature. i forgot to add that she declared that every flower or life had a twin flower or life, which in each successive growth it was bound to find and bloom beside, or wither to the root and spring again and that ultimately these two would become one, and as one flourish eternally. of all of which i understood and understand little, except that she had grasped the elements of some truth which she could not express in clear and definite language. one day i was seated in zikali's hut whither by permission i had come to ask the latest news, when suddenly nombe appeared and crouched down before him. "who gave you leave to enter here, and what is your business?" he asked angrily. "home of spirits," she replied in a humble voice, "be not angry with your servant. necessity gave me leave, and my business is to tell you that strangers approach." "who are they that dare to enter the black kloof unannounced?" "cetewayo the king is one of them, the others i do not know, but they are many, armed all of them. they approach your gate; before a man can count two hundred they will be here." "where are the white chief and the lady heddana?" asked zikali. "by good fortune they have gone by the secret path to the tableland and will not be back till sunset. they wished to be alone, so i did not accompany them, and macumazahn here said that he was too weary to do so." (this was true. also like nombe i thought that they wished to be alone.) "good. go, tell the king that i knew of his coming and am awaiting him. bid my servants kill the ox which is in the kraal, the fat ox that they thought is sick and therefore fit food for a sick king," he added bitterly. she glided away like a startled snake. then zikali turned to me and said swiftly-- "macumazahn, you are in great danger. if you are found here you will be killed, and so will the others whom i will send to warn not to return till this king has gone away. go at once to join them. no, it is too late, i hear the zulus come. take that kaross, cover yourself with it and lie among the baskets and beerpots here near the entrance of the hut in the deepest of the shadows, so that if any enter, perchance you will not be found. i too am in danger who shall be held to account for all that has happened. perhaps they will kill me, if i can be killed. if so, get away with the others as best you can. nombe will tell you where your horses are hidden. in that case let heddana take nombe with her, for when i am dead she will go, and shake her off in natal if she troubles her. whatever chances, remember, macumazahn, that i have done my best to keep my word to you and to protect you and your friends. now i go to look on this pricked bladder who was once a king." he scrambled from the hut with slow, toad-like motions, while i with motions that were anything but slow, grabbed the grey catskin kaross and ensconced myself among the beerpots and mats in such a position that my head, over which i set a three-legged carved stool of zikali's own cutting, was but a few inches to the left of the door-hole and therefore in the deepest of the shadows. thence by stretching out my neck a little, i could see through the hole, also hear all that passed outside. unless a deliberate search of the hut should be made i was fairly safe from observation, even if it were entered by strangers. one fear i had, however, it was lest the dog lost should get into the place and smell me out. i had left him tied to the centre pole in my own hut, because he hated zikali and always growled at him. but suppose he gnawed through the cord, or any one let him loose! scarcely had zikali seated himself in his accustomed place before the hut, than the gate of the outer fence opened and approaching through it i saw forty or fifty fierce and way-worn men. in front of them, riding on a tired horse that was led by a servant, was cetewayo himself. he was assisted to dismount, or rather threw his great bulk into the arms that were waiting to receive him. then after some words with his following and with one of zikali's people, followed by three or four indunas and leaning on the arm of umnyamana, the prime minister, he entered the enclosure, the rest remaining without. zikali, who sat as though asleep, suddenly appeared to wake up and perceive him. struggling to his feet he lifted his right arm and gave the royal salute of bayete, and with it titles of praise, such as "black one!" "elephant!" "earth-shaker!" "conqueror!" "eater-up of the white men!" "child of the wild beast (chaka) whose teeth are sharper than the wild beast's ever were!" and so on, until cetewayo, growing impatient, cried out-- "be silent, wizard. is this a time for fine words? do you not know my case that you offend my ears with them? give us food to eat if you have it, after which i would speak with you alone. be swift also; here i may not stay for long, since the white dogs are at my heels." "i knew that you were coming, o king, to honour my poor house with a visit," said zikali slowly, "and therefore the ox is already killed and the meat will soon be on the fire. meanwhile drink a sup of beer, and rest." he clapped his hands, whereon nombe and some servants appeared with pots of beer, of which, after zikali had tasted it to show that it was not poisoned, the king and his people drank thirstily. then it was taken to those outside. "what is this that my ears hear?" asked zikali when nombe and the others had gone, "that the white dogs are on the spoor of the black bull?" cetewayo nodded heavily, and answered-- "my impis were broken to pieces on the plain of ulundi; the cowards ran from the bullets as children run from bees. my kraals are burnt and i, the king, with but a faithful remnant fly for my life. the prophecy of the black one has come true. the people of the zulus are stamped flat beneath the feet of the great white people." "i remember that prophecy, o king. mopo told it to me within an hour of the death of the black one when he gave me the little red-handled assegai that he snatched from the black one's hand to do the deed. it makes me almost young again to think of it, although even then i was old," replied zikali in a dreamy voice like one who speaks to himself. hearing him from under my kaross i bethought me that he had really grown old at last, who for the moment evidently forgot the part which this very assegai had played a few months before in the vale of bones. well, even the greatest masters make such slips at times when their minds are full of other things. but if zikali forgot, cetewayo and his councillors remembered, as i could see by the look of quick intelligence that flashed from face to face. "so! mopo the murderer, he who vanished from the land after the death of my uncle dingaan, gave you the little red assegai, did he, opener of roads! and but a few months ago that assegai, which old sigananda knew again, thrown by the hand of the inkosazana-y-zulu, drew blood from my body after the white man, macumazahn, had severed its shaft with his bullet. now tell me, opener of roads, how did it pass from your keeping into that of the spirit nomkubulwana?" at this question i distinctly saw a shiver shake the frame of zikali who realized too late the terrible mistake he had made. yet as only the great can do, he retrieved and even triumphed over his error. "oho-ho!" he laughed, "who am i that i can tell how such things happen? do you not know, o king, that the spirits leave what they will and take what they will, whether it be but a blade of grass, or the life of a man"--here he looked at cetewayo--"or even of a people? sometimes they take the shadow and sometimes the substance, since spirit or matter, all is theirs. as for the little assegai, i lost it years ago. i remember that the last time i saw it was in the hands of a woman named mameena to whom i showed it as a strange and bloody thing. after her death i found that it was gone, so doubtless she took it with her to the under-world and there gave it to the queen nomkubulwana, with whom you may remember this mameena returned from that under-world yonder in the bones." "it may be so," said cetewayo sullenly, "yet it was no spirit iron that cut my thigh, but what do i know of the ways of spirits? wizard, i would speak with you in your hut alone where no ear can hear us." "my hut is the king's," answered zikali, "yet let the king remember that those spirits of which he does not know the ways, can always hear, yes, even the thoughts of men, and on them do judgment." "fear not," said cetewayo, "amongst many other things i remember this also." then zikali turned and crept into the hut, whispering as he passed me-- "lie silent for your life." and cetewayo having bidden his retinue to depart outside the fence and await him there, followed after him. they sat them down on either side of the smouldering fire and stared at each other through the thin smoke there in the gloom of the hut. by turning my head that the foot of the king had brushed as he passed, i could watch them both. cetewayo spoke the first in a hoarse, slow voice, saying-- "wizard, i am in danger of my life and i have come to you who know all the secrets of this land, that you may tell me in what place i may hide where the white men cannot find me. it must be told into my ear alone, since i dare not trust the matter to any other, at any rate until i must. they are traitors every man of them, yes, even those who seem to be most faithful. the fallen man has no friends, least of all if he chances to be a king. only the dead will keep his counsel. tell me of the place i need." "dingaan, who was before you, once asked this same thing of me, o king, when he was flying from panda your father, and the boers. i gave him advice that he did not take, but sought a refuge of his own upon a certain ghost-mountain. what happened to him there that mopo, of whom you spoke a while ago, can tell you if he still lives."* [*--see _nada the lily._--editor.] "surely you are an ill-omened night-bird who thus croak to me continually of the death of kings," broke in cetewayo with suppressed rage. then calming himself with an effort added, "tell me now, where shall i hide?" "would you know, king? then hearken. on the south slope of the ingome range west of the ibululwana river, on the outskirts of the great forest, there is a kloof whereof the entrance, which only one man can pass at a time, is covered by a thicket of thorns and marked by a black rock shaped like a great toad with an open mouth, or, as some say, like myself, 'the-thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.' near to this rock dwells an old woman, blind of one eye and lacking a hand, which the black one cut off shortly before his death, because when he killed her father, she saw the future and prophesied a like death to him, although then she was but a child. this woman is of our company, being a witch-doctoress. i will send a spirit to her, if you so will it, to warn her to watch for you and your company, o king, and show you the mouth of the kloof, where are some old huts and water. there you will never be found unless you are betrayed." "who can betray me when none know whither i am going?" asked cetewayo. "send the spirit, send it at once, that this one-armed witch may make ready." "what is the hurry, king, seeing that the forest is far away? yet be it as you will. keep silence now, lest evil should befall you." then of a sudden zikali seemed to go off into one of his trances. his form grew rigid, his eyes closed, his face became fixed as though in death, and foam appeared upon his lips. he was a dreadful sight to look on, there in the gloomy hut. cetewayo watched him and shivered. then he opened his blanket and i perceived that fastened about him by a loop of hide in such a fashion that it could be drawn out in a moment, was the blade of a broad assegai, the shaft of which was shortened to about six inches. his hand grasped this shaft, and i understood that he was contemplating the murder of zikali. then it seemed to me that he changed his mind and that his lips shaped the words--"not yet," though whether he really spoke them i do not know. at least he withdrew his hand and closed the blanket. slowly zikali opened his eyes, staring at the roof of the hut, whence came a curious sound as of squeaking bats. he looked like a dead man coming to life again. for a few moments he turned up his ear as though he listened to the squealing, then said-- "it is well. the spirit that i summoned has visited her of our company who is named one-hand and returned with the answer. did you not hear it speaking in the thatch, o king?" "i heard something, wizard," answered cetewayo in an awed voice. "i thought it was a bat." "a bat it is, o king, one with wide wings and swift. this bat says that my sister, one-hand, will meet you on the third day from now at this hour on the further side of the ford of the ibululwana, where three milk-trees grow together on a knoll. she will be sitting under the centre milk-tree and will wait for two hours, no more, to show you the secret entrance to the kloof." "the road is rough and long, i shall have to hurry when worn out with travelling," said cetewayo. "that is so, o king. therefore my counsel is that you begin the journey as soon as possible, especially as i seem to hear the baying of the white dogs not far away." "by chaka's head! i will not," growled cetewayo, "who thought to sleep here in peace this night." "as the king wills. all that i have is the king's. only then one-hand will not be waiting and some other place of hiding must be found, since this is known to me only and to her; also that spirit which i sent will make no second journey, nor can i travel to show it to the king." "yes, wizard, it is known to you and to myself. methinks it would be better were it known to me alone. i have a spoonful of snuff to share (i.e., a bone to pick) with you, wizard. it would seem that you set my feet and those of the zulu people upon a false road, yonder in the vale of bones, causing me to declare war upon the white men and thereby bringing us all to ruin." "mayhap my memory grows bad, o king, for i do not remember that i did these things. i remember that the spirit of a certain mameena whom i called up from the dead, prophesied victory to the king, which victory has been his. also it prophesied other victories to the king in a far land across the water, which victories doubtless shall be his in due season; for myself i gave no 'counsel to the king or to his indunas and generals.'" "you lie, wizard," exclaimed cetewayo hoarsely. "did you not summon the shape of the princess of heaven to be the sign of war, and did she not hold in her hand that assegai of the black one which you have told me was in your keeping? how did it pass from your keeping into the hand of a spirit?" "as to that matter i have spoken, o king. for the rest, is nomkubulwana my servant to come and go at my bidding?" "i think so," said cetewayo coldly. "i think also that you who know the place where i purpose to hide, would do well to forget it. surely you have lived too long, o opener of roads, and done enough evil to the house of senzangacona, which you ever hated." so he spoke, and once more i saw his hand steal towards the spearhead which was hidden beneath the blanket that he wore. zikali saw it also and laughed. "oho!" he laughed, "forgetting all my warnings, and that the day of my death will be his own, the king thinks to kill me because i am old and feeble and alone and unarmed. he thinks to kill me as the black one thought, as dingaan thought, as even panda thought, yet i live on to this day. well, i bear no malice since it is natural that the king should wish to kill one who knows the secret of where he would hide himself for his own life's sake. that spearhead which the king is fingering is sharp, so sharp that my bare breast cannot turn its edge. i must find me a shield! i must find me a shield! fire, you are not yet dead. awake, make smoke to be my shield!" and he waved his long, monkey-like arms over the embers, from which instantly there sprang up a reek of thin white smoke that appeared to take a vague and indefinite shape which suggested the shadow of a man; for to me it seemed a nebulous and wavering shadow, no more. "what are you staring at, o king?" went on zikali in a fierce and thrilling voice. "who is it that you see? who has the fire sent to be my shield? ghosts are so thick here that i do not know. i cannot tell one of them from the other. who is it? who, who of all that you have slain and who therefore are your foes?" "umbelazi, my brother," groaned cetewayo. "my brother umbelazi stands before me with spear raised; he whom i brought to his death at the battle of the tugela. his eyes flame upon me, his spear is raised to strike. he speaks words i cannot understand. protect me, o wizard! lord of spirits, protect me from the spirit of umbelazi." zikali laughed wildly and continued to wave his arms above the fire from which smoke poured ever more densely, till the hut was full of it. when it cleared away again cetewayo was gone! "saw you ever the like of that?" said zikali, addressing the kaross under which i was sweltering. "tell me, macumazahn." "yes," i answered, thrusting out my head as a tortoise does, "when in this very hut you seemed to produce the shape, also out of smoke, i think, of one whom i used to know. say, how do you do it, zikali?" "do it. who knows? perchance i do nothing. perchance i think and you fools see, no more. or perchance the spirits of the dead who are so near to us, come at my call and take themselves bodies out of the charmed smoke of my fire. you white men are wise, answer your own question, macumazahn. at least that smoke or that ghost saved me from a spear thrust in the heart, wherewith cetewayo was minded to pay me for showing him a hiding-place which he desired should be secret to himself alone. well, well, i can pay as well as cetewayo and my count is longer. now lie you still, macumazahn, for i go out to watch. he will not bide long in this place which he deems haunted and ill-omened. he will be gone ere sunset, that is within an hour, and sleep elsewhere." then he crept from the hut and presently, though i could see nothing, for now the gate of the fence was shut, i heard voices debating and finally that of cetewayo say angrily-- "have done! it is my will. you can eat your food outside of this place which is bewitched; the girl will show us where are the huts of which the wizard speaks." a few minutes later zikali crept back into the hut, laughing to himself. "all is safe," he said, "and you can come out of your hole, old jackal. he who calls himself a king is gone, taking with him those whom he thinks faithful, most of whom are but waiting a chance to betray him. what did i say, a king? nay, in all africa there is no slave so humble or so wretched as this broken man. oh! feather by feather i have plucked my fowl and by and by i shall cut his throat. you will be there, macumazahn, you will be there." "i trust not," i answered as i mopped my brow. "we have been near enough to throat-cutting this afternoon to last me a long while. where has the king gone?" "not far, macumazahn. i have sent nombe to guide him to the huts in the little dip five spear throws to the right of the mouth of the kloof where live the old herdsman and his people who guard my cattle. he and all the rest are away with the cattle that are hidden in the ceza forest out of reach of the white men, so the huts are empty. oh! now i read what you are thinking. i do not mean that he should be taken there. it is too near my house and the king still has friends." "why did you send nombe?" i asked. "because he would have no other guide, who does not trust my men. he means to keep her with him for some days and then let her go, and thus she will be out of mischief. meanwhile you and your friends can depart untroubled by her fancies, and join the white men who are near. tomorrow you shall start." "that is good," i said with a sigh of relief. then an idea struck me and i added, "i suppose no harm will come to nombe, who might be thought to know too much?" "i hope not," he replied indifferently, "but that is a matter for her spirit to decide. now go, macumazahn, for i am weary." i also was weary after my prolonged seclusion under that very hot skin rug. for be it remembered i was not yet strong again, and although this was not the real reason why i had stopped behind when the others went to the plateau, i still grew easily tired. my real reason was that of nombe--that i thought they preferred to be alone. i looked about me and saw with relief that cetewayo and every man of his retinue were really gone. they had not even waited to eat the ox that had been killed for them, but had carried off the meat with other provisions to their sleeping-place outside the kloof. having made sure of this i went to my hut and loosed lost that fortunately enough had been unable to gnaw through the thick buffalo-hide riem with which i had fastened him to the pole. he greeted me with rapture as though we had been parted for years. had he belonged to ulysses himself he could not have been more joyful. when one is despondent and lonesome, how grateful is the whole-hearted welcome of a dog which, we are sometimes tempted to think, is the only creature that really cares for us in the world. every other living thing has side interests of its own, but that of a dog is centred in its master, though it is true that it also dreams affectionately of dinner and rabbits. then with lost at my feet i sat outside the hut smoking and waiting for the return of anscombe and heda. presently i caught sight of them in the gloaming. their arms were around one another, and in some remarkable way they had managed to dispose their heads, forgetting that the sky was still light behind them, in such fashion that it was difficult to tell one from the other. i reflected that it was a good thing that at last we were escaping from this confounded kloof and country for one where they could marry and make an end, and became afflicted with a sneezing fit. heda asked where nombe was and why supper was not ready, for nombe played the part of cook and parlourmaid combined. i told her something of what had happened, whereon heda, who did not appreciate its importance in the least, remarked that she, nombe, might as well have put on the pot before she went and done sundry other things which i forget. ultimately we got something to eat and turned in, heda grumbling a little because she must sleep alone, for she had grown used to the company of the ever-watchful nombe, who made her bed across the door-hole of the hut. anscombe was soon lost in dreams, if he did dream, but i could not sleep well that night. i was fearful of i knew not what, and so, i think, was lost, for he fidgeted and kept poking me with his nose. at last, i think it must have been about two hours after midnight, he began to growl. i could hear nothing, although my ears are sharp, but as he went on growling i crept to the door-hole and drew aside the board. lost slipped out and vanished, while i waited, listening. presently i thought i heard a soft foot-fall and a whisper, also that i saw the shape of a woman which reminded me of nombe, shown faintly by the starlight. it vanished in a moment and lost returned wagging his tail, as he might well have done if it were nombe who was attached to the dog. as nothing further happened i went back to bed, reflecting that i was probably mistaken, since nombe had been sent away for some days by zikali and would scarcely dare to return at once, even if she could do so. shortly before daylight lost began to growl again in a subdued and thunderous fashion. this time i got up and dressed myself more or less. then i went out. the dawn was just breaking and by its light i saw a strange scene. about fifty yards away in the narrow nek that ran over some boulders to the site of our huts, stood what seemed to be the goddess nomkubulwana as i had seen her on the point of rock in the vale of bones. she wore the same radiant dress and in the dim glow had all the appearance of a white woman. i stood amazed, thinking that i dreamt, when from round the bend emerged a number of zulus, creeping forward stealthily with raised spears. they caught sight of the supernatural figure which barred their road, halted and whispered to each other. then they turned to fly, but before they went one of them, as it seemed to me through sheer terror, hurled his assegai at the figure which remained still and unmoved. in thirty seconds they were gone; in sixty their footsteps had died away. then the figure wheeled slowly round and by the strengthening light i perceived that a spear transfixed its breast. as it sank to the ground i ran up to it. it was nombe with her face and arms whitened and her life-blood running down the glittering feather robe. chapter xxii the madness of nombe the dog reached nombe first and began to lick her face, its tongue removing patches of the white which had not had time to dry. she was lying, her back supported by one of the boulders. with her left hand she patted the dog's head feebly and with her right drew out the assegai from her body, letting it fall upon the ground. recognizing me she smiled in her usual mysterious fashion and said-- "all is well, macumazahn, all is very well. i have deserved to die and i do not die in vain." "don't talk, let me see your wound," i exclaimed. she opened her robe and pointed; it was quite a small gash beneath the breast from which blood ebbed slowly. "let it be, macumazahn," she said. "i am bleeding inside and it is mortal. but i shall not die yet. listen to me while i have my mind. yesterday when mauriti and heddana went up to the plain i wished to go with them because i had news that zulus were wandering everywhere and thought that i might be able to protect my mistress from danger. mauriti spoke to me roughly, telling me that i was not wanted. of that i thought little, for to such words i am accustomed from him; moreover, they are to be forgiven to a man in love. but it did not end there, for my lady heddana also pierced me with her tongue, which hurt more than this spear thrust does, macumazahn, for i could see that her speech had been prepared and that she took this chance to throw it at me. she said that i did not know where i should sit; that i was a thorn beneath her nail, and that whenever she wished to talk with mauriti, or with you, macumazahn, i was ever there with my ear open like the mouth of a gourd. she commanded me in future to come only when i was called; all of which things i am sure mauriti had taught her, who in herself is too gentle even to think them--unless you taught her, macumazahn." i shook my head and she went on-- "no, it was not you who also are too gentle, and having suffered yourself, can feel for those who suffer, which mauriti who has never suffered cannot do. still, you too thought me a trouble, one that sticks in the flesh like a hooked thorn, or a tick from the grass, and cannot be unfastened. you spoke to the master about it and he spoke to me." this time i nodded in assent. "i do not blame you, macumazahn; indeed now i see that you were wise, for what right has a poor black doctoress to seek the love, or even to look upon the face of the great white lady whom for a little while fate has caused to walk upon the same path with her? but yesterday i forgot that, macumazahn, for you see we are all of us, not one self, but many selves, and each self has its times of rule. nombe alive and well was one woman, nombe dying is another, and doubtless nombe dead will be a third, unless, as she prays, she should sleep for ever. "macumazahn, those words of heddana's were to me what gall is to sweet milk. my blood clotted and my heart turned sour. it was not against her that i was angry, because that can never happen, but against mauriti and against you. my spirit whispered in my ear. it said, 'if mauriti and macumazahn were dead the lady heddana would be left alone in a strange land. then she would learn to rest upon you as upon a stick, and learn to love the stick on which she rested, though it be so rough and homely.' but how can i kill them, i asked of my spirit, and myself escape death? "'poison is forbidden to you by the pact between us,' answered my spirit, 'yet i will show you a way, who am bound to serve you in all things good or ill.' "then we nodded to each other in my breast, macumazahn, and i waited for what should happen who knew that my spirit would not lie. yes, i waited for a chance to kill you both, forgetting, as the wicked forget in their madness, that even if i were not found out, soon or late heddana would guess the truth and then, even if she had learned to love me a thousand times more than she ever could, would come to hate me as a mother hates a snake that has slain her child. or even if she never learned or guessed in life, after death she would learn and hunt me and spit on me from world to world as a traitoress and a murderer, one who has sinned past pardon." here she seemed to grow faint and i turned to seek for help. but she caught hold of my coat and said-- "hear me out, macumazahn, or i will run after you till i fall and die." so thinking it best, i stayed and she went on-- "my spirit, which must be an evil one since zikali gave it me when i was made a doctoress, dealt truly with me, for presently the king and his people came. moreover, my spirit brought it about that the king would have no other guide but me to lead him to the kraal where he slept last night, and i went as though unwillingly. at the kraal the king sent for me and questioned me in a dark hut, pretending to be alone, but i who am a doctoress knew that two other men were in that hut, taking note of all my words. he asked me of the inkosazana-y-zulu who appeared in the vale of bones and of the little assegai she held in her hand, and of the magic of the opener of roads, and many other things. i said that i knew nothing of the inkosazana, but that without doubt my master was a great magician. he did not believe me. he threatened that i should be tortured very horribly and was about to call his servants to torment me till i told the truth. then my spirit spoke in my heart saying, 'now the door is open to you, as i promised. tell the king of the two white men whom the master hides, and he will send to kill them, leaving the lady heddana and you alone together.' so i pretended to be afraid and told him, whereon he laughed and answered-- "'for your sake i am glad, girl, that you have spoken the truth; besides it is useless to torture a witch, since then the spirit in her only vomits lies.' "next he called aloud and a man came, who it was i could not see in the dark. the king commanded him to take me to one of the other huts and tie me up there to the roof-pole. the man obeyed, but he did not tie me up; he only blocked the hut with the door-board, and sat with me there in the dark alone. "now i grew cunning and began to talk with him, spreading a net of sweet words, as the fowler spreads a net for cranes from which he would tear the crests. soon by his talk i found out that the king and his people knew more than i guessed. macumazahn, they had seen the cart which still stands under the overhanging rock by the mouth of the cave. i asked him if that were all, pretending that the cart belonged to my master, to whom it had been brought from the field of isandhlwana, that he might be drawn about in it, who was too weak to walk. "the man said that if i would kiss him he would tell me everything. i bade him tell me first, swearing that then i would kiss him. yes, macumazahn, i, whom no man's lips have ever touched, fell as low as this. so he grew foolish and told me. he told me that they had also seen a kappje such as white women wear, hanging on the hut fence, and i remembered that after washing the headdress of my mistress i had set it there to dry in the sun. he told me also that the king suspected that she who wore that kappje was she who had played the part of the inkosazana in the vale of bones. i asked him what the king would do about the matter, at the same time denying that there was any white woman in the black kloof. he said that at dawn the king would send and kill these foreign rats, whom the opener of roads kept in the thatch of his hut. now he drew near and asked his pay. i gave it to him--with a knife-point, macumazahn. oh! that was a good thrust. he never spoke again. then i slipped away, for all the others were asleep, and was here a little after midnight." "i thought i saw you, nombe," i said, "but was not sure, so i did nothing." she smiled and answered-- "ah! i was afraid that the watcher-by-night would be watching by night; also the dog ran up to me, but he knew me and i sent him back again. now while i was coming home, thoughts entered my heart. i saw, as one sees by a lightning flash, all that i had done. the king and his people were not sure that the master was hiding white folk here and would never have sent back to kill them on the chance. i had made them sure, as indeed, being mad, i meant to do. moreover, in throwing spears at the kites i had killed my own dove, since it was on the false inkosazana who had caused them to declare war and brought the land to ruin, that they wished to be avenged, and perchance on him who taught her her part, not on one or two wandering white men. i saw that when cetewayo's people came, and there were many more of them outside, several hundreds i think, they would shave the whole head and burn the whole tree. every one in the kloof would be killed. "how could i undo the knot that i had tied and stamp out the fire that i had lit? that was the question. i bethought me of coming to you, but without arms how could you help? i bethought me of going to the master, but i was ashamed. also, what could he do with but a few servants, for the most of his people are away with the cattle? he is too weak to climb the steep path to the plain above, nor was there time to gather folk to carry him. lastly, even if there were time which there was not, and we went thither they would track us out and kill us. for the rest i did not care, nor for myself, but that the lady heddana should be butchered who was more to me than a hundred lives, and through my treachery--ah! for that i cared. "i called on my spirit to help me, but it would not come. my spirit was dead in me because now i would do good and not ill. yet another spirit came, that of one mameena whom once you knew. she came angrily, like a storm, and i shrank before her. she said, 'vile witch, you have plotted to murder macumazahn, and for that you shall answer to me before another sun has set over this earth of yours. now you seek a way of escape from your own wickedness. well, it can be had, but at a price.' "'what price, o lady of death?' i asked. "'the price of your own life, witch.' "i laughed into that ghost face of hers and said-- "'is this all? be swift and show me the way, o lady of death, and afterwards we will balance our account.' "then she whispered into the ear of my heart and was gone. i ran on, for the dawn was near. i whitened myself with lime, i put on the glittering cloak and powdered my hair with the sparkling earth. i took a little stick in my hand since i could find no spear and had no time to search, and just as day began to break, i crept out and stood in the bend of the path. the slayers came, twelve or so of them, but behind were many more. they saw the inkosazana-y-zulu barring their way and were much afraid. they fled, but out of his fright one of them threw a spear which went home, as i knew it would. he watched to see if i should fall, but i would not fall. then he fled faster than the rest, knowing himself accursed who had lifted steel against the queen of heaven, and oh! i am glad, i am glad!" she ceased, exhausted, yet with a great exultation in her beautiful eyes; indeed at that moment she looked a most triumphant creature. i stared at her, thrilled through and through. she had been wicked, no doubt, but how splendid was her end; and, thank heaven! she was troubled with no thought of what might befall her after that end, although i was sure she believed that she would live again to face mameena. i knew not what to do. i did not like to leave her, especially as no earthly power could help her case, since slowly but quite surely she was bleeding to death from an internal wound. by now the sun was up and zikali's people were about. one of them appeared suddenly and saw, then with a howl of terror turned to fly away. "fool! fool!" i cried, "go summon the lady heddana and the inkosi mauriti. bid them come swiftly if they would see the doctoress nombe before she dies." the man leapt off like a buck, and within a few minutes i saw heda and anscombe running towards us, half dressed, and went to meet them. "what is it?" she gasped. "i have only time to tell you this," i answered. "nombe is dying. she gave her life to save you, how i will explain afterwards. the assegai that pierced her was meant for your heart. go, thank her, and bid her farewell. anscombe, stop back with me." we stood still and watched from a little distance. heda knelt down and put her arms about nombe. they whispered together into each other's ears. then they kissed. it was at this moment that zikali appeared, leaning on two of his servants. by some occult art or instinct he seemed to know all that had happened, and oh! he looked terrible. he crouched down in front of the dying woman and, toadlike, spat his venom at her. "you lost your spirit, did you?" he said. "well, it came back to me laden with the black honey of your treachery, to me, its home, as a bee comes to its hive. it has told me everything, and well for you, witch, it is that you are dying. but think not that you shall escape me there in the world below, for thither i will follow you. curses on you, traitress, who would have betrayed me and brought all my plans to naught. ow! in a day to come i will pay you back a full harvest for this seed of shame that you have sown." she opened her eyes and looked at him, then answered quite softly-- "i think your chain is broken, o zikali, no more my master. i think that love has cut your chain in two and i fear you never more. keep the spirit you lent to me; it is yours, but the rest of me is my own, and in the house of my heart another comes to dwell." then once more she stretched out her arms towards heda and murmuring, "sister, forget me not, sister, who will await you for a thousand years," she passed away. it was a good ending to a bad business, and i confess i felt glad when it was finished. only afterwards i regretted very much that i had not found an opportunity to ask her whether or no she had masqueraded as mameena in the valley of bones. now it is too late. we buried poor nombe decently in her own little hut where she used to practise her incantations. zikali and his people wished apparently to throw her to the vultures for some secret reason that had to do with their superstitions. but heda, who, now that nombe was dead, developed a great affection for her not unmixed with a certain amount of compunction for which really she had no cause, withstood him to his face and insisted upon a decent interment. so she was laid to earth still plastered with the white pigment and wrapped in the bloodstained feather robe. i may add that on the following morning one of zikali's servants informed me solemnly that because of this she had been seen during the night riding up and down the rocks on a baboon as zulu umtagati are supposed to do. i have small doubt that as soon as we were gone they dug her up again and threw her to the vultures and the jackals according to their first intention. on this day we at length escaped from the black kloof, and in our own cart, for during the night our horses arrived mysteriously from somewhere, in good condition though rather wild. i went to say good-bye to zikali, who said little, except that we should meet once more after many moons. anscombe and heda he would not see at all, but only sent them a message, to the effect that he hoped they would think kindly of him through the long years to come, since he had kept his promise and preserved them safe through many dangers. i might have answered that he had first of all put them into the dangers, but considered it wise to hold my tongue. i think, however, that he guessed my thought, if one can talk of guessing in connection with zikali, for he said that they had no reason to thank him, since if he had served their turn they had served his, adding-- "it will be strange in the times to be for the lady heddana to remember that it was she and no other who crumpled up the zulus like a frostbitten winter reed, since had she not appeared upon the rock in the valley of bones, there would have been no war." "she did not do this, you did it, zikali," i said, "making her your tool through love and fear." "nay, macumazahn, i did not do it; it was done by what you call god and i call fate in whose hand i am the tool. well, say to the lady heddana that in payment i will hold back the ghost of nombe from haunting her, if i can. say also that if i had not brought her and her lover to zululand they would have been killed." so we went from that hateful kloof which i have never seen since and hope i shall never see again, two of zikali's men escorting us until we got into touch with white people. to these we said as little as possible. i think they believed that we were only premature tourists who had made a dash into zululand to visit some of the battlefields. indeed none of us ever reported our strange adventures, and after my experience with kaatje we were particularly careful to say nothing in the hearing of any gentleman connected with the press. but as a matter of fact there were so many people moving about and such a continual coming and going of soldiers and their belongings, that after we had managed to buy some decent clothes, which we did at the little town of newcastle, nobody paid any attention to us. on our way to maritzburg one amusing thing did happen. we met kaatje! it was about sunset that we were driving up a steep hill not far from howick. at least i was driving, but anscombe and heda were walking about a hundred yards ahead of the cart, when suddenly kaatje appeared over a rise and came face to face with them while taking an evening stroll, or as i concluded afterwards, making some journey. she saw, she stared, she uttered one wild yell, and suddenly bundled over the edge of the road. never would i have believed that such a fat woman could have run so fast. in a minute she was down the slope and had vanished into a dense kloof where, as night was closing in and we were very tired, it was impossible for us to follow her. nor did subsequent inquiry in howick tell us where she was living or whence she came, for some months before she had left the place she had taken there as a cook. such was the end of kaatje so far as we were concerned. doubtless to her dying day she remained, or will remain, a firm believer in ghosts. anscombe and heda were married at maritzburg as soon as the necessary formalities had been completed. i could not attend the ceremony, which was a disappointment to me and i hope to them, but unfortunately i had a return of my illness and was laid up for a week. perhaps this was owing to the hot sun that struck me on the neck one afternoon coming down the town hill where i was obliged to hang on to the rear of the cart because the brakes had given out. however i was able to send heda a wedding gift in the shape of her jewels and money that i recovered from the bank, which she had never expected to see again; also to arrange everything about her property. they went down to durban for their honeymoon and, some convenient opportunity arising, sailed thence for england. i received an affectionate letter from them both, which i still treasure, thanking me very much for all i had done for them, that after all was little enough. also anscombe enclosed a blank cheque, begging me to fill it in for whatever sum i considered he was indebted to me on the balance of account. i thought this very kind of him and a great mark of confidence, but the cheque remained blank. i never saw either of them again, and though i believe that they are both living, for the most part abroad--in hungary i think--i do not suppose that i ever shall. when i came to england some years later after king solomon's mines had made me rich, i wrote anscombe a letter. he never answered it, which hurt me at the time. afterwards i remembered that in their fine position it was very natural that they should not wish to renew acquaintance with an individual who had so intimate a knowledge of certain incidents that they probably regarded as hateful, such as the deaths of marnham and dr. rodd, and all the surrounding circumstances. if so, i daresay that they were wise, but of course it may have been only carelessness. it is so easy for busy and fashionable folk not to answer a rather troublesome letter, or to forget to put that answer in the post. or, indeed, the letter may never have reached them--such things often go astray, especially when people live abroad. at any rate, perhaps through my own fault, we have drifted apart. i daresay they believe that i am dead, or not to be found somewhere in africa. however, i always think of them with affection, for anscombe was one of the best travelling companions i ever had, and his wife a most charming girl, and wonder whether zikali's prophecy about their children will come true. good luck go with them! as it chances, since then i passed the place where the temple stood, though at a little distance. i had the curiosity, however, at some inconvenience, to ride round and examine the spot. i suppose that heda had sold the property, for a back-veld boer, who was absent at the time, had turned what used to be rodd's hospital into his house. close by, grim and gaunt, stood the burnt-out marble walls of the temple. the verandah was still roofed over, and standing on the spot whence i had shot the pistol out of rodd's hand, i was filled with many memories. i could trace the whole plan of the building and visited that part of it which had been marnham's room. the iron safe that stood in the corner had been taken away, but the legs of the bedstead remained. also not far from it, over grown with running plants, was a little heap which i took to be the ashes of his desk, for bits of burnt wood protruded. i grubbed among them with my foot and riding crop and presently came across the remains of a charred human skull. then i departed in a hurry. my way took me through the yellow-wood grove, past the horns of the blue wildebeeste which still lay there, past that mud-hole also into which rodd had fallen dead. here, however, i made no more search, who had seen enough of bones. to this day i do not know whether he still lies beneath the slimy ooze, or was removed and buried. also i saw the site of our wagon camp where the basutos attacked us. but i will have done with these reminiscences which induce melancholy, though really there is no reason why they should. tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe--everything wears out, everything crumbles, everything vanishes--in the words of the french proverb that my friend sir henry curtis is so fond of quoting, that at last i wrote it down in my pocket-book, only to remember afterwards that when i was a boy i had heard it from the lips of an old scamp of a frenchman, of the name of leblanc, who once gave me and another lessons in the gallic tongue. but of him i have already written in _marie,_ which is the first chapter in the book of the fall of the zulus. that headed _child of storm_ is the second. these pages form the third and last. ah! indeed, tout lasse, tout casse, tout passe! chapter xxiii the kraal jazi now i shall pass over all the zulu record of the next four years, since after all it has nothing to do with my tale and i do not pretend to be writing a history. sir garnet wolseley set up his kilkenny cat government in zululand, or the home government did it for him, i do not know which. in place of one king, thirteen chiefs were erected who got to work to cut the throats of each other and of the people. as i expected would be the case, zikali informed the military authorities of the secret hiding-place in the ingome forest where he suggested to cetewayo that he should refuge. the ex-king was duly captured there and taken first to the cape and then to england, where, after the disgrace of poor sir bartle frere, an agitation had been set on foot on his behalf. here he saw the queen and her ministers, once more conquering, as it had been prophesied that he would by her who wore the shape of mameena at the memorable scene in the valley of bones when i was present. often i have thought of him dressed in a black coat and seated in that villa in melbury road in the suburb of london which i understand is populated by artists. a strange contrast truly to the savage prince receiving the salute of triumph after the battle of the tugela in which he won the kingship, or to the royal monarch to whose presence i had been summoned at ulundi. however, he was brought back to zululand again by a british man-of-war, re-installed to a limited chieftainship by sir theophilus shepstone, and freed from the strangling embrace of the black coat. then of course there was more fighting, as every one knew would happen, except the british colonial office; indeed all zululand ran with blood. for in england cetewayo and his rights, or wrongs, had, like the boers and their rights, or wrongs, become a matter of party politics to which everything else must give way. often i wonder whether party politics will not in the end prove the ruin of the british empire. well, thank heaven, i shall not live to learn. so cetewayo came back and fought and was defeated by those who once had been his subjects. now for the last scene, that is all with which i need concern myself. at the beginning of february, , business took me to zululand; it had to do with a deal in cattle and blankets. as i was returning towards the tugela who should i meet but friend goza, he who had escorted me from the black kloof to ulundi before the outbreak of war, and who afterwards escorted me and that unutterable nuisance, kaatje, out of the country. at first i thought that we came together by accident, or perhaps that he had journeyed a little way to thank me for the blankets which i had sent to him, remembering my ancient promise, but afterwards i changed my opinion on this point. well, we talked over many matters, the war, the disasters that had befallen zululand, and so forth. especially did we talk of that night in the valley of bones and the things we had seen there side by side. i asked him if the people still believed in the inkosazana-y-zulu who then appeared in the moonlight on the rock. he answered that some did and some did not. for his part, he added, looking at me fixedly, he did not, since it was rumoured that zikali had dressed up a white woman to play the part of the spirit. yet he could not be sure of the matter, since it was also said that when some of cetewayo's people went to kill this white woman in the black kloof, nomkubulwana, the princess of heaven herself, rose before them and frightened them away. i remarked that this was very strange, and then quite casually asked him whom zikali had dressed up to play the part of the dead mameena upon that same occasion, since this was a point upon which i always thirsted for definite intelligence. he stared at me and replied that i ought to be able to answer my own question, since i had been much nearer to her who looked like mameena than any one else, so near indeed that all present distinctly saw her kiss me, as it was well known she had liked to do while still alive. i replied indignantly that they saw wrong and repeated my question. then he answered straight out-- "o macumazahn, we zulus believe that what we saw on that night was not nombe or another dressed up, but the spirit of the witch mameena itself. we believe it because we could see the light of zikali's fire through her, not always, but sometimes; also because all that she said has come true, though everything is not yet finished." i could get no more out of him about the matter, for when i tried to speak of it again, he turned the subject, telling me of his wonderful escapes during the war. presently he rose to go and said casually-- "surely i grow old in these times of trouble, macumazahn, for thoughts slip through my head like water through the fingers. almost i had forgotten what i wished to say to you. the other day i met zikali, the opener of roads. he told me that you were in zululand and that i should meet you--he did not say where, only that when i did meet you, i was to give you a message. this was the message--that when on your way to natal you came to the kraal jazi, you would find him there; also another whom you used to know, and must be sure not to go away without seeing him, since that was about to happen in which you must take your part." "zikali!" i exclaimed. "i have heard nothing of him since the war. i thought that by now he was certainly dead." "oh! no, macumazahn, he is certainly not dead, but just the same as ever. indeed it is believed that he and no other has kept all this broth of trouble on the boil, some say for cetewayo's sake, and some say because he wishes to destroy cetewayo. but what do i know of such matters who only desire to live in peace under whatever chief the english queen sends to us, as she has a right to do having conquered us in war? when you meet the opener of roads at the kraal jazi, ask him, macumazahn." "where the devil is the kraal jazi?" i inquired with irritation. "i never heard of such a place." "nor did i, therefore i cannot tell you, macumazahn. for aught i can say it may be down beneath where dead men go. but wherever it is there certainly you will meet the opener of roads. now farewell, macumazahn. if it should chance that we never look into each other's eyes again, i am sure you will think of me sometimes, as i shall of you, and of all that we have seen together, especially on that night in the vale of bones when the ghost of the witch mameena prophesied to us and kissed you before us all. she must have been very beautiful, macumazahn, as indeed i have heard from those who remember her, and i don't wonder that you loved her so much. still for my part i had rather be kissed by a living woman than by one who is dead, though doubtless it is best to be kissed by none at all. again, farewell, and be sure to tell the opener of roads that i gave you his message, lest he should lay some evil charm upon me, who have seen enough evil of late." thus talking goza departed. i never saw him again, and do not know if he is dead or alive. well, he was a kindly old fellow, if no hero. i had almost forgotten the incident of this meeting when a while later i found myself in the neighbourhood of the beautiful but semi-tropical place called eshowe, which since those days has become the official home of the british resident in zululand. indeed, although the house was not then finished, if it had been begun, sir melmoth osborn already had an office there. i wished to see him in order to give him some rather important information, but when i reached a kraal of about fifty huts some five hundred yards from the site of the present residency, my wagon stuck fast in the boggy ground. while i was trying to get it out a quiet-faced zulu, whose name, i remember, was umnikwa, informed me that malimati, that is sir melmoth osborn's native name, was somewhere at a little distance from eshowe, too far away for me to get to him that night. i answered, very well, i would sleep where i was, and asked the name of the kraal. he replied, jazi, at which i started, but only said that it was a strange name, seeing that it meant "finished," or "finished with joy." umnikwa answered, yes, but that it had been so called because the chief umfokaki, or the stranger, who married a sister of the king, was killed at this kraal by his brother, gundane, or the bat. i remarked that it was an ill-omened kind of name, to which the man replied, yes, and likely to become more so, since the king cetewayo who had been sheltering there "beneath the armpit" of malimati, the white lord, for some months, lay in it dying. i asked him of what he was dying, and he replied that he did not know, but that doubtless the father of the witch-doctors, named zikali, the opener of roads, would be able to tell me, as he was attending on cetewayo. "he has sent me to bid you to come at once, o macumazahn," he added casually, "having had news that you were arriving here." showing no surprise, i answered that i would come, although goodness knows i was surprised enough, and leaving my servants to get my wagon out of the bog, i walked into the kraal with the messenger. he took me to a large hut placed within a fence about the gate of which some women were gathered, who all looked very anxious and disturbed. among them i saw dabuko the king's brother, whom i knew slightly. he greeted me and told me that cetewayo was at the point of death within the hut, but like umnikwa, professed ignorance of the cause of his illness. for a long while, over an hour i should think, i sat there outside the hut, or walked to and fro. until darkness came i could occupy myself with contemplating the scenery of the encircling hills, which is among the most beautiful in zululand with its swelling contours and rich colouring. but after it had set in only my thoughts remained, and these i found depressing. at length i made up my mind that i would go away, for after all what had i to do with this business of the death of cetewayo, if in truth he was dying? i wished to see no more of cetewayo of whom all my recollections were terrific or sorrowful. i rose to depart, when suddenly a woman emerged from the hut. i could not see who she was or even what she was like, because of the gloom; also for the reason that she had the corner of her blanket thrown over her face as though she wished to keep it hidden. for a moment she stopped opposite to me and said-- "the king who is sick desires to see you, macumazahn." then she pointed to the door-hole of the hut and vanished, shutting the gate of the fence behind her. curiosity overcame me and i crawled into the hut, pushing aside the door-board in order to do so and setting it up again when i was through. inside burned a single candle fixed in the neck of a bottle, faintly illuminating that big and gloomy place. by its feeble light i saw a low bedstead on the left of the entrance and lying on it a man half covered by a blanket in whom i recognized cetewayo. his face was shrunken and distorted with pain, and his great bulk seemed less, but still without doubt it was cetewayo. "greeting, macumazahn," he said feebly, "you find me in evil case, but i heard that you were here and thought that i should like to see you before i die, because i know that you are honest and will report my words faithfully. i wish you to tell the white men that my heart never really was against them; they have always been the friends of my heart, but others forced me down a road i did not wish to travel, of which now i have come to the end." "what is the matter with you, king?" i asked. "i do not know, macumazahn, but i have been sick for some days. the opener of roads who came to doctor me, because my wives believed those white medicine-men wished me dead, says that i have been poisoned and must die. if you had been here at first you might perhaps have given me some medicine. but now it is too late," he added with a groan. "who then poisoned you, king?" "i cannot tell you, macumazahn. perhaps my enemies, perhaps my brothers, perhaps my wives. all wish to have done with me, and the great one, who is no longer wanted, is soon dead. be thankful, macumazahn, that you never were a king, for sad is the lot of kings." "where, then, is the opener of roads?" i asked. "he was here a little while ago. perhaps he has gone out to take the king's head" (i.e., to announce his death) "to malimati and the white men," he answered in a faint voice. just then i heard a shuffling noise proceeding from that part of the hut where the shadow was deepest, and looking, saw an emaciated arm projected into the circle of the light. it was followed by another arm, then by a vast head covered with long white hair that trailed upon the ground, then by a big, misshapen body, so wasted that it looked like a skeleton covered with corrugated black skin. slowly, like a chameleon climbing a bough, the thing crept forward, and i knew it for zikali. he reached the side of the bed and squatted down in his toad-like fashion, then, again like a chameleon, without moving his head turned his deep and glowing eyes towards me. "hail, o macumazahn," he said in his low voice. "did i not promise you long ago that you should be with me at the last, and are you not with me and another?" "it seems so, zikali," i answered. "but why do you not send for the white doctors to cure the king?" "all the doctors, white and black, in the whole world cannot cure him, macumazahn. the spirits call him and he dies. at his call i came fast and far, but even i cannot cure him--although because of him i myself must die." "why?" i asked. "look at me, macumazahn, and say if i am one who should travel. well, all come to their end at last, even the 'thing-that-should-never-have-been-born.'" cetewayo lifted his head and looked at him, then said heavily-- "perchance it would have been better for our house if that end had been sooner. now that i lie dying many sayings concerning you come into my mind that i had forgotten. moreover, opener of roads, i never sent for you, whoever may have done so, and it was not until after you came here that the great pain seized me. how did it happen," he went on with gathering force, "that the white men caught me in the secret place where you told me i should hide? who pointed out that hidden hole to the white men? but what does it matter now?" "nothing at all, o son of panda," answered zikali, "even less than it matters how i escaped the spear-head hidden in your robe, yonder in my hut in the black kloof where, had it not been for a certain spirit that stood between you and me, you would have murdered me. tell me, son of panda, during these last three days have you thought at all of your brother umbelazi, and of certain other brethren of yours whom you killed at the battle of the tugela, when the white man here led the charge of the amawombe against your regiments and ate up three of them?" cetewayo groaned but said nothing. i think he had become too faint to speak. "listen, son of panda," went on zikali in an intense and hissing voice. "many, many years ago, before senzangacona, your grandfather, saw the light--who knows how long before--a man was born of high blood in the dwandwe tribe, which man was a dwarf. chaka the black one conquered the dwandwe, but this man of high blood was spared because he was a dwarf, an abortion, to whom chaka gave the name of the 'thing-that-never-should-have-been-born,' keeping him about him to be a mock in times of peace and safety, and because he was wise and learned in magic, to be a counsellor in times of trouble. moreover, chaka killed this man's wives and children for his sport, save one whom he kept to be his 'sister.' "therefore for the sake of his people and his butchered wives and children, this wizard swore an oath of vengeance against chaka and all his house. working beneath the ground like a rat, he undermined the throne of chaka and brought him to his death by the spears of his brethren and of mopo his servant, whom chaka had wronged. still working in the dark like a rat, he caused dingaan, who stabbed chaka, to murder the boer retief and his people, and thus called down upon his head the vengeance of the whites, and afterwards brought dingaan to his death. then panda, your father, arose, and his life this 'thing-that-never-should-have-been-born' spared because once panda had done him a kindness. only through the witch mameena he brought sorrow on him, causing war to arise between his children, one of whom was named cetewayo. "then this cetewayo ruled, first with his father panda and afterwards in his place, and trouble arose between him and the english. son of panda, you will remember that this cetewayo was in doubt whether to fight the english and demanded a sign of the thing-that-never-should-have-been-born. he gave the sign, causing the inkosazana-y-zulu, the princess of heaven, to appear before him and thereby lifting the spear of war. son of panda, you know how that war went, how this cetewayo was defeated and came to the 'thing-that-never-should-have-been-born' like a hunted hyena, to learn of a hole where he might hide. you know, too, how he strove to murder the poor old doctor who showed him such a hole; how he was taken prisoner and sent across the water and afterwards set up again in the land that had learned to hate him, to bring its children to death by thousands. and you know how at last he took refuge beneath the wing of the white chief, here in the kraal jazi, and lived, spat upon, an outcast, until at length he fell sick, as such men are apt to do, and the thing-that-never-should-have-been-born was sent for to doctor him. and you know also how he lies dying, within him an agony as though he had swallowed a red hot spear, and before him a great blackness peopled by the ghosts of those whom he has slain, and of his forefathers whose house he has pulled down and burned." zikali ceased, and thrusting his hideous head to within an inch or two of that of the dying man, he glowered at him with his fierce and fiery eves. then he began to whisper into the king's ear, who quivered at his words, as the victim quivers beneath the torturer's looks. at that moment the end of the candle fell into the bottle which was of clear white glass, and there burned for a little while dully before it went out. never shall i forget the scene illumined by its blue and ghastly light. the dying man lying on the low couch, rocking his head to and fro; the wizard bending over him like some grey vampire bat sucking the life-blood from his helpless throat. the terror in the eyes of the one, the insatiable hate in the eyes of the other. oh! it was awful! "macumazahn," gasped cetewayo in a rattling whisper, "help me, macumazahn. i say that i am poisoned by this zikali, who hates me. oh! drive away the ghosts! drive them away!" i looked at him and at his tormentor squatted by him like a mocking fiend, and as i looked the candle went out. then my nerve broke, the cold sweat poured from my face and i fled from the hut as a man might from a scene in hell, followed by the low mocking laugh of zikali. outside the women and others were gathered in the gloom. i told them to go to the king, who was dying, and blundered up the slope to search for some white man. no one was to be found, but a kaffir messenger by the office told me that malimati was still away and had been sent for. so i returned to my wagon and lay down in it exhausted, for what more could i do? it was a rough night. thunder muttered and rain fell in driving gusts. i dozed off, only to be awakened by a sound of wailing. then i knew that the king was dead, for this was the isililo, the cry of mourning. i wondered whether the murderers--for that he was poisoned i had no doubt--were among those who wailed. towards dawn the storm rolled off and the night grew serene and clear, for a waning moon was shining in the sky. the heat of that stiffing place oppressed me; my blood seemed to be afire. i knew that there was a stream in a gorge about half a mile away, for it had been pointed out to me. i longed for a swim in cool water, who, to tell truth, had found none for some days, and bethought me that i would bathe in this stream before i trekked from that hateful spot, for to me it had become hateful. calling my driver, who was awake and talking with the voorloopers, for they knew what was passing at the kraal and were alarmed, i told them to get the oxen ready to start as i would be back presently. then i set off for the stream and, after a longish walk, scrambled down a steep ravine to its banks, following a path made by kaffir women going to draw water. arrived there at last i found that it was in flood and rising rapidly, at least so i judged from the sound, for in that deep, tree-hung place the light was too faint to allow me to see anything. so i sat down waiting for the dawn and wishing that i had not come because of the mosquitoes. at length it broke and the mists lifted, showing that the spot was one of great beauty. opposite to me was a waterfall twenty or thirty feet high, over which the torrent rushed into a black pool below. everywhere grew tall ferns and beyond these graceful trees, from whose leaves hung raindrops. in the centre of the stream on the edge of the fall was a rock not a dozen feet away from me, round which the water foamed. something was squatted on this rock, at first i could not see what because of the mist, but thought that it was a grey-headed baboon, or some other animal, and regretted that i had not brought a gun with me. presently i became aware that it must be a man, for, in a chanting voice, it began to speak or pray in zulu, and hidden behind a flowering bush, i could hear the words. they were to this effect-- "o my spirit, here where thou foundest me when i was young, hundreds of years ago" (he said hundreds, but i suppose he meant tens), "i come back to thee. in this pool i dived and beneath the waters found thee, my snake, and thou didst wind thyself about my body and about my heart" (here i understood that the speaker was alluding to his initiation as a witch-doctor which generally includes, or used to include, the finding of a snake in a river that coils itself about the neophyte). "about my body and in my heart thou hast dwelt from that sun to this, giving me wisdom and good and evil counsel, and that which thou hast counselled, i have done. now i return thee whence thou camest, there to await me in the new birth. "o spirits of my fathers, toiling through many years i have avenged you on the house of senzangacona, and never again will there be a king of the zulus, for the last of them lies dead by my hand. o my murdered wives and my children, i have offered up to you a mighty sacrifice, a sacrifice of thousands upon thousands. "o umkulu-kulu, great one of the heavens, who sentest me to earth, i have done thy work upon the earth and bring back to thee thy harvest of the seed that thou hast sown, a blood-red harvest, o umkulu-kulu. be still, be still, my snake, the sun arises, and soon, soon shalt thou rest in the water that wast thine from the beginning of the world!" the voice ceased, and presently a spear of light piercing the mists, lit upon the speaker. it was zikali and about him was wound a great yellow-bellied snake, of which the black head with flickering tongue waved above his head and seemed from time to time to lick him on the brow. (i suppose it had come to him from the water, for its skin glittered as though with wet.) he stood up on tottering feet, staring at the red eye of the rising sun, then crying, _"finished, finished with joy!"_ with a loud and dreadful laughter, he plunged into the foaming pool beneath. such was the end of zikali the wizard, opener of roads, the "thing-that-should-never-have-been-born," and such was the vengeance that he worked upon the great house of senzangacona, bringing it to naught and with it the nation of the zulus. the induna's wife, by bertram mitford. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ the induna's wife, by bertram mitford. prologue. twilight was fast closing in upon the desolate site of the old kambula camp, and the short, sharp thunderstorm which at the moment of outspanning had effectually drenched the scant supply of fuel, rendering that evening's repast, of necessity, cold commons, had left in its wake a thin but steady downpour. already the line of low hills hard by was indistinct in the growing gloom, and a far-reaching expanse of cold and treeless plains made up a surrounding as mournful and depressing as could be. the waggon stood outspanned in the tall grass, which, waist high, was about as pleasant to stand in as the drift of a river. just above, the conical ridge, once crested with fort and waggon laagers, and swarming with busy life, and the stir and hum of troops on hard active service, now desolate and abandoned--the site, indeed, still discernible if only by ancient tins, and much fragmentary residue of the ubiquitous british bottle. below, several dark patches in the grass marked the resting-place of hundreds of zulu dead--fiery, intrepid warriors--mown down in foil and sweeping rush, with lips still framing the war cry of their king, fierce resolute hands still gripping the deadly charging spear. now a silent and spectral peace rested upon this erewhile scene of fierce and furious war, a peace that in the gathering gloom had in it something that was weird, boding, oppressive. even my natives, usually prone to laughter and cheery spirits, seemed subdued, as though loth to pass the night upon this actual site of vast and tolerably recent bloodshed; and the waggon leader, a smart but unimaginative lad, showed a suspicious alacrity in driving back the span from drinking at the adjacent water-hole. yes! it is going to be a detestable night. hard biscuit and canned jam are but a poor substitute for fizzling rashers and wheaten cakes, white as snow within and hot from the gridiron; yet there is a worse one, and that is no biscuit at all. moreover, there is plenty of whisky, and with that and a pipe i proceed to make myself as snug as may be within the waggon, which is not saying much, for the tent leaks abominably. but life in the veldt accustoms one to such little inconveniences, and soon, although the night is yet young--has hardly begun, in fact--i find myself nodding, and becoming rapidly and blissfully oblivious to cold splashes dropping incontinently from new and unexpected quarters. the oxen are not yet made fast to the disselboom for the night, and one of my natives is away to collect them. the others, rolled in their blankets beneath the waggon, are becoming more and more drowsy in the hum of their conversation. suddenly this becomes wide-awake and alert. they are sitting up, and are, i gather from their remarks, listening to the approach of something or somebody. who--what is it? there are no wild animals to reckon with in that part of the country, save for a stray leopard or so, and zulus have a wholesome shrinking from moving abroad at night, let alone on such a night as this. yet on peering forth, a few seconds reveal the approach of somebody. a tall form starts out of the darkness and the long wet grass, and from it the deep bass tones of the familiar zulu greeting: "nkose!" stay! can it be? i ought indeed to know that voice; yet what does its owner here thus and at such an hour? this last, however, is its said owner's business exclusively. "greeting, untuswa! welcome, old friend," i answered. "here is no fire to sit by, but the inside of the waggon is fairly dry; at any rate not so wet as outside. and there is a dry blanket or two and a measure of strong _tywala_ to restore warmth, likewise snuff in abundance. so climb up here, winner of the king's assegai, holder of the white shield, and make thyself snug, for the night is vile." now, as this fine old warrior was in the act of climbing up into the waggon, there came a sound of trampling and the clash of horns, causing him to turn his head. the waggon leader, having collected the span, was bringing it in to attach to the yokes for the night, for it promised soon to be pitch dark, and now the heads of the oxen looked spectral in the mist. one especially, a great black one, with wide branching horns rising above the fast gathering sea of vapour, seemed to float upon the latter--a vast head without a trunk. the sight drew from untuswa a shake of the head and a few quick muttered words of wonderment. that was all then, but when snug out of the drizzling rain, warmed by a measure of whisky, and squatting happy and comfortable in a dry blanket, snuff-box in hand, he began a story, and i--well, i thought i was in luck's way, for a wet and cheerless and lonely evening stood to lose all its depression and discomfort if spent in listening to one of old untuswa's stories. chapter one. the tale of the red death. there was that about the look of your oxen just now, _nkose_--shadowed like black ghosts against the mist--that brought back to my old mind a strange and wonderful time. and the night is yet young. nor will that tale take very long in telling, unless--ah, that tale is but the door opening into a still greater one; but of that we shall see--yes, we shall see. i have already unfolded to you, _nkose_, all that befell at the place of the three rifts, and how at that place we met in fierce battle and rolled back the might of dingane and thus saved the amandebeli as a nation. also have i told the tale of how i gained the white shield by saving the life of a king, and how it in turn saved the life of a nation. further have i told how i took for principal wife lalusini, the sorceress, in whose veins ran the full blood of the house of senzangakona, the royal house of zululand, and whom i had first found making strange and powerful _muti_ among the bakoni, that disobedient people whom we stamped flat. for long after these events there was peace in our land. the arm of dingane was stretched out against us no more, and umzilikazi, our king, who had meditated moving farther northward, had decided to sit still in the great kraal, kwa'zingwenya, yet a little longer. but though we had peace from our more powerful enemies, the king would not suffer the might of our nation to grow soft and weak for lack of practice in the arts of war--oh, no. the enrolling of warriors was kept up with unabated vigour, and the young men thus armed were despatched at once to try their strength upon tribes within striking distance, and even far beyond the limits of the same. many of these were mountain tribes, small in numbers, but brave and fierce, and gave our fiery youths just as much fighting as they could manage ere wetting their victorious spears in blood. now, although we had peace from our more formidable foes, yet the mind of the king seemed not much easier on that account, for all fears as to disturbance from without being removed, it seemed that umzilikazi was not wholly free from dread of conspiracy within. and, indeed, i have observed that it is ever so, _nkose_. when the greater troubles which beset a man, and which he did not create, beset him no longer, does he not at once look around to see what troubles he can create for himself? _whau_! i am old. i have seen. so it was with umzilikazi. the fear of dingane removed, the recollection of the conspiracy of tyuyumane and the others returned-- that conspiracy to hand over our new nation to the invading amabuna-- that conspiracy which so nearly succeeded, and, indeed, would have completely, but for the watchfulness and craft of the old mosutu witch doctor. wherefore, with this suspicion ever in the king's mind we, _izinduna_, seemed to have fallen upon uneasy times. yet the principal object of dislike and distrust to the great great one was not, in the first place, one of ourselves. no councillor or fighting man was it, but a woman--and that woman lalusini, my principal wife. "ha, untuswa!" would the king say, talking dark, but his tone full of gloomy meaning. "ha, untuswa, but thine _amahlose_ [tutelary spirits] watch over thee well. tell me, now, where is there a man the might of whose spear and the terror of whose name sweeps the world--whose slumbers are lulled by the magic of the mighty, and who is greater even than kings? tell me, untuswa, where is such a man?" "i think such is to be found not far hence, great great one. even in this house," i answered easily, yet with a sinking fear of evil at heart, for his words were plain in their meaning; my successes in war surpassed by none; my beautiful wife, the great sorceress of the bakoni, the wandering daughter of tshaka the terrible. and his tone--ah, that, too, spoke. "even in this house! _yeh bo_! untuswa--thou sayest well," went on the king softly, his head on one side, and peering at me with an expression that boded no good. "even in this house! ha! name him, untuswa. name him." "who am i that i should sport with the majesty of the king's name?" i answered. "is not the son of matyobane--the founder of mighty nations-- the elephant of the amandebeli--such a man? doth not his spear rule the world, and the terror of his name--_au_!--who would hear it and laugh? and is not the bearer of that name greater than other kings--greater even than the mighty one of the root of senzangakona--whose might has fled before the brightness of the great king's head-ring? and again, who sleeps within the shadow of powerful and propitious magic but the father and founder of this great nation?" "very good, untuswa. very good. yet it may be that the man of whom i was speaking is no king at all--great, but no king." "no king at all! _hau_! i know not such a man, father of the world," i answered readily. "there is but one who is great, and that _is_ the king. all others are small--small indeed." i know not how much further this talk would have gone, _nkose_; and indeed of it i, for my part, was beginning to have more than enough. for, ever now, when umzilikazi summoned me to talk over matters of state, would he soon lead the conversation into such channels; and, indeed, i saw traps and pitfalls beneath every word. but now the voice of an _inceku_--or household attendant--was heard without singing the words of _sibonga_, and by the way in which he praised we knew he desired to announce news of importance. at a sign from the king i admitted the man. "there are men without, o divider of the sun," he began--when he had made prostration--"men from the kraals of maqandi-ka-mahlu, who beg the protection of the king's wise ones. the red magic has been among them again." "ha! the red magic!" said umzilikazi, with a frown. "it seems i have heard enough of such childish tales. yet, let the dogs enter and whine out their own story." through the door of the royal dwelling, creeping on hands and knees, came two men. they were not of our blood, but of a number whom the king had spared, with their wives and children, and had located in a region some three days to the northward as far as a swift walker could travel. it was a wild and mountainous land--a land of black cliffs and thunderous waterfalls--cold, and sunless, and frowning--a meet abode of ghosts and all evil things. here they had been located, and, being skilled in ironwork, were employed in forging spear-heads and axes for our nation. they were in charge of maqandi-ka-mahlu--a man of our race, and a chief--and who, having been "smelt out" by our witch doctors, the king had spared--yet had banished in disgrace to rule over these iron-workers in the region of ghosts and of gloom. their tale now was this: the stuff which they dug from the bowels of the earth to make the metal for our spears and axes was mostly procured in a long, deep, gloomy valley, running right up into the heart of the mountains. here they bored holes and caves for digging the stuff. but, for some time past, they had not been able to go there--for the place had become a haunt of _tagati_. a terrible ghost had taken up its abode in the caves, and did a man wander but the shortest space of time from his fellows, that man was never again seen. he was seen, though, but not alive. his body was found weltering in blood, and ripped, not as with a spear, but as though by the horn of a fierce and furious bull. this had befallen several times, and had duly been reported to the king--who would know everything--but umzilikazi only laughed, saying that he cared nothing that the spirits of evil chose to devour, from time to time, such miserable prey as these slaves. there were plenty more of them, and if the wizard animals, who dwelt in the mountains, wanted to slay such, why, let them. but now, the tale which these men told was serious. they could no more go to that place for the terror which haunted it. they had tried keeping together, so that none might fall a prey to the evil monster-- and, for some while, none had. but there came a day when travelling thus, in a body close together, through the gloom of the forest, a sudden and frightful roaring, as of the advance of a herd of savage bulls, burst upon them. some fell, half dead with fear; others, crying out that they could see fearful shapes, with gigantic horns and flaming eyes, moving among the trees, rushed blindly in all directions. of thirty men who had entered that dreadful valley, ten only came forth, nor of these could any be persuaded to return and see what had happened to the remaining score. but the seer, gasitye, who knew no terror of things of the other world, had ventured in. twenty bodies had he seen-- lying scattered--no two together--no, not anywhere two together--and all had died the red death. "and was this by day or by night?" said the king, who had been listening with great attention to this tale. "by day, o ruler of the world. while yet the sun was straight overhead," replied the men. "well, i care not," said umzilikazi, with a sneer. "go back now and cause your seer, gasitye, to charm away that _tagati_, and that soon, lest i visit him and you with the fate of those who make witchcraft. shall we keep a dog who cannot guard our house? for to what other use can we turn such a dog? begone." there was despair upon the faces of the two messengers as the meaning of these words became plain to them--and in truth were they between two perils, even as one who travels, and, being beset by a great fire, fleeth before it, only to find himself stopped by a mighty and raging river, whose flood he cannot hope to cross. yet the man who had spoken, instead of immediate obedience, ventured further to urge his prayer with the intrepidity and hopeless courage of such despair. "who are we that we should weary the ears of the father of the great?" he went on. "yet, even a dog cannot entirely guard a house if he is but a small dog, and they who would enter are many and strong. he can but give warning of their approach--and this is what we have done. but the king's magicians are many and powerful, and ours are weak. besides, o black elephant, how shall metal be procured for the spears of the great great one's warriors, when the place where it is procured is guarded by the horns of the ghost-bulls, who slay all who go in?" now, i thought those slaves must indeed have touched the lowest depth of despair and terror, that they dared to use such speech to the king. and upon the countenance of umzilikazi came that look which was wont to mean that somebody would never behold another sun to rise. "enough!" he said, pointing at the two messengers with his short-handled spear. "return ye hence. for the rest of you--hearken now, untuswa. send one half of thy regiment of `scorpions' under an experienced captain, that they may drive the whole of the people of maqandi within this ghost-valley. then let them draw a line across the month thereof, and slay every one who shall attempt to escape. so shall the people of maqandi either slay this ghost or be slain by it. i care not which. go?" i rose to carry out the king's orders, and upon the faces of the grovelling messengers was an awful expression of set, hopeless despair. but, before i could creep through the low doorway, a sign from umzilikazi caused me to halt. at the same time, a frightful hubbub arose from without--the hubbub of a volume of deep, excited voices-- mingled with a wild bellowing, which was enough to make a man deaf. "i think these ghost-bulls are upon us, too," said the king, with an angry sneer. "look forth, untuswa, and see whether all the world has gone mad." quickly i gained the gate in the woven fence which surrounded the _isigodhlo_. from far and near people were flocking, while the great open space within the kraal was becoming more and more densely packed; and, making their way through the blackness of the crowd, which parted eagerly to give them passage, came a weird and hideous throng, decked with horrid devices of teeth and claws and the skulls of beasts, their bodies hung with clusters of bleeding entrails and all the fooleries which our _izanusi_ hang about themselves to strike terror into the fearful. these, leaping and bounding in the air, rushed forward till it seemed they were about to bear me down and pour into the _isigodhlo_ itself. but they halted--halted almost in the very gate--and redoubled their bellowings, howling about the valley of the red death and the woe which should come upon our nation. and all the people, their faces turned earthward, howled in response. looking upon this, i bethought me that there seemed truth in the king's words, and that all the world had indeed gone mad. making a sign to the _izanusi_ to desist their howlings--a sign, however, which they did not obey--i returned to the royal presence to report what i had seen. "send my guard, untuswa, to beat back this mob," said the king. "this must be looked into. as for these"--pointing to the messengers--"custody them forth, for it may be i have further use for them." quickly i went out to issue my orders, and hardly had i done so, than the king himself came forward, and making a sign to myself and two or three other _izinduna_ to attend him, sat himself down at the head of the open space. the while the roars of _bonga_ which greeted his appearance mingled with the howling of the gang of witch doctors and the shouting and blows of the royal guard, beating back the excited crowd with their sticks and shields. in very truth, _nkose_, it seemed as though the whole nation were gathered there. suddenly a silence fell upon the multitude, and even the bellowing of the _izanusi_ was stayed, as there came through the throng, creeping upon their hands and knees, nearly a score of men. their leader was a fine and well-built warrior of middle age, whom i knew as a fierce and fearless fighter, and they had returned from "eating up" the kraal of one of the subject tribes in accordance with the king's mandate. now the leader reported having carried out his orders fully. the evil-doers were destroyed, their houses burnt, and their cattle swept off as forfeit to the king. "it is well," said umzilikazi. "yet not for that ye have obeyed your orders has the whole nation gone mad." "there is more to tell, great great one," answered the warrior, upon whose countenance, and upon the countenances of his band, i could descry signs of dread. "in returning we had to pass through the land of maqandi. two of us fell to the red death." "to the red death?" repeated the king, speaking softly and pleasantly. "ha! how and where was that, hlatusa?" then the leader explained how he had allowed two of his followers to wander into the ghost valley in pursuit of a buck they had wounded. they had not returned, and when sought for had been found lying some little distance apart, each terribly ripped and covered with blood, as though they had been rolled in it. "so?" said the king, who had been listening attentively with his head on one side. "so, hlatusa? and what did you do next, hlatusa?" "this, black elephant," answered the man. "every corner of that _tagati_ place did we search, but found in it no living thing that could have done this--ghost or other. in every cave and hole we penetrated, but nothing could we find, father of the wise." "in this instance, father of the fools," sneered umzilikazi, a black and terrible look taking the place of the pleasant and smiling expression his face had hitherto worn. "yet, stay. what else did you find there? no sign, perchance?" "there was a sign, divider of the sun," replied hlatusa, who now considered himself, and they that were with him, already dead. "there was a sign. the hoof-mark as of a huge bull was imprinted in the ground beside the bodies." "and wherefore did ye not rout out that bull and return hither with his head, o useless ones?" said the king. "no bull was it, but a ghost, great great one," replied the leader. and they who had been with him murmured strongly in support of his words. "now have i heard enough," said umzilikazi. "you, hlatusa, you i send forth at the head of twenty men, and you return, having lost two--not on the spears of a fighting enemy, but in strange fashion. and no one do ye hold accountable for this, but return with a child-tale about ghosts and the hoof-mark of a ghost-bull. _hamba gahle_, hlatusa. the alligators are hungry. _take him hence_!" with these fatal words the throng of slayers sprang forward to seize him. but hlatusa waited not to be seized. rising, he saluted the king; then turning, he stalked solemnly and with dignity to his doom--down through the serried ranks of the people, down through the further gate of the kraal, away over the plain, keeping but two paces in front of his guards. a dead silence fell upon all, and every face was turned his way. we saw him stand for a moment on the brow of the cliff which overhung the pool of the alligators, wherein evil-doers were cast. then we saw him leap; and in the dead silence it seemed we could hear the splash--the snapping of jaws and the rush through the water of those horrible monsters, now ever ravening for the flesh of men. chapter two. "behold the sign!" the silence was broken by a long, muttering roll of thunder. masses of dark cloud were lying low down on the further sky, but overhead the sun darted his beams upon us in all the brightness of his mid-day fierceness, causing the great white shield held above the king to shine like polished metal. to many of us it seemed that the thunder-voice, coming as it did, was an omen. the wizard spell of the red death seemed to lie heavy upon us; and now that two of ourselves had fallen to its unseen terror, men feared, wondering lest it should stalk through the land, laying low the very pick and flower of the nation. murmurs--deep, threatening, ominous--rose among the dense masses of the crowd. the king had decreed one victim, the people demanded another; for such was the shape which now those murmurs took. umzilikazi sat in gloomy silence. he liked not the sacrifice of good and brave fighting men, and the thing that had happened had thrown him into a dark mood indeed. not until the murmurs became loud and deafening did he seem to notice them. then the _izanusi_, deeming that their moment had come, took up the tale. shaking their hideous ornaments and trappings, they came howling before the king; calling out that such dark witchcraft was within the nation as could not fail to destroy it. but upon these the great great one gazed with moody eyes, giving no sign of having heard them; and i, watching, wondered, for i knew not what was going to follow. suddenly the king looked up. "enough of your bellowings, ye snakes, ye wizard cheats!" he thundered. "i have a mind to send ye all into this ghost valley, to slay the thing or be slain by it. say; why are ye not ridding me of this evil thing which has crept into the nation?" "that is to be done, ruler of the world!" cried the chief of the _izanusi_. "that is to be done; but the evil-doer is great--great!" "the evil-doer is great--great!" howled the others, in response. "find him, then, jackals, impostors!" roared the king. "_whau_! since old masuka passed into the spirit-land never an _izanusi_ have we known. only a crowd of bellowing jackal-faced impostors." for, _nkose_, old masuka was dead. he had died at a great age, and had been buried with sacrifices of cattle as though one of our greatest chiefs. in him, too, i had lost a friend, but of that have i more to tell. now some of the _izanusi_ dived in among the crowd and returned dragging along several men. these crawled up until near the king, and lay trembling, their eyes starting from their heads with fear. and now, for the first time, a strange and boding feeling came over me, as i recognised in these some of the bakoni, who had been at a distance when we stamped flat that disobedient race, and had since been spared and allowed to live among us as servants. "well, dogs! what have ye to say?" quoth the king. "speak, and that quickly, for my patience today is short." _whau! nkose_! they did speak, indeed, those dogs. they told how the red death was no new thing--at least to them--for periodically it was wont to make its appearance among the bakoni. when it did so, it presaged the succession of a new chief; indeed, just such a manifestation had preluded the accession to the supreme chieftainship of tauane, whom we had burned amid the ashes of his own town. the red death was among the darker mysteries of the bakoni _muti_. not all at once did this tale come out, _nkose_, but bit by bit, and then only when the great great one had threatened them with the alligators--even the stake of impalement--if they kept back aught. and i--i listening--_hau_! my blood seemed first to freeze, then to boil within me, as i saw through the ending of that tale. the darker mysteries of the bakoni _muti_!--preluding the accession of a new king? the countenance of the great great one grew black as night. "it is enough," he said. "here among us, at any rate, is one to whom such mysteries are not unknown. the queen of the bakoni _muti_--who shall explain them better than she?" the words, taken up by the _izanusi_ and bellowed aloud, soon went rolling in chorus among the densely-packed multitude, and from every mouth went up shouts for lalusini--the queen of the bakoni _muti_. then, _nkose_, the whole plot burst in upon my mind. our witch doctors had always hated my _inkosikazi_, because she was greater than they; even as they had always hated me, because i had old masuka on my side, and was high in the king's favour, and therefore cared nothing about them, never making them gifts. now their chance had come, since old masuka was dead and could befriend me no more, and my favour in the king's sight was waning. moreover, they had long suspected that of lalusini the great great one would fain be rid; yet not against her had they dared to venture upon the "smelling out" in the usual way, lest she proved too clever for them; for the chief of the _izanusi_ had a lively recollection of the fate of notalwa and isilwana, his predecessors. wherefore they had carefully and craftily laid their plot, using for the purpose the meanest of the conquered peoples whose very existence we had by that time forgotten. now the shouts for lalusini were deafening, and should have reached my kraal, which, from where i sat, i could just see away against the hillside. but the shouters had not long to shout, for again a way was opened up, and through it there advanced she whom they sought. no dread or misgiving was on the face of my beautiful wife, as she advanced with a step majestic and stately as became her royal blood. she drew near to the king, then halted, and, with hand upraised, uttered the "_bayete_" for no prostration or humbler mode of address was umzilikazi wont to exact from her, the daughter of tshaka the terrible, by reason of her mighty birth. thus she stood before the king, her head slightly thrown back, a smile of entire fearlessness shining from her large and lustrous eyes. "greeting, daughter of the great," said umzilikazi, speaking softly. "hear you what these say?" "i have heard them, son of matyobane," she answered. "ha! yet they spoke low, and thou wert yet afar off," went on the king craftily. "what is that to me, founder of a new nation? did i not hear the quiver of the spear-hafts of mhlangana's host long before it reached the place of the three rifts?" "the place of the three rifts," growled the king. "_hau_! it seems to me we have heard overmuch of that tale. here, however, is a new tale, not an old one. what of the red death? do these dogs lie?" pointing to the grovelling bakoni. lalusini glanced at them for a moment--the deepest scorn and disgust upon her royal features--the disgust felt by a real magician for those who would betray the mysteries of their nation's magic, and i, gazing, felt i would rather encounter the most deadly frown that ever rested on the face of the king himself than meet such a look upon that of my _inkosikazi_, if directed against myself. "they lie, great great one," she answered shortly. then the king turned such a deadly look upon the crouching slaves that these cried aloud in their fear. they vociferated that they were telling the truth, and more--that they themselves had witnessed the operations of the red death among their own people; that lalusini herself and her mother, laliwa, had actually brought about the destruction of tauane's predecessor by its means, and that that of tauane himself had been decreed--that it always meant the accession of a new ruler. now i, sitting near umzilikazi, knew well what was passing in his mind. as he grew older he had become more and more sour and suspicious. now he was thinking that he himself was destined to die in blood, even as that great one, tshaka, had died, that i, his second fighting induna, his favourite war-councillor, should succeed him, and so win back not only the seat of matyobane, but the throne of senzangakona for this sorceress--this splendid daughter of tshaka the terrible. so, too, would the death of tshaka be avenged. and in umzilikazi's look i could read my own doom, and yet, _nkose_, even at that moment not of myself did i think. i had only eyes for the tall, shapely form of my beautiful wife thus put upon her trial before the king and the whole nation. then umzilikazi spoke. "it seems we have spared too many slaves of this race of _abatagati_. take these hence," pointing to the grovelling bakoni. "the alligators are hungry." there was a roar of delight from all who heard. the slayers flung themselves upon the shrieking slaves, dragging them away by the heels as they rolled upon the ground imploring mercy, for they were too sick with terror to stand upon their legs. shouts of hate and wrath followed them as they were hurried away to the pool of death. indeed, such a rain of blows and kicks fell upon them from those through whose midst they were dragged that it seemed doubtful whether most of them would ever reach the alligators alive. for, _nkose_, although in dead silence and pitied by all, hlatusa had gone through these same people to his doom, he was one of ourselves, and a brave fighter; but these were of an inferior and conquered race, and withal miserable cowards, wherefore our people could not restrain their hatred and contempt. "hold!" roared the king, before the slayers had quite dragged these dogs outside the kraal, and at his voice again silence fell upon the throng. "hold! after feeding upon the flesh of a brave man i will not that my alligators be poisoned with such carrion as this. there may yet be more royal meat for them," he put in, in a lower tone, and with a savage and deadly sneer. then, raising his voice, "let these dogs be taken up to yonder hill and burnt." a roar of delight broke from all, mingled with shouts of _bonga_ as to the king's justice and wisdom. and none were more pleased, i thought, than the slayers, men of fierce and savage mind, who, from constantly meting out torture and death, loved their occupation the more the farther they pursued it. for awhile there was silence. away upon a round-topped hillock, within sight of all, the slayers were collecting great piles of dry wood, and upon these the condemned slaves were flung, bound. then amid the fierce roar and crackle of the flames wild tortured shrieks burst from those who writhed there and burned, and to the people the shrieks were the pleasantest of sounds, for the terror of the red death had strangely fastened upon all minds, and they could not but hold that these who thus died had in some way brought the curse of it upon them. again upon the stillness arose a long roll of thunder--this time loud and near, for the great cloud which had been lying low down upon the further sky was now towering huge and black, almost above the very spot where burned those wretches, and the pointed flash which followed seemed to dart in and out of the smoke which rose from the crackling wood pile. the multitude, watching, began to murmur about an omen. "talk we now of this thing of evil," said umzilikazi, at last. "thou, lalusini, art a pestilent witch. for long hast thou been among us. for long has thy greatness been honoured, thou false prophetess, whose promise is as far from fulfilment as ever. now thou shalt travel the way of those whose predictions are false." black and bitter wrath was in the king's mind. hardly could he contain himself, hardly could he speak for rage. he must stop perforce, half choking for breath. and i, _nkose_, i sitting there, how did i contain myself, as i was obliged to behold my beautiful wife--whom i loved with a love far surpassing that which i felt for king and nation, or my own life a hundred times over--standing thus awaiting the word which should adjudge her to a shameful and agonising death! _hau_! i am an old man now--a very old man--still can i see it before me; the huge kraal like a full moon, the yellow domes of the huts within the ring fences, the great open space in the middle black with listening people, bright with distended eyeballs, and gleaming teeth showing white between parted lips, and away beyond this the heavy smoke-wreath mounting from the glowing wood-pile, the cries and groans of the expiring slaves, the blackness of the thunder cloud, the fierce pale glare of the sun upon the assegais of the armed guard, and upon the blaze of white of the great shield held above the king. _yeh-bo_--i see it all--the angry infuriated countenance of umzilikazi, the dread anxiety on the faces of the other _izinduna_, which was as the shrinking before a great and terrible storm about to burst. _haul_ and i see more. i see, as i saw it then, the face of my beautiful wife, lalusini, daughter of the mighty--as she stood there before the great one, in whose hand was death--proud, fearless, and queenly. and she was awaiting her doom. now she threw back her head, and in her eyes shone the light which must oft-times have shone in the eyes of that mighty one from whom she had sprung. then she spoke: "in the hand of the king is death, and even the greatest of those who practise sorcery cannot withstand such--at least not always. but know this, son of matyo-bane, with my death shall utterly perish all hope of the seat of senzangakona to thee and thine. further, know that, without my help, the very house of matyobane shall in two generations be rooted up and utterly destroyed, scattered to the winds, and the people of the amandebeli shall become even as amaholi to those who are stronger." those who heard these words murmured in awe, for over lalusini's face had come that inspired look which it wore when the spirit of divination was on her. but the king was beside himself with fury, and his features were working as those of a man who has gone mad. "so!" he hissed. "so! and i sit in my seat only by permission of a witch--by permission of one who is greater than i! so i am no longer a king!" he mocked. "yet two bulls cannot rule in one kraal. so, sister, thou shalt have a high throne to rule this nation from--as high a throne as had the traitor tyuyumane before thee." then raising his voice--for they had hitherto talked in a tone low enough to be heard only by the king and the few who sat in attendance round him--"make ready the stake--the stake of impalement--for the _inkosikazi_ of untuswa. make ready a high throne for the queen of the bakoni _muti_." _whau, nkose_! i had fought at the side of umzilikazi ever since i could fight. i had stood beside him when, single-handed, we hunted fierce and dangerous game. i had stood beside him in every peril, open or secret, that could beset the path of the founder of a great and warrior nation, who must ever rule that nation with a strong and iron hand. in short, there was no peril to which the king had been exposed that i had not shared, and yet, _nkose_, i who sat there among the _izinduna_, unarmed and listening, knew that never, since the day of his birth, had he gone in such peril of instant death as at that moment when he sat there, his own broad spear in his right hand, and guarded by the shields and gleaming assegais of his body-guard--pronouncing the words which should consign my _inkosikazi_ to a death of shame and of frightful agony. for the spell of lalusini's witchcraft lay potent and sweet upon my soul--and i was mad--yet not so mad but that as i sat there unarmed, i could measure the few paces that intervened between myself and the great great one--_could mark how carelessly he held the broad-bladed spear within his grasp_. even the slayers--for not all had gone forth to the burning of the bakoni--even the slayers stared as though half stupefied, hesitating to lay hands upon that queenly form, standing there erect and unutterably majestic. upon us the spell of the moment was complete. we leaned forward as we sat, we _izinduna_, and for the rest of us it was as though stone figures sat there watching, not living men of flesh and bones. for myself, i know not how i looked. but how i felt--ah! it was well my thoughts were buried. the armed guards, too, seemed bewildered with awe and amazement. the moment had come. the red death had indeed presaged the accession of a new king--but for the daughter of tshaka the mighty, the swift and merciful stroke of a royal spear should end her life, instead of the stake of agony and shame. for myself i cared not. i was mad. the whole world was whizzing round. through it all i heard the voice of lalusini. "pause a moment, ruler of the great," she was saying, and her voice was firm and sweet and musical as ever, and utterly without fear. "pause a moment for a sign." she had half turned, and with one hand was pointing towards the ascending smoke-cloud towering above the hill of death. a sharp, crashing peal of thunder shook the world, and the lightning-gleam seemed to flash down right upon the smouldering pile. a silence was upon all as, with upturned faces, king, _izinduna_, guards, slayers, the whole multitude sat motionless, waiting for what should next befall. not long had we to wait. lalusini stood, her eyes turned skyward, her hand outstretched, her lips moving. to many minds there came the recollection of her as she had thus stood, long ago, singing the song of the shield--that glorious war-song which had inspired each of our warriors with the daring of ten, which had saved the day to us at the place of the three rifts. then there came such a deafening crash that the very earth rocked and reeled; and from the rent thunder cloud a jagged stream of fire poured itself down upon the remainder of the burning wood, scattering logs, sparks, cinders, and the bones of the tortured slaves, whirling them in a mighty shower far and wide over the plain. those of the slayers who still lingered around the spot lay as dead men. "behold the sign, o son of matyobane!" cried lalusini, in clear, ringing tones, turning again to the king. "yonder are the dogs who lied against me. the heavens above would not suffer their very bones to rest, but have scattered them far and wide over the face of the world. no others have met with harm." now all began to cry aloud that indeed it was so; and from the multitude a great murmur of wonderment went up. for then those of our men who had been struck down were seen to rise and walk slowly down towards the kraal--stupified, but alive and unharmed. then i, who could no longer sit still, came before the king. "a boon, great great one," i cried. "suffer me to go and root out this mystery of the red death, and slay for ever this evil thing that causeth it; i alone. so shall it trouble the land no more." a hum of applause rose from among my fellow _izinduna_, who joined with me in praying that my undertaking be allowed. "ever fearless, untuswa," said the king, half sneering; yet i could see that the wrathful mood was fast leaving him. "yet thou art half a magician thyself, and this thing seems a thing of fearful and evil witchcraft. but hear me. thou shalt proceed to the valley of the red death, but with no armed force; and before this moon is full thou shalt slay this horror, that its evil deeds may be wrought no more. if success is thine, it shall be well with thee and thine; if failure, thou and thy house shall become food for the alligators; and as for thine _inkosikazi_, the stake which she has for the time being escaped shall still await her. i have said it, and my word stands. now let the people go home." with these words umzilikazi rose and retired within the _isigodhlo_, and, as the rain began to fall in cold torrents, in a very short time the open space was clear, all men creeping within the huts to take shelter and to talk over the marvel that had befallen. but while only the _izanusi_ retired growling with discontent, all men rejoiced that lalusini had so narrowly escaped what had seemed a certain doom. such doom, too, _nkose_, had the king himself narrowly escaped; but that all men did not know, it being, indeed, only known to me. chapter three. an ominous parting. you will see, _nkose_, that my times now were stormy and troublesome, and indeed i have ever observed that as it is with nations and people so it is with individuals. there comes a time when all is fair--all is power and strength and richness--then comes a decline, and neither nation nor individual is as before. such a time had come upon myself. after the battle of the three rifts, when we had rolled back the might of dingane--a matter, indeed, wherein i had fully borne my part--there had followed a time of great honour and of rest. i was, next to the king, the greatest man in the nation, for kalipe, the chief fighting induna, was getting on in age, and would fain have seen me in his place, having no jealousy of me. i had taken to wife the beautiful sorceress whose love i had longed to possess; moreover, the king had rid me of nangeza, whose tongue and temper had become too pestilent for any man to bear aught of. my cattle had increased, and spread over the land, and they who owned me as chief were many, and comprised some of the best born and of the finest fighting men in the nation. yet this was not to last, and as age and security increased for umzilikazi, his distrust of me gained too, and now i knew he would almost gladly be rid of me, and quite gladly of lalusini, my principal wife. yes. to this had things come. i, untuswa, the second in command of the king's troops, who had largely borne part in the saving of our nation, who had even been hailed as king by the flower of the zulu fighting indunas, had now to set out upon a ghost hunt, and, in the event of failure, the penalty hanging over me was such as might have fallen upon a miserable cheat of an _izanusi_. thus pondering i took my way back to my principal kraal, followed by lalusini and others of my wives and followers who had separated from the throng and joined themselves on to me when the order was given to disperse. arrived there, i entered my hut, accompanied by lalusini alone. then i sat down and took snuff gloomily and in silence. this was broken by lalusini. "wherefore this heaviness, holder of the white shield?" she said. "do you forget that you have a sorceress for _inkosikazi_?" for a while i made no reply, but stood gazing at her with a glance full of admiration and love. for, standing there, tall and beautiful and shapely, it seemed to me that lalusini looked just as when i first beheld her in the rock cave high up on the mountain of death. time had gone by since i had taken her to wife, yet she seemed not to grow old as other women do. my two former wives, fumana and nxope, were no longer young and pleasing, but lalusini seemed ever the same. was it her magic that so kept her? she had borne me no children, but of this i was rather glad than otherwise, for we loved each other greatly, and i desired that none should come between to turn her love away from me, as children would surely do. for my other wives it mattered nothing, but with lalusini it was different. i loved her, _nkose_, as some of you white people love your women. _whau_! do you not allow your women to walk side by side with you instead of behind? this i have seen in my old age. and those among us who have been at tegwini [durban] tell strange tales of white men who go out with their women, that they might load themselves with all the little things their women had bought from the traders. few of us could believe that, _nkose_--the tale is too strange; and yet it was somewhat after this manner that i loved lalusini--i, the second induna of the king's warriors, i, who since i was but a boy had slain with my own hand more of the king's enemies than i could count. i, moreover, who had known what the ingratitude and malice of women could do, in the person of my first wife, nangeza, for whom i had sacrificed my fidelity to the king and the nation--even my life itself. but with lalusini, ah! it was very different. no evil or sullen mood was ever upon her; nor did she ever by look or word give me to understand that a daughter of the house of senzangakona, the royal house of zululand, might perchance be greater than even the second induna of a revolted and fugitive tribe, now grown into a nation. even her counsels, which were weighty and wise, she would put forward as though she had not caused me to win the white shield--had not saved our nation at the place of the three rifts. "it seems to me, lalusini," i said at last, "it seems to me that in this nation there is no longer any room for us two. i have served umzilikazi faithfully and well. i have more than once snatched back the life of the king, when it was tottering on the very brink of the dark unknown, but kings are ever ungrateful; and now i and my house are promised the death of the traitor. the destruction of the red terror, which is my ordeal, is no real trial at all--it is but a trick. the king would be rid of us, and, whether i succeed or whether i fail, the dark unknown is to be our portion." lalusini bent her head with a murmur of assent, but made no remark. "and now i am weary of this ingratitude," i went on, sinking my voice to a whisper, but speaking in a tone of fierce and gloomy determination. "what has been done before can be done again. i have struck down more of the enemies of our nation than the king himself. one royal spear-- one white shield is as good to sit under as another; and--it is time our new nation sat down under its _second_ king." "great dreams, untuswa," said lalusini, with a smile that had something of sadness in it. "great acts shouldst thou say rather, for i am no dreamer of dreams," i answered bitterly. "ha! do i not lead the whole nation in war? for, of late, kalipe is old, and stiff in the limbs. one swift stroke of this broad spear, and the nation will be crying `_bayete_' to him who is its leader in war. ah! ah! what has happened before can happen again." but here i stopped, for i was referring darkly to the death of that great great one, the mighty tshaka, from whose loins my _inkosikazi_ had sprung. yet no anger did she show. "so shall we be great together at last, lalusini, and my might in war, and thy _muti_ combined, shall indeed rule the world," i went on. "ha! i will make believe to go on this _tagati_ business, but to-night i will return in the darkness, and to-morrow--_whau_!--it may indeed be that the appearance of the red death has presaged the accession of a new king--even as those dogs, who were burnt to-day, did declare. how now for that, lalusini?" "the throne of dingiswayo is older than that of senzangakona, and both are older than that of matyobane," she answered. "yet i know not--my _muti_ tells me that the time is not yet. still, it will come--it will come." "it will come--yes, it will come--when we two have long since been food for the alligators," i answered impatiently. "the king's word is that i slay this horror--this _tagati_ thing--by the foil of the moon. what if i fail, lalusini?" "fail? fail? does he who rolled back the might of the twin stars of zulu talk about failure? now, nay, untuswa--now, nay," she answered, with that strange and wonderful smile of hers. "i know not. now cast me `the bones,' lalusini, that i may know what success, if any, lieth before me against the red terror." "the bones? ha! such methods are too childish for such as i, untuswa," she answered lightly. "yet--wait--" she ceased to speak and her face clouded, even as i had seen it when she was about to fall into one of her divining trances. anxiously i watched her. her lips moved, but in silence. her eyes seemed to look through me, into nowhere. then i saw she was holding out something in her hand. bending over i gazed. she had held nothing when we sat down nor was there any place of concealment whence she could have produced anything. but that which lay in her hand was a flat bag, made of the dressed skin of an impala. then she spoke--and her voice was as the voice of one who talks in a dream. "see thou part not from this, untuswa. yet seek not to look within-- until such time as thy wit and the wit of others fail thee--or the _muti_ will be of no avail--nay more, will be harmful. but in extremity make use of what is herein--in extremity only--when at thy wit's end." still held by her eyes, i reached forth my hand and took the _muti_ bag, securing it round my neck by a stout leather thong which formed part of the hide from whence the bag had been cut. as i did so, lalusini murmured of strange things--of ghost caves, and of whole impis devoured in alligator-haunted swamps--and of a wilder, weirder mystery still, which was beyond my poor powers of understanding--i being but a fighter and no _izanusi_ at all. then her eyes grew calm, and with a sigh as of relief she was herself again. now i tried to go behind what she had been saying, but it was useless. she had returned from the spirit world, and being once more in this, knew not what she had seen or said while in the other. even the _muti_ pouch, now fastened to my neck, she glanced upon as though she had never seen it before. "go now, untuswa," she said. we embraced each other with great affection, and lalusini with her own hands armed me with my weapons--the white shield, and the great dark-handled assegai which was the former gift of the king, also my heavy knobkerrie of rhinoceros horn, and three or four light casting spears--but no feather crest or other war adornments did i put on. then i stepped forth. no armed escort was to accompany me, for i must do this thing alone. but i had chosen one slave to bear such few things as i should require. him i found awaiting me at the gate of the kraal. it was evening when i stepped forth--evening, the busiest and cheeriest time of the day--yet my kraal was silent and mournful as though expecting every moment the messengers of death. the cattle within their enclosure stood around, lowing impatiently, for the milking was neglected; and men, young and old, sat in gloomy groups, and no women were to be seen. these murmured a subdued farewell, for not only was i, their chief and father, about to sally forth upon an errand of horror and of gloom, but in the event of failure on my part, who should stand between them and the king's word of doom? through these i strode with head erect as though proceeding to certain success--to a sure triumph. when without the gate i turned for a moment to look back. the rim of the sinking sun had just kissed the tips of the forest trees on the far sky-line, and his rays, like darts of fire, struck full upon my largest hut, which was right opposite the great gate of the kraal. and there against the reed palisade in front of the door stood lalusini, who had come to see the last of me, ere i disappeared into gloom and distance. _au_! i can see her now, my beautiful wife, as she stood there, her tall and splendid form robed as it were in waving flames of fire, where the last glory of the dying sun fell full upon her. and through the dazzle of this darting light, her gaze was fixed upon me, firm and unflinching. yes, i can see her now as i saw her then, and at times in my dreams, _nkose_, old man as i am, my heart feels sore and heavy and broken as it did then. for as i returned her parting gesture of farewell, and plunged into the forest shades, at that moment a voice seemed to cry in my ears that i should behold her no more. in truth was i bewitched. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "will you not rest a while, lord, and suffer me to prepare food, for we have travelled fast and far?" the voice was that of my attendant slave, and it struck upon my ears as a voice from the spirit world, so wrapped up was i in the gloom of my own thoughts. now i glanced at the sky and judged the night to be more than half through. and we had marched since the setting of the sun. but the light of the half moon was sufficient for us, for the forest trees were of low stature and we were seldom in complete darkness. "rest a while? not so, jambula," i answered. "are we not on the king's errand? and from hence to the full of the moon is not far." "the forest is loud with the roarings of strange ghost-beasts, my father; and the time of night when such have most power must already be here. and we are but two," he urged, though with great deference. "and what are such to me--to me!" i answered, "i who am under the protection of great and powerful _muti_? go to, jambula. art thou turning fearful as time creeps upon thee?" "i fear nothing within touch of thy _muti_, father," he answered, liking not the question. and then, indeed, i became alive to the meaning of the man's words, for strange and fearful noises were abroad among the shadows on either hand, low sad wailings as of the ghosts of them that wander in darkness and pain, mingling with the savage howls of ramping beasts into whose grim bodies the spirits of many fighters had passed, to continue their fierce warring upon such as still trod this earth in the flesh. and over and above these came the mighty, muffled, thunderous roar of a lion. but those sounds, many and terrifying as they were, held no fears for me--indeed, they had hitherto fallen upon deaf ears--so filled was my soul with forebodings of another kind. now, however, a quick, startled murmur on the part of my follower caused me to halt. right in front i saw a huge shape--massive and shaggy--and i saw the green flash of eyes, and the baring of mighty jaws in the moonlight. then up went the vast head, and a quivering thunderous roar shook the night. then the beast crouched. it was of enormous size in the half light. was it only a lion--or a ghost-beast, which would spread and spread till its hugeness overshadowed the world? if the latter, mere weapons were powerless against it. jambula stepped to my side, every muscle of his frame tense with the excitement of the moment. his shield was thrust, forward, and his right hand gripped the haft of a broad-bladed stabbing spear. but i--no movement did i make towards using a weapon. i advanced straight upon the beast, and as i did so, some force i knew not caused my hand to rest upon the _muti_ bag which hung upon my breast. with a snarling roar the beast moved forward a little, preparing for its rush. we were but ten paces apart. then the fierce lashing of the tail ceased, the awful eyes seemed to glare with fear where rage had fired them before--the thunder of the threatening roar became as the shrill whine of a crowd of terrified women--and, backing before me as i advanced, the huge beast slunk away in the cover, and we could hear its frightened winnings growing fainter and fainter in the distance. by this, _nkose_, two things were clear--that the shape, though that of a huge and savage lion, was but a shape to give cover to something which was not of this world--and that lalusini's _muti_ was capable of accomplishing strange and wonderful results. chapter four. the abode of the terror. through the whole of the following day, and the night after, we travelled; and on the next morning, before the son had arisen, we came upon a large kraal. the land lay enshrouded in heavy mist, and the hoarse barking of many dogs sounded thick and muffled. armed men sprang to the gate to inquire our errand, but one word from my slave, jambula, caused them to give us immediate admission. this was the kraal of maqandi-ka-mahlu, the chief over the workers in iron, in whose midst the horror named the red death had broken forth. as i strode across the centre space--the domes of the encircling huts looming shadowy through the mist--maqandi himself came forth to meet me. yet although showing me this mark of deference, i liked not his manner, which was sullen, and somewhat lacking in the respect due from an inferior and disgraced chief towards one who dwelt at the right hand of the king, and who was, moreover, the second in command of the king's army. but it seemed to me that fear was in his mind, for he could not think that an induna of my rank would arrive alone, attended by one slave, and i think he expected every moment the signal which should bring my followers swarming into the kraal to put him and his to the assegai and his possessions to the flames. "what is the will of the great great one, son of ntelani?" he said, as we sat together within his hut alone. "_hau_! i am an old man now, and troubles grow thick on every side. i have no people, and am but taskmaster over a set of miserable slaves--i, who fought with the assegai and led warriors to victory at the place of the three rifts, even as you did yourself, untuswa. yes, troubles are upon me on every side, and i would fain sit down at rest within the dark unknown." i looked at maqandi, and i pitied him. he had, indeed, grown old since we had fought together in that great battle. his face was lined and his beard had grown grey; and his hair--which, being in some measure in disgrace, he had neglected to shave--seemed quite white against the blackness of his head-ring. yet with all his desire to sleep the sleep of death, there was in his eyes a look of fear; such a look as may be descried in the faces of those to whom the witch-finder's rod draws very near. yes, i pitied him. "the will of the great great one is not with thee for the present, maqandi," i said, desiring to reassure him. "now, hearken, and give me such aid as i need, and it may be that the head-ring of the son of mahlu may yet shine once more in its place among the nation." "ha! sayest thou so, holder of the white shield?" he answered quickly, a look of joy lighting up his face. "is not all i have at the disposal of the second induna of the king?" "that is rightly said, maqandi," i replied. "for never yet did i fail those who did well by me. and now we will talk." i unfolded my plan to the chief over the ironworkers, and as i did so his face grew sad and heavy again--for i could see he doubted my success in ridding the land of this terror--and then would not he, too, be sacrificed to the anger of the king? but i enjoined upon him silence and secrecy--telling him that his part lay in strictly obeying my orders and supplying my need. this, so far, lay in requiring two of the slave ironworkers to be in attendance upon me at sundown, for i intended proceeding to the valley of the red death that very night. food was brought in, and _tywala_, and we ate and drank. then i lay down and slept--slept hard and soundly throughout the heat and length of the day. when i awoke the sun was declining from his highest point in the heavens. my slave jambula was already waiting and armed before the door of my hat. beside him, too, were those i required to be in attendance. both went before me, uttering words of _bonga_. "why are these armed?" i said, noting that the two ironworkers carried spears and axes. "i need no armed force. let them leave their weapons here." a look of fear spread over the faces of both slaves at these words, and they reckoned themselves already dead men. for although weapons could be of no avail against a thing of _tagati_ and of terror, such as had already laid low so many of their number, and indeed two of our own tried warriors, in a death of blood, yet it is in the nature of man to feel more confident when his hand holds a spear. but at my word they dropped their weapons and stood helpless. now, _nkose_, not without reason did i so act. the king's word had been that i should slay this horror accompanied by no armed force, and although two such miserable fighters as this race of slaves could supply were of no more use with arms in their hands than without, yet i would not give umzilikazi any chance of saying i had not fulfilled his conditions. besides, i had a purpose to which i intended putting these two, wherein weapons would avail them nothing at all. i took leave of maqandi-ka-mahlu and set forth--i and jambula and the two workers in iron. such men of our people as i encountered saluted me in gloomy silence, and as i passed the kraals of the iron-workers the people came forth and prostrated themselves on the ground, for my importance was twofold; i represented the majesty of the king, and further, some inkling had got abroad that my errand lay to investigate, and, if possible, bring to an end the terror of the red magic. from the kraal of maqandi we could already see the great mountain range in whose heart lay the locality of this terror, and shortly, ere the last rays of the sun faded from the world, we stood before a dark and narrow defile. we had left behind the dwellings of men, though plentiful traces of their occupation would meet our eyes, being left by the iron-working parties. through this defile a thin trickle of water ran, though in times of rain and storm the place showed signs of pouring down a mighty and formidable flood. high overhead the slopes were covered with thick bush and forest trees, and above this, again, walls of red-faced rock seemed to cleave the sky. as we entered this gloomy place the terror on the faces of the slaves deepened, and even i, _nkose_, felt not so easy in my mind as i would have it appear. soon we came out into more open ground; open immediately around us, for on raising my eyes i saw that we were in a large valley, or hollow. a ring of immense cliffs shut in the place as with a wall, nor, save the way by which we had come in, could my glance, keen and searching as it was, descry any means by which a man might find a way out. the bottom of this strange valley was nearly level, and well grown with tall forest trees and undergrowth; not so thick, however, but that there were grassy open spaces, bestrewn with large rocks and boulders. but from the level floor of the hollow robe little or no slope. the great iron faces of the cliffs rose immediately, either in terraces or soaring up to a great height. such was the aspect of the valley of the red death. that it was indeed the dreaded valley, the looks on the faces of the two iron-workers were sufficient to show. but i, gazing earnestly around and noting that there was but one way in or out, reckoned that the first part of my errand would not be hard--to find the accursed thing. then a further examination of the cliffs, and i felt not so sure, for irregularly along their faces were black spots of all shapes and sizes. these were the mouths of caves. now, as we stood there, the light of day had all but faded from the world, and already one or two stars were peeping over the rim of the vast cliff-wall rearing up misty and dim to the height of the heavens. little sound of life was there, from bird, or beast, or insect; and this of itself added to the grey and ghostly chill which seemed to brood over the place; for in that country night was wont to utter with more voices than day. but the golden bow of a young moon, bright and clear, gave a sufficient light to make out anything moving, save under the black darkness of the trees. "what is thy name?" i said suddenly, turning to one of the slaves. "suru, father," he replied. "well then, suru, attend," i said. "remain here, in this open space beside this small rock, and stir not hence until i send for or call thee. to fail in thy orders in the smallest particular is death." but the man sank on the ground at my feet. "slay me now, father," he entreated, "for death by one blow of the spear of the mighty do i prefer to the awfulness and horror of the death which shall come upon me here alone." "but death by one blow of the spear shall not be thy portion, oh fool," i answered, mocking him. "ah, ah! no such easy way is thine, oh dog, oh slave. the stake of impalement shall be thy lot, oh suru. think of it, thou hast never seen it. ask jambula here how long a man may live when seated upon that sharp throne. for days and days may he beg for death, with blackened face and bursting eyeballs and lolling tongue, and every nerve and muscle cracking and writhing with the fiery torture. why surely the death which this ghost could bring upon thee here would be mercy compared with such a death as that. but i think i will leave thee no choice. bind him, jambula. even a bound sentinel is better than none, though more helpless. if suru will not keep his watch a free man he shall keep it bound. ah, ah!" that settled all his doubts. as jambula made a step towards him, suru cried out to me to pardon his first hesitation, and to allow him to obey my orders at any rate unbound. i agreed to this, for he was frightened enough, and indeed, _nkose_, as he moved away to take up the position i had assigned to him, his look was that of one who stands on the brink of the pool of the alligators with the slayers beside him. leaving suru to his solitary post, i moved back with jambula and the other slave to near the neck of the narrow passage by which we had entered the hollow, for i wanted to see whether the thing of dread came in when night fell, or whether it abode within the place itself. this we could do, for i chose a position a little way up the hillside, whence, by the light of the moon, i could command a clear space over which anything approaching from without could not but pass. so we sat beneath a cluster of rocks, and watched, and watched. night had fallen, mysterious and ghostly. the stars burned bright in the heavens, yet it seemed as though some black cloud of fear hung above, blurring their light. from the open country far beyond came the cry of hyaenas, and the sharp barking yelp of the wild hunting dog calling to its mates; but in the drear gloom of this haunted valley, no sound of bird or beast was there to break the silence. so the night watches rolled on. i know not whether i slept, _nkose_; it may be that i partly did; but there came a feeling over me as of the weight of some great terror, and indeed it seemed to hold me as though i could not move. was it an evil dream? scarcely, for, as with a mighty effort, i partly threw off the spell, my glance fell upon the face of jambula. he was gazing upward--gazing behind him--gazing behind him and me. his jaw had fallen as that of a man not long dead, and his eyeballs seemed bursting from their sockets, and upon his face was the same awful look of fear as that worn by the slave, suru, when left to his solitary watch. i followed his glance, and then i too felt the blood run chill within me. rising above the rocks, at the foot of which we sat, a pair of great branching horns stood forth black against the sky. slowly, slowly, the head followed, till a pair of flaming eyes shone beneath, seeming to burn us as we crouched there. but the size of it! _whau_! no animal that ever lived--even the largest bull in the king's herd--ever attained to half the size. thoughts of the _tagati_ terror rushed through my mind. should i creep round the rocks and slay the monster, while its attention was taken up watching my slaves? would it indeed fall to mortal weapon? and at that moment, i, the fearless, the foremost in the fiercest battle, the second commander of the king's armies, felt my heart as water within me. but before i could decide on any plan the thing vanished--vanished as i gazed. it was coming round the rocks, of course. in a moment we should receive its onslaught, and three more would be added to the number of the victims of the red death. but--after? i thought of my beautiful wife, writhing her life out upon the stake of agony. i thought of my kinsmen and followers given over to the death of the alligators, and in a moment my heart grew strong again. i felt nerved with the strength of ten men. let the thing come; and gripping my broad assegai, the royal spear, and my great white shield, the royal gift, i stood above the two scared and cowering slaves, ready to give battle to this terror from the unseen world. and in the short space of silence, of waiting, it seemed that i lived the space of my whole life. but as i thus waited there rang forth upon the night a shrill, wild echoing yell--such a cry as might issue from the throat of one suffering such unheard of torments as the mind of man could ever invent. it pealed forth again louder, more quavering, rending the night with its indescribable notes of terror and agony--and it rose from where we had left the slave, suru, to keep his grisly watch alone in the blackness of the forest. there was silence, but immediately that was rent by another sound--a terrible sound, too--the savage growling roars as of an infuriated bull--receding further and further from the place whence the death cry had arisen, together with a crashing sound as though a great wind were rushing away further and further up the haunted valley. for long did that fearful death-yell ring in my ears, as i stood throughout the night watches, grasping my spear, every moment expecting the onslaught of the thing--for, of course, it would return, where more victims awaited. then the thought came to me that it only dared attack and slay the unarmed; that at the sight of a warrior like myself, armed and ready for battle, it had retired to vent its rage upon an easier prey; and this thought brought strength and encouragement, for i would find no great difficulty in slaying such. but with the thought came another. the two men of hlatusa's band had been slain as easily and mysteriously as the iron-working slaves--slain in broad daylight--and they were well-armed warriors, and men of tried valour. in truth, the undertaking seemed as formidable as ever. even that night came to an end, and the cheerfulness and warmth of the newly-arisen sunbeams put heart even into the two badly-frightened slaves; and, feeling strong in my presence, their fears yielded to curiosity to learn the exact fate of suru--not that any of us really doubted what that fate had been. with spear held ready, and none the less alert because it was day, and the valley was now flooded with the broad light of the sun, i quickly made my way down, followed by jambula and the other, to where i had left the slave the night before. it was as i thought. there he lay--dead; crushed and crumpled into a heap of body and limbs. he had tried to run. i could see that by the tracks, but before he had run ten steps the terrible ghost-bull had overtaken him and flung him forward. the great hole made by the entering horn gaped wide between his ribs, and, tearing forward, had half ripped him in two. the grass around was all red and wet with half-congealed blood, and in the midst, imprinted deep and clear as in the muddy earth after rain, two great hoof marks, and those of such a size as to be imprinted by no living animal. so now i had seen with my own eyes a victim of the terror of the red death, and now i myself must slay this horror. but how to slay a great and terrible ghost--a fearful thing not of this world? chapter five. gasitye the wizard. for long i stood there thinking. i looked at the ground, all red and splashed with blood. i looked at the distorted body of the dead slave and the great gaping wound which had let out the life--the sure and certain mark of the dreaded red death--always dealt as it was, in the same part of the body--and for all my thought i could think out no method of finding and slaying this evil thing. then i thought of the _muti_--the amulet which lalusini had hung around my neck. should i look within it? her words came back to me. "seek not to look within until such time as thy wit _and the wit of others_ fail thee." yet, had not that time come? i could think of no plan. the monster was not of this world. no weapon ever forged could slay it; still there must be a way. ha! "_the wit of others_!" old masuka had departed to the land of spirits himself. he might have helped me. who could those "others" be, of whom my sorceress-wife had spoken while her spirit was away among the spirits of those unseen? "remain here," i said suddenly, to jambula and the other slave. "remain here, and watch, and stir not from this spot until i return." they made no murmur against this--yet i could see they liked not the order. but i gave no thought to them as i moved forward with my eyes fixed upon the tracks of the retreating monster. the bloody imprint of the huge hoofs was plain enough, and to follow these was a work of no difficulty. soon, however, as the hoofs had become dry, it was not so easy. remembering the crashing noise i had heard as the thing rushed on its course, i examined the bushes and trees. no leaves or twigs were broken off such as could not but have happened with such a heavy body plunging through them. then the hoof-marks themselves suddenly ceased, and with that, _nkose_, the blood once more seemed to tingle within me, for if the thing had come no further was it not lying close at hand--those fiery eyes perhaps at that very moment watching me--those awful horns even now advancing silent and stealthy to rip and tear through my being? ha! it seemed to me that this hunting of a terrible ghost was a thing to turn the bravest man into a coward. then as i stood, my hearing strained to its uttermost, my hand gripping my broad spear ready at any rate to fight valiantly for life, and all that life involved, something happened which well-nigh completed the transformation into a coward of a man who had never known fear. for now a voice fell upon my ears--a voice low and quavering, yet clear--a voice with a strange and distant sound as though spoken afar off. "ho! fearless one who art now afraid! ho! valiant leader of armies! ho! mighty induna of the great king! thou art as frightened as a little child. ha, ha, ha!" this last was very nearly true, _nkose_--but hearing it said, and the hideous mocking laugh that followed, very nearly turned it into a lie. "i know not who speaks," i growled, "save that by the voice it is a very old man. were it not so he should learn what it means to name me a coward." "ha, ha, ha!" screamed the voice again. "brave words, o holder of the king's assegai. why, thy voice shakes almost as much as mine. come hither--if thou art not afraid." from where the bush grew darkest and thickest the voice seemed to come. i moved cautiously forward, prepared at every step to fall into some trap--to meet with some manifestation of abominable witchcraft. for long did i force my way through the thick growth, but cautiously ever, and at last stood once more in the open. then astonishment was my lot. right before me rose a great rock wall. i had reached the base of one of the heights which shut in the hollow. "welcome, untuswa," cackled the voice again. "art thou still afraid?" now, _nkose_, i could see nobody; but remembering the song of the shield, and how lalusini had caused it to sound forth from the cliff to hearten us during the battle--she herself being some way off--i was not so much amazed as i might have been, for the voice came right out of the cliff. "if thou art not afraid, untuswa," it went on, "advance straight, and touch the rock with thy right hand." i liked not this order, but, _nkose_, i had ever had to do with magicians, and had dipped somewhat into their art, as i have already shown. here, i thought, was more sorcery to be looked into, and how should i root out the sorcery of the red magic save by the aid of other sorcery? so i advanced boldly, yet warily. and then, indeed, amazement was my lot. for, as my right hand touched it, the hard rock moved, shivered. then a portion of this smooth, unbroken wall seemed to fall inward, leaving a black gaping hole like a doorway, through which a man might enter upright. "ho, ho! untuswa!" cackled the voice again, now from within the hole. "welcome, valiant fighter. enter. yet, wilt thou not leave thy weapons outside?" "not until i stand once more in the presence of him who sent me do i disarm, o unknown one. and now, where art thou? for i like better to talk to a man with a voice than to a voice without the man." "and how knowest thou that i am a man, o fearless one? yet, enter, weapons and all. ha! knowest thou not _this_ voice?" _whau_! it seemed to me then that my flesh crept indeed, for i did know that voice. ah, yes, well indeed; and it was the voice of one who had long since sat down in the sleep of death--the voice of old masuka, the mightiest magician our nation had ever seen. then, indeed, did i enter, for, even though dead, the voice was that of one who had done naught but well by me during life, and i feared not a change the other way now. i entered, and, as i did so, i stood in darkness once more. the rock wall had closed up behind me. now my misgivings returned, for, _nkose_, no living man, be he never so brave, can find himself suddenly entombed within the heart of the earth alone, the voice of one who has long been dead talking with him in the black, moist darkness, and not feel some alarm. again the voice spoke, and this time it was not that of masuka, but the mocking cackle which had at first startled me. "ho, ho! untuswa, the valiant, the fearless. dost thou not tremble-- thou who art even now within the portal of the great unknown? did ever peril of spear, or of the wrath of kings, make thy face cold as it now is? ha, ha!" true indeed were the words, for the position was fearful; but then so was that which had been the means of driving me into it. but i answered: "i have seen strange and mysterious and terrifying things before, my father, else would i fear greatly now. yet let us talk face to face." for a moment there was no reply, then with startling suddenness a light flashed forth. on the floor just in front of me burned a small fore-- throwing a ball of green misty light upon the tomb-like blackness. within this i could make out the figure of a man--a very old man. a man, did i say? _whau_! it was more like that of a monkey, or a great crouching spider. the limbs were thin as the shaft of a spear-- too withered and dried even to show the wrinkles of age; the face, too, was like a dry piece of skin spread over the skull; and on the head a wisp or two of white hair. if it was a man, in truth he must have lived nearly as long as the world itself. his hands, which were like the claws of a bird, were spread over the fire, which burned not upon the floor, but in a large clay bowl. into this he seemed to be sprinkling some kind of powder which caused the green flame to leap and hiss. but now another sound stopped my ears; an awesome and terrible sound--a sound full of fear and agony indescribable--for it was again the death-yell, such as i had heard in the darkness of the night when the slave, suru, looked upon the red terror and parted with life. and now it was not night, but broad, clear, golden day--outside the cavern at least--and the other slave had parted with life by the same dread means; and i--while this thing of horror was abroad--this monster i had come to slay--here was i imprisoned within the heart of the earth--held there at the will of a being who seemed less a man than the ghost of one who had died while the world was yet young. i leaped to my feet. "ha, ha, ha! sit again, induna of the king, who knows not fear," cackled the shrivelled old monkey before me. "ha, ha, ha! but now i think thou art afraid." "afraid or not, thou evil scorpion--thou creeping wizard--if i stand not in the light of day before i strike the ground with my foot three times, this spear shall see if there be any blood to run from thy dried-up old heart." and, raising the blade aloft, i struck the ground once with my foot. "ha, ha, ha!" cackled the wizard again, still scattering his magic powder into the fire. "look again, untuswa; look again." i did look again, i could not do otherwise, and then i stood as one turned into stone--with the spear still uplifted--unable to move hand or foot, as i glared in front of me. for the whole vault was filled with a vivid green flash, and in it the wizard seemed to dissolve. his shrivelled limbs seemed to turn into black, horrible snakes, which glided away hissing into the darkness beyond; then the light sank somewhat, and before me there started up faces dim and shadowy, and their aspect turned my heart into water indeed, for i was gazing upon the faces of those i knew had long been dead. dim and shadowy as they were, i knew them all, knew them at first sight. there was hlatusa, who had been sent to "feed the alligators" by reason of this very magic i was here to destroy. there was tyuyumane, who had conspired with the amabuna to overthrow our nation; and notalwa, the chief of our _izanusi_, who had aided him, both faces wreathed with hate and torture as i had last beheld them, writhing on the stake of impalement. there were many others who had died for the conspiracy of ncwelo's pool. there was the face of my brother, sekweni--he who had been slain for sleeping at his post--and that of gungana, the induna whom i myself slew, and to whose command i had succeeded. all these were glowering upon me with a very whirlwind of hate and vengeance, and i--_whau_!--i was as a man who had died ten deaths. then i saw the face of tauane, the chief of the people of the blue cattle, and--ha! what was that? the face of lalusini, beautiful, but sad and agonised? yet no. but as a flash i had seen it, and lo! it became that of nangeza, my erstwhile _inkosikazi_, even as when she had failed in her attempt upon the life of the song. and then indeed did i know what hate and vengeance could look like. for long it seemed i stood there face to face with that terrible countenance--with it alone--and my lungs now seemed to fill with choking fiery air. i beheld a vast array defiling before me--of warriors i had met in battle, of all races, but chiefly those of our parent nation. on, ever, they passed, silent grim spectres, with broad spear and tufted shield, even as in life. others followed densely in rank, company upon company. _hau_! once more the battle! i heard the clash of shields, the shiver of assegai hafts, the flash and flame as of fire weapons. i saw the red blood spout and flow; i heard the roaring of an army of warriors in the full career of their victorious charge; my ears were dulled by the screams of the vanquished, for mercy, for pity; the wild hiss and whistle of the conquerors as they stabbed and stabbed; and lo! blood swirled around my feet in rivers, and still the screaming and wailing of those beneath the spear went on. then i could no longer breathe. the earth itself seemed to be heaping on high to fall on me and crush me to dust. i sank down, as it seemed, in death. chapter six. the ghost-bull. i was not dead, _nkose_; or, indeed, how should i be here telling you my story? or, if i were--well, at any rate, the magic which had been powerful enough to draw me through the abode of those who had become ghosts was powerful enough to bring me back to life and to the world again--and yet i know not. it is a terrible thing to look upon the faces of those who have long been dead; and how shall a man--being a man--do this unless he join their number? such faces, however, had i looked upon, for, as i opened my eyes once more to the light of the sun, no dim recollection of one who has slept and dreamed was mine. no; the mysterious cave, the magic fire, the fearsome sights i had beheld--all was real--as real as the trees and rocks upon which i now looked--as real as the sky above and the sun shining from it. yes; i was in the outer air once more. i rose and stood up. my limbs were firm and strong as before, my hand still grasped the broad spear-- the white shield lay at my feet. before me was the smooth rock wall, there the exact spot where it had opened to receive me. but there it might remain, closed for ever, for all i cared. i had no wish to look further into its dark and evil mysteries. but now, again, the voice came back to my ears, faint and far away this time, but without the mocking mirth which had lured me before to what might have been my doom. "ho, untuswa!" it cried; "wouldst thou see more of the unseen? wouldst thou look further into the future?" "i think not, my father," i answered. "to those who deal in magic be the ways of magic, to warriors the ways of war--and i am a warrior." "and thine _inkosikazi_, untuswa, what of her?" "help me to slay the ghost-bull who deals forth the red death, my father!" i pleaded eagerly. there was no answer to this for long. then, weary of waiting, i was about to turn away, when once more the voice spake from within the rock--faint, as before. "great is the house of matyobane; great is the house of senzangakona; umzilikazi is ruler of the world to-day--but dingane is greater. yet to-morrow, where now are the many nations they have stamped flat there shall _they_ be. dust--all dust! gasitye sees it." "ha! and shall i see it too, my father?" "thou shalt see it, untuswa. thou, too, shalt see it." now, when i heard the name of gasitye, i knew it as the name of a great seer and prophet who dwelt alone among the mountains, and who was held in wide repute among all tribes and peoples, near and far. his own tribe nobody knew exactly, but it was supposed that his age was three times that of the oldest man known. even umzilikazi himself had more than once sent secretly to consult him, with gifts; for the rest, nobody cared to interfere with him, for even the most powerful of kings does not desire the enmity of a great and dreaded sorcerer, whose magic, moreover, is real, and not as that of the tribal _izanusi_--a cheat to encompass the death of men. and now i had encountered this world-famed wizard; had beheld him alone in the heart of the rock, whose face he had the power to open and shut at will. "help me to slay the ghost-bull, my father," i entreated again. "and when thou hast slain it--what then?" "then it shall be well with me and mine." "well with thee and thine? will it then--with thee and thine! ha, ha!" repeated the voice within the cliff, in the same tone of mockery as before. "go now and slay it, untuswa, thou valiant one. go!" i waited some little time, but no further answer could i obtain, though i spoke both loud and softly. then i turned away. as i did so a strange feeling came over me, a feeling as of the faintness caused by starvation. the fumes of the wizard fire had worn off in the clear open air, and i felt as though i could spend the rest of my life eating, so hungry was i. so, losing no time, i started back to where i had left jambula. then upon my mind came the recollection of the death-yell i had heard when within the vault. ha! i must proceed with care. i glanced upward. the sun was well up when i entered the rock; now it was at its highest overhead. i had not been as long in that vault of fear as it seemed. now there struck upon my nostrils a most horrible stench as of death and putrefaction. what did it mean? i had passed this spot this very morning and the air was pure and clear. death might have taken place-- but putrefaction?--_au_, there was not time for that. yet this was a place of witchcraft, where everything was possible. and, thus thinking, i came right upon a human body. it was in a horrible state, _nkose_, in the state of one who has been dead eight or ten days. yet here such could not have been the case, for in the swollen, half-decayed features, as well as by articles of clothing, i recognised the second of the two slaves, whom i had left alive and well that same morning, but a very few hours before. yet, there it lay, beneath a tree, with upturned face, and across the decaying ribs the rending gash left by the horn of the ghost-bull. now i heard a voice in salute, behind me--a voice i knew. looking up, i beheld my slave, jambula. he was looking strangely at me. then he broke forth into extravagant words of welcome, and it seemed to me he had been badly frightened, and was glad enough to behold me once more. that was it, of course; so giving no further thought to the matter at all, i bade him find food. he had a number of speckled pigeons, which he had knocked over with his kerries; and having kindled a fire on the flat top of a high rock for safety's sake--_whau, nkose_!--there was soon nothing left of those birds. the while jambula eyed me strangely. now this jambula--although my slave--was a man i held in great favour. he was not of any of the races we had conquered, but came of a tribe further to the southward than even the zulu arms had ever reached. him i had captured while storming the fortress of a mountain tribe, and the king had allotted him to me: he was a tall, strong man, and knew not fear, and was faithful and devoted to me as any dog. now he said: "i think _this_ night must this thing of _tagati_ be slain, my father." "we think the same, jambula," i answered. "but what i cannot quite think out is _how_. but that will come." "nevertheless, let it be this night, father. i have a plan." this plan he then unfolded to me, and by the time we had talked it out and around it was nearly dark--nearly time to set it working. never had any spot struck upon my mind as more ghostly and even terrifying than that haunted valley when night drew fairly down; and, _nkose_, what i had seen and gone through in the wizard cave that morning seemed to have sapped my former fearlessness. a low-lying mist wreathed around the tree-stems and bushes, thick to near the height of a man, then thinning out dimly just enough to show out the twinkle of a star or two. but there was light enough for our purpose. hard by the place where suru, the first slave, had been killed was an open space, thickly studded with rocks embedded in the earth, and one side of this open was overhung with mimosas of a good height and strength. clambering up one of these, i lay out upon the spreading branches. jambula remained below. the night watch wore on--even the night side of life seemed hushed in this abode of wizardry and fear. suddenly all the blood within me tingled and burned. something was moving. and then above the ghostly wreathings of the white mist i could see the gigantic head--the huge horns curving upwards--of the ghost-beast. only the head was visible as, tilted upwards, nose in air, it moved above the sea of vapour, to and fro, as though seeking for something or somebody--for a fresh victim, perhaps--and i thought it might indeed soon find one. and as i looked the mist suddenly rolled away, revealing the dark form of jambula, standing upright against a small rock. for the moment the beast did not see him. it continued to run hither and thither in the moonlight, and as i marked its gigantic proportions, my heart sank, for i knew that to kill such a thing as this single-handed was very nearly the hardest task ever entrusted to me. it was huge in the dim light--black as night, and as large as an elephant almost. there was that in the very size of the thing no less than in the glaring ferocity of its eyes--which was enough to turn a man's heart to water--for it could not be a thing of this earth. how, then, could it be slain? now it began to mutter, like the growlings of a heavy thunderstorm, as it ran to and fro, shaking its horrible head, and its dark, shaggy frontlet of hair. _whau_! that was a fearful sight as the thing drew nearer. what of jambula! he had not moved, beyond half turning his head to get a better view of the horror. would his heart fail him? i almost expected it would. ha! it had seen him. it dropped into a sort of stealthy crouch, more like that of a leopard or a lion than the movement of any horned animal; and thus it came up swiftly behind him. but jambula was not asleep--oh no! there was no lack of wakefulness in him. in a moment he whirled behind a rock, as the ghost-bull, uttering a roar that shook the world, came at him with the swiftness of a lightning flash. then began a scene indeed. jambula, watching his opportunity, flitted from rock to rock, but not less swiftly did the monster come after him-- seeming to fly through the air as it leaped over some of the lower rocks which were in its way. _hau_! could this last? would not jambula, out of breath, falter for one instant? would not his foot stumble in the tortuous rapidity of his flight? _au_! did that happen he were lost-- we both were lost. hither and thither he sped, the horrible beast ever behind him, roaring in a fashion to turn a man's heart to water--the foam flying from its mouth, the points of its huge horns tossing wildly, its savage eyes seeming indeed to flash flame. would they never come beneath the tree where i--the great assegai gripped and ready--lay out along the bough waiting my chance? this came. jambula, who had been drawing the thing nearer and nearer to my side of the ground, now broke from his shelter, and ran with all the swiftness of which he was capable beneath my place of ambush. after him came the ghost-beast, right under me. this was my chance, _nkose_, and my only one. swift as the movements of the horror itself, i dropped down upon the thing's back, and clinging fast with the one hand, with the other i drove the point of my great assegai into the joint of the spinal bone behind the skull. _whau, nkose_! that was a moment. i know not quite what i expected to happen. i felt the point of the great horn, thrown backward, narrowly graze my side; then i was hurled through the air, as the huge body, arrested in mid course, turned right over, falling with its head twisted under its own enormous weight. i was on my feet in a moment--not daring to think i had slain the monster--although i had felt the blade of my noble spear bite deep into the marrow. but there it lay, a huge black mass in the moonlight. while i stood contemplating it, still panting after my exertions and the fall, i heard the voice of jambula: "that was well done, my father. those horns will deal out the red death no more." "i know not whether a headless ghost may come to life again, jambula," i said, "but anyhow we will cut off the head of this one. but, first of all, this"--and i buried the blade of my great spear in the thing's heart. we were both strong men, jambula and i, yet it was with a vast deal of labour we at last succeeded in cutting off the head, which was twisted under the huge body. "_whau_!" exclaimed jambula, gazing upon the great deluge of blood which poured forth upon the ground. "it is as though the blood of all those slain by the red death were flowing there. but now, father, suffer me to ran to maqandi's kraal and fetch slaves to carry this, and indeed, the skin and hoofs, to lay before the king, for we have no time to lose." "no time to lose!" i repeated. "what mean you?" he pointed upward with his blood-smeared assegai. "the moon," he said. then, indeed, _nkose_, amazement was my lot--amazement and dismay. and well it might be. for last night the moon had not quite passed its first quarter. _to-night it was nearly full_. like one in a dream i gazed. anything might be possible in this abode of _tagati_, but that the moon should change in one day from half to nearly full--_au_! that was too much. "what does it mean, jambula?" i said at length. "last night the moon was less than half, and now--?" "_au_!" muttered jambula, bringing his hand to his mouth with a strange sort of laugh. "who am i that i should contradict you, my father? but last night the moon was nearly as it is now. but the night you left us it was but at half." "and was not that last night, o fool? in truth the wizardry of this place has eaten into thy brain. and yet--!" there was the moon, _nkose_, within a day or two of full. it could not lie, even though jambula could. stupidly i gazed at it, then at him. "and how long ago is it that i left you, jambula?" "six days, father." ha! now i saw. now everything was clear. the wizard, and the _muti_ fire--the green, choking vapour that had filled my lungs and brain, causing me to see strange and fearful things--had kept me in a state of slumber. for six days i had lain within the heart of the rock, and i had thought it but the short part of one day. my hunger on my recovery--the state of putrefaction of the body of the slave whom i had supposed to have been slain only that morning--the change of the moon-- all, indeed, stood clear enough now. but whatever jambula may have imagined, it was not in my mind to tell him, or anybody, what had really happened, for it is not good among us for a man to have a name for dealings with _abatagati_. so i sent him off there and then to maqandi's kraal, with orders to bring back a number of men immediately to flay the great ghost-bull and carry the hide, with the head and hoofs, before the king, without loss of time. after he had gone, and while i sat alone in the haunted place, i watched by the great black mass lying so still and quiet; and, _nkose_, i believe i should have felt little surprise had the thing come to life again, head and all, so great was the awe it had set up among us. i am not even sure that i did not once or twice hear the voice of old gasitye, and behold his spidery old form shambling among the trees. the dawn came at last, however, but before it came jambula, with a number of the iron-working slaves. these were in great delight over the slain monster who had destroyed so many of them, yet no time did i allow them to give way to their joy over dancing and such. it behoved us to return to the great great one with all speed, for on the next night the moon would be at full. chapter seven. the faith of a king. the news of what had been done had already spread fast and far, and before i reached maqandi's kraal a great crowd of the iron-workers had assembled. these increased more and more, and presently a vast number of these people had joined in my train, dancing in their joy, and singing songs of triumph and of praise of myself, who had rid them of a twofold terror--of destruction by this thing of _tagati_, and of peril of wholesale death by the assegai when the patience of the king should become exhausted. but little attention did i pay to all this, for my allotted time had nearly expired, and it would be all i could do to reach kwa'zingwenya ere it had quite. so i levied upon maqandi for a large body of slaves, and pushed on, travelling night and day, and taking little or no rest. no time even had i to visit my own kraal, which was somewhat off the line of my nearest road. however, i sent messengers there, and swift runners to kwa'zingwenya, that news of my success might reach the king as early as possible. but as i travelled on swiftly through the night, whose dawn should see me laying my trophies at the feet of the great great one, my mind was torn by many misgivings, and many an anxious glance did i send upward to the heavens. _the moon was at the full_. fair and splendid rose the dawn of that day, and as i came in sight of our great place, and of the people flocking thither--for here, too, the news had spread, and all were eager to hear about what had been done, and, if possible, to behold the actual skin and horns of the great _tagati_ beast--i forgot my fears, and felt proud and light-hearted as ever when i had accomplished something great. and thus i stalked into the great circle, looking neither to right nor left, and seemingly not hearing the murmurs and exclamations of wonder which broke from all who beheld the immense horned head borne behind me by the slaves. "the great great one is sleeping, untuswa," said the commander of the armed body-guard before the gate of the _isigodhlo_. "his orders are that none should awaken him." "yet what will he say if such news as i bring be allowed to grow old? how will that be, ngoza?" "_whau_! i know not, son of ntelani," was the answer. "but i may not go behind my orders. there is no safely that way." now i liked not this reply. i noticed, moreover, that the guard before the _isigodhlo_ was much larger than usual, and in those days, _nkose_, anything unusual was likely to foreshadow trouble for somebody. further, there was a shortness in the tone of the captain of the guard which sounded strange as addressed to one of my rank and influence. there was nothing for it, however, but patience, so i sat down to await the pleasure of the great great one. as i sat there, taking snuff, i ran my eyes over those present, both near and far, seemingly with unconcern, but in reality with something of anxiety. many of my own followers could i discern among the throng, and their women; but among these last was no sign of lalusini. yet this did not disconcert me, for of late my _inkosikazi_ had rather avoided coming overmuch within the notice of the great great one. presently an _inceku_ came out and spoke to the captain of the guard. immediately it was proclaimed that the great great one was about to appear; and, preceded by the _izimbonga_, or praisers, bellowing the royal titles, umzilikazi came forth and took his seat at the head of the great circle, where he was wont to sit each morning and discuss matters of state, or pronounce judgment on offenders. as soon as the prostrate multitude had made an end of shouting the royal praises i advanced to the king and made my report, leaving out, however, my experience of the witchcraft of gasitye. "thou hast done well, untuswa," he said when i had concluded. "now bid them bring hither that head." this was done--and as umzilikazi stood up the better to examine it, even he murmured in surprise at its gigantic size. and i, gazing upon the thing, black and huge, with its glazed eyes and swollen tongue and shaggy frontlet of hair, remembered the horrible and terrifying aspect of those vast, pointed horns, tossing and tearing in the glade of the moonlit forest. "_whau_! it stinks. let them take it away," said umzilikazi at length, spitting in disgust, as a swarm of flies came buzzing about his face. "and now, untuswa, this thing will trouble the land no more?" "no more, great great one." "ha! that is well. and now by virtue of what _muti_ didst thou triumph over this evil thing of witchcraft?" "by the virtue of no _muti_ save that of the spear of the king, o elephant," i answered, with a glance backward at where i had deposited the great assegai, the erewhile royal gift. i thought the answer seemed to please him, then not; for his expression changed as though reading into my words a hidden meaning. "but it has taken long to rid the land of this thing, untuswa," he said, looking at me with his head bent sideways, and speaking in a soft tone. "that is so, great great one. but the thing was both crafty and fierce." "yet not alone didst thou slay it, as my conditions were," he went on, pointing at me with his short-handled spear. "alone indeed did i slay it, serpent of wisdom," i answered. "now thou liest, son of ntelani. what of the slaves who were with thee?" "they were but bait for the ghost-bull, divider of the sun; and both were duly slain by it," i replied. but now i knew my feet were standing on slippery ground indeed--for never for a long time past had umzilikazi spoken to me in that tone, and for a longer time still, in the sight and hearing of all men. "and what of thy slave, jambula?" went on the king. "was he not armed?" "no part did he take in slaying the thing, father of the wise. his part lay in running away." "yet he was armed, and my condition laid down that no armed force should accompany thee." "_au_! now i would ask the great great one, the leader of the nations in war, whether one man, and he a slave, constitutes an armed force?" i replied, fully aware that whatever was in the king's mind towards me, lack of courage never yet found favour in that mind. "let be, then," he said. "for that question we will let it rest. but say then, son of ntelani--what of the moon? that this thing should be slain before the full of the moon--was not that one of my conditions? yet the moon has been full these two nights." "but the thing was so slain, black elephant. before the moon was full, was it slain." "but it should have been brought here by the full of the moon--the head, even as now. well, well, untuswa! it is not always possible to carry out conditions in their entirety, is it? ah, ah! not always possible. now go home, thou slayer of ghost-bulls, for it may be that i have even harder conditions awaiting thee than slaying _tagati_ beasts. go!" i saluted and withdrew, and as i did so, the chief of the _izanusi_ came up and begged to be allowed to have the trophies of the ghost-bull for _muti_ purposes. but umzilikazi refused shortly, and gave orders that they should be prepared and preserved until he had chosen how to dispose them. and i, leaving the presence as commanded, felt sore and heavy at heart, for the king's tone of mockery seemed cold and hostile, and to bear some hidden meaning--one that boded ill to me and mine. so concerned was i, trying to think out this matter, that i hardly noticed how few of my own rank joined me to give me news or talk over what had been done, and of my own followers none at all. these last would give me greeting from afar, and hurry onward; yet, by what i had done, i had saved them all from the death of the assegai. but it behoved me not, as a chief of great rank and influence, to show curiosity, and so, asking questions of no man, i eventually reached my kraal. then as i entered the gate, looking up towards my principal hut, it came back to me how i had last beheld lalusini standing there in the setting sun to see the last of me, on that evening when i set forth on my errand of dread. why was she not there now, waiting to welcome me? _hau_! it seemed to send a chill through my being--a foreboding of all that was direful and deathly. man of mature age and ripe experience as i was, even i could hardly restrain a quickening of the step as i paced across the open circle, returning the greetings of those who hailed my return. stooping through the doorway, i entered the hut. it was empty. everything was in its place as i had left it. but--no lalusini. "she has gone about some ordinary business," i thought; "or has come to welcome me in the path, and we have missed." but my sinking heart cried aloud that such thoughts told idle tales. stepping forth, i beckoned a young man standing near. "where is mgwali?" i inquired. he replied that he thought my brother must have tarried at the great place, for he had seen him there that morning. "where is ncala-cala?" i then asked. he replied that the old man, who was the responsible head of the kraal under me, had been sent for by the king the day before, and had not yet returned. i asked him no more questions, but entered the hut of one of my other wives. i found nxope and fumana squatted together on the ground. they greeted me in a manner that struck me as showing great if subdued fear. "where is lalusini?" i said. then indeed was fear upon their countenances. they looked at each other as though each expected the other to reply. "where is lalusini?" i repeated. "we know not," said fumana sullenly. then my patience gave way. "ha! ye know not! hear me now, ye witches. i am tired of such as you. look at this," holding forth the great assegai, from which i never parted, save when forced to disarm in the presence of the king. "look well at it and bear in mind i do not speak twice. this spear has drunk much blood, but never yet the blood of women. fail to answer my next question and it will begin. now. where is lalusini?" "in truth we know not," screamed nxope. i know not how it was, _nkose_, that in my awful grief and rage that blade did not shear swiftly through the speaker's heart, even as i had promised. i know not how it was, i say, unless it were that something about the woman--some movement, perhaps--reminded me of lalusini, but my hand seemed arrested in the very act of striking. "ha! one more chance," i said. "now, quick. tell me." "we will tell you all, lord," yelled fumana, more quick-witted than the other. "the third night after you left she disappeared. no one saw her go; nor has she ever returned." "seven nights ago that would be; and she has never returned?" "never, lord." "and that is all we know about it," whimpered nxope, still in fear for her life. but she need not have been. my anger against them was past now, for i could see they had told me all they knew, and that was--nothing. besides, of them i had no further thought. i sat down on the floor of the hut and thought. the third night after i left. ha! the vision in gasitye's cavern! had i not seen lalusini's face among the others-- among the faces of the dead--for such were all the others? she, too, had passed into the great unknown. now my thoughts at once flew off to the king. i saw his hand in this matter. umzilikazi had broken faith with me. he had seized the opportunity of my absence to put my sorceress-wife to death, and that secretly and in the dead of night. ha! i saw it all now. all that had been said that morning connected him with this. had he not repeatedly taxed me with not carrying out the conditions of my challenge, so as to justify his own act of treachery? and then his words, uttered in soft, mocking tones: "well, well, untuswa. it is not always possible to carry out conditions in their entirety, is it? ah, ah! not always possible," that pointed to some breach on his part of his own conditions. and again: "i have even harder conditions awaiting thee than the slaying of _tagati_ beasts." it was all as clear now as the noonday sun. yet why should he thus have tried to excuse what he had done? at a nod from him--one word--i had gone to join the others whose faces i had seen, dim and horrible, in the wizard cave. and then i knew that if the son of matyobane, founder and first king of the amandebeli nation, had never made a mistake in his life, he had made one when he failed to give that nod, to utter that word; for, so sure as he had ordered the death of lalusini, so sure would a new king reign over the amandebeli, and that speedily. i have already told you, _nkose_, that the love which i felt for lalusini was after the manner of the love which white people bear for their women; and, indeed, i think but few, even, of them. now, as i sat there, realising that never again should i behold my stately and beautiful wife, never again hear the tones of her voice--always soft with love for me--the thoughts that hunted each other through my mind were many and passing strange. in truth, i was bewitched. all that had constituted the joy of living was as nothing now--my rank and influence, my ambitions, the fierce joy of battle, the thunder of the war-march, of rank upon rank of the splendid warriors i commanded--all this was as nothing. and at this moment there crossed my mind the thought of that priest-magician, the white man whom we found offering sacrifice in the forest--of whom i told you in a former story--and who dwelt with us long. i thought of his teaching and his mysteries, and of the god of peace of whom he taught, and how that, if he were here now, i would gladly put myself through his strange water-rite, and participate in his mysterious sacrifices, so that i might once more be reunited to lalusini in another world; for such seemed to me to have been his teaching--at least, so as i remembered it. but he, too, was dead; and, though i might sacrifice oxen at his grave, i doubted whether his voice even then would tell me what to do, for i remembered he liked not such sacrifices. besides, he had always taught that it was not lawful to kill any man, save in defence of our lives or nation; and if there was one thing as firmly rooted in my mind then, _nkose_, as the intaba zungweni yonder is rooted to the plain, it was that the son of matyobane should himself travel the road of death. i cared not what fate should be mine therefor; nor, indeed, that my whole kraal--wives, children, relatives, followers--should die the death of the spear or the stake; i myself would slay the king with my own hand. and then it seemed that waves of blood were rolling red around my brain. i saw myself king--i saw all those of umzilikazi's house led forth to die--i saw the surface of the pool of death scarlet with the blood of all who, in the farthest degree, boasted a single drop of the blood of matyobane, till even the alligators, surfeited, refused to devour any more. _haul_ i would slay. _haul_ i would invent new tortures for every man, woman, and child of the now reigning house; i would execute such a vengeance that the tale of it should be handed down as long as the tongue of the zulu was spoken in the world. i know not, _nkose_, what change this cloud of blood and flame rolling around my brain must have produced in my countenance, but i awoke from my thoughts to find nxope and fumana staring at me as though at a thing of horror. their eyes were starting from their heads, their mouths were open, they seemed turned to stone, as though they were staring into the very jaws of the most terrible form of death. then i remembered. if i would render my vengeance complete, i must be wary; silent and crafty as the leopard when marking down his prey. the strength of the warrior, the craft of the councillor, the coolness and self-control of both--such must be the role of every moment, waking or sleeping, of life. "i think i have travelled too fast and too far, and am tired," i said in an ordinary and even tone; yet, even as it was, so frightened were those two women that they half leapt at the sound of it. "you two," pointing at them with my spear, "attend now. it is not good to talk too much. the tongue that wags too much must be cut out with this"--fingering the edge of the blade--"or the throat is less trouble to cut. bear that in mind, for i know not how ye escaped with your lives but a short while ago." they were quick in their declarations of silence and careful utterance, and i knew i had sufficiently frightened them. and thus i left them. chapter eight. gegesa's tale. for several days i went about as usual, to the eyes of men showing no difference in my converse and behaviour. at first all would watch me furtively, as though to observe what effect my loss would have on me, if any; but this soon ceased as they saw no difference, and indeed this was not strange, for it is not our custom to allow ourselves to be affected by the loss of a woman, more or less. there were plenty more women in the nation, and i, untuswa, the second commander of the king's hosts, could take as many wives as i chose. the king had given me this particular wife, and if he chose to take her from me, openly or secretly, who might run his will against the will of the great great one, at whose word we held our lives? so men looked at it, but i--well, i looked at it from another point of view. that the king's hand moved behind the matter i could see by the uniform silence with which it was treated, nor could i even overhear so much as the "darkest" of talking among any of the people. but i was awaiting my time, and to allay suspicion i took a new wife. she was young and good-tempered, and was a daughter of xulawayo, an induna of rank, and a commander of high standing in the army, by reason of which he demanded much cattle in _lobola_ for her, all of which i paid him without objection. this astonished him greatly, nor could he sleep for three nights for wishing he had demanded more. but i had an object in view, which was to bind so influential a leader as xulawayo more closely to me against the time for striking my blow. now of this i never lost sight for a moment. carefully i sounded my own followers, and lost no opportunity of rendering myself popular among the army at large. yet the game was a terribly risky one, and i felt as a man might who attempts to walk on a ridge of rock no wider than an assegai blade, with the depth of a whole mountain on either side. but the game was worth the risk, for i was playing for a throne and for revenge. now and again the king would rally me. "taking new wives at last, untuswa?" he would say. "_whau_! but you have been long content with old ones. how often have i told you that women are like a bowl of _tywala_: delightful and stimulating when fresh; but, when stale, sour and injurious, and the sooner thrown away the better." and i would laugh pleasantly at the royal wit, and send _lobola_ for yet another girl, this one, as before, the daughter of an influential fighting induna; but, for all that, the loss of lalusini was none the less present in my mind, and the desire for my projected vengeance grew, the longer that vengeance was delayed. two things, however, i observed, and these did not look well for my plot. one was that never now would umzilikazi commune with me alone as in the old friendly manner of former days; the other that he never appeared without a strong body-guard in attendance, fully armed, and composed of young warriors chosen from houses whose fidelity to the house of matyobane was beyond suspicion, they being themselves of that house. but my time was coming, and that i knew, for the very desperation and assurance of a man who values not his own life. there were times when, looking upon the _muti_ bag--lalusini's last gift to me, which i ever wore--i felt moved to open it. but her words were explicit. it was only to be opened in the very last extremity, and such extremity i felt had not yet been reached. so i forebore. and now, _nkose_, there befell one of those occurrences which will befall even the wisest and coolest and most experienced of any of us when least we look for it, which are destined to alter all our most carefully laid plans, for there is ever some moment in life when the wisest and most carefully thinking man is no better than a fool. and this is how it came about. one evening i was walking back, along the river bank, to my kraal, alone--thinking, as ever, upon my now fast ripening scheme--when i heard my name called out in a quavering croak. turning, i beheld the shrivelled figure of an old crone, perched upon a point of rock overhanging a long deep reach. beside her was a bundle of sticks she had been gathering. "give me snuff, untuswa, o great fighter," she cried, stretching out a bony claw. "give me snuff from that pretty box stuck in your ear, for i have none." i stepped aside, and, taking the horn tube from the lobe of my ear, poured half its contents into her skinny old hand, and as i did so i recognised in the old witch one who had an evil repute among us for _umtagati_; indeed, it was reported that she had been "smelt out" and killed in the time of tshaka, but had somehow managed to come to life again, and had not been interfered with since because of our custom under which no one can be killed twice. she was very, very old--so old that beyond a wisp or two of white wool her scalp was entirely bald. her limbs were mere bits of stick, to which even her few rags of clothing would hardly cling. looking at her squatting there, i thought she would make an exact mate for old gasitye, as i had seen him in the _tagati_ cave, squatting in like fashion; and i must have laughed at the thought, for she said, with some show of fire: "laugh, untuswa, laugh, i am old and shrivelled, am i not? but that is a complaint you will never suffer from. oh, no! oh, no!" "what mean you, mother?" i said, pausing as i was about to continue on my way, for there was that in her words which fitted not well in with my thoughts just then. "i am a fighting man, and such may reasonably not live to grow old." "ah, ah! a fighting man. thou art more. he who would sit in the seat of the mighty is hardly likely to die of old age," she answered slowly, poking her head forward with a meaning chuckle. "now," i thought, "this old witch knows too much. i will just drop her over into the river and make _her_ safe." but before i could do so, she again croaked out: "what will you give to know something, untuswa? what will you give me if i tell you that which you would most like to learn?" the blood seemed to stand still within me at the words. "that which i would most like to learn"--the secret of lalusini's disappearance, of course. i strove to restrain all semblance of anxiety, but the dim eyes of the old hag seemed to pierce my thoughts through and through. "if it is indeed something i would like to learn, mother, then will i give anything--not too great--you may choose to ask. but, beware of fooling me with old women's tales." "ha, ha! and the fate of the daughter of the great--is that an old woman's tale?" "tell me of that, if you know it, mother," i said. "ah, ah! if i know it. see now, untuswa, i am old--so old that i am as they of another world. and the other world moves about at night--and i--often i steal out at night and talk with those of another world." i murmured assent, and she went on. "see yon pool, untuswa?" pointing up the river where the alligators dwelt, to whom were cast those whom the king had doomed to die. "often, at night, i go out and sit over that pool that i may talk with the ghosts of them who have died there; and they come creeping up, those ghosts of dead men, all dripping and bloody, as though fresh from the alligators' jaws. ha! and we have such talks, i, old gegesa, and those ghosts of dead men--yes, and of women, too, untuswa--of women, too;" and she paused with a shrill cackle, and leered at me. "there was thy former _inkosikazi_, nangeza, she who died there, and she came up and talked with me, saying she should soon have fitting company in the land of ghosts, for it was not healthy to be the _inkosikazi_ of untuswa. and just then i heard steps--the footsteps of men--although it was night, and the neighbourhood of the pool was one of fear and of death. so i hid myself, untuswa--crept away behind a stone which the moon threw into a black shadow, and this is what i saw. four great, fierce looking men came down to the brink of the rock which overhangs the pool, and in their midst was a woman--" "a woman!" i echoed, staring at her. "_eh-e_! a woman--tall and shapely and beautiful, _as a daughter of the great_." "what then?" i hissed the words rather than uttered them. again that blood-wave surged around my brain. i knew what was coming--knew the worst. "what then? this," went on the hag. "they led her to the brink of the pool, and were about to throw her in. but she spoke, and her voice was firm and sweet, as the wind's whisper. `lay not hands on me,' she said, `for i come of the greatest the world ever saw.' then they refrained, and the foremost said, `go in thyself, then, daughter of the great, for it is the word of the king. it is our lives or thine.' then she looked for one moment in front of her, the moon full on her face, and dropped quietly over. and i heard the splash and the rush through the water, as the alligators seized their meat, even as i have often heard it. but while the moon was on her face, i knew her." "who was she?" i whispered. "lalusini, the daughter of that great one, the founder of all nations. thine _inkosikazi_, untuswa." "and the men, who were they?" "they were chief among the king's slayers." "their names? did you not know them, gegesa?" "did i not know them? ah, ah! who is there i do not know?" and she told me the names of all four, and i laid them up in my memory; for i thought how i would have those slayers let down by thongs over the edge of the rock so that the alligators might eat them piece by piece--might crunch off first a foot, then a leg, and so on, as they dangled there. oh, what vengeance should be mine! "but how do i know this is true, thou witch?" i said. "how can i tell it is not all a made-up story?" "what have i to gain by making it up? have i not rather to gain by not telling it? go home, untuswa, and be happy with your new wives; they are young and bright-eyed, and round, as i was once. _yau_! rest content now you know lalusini can never return. a returning _inkosikazi_ is not always welcome; ha, ha!" i stood gazing at her in silence, and the old hag went on. "yet it is better to lose an _inkosikazi_, if by that loss you sit in the seat of a king! ah, ah! untuswa; there will be food for the alligators then." "meanwhile they shall have some now. you have lived too long, gegesa, _and you know too much_. i trust not that croaking old tongue. this is the price i pay for thy news--the price it is worth." so saying, i picked her up by her ragged old blanket where it was knotted round her, and before she had time to utter a cry, tossed her clean over the brink of the rock. i heard the splash in the water beneath, and without troubling to look over, i turned away. with the blood-wave surging around my brain, i strode quickly onward. now the mystery of lalusini's disappearance was a mystery no more. any last hope i might have clung to that she might one day reappear was shattered. she had died as my first _inkosikazi_ had died, a death of horror and of blood. _whau_! but other blood should flow--should flow in rivers--before many days had gone by. when the king had rid me of nangeza i had been well pleased, for her pestilent tongue and evil temper had gone far towards rendering life a weariness; but i had lived even longer with lalusini than with nangeza, but so far from doing aught that should cause my love for her to decrease, lalusini had taken care that it should grow instead. by the time i reached my kraal, night had fallen. entering my large hut, i called for jambula the slave who had been with me in the slaying of the ghost-bull. by birth jambula was of the amaxosa, a numerous and warlike people whose land is to the southward, as you know, _nkose_. when a young man his family had been "eaten up" by order of its chief; and he, narrowly escaping with is life, had at last found refuge with a tribe of basuti, among whom we had captured him. and now i knew that if there was one man upon whose fidelity i could entirely reckon, that man was jambula. having made sure that none could overhear us, to him now i opened the plot. his face lighted up with joy as he listened. "to-morrow, by this time, we shall both be ghosts in the shadow world, or i sit in the seat of umzilikazi, and you among the _izinduna_ of this nation. how like you that, jambula?" "if you are dead, my father, i too am dead," he answered. "not too soon, either, is it to strike, for my eyes and ears have not been closed in these days, nor have those of the great great one. it is his life or ours. the time when this place shall awaken hemmed in by the spear-points of the slayers is but a question of a few nights more or less." i believed this to be true, but even if it were not so it would have made but little difference. the tale told me by old gegesa had so inflamed my blood that i could wait no longer. vengeance, now at once-- now, before it escaped me. i could wait no more. a little while longer did jambula and i whisper together. then softly and silently we stole forth into the night. chapter nine. "to slay thee, son of matyobane." the great kraal, kwa'zingwenya, slept. all was dark and still as we drew near it, jambula and i. we could make out dimly in the starlight the immense circle of domed huts within their ringed fences, but not so much as the spark of a distant fire showed that any within were awake. treading cautiously, we took our way round to the upper end of the great circle. at every gate bodies of armed guards were posted, yet in the darkness two men, stealthy, silent as serpents, glided by unnoticed--no dog even was roused to give warning of their approach. two men, alone. success, and on the morrow the nation would hail a new king. failure, and the lives of these two, and of all their kith and kindred, would be taken mercilessly. having reached our point we set to work. twig by twig, thorn by thorn, we began to breach the thick prickly fence; long and silently we worked until the hole was large enough for the body of a man to creep through. but it was done at last, and i stood within the _isigodhlo_. jambula was to remain outside. if all went well, that is, if he saw or heard nothing the night through, he was to enter himself shortly before dawn, and having stopped up the hole from the inside, was to await my orders. if i failed--and that he would not be long in learning--he was to return at full speed to my kraal, and warn the people there to flee at once for their very lives--to flee both fast and far--for it would not be long before the slayers were on their track. were my movements actuated by ambition alone, _nkose_, then indeed my heart might have begun to fail me. here was i, in the dead of night, all unbidden, within the sacred precincts of the _isigodhlo_. to be found there was death--were i the highest in the nation--death by impalement, or some other form of lingering torment. but now the thoughts engendered by such knowledge availed not to daunt me. the spirit of lalusini, agonised and bloody, rose ever before my eyes, beckoning me onward, and my one thought was how soon i might bury my spear in the heart of her slayer. but for my spear, here before me, was work already. from round one of the huts a man appeared, so suddenly as to collide with me in the darkness, had i not quickly stepped aside. immediately i struck--and struck home. the broad blade had cleft his heart, and breathing only a soft sigh he sank motionless--being stone dead. i bent over his face, and recognised one of the _izinceku_, or body-servants of the king. of these i knew there were two on watch at night. i had yet to reckon with the other. now i stood motionless, and held my breath, listening. i was among the huts of the royal women, and there, but twenty paces distant, was that of the king. for arms, i had but a single broad-bladed assegai, the gift of umzilikazi himself, as i have told you, _nkose_, in a former tale; not even a shield, for such would but encumber me if it came to a close hand-to-hand struggle. my own craft and quickness were to be as a shield. two steps at a time, treading softer than any cat, i gained the outside of the large hut. peering round i saw what i expected. right across the door lay the body of a man. it was the other _inceku_. he was sleeping. i could hear his soft regular breathing. but before i could enter that door he must exchange his sleep for the sleep of death. he was lying on his back, his face turned upward to the stars, his body filling almost the whole width between the outside screen and the door itself. to reach him i could hardly hope without some slight sound of a scuffle. i flattened myself on the ground, and so crept noiselessly along his side. _whau_! but again the blade went home. right under the fifth rib it glided, and the red blood flowed forth warm upon my hand. this one, too, died without a struggle. pausing again, i listened. all was still inside the hut. i began to cut the thong fastenings of the wicker door. what if umzilikazi, experienced warrior as he was, awakened by the small amount of noise i had caused, were standing ready for me, waiting in the darkness with assegai uplifted to plunge the broad blade in between my shoulders as i crept in through the low doorway. then the thought came to me that by reason of his very security, hemmed around with guards, the sleep of the king would be sound and unsuspicious. the fastenings were now cut, and grasping the wicker door firmly, i let it down noiselessly upon the floor of the hut. there was another screen inside which i had forgotten. peering around this i saw that the interior was not in darkness. the smouldering embers of a fire glowed in the hollow in the centre of the floor, and by its indistinct light i could make out the king, asleep among a pile of blankets against the thatch wall. but in a moment he started from his sleep and sat upright. "ha! who is that?" he said. then, recognising me, he cried furiously, "ha, untuswa! thou dog, daring to invade my privacy. are we threatened from without, or why art thou here?" "_thou_ art threatened from within," i answered jeeringly. "i have come to slay thee, son of matyobane." and i sprang upon him. but not so easily was my purpose of vengeance to be fulfilled. umzilikazi, the warrior and leader of warriors while i was yet a boy, the founder and strong ruler of a new nation, was not so easily to be overcome, although surprised in the midst of sleep. avoiding the stroke i aimed at him with my assegai, he seized my right wrist and held it in a grasp of iron, and for a moment thus in the half darkness we grappled. indeed, i know not why he refrained from shouting aloud for assistance, knowing my bodily strength and prowess as a fighter, unless it were that his old warrior instincts moved him to add to the terror of his name by overthrowing so formidable a foe in single strife. and then it was too late, for with my left hand i seized his throat and gripped it until his very eyes protruded, choking back any sound he might then fain have uttered. "thy life shall pay for thy breach of faith with me," i snarled. "ha, ha! where is lalusini?" and my grasp on his throat tightened. but then i saw another form rise from the heap of blankets and disappear swiftly through the door of the hut. i had not reckoned on the presence of any of the king's wives; and i knew that i was lost, even before i heard the loud, shrill cry for help that rang out upon the night. at that moment the sides of the doorway were nearly rent asunder, as the armed guard swarmed in. but, as this happened, umzilikazi's grasp upon my wrists relaxed, and he fell heavily to the ground. at the same time a strange, sweet odour filled the air, half stupefying me. "slay him, the traitorous dog!" i cried, imitating, as well as i knew how, the voice of the king. "slay him where he lies." in another moment half a dozen spears would have transfixed the prostrate form, but just then, either by chance or design, one of the armed guard kicked the red embers into a momentary glow. the light fell full upon the face of umzilikazi. "_whau_!" cried the guards, leaping in alarm, their assegais arrested in mid air. "it is the king!" then i saw that my plot had failed. swift--swift as the lightning flash--i stabbed the warrior nearest the door, and, gliding through the latter, but a very few steps brought me to the thorn fence. no time had i to seek the hole by which i had entered. gathering my legs under me i leaped. right over the high stockade i flew like a buck, and once on the further side, i ran--ran as i had never ran in my younger days when i was the king's messenger. and as i ran, keeping on fast and far throughout the night, i noticed that there was no hubbub in the great kraal behind. this meant that i had certainly failed to kill the king. but what had made him drop thus suddenly? whatever it was it had been the saving of my own life, for only to the momentary diversion caused by my imitating umzilikazi's tone did i owe it that half a dozen blades had not transfixed me then and there. and now i noticed that the same strange, sweet, stupefying odour, though much fainter, was with me as i ran. instinctively i clutched the _muti_ bag hanging to my neck. _whau_! it was open. half of it had been torn away, but from what was left proceeded the odour. now i saw. now all stood clear. the bag had contained some stupefying scent. in our struggle it had been torn open, and umzilikazi's face coming against it he had fallen senseless. he was in my hands. lalusini's death would have been avenged, and i on the morrow would have proclaimed myself king, and supported my position by force of arms if need be; whereas now i was a fugitive, without home or nation. umzilikazi still lived, and would pursue me with untiring and relentless purpose; and, worse than all, lalusini was unavenged. _still_ unavenged, should i not have said? for as i fled a new thought came into my mind. one plan of vengeance had failed, another might not; and, _nkose_, if you are thinking, as i see you are, what kind of vengeance a nationless fugitive, fleeing for his very life, could hope to compass against a mighty king sitting at the head of a warrior nation, i can only answer that it was as a nationless fugitive i could best hope to compass that vengeance, as you will see. anyhow, though my scheme had failed, lalusini's _muti_ had availed to save my life--that, too in the direst extremity. for what purpose, then, had my life been saved, but to carry out that scheme of vengeance by some other means? when the dawn broke, i had already placed a great distance between myself and kwa'zingwenya, and now the most perilous part of my flight began. the kraals of our own people were scattered about the land, and did any inhabiting these catch so much as a glimpse of me, the pursuers already on my track would not be long in finding me. i dared not lie hidden during the day, for, long as it really was, the distance between myself and kwa'zingwenya was far too short. well i knew umzilikazi would cover the land with searching parties, and that many leaders of these would pay with their lives for failure to discover me. no more deadly crime had been committed since our nation was a nation. i had offered violence to the king's person; had attempted the life of the great great one, and only by the merest accident had foiled to take it. the offence of the conspiration of ncwelo's pool was an easily pardonable one compared with mine. carefully i travelled throughout the day. i could see the kraals of our people both near and far, and now and then parties of people themselves, but of the pursuers nothing as yet. fortunately the ground was broken and bushy, and i was able to avoid observation. for arms i had but one assegai, no blanket to cover me from the night chills, and no food. you will be wondering, _nkose_, how it was that so experienced a campaigner as myself should have made no sort of preparation for this flight by storing provisions and necessaries in some place of concealment where i could readily take them up. but the reason lies in the fact that flight had not come into my plan at all. when i had started in upon it my desperate enterprise offered two alternatives-- success or death--in the attempt. that a third alternative--flight-- might be open to me i had never for a moment contemplated; wherefore, here i was in very evil case. i managed to pluck some ears of green corn from a garden unperceived, and this sustained me as i devoured it; for in those days we could live for a long time on very little food, and but little rest. by the following evening i had gained the foot of the mountain range called _inkume_, somewhat to the eastward of the place of the three rifts, where our great battle was fought and won--won for us chiefly by the magic of lalusini. "ah, ah!" i growled to myself, shaking my assegai in the direction whence i had come. "this nation has doomed itself in taking the life of her through whom its own life has been preserved." now just as the sun touched the rim of the western world, his last gleam caused something to flash and shine. ha! the glint of spears! _i_ ought to know it. and in the clear light that succeeded i could make out a considerable body of armed men. they were yet a great way off, but were coming towards me, not as though straight from kwa'zingwenya, but by a roundabout way. a search party, of course. and now i thought gladly how i had been seen by none--though of this i could not make altogether certain. but i would not linger here. darkness fell and the night was starry and still. up and up, higher and higher i climbed, intending to place the whole mountain range between me and the amandebeli nation by sunrise; but i was somewhat weary, and the ascent was rough and very steep. as i drew near the summit the night wind blew chill, singing through the long grass like the wailings of countless ghosts, and strange cries and howlings would float up from the mountain sides. but nothing cared i for ghosts now; my chief thought was to avoid falling over cliffs and into chasms. but when i had reached the summit of the range, as i thought, the stars grew dim, and, in a moment more, were hidden altogether. a white mist was creeping up from the further side, veiling everything. this was bad, for the most experienced traveller is as a little child in a thick mountain mist; and it was quite as likely as not that by continuing to travel i might turn round unknowingly and thus walk straight back upon the spears of those who came after. no! i must halt until it became clear again; and, at any rate, if i were delayed, the same would hold good of my pursuers, unless, indeed, the northern side of the mountains remained clear. this would give them such a long start that they would soon come up with me, in which case--goodnight! it was time i decided to halt, _nkose_. a puff of cold air coming _upward_ warned me to pause in the act of making a step. the swirl and movement of the air lightened the thickness a little. and lo! i was standing on the very brink of a black chasm. its depth i could not estimate, but it looked bad. i was not unacquainted with these mountains, and i knew there were clefts which seemed to go down into the very heart of the world. but i saw something else. away on the one hand rose a great rock, and around it, along the lip of the chasm, a narrow path seemed to run. now a new thought struck me. this might lead to one of the cave dwellings of those old tribes who long ages ago had inhabited those mountains. if so, no better hiding-place could i find, and immediately i started to make my way along the ledge path. _whau, nkose_, i like not to recall that dread journey. that way, at first only broad enough for one man to travel, soon narrowed until a monkey could hardly have found foothold on it. before me a great tongue of slippery rock face against which, and with arms extended, i had to flatten myself; behind, the unknown depths of that awful chasm. it seemed as though ghosts and witches sung in my ears in the dank breaths of the white mist, as though in the fitful puffs of the night wind hands were stretched forth to claw me down. then, fortunately, the projecting rock tongue ended, and lo! i had gained a flat surface about twice the length of a man. this sloped inward, a narrowing tunnel, with a strange sudden twist just before it ended; and now my heart leaped within me, for no better hiding-place could i have lighted upon. chilled, and wet, and weary, i crept into the narrowest end of the hole, and hardly had i lain me down than i fell into a deep, sound slumber. when i awoke, it seemed that dawn had already begun to lighten the world, for i could make out the rock-walls of my sleeping place. well, i would see, at any rate, what sort of hiding this place promised to afford. i crept to where the cave widened sufficiently to allow me to stand upright, and then, as i turned the corner, amazement was my portion, and a growl escaped me, which boded ill for him who had caused it, for i had run right against the body of a man. he grappled with me in a moment, seizing my wrist before i could bury my assegai in his body, and speaking quickly and eagerly. we were perilously near the edge of the chasm, for in my advance i had borne him backward. then, as suddenly, my grasp of him relaxed, and his of me; for, in the fast lightening dimness of dawn, i recognised the face of my faithful slave, jambula, the xosa. chapter ten. the faith of a slave. "greeting, my father," he exclaimed, when we had stared at each other for a moment in silence. "_au_! but it is well that none of those who come on behind me were in my place now." "who come on behind thee? what meanest thou, fool, leading those who pursue thee to my hiding-place?" "nay, father; i came to warn thee, for this place is known to them, and from one point yonder"--and he pointed upward and across the chasm--"it can be seen into. then they will surround it by day and by night, for none will venture in by so narrow a way as this, and the choice before us will be a leap into yon depth, or death by hunger and thirst, or on the stake of impalement, which is even now reared outside the king's great place." i looked at jambula somewhat suspiciously, for a thought had come into my mind: what if he were meaning to betray me? what if he had been offered life, and even honour, to decoy me forth, so that my pursuers might pounce upon me, with the alternative of death in torments should he fail? who could be trusted? on whose faith could one set entire belief? "let us go hence, my father, and that immediately," he said, "for we must find a safer refuge than this. the mist is still upon the mountains, but at any moment it may roll back. here is food that will last us some little time." he picked up a bundle which lay on the ground. it contained a quantity of grain, stamped and prepared as for _amasi_. for arms he had a broad assegai and three or four casting ones, and a great short-handled knob-stick, which he had brought especially for me, when he should find me. whatever my suspicions, it was clear i could not remain in that place for ever. jambula leading the way, we retraced the perilous cliff path, and stood outside upon the mountain once more. at first i kept a sharp look-out, but soon my suspicions were entirely lulled, and i was able to appreciate the fidelity of my slave, who had sought me out with the resolve to share my peril in the day of my downfall and flight. we kept on along the summit of the mountain range in complete silence, for a man's voice travels far in those quiet solitudes. then, as the sun rose, the mist rolled higher and higher up the slope, and there on the further side lay the open country. it was flat, or gently rolling, and now the dew lay upon it like the sunlight on the points of the waves of the sea. here and there, like moving dots, we could see herds of game browsing, and the tall necks of giraffes stalking among the flat tops of the mimosas. it was a fair and gladsome sight, _nkose_, and for us who had to traverse it, promised, at any rate, no scarcity of food. but just then our eyes lighted upon that which was by no means a gladsome sight--and this was a moving body of armed men. they had evidently come through the mountains by the place of the three rifts, and were now moving along the base in such wise that did we descend from where we were now we should walk right into the midst of them. we could make out nearly a hundred of them. well for us was it that the mist lifted when it did. this was not the _impi_ i had seen the night before. jambula said that numbered half the strength of this. our chances began to look small. we were between two search parties; and, for all we knew, a third might be sweeping along the summit of the range. as we lay carefully concealed, watching the movements of this _impi_, we took counsel, jambula and i. there would be look-outs posted at some point on the mountains, and anyone moving over the flat, open country beyond could not escape observation. we must wait until night--that was certain. we watched the _impi_ in front of us, and presently saw it halt. it was signalling to someone above and behind it. ha! just as we thought. another search party was coming along the summit. we could see it now, but it was still a long way off. we were on higher ground, amid rocks and broken boulders. we made out about three score of men. our eminence was a small peak rising but a trifling height from the summit of the range. should they pass without searching this we were safe, for, crouching behind the rocks, none could see us from but a short way off. should they search, why, then, we must die fighting, for neither of us had any mind to writhe upon the stake of impalement. we lay behind the rocks and gripped our weapons, for it was now too late to fly. on they came, till nearly abreast of our position. then they halted, looking upward. would they come? now we could just catch what the leader was saying-- "there is no hiding-place there, and we have travelled fast and far. and see. yonder buck, with her fawn, would not be feeding there so peacefully were any man near. no! we had better hurry on." then we saw a new sight, and one for which we were entirely unprepared. quite close to us, peacefully and unconcernedly, was grazing a buck, of the kind you white people call "pheebok," and beside her a little fawn, skipping and whisking its white tail as it gazed open-eyed at the _impi_. the other men seemed to agree with what their leader had said. they looked towards our hiding-place, then at the bucks, then they passed on their way. for long we lay, not daring to move, scarcely to breathe. but we saw no more of the searchers, and at last the sun went down, and the grey of evening blotted out the world. "a vow, jambula," i whispered, as we travelled down the mountain side in the darkness. "never again--no, not even if starving, will i slay a buck of that species--male or female, young or old--for it seems that our snakes have taken that form to watch over us," and jambula assented. now as we travelled onward jambula told me of much that had happened since my flight. knowing by the uproar within the _isigodhlo_ that my plan had failed, he was about to start and warn my kraal according to my orders, when he saw me leap the fence and disappear into the darkness. he, like myself, had not reckoned on the chance of my escape, and his first impulse had been to follow me. but he remembered my orders, and, running at full speed, he warned my people and saw them all take flight before following on my track. not too soon, either, had they done so, for, looking back as he fled, he had seen from far the smoke from my blazing kraals mounting to the heavens, which proved that the slayers had been there. he thought, and indeed so did i, that there was little probability of my people eventually escaping; but at any rate, they had a warning and a start, which was something. that night we got down the mountain side without any trouble, and by dawn were far out over the open country. yet not for a moment did we relax our caution. but the land was covered with patches and clumps of forest, some large, some small, and by keeping within these we could travel in concealment. we were able, moreover, to kill game, and this we did but sparingly, immediately burying what we did not need lest the cloud of vultures that would gather overhead should mark our locality to those who came after. now jambula, as we began to hunt, made mock of our zulu casting-spears. the broad-headed _umkonto_--ah, that, he said, was good for its own purpose; but the _umgcula_, or casting-spear, with its stiff, awkward handle terminating in a knob, was a poor sort of weapon for killing game at any distance, or with any accuracy of aim. so he cut staves and fashioned long slender hafts running to a point, as the amaxosa have their spear-hafts, and to these he bound the lighter blades he had with him, and--_whau_! with these he could slay a buck half as far again as i could with our own. thus we journeyed on from day to day, seeing no man, for that belt of country to the south had been well cleared by our people and was kept as a hunting-ground. not yet, either, had i unfolded to jambula the aim of our wanderings. we had come to a large wide river, and having crossed it, we lay by for a day or two on the further side, intending, if we could, to slay a buffalo and make shields of its hide, for we had come away without our shields. this river-bank was high and broken up into great rifts with earthen sides all filled and covered with trees and creepers. it was a place where a man might lie concealed for ever, and escape discovery even though a thousand were in quest of him, and it suited our purpose well. it happened that on the second morning after our arrival here, jambula had gone forth early to spy out where buffalo might be found; but i, feeling weary, elected to rest throughout the heat of the day. when i awoke the sun was already high, and again i slept. on awaking the second time the sun was on the decline. rising, i went forth, but of jambula there was no sign. we had chosen for our hiding-place a crack in the ground that branched sideways from one of the great rifts of which i have made mention, and this was roofed in with trees as the roof of a hut. then i heard that which brought me to an attitude of intense listening. it was the deep murmur of voices, and it seemed to come from the river-bed. here the trees and bush grew thick to a cliff of earth about six times the height of a man, over which they hung in a thick tangle. quickly i gained this point, and peering through, this is what i saw: right underneath was a stony space, between the base of the cliff and the flowing of the broad swift current, and this space was full of armed men. they were our own people. i knew most of them by sight. but one among them was not armed, and at that moment several of them were engaged in binding the wrists of this one, far apart, to the ends of a pole. then the man was stretched upon his back, two or three of them grasping the centre of the pole, and thus drawing his arms high above his head. his feet had already been treated in like fashion. and in this man, thus made ready for i knew too well what, i recognised my slave and faithful follower, jambula. over him now was bending the leader of the _impi_, speaking in a stern, decisive tone. "say now, thou dog, where lies hidden thy master, or i rip thee as thou liest." and the broad assegai quivered in the speaker's hand. "does ever a dog betray his master?" was the sullen reply. "a man may, but a dog, never." "how does _that_ feel, and that, and that?" snarled the leader, bringing his blade down to the broad breast of the xosa, and inflicting two or three deep gashes. "ha! it will be through thee directly." i knew this man well. he was a brave enough fighter, but a sub-chief of small account, and not one of my own following. could he capture me his fame would be assured. but he had that yet to do. "oh, good for thee, sivuma," i growled to myself. "thou shalt feed the alligators for this when my day comes." seeing that jambula was not to be frightened thus, sivuma signed to the others. well i knew what should follow. from a small fire which had been kindled among the stones they brought an assegai, whose blade had been heated red-hot. this was placed against the inner part of jambula's thigh. i could hear the hiss of the burning flesh, but the brave xosa never winced. for long was the hot iron thus held, and when it began to cool another was brought from the fire. the perspiration poured from jambula's face, and his teeth were set with agony; but beyond a quiver of the limbs, which he could not control, he quailed not, nor did he speak. "well, dog?" at last cried sivuma furiously. "where is thy master?" "not from me will that news come, leader of umzilikazi's hunting dogs," replied this brave man, speaking in a quick hard voice in his agony. "ho! then shall the game continue; and there is much daylight before us yet," said sivuma; and again he beckoned the torturers. this time the red-hot blades were inserted between jambula's toes. still, beyond some slight writhing, he showed nothing of the horrible torment he suffered. all of this, _nkose_, i was obliged to witness--being helpless. had there been but few men i had quickly been in their midst; but what can one man do against a hundred? i could have yielded, but this would not have saved jambula; for, in any case, death by torment was the doom of the man--slave or free--who had linked his lot with that of the attempted slayer of the king. but i promised myself a rich revenge on all concerned in this matter when my day should come; nor would my yielding up of myself now do aught to hasten this, that i could see. besides, all this would i have endured myself rather than betray umzilikazi, in the days before he had broken faith with me; for it is the duty of a man to suffer anything rather than betray his chief. now the torture had gone on a little longer, when i saw jambula raise his head. "cease now, i pray thee, my father!" he gasped. "i can bear no more. i will lead you to the hiding-place of untuswa." at that i started, _nkose_. after all, this man was of an alien race-- not one of us. he could not bear torture as the children of zulu. "thou wilt, dog?" cried sivuma, in delight. "and thou shalt. fail, though, and for days shalt thou lie beneath the red-hot pang of the heated steel; ay, until thou diest." "i will not fail, my father," groaned jambula, as though weak and exhausted with the pain. "he is somewhat far from here; but you shall take him. then will the king, the great great one, give me my life?" "thy life? that i know not, but it may be," replied sivuma, ready to promise anything in his eagerness. i have said that jambula's hands and feet were stretched far apart, being bound to poles. his feet were now cut loose, but his feet only. "the forest growth is thick where we have to go," he said, "and how shall i pass through it bound thus?" sivuma looked at him a moment as though pondering. then he gave orders, and they cut his hands loose. but hardly had they done so when i saw through his plan. with the hand that was last loosened he grasped the end of the pole, and, whirling it around, swept two men to the earth, finishing off by swinging it with a hollow thud hard against the side of sivuma's head, bringing the leader to his knees. so rapid had been jambula's movements, so unexpected withal, that before the warriors had quite understood what had happened, he had hewn his way through them; and, still holding the pole, had plunged to the water's edge and sprang far out into the stream. but swift as he had been, he had not been swift enough, for even as he leaped, quite half a dozen assegais out of the shower hurled at him transfixed his body; and as he struck the water, and was immediately whirled away by the current, i knew that the frame which the waters swept down was that of a dead man. this, then, _nkose_, was the end of jambula, my slave and faithful follower, and his end was a noble one, and worthy of the bravest warrior who ever lived, for he endured much horrible torture, and of himself plunged into the embrace of death rather than betray his chief; and further, striking down in that death two or more of those who guarded him armed; and if there exists a braver or more valiant form of death for a warrior than this, why, _nkose_, i, who am now very old, have never heard of it. chapter eleven. the rumble of the elephant. i was now left alone, and having lain hidden a few days--for that _impi_, though it made good search all around my hiding-place, failed to find me--i began to travel southward again. and as i travelled i thought how once before i had fled from our people nationless and an outcast, all for the sake of a woman, as i told you in that former tale when i won the king's assegai; and now a second time i thus fled--a second time a woman had been the cause of my undoing; and yet it might be otherwise, for i was not an old man then, and who may tell what time holds in store? and now, _nkose_, i must leap over a great deal that happened during my flight, for if i were to dwell upon everything, and all i went through, and the peoples i fell in among--how some entertained me friendly and well, and how from others--being but one man and alone--i had to fly as fast and as far as from umzilikazi's hunting dogs; how too, from others again, who, seeming friendly, yet plotted against me the direst treachery, from which i escaped as by a flash of time--all this, i say, were i to dwell upon, i should never get to my story, which being bound up with the fate of mighty nations and peoples, is the tale, _nkose_, which you would desire to hear rather than the escapes and wanderings of one man. two moons had reached their full, and had died again, and by then it seemed to me that once more i was coming among my own people, for i heard our tongue spoken in all its fulness; and the kraals were even as our kraals, with the ringed fence and domed huts, and the women at work in the corn lands wore their hair gathered up in the _impiti_, or reddened cone, even as our women wear it. now i judged it time to enter in among them; and one day, feeling hungry, i stopped at a small kraal-- one of several--and gave greeting. none but women were there at the time, but presently from the other kraals men came hurrying, all armed. these were young and unringed, and seeing before them a _kehla_, and a man of my warrior aspect, their bearing, which had seemed somewhat hostile, became respectful, and they gave me greeting deferentially; and presently the women brought me _tywala_ and ears of green corn roasted, for they might not open the milk-sacks, the heads of the houses being absent. now, desiring information, i found a way of asking as to the head of this group of kraals, whereat i saw surprise and some suspicion in their faces as they exchanged glances, for taking me for an induna of high import, they could little understand my ignorance on that point. they answered that it was the country of nomapela, who was absent on an expedition into the territory of the amaswazi, wherein he was acting as the chastising right arm of the king; but that, from day to day, they had been expecting his return. "then i will await the return of nomapela, my children," i answered. "we hear you, father," they said. and then i was shown to a hut and provided with entertainment, yet i knew that these young men were all suspicious of me, for i myself had come from the direction of the swazi country, and might well be one of that people. but not long had i to wait, for presently runners came in, and soon afterwards, great dust clouds, arising from the valley in the hills through which i myself had come, announced the arrival of the _impi_. but before it, streaming out through the defile, like a torrent when the rain is falling among the hills, came a great herd of cattle. _whau_! it was a goodly sight to see the beasts as they poured onwards, the crashing of horns, as great bulls would now and then turn to fight each other as they ran; the lowing of cows, with calves racing at their sides, the gleam of the sun on the black and red and white and spotted hides, the forest of horns and the rolling eyes, and the trampling, and the dust-clouds, and the dark, leaping figures of the young men who, with shouts, and flourishing their shields, kept the herd from straying too far on either side. and then the _impi_, a full regiment strong, marching behind, the glitter of spear-points and the flash of shields as they advanced in column, singing a song of war--_whau_! that was a goodly sight, and my eyes kindled as, with head thrown back, i watched it, feeling as though i were indeed among my own people once more, instead of among the children of dingane, that mighty elephant whose tread shaketh the earth at his great kraal nkunkundhlovu. ["nkunkundhlovu" means "the rumble of the elephant."] and from that great place i knew i could not now be many days distant. as i watched, the _impi_ halted, squatting on the plain a little distance off. several men detached themselves from it and came to the kraal, foremost among them being nomapela, the chief. he gave me greeting, and bade me sit with them, while bowls of _tywala_ were handed round, and food. but these men also were gazing at me curiously, knowing not what to make of me, for they seemed to divine i was not one of themselves, and also that i was a man of standing and authority. this they could readily see, for the habit of commanding men will soon stamp upon the very countenance of him who exercises it a look of command; and the face of the man who practically commanded the whole of umzilikazi's army was likely to bear that stamp. so they knew not what to think, and could not ask direct. "do you fare our way, brother?" said nomapela presently, while we ate together. "i seek speech with the king," i answered, "and would fain travel in your company, ye who return conquerors." these half-dozen men were all ringed and chiefs. nomapela i knew by name as an induna of dingane, and now i thought more than one of the others were known to me by sight. one indeed seemed to think the same as regards myself, for him had i seen eyeing me from time to time, as though he were trying to recollect me. then, as he turned, displaying a certain scar upon his shoulder, i remembered him well--remembered the scar, too. it was a broad scar, as though the point of his shoulder had been sliced nearly off, and that then the weapon, turning, had buried itself in a deep straight cut. indeed, i ought to remember it, for it was i who had inflicted it, and that with the very spear i held in my hand. often during our march did i find this chief looking thus at me. at last he said quietly: "the way from the north is far, brother, is it not?" i assented, and he went on: "is the black bull of the north growing old and weak that he sends to _konza_ to the elephant who trumpets at nkunkundhlovu?" "no older and no weaker than the day his horns gored back the elephant, yonder at inkume," i answered, betrayed for the moment into speaking up for my nation. "and i think on that day thou, too, didst feel the goring of those horns, mfulwana," i added with a half-laugh as i glanced meaningly at the scar upon his shoulder. "_whau_! that was a great fight, induna of the black bull," he answered; and then, we being somewhat apart from the rest, we fought the battle of the three rifts over again--in words this time--i and this warrior, whom i had wounded there, and i found that my name and deeds at that place were well known in zulu-land. yes, and even how i had met and striven with mhlangana the brother of dingane, shield to shield and face to face; but i already knew how that great one had travelled into the dark unknown, for two bulls cannot rule in one kraal. in due time we came to the white umfolosi, which was but a short march from nkunkundhlovu, and were met on the river-bank by many who had come to gaze on the returning _impi_, and to amuse themselves watching the cattle and the women captives as they crossed the stream. much whispering, too, did i perceive as regarded myself, for i was the only one of that _impi_ not in war-gear, and the plainness of my attire and my head-ring unadorned with plumes drew every eye to me, all at first deeming me a captive, until they saw that i carried arms, and then they knew not what to make of it. and now, _nkose_, as we came in sight of nkunkundhlovu, i gazed upon this great place with more than curious eyes. i had seen, when a boy, tshaka's great kraal, dukuza, but this one was even more magnificent. as we looked upon it from the opposite heights, i noticed that the _isigodhlo_ alone occupied fully a quarter of the space within the ring fences, and before this was the king's cattle kraal. then the immense number of huts, many rows deep, between the ring fences, _hau_! it seemed to me that at least twenty thousand warriors might easily have been housed there. and the great space in the centre, _hau_! so great was it that i thought our own great kraal, kwa'zingwenya, would find room to stand within that huge circle alone, could it be placed there. but one thing was curious, and that was a stockade of upright logs, which encircled the outside fence, leaving a broad space between, through which an _impi_ might march in columns. we arrived at about mid-day, and as we filed in through the lower gate our _impi_ began to sing a triumph-song in honour of the king: "ruler of the world, thy people turn to thee! father of nations, thy children creep beneath thy shadow! pursuer of the disobedient, thy scourges return to thee red; red with the blood of those who have fallen beneath thy glance. thy glance withers, o stabber of the sun; o divider of the stars. before it nations are consumed and creep away to die!" thus sang they in praise of dingane, and two regiments within the centre space, drawn up under arms, took up the song, strophe by strophe! clashing together their war shields as they sang. now, as we entered, the king himself came forth from the _isigodhlo_, preceded by the _izimbonga_, running and roaring, and trumpeting and hissing, as they shouted aloud the royal titles--and so long, indeed, were these, and so many, that i thought they would last until sundown. but at length they desisted, and the thunder of the "_bayete_!" went up with a roar as from the voice of one, as every warrior tossed aloft his unarmed right hand, hailing the king. i had seen this all my life when umzilikazi appeared in state; but, somehow, here it seemed to impress me as it had never before done. the vastness of this great place, nkunkundhlovu, "the rumble of the elephant," the perfect order and splendid array of the regiments under arms, and, above all, the knowledge that here was the fountain-head of the pure-blooded race of zulu--the parent stock, the ruler and eater-up of all nations, feared even by the white people, of whom just then we were more than beginning to hear--all this told upon me, and great as our new nation was, it was only great by reason of distance and strategy when compared with this. and now, _nkose_, you will understand with what curiosity i gazed upon him to whom all nations did _konza_--the mighty dingane, slayer of tshaka the terrible, and who now sat in that great one's seat. he was a very tall man, in the full strength of middle age, but that largeness of limb which peculiarly distinguishes the house of senzangakona imparted to him a stoutness of aspect which made his height appear less than it really was. and his look was right kingly. straight he walked, with his head thrown back--lord, indeed, of the "people of the heavens" [the literal meaning of "amazulu."]--and his eyes burned like stars, as, without bending his head, his glance swept down over the array of warriors there assembled. he took his seat upon a wooden chair covered with a leopard-skin robe, which was set at the upper end of the great space, the chief indunas squatting on the ground on either side. the shield-bearer stood behind the royal chair, holding aloft the great white shield of state, an office i had many a time fulfilled in times past for umzilikazi. then he beckoned nomapela and the other leaders of the returning _impi_, to draw near and make their report. they crept up, uttering the phrases of _sibonga_, and set forth what had been done. they had gone through that section of the swazi people who had defied the king and made raids upon tribes who did _konza_ to the great great one, and had carried the torch and the assegai upon their path. none had escaped, save, perhaps, a few who had fled to the mountains, having got warning of the approach of the slayers. "that they should not have been allowed to do," said dingane. "yet in pouring _tywala_ from one bowl to another, a few drops will now and then perforce be spilled. and what spoil have ye brought?" "much cattle and good, ruler of the world," answered nomapela. "some we left, for it looked weak and sickly, and we knew it was not the will of the king that the remnant of that people should starve." "ye have done well on the whole, my children," said dingane, who looked pleased. "and how--what of the women? were any good enough to bring hither?" "_au_! are _any_ good enough for the father of nations?" quickly replied nomapela. "yet some we thought too well favoured to feed the blade of the spear, and these we brought." "ha! i will see them, then," said dingane, somewhat eagerly. "bring them hither. the cattle i will inspect some other time. but--hold. whom have ye there?" he broke off, as his glance now fell upon me, where i sat among the warriors, conspicuous by the lack of plumes and war adornments. "is it the chief dog of this tribe of dogs ye have exterminated? yet no, for he is armed." "he is a stranger, o elephant, who seeks audience of the ruler of the world," answered nomapela. "he is from the north, serpent of wisdom. _au_! and a great tale should he have to tell," struck in mfulwana. "ha! from the north? he has the look of one who could wield yon broad spear he holds," said dingane, with that piercing glance of his full upon me. then louder, "come hither, stranger." i understood the ways of kings, _nkose_, none better; and so, disarming, i crept forward, the words of _bonga_ rolling out thick and fast the while. arriving before the great great one, i prostrated myself, and then, seating myself upon the ground, waited for him to speak. still he kept silence, and seemed to be looking me through and through; and, _nkose_, i, who knew little of fear, felt it was no light thing to be there thus, awaiting the word of this mighty one, at whose frown tribes and peoples fell dead. "_whau_! but i think thou dost understand somewhat of the ways of war?" he said, at last. "that do i, indeed, father of the nations," i answered. "who art thou, and what is thy name?" "i am untuswa, the son of ntelani, of the tribe of umtetwa, black elephant," i answered. as i said these words, a great exclamation volleyed forth from the warriors; from all within hearing, that is, for the place was large, and my words could not reach everybody. the _izinduna_ seated around the king bent eagerly forward to look at me, and even dingane himself could not avoid something of a start. nomapela too, and mfulwana, started and stared, for not even to the latter had i revealed my identity. he knew that i was a war chief of high rank, and had wounded him in battle, but even he had not guessed who i really was. now dingane looked at me all the more eagerly, and i, who knew not what was in his mind, thought that it was all even whether death now had travelled my way at last, or not. for i had wounded mhlangana in the side at the battle of the three rifts. i myself had seen the blood flow. i had shed the blood of the royal house of senzangakona, and were this known to dingane, _au_! the place of slaughter would soon know another victim. "well, untuswa, son of ntelani, thy name is not unknown here, it would seem," said the king, with a wave of the hand which took in those around. "and now, what is the message wherewith thou art charged?" "with no message am i charged, father of the world," i answered. "i desire to _konza_ to the lion of zulu. that is why i am come hither." "ah--ah, untuswa," said the king softly, putting his head on one side. "and what hast thou done, away in the north where a new lion roars alone--that so mighty a warrior, so brave a leader of men, should seek another king?" "i have a reason, serpent of wisdom, but it is not for the ears of all," i said. "one thing, however. it is to the advantage of the house of senzangakona that i thus desire to _konza_ to the elephant whose tread shaketh the world." "thou art a brave man, untuswa," said the king, "but i think thou surpassest thyself in coming hither with that tale. however, i will hear it, and that shortly. and now, nomapela, bring hither thy captives, for i would see them." the women, to the number of a score and a half, were marched up before the king, and lay prone on their faces in fear; howbeit some, who were young and pretty, and well rounded, did not fear to look slily through their fingers, calculating their chances of obtaining more or less ascendency within the _isigodhlo_, for dingane loved women much, though he would never take onto himself wives, lest there should be strife as to the succession. "_whau_! they are an ugly lot," i heard him mutter. "nevertheless, she will do--and she--and she--and she," pointing at four of them with his short-handled assegai. "for the rest, i want them not. you, nomapela and mfulwana, and all who have led the _impi_, can choose two or three apiece, and if any remain let untuswa here take them; for it is not meet that a warrior of his standing should come among us and have no wives." we all shouted aloud in praise of the king's generosity, and just then two of the women whom dingane had chosen faltered forth that they had small children with them. "children, have ye?" said dingane softly. "then they and ye must part, for my peace cannot be disturbed with screaming. fear not, my sisters, they shall be well cared for--ah, yes--well cared for." and the women said no more, for although they knew what sort of "care" would be meted out to their offspring, they themselves had no desire to travel into the dark unknown--wherefore they uttered no further word. then the king retired, amid shouts of praise from all there, and i--_whau_! in but a short space i found myself occupying a fine hut within the great kraal of nkunkundhlovu, the owner of three captive swazi girls who had been given me as wives by dingane, the great king, and this, at any rate, was better than the stake of impalement at kwa'zingwenya. chapter twelve. a devouring swarm. i had no reason, so far, to complain of my treatment at the hands of the king, for i was supplied abundantly with all i required, either by the orders of dingane, or by the generosity of the _izinduna_ and warriors of note within nkunkundhlovu, many of whom would drop into my hut at all times to have a talk with me; or we would sit in the shade in or about the great place, watching the reviewing of young regiments put through their practice by their chiefs, or talking and taking snuff. but although many thus came to hear a tale from me, and no tale pleased them so much as that of our flight from the great tshaka, unless it were that of the battle of the three rifts, yet i would ever tell such tale cautiously, suppressing or varying any event i deemed it not advisable to dwell too much upon, and among such was that very battle, wherein my strategy and that of lalusini had saved our nation, for it might be that by the same strategy i should destroy umzilikazi, and that i did not desire to reveal just yet. among those who would fain have got much out of me was umhlela, one of dingane's principal indunas--a little soft-voiced man, who would sit among the others and put in a word here and a word there, but always such a word as required careful pondering before i could give an answer to it. however, i had not myself sat at the right hand of a king all my life for nothing. not until i had been three days at nkunkundhlovu did the king send for me. as i took my way to the great hut, through the _isigodhlo_, i noticed that the latter was formed in such wise that, once inside, a man might have difficulty in finding his way out of it, or indeed further into it, which spoke much for the suspiciousness of dingane's character, of all of which i took careful note; for, _nkose_, it is by reading such small things that a man may look into the minds of other men, be they kings or not, even as you white people draw knowledge from books. dingane was seated in the great hut, and with him three _izinduna_-- umhlela, the one who had already sought to draw out of me a great deal more than i had intended he should know; nomapela, him with whom i had come hither; and tambusa, a large fierce-looking man, who hitherto had shown me no active friendship. i did homage to the king; and then, in obedience to his command, sat and prepared to tell my tale. but as i did so i could see that dingane was in a sullen and angry mood. perhaps his sleep had been bad, or he had heard ill tidings; and, _nkose_, whereas _we_ must laugh when we would rather weep, most look pleased when our hearts are bursting with anger and hate, a king is different, in that he need conceal what he feels to please no man. now my tale pleased not dingane much, yet i told it not in its entirety, nor did i say aught as to my attempt on the life of umzilikazi. "so, untuswa," he said, "when the doings of one king do not please thee thou wouldst _konza_ to another?" "that is not quite it, great great one," i ventured. "i am a fighting man, a man of deeds rather than of words. i was but a boy when i fled with umzilikazi, and ever since then has my spear been raised to strike down his enemies, and now he has sorely broken faith with me. i would sooner die than serve such." "_hau_! this is of the sort who would make their kings at their own will," growled tambusa to himself; but i heard him. "i know not which way to take with thee, untuswa," said dingane, doubtfully. "i know not, indeed, whether to trust thee." "there are but two ways, elephant. one is to make thyself master of this new nation, easily and with but little loss. the other way is not to do so, o father of the wise!" "there is yet another way, untuswa, father of the fools," said the king, softly sneering, "and that is the hill of slaughter for thee, rebel and traitor to two kings." "my life is in the hand of the lion of zulu, for i myself have placed it there," i said. "now, father, should i have placed it there had i not known it was of more value to this nation than to me?" "bold words," said dingane, still frowning. "bold deeds are more to my taste, great great one," i said. "the fate of the new nation in the north is in my hand. but if i die, it will never lie beneath the paw of the lion of zulu." the _izinduna_ were staring in amazement at the boldness of my words; but the frown had left the brows of dingane. looking straight at me, he said softly: "and what is to be thy reward for delivering this nation into my hand, untuswa?" "only this, black elephant, that the whole house of matyobane be delivered into my hand," i answered. "then it is only revenge thou seekest?" "only revenge, ruler of the world." gazing keenly at him, i could see now that i had won over dingane. i knew that the existence of our new nation had ever been to the parent race as a sharp stone in the side of a man who sleepeth. i knew that the fear of the zulu power was ever present to the mind of umzilikazi, and that one day that power would, sooner or later, reach him. i knew, moreover, all the weak points of our nation and army; and, knowing this, doubted not my ability to surprise and crush it, given sufficient force, and that with ease. now my revenge looked very near indeed. but if i had won over dingane, there was one power i had yet to deal with, and that was the induna tambusa. in this man i foresaw a formidable opponent, and his word carried weight in the ears of dingane, even as did mine in times past in the ears of umzilikazi. now tambusa spoke: "revenge is a great motive for a man to give up all his cattle and wives in order to obtain it." "some men act from great motives and some from very small ones," i answered shortly; for i, who but yesterday was, next to the king, the greatest in my own nation, could ill brook the tone of this man, who was but an induna like myself. but dingane again took up the talk. "well, untuswa, i must think out this matter. if thou canst deliver this nation into my hand, why then it may be that i will deliver those who remain of the house of matyobane into thine. but if thou failest, what then?" "my life is in the hand of the great great one," i answered. "ha! thou hast well said," replied the king. and then he dismissed me. for many days then i dwelt at nkunkundhlovu; i, who had now become a wanderer; i, who had been a man of large possessions, the chief of many kraals, and the owner of vast herds of cattle, was now as poor as the poorest, living only on the king's bounty. but from time to time dingane would send for me, and we would talk long and earnestly over our plans for conquering umzilikazi. at last i saw my revenge within my grasp. all was in preparation. no more _impis_ were sent out on errands of plunder or punishment, and the regiments which dwelt at the great military kraal of imbele-bele were ordered up to nkunkundhlovu. they came, making a splendid show as they paraded before the king, in full war-array. when this was at an end and i was walking back to my hut, i heard myself hailed by a deep voice. turning, i beheld a fighting chief arrayed in the war dress of the imbele-bele regiment. "it seems to me that this is not our first meeting. wanderer from the north," said this man. "ha! i should know thee," i replied, "for we have exchanged hard blows in a great battle, silwane. more than that, thou didst once cry me the `_bayete_' and didst take orders from me as to the disposal of the invading host of zulu." at those words silwane stared as though he were face to face with a madman. but i brought him to my hut, and there alone, over a bowl of good _tywala_, i told him of those things which had happened during the blackening of the moon which preceded that great battle which was the saving of a nation's life, and of which i have told you, _nkose_, in another tale. when i had done, silwane stared harder than ever, thinking perhaps i was the most wonderful strategist he had ever heard tell of, or the most wonderful liar. "and now, having saved thy nation, thou art to be the means of destroying it, untuswa?" he said. "well, if thou art as good at fighting for us as thou wert against us it will go hard for umzilikazi's army. well do i remember that great white shield of thine in the thick of the battle. _whau_! but we thought it was umzilikazi himself." thus we talked, we two leaders of men--and often afterwards--and we two who had exchanged hard blows face to face now became friends, who were to deal hard blows side by side. almost were we ready to march northward, i say, and now the spirit of lalusini would appear to me in my dreams, but glad and smiling, and by this i knew the omen of our success was good. but on one night i row her thus more plainly than ever, and it seemed i could touch her, and then her face changed, and grew quick and watchful, as though in warning, and it seemed as though the weight of some great peril lay upon me. now as i woke, in something very like fear, i found that one of my swazi wives, who slept at my side, had sprung up and was shaking with fear. she declared that the form of a woman had passed through the hut; that it was a spirit, for assuredly no living woman possessed such beauty of form or face. i knew not what to make of this; yet, while affecting to scorn her tale, i questioned the girl closely. if she, like myself, had but dreamed, why then it was passing strange that our dream should have shown us both the same vision. in truth, i knew not what to think. powerful beyond all others i knew lalusini's magic to be; was it then sufficiently powerful to bring her back from the dead? i thought much of this during the days that followed. but the days that followed brought that which turned all our thoughts in an entirely new direction, for tidings came which were weighty indeed. the amabuna [boers] were advancing into the land of zulu. they were swarming in, men said. the slopes of kwahlamba were covered with flocks and herds--their waggon teams were winding through the mountain passes, seen like vast serpents in the distance, far as the eye could see. in the face of this new enemy umzilikazi was forgotten. no expedition to the north could be undertaken now. day by day men brought tidings. the numbers of the amabuna were countless, they said, and with them, besides their flocks and herds, they had their women and children in their waggons. they had come to remain in this land. well was it, now, that the army had been called up, and was disposed in or around the great place; well indeed for us now, for we would need all our strength to beat back or stamp out this locust swarm. bitter and stubborn fighters were they, and knew how to use their long guns. the war-song was sung, and war-dances were held among our regiments, and the talk of all men was of war. but dingane was uneasy in his mind, and in his rage at not being sooner informed of the advance of the amabuna, he sent for the head men of the outlying kraals and had them killed. two of them he ordered to be impaled upon stakes, within sight of all in nkunkundhlovu. now hard by there dwelt a white man--an _umfundisi_ [teacher or missionary], one of your countrymen, _nkose_. him the king had allowed to live there because he was the friend of another white man who had visited the country alone and in a friendly manner a short while before, but dingane had no love for him or his teaching, nor had any of us in those days. this man, seeing from his house the death of those evil-doers, came quickly down to nkunkundhlovu, hoping he might save the lives of others, for he was a man with a kind heart and hated to behold suffering. now as he came before the king he was very pale, for he had passed close to the place of slaughter where lay those just slain, with broken skulls; and the sight of the agony of the two upon the stakes turned him very sick. "you are somewhat late, my father," said dingane, when the _umfundisi_ would have pleaded for their lives. "the mouths of those who kept them closed too long are now closed for ever. yonder they lie." "but those under torture, king?" urged the white man, hardly able to look in the direction of the stakes, so filled was he with loathing and disgust. "at least give the word that they be put out of their pain." "_au_! here is a marvel!" said dingane laughing; "the white _umfundisi_ actually pleading for the death of men!" "yes, but it is to save them hours of cruel torment," answered the white man quickly. "ah, ah!" laughed the king. "and yet, my father, you teach that nothing but torment awaits bad men after death--torment for ever and ever. is it not so?" now we who listened awaited the _umfundisi's_ reply with some curiosity. "that is so, king, for it is in the word of god," he said. "why, then, if that is so, _umfundisi_, it will make no difference whether i order these to be slain at once or not, since, they being bad men, torment awaits them after death," answered dingane. "but were they bad men, king? what was their crime?" "their crime was that of those who sleep when they should have been awake, _umfundisi_; and i seem to remember that in the stories you teach to my people out of your sacred book such are thrown by the god whom you serve into a place of darkness and of never-ending torment. so the punishment i mete out to my people is less than the punishment your god metes out to his." "but his ways are not as our ways," replied the _umfundisi_, becoming angry. "he alone created life, and he alone has the right to take it. who art thou, sinful man?" he went on, his eyes blazing with wrath, and pointing his finger at the king. "who art thou, thou man of blood, to wreck and mangle god's image thus?" pointing to those upon the stakes. "tremble and know that a judgment awaits thee--yea, a burning fiery looking-for of judgment to come. then the torment that these undergo now shall be a bed of flowers beside such as thine, for thy part shall be in the lake that burneth with fire for ever and ever and ever." the eyes of the _umfundisi_ seemed to blaze, his hair to bristle, as he thundered out his words, shaking his finger at the king; and we--_au_!-- we looked to see a third stake erected to receive the body of this white man, who dared to revile the majesty of the lion of zulu--or, at least, that he be led forth to die beneath the knobsticks of the slayers--and we gazed at the king, awaiting the word. but dingane only laughed. "thou mad _umfundisi_," he said. "had i but spoken of thy god as thy speech is to me i should have gone into torment for ever and ever according to thee and thy teachings. but i am more merciful than thy god, and thou canst go home. yet hearken! i am god over the people of zulu, and if a man disobeys me i order his death--_whau_!--a swift and easy and painless death, or at worst a few hours of torment. but thy god? _whau_! for ever and ever and ever does he torment men after death, in a burning flame of fire! so, _umfundisi_, i am the more merciful of the two; and i think the people of zulu prefer the god they know to the one whom thou and such as thee would teach them to worship. now, go home. _hamba gahle, umfundisi! hamba gahle_!" "_hamba gahle, umfundisi_!" we all cried, deriding the white man as he went away. but some of us wondered that the king should allow him to live, or, at any rate, to remain in the country; and, indeed, had he been a man of any other nation i think he would have died that day; but, being a man of your country, _nkose_, he was allowed to live unmolested, for dingane had no wish to quarrel with the english. but most of us-- especially tambusa--would gladly have seen this interfering _umfundisi_ despatched to--well, to that place of torment whither he had predicted the king should come. chapter thirteen. the tongue of the snake. the cloud which had rolled down upon the land of zulu from the slopes of kwahlamba was destined to be no mere summer cloud, _nkose_, but was charged with thunders, black and threatening. the army, which had been doctored and made ready for war, wearied the king with its clamour to be sent forth against the invaders, and long and oft would dingane hold council with the _izinduna_ as to what was best to be done to repel this peril. now i reckoned it a sign of the honour in which i was held that at such conferences i was ever commanded to be present. but counsels were various. some were for falling upon the amabuna in the passes of kwahlamba; others for allowing them all to cross in peace, and when encamped on our side to throw the whole strength of our army upon them, and, having cut off their retreat, to put every one of them-- man, woman and child--to the assegai--even the suckling babe. "i have a mind to send to the white people at tegwini," [durban. literally "the bay"] said the king. "they are my friends, but not of this new race. it may be that they will aid me to get rid of these amabuna." but tambusa, who hated all whites, opposed this idea of the king's. the people at tegwini, he urged, would stand by these other whites and support them. white was white, and black was black, and all white people stood together against black, although they professed very great friendship when but a mere handful, and had anything to gain by it. he had always objected to this handful of english being allowed to remain at tegwini from the very first. if it was inexpedient to kill them they should have been sent away right out of the country. in this counsel tambusa was right, as subsequent events proved; but, _nkose_, few men would have dared to speak their minds thus boldly. but tambusa although he hated me, i could not but regard with respect as a brave man, and as such he lived and died, as will be shown. "and thou, untuswa," said dingane, "thou hast fought these amabuna. what is thy mind in this matter?" "it is that of tambusa, great great one," i answered. "these amabuna fight hard and die hard, nor is their word to be trusted. he whom i served knew how to handle them--and there is but one way." then i told that tale of how they would have enslaved our nation, and how they plotted with certain of umzilikazi's _izinduna_ to procure the death of that king; and all who heard me murmured aloud that there was but one way for these people, and that was the way of the spear. "a swarm of locusts beaten off returns again," i ended, "and again and again, until the land is eaten up; but a swarm of locusts stamped flat--_au_! there is no more of that swarm. that is my counsel, lion of zulu." and again all murmured aloud in approval of my words, for it was intolerable to us that these strangers should swarm down upon the land, not even so much as asking leave of the king; and this, _nkose_, i felt, as though i had done _konza_ to the house of senzangakona all my life, instead of growing great in the service of another king; for, after all, this was the land of my birth--this people the parent race from which we were all proud to have sprung. moreover, for the present, i thought no more of my revenge. here was more than one great and glorious battle awaiting; it was long since i had taken part in such a one, and the blood rushed and danced in my veins at the thought. from day to day our spies brought in word to the king. the amabuna continued to advance, and they were in great force. their leaders and picked men were stern, determined-looking fighters, fierce of aspect, with their long guns and leather breeches and shaggy beards; and our warriors, listening, lay under arms, their eyes glaring like those of lions, as they awaited the word that should let them loose. then came tidings that the amabuna had formed a great camp some ten days distant from nkunkundhlovu, and that several of their leaders were advancing to talk with the king. soon they arrived. they were but a few men, with their servants. dingane received them in but quiet state, seated at the head of the great open space of the kraal. save the king's body-guard, but few warriors were visible, yet so little did we trust the amabuna that every hut in nkunkundhlovu held two or three armed men ready to spring forth on a given signal, the while relays of spies watched their distant camp, so as to pass the word should any sudden and hostile movement be made thence. the leaders of the amabuna rode into the kraal. they were required to leave their guns with their horses in the centre of the kraal. this they did not at all like, even when told that it was death for any man-- black or white--to come armed into the presence of the king. but they had to do it, or return as they came. "ah, ah! this is not the head of the snake, only its tongue," growled tambusa aside to some of us as we watched the approach of the white men. "soon shall we have its head." dingane was seated in his chair of state, and received the amabuna pleasantly. bowls of _tywala_ were handed round, and then, sitting in a half circle in front of him, the _indaba_ commenced. they had travelled far, they said, even as the people of god in old times, seeking a land where they might dwell in peace. such a land they had found, a land over which the zulu king claimed ownership, but which was little used, if at all, by him or his people. now this land, which lay between the tugela and the umzimvubu, they desired to treat for. for it they would give part payment in cattle and horses, and part payment in acting as friends to the zulu people, supporting them by force of arms in all their lawful quarrels. so should two peoples flourish and grow great, dwelling in peace side by side, the waters of the tugela alone dividing them. "i know not," answered dingane, speaking pleasantly. "when two great bulls stand looking at each other over one fence, are they friends for long?" and we all murmured aloud in praise of the wisdom of the king. but the amabuna replied that the land on each side of the proposed boundary was large enough for both. "the kraal in which stands each of those bulls is large enough for him," said dingane, still speaking pleasantly; "yet it is not long before one of them is through the fence to drive out the other. then he rules over both kraals." what the king said was very true; yet it would not be so in this case, urged the amabuna, for there could be no reason why either should seek a quarrel with the other. the people of their race sought a quarrel with no man. they only desired to be let alone. "why, then, did ye leave your own land?" asked dingane. "why did ye not stay the other side of kwahlamba?" we, who sat around the king, narrowly watching the countenances of the amabuna, could see that these men did not like that question at all. they did not answer for a moment; then they said, through him who spoke as their tongue, for they knew not ours: "we crossed the mountains in obedience to the will of god. it was his will that we should seek out a new land for our wives and our children, and his finger it was that guided us hither. we are even as the people of god in old times, who went to dwell in the land which he had promised them; and, even as they, we are ruled and led by the great book." now we who listened could have laughed aloud, for we had heard something of that people of old to which the amabuna referred. many a tale had the _umfundisi_, who dwelt hard by, told us of that people; how it swept onward, a fierce and unsparing scourge, destroying and enslaving tribes and nations, and seizing their flocks and their herds and their women; and we liked to listen to such tales, for they were those of a right valiant warrior race--indeed, me they reminded of our fierce and destroying flight under umzilikazi. but now we thought those amabuna must be fools, indeed; for if they were the children of that people, still less did we desire them as neighbours. "so ye are the people of god, brothers?" said the king softly, his head on one side. "that is so, king," they answered, looking upward solemnly. "why then, indeed, should we be as brothers, for _we_ are the people of the heavens," [such is the literal meaning of "amazulu"] said dingane. "talk we now of the land. as ye say, i have not much use, nor my people, for this land--yet it is a large country. i know not. i must consider it further. yet stay, there is somewhat ye can do for us as a pledge and an earnest of our future friendship." "and that?" "yonder in the mountains dwells a dog, the head of a tribe of dogs--not large, but difficult to come at, because of the ruggedness of the country they inhabit. this dog has stolen much cattle and many horses from my people and hidden them away in his mountain retreats. now i am without warriors, for the army is away on two expeditions to the northward." we who listened thought we saw the countenances of the amabuna change at this, and inwardly we laughed. if they only knew--ah, if they only knew! "wherefore," went on the king, "if as an earnest of your friendship ye will go and retake this our property, and restore it to us, then it may be we may grant you the use of the land ye need." "and what is the name of the chief of these robbers, king?" asked the amabuna. "u' sikonyela." "the cattle shall be restored, king. do you require sikonyela to be delivered up to you?" "no. i am merciful, and will spare him this time. only warn him that now the amazulu and the amabuna are brothers. now, fare-ye-well. when ye have obtained the restoration of our property, then return hither, and we will talk further about the land." then the amabuna rose and shook the king by the hand, and we, as they took leave of us, all called out "_hambani-gahle_!" ["go ye in peace"] with right good-will. so they took their horses and guns and rode away from nkunkundhlovu, very pleased with themselves and with the king. but the multitude of armed warriors concealed within the huts were not pleased, in that there was no work for their spears that day; but that was to come. ah, yea! plenty of work would there be for their spears before many moons were dead. and we _izinduna_, how we laughed among ourselves, for we knew the mind of dingane. these people must in truth be mad, and worse than mad, to think that the king would give them a vast tract of country in exchange for their friendship and a few cattle--would welcome this swarm of buzzing devouring locusts beating down upon our lands. _hau_! mad, indeed, were they. they opened their mouth wide--very wide--and we thought we knew how we would fill it, but not with the country that lay between the tugela and the umzimvubu. oh, no! there were some among us who would have persuaded dingane to order the death of the _umfundisi_, for we feared lest he should warn the amabuna; but this the king refused to do. the white teacher was not of their race, and he had no quarrel with the english; besides, the very feet of a white man being slain would implant suspicion in the minds of the new arrivals. but the _umfundisi_, unknown to himself, was closely watched, and meanwhile our plans were fully matured. chapter fourteen. the head of the snake. no great time went by before those amabuna returned, having sent word that they were bringing the cattle and horses taken from sikonyela. there were about three-score and ten, and with them, their slaves-- yellow men--to attend them and their horses. dingane had received them in but little state before. now, however, he received them in a great deal. he was attended by all his _izinduna_ and war captains, with the shield-bearer, and the praisers shouting aloud his names with all the power of their mighty voices; and as the amabuna rode into nkunkundhlovu by the lower gate and paced, two by two, up to the centre of the great space, two regiments, in full war array, began a grand dance on either side of them, singing a new song in honour of our guests: "the mouth of the white man is open; it shall be filled--it shall be filled. wide, wide, is it open; full, full, very full shall it be filled. "lo! they come, the friends of the amanita; full, full, shall their mouths be filled. the lion of zulu is as the sun in the heavens; in his warmth--in his warmth shall his new brothers grow great." this and much more did the warriors sing, _nkose_, all referring to the hunger for land of these invading whites. they little knew in what manner their mouths were destined to be filled. "now we have the head of the snake at last," growled tambusa to us in an undertone, during the thunder and din of the singing. "soon shall his tail, too, cease its writhings." signing the dance and song to cease, the king ordered the cattle taken from sikonyela to be brought up. the herd was driven past, outside the fence of the kraal. it was not much of a herd, but dingane was as full of delight over its recovery as though it represented the wealth of a whole nation. now, he said, he felt sure of the friendship and good faith of these his new brothers; but we, watching, thought: "can these people be such fools as to think we shall give them half our country in exchange for a few miserable beasts like this?" then, while talking about the cattle, dingane asked the amabuna to show him how they took cattle from other people in war. this they were very ready to do, and the king having sent the herd some little distance away over the plain, the amabuna sprang upon their hones and galloped to the place. they dismounted and fired their guns--loaded with powder only-- leaping into the saddle again and reloading as they rode; then returning and firing again upon our people, who had been told off to take part in this mimic war. finally, while some kept on firing, others got between the cattle and our men, and, with shouts and yells, swept the beasts forward. on they came at full gallop, then letting the herd rush wildly by, these three-score and ten amabuna, as they came before the king, drew up their horses suddenly and in line, and fired their guns in the air in royal salute. it was well and cleverly done, _nkose_, and dingane was delighted with it, and so, indeed, were we--looking at it as a spectacle. but more than ever were we agreed that men who could make war in that fashion were not the people to welcome as neighbours in a country as large as our own, and with nothing but a river between us and them. oh, no! for two whole days the amabuna remained in their camp outside, and most of the time was spent in talking over the question of the large piece of our country they expected to swallow up. they were well entertained-- for many oxen were slaughtered--and the king ordered abundance of beef and beer to be supplied to them--and, indeed, everything they should want. but during this time our spies and runners had reported that their main camp, where the bulk of their people, with their cattle and women, were left, was peaceful and unsuspicious, and that the men were spread out over the country far and wide, hunting and looking at the land--_our_ land--which they hoped should soon be theirs. on the third night, when all men slept, the king took secret counsel of his principal _izinduna_, and among them was i; for by reason of having met these people in battle, whereas as yet the amazulu had not, my opinions carried weight. "now i think the time has come to stamp out this locust swarm," said dingane. "we have here the head of the snake," said tambusa. "that shall be crushed to-morrow," said the king. "but the writhings of its tail will shake the earth, bringing another snake from over the mountains," put in umhlela, thinking of the waggon camp and all the amabuna left there. "what sayest thou, untuswa?" said the king, turning to me. "this, great great one. to destroy a locust swarm and to spare the eggs is of no great use. and the `eggs' of this locust swarm are yonder." "ha! thou art no fool, untuswa," said the king, knowing that i meant the women and children of the invaders. "this is my counsel, great great one. when the forerunners of this locust swarm sleep for ever tomorrow, let those be sent who shall stamp flat the remainder, sparing none." all murmured in deep assent, and i continued: "let the camp of these plunderers be destroyed as quickly and as silently as possible. then let strong bodies of warriors waylay the return of those outside. such, suspecting nothing, will walk into the snare, so shall we be rid of the whole swarm. thus, on like occasion, acted he whom i formerly served, and our success was thorough." "thou hast the mind of a leader of men untuswa," said the king, greatly pleased. "thou thyself shalt go to-morrow, and see thine own plans carried out." i thanked the king, and when we had talked a little longer over our plans we left the presence and went to our huts to sleep, our hearts beating with fierce anticipation over the thought of what the morrow was to bring. soon after daybreak dingane sent word to the amabuna, who were our visitors, that the time had come to speak decisively about the land, that he had talked the matter over in council with the _izinduna_ of the nation, and now he wanted them all to come into nkunkundhlovu that all might hear his word and carry it back to their people, who awaited it and them. accordingly it was not long before the whole company of the amabuna, with their slaves and attendants rode up to the gate. but there they were met by some who told them they must leave their horses and guns without the gate. this they liked not at all, objecting that on every other occasion of their visit they had been allowed to enter armed and mounted. that was true, but on those occasions there were war dances, and the white men themselves had delighted their amazulu brethren with a mounted display. but this was entirely a peace _indaba_. no warriors were in nkunkundhlovu, and it was dead against zulu custom for strangers to come before the king armed on such an occasion. in fact the king would be highly offended, and would almost certainly refuse to receive them at all. less and less did the amabuna like this proposal. they muttered hurriedly among themselves; then it was just as we knew it would be. they dismounted, stacked their guns outside, and giving their horses to their attendants to hold, entered the kraal. "_whau_! the head of the snake is now under the shadow of the stone that shall crush it," quoth fierce tambusa, as we watched the approach of the unarmed amabuna. they saluted the king gravely, and sat down; but many of them looked displeased and troubled, and well they might, for what is more helpless than an unarmed man! this time the king, with the _izinduna_, was seated near the centre of the open space, not at the upper end, as usual. they spoke about the land. they were glad the king was to give them his word that morning, for the hearts of their countrymen would be glad too, when they should carry back that word. now great bowls of _tywala_ were brought, and as the white men drank, the king talked to them. he rejoiced that that great stretch of country should be used by his friends and brothers, the amabuna. there were a few useless cowardly tribes still in that country, people whom he had spared, but who were thieves; and these he hoped his new friends would prevent from annoying him. while dingane was thus talking, people had been coming into the open space by twos and threes, and now there was quite a number of men within the circle. these bearing no arms, but a stick only, roused no suspicion in the minds of the amabuna, not even when they formed into two lines, or half circles, and began to dance; singing the while the song they had sung to welcome these people on their first arrival. "the mouth of the white man is open; it shall be filled--it shall be filled. lo! they come, the friends of the amazulu; full, very full, shall their mouths be filled." swaying backward and forward, the two half circles danced, now joining at the lower end, so as to form a wall of bodies between those in the centre and the outer gate, now parting again, and leaving the ends open. and, the while, more and more by degrees swelled the number, and the song rose and fell, not loud, but in long-drawn measured note. the while the king was speaking: "fare-ye-well, my brothers," he said. "perchance i shall visit ye in this new land, when ye come to dwell in it. depart now in peace to your countrymen, and tell them how good are the hearts of the amazulu towards you, how good the heart of their king. fare-ye-well! _hambani-gahle_." ["go ye in peace."] dingane had risen while he was speaking, and now, with these words, he turned to depart. the amabuna, too, had risen. "the white man's mouth opens very wide; it shall be filled--it shall be filled." so howled the singers; and lo! a mass of warriors swept in between the king and these strangers; we, the _izinduna_, being outside the circle. with alarm now in their faces, the amabuna turned quickly towards the gate whereby they had entered. but on that side, too, the circle was complete. then they knew that their time had come. they were walled in by a dense array of stalwart warriors. now began such a struggle as never could have been seen. our people had sticks, but were otherwise unarmed, for they might not kill within the precincts of the king's kraal. the amabuna, too, were unarmed, for it was to this end they had been obliged to leave their guns outside the gate. but many of them were large and powerful men, and all fought with the courage of desperate men. they struck out with their fists, and with their feet; they tore out eyes; some were able to draw knives, and with these they slashed and thrust, making the blood fly in spouts. _whau_! that was a struggle--that was a sight. _whau_! hither and thither it swayed--that heaving, striving mass--the shouts and curses of the desperate amabuna rising hoarse amid the din and scuffle of feet, the gasping and the yells, as those of our warriors who were on the outside of the struggle encouraged those within it by yell and whistle. _whau_! how they howled and leapt, how they swung to and fro, how they even rolled on the ground--great heaps of men piled high upon each other, but all kicking, all struggling. but it could not last, for what could three-score and ten men, all unarmed, however valorous, do against a thousand, or, indeed, several thousand? they were borne down and overpowered at last--some were bound with thongs--but all were dragged out from nkunkundhlovu to the place where those were killed whom the king adjudged to die, and there beaten to death with sticks, as the usual manner was. "_hau_! the head of the snake is now crushed!" cried tambusa. "_hambani-gahle, abatagati_!" ["go in peace, doer of dark deeds."] then the hissing and the roars of the savage slayers ceased, and the whole mass of our people trooped back from the place of slaughter, howling, in derision, the song they had made for the amabuna. "the mouth of the white man is open very wide; it _has_ been filled--it _has_ been filled." thus they died, those amabuna--nor did one of them escape; for even their servants, whom they had left outside to hold their horses, were all seized at the same time, and taken to the place of doom. as tambusa had declared, the head of the snake was crushed at last. it is said by you white people, _nkose_, that dingane acted a cruel and treacherous part in thus causing the leaders of the amabuna to be slain. that may be, when seen with a white man's eyes. but seen with ours the thing is different. these amabuna had come to take a large portion of the zulu country from the zulu people, and, had they done so, how long would it have been before they had taken the whole? they made a show of asking the land from the king, but had dingane refused to listen to them, would they have gone back the way they came? is that the manner of the amabuna, i would ask you, _nkose_? again, if their hearts were good, and free from deceit, why did they not send messengers to nkunkundhlovu before they entered the land as they did, to obtain the answer of the king and the zulu people? but instead of doing this, they came over kwahlamba in great numbers, with their horses and their guns, their waggons and their oxen, their cattle and their women, falling upon the land like a vast swarm of devouring locusts. whether they obtained leave or not, they had come to stay, and that we did not wish; and further, by thus entering the zulu country in armed force without the king's permission! they had deserved death. it is true that these people who had been slain were the king's guests, but then we have a custom under which one great chief must not go to the kraal of another great chief of equal rank. the great chief of the amabuna claimed to be the equal of the house of senzangakona. he did not approach the king as a subject, but as an equal; and by our custom dingane was justified in causing him and his followers to be slain, for he had placed himself within the power of the king, and that as an equal. _whau, nkose_! you white people and ourselves see things differently, and i suppose it will always be so. dingane and the zulu people did not choose these invaders to seize their land, so they used what they thought was the quickest and easiest way of preventing them from doing so. chapter fifteen. the crushing of the snake. as we sat there, we _izinduna_, watching the place of slaughter where those evil-doers had found death, we heard the volume of a mighty war-song approaching. those within nkunkundhlovu hushed their own singing and gazed outward. a great _impi_ drew near, marching in columns like unto broad black snakes gliding over the ground. yet, not all black, but spotted; for the white and red of shields, the streaming of cowhair tufts, the rustling of feather capes, showed forth above the blackness of marching bodies. the wavy glint of spear-points in the sun was as a sea of light--the tramp of feet as the dark and terrible array swung onward--the thunder of the war song! _hau_! i could feel all the blood tingling within me, and my eyes were aglow as i gazed. here was a force, indeed. that which had been led against us by mhlangana might equal it, but could hardly surpass it. on they came--and as this vast mass of warriors poured in by the lower gate of nkunkundhlovu they raised the war song of dingane: "us'eziteni, asiyikuza sababona." soon the great open space within was crowded. rank upon rank the warriors squatted there, crouching behind their shields, their eyes glaring like those of lions as they awaited the word which should let them loose upon their prey. when the roar of the "_bayete_," which greeted the king's appearance, had sunk into silence, dingane addressed them: "lion cubs of zulu, you are here in your might, for yonder lies prey worthy of your fangs. yonder is an enemy who has swarmed down upon our land like the deadly locust pest--an enemy who comes with soft words, but never fails to devour that people who is fool enough to believe those words. "there is not room for two nations in the land of zulu. two bulls cannot rule in one kraal. yonder is another bull who would bellow loudest in the zulu fold. the horns of that bull are cut off, but there is enough of him left to attract by his roarings other bulls like unto himself. go now, therefore, and slay that bull. make an end of him utterly." as the king paused, with a wave of the hand in the direction of the distant camp of the amabuna, the warriors made, as though they would have sprung to their feet; but the king's hand restrained them, and they sank back. dingane went on: "when we destroy a locust swarm which is devouring our lands, we do not destroy the flying insects only. the young which appear after them, too, we stamp flat. so shall it be with this locust swarm. stamp it flat. make an end of it utterly. let none escape. go, my children!" as one man that dense mass of warriors rose to its feet. as from one man the "_bayete_" thundered forth from every throat; and the winnowing of shields and quivering rattle of spear-hafts was as a great gale sweeping through a forest. they poured forth from the gates, those terrible ones, broadening out upon the plain beyond, in a great stream of rushing men--of lions, of leopards, hungry for blood; and we _izinduna_, who followed more leisurely, could see in the distance the white _umfundisi_ standing at the door of his house, looking upon our movements. "_whau_!" growled tambusa, scowling towards the white man. "such as that should long since have travelled the way of the spear. it is such evil crows whose croak brings our enemies upon us." "yet that is not ill-doing," i said, "for without enemies how should these lion-cubs find meat for their teeth?" "there is that without these swarms of white carrion," replied tambusa, and his voice was as the snarling of a beast. "_whau_! it is all alike. it licks the feet of the king when it thinks to get land from him. when it has got it, the great great one should be its dog, even as yonder crow dared to croak not many days since. my heart has been heavy ever since that he was not sent to take the place of those upon the stakes." on they sped, those messengers of death, on through the burning glare of mid-day; on through the black gloom of night; on ever, over rugged height, through tangled valley and rushing river, pausing but little to take rest. after many days we saw signs that we were near the camp of the amabuna. we rested then, and pushed on cautiously during the night, until within striking distance. then we paused. little sleep was ours that night. in silence they lay, that black army of terrible ones, with eyes strained upon the first streak of dawn that should reveal to them their prey. it came at last, that dawn. no sound from the camp of those whites told that any were awake and watching. they slept as though safe in their own land, as though they had not of their own accord come to place their necks beneath the paw of the lion of zulu. only the crunch of the jaws of cattle, only the occasional sneeze of a goat, broke the silence. in such silence--in such stillness--did the dawn lighten. then two or three men began to stir, moving sleepily inside the encampment. we could wait no longer. the word was given to fall on. i could not sit still with the _izinduna_ when blows were falling, and at the head of the right horn of the _impi_ i found myself flying over the defences, spear in hand. within, the awakening for those whites was terrible. wild shrieks arose with the roar of our appalling war-shout, as women, with the stamp of death upon their pale countenances, rolled from the waggons, and with arms tossed on high, screamed for that mercy we were not there to show. men were there, too; but these were few, yet they fought. shaggy faces confronted me, jets of flame shone redly in my eyes. my great assegai was shearing around, cleaving the hearts and bodies of these. _whau_! that was a moment! and through it all, i could see lines upon lines of flying bodies, of tufted shields and gleaming spears come surging over the waggons on the other side. we had taken the camp. not yet, however, was our work complete. grouping together, those amabuna stood and fought. _au_! they fought! it was worth living, _nkose_, to see the fight those men made. with hatchets and knives they defended themselves; with clubbed guns, too, for they could no longer reload. man to man, hand to hand, eye to eye, they fought. but the breadth of our broad shields met blow or stab, and the whelming weight of those behind threw upon them such masses of men that they could no longer lift hand, and were borne to earth. blood streamed forth everywhere, and amid the grim death-yells of the amabuna and the screams of their women beneath the assegais rose the shrill "_i-ji_!" the fierce triumph hiss of each victorious warrior as he drove his spear home. and now the whole inside of that great waggon camp was as a den of raging lions let loose. the dead lay in heaps, but any movement seen among such heaps would draw a rush to the place, to stab and stab again. children of all ages--boys, girls, infants--were dragged from their hiding-places and speared. even the cattle within the enclosure were ripped and slain. nothing was spared, young or old, male or female--all were slain; for it was not our custom to spare; and in this matter the king's word had been explicit: "make an end of them utterly." and this we had done. now that all were slain we began to see what plunder the camp contained, that it might be collected for the king. and there was much of it--for besides all manner of provisions and stores, there were things of iron and of glass, knives and axes, and all manner of useful things; but, best of all, there were the long guns of the amabuna, and powder and ball. so much of all this was there that it took time to remove it all, and arrange it in such wise that it could be borne back to nkunkundhlovu, and even then we had to leave some of it. "make an end of them utterly." such had been the word of dingane, and looking at that waggon camp when we left it, i think, _nkose_, you would have said we had obeyed the word of the great great one to the full. by hundreds the slain lay there, heaps and heaps of dead bodies whom the assegai had kissed again and again. in darker heaps, too, lay our own dead; but of this we thought not much, for even these whites, dreaded alike by all nations who had met them, had not been able to stand before the power of zulu. they had been swept away, as all black nations had been before them; swallowed up, and the wave of our might had rolled over them. and as we moved from the place a fierce new song of triumph thundered forth from the ranks of our host. there were some who would have burned the waggons and such stuff as could not be taken away, but this we _izinduna_ would not permit, lest the smoke, seen from afar, should convey warning to other camps of the amabuna. for our work was not yet done. word was now passed that the _impi_ should form up, and indeed not much telling was needed, for their appetite for blood, only whetted with what had already been shed, the warriors could hardly be kept in hand, so eager were they to reach those other camps. but it would have served no good purpose that they should tire themselves by marching at a run. yet, short of this, our advance was a rapid one. even then, however, rapid as it was, we were not to fall upon those other camps, as we had expected, all unprepared. whether it was that some had escaped from the first camp, or that the noise of the shouting and the firing had reached their ears, we found these amabuna with their waggons drawn up so as to form a wall, the spaces between the wheels even being filled in with bags and boxes, and as we drew near they were still busy driving in their cattle and horses, for some of their herds had sighted us from afar. yet even then they were obliged to leave much of their cattle outside. but to this we gave no heed, for we counted all these as ours already, and such as were scattered about the land we could collect at our leisure. with a roar and a rush our _impi_ went at the waggon forts, spreading out in "horns" so as to enwrap the whole in a wall of living leaping men. but the long guns from within began to spit forth destruction and death. pouring into the dense masses of the charging warriors the storm of lead wrought terrible havoc. those behind, eager to get in among the enemy, bore onward the front ranks, and for these there was no turning back. the air trembled with roars of anguish and of fury, as the lead ploughed through body and limb; and in the death-throes the warriors in the foremost ranks would make one more effort to hurl themselves upon the grim foe who lined the waggons, so resolute, so cool, and yet so prompt to strike hard when opportunity offered. sudden as our onslaught had been, huge our force, so grimly determined was the resistance of those amabuna, fighting for their lives and for their cattle and women, that they actually beat back one side of the attack. now we, _izinduna_, as the zulu custom had then become, were taking no active part in the battle, but from our station on a neighbouring rise were directing the movement of our people, by signal or by runner. but seeing one side of the _impi_ falling into confusion we could sit still no longer. tambusa's eyes were like those of a hungry lion, and for long my broad assegai--umzilikazi's gift--had seemed to burn within my grasp. we sprang to our feet. "now, untuswa!" cried silwane, "you and i will fight side by side, even as once we fought against each other." down we rushed. we were here--there--everywhere. under the influence of our presence, the encouragement of our voices, the wavering side of the _impi_ rallied, and hurled itself--a solid black wave--upon the waggon barricade once more. _hau_! i seemed to see nothing clearly then. all was red about me. our warriors, baring their teeth, howled like beasts, making furious leaps in their attempts to reach these determined and terrible enemies; but ever to be met by those fierce, shaggy countenances, smoke-blackened, whence gleamed forth eyes fell with hate and purpose; and the flashes of the guns would singe and blind, so near were they, as they were thrust forward and discharged where the crowd was thickest and most threatening. even their women fought. we could see them behind, loading the guns as fast as the amabuna could fire almost. great broad-faced hags would reach over the waggons and hack at our warriors with axes and choppers, or hurl pans of boiling water over their naked bodies when they approached too near. more hot, more fierce, their fire hissed through our ranks. the amabuna had loaded their guns with many bullets at a time, and these, tearing through our serried ranks at close quarters, cut down our men like corn. again and again they fell back, only to rush forward once more. but every such onward rush was made with less and less of heart. they could not face those terrific storms of lead, and we, _izinduna_, seeing that the day was lost, made haste to draw off our warriors before these, panic-stricken, should break and flee. and what a loss had been ours! the waggon forts seemed ringed in with the heaps of our dead. and those who lived! bleeding, panting, begrimed; shields hacked and slit, broken spears, wounds gaping redly--such was our aspect. many with shattered limbs, where the bullets of the amabuna had met them, dragged themselves forward and begged of their brethren the death of the spear, which was granted them. our repulse was complete. yet there remained the cattle, and all outside the waggon forts we speedily collected; for the amabuna, valiant as they were when under that shelter, were too wise to leave it and come forth to meet us in the open. but although it was a very large and fine herd of beasts which we swept before us on our return to nkunkundhlovu, our minds were uneasy. those amabuna had held their own against us, and were left alive. presently they would bring others. for every one we could kill, five would grow in his place, as, indeed, we were soon to see. chapter sixteen. of a new witch-finding. dingane was very angry when we returned to nkunkundhlovu, and, indeed at first, it looked as though some would pay for our repulse with their lives. but that was no time for sacrificing skilled leaders of men, and winning the resentment of their relatives and following; and this the king knew. so, with gloomy and bitter reproaches, he dismissed us. the first step taken by the two principal _izinduna_, tambusa and umhlela, was to send out and muster every available man throughout the land. all were enrolled, even those whose youth would have precluded them from bearing arms yet awhile, and several new regiments were formed; and while this was going on, a careful watch was kept upon the movements of the amabuna, for we knew not what they might attempt next. it was intended to attack them again before more could join them, but the idea was abandoned, for careful observation showed that we should stand but small chance of success, so warily did they move; scouting the land far and wide, and camping in such strength. so our people watched and waited, biding their time. now all this, _nkose_, in no wise helped forward my plans. i had hoped that we should have made an end of these invaders, and that then dingane would have sent forth a strong _impi_ to crush umzilikazi. so should i have obtained my revenge. but with such a formidable foe upon our borders as these amabuna, the king would not have a single regiment out of call; wherein, of course, he was wise. all of which did not help me, for now there was no more fighting my heart grew heavy once more as i thought of lalusini and how she was lost to me; of my high position among my former nation forfeited for ever. and, indeed, my position among the parent stock was becoming daily far from secure, and i was looked coldly on by many who had been most friendly before, and even by the king himself. this i attributed to the influence of tambusa, who had always hated me, and would be glad if by any means he could compass my death. afterwards i learned that i was right, for, in his jealousy of me, tambusa never lost a chance of poisoning the mind of dingane against me, more than hinting that the repulse of the _impi_ was due to my presence in the battle in a position of command. more and more then did i feel that i was stumbling upon the edge of a very high cliff. more and more did i awaken each morning to wonder if i should see the setting of another sun. then something occurred which still farther deepened my forebodings. on returning from an expedition which had lasted but a few days, i found that one of my swazi wives had disappeared. none knew what had happened to her, but i could see by their looks that it were better not to inquire too closely. well, it mattered not. one girl was as good as another since the loss of lalusini, and i still had two remaining. but she who had disappeared was that same girl who had been by my side what time i had dreamed; and she, too, had awakened in fear, declaring that a vision had passed through the hut, and i thought that the disappearance of this one, rather than that of the other two, augured ill--how, i knew not. as the days went by, the gloom that lay upon the mind of the king deepened, and herein the _izanusi_--ever eager for blood, or for gain-- saw their opportunity. the wizardry which had wrought ill for our arms must be removed. so there was "smelling out," and many were killed; but still the invaders did not melt away in fear, as the witch doctors had promised. on the contrary, they grew stronger; for others crossed kwahlamba to join them. then the _izanusi_ declared they had seen other visions--had received a new and important revelation, to the effect that the workers of _tagati_ had not yet been discovered, but should be by an entirely new method. but dingane was becoming weary of them and their trickeries. he sent for tola, the chief of the _izanusi_, and roundly told him to use what methods he liked, but if his prophecies fell short of fulfilment this time death should be his reward. the land seemed shaken by a shudder of ill-ease. the warriors were growing impatient once more to be sent against the amabuna, but the counsels of umhlela, that we should wait for our enemies to make the first move--as they surely would--prevailed. so when the word went forth that all were to assemble at nkunkundhlovu for a great witch-finding, an eagerness of relief went through all; for now we would see what the new method, as announced by the _izanusi_, would bring forth. many a "smelling out" had i witnessed, _nkose_, as you know, and the truth was, i hated them. i had been too much among the heads of the nation not to know what their real object was, however much the common people might be deceived, and believe--or pretend to--in the power of the _izanusi_. i had known but two real magicians in my life--masuka, the old mosutu, and lalusini, my sorceress wife--and these used not their powers to destroy any, save real evil-doers; never to take the lives of brave men for the sake of gain or malice. all others i knew to be jugglers and impostors, and that tola and his following were of this order i had long since determined. so there was no eagerness in my mind as on the day appointed i sat near the king, in the midst of the other _izinduna_, while the witch doctors began in their usual way. the open space within the great kraal was densely packed, save that room was left for the wild dancing and other ceremonies employed by the _izanusi_. these ran up and down, mouthing and bellowing, and shaking the ornaments of their calling--bladders filled with blood, festoons of entrails of sacrificed beasts, bunches of feathers and bird's claws, and snakes and lizards. now and again they would halt, and pointing with their wands, tipped with giraffe tail, at some one in the crowd, would name him, calling, out a string of instances of witch dealing. this one held converse with a black baboon, that one slept all day and only moved out at night, another was reputed to eat snakes, and so forth. all so named were immediately led forth to the place of slaughter; but i noticed that among them was no person of any consequence. the witch doctors, to all appearance, were destroying them out of sheer wanton craving for blood. dingane was growing impatient. his brows were wrinkled into a heavy frown. not for such a well-worn exhibition as this, surely, had the bulk of the nation been convened. if so, then indeed it would go ill with tola and his following. this was running in the mind of the king; and i, who sat near him, could see into his thoughts. now the witch doctors ceased in their mouthings, and suddenly, from behind them, appeared a band of girls. there might have been three score of them, and they seemed to have been chosen from the handsomest and finest of the nation. they were arrayed in the richest beadwork, and wore wreaths of green leaves upon their heads and twined around their shapely limbs. a strange band, indeed, to spring up suddenly from the midst of those wizard-hounds of blood and of death. they advanced, swaying to a measured dancing step, and softly singing. a deep murmur of amazement and delight arose from all; for this was a fair and goodly sight, and all welcomed it as a relief from the grim hideousness of the witch doctors. a weight of fear seemed lifted from the minds of many. these, surely, were not here to doom to death. but as their singing rose louder and louder, as i caught the burden of their song, i, for one, felt by no means so sure. they sang of a nation cursed by an evil blight, of the counsels of strangers, of the first repulse the great zulu power had ever known, of the presence of strangers in the ranks of the lion-cubs, of the presence _of a stranger_. and every time they repeated the words they would sway round so as to face me, as i sat among the _izinduna_ at the right hand of the king. then, _nkose_, the nerves within me seemed to tingle. well knew i the meaning of this. _i_ was the object of their denunciations. any moment now i might step into the dark unknown. doom had found me at last. _i was being "smelt out_." well, indeed, could i see through it all now. this had been arranged between tambusa, my enemy, and tola, the head _izanusi_. the singing band of girls, designed to add novelty to the witch finding, as well as to please dingane, had for its object my death. the red cloud began to surge around my brain as i sat there. not in me was it to die tamely; and softly i reached forth for the stick which was the only approach to a weapon which custom allowed upon such an occasion, and calculated how great a spring would enable me to crush in tambusa's skull ere they could lay hands on me. the death of the stake would be my lot; no matter--i must slay somebody. the band of singing-girls swayed nearer and nearer; then with a rush of their light feet they came straight for me. now for the doom. but--not yet. some unseen force seemed to turn them back again. they held on around the circle, not having pointed at or named me. this happened several times, and each time i looked to hear the word of doom, each time i tightened up my muscles for my spring upon tambusa. each time, too, the song denunciatory of "the stranger" grew fiercer, each time only to sink and die away in their throats. then the _izanusi_, as in encouragement, lifted up their deep hoarse voices, as the voices of beasts growling for blood. _whau, nkose_! i can see it all still--for at such moments a man may seem to live a thousand lifetimes--the immense kraal, with its ringed fences and vast circles of yellow huts--the assembled multitude blackening the earth in its awed hush--the sea of expectant faces--the countenance of the king sternly set, those of the _izinduna_ expressionless as stones--the band of singing-girls--the savage eyes of the witch doctors--and, as a background to the whole, a brooding sky, blue-black with the threatenings of its pent-up storm. once more, encouraged by the wild howling of the _izanusi_, this strange band of doom came whirling towards me. this time i was gone. but, no! they halted more suddenly than before, and their song seemed to die on their very lips. then i looked up from calculating the distance between my stick and the skull of tambusa, and beheld--a woman! she was standing alone in the open, midway between the cloud of scowling witch doctors and the band of girls, and there was that in her wondrous eyes which constrained and controlled the latter. she, too, was arrayed in rich beadwork, but wore no wreaths or garlands of leaves, and as i gazed upon her standing there--a splendid and majestic form--why then, _nkose_, anybody who chose might have stepped up and slain me, unresisting in my amazement. for she who stood there was none other than my lost sorceress-wife, lalusini. had the shades sent forth their spirits? had the grim alligators in umzilikazi's pool of death shrank back in fear from so royal a prey? was i dreaming, or had i gone mad with the prolonged suspense of my impending doom? no! in the very life there she stood--she to avenge whom i would have slain a king--would have destroyed a whole mighty nation. and she stood there to avert from me the sure and dreadful death--the death of the man at whom the witch-wand has been pointed. one glance she flashed upon me from her wonderful eyes--quick, full, penetrating--one glance and no more; but in that glance i knew i was safe, for who should harm one whom the most marvellous magic ever known now protected? for some time thus she stood, speaking no word, only gazing around with calm commanding eyes. then the king grew impatient. "have done," he exclaimed, with a frown. "let us see whether the magic of mahlula is greater than that of tola." "the magic of mahlula," had said dingane. then lalusini was not known. yet it seemed to me the majesty of the house of senzangakona was so stamped upon every feature that her very look must betray her. "judge now for thyself, father of the wise," she replied. "this is the word of mahlula. the `stranger' of whom tola speaks, of whom his company did but now sing, is not here, else these"--showing with a sweep of the hand the band of girls, who had ceased their movements and were now sitting in a ring around her--"these whom i have trained and taught would have found him--for my will works through theirs--my eyes see through theirs. therefore, he cannot be here." "why, then, are we?" said dingane, with a meaning in his tone that boded ill for tola and his following. "was it to learn the fate of a nation, great great one?" answered lalusini, or mahlula, as she was known here. "learn it then so far. the end is not yet. but--i see the shook of war. i see men and horses advancing. the lion-cubs of zulu flee before them. but lying behind the hills on either side is a dark cloud of terrible ones. still they advance, those whites. then that cloud whirls down upon them, breaks over them. ha! there are death-screams as the flash of the spears rises and falls, and horses straggling, hoofs in air, and the song of those black ones is a battle-song of triumph." now i saw that the speaker had fallen into one of those divining trances i knew so well, and in which all she foretold had come to pass. dingane, too, began to see this, and asked eagerly, yet not without awe in his tone: "and when shall this be, sister?" "hearken to no idle counsels. heed no false magic," she answered, with meaning. "i, and i alone, can see into the future. be led by me if this nation would live." with these words, i, who looked, saw the vision pass away from lalusini's countenance, and her eyes were as those of one who awakens out of a deep sleep. the king, too, must have seen it, for he forebore to question her further. then he spoke, low at first, but raising his voice in a black and terrible burst of wrath. "now of yon impostors i will make an end. take them away, ye black ones." and he pointed with his spear at tola and his following. at the word of the king, the slayers sprang forward. but the witch doctors fled howling, and keeping in a compact body, broke through all who stood in their path, and the lower end of the kraal became full of the kicking, tumbling bodies of men. but the slayers were among them; and the people barring their way to the lower gate, they were seized and dragged, howling and shrieking, without the kraal. and as the knobkerries fell with a heavy thud upon their cunning and bloodthirsty brains, a murmur of fierce delight escaped all who heard, for the people hated these wolves of _izanusi_, and rejoiced that they themselves should taste the death they loved to deal out to others. there was one, however, who did not so rejoice, and that was tambusa; indeed at first he had made a movement to stay the word, which was that of doom to the _izanusi_; but the look on the face of dingane was so fell and deadly, that even the boldness of tambusa quailed before it. and i--_whau_!--i rejoiced that i still lived, and that tola was dead. but tambusa did not. chapter seventeen. the dwelling of the wise one. with the slaughter of the witch doctors dingane had retired, and the vast assemblage of the people, breaking up, was streaming away in different directions. mahlula had disappeared. then, having gained my huts, i gave orders that i was to be left alone, and sat down to take snuff and to think. for here was a wonderful thing. she whom i had thought dead was alive again--had reappeared at the very moment when death would otherwise have overtaken me. there was something of fear in my mind as i thought of it all. was it really lalusini whom i had seen, or was it another sorceress who bore to her a most marvellous likeness--a sister, perhaps? but even the house of senzangakona could not produce two such, i reflected; and then the very method she had adopted of averting from me the doom was the method of lalusini. and now i longed for her again, for, as i told you, _nkose_, i loved her as you white men love your women; but if, for some reason, she had been forced to hide herself under another name, how could i, the wanderer, the stranger, the man who had come hither to deliver his own nation to destruction, reveal the real relationship between us by laying claim to her? how was it i had never heard men speak of her? no talk, no word of a marvellous witch doctress, of a sorceress like no other ever seen, had reached my ear. tola i knew, and those who worked magic with him, but of this one never a word. was it because i was a stranger and not yet fully trusted? but old gegesa's tale was untrue anyhow, for here was lalusini alive and well, and beautiful as ever. then i thought how to get speech with her. to this end i went out. first i sought the hut of silwane. but when after bringing round the talk to the events of the morning i would have drawn out of him what he knew as to the sorceress mahlula, i found that he knew but little, as did those who sat in his hut. her appearance in their midst was mystery, her movements were mystery, her very dwelling was mystery; and hearing this i thought how greatly i could have amazed silwane by revealing how it was through the magic of this sorceress that our arms had won success over the great _impi_ he had helped to command at the place of the three rifts. but from them i could obtain no tidings, nor from any with whom i talked on the subject; and as day after day went by, i began to wish i had not beheld lalusini again, for now it seemed as though i were losing her once more. then my mind went back--back over my life since i had first beheld lalusini and at great peril had managed to keep her for myself; back over our first meetings in the rock chamber of the mountain of death, what time we had eaten up the bakoni, the nation who owned the blue cattle, and i remembered her words: "there is a people into whose midst i will one day return, and there i shall be great indeed, and you through me." ha! was this part of a scheme--of a carefully-matured plan? it seemed like it. so i resolved to wait and let things shape their course. now the very day on which i had formed this resolve i chanced to be outside of nkunkundhlovu alone. two girls strode by me with bundles on their heads, and as they did so, one whispered, "this night--induna of the great one who site in the north. this night, by the two large reed-beds at the turn of the river. mahlula waits." the speaker passed on, but i, _nkose_--my blood leaped at the words. at last i would have speech with lalusini. at last we would meet face to face. yet, even in the midst of my joy came a misgiving. was it a snare--was it a trap tambusa had set for my undoing? for the man who wanders at night on mysterious business--_au_! he is soon an object of suspicion, and to be an object of suspicion at that time meant death. this, however, i was ready to risk, but for all that i resolved to proceed warily, and he who should attempt treachery upon me might well wish he never had. so with my great assegai, together with a heavy knob-stick and a small shield, i wandered up the river shortly before sundown, and did not return to nkunkundhlovu for the night. it had fallen quite dark, though the stars glittered forth in countless eyes from the blackness above. there was just the faintest murmur of the wind in the reed-beds, like the sigh of one who waits, and expecting, is disappointed for the time. the water flowed, evenly and smooth, lapping a low rock slab on the opposite bank, and now and again a soft splash and ripple as some crocodile rose or sank. in the air was a feeling of wizardry and awe; but i had passed through too many strange things to hold such in fear. yet it seemed over long that i sat by that dark water and whispering reeds, waiting, while i listened to the many voices of the night, near and far. "greeting, untuswa!" the words seemed to come out of nowhere. quickly i looked up, but the voice was not that of lalusini! then i made out a dark shape--a very shadow. "follow now, holder of the white shield," it said, and immediately began to move away. the voice was that of a woman--soft and pleasing. keeping the shadow in view, yet warily, i moved forward. beneath the heavy gloom of trees overhanging the river bank we moved, and i had quite lost to view my guide, but at such times her voice would lead me; and at last i found she had halted at the entrance to a great rift like unto that wherein i had hid what time jambula was surprised by the _impi_ in search of me. my guide signed me to follow, and lo! we were threading our way in darkness between two great walls of earth. then a light shone dully forth, and there, in a cave formed by the closing of the earth walls overhead, i beheld a fire. "advance now, induna of another king," said the voice of my guide, "for my errand is done." even as i looked round for her she had disappeared. but raising my eyes to the lighted space in front i beheld that which made me forget all else, for before me stood lalusini. in the circle of firelight there she stood, a smile of welcome wreathing her lips, her splendid form erect and tall as when i last saw it standing to watch me out of sight what time i had started for the valley of the red death. there she stood, her hands extended towards me. "welcome, untuswa," she said. "thus do we meet once more." no words did i utter, _nkose_. i sprang to her side and we embraced long and warmly. then we sat down to talk, for we had much to say. "welcome, untuswa," she repeated, still holding my hands. "welcome, thou great brave one who would have slain a king who knew not how to keep faith." "ha! but how didst thou know?" i cried in amazement. "what do i not know? tell me that," she said, smiling at me. "listen; i saw the midnight struggle in the `great hut' of the _isigodhlo_. i saw the dark way along the cliffs of the inkume. was not my _muti_ in the buck with its fawn that saved thee from the pursuing _impi_ by showing no alarm, even as the _muti_ upon thy neck saved thee when umzilikazi lay prone and stupified?" "_e-he_! but that is indeed so. and it was thy _muti_ which saved me from the hatred of tambusa and tola but a few days since," i answered. "but, tell me now, lalusini, was not that tale true which was told me by old gegesa?" "it was true so far as she knew. ha! when umzilikazi's slaying dogs came to hale me forth in the black night, i laughed to myself, for i knew i had that by which the alligators should not harm me. i leaped into the dreadful pool where so many have died--and--came out quietly on the other side what time those dogs returned to report to umzilikazi that the sorceress he hated would trouble him no more; but perhaps in that they lied--ah, ah, untuswa, perhaps they lied! not for nothing did that great one from whom i sprung cause me to be taught the deepest mysteries of the magic of the wise. and thyself, untuswa, through many wanderings earnest thou here?" "_whau_! not to thee need i tell of my wanderings, lalusini, thou to whom all things are known." i said. "and i think among such things are all thy wanderings," she laughed. "thou camest here to deliver the amandebeli into the hand of dingane." "that is so, lalusini; and for thy death the whole house of matyobane should have died a thousand deaths. and now?" "and now? we will see what the future may unfold." thus we sat and talked on far into the night, and many a question did i put to talumni concerning her own wanderings, and how she had first appeared at nkunkundhlovu. i found she had been there before my own arrival; but when i asked why she had taken another name, and whether dingane really believed the account she had given of herself, she said: "i know not how clear of suspicion is the king's mind, but that it is not entirely clear let this tell: never once has the great great one desired that i should become an inmate of the _isigodhlo_. now dingane's love for handsome women is known to the whole nation, and i-- well i am not quite the least comely of my sex, untuswa." this she said with a playful smile. "therefore it may be that he suspects something." then i told her about tambusa, and how his enmity placed me in daily peril. her face clouded somewhat. "we must suffer him for the present, untuswa," she said. "he may be necessary to me in my plans, and to compass his death would be to jeopardise those plans. he and umhlela are all powerful in the nation, yet they must remain so for a little longer. still, be wary and cautious, for even the shield of my _muti_ may not always be broad enough to shelter thee." the night had fled as we sat thus together--yes, indeed, it had fled-- and now lalusini bade me leave her and return, so that i might have time to travel while it was yet dark, and mix with those who were about outside of nkunkundhlovu in the morning. this would be the easier, as the morning would be a misty one, for which reason, indeed, she had chosen this night for our meeting. thus we parted, and it was arranged that i should not seek her out again until she sent me word, as before. she wanted for nothing--there were those who supplied her wants, and her dwelling-place was safe and secure. none dared invade it. as once more i threaded my way along the river-bank in the darkness, i sang softly to myself, not in fear, as many of our people do, to keep away evil ghosts, but in joy. my beautiful sorceress wife! _au_! was there ever another such?--and she seemed to have returned to me from the dark deeps of the dead. but with my joy there mingled another thought. the desire for vengeance seemed to have passed--the longing to deliver my former nation over to the spears of dingane seemed wondrously to have diminished. i remembered old comradeship--and friends, many and brave, who had charged with me in close and serried line, shoulder to shoulder, in the lightning rush of our might as we hurled ourselves on the foe; who had sprung forward with redoubled courage to the rallying wave of my white shield; and now it seemed that i desired no longer the destruction of these. with the recovery of lalusini, my rancour against umzilikazi even seemed to melt away. but only to accomplish such destruction had i been allowed to _konza_ to dingane, wherefore now i was as one who is jammed against a tree between the long horns of a fierce and savage cow--he cannot remain thus for ever, and does he but move, why one horn or the other must pierce him. well, at present, with the amabuna threatening us, we had enough to take care of for some time to come. umzilikazi could not be attended to until afterwards. while comforting myself with this thought, something happened. there was a rustling in the grass, and a quick patter of feet. it was the darkest hour of the night, namely, that which precedes the dawn; but my eyes, well accustomed to the gloom, could distinguish the swift glide of fleeing shapes--indeed, a frightened, snarling yelp arose, as one of the shapes nearly came against me as i stood to listen. but they fled-- those wild creatures of the night--after the manner of beasts who disperse when suddenly startled from their prey. then there came to my ears a low wail, as the moaning of a woman in fear, or in pain, perhaps both. chapter eighteen. the refugees of the ngome. at first i liked it not, for strange _tagati_ beings are about in the darkness--half-man, half-beast--who rend those that wander alone at night. but even of such i felt no fear then, wherefore i went straight to the spot whence the sound came; and, ready to use my spear if need be, called out to know who it was that spoke. the answer came almost beneath my feet, and in the darkness i could make out a form lying there. i bent down and touched it. it was the form of a woman. "remain by me till dawn," gasped a voice hoarse with pain and fear. "those horrible beasts. they will rend me again. oh, kill me, for i suffer agonies!" "who art thou?" i said, not liking this encounter. "nomshasa, the wife of untuswa," came the feeble answer. _whau, nkose_! then, indeed, did i well-nigh leap for amazement. for the name was that of one of my swazi wives--that one who had mysteriously disappeared, and whom i had never expected to behold again. bending over her, i strove, to raise her head; but as i moved her, though ever so gently, she shrieked. "ah--touch me not! i am torn in pieces. those horrible beasts! put me out of my pain. one blow at the back of the head will do it." now the first streak of dawn had begun to lighten the earth, and by it i could see that what she said was so indeed. the hyenas which i had disturbed had indeed begun to devour her, and her body was hideously torn. but how had she come into that helpless plight? then, by the fast increasing light, she knew me, and called me by name. and i, _nkose_, gazing at her, i was filled with horror. the whole of her scalp was one mass of blood, and it seemed as though her skull had been battered in. her elbow joints were smashed and swollen; so too, were her wrists, and there were marks of frightful burns upon her body. the marvel was she was alive at all. i was full of pity for her, for she had been a handsome and pleasing girl, and during the short time since the king had given her to me to wife she had always done well by me. now, making a great effort, she told me her tale. during my absence against, the amabuna she had been seized by order of umhlela, and questioned as to my doings, but could tell nothing that would go against me in an accusation of witchcraft. she was kept a close prisoner in a hut until the return of tambusa, when she had been put to the torture to force her to confess. they had burned her with fire, had broken her joints with heavy knob-sticks, and that not on one day, but on many; but she would say nothing, till at last, losing patience, tambusa had ordered her to be thrown outside and knobkerried. but the slayers had done their work in bungling fashion, and so she had waited until night and dragged herself away in the darkness to die alone. then, when faint and too weak to move, the hyenas had fallen upon her. no, the king could not have known, for it was in order to condemn me before him that they had tortured her, she said. but when i asked why they should have selected her rather than the other two, then, _nkose_, came in the old, old tale, the mischief that can be wrought by a woman's tongue. that vision which nomshasa had beheld while asleep at my side she could not keep to herself. she had chattered about it, and this coming to the ears of the two principal indunas who, in their jealous hatred, were watching my every movement, had put it into their minds to use her as a means of substantiating a charge of witchcraft against me, such a charge as dingane himself would hardly venture to shield me from the penalty of. but the poor girl had been heavily punished indeed for giving way to the weakness of women--the wagging of too long a tongue; though in her constancy under the torments they heaped upon her she had shown no weakness at all, but rather the strength and bravery of the most valiant of warriors; and this i told her. she was greatly pleased, and a drawn smile came over her face in the midst of her pain. "i loved thee, untuswa," she said, "and i rejoiced when the king gave me, a captive girl who might have been made a slave, to wife to such a noted warrior as thou. and i think thou didst prefer me a little to the other two, but thou wert ever kind to me, and the torturers might have torn me into small pieces before i would have let fall one word to harm thee. and now i think i were better dead, for there might in time be others whom thou might prefer to me; yet for a little while i have been first." all this was said, not as i have told it to you, _nkose_, but slowly and in gasps, and i, well, thinking of lalusini, it seemed that her words were those of wisdom, for i had known experience of the jealousy of women. yet i said: "thou wouldst ever have lived in great honour, nomshasa, and have been counted great among my wives." "but not greatest--" she said, attempting to smile. "yet hearken, untuswa, and be warned. return not to nkunkundhlovu, for death awaits thee there. there is another great bull of the house of senzangakona who would fain roar in this kraal. mpande would welcome such a fighter as thee." the dawn had now spread, and soon the sun would come forth from behind the rim of the world. and now, in the full daylight, the terrible injuries that poor nomshasa had received, both from the torturers and the teeth and claws of the beasts, looked so awful that every living moment must be to her a moment of intense agony. she could not live. she must have seen into my thoughts, for she said: "it is time to give me rest, untuswa. yet return not to dingane. they who were appointed to slay me jeered me beneath their blows, saying that before another sun or two set thy shade should join mine. wherefore, flee. and now--strike!" i looked at her, and my heart was heavy with pity and wrath. then i said: "i will strike indeed, nomshasa, for thy pain is too great. yet let this lighten it. when the day of my power comes, be assured that the pangs of tambusa and all who bore part in this matter shall be greater than thine. now--art thou ready?" "i am. no death could i have preferred to death at thy hand, untuswa. yet, hold my hand in thine unarmed one as the blow falls." i turned her gently over upon her side, but she groaned with the agony of it. then with my left hand i held hers. for a moment i looked at her. her eyes were closed, and something like a smile was upon her face. i raised my right arm aloft, then with one quick crashing blow brought the heavy knob-stick down. it fell, fair--just where the base of the skull joins the back of the neck. her agony was over. no shudder even ran through her, so completely, so suddenly had death overtaken her. notwithstanding the warning of nomshasa, i still took my way in the direction of nkunkundhlovu, for i thought i might perhaps gather from those i should meet whether the danger threatening was very near or not; whereas by taking a contrary direction it might overtake me suddenly and unawares, as peril springs out upon one who is blind. yet i proceeded with great caution, so that presently, seeing several men approach, armed with spears and shields, i dropped out of sight to let them pass. but soon after them came another--a tall man and ringed. him i surveyed a moment, and recognised silwane. but, to my surprise, when i would have accosted him he turned away, as though not aware of my presence. this looked strange, but while i was pondering as to what it could mean, i heard silwane begin to sing softly to himself. i listened as the words grew louder and louder, yet not so as they could have been heard from afar. and the words were strange, for he sang of a buffalo-bull for whom hunters lay in wait, whom their circle had well-nigh closed around; that the ngome mountains were wild and broken, full of great forests and impenetrable hiding-places; and that there, and there only, had the hunted buffalo fled, that there, and there only, might he be safe. so he kept on singing. to any who heard, he might have been muttering an ordinary hunting-song, but to me, listening, ah! i saw his meaning. he had not really failed to observe me, but the last thing he desired was to do so in fact; and now he raised that song in urgent warning. ah! he was a man, indeed, _nkose_, was that same silwane; a valiant fighter when we met in battle in opposite ranks; a true and faithful brother of the spear now that we had fought side by side. so i saw through his warning and the advice it conveyed, yet before acting upon it i would take counsel with lalusini. to this end i turned back, and travelling with great caution, at length i gained the strange earth cave where she dwelt. she was surprised when she saw me, and somewhat disturbed. i told her all that had occurred--the death of poor nomshasa and her warning; the meeting and warning of silwane. but when i came to nomshasa's idea that i should join in the plots of mpande she shook her head. "that will not do, untuswa. that will not further my plans at all. _au_! it seems that our places are reversed," she went on, with a laugh; "but it will not be always so. i know this people better than thou dost, and am in a better position to watch and wait, and, if need be, act. now the only way by which mpande can sit in the seat of dingane is with the aid of the amabuna, and we have no need of these white invaders. here is my counsel, untuswa. flee hence to the ngome forests beyond the black umfolosi, and lie hidden awhile. there dwell a number of men who have sought refuge, and who will welcome thee among them." "a wanderer again! well, if it must be. but how is it that these people, if refugees, are allowed to dwell in the heart of the land unsought for?" "because the king does not really desire their death. they are made up of men who have been smelt out by the _izanusi_, and have managed to escape; others whom the king has doomed, not really meaning that they should be slain, or the _izinduna_ have plotted to destroy, and who having been warned in time, fled; also the relatives of these men, dreading lest the doom should fall upon them also. now these men are so numerous as almost to constitute a tribe in themselves; they are wild and fierce, but will welcome such another fighter. that is the only plan, untuswa; thou must flee to the bapongqolo. did not even the warning of silwane convey that? was it not about a hunted buffalo who found safety in the ngome forests?" "that is so, lalusini," i answered. "yet it seems that i have found thee after all this time of sorrow, only that we must lose sight of each other immediately." and i looked at her sadly. "patience, untuswa," she said. "i am planning to make thee great, that thou and i together may rule the world. say, are we not of the sort who are born to that end?" and, coming over to me, she placed both hands upon my shoulders, looking up into my face; nor had she to look _up_ very much, for, tall as i was, she, for a woman, was of splendid stature. "i think, indeed, we are well fitted to rule it," i answered, with pride. "then go now, a wanderer once more, untuswa, but only for a short while. besides, it may be that i will find thee but, even among the fierce bapongqolo, from time to time," she added. "why, then, go i forth with joy," i answered. "farewell, lalusini. delay not to find me out." she gave me a few things which i might need, food, and a casting-spear or two, and a large new war-shield--i having come forth with but a small dancing shield--and thus once more fared i forth a wanderer, a fugitive from the parent nation, even as from its offshoot. verily it seemed as though i were to find no rest. now the undertaking before me was, to a man of my experience and familiarity with peril, no very great one, for by using ordinary caution i could always travel unobserved. i avoided the kraals of men, moving mostly at night. twice i saw in the distance bodies of armed warriors who might or might not have been in search of me; but these i easily eluded, though delayed thereby; and the third evening after parting with lalusini i was well in among the wildest solitudes of the ngome forest. and they were solitudes, _nkose_. the great slopes and spurs of the mountains were covered with dense forest surging up in seas of foliage against the immense rock walls of the lebombo mountains. below, chasms and deep ravines through which the mountain streams whimpered, half hidden beneath the decaying vegetation and rotting tree-trunks of ages. and of animal life, of bird life, of insect life--_whau_! the air was never still. by day the black chasms boomed with the hoarse bark of the dog-snouted baboons, and at night thundered from cliff to cliff the roar of the lion. birds chattered and piped, and the buzz of insects hung ever upon the air, but of man and his habitations never a sign. "now," thought i, "where are these people of whom lalusini spoke? for these solitudes are not altogether to my mind. i like better not to dwell alone," but still i wandered through unpeopled forests, seeing no sign of man, i grew uneasy. there was abundance of game, easily slain, too. still i desired converse. this, however, came my way at last, and in right startling manner did it come. i had turned the corner of a great rock, where the track i had been following opened into a grassy glade. suddenly there sprang up right at my feet several men fully armed, who, with a loud shout, called on me to halt. chapter nineteen. the vengeance of the refugees. "an _impi_ sent by dingane," was my first thought, as i gassed upon the fierce countenances and the spears poised aloft with threatening flash. "who art thou--and whence?" said he who appeared to be the leader, a tall man and savage of mien. "rather, who are ye?" i answered, with another question, affronted by the insolent tone employed by the speaker. "see these," he answered swiftly. "speak or die! you are one man, and these are several." "yet i have fought with several before this day, o unknown," i retorted, with a swift movement, throwing up my shield in defence, at the same time backing towards the rock, so that they could not get round me. so i stood ready for a merry fight, for the leader alone would have taken up all my attention, so tall and strong was he--and there were others. to my surprise they did not come on. the leader again spoke. "once more, who art thou? he who wanders in the retreat of the bapongqolo must needs give an account of himself." "_e-he_!" assented the others. then i lowered shield and weapons at once. "i am untuswa, the son of ntelani. perchance ye have heard of him, ye who are refugees." by the look which they exchanged i knew they had heard of me. then the leader said: "what seek you here, untuswa, for in truth that is a name which is known?" "i seek a refuge among the people who are in refuge," i said. "why then, thou art welcome, untuswa," he replied. "i am sifadu, the son of kona, and i wielded a sharp spear in the ranks of the imbele-bele, of which i was a captain. but tola, that jackal-spawned cheat, did name my father at a witch-finding, and he, being old, died the death of the black ants; but i and the remainder of his house escaped--and here we are." "tola will name no more, sifadu," i said. "the knob-sticks of the king's slayers have put that form of pleasure beyond his reach." "he is dead, then! _haul_ i am glad, and yet not, for one day i had promised myself the delight of having him enticed here that he might die the death my father suffered through him. i would pay ten cows as the price of that pleasure--yes, willingly." and the look on the face of sifadu was such that it was perhaps as well for tola in the long run that he had died the swift and painless death of the knobstick. thus we conversed, sifadu and i, and as we journeyed i told him and the others a great deal of what had happened; of the invasion of the amabuna, and how we had destroyed many of them. they had heard something of this, but i, who had taken part in it, was able to tell them everything. but what they especially wanted to know about was the rumour of plotting in favour of mpande. of this, however, i could not tell them much, because i knew but little myself. the principal place of the bapongqolo consisted not of one large kraal, but a number of small ones; and so scattered were these, and so carefully hidden, away in the dense forest which covered the slopes of a vast hollow or bowl, that it would be well-nigh impossible to strike them all at one blow; and to this end was such concealment planned. impossible, too, would it have been for any considerable number of men to have penetrated the hollow without their advance having been long since known to the inhabitants, so dense and rock-strewn were the approaches; and, indeed, all such were under the observation of small outpost kraals, which served the purposes of pickets. i gathered that these refugees were counted by hundreds. they were of all ages, from quite old men down to boys. most of them, however, were middle-aged men in their prime; but whether the fact of being refugees kept them ever on the alert, all had a quick, ready, and fearless look, together with fine and well-knit frames, that stamped them as a warrior clan of no contemptible strength. and to sifadu all seemed to look up as to a recognised chief. of this sifadu i knew not quite what to make. he was friendly at first, but as time went by he seemed to look at me with jealous and suspicious eyes, as though he thought that a man of my standing and prowess would hardly be content with the position of one among many, wherein he was right, perhaps. of one thing, however, i was certain. did i or any other man desire the chieftainship of these outlaws sifadu would first have to be dead. for the present, however, i had no such thoughts. i was content to dwell quietly and unmolested, and await the turn events might take. so, as time went by, i seemed to have become as one of the bapongqolo. together we hunted the wild game of the forest--together we made descents in search of plunder into the swazi country or the lands of the amatonga, or levied tribute from the kraals lying beyond the outskirts of our own fastnesses; and so feared were we that none thought of resistance or retaliation. "of a truth, untuswa, the day might come when dingane himself would be glad to join us," said sifadu to me, as we were returning from one of these forays. "with our help, even we might save him his seat. then should we not be among the highest of the nation? then would there not be some who might groan aloud because the son of kona had returned?" such a thought as this had been in my own mind, but i desired not to foster it in that of others, at least, not until i had determined upon my own plans; so to sifadu i replied lightly on the matter, treating it as of no importance. lalusini had kept her word, and twice had arranged that we should meet and hold long converse together. but on the second of these occasions her news was great. the amabuna had crossed the tugela in great force, intending to march upon nkunkundhlovu. there had been a tremendous battle, but the army of dingane had defeated them and had driven them back; and but for their horses would have stamped them out entirely. then the english at tegwini had undertaken to interfere in this quarrel, and had crossed the tugela with a large _impi_ of amakafula. these, however, got no further than the bank of the tugela, for the king's warriors made meat of that _impi_ until the river ran red with their blood; and, in his wrath and disgust at this breach of faith on the part of the whites at tegwini, dingane sent an _impi_ there to eat them up, too. _whau_! and they would have been eaten up but that they took to the water--took refuge on a ship that was there--for these whites, _nkose_, had no business to interfere in a quarrel which concerned them not. they were not of the blood of the amabuna, and they had ever been treated as friends by the house of senzangakona since the great tshaka had allowed them the use of the lands on which they then dwelt. so they were rightly served. now all these tales of war and of great battles fired my blood, for i would fain have been in them; yet here i was, hiding away as a fugitive. but when i would have boldly returned, craving only that dingane would allow me to wield a spear in the ranks of his troops, lalusini dissuaded me. the hostility of tambusa and umhlela burned as hot against me as ever, and indeed i had fled not any too soon. she bade me wait. she herself was high in favour with the king by reason of the victories which had attended the zulu arms, for she had foretold them. not without risk did i thus meet lalusini. i could not reveal the real relationship between us, and the suspicions of the fierce bapongqolo once fairly aroused, i might be slain suddenly and without warning, and no opportunity given me of explanation or self-defence. indeed, after the first time, i thought i noticed a frost of suspiciousness in the converse of those people towards me as we sat around our fires at night. but the second time something so unlooked for happened that it gave them all something else to think about. lalusini had finished telling me all there was of news when, of a sudden, her manner became strange and suspicious. "we are being watched, untuswa," she said quietly. "watched? why then, it will be bad--ah, very bad--for the watcher." and hardly had the words escaped me than i darted from her side. i hurled myself through the thickness of the bush, but something was already crashing through it away from me. i made out the form of a man. "now, stop!" i cried--a casting assegai poised for a throw. "stop! or i cleave thee to the heart." i was about to hurl the spear fair between the shoulders of the fleeing man--who was now not many paces in front--when he stopped suddenly. i went at him. he turned round and faced me, a glare of hate and fury in his eyes that seemed to scorch--to burn. and i--_whau_! i stood as one suddenly turned to stone, the uplifted assegai powerless in my stiffened grasp. for the face was that of a ghost--the dreadful glare of hate and fury that paralysed me was upon the face of a ghost. i was gazing upon one whom i had seen slain, whom my own eyes had beheld clubbed to death by the king's slayers--tola, the chief of the witch doctors. we stood for a moment thus, motionless, i gazing upon the horrible form of one i knew to be dead, as it stood there, shadowed in the gloom of the trees. then, slowly raising an arm, the voice came, deep and hollow-- "retire--or i put that upon thee which shall blast and wither thy heart and turn to water thy courage; which shall change the most valiant of fighting-men into the most cowardly of women." awful as were the words, the effect upon me was not that intended. he had better have kept silence, for now i knew him to be alive, and i sprang upon him. he had a spear, and struck furiously at me with it; but i turned the blow, and then we closed. he fought and bit and kicked, and, powerful as i was, the lithe and slippery witch doctor for long defied my efforts to secure him, for i was anxious to take him alive. at last it seemed i should be obliged to kill him, when something was dropped over his head which, the next moment, was rolled round and round in a thick covering of stuff. it was lalusini's blanket. she had come to my aid just at the right time. we had no difficulty in securing him now, and with strips cut from his own skin cloak we bound his hands firmly behind him, and his feet. then we removed the blanket. "greeting, tola!" i said. "i thought thou wert dead; but i had forgotten, a great _izanusi_ such as thou could not die, which is well, for not far off is one who longeth to welcome thee." "have a care, untuswa, have a care," he snarled. "dost thou not fear?" "why, no," i answered. "the _muti_ which protects me is greater than any which can be turned against me. but thou, what canst thou fear, o great _izanusi_ who cannot die?" i was but mocking him, _nkose_, for now i saw through the plot. he had purposely been allowed to escape in the turmoil what time all the other _izanusi_ had been slain; and i laughed at myself for my fears on first beholding him. we left tola lying there helpless; and, removing a little distance, we said out all we had to say. then we took leave of each other. "use care, untuswa, for it is that man's life or thine," said lalusini, as we parted. "on no account let him escape." "have no fear as to that, lalusini," i answered. "there is one who will take even better care of him than i could." when she had gone i unbound tola's ankles, and told him to walk. now, seeing himself in my power, he began to talk fair. he promised to do all for me if i would but let him go--to rid me of my enemies, to make me the greatest man, next to the king. but i only mocked him. "a live _izanusi_ may do great things," i said. "but a dead _izanusi_--_whau_!--of what use is he? and, tola, i seem to remember that thou art dead--dead by order of the great great one. how then canst thou serve me?" then he began on another story. he could teach me things--could reveal mysteries which would render me all-powerful against every form of harm. but i only laughed at this, saying that he would soon have an opportunity of testing his powers in his own favour; and thus, ever with a watchful eye upon him, we travelled on together until we entered the hollow where were the kraals of the bapongqolo. "there are many here who will give thee warm greeting, chief of the _izanusi_," i said. "some even, upon whom thou hast looked before." now people began to crowd around us, and, recognising my prisoner, shouts of hatred and threats were hurled at him. they would have torn him from me, but i restrained them. "go, call sifadu," i said. "i have brought him a long-desired guest." at the mention of sifadu's name the terror stamped upon the face of tola was frightful to behold. we, standing around, enjoyed this, for scarcely a man there but had seen some relative haled to the place of doom at the bidding of this hyena; some indeed to writhe in torment for long before they died. then tola, foaming at the mouth, rolled on the ground in convulsions; but for this they cared nothing, as a mere witch-finding trick. they pricked him with their assegais until he came to again, roaring with laughter the while. and as he came to again, sifadu appeared. "welcome, tola," he cried. "welcome! we have long awaited thee. ha, and a right warm welcome shall be thine, ah, ah! a right warm welcome." and thrusting his face close to that of the witch doctor he gnashed his teeth in a grin of such hardly-to-be-restrained fury that i thought he would have seized the other with his churning jaws like a beast. "welcome, tola," he went on. "a warm welcome to thee, in the name of all my house whom thou didst eat up. _whau_! there were my two young wives. how nicely their tender limbs shrivelled and burned as they died the death of the hot stones as witches, smelt out by thee tola--by thee, tola--thou prince of smellers out!" and with the two repetitions he sliced off the witch doctor's ears with the keen blade of his broad assegai. a frightful howl escaped the sufferer. "then there was my mother and another of my father's wives; they were lashed to death with switches to make them confess--by thy orders. tola. _haul_ does this feel good--and this--and this?" and he lashed the prisoner's naked body with a green hide thong until the air rang with screams. "then there was my father, kona. he was eaten by black ants--at thy word, tola--by black ants. it took nearly a day for him to die in that torment, raving and roaring as a madman. and now i think this shall be thine own end. _whau_! the black ants--the good black ants--the fierce black ants--the hungry black ants. they shall be fed--they shall be fed." now, _nkose_, looking at sifadu, i thought he came very near being a madman at that moment, so intense was his hate and fury, so difficult the restraint he put upon himself not to hack the vile witch doctor into pieces there and then with his own hand. he foamed at the month, he ground his teeth, his very eyeballs seemed about to roll from their sockets. but the face of tola, ah! never did i see such terror upon that of any living man. the crowd, looking on, roared like lions, stifling sifadu's voice. they called to him the death of relatives--of fathers, of brothers, of wives, all of whose deaths lay at the doors of the _izanusi_. they wished that this one had a hundred lives that they might take a hundred days in killing him. there were several nests of black ants at no distance. then somebody cried out that there was a particularly large one under a certain tree. "under a tree!" cried sifadu. "ha. i have an idea! bring him along." they flung themselves upon tola, whose wild howling was completely drowned by the ferocious yells of the crowd. but as they were dragging him roughly over the ground sifadu interposed. "_gahle_, brothers. do not bruise him. the ants like their meat uninjured." amid roars of delight the miserable wretch was dragged to the place of torment. already some had knocked the top off the ants' nest, and were stirring it with sticks to infuriate the insects. right over the nest grew a long bough a little more than the height of a tall man from the ground. now sifadu's idea took shape. a wedge of wood was inserted between the victim's teeth. this had the effect of holding his jaws wide open, nor by any effort could he dislodge the gag. then his ankles being strongly bound together, he was hoisted up to the branch above, and left hanging by the feet, so that his head and gaping mouth just touched the broken top of the ant heap. then as he writhed and twisted and howled in his agony--for the infuriated insects swarmed all over him--into his nostrils, mouth, severed ears, everywhere--the bapongqolo crowded around gloating over his torments, and shouting into his ears the names of those whom he himself had doomed to a like torment. it was long indeed before he died, but though i have seen many a terrible form of death, never did i see any man suffer as did this one. and yet, _nkose_, it was just that he should, for had not he himself been the means of dooming many innocent persons to that very death? wherefore the revenge of the refugees was a meet and a just one. chapter twenty. the bapongqolo return. notwithstanding that i, and i alone, had brought to him his bitterest enemy to be dealt with, sifadu's manner towards me became, as time went on, more and more one of suspicion and distrust. he feared lest i should desire the chieftainship of this refugee clan; for by this time i was as completely one of themselves as he was, and he thought, perhaps rightly, that a man who had once commanded the fighting force of a great warrior nation was not likely to be content to remain for ever a mere nobody. but this attitude taken up by sifadu compelled me to do the very thing which he desired least, and that in self-defence. i laboured to create a following, and before i had been many moons among them i had attached fully half the outlaws to myself. further, i knew that in the event of a quarrel between us i could count upon even more, for sifadu was but indifferently liked. his bravery was beyond suspicion; indeed, it was through fear of his prowess that none disputed his supremacy. but he was of a quarrelsome disposition, fierce and terrible when roused, and had a sullen and gloomy mind; whereas i, for my part, have ever got on well among fighting-men, and as for gloomy thoughts, _whau_! they are the worst kind of _muti_, worse than useless indeed. true, i who once had been among the first of a great nation was now an outlaw and an exile from two great nations; but men's fortunes change, and it might well be that in the near future my serpent would remember me, and my place be higher than ever--indeed i dared not think how high. news at length reached us of another great battle. the amabuna had again advanced upon nkunkundhlovu, but before they could reach it a large _impi_ sent by dingane had reached them. _whau_! that was a fight, said our informants. the amabuna had drawn their waggons together, as their manner is, and the amazulu strove for half a day to carry their camp with a rush. but it was of no use. the long guns shot hard and quick, and when the _impi_ got almost within striking distance, and would have swarmed over the waggons, the amabuna loaded their guns with several small bullets at a time, instead of only one, and our warriors went down in heaps. they could not stand against it, and this time a tale of defeat was brought back to the king. now the amabuna, quick to take advantage of their success, pressed on immediately. but dingane this time did not wait for them. he was warned that his brother, mpande, was plotting against him, and he knew better than to be caught between the amabuna on one side and his own rebellious people on the other. so he had decided to retire. this was the news which reached us in our retreat, and whereas this would be the tract of country for which the king would make, it would be our retreat no longer. so we were forced to take a line. now, sifadu's plan was to hand over the whole band of refugees to mpande, whose emissaries had been among us of late trying to win us over to the side of that prince. but my mind on the matter was different. i had no great opinion of mpande, whereas dingane was a real king--one to whom it was good to _konza_. my flight had been due to the hostility and intriguing of tambusa, not to the displeasure of the king; and, now that the great great one was sore pressed by his enemies, i desired to wield a spear in defence of him. on this matter, too, lalusini, whom i saw from time to time, was of the same mind as myself, though at that time she would not open her mind to me freely, bidding me, with a smile, to be still and wait. soon sifadu, having his plans ready, called a council of the bapongqolo to make known to the clan at large what he expected of it. the warriors came, several hundreds of them, in full war adornments, and fully armed, and sifadu addressed them in a long speech. he recalled how it was that they came to be there, living the life of exiles and outcasts. he reminded them of their relatives slain, their houses stamped flat, their cattle seized to swell the herds of dingane. the miserable cheat, tola, whose bones lay broken and scattered around the nest of the black ants, in which they had put him to a just death, was only the mouthpiece of dingane; the real oppressor was the king himself. now, would they put themselves beneath the foot of such a king as that when they might obtain revenge for their wrongs, and at the same time lead a quiet life by doing _konza_ to one who had promised them immunity and reward if they aided him now? but they must do this quickly for their own sakes, for their former oppressor with what remained of his army would be upon them in their retreat immediately. thus spoke sifadu, but his words, and the words of others who argued in like manner, were not received as he intended. by more than half of those assembled they were received in silence. the old instinct of trained and disciplined warriors rendered these averse to turning against the king, especially so great a king as dingane. besides, it was by no means certain that even a combination of both forces against him would be attended with success. then, too, they could not bring themselves to enter into alliance with the amabuna. then i spoke. i pointed out that there were several hundreds of us--all good fighting-men--that if we all went in to offer our spears to the king, he, being pressed by enemies, would right gladly receive us. so should we all regain our place in the nation, and be outlaws no longer. as i went on, the murmurs of assent which greeted my words grew into shouts. the people had long been tired of their runaway state, and here was a chance to set themselves right. they were also not a little tired of the rule of sifadu. this sifadu saw, and leaping up, his countenance ablaze with fury, he came at me, his great spear aloft. so quickly was it done that i had barely time to throw up my shield. so powerful the blow that the blade pierced the tough bull-hide and stuck fast. then sifadu, following up his attack in swift fury, struck over my shield with his knob-stick. it was a terrible blow, and partly reached me. i felt half stunned, but infuriate with the pain. so, with a shout, i quit defence and went at sifadu with a will. a frightful commotion now arose. the friends of sifadu would have rushed to his aid, but that they saw that those favourable to me were more numerous. these sprung to meet them, and all being fully armed it looked as though a bloody battle was about to be fought. but some cried aloud against interference, saying that the two of as should strive for the mastery, and to this counsel i added my voice. sifadu, though, had no voice save to growl and grind his teeth like a maddened beast. so we fought, we two--none hindering. our shields flapped together, and for a moment we were immovable--pressing each other equally hard--each striving to run in under the guard of the other. then the spear-blades--sifadu having disentangled his--would flash and glance like threads of fire as we leaped and feinted--yet neither of us able to drive home either stroke or stab. a silence had fallen upon the onlookers now, and every head was bent eagerly forward. all this i could see, while never taking my gaze from my enemy. at last my chance came. pretending to stumble, i threw myself forward, and with one swift sweep of my assegai i sheared through sifadu's leg, gashing the thigh to the bone. he sank to the earth uttering a terrible howl. all the muscles were divided--from the principal blood-vessels red jets were spurting. _whau_! he was in a sea of it. but even then, weakening each moment, he gathered strength to hurl his great knobstick at my face. i was prepared for this, however, and caught it on my shield; nor did i hurry to run in and finish him, knowing that while he could move a finger he would still gather himself together for one last desperate slash at me. "_hamba-gahle_, sifadu," i said--not mocking him. "this quarrel was not of my seeking, but the son of ntelani never yet refused a fight." he made no reply, glaring at me in hate until very soon he sank down into unconsciousness and death. and all the warriors shouted in assent of my words, save some few--near friends of sifadu; but for them i cared nothing. and presently some of the older among them came to me, and we talked. we agreed to carry out my plan of returning to the nation, and that at once. "_whau_, untuswa! thou hast commanded men from thy youth; it is fitting that thou shouldst be our leader now," said one of them, after he had talked. "say i not well, brothers?" turning to the rest. "_e-he! siyavuma_!" ["we consent"] they cried as one man. thus, _nkose_, i became chief of the bapongqolo, the tribe of the wanderers; but, in truth, the honour might be brief, indeed, for it might please the king to make a quick end both of chief and tribe. now that we had thus decided, we sent out men to find out how things were going between dingane and the enemy, and from their report we judged that the time had arrived to come in and lie beneath the foot of the elephant. the bapongqolo women were left in concealment in the recesses of the ngome forests, while we, to the number of several hundreds, marched forth. before we crossed the white umfolosi, i and other of the principal of the refugees climbed to the heights overlooking the mahlabatini plain. it was somewhat early in the morning, but the brightness of the new day was dimmed--dimmed by a great cloud. far away to the southward it rose, that cloud--thicker and thicker, higher and higher--a great dull pillar of smoke. nkunkundhlovu was in flames. through the thickness of the smoke-cloud we could see the red leap of the fire. then was amazement our master. had the amabuna gained a victory--so great a victory that they had been able to penetrate to the great place of the elephant whose tread shaketh the world? _whau_! it could not be. the marvel was too great. but as we looked, lo! over the rise which lay back from the river came dense black masses--masses of men--of warriors--for in the morning sunlight we could see the glint of their spears. they moved in regular rank, marching in columns, in perfect order. in perfect order! there lay the whole situation. this was no defeat. the great great one, for reasons of his own, had fired nkunkundhlovu before retreating. nearer they drew, those masses of warriors--on, on--rank upon rank of them. we saw them enter the river and cross, and for long it seemed that the flood of the river must be arrested in its run, so vast were the numbers that blackened it as they crossed. our blood burned within us at the sight of this splendid array. we longed to be among them, bearing our part as men. we had had more than enough of skulking like hunted leopards. "ho, siyonyoba!" i cried to the second leader of the refugees. "form up our spears in rank, that we go down now and throw in our lot with these." right down we went. the black might of our retreating nation was halting now, rolling up in waves; and there, on the very spot where we were finally repulsed by you english in the battle of nodwengu, _nkose_, when we thought to eat up your red square of soldiers, there did we wanderers, whose lives were forfeit, bring our lives in our hands to lay them at the feet of the king. [the battle historically known to us as that of ulundi is always termed by the zulus the battle of nodwengu, because fought nearest to the kraal of that name.] i had sent on men in advance to announce our arrival, and now, as we drew near, the army opened on either side of us so as to leave us a broad road. a dead silence lay upon the whole dense array. i gave one glance back at those i led--led, it might be, to their death. truly, a more warrior-like band never desired to serve any king. their fugitive life had hardened the bapongqolo. even the picked regiments of dingane's army could not surpass them for hardihood and uprightness of bearing; and though we were probably going to our death, my blood thrilled with pride that i was the elected leader of so splendid a band. i gave a signal, and striking their shields in measure as they marched, the bapongqolo raised a great song in praise of dingane: "there hovers aloft a bird, an eagle of war, in circles and swoop it floats above the world. the eye of that eagle would burn up the world. but the world is allowed to live. so clement, so merciful, is that eagle who restrains his wrath. he retires but to swoop and strike again. _hau_! the enemies of that war-eagle shall melt away like yonder smoke. a vulture who devours the flesh of men; so is that bird. yonder is flesh that he shall presently eat. so great is he, he retires but to swoop and strike again." so our song thundered forth as we marched straight onward. i gave another signal. immediately every shield and weapon fell to the ground with one crash, and advancing nearer weaponless, we bent low, a forest of heads, and from every tongue in one roar there ascended the "_bayete_." for we were now in the presence of the king. in stern silence dingane sat gazing upon us. then he, too, gave a signal. immediately an armed regiment moved across our rear. between us and the weapons we had thrown down stood a wall of armed men, and in this i read our sentence of death. we had risked our chance and had foiled. by my counsels, i had led these hundreds of brave men to their doom. chapter twenty one. the embassy of tambusa. "what do i see? untuswa, the wanderer? untuswa, who fled from the north to _konza_ to another king? ha! greeting, untuswa, for it seems long since we have beheld thee." so spake dingane, softly, flatteringly, even as umzilikazi was wont to do what time the stake or the alligators were preparing for somebody, and i indeed felt dead already. "and these," went on the king, bending his stern gaze upon my following. "a warrior-like band indeed, and it seems a pity to slay such, yet must they all die." this he said almost to himself, else had the slayers been at work already. and i--the boldness of desperation came into me then. "we are the king's cattle," i said. "we are here to place our lives beneath the foot of the elephant. yet, o ruler of the world, there are some who should taste the goring of our horns. we are the king's fighting-bulls. and, great great one, suffer us ere we die to spill once more the blood of the king's enemies." "yet, untuswa, it sometimes happens that fighting-bulls, growing mad, turn and gore their owners. they had better have been slain first," said dingane, with dark suspicion in his tone. now i saw what was to be done, though i hardly knew what to say. "i would ask the great great one wherefore these are here at all, but that they may drink the blood of the king's enemies?" i urged, amazed at my own boldness. "were they here for any other purpose, why then they were already dead, father of the wise. _au_! they seek but to die in the ranks of those who fight. that is all, calf of a black bull." and they on whose behalf i spoke uttered a great murmur of assent, together with words of _bonga_ and the king's titles. then i saw dingane whisper to one who sat near him, and this one retired. _whau_! that was a moment. we who sat there seemed already dead. around crouched the two immense half circles of armed warriors, their shields lying on the ground before them--all in dead silence--and in his great chair made out of the carved trunk of a tree, the great white shield held aloft at the back of his head, the king sat, silent, stern, gloomy looking. his attitude was that of one who waited. waited for what? for the carrying out of his order decreeing, our death? then some new event was astir. there stood before the king a woman. now my followers dared to breathe again, and the sound went up from every chest like a sob of relief. and seeing who the woman was, my own relief became greater still, for she was my sorceress-wife. "hearken, mahlula," said the king. "see you these?" "i see them, great great one," she answered, sweeping a majestic glance over us. "they are those known as the bapongqolo. they are here to lay their lives beneath the foot of the elephant, and to crave the right to die fighting for him." "and how dost thou know that, my sister?" said dingane suspiciously. "it is easily known, father of the wise, and that not even by my _muti_," she answered. "there are many among them known by name, and all have the look of forest-dwellers. and he at their head, look at him." "ha! and is it for good or for ill that they are here?" "for good, ruler of the great. for these are fine wielders of the spear. and they are many," she answered. "that is well," said dingane. "you wanderers, i give you your lives. you shall join these lion-cubs, and plenty of prey lies awaiting your teeth." for some moments, _nkose_, the roar that went up from all men's throats would seem about to split the world, for to the praises rolled forth from those who were thus spared was added the _bonga_ of the whole army. "now talk we of untuswa," said the king, when this had quieted down. "there is that about him which i like not entirely. what of him, mahlula?" she looked at me long and earnestly, as though she had never seen me before, but in her sweet eyes i read hope and courage. then she said: "i think he is a born leader of warriors, great great one." "ha! now shalt thou have a chance of showing thy powers, mahlula," said the king. "thou, untuswa," pointing at me with his assegai, "shalt also be put to the proof. i name these the bapongqolo, and of this regiment i create thee _induna_, for i have not yet known the predictions of mahlula to prove false. retire now with thy men and form them up among those yonder." they who had custodied us now fell back, and as we all gathered up our weapons again we thundered forth the war-song of dingane. then, when we had formed up at the place pointed out to as, in truth it seemed that the army had received a most valuable addition in ourselves. then dancing was ordered, and the slaughter of cattle, and there was much feasting. now during an earlier part of the war the amabuna had sent messages to dingane proposing peace, and to such the king had listened. trouble was threatening at home, for mpande, the brother of dingane, was still plotting, and had by now collected a considerable following. further, the amabuna were increasing in strength, numbers having crossed the mountains to join them; moreover, several of the tribes who did _konza_ to the royal house had forgotten their tribute, sheltering themselves behind the amabuna. so dingane had listened to the peace proposals of the amabuna, and had agreed to pay nearly twenty thousand cattle, and to return the guns and horses taken at nkunkundhlovu. for a space then there was peace. the amabuna did not even want the cattle just then; they would rather we should herd them for the time being. so far good. but one day there came news. mpande had crossed the tugela and had fled to the amabuna, declaring that he feared for his life. _au_! and long since he would have owned no life to fear for, had the king but listened to the counsels of tambusa, who would have caused him to be slain. but it was too late now, and already dingane had reason to repent him of his mercy, for now that mpande had promised them to divide the nation the amabuna, ignoring all former promises and arrangements, sent word to dingane demanding from him double the number of cattle at first agreed upon, and without even awaiting his reply they prepared to advance upon nkunkundhlovu. not for nothing had mpande plotted. he had gained over to his cause nongalaza, an induna of importance. nongalaza was old, and suffered from swollen limbs; but he was a skilled and courageous commander, and he took with him to the side of mpande and the amabuna the strength of four full regiments. now dingane sent an embassy to the leaders of the amabuna, and the induna he chose as his "mouth" was tambusa. he had better have chosen some other messenger--better for tambusa, but not better for me, _nkose_, for it was during tambusa's absence that i and the bapongqolo arrived to place our lives in the hand of the king. this, then, is what was happening at that time within the camp of the amabuna, and the tale i have from the mouths of several among those who had fled with mpande and who witnessed that which was now done. tambusa entered the camp of the amabuna attended by nkombazana, one of his own followers. he was received but coldly by the amabuna. why had they broken faith with the great great one who sits at nkunkundhlovu? he asked. they had demanded twice the number of cattle at first agreed upon. they were preparing to invade the country, and had declared their intention of setting up mpande as king, having deposed dingane. who were they who took to themselves the right to make and unmake kings for the zulu nation? asked tambusa, proud and defiant. dingane was king of the zulu nation, and as king he would live and die. "ah! die perhaps, that is right," said one of the amabuna, with an evil laugh. "a king of the amazulu does not die of words nor of fear," replied tambusa, fiercely scornful. "yet hearken to my message, even the `word' of the great great one, whose mouth i am. thus he speaks: `we made an agreement, have i not kept it? i have returned the guns and horses i promised; i have sent in part of the cattle i promised, i would have sent in all, but you preferred to leave the remainder with me for the present. well, it is there, send and take it, or shall i send it in? now you demand twice the number, and this i do not understand. now you prepare to invade us in armed force, and threaten to make mpande king in my place. this also i do not understand, and have sent my induna, tambusa, as my "mouth" to say so. he is also my "ears," and will listen to and bring back your words to me.' thus spoke the great great one by whose light we live." "ha! the great great one by whose light we live!" jeered some of the amabuna. "a great great murderer, who shall soon die." to this tambusa made no reply. his head was proudly erect, on his face a sneer of hate and scorn such as he could hardly conceal. then the chief of the amabuna spoke: "to you we have nothing to say. to your captain"--for so he designated the king--"we have nothing to say. when the time comes we shall act, and come it will, very soon." "we, too, know how to act," answered tambusa. "_hlalani gahle_! i retire." he turned to leave--turned, to find a line of guns pointed full upon him at but a few paces distant. "halt--kafir!" the tone, the insult, the scowl on the shaggy faces which glared at him from under their wide-brimmed hats, roused all the savage fighting blood in tambusa, and those who beheld him say that the great veins in his forehead swelled until they seemed about to burst with the pressure of his head-ring. "kafir!" thus these refuse whites dared to address the chief induna of the royal race of zulu, second only in greatness to the king himself! but he was helpless, for, as a peace ambassador, he had of course been obliged to lay down his arms on entering the camp. now he turned to the leaders of the amabuna, who were talking with their heads together. "see you this?" he said, waving his hand towards the line of men who stood threatening him with their guns. "see you this? i, a peace messenger, am insulted and threatened. i, a peace messenger, am detained, when i would depart as i came. in truth, it is not good to trust to the good faith of the amabuna." "in truth it is not good to trust to the good faith of the amazulu," answered the leader sternly. "say, were not our people peace messengers--our people whose bones lie outside nkunkundhlovu--who trusted in the good faith of that murderer, your chief?" "ha! but you? you are a holy people--a people of god, you told the king. we are only poor, ignorant black people," said tambusa, taunting them, in his scornful wrath. "but there is a god of justice," quickly replied the leader, "and he has delivered you into our hands to be dealt with as one of the chief murderers of our people. the others he will deliver to us in time. but enough of that. this is the matter now. the treacherous and cruel murder of our people at nkunkundhlovu was counselled by you, tambusa. by you it was planned and arranged, by your orders it was carried out. what have you to say?" "that is not the matter about which i am here," replied the induna. "if ye would have me answer on that matter, ye should have sent men to bring me here, if they could have done it. it is a matter as to which now i will say no word." "that is perhaps as well," answered the leader, "for here we have enough to prove your guilt over and over again." and with the words tambusa saw the trap into which he had walked. mpande had denounced him to the amabuna--mpande, whose death he had repeatedly counselled. he was as good as dead. yet he only smiled, rearing his tall and stately form to its full height, and the smile was one of hatred and scorn and contempt. but so deeply did it sting those amabuna that they broke forth into curses, and some of them, rising from their seats, shook their fists in his face, crowding around him, and fairly howling with rage, all talking at once as they heaped every abusive name upon him, the king and the whole zulu race. but the smile of contempt and scorn only deepened on the face of tambusa as he stood therein his great stature like some mighty tree, while they snarled and leaped around him like jackals. at last he who sat at the head of the council succeeded in quieting them. "then you have nothing to say--no reason to urge why the punishment of death should not be dealt out to you?" said this man, speaking solemnly. "there may be others, perhaps--others more guilty than yourself. if there is anything you can tell us--" but here he stopped, for tambusa had interrupted him by a loud, harsh laugh, so fierce that it sounded like a war-cry. "others? anything i can tell you?" he repeated, with a very roar. "i, an induna of the right hand of the great king, to give _you_ information! _whau_! ye must be madmen. not to save a hundred lives would i give you information as to even the youngest boy just enrolled among those who bear shields. do i fear death--i, tambusa? why, i stare it in the face every day. and i think, _ntshwai-ntshwai_, when death has been the game some of you must have seen my face before." [ntshwai-ntshwai. a nickname bestowed upon the boers by the zulus, being in fact an imitation of the swishing sound of their wide leather breeches as they moved.] "he confesses!" cried those standing around. "enough--enough. let him be shot." the leader of the council, having obtained silence, spoke: "on your own showing, tambusa, you are guilty of counselling and planning the cruel and treacherous murder of our brothers at nkunkundhlovu while they were at that place by the invitation of the king and zulu nation. they were set upon and slain in cold blood while partaking of zulu hospitality; and for your share in this unprovoked and abominable massacre this council adjudges you, tambusa, to suffer death; and that, in execution of this sentence, you be taken outside the camp and forthwith shot." there was a deep silence as the leader ceased speaking. it was broken by the voice of tambusa: "i, too, have something to say." all started. would this braggart, they thought, turn coward, and endeavour at the last moment to save his life? ah, they little knew. "speak, then," said the leader. "but let it be brief." "this boy," said tambusa, with a wave of the hand towards nkombazana, who squatted a little distance off. "he has slain no amabuna. let him go home." no reply was made at first, and the amabuna looked at each other. but nkombazana, who had heard all, now sprang to his feet. he to go home, when his father and chief was to die here? no, no! then, with flashing eyes, he began bellowing out the number of amabuna he had slain. why, he had helped to batter out the brains of that very party, and had ripped up white women with his own spear what time we rushed the waggon camp. if his chief was to die, he would die with him. a warrior must follow his chief everywhere. well, he obtained his wish. the leaders would have spared him at first, but when they heard him glorying in the slaughter of their countrymen-- and countrywomen, too--they soon desisted in their attempts, and the amabuna at large howled for his blood. so tambusa and his young follower were ordered to proceed in the midst of their armed guard to the outskirts of the camp to meet their death. no further word did tambusa speak, save one of commendation of the bravery shown by his follower. he strode forth in the midst of his guard, his head thrown back--his great stature and fearless countenance worthy of a zulu of the noblest rank and birth. when they ordered him to halt he did so, and, facing round upon the line of levelled guns, stood proudly, with folded arms, his young follower standing equally fearless at his side. a line of flame shot forth, and a rolling crash. tambusa and nkombazana sunk quietly to the ground, pierced by many bullets, dying without a struggle. such, then, was the end of tambusa, and although, _nkose_, i had no liking for him nor he for me--indeed, had he lived he would ever have been my bitterest enemy--yet his end was that of a brave man, and in every way worthy of an induna of the zulu nation who sat at the right hand of the king. chapter twenty two. the dividing of the nation. the time had been well chosen for the return of the bapongqolo to the heart of the nation, for now the amabuna were advancing upon us, and with them nongalaza at the head of a strong army, made up of the rebel traitors whom he had induced to desert their true king. the killing of tambusa while on a message of peace had infuriated dingane. he ordered nkunkundhlovu to be burnt, vowing to rebuild it no more until he had driven the rebels and their white friends from the land, and exacted a fearful vengeance for the slaughter of his faithful induna. so the _izanusi_ were called up, and we were doctored for battle, and lalusini, or mahlula, as she was known here, together with her band of girls decked out in their richest dresses, stood forth and heartened the warriors by their songs of battle and victory; even as she had once heartened us to defeating, under the shadow of my white shield, these very warriors with whom i now fought, and a section of whom i was now leading. yes, these hundreds of men, the bapongqolo, were worth much to dingane now. the day had come at last, and the nation was divided. and now, with the one great struggle for the very life of the nation at our gates, dingane showed himself, as he never had so shown himself before, as a noble and worthy warrior-king of a mighty warrior people. it was the morning of the battle, that great struggle which should mean, to him and his, all or nothing. ha! he was great, he was majestic, that warrior king, as he came forth to address his children--to hearten us for what lay before us. not that we needed burning words of encouragement, for of all that dense array crouching there behind their shields, not one at that moment but longed for the gleam of the spears of nongalaza to come into view. then the king stood forth arrayed in full war dress, his great form towering to the height of the waving ostrich plumes which rose above his head-ring--his head thrown back in royal pride as his eyes swept proudly over the dense ranks of those who adhered to him--and his words rolled like thunder upon the still air: "my children, the day is upon us at last when the might of the people of the heavens is to be put upon its sorest trial; the day which is to decide whether the name of zulu is to blaze forth again in all its brightness, to strike terror once more upon the world, or to become a forgotten thing. for a space it has been hidden, but only that it might blaze forth again the more brightly. yonder there come against us enemies. there are those who came among us with false words--calling themselves a holy people--and striving, with fair words, to wrest from us the lands which, bit by bit, we have added to the greatness of our nation--a people which knows not how to keep faith--a people which, in its greed, knows not how to observe its own agreements--a nation which slays ambassadors bearing a peace message. but worse. with that people, who comes? who but they who would divide the nation--who, to do this, have not scrupled to place their neck beneath the foot of this other race--of these amabuna, the scum and refuse of all white peoples-- they of our own blood--they who have grown great under the shadow of the house of senzangakona. these indeed are worse than dogs, for even a dog will not bite the hand that fattens him. ha! and with them is one of the house of senzangakona--yet not, for it cannot be that a real bough of that great and royal tree can have joined with the refuse of all the white races, to turn and destroy his father's house. some bastard must it be--changed at birth--some low, base bastard, foisted by fraud upon the house of senzangakona. and he, he who would, by the favour of the amabuna, call himself king, where is he? not among those who come against us. he is not even a leader of men. see him skulk behind the guns of the amabuna while my dog, nongalaza, leads his army for him. his army! _hau_! a pack of cur dogs whom the lion-cubs of zulu shall disperse howling, for how shall so base and traitorous a band of runaways face and stand against the might of these?" and as dingane waved his hand over the assembled army a sound went up like the sullen roar of a sea-wave that curls and breaks. the king went on: "my children! this is a time, not for talking, but for doing. i, your father, am here with you--i, your leader. let the lion-cubs of zulu fall on bravely under the eye of the lion. lo! those who direct you are men to follow. where is umhlela? where is silwane? where nomapela and untuswa?" and with each name a storm of applause rolled from the warriors. "where they are, there follow. lo! i see the enemy. lo! there are they who come against us. in perfect order, rank upon rank, go now to meet them. fall on and strike--and strike hard. strike until not one of them is left. go, my children! go, lion-cubs of zulu!" away in the distance a dust-cloud was advancing, and through it the sheen and flash of spears. with a great roar the whole army sprang to its feet and saluted the king, who stood, with head thrown back and outstretched arm, pointing with his spear towards the approaching host; and as the regiments formed up in columns and began their march, moving out over the plain like huge black serpents, the war-song of dingane rolled forth like thunder upon the still and brooding air: "us'eziteni! asiyikuza sababona." ["thou art in among the enemy. _we_ shall never get a right of him."] louder and louder it swelled, uttered in fierce, jerky roars, as the roars of ravening beasts who can no longer be restrained from their prey. then the red mist was before all eyes. the host of nongalaza was singing, too; but for that we had no ears, only eyes for the body of our foe. our warriors now swung forward at a run, the ranks steadied and kept in line by the warning word of an induna, or a sub-captain. otherwise none spoke. now they are before us. their appearance is even as that of ourselves. they have the same shields, the same broad spears, the same discipline. but their courage? ha! we have that--we, the chosen, we, the faithful. now we are among them; there is the slap of shield meeting shield, the tramp of struggling feet, the soft tearing of spear ripping flesh. ha! the red blood is flowing; warriors go down by hundreds--beaten to earth--ripped as they lie--as many of ours as of theirs. the savage, gargling groan of the dying, as they strive to drag themselves upward, and, spear in hand, die fighting still--the death-hiss of their slayers--the "_i-ji_!" that thrilling whistle that shakes the air--the laboured panting of those who strive--the shiver and clash of hard wood and the crunch of bone, as the heavy knob-sticks meet other hard wood, or perchance a skull--these are the sounds that turn the air itself verily warring. but neither side gives way--neither side yields a foot's breadth--or, if so, it is but for a moment, to charge again in renewed fury. again and again this happens. no advantage can either side gain. both strive with equal fury; both trained in valour and discipline under the same training. _whau_! there will be none left to tell of this battle, so surely shall we make an end of each other. now i, with the bapongqolo, being in command of the left "horn" of our army, am striving to surround that of the enemy, though his numbers are almost as great as our own, and in this i am partially succeeding. but what is the other "horn" doing? by this time we have gained some slightly rising ground, and now i can see. ha! can it be? those on that side are fighting against us--fighting against their own brethren-- fighting against their king. _they have gone over to the side of nongalaza_. but, so far from disheartening our people, this traitorous defection acts differently. umhlela, watching and partly directing the battle from a little distance off, gives the word, and himself at the head of the force he has been holding in reserve, charges furiously upon these traitors, rolling them back upon the thick of nongalaza's force, and throwing the latter into confusion. umhlela is a small man and old, but never was there a braver one. he is in the hottest of the battle, and they whom he leads follow like lions. the tossing of shields, and the tramp and pushing of striving feet, shakes both earth and air. ha! umhlela is down. a wounded warrior, supposed to be dead, has sprung to his feet, and with last stroke has cleft the brave induna through the heart. but the rallying cry on the dying lips: "on, children of zulu! the lion watches you," thrills our people with renewed strength. now we gain. the rebels are giving way. now is the time. we press them harder and harder. not hundreds now, but thousands lie slain, or writhing in death-throes. they are beginning to withdraw. the day is ours. is it? ha! what is that shout, gathering in volume as it rolls along behind the rebel army--heartening those in front to face us more fiercely. "they come, the amabuna! the amabuna are at hand!" we who hear it can see nongalaza riding on horseback along his rank--he and other of mpande's indunas--and with shout and gesture they point behind them, then wave their men on. and in the distance can be heard the rattle of the discharge of guns. "they come, the amabuna!" that cry loses us the day. the younger regiments waver, fall into confusion, and flee. the men of the imbele-bele--a splendid ringed regiment--stand their ground. so, too, do the bapongqolo. then we have work to do. one glance behind us, and we can see the land covered with fleeing fugitives; but the spot whence the king watched the battle is empty. we have saved the king. well, we are doomed. thick and fast our warriors fall, being hugely outnumbered, and it wants but the coming of the amabuna to make an end of us completely. now nongalaza came riding along in my direction, where i, at the head of the bapongqolo, stood at bay, and waved on his army, crying aloud that they should make an end of us, at all events. so seeing the rebel host--which now was stronger than we--sweeping up to surround us, i gave the word to retreat, and not too soon either, for we had to fight our way through the closing "horns." but the land on that side was broken, and seamed with dongas; and nongalaza's people, tumbling over each other in their hurry and confusion, were less quick than we. yet many were slain in that rout, and ere night fell the land seemed alive with pursuers and pursued. but i set my face in the direction of the ngome forests, where my outlawry had been spent. there, i knew, were holes and retreats wherein not all the men of nongalaza twice over would succeed in finding me. and, as night fell, the dull red glow of burning kraals lit up the land, and from afar you could hear the exultant war-song--the song of victory. yet not altogether, for the song of mpande was the song of bondage too, in that he, a prince of the house of senzangakona, had purchased his kingship dear; for he had purchased it at the price of doing _konza_ to the amabuna, in order to be allowed to hold it--in order to sit in the seat of tshaka the mighty, and of the warrior-king dingane, who, however, might even yet be heard of again. the slaughter on either side that day was immense, _nkose_. yet not by might or by bravery did nongalaza win that victory. oh, no! he won it by a trick. had he not cried that the amabuna were at hand, we should not have given way. but up till then we had gained no great advantage, and the approach of these people, who could gallop into our very midst and discharge their guns without harm to themselves, took all heart out of our warriors, already hard pressed by the forces of nongalaza, nearly equal as these were to our own. so we fled, and lost the day. yet we need not have, for the amabuna were not really coming. but a good general will despise no method of snatching a victory, and nongalaza was right. chapter twenty three. a hard ordeal. "waken, untuswa!" the whisper was soft, so, too, was the touch, yet i sprang to my feet, grasping my spear. but at the same moment my grasp on it relaxed, for before me stood lalusini. wearied with the hard fierce fighting of the day, i had crept into a secure hiding-place beneath a rock overhung with all manner of undergrowth, and had slept soundly. yet my dreams had been full of warring and battle, and now my great assegai was clotted and foul with blood, and more than one deep gash on body or limb felt stiff and smarting. but all thought of myself seemed at an end as i looked at lalusini. there was a hard fierce look upon her face such as i had never seen there before, and in it i saw a strong likeness to dingane. "the time has come, untuswa," she said shortly. "take thy spear, look well to its point, and follow me." "that i will gladly do, lalusini," i answered. "but, as we travel, tell me, what work is before me now?" "one stroke of thy broad spear--the king's assegai--ha, ha! it is well named--it will be a royal weapon indeed! one stroke of thy broad spear and we shall be great together, great even as i have often predicted to thee. come! let us hasten." there was an eager fierceness in her tone and manner that kept me marvelling; however, i would see what her plan was. she led the way--not speaking. we passed beneath spreading forest trees, where the thick undergrowth impeded our advance, and the silence of the shade was only broken by the call of birds. it seemed as though men's feet had never trodden here; yet i knew the spot, for this was one of the very refuges i had at first thought of running for myself. "there," said lalusini, in a quick, fierce whisper, pointing with her hand. "strike hard and true. so shall we be great together." i went forward. in front was a low cliff, hanging over as though it had intended to form a cave, but was not quite sure of its own mind. under the shelter thus formed, just screened from view in front by a dense growth of scrub lay the form of a man. cautiously i peered through the bushes, then put them aside. the form, which was turned away from me, did not stir. noiselessly i stepped beside it, and then as i bent down to gaze into the face, i could hardly forbear a start. it was the face of dingane--the face of the king. yes; it was the great great one himself. he was sound asleep, his head pillowed on one hand, interposed between it and the rock. but how came he here, he who moved armed men in their countless might--he before whom the nations trembled and hid their heads--how came he here, in hiding and alone? but was he alone? it seemed so, for i could descry no sign--no sound of the presence of men. and while i thus gazed, again that soft whisper breathed into my ear, "strike, and strike hard! so shall we be great together!" strike! nothing could have been easier. the large form lay there without movement, the heave of the breast, above the heart, turned towards me as though inviting the stroke. yet, as i gazed, the noble majesty on the countenance of the sleeping king seemed to paralyse my arm. one blow, and lalusini, by her sorcery, aided by my own warrior prowess, might set me upon dingane's seat. yet, i could not do it. then i thought the sleeper stirred. "he wakes," i whispered, withdrawing again behind the bushes. lalusini followed me. "and art thou so weak, untuswa?" she said. "_au_! for this have i laboured, for this have i plotted and exercised my magic until it was nearly too much forme. yet not all for greatness, but for revenge. the blood of tshaka the mighty flowed over the spear of dingane; now shall the blood of dingane flow over thy spear!" still i moved not, and she went on: "the blood of that mighty one from whom i am sprang, and who caused me to learn my magic that through it vengeance might fall, shall it not be avenged? the time has come for which i have waited and striven. now go, and make an end of it, untuswa, so shall we be great together; else canst thou be great alone--or small--with no help from me." now i nerved myself. that which she seemed to threaten looked too terrible, for in truth, by her i was as one bewitched. "go, untuswa. my _muti_ is upon him. he will not waken too readily," she whispered, in her sweetest of tones, gently pushing me towards the cave once more. again i parted the bushes and peered through; again i stood over the sleeping king. a great white shield lay almost beneath him, and two broad assegais had slid from his relaxed grasp. i raised my spear--no, i could not do it. had he been awake, and standing up, the deed would be an easy one at that moment; but alone, deserted, and asleep--no, i could not thus slay him. and then i thought of the favour he had shown me, even to allowing me the chance of escaping to the bapongqolo, what time tambusa and umhlela had striven to compass my death. i thought how he had spared me, spared the bapongqolo, and had raised me to honour when all men trembled at his frown; and now that he lay here, a deserted fugitive, i could not turn against him. his life lay within my hand, yet i could not take it. no, not to win greatness for myself; not even to retain lalusini's love. "farewell, untuswa!" came that soft whisper behind me. "farewell; we may meet no more." she stepped swiftly through the belt of bushes. for a moment i stood stupidly gazing after her, then i followed. but she had disappeared. i called her, i searched for her. all in vain. then i went back to the sleeping king. him i would save at all events. i had helped in saving him during the battle yesterday, by holding back the _impi_ of nongalaza; to-day i would save him entirely by myself. even now lalusini might have gone to find those who would carry out her bidding readily enough. "awaken, great great one!" i said, not too loud, lest others ears might be about. "thy servant knows of a better sleeping-place than this." at first dingane seemed to arouse himself but slowly. then he sprang up, gripping his shield and spears. "who art thou?" he cried, darting upon me his lion-like glance. "ha! untuswa, is it? another traitor perhaps. how sayest thou, untuswa? all, all are traitors." "no traitor am i, black elephant," i answered. "it is safer, however, for the lion of zulu to make his lair elsewhere." in the glance which dingane bent upon me was distrust, suspicion, contempt by turns, but no sign of fear. "what, untuswa, and art thou faithful to me--thou, the wanderer--thou who art not of us, while they whom my hand has fed have deserted me-- have turned their spears against me? _whau_! it cannot be." "who am i to fill the ears of the great great one with words," i answered. "yet, my father--wanderer or no wanderer--i know of no man whom the lion of zulu may more safely trust." "what, then, are thy counsels, untuswa?" said the king. "this, lion. hard by is a place known to none, where thou canst sit still in safety until the army is collected again. it was badly routed in the more open plain, yet here in these fastnesses none will dare venture--not even the amabuna--until the trumpeting of the elephant shall scatter the traitors and rebels once more. such is my counsel, ruler of the great." "i will even trust thee, untuswa," said the king. "and now let us go forth." i picked up my shield and weapons, which, of course, i had let fall, being in the royal presence, and we took our way thence, i walking in advance and spying carefully around to guard against possible surprise. for long we thus travelled, and when night came we sat and feasted upon the meat of a young impala which i had killed by a lucky spear-cast; but we slept away from any fire, and in a place of secure concealment. on the morrow we kept on our way once more, and by noon came to the resting-place i had designed for the king. this was a group of caves, somewhat high up among the rocks of the lebombo range. beneath, the slope fell away, bushy, but not too thickly so as to prevent us from descrying the approach of friend or foe, while on either side so strewn with rocks and boulders was the base of the cliff that retreat would be easy in the event of pursuit. "_whau_, untuswa!" said the king, with a laugh in his eyes. "when tambusa would have broken a nest of wasps around thy kraal, thou wert turning thy wanderings to good account!" "that is so, great great one," i answered, recalling to mind the words of sifadu--"the day might come when dingane himself would be glad to join us." and strange it was that my enforced flight from the hate of the principal indunas should be the means of providing the king with a place of refuge and concealment in the day of his downfall. so we rested there for many days, dingane and i. yes, this dreaded one, before whom all men and all nations had trembled, now treated me as a friend, so entirely does adversity draw the greater and the lesser together. yet never for a moment did i forget who it was that i thus foregathered with; never was there aught that was unbecoming in word or tone or action of mine towards the king--the real and true ruler of the great zulu nation. often would the thought of lalusini return to me, of her purposed revenge, which she intended to seize through me. this, then, was that for which she had plotted--this the means by which i was to become great. had i in refusing it acted the part of a fool? no, that could not be, for, _nkose_, although i spared not such as would injure me or could not keep faith, yet never did i lift hand against any who did well by me. wherefore now i rejoiced that i had not slain the king--had not slain a sleeping and helpless man at the bidding of a woman, even though that woman were lalusini. sometimes a gloom would settle upon the mind of dingane. his sun had set, he would declare. the power of zulu was a thing of the past, now that the nation was divided. but at such times i would say what i could to cheer him, telling him portions of my own story, which, in truth, had been wonderful. the army was scattered. time was needed to collect it, and that time, i thought, had now arrived. i saw that everything was at hand that the great one might need, and then i prepared to depart. "i know not, untuswa," he said, as i took leave of him. "but for thy faithfulness these many days i might bethink me that soon thou shouldst return at the head of an _impi_ to earn the reward promised by mpande and the amabuna to him who should deliver to them the real king--" but i interrupted; somewhat unbecomingly, i admit: "if that is thy thought, father, slay me as i stand," and dropping my weapons i advanced a pace or two. "nay, nay, untuswa," he said, "that is what i might have thought, not what i thought," replied the king gently. "fare-thee-well, untuswa, and may success be thine. fare-thee-well, untuswa, my servant--untuswa, my friend." "_bayete_!" i cried, with right hand aloft. then i started upon my errand, and more than ever did i rejoice that my spear had remained bright in the face of the entreaties of lalusini. chapter twenty four. the stroke of sopuza. "_bayete, nkulu-nkulu_! father! we thy children have found thee at last! lo! long have we wandered weeping, but now we are comforted. come forth and show us the brightness of thy head-ring." thus sang a great half circle of armed warriors, mustered on the slope beneath dingane's place of concealment. thus again and again they sang, but still dingane did not appear. for i had fulfilled my errand, _nkose_, and this was the result--an array of warriors nearly as large as the original strength of the amandebeli what time we followed umzilikazi over the mountains. i had gone hither and thither, had turned night into day, had not spared myself, or feared danger. i had found out and rallied all the scattered bands which at heart had remained faithful to dingane. i had drawn men from the kraals of mpande himself, and from beneath the very shadow of the camps of the amabuna. but one moon had died since i took leave of the king--i alone. yet here i was, returning at the head of a splendid army--an army nearly as large as that with which umzilikazi had founded a new nation. in truth, dingane had not trusted me in vain. here were silwane and nomapela, and others of the old war-captains. here was a remnant of the old imbele-bele regiment--the bapongqolo, too, my staunch refugees--and as much of the army as had survived the defeat by nongalaza. all had in truth thought dingane to be dead, but as i passed through their midst carrying word to the contrary, they had sprung to arms, and mustering swiftly and secretly, had returned to do _konza_ to their rightful king. and here they were. now they redoubled their entreaties, singing louder and louder their songs of praise. sun of suns, come forth in thy brightness; we thy children sit in darkest night. if thou wilt not show us thy face. lion of zulu--thy cubs still have teeth, teeth that are sharpened for war. this time the king appeared. but before the great burst of _sibonga_ which greeted his presence had died away he turned his back and retired, for by this means he chose to mark his displeasure over their seeming desertion. again and again they howled forth their songs of praise and entreaty. the king appeared again. this time he did not go back. he surveyed them a few moments in silence, then he called: "come hither, untuswa." i disarmed, and crept up to where he stood. "sit here, untuswa," he said, pointing to the ground at his feet. "this is thy place. for the rest they can still remain at a distance." so i sat, _nkose_, thinking how strange it was that i, who had begun my life as the son of an induna, should live to become the principal fighting chief of umzilikazi's army, and then come to earn the confidence of the great great one, the king of the mighty zulu nation-- should be bidden to sit near him while all others were kept at a distance--should live to become the most trusted councillor of two mighty kings; for such i saw was the honour before me now. then dingane, lifting up his voice, addressed the warriors. for the battle against mpande's force he commended them greatly. their bravery was worthy of all praise, and not for lack of it on their part had nongalaza won the day, having done so by a mere trick--a clever trick, it was true. but when they fled their terror had been too great. they had forgotten their king. one man alone had cleaved to the king, and that man was untuswa--a wanderer--not even one of themselves. still, remembering how valiantly they had fought, remembering how speedily they had returned to their rightful place, he would forget that. the groans wherewith the listeners had heard his reproaches now turned to murmurs of delight. dingane went on: the nation was divided, but it must be reunited once more. with such as they whom he saw before him this might soon be done. men of the pure blood of zulu could not sit down for long beneath the sway of one who was a mere slave of the amabuna. they would return--return to the strength and root of the great zulu power, their rightful king. but those who had remained faithful would ever be held in the highest honour. as the great one finished speaking, a mighty roar went up from the assembled warriors. they hailed him as their guide, their father, their deliverer, and by every title of _bonga_. then much time was given up to songs and dances, for all rejoiced that they were no longer a broken remnant, and that the king was at their head once more. the plan which dingane now decided on was a waiting one. he relied on desertions from mpande, whom we now learned by means of our spies had been placed by the amabuna in his seat, who now reigned king. _whau_! was ever such a thing heard of? a king of the amazulu, the conquerors of the world, holding his seat by favour of white people--and such white people! but it could not last--no, it could not last. the heavens might well fell. we moved down to a more accessible site in the ngome wilds, and there kraals were erected, and time was bestowed upon gathering together such of the nation as remained faithful, and encouraging others to come in. meanwhile a careful look-out was kept upon a possible invasion; but mpande, who seemed not to care about venturing beyond the tugela, made no hostile movement, neither did the amabuna, and for a time we enjoyed rest and a breathing-space while our plans were maturing. i, for my part, was now advanced to a position of great honour, not less indeed than that formerly held by tambusa himself. that induna was now dead; so too was umhlela, as i have told you, _nkose_; and such of my enemies who survived had but one fear now, and that was lest i might turn my greatness to account in compassing their destruction. but of this i had no thought, so completely was my mind full of how to restore the ascendency of dingane and the might of the nation. all this while i saw nothing of lalusini, nor by the most deftly veiled questionings could i obtain tidings of her from any. whither had she gone? would she not reappear as she had done before? and for all my greatness my heart was sore--very sore, as i thought of her and longed for her; yet never for a moment did i repent me that i had not slain the king at her bidding. now dingane had built for himself a great kraal on one of the wildest slopes of the ngome hills. it was surrounded by dense forests and rocks and precipices, and the ways of approach being but few, and always securely guarded, the king felt safe from all possibility of attack. but shortly an alarm was given. _impis_ from mpande were reported near--not to attack us, for they were not large enough--but as spies. so the king sent forth two regiments under silwane to cut them off, if possible, so that, finding themselves surrounded, they would accept the offer of their lives, and return to their allegiance. i, however, was not sent out. _whau, nkose_! well do i remember that evening. the sun had gone down in a mass of heavy cloud, and in the red glow that remained an awful and brooding silence rested upon the surrounding forests. then it grew dark, and, after we had eaten, the king and i sat long into the night conversing, and upon him seemed to lie that gloom which had darkened his mind when he and i together had been fugitives and in hiding. but i strove to cheer him, and our conversation being ended he dismissed me, and retired within the _isigodhlo_. i, too, retired to rest. for long i lay thinking, not able to sleep; then i dozed off and dreamed. it seemed to me that once more i was back at kwa'zingwenya. once more, my heart full of rage over the disappearance of lalusini, i was creeping stealthily to slay umzilikazi in his sleep. once more i sprang upon him, spear uplifted. once more i heard the shouts of his bodyguard, as they swarmed to his aid. then i awoke--awoke suddenly, and with a start. ha! the shouts were real--i was not dreaming now--and with them i heard the hurried tramp of rushing feet go by my hut. those were times for quick thought--for quick action. in a moment i was outside the hut, fully armed, listening. ha! the tumult, the shouting and tramp of feet! it came from the _isigodhlo_. thither i sprang. i could see the king's body-guard there before me, for the moon was up; could see the flash of spears, the sheen of white shields. several dark bodies lay upon the ground, and at these they were stabbing and hacking. just as i came up another was dragged forth by the heels and cut to pieces there and then. the king had been stabbed. such was the news now spoken in awed whispers. but, who were these? emissaries of mpande? no. by their head-rings and ornaments they were not of us. they were amaswazi. quickly i took in what had happened. there was the hole in the fence through which these had crept. even as i had stolen upon umzilikazi so had these stolen upon dingane, but with better effect. howls of horror over the deed went up from all. by this time the whole kraal was aroused, and such few as were left in it came flocking out. but i, being in great authority, quelled the tumult. "how happened it?" i asked. "thus, father," replied the captain of the king's guard, a young man, but just ringed. "yonder crept these scorpions," pointing to the hole i had already observed, "and struck the great great one in his sleep. but now are they all dead, we have made an end of them." "it were better to have prevented the deed, sodosi," i said severely. "yet `all' didst thou say? wait! follow me. i need but three or four." with this number i crept through the hole, and as we did so, there sprang up suddenly in the darkness under the shade of the fence two men, making for the forest edge as hard as they could run. but i could run, too, in those days, _nkose_, and one of them as he reached it fell dead with the blade of my assegai driven right through his back. the other was attacked by my followers, and from the sounds of the struggle i judged that he was fighting well and desperately. but they could take care of him. i had another matter to attend to. for in the gloom just in front of me i could hear a faint and stealthy rustle, and towards it i moved, silently and swiftly, listening the while lest i might be drawn into a trap. no! it was but one man. i could see a form, dark and tall, moving from tree to tree, but it seemed as though i would never come within striking distance. i was now far beyond my followers, but i felt somehow that the capture of this one fugitive was to be desired more than the deaths of all the others put together. still this figure eluded me, now showing for a moment in the moonlight, now vanishing in the shade. here at last was an open space and the runaway could not diverge. one final effort, a mighty rush, and i was upon him. "yield now," i roared, raising my bloodstained spear. "yield or i cleave thee to the heart." "as thou wouldst have done tola," said a soft voice; and then i stood staring. the tall figure of the fugitive had halted, and, turned towards me, under the full light of the moon, i beheld the face of lalusini. "what hast thou done, woman?" i stammered, feeling bewitched. "the stroke of sopuza has fallen," she answered simply. "the spirit of tshaka the mighty no longer roars aloud for blood. what then?" "what then?" i repeated, now quite bewildered. "what then?" but lalasini laughed, a low, sweet, bewitching laugh. "art thou going to deliver me to be torn in pieces by the cubs of the lion who is dead, untuswa?" for some moments i gazed at her as though i were changed into a stone. then i turned away. "_hlala gahle_, lalusini," i said, over my shoulder. again she laughed. "_hamba gahle_, son of ntelani," she said. "we shall again be together, but not great together--not great--ah, no!--never now." her words seemed to beat within my brain as i took my way backward through the forest, and there was that in them which i liked. no, in truth i could not deliver her over to vengeance; any other person--but lalusini--ah, no! i could not do it. "the stroke of sopuza" had indeed fallen, and these, _nkose_, were the words of a prophecy uttered long before by an old magician as to the manner in which death should one day find out dingane, and for this reason fierce war had been waged upon the tribe which owned sopuza for chief, and whose dwelling was upon the swazi border. but, secure in its mountain fastnesses, our _impis_ had not always been able to reach it. quickly i took my way back to the kraal. the king was not dead, and had been inquiring for me; and when i entered the royal house, he spoke drowsily, calling me by name. i found that he had received several stabs, one of them cleaving his entrails in a frightful manner. he would hardly see the rising of another sun. "hither, untuswa," he murmured. "didst thou make an end of those scorpions?" "an end, indeed, black elephant," i answered. "all of them?" "that is yet to be done, father. there will shortly be howling throughout the swazi nation, for of that race are those who struck the great great one." "yet i thought--or dreamed--that the hand of a woman was in it," said the king. "ha! the women of the amaswazi shall help to pay the penalty, then," i answered, fearful lest the great great one should have recognised lalusini, whom i would fain save. "no matter, the stroke of sopuza has fallen--ah, yes, it has fallen at last," he murmured. "and now, untuswa, send and gather together all the warriors. bid that they come in full array of war; for i desire to feast my eyes upon the sight i have ever loved best." "that i have already done, father." "thou art a very prince of indunas, untuswa," replied dingane. "hast thou gathered in all?" "all, father. i have sent swift runners to silwane's _impi_ and to all our outlying kraals." "that is well." now the _izanusi_ craved leave to enter, but dingane would have none of them. there was but one in whose magic he had any faith, he said, and that was mahlula; and since the battle mahlula had been seen or heard of by none. ha! i could have revealed a strange tale, _nkose_, but that was furthest of all from my mind. then the _izanusi_, thus refused admittance, set up a doleful howling outside the hut, until dingane, wrathful, bade me go forth and drive them away, which i was glad to do. all through the night i sat beside the king, never leaving him; all through the night bands of warriors were arriving at the kraal, and the tramp of their feet and the renewed wailings of the king's women in their huts was all the sound that was heard; for men cared not to talk, so great a mourning and grief had fallen upon all. with the dawn of day dingane aroused himself. "i will go forth, untuswa. give me the aid of thy shoulder." but even thus it was found that he could not walk, so i caused his chair to be brought, and thus he was borne forth, i supporting him; but although four stalwart warriors bent to the task, it was a hard one, for the men of the house of senzangakona are large beyond the ordinary, as you know, _nkose_. outside the kraal the warriors were mustered, squatting behind their great war-shields, forming a huge half circle even as on the day when they hailed the fugitive king in his place of concealment, only now their number had nearly doubled. there they sat, rank upon rank, motionless. as the king's chair was lowered to the ground the whole of this dense mass of armed men threw their war-shields to the earth and fell prostrate upon them, and in the roar of the "_bayete_" which thundered forth was a subdued growl of grief and wrath. then they arose, and squatted crouching as before. the eyes of the dying king kindled, as he swept his glance over this splendid army, and his form seemed to gather renewed life as he sat upright in his chair, his shield-bearer holding on high the great white shield behind him. then he spoke: "my children, i have called you here because i desire that the last sight my eyes shall rest on shall be the sight which they have always loved the most to behold, the sight of warriors under arms, of warriors of zulu. "what prouder name has the world ever known? warriors of zulu! and you--you, my children, have well deserved it and worthily won it. not in you was it to place your necks beneath the foot of any base slave of the amabuna, any cur who seeks to roar like the lion, any calf who would fain stamp with the rumble of the elephant, any changeling bastard who would drag the house of senzangakona into the dust beneath the shoes of the amabuna. not in you was it to do this. but you have faithfully cleaved to your real king in shadow as in sunshine, and see now the result. look around on your own ranks. very soon now should we have gone forth, for not always was it my intention to sit down here and rest. then we would have swept the traitors of our own race and the amabuna into one common pit, and covered them up and stamped them in there for ever. "i cannot talk many more words to you, my children. but if you have been loyal and faithful to me, your well-being has ever been my care as your father, your brave deeds have ever been my pride as your king. the nation has been divided, but i would have knit it together again. i would have restored it through you, faithful ones, to all its former greatness. but now i have to leave you. the base hand of evil wizardry has found me in my sleep, has struck me down in the night, and now i go into the dark unknown." "_ma-ye_!" moaned the warriors, their heads bowed in grief as dingane paused. then, gathering once more fresh strength, with an effort the dying king went on, and his voice rolled clear and strong like a call to battle: "lo! i see not the end. i know not who shall reunite this people, who shall deliver it from slavery and disgrace--extinction; for now i must leave it. my eyes are dim and the dark unknown is closing in around me. yet still my last gaze is upon that sight which is the grandest the world ever saw--the warriors of zulu under arms. farewell, warriors of zulu!" the voice ceased. the head drooped forward on the chest. the great form would have fallen prone from the chair but for those who stood by. the king was dead. through the dense ranks there shivered forth one deep moan, and for long no man stirred. all sat in silence, mourning thus the loss of their father and king. so died dingane, the second of the mighty kings of zulu. even as the great tshaka had died the death of the spear at his hand, so died he the death of the spear, being struck in his sleep. but he died as he had lived, and his was the death of a true warrior-king--his last gaze upon the ranks of his assembled army--face to face with it--his last words to it, words of commendation and loving farewell--and who shall say, _nkose_, that such was not a great and glorious death? chapter twenty five. conclusion. we buried the king with great ceremony and the sacrifice of beasts; and the whole army sat around in deep silence, the silence of grief and mourning for that the nation was now left without a head; but it was a silence that was rendered more awesome by the death-rites of the _izanusi_ and the wailings of the women. only for a short while, however, was the great great one to sit upon that seat, for he was taken up again in the dead of night and removed to a secret grave, known to but very few, as the custom is to keep secret the burial-places of kings. yes, with the passing away of dingane the army was as a body without a head. at such a time the thought would often be in my mind how lalusini would have me seize the opportunity of putting myself in dingane's place; for i too was of a royal tree--that of dingiswayo, of the tribe of umtetwa, whose place had been seized by tshaka--yet not near enough was i to the stem of that tree, being but a branch. but i could clearly see that if opportunity there had been it was now no more. the loyalty of the army to the house of senzangakona was too great; and now, being without a head, the warriors began to talk among themselves of the expediency of doing _konza_ to the other great one of that house. so we consulted together--i and silwane and some of the principal war-chiefs-- and in a short time we sent messengers to mpande, who was the rightful king now, however he might owe his seat to the amabuna. but with the army that had followed the great one who was dead turned into his own army, mpande might perhaps remedy even that. our messengers returned accompanied by others, including an induna of note, assuring us of the royal favour. that decided us. it was a great day, the day that saw the nation reunited once more. mpande sat in state, as our army filed in to his kraal near the tugela-- for nodwengu had not then been erected--singing songs of war and praises to the new king; and when as one man the whole number of those black ones threw down their weapons and shields and shouted aloud the "_bayete_," bending low before him, the look upon the face of the king was one of gladness and great pride. then he spoke to us. we had fought hard and valiantly for that great one who was no more. we had been faithful to our rightful king, and had cleaved to him through his reverses. the stroke of some evil wizard had laid that great one low in the dark hours of the night, but the house of senzangakona was not dead yet, and we, quick to see this, had hastened to cry the "_bayete_" to the head of that house, and the head of the zulu nation. by reason of the fidelity we had shown he assured us of his favour, for upon such he felt he could rely. then the principal indunas of the returning army were called up, one by one, and "named," and thus were continued in the commands they had held up till now; some indeed being advanced to even greater honour--among them myself. and mpande's word stood, for he ever regarded those who had adhered to dingane with greater favour than those who had divided the nation with him. but that day was passed in great rejoicing, and many cattle were slaughtered, and the feasting went on far into the night. towards its close i retired to my hut, thinking perhaps to find there my swazi wives, who had been given me by that great one who was gone. but they were not there, nor was any--and while i was thinking what had become of them the door was pushed softly open, and a voice said: "now, untuswa, do i return. am i welcome?" _whau, nkose_! then did i leap to my feet in amazement and joy. for the voice was that of lalusini. she had entered, and was standing upright within the hut. "welcome indeed, lalusini," i replied. "art thou then tired of thy sorcery?" "i think that is so, untuswa. there is much that is weariful in it. i would have made thee great, and myself with thee--then whispering--i would have reigned with thee queen over this nation, but now i think i must live and die the wife of an induna only. well, `the stroke of sopuza' has fallen, that is something." i looked at her strangely in the firelight, for well i knew whose was the hand that directed "the stroke of sopuza." she went on: "ah, ah, untuswa! the greatness i had destined for thee can never be thine. thou art too faithful. i would have had thee do it--yet my heart went forth to thee, thou great, brave, honest fighter, whose spear refused to strike the sleeping one--who chose to serve a king in his downfall rather than be served as king thyself. thou wilt never be greater than an induna thyself, and i--well, i think i shall never be greater than an induna's wife." and with these words she began to spread the mats in the hut, and heaped more wood upon the fire, and saw that things were in their places. then she came and sat beside me. well, what mattered further greatness? i was great enough, being high in the councils of those who, under the king, ruled the nation, and for long i sat thus in a high place, and the favour of mpande was always over me. but i had indeed passed through strange things, even as old gasitye had predicted i should when speaking from the ghost-cliff in the valley of the red death. yes, and even more was i destined to see, for soon the amabuna were driven out in their turn, and the land they had seized from us was reft from them by the english. howbeit on these we made no war, for they entered into a treaty with mpande that the zulu people should dwell on this side of the tugela, and the english on the other; and this agreement they kept faithfully for a long space of time until they began to fear cetywayo, and then--but, _nkose_, about that you know, and i have already told far too long a tale for one night. yet, it is strange that the sight of the horns of your oxen, branching through the mist, should have drawn forth not only the tale of the ghost-bull and the valley of the red death, but a greater one still-- even that of the downfall and death of dingane, and the dividing of the great zulu nation; but so it ever is with the lives of men, one thing leads on to another. and now, _nkose_, i think the time has come for sleep. sleep well, _nkose. whau_! i know not whether you will return to this country again to hear tales of its old doings of battle and of blood, of warrior-kings and sorcerers, and beasts that have the life of the ghosts of magicians within them, for i am old now, and my time is at hand for a longer sleep than that which now awaits me underneath your waggon. _nkose! hlala gahle_! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ but though old untuswa could thus turn in, and with his blanket over his head could snooze away snugly beneath the shelter of the waggon, to me slumber refused to come. the graphic tale i had just heard, the tale of the first downfall of the zulu power told in the dead of night on the very spot whereon had been contested the fierce and determined struggle which had in effect decided the second--for it was the british success at kambula that rendered that at ulundi assured--this tale, told, too, by a living actor in those stirring events of the bygone annals of a martial race, seemed to people all the surrounding waste; and looking forth, it needed no great tax on the imagination to conjure up the shades of slain warriors rising in hundreds from their common grave down yonder on the slope; and, shield and spear-armed, re-forming in wild and fantastic array of war. and over and above such fanciful flights it was a tale to set one thinking--if one had never thought before--of the senselessness of deciding offhand the morality of this or that deed which helpeth to make history from one hard-and-fast point of view, and that point of view the british; or of stigmatising even a savage potentate as a treacherous and cruel monster, because he is not particular as to his methods when it becomes a question of preserving his nation's rights and his nation's greatness, what time such are threatened and invaded by christians, whom subsequent events show to be the reverse of models of uprightness or fair dealing themselves. and it was even as old untuswa had said: "you white people and ourselves see things differently, and i suppose it will always be so." yes, it was a fitting episode in the annals of a warrior nation, that tale of fierce wars, and intrigue, and sturdy loyalty, and even of a chivalry, not exactly describable by the term "rude"; most of all, too, was it a tale essentially human, showing how the same desires and motives enkindle the same actions and their results in the heart that beats beneath a brown skin as in that which beats beneath a white one. and therein, perhaps, lay its greatest charm. the white chief of the caffres, by major general a.w. drayson. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ the white chief of the caffres, by major general a.w. drayson. chapter one. i was born in the city of delhi, in central india, where my father held a command as major in the old east india company's service. i was an only son, and my mother died shortly after i was born. i resided at delhi until i was ten years of age. having been attended as a child by an ayah, and afterwards taught to ride by one of my father's syces, i learned to speak hindostani before i could speak english, and felt quite at home amongst black people. my father, major peterson, had a brother in england who was a bachelor, and an east indian merchant, and supposed to be very rich. i was named julius, after this uncle, who was my godfather, and who was much older than was my father, and who, although he had never seen me, yet took great interest in me, and mentioned me in all his letters. it was just before my tenth birthday that my father received a letter from my uncle, which caused a great change in my life, and led to those adventures which i relate in this tale. in this letter my uncle wrote, that from his experience of india he was certain that i could not be properly educated in that country; that at my age the climate was very trying; and that consequently he wished my father to send me home, in order that i might be placed at a good school in england, and eventually sent either to addiscombe or haileybury, according as i chose the military or civil service of india. the expenses of my education, my uncle stated, would be undertaken by him, so that money need not interfere with the question. young as i was i saw the advantages of this proposition, and being by nature ambitious and fond of adventure, i was pleased at the prospect of seeing england. after a little hesitation my father consented to part with me, and i and my father commenced our long journey from delhi to calcutta. in those early days of my youth there were no railways in india; there was no suez canal, and there were no steamers in the world. to reach england we embarked at calcutta in what was termed one of green's ships--that is, a fine east indiaman, a full-rigged ship of about , tons--and having sailed down the hoogly river, commenced our four months' voyage, round the cape, and from thence by saint helena to england. i can remember delhi as it was in those days--its fine old fort, the fortifications round the town, its long street, in which were the bazaars and jewellers' shops. many of the little native children to whom i used to talk in my childhood were probably among those who, during the mutiny, were the murderers of my countrymen. localities on which i have sat with my ayah, and took my first steps, have since then become famous as the places where our soldiers have fought and conquered against overwhelming numbers. though i have passed through many strange scenes, i still remember delhi, for it was my birthplace, and it has ever had a charm for me on that account only. after a journey of nearly a month we reached calcutta, and were received as guests by a friend who lived in fort william. i was astonished at the sight of the ships that were anchored close to the fort, for i had no idea that any vessels could be so large. as the _madagascar_--the ship in which i was to sail--was ready for sea, we stayed but a few days in calcutta. i was placed in charge of the captain, bid my father good-bye, promised to be a good boy and to do everything my uncle wished me to do, and commenced my voyage to england. on the second day after leaving calcutta we entered the bay of bengal, and with a fair wind sailed merrily over the dancing waves. during a few days i was sea-sick; but i soon recovered, and was then much interested in watching the sailors when they went aloft to take reefs in the sails, or to take in a royal or studding-sail. there were several passengers, and of all ages, many of whom, knowing that i was alone, were very kind to me. there was one young lady about eighteen, who was my special favourite, and who used to tell me stories as we sat on deck in the evening. i called her constance: i did not then know her by any other name. altogether, there were five ladies on board; for in those days more ladies went to india than ever came back. then sanitary precautions were not as well-known as they are at present, and fever and cholera claimed their victims in the land of the sun. i will refer only to those with whom i was afterwards associated; and these were mrs apton, a widow, and her daughter, a girl about twelve years old. our voyage continued, without anything remarkable occurring, until three days after we had passed the mauritius, when it became calm, and for three days we merely drifted helplessly on a calm sea. on the fourth day it became dark and gloomy; there were no actual clouds, but the sky was nearly black, the sun was invisible, and the captain and his officers looked anxious, whilst the passengers gathered together in groups, and talked in low tones. i had noticed that the captain had gone several times into the cabin and looked at a long wooden instrument that seemed to interest him much, and which i have since learned was a barometer. by means of this instrument and the indications in the sky, he knew that a storm was coming. in the days of sailing-vessels a storm was a more serious matter than it is in the present days of steam. a lee shore is now not a matter of such extreme danger; for a steamer is not at the mercy of the winds, though she cannot escape the fury of the waves. darker and darker became the sky, whilst the ship was stripped of all her sails except one on the fore mast and one on the mizen, and every one was watching anxiously for the first burst of the expected storm. it was about the hour of sunset when the gale began, and we ran before it for a few minutes, the sea as yet being calm. suddenly the wind chopped round, and before the ship could obey her helm she was taken aback, the foresail flattened against the mast, and in another instant the mast snapped like a twig, and fell on deck. the passengers, at the commencement of the storm, had been ordered below so as to be out of the way of the sailors, and it was merely from the reports that the mates occasionally brought us, that we knew what was happening on deck. the sea soon rose, and the ship lifted and fell, just as though she had been a small boat. during two days the gale continued; but no fears were entertained for the vessel's safety until a tremendous sea, striking her astern, carried away her rudder and left her a helpless log on the water. the sky had been so completely overcast since the commencement of the gale, that neither the sun nor a star had been seen; consequently no observations could be taken to tell where the ship was; but the captain considered that she was west of the natal bluff, and about fifty miles from the land. the currents in this part are, however, so variable and run sometimes with such force, that it is difficult, without observations, to ascertain a ship's position. the night was pitch dark, and every one in a state of great anxiety. no one had undressed, all the passengers being huddled together in the principal saloon. it must have been shortly after midnight when we heard a great noise on deck, shouts and running about, and then came a crash and a shock that made every sailor and passenger aware that a great catastrophe had occurred. i was lying on one of the fixed sofas, and was sent flying across the cabin, and was considerably bruised; but the pain i experienced i scarcely thought of, as my alarm was so great to hear the terrific rush of water which struck the vessel, poured over her, and deluged the cabin. two or three times the ship rose, and then, with a crash of smashing timbers, came down again, and was once more deluged with water. "we have struck on a rock!" was the cry (such was the fact), "and shall all be drowned." as though satisfied with its victim, the storm ceased as suddenly as it had risen; but the sea continued to break over us all night, and every minute we expected the ship to break up. had she not been a strong teak-built ship, she would probably have gone to pieces long before morning; but the sea gradually went down as the tide receded, and we at length saw that day was breaking. by this time some of the most daring among the male passengers removed the hatch that had been placed over the gangway to keep the water out, and ventured on deck, when the full extent of our disaster was visible. the ship's masts had all fallen, and of the captain and crew only five sailors remained; the others had been washed overboard, or had been killed by the falling masts. the ship had struck on a ledge of rocks about half a mile from the shore, and had then been carried over this into a sort of bay inside. as the tide fell, this ledge acted as a sort of breakwater, and fully accounted for the sudden decrease in the force of the sea as the tide went down. between the ship and the land there was comparatively calm water, spotted here and there with black-looking rocks just showing above water. knowing that when the tide again rose we might again be exposed to the heavy seas which were still running, the sailors at once called upon the passengers to help them to construct a raft; for every boat had been either smashed or carried away, and several small dark objects moving rapidly through the water showed that sharks were ready to seize on any human being, who ventured into their element. a raft was soon constructed, and the females were first conveyed to the shore. i followed on the second journey, and then the raft went backwards and forwards, conveying to the shore some provisions, clothing, valuables, two or three guns and pistols, with ammunition, a large sail to serve as a tent, and other articles that might be deemed necessary. the men worked till past mid-day, when the tide rose, and with it the wind, and it was no longer possible to make use of the raft. we were all, however, busy on shore, making a sort of "lean-to" out of the sail, cooking provisions, and searching for water; and we thus passed our first day, the wind again blowing a hurricane. we lay down to rest that night, thanking god for our escape; for although our future was uncertain, yet we were better off than were the poor fellows who had been washed overboard, and by this time had probably been eaten by sharks. on the following morning there was no sign of the wreck, but the shore was strewn with her timbers and cargo: the latter, when not utterly spoiled by the sea-water, were collected and piled up near our tent. during the morning the men had been talking together as to what was best to be done. it was hoped that some ship would pass the coast, and that by aid of a flag which we had saved from the wreck, we could signal to the ship, and thus be relieved from our position. one question which could not be decided was on what part of the coast we had been cast. some of the sailors thought we were near saint lucia bay, east of natal, others that we were nearer the great fish river. of inhabitants or houses we saw nothing, but at night we heard the cries of animals, some of which i recognised as made by jackals, for round delhi there were hundreds of these animals which used to serenade us at night. we were fortunate in finding water: an excellent clear stream ran into the sea within a few yards of where we had landed. we also found oysters firmly fixed to the rocks, which were very good. some fish-hooks and lines were among the articles saved from the wreck, and rough fishing-rods having been cut from the trees, several fish were caught, which we fried in our wood fire. thus we had no fear of starving, and though our position was not pleasant, none of the party despaired. to me, i must own, the conditions were not unpleasant, i had read and heard of shipwrecks and adventures of different kinds, and being by nature gifted with a hopeful and fearless constitution, i rather enjoyed the whole thing; for i was too young to think or feel deeply for the loss of the captain and crew, who had been drowned. in fact, like most children, i was thoughtless, and did not reflect enough for the disaster to impress me much. i had kept beside constance all the time we were on the raft, and sat beside her in our tent. i felt very happy with her, and used to gather flowers for her, as many grew close beside where we were stopping. to me it seemed like a picnic, such as we used to have sometimes in the cool weather at delhi, but it was of longer duration. the men had been talking about the possibility of travelling down the coast to find either natal, where there were a few traders, or if we were west of natal, to reach the cape colony, and then get some vessel to come up the coast and rescue the females and the remainder of the men. but the difficulties of the journey were unknown: they had no idea of what rivers or other obstacles might be in the way; and so four days passed without any move being made; and although a sharp look-out was kept, no vessel was seen. chapter two. it was on the fifth night after we had landed from the wreck, that one of the sailors who was out with his gun, trying to shoot some monkeys that he had seen in the trees, reported that he had seen some black men in the distance, but did not think they had seen him. he did not like to show himself to these men, for he did not know who, or what they might be. none of the party knew much about the natives on this coast; there was some kind of belief that they were caffres or hottentots, but whether these people were inoffensive and friendly, or the reverse, no one really knew. when i think of what happened, and now that i know the character and habits of the tribes in south africa, i am surprised at the reckless indifference that was shown by the sailors and male passengers of our party, in not taking such precautions as should always be taken in a strange country. i had slept under the canvas each night near the ladies of the party, whilst the men had selected various places near, on which they had made a bed of grass; and by sticking a few branches of trees in the ground, they had made a covering so as to keep off the dew, which fell very heavily each night. thus the men were separated, whilst i and the females were all together. it was towards the morning, although no signs of daylight appeared, that i awoke suddenly, with the feeling of some danger being near. i could not tell what it was, but it seemed like a dream in which i had escaped some danger. i could not get to sleep again, but lay listening and afraid to move. i must have remained in this watchful state about a quarter of an hour, when there was a noise as of men moving through the grass and bushes, the sound of blows, two or three groans, and then all was quiet again. i crawled along the ground to where constance was lying, and found her awake and trembling. i whispered to her, "what is it?" she said, "i don't know, but keep quiet." we were afraid to move, but i could hear my heart beating, and it was as much as i could do to prevent crying out. we seemed to be hours in this state before the first signs of daylight appeared, and the objects round us could be seen. day breaks quickly in those latitudes, and we were soon able to see what to us was a most astonishing and alarming sight. seated on the ground and looking like stone figures, there were about forty black men. they had been sitting in a circle round the tent in which i and the females had been sleeping. they were each armed with some short spears, a large knobbed stick, and each had a black and white shield, which he held in front of him. my surprise was great on first seeing these men, and i called to constance, who was asleep, to look at them. i could see none of the sailors or male passengers, and wondered how it was they were not showing themselves anywhere. as soon as constance and the other ladies sat up to look at the black men, they became alarmed, and asked each other what it all meant. but they were not left long in doubt as to what to do, for a very tall black man rose and made a speech in a language none of us could understand; and then, signing to the females to follow him, he strode off towards the north, and away from the sea. by this time we were all much frightened: we did not know what had happened, but we supposed the men had been taken inland, as we could see no signs of them. we did not hesitate about following the man who had spoken, for the other men closed round us and shook their sticks at us if we hesitated about moving. it was not till i had been many months in this country and had learned the language that i heard all that had taken place on that eventful night; and it may aid the reader to better understand our position if i now describe those details which were afterwards so graphically described to me. our ship had been wrecked on the coast of south africa, about midway between natal and algoa bay, and not far from a river termed the umzimvubu, imvubu being the native name of the hippopotamus, several of which animals are inhabitants of this river. the natives in this part were a branch of the great zulu nation, but independent of the zulus. they were sometimes called the amapondas, but they were more pleased to be called amazimvubu. this tribe was ruled over by a chief called inyati, or the buffalo, and was strong enough to be feared by the amakosa tribes to the west, and respected by the zulus to the east. in their habits they resemble the zulus, and were given to use the short stabbing assagy in preference to the light assagy used for throwing by the amakosa. they lived in huts similar to those of the other south african caffres, and were great cultivators of the soil, growing mealies or indian corn, a smaller grain called m'beli, pumpkins, and sugar-cane. they were lovers of cattle, and a man's riches consisted of herds of cattle and of wives. i learned that the second day after we had been wrecked we had been discovered by these people, who had then set a watch on us; and it having been discovered that the men possessed firearms, and that there were women belonging to the party, it was decided that an attack should be made on the men during the night, and by surprise. every detail of our camp was known to these people. by concealing themselves in the bush they had noted where each man lay down to sleep. two caffres had then been told off to assagy each individual, and to do it so quietly that no alarm should be given. every plan was so well arranged that, at a given signal, each man had been stabbed dead at once, and his body carried away and thrown in the water. the females, it was known, slept under the canvas, and they were not to be touched. i, being always with them and having long curly hair, was supposed to be a little girl, and so was spared; and when it was known that i was not a girl, i was allowed to live as i was so young. all these details were described to me by a young caffre who had been present at the massacre, and whose first adventure had been at this affair. we had walked for some hours along narrow paths that sometimes led through bushes, at others over hills and down valleys, and at length reached a collection of huts, which i afterwards learned was named _must_, or, as the dutch and english call it, a kraal. at this kraal several men, women, and children came out to look at us, all seeming much amused at our appearance, and especially astonished at the long hair of the ladies, for the caffres have only short and woolly hair. we were given some milk at this kraal, and i observed that the caffre who had spoken to us when i first awoke seemed to be giving orders to all the men, and when they replied to him they often said "_inkose_." i tried to make these people understand me by saying a few words in hindostani, but they could not understand me and shook their heads. on my repeating to them the first word i learned, viz., _inkose_, they nodded, and pointing to the large caffre, said "_yena inkose_" this, i afterwards learnt, meant "he is the chief." we continued our journey during three days, resting at night in the kraals; and we saw thousands of caffres, who were all alike, and who all seemed equally surprised at our appearance. at length we reached a kraal that was far larger than any we had hitherto seen, and on nearing which the caffres came out in crowds and shouted "_inkose_" and shook hands with all the men whom we had first seen. i and the three ladies were shown a hut, into which we had to crawl on our hands and knees: we then laid down, for we were all very tired and footsore. we were given some milk and some indian corn boiled, but we saw no meat, these people apparently living entirely on corn and milk. mrs apton and her daughter sat crying in the hut, and exclaiming that we should all be killed and probably eaten; but constance seemed very brave and said that, considering how we had escaped from the wreck, we ought not to despair now. we all talked over our probable future, and tried to guess what had become of the men of the party. the caffres had managed their slaughter so quietly that it was not till i could speak the language that we discovered what had happened to them. on the first night at this kraal the moon was full, and all the men belonging to this village and also those from several near it assembled, and, lighting a large fire, sat in a circle round it, and sang songs the whole night. we could not sleep in consequence of the noise, and we did not feel certain that we were not going to be killed and roasted at the fire, for we knew so little of the caffres that we believed them to be cannibals. it was just at daybreak when a caffre came to the kraal and beckoned me to come out, saying "_e-zapa_" which meant "come here." thinking i was to be taken out and roasted, i clung to constance and cried; but the caffre dragged me away, and led me to where there were some dozen men sitting apart and talking. when i was dragged to where they were sitting, i was made to sit down, and a long conversation took place, two men seeming to be arguing with each other: one was the inkose who had captured us, the other i had never seen before. had i then known the subject that was being discussed between them, i should have been more frightened than i was, but luckily all was settled without my knowledge. when the men of our party had been assagied, the orders were to spare the females; and i was supposed to be a little girl, as i was always with the ladies. the caffres, however, soon found out that i was a boy, and the question now was whether i should be assagied or allowed to live. the chief was in favour of my being allowed to live, and determined to take me as his adopted son; whilst another chief recommended that i should be put to death. it took some hours for the council to talk over the matter, but at length it was decided that i was to be allowed to live, and was at once to be brought up as a caffre. chapter three. immediately the council broke up i was taken by the chief inyati to a kraal about ten miles distant from that in which mrs apton and her daughter and constance were stopping. i took a fancy to inyati, and tried by signs and a few words which were a mixture of english and hindostani, to ask him where i was being taken to. he seemed to understand my meaning, for he smiled, gave me a pat on the head, and gave me a knob-kerrie and an assagy to carry. upon arriving at the kraal inyati called out "inyoni," "tembile," and two caffre boys about my own size came running towards him. inyati spoke to them for some time, evidently about me, as he pointed to me often; the boys listened with great attention, and when he had finished, one of the boys repeated, apparently word for word, what he had been told. the chief nodded, and then walked away to one of the huts, whilst the boys put out each a hand and shook hands with me and beckoned me to follow them. they took me out about a mile from the kraal and towards a herd of cattle that were grazing on a hillside; we then sat down under the shade of a tree, and the boys commenced talking to me. i shook my head to show them i could not understand, and said, "caffre humko malum ney," which is the hindostani for "i don't know caffre." somehow i thought that, as the boys were black, they would understand hindostani better than they would english. they talked together for some time, and appeared very earnest in some argument. they then sat down beside me, and, pointing to the assagy that i still carried, said, "umkonto." i at once understood that they were going to teach me to speak caffre, and being anxious to learn, i was much pleased at their intention. i repeated the word "umkonto," which i now knew meant an assagy, until i said it just as they did. they then pointed to the cattle and said, "incomo," spreading out their hands so as to indicate all the herd. they then pointed at a chestnut-looking cow and said, "imazi-e-bomvu," then at a white cow and said, "imazi-e-molope." i learnt these words very quickly, and then, seeing a bird, i pointed at it, and looked inquiringly at my companions. they at once said, "inyoni," which i knew meant a bird, and one of the boys, pointing to himself, said, "igama's am inyoni," which i knew meant, "my name is inyoni." the boy then said, "igama's arko," and pointed to me. i knew he was asking what my name was, so i said "julius." they both tried to repeat the word after me, but it seemed more difficult for them to say "julius" than it was for me to repeat caffre words after them. being anxious to learn useful words, i made signs of eating, and then of drinking. the boys were wonderfully quick at understanding; and, pretending to eat, they said "ejla," and then, pretending to drink, said "posa." the sun was shining, so i pointed to it, and was at once told that it was "ilanga." the boys then patted their stomachs and drew them in as if they were empty, and said "lambili, funa ejla"; this i understood meant, "hungry, i want to eat." note: a caffre chief who rebelled against us some years ago was called by the english, langerbelali. the name really was ilanga-liba-leli, which means, "the shining sun." during this first day i learnt about forty words in caffre, and as i afterwards found that about five hundred words enables me to speak in most languages, i was able in a fortnight to understand nearly all that was spoken, and also to make known what i wanted to say. when the sun was near the horizon, the two caffre boys collected the cattle, and drove them home. i aided them in this work, and tried to whistle as they did, but this i could not accomplish for some days; the cattle, however, seemed to be more afraid of me than of the caffres, so i was a great help to them in driving the animals home. on our reaching the kraal, the cattle were driven into the centre, where there was a circular space fenced round with tall upright poles. the men belonging to the kraal then milked the cows; for this i found was the men's work, no woman being allowed to milk them. i was taken into a hut where there were two little girls about my own size, who laughed at me, but would not speak. these girls were the sisters of inyoni and tembile, and one of them, although black, was very pretty. i was given a bowl of milk and some boiled indian corn; and being very tired i soon fell asleep, and slept until disturbed shortly before sunrise by the two boys, who made signs to me to go with them and drive the cattle out to their grazing-ground. during the next day i learned the caffre for the numbers from one to ten. one they called _munye_, two was _mabili_, and ten _ishumi_. i also learned that some of the fruit in the bush was good and some bad. one fruit that these boys were fond of and was very good, they called martingula; it grew on a tree something like the english holly and was about the size of a plum. it was red in colour, and varied very much in flavour: we found plenty of these trees, and ate a good deal of the fruit. the boys explained to me that whatever a monkey ate a man might eat, as monkeys knew quite well what was fit and what poisonous for food. each day i became more apt in speaking caffre, and as i heard nothing else spoken, i used to think in caffre, and thought it a very pretty language. my young companions were light-hearted, and very kind, and quite unlike english boys, who too often chaff or bully a strange boy, especially if this boy belongs to a strange nation. but the young caffres amused themselves for hours each day in throwing an assagy at a mark. the mark was a large hard fruit, in shape and size like an orange. it was placed on the top of a stick, and the boys threw at it from a distance of forty paces. i was very awkward at first, but having learned how to hold and throw the assagy, i became at the end of a week as expert as they were, and being stouter and stronger, i could throw the assagy to a greater distance. i also practised throwing the knob-kerrie, which did not require so much skill, but which i soon found was a very useful weapon, as quails in hundreds soon visited the country, and i and my companions used to knock down twenty or thirty quails a day with these sticks, and we used to make a fire and cook them, and found them excellent eating. my first great sporting achievement was in killing a duiker, a small antelope that was found in bushy or stony country. this animal, which the caffres termed _impenze_, was very cunning, and could conceal itself in long grass in a wonderful way. i possessed very good sight, and rarely missed seeing anything that was to be seen, though i had yet to learn how to properly use this sight. we were sitting watching the cattle one morning, when i obtained a glimpse of an object moving in some long grass about a hundred yards from where we were. i did not say anything to my companions, but got up, and making a circular course, went quietly up to a rock which overlooked the grass in which i fancied i had seen the moving object. as i peeped over the stone i saw the impenze, standing broadside to, and about twenty yards from me. i had my assagy all ready to throw, and sent it with all my strength at the buck. the blade of the assagy went right through the buck's neck, and though it did not kill him, it prevented him from moving quickly through the grass and bushes, as it remained fast in his neck. i jumped down quickly and struck him with my knob-kerrie, and killed him with two or three blows on the head. the two caffre boys had now joined me, as they saw i was attacking some animal. they jumped about in a state of great excitement when they saw the dead antelope; and then taking a good look all round, they told me to keep quiet, and not to tell any one about this buck having been killed. inyoni at once skinned the buck and laid out the skin on the ground, pegging it down with mimosa thorns. the two boys then procured two sticks about a foot long, and of dry wood; these sticks they selected with great care. placing one of these on the ground, inyoni held down the ends with his feet, and then holding the other stick upright, he worked it round and round between the palms of his hands, and pressed it on to the second stick. tembile relieved inyoni when the latter was tired, and so they went on, turn and turn about, until the sawdust produced by this friction began to smoke and then to catch fire. a wisp of dry grass was then gathered, the sparks put into this, and the wisp swung round at arm's-length, when it very soon began to blaze, and in a few minutes we had a capital wood fire. with our assagies we now cut up the buck and fried it over the fire, and had a great feast, eating about half the animal. the remainder we concealed on the branches of a tree, for we knew that if we left it on the ground, a jackal or leopard would find it, and we should get nothing on the following day. i was told by my companions that if the men knew we had killed this buck and had not carried it to the kraal, we should all be beaten; so i must keep the secret, for my own sake as well as theirs. our life was very simple and quiet; and i have often thought in later years, that the life led by these caffres was perfect freedom and luxury, compared with the slavery endured by business men in cities. a caffre who possessed a hundred head of cattle might have acquired these by his father giving him a cow and a calf when he was a boy. cattle increase in almost geometrical rates. thus a cow and a calf would probably become in ten years fifty head of cattle, and the young caffre would be a man of independent fortune. as soon as a caffre possesses cattle, he purchases a wife, and the limit to the number of his wives is only drawn by the amount of cattle he possesses. a young good-looking girl is purchased for from eight to ten cows. these are not always paid at once, three or four being given at the time of marriage, and the remainder paid in a year or two afterwards. a wife among these people is not a matter of expense only, as it is with civilised nations; but is a profitable investment, as the wives work in the mealie gardens, do the digging and the sowing, and at the time of harvest gather in the crops. if then a man possess three or four wives, he cultivates a large piece of ground and has plenty of corn, pumpkins, and other grain, and also has cows from which he obtains milk. the men never drank fresh milk, which they call _ubisi_: this they consider only fit for women and boys. they placed the fresh milk in large gourds made from dried pumpkins, and which contained about two quarts of milk, which was kept for some hours exposed to the sun; the gourd was then shaken, and again allowed to rest; in about three days the milk turned and became lumpy, and had a tart taste about it, and was really meat and drink. when in this state it was called _amasi_. this amasi and boiled mealies were food enough for the caffres, meat being eaten only about once a month, when some wedding took place, or a hunting expedition was successful. the caffre men did very little except milk the cows, which they never allowed the women to do, go out hunting, and have dances, and long talks in their kraals. i should like to know what more pleasant life could be passed by any man in a civilised country than this. had i been older or more experienced when i was living among these people, i should have been more surprised than i was at the absence of all those wishes, and anxieties, which form the principal desires of men and women in civilised countries. these caffres had no desire for more than they possessed, except as regards cattle, and thus afforded an excellent example of the proverbs that "he who curtails his wants increases his income," and "he whose requirements are less than his means of supply, is the only rich man." i was so fully occupied with the work that was drawn out for me by the caffres, that i had not thought with much anxiety about my late fellow-passengers. i wished, however, to see constance, and now that i could speak a little in the caffre language, i asked where she was, and when i could see her. my inquiry and wish seemed to puzzle inyoni, who told me she was well, but that i must not see her yet, as the chief had so ordered it. so, during six months i never saw a white person, and by that time i was to all purposes a regular caffre boy. i could speak the language well, i could click out the proper clicks at right words, could throw an assagy better than any caffre boy of my size. i could run faster than other caffre boys, though i could not keep it up so well, but for a quarter of a mile i was very fast. i knew nearly every cow's name, and could whistle and drive a herd of cattle like a caffre. the one thing from which i suffered was the tenderness of my feet. my boots had been worn out long since, and my feet, from having worn shoes all my life, were very tender; but each day they became harder, though i often had to stop and sit down when i had trodden on a sharp stone. my only suit of clothes was worn out, but i had made a set of what the caffres considered clothes, but were merely strips of goat's-skin about a foot long, fastened to a leather strap round my waist. this absence of dress i found caused me to be too hot in the warm weather and too cold in the early mornings and in the cold weather; but i hardened under the conditions, and soon did not mind it. there was an amusement that i and my two companions carried on which i afterwards found very useful. this was to procure two or three straight canes about five feet long: one end of these we used to cover with clay, we then stood opposite each other, and danced and jumped about, and then suddenly threw these at, each other, using them like an assagy. at first the caffres used to hit me at nearly every shot, and i never touched them; but after considerable practice i became as expert as they were, and could spring on one side so as just to avoid the blow, or throw myself down, or turn the spear aside with my shield, which was an oval-shaped piece of ox-hide. at about thirty paces from each other we could never hit one another, and then we closed in till one of us was hit. we used to keep a score on a stick of the number of hits against each of us, a notch in the stick being the mark. in after years, when it was a matter of life and death, the training and practice i had gained in my boyhood was of vital importance to me in avoiding an assagy, when one was thrown at me, and my dexterity in throwing one soon became known among the tribe with which i lived. the things i could accomplish with the assagy were the following. i could throw an assagy sixty paces, which, for a boy, was very good, but two or three of the men could throw the same assagy ninety paces. at forty paces i could hit a mark as big as a man's head about every other shot. i could throw the assagy either overhand or underhand, quivering it at the same time. if thrown overhand, the hand was held above the shoulder, and the arm from the hand to the elbow was vertical when the assagy left the hand. when thrown underhand, the back of the hand was down, and the arm from the hand to the elbow was horizontal when the spear left the hand. this underhand throwing was very effective in taking your adversary by surprise; for if you jumped about quickly and made feints, pretending to throw overhand, then suddenly throwing underhand, he very often could not dodge quickly enough to escape the weapon. i never left my hut without one or two assagies and a knob-kerrie in my hand; for close to our kraal there were leopards, hyaenas, and other animals that were very dangerous. there was one accomplishment that i had acquired from my companions that i had thought about night and day, and which i found very fascinating. this was "spooring," as the english and dutch in south africa call it; that is, telling by the footprints what animals have passed over the ground, when they passed, and at what pace. this study is quite an art, and i occupied many months in arriving at even a superficial knowledge of the subject. although i of course had no opportunity of learning arithmetic or any of those things that boys learn in english schools, yet i had my brain exercised by such studies as spooring and the observation necessary to enable me to practise the art. to spoor well it is necessary to know many things that appear at first sight to have nothing to do with the question. one of the things to learn was to break off branches of various sizes from different trees, to place these in the sunshine and in the shade, and then to notice how long it took for these leaves and branches to look withered or otherwise. the smaller the branch the sooner it withered, and in the sun it withered sooner than in the shade. then some trees, the wood of which was hard, would look fresh for a long time, whereas soft wood would soon show signs of withering. if the day was moist or wet, the branch that would dry on a sunny day would look fresh after the same interval of time. i used to take great pleasure in finding out these things, and inyoni and tembile used to break branches in the bush one day, and then take me to see them afterwards, and get me to guess how long a time had elapsed since they broke them. of course we knew nothing about hours, but we used to point in the sky and say, "the sun was there yesterday, or to-day, when you broke this off the tree." in this part of africa the dew falls very heavily, and i found that the dew fell most just after the sun had set. this was a great aid in telling the time that had elapsed since an animal had passed over the ground, for we could tell whether it was after the dew, or before the dew had fallen. the footprints of the various animals i learnt after some time, for it was not very easy to tell the difference between a large black bush-buck's footprint and that of a wild pig. also it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between a wild buffalo's footprint and that of one of our cattle; that is, if the buffalo was a young one. after a few months, however, i had gained much experience, and could tell the footprints of the following animals, all of which were to be seen near our kraal:--the hippopotamus, called _imvubu_ by the caffres, the buffalo, the large black bush-buck, the red bush-buck, and small blue bush-buck, the reit-buck, duiker, leopard, hyaena, the ratal, and many smaller animals. i acquired the habit of watching the ground as i walked along, and noting what spoor there was on it, and could thus discover what animals were in the neighbourhood; and i soon thought myself very clever as a spoor-finder. but i had yet much to learn, and soon found that, compared with my caffre companions, i was blind and unobservant. the principal event that proved to me how dull i was, led to my rising at once to a first place among the caffres. it was during a warm day that we had entered the bush near the ground where we watched the cattle, and were sitting in the shade talking, when inyoni, who was looking anxiously at a tree near, got up and walked to the tree and examined the trunk. he then called us and pointed to some marks on the tree; and at length, stooping on the ground, picked up two or three small hairs. both the caffre boys examined these and then said a leopard had been here during the night and had climbed the tree. the marks on the tree were from his claws, which he used just as does a cat in climbing. we did not like to follow the spoor, as leopards are very savage; but we went away from this place and sat down under the shade of some rocks at a short distance, and the boys told me stories about the leopard. during that night i thought a great deal about leopards; and i remembered, in a book that my father had given me soon after i learned to read, that there was a picture of a trap that some one had made to catch cats. now, the leopard is only a large cat, and is very like one in its habits, and the idea occurred to me that we might make a trap to catch the leopard. i thought over this scheme, and the next day talked to the boys about it. they were quite willing to try, so we set to work at once. the method we adopted was this. we cut down a great number of straight branches, about ten feet long and about two inches thick; these we stuck firmly in the ground in a circle, just as we used to construct a kraal. peeling off the bark from some mimosa trees, we made a sort of rope, and bending the tops of these branches together, we fastened them firmly, so as to make a circular hut. after many days, we had so bound these together that, with all our united force, we could not separate them in the slightest degree. we then cut a small opening in this hut as a doorway, and we had a part of our trap complete. the most difficult part to make was the door itself. this we made by constructing a door the same as you make a hurdle, and we made two of these doors, and then fastened them together to make them strong. this door we made inside the hut, because we wanted the door to be bigger than the doorway. having completed this door, we made out of buckskin a longish string, and fastened this to a stick in the centre of the hut; this string held the door up, but when the string was loosened the door slid down between two stout posts, and it was necessary to lift the door in order to get out of the doorway. all this being arranged in about a week's time, we next had to procure some bait, and were lucky in getting a guinea-fowl, which was a bird common in the bushes round our kraal. this bird we knocked over with our knob-kerries, and dragged it along the ground to the trap, and then fastened it to the string inside the trap. the caffres told me that the leopard was so strong that he would force himself out of the hut if he had time to do so. we therefore agreed to keep watch in a tree near on the first night, and if the leopard came, to run to the kraal and give notice to the men. we did not tell any one at the kraal what we had done; for, to speak the truth, we had not much confidence in the success of our trap, and we did not like to incur the risk of being laughed at. our success therefore was as unexpected as it was complete. having driven the cattle home to the kraal, we ate some corn and drank some milk, and then ran back to where our trap had been constructed, and climbed into a large tree, from which we could obtain a good view all round. it had not even become dark when, as we sat silent and motionless in the tree, we saw the leopard come through some long grass and creep towards our trap. it crouched for some time near the trap and seemed to be listening, and then slowly crept in. in half a minute the door dropped, and the leopard was trapped. in an instant inyoni descended the tree and ran off to the kraal, whilst i and tembile remained up the tree. we could hear the leopard moving about inside the hut, but whenever he did so we called out, and he was at once silent, and appeared as if he were afraid of making any noise. in what appeared to be a very short time inyoni came back, and with him about twenty men, among whom was the chief. they were all armed with five assagies each, and one of the men carried a piece of wood that was on fire. the caffres came up very quietly, and then surrounded the hut, remaining about ten yards from it. in a few minutes dry wood had been collected, and seven or eight fires were made round the trap in which the leopard was a prisoner. sometimes the leopard would roar and tear at the side of his cage, but on hearing the caffres outside he would become quiet again, and so the night passed. soon after daybreak many more caffres came to us, for the news had spread to the villages round, and when the sun rose there were more than a hundred caffres round the trap. the chief now gave his orders, and the men obeyed him just as soldiers obey an officer. he directed one caffre to go to the door of the trap, and with a long pole push up the door; all the other caffres stood in a semicircle round the doorway and about fifty yards from it, each with an assagy in his hand ready to throw. no sooner was the door raised a few inches than the leopard rushed at the stick, scratching and biting at it furiously. the caffre then retreated, and the leopard struggled at the small opening and succeeded in getting half out. the chief then shouted "_bulala_!" and about forty assagies were thrown at the leopard, nearly a dozen of which entered its body. in spite of these wounds the animal struggled out of the doorway and sprang at the caffres in front of him. a shower of assagies were again hurled at him, but he succeeded in reaching one man, whom he seized by the leg with his claws. in an instant, however, the other men closed in: there was a struggling mass of men, and then a shout of "_yena gofile_" ("he is dead.") i rushed up to the crowd, and there was the leopard covered with blood, his lips drawn back showing his teeth, and his limbs extended as they had been in his last spring. i jumped about with delight and excitement, for this was the first leopard i had ever seen killed, and it was by the aid of my trap that he had been secured. the legs of the leopard were tied together, and a long pole was then inserted between them, and he was carried to the kraal, the men singing songs as they accompanied his body. two men immediately set to work to skin him, they then extracted his teeth and claws. of the use they were going to make of these latter i at the time was ignorant, but in a few days i learned their value. all the principal men from the neighbouring kraals were invited to come to our village in the evening, for the caffres intended to eat the leopard, the flesh being supposed to give a man courage and endurance. a very small piece of meat could be spared for each man, as there were more than a hundred men assembled. they all sat in a circle on a piece of level ground outside our village, a fire being lighted in the centre, at which the leopard, cut up into pieces, was being toasted. many songs were sung by the men, the chorus being shouted by all. this chorus was very little more than "_ingwe gofile, tina shiele, yena shingarner, yena gofile_:" which meant, "the leopard is dead, we have struck him, he is a rascal, he is dead." we sat several hours singing songs that were extemporised by the best singers, and occasionally drinking _itchuala_, a sort of beer made out of corn, and then we all retired to our huts and slept. three days after this the same men assembled at our kraal in the evening, and i was told by the chief to come to the meeting. i did not know what it was for, but i found all the caffres looking at me, and the young girls seemed to regard me most attentively. i thought perhaps they intended to eat me, though i had seen nothing since my capture that frightened me. when the men were seated in a circle, the chief stood up, and, going into the centre of the circle, made a long speech, which was to this effect: "this white boy i prevented from being assagied; some of you wished to kill him, but i said, `no--he shall be as my son, let him live.' you agreed, and he lives. though his skin is white, his heart is the heart of an umzimvubu. he can throw an assagy well. he thinks, and it is he who made the trap that caught the leopard. i ask you, men, does he not deserve the necklace of leopard's claws? shall he not be a young chief? say, men, what you think." there was immediately a shout of consent, and the chief, calling me to him, gave me a necklace made out of the claws of the leopard, which he fastened round my neck, and immediately the men shouted, "_inkosana_!" "he is a young chief!" i have, since those days, heard of men who by deeds of valour have gained the victoria cross, or by good service have received honours from their sovereign; but i doubt if any of these felt more pride and gratification than i did when i received this necklace of leopard's claws from the hands of the chief. i immediately felt a craving for opportunities of distinguishing myself, and wished for another chance at a leopard or at some other savage animal, in order that i might prove my courage, as ably as i had shown my skill in designing and constructing the leopard-trap. chapter four. there was a great change in the behaviour--of the caffres towards me now that i had been made an inkosana. before this dignity had been conferred on me, there was a kind of watch kept on me; but now every caffre, man, woman, and child, seemed to regard me as one of themselves. i was now always given _amasi_ to drink instead of _ubisi_, the former being considered suitable for men, the latter for women and children. finding myself a person of greater importance, i one day asked inyati if i might go and see my white friends. he hesitated for some time, and at length said: "to-morrow at sunrise you may go. inyoni will show you the way; you will reach their kraal when the sun goes down. stay one day, then return." i told inyati i would do as he told me, and on the following morning i started with inyoni on the journey. i had never asked what had become of the men and sailors who had been saved from the wreck. at first _i did not ask_ because i did not know a word of caffre, but afterwards i did not do so because i saw that the caffres seemed disinclined to make any answers to my questions. now, however, i was alone with inyoni, he told me all the details of the massacre. he told me how we had been watched for two days, and it was found that the men had firearms; so they were all killed. on my inquiring why they were killed, inyoni told me that many moons ago some white men had come on the coast, and had landed and had carried off some men and women from a kraal; that when the caffres had assembled to get back their friends, the white men had fired their guns at them and had killed several caffres, and then escaped in their boats. so that the chiefs had agreed that, if ever white people came again on the coast, they were to be watched, surprised, and the men assagied. from what i afterwards learned, i believe the men who thus visited the coast were slave-hunters. we passed several kraals on our journey, at most of which the people came out and spoke to us, and every one who saw my necklace at once addressed me as "inkosana." at least a dozen times inyoni gave an account of my leopard-trap, and how we had killed this leopard, and i found myself looked at with envy by the boys and admiration by the girls, whilst both were very friendly, and usually walked with me for some distance on the journey. the sun was several times its own diameter above the horizon when we reached a kraal in which, so inyoni told me, one white woman was living. i entered this kraal, and inyoni telling the head man that the chief had allowed me to come to visit the white woman, i was shown a hut and told i might go in. on entering this hut i saw constance, who at once caught me in her arms and kissed me, expressing great delight at seeing me, as she feared i had been killed. i soon told her all that had happened to me, and that i was well-treated and not very unhappy. she listened to all i had to say, and told me she was very glad to hear so good an account, but that she was utterly miserable and wished she were dead. i tried to cheer her by giving her hopes of a better future, but she assured me it was impossible that we should ever see our friends again, and that if she did not marry one of the chief's sons they intended to kill her. we sat talking the greater part of the night, and the next morning went for a walk, the caffres appearing to take no notice of us, though i could see one or two boys go on the hill-tops and sit down, evidently to watch us. we sat down under the shade of some euphorbia trees and talked over our prospects. constance could tell me nothing of mrs apton or her daughter; they had been taken away to some distant kraal, and for a long time i heard nothing of them. i passed the whole of my time with constance, and promised to come and see her again; then, bidding her good-bye, i started at daybreak on my return to my own kraal. although i was living among a race of black people who would be deemed savages, and who had slaughtered my companions who had been shipwrecked on the coast, still i felt a sort of home-feeling on rejoining my kraal and on meeting inyati again after only three days' absence. now that i knew about the male passengers and sailors having been assagied, i talked to several of the young caffres about it; and their remarks were so sensible, and seemed to me so reasonable, that i must here repeat them. they said that only twice had white men come on their coast. the first men who came made signs of friendship, and were well received. they stayed two days on shore, and then enticed several young men and maidens to go with them to the shore, where they captured them and carried them to their ship. resistance was of course offered by the men, and several were shot, also two females were shot. on hearing of this treachery, all the chiefs along the coast met in council, and agreed that, if any more white men came to the coast, the people were to retreat, and a watch was to be set on the white men, and they were to be surprised and assagied before they could shoot anybody. seeing our shipwrecked men on the coast, the caffres concluded that we had come on an expedition similar to that of the former visitors, and so they had attacked us. they admitted that when they found there were women among the party they hesitated, but having received the chief's orders to attack us, they had no choice but to obey. "now," they said, "we must keep you always, for if you went back among white people, you would tell them we had killed your companions, and then an army of white men would come and attack us." there was no doubt it was by a mistake that my fellow-voyagers had been killed, but when i heard the caffres' explanation i could not think them very wrong. we, in fact, had suffered for the sins of some slave-hunters, who might or might not have been english. i explained to the caffres how we had been shipwrecked and had escaped on rafts, and how they would have received presents had they been kind to us, and had they forwarded us to the nearest english or dutch town. they admitted that such might have been the case, but now, having killed the white men, they said they must keep the thing quiet. i told them, that even now, if they forwarded me and the three ladies to the cape colony, they would be rewarded; but they shook their heads and said, "when you go among your own people you could not help telling them we had assagied your people, then an army come here and kill us. no, we keep quiet." it was useless my assuring them that i would not tell any of my people that the men had been assagied. the caffres smiled and replied, "you don't know yourself. now you believe you not tell, but when with your own people you could not help telling. don't think of going away--that never be. you will by-and-by be caffre chief here." all these conversations were of course carried on in the caffre language, and i have endeavoured to give as nearly as possible the meaning in english of the various words. in consequence of hearing nothing but caffre spoken, and also having to express all my meaning in the same language, i could now speak it as well as the caffres themselves, and so was able to learn all the views that the caffres had on various matters. in thinking over in after-life these days of my early experiences, i have come to the conclusion that these people were a strange mixture of common sense, very acute perceptions, and also very childish in many things. as regards what we term science they were of course completely ignorant, so much so, that, child as i was, i knew more than they did. for example, a great argument had been going on in our village once during several evenings. i had heard in my hut some of the words, and distinguished the word _inyanga_ used very often, this word being used to signify the moon, and also a month. a caffre counts his age as so many moons. thus a caffre boy who was one hundred and twenty moons old would be nearly twelve years of age, and if he lived to be nine hundred and thirty moons old, he would be about seventy years. i have since wondered whether this was the way that the people in the east formerly counted their ages, and were therefore said to live to nine hundred years of age. for if, as it has been suggested by some modern explainers, this great age was given to the ancients in order that they might people the world, it seems that they sadly neglected their duty. for methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years before he devoted himself to this duty, and lamech lived also one hundred and eighty-two years before he had a son. a caffre who was one hundred and eighty-two moons old would be about fourteen years old, and as these people come to maturity very quickly he would be quite a young man. after several long arguments the men at length appealed to me, and the question was this:--"is it the same moon that comes each month, gradually grows larger, and then gets small again? or is it a fresh moon that is born each month, gets full-grown, and then dies?" i told them it was the same moon, and they then asked me for proof, which i was quite unable to give; and so, although my statement was considered of some value, yet it did not convince the opponents of the theory about a different moon. they argued the subject during several evenings, and at the end of the discussion the result was not very dissimilar to that which occurs among a certain type of scientific men: each party remained of the same opinion with which he commenced the inquiry. from what i could learn, i found that those who asserted that it was a fresh moon born every month, had the best of the argument, and seemed to be most reasonable. there was, however, a peculiarity about these arguments which i always thought of in after years when i could compare them with the discussions and arguments in the civilised world on various questions. the caffres always seemed to desire truth, and to argue for the purpose of eliciting it. they would admit the soundness of an opponent's reasons, and sometimes allow that these could not be answered. they never indicated that their object was to prove themselves right and their opponents wrong, no matter what was the result. inyati, talking to me afterwards about the moon, said, "your white people believe it always the same moon." "yes," i replied, "they know it is the same." inyati said, "i have often found that what is true cannot be made by words to appear to be as true as something else that is false. talking is no good." finding that inyati now talked to me on many occasions, i took the opportunity of asking him one day what had become of the things that they had taken from the men; for i knew there were some guns and other things which might be of use. he told me that most of them were buried in a hole near a kraal some miles away; and that the people were afraid of these things, thinking that they might blow up and kill them. i told inyati there was one thing i knew of amongst these which would be of great use if we could find it, and i could show him what to do with it. i described this to him, and he then told me that this and a few other things were at his kraal, and he would show them to me. that evening he took me to his kraal, and lifting up a wicker door, he showed me several articles in a hole below. i there saw what i wanted, and took from the hole a pair of opera-glasses in a leather case. i then went with inyati to a little hill near, and seeing about two miles off some caffres, i asked him who they were. he said they were too far off to recognise. i then adjusted the glasses for my focus and told him the names of the caffres, whom i knew, and then handing him the glasses showed him how to use them. i never saw greater astonishment than that of inyati when he looked through the glasses and perceived distant objects as plainly as though they were near. he never seemed tired of looking, first at distant then at nearer objects. he asked me what i called them, and i said in english, "opera-glasses." he shook his head at this, and then said in caffre, "i shall call them `bring near.'" he went back to his kraal and seemed deep in thought, and every now and then looked at the glasses, which he preserved with the greatest care. on the following morning he assembled all the men, and had a council. he told them that i had shown him the use of a thing that was like "_tagata_" (witchcraft); and that this thing, though quite harmless, was wonderful. he said that people and things at a distance were instantly brought close to you, and you could almost touch them with your hand. at first the older men seemed inclined to disbelieve, but inyati said, "what i tell you, that i can show." there was one old man who had the reputation of being a rain-maker, and was called amanzinina, who would not believe what inyati told him. this old man had always disliked me, and was one of those who had expressed the wish that i should be assagied. he said that i might practise witchcraft, and that this thing which made people come near was and could be only due to witchcraft; as it was impossible to be anything else. he suggested that the glasses should be burned, and that if i were burned too it would be all the better for the tribe. inyati answered him; but a great many of the men who were afraid of amanzinina, agreed with him as to burning the glasses, though they said that i might be spared. at first i felt disposed to laugh at the nonsense spoken by this old man, but when i found how important his remarks were considered by the men, i was somewhat alarmed. inyati, however, answered amanzinina well, and said that i had nothing to do with this "bring near"; that it was made by white men, just as caffres made assagies; that it was a thing which white men used everywhere; and that i, having seen men use it, knew what it was for, and that witchcraft had nothing to do with it. after a time the chief convinced all the men except amanzinina, who would have nothing to do with the glasses, and would not even look through them. the astonishment shown by the men when they looked through the glasses was quite equal to that which had been displayed by inyati: they thought it wonderful, and several of them, seeing people at a distance, put their mouth to the glasses and shouted, believing that this would make their voices heard. they could not understand why it was, that if they could see people close, by aid of the glass, they could not also make them hear. at length, however, these glasses were looked on as a valuable treasure, and inyati never went out without them. people came from great distances to see them, and every one was equally surprised at their use. it was now the time when the crops of mealies and other corn were coming up, and a circumstance now happened which enabled me to judge of the manner in which these people, among whom i had cast my lot, would fight against an enemy. from a village about ten miles from us, news was brought that two bull-buffaloes, very savage and cunning, had taken up their quarters in some thickly wooded ravines near the corn-ground of the village. each night these buffaloes used to come from the bush, break through the fences, and eat the young corn. this meant a famine for this kraal, for the people depend on mealies for their food during the year. aid was wanted from our kraal and from others in order to hunt these buffaloes and to kill them. in two days the hunting party had been assembled, and consisted of about five hundred men, armed with assagies, for the knob-kerrie was no use against a buffalo. i obtained permission to join this party, and we had assembled in the evening at the distant kraal, and were to hunt on the following day. it was decided that there should be a great dance performed by the warriors before we attacked the buffaloes. there were two kinds of dances practised by these caffres, one before a war was undertaken, the other before a hunt. the dance was performed by the men, who formed in a circle, and stood three deep. the dance consisted merely of stamping on the ground, first with one foot then with the other, keeping time to a song. the effect of about five hundred heavy feet striking the ground at the same instant was grand, and the shouts of the men became louder and louder, as their excitement increased. in the centre of the ring one or two men would occasionally dash about, quivering their assagies, and pretending to throw them; then, almost falling on the ground, they would suddenly spring in the air, dart from side to side, and rush forward making movements of stabbing an enemy. the proceedings of these men were carefully watched, for they were known as the quickest movers and fastest runners in the tribe, and their skill in dodging an assagy was such that no man ever had a chance of hitting them in the games they played with blunted assagies. the dance lasted about two hours, and we then lay down to sleep, some in the huts and others on the ground. at daybreak we all got up, and having employed a short time in sharpening our assagies, we assembled in groups to receive our orders. the buffaloes were known to be concealed in a dense ravine about two miles from the kraal. there were two parts of this ravine whence the animals could escape, and it was decided that they should be driven towards that end nearest the kraal. about one hundred men were told off to go round the top of this ravine and to enter at the far end, so as to drive the buffaloes before them. about twenty boys were placed round the top of the ravine, whose duty it was to watch the buffaloes and to give notice where they were in the bush. i was told to go with these boys, but i begged inyati to let me go with him and to join the party who were to attack the animals when they were driven out into the open country. with a smile inyati consented, and asked me if my assagies were sharp. i showed them to him, and having felt them he nodded his approval, and then assembling his men we marched off to our station. when we had reached the top of the ravine, we were placed in a semicircle and then concealed ourselves. a party of about a hundred men then took up their position near the top of the ravine, and their duty was to run between the buffaloes and the ravine immediately they broke cover, so as to cut off their retreat, and thus to prevent them from breaking back, and dashing through the beaters. everything was done in silence; a wave of the arm by inyati was sufficient for an order, his hand held upright halted the whole party. since then i have seen english soldiers at drill, but i never saw better discipline than i saw among these caffres. when we were all placed in the positions allotted to us, a shrill whistle was the signal that all was ready, and the men at the far end of the bush advanced, beating the bushes and making a noise so as to frighten the buffaloes, and make them retreat from the ravine in the required direction. the boys on the top of the ravine soon saw the animals moving through the bush, and signalled to us, imitating their movements. it was amusing to see how well these boys acted. two of them pretended to be buffaloes, and when the buffaloes moved on they moved; when the buffaloes stopped and listened, the boys stopped and imitated every movement, twisting round and round, just as these animals do when alarmed. nearer and nearer came the buffaloes, but there was not a movement among the men who were waiting for them. when the animals came near the edge of the bush they seemed to become suspicious, and we could hear them sniffing the air and snorting, though they did not move for some time. the boys did just as they saw the buffaloes do, and we thus knew all about them. suddenly we saw the boys rush forward in our direction, and almost at the same time the buffaloes charged out of the bush. inyati whistled shrilly, and in an instant a hundred men dashed in between the buffaloes and the ravine, and cut off their retreat, whilst the other men who had hitherto lain down sprang to their feet, in front of the animals. no time was given to the buffaloes: the men closed all round and assagies were hurled at the animals, and in a few seconds they were covered with assagies, just as a porcupine is with quills. the buffalo, however, is a powerful animal and dies hard; so, although badly wounded, they turned, one towards the ravine, and charged at the men there, the other came towards where i was. the buffalo that went towards the ravine was met by a shower of assagies, but he dashed straight on, and knocked over three or four men, and escaped into the ravine. the other, putting its head down, came at me, i suppose, because my white skin attracted his attention. the caffres jumped right and left as he came close, and left me standing alone. the men called to me to jump, but i waited till the buffalo was within a few yards of me; i then held my heavy assagy by the wooden end, and sprang on one side so quickly that the buffalo missed me; when swinging my assagy round, i struck the animal on the hind leg just above the hock, and hamstrung it, so that it could only move on three legs. before it could turn and charge again, the caffres had closed round it, and had stabbed it in so many places that it slowly sank to the ground, giving a loud moan as it did so. i was greatly excited at this scene, and hurled my assagy at the animal, burying it deep in its side; and then danced about and shouted with delight as i saw it fall, the caffres being equally pleased. from down the ravine we now heard shouts from the men, who announced that the other buffalo was down and dead. two of the men whom the buffalo had knocked down were much hurt, but they were helped home, and in a week were quite well again; for these people recover very quickly from even most dangerous wounds. the buffaloes were quickly skinned and cut up, the meat being carried to the kraal, where fires were lighted in every hut, and the flesh roasted, and boiled in large earthen pots. the whole of the afternoon and evening was passed in feasting, whilst songs with choruses were sung. i was frequently mentioned as the young white chief, for my performance was thought highly of, the fact of hamstringing the buffalo having greatly contributed to the success of the affair, and my quickness in escaping from the buffalo's charge being also a performance much appreciated by the caffres. the opera-glasses which inyati had brought with him caused the usual astonishment when shown to the people at this kraal, and a chief there offered to buy them for five cows, but inyati was not willing to sell them, as he said there was nothing like them in the country. we returned home the next day, and i once more resumed the usual daily routine at our kraal. chapter five. it was nearly twelve moons after our fight with the buffaloes, that some strange caffres came down to our village, and had several long conversations with inyati. i soon heard what these talks were about, and i ascertained the following facts:-- considerably to the north of our village, and about five days' journey from us, there were some high mountains called the quathlamba mountains; these mountains broke in spurs, and spread out like fingers of a hand till they came down to the plains. on these plains some of the tribe of our people had kraals and cattle. within the past two moons some bushmen had come down to the ravines and rocky precipices near these kraals, and had stolen the cattle. it was impossible to catch these bushmen, as they could scamper up the rocks like baboons, and when they reached a position safe from the range of an assagy, they would sit and chatter at the caffres who had followed them, hurl great stones down at them, and if near enough would discharge poisoned arrows, which were so deadly that if one hit a man he was sure to die. these bushmen were so feared, and their attacks had become so daring, that the caffres had come down the country to try and procure aid to drive these people away. the difficulty of punishing them was great, and inyati pointed out that, if the bushmen were so quick and active as to scamper up the rocks like baboons, he did not see what was to be done. these conversations used to take place in the evenings, and i listened to all that was said, and began to think of some plan by which to outwit the bushmen. suddenly i thought of something which i was surprised had, never occurred to me before. so on the following morning i told inyati that, if he could help me, i thought we could drive off these bushmen. he called me into his hut, and i then carried on with him the following conversation. i said:-- "when the white men were assagied some of them had long iron instruments that we call `guns:' where are they?" "hidden." "i know how to use them, and if you could get me two of these i would go with you and our people, and kill some of these bushmen." inyati said, "do you know how to use these things? because once we did have a gun, and it went all to pieces, and killed the man who held it." "he put in too much powder." "perhaps, but we have feared to do anything with such things since." when in india i had often seen my father clean and load his guns, and i knew all about them. i knew too that the captain had a double-barrelled rifle, which had reached the shore on the raft. if i could procure this and some ammunition, i knew i should astonish the bushmen if they gave me a chance. i explained to inyati that if i could get one particular gun, i would be able to kill the bushmen. inyati said very little, but on the next evening he brought me the rifle and a large bag of ammunition. the rifle was rusty and dirty, so i set to work to clean it; the women being all afraid to come near the weapon, whilst the men were at first very cautious. inyati now had faith in me, and sat down beside me whilst i explained to him the use of the weapon and how to pull the trigger. the powder was in a large flask, and was quite dry, as were also the caps; and i found forty bullets in the bag, so i had plenty of ammunition. i told inyati that this gun would kill a man at a distance more than ten times as far as he could throw an assagy. he shook his head at this; but i asked him if i had not told him truth about the glasses, and he would find i was true about this gun. i was very anxious to go against the bushmen, for now that i had seen the buffaloes killed, i was like a tiger that had tasted human blood, and felt a longing for such exciting scenes as those i was likely to experience, if i went against the bushmen. inyati sat thinking for a long time without speaking, and at length said, "we will go." he then walked to his hut, and shortly afterwards sent messengers to call his people together, informing them that on the morrow we would start for the quathlamba mountains. about fifty men assembled at our kraal at daybreak on the following morning, each man armed with five assagies, and a knob-kerrie, and provided with a shield made of ox-hide. the shields might be useful against a bushman's arrows or against an assagy, but were useless against a bullet. we each carried a bag of indian corn, and several boys who accompanied us also carried bags of corn. i afterwards found out that if inyati succeeded in driving off the bushmen, he was to receive a reward of cattle from the people he had assisted, and they were to be bound to help him in any expedition that he undertook against his enemies. our journey was over a beautiful country well watered with little streams, and with plenty of fine trees. we found that a buck, called by the caffres "_umseke_" (the riet-bok), was plentiful here, and we surrounded and assagied two or three of these every day, and so had plenty of meat during our journey. on the fifth day we reached the nearest kraal of the tribe who were being plundered by the bushmen. these kraals were situated on an open plain near some wooded ravines, the mountains being about five miles from them. the people received us with shouts, and gave us _amasi_ and plenty of corn, and we then held a council of war. from the information given at this council, i learned all about the bushmen. there was a perpendicular rock about a hundred times the height of a man, on the top of which the bushmen would assemble and defy the caffres; to ascend this rock there was a narrow ravine, like a cut in the mountains that only one man at a time could ascend. the bushmen guarded this, and had large stones ready to drop on the men who came up, and their poisoned arrows to discharge from their bows, so that it was impossible to attack them there with any chance of success. the caffres saw no means by which they could kill the bushmen, as the rock could not be climbed, and was too high for an assagy to be thrown to the top from the plains below. i, however, thought this just the place that would be suitable for my plan; so, after the council, i told inyati i had heard all that had been said, and everything was just as i wanted it to be. the only thing i feared was, that the bushmen might come down from their rock and attack me in the plain; but if i had a hundred caffres with me they would not do this. as is usual with caffre expeditions, we started before daybreak, guided by a caffre who knew the way; and by the time the sun had risen and the mist had cleared from off the plains, we were within sight of the bushmen's rock. inyati here took out his glasses, and after looking at the rock for some time, informed us that there were ten or more bushmen on the top of the rock looking at us. we advanced quickly till within about four throws of an assagy from them; at which distance we were told, their arrows could not reach us. the caffres then called to the bushmen, and asked why they killed the cattle. the bushmen danced and yelled, and fired two or three arrows at us, all of which fell short of us by many paces. seeing a large ant-hill a little nearer the rock, i moved up to it; and, resting my rifle on the top, aimed at the group of bushmen on the hill. having taken a good aim i pulled the trigger, and when the smoke of my rifle cleared away i saw a bushman tumbling down the rock, whilst another was lying on the ground kicking, evidently badly wounded. the other bushmen were so astonished that they gathered round the man who was on the ground, and looked at him, thus giving me another good shot. i fired again, and another man fell down the rock quite dead. the remainder of the bushmen did not wait for anything more, but retreated at full speed, climbing up the rocks like baboons, and evidently frightened. we waited some time and then the caffres rushed on to the two men who had fallen and stabbed them with their assagies. they were, however, quite dead, but caffres like to make sure there is no shamming. the bows and arrows of these men were taken, and also some lion's teeth and claws that they wore; for these little bushmen will kill lions with their poisoned arrows, and also elephants. the caffres then all came round me and looked at my rifle with evident signs of admiration. the distance at which i had killed the bushmen was to them a subject of profound astonishment, and also to see that the bullet had gone completely through the men. our return to the village was a triumphant march, the men dancing, singing, and brandishing their assagies. inyati walked beside me carrying the rifle, and asking me questions about the gun; how often it could be fired, how far off it would kill, and how it was made. i was the great hero of the day, child as i was, and these men now looked up to me as to a chief. our reception at the village was most enthusiastic; men, women and children danced round us, shouting and singing. unless one had been persecuted as had these people, it would be difficult to realise the importance of such an event as killing two of their enemies. the people at this kraal assured us that the bushmen would now desert the country. they were very superstitious, and wherever a bushman died or was killed, that place was at once deserted, as it was considered unlucky; so they felt certain that the bushmen would now leave that part of the country. some of the caffres who had been out with me described to the people at the village how i had fired, and how the bushmen tumbled down the rock. they were capital actors, and imitated the bushmen very well. a young ox was killed for a feast, and we had a great supper, many songs, and a large dance; and on the following day returned towards our kraal, which we reached in seven days--a longer time than we occupied on our journey from the kraal, because now we drove with us ten cows, the reward given to inyati for his assistance. chapter six. a few days after our return from the expedition against the bushmen, inyati called me one morning to his hut, in which were two of his counsellors. he then told me that i was raised to the rank of a counsellor, and that he intended to give me three of the cows that he had received from the caffres, for freeing them of the bushmen. he said that caffres, as young as i was, were never made counsellors or had the privileges of men; but the two things i had done, viz., trapping the leopard and shooting the bushmen, were so extraordinary that the tribe had agreed that i was to be made a chief. the rank which a chief holds among these people is of more importance than any civilised men could understand. the rank gave me command and authority over all men who were not chiefs. i could order them about, make them do work for me, whilst i need do nothing. i thanked inyati for what he had done, and said i hoped to again show him what my rifle would do, in case there was any occasion for it, and that i believed i could kill an elephant or a lion with it, as easily as i had killed the bushmen. he replied that "we should see." on leaving inyati i took my assagies and walked out to the hill where my late companions inyoni and tembile were watching the cattle, and sat down with them, telling them of my having been made a counsellor and chief. these boys were quite excited at the news and very pleased, and we sat talking some time, till we noticed that the cattle were alarmed by something and seemed uneasy. we ran up to them, and then saw quite a small calf on the ground, and something shiny all round it. in an instant i saw it was an immense snake, as thick as my body. seizing an assagy, i drove it into the snake's head, and then, withdrawing it, stabbed it again in the body. the snake uncoiled itself, and came at me; but inyoni, coming behind it, threw an assagy at it and pinned it to the ground, whilst tembile drove another spear into it. seeing my chance, i went close to the monster and stabbed it in the head two or three times, and thus killed it. as soon as we saw it was dead we cut some sticks, sharpened the ends of these, and pegged the snake straight on the ground. it was then longer than the three of us, and was a giant among snakes. the caffre boys told me there were several such snakes about, and that they would kill and swallow a calf. they knew no other name for it than "inyoka m'culu" ("the big snake.") they said these snakes ate only about twice each moon, and after eating slept for many days, and were sometimes then killed by wild pigs and leopards. they said that, many months ago, a caffre boy was sleeping near here, and whilst asleep one of these snakes came to him, coiled round him and killed him. before the snake could swallow him, some men came to the place and killed the snake, but the boy had been dead some minutes before they arrived. they described how this snake attacked anything. it first crawled slowly along the ground till near its prey, or waited in long grass, or in bushes, till some animal or bird came near. when close to the animal it wished to capture, the snake lunged rapidly at it, seized it with its teeth and dragged it to the ground, at the same time coiling round the animal and compressing it in its folds. even a riet-bok could be thus killed by the snake. the reptile then slowly gorges its prey, and remains torpid many days. although this large snake was a terrible creature to look at, it was not as dangerous as several other snakes that were common near our village. the most dangerous of these was the puff-adder, which the caffres called "_m'namba_." this snake i have seen about four feet long, and as thick as a stout arm. it is a sluggish, dull animal, very brilliantly coloured, its body being speckled yellow and black, which makes it look like dead leaves, so that you might tread on it without seeing it, unless you were always on the look-out. this snake has a practice of throwing itself backward and striking with its poisonous fangs anything that is following it. to be bitten by the _m'namba_ is certain death, no case ever having occurred of a man or any cattle having been bitten and having lived after it. our old rain-maker had some little bits of wood that he called _mutt_, some of which, he said, would prevent a man from dying when he had been bitten by a snake; but i never heard of a cure by this means. some of his medicine was, however, wonderful in its effects, as i once experienced. i was very ill and had a bad fever; so old amanzi came to me and gave me a small pill of wood, which i bit and ate. in a few minutes i broke out in a perspiration, and then went to sleep, and slept for nearly the whole of the sun's course round the earth (a whole day), and when i woke i was quite well. caffres are very seldom ill: they eat so little meat, are so much out of doors, and take so much exercise, that they rarely suffer from bad health. the climate also is very healthy, so that the people were strong and robust. it was about two moons after our expedition against the bushmen, that i was out one morning with tembile and inyoni, on some hills near, in search of riet-bok, when we saw two strange caffres coming towards us. these caffres, we knew by the "_esikoko_" (the ring on the top of their heads), came from the east, near the bay of natal. having given them the usual salutation, we said, "_chela pela s'indaba_" ("tell us the news"), when they told us that a large herd of elephants was coming down the country, and had done much damage to the corn-gardens of the caffres on the way, breaking down the fences, eating and treading down the corn. they said there were two bull-elephants, very savage, in the herd, who ran after any man they saw or scented; and that three caffres, near the umlass river, had been killed by these elephants. a herd of elephants visiting a country where the inhabitants are as defenceless as were these caffres, is a serious matter. assagies were little or no use against elephants; and if a regular attack was organised against them, in the same manner as we had attacked the buffaloes, we should probably have ten or twenty men killed, and after all not kill the elephant. the corn-gardens, on which we depended for our store of food, might be destroyed; and then there might be, if not starvation, at least great scarcity of grain. so that to prevent the elephants from coming our way was considered most important. there was a great council held the evening after the news was brought; and it was decided that we should send some men towards the east, to find out when the elephants came near us; and on their approach we were to light fires in their track and make noises, so as to try and make them travel in another direction. to turn them back would not have been a proceeding pleasant to the caffres east of us, but yet we should have liked it, as it would rid us of the animals. there was nothing talked about during the next week besides the elephants, and i learned much about these animals and their habits from the caffres. these elephants, i was told, came down the country each year: they did so when the umbrella acacia had its young branches and shoots; for on this tree and several others the elephants fed. in its wild state the elephant lives almost entirely on the branches of trees. these it breaks off with its trunk, eats the smaller branches, and grinds the larger to pieces so as to extract the juice from them. it is at night that the elephant usually travels and feeds: by day, especially if it be very hot, he remains quiet in the bush--so quiet, that you might be within fifty yards of a herd of elephants and not know they were there. if, however, a man disturbs the herd when they are thus at rest, the animals will very likely charge at him, and hunt him through the bush just as a pack of hounds will hunt a fox. at this time of year the elephant bulls, cows, and calves, all keep together; but later on the bulls separate and sometimes travel alone. when thus alone, the bulls are very savage; and if two bulls meet in the bush a terrible battle ensues. the caffres consider that a bull-elephant is a match for caffres, and even then the animal may get the best of the fight. i was much interested in these accounts of the elephants, and began to think how i could manage to kill an elephant; for it was my ambition to do so. the caffre name for an elephant is _inglovu_, and the words _inglovu_ and _ama inglovu_ were frequently heard during the next few days; for the expected arrival of the elephants was a most serious incident in the daily life of these people; and forty moons ago the elephants had suddenly travelled into this country and had destroyed all the crops of the caffres near this village. it was all done in one night, and on the morning the people discovered that their yearly crop of corn had vanished. the season was too far advanced to sow again; consequently they were compelled to buy corn and to purchase it with cattle. so that their loss had been very severe. taking the first opportunity of speaking to inyati, i inquired what he intended to do in order to protect his fields and gardens. he replied that the only thing to do was to light fires round the gardens, and to assemble and shout. i inquired why he did not dig a great ditch round his gardens; but he replied that it would take too long, and that the elephants could manage to cross almost any ditch that could be dug. he also told me that sometimes pits had been dug for elephants; and some years ago an elephant fell into one of these pits, and had been helped out by other elephants; so that it was no use attempting anything against them, as they were as clever as men. that night i thought over every plan by which i could kill an elephant, and at length an idea occurred to me; but i kept my thoughts to myself, as i intended to try by myself if i could not kill one of these enormous animals. great preparations were made by the caffres for the arrival of the elephants, quantities of dead wood were gathered in heaps in readiness for large fires to be made when the animals approached our gardens. several pits were also dug and covered with a hurdle, on the top of which earth was thrown and grass carefully laid. these pits were placed in the old paths of the elephants, because it was known that these animals always followed in their old tracks whenever they revisited a country, and though these tracks were overgrown, or obliterated, yet the instinct, or knowledge of locality of the elephants was so great, that they would travel miles through the bush, and then come out into the open at exactly the same place at which they had come out of the bush some thirty or forty moons previously. the caffres told me that the elephants did not understand any man getting up into a tree; that if they were chased by an elephant they climbed a tree, and, although this tree was not big enough to place them beyond reach of an elephant, yet the animal never seemed to think of pulling the man out of it, or of pulling down the tree. this information was of great value to me in carrying out a plan that i was forming in my head. it was about half a moon's time after we first heard that elephants were coming our way, that we discovered their traces within five miles of our village. there was a marsh about five miles from us, formed by the overflow of one of the rivers, and in this marsh the elephants had rolled in the mud, and had then returned to the bush. in this bush there were several large trees, hung over by creeping plants and very easily climbed. having followed the track of the elephants into the bush for a short distance, i noticed a tree that was covered with mud about the stem, and as high as i could reach with my assagy. this was caused by the elephants rubbing themselves against the tree after they had rolled in the mud. although the elephant is a thick-skinned animal yet he is much worried in hot weather by flies and mosquitoes. so, to escape in some measure from these pests, he rolls in the mud, and this mud sticking to his hide, forms a coating over him, which defends him to some extent from the mosquitoes. when he passes a thick tree he leans against this and rubs himself, and thus rids himself of a portion of the mud, and spreads it more evenly over his body. having selected a tree, i thought at first that i would tell inyati what i intended doing, and would ask him to accompany me when i carried out my plans. on second thoughts, however, it occurred to me that if i were successful and inyati were with me, i should do everything, but he would get the honour, because he was a man, i only a boy. so i asked inyoni and tembile if they would accompany me in an attempt to kill an elephant. they replied that to go near these elephants was very dangerous, and that perhaps i did not know how very likely i was to be killed, so that they hardly liked to go for fear i was trying to do too much. i said they might trust me, as i had thought a great deal about what was to be done, and that by my plan there would be very little danger. from information i had gained from the caffres, i learned that the elephants usually drank every other night, and that unless disturbed they would drink at the same pools of water. i hoped, therefore, that if i climbed the large tree that i before mentioned, i might during the night or early morning, find the elephants under this tree, when i should have a chance of trying my plan upon them. my plan was as follows:--the bushmen that i had shot were armed with a bow and two kinds of poisoned arrows. one kind were made of reeds with a bone end, and were used for shooting small game; the other arrows were stronger, and had a barbed iron end, covered with poison. the barbed end fitted into a stout reed out of which it could be easily pulled. the reason for this arrangement was, that if the arrow struck any large animal such as a lion or a buffalo, the lion would scratch at the arrow and pull it out, and the buffalo in rushing through the bush might do the same. if, however, the reed end of the arrow were pulled, or rubbed off from the animal, the barb containing the poison would remain in its body, and so enable this poison to enter the circulation of the animal, and eventually to cause its death. if i climbed a tree, and the elephants came underneath it, i could fire an arrow into the back of any one i selected, and by this means i hoped to kill one, if not more elephants. i explained all this to inyoni and tembile, and they agreed with me that it was a very good plan and likely to succeed. so having obtained the arrows and a bow, we three started for the tree when the sun was two hands'-breadth above the horizon, and was going down. before we entered the bush we walked in the wettest parts of the marsh, so that our feet and legs might be covered with mud, when we should not leave any scent from our tracks; for the elephant is very keen-scented, and would avoid any place where the scent of a man was strong. these elephants, however, were not much afraid of man, because in this part of the country guns were not used against them, and they were accustomed to see men run away from them. so that the elephants had it all their own way. we climbed the tree without difficulty, and having broken off the branches that intercepted my view, i seated myself on a stout branch, high enough to be beyond the reach of an elephant's trunk. inyoni and tembile were close beside me, and held the case containing the poisoned arrows. it was nearly full moon, but clouds occasionally made it rather dark in the bush, though not so dark as to prevent me from seeing anything beneath me. the night came on, and the moon had gone over about half its course, when we heard a branch broken at some distance from us; and shortly after, the bushes made a rustling noise as though a gust of wind had shaken them; and then i saw something white and shining, and around this white object loomed a black mass. i almost immediately recognised the white object as the tusks of an enormous elephant, and the animal itself was the black mass. i took one of my arrows from tembile, and fitted it to the bow, and waited for this elephant to come close to me. i was acquainted with the elephant in india, and was not surprised to find how quietly it walked in the bush: its steps made no noise, and the only sound audible was the slight rustling of the leaves as the animal moved along through the bush, and an occasional blow through its trunk as it sniffed the air around. careful as we had been to cover our feet with mud, still we must have left some scent; for the elephant came on very slowly, blowing through its trunk and shaking its great ears as it listened for some sound. at last it strode forward and came exactly beneath me, and, aiming at its back just clear of the backbone, i discharged one of my arrows with all my force. immediately the elephant felt the prick of the arrow it gave a sharp cry and moved rapidly forward. it then stood still, listening, and apparently watching for some enemy, but it could not see us in the tree. after a short time it gave another and different cry, and immediately several other elephants, some large, some very small, shuffled along under the tree. one of these was a very large elephant with great tusks, and as it passed i sent an arrow into its back, which caused it to cry out just as the first had done. we counted about forty elephants in the herd, among which were three very large bull-elephants with large tusks. the herd went through the bush to the watering-place in the marsh, but did not return by the same path that they had followed on going to the marsh. so we did not see them as they came back. as soon as it was light we descended from the tree, and found ourselves very stiff after sitting so long on the branches. after moving about a little we got all right, and then agreed that we should follow the trail of the two elephants that i had hit with my poisoned arrows. the first thing to be done was to examine the feet-marks of these two elephants. now the under part of the foot of an elephant is not smooth, but is marked by several small cracks; consequently when the elephant treads on soft ground, it leaves a kind of plan or map of its foot. the plans of no two elephants' feet are exactly alike, so that when you have once studied the plan of a particular foot, you can recognise the footprint when you see it in another place. it is just the same with the inside of the thumb and top joint of each person's finger. the grain of the skin makes a sort of pattern, and it rarely happens that this pattern of each finger is the same; and it still more rarely happens that the fingers of two people are alike. having examined several good impressions of the two elephants' feet, we went quickly out of the bush, walked along the edge of the marsh, and then entered the bush again at the place where the elephants had re-entered it. it was easy to follow the elephants along the path they had made as they first entered the bush, for along this they walked one after the other; but when we had gone some distance into the bush, we found that the elephants had separated, some going one way, some another. they had also stopped to feed, and had broken off some very large branches from their favourite trees. we now set to work to follow the footprints of the two elephants that i had struck with the arrows. it was very difficult at first, as the ground was very hard, and covered with dead leaves; so that we could not obtain a good impression of the feet for some time, and we were puzzled at first. at length we found an ant-bear's hole in the ground, and near this the elephants had trodden on the loose earth, and we then recognised the footprints of the largest elephant that i had hit. we followed this elephant very cautiously, for he had separated himself from the others--a sign, as my companions said, that "_inglovu efar_" (the elephant was ill), especially as it was evident he had not eaten, there being no branches broken along his track. after following the track during about a quarter of the day, we came so close to the elephant that we could hear him. sometimes he would make a low rumbling sound, at others he would blow through his trunk, and then knock his tusks against the stem of a tree. all these acts were indications of his being very uneasy, and i hoped the poisoned arrow had begun to do its work. we sat down in the bush listening to the elephant, and ate some of our corn; for i had determined to follow this elephant for days, if possible, in order to find whether he died or lived. the elephant stood quiet in the bush about as long as it took the sun to move ten times its own diameter in the sky, and then it again moved slowly forward, selecting the densest parts of the bush to move through. about every hundred paces it stopped, and remained quiet for a little time, and then moved slowly on again. all these proceedings delighted my caffre companions, who declared the elephant was very sick. during the whole of the day we followed this elephant, and when the night came we ascended a tree, and slept a little; but as we could hear a leopard calling in the bush, and several bush-pigs were under the tree, we were mostly on the watch. the night was fine, though there was a heavy dew; and though we felt it very cold we did not like to go down on the ground to light a fire for fear of the leopard. as soon as it was light enough to distinguish the tracks, we again followed our elephant. he had travelled during the night, but had gone very slowly; and we saw some marks on the stem of a large tree that showed the elephant had leaned against this, as though he could scarcely stand. we had moved through the bush very quietly and slowly, stopping every now and then to listen, and also to look all round us; for if we had come on this elephant very suddenly he might have charged us, and, before we could have escaped, he might have caught us and probably killed one of us. tembile told me that when an elephant caught a man, he pushed him to the ground with his trunk, and then either knelt on him or thrust his tusks into him, and also would push him down and get him between his front and hind feet, and kick him backwards and forwards till he killed him. so, with this description of the elephant's proceedings, which i afterwards found was quite correct, we thought it best to be very cautious in our approach to the animal. the sun had risen its highest in the sky, when we sat down to rest and to listen; for we knew that we were close to the elephant, as the footprints were quite fresh. we talked in whispers and avoided any noise, whilst we were on the alert for any sound that should indicate the whereabouts of the elephant. as we sat quietly thus waiting, inyoni pointed upwards, and gave a grunt of delight: we looked up and saw a vulture slowly circling in the sky and nearly above us. "elephant going to die," said inyoni; "vulture knows it." we immediately followed on the elephant's tracks, and, after advancing about two hundred paces, we heard a noise in front of us, and saw the elephant lying on its side, whilst every now and then it swung its trunk about and struck the bushes, thus making the noise we had heard. the elephant was dying, its vast frame overpowered by the subtle poison of the bushman's arrow. we kept at a short distance from the animal and watched it, as it gradually got weaker and weaker, and at length lay motionless. we then went close up to it, and found that it really was dead. it was a monster with great tusks as big round as my thigh, and as it lay on the ground it was far higher than i was as i stood up. "the other elephant must be dead too," i said, "for i hit that also with an arrow." "yes," replied my companions, "and we shall find that too: perhaps vultures will show us where it is, if we watch." we now agreed that tembile should go as quickly as he could to our village, and call all the people to come and cut up the elephant, whilst inyoni and i kept watch near it. so tembile started off, whilst we who remained agreed to sleep turn and turn about, as we were both very tired. i had a good sleep, and then inyoni lay down whilst i kept watch. i could not keep my eyes from the dead elephant which lay a few paces from us. it looked such an enormous creature, that i could hardly believe its death had been caused by so trifling a wound as that given by the small arrow; but the poison used by the bushmen is powerful beyond belief, and they kill all animals with their arrows. as i sat listening for any sounds of the approaching caffres, i heard a slight crack in the bush, then another and a louder crack; and i knew these noises must be caused by elephants, for the caffres glide through the bush without making any noise. i awoke inyoni, and we were soon convinced that the elephants were approaching us. my companion was alarmed, as he seemed to think the elephants were hunting us in order to revenge themselves on us. we crept through the bush to a large tree, and climbed this quickly, getting up so high that no elephant could reach us. we had reached our place of safety, when we saw the first elephant approaching us: this was a cow, and it was following the track of the bull that was now dead. after this cow came about forty other elephants of various sizes. they came along with a sort of shuffling gait, stopping every now and then to listen and sniff the air, and then to move forward again. when they came to the spot where we had sat down, they smelt the ground, and then raising their trunks sniffed all round. their attention, however, was soon attracted to the dead elephant, which they approached and touched with their trunks, several of them uttering sharp cries as though they wished to wake him. after a few minutes, however, they seemed to know that he was dead, as they moved away from him and stood looking at him, whilst they flapped their great ears and seemed very uneasy. suddenly, as though suspicious of danger, the large cow-elephant uttered a shrill trumpet and dashed off through the bush, recklessly smashing the small trees and branches in her course. she was followed by the whole herd, and we could hear them as they forced their way through the underwood, the sounds becoming fainter and less audible until all was again quiet. we remained in our tree, for we could not tell whether more elephants might not come, and on the ground we were in danger. all was quiet, however, for a long time, until we heard the slightest movement of some leaves; and then we saw tembile, followed by inyati and all the men and boys of our village. we whistled to them, and, descending the tree, told them what we had seen. we talked in whispers and then went up to the dead elephant and examined it. the reed portion of my arrow had been broken off, but the barb containing the poison was buried deep in the elephant's flesh, and thus the poison had circulated rapidly and had caused the monster's death. inyati with his assagy at once cut out this barb and a large portion of the flesh round it, and he then said we might safely eat the remainder of the animal, which would not be affected by the poison. a scene was then commenced which i shall remember to my last day. about twenty caffres set to work at the elephant, cutting the flesh off, and piling it in heaps near the animal, by the aid of hatchets; the tusks were cut out of the elephant's jaws, and were so heavy that one man could only just lift one. it took a comparatively short time to cut the animal to pieces, and to take off all its flesh, which was then divided into portions, the boys being given small weights to carry, whilst the men took larger and heavier weights. we then commenced our march through the bush, and before sunset we reached our village, at which we were received with shouts of rejoicing by the old men and females. notice had been sent to the next village that another elephant was supposed to be dead, and the men of that village had watched the vultures, and had succeeded in finding the second elephant lying dead in the bush, and had cut this one up in the same manner as we had done with the first elephant i had killed. elephant's flesh, although tough and unsavoury, is still eaten greedily by the caffres. they are so fond of their cattle, and like to see a large herd near their kraals, that they will not kill an animal unless on some special occasion, such as a marriage, or a victory; so that a feast of flesh is a rare treat, and there is not usually any complaint about the toughness or want of flavour of the meat. as it was usual to have a great dance and general feast when any such event as slaying an elephant had occurred, invitations were sent to all the kraals near, to invite the neighbours to partake of the elephant's flesh. before the evening on which the feast was to occur, there had assembled nearly all the caffres from ten miles round. there were some fine fellows among them, several young men six feet high, and as active as leopards, who could run ten miles without stopping, and who could walk from sunrise till sunset without tiring. they all brought their assagies, and shields, as well as their knob-kerries, and were dressed in their dancing dresses. news was also brought us about the elephants. there was now no fear of their destroying the gardens, as they had again taken up their residence in the forests about natal. this was good news to all the caffres about us, and was celebrated by one of the largest dances i had ever seen. there were more than a thousand men assembled, all in full war-costume, each with a shield, a knob-kerrie, and five assagies. they danced and ate, and danced again and ate again, during the whole night. to me was given the honour and glory of having killed the elephants, and i had to enter the centre of the ring of men, and describe and act the whole scene. i told how we climbed the tree; how i heard the elephants coming; how i sent my arrow first into one then into the other elephant; how these elephants paid no attention to so small a thing as an arrow, fired by me, a boy; but how this arrow was stronger than the elephant, and at last killed him. i went through all the movements of creeping through the bush on the track of the elephant, sitting down to listen, and at length seeing the elephant. i then lay on the ground just as did the elephant, and swung my arm about to imitate the movements of the animal's trunk, and at length died just as did the elephant. the shouts and dancing after this performance were of the most exciting description, and lasted for a long time. when, suddenly, a very old chief came into the centre of the circle, and raising his arm to command silence, spoke in a loud clear voice words of which the following is a translation:-- "my people, we have been delivered from the elephants; the elephants that have often destroyed our corn, and brought us to starvation. and how have we been delivered? not by two hundred warriors armed with assagies, many of whom were killed by the elephants; not by digging holes, and the elephants tumbling into them; but there have been two large elephants killed by our white companion who came out of the sea. he alone thought out of his own head how to kill the elephants, and though very young, has the mind of an experienced chief and the courage of a warrior. we have held a council and have decided that he be from this time forth a chief, and that he be called `umkunkinglovu.' what say you, men?" a tremendous shout was given by the assembled crowd at the termination of this speech; and then one of the oldest warriors came into the ring, and placed round my neck a necklace made out of leopards' claws, whilst all the men called out "inkosi!" the dancing and feasting were then continued till the first sign of daylight appeared, when we all retired to our kraals to rest. on the following morning i met the old warrior who had put the necklace on me, and sat down talking to him. he was very anxious to hear where i had come from, and was much interested in the accounts i gave him of india. he was puzzled to know how it was possible that our ships found their way over the sea. there were no paths, he said, and the waves were always altering their shape, so that he could not tell how they got on. i told him that the men found their way by the sun and stars, but this he could not comprehend. after some time i asked him to tell me all he knew about his own people, and where they came from. he thought for some time, and then gave me the following account. spreading his two hands on the ground he lifted the little finger of his left hand and said, "that me." he then raised the next finger and said, "that my father." he then raised the next and said, "that his father;" and so he went on, to the thumb of the left hand, giving father after father. "all these lived here," he said. then he raised the thumb of his right hand, and said, "that father lived in zulu country, and quarrelled with great chief there, and came down here." "but how did those other fathers live?" i enquired. he raised four more fingers, and pointing to the last said, "that father live other side of the sun." by this, i have since learned that he meant the other side of the equator, or up near somali. "that father and all his people have great fight; too many people there, so they come down slowly, and at last live in zulu country. those fathers had strange animals that they used to ride on, and which went as fast as an ostrich, but all these died as they came down country." i understood from this that he meant his people formerly owned horses. "then," he continued, "we break up, some stop one place, some another-- we come here." the old chief thus made out ten fathers, and, taking four generations for a hundred, it made out that, about years previously, the caffres must have resided not far from nubia. two days after our feast all the caffre visitors had gone home, and we had settled down again to our usual quiet life. chapter seven. i must now pass over three years of my residence amongst the caffres; for although i had several adventures with wild animals, and my career was full of interest, yet the events that occurred were very similar to those which i have already related. the free, independent life i led, the perpetual outdoor exercise, and the fine climate, had so agreed with me that i had grown to be quite a young man. i was strong for my age, tall, and very active. there were only two caffres in the country who could run faster than i could; and although i could not throw an assagy as far as some of the caffres, yet my aim was good, and several times i had hit a running buck with one of my assagies, when the animal was forty yards from me. it was at this date that news reached us which caused the greatest alarm. the zulu country was about three days' journey from us, that is, about miles. the chief who ruled over the zulus was named chaka. he was a man never satisfied unless he was at war with some other tribe; and as he had trained a very large army to fight skilfully, he always gained a victory over those he attacked, and consequently was able to appropriate the cattle of the tribes he had conquered. of all the chiefs in south africa none were as powerful, and as much feared as chaka. for he would not always wait for a cause before he attacked a tribe. it was provocation enough for him if another nation were rich in cattle. he considered that no one ought to be rich but he. so he would assemble his army, often without letting them know what he intended them to do. then he would march off, and suddenly attack and destroy a tribe who had no suspicion that anything was intended against them. the caffres who lived near natal bay, and the umlass river, were always on the alert. for they feared chaka, and suspected that he would attack them some day. our tribe near the umzimvubu were on very friendly terms with the caffres near the umlass, and it was agreed that if chaka attacked them we should help them, and send as many fighting men as possible to aid them. we knew that if the caffres near the umlass were eaten up, it would only be a matter of time before our turn would come. if we allowed chaka to attack each tribe separately his victory would be easy, but if we joined we should give him some trouble. the probability of chaka coming down to attack us was a subject often discussed in our kraals, and also the best plan of defence. we knew that we should be outnumbered, and that therefore it would not do to meet his warriors in the open country. we must endeavour, by skill and stratagem, to make up what we wanted in numbers. with this end in view our men were always practising throwing the assagy, and the knob-kerrie, and also constantly running long distances, so as to be in good training. it was fortunate that these precautions had been taken, or our own tribe would have been destroyed. one day the news was brought us that chaka was assembling his army, and it was believed that he intended attacking the caffres near natal. the news was shouted from hill to hill, and spread rapidly over the country. a council was called, and on the same day that the news had arrived, about five thousand men had assembled near our kraal, each armed with assagies, knob-kerries and shield. there was a great deal of talking amongst the chiefs, and the plan to be adopted for defence was long and eloquently discussed. it was decided that our little army was to travel at once to near the umlass river, and join with the people there. the coast near the sea was densely wooded, and in many places was hilly, whilst several rivers twisted about amongst wide reedy banks; and amidst such country we should have a better chance with the zulus, than we should have in the open country. before we started on our journey, i spoke to inyati, and asked him to let me have twenty men whom i should select, and also that all the guns should be given over to me and my men. i had managed to get possession of a small barrel of gunpowder that had been saved from the wreck, and also some lead. this lead i melted and dropped into water, so as to form small pieces of lead like slugs. i made up nearly a hundred rounds of cartridges, with the aid of small skins cut from buck and other small animals; and with these precautions, i fancied i could do a great deal when it came to a fight. among those i selected for my little company were inyoni and tembile, who i knew would follow me anywhere; in fact all the men i selected had full confidence in me, for never before had any boy (as i really was) done as much as i had. our march was commenced on the second day after our council, and we presented a formidable appearance. there were about five thousand men, all fine-looking, active fellows, full of confidence, and, in spite of the formidable reputation of chaka's warriors, ready to meet them in battle. it occupied two days to reach the umlass river, where we were met by some hundred chiefs, councillors, and head men from the villages near. the plan that had been adopted for our march was to send on in advance a number of women and boys, each carrying a large basket full of mealies. these were deposited at the end of our first day's march. the women and boys then collected as much corn as they could procure from the villages near them, and went on another day's march, so we had plenty to eat on the journey. the chiefs at the umlass were very glad to see us, and were quite astonished when they beheld me. they asked all sorts of questions about me, and treated me with the greatest respect. i knew quite well how to behave with the dignity of a chief, and i soon impressed the visitors with my importance. they had heard of the power of my guns, and seemed terribly afraid of them, and looked at them with great awe. i told them that i could easily kill a man at the distance of three throws of an assagy, a statement that inyati corroborated. we heard from these chiefs that chaka might come down upon us any day, and that he would try to surprise us; but that men were on the look-out beyond the umganie, and runners were placed at various points to convey the news and signal when the enemy came in sight. the army of these umlass caffres was concealed in the bush along the coast, and amounted to nearly , men; whilst the cattle had been driven westward, and concealed in places from which it would be most difficult to drive them. our army was placed on a hill west of the umlass river, which river opens into a wide bay near the mouth; and to attack us on this hill would entail great loss on the enemy. we lay down to rest after our march, and slept; for it was a practice among these caffres to sleep as much as possible before any great work, as they seemed to think that men could lay in a stock of sleep which would be of use to them two or three days afterwards. i am inclined to believe that this idea was correct, and that by sleeping a great deal during three or four days, we can go the next three or four days with scarcely any sleep. the third day after our arrival at the umlass, runners came from the east bringing the intelligence that the zulu army, as numerous as a flight of locusts, had crossed the tugela, and were spreading down the country. quick as were the movements of this army, the caffres in the country were equally rapid in their movements, and more than , men joined us, and several thousand cattle were driven across the umlass river, and secreted in the bushy country to the west of it. umnini, a chief who lived near the head of natal bay, had the chief command of the whole army, whilst inyati had command of the men who came from the umzimvubu district. there had been several consultations between umnini, inyati, and other chiefs, as to the best method of defending the country, and a plan was arranged which was well thought out and carefully planned. the course which it was thought the zulus would follow, was on the open country about five miles from the coast; they must, however, pass through a portion of the bush near the umbilo river at the head of natal bay, and it was here that our attack was to be made. our plan was, to allow a certain portion of the army to pass through the bush; then to dash in, and separate this portion from the main body; keep the main body at bay whilst our men attacked those who had passed into the open beyond the bush. during the various walks i had taken about the country, i had discovered a place that i at once selected as one suitable for my small party of twenty, in case we had to make a stand. it was a solid piece of ground like a rocky island in the middle of a large vlei or marsh. the marsh consisted of water and soft mud, so deep that a man would sink nearly to his shoulders in the mud. the island was surrounded by this mud for nearly yards, and so was beyond the cast of an assagy. to secure a pathway to this island, i employed my men in cutting branches of trees and placing these in a line from the firm ground across the marsh to the island. it required a great many branches; but we worked hard, and at length made a foundation on which we could get to the island without sinking above our ankles. we had intelligence of the movements of the zulu army, and knew just where they were each hour of the day; but our own army kept so carefully concealed, that not a man could be seen. the zulus evidently thought they were not likely to meet much opposition, and did not take the precaution of sending forward small parties to examine the ground in front, and feel for their enemies; so we hoped to surprise them. all our arrangements were made to attack the zulus when they had crossed the umbilo river, which they did shortly after daybreak. they marched on, singing war-songs, and beating their shields, and entered the bush country; and when about , were out in the open beyond, about a thousand of our warriors rushed on the line, cut it in two; and half the party facing about, prevented those who had passed from retreating, whilst those who had been stopped found themselves unable to advance. with a shout that could be heard for miles, , of our warriors rushed out from their concealment and closed with the zulus in the open. in spite of their discipline and training, the zulus, thus overmatched, were soon broken and their slain covered the ground. the loss on our side in this encounter was small, though several men were wounded. in the meantime the fight in the bush-path was severe: not more than four or five men could stand abreast, so the numbers on the side of the zulus were no great advantage. our object was to prevent those behind from helping the party we had cut off in front. in a battle it is impossible for one person to describe what takes place in all parts of the field, so i will now confine my description to what occurred to my own party. i believed that the zulus were not acquainted with the fact that we had any firearms with us; and, consequently, that they would be much surprised when they heard the report of our guns, and saw the effect of our shot. i believed that, instead of beginning to fire at the early part of the battle, it would produce more effect if i waited until some critical period, and when, perhaps, our own side might require some special assistance. i had not very long to wait for such an event, as a large party of the zulus had worked their way through the bush, and had formed up so as to attack our forces in rear, and at the time when they were broken and scattered after their victory over the two thousand zulus. seeing this party assembled, i called on my men to follow me, and ran down to within about two assagies'-cast from them. they awaited my coming, looking surprised to see so small a party attempt so daring a proceeding as to approach so close to them. suddenly giving the word to my men, we turned and ran towards our island in the marsh, as though we were afraid. the result was just what i expected--the zulus came full speed after us. all my men were splendid runners, so we reached our causeway and were on the island before a single zulu had arrived at the edge of the marsh. the zulus were not aware how soft and deep the mud was, nor did they know that the narrow causeway we had made was the only means of reaching the island; consequently several hundreds rushed into the vlei and were completely pounded, unable to advance or retreat. one of their leading chiefs, however, had seen where we had run across the vlei; so, assembling his men, he came over the causeway at a run, followed by some two hundred men. i allowed him to come almost within an assagy-throw's distance, and then, aiming carefully with my gun, i shot him dead. four or five other shots were fired by the men with me, and as many men fell dead. the result was that a panic seized these men, and they retreated; but our own people had now formed up, and were charging on the zulus, and a terrible slaughter ensued. the men in the vlei were knocked on the head with stones or knob-kerries, and a second disaster befell the zulu army. in the meantime, the umlass caffres, led by umnini, had driven back a large force of zulus, which had attempted to work round outside the bush and to outflank us. these men retreating, as also the few who had escaped from the first attack, led to a general rush among the zulu army, who were not certain but what they might be attacked by a much larger force than their own. they knew they had been surprised, and they saw that our plans had been well arranged. this, together with the fact that our people possessed firearms, spread such alarm that they could not be made to attempt another attack. our people followed up the retreat as far as the umganie river, killing a large number more of the zulus--and our victory was complete. that night we had a great dance and a great feast, amidst which songs were sung descriptive of our various deeds during the day. we had placed our spies at different commanding positions, so as to give early intelligence in case the zulu army recovered itself and again attacked us; but they did not attempt to do so, for they had captured several cattle up the country, which they drove into zululand and claimed a victory over us. we heard that our tribe was the only one that had ever been able to stand against the zulu army. we had not gained our victory without loss, for the part of the zulu army that we had cut off, although outnumbered, yet fought well, and killed more than two hundred of our men, whilst five or six hundred were wounded. the rapidity with which the wounded recovered was marvellous-- a result due, i suppose, to their having lived almost entirely on vegetables and milk, and always being out in the open air. although there was much rejoicing on our return, there were also laments, because some of our bravest young men had been killed, and their relatives showed just as much regret at their loss as do the english when they lose a friend. the scenes through which i had passed during my residence among these caffres, had produced upon me the same effects as though i had lived three or four times as long. although i was at an age when english boys are engrossed with tops, hoops, and marbles, and look upon a performance at football or cricket as something to make a boy famous, yet i had trapped a leopard, had killed an elephant and had now been engaged in a desperate fight and had aided to win the victory. these stern realities had aged me, and i felt confidence now both in myself and in the weapons i could use: i sat in the circle with the warriors, and had, after the battle, spoken before the assembled people. with the intombis (young girls) i was a great favourite, and as some of these were very pretty, i liked to sit talking with them. the life i now led was such as any boy might envy. i cannot imagine any of the pastimes, amusements, or excitements of civilisation that can compare with that which can be obtained in a life of nature. in the first place the climate was very good, never very cold and never very hot. rains occurred in the autumn, but they were soon over and my kraal kept me dry. i had now several cows which supplied me with milk, _ubisi_, sweet fresh milk, and _amasi_, sour milk (like junket), which i preferred. what are now called mealies (indian corn) were also plentiful, so that there was no want of food. these mealies we used to bury in large holes near our kraals. the holes were dug about ten feet deep, and about six feet in diameter. a fire was then lighted at the bottom, and from time to time we plastered the sides with mud, and then dried this with more fire, and so made a hard and dry hole; we buried the mealies in this and then arched the top of the hole by means of hurdles and turf, so that the water when it rained ran off the sort of roof: our mealies then kept dry and could be dug out when required. by means of various traps and snares that i set, i had caught several buck in the bush, and also some guinea-fowl. i clipped the wings of the guinea-fowl and kept them in an enclosure i had made of reeds, and now they had become quite tame, and i always had plenty of guinea-fowls' eggs. quail, too, used to come to this country in thousands during the autumn, and these we used to knock over with our knob-kerries. i had got quite accustomed to the absence of clothing; in fact, even now, i often feel uncomfortable and in a kind of prison when i have clothes on. i had killed several monkeys, out of the skins of which i had made myself tails to wear round my waist, and also round my neck. when the sun was very hot i carried some large banana leaves, which protected my head from the sun, and served as a parasol. now, considering that i had no want of food, had nothing to do which i did not like, could go out hunting whenever i chose, was not bothered as boys are in civilised lands, i ought to have been very happy. i was happy; but i could not get over the feeling that i was away from my people, that my father must think i was dead, and my uncle, who intended being so kind to me, must also have given me up as lost. the ship in which i had embarked at calcutta would be put down as one among the many "not since heard of." i saw no chance, however, of ever again rejoining my relations; and, though i thought frequently of every possible chance of doing so, i could see no likely means of success. these caffres had spared my life and taken me among them as one of themselves. they had behaved well and kindly to me, had rewarded me fairly for what i had done, and gave me the rank of a chief. if i eventually rose to be the paramount chief in this country i should be a king in a way: i should have the power of life and death over my subjects, and i thought i might be able to teach them many things which they now were ignorant of. when, however, i thought of their laws and customs i found it difficult to imagine what i should teach them to make them better than they were. i knew very little about religion, and did not feel equal to trying to teach it, because the chiefs were always reasoning about things that were told them, and did not understand believing things on faith. there was one subject that i was anxious to speak to these chiefs about, but had always felt some hesitation. now, however, i determined to inquire from them why they had killed all the sailors and men who had been shipwrecked. for, although these caffres were warlike people, yet i knew they were just, according to their reasoning, and would not kill men in cold blood, unless with some end in view. one evening i was sitting in my kraal, grinding down some nails to make points for some arrows, when an old chief named inguana came to my hut and sat down beside me. after some conversation i asked him why his people killed the white men who were wrecked. he then told me that some years ago a ship came to nearly the same place, and about forty men landed and made friends with the caffres, and stopped some days. at length they prevailed on several men and women to go on board the ship and kept them there; they then came again on shore and gave many men something to drink which made them insensible. these men they carried in boats to their ships: some men woke and resisted, and they were shot. then the ship went away, and the caffres never saw their friends again. so when they saw the men on shore from my ship, they feared them and thought similar acts would be committed; so, keeping a watch, they caught them asleep and assagied them. the proceedings of the former visitors showed they were slave-catchers, and thus their acts caused the death of the poor sailors who had escaped from shipwreck. similar proceedings often happen in various parts of the world; some white men behave badly to the so-called savages, and then harmless visitors suffer for the acts of these rascals. from what i had seen of these umzimvubu caffres, i did not believe they would kill white men without a cause, so i was glad i had been able to hear why they had slaughtered the sailors. the caffres themselves thought that the sailors were probably the same as those who had carried off their relatives, and so determined to surprise them before they had an opportunity of taking any more prisoners. when i told them that the men they had killed were harmless and in distress, they really seemed sorry for their acts. chapter eight. one of the zulu chiefs who had been killed in our battle near natal had a headdress of ostrich-feathers. this headdress was considered a great curiosity, and our principal chiefs divided these feathers amongst them, and on great occasions wore them in their head-rings. i heard that, on the plains under the quathlamba mountains, ostriches were to be found; so i was anxious to make an expedition there, in order to try and shoot or trap these birds, and so procure a large supply of feathers. on talking this matter over with the chiefs, they told me i must take a large party with me, as bushmen were numerous there, and it would be dangerous to visit that country unless well-armed and in numbers. i, however, told the chiefs that three or four of us armed with guns were a match for any number of bushmen. this statement the chiefs did not deny, but they said that if the bushmen crept on us at night, they might hit us with their poisoned arrows, whilst we could not see them. i answered, however, that sport without some danger was only fitted for women, and that i had already proved that i could take care of myself. after a very long talk it was agreed that i, with twenty men whom i should select, were to journey up country, and try our luck against the ostriches. i chose the best men with whom i was acquainted, and also my two young caffre friends. we carried five guns with us and about twenty rounds of ammunition each. so that we were a formidable party as regards strength, though few in number. our daily journeys must have been about thirty miles, as we walked from sunrise to sunset, and very quickly. we had no want of food, for there were plenty of antelope in this country, and we used to spoor these, to where they had lain down in the reeds or long grass; we then surrounded the spot where they were concealed, and closed in on them; when they jumped up to make off, we either assagied them, or knocked them over with our knob-kerries. after eight days' walking we came to the plains where we expected to find ostriches, and i now made use of my glasses to scan the country round. there was plenty of game in these plains, herds of the _impovu_ (elands) and other animals, and water was also plentiful, as numbers of small streams flowed from the ravines of the quathlamba into the plains, south and south-east of them. so that we considered this country very suitable for kraals, as there was plenty of grass for cattle and the soil was well-suited for growing corn. we worked our way over these plains till we came to the rising ground at the foot of the mountains, which we ascended, and could then obtain a good view of the surrounding country. as we were sitting on the rocks looking in various directions, we heard a noise above us, and saw a large rock rolling and bounding down towards us. instantly we jumped behind rocks and so protected ourselves, and the rolling rock bounded over our heads. on looking up we saw two bushmen standing on some crags about yards from us: it was these men who had loosened the rock, in order, if possible, to crush some of us. they shrieked at us, and shook their fists as if defying us; they thought themselves safe, as they were far more active on the rocks than caffres, and could easily keep out of assagy-range; but they little knew how we were armed, for they had probably never heard the report even of a gun. resting my gun against a rock, i took a steady aim at the bushman and fired. the man instantly fell, rose again, and waved his arms, and then dropped dead. his companion instantly bounded off up the mountains as fast and as active as a klipspringer. we ran up the rocks to where this bushman lay, and the caffres drove their assagies into him to make sure he was not shamming; he was, however, quite dead. on looking round we saw a well-worn path leading to what appeared a solid wall of rock. on approaching the rock we found a hollow which had been scooped out and formed into a cave, and this was evidently the bushmen's home. on entering this cave we were surprised at the multitude of things inside. there was a lion's skin, and a necklace formed out of his teeth, two more formed out of his claws; three leopards' skins; several skins of elands, which were arranged so as to form a bed. in one corner were about a hundred ostriche's feathers, whilst nearly a dozen ostriche's eggs filled with water were round the cave. there was also plenty of dried meat, evidently eland's flesh, and a number of poisoned arrows. here then we had come on a treasure, for the leopard-skins and the necklaces, were much valued among our tribes. all the animals whose skins had been found in this cave, must have been killed by the bushmen with their poisoned arrows, showing how daring and skilful these men are with their tiny weapons, for to kill a lion they must have come to within at least forty paces of him. we secured all these articles, and then called a council of war to decide whether we should stop in this country in order to kill ostriches or return with what we had obtained. we at length decided to return; for we had seen no ostriches, and as they are the most keen-sighted and fastest of animals, we might wait many days before we even saw one. eland, however, were plentiful, and we saw a large herd of them on the plains; so we divided our party into four divisions--three of these were to go round on the opposite side of the elands, whilst those of the fourth party, who had guns, were to lie concealed by some rocks, and the herd was to be driven up to us. our plan succeeded well, and the herd came to within about an assagy's-throw of us before they knew of our presence; so that we fired each two shots before they got out of range, killing three elands. this supplied us with plenty of meat; so we had a great feast, and dried enough flesh to last us on our journey back. on our return to our kraals we were received like heroes who had won a great battle. our feathers were the envy of the whole tribe, so i gave several to the various chiefs, and it was agreed that a chief might wear as many as he liked, the head man of a kraal might wear only one, and no lower man might wear any. we thus made a division in the rank of men, which is of great importance even with men as uncivilised as were these caffres. among the men at our kraal there was one called ebomvu, because his skin was redder than most caffres. he was the rain-maker of the tribe, and was much feared, because he was considered a wizard. now the power which these wizards had was very great. they were believed by most of the men in the tribe to be able to foretell events, to produce rain in time of drought, to tell who had bewitched cattle, or men, and made them ill, and they used this power very often to get rid of any person who was not agreeable to them. the rain-maker was a dangerous man, and i had soon learnt that, unless i was friendly with him, he might proclaim that i had bewitched somebody, and then probably all the power of my friends could not save me from being killed. i saw one case where an old man who had made an enemy of the rain-maker, was killed by the people, and as the proceedings then adopted were similar to those usually practised, i will give a description of what occurred. a cow belonging to the head man of a neighbouring kraal died during the night. there was no doubt in my mind, on looking at the animal, that it had died from the bite of a snake, probably the _m'namba umculu_, or great puff-adder. ebomvu, however, told the owner that the cow had been bewitched by some enemy who wanted to serve him an ill turn, and that this enemy he would smell out. in two days after the cow's death ebomvu commenced his proceedings. he assembled all the principal men of the kraal, and also those of the kraals near; and then, entering the cattle enclosure, went to the spot where the cow had died, and told the men to dig. several men set to work digging up the ground, and discovered the end of a cow's horn, on which was scratched a mark like a cow's head. ebomvu seized this and smelt it, shouting, "_nuka, nuka_" ("it stinks.") he then moved slowly out of the kraal, holding the horn in front of him, and going first in one direction, then in another, until he reached the huts where the old man lived to whom he was an enemy. here he went on the ground and crawled on like a dog, smelling the ground like a hound. he entered the hut of the old man, and pointing to a corner told the men to dig there. they turned up the ground, and found a horn just the same size and shape, as that which they had discovered in the cattle enclosure, and on this horn were the same marks as those on the horn first found. this was considered positive evidence that the cow had died from being bewitched. so a council of all the chiefs was called, and the case was tried. the evidence of the finding of the two pieces of horn was given, and on being examined the same marks were seen on each. so the old man was ordered to pay a fine of five cows to the man whose cow had died, and five cows to the chief himself. had it been a man who had died instead of a cow, the old man himself would have been killed, and all his cattle taken by the chief. i was much afraid lest the wizard should accuse me of "tagata," as they called witchcraft, so i always made friends with him, and gave him presents, and used to sit and talk with him whenever i could. i gave him several fine ostrich-feathers, with which he was much pleased, and he told me i should some day be the great chief of this district. chapter nine. shortly after my trip in search of the ostrich-feathers, an event occurred which obliged our people to call a meeting of the whole tribe. there came to our country some caffres belonging to the tribes which lived west of us, and on the banks of the kei river. these tribes were the amakosa, the amaponda, and others. beyond them were the white men, consisting of the english, called the umlungos, and the amabores, as the dutch farmers were called by the caffres. between these white people and the amakosa, there had been a sort of war going on for some months. the caffres had been unable to resist the temptation of seeing fine fat cattle grazing near them, and but carelessly watched. the young caffres especially were excited by such sights, because many of these wished to purchase a wife, and as the price demanded for a wife was ten cows, they were unable to buy the girl they were fond of. if, however, they could manage to drive off ten cows from the white men they might purchase a wife at once. now in india, i remembered, it was just the reverse: there a father had to give a large sum of money to get his daughter married, so that a man who had several daughters was simply ruined in consequence of the money he had to give for his daughters to get husbands. consequently, in india it became a general practice to kill female children as soon as they were born, as a matter of economy; whereas here, in south africa, female children were a source of wealth to their fathers. when the white men found their cattle had been stolen, they formed a party and started on the spoor, and if they caught the caffres who had stolen them they shot them as if they were hyaenas. fights consequently took place between the amakosa and the white men, and several had been killed on both sides. these events led to war being declared against the amakosa by the english, and this war had just commenced when the visitors came to our country. all the principal men of our tribe having been assembled, we formed a large circle about four deep on some open ground near my hut. we sat down close together and remained silent whilst the two amakosa stood in the middle of the ring to address us, which they did in the following manner:-- "chiefs of the umzimvubu!--we come as speakers from the amakosa, to ask you to help us against the white man. we have lived for many generations on the banks of the kei and in the amatola mountains. we once owned the land down to the great fish river; the fingoes were our slaves, the hottentots were afraid of us. the white man has now come, and on small pretences has taken our land, and made us give them hundreds of cattle. our young men have been shot down like dogs; but at last we have quivered the assagy in our defence, and in our bush and in our mountains we are strong. we want your aid in two ways: first, to let your young men join us; and, secondly, that you will let us drive our cattle into your country, so that the white man cannot capture them. for this we will pay you cattle, giving you one in every ten. your men are brave, and can fight as we heard they did against the amazulu. if we are eaten up, the white man will soon come to your country; so we are a strong fence against them, and you should help to strengthen that fence. i have spoken as our chiefs have told me." the two amakosa then moved from the centre of the circle and sat down among our chiefs. there was a silence of several minutes, during which each of the intending speakers was reflecting on what had been said. that we should receive one in ten of the cattle that we took care of was a tempting offer to many, whilst several of the young men were pleased at the idea of encountering the white man, and showing their bravery. i crept round the circle to where ebomvu the rain-maker was sitting, and whispered to him, "what do you think of this?" he replied, "i have not yet obtained the right thought!" i said, "the white men have all guns; they are in thousands; and if we join the amakosa, they may come and attack us, and then, would the amakosa help us?" ebomvu nodded, and took a large pinch of snuff; and then, seeing that no chief came forward, he walked into the centre of the ring, and stretching out his arm addressed the chiefs. since that time i have heard among civilised nations many so-called orators, but i can fairly state that i never heard greater eloquence than i did from ebomvu. he said: "men of the umzimvubu!--our visitors from the amakosa have asked us to help them against the white man, who is encroaching on them. they also ask us to take care of their cattle, so that the white man, if he enters the kloofs of the amatola, may not carry off their cattle. they tell us that it is to our advantage to join them against the white man; for otherwise the white man will soon push against us. and if we take care of their cattle they will give us one out of ten. now when anything is done between two tribes it is done because of friendship and brotherhood, or because of trading one with the other. although we are friendly with the amakosa, yet they have not treated us like brothers. they have been hard with us in trade: the knives, spearheads, and other things they obtained from the white man, they would not part with to us except for high prices. so we must look at this matter as trade, and i cannot see that we gain much advantage by sending our young men to be shot down by the whites. we should be fighting for the amakosa; and we are asked to do this because, perhaps, by-and-by, the white man may want to fight with us. so we are asked to do now what would be very bad for us if we had to do it by-and-by. then we are to protect the amakosa cattle, and to receive as reward just one in ten. this is not enough: the amakosa are hard at a bargain, and i think we are required to give much and receive but little." ebomvu then sat down again among the principal men, a murmur of "_di'a vuma nawe_" ("i agree with you") being uttered by the older chiefs, whilst loud cries of "_hi, hi, musa_" were uttered by the younger men. after a little delay a young chief, who had fought well against the amazulu, stepped into the centre of the circle, and raising his shield and assagies, said, "listen to me, men of the umzimvubu. i am for war. i think we ought not to sit down like boys or women, and let our friends, the amakosa, fight alone. we are strong and we know how to fight. if we join the amakosa we shall share in the spoil; we must have our share of the cattle, of the guns captured, and we may also procure some of those animals on which men ride. shall our tribe be termed a tribe of cowards? i say, let us join the amakosa, and dip our assagies in the blood of the white man." a tremendous shout was given at the termination of this address; and it was evident that, as far as numbers went, there were more in favour of war than there were against it. this was an example of what took place among civilised nations. if the majority of an assembly are emotional rather than intellectual, a man who appeals to the emotions gains more adherents than the speaker who talks sound sense. consequently, when another young chief spoke in favour of war, it was decided that we should join the amakosa and fight the white man. what i was to do i did not know. i felt that, although i had become a regular caffre in habits and thoughts, yet i was an englishman; and if i fired and killed a white man, i should be guilty of murder. i thought a great deal about this matter; for though i had nothing to complain of in my present life, yet i longed to see my father again, and to let him know i was not dead. i knew that, lost as was the ship in which i had left calcutta, there would be no records of her ever found. i alone could tell the tale, for the ladies who had been saved had become the wives of caffres, and they told me that now they must live and die as they were, and could never again return to civilisation. i had great doubts whether the life i now led was not _the_ one which most men in cities toiled for all their lives. boy as i was, yet i had rank, i was a chief; i had cattle, the great wealth in this land; i had a gun and ammunition; i had always plenty to eat; i wanted no clothes, i could wrap myself in an _ingubu_ (blanket or kaross) made of jackals' skins, which kept me warm in the cold nights; i had no work to do that i didn't like. there was plenty of game to shoot or trap; and, except during a short rainy season, the climate was as fine as any in the world. what more pleasant life than this could i lead anywhere? in england i should be at a school, having to learn a lot of things in which i took no interest; perhaps, if i did not work properly, i might be caned, i, who was now a chief, and if any man struck me should probably use my assagy against him. there were two sides to the question of returning to civilisation. i had read also that my uncle passed seven or eight hours a day in a dark office in london, in a place crowded round by other houses, so that you could scarcely see the sun, and where there were so many men that you scarcely ever breathed anything but second-hand air. still, there was the longing always coming over me to see my father, and to tell him that i was happy, and if he did not mind i should prefer remaining where i was. but the war-spirit had broken out, and every one, even to the smallest _intombi_ (girl) was dancing about, singing war-songs. as was the custom with these tribes, a great war-dance was arranged; all the fighting men, in full war-dress, assembled from miles round. we mustered more than five thousand fighting men, besides about three thousand boys able to throw an assagy, and assist at critical moments, when the enemy were broken or too powerful at any particular point. i shall always remember the war-dance which now took place; it was a sight only to be seen in the wilderness, and where civilisation has made no progress. the men assembled formed a ring three and four deep, and sat quietly on the ground for more than an hour, each with his shield in front of him. at a given signal we all started to our feet, with a shout; then, imitating the movements of an old chief who entered the centre of the ring, we beat the ground, first with one foot, then with the other; then, jumping in the air, came to the ground with both feet at once, making the earth shake as we did so. after we had continued these proceedings for some time, a young bull was brought into the ring and turned loose, three young chiefs entering at the same time. they shouted and beat their shields, so as to alarm the bull, and then closed on him, hurling their assagies at him. the animal soon became savage and charged at the young chiefs, and a regular bullfight occurred; but so active were the caffres, and so well did they back one another up, that in a few minutes the bull was so terribly wounded by assagies that it sank to the ground and died. four bulls were killed in the same manner and by different sets of young chiefs, the circle of warriors all the time singing their war-songs and dancing and beating their shields. during two days these festivities were kept up, and then the leading chiefs met in council to decide upon the plan of operations. i soon began to observe that several of the chiefs regarded me in a manner different from that in which they had formerly done. they were not unfriendly, but they were silent; and i feared that some enemy had been at work who was jealous of my rise and progress. i was rich for so young a chief, as i now possessed fourteen cows and several calves; but i did not think i was rich enough to be accused of witchcraft, and my cows taken from me. i had but to wait a few days before i learned why this change in manners had taken place. one evening an old chief sent for me to his kraal for a _kaluma_ (talk), and on my entering his hut i found two other chiefs there. they offered me snuff, and _itchuala_, and then the old chief said:-- "umkunkinglovu! we know you are brave and can fight well, and we should have liked you to lead a division of our men; but we have thought that, as you, although a caffre at heart, are still white, you might not like to fight against white men. we don't know about white men; we don't know who are friends, and who enemies. we, the umzimvubu, fight against the amazulu, though we are both black. do you white men ever fight one against the other?" "yes," i replied, "when nations like your great tribes disagree they fight." "then are the people at war with the amakosa of your tribe?" "yes, they are." "then you would not like to fight against them?" "no; i should be a rascal to do so." "we thought it might be so," said the old chief, "so we are going to leave you in charge of the tribe, to take care of the cows and the young people, until we return." "i should like to speak about this war," i said; "may i?" a nod was the only answer. "this war," i said, "will probably bring great trouble to the tribe. you have been misled by the amakosa; for the white men against whom you are fighting are powerful, and if they require them can bring ten men to your one. you with assagies only cannot defeat them, for they are all armed with guns, and are good shots. they can wear you out; for they can destroy your crops of corn, and capture your cattle, or worry them so that they cannot feed. you have little to gain, and all to lose. why do you go on this expedition?" the three chiefs sat silent for a few minutes, and then the elder said, "we believe the amakosa. their chiefs say the white men are not numerous, and are very slow--that in spite of their guns, which are not much use in the bush, the assagy has gained the victory; unless we fight the white man, he will march on and will soon want our country, and we shall be wiped out. we are now bound by promise to fight, so it is no use now thinking any more about it. besides, the amakosa tell us that the white men employed to fight are not allowed to fight as they like or could, but are bound up with straps and tight clothes, and are made to wear red blankets round their bodies, so as to be easily seen and therefore easily shot. they have to carry a number of things also, which prevent them from running fast, and tires them when they walk. so an amakosa warrior feels he is better able to fight than a white soldier, who cannot move through the bush, as the thorns hold him by his clothes; so that he cannot shoot, and is easily assagied." i endeavoured to convince these chiefs that it was no use fighting against the english; but they listened patiently, and then said that, when i left my friends the whites, i was too young to be able to judge correctly of numbers and strength, and that i should see them return with many guns and plenty of cattle. chapter ten. nearly all our fighting men had left our country, whilst i remained with the very old men, the young boys and the women. i did not like remaining inactive in this, way, yet i could not have fought against my own people. i felt very dull and lonely; so took my gun and wandered in the bush, following the old elephant-paths, and looking out for a buck or a leopard. left to myself, i was accustomed to sit in the bush for hours, meditating on my past life, and on my probable future. lately, a strange longing had come over me to return to civilisation. the novelty of my wild life had worn off, and the caffres were not the companions to me that they had been when i was younger. their aims and ambitions were limited. to eat abundance of meat, to possess abundance of cattle, to have four or five wives, was the looked-for happiness of the men. anything that required mental exertion they seemed incapable of. they could with difficulty count beyond ten; they knew nothing about other countries, or the habits of other nations. they believed the zulus the most powerful nation in the whole world, whilst the whites they regarded as foolish people with wrong ideas. reflecting on my condition, i began to consider how i could make my escape from the caffres, and rejoin my own people. i knew that if i could reach england i could make myself known to my relatives, could communicate with my father, and should have fair prospects even if i returned to india. this was quite a change in my ideas, from what i fancied some months previously; but solitude seemed to have given me a clearer view of things as they really were, and i now thought over every plan by which it might be possible to reach some english settlement, make myself known, and thus be enabled to rejoin my relatives. several days passed, during which i scarcely spoke to any of the caffres. i felt depressed and out of spirits--perhaps a presentiment of what was coming. i had received no news of the army that had gone to join with the amakosa against the british soldiers, and so could not learn whether or not they had been victorious. half a moon had passed since the army left, and the old men began to be anxious for news; still none came. it was early morning, the sun not having appeared, that, as i lay rolled in my jackal-skin kaross in my hut, i heard the voices of men in my kraal. these voices were low, and subdued. thinking it was our warriors who had returned, i jumped up and crawled out of my hut. it was not yet light enough to see clearly any objects except they were very near; but before i could rise on my feet, i received a blow on my head, which stunned me, and knew no more till i came to my senses, when the sun was nearly overhead. i then saw a sight which astonished me. seated in our kraal were more than a hundred zulu warriors, watching a fire at which one of our young bulls was being roasted. they were all in full war-costume, and i saw that many of their assagies were stained with blood. i tried to rise, but found that my hands and legs were tied, and that i could not move. the zulus, seeing i was sensible again, called to a chief who was sitting at a distance, and pointed to me attentively, and then said-- "who are you?" "i am an umlungo who has been kept among these people," i replied, "and they have made me a chief." "where do you come from?" "i came in a ship which was wrecked on the coast; all the men were killed except me." "when do you expect your men to return?" "i don't know; they have gone to fight with the amakosa against my people." "why did they not take you?" "i could not fight against my own tribe." the chief waited for a short time, looking at me attentively, and then said, "you will return with us; attempt to escape, and twenty assagies will be in your body." he then turned away, and walked to his seat outside the circle. i was struck with the dignity and manner of this chief. he seemed one born to command, to be self-possessed, calm, and decided. he walked like a chief, and i could easily understand how it was that the zulus were so powerful if they possessed many men like this one. i felt being tied, as it was very painful. so i spoke to one of the men near me, and said that, if the chief would unfasten my arms and legs, i would promise not to attempt to escape; but if i remained tied, i should not be able to move when they did unbind me. the zulu carried my message to the chief, who nodded, and the young zulu came and unbound me. i rose to my feet, but felt very sick and giddy from the blow i had received from the knob-kerrie on my head, and was obliged to sit down again. the chief then called me, and i went over to where he sat, and he asked me if i was hurt. i pointed to a lump on my head where i had been hit. he felt my head, and said, "that is nothing." he then inquired how many guns had been taken by the warriors who had gone with the amakosa. i told him eight; and, thinking it better to deal fairly with him, i told him that in the thatch of my hut there was my gun. he immediately sent a man into my hut to search, and shortly my gun was brought out. the chief examined this carefully--a gun was evidently new to him--and i explained how it was loaded and fired. he was much interested in all i said. so, being anxious to gain his favour, i told him there was something else more wonderful still that i could show him. he told me to bring whatever it was. so i brought him my field-glasses, and, adjusting them for a long sight, i placed them in his hands, and told him to look at some cows about half a mile off. he raised them to his eyes, and instantly started back with astonishment. he examined them carefully, and seemed more surprised as he looked again through them. i then made him look through the glasses the opposite way, viz., through the large glasses, and to look down at his feet. his legs then appeared about twenty feet long, and he was more astonished with this than even with the fact that distant objects were brought nearer by the aid of the glass. he called several of his men to look through the glass, and laughed at their surprise. the chief now told me that i was to return with them to the zulu country, when they drove off our cattle. he made no secret of how he came here. he said that an _impi_, or army, had been sent against some of the basutos; that when they were returning they heard that all our men had gone with the amakosa to the westward. so they came down to our country to take some cattle and carry off some of the young girls, and that on the morrow they intended to start on their return journey. i found they had killed several of our old men, but as there was no one to resist them, they had easily gathered together the cattle they required. on the following morning we started on our journey, and i found that over a thousand men had come down to our country, whilst the main body of the army were up to the north-east and numbered several thousand. with the exception of the women, i was the only prisoner they had taken. the zulus rarely take prisoners, they kill their enemy; but, seeing that i was white, and therefore not a caffre, they had spared me. our march was carefully made. about half a mile in front some dozen men, who were good runners, kept a look-out, and signalled to us every now and then to let us know that all was right and no enemy near. we had about a hundred cows and young bulls with us, which were driven along in our midst. not a boy or female of our tribe was visible: they had all retreated to the bush and concealed themselves. the kraals were empty and most of them burnt. i felt very sorry for my old companions, though they had gone to fight against the english. it seemed, however, like a punishment to them, to be thus attacked at home when there was no reason why they should go out and fight against those who had never done them any harm. our march was first nearly northwards, till we came near the quathlamba mountains. we then went east, crossed the umzinyati river and the tugela, and entered the zulu country. i was surprised at the number of cattle i saw in the zulu country. thousands of beautiful cows were everywhere to be seen; and the grass was finer and better suited for grazing than down near the umzimvubu. our small army was welcomed with shouts by crowds of zulus who turned out to meet us, and who looked on me with great surprise. when they found i could speak their language as well as they could, their surprise was greater; and they at first would not believe that i was not an albino, or white caffre, such phenomena being sometimes seen among them. i was taken to the kraal of the chief who had captured me, and who was called inklanzi, the meaning of which is a fish. this name was given him because he was a very good swimmer, and could stop for a long time in the water. inklanzi told me that on the following morning i was to be taken to the great chief, who perhaps might order me to be assagied; so i must be careful how i behaved. i slept but little that night, for i feared, from what i had heard, that the great chief of the zulus, merely for his amusement, might like to see how i died. on the following morning i was called by inklanzi to go with him to the chief's kraal. it was the largest i had yet seen. there were at least five hundred huts, the great chief's hut being much larger than were the others. round the chief's hut there were always about thirty men on guard, for every great chief feared being assassinated. it was also the law that, whenever any chief came to talk to the great chief, he was, on approaching to within an assagy-throw of the great kraal, to stop and shout "inkosi" three times. if he heard no reply, he was not allowed, under pain of death, to advance. if he was told to "come," he must still shout "inkosi," until he reached the hut. this plan prevented surprise; for no stranger could even approach the hut without incurring the penalty of death, unless he shouted to announce his arrival. inklanzi, after shouting "inkosi," was told to come; so he and i went to the hut of the great chief. we waited outside for some time, silently listening for orders to enter. at length a loud voice from inside said, "is the white boy there?" "yes," replied inklanzi. "bring him in," said the same voice. we entered the hut, and on seeing the chief i made him a low salaam, the same as do the hindoos, and said "inkosi." the chief looked at me for some time, and then asked inklanzi if i spoke zulu. on inklanzi replying "yes," the chief said, "where do you come from? tell me your history." i commenced by telling the chief that i came from far away in the direction that the sun rose, and where men rode upon elephants, and where houses were so high that, if your brother were on the top of the house and you were at the bottom, you could not recognise him. i gave other descriptions of india, to which the chief listened for some time, and then exclaimed, "amanga" ("you are lying.") "it is true, chief," i said. "go on," exclaimed the chief. i then told him of our voyage, of the ship being wrecked, and of the men being assagied, whilst i and some women were spared. "where are the women now?" inquired the chief. a glance at inklanzi showed he was in terror, and i guessed the cause. so i said, "i don't know; i think they are all dead." turning to inklanzi the chief said, "why did you not bring those women?" inklanzi replied, "we searched everywhere, chief, and we only heard they had all died." "if those women are alive, you shall be knob-kerried for not bringing them." "did you fight against my men near the umlass?" inquired the chief. "yes," i replied. "can you throw an assagy?" "yes, and i can run." i was proud of my running, for among the umzimvubu there was no man could beat me for a short distance. the chief shouted for one of his guard, who approached crawling on his hands and knees. "bring cachema," said the chief. the man jumped up, and rushed off to obey his orders. in a few minutes, the zulu called cachema rushed up within an assagy's-throw of the chief. he then stopped and shouted "inkosi" three times. "come here," said the chief to cachema. "you must run with this white boy and show him how to run." i looked well at cachema, and had never seen a finer specimen of a young man. he was tall--six feet at least; his legs were large compared to his body, but muscular and well-shaped; his skin shone like satin; and, as he moved, there was an ease and grace just as we see in a leopard. i feared i should stand no chance with this man; but i was in excellent condition, and i saw that he failed in one respect, viz., that he was flat-footed, whilst i was very high in the instep, and had therefore more spring than he had. the chief said, "you two run to that tree, touch it, and run back here again. i will give a cow to whoever wins." cachema looked at me with surprise. he seemed to consider it absurd for me to attempt running with him, as i was smaller and younger. we took each other's hands, and when the chief said "hamba" ("go") we started. the tree was about two hundred yards away, and the ground over which we ran was hard and firm. i got the best of the start, and managed to keep just ahead of cachema till we reached the tree. i knew from experience that most caffres could run a mile at the same pace as they could run a few hundred yards, their wind was so good, and they never tired. so i did not run at full speed to the tree; but, after touching it, i came back as fast as i could run. i expected every instant to find cachema rush past me. i dared not look round to see where he was, but continued at my best pace, and rushed past the chief several yards ahead of my opponent. i then returned; and, making a salaam in indian fashion, said "inkosi." "come here," said the chief. i approached him, when he felt my legs, looked at my feet, and took a general survey of me. he then said, "you have spoken the truth: you can run." calling cachema he said, "why did you let this white boy beat you?" cachema replied, "he is a springbok, and runs like one." the chief laughed, and said, "the white boy will now be my head-runner. you, cachema, must be called `gathly,'" which meant something like "slowly." i was at once provided with some crane's feathers, a large black-and-white shield, six assagies, and made one of the body-guard of the great chief of the zulus. my life was now not as free or as pleasant as it had been among the umzimvubu caffres. here i was a sort of servant of the chief: before this i was a chief myself. sometimes i was days together with nothing to do: at others i was sent long journeys to take messages from the great chief to some of his principal men. i soon saw that these journeys would give me an opportunity of escaping when i wished. but the zulu chief never seemed to think i should care to get away from him; for his special body-guard were envied by all the young zulus, because they had plenty to eat, plenty to drink, and were able to order nearly every other zulu to do things. a few days after i had been installed as runner, a great review was held of the army that had gone against the basutos. this army consisted of about , men. they were armed with assagies and knob-kerries: there was not a gun among them, and as yet they had not learnt the power of guns; although, when they attacked us near the umlass, they had been defeated because we possessed some guns. their assagies and their numbers caused the zulus to be usually successful in all their wars. the review was held on some hills about a mile from the chiefs kraal. he rode a trained ox to the scene; and i, with about thirty other men, attended as his guard. there were five regiments to be reviewed. each regiment had shields differently marked, and each of the assagies belonging to the regiment had also a mark on it, so that, if lost, it would be known to whom it belonged. these zulus were well-trained. they advanced at a run, wheeled, reversed, dashed forward, all fell to the ground as a shower of assagies was supposed to be hurled at them, sprang again to their feet and charged. it was a lively scene, and one that brought out the quickness of the zulus to perfection. the men were then all formed in a large circle, and two young zulus entered this circle from opposite sides. each had his shield and assagies. they approached each other cautiously and slowly, watching every movement of the other. when within about forty yards, one man sent an assagy at his opponent. the spear flew true to its mark; but the zulu aimed at jumped on one side, avoiding the sharp blade of the spear, and, running forward, cast an assagy at his opponent. this was avoided with equal skill, whilst the lookers-on shouted with excitement. the two men drew closer and closer to each other; and, as they did so, they found it more difficult to avoid each other's assagies. both became more and more excited, and at last they closed and grappled with one another, when the chief called to them to stop. they were then brought to him and given a large calibash of itchuala (beer) to drink, and were told they had done well. several of these encounters took place, only one man being struck in the leg by an assagy. a great dance completed the review, and we returned to the kraal of the chief. the only furniture in the huts of the zulus was a wooden pillow or seat. all the men preferred sitting or lounging on the ground, and i afterwards found that sitting in a chair was really tiring till you were accustomed to it. in the east men always lounged on cushions or low seats, instead of sitting upright on chairs. finding, however, some strong canes growing near the rivers, i gathered a number of these and made a chair for the chief, with which he was much pleased, although he would sit on it only on rare occasions. chapter eleven. several moons had passed since i was brought to the zulu country, and my life had been monotonous. i had been sent with messages twice to the tugela river to a chief there, who was suspected of not being too obedient to the great chief. he was a fine young chief called cloko, and was a great sportsman. on the last occasion that i visited him he was preparing for a hunt against the hippopotami, which were in a lake near his kraal. the water in this lake could be let out by digging away a sand bank, which had been accomplished when i reached the kraal. the zulus had provided themselves with heavy, barbed spears, to which some thick wood was attached. a rope made of grass was fastened to the iron, so that if two spears stuck in the hippopotamus he could be held by several men pulling in opposite directions. the zulus call this animal _imvubu_, and several were known to be in the lake. some logs were fastened together to make a raft, and two zulus took their stand on this with their spears ready for use. as the water in the lake drained away the _imvubu_ were seen among some reeds near the shore. they were carefully approached by the men with the spears, and when quite close the spears were hurled at the largest animal visible. the hippopotamus rushed at the raft open-mouthed, but another spear was hurled at him which made him turn and try to escape; but fifty zulus now held on to the rope, and his progress was stopped. the struggle was now very exciting. several zulus closed with the animal and drove their assagies into him, even through his thick hide, which in many places was nearly two inches thick. the fight was sometimes on the shore, sometimes in the water; for the animal was so powerful that even fifty men could scarcely stop him when he rushed away. at last, bleeding from a hundred wounds, the monster was dragged on shore, and was soon skinned and cut up. the hippopotamus is the fattest animal in africa, three fingers thick of fat covering his flesh. he is very good eating, tasting something between pork and beef. i carried away a large piece with me as a present to the great chief, who was fond of this food. i saw several hunting scenes whilst i stopped at this kraal, which i will relate now, though they occurred at intervals. one was the destruction of two bull-buffaloes which had taken up their residence in a ravine near some corn-gardens, where they did considerable damage. this coming to the ears of the great chief, he ordered one of his regiments to go out and kill them. i obtained leave to see the _inyati_, as they call the buffalo, killed, and a grand sight it was. in a dense ravine, where the trees and bushes grew very thick, the buffalo lay concealed. the first work, therefore, was to drive them out of this stronghold. it was dangerous work, because in this thick bush the zulus could not spring away from the charge of a buffalo as they could in the open country; and the animals, knowing their strength in such cover, would not readily be driven out of it. a hundred zulus were sent into the bush to drive the buffaloes to the far end, where, it was thought, they would leave the cover in order to gallop across a small open piece of ground towards a forest beyond. on this open ground the attack was to be made, and in the following manner. the main body of the zulus were lying down three deep, and in two lines, in the direction of the sides of the ravine. they were partially concealed by the long grass which covered this ground. as soon as the buffaloes left the ravine, it was expected they would gallop between these two lines. then the zulus at each end of the line wheeled inwards, and the buffaloes were inclosed in a circle of warriors. about one hundred men were scattered beyond these two lines, in order to stop the buffaloes if they broke through the circle. it was with great difficulty that the animals were driven through the ravine. they clung to the cover very tenaciously, and several times charged at the men who were driving them; but these men, beating their shields, and getting behind trees, escaped from any damage. at last the buffaloes came to the edge of the bush, sniffed the air suspiciously, and then dashed forward across the open. the crouching zulus rose to their feet, wheeled round in front and rear of the animals, and hurled their assagies at them. in an instant the buffaloes looked like porcupines, each quill being represented by an assagy. lowering their heads, they charged the body of men, one animal going forward, the other attempting to regain the ravine. the courage of the zulus was now shown. the men in rear of the buffaloes rushed forward; two or three held the tail, others clung to the hind legs, and in an instant with their sharp assagies hamstrung the animals, when they were soon despatched with assagies. this was not accomplished without damage. two zulus were killed, and several were so knocked about that they could not stand.--stout poles were cut, and the carcases of the buffaloes were carried in triumph to the chiefs kraal. in order to keep his warriors fit for warlike expeditions, the great chief sought every occasion of sending parties into various districts, when he heard there was anything to be done, especially connected with danger. soon after the buffaloes had been killed, news was brought to the chief to the effect that near the pongola river there was a very large lion, which was very fierce. when the great chief heard this he smiled and ordered inyovu, one of his chiefs, to come to his kraal. on inyovu coming the great chief said: "inyovu, near the pongola there is a very large lion. i want the mane of that lion to wear over my shoulders, and his teeth i require for a necklace. take your regiment and bring me the lion's skin and teeth. _hamba_." ("go.") i asked the great chief if i might go with inyovu and see the lion killed. he consented, on condition that i did not go into too much danger. he said several men were sure to be killed, but i must not be one of them. it was a ten days' march from the chiefs kraal to the pongola river, near which the lion was said to live. we carried with us bags of mealies, but there were several buck on the way which we managed to kill with our assagies and knob-kerries. the plan we adopted was, to send look-out men in front, and when they saw any antelope these were watched until they lay down in the long grass or among the bushes. the zulus then surrounded the buck, and gradually closed in on it, forming at last a close mass of men; knob-kerries and spears then settled the question, and a feast was the immediate result. there were very few caffres in this country, and only a few wandering bushmen, who fled at our appearance; but there were elands, koodoo, buffalo, rhinoceros, zebras, hartebeest, and several other animals. elephants also were plentiful. we heard from the few caffres who lived here that the lion could be heard to roar nearly every night, and that he lived in a rocky ravine near a small stream that ran into the pongola. he was said to be very fond of zebras, and to live almost entirely on them; so that where the zebras lived, there the lion was sure to be. i asked inyovu how he intended to kill the lion. he replied, "first find out where he lies down by day, then surround him and assagy him. it will cost perhaps forty men," said the chief; "but we must obey the chief, and take the skin and teeth to him." "suppose you fail?" i inquired. "we must not return without the lion," said the chief. "if we did, the great chief would order fifty men to be assagied, and send another regiment to do the work; so we must kill this lion." inyovu never seemed to have the slightest doubt or hesitation about carrying out the orders of his chief. he was told what to do, and he must do it. he had above , men with him--too many, he thought; but the great chief liked the regiment to work together, and always to be in sufficient numbers to ensure success. inyovu now sent out several parties of ten men, in order to look out for the spoor of the lion and to listen for his roars at night. what he hoped to do was to come upon the lion after he had made a grand supper, and when he would be asleep; for then he might be mortally wounded or disabled before he could damage any of the zulus. instead of having a great dance, as was usual before an encounter with dangerous animals, we all remained quiet, scarcely speaking even above a whisper, as we listened for the lion's roar. it was some time before daybreak that a runner from one of the look-out parties came to the chief and informed him that the lion had killed an eland just about sundown, and had dragged the land into some long grass near a small pool of water, and had been feeding on it during the night. the place was watched by several men, so that the lion could not escape without being seen. a few low whistles were given by inyovu to bring his men together; and, guided by the runner, we quietly wended our way to where the lion was resting. we were met by some of the men just as it was getting light, and from a hill near we were shown where the lion was concealed. our party was then divided into four, and each of these worked their way out on the plain, so as to surround the lion. great care, however, was taken that no men went to windward of the lion; for, so sensitive is the smell of these animals, that if fast asleep they would at once awake if a man passed several assagy-throws' distance to windward of them. i was much struck with the silence maintained by the large party of zulus: not a sound was audible, not a foot fall heard as the men closed in on the den. a wave of the arm by the chief was sufficient to direct his followers where and how to move. since those days i have seen the soldiers of most nations when being reviewed, and i have been struck with the noise which seemed necessary both in shouting words of command and in the rattle of accoutrements, all of which appeared to tend to confusion, and to interfere with watchfulness; making a surprise by such troops appear impossible; so that i compare favourably the zulus, for some purposes, with the best european soldiers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ to be able to advance to within a few yards of a lion without waking him, is a performance which requires the greatest skill; but it was accomplished, and before the lion could spring to its feet, twenty assagies were buried in its body. the powerful brute, however, although bleeding from its many wounds, sprang forward and struck down one of the zulus. but, quickly as the lion moved, the zulus behind him followed with equal rapidity, and assagy after assagy was buried deep in the lion's body. after vainly tearing at the spears that were sticking in him, the lion sank to the ground and was instantly despatched. only two men were wounded--neither very badly; a result due entirely to the careful manner in which the lion had been crept on. inyovu told me that if the lion had been aware of our approach, he would have charged before he could have been speared; and that thirty or forty men would have been killed to a certainty before the lion was rendered harmless. the lion was soon skinned, his teeth and claws extracted and taken charge of by inyovu. the flesh of the lion was eaten after a very little cooking, and was much appreciated by the zulus, especially the heart, the eating of which is supposed to give great courage and strength. our return journey was quickly accomplished, and we were received by the great chief at his kraal. inyovu gave a description of what he had done, both in getting the news and stalking the lion. he went through all the movements most graphically, creeping along very slowly, and then showing how he hurled his assagy at the lion, and how the lion charged and struck down one man. it was a very good description, and any listener must have had as good an idea of the scene as though he had himself been present. the great chief received the lion's claws and teeth, and gave them to his wives to make into necklaces and armlets for him. the great chief possessed twenty wives, and none of these was allowed to do any work in the fields like the wives of the common men. they passed their time in making bead-ornaments, forming and ornamenting snuff-boxes for the chief, grinding up tobacco (which grew here) into snuff, and in collecting news with which to amuse the great chief when he was at leisure. i was surprised at the amount of news which was brought to the chiefs kraal. some of this was confidential, and was not told to any one except to the chief himself; but plenty of news came which we about the chiefs kraal heard of. i heard that the umzimvubu caffres, among whom my lot had been first cast, had lost many men in their fight with the white men, and had brought back very few cattle; and that it was probable that a fight might occur between the amakosa and my old tribe. i also heard that a few white men had built huts near natal bay, and were living there, trading with the caffres in those parts. this last news caused me to think once more about trying to escape and rejoin my own people. the great chief was very angry when he heard that white men had come to natal. he said they would supply the caffres there with guns, and that, by-and-by, they might become strong enough to resist him. he called several of his counsellors, and inquired whether they did not think he had better "wipe them out" at once. the men the chief consulted were divided in opinion; the older men were in favour of prudence, and letting the white men rest; but the younger were for attacking the men at the bay of natal at once, and so getting rid of them. i listened to every word i could hear at this meeting, because it seemed like hearing the decision of a jury, whether my people were or were not to be destroyed. i had several ideas about what i should do in case it was decided to attack the white people; for it seemed unjust that they should be attacked and killed without any warning, and i could not reconcile myself to the thought of remaining quiet and not giving some warning to the white men who were living at the bay. for several days the chiefs were talking about the affair; and i noticed that, whenever they did so, i was sent on a message to a distance, so that i could not hear what was talked about. i also found that none of my companions ever said a word to me about the men at the bay; so i guessed that this was the order of the chief, and that i was not to know what was being done about the white men. i watched carefully every proceeding, however, of the chiefs of the different regiments; and i soon found that preparations were being made for a great expedition somewhere; and as there was no tribe with which we were at war, i felt convinced that it must be the white men against whom this army was to be sent. from a few remarks i heard, i became certain that the white men at the bay were to be surprised and killed; and consequently determined to try and warn them, and if possible make my escape at the same time. it would be a great risk, and if discovered i should be assagied at once. it was evident that there was a suspicion that i could not be trusted when an attack on white men was intended; otherwise the subject would be spoken of to me by some of the young chiefs. so i pretended to know nothing about the proposed expedition, and went my journeys the same as usual, and when asked for the news i usually said there was none. it was always the habit of the zulus, when i visited any place, to at once say, "_chela pela s'indaba_" ("tell us the news"), and the news they liked best was about proposed expeditions of the army against other tribes. so, when i told them there was no news, they looked surprised; for rumours had reached them that some expedition was preparing. i discovered after a time that at the next full moon the expedition would start. the army was to assemble near the tugela river, and make a rush on to natal, slaughter the white men, and return as quickly as possible to the muse umkulu or great kraal. having gained this information, i decided on my own plans. whenever i was sent on a message by the chief, i carried with me an assagy of a peculiar shape to show that i was journeying on the business of the chief. those who saw this assagy were bound to give me every assistance, to supply me with food, and obey my orders. so i was a great man when i carried the assagy, and was never stopped or even delayed. one evening, just before the full moon, i received the chiefs orders to travel to the kraal of a chief named inyoko umkulu, who lived near the pongola river, and tell him to send some leopard-skins to the great chief. now the pongola river was in the opposite direction to that in which the army would travel to natal; so i at once suspected i was sent away to prevent my seeing the army leave. i made my plans at once. at daybreak i started, and travelled till the sun had risen three hand-breadths above the hills, going towards the pongola, then i turned and travelled towards the tugela river. i saw but few zulus as i went, and those i did see dared not stop me when i showed them the assagy of the chief. from what i have since learned of the distances, i find i must have travelled at least fifty miles a day. so on the third day i reached the umganie river near natal, and saw the houses of the white men. on entering the first house i came to, i saw a man with his wife and two children, all of whom looked at me with surprise; for they recognised me as a white boy, though i wore the tails and carried the shield of a zulu. when i spoke to them in english they were still more surprised, and soon became alarmed when i told them a zulu army might be upon them at any moment, and unless they could escape they would all be assagied, as i knew the orders that were given to the chiefs, who led this army. these people inquired who i was, and how i happened to be with the zulus. i gave them a brief account of my shipwreck, and the life i led afterwards, but urged them to lose no time in doing something for their safety. the man at once went to the other huts, and all the white people were soon assembled to hear my tale. some disbelieved me, but the majority were at once for making things safe--a proceeding which was far easier than i had imagined. collecting plenty of food, and taking everything of value from their huts, they placed these on board a small schooner that by good luck was in the bay at anchor. several boats were there also, and by aid of these the people could be conveyed to the vessel. notice was sent to all the caffres, of the expected arrival of the zulu army; and they assembled on a range of hills west of the bay, where there was a very thick wood, and where they could oppose best the trained warriors of the zulu army. chapter twelve. a day passed without any signs of the zulus, but at daybreak on the second day a caffre runner came shouting that the zulus were crossing the umganie river. we made a rush for the boats, and were soon all on board the schooner, where we waited, each with a gun, to see what the zulus would do. the army moved rapidly and swept down on the settlement, and burnt the huts, but they did not find a living human being. seeing the ship, they came down to the beech, and shouted to us to come on shore. i knew they had no guns; so, ascending the rigging, i called to the leading chief, and said: "tell the zulu dog that he is not cunning enough. he sent me to the pongola, so that he might murder the white men without my knowing what he was going to do; but i came before you to tell them. you may now go back again." a yell arose from the zulus when they heard this and recognised me, and a hundred men dashed in the water and swam towards the ship. we allowed these to come close and then fired at them, killing or wounding several; the remainder then swam back to the shore and concealed themselves in the wood. i knew the zulus too well to believe they would give up at once trying to kill the white men, and so i told my companions. we therefore kept watch all day and all night, and it was lucky we did so; for, just before daybreak on the following day, the zulus again entered the water and swam silently to the ship. the sailors, however, had now made a very useful weapon: they had procured some large, heavy stones, which they had sown up in canvas and fastened to long ropes. these they threw on the zulus, and stunned or sunk them. they could haul the stones up again and throw them again. except by the cable there was no means by which the zulus could climb into the ship, so we could kill them just as we liked. finding they could do nothing against people in a ship, the zulus withdrew; and we thought that, as we did not see anything of them for three days, they must have left natal. i felt quite certain that the chiefs would not give up trying to kill the white men, for if they returned to the great zulu chief without being successful, some of them would be assagied to a certainty. at the end of the three days the white men were desirous of going on shore, to see what remained of their goods. i tried to persuade them not to venture, but they replied that three days had now passed and not a zulu had been seen; so it was not likely that any were near natal. but this was the very reason why i thought it likely that they were waiting for a chance. i told the white men so; but they only laughed at me and said, "these niggers are off home now." thinking that i might be of use in keeping a better look-out than the white men, i went on shore with those who landed. six of them got in a boat, and pulled up the bay, and landed near where their huts had stood. the remaining men stayed on board the schooner. there was not a zulu to be seen anywhere, and we walked to the remains of the huts, which we found entirely destroyed. at a short distance from these huts was some thick bush through which was a narrow path. this path led to some open ground where the cattle belonging to the settlers used to graze. the white men were anxious to see whether the zulus had destroyed or carried off their cattle, and so entered this path through the wood. knowing the usual practises of the zulus, i thought this a very dangerous proceeding; but my caution only made the white men say, "don't be afraid, we ain't." just before we entered the bush, i saw on the sand several footprints of men, quite fresh. these footprints had been made after the last dew had fallen, so i knew it was not very long since the men who had made them must have passed over the ground. i called to the white men in front of me to stop, as i had seen fresh footprints of zulus; but they replied that i couldn't tell when these had been made, and as i was afraid i fancied these dangers. scarcely had they spoken when there was a rustling noise in the bushes, and in an instant about fifty zulus sprang on to the path, surrounded the white men, and assagied them instantly. seeing this, i dived into the bush, and during the noise crept through the bush and made my escape towards the shore. i hoped to reach the boat that had brought us from the ship; but, on coming within sight of it, i saw it was in possession of the zulus. so my retreat by that means was cut off. the distance from where i was to the nearest part of the shore to the ship was nearly two miles, and there was dense bush nearly the whole way. to attempt to work my way through this bush would have been a most dangerous proceeding, for it is impossible to move in the bush without making a noise; and the zulus were certain to have placed men on watch in this bush, so that an assagy stab would be the first thing that would acquaint me of the presence of a zulu. soon after i had joined the white men, they had given me clothes to wear, so the zulus would distinguish me now at a great distance. to lie concealed in the bush was, i knew, of but little use; for they would follow my trail and surround me just as they were accustomed to surround a lion. as soon as i had seen that the boat was in possession of the zulus, i had concealed myself in the bush to consider what to do; and i decided to work my way up the coast about a mile, and then take to the beach and try to reach the ship that way. just as i had made up my mind to do this, i saw a large party of zulus marching from where they had killed the white men towards the boat; and i noticed that they had put on the clothes of the men they had killed, and at a distance might have been mistaken for white men. i lay still till all these men had passed, and watched their proceedings. they sat down near the boat, and seemed to be having a talk about something of importance. i tried to think what i should propose had i been at the meeting, and the zulus my friends; and, knowing the zulu tactics, i believed i could tell what they said almost as well as if i heard them. my idea was that they would wait till it was dark, and then get into the boat and pull to the ship; and, by the aid of the clothes they wore, pretend to be white men, and get on board the ship. if the men on board were not on their guard, this plan would very likely succeed; and, knowing how careless and unsuspicious the white men were, i believed the chances were in favour of the zulus succeeding in their attempt. from none of the zulus having followed me, i believed it possible that they had not seen me before i rushed into the bush, when my companions were attacked; but i knew the habits of the zulus too well to be certain about this. they had often told me that the best means to come within assagy-range of a buck was to walk slowly round him, gradually narrowing the circle, but never looking at him, and pretending that something in the distance attracted your attention; then, when near enough, rush forward towards the buck and throw the assagy. if the zulus had seen me, they must know i was concealed somewhere; and the best method of capturing or assagying me was to set several men to watch the country, and to remain perfectly concealed and quiet. this plan they had already adopted for three days, and had succeeded in trapping half of the white men. my best chance, therefore, was to remain quiet until it was dark and then to attempt to reach the ship before the zulus could do so. it required great patience to lie for several hours in the bush, not daring to move; for, if i even frightened away a bird that had settled near me, the suspicions of the zulus would be raised, and the bush in which i was concealed probably surrounded. the day passed very slowly; and, after a short time, not a zulu was to be seen. i knew that this meant that they were all on watch in the bush; and i thought how easily ignorant white men, who knew nothing about spooring, or who never watched other indications, would be surprised and killed by these so-called savages. i knew that a large body of zulus were in the bush near where the boat lay, because two or three vultures kept circling over the place. i also saw other vultures circling over the bush where the white men had been killed, and i was very much afraid that they might circle over me. if they did, i was lost. the sun seemed to move very slowly this day, but at last it touched the hills near the umlass river, and soon after it became dark. i at once left the bush, and moved cautiously towards a marsh near the coast. it was by my ears i must now save myself, and perhaps by my legs. i moved through the long reeds of the marsh, and entered the bush beyond. in the darkness it was impossible to move silently in the bush; but i stopped occasionally to listen; and, hearing nothing, again advanced. i passed through the bush and came on the open beach, about a mile to the east of the entrance to the bay. i stopped again to listen, but could not hear any noise which indicated the presence of the zulus; and, it was so dark, that i could see but a short way ahead or round me. still advancing slowly and silently, i moved along the beach towards the point where the schooner was at anchor, when i saw before me a group of zulus standing together talking in a very low tone. they saw me as soon as i saw them: and, calling to me, asked who i was. i replied in zulu, "don't make a noise; i have news for you presently." i then turned to the right, where there were several sand-hills between the beach and the bush--amidst which i should be lost to sight. the dense bush beyond also prevented the outline of my figure being seen against the sky; and i thus hoped to pass the zulus and get a start of them. they, however, suspected something, and turned after me. seeing that the only chance of escape was a run, i moved quickly among the sand-hills; and then jumping on to the hard beach, which was better suited for running, i dashed off at speed. i had no fear of any single zulu catching me in a straight race, for i had beaten their best runner. what i dreaded was that another party might be on the beach in front of me, when i should be stopped by them. the noise i made in running would be sure to put a party on the alert; besides which the zulus in rear who were chasing me now began shouting; a proceeding i knew they would not adopt unless they hoped to make known to some other parties that they were in pursuit of an enemy. the distance from where i began running to where the ship was, about three-quarters of a mile, i could run at speed, and now that i was running for my life there was no lack of energy. i found i was leaving the zulus behind, and was now well beyond the reach of an assagy. i still kept on, however, and reached the beach some two hundred yards before the leading zulu. i jumped into the water, and swam rapidly towards the schooner; but a new danger here threatened me. the night was very dark, and no one on shore could have seen me had it not been for the phosphorescence of the water. as i swam i left a trail of light behind me--like a rocket--and the zulus, seeing this, threw their assagies at me; but, luckily, none struck me, or i probably should never have been able to relate my early history. i was soon beyond range of the spears, and then called to the men in the ship to lower a rope for me to climb on board. i was heard, and a rope with a bowling-knot at the end was lowered. in this knot i placed my feet, and was soon on board, when i told the white settlers and sailors what had taken place on shore. i also told them that i suspected the zulus would try to get on board in the disguise of the men they had assagied, and that we must be prepared for them. having given this information, i obtained some dry clothes and some food; and being now listened to with more attention, i made all arrangements for receiving the zulus when they made their attempt to come on board as i felt sure they would. a careful watch was kept by two men, whilst the others were ready to jump up at the slightest noise. we had five double-barrelled guns on board, and several boat-hooks, which would serve as excellent weapons to keep off boarders. i believed the zulus would try to surprise us, and to get on board under pretence of being white men, for they could not come in great numbers in the boat, so i had no fear of being overpowered. the sailors proposed that, as soon as the wind was suitable, we should hoist sail and escape from the bay--certainly the most prudent thing to do; but there was a surf on the bar at present, due to the south-east wind that had been blowing for some days. and this surf rendered it dangerous to attempt to get out of the bay. the greater part of the night passed, and not a sign of the zulus was visible; but a short time before day break, and whilst it was still dark, one of the look-out men came below and called us all to come on deck, as there was a noise as of oars being used in a boat. we had made our plans, so as not to indicate we were on guard when the boat came alongside. so we all crouched under the bulwarks and thus concealed ourselves. the stream of light in the water made by the boat was soon visible, and very quickly it came along; the zulus knew nothing about rowing, but they managed the oars very well, and brought the boat close to the schooner. they were dressed in white men's clothes, but had their assagies and shields in the boat ready for use. i could not help admiring the daring of these men, and their obedience to the orders of their chief. they had killed several white men, and might have returned with their clothes as proofs of their success; but their orders were to kill _all_ the white men, and they were now endeavouring to carry out these orders. but for our own safety we must kill them, and if possible obtain possession of the boat. when the zulus were alongside, one man climbed on the shoulders of another, and thus reached to the bulwark, and in an instant was on board. as he came on the deck he was struck down, and the alarm at once spread. instead of attempting to escape in the boat, the other zulus tried to get on board by the same means; and each man was knocked down before he could use his assagies. as yet not a shot had been fired, but now, as one man only remained in the boat, he pushed off and would have escaped with the boat if we had allowed it, so one of the settlers fired and shot him. the boat was now drifting away, so i jumped over board, and swam towards it, and climbed in. on entering the boat i found that both the oars had fallen overboard, and i could not therefore row the boat; and as the tide was running out very rapidly i was being carried towards the bar. now, inside the bar sharks were rarely if ever seen; but on the bar they were numerous, and i knew the boat would be upset when it reached the breakers on the bar, and i should have no chance, as the shark would soon pull me down. i therefore thought i must give up the idea of saving the boat; and must jump into the water and try to reach the schooner; but i saw in the water several streaks of light, which showed me that other zulus had entered the water with the intention of assisting their friends, and several of these were between me and the ship. to have attempted to reach the ship, therefore, would have been a dangerous proceeding, as i should have been caught by several of the zulus, and either drowned by them, or taken prisoner, and assagied. i struck out therefore for the opposite shore, where the bluff of natal, a high piece of land, stands, and soon reached the shore, where i concealed myself in the bush; and, being much fatigued with the exertions of the day, lay down and soon fell asleep. i hoped when daylight came to swim back to the schooner, or signal to them to send me a boat; so i felt no anxiety about the morrow. i awoke on the following morning from the heat of the sun, which was shining on me, and for a few seconds i was in doubt where i was and what had happened. i was stiff and uncomfortable from having laid down in my wet clothes, which were scarcely yet dry, in consequence of the heavy dew that had fallen; but i got up and worked my way carefully out of the bush to where i thought i should see the schooner. on reaching the shore i looked and looked again; no schooner was visible where she had been, i then noticed that the wind was blowing from the west--the favourable wind for a vessel to leave the harbour. i ran round the bluff to the side next the sea, and there saw the schooner with all sails set, about five miles off. i then knew i was deserted by the white men, who probably thought i had been drowned, so that i was now the only white man remaining on this coast. during the various adventures through which i had passed since the shipwreck years ago, i had never despaired or felt really unhappy: there was always some excitement going on, and my mind was occupied in planning various things either for sporting or other purposes. now, however, a feeling came over me that i had never experienced before. had i been better acquainted with the human body and its requirements, i should have at once attributed this effect to its proper cause. during the whole of the previous day i had eaten nothing, and had gone through much hard work and excitement. the depression that i suffered was more due to absence of food than to the causes by which i was surrounded, for when i had eaten i saw everything in a more hopeful light. still i was in a bad way; for i possessed no weapon except a sailor's knife, i had no food and did not know where to procure any, and i was probably surrounded by enemies. i wandered down the rocks on the shore and gazed at the distant ship. i knew it was useless to signal, she was so far distant; yet i took off my jacket and waved it, till my arm was too tired even to lift above my shoulder. then i sat down to think. as i looked down i saw fixed on the rocks at my feet a shell which i at once recognised as an oyster, such as we used to procure at bombay. with my knife i opened this, and ate this african shell-fish. on searching on the rocks i found hundreds of oysters, and was enabled to make a hearty meal. trickling down the side of the bluff was also a little stream of fresh water. by gathering some large leaves of a plant like the banana, i allowed the water to accumulate in these, and my thirst was quenched. growing on the shore also were some trees, bearing a fruit i well knew, and called by my old friends of the umzimvubu the _martingula_. it was very good to eat, and in size was similar to a plum, with a peculiar flavour. i also saw several bees, so i hoped to procure some honey, and there was consequently no fear of starving. i thought it prudent not to show myself on the shore of the bay, for fear some zulus might yet remain; though i anticipated that, as soon as they had seen that the schooner had sailed they would return to their own country with their proofs of victory. i considered for some time whether i should try to work my way down the coast, so as to reach the umzimvubu and my old friends; but a strange longing had come over me to once more be among white people, and i thought that the bay of natal would be a much more likely place from which to find a ship than down by the umzimvubu district. so i decided to keep myself concealed on the bluff, at least for some time; for i need not want for food, as there were oysters in abundance on the rocks, and when the tide went down there were several pools of water left on the rocks, in which were fish of various sizes: these i caught with a forked stick, and so managed to live on fish diet. i was not long, however, before i adopted a caffre expedient for obtaining meat. in the bush were numbers of red bush-buck, and also duikers: to trap these i bent down the stem of a young tree, so as to form a spring, and by means of withes and the bark of a shrub, which was as strong as rope, i made a noose in the path frequented by these buck. scarcely an evening passed but i caught a buck, and so had plenty of meat. i sadly wanted some salt, however; but i soon thought of a plan for securing this. there were several small hollows in the rocks above high-water mark, these i filled with sea-water, and, as they were exposed to the sun, the water soon evaporated, and a deposit of salt remained. with this salt i rubbed the strips of buck-meat i had cut with my knife; and, hanging these in the sun, made a provision for the future. i was obliged to hang them at the end of thin branches at a distance from the ground, for i found that leopards frequented this place, and although they might not attack me, yet they would at once carry off and devour my meat. i wanted some weapon very badly: i had cut a stout stick to make a knob-kerrie, but such a weapon would be harmless against a leopard. i should have felt more comfortable if i had possessed two or three assagies, for there is a feeling of power when one grasps a weapon which we know how to use. i believed it possible that i might find some assagies, if i crossed the bay and searched along the shore where so many of the zulus had been killed or wounded. i waited till it was nearly dark one evening, and then swam across the channel that separated the bluff from the wooded shore opposite. i landed on this shore, and, keeping close to the bush, examined all the likely places for an assagy to be found, and at length found three very good ones. i could see no fresh traces of men's footprints, and concluded that all the zulus had left natal. i therefore ventured further inland, and visited the locality where the white men had been ambushed by the zulus. i found the remains of their bodies: hyaenas and vultures having feasted on them, but little remained except their bones. almost hidden by the long grass, i saw the stock of a gun; and found this to be a double-barrelled gun, with a flask of powder and a bag of bullets close beside it. such a treasure i had not expected, and i now felt that i was secure against any average enemy. in order to get across the channel with my powder dry, i collected a quantity of wood and fastened this together by withes and bark, so as to make a raft on which to keep my powder and gun above the water. this raft i pushed before me whilst i swam, and thus succeeded in getting over the water with my valuable cargo in safety. i now felt well prepared to pass a long time in my solitary locality; so i set to work to cut down some small trees, and make a sort of caffre hut. this i deemed necessary for my safety by night, or when i slept; for if a leopard or a rock-snake found me asleep, the first might carry me off before i could use my gun, and the snake might encircle me in his folds, and crush me before i could use even a knife. it occupied me two days to complete my hut, which was then waterproof and quite safe from the attacks of any animals--at least so i imagined. in the present day, when a box of lucifer matches enables every person to instantly procure a fire, it is not easy to realise the difficulty that is experienced by those unprovided by any such artificial aids. to procure a fire i was obliged to adopt the usual caffre method of using two dry sticks. one of soft wood was placed on the ground, the other of hard wood was held in the hands and worked round, whilst it was pressed into a hole in the soft wood. after several minutes of this work a few sparks would be produced, which were placed in a wisp of dry grass, and swung round at arms-length. by this means a small flame was produced and a fire kindled. it was then my particular care to preserve this fire, and never let it die out. to do so was no easy matter, for i was obliged to have a large stock of dry wood collected, and to so heap this up, and protect it from the wind, that it would smoulder for hours. if there came rain, it was even more difficult to keep the fire permanently burning; and, after rain, to reproduce fire was extremely laborious. this, then, was one great source of anxiety to me, for i dare not let any smoke rise in the air, for this would let any enemy know that man was on the bluff; for, clever and cunning as all animals in a wild state become, even the monkey or baboon does not know how to create a fire, or how to keep this fire blazing when they do find one which man has lighted, i have now to relate one of the greatest escapes i ever experienced, though many which i have already described may appear to have been marvellous. a week had passed since i had procured the gun and some assagies from the place where the zulus had ambushed the white men, and i had seen no signs of a human being; but i knew too well the enemy by whom i had been captured, not to be aware, that if he intended to recapture me, he would lie concealed for many days, watching for a chance of surprising me. my intention was to support life until a ship came to natal, for i concluded that when the schooner which had escaped, reached table bay, and informed the authorities there that the zulus had overrun natal, some steps would be taken to obtain at least information as to what had since occurred. thus i lived in daily hopes of seeing a sail, and once more joining with white men. one night i had retired to my hut, and had slept till the dawn began to show, when i woke with a strange feeling of oppression and weight on my chest. my gun was close beside me, and my knife within reach of my hand. for a moment i was not aware what was the cause of the singular feeling i experienced, and i opened my eyes without otherwise moving. in the dim light i saw that which, for an instant, caused my heart to cease beating. over my chest was the coil of the body of a rock-snake, this coil being bigger round than my thigh. i could see that the tail of the snake was outside my small hut, and in consequence of my lying on the ground the huge reptile had not been able to coil completely round me. i knew i was in imminent danger, and i also at once decided on the safest and most probable means of escape. moving my arm slowly, i grasped my knife, and then raising my head, saw the snake's eyes within two feet of mine. his head was on the ground, and so close that i could lift my hand above it. i carried out this movement very slowly, the snake remaining motionless. then with a sudden stab i drove my long knife through the snake, just where his head joined his neck, and pinned him to the ground. with a struggle i slipped from under his body, and now the fight began. so tenacious of life are these reptiles that, although i had separated his head from his body as regards the vertebrae, yet he twisted and rolled the great coils of his body so rapidly and powerfully that several times he had surrounded my legs with a loop, and it was only by a quick movement on my part that i escaped the danger of being enclosed in a vice-like embrace. i succeeded, however, in avoiding its coils, and suddenly scrambled out of the hut, leaving the snake in possession. i knew that the reptile was mortally wounded, and that if i let him remain where he was he would die. i had no wish to enter the hut again, and finish him; for his weight was so great that he might hold me to the ground. so i sat outside and listened to him as he occasionally rolled, or turned over. it was lucky for me that the snake was a rock-snake, which is not poisonous. i could fight this fellow on fair terms; for it was strength against strength, and, with such a weapon as a knife even, i felt equal to the combat. when, however, one meets a puff-adder or a cobra, the fight is not equal. you may kill either of these, but if either has bitten you your death is certain. of all the creatures with which i have had to fight, a poisonous snake is the very worst. during my residence among the umzimvubu tribe i had many escapes from these poisonous snakes, some of which i may as well now relate. round the kraal in which my hut was situated when i lived among the umzimvubu was a fence, made somewhat in the manner in which hurdles are built in england. one morning i wanted to go out to look for the cattle, and stepped on the fence, intending to leap over it. as my foot rested on the upper part, i saw a cobra raise its head from among the branches, and i instantly fell back, escaping by the smallest distance from the rapid dart made by the reptile. to have been bitten would have been certain death, for a full-grown active cobra is sure to kill where he strikes. another escape was from a puff-adder, a snake equally as deadly as the cobra. i was looking after the cattle in the umzimvubu country, and finding the sun very warm i went to an acacia tree, so as to sit in the shade, and sat down on a rock near which was some moss. my right hand held my assagies, and as i came to the ground my hand and assagies rested on a large puff-adder. i felt the reptile move, and seeing my hand was on its neck, i pressed it down, whilst with my other hand i drew an assagy and drove it through the head of the serpent, and thus escaped the bite which would have proved fatal. i scarcely ever passed a day in the bush without seeing a snake, and i must have killed over a hundred during my residence among the umzimvubu. with considerable difficulty i dragged this snake out of my hut and pushed it down the sloping side of the bluff, and into the water, where the tide carried it out, and it probably became a feast for shark, which were in great numbers outside the harbour. a few days passed after my adventure with the python, and nothing extraordinary happened. i had succeeded in capturing two red bush-buck, which supplied me with animal food; but the oysters on the rocks and the fish i secured when the tide was low, in the various pools, afforded me plenty to eat. i should certainly have liked some indian corn, but i did not dare venture near any of the kraals which were in the neighbourhood, for fear i might not be well-treated by the caffres, or might be seen by some of the zulus who, i still believed, were lurking in the neighbourhood. people who have passed their lives amidst scenes of civilisation are not aware of the patience which so-called savages can practise without doing anything unusual. a caffre will sit for a whole day and watch for a buck to come to some pool to drink; or he will set a trap every evening for a month, on the chance of capturing some animal; and never gives up after repeated failures, as a white man would do. knowing these peculiarities, i believed it possible that the zulus would wait a month even, rather than give up the chance of capturing me. about a week after my escape from the snake, i woke one morning in consequence of hearing a sea-eagle screaming. two or three of these eagles used to fish in the bay, and were splendid birds. i always noticed that whenever i appeared on the shore, one of these birds gave a shrill warning sort of scream; so, immediately i heard the bird, i crept out of my hut to look round, in order to see if anything was visible on the shores of the bay. from close beside my hut was a very good look-out station, from whence i had a very good view of the shore, from the point to the berea bush and the umslatazane river. i scanned this shore carefully, and after a time saw a man in a tree, evidently examining the bluff where i was. i looked round to see if any smoke was coming from the embers of my fire, for such a circumstance would at once have exposed my whereabouts. luckily none was visible; so, keeping watch, i turned my attention to this one man. after a time he descended the tree, and then from out of the bush came more than fifty caffres. at first i could not discover whether they were zulus or natal caffres. each of the two tribes were armed alike with assagies and shields, but the _esikoko_ (the ring round the head) was higher with the zulus than with the natal caffres; and by this peculiarity i discovered at last that it was a party of zulus; and, from their movements. i had no doubt they were in search of me, as they repeatedly stopped and pointed to the bluff. as this party advanced along the shore, to a point opposite that on which was my hut, i thought out what was the best course for me to adopt. the zulus would have to swim across the channel in order to land near where my hut was situated; and, if i had only been backed with two or three men with guns, i could have defied the whole of this party, and either shot them as they were swimming or when they landed. to adopt this plan single-handed would, i knew, be useless. i might shoot perhaps half a dozen of them, but the others would close in on me and assagy me before i could reload. if they did not do this, they would lie in ambush; and when i moved near them, would assagy me when my back was turned. it would not do, therefore, to stop and fight. having come to this conclusion, i waited to see the chief of this party order his men into the water, so that they should swim across the channel. i then crept back to my hut to get my gun and ammunition and two assagies. i concealed the other assagies and scattered the embers of my fire, so that the zulus should not by that know how lately i had been there. i then walked backwards for some distance, and, scrambling down the sea-face of the bluff, reached the shore; and, keeping as much as possible on the rocks, so as to leave no footmarks, i started at a run towards the west. my intention was to make for the umbilo river, and work up this to the berea bush. there was an immense amount of cover in the berea, and elephant-paths in numbers. if i could conceal my trail i might remain in this bush for a long time without being discovered. there were plenty of berries also that were good to eat, and water would not fail me. once on my trail, i knew the zulus too well to doubt their searching for me for weeks; but near the umlass river were caffres who would soon dispose of these fifty zulus. but i did not want to be again taken among any tribe of caffres. my instincts now induced me to wish to rejoin white men. a little savage life for a change is agreeable; too much of it soon tires a man who has once enjoyed civilisation. i did not fear being overtaken by the zulus; for they would ascend the steep bluff to my hut very cautiously, and would then be some time before they hit off my trail, so i had a good long start of them. what i did fear, however, was that some outlying party might be concealed along the ridge of the bluff; and from these it would be difficult to escape, as i should probably come on them within assagy-throw before i saw them. in cover, the man who remains still has an immense advantage over another who is moving about. the man who moves cannot do so without making a noise; and, in cover, where the extent of one's vision is limited, the ears often discover what the eyes cannot perceive. all animals which live in the forest, therefore, possess large ears, which enable them to hear well all that is going on round them. the leopard, bush-cat, etc, remain still and watchful when in the forest and watching for their prey. if they moved about, even their stealthy tread would be audible, and the animal which they wished to capture would be alarmed, and would escape. i knew the danger i incurred in moving through the bush, but there was no help for it. chapter thirteen. i had made my way along the coast till i was past the umbilo river, and was crossing some tolerably open ground, when i saw before me a large party of caffres. i halted to examine them, and instantly saw that they were not zulus. although i did not wish to again join any tribe, and perhaps be compelled to remain with them, yet a few friends to back one up, when pursued by an armed party of zulus, would do one no harm. i at once made up my mind to advance to this party and claim their protection. as i approached them they uttered exclamations of surprise, and one man came forward quickly, and when near enough to be recognised, i saw he was a young chief called eondema, who had fought with me when i came into this country with the umzimvubu caffres against the zulus. eondema expressed the greatest surprise at seeing me, and began asking me a multitude of questions. i, however, told him there was no time to talk now, as i was pursued by a party of zulus, and that we must be prepared either to run, or to stop and fight. on looking at the party with eondema, i believed them equal in numbers with the zulus; and as i possessed my gun and plenty of ammunition, i had no fear of our side getting the worse of a battle. eondema spoke to his men, and they all agreed to fight; and the only thing, therefore, to be done now was to make our plans, so that we should take the zulus at a disadvantage. the rapidity with which arrangements were made showed that eondema's young men were well-trained: the plan was to divide the party into two divisions, each concealing themselves in the bush. i remained with eondema, and informed him that i intended to shoot the chief of the party as a commencement, and then the most formidable-looking men among the enemy. we had sent two men to the front in order to look out and give us due notice of the approach of the zulus; for i had no doubt that, however much care i had taken to conceal my spoor, yet these keen-eyed men would soon find my footprints, and follow them up just as truly as would a bloodhound. our preparations having been made, i was able to talk to eondema, and to tell him how i happened to be at this place. i described my life among the zulus and my escape from them; also the manner in which the white men had been killed by the zulus, and my escape from the water. then how i had feared to move from the bluff where i had made my hut, lest i should fall into an ambush; and then i told him how i had been awakened by the cry of the sea-eagle, and had seen the zulus preparing to cross the channel and get to the bluff. i accounted for the zulus knowing where i was, by a small quantity of smoke from my fire having risen on the evening previously. this had no doubt been seen, and as smoke will not rise without a fire, and as fire cannot usually be kindled except by man, the suspicions of these men had been raised, and so they were determined to examine the bluff and see who was there. now a zulu in a very short time would be able, from the signs near my hut, to read a history of my proceedings. he would see where i had opened the oysters on the rocks, where i had caught fish, where i had left the bones of the buck i had killed; and, in fact, would know what i had done as correctly as though he had seen me each day. the zulus consequently would know i was alone, and that to capture me was not a difficult task. it was about three miles from my hut to the place where i had met eondema and his party, and this distance would soon be passed over by the zulus, even when following a trail; so that at any moment we might see our look-out men signal to us that the enemy was in sight. although eondema and i were talking, we yet carried on our conversation in so low a tone that no one could hear us who was three times our length from us. in describing various things connected with my early life among these people, i naturally use the same terms which these people employed. for example, they had no knowledge of time, as we understand it: "an hour" or "ten minutes" would be unintelligible terms to them. if a caffre wished to tell you how long a time it would occupy you to journey to some near river or kraal, he would point to the sky and say, "you will journey there whilst the sun is travelling from where he is to that point in the sky." if the journey was a very long one, occupying many days, he would name the number of days; or he would refer to the moon and say, "if the moon is half grown when you start, it will be full size when you arrive." a two-moon journey would be two months. then, for short distances, a caffre would describe it as two assagy-throws, which would be a little more than one hundred yards; twice or three times my length would be about twelve or eighteen feet. after a time these comparisons become quite natural to one, and when i go back in memory to my life among them, i at once speak as i then spoke. "i am going half a moon's journey in the direction of the rising sun," a caffre would say; and this would mean that he was going a journey of fourteen days towards the east. the patience that caffres will show when waiting for an enemy or for some animal to approach them was well shown on this occasion. not a man showed himself, or spoke above a whisper, during at least two hours; at the end of which time one of our scouts signalled to us, and then came rapidly somewhat in our direction; but he was too well-trained to come to us, for he might have been seen, and our ambuscade consequently would have been a failure. this scout ran past the bush where we were concealed, and about four assagy-throws to the left of it. after he had passed us a long way, he disappeared behind some bushes, and immediately commenced creeping towards us. we could only now and then get a glimpse of him, but an enemy at a distance could not have seen him. on reaching our position the scout told eondema that all the zulus were coming, and were following my footprints; that they were all armed with assagies except one, who possessed a gun. he added that the zulus did not seem to be aware that any enemy was near, for they had no spies out, that he could see; although three or four men walked on each side of the main body, and at some distance, so as to be ready to run round and cut off my retreat, in case they found me unprepared for them. from my ambush i was able to obtain a good view of the zulus, as they advanced; and i saw that the man who possessed the gun was a chief of some note. he was one of those who had been engaged in the slaughter of the white men, from one of whom he had probably obtained his gun. i told eondema i would shoot this chief, and would then make him learn how to use the gun. the zulus did not come carelessly on to the ambush, as english soldiers would have done, and been in consequence taken by surprise; but they spread on each side of the bushes, two or three men going down to leeward, in order to _smell_ if there was anything extraordinary concealed in the bush. a white man with a good nose could smell a zulu at the distance of several hundred yards, if the wind were blowing from the zulu towards the white man; so that men accustomed to the woods will often smell a wild animal before they see it. the zulus who had gone to smell for an enemy evidently suspected an ambush, as they called to the chief, and we could hear "_kona eclatini_," as the end of the sentence, which means, "there in the bush." the zulus, at this warning, closed together, and seemed preparing for a rush at the bush in which we were concealed. eondema had remained quiet, watching the enemy, not a move being made by any of his men. slowly and steadily the zulus now advanced until they were about two assagies' distance from me. seeing the chief with the gun was coming straight towards me, i aimed at him and fired. he made a bound like a buck and fell to the ground. eondema and his men instantly sprang to their feet and rushed at the enemy, whilst i reloaded and watched to see where i could be most useful. it was now a hand-to-hand fight. the assagies were flying about freely, and several couples had separated themselves from the main body, and were engaged in single combat. eondema was occupied with a powerful zulu, who was pressing him hard, the shields being used to cover the greater part of the body, whilst the stabbing assagy was thrust now and then at an apparently exposed part of the body. i watched this encounter for a few minutes, when i saw a zulu stealing up behind eondema, his assagy ready to stab him. now was the time for my gun to be of use; so, aiming at this creeping savage, i shot him dead just as he was within stabbing distance of eondema. the fight between the two parties did not continue long. it was mostly hand-to-hand; and with such men as the caffres, who were brave as men could be, it was fighting to the death; so that one of the two engaged was sure to be assagied. eondema was active as a cat, and managed to wound his antagonist with his assagy; and then, closing with him, finished him without difficulty. only a few zulus escaped, for when they found their chief shot they fought desperately, and retreated only when there were four to one against them. after the fight i explained to eondema how to use the gun that the zulu had carried. it was a gun with a flint and steel lock, and eondema was never tired of cocking it, pulling the trigger and seeing the sparks fly from the flint. i remembered that in india i had seen fire produced by means of tinder and brimstone matches. i could easily make the tinder, but had no brimstone with which to make matches. as, however, to create fire was a very long process with the caffres, i thought of making some matches out of a small bundle of dry grass, the end of which bundle i rubbed over with wet gunpowder. as this gunpowder dried it stuck to the grass. i then placed the gunpowder end of this large match in the pan of the gun; and, on pulling the trigger, ignited it by the spark. i by this means produced a fire instantaneously: which was considered by the caffres a wonderful discovery, and the gun was thought to be more useful as a fire-producing machine than as a weapon. after defeating this party of zulus we held a great council of war to talk about what should be done. we knew the character of the zulus too well to imagine they would wait long before they revenged themselves for the defeat, of this expedition, which had evidently been sent by the great chief of the zulus to search for me. after considerable talking, we came to the conclusion that it would take four days for the men who had escaped to reach the kraal of the chief, two days more to plan an expedition, and four days additional for the expedition to again reach the locality that we were now in. eondema decided to move with his cattle and wives across the umlass river, and to seek the aid of umnini, a chief who was related to him, and who could bring a thousand men to fight. these caffres, however, did not like this kind of fighting--there was nothing to gain by it. the style of fighting they liked was, when many cattle could be captured, if an enemy were defeated. in the present instance they would be fighting merely to defend themselves, and prevent their own cattle from being captured; and i had great doubts whether i should not be given up to the zulus, if by this act a fight could be prevented. the difficulty of an arrangement was how to communicate with the zulus. these people usually made sudden attacks, and practised surprises, and did not understand what civilised nations called a flag of truce; so that assagies began to fly before a word was spoken, and as soon as blood was drawn it was too late to attempt to settle the difficulty by talking. i was very anxious about myself, for although the caffres are hospitable when visited by any one independent of them, they are disposed to come the "chief" over those who require aid. i, although a recognised chief among the umzimvubu, was at present an escaped prisoner; and had it not been for eondema and his men, i might have been captured and killed by the party of zulus who had traced me from my hut on the bluff. consequently, eondema had a sort of hold on me; but he was a generous young fellow, and though he was sorry to lose several of his men, yet he said nothing to me about any obligation on my part. my great object, however, was to find some means of rejoining the white people. i did not know enough of the geography of south africa to be aware of any way of reaching the cape colony, except by means of a ship entering natal harbour. i had learnt from my old companions that there were white men in numbers to the west of the umzimvubu; but that the tribe of the amakosa was very warlike, and had frequently drawn the assagy against the white men. to journey through the country of the amakosa, therefore, would have been dangerous, if not impossible; and the white men were to the west of these tribes. if, then, i was to rejoin the white men, it must be by means of a vessel coming to natal harbour; for no other harbour up the coast was suitable for a ship to enter. chapter fourteen. three days only had elapsed since my escape from the zulus, and the fight between them and the men of eondema, and i had been living with the young chief, and considering what i should do in order to rejoin my own people, when, at daybreak on the fourth day, a great noise was heard, and before we had time to do more than wonder what this was, a war-party of the zulus was upon us. from facts which we afterwards learnt, we knew that the few zulus who escaped from the men of eondema had met a war-party of the zulus not many miles east of the umganie river, and had told the chief of this party that i was among the umlass caffres. this chief concluded that if he could capture me, and take me back to the zulu king, he would be well rewarded. he also knew that there were cattle in plenty belonging to these people, and so, by a surprise, he hoped to capture me, and also carry off some cattle. their plans had been well arranged, for they had kept to the bush until within a short distance of our kraal. they had then rushed on it, and were upon us before we could prepare for them. eondema and i were in the same hut, and we both made for the doorway, to get out and see what the noise was caused by. eondema had scarcely moved a foot out of his hut before he was knocked on the head with a knob-kerrie, and instantly killed. fearing the same fate, i did not follow him; but, seizing my gun, fired a shot among the zulus who were round the doorway. in an instant they retreated, but i heard the call for "_umlilo_" ("fire"), and i knew they were going to burn the hut down. now a hut set on fire from the outside would burn inwards, and roast any one who remained in the hut; but if the fire were applied to one part of the inside, it would, if properly kept down, burn outwards and make a hole through which a man might escape. there was no time to lose. so i blew up the embers of the fire, and lighted the grass on the inside of the hut opposite the doorway, and by help of some milk which was in the calabashes in the hut i prevented the fire from rushing all over the hut. in the meantime, the zulus had set fire to the hut near the doorway, and i could hear the crackling of the flames above me. as soon as the smoke was very thick i threw the milk on the fire i had lighted, and pushing against this part, found i had made an opening large enough to creep through. i wished much to take my gun with me, but this i knew was impossible; and, besides, it would have been useless as a means of preservation, for although i might have shot one or two zulus, yet i should have been assagied immediately after. my only chance of escape was that of getting out of the hut without being seen, and being able to move in the smoke without being recognised. having forced my way through the opening in the hut, i lay down outside for an instant to look round; and, hearing all the zulus near the door on the opposite side of the hut to that from which i had made my escape, i rose and walked slowly away, still keeping in the thick smoke caused by the fire of the hut. now people not accustomed to hunting game such as antelope, leopards, and other like creatures, would probably have started off and run, as soon as they got clear of the hut. i knew better than to do so stupid a thing. if i had run, i should at once have attracted attention, and been followed, and my race for life would have commenced immediately. by moving slowly i was not noticed, and thus had gone more than a hundred yards from the hut before a zulu, who was running towards the kraal which was burning, passed close to me, and seeing me, stopped; and, recognising me, hurled an assagy at me. the practice i had gained with inyoni and tembile stood me in good stead on this occasion, or i should have been speared. i dodged the assagy, which stuck in the ground near me, within reach of my arm, and seizing it threw it at my enemy. he was not as quick in escaping as i had been, and my assagy struck him in the chest and the blade passed through his body. i closed with him at once, and with one of his own knob-kerries struck him on the head, and i believe killed him. i did this so that he might not tell any other zulus that he had seen me. possessing myself of his shield, assagies, and knob-kerrie, i started off at a run towards the bush; for it was there i hoped to conceal myself, and possibly escape the keen eyes of the zulus; for although they might follow my spoor as correctly as a dog will follow a buck, i still hoped i might defeat all their cunning. the attention of all the zulus was taken up with the kraal from which i had escaped; for they expected me to rush out as soon as i found that the smoke and fire would destroy me. that i should escape from the back part of the hut had not been thought of. the distance from the kraal to the berea bush was about a mile, and this distance i passed over at a rapid walk, and succeeded in entering the bush without being recognised by any of the enemy. the berea bush was at this time visited annually by one or two herds of elephants which came down from near the zulu country. they stayed in the bush during several months, and made paths through the thick jungle, along which a man could walk easily. the bush was nearly impenetrable except along these elephant tracks; so i thought i might easily conceal myself in this bush for two or three days, unless my footprints were seen, when i should certainly be tracked and probably caught or assagied. having entered the bush without having been recognised, i made my way along an elephant-path, where the tracks of the elephants were quite fresh. i knew that in this bush there must be a herd of these animals, and if they would only walk along the same path that i had travelled they would rub out the print of my footprints, and i should be safe. i walked on into the densest part of the bush; and then, finding a large tree, i climbed into it; so that, if the elephants scented me and became savage and hunted me, i should be safe in this tree. i knew i might have to remain in the bush during two or three days, and that i might remain all that time without food; but i had been accustomed to this trial, and people who in civilised countries take their three meals a day are not aware how long a man in health can last without food, especially if he is in the open air and can obtain water. from the tree into which i had climbed i could see the sea beyond the bay, so that if a ship came off the harbour i could see it, but how to reach it would be the difficulty. i had been but a short time in the tree when i heard a noise as of branches being shaken. at first i imagined that the elephants were moving through the bush, and consequently shaking the trees; but i soon saw in the topmost branches a number of small grey monkeys, which were leaping from branch to branch, and peeping at me whenever they could obtain a glance. they seemed to consider me an invader of their property, and to be angry in consequence, as they came within a few yards of me and screamed loudly. now i did not fear the monkeys, as they were small, and having an assagy, i could easily have defended myself; but i knew that if any zulus were in the bush they would at once suspect that the monkeys were making this noise because some strange creature was in the bush, and they would come to see what it was; and so, though they might not be able to trace me by my footprints, yet they would be attracted to my concealment in consequence of the noise made by the monkeys. breaking off some branches, i threw these at the creatures when they came near me; but they did not seem frightened, and screamed and jumped about more than before. suddenly, however, their attention seemed to be attracted by something else, as they left the trees around me and became greatly excited as they watched something on the ground. i feared that perhaps the zulus had followed my footprints, and had traced me to where i then was; but i soon heard a noise which i recognised as that made by an elephant, and it was this creature to which the monkeys were giving so much attention. the elephant i soon saw as he moved slowly through the bush; he was a large bull-elephant, and was alone, no others being near him. when this is the case an elephant becomes very savage, as he has usually been driven out of the herd by a combination of younger bull-elephants. he then wanders about in the bush, and is ready to attack anything that he comes across. i was rather pleased to know that such an elephant was in this bush; for i knew the zulus had a great dread of a solitary bull-elephant even in the open country, whilst in the bush he was still more to be feared. it would therefore be probable that, if (as they soon would) they knew of the presence of the elephant, they would not like to traverse the bush in search of me. as long as i was up a tree as high and as strong as that in which i now was i was safe from an elephant. during two days i remained in the bush, passing the night in a tree, and by day gathering fruit and drinking water. people in civilisation eat and drink either at stated hours or when hungry and thirsty. i had long been accustomed to do both when i could. if not thirsty, and i came on a stream of good water, i drank, because by so doing i prevented myself from becoming thirsty; so that probably i might have managed to pass a month in this bush, without suffering from want of food or water. i had, however, found a tall tree from which i could see a great part of the flat and marsh of natal, as also the bay and sea beyond; and on the afternoon of the second day i saw two sights which rejoiced me. the first was a large party of zulus moving from near the bay towards the umganie river: these men were driving some cattle before them, and were apparently leaving the country. the other sight was a ship which was sailing up the coast, and was evidently making for the anchorage opposite the harbour. having taken up a safe position in this tree, i passed the night quietly, and when the first light of day enabled me to see distant objects, i perceived that the ship which i had seen sailing was now at anchor, with no sails set. immediately i saw this i descended from the tree, and worked my way out of the bush; and, exposing myself as little as possible in the open country, made my way across the marsh and through the bush to the beach. i there procured a large branch of a tree, and waved it so as to attract the attention of any one looking out from the ship. i incurred some risk in doing this; for if any outlying party of the zulus were near they would have seen me and i could not easily have escaped. but i was obliged to show myself on the beach, so as to attract attention, or i feared the ship might leave without sending a boat on shore. i watched with considerable anxiety for some sign of a boat from the ship, but it must have been several hours before i saw a sail set on the vessel, and she began to move. i now noticed that the tide was high, and that there was but little surf on the bar, so that it was possible the vessel, which was small, might intend coming into the bay. my doubts were soon set at rest, for she headed towards the bluff, and came slowly on, and after being washed by one or two breakers as she was on the bar, she came into smooth water, and glided into the harbour and cast anchor. i did not wait for a boat, but jumped into the water and swam to the ship, from which a rope was thrown me and i climbed on board. the sailors and captain looked at me with much surprise, and i now found an unexpected difficulty, viz., to speak english readily. i, however managed to improve as i went on, and told the captain what had happened at natal; and how the white men had been massacred by the zulus, except those who had escaped in the ship. the captain had heard nothing of what had happened here, as he had come from the mauritius, and the ship that had sailed out of the harbour had gone down the coast to cape town, and the communication then between various places was not as rapid as it is now. this ship required fresh meat, and the difficulty was how to procure it. all the cattle had been swept off by the zulus, except that which had been concealed by my friends across the umlass river; and there would be difficulty in communicating with these men, as it was not certain some strong force of the zulus might not be in the bush concealed. the captain of the ship was very kind to me, and fitted me with a suit of sailor's clothes, and assured me he would take me down to cape town, from whence i could obtain a passage to england. he told me that nothing had ever been heard of the _madagascar_, the ship in which i had sailed from india, and which had been wrecked; but it was supposed she must have gone down in the gale which had visited the isle of france about that time. when i told him there were white women prisoners among the caffres, or at least their wives, he said that he would go into the country with his men, and bring these women away. i told him that such an attempt would cost him his life and would be useless, because the white women were now contented with their lot, and probably would not leave; and the caffres were not likely to allow their wives to be carried off by half a dozen men whom they could assagy without difficulty. the captain, however, like many ignorant englishmen, underrated the power of the caffres, and asserted that a dozen armed englishmen, especially sailors, would be more than a match for a thousand niggers. i told him he did not know how skilful and cunning these natives were, and that if the country were bushy, an equal number of caffres, though armed with assagies only, would be more than a match for him and his sailors. the captain merely laughed at me, and said he would like to try them. chapter fifteen. i remained on board ship this day, talking with the captain and sailors; the former was anxious to get his water casks filled, and also to procure some fresh meat and vegetables. i was able to tell him where to get fresh water: to get this it was necessary to pull up to the head of the bay to where the umbilo river ran into the harbour. the water of this river was very good, and at low tide was not affected by the salt water that entered the bay. i told the captain he must be very cautious; because, as the boat would be seen as it proceeded to the river, an ambuscade could be arranged by an enemy without any difficulty. the captain said he would take his pistols, and the men would be armed with guns and handspikes; so he did not fear a few naked niggers. i suggested to him that we should row up the bay whilst it was dark, and get to the river before daylight, fill the casks and then return; by so doing, no spies could be aware of the boat having left the ship, and when it returned it would be too late to ambuscade us. the captain, however, said that this was making too much fuss about the matter; and, supposing after all no zulus were near, we should have taken all this trouble for no reason. "if," i replied, "zulus are here, and we don't take this trouble, we shall all be assagied or made prisoners." it was no use, however, talking to the captain. he was one of those dull men who never can see a danger before it really occurs; and probably would have gone and sat down in a mealie garden to eat his lunch in an enemy's country, and so have been surprised and assagied; whereas, had he selected a wide open space, he could have seen an enemy approach, and could either have retreated, or prepared for defence. englishmen, however, are never fit for bush warfare with savages, until by long experience they have been taught what to do, by the savages themselves. it was some time after sunrise when the captain and four men started in his largest boat with his barrels to procure fresh water. i went with him to show him where the umbilo river was situated, and took with me a double-barrelled pistol and ten rounds of ammunition. i cautioned them all to converse in very low tones, because voices are heard from the water at very long distances, and it was not advisable to give an enemy's ears the chance of discovering us in case he was so situated as not to be able to see us. i felt certain that if any zulus were near the bay, they would keep watching the ship, and would have seen the boat leave, and would make their plans accordingly. it took us a long time pulling to the river, and i had scanned every part of the country to try and discover some sign of an enemy: not that i had much hope of seeing one, even if he was there. we reached the mouth of the river, and tasted the water, which was quite fresh. i suggested that we should examine the bush a little way, to see if there was any sign of the zulus; for if they attacked us when we were busy with the casks, we should be taken at a disadvantage. "there are none of your niggers here," said the captain, "never fear; let's get our water without more delay." so the barrels were filled, and placed in the boat, and we were preparing to re-embark, when a rustling in the bush near us attracted my attention. on looking round i saw three or four zulus crouching behind some bushes and watching us. pointing my pistol at them, i said to the captain, "zulus are here, get into the boat at once." i would not fire for two reasons: first, if i discharged my pistol, i could not reload again before they could close with me; secondly, i knew that a zulu would retreat to some cover when he saw a pistol pointed at him; and there would thus be time for us to get into the boat. i hoped that when the captain knew that all my caution had not been without cause, he would get into the boat as rapidly as possible, and we might then easily have pulled beyond the range of an assagy, for no man can throw an assagy well when he is among the bushes. the captain, however, instead of following my advice, shouted "hurrah, we'll wallop 'em!" and before i could stop him, he had called to his men and had rushed into the bush where the zulus had been watching us. it was useless to follow him. i called out to warn him that he was going to destruction, but he made no reply; and i at once ran to the boat and pushed off in it, so as to keep a short distance from the shore, and there waited to see what should occur. i soon heard the report of pistols and some loud shouting from the sailors, but not a sound came from the zulus, who when in the bush like to keep their position secret. soon, however, the shouts ceased, and i heard a groan, then another, and soon all was quiet. i knew too well what had occurred: the captain and his men might possibly have shot two or three zulus; but then, when their pistols were unloaded, the zulus had closed with them and had assagied them. i pushed the boat a little farther from the shore, and waited on the chance of some one of the party having escaped, and of this one reaching the shore; but in a very short time i saw four zulus come to the mouth of the river and beckon to me. they made signs for me to come on shore, and pointed into the bush behind. i at once knew that, in my sailor clothes, they did not recognise me; so i called out in english, "what do you want?" "he cannot speak zulu," said one of the men. "we must get the boat, and then we may get on board the ship in the night." i then heard them arrange a plan: which was that six of their men were to run down in the bush to where the channel was very narrow, through which channel i must pass. they could then, by swimming, get before the boat and hold on to it; and either get into it, or drag it on shore. a sailor, such as they supposed i was, they did not seem to think able to do them much damage. the zulus sat down on the shore and took snuff from their small snuff-gourds, and no one unacquainted with the cool proceedings of these men, would have imagined that they had just been engaged in a deadly combat. i spoke to them a few words in english; and then, taking out the oars, began pulling the boat down the bay. luckily the tide had not yet turned, so the stream was with me. the boat was heavy, and i was not accustomed to using the oars. so i had great difficulty in moving the boat. i managed, however, to make it travel through the water. i could not help being amused at seeing how calmly the zulus watched me. they made no attempts to stop me, because they knew that they could then do nothing effectually, and that if they did attempt to do anything it would merely excite my suspicions. i knew it would be of great advantage for me to conceal my identity; for, if they knew that they had to deal with one who had been trained in their own school of warfare, they would take extra precautions, to prevent being taken at a disadvantage. the narrow channel through which i had to make my way was about half a mile from the river, and as i approached this i kept a careful watch on the shore. in the boat were two pikes--very good weapons for close quarters, but no use against an assagy; for the latter can be thrown and will pass through a man at forty yards' distance. as i approached the channel, i saw the bushes near the shore moving more than they would do if the wind alone had acted on them; so i knew where to expect the enemy. i then saw four zulus slip quietly into the water; and, keeping all but their heads under water, make their way to the centre of the passage where the boat must pass. i went on with my rowing until i was within an assagy's-throw of these men. i then pulled three or four strokes rapidly, so as to give the boat considerable speed; and, dropping the oars in the boat, crouched down and seized one of the pikes. all was quiet with the zulus: not a ripple in the water showed their presence, whilst not a man was seen on the shore. suddenly, standing up, i found two of the zulus within a yard of the boat. with my pike i thrust at one of these, and drove the pike into his throat; the other had just placed a hand on the bows of the boat, and had partly raised himself out of the water. a second thrust, in this man's chest, sent him back, and he sank--i fancy to rise no more, as the blood gushed out of his wound as i withdrew the pike. at the same instant two assagies flew close past my head, and i saw two zulus up to their middle in the water and preparing to cast other assagies at me. dropping into the bottom of the boat, so that only my eyes were above the bulwarks, i seized my pistol and aimed at the nearest zulu. as i pulled the trigger he was about to cast his assagy; but it never left his hand, as i hit him in the chest and he sank in the water, rose again and floated down the stream. the other zulus made for the bush and concealed themselves from view. i again loaded my discharged barrel, and, taking the oars, pulled as fast as i could towards the vessel. the report of the pistols had been heard by the sailors on board, and they were on deck looking out. they hailed me as soon as i came near: and when i told them that i believed the captain and the other men had been killed, they were astonished, for they also seemed to think that the captain, with his pistols, was more than a match for any number of "niggers." i told them that the zulus were not men to be despised, that they were brave in every sense of the word, and that they were clever in all the arts of bush warfare, and would most probably try to capture the ship; so that we must be prepared for them, and must keep a careful watch all night. had the wind been suitable, the sailors would have left the harbour at once, but there was a heavy surf on the bar, and the wind was blowing in the harbour, so we could not get out. after i had been some hours on board, i found the sailors talking together in low tones and looking at me very suspiciously. i had no idea what this meant, but after a time two of them came to me and told me they suspected me of being in agreement with the zulus, and having led the captain into an ambush. i told them it was not my plan for the captain to go on shore for water; and if i had been friends with the zulus, how was it i had shot them, and killed one of them with a pike? the sailors replied that they had no proof i had done so, and they would rather not have me on board. i told them that, if i had not come on board, they would have gone on shore fearlessly, and would all have been killed by the caffres, and their ship taken. this argument produced no effect on the sailors; who, like all ignorant people, considered that no amount of reason or facts were as powerful as their own prejudices. they had somehow conceived the idea that i was in league with the zulus, and could not perceive how differently i should have acted had i been so. they had, however, made up their minds to get rid of me, and to turn me out of the ship; and though i begged hard to be allowed to stay and go with the ship to cape town, they would not hear of it. they seemed to consider they were very generous not to string me up to the yard-arm, for having been concerned in what they called "the murder" of their captain and shipmates. they would not allow me to keep the pistol, but gave me a knife; and then, making me get into the boat, they pulled ashore, and there left me. when i found myself once more on the land, alone and unarmed, i began to think that the caffres were better than the white men. it was in consequence of the ignorant obstinacy of the white men that they had fallen into ambuscades and been slaughtered. this style of proceeding seems common among white men, as was shown during the zulu war; where, in spite of all that has been written about the zulus and boers, the english commanders acted just as foolishly and recklessly as did the captain of the little ship, and the disasters which occurred might have been avoided by any one acquainted with the zulu style of warfare. it was true that i was unarmed and without food, in a country where behind every bush there might be an enemy; but i did not feel as helpless as would a man who had lived all his life among towns and civilisation. i could construct traps for animals, i knew what roots and berries were good to eat, there was plenty of water to drink, and i might find some weapons. besides, it was possible that another ship might come to the bay, the captain and sailors belonging to which would not be as self-sufficient as were those i had just left. i might still remain concealed in the bush for a long time, and probably might make my way down to the umzimvubu tribe, and live the remainder of my life as a chief. the white men i had seen were not of a class to impress me much with the advantages of civilisation. the caffres, it was true, were cruel in some ways, and had quite different ideas from the whites; but there was something very pleasant in their wild life, the simple requirements of existence, and their love of reasoning from facts. white men had their sciences, about which i knew little; but none of these could follow the spoor of a horse for miles over a hard-soiled country, nor could they distinguish the footprint of a hyaena from that of a leopard; and if any of them happened to be left alone in the bush as i was, surrounded by enemies, and without weapons or food, they would certainly starve or be captured. the dress that had been given me by the captain was a blue flannel jersey, blue trousers, and a jacket. to be seen in this dress at any distance by a zulu would have been fatal, for he would have recognised a white man's attire. i therefore cut up the jacket to make "tails," which i hung round my waist. i kept on the jersey because it made me look dark-coloured, but i dispensed with the trousers. people who have worn clothes all their lives do not know how imprisoned a man feels in clothing, when he has been accustomed to live without any. when i had on a jersey and a jacket i felt as though i could not cast an assagy; and as to running with trousers on, it was simply impossible. when i had divested myself of my unnecessary raiment, i felt much more as if i could take care of myself than i did when i was in sailor's clothes. the weather was warm, but the nights were chilly. i had become so accustomed to be without clothes that i suppose i was like an englishman's face, which he never covers with clothes even in the coldest weather. i did not long remain on the beach, but made my way into the bush to a thick part where there were some large trees; i then sat down to think what should be done. i knew there would be great danger in attempting to make my way down to the umzimvubu; and, once there, i could not expect to get away in a ship, as no ships ever came near the coast at that part. i believed it possible that when the news reached cape town that white men had been murdered at natal, some soldiers might be sent up in large ships, either to revenge the death of the murdered men, or to obtain particulars of the massacre, so if i remained near the bay i should stand the best chance of getting out of the country. i suppose it was on account of my white blood, if i may use the term, that made me wish to go again to civilisation, as also the desire to see my father. for there was much to attract me among my old companions. if i returned to my old residence, i should at once take my place again as a chief and have everything i wanted. my companions of years would be again with me; and i should rest, as it were, on the laurels i had won in my various adventures. i had already discovered that white men did not seem to value or even understand the qualities i possessed, whilst my being unable to read or write well was looked upon as indicating ignorance. when i lived among youths of my own age in england, i believed i should be laughed at because i did not know as much of book learning as they were acquainted with. my books had been the forests, the plains, the rivers and mountains, and the skies above us. to read from the signs on the ground what animals had travelled over it, and when they had travelled, was an interesting book to me, and quite intelligible. to know the time at night by the position of certain stars was also a page that was intelligible; but how should i feel when asked to read from a printed book, and found myself laughed at as a dunce? i had already seen that white men were suspicious of me, and acted on these suspicions alone. considering all these points, i felt quite undecided whether to again join the umzimvubu caffres, and live all my life as a caffre; or wait on the chance of some ship coming into the harbour, and of being able to get a passage to cape town or england. although much pre-occupied with these thoughts, i did not neglect the necessities of the present. i must make myself secure from the possible attacks of two forest enemies, viz., snakes and leopards. i must sleep, and when asleep i might be seized by a leopard, or be coiled round by a rock-snake; for there were, i knew, rock-snakes in this bush at least thirty feet long, and to be seized by one of these monsters would be certain death. there was no time before dark to build a kraal, so i cut down branches and brushwood, and arranged this in a circle round the spot on which i intended to pass the night. i cut also two sticks, one having a large knob at the end; the other, which was very hard wood, i sharpened so that it was like a spear. this was the best i could do in the short time before it came dark. i then lay down and listened to hear what might occur near me. i soon heard some rustling in the bush, which sometimes came near and then went away to a distance. this might be caused by a buck, but it might be a leopard. it was so dark that i could see nothing. the nights in africa are darker than they are in england; and when i held my hand up i could not see it, though it was not half a yard from my eyes. it is difficult to imagine anything more exciting and trying to the nerves than to be thus alone in the bush during a dark night; when you know that dangerous animals are near you, and when noises indicate that these animals are aware of your presence, and are examining you to see whether you can be safely attacked. to sleep was impossible; i did not like even to lie down in a position of rest, but crouched on the ground with my sharpened stick ready for use in case i was attacked. towards daylight, however, i could resist the desire to sleep no longer; and, as all seemed quiet round me, i lay down and was soon in a sound sleep. when i awoke, the sun was many times its own size above the horizon, and was shining on the trunks of the trees around me. i ascended one of the trees, from which i could see the masts of the ships in the bay. the wind was blowing from the south-east, and as long as this wind continued the vessel would not get over the bar. i knew as long as this ship remained in the harbour the zulus would not leave this part of the country; they knew the stupid character of the english sailors, and they also must be aware that they could not leave until they had procured fresh water. having descended the tree, i procured some fruit and berries; and, making my way to the edge of the bush, i procured some fresh water, of which i drank a large quantity, for i did not think it safe to move about in the bush, and did not wish to have to come again to the water during the day. on my return from the _vlei_, i heard a rustling in the bush near me; and, becoming instantly still, i heard some animal creeping away. being desirous of knowing what the animal was, i moved cautiously to where i had heard the noise; and at only a few yards from me came on the carcase of a red bush-buck which had been only lately killed. there was a mark on the buck's neck which i knew indicated that a leopard had been its destroyer; but little of the buck was eaten, so i knew i had disturbed the leopard at its feast. with my knife i cut several strips of meat from the back and hind quarters of the antelope; and, wrapping these in some large leaves, i fastened them round with strips of bark, and was then provided with food for at least three days. on again ascending the tree to look out, i saw a boat leaving the vessel with some sailors, and i could see casks in the boat; so i knew they were going to the shore to procure water. these sailors, instead of going up the bay, had seen a small stream of water running down the side of the bluff, and had determined to get their barrels filled from this stream. it was certainly a safer place than the umbilo river would have been, and i saw the men fill several casks and return in safety to their ship. soon after a change of wind took place; and, the sea going rapidly down, the surf on the bar decreased, the sailors set sails on the vessel, and she glided out of the harbour, and, crossing the bar, was soon lost to view behind the high land of the bluff. i was now once more alone as regards white men, but i might be surrounded by enemies; so after looking all round the country as far as i could obtain a view, i descended from the tree and sat down to consider what to do. suddenly i heard a human voice--it came from the shore outside the bush. listening attentively, i heard the zulu language spoken; and as the men spoke loudly, their words were distinctly audible. "the ship has left now," said one of the men, "there is nothing for us to wait for." "he must have gone in the ship," said another. "yes, his people must have taken him with them. he was very cunning: dressed like a white man, he deceived us at first, and he must have heard us speak of the plan for capturing the boat at the narrows. i knew him when he rose in the boat after shooting copen." "he has escaped us," said another zulu, "but we have killed four white men, and have their small guns to take to our chief." "_hambani si hambi_" ("let us be going"), said a loud voice, and i could hear the tread of the men as they moved along the beach. i remained motionless while the sun travelled about ten times its own breadth, for i knew enough of the zulus' cunning to be aware that this conversation might be carried on in various places, as a trap to throw me off my guard, in case i was concealed near enough to hear what was spoken. i then crept through the bush as stealthily as a snake, and examined the beach, and saw a long distance off a party of about forty zulus moving along the shore towards the umganie river, which was the direction of the zulu country. i remained concealed until it became nearly dark, and then made my way down to the entrance of the bay, where the channel was very narrow. the tide was low, and no current was running in either direction; so i swam across the channel without difficulty, and made my way up the bluff to my old kraal, which i found had not been burnt or destroyed. there were several excavations made by the sea on the shore side of the bluff--sort of caves, in fact--and to one of these i made my way; and, having lighted a fire in this cave, cooked the whole of the antelope's flesh and made a good meal, whilst i reserved a large quantity for future use. the light from my fire could only be seen from the sea, and there was no chance of any zulu getting a glimpse either of the fire or its smoke. i found several small fish in the various pools which had been left by the high tide, and these i intended to cook and eat on the morrow, because fish will not last fresh as long as will flesh, especially when the weather is very hot. having had a good meal i felt fit for anything. there are probably some people who would feel unhappy if they were alone in a wild country, without clothes, weapons, or a stock of food; but i had been trained in a rough school, and having, at least, two days' food with me, i was far from feeling in a bad way. there is always something pleasant in knowing that, on one's own exertions only, one's success or failure really depends. half the pleasure in life is lost when we are helped to everything by the hands of another, our independence is gone, and we become too often dissatisfied and idle. not only did my daily food depend on my exertions, but actually my life was in my own hands: any incautious act, such as showing myself on the beach or bluff, might lead to my being attacked by the zulus. it was necessary to think before i did anything, and my daily habits were therefore the result of long consideration. i had a wish to visit the umbilo river, to see whether any of the weapons belonging to the captain remained on the spot where he had been killed. i knew this was a dangerous expedition to make; but everything i did was dangerous now, for i could not tell who was my enemy, or where i might meet one. i decided that any expedition i might make ought to be undertaken towards evening; because, if i should be seen by the enemy and pursued, the darkness of night would soon prevent them from following my spoor, and i should get a good start of them during darkness. if i could procure some weapon, even an assagy, i should feel more able to defend myself against some possible assailant. as soon as the sun approached the western horizon i moved along the beach towards the umbilo river, which i reached just as there was light enough to see surrounding objects. i found the bodies of the captain and his men: these had been mutilated by the zulus, and the clothes of all of them had been carried off. i looked carefully over the ground and among the long grass, for anything that might have been dropped, and was delighted to discover a double-barrelled pistol, which i knew belonged to the captain. it was unloaded, and had evidently been fired very recently. near the pistol i found a small leather bag, in which were ten ball-cartridges, the bullets from which fitted the pistol. before finding this i was only a match for one enemy, but when my pistol was loaded i knew i was equal to three at least. i had no desire to pass the night near the dead bodies of the sailors, so i made my way through the bush towards the beach, where there were rocks and hollow places, amidst which i could find a secure resting-place for the night. i had slept for some time when i was roused by a noise not far from me. it was a loud grunt or roar--i could not say which was the proper term. so i listened with the hope of gaining more information. my pistol in my hand, i crept to the opening of the cleft in the rock, in front of my sleeping-place. the breakers on the shore before me were sparkling with a thousand stars, for the sea-water here is very phosphorescent, and, consequently, made objects between me and these breakers quite distinct. i thus saw the form of an enormous animal standing near the shore, and recognised it as that of the _imvubu_, which is the caffre name of the hippopotamus. if i had only possessed my bow and poisoned arrows, i might now have tried them on this monster, and probably might have been successful in driving an arrow through his thick hide; but to fire at him with my pistol would, i knew, merely be wasting a bullet and a charge of powder. besides, i could eat but a small part of the _imvubu_; and as the vultures would be sure to circle in the air above where the carcase of the monster was to be found, any caffres in the neighbourhood would notice these, and would come to see what was attracting them. at present i wanted to remain concealed, and to think what was to be done in the future. i lay on the ground watching the _imvubu_, which every now and then gave loud grunts, and opened his enormous mouth, as though gaping after a long sleep. the monster then moved along the beach; and, as i found on following his spoor in the morning, he had his home in the umlass river, about two miles from where i had slept. when the first signs of daylight appeared, i made a meal of oysters; and then ascended the high land to examine the surrounding country and see what was going on. i soon noticed vultures circling in the air, near the head of natal bay, and knew that these birds had been attracted by the bodies of the captain and sailors, whose bones they would pick, and leave but little for the hyaenas and jackals. as soon as i saw no indications of men anywhere i walked on the high land near the sea, keeping a little on the side next the sea, so that i could not be seen from the land side. every now and then i ascended to the ridge, just high enough to see over it, and then examined the country to discover anything going on near me. i should have found the opera-glasses very useful here; but my eyes had been well-trained, and i was not likely to fail in seeing anything unusual within one or two miles of me. people who have not been accustomed to use their eyes much, especially in a wild country, do not know how the sight can be cultivated. it is a case of eyes and no eyes. one man will see the spoor of animals and signs of different kinds, whilst another will not notice one of these things. a snake, for instance, i never missed seeing, and was as unlikely to put my foot on a snake without seeing it, as some men would be to put their foot in a pool of water. i walked on towards the umlass river, sometimes through thick bush, sometimes on the open ground, but saw no indications of men having lately passed over the ground. there were some old kraals here, but they had been long deserted; but some mealies were growing near the kraal, where the gardens had been, and some of these i gathered and ate: though they were rather tough, still they were good for food. not having slept much on the previous night, and the sun being now high in the heavens, and giving great heat, i decided to sleep for awhile. i therefore examined all the ground for about the distance of two assagy-throws from me, to see if there were any signs of snakes near; for i did not wish to sleep where it was likely a poisonous snake might crawl over me, or a large rock-snake become familiar. seeing no signs of snakes, i lay down under the branches of a large euphorbia tree; and there, in the shade, i was soon fast asleep. when i awoke, it was because of some noise which had disturbed me; and, upon glancing round, i saw some twenty or thirty men, armed with assagies, standing round me. at first i thought they were zulus, but, on a second look, knew they were men of the umzimvubu tribe; and i then, to my delight, recognised my old friend inyati, and near him my companion inyoni. at first they did not recognise me, but believed i was one of the sailors from the ship who had escaped the zulus. when, however, i called inyati by name, and he had looked at me close, he was astonished and delighted to find it was me. inyoni shouted and danced as though he were mad. having sent four men in different directions to keep watch and prevent a surprise, we sat down on the grass, and i related to the men all that had happened to me since i had last seen them. my journey from the zulu country down to natal, inyati said, was wonderful; whilst he laughed at the ignorance of the captain and sailors, in allowing themselves to be caught in so simple a manner by the zulus. i felt rather small in being caught asleep by inyati and his men, so i asked him how he had discovered me. he replied that he and his men had kept under the ridge of the hill, so as to examine the country, without themselves being seen; that with his glasses he could see everything a long way off, and he had seen me just before i lay down. he and his men then crept up to where i was sleeping, and had just surrounded me when i awoke. i informed inyati that i believed no zulus were now west of the tugela; and that, unless a large army came to attack our tribe, none of the zulus would come to natal, as their object of driving away the white man had been accomplished. inyati then asked me what i was doing, or intended to do. thinking it unwise to tell him i wanted to get away in a ship, i replied that i was making my way to my own tribe when he and his men surprised me. being satisfied that no enemy was near us, it was agreed that we should hunt, and procure some flesh for a meal. the spoor of several buck had been seen, principally that of the _impenzi_, or duiker, as the small antelope is called by the english. this buck lives in the country where the bush is not thick, but is scattered, and where rocks and long grass afford plenty of cover. the manner by which we secured these antelope without firearms was simple and effective. the spoor of the animal was followed until it was certain that the buck was concealed in a small clump of bush. this bush was then surrounded, the caffres being all at some distance from where the buck was crouching. the circle of caffres then closed in rapidly and silently; and when only a few yards from each other, stones were thrown into the bush. the duiker then started out on the side opposite to that from which the stones had been thrown, and was met by a shower of assagies, one or two of which usually hit it. if it was missed, it would attempt to escape on the opposite side, when another shower of assagies assailed it. by this means three duiker were soon killed, and we then lighted a fire, and enjoyed a feast of venison. there was much news which inyoni told me that was interesting. one of the english ladies had died: i could not find out which, but inyoni said she was not very young. he also told me that elephants had again come down near the kraal in which i had lived, and that there was a lion not far off. he was very anxious to kill this lion, not only on account of the honour that would attend the performance, but also to obtain a necklace of its teeth and claws. he suggested that when i came back to the kraal, he and i might make an expedition and shoot this lion. after the escapes i had passed through among the zulus, and the manner in which i had been treated by the english sailors, i felt quite at home among my old companions, and thought, as i have often done since, that the so-called savage is superior in many ways to the imperfectly educated englishman. the zulus and the caffres on the south-east coast of africa were what would be called gentlemanly men if they had resided among civilised beings. they were most considerate in all their proceedings one to another, and there was a ready acknowledgment of superiority when this had been demonstrated; whereas, amidst so-called civilisation, men too often attempt to claim merits which they never did and never will possess, and thus to claim to command when they are only fitted to obey. i soon discovered that my adventures and escapes had raised me in the opinions of my old companions. they addressed me now always as _inkosi_ ("chief"), and listened with great attention to all i said. after we had finished our meal, two caffres were sent on to the hill-tops to keep a look-out, and the remainder of our party lay down in the shade and slept, till we felt ready to start on our journey down to the umzimvubu country. i felt quite safe now that i had so many armed and watchful men with me. we walked on over the hills and through the bush, occasionally stopping for an hour or two, to hunt duiker or red bush-buck, both of which were plentiful about this part of the country. we never neglected keeping watch whilst we were hunting; because, knowing how rapidly the zulus move, and how fond they are of surprises, we never were certain that a party of these men might not be concealed somewhere and might suddenly attack us. had the commanders on the english side, during the late zulu war, been as well acquainted with the habits of these men as we were, such disasters as befell us would have been guarded against or avoided; but it seems as though men were selected for that war because they knew nothing either of the zulus, their country, or language, but because they had crammed successfully at the staff college. when we arrived at the first kraal in our own country and among our own tribe, i was welcomed with shouts and congratulations by the men, and with pleasant smiles by the females; and certainly for a time i felt very glad that i had not sailed in the ship from natal bay, but was again among my friends who knew me, and where my past acts had caused me to be respected and admired. there are few things--as i have found in after-life--so painful as being among strangers, where the past of which we may be proud is unknown, and unthought of, and where we occupy the same position as though in our previous career we had acted like fools or rogues. chapter sixteen. almost immediately after my return to my old kraal, i went to see the english ladies who had been on board the ship. i found that mrs apton was dead, but the others seemed to have become quite reconciled to their lot. they were now the mothers of several children, and they told me that they would not now leave the country if they could. what they most wished for were some clothes in which they might dress like englishwomen. their knowledge of dress, however, had enabled them to form, out of the skins of antelopes, very ornamental dresses; and although some people might have laughed at their attire, yet the caffres thought their ornaments most becoming. it seemed singular how very quickly these females had become accustomed to the strange life they were compelled to lead. they did not work in the gardens as did the caffre women, but were treated just the same as the wives of the greatest chiefs. the other caffre women were not jealous of the english females, but treated them kindly, and seemed to regard them as strangers deserving of hospitality. what was most admired was the long hair of the english ladies, the caffre women having only woolly locks. there was no restriction now placed upon my movements. i had fought for my tribe, and had shown that i was true to the men who had saved my life; so i was trusted just the same as though i had been born a caffre. although i had been so well-treated by my present companions, and the life i now led was very pleasant, yet the fact of having seen and conversed with englishmen had caused a feeling of restlessness to take possession of me; and i was always thinking of where i should be, and what i should be doing, if i had succeeded in getting away in the ship from natal bay. it was now a common thing for me to leave my hut and go down to the hills near the coast, and watch the sea, in order to find out if any ships were near. i knew enough of english habits to be certain that the slaughter of the captain of the vessel would be revenged, though i did not know by what means this would be accomplished. it was about a moon and a half, or six weeks, after i had returned to the umzimvubu district, that one morning i saw from my look-out station a large ship sailing, and not very far from the land. i remembered that the sailors had told me that when a vessel was going round the cape to the east, she always kept about sixty or seventy miles from the land, to avoid the strong current that ran from east to west. when, however, a ship was travelling from east to west she kept nearer the coast, so as to get the benefit of the stream in her favour. the vessel i now saw was going eastwards, and yet was close inland; so i thought it very likely she was coming to natal. she was of too large a size to come over the bar; and i believed she must be a vessel of war. as she came nearer the land i could see guns looking out, as it were, of her ports; and i then knew she was a man-of-war. before the sun set this ship had anchored opposite the harbour of natal, and had furled all her sails. i returned to my kraal and kept silence as to what i had seen. i wanted to think during the night what i should do as regards this ship. if i told the men of the kraal that a ship had come to natal, they might object to my going there, for fear i should tell the tale about the slaughter of my shipmates. silence therefore was the most prudent plan. just before sunrise, i, with a large bag of boiled corn and armed with my pistols and an assagy, started for natal bay. the journey was a long one, but i was in such training that i could run and walk very fast, and i believe could manage fifty miles a day, without much fatigue. it was near sunset, however, before i reached the high land on the west of the bay: from this high land the ship was seen, and when first viewed i saw two boats rowing to the vessel. there was a great deal of surf on the bar, so i felt certain that no boat could have entered the harbour that day, and that probably the boats i had seen had been to look at the bar to see if it were practicable. i found my old hut on the bluff just as i had left it; so, making a meal of my boiled corn, i lay down and slept well after my long journey. i was awoke in the morning by the screams of a sea-eagle, and found, on looking out, that the sun had risen many times its own diameter in the sky. the wind had changed, and was now blowing from the north, and the surf on the bar was much less than it was on the previous day, and seemed to be decreasing. on looking towards the ship i saw two boats full of men pulling towards the harbour; and these, i saw, would, if properly managed, be able to cross the bar and enter the harbour. descending the bluff, i went down to the shore, and, breaking off a large branch of a tree, waved it over my head, hoping that some one either on the ship or in the boats would see me. it was exciting work seeing these boats approach the bar and wait for some time as they saw the wives break and curl at this spot. after some time the oars flashed in the water. i saw the boats first on the crest of a wave, then lost sight of them, then saw them reappear and glide along in comparatively smooth water as they passed the dangerous breaking water on the bar. the boats were now so near that i could count the men in the boats, and could see they were all armed, and were dressed alike, which was not the case with the crew of the small vessel that had previously visited natal. as the boats approached the shore several men stood up in the front part of the boat, and seemed to be on the look-out for an enemy, as they had guns, which they held ready for firing. i called out that there was no one on the shore but me, and saw that surprise was caused by my speaking english, because i was in dress like a caffre, and my skin had become very brown. on approaching the rocks on which i stood the boat stopped, and a young-looking man at the stern of the leading boat called out-- "who are you?" "i am an english boy who was shipwrecked here some years ago." "what is your name?" i was about to answer "umkinglovu," but i remembered that i was called julius by my father, so i replied, "my name is julius." "are there any caffres about here?" inquired the officer, for such i found afterwards that he was. "i do not think there are; but if there should be, i don't think they would do you any harm." the officer smiled as he said, "do me any harm! no, i don't think they are likely to do that. are there any white men here?" "none," i replied. "the few white men who were here have either been killed by a war-party of the zulus, or have escaped in a vessel." "then how is it you have escaped?" "i was with a tribe down the coast, who fought with the zulus and beat them off." "how did you come by those pistols?" "they belonged to the captain of a small vessel here, who was killed by the zulus as he was getting water up the bay." as i said this the officer spoke in a low tone to a companion who was sitting near him. he then said-- "put those pistols on the ground, and come into the boat." i did as he told me, and stepped into the boat, the sailors eyeing me suspiciously. "pull off from the shore," said the officer, and the boat was moved into the middle of the stream, so that it was safe from an attack by any one not armed with guns. "now sit down here," said the officer, as he pointed to the stern of the boat, "and answer my questions." i complied with his request, and he then questioned me--as to where the nearest caffres lived how numerous they were, how they were armed and whether they were friendly or otherwise to white men. i gave him all the information i possessed on these points, but i found it difficult to make him understand how it was that the zulus were enemies of the white man, but the caffres about natal were friendly. he seemed to look upon all caffres as "niggers," and not to distinguish the one tribe from the other. he then asked me if i could show him where the captain of the merchantman had been killed, and upon my pointing to the place he ordered his men to pull up the bay, to the spot. upon reaching this, i explained the whole affair to him, and pointed out where the zulus had attempted to stop me. as i continued my account, i found by the looks of these sailors that i rose very much in their estimation. "why did you not come away in the ship?" inquired the officer. i told him of the behaviour of the sailors, and their suspicions of me, and that they had put me on shore; that, if i had not been well acquainted with the habits of the zulus, i should have been assagied or made prisoner by these people. as we pulled down the bay towards the bar, the officer told me he intended taking me on board the ship to see the captain, and to tell him what i had seen and known about the slaughter at natal. before we had gone halfway to the ship, i became very sick. there was a heavy sea on for a boat, and i was unaccustomed to the motion, so that i was soon suffering from the effects of the waves on the boat. i, however, scrambled up on to the deck of the ship, and found myself in the presence of several officers, who looked at me with astonishment. the officer who had brought me in the boat told a tall officer, who, i afterwards learned, was the captain, what my previous history had been. the captain at once was deeply interested, and inquired all particulars about the shipwreck, and what had become of those who had escaped drowning. i told him that i was the only male survivor, that the others had by a mistake been assagied, as it was supposed they were slave-catchers. the females, i said, were the wives of caffres, and would not wish to leave their adopted country. the captain having listened to all i had to tell him, asked me if i should like some clothes, for i was dressed like a caffre. upon my intimating that, if i remained in the country clothes would be useless, but if i were to be taken away i must have some raiment, the captain took me to his cabin, and having sent for some of the midshipmen, i was soon rigged out in a suit of clothes that fitted me tolerably well. from the captain i learned that he had come up to natal to make inquiries relative to the murders that had been committed on the white people, and to punish the murderers. i explained to him that the caffres who lived near the umlass and in the neighbourhood, had nothing to do with the slaughter of these people; that it was a war-party of the zulus which had come down the country for the purpose of killing all white men. he seemed, however, disinclined to believe that the people in the country were not a party to the massacre, till i told him of the fight we had with the zulus, and our battle near the umlass river. on that night i slept on board ship, and by the following morning had quite recovered from my sea-sickness. the captain sent for me very early, and asked if i could guide a party to the nearest caffre kraal, as he wanted to see the people in their natural state. i told him it might be dangerous, as the caffres would suppose we had come to attack them or to make slaves of them. he laughed at the idea of being attacked; for, as he would take a large party with him, who would be armed, he considered he would be more than a match for all the caffres in the country. i told him he did not know what these people were in war, and how by a surprise they would to a certain extent do away with the advantages which his firearms gave him. about fifty sailors were armed, and being led by the captain we landed at the upper part of the bay, and marched on towards the umlass. the chief in that neighbourhood was named umnini, and was a very fine fellow. i was anxious to let him know we were a friendly party come to see him, but i could not meet or see any caffres by whom to send a message. i felt quite sure that we had been observed, for caffres are very watchful. we had passed over some open ground just beyond the umslatazane river, and had entered a bush-path beyond, when i heard a shrill whistle which i knew meant a signal for attack. i at once shouted in caffre, "we are friends, come to see umnini." the captain looked at me in astonishment and said, "what are you shouting about?" i told him he must halt his men and keep them quiet, or we might have a thousand men on us in half a minute. as he could not see a caffre, or even hear one, he said, "a thousand men! why there is not one to be seen." i again called out in caffre and said, "i have brought the chief of the big ship to talk to umnini. he is friendly and wants to see him." there was silence for a short time, and then a voice from the bush was heard, and inquiry was made as to why a messenger was not sent first to say we were friends. i replied that the chief of the ship did not know what the law was in this country. the captain, who was much surprised at hearing the voice come from the bush when he could see no one, asked me what they were saying. i told him that the caffres suspected that he had come to attack them or to capture some slaves, and if i had not spoken he would have been attacked in this bush. i inquired of him if i should ask the caffre chief to advance and to talk to us, for it would not be prudent for us to go on any farther unless the caffres allowed us. the captain seemed rather suspicious of treachery, but having cautioned his men to keep together, said that i had better ask the chief to come to us. i called out again, asking the chief to come; when, from behind every tree and bush, and apparently out of the ground, a caffre appeared, each armed with his six assagies and a knob-kerrie, and carrying his shield before him. our party was completely surrounded, and had war been intended we should soon have been assagied. the chief who commanded this party was umnini's young brother, whom i knew well. as he quietly advanced to us, he showed no surprise or any sign of fear. his appearance, i saw, impressed the captain, who touched his cap as the chief advanced. this young chief was called ingwe, and i told him who the captain was, and that he had come to pay a visit to umnini. ingwe shook hands with the captain, and then, speaking a few words to the caffres informing them that we were friends, told them to go on to umnini's kraal and announce our arrival. ingwe led the way, and we walked through the bush-paths. the sailors seemed surprised at the order and discipline of these caffres, and the dignified manner in which they behaved; but their surprise was greater when we approached the chiefs kraal, and found the men drawn up in two lines, between which we marched till we came near the huts, where umnini met us. umnini addressed all his conversation to me, and i translated it to the captain, and when the captain spoke i had to turn his words into caffre. umnini said he was glad to see the chief of the large ship, and was sorry there had nearly been a mistake made, as the captain came armed and like a war-party; but he was welcome to the kraal, and a young bull would shortly be killed for a feast for the sailors. the captain replied that he did not think his coming armed would have been mistaken for war, as he had no cause of complaint against umnini, but wished to see the chief in his kraal; that he did not wish an ox killed, as his men would not be allowed to eat at that hour. umnini then asked the captain and me to come into his kraal, where we saw several of umnini's wives and children. the captain sat down in the hut, and we had a long conversation about the zulus, and their attack on the white people at the bay; also about the life the caffres lived, their habits, etc. the captain kept on making notes in a pocket-book as he received his answers, and seemed much interested in what he heard. he then asked about the white women who had been wrecked with me, and inquired whether it were possible to see them and persuade them to return to civilisation in his ship. i told him i believed they would avoid being seen, and certainly would not leave the country, as they were the mothers of several children, and were regularly accustomed to the life they now led. we stopped about as long as it took the sun to go ten times its diameter; and then, bidding the chief good-bye, we returned to our boats and pulled off to the ship. umnini had made a present of a gourd snuff-box to the captain, and had received in return a watch-chain, which umnini hung round his neck. several of the officers of the ship were anxious to go on shore to have some shooting, and asked me where was the best place to go. i told them that in the bush there were elephants and antelope; that it was dangerous sport going after elephants, but if they were careful, they might kill one. four officers arranged to go with me, in search of them, and to start at daybreak. on the open ground near the head of the bay, there were some pools of water just outside the bush, where the elephants were fond of drinking during the night. upon landing from our boats, we walked to these ponds, and i told the officers that we must not speak above a whisper when we entered the bush, and must walk so quietly that no man could hear the footsteps of the man in front of him. the officers smiled at my cautious instructions, and seemed amused at the idea of being taught by a mere boy. the elephants had visited the pool early in the morning, and had then entered the bush by one of their well-worn paths. the traces of the animals were very plain, the print of their large feet being distinctly marked in many places. we had not entered the bush more than the distance of four or five throws of an assagy, when i heard the slight crack of a stick in front of us. i stopped, and stooping down, saw the outline of an elephant looming amidst some dense underwood. i pointed to this spot and whispered to the officers, "elephant." they stooped and peeped, but could see nothing. i then signalled to them to go slowly forward, when they would, i hoped, obtain a view of the animal. the officers crept on, but not being accustomed to the bush, each man made more noise than would fifty caffres. they had only gone on a few steps, when they turned to me and said, "that is not an elephant, it is only some old tree." at the same instant, the elephant, hearing their voices, turned in the bush; and, crashing through the underwood, was soon far out of sight and beyond a shot. the astonishment of the officers was very great when they saw their "old tree" become a nearly full-grown elephant, and heard it crashing through the bush, the breaking branches which it carried away in its rush sounding like the report of musketry. "the youngster was right after all," they exclaimed. "only fancy, an elephant standing as quietly as that." they wanted to follow the animal; but i explained to them that they might as well follow a bird on the wing, as the elephant would probably not stop until it had gone some four or five miles through the bush, and would then be on the alert and difficult to approach. finding there was no chance of again seeing the elephant, the officers decided to come out of the bush, and try to get a shot at some buck on the more open ground. we had gone some distance from the bush, when, on looking towards the umganie river, i saw in the distance a large party of caffres. i instantly lay down, and called eagerly to the officers to do the same; for from the glance i had obtained i thought this must be a war-party of the zulus, probably sent down to see what the ship was doing here. the officers laughed at my caution, but they concealed themselves, though not as quickly as they ought to have done. i wished now that i had my glasses with me, for the body of caffres was a long way off. i soon saw, however, that the party were zulus; and informed the officers of the fact, and that we must run for our lives. had i been alone i should not have feared for the result of a race, because we were some considerable distance in advance of the zulus, and i could run as fast and as far as the best man amongst them; but i had already found that the officers were not fit to run far, the long time they had been on board ship having prevented them from getting into racing condition. our boat was fully a mile and a half, as i should now term the distance, from where we were concealed, and i knew that a zulu would run this distance about as fast again as the officers. i told them that their lives now depended on their doing exactly what i directed them to do; and i added that they ought now to know that i was better acquainted with things in this country than they were, as i could distinguish an elephant from a dead tree. they said-- "all right, give your orders." we crawled along the ground for some distance, till we were concealed by a portion of the bush; we then rose and ran along the edge of the bush, but we did not run very fast, for i was afraid that my companions would get out of breath before the real race began. when we had gone some distance near the bush, i found that, to go in the direction of our boats, we must now move in the open country. i told my companions of my plan, and said that we could move no faster than the slowest runner among them. i saw that one of the officers, who was rather stout, was already out of breath, and i feared that we should find it hard work reaching our boat before the zulus were upon us. when we struck off into the open plain i looked round, and then knew that the zulus must have seen us from the first, as they were coming on at a run, which, although not very fast, had yet enabled them to decrease the distance between them and us. "now do your best," i said, and we commenced our run. the zulus uttered a shout, as they now saw us plainly, and several of their fastest runners advanced in front of the main body. i now carried two guns of the officers that they might get on the more easily, but found that our pursuers were gaining rapidly on us. when we were within a short distance of the boat, about twenty zulus were nearly within an assagy's-throw of us. i said to the officers, "run to the boat: i will stop the zulus." the officers ran on whilst i stopped, and, dropping one of the guns, aimed with the other at the leading zulu. the man dodged about as i aimed, but my bullet struck him, and he fell to the ground; with the second barrel i hit another zulu, and then the other men dropped on the ground to conceal themselves. picking up the gun i had dropped, i darted off to the boat, into which the officers had embarked, and jumped into it, telling them to push off at once. the water for some distance was shallow, and before we could get into deep water, about a hundred zulus dashed in, and were hurling their assagies at us. we fired at these men, whilst the four sailors in the boat rowed as fast as they could; and as the water became deeper, we could move faster than the zulus, and so were soon beyond the range of their assagies. the zulus, on finding they could not reach us, instantly left the water and concealed themselves in the bush, in order to avoid our bullets. "smart work," said one of the officers, who seemed rather to enjoy the excitement; "i don't think i ever ran so far before." another officer said, "i tell you what it is, youngster, you are well up in this kind of work." as we rowed down the bay i heard a voice shouting from one of the islands in the bay, and asking what number of zulus there were. i told the caffre about five hundred. i now asked the officers to stop the boat, because near the head of the bay i saw some dust rising, and i suspected that this was caused by some of umnini's warriors who had been assembled to resist any attack the zulus might make. the rapidity with which these people could arm and assemble was very great. from a distant kraal men would arm and run towards the point of danger. as they passed the various kraals on the way they would be joined by the warriors from these kraals, and as every full-grown man was a warrior, the army soon swelled to a considerable size. i should have liked to join umnini's people in what i expected would be an attack on the zulus, but i did not like to take the officers with me, and they said they would not allow me to leave them; so we kept the boat in deep water, and beyond where an assagy could be cast on to the boat. the zulus, who had followed us down to the water, had concealed themselves in the bush as soon as we had secured our retreat; but they now evidently had some knowledge of the approach of umnini's men, as they were moving rapidly through the bush, and calling to one another. the distance from the head of the bay to where the zulus had followed us was not very far, and i knew that the rapidity with which the caffres moved would soon enable them to attack the zulus. the latter, however, either thought the numbers of their enemies too great, or else they did not wish to fight, as there was nothing to fight for, no cattle being near enough for the zulus to carry off, even if they gained the victory; so they retreated rapidly towards the umganie river, followed by umninis people. i knew that, from the summit of some tall trees on the shore of the bay near the bluff, a view could be obtained of the coast even beyond the umganie; so i suggested to the officers that we pulled down the bay, and ascended the high land, so as to obtain a view of what was taking place. we soon reached the shore beneath the bluff, and ascending it found that we could see both the zulus and umnini's caffres. the zulus, finding that they would be overtaken before they could cross the river, had faced about, and, standing shoulder to shoulder, were awaiting the attack of their pursuers. the battle soon commenced, by a shower of assagies being thrown by the natal caffres; then a charge was made, and for a time we could see nothing but a struggling mass of black warriors. then the tide of battle evidently turned in favour of umnini's men; for the zulus were flying in the direction of the river, followed by the natal caffres. in savage warfare, it is in the retreat that the greater number of men are killed: the pursuer has the advantage of casting his assagy at an enemy who can neither dodge nor protect himself by his shield. the number of zulus who were slain during this retreat was very great--we could see man after man struck down and assagied; and the officers became quite excited, and exclaimed that these niggers fought like tigers. i told them of some of the battles i had been in, against the zulus, and of some of the dodges we had practised. they said they wished they had some two hundred blue-jackets with them, and they would have given a good account of these zulus. i told them that the cutlasses used by the sailors would be of no use against an assagy; that a zulu would send his assagy through a man at twenty or thirty yards' distance, and that a man armed with a sword would be unable to do anything with it at that distance. then, again, when the zulus rushed in on an enemy, it was possible to shoot down several of them, but those not shot would stab with their assagies, before the men armed with guns could reload. having seen the defeat and the slaughter of a large number of the zulus, the officers decided to pull off to the ship, and report to the captain what had occurred. there was luckily very little surf on the bar, and we pulled over what there was without shipping much water in our boat. on reaching the ship, the officers gave an account to the captain of what had occurred, and were very full of praise for my skill and coolness in having saved them from the zulus; for they agreed that, had they been left to themselves, they never could have reached the boats, as the zulus would have surrounded them, and though they might have shot several, yet they could not have loaded quickly enough to prevent their enemy from closing in on them. the officers gave a very good account of the fight they had seen between umnini's caffres and the zulus; and if any doubt had remained in the mind of the captain about these two tribes being at enmity with each other, this fight would have placed the matter on the side of certainty. on the morning following the day on which we had escaped from the zulus, the captain sent for me to his cabin. on my entrance i found him sitting near a writing-table on which were various papers; he told me to sit down, as he wanted to ask me several questions. he then produced a map of the coast of south africa, and pointed to natal bay, the umlass river, and other places; and then asked if i could tell him exactly where the ship in which i had been wrecked had gone on shore. i estimated the distance from the umzimvubu river, and with a pencil marked the spot. i then described to him the country inland, as far as i had been, and pointed out that several small streams were not put down in the map. after we had talked about these matters, the captain said, "now tell me more about yourself, who you are, and all that." i gave the captain a history of my early days in india, and then explained to him that i was on my way home to england to be educated by my uncle, who was reported to be very rich, when our ship was wrecked. when i told him the name of my father, he looked in a large book, and then asked me my fathers christian name. at first i could not recall it, but after a little thought i said it was william mark. "your father is alive and is now a colonel," said the captain, "but is no doubt under the impression that you were drowned, as nothing was heard of the ship you were in after she was seen at the mauritius." i was delighted to hear this news, and a great longing now came over me to see my father and to again join civilisation. i told the captain what my wishes were, but that i had no money and did not know how i was to get to india, or to england; nor did i know whether my uncle was alive, and whether i ought now to go to england. i was quite able to take care of myself if alone in the african bush, or on the plains, though enemies of various kinds might be around me; but i felt i should be powerless among white men, whom, from my experience of the sailors in the former ship, i had found very stupid and suspicious. the captain told me he would take me to simon's town at the cape, and see what could be done about communicating with my friends. it took, in those days, upwards of four months for an answer to a cape letter to england to be received, and about the same time for a letter sent to india to be answered and received at the cape. i did not remember my uncle's address in england, so that it would be impossible to communicate with him; nor did i know in what part of india my father was, but as he was well-known at delhi, i believed that a letter sent there would be forwarded to him. on the following day the captain decided to leave natal and start for the cape. the wind was in our favour, and we sailed westward, our course carrying us about twenty miles from the coast. i remained on deck watching the old familiar localities and pointing out to the captain the various rivers and headlands. just before dark we were opposite the rocks where i was wrecked, and the captain took some observations and marked on his map the exact spot. during the next two or three days i passed an hour or so each day, giving the captain an account of the wreck, and of what occurred afterwards; he wrote down what i told him, and, having made a sort of history of this, he then read it over to me, asking me if it were all correct. he said, the loss of the ship had caused great excitement in england, he remembered, at the time; but when no news came, and a ship sent from the cape to search could gain no intelligence, it was concluded that she had gone down in the storm, between the mauritius and the cape, and of course it was expected every one had been drowned. we had a fair wind all the way down to simon's bay, and accomplished the voyage in six days. as soon as we had anchored, the captain went on shore to visit the admiral, and i was left on the ship. in about an hour one of the officers came to me and said a signal had been sent from the admiral to say that i was to go on shore to the admiral's house. a boat was provided, and i was soon pulled on shore. although i had led the life of a savage since my shipwreck, and had gained no experience of what is called polite society, yet the dangers through which i had passed had given me self-dependence; and the calm, dignified behaviour of the chiefs, both among the zulus and the umzimvubus, had given me an insight into the proper way of conducting myself. when, then, i was taken by the captain before the admiral i was not flurried as some youngsters might have been, but very cool and calm. the admiral examined me critically, and then said-- "you have had some strange adventures up the country." "yes, sir," i replied, "i have been some years living entirely among the caffres." "is the account you have given of the shipwreck quite correct?" "everything i told the captain is just as it occurred." "don't you think the english women who are up there would come away if they could?" "no," i replied, "they told me themselves they would not leave now: they have children, and have been well-treated; and they could not come again to civilisation after living during some years as the wives of caffres." "then," said the admiral, "if i sent a ship up there to bring these women away, you don't think they would come?" "i am certain they would not; and you would not be able to find them. the caffres would carry them up the country, and conceal them as soon as your ship was seen to be landing men; and if you attempted to use force, you might be opposed by several thousand warriors; who, though armed with assagies only, would yet, in the rough bushy country, slaughter two or three hundred men armed with muskets." after some further conversation the admiral asked me what i wished to do. i replied that i had no money, no clothes, except what the captain had given me, and no friends at the cape; that i should like my father, who was in india to know of my safety, and should like to receive his instructions as to what he wished me to do. i added that, if i stopped at the cape, my father would pay any one for my keep as soon as he knew where i was. the admiral shook hands with me, and said i had better return to the ship at present; but that he should be glad to see me at lunch in an hour's time, and he would consider what should be done for me. at the lunch i was fully occupied in answering questions about the details of the shipwreck, and my adventures in the wild country of the umzimvubu. my description of the slaughter of the captain of the merchant vessel, and his obstinacy in not being cautious enough, seemed rather to amuse some of the officers who were present. altogether, i was much pleased with my treatment by the admiral, and returned in the afternoon to the ship. on the following morning i found that a cape town paper had a full account of the shipwreck, and of my adventures among the caffres, giving my name, and stating who i was. i was amused at finding myself so famous all at once, but did not then anticipate what would be the speedy result of all this being known at the cape. what was the result must be reserved for another chapter. chapter seventeen. it was about two hours past mid-day, that a boat came from the shore, and a gentleman in plain clothes stepped from the boat on to the ship, and inquired if mr peterson was on board. i was sitting in the cabin, reading, and the gentleman was shown down into the cabin, and i was told he came to visit me. the gentleman, who was old, but tall and erect, looked at me very critically, and then said, "is your name julius peterson?" "yes," i replied, "that is my proper name, but i have been renamed by the caffres." "you of course remember your father," said the gentleman; "can you describe him to me?" i gave a very accurate description of my father, and then of our compound and bungalow at delhi. in reply to the gentleman's inquiry, i gave the details of our journey to calcutta, and of our voyage, shipwreck, etc. "you have no papers, or anything about you, which could prove you are the person you represent yourself to be?" said the gentleman. i laughed as he made this remark, for i could not see how i could be any one else but myself; when, however, i saw how serious the gentleman was in making this inquiry, i began to reflect that there was really no one who could know me, and that my own statement was the only evidence of my identity. after several other questions the gentleman informed me that his name was rossmar; that he lived at wynberg, near cape town; that he was well acquainted with my uncle, who had written to him some time after i had left india, to meet me at the cape if the ship touched there on her voyage home. he then told me of the anxiety my friends had suffered when nothing was heard of our ship, and at last they had concluded that we had all gone down with the ship. mr rossmar apologised for having asked me so many questions, but he said that cases had happened where a shipwrecked boy, or man, had after some years represented himself as some other person, who really had been drowned, so that he had merely used common caution. he then congratulated me on my escape, and said that he hoped i would come to his house and make it my home until i received instructions from my father or uncle, both of whom he said, by last accounts, were well. i explained to mr rossmar that i had neither clothes nor money, and was scarcely in a condition to accept an invitation to a house. he said that all could be arranged very easily; that clothes for temporary purposes could be procured, ready made; and that he would see to everything in that way, i thanked mr rossmar for his kindness, and having bid good-bye to the captain and officers of the ship, i stepped into the boat and soon landed at simon's town. having been provided with a stock of clothes at a warehouse, mr rossmar drove me in his carriage to the admiral's, where i stopped for a short time, and then started for wynberg. there are few more beautiful places in the world than wynberg. situated in the lower slopes on the east of table mountain it is protected from the south-east and north-west gales. the vegetation is luxuriant, tropical trees and fruits growing in abundance, as also those common in england. the houses are excellent and roomy, and the gardens gay with flowers. the merchants at cape town, when well to do, usually have a house at or near wynberg, and mr rossmar, as i afterwards learnt, was one of the richest men in this colony. on arriving at mr rossmar's house i saw several ladies at the window, and was introduced by mr rossmar to his wife and four daughters. although i felt quite at my ease when talking to the admiral, yet i was awkward when the young ladies talked to me. mr rossmar told them that all which had been printed in the paper about the shipwreck and my adventures was true, and that i was quite a hero of adventure. it was not long before i overcame my diffidence, and was soon talking to mrs rossmar and her daughters as if i had known them all my life. they were much interested in the account i gave them of my life among the caffres, and when i told them the details of my fight with the bushmen and zulus, they became most excited. to me the change from the wild rough life i had led was like coming to fairyland. the house was beautifully furnished; there were several horses in the stable, and having learned to ride in india, i soon was able to manage the most spirited horse, and used to ride every evening with the ladies. they were all excellent musicians, and this to me was a new experience, for in india we had very little music in olden times, and as a boy i heard nothing of even that little. the story of my escape from shipwreck and my life among the tribes up the country was known and talked about all over the cape. many people there, although long resident at the cape, knew little or nothing of the caffres, their habits, or their country. cape town and its neighbourhood was civilised, whilst where i had been was wild as the wildest country. i was asked out to many houses in the neighbourhood, and had over and over again to relate some of my adventures. as is usually the case with ignorant and jealous people, there were some who thought i was inventing stories to astonish them: they did not believe that i had gone through so many strange and exciting scenes, and did not understand how such a boy, as i comparatively was, could have been made a chief by these people. i passed nearly four months at mr rossmar's house, the happiest that i can remember in all my life. although there was no pretence even of study or of learning anything, yet i gained knowledge from hearing the questions of the day discussed; and from the habits of observation i had acquired in consequence of my life in the bush, i found that i noticed and remembered things which had entirely escaped the observation of all the others. this habit of noticing once saved the life of one of the miss rossmars. i was walking in their garden one morning, near a small flower-bed, from which one of the ladies intended to pick some flowers. the path on which we were walking was close to this bed. on the path i noticed a broadish smooth mark leading into the flower-bed. instantly i knew this to be the spoor of a snake. i stopped miss rossmar from picking the flower she was just stooping to gather, and made her stand back. i with my stick moved the flowers so as to examine what was underneath. just under the flower that the young lady intended gathering, a large puff-adder was coiled, and the reptile was evidently on the watch, as it struck my stick the instant i moved the flower. had this reptile bitten a human being, death would have been a certainty. i killed the adder, and it was afterwards stuffed by a naturalist at cape town, and a small wax-work flower-bed was made to represent the scene as it occurred. if miss rossmar had been bitten by the adder, it would have been considered an accident, and probably an unavoidable one; but this case was an instance of how observation may avoid an accident. a caffre does not believe in what we call an accident: he says it is due to want of care, or to want of observation. in the majority of cases this is true. men in london get knocked down by cabs and waggons because they do not look carefully to the right and left before they attempt crossing a street. every year numbers of people are drowned in consequence of bathing in dangerous places, or entering the water alone when they do not know how to swim. when we read of the accidents that annually occur in england we can see that a very large number are due to want of caution or insufficient observation. living as i had done in a country where one's life may depend on the caution with which even your foot is placed on the ground (for a snake may be there, and treading on this would be death) makes one old in caution and thoughtfulness though young in years. the four months that i lived with mr rossmar taught me much. i was quite at home in society, both with the ladies and gentlemen. i had learned to speak dutch fairly--for nearly all the servants were dutch-- but was ignorant of accounts, and of latin and greek, and consequently would have been considered a dunce in most english schools. yet i knew more than most youngsters in matters of practical utility. cape town in those days was the high road to india. nearly all the large east indian merchant ships used to stop at cape town, and the english letters used to be brought by these. it was a few days beyond four months after my arrival at the cape, that a ship arrived and brought letters from my uncle in england, both to me, and to mr rossmar. the letter to me was very kind. my uncle said that i had been given up for lost, as nothing had been heard of our ship for so many years; but that if i decided, and my father wished, that i should go to england to him, he would be very glad to see me, and he thought it would be the best thing i could do. he said i should be quite a hero in england, as the english papers had copied from the cape papers the account of my escape from shipwreck, and life in the wilderness; but that he thought i should have to work hard for a year or two at various studies, in order to be equal with other young men in my position in life. i found that my uncle had written to mr rossmar, thanking him for his kindness to me, and sending bills for five hundred pounds, for my use in providing an outfit, paying for my passage home, and any other things that i might require. it was thought advisable that i should not leave the cape until letters reached me from my father in india; and i must acknowledge that i did not like the idea of leaving my present comfortable quarters. i had become very fond of the miss rossmars, and felt just as if i were one of the family. i had everything i could require--a comfortable house, excellent companions, a horse to ride, and nothing to do except what i fancied. the novelty of the life charmed me, and this perhaps was one reason why i did not have any longing for the sports and excitement that had formerly fallen to my share. a few weeks passed, and then a ship was signalled as entering table bay from the east. this ship was an indiaman, so i expected a letter from my father. scarcely, however, had the ship cast anchor than a boat left her, and pulled rapidly to the shore. in this boat was my father, who on hearing of my safety had obtained leave, and had at once started for the cape. our meeting was a joyful one; my father was astonished to see the change that a few years had made in me. when i left india i was comparatively a child. the open-air life i had led, the continued exercise and the healthy food had caused me to grow rapidly, and also to be stout and strong. the various dangerous adventures through which i had passed had made me a man in manner, and i had gained that important quality self-dependence, without which a man is sure to be a failure. my father listened with the greatest interest to my accounts of the various dangers through which i had passed. when i explained to him the life led by some of these caffre chiefs, he agreed with me that, except for the uncertainty of being attacked by some other tribe, no life could be more pleasant than that of a chief in that country. to possess a large herd of cattle giving a plentiful supply of milk; several wives who cultivated the ground, and thus supplied corn, pumpkins and other vegetables required for food; game in abundance in the forests and on the plains, and no king or prince in europe could lead a more happy life than did a caffre chief. when i compared the life of even a rich merchant in cape town with that of a caffre chief, i could not but come to the conclusion that the latter had the best of it. a merchant would go to his office by ten o'clock in the morning, would be shut up there going over accounts till about four o'clock; he had not time for any sport or pleasure during the day, and on his return home, often seemed pre-occupied with the business, to which he had devoted his time in the morning. then, again, losses of money would sometimes occur, and the unhappiness caused by such a loss, seemed far greater than when a successful speculation, caused temporary happiness. a caffre's wants were few, but all these he could supply, and his only anxiety was that relative to wild beasts, poisonous snakes, and invasion by an enemy. i went with my father to dine with the admiral at simon's town, and also accompanied him to several other houses, to dinners, and entertainments of various kinds. soon after his arrival he wrote to my uncle, saying that he still wished me to proceed to england to have my education attended to, that he could stay at cape town about a month, and would like me to remain with him during that period, after which i should embark for england. the month passed very rapidly. my father was also a guest of mr rossmar's, for cape people were famous for their kindness and hospitality, and seemed as though we conferred a favour on them by staying at their house. at length the ship arrived in which my father was to return to india, and i bid him a long farewell, for it would be five years before he could retire and come to england, where he eventually intended to settle. i now daily expected the arrival of the indiaman in which passage had been taken for my voyage to england, and five days after my father had sailed, the ship was signalled, and a few hours afterwards anchored in table bay. i had many friends to bid good-bye besides those with whom i had been staying. the parting was very sad, but i promised that if possible i would come again to the cape, and stay a long time with my various friends. a voyage in the sailing-vessels of those days had much more romance and interest in it than is now possible in a modern steamer. formerly a ship was dependent on the amount and direction of the wind; there was always the excitement of watching the barometer, the clouds, etc, to discover if possible any change of wind; a storm was a greater battle than it now is; and the uncertainty of the duration of the voyage had its charms. some sailing ships were nearly eighty days in reaching england from the cape, others accomplished the voyage in a little over fifty. we had a fair wind on leaving table bay. i remained on deck watching the table mountain gradually sink, as it were, on the horizon, and when darkness came on i went to my cabin below, and felt dull and miserable. there were about fifty passengers on board, mostly old indians. my story was known to them all, and several were acquainted with my father; so i soon made acquaintances with my fellow-voyagers, and found the time pass pleasantly enough. we cast anchor for a day at saint helena, and i had an opportunity of visiting the most beautiful parts of that island. our voyage continued favourable until we were within a few degrees of the equator, when the favourable wind died away, and we were left becalmed. this was not an unusual condition. the captain informed us that he had remained on one occasion ten days in these latitudes without moving a mile. the heat was very great, but as most of us had been long in india we stood this better than did those passengers who had merely joined us at cape town. i soon took great interest in catching shark. these sea monsters seemed attracted to the ship, and there was usually a dorsal fin seen above the water within a hundred yards of our ship. i constructed an arrangement for shark-fishing which was very successful. at the end of a stout copper wire i lashed a strong hook, and then, with a long line fastened to the wire, i could play the shark just as salmon-fishers play a salmon. by this means i used to catch a shark nearly every day. one of these was a monster ten feet long. we used to haul these fish on deck by slipping a bowling-knot in a rope down our line and over the shark's fins; and we had great excitement when the creatures were hauled on deck, as they were dangerous to approach until they were killed by blows on the head, and their tail partly amputated with a hatchet. there were on board three gentlemen, who were good chess-players. i used to watch these play their games, and soon learned the moves and the manner in which the game was played, and before the voyage was half over i could play chess very fairly. i also learned from one of the mates how to measure altitudes of the sun, and how to find the latitude each day. this gave me a taste for astronomy, and i learned also the names of the principal stars. the voyage was thus to me a period of interest, and did not hang heavily on my hands; whereas those people who took no interest in anything during the voyage, were always wearied and cross. as we approached england we met or overtook several ships: our vessel was a very fast sailer, and never failed to overtake any ship that we saw ahead of us. it was on the fifty-fourth day from leaving the cape that we saw some land, which the captain told us was ushant. two days afterwards we were off plymouth, and in another week were beating up the downs. there were few steamers in those days, and nearly all the ships sailed up the thames. when we reached gravesend a gentleman came on board, who told me he had been sent from london by my uncle, who wished me to land at gravesend, and travel by coach to london. i was really sorry to leave the ship, where i had passed two months very pleasantly, and had been treated most kindly by the captain and officers, as also by my fellow-passengers. however, i was delighted with what i saw from the outside of a four-horse coach, as we travelled up to london. but london bewildered me: the noise, the number of people and vehicles, made me quite giddy; and though i could find my way for miles in an african forest, yet i doubted whether i should ever be able to walk alone in london without losing myself. my uncle lived in an old-fashioned, but very comfortable house near highgate, and we reached that locality about six o'clock in the evening. the time of year was autumn when i arrived, and it was a lovely evening, the sun about setting. my uncle's house stood in a garden, with fine trees round it, and at that time highgate was quite in the country. a very dignified oldish man met me at the door, who i was informed was the butler, and who, having taken charge of my luggage, said that mr peterson was in the drawing-room, and would be glad to see me there. i was preceded by the butler, who opened the door with great solemnity, and announced "mr peterson." my uncle was standing with his back to the fire, and at the first glance i came to the conclusion that i had rarely seen a more striking-looking man. he was quite six feet high, neither thin nor stout; his hair was quite white, and worn rather long. he must have been nearly seventy years of age, but was as erect and straight as a life-guardsman. his eyes were deep-set, and partly concealed by heavy black eyebrows, which produced a curious contrast with his snow-white hair. his glance at me as i walked across the room seemed to read me at once, and i mentally exclaimed, "he is a chief." "welcome to england, my boy," said my uncle, as he shook me heartily by the hand. "you have had strange adventures since you left india; but, judging from your appearance, you do not seem to have suffered much. why, you are quite a young man, and i expected to see a mere boy." at the age at which i had then arrived there are few things which are more flattering than that of being told you are no longer a boy. when with the caffres i never thought of such things. the fact of having been made a chief had promoted me to the dignity of manhood, but when i came again among white people i was treated as a boy by some of these; my uncle, however, considered me a young man. after a few remarks about my voyage, my uncle informed me that we should dine in an hour, and that probably it would take me some time to dress and refresh myself after my journey: he rang the bell, and told edwards, the dignified butler, to show me to my room. there was a solid well-to-do look in everything in my uncle's house: the furniture consisted principally of carved black oak; curiosities of various kinds were hung up in the hall and on the walls of the staircase. my bedroom had several handsome pictures in it, the bed itself being a large four-poster. edwards helped me to unpack my portmanteaus, and hinted that the master always dressed for dinner. my outfit at cape town had been very complete, so i arrayed myself in a "claw-hammer" coat, as the sailors term it, and a white tie, and made my way to the drawing-room, where i found my uncle. in his evening dress he looked still more noticeable than when i first saw him, and i felt proud of being the nephew of so distinguished a looking man. during dinner i was surprised at the knowledge my uncle possessed of the caffres, and of south africa. he had evidently studied that country, and was well acquainted with its geography, climate, and the character of the natives. the questions he put to me taxed all my local knowledge to answer, and i found it difficult to believe that he had not himself been in the country. he was much interested in my account of the language; he was himself a great linguist, and traced in the caffre words i used a connection with the arabic. after dinner we sat talking, mainly about my adventures at the cape, my uncle's questions leading me on to give him all the details of my life in that country. at ten o'clock he told me that he always breakfasted at eight; that at seven o'clock the gong sounded three times, at half past seven four times, and at eight five times. he added that one of the things about which he was particular was punctuality, as very much, especially in business, depended on attention to this. when alone in my bedroom i began to speculate on what was to become of me. i had left india with the intention of being sent to a school in england, for the purpose of being educated for one of the colleges devoted to aspirants for india. after my long residence among the caffres, where i had learned nothing of what in england is termed education, but had added years to my age, i knew how very awkward i should feel in going to a school where probably i might be the biggest boy in the school, but where the smallest boy would know considerably more than i knew. i, however, trusted my uncle would consider all these questions, and i had not long to wait before i found that my trust was justified. on the third night after my arrival my uncle after dinner said:-- "i have been thinking, julius, what is best to be done about your education. you are peculiarly situated: you are in age and appearance quite a young man, and i have discovered that you are very observant and have sound common sense; but you know nothing of those things which are esteemed in the world, such as mathematics, accounts, latin, french, and other matters. i don't think it would be pleasant for you to go to a school and mix with other boys, who would be so much younger than you are, but who know so much more. i have decided therefore to secure a private tutor, who will come to this house each morning and work with you till half-past-four. you will, if you are in earnest, progress much more rapidly by this means, and i wish to know when you would like to begin to work." "at once," i replied. "i had thought exactly the same about going to school, and should certainly have been ashamed of myself for knowing so little." "it is no fault of yours," replied my uncle. "you know more of some things than many men learn during the whole of their lives; for whilst others have been acquiring a knowledge of greek, latin, and mathematics, you have learned how to think for yourself and to reason on what you see. it is rare to find a youngster like you as much a philosopher as you are, and all your life you will derive a great advantage from knowing how to do things for yourself." my life now became one of routine; the tutor who came was a comparatively young man, but was a very able teacher. we were more like companions than master and pupil, and when in our leisure hours i had told him of my past life, he took great interest in me. my uncle had a dinner-party about once a week, to which he invited men who were remarkable in some way--authors, artists, men of science, and travellers. i took great interest in such society, and my knowledge of south africa and the private life of the zulus caused me to be listened to with attention whenever i was asked questions. two years passed in this way, and i made such rapid progress that i had become a fair mathematician, understood book-keeping by double entry, had gone through the six books of euclid, could read and write french, and might be said to be well educated. my tutor was surprised at the rapidity with which i acquired knowledge. i, however, attributed it to the cultivation of my powers of observation, which had been developed during the wild life i had led in africa. my uncle at this period informed me that my tutor had told him, that i had made such rapid progress, that there was no necessity for my continuing my studies, and that he now considered it desirable that i should decide what course i should adopt in life. i knew my uncle must have already made up his mind, and so considered it desirable that i should tell him that i had not sufficient experience to make any selection, but would rather follow his advice. "then," said my uncle, "what do you think of coming into my office, and learning the business which i have followed with tolerable success? the army is poor pay, and often great hardship. the indian civil service is better, but i think you are too old for that, and i don't know any other line that would suit you. you can live here with me as long as you find it comfortable, and perhaps in time you may take my place." during the whole of my residence with my uncle i had never been to his office, which i now learned was in fenchurch street; and in a few days i was taken by him and introduced to the head clerk, who, having received instructions from my uncle, took me into an outer office and made me acquainted with four young men who were clerks. these four young men were considerably older than i was, as far as years were concerned, but their manners and conversation soon caused me to look upon them as mere boys; they seemed to have but little powers of reflection, to avoid thinking deeply on any matter, and to endeavour to do as little work as was possible. they indulged greatly in chaff; but, i suppose, from the fact of my being the nephew of their chief, as they termed my uncle, they never chaffed me. i felt but slight inclination for their society, and before i had been a week in the office there was a sort of antagonism between these clerks and myself. my uncle did not seem displeased that i had not become very intimate with these clerks. he asked me one day how i liked them. i replied that i found nothing really to dislike, but they seemed to me particularly foolish, and to be too fond of trifles. my uncle smiled, and said, "the fact is, julius, you are very old, though young in years. the scenes through which you have passed have aged you, and you look for realities in life. the clerks in my office are thoughtless and superficial." it would not interest the reader if i were to describe in detail the life i led during the next three years. it was passed without any important events. i learned the details of my father's life in india from letters received nearly every month from him. i had become thoroughly acquainted with my uncle's business, and obtained a knowledge of the largeness of his transactions. considering what must have been his wealth, i should have been surprised at the quiet way in which he lived, had i not discovered that he had a great dislike to display. he had often expressed the opinion that a man should be more than he seemed, instead of seeming more than he was. this he carried out practically. he lived very comfortably, but even with me in the house could not have spent much more than a thousand pounds a year, whereas his annual income must have been seven or eight times that amount. i had become acquainted with several people in london, all friends of my uncle. to the houses of these i was frequently asked, and great attention was shown me. it seemed to be understood that i should be my uncle's heir; and i knew enough of the ways of the world, to be aware that this fact, had probably more to do with the attention paid me, than any special qualities in myself. i was not, therefore, carried away by such attentions, nor did i become vain in consequence, both dangers to which some young people are liable. i visited everything in london worth seeing, my uncle putting no restrictions on me. he was fond of the opera, and we often attended it together, as also some of the principal theatres. he allowed me an income for my work at the office, and told me that although he did not wish to restrict me as regards anything essential, yet he thought i ought to live within this income. after two years' experience i found i could do so, and one day mentioned to my uncle that i had not only done so, but had saved fifty pounds. but one event occurred during this period, which broke the monotony of civilised life. it was on a sunday afternoon, during the winter time, that my uncle accompanied me, to call on a family who lived on the borders of hampstead heath. some of the members of this family were much interested in my adventures in africa, and i had promised to bring over a knob-kerrie made of the horn of a rhinoceros, to show one of the daughters who was an invalid, and could not visit my uncle's house to see the few african curiosities that i had there. we stayed at this house till it became dusk, and then set out on our walk home. at that date hampstead heath was a lonely place, and robberies were not unfrequent. it occurred to me, soon after we had commenced our walk, that if i were alone i might possibly have an adventure, which i believed would have been amusing. armed as i was with this formidable knob-kerrie, i could have felled an ox; then i had not neglected my running, and i felt certain that not one englishman in a thousand could catch me, in case i chose to run. i did not expect that two men walking across the heath were likely to be stopped by highwaymen. as these ideas crossed my mind, my uncle said, "this heath is rather a dangerous locality to be in late at night: there have been several robberies here lately." "i was just thinking of that," i replied, "but i suppose the robbers don't use firearms." "not if they can help it," said my uncle, "as that would make too much noise." as we wended our way across the heath, i watched carefully the ground in advance. although it was a darkish evening i could still see several yards in front of me. everything was quiet, and we seemed the only people out at the hour. suddenly, from some bushes near the path, three men jumped up, and were at once within a yard of us. "now then," said one of these men, "just hand out what you've got, before we knock your brains out." he had scarcely spoken, before i had lunged at the lower part of his chest with my knob-kerrie, the point of which was sharp as a knife. shifting my hand to the sharp end, i brought the heavy knob down on the head of the man next to me, who fell as though he had been shot. the third man had grappled with my uncle, and the two were struggling together; for my uncle, although old, was still powerful. watching my chance, i dropped my knob-kerrie on the shoulder of the highwayman. his arm fell helplessly to his side; at the same time my uncle struck him with his fist and he fell to the ground. we did not wait to see more, because these men were usually provided with pistols, and after the treatment they had received, we believed they would not be very particular about their use. we therefore moved off as rapidly as we could, and reached home in safety; my uncle little the worse for his struggle, except that his coat was torn. at that date the regular police did not exist, and our report of the affair produced no results. we, the next day, visited the scene of our encounter, and found unmistakable "spoor" of the highwaymen having suffered, as there was a great deal of blood on the ground where the man whom i had struck had fallen. i was much complimented by all my friends, to whom my uncle related the adventure; but i explained to them that such scenes were not new to me, that the life i had formerly led had trained me specially so as not to be surprised or taken at an advantage, and it would be strange indeed if, now that i had come to civilisation, i should forget all my early education. whether it was this adventure, or merely the memory of the past that caused me to become unsettled, yet it was a fact that i had a growing desire to once more visit the country where i had passed such eventful years. in the solitude of my bedroom i used to carry on imaginary conversations in caffre with my old companions, and retraced my career through the various adventures that had occurred. weeks passed without my mentioning this feeling to my uncle; but one evening he was speaking about mr rossmar, when i said that i believed a very profitable trip might be made to natal, where ivory, ostrich-feathers, and leopard-skins could be procured for a few beads or some cheap guns. my uncle remarked that mr rossmar had, curiously enough, suggested the same thing, the difficulty being to find a trustworthy person who knew the country, and who would undertake the business. i at once said, "i could do it myself. i know the country, can speak the language, and should be able to do away with `middle men,'" middle men being the intermediate traders who make their profit by buying cheap and selling dear. "would you like such a trip?" said my uncle. "most certainly i should," i replied. "lately i have thought how much i should like to visit the country again and see some of my old friends there. i am certain that there is a great quantity of ivory in many parts, and ostrich-feathers could be procured, as ostriches are plentiful." "we will think about it," said my uncle, "and perhaps it may be managed." after this conversation i became unsettled. i was always thinking of the wild life i had led, of its freedom from all forms and conventionalities, and the beauty of the country. my uncle said nothing more for some weeks, but again referred one morning to our previous conversation, and asked if i were still willing to pursue my adventures in south africa. he said that i could sail to the cape in one of the ordinary indiamen, and charter at the cape a small vessel which could cross the bar at natal. when this ship was loaded i could return with her to cape town, transfer my goods to an indiaman, and return home. the whole business, he thought, might occupy a year; and, if carefully carried out, ought to be profitable. chapter eighteen. it was a bright fresh morning in april, that--i embarked at gravesend in the full-rigged ship _condor_, bound to the cape and calcutta. the most unpleasant and dangerous portion of the voyage in those days was from gravesend through the downs, and along the channel. sailing ships only then made these long voyages, and they were sometimes detained during many weeks in the downs waiting for a fair wind. then, when sailing in the channel, they often had to beat against a contrary wind the whole way. in my case we were fortunate in having a fair wind nearly the whole way from the downs, until we had entered the bay of biscay. fine weather continued until we were within a few degrees of the equator, when the usual calms stopped us, and we lay broiling on the calm sea during ten days. i caught two rather large sharks, and had a narrow escape from one as i was bathing from a boat near the ship. we reached table bay in sixty-two days after leaving gravesend, which period was considered by no means bad time for a sailing vessel. having cleared my baggage from the ship and custom house, i put up at an hotel at the corner of the parade in cape town, and sent word to my friend, mr rossmar, to say i had arrived. early on the following morning. mr rossmar came to see me, and was at once full of complaints on account of my not having immediately gone to his house, and made it my home. the few years that i had been in england had taught me much as regards the rules of so-called society. in england there was formality and etiquette which did not exist in the colonies, particularly at the cape. friendship in england and at the cape conveyed entirely different meanings. at the latter, a friend's house was almost like your own: you did not think it necessary to wait for a special invitation to go to dinner and take a bed, but if you rode over in the afternoon it was considered unfriendly if you did not stop till the next morning. i had forgotten these conditions, and so had first stopped at an hotel. by noon, however, i had reached mr rossmar's house, and was received as though i had been a long-lost brother. i was surprised, when i saw the miss rossmars, to find that they were more pretty than any girls i had seen in london. they had, too, the great charm of being natural and unaffected, and to be less occupied in seeking admiration than english young ladies. in spite of what i had gone through in the zulu country, i was in reality merely a boy when i formerly stayed at wynberg. now i was a man; and the experience i had gained in society in london had made me capable of judging of the relative merits of that great paradox,--a young lady. a certain portion of the day was occupied in making arrangements for my voyage to natal. i found that a small vessel would sail from table bay in a month's time, and i had made arrangements with the owners to use this vessel almost as if she were my own. i had brought from england quantities of beads of various colours, looking glasses, blankets, and some hundreds of assagy blades that i had caused to be made at birmingham. all these things were, i knew, highly esteemed by the caffres, and would purchase nearly everything they possessed. i was not so busy with my preparations but that i had plenty of time to pass with the miss rossmars. we rode nearly every day, had climbing expeditions up the table mountain, musical afternoons at home when the weather was not suitable for going out, and in fact enjoyed ourselves as people in the colonies alone seem to do. the natural results followed. i became much attached to nina rossmar, but as this is not a love story, but merely an account of my adventures in the wild country of south-eastern africa, i will not weary my readers with the old, old tale, but will merely state that i wrote to my father and uncle, asking their consent to my marriage with nina. these letters i wrote before i started for natal, as i hoped the answers would be awaiting me on my return. the month passed very rapidly, and i embarked at table bay in the little brigantine which was to convey me to natal. i have sailed since that time on many seas, but the roughest i ever experienced is off the cape. well was this cape termed the cape of storms, for there seemed a storm always on hand, and no sooner had the wind been blowing hard in one direction and then stopped, than a gale sprung up from the opposite point of the compass. many times, as the huge waves came rolling towards us and seemed to be about to break over us, i thought nothing could save us from being sent to the bottom, or turned over; but the little vessel, which drew only eight feet of water, was like a duck on the ocean, and though she bounded like a thing of life as the monstrous waves approached and moved under her, she was very dry, scarcely any seas washing over her. we were, however, thirty days on our voyage from table bay to the bluff at natal, and we had to anchor on our first arrival, as the wind was off shore. i scanned the well-known coast as we lay at our anchorage, and recalled the strange scenes through which i had passed. there were the high-wooded bluff on the west entrance to the harbour, the low sandy hillocks to the east, where i had run the gauntlet of the zulus, the dense wood of the berea bush, and the islands in the bay where i had outwitted the zulus, when i was in the boat. now that i was again in the vicinity of these scenes of my early days, i felt in doubt as to whether i was not more a caffre than an englishman. i found myself actually thinking in caffre, and speaking sentences in that language to myself. i noted that there were several houses near the entrance of the harbour and up the bay which did not exist when i left natal. these, i afterwards found, were the houses of some dutchmen who had settled there. the wind having changed the day after our arrival, we entered the bay, having crossed the bar in safety. it seemed strange, after my experiences of civilised life, to come to a place where there was not an hotel, or any house where one could put up. i had, however, made my plans from my knowledge of the country, and had provided myself with waterproof sheeting that i could turn into a small tent, and so was independent of a house. the dutch boer, when he travels, makes his waggon his house, and is thus as independent as an english gipsy. i took the first opportunity of landing, and making the acquaintance of the few dutchmen who resided at natal. my knowledge of the dutch language, which i had acquired at cape town, was now of great use. i thought it prudent not to let the dutchmen know of my experiences in the country, but to be quite independent of them in my future proceedings. i made arrangements for the hire of a pony during my stay in the country, and also two oxen, which had been trained to carry packages and were termed pack-oxen by the boers. i believed that i had so altered that none of my old caffre comrades would recognise me, and i intended to travel among them--at least at first--without letting them know who i was. one of the boers asked me to stay at his house, but i preferred remaining on the ship until i made my start up the country. the first visit i paid was to the kraal of umnini, near the umlass river. i took one of the caffre servants of the boer with me; this caffre could speak dutch, and i wanted to conceal my knowledge of caffre for some time, so i spoke to him in dutch, and asked him to speak in caffre to the caffres. on arriving at the kraal of umnini, i was interested as to whether i should be recognised by these men. during the interval that had elapsed since i was last at the kraal of umnini, i had increased in height, and had developed whiskers; the change in my appearance, therefore, was considerable, and i considered it unlikely that i should be remembered. the caffre with me told the people of the kraal that i was one of the boers, he knowing no better, and that i had come to trade, and wished for leopards' skins and elephants' tusks. several of the men who were present i remembered: these men had been with me often, but although they looked at me very hard they none of them seemed to remember me. having ascertained from my caffre that i could not speak their language, they made their remarks on me very freely. these remarks were complimentary. they said i did not look like a boer, but must be a young chief. "he has the head of a chief," said one man, and the others agreed with him. they also decided that i must be strong and a good runner. these and other similar remarks i listened to with much amusement, but without giving the slightest sign that i understood what they were saying. after a time umnini came to me, and, after looking at me for some time, said, "it is the young white chief of the umzimvubu." the men who had been speaking about me smiled at this remark, and said to umnini, "no, chief, it is not him, it is a young boer." umnini looked at me very attentively, but i gave no sign either of recognising him, or understanding what he said. speaking in dutch to my caffre, i told him to ask the chief if he had any ostrich-feathers, or elephants' tusks, as i wished to buy them. he replied that he had a few tusks, and wanted to know what i would give for them. having brought with me some beads as specimens and a few blades of assagies, i showed him these, but he said that what he wanted was guns. the talking continued for some time, and i at length asked that i might see the tusks. umnini said i could go with him into his kraal where the tusks were kept. we alone entered his hut, and he then pointed to six fine tusks, but believing that i could not understand what he said, he made signs that they belonged to three elephants. having carried my joke far enough, i looked at umnini and said in caffre:-- "chief, you alone were correct and you alone knew me. i _am_ the white chief of the umzimvubus, and i have come back to see you again, and to bring you some things you will like. i am going also to see my own tribe to the west." umnini scarcely seemed surprised, as i told him who i was, but said he had been certain about it when he saw me. our conversation, which had not been heard outside of the hut, had been carried on in a low tone; so no one besides umnini knew who i was. i told him i did not wish to be known at present, and asked him to keep my secret. he agreed to this, and when we crept out of the hut he did his acting splendidly, and spoke to my caffre, asking him to enquire of me what i thought of the tusks. i replied in dutch, saying i would buy them. then bidding good-bye to the people, i returned to the ship. two days afterwards i started with two caffres and a hottentot for my old residence near the umzimvubu. the pony i rode was a good shooting pony, and on the first day i shot two coran and a red bush-buck, which supplied the party with plenty of food. on the second day i reached my old kraal, and was again anxious to see if i should be recognised. i was not long in doubt. inyoni, my old boy-companion, had now grown into a fine young man, and was standing near the entrance to the kraal, watching me and my companions as we advanced. when close to him he looked at me for an instant, and then shouted, "inkosi" (chief), and seized my hand. his shout had brought out all the people who were in the kraal, each of whom recognised me. those whom i had left as boys, and little girls, were now young men and women, and all were delighted to see me. the hottentot and caffres, who had accompanied me from natal, looked on with astonishment, and when they heard me speaking caffre as well as they themselves spoke, they seemed to think it was witchcraft. i had a busy time of it answering all the questions that were put to me by my old friends, who were anxious to know what i had been doing, where i had been, and whether i intended to again live with them. when i told them how i had passed day after day in a room, in the midst of a large city (london), and had rarely seen the sun, and had shot no buck, had not even seen a wild elephant, and had enjoyed no sport, they were astonished how it was i had gone through all this, when i could have come back at any time, and enjoyed the free, happy, exciting life of a chief with them. the arguments used by my old friends have often been considered since that time by me, and the problem is a curious one, whether civilisation, with all its advantages, has not so many drawbacks as to render the wild, free, healthy life of so-called savages preferable. at the date about which i write, there was no sport in the world finer than could be obtained in that part of africa. such sport as fox-hunting in england, deer-stalking in scotland, pheasant, partridge, or grouse shooting, was as inferior to the sport in africa as catching minnows is to salmon-fishing in a fine canadian river. when a man has once followed the track of the giant elephant, through the mazes of an african bush, has come close to his formidable game, has fired at him, and heard the terrific sound of his angry trumpet, as he charges through the bush, he feels that he has enjoyed a class of sport superior to all other. even stealthily approaching and slaying the formidable buffalo, in his forest stronghold, is a sport to be remembered all one's life. to attempt to compare such sport as standing at the corner of a cover, and knocking over pheasants as they fly over you, with the sport formerly obtainable in the forests or on the plains of africa is ridiculous. "why do you not come back to us, and enjoy life?" said tembile;--"you, who could follow the tracks of a buck without a mistake, who could assagy a running buck, and hit with your knob-kerrie a bird on the wing. here you could have plenty of cows, plenty of corn, several wives, and, as you are a chief, you could do all you wanted. what can there be in your country to compare with what we have here?" as i listened to tembile, and reflected on what he said, and then thought of the life i had led in my uncle's office, i really began to think that civilisation was a mistake. what prince or duke in england could go out from his house, and within a few miles get a shot at a wild elephant or buffalo, or walk through as magnificent a forest as that near our kraal, and shoot antelope, or rare and beautiful birds? the freedom, too, of the life here was one of its greatest charms. although the advantages of civilisation are great, yet the price we pay for these is enormous. should i return to england and become a sort of slave to society, or should i remain in africa? was really a question which i thought over frequently. the attraction at wynberg, however, turned the scale. soon after my arrival at my old kraal, i had made inquiries about the white women who had been my fellow-passengers from india, but i found there was a disinclination on the part of the caffres to give me any information about them. i afterwards spoke to tembile about them, because i knew i could trust him to tell me the truth. he said that the caffres were afraid, now that i had been so long among white men, that i might endeavour to take away the white women; so they had been concealed, and i was not to know where they lived. i assured tembile that i had no intentions of that sort, and i believed it would be better for the white women, to now remain with their husbands and children, than for them to return with me. having made various inquiries, i heard that there were more than a dozen elephants' tusks in the kraal near, some of them very heavy, but the caffres had no wish to dispose of their ostrich-feathers. these feathers they used as head-dresses when great dances took place, and were very proud of them. i told the caffres that i wanted as many tusks as i could procure, and, as i had now some very strong guns, i should like to find elephants and shoot them. i had been five days at the kraal of my old friends, when news was brought that the elephants, according to their annual custom were coming westward, and were only a day's journey from our kraal. i therefore assembled all the men whom i had formerly taught to use a gun, and told them that i wished their help in shooting some of the largest elephants. i explained to them that an elephant might be hit by many bullets and yet would not be killed, unless he were struck by the bullet behind the shoulder, or in the chest. i then said that i could give them powder and could make bullets for them, so that they need not expend the store of those which they had carefully preserved in case they were attacked again by the zulus. the caffres expressed their willingness to join me in my shooting expedition, but reminded me that there was as much danger in attacking elephants as there was in a fight with the zulus. i admitted that there was danger, but that, if we were careful, we need none of us get hurt. i had brought with me from england two large-bored double-barrelled guns, which i knew would be well-suited for shooting elephants or other large game, and i had practised with these guns at cape town, and could make nearly certain of hitting a mark the size of a man's head at eighty yards nearly every time i fired. i felt, therefore, great confidence in my weapons, and i intended to take tembile with me when i hunted, and to make him carry my second gun, by which means i could obtain four shots at any one elephant. news was brought us two or three times a day by caffres, as to where the elephants were feeding and what they were doing; so, all our plans being arranged, i started with tembile and four other caffres for that part of the bush where it was thought we should find the elephants. the bush in this part of africa consisted of large trees, about ten or twenty paces apart. between these there was dense matted underwood, so thick and tangled that a man could not force his way through it. from the trees creepers of large size hung in festoons, like large ropes. some of these had projecting from them thorns an inch or more in length, and sharp as a needle. the dense underwood rose to a height of three men, so that it was in many places impossible to see round you a greater distance than you could reach with an assagy. the only means of moving through the bush in these dense parts was by following the paths made by the elephants. when a herd of these animals had been for any length of time in the bush, they made so many paths that it was easy to move about in the bush; but the growth of the vegetation was so rapid, that a few weeks after the elephants had left the bush it had again overgrown the old paths, and was once more impenetrable. elephants usually left the thick bush during the night or very early in the morning; they would then roam about in the open country, and drink at some stream or pond. when possible, they would roll in the wet mud, like pigs; then, as day broke, they would re-enter the bush, seek the densest parts, and there remain quiet during the heat of the day. i had decided that the best chance of success with the elephants would be to follow them into the bush, come upon them during the middle of the day, and get our shots at them as they stood half sleeping in the bush. the caffres, i knew, could walk so quietly in the bush, that, if we were careful about the direction of the wind, we might approach the herd without their being aware that an enemy was near them. a day's journey brought our party to the country where the elephants had now taken up their residence. the caffres near were most anxious about their crops, for they expected the elephants would come some night and eat up, or trample down their corn. we found that the elephants had not drank during the previous day; so we felt sure they would drink during the coming night. some large ponds near the edge of the bush was the place where it was expected they would satisfy their thirst, so we sent some caffre boys to keep watch near these ponds, and to let us know the news as soon as possible. the sun had not risen on the following morning when our spies came into the kraal, and told us that the elephants were now drinking and rolling at these ponds; that there were nearly a hundred of them; and, among these, three enormous bull-elephants, with tusks nearly as long as an assagy. this news was very gratifying. so, after we had eaten our breakfasts and taken some corn with us, we started for the bush. we examined the footprints and marks made by the animals, and could easily distinguish those made by the three large bulls. to follow these tracks into the forest was easy. the bush-path was clear and well trodden; so we moved on silently, but not too quickly. when we were some distance in the bush, we heard the trumpet of an elephant; and i came to the conclusion that we were now within half a mile of our formidable game. having sat down and talked in whispers for some time, we then slowly advanced, peeping through the bush whenever any opening gave us a chance of doing so. i was leading, and was followed by tembile, who carried my second gun; then the other men came after, each stepping on the same spot, so that we incurred but slight risk of treading on any dried stick, for to crack a stick in the bush would have given the elephants warning of our approach. suddenly tembile touched my shoulder, and, on my looking round, he pointed to my right, and then stood motionless. on looking in the direction at which tembile was pointing, i saw an enormous elephant standing motionless and broadside to me, and not ten paces distant. signalling to two of the caffres to approach, i pointed to the elephant's shoulder, and, raising my gun, fired my two barrels in quick succession. each of the caffres fired a shot, then we turned and rushed down the path up which we had advanced. for an instant there was no sound except the echoes of our guns. then the most tremendous screams and trumpetings were given by some fifty elephants, and we heard the branches of the trees snapping like a succession of rifle-shots. we could not tell at first in which direction the elephants were moving, the noise of the broken branches coming from all around us. after a time, however, we learned from the sounds that the herd was moving away from us. having reloaded my gun, we advanced with great caution to the spot from which we had fired. the elephant was not there, but his tracks were quite distinct. he had rushed forward through the bush, and had carried everything before him--trees being carried away as though they were mere sticks. a few paces from where he had stood we found blood in abundance, and from the appearance of this blood the caffres assured me the monster must soon die. it was dangerous work following this wounded elephant, because he would be more savage now than at any time; so we had to advance with great caution. we had not gone far, however, before we saw him leaning against a tree, swinging his trunk about, and swaying his huge body. the caffres told me not to fire, as he must soon fall, and to fire would disturb the remainder of the herd. we waited only a short time, when the elephant slipped down and remained quiet. tembile cautiously approached it and signalled to us that it was dead. we had no fear of the game being carried off, so we left it in the bush and again followed the remainder of the herd. when elephants have been alarmed they rush away through the bush for about a mile, then stop and become very cautious; to approach them requires the greatest care, as they are then on the watch, and, their scent and hearing being both very acute, the approach of a man is soon discovered. the traces of the elephants were easily followed, and we knew when we were close to them by the rumbling noise we heard. a large elephant was soon seen, standing flapping his large ears, and with his trunk raised so as to scent the air; but our approach had been so cautious that the animal had not discovered us, and he received eight bullets behind the shoulder before he had time to move. he did not charge as we expected, but ran only a few yards and then dropped. two large-tusked elephants were thus killed, but we wanted two more; for we had seen by the footprints that there were two other large bulls in this herd. during the whole of this and the following day we followed the herd, and killed five large elephants, all with magnificent tusks. such sport i was aware i should never again enjoy, and so i made the most of it. after four days the whole of this ivory was conveyed to natal bay, and i had bid my old friends good-bye. i hardly liked parting with them, and held out hopes that i would again return to their country; i feared, however, that i should not be able to do so, for when once settled in england it would be difficult for me to leave. on my return to natal, i found the dutchman who was there had collected several large tusks, and also many hundred ostrich-feathers, so that i had a large stock to carry back to cape town. my voyage to cape town was rapid, a fair wind all the way; and in seven days after leaving natal, i was once more at wynberg, and at the house of my friends. i found letters there both from my father and uncle, in both of which consent was given to my marriage with miss rossmar. after a month's residence at cape town we were married, and started for england. fair winds and fine weather favoured us, and in sixty days after leaving cape town we reached england. my life now became one of comparative monotony. i worked with my uncle, and after a time succeeded him in his business. money was plentiful: my wife possessed a good fortune, and my uncle at his death left me all his property, which was considerable. i owned a house in london and also one in the country; in the vicinity of the latter there is what is called in england good sport--partridges, pheasants, hares, and rabbits being numerous. but such sport was to me dull and uninteresting; i was always remembering my sport in africa, and had a longing for again roaming through an african forest in search of large game; but civilisation had advanced in south africa, and i heard that where i had followed the tracks of elephants, sugar plantations and corn-fields now existed, and that even the caffres had lost their simplicity, and were now in that disagreeable condition of being half-civilised. my father had retired from the indian service, and had taken a pretty house in the country near me, but was often complaining of the climate and habits of england. to him india was the most charming country in the world, and the servants in india were the very best. still he managed to enjoy himself and passed much of his time with me, listening to my account of the incidents that had happened to me in africa. i had missed in my early youth the training usually given to gentlemen's sons: i knew but little greek or latin; of history i was ignorant; of mathematics i had but a superficial knowledge. yet my early training had been of a very practical kind, and was of benefit to me in after-life. i had learned to rough it in my youth, and to do everything for myself. although i kept many servants, yet i was not dependent on these, as most people are in civilised countries. i could, if required, light my own fire and cook my own meals, and i should have felt it no hardship to do either. although i fully appreciated the advantage of a large and well-furnished house, yet i could have been quite happy in a hut no bigger than a caffre kraal. and i had learned the great secret, that if we curtail our wants, we arrive at the same result, as though we increased our income. my wants were few, and these i had ample means of supplying. instead of working on at my late uncle's business till i became too old to enjoy freedom, i gave up the business whilst i was still comparatively young, and devoted my attention to various subjects in which i was interested; so that, although my early education had been very different from that of most boys, it had been of a thoroughly practical kind. i had learned self-dependence and could help myself, and envied no man. i watched with interest the changes that took place in south africa, and my only regret was, in seeing how affairs were managed out there by those who seemed utterly ignorant of everything connected with the country and the people. i sometimes offered suggestions when it appealed that catastrophes must occur if matters went on as they were going. my opinions were ignored, and the disasters occurred, but such results are not unusual. my career as a white chief of the caffres was not without its charms to me, both during its existence and now as a reminiscence; and i trust it may have afforded amusement to my young readers. prester john by john buchan to lionel phillips time, they say, must the best of us capture, and travel and battle and gems and gold no more can kindle the ancient rapture, for even the youngest of hearts grows old. but in you, i think, the boy is not over; so take this medley of ways and wars as the gift of a friend and a fellow-lover of the fairest country under the stars. j. b. contents i. the man on the kirkcaple shore ii. furth! fortune! iii. blaauwildebeestefontein iv. my journey to the winter-veld v. mr wardlaw has a premonition vi. the drums beat at sunset vii. captain arcoll tells a tale viii. i fall in again with the reverend john laputa ix. the store at umvelos' x. i go treasure-hunting xi. the cave of the rooirand xii. captain arcoll sends a message xiii. the drift of the letaba xiv. i carry the collar of prester john xv. morning in the berg xvi. inanda's kraal xvii. a deal and its consequences xviii. how a man may sometimes put his trust in a horse xix. arcoll's shepherding xx. my last sight of the reverend john laputa xxi. i climb the crags a second time xxii. a great peril and a great salvation xxiii. my uncle's gift is many times multiplied chapter i the man on the kirkcaple shore i mind as if it were yesterday my first sight of the man. little i knew at the time how big the moment was with destiny, or how often that face seen in the fitful moonlight would haunt my sleep and disturb my waking hours. but i mind yet the cold grue of terror i got from it, a terror which was surely more than the due of a few truant lads breaking the sabbath with their play. the town of kirkcaple, of which and its adjacent parish of portincross my father was the minister, lies on a hillside above the little bay of caple, and looks squarely out on the north sea. round the horns of land which enclose the bay the coast shows on either side a battlement of stark red cliffs through which a burn or two makes a pass to the water's edge. the bay itself is ringed with fine clean sands, where we lads of the burgh school loved to bathe in the warm weather. but on long holidays the sport was to go farther afield among the cliffs; for there there were many deep caves and pools, where podleys might be caught with the line, and hid treasures sought for at the expense of the skin of the knees and the buttons of the trousers. many a long saturday i have passed in a crinkle of the cliffs, having lit a fire of driftwood, and made believe that i was a smuggler or a jacobite new landed from france. there was a band of us in kirkcaple, lads of my own age, including archie leslie, the son of my father's session-clerk, and tam dyke, the provost's nephew. we were sealed to silence by the blood oath, and we bore each the name of some historic pirate or sailorman. i was paul jones, tam was captain kidd, and archie, need i say it, was morgan himself. our tryst was a cave where a little water called the dyve burn had cut its way through the cliffs to the sea. there we forgathered in the summer evenings and of a saturday afternoon in winter, and told mighty tales of our prowess and flattered our silly hearts. but the sober truth is that our deeds were of the humblest, and a dozen of fish or a handful of apples was all our booty, and our greatest exploit a fight with the roughs at the dyve tan-work. my father's spring communion fell on the last sabbath of april, and on the particular sabbath of which i speak the weather was mild and bright for the time of year. i had been surfeited with the thursday's and saturday's services, and the two long diets of worship on the sabbath were hard for a lad of twelve to bear with the spring in his bones and the sun slanting through the gallery window. there still remained the service on the sabbath evening--a doleful prospect, for the rev. mr murdoch of kilchristie, noted for the length of his discourses, had exchanged pulpits with my father. so my mind was ripe for the proposal of archie leslie, on our way home to tea, that by a little skill we might give the kirk the slip. at our communion the pews were emptied of their regular occupants and the congregation seated itself as it pleased. the manse seat was full of the kirkcaple relations of mr murdoch, who had been invited there by my mother to hear him, and it was not hard to obtain permission to sit with archie and tam dyke in the cock-loft in the gallery. word was sent to tam, and so it happened that three abandoned lads duly passed the plate and took their seats in the cock-loft. but when the bell had done jowing, and we heard by the sounds of their feet that the elders had gone in to the kirk, we slipped down the stairs and out of the side door. we were through the churchyard in a twinkling, and hot-foot on the road to the dyve burn. it was the fashion of the genteel in kirkcaple to put their boys into what were known as eton suits--long trousers, cut-away jackets, and chimney-pot hats. i had been one of the earliest victims, and well i remember how i fled home from the sabbath school with the snowballs of the town roughs rattling off my chimney-pot. archie had followed, his family being in all things imitators of mine. we were now clothed in this wearisome garb, so our first care was to secrete safely our hats in a marked spot under some whin bushes on the links. tam was free from the bondage of fashion, and wore his ordinary best knickerbockers. from inside his jacket he unfolded his special treasure, which was to light us on our expedition--an evil-smelling old tin lantern with a shutter. tam was of the free kirk persuasion, and as his communion fell on a different day from ours, he was spared the bondage of church attendance from which archie and i had revolted. but notable events had happened that day in his church. a black man, the rev. john something-or-other, had been preaching. tam was full of the portent. 'a nagger,' he said, 'a great black chap as big as your father, archie.' he seemed to have banged the bookboard with some effect, and had kept tam, for once in his life, awake. he had preached about the heathen in africa, and how a black man was as good as a white man in the sight of god, and he had forecast a day when the negroes would have something to teach the british in the way of civilization. so at any rate ran the account of tam dyke, who did not share the preacher's views. 'it's all nonsense, davie. the bible says that the children of ham were to be our servants. if i were the minister i wouldn't let a nigger into the pulpit. i wouldn't let him farther than the sabbath school.' night fell as we came to the broomy spaces of the links, and ere we had breasted the slope of the neck which separates kirkcaple bay from the cliffs it was as dark as an april evening with a full moon can be. tam would have had it darker. he got out his lantern, and after a prodigious waste of matches kindled the candle-end inside, turned the dark shutter, and trotted happily on. we had no need of his lighting till the dyve burn was reached and the path began to descend steeply through the rift in the crags. it was here we found that some one had gone before us. archie was great in those days at tracking, his ambition running in indian paths. he would walk always with his head bent and his eyes on the ground, whereby he several times found lost coins and once a trinket dropped by the provost's wife. at the edge of the burn, where the path turns downward, there is a patch of shingle washed up by some spate. archie was on his knees in a second. 'lads,' he cried, 'there's spoor here;' and then after some nosing, 'it's a man's track, going downward, a big man with flat feet. it's fresh, too, for it crosses the damp bit of gravel, and the water has scarcely filled the holes yet.' we did not dare to question archie's woodcraft, but it puzzled us who the stranger could be. in summer weather you might find a party of picnickers here, attracted by the fine hard sands at the burn mouth. but at this time of night and season of the year there was no call for any one to be trespassing on our preserves. no fishermen came this way, the lobster-pots being all to the east, and the stark headland of the red neb made the road to them by the water's edge difficult. the tan-work lads used to come now and then for a swim, but you would not find a tan-work lad bathing on a chill april night. yet there was no question where our precursor had gone. he was making for the shore. tam unshuttered his lantern, and the steps went clearly down the corkscrew path. 'maybe he is after our cave. we'd better go cannily.' the glim was dowsed--the words were archie's--and in the best contraband manner we stole down the gully. the business had suddenly taken an eerie turn, and i think in our hearts we were all a little afraid. but tam had a lantern, and it would never do to turn back from an adventure which had all the appearance of being the true sort. half way down there is a scrog of wood, dwarf alders and hawthorn, which makes an arch over the path. i, for one, was glad when we got through this with no worse mishap than a stumble from tam which caused the lantern door to fly open and the candle to go out. we did not stop to relight it, but scrambled down the screes till we came to the long slabs of reddish rock which abutted on the beach. we could not see the track, so we gave up the business of scouts, and dropped quietly over the big boulder and into the crinkle of cliff which we called our cave. there was nobody there, so we relit the lantern and examined our properties. two or three fishing-rods for the burn, much damaged by weather; some sea-lines on a dry shelf of rock; a couple of wooden boxes; a pile of driftwood for fires, and a heap of quartz in which we thought we had found veins of gold--such was the modest furnishing of our den. to this i must add some broken clay pipes, with which we made believe to imitate our elders, smoking a foul mixture of coltsfoot leaves and brown paper. the band was in session, so following our ritual we sent out a picket. tam was deputed to go round the edge of the cliff from which the shore was visible, and report if the coast was clear. he returned in three minutes, his eyes round with amazement in the lantern light. 'there's a fire on the sands,' he repeated, 'and a man beside it.' here was news indeed. without a word we made for the open, archie first, and tam, who had seized and shuttered his lantern, coming last. we crawled to the edge of the cliff and peered round, and there sure enough, on the hard bit of sand which the tide had left by the burn mouth, was a twinkle of light and a dark figure. the moon was rising, and besides there was that curious sheen from the sea which you will often notice in spring. the glow was maybe a hundred yards distant, a little spark of fire i could have put in my cap, and, from its crackling and smoke, composed of dry seaweed and half-green branches from the burnside thickets. a man's figure stood near it, and as we looked it moved round and round the fire in circles which first of all widened and then contracted. the sight was so unexpected, so beyond the beat of our experience, that we were all a little scared. what could this strange being want with a fire at half-past eight of an april sabbath night on the dyve burn sands? we discussed the thing in whispers behind a boulder, but none of us had any solution. 'belike he's come ashore in a boat,' said archie. 'he's maybe a foreigner.' but i pointed out that, from the tracks which archie himself had found, the man must have come overland down the cliffs. tam was clear he was a madman, and was for withdrawing promptly from the whole business. but some spell kept our feet tied there in that silent world of sand and moon and sea. i remember looking back and seeing the solemn, frowning faces of the cliffs, and feeling somehow shut in with this unknown being in a strange union. what kind of errand had brought this interloper into our territory? for a wonder i was less afraid than curious. i wanted to get to the heart of the matter, and to discover what the man was up to with his fire and his circles. the same thought must have been in archie's head, for he dropped on his belly and began to crawl softly seawards. i followed, and tam, with sundry complaints, crept after my heels. between the cliffs and the fire lay some sixty yards of _débris_ and boulders above the level of all but the high spring tides. beyond lay a string of seaweedy pools and then the hard sands of the burnfoot. there was excellent cover among the big stones, and apart from the distance and the dim light, the man by the fire was too preoccupied in his task to keep much look-out towards the land. i remember thinking he had chosen his place well, for save from the sea he could not be seen. the cliffs are so undercut that unless a watcher on the coast were on their extreme edge he would not see the burnfoot sands. archie, the skilled tracker, was the one who all but betrayed us. his knee slipped on the seaweed, and he rolled off a boulder, bringing down with him a clatter of small stones. we lay as still as mice, in terror lest the man should have heard the noise and have come to look for the cause. by-and-by when i ventured to raise my head above a flat-topped stone i saw that he was undisturbed. the fire still burned, and he was pacing round it. on the edge of the pools was an outcrop of red sandstone much fissured by the sea. here was an excellent vantage-ground, and all three of us curled behind it, with our eyes just over the edge. the man was not twenty yards off, and i could see clearly what manner of fellow he was. for one thing he was huge of size, or so he seemed to me in the half-light. he wore nothing but a shirt and trousers, and i could hear by the flap of his feet on the sand that he was barefoot. suddenly tam dyke gave a gasp of astonishment. 'gosh, it's the black minister!' he said. it was indeed a black man, as we saw when the moon came out of a cloud. his head was on his breast, and he walked round the fire with measured, regular steps. at intervals he would stop and raise both hands to the sky, and bend his body in the direction of the moon. but he never uttered a word. 'it's magic,' said archie. 'he's going to raise satan. we must bide here and see what happens, for he'll grip us if we try to go back. the moon's ower high.' the procession continued as if to some slow music. i had been in no fear of the adventure back there by our cave; but now that i saw the thing from close at hand, my courage began to ebb. there was something desperately uncanny about this great negro, who had shed his clerical garments, and was now practising some strange magic alone by the sea. i had no doubt it was the black art, for there was that in the air and the scene which spelled the unlawful. as we watched, the circles stopped, and the man threw something on the fire. a thick smoke rose of which we could feel the aromatic scent, and when it was gone the flame burned with a silvery blueness like moonlight. still no sound came from the minister, but he took something from his belt, and began to make odd markings in the sand between the inner circle and the fire. as he turned, the moon gleamed on the implement, and we saw it was a great knife. we were now scared in real earnest. here were we, three boys, at night in a lonely place a few yards from a savage with a knife. the adventure was far past my liking, and even the intrepid archie was having qualms, if i could judge from his set face. as for tam, his teeth were chattering like a threshing-mill. suddenly i felt something soft and warm on the rock at my right hand. i felt again, and, lo! it was the man's clothes. there were his boots and socks, his minister's coat and his minister's hat. this made the predicament worse, for if we waited till he finished his rites we should for certain be found by him. at the same time, to return over the boulders in the bright moonlight seemed an equally sure way to discovery. i whispered to archie, who was for waiting a little longer. 'something may turn up,' he said. it was always his way. i do not know what would have turned up, for we had no chance of testing it. the situation had proved too much for the nerves of tam dyke. as the man turned towards us in his bowings and bendings, tam suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted at him a piece of schoolboy rudeness then fashionable in kirkcaple. 'wha called ye partan-face, my bonny man?' then, clutching his lantern, he ran for dear life, while archie and i raced at his heels. as i turned i had a glimpse of a huge figure, knife in hand, bounding towards us. though i only saw it in the turn of a head, the face stamped itself indelibly upon my mind. it was black, black as ebony, but it was different from the ordinary negro. there were no thick lips and flat nostrils; rather, if i could trust my eyes, the nose was high-bridged, and the lines of the mouth sharp and firm. but it was distorted into an expression of such a devilish fury and amazement that my heart became like water. we had a start, as i have said, of some twenty or thirty yards. among the boulders we were not at a great disadvantage, for a boy can flit quickly over them, while a grown man must pick his way. archie, as ever, kept his wits the best of us. 'make straight for the burn,' he shouted in a hoarse whisper; we'll beat him on the slope.' we passed the boulders and slithered over the outcrop of red rock and the patches of sea-pink till we reached the channel of the dyve water, which flows gently among pebbles after leaving the gully. here for the first time i looked back and saw nothing. i stopped involuntarily, and that halt was nearly my undoing. for our pursuer had reached the burn before us, but lower down, and was coming up its bank to cut us off. at most times i am a notable coward, and in these days i was still more of one, owing to a quick and easily-heated imagination. but now i think i did a brave thing, though more by instinct than resolution. archie was running first, and had already splashed through the burn; tam came next, just about to cross, and the black man was almost at his elbow. another second and tam would have been in his clutches had i not yelled out a warning and made straight up the bank of the burn. tam fell into the pool--i could hear his spluttering cry--but he got across; for i heard archie call to him, and the two vanished into the thicket which clothes all the left bank of the gully. the pursuer, seeing me on his own side of the water, followed straight on; and before i knew it had become a race between the two of us. i was hideously frightened, but not without hope, for the screes and shelves of this right side of the gully were known to me from many a day's exploring. i was light on my feet and uncommonly sound in wind, being by far the best long-distance runner in kirkcaple. if i could only keep my lead till i reached a certain corner i knew of, i could outwit my enemy; for it was possible from that place to make a detour behind a waterfall and get into a secret path of ours among the bushes. i flew up the steep screes, not daring to look round; but at the top, where the rocks begin, i had a glimpse of my pursuer. the man could run. heavy in build though he was he was not six yards behind me, and i could see the white of his eyes and the red of his gums. i saw something else--a glint of white metal in his hand. he still had his knife. fear sent me up the rocks like a seagull, and i scrambled and leaped, making for the corner i knew of. something told me that the pursuit was slackening, and for a moment i halted to look round. a second time a halt was nearly the end of me. a great stone flew through the air, and took the cliff an inch from my head, half-blinding me with splinters. and now i began to get angry. i pulled myself into cover, skirted a rock till i came to my corner, and looked back for the enemy. there he was scrambling by the way i had come, and making a prodigious clatter among the stones. i picked up a loose bit of rock and hurled it with all my force in his direction. it broke before it reached him, but a considerable lump, to my joy, took him full in the face. then my terrors revived. i slipped behind the waterfall and was soon in the thicket, and toiling towards the top. i think this last bit was the worst in the race, for my strength was failing, and i seemed to hear those horrid steps at my heels. my heart was in my mouth as, careless of my best clothes, i tore through the hawthorn bushes. then i struck the path and, to my relief, came on archie and tam, who were running slowly in desperate anxiety about my fate. we then took hands and soon reached the top of the gully. for a second we looked back. the pursuit had ceased, and far down the burn we could hear the sounds as of some one going back to the sands. 'your face is bleeding, davie. did he get near enough to hit you?' archie asked. 'he hit me with a stone. but i gave him better. he's got a bleeding nose to remember this night by.' we did not dare take the road by the links, but made for the nearest human habitation. this was a farm about half a mile inland, and when we reached it we lay down by the stack-yard gate and panted. 'i've lost my lantern,' said tam. 'the big black brute! see if i don't tell my father.' 'ye'll do nothing of the kind,' said archie fiercely. 'he knows nothing about us and can't do us any harm. but if the story got out and he found out who we were, he'd murder the lot of us.' he made us swear secrecy, which we were willing enough to do, seeing very clearly the sense in his argument. then we struck the highroad and trotted back at our best pace to kirkcaple, fear of our families gradually ousting fear of pursuit. in our excitement archie and i forgot about our sabbath hats, reposing quietly below a whin bush on the links. we were not destined to escape without detection. as ill luck would have it, mr murdoch had been taken ill with the stomach-ache after the second psalm, and the congregation had been abruptly dispersed. my mother had waited for me at the church door, and, seeing no signs of her son, had searched the gallery. then the truth came out, and, had i been only for a mild walk on the links, retribution would have overtaken my truantry. but to add to this i arrived home with a scratched face, no hat, and several rents in my best trousers. i was well cuffed and sent to bed, with the promise of full-dress chastisement when my father should come home in the morning. my father arrived before breakfast next day, and i was duly and soundly whipped. i set out for school with aching bones to add to the usual depression of monday morning. at the corner of the nethergate i fell in with archie, who was staring at a trap carrying two men which was coming down the street. it was the free church minister--he had married a rich wife and kept a horse--driving the preacher of yesterday to the railway station. archie and i were in behind a doorpost in a twinkling, so that we could see in safety the last of our enemy. he was dressed in minister's clothes, with a heavy fur-coat and a brand new yellow-leather gladstone bag. he was talking loudly as he passed, and the free church minister seemed to be listening attentively. i heard his deep voice saying something about the 'work of god in this place.' but what i noticed specially--and the sight made me forget my aching hinder parts--was that he had a swollen eye, and two strips of sticking-plaster on his cheek. chapter ii furth! fortune! in this plain story of mine there will be so many wild doings ere the end is reached, that i beg my reader's assent to a prosaic digression. i will tell briefly the things which happened between my sight of the man on the kirkcaple sands and my voyage to africa. i continued for three years at the burgh school, where my progress was less notable in my studies than in my sports. one by one i saw my companions pass out of idle boyhood and be set to professions. tam dyke on two occasions ran off to sea in the dutch schooners which used to load with coal in our port; and finally his father gave him his will, and he was apprenticed to the merchant service. archie leslie, who was a year my elder, was destined for the law, so he left kirkcaple for an edinburgh office, where he was also to take out classes at the college. i remained on at school till i sat alone by myself in the highest class--a position of little dignity and deep loneliness. i had grown a tall, square-set lad, and my prowess at rugby football was renowned beyond the parishes of kirkcaple and portincross. to my father i fear i was a disappointment. he had hoped for something in his son more bookish and sedentary, more like his gentle, studious self. on one thing i was determined: i should follow a learned profession. the fear of being sent to an office, like so many of my schoolfellows, inspired me to the little progress i ever made in my studies. i chose the ministry, not, i fear, out of any reverence for the sacred calling, but because my father had followed it before me. accordingly i was sent at the age of sixteen for a year's finishing at the high school of edinburgh, and the following winter began my arts course at the university. if fate had been kinder to me, i think i might have become a scholar. at any rate i was just acquiring a taste for philosophy and the dead languages when my father died suddenly of a paralytic shock, and i had to set about earning a living. my mother was left badly off, for my poor father had never been able to save much from his modest stipend. when all things were settled, it turned out that she might reckon on an income of about fifty pounds a year. this was not enough to live on, however modest the household, and certainly not enough to pay for the colleging of a son. at this point an uncle of hers stepped forward with a proposal. he was a well-to-do bachelor, alone in the world, and he invited my mother to live with him and take care of his house. for myself he proposed a post in some mercantile concern, for he had much influence in the circles of commerce. there was nothing for it but to accept gratefully. we sold our few household goods, and moved to his gloomy house in dundas street. a few days later he announced at dinner that he had found for me a chance which might lead to better things. 'you see, davie,' he explained, 'you don't know the rudiments of business life. there's no house in the country that would take you in except as a common clerk, and you would never earn much more than a hundred pounds a year all your days. if you want to better your future you must go abroad, where white men are at a premium. by the mercy of providence i met yesterday an old friend, thomas mackenzie, who was seeing his lawyer about an estate he is bidding for. he is the head of one of the biggest trading and shipping concerns in the world--mackenzie, mure, and oldmeadows--you may have heard the name. among other things he has half the stores in south africa, where they sell everything from bibles to fish-hooks. apparently they like men from home to manage the stores, and to make a long story short, when i put your case to him, he promised you a place. i had a wire from him this morning confirming the offer. you are to be assistant storekeeper at--' (my uncle fumbled in his pocket, and then read from the yellow slip) 'at blaauwildebeestefontein. there's a mouthful for you.' in this homely way i first heard of a place which was to be the theatre of so many strange doings. 'it's a fine chance for you,' my uncle continued. 'you'll only be assistant at first, but when you have learned your job you'll have a store of your own. mackenzie's people will pay you three hundred pounds a year, and when you get a store you'll get a percentage on sales. it lies with you to open up new trade among the natives. i hear that blaauw--something or other, is in the far north of the transvaal, and i see from the map that it is in a wild, hilly country. you may find gold or diamonds up there, and come back and buy portincross house.' my uncle rubbed his hands and smiled cheerily. truth to tell i was both pleased and sad. if a learned profession was denied me i vastly preferred a veld store to an edinburgh office stool. had i not been still under the shadow of my father's death i might have welcomed the chance of new lands and new folk. as it was, i felt the loneliness of an exile. that afternoon i walked on the braid hills, and when i saw in the clear spring sunlight the coast of fife, and remembered kirkcaple and my boyish days, i could have found it in me to sit down and cry. a fortnight later i sailed. my mother bade me a tearful farewell, and my uncle, besides buying me an outfit and paying my passage money, gave me a present of twenty sovereigns. 'you'll not be your mother's son, davie,' were his last words, 'if you don't come home with it multiplied by a thousand.' i thought at the time that i would give more than twenty thousand pounds to be allowed to bide on the windy shores of forth. i sailed from southampton by an intermediate steamer, and went steerage to save expense. happily my acute homesickness was soon forgotten in another kind of malady. it blew half a gale before we were out of the channel, and by the time we had rounded ushant it was as dirty weather as ever i hope to see. i lay mortal sick in my bunk, unable to bear the thought of food, and too feeble to lift my head. i wished i had never left home, but so acute was my sickness that if some one had there and then offered me a passage back or an immediate landing on shore i should have chosen the latter. it was not till we got into the fair-weather seas around madeira that i recovered enough to sit on deck and observe my fellow-passengers. there were some fifty of us in the steerage, mostly wives and children going to join relations, with a few emigrant artisans and farmers. i early found a friend in a little man with a yellow beard and spectacles, who sat down beside me and remarked on the weather in a strong scotch accent. he turned out to be a mr wardlaw from aberdeen, who was going out to be a schoolmaster. he was a man of good education, who had taken a university degree, and had taught for some years as an under-master in a school in his native town. but the east winds had damaged his lungs, and he had been glad to take the chance of a poorly paid country school in the veld. when i asked him where he was going i was amazed to be told, 'blaauwildebeestefontein.' mr wardlaw was a pleasant little man, with a sharp tongue but a cheerful temper. he laboured all day at primers of the dutch and kaffir languages, but in the evening after supper he would walk with me on the after-deck and discuss the future. like me, he knew nothing of the land he was going to, but he was insatiably curious, and he affected me with his interest. 'this place, blaauwildebeestefontein,' he used to say, 'is among the zoutpansberg mountains, and as far as i can see, not above ninety miles from the railroad. it looks from the map a well-watered country, and the agent-general in london told me it was healthy or i wouldn't have taken the job. it seems we'll be in the heart of native reserves up there, for here's a list of chiefs--'mpefu, sikitola, majinje, magata; and there are no white men living to the east of us because of the fever. the name means the "spring of the blue wildebeeste," whatever fearsome animal that may be. it sounds like a place for adventure, mr crawfurd. you'll exploit the pockets of the black men and i'll see what i can do with their minds.' there was another steerage passenger whom i could not help observing because of my dislike of his appearance. he, too, was a little man, by name henriques, and in looks the most atrocious villain i have ever clapped eyes on. he had a face the colour of french mustard--a sort of dirty green--and bloodshot, beady eyes with the whites all yellowed with fever. he had waxed moustaches, and a curious, furtive way of walking and looking about him. we of the steerage were careless in our dress, but he was always clad in immaculate white linen, with pointed, yellow shoes to match his complexion. he spoke to no one, but smoked long cheroots all day in the stern of the ship, and studied a greasy pocket-book. once i tripped over him in the dark, and he turned on me with a snarl and an oath. i was short enough with him in return, and he looked as if he could knife me. 'i'll wager that fellow has been a slave-driver in his time,' i told mr wardlaw, who said, 'god pity his slaves, then.' and now i come to the incident which made the rest of the voyage pass all too soon for me, and foreshadowed the strange events which were to come. it was the day after we crossed the line, and the first-class passengers were having deck sports. a tug-of-war had been arranged between the three classes, and a half-dozen of the heaviest fellows in the steerage, myself included, were invited to join. it was a blazing hot afternoon, but on the saloon deck there were awnings and a cool wind blowing from the bows. the first-class beat the second easily, and after a tremendous struggle beat the steerage also. then they regaled us with iced-drinks and cigars to celebrate the victory. i was standing at the edge of the crowd of spectators, when my eye caught a figure which seemed to have little interest in our games. a large man in clerical clothes was sitting on a deck-chair reading a book. there was nothing novel about the stranger, and i cannot explain the impulse which made me wish to see his face. i moved a few steps up the deck, and then i saw that his skin was black. i went a little farther, and suddenly he raised his eyes from his book and looked round. it was the face of the man who had terrified me years ago on the kirkcaple shore. i spent the rest of the day in a brown study. it was clear to me that some destiny had prearranged this meeting. here was this man travelling prosperously as a first-class passenger with all the appurtenances of respectability. i alone had seen him invoking strange gods in the moonlight, i alone knew of the devilry in his heart, and i could not but believe that some day or other there might be virtue in that knowledge. the second engineer and i had made friends, so i got him to consult the purser's list for the name of my acquaintance. he was down as the rev. john laputa, and his destination was durban. the next day being sunday, who should appear to address us steerage passengers but the black minister. he was introduced by the captain himself, a notably pious man, who spoke of the labours of his brother in the dark places of heathendom. some of us were hurt in our pride in being made the target of a black man's oratory. especially mr henriques, whose skin spoke of the tar-brush, protested with oaths against the insult. finally he sat down on a coil of rope, and spat scornfully in the vicinity of the preacher. for myself i was intensely curious, and not a little impressed. the man's face was as commanding as his figure, and his voice was the most wonderful thing that ever came out of human mouth. it was full and rich, and gentle, with the tones of a great organ. he had none of the squat and preposterous negro lineaments, but a hawk nose like an arab, dark flashing eyes, and a cruel and resolute mouth. he was black as my hat, but for the rest he might have sat for a figure of a crusader. i do not know what the sermon was about, though others told me that it was excellent. all the time i watched him, and kept saying to myself, 'you hunted me up the dyve burn, but i bashed your face for you.' indeed, i thought i could see faint scars on his cheek. the following night i had toothache, and could not sleep. it was too hot to breathe under cover, so i got up, lit a pipe, and walked on the after-deck to ease the pain. the air was very still, save for the whish of water from the screws and the steady beat of the engines. above, a great yellow moon looked down on me, and a host of pale stars. the moonlight set me remembering the old affair of the dyve burn, and my mind began to run on the rev. john laputa. it pleased me to think that i was on the track of some mystery of which i alone had the clue. i promised myself to search out the antecedents of the minister when i got to durban, for i had a married cousin there, who might know something of his doings. then, as i passed by the companion-way to the lower deck, i heard voices, and peeping over the rail, i saw two men sitting in the shadow just beyond the hatch of the hold. i thought they might be two of the sailors seeking coolness on the open deck, when something in the figure of one of them made me look again. the next second i had slipped back and stolen across the after-deck to a point just above them. for the two were the black minister and that ugly yellow villain, henriques. i had no scruples about eavesdropping, but i could make nothing of their talk. they spoke low, and in some tongue which may have been kaffir or portuguese, but was in any case unknown to me. i lay, cramped and eager, for many minutes, and was just getting sick of it when a familiar name caught my ear. henriques said something in which i caught the word 'blaauwildebeestefontein.' i listened intently, and there could be no mistake. the minister repeated the name, and for the next few minutes it recurred often in their talk. i went back stealthily to bed, having something to make me forget my aching tooth. first of all, laputa and henriques were allies. second, the place i was bound for had something to do with their schemes. i said nothing to mr wardlaw, but spent the next week in the assiduous toil of the amateur detective. i procured some maps and books from my friend, the second engineer, and read all i could about blaauwildebeestefontein. not that there was much to learn; but i remember i had quite a thrill when i discovered from the chart of the ship's run one day that we were in the same latitude as that uncouthly-named spot. i found out nothing, however, about henriques or the rev. john laputa. the portuguese still smoked in the stern, and thumbed his greasy notebook; the minister sat in his deck-chair, and read heavy volumes from the ship's library. though i watched every night, i never found them again together. at cape town henriques went ashore and did not return. the minister did not budge from the ship the three days we lay in port, and, indeed, it seemed to me that he kept his cabin. at any rate i did not see his great figure on deck till we were tossing in the choppy seas round cape agulhas. sea-sickness again attacked me, and with short lulls during our stoppages at port elizabeth and east london, i lay wretchedly in my bunk till we sighted the bluffs of durban harbour. here it was necessary for me to change my ship, for in the interests of economy i was going by sea to delagoa bay, and thence by the cheap railway journey into the transvaal. i sought out my cousin, who lived in a fine house on the berea, and found a comfortable lodging for the three days of my stay there. i made inquiries about mr laputa, but could hear nothing. there was no native minister of that name, said my cousin, who was a great authority on all native questions. i described the man, but got no further light. no one had seen or heard of such a being, 'unless,' said my cousin, 'he is one of those american ethiopian rascals.' my second task was to see the durban manager of the firm which i had undertaken to serve. he was a certain mr colles, a big fat man, who welcomed me in his shirt-sleeves, with a cigar in his mouth. he received me pleasantly, and took me home to dinner with him. 'mr mackenzie has written about you,' he said. 'i'll be quite frank with you, mr crawfurd. the firm is not exactly satisfied about the way business has been going lately at blaauwildebeestefontein. there's a grand country up there, and a grand opportunity for the man who can take it. japp, who is in charge, is an old man now and past his best, but he has been long with the firm, and we don't want to hurt his feelings. when he goes, which must be pretty soon, you'll have a good chance of the place, if you show yourself an active young fellow.' he told me a great deal more about blaauwildebeestefontein, principally trading details. incidentally he let drop that mr japp had had several assistants in the last few years. i asked him why they had left, and he hesitated. 'it's a lonely place, and they didn't like the life. you see, there are few white men near, and young fellows want society. they complained, and were moved on. but the firm didn't think the more of them.' i told him i had come out with the new schoolmaster. 'yes,' he said reflectively, 'the school. that's been vacant pretty often lately. what sort of fellow is this wardlaw? will he stay, i wonder?' 'from all accounts,' i said, 'blaauwildebeestefontein does not seem popular.' 'it isn't. that's why we've got you out from home. the colonial-born doesn't find it fit in with his idea of comfort. he wants society, and he doesn't like too many natives. there's nothing up there but natives and a few back-veld dutchmen with native blood in them. you fellows from home are less set on an easy life, or you wouldn't be here.' there was something in mr colles's tone which made me risk another question. 'what's the matter with the place? there must be more wrong with it than loneliness to make everybody clear out. i have taken on this job, and i mean to stick to it, so you needn't be afraid to tell me.' the manager looked at me sharply. 'that's the way to talk, my lad. you look as if you had a stiff back, so i'll be frank with you. there is something about the place. it gives the ordinary man the jumps. what it is, i don't know, and the men who come back don't know themselves. i want you to find out for me. you'll be doing the firm an enormous service if you can get on the track of it. it may be the natives, or it may be the takhaars, or it may be something else. only old japp can stick it out, and he's too old and doddering to care about moving. i want you to keep your eyes skinned, and write privately to me if you want any help. you're not out here for your health, i can see, and here's a chance for you to get your foot on the ladder. 'remember, i'm your friend,' he said to me again at the garden gate. 'take my advice and lie very low. don't talk, don't meddle with drink, learn all you can of the native jabber, but don't let on you understand a word. you're sure to get on the track of something. good-bye, my boy,' and he waved a fat hand to me. that night i embarked on a cargo-boat which was going round the coast to delagoa bay. it is a small world--at least for us far-wandering scots. for who should i find when i got on board but my old friend tam dyke, who was second mate on the vessel? we wrung each other's hands, and i answered, as best i could, his questions about kirkcaple. i had supper with him in the cabin, and went on deck to see the moorings cast. suddenly there was a bustle on the quay, and a big man with a handbag forced his way up the gangway. the men who were getting ready to cast off tried to stop him, but he elbowed his way forward, declaring he must see the captain. tam went up to him and asked civilly if he had a passage taken. he admitted he had not, but said he would make it right in two minutes with the captain himself. the rev. john laputa, for some reason of his own, was leaving durban with more haste than he had entered it. i do not know what passed with the captain, but the minister got his passage right enough, and tam was even turned out of his cabin to make room for him. this annoyed my friend intensely. 'that black brute must be made of money, for he paid through the nose for this, or i'm a dutchman. my old man doesn't take to his black brethren any more than i do. hang it all, what are we coming to, when we're turning into a blooming cargo boat for niggers?' i had all too little of tam's good company, for on the afternoon of the second day we reached the little town of lourenco marques. this was my final landing in africa, and i mind how eagerly i looked at the low, green shores and the bush-covered slopes of the mainland. we were landed from boats while the ship lay out in the bay, and tam came ashore with me to spend the evening. by this time i had lost every remnant of homesickness. i had got a job before me which promised better things than colleging at edinburgh, and i was as keen to get up country now as i had been loth to leave england. my mind being full of mysteries, i scanned every portuguese loafer on the quay as if he had been a spy, and when tam and i had had a bottle of collates in a cafe i felt that at last i had got to foreign parts and a new world. tam took me to supper with a friend of his, a scot by the name of aitken, who was landing-agent for some big mining house on the rand. he hailed from fife and gave me a hearty welcome, for he had heard my father preach in his young days. aitken was a strong, broad-shouldered fellow who had been a sergeant in the gordons, and during the war he had done secret-service work in delagoa. he had hunted, too, and traded up and down mozambique, and knew every dialect of the kaffirs. he asked me where i was bound for, and when i told him there was the same look in his eyes as i had seen with the durban manager. 'you're going to a rum place, mr crawfurd,' he said. 'so i'm told. do you know anything about it? you're not the first who has looked queer when i've spoken the name.' 'i've never been there,' he said, 'though i've been pretty near it from the portuguese side. that's the funny thing about blaauwildebeestefontein. everybody has heard of it, and nobody knows it.' 'i wish you would tell me what you have heard.' 'well, the natives are queer up thereaways. there's some kind of a holy place which every kaffir from algoa bay to the zambesi and away beyond knows about. when i've been hunting in the bush-veld i've often met strings of kaffirs from hundreds of miles distant, and they've all been going or coming from blaauwildebeestefontein. it's like mecca to the mohammedans, a place they go to on pilgrimage. i've heard of an old man up there who is believed to be two hundred years old. anyway, there's some sort of great witch or wizard living in the mountains.' aitken smoked in silence for a time; then he said, 'i'll tell you another thing. i believe there's a diamond mine. i've often meant to go up and look for it.' tam and i pressed him to explain, which he did slowly after his fashion. 'did you ever hear of i.d.b.--illicit diamond broking?' he asked me. 'well, it's notorious that the kaffirs on the diamond fields get away with a fair number of stones, and they are bought by jew and portuguese traders. it's against the law to deal in them, and when i was in the intelligence here we used to have a lot of trouble with the vermin. but i discovered that most of the stones came from natives in one part of the country--more or less round blaauwildebeestefontein--and i see no reason to think that they had all been stolen from kimberley or the premier. indeed some of the stones i got hold of were quite different from any i had seen in south africa before. i shouldn't wonder if the kaffirs in the zoutpansberg had struck some rich pipe, and had the sense to keep quiet about it. maybe some day i'll take a run up to see you and look into the matter.' after this the talk turned on other topics till tam, still nursing his grievance, asked a question on his own account. 'did you ever come across a great big native parson called laputa? he came on board as we were leaving durban, and i had to turn out of my cabin for him.' tam described him accurately but vindictively, and added that 'he was sure he was up to no good.' aitken shook his head. 'no, i don't know the man. you say he landed here? well, i'll keep a look-out for him. big native parsons are not so common.' then i asked about henriques, of whom tam knew nothing. i described his face, his clothes, and his habits. aitken laughed uproariously. 'tut, my man, most of the subjects of his majesty the king of portugal would answer to that description. if he's a rascal, as you think, you may be certain he's in the i.d.b. business, and if i'm right about blaauwildebeestefontein you'll likely have news of him there some time or other. drop me a line if he comes, and i'll get on to his record.' i saw tam off in the boat with a fairly satisfied mind. i was going to a place with a secret, and i meant to find it out. the natives round blaauwildebeestefontein were queer, and diamonds were suspected somewhere in the neighbourhood. henriques had something to do with the place, and so had the rev. john laputa, about whom i knew one strange thing. so did tam by the way, but he had not identified his former pursuer, and i had told him nothing. i was leaving two men behind me, colles at durban and aitken at lourenco marques, who would help me if trouble came. things were shaping well for some kind of adventure. the talk with aitken had given tam an inkling of my thoughts. his last words to me were an appeal to let him know if there was any fun going. 'i can see you're in for a queer job. promise to let me hear from you if there's going to be a row, and i'll come up country, though i should have to desert the service. send us a letter to the agents at durban in case we should be in port. you haven't forgotten the dyve burn, davie?' chapter iii blaauwildebeestefontein the pilgrim's progress had been the sabbath reading of my boyhood, and as i came in sight of blaauwildebeestefontein a passage ran in my head. it was that which tells how christian and hopeful, after many perils of the way, came to the delectable mountains, from which they had a prospect of canaan. after many dusty miles by rail, and a weariful journey in a cape-cart through arid plains and dry and stony gorges, i had come suddenly into a haven of green. the spring of the blue wildebeeste was a clear rushing mountain torrent, which swirled over blue rocks into deep fern-fringed pools. all around was a tableland of lush grass with marigolds and arum lilies instead of daisies and buttercups. thickets of tall trees dotted the hill slopes and patched the meadows as if some landscape-gardener had been at work on them. beyond, the glen fell steeply to the plains, which ran out in a faint haze to the horizon. to north and south i marked the sweep of the berg, now rising high to a rocky peak and now stretching in a level rampart of blue. on the very edge of the plateau where the road dipped for the descent stood the shanties of blaauwildebeestefontein. the fresh hill air had exhilarated my mind, and the aromatic scent of the evening gave the last touch of intoxication. whatever serpent might lurk in it, it was a veritable eden i had come to. blaauwildebeestefontein had no more than two buildings of civilized shape; the store, which stood on the left side of the river, and the schoolhouse opposite. for the rest, there were some twenty native huts, higher up the slope, of the type which the dutch call _rondavels_. the schoolhouse had a pretty garden, but the store stood bare in a patch of dust with a few outhouses and sheds beside it. round the door lay a few old ploughs and empty barrels, and beneath a solitary blue gum was a wooden bench with a rough table. native children played in the dust, and an old kaffir squatted by the wall. my few belongings were soon lifted from the cape-cart, and i entered the shop. it was the ordinary pattern of up-country store--a bar in one corner with an array of bottles, and all round the walls tins of canned food and the odds and ends of trade. the place was empty, and a cloud of flies buzzed over the sugar cask. two doors opened at the back, and i chose the one to the right. i found myself in a kind of kitchen with a bed in one corner, and a litter of dirty plates on the table. on the bed lay a man, snoring heavily. i went close to him, and found an old fellow with a bald head, clothed only in a shirt and trousers. his face was red and swollen, and his breath came in heavy grunts. a smell of bad whisky hung over everything. i had no doubt that this was mr peter japp, my senior in the store. one reason for the indifferent trade at blaauwildebeestefontein was very clear to me: the storekeeper was a sot. i went back to the shop and tried the other door. it was a bedroom too, but clean and pleasant. a little native girl--zeeta, i found they called her--was busy tidying it up, and when i entered she dropped me a curtsy. 'this is your room, baas,' she said in very good english in reply to my question. the child had been well trained somewhere, for there was a cracked dish full of oleander blossom on the drawers'-head, and the pillow-slips on the bed were as clean as i could wish. she brought me water to wash, and a cup of strong tea, while i carried my baggage indoors and paid the driver of the cart. then, having cleaned myself and lit a pipe, i walked across the road to see mr wardlaw. i found the schoolmaster sitting under his own fig-tree reading one of his kaffir primers. having come direct by rail from cape town, he had been a week in the place, and ranked as the second oldest white resident. 'yon's a bonny chief you've got, davie,' were his first words. 'for three days he's been as fou as the baltic.' i cannot pretend that the misdeeds of mr japp greatly annoyed me. i had the reversion of his job, and if he chose to play the fool it was all in my interest. but the schoolmaster was depressed at the prospect of such company. 'besides you and me, he's the only white man in the place. it's a poor look-out on the social side.' the school, it appeared, was the merest farce. there were only five white children, belonging to dutch farmers in the mountains. the native side was more flourishing, but the mission schools at the locations got most of the native children in the neighbourhood. mr wardlaw's educational zeal ran high. he talked of establishing a workshop and teaching carpentry and blacksmith's work, of which he knew nothing. he rhapsodized over the intelligence of his pupils and bemoaned his inadequate gift of tongues. 'you and i, davie,' he said, 'must sit down and grind at the business. it is to the interest of both of us. the dutch is easy enough. it's a sort of kitchen dialect you can learn in a fortnight. but these native languages are a stiff job. sesuto is the chief hereabouts, and i'm told once you've got that it's easy to get the zulu. then there's the thing the shangaans speak--baronga, i think they call it. i've got a christian kaffir living up in one of the huts who comes every morning to talk to me for an hour. you'd better join me.' i promised, and in the sweet-smelling dust crossed the road to the store. japp was still sleeping, so i got a bowl of mealie porridge from zeeta and went to bed. japp was sober next morning and made me some kind of apology. he had chronic lumbago, he said, and 'to go on the bust' now and then was the best cure for it. then he proceeded to initiate me into my duties in a tone of exaggerated friendliness. 'i took a fancy to you the first time i clapped eyes on you,' he said. 'you and me will be good friends, crawfurd, i can see that. you're a spirited young fellow, and you'll stand no nonsense. the dutch about here are a slim lot, and the kaffirs are slimmer. trust no man, that's my motto. the firm know that, and i've had their confidence for forty years.' the first day or two things went well enough. there was no doubt that, properly handled, a fine trade could be done in blaauwildebeestefontein. the countryside was crawling with natives, and great strings used to come through from shangaan territory on the way to the rand mines. besides, there was business to be done with the dutch farmers, especially with the tobacco, which i foresaw could be worked up into a profitable export. there was no lack of money either, and we had to give very little credit, though it was often asked for. i flung myself into the work, and in a few weeks had been all round the farms and locations. at first japp praised my energy, for it left him plenty of leisure to sit indoors and drink. but soon he grew suspicious, for he must have seen that i was in a fair way to oust him altogether. he was very anxious to know if i had seen colles in durban, and what the manager had said. 'i have letters,' he told me a hundred times, 'from mr mackenzie himself praising me up to the skies. the firm couldn't get along without old peter japp, i can tell you.' i had no wish to quarrel with the old man, so i listened politely to all he said. but this did not propitiate him, and i soon found him so jealous as to be a nuisance. he was colonial-born and was always airing the fact. he rejoiced in my rawness, and when i made a blunder would crow over it for hours. 'it's no good, mr crawfurd; you new chums from england may think yourselves mighty clever, but we men from the old colony can get ahead of you every time. in fifty years you'll maybe learn a little about the country, but we know all about it before we start.' he roared with laughter at my way of tying a _voorslag_, and he made merry (no doubt with reason) on my management of a horse. i kept my temper pretty well, but i own there were moments when i came near to kicking mr japp. the truth is he was a disgusting old ruffian. his character was shown by his treatment of zeeta. the poor child slaved all day and did two men's work in keeping the household going. she was an orphan from a mission station, and in japp's opinion a creature without rights. hence he never spoke to her except with a curse, and used to cuff her thin shoulders till my blood boiled. one day things became too much for my temper. zeeta had spilled half a glass of japp's whisky while tidying up the room. he picked up a sjambok, and proceeded to beat her unmercifully till her cries brought me on the scene. i tore the whip from his hands, seized him by the scruff and flung him on a heap of potato sacks, where he lay pouring out abuse and shaking with rage. then i spoke my mind. i told him that if anything of the sort happened again i would report it at once to mr colles at durban. i added that before making my report i would beat him within an inch of his degraded life. after a time he apologized, but i could see that thenceforth he regarded me with deadly hatred. there was another thing i noticed about mr japp. he might brag about his knowledge of how to deal with natives, but to my mind his methods were a disgrace to a white man. zeeta came in for oaths and blows, but there were other kaffirs whom he treated with a sort of cringing friendliness. a big black fellow would swagger into the shop, and be received by japp as if he were his long-lost brother. the two would collogue for hours; and though at first i did not understand the tongue, i could see that it was the white man who fawned and the black man who bullied. once when japp was away one of these fellows came into the store as if it belonged to him, but he went out quicker than he entered. japp complained afterwards of my behaviour. ''mwanga is a good friend of mine,' he said, 'and brings us a lot of business. i'll thank you to be civil to him the next time.' i replied very shortly that 'mwanga or anybody else who did not mend his manners would feel the weight of my boot. the thing went on, and i am not sure that he did not give the kaffirs drink on the sly. at any rate, i have seen some very drunk natives on the road between the locations and blaauwildebeestefontein, and some of them i recognized as japp's friends. i discussed the matter with mr wardlaw, who said, 'i believe the old villain has got some sort of black secret, and the natives know it, and have got a pull on him.' and i was inclined to think he was right. by-and-by i began to feel the lack of company, for wardlaw was so full of his books that he was of little use as a companion. so i resolved to acquire a dog, and bought one from a prospector, who was stony-broke and would have sold his soul for a drink. it was an enormous boer hunting-dog, a mongrel in whose blood ran mastiff and bulldog and foxhound, and heaven knows what beside. in colour it was a kind of brindled red, and the hair on its back grew against the lie of the rest of its coat. some one had told me, or i may have read it, that a back like this meant that a dog would face anything mortal, even to a charging lion, and it was this feature which first caught my fancy. the price i paid was ten shillings and a pair of boots, which i got at cost price from stock, and the owner departed with injunctions to me to beware of the brute's temper. colin--for so i named him--began his career with me by taking the seat out of my breeches and frightening mr wardlaw into a tree. it took me a stubborn battle of a fortnight to break his vice, and my left arm to-day bears witness to the struggle. after that he became a second shadow, and woe betide the man who had dared to raise his hand to colin's master. japp declared that the dog was a devil, and colin repaid the compliment with a hearty dislike. with colin, i now took to spending some of my ample leisure in exploring the fastnesses of the berg. i had brought out a shot-gun of my own, and i borrowed a cheap mauser sporting rifle from the store. i had been born with a good eye and a steady hand, and very soon i became a fair shot with a gun and, i believe, a really fine shot with the rifle. the sides of the berg were full of quail and partridge and bush pheasant, and on the grassy plateau there was abundance of a bird not unlike our own blackcock, which the dutch called _korhaan_. but the great sport was to stalk bush-buck in the thickets, which is a game in which the hunter is at small advantage. i have been knocked down by a wounded bush-buck ram, and but for colin might have been badly damaged. once, in a kloof not far from the letaba, i killed a fine leopard, bringing him down with a single shot from a rocky shelf almost on the top of colin. his skin lies by my fireside as i write this tale. but it was during the days i could spare for an expedition into the plains that i proved the great qualities of my dog. there we had nobler game to follow--wildebeest and hartebeest, impala, and now and then a koodoo. at first i was a complete duffer, and shamed myself in colin's eyes. but by-and-by i learned something of veld-craft: i learned how to follow spoor, how to allow for the wind, and stalk under cover. then, when a shot had crippled the beast, colin was on its track like a flash to pull it down. the dog had the nose of a retriever, the speed of a greyhound, and the strength of a bull-terrier. i blessed the day when the wandering prospector had passed the store. colin slept at night at the foot of my bed, and it was he who led me to make an important discovery. for i now became aware that i was being subjected to constant espionage. it may have been going on from the start, but it was not till my third month at blaauwildebeestefontein that i found it out. one night i was going to bed, when suddenly the bristles rose on the dog's back and he barked uneasily at the window. i had been standing in the shadow, and as i stepped to the window to look out i saw a black face disappear below the palisade of the backyard. the incident was trifling, but it put me on my guard. the next night i looked, but saw nothing. the third night i looked, and caught a glimpse of a face almost pressed to the pane. thereafter i put up the shutters after dark, and shifted my bed to a part of the room out of line with the window. it was the same out of doors. i would suddenly be conscious, as i walked on the road, that i was being watched. if i made as if to walk into the roadside bush there would be a faint rustling, which told that the watcher had retired. the stalking was brilliantly done, for i never caught a glimpse of one of the stalkers. wherever i went--on the road, on the meadows of the plateau, or on the rugged sides of the berg--it was the same. i had silent followers, who betrayed themselves now and then by the crackling of a branch, and eyes were always looking at me which i could not see. only when i went down to the plains did the espionage cease. this thing annoyed colin desperately, and his walks abroad were one continuous growl. once, in spite of my efforts, he dashed into the thicket, and a squeal of pain followed. he had got somebody by the leg, and there was blood on the grass. since i came to blaauwildebeestefontein i had forgotten the mystery i had set out to track in the excitement of a new life and my sordid contest with japp. but now this espionage brought back my old preoccupation. i was being watched because some person or persons thought that i was dangerous. my suspicions fastened on japp, but i soon gave up that clue. it was my presence in the store that was a danger to him, not my wanderings about the countryside. it might be that he had engineered the espionage so as to drive me out of the place in sheer annoyance; but i flattered myself that mr japp knew me too well to imagine that such a game was likely to succeed. the mischief was that i could not make out who the trackers were. i had visited all the surrounding locations, and was on good enough terms with all the chiefs. there was 'mpefu, a dingy old fellow who had spent a good deal of his life in a boer gaol before the war. there was a mission station at his place, and his people seemed to me to be well behaved and prosperous. majinje was a chieftainess, a little girl whom nobody was allowed to see. her location was a miserable affair, and her tribe was yearly shrinking in numbers. then there was magata farther north among the mountains. he had no quarrel with me, for he used to give me a meal when i went out hunting in that direction; and once he turned out a hundred of his young men, and i had a great battue of wild dogs. sikitola, the biggest of all, lived some distance out in the flats. i knew less about him; but if his men were the trackers, they must have spent most of their days a weary way from their kraal. the kaffirs in the huts at blaauwildebeestefontein were mostly christians, and quiet, decent fellows, who farmed their little gardens, and certainly preferred me to japp. i thought at one time of riding into pietersdorp to consult the native commissioner. but i discovered that the old man, who knew the country, was gone, and that his successor was a young fellow from rhodesia, who knew nothing about anything. besides, the natives round blaauwildebeestefontein were well conducted, and received few official visitations. now and then a couple of zulu policemen passed in pursuit of some minor malefactor, and the collector came for the hut-tax; but we gave the government little work, and they did not trouble their heads about us. as i have said, the clues i had brought out with me to blaauwildebeestefontein began to occupy my mind again; and the more i thought of the business the keener i grew. i used to amuse myself with setting out my various bits of knowledge. there was first of all the rev. john laputa, his doings on the kirkcaple shore, his talk with henriques about blaauwildebeestefontein, and his strange behaviour at durban. then there was what colles had told me about the place being queer, how nobody would stay long either in the store or the schoolhouse. then there was my talk with aitken at lourenco marques, and his story of a great wizard in the neighbourhood to whom all kaffirs made pilgrimages, and the suspicion of a diamond pipe. last and most important, there was this perpetual spying on myself. it was as clear as daylight that the place held some secret, and i wondered if old japp knew. i was fool enough one day to ask him about diamonds. he met me with contemptuous laughter. 'there's your ignorant britisher,' he cried. 'if you had ever been to kimberley you would know the look of a diamond country. you're as likely to find diamonds here as ocean pearls. but go out and scrape in the spruit if you like; you'll maybe find some garnets.' i made cautious inquiries, too, chiefly through mr wardlaw, who was becoming a great expert at kaffir, about the existence of aitken's wizard, but he could get no news. the most he found out was that there was a good cure for fever among sikitola's men, and that majinje, if she pleased, could bring rain. the upshot of it all was that, after much brooding, i wrote a letter to mr colles, and, to make sure of its going, gave it to a missionary to post in pietersdorp. i told him frankly what aitken had said, and i also told him about the espionage. i said nothing about old japp, for, beast as he was, i did not want him at his age to be without a livelihood. chapter iv my journey to the winter-veld a reply came from colles, addressed not to me but to japp. it seemed that the old fellow had once suggested the establishment of a branch store at a place out in the plains called umvelos', and the firm was now prepared to take up the scheme. japp was in high good humour, and showed me the letter. not a word was said of what i had written about, only the bare details about starting the branch. i was to get a couple of masons, load up two wagons with bricks and timber, and go down to umvelos' and see the store built. the stocking of it and the appointment of a storekeeper would be matter for further correspondence. japp was delighted, for, besides getting rid of me for several weeks, it showed that his advice was respected by his superiors. he went about bragging that the firm could not get on without him, and was inclined to be more insolent to me than usual in his new self-esteem. he also got royally drunk over the head of it. i confess i was hurt by the manager's silence on what seemed to me more vital matters. but i soon reflected that if he wrote at all he would write direct to me, and i eagerly watched for the post-runner. no letter came, however, and i was soon too busy with preparations to look for one. i got the bricks and timber from pietersdorp, and hired two dutch masons to run the job. the place was not very far from sikitola's kraal, so there would be no difficulty about native helpers. having my eyes open for trade, i resolved to kill two birds with one stone. it was the fashion among the old-fashioned farmers on the high-veld to drive the cattle down into the bush-veld--which they call the winter-veld--for winter pasture. there is no fear of red-water about that season, and the grass of the plains is rich and thick compared with the uplands. i discovered that some big droves were passing on a certain day, and that the owners and their families were travelling with them in wagons. accordingly i had a light _naachtmaal_ fitted up as a sort of travelling store, and with my two wagons full of building material joined the caravan. i hoped to do good trade in selling little luxuries to the farmers on the road and at umvelos'. it was a clear cold morning when we started down the berg. at first my hands were full with the job of getting my heavy wagons down the awesome precipice which did duty as a highway. we locked the wheels with chains, and tied great logs of wood behind to act as brakes. happily my drivers knew their business, but one of the boer wagons got a wheel over the edge, and it was all that ten men could do to get it back again. after that the road was easier, winding down the side of a slowly opening glen. i rode beside the wagons, and so heavenly was the weather that i was content with my own thoughts. the sky was clear blue, the air warm, yet with a wintry tonic in it, and a thousand aromatic scents came out of the thickets. the pied birds called 'kaffir queens' fluttered across the path. below, the klein labongo churned and foamed in a hundred cascades. its waters were no more the clear grey of the 'blue wildebeeste's spring,' but growing muddy with its approach to the richer soil of the plains. oxen travel slow, and we outspanned that night half a day's march short of umvelos'. i spent the hour before sunset lounging and smoking with the dutch farmers. at first they had been silent and suspicious of a newcomer, but by this time i talked their taal fluently, and we were soon on good terms. i recall a discussion arising about a black thing in a tree about five hundred yards away. i thought it was an aasvogel, but another thought it was a baboon. whereupon the oldest of the party, a farmer called coetzee, whipped up his rifle and, apparently without sighting, fired. a dark object fell out of the branch, and when we reached it we found it a _baviaan_[ ] sure enough, shot through the head. 'which side are you on in the next war?' the old man asked me, and, laughing, i told him 'yours.' after supper, the ingredients of which came largely from my _naachtmaal_, we sat smoking and talking round the fire, the women and children being snug in the covered wagons. the boers were honest companionable fellows, and when i had made a bowl of toddy in the scotch fashion to keep out the evening chill, we all became excellent friends. they asked me how i got on with japp. old coetzee saved me the trouble of answering, for he broke in with _skellum_! _skellum_![ ] i asked him his objection to the storekeeper, but he would say nothing beyond that he was too thick with the natives. i fancy at some time mr japp had sold him a bad plough. we spoke of hunting, and i heard long tales of exploits--away on the limpopo, in mashonaland, on the sabi and in the lebombo. then we verged on politics, and i listened to violent denunciations of the new land tax. these were old residenters, i reflected, and i might learn perhaps something of value. so very carefully i repeated a tale i said i had heard at durban of a great wizard somewhere in the berg, and asked if any one knew of it. they shook their heads. the natives had given up witchcraft and big medicine, they said, and were more afraid of a parson or a policeman than any witch-doctor. then they were starting on reminiscences, when old coetzee, who was deaf, broke in and asked to have my question repeated. 'yes,' he said, 'i know. it is in the rooirand. there is a devil dwells there.' i could get no more out of him beyond the fact that there was certainly a great devil there. his grandfather and father had seen it, and he himself had heard it roaring when he had gone there as a boy to hunt. he would explain no further, and went to bed. next morning, close to sikitola's kraal, i bade the farmers good-bye, after telling them that there would be a store in my wagon for three weeks at umvelos' if they wanted supplies. we then struck more to the north towards our destination. as soon as they had gone i had out my map and searched it for the name old coetzee had mentioned. it was a very bad map, for there had been no surveying east of the berg, and most of the names were mere guesses. but i found the word 'rooirand' marking an eastern continuation of the northern wall, and probably set down from some hunter's report. i had better explain here the chief features of the country, for they bulk largely in my story. the berg runs north and south, and from it run the chief streams which water the plain. they are, beginning from the south, the olifants, the groot letaba, the letsitela, the klein letaba, and the klein labongo, on which stands blaauwildebeestefontein. but the greatest river of the plain, into which the others ultimately flow, is the groot labongo, which appears full-born from some subterranean source close to the place called umvelos'. north from blaauwildebeestefontein the berg runs for some twenty miles, and then makes a sharp turn eastward, becoming, according to my map, the rooirand. i pored over these details, and was particularly curious about the great labongo. it seemed to me unlikely that a spring in the bush could produce so great a river, and i decided that its source must lie in the mountains to the north. as well as i could guess, the rooirand, the nearest part of the berg, was about thirty miles distant. old coetzee had said that there was a devil in the place, but i thought that if it were explored the first thing found would be a fine stream of water. we got to umvelos' after midday, and outspanned for our three weeks' work. i set the dutchmen to unload and clear the ground for foundations, while i went off to sikitola to ask for labourers. i got a dozen lusty blacks, and soon we had a business-like encampment, and the work went on merrily. it was rough architecture and rougher masonry. all we aimed at was a two-roomed shop with a kind of outhouse for stores. i was architect, and watched the marking out of the foundations and the first few feet of the walls. sikitola's people proved themselves good helpers, and most of the building was left to them, while the dutchmen worked at the carpentry. bricks ran short before we got very far, and we had to set to brick-making on the bank of the labongo, and finish off the walls with green bricks, which gave the place a queer piebald look. i was not much of a carpenter, and there were plenty of builders without me, so i found a considerable amount of time on my hands. at first i acted as shopkeeper in the _naachtmaal_, but i soon cleared out my stores to the dutch farmers and the natives. i had thought of going back for more, and then it occurred to me that i might profitably give some of my leisure to the rooirand. i could see the wall of the mountains quite clear to the north, within an easy day's ride. so one morning i packed enough food for a day or two, tied my sleeping-bag on my saddle, and set off to explore, after appointing the elder of the dutchmen foreman of the job in my absence. it was very hot jogging along the native path with the eternal olive-green bush around me. happily there was no fear of losing the way, for the rooirand stood very clear in front, and slowly, as i advanced, i began to make out the details of the cliffs. at luncheon-time, when i was about half-way, i sat down with my zeiss glass--my mother's farewell gift--to look for the valley. but valley i saw none. the wall--reddish purple it looked, and, i thought, of porphyry--was continuous and unbroken. there were chimneys and fissures, but none great enough to hold a river. the top was sheer cliff; then came loose kranzes in tiers, like the seats in a gallery, and, below, a dense thicket of trees. i raked the whole line for a break, but there seemed none. 'it's a bad job for me,' i thought, 'if there is no water, for i must pass the night there.' the night was spent in a sheltered nook at the foot of the rocks, but my horse and i went to bed without a drink. my supper was some raisins and biscuits, for i did not dare to run the risk of increasing my thirst. i had found a great bank of _débris_ sloping up to the kranzes, and thick wood clothing all the slope. the grass seemed wonderfully fresh, but of water there was no sign. there was not even the sandy channel of a stream to dig in. in the morning i had a difficult problem to face. water i must find at all costs, or i must go home. there was time enough for me to get back without suffering much, but if so i must give up my explorations. this i was determined not to do. the more i looked at these red cliffs the more eager i was to find out their secret. there must be water somewhere; otherwise how account for the lushness of the vegetation? my horse was a veld pony, so i set him loose to see what he would do. he strayed back on the path to umvelos'. this looked bad, for it meant that he did not smell water along the cliff front. if i was to find a stream it must be on the top, and i must try a little mountaineering. then, taking my courage in both my hands, i decided. i gave my pony a cut, and set him off on the homeward road. i knew he was safe to get back in four or five hours, and in broad day there was little fear of wild beasts attacking him. i had tied my sleeping bag on to the saddle, and had with me but two pocketfuls of food. i had also fastened on the saddle a letter to my dutch foreman, bidding him send a native with a spare horse to fetch me by the evening. then i started off to look for a chimney. a boyhood spent on the cliffs at kirkcaple had made me a bold cragsman, and the porphyry of the rooirand clearly gave excellent holds. but i walked many weary miles along the cliff-foot before i found a feasible road. to begin with, it was no light task to fight one's way through the dense undergrowth of the lower slopes. every kind of thorn-bush lay in wait for my skin, creepers tripped me up, high trees shut out the light, and i was in constant fear lest a black _mamba_ might appear out of the tangle. it grew very hot, and the screes above the thicket were blistering to the touch. my tongue, too, stuck to the roof of my mouth with thirst. the first chimney i tried ran out on the face into nothingness, and i had to make a dangerous descent. the second was a deep gully, but so choked with rubble that after nearly braining myself i desisted. still going eastwards, i found a sloping ledge which took me to a platform from which ran a crack with a little tree growing in it. my glass showed me that beyond this tree the crack broadened into a clearly defined chimney which led to the top. if i can once reach that tree, i thought, the battle is won. the crack was only a few inches wide, large enough to let in an arm and a foot, and it ran slantwise up a perpendicular rock. i do not think i realized how bad it was till i had gone too far to return. then my foot jammed, and i paused for breath with my legs and arms cramping rapidly. i remember that i looked to the west, and saw through the sweat which kept dropping into my eyes that about half a mile off a piece of cliff which looked unbroken from the foot had a fold in it to the right. the darkness of the fold showed me that it was a deep, narrow gully. however, i had no time to think of this, for i was fast in the middle of my confounded crack. with immense labour i found a chockstone above my head, and managed to force my foot free. the next few yards were not so difficult, and then i stuck once more. for the crack suddenly grew shallow as the cliff bulged out above me. i had almost given up hope, when i saw that about three feet above my head grew the tree. if i could reach it and swing out i might hope to pull myself up to the ledge on which it grew. i confess it needed all my courage, for i did not know but that the tree might be loose, and that it and i might go rattling down four hundred feet. it was my only hope, however, so i set my teeth, and wriggling up a few inches, made a grab at it. thank god it held, and with a great effort i pulled my shoulder over the ledge, and breathed freely. my difficulties were not ended, but the worst was past. the rest of the gully gave me good and safe climbing, and presently a very limp and weary figure lay on the cliff-top. it took me many minutes to get back my breath and to conquer the faintness which seized me as soon as the need for exertion was over. when i scrambled to my feet and looked round, i saw a wonderful prospect. it was a plateau like the high-veld, only covered with bracken and little bushes like hazels. three or four miles off the ground rose, and a shallow vale opened. but in the foreground, half a mile or so distant, a lake lay gleaming in the sun. i could scarcely believe my eyes as i ran towards it, and doubts of a mirage haunted me. but it was no mirage, but a real lake, perhaps three miles in circumference, with bracken-fringed banks, a shore of white pebbles, and clear deep blue water. i drank my fill, and then stripped and swam in the blessed coolness. after that i ate some luncheon, and sunned myself on a flat rock. 'i have discovered the source of the labongo,' i said to myself. 'i will write to the royal geographical society, and they will give me a medal.' i walked round the lake to look for an outlet. a fine mountain stream came in at the north end, and at the south end, sure enough, a considerable river debauched. my exploring zeal redoubled, and i followed its course in a delirium of expectation. it was a noble stream, clear as crystal, and very unlike the muddy tropical labongo at umvelos'. suddenly, about a quarter of a mile from the lake, the land seemed to grow over it, and with a swirl and a hollow roar, it disappeared into a mighty pot-hole. i walked a few steps on, and from below my feet came the most uncanny rumbling and groaning. then i knew what old coetzee's devil was that howled in the rooirand. had i continued my walk to the edge of the cliff, i might have learned a secret which would have stood me in good stead later. but the descent began to make me anxious, and i retraced my steps to the top of the chimney whence i had come. i was resolved that nothing would make me descend by that awesome crack, so i kept on eastward along the top to look for a better way. i found one about a mile farther on, which, though far from easy, had no special risks save from the appalling looseness of the _débris_. when i got down at length, i found that it was near sunset. i went to the place i had bidden my native look for me at, but, as i had feared, there was no sign of him. so, making the best of a bad job, i had supper and a pipe, and spent a very chilly night in a hole among the boulders. i got up at dawn stiff and cold, and ate a few raisins for breakfast. there was no sign of horses, so i resolved to fill up the time in looking for the fold of the cliff which, as i had seen from the horrible crack of yesterday, contained a gully. it was a difficult job, for to get the sidelong view of the cliff i had to scramble through the undergrowth of the slopes again, and even a certain way up the kranzes. at length i got my bearings, and fixed the place by some tall trees in the bush. then i descended and walked westwards. suddenly, as i neared the place, i heard the strangest sound coming from the rocks. it was a deep muffled groaning, so eerie and unearthly that for the moment i stood and shivered. then i remembered my river of yesterday. it must be above this place that it descended into the earth, and in the hush of dawn the sound was naturally louder. no wonder old coetzee had been afraid of devils. it reminded me of the lines in _marmion_-- 'diving as if condemned to lave some demon's subterranean cave, who, prisoned by enchanter's spell, shakes the dark rock with groan and yell.' while i was standing awestruck at the sound, i observed a figure moving towards the cliffs. i was well in cover, so i could not have been noticed. it was a very old man, very tall, but bowed in the shoulders, who was walking slowly with bent head. he could not have been thirty yards from me, so i had a clear view of his face. he was a native, but of a type i had never seen before. a long white beard fell on his breast, and a magnificent kaross of leopard skin covered his shoulders. his face was seamed and lined and shrunken, so that he seemed as old as time itself. very carefully i crept after him, and found myself opposite the fold where the gully was. there was a clear path through the jungle, a path worn smooth by many feet. i followed it through the undergrowth and over the screes till it turned inside the fold of the gully. and then it stopped short. i was in a deep cleft, but in front was a slab of sheer rock. above, the gully looked darker and deeper, but there was this great slab to pass. i examined the sides, but they were sheer rock with no openings. had i had my wits about me, i would have gone back and followed the spoor, noting where it stopped. but the whole thing looked black magic to me; my stomach was empty and my enterprise small. besides, there was the terrible moaning of the imprisoned river in my ears. i am ashamed to confess it, but i ran from that gully as if the devil and all his angels had been following me. indeed, i did not slacken till i had put a good mile between me and those uncanny cliffs. after that i set out to foot it back. if the horses would not come to me i must go to them. i walked twenty-five miles in a vile temper, enraged at my dutchmen, my natives, and everybody. the truth is, i had been frightened, and my pride was sore about it. it grew very hot, the sand rose and choked me, the mopani trees with their dull green wearied me, the 'kaffir queens' and jays and rollers which flew about the path seemed to be there to mock me. about half-way home i found a boy and two horses, and roundly i cursed him. it seemed that my pony had returned right enough, and the boy had been sent to fetch me. he had got half-way before sunset the night before, and there he had stayed. i discovered from him that he was scared to death, and did not dare go any nearer the rooirand. it was accursed, he said, for it was an abode of devils, and only wizards went near it. i was bound to admit to myself that i could not blame him. at last i had got on the track of something certain about this mysterious country, and all the way back i wondered if i should have the courage to follow it up. [ ] baboon. [ ] schelm: rascal. chapter v mr wardlaw has a premonition a week later the building job was finished, i locked the door of the new store, pocketed the key, and we set out for home. sikitola was entrusted with the general care of it, and i knew him well enough to be sure that he would keep his people from doing mischief. i left my empty wagons to follow at their leisure and rode on, with the result that i arrived at blaauwildebeestefontein two days before i was looked for. i stabled my horse, and went round to the back to see colin. (i had left him at home in case of fights with native dogs, for he was an ill beast in a crowd.) i found him well and hearty, for zeeta had been looking after him. then some whim seized me to enter the store through my bedroom window. it was open, and i crawled softly in to find the room fresh and clean from zeeta's care. the door was ajar, and, hearing voices, i peeped into the shop. japp was sitting on the counter talking in a low voice to a big native--the same 'mwanga whom i had bundled out unceremoniously. i noticed that the outer door giving on the road was shut, a most unusual thing in the afternoon. japp had some small objects in his hand, and the two were evidently arguing about a price. i had no intention at first of eavesdropping, and was just about to push the door open, when something in japp's face arrested me. he was up to no good, and i thought it my business to wait. the low tones went on for a little, both men talking in kaffir, and then japp lifted up one of the little objects between finger and thumb. it was a small roundish stone about the size of a bean, but even in that half light there was a dull lustre in it. at that i shoved the door open and went in. both men started as if they had been shot. japp went as white as his mottled face permitted. 'what the--' he gasped, and he dropped the thing he was holding. i picked it up, and laid it on the counter. 'so,' i said, 'diamonds, mr japp. you have found the pipe i was looking for. i congratulate you.' my words gave the old ruffian his cue. 'yes, yes,' he said, 'i have, or rather my friend 'mwanga has. he has just been telling me about it.' the kaffir looked miserably uncomfortable. he shifted from one leg to the other, casting longing glances at the closed door. 'i tink i go,' he said. 'afterwards we will speak more.' i told him i thought he had better go, and opened the door for him. then i bolted it again, and turned to mr japp. 'so that's your game,' i said. 'i thought there was something funny about you, but i didn't know it was i.d.b. you were up to.' he looked as if he could kill me. for five minutes he cursed me with a perfection of phrase which i had thought beyond him. it was no i.d.b., he declared, but a pipe which 'mwanga had discovered. 'in this kind of country?' i said, quoting his own words. 'why, you might as well expect to find ocean pearls as diamonds. but scrape in the spruit if you like; you'll maybe find some garnets.' he choked down his wrath, and tried a new tack. 'what will you take to hold your tongue? i'll make you a rich man if you'll come in with me.' and then he started with offers which showed that he had been making a good thing out of the traffic. i stalked over to him, and took him by the shoulder. 'you old reprobate,' i roared, 'if you breathe such a proposal to me again, i'll tie you up like a sack and carry you to pietersdorp.' at this he broke down and wept maudlin tears, disgusting to witness. he said he was an old man who had always lived honestly, and it would break his heart if his grey hairs were to be disgraced. as he sat rocking himself with his hands over his face, i saw his wicked little eyes peering through the slits of his fingers to see what my next move would be. 'see here, mr japp,' i said, 'i'm not a police spy, and it's no business of mine to inform against you. i'm willing to keep you out of gaol, but it must be on my own conditions. the first is that you resign this job and clear out. you will write to mr colles a letter at my dictation, saying that you find the work too much for you. the second is that for the time you remain here the diamond business must utterly cease. if 'mwanga or anybody like him comes inside the store, and if i get the slightest hint that you're back at the trade, in you go to pietersdorp. i'm not going to have my name disgraced by being associated with you. the third condition is that when you leave this place you go clear away. if you come within twenty miles of blaauwildebeestefontein and i find you, i will give you up.' he groaned and writhed at my terms, but in the end accepted them. he wrote the letter, and i posted it. i had no pity for the old scamp, who had feathered his nest well. small wonder that the firm's business was not as good as it might be, when japp was giving most of his time to buying diamonds from native thieves. the secret put him in the power of any kaffir who traded him a stone. no wonder he cringed to ruffians like 'mwanga. the second thing i did was to shift my quarters. mr wardlaw had a spare room which he had offered me before, and now i accepted it. i wanted to be no more mixed up with japp than i could help, for i did not know what villainy he might let me in for. moreover, i carried zeeta with me, being ashamed to leave her at the mercy of the old bully. japp went up to the huts and hired a slattern to mind his house, and then drank heavily for three days to console himself. that night i sat smoking with mr wardlaw in his sitting-room, where a welcome fire burned, for the nights on the berg were chilly. i remember the occasion well for the queer turn the conversation took. wardlaw, as i have said, had been working like a slave at the kaffir tongues. i talked a kind of zulu well enough to make myself understood, and i could follow it when spoken; but he had real scholarship in the thing, and knew all about the grammar and the different dialects. further, he had read a lot about native history, and was full of the doings of tchaka and mosilikatse and moshesh, and the kings of old. having little to do in the way of teaching, he had made up for it by reading omnivorously. he used to borrow books from the missionaries, and he must have spent half his salary in buying new ones. to-night as he sat and puffed in his armchair, he was full of stories about a fellow called monomotapa. it seems he was a great black emperor whom the portuguese discovered about the sixteenth century. he lived to the north in mashonaland, and had a mountain full of gold. the portuguese did not make much of him, but they got his son and turned him into a priest. i told wardlaw that he was most likely only a petty chief, whose exploits were magnified by distance, the same as the caciques in mexico. but the schoolmaster would not accept this. 'he must have been a big man, davie. you know that the old ruins in rhodesia, called zimbabwe, were long believed to be phoenician in origin. i have a book here which tells all about them. but now it is believed that they were built by natives. i maintain that the men who could erect piles like that'--and he showed me a picture--'were something more than petty chiefs.' presently the object of this conversation appeared. mr wardlaw thought that we were underrating the capacity of the native. this opinion was natural enough in a schoolmaster, but not in the precise form wardlaw put it. it was not his intelligence which he thought we underrated, but his dangerousness. his reasons, shortly, were these: there were five or six of them to every white man; they were all, roughly speaking, of the same stock, with the same tribal beliefs; they had only just ceased being a warrior race, with a powerful military discipline; and, most important, they lived round the rim of the high-veld plateau, and if they combined could cut off the white man from the sea. i pointed out to him that it would only be a matter of time before we opened the road again. 'ay,' he said, 'but think of what would happen before then. think of the lonely farms and the little dorps wiped out of the map. it would be a second and bloodier indian mutiny. 'i'm not saying it's likely,' he went on, 'but i maintain it's possible. supposing a second tchaka turned up, who could get the different tribes to work together. it wouldn't be so very hard to smuggle in arms. think of the long, unwatched coast in gazaland and tongaland. if they got a leader with prestige enough to organize a crusade against the white man, i don't see what could prevent a rising.' 'we should get wind of it in time to crush it at the start,' i said. 'i'm not so sure. they are cunning fellows, and have arts that we know nothing about. you have heard of native telepathy. they can send news over a thousand miles as quick as the telegraph, and we have no means of tapping the wires. if they ever combined they could keep it as secret as the grave. my houseboy might be in the rising, and i would never suspect it till one fine morning he cut my throat.' 'but they would never find a leader. if there was some exiled prince of tchaka's blood, who came back like prince charlie to free his people, there might be danger; but their royalties are fat men with top hats and old frock-coats, who live in dirty locations.' wardlaw admitted this, but said that there might be other kinds of leaders. he had been reading a lot about ethiopianism, which educated american negroes had been trying to preach in south africa. he did not see why a kind of bastard christianity should not be the motive of a rising. 'the kaffir finds it an easy job to mix up christian emotion and pagan practice. look at hayti and some of the performances in the southern states.' then he shook the ashes out of his pipe and leaned forward with a solemn face. 'i'll admit the truth to you, davie. i'm black afraid.' he looked so earnest and serious sitting there with his short-sighted eyes peering at me that i could not help being impressed. 'whatever is the matter?' i asked. 'has anything happened?' he shook his head. 'nothing i can put a name to. but i have a presentiment that some mischief is afoot in these hills. i feel it in my bones.' i confess i was startled by these words. you must remember that i had never given a hint of my suspicions to mr wardlaw beyond asking him if a wizard lived in the neighbourhood--a question anybody might have put. but here was the schoolmaster discovering for himself some mystery in blaauwildebeestefontein. i tried to get at his evidence, but it was very little. he thought there were an awful lot of blacks about. 'the woods are full of them,' he said. i gathered he did not imagine he was being spied on, but merely felt that there were more natives about than could be explained. 'there's another thing,' he said. 'the native bairns have all left the school. i've only three scholars left, and they are from dutch farms. i went to majinje to find out what was up, and an old crone told me the place was full of bad men. i tell you, davie, there's something brewing, and that something is not good for us.' there was nothing new to me in what wardlaw had to tell, and yet that talk late at night by a dying fire made me feel afraid for the second time since i had come to blaauwildebeestefontein. i had a clue and had been on the look-out for mysteries, but that another should feel the strangeness for himself made it seem desperately real to me. of course i scoffed at mr wardlaw's fears. i could not have him spoiling all my plans by crying up a native rising for which he had not a scrap of evidence. 'have you been writing to anybody?' i asked him. he said that he had told no one, but he meant to, unless things got better. 'i haven't the nerve for this job, davie,' he said; 'i'll have to resign. and it's a pity, for the place suits my health fine. you see i know too much, and i haven't your whinstone nerve and total lack of imagination.' i told him that it was simply fancy, and came from reading too many books and taking too little exercise. but i made him promise to say nothing to anybody either by word of mouth or letter, without telling me first. then i made him a rummer of toddy and sent him to bed a trifle comforted. the first thing i did in my new room was to shift the bed into the corner out of line with the window. there were no shutters, so i put up an old table-top and jammed it between the window frames. also, i loaded my shot-gun and kept it by my bedside. had wardlaw seen these preparations he might have thought more of my imagination and less of my nerve. it was a real comfort to me to put out a hand in the darkness and feel colin's shaggy coat. chapter vi the drums beat at sunset japp was drunk for the next day or two, and i had the business of the store to myself. i was glad of this, for it gave me leisure to reflect upon the various perplexities of my situation. as i have said, i was really scared, more out of a sense of impotence than from dread of actual danger. i was in a fog of uncertainty. things were happening around me which i could only dimly guess at, and i had no power to take one step in defence. that wardlaw should have felt the same without any hint from me was the final proof that the mystery was no figment of my nerves. i had written to colles and got no answer. now the letter with japp's resignation in it had gone to durban. surely some notice would be taken of that. if i was given the post, colles was bound to consider what i had said in my earlier letter and give me some directions. meanwhile it was my business to stick to my job till i was relieved. a change had come over the place during my absence. the natives had almost disappeared from sight. except the few families living round blaauwildebeestefontein one never saw a native on the roads, and none came into the store. they were sticking close to their locations, or else they had gone after some distant business. except a batch of three shangaans returning from the rand, i had nobody in the store for the whole of one day. so about four o'clock i shut it up, whistled on colin, and went for a walk along the berg. if there were no natives on the road, there were plenty in the bush. i had the impression, of which wardlaw had spoken, that the native population of the countryside had suddenly been hugely increased. the woods were simply _hotching_ with them. i was being spied on as before, but now there were so many at the business that they could not all conceal their tracks. every now and then i had a glimpse of a black shoulder or leg, and colin, whom i kept on the leash, was half-mad with excitement. i had seen all i wanted, and went home with a preoccupied mind. i sat long on wardlaw's garden-seat, trying to puzzle out the truth of this spying. what perplexed me was that i had been left unmolested when i had gone to umvelos'. now, as i conjectured, the secret of the neighbourhood, whatever it was, was probably connected with the rooirand. but when i had ridden in that direction and had spent two days in exploring, no one had troubled to watch me. i was quite certain about this, for my eye had grown quick to note espionage, and it is harder for a spy to hide in the spare bush of the flats than in the dense thickets on these uplands. the watchers, then, did not mind my fossicking round their sacred place. why, then, was i so closely watched in the harmless neighbourhood of the store? i thought for a long time before an answer occurred to me. the reason must be that going to the plains i was going into native country and away from civilization. but blaauwildebeestefontein was near the frontier. there must be some dark business brewing of which they may have feared that i had an inkling. they wanted to see if i proposed to go to pietersdorp or wesselsburg and tell what i knew, and they clearly were resolved that i should not. i laughed, i remember, thinking that they had forgotten the post-bag. but then i reflected that i knew nothing of what might be happening daily to the post-bag. when i had reached this conclusion, my first impulse was to test it by riding straight west on the main road. if i was right, i should certainly be stopped. on second thoughts, however, this seemed to me to be flinging up the game prematurely, and i resolved to wait a day or two before acting. next day nothing happened, save that my sense of loneliness increased. i felt that i was being hemmed in by barbarism, and cut off in a ghoulish land from the succour of my own kind. i only kept my courage up by the necessity of presenting a brave face to mr wardlaw, who was by this time in a very broken condition of nerves. i had often thought that it was my duty to advise him to leave, and to see him safely off, but i shrank from severing myself from my only friend. i thought, too, of the few dutch farmers within riding distance, and had half a mind to visit them, but they were far off over the plateau and could know little of my anxieties. the third day events moved faster. japp was sober and wonderfully quiet. he gave me good-morning quite in a friendly tone, and set to posting up the books as if he had never misbehaved in his days. i was so busy with my thoughts that i, too, must have been gentler than usual, and the morning passed like a honeymoon, till i went across to dinner. i was just sitting down when i remembered that i had left my watch in my waistcoat behind the counter, and started to go back for it. but at the door i stopped short. for two horsemen had drawn up before the store. one was a native with what i took to be saddle-bags; the other was a small slim man with a sun helmet, who was slowly dismounting. something in the cut of his jib struck me as familiar. i slipped into the empty schoolroom and stared hard. then, as he half-turned in handing his bridle to the kaffir, i got a sight of his face. it was my former shipmate, henriques. he said something to his companion, and entered the store. you may imagine that my curiosity ran to fever-heat. my first impulse was to march over for my waistcoat, and make a third with japp at the interview. happily i reflected in time that henriques knew my face, for i had grown no beard, having a great dislike to needless hair. if he was one of the villains in the drama, he would mark me down for his vengeance once he knew i was here, whereas at present he had probably forgotten all about me. besides, if i walked in boldly i would get no news. if japp and he had a secret, they would not blab it in my presence. my next idea was to slip in by the back to the room i had once lived in. but how was i to cross the road? it ran white and dry some distance each way in full view of the kaffir with the horses. further, the store stood on a bare patch, and it would be a hard job to get in by the back, assuming, as i believed, that the neighbourhood was thick with spies. the upshot was that i got my glasses and turned them on the store. the door was open, and so was the window. in the gloom of the interior i made out henriques' legs. he was standing by the counter, and apparently talking to japp. he moved to shut the door, and came back inside my focus opposite the window. there he stayed for maybe ten minutes, while i hugged my impatience. i would have given a hundred pounds to be snug in my old room with japp thinking me out of the store. suddenly the legs twitched up, and his boots appeared above the counter. japp had invited him to his bedroom, and the game was now to be played beyond my ken. this was more than i could stand, so i stole out at the back door and took to the thickest bush on the hillside. my notion was to cross the road half a mile down, when it had dropped into the defile of the stream, and then to come swiftly up the edge of the water so as to effect a back entrance into the store. as fast as i dared i tore through the bush, and in about a quarter of an hour had reached the point i was making for. then i bore down to the road, and was in the scrub about ten yards off it, when the clatter of horses pulled me up again. peeping out i saw that it was my friend and his kaffir follower, who were riding at a very good pace for the plains. toilfully and crossly i returned on my tracks to my long-delayed dinner. whatever the purport of their talk, japp and the portuguese had not taken long over it. in the store that afternoon i said casually to japp that i had noticed visitors at the door during my dinner hour. the old man looked me frankly enough in the face. 'yes, it was mr hendricks,' he said, and explained that the man was a portuguese trader from delagoa way, who had a lot of kaffir stores east of the lebombo hills. i asked his business, and was told that he always gave japp a call in when he was passing. 'do you take every man that calls into your bedroom, and shut the door?' i asked. japp lost colour and his lip trembled. 'i swear to god, mr crawfurd, i've been doing nothing wrong. i've kept the promise i gave you like an oath to my mother. i see you suspect me, and maybe you've cause, but i'll be quite honest with you. i have dealt in diamonds before this with hendricks. but to-day, when he asked me, i told him that that business was off. i only took him to my room to give him a drink. he likes brandy, and there's no supply in the shop.' i distrusted japp wholeheartedly enough, but i was convinced that in this case he spoke the truth. 'had the man any news?' i asked. 'he had and he hadn't,' said japp. 'he was always a sullen beggar, and never spoke much. but he said one queer thing. he asked me if i was going to retire, and when i told him "yes," he said i had put it off rather long. i told him i was as healthy as i ever was, and he laughed in his dirty portugoose way. "yes, mr japp," he says, "but the country is not so healthy." i wonder what the chap meant. he'll be dead of blackwater before many months, to judge by his eyes.' this talk satisfied me about japp, who was clearly in desperate fear of offending me, and disinclined to return for the present to his old ways. but i think the rest of the afternoon was the most wretched time in my existence. it was as plain as daylight that we were in for some grave trouble, trouble to which i believed that i alone held any kind of clue. i had a pile of evidence--the visit of henriques was the last bit--which pointed to some great secret approaching its disclosure. i thought that that disclosure meant blood and ruin. but i knew nothing definite. if the commander of a british army had come to me then and there and offered help, i could have done nothing, only asked him to wait like me. the peril, whatever it was, did not threaten me only, though i and wardlaw and japp might be the first to suffer; but i had a terrible feeling that i alone could do something to ward it off, and just what that something was i could not tell. i was horribly afraid, not only of unknown death, but of my impotence to play any manly part. i was alone, knowing too much and yet too little, and there was no chance of help under the broad sky. i cursed myself for not writing to aitken at lourenco marques weeks before. he had promised to come up, and he was the kind of man who kept his word. in the late afternoon i dragged wardlaw out for a walk. in his presence i had to keep up a forced cheerfulness, and i believe the pretence did me good. we took a path up the berg among groves of stinkwood and essenwood, where a failing stream made an easy route. it may have been fancy, but it seemed to me that the wood was emptier and that we were followed less closely. i remember it was a lovely evening, and in the clear fragrant gloaming every foreland of the berg stood out like a great ship above the dark green sea of the bush. when we reached the edge of the plateau we saw the sun sinking between two far blue peaks in makapan's country, and away to the south the great roll of the high veld. i longed miserably for the places where white men were thronged together in dorps and cities. as we gazed a curious sound struck our ears. it seemed to begin far up in the north--a low roll like the combing of breakers on the sand. then it grew louder and travelled nearer--a roll, with sudden spasms of harsher sound in it; reminding me of the churning in one of the pot-holes of kirkcaple cliffs. presently it grew softer again as the sound passed south, but new notes were always emerging. the echo came sometimes, as it were, from stark rock, and sometimes from the deep gloom of the forests. i have never heard an eerier sound. neither natural nor human it seemed, but the voice of that world between which is hid from man's sight and hearing. mr wardlaw clutched my arm, and in that moment i guessed the explanation. the native drums were beating, passing some message from the far north down the line of the berg, where the locations were thickest, to the great black population of the south. 'but that means war,' mr wardlaw cried. 'it means nothing of the kind,' i said shortly. 'it's their way of sending news. it's as likely to be some change in the weather or an outbreak of cattle disease.' when we got home i found japp with a face like grey paper. 'did you hear the drums?'he asked. 'yes,' i said shortly. 'what about them?' 'god forgive you for an ignorant britisher,' he almost shouted. 'you may hear drums any night, but a drumming like that i only once heard before. it was in ' in the 'zeti valley. do you know what happened next day? cetewayo's impis came over the hills, and in an hour there wasn't a living white soul in the glen. two men escaped, and one of them was called peter japp.' 'we are in god's hands then, and must wait on his will,' i said solemnly. there was no more sleep for wardlaw and myself that night. we made the best barricade we could of the windows, loaded all our weapons, and trusted to colin to give us early news. before supper i went over to get japp to join us, but found that that worthy had sought help from his old protector, the bottle, and was already sound asleep with both door and window open. i had made up my mind that death was certain, and yet my heart belied my conviction, and i could not feel the appropriate mood. if anything i was more cheerful since i had heard the drums. it was clearly now beyond the power of me or any man to stop the march of events. my thoughts ran on a native rising, and i kept telling myself how little that was probable. where were the arms, the leader, the discipline? at any rate such arguments put me to sleep before dawn, and i wakened at eight to find that nothing had happened. the clear morning sunlight, as of old, made blaauwildebeestefontein the place of a dream. zeeta brought in my cup of coffee as if this day were just like all others, my pipe tasted as sweet, the fresh air from the berg blew as fragrantly on my brow. i went over to the store in reasonably good spirits, leaving wardlaw busy on the penitential psalms. the post-runner had brought the mail as usual, and there was one private letter for me. i opened it with great excitement, for the envelope bore the stamp of the firm. at last colles had deigned to answer. inside was a sheet of the firm's notepaper, with the signature of colles across the top. below some one had pencilled these five words: '_the blesbok[ ] are changing ground._' i looked to see that japp had not suffocated himself, then shut up the store, and went back to my room to think out this new mystification. the thing had come from colles, for it was the private notepaper of the durban office, and there was colles' signature. but the pencilling was in a different hand. my deduction from this was that some one wished to send me a message, and that colles had given that some one a sheet of signed paper to serve as a kind of introduction. i might take it, therefore, that the scribble was colles' reply to my letter. now, my argument continued, if the unknown person saw fit to send me a message, it could not be merely one of warning. colles must have told him that i was awake to some danger, and as i was in blaauwildebeestefontein, i must be nearer the heart of things than any one else. the message must therefore be in the nature of some password, which i was to remember when i heard it again. i reasoned the whole thing out very clearly, and i saw no gap in my logic. i cannot describe how that scribble had heartened me. i felt no more the crushing isolation of yesterday. there were others beside me in the secret. help must be on the way, and the letter was the first tidings. but how near?--that was the question; and it occurred to me for the first time to look at the postmark. i went back to the store and got the envelope out of the waste-paper basket. the postmark was certainly not durban. the stamp was a cape colony one, and of the mark i could only read three letters, t. r. s. this was no sort of clue, and i turned the thing over, completely baffled. then i noticed that there was no mark of the post town of delivery. our letters to blaauwildebeestefontein came through pietersdorp and bore that mark. i compared the envelope with others. they all had a circle, and 'pietersdorp' in broad black letters. but this envelope had nothing except the stamp. i was still slow at detective work, and it was some minutes before the explanation flashed on me. the letter had never been posted at all. the stamp was a fake, and had been borrowed from an old envelope. there was only one way in which it could have come. it must have been put in the letter-bag while the postman was on his way from pietersdorp. my unknown friend must therefore be somewhere within eighty miles of me. i hurried off to look for the post-runner, but he had started back an hour before. there was nothing for it but to wait on the coming of the unknown. that afternoon i again took mr wardlaw for a walk. it is an ingrained habit of mine that i never tell anyone more of a business than is practically necessary. for months i had kept all my knowledge to myself, and breathed not a word to a soul. but i thought it my duty to tell wardlaw about the letter, to let him see that we were not forgotten. i am afraid it did not encourage his mind. occult messages seemed to him only the last proof of a deadly danger encompassing us, and i could not shake his opinion. we took the same road to the crown of the berg, and i was confirmed in my suspicion that the woods were empty and the watchers gone. the place was as deserted as the bush at umvelos'. when we reached the summit about sunset we waited anxiously for the sound of drums. it came, as we expected, louder and more menacing than before. wardlaw stood pinching my arm as the great tattoo swept down the escarpment, and died away in the far mountains beyond the olifants. yet it no longer seemed to be a wall of sound, shutting us out from our kindred in the west. a message had pierced the wall. if the blesbok were changing ground, i believed that the hunters were calling out their hounds and getting ready for the chase. [ ] a species of buck. chapter vii captain arcoll tells a tale it froze in the night, harder than was common on the berg even in winter, and as i crossed the road next morning it was covered with rime. all my fears had gone, and my mind was strung high with expectation. five pencilled words may seem a small thing to build hope on, but it was enough for me, and i went about my work in the store with a reasonably light heart. one of the first things i did was to take stock of our armoury. there were five sporting mausers of a cheap make, one mauser pistol, a lee-speed carbine, and a little nickel-plated revolver. there was also japp's shot-gun, an old hammered breech-loader, as well as the gun i had brought out with me. there was a good supply of cartridges, including a stock for a . express which could not be found. i pocketed the revolver, and searched till i discovered a good sheath-knife. if fighting was in prospect i might as well look to my arms. all the morning i sat among flour and sugar possessing my soul in as much patience as i could command. nothing came down the white road from the west. the sun melted the rime; the flies came out and buzzed in the window; japp got himself out of bed, brewed strong coffee, and went back to his slumbers. presently it was dinner-time, and i went over to a silent meal with wardlaw. when i returned i must have fallen asleep over a pipe, for the next thing i knew i was blinking drowsily at the patch of sun in the door, and listening for footsteps. in the dead stillness of the afternoon i thought i could discern a shuffling in the dust. i got up and looked out, and there, sure enough, was some one coming down the road. but it was only a kaffir, and a miserable-looking object at that. i had never seen such an anatomy. it was a very old man, bent almost double, and clad in a ragged shirt and a pair of foul khaki trousers. he carried an iron pot, and a few belongings were tied up in a dirty handkerchief. he must have been a _dacha_[ ] smoker, for he coughed hideously, twisting his body with the paroxysms. i had seen the type before--the old broken-down native who had no kin to support him, and no tribe to shelter him. they wander about the roads, cooking their wretched meals by their little fires, till one morning they are found stiff under a bush. the native gave me a good-day in kaffir, then begged for tobacco or a handful of mealie-meal. i asked him where he came from. 'from the west, inkoos,' he said, 'and before that from the south. it is a sore road for old bones.' i went into the store to fetch some meal, and when i came out he had shuffled close to the door. he had kept his eyes on the ground, but now he looked up at me, and i thought he had very bright eyes for such an old wreck. 'the nights are cold, inkoos,' he wailed, 'and my folk are scattered, and i have no kraal. the aasvogels follow me, and i can hear the blesbok.' 'what about the blesbok?' i asked with a start. 'the blesbok are changing ground,' he said, and looked me straight in the face. 'and where are the hunters?' i asked. 'they are here and behind me,' he said in english, holding out his pot for my meal, while he began to edge into the middle of the road. i followed, and, speaking english, asked him if he knew of a man named colles. 'i come from him, young baas. where is your house? ah, the school. there will be a way in by the back window? see that it is open, for i'll be there shortly.' then lifting up his voice he called down in sesuto all manner of blessings on me for my kindness, and went shuffling down the sunlit road, coughing like a volcano. in high excitement i locked up the store and went over to mr wardlaw. no children had come to school that day, and he was sitting idle, playing patience. 'lock the door,' i said, 'and come into my room. we're on the brink of explanations.' in about twenty minutes the bush below the back-window parted and the kaffir slipped out. he grinned at me, and after a glance round, hopped very nimbly over the sill. then he examined the window and pulled the curtains. 'is the outer door shut?' he asked in excellent english. 'well, get me some hot water, and any spare clothes you may possess, mr crawfurd. i must get comfortable before we begin our _indaba_.[ ] we've the night before us, so there's plenty of time. but get the house clear, and see that nobody disturbs me at my toilet. i am a modest man, and sensitive about my looks.' i brought him what he wanted, and looked on at an amazing transformation. taking a phial from his bundle, he rubbed some liquid on his face and neck and hands, and got rid of the black colouring. his body and legs he left untouched, save that he covered them with shirt and trousers from my wardrobe. then he pulled off a scaly wig, and showed beneath it a head of close-cropped grizzled hair. in ten minutes the old kaffir had been transformed into an active soldierly-looking man of maybe fifty years. mr wardlaw stared as if he had seen a resurrection. 'i had better introduce myself,' he said, when he had taken the edge off his thirst and hunger. 'my name is arcoll, captain james arcoll. i am speaking to mr crawfurd, the storekeeper, and mr wardlaw, the schoolmaster, of blaauwildebeestefontein. where, by the way, is mr peter japp? drunk? ah, yes, it was always his failing. the quorum, however, is complete without him.' by this time it was about sunset, and i remember i cocked my ear to hear the drums beat. captain arcoll noticed the movement as he noticed all else. 'you're listening for the drums, but you won't hear them. that business is over here. to-night they beat in swaziland and down into the tonga border. three days more, unless you and i, mr crawfurd, are extra smart, and they'll be hearing them in durban.' it was not till the lamp was lit, the fire burning well, and the house locked and shuttered, that captain arcoll began his tale. 'first,' he said, 'let me hear what you know. colles told me that you were a keen fellow, and had wind of some mystery here. you wrote him about the way you were spied on, but i told him to take no notice. your affair, mr crawfurd, had to wait on more urgent matters. now, what do you think is happening?' i spoke very shortly, weighing my words, for i felt i was on trial before these bright eyes. 'i think that some kind of native rising is about to commence.' 'ay,' he said dryly, 'you would, and your evidence would be the spying and drumming. anything more?' 'i have come on the tracks of a lot of i.d.b. work in the neighbourhood. the natives have some supply of diamonds, which they sell bit by bit, and i don't doubt but they have been getting guns with the proceeds.' he nodded, 'have you any notion who has been engaged in the job?' i had it on my tongue to mention japp, but forbore, remembering my promise. 'i can name one,' i said, 'a little yellow portugoose, who calls himself henriques or hendricks. he passed by here the day before yesterday.' captain arcoll suddenly was consumed with quiet laughter. 'did you notice the kaffir who rode with him and carried his saddlebags? well, he's one of my men. henriques would have a fit if he knew what was in those saddlebags. they contain my change of clothes, and other odds and ends. henriques' own stuff is in a hole in the spruit. a handy way of getting one's luggage sent on, eh? the bags are waiting for me at a place i appointed.' and again captain arcoll indulged his sense of humour. then he became grave, and returned to his examination. 'a rising, with diamonds as the sinews of war, and henriques as the chief agent. well and good! but who is to lead, and what are the natives going to rise about?' 'i know nothing further, but i have made some guesses.' 'let's hear your guesses,' he said, blowing smoke rings from his pipe. 'i think the main mover is a great black minister who calls himself john laputa.' captain arcoll nearly sprang out of his chair. 'now, how on earth did you find that out? quick, mr crawfurd, tell me all you know, for this is desperately important.' i began at the beginning, and told him the story of what happened on the kirkcaple shore. then i spoke of my sight of him on board ship, his talk with henriques about blaauwildebeestefontein, and his hurried departure from durban. captain arcoll listened intently, and at the mention of durban he laughed. 'you and i seem to have been running on lines which nearly touched. i thought i had grabbed my friend laputa that night in durban, but i was too cocksure and he slipped off. do you know, mr crawfurd, you have been on the right trail long before me? when did you say you saw him at his devil-worship? seven years ago? then you were the first man alive to know the reverend john in his true colours. you knew seven years ago what i only found out last year.' 'well, that's my story,' i said. 'i don't know what the rising is about, but there's one other thing i can tell you. there's some kind of sacred place for the kaffirs, and i've found out where it is.' i gave him a short account of my adventures in the rooirand. he smoked silently for a bit after i had finished. 'you've got the skeleton of the whole thing right, and you only want the filling up. and you found out everything for yourself? colles was right; you're not wanting in intelligence, mr crawfurd.' it was not much of a compliment, but i have never been more pleased in my life. this slim, grizzled man, with his wrinkled face and bright eyes, was clearly not lavish in his praise. i felt it was no small thing to have earned a word of commendation. 'and now i will tell you my story,' said captain arcoll. 'it is a long story, and i must begin far back. it has taken me years to decipher it, and, remember, i've been all my life at this native business. i can talk every dialect, and i have the customs of every tribe by heart. i've travelled over every mile of south africa, and central and east africa too. i was in both the matabele wars, and i've seen a heap of other fighting which never got into the papers. so what i tell you you can take as gospel, for it is knowledge that was not learned in a day.' he puffed away, and then asked suddenly, 'did you ever hear of prester john?' 'the man that lived in central asia?' i asked, with a reminiscence of a story-book i had as a boy. 'no, no,' said mr wardlaw, 'he means the king of abyssinia in the fifteenth century. i've been reading all about him. he was a christian, and the portuguese sent expedition after expedition to find him, but they never got there. albuquerque wanted to make an alliance with him and capture the holy sepulchre.' arcoll nodded. 'that's the one i mean. there's not very much known about him, except portuguese legends. he was a sort of christian, but i expect that his practices were as pagan as his neighbours'. there is no doubt that he was a great conqueror. under him and his successors, the empire of ethiopia extended far south of abyssinia away down to the great lakes.' 'how long did this power last?' i asked wondering to what tale this was prologue. 'that's a mystery no scholar has ever been able to fathom. anyhow, the centre of authority began to shift southward, and the warrior tribes moved in that direction. at the end of the sixteenth century the chief native power was round about the zambesi. the mazimba and the makaranga had come down from the lake nyassa quarter, and there was a strong kingdom in manicaland. that was the monomotapa that the portuguese thought so much of.' wardlaw nodded eagerly. the story was getting into ground that he knew about. 'the thing to remember is that all these little empires thought themselves the successors of prester john. it took me a long time to find this out, and i have spent days in the best libraries in europe over it. they all looked back to a great king in the north, whom they called by about twenty different names. they had forgotten about his christianity, but they remembered that he was a conqueror. 'well, to make a long story short, monomotapa disappeared in time, and fresh tribes came down from the north, and pushed right down to natal and the cape. that is how the zulus first appeared. they brought with them the story of prester john, but by this time it had ceased to be a historical memory, and had become a religious cult. they worshipped a great power who had been their ancestor, and the favourite zulu word for him was umkulunkulu. the belief was perverted into fifty different forms, but this was the central creed--that umkulunkulu had been the father of the tribe, and was alive as a spirit to watch over them. 'they brought more than a creed with them. somehow or other, some fetich had descended from prester john by way of the mazimba and angoni and makaranga. what it is i do not know, but it was always in the hands of the tribe which for the moment held the leadership. the great native wars of the sixteenth century, which you can read about in the portuguese historians, were not for territory but for leadership, and mainly for the possession of this fetich. anyhow, we know that the zulus brought it down with them. they called it _ndhlondhlo_, which means the great snake, but i don't suppose that it was any kind of snake. the snake was their totem, and they would naturally call their most sacred possession after it. 'now i will tell you a thing that few know. you have heard of tchaka. he was a sort of black napoleon early in the last century, and he made the zulus the paramount power in south africa, slaughtering about two million souls to accomplish it. well, he had the fetich, whatever it was, and it was believed that he owed his conquests to it. mosilikatse tried to steal it, and that was why he had to fly to matabeleland. but with tchaka it disappeared. dingaan did not have it, nor panda, and cetewayo never got it, though he searched the length and breadth of the country for it. it had gone out of existence, and with it the chance of a kaffir empire.' captain arcoll got up to light his pipe, and i noticed that his face was grave. he was not telling us this yarn for our amusement. 'so much for prester john and his charm,' he said. 'now i have to take up the history at a different point. in spite of risings here and there, and occasional rows, the kaffirs have been quiet for the better part of half a century. it is no credit to us. they have had plenty of grievances, and we are no nearer understanding them than our fathers were. but they are scattered and divided. we have driven great wedges of white settlement into their territory, and we have taken away their arms. still, they are six times as many as we are, and they have long memories, and a thoughtful man may wonder how long the peace will last. i have often asked myself that question, and till lately i used to reply, "for ever because they cannot find a leader with the proper authority, and they have no common cause to fight for." but a year or two ago i began to change my mind. 'it is my business to act as chief intelligence officer among the natives. well, one day, i came on the tracks of a curious person. he was a christian minister called laputa, and he was going among the tribes from durban to the zambesi as a roving evangelist. i found that he made an enormous impression, and yet the people i spoke to were chary of saying much about him. presently i found that he preached more than the gospel. his word was "africa for the africans," and his chief point was that the natives had had a great empire in the past, and might have a great empire again. he used to tell the story of prester john, with all kinds of embroidery of his own. you see, prester john was a good argument for him, for he had been a christian as well as a great potentate. 'for years there has been plenty of this talk in south africa, chiefly among christian kaffirs. it is what they call "ethiopianism," and american negroes are the chief apostles. for myself, i always thought the thing perfectly harmless. i don't care a fig whether the native missions break away from the parent churches in england and call themselves by fancy names. the more freedom they have in their religious life, the less they are likely to think about politics. but i soon found out that laputa was none of your flabby educated negroes from america, and i began to watch him. 'i first came across him at a revival meeting in london, where he was a great success. he came and spoke to me about my soul, but he gave up when i dropped into zulu. the next time i met him was on the lower limpopo, when i had the pleasure of trying to shoot him from a boat.' captain arcoll took his pipe from his mouth and laughed at the recollection. 'i had got on to an i.d.b. gang, and to my amazement found the evangelist among them. but the reverend john was too much for me. he went overboard in spite of the crocodiles, and managed to swim below water to the reed bed at the side. however, that was a valuable experience for me, for it gave me a clue. 'i next saw him at a missionary conference in cape town, and after that at a meeting of the geographical society in london, where i had a long talk with him. my reputation does not follow me home, and he thought i was an english publisher with an interest in missions. you see i had no evidence to connect him with i.d.b., and besides i fancied that his real game was something bigger than that; so i just bided my time and watched. 'i did my best to get on to his dossier, but it was no easy job. however, i found out a few things. he had been educated in the states, and well educated too, for the man is a good scholar and a great reader, besides the finest natural orator i have ever heard. there was no doubt that he was of zulu blood, but i could get no traces of his family. he must come of high stock, for he is a fine figure of a man. 'very soon i found it was no good following him in his excursions into civilization. there he was merely the educated kaffir; a great pet of missionary societies, and a favourite speaker at church meetings. you will find evidence given by him in blue-books on native affairs, and he counted many members of parliament at home among his correspondents. i let that side go, and resolved to dog him when on his evangelizing tours in the back-veld. 'for six months i stuck to him like a leech. i am pretty good at disguises, and he never knew who was the broken-down old kaffir who squatted in the dirt at the edge of the crowd when he spoke, or the half-caste who called him "sir" and drove his cape-cart. i had some queer adventures, but these can wait. the gist of the thing is, that after six months which turned my hair grey i got a glimmering of what he was after. he talked christianity to the mobs in the kraals, but to the indunas[ ] he told a different story.' captain arcoll helped himself to a drink. 'you can guess what that story was, mr crawfurd. at full moon when the black cock was blooded, the reverend john forgot his christianity. he was back four centuries among the mazimba sweeping down on the zambesi. he told them, and they believed him, that he was the umkulunkulu, the incarnated spirit of prester john. he told them that he was there to lead the african race to conquest and empire. ay, and he told them more: for he has, or says he has, the great snake itself, the necklet of prester john.' neither of us spoke; we were too occupied with fitting this news into our chain of knowledge. captain arcoll went on. 'now that i knew his purpose, i set myself to find out his preparations. it was not long before i found a mighty organization at work from the zambesi to the cape. the great tribes were up to their necks in the conspiracy, and all manner of little sects had been taken in. i have sat at tribal councils and been sworn a blood brother, and i have used the secret password to get knowledge in odd places. it was a dangerous game, and, as i have said, i had my adventures, but i came safe out of it--with my knowledge. 'the first thing i found out was that there was a great deal of wealth somewhere among the tribes. much of it was in diamonds, which the labourers stole from the mines and the chiefs impounded. nearly every tribe had its secret chest, and our friend laputa had the use of them all. of course the difficulty was changing the diamonds into coin, and he had to start i.d.b. on a big scale. your pal, henriques, was the chief agent for this, but he had others at mozambique and johannesburg, ay, and in london, whom i have on my list. with the money, guns and ammunition were bought, and it seems that a pretty flourishing trade has been going on for some time. they came in mostly overland through portuguese territory, though there have been cases of consignments to johannesburg houses, the contents of which did not correspond with the invoice. you ask what the governments were doing to let this go on. yes, and you may well ask. they were all asleep. they never dreamed of danger from the natives, and in any case it was difficult to police the portuguese side. laputa knew our weakness, and he staked everything on it. 'my first scheme was to lay laputa by the heels; but no government would act on my information. the man was strongly buttressed by public support at home, and south africa has burned her fingers before this with arbitrary arrests. then i tried to fasten i.d.b. on him, but i could not get my proofs till too late. i nearly had him in durban, but he got away; and he never gave me a second chance. for five months he and henriques have been lying low, because their scheme was getting very ripe. i have been following them through zululand and gazaland, and i have discovered that the train is ready, and only wants the match. for a month i have never been more than five hours behind him on the trail; and if he has laid his train, i have laid mine also.' arcoll's whimsical, humorous face had hardened into grimness, and in his eyes there was the light of a fierce purpose. the sight of him comforted me, in spite of his tale. 'but what can he hope to do?' i asked. 'though he roused every kaffir in south africa he would be beaten. you say he is an educated man. he must know he has no chance in the long run.' 'i said he was an educated man, but he is also a kaffir. he can see the first stage of a thing, and maybe the second, but no more. that is the native mind. if it was not like that our chance would be the worse.' 'you say the scheme is ripe,' i said; 'how ripe?' arcoll looked at the clock. 'in half an hour's time laputa will be with 'mpefu. there he will stay the night. to-morrow morning he goes to umvelos' to meet henriques. to-morrow evening the gathering begins.' 'one question,' i said. 'how big a man is laputa?' 'the biggest thing that the kaffirs have ever produced. i tell you, in my opinion he is a great genius. if he had been white he might have been a second napoleon. he is a born leader of men, and as brave as a lion. there is no villainy he would not do if necessary, and yet i should hesitate to call him a blackguard. ay, you may look surprised at me, you two pragmatical scotsmen; but i have, so to speak, lived with the man for months, and there's fineness and nobility in him. he would be a terrible enemy, but a just one. he has the heart of a poet and a king, and it is god's curse that he has been born among the children of ham. i hope to shoot him like a dog in a day or two, but i am glad to bear testimony to his greatness.' 'if the rising starts to-morrow,' i asked, 'have you any of his plans?' he picked up a map from the table and opened it. 'the first rendezvous is somewhere near sikitola's. then they move south, picking up contingents; and the final concentration is to be on the high veld near amsterdam, which is convenient for the swazis and the zulus. after that i know nothing, but of course there are local concentrations along the whole line of the berg from mashonaland to basutoland. now, look here. to get to amsterdam they must cross the delagoa bay railway. well, they won't be allowed to. if they get as far, they will be scattered there. as i told you, i too have laid my train. we have the police ready all along the scarp of the berg. every exit from native territory is watched, and the frontier farmers are out on commando. we have regulars on the delagoa bay and natal lines, and a system of field telegraphs laid which can summon further troops to any point. it has all been kept secret, because we are still in the dark ourselves. the newspaper public knows nothing about any rising, but in two days every white household in south africa will be in a panic. make no mistake, mr crawfurd; this is a grim business. we shall smash laputa and his men, but it will be a fierce fight, and there will be much good blood shed. besides, it will throw the country back another half-century. would to god i had been man enough to put a bullet through his head in cold blood. but i could not do it--it was too like murder; and maybe i shall never have the chance now.' 'there's one thing puzzles me,' i said. 'what makes laputa come up here to start with? why doesn't he begin with zululand?' 'god knows! there's sure to be sense in it, for he does nothing without reason. we may know to-morrow.' but as captain arcoll spoke, the real reason suddenly flashed into my mind: laputa had to get the great snake, the necklet of prester john, to give his leadership prestige. apparently he had not yet got it, or arcoll would have known. he started from this neighbourhood because the fetich was somewhere hereabouts. i was convinced that my guess was right, but i kept my own counsel. 'to-morrow laputa and henriques meet at umvelos', probably at your new store, mr crawfurd. and so the ball commences.' my resolution was suddenly taken. 'i think,' i said, 'i had better be present at the meeting, as representing the firm.' captain arcoll stared at me and laughed. 'i had thought of going myself,' he said. 'then you go to certain death, disguise yourself as you please. you cannot meet them in the store as i can. i'm there on my ordinary business, and they will never suspect. if you're to get any news, i'm the man to go.' he looked at me steadily for a minute or so. 'i'm not sure that's such a bad idea of yours. i would be better employed myself on the berg, and, as you say, i would have little chance of hearing anything. you're a plucky fellow, mr crawfurd. i suppose you understand that the risk is pretty considerable.' 'i suppose i do; but since i'm in this thing, i may as well see it out. besides, i've an old quarrel with our friend laputa.' 'good and well,' said captain arcoll. 'draw in your chair to the table, then, and i'll explain to you the disposition of my men. i should tell you that i have loyal natives in my pay in most tribes, and can count on early intelligence. we can't match their telepathy; but the new type of field telegraph is not so bad, and may be a trifle more reliable.' till midnight we pored over maps, and certain details were burned in on my memory. then we went to bed and slept soundly, even mr wardlaw. it was strange how fear had gone from the establishment, now that we knew the worst and had a fighting man by our side. [ ] hemp. [ ] council. [ ] lesser chiefs. chapter viii i fall in again with the reverend john laputa once, as a boy, i had earnestly desired to go into the army, and had hopes of rising to be a great general. now that i know myself better, i do not think i would have been much good at a general's work. i would have shirked the loneliness of it, the isolation of responsibility. but i think i would have done well in a subaltern command, for i had a great notion of carrying out orders, and a certain zest in the mere act of obedience. three days before i had been as nervous as a kitten because i was alone and it was 'up to me,' as americans say, to decide on the next step. but now that i was only one wheel in a great machine of defence my nervousness seemed to have fled. i was well aware that the mission i was bound on was full of risk; but, to my surprise, i felt no fear. indeed, i had much the same feeling as a boy on a saturday's holiday who has planned a big expedition. one thing only i regretted--that tam dyke was not with me to see the fun. the thought of that faithful soul, now beating somewhere on the seas, made me long for his comradeship. as i shaved, i remember wondering if i would ever shave again, and the thought gave me no tremors. for once in my sober life i was strung up to the gambler's pitch of adventure. my job was to go to umvelos' as if on my ordinary business, and if possible find out something of the evening's plan of march. the question was how to send back a message to arcoll, assuming i had any difficulty in getting away. at first this puzzled us both, and then i thought of colin. i had trained the dog to go home at my bidding, for often when i used to go hunting i would have occasion to visit a kraal where he would have been a nuisance. accordingly, i resolved to take colin with me, and, if i got into trouble, to send word by him. i asked about laputa's knowledge of our preparations. arcoll was inclined to think that he suspected little. the police and the commandos had been kept very secret, and, besides, they were moving on the high veld and out of the ken of the tribes. natives, he told me, were not good scouts so far as white man's work was concerned, for they did not understand the meaning of what we did. on the other hand, his own native scouts brought him pretty accurate tidings of any kaffir movements. he thought that all the bush country of the plain would be closely watched, and that no one would get through without some kind of pass. but he thought also that the storekeeper might be an exception, for his presence would give rise to no suspicions. almost his last words to me were to come back hell-for-leather if i saw the game was hopeless, and in any case to leave as soon as i got any news. 'if you're there when the march begins,' he said, 'they'll cut your throat for a certainty.' i had all the various police posts on the berg clear in my mind, so that i would know where to make for if the road to blaauwildebeestefontein should be closed. i said good-bye to arcoll and wardlaw with a light heart, though the schoolmaster broke down and implored me to think better of it. as i turned down into the gorge i heard the sound of horses' feet far behind, and, turning back, saw white riders dismounting at the dorp. at any rate i was leaving the country well guarded in my rear. it was a fine morning in mid-winter, and i was in very good spirits as i jogged on my pony down the steep hill-road, with colin running beside me. a month before i had taken the same journey, with no suspicion in my head of what the future was to bring. i thought about my dutch companions, now with their cattle far out on the plains. did they know of the great danger, i wondered. all the way down the glen i saw no sign of human presence. the game-birds mocked me from the thicket; a brace of white _berghaan_ circled far up in the blue; and i had for pleasant comrade the brawling river. i dismounted once to drink, and in that green haven of flowers and ferns i was struck sharply with a sense of folly. here were we wretched creatures of men making for each other's throats, and outraging the good earth which god had made so fair a habitation. i had resolved on a short cut to umvelos', avoiding the neighbourhood of sikitola's kraal, so when the river emerged from the glen i crossed it and struck into the bush. i had not gone far before i realized that something strange was going on. it was like the woods on the berg a week before. i had the impression of many people moving in the bush, and now and then i caught a glimpse of them. my first thought was that i should be stopped, but soon it appeared that these folk had business of their own which did not concern me. i was conscious of being watched, yet it was clear that the bush folk were not there for the purpose of watching me. for a little i kept my spirits, but as the hours passed with the same uncanny hurrying to and fro all about me my nerves began to suffer. weeks of espionage at blaauwildebeestefontein had made me jumpy. these people apparently meant me no ill, and had no time to spare on me, but the sensation of moving through them was like walking on a black-dark night with precipices all around. i felt odd quiverings between my shoulder blades where a spear might be expected to lodge. overhead was a great blue sky and a blazing sun, and i could see the path running clear before me between the walls of scrub. but it was like midnight to me, a midnight of suspicion and unknown perils. i began to wish heartily i had never come. i stopped for my midday meal at a place called taqui, a grassy glade in the bush where a tiny spring of water crept out from below a big stone, only to disappear in the sand. here i sat and smoked for half an hour, wondering what was going to become of me. the air was very still, but i could hear the rustle of movement somewhere within a hundred yards. the hidden folk were busy about their own ends, and i regretted that i had not taken the road by sikitola's and seen how the kraals looked. they must be empty now, for the young men were already out on some mission. so nervous i got that i took my pocket-book and wrote down certain messages to my mother, which i implored whoever should find my body to transmit. then, a little ashamed of my childishness, i pulled myself together, and remounted. about three in the afternoon i came over a low ridge of bush and saw the corrugated iron roof of the store and the gleam of water from the labongo. the sight encouraged me, for at any rate it meant the end of this disquieting ride. here the bush changed to trees of some size, and after leaving the ridge the road plunged for a little into a thick shade. i had forgotten for a moment the folk in the bush, and when a man stepped out of the thicket i pulled up my horse with a start. it was a tall native, who carried himself proudly, and after a glance at me, stalked along at my side. he wore curious clothes, for he had a kind of linen tunic, and around his waist hung a kilt of leopard-skin. in such a man one would have looked for a _ting-kop_,[ ] but instead he had a mass of hair, not like a kaffir's wool, but long and curled like some popular musician's. i should have been prepared for the face, but the sight of it sent a sudden chill of fright through my veins. for there was the curved nose, the deep flashing eyes, and the cruel lips of my enemy of the kirkcaple shore. colin was deeply suspicious and followed his heels growling, but he never turned his head. 'the day is warm, father,' i said in kaffir. 'do you go far?' he slackened his pace till he was at my elbow. 'but a short way, baas,' he replied in english; 'i go to the store yonder.' 'well met, then,' said i, 'for i am the storekeeper. you will find little in it, for it is newly built and not yet stocked. i have ridden over to see to it.' he turned his face to me. 'that is bad news. i had hoped for food and drink yonder. i have travelled far, and in the chill nights i desire a cover for my head. will the baas allow me to sleep the night in an outhouse?' by this time i had recovered my nerve, and was ready to play the part i had determined on. 'willingly,' i said. 'you may sleep in the storeroom if you care. you will find sacks for bedding, and the place is snug enough on a cold night.' he thanked me with a grave dignity which i had never seen in any kaffir. as my eye fell on his splendid proportions i forgot all else in my admiration of the man. in his minister's clothes he had looked only a heavily built native, but now in his savage dress i saw how noble a figure he made. he must have been at least six feet and a half, but his chest was so deep and his shoulders so massive that one did not remark his height. he put a hand on my saddle, and i remember noting how slim and fine it was, more like a high-bred woman's than a man's. curiously enough he filled me with a certain confidence. 'i do not think you will cut my throat,' i said to myself. 'your game is too big for common murder.' the store at umvelos' stood as i had left it. there was the sjambok i had forgotten still lying on the window sill. i unlocked the door, and a stifling smell of new paint came out to meet me. inside there was nothing but the chairs and benches, and in a corner the pots and pans i had left against my next visit. i unlocked the cupboard and got out a few stores, opened the windows of the bedroom next door, and flung my kaross on the cartel which did duty as bed. then i went out to find laputa standing patiently in the sunshine. i showed him the outhouse where i had said he might sleep. it was the largest room in the store, but wholly unfurnished. a pile of barrels and packing-cases stood in the corner, and there was enough sacking to make a sort of bed. 'i am going to make tea,' i said. 'if you have come far you would maybe like a cup?' he thanked me, and i made a fire in the grate and put on the kettle to boil. then i set on the table biscuits, and sardines, and a pot of jam. it was my business now to play the fool, and i believe i succeeded to admiration in the part. i blush to-day to think of the stuff i talked. first i made him sit on a chair opposite me, a thing no white man in the country would have done. then i told him affectionately that i liked natives, that they were fine fellows and better men than the dirty whites round about. i explained that i was fresh from england, and believed in equal rights for all men, white or coloured. god forgive me, but i think i said i hoped to see the day when africa would belong once more to its rightful masters. he heard me with an impassive face, his grave eyes studying every line of me. i am bound to add that he made a hearty meal, and drank three cups of strong tea of my brewing. i gave him a cigar, one of a lot i had got from a dutch farmer who was experimenting with their manufacture--and all the while i babbled of myself and my opinions. he must have thought me half-witted, and indeed before long i began to be of the same opinion myself. i told him that i meant to sleep the night here, and go back in the morning to blaauwildebeestefontein, and then to pietersdorp for stores. by-and-by i could see that he had ceased to pay any attention to what i said. i was clearly set down in his mind as a fool. instead he kept looking at colin, who was lying blinking in the doorway, one wary eye cocked on the stranger. 'you have a fine dog,' he observed. 'yes,' i agreed, with one final effort of mendacity, 'he's fine to look at, but he has no grit in him. any mongrel from a kraal can make him turn tail. besides, he is a born fool and can't find his way home. i'm thinking of getting rid of him.' laputa rose and his eye fell on the dog's back. i could see that he saw the lie of his coat, and that he did not agree with me. 'the food was welcome, baas,' he said. 'if you will listen to me i can repay hospitality with advice. you are a stranger here. trouble comes, and if you are wise you will go back to the berg.' 'i don't know what you mean,' i said, with an air of cheerful idiocy. 'but back to the berg i go the first thing in the morning. i hate these stinking plains.' 'it were wise to go to-night,' he said, with a touch of menace in his tone. 'i can't,' i said, and began to sing the chorus of a ridiculous music-hall song-- 'there's no place like home--but i'm afraid to go home in the dark.' laputa shrugged his shoulders, stepped over the bristling colin, and went out. when i looked after him two minutes later he had disappeared. [ ] the circlet into which, with the aid of gum, zulu warriors weave their hair. chapter ix the store at umvelos' i sat down on a chair and laboured to collect my thoughts. laputa had gone, and would return sooner or later with henriques. if i was to remain alive till morning, both of them must be convinced that i was harmless. laputa was probably of that opinion, but henriques would recognize me, and i had no wish to have that yellow miscreant investigating my character. there was only one way out of it--i must be incapably drunk. there was not a drop of liquor in the store, but i found an old whisky bottle half full of methylated spirits. with this i thought i might raise an atmosphere of bad whisky, and for the rest i must trust to my meagre gifts as an actor. supposing i escaped suspicion, laputa and henriques would meet in the outhouse, and i must find some means of overhearing them. here i was fairly baffled. there was no window in the outhouse save in the roof, and they were sure to shut and bolt the door. i might conceal myself among the barrels inside; but apart from the fact that they were likely to search them before beginning their conference, it was quite certain that they would satisfy themselves that i was safe in the other end of the building before going to the outhouse. suddenly i thought of the cellar which we had built below the store. there was an entrance by a trap-door behind the counter, and another in the outhouse. i had forgotten the details, but my hope was that the second was among the barrels. i shut the outer door, prised up the trap, and dropped into the vault, which had been floored roughly with green bricks. lighting match after match, i crawled to the other end and tried to lift the door. it would not stir, so i guessed that the barrels were on the top of it. back to the outhouse i went, and found that sure enough a heavy packing-case was standing on a corner. i fixed it slightly open, so as to let me hear, and so arranged the odds and ends round about it that no one looking from the floor of the outhouse would guess at its existence. it occurred to me that the conspirators would want seats, so i placed two cases at the edge of the heap, that they might not be tempted to forage in the interior. this done, i went back to the store and proceeded to rig myself out for my part. the cellar had made me pretty dirty, and i added some new daubs to my face. my hair had grown longish, and i ran my hands through it till it stood up like a cockatoo's crest. then i cunningly disposed the methylated spirits in the places most likely to smell. i burned a little on the floor, i spilt some on the counter and on my hands, and i let it dribble over my coat. in five minutes i had made the room stink like a shebeen. i loosened the collar of my shirt, and when i looked at myself in the cover of my watch i saw a specimen of debauchery which would have done credit to a saturday night's police cell. by this time the sun had gone down, but i thought it better to kindle no light. it was the night of the full moon--for which reason, i supposed, laputa had selected it--and in an hour or two the world would be lit with that ghostly radiance. i sat on the counter while the minutes passed, and i confess i found the time of waiting very trying for my courage. i had got over my worst nervousness by having something to do, but whenever i was idle my fears returned. laputa had a big night's work before him, and must begin soon. my vigil, i told myself, could not be long. my pony was stalled in a rough shed we had built opposite the store. i could hear him shaking his head and stamping the ground above the croaking of the frogs by the labongo. presently it seemed to me that another sound came from behind the store--the sound of horses' feet and the rattle of bridles. it was hushed for a moment, and then i heard human voices. the riders had tied up their horses to a tree and were coming nearer. i sprawled gracefully on the counter, the empty bottle in my hand, and my eyes fixed anxiously on the square of the door, which was filled with the blue glimmer of the late twilight. the square darkened, and two men peered in. colin growled from below the counter, but with one hand i held the scruff of his neck. 'hullo,' i said, 'ish that my black friend? awfly shorry, old man, but i've f'nish'd th' whisky. the bo-o-ottle shempty,' and i waved it upside down with an imbecile giggle. laputa said something which i did not catch. henriques laughed an ugly laugh. 'we had better make certain of him,' he said. the two argued for a minute, and then laputa seemed to prevail. the door was shut and the key, which i had left in the lock, turned on me. i gave them five minutes to get to the outhouse and settle to business. then i opened the trap, got into the cellar, and crawled to the other end. a ray of light was coming through the partially raised door. by a blessed chance some old bricks had been left behind, and of these i made a footstool, which enabled me to get my back level with the door and look out. my laager of barrels was intact, but through a gap i had left i could see the two men sitting on the two cases i had provided for them. a lantern was set between them, and henriques was drinking out of a metal flask. he took something--i could not see what--out of his pocket, and held it before his companion. 'spoils of war,' he said. 'i let sikitola's men draw first blood. they needed it to screw up their courage. now they are as wild as umbooni's. laputa asked a question. 'it was the dutchmen, who were out on the koodoo flats with their cattle. man, it's no good being squeamish. do you think you can talk over these surly back-veld fools? if we had not done it, the best of their horses would now be over the berg to give warning. besides, i tell you, sikitola's men wanted blooding. i did for the old swine, coetzee, with my own hands. once he set his dogs on me, and i don't forget an injury.' laputa must have disapproved, for henriques' voice grew high. 'run the show the way you please,' he cried; 'but don't blame me if you make a hash of it. god, man, do you think you are going to work a revolution on skim milk? if i had my will, i would go in and stick a knife in the drunken hog next door.' 'he is safe enough,' laputa replied. 'i gave him the chance of life, and he laughed at me. he won't get far on his road home.' this was pleasant hearing for me, but i scarcely thought of myself. i was consumed with a passion of fury against the murdering yellow devil. with laputa i was not angry; he was an open enemy, playing a fair game. but my fingers itched to get at the portugoose--that double-dyed traitor to his race. as i thought of my kindly old friends, lying butchered with their kinsfolk out in the bush, hot tears of rage came to my eyes. perfect love casteth out fear, the bible says; but, to speak it reverently, so does perfect hate. not for safety and a king's ransom would i have drawn back from the game. i prayed for one thing only, that god in his mercy would give me the chance of settling with henriques. i fancy i missed some of the conversation, being occupied with my own passion. at any rate, when i next listened the two were deep in plans. maps were spread beside them, and laputa's delicate forefinger was tracing a route. i strained my ears, but could catch only a few names. apparently they were to keep in the plains till they had crossed the klein labongo and the letaba. i thought i caught the name of the ford of the latter; it sounded like dupree's drift. after that the talk became plainer, for laputa was explaining in his clear voice. the force would leave the bush, ascend the berg by the glen of the groot letaba, and the first halt would be called at a place called inanda's kraal, where a promontory of the high-veld juts out behind the peaks called the wolkberg or cloud mountains. all this was very much to the point, and the names sunk into my memory like a die into wax. 'meanwhile,' said laputa, 'there is the gathering at ntabakaikonjwa.[ ] it will take us three hours' hard riding to get there.' where on earth was ntabakaikonjwa? it must be the native name for the rooirand, for after all laputa was not likely to use the dutch word for his own sacred place. 'nothing has been forgotten. the men are massed below the cliffs, and the chiefs and the great indunas will enter the place of the snake. the door will be guarded, and only the password will get a man through. that word is "immanuel," which means, "god with us."' 'well, when we get there, what happens?' henriques asked with a laugh. 'what kind of magic will you spring on us?' there was a strong contrast between the flippant tone of the portugoose and the grave voice which answered him. 'the keeper of the snake will open the holy place, and bring forth the isetembiso sami.[ ] as the leader of my people, i will assume the collar of umkulunkulu in the name of our god and the spirits of the great dead.' 'but you don't propose to lead the march in a necklace of rubies,' said henriques, with a sudden eagerness in his voice. again laputa spoke gravely, and, as it were, abstractedly. i heard the voice of one whose mind was fixed on a far horizon. 'when i am acclaimed king, i restore the snake to its keeper, and swear never to clasp it on my neck till i have led my people to victory.' 'i see,' said henriques. 'what about the purification you mentioned?' i had missed this before and listened earnestly. 'the vows we take in the holy place bind us till we are purged of them at inanda's kraal. till then no blood must be shed and no flesh eaten. it was the fashion of our forefathers.' 'well, i think you've taken on a pretty risky job,' henriques said. 'you propose to travel a hundred miles, binding yourself not to strike a blow. it is simply putting yourself at the mercy of any police patrol.' 'there will be no patrol,' laputa replied. 'our march will be as secret and as swift as death. i have made my preparations.' 'but suppose you met with opposition,' the portugoose persisted, 'would the rule hold?' 'if any try to stop us, we shall tie them hand and foot, and carry them with us. their fate will be worse than if they had been slain in battle.' 'i see,' said henriques, whistling through his teeth. 'well, before we start this vow business, i think i'll go back and settle that storekeeper.' laputa shook his head. 'will you be serious and hear me? we have no time to knife harmless fools. before we start for ntabakaikonjwa i must have from you the figures of the arming in the south. that is the one thing which remains to be settled.' i am certain these figures would have been most interesting, but i never heard them. my feet were getting cramped with standing on the bricks, and i inadvertently moved them. the bricks came down with a rattle, and unfortunately in slipping i clutched at the trap. this was too much for my frail prop, and the door slammed down with a great noise. here was a nice business for the eavesdropper! i scurried along the passage as stealthily as i could and clambered back into the store, while i heard the sound of laputa and henriques ferreting among the barrels. i managed to throttle colin and prevent him barking, but i could not get the confounded trap to close behind me. something had jammed in it, and it remained half a foot open. i heard the two approaching the door, and i did the best thing that occurred to me. i pulled colin over the trap, rolled on the top of him, and began to snore heavily as if in a drunken slumber. the key was turned, and the gleam of a lantern was thrown on the wall. it flew up and down as its bearer cast the light into the corners. 'by god, he's gone,' i heard henriques say. 'the swine was listening, and he has bolted now.' 'he won't bolt far,' laputa said. 'he is here. he is snoring behind the counter.' these were anxious moments for me. i had a firm grip on colin's throat, but now and then a growl escaped, which was fortunately blended with my snores. i felt that a lantern was flashed on me, and that the two men were peering down at the heap on the half-opened trap. i think that was the worst minute i ever spent, for, as i have said, my courage was not so bad in action, but in a passive game it oozed out of my fingers. 'he is safe enough,' laputa said, after what seemed to me an eternity. 'the noise was only the rats among the barrels.' i thanked my maker that they had not noticed the other trap-door. 'all the same i think i'll make him safer,' said henriques. laputa seemed to have caught him by the arm. 'come back and get to business,' he said. 'i've told you i'll have no more murder. you will do as i tell you, mr henriques.' i did not catch the answer, but the two went out and locked the door. i patted the outraged colin, and got to my feet with an aching side where the confounded lid of the trap had been pressing. there was no time to lose for the two in the outhouse would soon be setting out, and i must be before them. with no better light than a ray of the moon through the window, i wrote a message on a leaf from my pocket-book. i told of the plans i had overheard, and especially i mentioned dupree's drift on the letaba. i added that i was going to the rooirand to find the secret of the cave, and in one final sentence implored arcoll to do justice on the portugoose. that was all, for i had no time for more. i carefully tied the paper with a string below the collar of the dog. then very quietly i went into the bedroom next door--the side of the store farthest from the outhouse. the place was flooded with moonlight, and the window stood open, as i had left it in the afternoon. as softly as i could i swung colin over the sill and clambered after him. in my haste i left my coat behind me with my pistol in the pocket. now came a check. my horse was stabled in the shed, and that was close to the outhouse. the sound of leading him out would most certainly bring laputa and henriques to the door. in that moment i all but changed my plans. i thought of slipping back to the outhouse and trying to shoot the two men as they came forth. but i reflected that, before i could get them both, one or other would probably shoot me. besides, i had a queer sort of compunction about killing laputa. i understood now why arcoll had stayed his hand from murder, and i was beginning to be of his opinion on our arch-enemy. then i remembered the horses tied up in the bush. one of them i could get with perfect safety. i ran round the end of the store and into the thicket, keeping on soft grass to dull my tread. there, tied up to a merula tree, were two of the finest beasts i had seen in africa. i selected the better, an africander stallion of the _blaauw-schimmel_, or blue-roan type, which is famous for speed and endurance. slipping his bridle from the branch, i led him a little way into the bush in the direction of the rooirand. then i spoke to colin. 'home with you,' i said. 'home, old man, as if you were running down a tsessebe.'[ ] the dog seemed puzzled. 'home,' i said again, pointing west in the direction of the berg. 'home, you brute.' and then he understood. he gave one low whine, and cast a reproachful eye on me and the blue roan. then he turned, and with his head down set off with great lopes on the track of the road i had ridden in the morning. a second later and i was in the saddle, riding hell-for-leather for the north. [ ] literally, 'the hill which is not to be pointed at'. [ ] literally, 'very sacred thing'. [ ] a species of buck, famous for its speed. chapter x i go treasure-hunting for a mile or so i kept the bush, which was open and easy to ride through, and then turned into the path. the moon was high, and the world was all a dim dark green, with the track a golden ivory band before me. i had looked at my watch before i started, and seen that it was just after eight o'clock. i had a great horse under me, and less than thirty miles to cover. midnight should see me at the cave. with the password i would gain admittance, and there would wait for laputa and henriques. then, if my luck held, i should see the inner workings of the mystery which had puzzled me ever since the kirkcaple shore. no doubt i should be roughly treated, tied up prisoner, and carried with the army when the march began. but till inanda's kraal my life was safe, and before that came the ford of the letaba. colin would carry my message to arcoll, and at the drift the tables would be turned on laputa's men. looking back in cold blood, it seems the craziest chain of accidents to count on for preservation. a dozen possibilities might have shattered any link of it. the password might be wrong, or i might never get the length of those who knew it. the men in the cave might butcher me out of hand, or laputa might think my behaviour a sufficient warrant for the breach of the solemnest vow. colin might never get to blaauwildebeestefontein, laputa might change his route of march, or arcoll's men might fail to hold the drift. indeed, the other day at portincross i was so overcome by the recollection of the perils i had dared and god's goodness towards me that i built a new hall for the parish kirk as a token of gratitude. fortunately for mankind the brain in a life of action turns more to the matter in hand than to conjuring up the chances of the future. certainly it was in no discomfort of mind that i swung along the moonlit path to the north. truth to tell, i was almost happy. the first honours in the game had fallen to me. i knew more about laputa than any man living save henriques; i had my finger on the central pulse of the rebellion. there was hid treasure ahead of me--a great necklace of rubies, henriques had said. nay, there must be more, i argued. this cave of the rooirand was the headquarters of the rising, and there must be stored their funds--diamonds, and the gold they had been bartered for. i believe that every man has deep in his soul a passion for treasure-hunting, which will often drive a coward into prodigies of valour. i lusted for that treasure of jewels and gold. once i had been high-minded, and thought of my duty to my country, but in that night ride i fear that what i thought of was my duty to enrich david crawfurd. one other purpose simmered in my head. i was devoured with wrath against henriques. indeed, i think that was the strongest motive for my escapade, for even before i heard laputa tell of the vows and the purification, i had it in my mind to go at all costs to the cave. i am a peaceable man at most times, but i think i would rather have had the portugoose's throat in my hands than the collar of prester john. but behind my thoughts was one master-feeling, that providence had given me my chance and i must make the most of it. perhaps the calvinism of my father's preaching had unconsciously taken grip of my soul. at any rate i was a fatalist in creed, believing that what was willed would happen, and that man was but a puppet in the hands of his maker. i looked on the last months as a clear course which had been mapped out for me. not for nothing had i been given a clue to the strange events which were coming. it was foreordained that i should go alone to umvelos', and in the promptings of my own fallible heart i believed i saw the workings of omnipotence. such is our moral arrogance, and yet without such a belief i think that mankind would have ever been content to bide sluggishly at home. i passed the spot where on my former journey i had met the horses, and knew that i had covered more than half the road. my ear had been alert for the sound of pursuit, but the bush was quiet as the grave. the man who rode my pony would find him a slow traveller, and i pitied the poor beast bucketed along by an angry rider. gradually a hazy wall of purple began to shimmer before me, apparently very far off. i knew the ramparts of the rooirand, and let my _schimmel_ feel my knees in his ribs. within an hour i should be at the cliff's foot. i had trusted for safety to the password, but as it turned out i owed my life mainly to my horse. for, a mile or so from the cliffs, i came to the fringes of a great army. the bush was teeming with men, and i saw horses picketed in bunches, and a multitude of cape-carts and light wagons. it was like a colossal gathering for _naachtmaal_[ ] at a dutch dorp, but every man was black. i saw through a corner of my eye that they were armed with guns, though many carried in addition their spears and shields. their first impulse was to stop me. i saw guns fly to shoulders, and a rush towards the path. the boldest game was the safest, so i dug my heels into the _schimmel_ and shouted for a passage. 'make way!' i cried in kaffir. 'i bear a message from the inkulu.[ ] clear out, you dogs!' they recognized the horse, and fell back with a salute. had i but known it, the beast was famed from the zambesi to the cape. it was their king's own charger i rode, and who dared question such a warrant? i heard the word pass through the bush, and all down the road i got the salute. in that moment i fervently thanked my stars that i had got away first, for there would have been no coming second for me. at the cliff-foot i found a double line of warriors who had the appearance of a royal guard, for all were tall men with leopard-skin cloaks. their rifle-barrels glinted in the moon-light, and the sight sent a cold shiver down my back. above them, among the scrub and along the lower slopes of the kranzes, i could see further lines with the same gleaming weapons. the place of the snake was in strong hands that night. i dismounted and called for a man to take my horse. two of the guards stepped forward in silence and took the bridle. this left the track to the cave open, and with as stiff a back as i could command, but a sadly fluttering heart, i marched through the ranks. the path was lined with guards, all silent and rigid as graven images. as i stumbled over the stones i felt that my appearance scarcely fitted the dignity of a royal messenger. among those splendid men-at-arms i shambled along in old breeches and leggings, hatless, with a dirty face, dishevelled hair, and a torn flannel shirt. my mind was no better than my body, for now that i had arrived i found my courage gone. had it been possible i would have turned tail and fled, but the boats were burned behind me, and i had no choice. i cursed my rash folly, and wondered at my exhilaration of an hour ago. i was going into the black mysterious darkness, peopled by ten thousand cruel foes. my knees rubbed against each other, and i thought that no man had ever been in more deadly danger. at the entrance to the gorge the guards ceased and i went on alone. here there was no moonlight, and i had to feel my way by the sides. i moved very slowly, wondering how soon i should find the end my folly demanded. the heat of the ride had gone, and i remember feeling my shirt hang clammily on my shoulders. suddenly a hand was laid on my breast, and a voice demanded, 'the word?' 'immanuel,' i said hoarsely. then unseen hands took both my arms, and i was led farther into the darkness. my hopes revived for a second. the password had proved true, and at any rate i should enter the cave. in the darkness i could see nothing, but i judged that we stopped before the stone slab which, as i remembered, filled the extreme end of the gorge. my guide did something with the right-hand wall, and i felt myself being drawn into a kind of passage. it was so narrow that two could not go abreast, and so low that the creepers above scraped my hair. something clicked behind me like the turnstile at the gate of a show. then we began to ascend steps, still in utter darkness, and a great booming fell on my ear. it was the falling river which had scared me on my former visit, and i marvelled that i had not heard it sooner. presently we came out into a gleam of moonlight, and i saw that we were inside the gorge and far above the slab. we followed a narrow shelf on its left side (or 'true right', as mountaineers would call it) until we could go no farther. then we did a terrible thing. across the gorge, which here was at its narrowest, stretched a slab of stone. far, far below i caught the moonlight on a mass of hurrying waters. this was our bridge, and though i have a good head for crags, i confess i grew dizzy as we turned to cross it. perhaps it was broader than it looked; at any rate my guides seemed to have no fear, and strode across it as if it was a highway, while i followed in a sweat of fright. once on the other side, i was handed over to a second pair of guides, who led me down a high passage running into the heart of the mountain. the boom of the river sank and rose as the passage twined. soon i saw a gleam of light ahead which was not the moon. it grew larger, until suddenly the roof rose and i found myself in a gigantic chamber. so high it was that i could not make out anything of the roof, though the place was brightly lit with torches stuck round the wall, and a great fire which burned at the farther end. but the wonder was on the left side, where the floor ceased in a chasm. the left wall was one sheet of water, where the river fell from the heights into the infinite depth, below. the torches and the fire made the sheer stream glow and sparkle like the battlements of the heavenly city. i have never seen any sight so beautiful or so strange, and for a second my breath stopped in admiration. there were two hundred men or more in the chamber, but so huge was the place that they seemed only a little company. they sat on the ground in a circle, with their eyes fixed on the fire and on a figure which stood before it. the glow revealed the old man i had seen on that morning a month before moving towards the cave. he stood as if in a trance, straight as a tree, with his arms crossed on his breast. a robe of some shining white stuff fell from his shoulders, and was clasped round his middle by a broad circle of gold. his head was shaven, and on his forehead was bound a disc of carved gold. i saw from his gaze that his old eyes were blind. 'who comes?' he asked as i entered. 'a messenger from the inkulu,' i spoke up boldly. 'he follows soon with the white man, henriques.' then i sat down in the back row of the circle to await events. i noticed that my neighbour was the fellow 'mwanga whom i had kicked out of the store. happily i was so dusty that he could scarcely recognize me, but i kept my face turned away from him. what with the light and the warmth, the drone of the water, the silence of the folk, and my mental and physical stress, i grew drowsy and all but slept. [ ] the communion sabbath. [ ] a title applied only to the greatest chiefs. chapter xi the cave of the rooirand i was roused by a sudden movement. the whole assembly stood up, and each man clapped his right hand to his brow and then raised it high. a low murmur of 'inkulu' rose above the din of the water. laputa strode down the hall, with henriques limping behind him. they certainly did not suspect my presence in the cave, nor did laputa show any ruffling of his calm. only henriques looked weary and cross. i guessed he had had to ride my pony. the old man whom i took to be the priest advanced towards laputa with his hands raised over his head. a pace before they met he halted, and laputa went on his knees before him. he placed his hands on his head, and spoke some words which i could not understand. it reminded me, so queer are the tricks of memory, of an old sabbath-school book i used to have which had a picture of samuel ordaining saul as king of israel. i think i had forgotten my own peril and was enthralled by the majesty of the place--the wavering torches, the dropping wall of green water, above all, the figures of laputa and the keeper of the snake, who seemed to have stepped out of an antique world. laputa stripped off his leopard skin till he stood stark, a noble form of a man. then the priest sprinkled some herbs on the fire, and a thin smoke rose to the roof. the smell was that i had smelled on the kirkcaple shore, sweet, sharp, and strange enough to chill the marrow. and round the fire went the priest in widening and contracting circles, just as on that sabbath evening in spring. once more we were sitting on the ground, all except laputa and the keeper. henriques was squatting in the front row, a tiny creature among so many burly savages. laputa stood with bent head in the centre. then a song began, a wild incantation in which all joined. the old priest would speak some words, and the reply came in barbaric music. the words meant nothing to me; they must have been in some tongue long since dead. but the music told its own tale. it spoke of old kings and great battles, of splendid palaces and strong battlements, of queens white as ivory, of death and life, love and hate, joy and sorrow. it spoke, too, of desperate things, mysteries of horror long shut to the world. no kaffir ever forged that ritual. it must have come straight from prester john or sheba's queen, or whoever ruled in africa when time was young. i was horribly impressed. devouring curiosity and a lurking nameless fear filled my mind. my old dread had gone. i was not afraid now of kaffir guns, but of the black magic of which laputa had the key. the incantation died away, but still herbs were flung on the fire, till the smoke rose in a great cloud, through which the priest loomed misty and huge. out of the smoke-wreaths his voice came high and strange. it was as if some treble stop had been opened in a great organ, as against the bass drone of the cataract. he was asking laputa questions, to which came answers in that rich voice which on board the liner had preached the gospel of christ. the tongue i did not know, and i doubt if my neighbours were in better case. it must have been some old sacred language--phoenician, sabaean, i know not what--which had survived in the rite of the snake. then came silence while the fire died down and the smoke eddied away in wreaths towards the river. the priest's lips moved as if in prayer: of laputa i saw only the back, and his head was bowed. suddenly a rapt cry broke from the keeper. 'god has spoken,' he cried. 'the path is clear. the snake returns to the house of its birth.' an attendant led forward a black goat, which bleated feebly. with a huge antique knife the old man slit its throat, catching the blood in a stone ewer. some was flung on the fire, which had burned small and low. 'even so,' cried the priest, 'will the king quench in blood the hearth-fires of his foes.' then on laputa's forehead and bare breast he drew a bloody cross. 'i seal thee,' said the voice, 'priest and king of god's people.' the ewer was carried round the assembly, and each dipped his finger in it and marked his forehead. i got a dab to add to the other marks on my face. 'priest and king of god's people,' said the voice again, 'i call thee to the inheritance of john. priest and king was he, king of kings, lord of hosts, master of the earth. when he ascended on high he left to his son the sacred snake, the ark of his valour, to be god's dower and pledge to the people whom he has chosen.' i could not make out what followed. it seemed to be a long roll of the kings who had borne the snake. none of them i knew, but at the end i thought i caught the name of tchaka the terrible, and i remembered arcoll's tale. the keeper held in his arms a box of curiously wrought ivory, about two feet long and one broad. he was standing beyond the ashes, from which, in spite of the blood, thin streams of smoke still ascended. he opened it, and drew out something which swung from his hand like a cascade of red fire. 'behold the snake,' cried the keeper, and every man in the assembly, excepting laputa and including me, bowed his head to the ground and cried 'ow.' 'ye who have seen the snake,' came the voice, 'on you is the vow of silence and peace. no blood shall ye shed of man or beast, no flesh shall ye eat till the vow is taken from you. from the hour of midnight till sunrise on the second day ye are bound to god. whoever shall break the vow, on him shall the curse fall. his blood shall dry in his veins, and his flesh shrink on his bones. he shall be an outlaw and accursed, and there shall follow him through life and death the avengers of the snake. choose ye, my people; upon you is the vow.' by this time we were all flat on our faces, and a great cry of assent went up. i lifted my head as much as i dared to see what would happen next. the priest raised the necklace till it shone above his head like a halo of blood. i have never seen such a jewel, and i think there has never been another such on earth. later i was to have the handling of it, and could examine it closely, though now i had only a glimpse. there were fifty-five rubies in it, the largest as big as a pigeon's egg, and the least not smaller than my thumbnail. in shape they were oval, cut on both sides en cabochon, and on each certain characters were engraved. no doubt this detracted from their value as gems, yet the characters might have been removed and the stones cut in facets, and these rubies would still have been the noblest in the world. i was no jewel merchant to guess their value, but i knew enough to see that here was wealth beyond human computation. at each end of the string was a great pearl and a golden clasp. the sight absorbed me to the exclusion of all fear. i, david crawfurd, nineteen years of age, an assistant-storekeeper in a back-veld dorp, was privileged to see a sight to which no portuguese adventurer had ever attained. there, floating on the smoke-wreaths, was the jewel which may once have burned in sheba's hair. as the priest held the collar aloft, the assembly rocked with a strange passion. foreheads were rubbed in the dust, and then adoring eyes would be raised, while a kind of sobbing shook the worshippers. in that moment i learned something of the secret of africa, of prester john's empire and tchaka's victories. 'in the name of god,' came the voice, 'i deliver to the heir of john the snake of john.' laputa took the necklet and twined it in two loops round his neck till the clasp hung down over his breast. the position changed. the priest knelt before him, and received his hands on his head. then i knew that, to the confusion of all talk about equality, god has ordained some men to be kings and others to serve. laputa stood naked as when he was born. the rubies were dulled against the background of his skin, but they still shone with a dusky fire. above the blood-red collar his face had the passive pride of a roman emperor. only his great eyes gloomed and burned as he looked on his followers. 'heir of john,' he said, 'i stand before you as priest and king. my kingship is for the morrow. now i am the priest to make intercession for my people.' he prayed--prayed as i never heard man pray before--and to the god of israel! it was no heathen fetich he was invoking, but the god of whom he had often preached in christian kirks. i recognized texts from isaiah and the psalms and the gospels, and very especially from the two last chapters of revelation. he pled with god to forget the sins of his people, to recall the bondage of zion. it was amazing to hear these bloodthirsty savages consecrated by their leader to the meek service of christ. an enthusiast may deceive himself, and i did not question his sincerity. i knew his heart, black with all the lusts of paganism. i knew that his purpose was to deluge the land with blood. but i knew also that in his eyes his mission was divine, and that he felt behind him all the armies of heaven. _'thou hast been a strength to the poor,' said the voice, 'a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against a wall._ _'thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low._ _'and in this mountain shall the lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow._ _'and he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is brought over all nations._ _'and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the lord hath spoken it.'_ i listened spellbound as he prayed. i heard the phrases familiar to me in my schooldays at kirkcaple. he had some of the tones of my father's voice, and when i shut my eyes i could have believed myself a child again. so much he had got from his apprenticeship to the ministry. i wondered vaguely what the good folks who had listened to him in churches and halls at home would think of him now. but there was in the prayer more than the supplications of the quondam preacher. there was a tone of arrogant pride, the pride of the man to whom the almighty is only another and greater lord of hosts. he prayed less as a suppliant than as an ally. a strange emotion tingled in my blood, half awe, half sympathy. as i have said, i understood that there are men born to kingship. he ceased with a benediction. then he put on his leopard-skin cloak and kilt, and received from the kneeling chief a spear and shield. now he was more king than priest, more barbarian than christian. it was as a king that he now spoke. i had heard him on board the liner, and had thought his voice the most wonderful i had ever met with. but now in that great resonant hall the magic of it was doubled. he played upon the souls of his hearers as on a musical instrument. at will he struck the chords of pride, fury, hate, and mad joy. now they would be hushed in breathless quiet, and now the place would echo with savage assent. i remember noticing that the face of my neighbour, 'mwanga, was running with tears. he spoke of the great days of prester john, and a hundred names i had never heard of. he pictured the heroic age of his nation, when every man was a warrior and hunter, and rich kraals stood in the spots now desecrated by the white man, and cattle wandered on a thousand hills. then he told tales of white infamy, lands snatched from their rightful possessors, unjust laws which forced the ethiopian to the bondage of a despised caste, the finger of scorn everywhere, and the mocking word. if it be the part of an orator to rouse the passion of his hearers, laputa was the greatest on earth. 'what have ye gained from the white man?' he cried. 'a bastard civilization which has sapped your manhood; a false religion which would rivet on you the chains of the slave. ye, the old masters of the land, are now the servants of the oppressor. and yet the oppressors are few, and the fear of you is in their hearts. they feast in their great cities, but they see the writing on the wall, and their eyes are anxiously turning lest the enemy be at their gates.' i cannot hope in my prosaic words to reproduce that amazing discourse. phrases which the hearers had heard at mission schools now suddenly appeared, not as the white man's learning, but as god's message to his own. laputa fitted the key to the cipher, and the meaning was clear. he concluded, i remember, with a picture of the overthrow of the alien, and the golden age which would dawn for the oppressed. another ethiopian empire would arise, so majestic that the white man everywhere would dread its name, so righteous that all men under it would live in ease and peace. by rights, i suppose, my blood should have been boiling at this treason. i am ashamed to confess that it did nothing of the sort. my mind was mesmerized by this amazing man. i could not refrain from shouting with the rest. indeed i was a convert, if there can be conversion when the emotions are dominant and there is no assent from the brain. i had a mad desire to be of laputa's party. or rather, i longed for a leader who should master me and make my soul his own, as this man mastered his followers. i have already said that i might have made a good subaltern soldier, and the proof is that i longed for such a general. as the voice ceased there was a deep silence. the hearers were in a sort of trance, their eyes fixed glassily on laputa's face. it was the quiet of tense nerves and imagination at white-heat. i had to struggle with a spell which gripped me equally with the wildest savage. i forced myself to look round at the strained faces, the wall of the cascade, the line of torches. it was the sight of henriques that broke the charm. here was one who had no part in the emotion. i caught his eye fixed on the rubies, and in it i read only a devouring greed. it flashed through my mind that laputa had a foe in his own camp, and the prester's collar a votary whose passion was not that of worship. the next thing i remember was a movement among the first ranks. the chiefs were swearing fealty. laputa took off the collar and called god to witness that it should never again encircle his neck till he had led his people to victory. then one by one the great chiefs and indunas advanced, and swore allegiance with their foreheads on the ivory box. such a collection of races has never been seen. there were tall zulus and swazis with _ringkops_ and feather head-dresses. there were men from the north with heavy brass collars and anklets; men with quills in their ears, and earrings and nose-rings; shaven heads, and heads with wonderfully twisted hair; bodies naked or all but naked, and bodies adorned with skins and necklets. some were light in colour, and some were black as coal; some had squat negro features, and some thin, high-boned arab faces. but in all there was the air of mad enthusiasm. for a day they were forsworn from blood, but their wild eyes and twitching hands told their future purpose. for an hour or two i had been living in a dream-world. suddenly my absorption was shattered, for i saw that my time to swear was coming. i sat in the extreme back row at the end nearest the entrance, and therefore i should naturally be the last to go forward. the crisis was near when i should be discovered, for there was no question of my shirking the oath. then for the first time since i entered the cave i realized the frightful danger in which i stood. my mind had been strung so high by the ritual that i had forgotten all else. now came the rebound, and with shaky nerves i had to face discovery and certain punishment. in that moment i suffered the worst terror of my life. there was much to come later, but by that time my senses were dulled. now they had been sharpened by what i had seen and heard, my nerves were already quivering and my fancy on fire. i felt every limb shaking as 'mwanga went forward. the cave swam before my eyes, heads were multiplied giddily, and i was only dimly conscious when he rose to return. nothing would have made me advance, had i not feared laputa less than my neighbours. they might rend me to pieces, but to him the oath was inviolable. i staggered crazily to my feet, and shambled forwards. my eye was fixed on the ivory box, and it seemed to dance before me and retreat. suddenly i heard a voice--the voice of henriques--cry, 'by god, a spy!' i felt my throat caught, but i was beyond resisting. it was released, and i was pinned by the arms. i must have stood vacantly, with a foolish smile, while unchained fury raged round me. i seemed to hear laputa's voice saying, 'it is the storekeeper.' his face was all that i could see, and it was unperturbed. there was a mocking ghost of a smile about his lips. myriad hands seemed to grip me and crush my breath, but above the clamour i heard a fierce word of command. after that i fainted. chapter xii captain arcoll sends a message i once read--i think in some latin writer--the story of a man who was crushed to a jelly by the mere repeated touch of many thousand hands. his murderers were not harsh, but an infinite repetition of the gentlest handling meant death. i do not suppose that i was very brutally manhandled in the cave. i was trussed up tight and carried out to the open, and left in the care of the guards. but when my senses returned i felt as if i had been cruelly beaten in every part. the raw-hide bonds chafed my wrists and ankle and shoulders, but they were the least part of my aches. to be handled by a multitude of kaffirs is like being shaken by some wild animal. their skins are insensible to pain, and i have seen a zulu stand on a piece of red-hot iron without noticing it till he was warned by the smell of burning hide. anyhow, after i had been bound by kaffir hands and tossed on kaffir shoulders, i felt as if i had been in a scrimmage of mad bulls. i found myself lying looking up at the moon. it was the edge of the bush, and all around was the stir of the army getting ready for the road. you know how a native babbles and chatters over any work he has to do. it says much for laputa's iron hand that now everything was done in silence. i heard the nickering of horses and the jolt of carts as they turned from the bush into the path. there was the sound of hurried whispering, and now and then a sharp command. and all the while i lay, staring at the moon and wondering if i was going to keep my reason. if he who reads this doubts the discomfort of bonds let him try them for himself. let him be bound foot and hand and left alone, and in half an hour he will be screaming for release. the sense of impotence is stifling, and i felt as if i were buried in some landslip instead of lying under the open sky, with the night wind fanning my face. i was in the second stage of panic, which is next door to collapse. i tried to cry, but could only raise a squeak like a bat. a wheel started to run round in my head, and, when i looked at the moon, i saw that it was rotating in time. things were very bad with me. it was 'mwanga who saved me from lunacy. he had been appointed my keeper, and the first i knew of it was a violent kick in the ribs. i rolled over on the grass down a short slope. the brute squatted beside me, and prodded me with his gun-barrel. 'ha, baas,' he said in his queer english. 'once you ordered me out of your store and treated me like a dog. it is 'mwanga's turn now. you are 'mwanga's dog, and he will skin you with a sjambok soon.' my wandering wits were coming back to me. i looked into his bloodshot eyes and saw what i had to expect. the cheerful savage went on to discuss just the kind of beating i should get from him. my bones were to be uncovered till the lash curled round my heart. then the jackals would have the rest of me. this was ordinary kaffir brag, and it made me angry. but i thought it best to go cannily. 'if i am to be your slave,' i managed to say, 'it would be a pity to beat me so hard. you would get no more work out of me.' 'mwanga grinned wickedly. 'you are my slave for a day and a night. after that we kill you--slowly. you will burn till your legs fall off and your knees are on the ground, and then you will be chopped small with knives.' thank god, my courage and common sense were coming back to me. 'what happens to me to-morrow,' i said, 'is the inkulu's business, not yours. i am his prisoner. but if you lift your hand on me to-day so as to draw one drop of blood the inkulu will make short work of you. the vow is upon you, and if you break it you know what happens.' and i repeated, in a fair imitation of the priest's voice, the terrible curse he had pronounced in the cave. you should have seen the change in that cur's face. i had guessed he was a coward, as he was most certainly a bully, and now i knew it. he shivered, and drew his hand over his eyes. 'nay, baas,' he pleaded, 'it was but a joke. no harm shall come on you to-day. but tomorrow--' and his ugly face grew more cheerful. 'to-morrow we shall see what we shall see,' i said stoically, and a loud drum-beat sounded through the camp. it was the signal for moving, for in the east a thin pale line of gold was beginning to show over the trees. the bonds at my knees and ankles were cut, and i was bundled on to the back of a horse. then my feet were strapped firmly below its belly. the bridle of my beast was tied to 'mwanga's, so that there was little chance of escape even if i had been unshackled. my thoughts were very gloomy. so far all had happened as i planned, but i seemed to have lost my nerve, and i could not believe in my rescue at the letaba, while i thought of inanda's kraal with sheer horror. last night i had looked into the heart of darkness, and the sight had terrified me. what part should i play in the great purification? most likely that of the biblical scapegoat. but the dolour of my mind was surpassed by the discomfort of my body. i was broken with pains and weariness, and i had a desperate headache. also, before we had gone a mile, i began to think that i should split in two. the paces of my beast were uneven, to say the best of it, and the bump-bump was like being on the rack. i remembered that the saints of the covenant used to journey to prison this way, especially the great mr peden, and i wondered how they liked it. when i hear of a man doing a brave deed, i always want to discover whether at the time he was well and comfortable in body. that, i am certain, is the biggest ingredient in courage, and those who plan and execute great deeds in bodily weakness have my homage as truly heroic. for myself, i had not the spirit of a chicken as i jogged along at 'mwanga's side. i wished he would begin to insult me, if only to distract my mind, but he kept obstinately silent. he was sulky, and i think rather afraid of me. as the sun got up i could see something of the host around me. i am no hand at guessing numbers, but i should put the fighting men i saw at not less than twenty thousand. every man of them was on this side his prime, and all were armed with good rifles and bandoliers. there were none of your old roers[ ] and decrepit enfields, which i had seen signs of in kaffir kraals. these guns were new, serviceable mausers, and the men who bore them looked as if they knew how to handle them. there must have been long months of training behind this show, and i marvelled at the man who had organized it. i saw no field-guns, and the little transport they had was evidently for food only. we did not travel in ranks like an orthodox column. about a third of the force was mounted, and this formed the centre. on each wing the infantry straggled far afield, but there was method in their disorder, for in the bush close ranks would have been impossible. at any rate we kept wonderfully well together, and when we mounted a knoll the whole army seemed to move in one piece. i was well in the rear of the centre column, but from the crest of a slope i sometimes got a view in front. i could see nothing of laputa, who was probably with the van, but in the very heart of the force i saw the old priest of the snake, with his treasure carried in the kind of litter which the portuguese call a machila, between rows of guards. a white man rode beside him, whom i judged to be henriques. laputa trusted this fellow, and i wondered why. i had not forgotten the look on his face while he had stared at the rubies in the cave. i had a notion that the portugoose might be an unsuspected ally of mine, though for blackguard reasons. about ten o'clock, as far as i could judge by the sun, we passed umvelos', and took the right bank of the labongo. there was nothing in the store to loot, but it was overrun by kaffirs, who carried off the benches for firewood. it gave me an odd feeling to see the remains of the meal at which i had entertained laputa in the hands of a dozen warriors. i thought of the long sunny days when i had sat by my nachtmaal while the dutch farmers rode in to trade. now these men were all dead, and i was on my way to the same bourne. soon the blue line of the berg rose in the west, and through the corner of my eye, as i rode, i could see the gap of the klein labongo. i wondered if arcoll and his men were up there watching us. about this time i began to be so wretched in body that i ceased to think of the future. i had had no food for seventeen hours, and i was dropping from lack of sleep. the ache of my bones was so great that i found myself crying like a baby. what between pain and weakness and nervous exhaustion, i was almost at the end of my tether, and should have fainted dead away if a halt had not been called. but about midday, after we had crossed the track from blaauwildebeestefontein to the portuguese frontier, we came to the broad, shallow drift of the klein labongo. it is the way of the kaffirs to rest at noon, and on the other side of the drift we encamped. i remember the smell of hot earth and clean water as my horse scrambled up the bank. then came the smell of wood-smoke as fires were lit. it seemed an age after we stopped before my feet were loosed and i was allowed to fall over on the ground. i lay like a log where i fell, and was asleep in ten seconds. i awoke two hours later much refreshed, and with a raging hunger. my ankles and knees had been tied again, but the sleep had taken the worst stiffness out of my joints. the natives were squatting in groups round their fires, but no one came near me. i satisfied myself by straining at my bonds that this solitude gave no chance of escape. i wanted food, and i shouted on 'mwanga, but he never came. then i rolled over into the shadow of a wacht-en-beetje bush to get out of the glare. i saw a kaffir on the other side of the bush who seemed to be grinning at me. slowly he moved round to my side, and stood regarding me with interest. 'for god's sake get me some food,' i said. 'ja, baas,' was the answer; and he disappeared for a minute, and returned with a wooden bowl of hot mealie-meal porridge, and a calabash full of water. i could not use my hands, so he fed me with the blade of his knife. such porridge without salt or cream is beastly food, but my hunger was so great that i could have eaten a vat of it. suddenly it appeared that the kaffir had something to say to me. as he fed me he began to speak in a low voice in english. 'baas,' he said, 'i come from ratitswan, and i have a message for you.' i guessed that ratitswan was the native name for arcoll. there was no one else likely to send a message. 'ratitswan says,' he went on, "'look out for dupree's drift." i will be near you and cut your bonds; then you must swim across when ratitswan begins to shoot.' the news took all the weight of care from my mind. colin had got home, and my friends were out for rescue. so volatile is the mood of that i veered round from black despair to an unwarranted optimism. i saw myself already safe, and laputa's rising scattered. i saw my hands on the treasure, and henriques' ugly neck below my heel. 'i don't know your name,' i said to the kaffir, 'but you are a good fellow. when i get out of this business i won't forget you.' 'there is another message, baas,' he said. 'it is written on paper in a strange tongue. turn your head to the bush, and see, i will hold it inside the bowl, that you may read it.' i did as i was told, and found myself looking at a dirty half-sheet of notepaper, marked by the kaffir's thumbs. some words were written on it in wardlaw's hand; and, characteristically, in latin, which was not a bad cipher. i read-- '_henricus de letaba transeunda apud duprei vada jam nos certiores fecit._'[ ] i had guessed rightly. henriques was a traitor to the cause he had espoused. arcoll's message had given me new heart, but wardlaw's gave me information of tremendous value. i repented that i had ever underrated the schoolmaster's sense. he did not come out of aberdeen for nothing. i asked the kaffir how far it was to dupree's drift, and was told three hours' march. we should get there after the darkening. it seemed he had permission to ride with me instead of 'mwanga, who had no love for the job. how he managed this i do not know; but arcoll's men had their own ways of doing things. he undertook to set me free when the first shot was fired at the ford. meantime i bade him leave me, to avert suspicion. there is a story of one of king arthur's knights--sir percival, i think--that once, riding through a forest, he found a lion fighting with a serpent. he drew his sword and helped the lion, for he thought it was the more natural beast of the two. to me laputa was the lion, and henriques the serpent; and though i had no good will to either, i was determined to spoil the serpent's game. he was after the rubies, as i had fancied; he had never been after anything else. he had found out about arcoll's preparations, and had sent him a warning, hoping, no doubt, that, if laputa's force was scattered on the letaba, he would have a chance of getting off with the necklace in the confusion. if he succeeded, he would go over the lebombo to mozambique, and whatever happened afterwards in the rising would be no concern of mr henriques. i determined that he should fail; but how to manage it i could not see. had i had a pistol, i think i would have shot him; but i had no weapon of any kind. i could not warn laputa, for that would seal my own fate, even if i were believed. it was clear that laputa must go to dupree's drift, for otherwise i could not escape; and it was equally clear that i must find the means of spoiling the portugoose's game. a shadow fell across the sunlight, and i looked up to see the man i was thinking of standing before me. he had a cigarette in his mouth, and his hands in the pockets of his riding-breeches. he stood eyeing me with a curious smile on his face. 'well, mr storekeeper,' he said, 'you and i have met before under pleasanter circumstances.' i said nothing, my mind being busy with what to do at the drift. 'we were shipmates, if i am not mistaken,' he said. 'i dare say you found it nicer work smoking on the after-deck than lying here in the sun.' still i said nothing. if the man had come to mock me, he would get no change out of david crawfurd. 'tut, tut, don't be sulky. you have no quarrel with me. between ourselves,' and he dropped his voice, 'i tried to save you; but you had seen rather too much to be safe. what devil prompted you to steal a horse and go to the cave? i don't blame you for overhearing us; but if you had had the sense of a louse you would have gone off to the berg with your news. by the way, how did you manage it? a cellar, i suppose. our friend laputa was a fool not to take better precautions; but i must say you acted the drunkard pretty well.' the vanity of is an incalculable thing. i rose to the fly. 'i know the kind of precaution you wanted to take,' i muttered. 'you heard that too? well, i confess i am in favour of doing a job thoroughly when i take it up.' 'in the koodoo flats, for example,' i said. he sat down beside me, and laughed softly. 'you heard my little story? you are clever, mr storekeeper, but not quite clever enough. what if i can act a part as well as yourself?' and he thrust his yellow face close to mine. i saw his meaning, and did not for a second believe him; but i had the sense to temporize. 'do you mean to say that you did not kill the dutchmen, and did not mean to knife me?' 'i mean to say that i am not a fool,' he said, lighting another cigarette. 'i am a white man, mr storekeeper, and i play the white man's game. why do you think i am here? simply because i was the only man in africa who had the pluck to get to the heart of this business. i am here to dish laputa, and by god i am going to do it.' i was scarcely prepared for such incredible bluff. i knew every word was a lie, but i wanted to hear more, for the man fascinated me. 'i suppose you know what will happen to you,' he said, flicking the ashes from his cigarette. 'to-morrow at inanda's kraal, when the vow is over, they will give you a taste of kaffir habits. not death, my friend--that would be simple enough--but a slow death with every refinement of horror. you have broken into their sacred places, and you will be sacrificed to laputa's god. i have seen native torture before, and his own mother would run away shrieking from a man who had endured it.' i said nothing, but the thought made my flesh creep. 'well,' he went on, 'you're in an awkward plight, but i think i can help you. what if i can save your life, mr storekeeper? you are trussed up like a fowl, and can do nothing. i am the only man alive who can help you. i am willing to do it, too--on my own terms.' i did not wait to hear those terms, for i had a shrewd guess what they would be. my hatred of henriques rose and choked me. i saw murder and trickery in his mean eyes and cruel mouth. i could not, to be saved from the uttermost horror, have made myself his ally. 'now listen, mr portugoose,' i cried. 'you tell me you are a spy. what if i shout that through the camp? there will be short shrift for you if laputa hears it.' he laughed loudly. 'you are a bigger fool than i took you for. who would believe you, my friend. not laputa. not any man in this army. it would only mean tighter bonds for these long legs of yours.' by this time i had given up all thought of diplomacy. 'very well, you yellow-faced devil, you will hear my answer. i would not take my freedom from you, though i were to be boiled alive. i know you for a traitor to the white man's cause, a dirty i.d.b. swindler, whose name is a byword among honest men. by your own confession you are a traitor to this idiot rising. you murdered the dutchmen and god knows how many more, and you would fain have murdered me. i pray to heaven that the men whose cause you have betrayed and the men whose cause you would betray may join to stamp the life out of you and send your soul to hell. i know the game you would have me join in, and i fling your offer in your face. but i tell you one thing--you are damned yourself. the white men are out, and you will never get over the lebombo. from black or white you will get justice before many hours, and your carcass will be left to rot in the bush. get out of my sight, you swine.' in that moment i was so borne up in my passion that i forgot my bonds and my grave danger. i was inspired like a prophet with a sense of approaching retribution. henriques heard me out; but his smile changed to a scowl, and a flush rose on his sallow cheek. 'stew in your own juice,' he said, and spat in my face. then he shouted in kaffir that i had insulted him, and demanded that i should be bound tighter and gagged. it was arcoll's messenger who answered his summons. that admirable fellow rushed at me with a great appearance of savagery. he made a pretence of swathing me up in fresh rawhide ropes, but his knots were loose and the thing was a farce. he gagged me with what looked like a piece of wood, but was in reality a chunk of dry banana. and all the while, till henriques was out of hearing, he cursed me with a noble gift of tongues. the drums beat for the advance, and once more i was hoisted on my horse, while arcoll's kaffir tied my bridle to his own. a kaffir cannot wink, but he has a way of slanting his eyes which does as well, and as we moved on he would turn his head to me with this strange grimace. henriques wanted me to help him to get the rubies--that i presumed was the offer he had meant to make. well, thought i, i will perish before the jewel reaches the portuguese's hands. he hoped for a stampede when arcoll opposed the crossing of the river, and in the confusion intended to steal the casket. my plan must be to get as near the old priest as possible before we reached the ford. i spoke to my warder and told him what i wanted. he nodded, and in the first mile we managed to edge a good way forward. several things came to aid us. as i have said, we of the centre were not marching in close ranks, but in a loose column, and often it was possible by taking a short cut on rough ground to join the column some distance ahead. there was a vlei, too, which many circumvented, but we swam, and this helped our lead. in a couple of hours we were so near the priest's litter that i could have easily tossed a cricket ball on the head of henriques who rode beside it. very soon the twilight of the winter day began to fall. the far hills grew pink and mulberry in the sunset, and strange shadows stole over the bush. still creeping forward, we found ourselves not twenty yards behind the litter, while far ahead i saw a broad, glimmering space of water with a high woody bank beyond. 'dupree's drift;' whispered my warder. 'courage, inkoos;[ ] in an hour's time you will be free.' [ ] boer elephant guns. [ ] 'henriques has already told us about the crossing at dupree's drift.' [ ] great chief. chapter xiii the drift of the letaba the dusk was gathering fast as we neared the stream. from the stagnant reaches above and below a fine white mist was rising, but the long shallows of the ford were clear. my heart was beginning to flutter wildly, but i kept a tight grip on myself and prayed for patience. as i stared into the evening my hopes sank. i had expected, foolishly enough, to see on the far bank some sign of my friends, but the tall bush was dead and silent. the drift slants across the river at an acute angle, roughly s.s.w. i did not know this at the time, and was amazed to see the van of the march turn apparently up stream. laputa's great voice rang out in some order which was repeated down the column, and the wide flanks of the force converged on the narrow cart-track which entered the water. we had come to a standstill while the front ranks began the passage. i sat shaking with excitement, my eyes straining into the gloom. water holds the evening light for long, and i could make out pretty clearly what was happening. the leading horsemen rode into the stream with laputa in front. the ford is not the best going, so they had to pick their way, but in five or ten minutes they were over. then came some of the infantry of the flanks, who crossed with the water to their waists, and their guns held high above their heads. they made a portentous splashing, but not a sound came from their throats. i shall never know how laputa imposed silence on the most noisy race on earth. several thousand footmen must have followed the riders, and disappeared into the far bush. but not a shot came from the bluffs in front. i watched with a sinking heart. arcoll had failed, and there was to be no check at the drift. there remained for me only the horrors at inanda's kraal. i resolved to make a dash for freedom, at all costs, and was in the act of telling arcoll's man to cut my bonds, when a thought occurred to me. henriques was after the rubies, and it was his interest to get laputa across the river before the attack began. it was arcoll's business to split the force, and above all to hold up the leader. henriques would tell him, and for that matter he must have assumed himself, that laputa would ride in the centre of the force. therefore there would be no check till the time came for the priest's litter to cross. it was well that i had not had my bonds cut. henriques came riding towards me, his face sharp and bright as a ferret's. he pulled up and asked if i were safe. my kaffir showed my strapped elbows and feet, and tugged at the cords to prove their tightness. 'keep him well,' said henriques, 'or you will answer to inkulu. forward with him now and get him through the water.' then he turned and rode back. my warder, apparently obeying orders, led me out of the column and into the bush on the right hand. soon we were abreast of the litter and some twenty yards to the west of it. the water gleamed through the trees a few paces in front. i could see the masses of infantry converging on the drift, and the churning like a cascade which they made in the passage. suddenly from the far bank came an order. it was laputa's voice, thin and high-pitched, as the kaffir cries when he wishes his words to carry a great distance. henriques repeated it, and the infantry halted. the riders of the column in front of the litter began to move into the stream. we should have gone with them, but instead we pulled our horses back into the darkness of the bush. it seemed to me that odd things were happening around the priest's litter. henriques had left it, and dashed past me so close that i could have touched him. from somewhere among the trees a pistol-shot cracked into the air. as if in answer to a signal the high bluff across the stream burst into a sheet of fire. 'a sheet of fire' sounds odd enough for scientific warfare. i saw that my friends were using shot-guns and firing with black powder into the mob in the water. it was humane and it was good tactics, for the flame in the grey dusk had the appearance of a heavy battery of ordnance. once again i heard henriques' voice. he was turning the column to the right. he shouted to them to get into cover, and take the water higher up. i thought, too, that from far away i heard laputa. these were maddening seconds. we had left the business of cutting my bonds almost too late. in the darkness of the bush the strips of hide could only be felt for, and my kaffir had a woefully blunt knife. reims are always tough to sever, and mine had to be sawn through. soon my arms were free, and i was plucking at my other bonds. the worst were those on my ankles below the horse's belly. the kaffir fumbled away in the dark, and pricked my beast so that he reared and struck out. and all the while i was choking with impatience, and gabbling prayers to myself. the men on the other side had begun to use ball-cartridge. i could see through a gap the centre of the river, and it was filled with a mass of struggling men and horses. i remember that it amazed me that no shot was fired in return. then i remembered the vow, and was still more amazed at the power of a ritual on that savage horde. the column was moving past me to the right. it was a disorderly rabble which obeyed henriques' orders. bullets began to sing through the trees, and one rider was hit in the shoulder and came down with a crash. this increased the confusion, for most of them dismounted and tried to lead their horses in the cover. the infantry coming in from the wings collided with them, and there was a struggle of excited beasts and men in the thickets of thorn and mopani. and still my kaffir was trying to get my ankles loose as fast as a plunging horse would let him. at last i was free, and dropped stiffly to the ground. i fell prone on my face with cramp, and when i got up i rolled like a drunk man. here i made a great blunder. i should have left my horse with my kaffir, and bidden him follow me. but i was too eager to be cautious, so i let it go, and crying to the kaffir to await me, i ran towards the litter. henriques had laid his plans well. the column had abandoned the priest, and by the litter were only the two bearers. as i caught sight of them one fell with a bullet in his chest. the other, wild with fright, kept turning his head to every quarter of the compass. another bullet passed close to his head. this was too much for him, and with a yell he ran away. as i broke through the thicket i looked to the quarter whence the bullets had come. these, i could have taken my oath, were not fired by my friends on the farther bank. it was close-quarter shooting, and i knew who had done it. but i saw nobody. the last few yards of the road were clear, and only out in the water was the struggling shouting mass of humanity. i saw a tall man on a big horse plunge into the river on his way back. it must be laputa returning to command the panic. my business was not with laputa but with henriques. the old priest in the litter, who had been sleeping, had roused himself, and was looking vacantly round him. he did not look long. a third bullet, fired from a dozen yards away, drilled a hole in his forehead. he fell back dead, and the ivory box, which lay on his lap, tilted forward on the ground. i had no weapon of any kind, and i did not want the fourth bullet for myself. henriques was too pretty a shot to trifle with. i waited quietly on the edge of the shade till the portugoose came out of the thicket. i saw him running forward with a rifle in his hand. a whinny from a horse told me that somewhere near his beast was tied up. it was all but dark, but it seemed to me that i could see the lust of greed in his eyes as he rushed to the litter. very softly i stole behind him. he tore off the lid of the box, and pulled out the great necklace. for a second it hung in his hands, but only for a second. so absorbed was he that he did not notice me standing full before him. nay, he lifted his head, and gave me the finest chance of my life. i was something of a boxer, and all my accumulated fury went into the blow. it caught him on the point of the chin, and his neck cricked like the bolt of a rifle. he fell limply on the ground and the jewels dropped from his hand. i picked them up and stuffed them into my breeches pocket. then i pulled the pistol out of his belt. it was six-chambered, and i knew that only three had been emptied. i remembered feeling extraordinarily cool and composed, and yet my wits must have been wandering or i would have never taken the course i did. the right thing to do--on arcoll's instructions--was to make for the river and swim across to my friends. but laputa was coming back, and i dreaded meeting him. laputa seemed to my heated fancy omnipresent. i thought of him as covering the whole bank of the river, whereas i might easily have crossed a little farther down, and made my way up the other bank to my friends. it was plain that laputa intended to evade the patrol, not to capture it, and there, consequently, i should be safe. the next best thing was to find arcoll's kaffir, who was not twenty yards away, get some sort of horse, and break for the bush. long before morning we should have been over the berg and in safety. nay, if i wanted a mount, there was henriques' whinnying a few paces off. instead i did the craziest thing of all. with the jewels in one pocket, and the portugoose's pistol in the other, i started running back the road we had come. chapter xiv i carry the collar of prester john i ran till my breath grew short, for some kind of swift motion i had to have or choke. the events of the last few minutes had inflamed my brain. for the first time in my life i had seen men die by violence--nay, by brutal murder. i had put my soul into the blow which laid out henriques, and i was still hot with the pride of it. also i had in my pocket the fetich of the whole black world; i had taken their ark of the covenant, and soon laputa would be on my trail. fear, pride, and a blind exultation all throbbed in my veins. i must have run three miles before i came to my sober senses. i put my ear to the ground, but heard no sound of pursuit. laputa, i argued, would have enough to do for a little, shepherding his flock over the water. he might surround and capture the patrol, or he might evade it; the vow prevented him from fighting it. on the whole i was clear that he would ignore it and push on for the rendezvous. all this would take time, and the business of the priest would have to wait. when henriques came to he would no doubt have a story to tell, and the scouts would be on my trail. i wished i had shot the portugoose while i was at the business. it would have been no murder, but a righteous execution. meanwhile i must get off the road. the sand had been disturbed by an army, so there was little fear of my steps being traced. still it was only wise to leave the track which i would be assumed to have taken, for laputa would guess i had fled back the way to blaauwildebeestefontein. i turned into the bush, which here was thin and sparse like whins on a common. the berg must be my goal. once on the plateau i would be inside the white man's lines. down here in the plains i was in the country of my enemies. arcoll meant to fight on the uplands when it came to fighting. the black man might rage as he pleased in his own flats, but we stood to defend the gates of the hills. therefore over the berg i must be before morning, or there would be a dead man with no tales to tell. i think that even at the start of that night's work i realized the exceeding precariousness of my chances. some twenty miles of bush and swamp separated me from the foot of the mountains. after that there was the climbing of them, for at the point opposite where i now stood the berg does not descend sharply on the plain, but is broken into foot-hills around the glens of the klein letaba and the letsitela. from the spot where these rivers emerge on the flats to the crown of the plateau is ten miles at the shortest. i had a start of an hour or so, but before dawn i had to traverse thirty miles of unknown and difficult country. behind me would follow the best trackers in africa, who knew every foot of the wilderness. it was a wild hazard, but it was my only hope. at this time i was feeling pretty courageous. for one thing i had henriques' pistol close to my leg, and for another i still thrilled with the satisfaction of having smitten his face. i took the rubies, and stowed them below my shirt and next my skin. i remember taking stock of my equipment and laughing at the humour of it. one of the heels was almost twisted off my boots, and my shirt and breeches were old at the best and ragged from hard usage. the whole outfit would have been dear at five shillings, or seven-and-six with the belt thrown in. then there was the portugoose's pistol, costing, say, a guinea; and last, the prester's collar, worth several millions. what was more important than my clothing was my bodily strength. i was still very sore from the bonds and the jog of that accursed horse, but exercise was rapidly suppling my joints. about five hours ago i had eaten a filling, though not very sustaining, meal, and i thought i could go on very well till morning. but i was still badly in arrears with my sleep, and there was no chance of my snatching a minute till i was over the berg. it was going to be a race against time, and i swore that i would drive my body to the last ounce of strength. moonrise was still an hour or two away, and the sky was bright with myriad stars. i knew now what starlight meant, for there was ample light to pick my way by. i steered by the southern cross, for i was aware that the berg ran north and south, and with that constellation on my left hand i was bound to reach it sooner or later. the bush closed around me with its mysterious dull green shades, and trees, which in the daytime were thin scrub, now loomed like tall timber. it was very eerie moving, a tiny fragment of mortality, in that great wide silent wilderness, with the starry vault, like an impassive celestial audience, watching with many eyes. they cheered me, those stars. in my hurry and fear and passion they spoke of the old calm dignities of man. i felt less alone when i turned my face to the lights which were slanting alike on this uncanny bush and on the homely streets of kirkcaple. the silence did not last long. first came the howl of a wolf, to be answered by others from every quarter of the compass. this serenade went on for a bit, till the jackals chimed in with their harsh bark. i had been caught by darkness before this when hunting on the berg, but i was not afraid of wild beasts. that is one terror of the bush which travellers' tales have put too high. it was true that i might meet a hungry lion, but the chance was remote, and i had my pistol. once indeed a huge animal bounded across the road a little in front of me. for a moment i took him for a lion, but on reflection i was inclined to think him a very large bush-pig. by this time i was out of the thickest bush and into a piece of parkland with long, waving tambuki grass, which the kaffirs would burn later. the moon was coming up, and her faint rays silvered the flat tops of the mimosa trees. i could hear and feel around me the rustling of animals. once or twice a big buck--an eland or a koodoo--broke cover, and at the sight of me went off snorting down the slope. also there were droves of smaller game--rhebok and springbok and duikers--which brushed past at full gallop without even noticing me. the sight was so novel that it set me thinking. that shy wild things should stampede like this could only mean that they had been thoroughly scared. now obviously the thing that scared them must be on this side of the letaba. this must mean that laputa's army, or a large part of it, had not crossed at dupree's drift, but had gone up the stream to some higher ford. if that was so, i must alter my course; so i bore away to the right for a mile or two, making a line due north-west. in about an hour's time the ground descended steeply, and i saw before me the shining reaches of a river. i had the chief features of the countryside clear in my mind, both from old porings over maps, and from arcoll's instructions. this stream must be the little letaba, and i must cross it if i would get to the mountains. i remembered that majinje's kraal stood on its left bank, and higher up in its valley in the berg 'mpefu lived. at all costs the kraals must be avoided. once across it i must make for the letsitela, another tributary of the great letaba, and by keeping the far bank of that stream i should cross the mountains to the place on the plateau of the wood bush which arcoll had told me would be his headquarters. it is easy to talk about crossing a river, and looking to-day at the slender streak on the map i am amazed that so small a thing should have given me such ugly tremors. yet i have rarely faced a job i liked so little. the stream ran yellow and sluggish under the clear moon. on the near side a thick growth of bush clothed the bank, but on the far side i made out a swamp with tall bulrushes. the distance across was no more than fifty yards, but i would have swum a mile more readily in deep water. the place stank of crocodiles. there was no ripple to break the oily flow except where a derelict branch swayed with the current. something in the stillness, the eerie light on the water, and the rotting smell of the swamp made that stream seem unhallowed and deadly. i sat down and considered the matter. crocodiles had always terrified me more than any created thing, and to be dragged by iron jaws to death in that hideous stream seemed to me the most awful of endings. yet cross it i must if i were to get rid of my human enemies. i remembered a story of an escaped prisoner during the war who had only the komati river between him and safety. but he dared not enter it, and was recaptured by a boer commando. i was determined that such cowardice should not be laid to my charge. if i was to die, i would at least have given myself every chance of life. so i braced myself as best i could, and looked for a place to enter. the veld-craft i had mastered had taught me a few things. one was that wild animals drink at night, and that they have regular drinking places. i thought that the likeliest place for crocodiles was at or around such spots, and, therefore, i resolved to take the water away from a drinking place. i went up the bank, noting where the narrow bush-paths emerged on the water-side. i scared away several little buck, and once the violent commotion in the bush showed that i had frightened some bigger animal, perhaps a hartebeest. still following the bank i came to a reach where the undergrowth was unbroken and the water looked deeper. suddenly--i fear i must use this adverb often, for all the happenings on that night were sudden--i saw a biggish animal break through the reeds on the far side. it entered the water and, whether wading or swimming i could not see, came out a little distance. then some sense must have told it of my presence, for it turned and with a grunt made its way back. i saw that it was a big wart-hog, and began to think. pig, unlike other beasts, drink not at night, but in the daytime. the hog had, therefore, not come to drink, but to swim across. now, i argued, he would choose a safe place, for the wart-hog, hideous though he is, is a wise beast. what was safe for him would, therefore, in all likelihood be safe for me. with this hope to comfort me i prepared to enter. my first care was the jewels, so, feeling them precarious in my shirt, i twined the collar round my neck and clasped it. the snake-clasp was no flimsy device of modern jewellery, and i had no fear but that it would hold. i held the pistol between my teeth, and with a prayer to god slipped into the muddy waters. i swam in the wild way of a beginner who fears cramp. the current was light and the water moderately warm, but i seemed to go very slowly, and i was cold with apprehension. in the middle it suddenly shallowed, and my breast came against a mudshoal. i thought it was a crocodile, and in my confusion the pistol dropped from my mouth and disappeared. i waded a few steps and then plunged into deep water again. almost before i knew, i was among the bulrushes, with my feet in the slime of the bank. with feverish haste i scrambled through the reeds and up through roots and undergrowth to the hard soil. i was across, but, alas, i had lost my only weapon. the swim and the anxiety had tired me considerably, and though it meant delay, i did not dare to continue with the weight of water-logged clothes to impede me. i found a dry sheltered place in the bush and stripped to the skin. i emptied my boots and wrung out my shirt and breeches, while the prester's jewels were blazing on my neck. here was a queer counterpart to laputa in the cave! the change revived me, and i continued my way in better form. so far there had been no sign of pursuit. before me the letsitela was the only other stream, and from what i remembered of its character near the berg i thought i should have little trouble. it was smaller than the klein letaba, and a rushing torrent where shallows must be common. i kept running till i felt my shirt getting dry on my back. then i restored the jewels to their old home, and found their cool touch on my breast very comforting. the country was getting more broken as i advanced. little kopjes with thickets of wild bananas took the place of the dead levels. long before i reached the letsitela, i saw that i was right in my guess. it ran, a brawling mountain stream, in a narrow rift in the bush. i crossed it almost dry-shod on the boulders above a little fall, stopping for a moment to drink and lave my brow. after that the country changed again. the wood was now getting like that which clothed the sides of the berg. there were tall timber-trees--yellowwood, sneezewood, essenwood, stinkwood--and the ground was carpeted with thick grass and ferns. the sight gave me my first earnest of safety. i was approaching my own country. behind me was heathendom and the black fever flats. in front were the cool mountains and bright streams, and the guns of my own folk. as i struggled on--for i was getting very footsore and weary--i became aware of an odd sound in my rear. it was as if something were following me. i stopped and listened with a sudden dread. could laputa's trackers have got up with me already? but the sound was not of human feet. it was as if some heavy animal were plunging through the undergrowth. at intervals came the soft pad of its feet on the grass. it must be the hungry lion of my nightmare, and henriques' pistol was in the mud of the klein letaba! the only thing was a tree, and i had sprung for one and scrambled wearily into the first branches when a great yellow animal came into the moonlight. providence had done kindly in robbing me of my pistol. the next minute i was on the ground with colin leaping on me and baying with joy. i hugged that blessed hound and buried my head in his shaggy neck, sobbing like a child. how he had traced me i can never tell. the secret belongs only to the maker of good and faithful dogs. with him by my side i was a new man. the awesome loneliness had gone. i felt as if he were a message from my own people to take me safely home. he clearly knew the business afoot, for he padded beside me with never a glance to right or left. another time he would have been snowking in every thicket; but now he was on duty, a serious, conscientious dog with no eye but for business. the moon went down, and the starry sky was our only light. the thick gloom which brooded over the landscape pointed to the night being far gone. i thought i saw a deeper blackness ahead which might be the line of the berg. then came that period of utter stillness when every bush sound is hushed and the world seems to swoon. i felt almost impious hurrying through that profound silence, when not even the leaves stirred or a frog croaked. suddenly as we came over a rise a little wind blew on the back of my head, and a bitter chill came into the air. i knew from nights spent in the open that it was the precursor of dawn. sure enough, as i glanced back, far over the plain a pale glow was stealing upwards into the sky. in a few minutes the pall melted into an airy haze, and above me i saw the heavens shot with tremors of blue light. then the foreground began to clear, and there before me, with their heads still muffled in vapour, were the mountains. xenophon's ten thousand did not hail the sea more gladly than i welcomed those frowning ramparts of the berg. once again my weariness was eased. i cried to colin, and together we ran down into the wide, shallow trough which lies at the foot of the hills. as the sun rose above the horizon, the black masses changed to emerald and rich umber, and the fleecy mists of the summits opened and revealed beyond shining spaces of green. some lines of shakespeare ran in my head, which i have always thought the most beautiful of all poetry: 'night's candles are burned out, and jocund day walks tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.' up there among the clouds was my salvation. like the psalmist, i lifted my eyes to the hills from whence came my aid. hope is a wonderful restorative. to be near the hills, to smell their odours, to see at the head of the glens the lines of the plateau where were white men and civilization--all gave me new life and courage. colin saw my mood, and spared a moment now and then to inspect a hole or a covert. down in the shallow trough i saw the links of a burn, the machudi, which flowed down the glen it was my purpose to ascend. away to the north in the direction of majinje's were patches of kaffir tillage, and i thought i discerned the smoke from fires. majinje's womankind would be cooking their morning meal. to the south ran a thick patch of forest, but i saw beyond it the spur of the mountain over which runs the highroad to wesselsburg. the clear air of dawn was like wine in my blood. i was not free, but i was on the threshold of freedom. if i could only reach my friends with the prester's collar in my shirt, i would have performed a feat which would never be forgotten. i would have made history by my glorious folly. breakfastless and footsore, i was yet a proud man as i crossed the hollow to the mouth of machudi's glen. my chickens had been counted too soon, and there was to be no hatching. colin grew uneasy, and began to sniff up wind. i was maybe a quarter of a mile from the glen foot, plodding through the long grass of the hollow, when the behaviour of the dog made me stop and listen. in that still air sounds carry far, and i seemed to hear the noise of feet brushing through cover. the noise came both from north and south, from the forest and from the lower course of the machudi. i dropped into shelter, and running with bent back got to the summit of a little bush-clad knoll. it was colin who first caught sight of my pursuers. he was staring at a rift in the trees, and suddenly gave a short bark. i looked and saw two men, running hard, cross the grass and dip into the bed of the stream. a moment later i had a glimpse of figures on the edge of the forest, moving fast to the mouth of the glen. the pursuit had not followed me; it had waited to cut me off. fool that i was, i had forgotten the wonders of kaffir telegraphy. it had been easy for laputa to send word thirty miles ahead to stop any white man who tried to cross the berg. and then i knew that i was very weary. chapter xv morning in the berg i was perhaps half a mile the nearer to the glen, and was likely to get there first. and after that? i could see the track winding by the waterside and then crossing a hill-shoulder which diverted the stream. it was a road a man could scarcely ride, and a tired man would have a hard job to climb. i do not think that i had any hope. my exhilaration had died as suddenly as it had been born. i saw myself caught and carried off to laputa, who must now be close on the rendezvous at inanda's kraal. i had no weapon to make a fight for it. my foemen were many and untired. it must be only a matter of minutes till i was in their hands. more in a dogged fury of disappointment than with any hope of escape i forced my sore legs up the glen. ten minutes ago i had been exulting in the glories of the morning, and now the sun was not less bright or the colours less fair, but the heart had gone out of the spectator. at first i managed to get some pace out of myself, partly from fear and partly from anger. but i soon found that my body had been tried too far. i could plod along, but to save my life i could not have hurried. any healthy savage could have caught me in a hundred yards. the track, i remember, was overhung with creepers, and often i had to squeeze through thickets of tree-ferns. countless little brooks ran down from the hillside, threads of silver among the green pastures. soon i left the stream and climbed up on the shoulder, where the road was not much better than a precipice. every step was a weariness. i could hardly drag one foot after the other, and my heart was beating like the fanners of a mill, i had spasms of acute sickness, and it took all my resolution to keep me from lying down by the roadside. at last i was at the top of the shoulder and could look back. there was no sign of anybody on the road so far as i could see. could i have escaped them? i had been in the shadow of the trees for the first part, and they might have lost sight of me and concluded that i had avoided the glen or tried one of the faces. before me, i remember, there stretched the upper glen, a green cup-shaped hollow with the sides scarred by ravines. there was a high waterfall in one of them which was white as snow against the red rocks. my wits must have been shaky, for i took the fall for a snowdrift, and wondered sillily why the berg had grown so alpine. a faint spasm of hope took me into that green cup. the bracken was as thick as on the pentlands, and there was a multitude of small lovely flowers in the grass. it was like a water-meadow at home, such a place as i had often in boyhood searched for moss-cheepers' and corncrakes' eggs. birds were crying round me as i broke this solitude, and one small buck--a klipspringer--rose from my feet and dashed up one of the gullies. before me was a steep green wall with the sky blue above it. beyond it was safety, but as my sweat-dimmed eyes looked at it i knew that i could never reach it. then i saw my pursuers. high up on the left side, and rounding the rim of the cup, were little black figures. they had not followed my trail, but, certain of my purpose, had gone forward to intercept me. i remember feeling a puny weakling compared with those lusty natives who could make such good going on steep mountains. they were certainly no men of the plains, but hillmen, probably some remnants of old machudi's tribe who still squatted in the glen. machudi was a blackguard chief whom the boers long ago smashed in one of their native wars. he was a fierce old warrior and had put up a good fight to the last, till a hired impi of swazis had surrounded his hiding-place in the forest and destroyed him. a boer farmer on the plateau had his skull, and used to drink whisky out of it when he was merry. the sight of the pursuit was the last straw. i gave up hope, and my intentions were narrowed to one frantic desire--to hide the jewels. patriotism, which i had almost forgotten, flickered up in that crisis. at any rate laputa should not have the snake. if he drove out the white man, he should not clasp the prester's rubies on his great neck. there was no cover in the green cup, so i turned up the ravine on the right side. the enemy, so far as i could judge, were on the left and in front, and in the gully i might find a pot-hole to bury the necklet in. only a desperate resolution took me through the tangle of juniper bushes into the red screes of the gully. at first i could not find what i sought. the stream in the ravine slid down a long slope like a mill-race, and the sides were bare and stony. still i plodded on, helping myself with a hand on colin's back, for my legs were numb with fatigue. by-and-by the gully narrowed, and i came to a flat place with a long pool. beyond was a little fall, and up this i climbed into a network of tiny cascades. over one pool hung a dead tree-fern, and a bay from it ran into a hole of the rock. i slipped the jewels far into the hole, where they lay on the firm sand, showing odd lights through the dim blue water. then i scrambled down again to the flat space and the pool, and looked round to see if any one had reached the edge of the ravine. there was no sign as yet of the pursuit, so i dropped limply on the shingle and waited. for i had suddenly conceived a plan. as my breath came back to me my wits came back from their wandering. these men were not there to kill me, but to capture me. they could know nothing of the jewels, for laputa would never have dared to make the loss of the sacred snake public. therefore they would not suspect what i had done, and would simply lead me to laputa at inanda's kraal. i began to see the glimmerings of a plan for saving my life, and by god's grace, for saving my country from the horrors of rebellion. the more i thought the better i liked it. it demanded a bold front, and it might well miscarry, but i had taken such desperate hazards during the past days that i was less afraid of fortune. anyhow, the choice lay between certain death and a slender chance of life, and it was easy to decide. playing football, i used to notice how towards the end of a game i might be sore and weary, without a kick in my body; but when i had a straight job of tackling a man my strength miraculously returned. it was even so now. i lay on my side, luxuriating in being still, and slowly a sort of vigour crept back into my limbs. perhaps a half-hour of rest was given me before, on the lip of the gully, i saw figures appear. looking down i saw several men who had come across from the opposite side of the valley, scrambling up the stream. i got to my feet, with colin bristling beside me, and awaited them with the stiffest face i could muster. as i expected, they were machudi's men. i recognized them by the red ochre in their hair and their copper-wire necklets. big fellows they were, long-legged and deep in the chest, the true breed of mountaineers. i admired their light tread on the slippery rock. it was hopeless to think of evading such men in their own hills. the men from the side joined the men in front, and they stood looking at me from about twelve yards off. they were armed only with knobkerries, and very clearly were no part of laputa's army. this made their errand plain to me. 'halt!' i said in kaffir, as one of them made a hesitating step to advance. 'who are you and what do you seek?' there was no answer, but they looked at me curiously. then one made a motion with his stick. colin gave a growl, and would have been on him if i had not kept a hand on his collar. the rash man drew back, and all stood stiff and perplexed. 'keep your hands by your side,' i said, 'or the dog, who has a devil, will devour you. one of you speak for the rest and tell me your purpose.' for a moment i had a wild notion that they might be friends, some of arcoll's scouts, and out to help me. but the first words shattered the fancy. 'we are sent by inkulu,' the biggest of them said. 'he bade us bring you to him.' 'and what if i refuse to go?' 'then, baas, we must take you to him. we are under the vow of the snake.' 'vow of fiddlestick!' i cried. 'who do you think is the bigger chief, the inkulu or ratitswan? i tell you ratitswan is now driving inkulu before him as a wind drives rotten leaves. it will be well for you, men of machudi, to make peace with ratitswan and take me to him on the berg. if you bring me to him, i and he will reward you; but if you do inkulu's bidding you will soon be hunted like buck out of your hills.' they grinned at one another, but i could see that my words had no effect. laputa had done his business too well. the spokesman shrugged his shoulders in the way the kaffirs have. 'we wish you no ill, baas, but we have been bidden to take you to inkulu. we cannot disobey the command of the snake.' my weakness was coming on me again, and i could talk no more. i sat down plump on the ground, almost falling into the pool. 'take me to inkulu,' i stammered with a dry throat, 'i do not fear him;' and i rolled half-fainting on my back. these clansmen of machudi were decent fellows. one of them had some kaffir beer in a calabash, which he gave me to drink. the stuff was thin and sickly, but the fermentation in it did me good. i had the sense to remember my need of sleep. 'the day is young,' i said, 'and i have come far. i ask to be allowed to sleep for an hour.' the men made no difficulty, and with my head between colin's paws i slipped into dreamless slumber. when they wakened me the sun was beginning to climb the sky, i judged it to be about eight o'clock. they had made a little fire and roasted mealies. some of the food they gave me, and i ate it thankfully. i was feeling better, and i think a pipe would have almost completed my cure. but when i stood up i found that i was worse than i had thought. the truth is, i was leg-weary, which you often see in horses, but rarely in men. what the proper explanation is i do not know, but the muscles simply refuse to answer the direction of the will. i found my legs sprawling like a child's who is learning to walk. 'if you want me to go to the inkulu, you must carry me,' i said, as i dropped once more on the ground. the men nodded, and set to work to make a kind of litter out of their knobkerries and some old ropes they carried. as they worked and chattered i looked idly at the left bank of the ravine--that is, the left as you ascend it. some of machudi's men had come down there, and, though the place looked sheer and perilous, i saw how they had managed it. i followed out bit by bit the track upwards, not with any thought of escape, but merely to keep my mind under control. the right road was from the foot of the pool up a long shelf to a clump of juniper. then there was an easy chimney; then a piece of good hand-and-foot climbing; and last, another ledge which led by an easy gradient to the top. i figured all this out as i have heard a condemned man will count the windows of the houses on his way to the scaffold. presently the litter was ready, and the men made signs to me to get into it. they carried me down the ravine and up the machudi burn to the green walls at its head. i admired their bodily fitness, for they bore me up those steep slopes with never a halt, zigzagging in the proper style of mountain transport. in less than an hour we had topped the ridge, and the plateau was before me. it looked very homelike and gracious, rolling in gentle undulations to the western horizon, with clumps of wood in its hollows. far away i saw smoke rising from what should be the village of the iron kranz. it was the country of my own people, and my captors behoved to go cautiously. they were old hands at veld-craft, and it was wonderful the way in which they kept out of sight even on the bare ridges. arcoll could have taught them nothing in the art of scouting. at an incredible pace they hurried me along, now in a meadow by a stream side, now through a patch of forest, and now skirting a green shoulder of hill. once they clapped down suddenly, and crawled into the lee of some thick bracken. then very quietly they tied my hands and feet, and, not urgently, wound a dirty length of cotton over my mouth. colin was meantime held tight and muzzled with a kind of bag strapped over his head. to get this over his snapping jaws took the whole strength of the party. i guessed that we were nearing the highroad which runs from the plateau down the great letaba valley to the mining township of wesselsburg, away out on the plain. the police patrols must be on this road, and there was risk in crossing. sure enough i seemed to catch a jingle of bridles as if from some company of men riding in haste. we lay still for a little till the scouts came back and reported the coast clear. then we made a dart for the road, crossed it, and got into cover on the other side, where the ground sloped down to the letaba glen. i noticed in crossing that the dust of the highway was thick with the marks of shod horses. i was very near and yet very far from my own people. once in the rocky gorge of the letaba we advanced with less care. we scrambled up a steep side gorge and came on to the small plateau from which the cloud mountains rise. after that i was so tired that i drowsed away, heedless of the bumping of the litter. we went up and up, and when i next opened my eyes we had gone through a pass into a hollow of the hills. there was a flat space a mile or two square, and all round it stern black ramparts of rock. this must be inanda's kraal, a strong place if ever one existed, for a few men could defend all the approaches. considering that i had warned arcoll of this rendezvous, i marvelled that no attempt had been made to hold the entrance. the place was impregnable unless guns were brought up to the heights. i remember thinking of a story i had heard--how in the war beyers took his guns into the wolkberg, and thereby saved them from our troops. could arcoll be meditating the same exploit? suddenly i heard the sound of loud voices, and my litter was dropped roughly on the ground. i woke to clear consciousness in the midst of pandemonium. chapter xvi inanda's kraal the vow was at an end. in place of the silent army of yesterday a mob of maddened savages surged around me. they were chanting a wild song, and brandishing spears and rifles to its accompaniment. from their bloodshot eyes stared the lust of blood, the fury of conquest, and all the aboriginal passions on which laputa had laid his spell. in my mind ran a fragment from laputa's prayer in the cave about the 'terrible ones.' machudi's men--stout fellows, they held their ground as long as they could--were swept out of the way, and the wave of black savagery seemed to close over my head. i thought my last moment had come. certainly it had but for colin. the bag had been taken from his head, and the fellow of machudi's had dropped the rope round his collar. in a red fury of wrath the dog leaped at my enemies. though every man of them was fully armed, they fell back, for i have noticed always that kaffirs are mortally afraid of a white man's dog. colin had the sense to keep beside me. growling like a thunderstorm he held the ring around my litter. the breathing space would not have lasted long, but it gave me time to get to my feet. my wrists and feet had been unbound long before, and the rest had cured my leg-weariness. i stood up in that fierce circle with the clear knowledge that my life hung by a hair. 'take me to inkulu,' i cried. 'dogs and fools, would you despise his orders? if one hair of my head is hurt, he will flay you alive. show me the way to him, and clear out of it.' i dare say there was a break in my voice, for i was dismally frightened, but there must have been sufficient authority to get me a hearing. machudi's men closed up behind me, and repeated my words with flourishes and gestures. but still the circle held. no man came nearer me, but none moved so as to give me passage. then i screwed up my courage, and did the only thing possible. i walked straight into the circle, knowing well that i was running no light risk. my courage, as i have already explained, is of little use unless i am doing something. i could not endure another minute of sitting still with those fierce eyes on me. the circle gave way. sullenly they made a road for me, closing up behind on my guards, so that machudi's men were swallowed in the mob, alone i stalked forward with all that huge yelling crowd behind me. i had not far to go. inanda's kraal was a cluster of kyas and rondavels, shaped in a half-moon, with a flat space between the houses, where grew a big merula tree. all around was a medley of little fires, with men squatted beside them. here and there a party had finished their meal, and were swaggering about with a great shouting. the mob into which i had fallen was of this sort, and i saw others within the confines of the camp. but around the merula tree there was a gathering of chiefs, if i could judge by the comparative quiet and dignity of the men, who sat in rows on the ground. a few were standing, and among them i caught sight of laputa's tall figure. i strode towards it, wondering if the chiefs would let me pass. the hubbub of my volunteer attendants brought the eyes of the company round to me. in a second it seemed every man was on his feet. i could only pray that laputa would get to me before his friends had time to spear me. i remember i fixed my eyes on a spur of hill beyond the kraal, and walked on with the best resolution i could find. already i felt in my breast some of the long thin assegais of umbooni's men. but laputa did not intend that i should be butchered. a word from him brought his company into order, and the next thing i knew i was facing him, where he stood in front of the biggest kya, with henriques beside him, and some of the northern indunas. henriques looked ghastly in the clear morning light, and he had a linen rag bound round his head and jaw, as if he suffered from toothache. his face was more livid, his eyes more bloodshot, and at the sight of me his hand went to his belt, and his teeth snapped. but he held his peace, and it was laputa who spoke. he looked straight through me, and addressed machudi's men. 'you have brought back the prisoner. that is well, and your service will be remembered. go to 'mpefu's camp on the hill there, and you will be given food.' the men departed, and with them fell away the crowd which had followed me. i was left, very giddy and dazed, to confront laputa and his chiefs. the whole scene was swimming before my eyes. i remember there was a clucking of hens from somewhere behind the kraal, which called up ridiculous memories. i was trying to remember the plan i had made in machudi's glen. i kept saying to myself like a parrot: 'the army cannot know about the jewels. laputa must keep his loss secret. i can get my life from him if i offer to give them back.' it had sounded a good scheme three hours before, but with the man's hard face before me, it seemed a frail peg to hang my fate on. laputa's eye fell on me, a clear searching eye with a question in it. there was something he was trying to say to me which he dared not put into words. i guessed what the something was, for i saw his glance run over my shirt and my empty pockets. 'you have made little of your treachery,' he said. 'fool, did you think to escape me? i could bring you back from the ends of the earth.' 'there was no treachery,' i replied. 'do you blame a prisoner for trying to escape? when shooting began i found myself free, and i took the road for home. ask machudi's men and they will tell you that i came quietly with them, when i saw that the game was up.' he shrugged his shoulders. 'it matters very little what you did. you are here now.-- tie him up and put him in my kya,' he said to the bodyguard. 'i have something to say to him before he dies.' as the men laid hands on me, i saw the exultant grin on henriques' face. it was more than i could endure. 'stop,' i said. 'you talk of traitors, mr laputa. there is the biggest and blackest at your elbow. that man sent word to arcoll about your crossing at dupree's drift. at our outspan at noon yesterday he came to me and offered me my liberty if i would help him. he told me he was a spy, and i flung his offer in his face. it was he who shot the keeper by the river side, and would have stolen the snake if i had not broken his head. you call me a traitor, and you let that thing live, though he has killed your priest and betrayed your plans. kill me if you like, but by god let him die first.' i do not know how the others took the revelation, for my eyes were only for the portugoose. he made a step towards me, his hands twitching by his sides. 'you lie,' he screamed in that queer broken voice which much fever gives. 'it was this english hound that killed the keeper, and felled me when i tried to save him. the man who insults my honour is dead.' and he plucked from his belt a pistol. a good shot does not miss at two yards. i was never nearer my end than in that fraction of time while the weapon came up to the aim. it was scarcely a second, but it was enough for colin. the dog had kept my side, and had stood docilely by me while laputa spoke. the truth is, he must have been as tired as i was. as the kaffirs approached to lay hands on me he had growled menacingly, but when i spoke again he had stopped. henriques' voice had convinced him of a more urgent danger, and so soon as the trigger hand of the portugoose rose, the dog sprang. the bullet went wide, and the next moment dog and man were struggling on the ground. a dozen hands held me from going to colin's aid, but oddly enough no one stepped forward to help henriques. the ruffian kept his head, and though the dog's teeth were in his shoulder, he managed to get his right hand free. i saw what would happen, and yelled madly in my apprehension. the yellow wrist curved, and the pistol barrel was pressed below the dog's shoulder. thrice he fired, the grip relaxed, and colin rolled over limply, fragments of shirt still hanging from his jaw. the portugoose rose slowly with his hand to his head, and a thin stream of blood dripping from his shoulder. as i saw the faithful eyes glazing in death, and knew that i had lost the best of all comrades, i went clean berserk mad. the cluster of men round me, who had been staring open-eyed at the fight, were swept aside like reeds. i went straight for the portugoose, determined that, pistol or no pistol, i would serve him as he had served my dog. for my years i was a well-set-up lad, long in the arms and deep in the chest. but i had not yet come to my full strength, and in any case i could not hope to fight the whole of laputa's army. i was flung back and forwards like a shuttlecock. they played some kind of game with me, and i could hear the idiotic kaffir laughter. it was blind man's buff, so far as i was concerned, for i was blind with fury. i struck out wildly left and right, beating the air often, but sometimes getting in a solid blow on hard black flesh. i was soundly beaten myself, pricked with spears, and made to caper for savage sport. suddenly i saw laputa before me, and hurled myself madly at his chest. some one gave me a clout on the head, and my senses fled. when i came to myself, i was lying on a heap of mealie-stalks in a dark room. i had a desperate headache, and a horrid nausea, which made me fall back as soon as i tried to raise myself. a voice came out of the darkness as i stirred--a voice speaking english. 'are you awake, mr storekeeper?' the voice was laputa's, but i could not see him. the room was pitch dark, except for a long ray of sunlight on the floor. 'i'm awake,' i said. 'what do you want with me?' some one stepped out of the gloom and sat down near me. a naked black foot broke the belt of light on the floor. 'for god's sake get me a drink,' i murmured. the figure rose and fetched a pannikin of water from a pail. i could hear the cool trickle of the drops on the metal. a hand put the dish to my mouth, and i drank water with a strong dash of spirits. this brought back my nausea, and i collapsed on the mealie-stalks till the fit passed. again the voice spoke, this time from close at hand. 'you are paying the penalty of being a fool, mr storekeeper. you are young to die, but folly is common in youth. in an hour you will regret that you did not listen to my advice at umvelos'.' i clawed at my wits and strove to realize what he was saying. he spoke of death within an hour. if it only came sharp and sudden, i did not mind greatly. the plan i had made had slipped utterly out of my mind. my body was so wretched, that i asked only for rest. i was very lighthearted and foolish at that moment. 'kill me if you like,' i whispered. 'some day you will pay dearly for it all. but for god's sake go away and leave me alone.' laputa laughed. it was a horrid sound in the darkness. 'you are brave, mr storekeeper, but i have seen a brave man's courage ebb very fast when he saw the death which i have arranged for you. would you like to hear something of it by way of preparation?' in a low gentle voice he began to tell me mysteries of awful cruelty. at first i scarcely heard him, but as he went on my brain seemed to wake from its lethargy. i listened with freezing blood. not in my wildest nightmares had i imagined such a fate. then in despite of myself a cry broke from me. 'it interests you?' laputa asked. 'i could tell you more, but something must be left to the fancy. yours should be an active one,' and his hand gripped my shaking wrist and felt my pulse. 'henriques will see that the truth does not fall short of my forecast,' he went on. 'for i have appointed henriques your executioner.' the name brought my senses back to me. 'kill me,' i said, 'but for god's sake kill henriques too. if you did justice you would let me go and roast the portugoose alive. but for me the snake would be over the lebombo by this time in henriques' pocket.' 'but it is not, my friend. it was stolen by a storekeeper, who will shortly be wishing he had died in his mother's womb.' my plan was slowly coming back to me. 'if you value prester john's collar, you will save my life. what will your rising be without the snake? would they follow you a yard if they suspected you had lost it?' 'so you would threaten me,' laputa said very gently. then in a burst of wrath he shouted, 'they will follow me to hell for my own sake. imbecile, do you think my power is built on a trinket? when you are in your grave, i will be ruling a hundred millions from the proudest throne on earth.' he sprang to his feet, and pulled back a shutter of the window, letting a flood of light into the hut. in that light i saw that he had in his hands the ivory box which had contained the collar. 'i will carry the casket through the wars,' he cried, 'and if i choose never to open it, who will gainsay me? you besotted fool, to think that any theft of yours could hinder my destiny!' he was the blustering savage again, and i preferred him in the part. all that he said might be true, but i thought i could detect in his voice a keen regret, and in his air a touch of disquiet. the man was a fanatic, and like all fanatics had his superstitions. 'yes,' i said, 'but when you mount the throne you speak of, it would be a pity not to have the rubies on your neck after all your talk in the cave.' i thought he would have throttled me. he glowered down at me with murder in his eyes. then he dashed the casket on the floor with such violence that it broke into fragments. 'give me back the _ndhlondhlo_,' he cried, like a petted child. 'give me back the collar of john.' this was the moment i had been waiting for. 'now see here, mr laputa,' i said. 'i am going to talk business. before you started this rising, you were a civilized man with a good education. well, just remember that education for a minute, and look at the matter in a sensible light. i'm not like the portugoose. i don't want to steal your rubies. i swear to god that what i have told you is true. henriques killed the priest, and would have bagged the jewels if i had not laid him out. i ran away because i was going to be killed to-day, and i took the collar to keep it out of henriques' hands. i tell you i would never have shot the old man myself. very well, what happened? your men overtook me, and i had no choice but to surrender. before they reached me, i hid the collar in a place i know of. now, i am going to make you a fair and square business proposition. you may be able to get on without the snake, but i can see you want it back. i am in a tight place and want nothing so much as my life. i offer to trade with you. give me my life, and i will take you to the place and put the jewels in your hand. otherwise you may kill me, but you will never see the collar of john again.' i still think that was a pretty bold speech for a man to make in a predicament like mine. but it had its effect. laputa ceased to be the barbarian king, and talked like a civilized man. 'that is, as you call it, a business proposition. but supposing i refuse it? supposing i take measures here--in this kraal--to make you speak, and then send for the jewels.' 'there are several objections,' i said, quite cheerfully, for i felt that i was gaining ground. 'one is that i could not explain to any mortal soul how to find the collar. i know where it is, but i could not impart the knowledge. another is that the country between here and machudi's is not very healthy for your people. arcoll's men are all over it, and you cannot have a collection of search parties rummaging about in the glen for long. last and most important, if you send any one for the jewels, you confess their loss. no, mr laputa, if you want them back, you must go yourself and take me with you.' he stood silent for a little, with his brows knit in thought. then he opened the door and went out. i guessed that he had gone to discover from his scouts the state of the country between inanda's kraal and machudi's glen. hope had come back to me, and i sat among the mealie-stalks trying to plan the future. if he made a bargain i believed he would keep it. once set free at the head of machudi's, i should be within an hour or two of arcoll's posts. so far, i had done nothing for the cause. my message had been made useless by henriques' treachery, and i had stolen the snake only to restore it. but if i got off with my life, there would be work for me to do in the armageddon which i saw approaching. should i escape, i wondered. what would hinder laputa from setting his men to follow me, and seize me before i could get into safety? my only chance was that arcoll might have been busy this day, and the countryside too full of his men to let laputa's kaffirs through. but if this was so, laputa and i should be stopped, and then laputa would certainly kill me. i wished--and yet i did not wish--that arcoll should hold all approaches. as i reflected, my first exhilaration died away. the scales were still heavily weighted against me. laputa returned, closing the door behind him. 'i will bargain with you on my own terms. you shall have your life, and in return you will take me to the place where you hid the collar, and put it into my hands. i will ride there, and you will run beside me, tied to my saddle. if we are in danger from the white men, i will shoot you dead. do you accept?' 'yes,' i said, scrambling to my feet, and ruefully testing my shaky legs. 'but if you want me to get to machudi's you must go slowly, for i am nearly foundered.' then he brought out a bible, and made me swear on it that i would do as i promised. 'swear to me in turn,' i said, 'that you will give me my life if i restore the jewels.' he swore, kissing the book like a witness in a police-court. i had forgotten that the man called himself a christian. 'one thing more i ask,' i said. 'i want my dog decently buried.' 'that has been already done,' was the reply. 'he was a brave animal, and my people honour bravery.' chapter xvii a deal and its consequences my eyes were bandaged tight, and a thong was run round my right wrist and tied to laputa's saddle-bow. i felt the glare of the afternoon sun on my head, and my shins were continually barked by stones and trees; but these were my only tidings of the outer world. by the sound of his paces laputa was riding the _schimmel_, and if any one thinks it easy to go blindfold by a horse's side i hope he will soon have the experience. in the darkness i could not tell the speed of the beast. when i ran i overshot it and was tugged back; when i walked my wrist was dislocated with the tugs forward. for an hour or more i suffered this breakneck treatment. we were descending. often i could hear the noise of falling streams, and once we splashed through a mountain ford. laputa was taking no risks, for he clearly had in mind the possibility of some accident which would set me free, and he had no desire to have me guiding arcoll to his camp. but as i stumbled and sprawled down these rocky tracks i was not thinking of laputa's plans. my whole soul was filled with regret for colin, and rage against his murderer. after my first mad rush i had not thought about my dog. he was dead, but so would i be in an hour or two, and there was no cause to lament him. but at the first revival of hope my grief had returned. as they bandaged my eyes i was wishing that they would let me see his grave. as i followed beside laputa i told myself that if ever i got free, when the war was over i would go to inanda's kraal, find the grave, and put a tombstone over it in memory of the dog that saved my life. i would also write that the man who shot him was killed on such and such a day at such and such a place by colin's master. i wondered why laputa had not the wits to see the portugoose's treachery and to let me fight him. i did not care what were the weapons--knives or guns, or naked fists--i would certainly kill him, and afterwards the kaffirs could do as they pleased with me. hot tears of rage and weakness wet the bandage on my eyes, and the sobs which came from me were not only those of weariness. at last we halted. laputa got down and took off the bandage, and i found myself in one of the hill-meadows which lie among the foothills of the wolkberg. the glare blinded me, and for a little i could only see the marigolds growing at my feet. then i had a glimpse of the deep gorge of the great letaba below me, and far to the east the flats running out to the hazy blue line of the lebombo hills. laputa let me sit on the ground for a minute or two to get my breath and rest my feet. 'that was a rough road,' he said. 'you can take it easier now, for i have no wish to carry you.' he patted the _schimmel_, and the beautiful creature turned his mild eyes on the pair of us. i wondered if he recognized his rider of two nights ago. i had seen laputa as the christian minister, as the priest and king in the cave, as the leader of an army at dupree's drift, and at the kraal we had left as the savage with all self-control flung to the winds. i was to see this amazing man in a further part. for he now became a friendly and rational companion. he kept his horse at an easy walk, and talked to me as if we were two friends out for a trip together. perhaps he had talked thus to arcoll, the half-caste who drove his cape-cart. the wooded bluff above machudi's glen showed far in front. he told me the story of the machudi war, which i knew already, but he told it as a saga. there had been a stratagem by which one of the boer leaders--a grobelaar, i think--got some of his men into the enemy's camp by hiding them in a captured forage wagon. 'like the trojan horse,' i said involuntarily. 'yes,' said my companion, 'the same old device,' and to my amazement he quoted some lines of virgil. 'do you understand latin?' he asked. i told him that i had some slight knowledge of the tongue, acquired at the university of edinburgh. laputa nodded. he mentioned the name of a professor there, and commented on his scholarship. 'o man!' i cried, 'what in god's name are you doing in this business? you that are educated and have seen the world, what makes you try to put the clock back? you want to wipe out the civilization of a thousand years, and turn us all into savages. it's the more shame to you when you know better.' 'you misunderstand me,' he said quietly. 'it is because i have sucked civilization dry that i know the bitterness of the fruit. i want a simpler and better world, and i want that world for my own people. i am a christian, and will you tell me that your civilization pays much attention to christ? you call yourself a patriot? will you not give me leave to be a patriot in turn?' 'if you are a christian, what sort of christianity is it to deluge the land with blood?' 'the best,' he said. 'the house must be swept and garnished before the man of the house can dwell in it. you have read history. such a purging has descended on the church at many times, and the world has awakened to a new hope. it is the same in all religions. the temples grow tawdry and foul and must be cleansed, and, let me remind you, the cleanser has always come out of the desert.' i had no answer, being too weak and forlorn to think. but i fastened on his patriotic plea. 'where are the patriots in your following? they are all red kaffirs crying for blood and plunder. supposing you were oliver cromwell you could make nothing out of such a crew.' 'they are my people,' he said simply. by this time we had forded the great letaba, and were making our way through the clumps of forest to the crown of the plateau. i noticed that laputa kept well in cover, preferring the tangle of wooded undergrowth to the open spaces of the water-meadows. as he talked, his wary eyes were keeping a sharp look-out over the landscape. i thrilled with the thought that my own folk were near at hand. once laputa checked me with his hand as i was going to speak, and in silence we crossed the kloof of a little stream. after that we struck a long strip of forest and he slackened his watch. 'if you fight for a great cause,' i said, 'why do you let a miscreant like henriques have a hand in it? you must know that the man's only interest in you is the chance of loot. i am for you against henriques, and i tell you plain that if you don't break the snake's back it will sting you.' laputa looked at me with an odd, meditative look. 'you misunderstand again, mr storekeeper. the portuguese is what you call a "mean white." his only safety is among us. i am campaigner enough to know that an enemy, who has a burning grievance against my other enemies, is a good ally. you are too hard on henriques. you and your friends have treated him as a kaffir, and a kaffir he is in everything but kaffir virtues. what makes you so anxious that henriques should not betray me?' 'i'm not a mean white,' i said, 'and i will speak the truth. i hope, in god's name, to see you smashed; but i want it done by honest men, and not by a yellow devil who has murdered my dog and my friends. sooner or later you will find him out; and if he escapes you, and there's any justice in heaven, he won't escape me.' 'brave words,' said laputa, with a laugh, and then in one second he became rigid in the saddle. we had crossed a patch of meadow and entered a wood, beyond which ran the highway. i fancy he was out in his reckoning, and did not think the road so near. at any rate, after a moment he caught the sound of horses, and i caught it too. the wood was thin, and there was no room for retreat, while to recross the meadow would bring us clean into the open. he jumped from his horse, untied with amazing quickness the rope halter from its neck, and started to gag me by winding the thing round my jaw. i had no time to protest that i would keep faith, and my right hand was tethered to his pommel. in the grip of these great arms i was helpless, and in a trice was standing dumb as a lamp-post; while laputa, his left arm round both of mine, and his right hand over the _schimmel_'s eyes, strained his ears like a sable antelope who has scented danger. there was never a more brutal gagging. the rope crushed my nose and drove my lips down on my teeth, besides gripping my throat so that i could scarcely breathe. the pain was so great that i became sick, and would have fallen but for laputa. happily i managed to get my teeth apart, so that one coil slipped between, and eased the pain of the jaws. but the rest was bad enough to make me bite frantically on the tow, and i think in a little my sharp front teeth would have severed it. all this discomfort prevented me seeing what happened. the wood, as i have said, was thin, and through the screen of leaves i had a confused impression of men and horses passing interminably. there can only have been a score at the most; but the moments drag if a cord is gripping your throat. when laputa at length untied me, i had another fit of nausea, and leaned helplessly against a tree. laputa listened till the sound of the horses had died away; then silently we stole to the edge of the road, across, and into the thicker evergreen bush on the far side. at a pace which forced me to run hard, we climbed a steepish slope, till ahead of us we saw the bald green crown of the meadowlands. i noticed that his face had grown dark and sullen again. he was in an enemy's country, and had the air of the hunted instead of the hunter. when i stopped he glowered at me, and once, when i was all but overcome with fatigue, he lifted his hand in a threat. had he carried a sjambok, it would have fallen on my back. if he was nervous, so was i. the fact that i was out of the kaffir country and in the land of my own folk was a kind of qualified liberty. at any moment, i felt, providence might intervene to set me free. it was in the bond that laputa should shoot me if we were attacked; but a pistol might miss. as far as my shaken wits would let me, i began to forecast the future. once he got the jewels my side of the bargain was complete. he had promised me my life, but there had been nothing said about my liberty; and i felt assured that laputa would never allow one who had seen so much to get off to arcoll with his tidings. but back to that unhallowed kraal i was resolved i would not go. he was armed, and i was helpless; he was strong, and i was dizzy with weakness; he was mounted, and i was on foot: it seemed a poor hope that i should get away. there was little chance from a wandering patrol, for i knew if we were followed i should have a bullet in my head, while laputa got off on the _schimmel_. i must wait and bide events. at the worst, a clean shot on the hillside in a race for life was better than the unknown mysteries of the kraal. i prayed earnestly to god to show me his mercy, for if ever man was sore bested by the heathen it was i. to my surprise, laputa chose to show himself on the green hill-shoulder. he looked towards the wolkberg and raised his hands. it must have been some signal. i cast my eyes back on the road we had come, and i thought i saw some figures a mile back, on the edge of the letaba gorge. he was making sure of my return. by this time it was about four in the afternoon, and as heavenly weather as the heart of man could wish. the meadows were full of aromatic herbs, which, as we crushed them, sent up a delicate odour. the little pools and shallows of the burns were as clear as a lothian trout-stream. we were now going at a good pace, and i found that my earlier weariness was growing less. i was being keyed up for some great crisis, for in my case the spirit acts direct on the body, and fatigue grows and ebbs with hope. i knew that my strength was not far from breaking-point; but i knew also that so long as a chance was left me i should have enough for a stroke. before i realized where we were we had rounded the hill, and were looking down on the green cup of the upper machudi's glen. far down, i remember, where the trees began, there was a cloud of smoke. some kaffir--or maybe arcoll--had fired the forest. the smoke was drifting away under a light west wind over the far plains, so that they were seen through a haze of opal. laputa bade me take the lead. i saw quite clear the red kloof on the far side, where the collar was hid. to get there we might have ridden straight into the cup, but a providential instinct made me circle round the top till we were on the lip of the ravine. this was the road some of machudi's men had taken, and unthinkingly i followed them. twenty minutes' riding brought us to the place, and all the while i had no kind of plan of escape. i was in the hands of my maker, watching, like the jews of old, for a sign. laputa dismounted and looked down into the gorge. 'there is no road there,' i said. 'we must go down to the foot and come up the stream-side. it would be better to leave your horse here.' he started down the cliff, which from above looks a sheer precipice. then he seemed to agree with me, took the rope from the _schimmel_'s neck, and knee-haltered his beast. and at that moment i had an inspiration. with my wrist-rope in his hand, he preceded me down the hill till we got to the red screes at the foot of the kloof. then, under my guidance, we turned up into the darkness of the gorge. as we entered i looked back, and saw figures coming over the edge of the green cup--laputa's men, i guessed. what i had to do must be done quickly. we climbed up the burn, over the succession of little cataracts, till we came to the flat space of shingle and the long pool where i had been taken that morning. the ashes of the fire which machudi's men had made were plain on the rock. after that i had to climb a waterfall to get to the rocky pool where i had bestowed the rubies. 'you must take off this thong,' i said. 'i must climb to get the collar. cover me with a pistol if you like. i won't be out of sight.' laputa undid the thong and set me free. from his belt he took a pistol, cocked it, and held it over his left hand. i had seen this way of shooting adopted by indifferent shots, and it gave me a wild hope that he might not be much of a marksman. it did not take me long to find the pool, close against the blackened stump of a tree-fern. i thrust in my hand and gathered up the jewels from the cool sand. they came out glowing like living fires, and for a moment i thrilled with a sense of reverence. surely these were no common stones which held in them the very heart of hell. clutching them tightly, i climbed down to laputa. at the sight of the great snake he gave a cry of rapture. tearing it from me, he held it at arm's length, his face lit with a passionate joy. he kissed it, he raised it to the sky; nay, he was on his knees before it. once more he was the savage transported in the presence of his fetich. he turned to me with burning eyes. 'down on your knees,' he cried, 'and reverence the _ndhlondhlo_. down, you impious dog, and seek pardon for your sacrilege.' 'i won't,' i said. 'i won't bow to any heathen idol.' he pointed his pistol at me. 'in a second i shoot where your head is now. down, you fool, or perish.' 'you promised me my life,' i said stubbornly, though heaven knows why i chose to act thus. he dropped the pistol and flung himself on me. i was helpless as a baby in his hands. he forced me to the ground and rolled my face in the sand; then he pulled me to my feet and tossed me backward, till i almost staggered into the pool. i saved myself, and staggered instead into the shallow at the foot of it, close under the ledge of the precipice. that morning, when machudi's men were cooking breakfast, i had figured out a route up the cliff. this route was now my hope of escape. laputa had dropped his pistol, and the collar had plunged him in an ecstasy of worship. now, if ever, was my time. i must get on the shelf which ran sideways up the cliff, and then scramble for dear life. i pretended to be dazed and terrified. 'you promised me my life,' i whimpered. 'your life,' he cried. 'yes, you shall have your life; and before long you will pray for death.' 'but i saved the collar,' i pleaded. 'henriques would have stolen it. i brought it safe here, and now you have got it.' meantime i was pulling myself up on the shelf, and loosening with one hand a boulder which overhung the pool. 'you have been repaid,' he said savagely. 'you will not die.' 'but my life is no use without liberty,' i said, working at the boulder till it lay loose in its niche. he did not answer, being intent on examining the collar to see if it had suffered any harm. 'i hope it isn't scratched,' i said. 'henriques trod on it when i hit him.' laputa peered at the gems like a mother at a child who has had a fall. i saw my chance and took it. with a great heave i pulled the boulder down into the pool. it made a prodigious splash, sending a shower of spray over laputa and the collar. in cover of it i raced up the shelf, straining for the shelter of the juniper tree. a shot rang out and struck the rock above me. a second later i had reached the tree and was scrambling up the crack beyond it. laputa did not fire again. he may have distrusted his shooting, or seen a better way of it. he dashed through the stream and ran up the shelf like a klipspringer after me. i felt rather than saw what was happening, and with my heart in my mouth i gathered my dregs of energy for the last struggle. you know the nightmare when you are pursued by some awful terror, and, though sick with fear, your legs have a strange numbness, and you cannot drag them in obedience to the will. such was my feeling in the crack above the juniper tree. in truth, i had passed the bounds of my endurance. last night i had walked fifty miles, and all day i had borne the torments of a dreadful suspense. i had been bound and gagged and beaten till the force was out of my limbs. also, and above all, i had had little food, and i was dizzy with want of sleep. my feet seemed leaden, my hands had no more grip than putty. i do not know how i escaped falling into the pool, for my head was singing and my heart thumping in my throat. i seemed to feel laputa's great hand every second clawing at my heels. i had reason for my fears. he had entered the crack long before i had reached the top, and his progress was twice as fast as mine. when i emerged on the topmost shelf he was scarcely a yard behind me. but an overhang checked his bulky figure and gave me a few seconds' grace. i needed it all, for these last steps on the shelf were the totterings of an old man. only a desperate resolution and an extreme terror made me drag one foot after the other. blindly i staggered on to the top of the ravine, and saw before me the _schimmel_ grazing in the light of the westering sun. i forced myself into a sort of drunken run, and crawled into the saddle. behind me, as i turned, i could see laputa's shoulders rising over the edge. i had no knife to cut the knee-halter, and the horse could not stir. then the miracle happened. when the rope had gagged me, my teeth must have nearly severed it at one place, and this laputa had not noticed when he used it as a knee-halter. the shock of my entering the saddle made the _schimmel_ fling up his head violently, and the rope snapped. i could not find the stirrups, but i dug my heels into his sides, and he leaped forward. at the same moment laputa began to shoot. it was a foolish move, for he might have caught me by running, since i had neither spurs nor whip, and the horse was hampered by the loose end of rope at his knee. in any case, being an indifferent shot, he should have aimed at the _schimmel_, not at me; but i suppose he wished to save his charger. one bullet sang past my head; a second did my business for me. it passed over my shoulder, as i lay low in the saddle, and grazed the beast's right ear. the pain maddened him, and, rope-end and all, he plunged into a wild gallop. other shots came, but they fell far short. i saw dimly a native or two--the men who had followed us--rush to intercept me, and i think a spear was flung. but in a flash we were past them, and their cries faded behind me. i found the bridle, reached for the stirrups, and galloped straight for the sunset and for freedom. chapter xviii how a man may sometimes put his trust in a horse i had long passed the limit of my strength. only constant fear and wild alternations of hope had kept me going so long, and now that i was safe i became light-headed in earnest. the wonder is that i did not fall off. happily the horse was good and the ground easy, for i was powerless to do any guiding. i simply sat on his back in a silly glow of comfort, keeping a line for the dying sun, which i saw in a nick of the iron crown mountain. a sort of childish happiness possessed me. after three days of imminent peril, to be free was to be in fairyland. to be swishing through the long bracken or plunging among the breast-high flowers of the meadowlands in a world of essential lights and fragrances, seemed scarcely part of mortal experience. remember that i was little more than a lad, and that i had faced death so often of late that my mind was all adrift. to be able to hope once more, nay, to be allowed to cease both from hope and fear, was like a deep and happy opiate to my senses. spent and frail as i was, my soul swam in blessed waters of ease. the mood did not last long. i came back to earth with a shock, as the _schimmel_ stumbled at the crossing of a stream. i saw that the darkness was fast falling, and with the sight panic returned to me. behind me i seemed to hear the sound of pursuit. the noise was in my ears, but when i turned it ceased, and i saw only the dusky shoulders of hills. i tried to remember what arcoll had told me about his headquarters, but my memory was wiped clean. i thought they were on or near the highway, but i could not remember where the highway was. besides, he was close to the enemy, and i wanted to get back into the towns, far away from the battle-line. if i rode west i must come in time to villages, where i could hide myself. these were unworthy thoughts, but my excuse must be my tattered nerves. when a man comes out of great danger, he is apt to be a little deaf to the call of duty. suddenly i became ashamed. god had preserved me from deadly perils, but not that i might cower in some shelter. i had a mission as clear as laputa's. for the first time i became conscious to what a little thing i owed my salvation. that matter of the broken halter was like the finger of divine providence. i had been saved for a purpose, and unless i fulfilled that purpose i should again be lost. i was always a fatalist, and in that hour of strained body and soul i became something of a mystic. my panic ceased, my lethargy departed, and a more manly resolution took their place. i gripped the _schimmel_ by the head and turned him due left. now i remembered where the highroad ran, and i remembered something else. for it was borne in on me that laputa had fallen into my hands. without any subtle purpose i had played a master game. he was cut off from his people, without a horse, on the wrong side of the highroad which arcoll's men patrolled. without him the rising would crumble. there might be war, even desperate war, but we should fight against a leaderless foe. if he could only be shepherded to the north, his game was over, and at our leisure we could mop up the scattered concentrations. i was now as eager to get back into danger as i had been to get into safety. arcoll must be found and warned, and that at once, or laputa would slip over to inanda's kraal under cover of dark. it was a matter of minutes, and on these minutes depended the lives of thousands. it was also a matter of ebbing strength, for with my return to common sense i saw very clearly how near my capital was spent. if i could reach the highroad, find arcoll or arcoll's men, and give them my news, i would do my countrymen a service such as no man in africa could render. but i felt my head swimming, i was swaying crazily in the saddle, and my hands had scarcely the force of a child's. i could only lie limply on the horse's back, clutching at his mane with trembling fingers. i remember that my head was full of a text from the psalms about not putting one's trust in horses. i prayed that this one horse might be an exception, for he carried more than caesar and his fortunes. my mind is a blank about those last minutes. in less than an hour after my escape i struck the highway, but it was an hour which in the retrospect unrolls itself into unquiet years. i was dimly conscious of scrambling through a ditch and coming to a ghostly white road. the _schimmel_ swung to the right, and the next i knew some one had taken my bridle and was speaking to me. at first i thought it was laputa and screamed. then i must have tottered in the saddle, for i felt an arm slip round my middle. the rider uncorked a bottle with his teeth and forced some brandy down my throat. i choked and coughed, and then looked up to see a white policeman staring at me. i knew the police by the green shoulder-straps. 'arcoll,' i managed to croak. 'for god's sake take me to arcoll.' the man whistled shrilly on his fingers, and a second rider came cantering down the road. as he came up i recognized his face, but could not put a name to it. 'losh, it's the lad crawfurd,' i heard a voice say. 'crawfurd, man, d'ye no mind me at lourenco marques? aitken?' the scotch tongue worked a spell with me. it cleared my wits and opened the gates of my past life. at last i knew i was among my own folk. 'i must see arcoll. i have news for him--tremendous news. o man, take me to arcoll and ask me no questions. where is he? where is he?' 'as it happens, he's about two hundred yards off,' aitken said. 'that light ye see at the top of the brae is his camp.' they helped me up the road, a man on each side of me, for i could never have kept in the saddle without their support. my message to arcoll kept humming in my head as i tried to put it into words, for i had a horrid fear that my wits would fail me and i should be dumb when the time came. also i was in a fever of haste. every minute i wasted increased laputa's chance of getting back to the kraal. he had men with him every bit as skilful as arcoll's trackers. unless arcoll had a big force and the best horses there was no hope. often in looking back at this hour i have marvelled at the strangeness of my behaviour. here was i just set free from the certainty of a hideous death, and yet i had lost all joy in my security. i was more fevered at the thought of laputa's escape than i had been at the prospect of david crawfurd's end. the next thing i knew i was being lifted off the _schimmel_ by what seemed to me a thousand hands. then came a glow of light, a great moon, in the centre of which i stood blinking. i was forced to sit down on a bed, while i was given a cup of hot tea, far more reviving than any spirits. i became conscious that some one was holding my hands, and speaking very slowly and gently. 'davie,' the voice said, 'you're back among friends, my lad. tell me, where have you been?' 'i want arcoll,' i moaned. 'where is ratitswan?' there were tears of weakness running down my cheeks. 'arcoll is here,' said the voice; 'he is holding your hands, davie. quiet, lad, quiet. your troubles are all over now.' i made a great effort, found the eyes to which the voice belonged, and spoke to them. 'listen. i stole the collar of prester john at dupree's drift. i was caught in the berg and taken to the kraal--i forget its name--but i had hid the rubies.' 'yes,' the voice said, 'you hid the rubies,--and then?' 'inkulu wanted them back, so i made a deal with him. i took him to machudi's and gave him the collar, and then he fired at me and i climbed and climbed ... i climbed on a horse,' i concluded childishly. i heard the voice say 'yes?' again inquiringly, but my mind ran off at a tangent. 'beyers took guns up into the wolkberg,' i cried shrilly. 'why the devil don't you do the same? you have the whole kaffir army in a trap.' i saw a smiling face before me. 'good lad. colles told me you weren't wanting in intelligence. what if we have done that very thing, davie?' but i was not listening. i was trying to remember the thing i most wanted to say, and that was not about beyers and his guns. those were nightmare minutes. a speaker who has lost the thread of his discourse, a soldier who with a bayonet at his throat has forgotten the password--i felt like them, and worse. and to crown all i felt my faintness coming back, and my head dropping with heaviness. i was in a torment of impotence. arcoll, still holding my hands, brought his face close to mine, so that his clear eyes mastered and constrained me. 'look at me, davie,' i heard him say. 'you have something to tell me, and it is very important. it is about laputa, isn't it? think, man. you took him to machudi's and gave him the collar. he has gone back with it to inanda's kraal. very well, my guns will hold him there.' i shook my head. 'you can't. you may split the army, but you can't hold laputa. he will be over the olifants before you fire a shot.' 'we will hunt him down before he crosses. and if not, we will catch him at the railway.' 'for god's sake, hurry then,' i cried. 'in an hour he will be over it and back in the kraal.' 'but the river is a long way.' 'river?' i repeated hazily. 'what river? the letaba is not the place. it is the road i mean.' arcoll's hands closed firmly on my wrists. 'you left laputa at machudi's and rode here without stopping. that would take you an hour. had laputa a horse?' 'yes; but i took it,' i stammered. 'you can see it behind me.' arcoll dropped my hands and stood up straight. 'by god, we've got him!' he said, and he spoke to his companions. a man turned and ran out of the tent. then i remembered what i wanted to say. i struggled from the bed and put my hands on his shoulders. 'laputa is our side of the highroad. cut him off from his men, and drive him north--north--away up to the rooirand. never mind the wolkberg and the guns, for they can wait. i tell you laputa is the rising, and he has the collar. without him you can mop up the kaffirs at your leisure. line the high-road with every man you have, for he must cross it or perish. oh, hurry, man, hurry; never mind me. we're saved if we can chivy laputa till morning. quick, or i'll have to go myself.' the tent emptied, and i lay back on the bed with a dim feeling that my duty was done and i could rest. henceforth the affair was in stronger hands than mine. i was so weak that i could not lift my legs up to the bed, but sprawled half on and half off. utter exhaustion defeats sleep. i was in a fever, and my eyes would not close. i lay and drowsed while it seemed to me that the outside world was full of men and horses. i heard voices and the sound of hoofs and the jingle of bridles, but above all i heard the solid tramp of an army. the whole earth seemed to be full of war. before my mind was spread the ribbon of the great highway. i saw it run white through the meadows of the plateau, then in a dark corkscrew down the glen of the letaba, then white again through the vast moonlit bush of the plains, till the shanties of wesselsburg rose at the end of it. it seemed to me to be less a road than a rampart, built of shining marble, the great wall of africa. i saw laputa come out of the shadows and try to climb it, and always there was the sound of a rifle-breech clicking, a summons, and a flight. i began to take a keen interest in the game. down in the bush were the dark figures of the hunted, and on the white wall were my own people--horse, foot, and artillery, the squadrons of our defence. what a general arcoll was, and how great a matter had david crawfurd kindled! a man came in--i suppose a doctor. he took off my leggings and boots, cutting them from my bleeding feet, but i knew no pain. he felt my pulse and listened to my heart. then he washed my face and gave me a bowl of hot milk. there must have been a drug in the milk, for i had scarcely drunk it before a tide of sleep seemed to flow over my brain. the white rampart faded from my eyes and i slept. chapter xix arcoll's shepherding while i lay in a drugged slumber great things were happening. what i have to tell is no experience of my own, but the story as i pieced it together afterwards from talks with arcoll and aitken. the history of the rising has been compiled. as i write i see before me on the shelves two neat blue volumes in which mr alexander upton, sometime correspondent of the _times_, has told for the edification of posterity the tale of the war between the plains and the plateau. to him the kaffir hero is umbooni, a half-witted ruffian, whom we afterwards caught and hanged. he mentions laputa only in a footnote as a renegade christian who had something to do with fomenting discontent. he considers that the word 'inkulu,' which he often heard, was a zulu name for god. mr upton is a picturesque historian, but he knew nothing of the most romantic incident of all. this is the tale of the midnight shepherding of the 'heir of john' by arcoll and his irregulars. at bruderstroom, where i was lying unconscious, there were two hundred men of the police; sixty-three basuto scouts under a man called stephen, who was half native in blood and wholly native in habits; and three commandoes of the farmers, each about forty strong. the commandoes were really companies of the north transvaal volunteers, but the old name had been kept and something of the old loose organization. there were also two four-gun batteries of volunteer artillery, but these were out on the western skirts of the wolkberg following beyers's historic precedent. several companies of regulars were on their way from pietersdorp, but they did not arrive till the next day. when they came they went to the wolkberg to join the artillery. along the berg at strategic points were pickets of police with native trackers, and at blaauwildebeestefontein there was a strong force with two field guns, for there was some fear of a second kaffir army marching by that place to inanda's kraal. at wesselsburg out on the plain there was a biggish police patrol, and a system of small patrols along the road, with a fair number of basuto scouts. but the road was picketed, not held; for arcoll's patrols were only a branch of his intelligence department. it was perfectly easy, as i had found myself, to slip across in a gap of the pickets. laputa would be in a hurry, and therefore he would try to cross at the nearest point. hence it was arcoll's first business to hold the line between the defile of the letaba and the camp at bruderstroom. a detachment of the police who were well mounted galloped at racing speed for the defile, and behind them the rest lined out along the road. the farmers took a line at right angles to the road, so as to prevent an escape on the western flank. the basutos were sent into the woods as a sort of advanced post to bring tidings of any movement there. finally a body of police with native runners at their stirrups rode on to the drift where the road crosses the letaba. the place is called main drift, and you will find it on the map. the natives were first of all to locate laputa, and prevent him getting out on the south side of the triangle of hill and wood between machudi's, the road, and the letaba. if he failed there, he must try to ford the letaba below the drift, and cross the road between the drift and wesselsburg. now arcoll had not men enough to watch the whole line, and therefore if laputa were once driven below the drift, he must shift his men farther down the road. consequently it was of the first importance to locate laputa's whereabouts, and for this purpose the native trackers were sent forward. there was just a chance of capturing him, but arcoll knew too well his amazing veld-craft and great strength of body to build much hope on that. we were none too soon. the advance men of the police rode into one of the kaffirs from inanda's kraal, whom laputa had sent forward to see if the way was clear. in two minutes more he would have been across and out of our power, for we had no chance of overtaking him in the woody ravines of the letaba. the kaffir, when he saw us, dived back into the grass on the north side of the road, which made it clear that laputa was still there. after that nothing happened for a little. the police reached their drift, and all the road west of that point was strongly held. the flanking commandoes joined hands with one of the police posts farther north, and moved slowly to the scarp of the berg. they saw nobody; from which arcoll could deduce that his man had gone down the berg into the forests. had the basutos been any good at woodcraft we should have had better intelligence. but living in a bare mountain country they are apt to find themselves puzzled in a forest. the best men among the trackers were some renegades of 'mpefu, who sent back word by a device known only to arcoll that five kaffirs were in the woods a mile north of main drift. by this time it was after ten o'clock, and the moon was rising. the five men separated soon after, and the reports became confused. then laputa, as the biggest of the five, was located on the banks of the great letaba about two miles below main drift. the question was as to his crossing. arcoll had assumed that he would swim the river and try to get over the road between main drift and wesselsburg. but in this assumption he underrated the shrewdness of his opponent. laputa knew perfectly well that we had not enough men to patrol the whole countryside, but that the river enabled us to divide the land into two sections and concentrate strongly on one or the other. accordingly he left the great letaba unforded and resolved to make a long circuit back to the berg. one of his kaffirs swam the river, and when word of this was brought arcoll began to withdraw his posts farther down the road. but as the men were changing 'mpefu's fellows got wind of laputa's turn to the left, and in great haste arcoll countermanded the move and waited in deep perplexity at main drift. the salvation of his scheme was the farmers on the scarp of the berg. they lit fires and gave laputa the notion of a great army. instead of going up the glen of machudi or the letsitela he bore away to the north for the valley of the klein letaba. the pace at which he moved must have been amazing. he had a great physique, hard as nails from long travelling, and in his own eyes he had an empire at stake. when i look at the map and see the journey which with vast fatigue i completed from dupree's drift to machudi's, and then look at the huge spaces of country over which laputa's legs took him on that night, i am lost in admiration of the man. about midnight he must have crossed the letsitela. here he made a grave blunder. if he had tried the berg by one of the faces he might have got on to the plateau and been at inanda's kraal by the dawning. but he over-estimated the size of the commandoes, and held on to the north, where he thought there would be no defence. about one o'clock arcoll, tired of inaction and conscious that he had misread laputa's tactics, resolved on a bold stroke. he sent half his police to the berg to reinforce the commandoes, bidding them get into touch with the post at blaauwildebeestefontein. a little after two o'clock a diversion occurred. henriques succeeded in crossing the road three miles east of main drift. he had probably left the kraal early in the night and had tried to cross farther west, but had been deterred by the patrols. east of main drift, where the police were fewer, he succeeded; but he had not gone far till he was discovered by the basuto scouts. the find was reported to arcoll, who guessed at once who this traveller was. he dared not send out any of his white men, but he bade a party of the scouts follow the portugoose's trail. they shadowed him to dupree's drift, where he crossed the letaba. there he lay down by the roadside to sleep, while they kept him company. a hard fellow henriques was, for he could slumber peacefully on the very scene of his murder. dawn found laputa at the head of the klein letaba glen, not far from 'mpefu's kraal. he got food at a hut, and set off at once up the wooded hill above it, which is a promontory of the plateau. by this time he must have been weary, or he would not have blundered as he did right into a post of the farmers. he was within an ace of capture, and to save himself was forced back from the scarp. he seems, to judge from reports, to have gone a little way south in the thicker timber, and then to have turned north again in the direction of blaauwildebeestefontein. after that his movements are obscure. he was seen on the klein labongo, but the sight of the post at blaauwildebeestefontein must have convinced him that a _korhaan_ could not escape that way. the next we heard of him was that he had joined henriques. after daybreak arcoll, having got his reports from the plateau, and knowing roughly the direction in which laputa was shaping, decided to advance his lines. the farmers, reinforced by three more commandoes from the pietersdorp district, still held the plateau, but the police were now on the line of the great letaba. it was arcoll's plan to hold that river and the long neck of land between it and the labongo. his force was hourly increasing, and his mounted men would be able to prevent any escape on the flank to the east of wesselsburg. so it happened that while laputa was being driven east from the berg, henriques was travelling north, and their lines intersected. i should like to have seen the meeting. it must have told laputa what had always been in the portugoose's heart. henriques, i fancy, was making for the cave in the rooirand. laputa, so far as i can guess at his mind, had a plan for getting over the portuguese border, fetching a wide circuit, and joining his men at any of the concentrations between there and amsterdam. the two were seen at midday going down the road which leads from blaauwildebeestefontein to the lebombo. then they struck arcoll's new front, which stretched from the letaba to the labongo. this drove them north again, and forced them to swim the latter stream. from there to the eastern extremity of the rooirand, which is the portuguese frontier, the country is open and rolling, with a thin light scrub in the hollows. it was bad cover for the fugitives, as they found to their cost. for arcoll had purposely turned his police into a flying column. they no longer held a line; they scoured a country. only laputa's incomparable veld-craft and great bodily strength prevented the two from being caught in half an hour. they doubled back, swam the labongo again, and got into the thick bush on the north side of the blaauwildebeestefontein road. the basuto scouts were magnificent in the open, but in the cover they were again at fault. laputa and henriques fairly baffled them, so that the pursuit turned to the west in the belief that the fugitives had made for majinje's kraal. in reality they had recrossed the labongo and were making for umvelos'. all this i heard afterwards, but in the meantime i lay in arcoll's tent in deep unconsciousness. while my enemies were being chased like partridges, i was reaping the fruits of four days' toil and terror. the hunters had become the hunted, the wheel had come full circle, and the woes of david crawfurd were being abundantly avenged. i slept till midday of the next day. when i awoke the hot noontide sun had made the tent like an oven. i felt better, but very stiff and sore, and i had a most ungovernable thirst. there was a pail of water with a tin pannikin beside the tent pole, and out of this i drank repeated draughts. then i lay down again, for i was still very weary. but my second sleep was not like my first. it was haunted by wild nightmares. no sooner had i closed my eyes than i began to live and move in a fantastic world. the whole bush of the plains lay before me, and i watched it as if from some view-point in the clouds. it was midday, and the sandy patches shimmered under a haze of heat. i saw odd little movements in the bush--a buck's head raised, a paauw stalking solemnly in the long grass, a big crocodile rolling off a mudbank in the river. and then i saw quite clearly laputa's figure going east. in my sleep i did not think about arcoll's manoeuvres. my mind was wholly set upon laputa. he was walking wearily, yet at a good pace, and his head was always turning, like a wild creature snuffing the wind. there was something with him, a shapeless shadow, which i could not see clearly. his neck was bare, but i knew well that the collar was in his pouch. he stopped, turned west, and i lost him. the bush world for a space was quite silent, and i watched it eagerly as an aeronaut would watch the ground for a descent. for a long time i could see nothing. then in a wood near a river there seemed to be a rustling. some guinea-fowl flew up as if startled, and a stembok scurried out. i knew that laputa must be there. then, as i looked at the river, i saw a head swimming. nay, i saw two, one some distance behind the other. the first man landed on the far bank, and i recognized laputa. the second was a slight short figure, and i knew it was henriques. i remember feeling very glad that these two had come together. it was certain now that henriques would not escape. either laputa would find out the truth and kill him, or i would come up with him and have my revenge. in any case he was outside the kaffir pale, adventuring on his own. i watched the two till they halted near a ruined building. surely this was the store i had built at umvelos'. the thought gave me a horrid surprise. laputa and henriques were on their way to the rooirand! i woke with a start to find my forehead damp with sweat. there was some fever on me, i think, for my teeth were chattering. very clear in my mind was the disquieting thought that laputa and henriques would soon be in the cave. one of two things must happen--either henriques would kill laputa, get the collar of rubies, and be in the wilds of mozambique before i could come up with his trail; or laputa would outwit him, and have the handling himself of the treasure of gold and diamonds which had been laid up for the rising. if he thought there was a risk of defeat, i knew he would send my gems to the bottom of the labongo, and all my weary work would go for nothing. i had forgotten all about patriotism. in that hour the fate of the country was nothing to me, and i got no satisfaction from the thought that laputa was severed from his army. my one idea was that the treasure would be lost, the treasure for which i had risked my life. there is a kind of courage which springs from bitter anger and disappointment. i had thought that i had bankrupted my spirit, but i found that there was a new passion in me to which my past sufferings taught no lesson. my uneasiness would not let me rest a moment longer. i rose to my feet, holding on by the bed, and staggered to the tent pole. i was weak, but not so very weak that i could not make one last effort. it maddened me that i should have done so much and yet fail at the end. from a nail on the tent pole hung a fragment of looking-glass which arcoll used for shaving. i caught a glimpse of my face in it, white and haggard and lined, with blue bags below the eyes. the doctor the night before had sponged it, but he had not got rid of all the stains of travel. in particular there was a faint splash of blood on the left temple. i remembered that this was what i had got from the basin of goat's blood that night in the cave. i think that the sight of that splash determined me. whether i willed it or not, i was sealed of laputa's men. i must play the game to the finish, or never again know peace of mind on earth. these last four days had made me very old. i found a pair of arcoll's boots, roomy with much wearing, into which i thrust my bruised feet. then i crawled to the door, and shouted for a boy to bring my horse. a basuto appeared, and, awed by my appearance, went off in a hurry to see to the _schimmel_. it was late afternoon, about the same time of day as had yesterday seen me escaping from machudi's. the bruderstroom camp was empty, though sentinels were posted at the approaches. i beckoned the only white man i saw, and asked where arcoll was. he told me that he had no news, but added that the patrols were still on the road as far as wesselsburg. from this i gathered that arcoll must have gone far out into the bush in his chase. i did not want to see him; above all, i did not want him to find laputa. it was my private business that i rode on, and i asked for no allies. somebody brought me a cup of thick coffee, which i could not drink, and helped me into the saddle. the _schimmel_ was fresh, and kicked freely as i cantered off the grass into the dust of the highroad. the whole world, i remember, was still and golden in the sunset. chapter xx my last sight of the reverend john laputa it was dark before i got into the gorge of the letaba. i passed many patrols, but few spoke to me, and none tried to stop me. some may have known me, but i think it was my face and figure which tied their tongues. i must have been pale as death, with tangled hair and fever burning in my eyes. also on my left temple was the splash of blood. at main drift i found a big body of police holding the ford. i splashed through and stumbled into one of their camp-fires. a man questioned me, and told me that arcoll had got his quarry. 'he's dead, they say. they shot him out on the hills when he was making for the limpopo.' but i knew that this was not true. it was burned on my mind that laputa was alive, nay, was waiting for me, and that it was god's will that we should meet in the cave. a little later i struck the track of the kaffirs' march. there was a broad, trampled way through the bush, and i followed it, for it led to dupree's drift. all this time i was urging the _schimmel_ with all the vigour i had left in me. i had quite lost any remnant of fear. there were no terrors left for me either from nature or man. at dupree's drift i rode the ford without a thought of crocodiles. i looked placidly at the spot where henriques had slain the keeper and i had stolen the rubies. there was no interest or imagination lingering in my dull brain. my nerves had suddenly become things of stolid, untempered iron. each landmark i passed was noted down as one step nearer to my object. at umvelos' i had not the leisure to do more than glance at the shell which i had built. i think i had forgotten all about that night when i lay in the cellar and heard laputa's plans. indeed, my doings of the past days were all hazy and trivial in my mind. i only saw one sight clearly--two men, one tall and black, the other little and sallow, slowly creeping nearer to the rooirand, and myself, a midget on a horse, spurring far behind through the bush on their trail. i saw the picture as continuously and clearly as if i had been looking at a scene on the stage. there was only one change in the setting; the three figures seemed to be gradually closing together. i had no exhilaration in my quest. i do not think i had even much hope, for something had gone numb and cold in me and killed my youth. i told myself that treasure-hunting was an enterprise accursed of god, and that i should most likely die. that laputa and henriques would die i was fully certain. the three of us would leave our bones to bleach among the diamonds, and in a little the prester's collar would glow amid a little heap of human dust. i was quite convinced of all this, and quite apathetic. it really did not matter so long as i came up with laputa and henriques, and settled scores with them. that mattered everything in the world, for it was my destiny. i had no means of knowing how long i took, but it was after midnight before i passed umvelos', and ere i got to the rooirand there was a fluttering of dawn in the east. i must have passed east of arcoll's men, who were driving the bush towards majinje's. i had ridden the night down and did not feel so very tired. my horse was stumbling, but my own limbs scarcely pained me. to be sure i was stiff and nerveless as if hewn out of wood, but i had been as bad when i left bruderstroom. i felt as if i could go on riding to the end of the world. at the brink of the bush i dismounted and turned the _schimmel_ loose. i had brought no halter, and i left him to graze and roll. the light was sufficient to let me see the great rock face rising in a tower of dim purple. the sky was still picked out with stars, but the moon had long gone down, and the east was flushing. i marched up the path to the cave, very different from the timid being who had walked the same road three nights before. then my terrors were all to come: now i had conquered terror and seen the other side of fear. i was centuries older. but beside the path lay something which made me pause. it was a dead body, and the head was turned away from me. i did not need to see the face to know who it was. there had been only two men in my vision, and one of them was immortal. i stopped and turned the body over. there was no joy in my heart, none of the lust of satisfied vengeance or slaked hate. i had forgotten about the killing of my dog and all the rest of henriques' doings. it was only with curiosity that i looked down on the dead face, swollen and livid in the first light of morning. the man had been strangled. his neck, as we say in scotland, was 'thrawn', and that was why he had lain on his back yet with his face turned away from me. he had been dead probably since before midnight. i looked closer, and saw that there was blood on his shirt and hands, but no wound. it was not his blood, but some other's. then a few feet off on the path i found a pistol with two chambers empty. what had happened was very plain. henriques had tried to shoot laputa at the entrance of the cave for the sake of the collar and the treasure within. he had wounded him--gravely, i thought, to judge from the amount of blood--but the quickness and marksmanship of the portuguese had not availed to save his life from those terrible hands. after two shots laputa had got hold of him and choked his life out as easily as a man twists a partridge's neck. then he had gone into the cave. i saw the marks of blood on the road, and hastened on. laputa had been hours in the cave, enough to work havoc with the treasure. he was wounded, too, and desperate. probably he had come to the rooirand looking for sanctuary and rest for a day or two, but if henriques had shot straight he might find a safer sanctuary and a longer rest. for the third time in my life i pushed up the gully between the straight high walls of rock, and heard from the heart of the hills the thunder of the imprisoned river. there was only the faintest gleam of light in the cleft, but it sufficed to show me that the way to the cave was open. the hidden turnstile in the right wall stood ajar; i entered, and carelessly swung it behind me. the gates clashed into place with a finality which told me that they were firmly shut. i did not know the secret of them, so how should i get out again? these things troubled me less than the fact that i had no light at all now. i had to go on my knees to ascend the stair, and i could feel that the steps were wet. it must be laputa's blood. next i was out on the gallery which skirted the chasm. the sky above me was growing pale with dawn, and far below the tossing waters were fretted with light. a light fragrant wind was blowing on the hills, and a breath of it came down the funnel. i saw that my hands were all bloody with the stains on the steps, and i rubbed them on the rock to clean them. without a tremor i crossed the stone slab over the gorge, and plunged into the dark alley which led to the inner chamber. as before, there was a light in front of me, but this time it was a pin-point and not the glare of many torches. i felt my way carefully by the walls of the passage, though i did not really fear anything. it was by the stopping of these lateral walls that i knew i was in the cave, for the place had only one single speck of light. the falling wall of water stood out grey green and ghostly on the left, and i noticed that higher up it was lit as if from the open air. there must be a great funnel in the hillside in that direction. i walked a few paces, and then i made out that the spark in front was a lantern. my eyes were getting used to the half-light, and i saw what was beside the lantern. laputa knelt on the ashes of the fire which the keeper had kindled three days before. he knelt before, and half leaned on, a rude altar of stone. the lantern stood by him on the floor, and its faint circle lit something which i was not unprepared for. blood was welling from his side, and spreading in a dark pool over the ashes. i had no fear, only a great pity--pity for lost romance, for vain endeavour, for fruitless courage. 'greeting, inkulu!' i said in kaffir, as if i had been one of his indunas. he turned his head and slowly and painfully rose to his feet. the place, it was clear, was lit from without, and the daylight was growing. the wall of the river had become a sheet of jewels, passing from pellucid diamond above to translucent emerald below. a dusky twilight sought out the extreme corners of the cave. laputa's tall figure stood swaying above the white ashes, his hand pressed to his side. 'who is it?' he said, looking at me with blind eyes. 'it is the storekeeper from umvelos',' i answered. 'the storekeeper of umvelos',' he repeated. 'god has used the weak things of the world to confound the strong. a king dies because a pedlar is troublesome. what do they call you, man? you deserve to be remembered.' i told him 'david crawfurd.' 'crawfurd,' he repeated, 'you have been the little reef on which a great vessel has foundered. you stole the collar and cut me off from my people, and then when i was weary the portuguese killed me.' 'no,' i cried, 'it was not me. you trusted henriques, and you got your fingers on his neck too late. don't say i didn't warn you.' 'you warned me, and i will repay you. i will make you rich, crawfurd. you are a trader, and want money. i am a king, and want a throne. but i am dying, and there will be no more kings in africa.' the mention of riches did not thrill me as i had expected, but the last words awakened a wild regret. i was hypnotized by the man. to see him going out was like seeing the fall of a great mountain. he stretched himself, gasping, and in the growing light i could see how broken he was. his cheeks were falling in, and his sombre eyes had shrunk back in their sockets. he seemed an old worn man standing there among the ashes, while the blood, which he made no effort to staunch, trickled down his side till it dripped on the floor. he had ceased to be the kaffir king, or the christian minister, or indeed any one of his former parts. death was stripping him to his elements, and the man laputa stood out beyond and above the characters he had played, something strange, and great, and moving, and terrible. 'we met for the first time three days ago,' he said, 'and now you will be the last to see the inkulu.' 'umvelos' was not our first meeting,' said i. 'do you mind the sabbath eight years since when you preached in the free kirk at kirkcaple? i was the boy you chased from the shore, and i flung the stone that blacked your eye. besides, i came out from england with you and henriques, and i was in the boat which took you from durban to delagoa bay. you and i have been long acquaint, mr laputa.' 'it is the hand of god,' he said solemnly. 'your fate has been twisted with mine, and now you will die with me.' i did not understand this talk about dying. i was not mortally wounded like him, and i did not think laputa had the strength to kill me even if he wished. but my mind was so impassive that i scarcely regarded his words. 'i will make you rich,' he cried. 'crawfurd, the storekeeper, will be the richest man in africa. we are scattered, and our wealth is another's. he shall have the gold and the diamonds--all but the collar, which goes with me.' he staggered into a dark recess, one of many in the cave, and i followed him. there were boxes there, tea chests, cartridge cases, and old brass-ribbed portuguese coffers. laputa had keys at his belt, and unlocked them, his fingers fumbling with weakness. i peered in and saw gold coin and little bags of stones. 'money and diamonds,' he cried. 'once it was the war chest of a king, and now it will be the hoard of a trader. no, by the lord! the trader's place is with the terrible ones.' an arm shot out, and my shoulder was fiercely gripped. 'you stole my horse. that is why i am dying. but for you i and my army would be over the olifants. i am going to kill you, crawfurd,' and his fingers closed in to my shoulder blades. still i was unperturbed. 'no, you are not. you cannot. you have tried to and failed. so did henriques, and he is lying dead outside. i am in god's keeping, and cannot die before my time.' i do not know if he heard me, but at any rate the murderous fit passed. his hand fell to his side and his great figure tottered out into the cave. he seemed to be making for the river, but he turned and went through the door i had entered by. i heard him slipping in the passage, and then there was a minute of silence. suddenly there came a grinding sound, followed by the kind of muffled splash which a stone makes when it falls into a deep well. i thought laputa had fallen into the chasm, but when i reached the door his swaying figure was coming out of the corridor. then i knew what he had done. he had used the remnant of his giant strength to break down the bridge of stone across the gorge, and so cut off my retreat. i really did not care. even if i had got over the bridge i should probably have been foiled by the shut turnstile. i had quite forgotten the meaning of fear of death. i found myself giving my arm to the man who had tried to destroy me. 'i have laid up for you treasure in heaven,' he said. 'your earthly treasure is in the boxes, but soon you will be seeking incorruptible jewels in the deep deep water. it is cool and quiet down there, and you forget the hunger and pain.' the man was getting very near his end. the madness of despair came back to him, and he flung himself among the ashes. 'we are going to die together, crawfurd,' he said. 'god has twined our threads, and there will be only one cutting. tell me what has become of my army.' 'arcoll has guns on the wolkberg,' i said. 'they must submit or perish.' 'i have other armies ... no, no, they are nothing. they will all wander and blunder and fight and be beaten. there is no leader anywhere ... and i am dying.' there was no gainsaying the signs of death. i asked him if he would like water, but he made no answer. his eyes were fixed on vacancy, and i thought i could realize something of the bitterness of that great regret. for myself i was as cold as a stone. i had no exultation of triumph, still less any fear of my own fate. i stood silent, the half-remorseful spectator of a fall like the fall of lucifer. 'i would have taught the world wisdom.' laputa was speaking english in a strange, thin, abstracted voice. 'there would have been no king like me since charlemagne,' and he strayed into latin which i have been told since was an adaptation of the epitaph of charles the great. '_sub hoc conditorio_,' he crooned, '_situm est corpus joannis, magni et orthodoxi imperatoris, qui imperium africanum nobiliter ampliavit, et multos per annos mundum feliciter rexit_.'[ ] he must have chosen this epitaph long ago. he lay for a few seconds with his head on his arms, his breast heaving with agony. 'no one will come after me. my race is doomed, and in a little they will have forgotten my name. i alone could have saved them. now they go the way of the rest, and the warriors of john become drudges and slaves.' something clicked in his throat, he gasped and fell forward, and i thought he was dead. then he struggled as if to rise. i ran to him, and with all my strength aided him to his feet. 'unarm, eros,' he cried. 'the long day's task is done.' with the strange power of a dying man he tore off his leopard-skin and belt till he stood stark as on the night when he had been crowned. from his pouch he took the prester's collar. then he staggered to the brink of the chasm where the wall of green water dropped into the dark depth below. i watched, fascinated, as with the weak hands of a child he twined the rubies round his neck and joined the clasp. then with a last effort he stood straight up on the brink, his eyes raised to the belt of daylight from which the water fell. the light caught the great gems and called fires from them, the flames of the funeral pyre of a king. once more his voice, restored for a moment to its old vigour, rang out through the cave above the din of the cascade. his words were those which the keeper had used three nights before. with his hands held high and the collar burning on his neck he cried, 'the snake returns to the house of its birth.' 'come,' he cried to me. 'the heir of john is going home.' then he leapt into the gulf. there was no sound of falling, so great was the rush of water. he must have been whirled into the open below where the bridge used to be, and then swept into the underground deeps, where the labongo drowses for thirty miles. far from human quest he sleeps his last sleep, and perhaps on a fragment of bone washed into a crevice of rock there may hang the jewels that once gleamed in sheba's hair. [ ] 'under this stone is laid the body of john, the great and orthodox emperor, who nobly enlarged the african realm, and for many years happily ruled the world.' chapter xxi i climb the crags a second time i remember that i looked over the brink into the yeasty abyss with a mind hovering between perplexity and tears. i wanted to sit down and cry--why, i did not know, except that some great thing had happened. my brain was quite clear as to my own position. i was shut in this place, with no chance of escape and with no food. in a little i must die of starvation, or go mad and throw myself after laputa. and yet i did not care a rush. my nerves had been tried too greatly in the past week. now i was comatose, and beyond hoping or fearing. i sat for a long time watching the light play on the fretted sheet of water and wondering where laputa's body had gone. i shivered and wished he had not left me alone, for the darkness would come in time and i had no matches. after a little i got tired of doing nothing, and went groping among the treasure chests. one or two were full of coin--british sovereigns, kruger sovereigns, napoleons, spanish and portuguese gold pieces, and many older coins ranging back to the middle ages and even to the ancients. in one handful there was a splendid gold stater, and in another a piece of antoninus pius. the treasure had been collected for many years in many places, contributions of chiefs from ancient hoards as well as the cash received from i.d.b. i untied one or two of the little bags of stones and poured the contents into my hands. most of the diamonds were small, such as a labourer might secrete on his person. the larger ones--and some were very large--were as a rule discoloured, looking more like big cairngorms. but one or two bags had big stones which even my inexperienced eye told me were of the purest water. there must be some new pipe, i thought, for these could not have been stolen from any known mine. * * * after that i sat on the floor again and looked at the water. it exercised a mesmeric influence on me, soothing all care. i was quite happy to wait for death, for death had no meaning to me. my hate and fury were both lulled into a trance, since the passive is the next stage to the overwrought. it must have been full day outside now, for the funnel was bright with sunshine, and even the dim cave caught a reflected radiance. as i watched the river i saw a bird flash downward, skimming the water. it turned into the cave and fluttered among its dark recesses. i heard its wings beating the roof as it sought wildly for an outlet. it dashed into the spray of the cataract and escaped again into the cave. for maybe twenty minutes it fluttered, till at last it found the way it had entered by. with a dart it sped up the funnel of rock into light and freedom. i had begun to watch the bird in idle lassitude, i ended in keen excitement. the sight of it seemed to take a film from my eyes. i realized the zest of liberty, the passion of life again. i felt that beyond this dim underworld there was the great joyous earth, and i longed for it. i wanted to live now. my memory cleared, and i remembered all that had befallen me during the last few days. i had played the chief part in the whole business, and i had won. laputa was dead and the treasure was mine, while arcoll was crushing the rising at his ease. i had only to be free again to be famous and rich. my hopes had returned, but with them came my fears. what if i could not escape? i must perish miserably by degrees, shut in the heart of a hill, though my friends were out for rescue. in place of my former lethargy i was now in a fever of unrest. my first care was to explore the way i had come. i ran down the passage to the chasm which the slab of stone had spanned. i had been right in my guess, for the thing was gone. laputa was in truth a titan, who in the article of death could break down a bridge which would have taken any three men an hour to shift. the gorge was about seven yards wide, too far to risk a jump, and the cliff fell sheer and smooth to the imprisoned waters two hundred feet below. there was no chance of circuiting it, for the wall was as smooth as if it had been chiselled. the hand of man had been at work to make the sanctuary inviolable. it occurred to me that sooner or later arcoll would track laputa to this place. he would find the bloodstains in the gully, but the turnstile would be shut and he would never find the trick of it. nor could he have any kaffirs with him who knew the secret of the place of the snake. still if arcoll knew i was inside he would find some way to get to me even though he had to dynamite the curtain of rock. i shouted, but my voice seemed to be drowned in the roar of the water. it made but a fresh chord in the wild orchestra, and i gave up hopes in that direction. very dolefully i returned to the cave. i was about to share the experience of all treasure-hunters--to be left with jewels galore and not a bite to sustain life. the thing was too commonplace to be endured. i grew angry, and declined so obvious a fate. 'ek sal 'n plan maak,' i told myself in the old dutchman's words. i had come through worse dangers, and a way i should find. to starve in the cave was no ending for david crawfurd. far better to join laputa in the depths in a manly hazard for liberty. my obstinacy and irritation cheered me. what had become of the lack-lustre young fool who had mooned here a few minutes back. now i was as tense and strung for effort as the day i had ridden from blaauwildebeestefontein to umvelos'. i felt like a runner in the last lap of a race. for four days i had lived in the midst of terror and darkness. daylight was only a few steps ahead, daylight and youth restored and a new world. there were only two outlets from that cave--the way i had come, and the way the river came. the first was closed, the second a sheer staring impossibility. i had been into every niche and cranny, and there was no sign of a passage. i sat down on the floor and looked at the wall of water. it fell, as i have already explained, in a solid sheet, which made up the whole of the wall of the cave. higher than the roof of the cave i could not see what happened, except that it must be the open air, for the sun was shining on it. the water was about three yards distant from the edge of the cave's floor, but it seemed to me that high up, level with the roof, this distance decreased to little more than a foot. i could not see what the walls of the cave were like, but they looked smooth and difficult. supposing i managed to climb up to the level of the roof close to the water, how on earth was i to get outside on to the wall of the ravine? i knew from my old days of rock-climbing what a complete obstacle the overhang of a cave is. while i looked, however, i saw a thing which i had not noticed before. on the left side of the fall the water sluiced down in a sheet to the extreme edge of the cave, almost sprinkling the floor with water. but on the right side the force of water was obviously weaker, and a little short of the level of the cave roof there was a spike of rock which slightly broke the fall. the spike was covered, but the covering was shallow, for the current flowed from it in a rose-shaped spray. if a man could get to that spike and could get a foot on it without being swept down, it might be possible--just possible--to do something with the wall of the chasm above the cave. of course i knew nothing about the nature of that wall. it might be as smooth as a polished pillar. the result of these cogitations was that i decided to prospect the right wall of the cave close to the waterfall. but first i went rummaging in the back part to see if i could find anything to assist me. in one corner there was a rude cupboard with some stone and metal vessels. here, too, were the few domestic utensils of the dead keeper. in another were several locked coffers on which i could make no impression. there were the treasure-chests too, but they held nothing save treasure, and gold and diamonds were no manner of use to me. other odds and ends i found--spears, a few skins, and a broken and notched axe. i took the axe in case there might be cutting to do. then at the back of a bin my hand struck something which brought the blood to my face. it was a rope, an old one, but still in fair condition and forty or fifty feet long. i dragged it out into the light and straightened its kinks. with this something could be done, assuming i could cut my way to the level of the roof. i began the climb in my bare feet, and at the beginning it was very bad. except on the very edge of the abyss there was scarcely a handhold. possibly in floods the waters may have swept the wall in a curve, smoothing down the inner part and leaving the outer to its natural roughness. there was one place where i had to hang on by a very narrow crack while i scraped with the axe a hollow for my right foot. and then about twelve feet from the ground i struck the first of the iron pegs. to this day i cannot think what these pegs were for. they were old square-headed things which had seen the wear of centuries. they cannot have been meant to assist a climber, for the dwellers of the cave had clearly never contemplated this means of egress. perhaps they had been used for some kind of ceremonial curtain in a dim past. they were rusty and frail, and one of them came away in my hand, but for all that they marvellously assisted my ascent. i had been climbing slowly, doggedly and carefully, my mind wholly occupied with the task; and almost before i knew i found my head close under the roof of the cave. it was necessary now to move towards the river, and the task seemed impossible. i could see no footholds, save two frail pegs, and in the corner between the wall and the roof was a rough arch too wide for my body to jam itself in. just below the level of the roof--say two feet--i saw the submerged spike of rock. the waters raged around it, and could not have been more than an inch deep on the top. if i could only get my foot on that i believed i could avoid being swept down, and stand up and reach for the wall above the cave. but how to get to it? it was no good delaying, for my frail holds might give at any moment. in any case i would have the moral security of the rope, so i passed it through a fairly staunch pin close to the roof, which had an upward tilt that almost made a ring of it. one end of the rope was round my body, the other was loose in my hand, and i paid it out as i moved. moral support is something. very gingerly i crawled like a fly along the wall, my fingers now clutching at a tiny knob, now clawing at a crack which did little more than hold my nails. it was all hopeless insanity, and yet somehow i did it. the rope and the nearness of the roof gave me confidence and balance. then the holds ceased altogether a couple of yards from the water. i saw my spike of rock a trifle below me. there was nothing for it but to risk all on a jump. i drew the rope out of the hitch, twined the slack round my waist, and leaped for the spike. it was like throwing oneself on a line of spears. the solid wall of water hurled me back and down, but as i fell my arms closed on the spike. there i hung while my feet were towed outwards by the volume of the stream as if they had been dead leaves. i was half-stunned by the shock of the drip on my head, but i kept my wits, and presently got my face outside the falling sheet and breathed. to get to my feet and stand on the spike while all the fury of water was plucking at me was the hardest physical effort i have ever made. it had to be done very circumspectly, for a slip would send me into the abyss. if i moved an arm or leg an inch too near the terrible dropping wall i knew i should be plucked from my hold. i got my knees on the outer face of the spike, so that all my body was removed as far as possible from the impact of the water. then i began to pull myself slowly up. i could not do it. if i got my feet on the rock the effort would bring me too far into the water, and that meant destruction. i saw this clearly in a second while my wrists were cracking with the strain. but if i had a wall behind me i could reach back with one hand and get what we call in scotland a 'stelf.' i knew there was a wall, but how far i could not judge. the perpetual hammering of the stream had confused my wits. it was a horrible moment, but i had to risk it. i knew that if the wall was too far back i should fall, for i had to let my weight go till my hand fell on it. delay would do no good, so with a prayer i flung my right hand back, while my left hand clutched the spike. i found the wall--it was only a foot or two beyond my reach. with a heave i had my foot on the spike, and turning, had both hands on the opposite wall. there i stood, straddling like a colossus over a waste of white waters, with the cave floor far below me in the gloom, and my discarded axe lying close to a splash of laputa's blood. the spectacle made me giddy, and i had to move on or fall. the wall was not quite perpendicular, but as far as i could see a slope of about sixty degrees. it was ribbed and terraced pretty fully, but i could see no ledge within reach which offered standing room. once more i tried the moral support of the rope, and as well as i could dropped a noose on the spike which might hold me if i fell. then i boldly embarked on a hand traverse, pulling myself along a little ledge till i was right in the angle of the fall. here, happily, the water was shallower and less violent, and with my legs up to the knees in foam i managed to scramble into a kind of corner. now at last i was on the wall of the gully, and above the cave. i had achieved by amazing luck one of the most difficult of all mountaineering operations. i had got out of a cave to the wall above. my troubles were by no means over, for i found the cliff most difficult to climb. the great rush of the stream dizzied my brain, the spray made the rock damp, and the slope steepened as i advanced. at one overhang my shoulder was almost in the water again. all this time i was climbing doggedly, with terror somewhere in my soul, and hope lighting but a feeble lamp. i was very distrustful of my body, for i knew that at any moment my weakness might return. the fever of three days of peril and stress is not allayed by one night's rest. by this time i was high enough to see that the river came out of the ground about fifty feet short of the lip of the gully, and some ten feet beyond where i stood. above the hole whence the waters issued was a loose slope of slabs and screes. it looked an ugly place, but there i must go, for the rock-wall i was on was getting unclimbable. i turned the corner a foot or two above the water, and stood on a slope of about fifty degrees, running from the parapet of stone to a line beyond which blue sky appeared. the first step i took the place began to move. a boulder crashed into the fall, and tore down into the abyss with a shattering thunder. i lay flat and clutched desperately at every hold, but i had loosened an avalanche of earth, and not till my feet were sprayed by the water did i get a grip of firm rock and check my descent. all this frightened me horribly, with the kind of despairing angry fear which i had suffered at bruderstroom, when i dreamed that the treasure was lost. i could not bear the notion of death when i had won so far. after that i advanced, not by steps, but by inches. i felt more poised and pinnacled in the void than when i had stood on the spike of rock, for i had a substantial hold neither for foot nor hand. it seemed weeks before i made any progress away from the lip of the waterhole. i dared not look down, but kept my eyes on the slope before me, searching for any patch of ground which promised stability. once i found a scrog of juniper with firm roots, and this gave me a great lift. a little further, however, i lit on a bank of screes which slipped with me to the right, and i lost most of the ground the bush had gained me. my whole being, i remember, was filled with a devouring passion to be quit of this gully and all that was in it. then, not suddenly as in romances, but after hard striving and hope long deferred, i found myself on a firm outcrop of weathered stone. in three strides i was on the edge of the plateau. then i began to run, and at the same time to lose the power of running. i cast one look behind me, and saw a deep cleft of darkness out of which i had climbed. down in the cave it had seemed light enough, but in the clear sunshine of the top the gorge looked a very pit of shade. for the first and last time in my life i had vertigo. fear of falling back, and a mad craze to do it, made me acutely sick. i managed to stumble a few steps forward on the mountain turf, and then flung myself on my face. when i raised my head i was amazed to find it still early morning. the dew was yet on the grass, and the sun was not far up the sky. i had thought that my entry into the cave, my time in it, and my escape had taken many hours, whereas at the most they had occupied two. it was little more than dawn, such a dawn as walks only on the hilltops. before me was the shallow vale with its bracken and sweet grass, and farther on the shining links of the stream, and the loch still grey in the shadow of the beleaguering hills. here was a fresh, clean land, a land for homesteads and orchards and children. all of a sudden i realized that at last i had come out of savagery. the burden of the past days slipped from my shoulders. i felt young again, and cheerful and brave. behind me was the black night, and the horrid secrets of darkness. before me was my own country, for that loch and that bracken might have been on a scotch moor. the fresh scent of the air and the whole morning mystery put song into my blood. i remembered that i was not yet twenty. my first care was to kneel there among the bracken and give thanks to my maker, who in very truth had shown me 'his goodness in the land of the living.' after a little i went back to the edge of the cliff. there where the road came out of the bush was the body of henriques, lying sprawled on the sand, with two dismounted riders looking hard at it. i gave a great shout, for in the men i recognized aitken and the schoolmaster wardlaw. chapter xxii a great peril and a great salvation i must now take up some of the ragged ends which i have left behind me. it is not my task, as i have said, to write the history of the great rising. that has been done by abler men, who were at the centre of the business, and had some knowledge of strategy and tactics; whereas i was only a raw lad who was privileged by fate to see the start. if i could, i would fain make an epic of it, and show how the plains found at all points the plateau guarded, how wits overcame numbers, and at every pass which the natives tried the great guns spoke and the tide rolled back. yet i fear it would be an epic without a hero. there was no leader left when laputa had gone. there were months of guerrilla fighting, and then months of reprisals, when chief after chief was hunted down and brought to trial. then the amnesty came and a clean sheet, and white africa drew breath again with certain grave reflections left in her head. on the whole i am not sorry that the history is no business of mine. romance died with 'the heir of john,' and the crusade became a sorry mutiny. i can fancy how differently laputa would have managed it all had he lived; how swift and sudden his plans would have been; how under him the fighting would not have been in the mountain glens, but far in the high-veld among the dorps and townships. with the inkulu alive we warred against odds; with the inkulu dead the balance sank heavily in our favour. i leave to others the marches and strategy of the thing, and hasten to clear up the obscure parts in my own fortunes. arcoll received my message from umvelos' by colin, or rather wardlaw received it and sent it on to the post on the berg where the leader had gone. close on its heels came the message from henriques by a shangaan in his pay. it must have been sent off before the portugoose got to the rooirand, from which it would appear that he had his own men in the bush near the store, and that i was lucky to get off as i did. arcoll might have disregarded henriques' news as a trap if it had come alone, but my corroboration impressed and perplexed him. he began to credit the portugoose with treachery, but he had no inclination to act on his message, since it conflicted with his plans. he knew that laputa must come into the berg sooner or later, and he had resolved that his strategy must be to await him there. but there was the question of my life. he had every reason to believe that i was in the greatest danger, and he felt a certain responsibility for my fate. with the few men at his disposal he could not hope to hold up the great kaffir army, but there was a chance that he might by a bold stand effect my rescue. henriques had told him of the vow, and had told him that laputa would ride in the centre of the force. a body of men well posted at dupree's drift might split the army at the crossing, and under cover of the fire i might swim the river and join my friends. still relying on the vow, it might be possible for well-mounted men to evade capture. accordingly he called for volunteers, and sent off one of his kaffirs to warn me of his design. he led his men in person, and of his doings the reader already knows the tale. but though the crossing was flung into confusion, and the rear of the army was compelled to follow the northerly bank of the letaba, there was no sign of me anywhere. arcoll searched the river-banks, and crossed the drift to where the old keeper was lying dead. he then concluded that i had been murdered early in the march, and his kaffir, who might have given him news of me, was carried up the stream in the tide of the disorderly army. therefore, he and his men rode back with all haste to the berg by way of main drift, and reached bruderstroom before laputa had crossed the highway. my information about inanda's kraal decided arcoll's next move. like me he remembered beyers's performance, and resolved to repeat it. he had no hope of catching laputa, but he thought that he might hold up the bulk of his force if he got guns on the ridge above the kraal. a message had already been sent for guns, and the first to arrive got to bruderstroom about the hour when i was being taken by machudi's men in the kloof. the ceremony of the purification prevented laputa from keeping a good look-out, and the result was that a way was made for the guns on the north-western corner of the rampart of rock. it was the way which beyers had taken, and indeed the enterprise was directed by one of beyers's old commandants. all that day the work continued, while laputa and i were travelling to machudi's. then came the evening when i staggered into camp and told my news. arcoll, who alone knew how vital laputa was to the success of the insurrection, immediately decided to suspend all other operations and devote himself to shepherding the leader away from his army. how the scheme succeeded and what befell laputa the reader has already been told. aitken and wardlaw, when i descended from the cliffs, took me straight to blaauwildebeestefontein. i was like a man who is recovering from bad fever, cured, but weak and foolish, and it was a slow journey which i made to umvelos', riding on aitken's pony. at umvelos' we found a picket who had captured the _schimmel_ by the roadside. that wise beast, when i turned him loose at the entrance to the cave, had trotted quietly back the way he had come. at umvelos' aitken left me, and next day, with wardlaw as companion, i rode up the glen of the klein labongo, and came in the afternoon to my old home. the store was empty, for japp some days before had gone off post-haste to pietersdorp; but there was zeeta cleaning up the place as if war had never been heard of. i slept the night there, and in the morning found myself so much recovered that i was eager to get away. i wanted to see arcoll about many things, but mainly about the treasure in the cave. it was an easy journey to bruderstroom through the meadows of the plateau. the farmers' commandoes had been recalled, but the ashes of their camp fires were still grey among the bracken. i fell in with a police patrol and was taken by them to a spot on the upper letaba, some miles west of the camp, where we found arcoll at late breakfast. i had resolved to take him into my confidence, so i told him the full tale of my night's adventure. he was very severe with me, i remember, for my daft-like ride, but his severity relaxed before i had done with my story. the telling brought back the scene to me, and i shivered at the picture of the cave with the morning breaking through the veil of water and laputa in his death throes. arcoll did not speak for some time. 'so he is dead,' he said at last, half-whispering to himself. 'well, he was a king, and died like a king. our job now is simple, for there is none of his breed left in africa.' then i told him of the treasure. 'it belongs to you, davie,' he said, 'and we must see that you get it. this is going to be a long war, but if we survive to the end you will be a rich man.' 'but in the meantime?' i asked. 'supposing other kaffirs hear of it, and come back and make a bridge over the gorge? they may be doing it now.' 'i'll put a guard on it,' he said, jumping up briskly. 'it's maybe not a soldier's job, but you've saved this country, davie, and i'm going to make sure that you have your reward.' after that i went with arcoll to inanda's kraal. i am not going to tell the story of that performance, for it occupies no less than two chapters in mr upton's book. he makes one or two blunders, for he spells my name with an 'o,' and he says we walked out of the camp on our perilous mission 'with faces white and set as a crusader's.' that is certainly not true, for in the first place nobody saw us go who could judge how we looked, and in the second place we were both smoking and feeling quite cheerful. at home they made a great fuss about it, and started a newspaper cry about the victoria cross, but the danger was not so terrible after all, and in any case it was nothing to what i had been through in the past week. i take credit to myself for suggesting the idea. by this time we had the army in the kraal at our mercy. laputa not having returned, they had no plans. it had been the original intention to start for the olifants on the following day, so there was a scanty supply of food. besides, there were the makings of a pretty quarrel between umbooni and some of the north-country chiefs, and i verily believe that if we had held them tight there for a week they would have destroyed each other in faction fights. in any case, in a little they would have grown desperate and tried to rush the approaches on the north and south. then we must either have used the guns on them, which would have meant a great slaughter, or let them go to do mischief elsewhere. arcoll was a merciful man who had no love for butchery; besides, he was a statesman with an eye to the future of the country after the war. but it was his duty to isolate laputa's army, and at all costs, it must be prevented from joining any of the concentrations in the south. then i proposed to him to do as rhodes did in the matoppos, and go and talk to them. by this time, i argued, the influence of laputa must have sunk, and the fervour of the purification be half-forgotten. the army had little food and no leader. the rank and file had never been fanatical, and the chiefs and indunas must now be inclined to sober reflections. but once blood was shed the lust of blood would possess them. our only chance was to strike when their minds were perplexed and undecided. arcoll did all the arranging. he had a message sent to the chiefs inviting them to an indaba, and presently word was brought back that an indaba was called for the next day at noon. that same night we heard that umbooni and about twenty of his men had managed to evade our ring of scouts and got clear away to the south. this was all to our advantage, as it removed from the coming indaba the most irreconcilable of the chiefs. that indaba was a queer business. arcoll and i left our escort at the foot of a ravine, and entered the kraal by the same road as i had left it. it was a very bright, hot winter's day, and try as i might, i could not bring myself to think of any danger. i believed that in this way most temerarious deeds are done; the doer has become insensible to danger, and his imagination is clouded with some engrossing purpose. the first sentries received us gloomily enough, and closed behind us as they had done when machudi's men haled me thither. then the job became eerie, for we had to walk across a green flat with thousands of eyes watching us. by-and-by we came to the merula tree opposite the kyas, and there we found a ring of chiefs, sitting with cocked rifles on their knees. we were armed with pistols, and the first thing arcoll did was to hand them to one of the chiefs. 'we come in peace,' he said. 'we give you our lives.' then the indaba began, arcoll leading off. it was a fine speech he made, one of the finest i have ever listened to. he asked them what their grievances were; he told them how mighty was the power of the white man; he promised that what was unjust should be remedied, if only they would speak honestly and peacefully; he harped on their old legends and songs, claiming for the king of england the right of their old monarchs. it was a fine speech, and yet i saw that it did not convince them. they listened moodily, if attentively, and at the end there was a blank silence. arcoll turned to me. 'for god's sake, davie,' he said, 'talk to them about laputa. it's our only chance.' i had never tried speaking before, and though i talked their tongue i had not arcoll's gift of it. but i felt that a great cause was at stake, and i spoke up as best i could. i began by saying that inkulu had been my friend, and that at umvelos' before the rising he had tried to save my life. at the mention of the name i saw eyes brighten. at last the audience was hanging on my words. i told them of henriques and his treachery. i told them frankly and fairly of the doings at dupree's drift. i made no secret of the part i played. 'i was fighting for my life,' i said. 'any man of you who is a man would have done the like.' then i told them of my last ride, and the sight i saw at the foot of the rooirand. i drew a picture of henriques lying dead with a broken neck, and the inkulu, wounded to death, creeping into the cave. in moments of extremity i suppose every man becomes an orator. in that hour and place i discovered gifts i had never dreamed of. arcoll told me afterwards that i had spoken like a man inspired, and by a fortunate chance had hit upon the only way to move my hearers. i told of that last scene in the cave, when laputa had broken down the bridge, and had spoken his dying words--that he was the last king in africa, and that without him the rising was at an end. then i told of his leap into the river, and a great sigh went up from the ranks about me. 'you see me here,' i said, 'by the grace of god. i found a way up the fall and the cliffs which no man has ever travelled before or will travel again. your king is dead. he was a great king, as i who stand here bear witness, and you will never more see his like. his last words were that the rising was over. respect that word, my brothers. we come to you not in war but in peace, to offer a free pardon, and the redress of your wrongs. if you fight you fight with the certainty of failure, and against the wish of the heir of john. i have come here at the risk of my life to tell you his commands. his spirit approves my mission. think well before you defy the mandate of the snake, and risk the vengeance of the terrible ones.' after that i knew that we had won. the chiefs talked among themselves in low whispers, casting strange looks at me. then the greatest of them advanced and laid his rifle at my feet. 'we believe the word of a brave man,' he said. 'we accept the mandate of the snake.' arcoll now took command. he arranged for the disarmament bit by bit, companies of men being marched off from inanda's kraal to stations on the plateau where their arms were collected by our troops, and food provided for them. for the full history i refer the reader to mr upton's work. it took many days, and taxed all our resources, but by the end of a week we had the whole of laputa's army in separate stations, under guard, disarmed, and awaiting repatriation. then arcoll went south to the war which was to rage around the swaziland and zululand borders for many months, while to aitken and myself was entrusted the work of settlement. we had inadequate troops at our command, and but for our prestige and the weight of laputa's dead hand there might any moment have been a tragedy. the task took months, for many of the levies came from the far north, and the job of feeding troops on a long journey was difficult enough in the winter season when the energies of the country were occupied with the fighting in the south. yet it was an experience for which i shall ever be grateful, for it turned me from a rash boy into a serious man. i knew then the meaning of the white man's duty. he has to take all risks, recking nothing of his life or his fortunes, and well content to find his reward in the fulfilment of his task. that is the difference between white and black, the gift of responsibility, the power of being in a little way a king; and so long as we know this and practise it, we will rule not in africa alone but wherever there are dark men who live only for the day and their own bellies. moreover, the work made me pitiful and kindly. i learned much of the untold grievances of the natives, and saw something of their strange, twisted reasoning. before we had got laputa's army back to their kraals, with food enough to tide them over the spring sowing, aitken and i had got sounder policy in our heads than you will find in the towns, where men sit in offices and see the world through a mist of papers. by this time peace was at hand, and i went back to inanda's kraal to look for colin's grave. it was not a difficult quest, for on the sward in front of the merula tree they had buried him. i found a mason in the iron kranz village, and from the excellent red stone of the neighbourhood was hewn a square slab with an inscription. it ran thus: 'here lies buried the dog colin, who was killed in defending d. crawfurd, his master. to him it was mainly due that the kaffir rising failed.' i leave those who have read my tale to see the justice of the words. chapter xxiii my uncle's gift is many times multiplied we got at the treasure by blowing open the turnstile. it was easy enough to trace the spot in the rock where it stood, but the most patient search did not reveal its secret. accordingly we had recourse to dynamite, and soon laid bare the stone steps, and ascended to the gallery. the chasm was bridged with planks, and arcoll and i crossed alone. the cave was as i had left it. the bloodstains on the floor had grown dark with time, but the ashes of the sacramental fire were still there to remind me of the drama i had borne a part in. when i looked at the way i had escaped my brain grew dizzy at the thought of it. i do not think that all the gold on earth would have driven me a second time to that awful escalade. as for arcoll, he could not see its possibility at all. 'only a madman could have done it,' he said, blinking his eyes at the green linn. 'indeed, davie, i think for about four days you were as mad as they make. it was a fortunate thing, for your madness saved the country.' with some labour we got the treasure down to the path, and took it under a strong guard to pietersdorp. the government were busy with the settling up after the war, and it took many weeks to have our business disposed of. at first things looked badly for me. the attorney-general set up a claim to the whole as spoils of war, since, he argued, it was the war-chest of the enemy we had conquered. i do not know how the matter would have gone on legal grounds, though i was advised by my lawyers that the claim was a bad one. but the part i had played in the whole business, more especially in the visit to inanda's kraal, had made me a kind of popular hero, and the government thought better of their first attitude. besides, arcoll had great influence, and the whole story of my doings, which was told privately by him to some of the members of the government, disposed them to be generous. accordingly they agreed to treat the contents of the cave as ordinary treasure trove, of which, by the law, one half went to the discoverer and one half to the crown. this was well enough so far as the gold was concerned, but another difficulty arose about the diamonds; for a large part of these had obviously been stolen by labourers from the mines, and the mining people laid claim to them as stolen goods. i was advised not to dispute this claim, and consequently we had a great sorting-out of the stones in the presence of the experts of the different mines. in the end it turned out that identification was not an easy matter, for the experts quarrelled furiously among themselves. a compromise was at last come to, and a division made; and then the diamond companies behaved very handsomely, voting me a substantial sum in recognition of my services in recovering their property. what with this and with my half share of the gold and my share of the unclaimed stones, i found that i had a very considerable fortune. the whole of my stones i sold to de beers, for if i had placed them on the open market i should have upset the delicate equipoise of diamond values. when i came finally to cast up my accounts, i found that i had secured a fortune of a trifle over a quarter of a million pounds. the wealth did not dazzle so much as it solemnized me. i had no impulse to spend any part of it in a riot of folly. it had come to me like fairy gold out of the void; it had been bought with men's blood, almost with my own. i wanted to get away to a quiet place and think, for of late my life had been too crowded with drama, and there comes a satiety of action as well as of idleness. above all things i wanted to get home. they gave me a great send-off, and sang songs, and good fellows shook my hand till it ached. the papers were full of me, and there was a banquet and speeches. but i could not relish this glory as i ought, for i was like a boy thrown violently out of his bearings. not till i was in the train nearing cape town did i recover my equanimity. the burden of the past seemed to slip from me suddenly as on the morning when i had climbed the linn. i saw my life all lying before me; and already i had won success. i thought of my return to my own country, my first sight of the grey shores of fife, my visit to kirkcaple, my meeting with my mother. i was a rich man now who could choose his career, and my mother need never again want for comfort. my money seemed pleasant to me, for if men won theirs by brains or industry, i had won mine by sterner methods, for i had staked against it my life. i sat alone in the railway carriage and cried with pure thankfulness. these were comforting tears, for they brought me back to my old common-place self. my last memory of africa is my meeting with tam dyke. i caught sight of him in the streets of cape town, and running after him, clapped him on the shoulder. he stared at me as if he had seen a ghost. 'is it yourself, davie?' he cried. 'i never looked to see you again in this world. i do nothing but read about you in the papers. what for did ye not send for me? here have i been knocking about inside a ship and you have been getting famous. they tell me you're a millionaire, too.' i had tam to dinner at my hotel, and later, sitting smoking on the terrace and watching the flying-ants among the aloes, i told him the better part of the story i have here written down. 'man, davie,' he said at the end, 'you've had a tremendous time. here are you not eighteen months away from home, and you're going back with a fortune. what will you do with it?' i told him that i proposed, to begin with, to finish my education at edinburgh college. at this he roared with laughter. 'that's a dull ending, anyway. it's me that should have the money, for i'm full of imagination. you were aye a prosaic body, davie.' 'maybe i am,' i said; 'but i am very sure of one thing. if i hadn't been a prosaic body, i wouldn't be sitting here to-night.' * * * two years later aitken found the diamond pipe, which he had always believed lay in the mountains. some of the stones in the cave, being unlike any ordinary african diamonds, confirmed his suspicions and set him on the track. a kaffir tribe to the north-east of the rooirand had known of it, but they had never worked it, but only collected the overspill. the closing down of one of the chief existing mines had created a shortage of diamonds in the world's markets, and once again the position was the same as when kimberley began. accordingly he made a great fortune, and to-day the aitken proprietary mine is one of the most famous in the country. but aitken did more than mine diamonds, for he had not forgotten the lesson we had learned together in the work of resettlement. he laid down a big fund for the education and amelioration of the native races, and the first fruit of it was the establishment at blaauwildebeestefontein itself of a great native training college. it was no factory for making missionaries and black teachers, but an institution for giving the kaffirs the kind of training which fits them to be good citizens of the state. there you will find every kind of technical workshop, and the finest experimental farms, where the blacks are taught modern agriculture. they have proved themselves apt pupils, and to-day you will see in the glens of the berg and in the plains kaffir tillage which is as scientific as any in africa. they have created a huge export trade in tobacco and fruit; the cotton promises well; and there is talk of a new fibre which will do wonders. also along the river bottoms the india-rubber business is prospering. there are playing-fields and baths and reading-rooms and libraries just as in a school at home. in front of the great hall of the college a statue stands, the figure of a black man shading his eyes with his hands and looking far over the plains to the rooirand. on the pedestal it is lettered 'prester john,' but the face is the face of laputa. so the last of the kings of africa does not lack his monument. of this institution mr wardlaw is the head. he writes to me weekly, for i am one of the governors, as well as an old friend, and from a recent letter i take this passage:-- 'i often cast my mind back to the afternoon when you and i sat on the stoep of the schoolhouse, and talked of the kaffirs and our future. i had about a dozen pupils then, and now i have nearly three thousand; and in place of a tin-roofed shanty and a yard, i have a whole countryside. you laughed at me for my keenness, davie, but i've seen it justified. i was never a man of war like you, and so i had to bide at home while you and your like were straightening out the troubles. but when it was all over my job began, for i could do what you couldn't do--i was the physician to heal wounds. you mind how nervous i was when i heard the drums beat. i hear them every evening now, for we have made a rule that all the kaffir farms on the berg sound a kind of curfew. it reminds me of old times, and tells me that though it is peace nowadays we mean to keep all the manhood in them that they used to exercise in war. it would do your eyes good to see the garden we have made out of the klein labongo glen. the place is one big orchard with every kind of tropical fruit in it, and the irrigation dam is as full of fish as it will hold. out at umvelos' there is a tobacco-factory, and all round sikitola's we have square miles of mealie and cotton fields. the loch on the rooirand is stocked with lochleven trout, and we have made a bridle-path up to it in a gully east of the one you climbed. you ask about machudi's. the last time i was there the place was white with sheep, for we have got the edge of the plateau grazed down, and sheep can get the short bite there. we have cleaned up all the kraals, and the chiefs are members of our county council, and are as fond of hearing their own voices as an aberdeen bailie. it's a queer transformation we have wrought, and when i sit and smoke my pipe in the evening, and look over the plains and then at the big black statue you and aitken set up, i thank the providence that has guided me so far. i hope and trust that, in the bible words, "the wilderness and the solitary place are glad for us." at any rate it will not be my fault if they don't "blossom as the rose". come out and visit us soon, man, and see the work you had a hand in starting....' i am thinking seriously of taking wardlaw's advice. the luck of gerard ridgeley, by bertram mitford. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ the luck of gerard ridgeley, by bertram mitford. chapter one. crossing the durban bar. the steamship _amatikulu_ was drawing near the end of her voyage. a fresh breeze was ploughing up the blue waves of the indian ocean, hurling off their crests in white, foamy masses, casting showers of salt spray upon the wet decks of the vessel as she plunged her nose into each heaving, tossing billow, and leaped up again with a sudden jerk which was more than lively, and calculated to produce the most distressful of throes in the systems of her passengers. but these were well salted by this time, for, as we have just stated, they were at the end of their voyage. this being so, it was pleasant work coasting along the natal shore; pleasant to gaze on the green slopes and luxuriant tropical foliage, with here and there a planter's bungalow peeping out from the tall canes; trebly pleasant, indeed, after a month of sea and sky-line, unvaried by any sight or diversion save such as the ocean could afford; for the _amatikulu_ was not in the mail service, but owned by a private firm, and, being advertised to "sail direct for natal," had touched nowhere save at madeira, a week out from home. "i reckon you two youngsters will be glad to stretch your legs ashore." the two thus unceremoniously addressed, who had been leaning over the taffrail intently watching the coastline, turned to the speaker, one with an air of would-be offended dignity, the other with a good-humoured laugh and a word of hearty assent. not less dissimilar in appearance than in their manner of receiving the above greeting were these two. both of the same age, both bound on the same errand, it was easy to see that, come good or come ill, their lines would run upon altogether different roads. one, a well-made, broad-shouldered young fellow, whose sunburnt face and muscular hands spoke of abundance of cricket and rowing, and, in short, of every healthy outdoor sport within reach. the other, of slighter build, showed, in feature and dress alike, every symptom of the budding "masher," the would-be man of the world. thus gerard ridgeley and harry maitland respectively, as they gazed curiously at the shores of the new country, whither both had been consigned to seek their fortunes--in a word, to shift for themselves. they were in no way related. they had become friends on board ship--up to a certain point, that is, for they had few ideas in common. both were of the same age, however--just under nineteen, and the _amatikulu_ carried but few passengers. but she carried them at a considerably reduced rate. "of course, of course," went on he who had accosted the pair, a bluff, jolly-looking individual with a short, grizzled beard. "that's only natural and right. young fellows who don't look ahead ain't worth their salt, in my humble opinion. and yet, if i know anything of life, i'll bet a guinea the time'll come when you'll find yourselves wishing all you know you were back aboard this old barkie, with the cockroaches running over you all night, and nothing to do all day but play `bull,' and look at the sea, or quarrel to kill time." "that's cheerful, mr kingsland, at any rate," said gerard ridgeley, laughing heartily at this terse summary of a sea voyage, no less than at the somewhat discouraging prediction which accompanied it. "but of course no one expects a bed of roses by way of a start in a new country. and now that it has come to the point, i feel in no hurry to leave the old barkie, cockroaches and all." "that's right, my lad," said his senior, looking at him approvingly. "we haven't had such a bad time aboard the old ship after all. and she's brought us over safe and sound. no--you'll do; i can sea you'll do, wherever you are." and the speaker strolled away forward. "of all the bumptious old clodhoppers!" muttered harry maitland, scowling after the retreating form. "you seem to take things mighty cool, ridgeley. now, for my part, i can't stand that fellow's patronising way of talking to one. as if a chap was a schoolboy, don't you know." "bosh, maitland!" said gerard. "old kingsland's not half a bad sort. he's colonial, you know, and these colonial fellows are always blunt and outspoken--at least, so i've heard. he doesn't mean any harm, and, if i were you, i'd knock off being so touchy about everything. i'm tolerably sure it won't pay out here." "hallo!" sneered maitland. "you seem to be taking a leaf out of old kingsland's book. and it's rather rich you setting up to lecture a fellow when you know about as much of this country as i do." "well, we shall both know a little more about it directly," was the good-humoured reply, "for in less than half an hour we shall be at anchor." the _amatikulu_ was now nearly abreast of the lofty brush-clad headland known as the bluff, which extends its protecting arm between the port of durban and the full force of the south-westerly gales. signals were exchanged with the lighthouse, and, tumbling through the blue and lumpy seas, the steamer with slackened speed dropped cautiously into the roadstead. then the rattling of the cable, as down went the anchor into half a score fathoms of water, and the voyage was at an end. not quite, however. there was still the "bar" to cross, before any could set foot on that beautiful land lying there spread out, an ocean of wooded hills, softly outlined in mellow distance against the cloudless blue. dotted along the berea, nestling amid tropical foliage, were scattered the villas of the well-to-do. below lay the roofs of the busy town, a forest of masts rising above them from the land-locked harbour. the _amatikulu_ drew too much water to attempt crossing this bar even in the smoothest of seas. from her decks the lines of roaring, boiling surf, the spume flying in misty clouds from each combing roller, were plainly visible. visions of battening down, of a horrible half-hour spent in darkness beneath closed hatchways and crushing, thunderous seas, arose in the minds of her dismayed passengers. and their misgivings underwent no abatement as they watched the puffing little tug-boat, tossing like a cockle-shell upon the great rollers, or burying her hull out of sight beneath the surf. out she came, however, right bravely, and soon sheered up alongside, to take off the passengers. then followed much leave-taking. gerard, who had made friends with everybody on board, from the skipper and his mates to the sour-visaged old quarter-master, felt low-spirited enough as he took his seat in the great basket, through the agency of which, by threes and fours at a time, the passengers were swung off the _amatikulu_ and deposited with a thump on the streaming decks of the little tug-boat. nothing delighted the grinning salts so much as to note the aspect of each human basketful as it tumbled out, scared and flurried, or mirthful and cheery, according to temperament, upon the heaving deck of its new and uncommonly lively resting-place, and the gleeful alacrity with which they hoisted up the empty basket for a load of fresh victims, spoke volumes for the genuineness of the pleasure too many people take in the misfortunes of their neighbours. "i say, my hearties, i must trouble you to get below," said the parchment-faced skipper of the tug, hailing our two young friends. the boat was rapidly nearing the worst part, plunging and rolling in the furiously increasing seas. "i'd rather stay on deck," expostulated gerard. "dare say you would--and get washed overboard. then what'd be said to me i'd like to know?" "is it as bad as that?" said harry maitland, in a scared tone. "it is so. time we came out before this, we had a couple of black fellows washed clean overboard. there was a tow-rope out, luckily for them, or they'd never have come up again. now then, get below, will you? it's time to batten." harry needed no second warning. down he went into the dark, stuffy little cabin. but gerard still hesitated. "let him stay, captain," said mr kingsland, who had overheard the dialogue, and who, moreover, was acquainted with that functionary. "he'll know how to take care of himself." "oh, all right; he'll have to, then. here, mister, stand there forrard the companion, and lay hold of that ringbolt. hang on to it, mind--hang on to it by your teeth and your eyelashes for all you know, or you'll find yourself overboard in less than a duck's whisper. we are going to get it lively in a minute." so saying, he jumped on to the bridge to take the wheel from his subordinate, while gerard, resolving to follow that advice which related to "hanging on," looked around upon the situation. up went the boat's head suddenly with a smooth slide, up a great hill of water, from whose summit it seemed she must leap right on to that of the lofty wooded bluff rising on her port bow. then a mighty plunge; the foam flew in a deafening hiss from her bows, breaking on and pouring knee-deep along her decks. there was a sharp warning cry. in her wake, rearing up higher and higher as it sped on, came a huge green wall-- rearing up till it seemed to shut out the very heavens. watching it with an awestruck fascination, gerard marked its crest curl, then, with a terrible and appalling crash, it burst full upon their decks. for a moment he could not have told whether he was overboard, or not. the shock, the continuous pouring rush of the mighty wave--by no means over in a moment--was so stunning, so bewildering in its effect, that his senses were utterly confused. but for his firm hold of the iron ring, he would have been swept away like a feather. hold on to it, however, he did, and with good reason. the first shock was but an earnest of what was to follow. crash after crash, the game little craft burying herself completely beneath the mighty seas, to rise again like a duck, only to be sent staggering under once more, as a fresh roller broke in bellowing fury upon her. the rattle of her steering chains, the harsh and laboured clank of her engines, the sharp whirr of her propeller spinning clear of the water, the stifled shrieks of terrified female passengers hermetically sealed up in the cabin below--these alone were the sounds heard through the deafening roar of the surf, the swirling din of cataracts pouring along her heaving decks. a quarter of an hour of this raging, seething cauldron of waters, of buffeting, staggering, plunging, rolling half under, and there was a sudden calm. the terrible bar was passed; and none the worse for her rough usage, the staunch little craft sped blithely over the still waters of the land-locked harbour. then, released from their imprisonment, the passengers came swarming on deck, and a woeful sight they presented. pallid, shaky, grime-besmeared and otherwise the worse for wear, not a man but looked as though he had been turned prematurely out of a hospital, while many of the females were in a fainting and hysterical condition. and small wonder. here were these unfortunate people sealed up in a square box, whose sole furniture consisted of a wooden bench let into each side, and thus, with nothing in the world to hold on to, literally shaken up as though in a cask rolling downhill, every frantic plunge of the vessel sending them tumbling over and over each other on the floor; many, too, in the wildest throes of sea-sickness; add to this the darkness, the horrible stifling atmosphere, the hoarse thunder of the great seas shivering the fabric, and the shrieks of the panic-stricken women, and it will be seen that the 'tweendecks of a tug-boat crossing the durban bar might almost put pandemonium itself to the blush. "well, ridgeley, how did you come through it?" said maitland, emerging very white and shaky. "i believe i'd sooner end my days in this country than go through that awful cabin experience again." "you'd have been better above," said gerard. "although i haven't got a dry stitch on me, and am going to land in our new country wet to the very bones!" but the semi-tropical sun was strong and bright, and the sea-water warm. no harm would come of ten such wettings. then the tug was moored to the quay. there was a rush of coolie porters on board, and our two friends, surrounded by all their worldly goods, planted a first footstep on the land which was to be the scene of their start in life. chapter two. strangers in a strange land. "now, young fellows. bring along your traps this way. got anything to declare?" the voice proceeded from a bluff hearty individual wearing a thick grizzled beard and a brass-buttoned coat. he was standing in the doorway of the custom-house. "oh, hang it, i don't know," answered maitland, peevishly, and looking around rather wildly. "those niggers have cleared out every mortal thing we possess. what they've done with them, heaven only knows. there doesn't seem to be any one to look after one's things in this beast of a place." the official burst into a loud laugh. "any one to look after your things!" he echoed. "you've got to do that yourself, sonny, here. but we are going to do that too." "i wish you had said so before," was the ill-tempered reply. "well, then, i have got two portmanteaus, a saddle-case and two gun-cases; a hatbox, a handbag, and two bundles of wraps." "all right. step in here," said the official, leading the way inside. the luggage was all piled on a counter, and presently harry, to his intense disgust, found himself nearly five pounds the poorer, which amount he had contributed to the colonial revenue as duty upon his guns, saddle, and a few other small sundries; while gerard, whose outfit was of a more modest order, came off considerably lighter. "going up-country, mister?" said the official, as, the examination over, he lit his pipe and strolled into the air again. "yes," answered gerard. "we want to get to pietermaritzburg first, though." "going to join the police, maybe?" "well, i have at times thought about that, if nothing better turns up. by the way, perhaps you could tell us of some place here where they would put us up, at a low figure, for the two or three days we are here. these hotels run you up such a bill." "so they do. i can, as it happens, send you to a place where you'll save the `chips,' at any rate. but maybe you'll find it a bit roughish. wayne's, between this and the town--almost in the town. they take in boarders there, mostly working-chaps and small storemen, but all decent respectable fellows. but wayne won't charge you more than half what an hotel will; and if you don't mind it being a bit rough, you can't do better than go there. you can mention i sent you." "that'll do us first rate," said gerard. "all right. i'll send a couple of boys up with your traps on a trolley. oh, here's one just starting up town." and hailing two of the native hands, he spoke to them volubly in the zulu language, with the result that our friends' luggage was loaded up there and then upon the vehicle. "good-bye, and good luck to you, if we don't meet again. you'll find a tramcar outside the yard gates," said the jolly official, holding out his hand. "good-bye, and many thanks," replied gerard, giving it a hearty shake. an example which harry maitland followed, but minus the heartiness. "what a fellow you are, ridgeley!" fumed harry, as soon as they were alone together. "what sort of a dog-hole is it that that cad is sending us to? why, he himself said it was full of navvies and counter-jumpers. hanged if i go there! i'm going to the royal." "you must please yourself, of course, harry," was the perfectly good-humoured reply. "unfortunately i can't afford to do that. i've none too much cash as it is, and when that's gone, i don't see the slightest prospect of getting any more until i can make it myself. so, as i've got to rough it anyhow, i may as well begin now, and save the `chips' at the same time. it won't do you any harm either. try it, for one night at any rate." the other sulkily acquiesced. the fact was he did not care to cut adrift from gerard just then. he felt very much a fish out of water, in that strange country; were he alone, he would feel ten times more so. so comfort must give way to companionship, and he made no further objections. a few inquiries soon brought them to the object of their search--a long low house standing back from the road. it was roofed with corrugated iron, and on each side were wings containing apparently bedrooms, opening onto the high _stoep_, for the doors stood wide open. in front of the house was a barren-looking garden, shaded by a couple of eucalyptus trees, growing one in each corner. as they swung back the wooden gate which opened into the garden, the owner came out onto the _stoep_. he was a tall, loosely hung man, with the sallow complexion characteristic of the dwellers in the semi-tropical coast country of natal. "good day, gentlemen. did you want to see me? i am wayne." briefly gerard explained the object of their visit. "i don't quite know what to say," said wayne. "we don't care as a rule to take in boarders for so short a time, besides being pretty full up just now. however, as you're new to the country, we'll do the best we can for you, if you can manage with a room between you, that is; it's not a very big one at that. here it is." he showed them into one of the rooms aforesaid, opening onto the _stoep_. it certainly was not palatial, being about twelve feet square. its fittings consisted of a small iron bedstead, a ditto washstand with a zinc basin and ewer, a rather dilapidated chair, a few pegs, and a cupboard. "but there's only one bed, and even that is too small for two people," cried harry, in dismay. the proprietor laughed. "that's so. one of you will have to shake down on the floor. you can toss up which it's to be." "it will do us all right," said gerard. "now about terms." the man named a figure which seemed reasonable enough. "you see, we could put you in lower if you were going to stop. as it is it wouldn't pay us." "i see. we are quite satisfied," said gerard. "right. maybe you'd like to stroll up into the town a bit. tea is at seven. so long!" "pretty offhand, that chap," remarked harry, as they walked along the broad dusty road towards the town. lines of houses, similar to their new abode, and all built apart in their own grounds, stood on each side of the road, behind hedges of tamarisk or pomegranate. tall bananas hung out their feathery tufts, and the verandahs twined with cactus or jessamine looked cool and inviting. a stretch of flat marshy land, extending to the blue waters of the land-locked bay, was still dotted with shaggy tufts of the "forest primeval." but the streets showed plenty of life in all its human varieties, black or white. the red or yellow dresses of the indian coolies made quite a glow of colour in the dusty streets. here and there a tall head-ringed native from some inland kraal strode down the street, his head in the air, and majestic in the proud possession of a rather cloudy check shirt, his kerries on his shoulder, and a bevy of his obedient womenkind following in his wake. at these original lords of the soil gerard could not but look with considerable interest, as he noted with approval the massive limbs and stately bearing which seemed to raise the scantily clad savage a head and shoulders above the groups of slightly built, effeminate orientals through which he somewhat disdainfully took his way. whites, sallow-complexioned townspeople, there were too, standing about exchanging conversation--rather listlessly, for the close of a hot summer day in durban is apt to find men not a little languid--and here and there a bronzed planter or farmer cantering down the street, bound for his country home among the sugar-canes or the bush. a couple of hours' stroll, and our two young friends began to feel a little of the enervating influence of the hot moist climate. accordingly, having hailed a tramcar, they were soon set down at the door of their new lodgings. the evening meal had already begun as they entered. some seven or eight men, of the class described by the friendly customs official, were seated at a long table, making great play with their knives and forks. the landlord sat at one end of the table and his wife at the other. the latter, a wooden-faced, middle-aged person, pointed to two seats which had been kept for the new boarders, and subsided again into silence. the other inmates, after a furtive stare, resumed their knife-and-fork play. the meal, though plain, was extremely good. it consisted of tea, roast mutton, and potatoes, followed by some splendid pineapples. there was also boiled indian corn served up in the ear, and plenty of bread and jam. "never ate `green mealies' before, eh, mister?" sung out wayne from the other end of the table, noticing that harry half shied at the edible in question. "you just try one; you'll find them first rate." some one at the same time handed him the dish. the tender, smoking ears of corn looked tempting enough. harry helped himself to one, and without much thinking what he was doing, put it endways into his mouth, and took a bite. a shout of laughter went up from the men. they had been furtively watching him, on the look-out for this. harry reddened with anger, then tried to look dignified and indifferent. "never mind, mister," cried wayne, reassuringly. "you ain't the first by a long chalk who has to learn how to eat green mealies. half these chaps grinning here did just the same thing at first. why, robertson there, alongside you, bit the mealie cob clean in half, and then said it seemed rather dry sort of forage--eh, robertson?" "that's just a fact, wayne," answered the man referred to, a tall, good-humoured young mechanic, seated next to gerard, and with whom the latter had already been having some conversation. the incident led to a good deal of chaff and bantering recrimination among the men themselves, during the progress of which harry managed to smooth down his ruffled feelings. supper over, a move was made outside. some of the men started off for the town to amuse themselves for the evening, while the others remained quietly at home, smoking their pipes in the verandah. after the noise and steamy heat of the dining-room, this was an example our two friends were not sorry to follow. "well, harry, you can have the bedstead; i'll take the floor," said gerard, as a couple of hours later they found themselves in possession of their room. "i feel like sleeping anywhere, i'm so tired." "i don't," grumbled the other, on whom the dearth of comfort, together with the uncongeniality of the position, was beginning to tell. "i feel more inclined to take the first ship home again than to do anything else, i can tell you." "pooh, man, don't be so easily put off! i suppose that's what most fellows think at first, though." gerard soon dropped off to sleep. tired as he was, however, and with every disposition to adapt himself to circumstances, in less than two hours he awoke. the heat of the room, notwithstanding that the window was wide open, was suffocating, and, added to this, he awoke with the sensation of being devoured alive. a subdued groan from his companion, who was tossing restlessly upon his bed, caught his ear. "hallo, harry! what's the row?" "ugh! i was wondering how long you would stand it. i'm being eaten-- dragged out of bed. these infernal mosquitoes!" that was at the bottom of the mischief, then. in the silence following on his companion's words, gerard could hear the shrill trumpet of more than one of these nocturnal pests, winging his way aloft, to lie hidden in some secure corner of the ceiling until quiet should once more prevail, and he could again descend to browse upon his victims to his heart's content and the repletion of his skin. "oh, that's it, is it!" cried gerard, striking a light with alacrity. "by jove, i'm bitten all over!" he went on, examining his hands and chest, and also becoming aware of the existence of several lumps upon his head and face. "so am i," groaned harry. "i haven't been able to snatch a wink of sleep this blessed night. just look at the brutes!" in the candlelight, some half-dozen of the tiny venomous insects could be seen floating in the air. a good many more were on the ceiling. "why, hang it, i always thought they gave one mosquito curtains in countries like this!" said gerard, "and--why, harry, you've got one. how is it we didn't spot the thing before?" "have i? where? what--this thing?" "yes, of course. let's see what it's good for." there was a fold of gauze netting at the head of the bedstead. this, on further investigation, was found to be large enough to protect the head and shoulders of the sleeper, and gerard duly arranged it as best he knew how for the benefit of his companion. "there you are, old chap. now you'll be all right--only it's rather like shutting the stable door after the horse is stolen. i'll tuck my head under the sheet, and dodge them that way." he returned to his shakedown, and put out the light. he was just dozing off, when another exclamation on the part of his companion aroused him. "what's the row now?" he cried. "row? i should think there was. just listen to that fellow next door `sawing planks.'" a shrill, strident, rasping snore came through the partition, which was constructed of very thin boarding. a most exasperating snore withal, and one calculated to drive a light sleeper to the verge of frenzy. "well, i'm afraid we can do nothing against that," said gerard, ruefully. nor could they. and what with the stifling heat, the mosquito bites, and that maddening snore, our two young friends had a very bad night of it indeed, and but little sleep fell to their lot. harry maitland, fagged and disgusted, was not slow to air his grievances to the full the next morning on meeting wayne. but that unfeeling individual only laughed. "so!" he said. "yes, it's always that way. mosquitoes are always death on a new man out from home. they don't think much of us old stagers when they can get fresh blood. but never mind. you'll soon get used to that." which was all the sympathy they met with. chapter three. a friend. "well, youngsters! and what have you been doing with yourselves since you got ashore?" thus a jolly voice behind them, and a hand fell upon the shoulder of each. they were returning from a couple of hours' row among the bushy islets of the bay, and were strolling down the main street of durban, stopping here and there to look at a shop window crammed with quaint curios and kafir truck, or displaying photographic views representing phases of native life and scenes up-country. "mr kingsland!" cried gerard, turning with a lively sense of satisfaction. "why, i thought you were going straight through." "so i was--so i was. but i ran against some fellows directly i landed, and they wouldn't hear of my leaving durban yesterday--or to-day either. and now you'd better come along with me to the royal and have some lunch." this invitation met with cordial acceptation. both were beginning to feel rather out of it, knowing nobody in the place. the breezy geniality of their shipboard acquaintance did not strike harry as officious or obtrusive now. "we shall be delighted," he said. "the fact is, we are none too comfortable where we are. i, for one, don't care how soon we get out of it." "eh--what! why, where are you putting up?" "at a precious rough-and-tumble sort of shop," answered harry resentfully, the recollection of the mosquitoes still fresh and green. "a fellow named wayne, who keeps a sort of boarding-house for navvies--" "wayne! at wayne's, are you? i know wayne well. smartish fellow he used to be--made a little money at transport-riding [note ], but couldn't stick to it--couldn't stick to anything--not enough staying power in him," went on mr kingsland, with that open-hearted garrulity on the subject of his neighbours' affairs which characterises a certain stamp of colonial. "and you find it roughish, eh?" "i should rather think we did," rejoined harry. and then he proceeded to give a feeling account of his experiences, especially with regard to the mosquitoes. mr kingsland laughed heartily. "you'll soon get used to that," he said. "here we are. and now for tiffin." they entered the hotel just as the gong sounded. several men lounged about the hall in cane chairs. to most of these their entertainer nodded, speaking a few words to some. then he piloted them to a table in a cool corner. "and now what do you propose doing?" said mr kingsland, when lunch was well in progress. "stay on here and look around for a few days, or get away further up-country?" "the last for choice," answered gerard. "we have had about enough of durban already. you see, we don't know a soul here," he hurried to explain, lest the other should think him fastidious or fault-finding; for there is no point on which the colonial mind is so touchy as on that of the merits or demerits of its own particular town or section. "and feel rather `out of it.' quite so," rejoined mr kingsland. "but didn't you say, ridgeley, you had friends in maritzburg to whom you were consigned?" "not that exactly. i have a distant relative up there--anstey his name is--perhaps you know him? i believe he manages a store, or something of that kind." "n-no, i can't say i do. there's anstey out greytown way; but he's a farmer." "oh no, that's not the man. this one hasn't got an ounce of farming in him. the fact is, i don't know him. my mother--my people, that is-- thought he might be able to put me into the way of doing something, so i have got a letter to him." "and what is the `something' you are thinking of doing, ridgeley?" said mr kingsland, fixing his eyes upon gerard's face. "i'm afraid i must take whatever turns up--think myself lucky to get it. but, for choice, i should like above all things to get on a farm." "h'm! most young fellows who come out here are keen on that at first. they don't all stick to it, though--not they. they begin by fancying it's going to be no end of a jolly life, all riding about and shooting. but it isn't, not by any means. it's regular downright hard work, and a rough life at that." "that i'm quite prepared for," said gerard. "i only wish i could get the chance." "rather. it just is rough work," went on mr kingsland, ignoring the last remark. "there's no such thing as saying to a fellow `do this,' and he does it. you've got to show him the way and begin by doing it yourself. you've got to off with your coat and work as hard as the rest. how do you like the idea of that, in a blazing sun about as hot again as it is to-day? eh, maitland?" "oh, i suppose it's all right," said harry, rather uncomfortably, for this aspect of the case had struck him as not encouraging. "but i don't know what i shall do yet. i think i'll look around a bit first. it's a mistake to be in too great a hurry over matters of this kind, don't you know. and i've got a lot of letters of introduction." mr kingsland looked at him curiously for a moment, as if about to make a remark, and then thought better of it. he turned to gerard again. "if i were you, ridgeley--if i might offer you a bit of advice--i wouldn't stop on here. get on to maritzburg as soon as you can and look up your relative. anyway, you can't do any good by hanging on here. now, there's a man i know starting from pinetown with a load of goods. he'd give you a passage up there on his waggon for the cost of your keep, and that's a mere trifle; and you'd have the advantage of seeing the country and at the same time getting an insight into waggon travelling. but you'll have to leave here by an afternoon train. he starts from pinetown to-night." "it's awfully kind of you, mr kingsland," said gerard. "there's nothing i should like better. how shall we find him?" "that's easily done. pinetown isn't such a big place. dawes, his name is--john dawes. i'll give you a line to him. if you won't take anything more i'll go and write it now." just before they took leave of each other mr kingsland found an opportunity of speaking to gerard apart. "look here, ridgeley, i don't say i shall be able to help you in that notion of yours about getting on a farm, but i may be. you see i've got a couple of boys of my own, and between them and myself we haven't room for another hand on the place. i won't even ask you to come and see us--not just now, because the sooner you get into harness the better. but afterwards, whenever you have a week or two to spare, we shall be delighted to see you, whenever you can come, and as long as you can stay. that's a very first-rate idea of yours to get your foot in the stirrup before you think of anything else; and when you've got your foot in the stirrup, keep it there. stick to it, my lad, stick to it, and you'll do well. one word more. this is a deuce of a country for fellows getting into a free-and-easy, let-things-slide sort of way--i say so, though i belong to it myself. now, don't you let any such influences get hold of you. you've got to make your way--go straight through and make it, and while that's your motto you have always got one friend in this country at any rate, and his name is bob kingsland. well, maitland," as harry rejoined them, "ready to start on such short marching orders, eh?" "rather. anything to get away from those beastly mosquitoes." they took leave of their kind entertainer and returned to their lodgings to pack up their traps. "rattling good chap, old kingsland," said gerard, enthusiastically, when they were alone again. the straight commonsense counsel, the kind and friendly interest in him and his welfare, and that on the part of a comparative stranger, on whose good offices he had not a shadow of a claim, touched him deeply. moreover, he felt cheered, morally braced up for whatever start in life might lie before him. there and then he resolved more firmly than ever that whatever his right hand should find to do, he would do it with all his might. gerard ridgeley's story was that of many another youngster who has begun life under similar circumstances. he was the eldest son of a professional man, a struggling surgeon in a provincial town, who had recently died, leaving his widow with a family of five and the scantiest of means whereon to maintain, let alone educate, the same. his father, an easy-going thriftless man, had fixed on no definite profession for him, dimly reckoning on the chance that "something was sure to turn up" when the boy was old enough. but the only unexpected thing that did "turn up" was the doctor's sudden death in the prime of his years, and the consequent straitened circumstances of his widow and family. so gerard was removed from school--indeed it was time he should be in any case, for he had turned eighteen. the good offices of an uncle were invoked on his behalf, and somewhat grudgingly given. he was offered his choice between a stool in a counting-house and a free passage to any british colony, with an outfit and a few pounds to start him fair upon landing, and being a fine, strong, manly lad, he had no hesitation in choosing the latter alternative. then it became a question of selecting the colony, and here the choice became perplexing. but mrs ridgeley remembered that a distant relation of hers had emigrated to natal some years earlier. it was true she hardly knew this relative; still "blood was thicker than water," and he might be able to give gerard a helping hand. so it was decided to ship the boy to natal accordingly. it was hard to part with him. he was the eldest, and just of an age to be helpful. still, there were four more left, and, as it happened, mrs ridgeley was not a woman who ever displayed over much feeling. she was a good woman and a sensible one, but not ostentatiously affectionate. so the parting between them, though hard, was not quite so hard as some others. one fact is certain. it was the best thing in the world for gerard himself. harry maitland, on the other hand, was the son of a well-to-do london clergyman. from a pecuniary point of view, therefore, his chances and prospects were immeasurably better than those of his companion. he would inherit a little money by-and-by, of which prospective advantage, however, he was wisely kept in ignorance. he, too, had been sent to the colonies at his own wish, and we think we have shown enough of his character and disposition to suggest grave doubts in our readers' minds as to whether he would do any good when he got there. but whether he does or not will appear duly in the course of our narrative. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . the carriage of goods by ox-waggon, which before the day of railways was the sole method, is thus termed. chapter four. john dawes, transport-rider. no time was to be lost in preparing for their start, and also in informing their landlord of their change of plans. this gerard did with some inward trepidation, knowing that they were expected to make a longer stay. but he need have felt none. that philosophic individual manifested neither surprise nor disappointment. whether they left or whether they stayed was a matter of supreme indifference to him. he wished them good-bye and good luck in the same happy-go-lucky way in which he had first greeted them, and filled up a fresh pipe. though only about a dozen miles from durban, it took them upwards of an hour to reach pinetown. but they did not mind this. the line ran through lovely bush country, winding round the hills often at a remarkably steep gradient; now intersecting sugar plantations, with deep-verandahed bungalow-like houses, and coolies in bright clothing and large turbans at work among the tall canes; now plunging through a mass of tangled forest. every now and then, too, a glimpse was afforded of the blue, land-locked bay, and the vessels rolling at their anchorage beyond the lines of surf in the roadstead outside. "there lies the old _amatikulu_," said gerard, as his ere caught the black hull and schooner rig of a steamer among these. "we shan't see the old barkie again, and perhaps the sea either, for many a long day." pinetown, as mr kingsland had said, was not much of a place, being a large straggling village, greatly augmented by the huts and tents of a cavalry regiment then quartered there, and they had no difficulty in finding john dawes. him they ran to earth in the bar-room of an hotel, where, with three or four cronies, he was drinking success to his trip in a parting and friendly glass. he was a man of medium height, straight and well proportioned. his face was tanned to the hue of copper, and he wore a short sandy beard, cut to a point. he took the letter which gerard tendered him, glanced through the contents, then nodded. "all right; i start in two hours' time. how's kingsland?" gerard replied that, to the best of his belief, the latter was extremely well. "good chap, kingsland!" pronounced the transport-rider, decisively. "say, mister, what'll you drink?" "well--thanks--i think i'll take a lemonade," answered gerard; not that he particularly wanted it, but he did not like to seem unfriendly by refusing. "right. and what's yours?" "oh--a brandy and soda," said harry. "mister, you ain't one of them good templar chaps, are you?" said another man to gerard. "i don't know quite what they are, i'm afraid." "why, teetotalers, of course. chaps who don't drink." "oh no. i'm not a teetotaler, but i don't go in much for spirits." "quite right, young fellow, quite right," said another. "you stick to that, and you'll do. there's a sight too many chaps out here who are a deal too fond of `lifting the elbow.' take my advice, and let grog alone, and you'll get along." "well, here's luck!" said the transport-rider, nodding over his glass. "now, you turn up at my waggon in two hours' time. it's away on the flat there at the outspan just outside the town; any one'll tell you. got any traps?" "yes." "well, better pick up a couple of boys and trundle them across. and if i were you i should get a good dinner here before you start. i believe that's the gong going now. so long!" having taken the transport-rider's advice, and with the help of the landlord procured a couple of native boys as porters, the two were landed, bag and baggage, at dawes's waggon. that worthy merely nodded, with a word of greeting, and having seen their luggage safely stowed among the bales and cases which, piled sky-high, constituted his cargo, gave orders to inspan. then gerard, always observant, noted how the oxen, to the number of sixteen, were driven up and ranged into line by one native, and kept there while another and dawes placed a noosed _reim_, or thong of raw hide, round the horns of each, and in a trice the yoke was adjusted to each neck, for the animals were veteran roadsters, and each knew his place. the yoking was a simple process. two flat wooden pegs, called "skeys," passed through the yoke on each side of the neck, which was kept in its place between them by a twisted strip of raw hide passing underneath just below the throat, and hitched in a nick in the "skey." the motive power is that of pushing, the yoke resting against the slight hump above the animal's withers. "trek--hamba--ke!" cried the native driver, raising his voice in a wild long-drawn yell. "englaand--scotland--mof--bokvel--kwaaiman--tre-ek!" the long whip cracked like pistol shots, again and again. as the driver ran through the whole gamut of names, each ox instinctively started forward at the sound of its own, and the ponderous, creaking, loaded-up structure rolled heavily forward. other waggons stood outspanned along the flat, but mostly deserted, for their owners preferred the more genial atmosphere of the hotel bar, and the native servants in charge had all foregathered at one fire. "like to ride, eh? or would you rather walk?" said dawes, lighting his pipe. "maybe, though, you'll find it a bit jolty riding, at first. it's a fine night, though." gerard answered that they would rather walk; and, indeed, such locomotion was infinitely preferable to the slow rumbling roll of the waggon, crawling along at just under three miles per hour. and the night was fine indeed. the air was deliciously cool, the dim outline of the rolling downs was just visible in the light of the myriad shining stars which spangled the heavens in all the lavish brilliance of their tropical beauty. here and there a grass fire glowed redly in the distance. now and again the weird cry of some strange bird or beast arose from the surrounding _veldt_, and this, with the creaking ramble of the waggon, the deep bass of the native voices, chatting in their own tongue, made our two english lads realise that they were indeed in africa at last. there was a glorious sense of freedom and exhilaration in the very novelty of the surroundings. "well, this is awfully jolly!" pronounced gerard, looking round. "eh! think so, do you?" said john dawes. "how would you like to be a transport-rider yourself?" "i believe i'd like nothing better," came the prompt reply. "it must be the jolliest, healthiest life in the world." "so?" said the other, with a dry chuckle. "especially when it's been raining for three days, and the road is one big mudhole, when your waggon's stuck wheel-deep, and no sooner do you dig it out than in goes another wheel. why, i've been stuck that way, coming over the berg"-- the speaker meant the drakensberg--"and haven't made a dozen miles in a fortnight. and cold, too! why, for a week at a time i've not known what it was to have a dry stitch on me, and the rain wouldn't allow you to light a fire. jolly healthy life that, eh?" "cold!" broke from both the listeners, in astonishment. "is it ever cold here?" "isn't it? you just wait till you get away from this steaming old sponge of a coast belt. why, you get snow on the berg, yards deep. i've known fellows lose three full spans of oxen at a time, through an unexpected fall of snow. well, that's one of the sides of transport-riding. another is when there hasn't been rain for months, and the _veldt's_ as bare as the skull of a bald-headed man. then you may crawl along, choking with dust, mile after mile, day after day, the road strewn like a paper-chase, with the bones of oxen which have dropped in the yoke or been turned adrift to die, too weak to go any further--and every water-hole you come to nothing but a beastly mess of pea-soup mud, lucky even if there isn't a dead dog in the middle of it. my word for it, you get sick of the endless blue of the sky and the red-brown of the _veldt_, of the poor devils of oxen, staggering along with their tongues out--walking skeletons--creeping their six miles a day, and sometimes not that. you get sick of your own very life itself." "that's another side to the picture with a vengeance," said harry. "rather. don't you jump away with the idea that the life of a transport-rider, or any other life in this blessed country, is all plum-jam; because, if so, you'll tumble into the most lively kind of mistake." thus chatting, they travelled on; and, at length, after the regulation four hours' _trek_, by which time it was nearly midnight, dawes gave orders to outspan. the waggon was drawn just off the road, and the oxen, released from their yokes, were turned loose for a short graze, preparatory to being tied to the trek-chain for the night. then, while the "leader" was despatched to fill a bucket from the adjacent water-hole, dawes produced from a locker some bread and cold meat. "dare say you'll be glad of some supper," he said. "it's roughish feed for you, maybe; but it's rougher still when there's none. fall to." they did so, with a will. even harry maitland, who had started with an inclination to turn up his nose at such dry provender, was astonished to find how cold salt beef and rather stale bread could taste, when eaten with an appetite born of four hours' night travel. "now, you'd better turn in," said the transport-rider, when they had finished. "you'll get about four hours' clear snooze. we inspan at daybreak, and trek on till about ten or eleven. then we lie-by till three or four in the afternoon, or maybe longer, and trek the best part of the night. it depends a good deal on the sort of day it is." a small portion of the back of the waggon was covered by a tilt; this constituted the cabin of this ship of the _veldt_. it contained lockers and bags to hold the larder supplies, and a _kartel_ or framework of raw-hide thongs, stretched from side to side, supported a mattress and blankets. this dawes had given up to his two passengers, he himself turning in upon the ground. hardly had the heads of our two friends touched the pillow than they were sound asleep, and hardly were they asleep--at least, so it seemed to them--than they were rudely awakened. their first confused impression was that they were aboard the _amatikulu_ again in a gale of wind. the heaving and swaying motion which seemed half to fling them from their bed, with every now and again a sickening jolt, the close, hot atmosphere, the harsh yells, and the ramble, exactly bore out this idea. then gerard sat upright with a start. it was broad daylight. "hallo!" quoth dawes, putting his head into the waggon-tent. "had a good sleep? we've been on trek about half an hour. i didn't see the use in waking you, but there's a roughish bit of road just here. i expect the stones shook you awake--eh?" "rather. oh-h!" groaned harry, whom at that moment a violent jerk banged against the side of the waggon. "let's get out of this, though. it's awful!" "hold on a minute. we are just going through a drift." they looked out. the road sloped steeply down to the edge of a small river which swept purling between reed-fringed banks. the foremost oxen were already in the water. there was a little extra yelling and whip-cracking, and the great vehicle rolled ponderously through, and began toilsomely to mount the steep ascent on the other side. gerard's glance looked longingly at the water. "better wait till we outspan," said dawes, reading this. "we can't stop now, and by the time you overtook us you'd be so fagged and hot you'd get no good at all out of your swim." the sun was hardly an hour high, and already it was more than warm. the sky was an unbroken and dazzling blue, and on every side lay the roll of the open _veldt_ in a shimmer of heat, with here and there a farmhouse standing amid a cluster of blue gum-trees. the road seemed to be making a gradual ascent. our two friends felt little inclined for walking now, for the beat of the morning, combined with short allowance of sleep during the past two nights, was beginning to tell. "jump up here, now," said dawes, flinging a couple of rugs on top of the load of goods. "sun or no sun, you'll be better off than in the tent. canvas, with the sun on it, is almost as baking as corrugated iron. hold hard. wait till she stops," he warned, having given orders to that effect. "old stagers, like me, can jump on and off while trekking along, but you'd get under the wheels--sure--and then what'd kingsland say?" "you see," he went on, when they were safely and comfortably on their perch, "in getting up and down by the disselboom you have to be fairly smart. you just get inside the fore wheel and walk along with the machine, and jump quietly up. getting down's the worst, because, if you hit the disselboom or slip on it, ten to one you get shot off bang in front of the wheel, and then nothing on earth'll save you, for you can't stop one of these waggons under fifty yards, sometimes not even then." "by jove! do many fellows come to grief that way?" asked gerard. "heaps. you can hardly take up a paper anywhere without seeing a paragraph headed `the disselboom again.' but generally it's when fellows are rather full up--taken a drop too much--you understand. not always, of course. and when you think of the weight these waggons carry--this one's loaded close on eleven thousand pounds, now--no, you've no show at all." then at the morning's outspan gerard, always observant, and now keenly thirsting for experience, noted every detail--how there was a regular routine even in this apparently happy-go-lucky species of travel; how when the oxen were turned out to graze, the "driver" set to work to build the fire, while the "leader" took the bucket and went away to fetch water from the nearest stream or water-hole; how the natives received their daily ration of indian corn meal, subsequently to be made into a thick stir-about and eaten piping hot from the three-legged pot in which it was cooked. he noted, too, with considerable satisfaction, how dawes produced from a locker a goodly supply of raw mutton-chops, which were set to frizzle on the fire against the time they should have returned from their swim, which with the remainder of last night's loaf and a steaming kettle of strong black coffee, made up the most succulent breakfast he thought he had ever eaten in his life, so thorough an appetiser is open air, and novelty, and travel. and then, after a long lie-by and a nap in the heat of the day, he begged to be allowed to bear a hand in the process of inspanning, and felt as proud as punch when he found himself holding a couple of _reims_, at the end of which were as many big black oxen, even though he had but a confused idea as to what he should do with them. still, he was doing something, and that was what he wanted to realise. and then, again, when they were on the move, he induced dawes to initiate him into the mysteries of waggon-driving. these, as that worthy explained, did not consist, as many stupid kafirs and some stupider white men seemed to think, in running alongside of the span and flourishing the whip, and frantically yelling and slashing away indiscriminately. a good driver, with an average well-broken span, need hardly yell inordinately, or use the whip at all. each ox would instinctively start forward at the sound of its own name, and if it grew slack or negligent a touch with the _voerslag_ [the cutting, tapering end of the lash.] was sufficient. a clever driver could put his _voerslag_ as deftly and surely as a trout-fisher could his fly--at least, as to the latter, so he had heard, added dawes; for he had never been in england himself--and, of course, had never seen trout fishing. but gerard, who was a very fair fly-fisher, saw the point at once, and soon came to handle the whip in such fashion as to show promise of eventually becoming as proficient as dawes himself. true, he managed to clip himself over the ear two or three times; but then every beginner is bound to do this, so he didn't mind. on harry, however, such reverses produced a different effect. he gave up the whole thing in disgust, and voted waggon-driving a beastly difficult thing and not at all in his line. wherein, again, the diversity of their respective characters came out. now and again they would pass other waggons on the road, either in motion or outspanned, or would pass through a small township, where john dawes would drop behind for half an hour for a glass of grog with a few of his fellow-craftsmen and a chat at the hotel bar. these would always extend a frank hand and a hearty greeting to the two young strangers; for, however rough externally it may occasionally be, the bearing of the south african colonist towards the newly arrived "britisher," especially if the latter be young and inexperienced, is, as a rule, all that is kindly and good-natured. but it was the time of the evening outspan that these two would enjoy most heartily. then it was that with the darkness, and the wide and to them still mysterious _veldt_ stretching around, with the stars burning bright and clear in the dusky vault above, and the red glow of the camp-fire shedding a circle of light which intensified the surrounding gloom--then it was that they realised that they were indeed "camping out," and no make-believe. and john dawes, with his pipe in full blast, made a first-rate camp-fire companion, for his experiences in his own line had been large and chequered. he knew every inch of the country for hundreds of miles. he had been away to the north, past swaziland, and had tried his luck on the new gold-fields in the zoutpansberg. he had made a couple of trading trips in the zulu country, and knew many of the zulu chiefs and _indunas_. many a tale and strange incident would he narrate in his own dry fashion--of flooded rivers and the perils of the road; of whole spans of oxen laid low in the yoke by one stroke of lightning, or of a comrade struck down at his side in the same way; of lively ructions with surly boers and their retainers, when the latter strove to interfere with their right of outspan; of critical situations arising out of the craft and greed of native chieftains, while practically in the power of lawless and turbulent bands of savages during trading operations--and to these our two wayfarers listened with the most unfeigned delight. but from pinetown to pietermaritzburg is no great distance even for a bullock-waggon, and on the afternoon of the second day they came in sight of the capital, an area of blue gums and straggling iron roofs, lying in a vast hollow. both were unfeignedly sorry that the journey was over. they felt like being cast adrift again, and said as much to their new friend as they took a right cordial leave of him. "well, i've been very glad to have you," said the latter. "been sort of company like. what do you think you're likely to be doing with yourselves now you are here, if i may ask?" "i want first of all to find out a relative of mine," said gerard. "i've a letter to him. anstey, his name is. do you know him?" a queer smile came into the transport-rider's face at the name. "anstey, is it?" he said. "so he's a relation of yours? well, he's easily found. he runs a kafir store out beyond howick, near the umgeni fall. does he know you're coming?" "he knows i'm coming some time, but not to the day." again that queer expression in john dawes's weather-beaten countenance. gerard thought nothing of it then; afterwards he had reason to remember it. "umjilo's the name of his place. you can't miss it. well, good-bye, both of you. we may knock up against each other again or we may not; it's a ram world, and not a very big one either. i wish you good luck. i'll send your traps down first thing in the morning." with which adieu, cordial if practical, john dawes turned away to greet a batch of old acquaintances who had just hailed him; while his late passengers took their way townwards, both agreeing thoroughly upon one point, viz. that the transport-rider was "a downright real jolly good fellow." chapter five. anstey's store. "here! hi! you two johnny raws! what the devil are you doing there, tramping down all my green mealies? get out of that, will you?" and a volley of curses emphasised the injunction, as the speaker hurried up to the scene of the damage. the latter was a good-sized mealie patch adjoining the roadside, through whose battered and broken-down fence had plunged a horse--a stubborn and refractory horse withal, whose shies and plunges sorely tried the equilibrium of his unskilled rider. that rider was no other than our friend harry maitland. gerard, who was a better horseman, had kept his steed in the road, and was shouting encouragement to his comrade, who, hot and fagged with a long ride on a somewhat rough animal, now found it all he could do to keep his seat. the aggrieved proprietor's voice rose to a perfect yell of fury as he gained the spot and noted the havoc wrought. mealie stalks were snapping off short, one after the other, and a broad, trampled, and broken patch, as if the place had been roughly mown, marked the passage of the horse. mad with rage, he picked up a stone. "here, drop that, will you?" cried gerard, warningly. too late. the stone whizzed, and striking the horse on the hind quarters, caused that quadruped to kick out wildly. harry was deposited in a face among the broken stalks, while his steed, thus relieved, tore away snorting and kicking--crashing through the standing crop with a diabolical indifference to the feelings of its owner which made the latter foam again. "come out of that!" he raved, as poor harry began ruefully and rather gingerly to pick himself up. "come out of it. i'll have twenty pound out of you for this little bit of fun. but first of all i'm going to give you the biggest licking you ever had in your life, you spick-and-span popinjay masher!" "we'll see about that part of the business," said gerard, who, seeing the hostile turn of affairs, had dismounted and hitched his bridle to a convenient rail. "if there's going to be any fighting, it'll have to be done fair, you understand." "what the blazes have you got to say to it anyhow?" cried the man, turning to gerard, but with something of the light of battle gone out of his unprepossessing countenance as he took in the well-knit frame and determined aspect of his younger opponent. "just this," said gerard. "my chum there's shaken by his fall, and i doubt if he's much good with his fists or a match for you. so if there's any licking to be done, just start here. see?" but the man apparently did not see. he hesitated, staring at the speaker, his features working with rage. he was a hard-looking customer of about forty, with shifty eyes and a shaggy sandy beard. his raiment withal was slovenly, consisting of moleskin trousers none too clean, a collarless flannel shirt, also none too clean, and a slouch hat. "why don't you fence your confounded mealie-field, or whatever you call it?" said gerard, angrily, for although a good-tempered fellow he had all the average young englishman's objection to being bullied or crowed over. "you deserve all that's happened for keeping a place like that practically unfenced, for one can't call that broken-down thing a fence. and right by the roadside, too! shouldn't wonder if it was left that way on purpose." the man yelled out a fresh torrent of blasphemy. the last remark had all-unwittingly hit the right nail on the head. that mealie patch was a source of revenue to its owner beyond the mere value of its crop. but he hesitated to come to close quarters. "fence or no fence," he shouted, "i'm going to have twenty pound out of that paper-collared, monkey-headed son of a bandbox. his brute of a horse has done more than twice that amount of damage. so shell out, shiny-boots!" harry, to whom this remark was addressed, though, as his comrade had said, somewhat shaken by his fall, was quite alive to the situation. he realised what a tower of strength lay in gerard's thews and sinews, and was not at all unwilling that his comrade should fight his battles for him. so he answered with a spirit born of that confidence. "keep your confounded cheek to yourself, you dirty-looking clodhopper. twenty pounds! why, i'll summon you for shying stones at me and starting off my horse. and if he's lost you'll have to pay for him." "look here," said gerard, "if you think you've any claim upon us, we are staying in maritzburg, at the imperial. i'll give you our names and addresses, and you can do what you like. but we are not going to stick fooling around here all day." "oh, you're not, eh? we'll soon see about that." and turning, he began bawling out something in a language they did not understand. a house stood back from the road. this building they had at first hardly noticed. now, from around it, a swarm of natives were pouring, about a dozen of whom, leaving the rest, came running down to the scene of the dispute. "this is getting serious," said gerard to himself. "i'm afraid we're in for a ripe old row." the natives had surrounded our two friends. they were mostly well-set-up, stalwart fellows, some clad in european clothes, others wearing only the _mutya_, a sort of apron which hangs from the loins before and behind. all carried sticks. the white man was haranguing them vehemently in their own tongue--in fact, binding them to his interests by promises of grog and tobacco. gerard cast an eager glance up and down the long riband of dusty road, over the shimmering expanse of sun-baked _veldt_. but in vain. no help need be looked for from outside. he resolved to make one more appeal to reason. "look here," he began. but the other stopped him short. "shut up. we don't want any more _indaba_. are you going to fork out or are you not? because, if not, we are going to take your horse and yourselves too. there are enough of us, you see." "possibly there are," said gerard. "but before you attempt anything foolish, just hear what i've got to say. my name's ridgeley, and--" "eh? what!" the other was staring at him open-mouthed now. "what did you say your name was?" "ridgeley--gerard ridgeley," was the reply, in some astonishment at the sadden transition in the other's demeanour. "why on earth didn't you say so before?" "well, i tried to, but you wouldn't let me get in a word edgeways. isn't there a mr anstey living somewhere about here? umjilo is the name of his place, i believe." "quite right, gerard, quite right. there is. _i'm_ mr anstey, and yonder's umjilo"--pointing to the house before referred to. "and so you're young ridgeley! well, well!" gerard started and stared, then stared again. his countenance exhibited surprise, relief, amazement, but no satisfaction; relief at this fortunate termination of their difference, yet a profound sense of disappointment. that this seedy, disreputable-looking rowdy should turn out to be the relative of whom he was in search was something of a shock, and that such a specimen as this should have it in its power to advance his prospects in life seemed incredible. his hopes sank to zero. "lord, now, to think of that!" went on anstey. "and to think how near we came to punching each other's heads! you'd never have dreamt it, eh, gerard? i'm a bit of a rough chap, i'm afraid. years of this cursed country and climate are apt to touch up a man's temper and liver; but i mean no harm--bless you, no. we haven't shaken hands yet." gerard reddened, as he came to himself, and held out his hand eagerly. young as he was, his natural acumen had detected a false ring underlying the assumed heartiness of the other's speech, and he feared by his manner to show it. "now, introduce your friend. ah, very sorry, sir, we should have had any difference of opinion. shake hands and forget all about it. i'll soon have your horse brought back. and now, come round to the house and have some dinner. it's a bit rough, maybe, but very much at your service." the almost deferential tone of this apology completely availed to salve harry maitland's wounded dignity, and he began to see in his whilom foe, but now prospective host, an uncommonly sensible fellow, shrewd enough to appreciate to a hair his own sense of self-importance. the natives, with many surprised ejaculations over this unlooked-for turn events had taken, dispersed by twos and threes, not, however, before anstey had despatched a couple of them to hunt up the runaway steed. "come on up to the house," he went on. "i dare say you've learnt not to expect much by this time--not much in the way of comfort, that is. when did you land?" "only a few days ago," answered gerard. "we came straight on here at once. travelled up to maritzburg in a waggon, chartered a horse apiece, and came out to find you." "travelled up in a waggon, did you say? whose waggon?" "john dawes's. a rattling good chap. do you know him?" "used to. but, between you and me, gerard, he's not really much of a chap. did he--er--seem to know me?" the covert anxiety of the tone brought back to gerard's mind the queer expression which the mention of his relative had called up to the transport-rider's face. still it was possible that the two men had but quarrelled. at the same time, do what he would he could not quite overcome a growing aversion to anstey. this was hardly promising for their future relationship. "this is my crib," said anstey, as they approached the house. "the store's at the back. we'll go round and look at it presently. come in; come in." the house was a rough, square, one-storeyed building, roofed over with corrugated iron. a low _stoep_ ran round the front of it, and the door opened into the sitting-room direct, without the intervention of any entrance hall. the floor was of hard clay covered with matting, and the furniture of the very plainest. accommodation seemed strictly limited, for besides the room which did duty as the proprietor's bedroom there was only one other, and it was half full of lumber of every description. the whole of the back part of the house was used for the trading store, and from this came a foetid and pungent whiff, mingled with the deep bass hum of native voices. while they dined--on a baked shoulder of mutton, with pumpkin and sweet potatoes--anstey questioned his young guests somewhat profusely as to their plans and prospects. gerard, whose rising aversion had engendered in him suspicions of which he was more than half ashamed, fancied he detected a slight change of manner on his host's part, as he frankly avowed his own utter lack of prospects or means, and a corresponding increase of cordiality towards harry maitland, who was not prone to underrate himself or his possessions. "i remember your mother perfectly well, gerard," said anstey. "but i never saw your father. so they shipped you off to shift for yourself, eh? well, we must see what can be done for you. and what are your plans, maitland?" "oh, i must first go round and look up a lot of people i've got introductions to," was the airy reply. "nothing like looking around a bit before making up one's mind, eh?" "quite right, quite right," nodded their host approvingly, inking another glass of grog, which, by the way, was the sixth he had taken since he came in. then he proposed they should light their pipes and stroll round and look in at the store. the latter was a long low room, with a counter running through it. this, as also the shelves lining the walls, was covered with goods-- blankets and rugs, canisters of coffee and sugar, brass wire and bangles and every species of native "track," biscuit and paraffin tins. strings of beads of every conceivable hue, overcoats, and flannel shirts, and moleskin trousers hung from pegs, and clusters of _reims_, or raw-hide thongs--for rope is but little used in south africa--in fact, half a hundred varieties of the genus "notion" for supplying the needs of customers, native or white. the room was pretty full of tobacco smoke and natives, who suspended their conversation and nudged each other as they recognised the two young strangers against whom their aid had been invoked for hostile purposes, but who were now hand in glove with the proprietor behind the counter. a lanky youth in shirt-sleeves, with a mud-coloured, wispy face, was presiding over the transactions. "well, smith, how's `biz'?" said anstey. the wispy youth shrugged his shoulders and growled some inarticulate reply in monosyllable. then, on being introduced to the new-comers, he extended a limp paw to each, and returned to his former occupation of measuring out roll tobacco to a native, always with the same wooden and vacant expression. "well, how do you think you'd like storekeeping?" said anstey, as he went through the performance which he jocosely termed "showing them round the place," though, apart from a tumble-down stable and the historic mealie-field before described, there was no "place" to show them round. gerard, the recollection fresh in his mind of the dismal room and foetid atmosphere, and the generally depressing aspect of all connected therewith, replied, with an inward shudder, that he hardly thought he would care about it. he would much prefer farming. this was greeted as a huge joke. "pooh!" said anstey. "farming is a beggar's trade compared with this. why, bless my soul, a farmer's a slave to all the seasons, to every shower of rain, or the want of it, even if his place and stock ain't mortgaged up to the hilt. again, the diseases among cattle are legion. now, in a neat little store like this of mine, you can just coin money hand over fist." his listeners thought this last statement hardly borne out by the aspect of the surroundings in general. the other, quick to see this, went on. "ah, you think it don't look much like it, eh? well, i don't wonder. but, you see, it isn't worth my while bothering about tinkering up this place. here it doesn't matter how one lives. but i'm just waiting till i've made my pile, and then--" and the concluding blank left scope for the most magnificent, if somewhat vague possibilities. they returned indoors, and anstey made the heat and the walk an excuse for another glass of grog. then a native knocked at the door to announce that the missing steed had been found and brought back. harry suggested that it was time to start on their return ride to maritzburg. but of this their host would not hear. "stay the night, anyhow," he said. "that is, if you don't mind roughing it. i can knock you up a shakedown of some sort. i meant to have had the spare room arranged when i first heard you were coming out, gerard. but i dare say you can manage without white sheets." gerard, of course, declared that, if anything, he rather preferred it. that point settled, anstey became even more the effusively genial host; but, with all his desire to be entertaining, both were sensible of a want of something--a difference between the perfectly frank and self-possessed geniality of john dawes, for instance. they were joined at supper by the wispy-faced youth, who came straight in from his duties in the store--now closed for the night--without going through any such superfluous ceremony as washing. afterwards, when the talk was in full swing, anstey would constantly appeal to his subordinate for confirmation of his statements or anecdotes--"isn't that so, smith?" "didn't i, smith?" and so forth; whereupon the latter would remove his pipe from his mouth, and spit and remark, "_ja_, that's so." which was the full extent of his conversation. chapter six. gerard is launched. "why not stay on here a bit, gerard, and help me in the store?" thus anstey, on the following day, after dinner. the two were alone. harry maitland had returned to maritzburg, disgusted with the exceeding roughness of his night's quarters, which together with the booming snores of smith, who slept in the adjoining store, had effectually hindered him from getting any sleep to speak of. gerard, however, had yielded to his relative's urgent invitation to stay a few days and talk matters over. he, too, found his quarters none too comfortable, and he did not like anstey--indeed, he feared he never should like him; but, he reflected with something of a sigh, beggars cannot be choosers. he was a stranger in a strange land, and after all this man was his relative, though a distant one, and showed every desire to help him. "it is very good of you," he replied. "but i know nothing of that sort of business." "pooh! you don't want to know anything--at least--that is--i mean," correcting himself hurriedly, "there's nothing very technical about it. you only want a little commonsense and ordinary smartness, and of that i should say you had plenty. well, then, we'll consider the matter settled. smith is leaving me soon, and until he does i'll give you ten shillings a week and the run of your teeth. afterwards i'll give you more. you see, you'll be learning a useful business all for nothing--a very paying one, too--and getting a trifle of pay for it besides. the fact is, gerard, i want a decent kind of fellow-countryman about me, an educated chap like yourself. one falls into rough ways all by one's self." there was such a genuine ring about this speech, that gerard felt quite ashamed of his former mistrust. what a snob he had been to dislike the man because he was a bit wanting in polish! the thought moved him to throw an extra warmth into his expressions of thanks. "pooh! my dear fellow, don't say another word," said anstey. "by-and-by, when you are thoroughly up to the mark, i might leave you here in charge, and open another place somewhere else. extend the business, don't you know--extend the business. storekeeping's the most paying thing in the world if you only know what you're about. i've always intended to extend as soon as i could get hold of some decent fellow, and that lout smith's of no good," sinking his voice. "i'm getting rid of him. then, when you know your business, i might take you into partnership, and we might run houses all over the colony." to a practically penniless lad, who had just come out there to seek his fortune, this was very glowing, very tempting sort of talk. gerard began to see himself already coining wealth, as the other had said "hand over fist," and again he felt ashamed of his first unfavourable impressions of the man who was now so freely holding out to him a helping hand. but when he set to work in real earnest, he discovered, as many another had done before him and will do again, that the royal road to wealth, if sure, was desperately slow, and to one of his temperament intolerably irksome. the whole day, from early morning till long after dark, was spent in the close atmosphere of that stuffy room, rendered foetid by the chronic presence of uncleanly natives, and such unsavoury goods as hides, sheepskins, etc., handing things over the counter in exchange for the hard-earned sixpences and threepenny-bits of his dusky customers. now and then, too, a white traveller or transport-rider would look in to make a purchase, and the short, offhand manner of some of these would try his temper sorely. was it for this he had come out to natal? where was the free, healthy, open-air life he and his young companions at home had so glowingly evolved? he remembered the envy with which his schoolfellows had regarded him when they knew he was going out to a colony. would he be an object for envy if they could see him now? why, he was more of a prisoner than ever he had been when chained, as he thought, to the school desks. he had, in fact, become nothing more nor less than a shopkeeper. smith had in no wise seemed to resent the presence of his supplanter. he was even impassively good-natured, and in his stolid way would give gerard the benefit of his experience. he put him up to all the little tricks of the native customers, and showed him innumerable dodges for lightening his own labour. as for books, why, there were none to speak of, or at any rate they were precious queerly kept, he said. anstey would just clear the till when he thought there was enough in it, or when he wanted to go away anywhere; then it would fill up again as before, with like result. "i suppose you know," said smith, in his wooden, expressionless manner, "i've got the sack on your account?" gerard started. "on my account! surely not. why, i thought you were going anyhow." "so? well, i wasn't. soon as you came, anstey gave me notice to clear." "good heavens! but that would be beastly unfair to you," cried gerard, in great distress. "i'll tell him i won't agree. i'll go and tell him now at once." "sit still, ridgeley. that wouldn't help me any. you're a good fellow, i believe, and if it was any one but anstey, i'd say it was kind of natural to want to stick in his own relation. still, i've done very well for him, and for less pay than most chaps would ask. but, to tell the truth, i'm sick of the berth, dead sick of it, and had made up my mind to clear anyhow. don't you get bothering anstey over it. i say, though. he was pretty boozy last night, eh?" gerard shrugged his shoulders with a look of mingled distress and disgust. he had noted with some anxiety that his relative was too much addicted to the bottle, but he had never seen him quite so bad as on the occasion just alluded to. anstey himself had referred to this failing once or twice, declaring that the sort of life was of a nature to make any man feel "hipped," and take a "pick-me-up" too many, but that now he had got a decent fellow for company he reckoned it might make a difference. he seemed, in fact, to have taken a real liking to his young kinsman, and would sit at home of an evening on purpose to talk to him, instead of riding off to the nearest bar. gerard had begun to think he might even be instrumental in getting him out of his drinking habits. one day smith, while absent for some minutes from the store, was attracted back again by something of a hubbub going on therein. returning, he beheld gerard confronted by three natives, the latter haranguing and gesticulating wildly in remonstrance, the former gesticulating almost as wildly, but tongue-tied by reason of his inability to master more than a few words of their language. the natives were holding out to gerard two large bottles filled with some liquid, which he was as emphatically refusing to accept. "what's the row, ridgeley?" "row?" answered gerard, in a disgusted tone. "row? why, these fellows asked me to fill their bottles with paraffin, and i did so. now they won't pay for it, and want me to take it back." smith opened his head, and emitted as large a guffaw as he ever allowed himself to indulge in. then he went to the front door and looked out over the _veldt_, and returning took the two bottles and emptied their contents back into the paraffin tin. then he gave the bottles a brief rinse in a tub of water, and filling them up from another tin precisely similar to the first, handed them to the natives. the latter paid down their money, and stowing the bottles carefully away among their blankets, departed, now thoroughly satisfied. "didn't i give them the right kind?" said gerard, who had witnessed this performance with some amazement. "ah, i see!" he broke off, as an odour of spirits greeted his nostrils. "you just didn't give them the right kind. look here. when a nigger brings a bottle and asks for paraffin, and goes like this--see?" making a rapid sort of drinking sign, "you fill it out of this tin." "but why don't they ask for it outright? isn't there a word for it in their language? those fellows distinctly said `paraffin.'" again smith emitted that half-hearted guffaw. "look here, ridgeley. i'd have put you up to the ropes, but reckoned it was anstey's business. don't you know the law of the colony doesn't allow grog to be sold to niggers, even in licenced houses, but there's a sight of it done for all that. this isn't a licenced house, but we've got to run with the times." "and what if you're caught?" "mortal stiff fine. but that would be anstey's look-out, not yours or mine. and i tell you what. it's lucky for him i ain't a chap who's likely to bear a grudge or cut up nasty, or i might round on him properly for giving me the sack." this incident had set gerard thinking, and in fact it added considerable weight to his dissatisfaction with his present position. honest trade was one thing, but to be required daily to break the laws of the land was another. after smith's departure, he put the matter fairly to his employer. "oh, hang it! every one does it," was the characteristic reply. "you'll never get on in life, gerard, if you carry all those scruples along with you. too much top-hamper, don't you know--capsize the ship. see? eh, what? against the law, did you say? well, that's the fault of the law for being so rotten. meanwhile, we've got to live, and if the fellows don't buy grog here they will at the next place. we may just as well get their custom as the other johnny. besides, it's good for trade all round. they will always deal for choice at a place where they know they can get a glass or a bottle of grog when they want it." apart from being in itself an abstraction, the "law" is a thing which stands in much the same relationship towards the average respectable citizen its the schoolmaster does towards even the best-disposed of boys--to wit, there is about it a smack of the "natural enemy." this being so--we record it with grief--gerard, who was young, and though a well-principled lad, very much removed from a prig, allowed his conscience to be so far seared as to accept and indeed act upon this explanation. we further regret to add that he filled many and many a subsequent bottle with "paraffin," as set forward in smith's instructions, receiving the price therefor without a qualm. he was now in charge of the whole place, and his sense of authority and responsibility had gone far towards reconciling him to the irksomeness of the life. he was able to write home with some pride, saying that he had found employment from the very first, and not only employment, but fair prospects of advancement--thanks to anstey--which entailed upon that worthy a more grateful letter of acknowledgment than he deserved, as we shall see. he had mastered a good many zulu words--that being the language of nearly all the natives of natal, whether of pure or mixed race--and was getting on well all round. he had made his rough quarters as comfortable as he could, having sent over to maritzburg for his outfit. still, the life, as we have said, was terribly irksome. day after day, the same monotonous round. he had no acquaintances of his own age or social standing. now and again some friend of his employer's would drop in and literally make a night of it, and then his disgust and depression knew no bounds. then, too, his prospects seemed to vanish into clouds and mist. would he, too, become one day like anstey, stagnating out his life in a dead grey level, without a thought or interest beyond the exigencies of the hour? and he would gaze wearily out upon the open level flat of the _veldt_, which surrounded the place, and the dusty monotonous riband of road, and it would seem, young as he was, that life was hardly worth living at the price. still, he was earning his own livelihood, and the novelty and independence of the feeling went far to counterbalance all other drawbacks. one day anstey said to him, "wouldn't you like to have some interest, some share in the business, gerard?" "some interest!" he echoed, thinking that he had rather too much of that, seeing that his employer left all the burden of it to him and pocketed all the advantages himself. "why yes. how would it be to put something into it? it would give you a share--make you a kind of partner, don't you see?" "but i haven't got anything to put into it except the mere trifle i brought out with me." "wouldn't the people at home invest something for you, eh? it would pay them and--you--a thundering rate of interest, and give you a share in the concern besides." but gerard was able completely to disabuse anstey's mind of any illusions on that head. "the people at home" had done all they could in scraping together enough for gerard's passage and outfit, together with a few pounds to start him on landing. there was not the faintest chance of them doing anything further. "how much did you bring out with you?" pursued anstey. gerard was able to inform him he had brought out about thirty pounds; but what with travelling and other expenses he had not much more than twenty-five at his disposal--a mere trifle. "a mere trifle indeed," rejoined anstey. "but then we all have to start upon trifles. now, why not put that twenty-five pounds into this concern? you would get interest on it, and it would have the additional advantage of being, so to speak, under your own eye instead of lying idle at the bank. i should strongly recommend you to invest it in this. but think it well over first." and gerard, after thinking it over, resolved to follow his relative's advice, and invested his twenty-five pounds accordingly. he had now been three months with anstey, and the latter had kept him pretty well with his nose to the grindstone, discouraging especially any desire to visit maritzburg. he had far better stick to business, he said. knocking around the city might be good enough fun for fellows with plenty of coin, but one with scarcely any was very likely to get rid of what little he had. of harry maitland, gerard had hardly heard since they parted. he had received one letter stating that the writer had found a lot of friends through his letters of introduction, among whom he was having a right good time. he would ride over some day and see him. but that day never came. harry was not going to take the trouble to hunt up a fellow who had become what he superciliously termed a mere counter-jumper. so gerard just plodded on, determined to stick to what was a certainty as long as possible in spite of everything, the "everything" being mainly a certain change which he thought to have detected of late in his employer's behaviour towards him--a change not for the better. but just at this time there befell him an adventure which was destined to affect materially his after destinies, and that in more ways than one. chapter seven. sobuza, the zulu. the river umgeni, at howick, a point about twelve or fourteen miles west of maritzburg, hurls itself over a sheer cliff, making a truly magnificent waterfall some hundreds of feet high. so sudden and unlooked-for is the drop that, crossing by the drift a little above the fall, the appearance of the river and the lay of the country would lead the casual visitor to expect nothing very wonderful. yet, as a matter of fact, viewed from the opposite side of the great basin into which it hurls itself bodily, the umgeni fall is one of the grandest sights of its kind. now, it happened one morning that gerard ridgeley, riding through the above-mentioned drift, found his attention attracted by an extraordinary sound, a sort of loud, long-drawn, gasping cry, as though an appeal for help; and it seemed to come from the river. his first impulse was to rein in his steed, but his own position was not quite free from risk, for the river was in a somewhat swollen condition and the drift dangerous. so he plunged on, and, having gained the opposite bank, he halted his panting and dripping horse and sat listening intently. yes, there it was again, and, oh, heavens! it came from below the drift. some one was in the water and in another minute would be over the fall. with lash and spur he urged his horse along the bank. the broad current swept downward swift and strong. he could see the turbid water creaming into foam where it sped in resistless rapids around two or three rock islets, and then curled over the frightful brink, and between himself and the brink, speeding swiftly towards it, swept helplessly onward by the force of the flood, was a round dark object--a man's head. it was the head of a native. gerard could even make out the shiny black ring which crowned it. but native or white man, here was a fellow-creature being whirled down to a most horrible death right before his eyes. again that wild harsh cry for help rang out above the seething hiss of the flood and the dull roar of the cataract below, but shorter, more gaspingly. the man was nearly exhausted. he was swimming curiously too. it seemed as if he was treading water; then his head would sink half under, as though something were dragging him down. gerard had heard there were crocodiles in the umgeni. could it be that the unfortunate man had been seized by one of these? the thought was a terrible one; but he could not see the man perish. in a trice he had kicked off his boots and thrown off his coat, and urging his horse into the river till the depth of the water swept the animal off its legs, he threw himself from its back, for it had become unmanageable with fright, and struck out for the drowning man. the latter was about thirty yards below him, and hardly thrice that distance from the brink. gerard was a bold and powerful swimmer, and with the aid of the current was beside him in a moment. but what to do next? the upper part of the man's body was entirely naked. there was nothing to lay hold of him by. but the cool self-possession of the savage met him halfway. the latter gasped out a word or two in his own language and held out his arm. gerard seized it firmly below the shoulder, and, using no more effort than was just necessary for the other's support, he husbanded his strength for the final struggle. now, all this had taken place in a mere moment of time. it would take no more than that to decide their fate. and this seemed sealed. for all his hard condition and desperate pluck, gerard felt strength and nerve alike well-nigh fail him. the native was a fearful weight, heavier even than one of his size ought to be, and he was not a small man. they were now in the roar and swirl of the rapids. once or twice gerard's foot touched ground, only to be swept off again resistlessly, remorselessly. several times he thought he must relax his grasp and leave the other to his fate. he could see the smooth glitter of the glassy hump where the river curled over the brink; could feel the vibration of the appalling boom on the rocks below. in a second he-- both of them--would be crashed down on to those rocks, a thousand shapeless fragments, unless, that is, he could secure a footing upon the spit of stony islet in front. a yard more will do it. no. the current, split into two, swirls past the obstruction with a perfectly resistless force. he is swept out again as his fingers come within an inch of grasping a projecting stone. then he--both of them--are whirled over and over in the surging boil of the rapids--the brink is in front--space. then it seems to gerard that he is upholding the weight of the whole world. for a most wonderful thing has happened. the native is perfectly stationary--still as though anchored--in the resistless velocity of the current, and now it seems to be his turn to support his would-be rescuer. for the latter's legs are actually hanging forth over the fearful abyss, and but for the firm grip--now of both hands--which he has upon the other's arm, he would be shot out into space. the roar and vibration of the mighty fall is bewildering, maddening--the crash upon the rocks, the spuming mist flying away into countless rainbows before his sight. he seems to live a lifetime in that one fearful moment. he must loose his hold and-- "here, mister! i'm going to throw you a _reim_. can you catch it?" gerard hardly dares so much as nod an affirmative. he sees as in a dream a couple of bearded faces on the bank above, the owner of one of which is swinging a long, noosed cord of twisted raw hide. "all right! now--catch!" swish! the noose flies out, then straightens. it falls on gerard's shoulder. loosening one hand, he quickly passes it round his body. it is hauled taut. "now--leave go the nigger. he's all right. he's anchored." instinctively gerard obeys, and swings free. for a second he is hanging on the smooth, glassy, curling lip of the fall. should the reim break-- but it is staunch. he is drawn slowly up against the current, and hauled safely to land. the native, deprived of gerard's support, is seen to be thrown, as it were, with his face downward on the current. something is holding him back, something which has him fast by the legs; but for it, he would be shot out over the falls. he shouts something in his own language. "by jingo! it's just as i said," exclaims one of the men. "he's anchored." "anchored?" wonderingly echoes gerard, who, beyond being very much out of breath, is none the worse for his narrow escape. "yes, anchored. he says he's got a lot of _reims_ and truck tangled round his legs, and it's hitched in something at the bottom of the river. that's what's holding him back; and a mighty good thing it is for you, young fellow, as well as for him. you'd have been pounded dust at the bottom of the fall long before this." the while the speaker has been fixing a knife to the noosed ram, in such wise that the distressed native shall be able to detach it and cut himself loose below water. a warning shout--the noose flies outward-- the man catches it without difficulty, for the distance is not great. then, having made it fast beneath his armpits, he dives under the surface, while the two on the bank--the three in fact, for gerard now helps to man the line--keep the ram taut. the latter shakes and quivers for a moment like a line with a heavy fish at the end; then the ringed head rises. "haul away--he's clear!" is the cry. and in a moment the native is dragged safe to the bank and landed beside his rescuers. having recovered breath, he proceeded to account for the origin of his mishap. he was on his way to a neighbouring kraal, to obtain possession of a horse which he had left there. he was carrying a headstall and a couple of _reims_ for this purpose, and, thinking it a trifle shorter to ford the river below the drift than at it, had gone into the water accordingly. but the current proved stronger as well as deeper than he had expected. he had been swept off his feet, and then the _reims_ had somehow or other got entangled round his legs, which were practically tied together, so that he could not swim. it must have been the headstall which, dragging along the bottom, had so opportunely anchored him. "well, it's the tallest thing i've seen in a good many years," said one of the men. "_the_ very tallest--eh, george?" "_ja_, that's so!" laconically assented george, beginning to shred up a fragment of boer tobacco in the hollow of his hand. the men were transport-riders, travelling with their waggons, which accounted for the prompt production of the long _reim_ which had borne so essential a part in the rescue. they had just come over the rise in time to take in the situation, and with the readiness of resource which characterises their class, were prompt to act accordingly. but the object in which gerard's interest was centred was the man whom he had been instrumental in saving from a most horrible death. the latter was a very fine specimen of native manhood, tall, erect, and broad, and with exquisitely modelled limbs. his face, with its short black beard, was firm and pleasing, and the straight fearless glance of the clear eyes seemed to shadow forth the character of the man. he had a grand head, whose broad and lofty forehead was tilted slightly back, as though the shiny black ring which surmounted it were a crown, instead of merely a badge of marriage and manhood; for the zulu wears his wedding-ring on his head, instead of on his finger, and moreover is not accounted to have attained to manhood until he has the right to wear it. his age might have been anything between thirty and fifty. his only clothing was a _mutya_, which is a sort of apron of hide or cats' tails hung round the loins by a string. if gerard expected him to brim over with gratitude, and to vow a life's service or anything of the sort, he was disappointed. the man made a few laughing remarks in his own language as he pointed to the terrible fall, whose thunderous roar almost drowned their voices where they stood. the two might have been taking a friendly swim together, instead of narrowly escaping a most frightful death. "who is he?" said gerard. "where does he live?" as one of the other men put this question, the native, with a word or two, pointed with his hand to the northward. "but--what's his name?" the question struck the onlookers as an unpalatable one. "name?" repeated the native, after the manner of his race when seeking to gain time. "name? they call me sobuza. i am of the aba qulusi, of the people of zulu. who is he who helped me out of the water?" gerard told who he was. the two white men exchanged looks of surprise. "anstey's relative! so?" they said. "looking him up, maybe?" gerard explained his exact position with regard to anstey. he noticed that the significance of the look exchanged between the pair did not decrease. the zulu, however, seemed to receive the answer with but little interest. he made one or two ineffectual attempts at gerard's name, but the recurring "r"--a letter which none of the bantu races can pronounce, always in fact making it a sort of guttural aspirate--baffled him, and he gave it up. then, with a sonorous farewell, he took his departure. "if all zulus are like him, they must be a splendid race," said gerard, gazing after the retreating figure. "that's the first real one i've seen, to my knowledge." "ungrateful beggar!" commented one of the men, angrily. "why, he hardly took the trouble to say `thankee.' he deserved to have been let go over the fall." "i'm afraid i'm nearly as bad," said gerard. "i don't--or rather i do-- know where i should be if it hadn't been for you." "that's nothing, mister," was the prompt rejoinder. "help one another's the rule of the road--eh, george?" "_ja_, that's so," assented george again. they chatted on for a while, and smoked a sociable pipe, and gerard accepted an invitation to accompany his friends in need to their waggons--which were standing waiting for them at the drift higher up-- and take a glass of grog, which, with the torrid heat of the sun, combined to keep off any chill which might result from his wetting. then with much mutual good will they separated. gerard held on his way, pondering over his adventure, which indeed was a pretty stirring one, and the first he had ever had. he was bound on an errand of partly business, partly pleasure; namely, to visit some people he did not greatly care for on some business of anstey's. still the change from the sedentary round of the store was something, and, hot as it was, he enjoyed the ride. it was sunday, and thus a sort of holiday, though even on the sabbath we fear that trade was not altogether at a standstill. that day, however, was destined to be one of incident, of adventure. his visit over, he was riding home in the cool of the evening. the sun was just touching the western sky-line, flooding with a golden light the open, rolling plains. there was nothing specially beautiful in the landscape, in fact it was rather monotonous, but the openness of it gave an idea of free and sweeping space, and the almost unearthly glow of a perfect evening imparted a charm that was all its own. the uncongenial circumstances of his present life faded into insignificance. gerard felt quite hopeful, quite elated. he felt that it was good even to live. suddenly a hubbub of voices rose upon the evening air--of native voices, of angry voices--and mingled with it the jarring clash of kerries. spurring his horse over the slight eminence which rose in front, the cause of it became manifest. a small native kraal stood just back from the road. issuing from this were some half-dozen figures. a glance served to show that they were engaged in a highly congenial occupation to the savage mind--fighting, to wit. it was a running fight, however, and an unequal one. a tall man was retreating step by step, holding his own gallantly against overwhelming odds. he was armed with nothing but a knobkerrie, with which he struck and parried with lightning-like rapidity. his assailants were mostly armed with two kerries apiece, and were pressing him hard; albeit with such odds in their favour they seemed loth to come to close quarters, remaining, or springing back, just beyond the reach of those terrible whirling blows. to add to the shindy, all the women and children in the kraal were shrilly yelling out jeers at the retreating adversary, and three or four snarling curs lent their yapping to the uproar. "_yauw_! great zulu!" ran the jeers. "we fear you not! why should we? ha-ha! we are free people-free people. we are not cetywayo's dogs. ha-ha!" "dogs!" roared the tall man, his eyes flashing with the light of battle. "dogs of _amakafula_! by the head-ring of the great great one, were i but armed as ye are, i would keep the whole of this kraal howling like dogs the long night through--i, sobuza, of the aba qulusi--i alone. ha!" and with a ferocious downward sweep of his kerrie, he knocked the foremost of his assailants off his legs, receiving in return a numbing blow on the shoulder from the stick of another. all the warrior blood of the martial zulu was roused, maddened, by the shock. he seemed to gain in stature, and his eyes blazed, as roaring out the war-shout of his race, the deep-throated "usutu!" he abandoned the offensive and hurled himself like a thunderbolt upon his four remaining adversaries. these, not less agile than himself, scattered a moment previous to closing in upon him from all sides at once. at the same time he was seen to totter and pitch heavily forward. the man whom he had previously swept off his feet had, lying there, gripped him firmly by the legs. nothing could save him now! with a ferocious shout the others sprang forward, their kerries uplifted. in a moment he would be beaten to a jelly, when-- down went the foremost like a felled ox, before the straight crushing blow of an english fist; while at the same time a deft left-hander met the next with such force as to send him staggering back a dozen paces. wrenching the two sticks from the fallen man, gerard pushed them into the hands of the great zulu. the latter, finding himself thus evenly armed, raised the war-shout "usutu!" and charged his two remaining assailants. these, seeing how the tables had been turned, did not wait. they ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. "_whou_!" cried the zulu, the ferocity which blazed from his countenance fading into a look of profound contempt. "they show their backs, the cowards. well, let them run. ha! they have all gone," he added, noticing that the others, too, had sneaked quietly away. "_whau_!" the last ejaculation was a staccato one of astonishment. for he recognised in gerard his rescuer of the morning. "i say, friend, you floored those two chappies neatly. by jove, you did!" both turned towards the voice. it proceeded from a light buggy, which stood drawn up on the road behind them. in this were seated a young man some three or four years older than himself, and an extremely pretty girl, at sight of whom gerard looked greatly confused, remembering the circumstances under which she had beheld him. "it was an a row," continued the former. "we saw the whole of it. _allamaghtaag_! but i envy the way in which you spun those two to the right and left." "well, i had to," answered gerard. "it was five to one. that's not fair play, you know." and his eyes met the blue ones of the young lady in the buggy, and were inclined to linger there, the more so that the said blue orbs seemed to beam an approval that was to the last degree heterodox in one of the tenderer sex and therefore, theoretically, an uncompromising opponent of deeds of violence. "who's your long-legged friend?" went on the young man, proceeding to address a query or two to the zulu, in the latter's own language, but in a tone that struck even gerard as a trifle peremptory. "he's a surly dog, anyhow," he continued, annoyed at the curtness of the man's answer. "he's a zulu--a real zulu--and his name's sobuza," said gerard. "a zulu, is he? do you know him, then?" was the surprised rejoinder. "i didn't before this morning. but i happen to have got him out of one little difficulty already to-day. i never expected to see him again, though." "the deuce you did! was he engaged in the congenial pastime of head-breaking then, too?" "n-no. the fact is--" and then gerard blushed and stuttered, for he saw no way out of trumpeting his own achievements, and somehow there was something about those blue eyes that made him shrink instinctively from anything approaching this. "the truth is he got into difficulties in the river--a bit of string or something twisted round his legs in the water so that he couldn't swim, and i helped him out." the girl's face lighted up, and she seemed about to say something; but the other interrupted-- "by jove, we must get on. it'll be dark directly, and looks like a storm in the offing, and we've a good way to go. well, ta-ta to you, sir. so long!" and the buggy spun away over the flat. gerard followed it with his glance until it was out of sight. then he turned to the zulu. that worthy was seated on the ground, calmly taking snuff. "ha, _umlungu_!" [white man] he exclaimed, as, having completed that operation, he replaced his horn snuff-tube in the hole cut out of the lobe of his ear for that purpose. "this has been a great day--a great day. surely my _inyoka_ has taken your shape. twice have you helped me this day. twice in the same day have you come to my aid. wonderful-- wonderful! the death of the water--to pass through the mighty fall to the spiritland--that is nothing. it is a fitting end for a warrior. but that i, sobuza, of the aba qulusi, of the people of zulu--that i, sobuza, the second fighting captain of the udhloko regiment--should be `eaten up' by four or five miserable dogs of _amakafula_ [note ]. _whau_! that were indeed the end of the world. i will not forget this day, _umlungu_. tell me again thy name." gerard, who although he understood by no means all of this speech, had picked up sufficient zulu to grasp most of its burden, repeated his names, slowly and distinctly, again and again. but sobuza shook his head. he could not pronounce them. the nearest he could come was a sort of lewis carrollian contraction of the two--"u' jeriji," pronouncing the "r" as a guttural aspirate. "i shall remember," he said; "i shall remember. and now, jeriji, i journey to the northward to the land of the zulu. fare thee well." instinctively gerard put forth his hand. with a pleased smile the warrior grasped it in a hearty muscular grip. then with a sonorous "_hlala gahle_," (or farewell), he turned and strode away over the now fast darkening _veldt_. the occupants of the buggy, speeding too on _their_ way, were engaged in something of an altercation. "it was too provoking of you, tom," the girl was saying, "to rush me away like that." "so? well, we've no time to spare as it is. and that cloud-bank over there means a big thunderstorm, or i'm a dutchman." "i don't care if it does. and we never found out his name--who he is." "no more we did, now you mention it," said the other in a tone of half-regretful interest. "but, after all, we can survive the loss." "but--he was such a nice-looking boy." "oho!" was the rejoinder, accompanied by a roar of laughter. "so that's the way the cat jumps!" "don't be an idiot," answered the girl, but in a tone which seemed to say the "chaff" was not altogether displeasing to her. "but you remember the report we heard coming through howick, about two men being nearly carried over the umgeni fall to-day, while one was trying to save the other. that's the hero of the story, depend upon it. i'd have got it all out of him if you hadn't been in such a desperate hurry. and now we don't even know who he is!" "no more we do. let's put an advertisement in the paper. that'll draw him--eh? such a nice-looking boy, too!" he added, mimicking her tone. "tom, you're a born idiot," she rejoined, blushing scarlet. the "nice-looking boy" meanwhile was cantering homeward in the twilight, building castles in the air at a furious rate. those blue eyes--that voice--hovered before his imagination even as a stray firefly or so hovered before his path. it was long since he had heard the voice or seen the face of any woman of birth and refinement. anstey was not wont to mix with such, and the few female acquaintances the latter owned, though worthy people enough, were considerably his inferiors in the social scale. at this time, indeed, his mind and heart were peculiarly attuned to such impressions, by reason of his lonely and uncongenial surroundings; more than ever, therefore, would a feeling of discontent, of yearning home-sickness, arise in his mind. then, by a turn of retrospect, his memory went back to mr kingsland's hearty, straightforward words of advice: "when you've got your foot in the stirrup, keep it there. stick to it, my lad, stick to it, and you'll do well." and now he _had_ got his foot in the stirrup. was he to kick it out again in peevish disgust because the stirrup was a bit rusty? no; he hoped he was made of better stuff than that. he must just persevere and hope for better times. he reached home just as the black cloud, which had been rolling up nearer and nearer, with many a red flash and low rumble, began to break into rain. having hastily put up his horse in the tumble-down stable, and seen him fed, he went indoors, only to find anstey blind drunk and snoring in an armchair. utterly disgusted, he helped that worthy to bed, and then, after a cold supper, for which he had little appetite, he sought his own shakedown couch in the comfortless lumber-room. then the storm broke in a countless succession of vivid flashes and deafening thunder-peals which shook the building to its very foundations; and to the accompaniment of the deluging roar and rush of the rain upon the iron roof he fell fast asleep--to dream that he was rescuing countless numbers of fighting zulus from the umgeni fall, over which a rainbow made up of blue eyes was striving to lure them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . "snake." zulus are great believers in tutelary spirits, of which each individual has one or more continually watching over him. to such they frequently, though not invariably, attribute the form of the serpent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . a term of contempt employed by the warlike natives of zululand to designate the natives dwelling in natal. probably a corruption of the popular term "kafir," _ama_ being the plural sign. chapter eight. down. we referred to a change which had come into anstey's manner as regarded his intercourse with our young friend. more than once he had returned to the charge and sounded the latter again as to the probability of his relatives being willing to invest some funds for him in what he was pleased to call their joint concern. but gerard's reply had been positive and unvarying. so persuaded was he of their inability to do so that he would not even apply to them. then it was that anstey's manner began to change. he dropped the intimate, elder-brother kind of tone which had heretofore characterised their intercourse, and which poor gerard in his youth and inexperience had taken for genuine, and for it substituted a master-and-servant sort of demeanour. he would order gerard about, here and there, or send him off on an errand, with a short peremptoriness of tone as though he were addressing some particularly lazy and useless native. or he would always be finding fault--more than hinting that the other was not worth his salt. now, all this, to a lad of gerard's temperament, was pretty galling. the relations between the pair became strained to a dangerous tension. it happened one morning that gerard was in the tumble-down old stable, saddling up a horse to start upon some errand for his employer. it was a clear, still day, and through the open door came the sound of voices, which he recognised as belonging to two or three transport-riders, whose waggons were outspanned on the flat outside, and who had been lounging in the store making purchases and chatting just before. "so i hear they've got two more writs out against anstey," one voice was saying. "so? who's doing it this time?" "oh, butler and creighton. they ain't going to allow him any more tick--not even to the tune of a string of beads. why, he's dipped three or four times over. his bills ain't worth the paper they're written on." "going to sell him up, are they?" "_ja_. they just are. they've got out two more writs, i tell you. shouldn't wonder if they put in an execution to-day." gerard, to whom every word was as plainly audible as it was to the speakers themselves, felt as though petrified. this relative of his, with his plausible and grandiloquent schemes, stood revealed a bankrupt swindler of the worst type. all the glowing pictures of wealth and success which he had drawn now seemed mere pitiful traps to catch him, gerard, in his youth and inexperience. now the motive of anstey's change of manner was as clear as daylight. there was nothing further to be got out of him. and with a dire sinking of the heart gerard thought of how he had been induced to invest his little all in this utterly rotten concern. but no--it could not be. anstey was his relation. he could not be such a mean, pitiful rascal as that. but the next words were not such as to reassure him. "how they've given him so much law as they have bangs me, i admit," went on the first speaker. "why, for the last year past he's never had a cent he could call his own. this show, and every mortal thing in it, has been dipped up to the hilt." "maybe this young britisher he's got hold of has helped bolster him up. eh!" "maybe. so much the worse for the britisher, for he'll never see a brass farthing of his money again. but how the mischief even a raw britisher could be soft-sawdered by anstey is a stumper. he's out and away the most infernal scoundrel in this colony." all the blood rushed to gerard's head. he had been duped, swindled. he had given several months of hard and honest work without receiving any pay, for his employer had always put him off on some pretext or other-- that it was more convenient, or usual, to settle up half-yearly, or what not. he had been swindled out of even the few pounds which were all he had in the world; for, as the man had just said, he would never be able to get a farthing out of anstey. unfortunately there could be no reason to doubt the truth of what he had just heard, for other signs, now made clear, seemed to point to it. these men, moreover, were talking at ease among themselves, and freely. they evidently knew what and who they were talking about. his first impulse was to walk straight up to them and ask for a further explanation. instead, however, he went back to the store. anstey was there, drinking grog with a transport-rider who had just come in. at sight of gerard he started up angrily. "why, what the deuce is the meaning of this?" he said, in his most offensive and hectoring tone. "not gone yet, and i sent you to saddle up half an hour ago." gerard made no reply; but there was a look in his face which mightily disquieted his employer. but the latter, who was fuddled to a quarrelsome stage by the grog he had been drinking, roared out, with a volley of curses-- "you disobedient, skulking beggar! what do you suppose i keep you here for at all? get out of this at once, and do as i tell you. do you hear, sir?" gerard's face turned livid. the abominable insult of the tone and words was too much. he made a quick move forward, and things would have gone badly for anstey. but the grip of muscular hands on his shoulders restrained him. "hallo, young fellow! what's all the row about? keep cool, now, i say. keep cool!" the advice was sorely needed, and the restraining touch had a salutary effect. gerard was not going to throw himself into any vulgar promiscuous struggle, and collected himself with an effort. in the voices of the two men who had just entered, he recognised the two whose conversation he had overheard. "i'll keep cool, right enough," he said. then, addressing anstey, "as for you, the sooner we part the better. i have stood your abominably offensive behaviour long enough, and i won't stand it a day longer. as long as you behaved decently to me--which you did at first, no doubt for reasons of your own--i would have done anything for you. now you have got upon the other tack i've had about enough of it. so we may as well part at once. please hand me over what you owe me, and i'll be off." "what i owe you--eh?" said anstey, with an evil sneer. "but supposing i don't owe you anything, my fine fellow? if you slink off without giving me proper notice, you forfeit every penny. how does that pan out--eh?" gerard's countenance fell. there was truth in this, he feared. "well, never mind about that," he said. "i'll waive my claim. i'll make you a present of these months of hard work. just return me my twenty-five pounds, and we'll cry quits." anstey's face was a study in well-simulated amazement--blank, bewildered amazement. "is the fellow drunk," he said, "or only mad? your what? i'm not sure if i quite heard. your twenty-five thousand pounds, did you say?" "i said my twenty-five pounds, that you induced me to hand over to you to be invested in this business, which i believe to be an utterly rotten concern, and has been for some time past," replied gerard, stung out of all prudence or reserve. the two transport-riders looked at each other with dismayed meaning. their conversation must have been overheard. anstey's face turned livid at this hit. "you're slandering me--slandering me before witnesses, by god--and that's actionable. i'll have it out of you, you beggarly young sweep!" he yelled, shaking his fist furiously, safe in the conviction that the other men would not suffer gerard to assault him. "well, you can please yourself about that. what i want now is the return of my money?" "oh, indeed!" sneered anstey, affecting a cool sarcasm. "and will you kindly state _what_ money it is you desire returned?" "certainly," answered gerard, "though i have already done so. i want the twenty-five pounds--all i had in the world--which you induced me to entrust to you to be invested in this rotten business. and i am going to have it!" "oh, you are? so you shall, and welcome, when you can produce one scrap of evidence, either in writing or by word of mouth, that i have ever had twenty-five pounds, or shillings, or pence from you. eh, sonny? what do you say, now?" gerard started; stared blankly as he grasped the full extent of the other's rascality. for, in his rawness and inexperience, he had not required any sort of receipt or acknowledgment from anstey, and he had handed over the money at a time when there was no witness within sight or earshot. "and i tell you what it is," pursued anstey, marking his undisguised discomfiture, "i'll be hanged if i don't have the law of you for trying to extort money out of me by threats and violence. i will, too, if you don't clear out of this mighty sharp, and give me no more bother! it's a criminal offence, i tell you; and these gentlemen are witnesses that you tried it on. i'll have you put in the _tronk_. i'll--" "stow all that, anstey," said one of the men, sternly and decisively. "d'you mean to deny that this youngster ever handed you twenty-five pounds? come, now. speak up, man!" "why of course i do," unhesitatingly replied anstey, though not without quailing before the indignation and contempt depicted on all three faces. "well, then, i for one believe you are telling the most infernal lie ever laid tongue to," said the transport-rider. "as for you, youngster," turning to gerard, "i can only say i'm sorry for you, for you have fallen into the hands of the biggest blackguard in the whole of this colony. why on earth didn't you make him give you a receipt or something?" "the fact is, he is related to me. i thought i could trust him. how should i know he was no better than a common thief?" "you're a mighty virtuous lot, eh, sam carruthers?" sneered anstey. "i've heard of a few tricks being played with waybills before to-day, while the load's on the road." "you just shut up, or i'll about knock your head off, anstey, and be glad of an opportunity to do it, too!" said another of the transport-riders. "will you?" yelled anstey, moving towards the inner door to ensure a retreat in the event of any of them making an attempt at climbing over the counter which now separated them from him. "i tell you what it is. you're all in league with this swindling young thief, who is trying to bluff me out of money. but it won't do--it won't do. he can take his things and go to the devil. he came to me a beggar, and he can go out a beggar--the ungrateful dog. and, if any one likes to try the smashing trick, i've got a barker here that knows how to bite." and, making a rapid skip inside, he reappeared in a moment with a long-barrelled revolver. all the anger, the indignation, almost the grief at being robbed, left penniless, had momentarily faded from gerard's mind before the overwhelming disgust which he felt for the other's villainy. it was too painful, too nauseating. that a man of anstey's birth and antecedents, a relative, though a distant one, of his own, could stoop to such a black, pitiful, crawling theft, was revolting beyond words. he now looked upon him with a kind of horror, as upon some loathly and hardly human monster. "it is just as he says," he said at last. "i have no receipt, and no witnesses. i suppose i can do nothing." "just try, my hearty--just try; that's all!" jeered anstey. "maritzburg's busting with law and lawyers. see what you can do. you're quite welcome." "better shut up, anstey," said the man who had evinced a head-punching disposition. "we ain't afraid of you and your pistol, and you may get more than you like, yet. and you, friend. what do you propose to do?" "get out of this as soon as possible," answered gerard, in weary disgust. "get back to maritzburg, i suppose. but i've got some luggage here--not much, but a good deal more than i can carry; and you can imagine i don't want to leave it behind." "rather. well, look here now," said the man who had been addressed as sam carruthers; "i'm bound for the town, and if you don't mind jogging along with a waggon, i'll be glad to take in your luggage and yourself too. i won't charge you anything for it either. and, remember this. you don't seem to have been long in the country, and have fallen into the hands of a mortal sweep. well, remember the swindle that has been planted on you was done by one of your own countrymen, not by one of as anstey hasn't been out here so very many years himself." this was only too true. from the colonial people he had had to do with gerard had met with many little acts of kindness. it had been reserved, as the other had said, for one of his own countrymen to rob him of his little all--to leave him penniless, a stranger in a strange land. he gladly accepted the transport-rider's friendly offer, and, having hastily packed his outfit--anstey the while keeping well out of his way--he bade adieu for ever to the scene of his first colonial experience. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ poor gerard, alone in maritzburg, without a friend in the colony, and with about fifty shillings to his name, besides his moderate outfit, might indeed have reckoned himself in evil case; and, after a few days, in spite of his pluck and determination, he did so reckon himself. he had taken up his quarters at a cheap boarding-house which the friendly transport-rider had told him about--a place in comparison with which the mosquito-haunted wayne's was almost a palace--and had set about trying to find work. but what chance had he? the fact of his being a lad of education and refinement told against him with those among whom he applied. "a fine gentleman and a raw britisher," as they put it--to do them justice in their own minds only--was only a synonym for uselessness. every billet wherein education was required was either filled, or hungrily competed for by a hundred applicants; applicants, too, with recommendations in their favour, and where were his? he tried to turn to account such experience as he had gained with anstey, but with no better success. the country stores required a much more experienced hand, and one who could speak the native language fluently; the town ones wouldn't look at him. apart from the question of recommendations, here the very fact of his having been with anstey was against him, was enough to shut him out even from the list of that most hopeless form of hope deferred--the cases "under consideration." that precious rascal, he found, was far better known than trusted, and more than one instance of sharp practice and roguery on the part of anstey now came to his knowledge. but meanwhile time was flying, and with it, of course, money. and he was no nearer attaining any way of replenishing his well-nigh vanished stock of the latter. gerard ridgeley's education had been of the usual happy-go-lucky, slipshod sort which is hammered into the average english boy who is destined for no profession in particular, and which for purposes of after life is practically useless. the regulation amount of latin and greek, and euclid and arithmetic, got through by rote, often with the help of a crib, with perhaps a smattering of british and home-made french, had fallen to his lot, as well as the regulation share of cricket and football. but these attainments, good in themselves, seemed not to help him one whit in gaining the means of subsistence in his present predicament. he had never even taken to carpentering as an amusement, as some boys do, and of course of any other handicraft was as ignorant as a babe unborn. probably no one in these days really imagines that living is cheap in the colonies, save perhaps to the dwellers in the _veldt_ or bush, who grow their own necessaries of life. in the towns it is considerably dearer than in england, and a sovereign is apt to represent nearer ten shillings than twenty. so gerard speedily learnt, as time flew and so did his funds, and prospects of employment remained as remote as ever. "there ain't room for chaps as wants a job in this here blessed colony," bitterly remarked one of his fellow-boarders one day. "it's a small country when all's said and done, and there's too many of us already, besides all these hindian coolie-niggers they're a importin' of by shiploads." in the extremity of his strait, gerard bethought himself of mr kingsland. should he write and endeavour to bespeak the latter's aid, telling all the circumstances of his evil fortune and the cruel swindle which had left him penniless? he remembered the hearty kindness of the old settler's tone, and assurances of friendship. surely he was justified in asking for a helping hand towards some means of gaining his own livelihood! but no sooner had he taken pen in hand to do so than he flung that redoubtable implement to the other end of the room. he could not do it. it was too much like writing a begging letter. besides, what claim had he upon anybody? so, instead of writing the letter, he took a hurried survey of his possessions, and then strolled round to an auctioneer's sale-rooms, to see whether the chances were good in favour of obtaining a reasonable price for his new saddle at the next morning's sale. turning the street corner he ran right against harry maitland, or rather against the latter's horse, for harry himself was in the act of dismounting. "hallo, ridgeley! where've you dropped from?" said harry. "still counter-jumping with that distinguished-looking relation of yours?" "no such luck," replied gerard, with a rueful laugh. and he told him what had happened. "and here i am nearly stumped, and see no way of getting up again," he concluded. "stumped, eh? that's devilish awkward," quoth harry. "you would go counter-jumping, you see, instead of going to work in the right way. look at me now. i know shoals of people already, and am having a right good time. there's nothing like looking about one first for a bit, depend upon it. well, ta-ta. see you again. here--hallo, warner!" he sang out to a man who had just passed them. "hold on, can't you!" and, leaving gerard standing there, he went after the new-comer. "who's that fellow you were yarning to?" said the latter. "a devilish decent-looking chap, whoever he is." "that! oh, he's a poor devil i used sometimes to talk to on board ship. and, i say, warner, you turned up in the very nick of time. he was just going to try and borrow a five-pound note from me. i'll swear he was. i could see it in his eye. let's go and liquor." it was lucky for the utterer of this remark that it remained unheard by the object thereof, otherwise we fear that, even in the middle of that bustling pavement, a vigorous application of shoe-leather might have awakened master harry most painfully to the fact that it had been overheard. gerard, however, had resumed his way, sad and bitter of heart; for he was young yet, and had not even begun to learn to take the insincerity and ingratitude of so-called friends as a matter of course. he only remembered how glad the other had been to get under his wing, so to say, when they had first landed. thrown upon their own resources, strangers in a strange land, he it was who had taken the initiative; upon him had all the managing and thinking devolved. harry maitland had been glad of his company then, so glad of it indeed that he had even made some sacrifice of his own comfort rather than cut himself adrift from it. now he hardly condescended to know him. well, it was only one more lesson out of the volume of the world's hard and flinty teaching; but, as we said, gerard was still very young, and the lesson was bitter. he gained the auction-room. a sale of miscellaneous articles was in full swing, and bidding was brisk. while waiting till it should be over and he could speak to the auctioneer, he amused himself watching the competing groups as well as those--far the greater number--who were only there to look on; for in a colonial town a public sale of whatever kind draws a crowd of loungers of every description as surely as a store-cupboard draws flies in hot weather. bronzed and bearded stock-farmers and transport-riders, alert-looking townsmen, a sprinkling of indian coolies, turbaned and deferential, but none the less intent, in their own quiet, half-shy manner, upon getting their money's worth for their money, all clustered and crowded around the tables, more or less eagerly bidding, or keeping up a running fire of chaff with the auctioneer. watching this mass of diversified humanity, gerald was conscious of the descent of a friendly hand upon his shoulder, and a friendly voice at his ear. "ridgeley--isn't it?" with a start of surprise, he turned, to find himself face to face with the sun-tanned lineaments and corduroy-clad form of john dawes. "thought we'd meet again some day," said the latter, grasping the hand which gerard delightedly put forth. "small world after all. how has it been using you?" had gerard been worldly wise, taught by his last experience, he would have answered with equal indifference, "oh, so-so." being, however, only genuine, he replied-- "badly, i fear." "so?" said the transport-rider, upon whom the unconscious despondency of the tone was not lost. "sorry to hear that. i've often wondered how you got on, especially with anstey. found him, i suppose?" "i did. and i found him out too." "so?" said dawes again. "but look here, if you're not doing anything just now, come round, and we'll have a bit of dinner together. i'd like to hear how you've been getting on." as gerard's business with the auctioneer would very well keep until the afternoon, he accompanied his newly found friend to a luncheon bar in the neighbourhood, and there, over a dish of sizzling beefsteak and a bottle or two of english beer, gave a full account of his experiences and misadventures since they had parted. "when you first told me you were going to find out anstey, i'd have liked to have warned you," said dawes, who had listened attentively to every word of his narrative. "but, then, i thought it was none of my business, and you said he was a relation of yours, too, which of course made it all the worse. i know him well; and, what's more, he knows me." "he seemed to," said gerard, remembering the disquieted look which had come into anstey's face when he had mentioned the transport-rider. "rather. i gave him a licking once--well, it's an old story and don't matter now. but, excuse the question, i suppose you find yourself at pretty low ebb just now, eh?" "low ebb isn't the word for it," was the weary reply. "i've been moving heaven and earth to try and raise some sort of a billet, but it's no go. there seems to be no room for me here. i wish i had never come out." dawes had been filling his pipe, and passed his pouch on to his young companion. as he lighted it, and the glow of the match fell upon his impassive and weather-beaten features, it brought out therein no trace of feeling, no sign that the other's narrative interested him one whit. but in reality he was revolving a plan. he had from the very first taken a great liking to this bright, frank, warm-hearted english lad, the extent of whose difficulties now he was thoroughly capable of appreciating. "you wouldn't be over particular as to the sort of billet you might get, eh?" he said, puffing out a great cloud of smoke in a vacant and abstracted manner. "not i, indeed, if only i might get it," answered gerard, wearily. "why, i was going to see about putting my new saddle on the sale, when we met each other. i've had to part with things already to raise the wind." "that hard up, are you? well, if you ain't particular to a hair, i've been turning over a scheme. what would you say to going an up-country trip with me?" "what?" almost shouted gerard, half starting from his seat. "an up-country trip with you? you can't mean it!" "keep your hair on, ridgeley," rejoined dawes, with a half-indulged smile, for although the best-hearted and the most equably dispositioned fellow in the world, he was of the "dry" order of being, and seldom laughed outright. "don't get excited; that's never sound policy. but just turn the idea over in your mind a bit, and then you can let me know. i'm loading up two waggons now for a trading trip away beyond the zulu country. well, it occurs to me that you took so kindly to driving a waggon, and all to do with it on our way up here, that you might be useful to me. you'd pick up all there is to be learnt in that line the first day. what do you say to the idea?" but just then gerard was nearly incapable of reply. a lump seemed to rise in his throat. all the futile efforts of the past few weeks rose before his mind; his loneliness, the certainty of approaching destitution. and now this man with his offhand friendliness, who was thus holding him out a helping hand, seemed as an angel sent from heaven. he managed to stutter out at last that it seemed almost too good to be true. "all right," said the other, kindly; "then that's settled. i can't give you any pay, but i'll give you the run of your teeth, and a small commission on the takings of the trip after the trip's over. the said trip, by the way, may last a year, or maybe more." "i don't care if it lasts ten," said gerard, eagerly. "it isn't any good for you to hang on here with the notion of getting anything out of anstey," pursued dawes, with rare tact affecting to believe that that was gerard's object in remaining there, and so to lessen the latter's sense of obligation to himself. "he's the most slippery fish that ever kept out of gaol. i'm afraid you'd never see a farthing of your coin back again, even if you were armed with as many papers to prove the transaction as a supreme court lawyer. he'll have been sold up by now, lock, stock, and barrel. well, now we'll go round and attend to biz, and see to our loads, for we'll have to start to-morrow night. i'd have trekked to-night, but that two of my oxen are not quite the thing, and i had to send out to one of the locations for two more." and having paid the score, dawes led the way out, nodding here and there to an acquaintance at the crowded tables as he went, while gerard, walking on air, could hardly believe in his good luck. he had entered that room despondent and almost a beggar; he left it with a friend, and in possession of the most congenial and delightful form of occupation he could have desired in his wildest dreams. chapter nine. up. the time intervening having been spent in getting together the loads, and otherwise seeing that everything was in order for the road--wheels greased, waggons overhauled, all necessary supplies for the trip got safely on board--by the following evening they were ready to start. the said loads consisted of every conceivable kind of object of barter then in favour among the up-country natives--blankets and salampore cloth, knives and hatchets, tobacco and snuff, beads and umbrellas of wondrous colours, brass wire for bangles, brass buttons and striped handkerchiefs, looking-glasses and musical instruments, and a score of other "notions." for their own use and that of their native servants they carried sacks of mealie-flour, coffee and sugar, a tin of biscuits or so, and two or three sides of bacon sewn up in canvas, with a few tins of preserved fruit, and ditto vegetables. each waggon was drawn by a full span of sixteen oxen, which were engineered by a leader and driver to the span, both natives. the waggons and their fittings were similar to that which brought gerard up from the coast, one of them, indeed, being the same vehicle. the load took up nearly the whole available space, just leaving room for a small tilt, which contained a mattress for sleeping on, also lockers, and canvas pockets hung round the sides. altogether it is wonderful what a lot can be stowed away on board these ships of the _veldt_. one of the waggons had been loaded up in the morning and sent on to the outspan; the other was ready by sundown. as they went lumbering down the street, the oxen fresh and rested, stepping out briskly to the shout of the driver and the occasional crack of his long whip, gerard, seated beside dawes on the box, felt quite elated as he heard the driver's reply to passing natives inquiring their destination:--"kwa zulu," and could enter fully into the spirit of the said reply, given loftily and as it were with a touch of pity for the unfortunates condemned to stagnate at home. "i was in luck this morning, ridgeley," said dawes, as they superintended the inspanning of the other waggon. "i picked up a capital basuto pony, dirt cheap. he'll do for you to ride. there he is, by the side of mine." two steeds were being driven up, knee-haltered. one was a bay, the other a strongly-built mouse-coloured pony of about fourteen hands. gerard was delighted: "they tell me he's a good shooting horse," went on dawes, "so that's another advantage. i always like to have a horse along. one can turn off the track, and get a shot at a buck without having to fag one's soul out to catch up the waggons again; and then, too, one sometimes wants to go into places where one can't take the waggons, and for that, of course, a horse is nearly indispensable. are you fond of shooting?" gerard answered eagerly that he had hardly ever been lucky enough to get any. it was, however, the thing of all others he was keenest to attempt. but he had not even got a gun, though he had a revolver. "well, we'll soon make a shot of you," said dawes. "there's a martini rifle in the waggon, and a double gun, one barrel rifled, the other smooth. we'll find plenty to empty them at when we get up into the zulu country, never fear." then, the waggons being inspanned, and the two horses made fast behind, they started. and as they toiled slowly up the long hill which led away to the border, and presently the lights and blue gum-trees which marked the site of maritzbnrg lying in its great basin-like hollow disappeared behind the rise, gerard felt that this was the most glorious moment of his life. the most dazzling vista seemed to open out before him-- adventures and strange experiences to crowd upon each other's heels. was he not bound for that wild, mysterious, enchanted land, of which he had heard many a strange tale from those who had called from time to time at anstey's? "up-country," they would say, with a careless jerk of the finger, "up-country!" and already he seemed to hear the booming roar of the prowling lion round the midnight fire, to see the savage phalanx of the zulu regiment on the march, bound upon some fell errand of death and destruction. all the hard and dull routine of the last few months, the utter desolation of his uncongenial life, even the terrible and sickening realisation that he was next door to destitute, all were forgotten now; all such memories swallowed up in the anticipation of what was before him. as they trekked along in the moonlight, seated side by side on the box of the foremost waggon, dawes proceeded to initiate gerard further into some of the mysteries of native trade. "as i was telling you," he said, "there's a regular fashion among natives, just the same as among white folks. for instance, take salampore cloth; there are the two kinds--the thin dark blue and gauzy, and the lighter-coloured and coarser kind with the orange stripes. now, the zulus are keen as mustard on the first, and simply won't look at the last, whereas with the natives of natal, whether of zulu or basuto blood, it's exactly the other way about. again, take beads. we've got all sorts--black, white, blue, pink, red. now, which would you suppose the zulus are keenest on?" gerard replied that of course they would go for the brightest coloured ones--say, the red or blue. "not a bit of it. the ones they like best of all are the black, after them the white. there's a fashion about these things, as i tell you. now, you'd think one of them pocket-knives, with a blade like a sabre, and a saw and a corkscrew, and the lord knows what amount of gimcrackery all in one handle, would fetch them more than any mortal thing. well, it wouldn't. they'd hardly say thank you for one such knife that might have cost you a guinea, whereas, for them roughly knocked together butcher knives, that cost me tenpence apiece wholesale, they'll give almost anything. they like to make a sheath for the thing, to hang around them." "what sort of people are they in the way of trade?" asked gerard. "hard as nails. haggle the eyes out of your head. but you've got to be firm over a deal, for they're up to all manner of tricks. if the barter is live stock, they'll try all they know to jockey you with some worthless and inferior beasts, and so on. dishonesty? no, they don't think it dishonest. it is simply their principle of trade--devil take the hindmost. so far are they from dishonest, that i have more than once in the zulu country left my waggon standing for an hour at a time with absolutely nobody in charge, and have come back to find it surrounded with people waiting for me, and yet not a thing touched or displaced. how would that pan out for an experiment in england, for instance?" "but poorly, i'm afraid," laughed gerard. "just so. no, the zulu is the hardest nail going at a deal. but once the deal is over and it's no longer a question of trade, he's the most honest man in the world. you'll soon get into their ways and know exactly how to deal with them, and meanwhile try all you know to pick up as much of the language as you can. sintoba, the driver of the other waggon, is a smart clever chap, and talks english fairly well. you can't do better than learn all you can from him." thus, with many a useful hint and anecdote illustrative of native character or the life of the _veldt_, would dawes beguile the time as they trekked along, all of which gerard drank in eagerly. his anxiety to make himself of use knew no bounds. he was up before the first glimmer of dawn, and would have the "boys" astir and the fire started for the early pannikin of black coffee, sometimes even before dawes was awake, to the latter's astonishment and secret satisfaction. in a day or two he could take his share at inspanning as readily as the rest, was as deft at handling the whip as the professional driver, sintoba himself, and knew all the oxen by name. and at night, as they sat around the red embers, he was never tired of listening to dawes's narratives of experience and adventure, whether his own or those of others. he was, in fact, as happy as the day was long, and felt almost fraternal when he thought of anstey, remembering that but for that worthy's rascality he would not be here now. several days had gone by. they had passed through grey town, and the magnificent bush country beyond, with its towering heights and great cliffs rearing up their smooth red faces from tossing seas of verdure. they had met or passed other waggons from time to time--for it was the main road to the transvaal--and now they were descending into the tugela valley. "hot, eh, ridgeley?" said dawes, with a dry smile, mopping his forehead with a red pocket-handkerchief. "yes, it's warm," assented gerard, who in reality was nearly light-headed with the terrible heat, but would not own it. there was not a breath of air. the sun-rays, focused down into the great bush-clad valley, seemed to beat with the force of a burning-glass, and the heights on either side shut out whatever breeze might have tempered the torrid fierceness. a shimmer rose from the ground as from the outside of the boiler of a steam-engine, and the screech of the crickets kept up one unending and deafening vibration. "do we outspan on this side or cross first?" said gerard, as the cool murmur of water became audible. "we'll outspan on the other. the river's low enough to cross without any trouble; but the drift isn't always a good one. the principle of the road is always outspan on the other side of a drift--that is, the opposite side from the one you arrive at. these rivers, you see, come down with surprising swiftness, and then, of course, if you delay, you may be stuck for a week or more. the exception, however, to this rule is, if there's more water in the river than you quite like but yet not enough to stop you. then it is sometimes a good plan to outspan for a little while to rest your oxen, because they'll need all their strength for pulling through." the current, though smooth and swift flowing, proved stronger than it looked. in splashed the first waggon, amid the shouting and whip-cracking. the leader could hardly keep his feet, and what with the force of the current and the plunges of the fore oxen, he was having a pretty bad time of it. but they emerged panting and dripping on the other side. gerard, however, who was on the second waggon, came near meeting with a disaster that might have cost him his life. the great vehicle was three parts through. the driver, wading and splashing beside the span, was urging and encouraging it by the regulation series of shrill and long-drawn yells. gerard, who was standing on the box, cracking the long whip, and also lending his voice to swell the chorus, was suddenly seen to overbalance, sway, and topple over into the water, disappearing immediately. john dawes, watching progress from the opposite bank, turned white as death. gerard had fallen _in front of the wheels_! "oh, good god! he's done for!" he gasped. meanwhile the driver, who had not seen the accident, was yelling his loudest, with the result that the span was tugging its hardest. the waggon was already emerging from the water, rolling up the steep slope from the drift. "he's done for," muttered dawes, ashy pale. "he'll have been ground to pulp under the water." but no sooner had the words escaped him, than, lo, gerard himself, dripping from head to foot! he jumped down from behind the waggon with a celerity that showed he had come to no sort of harm. "what--what did you do that for?" stammered dawes. "how did you do it?" "i just grazed one wheel in falling. luckily i fell between both, and remembering all you had said about falling off the disselboom, i hung on like grim death to the bottom of the waggon--held my breath under water, knowing we would be out in a minute. then i worked my way along till i was clear of the wheels and got out. but i'm pretty well blown after it. i couldn't have held on a minute longer," he gasped, still out of breath with the almost superhuman exertion he had just gone through. "by jove, youngster, but you'll do!" said the other. "you've got pluck and presence of mind, and that's all you want to carry you through any mortal thing." and he turned away, to give orders about outspanning, glad of the opportunity to recover his self-possession, for even he had undergone a rude shock over the frightfully narrow escape his young companion had just experienced. the next morning, when they turned out, dawes said-- "do you feel like paying bob kingsland a visit, ridgeley?" "rather. does he live near here, then?" "a few miles off. in fact, this outspan is almost on his farm. doorn draai, it's called. we've come along very well, and the grazing here is first rate. it won't hurt the oxen to have a day's rest and a real good fill up. we'll have breakfast early and ride over. we are likely to find some of them at home, anyway." "that'll be first rate!" said gerard, with genuine pleasure. and then he set to work to serve out rations to the leaders and drivers, each of whom received a measure of maize-meal, which, going into a common stock, was stirred up in a three-legged pot and soon reduced to porridge, for on such fare do the natives of natal wax fat and strong. afterwards he got out a clean basin and kneaded up _roster-koekjes_, a species of damper-cake, and put them to bake on the ashes for their own breakfast, while dawes superintended the cooking of a savoury game stew, compounded of partridges, ringdoves, and a plover or two, which they had shot the day before while coming along. "we don't live so badly, even on the road, eh, ridgeley?" said dawes, as they sat doing ample justice to this, and to the steaming cups of strong black coffee wherewith it was washed down. "no, indeed," assented gerard, briskly, beginning on half a partridge. "shall we take a gun along this morning?" "we might. don't know that it's worth while, though. by the way, kingsland's a widower, and his pretty daughter keeps house for him. don't you go and fall in love with her--in view of the time our trip is likely to last." for reply gerard laughed light-heartedly. it was not likely, he thought, remembering that pair of blue eyes in the buggy. after breakfast they saddled up the horses, and dawes having given sintoba some final instructions, they started. the ride was a pleasant enough one, though somewhat hot. their way lay mostly at the bottom of a long winding valley with great bush-clad slopes shooting up on either hand, and the sunny air was alive with the piping whistle of spreuws and the cooing of innumerable ringdoves. "there's the house," said dawes, as a curl of blue smoke rose from the bush-clad hillside about a mile ahead. "and--there's kingsland himself," he added, as a shout from a little way off their road drew their attention to a horseman who was riding towards them. "hallo, john dawes!" cried the latter, as he joined them. "where have you dropped from now--and who have you got with you? why, it's young ridgeley. well, ridgeley, i'm glad to see you, my boy. what have you been doing with yourself all this time? by-the-by, didn't you get my letter?" "letter? no," echoed gerard, in some astonishment. "why, i wrote to you at anstey's about a fortnight ago. found out you were there through the papers. that affair with the zulu and the umgeni fall went the round of the papers. didn't you see it?" "no," answered gerard, still lost in astonishment. "i'm very sorry. i don't know what you must have thought of me, mr kingsland, but--i never had that letter. it must have come after i left, and--the fact is, anstey and i didn't part on very good terms." "so? the paragraph said you were in his employ. couldn't you get on with him, or wasn't the work to your taste?" "anstey swindled him out of every shilling he had," put in dawes, seeing gerard hesitate and look a trifle embarrassed. "biggest blackguard in this colony, is anstey." "so?" said mr kingsland again. "well, we must hear all about your experiences by-and-by, ridgeley. here we are at the house now--and here's my little housekeeper come to see who i'm bringing home to dinner," he added lovingly, as the figure of a girl appeared at the door and came down the steps to meet them. "ridgeley, this is my daughter may," he went on, when they had dismounted. "may, you've heard me talk of this young man--we were shipmates on board the _amatikulu_. why, what's the matter?" for gerard was staring in astonishment, and the girl's blue eyes were opening wide with the same emotion, while a slight colour came into her face. and in those blue eyes gerard recognised the identical pair which had beamed approval on the deft manner in which he had reduced the odds against the sorely beset zulu. "why, we've met before, father, only we didn't know who we were then," she answered. "how do you do, mr ridgeley? welcome to doorn draai." gerard, in a sort of waking dream, took the hand extended to him--in no wise the sharer of the girl's quiet self-possession. to think that the owner of those blue eyes which had been in his thoughts a great deal since that chance meeting, should turn out to be old kingsland's daughter! and again, the fact that they had dwelt in his thoughts was, considering his age, enough to play havoc with his composure on finding himself thus suddenly and unexpectedly face to face with their owner. "met before, have you?" echoed mr kingsland, in some surprise. "why, of course we have," said a male voice in the background. "how d'you do, mr ridgeley!" and gerard found himself shaking hands with the other occupant of the buggy on that memorable evening. "been keeping up your boxing since then, eh?" laughed tom kingsland. "why, governor, this is the man who floored those two niggers so neatly. i told you about it, you remember, when we were coming back from maritzburg." "ah, to be sure, to be sure. he can take care of himself anywhere now, i should think," said the older man, kindly. and gerard, though somewhat shy and embarrassed at finding himself a sort of point of general observation, could not resist a feeling of elation over the consciousness that he stood well in the opinion of his new friends. then, after a brief rest, during which dawes and mr kingsland put away a glass of grog together and smoked a pipe or two, they set out for a look round. and then for the first time gerard was able to take in the place--for at the time of his arrival he had had no eyes for anything but one of its inhabitants. the house, a roomy, one-storeyed building, with a _stoep_ and verandah, stood against the slope of the hill. a little distance off stood the sheep and cattle-kraals, and the huts of the native servants. below, on the bank of a small watercourse, was a large bit of enclosed and cultivated land, and beside this a fruit orchard. "i'm afraid it's a little late for fruit," said tom kingsland, as they strolled through the latter. "there are still a few peaches left, though, and any amount of figs." "you can't grow peaches and grapes like this out-of-doors in england?" said may. "i suppose you hardly ever see such a thing there except under glass." "oh yes--on walls," said gerard. and then, as they wandered on beneath the pleasant shade of the over-arching fig trees, and down by a quince hedge spangled with yellow fruit, or again emerged upon a water-hole where a colony of finks dashed hither and thither chattering in alarm, while their globular nests, hanging like oranges from the boughs above the water, swung and jerked at a rate which promised badly for the eggs they might contain--the girl plied him with all manner of questions about england and the life there. and, lo, when they had laughed over each other's mistakes and misconceptions with regard to their respective countries, it seemed as if they had known each other all their lives. certain it was that to gerard that walk seemed the most delicious he had ever taken. but it could not last for ever, and so they had to return to the house and to dinner. there they found mr kingsland's other son, who was duly introduced to gerard. arthur kingsland was very like his brother tom, and both were fine specimens of young colonial manhood. they could ride anything, follow spoor, hit any mark at most astonishing ranges, and were afraid of nothing. the reputation of gerard's feats, which had already reached them, was a sure passport to their favour, and accordingly they soon became the very best of friends. "heard anything more about the zulu question, arthur?" said mr kingsland during dinner to his youngest son, who had been out on horseback since daybreak. "only the usual lie--cetywayo is going to sweep in and eat us all up at a minute's notice. another yarn is that he's going to drive all the boers out of the disputed territory." "it's just possible there may be some disturbance there," said mr kingsland. "still, cetywayo is much too shrewd a man to declare regular war against the transvaal." "well, our route lies right through that same disputed territory," said dawes. "what do you think, ridgeley? like to get into a scrimmage with a zulu _impi_?" "mr ridgeley is pretty good at fighting kafirs, i should say," put in may, slyly, before he had time to reply. "oh, i'm afraid i shan't hear the end of that little difference in a hurry," said gerard, laughing ruefully. "i rather wish i had left sobuza to fight his own battles." "how can you say that?" said may. "are you so utterly devoid of imagination? why, you rescued the man twice on the same day! that means that he is to have some influence on your fortunes. you are going up into the zulu country now. you are sure to see him again." "maybe only to get an assegai put into him if he does," cut in tom. "isn't there a proverb, that if you save a fellow's life he's bound to play you a shady trick?" "be quiet, you wet blanket," retorted the girl. "i foresee different things. i foresee that the zulu will in some way or other turn up again, and that he will have an influence in mr ridgeley's destinies." how true this was fated to prove it was little that either of them thought at the time. the afternoon was spent very much as had been the morning, strolling around looking about the farm, for it was a slack time just then and there was not much doing. towards sundown tom kingsland suggested they should go down to a water-hole and try for a shot at a duck, an idea which gerard cordially endorsed, and in the sequel greatly distinguished himself, considering his want of practice with the gun, for the pair of ducks which they brought home represented one apiece. and then, in the evening, while mr kingsland and dawes smoked their pipes on the _stoep_, the young people gathered round the piano, and gerard thought he had never heard anything so entrancingly delicious in his life as may's fresh clear voice lifted up in song. then--all too soon for him-- had come bedtime, and in the morning an early start to rejoin the waggons. before gerard turned in mr kingsland followed him to his room for a few words. "well, ridgeley, so you're going to make another start, this time as an up-country trader. you've had a few ups and downs already, it appears; and maybe there'll come a time when you'll thank your stars you have." "i do that already, mr kingsland, for otherwise i should never have found myself launched on this undertaking. what a good fellow dawes is!" "he is--he is. but what i was going to say is this. it'll do you no harm to get an insight into waggon travel and _veldt_ life, and the native trade and the natives themselves. but a sensible fellow like you must see that that sort of thing isn't going to last a man _all_ his life; and, indeed, it oughtn't to. it isn't good for any man to become a confirmed wanderer, a sort of rolling stone. so don't let this trip unsettle you, or turn your mind from the idea of going in for hard and regular work. turn it to the best possible account you can while you're on it, but make up your mind that it isn't going to last, and that when you come back your plan is to settle down to regular work. you are made of far better stuff than to slide into the mere knockabout, harum-scarum adventurer, as some of these up-country going chaps are only too ready to do, especially when they begin young. so keep that before your mind is my advice to you. and now i dare say you're wondering whether you are ever going to get to bed, or whether a certain prosy old fellow intends to keep preaching to you quite all night. so, good night, my lad. i won't say goodbye, for we shall most of us be up before you start. good night; i need hardly say i wish you every success." chapter ten. a piece of zulu jockeying. after leaving doorn draai they trekked on through the umsinga district, and, turning off the main road at helpmakaar on the biggarsberg heights, descended to rorke's drift. and it was while making their way down to that now historical point that gerard began to realise what a waggon could do; what an incredible amount of hard knocking about it could stand; for the track seemed a mere succession of ruts and boulders, and as the huge vehicles went creaking and grinding over this, they seemed literally to twist and writhe, until it looked as though each fresh bump must shatter the whole fabric into a thousand crashing fragments. once, but for his promptitude, the waggon of which gerard was in charge would infallibly have overturned. however, they reached the drift without accident, and crossed the next day into the zulu country. at first gerard could hardly realise that he was no longer under the british flag. this side of the buffalo river presented no appreciable difference to the side they had just left. a line of precipitous hills rose a few miles in front, and to the eastward a great lion-shaped crag, the now ill-famed isandhlwana. but few zulus had come to the waggons, and they struck him as wearing no different aspect to the natives on the natal side, nor, by-the-by, did they seem in any way keen upon trading. we fear it may hardly be denied that the rose-coloured spectacles through which gerard had first looked upon the trip and its prospects had undergone some slight dimness, and for this may kingsland's blue eyes were wholly responsible. for be it remembered he was very young, and the consciousness that a long time--a whole year, perhaps--must elapse before he should see her again, cast something of a gloom upon his spirits. good-natured john dawes saw through the change in his young companion's lightheartedness, and laughed dryly to himself. gerard would soon find the right cure for that sort of complaint, he said, when the real business of the trip should begin. one morning a party of half a dozen young zulus, driving an ox, came up to them as they sat outspanned. the one who seemed to be the leader was a tall, straight, well-built fellow, with a pleasing intelligent countenance. he, like the rest, was unringed, but held his head high in the air, as though he were somebody. all carried assegais and shields. the young leader and two of the others strode up to where gerard was sitting, and uttering the usual form of greeting, "_saku bona_," squatted down on the grass before him. now, it happened that dawes was away, having ridden off to some kraals a few miles distant. gerard, thus thrown upon his own resources, began to feel something of the burden of responsibility as he returned their greeting and waited for them to speak next. but the leader, stretching forth his hand, said-- "give me that." gerard was cleaning a gun at the time, the double-barrelled one, rifle and shot. the zulu's remark had come so quick, accompanied by a half-move forward, as though he might be going to seize the weapon, that gerard instinctively tightened his grasp on it. "who are you?" he said, looking the other in the eyes. "nkumbi-ka-zulu, son of sirayo, the king's _induna_," replied the youth, with a haughty toss of the head, denoting surprise that anybody should require to be informed of his identity. "give me the gun; i want to look at it," he continued, again stretching forth his hand. gerard realised the delicacy of the situation. there was a greedy sparkle in the young zulu's eye as it lighted upon the weapon, which caused him to feel anything but sure that it would be returned to him again. on the other hand, dawes, he remembered, had a poor opinion of sirayo and his clan, and he did not want to offend the chief's son, if he could help it. his command of the language beginning to fail him, he summoned sintoba to the rescue. "ask him if, he wants to trade, because, if so, the _baas_ [master] will be back soon. here is some snuff for him, meanwhile." nkumbi-ka-zulu condescended to accept the snuff, then, through the driver, he explained that his father had sent the black ox as a present to "jandosi"--for such was john dawes's name among the natives, being of course a corruption of his own--and he, the speaker, had come to do a little trade on his own account. first of all, he wanted that gun, and as many cartridges as he could have. what was the price? gerard replied that the gun was not for sale. it was wanted to shoot buck and birds during their trip further up-country. "_au_!" exclaimed nkumbi-ka-zulu. "you are so near the border, you can easily send back for another gun. i will give five oxen for it. ten, then," he added, as gerard shook his head in dissent. still gerard refused. "_hau_! does he want all the zulu country?" muttered the others, forgetting good manners in their impatience and eagerness to possess the weapon, and for this, sintoba, who was of zulu descent and a ringed man at that, rebuked them sternly. "since when has the son of a chief learnt to talk with the loud tongue and windbag swagger of the _amabuna_?" [boers] he said. "have you come here to trade or to play the fool?" "_hau_, listen to the kafula!" cried the young zulus, springing to their feet and rattling their assegais threateningly. "since when is the son of a chief to be reviled by a kafula, who is doing dog at the heels of a travelling white man?" gerard, who by this time could understand a great deal more than he could speak, looked apprehensively at sintoba, expecting an immediate outbreak. but to his surprise the man merely uttered a disdainful click, and deliberately turned his broad back upon the exasperated zulus. he almost expected to see it transfixed with their assegais, and stood ready to brain with his clubbed gun, for he had no cartridges handy, the first who should make an aggressive move. but no such move was made. "i return," said nkumbi-ka-zulu, darting forth his hand, with a malevolent look directed especially upon gerard, "i return to my father to carry word that jandosi rejects his present, and has left a kafula with his waggons, and a white _umfane_ [boy] to revile the son of a chief." and turning, the whole party walked rapidly away, driving the ox before them. when they had gone a little distance, they began staging an improvised strophe the burden of whose veiled insolence took in the white race in general, and the last specimen of it the singers had seen in particular, and thus bawling, they eventually receded from sight. gerard was terribly put about by this occurrence, and was disposed to blame himself bitterly. surely he had been over cautions, and had brought about this hostile termination by his own awkwardness and stupidity. but to his inexpressible relief john dawes, to whom on his return he narrated the whole affair, was not at all of this opinion. "it couldn't have been helped," the latter declared. "if i had been here the result would likely have been the same, for they're cheeky young dogs those sons of sirayo, and the old man himself is a thorough-paced old sweep. if you made any mistake at all, it was a mistake on the right side--that of firmness--and i'm not sure you made any." which dictum lifted a weight from gerard's mind. "i'm only afraid they'll play us some trick," he said. "hadn't we better get away from here as soon as possible?" "n-no. they might construe that into an act of running away. we'll just trek on a few miles further, and see what turns up, but i don't mind telling you i hardly like the look of things. the people are very unsettled, thanks to this disputed boundary question, and the badgering of the natal government. they are sulky and sullen, and flatly refuse to trade. i think we'll get away north pretty soon." that evening an incident occurred which, taken in conjunction with the events of the day, looked ominous. the "boy" who was sent to bring in the two horses, which were turned loose to graze, returned with only one; the other he could not find. he had hunted for it high and low, but without result. by this time the two horses had become so accustomed to the waggons that they would never stray far, and often return of their own accord; consequently, it was not thought worthwhile even to knee-halter them. now, however, the one which the "boy" had brought back had been found much further afield than was usual, and of the other there was no trace. and the missing steed was gerard's mouse-coloured basuto pony. saddling up the horse that remained and giving orders where the waggons were to outspan, dawes cantered away into the _veldt_. he returned in two hours. he had lighted upon the spoor, which led in the contrary direction from that which might have been expected, for it led in the direction of the blood river, and therefore right away from sirayo's and out of the zulu country, instead of farther into the same; and then darkness had baffled further investigation. nevertheless, he would wager longish odds, he declared, that the missing quadruped would spend that night not a mile distant from sirayo's kraal. "it's a most infernal place, ridgeley," he said gloomily. "it's overhung by a big _krantz_, which is a pretty good look-out post, and surrounded by holes and caves you could stow anything away in. i don't know how we are going to get mouse back again short of paying through the nose for him. i must sleep on it and think out some plan. that young brute, nkumbi! i feel quite murderous--as if i could shoot him on sight." in view of the late occurrence, sintoba received instructions to keep watch a part of the night, while dawes himself took the remainder, not that he thought it at all probable that any attempt at further depredations would be made, still it was best to be on the safe side. and in fact no further attempt was made, and the night in its calm and starry beauty, went by undisturbed. the place where the waggons were outspanned was open and grassy. around stretched the wide and rolling _veldt_; here a conical hillock rising abruptly from the plain, there the precipitous line of a range of mountains. about half a mile from the site of the outspan ran a _spruit_ or watercourse, the bed of which, deep and yawning, now held but a tiny thread of water, trickling over its sandy bottom. the banks of this _spruit_ were thickly studded with bush, and out of them branched several deep _dongas_ or rifts worn out of the soil by the action of the water. it was a hot morning. the sun blazed fiercely from the cloudless sky, and from the ground there arose a shimmer of heat. away on the plain the two spans of oxen were dotted about grazing, in charge of one of the leaders, whose dark form could be seen, a mere speck, squatting among the grass. in the shade of one of the waggons, dawes and gerard sat, finishing their breakfast, while at a fire some fifty yards off, the natives were busy preparing theirs, stirring the contents of the three-legged pot, and keeping up a continual hum of conversation the while. "no, i don't like the look of things at all," repeated dawes, beginning to fill his pipe. "it is some days now since we crossed into the zulu country, and the people hardly come near us. it looks as if all this talk about a war was going to lead to something. i'm afraid they are turning ugly about that boundary question. i meant to have trekked north on the west side of the blood river, and taken this part of the country on our way back, if we had anything left to trade that is, but with all these reported ructions between the zulus and boers in the disputed territory, i reckon we'd be quieter and safer in zululand proper." "how ever will they settle the claim?" said gerard. "heaven only knows. here we have just annexed the transvaal, and got nothing for our pains but a bankrupt state whose people hate us, and a lot of awkward liabilities, and not the least awkward is this disputed boundary. if we give it over to the dutch, cetywayo is sure to make war on them, and therein comes the fun of our new liability. we shall have to protect them, they being now british subjects, and when we have squashed the zulus, the boers will turn on us. if, on the other hand, we give it over to the zulus, we are giving away half the district of utrecht, and turning out a lot of people who have been living there for years under what they thought good and sound title from their own government, which doesn't seem right either. and any middle course will please neither party, and be worse than useless." "i suppose, if the truth were known, the transvaal claim is actually a fraud?" "i believe it is. they claim that mpande ceded them the land. now i don't believe for a moment the old king would have been such a fool as to do anything of the kind, and even if he had been inclined to for the sake of peace, cetywayo, who practically held the reins then, would never have let him. well, if that commission don't sit mighty soon, it'll be no good for it to sit at all, for there'll be wigs on the green long before." "i wonder if we shall ever see poor mouse again," said gerard. a sound of deep-toned voices and the rattle of assegai hafts caused both to turn. three zulus were approaching rapidly. striding up to the waggons they halted, and gazing fixedly at the two white men, they gave the usual greeting, "_saku bona_"--and dropped into a squatting posture. they were fine specimens of humanity, tall and straight. one was a _kehla_, but the other two were unringed. for clothing they wore nothing but the inevitable _mutya_. each was fully armed with large war-shield, knobkerrie, and several murderous looking assegais. the first greeting over, gerard asked to look at some of these. with a dry smile one of the warriors handed over his weapons, but to a suggestion that he should trade one or two of them he returned a most emphatic refusal. "what is the news?" asked dawes, having distributed some snuff. "news!" replied the ringed man. "_ou_! there is none." "do men travel in such haste to deliver no news?" pursued dawes, with a meaning glance at the heaving chests and perspiring bodies of the messengers, for such he was sure they were. "but never mind. it is no affair of mine. yet, do you seek the kraal of the chief, sirayo? if you do, you might carry my `word' to him." the man, after a shade of hesitation, answered that sirayo's kraal happened to be their destination. he would carry the "word" of the white trader. "tell him then i have lost a horse. if the chief has it found and returned to me, i will send him a bottle of _tywala_ [note ], a new green blanket, and this much _gwai_ [tobacco], measuring a length of about a yard. i will further send him a long sheath-knife." "we hear your words, _umlungu_. they shall be spoken into the ears of the chief. now we must resume our road, _hlala-ni-gahle_!" with which sonorous farewell the zulus turned and strode away across the _veldt_ at the same quick and hurried pace as before. "just as i told you, ridgeley," said dawes, lighting his pipe with characteristic calmness. "we shall have to pay some sort of blackmail. lucky if we get mouse back at all." they remained outspanned all day on the same spot. about an hour before sundown two zulus were seen approaching. they made their appearance suddenly and at no great distance, emerging from the line of scrub which bordered upon the water _spruit_. "_hau_!" exclaimed sintoba. "it is nkumbi-ka-zulu." the chief's son, with his companion, drew near, and greeted those around the waggon in an easy, offhand fashion, as though he were quite willing to forgive and forget any little unpleasantness of the day before. his father, he said, had received jandosi's message, and had sent him at once and in all haste to talk about it. he thought the horse might be found, but what jandosi offered was not quite enough. there were few people at his father's kraal. sirayo could not get them to turn out for so little as the promised reward would amount to when divided among the searchers. now sirayo's "word" was this. if jandosi would offer, say six bottles of _tywala_--the white _tywala_ that is drunk out of square bottles--to be distributed among the people, together with the _gwai_ and the other things, and a gun and some cartridges for the chief himself, something might be done; in fact, the horse was pretty sure to be found. but the gun was what the chief desired most; and in fact the gun he must have, hinted nkumbi-ka-zulu, with a grin of hardly concealed triumph. the barefaced impudence, the open rascality of the demand, would have made the blood boil in the veins of any less even-tempered man than john dawes. the latter, however, took it quite coolly. but all the while he was thinking out some plan whereby he might recover possession of the horse, and at the same time turn the tables on the rascally old chief and his scamp of a son. to this end, and with a view to gaining time, he engaged the latter in a protracted haggle, and mixed some gin and water for his refreshment. to his surprise, however, nkumbi-ka-zulu refused the proffered _tywala_--saying he did not like it. the other zulu, however, less particular, drained the pannikin to the very last drop, and asked for more. would not some knives do instead of the gun? asked dawes; or a coloured umbrella, anything in fact? the gun was almost a necessary of life, and he could not part with it. he could get another horse from the boers on the transvaal border, but not another gun. but nkumbi-ka-zulu was firm. his father must have a gun, he said. there was nothing else that would be acceptable. now while this haggle was in progress one of the spans of oxen, which had been out grazing in charge of the leader of gerard's waggon, was being driven leisurely in. wondering why half the oxen should thus be left behind, gerard drew off from the talkers, whom he understood but imperfectly, and turned to meet the "boy" in order to learn the reason. but the latter, without seeming to notice his presence, waited until he was quite near, and going behind the animals, so as to be momentarily screened from the group at the waggons, said in a low tone-- "_i hashe--la-pa_." ["the horse--over there."] the words--the quick side glance towards the line of bush--were sufficient. gerard's pulses tingled with excitement, but he refrained from any further questioning. with an effort preserving his self-possession, he strolled leisurely back to the waggon. he took in the situation, and his coolness and promptitude at once suggested a plan. the remainder of the oxen were in almost the contrary direction to that indicated by the native as being the hiding-place of the stolen horse. shading his eyes to look at them, he said to dawes--speaking slowly, and with rather a tired drawl-- "i think i'll ride out and bring in the oxen. when i'm halfway there, i shall turn and bring in something else. don't let these two chaps stir from here till i come back. hold them here at any price." even the quick observant senses of the two zulus were baffled by the slow carelessness of the tone. they half started as they saw him fling the saddle on the remaining horse, and ride off; but, noting the direction he took, their suspicions were quite lulled. they dropped back into their easy, good-humoured, half-impudent tone and attitude. "well, jandosi, what do you say?" said the chief's son. "the sun is nearly down and i must return to my father. is he to have the gun?" "i suppose there is no help for it," replied dawes. "after all, i can get another gun. but that horse--he is a good horse. wait, i will see which of the two guns i will give." and he climbed into the waggon-tent. "that is the one, jandosi. the double-barrel. that is the one!" cried nkumbi-ka-zulu, half starting to his feet as dawes reappeared. but he dropped again into his squatting position, with marvellous celerity and a dismayed ejaculation. this change was brought about by one quick, stern, peremptory word--that and the perception that both barrels were covering him full and point-blank. and behind those barrels shone a pair of steel grey eyes, which the chief's son knew to go with the coolest brain and steadiest hand on the whole zulu border. "stir a finger, nkumbi, and you are a dead man!" continued dawes. "the first of you who moves is dead that moment!" "_whau_!" cried both zulus, their eyes starting from their heads. but they made no attempt to move, for they knew this white man to be absolutely a man of his word. for a few minutes this singular group remained thus immovable. the cool, resolute white man, and the two savages staring in petrified consternation into the month of the deadly weapon that threatened them. then, not even the certainty of a swift death could avail to repress the sudden start and half-stifled cry of rage and mortification which escaped them. for gerard, having covered about half the distance towards the outlying span of oxen had now suddenly turned and was riding back at full gallop towards the line of bush. "don't move--don't move!" repeated dawes, and the ominous flash in his eyes was sufficient. immovable as statues, the two zulus squatted. then a sound of distant neighing was heard, and in a few minutes gerard was seen to emerge from the bushes, leading a second horse. it was the missing mouse. still dawes did not alter his position, nor did he suffer his prisoners to. he heard his young companion arrive and tie up the horses. he heard him climb into the waggon; then, when he saw him at his side armed with the other gun, he spoke. "since when have the zulu people become thieves, and the son of a chief a common _ishinga_! [rascal] i have always boasted that in the zulu country my property was safer than even among my own people, but i can do so no more, since my horse was stolen by the son of a chief, and his father connived at the theft." the tone, the words, bitter and scathing, seemed to sting them like a lash. "you have found your horse, not we, jandosi, that is all," retorted nkumbi-ka-zulu with a scowl of sullen hate. "how did we know he was there any more than you did yourself? you have found your horse--be content." "i promised your father certain things, nkumbi, if he found the horse. he has _sent it back_ and i will keep my word. but he deserves to receive nothing at all; nor will i ever again trade in his district." then he lowered his piece and instructed gerard to fetch out the articles agreed upon. in silence the zulus received them. rage and shame was depicted on their countenances, and their efforts to laugh off the situation were a dead failure. among the bantu race nothing is more disconcerting than to be caught lying, and these two scions of it felt extremely foolish accordingly. "_whau_! jandosi," mocked nkumbi-ka-zulu. "we are only two, armed with spears and kerries. you have fire-weapons, and four amakafula. yet we fear you not. come forth from your waggons, you alone. leave the fire-weapons behind and bring sticks, i will meet you hand to hand--man to man--and we will fight it out. i who am only a boy." but of this valiant offer john dawes, who was giving orders to inspan, took no immediate notice. at length he said-- "you will get quite as much fighting as you can well take care of, nkumbi-ka-zulu, if you go on a little longer on your present tack. and, mark me, anybody who tries to interfere with me will get more than enough. farewell to you. _trek_!" this last to the drivers. the whips cracked, the drivers yelled, and the waggons rolled ponderously forward. the two zulus were left standing there a picture of mortification and disgust. "you've got to be firm with these chaps, ridgeley, once you do have a difference with them," said dawes, in his ordinarily self-possessed and careless tone. "well, it's lucky we've got mouse back again so cheap. that was really an uncommonly smart idea of yours, and a well-carried out one." they trekked on the best part of the night, gerard and dawes thoroughly armed. each rode on horseback, keeping a careful watch lest the treachery of the now exasperated chief should prompt some aggression under cover of night; but none took place. in the morning they beheld two large bodies of zulus in the distance, marching to the north-westward, and could distinguish the glint of spears, and the echo of their marching song. but on whatever errand these _impis_ were bound, they evinced no desire to molest the trekkers, or even to investigate nearer; in fact, their object seemed to be rather to avoid these latter. "there's trouble brewing," said dawes, with a grave shake of the head as he watched the _impis_ disappearing over a distant ridge. "those chaps are bound for the disputed territory, and if they fall foul of the boers it'll start the war going in fine style. i don't like the look of things at all. the sooner we get into swaziland the better. the zulu country's just a trifle too disturbed." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . this word, which properly applies to native beer, is used for any intoxicating liquor. in this instance it would mean spirits. chapter eleven. a new terror. several months later than the events last recorded, a large _trek_ might have been seen, wending its way southward along the rugged bush _veldt_ lying beneath the lebombo mountains, just outside the zulu boundary. it is evening, and the lustrous glow of the setting sun reddens the great precipices of the craggy range, tingeing with vivid gold the green roll of the bush. the lowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep and goats are harmoniously mingled on the still and balmy air; and over and above this comes the rumble of the waggons and the occasional crack of a whip. a little duiker-buck springs from his form, to stand a moment, his soft eye dilating, the black tips of his tiny, horns pricked up as he listens, then darts away noiselessly into the scrub. bright-plumaged birds flash screaming from the path as the unwonted tumult draws near, for not often are they alarmed in this wise, here in their bosky solitudes. first come a number of cattle, the vari-coloured hides dappling the prevailing green and brown of the _veldt_; a mixed lot too, for among the small but compact zulu breed, towering in elephantine proportions above them, is here and there the buffalo-like frame of a boer trek-ox with its strongly pronounced hump and great branching horns. cows with their calves, too, are there, and an occasional thrust and clash of horns and angry low betoken the collision of two or more quarrelsome beasts, whom the herd's kerries, however, avail to pacify even if his voice suffices not. these travel leisurely, feeding as they go, and are in excellent condition. some little way behind comes a flock of sheep and goats, also feeding as they go, and propelled by as travel-stained and dusty-looking a native as the one who herds the cattle aforesaid. the rear is brought up by two waggons, one behind the other, each drawn by a full span of sixteen oxen. the native driver of each, walking alongside, wields his whip languidly and lazily, and the leader is so tired that he can hardly put one foot before the other, for the day has been a sweltering hot one. even the two horses fastened behind the last waggon have no elasticity in their step, as with drooping head they plod mechanically on, and the dust hangs in a cloud above the line of march. seated in front of the foremost waggon, smoking their pipes, are two white men, also travel-stained and dusty. in one of them we have no difficulty in recognising the weather-tanned lineaments and impassive expression of john dawes. the other countenance--well, we might have some difficulty in recognising the owner, might excusably hesitate before pronouncing it to be that of our friend, gerard ridgeley. yet he it is. for those few months of healthy open-air life have done wonders for gerard--have wrought a greater change in him than the same number of years spent under ordinary conditions would have done. they have, in fact, made a man of him. his frame has broadened and his muscles are set. there is a firm, self-reliant look in his face, now bronzed to the hue of that of john dawes himself, and he has grown a beard. in short, any one who saw him now would pronounce him to have become a remarkably fine-looking fellow. by no means all fun has gerard found that up-country trading trip. of toil--hard, prosaic, wearying--plenty has come his way. there have been times, for instance, when every muscle has been strained and aching with the labour of digging out the waggons, stuck fast over axle-deep in a mud hole--digging them out only to see them plunge in again deeper than ever; or again in offloading everything, and carrying the whole cargo piecemeal up some short but rugged acclivity impossible to avoid, and up which the great vehicles could only be drawn empty. half fainting beneath the burning glare of a well-nigh tropical sun--toiling amid the sheeting downpour of days of rain, and that too often on a ration of mealies or hard biscuit, and a little brack or muddy water--he has never yet dreamed of shirking, never complained. that trek, too, of nearly forty-eight hours over a parched land, where each expected water-hole was a mere surface of cracked and baked mud, and the oxen with hanging tongues and saliva-dropping jaws could hardly pull half a mile per hour, and the night was as brassy as the day, and their wanderings and divergences far and wide in search of the necessary fluid was rewarded with greater exhaustion than ever, and the red surface of the burning _veldt_ stretched grim and forbidding to the sky-line, mocking them now and again with a fair mirage--that terrible time when they sat together on the waggon in silence and wondering what the end would be, or rather when it would be, then, too, no word of complaint had escaped gerard. of dangers too he has borne his share. he can recall the horde of turbulent and aggressive natives crowding round the waggon of which he was in sole charge, when during a whole day his life and the lives of the two "boys" seemed to hang upon a hair,--nights spent in lonely watches, in an insecure and semi-hostile land, expecting the spears of predatory savages in the treacherous darkness. that other night, too, when he was lost in the _veldt_ and had to lie out in the open, with hardly time to construct a hurried enclosure and collect sufficient firewood ere darkness fell, and to this slender protection alone had he been forced to trust for the safety of himself and his horse. hardly till his dying day will he forget those terrible eyes flaming red in the light of his scanty fire, as a pair of prowling lions roared around his frail breastwork the long night through. these are but some of the dangers, some of the privations which have fallen to his lot. yet as he looks back upon them all it is regretfully. he cannot feel unqualified satisfaction that the trip is drawing to a close. for it is drawing to a close. with all its perils and hardships it has been a very fairly successful one, as the sheep and cattle which they are driving before them serve to show. so also do such other articles of barter as can be carried in the waggons, which latter, however, are travelling light; for nearly all the stock-in-trade has been disposed of. rumours have from time to time reached them in swaziland and beyond, with regard to the state of zulu affairs, and the latest of such reports has moved dawes to decide to avoid the zulu country, and re-enter natal by way of the transvaal. so to-morrow the southward course will be changed to a westward one, and the trek will be pursued along the north bank of the pongolo. during the months our friends had spent up-country, diplomatic relations between the zulus and the british had become strained to a dangerous tension. both parties were eyeing each other and preparing for war. seated on the waggon as aforesaid, our two friends are talking over the situation. "we had better give them a wide berth, ridgeley, until we get all this plunder safe home," dawes was saying. "even now we are nearer the pongolo than i like, and in the north of zululand there's a pretty thorough-paced blackguard or two, in the shape of an outlying chief who wouldn't think twice of relieving us of all our travelling stock, under colour of the unsettled times--umbelini, for instance, and that other chap they're beginning to talk about, ingonyama; though i don't altogether believe that cock-and-bull story about the blood-drinking tribe--the igazipuza. it's too much like a swazi lie. still, i shall be glad when we are safe home again." gerard made no answer beyond a half-absent affirmative. his thoughts were far away. in point of fact, although he looked back regretfully upon his past experiences and adventures, yet he was not entirely sorry that the trip was over. for he had not ceased to think of may kingsland's blue eyes and bright winsome face--had not ceased to wonder how the latter would look when he should see it again. and that would be very soon now. "my word, ridgeley, but you'll have some yarns to spin to old kingsland when we look in upon him on our way," went on dawes. "why, he'll hardly believe you're the raw britisher he was with on board ship! i never saw a fellow take so kindly to roughing it, and things. and you've filled out too, and become twice the chap you were all round." "i feel that i have," answered gerard, with something of a guilty start at the queer coincidence that dawes's thoughts should have been located on the same spot as his own. "and whatever this trip has done for me it's thanks to you. well, dawes, i don't mind telling you that i'm your debtor for life." "tut, tut, man! why you've been worth it all to me. we've had a rough time mind--a rougher time by far than i expected, or than a trip of this kind's got any business to be--and i never want a better mate than yourself, and i've known a good few fellows in that line, too. i say though, i wonder how your friend maitland would have got on in your place. not over well, i fancy. too much of a masher--collars and cuffs kind of a bandbox chap, you know--not even good enough for a store clerk." "he thinks himself many removes too good for me, i can tell you," laughed gerard, remembering the lofty contempt with which harry had reproached him for "turning counter-jumper," as he was pleased to put it. "he's a chap who won't come to over much good, i'm afraid," said dawes. "i wonder what has become of him." "so do i," said gerard. we don't see why the reader should share the enforced, ignorance of the two; wherefore we may as well state that harry maitland was at that moment seated on the counter of one of the most fifth-rate bars in maritzburg, swinging his legs and bawling out a not over-refined song for the benefit and amusement of an audience of loafers a trifle less drunk than himself; for, without wishing inordinately to moralise, the incident throws a suggestive side-light on the contrast of the divergence of the ways of these two english lads, each stranded on his own hook in a far-away colony. "let's saddle up and ride on ahead, and find a good place to outspan," suggested dawes. this was done, and the two were soon cantering further and further from the waggons. the country, which had hitherto been bushy and rolling, now began to assume a somewhat different aspect. high conical hills rose on either hand, their slopes streaked with black, forest-clad kloofs, and the two horsemen, wending their way beneath, noticed that the long winding valley they were pursuing was carpeted with a smooth, green, meadow-like sward. "i'm rather uneasy about those swazis of ours," said dawes, as they rode along. "they're brewing some dog's trick, i know. my impression is that they mean to desert. i can see by their sulky and hang-dog manner what it all amounts to, and this morning while they were sitting round their fire i happened to pass near enough to catch a word or two of their conversation. i heard `igazipuza' mentioned more than once. it's quite wonderful how this form of funk has sprung up along this border, and in fact it was a long way inside swaziland that we heard it." "yes. the wonder is that we got a single swazi to go with us. but is there really such a chap as ingonyama? you know the zulu country pretty well." "i never heard of him till lately," answered dawes. "still he may be some petty chief, who has suddenly sprung into fame, and has gathered around him all the ruffians of the zulu nation. well, a few days more will show. but i don't like our swazis turning rusty. if they make off we can't replace them, for this strip of country seems absolutely uninhabited. hallo!--quick--jump down, ridgeley!" this in harried _staccato_. for in rounding a spur, there, in front of them, right out in the open stood a fine bush-buck ram. roused by the tramp of the horses' feet he stood, his head thrown back, gazing curiously upon the intruders. the last idea apparently that occurred to him was that of flight. "two hundred yards sight, not too fine," whispered dawes, as gerard dropped into a sitting posture. but before the latter had time to press trigger the back was seen to leap high in the air, and fall over kicking; then, after another plunge and a kind of gasping bellow, it lay still. "by jove! what does that mean?" cried gerard. "it has been assegaied," said dawes. the buck was lying some thirty yards from the edge of the bush. out of the latter there now emerged a tall savage, who without deigning to take any notice of the presence of strangers, walked straight up to his quarry and proceeded to cut its throat with the blade of a huge assegai. this man, as the pair rode up to him, growled out a sullen "_saku bona_," and proceeded with his work of cleaning the buck, just as if they were not there. seen face to face he was unmistakably a zulu, and though of fine frame and splendid proportions, both agreed that he owned about the most villainous countenance they had looked upon for many a long day. his shaven pate was crowned with the usual black shiny ring, and he wore round his loins the usual _mutya_ of cats' tails. but they noticed that he was armed with several broad-bladed, close-quarter assegais, as well as two or three lighter casting ones, also a huge knobkerrie, and a full-sized war-shield of red and white ox hide. "it was a fine shot--or rather couple of shots," said dawes, as they stood watching the process. "look, ridgeley. the first assegai half ham-strung the buck just under the shoulders, the second must have gone through the heart, or very near it. yes, it's powerful throwing." to dawes's suggestion that he should sell them the buck which he had so deftly slain, or at least a part of it, the zulu returned a surly refusal. all the while he was cleaning the carcase he was devouring what he considered tid-bits raw--the heart, the liver, and part of the entrails. then making a cup of his two hands, he scooped up a quantity of blood which had collected in the hollow of the carcase, and deliberately drank it. gerard could hardly conceal his disgust, but there was something in the action that struck dawes. "who are you?" he asked. "of the people of zulu?" "of the people of zulu? _au_!" returned the savage in a sneering tone, as he flung the carcase of the buck across his shoulder. then standing drawn to the full height of his almost gigantic frame, his villainous countenance--rendered more repulsive still with the smears of blood from the bits of raw meat he had been eating--wreathed into a most evil grin, he shouted-- "where have you dwelt, _abelungu_ [white men], that you have never heard of vunawayo? of the people of zulu? _ou_! igazipuza. _the people who drink blood_." the last words were uttered almost in a roar--a roar of defiance and hatred and wild beast ferocity. the huge barbarian turned and disappeared among the bush. "we had better get on and find our outspan," said dawes, after the momentary silence which had fallen upon the pair. the apparition, coming as it did, had been rather startling. zulus are by nature well-mannered people, and the brutal rudeness of the man they had just met could betoken nothing less than the most undisguised hostility, but, worse than all, his last words were an abundant confirmation of the ugly rumours which had been taking shape of late with regard to this mysterious and redoubtable clan. "well, if this fellow is a specimen of them all, the igazipuza must be a lot of picked men, both in the matter of physique and character," said gerard. "i never saw a finer built chap, nor a more utterly irredeemable-looking villain. and he choused me out of my shot." "we may as well keep the affair dark as regards the other boys, but we'll take sintoba into counsel," said dawes. "the swazis would hook it at a moment's notice if they got wind of it. this is a good spot to outspan, and--here come the waggons." the rumble of wheels, and the sound of voices and whip-cracking drew near, and already the cattle and sheep came into view, scattering over the meadow-like valley bottom, and soon the waggons. then, having reached the spot, a broad level, which dawes had selected, the waggons were outspanned, and the oxen turned out to graze, and all hands who could be spared from the duties of herding were despatched to the adjacent hillside to cut thorn bushes. with these a fairly substantial kraal or enclosure was built, the two waggons forming one side of it, and into this the cattle and sheep were driven for the night. there was a lion or two still frequenting that broken and desolate hill-country, and any number of hyaenas or wolves, as they are called in south africa--and against such the thorn fence, frail as it was, constituted a fairly efficient protection; for wild animals are desperately suspicious of anything in the nature of a fence, and will hesitate to leap within it, fearing a trap. hardly were these precautions completed than the night fell, and then the cheery glow of the camp-fires shone forth redly upon the darkness, and the savoury contents of cooking-pots gave out a welcome aroma. but somehow a damp seemed to have fallen upon the spirits of all. the ordinarily light-hearted natives conversed sparingly and in subdued whispers, and even dawes and gerard could not altogether feel unaffected by the general depression. it was as though some hidden danger were hanging over them, the more terrible because mysterious. the night wore on, and soon all sounds were hushed but the rhythmic champ champ of the ruminating cattle, and the occasional trumpet-like sneeze of a goat, and, beneath the dark loom of the hills against the star-gemmed vault, the tiger-wolves howled as they scented the flock which they dare not approach. but it was upon the first faint streak of dawn that all the alertness of those two watchers was concentrated, for that is the hour invariably chosen by the savage foe for the sudden, swift, demoralising rush, which shall overwhelm his doomed victims before they have time so much as to seize their weapons in order to sell dearly their miserable lives. chapter twelve. mutiny. at the time when dawes and gerard were commencing their return journey from swaziland--having achieved, as we have said, a fairly successful enterprise--there began to get about rumours with regard to a certain tribe, or rather clan, which was credited with strange, and, to native ideas, most gruesome and repellent practices. the principal of these was a custom, or a rule rather, that each member of this weird confraternity should drink a portion of the blood of some human being slain by him. it need not be an enemy slain in battle, or even an enemy at all. any one would do, whether man, woman, or child. from this practice the clan was said to take its name--igazipuza--"blood-drink," i.e. "blood-drinkers." rumour could not yet quite locate its habitation nor its numerical strength. whether, again, it inhabited the grim natural fastnesses of the lebombo range, or the hill-country just south of the pongolo, was equally uncertain. what was certain, however, was that its sporadic raids, and the ruthless massacre of all who fell in its way, had about depopulated the strip of debatable borderland between the swazi and the zulu countries. kraals were deserted, and crops left standing, as the inhabitants fled northward in blind panic at the mere rumour of the approach of the igazipuza, so complete was the terror inspired by the very name of this ferocious and predatory clan. its chief was one ingonyama, a zulu, to which nationality belonged the bulk if not the whole of its members. indeed, on this consideration, if on no other, would dawes have scouted the imputed blood-drinking custom as absolutely mythical, for no one has a greater horror of coming in contact with human blood that he has not himself shed than the zulu, and even when he has shed it, he takes the earliest opportunity of undergoing a very elaborate series of purifying rites. true, he is far from unwilling to render himself liable to the latter process, but he is scrupulously particular on the point of the observance. the clan was far more likely to owe its weird name to the war-cry of its members than to any such legendary practice. but, however sceptical john dawes, and, through him, gerard, might be upon the point, certain it is that the swazis were firm believers in the lurid and repulsive legend; and, as dawes had said, the wonder was that any of that race had been induced to enter into their service at all; indeed, they had only done so as part of their bargaining. the cattle they had acquired would need herds and drivers, and these the swazi chiefs had agreed to supply as a portion of the barter. now the said chiefs, talking matters over quietly with dawes, had given their opinion that the existence of such a predatory clan was an undoubted fact. ingonyama was a zulu of rank, and a man of the qulusi tribe. he was known as a skilful and dashing fighter, and had gathered around him, in his mountain stronghold, an increasing number of kindred spirits, and now had rendered his name and theirs a terror to the whole northern border. that cetywayo should allow such a growing power to spring up within the pale of his own rule was accountable perhaps by the consideration that, pending his quarrel with the english and the probable invasion of the country, he could not afford to alienate so valuable an ally as this influential vassal; also, it might be, by the fact that ingonyama, over and above his skill and valour as a war-chief, was accounted a witch-doctor or magician of no small cleverness and renown. such, then, was the nature of this new form of terror which overhung the return path of the trading expedition; and gazing up at the fantastic contours of the succession of conical hills, and the gloomy belts of forest around their base--the wild fastnesses of this fierce horde--every man who took part in that trek was fully capable of appreciating the peril of the situation. the night passed without disturbance; so, too, did the somewhat dreaded hour of dawn. while making up the fire for the early cup of coffee, sintoba took the opportunity of saying to his master-- "there is going to be trouble, _inkose_. those swazi dogs intend to run away." "so?" said dawes, as calmly as though the other had told him the fire was rather difficult to light. "i heard them talking it over, and fulani says they told him all about it. they are coming to you in a body to ask for their pay, and then they are going to leave." "so?" said dawes again. "now, listen, sintoba. no one ever played me any such trick with impunity, and it is not going to be done to-day. do you and fulani stroll up to me while i am talking to them--quite quietly, you know, as if you were looking for a _ram_ or something which might be in the waggon. my answer to them shall not be given in a corner. now go away, or they will suspect." "what is to be the programme?" said gerard, when they were alone; for although far from having attained dawes's ease and fluency in the zulu language, still he had learned a great deal, and understood the burden of the above, if not every word. "simplicity itself, ridgeley, as you'll see directly," replied dawes, sipping his steaming coffee with the utmost deliberation. "but i think our swazi friends will not shape a course for their own country to-day. ah, here they come." the swazis, to the number of six, were approaching from their side of the camp. it could be seen that they had rolled up all their effects into bundles, which were lying where they had slept. their spokesman, a tall, lanky, wolf-faced fellow, named kazimbi, asked if they could speak to the inkose. "not yet, kazimbi," replied dawes, imperturbably. "wait until i have done my coffee." the men drew back and stood talking in smothered whispers. dawes finished his cup, and filled himself up another, taking rather longer over it than he would ordinarily have done. then he lighted his pipe. "now i am ready," he said, rising and strolling over to the waggon, where he seated himself on the disselboom. gerard, who had hardly been able to restrain his impatience, followed. "the people want to go home, inkose," began kazimbi, when they had ranged themselves in front of the two white men. "they are tired." "or frightened?" said dawes, quietly. "they are grateful to you, inkose, and call you their father. but the way is long they say, far longer than they expected it would be when they were induced to leave their own country. they are tired and footsore and want to return." "that is not all, kazimbi. they are frightened." "_whou_!" exclaimed the man with a half smile, and bringing his hand to his mouth with a rapid gesture. then realising the futility of any further humbug, he said. "that is so, inkose. we amaswazi are not as you white people. the amazulu hate us. there is an _impi_ of them sent to harry our border, to kill our people, although we are not at war. we fear to go any further. this is the country of the igazipuza. we fear them. we do not want to be killed by the igazipuza." and an emphatic hum of approval arose from his compatriots at the speaker's words. "i cease to wonder that the amazulu despise you," said dawes, calmly. "i cease to wonder that brave men such as they should look upon you amaswazi as a nation of dogs, when six of its men, at the first chance of danger, wish to run away, and leave those who have paid and fed them, to bear its full brunt. are you not dogs even to hint at such a thing?" the swazis looked at each other, sullen but not ashamed. "it is this way, inkose," pursued the spokesman. "it is we who are in danger, not you. the amazulu have no enmity against you white people. they will not harm you. they respect you. but it is us they hate. the igazipuza will kill us and drink our blood. we must save our lives while there is yet time." "now have my ears been filled with the words of a fool, kazimbi," replied dawes. "listen! you say you wish to return to your own country because you fear these igazipuza. you say in the same breath that they respect us whites and hate and despise you amaswazi. now are you not therefore far safer when with us, as part of ourselves, as the hands and feet of the people these igazipuza respect, than you would be when wandering through the country by yourselves? then indeed would they not cut the hearts out of you and drink your blood, o fool, kazimbi, tongue and mouthpiece of five other fools? and would you not deserve it?" disconcerted, abashed, and somewhat angry at the quiet but cutting irony thus turned upon him, kazimbi made no immediate reply, while murmurs of impatience began to arise among his countrymen. gerard, who had followed every word of the dialogue with the keenest of interest, noticed that sintoba--and fulani, the other waggon-driver, a big, strong, trustworthy native--had edged up close behind the group, though apparently engaged on some other business. the leaders, too, a couple of ordinarily intelligent native lads, were squatting hard by, watching the proceedings. none of these apparently were armed, whereas the swazis all carried sticks. "_au_!" exclaimed kazimbi sullenly, and throwing off all disguise. "pay us our wage, and let us depart." "if you depart it will be without your wage, which you will have forfeited by breaking your agreement and the agreement of your chiefs," said dawes. "are you prepared to face your chiefs with such a story? are you willing to throw away the wage of all this service?" but the malcontents were past reason. the turbulent murmurs grew in volume. "we must go!" they cried. "wage or no wage we will go. we do not want to be killed by the igazipuza." "well, i say you shall not go," said dawes, rising to his feet. "_hau_!" burst from the group. "_hau_! we are going now." and an insolent laugh went up. "stand! the first who moves is a dead man." the defiant laugh died in their throats. they gazed in direst consternation at the revolver presented full at them, at the resolute grey eyes behind it--at the two revolvers, for gerard, quick to grasp the situation had covered them with his. the complete turning of the tables was ludicrous. "we hold twelve lives here," said dawes, "and you are but six. the first man who moves will be shot dead, and once we begin shooting, in half a minute there will not be one of you left standing. now you, kazimbi, walk six paces away from the rest. only six." grey with apprehension, the swazi obeyed. no sooner had he gained the requisite distance than he was seized from behind by sintoba and fulani, and securely bound with _reims_. the others standing huddled together like sheep, still covered by the deadly six-shooters, whose dread capacities they knew only too well, were round-eyed with fear. and behind them they caught a glimpse of the two leaders, each armed with a broad-bladed stabbing assegai, which had come forth from some cunning place of concealment. "tie him across the waggon wheel," said dawes. and in a trice the spokesman of the malcontents was spread-eagled across the wheel, triangled in such wise that he could move neither hand nor foot. dawes took a couple of _reims_ from an after-ox yoke, and deliberately tied a knot in each. no longer was there any necessity to hold the others covered with the pistols. they were completely cowed. then speaking, he said-- "you are a set of miserable cowards, you amaswazi. you thought yourselves just strong enough to defy me and run away and leave me in the lurch, but you have found out your mistake. now this is my word to you. you will return to your duties as before, until i choose to dismiss you, and it will depend upon your future behaviour whether i shall fine you a part of your wage for this mutinous conduct or not. you will either do this or--face the other alternative. here it is. if you refuse, you may go. but you go without food or blankets or arms, not even a stick. very likely i shall follow you up in the bush, and shoot some or all of you. but i shall not shoot you dead, only in the leg or somewhere that will disable you. then when the igazipuza find you, as i have no doubt they will, it is no swift and easy death that will be yours. i should not wonder if they spent the whole day burning you with fire. even if you escape them and return home, what will your chief say to you for deserting me, and thus causing him to break his word, for by some means or other i will take care to let him know. but, first of all, i shall spend the whole morning flogging kazimbi here. i believe him to be the fomenter of all the discontent. i think he may very likely die under the lash before i have done with him, but am not sure. now take your choice. which is it to be?" concluded dawes, whirling the knotted _reims_ in the air, and bringing them down with a sounding swish upon the disselboom of the waggon. the swazis, completely cowed, stared stupidly at the speaker. kazimbi, triced up all ready for the lash, turned grey with fear, and moaned piteously for mercy. whatever course the others might decide to follow, he would not desert, he protested. he would be the white men's dog to the end of time, only let them spare him now. it was hard that his skin should depend on the decision of the others, he pleaded--drawing down upon himself the somewhat grimly ironical retort that, whereas he had been their spokesman, now they were his. "we will remain as before," said the others, almost immediately. "we will fulfil our duties until we are no longer wanted." "very good," said dawes, with the self-possession of a man who had foreseen this result all along. "untie kazimbi." on returning to where they had left their property, such of the swazis as possessed assegais found that those weapons had been removed. their sticks only were left them. then orders were given to inspan and the trek was resumed. as though to obliterate their former misconduct, the behaviour of the malcontents was admirable. but the eye of their masters was ever upon them. dawes and gerard, riding on horseback, had a knack of turning up here, there, and everywhere during the trek. no opportunity for desertion was allowed them. "i don't know quite what to think, ridgeley," said dawes, as they rode on a little ahead, about an hour before the evening outspan. "we've squashed their devilment for the time being, but, after all, we are very much at their mercy. the _schelms_ might hook it any hour of the night they chose, for all we'd be the wiser. we can't mount guard over them all night--besides, it's bad policy." "why shouldn't we mount guard over them all night--one of us by turns? it would be no joke if they did clear out. we should be mighty short handed with all the trek stock. besides, they might betray us to these igazipuza they seem in such a mortal funk of." "not the least chance of that. they'd get the worst of it themselves. besides the igazipuza know all about us by this time--even if they haven't been watching us all along. remember that fellow who killed our buck--vunawayo!" "the idea of being watched is distinctly demoralising," said gerard. "there's a sort of creepy, eerie feeling about the notion, don't you know." "i'm inclined to plead guilty to something of an error of judgment," said dawes. "a fellow of my experience ought to have known better than pooh-pooh any native story however tall. i didn't believe in the existence of these people, and now i do. the chap we met yesterday left us under no sort of doubt as to their existence. i'm afraid we shall have trouble with them yet. all this stock we've got along is temptation enough to any thieving gang. no. we ought to have avoided this border altogether, and trekked straight down to luneburg. well it's of no use now talking of what ought to have been done. we must just push on and trust to luck to get us through." nothing in nature suggested the brooding peril which overhung their path. the deep blue of the sky was without a cloud. the scenery of this beautiful wilderness, with its boldly outlined hills, was wild and romantic, but not forbidding. there was plenty of the smaller species of game to be shot for the going after--partridges and francolin, and a bush-buck or so--and the warm air was musical with the voices of ringdoves, with many a strange bird-call from the black strips of bush which belted the slopes of the hills. "hallo, hallo! what's all this?" said dawes, suddenly, as they rounded a spur. there was a prodigious flapping of wings, and a cloud of great white vultures rose from the ground to join a number of others which were wheeling lazily overhead. at sight of the horsemen, however, the swooping circles widened and the great birds darted off. in a moment they seemed to disappear. "here's a chap who can't fly!" cried gerard, eagerly, putting his horse at one of the _aasvogels_, who, thoroughly gorged, could only waddle along like a puffin. and then a cry of horror escaped him, and his face paled. boiling gently down the slope of the ground, where the vulture had let go of it, was a severed head--the head of a native child of about nine or ten years of age. grim and gory, with the eyes picked out by the carrion birds, the frightful object rolled. gerard felt nearly sick with horror. at the same time dawes's horse, shying violently, nearly unseated his rider. the slope of the hill here was covered by a low, bushy scrub. lying about among this, contorted into ghastly attitudes, were several bodies, all natives, and representing all ages and sexes. they had been torn by the vultures, and ripped and mangled by their slayers, and the appearance they presented to those who thus came upon them wholly unexpectedly in the midst of the wilderness was inexpressibly hideous and horrible. three of the bodies were those of full-grown men, the rest women and children--thirteen persons in all. they were covered with assegai-stabs, out of which the blood seemed yet to ooze, and they were all ripped up, a circumstance which pointed to their slayers being of zulu nationality. why had these poor creatures, thus travelling peaceably through the country--for fragments of mats and other articles pointed to the probability of it being a family trek--been thus fallen upon and ruthlessly butchered--men, women, and children, even to the month-old baby speared again and again on its mother's back? who had done it? the two white discoverers of the massacre looked at each other, and the mind of each shaped the same reply--igazipuza. a shadow passed between them and the sun, then another and another. the vultures, having become accustomed to the cause of their first alarm, had gathered again, impatient to drop down to their horrible feast. to gerard it seemed that all the virtue had gone out of the sweet golden sunlight, yielding place to a flaming brassy glare, and the atmosphere seemed to reek of blood. "poor devils!" said dawes. "they're `eaten up' and no mistake. we had better not let on about this to the `boys,' or all that diplomacy this morning is just thrown away. nothing on earth would keep them from taking to their heels." after all, it is human to err, and dawes for once was wrong in his judgment. had the swazis but stumbled upon the horrid sight, it would most effectually have killed in them any further desire to tempt their fate in a journey on their own account. they would have demanded nothing better than to hug the vicinity of the waggons as closely as possible. with a dire foreboding of impending peril upon them the two quitted the spot, and rode back upon their track, for they had come on ahead rather further than they had intended. they had not progressed far, when dawes said quietly-- "don't start, ridgeley. but if you can do so without turning your head, look up--to the left." gerard did so. high up on the slope of the hillside was a flash and shimmer of something. the slanting rays of the afternoon sun glinted upon the points of spears, upon the smooth surface of great shields. a group of armed savages sat watching the two horsemen. whatever their intentions might have been, whether hostile or the reverse, they made not the slightest attempt at concealment. there they sat--out in the open. had they been watching them when they discovered the massacre; could they, indeed, have been seen from that point of vantage? that these were the perpetrators of that barbarous deed dawes had little doubt. they were but few, certainly--a dozen at most--but how many more were concealed close at hand, ready to spring out upon them! it was a terribly trying situation. while feigning to talk at their ease as they rode along, the nerves of both of our two friends were strung to the uttermost. every moment might come the whiz of assegais from the bush, which in places grew right down to the path--every moment the roar of the war-shout, the swift and tiger-like charge. to gerard especially, less accustomed to peril than his companion, and by nature less cool, the situation was desperately trying; and by the time they reached the waggons, and the spot being convenient, ordered an outspan then and there, the dark cloud of peril hovering above them seemed to brood thicker and thicker. even the very sun seemed to set in a lurid sea of blood. chapter thirteen. the igazipuza. "bolted! every man jack of them!" thus john dawes, as he and gerard stood looking dubiously at each other in the faint sickly light of dawn. a thick mist lay heavy on the earth, so thick that, as the former said, a man could hardly see the end of the nose upon his face. the place occupied by the swazi herdsmen and drivers knew them no more, nor was there any trace of those worthies in or around the encampment. moreover, their traps had eke disappeared. the thing john dawes feared had come to pass, and, shaking his head, he could only repeat blankly-- "bolted! every man jack of them!" gerard could not but feel relieved in his innermost heart that this defection had not befallen during his period of watching. he and dawes had gone the round together when the latter had relieved him. then the swazis were rolled up, snug and snoring, in their blankets. an hour before dawn a thick mist had rolled up, covering everything, and then it was that their faithless retainers had seen their opportunity, and had slipped away under cover of its folds. "overhaul them? not we?" said dawes, in answer to gerard's suggestion. "this mist may last for hours, and even if it didn't they'll have made the most of their leg-bail by now, depend upon it. besides, it would be courting plunder to leave the waggons here in charge of `boys' only, as we should have to do if we started to chevy those _schelms_. no. we must get on as best we can without them, but it'll mean a goodish handful for you and me. we shall have to drive and herd the stock ourselves." "what if we have to?" said gerard, heartily. "it won't hurt us, and, for the matter of that, i dare say i could undertake the whole lot of it myself, leaving you as free as before." "you can't, ridgeley. sheep and cattle can't be driven in one lump. i wish we hadn't brought along that confounded small stock; taken something else instead, only we couldn't get it. now we'd better make coffee, and be all ready to inspan as soon as the mist lifts." they were seated at the fire, and had just filled up steaming pannikins of the strong black brew, when the sound of deep voices was heard, and immediately there appeared a group of figures out of the mist. that these were their defaulting retainers was an idea which the first glance served to dispel. there were more than twice the number; besides, the tall fine frames, the haughty poise of the head, the large war-shields, bespoke them zulus. they halted a brief moment as they came in sight of the fire, then strode up to half a dozen paces of the two white men, and halting again, eyed the latter in silence for a moment, and one of them said-- "_saku bona_." dawes, as he returned the greeting, with one quick keen glance scrutinised the group, and noted two things. the man they had met two days before, vunawayo, was not in it, and though all were fully armed, they had not, in accordance with zulu etiquette, deposited their weapons a few paces in the background. they, for their part, he fancied, looked meaningly at the two guns which lay beside himself and gerard, and ready to the hand of each. they were, as we have said, tall, fine men, and most of them ringed. but though they carried the large war-shield instead of the little ornamental shield usually employed on pacific journeyings, and were fully armed with assegai and knobkerrie, and here and there a battle-axe, their persons were bedizened by no martial gear--being, in fact, devoid of little other adornment than the _mutya_. these men, he decided, were either the whole or part of an "eating-up" expedition [note ], or they were members of the dreaded igazipuza. the zulus had squatted down on their haunches in crescent formation. there were fifteen of them. dawes handed them the large horn snuff-box he always carried. it was passed round, and for a few minutes they were all taking pinch after pinch in silent contentment. then one of them said-- "what have you got to sell, _umlungu_?" "very little," was the answer. "we are at the end of our trip, not at the beginning, and have got rid of nearly everything." "among the swazi dogs? why did you not come through the zulu country?" "we heard there had been too many traders there before us," replied dawes, unveraciously. "and in the part we did touch we could do nothing. the people were not inclined to trade." "are these all your people?" went on the zulu, with a glance at the four natal natives, who, sintoba excepted, had been gazing at them with a curiosity strongly dashed with awe. sintoba, however, had given them the "_saku bona_" as on terms of perfect equality, and they had returned it. "they are few to take care of so much property," went on the spokesman. "they are," said dawes. "we had some swazis--six of them--but they ran away in the night." "_whau_! they will not run far," said the zulu, and a meaning grin played upon the faces of his countrymen. "do you know sobuza?" asked gerard, handing them a huge pannikin of strong black coffee, well sweetened, of which, in accordance with custom, he took a preliminary sip. they looked at each other, and then followed a discussion as to whether it was sobuza the son of panhla, or that other sobuza who was once in command of the king's bodyguard, or sobuza the son of somebody else. gerard added that he didn't know who sobuza's father was, but his father's son, at any rate, was a chief in the udhloko regiment. "_ehe_!" cried the warriors in concert. "that is sobuza the son of panhla. he has his kraal by the intaba'nkulu. do you know him, _umlungu_?" "i did, once. but, next time you see him, ask him when he is inclined for another swim in the umgeni river." and then, as well as he could, he described the incident of the chief's misadventure, and how, indeed, he was able to come to his aid twice in the same day. the zulus listened attentively, and gerard hoped that his object in telling the story was gained, viz. to establish some sort of a claim upon their friendship in case they should belong to the dreaded freebooting clan. "do you belong to the chief ingonyama?" said dawes, when he had done. "ingonyama?" "yes." "ingonyama's kraal is out hlobane way. are you going to visit him?" said the zulu, in true native fashion avoiding a direct answer, and further, replying to one question by another. "we know not. perhaps, if we have time," answered dawes, rising. "and now, _amadoda_ [men], it is becoming light. we must get upon our road again." with magical suddenness the sun had burst forth. the sky overhead was a vivid blue, which had almost a shade of the most lovely green in it, in direct contrast to the white and solid masses of fleecy vapour which was giving way before the arrowy rays. the curtain of mist, rolling back from the slopes of the hills, was disclosing a carpet of sheeny dewdrops, sparkling, glittering in the sun like a sea of diamonds. dawes was about to give orders to inspan, when there burst forth from around the spur of the hill a most horrible and startling tumult. a wave of dark figures surged into view, shouting, whistling, leaping. on they poured like a pack of wolves. but some distance ahead of them-- fleeing for their lives, their eyes starting from their heads in deadly fear--coming straight for the camp, ran five or six men, natives, hard pressed by the surging mass in their rear. then arose from a multitude of fierce throats, drawn out into a half chant, half roar, but deafening in its thunderous volume, a most hideous and appalling shout-- "_igazi_--_pu_--_za_!" assegais hurled from the onrushing mass whistled through the air. one of the fugitives fell. in a moment a howling, raving crowd was around him, upon him, their tiger-like roars drowning the shrieks of the wretched man being literally hacked to pieces. another staggered into camp, and fell almost at gerard's feet, covered with spear-wounds. and in the fleeing refugees frenzied with terror, they recognised the treacherous and defaulting swazis. "save me, save me, father!" yelled kazimbi, rolling like a log at dawes's feet. "keep cool, ridgeley," muttered the latter. "don't fire a shot, on your life." anything more ferocious and appalling than the aspect of these savages as they poured like a torrent upon the camp it would be hard to conceive. there seemed to be hundreds of them. naked save for their _mutyas_, each had a red disc painted on his breast, and another between the eyes. they leaped high in the air as they ran, brandishing their assegais and great shields, and, roaring in long-drawn, bloodthirsty cadence, their terrible slogan. it seemed as though no living thing there, whether man or beast, would survive the blind fury of their overwhelming rush. and indeed it was a fearful moment for all concerned as they swarmed around the waggons. gerard, well-nigh carried off his feet by the surging rush, doubted not but that his last moment had come, as the sea of spear-blades, some red and reeking with blood, flashed in front of his eyes, as the deafening vibration of the hideous shout stunned his ears. still, his presence of mind never deserted him; still through it all he remembered dawes's emphatic injunction to keep cool and offer no violence. it was hard all the same, as he felt himself hustled here and there by the fierce horde. however, he was of strong and athletic build, and with a well-affected, good-humoured bluffness, he was able to push back the foremost aggressors without having recourse to any weapon. "what have you got to sell, _abelungu_?" shouted the wild crowd, with a roar of boisterous laughter. "we come to trade--we come to trade." "the way to trade isn't to raise all this abominable din," replied dawes, coolly. "sit down, can't you, and talk quietly." a roar of derision greeted this. "we are the igazipuza, _'mlungu_," they shouted. "ha--come forth, you dogs!" this to the swazi fugitives who had slunk under one of the waggons, in the desperate hope that these terrible and dreaded warriors might take their departure as suddenly as they had appeared. "come forth, dogs--come forth!" they vociferated again. and daring no longer hesitate, the wretched swazis crept trembling from their would-be hiding-place. "ha, you long-legged, wolf-faced jackal," cried a savage-looking villain, seizing kazimbi by the throat, and placing the point of his assegai against his breast. "what is your name?" "kazimbi, _inkose_!" faltered the trembling swazi. "kazimbi? _hau_! not much _iron_ about you," jeered his tormentor in a great mocking voice. "_whau_! i did not do that," he laughed, as some of the crowd behind wantonly or accidentally jogged his elbow, causing the blade of the assegai to pierce the chest of kazimbi, eliciting from that unfortunate a startled shriek, for the wound was a deep one, and the blood spurted forth in a warm jet. the bystanders yelled with laughter. the jest was excellent. "i did not do it, but now i will." and maddened by the sight of blood, the ferocious savage drove the broad spear blade up to the hilt into the chest of the miserable swazi, and continuing the blow by a swift, powerful, down-stroke, ripped open the whole body, which fell to the earth a horrible weltering mass. raising their terrific war-cry, these human wolves clustered around it, stabbing, ripping, hacking, till soon the only distinguishable remains of the wretched kazimbi was his bleeding heart, plucked out and reared aloft upon an assegai point. this shocking and appalling scene the two white spectators of it were powerless to prevent. themselves hemmed in by the fierce crowd, now infuriate in its growing blood-lust, their own lives hung upon no more than a hair. another of the wretched swazis was set upon and barbarously slaughtered, and then gerard could stand it no longer. scattering all considerations of prudence to the winds, he threw himself in front of the three remaining victims, and drawing his revolver--as being more readily handled than the gun which he carried--presented it full at the mass of infuriated savages. and dawes, himself hemmed in, seeing this, held his breath for the life of his young companion. "stand back!" thundered gerard. "stand back, you cowardly dogs!" the voice, the act, the deadly weapon pointing right in their faces, the resolute countenance and flashing eyes, had an extraordinary effect. that one man should thus dare to beard them, the dreaded igazipuza, in their might, to stand before their reddened spears in the thick of their blood fury, to wrest the prey from the raging lion in the act of devouring it, to throw himself between their wrath and a few miserable dogs of swazis, struck these ferocious savages as little short of miraculous. to the wild fierce hubbub there succeeded a dead silence. the forest of bristling spear-blades tossing aloft, dropped motionless. heads were bent forward and a sea of rolling eyeballs glared upon the intrepid form of the young englishman. then from every chest went up a quick, deep-toned gasp of wonder--of amazement. "who is your chief?" cried dawes, who had taken advantage of their momentary confusion to edge his way to the side of his young companion. "is this a horde without a leader? we are not at war with the zulu people that an _impi_ should `eat up' our camp and kill our servants. where is your chief?" "your servants have not been harmed, _umlungu_," said a voice in the crowd. "there they are, your amakafula. these were not your servants, only some miserable swazi dogs, who had run away from you, as you yourselves just now told us. have they not been well and rightly served?" the crowd had parted, making way for the speaker, in whom our friends now recognised the man who had been talking with them prior to the startling interruption. he with the remainder of the group now came forward. "well, three of them have been killed, let the rest now be spared," said dawes, who was not inclined to dispute the logic of the zulu's dictum, and whose matter-of-fact nature was in the last degree averse to running any quixotic risk on behalf of the worthless fellows who had treated him so scurvily. "and now, if the igazipuza wish to trade, let them sit down quietly and say so, if not, let them go their way in peace, and we will proceed upon ours." this was pretty bold, considering how absolutely at the mercy of these turbulent barbarians was the speaker and his mere handful of companions. but he thoroughly knew his ground. a bold and resolute attitude is the only one which commands their respect, as indeed gerard's intrepid and apparently foolhardy act served to show. and in pursuance of this idea he would not offer them even the smallest gift, at any rate until they became civil, lest they should construe the act into a concession to fear. "we want to trade, _abelungu_, but not here," shouted several voices. "not here. at the kraal of our father, ingonyama." "yes, yes. to the kraal of our father," repeated the crowd. "you have not enough people to drive all that stock," cried a voice. "we will help you." "we will--we will," echoed the crowd, with a shout of boisterous laughter. and tearing away the thin fence of bushes which enclosed them, the savages began to drive out the cattle and sheep, pricking them with their assegais, and roaring with laughter at the pain and terror of the poor beasts. "wait one moment!" cried dawes. "we have hardly anything to trade, and are returning home. it will be very inconvenient to us to go out of our way. take a couple of oxen and half a dozen goats as a present to your chief, ingonyama, and tell him we hope to visit him at some future time. now we will keep on our way." "no--no!" roared the crowd. "no--no! you cannot pass so near the kraal of our chief without paying him a visit. so come with us, _abelungu_. we will help drive your cattle." the tone though effusively good-natured was not to be mistaken. the best policy was to affect to believe the good nature genuine, and that these playful barbarians really were consumed with anxiety to show hospitality to the two white traders, instead of practically taking them prisoners. and that such they were admitted of no shadow of a doubt. in a second the minds of both had grasped the situation. if they refused to proceed to ingonyama's kraal, the igazipuza would assuredly plunder them of every hoof, for they were already driving off the stock--plunder them even it might be of the trek-oxen and the two horses. they might even take it into their heads to massacre them, but this was improbable. so making a virtue of necessity, and giving his companion a hint to do the like, dawes replied that since they and their chief were so anxious to have them as guests, why, they should have their wish. then he gave orders to inspan. shouting, singing, and indulging in horseplay the savages crowded round, watching the process. then as the waggons rolled slowly off, they would clamber into the huge vehicles, or hang on behind in clusters, roaring with laughter as some fellow tumbled off, or a whole bunch of them got jerked into the air by an unexpected bump. indeed, it became difficult to drive the oxen at all. gerard and dawes were riding their ponies, surrounded by the group of ringed men who had first visited their camp. these, though evidently men of authority, seemed little inclined to exert that attribute, and made no attempt to check the rowdiness and horseplay of the younger warriors. among these latter the poor swazis were having a bad time; being jeered and threatened, and in momentary fear of sharing the fate of their countrymen whose mangled corpses lay behind, another feast for the vultures. the natal natives were treated with more respect--especially sintoba, who, marching beside his span, seemed perfectly indifferent to all the brag and swagger of the armed crowd. indeed, once or twice, when they pressed him too close, he menaced them with the butt end of his long whip-handle. thus in the midst of their most unwelcome escort did our two friends proceed upon their enforced visit across the border of northern zululand. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . the process of carrying out sentence pronounced against anybody for witchcraft or other offence, and which may consist of the slaughter of the individual and the confiscation of his cattle and wives, or the massacre of himself and his whole family, or even of his whole kraal. chapter fourteen. "the lion's den." the principal kraal of the igazipuza lay in a great natural crater, surrounded by cliff-crowned heights. like all the zulu kraals it wore an excessively neat and symmetrical appearance in its perfect circular formation; the dome-shaped huts, which could not have numbered less than five hundred, standing between the double ring fences, which latter rose as high as a man's chin, and being constructed of the thorniest of mimosa boughs tightly interlaced, presented a formidable _chevaux-de-frise_ to whosoever would cross or break through them. it was a large and imposing kraal, as became the residence of an influential chief, the head quarters of a powerful clan. the situation of the place had evidently been chosen with no insignificant eye to strategy. shut in by its amphitheatre of heights, the bushy hollow wherein it lay was accessible from one side alone, and that could only be approached by an exposed and toilsome climb up a long and rugged slope. a sentinel posted on the heights around could descry the advance of an enemy for miles, and all the fighting force could concentrate their efforts on the one accessible point. of course a couple of field-pieces planted on the nearest cliff could have banged the place to rubbish in half an hour, but to foemen armed as themselves, or even with rifles, this stronghold of the igazipuza was a very formidable fastness indeed, and not far short of impregnable. all these points did dawes and gerard take in as, upon the afternoon of the third day following their compulsory enterprise, the waggons creaked and groaned behind their panting, toiling spans, up the rugged acclivity aforesaid, whither their live stock, urged on by its very willing if self-constituted drivers, had already preceded them in a now vanishing cloud of dust. they noticed, too, on gaining the ridge whence they could look down upon the great kraal lying a mile or so before and beneath them, that the valley was one of considerable area, and though bush-clad was green and grassy. there was yet one thing more they noticed. rising abruptly from the bush, about a mile and a half in the rear of the kraal, was a conical tooth-shaped rock, the more noticeable because it seemed to have no business to be there at all. it was a kind of excrescence on the natural formation of the ground, which was there smooth. yet this strange pyramid, with its precipitous cliff-face, thus shot up abruptly to a height of nearly a hundred feet. their cogitations on this and other matters were interrupted suddenly, and in a manner which was somewhat alarming. from the tree-clad hillsides arose the same wild roaring shout which had preceded the massacre of the unfortunate swazi runaways, and they beheld charging down upon them from either side a band of armed men, shaking their shields and assegais by way of adding to the strength and hideosity of the uproar. "all this dancing and bellowing is getting just a trifle thin--eh, ridgeley?" said dawes, with a touch of ill-humour, as the savages came surging round the waggons, and amusing themselves by yelling at, and now and again goading, the already panting and terrified oxen. the swazis, who had not dared leave the sides of their white protectors, turned grey with fear. this was too much like what had preceded the slaughter of their companions. but the zulus in the present instance confined their aggression to mere boisterous noise. and then the kraal in front seemed suddenly in a turmoil. heads could be seen peering over the palisades, and another body of warriors came swarming from its gates. these advanced, marching in regular orderly column, to meet the wild uproarious crowd which was swaying and surging around the slowly progressing waggons; and as they approached they began to sing. the burden of their song might be translated in this wise-- "ho! the lion's teeth are sharp, they bite, they tear; and the land is white with bones round the lion's lair. lo! the prey comes home of itself to the lion's den, where the lion's cubs grow fat on the blood of men. ha, ha, ha! grow fat on the blood of men!" the repetition of this ferocious refrain was, under the circumstances, anything but reassuring; the fell imagery of it only too alarmingly plain. were they not indeed walking of themselves right into the "lion's den"--the lair of this savage and freebooting chieftain whose very name meant lion in the zulu language! however, there was nothing for it but to preserve a cool and unconcerned demeanour, as the singing warriors drew near; and thus marshalled, amid an indescribable din, the shrill chatter of women and children, the clamourous yelping of a hundred curs, mingling with the rattle of shields and assegai hafts, the rumble of tramping feet and the deep-toned, measured war-chant of the warriors, our two friends made their entrance into the igazipuza kraal, after a fashion which, as gerard remarked, was a cross between a procession to the scaffold and a caesar's triumph. dawes had wanted to leave the waggons outside, but this his escort--or captors--would not hear of. they must all enter, had urged the latter. to act otherwise would be to make the reception invalid, maimed, unlucky. they could go out again afterwards if they liked, and dawes for his part sincerely wished they might. large as it was, the open space in the centre of the kraal, was nearly filled up with the two waggons and spans of oxen, besides their cattle and small stock which had been driven into it. a bush had now fallen upon the swarming throng, for dawes had intimated his desire immediately to see the chief; and heads were bent forward in eager curiosity, and voices were hushed to whispers as, escorted by a group of ringed men, he and gerard, leaving their waggons in charge of sintoba and the other driver, but still inspanned, were ushered upon that errand. the chief's hut was no larger than the others, nor was there anything to distinguish it from them, except perhaps an open space in front of it. it faced, too, a gate in the inner kraal, and through this our two friends were marshalled accordingly. the chief, ingonyama, was a large, stoutly built zulu of about fifty. he had a shrewd, intelligent face, and his shaven head, surmounted by the inevitable _isicoco_ or ring, rendered his high broad forehead almost commandingly lofty. his jaw was square and resolute, but there was a shifty look in his somewhat deep-set eyes--a look of cunning which was uncomfortably suggestive of treachery. his nails, after the custom of zulus of rank, were enormously long and claw like. such was the outward appearance of the chief of the redoubted igazipuza. he was seated on a dried bullock-hide in front of his hut. a large white war-shield was held above his head to shelter him from the sun. beside him sat his favourite _induna_, and in the mighty frame and evil countenance of this man, our two friends recognised the rival hunter who had so inopportunely stepped between them and their game a few days previously, vunawayo. dawes, knowing in such matters, and, moreover, keenly alive to all that passed, observed that the head-ringed men, who had marshalled them into the presence of the chief, sainted the latter with almost royal acclamation, although they did not give the "_bayete_," [note ], a fact which, taken with the white shield held above ingonyama's head--a royal custom--struck him as significant. he, himself, merely greeted the chief in the ordinary way, "_saku bona_." the greeting was acknowledged, rather stiffly. then ingonyama spoke-- what he saw before him was strange, he said. here was a man who spoke with their tongue fluently, though a white man--who was conversant with their customs. yet this man, with his companion, appeared before him with arms in hand, came right up to him, their host and entertainer, holding guns. and the chief cast a meaning glance at the weapons. "yes, i allow it isn't precisely in accordance with good manners, as zulus understand them, to do this," returned dawes. "but then neither is it for a crowd of people to rush into my camp and kill three men under my nose--insist on my accompanying them whither i don't particularly want to go--and drive off my cattle in that same direction to ensure my following them. yet this is what your people have done, o chief of the igazipuza." "am i armed?" spake ingonyama, very conveniently ignoring the other's explanation and complaint. "behold me," stretching forth his hands; "i have not even a stick." this was true. yet if the redoubted head of the igazipuza could afford to sit unarmed, surrounded by his fierce warriors, in perfect safety, it was an experiment which dawes, in the light of recent experience, had no intention of trying. indeed, as regarded himself and his companion, he considered it a highly dangerous one. to submit to coercion well-gilded and concealed like a pill, was good policy up to a certain point. when such coercion took the form of open and undisguised bullying, to submit was impolitic. in fact dawes had resolved at all costs not to submit. "it is as the chief says," he replied. "but if the chief is not armed, all his people are, and they are numerous. now we are but two men--we are our own chiefs and people, too. under these circumstances it is our custom to carry arms, and it is a custom we cannot lay aside." "_whau_! this white man has a valiant tongue," muttered vunawayo with a sneer. "and now, o chief, we will begin by demanding redress," went on dawes in vigorous pursuance of his policy of boldness. "your people have treated us with something very like hostility--have forced us out of our way-- and have over-driven our cattle and oxen. yet we are not at war with the people of zulu, nor have we quarrel with any tribe or clan within the same." "surely there is a mistake," spoke ingonyama. "the hostility you mention is but their method of showing delight. they hoped to help make you rich by bringing you hither to trade. what have you got to sell?" "before i trade here, o ingonyama, there is another matter i would speak about," said dawes. "with our waggons were certain amaswazi. these people have been set upon by your warriors and three of them killed. what now shall we say when their chiefs ask, `where are our children whom we hired to you to drive your cattle? where are they, that they return not to their own land?'" "but they were not your servants, _umlungu_," said vunawayo. "were they not already fleeing to their own land, when our people met them and _turned them back_? they had broken faith with you." "yet what shall we say when their chiefs ask for their return?" pursued dawes. "what reply can we make?" "reply? say? say that the spears of the igazipuza are sharp," returned vunawayo with an evil laugh. "i think we have talked enough concerning a few swazi dogs," said ingonyama, taking snuff. "and now, _abelungu_, what have you got to sell?" "yes. what have you got to sell?" echoed a chorus of voices from the spectators. and then the two, glancing around noticed that they were encompassed by a considerable force of armed warriors, who had gathered in groups, casually and as if by accident, but in reality with meaning and design. the chief had risen, and intimated his intention of proceeding to the waggons. dawes, recognising the necessity of extreme wariness, offered no further objection. the armed warriors poured into the central space till it was full to overflowing, while others clustered about the outer side of the fence like a swarm of bees. ingonyama was graciously pleased to accept a large pannikin of gin-and-water, which, having half emptied, he passed on to his _induna_ vunawayo. he further relaxed over the gift of some snuff and a few other things of no great value intrinsically. with each present a chorus of thanks burst from the throats of all the spectators. this became a perfect roar as a gaudy umbrella, striped with all the colours of the rainbow, was added to the gifts. "what is this?" said the chief, now in high good humour, laying his hand on a great tufted tassel-like thing, which protruded from a bale. "this? a skin. fine one, isn't it?" answered dawes, dragging it forth. and, unrolling it, he spread out the skin of a huge lion. a great shout went up. "_hau_! the thing that roars! the thing that roars!" cried the warriors, in accordance with the strange custom which obliged them to use some other term to express the word which happened to be the name of their chief. [_ingonyama_, means "a lion."] ingonyama's eyes sparkled. "wonderful!" he cried. "wonderful! it is, indeed, a great skin! _whau_!" and spreading it out, he stood contemplating it admiringly, walking around it and every now and then stooping to touch the massive mane, the great tufted tail. and in fact a fine skin it was, and had been well taken off and preserved--head and claws complete--even the skull, with the jaws and teeth. "and was it this one hole that let out the life?" said the chief, pointing to a single bullet-hole fair between the eyes. dawes nodded. "and where was it killed?" "in swaziland. i killed it." "_ha_! my ghost has grown fat and large upon swazi dogs," said ingonyama, the reference being to the zulu belief that every man has one or more guardian spirits which take the shape of some animal, and his of course, would be the lion. "i would possess it," he went on. "what is the price?" "i had not intended to trade it," answered dawes. "but since you particularly want it, ingonyama, ten cows is the price." "_au_!" cried the chief, with well-feigned amazement. "it is not worth five. ten cows? _mamo_! was ever such a thing heard!" "i told you i did not want to trade the skin. you asked me my price and i have named it. it is too high. good. we are both satisfied." and dawes proceeded to roll up the skin with the most perfect coolness. "wait--wait! do not be in a hurry. let us talk," said ingonyama, while a murmur of astonished indignation went up from the warriors. who was this dog of a white man who laughed at the wishes of their chief! they began to grip their assegais significantly. "it is too dear," went on ingonyama. "yet i would have it. take seven cows." "my price is ten, and it is not a great price. consider. if the chief of the igazipuza were taking a new wife, he would require to pay more than that for her. is not a splendid lion's skin like this of more value than the mere price of a girl? look at the size of it, the strength and blackness of the mane, the fine preservation of the head and teeth." and again the trader jerked open the skin, before the eyes of the covetous chief. "_ha_!" said the latter. "i am not sure it will be a lucky deal for me. the lion is my `ghost,' _umlungu_, and see! this one has a ball between the eyes--between the eyes has its life been let out." "may that never be your own lot, ingonyama," said dawes. and as he uttered the words some strange instinct moved him to fix his eyes full upon those of the chief. under the circumstances the look was a significant one. "_hau_! this begins to look like _tagati_," [witchcraft] muttered vunawayo, scowlingly. "and `the tooth' is near." "take ten cows then," said ingonyama with a sigh. and he stretched forth his hand to take the skin. but dawes did not tender it. "where are the cows?" he said. "may i not see them?" "they are out grazing now, _umlungu_. at milking-time they will be here. then they shall be driven to your herd." "quite so. and then the skin shall be carried to your hut, o chief," returned dawes, coolly. "and now i will drive my waggons hence and outspan them outside the kraal." then he proceeded to give orders to his native servants as unconcernedly as though he were starting from maritzburg instead of moving through the armed ranks of hundreds of lawless and turbulent savages. in the evening the ten head of cattle were duly delivered. they were indifferent-looking beasts for the most part. dawes surveyed them critically. "i don't know that old ingonyama hasn't done us now, ridgeley," he said. "these are weedy looking brutes, but three, or perhaps four of them, ain't bad; and i suppose we must take what we can get. i shall be glad enough to say good-bye to this place, and as soon as the stock and things are rested, we will try our hand at trekking away. and now let's take the skin over." followed by sintoba, bearing the lion's skin, the two proceeded to ingonyama's hut. as before, the chief was seated outside on a bullock-hide, with vunawayo and half a dozen other _amakehla_, or ringed men, around him. this time he waxed quite friendly and conversational, and invited his involuntary visitors to sit down and drink _tywala_. this liquor, which is a species of beer brewed from maize or millet, was brought in huge bowls of baked clay. a gourd was apportioned to the two white men, but the zulus contented themselves with the simple process of picking up the clay bowl and drinking therefrom; and gerard, who had seen some beer-drinking among natives, still found room for astonishment over the enormous quantities which his present entertainers were able to absorb. the sun had gone down, and the afterglow had faded red on the surrounding cliffs, then merged into the pearly grey of twilight. the picturesque circle of the great kraal was alive with the figures of its wild denizens, lounging in groups or stalking among the huts. files of girls returning from the spring, calabash on head, made melody on the evening air, lifting up their voices in song as they walked; and though the strain was monotonous and barbaric, the effect was not unpleasing; and the deep tone of men's voices mingled with the shrill laughter and shriller shriek of children. the wavy glow of fires shone out upon the deepening twilight, and above the domed huts rose many a smoke reek. "what a strange rock that is," remarked gerard, referring to the great solitary pyramid which we have already described, and which, looming out in its isolation, seemed to gain in size. "what is it called?" "it is called _izinyo_--`the tooth,'" answered vunawayo, after a momentary hesitation on the part of any one to reply. "that is a strange name," said gerard. "is it so-called because of its shape?" "and because _it eats_." "it eats!" echoed gerard, mystified. "how? what does it eat?" "wizards, and--other people," said vunawayo, darkly. and both gerard and dawes thought they saw more than one significant look exchanged, and both remembered the muttered remark of their informant while they were chaffering over the lion's skin. that remark stood now explained, and in a very grim and boding sense did the explanation strike them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . the salute royal, only accorded to the king, as distinct from the "inkose" or "baba" ("chief father"), employed in hailing a lesser potentate. chapter fifteen. "the tooth." in announcing his hearty desire to bid good-bye to the igazipuza kraal as soon as possible, john dawes had stated no more than the barest truth, but its fulfilment seemed destined to be postponed indefinitely, failing the conversion to his views of the igazipuza themselves. they, apparently, did not share his aspiration. they were not nearly so anxious to part with him as he was to part with them, and objected most strenuously to all and every suggestion to that end. in sum, he and his companion and servants, and all their possessions, were practically prisoners. ingonyama's motives in thus holding them in restraint they were up till now at a loss to fathom. it was not trade, for they had long since bartered everything negotiable. it certainly was not friendship, for the chief's manner had become sullen and distrustful, not to say gruff. john dawes, who understood natives thoroughly, and knew that they are nothing if not practical, confessed himself utterly baffled, failing a motive. once they had actually inspanned, but before they had trekked half a mile from the kraal they were met by a large force of armed warriors, and deliberately turned back. there was no help for it. might was right, and comply they must. but, after that, under pretence that the chief had forbidden any grazing within a certain radius of the kraal, all their trek-oxen were driven away to a small outlying kraal in a distant corner of the hollow. no obstruction was placed in the way of them looking after the animals, counting them occasionally, and so forth. but any attempt at inspanning was very promptly frustrated. as with the chief, so with his followers. taking their cue from him, these had become more and more insolent, ruffianly, and bullying in their demeanour. they would swagger around the waggons, hustle and annoy sintoba and the other native servants, pull things about, and behave in general in such fashion as would almost put to the blush a crowd of the worst kind of british yahoos. once, indeed, yielding to an uncontrollable impulse of exasperation, gerard had given one of these sportive young savages a sound thrashing. it was an imprudent not to say a perilous thing to do. but again a bold attitude answered, and the igazipuza became a little more respectful. days had merged into weeks, and weeks had almost lengthened into months, and still no chance of getting away. taking sintoba into complete confidence the pair would, on such few occasions as they could find themselves absolutely and entirely beyond the reach of prying eyes and ears, discuss the situation earnestly and in all its bearings. the only motive either dawes or sintoba could guess at was that an anglo-zulu war was imminent, if it had not actually broken out. this would supply a sufficient reason for their detention. ingonyama was holding them as hostages. in the event of hostilities with the british, his intention was probably to carry them captive to the king's kraal. or he might be keeping them with the design of sacrificing them to the manes of such members of his clan who might eventually be slain. this aspect of the case was not a pleasant one. seldom indeed could they feel sure they were out of hearing of their gaolers, out of sight never. the latter were ever around them, on one pretext or another. if they so much as strolled down to a water-hole to take a swim, a group of armed warriors was sure to start up at some unexpected point, and hover around them until their return. if they rode out to see how their stock was getting on, it was the same thing, a band was sure to make-believe to be proceeding in the same direction, and they had long since ascertained that the sole entrance to the place was indefatigably watched and strongly guarded day and night. now, all this surveillance, at first galling and irksome in the extreme, eventually became more serious in its results. it told upon their nerves. it was ominous--depressing. they were as completely shut away from the outer world in this wild and remote fastness of the igazipuza as though shipwrecked on a desert island. those grey cliff walls that encircled them became hateful, horrible, repellent. they were even as the walls of a tomb. "well, ridgeley, i own this is getting serious," said dawes, one morning as they sat on the waggon-box moodily smoking the pipe of bitter reflection. "and the worst of it is i see no way out of it. i've been in a queer corner or two in my time, but never did i feel so thoroughly like a rat in a trap as now. there's no way of climbing these infernal cliffs; leastways, not with our horses, and without them, we might almost as well stop here, for we should be overhauled and lugged back to a dead certainty. the way we came up is no go, either." "no, it isn't," agreed gerard, despondently. "i don't want to croak, dawes; but it strikes me the tenure of our lives is not worth a great deal to any one who thought to do a good spec by purchasing it." the suspense, the daily, hourly apprehension under which they lived, had made its mark upon gerard, and even his cheerful spirits and sunny good humour had begun to fail him. he thought of his young life, and the joy and exhilaration of living which until lately had been his. he thought of those he had left behind him in the old country. but, most of all, full oft and continually--and he had plenty of time for thinking, little else, in fact--he thought of may kingsland, and that bright golden day and happy peaceful evening he had spent in her society. how would she feel, he wondered, when she came to hear of his death--god grant it might not be a barbarous and lingering one--at the hands of cruel and merciless savages? "don't lose heart, ridgeley, whatever you do," said dawes, looking at him earnestly. "the situation is pretty black, but, please heaven, we'll get through to talk over it snug and safe at home one of these days. the worst of it is that it's all my doing you're in this fix at all. that's what i blame myself for, my lad." "then don't think of doing that," returned gerard, with all his old alacrity. "aren't we in it together, share and share alike, risks as well as good times. come now, dawes, if i think you're bothering over that, it'll go far towards knocking the bottom out of me. hang it all, can't we get on the horses some dark night, and make a dash for it?" "we can't, ridgeley, and for this reason. it would simply be the death warrant of all our people if we succeeded, and of ourselves if we didn't. i'm not a more straight-laced chap than most, but, you see, i can't exactly bring myself to slope off and leave sintoba and the rest of them in the lurch. no. we must either march out as we came, with all the honours of war, or--stay here." "i never thought of it from that point of view, i admit," said gerard. "there is another scheme i've been plotting, but it don't pan out overmuch," went on dawes. "if one could manage to smuggle you out, by hook or by crook, you might find your way to ulundi, and lay the case before the king, always provided there's no such thing as a british war, of course. but, bar that event, cetywayo would soon bring master ingonyama to book. he's a straight man, is cetywayo, and well-disposed towards englishmen, though we have been badgering him more than enough of late. but he'd never allow a couple of british subjects to be put upon in this outrageous manner by one of his own subordinate chiefs." "by jove! that is an idea," said gerard. "but would it be better than knocking up a rescue expedition among our own people--in natal for instance?" "rather. about five hundred per cent, better. why such an expedition would mean a young war, and do you think government would embark on that for the sake of a brace of poor devils of traders? not much. it'd say we travelled at our own risk, and if we'd got into difficulties we must get out of them on the same terms. even if otherwise, just think of the red tape! no. my plan is the best, and, i'm afraid, the only one." for a few moments both men sat puffing at their pipes in silence. gerard felt his pulses beginning to throb already with the excitement and prospect of such an adventure. then he said-- "it won't do, dawes; i'm not going to leave you. we must go out together or not at all." "that's no sort of good sense," was the other's rejoinder. "i shall be all right here, and it's the only way out of the difficulty." "but, on your own showing, they will take it out of you," urged gerard, speaking quickly. "didn't you give that as a reason just now for not leaving sintoba and the others behind? you go, and leave me to take my chance here." "yes; but the cases are different, i can manage them better. you see, i understand them thoroughly, and you, after all, are a good bit of a novice. still, you know enough of the country and people to get along among them, and find your way to ulundi as quick as possible; but if you were left here on your own hook you'd likely make a mess of it. tell the first you meet you are the bearer of a message to the king, and they will be bound to help you. they dare not refuse. we must pan out the thing, though, with every care. the main difficulty will, of course, be that of getting you clear out of this place, in the first instance. the rest is simplicity itself in comparison." in the dead of night, by the light of a lantern, the two would sit in the waggon-tent, while dawes, with surprising accuracy, drew from memory, and in as small a compass as possible, a map of that section of the zulu country which comprised their present place of captivity and the king's capital and night after night, with their heads together, they would sit studying this rough plan, while dawes pointed out the general features of the country--the lay of the mountains and the most convenient and least frequented route to be chosen. with extra good luck, he reckoned gerard might make ulundi in a little over two days-- with ordinary luck it might take him four. but that cetywayo would order their immediate release he never entertained or uttered the smallest doubt. one day gerard saddled up his pony, and started off alone to see how their stock was getting on. and, indeed, it really seemed that he was alone, for strange to say, none of the igazipuza offered to accompany him, nor did he meet with a soul on the way. but between seeing nobody and being himself seen by nobody, he well knew there lay a wide difference, and he must be careful accordingly; indeed, he almost began to fear that this unwonted immunity from surveillance concealed a trap-- was designed to draw him into some indiscretion, which might be turned into a reason for his destruction. the intense longing to escape, however, soon overweighed all prudential consideration to the extent of causing him to scan for the fiftieth time every cranny and crevice in the face of the cliffs, which might by any chance afford exit. surely there was some such--a cleft, a gnarled tree, a concealed passage. hardly could he believe there was not. but, even as heretofore, he could not find it, and despondently he once more turned his horse to ride back to the waggons. suddenly the animal shied, and dropping his nose to the ground sniffed at something and then backed away, snorting. the white round object which had caused the alarm needed no second glance. it was a human skull. yet another lay there, its fleshless eye-holes staring upward from the grass. scattered around were fragments of broken bones. gerard looked up. in his meditative fit he had ridden abstractedly, not seeing where he was going. now he found himself at the foot of a great rock, and a cold shiver ran through his frame, for he recognised it as the rock called _izinyo_, "the tooth." it was the rock of slaughter--"the tooth that eats," as vunawayo had grimly put it. for various reasons he had always avoided this locality. he had no sort of an inclination to explore it--very much the reverse--and he feared lest in doing so he might unconsciously be offending the superstitions of the people. now, thus brought by chance to its very base, he looked up at it with a cold, creepy sensation of shuddering awe. he contemplated it much as a liberty, equality and fraternity "citizen" during the thick of the reign of terror, may have contemplated the guillotine, as an institution with which he might any day be called upon to cultivate a much closer acquaintance. he looked down at the shattered bones, then up at the cliff. this was the mode of death then. the victims were taken to the summit of this latter-day tarpeian rock and hurled therefrom. but as he looked something seemed to be flapping softly against the face of the cliff high overhead. ropes? _reims_? were people then _hanged_ from the brow--not merely thrown over? hanging was not a zulu method of slaughter. gerard was more mystified than ever. and with this mystification came a great and growing curiosity. as he was here he determined to explore further. he would take advantage of being alone and unwatched to ascend the rock. a horrible fascination, which was more than mere curiosity, seemed to beckon him on, and with it ran an instinctive feeling that the knowledge thus gained might possibly be of use to him. acting upon this impulse he rode round to the other side and began the ascent. the latter was not difficult. precipitous only on its front face, the further side of the pyramid, though steep, was smooth enough to enable him to ride nearly to the top. here, however, he was obliged to leave his horse and ascend on foot by a rough-hewn but well-worn path. the summit was large enough to hold about fifty persons. it was smoothly rounded, with a hollow depression in the centre. and as gerard's glance fell upon this, every drop of blood within him seemed to turn to ice. a sharp, tough stake, pointed at the top, rose upright in the centre of the hollow, and upon this stake, in a sitting posture, shrivelled, half mummified, was impaled a human body. the head lay over on the shoulder, and on the features, drawn back from the bared teeth in a grin of ghastly torment, was the most horrible expression of fear and agony. the eyeballs, lustreless and shrunken, stared upon the intruder with a stare that might haunt him to his dying day, and gazing upon the grisly contortion of the bound and trussed limbs--the terrible attitude--the foetid odour of the corpse--for in this dry atmosphere decomposition had been a long and gradual process--it seemed to the petrified and unutterably horror-stricken spectator that the tortured wretch must still have life in him. recovering by a strong effort of will some degree of self-possession, for the horrid sight had turned him sick and faint, gerard drew nearer to the corpse. the stake, burnt and hardened to a point, was of the _umzimbili_ or iron-wood. this was clearly not the first time it had been so used, and now as he remembered the skulls and bones lying beneath, he thought with a shudder on the numbers of wretches who might have suffered this most hideous of deaths. heavens! and might not he himself, and dawes, be called upon to suffer in like fashion, at the mercy, as they were, of this horde of cruel barbarians? he turned his face outward to look over the valley. the sweet golden sunshine, now declining, shed a softened and beautiful light upon the verdure of the bush, toning down the angles of the grey cliffs. blue smoke clouds curled lazily upward from the great circle of the kraal, lying below in the distance, and the sound of far-away voices floated melodiously, pleasingly upon the clear still air. it was a lovely scene, a scene that many might travel any distance to look upon, but to him who now gazed upon it from this grim and horrid golgotha it was darker, blacker than the tartarus of dante. then another sight arrested gerard's attention. along the brow of the cliff was a row of stout pegs driven firmly into the ground, and round each was tied a _reim_, or raw-hide rope, whose other end dangled over into space. these were what he had seen flapping overhead when he was below. with a shuddering loathing he drew up one of them. its end was not a running noose as he had expected, only a loop, so small that he could not even put his hand through it. what new horror did this represent? and then a quick, deep-toned ejaculation behind made him start--start so violently in the sudden unexpectedness of the interruption in the then state of his nerves, that he was within an ace of losing his balance and pitching headlong over the height. recovering himself, however, he turned to confront a tall zulu who stood contemplating him with an expression of ironical mirth, and recognised the great frame and evil countenance of vunawayo. "ha, _umlungu_!" said the latter. "so you have come to look at the point of the tooth?" "yes," answered gerard, as composedly as possible. "but, vunawayo, what is that?" "this?" said the savage, reaching up his hand to the point of the stake. "it is the point of the tooth--the part it eats with." "no; that, i mean," pointing to the impaled corpse. "_hau_! that is--its last morsel," replied vunawayo, with the laugh of a demon. "when the tooth bites, it bites hard. wizards--and such people. i told you it did." "what, then, are these used for?" went on gerard, showing the raw-hide rope which he had drawn up. "these? ha! not all who come here to be eaten by the tooth are bitten by its point. this loop you see was tied round a man's wrists. he was then flung over to the full end of the rope, and his arms being fastened behind him, were broken by the jerk. he dangled there until he dropped loose. the last to suffer in this way was a woman who had been a captive, and was taken to wife by the chief. she killed her newborn child, saying that she would die rather than increase the strength of the igazipuza. she did die--but she took a long time about it--a long, long time." "and who was the man who was impaled, vunawayo? what did he die for?" "be not too curious, _umlungu_," was the answer. "have patience. there may soon come a time when you shall attend at the `eating of the tooth.' have patience." to gerard, in his then frame of mind, it seemed that the other's tone was fraught with grim irony, with fell significance. "let us go down," resumed vunawayo. "ha! our meeting up here has been short and unexpected. but it may be that we shall meet again upon the point of the tooth, and then our meeting will be a much longer one. oh yes; we shall meet again up here," added the savage, with a sinister laugh, as he turned to lead the way down. and gerard, unnerved by these evidences of the sickening barbarities practised by this ferocious clan, could hardly bring himself on his return to tell dawes what he had seen. chapter sixteen. the attempted escape. dawes, prompt to discern that his young companion had seen or heard something to unnerve him, was not long in getting at the whole story of the latter's discovery. "it's a pity you turned your explorations in that direction, ridgeley," was his verdict, "for i'm afraid the result has knocked you out of time some--and it's still more a pity that vunawayo should have stumbled across you up there, because of course he saw that you were a bit upset, and it gives them a sort of a hold on us. well now, you see, my plan is the best in the long run. you must try and make a break for it, and see what you can do for the rest of us." but still gerard refused, refused uncompromisingly to leave his comrade alone in the power of these barbarians. at length it was agreed they should toss up which should make the attempt. "here, you'd better do the throwing, or you'll be swearing i've hocussed the coin," said dawes, with a dry smile. "by jove, i've tossed for many a thing, from drinks upwards, but never for quite such a life-and-death business as this. still, i hope you may win, for i tell you candidly you would stand a bad chance if left here. well, heads you go, tails i stay. what's it to be--two out of three, or `sudden death'?" "sudden death sounds unlucky. two out of three we'll say. you throw." "all right," said dawes, producing a shilling and contemplating it with that dry, quizzical look of his that did duty for most men's laugh. "her most gracious majesty isn't in it up here compared with ingonyama-- confusion to the latter. now--call." and up went the coin. "heads!" sang out gerard. heads it was. up went the coin again. this time "tails" turned up. "so far a draw. now for the casting vote," said dawes. "heads!" cried gerard again. "hurra--no. i've lost--though i've won the toss," he ended, as the coin, having wobbled indecisively, settled down, head uppermost, on the waggon-box. "that's as it should be," said dawes. "the next thing is to choose our time. a rainy, dark night would be the best. zulus, you know, hate being out of doors at night. they're as frightened of bogies as so many children. but there's no chance of any such luck, i'm afraid. well, we must just watch our opportunity." the latter came. two nights after the decision by lot there was a gathering and a war-dance at the igazipuza kraal. throughout the afternoon the warriors were parading and singing, and towards sundown there was a great beef-killing, at which gerard himself assisted, and in order to lull suspicion, affected great interest in the spearing of the doomed cattle, half of which, frenzied with apprehension and the clamour of the crowd, broke loose and temporarily escaped their slayers, affording much sport to the excited savages in hunting them down one by one, and slaughtering them, amid an indescribable uproar. "now, ridgeley, you have got everything you will require," said dawes. "the map, ammunition, everything. the row will be at its thickest in less than an hour. that will be the time. even the guards at the entrance to this hole will be so taken up watching the fun down here, you may be able to slip past them." but fortune was destined to prove unfavourable. as the moment for making the attempt drew near, and even john dawes the imperturbable felt his pulses beat quicker, messengers arrived from the chief requesting-- though the request was really a command--their presence at the gathering. it was disconcerting, at first. but dawes's keen faculties saw in the apparent difficulty his opportunity. the messengers were few in number, and eager to get back themselves to the scene of the festivities. he readily fell in with the request, and with great deliberation replied that they would saddle up their horses and ride over forthwith. this proposal, so far from being received with suspicion, excited no surprise. zulus are great sticklers for etiquette; therefore it struck the messengers as in no wise strange that the two white men should elect to put in their appearance with every adjunct of state at their command--to wit, on horseback. "god bless you, ridgeley," said dawes, with unwonted seriousness, contriving, under cover of saddling up, to exchange a firm hand-clasp with his young companion, unseen by the messengers. "when we get near the kraal, then edge off and make a dash for it. i'll give you the word." their outspan was some three or four hundred yards distant from the kraal. as they approached the latter, they could see that the war-dance was in full swing. in the red glow of the great fires the forms of hundreds of excited savages, in all their wild paraphernalia, showed forth weird, monstrous, fantastic, as they went through their barbarous performance, and the thunder of the war-song gathered in volume, swelling up to the star-lit heavens like the fierce roar of ravening beasts. gerard's heart was beating like a hammer. "now, ridgeley! now is your time!" whispered dawes, as the messengers who were escorting them had in their eagerness been gradually increasing their distance in advance. gerard, who had learnt promptitude in a sufficiently hard and practical school, said not a word. wrenching round his horse's head, for the animal was loath to part from its companion, he spurred away into the dark bush, straight for the head of the valley. and as he rode, from all the agonised suspense of his young heart, went up an unspoken prayer that he might succeed, that he might be the means of rescuing his companion from the deadly peril which lowered over him, which lowered over them both. the kraal was already left behind on his right, the wild tumult of the war-dance began to grow fainter. a puff of cool air fanned his face. he had almost gained the ridge. could it be--dared he hope--that he was after all to meet with no opposition? could it be that the guards had all been summoned to attend the revelry? ha! what was that? in the light of the stars--and south african starlight can be very bright--he saw dark forms running, converging on his line of flight, could even distinguish the white on their shields, the occasional glint on the point of an assegai. then a line of figures started up right before him, as it were out of the earth itself, barring his way, and a deep-toned, peremptory voice called upon him to halt. it was a critical, a fearful moment, yet he hesitated not. putting his horse right at the foremost, he charged through. and then the wild igazipuza war-cry rent the night, and he could hear the whiz of flying assegais past his head. even then he would not use a weapon--would not fire. like lightning it flashed through his brain that he must get through bloodlessly--without taking a life--or not at all. he might kill one or more of his assailants. he might even thus ensure his own escape; but in that case would he not be dooming to death his comrade? would not the latter be inevitably sacrificed? would not the revengeful and exasperated barbarians demand life for life, blood for blood? seldom, we trow, has one so young in years been called upon to face so difficult and delicate a dilemma, seldom has he disposed of it so resolutely, so judiciously. he heard the swarming rush of his pursuers as they charged down the hill on either side of him. his pulses bounded, and his steed, maddened with excitement and terror, snorted and tugged at the reins as the terrible slogan rang forth from those fierce throats, expressing in curdling meaning their veritable thirst for blood-- "_igazi--pu--za_!" and now with a thrill of unspeakable exaltation, he realised that he was going _downhill_, that he was actually outside that hated and ill-omened hollow which had been their drear prison-house all these weary weeks. every drop of blood in his veins tingled; every nerve thrilled. but the pursuers kept up their pace horribly, and the way was rough, fearfully rough. even the sure-footed basuto pony stumbled and floundered in the darkness; once or twice came down nearly on his knees. "_igazi--pu--za_!" the frightful shout thundered still in his wake, still as close as before. in the darkness, on the steep and ragged descent the fleet-footed savages could almost keep pace with the horse. with the very brief start he had been able to obtain, they would surely run him down sooner or later. his steed could not keep on at that pace for ever. besides, a hole, an excrescence in the ground, a false step, anything, and he would be at their mercy. on he kept. the air seemed to tear past his ears as he sped. the stars overhead were as a whirling wheel of fire-works. would not nature even come to his aid, afford him a hiding-place, a refuge? the rugged mountains loomed black to the sky in all their savage wildness. oh for a few miles of level stretch to yield him the precious start which should be the saving of him, the saving of them both! and then it seemed that his despairing wish was answered. a black line rose right across his way. it was a wide belt of forest land. here at any rate he might find hiding--shelter--some means of baffling the pursuers. for although the fierce shouts of the latter had long since ceased, not on that account did he flatter himself they had given up the chase. these bloodhounds would not abandon their prey so readily. even though the morning might see him a long distance from their haunt, yet would he by no means be safe. the igazipuza were drawn mainly from the aba qulusi clan, who inhabited almost exclusively the mountainous region of northern zululand. not among these could he look for help, for guidance in reaching the kraal of the king. and, indeed, could he so look to any? what if the war with the english had actually broken out? in that case he would be a lawful prey to the first armed band he should meet. the hand of every man, woman, and child in the country would be against him. the first thing, however, was to evade those now in pursuit of him, and with feelings of the deepest thankfulness, gerard plunged into the dark, welcome shades of the forest. but here a new drawback, a new peril arose to confront him. the ground was hardly less rough than the open hillside, and being in shadow, he could not see to guide his horse, with the result that now and again the animal would crash right into a bush, or stumble and slide over the roots of a tree, at the same time nearly braining his rider against a limb of the same. or a buck would start up and rush away headlong through the covert, making a prodigious clatter, and, as sound travels far at night, the keen ears of his enemies would have no difficulty in following him by their sense of hearing alone. how long he thus pursued his course gerard could hardly have told; but at length the deep-drawn breathing and stumbling gait of his steed warned him that it was high time the latter had a rest, however brief. so he dismounted, and having listened a moment, loosened the girths, but without removing the saddle, and then stood listening again. if he had come upon this expedition in search of adventure, assuredly he had found it, thought gerard, as he stood there by his horse, with the bridle in his hand ready to mount at the very first alarm; as he stood there in the midnight darkness of the forest, listening with beating heart for the stealthy footsteps of his pursuing enemies. as a situation of wild, adventurous peril, assuredly this one would be hard to surpass. he might thus have been standing about half an hour, when a faint, far-away rustling was borne to his ears. at the same time his horse began to show signs of uneasiness. that was enough. in a moment he had tightened up the girths, and was in the saddle again. the rest, though brief, had meant new life to the horse. the game little basuto stepped briskly out, but the kloof suddenly narrowed into a steep defile, a dry watercourse in fact, and here the hoofs made such an abominable clatter on the stones as to bring gerard's heart into his mouth. it could be heard for miles in the still silence of the night. on he pressed, obliged to follow the lay of the land--a long, narrow defile between steep mountain slopes. would it never end? it seemed not, as each fresh rise surmounted, only revealed the same winding gloomy gorge, black in the darkness. another rest, this time of longer duration, and he pressed on again. and then as the first streak of dawn began to tinge the sky, gerard noted that he had got clear of the mountains, and was riding over rolling, bush-clad, and comparatively level country, but always gradually descending. one thing puzzled him however. by the position of the rising dawn he had travelled too much to the westward. that he had not travelled in a circle he felt sure. then as the dawn lightened he saw in front of him a straggling irregular rift in the expanse of bush beneath, and listening intently his ear thought to detect the sound of water. yes, it was water--a river. drawing out the rough map dawes had prepared for him, he decided that it must be the black umfolosi. if so he had made very fair distance. surely he was nearly out of danger as far as his pursuers were concerned. the next thing was to discover a place to cross. a little further on was a rocky conical eminence. by ascending this he could command a view of the river, and would thus save the time occupied by riding up and down, it might be for any distance, in search of a practicable drift. his horse needed another rest, and while the animal was benefiting by this he himself could ascend the hillock and take his observations, thus killing two birds with one stone. a fatally erroneous move. but having resolved upon it, gerard lost no time in carrying it out. leaving his horse with the bridle drawn over its head, and the saddle girths merely loosened as before, he set to work to climb the _kopje_. the sides were rugged and steep, and the rocky summit was crowned with bush and prickly aloes. a good view of the lay of the land rewarded his efforts. for miles the bush country stretched away, and here and there the dim blue line of a mountain in the distance. beneath, the river seemed to flow around a bend in a long smooth reach. it was probably deep at this point, in which event he would have to ride eastward along its bank in search of a drift. by comparing the direction it took with the position of the sunrise he felt sure he had reached the black umfolosi. and now as the glorious hues of sunrise began to flush and glow in the east, and the varying voices of the wilderness arose in glad and joyous greeting of another day, the piping of birds, and the hum of insects, gerard's pulses beat with an unwonted sense of exhilaration, of vivid delight in his new-found freedom. fatigue or exhaustion he had not as yet begun to feel, for, as we have shown, he was in splendid condition by reason of his open-air life. but he began to feel uncommonly hungry, and the only food he had been able to bring with him were a few pieces of bread, crammed hurriedly into his pockets. these, however, hard and stale as they were, came in uncommonly acceptable now, and he devoured them ravenously. "that's better," he said to himself, rising slowly. "now for one farewell survey, and then on again." and then he dropped back among the bushes and aloes as if he had been shot. he had left his horse in an open glade. from his elevated perch he could see the animal peacefully grazing, and he saw something more. stealing upon it, flitting from bush to bush, came a number of armed zulus. with a fatal fascination he watched their movements. on they crept, half crouching, half gliding, but approaching with incredible rapidity. he could mark them signalling to each other, then as two or three of them rose to peer forward, he saw on their foreheads and chests the blood-red disc, the ominous distinguishing mark of the igazipuza. that these were his pursuers of the previous night was established beyond a doubt. he watched them as they drew near the horse. but instead of running forward to secure the animal, they suddenly crouched down and lay motionless. the significance of this manoeuvre was plain enough to gerard. they reckoned that he would return to the horse, and their plan was to lie in wait and pounce out upon him when he should do so. he had a rifle with him--the double gun had been left with dawes--and now he thought how he could astonish them, how easily he could pick off, at any rate, one or two of them. but what good purpose would that serve? it would draw the whole band on to his hiding-place, and he could not hope to resist them ultimately. besides, the objection to blood shedding which had held good at first held good still. dawes was still in their power. then he thought--thought hard and coherently. he must abandon the horse and steal away. the savages would get tired of watching there for ever. they would quit their ambush and come in search of him, or, at any rate, some of them might. they would light upon his spoor, and easily track him. he must make good his own escape while there was yet time. acting on this resolve he sent one more look at the lurking barbarians; then, crawling carefully down the other side of the _kopje_ so as to leave it between himself and them, he made for the river, judging that upon its banks he was likely to find a hiding-place if anywhere. to gain it took him some little time. we said that the river here flowed in a long smooth reach, and this reach was thickly bordered with trees and overhanging bushes. nothing could have answered his purpose better. but, as he gained it, he sent one look backward at his late resting-place, and that look was sufficient to show him that he had left that refuge not a moment too soon. there was a flash and movement of something upon the rocky apex. his enemies had taken up the spoor and had followed it thither. in this conjecture he was, as it happened, wrong, the real fact being that the same idea had entered their heads as had entered his; viz. that the _kopje_ would make a convenient observatory, and two or three of them had ascended to explore accordingly. once there, however, they promptly lighted upon the spoor leading away from it, and were at that very moment engaged in signalling the discovery to the residue of the band below. and now gerard knew that further flight was useless. with his horse still under him he might have stood some chance, and bitterly did he reproach himself for his carelessness and folly in cutting himself loose from his staunch little steed. on foot the fleet barbarians would run him down with the untiring persistency of bloodhounds. his only chance was to hide. but where? eagerly, anxiously he explored the river-bank. plenty of hiding-places were there, for as we have said, the trees and bushes overhung the water in thick profusion. it was not sufficient, however, merely to conceal himself, he must do so in such wise as to leave no spoor, no clue to his hiding-place. and as the young adventurer fled swiftly along the river-bank his heart was filled with a bitter despair. death stared him in the face at every turn--death, violent but swift, on the weapons of his enemies, or death by torture at their hands--here or when they dragged him back captive to their wild stronghold. the ruthless persistency of their pursuit seemed to point to no other intention. the sight of the grisly stake and its impaled burden came back to his recollection and rendered him desperate. all considerations of policy were thrown to the winds. he would sell his life dearly now. still there was a chance, and he resolved to make the most of it. casting his eyes keenly around he noticed a quick rapid movement, then a splash. an iguana lying along a tree trunk which sloped out almost horizontally over the water, alarmed by his presence, had run to the end of the boughs and dived in. the idea struck him as an inspiration. in a moment he was up the tree; then, following the example of the iguana, he let himself drop into the water as noiselessly as possible. it was over his head, but his feet touched ground almost immediately. then he rose again, and keeping under cover of the bank began to swim upstream. the current being deep was sluggish, and gerard, who was a strong, powerful swimmer, made good headway. carefully avoiding the slightest splash he had swum about two hundred yards, when he became sensible of a strange, but ever so slight vibration. it was caused by the tread of footsteps on the bank. he dived and swam beneath the surface in order to avoid leaving any ripple. when at last he arose to breathe he found he was beneath a huge overhanging bush, whose branches trailed down into the water. nothing could be better for his purpose. holding on by a bough, he drew a long deep breath. then peering cautiously forth through the foliage he watched and listened. again came that barely perceptible vibration of the bank, and he thought he could detect the muffled sound of voices. the shadow of the tree-fringed bank lay in an irregular line upon the water. the sun was now almost straight upstream, reducing the shadow to a mere three or four yards of width. and, a short distance below him, projecting from this line of shadow, gerard, from his concealment could make out the moving silhouettes of three or four heads. his ruthless pursuers were right over his hiding-place. would they discover it or pass it by? chapter seventeen. how dawes fared. having parted with his young companion, john dawes rode on, outwardly cool and unconcerned, though in effect his mind misgave him. for he knew that in all human probability he had but a few minutes more to live. the critical moment would be that of the discovery of gerard's defection, and if he and his party escaped massacre in the outburst of fury which was sure to follow, why their escape would smack of the nature of a miracle about as much as anything he had ever known in his life. fortune favoured him, favoured them both, so far. in their impatience to get back to the scene of the revels, the messengers had increased the distance between themselves and the horsemen, and when gerard had made his dash for it, the shouting and stamping of the wild war-dance had so far deadened all other sounds that the receding of his horse's hoofs passed unnoticed by the escort, to whose ears, in fact, during the general tumult, the tread of one horse made as much noise as that of two. not until he entered the kraal did they make the discovery that he was alone, and even then, to a quick suspicious query as to what had become of his companion, dawes's reply that he supposed the latter had gone back to the waggons for something he had forgotten, suggested no distrust. these white men had been their prisoners for weeks, they thought, and the guard on the ridge was as strong to-night as ever. familiar as he was with such sights, the appearance of the igazipuza kraal as he rode into it that night, struck john dawes as about the most wild and terrific aspect of savagery unchecked as he had ever beheld. the great open space of its inner circle was crowded with figures. equidistant from each other, far enough from the palisade to be safe from accident, and yet sufficiently at the side to be out of the way of the dancers, four huge fires were burning. facing each other in two great crescents, fully armed with shield and assegai, knobkerrie and battle-axe, their leaders standing out a little in advance of the lines, the warriors stood, and the red gushing flames of the great fires, lighting up the wild fantastically arranged figures with a truly demoniacal glare, imparted to these raving, howling human wolves an aspect of indescribable ferocity. starting, softly at first, by the leaders of the chorus, the fierce thrilling chant of the war-song, taken up by the ranks, gathered in strength with every repetition, soon rising to a perfect roar of deep chest notes as the savages, rattling their shields and weapons, threw themselves into the excitement of the thing, beating time with the rhythmic thunder of their feet as the tread of one man, turning themselves hither and thither, muscles quivering, eyeballs rolling in the fierce frenzy of the stimulating exercise. the while the women, squatted around against the palisade, were keeping up a high, shrill accompaniment to the deep-throated roar of the warriors, but never for a moment did that fierce, wild thrilling chant lose its rhythm or degenerate into discord. ingonyama, with four or five _indunas_ stood at the upper end of the kraal overlooking the ceremonies. the chief was arrayed in a war-shirt of flowing hair. over this he wore the magnificent lion's skin purchased from dawes. it was arranged in such wise that the grinning open jaws crowned him as a head-dress, which, with the sweeping black mane falling around his shoulders, and the skin and tail, trailing far behind him on the ground, gave him a most formidable and ferocious appearance, as of course he intended it should. in his hand he held a short-handled, heavy battle-axe, and between his eyes was painted the small red disk. he took no notice of dawes, as the latter rode up and dismounted. indeed his attention was occupied with other matters, for the dance had ceased, and the warriors, forming up into companies, were marching up to where he was seated with his attendants. then halting before their chief they began to sing, in long-drawn recitative, a series of strophes in which he was hailed by every extravagant title, and endowed with every attribute of wisdom and valour and ferocity. this being ended, shields and weapons were raised aloft, and the companies, wheeling, filed back into the central place, and falling into their crescent formation took up the war-dance again with unabated vigour. ingonyama, not ill-pleased that his white "guest" should witness this testimony to his power and influence, sank back into a sitting posture, and motioned to the latter to follow his example. but dawes pretended not to notice the invitation, and remained standing. he did notice, however, the shield-bearer holding the great white shield behind the chief, which instance of affectation of royal state he stored up for future use. "greeting, jandosi," said ingonyama, graciously, for by this time the native corruption of the trader's name had leaked out through his servants, and by it he was now known to all. "where is your brother?" meaning gerard. "where?" repeated dawes, taming to look round, as it were with indifferent surprise. "he should be here, though. he most have returned to the waggons for something. still, he should be here." it happened that just at that moment the chant of the dancing song had sunk rather low. borne upon the still night air, faint and distant, there floated to the ears of those who were not taking part in the revelry, a long-drawn roar. "_igazi--pu_--_za_." "_hau_!" exclaimed ingonyama, with a start, listening intently. again from the far hillside came the wild slogan. and now the _indunas_ echoed the astonishment of their chief. the guard on the ridge was aroused. all manner of expressions flitted across ingonyama's face--rage, mortification, intense puzzlement. the cry should have rung out loud and clear, considering the short distance which lay between the kraal and the ridge, whereas it sounded miles and miles away. the real fact, however, being that the first alarm was completely drowned by the noise and uproar of the war-dance, and the song in honour of the chief, and by this time the guards were far enough away in pursuit of gerard. john dawes felt every nerve thrill within him. the critical moment had arrived. "thou liest, jandosi," said ingonyama, and a look of stern and deadly meaning came over his features, grim and ferocious, scowling beneath the great jaws of the lion. "thou liest, jandosi. thy brother has fled; _attempted_ to flee, rather," he added significantly; "for no man ever quitted the kraal of the igazipuza without bidding farewell to its chief." "am i responsible for what he has done?" answered dawes, coolly. "he is young, remember, and young blood is restless blood. perchance he was tired of sitting still for ever." "am i a child--are these children, jandosi, that you fill up our ears with such tales as this?" said the chief sternly. "where is your brother?" "am i an owl--am i a bat, ingonyama, that you would strain my eyes into seeing through the dark? if, as you say, my brother has fled, how then can i tell where he is at this moment? rather should the question come from me to yourself, whom men name as an _isanusi_ [witch-doctor, or seer] of renown." "_hau_!" burst from the councillors in wild amaze at the audacity of this white man. "your eyes?" echoed ingonyama, and his voice came low and trembling with suppressed fury. "your eyes, jandosi? _ha_! you shall not indeed _strain_ your eyes seeing through the dark, _for i will make them dark for ever_." the fell meaning of the tone and words was plain to john dawes. the crisis had come. "move not," he returned quickly, his decisive ringing tone arresting as by magic the signal which the chief was about to make. "before that happens we will sit in darkness together. stir but a finger, ingonyama, and the tribe igazipuzi may proceed to the election of a new chief." with the muzzle of a revolver pointing full at his breast, the butt in the hand of a man whose daring and resolution was known to all, no wonder ingonyama should sit rigid and paralysed. his councillors shared his dazed immovability. what marvellous thing was to happen next, they thought? dawes, who was standing beside his horse, prepared for the first hostile move, had not raised his arm. he had merely brought the weapon to bear after the method known as "firing from the hip." to all outward appearance he was merely conversing rather animatedly with the chief. the latter stared at him as though he could hardly believe his senses. but there was the little round ring, pointing full upon his breast from barely six yards off. the merest pressure of a finger, and it would let out his life as he sat. "you have treated us ill, ingonyama," went on dawes, sternly. "we have no quarrel with the people of the zulu; on the contrary, we are at peace. yet you have kept us here against our will, and treated us as enemies. in two days `my tongue' speaks at undini, in the ears of the great great one, by whose light _you_ live." this reference to the king, by one of his favourite titles, had a strange effect upon this chief, whom the speaker by this time more than half suspected of being a rebellious and plotting vassal. for an instant it seemed that the latter's uncontrollable rage would triumph over his fear of death. but he only said, with a sneer-- "not so, jandosi. `your tongue,' however long, will be brought back here. long before the end of two days it will have ceased to speak for ever. when a tongue is too long, we cut it. _ha_! we have a tooth here which can bite it short. your `tongue' shall be bitten on the point of the tooth, jandosi. _ha_!" which being rendered out of the vernacular of "dark" talking, dear to the south african native, into plain english, meant that in the chief's opinion gerard would assuredly be recaptured, and in that event would be adjudged to the hideous fate of the wretch whose body he had found impaled on the summit of the tooth. "i think not, ingonyama. i think my `tongue' will speak at undini in words that will move the lion of the zulu to wrath. it may be that it will speak of another lion, who sits beneath the white shield as a king, who within the territory of the great king levies war upon and treats as enemies the friends of the lion of the zulu. yet it is not too late. you have but to give the word, now this night, that i and mine may depart unmolested, and i can draw back my `tongue' before it reaches as far as undini, for i am a peaceable trader, and have no wish to mix myself up in anybody's quarrels." a deep-chested gasp of wonder escaped his listeners. "you are a bold man, jandosi," exclaimed the chief. "my life has its value, but the life of the chief of the igazipuza has a far greater one. and this i hold in my hand." another astonished gasp escaped the hearers. this statement was only too true. here, in the heart of the igazipuza kraal--his ferocious warriors going through their appalling war-dance, with the aspect of fiends let loose, but a few paces distant--ingonyama in his heart of hearts quailed before this solitary white man dictating terms. again had a policy of boldness succeeded. "return to your waggons, jandosi," said the chief at length. "i would think this matter over. you shall know my answer in the morning." most men would have pressed for a reply there and then, but john dawes was nothing if not judicious. he thoroughly understood the policy of providing a broad bridge for a fleeing foe. his object was gained, viz. to secure himself at the moment of the popular outburst, and he had nearly succeeded. "now are the counsels of good sense about to triumph," he replied. "take till the morning to consider, even then may my `tongue' be recalled. and now, send one of these _indunas_ to go with me to the waggons and to remain the night, for your people are turbulent and rude at times, ingonyama, and i would avoid trouble with them." the chief thought a moment, then uttered a word or two. one of the councillors stood up. "good," said dawes. "fare thee well, o wearer of the lion's skin. between the eyes was the life let out--may that never be the lot of its wearer, o chief of the igazipuza." he knew that ingonyama was for the time being cowed, and that it was incumbent upon him to return to his waggons before the reaction should set in. yet as he rode at a foot-pace out of the kraal, with the _induna_ walking beside him, as he passed behind the ranks of excited barbarians almost within touching distance, he honestly expected every moment to be his last. a word from the chief, a cry, a signal, and that armed mass would fall upon him in a moment and hack him into a thousand pieces. still, for some unaccountable reason, the "word" remained unspoken, the signal was not given. it might be that ingonyama had further and more fell designs; it might be that he was acting in good faith, anyhow dawes reached his waggons unmolested. but he had ample reason to congratulate himself in securing the presence of the _induna_--or hostage as the latter really was--for by-and-by, as the warriors discovered the escape of gerard, they came surging around the waggons in a wild, clamourous, threatening crowd. even then, in the presence of one of the most trusted councillors of the chief, a massacre seemed imminent, but eventually they drew off. throughout that night as dawes lay, feigning sleep but never more fully awake in his life, he was wondering how his young companion had fared. so far, the latter must have effected his escape, inasmuch as he had not been brought back. whether he would ultimately succeed depended largely on the vigour and persistency wherewith the igazipuza should prosecute the pursuit. but that he himself was the right man to remain behind, john dawes was now more than ever convinced. where would gerard have been, for instance, under the critical circumstances of that night? the only thing to do now was to await with what patience he might the result of his comrade's enterprise. chapter eighteen. how gerard fared. gerard, up to his chin in water, concealed by the sweeping boughs, stood back within his hiding-place hardly daring to breathe. then it was that his quickness of foresight in swimming rather than wading, in swimming beneath the surface rather than in the ordinary way, stood him in good stead, for the first would have troubled the water, while the second would have sent a line of bubbles floating down the sluggish current, revealing the method of his escape to his pursuers. now they were puzzled. by the greatest good luck the manner and place of his entering the river had been perfect for its purpose. he had got upon the tree trunk in such wise as to leave no spoor. even in letting himself down into the water by the branches, he had managed so as to avoid breaking off a shower of twigs and fresh leaves, or even bark, to float down and indicate the way of his disappearance. the spoor seemed to come abruptly to an end--as if the fugitive had been whisked up to the skies. the zulus were puzzled. they squatted in a ring with their heads together and discussed matters. what did it mean? the fugitive could not have climbed a tree. in the first place there was no tree with sufficient foliage to afford him cover; in the second, he was not in any tree within sight; in the third, the spoor did not lead up to the foot of any tree. for gerard, by a deft spring of a couple of yards, had landed himself upon the nearly horizontal trunk without treading beneath it. they came to the unanimous conclusion that he must have got into the river. but how? the spoor no more led to the river than it did to any tree. still, there he must be. acting upon this idea they spread themselves out to search along beneath the bank, and then it was that gerard first discovered their shadowed heads upon the water. but searching along the bank was no simple matter, for the bank itself was a high clayey wall, perpendicular for the most part, and often overhanging. moreover it was concealed by profusion of bushes, whose tangled boughs swept right down into the water itself, as we have shown. gerard, in his hiding-place, could hear the muffled hum of conversation, though he could not distinguish the words. then he heard the rustle of the bushes drawing nearer and nearer above his head. to keep his balance he was obliged to hold on to a bough with one hand, while the other held his rifle, not even above water. he himself was submerged to the chin; fortunately the weather was hot, and his involuntary bath, so far, was not in itself unpleasant. a sound over his head caused him to look upward--then start back as far as he could go. something shot down from above, and there passed within a few inches of gerard's horrified eyes the broad blade of a great stabbing assegai. it was immediately withdrawn, then down it came again, this time narrowly failing to transfix the hand by which he supported himself on the bough. the blood ran chill within his veins, as he saw what had happened. the igazipuza had spliced a short-handled broad-bladed assegai to a pole, and with this improvised lance were going along the bank prodding down into every likely looking place which they could not otherwise reach. he flattened himself as far back as he could against the perpendicular bank, and again the murderous blade came stabbing down, grazing his shoulder this time. heavens! he could get no further back. the next thrust would transfix him. the perspiration stood in cold beads upon his forehead, and his brain seemed to be whirling round as again and again he watched the deadly spear descend. then hope returned. he seemed far enough in under the bank to be just outside any thrust they could make from above. they appeared unable to get his angle. surely they would decide that he was not there, and move on. and this was in fact what happened, and gerard began to breathe freely again. he need not have though. there was silence for a few minutes. had they gone on--given up the search? it almost seemed like it. and then just as hope was beginning to burn once more, there travelled to his ears a sound which quenched it utterly. he heard a splash, as of somebody entering the water, nearly a hundred yards up the stream--a guarded, would-be noiseless sort of splash--then another and another, and the purport thereof was plain. his pursuers had adopted another plan. they intended to search along beneath the bank in person. silently, and with the most intense caution, gerard worked himself into such a position that he could watch this new move. by the ripples on the water, by the shaking of the bushes, he could see they were drawing nearer and nearer. then the dark forms of three warriors came full into view as, half swimming, half wading, they passed an exposed point. and now they were barely sixty yards off. if only it was dark--dusk even! but the day had only just begun. his enemies had the whole of it before them. in despair he looked around. was there no escape? no--none. yet in the blackest moment of dead despair there leapt forth hope, a hope so wild, extravagant, that gerard was almost unnerved by the extravagance of it. the river-bank, as we have said, was perpendicular, and the soil of the nature of clay, and the action of the water had worn along the base of this a number of holes, all now below the surface, for the river was a trifle above its normal level. all? we are wrong. all--save one. in the high bank immediately behind his head, some few inches long and barely an inch above the surface of the water, was an aperture, hardly in fact distinguishable. but gerard, his quickness of resource sharpened by his imminent peril, saw it, saw in it a possible means of escape. the hole continued under the water, almost to the ground. he thrust his foot in, then his entire leg. he could not touch the end. he thrust his hand into the portion above water and reached upward. it seemed a hollow dome, just large enough for his head. if he could stand upright in this strange recess the searchers might pass within a few inches of him without discovery. but he must attempt it at once, so that the slight disturbance of the water which was unavoidable should have time to clear off before they arrived. holding his breath--and his rifle, which though soaked and useless for the time being, he would not let go as long as he could avoid it--he dived into the aperture, and as he felt his footing and his head rose above water, he found it was even as he had expected. he was in darkness, save for the light which came in under the water and through the narrow crevice exposed. he could, however, breathe without difficulty, for the air came in by the same way. but there was a terribly damp and earthy exhalation about it, which suggested an unpleasant sensation of being entombed alive. no room was there, however, for any mere fanciful and imaginative apprehensions, for scarce was he ensconced within his strange and well-nigh miraculous place of refuge than a disturbance of the water which came rippling into the hole in little wavelets, momentarily shutting out the air, pointed to the near approach of his enemies. hardly daring to breathe himself, he could hear the laboured breathing and the stealthy splash of someone swimming or wading. they had almost gained his late hiding-place, then! where would he have been but for this later one? and then--oh, horror! was he not premature in his congratulations? he had discovered the recess. why should not they? and having discovered it, why should they not resort to the same plan as that which they had adopted to sound his other possible or actual hiding-places, viz. to thrust in their assegais as far as they would go? he would in that case be slaughtered like a rat in a trap, denied even the option of selling his life. could he not get back far enough into the hole to be beyond the reach of spears? no. for even if it went back far enough--as to which he was in ignorance--he dared not trouble the water to anything like the extent such a change of position would involve. he must take his chance. he heard the splash draw near, then the rustle of the overhanging boughs as the searchers put them aside. the savages had gained his late hiding-place. they stood upon the very spot which he had up till a minute or two ago occupied. he expected each moment to feel the sharp dig of the spear-points cleaving his vitals. not thus, however, was his suspense destined to be interrupted, but in a different manner, hardly less startling, hardly less fatal. from those on the bank there thrilled forth a warning cry, loud, quick, terrible-- "_xwaya ni 'zingwenya_!" ("look out! alligators!") there was silence for a moment. gerard heard a quick, smothered ejaculation of dismay; then a sound of splashing, and once more the bushes were put aside. his enemies had precipitately abandoned the search, and were intent on securing their own safety. and now the horror of his own position came fully home to him. this new and truly hideous peril was one he had not foreseen. the alligator is scarce enough in the rivers of zululand, still it exists, or did at that time. so intent had he been on escaping from his human enemies, that he had not given a thought to the existence of the grisly denizens of these long, smooth reaches. and here he was at their mercy. even this very hole which had afforded him so opportune a refuge might be the den of one of these voracious monsters. and with the thought, it was all that poor gerard could do to keep his nerves in hand, to retain his self-possession. with this new horror and his long immersion he began to feel chilled to the bone. that dark death-trap was like a tomb. his teeth chattered and his knees shook beneath him. his head seemed whirling round and round. he expected to feel himself seized by those horrible grinding jaws, gnashed to fragments while utterly powerless to make a struggle against his loathsome assailants. an unspeakably terrible fate! meanwhile the first sharp warning cry had changed into a wild uproar. shouting, stamping with their feet, hurling sticks and stones into the water, the igazipuza on the bank were endeavouring to scare off the voracious reptiles until their comrades should be safe ashore again, and indeed the frightful din of which they were guilty was enough to scare the life out of every alligator between the tugela and the zambesi. gerard could stand the position no longer. under cover of the noise, and in the certainty that the attention of his enemies would be folly occupied, he slipped from the recess back into his former and more open hiding-place, and, parting the branches peered eagerly forth. at first he could distinguish nothing. the surface of the smooth reach gleamed like a mirror in the sunlight. then he perceived a dark, moving object gliding down stream, furrowing up the dazzling surface into lines of fire, and his heart well-nigh failed him for horror and despair. in the long bony head just showing above water, the bull-nosed snout, the stealthy glide, he recognised the most hideous and repulsive of reptiles, an alligator, and not a small one, either. the brute seemed to care not overmuch for all the shouting and turmoil on the bank. whether it was that he knew instinctively there were no firearms in the party, or was conscious of his superiority in his own element, his self-possession was complete. he glided quietly on, then halted, then turned himself hither and thither, wheeled in a circle, and halted again, his flat, ugly head lying on the water like the stump of a tree. now that their comrades were safe on land again, the igazipuza had ceased their clamour. indeed, they rather laid themselves out to observe quietness, for the appearance of the alligator suggested a new idea. if the fugitive was still hiding along the bank he would assuredly come forth, preferring to take his chances at their hands to the certainty of death at the jaws of the horrible brute. even if otherwise it would still be rather fun to see him dragged forth and devoured. the alligator was their hunting-dog, they must not scare it away when it was about to show them some sport. so they sat still, eagerly watching it. not less eagerly was it watched by the fugitive himself. gerard, from his hiding-place stared forth upon the monster with a frightful fascination. it was lying out in the stream barely fifty yards distant. as he gazed, it sank out of sight suddenly and noiselessly. only a few bubbles marked the place where it had been. the situation was becoming, if possible, more horrible still. as long as he could see the enemy it was bad enough. now that he no longer could, it was ten times worse, and he pictured the amphibious demon gliding beneath the water to seize him. what chance had he, standing in it up to his neck? the water, though not altogether clear, was sufficiently so to enable him just to see the bottom, and now he hardly dared look down in it, lest he should descry the hideous squab form of the frightful reptile, and gaping jaws opening to close upon him. then he looked out again. there was the flat, dark object lying on the surface exactly where it had disappeared, and--near it was another. oh, heavens! there were two of them! the cunning plan of the igazipuza nearly succeeded. so inexpressibly revolting did the prospect of such a fate appear, that gerard was on the point of quitting his concealment, of coming forth to meet his death in open day on the spears of his enemies rather than remain there to be torn limb from limb beneath the water by these loathsome monsters. but still something kept him back, a resolution to hold out as long as life was left; for not only did his own life hang upon the ultimate carrying out of his mission, but that of dawes and those dependent on them. so he summoned all his determination to his aid, and resolved to hold out courageously. with the instinct of a true adventurer, he began to sum up his resources, and they were practically _nil_. his firearms were soaked, and even if they would go off, he might just as well surrender to his enemies as fire a shot. he had a knife--a large sheath-knife--which had formed part of his original outfit, and of which he was secretly proud. it was an elaborate concern, with a brass-studded sheath and a blade like a young claymore, and had been the object of much good-natured banter on the part of dawes, who pronounced it of doubtful ornamentality, and still more doubtful utility, for it was too awkward and cumbersome for a hunting-knife, though he conceded it might come in handy some day to throw at a fellow, the only conceivable purpose to which it could be turned. now, however, the great dagger-like weapon seemed to gerard to be worth its weight in gold, for in it lay his sole resource. to be sure, a hand-to-hand conflict with a full-sized alligator in his own element, perhaps with two, armed only with a knife however large, is a formidable undertaking enough, yet gerard was strong and athletic, and his courage was now the courage of despair. he could hear the muttered conversation of his human enemies on the bank, where they sat overlooking the river a little higher up than his place of concealment, and again he looked at the alligators. the latter were moving again, slowly gliding to and fro, approaching somewhat nearer his position. were they beginning to scent his presence? it seemed like it, from their uneasy suspicious movements. and now gerard made up his mind that if he was to fight, he must himself be out of the water. but how? seeing that the clay bank was perpendicular, and the bush that screened him was not high enough to shelter him, even if he could get out of the water, not to mention the prodigious rustle which would certainly betray him to the quick ears of the watchful savages, did he attempt to spring into its branches. ah! he thought he saw a plan. by cutting a step or two in the clay bank, he could raise himself almost entirely out of the water. it would only be up to his knees, at any rate, and he could hold on to a bough with his left hand, while he fought desperately for his life with his right. but he must abandon his rifle. and then his very reluctance to do this suggested to him a further expedient. those terrible jaws must be held at something more than mere arm's length. fishing out of his pocket some _reimpjes_, or strips of raw hide, which no dweller in the south african _veldt_, somehow or other, ever seems to be without, he spliced his great knife quickly but securely to the end of the rifle, thus turning the latter into a most efficient bayonet, instead of being forced to abandon it. having thus made his preparations, he again peered forth to watch the alligators. and what a lifetime did it seem to him, standing there submerged, a hunted fugitive, the spears of his enemies lying in wait for him on the bank, possibly the stake of torture, the ravenous jaws of the loathsome monsters below. the hot rays of the sun, mounting higher and higher, beat down fiercely upon his hiding-place, which, in this instance, was fortunate, since it neutralised the shivery chill engendered by his long immersion. minutes seemed hours. he could not hold out for ever. exhaustion would come upon him, and then--ha! now for it! the alligators, which had been cruising to and fro in an aimless sort of way, were now heading straight for his place of concealment. had they scented him? forty yards--thirty--twenty--he watched them with a horrible fascination. then they both disappeared. now was the time. placing a foot in the nick he had cut in the clay bank, and with his left hand firmly grasping a bough overhead, gerard drew himself up. by cautiously shifting his position, he gained a little more height, and thus hanging by the grip of his left hand, his body bent out over the water, in which he had stood up to his knees, gerard awaited the attack of the formidable reptiles. chapter nineteen. between two perils. nothing is so prone to defeat its own end as the fixed, overstrained attentiveness of intense expectation. the eye, riveted on one point, almost ceases to see it; the mind, dwelling on one person or object, confuses the idea of that person or object twenty times over. thus gerard ridgeley, hanging there, staring down into the waters of the black umfolosi, momentarily expecting the swift stealthy rush, to behold the current darkened by the hideous shape of the huge lizard rising beneath him, soon lost the power of seeing almost anything at all, so intense was the strain upon his faculties of sight and hearing. minutes were like aeons. his muscles seemed cracking. the terrible suspense seemed to tell upon him physically, to exhaust him. then suddenly there rose out of the water a pair of great bony jaws, and closing with a vicious snap within half a yard of his body, sank back again out of sight as suddenly and noiselessly as they had appeared. appalling as this occurrence was, its effect was salutary. the presence of real and tangible danger broke the spell of his terrible suspense. gerard was himself again now. so narrowly had the monster failed to seize him, that he had almost seemed to be looking into those hideous jaws with their saw-like and curved-back teeth, could distinguish the scales on the gaunt bony head, and mark the fiend-like expression in the beady cruel eye. certainly the brute would come again, and this time it would be one or the other of them. grasping his impromptu bayonet, gerard waited, cool and calm now, but every faculty on the alert. there was a ripple and a swirl on the water, showing that something was moving beneath; and so strange are the fancies that flash through our minds at critical times, that at that moment gerard remembered how often he had marked that same ripple and swirl, though on a smaller scale, where some big trout was on the feed, and had stolen down to throw in his cast. now he himself was being "risen." again came that bubbling swirl, and now again that grisly head rose up. and, as it did so, gerard, with all the strength of his arm struck the blade of the knife right down into the reptile's eye. in it went, nearly to the hilt. the blood spurted forth in a great jet, and the strong, thick-backed knife-blade snapped like a bit of rotten stick, as the stricken monster wrenched himself round, and, with a convulsive plunge, sank out of sight. it was all done in a moment--so suddenly, so quickly, that gerard could at first hardly believe it had actually happened, but for the deep streak of blood upon the surface and the seething bubbles where the water was lashed into spume by the frantic blow of the monster's tail. but as he realised that he had defeated and probably slain his formidable enemy, a feeling of elation set in, which, however, was not destined to last. true, he had slain one alligator, but then there were two. would not the other attack him next, even if the blood did not attract yet more of them? he could not go on killing alligators in this fashion all day; besides, his cleverly devised bayonet was snapped and useless. not altogether, though. there was still enough left of the knife-blade to make a sufficiently serviceable weapon if planted straight in the eye as before. suddenly his attention was diverted to another matter--a sound of quick ejaculations and the vibration of footsteps running upon the bank above. gerard's first thought was that he was discovered, but, by the sound, he knew that they had run past. ha! they had discovered the alligator--wounded or slain! from his present position he could not see out, and he dared not move from it without exposing himself to the twofold danger of being seized in the water, and thus at every disadvantage, by another alligator, or by the agitation of the branches making his presence known to his enemies. so he strove to make up for it by listening with all his might. that the savages had made a discovery of some sort was, from their conversation, inevitable. from the sound of their voices he estimated that they were about fifty yards below. "ha! the blood!" he heard one say. "it has taken him; picked him up under the bank. _ou_!" "we could not find him, but the alligator has been a good hunting-dog. it has nosed him out." and there was a general laugh. then followed a volley of quick, excited ejaculations. "see there!" cried one. "he still struggles! look! out in the middle. _ha_!" and gerard, listening, with all his ears, could hear the sound of the distant splashing, and knew what had happened. the wounded alligator had risen again in the middle of the river and was struggling in its agony or perchance in the throes of death. the savages, watching from the bank, were under the impression that it was engaged in devouring him. his heart bounded with the thought. if such was their belief, assuredly they would abandon the search and go away. but as against this, it occurred to him that if the alligator should die the carcase might float; he was not sure whether it would or not. if it did, why then he was in worse case than ever, for they would discover that the monster had been slain by him, instead of the other way about, and redouble their efforts at finding him. "_hau_!" he heard one say after a minute of silence. "what a struggle! the white man dies hard." "not so," said another. "they are fighting for his carcase. _au_! what a number of them. they are making as much splashing as a steam-vessel i once saw at tegwini!" [durban.] again there was an interval of silence, broken only by the sound of splashing. then a voice said-- "he is gone! they have eaten him up among them; a leg here, and an arm there--a head to another, and so on. there is nothing left of the white man. he is distributed among all the alligators in the river. but, perhaps, that is better than being bitten on the point of the tooth." a general laugh greeted this remark, and then a voice called out, "_hlala gahle_! rest easy, white man! sleep peacefully inside all the alligators. don't cause them bad dreams. farewell. rest easy!" this witticism seemed to the listener to be the parting one, for with the roar of laughter which greeted it the sound of voices seemed to be receding. with unspeakable and heartfelt thankfulness gerard realised that the savages had at length abandoned the search. even then he was not without misgivings. their last words might have been but a blind to draw him from his concealment. he would cling to the latter as long as prudence should dictate. time went by. gerard, listening with all his ears, could hear no sound which betokened the presence of his enemies, not a murmur, not a footstep. a bird alighted, twittering, on the branches just over his head, then another and another. a pair of yellow thrushes in the brake behind set up their half-grating, half-piping, duet; and he could hear the raucous croak of a white-necked crow, sailing lazily along the river-bank. relieved of the presence of its natural enemy, man, the life of this solemn wilderness was beginning once more to come forth. gerard, however, delayed long to follow its example, as we have said. his enemies might have left some of their number at a little distance to watch; or the very birds whose presence now assured him of his safety, might by their calls of alarm, attract the notice of the receding igazipuza. so for upwards of an hour he waited there, momentarily expecting another attack from an alligator; but whether it was that the struggle and the fate of the one had scared away the others from the spot, he was spared the ordeal of a second conflict. at length, cramped and shivering, every bone and muscle in his body aching, poor gerard hauled himself cautiously up by the overhanging branches and stood, or rather rolled, upon the bank again. to a feeling of unspeakable elation and thankfulness succeeded one of depression. he had escaped so far--had escaped a double peril, in a manner that was little short of miraculous. but here he was, alone in a semi-hostile, if not entirely hostile country, which was completely unknown to him, without food, and not daring to fire a shot lest it should bring his enemies down upon him. moreover, he was numbed and shivering from his long immersion, which might result in fever, ague, and such evils, not unknown in the belts of bush country. again, he was still on the wrong side of the river, and now, bearing in mind his recent experience of its grisly denizens, the contingency of being obliged to cross it alone, and that by wading or swimming, he contemplated with shrinking and horror. but then again would come the thought of his almost miraculous escape. surely he had been preserved for some purpose, and what purpose could be more worthy of accomplishment than that which he had in hand. no; this was not the time to despair, not it, indeed. the day was now well advanced. gerard, thinking hard, resolved that he had better not begin to move until dusk. it was dangerous now. he might be sighted from afar, or fall in with wandering bands, and not yet did he consider such a meeting a safe one or likely to result in the furtherance of his object. moreover, he was deadly tired. he had slept but little of late, what with the anxiety of their position and the excitement of anticipating his own attempt--and not at all the previous night. he would find some sequestered hiding-place and take the rest he so greatly needed; would sleep, if possible, until evening. then he would contrive to cross the river, and travel the night through. thanks to the repugnance of zulus to being abroad during the hours of darkness, he stood a pretty good chance of moving unmolested, and by morning he ought to have put a wide enough space between the igazipuza and himself, to feel comparatively safe. acting upon this idea, he started off along the river-bank to find a snug and convenient place of concealment; and when he had gone about a mile, wending carefully and quietly so as to disturb as little as possible the very birds, keeping well under cover of the bush, he found one. it was a small hollow, in the midst of which rose a great boulder. the heat and the exercise had dried his clothes and restored circulation to his veins, and now at the foot of this boulder where the sun struck in dry and warm, gerard lay down. the sense of restfulness was indescribably delicious. his mind in its dreamy half-wakeful state went off into retrospect. could it, indeed, be barely a year since he had received the twofold welcome news that he was to leave school immediately, and proceed--scarcely less immediately--to shift for himself in a far colony; that dream of utopia to the average english boy, that too frequently rough awakening? he saw himself again on board the _amatikulu_, gazing with wonder and a touch of mysterious awe upon the green shores of his "promised land." once more he was leading the old disillusioning monotonous and rather sordid life at anstey's, and an uneasy longing to take that specious rascal by the throat--for he was quite asleep now--was forgotten in the more pleasant vision of may kingsland. and then his dreams took no further shape--merging into the complete unconsciousness of the more restful form of sound slumber. the hours followed each other, and even the live creatures of the wilderness ceased to fear the motionless sleeping form of the young adventurer, but a year ago a hearty unsophisticated english schoolboy, now the bearer of his own life and the lives of others; thrown upon his own resources, alone, in the then scarcely known wilds of northern zululand. birds began to flit from spray to spray, balancing themselves on swaying twig, and chirruping and twittering just over the sleeper's head. little lizards, creeping along the face of the rocky boulder, dropped upon the sleeping form and ran tentatively over it, and a bush-buck, stepping gingerly through the hollow, turned its full bright eye upon the prostrate figure, and resumed its way as though finding no cause for alarm. hour followed hour, and now the sun's rays began to decline, to slant more and more horizontally upon the green sprays of the foliage. gerard stirred uneasily in his sleep, for with the approach of the waking hour he was beginning to dream again. once more he was in the igazipuza kraal with dawes, discussing the seriousness of the situation. he had made the attempt to escape, and was being brought back--had been brought back. and then into his dreams there stole a vague sense of danger, strange, indefinable, but none the less present. it was fearful. some weight was upon him, boding, terrible. he could neither straggle nor call out. then breaking the spell with a mighty effort, he started up from his sleep--awoke to a reality more fearsome, more formidable than the nightmarish delusion. for, as he started up into a sitting posture, he nearly brought his face into contact with a dark grim visage which was peering into it, and a cry of surprise, dismay, despair escaped him. he was surrounded by a crowd of armed zulus! chapter twenty. an error of judgment. never in the whole course of his hard, chequered, adventurous life, could john dawes recall a day spent in such wearing, intolerable suspense, as that following the night of his young companion's escape. that it was an escape he now entertained no doubt. the hours wore on, and still no return of a triumphant band bringing with it the recaptured fugitive. this augured well as regarded gerard. as regarded himself the trader knew that any hour might be his last. there was an ominous stillness brooding over the igazipuza kraal following on the night of furious revelry. none of its denizens came near him; but for all that he knew that every one of his movements was intently watched. try as he would he could not altogether conceal his anxiety from his own people. the swazis cowered beneath the waggons in terror, and even the sturdier natal natives, with their strong admixture of zulu blood, sat together in gloomy silence. every one of them, however, had a short stabbing assegai concealed beneath his blanket, ready to sell his life as dearly as possible, and these preparations they hardly took the trouble to dissemble from the chief's councillor, sonkwana, who still remained at the waggons, squatting on the ground tranquilly taking snuff from time to time, a very model of taciturnity. thus the day wore on, and still no sign of the returning pursuit. with great good luck gerard would have reached the king's kraal by that time to-morrow. then from speculating as to how his brave young companion had fared, dawes's mind went back to the scene of the previous night. his shaft had told. the threat to appeal to cetywayo had not been without its effect upon ingonyama, and that effect a considerable one. still, with morning no message of emancipation had come from the chief, and dawes did not think it advisable once more to trust himself within the kraal; and not being the man to ask another to go where he preferred not to venture himself, he refrained from sending one of his servants upon this errand. still he was very uneasy. still more uneasy would he have been, could he have overheard the conference then proceeding in the chief's hut. seated around in a half circle, ingonyama, vunawayo, and some three or four councillors were engaged in earnest discussion, the subject nothing less than the advisability of putting him and his to the assegai forthwith. the chief could hardly contain his chagrin and impatience. "if they return and fail to kill or bring back the boy," he was saying, "six of their leaders shall die. the tooth shall bite them. they deserve that for allowing him to slip through them." "we have kept this white man and his kafula dogs too long," said vunawayo, darkly. "why not begin with him, now, this very day?" "ha! he is no fool, this jandosi," said ingonyama, with a ferocious scowl. "what if his dog already barks in the ear of the king?" "even then, is not the bark of one dog, less than that of two--of several?" urged vunawayo. "the king might not listen to one where he might to many. besides, he has less and less reason to love the english; who, men whisper, are trying to pick a quarrel with him about one thing after another. such is not the time for whispering into his ear tales against his own chiefs--against the best of his fighting men. is the king a fool that he would exchange the hundreds of the igazipuza spears for the lives of two miserable white dogs? no. let jandosi's `tongue' go prate at undini--if it can reach there. it is as likely to be cut there as here." "what, then, would you counsel, my brethren?" said ingonyama, looking round. the _indunas_ shrugged their shoulders, and all glanced tentatively at vunawayo. he, evidently, was the mephistopheles of the group. "we think vunawayo speaks clearly," said one of them at length. "this white man and they that are with him should die." "i have long thought so," said the chief, scowling ferociously at the recollection of the indignity he had suffered the previous night, held at the muzzle of the trader's pistol. "and now--the manner of it. shall they die by the bite of the tooth?" "that must depend," replied vunawayo. "this white dog has teeth of his own, and he will show them. they, too, can bite. he will die; but it will be biting hard. he will not leave his waggons, and he is well armed and brave. now my counsel is this. he cannot always live without sleep, no man can. wherefore towards dawn, when sleep is heaviest, let a company be told off to rush in upon and surprise him. they will be on him before he can wake, and thus will take him alive." "i doubt them finding any such easy capture," muttered the chief, with a dissentient head-shake. "is there no better plan?" "only this, father," said vunawayo, with a grin of ferocious exultation. "have you not said that they who let the boy slip through them and escape should supply meat for the tooth? now, therefore, let us spare them their lives on condition that they find such meat for the tooth instead of themselves. thus will they dare and do all to secure jandosi alive." "so be it, then," said ingonyama, after a moment's reflection. "this night shall he be taken." meanwhile the object of these amiable intentions was meditating a bold stroke. seated at his waggons, carefully thinking out the situation, he decided that once more a bold line might better serve his purpose; in pursuance of which plan he hailed a boy who was passing. the latter stopped, stared, hesitated; then reassured by a signal from the _induna_ sonkwana, he drew near wonderingly. "i have a fancy to see my oxen here," said john dawes. "what is your name, boy?" "sicalu," was the rather sullen reply. "well, sicalu, you shall go with my driver, fulani, and help to bring them in. when you return this little looking-glass shall be yours. but you will carry the `word' of your father, sonkwana, the _induna_ of the chief, that those who guard the oxen may know i require them." the lad stared, as well he might. so, too, did sonkwana. indeed, it was hard to say which was the more amazed of the two. as for the trader's own people, such thorough confidence had they in him, that they were astonished at nothing, in which spirit fulani no sooner heard the above order than he stood prepared to carry it out. "will you not ride out yourself and look at your cattle jandosi, as you have ever done before?" said the councillor. "not so, sonkwana. this time they shall be brought to me. give the boy the `word,' _induna_ of the chief." sonkwana cast a sidelong glance toward the kraal, then looked slyly at the speaker. what did it matter! let him be humoured this once. "go," he said to the boy. the hours of the afternoon crept on, and still dawes sat there, outwardly calm, inwardly in a state of indescribable suspense. by this time, he was sure gerard had got through, otherwise he would have been brought back. sonkwana, too, sat wondering. he would fain have departed, but that his involuntary "host" never left him out of his sight, and to undertake to cross several hundred yards of open ground contrary to the wishes of a man who could hit a small pebble at almost any distance with the rifle ever ready in his hand, was not in zulu human nature, at any rate, in cold blood. so in outward tranquillity sonkwana vied with his "host" aforesaid, and sat and took a great deal of snuff. more surprise, however, was awaiting both him and his clansmen. towards sundown, the trader's outspan became alive with the lowing of cattle and the shout and whistle of those in charge. then in the most matter-of-fact way, john dawes gave orders to inspan. prompt, intelligent, and as we have said, having every confidence in their employer, the two drivers, sintoba and fulani, and their well-trained subordinates, were quick to act. in an incredibly short space of time, the waggons were ready for the road. but during the process, dawes had never left the side of the hostage. the latter, for his part, looked with a kind of contemptuous amusement upon the whole affair. did this fool think he was going to walk off in any such free and easy sort of fashion without the "word" of the chief. he glanced towards the kraal. so too, we may be sure, did dawes, with well-concealed, but infinitely greater anxiety. heads could be seen clustering at the palisades, but still no armed force issued from the gates. what could it mean? "trek!" he cried, when the inspanning was completed. "trek--trek!" echoed the drivers, and the whips cracked to the accompaniment of a running gamut of the names of the horned members of the span. the oxen plunged forward to the yokes, and the great vehicles rolled heavily from their standing place of many weeks. "_whau_, jandosi!" said sonkwana. "if you are leaving us, had i not better carry your word of farewell to the chief?" "not so, sonkwana. the road is not very familiar to me; besides, it is fitting that a councillor of the chief should start me in safety on my journey. there is safety on the road, but off it there is death," he added darkly. no shade of his meaning was lost upon his hearer, who made a virtue of necessity, and accepted the position in such wise as though it had been himself who had suggested it. besides, the guard on the ridge was strong. that had yet to be passed. on moved the waggons; on moved the whole trek; deliberately making for the exit of the hollow, the leader and driver of each in their places, the three swazis driving the cattle, for the sheep and goats had been bartered away for cows and oxen; john dawes walking beside the first waggon, with sonkwana. on--past the kraal with its great circle of domed huts, but still no opposition. what did it mean? this silence, this passiveness on the part of their hitherto aggressive and turbulent gaolers was portentous. it was a critical time for dawes. each moment he expected the air to be rent with the ferocious war-cry, to hear the ground rumble beneath the advance of running feet. how came it that he was allowed to march out thus with colours flying and drums beating, to march out with all the honours of war? the chief's councillor was in his power. no sooner had he arrived at this conclusion than his sense of security was rudely interrupted. they had gained the ridge, and now, with loud and threatening shouts, the guards rushed down upon them. "order them back, sonkwana. order them back," said dawes, in a quick low tone. "to hesitate is death," he added. the _induna_ glanced at dawes. the latter's attitude, though apparently careless, he well knew was not really so. he himself would receive a bullet in the brain without being able to lift a finger, and save for a short stick he was unarmed. reluctantly, therefore, he obeyed. but even his authority hardly seemed to avail here. the guards, some two score of stalwart and boisterous savages, continued to advance, but with less demonstration of hostility, with less fell intent of purpose. finally, in compliance with the energetic signalling of the councillor, they halted and began to parley. the while the trek had not halted, and the two waggons already over the ridge were proceeding down the rugged hillside with the utmost care and deliberation. suddenly dawes beheld a quick, cunning expression of triumph flit across the face of the hostage, and following the glance of the latter, the curtain of despair descended in black folds once more upon his heart. for the _veldt_ was alive with warriors, swarming down from the ridge, charging forward in silence, swift in deadly fixity of purpose. they had already passed the cattle herds, and were making straight for himself. "order them back, sonkwana! order them back!" cried dawes again, this time drawing his revolver and pointing it straight at the head of the hostage. but the latter saw his chance, or thought he did. ducking his head suddenly, he made a rapid plunge to the side, intending, so near were his tribesmen, to fling himself into their ranks. the trader in his flurry and dismay would be certain to miss his aim, he reckoned. he reckoned without his host, however. instead of the ball whistling through empty air where his head had been but a moment before, dawes's eye, keen as a razor, quick as lightning, had marked the move. by a sort of backward throw of the hand he covered the fleeing form of the foolhardy sonkwana, and pressed the trigger. the chief's councillor toppled heavily forward on his face, and lay with outstretched arms. he was stone dead. what followed was appalling. the report of the pistol was completely drowned in the wild roar of rage that went up. the first life had been taken, and that life a valuable one. "stand back!" cried dawes, his eyes flashing fire. he might as well have tried to make his voice heard amid the thunder of an atlantic gale beating among the rocks of the lizard, or have tried to force back the power of its gigantic surges. his double gun levelled low, he poured the contents of the smooth barrel, loaded heavily with _loepers_--a large variety of buck shot--into the dense crowd. the result was terrible. it was all he had time to do, though. the wild, shrill yells of pain were drowned in the thunderous din, as the resistless volume of the charge poured over him. he had a vague recollection of once again raking the closely packed assailants with his other barrel ere he was swept from his feet, and hurled half-stunned to the earth, and of a fierce, grim feeling of satisfaction that he had sold his life pretty dearly. then the gleaming blades of spears flashed before, his eyes, and he knew his last hour had come. still their points did not pierce him. half-stunned, half-dazed, he became aware that some one was standing over him, averting the threatened blows. collecting his scattered senses, he stared and stared again at this unexpected preserver. he recognised vunawayo. he was seized and held fast, and amid many a brutal kick and blow, his hands and feet were securely bound, and he was flung into the waggon like a log of wood. then with wild yells and shouting, the igazipuza forced round the oxen, and compelling the terrified servants to obey their behests, and lead and drive the spans, they started upon their triumphant return amid an indescribable scene of tumultuous rejoicing. at the first onset sintoba had drawn the assegai which he carried concealed about his person, and had leaped to the assistance of his master. had tried to, that is, for he, too, had been overwhelmed and borne down by the impetuous fury of the rush. the same fate had overtaken those in charge of the hindmost waggon, except one of the young leaders whom the savages had slaughtered in the first fierce caprice of their blood-lust, and whose corpse, ripped up and otherwise hideously hacked, lay by the wayside as they returned. the other servants, as we have said, they compelled to engineer the waggons. battered, bruised, his bones nearly broken, his joints racked well-nigh to dislocation point by the terrific jolting, poor dawes lay where they had thrown him, grinding his teeth in his impotent rage and pain. better to have been killed outright, he thought. he was only spared for some lingering torture--the hideous stake of impalement, most likely. many had fallen at his hand in that brief moment--their spirits would be satisfied by no less a sacrifice. the savages, running beside the waggons, jeered at his sufferings. "does it hurt--does it hurt, jandosi?" they cried, as an extra big jolt would nearly brain the unfortunate man. "ah! ah! there are some things that hurt far more--far more!" thus in wild and riotous shouting the whole crowd arrived once more at the gate of the igazipuza kraal--and here the terrible confusion of the tumult beggars description--the shrill nasal singing of the women who turned out to meet them, the yelping clamour of dogs, the howling of those whose relatives were slain, and the sonorous rhythm of the war-song, all mingled together in the most ear-splitting, brain-stunning din. sintoba and his fellows, having outspanned in compliance with the peremptory orders of their captors, were seized and unceremoniously bound. then poor dawes was hauled out of the waggon and brutally dragged through the kraal, amid kicks and cuffs, to where the chief was sitting. then he was flung roughly and anyhow upon the ground. for some moments did ingonyama contemplate the helpless form of his captive in silence, and in his massive countenance was a gleam of ruthless, vengeful ferocity. he had sat in fear, here on this very spot, the last time this white man occupied it with him--in fear of his life, be, ingonyama, the chief of the redoubted igazipuza. now the tables were turned. this miserable captive, bruised, helpless, lying there half-stunned, should taste what it meant to tread on the paw of the lion. "well, jandosi?" he began sneeringly. "you are a bird whose song is over loud; yet now surely are your wings cut." if john dawes's bodily attitude was abject, it was only through force of circumstances. his mental one was very far from having attained that state. with a painful effort he succeeded, amid the jeering laughter of the spectators, in raising himself to an upright sitting posture. "you are right, ingonyama," he replied. "my song is over loud--for you. it is even how being sung at undini, in ears in which it is bad for you that it shall be poured. did i not tell you my `tongue' was a long one and spoke far? even now it speaks." "_hi_! and did i not tell you that we have a tooth here which can bite it short? you and your `tongue' shall be bitten on the tooth, jandosi!" "_ehe! e-he_!" roared the listeners. "to the tooth, to the tooth with him!" it was the hour of sunset, and the sweet golden glow fell upon a wild sea of ferocious figures, of hideous mouthing faces and gleaming spear-blades. the whole population had mustered within the kraal, and were crowding up, striving to obtain a view of the chief and his councillors and the white prisoner; and again and again from the savage roaring throats went up the fiendish shout. "to the tooth! to the tooth!" "even now i do not fear you, ingonyama," went on the trader, intrepidly. "for my death will surely be avenged--ay, as surely as yonder sun will rise to-morrow. it may be that the might of the king will rise up and stamp flat this tribe of _abatagati_ [those who practise arts of wizardry]; it may be that my own countrymen will. but it shall surely be done, ye who call yourselves igazipuza, and my death shall be avenged." again the wild, roaring clamour drowned his words. the intrepidity of the man exasperated them while compelling their admiration. of the latter, however, ingonyama felt none. he only remembered his own humiliation at this man's hands, here on this very spot. his features working, his eyes rolling in fury, he said slowly-- "let him be bitten on the point of the tooth." "ha! on the point of the tooth! on the point of the tooth!" roared the ferocious crowd in deafening chorus. and a multitude of eager hands were stretched forward to seize the unfortunate man, and drag him away to his hideous death of torture. chapter twenty one. the king's "hunting-dogs." to attempt to describe the fearful despair, the agony of self-reproach, which took possession of poor gerard's heart as he awoke to find himself once more in the power of the savages is impossible. the very stars in their courses seemed to be fighting against him. had he not gone through enough in all conscience? and now all his past perils and experiences were thrown away. he and his comrade were no better off than before his attempted escape, probably indeed worse. again, it was while he slept that the enemy had stolen upon him--while he slept. he had sacrificed his companion for the sake of a few hours' sleep! well, he himself deserved all he might meet with; but dawes--he had sold him-- had fallen asleep at his post like a cowardly and untrustworthy sentinel. the poor fellow was in agonies of self-torment at the thought. but for the perturbed and flurried state of mind, into which these reflections had thrown him, he would have perceived that the zulus were every bit as astonished at his appearance as he was at theirs. as it was, he only saw the same dark resolute countenances and ringed heads, the same great broad-bladed assegais. these men, however, carried great white shields with black facings. "who are you, _umlungu_, and where do you come from?" said one of them after a moment of silence. gerard looked at the speaker, and collecting his ideas, replied, with all the dignity at his command, that he was carrying a message to the king. a smothered ejaculation burst from the group, and they exchanged glances. "does a white man, carrying a message to the king, travel through the country in that state?" said the first who had spoken. gerard followed his glance, and appreciated the meaning with which the words were uttered, as he remembered the travel-worn and rather disreputable appearance which he must present. his rifle, too, was beginning to rust, for in the fatigue and exhaustion which had come upon him before falling asleep, he had neglected to do more than just wipe it. the broken hunting-knife was still spliced to the muzzle. "i lost my horse, and an alligator attacked me in the river," he replied. "i speared him with this, struck him through the eye, and i believe i killed him." "_hau_!" broke from the listeners, staring at the broken knife-blade. "that was well done, _umlungu_. but--where do you come from?" "who is your chief?" said gerard, fencing the question after their own fashion. "he is not here," was the characteristic reply. "but he is close at hand." "take me to him." and gerard rose, as decisive apparently in purpose as he was in speech. "come!" said the spokesman, laconically. then, with gerard in their midst, the group moved off. for upwards of half an hour they filed through the bush at a rapid pace, in process whereof gerard's attempts at further enlightenment were met by an intimation, terse but not discourteous, that under present circumstances silence was preferable to speech. but he noticed one thing, overlooked at first in his despair and confusion. these warriors, whoever they might be, did not show the red-painted disc on forehead and breast which distinguished the dreaded igazipuza. the way had grown wilder and wilder, and instead of the straggling and more or less scattered bush, the party was now proceeding beneath tall forest trees, from whose gnarled and massive boughs dangled monkey ropes and trailers. the shade was almost a gloom, into which the last rays of the now setting sun shot redly. and now a strange, eerie, fluttering sort of life seemed to spring up within the gloom of those forest shades, and gerard could not repress an exclamation of astonishment as he looked. for the place was alive with armed warriors, starting up like ghosts, silently, noiselessly, out of nowhere. there seemed to be no end to their number, and he could mark the surprise on each dark face, could hear the low ejaculation and the quivering rattle of assegai hafts as they became aware of his presence. "who--what are these?" he asked. "you wanted to see the chief, _umlungu_," was the reply. "have patience. you shall see him." gerard's first thought was that the talked of anglo-zulu war had actually broken out, and this was a force proceeding against his countrymen, and his heart sank. for if that were so, what chance was there for dawes, in the power of one of cetywayo's savage vassals? the king was not likely to risk offending one of his most influential chiefs by demanding the release of a member of the race which was making war upon his nation and dynasty. his meditations on this head were promptly cut short, for his escort had emerged upon a small open glade overhung by a high rock, whose summit was plumed by a dark line of straight-stemmed euphorbia, and beneath this sat a group of men, in whose aspect there was something which instinctively told him they were men of the highest authority. his escort made a sign for him to halt, while a couple of them went forward to confer with these. then he was told to advance. "the chief--that is he!" said one of them. the man indicated, a large finely built zulu, was seated in the centre of the group. as his gaze fell upon him gerard stared; then he started with astonishment--this time openly and undisguisedly--then stared again. "sobuza!" he cried. and to the unbounded amazement of his escort, and indeed of all beholders, he dropped his rifle and stepped forward to the chief with outstretched hand. the latter, indeed, was hardly less astonished than himself, but, with the self-control of his race and rank, showed it but little. a slight smile came over his face, and there was a twinkle in his eye as he shook gerard by the hand with a hearty grip. "_au_! jeriji. i remember you," he said kindly. there was that in the act, in the tone, which went straight to gerard's heart. here, in this unknown wilderness, after his perilous escapes, he felt that he had found a friend. in the hands of this savage chieftain, surrounded by his armed host, he felt perfectly safe. whatever the errand of destruction upon which this formidable force was engaged, in the presence of the man he had succoured twice in the hour of danger and difficulty he felt no distrust, no misgiving. the astonishment of the onlookers at this strange and unexpected recognition knew no bounds. they bent eagerly forward, with many a smothered "_whou_!" of amazement. but the frank, open, impulsive way in which gerard had greeted their chief had made the best of impressions, for the zulu in those days was not without his share of real chivalrous feeling, and the complete absence of any lingering distrust on the part of their prisoner--or guest--appealed powerfully to them. his rifle lay on the ground exactly where he had placed it. not one of them would pick it up, lest the act might be construed into one of distrust, of disarming him, so to say. "sit here, jeriji," said the chief, motioning him to a place at his side. "did you come into the zulu country all alone to kill alligators, or to pay me a visit?" he went on, with a comical smile, as gerard promptly acted upon the invitation. "neither the one nor the other, sobuza. but, first tell me, are you and your men out against--my countrymen?" "not so," said the chief. "we are not at war with the english." "i am glad of that. now listen. you asked me why i came into your country. i did not come into it; i was brought into it." "brought into it?" repeated the chief in some astonishment. "by whom?" "by ingonyama's people. those, who call themselves igazipuza." "_hau_! igazipuza!" the astonishment, emphatic and unfeigned, with which his statement was echoed, not by the chief only, but by the whole group, might well strike gerard. "you know him--you know them?" he said. a humorous flash flitted across each dark face, the corners of every mouth turned down grimly. sobuza proceeded to take snuff. "tell us about it," he said. "begin at the very beginning, jeriji, for this is no light matter." then gerard began his tale--from the very outset of their enforced visit to the fastness of that redoubtable clan, throughout the period during which their condition had become one of open and undisguised captivity, down to his own headlong dash for liberty and succour, their untiring and persistent pursuit of him, and his perilous hiding-place on the river-bank. his feat in slaying the alligator caused great sensation; and sobuza having ordered the rifle, on which was still spliced the broken knife, to be brought, he and his assembled chiefs examined this cleverly devised weapon with the greatest interest. gerard went up a hundred per cent, in their estimation. now our friend's knowledge of the zulu tongue comprised a prodigious number of words, but his grammar was of the shakiest description. however, the vital importance of his narrative soon rendered him oblivious to any mere self-consciousness, and in his hearers he found a most eager and patient audience. once or twice only did they interrupt him when his meaning was unintelligible, and then only to help him through. but, when he had finished, they questioned him on every conceivable detail, cross-examined him so deftly, that they had promptly got out of him his own plans, his own errand, without his being in the least aware of it. more than one there present knew "jandosi," from trading trips which he had made among them. "how many fighting men has ingonyama, jeriji?" said sobuza again. gerard replied that he thought there must be at least five hundred. besides the large kraal there were two smaller ones under the rocks at the further end of the hollow. there was only one approach to the place, and they used to boast that by massing at this point they could hold their own against any odds. he had already sketched on the ground an elaborate map of the place. "good!" said sobuza, grimly. "life is full of deceptions, and that is one of them, as they shall find out. listen, jeriji. you may spare yourself the trouble of carrying jandosi's `word' to the king. you asked against whom we were out. well, we are the king's hunting-dogs, and the igazipuza are the game." gerard stared as though he could hardly believe his ears. he had thought the whole population of the northern country, including these among whom he had fallen, was in league with that evil and bloodthirsty clan, if not actively in membership with it. but the armed warriors around him had actually been sent forth to suppress it. then he remembered how different was their bearing and demeanour to that of his late enemies. there was no boisterous swash-bucklering savagery about these. they were king's troops, the flower of the zulu nation, they and their chiefs, even as the igazipuza were the scum. "it is as i say," went on sobuza, smiling at his air of incredulity. "the great great one has long borne with this rebellious dog of his, and these were his words to us, to me sobuza the son of panhla, second in command of the udhloko, and to gcopo, the third _induna_ of the ngobamakosi," designating the chief at his side, whose magnificent physique had struck gerard the moment he arrived-- "`there sits among the mountains in the north, a dog who dares call himself by my name [note ]--who dares to insult the majesty of my state by his miserable imitation of the same; who gathers around him all the evil-doers of the nation, and levies tribute from my subjects, and kills and plunders men of nations between whom and myself there is peace, so that i am in danger of becoming embroiled by their ill-doings. moreover these claim the power of immunity from harm by sundry abominable practices abhorrent in the eyes of the people of the heavens, [note .], and make it their boast that they drink the blood of men. to such lengths have these _abatagati_ carried their enormities, that not only is there no longer peace or security for any who dwell near the northern border on either side thereof, but there is a danger that men may be led to think this dog greater than his master. "`further, this dog who calls himself lion, plots that one day he may roar where the lion of the zulu roars alone. now shall he feel the lion's paw, for the time has come when such disturbances and such abominations shall cease out of the land. "`now, sobuza, and you gcopo, pick from the udhloko and the ngobamakosi one thousand of your best warriors, half from each--for i hear these _abatagati_, who call themselves blood-drinkers, are numerous and hold a strong place--and go up against them. if they dare to resist _eat them up_--every man who bears a weapon--otherwise, slay only the dog who calls himself ingonyama, also vunawayo, and all who hold rank or standing among this pestilent clan. the remainder, with their women and cattle, drive before you hither. burn their kraal that no stick or straw be left, and return here by the sixth day from this. depart.' "such were the words of the king to us, jeriji. _whau_! we leaped up shouting the _bonga_ [note ], and that same evening we left undini, as you see us. by this time to-morrow there will be nothing left of the igazipuza kraal but its smoke, and the vultures of the northern heights will be gorged. it is good that you have fallen in with us, jeriji, you who are familiar with the place. we will strike them at dawn to-morrow, and jandosi shall be brought out alive. see--the sun is nearly down. then we will march." "i am very hungry, sobuza," said gerard. the chief started. zulus on a war expedition seldom eat more than once a day, and that in the morning. then he laughed, and gave orders accordingly. "it is war rations," he said, as some dried meat and mealies stamped to a kind of flaky paste were produced. the first was rather "high," but gerard was, as he had said, very hungry, and fell to, untroubled by overmuch fastidiousness. while thus engaged he heard a voice say in a jaunty, bantering tone-- "_saku bona, 'mlungu_! surely we have met before." the group of chiefs had temporarily left him, to supervise the few simple preparations for their march. looking up he saw a young zulu, unringed, who stood there, laughing all over his face. the features were familiar, but gerard, who had seen so many natives of late, could not quite locate them. "have you any more guns to sell, _umlungu_?" said the young fellow, roguishly. and then gerard knew him in a moment. "nkumbi-ka-zulu," he said, holding out his hand to show that he bore no ill-will from their previous very decided misunderstanding. "why, how is it that you are here?" "_ha_!" said the other, with a laugh, "i am in the ngobamakosi regiment. i am going to help `eat up' the igazipuza." "well, nkumbi, you wanted that double gun badly. listen to me now. jandosi is in the midst of those igazipuza, and when we attack them they may rush upon him and kill him. if you are the first to reach his side that double gun shall be yours. i promise it." "what if the gun is broken in the battle?" "then you shall have as good a one. only collect some of your companions, and manage to get near jandosi when we attack, and that gun shall be yours." "you are a straight man, _umlungu_, and i believe your word. i will try and win the gun." and then a short and sharp mandate from his superiors interrupting him, the young warrior turned away abruptly to fall into his place in the ranks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . "the lion" was one of the titles of the zulu kings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . "izulu" means "the heavens." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ note . a royal acclamation demanded by zulu etiquette on such occasions, and which generally consists in a string of extravagant titles. chapter twenty two. the two emissaries. the long sound sleep he had had stood gerard in good stead as he fell into the march of the _impi_--whose work was indeed cut out for it, for it would take all the hours of darkness before them, and rapid marching at that, to get into position by earliest dawn, that being the time appointed for falling upon the igazipuza kraal. but these picked men of the king's troops seemed thoroughly up to their work. hour after hour they marched, with no sign of flagging, ever the same swift elastic stride, and lucky indeed was it for gerard that he was in excellent condition or he might have found serious difficulty in keeping pace with them. there was another thing, too, that stood him in good stead--the foresight of dawes to wit, which had provided against the very emergency in which he had been placed. more than half of his rifle and revolver cartridges had been done up in several rolls of the most completely watertight wrapping, waxed at the seams. he might have to swim more than one river, dawes had reasoned. it was as well to be prepared for every contingency. so here he stood, provided with a supply of dry cartridges; and as by this time he was an adept at that sort of thing, he had employed the few minutes of daylight before setting out on the march in taking his weapon to pieces and carefully drying and greasing the mechanism. hour followed hour, and still the _impi_ kept on its way. now and again a brief halt of a few minutes would be called, in order to take a rest and a pinch or two of snuff, then on again; now through jungly tracts of grass and forest-belts, now over spurs of rugged and desolate mountain ranges, now splashing through quaking reedy morasses, where the deep boom of the bull-frog rose above the more treble croak of his smaller kin, and the will-of-the-wisps glinted in many a sickly blue corpse-candle. on, unflagging, strode those iron warriors, grim, silent angels of death, speeding through the night. "we are not far from the place now," said gerard at length, touching sobuza's arm. "just beyond that spar the slope leading up to the entrance to the hollow begins." it was the last hour of the night, that dark and chilly hour which precedes the dawn. they had entered that forest-belt which had been of such service to gerard in first throwing off his enemies, and now sobuza had convened his subordinate chiefs around him to hold a council of war. this was not a lengthy process, for the plans had been already laid. these were simplicity itself. the _impi_, in compact formation, was to advance swiftly to the ridge overlooking the hollow, then to charge down upon the kraal, throwing out "horns," so as to surround the latter. the inhabitants, thus utterly taken by surprise, would probably offer no resistance; but any who did were to be slain without mercy. everything depended upon the successful carrying out of the surprise part of the arrangement, otherwise a severe and bloody battle might be reckoned on; for the igazipuza were not made of the stuff which would submit to be "eaten up" without a struggle. moreover, in their own stronghold they would prove a terribly formidable enemy, and the king's troops were only twice their number, odds which the advantage of the ground would go far to neutralise. "_whau_!" muttered sobuza, taking a final pinch of snuff and rising to his feet. "i fear we are not going to have things all our own way. ingonyama is no fool, still less is vunawayo. they may believe you were eaten by the alligator, jeriji, or they may doubt it; but if they think there is the least chance of you having escaped, they will be upon their guard. now, if you had been taken and brought back, our work would have been easy. only," he added, with a humorous twinkle in his eyes, "it might not have been so easy for you. we might have arrived too late." the words struck a chill into gerard's heart. what if they had arrived too late--too late as far as his friend was concerned. he hoped and prayed not, and then an outlet to his impatience came in the mandate that was issued for the advance. and now, as the grey light of dawn broke over the earth, gerard was able for the first time to obtain a view of the barbarous but splendidly disciplined host in whose midst he was to fight to-day. debouching from the forest-belt in the most perfect order came this pick of the king's troops, marching in four companies. two of these consisted of _amakehla_ or ringed men, and the great war-shields borne by these were white, or nearly so; for this was the draft out of the udhloko regiment, a part of the royal corps, warriors of long training and experience, mostly middle-aged. the other two consisted of young men, unringed, carrying shields of all sorts of colours, black-and-white, red-and-white, black or red, but none entirely white. these were the ngobamakosi warriors, fiery young fellows, burning to be led against some enemy, no matter who, in order that they might prove their valour and thus win distinction. the leader of these, gcopo, walked with sobuza during the march, and the towering stature of the two chiefs was conspicuous even in that muster of splendidly built men. beyond their shields and weapons, there was little or no attempt at martial display or personal adornment; for this being an expedition against their own countrymen, though on a large scale, came more within the category of a police undertaking than an _impi_ sent forth to war, and thus ceremonies and paraphernalia which would have figured in the latter event were dispensed with. but bound round his head, every man wore a narrow strip of hide; the udhloko, white; the ngobamakosi, red. this was to distinguish them from the igazipuza, and that they should not fall upon each other by mistake in the thick of the battle. thus viewed against the open hillside, marching in splendid order, a forest of bristling spears and tufted shields, a thousand eager and disciplined warriors burning for action, the _impi_ was an imposing sight indeed, and gerard felt his heart thrill at the consciousness of going into battle for the first time with such men as these. suddenly a gasp of wonderment went like a wave through the ranks. all came to a standstill, and every eye was turned upon the same point. there, bounding down the hillside, making straight for the _impi_, came two men, zulus. who were they? runaways? refugees? some of the trader's people who had escaped? such were among the conjectures that rose to the minds of the astonished spectators. but, as they drew nearer another and deeper gasp of wonder heaved through the _impi_, for on forehead and chest of the approaching warriors was now discernible the red mark of the igazipuza. on they came, bounding like bucks, heading straight for the _impi_, and it was seen that they were young men and unringed, and fully armed with shield and assegai. the king's troops watched them in grim silence. "we are igazipuza, the cubs of the lion. who are you?" began the spokesman, as the two pulled up within twelve paces of the foremost rank of the udhloko. an ominous and threatening growl greeted these words, and spears quivered. "whelps of the dog, say rather," exclaimed a deep voice. "drop your weapons and advance." they laughed, those two. standing before one thousand men, who had come forth expressly to slaughter them and theirs--they laughed. "we cubs of the lion shed not our claws," replied the one who had spoken, a tall, straight young fellow who, panting slightly after his run, stood with his head thrown back contemplating the king's troops as though he were the king himself. "our claws may be cut, though they tear badly first. but we do not shed them." again that ejaculation of anger went up, this time mingled with contempt. a rapid movement had been executed. the two young men were surrounded--stood now in the very centre of the _impi_. still utterly fearless, they looked around and laughed defiantly. "as the child makes a plaything of the sleeping serpent, so now are you walking over your graves, you two children," said sobuza, contemptuously. "who are you?" "greeting, _induna_ of the king's _impi_," returned the speaker, after a steady stare at the chief. "we are sent by our father, the lion of the igazipuza, to warn you to return. there is _muti_ [medicine, or philtre] spread on the mountain-side leading to his kraal, which is death to twenty times the number you have here." "have done with such childishness," returned sobuza, sternly. "is your father, the lion of the igazipuza, as you name him"--with a sneer--"prepared to come down here and proceed to undini to lay his neck beneath the paw of the lion of the zulu whose wrath he has incurred?" the two emissaries fairly laughed. "not he," was the reply. "this is the word of ingonyama: `there is a white man named jandosi here. when the king's hunting-dogs first behold the home of the igazipuza, they shall view many things. they shall see the white man, jandosi, writhing upon the point of the tooth--he and all his following. the english will then make war in their anger upon the people of zulu, and will set up a white king. they shall find their game, but the game of the king's hunting-dogs will be not jackals, but lions. now--let them come!'" the utter audacity of this speech seemed to take away everybody's breath. they stared at the foolhardy speaker as men who dream. he, before they had recovered, catching sight of gerard among the group of chiefs, broke into a loud laugh. "_ha_! the other white man! the alligators have spat him up again whole. well, _umlungu_. new friends are better than old ones. you and your new friends shall see your `brother' being bitten by the tooth." "seize them!" said sobuza. there was a rush and a struggle. lithe, quick as they were, the two emissaries were overpowered; the blows which would have let the life out of one or more were beaten down by the solid fence of the udhloko shields. as they lay on the ground, powerless, disarmed--those holding them gazing eagerly, hungrily, at the chief, awaiting the word to bury the broad spears in their prostrate bodies--gerard recognised, in him who had spoken, the man who had so barbarously slaughtered the unfortunate swazi, kazimbi. "ho, _umlungu_," called out the fearless young barbarian. "with the first advance of the king's _impi_, your `brother' shall be bitten on the tooth. ha, ha!" the words, the fiendish laugh, sent gerard nearly off his head. beckoning sobuza aside, he besought the chief to delay his advance, to try and make terms with ingonyama. but sobuza shook his head. the thing was impossible, he explained. the king's orders were absolute. little or nothing was left to his own discretion, who was merely the king's "dog," and entrusted with carrying them out. poor gerard, with the horrible picture he had discovered that day upon the rock of death now vividly before his eyes, besought and implored. in vain. he even appealed to the recollection of the aid he had been able to render the chief--a thing that at any other time he would have died rather than have done. still in vain. sobuza was firm. the king's orders were imperative and had to be carried out, though one man or a thousand perished. what jeriji asked was impossible. they had delayed enough already. then he turned to those who were holding down the emissaries. "these dogs of ingonyama's! could he not even send me a _kehla_, instead of talking to me, sobuza, an _induna_ of the king, through the mouths of two common dog-whelps like these. let your spears devour them both!" eagerly the signal was watched for, eagerly it was obeyed. down struck the spear-points, bright and flashing, up they rose again, ruddy and gore-dimmed, then down again. the quivering bodies of the foolhardy emissaries lay pierced with a dozen great gashes. covered with blood, one of them half rose. it was that of the spokesman. "_hamba gahle_ [`farewell;' literally, `go in peace.'], sobuza, _induna_ of the king," he gasped, ironically. "_hamba gahle, umlungu_! the tooth bites! the tooth bites!" and, with a devilish chuckle, ferocious, untamable, fearless to the last, the young warrior, choked with the torrents of his own blood, sank back and died. "_au_!" growled the chief impatiently, with an angry scowl. "we have lost more than enough time over this carrion. yet if all these dogs, who call themselves `blood-drinkers,' care as little for their lives as you two, by the head-ring of the great great one we shall have a merry fight before we `eat up' ingonyama's house." then aloud "forward, children of the king!" chapter twenty three. the work of "suppression." the chiefs and gerard were unanimous in the opinion that it would be too much luck to expect to find the igazipuza unprepared, and the appearance of ingonyama's emissaries had set at rest all doubt upon that head; and what with the desperate fearlessness of the outlaw clan--fighting, so to say, with its neck in the halter--and the advantage of fighting on its own ground, the battle that day, as sobuza had said, was likely to prove a right merry one. all further necessity for concealment being now at an end, the _impi_ advanced swiftly and in silence, moving at a brisk ran, and now the gleam of battle was in every eye, as gripping their formidable broad-bladed assegais, the warriors pressed forward, in their own expressive idiom beginning to "see red." bounding the spar pointed out by gerard, they surged up the last slope. here they formed up into line of battle. each flank consisted of a company of the ngobamakosi, and these were to constitute the "horns" when the surrounding had to be done. that on the right had gcopo for leader, that on the left, another sub-chief, named matela, while the centre, which was composed of the udhloko, was led by sobuza, who, as commander of the expedition, directed the movements generally. beside him, gerard had resolved for the present to remain, in order, if called upon, to give assistance by his knowledge of the place. but for the incident of the two emissaries the king's _impi_ might have supposed it was going to take the doomed igazipuza completely by surprise, according to the original plan, for as it advanced swiftly up the slope not an enemy showed himself, not a sign of life was there. had the igazipuza elected to choose their own fighting-ground, and retired to some spot strategically more favourable for resisting the invaders? or was there some secret way out of the hollow, known only to a few, and kept for an emergency such as this? it almost began to look like it. sobuza and his captains, however, were not the men to trust to appearances or to leave anything to chance, and well indeed for them that such was the case. they had reached the critical point. a hundred yards further and they would stand upon the ridge overlooking the hollow. suddenly the stillness was broken--broken in a startling manner. there was a crash of firearms, and from the slope there arose a mass of warriors springing up as though out of the very earth. covered by their great war-shields, the broad spear gripped in the right hand, they charged like lightning upon the right flank of the king's force, and the roar of their ferocious blood-shout went up as the roar of a legion of tigers. prepared as they were, the surprise, the terrible impetuosity of the charge, momentarily staggered the untried and youthful warriors of the ngobamakosi. it almost seemed as though they must give way. but gcopo, their leader, was the right man in the right place. "strike, children of the king! death to the _abatagati_!" he thundered, waving his great shield as he sprang to meet the onrushing horde, "_usutu_! _'su-tu_!" "igazi--pu--za!" roared the latter, answering the king's war-cry with their own wild slogan. and then as the rival forces met in jarring shock there fell a silence, save for the flutter and crash of shields, the scuffle of feet, the gasp of deep-drawn breaths, the shiver of spears, and the thud of falling bodies. it was all done in a moment. by hurling his whole force upon that of the daring foe, sobuza could have crushed it in a very few minutes. but that astute leader knew better. he saw at a glance that the attacking igazipuza, though better men, hardly equalled in numbers the company of the ngobamakosi with which they were engaged. so he passed a peremptory word to the remainder of his force to hold itself in reserve, and his strategy was justified, for almost immediately another band of the enemy arose with equally startling suddenness, and fell furiously upon his left flank. in obedience to a mysterious signal, the king's _impi_ divided. half the udhloko hurled themselves to the support of the wing first attacked, while the remainder sprang forward in the wake of their chief. "ho! hunting-dogs of the king, here is your game! _usu-tu_!" roared sobuza, whirling his battle-axe aloft as he leaped to meet these new assailants. the latter were led by a chief of gigantic stature and hideous aspect, beneath whose wildly fantastic adornments of flowing cowhair and long trailing crane's feathers, gerard, keeping at the side of sobuza, had no difficulty in recognising vunawayo. "hah!" growled the latter, as the ringed leader came at him. "now we have _men_ to deal with!" gerard, recognising his old enemy, had covered him with his revolver, and drew the trigger. but with incredible quickness vunawayo bounded aside, and the ball found its billet in the body of a warrior behind him. before he could fire again, sobuza had met the leader of the igazipuza in full shock. then it was as a battle of the giants to behold these two. their shields clashed together, and remained held at arm's length, pressing against each other as the heads and interlocked horns of two fighting bulls, each striving to beat down the other's guard, to draw the other's stroke by a deft and clever feint; and a false stroke would mean the death of whichever should make it. the warriors on either side had rallied around their respective chiefs and champions, to neither of whom could they render any aid by reason of the desperate fierceness wherewith they were themselves pressing each other. gerard, carried away by the indescribable savagery and excitement of the combat, began himself to "see red," was hardly, in fact, conscious of his acts. a sharp sting in the ear, as of a red-hot iron, brought him to himself. grinding his teeth in fury he emptied his rifle point-blank into the body of a warrior whose assegai stroke had so narrowly missed him, then he was knocked down by the violent contact of a great shield. the bearer of it had raised his spear to strike when he himself was felled by a blow of a battle-axe, and at the same time gerard was seized by friendly hands and set upon his feet again. half dazed he continued to load and fire. he saw men stagger beneath their death wound and sink to the earth, now foul and slippery with gore. he saw others almost hacked to pieces as they stood, and then fall to their knees, still thrusting and stabbing as long as there was life in them; but ever the deafening roar of the opposing war-cries, the tossing of weapons and shields, the blows and the gasping, and the spouting blood. it could not last--it could not last. even the desperate valour of the igazipuza, together with the fact that they were on higher ground, for they had charged down upon the king's _impi_, could not avail for long against the superior numbers of the latter. vunawayo, finding his efforts against sobuza unavailing, and noting that more and more of the latter's warriors were free to come to their chief's assistance, sprang suddenly back, and waving his shield, gave out in thunder tones the order to retreat. but if the king's troops imagined that victory was theirs they were destined to be undeceived. all this while the igazipuza had been pressed farther and farther back until they had nearly reached the top of the ridge, and now as they poured over this in their retreat, through the point where the slopes narrowed to a kind of gateway, the pursuers thundering on their rear were met by a small but fresh force which had been placed there to cover the retreat of the bulk. "by the head-ring of the great great one, but these are _abatagati_ indeed!" growled sobuza at this fresh evidence of the desperate pertinacity of the enemy. "at them, my children! hew them down!" and shouting the king's war-cry he leaped upon the opposing igazipuza. if the fighting had been fierce before, it was doubly so now. this band of heroes in their way, savage, bloodthirsty freebooters as they were, had been placed there in this latter-day thermopylae, to die--to die in order that the rest might renew the combat under more favourable conditions, and what more formidable foe can there be than a cornered combatant? they went down at last before the udhloko spears, but the struggle was a fearful one, the result almost man for man. when the victors, panting, bleeding, maddened with bloodshed and fury, stood on the ridge looking down into the hollow upon the igazipuza kraal, those who had originally withstood them, and of whom they were in pursuit, had disappeared. this would mean hunting them down--hunting down a cornered and desperate foe who had not hesitated to assume the offensive and attack a force twice as strong as itself, and who still mustered in sufficient numbers to be of formidable menace; hunting down such as these, at bay among the bush and rocks of their own stronghold. a redoubtable undertaking indeed. there lay the great kraal, apparently deserted, for it and its surroundings showed no sign of life. eagerly gerard's glance sought the waggons, and then his heart turned sick. they were still there, but around them also was no sign of life. what had happened? but the next glance was destined to sicken him yet more. "look--look!" he gasped, gripping sobuza by the arm. "that is the tooth. oh, good god!" the last ejaculation escaped him in his grief. there rose the great pyramid, clear and distinct in the light of early dawn. something was moving on its apex, and against the cliff-face several dark objects were plainly discernible. to the sharp eyes of the zulus, and, indeed, to gerard himself, the nature of them was unmistakable. they were human forms, and they were hanging from the brow of the cliff. sobuza, to whom gerard had imparted this novel and hideous form of torture practised by the savage freebooters, gave a grunt of interest and surprise as he beheld with his own eyes the actual process; for to hang a man up by his dislocated arms wrenched round in the sockets was unique and a novelty to him--barbarian as he was. "we are too late--we are too late!" groaned gerard. "not so, jeriji," said the chief, sending another look at the grisly cliff and the dangling bodies. "there are three of them. but not one of them is a white man." the rush of hope that rose in gerard's heart was dashed. "we cannot see the stake from here," he said--"the thing they call the `point of the tooth.' oh, heavens, if we are too late! let us get forward! quick! we may be in time--we may be in time!" but the zulu chief, though concerned because of the agony of mind of his young friend, was not there out of any considerations of sentiment. he was there to carry out the orders of the king in all their drastic severity, and was not going to risk failure and court ruin because one unknown white man was in danger of a barbarous death at the hands of the rebel clan. he had got to pursue the fighting force of the latter, and leave it no time to master in any position favourable to itself. "it can't be done, jeriji," he replied. "afterwards, when we have eaten up all these dogs, then we will turn our attention to the tooth." "it will be too late then--too late!" said gerard, angrily. "listen, sobuza!" he almost shouted, as an idea struck him. "give me a few men, and i will go myself. don't you see! that peak commands all the hollow. i know, for i have been on it. and there are people on it now who can signal to the others. now--is it not in your interest that it should be cleared?" "_hau_!" cried the chief, on whom this idea came with a new light. then he turned, and after a rapid conference with his colleagues, agreed to the plan, and as by this time the _impi_--less those who had fallen--had mustered on the ridge, the word was given to advance. and what a different appearance did they now present. covered with dust and sweat, many of them gashed with wounds and dripping with blood, shields hacked and weapons splintered, still panting with the exertion and excitement of the battle, there was none of that spick-and-span parade-ground appearance which had characterised them during their march upon them now. but instead there was a grim light in their eyes, a fell meaning in the low murmurs that issued now and then from their lips, as the growls of a wounded lion. here a man might be seen passing his fingers along the blade of a broad assegai, foul and clotted with blood; there another, balancing his heavy short-handled kerrie and explaining how he had just failed to beat down his adversary's guard; another again, with a gash which had cut through his head-ring and sliced away a portion of the head beneath. others again, had lost a finger, an ear, and sobuza himself was wounded in three places, though not seriously. but on every countenance there was a grim and vengeful rigidity, which showed that when the "suppression" of the igazipuza should come to be proceeded with, the king's orders would be carried out in no half-hearted manner. leaving a detachment on the ridge to hold the enemy in check in case he should double back and endeavour to break through, sobuza ordered the advance. the igazipuza had fled towards the further end of the hollow, where the rocky jungly nature of the ground would be favourable to them making their last stand, and gerard, who had thoroughly explored the place, was able to estimate pretty accurately the spot where this was likely to be. "shall we burn it, my father?" said one of the sub-chiefs, as they passed the great silent kraal. "it would make a merry blaze." "and a most troublesome smoke," returned sobuza. "burn it not. when we have done with these jackals we will warm ourselves by the flames of their straw. for the present let it be." "we are near the tooth now, sobuza," said gerard. "send the men with me that we may clear it." but here a fresh difficulty arose. none seemed eager to accompany him. although the discipline of a zulu regiment on a war expedition is of iron rigidity, there were mutterings of discontent at the bare idea. the warriors had not come there to take up the quarrel of an unknown white trader, but to exterminate the rebellions subjects of the king. having tasted its delights, they were burning once more for the mad shock of battle, and with such a foe. they were not keen on falling out of this for the sake of dislodging three or four spies from an elevated position, nor were they eager to place themselves under the command of a white man. the chief himself was but lukewarm in the matter, and it seemed in danger of being abandoned. "if no one will go with me i will go alone!" cried gerard, in despair. then, as his glance fell upon a face in the ranks, he was inspired with new hope. "come now, nkumbi-ka-zulu," he went on. "are you not ready to win the double gun? it is waiting for you. are there none of your friends who will go with you? we shall be back with the _impi_ long before the fight is at an end." the young warrior stepped forth. it was the dream of his life to possess that double gun which he had so vainly tried to jockey out of its owner. now, by a strange turn of events, he might only hope to possess it by saving the life of that owner. "i am ready," he said, turning deferentially towards sobuza for permission. another and another stepped forward, friends and kinsmen of his. "nine of you. with yourself there will be ten. you must do the best you can, jeriji, for i can spare no more," said sobuza impatiently. and the pursuit was resumed. lying back from the hollow in a lateral spur, shut in by ironstone cliffs, was a small kraal, and this place had been chosen by the igazipuza for their last stand. hither all their women and cattle had been sent, and here they were resolved to die--to die fighting hard. and no better place could they have chosen than this grim _cul de sac_. it would be impossible to surround them. only when they had been driven back step by step--forced against the very face of the iron cliff itself, would the last man be exterminated. over this weird death-trap there towered a great cloud of dust, and the rocks re-echoed the lowing and trampling of the cattle and the shouts of their drivers, the shrill voices of women, and the squalling of children. and still the messengers of retribution marched on, a fell purpose in each grim countenance; eyeballs rolling with a lurid fury, weapons gripped, step elastic and eager. the dawn had broken lowering and murky, and there was no sun. the wind sang mournfully through the hollow; moaning among the cliffs, as with the wail of spirit voices over the drama of carnage and massacre which was here to be played out. as in the first instance, the igazipuza had selected a place where their assailants would be obliged to approach them from below. sobuza having satisfied himself that all the fighting force of the rebel clan was before him, sent back two swift runners to order forward the detachment he had left on the outer ridge, with the exception of a few who were to remain to cut off any stray fugitives who might break through. the contingency that anything like a number might do so seemed hardly worth reckoning on. then he ordered the immediate attack. as the king's troops came sweeping up the slope, in perfect line of battle, regular and unbroken, there floated to their ears, rising in dull menace on the fitful puffs of the morning, the weird rhythmical chorus of a war-song. "cubs of the lion we, whose roar sounds death; vultures who sit on high, whose swoop means death; serpents who creep below, whose fangs deal death-- we drink of the blood of men, we laugh at death! "wizards of thunder we whose voice rolls death; wizards of lightning we who flash forth death! ho! `hunting-dogs of the king,' come, taste our death! we drink of the blood of men-- we drink _your_ death!" the great ironstone cliffs echoed back the weird words of the savage strophe with almost the effect of articulate repetition, and when, in its final paean of defiance, the chorus swelled to a clamourous, threatening roar, the disgust and hatred and repulsion which ran through the minds of the king's soldiers knew no bounds. for to the average zulu nothing is more repellent than any suggestion of dark dealing, and the gruesome import of the song of the igazipuza, who had already earned a reputation for wizardry in its foulest form, inspired in the minds of these a fell determination to rid the earth of the whole evil brood. "usutu!" "igazi--pu--za!" the war-shout of the royal house and the defiant slogan of the rebel clan, mingled in booming echoes from the overhanging cliffs, as the dark crescent line swept unswervingly on; the line of white shields, and the flanking companies of parti-coloured ones, the bristling groups of bright spears. in their wild and fantastic array, the red disk, the hideous stamp of their dreaded order, freshly painted on forehead and chest, the strength of ten men in the hopeless desperation of each, the doomed clansmen stood awaiting the shock. it came. then again was the silence of voices, but the tramp of striving feet as the conflicting crowd surged backwards and forwards--with the hiss and heave of a dark billow split up on a half-submerged rock--the crash of shields and weapons, the stagger of falling bodies, and the gasp of the slain beneath the savage slashing blows of the infuriated slayers. the igazipuza are fighting like a race of giants. at this rate barely half the king's force will return to ulundi. all three of its leaders are wounded; sobuza is streaming with blood, but still his gigantic form towers in the thick of the fray, still his battle-axe shears aloft in wavy circles of light, still his white shield shivers that of an opponent like the shock of a charging elephant. suddenly a sharp shrill warning cry rings forth. even above the din of the strife there rises a doll, rambling sound which shakes the ground. nearer, nearer it draws. thunder? no. even the combatants pause. a dense cloud of dust is rolling down the kloof, and through it can be seen a forest of bristling horns, a sea of rolling eyes. even the combatants take up the warning shout, "_xwaya--xwaya! 'zinkomo_!" ["look out--look out! the cattle!"] like a whirlwind the frantic herd sweeps down the narrow gorge. bellowing, leaping, throwing up their horns, the maddened beasts plunge onward, hundreds and hundreds of them, shaking the earth with the thunder of their hoofs, smothering and blinding all with the cyclone of their dust, heading for the outlet. there is no staying the headlong course of the stampeded beasts. the whole _impi_ will be crashed to pulp by the horned terror. in dismay the combatants spring helter-skelter up the rocks, and it goes roaring and thundering by, crushing many as it does so. whether the move was a spontaneous one, and that the animals, frantic with the shouting and the reek of blood, and all penned up moreover in such small compass, had stampeded of their own accord, or whether it was a last desperate resource on the part of the igazipuza to crush and destroy the king's _impi_, could not at the time be determined. both parties, for the moment dazed, now rushed at each other with renewed access of fury--but it could not last. the numbers of the igazipuza had dwindled frightfully; all cohesion among them was at an end. they were now broken up into groups, still fighting desperately. "yield, wizards!" roared sobuza. "to fight on is death." "ha, ha! we laugh at death, leader of the king's hunting-dogs!" came the jeering reply. "taste it, then!" thundered the chief, springing at the largest of these groups, and, whirling a heavy knobkerrie aloft, for his battle-axe was broken, he smashed in the skull of the speaker like an eggshell. with a roar and a rush the king's _impi_ surged forward, overwhelming the now scattered groups by sheer weight of numbers. the battle was at an end. in ghastly staring heaps, their splintered weapons still gripped in their dying throes, still half covered by their hacked shields, the corpses of the igazipuza warriors lay, gashed and streaming with blood. grimly, sullenly, to the death had they fought, and now there were none left to fight. the king's troops, too, had suffered severely. gcopo, the leader of the ngobamakosi, had been killed, and matela, the sub-chief, was badly wounded with assegai thrusts, and many a staunch fighting man of that regiment and of the udhloko had fallen. "on, on!" cried sobuza, waving his arm. "the king's work is not yet done. where is ingonyama? where is vunawayo?" a shout of dismay, of baffled fury, answered him. rolling their eyes over the groups of slain, the warriors sought the now familiar features of the fighting leader. in vain. vunawayo was not among them. had he succeeded in breaking through the lines during the confusion caused by the rush of the cattle? it began to look like it. again, roaring out the king's war-cry, the whole force charged eagerly forward. there stood the small kraal. in a moment it was entirely surrounded. "come forth! come forth!" thundered sobuza, his voice almost drowned by the dismal clamour of shrieks and terrified howling kept up by the women and children hiding away in their huts in terror of their lives. "come forth, ere the torch is put in! to linger is death!" screaming, grovelling in abject fear, the miserable herd crept forth. "spare us, father! crush us not, foot of the elephant! bend us not, paw of the lion!" they howled, rolling on the ground before the chief, beside themselves with fear as they looked upon the blood-stained weapons and threatening scowls of the king's warriors. the old hags, especially, kept up their dismal, quavering screech. the younger women were for the most part less scared or stonily resigned. all, however, expected immediate massacre. "peace, witches--night cats!" thundered sobuza. "say, while ye may. where is ingonyama?" whether in the bewilderment of her terror, or out of sheer force of habit, the foremost of the women, a hideous wrinkled hag, to whom the question seemed in particular addressed, replied-- "we know not, father; we know not--" "ha! ye know not!" said sobuza, making a sign. immediately a warrior stepped forward, and without a word, drove his great assegai through the hag's body. "i give you all one more chance," roared the chief again, cutting short the howl of terror which went up. "where is ingonyama?" "on the tooth, father. on the tooth!" eagerly yelled a whole chorus of voices. "if this is a lie, then shall every one of you be even as she," said the chief, sternly, pointing with his foot at the corpse of the one who had been ill-advised enough to protest ignorance. "it is no lie, father!" they cried lustily. "he is there. it is no lie." "ill will it be for yourselves if it is," said sobuza, darkly. "and now, witches, this nest of yours shall burn." half a dozen warriors sprang eagerly forward, and in as many moments flames were bursting from the straw huts. disappointed in their hopes of thus smoking out any fighting men who might have crept in there for shelter, the warriors amused themselves by spearing the dogs as they rushed forth, shouting with laughter as a whole cloud of assegais whizzed past some one more fortunate or more fleet than the rest, without transfixing him. but no further violence was offered to the women and children. the king's sentence had gone forth only against such as should offer resistance, and did not include these. chapter twenty four. the last of the freebooters. meanwhile gerard, with a perfect agony of dread and apprehension at his heart, was speeding with his young zulu allies in the direction of "the tooth." though they could hardly hope to gain it unobserved, yet by way of neglecting no precaution, they crept along as much as possible under cover of the bush. fortunately, the approaches were well-known to gerard, who was thus able to guide his party straight to the point by which alone it was accessible. "see, there!" exclaimed nkumbi-ka-zulu, suddenly, touching his arm. "_au_! the wizards!" they had got the face of the great rock pyramid almost in section. looking up, gerard beheld with a shudder the hanging bodies, which he had first seen from a distance. they were very near now, quite near enough to make out the features of the tortured victims, who, however, appeared to be dead, for they hung motionless against the cliff. shuddering again, gerard recognised in the drawn, ghastly countenances those of the three swazis. there were still only the three, yet from this he augured no good thing. that horrible stake on the apex of the mount--he could not see that. did it, too, hold its tortured writhing victim? what had they done with john dawes, with sintoba, fulani, and the other natives? and then he began to hope that for some purpose they might yet have been spared. if so, it might not be too late. "now, nkumbi," he whispered eagerly. "up we go! this is the side. i will be first at the top; do you keep close behind me. there cannot be many up there. the place will not hold more than a few, and besides, all their fighting force will be busy with sobuza." as they drew near the summit of the gruesome rock of death, a strange, unwonted stillness reigned. could it be that the place was deserted? had the savages already accomplished their horrible work and gone away? gerard's heart beat like a hammer as he climbed the last bit of steep rocky path, and he could hardly see. his brain seemed to swim. suddenly a strange, rumbling, scuffling sound met his ears, the sound as of a struggle. mingling with it were quick, deep-toned ejaculations. a wave of a great relief surged round his heart, for he recognised one of the voices. he was not, then, too late. in a moment he gained the summit, and this was what he saw. in the centre of the depressed hollow, arrayed in all the grotesque and hideous paraphernalia of a witch-doctor, the great lion's skin draping him from head to foot, stood ingonyana, surrounded by half a dozen warriors. beside him rose the grim, pointed stake, empty now, and ready to receive another victim. and the victim was there. struggling in the grasp of four athletic savages, struggling with all the might of a powerful and sinewy frame, bound as he was, straining every nerve and muscle, was a white man. they had passed a _reim_ round his neck, and were trying to draw his head down almost to his knees, in a word, to truss him like a fowl, preparatory to impaling him upon that hideous stake. and in this man, gerard recognised at a glance john dawes. so intent were all upon the execution of their barbarous task, that the approach of the party took place absolutely unheeded. to fling himself upon the warriors who were straggling with his friend was to gerard the work of a fraction of an instant. to empty his revolver into the head of one, and the body of another was that of the same iota of time. then as the remaining two with a yell of surprise started back to seize the weapons, which they had dropped while engaged in their straggle with the prisoner, they were speared by the zulus who had followed close behind gerard. "_usutu_! death to the _abatagati_!" thundered nkumbi-ka-zulu, hurling a casting assegai full at the chief. ingonyama, however, caught it deftly on his shield, and charged forward upon the thrower, followed by his six remaining warriors. bending the air with their ferocious blood-shout, the igazipuza, having recovered from their momentary surprise, strove now to bear back the assailants, to press them over the cliff's brow. but the blood of the young ngobamakosi warriors was up. not an inch did they give way, and numerically the odds were in their favour. hand to hand--slashing, parrying, thrusting--they fought. so swift was the attack--so hard pressed by the ferocious and desperate freebooters was gerard and his allies, that the former had not even so much as a moment of time wherein to release dawes. he could only stand before him to protect him with his life. then suddenly seizing his opportunity, he slipped his rifle between the shoulders of two of the striving ngobamakosi, and hardly taking aim pressed the trigger. ingonyama leaped in the air, and fell heavily forward, the blood pouring from a small round hole in his forehead. "_au_! between the eyes has his life been let out!" cried nkumbi-ka-zulu, unconsciously echoing the words of the dead chief himself, uttered so prophetically over the lion's skin which he still wore. and, remembering the words, despair was in the hearts of the bystanders; but despair to the intrepid, almost fanatical igazipuza meant only a fresh access of desperation. so far from the fall of their chief inspiring them with dismay, it only nerved them to resistance more stubborn, more ferocious than ever. three out of the six were already slain, one almost disabled from wounds. three likewise of the ngobamakosi were down--so far man for man. the remaining three, pressed back inch by inch, were already at the cliff's brow. as for asking quarter that was the last thing in the world they would ever have dreamed of. gerard now found the opportunity to cut the _reims_ which bound his friend, and thrust his revolver into the hand of the latter. hardly had he done so when a terrific uproar arose beneath--the royal shout of _usutu_. on it came, surging upward, and immediately there sprang upon the apex of the tooth some five or six warriors. the red circle showed them to be enemies, the panting chests and hacked shields and the quick eager way in which they turned to glance back as soon as they had gained the summit, showed them to be fugitives. a gasp of surprise escaped the two white men as they caught sight of the foremost. it was vunawayo. "ha! _umlungu_!" cried the latter, as he sighted gerard, "i told you we should meet again on the point of the tooth! and we have." there was something so terrific, so appalling in the very aspect of the gigantic savage, as covered with blood, his evil features working in a most fiendish and malignant grin, he darted like lightning upon gerard, that even the latter might have been excused if he had felt momentarily unnerved. unluckily, too, his foot slipped, so that his rifle bullet, instead of meeting his assailant full in the chest, only hummed past the latter's ear. he was at the mercy of his formidable foe. parrying with his shield the blow aimed at him by gerard's dabbed rifle, vunawayo made a furious stab. but gerard, avoiding it, gripped his assailant by the legs and threw him. the agile and powerful zulu, however, was half up in a moment, and the straggle became a hand-to-hand one. no assistance either could dawes or the ngobamakosi give, all their efforts being fully taxed to hold their own against this new accession of strength to the side of their enemies. "_au_, _'mlungu_! i told you our meeting would be a long one," growled vunawayo, between his set teeth, as they rolled nearer and nearer to the brow of the cliff. gerard the while felt every muscle in his powerful young frame cracking, strained as it was to prevent the savage from freeing the hand which held the assegai. moments seemed years--nearer and nearer to the fatal brink the combatants rolled. then the fierce and desperate savage, suddenly jerking free his left wrist, seized his adversary by the throat. then gerard felt that his end had come. his eyes seemed squeezed out of his head. the whole world was spinning round with him. a tug--a final effort--his opponent had got him to the edge of the height. he was going--both were going-- the air rang with the deep-throated "_usutu_!" as sobuza and his followers came swarming over the edge of the summit. gerard was conscious of a spout of warm blood over his face, for the moment blinding him; of the relaxing grip of his adversary; of a plunge and scuffle as the body of the latter crashed over the brink--of the grasp of powerful hands dragging him back to life and safety. then, half choked, his brain swimming, he rose to his feet, and took in what had happened--what was happening--the last act in the suppression of the redoubtable freebooting clan. it all took place in a moment. the summit was alive with warriors, with tossing shields and bristling weapons, all pressing forward upon one man. he was standing fronting them like a stag at bay--standing on a projecting pinnacle of rock, balancing himself right over the abyss. he was a man of large, fine stature, and his eyes flashed with the elation of a heroic courage, as covered by his great shield, and a broad assegai flourished aloft in his right hand, he defied his slayers to approach. "ho, hunting-dogs of the king, here is your quarry! come and seize it," he shouted, in deep, mocking tones. "what, afraid? the king's _impi_ afraid of one man! what a sight for the spirit of tyaka! ha! i am the last of the igazipuza, and the whole of the king's _impi_ fears me-- fears me!" he repeated, in a kind of long-drawn chant--a very death-song, in fact. now the summit sloped down to the pinnacle of rock whereon the man stood. to attack him hand-to-hand was certain death, for his object was plain--to seize and drag into the abyss with him whoever should approach, and thus to die true to the traditions of his order, an enemy's life in his hand. assegais thrown at him from above he only laughed at, parrying them easily with his shield. sobuza and his warriors were beside themselves with helpless rage. the jeering laughter and contemptuous defiance of the man goaded them to madness. but how to get at him? the chief was too proud to admit himself beaten by asking the aid of the firearms of his white allies, whereas they, in sheer admiration of the man's desperate intrepidity, forebore to use them. even john dawes, notwithstanding his recent rough treatment and narrow escape from the most barbarous of deaths, could hardly bring himself to fire upon this sole survivor of the race which had so abominably ill-used him. but the difficulty solved itself unexpectedly. the savage, seeing gerard pushing his way to the front--seeing, too, the rifle in his hand, mistook his intentions. if they were not going to purchase the pleasure of taking his life at the price of losing one of their own, they should not have it for nothing. "ho, cowards!" he roared with flashing eyes. "ho, cowardly dogs who fear one man. go, tell your king i spit at his head-ring! igazi--pu-- za!" and as the last long-drawn note of the ferocious war-shout of his tribe escaped his lips, he turned and sprang out into empty air, and a dull, heavy thud and the clink of metal upon stones rising upward to the ears of those above, told that the last of the igazipuza warriors had died even as those who had gone before him had died--fierce, stubborn, formidable to the end, but unyielding. a gasp of relief, admiration, awe, went up from the spectators of this powerfully tragic scene. then they turned to leave the mount of death. "_whau_! these are _abatagati_ indeed!" quoth sobuza. "but they are right valiant fighters." "and this, my father, what shall we do with it?" said one of the warriors, designating the body of ingonyama, which lay just as it had fallen, covered with the great lion's skin. "shall we not place it on `the point of the tooth,' that even the very birds may behold the fate of the enemies of the great great one?" "the king's orders did not say that," replied sobuza, who was not free from motives of class-feeling. "ingonyama was a chief, and a brave man, and now he is dead. let him lie in peace, for was he not a chief?" "what of this?" said dawes, touching the lion's skin. "we want it not," answered sobuza. "it, too, looks like _tagati_. see! the life was let out of it and its wearer by the same hole." "that's a fact," said dawes. "but, if you're so particular, we are not. we are going to have this--eh, ridgeley?" and he plucked the lion's skin from the body of the dead chief. the zulus stared, then shrugged their shoulders. a white man might do all kinds of things which were not lawful for themselves, wherefore they did not think so very much of the act. as they descended from the dreadful hill of slaughter, dawes narrated all that had befallen him since gerard had left--his jeopardy in the kraal, and how he had held ingonyama at the point of his revolver, and that within a few yards of his dancing warriors; then his bold attempt at trekking away, the shooting of the councillor, sonkwana, the fight, and his own recapture. nothing on earth had saved him from the frightful fate to which he had been adjudged, but the fact of the lateness of the hour--that and the arrival of the king's _impi_ at dawn. it was too dark to put him to death that evening, and so he had spent the night a close prisoner, with so many hours of silence and darkness before him wherein to look forward to the terrible torture which awaited him the next day. before dawn, however, had come tidings that the king's _impi_ was marching upon the place, and he was dragged forth into the midst of the whole horde of exasperated barbarians, clamouring like wolves for his blood. but it had been decided to send emissaries to the king's _induna_, and meanwhile he was taken to the summit of the tooth. "it's a mercy you turned up when you did, ridgeley," he concluded. "five minutes later, and i'd have been kicking on that stake. faugh!" then gerard, in turn, related his own experiences. dawes listened attentively--gravely. "it was a lucky day for both of us when you dragged that same sobuza out of the water, over the umgeni falls, and a lucky day for me when cetywayo took it into his head that it was time to suppress the igazipuza," he said seriously. "and it was a lucky day, too, for me the day i ran against you knocking around maritzburg, down on your luck; for i don't stick at telling you, ridgeley, that there's not a chap in forty would have carried through that blockade-running business with the pluck and dash and, above all, cool soundness of judgment you showed. and but for that, where should i have been?" gerard reddened. "have you quite done making a speech, dawes?" he said, laughing confusedly. "because, if so, let's talk about other things. what has become of sintoba, and the rest of them?" dawes's countenance fell. "hang me if i know," he said. "from the time they strapped me up i saw no more of the people. the swazis were hung over here, poor devils, as you saw; but i didn't see that. it was done just before they lugged me up. i'm afraid though these brutes have made mincemeat of them." "what are we going to do, now?" said gerard. "i suppose we can trek home again." "do? why, just this. we'll go to the king's kraal and claim compensation for the loss of our time and liberty and all the funk we've been put in. and we'll get it, too." "hadn't we better let well alone?" suggested gerard. "we have got our stock back. would it not be best to inspan quietly, and trek right away out of the country?" "perhaps it would be best in this instance," allowed dawes, after a moment's pause; "though i had not intended to do things by halves. by the way, i did show an error of judgment the last time i decided to trek. i ought to have waited quietly until the upshot of your undertaking came off. yes, i made a mistake that time. it was a direct challenge to them, so to speak. but i say, ridgeley, what a yarn we'll have to spin to old bob kingsland, when next we see him. why, he'll vote us a brace of the biggest liars in natal." gerard laughed. then, at the thoughts suggested by the mention of mr kingsland, he subsided into silence. not long, however, was he suffered to enjoy his own thoughts, for as they reached the foot of the pyramid a considerable hubbub greeted them. the remainder of the king's _impi_ had come up. in the midst of this, hustled, pushed, occasionally kicked, and threatened at every step by a multitude of spears, were three unfortunate natives. "kill them!" "cut them to pieces!" "they are igazipuza!" "we saw them in the fight!" "they have washed off their red wizard's mark!" were some of the tumultuous shouts which went up from the crowd. "_amakafula? hau_! only listen to that! no. they are igazipuza, cowardly dogs, not like the rest, who were brave!" roared the savages, who, having tasted what should have been enough blood, clamoured for more. the lives of the wretched men seemed not worth a moment's purchase. an exclamation escaped both dawes and gerard simultaneously. they elbowed their way right into the excited crowd. "they speak truth, _amadoda_!" cried dawes. "they are not igazipuza. they are my servants." the zulus stared, then fell back. the delight wherewith the natal natives hailed their master, who had come to their aid in what they imagined a most critical time, beggars description. "how did you escape, sintoba, and where have you been hiding?" said dawes, wonderingly. then sintoba proceeded to explain how he and fulani and the boy had been put into a hut together, but, unlike their master, had been left unbound, and fairly well treated in general. but something they had overheard led them to attempt their escape, and in the confusion which had followed daring the mastering of the warriors to resist the invasion of the king's troops, and the despatching of the women and cattle to a place of safety, they had succeeded in slipping away and hiding among the rocks on the opposite side of the hollow to that whereon the battle had taken place. here they had been discovered by the victorious _impi_, and being taken for igazipuza, would have been massacred on the spot but for the intervention of the sub-chief, matela, who suggested that they should be led before sobuza, who, with his advance guard, was then in pursuit of vunawayo and a few surviving fugitives. "_whau_, jandosi! your _amakafula_ have had a narrow escape from the spears of our people," said sobuza, quizzically. "almost as narrow a one as you yourself had from the bite of the tooth of the igazipuza. and now let us stand beneath the rock of death and see if these wizards have been able to take to themselves wings and fly down unhurt." all misgivings on that score, however, was soon set at rest. at the foot of the cliff, shattered, shivered into a horrible mangled mass, lay the body of vunawayo--a great gash over the heart, showing where it had received the stab which had, as by a hair's breadth, saved gerard from being dragged over by the fierce and desperate savage. at this ghastly evidence of the terrible fate from which he had so narrowly escaped, gerard shuddered. "_ha_! jeriji!" said sobuza, with a grim smile. "my broad _umkonto_ [the short-handled stabbing spear] has done its work well, as well as your fists did among those amakafula dogs near the umgeni. that was a great day; but this has been a greater one." "it has indeed, sobuza," answered gerard. "and so yours was the stroke that saved my life? well, we are very much more than quits now, at any rate." close beside the shattered remains of vunawayo, lay those of the warrior who had leaped of his own accord from the summit, choosing rather to die by his own act than that his enemies should have the satisfaction of boasting that they had slain him. "the wizards have died hard, and we have had a right merry fight," said sobuza, turning away. "with more men we could have crushed them quicker, but then we should not have had so grand a fight. i think, jeriji, that the great great one knew this when he sent but a thousand men, for in such blood-letting do we keep our spears sharp in these peaceable times." as they rejoined the _impi_, it became evident that an altercation of some kind was going forward; the parties thereto being a young unringed man and an udhloko warrior. "it is mine, i say!" vociferated the former, who was being backed up by more and more of his friends. "it is mine! i won it!" "you won it!" was the contemptuous reply of the _kehla_. "_ha_! _umfane_ [`boy,' i.e. an unringed man]. i have it. i took it. come now, you, and take it!" "i will," shouted the other in answer to this direct challenge. and supported by a gathering number of his friends he rushed upon the ringed man. the latter, however, seemed equally well supported. spears waved threateningly as the parties confronted each other. it seemed as if civil strife was going to follow upon the extermination of the legitimate enemy. "peace!" cried sobuza, sternly. "what it this, that the king's hunting-dogs snarl against each other?" "this, father," appealed the young warrior. "that gun is mine. i won it fairly. jeriji promised it. he said, `if you get near jandosi when we attack, if you are the first to reach his side, that double gun shall be yours. i promise it.' that was the `word' of jeriji. and was i not the first to reach his side, i and my kinsmen? _whau_! there is jeriji. ask him, my father. ask him if such was not his word?" "nkumbi-ka-zulu speaks every word of the truth, _induna_ of the king," said gerard. "i did promise him the gun on those terms, and he has won it fairly." thus called upon to adjudicate, sobuza heard what the other side had to say, and the fact that the warrior in whose possession it now was had only picked up the gun instead of having taken it from an enemy in battle went far towards simplifying matters. it had been thrown away early in the conflict by vunawayo, who, not understanding firearms, had been so violently kicked at the first discharge that he had elected, and wisely, to fight with such weapons as he did understand. so the chief decreed that nkumbi-ka-zulu had fairly earned the weapon, and it was handed over to him forthwith, to the huge delight of the young warrior and his friends, and as gerard promised to make some sort of present to the man who had been dispossessed, the dispute was settled to the satisfaction of all parties. "pooh! don't mention it!" declared dawes, in reply to gerard's apologetic explanation of how he had come to pledge away what was not his property. "you could not more completely have hit upon the right thing to do. if you had been as near that beastly stake as i was, ridgeley, you'd think you had got off dirt cheap at the price of a gun, i can tell you. besides, are we not in the swim together and jointly? that young scamp, nkumbi! well, he has earned it fairly this time, more so than by jockeying us over it as he tried to do before. eh, nkumbi?" and dawes translated his last remark for the benefit of the young warrior, who, with his confederates, received it with shouts of laughter and great good humour. the open plain in front of the kraal was one great sea of stirring life as the _impi_ came up. thither were gathered all the cattle of the igazipuza, upwards of a thousand of them, and numbers of sheep and goats. among these squatted or moved dispirited groups of women, sad-faced and resigned; even the children seemed to have lost their lightheartedness, and cowered, round-eyed with awe and apprehension. all had been collected and assembled there by a portion of the king's force told off for the purpose, and were to be taken as captives and spoils to the king's kraal; and these were started off thither there and then. but before this was done an earnest conference had been held between the two white men and the zulu leaders. after all that had taken place, said john dawes, he and his comrade were extremely anxious to trek away home. it would be highly inconvenient to travel all round by ulundi, though on another occasion they hoped to pay a special visit to the king. meanwhile they had now recovered their cattle and trek-oxen, and they would like to leave the zulu country for the present. but in consideration of the valuable aid rendered, at any rate, by gerard, to the king's troops, and further as some compensation for the detention and peril they had undergone, at the hands of those who were, after all, the king's subjects, he proposed that sobuza should award them a share in the cattle seized from the igazipuza. the chief took snuff and began to deliberate. he was not sure whether he could do this upon his own responsibility, he said. recovering their own property was one thing, claiming an award out of the "eaten-up" cattle seemed very much another. how many did jandosi think would meet his requirements? dawes replied that seventy-five head about represented a moderate compensation. sobuza, however, did not receive the proposal with enthusiasm. finally it was agreed that sixty head should be allowed, on the express stipulation that no further claim should be made upon the king or the zulu nation either by the two white men or any of their native followers. as for driving them, he, sobuza, could not assist them. he was responsible to the king for every man in the _impi_, and could not upon his own responsibility send any of the king's subjects out of the zulu country. the difficulty, however, might be met by pressing into the service two or three of the igazipuza boys who were young enough to have escaped the massacre of the fighting men and old enough to understand cattle-driving. so, having obtained their share of the spoil, dawes and gerard bade a cordial farewell to sobuza and the zulu _impi_, and inspanned, and once more the crack, crack of the whips and the shouts of the drivers, sintoba and fulani, resounded cheerily as they started for home. but the errand of the king's troops was not quite completed. the hollow had been effectively scoured in search of fugitives hiding away, but none such had been found. save the few who had broken through, only in order to make their last stand upon the summit of the tooth, none had thought of escape. all had fallen where they had stood, fighting desperately to the last. "now will we put in the fire to this nest of wizards!" cried sobuza aloud. hardly had he given the signal, than smoke was seen rising from the huts, gathering in dense volumes, and, lo, from four different points simultaneously, bright flames broke forth, and as the whole huge kraal, now one vast sheet of leaping, devouring fire, gave forth in uninterrupted salvo its heavy crackling roar, there went up from the ranks of the king's warriors, mustering in crescent formation to watch the completion of their errand of retribution, the thunder of a fierce war-song of victory and exultation. "as lightning we smote them, where, where are they now? the sons of the lightning, the wizards of thunder? where, too, is their dwelling, their cattle, their cornfields? "the bolt fell upon them, the thunder-cloud smote them; the might of `the heavens' in fury it burned them-- it smote and it burned them-- its ruin destroyed them! "the wizards are scattered in blood and in ashes; the roar of the lion in thunder pursued them; the praise of the lion his children re-echo; the praise of the lion, the lion of zulu, the lord of the nations!" the flames sunk low, sunk into red heaps of ashes pierced with bright and glowing caverns. a dense cloud of smoke overhung the hollow; and now the king's _impi_, marching in companies, was moving up towards the ridge. the two waggons, with their full spans of oxen creaking up the rocky way, had already gained the entrance to the hollow, and their owners, riding on horseback, for both the steeds had been recovered too, paused for a moment on the ridge to look back. their peril and captivity was at an end. they were being brought out in something like a triumphal procession. far on in front, the dust was rising from the great herd of cattle and the crowd of captives. behind, below, lay the gruesome and blood-stained hollow. the thunder of the war-song echoed from the slopes, and the rhythmic movement of the lines of shields of marching warriors was a fitting accessary to the lurid background of the picture, the amphitheatre of cliffs, "the tooth," the pyramid of death in the centre, its dismal burdens still dangling against its face, and below, the great smouldering circle of blackening ashes, while the dense smoke cloud mounting to the heavens in the grey and murky noontide, as from the crater of a volcano, proclaimed to all, far and near, that the king's justice had been executed, and that the power of the dreaded, indomitable, bloodthirsty igazipuza had now become a thing of the past. chapter twenty five. the last of all our friends. maritzburg again. gerard, strolling through the busy streets, keenly enjoying the bustle and stir of civilised life after his wild experiences in savage lands, now no longer to him a sealed book, can hardly realise that it is the same place, that he is the same being. could it be through those very streets that he hurried so eagerly in search of what might bring him a bare subsistence; returned so despondently from each successive failure? now he felt himself the equal in experience and resource of pretty nearly every man he met. he felt his feet, so to say, and felt them firmly. he felt now that wherever he was put down he could make his way. "a little civilisation doesn't come amiss after the long spell of trekking we've had, eh, ridgeley?" said john dawes, as they sat smoking their pipes beneath the verandah of the imperial hotel towards the close of a hot day. "but the contrast of it! i suppose, now, you can hardly bring yourself to believe that old ingonyama, vunawayo, and the rest of 'em weren't just so many chaps in a dream?" "a dream!" echoed gerard, vacantly. "oh--ah! yes, of course." john dawes's humour being of the "dry" order, he did not laugh outright. his young friend _was_ in a dream; and of its nature he was not ignorant, for gerard had given him just such vacant answers since a wire had been handed in some two hours ago, announcing that mr kingsland and his daughter would take up their quarters in the imperial hotel during their two or three days' sojourn in the capital, and would, in fact, arrive that evening. "remember what i said, just before we made acquaintance with the igazipuza," went on dawes, "that you'd have some rare yarns to spin to old kingsland? why, those will be skim milk to all that's happened since." "rather!" assented gerard, still vacantly, all his attention being directed towards obtaining as good a view of the gate as was possible through the sunflowers. and the other, seeing he was in no mood for conversation, forebore to tax the attention aforesaid. on the arrival of our two friends in maritzburg, they had been met by john dawes's brother william, his joint partner in that and all undertakings, who had taken the waggons and cattle--except such of the latter as had been there and then sold by public auction--away to his farm, leaving john to enjoy a spell of city life. but before he left, the two brothers had put their heads together and decided to allow gerard a third of the profits of the expedition by way of his share. the generosity of this arrangement, far in excess of that which had been agreed upon, touched gerard not a little. "shut up, man alive," had cut in william dawes, with a good-natured slap on the shoulder, as gerard blurted out his thanks. "i've heard enough about you from jack here to know you've jolly well earned whatever share we can give you. so you and he had better have a little fun after your trip, and when you've had enough of the city come over and give us a look up. there are a few bucks and partridges left on the place still." so william dawes had departed to his farm, and gerard had fallen upon his feet at last; which satisfactory position, what with the comfortable sum this arrangement would give him, coupled with the invaluable experience he had gained, it would be a strange thing if he did not manage to keep. just as the first gong was sounding for dinner, a light american "spider" drew up at the gate, and from it there descended two persons. "by your leave, my good fellow. would, you mind letting me pass?" said mr kingsland, rather testily, as struggling with a large and weighty gladstone bag he found his ingress barred by some one who showed not the smallest disposition to stand aside. "don't you know me, mr kingsland?" "know you? eh--what! 'pon my life i don't," answered the other, staring inquiringly at the bronzed, bearded young fellow before him. then, as in a flash, "why, it's ridgeley--young ridgeley--of course! but who'd have known you! how are you, my dear fellow, how are you?" and the cheery old settler, dropping the weighty gladstone, wrung his young friend's hand in a manner that left no sort of doubt as to the genuine pleasure wherewith he regarded the meeting. "why, what a man you've grown!" he went on, looking gerard up and down with an approval that made the latter feel and look extremely foolish. "may!" he called out. "where are you, may? here's young ridgeley, come back looking twice the chap he was when he went, as i always said he would." as the girl came forward with extended hand, and a look of unaffected pleasure in her eyes, gerard was not quite sure whether he was standing on his head or on his heels. he thought he had never seen a sweeter, lovelier vision in his life. and, indeed, from an impartial standpoint, and outside the enthusiasm of our young friend, may kingsland certainly was a very sweet and winsome girl, and one calculated, as she stood there in all the brightness of her fresh young beauty, to damage a far less susceptible heart than that which she had so easily taken captive. "we are so glad to see you again, mr ridgeley," she said simply, though this time there was ever so faint a tinge of constraint, which had gerard read and understood would have lifted him into the seventh heaven of delight. "you will have such a lot of adventures to tell us by-and-by. i am dying to hear if you ever met your friend the zulu again--you remember i predicted you would. but now the second gong is about to strike, and i must run away and make myself presentable." and with a bright little nod she left him. "hallo, john dawes! you here, too?" sung out old kingsland, as the former strolled leisurely up. "why, when did you fellows get back?" "the other day. we looked in at your place on the way, but there was nobody there. it was all shut up." "ah yes, of course. my boy tom is going to leave me, going to get married, and is looking out for a farm of his own. dare say arthur was away helping him. may and i have been down at durban the last three weeks. ah, thanks--but have we got time?" taking the tobacco-pouch which dawes tendered, and hurriedly cramming his pipe for a brief before-dinner smoke. we may be sure that a very cheery, happy group were those four persons, as they sat out beneath the verandah that evening after dinner, and the events of the trip were narrated and discussed. and one of them, at any rate, was silently, radiantly, thankfully happy. one, did we say? two, perhaps--but there, softly! for are we not on the verge of betraying a secret--or anyhow what is likely to be a secret of the future. we may be sure, further, that as far as our young friend was concerned, that blissful frame of mind extended over the next two days, for during that period he contrived to be very much in may kingsland's society, whether walking about the town or seated under the cool shady verandah of the hotel. to him, further, it was surprising how the time had slipped away, and how much of her company he had had all to himself during the process. time, however, as we know, has a knack of taking to itself wings under the circumstances, and so as this period drew to a close gerard's spirits began to sink with a rapid motion towards zero. but there was a further surprise awaiting him. the evening before their departure mr kingsland said-- "by the way, ridgeley, you haven't asked after our former shipmate, maitland." gerard started guiltily. during those past two days it was little enough he had given a thought to, outside one all-engrossing subject which held possession of his mind. "i'm afraid i did forget," he said. "but what has become of him, mr kingsland? have you seen anything of him lately?" the old settler looked grave as he filled his pipe in silence. "i'm sorry to say he came to no good," he said at length. "the fact is, he came to something like utter grief. he wouldn't start doing anything--got into a habit of loafing around bare--went the way of, unfortunately, many another young fellow who comes out to the colonies-- took to drink. once he did that he was done for. some of us did try to get him into something and keep him straight, but it was no good. he was off again and on the spree like a journeyman stonemason. well, his father, a parson of some sort, i believe, got angry when he heard how he was going on, and cut off the supplies; and then master harry, after getting into a serious scrape or two--in fact, i had to bail him out once myself--goes and enlists in the mounted police. i myself should have left him there to serve his time if i had been his people--it might have done him good. but no; as soon as they heard of it they must move heaven and earth and the government to get him out of it; and it wasn't easily managed, i can tell you, only master harry proved such a shocking bad hat that the police authorities were only too glad to get rid of him. his father wrote to me about him, asking me to take his passage and send him straight home again. and i did--shipped him on board--what do you think!--our old hooker the _amatikulu_; and as she's a direct boat and touches nowhere on the way, he can't get ashore again." "i'm sorry the chap should have turned out so badly," said gerard, his mind reverting to the almost direct cut harry maitland had given him on the last occasion of their meeting, and when he himself was down on his luck. "by the way, what has become of anstey?" "they sold him up just after you left. one of his creditors took out a writ of imprisonment against him, but finding he'd got to pay so much a day while anstey was locked up, he soon got sick of throwing good money after bad--and friend anstey was turned loose again. he cleared out soon after--nobody knows where." the speaker paused for a minute or two. then he went on-- "and now, ridgeley, if it's not an impertinent question from an old fellow who's interested in your welfare, what _are_ your own plans? i remember you telling me when you first came out here you were anxious to take to farming. is this still your idea, or has your year of adventure--and, by jove, you have had some adventures too!--unsettled you, unfitted you for anything but a wandering life?" "rather the other way, mr kingsland. the old idea holds good more than ever. i would like above all things to get on a farm." "you would, eh? well now, look here, ridgeley. you've learnt a good deal, but you've still a good deal to learn. i wouldn't help you in this line at the time you landed, because, as i told you, i had two boys of my own, who were amply sufficient to manage things. now tom, as i also told you, is leaving me, and setting up on his own hook, and it occurs to me that if you'd like to come and take his place for a spell, and help arthur and myself, you are heartily welcome to do so. you'd be learning your business, and also you could see whether you still liked going into the life altogether." was gerard standing upon air, or only upon very solid and rather dry ground? he himself could hardly have told. could he believe his ears? did he grasp aright the other's meaning? why, such an arrangement as that suggested, apart from being in itself just the very thing that suited him thoroughly, would mean a sojourn beneath the same roof as may, and that for an indefinite period. he managed, however, to reply coherently, and to the effect that he considered himself most fortunate, etc., etc. "well, think it over," was the reply, "and if you're in the same mind this day week--by which time i expect you will have had about enough of town life--drop us a line, and follow it yourself. we are leaving for home to-morrow, and shall expect to hear from you in any case when you have made up your mind." when he had made up his mind! the only part of the arrangement which did not commend itself to gerard was this very delay. a week is a pretty short time--but to him, under the circumstances, it seemed an age. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ we must now take leave of our friend, gerard ridgeley, and we do so in a spirit of prophecy. we need hardly predict that he will betake himself to doorn draai at the expiration of that week, there to learn farming under the auspices of mr kingsland, for it is too obvious that he will inevitably do so. but, having done so, what we venture to predict, in no uncertain mind, is that he will inevitably make his way. to this we will append another prophecy; no, rather we will only hint at one--but softly, cautiously, for are we not treading on delicate ground? and the future is uncertain. be it remembered, however, that gerard is young, and rather a fine fellow--and have we not said that may kingsland is a very pretty and sweet girl? the end. the king's assegai, by bertram mitford. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ the king's assegai, by bertram mitford. prologue. "you were astonished when i refused your piece of gold, _nkose_. but were you to offer me your waggon loaded up with just such shining gold pieces, even that would not coax this broad spear out of my possession." [nkose: literally "chief"--a title of civility which the innate courtesy of the zulu moves him to bestow upon the stranger. in this connection it corresponds to "sir."] "i should be sorry to make the offer, untuswa, for i fear that, whatever its merit, i should be the owner of a weapon for which i had paid too long a price." but the old zulu only shook his head, contemptuously, it seemed, and the faint, satirical smile which turned down the corners of his mouth seemed to say, "this poor fool! does he know what he is talking about?" "let me look at it again, untuswa," i said, reaching out for the weapon for which a few minutes before i had ended by offering a golden sovereign--having begun with a few worthless items of truck, such as beads, pocket-knives, etc. it was a splendid assegai of the short-- handled, close-quarter type. the blade, double-edged, keen and shining, was three fingers broad and at least twenty inches in length, and was secured in its socket by raw-hide bindings, firm as iron, and most neatly and tastefully plaited. the haft, expanding at the butt into a truncated knob, was of a curious dark wood, something like ebony, almost black, and highly polished. "_au_! you are a good man, _nkose_. you will not do anything to it?" was the somewhat reluctant reply, as the weapon was handed over. "bewitch it, i suppose you mean, untuswa? have no fear. there is no _tagati_ about me--not a grain." handling this splendid specimen of an assegai, poising it, noting its perfect and graceful make, its strength and temper, i was inclined to quadruple my original offer, but that i felt confident that the old man was in dead earnest as to his statement that untold gold would not induce him to part with this weapon. but here, i thought, is the direct antithesis of the needy knife-grinder. this man _has_ a story to tell, if only he can be induced to tell it. the hour was propitious--the still, deliciously lazy time of the mid-day outspan. from our position on the entonjaneni heights we commanded a fair expanse of the crag-crowned hills and rolling plains of central zululand. beneath lay the wide bush-clad valley of the white umfolosi-- the river winding in a snaky band. beyond, the mahlabatini plain--now silent and deserted--and there six great wizard-circles in the grass alone showed where had stood, a year or so back, just that number of huge kraals, the principal of which was ulundi. the unwilling dealer in prize assegais was a tall, thin old man, whose age it would have been impossible to guess were it not that by his own showing he must have been at least as old as the century--which would have given him fourscore. though lean and shrunken, he showed evidences of the former possession of great muscular power, and even now was as straight as a telegraph-pole, and carried his ringed head slightly thrown back, as became a man who was somebody. he had come to the waggon, in company with other zulus, to exchange civilities according to custom, but had lingered on after the departure of the rest. then i fed him, and gave him much snuff, and strove to tempt him to sell the weapon which had taken my fancy. "it is a fine spear," i said, returning it to its owner; "but there are many such in zululand, and of gold pieces there are not many. why do you value it so?" "_au_! value it?" then, with a glance at my native boys who were snoring under the waggon, he said, in a lowered voice, and stretching forth his hand in emphasis: "it was the spear of the king." "of the king? of cetywayo?" "_qa-bo_! not so!" he answered with a shake of the head. then, after a few moments spent in snuff-taking and silence, he went on: "listen, _nkose_; i have fought for another king than him whom you english have taken from us, and for whom our hearts are crying. though in my old age i fought for cetywayo as an ordinary warrior, yet i was, while yet young, a great _induna_ at the right hand of another king, and the second in command of his armies. for my youth, and, indeed, most of my life, was passed among a kindred people who dwell to the north. i am from the amandebili." [amandebili: commonly known as matabili.] chapter one. tshaka's impi. now i saw i was going to get at a wonderful story. the incidents and recollections which would cluster round that beautifully-made dark-handled spear could not fail to be copious as well as passing strange. then, in his pleasant and flowing zulu voice--_the_ voice _par excellence_ for narrative purposes--the old man began: "i am untuswa, the son of ntelani, a zulu of the tribe of umtetwa. i was a boy in the days when tshaka, the great king, ruled this land, and trampled his enemies flatter than the elephant tramples the grass-blades. but i was full of the fighting blood which has made our people what they are--what they wore, rather"--he parenthesised sadly, recollecting that we were looking down upon the relics of fallen greatness, as represented by the silent desolation of the razed capital--"ah, yes! but instead of fighting for tshaka i fought under a very different sort of king. [tshaka: the name of the celebrated zulu king should, in strict accuracy, be written tyaka. the above spelling, however, has been adopted throughout this narrative in consideration for the british ear. to spell the name with a c is quite erroneous.] "when there are two bulls of nearly equal size in one kraal, they will not look long at each other before locking their horns. there were two such bulls in those days in the land of zulu, and they were tshaka, the son of senzangakona, who was the king, and umzilikazi, the son of matyobane. i was but a boy, i repeat, in those days, but they tell me that umzilikazi loved not the house of senzangakona. but he was wiser than the serpent if braver than the bull-buffalo in full charge. he thought it better to be a live king than a dead _induna_. [umzilikazi: more commonly, but quite erroneously, known as mosilekatse.] "it befell that he dropped out of favour with the great king; for being, though young, one of the first fighting chiefs among the amazulu, he soon gathered to himself an immense following. to him, too, came my father, ntelani, and many others who loved not the house which had deposed the tribe of umtetwa, the royal house of dingiswayo, which was our own. then tshaka grew jealous, as he ever did when he saw one of his chiefs increase in power and influence. he sent umzilikazi upon war expeditions, in the hope of procuring his death, and when this failed, and our chief returned covered with greater glory than ever, the king tried another plan. he declared we had hidden the best of the spoil, had sent the best of the cattle and captives away into the mountains, and an _impi_ was ordered out, to take us unawares and destroy us. "but not thus were we to be taken. such a move had been expected, and for some time previously umzilikazi had been sending men to explore the passes of the mountains--the great kwahlamba range--which shut us in behind as with great rocky walls; hither, too, our cattle and women were sent. the while our chief had been talking to the heads of the different clans which made up his following, and his talking had fallen upon ready ears. there were fair lands away beyond the mountains--lands of waving grass and flowing streams and countless herds of game, lands where dwelt tribes whose only destiny was to serve the all-powerful amazulu. they had only to cross the mountains and conquer those lands. "the old men took snuff and listened, and saw that the words were wise. to remain was certain death; to fly would mean possible safety and wealth. the young men listened and gripped their weapons. the prospect of conquering out a new kingdom, of the enemies we should meet and slay--this it was that fired our blood. besides, we would have gone through flame at the bidding of our chief, who had led us so often to victory. moreover, it was darkly whispered that the iron yoke of tshaka, in the matter of earlier marriage being permitted, and such-like, would be relaxed. so day by day, in batches, our women and cattle were moved higher and higher up the mountain-passes, preparing for flight; and we lay under arms, and ready to give our destroyers a great deal of trouble when they should arrive. and in order that we should be found thoroughly prepared, some of us younger men, fleet of foot and strong of vision, were posted upon the lower heights of the kwahlamba, whence we could see for an enormous distance. at last the day came. "the sun had just risen, and was flooding the land with gold. it was a clear morning, and entirely free from mist; and, seated there on my lofty watch--pinnacle, i beheld a movement far away towards the rising sun. i sprang to my feet and gazed eagerly forth. a curtain of cloud was rising over the land-spreading higher and higher, rolling nearer and nearer with great rapidity. cloud? no. it was a curtain of dust. "so immense was the space spread out beneath me that it seemed as though i could see over the whole world. on swept this great dust-cloud, still at an enormous distance, but nearing rapidly every moment. and then i knew what caused it. that dust-cloud was stirred up by countless herds of game fleeing in panic and terror. then i called to my brother, who sprang upon the rock beside me. "`look, sekweni! yonder the game is in full flight. yonder are the zulu spears. the king's _impi_ is coming!' "we stood for a little while longer, watching the dust-cloud till we could see among it rolling, tumbling forms. "`go now, sekweni, and cry aloud the news from post to post,' i said. `i go to warn umzilikazi, our father.' "and as i sprang down the mountain-side, leaping from stone to stone, from crag to crag, with the surefootedness and fleetness of a buck, long before i reached the level i could see the flash and glitter of sparks of flame through the towering dust-cloud, extending in a great line over the plain. it was the glitter of innumerable spears. the host advancing behind those flying game herds--advancing to destroy us--was as the whole of tshaka's army. "how i ran! there was none who could run against me in those days, _nkose_. with head down, and panting for breath, yet far from being exhausted, i rushed into the presence of umzilikazi. "`greeting, father!' i cried. `they are at hand!' "`ha!' and the battle-light we who had followed him knew so well came into the face of our chief. "`how many regiments do they number, son of ntelani?' he said, taking snuff. "`i know not, o my father. but it seems to me that half [this would mean about , men] of the army of the great king is advancing upon us.' "`and we number but half that. well, untuswa, get you back to your watching-place with six others being young and swiftfooted, and send them as messengers as there shall be aught to report. go now!' "i saluted the chief and bounded away like a buck. but when i had regained the mountain height with the youths whom i had chosen as runners, lo! the army of tshaka spread out black on all hands, covering the ground as it were a swarm of young locusts--sweeping on now in a huge half-circle as it were of the black waves of the sea. "but our leader had mustered his fighting strength, and was rapidly moving up to the place he had fixed upon as his battle-ground. this was to be the entrance of the pass by which our flight should continue, for there, the lay of the ground being high and steep, a few determined fighters could repel the attacks of many; and besides this, another species of defence had been organised by the strategy and forethought of our chief. "i saw the huge _impi_ surround and burst upon our principal kraals, and i laughed aloud, for in them none remained save the very old. these were put to the assegai in a moment, and then our intending destroyers held on their way to where our warriors awaited them, on the steep sides of the pass i have described, concealed by thick bush. but they could not believe that we meant fighting. all they had to do was to overtake us and slaughter us as we fled. how mistaken they were--ah, yes, how mistaken! "for as the foremost of their host streamed carelessly forward, not waiting for its supports, our chief gave the word, and immediately from the bush which flanked the way on either side there poured two large bodies of our younger and most fiery warriors, to the number of about two thousand. the advance guard of the king's _impi_, taken thus by surprise and also in flank, was thrown into utter confusion. but ah! while it lasted, it was as though two seas had met--the shock and the surging, the crash of shields and the splintering of spears, the roars and the hissing of the war-whistles! ha! they fought--ah, yes, they fought; but we rolled them back, crushed and scattered, upon the main body, and before it could charge forward we were in position again, this time higher up the pass. but the ground was covered with the dead. "`my children are young lions indeed! the first blow struck for a new kingdom is a hard one.' "such was the word which our chief caused to be passed round for our encouragement. "still the king's _impi_ could not understand that we intended seriously to give battle; and indeed, as we gazed forth upon this immense sea of tossing spears and tufted shields rolling up towards us, it was little to be wondered at. for we were as a mouthful to it. yet every man of us was fighting for his life, and under such circumstances the meanest of animals will show bravery. but yet we were fighting for something more--for freedom, for the pride of setting up a new nation. "on they came, those waves of a living sea, and the earth shook beneath the rumble of their tread; the air rustled with the hissing of their plumes. and as they advanced they raised the great battle-song of tshaka, its echoes tossing like thunder from cliff to cliff:-- "`waqeda--qeda izizwe! uyauhlasela pi-na?' "`thou hast made an end--made an end of the nations. whither now wilt thou maraud?'" "above was the narrow opening of the pass, and between, for a little distance, a well-nigh open space. here we met them hand to hand; here we held them back, while those behind pressed them onward by sheer force of weight. foot by foot we met them, forced slowly back, but ever with our faces toward them. the ground was wet with blood, alive with falling, writhing bodies. the heights rang back our screams of rage, our defiant war-cries, and the clangour of our blows. foot by foot we gave way; but they never got above us, never got around us. thus shone forth the generalship of our chief in choosing this for our fighting-ground. "above us the pass narrowed to a steep rock-gateway overhung by lofty slopes. suddenly, at the signal of a loud, sharp whistle, our men ceased the fight as though slain, and, turning, sprang into retreat, pouring through this great natural door. with a roar the king's _impi_ dashed forward in pursuit, then paused in obedience to the mandate of its leaders, who suspected a snare. "but only for a moment did it thus halt. the mighty mass of our would-be destroyers surged up the pass and began to stream through the narrow defile. on they came, shouting ever the battle-cry; and then--_whau, nkose_! you should have soon what happened! it was as though the mountains were falling in upon us. for from either side great masses of rock came crashing down the slopes--enormous blocks of stone--some splitting into fragments as they bounded and rolled, others crashing, in their stupendous size, upon the warriors of tshaka. these in dismay tried to draw back, but could not, for the weight of those behind pressed them on; failing in this, they bounded forward, and our assegais were there to receive them, while all the time the rolling rocks were crashing down upon their rear, filling up the entire mouth of the gap. we had shut back the army of tshaka as it were by a gate. the great pile of rocks which filled the gap was far too high for men to leap over, too loose to be pulled down, lest the entire mass should fall upon and crush them. such was the strategy of our chief. "and now upon those of our enemies who were thus walled in with us there bore down the whole of our force, led by umzilikazi in person. those of us who were in flight turned, re-formed, and sprang like lightning to the charge; while others of us, who had been lying concealed, leaped from our ambush, and, forming a dense half-circle, we rushed upon the warriors of tshaka. these were about two thousand, we being four times their number. but, encouraged by the roars of their brethren on the other side, they stood their ground. _whau_! it was like a contest of lions! when we whirled down upon them they met us in full shock; about them there was no giving way. but by the time a man might have counted a hundred, nigh half their number had fallen; but we, too, had lost fearfully. in the same time again there would not have been one left, when umzilikazi, waving his great shield, cried, in tones of thunder, to give them a truce. "`yield, gungana!' he cried to the _induna_ in command. `yield, men of tshaka! to fight on is death; to return to the king is death. we go to find a new kingdom. join us--for it is better to live than to die.' "`thou sayest truly, son of matyobane,' replied gungana, after a moment of hesitation. many, too, were there in that body who in their hearts favoured umzilikazi, and were tired of the hard rule of tshaka. if they went back to the king with their task unperformed, or badly performed, certain death awaited, and from the stout resistance we had made they deemed our force to be greater than it was. so the warriors agreed to accept their lives and come under our chief. "this settled, we resumed our flight. and with this new accession to our fighting strength, we moved up the pass, singing back at those who would have followed, in derision, the war-song of tshaka, but altered to, `we go to find new nations to conquer.' then it grew dark, but still we pressed on to where our women and cattle were awaiting us higher up, and, marching through the night, the next morning we gained the other side of the mountains. "then it was as the word of our chief had promised us. fair and rolling plains lay beneath us, stretching as far as the eye could behold, dotted with kraals and cattle, and away in the distance coursed herds of game-- elands and springboks and gnus and many other kinds. then our eyes and our hearts were glad, and great and mighty was the acclamation with which we greeted him who had thus led us forth, and with one voice we all cried the royal `bayete!' a new nation hailed umzilikazi as king." chapter two. the king's promise. "we saw no more of tshaka's _impi_. perhaps it was that a great cloud came upon the mountains after our passage and rested there for days, and they attempted to follow, and failed because of the darkness and the mist, or refrained from following at all. anyhow, this cloud came, as i have said, and all men hailed it as a good omen and that umzilikazi's _muti_ [medicine, mystery, magic. in this sense, the latter] had caused it to gather thus, in order that we might evade further pursuit. "but as we swept down upon this new land like a swarm of devastating locusts--ah, the terror of its people! the report was cried from kraal to kraal that the great zulu sea had overflowed the mountains, and was sweeping on to engulf all within the black fury of its wrath. wherefore soon we found nothing but empty kraals, whose people had fled, but we took their cattle and their grain, and laughed and went on. then, as our march progressed further and further, we began to find kraals which were not empty, and whose people had neglected to remove out of our destroying path. _au_! it was something to see the faces of these as we sprang upon them with our fierce, roaring war-shout, which was as the thunders of heaven. their faces were those of men already dead, and dead they soon were, for our spears devoured them as they stood, or as they lay, screaming for mercy. but mercy was no part of our plan in those days--not that umzilikazi loved bloodshed for its own sake, or was wantonly cruel, as some of the white men say, but it was necessary to stamp out all the people in our path, to leave none behind who should say to tshaka's _impis_ pursuing us: `this way has umzilikazi gone.' so a broad trail of fire and blood marked our course, which, indeed, a man might trace by watching the clouds of vultures aloft in the heavens. but time went on, and we moved further and further from zululand, and still no pursuit. "now, of all this killing i and many others of the younger warriors soon grew tired. it was too much like cattle-slaying, falling upon these unresisting people, who had no fight in them. what we desired was to meet an enemy in arms, and some, fired with all this blood-shedding, even whispered of turning back to meet the _impis_ of tshaka in fair fight. however, when we came near the country of the basutu we got fighting enough, for these people were brave, and though they would not meet us in the open, would retire to their cliff dwellings and hill forts and resist us fiercely, studding the approaches to their strongholds with assegai points to cut our feet and legs to pieces as we drew near, or rolling down showers of rocks upon us, so that we must flee or be crushed. this sort of fighting was not to our tastes, and we would taunt them and call them cowards for skulking behind rocks instead of coming forth to meet us in the open, man to man; and yet they were not cowards, for every race has its own method of fighting--besides, had not we ourselves adopted that very plan?--and the basutu were brave enough in their own way. "at that time i had found great favour with the king, who had created my father, ntelani, one of his _indunas_. boy as i was, i was tall and straight and active, and afraid of nothing. i could outstrip the fastest runner among us, and, indeed, all the younger ones were ordered to compete in foot-racing, both short and long distances. i was first in all these, and the king appointed me his chief messenger. i was incorporated into his bodyguard, and was never far from the king's person. indeed, he would often talk with me alone, as though i were his son; and being young and unthinking in those days, i soon began to fancy myself a much bigger man than my own father. so one day i went boldly to the king, and asked leave to _tunga_ [literally `sew' the head-ring; i.e., to marry], for by this time we had many women-captives among us, over and above those we had been able to bring with us from zululand. "umzilikazi burst out laughing. "`what!' he said. `you, a boy--a mere child yesterday--thinking to _tunga_! go, go! you are fleet of foot, untuswa, but i have never heard that you had done anything especially brave--braver than your fellows, that is. what claim, then, have you to sue for the privilege which is granted to tried warriors alone?' "`give me but the chance, o king; give me but the chance!' i cried. `i will surpass everyone for valour, for i know not what fear is.' "umzilikazi had abandoned his good-humoured laugh. he now looked grave, even severe. in truth, i knew i was doing a bold thing in daring so much as to reply upon `the word' of the king. it was an act which might have cost many a man his life. yet there i stood, about ten paces from him, in a slightly bent attitude of humility, but meeting his gaze full and fearlessly. "`do you presume upon the favour i have ever shown you, untuswa?' he said sternly. `do you perchance forget that the slayers are ever within hail?' "`i lie beneath the foot of the king--the great elephant whose tread shaketh the world,' i replied, launching into the most extravagant of _bonga_ [acclamatory praise, as applied to the king], but still meeting his threatening gaze unquailingly. "`i believe you speak truly, boy, and that you do not know fear,' he answered, `eke you had not dared to stand before me thus. well now, this is my "word": go and distinguish yourself; perform some act bolder than any i have ever heard tell of. then, child as you are, you shall wear the head-ring--because are you not, after all, my chief runner?' "`who am i, to keep on filling the king's ears with words?' i said. `but give me the chance to distinguish myself. give me the chance, father!' "`you must make the chance, untuswa; you must make it for yourself. but i say again, because you are my chief runner and my faithful servant, i will do more for you than i would for many, o son of ntelani. perform some act bolder than any act i have ever heard tell of, and you shall be allowed to _tunga_. not only that, but i will give you this _umkonto_ [the broad-bladed, short-handled assegai] which i hold in my hand, and with it you shall lead my armies to battle. now go.' "i bent low to the earth, then straightened myself up, and with hand, uplifted shouted:-- "`_bayete_! i walk on air, o elephant! for have i not the king's promise?' then i went out from the presence. "you must know, _nkose_, that in those days umzilikazi was in the prime of his youth and strength, being tall and active, and with the stamp of a chief among chiefs. his countenance was noble and stately as that of a lion, and in his unbending moments he had a way with him that bound us to him in such wise that we, his younger warriors, would have died all deaths at his word. for his rule was lighter than that of tshaka. he, like tshaka, knew not fear, and was as daring and skilful a leader as the great zulu king; indeed, this it was that aroused the jealousy of tshaka, as i have told you, and led to the building up of a new nation. and although, for necessity's sake, as regards other tribes, umzilikazi was ruthless and unsparing, among us, his followers, he was merciful, if strict, and rarely spilt blood. yet, while we loved him, we feared him--oh yes, we feared him. "now, although i had the king's promise, i felt sorely perplexed; for how was i to fulfil its conditions? for days and nights i thought and dreamed of nought else; saying nothing, however, to my father, ntelani, who was already jealous of the great; favour umzilikazi had shown me, and might have devised some means of thwarting me. "it happened that on the evening after i had obtained the king's promise i was returning alone from a hunt. i was empty-handed; for although my fleetness of foot enabled me to traverse long distances, yet game was scarce in our neighbourhood, owing to the passage of such an immense body of people, which had scared it. tired and dispirited, i threw down my assegais and small shield, and sank down against a rock to rest. suddenly my tawny, black-muzzled hound leaped up and dashed round the rock with a growl. but this was soon changed to a whine of pleasure. "clearly the intruder was known to him. raising my eyes, i beheld a girl. "i am an old man now, _nkose_, and have lived to learn that women, like assegais, are all made very much on the same lines--like assegais, are keen and sharp to cut and destroy. but, old man as i am, i cannot even now quite forget that evening after i had talked with the king. "`of what are your thoughts that they are so heavy, o son of ntelani?' she said, with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. "i gazed upon her for a moment without replying; for i knew who she was, though we had never before spoken. picture to yourself, _nkose_, a tall fine girl--indeed, nearly as tall as myself--as straight as a spear-shaft and as strong and firm as a yellow-wood tree, with large and rounded limbs, and a face all sparkling with intelligence and mirth. she was rather light-coloured, though, and we zulus, _nkose_, prefer our women very black. "`perhaps it was of you i was thinking, nangeza,' i answered. `is not that enough to produce heavy thoughts?' "`_yau_!' she cried. `it may be that there are those who think the reverse. _they_ do not feel heavy when their thoughts are of me.' "`but they are _amakehla_ [head-ringed men, and privileged to marry]. any one of them has only to send in enough cattle and you are his. now look at me. i am young. it may be half a lifetime before the king allows me to _tunga_. wherefore, when i think of you i feel heavy, nangeza, for this is not the first time i have looked upon you.' "`i know that, son of ntelani,' she answered, looking shy. then all of a sudden she came and sat down beside me. `listen, untuswa,' she said, throwing an arm round my neck. `you are but an _umfane_, but i have loved you for some time unknown to you, for you are so strong and brave. and are you not the king's chief runner? now, put your ear to my lips while i whisper. well, then, it is breathed among the old men that umzilikazi intends to relax the severe laws of the great great one whose land we have left [tshaka], and to allow his warriors to _tunga_ while young--when we gain the land wherein we are to dwell. now, untuswa, if any man can win this privilege, it is yourself, for you are as brave as any, and, for the rest, you are the king's chief runner, and have very much the ear of the king.' "this struck me as a good omen, coming as it did so close upon the king's promise. i looked upon nangeza's splendid form, for, of course, she wore nothing but the girl's _mutya_, or little apron of beads, and thought that to make her mine but for a little while, i would pay the sure and certain penalty--viz., death; but then the penalty would be suffered by her, too. should i tell her of the king's promise? wisdom said `no'; but then my brain was reeling with love for her, and my evil spirit whispered that a woman's brain and wit are subtle, and might devise a plan where i failed to see one. so i told her of the king's promise; and having done so, my good spirit cried out upon me for a fool, for a secret which is shared by a woman--might it not as well be cried aloud from kraal to kraal from sunrise to sunset? "my news, however, caused nangeza to clap her hands delightedly. "`you are indeed a man, untuswa!' she cried. `keep well within the favour of the king. one day you will be an _induna_. who knows? one day you may command the whole army in battle.' "`why not propose that one day i may reign as king?' i said banteringly. `the one is as likely as the other.' "`well, what then? even that may be,' was her cool reply. `a man who is brave and cautious may climb to any height; and did not the king promise you his dark-handled assegai? what is the history of umzilikazi himself?' "`speak low, girl, or speak not of these things at all,' i whispered warningly. `one word of such talk falling upon other ears would certainly cost both of us our lives.' "but, in truth, i was amazed, bewildered, the while more in love with her than ever, on account of this bold and scheming talk. "`what, then?' she answered. `the king may have us killed, but he cannot prevent us from loving each other. come now, untuswa, and let us love each other while we may.' "_au, nkose_, who shall put grey hair upon--a cool brain into--a young head? the place was lonely, and my good dog would keep watch. and so nangeza and i loved each other, and not until darkness had fallen did we separate from each other's arms and wend by different ways back to the camp. "but we had both incurred the death penalty. for the stern and rigorous law of tshaka had as yet undergone no relaxation, and even umzilikazi himself would hardly have dared to pardon a breach thereof. yet, such is the hot-blooded rashness of youth, this, though the first, was destined to be by no means the last time we should incur that awful penalty." chapter three. the basutu kraals. "shortly after this an _impi_ was sent out against some strong basutu kraals which lay in our path, and whose inhabitants, our scouts had reported, were arming for resistance. little they knew that they had to contend against a whole nation. they imagined, doubtless, that they only had to deal with a small _impi_ of tshaka's which had crossed the ewahlamba range. "`go now, untuswa,' said the king. `here, it may be, you may win your head-ring.' "and this, _nkose_, was in my mind. so we set forth, about fifteen hundred strong, for the king would not send too large a force, in order to keep us in practice for real hand-to-hand fighting on something like even terms. masipele was our head _induna_, and under him was gungana, a man of whom i was not over-fond, nor did he like me, whom he deemed was ever too near the ear of the king. "we started at dawn, and after marching about a quarter of a day, came in sight of the basutu kraals, standing upon an open plain, beneath a low, round-topped range of hills. there were three of these kraals, but it was in the largest that all the fighting men had gathered. this was surrounded by a very high and very broad stockade, composed of dry thorn boughs beaten together and interlaced. we made no attempt at concealment, but advanced singing our great battle-song of victory or death. their masipele gave orders to form in crescent formation, and to charge forward to surround the kraal. "_whau_! that day! the basutu did not run away when they spied our approach. they were ready for us, and, clustering as thick as bees, they fought behind their stockade with all the valour we could wish. roaring like lions, we sprang again to the charge, only to be met by their ready spears and battle-axes on the other side of the stockade, and before we could leap over and return stab for stab we were hurled back blinded by great prickly boughs thrust into our faces. they were nearly as numerous as ourselves, and fought as desperately. twice we were repulsed, and that, to us zulus, represents more than half a defeat. our head _induna_ was killed, falling upon a heap of corpses, the bodies of those he was leading. one horn of the _impi_ was wavering on the verge of rout. here was my chance; for i had formed a plan. "`follow me, soldiers of the king!' i cried. `i will find a road in!' "measuring the distance with my eyes, i ran and leaped. i could leap in those days as well as run. my leap carried me clear over the stockade, right into the thick of the swarming basutu. but i was alone. none had followed. "then i saw red. how i cut and slashed with the strong, broad--bladed assegai in my hand! grinning, furious faces hemmed me in; a bright forest of blades struck and hacked at me from every side. i could feel the burning sear of wounds, the stunning shock of knob-kerries on my great war-shield. i could feel more--i could feel blood, that of my enemies; i could feel the keen blade of my assegai shearing through them, as they fell one upon another. ah, the madness of it! the ecstasy of it! what a glorious form of death was this! i, alone, beset by foes--felling them around me like trees! i, alone, where none had dared follow! ha! surely no braver deed was ever done! the king would be satisfied now! dancing, leaping, thrusting, parrying, i hewed my way through the encompassing crowd, further and further into the kraal, further and further to death. but for death i cared nothing now, and i laughed aloud. my furious war-shout was answered by my comrades outside. ah, but--they were still outside! "now my end would be gained. a curl of blue smoke arose from above the lines of huts, and towards this i was making, surely, craftily, cunningly. i had left off fighting now, and was dodging my enemies round and among the huts. ha! they could not overtake me, for had they not to do with the king's chief runner?--and there were none to stop me, for all were engaged in defending the stockade. "the fire at last! it burned bright and clear in front of a larger hut than the rest, and round it sat a ring of witch-doctresses mumbling incantations. so intent were they upon this that i drove my assegai through the nearest before they discovered that a zulu warrior was in their very midst. _au_! the she-cats! what a yell they gave as they flung themselves on the ground and screeched for mercy! but i laughed, and, having speared two more of them as they lay there, i snatched the flaming brands from the fire and flung them upon the thatch of half a dozen of the nearest huts, which in an instant were a mass of flame and smoke. "all this had taken but a moment of time, and now, as my pursuers came up, i shovelled as much of the fire upon my shield as i had time to do, then started to run, dodging them round the huts as before. as i came to the stockade again, those defending it looked round, and seeing a strange figure bearing fire upon a shield, must have taken me in the fray for one of their own witch-doctresses, and instead of attacking me they waited to see what i would do. but they had not long to wait. "darting through them, i poured the whole glowing burning mass into the stockade; and, indeed, it was high time, for my shield was nearly charred through. the thick thorn-fence was as dry as months of uninterrupted sunshine could make it. it caught at once, shooting out into myriads of serpentine tongues of fire. _hau_! it roared, it crackled, and already the flames from the huts i had first set on fire were darting like lightning from thatch to thatch! "`i return, men of the king!' i roared, fearing to be mistaken for one of the basutu and speared as i leaped back over the stockade. a shout of recognition greeted my words, and, striking right and left, i plunged through the now flaming fence, through the fire itself. "`now we have them!' i cried, as i once more found myself among my own people. `a pretty blaze! now have we smoked the game from its cover!' "as the words left my lips there burst forth a wild shrieking and yelling. the wind had fanned the flames so that the kraal was now one mass of red fire and whirling smoke-clouds. the women and children, panic-stricken, were fleeing wildly, rushing headlong upon our spears. but just then the fighting basutu, massing into a body, charged furiously out of the kraal on the side i was attacking. with their heads lowered, emitting from their teeth a succession of the most shrill and strident whistles, striking to right and to left with their assegais and battle-axes, on they came. not even the king's troops could have charged more impetuously, more unswervingly. _whau_! in a moment they were in our midst. in a moment we had closed up around them. their whole fighting strength was here, and we had hemmed it in. in a moment they were all broken up into furious struggling groups--and how they fought, how we fought! it was silence then. no man spoke--no man shouted. you could hear only the gasp of laboured breathing, the stamp of striving feet, the jarring crash of shields and weapons, the dull thump of a falling body, the crackling roar of the blazing kraal, whence clouds of smoke were floating across our faces and blinding our eyes so that we could hardly see each other, and struck and stabbed wildly at random, to the peril of friend as well as of foe. but it could not last--we were too many, too invincible. we stood stupidly staring at each other, swaying, tottering with exhaustion and excitement, for the fray had been fierce. before, around us, lay heaps of weltering corpses, hacked and battered, the blood welling from scores of spear-stabs. these we ripped according to our custom; those of the enemy, that is; for of our own warriors there were also heaps of slain; indeed, the basutu had fought like cornered lions. no prayer for mercy was upon their lips. brave, fierce, defiant to the last, they had fallen. "and now above the crackling roar of the flames and the wild, fierce, triumphant shout which swelled to the heavens from our victorious throats came the doleful shrieking of women, who saw their little ones speared or flung into the flames, who themselves lay beneath the sharp kiss of the spear-blade; for we zulus, when we see red, spare no living thing. and we saw red that day--ah, yes, we saw red. ha! by the time a man could have counted fifty from the moment the fighting had ceased not one who had inhabited that kraal, even to the last dog, was left alive. "`_hau_!' cried gungana, the second _induna_ in command of our _impi_, as he stood gazing upon a heap of the slaughtered women, among whom were several who were young and pleasant to look upon. `_hau_! i think we have made too much of a mouthful of the king's enemies. now, some of these would have been better alive than dead, for of girls among us we have none too many. it is a pity we did not save some.' "`perhaps so,' said i. `but, deferring to your head-ring, o gungana, i seem to have heard the king say he liked not these intermarriages, and the mingling of the blood of the amazulu, "the people of the heavens," with that of inferior races.' "i fancied that gungana looked at me somewhat askance, and a queer smile played about his bearded lips. he was that same _induna_ who had come over to us with tshaka's force, and him our king had promoted to great honour. "`_whau_, untuswa! thou art but a boy, and claimest to know over-much of the king's mind,' he said. "`in fear i do so, my father,' i replied deferentially. `i ask nothing but such a fight as we have had to-day. and have i not fought?' showing my hacked and charred shield and my body streaming with blood from several ugly gashes. `did i not put in the fire that smoked these wolves out of their den? and now, o my father, will you not whisper it in the ear of the king that the son of ntelani, although but a boy, can fight, can plan?' "`it may be that i will do so, untuswa,' he answered. "but that strange look was still upon his face as he turned away, and i liked it not. for by this time my continual presence about the king was looked upon with distrust by many of the _indunas_. even my father was jealous of me, and this being so, wherefore should gungana look upon me with more favourable eyes? but it was in his power to speak the word which should obtain for me my head-ring, or not to speak it, wherefore i treated him almost as deferentially as i would the king himself. moreover, i flattered him. "`_au_!' i cried, `am i not but a thoughtless boy? who am i that i should boast of my own deeds in the presence of an _induna_ of the king, before the brain which thought for the _impi_, before the eyes which were the sight of the _impi_? let it be but whispered in the king's ear that the son of ntelani was near the right hand of gungana throughout the battle. that will be distinction enough.' "this told. the _induna_ turned half round to listen, and a different expression came into his face. this time he looked pleased. "`rest easy, son of ntelani,' he said. `the man _whom i sent_ to set fire to the kraal will not be forgotten.' "we zulus are not like you white people, _nkose_, whose faces are to be read like a white man reads a book, else had i been quite undone that day. for the idea of setting the kraal on fire had been entirely my own--planned by me, carried out by me alone; that, too, only in time to save us from defeat, which would have meant ruin to gungana, if not death. and now he coolly gave me to understand that all the credit of it, the generalship of it, was to belong to him. this i had thought was the feat which should win me honour among the people, and my head-ring at the approving word of the king, and now it was all to go to the credit of my commander. i could hardly keep my face from speaking the wrath and disgust i felt--yet i did so, and called out that gungana was my father, and as his child i had been privileged to do his bidding. for although it flashed upon me that if ever a day of reckoning should come gungana would fare badly at my hands, yet now i wanted his good word; wherefore i flattered him. "just then my eye was attracted by a movement among a heap of bodies lying piled up near me. i thought i heard a smothered groan. then all the wolf-nature of my warrior blood sprang up within me. here, then, was something more to slay. good! with kindling eyes i gripped anew my broad assegai and leaped to the group of bodies. yes; it was a groan. a pair of legs was protruding from the pile and feebly moving. seizing them by the ankles, i tugged with all my might. "`come forth,' i growled, for i was holding my assegai in my mouth to leave both hands free. `come forth, and taste blade over again. ha! killing is the only thing good to live for, after all. come forth!' "jerking out these words, i threw the corpses aside as one might throw faggots from a stack of firewood. then another tug, and i found i was holding by the legs the body of an old man, wrinkled and white-bearded. beyond a gash or two in the chest, he seemed unwounded, but his head was covered with blood. clearly, a blow had felled him, but how was he still alive, how had he escaped being ripped, as is our custom? "`ha! i will make that good,' i muttered savagely, seizing my assegai with that intent. "but something in the old man's aspect arrested my arm. "he was, as i have said, very wrinkled and white-bearded. but his eyes--ah, such eyes! bright, keen, glittering--they were the eyes of a youth who, shoulder to shoulder with his fellow-warriors, is sweeping down upon his first enemy, instead of the filmy orbs of an old man who is tired of looking on this world. they seemed to burn, to pierce through me, to wither up all the strength of my right arm. i could not strike the spear down into his vitals; i could not remove my gaze from his. it was terrible! if his eyes burned like this while he was weak and wounded, and almost lifeless, what would they be like in the full vigour of health? and then i saw that his neck and body were hung with trappings and charms such as the _izanusi_ [witch-doctors] use. "`strike and slay me, if thou wilt, son of the king's _induna_,' he said, and his eyes seemed to glitter more fiercely, like those of a snake. `but if so, thou shalt never attain thy dearest desire.' "`son of the king's _induna_,' he had said. this was _tagati_ [wizardry] indeed. how did he know my estate? "`and what desire i the most at this moment?' said i. "`the head-ring,' he whispered. "`all young warriors desire that,' i answered with a laugh. `tell me, o my father, if thy _muti_ is strong enough, what desire i further, together with the _isicoco_?' "`the dark-handled assegai of the king,' he answered, without a moment's pause. "`_whau_!' i cried, bringing my hand to my mouth, and starting back in staring, open-mouthed amazement. this was more than marvellous. the promise which umzilikazi had made to me, half laughingly, when we two were alone together, was known to this old sorcerer of an alien race, who must have been many days distant at the time. nor, of course, had he ever seen nangeza, who alone shared the secret. my desire for the head-ring proved nothing as to his wonder-working powers, because, as i had said, all young men wished for that. but this! in truth it was more than marvellous! "`thy _muti_ is indeed strong, o my father!' i went on when i had recovered a little. `but say--shall i obtain that which i desire?' "`if i die here thou shalt never obtain it. if i live thou shalt have the king's dark-handled assegai.' "now, while i had been talking with this wonderful old man, my comrades and the bulk of our _impi_ had been seated on the ground resting after the violence and fury of the fight. some, too, had wounds to attend to; but all were sitting or lying about resting, and the place where i now stood being a little depression in the ground, they had not noticed me. now, however, attracted by the sound of voices, several of them came swaggering up. "`ha, untuswa!' roared the foremost. `you have found more meat to kill. come, we will help you kill it.' and, poising his assegai, he sprang forward to the old mosutu witch-doctor. [mosutu and basutu. basutu is a plural word, and denotes the tribe, or more than one member of it. the singular is mosutu.] "`stand! stand back!' i thundered. `this is not a man to kill. he must be taken to the king.' "`to the king! ha, ha! the king does not want to see the faces of such withered old images. you are mad, untuswa.' "`mad or sane, this man shall be taken to the king,' i answered. "`ha! since when has untuswa, the _umfane_ been made an _induna_?' they jeered. `of a truth he believes himself a bigger man than the king.' [umfane: "boy," i.e., technically, one who has not attained to the distinction of the head-ring.] "and others, drawn by the tumult, had come to join the first, and now the air rang with roars and shouts of derision. but above them all the old man's marvellously prophetic words still echoed in my ears. at all risks i was determined to save him. "`who is the most about the king, o pack of fools?' i cried. `yourselves or i? know, then, that the elephant, whose tread shaketh the world, has heard much of these basutu _izanusi_, who learn their magic in dark caves of the mountains--has often wished to converse with them and test their skill. here is one of them at last, and go to the king he shall. i would not give much for the life of the man who slays him.' "standing over the old witch-doctor with my assegai in my hand confronting that riotous, roaring crowd, flushed with victory and bloodshed, i know not how things might have gone even then. but at that moment the _induna_ gungana, attracted by the tumult, himself drew near, and that in time to catch my last words. "`give way!' he said, striding through the group--`give way! what is this? an _isanusi_, and alive? by the head-ring of the great great one from whose rule we have gone out, but he must have brought himself to life again, for assuredly all were slain but a moment before. ha! that is well. now shall the king have his oft-expressed wish. he shall behold this mosutu rain-maker, and test his magic. what--is that you, untuswa?' "now, it happened that umzilikazi had expressed no such wish. in my despair of finding a plea, i had invented this as a reason for sparing the old magician. i could see now that gungana's design was to supplant me in this, even as he had done in my plan for overmastering the basutu kraal. if sparing the life of the old witch-doctor proved acceptable to the king, he, gungana, would get the credit for it; if not--then i laughed to myself, for in that case he would have fallen into his own trap. and if anything should go wrong with the king hereafter, who but gungana was it who had brought this foreign wizard into our camp? but before i could answer a shout went up from the warriors standing in the background, and all heads were turned accordingly. "`the king! the king is coming!' and the words were taken up by all there present, and, with the phrases of _bonga_ flowing thick and fast from our lips, all eyes were turned upon a cloud of dust on the horizon--distant, but drawing nearer and nearer. "`go now, untuswa, who art the chief runner. go now, and meet the great great one with word of our victory,' commanded gungana." chapter four. the tyay'igama dance. "hardly had the word left gungana's lips than i was up and away. no thought of the witch-doctor was in my mind as i sped over the ground in that long, even trot which i could keep up for days, and eventually overtake a horse which had started at the same time. of cuts and stabs many were upon me, and i was red and hideous with blood, flowing or dried. but this mattered less than nothing, and i laughed loud and joyously as i coursed along to be the first to bear to the king the news he most loved to hear. of a truth, the old _isanusi_ i had saved from death--if, indeed, i had saved him from death--had gone clean out of my mind. yet, if i had but known it, that day was to my life what the bent rods are to the roof of a hut. "soon i found myself in the midst of the great dust-cloud we had seen, and behind it came herds of cattle spreading over the plain, tended by women and boys of all ages. these were the herds which we had brought out from zululand, increased by those we had taken from the tribes on our way, and which we were carrying with us to the land where we should be commanded to settle. "`make way!' i shouted. `make way for the "ears of the king"!' "then the women shrieked with excitement, and the boys, rushing in among the cattle with shrill whoops, scattered them out of my way; for the path of the king's messenger must be straight, and woe to whosoever shall obstruct it. the bellowing and trampling of the cattle mingled with the shouts and cries as i dashed straight on. then i heard a voice say:-- "`_yau_! it is untuswa! is he not a man? is he not a warrior indeed, covered with blood and wounds, and carrying the king's "word"? look at him, sitele!' "i knew the voice, still i could not refrain from turning my head ever so slightly as i ran. close to my path i beheld nangeza, looking so tall and fine and straight, standing there with her little sister. _whau, nkose_! i would have gone against those basutu kraals again single-handed to have been allowed to _tunga_ with her for a wife. "then came another cloud of dust, and the steady tramp of marching feet, and the hum of deep-toned voices; then a wavy shimmer of spear-points, like the sunshine on the blue sea. spread out over the plain in four dense black columns the regiments marched, and as i, looking neither to the right nor to the left, sped between these, the confused wonder which had greeted my first appearance was succeeded by a dead expectant silence. "umzilikazi was riding on horseback near the rear of the army, surrounded by a group of _indunas_, among whom was my father. a circle of _izanusi_, clad in cow-tails and entrails and all the hideous paraphernalia of their order, preceded the king, dancing and waving green boughs as they chanted his praises, and the swift and sudden destruction which even then was falling upon his enemies. as i drew near the doctors scattered out of my path like a lot of frightened jackals, for even they must give way before him who bears the king's message. casting my shield and assegais to the ground where their circle had been--for no man may approach armed to have speech with the king--i advanced ten paces nearer, and, halting, raised my right hand and shouted a sonorous _bayete_! then i prostrated myself to the earth. "`rise, son of ntelani,' said the king, as soon as the thunder of the salute royal, which had been immediately caught up and re-echoed by the whole army, had ceased. `rise, and speak thy word.' "`those against whom we went forth are removed from the path of the king!' i cried out in a loud voice. `the smoke of their dwellings is rising to the heavens yonder. the path of the king is straight!' "an immense chorus of _bonga_ went up from the army when i had spoken. all were eager to arrive at the scene of the victory. then the king bade me withdraw, which i was not sorry to do, for i was tired and fasting. "you may have observed, _nkose_, that my news was of victory alone; that no questions were asked as to our losses, who had been killed or who had not. it is not the custom of us zulus, on these occasions, to mix up good and ill news. it was sufficient that the king's enemies were stamped out. the relatives of the slain could hold ceremonies of mourning afterwards if they wished, but that was a private undertaking. wherefore i only announced to the ears of the nation at large that we were victorious. "and then, as we drew near to the scene of our fierce and bloody conflict, what remained of the _impi_ which had gone out against the basutu kraals drew near to hail the king. it had gone out a full regiment--as we were in those days about fifteen hundred men--but little more than half were left alive; for, as i have said, the basutu were numerous, and had fought bravely. still, as our warriors advanced in a column with waving plumes, and beating time with shield and assegai to the thunder of a mighty war-song, and the marks of the recent battle upon them, my heart swelled within me as i thought that i had borne a man's part that day with these. "`go forward, untuswa,' said the king, who had caught sight of me in the ranks. `go forward and join the fighters, you who have fought so well this day. your place is among them.' "i thundered out the royal praises, and darted forth to meet those who were approaching; and falling into my place, we advanced, singing: "`hail, king, father of a new nation! we, thy children, have smoothed a way before thee. thine enemies--where are they? their dwellings--where are they? as the smoke which climbeth to heaven their might is broken and shattered. might? ha! ha! no might had these; like blades of the grass when trampled, down went their bravest before the might of the elephant, beneath the foot of the elephant, whose tread shaketh the world. hail, king! father! the chief and the maker of nations!' "thus sang the warriors, their voices roaring like the thunder of the heavens. then, having prostrated ourselves, we rose, and wheeling up we fell into rank before the whole army escorting the king, and the march was continued until we were some distance beyond the smoking ruins of the basutu kraals, for we might not halt upon the site of the battle, lest those who had borne no part in shedding it might be denied by the blood that had flowed. here our vast camp was pitched, and by the light of hundreds of fires we who had fought, having gone through the ceremony of purification at the hands of the _izanusi_, were paraded before the king in full war array, and such of us as could establish a claim were allowed to perform the _tyay'igama_, or the `calling by name,' dance. "this custom, you must know, _nkose_, is one which consists of warriors who have performed deeds of distinction during the recent battle being pointed at by their commanders and called forward out of the ranks to dance before the king, while narrating their claims to notice for especial valour--who they have killed and how it has been done. they dance and leap with a quickness and to a height that would astonish you white people, springing from the earth more than their own height in the air, clashing their shields with both feet while leaping, and so on--the while telling of their deeds. it is arranged with the _indunas_ in command as to who shall be allowed so to claim notice, and gungana had readily accorded me a first place. "ha! that night! it was a sight to live in a man's memory. by the red light of a thousand huge fires there was assembled the whole might of a nation, of a new nation, of a nation of warriors. the king sat in the midst of his _indunas_, an open space before him. on either side stretched a monster crescent of armed men, the glint of their spears, the sheen of their great hide shields, flickering in the wavy glow. up the middle of this space our _impi_ advanced, singing a battle-song, even the war-song of umzilikazi: "`yaingahlabi leyo'nkunzi! yai ukufa!' [that bull did not gore! it was death!--meaning "that bull _did_ gore," but in the most deadly manner.] "then, halting before the king, we shouted the _bayete_, and falling back, left a space for those who were to perform in the dance. "they came out one by one, each, as he paused to take breath after recounting his deeds, being greeted by a roar of applause from the throats of the surrounding warriors. then my turn came. "i know not how it was, _nkose_, unless it were the thoughtless rashness of youth, which has caused me to do many foolish and fatal things, but which has also carried me unscathed through their fearful consequences; but when i found myself thus, with a free hand, i forgot all prudence and diplomacy. "bounding forward in all my bravery of war, in my jackals' tails and cowhair, with a great plume of cranes' feathers streaming from my head, rapping my great shield against my knees, i leaped high in the air about ten times, each time spinning completely round before touching ground again. the roaring `ha! ha!' with which the whole multitude greeted this display completely intoxicated me. i felt as mad, as drunk, as though i had partaken of the white man's _tywala_. with my eyes blazing from my head, i cried aloud the whole story of our attack upon the kraal. not a word said i of having been gungana's left hand, of having carried out the plan which gungana _sent me to carry out_. no, of this not a word; instead, i poured forth the whole naked truth--how that masipele, the head _induna_, being killed, the _impi_ was on the point of suffering defeat, when i conceived the idea of braving certain death by myself entering the kraal, which the rest were unable to enter, and myself setting it on fire, thus forcing the basutu into the open and saving the day. i shouted out the number and description of the enemies who had fallen by my hand, and went through the exact performance of how they had met me and how i had slain them; but all the time never a word about gungana and his generalship. i told no more, no less than the truth, with all my boasting; but, _nkose_, he who does this is frequently no more and no less than a very great fool--at least, so it is among ourselves; i know not how it may be among you white people. "well, i was carried away by my conceit; partly because, when i leaped in the air, i could see in the background, above and beyond the surrounding regiments, the face and form of my love, nangeza. she was standing among the women, watching, listening in a perfect ecstasy of admiration and excitement. this was what nerved me to go through a _tyay'igama_ performance such as, surely, could never have been seen before. i extolled myself and my own deeds as though i were the only man alone in the whole world. the roaring shouts of the warriors rent the night in a frenzy of enthusiasm. the king, i could see, looked upon me approvingly, and i heard him mutter to my father, ntelani, that he had bred a right good lion-cub indeed. i was drunk with my success. then, when i had told all my story, as i was the last, the king gave orders for the beef feast to begin and the _tyay'igama_ dance was at an end. "the huge joints were hissing and sputtering upon the fires, giving forth a most delicious odour to our hungry nostrils, and as we squatted around waiting until they should be sufficiently cooked, we talked over the events of the day, and congratulated ourselves on having escaped from the rule of tshaka. for to us younger men there was something intoxicating in this journeying in search of a new land, fighting our way as we went, stamping out tribe after tribe which lay in our path. and umzilikazi, had he not a free and an open hand? he never stinted his warriors, and after such a battle as that of to-day there was beef and _tywala_ enough and to spare. yes, it was good to _konza_ to umzilikazi. moreover, he rarely caused any of his subjects to be killed; unlike tshaka, who was wont to keep the slayers pretty busy. had but another regiment or two joined us, we might have been strong enough to overturn the house of senzangakona, to have slain tshaka, and set up umzilikazi as king in zululand. then we need never have started in search of a new country. on such matters, _nkose_, did the tongues of us young men wag when among ourselves. "after the feast, while i was returning to my place in the camp--for we had no huts at that time, moving as we were from day to day--someone came behind me in the darkness, and a man's voice said: "`you are as great in the _tyay'igama_ dance as in battle, son of ntelani. and i think you are greater with your tongue than in either.' i knew the voice as that of gungana, but its tone--ah! i liked not that. "`it is as you say, o my father,' i answered. `but i am a child--and children sometimes talk too much.' "`that is so, untuswa,' he said. `and sometimes a dog thinks himself bigger than his master. the dog runs down and catches the buck, but tell me, _umfane_, who takes the dog to where he may find the buck?' "`his master,' i answered. `but the dog is carried away by the chase, and sometimes linds it difficult to quit the game he has killed.' "`until he is _whipped off_, untuswa. and that has to be done sometimes. ha! go now and rest, for you must be badly in need of it after all your exertions.' "then gungana left me, and i felt very uneasy. in my foolish egotism i had omitted any reference to him, had claimed all the credit--which, though really my due, i was a fool to insist on--and now the dark meaning of his words, the malice underlying his cold, sneering tones, left me under no sort of doubt that i had made for myself a most dangerous enemy. my attempts at apology had been lame in the extreme. gungana had seen through them, and they had failed to appease him. and he was a powerful _induna_, and would certainly succeed to the command of my regiment. of a truth, _nkose_, when i lay down that night, it seemed that my coveted head-ring and the fulfilment of the king's promise had faded away into the very furthest mists of the never-to-be. chapter five. the mosutu witch-doctor. "you will be wondering, _nkose_, what had become of the old mosutu witch-doctor whose life i had spared, and who was the sole survivor of his people. the morning after the battle and the feast, before we resumed our march, umzilikazi ordered the old man to be brought before him. "i was in attendance upon the king that day, and was acting as his shield-bearer. it was my duty to stand behind him as he sat among the _indunas_, holding the great white shield above his head to shade him from the sun. this was an office the king often had me to perform in preference to most of the other young men of his body-guard, wherefore i heard much deliberation of matters, such as would have astounded many in our host, could they but have guessed they were known to the king--yes, and would have put them in terror for their lives. but these were matters for which i had neither eyes nor ears, and although i had revealed a secret to nangeza--and that foolishly--it was one which concerned myself alone, and for the others, i would have suffered any death rather than let fall breath of them. "standing thus behind umzilikazi, i was able to command the fullest view of the old witch-doctor, and as they brought him along i noticed that he showed no sign of fear. his, eyes were as bright and piercing as before; and his old body, bowed and wrinkled with age, looked hardly human, so shrunken and withered was it. "`are the ghosts of those slain yonder come to life again in this old man?' i heard the king mutter as he signed the mosutu to rise up from the prostration he had made. `what is thy name, old man?' "`i am called masuka, lord. the guardian spirits of the bapedi tribe whisper in my ears.' "`ha, the bapedi! so that is the name of those we swept out of our path yesterday.' "`it is, lord. yet there are more of them left; but they dwell in the mountains.' "`then fortunate are they, for so far as i care they can stay there,' said the king. `it is only those lying in my path whom i sweep aside. but, old man, thy serpents [a favourite form of tutelary deity among zulus is the serpent] must have been powerful yesterday, in that thou art the only one who has escaped with life from the fangs of my hunting dogs. yet am i not sorry, for i have heard much of the powers of the basutu _izanusi_, and would fain see some proof of them.' "`the hour is not propitious, king,' replied the old man in a wearied sort of tone, with a glance at the heavens. "a great growl of astonishment went up from all who heard this answer. the _indunas_ sat open-mouthed with amazement. this wretched, shrivelled little old monkey, whose life had been spared by the merest chance, instead of being all eagerness to meet the king's wishes, had returned a curt, almost contemptuous refusal. "`_atyi_! was ever such a thing heard of?' they cried. `he is mad! he is tired of life!' "but umzilikazi made no reply. he whispered a word to one of the _indunas_, who rose and went away. in a few moments the sound of singing was heard, and a band of about twenty men and as many women was seen approaching. battling with bones and bladders, bristling with porcupine quills and feathers, some of them crowned with dry and fleshless skulls, others twining snakes about their necks and arms, in them we recognised our own mystic circle--the witch-doctors who had accompanied us on our migration. "`_bayete_!' they shouted, halting suddenly before the king, whom they had approached in a wild and whirling dance. `we smell a hyena--we smell a jackal--we smell a wizard--an impostor! give him to us, o king, lord of the nations! let him die the death, lest he bewitch us, and our path be no longer smooth! give him to us, that we may eat him up! _hou! hou! hou_!' "the whole circle was now whirling around the old mosutu, springing at him in the attitude of wild beasts, snapping and growling. so frenzied were they, that the foam fell from their hideous mouths, and, indeed, i began to think they would end by really biting and tearing their rival to pieces. i found myself bending eagerly, anxiously forward in my suspense. but the old man sat there as unconcerned as though there was nobody within a day's journey of him. "`see, o king!' they howled in their fury. `we will eat him up--blood, hones, every fragment--as he sits there! all is possible with us. we are crocodiles--we are hyenas--we are lions! _hou! hou! hou_!' "`hear you what these say, masuka?' said the king. "`i hear a noise, lord. but--who are these?' "the pity, the contempt, in the old man's tone as he gazed wonderingly round upon the circle of frenzied magicians, i can hardly convey. they, seeing it, roared with rage. "`thus does this impostor speak of the king's _izanusi_!' they howled. "`_izanusi_?' said the mosutu. `can they be _izanusi_--these?' "`show him what you can do,' said the king. "then our witch-doctors went through the most appalling performances. some fell down in fits, during which they tore their own ears off; others gashed themselves, and stood on their heads for long at a time, and howled. some placed snakes round their necks, and by compressing the reptiles' throats caused themselves to be all but strangled in their constrictions. one man produced a huge serpent as long as himself and as thick as his own arm, and, indeed, this was the most marvellous of all, for where he could have secreted it passed all men's comprehension. but all the while the old mosutu sat watching these performances with the same smile of contemptuous pity. "`now, masuka,' said the king, as he signed to the _izanusi_ to desist, `show thyself a greater magician than these, and thou shalt have thy life. thou must show me something i have never seen before. if thou failest in this, i swear that thou shalt be eaten alive by these. i am bent upon seeing something new this day, and the spectacle of a man eaten alive by men will be a new one indeed. so pray for success upon thy magic.' "the furious bowlings of our own magicians were renewed. there was an awesome, uneasy expression upon the faces of the lookers-on. never was umzilikazi known to depart from his word. unless, therefore, the old mosutu should show us some very strange and startling thing, he would certainly meet with a fate which to us zulus--accustomed as we were to bloodshed in the ordinary way--seemed in the last degree horrible. again, if he fulfilled his undertaking, we might look for some very terrifying exhibition of magic. wherefore, the awe which rested upon every face is beyond words. "`begin,' said the king. `begin, old man. we wait.' "masuka stared in front of him for a few moments, his lips moving. suddenly he gave a convulsive start and fell over motionless. time went by, yet no sign of life did he show. at last the king, tired of waiting, rose and went over to look at the apparently lifeless body. "`he is as cold as a stone,' he said. "`i think he is really dead, great great one!' i whispered, for, as the king's shield-bearer, i alone had accompanied him from his place. `see he does not even breathe.' "`he is not dead, untuswa,' answered the king. `_whau_! i have seen this trick before, but never better done. yet he must show us something more than this if he is to keep his life. see; place snuff in his nostrils.' "i hastened to obey, and as i bent over the set, rigid face, a glance into the wide-open but apparently sightless eyes all but unnerved me. lustreless and filmy, there yet seemed such a demon-like power lying beneath their black depths. it made me feel as though i were looking into a dark and terrible pit, with some monster of unimaginable hideousness and cruelty lurking at the bottom. the hand which held the snuff spoon shook, and i could hardly carry out the king's command. "but with his nostrils well filled with snuff--and, indeed, there must have been a good deal in his throat, for my unsteady hand had spilt some--the old mosutu never sneezed, never choked. he was not emitting the very faintest breath. "`he is dead!' said umzilikazi at last. `remove him.' "now, for a long time we had been watching, and so, when the king's word was given, there were not wanting those who were eager to drag the wizard's body away out of the camp as soon as possible. there was a rush forward, but no sooner had the thong been placed around the ankles, than those who held it leaped high in the air with a cry of alarm. for the dead wizard had uttered a most thunderous sneeze. another and another broke from his chest as he sat up, and, looking around, set to work coolly to loosen the thong from his ankles. "`thy snuff is strong, untuswa,' said the king, bursting out laughing. `well, old man, that was well done; i have never seen it better done. still, i have seen it done before.' "`can these do it better, lord, son of matyobane?' asked masuka, pointing to our own magicians. "`not so well. now, masuka, let this be the new feat, and, by my head-ring, if it is not new, nothing shall save thee from the fate i promised.' "a roar of _bonga_ went up from all. when it had subsided, the old man said: "`search me. let the king see himself that it is done thoroughly.' and he stretched out his arms. "`search him, untuswa,' said umzilikazi. `search him while i watch.' "handing the royal shield to another of the body-guard, i stepped forward. so frail and puny did the little old man look, his head hardly reaching to my chest, his withered limbs like bits of broken stick, that it seemed as though i could have blown him away. yet i feared him. i feared the glitter of his snake-like eyes. but i feared the king even more, wherefore i was careful to show no sign of hesitation. "save for a very scanty _mutya_ around his loins and a strip of hide which served as a bandage to his bruised and battered head, the old mosutu was entirely naked. he no longer wore even his mystic adornments as witch-doctor. in a moment i was able to satisfy myself that there was absolutely nothing upon him. "`where hast thou deposited thy _muti_, old man?' said the king, when i had reported this. `shall it not be brought?' "`i require it not, lord. such as these,' with a sweep of the arm towards our own _izanusi_, `such as these require many things--i, nothing.' "`proceed, then.' "`yonder is a mound upon the plain,' pointing to a small rise outside our lines about four times the distance a man could cast a spear. `does the king allow me to proceed yonder alone?' "`go,' said umzilikazi. "there lay upon our host a deep, dead silence, such as might be felt. every breath was drawn in, every head bent forward, every eye dilated upon the little shrivelled form of the old witch-doctor as he shambled forth from our midst to the spot indicated. "arrived there, he lay flat upon the ground, placing his ear against it as though he were talking to someone beneath and listening for an answer; and, indeed, talking he was, for we could hear the muttering of his voice. then he raised himself to a sitting posture, with his back towards us and his face turned upward to the heavens, and, lo, a marvel! there arose a thread of smoke, light, filmy, then thicker and blacker, till soon there poured upward a black column, in thickness as a man's leg; and while we gazed there leaped into the smoke-pillar a ball of flame, and as it did so it gave forth a booming roar even as the thunder of the _bai-nbai_ [cannon], which wrought such havoc among us zulus yonder at kambula. another and another followed, and then the blackness of the smoke ceased, and it rose blue and clear, and a gasp and shiver of wonder ran through our people, for the grass around the old mosutu was blazing. he was standing in a ring of flame. "`bid your _izanusi_ put out this fire, o king of a new nation, if they dare approach the spot whence the fire spirit, who dwells in the heart of the world, has lifted up his voice,' cried masuka, stepping through the flaming circle and advancing towards us. "though thrilling with awe and wonderment myself, i had not omitted to watch umzilikazi's countenance during the witch-doctor's manifestation: fear was upon all other faces, but upon that of the king was only curiosity, and i thought triumph. now he turned to the _izanusi_, and said: "`do his bidding.' "their countenances told as plainly as possible that they liked not their errand. but to hesitate meant death, for umzilikazi would not tolerate so much as a moment of hesitation in obeying his orders, not even from an _izanusi_. so with loud yells the whole band dashed forward, and with their green boughs beat out the flames, which, indeed, were spreading fiercely in the dry grass. "`is the king satisfied?' said masuka, as, having prostrated himself, he rose to his knees. "umzilikazi looked at him steadily for a moment. then his eyes grew stern, and we who saw it trembled. "`do you know what we do with _abatagati_?' he said. "`my life is in the king's hands,' answered the old mosutu without flinching. "`ha! the death of the hot stones. let us see now if the fire-maker can also be the fire-quencher!' said the king, giving a sign. and in obedience thereto those in attendance for such purposes sprang forward to seize the old man; while others, with incredible rapidity, kindled fire and fanned it to a roaring blaze. into this several flat stones were placed. _au! nkose_, it is a terrible thing, the death of the hot stones! a man may live a whole day in agony of torment, for the stones are placed upon his naked body and held on him with sticks until they burn their own way into his vitals. "those whose work it was to hold down the _umtagati_ while he underwent this torment were not over-fond of the task, for the manifestation of his powers which old masuka had afforded had struck fear into us all. but even this was small in comparison with the wrath of the king, so there was no hesitation. in a moment the old man lay stretched on his back; already the slayers were bringing the stones hot from the fire to place upon him. yet these preparations he was watching without the smallest sign of fear. "`hold!' cried the king. "those who bore the hot stones--which were carried resting in the middle of two sticks--paused. "`release him.' "this, too, was immediately done. "`i was but trying thee, old man,' said umzilikazi; `i was but trying thee, and right well hast thou come through the ordeal. yet, i think, had i detected but a sign of fear, i would have left thee to the terrible death of torture. but i see thou art afraid of nothing, and i love such, wherefore i grant thee thy life.' "`_baba! nkose_!' [`father! chief!'] cried old masuka, prostrating himself and kissing the king's foot. and all men, with right hand uplifted, shouted with a mighty voice in praise of the king's justice and the king's mercy. "thus came it about that the mosutu witch-doctor was adopted as one of ourselves." chapter six. a formidable rival. "shortly after these things happened, it befell that i was alone in attendance upon the king, in his hut; for although, being on the march, no kraal could be built, yet if we came to a halting-place he liked, umzilikazi would cause a few huts to be erected for himself and his wives. "`well, untuswa,' he said to me, being in a chatty mood, for he would ofttimes unbend thus and talk familiarly with me when we were alone together, while keeping great _indunas_ like my father, or gungana, at a distance, and in humble attitude. but, then, me he regarded as a child. `well, untuswa, and what think you of this stranger _izanusi_, whom gungana has brought us? is it for good or for ill that he is among us?' "`who am i, that i should presume to answer such a question, o great great one?' i said. `yet his _muti_ was wonderful--it caused all men to tremble.' "the king laughed. "`did _i_ tremble, son of ntelani? was there fear in my face?' he said. "`fear? fear in the eyes of the elephant whose tread shaketh the world! now, my father, how could such a thing be?' i answered. "`good,' he said, filling out a measure of snuff. then, with his spoon arrested in mid-air: `i think he has come among us for good, untuswa. gungana did well to spare his life and bring him hither.' "now, i bethought me that this praise should have been mine. had the king's mind been different on the matter, then gungana was welcome to all the responsibility of it. now, not so. wherefore i said--being young, and believing as we still do when young, that right, and not might, is right: "`that is but a blind side of the case, o black black one! i it was who spared the old mosutu's life--who not only spared, but saved it--and that in order that he might show the powers of his _muti_ before the eyes of the king.' "and then i told the whole tale of how i had saved the magician from the spears even of my brethren-in-arms. but i was not quite prepared for the manner in which it was received. "`so, untuswa, you are a bigger man than your _induna_?' said umzilikazi, in that quiet, half-laughing, but terrible voice he took when he desired to make men's hearts tremble within them. `and did you think, then, to tell me what i knew not--i, to whom all things are known; to whom not a single thing passes unknown, untuswa, not one single thing?' "_au, nkose_! then, as the king spoke these words, i knew what fear was if i had never known before. for i thought of nangeza, and of the sure penalty that we had incurred. no wonder that, with the king's terrible eyes upon me, seeming to burn the very thoughts out of my breast--no wonder, _nkose_, i should have felt myself growing grey with fear. but i cried aloud in praise of the wisdom of the great great one, and so akin is the most desperate fear to the most intrepid valour, that i--at that moment when the king was in the most to be dreaded of all his moods--took upon myself to urge my claim to the promised reward. even while doing so i felt that i was digging my own grave. but to my surprise the king burst out laughing. "`_au_!' he cried. `ntelani has bred a lion-cub indeed, and one who knows not fear. but here again, untuswa, are you not showing yourself, for all your valour, to be but a child? the firing of the kraal was a right valorous deed; yet where was the valour of it in comparison with that of standing before the king this day, to belittle one of the king's _indunas_, and to importune the king at a moment when he would fain sleep? valour without wisdom means but the destruction of its owner, wherefore learn judgment before aspiring to the _isicoco_. now go, untuswa, the would-be _kehla_.' [head-ringed man.] "i shouted the king's titles and went out. but although flattery was on my tongue, hatred and fury were in my heart--the former begotten of those mocking words, the latter of bitter and galling disappointment. i had distinguished myself as surely no young warrior had ever done before. i had gone singlehanded and alone into the midst of swarming enemies, and had saved the day to our _impi_ on the point of defeat. i had, in sparing the mosutu witch-doctor, performed an act which was gratifying to the king, and when i claimed credit for it, he had curtly given me to understand that i was a fool. i had made an enemy of a powerful _induna_ rather than forego one hair's-breadth of my claim to distinction. all this i had done deeming my reward near at hand, and sure; but the king had mocked me, and driven me forth with jeering laughter. well, whether he knew everything or not, death could come but once, and the enjoyment of life was a thing of the present. "fired by these thoughts, i sped forth to the place where i knew i should find nangeza helping to herd her father's cattle. she was there, even as i expected, with her little sister, sitele. i gave her a sign as i passed--for there were other women within sight and i dared not be seen speaking with her--and sped on as though i were going to look for game. but once out of sight of all, i doubled back until i came to a deep, bushy valley which was cleft by a watercourse, now dry. here i sat down and waited; nor was it long before i was joined by nangeza. "`ha! is that you, son of ntelani!' she cried, pretending surprise in case our meeting was witnessed. `i have come here to cut firewood,' showing a thong for tying it in a bundle. "`there is no one here. we are quite safe, for i have examined the place well,' i answered, drawing her into a still more hidden spot. then i told her all that had happened, and how the king had again refused my prayer to be allowed to _tunga_. and the worst of it was i dared not apply again for a long time to come. it would almost certainly cost me my life to do so. "`not that it matters,' i ended sorrowfully. `it seems to me, nangeza, that life has no more value--i, who am destined to remain an _umfane_ for ever, to do deeds of valour for which others get all the praise.' "`i, too, have ill news for thee, untuswa,' she said. `this day has _lobola_ been sent to my father's house--for me.' [lobola: the price in cattle paid by the intending bridegroom to the parent or guardian of a girl.] "`ha!' i cried. then a sort of cold despair came over me. `and has your father accepted it?' i said. "`no. he says it is not enough.' "`they all say that at first,' i answered. `but he will accept it or demand a little more. and now, nangeza, who is the sender of the _lobola_?' "`gungana, the king's _induna_.' "`u'gungana!' i roared, springing to my feet and gripping my assegais. `_hau_! i will kill him, though i die myself in doing so!' "`_gahle, gahle_! [gently, gently!] untuswa!' she cried, flinging her arms round me, and dragging me back by main force. "`u'gungana! _hau_! the jackal, the coward dog!' i went on, in the fury and ungovernable excitement into which the news had thrown me. `he stole the praise that was due to me! he claimed credit for the deed he was too cowardly to perform himself! he it is who has poisoned the king's ear against me! he shall die--shall die this day!' "`he shall not, untuswa. listen now--no, you cannot fling me off. i am too strong for even you to do that, and i will not let you go. listen, now, to what i have to say.' "she spoke truly. i could not shake her off. calmed by her voice, i sat down gloomily to listen, and bit by bit she unfolded to me a most amazing plan. "`it is even as the king has just told you, son of ntelani,' she ended up. `valour without wisdom is the destruction of its owner. be guided by me, and one day you shall be a greater man than gungana. i shall be your _inkosikazi_ yet.' [inkosikazi: the principal wife of a chief.] "`hail, _inkosikazi_! we bow down to thee! we do thee obeisance, _inkosikazi_!' "and shrill screams of mocking laughter from the bush on the other side of the _donga_ accompanied this most startling interruption. "`now, these spies shall die, else are the two of us dead!' i muttered in desperation, gripping my assegais and making to spring across the _donga_. but again nangeza restrained me. "`_gahle, gahle_! wilt thou never learn wisdom?' she whispered. `they are but girls. speak to them fair.' "`come forth,' i cried, `lest i come to seek you!' "`spare yourself the trouble, son of ntelani!' they cried, laughing, and stepping from their hiding-place. "three there were. two of them were sisters; the other i recognised as a distant relation of my father ntelani. and then the awful consternation which had entered my mind at the idea of our deadly plot having been overheard gave way to relief as i remembered that nangeza's voice had been sunk to the lowest of whispers. only the last words had been uttered aloud, and these, if absurd, were not perilous. gungana, as the commander of my own regiment, would be a natural object of emulation; nor was my love's ambition to see me a leader of men the less natural. "`hail, _izintombi_ [maidens]!' i cried, with a loud laugh. `you do well thus to greet nangeza. for i intend to _lobola_ for all three of you, as well as for her. then will she be your _inkosikazi_ indeed.' "`has the king already granted you the head-ring, untuswa?' asked one of the two sisters, when the screams of laughter with which they heard my remark had subsided. "`you cannot _lobola_ for all of us,' said the other girl; `for am i not ntelani's "sister"?' [sister or cousin means `related.' the impediment of `consanguinity' is respected with extraordinary rigour, and no zulu will marry even the most distant cousin, or any girl whom there may be reason to suspect of sharing the very faintest strain of his blood.] "`_whau_! that is the more the pity,' i said. `as things are, i meant to have sent _lobola_ for all three of you, although i am but poor. for how could i make choice of one or two where all are so perfect?' "this i said in order to keep the good word of their tongues, lest they might whisper abroad evil concerning nangeza and myself, for even then, _nkose_, i knew that the surest way to a woman's heart was to tickle her ears with soft and pleasant speech. "`_yau_! only hear him!' they cried. `the son of ntelani has found his tongue. forget not, then, when the great great one allows thee to _tunga_. forget not, then, thy word. fare thee well now, untuswa--also his _inkosikazi_!' "and away they sped, laughing and singing. not until the sound of their voices had died out did i again speak. "`i had rather we had not met these, nangeza,' i said. `what if they chatter?' "`that they will not do. they know you are in the king's favour, untuswa; besides, you are a famous fighter, and no girl among us would do anything to injure you. but this place is too open. come, i know of a better.' "we plunged into the most tangled recesses of the bush, and here, where the boughs met overhead, with creepers trailing in long lines like the white beards of old men, we rested. but our talk was of love, not of the weighty plan wherein life was the stake, about which we had talked before. "suddenly there was a rustling noise in the bushes close to us, and, lo! in the most startling manner there rose up the heads of two great _mambas_. at sight of us they gave vent to a furious hiss, waving their crests to and fro. "we zulus, you know, _nkose_, like not to kill a serpent, for the guardian spirit who watches over us often takes that shape, and how can we make war upon it? so when these two _mambas_ rose up against us i lifted no weapon. i only prayed, `_o'zinyoka_, do us no hurt,' and the two of us withdrew. but as we did so the serpents slowly followed us, with crests erect, and hissing. at last they ceased to follow us, and we could hear the rustle of the bushes as they returned. then we sat down again--and--_whau!, nkose_! when people are young, and the talk is of love, time goes upon eagle wings. suddenly nangeza cried out that we must part, for the sun would soon be down and we had some distance to travel if we would pass the king's outposts before dark. "we arose to retrace our steps. already the thorns and dry grass were beginning to crackle under our feet, when i caught nangeza's wrist and breathed: "`silence!' "the place where we had first rested was on the edge of an open glade, and the distance we had withdrawn from this while retiring before the serpents was about twice that to which a man could fling a spear. on one side of this glade stood a tall rock. "`men are coming,' i whispered--`armed men.' "we stood thus as still as stones, listening hard. then i could hear, re-echoed back from the face of the rock, the light tread of feet, the rustle of branches pushed aside, and now and then the rattle of assegai hafts; and soon, as we crouched low to the earth, we could hear an armed force advance into the open glade and halt. "now, _nkose_, my heart stood still, for i remembered the king's words that morning. could it be that he who knew everything had sent men after us to surprise us two together and kill us? then i heard a warrior's deep tones say: "`_au_! here are footprints--those of an _intombi_. those of a man, too!' he added, as one who has made a discovery. `come, let us see where they lead.' "crouching down among the thorns and long dry grass we lay, expecting our end; for to be found thus together, at this distance from the camp, meant certain death. there was not a chance for us. we heard the parting of the bushes--then, from where we lay, we could see the heads of several men following our trail, and, but that the trees threw a darkness around and they were too intent on reading their way, they could not have failed to see us. no, there was no escape. we should be seized, dragged before the king, and not another sun should we see rise. "but then, while the bitterness of death lay dark upon our hearts, we saw the foremost of the men stop, with a startled look upon his face. then a quick exclamation escaped him, and he and the rest turned, and went back again. and we knew the meaning of that hissing noise, and the prayer to the serpents cried out by the warriors as they retreated was the same as my own. "when they returned to the _impi_, the leader was angry with them. "`what?' we could hear him say. `are we come out to do the king's errand, that a number of you should turn from your way to follow upon the tracks of a man and a maid? what have we to do with such, i say? good indeed was it, that the _izinyoka_ should have been there to teach so many fools their duty. now we must on.' "then we heard the rattle of assegais and shields as once more the _impi_ fell into rank, and soon the sound of their footsteps died into silence. we left our hiding-place cautiously, and as we went we were very full of thankfulness to our _izinyoka_, who had come in our path, and in the path of those who would have found us, and had saved us from destruction; and we debated as to the part our serpents had played, and we decided that the serpent of nangeza, being that of prudence, was the one which had obliged us to retire from our first hiding-place, while the influence of my serpent, being that of the warrior, was the one which availed to drive back the searchers--as befitting the serpent of such a warrior as myself--and who may say that this was not so.? at any rate, the joining together of our two _izinyoka_, to protect us, struck us as a good omen for the future; for where should we have been had we remained in our first resting-place--where now, had not those who were searching been frightened back? "but although we had so far escaped, yet were we in the greatest jeopardy. for the sun was nearly down, and how should we reach the camp, each by a roundabout way, before it grew dark? and how should we pass the king's outposts after? nangeza might go in by herself, pleading some excuse; but i--how was i to remain out? for even though the king should not require my attendance upon him--and on this i could not reckon--yet he who wanders abroad at night incurs peril from the staff of the `smeller-out,' for we hold that _tagati_ always takes place during the hours of darkness, and the man who loves to wander abroad at such times, what can he be seeking but means to practise the foul and evil spells of wizardry? "long before we reached the camp it grew quite dark, and now we did not separate, for i would not leave nangeza; for multitudes of wild beasts accompanied our migration, because of the abundant feasts we provided them with almost daily--even the flesh of men--and already we could hear their roarings and snarlings in the darkness. moreover, it might be easier for two to pass the outposts together, than to double the chances of failure by making two separate attempts. "as we advanced, noiselessly, stealthily, in the gloom, we heard a low humming sound, which seemed to come from the earth. we stood for a moment holding our breath, for we knew that sound. it was the voice of a man, singing, and he might have been twelve spear-lengths in front of us. we knew the ground also. we were in a little valley between two low hills. probably on each of the latter was another sentinel. nangeza threw her skin kaross over both our heads, and breathed forth her plan--for the plan was hers. i was for taking the risk of slipping past--she, for the bolder but safer method of overpowering the sentinel. "worming like serpents along the ground, we made our way up behind him bit by bit, and the time consumed must have been enormous, for we would not risk failure for the sake of impatience. but this fool surely courted his own undoing, for he sat there singing. every time he stopped singing we stopped in our advance, but so fond was he of his own voice that he soon began again. then nangeza, creeping up behind him, flung her kaross over his head, at the same time throwing her arms around him and pinioning his tightly to his sides. "the man struggled, but with the kaross over his head and in his mouth he could not cry out. still, he struggled, and it took us both all we could do to master him quickly. we could easily have killed him, but had decided it were better not to. at length, with the thong nangeza had brought to tie the firewood we bound him hand and foot, having gagged him with his own _mutya_, and thus we left him. "all this while we had spoken no word, lest our voices should be recognised by him; further, we had been careful to leave nothing which might lead to suspicion travelling our way. we were now safe within the outposts, and in the huge camp we could easily pass unnoticed. it was time to separate, and as we did so nangeza said: "`farewell now, untuswa. have patience and courage. i shall see thee an _induna_ yet.' "`that may be so,' i answered rather gloomily, for now that the adventure was over all my foreboding and disappointment came back. `but we have only seen the first of this night's doings. the last may wear a very different sort of countenance.' "and thus we parted. "now, _nkose_, a portion of my gloom came of the knowledge of what would happen to the sentinel whom we had overpowered. death would be his lot as surely as though i had driven my spear through his heart. i had a mind to go back and loose him, but that would mean giving my life for his, and i was not tired of life just yet. moreover, it would mean the sacrifice of nangeza also, and it were better that one person should perish than that two should. yet, being still young and soft of heart, i felt sad as i thought of the doomed sentinel." chapter seven. the fate of the sentinel. "when i told nangeza that we had seen but the beginning of the night's doings, _nkose_, i spoke no more than the truth. the sentinel whom we had overpowered was found towards morning just as we had left him--tied and gagged; yet not, for he had managed to roll over and over until he came near enough to another outpost, who was about to fling a spear through him, thinking it an enemy approaching in the darkness. better, indeed, if he had. "now, if there was one thing upon which umzilikazi was strict, one rule the punishment of violating which, in the very smallest degree, was certain and merciless, that, was military discipline. by such discipline the great king tshaka had become great, and with him the zulu people; and it umzilikazi, the founder and first king of a new nation, was resolved to maintain at its highest. so when heralds went round at an early hour crying aloud that all must assemble before the king--_indunas_ and fighting men, women and children, boys and old men who were past bearing arms; not one of whatever estate was to be absent on pain of death--when the people heard this, i say, many feared, but none were surprised. all thought there was to be a great `smelling out' of _abatagati_, and, indeed, it ended in such. only i and nangeza knew the principal reason of the assembly, and secretly we feared. "_whau_! it was a sight, that muster! the warriors, crouching behind their shields, formed two immense half-circles, and behind them the women and children, the cloud of fear lying heavy upon their faces. the _izinduna_ sat in a group a little distance from the king's hut. "it happened that i was appointed shield-bearer to the king, and this went far to remove my fears, for had any suspicion attached to me, i should not have been the man told off to stand behind the great great one on such an occasion as this. as umzilikazi came forth, i walking before him with the great white shield held aloft, two _izimbonga_ ran before us in a crouching attitude shouting aloud the names of the great great one; and the rattle of assegai hafts was as the quiver of the forest trees in a gale as the great half-circles of warriors bent low, echoing in a mighty rolling voice the words of the _izimbonga_. "`_ho, yisobantu! indhlovu 'nkulu! ho, inyoka 'mninimandhla! ho, inkunzi 'mnyama! ho, 'nkulu-'nkulu_.'" [o father of the people! great elephant! o all-powerful serpent! o black bull! o great one!] "the king seated himself upon a carved block of wood which was covered with a leopard's skin, i taking up my position behind him, holding the white shield. on either side were ranged the young men of the royal body-guard, fully armed. then he gave orders that the defaulting sentinel should be brought before him. "in the midst of four warriors of his own regiment, unarmed, of course, but not bound, the man drew near. he was a young man, tall and strong, and a feeling of profound pity was in the hearts of all; for, fine warrior as he was, all knew he was doomed. his offence was one which the king could not pardon. he did obeisance, uttering one word, `baba!' [father!] but as he rose one look at his face, which, though sad, was full of the dignity of fearlessness, caused my heart to stand still--for i recognised my brother, sekweni. i had doomed to death my own father's son. then the great great one spoke: "`when a soldier of the king is set to guard the safety of the king, he has eyes to see with and ears to hear with. he has weapons to fight with, and strength wherewith to use them. yet all these are of no use to him, since, being in full possession of them all, the king's sentinel is found at his post tied up, and gagged, and useless as a wooden log.' "umzilikazi paused a moment, looking the young warrior full in the face with a bitter and scornful expression. then, in that quiet and stinging tone, which he adopted when in the most terrible of his moods, he went on: "`when a soldier of the king allows himself to be turned into a log for one night, is it not meet that he should be turned into one for ever? now a log has no eyes to see with and no ears to hear with; it has no hands, no arms, no legs.' "then, _nkose_, it seemed to me that i had come to the end of my life. here was i obliged to stand by while my own father's son was put to a most hideous and disgraceful death, through my means, and keep silence. i was on the point of speaking, of proclaiming myself the offender, when, from my position behind the king, i caught sight of nangeza standing among the women, so tall and stately and splendid, and the recollection that if i spoke the lives of two would be taken instead of the life of one came back to me. nay, further, i remembered that though nangeza and myself would certainly be adjudged to die the death, the king would, not any the more on that account spare the life of my brother, sekweni, whose offence was an unpardonable one. "`a sentinel who is surprised and overpowered at his post is clearly of no use at all,' went on the king. `we do not keep anything that is of no use, not even a dog. what hast thou to say, son of ntelani?' "`this, o black elephant,' answered my brother. `i was bewitched!' "`ha! that is not much of a story,' said the king; `though a stout hide thong may bind about a man a powerful spell. yet, tell thy tale.' "`the spell was a female spell, o king!' replied my brother. and then he went on to tell how his seizure and binding had been done by feminine hands. the forms of those who had thus made him captive were the forms of women, and most perfectly moulded women, he declared. of this he had been assured during the struggle, and the spells they had woven round him had rendered him powerless. was not this ample proof that he had been bewitched? since what living woman would undertake to overpower and bind one of the king's sentinels? wizardry of the most dreaded kind was at work here. "now, when i heard this, i trembled for nangeza. why would she stand forth thus, so prominent among the other women, in all the splendid vigour of her symmetrical frame? what if the king's eye should fall upon her? what if a new idea should arise in his mind? "`thy story seems to hang together well, sekweni,' said the king. `but this thong,' holding up the one wherewith sekweni had been bound, `savoureth rather more of mortal hands. it is such as would be used to place around the horns of cattle, or as women would tie up burdens with--or firewood.' "at these words, _nkose_, my eyes well-nigh leaped from my head with fear. he who knew all things had spoken those words. "`here, too, is what was rent from a skin kaross,' went on the great great one, holding up a small strip of spotted skin. `it is as a fragment of a woman's garment. so far thy tale holdeth, son of ntelani.' "at this my eyes again sought nangeza. but she did not meet my glance. there was the same half-amused and wholly fearless expression in her face. what a wonderful girl she was! i thought, my own fears vanishing as i saw how full of courage she was. "`now, confess, _umfane_!' said the king suddenly, speaking quickly and bending upon my brother a terrible frown. `are not these all lies? hast thou not been the author of thine own undoing, by having dealings with a woman while thou shouldest have been watching at thy post?' "`no lies have i told, o great great one, in whose light we live,' answered sekweni steadily. `it is as i have said--i was bewitched.' "`good,' said the king. `now will we get to the root of this. come forth, ye snakes of the darkness!' "at these words the doors of three of the huts opened, and there burst forth from them the whole company of the _izanusi_. they were smeared with blood and napping with entrails, and with their charms of bird-claws and human bones, snakes' skins and cow-tail tufts, rattling around them, came dancing and leaping before the king, whistling and howling, a most hideous company. "`behold this thong--this bit of skin,' said umzilikazi, holding up the articles. `find the owner, ye ringed snakes! find the owners!' "the _izanusi_ went howling round the circle as is their wont, and all hearts quailed. not a man could tell but that a wizard rod should be turned his way; yet on this occasion it was the women who had the most cause to fear, for had not sekweni declared that his captors wore female shape? all, however, as the witch-doctors ran howling before them, kept up a most doleful song, calling for the speedy finding and punishment of the witch. still, the _izanusi_ ran twice round the circle without naming anybody, and, indeed, i, among others, thought i knew the reason of this; for it happened that at the last `smelling-out' they had named one of the king's favourite fighting chiefs, which had so enraged umzilikazi, whom it had put to so much difficulty in finding a pretext for sparing the denounced man's life, that he had more than half vowed the death of the witch-doctors the next time they should accuse the wrong person. this, then, was the cause of their hesitation, the more so that they suspected the old mosutu had been spared in order to supersede themselves. "but now indeed i had cause to quake, for the _izanusi_ had stopped, and with renewed vigour were howling and dancing in front of the group of women among whom nangeza was the most prominent. i could see the faces of these women quivering with fear, but not so hers. she echoed the witch-finding song louder than any, seeming to fling it back defiantly into their faces. "`we name--' they shrieked, flourishing their arms and rattles, and leaping high in the air. the rods were already extended. "`we name--' "`hold!' cried the king. `go no further. i have a new idea. where is masuka? where is the old mosutu?' "`here, lord,' said the old man, coming from a hut close by. "`hast thou been making _muti_ alone, masuka?' said the king. "`i require no _muti_, o black elephant. that may be needful to such as these.' "`i hear thee, masuka. look, now. twice have these _izanusi_ gone round the circle, and yet have named no one. let them stand aside now, and go thou around it once; for i believe their _muti_ is worn thin, and thy power without it is greater than theirs with it.' "`the king shall be satisfied,' answered the mosutu. "now, although he had been well treated and kept in abundance, the old man had affected no superiority over any of us, great or mean. he had worn only one or two `charms,' and, indeed, there was little about him to denote his estate, unlike our own magicians, who were ever performing strange and mysterious rites. when the time came, he would say, then his power would be proved; meanwhile he was under no necessity to do anything to keep it from tottering. and this was the first time since the fire-making that he had been called upon to exercise his power. "now, as he paced round the ring, with nothing in his hand but a short pointed stick, and no ornaments save three black wooden beads suspended to his neck and two gnu's tails on his left arm, i felt no fear, for he was aware that i, and not gungana, had saved his life, and i knew he would do nothing to harm me. so i breathed freely and watched the proceedings. "unlike the others, masuka, as he went round the circle, looked at nobody. with his head thrown back, he stared skyward, muttering the while in a strange language, and every now and then breaking into a short yelling chant. but when he returned before the king he had named no one. "`well, father of the fire-spirit?' said umzilikazi. `who is to die?' "we saw that blank look come over the old man's face which had come upon it that other time when we thought him dead. it was as if his spirit had suddenly left his body. then he fell over and lay on the ground, still, motionless as a stone. "all gazed upon him with awe and dread, gazed upon him in a silence which was only broken by the deep breathing of the multitude. at length his lips were seen to move. words came forth: "`who has bewitched the soldier of the king?' "the voice was so strange and far-away and hollow that it seemed to come from the very depths of the earth. moreover, the eyes of the old mosutu were so turned inwards that nothing but the whites were visible at a time. as he proceeded with his questions and answers he would roll his eyeballs around in a manner that was dreadful to behold. it was as if they were quite loose in his head. "`who has bewitched the soldier of the king? is it nkaleni?' "`it is not nkaleni.' "`is it matupe?' "`it is not matupe.' "`is it nangeza?' "at these words, _nkose_, and the pause that followed them, i was so startled that i nearly let fall the shield upon the royal head-ring, which would have meant my instant death. as it was, i found i was holding it in such wise as to allow the sun to scorch one of the king's ears; but umzilikazi was, fortunately, so interested in the witch-finding that he failed to notice it. then, to my relief, the answer came: "`it is not nangeza.' "in this way old masuka ran through a number of names, and the terror upon the countenances of the women named, for they were all women, until the answer came, was something to witness. then he changed the form of question. "`were there two in it?' "`there were two in it.' "`was it shushungani?' "such an exclamation of amazement broke from all, for masuka had named one of the royal wives. it gathered in intensity as, after a longer pause than before, the answer came: "`shushungani--shushungani! it was shushungani!' "a wild shriek burst from the owner of the name, who was standing among the royal women. "`he lies! he lies!' she screamed in her terror. `the stranger _isanusi_ lies!' "`peace, woman!' thundered the king. `proceed, masuka.' "again followed a number of names, one at last being fixed upon as before. she, too, was of the royal household, though not of the king's wives, and was called pangulwe. with her the naming ceased, and for long the old man lay in death-like silence, nor would the king suffer a word or a sound to be uttered. then suddenly masuka returned to life, and, sitting up, looked wonderingly around, as a man waking from a dream who finds himself in a strange place. "to us there was something especially terrible about this method of `smelling-out,' the old man's spirit seeming to leave his body thus and to talk with those of the unseen air--so different to the hideous clangour and wild dancing wherewith our own _izanusi_ were wont to proceed--and resulting as it did in the naming of two of the royal women, our awe and wonder was without bounds. "at a sign from the king the two named were brought forward. shushungani was a tall, straight woman, very black, and with a sullen countenance and evil eyes. the other, fangulwe, was young and rather pretty. on the faces of both was a dreadful look of terror over their coming fate. "`is the king bewitched himself,' cried the former wildly, `that this dog of a stranger dares lift his tongue against the royal house?' "`it seems that tongues are often lifted _within_ the royal house, shushungani, and that too much. even the royal house is not always free from _abatagati_,' replied the king, with a sneer. `_hambani gahle_!' [`go in peace,' the zulu form of farewell to anybody leaving.] `a peaceful night awaits you both. take them hence. stay, though. they are of the royal house. let them die the death of the spear!' "the despairing shrieks of the two women whom the executioners had seized to drag forth to the place of death were completely drowned in the great chorus of _bonga_ that arose by reason of this act of mercy on the part of the king. for he had ordered them the nobler death of the assegai instead of having their brains clubbed out with knobsticks, as the usual method was. "`now that the witches have gone to sleep,' said the king, `it seems right that the bewitched should join them; for in good truth a sentinel at his post should be proof even against the spells of witchcraft.' "`i welcome death at the king's word,' said sekweni, who knew he was doomed. `but i would first ask a favour of the great great one.' "`speak on,' said the king. "`i would ask that i, too, may die the death of the spear--the death of a warrior, of a soldier of the king.' "`ha! thou askest that form of death, son of ntelani? yet it is the more painful of the two.' "`it is the death of a man, o black elephant.' "`so be it,' said umzilikazi, making a sign to those who stood by for the purpose. "then my poor brother was made to sit down on the ground, and in this posture his left arm was drawn high above his head and held there, while a thin-bladed assegai was inserted below his armpit and pressed slowly, slowly downward until it reached the heart. not a word, not a groan, escaped him in his agony, and at length, with a gasp, he fell over dead. "in truth, _nkose_, my heart was sore; yet had i spoken i could not have saved sekweni's life. "`_ou_! he died bravely,' said the king, who had been narrowly watching my poor brother's face, but had failed to detect any sign of shrinking. `i love not to order the death of such. yet he who sleeps while en outpost will surely sleep for ever, be he whom he may. draw near, masuka.' "`thou art an _isanusi_ indeed!' went on umzilikazi, taking snuff. `thou hast rid the people of two pestilent witches, whose spells have robbed me of one of my bravest fighters. five cows shalt thou have, old man, to start thee as one of ourselves. now go.' "and all the people shouted aloud in praise of the justice and generosity of the king. "now, it failed not to be whispered abroad that the naming of the two royal women was a pre-concerted thing, else had even a witch-doctor not dared to name one of the royal house, and, indeed, i at the time believed it. but afterwards i knew it was not so, and that no word had passed, the real truth being that masuka, since his instalment among us, had made himself all eyes and ears and no tongue. thus he had divined that umzilikazi desired not the naming of warriors at the witch-findings, and was displeased with his own _izanusi_ for denouncing such; further, that the woman shushungani was sharp-tongued and evil-tempered, while the other by her conduct had incurred suspicion, and the king would gladly be rid of them both. so he won great praise from the king for ridding him of these two, and the people felt grateful to him in that he had denounced no one else. as for myself, _nkose_, i rejoiced greatly; for shushungani hated me, and was ever talking into the king's ear against me." chapter eight. the prophecy of masuka. "after this the king gave orders that we should break up camp and resume our march, and, _nkose_, it was something to see this immense company of people moving onward thus, day after day, in order to found a new nation. _impis_ were thrown out to right and to left, to ensure that no enemy might take us unawares; for the arm of tshaka was long, and we could not say for certain that we were beyond the reach of it even then. in front, too, was a strong _impi_ despatched, and this i often accompanied. but we found no enemy, no one to strike, for the terror of our name had gone ahead of us, and when the tribes in our path saw the great herds of game fleeing past them, they cried: "`_ou_! the tread of the great elephant already rumbles on the earth. the hunting dogs of the zulu draw near...' and all fled in fear to the rocks and caves of the mountains. however, we seized what they had left, and laid waste their kraals and passed on, for we should have gained nothing by hunting these rats out of their holes. "these enormous herds of game, too, kept us abundantly in food--eland and quagga and gnu, every species was there--so that we had little need to kill our own cattle. besides, it afforded us much sport, and kept us active; for not always such harmless and timid game as buck did we seek. in those days, _nkose_, we thought no more of slaying a lion with spears than you white people do of shooting it with a gun; and in hunting lions the king took an especial delight, and more than once have i seen umzilikazi slay with his own spears, and all unaided, the largest and fiercest of lions. in this sport he would often have me to accompany him, and, indeed, on one occasion it would have gone hard with me, in my rashness and anxiety to show my valour under the very eyes of the great great one. for i had been overthrown by the rush of a wounded and furious lion, and would certainly have been dead had not the king sprang to the beast's side and stabbed him to the heart with his own hand. then he laughed, and again reproached me with my lack of judgment and due cautiousness. _au_! but he was a king indeed! "nangeza the while was still in her father's hands, for gungana, although he desired to possess the girl, was of a close-fisted nature, and would not offer sufficient _lobola_, saying that the condescension of an _induna_ of the king in taking a girl whose father was of no especial rank should more than make up for the deficiency. but this her father stoutly refused to see; on the contrary, he maintained that a man of gungana's rank ought to give more than one who was nobody at all. so the negotiations hung in the air, to my great satisfaction, although this might be short-lived, for at any moment either party might yield. "we had not been together over-much, nangeza and i, since the day which had ended so fatally for my brother, sekweni. in truth, our narrow escape then had rather frightened us; besides, we looked upon the sad outcome of it as a bad omen. meanwhile, my permission to _tunga_ seemed as far off as ever, and long before it came nangeza might be out of my reach. there were plenty of other girls, certainly, but i was young then, _nkose_, and a fool, and had not yet found out that one girl is just as soon tired, of as another. but i have had sixteen wives since those days, and i have found it out now--_yeh-bo_! i have found it out now. "`carry out my plan; untuswa,' she said to me once, when we were able to speak for a few moments. `that is our only chance.' "`_whau_! in good truth,' i answered, `a madder scheme never yet was set forth.' "she shrugged her splendid shoulders, uttering a disdainful click. "`if it is only to risk your life, son of ntelani, do you not risk it daily in the king's service?' "this was true. still, i have ever observed that the man who risks his life in the ordinary way is prone to shrink and draw back when some entirely new and untrodden path of death opens out before him. in my perplexity i bethought me of masuka. "the old _isanusi_, who was now high in the king's favour, occupied a hut by himself; for we were again in a temporary camp. it was said that he passed all his days making _muti_, for men rarely saw him, and when he did come abroad, he would creep about in a quiet, retiring way, as though he were the most harmless and inoffensive of our aged people. of him, of course, our own _izanusi_ were fiercely envious, and plotted darkly his undoing. yet he enjoyed the king's favour, wherefore none dare lift hand or tongue against him. "i found the old man seated outside his hut staring blankly into space. in front of him was a small bowl containing a black, sticky substance. "`greeting, father of the fire-spirit!' i said. "`i have seen you, son of ntelani,' he answered. "`are you making _muti_, father?' i went on, with a glance at the stuff. "he chuckled. "`_muti_? do i need it, untuswa? yet if you would see what _muti_ is, you shall. enter.' "for a moment i feared, for we zulus have a horror and repulsion of all that relates to charms and wizardry. to be alone with those dreadful eyes--ha! i went into that hut a man; i might come out of it a baboon, a snake. yet i it was who had said to the king, `i know not fear.' then i bent down and crept through the entrance hole, and when i got inside, lo! there was very little in it at all. "old masuka sat down and took snuff, blinking the while at me with his black and snaky eyes. then he said: "`you amazulu are brave as lions in the fight, untuswa, but in all that pertains to magic you are nowhere. these _izanusi_ of yours are more ignorant than children.' "`their art is nothing beside yours, father. but tell me, you who are now one of us, do you never long for your own dwellings again, the rocks and the mountains? do you not also feel a thirst for revenge upon those who have slain your kindred and despoiled your possessions?' "the old man's eyes flashed forth a laugh, and he said: "`you are young, untuswa. when you have seen the world grow grey with age, as i have, it is little enough you will grieve over such things as loss of kindred and possessions. ha! you will as likely grieve over the fall of a tree in the wind, the removal of pebbles by a flooded river. and now your heart is sore because of the girl nangeza, upon whose account you have many times incurred the doom of those who break the laws of tshaka.' "`_hau_!' i exclaimed hurriedly and in alarm. `speak low, my father, speak low! even the whisper of such a thing cannot but work me harm, almost as much as though it were really so.' "`as though it were really so! that is well said, son of ntelani,' he replied, with a chuckle. "i was very much confused, for this old wizard seemed to divine the deepest secrets of men's hearts. how knew he this thing? he had never seen me speak with nangeza, had certainly never witnessed our meetings, and he talked with nobody. the girls who had surprised us that day had, i knew, let fall no word. "`i am sore at heart indeed, father,' i answered. "`my greatest desire seems impossible of accomplishment. yet once you declared i should obtain it.' "`if you obtain it, son of ntelani, it will be at the cost of passing through such unknown terrors as will turn your heart to water, of doing such deeds of peril and daring as no man surely ever did before. at this and at no other cost. are you prepared to earn it at such a price?' "`_hau_! i fear nothing. i am a warrior of the amazulu,' i answered boastfully. "masuka eyed me strangely. "`of _muti_ were we speaking just now, warrior of the amazulu who knows not fear,' he said. `now see. are you sufficiently devoid of fear to dare to look into the future?' "then, _nkose_, i felt that i had spoken like a liar and a braggart. even the burning of the old magician's spider-like eyes in the half-gloom of the hut caused me to quail. what would it be when i should follow him into the dark mysteries as yet unveiled? but it was not in me to eat up my word. "`i dare all things, father,' i replied. "again he bent upon me that strange look, and, going over to the other side of the hut, began to uncover something, which looked like an earthen bowl. over this he sat for some time, keeping up the while that strange humming incantation with which he had accompanied the witch-finding. in the utmost tension of excitement, my eyes well-nigh starting from my head, i sat and watched him. "`draw near, son of ntelani,' he said at last. "i approached, and peered cautiously over his shoulder, for he had been seated with his back towards me. the thing before him was a bowl, even as i had thought--a large bowl made of baked clay such as we use for beer. in it was a strange, liquid which shone and shimmered in the half-darkness of the hut. as i looked into this something moved, and then i cried out in amazement, for it was as if a man were looking through the circle of his hands into a strange world beyond. there were towering cliffs and rugged, stone-strewn slopes, and up these slopes surged a dense swarm of dark beings like ants. ha! they were men! then it seemed that rolling clouds of dust went up, that the mountain seemed to crack and split, and all fell into space. my tongue was tied with wonder and awe. i could utter no word. "`look again, son of ntelani,' said old masuka. `what dost thou see?' "`ha! i see rocks, the black mouth of a pit! ha! i can see into it; my sight pierces its depths. it is peopled with living creatures, shadowy, shapeless, hideous; far, far down i see them. ha! they mouth, they gnash their teeth; yet i cannot see their shapes. they seem to draw me down to them. i am going, sinking, falling. _au_! i will look no more! _umtagati_, release me, or i kill thee!' "i found i had gripped the old man by the shoulder, and was nearly crushing the bones in my powerful grasp. my eyes were protruding from my head, and i was streaming with perspiration over the horror of the sight. and well indeed may such wizardry turn men's minds. the whole spell of the old man's magic was upon me, and it seemed as if i were bound hand and foot. "`have you beheld enough, warrior of the amazulu who knows not fear, who dares all things?' he said, dropping out the words slowly and as the cuts of assegais. `yet behold one thing more.' "his tone stung me, brought me back to myself. again i looked. a man stood among men, and an assegai was descending to his chest. there was a crowd of faces in the background, but who held the assegai i knew not. then i looked at the man. "`it is my brother, sekweni!' i cried. `ha! i will have no more of this! it is _tagati_ indeed.' "`thy brother sekweni!' laughed the old man in a harsh, rattling voice--`thy brother sekweni! forget not that, untuswa, forget not that, when the time comes.' and again he broke into that weird, mirthless laugh which was enough to curdle a man's blood. "so strong upon me was the effect of his magic, that on leaving masuka's hut i seemed to shrink from the eyes of all whom i met. it seemed that all must proclaim me aloud as _umtagati_, and i walked in fear. how i hated the old mosutu for the spell he had put upon me! i would have slain him if i had dared. i would have caused him to be smelt out; but that i dared still less. indeed, it is probable that i myself would pay the penalty, and not he. i had looked into strange and terrifying mysteries, and was ever consumed by a longing to look once more into them, and this together with a horror of and repugnance to doing so." chapter nine. the kraal, ekupumuleni. "many moons had now waxed and waned, and at length we began to feel secure from all pursuit and danger at the hands of tshaka, and of a truth the _impis_ of the great king would have found it a difficult matter to travel over the dreadful waste we had left behind us. for we had carried off all the cattle and destroyed the crops of such tribes as we had fallen in with, and that designedly, in order to delay and harass by scarcity of food a force so large as would of necessity be sent in pursuit of us. now, moreover, we began to feel great, for our flocks and herds had become considerable, and many captives had we spared in order to tend these along the march. "we had come to a fair land, well watered with flowing streams, and waving with sweet grass. here the king ordered a large kraal to be built, which was done, and this great circle, in size as that of nodwengu, stood fair and large upon these plains where surely never such a royal dwelling was seen before. the huts stood three deep within the ring-fences of mimosa, and the great open space in the centre served for mustering the warriors and holding dances and ceremonies of state. at the upper side was the _isigodhlo_, or royal enclosure, partitioned off by palisades of finely woven grass, and containing the king's dwelling, together with the huts of the royal women and those of the _izinceku_, or court attendants, of whom i was now one. it was a noble kraal, and we who had wandered those many moons a homeless people, looking upon our work with a shout of pride, named it `ekupumuleni'--`the place of rest.' "at that time the jealousy wherewith i was regarded by many, including some of the _indunas_, grew apace, and by none was it shown more freely than by my father, ntelani, and the _induna_ gungana. these were not slow to whisper abroad that i, being so young a man and unringed, was not the one to hold such a position of trust as that of _inceku_, having free access at all times to the _isigodhlo_ or royal enclosure; for this office was usually held by middle-aged or elderly men, and wearing the ring. but if any of such talk reached the ears of the king, as, indeed, what did not? he gave no sign of being influenced thereby, for he kept me about him, showing me the same favour as before. so i troubled not overmuch about the ill-will of the _izinduna_, but made light of it; wherein, _nkose_, i was the very first among fools. "another party was there who regarded me with even greater hostility, and this was that of the _izanusi_; for had i not been the means of bringing old masuka among them to make their magic of no effect against his? so they plotted day and night to accuse me before the king, and procure my death and that of the old mosutu. yet were they fearful to do this, for umzilikazi loved one stalwart and daring warrior more than a whole regiment of _izanusi_, in whose powers he was in his heart at no time a great believer; wherefore i felt safe, and laughed to myself at the malice of both _izanusi_ and _izinduna_. "about two days' march from where we had planted our kraal there arose ranges of mountains rugged and steep, their summits crowned with straight cliffs, and their bases split up into rifts and chasms and great gloomy ravines. here there dwelt a tribe, or tribes, men of which we had encountered during our scouting or hunting expeditions. they were men of short, broad stature, and seemed not altogether without valour, for although in the fewness of their numbers they would flee before our armed legions, yet when they found themselves among the towering crags of their rocky retreat, which they scaled with surprising agility and fearlessness, they would turn and hurl at us defiance and jeering insult. in aspect they were like the kindred of old masuka, but shorter and broader, and many were armed with bows and arrows as well as with assegai and battle-axe. these the king was for leaving in peace as long as they kept to their mountain retreat, for they seemed to possess but few cattle. but when we found any of them out upon the plain we would pursue them, at times killing some, for that land we considered as the hunting-ground of the king alone, and who were these dogs that they should kill game upon it? "soon there came a time, however, when the king's forbearance made them over-bold, for a band of them dared to creep down from their mountain home, and at night, entering our cattle kraals, which were situated outside our great kraal, drove off quite a number of the king's oxen. then, indeed, did these mad ones bring death upon themselves, for who shall smite the trunk of the great elephant with a wand and live to boast thereof? an _impi_ was sent in pursuit, and, coming up with the robbers, slew many, and, indeed, not one would have escaped but that darkness came on, and thus a few slipped away. yet those who were slain did not lie down and beg for mercy. they fought--oh yes, they fought, dying hard like trapped lions; moreover, their little arrows, being tipped with a strong and subtle poison, caused the death of those who received so much as a scratch. then umzilikazi, enraged, ordered out a powerful _impi_ to scour out the mountains and utterly destroy these vermin, that not one should be left on the face of the earth. "before this was done, however, our _izanusi_ thought they saw their opportunity, and accordingly they came before the king, dancing and howling in all their array of `charms' and magic, and clamoured for the death of masuka, declaring that these were his own people, and accusing him of having bewitched our warriors, for since such a tiny scratch caused by so contemptible a weapon as those little arrows produced death where a great spear-gash failed to prove fatal, it was clear that _tagati_ was at work. indeed, such a riot did they make, and so loud and persistent was their clamour, that umzilikazi ordered the old mosutu to stand forth and answer the charge. now, this befell immediately upon our return from punishing the cattle-robbers, whom we had overtaken not half a day distant from our kraal. "`these are not of my people, o king,' said masuka, `although they are akin to them. they are baputi mixed with men of the gqunaqua race, whose arrows thus deal death. but if i have bewitched the "hunting dogs" of the king, at least i can cure them. can isilwana do the like?' "the man named, _nkose_, was the chief of our _izanusi_. when he heard masuka's words he howled the louder, for now he began to fear. "`that is a fair answer,' said the king--`a fair test, too. let those wounded by the arrows be brought.' "now, of those thus wounded but two remained alive, the remainder having died on the way. these two were soon brought before the king. both were young men of my own age, both were in a state of stupor and breathing heavily. one was wounded in the shoulder, the other in the leg, but both wounds were mere scratches. the latter of these was selected by masuka, who directed that he should be taken to his hut, and, ordering all others out, entered and shut himself up with the warrior alone. round the other wounded man our witch-doctors danced and howled. one produced from him a snake, another a lizard, another a hard pellet made of the hair of animals and the fibres of trees intertwined, but all to no purpose. the stupor of the young man grew heavier and heavier, and at length all could see that he was dead. "then a deep silence fell, and the face of the king wore a look such as i would not have liked to see, beholding it through the eyes of isilwana. and upon the silence could be heard the low humming incantation song, rising every now and again into a shrill chant, from masuka's hut; and this lasted until the sun touched the distant mountains. then the old mosutu came forth. "`what of the wounded man?' said the king; `does he live?' "`he lives, black elephant,' answered masuka. `if he is left in my hut the night through with the king's guard over it, he shall walk forth in the morning to fight the battles of the great great one again.' "`ha! that is well. and this one--does he live?' "now, all the _izanusi_ cried out that he did, and that he would presently stand up alive and well. but we, who at a sign from the king had stepped forward, shouted that this was not so. the warrior was dead. his jaw had fallen, and his eyeballs, strained and sightless, stared blankly up to heaven. then the king spoke: "`it is clear that if witchcraft has been used it is not by masuka, since his _muti_ can restore life where that of isilwana cannot. and since the _muti_ of isilwana is of no use, clearly isilwana is an impostor and no _isanusi_ at all. _take him hence_!' "so isilwana was seized and dragged forth by the executioners, to find, beneath their knobsticks, the same death which he had been the cause of bringing upon others, and while the remainder of the _izanusi_ lay on their faces groaning, in dread lest the same fate should overtake themselves, all the people loudly acclaimed the justice of the king. i, however, great as my faith in masuka was, began to fear greatly lest his _muti_ also should prove unavailing, in which case the people would certainly cry for his death with such accord that umzilikazi could hardly refuse compliance; in which event my own would seem within more measurable distance, for it seemed that my fate was linked and interwoven in some manner with his. howbeit, that night we danced the war-dance and were doctored, and then, in the joy of anticipated battle, i lost sight of all fears; nor need i, indeed, have felt any, for on the morrow the wounded man walked forth alive and well, into the midst of those who had been sent by the king to guard masuka's hut. "we started before daylight, two thousand strong, for we had got tidings that the baputi numbered more than we had at first thought, and that they had several caves and fortified strongholds which would require a large force and some hard fighting to overcome. but the insult offered to our king and nation was so great that, at all hazards, this pestilent tribe must be stamped off the face of the earth. a damp mist lay upon the land, and as we paraded before the king, we could not see more than a few spear-lengths along the ranks. the roar of the _bayete_ went up from every throat, and, wheeling, we marched down the great kraal, and filed out through the lower gate. "outside the kraal gates a company of girls had gathered, singing a martial song to encourage us to deeds of daring. they were divided into two ranks, and as we passed between, i caught the eye of nangeza standing among the crowd, and it seemed as though she were singing to me alone. and as i looked, i saw that another was feasting his glance upon her, and that one was gungana, the _induna_ in command of the expedition. he was gazing upon her approvingly, and also with an air as though she were already his. the look seemed to say, `when i return, thy father shall be satisfied, nangeza. he shall have the _lobola_ he has named.' this was what the look seemed to say, _nkose_, and that as plain as words; and reading it thus, i said to myself as i gripped my weapons: `ha, gungana! not yet! a powerful _induna_ has no more lives than an ordinary warrior, and the life of this one is between two deaths--that dealt out by the king's enemies, and that by the king's soldier whose bravery thou hast stolen, and whose bride thou wouldst fain steal also. be careful, gungana, be careful!' thus, with the fire of vengeance in my heart, i marched forth with the _impi_, and re-echoing in full chorus the fierce notes of the battle-song which the girls had led, we left ekupumuleni far behind us, taking our way on and on into the enshrouding mist. "all that day we marched, keeping as much as possible in bushy ravines and low-lying ground, the while throwing out scouts some distance on either side to cut off wandering baputi who might convey tidings of our arrival to their people. then at evening we saw the rugged and towering mountain-range against the sky in front. we halted awhile for a brief rest, then pushed on the night through, albeit we would have preferred more darkness to conceal our advance, for the moon was bright and nearly at half. "even in all our pride of war we felt some stirring of misgiving as we looked upon those great rock walls, grim and threatening in the moonlight, and pierced with black fissures and caves, at those steep, rugged slopes strewn with stones and loose boulders. in such black and horrible holes, among the bats and baboons, did these _abatagati_ dwell; and then we thought of the deadly little poison sticks coming at us in clouds from these dark dens, and our hearts were filled with rage and hatred against these miserable cowards, who would not fight fair, man to man and spear to spear, but met us with such unsoldierlike weapons as poisoned darts thrown from behind stones, and we vowed utterly to destroy, to the very last living thing, the whole of this evil and foul-dealing crew. "silently beneath the white light of the moon we swept up the deep, narrow defile which we knew led to the strongholds of these _abatagati_. it was a dark and ugly place. huge red cliff walls on either side rose high up to heaven, leaning forward as though about to fall against each other, and as we entered further and further it seemed that we were penetrating the gloomy heart of the earth. "just before day broke we saw a cloud of dust some distance ahead of us, and now every heart beat quicker, every eye brightened, every hand gripped weapon and shield. we were ordered to advance at a run, but even then it seemed we could get no nearer to that dust-cloud. but as the dawn fell we could see that it was caused by a large herd of cattle, which was being urged forward by a number of figures, which at that distance we could see were those of both men and women, also a few children. "they were still a great way off, and, going uphill, could, accustomed as they were to mountains, travel every bit as fast as we could. then they turned into another defile as gloomy and overhung as the first, and entering this, we came upon one of those we were pursuing. "he was lying on the ground. as we leaped forward to make an end of him, we saw that others had spared us the trouble. he was still a living man, but his wrinkled carcase was bleeding from many wounds. he was a very old man, and could not keep up, so his kindred had speared him lest, falling into our hands, he should give information as to their position and resources. and this, in fact, he was just able to do, pointing out where their stronghold lay, though we could not understand the tongue with which he spoke. so we killed him at once--which, indeed, saved him much pain, as he could never have lived, because of the wounds his own people had inflicted upon him--and went our way again. "and now, a long distance in front of us, we could see those of whom we were in pursuit, urging on their cattle. a long, steep, rugged slope led up to the cliff-belted summit of the mountain, and the highest point of this slope they had nearly gained. then we saw the files of cattle enter and disappear into what seemed the base of the cliff itself, and after them their drivers. ha! this, then, was their stronghold, a cave or some such dark hole, whence we must dislodge them? at any rate, there they were in a trap. at whatever loss to ourselves, we would score them off the face of the earth. so we were commanded to march slowly, in order that we might arrive sufficiently fresh to swarm up that steep slope and carry the place by storm. "then, as we marched up that deep, narrow defile--a sea of fierce, eager faces and glittering spear-points and tufted shields--we raised the war-song of umzilikazi: "`yaingahlabi leyo'nkunzi! yai ukufa!' "and the great overhanging cliff walls flung back from one to the other its booming thunder-notes in mighty echoes. "when we arrived beneath their fastness, by order of gungana one of our men called aloud that the baputi should come down--they and their cattle, and their wives, and their children--and deliver themselves into the hand of the great king, the mighty elephant of the amandebili, whose majesty they had offended, and this speedily, lest all be put to the assegai. but, just when we thought we had cried to deaf ears, one of them appeared suddenly and high above us, shouting in a dark and uncouth tongue which none of as could understand. but he accompanied his speech with laughter and the most insulting of actions, and this we could understand; wherefore, at the word from gungana, with a roar we surged up the slope. "_whau, nkose_! how shall i tell what followed? we had reached the top of the slope, albeit somewhat breathless, and saw nothing before us but the cliff face. then suddenly the mountain seemed to crack and totter, and there fell forward upon us with a sound as of thunder such huge masses of rock that we thought the whole cliff had come away upon us. _hau_! that was a sight! clouds of dust rose from the slope and towered aloft to the heavens as these immense rocks struck the ground and went tearing and crashing downward as though the earth were rent up by the roots; and then the wild, shrill yells of surprise and alarm which went up from our people as they rolled and flung themselves out of the way of the falling mountain--as we thought it! _hau_! many were crushed, powdered, lying there stamped flat into the earth as the rocks had passed over them; and i--i had escaped the same fate by no wider a space than the thickness of my shield. "the way was clear for us now, for we saw before us a great dark opening in the base of the cliff extending for some length. but before we could gain it there was a high ridge, as it were a rampart of rock, crowning the rounded spur in a semicircle. soaring the war-shout, we were about to leap across this, when a loud call from our leaders peremptorily forbade as, and we paused in the very leap. "not all, though. some in the wild impetuosity of their course had already sprung, and these were writhing below in the agony of death and wounds, writhing transfixed. for on the other side of this ridge lay a depressed hollow studded with bristling spear-points, standing upright from the ground. "and now, as we stood there massed upon the ridge, assegais began to whiz among as, hurled from the dark mouth in the cliff in front; arrows, too, the dreaded little poison sticks, one scratch from which would kill a man. yet here our broad shields stood us in good stead, and were soon quivering with spears and arrows, which but for them would have found a home in our bodies. but we stayed not there. following our _indunas_, we leapt along the ridge, making for each end thereof; and so fiercely was this done that gungana and kalipe, the second _induna_ in command under him, both entered the cave at the head of their divisions at the same time. _hau_! then it was that the fight began. with a roar that seemed to split the heart of the very mountain itself we sprang at them. they could not stand against our furious charge and the weight of our numbers, yet as fast as we beat them down beneath our knobsticks and shields they would half rise, or, lying wounded unto death, would grip the legs of our warriors and overthrow them, driving their spears or poisoned arrows into their bodies, until we were veritably treading our way over piles and layers of the slain, both friend and foe. still others would rise up in front of us just when we reckoned the last were reached. _whau_! how they fought, those wizards who dwelt in caves! how they died! it seemed as though a warrior who had fought right hard before only began to fight after he had been beaten down, for then it was that, fierce and desperate, and in the throes of death, he would grip and stab, and even tear with his teeth, those who were slaying him. _haul_ i was mad that day! i was bleeding from wounds, but at this i laughed, even though they might be the poison wounds for which there is no cure. i struck till my heavy knobstick was painted with gore. i slashed with my broad _umkonto_, and it seemed that my arm was shivered beneath the blows that rained upon my great war-shield. yet fought i no more bravely than many another. "further and further had we pressed them back into the cavern, until now we were fighting almost beyond the light of day, and still fresh warriors seemed to rise up to meet us, only to be borne back beneath the weight of our numbers, the fury of our blows. and, indeed, had more than twice our own numbers sprung suddenly upon us, we could not have fallen back had we wished, for the eagerness of those who pressed on behind. but where were their women, where their cattle? "stumbling, rolling, catching our footing again, choking with the dust and hot foetid atmosphere, we beat them backward step by step, the now black gloom ringing with a deafening and hideous clamour, the roar of our war-shout, the shrill, vengeful yells of the maddened baputi, and the shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying. _hau_! i saw flames, sparks! i bathed in a sea of fire, of blood! that was a fight! that was a fight! "and then the gloom seemed to brighten, and we saw a glimmer of daylight in front. this came from above; and now we could see that the cavern branched out into several forks, some seeming to ascend into the light, others holding on straight into the blackest of gloom. and down these latter we heard the lowing of cattle, the shrill voices of women and of children. "`ha! izinkomo!' shouted the bulk of our warriors, pouring after these in pursuit. but i, with several others, was so hard engaged with an extra fierce and resolute body of baputi that we thought little of spoil either in cattle or women, in the delirious madness of hard fighting. we pressed this group step by step up one of these lightening tunnels, slaying and being slain, until at length we gained the outer day; and here, poised high above the world, we continued the battle in the golden sunlight once more, on the flat-topped summit of the mountain. then our enemies broke and fled, but flee as they would we followed them swift of foot, sheathing our spears in their backs as they ran, or in their breasts as they turned. one whom i had pursued till i could draw breath no longer ran straight to the brow of the cliff. _au_! it was an awful and dizzy height, as though one were looking down from the heaven itself. i sprang after him roaring, my assegai--now wet and foul with blood--uplifted. he did not wait, though. he leaped forth into space, but in the very act of leaping from that dreadful brink he half turned and hurled his knobstick; and as i saw him leap the heavy knob met me in the forehead with a mighty crash. then was whirling, roaring night, and after it silent darkness." chapter ten. "farewell, gungana!" "to that night of dreamless sleep there came an awakening at last. the sun was pouring down upon my naked shoulders, and, wounded and exhausted as i was, it seemed that i had awakened in the fire. we had begun the fight at daybreak, but now, as i lifted my head and looked about, the sun was within an hour of his rest. a silence as of the dead reigned around, and from the lofty height where i lay i could see other mountain-tops, some flat like this one, others rent into jagged peaks, rolling around in a confused sea. "a shadow swept between me and the sun, followed by another and another. i looked up. they were vultures. then came a flap, flap of wings as a number of them rose from the corpse of a slain baputi upon which they had already been feeding. a little longer of sleep, of insensibility, and the horrible creatures would have begun upon me likewise! "then i rose to my feet. i was covered with blood, and stiff and sore. i ached all over from the blows i had received, but as i stretched my limbs i knew that not a bone was injured, although my bruises were many. but now--to get away from here. "i looked around. there was no sign of life on the flat summit of the mountain. i looked over the brink of the cliff, which fell straight and sheer to a great depth. there was no sign of life beneath. our _impi_ would long since have departed, driving before it the spoils in cattle and women, and yet, as i looked down, i seemed not to be looking into the defile by which we had advanced. i, of course, would not be much missed. i should simply be reported as one of the slain. "and now, as i took in thoroughly the situation, i reckoned that i must have covered a long distance in pursuit of the flying baputi; for i could not find the outlet by which i had emerged, though more than once i nearly fell headlong into a black fissure or hole which, well-nigh hidden in the long grass, yawned for the bodies of men. these pits, _nkose_, were ugly to look upon, so straight and black did they go down. and the depth! _whau_! i would drop a stone in and listen, but it seemed long before any sound was heard, and then so far down. nor was that all; for again i would hear it farther down still, and yet again, till it was enough to chill a man's blood to listen, such was the depth of these black and horrible holes. and so many of them were there that the difficulty of finding the one by which i had come up would be very great. "yet this must be done, for by the flat formation of the mountain, and the height and straightness of the cliffs that belted it, i feared there was no way hence but that by which i had come; and could i even find this, now that the heat of battle was over, i relished not the task of creeping back alone through that gruesome cavern in the darkness, treading over those stark and piled-up corpses both of our warriors and of our foes. _hau_! that would be a feat of terror indeed. and then came back to me the visions i had beheld in the _muti_ bowl of old masuka, and i, who feared no man, nor any number of men coming against me with spear and shield, now trembled. for had not his magic so far proved true--the mountain, the dark crowd of men swarming like ants up the slope, the crash and splitting of the rock, the towering cloud of dust? _ou_! it was terrible. the first vision had been fulfilled exactly as i had beheld it in the bowl. in the heat of the assault, the fierceness of the battle, i had lost sight of this; but now it came back with renewed force. as to the other visions also, my memory was strangely beclouded, yet that they too would befall i doubted not. "now, as i explored the summit of the mountain, i did so warily, and not showing myself over-much at the edge, for it might well be that some of our enemies had escaped and called together others of the tribe, if others there were, and these, catching sight of me from beneath, might well waylay and kill me by whatever way i might manage to descend. also i proceeded cautiously, with my broad-bladed, short-hafted assegai in my right hand and my large war-shield in readiness in my left, and thus was prepared for any enemy who might spring up, as it were, out of the ground. yet, if i would find my way down that night, it must be quickly, for the sun was already touching the mountain-peaks opposite, causing the great ironstone cliff faces to glow like fire. "suddenly, rounding a large rock, i came upon a man--a tall man--armed. up went his shield and assegai in readiness, even as did mine, as i stopped short. then i saw he was one of ourselves. "`greeting, son of ntelani,' he said. `what do you here?' "`greeting, gungana, _induna_ of the king,' i answered. `what do _you_ here?' "`_au_!' he cried, springing up from the rock against which he had been leaning, his eyes flashing with anger. `is it in that tone thou talkest to me, thou jackal-whelp--to _me_, dog-cub?' "`spare me, father,' i answered in mock fear, for i had a design in deceiving him, `spare me! my head has had a hard knock. it may be that.' "`in truth, thou speakest only just in time to save thy head from a far harder knock, _umfane_, for the knobsticks of the king's executioners come down hard upon the skulls of rebellious soldiers who disobey and insult their commanders.' "now, _nkose_, my blood boiled within me. the sneering `_umfane_' to me, who, although not ringed, was yet an _inceku_, was too much. gungana should pay for that sneer. moreover, self-preservation called out loudly within me. for nothing less than my death would satisfy this chief, the deadly import of whose words struck full upon my mind. a charge of mutiny and disobedience brought against me by a commander of gungana's standing, the king, reproaching me as he often did with rashness and lack of judgment, could hardly discredit, and would certainly not pardon. it was my death or that of gungana. but i answered with deference: "`how is it you are all alone here, my father? have all men gone away and left their chief?' "`they have, but they shall mourn for it,' he answered. `i followed those _abatagati_ dogs up here alone, but so many and so perilous are the holes that i know not by which one of them we came up nor by which we shall go down.' "`by none of them shall _we_ go down, my father,' i shouted. `by none of them shall _we_ go down, for one of us shall remain up here for ever!' "`truly that knock on the head was a hard one,' he said. `the _umfane_ has gone mad, quite mad!' "`not so, _induna_ of the king,' i answered. `it is your death or mine. now--stand ready!' "i could have rushed upon and killed him in his first surprise, _nkose_, and this was my original intention, yet, much as i hated him, he was a brave man, and had led me to battle almost ever since i was able to fight. nor, though i have slain many, did i ever like to strike a man unprepared. wherefore i called upon him to stand to his defence. "i had not to call upon him twice. as soon as he saw that i meant my words, no time did he give me, for he came at me with his spear uplifted. but i caught it on my shield, and at the same time the stab which i aimed at him glanced off the surface of his. not a moment did we thus remain together, for, withdrawing, we sprang at each other again. still, each was so dexterous in the art of handling his shield that we could not hurt each other. our chests heaved and panted, and our eyes glared, yet not a word did we speak, not a sound did we utter; in silence we fought, for this was a combat to the death. "as we charged each other for the third time, i hurled my heavy knobstick with all my force at gungana's forehead. but so quick was his eye that he just moved his head and the kerrie went whizzing away into the grass behind him. then once more we closed. ha, i was wounded! the keen flash of the blade ripped and seared my shoulder like hot iron, but, regardless of risk, i now became impetuous, and struck down wildly over his guard. but this the chief easily parried, uttering a short contemptuous laugh, which angering me, i pressed him so hard that he began to fall back step by step, nor could he get in a fair stroke at me, so close put to it was he to defend himself from mine. "and now it seemed that his age was beginning to go against him, for, skilful fighter as he was, gungana was long past the flower of his youth, and in a protracted struggle my strength was bound to tell. yet even then i know not how the matter might have ended but for what next befell. "i had pressed him back further and further. he was on higher ground than myself. _yau_! sometimes i see him now in my thoughts as he stood that evening, thrown out blackly against the heavens, which were flaming blood red where the sun had just sunk down. i myself had drawn back a few paces to make a feint before rushing in at him again, when suddenly he disappeared feet foremost as he stood; disappeared into the earth, flinging his shield and assegais wildly on high as he clutched at the grass and roots in vain. "i sprang to the spot warily, for i knew what had befallen. he had sunk into one of those chasms or fissures of which i have spoken as gaping half concealed by the grass. kneeling at the brink, i peered in, and doing so i thought i could hear the sound of laboured breathing. "`are you alive, my father?' i called out. `is the hole deep?' "`i have not reached the bottom, untuswa,' he answered. `i am holding myself up where the chasm narrows. there are some bushes growing where we met. go, cut some, that you may draw me out.' "but at this i laughed. "`i am young, o my father--only an _umfane_, as you said just now--but i am not completely a fool. the knobsticks of the king's executioners come down hard upon the skulls of rebellious soldiers, o gungana, _induna_ of the king,' i mocked. "`i was but angry, untuswa. thou art young, and hast fought right well. i will name thee to the king, and will "point at" thee in the next _tyay'igama_ dance.' "`not so, my father. it is kalipe who will do that--kalipe, who will now be in chief command of the king's troops; kalipe, who does _not_ try and rob one of the king's brave soldiers of more than half the praise due to him; kalipe, who does _not_ rob the soldier of the chance of obtaining his head-ring, who does _not lobola_ for the girl that soldier wants. so now, gungana, i will promote kalipe to command the king's army--i, untuswa the _inceku_; i, untuswa the _umfane_--and i will do this _by making the post vacant_.' "`thou jackal whelp!' he snarled, disdaining further to ask for mercy, realising, too, that it was useless, for he knew he had intended my death, and that i was fully aware he had. `thou jackal whelp! i would that i had not spared thee all this while!' "`it has been a day too long, my father,' i jeered. `now i shall go back, and the king will allow me to _tunga_, for he has promised it. i will _lobola_ for nangeza, and soon i shall be an _induna_, and she shall be my "great wife." then, o gungana, i will not rest until i have all your sons and kindred "smelt out" as _abatagati_, and "eaten up." old masuka will see to that; so you may soon expect them in the world of shades.' "_whau, nkose_! it was not well done, thus to mock and taunt a brave man and an _induna_ of the king, being helpless. but i was young then, and i hated gungana beyond describing. i thought of nangeza, and how he would have robbed me of her; i thought of his continual designs to compass my ruin and death, and i knew there was not room in this world for him and myself together, and my heart became hard and ferocious as that of a wild beast. "`is it comfortable down there, _induna_ of the king?' i jeered. `ha! it is not much of a death for a warrior, for a brave commander of the king's armies, to die like an ant-bear in a dark hole. oh no, it is not much of a death!' "`yet shalt thou die a worse one, o dog-whelp!' he answered. `a worse one--forget not that!' "`ha-ha!' i laughed. then i arose and went a little way, and soon returned with some large stones. bending over the hole, as soon as my eyes became accustomed to the blackness of its depths, i could just make out the shimmer of gungana's head-ring some way down. i took the largest of the stones in both hands, and, poising it over this, i let it fall. there was a crunching sound, and a deep, convulsive groan; then the noise of a heavy body rolling and sliding further and further. "`_hlala gahle_, gungana!' i shouted mockingly. `_hlala gahle_!' [`rest in peace.' zulu form of farewell from a person going away.] then i got up to go away. "but as i rose from the spot, i did not feel glad. the sound of the stone as it struck gungana's head, that quavering groan which shot upward into outer air, seemed to awaken other feelings within me but those of rejoicing. no, it was not well done, _nkose_--yet it was to be my death or his. still--it was not well done. "now the night drew on, and there was a rush of stars out into the blackness of the heavens, and i dared not move because of the holes and pitfalls which lay around. so i crouched down beneath the rock beside which i had first met gungana, and shivered; for it was cold high up on that mountain-top, and my light war-adornments were of no use against the cold. moreover, i was very hungry, having eaten nothing since before the attack--that is to say, before daybreak. then a soft wind sprang up and wailed mournfully in the long grasses, and again i shivered, but not only with cold, for it seemed to me that the whole of that wild mountain-top was haunted--was peopled with the ghosts of those who had been slain that day, crying and whispering around me in the darkness; and ever and again i would hear the crunch of the stone upon gungana's shaven skull, till i would fain stop my ears to shut out the sound; but that was of no use, because the sound was in my brain. and it seemed that gungana's ghost had come up out of the earth, and was standing over me with hollow and blazing eyes, till at last i could bear it no longer, and rose up, resolved to get away from that spot, at any rate. so i walked on cautiously, and singing softly to myself to drive away these evil shapes of the darkness, and, wearied as i was, i preferred movement, for it warmed me. "but towards morning a thick mist sprang up, and now i knew no longer what direction i was taking. i snuffed the wind, but it was coming in fitful puffs equally from every direction. fearing to walk over the cliff, i returned to retrace my steps, and then--_au_! that is a moment i can never forget, even now, old as i am. the ground failed beneath me, and i shot downwards feet foremost into the earth. for one sickening moment thus i fell, then stopped with a jerk. the stick of my shield, my hold of which i had not relaxed, had wedged somehow crosswise and arrested my fall; and there i hung suspended in this black chasm, even as gungana had hung suspended. "but the straight drop seemed to end here, for i could now feel the rock with my feet sloping obliquely down. however, it was all the same, for i could not climb up; i had fallen too far and the sides were too straight for that. _whau_! gungana had spoken truly when he had predicted for me a worse death than his. for no merciful hand was there to crush in my skull with a stone from above, and so end my sufferings at once. no! i was destined to hours of horror down in my living tomb, holding on by a most frail support, to leave go when exhaustion should overpower me, and sink, buried alive, into the awful heart of the earth. did ever living man feel as i felt, _nkose_, as i clung there, realising that never again was i to behold the light of day? surely not. "and then a most unutterably fearsome thing happened. strange, uncouth whisperings seemed to sound beneath, rising upward from the blackness of the pit. then something grabbed me by the leg in a firm and bony grip. the stick of the shield gave way, and, with a last awful cry of wild terror and despair, i felt myself being dragged down--down!" chapter eleven. the eaters of men. "in that short flash of time i must have died a thousand deaths. in my terror i made no attempt to arrest my downward course. stones and dust rattled past my ears, flashes, as of sparks, in front of my brain; then i stopped. "at first i hardly dared open my eyes, but, feeling the grip on my leg relax, i looked beneath, shuddering, fearful as to what my glance might rest upon--i who had boasted that i knew not fear. "as my eyes became accustomed to the gloom, i made out little slanting rays of light penetrating from somewhere. i could see a vaulted rock wall above, around. but beneath? "the black darkness of another pit, wherein voices were murmuring, shapes were moving. ha! the vision of the wizard's _muti_! and as i looked, claws shot upward to seize me. all the old horror which had overwhelmed me in masuka's hut came back to me now--the vision of the living creatures; shadowy, shapeless, hideous; mouthing and gnashing to draw me down. that frightful grip was again upon my legs, and, struggling, gasping, amid a cloud of dust and falling shingle, i was dragged down with a violent crash to the bottom of the pit. "and now i could see i was beset by a number of the most grisly and horrible shapes the eyes of man ever beheld, for it was not quite dark in this evil hole. frightful heads, with flattened skulls, and huge, champing jaws and horn-like ears, were wagging over me as i lay, and a bony claw put forth gripped me by the throat in the iron grip of strangulation, and with a growling, worrying snarl more than one pair of teeth seized me in different parts of the body. "then, desperate at the prospect of being torn in pieces and devoured by these foul and loathsome creatures, with the very despair of terror i put forth all my strength, and whirling my knobstick, it met and crashed against what felt like a head. there was a most blood-chilling yell of wild dismay; then these hideous ghosts flung themselves from me and fled shrieking. "as i leaped to my feet, shivering with the horror of this awful fate, my eyes becoming more accustomed to the darkness, i made out that i was in a great square chamber, on the floor of which lay several skulls. "the odour which rose up from this was unspeakably fearful, and as the shafts of light came in stronger i could make out six or eight shapes-- human shapes, i was going to say; but they were as the skeletons of baboons with dry bags of skin hung around them, and they had huge heads. they were huddled together on the opposite side of the hole, staring, pointing at me with their bony claws, moving to and fro their hideous heads, while whispering together in a hoarse and uncouth tongue of which i could gather not a word. then, while some still watched me, others bent down, and there was a sound as of tearing of meat, of cracking of bones; but what they had got before them i could not at first discern, for the ground was almost in darkness. but while i watched i heard a loud crack, and then two of them raised something from the ground-- something large and heavy--each holding one end in his claws and teeth, tearing and growling like a beast. then, _nkose_, those unheard-of terrors predicted by the witch doctor were upon me; for the thing they held up and were thus devouring was the arm of a man, and i could see the fingers of the dead hand as though about to clutch their faces. what were these who haunted this gloomy hole of death? were they indeed evil spirits, or were they _izimu_, or man-eaters, such as in times past had been said to inhabit the country whence we had come out? some, indeed, were said still to live there, hiding away in holes and caves; and such, you must know, _nkose_, were held by us zulus in the utmost detestation, as practising the vilest form of _tagati_. "while i was thus gazing upon them in horror and disgust, one of the creatures, giving a frightful croak, as though to draw my attention, held up something towards me. it was against the light, and was round and shiny. i had not to look at it twice, for i knew it at a glance. it was a zulu head-ring. "but whence had it come? had these vultures been hovering over the scene of the battle in order to drag away our brave dead to glut their own foul and loathsome carcases with? in my fury and loathing at the sight, i gripped my knobstick--for while falling i had not once lost hold of my weapons--and was about to spring upon them and batter out their miserable lives, when in the rapidly-increasing light i beheld that which caused me once more to sicken and all my blood to turn to ice. for in the torn and mangled body these carrion ghosts were devouring, the battered skull and swollen features, i recognised what had once been gungana. this, then, was the very hole he had fallen into! what sort of omen was it that had caused me to fall into it likewise? in truth, his prediction that my death should be a worse one than his had nearly been fulfilled, might even yet be fulfilled. "things looked plainer now. one unexpected meal had come down to these wizards through the pit into which we had both fallen. on hearing the noise of my descent, in their eagerness for that which should yield another, they must have climbed up to drag me down. _au_! it was fearful, the thought of such a fate; and, lest fear should again overpower me, i resolved to act. so with a shout i leaped across the floor of the pit. it crackled with bones. "those _abatagati_ did not rise; they sat there and screamed. _au_! that was a scream--one to come back to a man in his sleep, and cause him to start up trembling! it rang through that frightful den as though to pierce the very rocks. something was hurled at me, but i stepped aside, and it shivered against the rock behind. it was the skull of a man. another flung a weighty object which struck me full in the chest, nearly overturning me. _whau, nkose_! then was horror indeed! that which had so nearly overthrown me was a human leg freshly torn off, and was that of gungana himself. what an omen, that the man whom i had killed should even in death continue to fight against me! "then in my fury i sprang at them, crashing their brains out with my heavy knobstick till i had killed several. the others threw themselves on the ground and screamed dismally. no attempt at resistance made they; indeed, it seemed as though they were hardly able to rise. and then through my rage it flashed upon me that, were i to slay them all, there would be none to reveal the way out; for a way out there must be, and that a secret one; for, save the hole by which i had fallen down, no passage of any kind was there to be seen. so, standing over the three that yet remained alive, i held aloft my great knobstick, all dripping with blood, and bade them show me the way forth. "they screeched and chattered, not understanding a word i said. so i made signs by pointing to the hole i had dropped down by, and then making as though i would walk through the rock. this they understood, and with much head-shaking and gesture pointed high above their heads. but all i could see there was solid rock. "yet--there was a crack; then two or three, letting in the light. it seemed to me, on looking long at this, that a flat, irregular hole was there stopped up by a slab of rock, and it was from the ground about twice the height of a tall man. still, what could it mean? how could these miserable beings have entered by that--still more, how could they get out by it? more and more wonders were here. "not one word of their chattering could i understand. but at length, after trying all manner of signs, one of them seemed to convey to me two things--that they entered and went out by means of a thong, and that i must sit down and wait. again i threatened them with death, but it was of no use. they could do no more than they had done--they still could only sign to me to wait and watch. "_au, nkose_! truly indeed did the old mosutu speak when he predicted that i should pass through horrors which the imagination of man could not invent. for as the long watches of that awful day went by, and i sat there in that darksome den lighted by a crevice here and there in the rocks, sat there among skulls and crackling bones, while opposite me cowered the three evil shapes of those hideous beings among the corpses--more hideous still--of their kind, while on the ground in front of them lay the mangled and torn remains of my own countryman, whom i myself had given over to this fate, then indeed it seemed as though i were one already dead and passed away. "sometimes i would sing to drive away the awful thoughts which were crowding upon me, but then the _izimu_ would sign wildly for me to desist, pointing above their heads to the supposed doorway. _au_! i would not live through that day again--no, not to reign as king over the amazulu or over the amandebili for twice the life-time of a man. for that long day came to an end at last, and then, instead of the bright threads of sun-dart through the crevices, there came greyness as though the shades of evening were falling. think of it, _nkose_! the day had been bad enough. but night, black rayless night, spent down there among these _abatagati_, among all the foul horrors of these _izimu_--eaters of men! "i had risen, and was preparing in my rage to slay those who were left, lest they should bind their magic around me and fall upon me in the darkness, and my fate should be even as that of gungana, when i perceived them making quick signs to me to sit down, at the same time pointing to the stone overhead. then i heard sounds above. "with all the blood in my body tingling, i crouched in the shadow at the further end of the den, and sitting upon my shield to hide it, i fixed my eyes upon the stone which had been pointed out to me. i saw it move--move away with a rasping noise--and there was a hole wide enough to give passage to a man's body. two or three heads appeared against this and were withdrawn, amid mutterings in an unknown tongue. "i saw something drop down the rock till it reached the bottom of the den. it was a line. immediately a man, passing himself backwards through the hole, slid down this. i, crouching in shadow, was unseen by him, and, gripping my weapons, i gathered myself for a spring, for i could see that deliverance was to be now or never, and resolved with all my might that it should be now. "he dropped upon the rocky floor, and stood upright. he was entirely naked, and in build and feature very like the mountain tribe against whom we had been fighting. he was armed with an assegai and battle-axe, and as he stood there rolling his eyes around, i could see the three miserable wretches shivering and speechless with fear. "he made one spring, and drove his assegai through the body of the foremost; then, not waiting till the wretch was dead, he knelt upon the still struggling carcase, and with the axe hacked off the head, flinging it with a laugh across the horrible hole. it bounded over the crackling bones, nearly striking me where i sat. then, dragging the spouting carcase to the line, he began to make fast the feet preparatory to the hauling of it up. "now, i began to see clearly where i was, and all manner of tales heard in childhood crowded back. not these miserable beings, who were shut up in this place, were eaters of men--though probably they had been driven by hunger to devour the corpse of gungana. those who kept them there were the cannibals, and now i remembered wild and hideous legends of just such practices current among certain of the mountain tribes, and how their captives were shut up in caves or hollows and eaten one by one as they were required. i saw, too, how it was that the place was strewn with skulls. for some dark reason or other the heads were flung away here as i had seen this one flung. those whom i had first found here were `cattle.' it was the slaughterhouse of the _izimu_. "as the man bent down to knot the feet of the corpse to the line, i stepped lightly up behind him, and with one swift blow of my heavy knobstick shattered his skull to atoms. then, tying around me the end of the line, which was of raw hide and strong, i signed to the two still alive that they should call to those above to draw up the line. this they did, being crafty enough to hope that my escape was to compass their own. "fortunately for me, the aperture was not large enough to admit the passage of more than one body at a time, wherefore, when my head rose above the surface, the only things i saw were the backs of eight or ten men who had hauled me to the surface by the simple plan of walking away with the other end of the thong! they must have thought that the slayer and the `ox' were being drawn up together, from the weight of it. how they were tugging and straining! _au, nkose_! you would have laughed aloud to have seen the scare on the faces of those men when they turned round to behold--not the dead carcase, their expected cannibal feast, but a big live zulu warrior, fully armed with shield and weapons, charging upon them like lightning, roaring out the war-shout with all the power of his lungs! _hau_! did they run? did they scream? _hau_! i saw nothing but their backs as they leaped away among the rocks in all directions, and, indeed, it is little to be wondered at if they did. and i, _nkose_--having sufficiently frightened them, i did not linger either. "when i emerged from the hole into the broad light of day--the shades of evening, rather, for it was growing dark--i saw that i was in a small rocky hollow, in the middle of which a fire was burning, doubtless for cooking the expected meal of the _izimu_. but having given those who fled a sufficient fright, i lost no time in doing as they did, and fleeing myself. the growing darkness, too, was in my favour, and as i gained the outer ridge of the hollow, i saw beneath, a long rugged slope falling into the far depths of the defile up which our _impi_ had marched the day before, and then my heart felt light again, and i began to sing softly to myself for joy, for now i could find my way back to ekupumuleni. my enemy gungana was cleared out of my path, i had fought well and bravely, and kalipe, the war-chief who would succeed him, and who was kindly disposed towards me, would `point at' me at the _tyay'igama_ dance. then, after all i had gone through and my strange experiences, the face of the king would soften towards me, and i should obtain my heart's desire. and, as though it were a good omen, i almost stumbled over a young buck crouching on the mountain-side, to send an assegai through which was as a flash of time. but i dared not light a fire, lest scattered bands of enemies should still be lurking about; yet, as i was nearly starving, in any event i could not have waited. so i devoured great portions of the animal raw, as i walked, carrying the remainder with me. then a great weariness came upon me, and, crawling into a hole among the rocks, i slept until the next sun was very high. chapter twelve. a wild and desperate scheme. "not until i was clear of the mountains did i dare to travel daring the light of day, for it seemed certain we had not entirely stamped out those _abatagati_. now and then i could see them in small parties creeping warily about the mountainside, and though i was well armed, yet i was but one man and they were many. so by day i lay in some safe hiding-place and rested, travelling only at night. _whau_! but i liked it not. those great mountain ranges seemed full of ghosts and the whispers of wizard voices in the darkness. but i had got rid of my enemy gungana, who was ever striving to turn the king's ear against me, and it seemed that now things would go well. so i sang softly to my guardian serpent as i stepped through that shadowy place, and my heart felt strong again. "at length i came in sight of ekupumuleni, lying fair and proud in its immense circle, and i loved the sight, for it spake to me of all that makes the life of a warrior glad--of our nation's greatness, of the mustering of _impis_, of the war dance and the beer-drinking, of our tales and songs round the fires on cold nights, of adventure and of love. i stretched out my hands to the kraal ekupumuleni, and i cried aloud the praises of the black elephant who sat therein. "as i drew near i met no one at first, for our herds were all feeding on the other side. then i came upon a group of old _amakehla_ who had just sat down to take snuff, and among them was my father, ntelani, who, as i have said, loved me not overmuch. and when he saw me he cried out in astonishment, bringing his hand to his mouth and spilling the snuff from his spoon. "`ha, it is his ghost!' he said; `for was he not killed?' "`no ghost is it, my father,' i answered, sitting down among them. `i was not killed, but lost myself in the pursuit. the calf of the cow has come home again.' "then they questioned me, but i parried all their answers, telling them nothing, for i had determined to keep what i had seen for the ears of the king first, though i was not sure whether i ought not to bury it entirely, and place a flat stone upon it for ever, lest i opened a way to the _izanusi_ at any time to lay a charge against me of having brought foul _muti_ from among the _abatagati_ of the mountains. but my reserve angered them, and my father said: "`this calf bleats overload. perchance he will bleat still louder before long, but not with delight.' "i liked not his tone as he said this, and his look was one of malice. immediately my heart felt heavy again, as though some evil awaited, so i bade them farewell and sped on to the kraal gates. "here i was hailed by many, for all thought of me as among the dead, several days having elapsed since the battle. but i spoke to none, pushing past all until i reached the entrance to the _isigodhlo_, and there i threw down my shield and weapons, and called loud to those who attended within that the calf had returned to the kraal after strange wanderings. this i was bound in duty to do, for umzilikazi made a point of being immediately informed when anything occurred; indeed, no event was too trifling and insignificant to be unworthy of his notice, although nine times out of ten he would appear to know nothing about it. "i had not long stood thus without the fence before i received a summons to enter. umzilikazi was seated upon a lion-skin in front of his house, and i thought he looked pleased as i drew near and shouted: "`_bayete, 'nkulu, 'nkulu_! the calf has returned to the kraal of the black elephant.' "`welcome, untuswa!' said the king. `i had thought to find another chief-runner--another _inceku_.' "and then he bade me sit down and tell all that had befallen me. "now, _nkose_, while i was beginning to tell my story, i thought, and thought hard, and, as a consequence, i determined to make no mention whatever of gungana. if i should narrate his loathsome end, always suppressing how he had got into the hole, there were not wanting those who would assert that i had brought about his death. even the king himself might suspect it. indeed, i would have avoided all mention of the slaughter-cave of the _izimu_, but my serpent whispered to me that one day it might come about that some of these _abatagati_ would be taken alive and brought before the king, and the whole story would come out. and then where would i be? apart from the deadly crime of concealing aught from the king, should i not by my reticence have laid myself out to a charge of wizardry of the worst kind? so, except in the matter of gungana, i told my story to the king, even as i have told it to you, _nkose_. he listened with the deepest attention, but when i told how my appearance at the end of the line had scared the _izimu_, who had expected to haul up dead meat, the king laughed as i never heard man laugh before or since. "`_whau_! that is a great tale!' he cried. `in truth, untuswa, thy doings have been strange. but these baputi--they fought well! think you that the _izimu_ are of their tribe?' "`that i know not, o great great one. they seemed to me of the same race.' "`ha! i like not these wizards who hide behind rocks. i lose too many warriors for their wretched cattle and women, and their own miserable carcases slain. i have a mind to leave them in peace now.' "thus the king talked on familiarly with me, as was his wont. at last he bade me depart. but i, noting his good-humour, and that he seemed glad to see me once more, reckoned the moment a favourable one, and renewed my request to be allowed to _tunga_. immediately the countenance of the great great one grew stern and his speech changed. "`what was the condition i named the first time you asked this, son of ntelani?' he said. `what was my "word" to you then?' "`the "word" of the king was: "perform some act bolder than any act i have ever heard tell of."' i answered. `thus did the great great one speak.' "`thus did i speak, untuswa. and it seems to me that the condition has not yet been accomplished. now go.' "i was of a different opinion, but not another word did i say. i cried out `_bayete_.' and left the king. "then those among whom i moved hailed me joyfully, and would have heard my story; but in truth i was ill inclined for mirth and chatter. i felt sore at heart and revengeful. thrice had the king put me off, and who had fought his battles more bravely than i--who had slain more of his enemies in open fight? so i left my comrades, being minded to wander alone. "`greeting, son of ntelani!' "i turned quickly at the harsh, quavering croak. i was passing the hut of old masuka. he it was who had hailed me. "`ha-ha!' he chuckled. `do you desire to behold more _muti_, o traveller through the heart of the earth?' "i answered him roughly, for he seemed but to mock me. "`an _induna's_ head-ring upon a floor of bones,' he went on, speaking softly as though to himself. `the dead _within_ the living.' "`_hau_!' i cried, bringing my hand to my mouth and fairly leaping, so astounded was i. but the old man met my glance with ever so faint a grin as i stared wildly at him. this was too marvellous. what did not this terrible old wizard know? the grim secret of gungana's end could not have been more exhaustively described. "`what is not possible to thee, o my father!' i exclaimed. `help me to gain my heart's desire, thou who didst promise that i should obtain it. for again has the king refused it.' "`what was the condition the king attached to the fulfilment of his promise, untuswa?' he said, fixing his snake-like eyes upon my face. "`that i should perform some act braver than any he had ever heard tell of.' "`then--perform it. perform such an act, son of ntelani;' and, laughing softly, masuka turned and went into his hut. "angry that he should mock me, yet dreading his knowledge and power, i left him. then, for solitude, i wandered out of the kraal, and unconsciously directed my way towards where the cattle were being herded--unconsciously, because in my then mood i had no desire to encounter nangeza. of what avail was it, since my head-ring was as far distant as ever? "soon i came upon one i recognised. this was nangeza's little sister, sitele. but she was alone, and it seemed to me that on beholding me she wished to avoid speech with me, for she immediately began driving calves in a direction where it was not in the least necessary, or even desirable, they should go. so i called out to her, and she stopped. "`why are you alone, sitele?' i said. `where is nangeza?' "`can i see people at a distance?' was the answer. `she is not here.' "i could see her manner was full of confusion, and now i began to fear i knew not what. "`where is she, sitele?' i cried again. "`_au_! i know not. she dwells in my father's house no more.' "that was quick work! who could have sent _lobola_ and taken her away in those few days during which i had been absent? "`who has taken her, sitele? gungana is dead.' "`there is a greater than gungana.' "`kalipe?' i cried, my thoughts flying to the king's favourite war-chief. `is it kalipe?' "`there is a greater than kalipe.' "`ha! the king!' "`she is in the _isigodhlo_,' said the child, fixing her eyes in fear upon my face. and well she might, for i forgot all control, and my eyes blazed furiously as i gripped my assegai and poured forth words which had any man heard, i should have seen not another sun to set. for i was mad. not only had the king been making a mock of me all this time, but now he had put forth his hand and taken her upon whom my heart was set. i was young then, _nkose_, and therefore a fool, and did not reason as i should have done that there were other girls among the amandebili as good as nangeza. "`_hau_! do we not all lie beneath the foot of the elephant, and his tread is light!' i said, remembering myself. `farewell, sitele. the great great one has chosen well.' "and i walked away. "but although i thus spoke before the child, i was full of rage in my heart, and pondered over plans of deadly vengeance, wherein, of course, i was a fool, as an angry man ever is. and he who ponders vengeance against kings may well ponder also on the land of shadows and perpetual sleep, for into it must he soon assuredly fall. "as this was borne in upon my mind, i threw off my recklessness, and went among my fellows and laughed and feasted. the _tyay'igama_ dance had been held before my return, so i missed that opportunity of making my deeds known in the sight of all men. yet what mattered it, since the king still turned a deaf ear to my prayer, whatever brave acts i might perform? and no more war expeditions were then sent forth, our time being passed in hunting game and exploring the country far and wide. "at last i saw nangeza. she was walking in a long file of other girls carrying bowls of the king's beer, for although he had taken her into the _isigodhlo_, umzilikazi had not yet taken her to wife, though he might at any moment do so. no speech dared i obtain with her, but she understood my glance, and it would be hard but that i would find some opportunity. and this at length occurred. "she was hoeing a corn-patch bordered by thick bush which lay along the stream. it was the middle of the day, and there were few people about; wherefore i thought, `if i neglect to seize this opportunity when shall i find another?' so, while the other girls who were with her had their backs turned, i showed myself and beckoned her. she understood, and after i had waited some time, she joined me. "she was hurried and rather frightened, which was not in the least surprising, for every moment she passed with me she was risking her life. but i whispered to her the tale i had not told the king, namely, how i had slain gungana in pursuance of the plot we had laid together previously. she looked at me, and her face was full of admiration, of awe at my daring. "`you are indeed great, untuswa, and dare all things,' she said. but still she shook her head. things were different now. the king had taken her. "then i reminded her of her prediction, that i should one day do great things, and that i meant to do them. still she said that we had better speak with each other no more, lest we both lost our lives, for in a matter such as this the king would be merciless. "`attend now, nangeza!' i said at last, when we had talked for as long as we dared. `i have served the king well, and he has requited me ill. now i will bear it no longer. i will leave, and seek out some other tribe beyond the mountains or elsewhere, and of that tribe i will make myself chief. and you shall accompany me. so shall the plan you proposed but a short while back find fulfilment.' "`are you going to move the world, untuswa?' she asked, laughing. "`i will do great things,' i answered. `how many tales have we among the people about men like myself who have made themselves into chiefs and kings! well now, let us throw our lives into the venture, and strike a blow to be great or to fall in the attempt.' "`we are very much more likely to do the last, untuswa,' she said, laughing again. "now, when i looked at her i felt as though i would dare anything. she looked finer, handsomer than ever, and, being one of the king's girls, had begun to do her hair up into the reddened cone, such as our married women wear, and which corresponds to our head-ring. this added to her height, and as i stood there i vowed she looked every inch an _inkosikazi_, and swore that she should certainly be one, did she but trust herself to me. and, although she laughed and shook her head, i knew that the thought, once implanted in her mind, would obtain firm root, for she was full of daring and ambition. then we bade each other farewell. "after this meeting with nangeza all manner of wild and ambitious plans took possession of my mind. i pictured to myself strange tribes among whom i would arrive, and to whom my prowess and valour should ensure me a welcome. then i would seize the chieftainship, and federate a great nation, even as tshaka had done, and nangeza should help me to rule it. day and night this idea was before me--by day i thought on it, by night i dreamed of it. but i did more. i secreted by degrees stores of provision at intervals between ekupumuleni and the mountains, and even well into the mountains, with which my former experiences had rendered me familiar. this i did, knowing that in our flight we could carry but little; nor was it done all at once, but took many days, for little indeed could i take away at a time, and suspicion was easily aroused." chapter thirteen. in outlawry. "just at this time there arrived chiefs and headmen, delegates from distant tribes, desiring to _konza_ [acknowledge as suzerain] to umzilikazi, for the terror of his name and the sound of our arms had gone forth far and wide. these were received in great state, several of our regiments' being drawn up under arms, a sight which struck such awe into the envoys as to make them declare that, now their eyes had beheld the great king and had looked upon his might, they only desired to lie in his hand. the king accepted the cattle they had brought, and fixed the tribute they should from time to time pay in girls and cattle; also he ordered them to send contingents of youths to ekupumuleni, that he might inspect them and see if they were good enough to form into regiments, or only to be employed in menial labour. all this the chiefs promised to do, and in truth were they only too glad that they and theirs should be suffered to live, for they had long feared being swept off the face of the earth, stamped flat in the path of this warrior nation moving on towards them. "but umzilikazi was a wise and far-seeing ruler. even as tshaka had built up the zulu power by federating kindred tribes into a whole, so did our king intend to consolidate a nation. these subject races would go towards augmenting his sway when their youth should be trained to arms as ours was. indeed, i have heard it whispered that he even dreamed of one day pitting his forces against the mighty tshaka himself, and reigning king over the whole zulu race. so it was his policy to spare these chiefs and the tribes they represented, and to receive them as vassals. "when these terms had been arranged, the king said: "`it seems to me that some are wanting here, that the places of some who should be here are empty.' "the chiefs looked at each other. there was a tribe to the north, they said, which was not represented. as to it, however, they could say nothing, for they knew nothing, they declared, trembling in their hearts lest umzilikazi should hold them responsible. "`attend, then,' he replied. `lose no time in sending to the chiefs of this tribe, that they come and talk with me here before the second moon is full. failing that, i will send and talk with them.' and his glance wandered meaningly to the armed regiments. the envoys promised that this should be done, but that if the tribe failed to send delegates it would not be their fault. indeed, that people was a fighting race, and one with a good conceit of its own power. it might well be that in its blind ignorance it would refuse to hear the word of the black elephant who trumpeted at ekupumuleni. "`then let them beware of the elephant's tread,' answered the king shortly. and then he dismissed the envoys. "now, i, standing behind the great great one as his shield-bearer, was listening with large ears, and before the delegates departed i strove to have speech with them on the matter of that tribe, its numbers and powers, for it seemed to fit in with my purpose. what if i fled to it, and by my knowledge of the art of war gained a place and position among it? but these men, fearing a trap, spoke as with closed lips, and i learnt little. "as time went by, certain of those tribes who had sent to _konza_ to umzilikazi neglected to fulfil the conditions laid upon them. so the king's `word' went out to them in the form of an _impi_, which fell upon them unawares and utterly destroyed them. none were spared save three of their chiefs and certain of the women who were young and well-favoured. for the rest, the ashes of their flaming kraals were soaked in their own blood. the three chiefs were brought to ekupumuleni and there put to death by torture in the sight of all the nation, that all men might know what it meant to break faith with the great king. "this expedition i did not accompany, for it was composed of very young regiments and almost untried. but now and again, when i would meet or pass old masuka, he would mutter: `why do you not perform what the king requires, son of ntelani? where is the bravest act ever yet done?' and he would nod, and leer, and chuckle in such wise that in my anger i found myself wishing in my heart i had not saved his life. "there was at this time another _inceku_, a ringed man named njalo-njalo, and this man i hated, for he, suspecting something, used to declare that he would beg the king to give him nangeza to wife. this he did in malice, for he, too, was jealous me as having the king's ear, and what made it worse was that i dared not chastise him, for that would be to betray myself completely. but i made up my mind that he should travel the way of gungana, for the man who would meet with success must suffer no enemy to rest in his path. so i laid numberless traps for him, but he was too crafty to walk into any one of them. "at length i found nangeza alone, even as before, at work in the cornfield, and this time she was accompanied by only two young girls who were almost children; and this made things easier, for she bade them continue their hoeing while she herself entered the bush to collect fire-sticks. ha! then were we together again. the moment was ripe. i told her of all the preparations i had made for our flight, and for long had only been awaiting an opportunity. such an opportunity had come. there were few if any people about. in a short time it would be dark, and by travelling all night we should soon reach the mountains, where we could easily elude pursuit. she listened, but even then i know not whether she would have consented were it not for an accident. "looking out from the cover of our hiding-place, we could see a good distance. the ground on the other side of the cornfield was a gradual slope sprinkled with stunted mimosa, and now something moving over this caught my eye. it was the receding figure of a man, but what seemed strange was a certain stealthiness in his movements as he flitted from bush to bush as though anxious to avoid observation. even at that distance i recognised njalo-njalo. "`_hau_! we are dead already!' i cried. not that i felt any real consternation, but i deemed it an excellent opportunity of obtaining through her fears that consent to my plan which fear had up till now withheld. `do you see that man? it is njalo-njalo. he has been watching us, and has gone to bring an armed force upon our heels. but we shall have a long start, and it will be a swift-travelling _impi_ that will overtake us. delay not,' i went on, seeing her still hesitate. `to go back now is death, and worse. remember the fate of the three chiefs.' "that decided her. she called out to the two girls to continue their work and wait for her--that she had not yet found what she wanted. then she returned to me, and said: `i am ready.' thus we began our flight. "carefully keeping concealed--and the country on that side was thickly wooded--we travelled rapidly for some distance. then, as the sun was beginning to sink, we sat down to rest for a moment, and look around. "we had now reached the top of a long hill of some little height. looking back, we could see afar off the corn-patch where nangeza had been working, and--we could see more: shields and the glitter of spear-points. an armed force was moving down the slope upon which i had descried njalo-njalo, in the distance looking like a swarm of black ants. already were we pursued. "but we had a good start. as we rose immediately to continue our flight, i laughed aloud, for i felt as though i could keep on for ever. not a man in our nation was there who could overtake me, the king's chief runner. but what of nangeza? in her lay the weakness. for her i feared. yet i need not have. her powers were magnificent. i soon found that she had it in her to travel as fast as i could, and as far. and then we laughed together, for we would lead the king's messengers of death a long journey indeed. but fast as we fled, still they pursued us; and as we sped onward in the darkness, we could ever and again, when we paused on some high ground to listen, hear the sounds of disturbed animal life behind us, which told of the passing of man. "suddenly a lion roared, so near in front of us that the thunders of his voice seemed to shake the ground, rolling in echoes among the hills. another answered, and then the two mighty beasts kept up such a roaring chorus as to make a man's heart melt away for fear, situated as i was-- as we were--the jaws of the ravening beasts before us in the darkness, the spears of the king's _impi_ following on behind. there was just the chance that the latter would halt until it grew light, but none whatever that the lions would refrain from springing upon us, having us in the darkness for an easy prey. so we climbed each into a tree, to be beyond that peril, any way; and, indeed, hardly had we done so, than we heard the light tread and deep-toned snuffle of the great beasts ramping beneath. then they lifted their voices and roared again, and now others replied from afar, and it seemed that the whole land was filled with roaring lions. "we remained all night in the trees, but with morning, lo! such a mist lay upon the earth that from where we crouched we could hardly see the ground beneath, and our hearts sank; for, not seeing our way, we might walk backward instead of forward, or we might run right upon the spears of those who pursued us. yet we were not without some hope that the latter, doubting not but that we had been devoured by the lions, might return to the king and report accordingly. "we were about to descend from our trees, thinking that the mist had lightened, when a sound fell upon our ears; and it was a sound there was no mistaking, for it is like nothing else that i know of--i mean the soft rattle of assegai hafts which a man carries bunched in his hand. _hau_! we dared hardly so much as breathe. the sound drew nearer and nearer, and we could hear the rustling as of men forcing their way through bushes. then we gave ourselves up for lost, as they came immediately beneath, conversing in a low hum. "`if the lions have eaten them, they will not have eaten their _mutyas_, nor untuswa's shield and spears,' a voice was saying. `these, at any rate, we must find.' "i recognised the voice as that of njalo-njalo, and expected instant discovery. however, they seemed so intent on examining the spoors of the lions that their eyes were all upon the ground, and it never seemed to occur to them to look up; though, indeed, had they searched for us on such a plan in that forest country, their eyes would have been gazing upward all the time; and at length they passed on, yet little comfort did we take to ourselves, for in the mist we knew not which way to travel, whereas, did it lighten, we should be discovered to the messengers of death. "we waited a little while longer, and then came down from our trees. yet we decided not to follow on the line we had first intended to take, and which took us into that defile through which the _impi_ had passed to attack the baputi, because those who sought us would be certain to make for that place first, reckoning that i would surely go there, where the land was already known to me. so we struck off nearly in the opposite direction to that taken by the pursuers, although this brought us back too near to ekupumuleni. however, we saw them no more, and after three days--for travelling was slow and cautious, and at night we had to climb trees because of the lions--we got among the mountains. "and now it seemed as though we had left the abodes of men, and were setting forth into an unknown land stretching away beyond the confines of the world; for here were great gloomy valleys and towering cliff-walls, resounding with the deep bark of the baboon and the scream of the eagle. but of man there was no sign. at night we would creep into some crevice or hole in the rocks, but it was seldom we dared make a fire, lest its light should be seen afar. sometimes, however, we would find a deep cleft where the light would be screened by the rock in front, and then we would rejoice in the warmth while we roasted our game at the comforting blaze, for the mountain--side abounded in several species of small buck, which i had no difficulty in obtaining at any time with assegai or knobstick. but there was other game more fierce, more formidable. once, indeed, when we were about to take possession of such a cave for our night's quarters, we found it already tenanted by a fierce and growling leopard. we could see the brute's glittering eyes in the darkness as it retreated to the back of the hole and crouched there, uttering savage snarls; but that was all we could see of it, so we were fain to leave it in peace. now and again, too, we would hear the roar of a lion hard by, but this was seldom, for there were few lions among the mountains. they preferred to hunt for their game in the lower country, where it was larger and better, and, indeed, our armies were wont to provide them with not a little prey." chapter fourteen. to doom. "for ten days longer we wandered through the mountains, and, in truth, it seemed that we were but getting deeper and deeper into them, for we knew not the way, and often our wanderings would bring us into a closed defile, which meant perhaps a whole day's journey thrown away, for we would have to retrace our steps. still no sign did we see of the presence of man, no sign of that tribe which was waiting to hail me as chief. "and now, as the days sped on, the gloom of the mountains, the iron solitude in which we moved, began to tell upon us. at first, with the excitement of our flight stirring our blood, we laughed, and sang, and loved, and were happy as children. but as the days went by we grew more client. we began to think of the life and cheeriness of ekupumuleni, of our dances and fun, of our laughter from morning till night. i, too, thought of the fierce excitement of the war-dance, of the mad shock and joy of battle, of my comrades in arms whom i delighted to rival in the field, of the king, who had ever shown me favour, whom, in spite of my soreness and anger, i still loved with a loyal affection, and whom i had deserted--for the sake of a girl. then my good spirit, as well as my evil one, cried out upon me for the chief of all fools. i had deserted my nation; i had renounced bearing arms in its behalf; i had become a wanderer and an outcast--never more to behold the face of my people, never more to converse with their tongue. i might have lived to become head _induna_, head fighting chief of our armies; and all this i had thrown away--for the sake of a girl. "then my heart would grow heavy and bitter as i went forth to hunt, leaving nangeza in order that i might be alone with my heaviness. there were times when my heart so weighed me down that i was minded to return and pay forfeit with my life, rather than drag it on in ignominy and exile; for now my eyes were opened, and i saw clearly that the man who should throw away his career as a warrior, and such dazzling chances as mine were--for the sake of a girl--is such a fool that he deserves not to live at all. "now, of all this, i said nothing to nangeza; yet i could see that she divined in great measure my thoughts; nor was she pleased thereat--nor, indeed, did she more than slightly share them. for to a woman it matters not overmuch where she is, being devoid of mind; but to us--_au_! we may become fools, but we know it, _nkose_; whereas the more a woman acts like a fool, the more will she cry aloud her wisdom. "the nights became gloomy and wet and cold, and at times we would see gigantic spectres of men stalking aloft in the mists which overwreathed the cliff-brows; and strange wailing cries would go forth upon the night, as though the ghosts of those who had been slain and devoured by the _izimu_ and such _abatagati_ were wandering abroad; and we would cower over our fire and still more wish we were back at ekupumuleni, for we seemed to have got into the drear strongholds of wizardry, which would only end where the limits of the world fall off into dark space. but nangeza would speak words of encouragement, how any day we might suddenly find ourselves looking down upon a fair and beauteous land beyond this region of gloom, even as we had done when we passed the kwahlamba mountains to build up a new nation. "one morning we were journeying, i with my shield and weapons in hand, nangeza bearing the skin coverings and baskets we had made, for we had brought scarcely anything with us in our flight--thus were we journeying, when suddenly upon the mountain-side we came upon some people. there were perhaps thirty, and they, like ourselves, seemed to be moving from place to place, for the women were laden with household goods as well as with their infants. there were about twelve men with the party, and these, as soon as they saw us, stopped short and held their assegais and axes ready for defence. but i made signs to them that we were for peace, naming to them masuka's name, and calling out such words of his language as masuka had taught me. for i judged these people to be akin to him in race, because in appearance they closely resembled the baputi against whom we had fought. and it seemed to answer, for they turned to each other and talked very fast, but i could hear the names masuka and bapedi often repeated. then, seeing that we were but two, and one of these a woman, they suffered us to draw near. "these people were short, but broadly formed, especially as to the flanks. so short were they that nangeza and i towered above them by the height of our heads, in many cases by even more. their faces were ugly and wrinkled, and though shrewd, it was the craft and cunning of the monkey. that they were _izimu_ i had little doubt, so like were they to those i had seen in the cave, and for this reason i did not care to partake of their food, not knowing whether they might set before me the flesh of men. for they seemed desirous of treating us well, once we had made it clear that no _impi_ followed on behind. yet i bade nangeza be on the alert, for their fair treatment might be a blind to cover the revenge they should take for their own people whom we had slain. "so we journeyed with them, discoursing by signs and such few words as masuka had taught me, and at night we lay down together, but it was little i slept, fearing treachery, and the next day joined others of their people. these, seeing a big zulu warrior, fully armed, marching towards them, were at first almost as frightened as those others when i had burst upon them from out of the cave. however, they were at length shown we were not enemies. "the camp of these people was a round hollow under the cliffs, and, indeed, it was as foul and uncleanly as were their persons. _au_! it was a horrible place! but we endured it, for we did not wish to arouse their hostility, and also we hoped they would show us some way out of the mountains. so we lay by their fires, yet, as before, not sleeping very soundly. "`so this is the tribe of which i am to be chief!' i said grimly to nangeza. `these are the people out of which we are to weld a nation!' "`not so,' she answered. `we shall find others better than these.' "it was towards morning, when all is dark and cold, and slumber lieth heaviest upon the eyelids of men. even then it lay not heavy upon mine, although nangeza, beside me, was slumbering deeply. but it seemed to me that somebody moved--stealthily moved. and then, in the dim light of dawn, i beheld the man who slept nearest to me roll over towards me, and roll over again--this time nearer. then he raised his head, i through my eyelids watching him. nearer still he crept, looked hard at me, and listened. but the sound of my breathing was regular. he was satisfied that i was fast asleep, and crawled back to where he first had lain. "`ha-ha!' laughed i to myself, gripping my broad spear beneath the skin blanket. `now we shall see! now we shall see!' "i dared not waken nangeza, lest, moving too suddenly, she should put these treacherous _abatagati_ on their guard; wherefore i lay still and watched. then i saw the man who had first moved raise his arm, and in his hand was a long wand. with this he touched lightly the faces of five or six sleepers lying beyond him. they rose quickly, noiselessly, and in their hideous faces was the expression of a snake which is angry and about to strike. each held in his hand an assegai and a battle-axe. "then i sprang to my feet with a fearful roar. i whirled in among them while yet the terror of surprise was upon them, and cut down two, ripping them with my broad spear. another i brained with my knobstick, but by that time the whole tribe was upon me shrieking. assegais whizzed past my ears, one slightly wounding nangeza, who, wakened suddenly, had sprung to my aid armed with a heavy knobstick of her own. "`come, nangeza!' i cried. `they are too many. we must run!' "so we plunged over the lip of the hollow, and side by side coursed down the steep slope without, the whole evil tribe howling upon our heels and flinging their long light-handled spears, too near us to be pleasant. but we soon distanced them, and reaching the bottom of the valley, where the thorn bushes grew thick, we slackened speed and, turning our heads back, jeered those who came on. "`ho, dogs!' i cried, `who are ye that think to outstrip the fastest of the king's runners?' "`who is running back to the king!' called out a great voice behind. and starting round to deal with this new enemy, lo! we were surrounded by our own people, hemmed in by spear-points as by a thorn fence, each blade ready to enter our hearts. our doom had overtaken us at last. "`drop thy weapons or die, son of ntelani,' said the leader of the _impi_. `the "word" of the great great one was "dead or alive"; if not alive, then dead.' "i glanced swiftly at the force surrounding us. it numbered about fifty men, all young, strong, determined warriors like myself. to resist would be to die. i looked at the leader, who was well known to me, and friendly. then i said: "`i will disarm, ngubu. but first let me aid you in stamping out yon race of evil-doers. then i will offer no resistance. this will be my last battle.' "`the king's orders did not say that, untuswa. nothing was in them about fighting,' answered ngubu; yet there was a longing look in his face as he glanced at the baputi who had clustered on the ridge and were watching us, uncertain whether to stand or to fly. "`and the girl?' he said, looking at nangeza. `i will answer for her. you know my word stands, ngubu, and not to save my own life will i sacrifice yours and those of all here to the wrath of the king. come! tarry no longer!' "`i will trust you, untuswa. _whou_! but it will be a strange battle for you, and i fear it will indeed be thy last, for i think no man ever yet took away an inmate of the _isigodhlo_ and lived.' "`this cannot be!' cried another, running up. `the king's orders were to bring back these two. how, then, can you loosen them, perhaps to flee again, ngubu?' "`peace, njalo-njalo! i know untuswa. now--at them!' "while we charged up the hill i made up my mind as to one thing, which was, that if this was to be my last battle, so also should it be njalo-njalo's last. but the baputi did not wait for us; they scattered and fled among the rocks, and although we spent half the day hunting them out and slaying all whom we found, the greater portion of them escaped; which enraged me, whom they had treacherously tried to kill when a guest at their fires. in the eagerness of the pursuit i had distanced my own people, when i heard njalo-njalo's voice crying: `after him! he is trying to escape!' i turned at this and ran straight back to where he stood amid a group of others. "`trying to escape, is he?' i roared. `now, njalo-njalo, come forth and meet me! assuredly thou art well named--as to thy sleeping powers, that is--for to-day thou shalt sleep "for ever and ever"--but in death!' [njalo-njalo means "for ever and ever."] "most of them grinned at this, and njalo-njalo answered: "`you are talking like a fool, boy! why should i fight one whose life is forfeited to the king?' "`good! then i will treat thee even as one of these miserable baputi.' and, quick as thought, before a hand could be lifted to prevent it, i hurled my great knobstick at his head. it struck him fair between the eyes, crashing with terrific force. njalo-njalo dropped like an ox smitten by lightning. he never moved afterward: "`he is a coward and deserved such an end!' i cried. `i am not, and my word stands. take my weapons, men--i disarm.' and i threw my assegais and shield on the ground beyond reach, and stood waiting. "they surrounded me at once. nangeza, who had been helping to kill the baputi, stood by, also cool, brave, and fearless. "`you have made more trouble by slaying njalo-njalo,' said ngubu discontentedly. `_whau_, untuswa! it is on us the king's wrath will fall.' "`the king's wrath never yet fell upon anybody who slew a coward, for he loves not such,' i answered. `and now, ngubu, being unarmed, i need no bonds. i have done with hope. i care not to flee again into this region of wizards and ghosts.' "herein i spoke the truth. so weighed down had my mind become by the gloom and the solitude, and being cut off from my kind, that i welcomed capture. so joyous a sound in my ears was that of their voices, so cheering a sight to my eyes was that of my fellow-warriors in their fighting array, that i even looked with calmness upon the now near approach of my certain death; and thus walking in their midst as one of themselves, except that i was unarmed, i journeyed back to doom. "indeed, when after many days we got clear of the mountains and drew near to ekupumuleni, my guards were even more sad of heart than myself as they thought upon my sure fate. but so glad was i to see the great kraal--`the resting-place,' and, as regarded myself, too surely the last--once more, that it was like coming home; but it would be to me in a brief space a home of darkness and of night! "a guard of women presently met us, accompanied by an _inceku_, bringing word from the king that nangeza was to be handed over to them. so they led her away in their midst, and i knew we had looked upon each other's faces for the last time, unless perchance we should look upon them once more again at the place of doom." chapter fifteen. the king's sentence. "as we drew near ekupumuleni we passed by the mound where the slayers were wont to do their work, and which robe at no long distance from the great kraal. i could see skulls glistening white among the grass on the mound, and i knew that in a very brief space my bones would lie there too, picked clean by the wild beasts of the waste. but even then i cannot say that i exactly feared. too often had i gazed upon death's face and laughed--for, indeed, to look for death was the daily portion of a warrior. still, that was in the roar and excitement of battle, feeling an enemy sink down beneath each of my blows, while now--it might be that the king in his wrath would order me, would order us, a lingering death of torture. well, still i was a warrior, and must die, in whatsoever manner death met me, strong, fearless to the last. "as we entered the lower gate of the kraal, i, in the midst of my guards, unarmed, but unbound and free of limb, i began to hum a song--a song which came to me at the moment, a wild, elated song of battle and of death. my head was thrown back, my eyes looked straight in front of me while i sang, as though i were marching in the ranks of the _impi_ to victory instead of to the evil-doer's doom. those who guarded me stared and shrugged their shoulders. "`_hau_!' one of them cried. `he must be mad! the coming anger of the king, the great great one, has turned his brain.' "`not so, ncongula,' i answered, for the speaker was well known to me. `i come of a house which knows how to die--whose brain the fear of death can never turn. i, untuswa, the son of ntelani, can walk forward to death, and sing the while.' "this was foolish talk and boasting, _nkose_. still, i believed it at the time, and it helped to keep my heart from quailing; for it was a terrible thing i had done, and from its consequences there was no escape. "the warriors were not mustered under arms, but there was an enormous crowd filling the whole of the great open space, so that it was with difficulty we could make our way through the densely-packed mass. but the peremptory summons of my guards to make way for the property of the king soon opened a lane in the midst. i threw side-glances upon the sea of faces hemming me in, and in most i read expressions of sorrow, especially among those of my own age, for although some of the older men regarded me with jealousy, i was well liked among my companions in arms; and the daring magnitude of my offence had struck them with admiration. beyond the ring-fence in the background, where stood the huts, heads of women clustered thickly, and even they forgot to use their tongues in the intense excitement of the moment. all this i took in, so that it would remain stamped upon my brain as long as the power of thought should be left. then i was standing before the king, and raising my hand, i cried `_bayete_.' and bent low before him. "umzilikazi was seated at the upper end of the open space, a semicircle of _indunas_ around him. close beside him, however, squatted the old mosutu witch-doctor, whose piercing, beady eyes met my glance with a most indescribable expression, the meaning of which i was utterly at a loss to read. i noticed, farther, that nangeza was not present; but this was only to be expected. when she had been led off by the guard of women, i never expected to behold her face again. her doom would take place privately. it was only mine--as a necessary warning to those of my own age and standing--that would be pronounced and carried out in the sight of the nation. the great space, as i said, was crowded with dense masses of people; but, except a small body of armed warriors in attendance on the king, all carried sticks only. "the king's eyes were fixed upon me, and in them i read no hope; indeed, not one spark of hope had kindled in my heart from the moment of our capture. then umzilikazi spoke: "`draw near, son of ntelani! welcome, son of ntelani!' he said, speaking soft and pleasantly, but in that most terrible voice of all-- even that mocking, bitter voice of his. `so thou art returned once more? the calf has again returned to the kraal? welcome, wanderer!' "`i lie beneath the foot of the black elephant,' i answered. "`ha! but thou art an elephant which is blacker still. hail, untuswa, builder up of a new nation! hail, thou mightiest of all kings! cry him the "_bayete_," my children! praise him, ye _izimbonga_! what! have ye no titles for untuswa, the would-be king--the great king of nowhere?' and, as he looked from side to side, some of the old men mumbled out certain of the royal titles at me in mockery; but most of those present were silent, being filled with perplexity, perchance remembering that the humour of kings is like the blade of a spear, having two edges, and prone to cut both ways. "even as a spear, too, did the bitter derision of the king's voice cut. then it flashed across me that nangeza must have been put to the torture and questioned, for how otherwise could my ambitious dreams and intentions have become known, since i had breathed no word of them to any other, not even to old masuka? "`behold him, ye people!' went on the king. `behold him, my shield-bearer, my _inceku_, my chief runner! the confidence which i placed in him as the first has moved him to try to be greater than i; his opportunities as the second he has used to rob the _isigodhlo_; while his powers as the last have enabled him to flee fast and far. as a cow to her calf, so have i been to untuswa, my _inceku_, yet he has run away to seek milk elsewhere, and that not alone. well, untuswa? and thy voice? hast thou nothing to say?' "`nothing, o great great one,' i answered, standing there alone, with the eyes of the whole nation upon me. `nothing, for every word is the truth. even now i walk upon the very edge of the darkness of death, and look forth into the blackness of its night. but let the double doom be mine, o elephant whose tread, rumbleth the world, and spare the other, for i it was who beguiled her--bewitched her, if you will.' "at this bold admission a gasp escaped from all who heard it, and men put their hands to their mouths in wonder. but the band of _izanusi_ who scowled hard by broke into mutterings. the eyes of old masuka, however, began to glow with a strange and glittering light. "`ha! fearest thou nothing, untuswa?' said the king. `the death of the hot stones, the stake of impalement, the nest of the black ants?' "`i fear but the frown of the king,' i answered, although in truth a sweat broke out upon me at the mention of these terrible torments, but seldom used among us, and then only at the instigation of the _izanusi_. `but, father, spare the other--spare nangeza.' "if it were possible, i had thought i saw just such an expression pass across the king's face as sometimes dwelt there when he was especially pleased and good-humoured. but what mockery! as if such a thing could be! "`of the girl i will talk presently. but for thyself, untuswa--dost thou utter no word for thine own life?' "`no word, great great one; for the doer of such a deed as i have done hath never yet failed to find death as his reward--never since our nation was a nation. i desire death no more than any other, yet do i not brave it day by day in the service of the king? to ask my life would be but a waste of words.' "`and thou, ntelani! hast thou no word for the life of thy son?' "`no word, great great one,' grunted my father, scowling savagely at me. `when my other son, sekweni, earned death for his reward, did i seek to stay the justice of the king? i did not. nor do i now. let this one taste the reward he has won.' "then there fell a silence--a silence that one could feel. even the breathing of that immense crowd seemed hushed; the bent-forward attitude, the parted lips, the eyeballs protruding, betrayed the intensity of the moment. all this i saw in side-glances. in front sat the semicircle of _indunas_, their faces set in hard, pitiless sternness. the countenance of the king as he sat gazing at me in silence was the only face whose owner was master of his own thoughts. the others were all carried away by the strain of the moment. for my part, i think my head turned slightly to and fro as though in a dream. i looked at the sun, whose setting i was not to see; i looked at the distant mountain ranges and the plains of earth, whose brightness i was destined to behold no more; and then the king spoke: "`even as thou sayest, untuswa, son of ntelani, thou hast done a deed the doer of which hath never yet failed to meet with the reward of death. the girl shall die. but for thee, untuswa, by reason of the great service thou hast done our nation in the past, i grant thee thy life. but thy life only. for thou mayest no more be among my _izinceku_; no more shalt thou take thy place in the ranks of the warriors, or go out with them to battle, nor shalt thou ever be suffered to _tunga_. thy place henceforth shall be among the lowest of the captured slaves who herd the nation's cattle, bearing no arms but a stick only. thus i give thee thy life.' "from a gasp which was first a lamentation as the multitude heard this dread sentence, there grew a great chorus of _bonga_. "`oh the just, the merciful one! how he pardons, how he spares! is he not our father!' "thus all men cried aloud by reason of the clemency of the king. only i stood as i had stood, moving neither hand nor foot--silent. "`well, untuswa, who art no more a warrior?' said the king, when the shouting had ceased. `have i not given thee thy life? look up. thou wilt see the sun go down this night, thou wilt see it rise and go down many days, many nights. while all the people cry aloud in praise that i have given thee thy life, thou alone remainest mute.' "`because i would prefer death, o black elephant!' i answered, raising my head. and then the tears rained from my eyes, even as from those of a child who is hurt. yes, _nkose_, i, untuswa, the warrior who feared nothing, and who, when the king's enemies lay in front of us, suffered no man to come between me and them, i, untuswa, wept in the sight of the whole nation because of the dread sentence pronounced upon me by the king. for only think what it meant! i, a warrior, who lived but for battle, never again to bear arms! i, in the full flush and strength of my vigorous manhood, never to be allowed to wear the ring; i, an _inceku_, to descend to herd with the off-scourings of all the miserable and degraded tribes we had swept from our path! of course, i preferred death ten times over; the death of the hot stones, of the stake of impalement, of the black ants; any death, however hideous, however lingering, to life upon the terms of such awful degradation. "`so thou askest for death, son of ntelani?' said the king. "`i pray for it, o great great one.' "`ha! i should have been surprised hadst thou not prayed for it. well, thou shalt have thy wish.' "and now, _nkose_, i know not how it was, but as umzilikazi pronounced these words my eyes once more met those of the old mosutu witch-doctor. they were burning with a strange glitter of intensity. his body was bent half forward in an attitude of anxiety such as i had never beheld in him, even when his own fate hung in the balance. but as i gazed into those burning orbs, something in them brought back the moment when i had dragged old masuka from beneath the heaps of slain, and when he had pleaded for his life half defiantly while uttering his marvellous divination. "the slayers advanced a few steps, then halted, and stood watching for a word, a sign, from the king. then i lifted my voice, and cried: "`the black elephant is good. i asked a boon, and, lo! it was granted. the great serpent is merciful. but now i make a claim. i claim the fulfilment of the king's promise!' "the start, the stare, the quick murmur of astonishment which met these words, from all hearers, is hardly to be told. even the great great one showed surprise. but in old masuka's glittering eyes there was now another look. it was the look of one who has attained his object--of one who triumphs. "`the king's promise, the "word" of the great great one, in whose light we live!' i cried. `the king's "word" stands, for i have fulfilled its conditions.' "i saw umzilikazi start ever so slightly. `how so, untuswa?' he said. `explain.' "`thus, o elephant. the words of the king were: "perform some act, o son of ntelani; perform some act bolder than any act i have ever yet heard tell of, and you shall be allowed to _tunga_. not only that, but i will give you this broad _umkonto_ which i hold in my hand." such was the "word" of the great great one.' "`yes, that is no lie, untuswa,' said the king softly, while all held their breath for his reply. `yet i know not so far what thou hast done to claim the fulfilment of such a promise.' "`_whau_!' i cried, bringing my hand to my mouth. `i would ask the king, the father of the wise, what bolder thing a man, being young, could do, than to steal one of the king's girls from the _isigodhlo_ in broad daylight, and depart with her alone in search of unknown tribes, to reign over a new nation? what bolder act was ever performed, o black elephant?' "`he is mad!--quite mad!' burst from the _indunas_. but the king smiled, and a new and strange look came into his face, yet from it i augured nothing. `i think thou hast done even a bolder thing, son of ntelani,' he said, `and that is to claim the fulfilment of my promise on such a ground. surely no bolder act was ever heard tell of.' "and now men found speech and cried aloud in praise of the wisdom of the king--of the truth of his words. then he went on: "`my promise shall be kept,' he said slowly, but with a dark and terrible meaning; `the latter part of it first. thou shalt have this broad _umkonto_,' twirling the great assegai in his hand till it flashed--a band of fire. `oh yes, untuswa! the "word" of the king stands. thou shalt have what i promised thee. prepare, then, to receive thy reward.' "then, in my joy, i shouted out the praises of the king, who had changed the doom of eternal degradation he had pronounced upon me to that of death. but a grand and noble death would be mine, that of the spear; yet not that only, for i was to die by the spear of the king--to die by the king's own hand, for none other might wield the royal weapon for such a purpose. yet, while i praised, no _bonga_ arose from the multitude. all voices were hushed in expectation. "umzilikazi rose and advanced towards me. as he stood facing me, with the bright and gleaming spear uplifted, i looked him straight in the eyes--alone and about to taste death. and then it seemed that this situation was familiar to me--a man standing among men and an assegai descending to his chest. ha! the third vision of the wizard's _muti_! then i knew not--now i knew who held the spear. still, i flinched not, though the eyes of the king were terrible in their wrath. `take the reward i promised thee!' he said. "`_i_ welcome death at the hand of the king, the great great one!' i answered, gazing at the uplifted spear. "down it swept--down like a flash of light--down to my breast which was thrust forward to receive it. but it did not enter. it halted-- motionless but for a slight quiver--within a hand's-breadth of my heart. still, my eyes left not those of the king, and for a moment thus we stood. then umzilikazi spoke: "`once more i grant thee thy life, untuswa, son of ntelani, for i think thou art the bravest warrior that ever lived, and fearest death in its cold form no more than in the heat and shock of battle. and i love such. yet, but for my promise, thou wert already dead. the king's assegai is thine. take it.' "then it was that my self-command was sorely tried. i was not to die, but to receive honour, for i held in my hand the king's royal weapon. but my mind had gone through so much that it was hardened--cool and cutting even as the blade of the splendid spear; wherefore i laid the weapon softly down, for i might not address the king armed; and raising both hands aloft, i poured forth words of _bonga_, such as had surely never been heard before. and the whole nation joined in, and, indeed, even in the far mountains the foul _izimu_ and such _abatagati_ must have quaked in their dens, for even thither must have reached the vast roaring chorus of the praises of the king. "`it is well, my children,' said umzilikazi when he again spoke. `never before has such a deed met with other reward than death, never shall it again; and here my "word" will stand as fast as it did in my promise to untuswa. and thou, son of ntelani. go now forth from among us until the moon is full, and speak to no man the while, and the man or woman who speaks to thee shall die. then it may be that what thou hast done shall be put away. depart, for he who has done what thou hast done must not mix with his fellows for awhile, lest they make too light of a most weighty matter. go.' "so singing aloud the praises of the king, i took up the dark-handled spear and went forth, and built a hut within sight of ekupumuleni, and in that hut i dwelt alone; yet daily i would stand before it and chant in praise of the king, and all who heard me turned aside. also i sang many songs of battle. and when the moon was at the full the great great one sent for me and ordered me to _tunga_, and soon afterwards created me second _induna_ in command of the army, kalipe holding the chief command. thus, _nkose_, did i win the king's dark-handled spear, and my head-ring at the same time, but the path by which i travelled to reach it would have surely been, but for the king's promise, the path of death." epilogue. "well, untuswa, i believe now, at any rate, that all the gold this waggon could carry would not purchase that assegai from you," i said, as soon as the old man had finished. "but what of nangeza? was she put to death?" "she was not. the king pardoned her, too; and when i put on the head-ring he gave her to me to wife." "and did she make a good _inkosikazi_?" "_wou_!" and the old man brought his hand to his mouth, while his rugged face lighted up with sly fun. "i had better have placed my head beneath the paw of the lion for some other girl. nangeza wanted to be chief and chieftainess, too. that would not do. we zulus never allow our wives to be chiefs over us." "what became of her?" i said. but he looked at me a moment, and the mirth dancing in his eyes changed to a flash of satire as he only repeated: "we zulus never allow our wives to be chiefs over us, _nkose_." then he took snuff. "and what became of the old mosutu witch-doctor?" i said, judiciously allowing the fate of nangeza to remain shrouded in mystery. "masuka? ha! after i was allowed to _tunga_ he came to me and declared that i must give him cattle, for his was the _muti_ which made me great; and, indeed, he told no lie there, for as far as a man's thoughts can speak, while his tongue must keep silence, old masuka's thoughts spoke to me through his eyes that day that i should remind the king of his promise. so i gave him cattle, and from time to time more, for it was a great day for me, that whereon i had saved his life; and the king favoured him, and the old mosutu lived to a great age and died peacefully." "and why did you leave the amandebili, untuswa?" i said. "the man who is high in favour with one king is not always high in favour with him who reigns next, nor with those who sit at his right hand," he answered. "umzilikazi has long been dead. then i heard that a great and merciful king sat in zululand in the seat of tshaka. so i returned to _konza_ to cetywayo, who received me well; nor was i too old to strike a blow for him, for i was enrolled in the undi regiment, and fought against you english _kwa jim_ [at rorke's drift], and again at kambula. yes, after all my wanderings, i returned to die in zululand. and now, _nkose_, the sun is getting low, and i have some distance to travel, wherefore i must be gone." the like held good as regarded myself. the heat of the day was over, and my "boys," who all this time had been asleep beneath the waggon, were waking up and preparing to in span for the evening trek. so i loaded up untuswa with sundry unconsidered trifles, but very precious in zulu eyes at that time. he was loud in his thanks. "the story i have told, _nkose_, is but that of a small portion of my own life--of a small portion of the earlier wanderings of the amandebili. afterwards, how we met and fought the boers and other peoples--_au_! that would take long in telling. but if you are in this part again before leaving the zulu country, it may be that we shall meet, and other strange tales and wonders i shall relate." and, uttering a sonorous farewell, the fine old warrior turned, and soon his tall, straight form was out of sight. such was the story of the king's assegai, as told by untuswa, the son of ntelani, and as an episode in the early stages of the amandebili migration it seems worthy of being retold. the end. adventures of hans sterk, by captain a.w. drayson, r.a.. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ adventures of hans sterk, by captain a.w. drayson, r.a.. preface. in the history of colonisation there is probably no example on record so extraordinary as that of the emigration from the colony of the cape of good hope, in , of nearly six thousand souls, who, without guides or any definite knowledge of where they were going or what obstacles they would encounter, yet placed their all in the lottery and journeyed into the wilderness. the cause of this emigration was to avoid what the emigrants considered the oppression of the ruling government, and the object was to found an independent nationality in the interior of africa. these emigrants, shortly after quitting the neighbourhood of the cape colony, were attacked by the chief of a powerful tribe called the matabili, into whose country they had trespassed. severe battles, in which overwhelming numbers were brought against them, were fought by the emigrants, the general results being victory to the white man. not satisfied with the situation which these victories might have enabled them to secure, a party of the emigrants journeyed on towards the east, in order to obtain a better position near the present district of natal. this party were shortly afterwards either treacherously massacred by a zulu chief named dingaan, or were compelled to fight for their lives and property during many months. it is mainly amidst these scenes that the hero of the following tale passed--scenes which brought out many cases of individual courage, daring, and perseverance rarely equalled in any part of the world. around the bivouac fire, or in the ride over the far-spreading plains, or whilst resting after a successful hunting track in the tangled forest, the principal events of this tale have been recorded. from zulu and boer, english emigrant and hottentot driver, we have had various accounts, each varying according to the peculiar views of the relater, but all agreeing as regards the main facts here blended and interwoven into a tale. chapter one. introduction to the hunters--death of the lion--discovery of the elephants by hans sterk. near the outskirts of a far-extending african forest, and close beside some deep shady-pools, the only remnants of a once rapidly flowing river, were seen one glowing summer's evening, shortly after sunset, a party of some ten men; bronzed workmen-like fellows they were too, their dress and equipment proclaiming them hunters of the first class. this party were reclining on the turf, smoking, or giving the finishing touch to their rifles and smooth-bore guns, which they had been engaged in cleaning. among this party there were two black men, fine, stalwart-looking fellows, whose calm demeanour and bright steady gazing eyes, proclaimed them men of nerve and energy. one tiny yellow man, a hottentot, was remarkable among the group on account of his smallness, as he stood scarcely more than five feet in height, whereas all his companions were tall heavy men. a fire was brightly blazing, and several small tin vessels on this fire were steaming as their contents hissed and bubbled. the white men who composed this party were dutch south african boers, who were making an excursion into the favourite feeding-grounds of the elephant, in order to supply themselves with ivory, this valuable commodity being to them a source of considerable wealth. "it will soon be very dark," exclaimed bernhard, one of the boers, "and hans will have difficulty in finding our lager; i will go on to the headland and shoot." "you may leave sterk to take care of himself," said heinrich, another boer, "for no man is less likely to lose himself than he is." "i will go and shoot at all events," said bernhard, "for it can do no harm; and though hans is quick and keen, watchful and careful, he may for once be overtaken by a fog or the darkness, and he does not well know this country." with this excuse for his proceeding, the man called bernhard grasped his large-bored gun, and ascended a krantz which overhung the resting-place of his party, when, having reached the summit, he placed the muzzle of his gun within a foot of the ground, and fired both barrels in quick succession. this is a common signal amongst african hunters, it being understood to mean, that the resting-place at night is where the double shot is fired from. there being no reply to this double shot, bernhard returned to his companions, and the whole party then commenced their evening meal. "so your sweetheart did not reply to you, bernhard," said one of the boers, "though you did speak so loudly." "hans sterk is my sworn friend, good and true," replied bernhard; "and no man speaks lightly of him before me." "quite right, bernhard, stand to your friends, and they will stand to you; and hans is a good friend to all, and few of us have not been indebted to him for some good turn or other; but what is tembili the kaffir doing?" at this remark, all eyes were directed towards one of the kaffir men, who had risen to his feet, and stood grasping his musket and looking eagerly into the forest near, whilst his dark companion was gazing fixedly in the same direction. it was a fine sight to observe this bronzed son of the desert at home and on the watch, for he did seem at home amidst the scenes around him. after a minute's intent watching, he raised his hand, and in a low whisper said, "leuew, tao," (the dutch and matabili names for a lion). "leuew!" exclaimed each boer, as he seized his weapons, which were close at hand and stood ready for an emergency. "make up the fire, piet," said heinrich: "let us illuminate the visitor." and a mass of dried grass and sticks thrown on the fire caused a brilliant flame, which lighted up the branches and creepers of the ancient forest. as the flame rose and the sticks crackled, a low grumbling growl came from the underwood in the forest, which at once indicated to the hunters that the kaffir's instincts had not misled him, but that a lion was crouching in the bush near. "fire a shot, karl," said one of the dutchmen; "drive him away with fear; we must not let him remain near us." and karl, aiming among the brushwood, fired. amidst the noise and echoes of the boer's musket, a loud savage roar was audible, as the lion, thus disturbed, moved sullenly away from what he had expected would have been a feast; whilst the hunters, hearing him retreat, proceeded without any alarm with their meal, the kaffirs alone of the party occasionally stopping in their eating to listen, and to watch the neighbouring bush. the sun had set about three hours, and the moon, a few days past the full, had risen; whilst the boers, having finished their meal, were rolled up in their sheepskin carosses, and sleeping on the ground as calmly as though they were each in a comfortable bed. the kaffirs, however, were still quietly but steadily eating, and conversing in a low tone, scarcely above a whisper. "the lion will not leave us during the night," said the kaffir called tembili, "i will not sleep unless you watch, 'nquane." "yes, i will watch whilst you sleep, then you sleep whilst i watch," replied the kaffir addressed as 'nquane. "we shall shoot elephants to-morrow, i think; and the young chief must be now close to them, that is why he does not return." "no: he would return to tell us if he could, i fear he must have lost himself," replied tembili. "the `strong' lose himself," exclaimed 'nquane, "no, as soon the vulture lose his way in the air, or the springbok on the plains, or the elephant in the forest, as the strong lose himself any where. he sees without eyes and hears without ears. hark! is that the lion?" both kaffirs listened attentively for some minutes, when 'nquane said, "it is the lion moving up the krantz: he smells something or hears something; he must have tasted man's flesh, to have stopped here so long close to us. what can he hear now? ah, there is something up high in the bushes, a buck perhaps, the lion will soon feast on it, and that will be the better for us, as when his belly is full he will not want to eat you or me." attentively as the kaffirs watched the bushes, and listened for some sound indicative of the lion's position, they yet could hear nothing; so quietly did the creature move, they had almost given up their attention to eating, when a sudden flash of light burst from the bushes on the top of the kloof, followed by a thundering roar which was succeeded by a silence, broken only at intervals by the distant echoes of the report of the gun, which at first had scarcely been audible in the midst of the lion's roar, for such it proved to be. as these sounds burst over the camp, each hunter started from his slumber, and stood waiting for some fresh indication of danger, or cause for action; for half a minute no man spoke, but then bernhard exclaimed-- "that must have been hans, he must have met the lion in the dark;" and, "oh, hans! hans!" he shouted: "here so," replied a voice from the summit of the kloof; "is that bernhard?" "yes, hans: are you hurt?" "no, but the lion is: he is dying in a bush not far off. i don't like to move, as i can't see him: could you bring some lighted branches here?" 'nquane, the kaffir, and bernhard each seized a large blazing branch, and grasping their guns, ascended the steep slope to the position occupied by hans. "up this way," said hans, "the lion is to your right, and i think dead; but we had better not go near him till we are certain. now give me a branch, i can light this grass, and go look for him." saying this, hans advanced to some bushes and cast a handful of blazing grass before him. "he's dead," exclaimed hans, "so come, and we will skin him: he's a fine fellow!" "come down to the camp and eat first, hans," urged bernhard, "and tell us where you have been, then come and skin the lion." "no, business first," exclaimed hans. "the jackalls might spoil the skin in a few minutes, and before the lion was cold; so we will first free him of his coat, then i will eat." it took hans and his two companions only a short time to divest the lion of its skin, when the three returned to camp, where the new-comer was heartily welcomed, and where he was soon fully occupied in making a meal from the remains of the supper left by his companions. hans sterk, as he sat quietly eating his meal with an appetite that seemed to indicate a long previous fast, did not give one the idea of a very remarkable man. he was quite young--probably not more than two-and-twenty, and not of very great size; he was, however, what is called well put together, and seemed more framed for activity than strength; his eyes were deep-set and small, with that earnest look about them which seemed to plainly indicate that they saw a great deal more than most eyes. his companions seemed quite to understand hans' peculiarities, for they did not address a word to him whilst he was eating, being fully aware that had they done so they would have obtained no answer. when, however, he had completely satisfied his hunger, bernhard said-- "what have you seen and done, hans? and why are you so late? we feared you had lost the line for our resting-place before it got dark, and would not reach us to-night." "lost the line," replied hans; "that was not easy, considering you stopped at the only river for ten miles round; but i was nearly stopping away all night, only i remembered you had such good fat eland for supper, and so i returned." "and what made you nearly stop away, hans?" "few men like to walk about among bushes and krantzes when man-eating lions are on the look-out, and the sun has set for two hours," replied hans. "was there nothing else that kept you?" inquired bernhard. "you left us all of a sudden." "yes, there was something else kept me away." "and that was--" "this," said hans, as he pulled from his coat pocket a small brown lump like india-rubber, from which two or three long wire-like bristles protruded. "you came on elephants!" exclaimed several of the boers. "what luck! the first we have seen. were they bulls or cows?" "i came on fresh elephant's spoor soon after i left you," said hans. "i dared not come back to call you, and feared to miss you; so i went on alone, and saw the spoor of four large bull elephants. this spoor i followed for some distance, and then found that the creatures had entered the forest. but the place was good; there were large trees, and but little underwood; so i could see far, and walk easily. i came upon the elephants; they were together, and knew not i was near till i had fired, and the big bull dropped dead." "where did you hit him, hans?" "between the eye and the ear, and he fell to the shot." "the others escaped, then, hans," said heinrich. "not before i had hit one with fine tusks behind the shoulder." "then he escaped?" "no, he went for two miles, then separated from the others, and stood in the thick bush. i becrouped (stalked him) and gave him my bullet between the eye and the ear, and he fell." "where's his tail, hans?" said one of the boers. hans drew from his pocket a second small black bristly lump, and placed it beside the first, saying, "there is the tail of the elephant in the thick bush." "what weight are the tusks, hans?" said bernhard. "about sixty to eighty pounds each. they are old bulls with sound teeth." "and ivory is fetching five shillings a pound. a sixty pound business. oh, hans, you are lucky! are there more there, do you think? was there other spoor, or were these wanderers?" "to-morrow," replied hans, "we may come upon a large herd of bulls, for before sundown i crossed fresh spoor of a herd of about twenty. they were tracking south, so we shall not have far to go." "but tell us," said victor, another boer, "about the lion above there. how did you see him? it was dark, was it not?" "not very dark; the moon gave me light, and the creature whisked its tail just as it was going to spring, and so i saw it. i knew the place was one likely for a lion, and so had my eyes about me. it does not do to think too much when you walk in the veldt by night, or you may be taken unawares. i shot the lion between the eyes; and had he been any thing but a lion, he would have dropped dead; but a lion's life is too big to go all at once out of so small a hole as a bullet makes, and so he did not die for ten minutes." "where are the other two bull elephants, hans?" inquired victor. "did they go far, do you think, or would they stop?" "one is beside the vlei near the bavians kloof; the other is in the thorn-bushes a mile from it." "but they won't stop there. where think you they will be to-morrow?" "where they are now," replied hans, as he quietly brought from his pocket the ends of two more elephants' tails, and placed them beside those already on the ground. "you have not killed all four bull elephants, hans?" said bernhard, with a look of astonishment. "will a bull elephant let you cut off the end of his tail when he is alive, bernhard? you taught me first how to spoor an elephant, and you never told me that he would let you do that; so i killed mine first, and then cut his tail off afterwards. i shot all four bull elephants, and expended but thirteen bullets altogether on them. the teeth will weigh nearly five hundred pounds, and so i think i have a good excuse for coming late to supper. but now, good-night. we must be up early, and so sleep is good for a steady hand in the morning, and we shall want it, for game is near and plentiful. good-night, and sleep well." chapter two. following the elephants--cutting out the tusks--hunting the herd of elephants. the sun's rays had scarcely commenced illuminating the eastern horizon, when the hunters were up, and making their preparations for the start. the plan of hunting which they had adopted, was to enter the country with waggons, oxen, and horses; to leave their waggons at a good outspanning-place where there was plenty of water and forage for the cattle; then to scour the country round and search for game, or spoor, which if found, the horses, oxen, and waggons were brought up, and the elephants hunted on horseback. the elephant is so formidable an animal, and usually is so fierce, especially when wounded and hunted, that few african sportsmen venture to follow him on foot into his dense woody retreats. it is customary to drive the herd, when discovered, into the most open country, this driving being accomplished either by setting fire to the dried grass, by making large bonfires, or by discharging fire-arms, and thus causing the herds to leave a secure retreat for one less sheltered. it is not unfrequently a matter of two or three days, to drive elephants into a good and favourable country; and upon this driving being judiciously carried out, much of the success of the hunt depends. there are very many men whose livelihood depends entirely on elephant hunting. they farm but little, have few cattle, but devote their time mainly to hunting; and in a country so untrodden as was africa some years ago, there was no want of game, and thus a man provided with horse, gun, powder, and lead, might live independent of almost all else. hans sterk was a man who had been devoted to sport from his childhood. his father was a dutchman who had early in his colonial career gone upon the outskirts of civilisation, and had been one of the pioneers to slay the wild beasts, and teach the savage man that the white man is the master over the black. hans' mother was an english woman, an emigrant who had ventured into africa, and had there found a home. but both his parents had been cruelly murdered by the kaffirs in one of their attacks upon the colonists; and at a very early age he had found himself owner of a waggon, some spans of oxen, a few head of cattle and horses, and had thus every means at his disposal for indulging in hunting; and as his taste led him in pursuit of the elephant, he soon became famed as an unerring marksman, an expert spoorer, and one of the most determined elephant hunters. on more than one occasion also he had distinguished himself in commandoes against the kaffir tribes. thus before he was twenty he had obtained a reputation for skill and bravery, and at that age was known as hans sterk, the elephant hunter. how well he deserved the title, the result of his day's sport just related amply shows. the morning after hans' return to the sleeping-place was fine, and well suited for spooring or shooting. there had been a heavy dew, and the wind was light, so that no extra noises disturbed the bushes, and rendered the feeding of an elephant inaudible, or the rush of a wild beast undistinguishable from the rustling of the forest branches. hans had sent one of his kaffirs to the waggons, to announce to the men there the death of four elephants, and to bring such aid as was requisite to cut out the tusks, and convey them to the waggons. he then with his white companions started on his footsteps of the previous night towards the ground where his elephants had fallen. having with him a hatchet and knife, and aided by 'nquane and his friend bernhard, he proceeded to extract the tusks of his first elephant. the animal had fallen backwards, so that it lay in a very good attitude to be operated on; and hans, taking his hatchet, cut down each side of the elephant's trunk, so that at last this appendage could be turned completely over its head. the roots of the tusks were thus exposed to view, and were next attacked with the hatchet, the ends fixed in the jaws being loosened and cut off, by means of a fulcrum made from a large branch of a tree. the tusks were then worked up and down, and the hatchet applied to sever those parts which held most tenaciously, until the tusks were quite loose in the jaw, and could then be extracted with a good pull. about one-third of an elephant's tusk is embedded in its jaw, and this part being filled up with muscles and nerves is hollow, and has to be cleaned out before it is inserted in the waggon. a tooth, as a tusk is called by elephant hunters, weighs about ten per cent, heavier when it is first taken from an elephant's jaw, than when it becomes dry from keeping. very few elephants' tusks exceed pounds in weight each, the average size of a good pair of tusks being from to pounds. sometimes, however, a marvellous old bull, or one who has developed his teeth in a wonderful way, is found, whose teeth weigh nearly pounds each; but such patriarchs are rarely met with. the country in which elephants are found in abundance is usually thinly inhabited, and the natives are not possessed of fire-arms in great abundance or of much value. thus the elephant, being a dangerous animal to hunt and hard to kill, often remains in forests when the more timid game of the open country has been driven away. but when english or dutch sportsmen have visited a country, they usually wound mortally many more elephants than they kill and find, and thus the kaffirs, who follow up and find the wounded animals, drive a very fair trade in elephants' tusks, of which they soon understand the true value. thus a party of hunters not unfrequently return from a three or four months' shooting-trip into the interior with from two to three thousand pounds' weight of ivory. there is, however, considerable risk in this sport when looked at from its mercantile point of view. it may happen that the country to which the hunters have travelled has been temporarily deserted by elephants in consequence of hunters having just previously hunted that ground, or from a scarcity of water. the horse or cattle sickness may attack the hunter's quadrupeds, and thus, even if his waggons be full, he may have to leave them behind whilst he returns some four or five hundred miles to re-purchase cattle, again enter the country, and find his waggons probably pillaged and burnt he knows not by whom, his followers murdered, and he left to make the best of his way home again. thus a hunter's life is one of excitement and risk; and though the profits are great at times, and the life one which has irresistible charms, yet it is one not to be rashly undertaken by all men. there are, too, very many small chiefs, whose friendship it is necessary to gain by presents, or they will not allow you to journey through their country; and sometimes small wars take place between these potentates, when each party considers himself entitled to pillage all travellers who have been on friendly terms with his enemy. there are, then, a goodly array of dangers and difficulties surrounding the african hunter, to say nothing of those which threaten him from wild beasts, such as lions, leopards, etc., or poisonous snakes. so that it is not difficult for a man as young even as hans sterk to gain a wide reputation for skill and bravery in surmounting those obstacles to which he had been frequently opposed. the teeth of the various elephants slain by hans having been extracted from the jaws of the animals, placed on the shoulders of kaffirs, marked with hans' mark, and despatched to the waggons, hans led the way over some bushy country towards a range of low hills near which a bright silvery streak indicated that a stream of water was flowing. "before i look for spoor where i expect it," said hans to his dutch companions, "i will look through my `far-seer'" (as he termed his telescope), "to see what wilde there is in the open country." adjusting his telescope to suit his focus, hans took a careful look all round, and at length rested his glass against a tree and looked steadily down near the stream of which we have spoken. after a careful examination he offered his glass to a companion, and said, "i see eight or nine large bull elephants near the mimosas beside those yellow-wood trees. can you see more?" chapter three. the bull elephant--the charge of the elephants--counting the spoils. o ye lovers of true sport, men of nerve and skill, ye who prize a reality and are not satisfied with a feeble imitation, have you ever attempted to realise the excitement and glory of combating with a herd of lordly elephants, fierce and powerful, and monarchs in their own forests? ye, who consider that _the_ only sport is pursuing a fleeing fox over the grass-lands of your own country, can but feebly imagine the effect produced by measuring your skill and daring against the giant strength and cunning of a mighty elephant, who has braved his hundred summers, and has been able to withstand the bullets or spears of a hundred foes; who has won his way among his rivals by fierce and hardly contested battles; and who dreads no enemy, but is ever ready to try conclusions with the most formidable of all, viz. man. to stand alone and on foot, amidst the tangled luxuriant foliage of an african forest, within a few yards of one of these watchful monsters, whose foot could crush you as easily as could your foot a mouse or rat, and whose headlong rush through the forest would carry away every obstacle, is a proceeding which causes the blood to course through one's veins like quicksilver. to hide near a troop of these animals, watching their strange movements and taking advantage of favourable opportunities for deadly shots, which are answered by the most savage and unearthly shrieks, is another phase of sport which is spirit-stirring in the extreme. add to these scenes the most glowing landscape, covered with brilliant flowers, and ornamented with gorgeously-tinted birds, whilst various rare and graceful antelopes are bounding away in all directions to escape the tumult which has disturbed them, and there is an explanation of the mystery of that so-called hunter's fever, which induces those who have once tasted such sport to ever afterwards thirst for it as the parched stag thirsts for water. surrounding hans sterk there were men who had slain lions and buffaloes, had brought to the earth the lofty cameleopard, and had frequently gathered tusks from their elephants slain in fair fight. yet with these men the excitement had not worn off; and they, one and all, seemed to be endowed with additional life-power as they recognised with the `far-seer' the largest of african game browsing calmly in his native wilderness. "we must not show ourselves," said hans, "or the alarm will spread. see those ostriches in the `open;' they suspect us; and though they are two miles off, they can distinguish us among these thorns. let us lie down, and we will make our plans for attacking those elephants." the whole party at once sank to the ground, and were thus completely concealed from the keen sight of all except the vultures, which were sailing about overhead. each of the hunters then took a careful survey of the nature of the ground between his position and the river near which the elephants were browsing. after an interval of a few minutes, one of the eldest men asked the rest what plan they had made. "you speak first, piet," was the answer of hans; "then we will all give our opinions." "i think," said piet, "we should go down to the right, enter that bush, and so keep near the stream till we stalk on to the elephants; for the ground is very good where they are, and they will not move far whilst they can feed there." nearly every one agreed with this remark except hans, who, when his opinion was asked, said that he had two reasons why he should prefer another plan. first, the wind would not quite suit, but would blow from them to the elephants when they first entered the thorn-bushes. then, in front of the elephants, and about a mile off, was a large dense forest. "if they enter that," said hans, "we shall not see them again. i should like to go down to the left, get in front of the elephants, and either wait for them to feed up to us, or stalk them up wind. then when they run, they will go towards our waggons, and we shall be able to hunt those which are not killed to-day, with the aid of our horses to-morrow." after a slight hesitation the hunters decided that this was the better plan, and determined at once to put it into execution. each man examined the priming of his rifle, put on fresh caps, felt the position of his cartridges, powder-flask, and bullets, so as to be certain all was ready for use; and then, following each other in indian file, the party strode forward in the direction agreed upon. when hunters are in the neighbourhood of large game, it is an understood rule that a shot is not to be fired at any small animal. thus, if a party were out in search of elephants, and had separated from each other, a shot from one party would at once bring the others to it, for it would be understood that elephants had been fired at. thus antelopes of various kinds were allowed to gallop off without a shot being fired at them. a fat eland, whose appearance made the kaffirs' mouth almost water, was allowed to stand under a tree, and gaze with astonishment at the novel spectacle of a herd of two-legged creatures moving over its domain. for to have fired a shot would have not only disturbed the country, but would have been a reckless destruction of life, a proceeding which every true sportsman abhors. taking advantage of the slopes of ground, the cover of trees, etc., hans and his party turned the position of the elephants, and halted about five hundred yards in advance of them, without having caused these watchful, keen-scented animals any suspicion of their presence. each hunter took up a position behind a tree, immediately he came in front of the elephants, and there waited for some signal from the leader before advancing. it was soon evident that the elephants were feeding towards the hunters, and thus if they remained quiet, they would soon have their game within range. twelve majestic bull elephants were in the herd, each with tusks of large size. such game being close to them caused each man of the party to feel excited with the anticipation of the coming sport, and to reserve himself for his first shot. on came the troop, scarcely staying now to feed, for they had by some instinct or power of observation become slightly alarmed. the scent of the hunters, or the screech of some bird had indicated to them that an enemy was near, and thus they ceased feeding. a majestic twelve-foot bull elephant led the party, and seemed well qualified for a leader. he strode forward some dozen yards with trunk erect and ears wide-spread, then stopped and drew the air through his trunk with great rapidity, turning from side to side with a quickness which seemed surprising in so vast an animal. that lazy, stupid appearance which those who have seen caged animals only, are disposed to attribute to elephants, was very different from the activity of this leader, as his restless eye watched each bush or tree; and his threatening attitude occasionally indicated that he was ready to charge an enemy. suddenly, as though a fresh cause for suspicion had arisen, the mighty bull raised his trunk, and gave three sharp, shrill, and powerful trumpet-notes, which might have been heard at a distance of two miles. immediately a deep rumbling sound was uttered by all the other members of the herd, who stood instantly like so many bronze figures, the only indications of life being the shaking of their huge ears, which from time to time were erected, and then depressed. during fully two minutes this watchful attitude was maintained, after which one deep note was sounded by the leading bull, and the whole party strode onwards. they were, unluckily for them, advancing to destruction; for each hunter was now within fifty yards of the leader, and several rifles were already aiming at various parts of the grand-looking animal. a moment's silence, broken only by the heavy tread of the elephants, and then the stillness of the wilderness was broken by the report of half-a-dozen heavy rifles. in an instant the scene was changed. the leading bull elephant reeled as he received the leaden hail; but his strong frame yet retained plenty of life, and, uttering a fearful shriek, he charged headlong at the tree behind which two of the hunters were concealed. the tree was large and strong, and the men trusted that it would stand even the rush of the elephant; but so great was the momentum of the vast bull, that the tree snapped as though it were a mere sapling, and the two hunters narrowly escaped being crushed by the tree, or trodden under foot by the enraged monster. as he charged onward, blinded with rage, he received another volley from the second barrel of the boers' rifles; bleeding from a dozen wounds, he still held on his mad career, until he could no longer withstand the shock to his system; he then suddenly stopped, threw up his trunk as though signalling his defeat, and sank back on the ground, the earth shaking and resounding with the fall. following their leader until the smell of blood warned them that it was dangerous to pursue his course, the remaining elephants spread out on each side, and formed two parties; but their course was undecided, for their leader had been slain, and for a time they had no confidence in a successor. the hunters, having almost instantly reloaded their rifles, ran forward in order to intercept the elephants and cut them off from the dense bush towards which they were wending their way. closing with one of the nearmost, hans and two of his companions fired at the heavy shoulder, which for an instant was exposed to their aim. responding to the report of the guns, the elephant trumpeted his defiance; and turning with rapidity he rushed at the assailants. small trees and underwood gave way before the mountain of flesh which was urged against them, and any inexperienced men would have been in a dangerous position. to be charged by a savage bull elephant was not, however, any thing very novel either to hans or his companions, who at once keeping close together ran to the more open part of the forest, but where large trees were abundant. for about forty yards, the three men ran shoulder to shoulder; but the elephant, with his giant strides, was gaining on them, and would, it appeared, soon reach his tiny enemies, whose fate would then be decided. but a hunter is full of expedients, and knows when to practise them; thus, as the elephant was rushing onwards in a straight course, hans shouted, "now," when instantly the party separated, hans turning sharp to the right, his two companions to the left, and each slipping behind a broad-stemmed tree. the elephant, either undecided which to pursue, or not seeing the artifice of his enemies, continued his rush onwards; but before he had gone many yards, the forest again echoed back the report of the hunters' rifles, and three more bullets lodged behind the elephant's ear caused him to pitch forward on his head, his tusks snapping off with a sharp crack, and he rolling to the ground harmless as the trees around him. three other elephants that were badly wounded effected their escape; but the elephant hunters knew their death warrant had been signed; and so, assembling near the great elephant's carcass, the successful men drank a "soupe" of brandy, cut off the tail of the "game," and for awhile talked over the events of the hunt. it was then decided to return to the waggons, bring them, with oxen and horses, near the stream by which they were then seated, and to hunt the remainder of the herd on horseback; for it was seen that if the country were not very favourable, but little success would be obtained if the elephants were pursued on foot. now that the country had been alarmed by the report of fire-arms, there was no longer any need for concealment, so the hunters spread out instead of following in indian file, for hunger began to remind them that the sun was past the meridian, and thus a slice from an antelope or an eland would not be objected to. it was not long before an eland and her calf were seen reclining beneath some acacia-trees; and the plan being arranged, the pair were soon surrounded, when the hunters, closing in, rendered their escape impossible, and both were shot by the hungry travellers. the elephants, having been feeding for some days in this neighbourhood, had deposited the fuel for a fire, which, dried by the sun, ignited rapidly, and in a few minutes was blazing beneath the strips of alternate fat and lean, which had been strung on two or three ramrods. and thus, in less than an hour from the sighting of the elands, their flesh was being eaten by the sportsmen, who, provided only with a paper of salt and a clasp-knife, were yet able to make an excellent dinner, which was washed down with some of the water from the stream, flavoured by a dash of brandy from the flasks carried by each hunter. it was near sunset when the party reached their waggons; but orders were given to inspan the oxen before daybreak, to have the horses ready, and to prepare for an early "_trek_" towards the clear stream and luxuriant forest in which the elephants had been hunted. "there," said hans, "we have good water, plenty of wood and other stuff for fires, game in abundance and so we shall have nothing to do but eat, drink, sleep, and shoot; we shall kill the game that will yield us money, and so we need have no care. a hunter's life is happy, and who would not be a hunter? can you believe it, that karl zeitsman has gone down to cape town to write in a shop or something, because he wants to make money? why our fore-looper's life is a better one than his; and as to ours, one day in the veldt after game is worth a year in a town, where all is dirty, smoky, and bad. there is nothing like a free life, bernhard, is there? and elephant hunting is the very best of all. good-night, and sleep well, bernhard," said hans as he crawled into his waggon; and, undisturbed by the roars of a distant lion, or the snores of his companions, he slept soundly and peacefully till near daybreak. chapter four. seeking the dead elephants--ambuscade of the matabili warriors--escape of hans sterk and his party--battle with the matabili--the slaughter of siedenberg. "the waggons can follow," said hans; "that will be best. the kaffir can show where the dead elephants are lying, and we will ride on. shall we follow the spoor, victor, or try and cut off the track?" "better follow the spoor, hans, i think," replied victor; "but what does heinrich say?" "follow the spoor from where we last saw the elephants; we are sure to find them there." it being thus agreed among the most experienced to follow the spoor, the whole party mounted their horses and rode on their journey, little expecting what was before them. there was but little game visible to the hunters as they rode towards the locality on which their yesterday's sport had been enjoyed; but this they believed was due to the alarm which their firing had caused; for so wide, is the country in africa, that the animals can, if necessary, journey their forty miles during the night, and yet obtain a good grazing-ground free from interruption; so that a hunter rarely expects to find game in any district which has been hunted on the day previously, but looks for it some thirty miles distant. as the hunters rode forward the sun rose, and dried up the heavy dew which had covered the herbage during the night. the fog and mist were scattered before his burning rays, and the country once more exhibited its tropical appearance. hans, who had taken out his telescope to examine the country in various directions, at length exclaimed, "there is one of the kaffirs near the elephants. how could he get there before us?" "it is 'nquane, perhaps; he is very quick, and may have passed us in the fog." "no," replied hans; "'nquane, like all kaffirs, does not like going a journey before the sun has dried and warmed the air. can the man be a stray matabili?" "no matter if he is," said one of the boers. "let us canter on; we shall soon see." the hunters increased their speed, and rode on towards their dead elephants, but saw, as they approached, no kaffirs; and all except hans began to doubt whether the figure he had seen really was a kaffir, or only a stump burned and blackened so as to resemble a man. the party left the open country, and rode into the forest, being obliged to ride in file along the paths made by the elephants. they had penetrated about two hundred yards into the forest, when a shrill whistle was uttered from the wood behind, and instantly from all parts of the bush an armed matabili warrior sprang to his feet. two hundred men at least appeared, forming a ring, in the midst of which were the hunters. these warriors did not leave the white men long in doubt as to their intentions; but beating their shields, and waving their assagies, they rushed in towards their supposed victims. with that readiness of expedient which a long training in such hunting expeditions as those we have described is likely to produce, the dutchmen saw their only chance for escape. they turned their horses, and firing a destructive volley at the matabili who blocked the path in their rear, spurred their horses, and charged at the opening which their bullets and slugs had cleared. each man retained a charge in one barrel; and as each neared the enemy he fired from the saddle, and mostly killed or disabled his foe. so sudden had been the attack, and so rapid the retreat, that in five minutes from the first alarm the hunters found themselves clear of the bush, and with no further loss than two horses severely gashed by the assagies of their enemies, who fortunately possessed no fire-arms. "the men belong to the old villain moselekatse," said hans; "we must fight them in the open and not spare a man, or our waggon and oxen will be captured; let us halt and try to draw them out into this open bush. are you all loaded, men?" inquired hans, who, though nearly the youngest of the party, seemed at once to assume the position of leader. "yes, we are all, i think," replied several... "and here come the matabili, thinking to close with us. now, for not wasting a single charge, give them the bullet in the distance, buckshot when nearer, the treacherous villains;" as he finished speaking he fired, and a dozen bullets were discharged; immediately afterwards, the dull thud of the bullets and the falling bodies of the enemy indicating the accuracy of the aims. the party were waiting for the matabili to approach within range of buckshot and slugs; but victor, luckily looking round, saw that two detachments had been sent round on the flanks in an endeavour to surround the horsemen, so that an immediate retreat was necessary. every one of the hunters was, however, able to load his weapon whilst proceeding at full gallop; so that, having retreated far enough to escape being surrounded, the boers halted, faced about, and again discharged their deadly weapons at the foe. the leader of the matabili soon saw that this system of fighting was not likely to lead to satisfactory results, so he whistled a signal to his men, who halted and began a retreat. the hunters however were not the men to spare their foe, but followed on their traces, shooting down their enemy with a fatal accuracy, until they reached the denser part of the forest, where the hunters dared not enter on foot against at least ten times their number, and where they could not enter on horseback. a short council of war decided them to leave half their number to watch the matabili, whilst the remainder rode with all speed to the waggons, to stop them in their advance, and to make preparations for their defence in case an attack should be made upon them; for to defend waggons was very much more difficult than to carry on the light cavalry manoeuvres which had been so successful in the late attack of the black warriors. there are few incidents of greater interest in connexion with our colonies than the desertion from our eastern frontier of the cape of good hope of a body of about souls, who, dissatisfied with the government to which they were compelled to own allegiance, departed with wives, children, goods, cattle, and horses into the wilderness, there to find a new home, far away from english dominion. it was in that this singular emigration took place, and it was just previous to that date that our tale commences. ruling over a large portion of country in about the twenty-sixth parallel of latitude, there was a chief named moselekatse, whose tribe was termed matabili. he was a renegade from the zulu nation, and had by his talents formed a nation of soldiers. between the warriors of moselekatse and some griquas, near the orange river, several encounters had taken place, the latter being usually the assailants, their object being the capture of cattle, the matabili being rich in herds. the griquas are a tribe of bastard hottentots, many of them being nearly white; and thus, in a matabili's opinion, nearly every white man was an enemy. believing that the ground on which they were hunting was too far from the dominions of the matabili chieftain to make the position a dangerous one, hans and his party had neither sent ambassadors to announce their purpose of hunting, nor had they expected to meet any bipeds in the district in which they had decided to hunt elephants. they probably would not even have been heard of by the soldiers of moselekatse, and therefore not molested, had not a large party of the matabili been ordered to make a reconnaissance in the neighbourhood of natal where the zulus were in force, and where it was said preparations were being made for an invasion of the matabili territory. these men on their return heard the report of the white men's rifles, and at once believed it would please their king if these rifles were brought into his presence. concealing themselves carefully from their intended victims, and sending out a few spies to watch what was going on, the matabili discovered where the elephants had been shot, and at once knew that on the following day the hunters would come to procure their ivory, so that an ambuscade could be arranged and the hunters surrounded and taken at a disadvantage. all was very carefully planned by the matabili; but in consequence of the rapid decision and skill of the hunters, their plot was a failure. the matabili were, however, formidable as enemies; they plotted deeply before they acted; and had the hunters been aware of the cunning of their foes, they would scarcely have felt as satisfied as they did when they had driven their assailants into a dense cover, and had thus compelled them to keep close, and change their attack into a defence. five of the hunters remained near the bush to watch the enemy, whilst five rode back towards the waggons; and thus the white men's forces were divided. following their back trail, the hunters rode at a canter in the direction of their last night's outspan, eager to get to their waggons, and either put them into a state of defence, or start them in a direction away from that likely to be followed by the matabili. hans sterk, victor, and three other dutchmen formed the party that were returning to the waggons. after riding at a canter for some miles, they drew up and walked their horses, in order to allow them to regain their wind. "this will be a bad day's work for moselekatse," said victor, "for we are too strong for him on the orange river now; and if we make up a commando and attack him, he would be sure to be defeated. he has enough on his hands now with the zulus, who will certainly make an attack on him very shortly." "we should have no difficulty in getting up a large party to attack the matabili; for they have thousands of cattle, and there would be much to divide among those who ventured," replied one of the boers. "they nearly succeeded this morning in finishing us," said hans. "had we not been very quick, and ready with our guns, they would have surrounded us successfully; it is lucky they did not attack us last night at the waggons; we should all have been slaughtered if they had done so, as we should have been taken by surprise." "yes, it is lucky," said victor; "and i don't see how we could have escaped better than we have done, for, except that cut on your horse's flank and a stab in heinrich's horse's neck, we were untouched, whilst we must have killed and wounded nearly fifty of the matabili." "yes, we were fortunate," replied hans; "but i wish we were two hundred miles from here, with our waggons safely across the mountains. here comes 'nquane, and he seems in a hurry." no sooner did the kaffir recognise the hunters than he ran towards them with the greatest eagerness, making all manner of signals. as soon as he came within speaking distance, he said-- "chiefs, the matabili came upon us at the waggons; they have killed copen and jack, and carried off all the oxen and horses. oh, it is bad for us?" exclamations of anger and surprise were uttered by the hunters as they heard this intelligence; for they knew that without oxen all the wealth in their waggons was worthless, and could be carried off at any time by moselekatse's warriors, whenever they chose to come. "how many matabili were there?" inquired hans. the kaffir opened and closed his two hands five times, thus indicating there were about fifty men. "only fifty!" exclaimed hans. "let us after them at once; surely we can beat away fifty matabili; it is only ten apiece. you go back to the waggons, 'nquane, and wait there; we will soon bring you back the oxen." the hunters immediately spurred on their horses, and rode rapidly in the direction which the marauders had taken; and having ascended a conical hill, hans by the aid of his telescope discovered the oxen and their capturers moving rapidly over the open country, and distant scarcely two miles. "a beautiful open country," exclaimed hans; "just the place for a fight on horseback, and we will give them a lesson of what we `mensch' can do." seeing that there was little or no bush before the matabili, into which they could effect their escape, the hunters did not distress their steeds by too great a speed; but cantering steadily onwards they were soon seen by the matabili, who, leaving two of their number to drive the horses and oxen, then spread out in open order, beating their shields and shouting their defiance. the horses ridden by the hunters were trained shooting horses, and were not therefore likely to be alarmed by the noises made by these men. each animal also would allow its rider to fire from its back without moving a muscle; and thus the five hunters, armed as they were, well supplied with ammunition, and deadly as shots, were most formidable enemies, more so than the matabili seemed to think; for these men had hitherto been opposed only to hottentots and griquas, whose courage and skill they despised. when, therefore, the dutchmen halted, and each, selecting a victim, raised his rifle or smooth-bore to fire, the matabili uttered taunting yells, dodged from side to side to distract their enemies' aim, and charged towards their foes. suddenly the five guns were discharged, and five matabili rolled over on the plain, each either killed or mortally wounded. the hunters instantly turned their horses, and, galloping at speed, avoided the charge of their enemies and the numerous assagies that were hurled after them. adopting the same plan as on the former occasion, the hunters loaded as they rode away; and as soon as each man was ready, the signal was given for a halt, when it was found that the matabili, finding pursuit useless, were returning after their stolen oxen. they did not seem to suspect the style of warfare which the dutchmen practised, as they retreated very slowly, believing that their enemies were only anxious to escape; they soon, however, found, their mistake, as their enemies galloped up to within a hundred yards, and discharged their barrels into the crowded mass, a dozen men either falling or limping away badly wounded; for the heavy bullets and heavy charge of powder had caused one shot, in some cases, to bring down two victims. the matabili, finding by experience the power and skill of their few enemies, were now bent only on making their escape; and therefore, separating, they ran in all directions, leaving the oxen to be recaptured. bent upon revenge, and upon freeing themselves from their enemies, the hunters followed their foes, shooting them like so many buck, until, finding their ammunition growing short, they returned to their oxen, which had been quietly grazing, unconscious of the battle that was being fought for their ownership. the animals being collected, were soon driven off towards the waggons; and before the sun had long passed the meridian, the oxen were inspanned, and the five dutchmen and one kaffir were urging forward the spans in a direction the opposite to that in which the matabili's country lay. the two hottentot drivers were found dead, having been assagied by their enemies without mercy; but few articles had been taken from the waggons, for the thieves did not like to encumber themselves with much booty, as they hoped to escape by speed before the hunters discovered their loss. the two parties of matabili had acted also in concert, one having been left to watch the waggons and attack them as soon as the dutchmen had started for their morning's hunt, the remainder having been moved forward to surprise the hunters when they were in the bush near the dead elephants. both attacks had been unsuccessful; and now the only danger that the hunters feared was, that the matabili, having been thus defeated, would return in a day or two with a large force, and, knowing that waggons can move but slowly, and rarely more than twenty-five miles a day, thus would soon overtake them and probably be able to ensure their capture and to revenge their late defeat. before leaving the outspan, hans wrote a few words on a paper, which he inserted in a split stick, planting this stick in the ground, so that it pointed at the sun. he rejoined his companions, who had each dismounted, and was either leading his horse, or allowing it to follow the waggons. hans had left a short account on the paper, of his proceedings, and had pointed the stick at the sun, in order to let his companions know when he had started, for they, he knew, would shortly return to the outspan, and would then follow the spoor of the waggons; but seeing the bodies of the hottentots would be puzzled to account for every thing unless they were informed by some means. "it will be bad for us if the rivers are swollen," said hans to victor, as the two followed the rear waggon; "a day's delay might cost us all our property here." "and our lives too," said victor. "scarcely our lives," said hans, "if we are watchful, our horses live, and our ammunition lasts. we can fight these matabili in any numbers as long as they don't possess fire-arms; when the day comes that they use guns and powder, it will be bad for us hunters, for then their numbers will render them very dangerous." "the english traders are supplying them as fast as they can with guns," rejoined victor; "it is hard for us that they do so, for we or our children may be shot by the guns these men supply, and yet we can do nothing, however much we may suffer from this money-making feeling." the oxen having treked for fully two hours, began to show signs of distress, so the hunters agreed to halt and to dine, for they did not consider any immediate attack was probable. they had scarcely lighted a fire and began to prepare for cooking, than the welcome sight of their companions greeted them. two of the hunters were riding one horse, in consequence of one having died from the effects of an assagy wound; but there being five additional horses among the recaptured oxen, this loss was not a very severe one. the new-comers announced that the matabili had retreated farther into the forest, and did not appear disposed again to try their strength against their white enemies. the whole party exclaimed loudly against the treachery of the matabili in attacking them when there was peace between moselekatse and themselves. they were not aware that a savage is not very discriminating; and a raid having been made into moselekatse's country, some two months previously, by a party of griquas, the warriors could not distinguish any great difference between a dutchman and a griqua, both being of a different colour to himself, and both being strangers in his land. a speedy revenge was decided on by the whole party as soon as they could collect a sufficient force for the purpose. that no time was to be lost in escaping from that part of the country, was the unanimous opinion of the hunters; and so the oxen were inspanned again, and the journey continued without any delay. thus for two days the party retreated without seeing any thing of an enemy. game of various kinds was abundant; but except to supply themselves with food the hunters did not shoot, for they knew not how soon their lives might depend upon a plentiful supply of ammunition being at hand. so that each bar of lead was at once converted into bullets or slugs, the loose powder was made up into cartridges, and every gun cleaned and carefully loaded, so as to be as efficient as possible. it was on the morning of the third day that the hunters observed in the distance what appeared to be a broken-down waggon, but no oxen or human beings seemed to be near it. such a sight, however, as a wreck in the desert at once excited the curiosity of the travellers, who, leaving the waggons in charge of half the party, rode off to examine the scene on which the waggon appeared to have broken-down. as they approached the spot, they saw a man limp from out of a clump of bush and make signs to them, and this man they found to be a hottentot, who was badly wounded in several places, and seemed almost famished with hunger. having supplied him with food, he informed them that he was the driver of one of three waggons belonging to a dutchman, who, with his wife and two daughters, was travelling over the country in search of elands, when they were attacked by a party of matabili, who came upon them at daybreak, and carried off oxen, wife, and daughters, killed the dutchman and another hottentot, and would have also killed him, had he not shammed to be dead. hans sterk, who had been watching attentively the waggon and debris around, whilst he listened to the hottentot's remarks, suddenly and eagerly inquired what was the dutchman's name. "siedenberg," said the hottentot. "siedenberg!" shrieked hans, as he grasped his rifle like a vice; "and katrine was with him?" "ja," said the hottentot; "the mooi katrine has been carried off by the matabili, and her little sister too." "men," said hans, as he turned to his companions, "katrine siedenberg was to have been my wife in two months' time. i swear she shall be freed from the matabili, or i will die in the attempt. which of you will aid me in my work, with your rifles, horses, and skill?" "i will," replied victor. "and i," said heinrich. "and i," said all those with him; "but we must get more men." it was immediately agreed that the journey should be continued until the waggons and their contents were placed in safety, for the matabili had two days' start, and therefore could not be overtaken by the poor half-starved horses, which now alone belonged to the hunters. fresh horses, more people, and more ammunition were necessary, and then a successful expedition might be carried on against moselekatse and his warriors. the hottentot was helped back to the hunter's waggons and allowed to ride in one of them; and the onward journey was continued with all speed, so that in three days after finding the broken-down waggon, the hunters had crossed the nama hari river, and had joined a large party of the emigrant farmers, who were encamped south of this river. the news of the attack on the hunters, the slaughter of siedenberg, and the carrying off of his daughters, scarcely required to be detailed with the eloquence which hans brought to bear upon it, in order to raise the anger and thirst for vengeance of the dutchmen. those who could were at once eager to bear arms against their savage and treacherous foe, whose proceedings caused a feeling of insecurity to pervade the boers' encampment; and thus the expediency of inflicting a lesson on the black chieftain was considered advisable. and also there was a strong temptation to inflict this lesson, when it was remembered that enormous herds of sleek cattle belonged to the matabili, and would of course become the property of the conquerors; and who those conquerors would be was not doubtful, considering the relative value of assagies and double-barrelled guns. chapter five. commando against the matabili and moselekatse, the chief of the matabili. to men who lived the life of the farmer in africa, surrounded on all sides by savage animals, or those creatures which were hunted for the sake of their flesh, obliged to be watchful at all times on account of their enemies--the kaffirs of the old colony and the tribes to the north of them--their preparations for a campaign were speedily made; and on the morning following that on which hans sterk's party had rejoined his companions, more than eighty dutchmen, with as many after riders, all well-armed and mounted, were ready to start on their expedition against the matabili. the foe against which this party was being led was known to be both cunning and daring, and so it was considered expedient to place the camp in a state of defence, lest the enemy, taking advantage of the absence of the greater number of the fighting men, should select that time for their attack; for such is the usual proceeding of african chieftains against their enemies. the waggons were therefore drawn together and brushwood placed so as to prevent an easy entrance among them, regular watches were set, so that a surprise would have been difficult, had it been attempted; and a regular attack when the boers were prepared would have ended in a fearful slaughter of the assailants. matters being thus satisfactorily arranged at home, the expedition started, amidst great firing of guns, this being among the africanders the substitute for cheering. a leader having been chosen from among the boers, the party started full of hope, and during the first day had travelled nearly forty miles. every precaution was taken to avoid being surprised and also to ensure surprising the enemy, for the boers were well aware of the advantages to be gained from surprising such an enemy as the matabili. game was abundant in the country through which the commando passed, and thus it was not necessary for the men to burden themselves with much weight in the form of food; water was at this time of the year plentiful, and thus the two essentials of life, food and water, were to be obtained with ease. to men who loved adventure as much as did these men, such an expedition as this was sport; and had any stranger come to the bivouac at night, seen the jovial, free-from-care manner of the boers, and heard their spirit-stirring tales, he would scarcely have imagined that these men were bound on a matter of life and death, and were shortly to be engaged with a brave and powerful enemy, who, though badly armed, still outnumbered them in the ratio of twenty to one. of all the party, hans sterk alone seemed quiet and thoughtful; but his look of determination indicated that his thoughts were certainly not pacific; and when the evening arrived, and the men halted until the moon rose and enabled them to continue their journey, none were more active or watchful than hans sterk the elephant hunter. five days and nights of rapid travelling brought the boers within a few hours' journey of the head-quarters of the matabili, when it was decided to halt in order to refresh both men and horses, and to endeavour to gain such information as to the disposition of the fighting men of the matabili, as would enable them to attack the enemy at the weakest point. whilst the boers were thus undecided, they were joined by a party of about a dozen of their countrymen, who had been on an exploring expedition, and having left their wives and children with some men as escort, whilst they departed on a few days' journey, returned to find their waggons destroyed and their relatives murdered. hastening with all speed to their companions, they heard of their departure to attack the matabili, and immediately started to join them. on their journey they had come up with and surprised a party of matabili, whom they at once attacked, killing all except one man, whom they made prisoner; this one man being capable, they thought, of being eventually of use. moselekatse had made it law, that any man who was either taken prisoner or who lost his weapons in a battle, and did not bring those of an enemy, was no more to be seen in his country. thus the captured matabili considered it the better plan to turn traitor, and endeavour to make himself useful to his captors. he therefore informed them that if they journeyed up westward of north, they might enter moselekatse's country from a position where they were not expected, and where no spies were on the look out; and thus, if the attack were made at daybreak, a fearful slaughter must ensue. acting on this advice, the boers started in the required direction, and were ready to dash upon their foes as soon as the first streaks of daylight illumined the land. their attack was entirely unexpected, for the matabili who had committed the slaughter on the wandering farmers, and who had attacked the hunters, had only just returned, and were rejoicing in their successes and in the trophies they had brought to the feet of their king. before, however, the sun had risen more than ten times its height above the horizon, about of the matabili warriors were lying dead on the plains around their huts. hans sterk had not, like many of his companions, been entirely occupied with slaughtering the enemy, he had been searching in all directions to find some traces of the prisoners who had been carried off by the matabili; but he failed in doing so, until he found a wounded enemy, to whom he promised life if he would inform him where the white maidens were hidden. it was with difficulty that the two communicated, for hans was but imperfectly acquainted with the half-kaffir dialect spoken by the matabili, and the wounded man understood but a few words of dutch. still, from him hans learnt that katrine and her sister were prisoners at kapain, where moselekatse then was; this place being a day's journey from mosega, where the battle, or rather slaughter, had just taken place. hans' interests were not the same as those of the other dutchmen; he was mainly bent upon recovering katrine from her barbarous jailor, and immediately making her his wife; whilst his companions were only anxious to capture and carry off the large herds of cattle which were grazing around, and to take with them the waggons lately taken from the travellers. it was in vain that hans pointed out to the commander of the expedition the advantages to be derived from following up with rapidity the successes already obtained, and to attack the chief of the matabili where it was impossible he could escape. carried away by his brief success, and uninfluenced by the arguments of one as young as hans sterk, the commander of the expedition refused to advance, and ordered the immediate retreat of the whole party, with about seven thousand head of cattle. this plan, having gained the approval of the majority of the men who formed the commando, was at once put into execution, and the retreat was commenced; and in a few days the wives, daughters, and children left at the waggons were rejoiced at the return of the expedition, with such a valuable capture as many thousand head of cattle. the news of this success spread among the colonists with magical effect, and many who had at first hesitated to follow the desert wanderers, now used the greatest expedition to do so, and thus the ranks of the wanderers were increased by some hundreds of souls. but one drawback existed, however, amidst the rejoicings, and that was, that hans sterk, bernhard, and victor, had undertaken what was considered a foolhardy expedition; for they had left the main body on the day after the battle, and were intent upon trying to effect the escape of two prisoners from the kraals of moselekatse himself; such an attempt being almost reckless, and unlikely to succeed, considering the power and watchfulness of the enemy against whom they were about to try their skill. but we will return to hans and his two companions. chapter six. hans determines to follow katrine--he journeys by night--hans watches the enemy. no sooner had hans discovered that the matabili had taken the two dutch girls to a distant kraal, than he determined at all risks to attempt their release. during the first halt that occurred after the slaughter of the matabili, he called his two great friends, victor and bernhard, to him, and said-- "i have failed to persuade the governor-general to attack the enemy where he would be able utterly to defeat him and prevent him from again attacking us; for this defeat at mosega is only like cutting off one of his fingers, whereas, if we went on to kapain, we should attack his body. but i am going to try to release katrine; and i have a plan in my head which may succeed, so to-night i shall leave the camp." victor and bernhard looked at one another for some time; and then, as though reading each other's thoughts, they turned to hans, when victor, speaking first, said-- "i don't know what your plans are, hans; but you shall not go alone. i will go with you, and i think bernhard will go also." "yes, i will go," said bernhard, "so let us talk over your plans." the three friends, having thus agreed to share each other's fate, separated themselves from their companions, and sat down beneath a tree whose wide-spreading branches sheltered them from the heavy dew that was falling. each having lighted his pipe and remained quiet for several minutes, was ready to listen or speak, according to circumstances. "my plans," said hans, are these: "to travel to the northward, and conceal ourselves and our horses in the range of hills that overlook kapain. with my telescope i can observe all that goes on in the kraals, while we run no risk of being seen. our spoor will scarcely be recognised, because so many horses have been travelling here lately; and the attention of all the matabili will be occupied in either watching the main body of our people or in making preparations for an expedition against them. they would never suspect that two or three of us would remain in their country; and thus we, by daring, may avoid detection. if we are discovered, we can ride away from the matabili; and thus, though at first it seems a great risk, yet it is not so bad after all. these are my ideas." "but," inquired victor, "how are you going to get katrine away, or her sister?" "i will take two spare horses with me, and they can then ride with us." "you can't let katrine know where you are, even if she is in the kraal at kapain," said victor; "and without we can get to her, our journey will be useless." "victor," said hans, "will you trust me? i know what i am about, and will not do any thing without seeing to what the spoor is leading; we will start in half an hour." a few words from hans to the leader of the boers informed him of his intention of leaving the party; and though the chief urged upon hans the recklessness of his proceedings, he had yet no actual authority to prevent him and his two companions from acting as they wished; so, cautioning him of the risk he ran, he wished him success, and bade him good-bye. it was about midnight when hans and his companions left the boers' encampment and started on their perilous journey. they rode for a considerable distance on the back spoor of their track, then, turning northward, they followed the course of some streams which flowed from the ranges of hills in the north-east. they continued their journey with rapidity, for the moon shone brightly and enabled them to see clearly for some distance around them. many strange forms were seen during their journey, for africa is full of night wanderers, and occasionally the deep growl of the lion, or the cry of the leopard was audible, within a few yards of them; but hans and his companions were bent upon an expedition, and against foes of such importance, that even lions and leopards were looked upon as creatures not to be noticed, unless they seemed disposed to attack the travellers. the rapidity with which hans and his companions rode, the silence maintained by them, and the purpose-like manner in which they continued a straight course, turning neither to the right nor left, even though a lion roared before them, gave to their journey a weirdlike character and reminded them of the dangers to which they were exposed; for, the matabili, smarting as they just were from the defeat at mosega, were not likely to delay the slaughter of any white men who might fall into their hands. hans and his companions knew that the expedition was one for life or death; but it was not the first time that these men had looked on death calmly; and they were so confident in their own expedients that there were few circumstances for which they were not prepared. as soon as the first light of morning began to appear, the three hunters rode into a ravine covered with brushwood and trees; having ascended this for some distance they found that it was possible to ride out of it in three directions besides that in which they had entered, and thus that a retreat was easily effected, should they be attacked from any one direction. they then dismounted, slackened the girths and took off the saddles, removed the bits from their horses' mouths, and allowed the animals to enjoy a roll in the grass, this being a proceeding which invariably refreshes an african steed, and without it he seems only half capable of enjoying his feed of grass; no sooner, however, had the animals rolled, than each was again saddled, and with the exception of loosened girths, was ready to be mounted in half a minute. the guns were examined, to see whether the night dew had rendered a miss fire probable; and then, having made a careful examination of the surrounding country with his telescope, hans announced that after eating some of the _beltong_, [meat dried in the sun], with which each was provided, two had better sleep whilst one watched, and so they could all have enough rest to fit them for the journey of the following night; having volunteered to watch first, hans requested his companions to go to sleep, a request with which every thoroughly trained hunter should be able to comply; for he should always eat, drink, and sleep when he can, for when he wants to perhaps he may not be able. and when a hunter has nothing to do, he should sleep, for then he will be ready to dispense with his rest when it may be of importance that he should be watchful. in a very few minutes victor and bernhard were snoring as though they were sleeping on a down bed instead of on the ground in an enemy's country, whilst the horses were making the best use of their time by filling themselves with the sweet grass in the ravine. hans had not been on watch more than an hour, when by the aid of his telescope he discovered a large body of matabili who were following the spoor of his horses, and seemed as though bent on pursuing him. this sight caused him considerable anxiety, not on account of the numbers of his enemies, but because a fight with them, or a retreat from them, would defeat his plans for liberating katrine. hans therefore watched his enemies with the greatest interest, and could distinguish them distinctly, though they were distant nearly three miles. they approached to within two miles, and he was about to awaken his companions when he noticed the matabili halted, and the chiefs' seemed to be talking about the spoor, as they pointed to the ground several times and then at different parts of the surrounding country. the ground was so hard and the dew had fallen so heavily immediately before sunrise, that hans hoped the hesitation on the part of his enemies might be in consequence of a dispute or difference of opinion as regarded the date of the horses' footprints; for the probability was, that those left by his own and his companions' horses might be supposed to be those of stragglers of the expedition which had attacked the matabili at mosega. this he believed to be the case when he found that the numerous body of enemies, after a long consultation, quitted his spoor and turned away towards the west, moving with rapidity in the direction in which the main body of the boers had retreated, and thus almost taking his back trail, instead of following him to his retreat. several other small parties of armed matabili were seen during the day; but none approached the ravine in which hans was concealed, and the day passed and night arrived without any adventure. chapter seven. expedition of the matabili--hans telegraphs to katrine, and receives his answer. immediately daylight enabled hans to see the surrounding country, he examined with his glass the kraals of the matabili, both far and near. several objects attracted his attention, among which were some which threatened the safety of himself and party. several armed bodies of the natives we're leaving the villages and departing hastily in various directions, as though engaged on business of importance. hans, aware of the craftiness of his enemies, felt considerable uneasiness at these numerous departures; for he was well aware that if the matabili had by chance discovered his hiding-place, they would not venture to attack him except in overwhelming numbers, but would first ascertain for certain that he was in the ravine; a fact which they would prove by examining the ground in all directions and finding footmarks which led into the kloof, but none which led out of it; then they would despatch several small parties with orders to assemble at certain parts of the ravine and there to form an ambuscade which was to intercept the retreat of hans and his companions. the matabili, like most of the natives of south africa, were accustomed to hunt the largest, most cunning, and fiercest animals, and from these they had taken many hints; the buffalo, for example, when wounded would retreat rapidly until out of sight, would then return and hide itself in the bush not far from the place from which it originally started; the hunter, unacquainted with the cunning of this creature, would probably follow it rapidly in its first retreat and would be suddenly surprised at finding himself within a few yards of the creature, which would probably be in the act of charging him. although hans observed that all the parties of the matabili left their kraals, and moved in a contrary direction to the kloof in which he was concealed, yet he was not satisfied that they did not, when out of sight, turn, and make their way back, so as to be ready to attack him immediately he and his companions moved from their concealment. "the matabili are moving early," said victor, as he joined hans and watched the various armed parties spreading over the country; "they must be going to attack our people." "some of them may possibly be sent to watch us; for they rarely give up a spoor as plain as ours must have been. still i have a plan which may defeat them, if they think to trap us here. but look, victor, with my glass, and tell me, do my eyes deceive me; is not that white object near that large kraal, a woman's dress? and is not that katrine? but i forget, _you_ would not recognise her so far off, though i can; but tell me if it is not a white woman's dress and manner." victor took the telescope, and making a slight alteration in the focus, directed it at the object indicated. after a very brief examination, victor said-- "that, hans, is a white woman without doubt; and following her, i see another and a smaller woman, who i think also is white." hans, who had been solely occupied in examining the first female figure, had not observed the second; but now, taking the glass, he at once found that victor's observation was correct. "i know now that must be katrine, and her sister is behind her. i will let her know i am here." "how can you do that, hans?" inquired victor with surprise; "she is more than a mile from us." "i will show you, victor; it is an old way of letting her know, that i practised for months, and she is accustomed to it. see this!" hans took from his pocket a small looking-glass, which was protected in a tin case; examining the direction of the sun, he then held the hand-glass so that its flash should be cast towards the plains; this he did very cautiously, having placed himself so that some leaves of a tree served to guide him as to the direction in which the reflection should be cast. as soon as he had made these preparations to his satisfaction, he said-- "now, victor, rest the telescope on the branch of that tree, and tell me what katrine does." victor arranged the telescope as requested, whilst hans slightly moved his mirror, so as to cast the flash in the direction of katrine. during the first few minutes no effect seemed to result from hans' performance. katrine was walking slowly over the plain, her head cast down as though she were in deep thought, and looking neither to the right nor left. her sister was, when first seen by victor, nearly a hundred yards behind her; but shortly afterwards she ran to her elder sister and took her hand. all this victor saw with his telescope and described to hans, who still flashed the mirror in what he believed to be the right direction. "now they see it," exclaimed victor. "the little one has seen it and drags her sister round; points here at us, and now they are both looking this way! see, hans, the tall one is waving a handkerchief! heavens, if a matabili sees her, we shall be defeated in our plans! but now she has stopped waving her handkerchief, and is kissing her sister." "watch her now, victor, and tell me every thing she does." victor looked eagerly through the telescope, and shortly saw what he described in the following words--"she seems to be looking all round, hans, and uncertain where to go to: now she is walking quickly towards us, and her sister with her; she still comes on, and now she stops." "watch now, victor, and see if she stoops and picks up any thing, and tell me how often she stoops." "she does stoop," said victor. "the girl is clever if this is a signal; she has picked up something and is looking at it; she stoops again and picks up something else; now she stands up and shakes her hankerchief, as though knocking off a fly; now she walks slowly back towards the kraal. hans, i fear she has not seen your signal." "she has seen it, and has answered it, victor," said hans; "and in two hours she will come to this ravine; that is what she tells me." a look of half wonder, half incredulity passed across the face of victor at this remark of hans. "you don't understand, i see, victor, but i will explain. since i have been courting katrine, i have been accustomed to ride to the krantz about two miles from her father's house, when there i would flash my mirror to let her know where i was; this soon attracted her attention, and she had been taught by me to stoop and pick up something, as a signal. if i was to meet her at once, she only waved her handkerchief; but if she stooped and picked up something, i was to meet her in one hour; if she stooped twice, in two hours,--and so on. now you say, and i just distinguished, that she stooped twice; so our meeting will be in two hours." "but why will she come to us in this ravine?" "we agreed, that if i was to come to her house, she was to walk towards it, but if i was to meet her near some yellow-wood trees, where we often met, she was to walk in that direction; so i think i am not wrong in believing she means to come to this place by her walking in this direction. there were not many days during the last few months that katrine did not see the flash of my mirror, and so it is not wonderful that she at once responded to the signal. there, she has gone, victor-- has she not?--into the kraal. now, you look to the horses, i will watch here, and we shall soon have a report from bernhard as to what he has seen high up the ravine; then, if all be safe and well, we may soon be on horseback, and on our way back to our friends; and then we need not fear any number of matabili, for we can ride away from them with ease, for both katrine and her sister ride like amazons. ah, bernhard, what news?" "i don't like so many small parties of the matabili disappearing in the bush behind us; at least a hundred have gone in there this morning, and the bush runs quite up to our ravine; these men might stalk to within a few yards of us, and we not know of their approach; it is necessary that we should be watchful, for the horses have more than once snorted as though they smelt something strange and unpleasant, and my horse has reason to dread a matabili ever since the gash he got in the flank in our last expedition against these people. how long will you stay here, hans?" "only two hours more, bernhard, so i trust." chapter eight. the attempted rescue--hans outwitted and captured by the matabili. the two hours which hans had to wait before he believed katrine would come to the kloof passed very slowly. each minute seemed longer than would an hour pleasantly passed; and when only half the time had elapsed he began to feel uneasy, and to fear that he might be mistaken as regards the signals which victor had seen. long before the time had elapsed, however, hans saw katrine and her sister stroll out from the kraal and walk slowly along the paths which led in the direction of the ravine in which were her friends. she did not hurry, or seem at all eager, as though bent on an expedition of importance, but stopped occasionally as though undecided in which way to journey, and as though not engaged on any special purpose. hans and his companions watched with the greatest interest every movement of the two girls, and also every group of matabili that from time to time were seen moving from kraal to kraal. several armed men had left the various little villages and had walked rapidly from one to the other, as though some business of war were on hand. about a dozen of these armed men were assembled, and seemed to be engaged in talking, near the kraal from which katrine and her sister had first appeared; they took, apparently, no notice of the two girls, who seemed at full liberty to wander where they chose. these men, after a short time, followed the same path as that which katrine had chosen, but they appeared merely idling, for occasionally they stopped, sat down, and took snuff, whilst now and then one or two would engage in a mimic fight, and, striking each others' shields, would threaten with their spears as though engaged in a deadly combat. at first these men scarcely attracted hans' attention, so wholly was he engaged in watching katrine; but being accustomed to notice every thing, however unimportant it might appear, he soon became interested in the proceedings of these warriors. katrine steadily advanced towards the ravine, and was now distant scarcely half a mile; but behind her, and within a quarter of a mile, were the armed matabili, who hans saw had steadily followed her and her sister, although they seemed otherwise engaged. "those men," at length said hans to his companions, "are following katrine, and either do so as a means of watching that she does not escape, or else they know we are near and mean to attack us; there are but ten of them, and we can surely dispose of that number. let us look to our priming; but we should not fire a shot if we can escape without doing so, for a gun discharged would alarm the whole country, and our escape would be very difficult. see, the men are coming closer to katrine, and they are calling to her. hear what they say, victor, `_wena musa hamba kona_,' they speak to her in kaffir, and say, `you must not go there.' "cess! if they lay hand on her i'll try a bullet at them even from here," said hans, as he observed two of the matabili run towards katrine and her sister. the two dutch girls were not, however, to be ordered like children. they knew perfectly well what was said to them, but did not intend to obey it. taking advantage of the temporary concealment afforded by some bushes behind which she walked, katrine seized her sister's hand and ran rapidly up the path into the ravine. although unaware of this proceeding, yet the matabili had intended to prevent the two girls from entering the ravine; and so the whole party ran forward in order to bring the two maidens back. the matabili, as well as the other tribes of south africa, used a certain amount of courtesy towards young and handsome women, although their wives are treated very much as are slaves. thus these men considered it rather a piece of coquetry that the girls should run away from them, and were apparently more amused than angry at it. thus, although katrine and her sister were fully yards in advance of their pursuers, yet the matabili knew that the maidens could not escape them; for even if compelled to spoor them, these experienced hunters would soon re-capture their prisoners. the point at which katrine entered the ravine was distant about yards from where hans was concealed; and thus, had he remained where he then was, the matabili would undoubtedly have captured the girls before they could have reached him. seeing this, he at once decided upon running down the ravine and intercepting the pursuers. the suddenness of a discharge of fire-arms, which he was now convinced must be done, would so alarm the matabili, ignorant as they were of the number of their foes, that their retreat would be immediate, and he would thus be left in undisturbed possession of katrine and her sister. without any explanation of his reasons to his companions, who were men that needed not that a plain fact should be made more plain by argument, hans said "follow me," and the three ran down the pathway to meet katrine, who, to the delight of hans, was soon visible, and safely held for a moment in his arms. "the matabili are coming," exclaimed katrine, "ten of them: can you fight them?" "yes, double the number would be nothing, now you are with me, katie." "but, hans, more are about. i fear so much for you. how can we escape from these brutal murderers? oh, it was fearful! my poor father was butchered before my eyes, and i lived to see it; but where can these men be? they were close behind us just now." hans was equally surprised at the disappearance of the matabili, whom he had expected to see immediately behind katrine and her sister, but who, it was evident, were not following her. seeing this, hans turned to his companions and said, "to the horses, men! not a moment must be lost now." hans, half carrying katrine, who, however, was well able to move on at speed, was followed by victor and bernhard, between whom was katrine's sister. the party walked and ran up the path towards where the horses had been left, and soon reached the open grassy glade where they had been allowed to graze. instead, however, of finding their five horses there ready saddled for mounting, and merely knee-haltered to prevent their straying, the place was deserted, and no horses visible. "bernhard," exclaimed hans, "where are the horses?" "i left them here, hans," replied bernhard, "they can't be far off. let us each take a path, and we shall soon bring them up: let the girls wait here for us." hans reluctantly quitted the side of katrine and selected the path to his left, his two companions taking two other paths. hans had proceeded but a few yards along his selected path, and was looking at the spoor of the horses, which was fresh on the ground before him, when a slight noise behind caused him to turn: he had but just time to raise his arm and partly ward off a blow aimed at his head by a matabili who was armed with a horn knobskerrie, when his arms were seized and he was thrown violently to the ground, his gun dragged from him, and he was held by the powerful arms of some five or six matabili. almost at the same instant a shout from victor and an oath from bernhard, combined with the sound of struggling in the bush, indicated to hans that his companions also had been captured; and therefore a regular ambush must have been prepared for the whole party. that he was not slaughtered at once, surprised him; for to make prisoners is usually considered by these warriors to be bad policy. still, to be thus suddenly made a prisoner, and to know that katrine also must be once more in the hands of his enemies, was a severe blow to hans, especially when success had just seemed about to crown his efforts. hans was almost immediately bound with his hands behind him and led, with shouts of triumph and laughter, to the open glade where he had expected to find his horses; there he found victor and bernhard, bound like himself, and near them more than fifty armed matabili warriors; whilst crouching on the ground, her arm round her sister, and crying bitterly, sat katrine, entirely overwhelmed by grief and disappointment. the horses were held by some boys near the group; whilst a matabili chief, who seemed to command the party, stood watching his prisoners. suddenly addressing hans, he said-- "why have you come armed and without notice into the country of moselekatse, when it is war between us?" to this inquiry hans gave no other answer than a look of disgust at the man, who, signalling to his followers, led the way down the ravine towards the kraals. chapter nine. hans sterk becomes a prisoner with his companions--finds an unexpected ally--plots an escape. there are few conditions more unpleasant to any man than that of being a prisoner. when, moreover, it happens to a man of active and enterprising habits, and when the captors are men who are bound by none of those laws which possess an influence in civilisation, and where, consequently, the prisoner may be put to death at any moment merely to gratify the whim of a despot, a captive's condition is one not to be envied. as soon as hans sterk found that he had been fairly entrapped and made prisoner by the matabili, he blamed himself for his want of watchfulness and caution: had he been one of the unskilled residents of the towns, he could not have been more easily outwitted. he saw that his captors looked at him with contempt and seemed to consider him quite a novice in the art of bush warfare; and as they talked unreservedly of their proceedings, he was enabled to find out how artful had been their plans. the matabili, he discovered, had crossed the spoor of his horses, and saw at once that it led to the ravine in which he was concealed; they believed that he must be with his companions concealed in that ravine, but if they followed him at once he would, being provided with horses, either escape by riding, or would fight and probably kill many of his enemies before he was himself slain. they decided therefore to ascertain first whether he was still in the ravine; and a young keen-eyed boy was despatched to the far side, to see if there were any spoor leading _out_; for if there were not, then the white men must be concealed in the ravine. as soon as this boy's report had been received, the matabili chiefs concluded that the men had come either to act as spies, which was unlikely, or else for the purpose of rescuing the two girls. this latter supposition was considered the more probable by the experienced chiefs; and the ravine having been carefully surrounded by a large party of the matabili, who, to avoid suspicion, left the kraals in parties of three or four only, a careful espionage was kept upon the two female prisoners, and hans' plot immediately discovered and guarded against, and preparations made for his capture and for that of his companions. the prisoners were conducted to the kraal from which katrine and her sister had escaped in the morning. the three men were placed in the hut, the door of which was closed, their hands tied behind them, and some half-dozen boys appointed to watch the hut from the exterior. there are times when men of the greatest energy and enterprise fail in the attempts they are making to obtain certain results; these failures do not invariably occur in consequence of want of skill or care on the part of the men themselves, but seem to be the effect of some inscrutable power, which is often termed luck. when again and again such failures happen, we are accustomed to be thoroughly cast down, and to feel that no endeavours of our own can aid us: do what we may, think what we may, yet an evil luck will attend us, and failure must follow. these seasons of ill-luck or want of success may be the means used to teach us that man's efforts alone can be but fruitless, and that it needs the assistance of higher powers to ensure success. it was with a feeling of utter despair that hans sterk contemplated his late failure and his present pitiable condition. like as a beaten chess-player reflects on the move which, if executed, might have saved him his game, so did hans turn over every act and thought of the past, in order to find how he might have avoided his late failure; but the fact remained, that the enemy had been too crafty for him, and he too sanguine of success. the hut in which he was a bound prisoner was like all the huts of the kaffirs. it was constructed of strong wicker-work, and thatched with reeds and long grass; the door was merely a small wattled hurdle, and did not so entirely block the doorway as to prevent those outside from looking in; the walls were so thin that voices and conversation, even though carried on in a moderately low voice, could be heard from hut to hut. after the three prisoners had remained silent a short period, hans said-- "friends, i am very sorry that i have brought you into this state. we have tried our best, but we have failed: men can do no more than try." "we have been unlucky," said bernhard; "and most likely shall not see another sun rise, for the old chief must be furious at his losses lately, and may gratify his vengeance by seeing us assagied." "don't let us look at the worst," said victor; "we must think of escape; it is no use lying here like sheep to be taken, to the slaughter. i too believe we shall die to-morrow, but let us at least try to escape." "rather difficult to escape, with our hands tied, and surrounded by enemies," remarked bernhard. "nothing is impossible to men with wits and nerve," replied hans; "and now i feel once more a man. thank you, victor, for giving me fresh strength by your remark, we will try to escape, and here is my plan: as soon as it is quite dark, we will free each other's arms; this can be done by biting the withes and hide rope of one of us, then he who is free can liberate the others. see, in the roof there is an assagy, with this we can cut the fastenings as soon as one pair of hands are free. next, one of us can go to the door and by some means attract the attention of the boys on watch, and bring them round to the front of the door; the other two can then work a way through this thin thatch and escape to the horses. the alarm need not be given at once; but if it should be, a run for life is better than nothing." "it would never succeed, hans," replied victor: "the noise of breaking through the thatch would be too great; perhaps a better plan may occur to us if we think for awhile." the three men sat silently turning over every possible means of escape for nearly a quarter of an hour; but no idea seemed to be likely to be practically useful. as they were thus meditating, they heard a young kaffir woman speaking to the boys who were on watch. she was laughing with them, and, from what the three prisoners could hear, she seemed to be rejoicing at their capture. at length she said, "i should like to throw some dirt at them, to let them know how little a matabili maiden thinks of them." and suiting the action to the words, she pushed aside the door, and, with a taunting laugh, threw a handful of earth at the prisoners. after a few words with the boys, she then withdrew, and all were again silent. a single term of abuse burst from the lips of bernhard as a lump of clay struck him; and then, with a look of contempt at the door near which the kaffir maiden had stood, he again racked his brain for some ideas which should aid him to escape. hans, who had been working his arms quietly but forcibly backwards and forwards for some time, suddenly withdrew one of his hands from the fastenings, exclaiming,--"so much for the tying of a matabili! you can free yourselves in five minutes, if you strain your knots. try what you can do." the two men thus addressed commenced straining their knots; which proceeding, however, was not as successful as had been that of hans. the latter, however, by one or two cuts of the assagy soon liberated the arms of his companions, and, to their surprise, addressed them in a whisper as follows:-- "soon after sunset we shall be free, so stretch your limbs, and be ready for a battle for life and freedom." "what is your plan, hans?" said victor; "let us hear." "it is not my plan; it is katrine's information. that ball of clay that the girl threw contained a roll of paper from katrine. this is what she says:-- "`an hour after sundown, there will not be a man in the kraal, only six boys to watch you and two old women to watch us. free your arms and make your escape; then your guns are in the chief's hut, the one with the large ox-horns over the doorway, the horses are in the kraal next the cow's kraal: we will be ready. the girl who takes this i have won by presents. i leave to you, hans, the plan: you may depend i tell you truth; i have learned all this from the girl.'" "and that was in the clay ball," exclaimed victor. "ah, bernhard, we are but stupid hands on the spoor. hans, after all, is the born leader. what made you think there was any thing in the ball, hans?" "i did not think the girl looked cruel," replied hans, "and she seemed acting a part as i looked at her." "let us make our plans now. what do you propose, hans?" inquired victor. "we will try my plan first, if that fail we will just rush out and drive off the boys, and so escape. i must find out where the men are all going to, for it depends on that where we ride to. our horses may not be very fit for a journey, however, and as we shall certainly be followed, and our spoor will be as plain as a waggon-track, we must take care; for once again captured, we shall never have another chance. ah, here comes the girl again." the matabili girl again came to the door, and with a loud laugh threw in a handful of dirt which she had appeared to pick up from the cattle-kraal near. amidst this heap was another lump of clay, from which hans drew a piece of paper, and read, "i can give you no other weapons than three assagies, these will be pushed through your hut soon after sunset; look out for them and draw them in rapidly, so as not to be seen. we must first ride _north_. god help us!" "katrine is better than gold," exclaimed victor, "and i for one am glad to be, running this risk for her, and will readily die without complaint, if need be. she will be a fit wife for you, hans." a gratified smile passed over hans' face as he heard katrine thus spoken of; but being more disposed to discuss with his companions any other subject than the merits of his beloved katrine, he said, "to get our guns will be the great thing, then we can fight well. why they give us this chance of escape, i don't know." "they trapped us so easily before, they fancy they can venture to leave us with boys, i suppose," was victor's explanation. "ah," replied hans, "they don't know that a real man often does not thoroughly act till his case seems desperate and he completely defeated, then he rises to victory." the sun appeared to move very slowly to the prisoners in the hut, who anxiously watched the lengthening shadows, and waited impatiently till it began to get dusk. the accuracy of katrine's information was soon evident, for between the slight openings of the door hans saw several matabili warriors, completely armed, silently move away across the plain outside the kraal. it appeared as if there were to be some general meeting, or gathering of the forces of the matabili chief, which required all the men to be present; and the prisoners being supposed securely bound, might well be entrusted to the boys, who, on the slightest alarm, might summon the men to their assistance. as nearly as the prisoners could guess, an hour had scarcely elapsed when the girl who had previously brought the notes of katrine and her sister, passed by the hut in which hans and his companions were confined, and singing a wild song, seemed intent on some occupation. the three dutchmen, watching eagerly for some signal, heard the word `loop' uttered several times, as though in the chorus of a song. "that," said hans, "must mean we are to go" (loop being the dutch for go or _be off_). "katrine has taught her this. bernhard, open the door quietly and look out, all the boys, i fancy, are behind the hut talking to this girl." the door was slowly pushed on one side by bernhard; and there appearing no watchers near, he whispered to his companions the result of his examination. "now for our lives," said hans, "and for those of the girls. we will go very quickly, but silently, to the hut for our guns, then for our horses, and then for katrine. let us go." bernhard led the way out of the hut, the door of which was so low that it was necessary to crawl out on all fours, victor followed, and lastly, hans, who stayed to fasten the wicker door in its former position. the three men then walked away towards the hut in which they believed their guns to be, and opening the door, hans first entered. the inside of the hut was so dark that scarcely any thing was visible; but no sooner had hans stood up and stretched out his arm, to feel the side of the hut, than his hand came in contact with the arm of a human being. in an instant his hand closed on this arm with a grip which indicated his knowledge that life or death depended now on every trivial circumstance; but before he could grasp the throat of whoever it was, a whispered voice exclaimed, "hans, it is i, here are your guns," and katrine's voice was immediately recognised by her lover. bernhard and victor had by this time entered the doorway, and were first alarmed, then delighted, to find hans talking to some one in the hut. as soon as katrine had disengaged herself from her lover, who held her almost as firmly as he would have held an enemy, she explained to him what she believed to be their best chance of escape. "we must leave this hut, and get out of the enclosure behind it," she said; "we can creep through an opening in the palisades, and then go round to the kraal where the horses are. it will be difficult to secure them, for two kaffirs are left in charge of them; but my sister is about there, looking out, and will tell us what is best to be done. all of you must put a blanket each over you, then, if you hide your hats, you will not be known in the dark from kaffirs, at least till you are seen very close. then we must lead the horses some distance before we ride away, and we must ride northwards, away from the kloof near which we were taken this morning. all the men have gone south, so we may miss them. do you see what to do, hans?" "yes," whispered hans, "we will go out now. let me feel, are my powder-horn and bullets here? yes, they are untouched. bernhard, you take these and take my gun; i will help katrine along: then i have a plan." the three men wrapped in blankets crept from the hut without being observed; the occupants of the various huts being engaged inside, cooking their evening meal. an opening large enough to allow of the four passing through, was found behind the hut; and in a few minutes hans had conducted katrine to a spot some fifty yards outside the enclosure, where he stopped near a clump of bushes that offered concealment. "now for the most difficult part of the affair," said hans, "to procure the horses. are the men old or young, katrine, who are watching them?" "young," said katrine, "and inexperienced." "then i will try a bold plan. if i call help! you, victor, come to me, whilst you, bernhard, take care of katrine; but if i don't call, then go down to the stream when i come out whistling from the cattle-kraal. where is your sister, kate?" "she is close here, hans, and will come when she hears one whistled note; she is hid i don't know where." "bring her to you, then, and now for the attempt," said hans. to men used, as were these hunters, to make rapid plans, and execute them as quickly, no further explanations were needed; and the two who remained with katrine waited patiently to see the result of hans' scheme, trusting to his skill and knowledge to bring about a favourable result. the method which hans intended to attempt was a bold one. he knew that, dark as it was, he could not be recognised unless he were examined closely. he also knew that the young kaffir or matabili men were ordered about in a very summary way by their elders, and no discussion was ever allowed when an order was given. he had ascertained, by the conversation of the boys outside of the hut, the name of the chief of the kraal; and thus provided he walked boldly towards the kraal, with no effort at concealment. as he approached he called in the matabili language, "where are you?" "here," answered the two men. "the chief wants to show the horses," said hans, in his best kaffir; "bring them out, i am to take them." a murmur of surprise escaped the two men as they heard this order; but fearing to dispute or question, they entered the kraal, and, unfastening the horses, led them out of the narrow gateway. hans covered himself almost completely with his blanket, and as the men came out he said, "follow me, lead the horses this way." as among the followers of moselekatse there were many renegades from the zulus, and some from various tribes in all directions, the difference in hans' pronunciation of several words was not noticed, or at least not paid particular attention to. and as he spoke in a tone of authority his orders were not questioned, though he was personally unknown to the two men in charge of the horses, who believed him to be some chief sent direct from moselekatse. when hans had led the men some few yards from the bushes where his companions were concealed, he stopped and said, "now leave the horses here; i can take them alone. go back and watch the cattle; the chief wants you to see that all is safe in the kraal." with that same tacit obedience which had before been shown by the men, and which would appear unaccountable in those who did not know the matabili character, the men who were directed to watch the horses actually gave them up to a stranger, the magic name of _the chief_ being sufficient to awe them. they, however, never dreamed of an enemy being near them; and the thought of the dutchmen who had been so easily trapped in the morning putting so bold a scheme into practice, would have seemed little short of impossible; and thus the horses were given up without any suspicion. one very low whistle had scarcely been given by hans before bernhard and victor, with katrine and her sister, were by his side. "get on this horse, katie," said hans, "and your sister on that next me, and we can now escape." "no," said katrine, "it will not do for us to ride. if any matabili saw us on a horse, they would know we were prisoners escaping, but if they only saw the horses they might not suspect; but now, hans, do you know which way to go in the dark?" "it is difficult to find the way," replied hans, "for i can see but a short distance; still i can tell by those three stars close together that we are going north." "yes, we are; and i think i can find the path here. we shall have to pass a kraal about half a mile farther on. what shall we do if any men come out?" "we must tell them we are going to take the horses to the chief," replied hans, "that may satisfy them." "it may; but this is not the way to the chief's kraal," replied katrine. "we shall be in danger there." the party moved on over the soft ground rapidly and quietly; the horses, seeming to recognise their masters, followed them without hesitation, and scarcely required to be touched by the rear follower. as they neared the kraal past which they had to walk, they heard sounds of loud talking and occasional singing, so that the slight noise of the horses' feet they trusted would not be heard. a matabili at all times, however, is watchful, and more particularly in time of war. just as the three men with their charge were opposite the kraal the singing and talking suddenly ceased, and some half-dozen men came out of their huts, and called out, "who is there?" "taking the horses by the chief's orders," replied hans, in matabili. resting his hand on katrine's arm, he whispered, "not a move, katrine, we must escape by boldness; any hurry now, and we may fail." katrine was a girl who had lived amidst events which the denizen of civilisation is unacquainted with: she had witnessed many rough scenes, was accustomed to hear tales of dangers and risks, and was thus seasoned, as it were, to a life of adventures. just as the most delicately nurtured english girl will travel by an express train without any very great fear the very day after some fearful accident may have happened on the railway by which she is a passenger, so did katrine trust that all might turn out well in spite of the apparent dangers around. still when she found that the approach of her party had been heard by the men of this kraal, and heard them speaking to hans, she feared another scene of bloodshed would soon be enacted, such as that to which she had been a witness when she was first captured by the matabili and her father slaughtered. her trembling arm indicated to hans her fears, but his whispered encouragement gave her strength and hope. the moment, however, was critical, and had not hans' answer been confident and distinct, he might have had to fight for his life under circumstances where he could not well escape; for it would have been almost certain death to have attempted to ride at speed on a night as dark as that on which they were escaping. fortunately the men were not curious; and most kaffirs having a dislike to move about much at night, in consequence of snakes, centipedes, and scorpions, on which their naked feet might tread, they waited inside their kraal until the party had passed, and the sound of their footsteps was heard no more. "we are safe so far," whispered hans, "thank god! can you tell me, katrine, where this path leads to?" "it leads down to the stream about a mile on, and then is lost in the plain beyond. it has been used for driving the cattle to and from water, and also for hunting, there being many `_wilde_' on the plain beyond." "if, then, we can cross the river, we may consider ourselves safe," remarked hans; "for we can then put you on the horses, and can ride all night. our spoor cannot be followed by night, and twelve hours' start ought to enable us to reach our people before we are overtaken." "but there are hundreds of the matabili out on war," said katrine, "and we may fall in with some of them." "ah! and i have lost my far-seer," said hans. "that is a loss. but we had better not talk; let us listen and think; we may then be less liable to a surprise." the party reached the stream of which katrine had spoken, and crossed it in safety, and found before them an apparently smooth, undulating plain. after journeying over this about half an hour, the moon rose, she being some days past the full. by her light, and by the aid of the stars as guides, hans pursued a course which led nearly in the direction of his countrymen's settlements; but as these were distant fully three days' journey, even riding at the best speed, and as the parry had no provisions, there seemed much to be overcome before a place of safety could be reached. chapter ten. the prisoners are free--the pursuit--the horses sick--the ride for life--the concealment. the morning following that on which hans and his companions had escaped, broke with all the splendour of an african day. the dew had fallen heavily during the night, and thus the first rays of the sun produced a mist which hung like steam over the valleys; but this soon clearing away, left the atmosphere clear and transparent; so that distance could not be measured by atmosphere, as in our misty climate, but a far-off range of mountains seemed within a short ride of the observers, whereas it was distant at feast fifty miles. this clearness had a great advantage for hans' party, as it rendered surprise less likely than if a dense fog or cloudy weather had prevailed. no sooner did the slightest sign of daylight appear, than hans, by the aid of some loose powder and a piece of rag, with a flint and steel lighted a fire, and commenced preparations for a breakfast. victor and bernhard, like the others of the party, had merely lain down under the shelter of some bushes to obtain a few hours' rest; but all had gone supperless to bed, if bed it could be termed. but in such a climate a night passed in the open country was not a very great hardship, even to young girls like katrine and her sister. that very unromantic feeling, hunger, was however demanding attention; and when victor and bernhard, suddenly awaking at the sound of hans' flint and steel, started up and observed daylight beginning to dawn, and hans making a fire, they, with an air of surprise, said-- "you have fire, hans, but where is the food?" "i did not like to fire a gun, lest i might disturb the country, and let some strange matabili know we were hereabouts; so i have procured breakfast with a matabili's assagy." "what have you?" eagerly asked the hungry hunters. "a young vleck vark and a porcupine," replied hans. "the porcupine i found out on the plains, and speared him before he got to his hole. the pig i saw run into a jackall's hole, so i waited quietly over it with my assagy till it came out to peep where i had gone. i stabbed it in the neck, and held it down till i killed it with my assagy. so we shall not starve yet, victor; and the girls can eat pork, if they object to porcupine." "ah! hans," said victor, "though i am an old hunter, i know i should starve in the desert where you would keep fat and sleek." it was a strange breakfast, that which took place on the mountain-spur, between the five white people on the morning in question. it is seldom that lovers pass through such scenes as those in which were hans and katrine. artificial life is now so much more general than is natural life, that few people are aware how very false is much that surrounds them. a well-bred english lady would probably imagine that she would rather starve than make a meal off a porcupine, when no plate or fork enabled her to eat, as some would term it, "like a christian." it is surprising, however, how soon we learn to dispense with these ornaments of the feast, as we may term them. the writer of this tale cannot recall to mind any more enjoyable feasts, though flavoured with the best of wines and the most intellectual society, and amidst scenes of richness or splendour, than some repasts eaten amidst the dense bush of an african forest, with no other companion than the one black follower whose duty it was to spoor or carry the game, and where the cooking was simply toasting on a ramrod over the camp-fire some of the steaks from the buck which an hour previously was roaming freely in the forest. that unrivalled sauce, "hunger," gave an additional flavour to the venison, whilst the most robust health and the purest air supplied the want of many of those addenda which are considered necessities in civilised dining-rooms. thus the breakfast of porcupine and wild pig, though no bread or salt were added, no tea or sugar, and nothing but a draught of pure water from a tiny mountain stream near, was relished by those who with a brief but refreshing sleep had passed the night under the cloudless canopy of heaven. hans had selected the halting-place for the night under some trees on a spur of a range of mountains which skirted the plains, so that as the morning dawned he might be able to see around, and thus possibly discover if any parties of the enemy were out in search of him. he found none, however, and therefore immediately breakfast was finished, the horses were mounted, and the party continued their journey, changing their direction now to the westward, in order to ride towards the district in which they believed their friends would be most likely to be found. the sun had nearly attained his meridian altitude before hans decided to halt, to off-saddle the horses, and to refresh the party, by partaking of the remainder of his morning's captures. the place that he had selected for the halt was a slightly wooded ravine, amidst the rocks of which a clear stream ran over a grassy or pebbly bed, behind him was a range of rocky hills, the summit of which was crowned by huge masses of rock, looking from the distance like vast slabs placed by giant strength in their present position. before them was an undulating plain, on which detached clumps of bushes and trees were scattered; tiny mountain-born streams flowed in various parts of this plain, and could be seen like silver threads winding about amongst trees, shrubs, and ferns, until two or three joining together formed a fair-sized river. on these plains herds of antelope were grazing, and seemed undisturbed by any enemy; ostriches were stalking here and there, whilst the grim circling vulture was wheeling in the air, watching for carrion on which to feast. "this is a beautiful district," exclaimed hans, as he examined the various attractive features of the scene; "it is too good for a black savage to own. what more could a man wish for than what he finds here? there is water in abundance, plenty of grass for his cattle and horses, a soil that would yield if the seed were merely thrown down, game in abundance, and a climate as good as any in africa. i have heard, but can scarcely believe, that in england there are men, strong men, who pass their whole lives in crowded places, in a country too where the sun is rarely seen, and all for the sake of getting more money than they want for their necessities, but which they thus slave for in order to make a show in the way of ornaments. can you believe, victor, that such men know what life really is?" "it is strange, hans, at least to us who know how to live by hunting, and whose cattle increase rapidly, if left to themselves; but perhaps these men you speak of would not be happy unless they were thus slaving all their lives. we are not all alike, hans, and few men know how to love nature." "if we live to get back to our friends, victor, i will marry katrine, and join the first party that _treks_ for a new station, whenever that may be. see those springbok, victor, by the tall acacias there, they scent an enemy, what is it? oh, for my far-seer! the rascally matabili have that, and won't know how to use it." "no need of a telescope, hans," said bernhard, who had joined the other two; "there is the cause for the springbok running away. those are matabili coming over the plain, and we had better be prepared for a gallop, for if they see us we shall have to try what four legs can do against two." "i don't believe they would openly attack us, for there are not more than forty men," replied hans, "and thirteen to one is scarcely enough odds to tempt them. they will follow us though, undoubtedly, and will endeavour to surprise us. we had better saddle up and be ready for a start at once." "katrine," said hans, "are you ready to go on? there are enemies on the plains below, and we had better ride forward." "yes, i am ready, hans, but are the horses fit?" replied katrine; "they seem very tired." hans walked towards the horses, and for nearly a minute watched them closely, particularly a well-bred hardy chestnut that had been ridden by katrine. this horse was standing with its head low, but did not feed, though the grass was in plenty close to its mouth. "victor," said hans at length, "come here." victor came to hans, who, pointing at the chestnut said, "look!" victor for an instant examined the animal, and then with an exclamation said, "it is the sickness. we are lost if the others go in the same way." "they will go for certain," replied hans, "and so we had better ride whilst we can. that chestnut will be dead in an hour. we must leave him here, and push on with the others." the sickness to which victor referred is the dreaded pest of every south african traveller: the cattle disease which lately in england has carried off whole herds, is not dissimilar to the so-called sickness which affects south african horses and cattle. a horse may appear quite well in the morning, and even when ridden indicate no signs of illness; perhaps about mid-day he may appear slightly dull and lazy, and in the evening be dead. no remedy has yet been found to be effective against this sickness, and thus every traveller bargains to lose a large percentage of horses and oxen on every trip that he makes into strange districts; for it seems that horses seasoned in one district take the disease in another, and thus the traveller has to test the constitution of the animal that carries him by passing through various portions of country, many of which are what may be termed infected. in the far desert the loss of cattle and horses is a disaster beyond remedy, and often causes the ruin of the hunter, or, as in the present case, entails a great risk of life. almost concealed, even from close observation, amidst the dense bush of the ravine, hans' party believed they had escaped being seen by the ever-watchful matabili, who seemed to continue their journey in the same direction they were pursuing when first observed. the horses were kept concealed behind the densest bushes, whilst hans watched the enemy, who was more than a mile distant from him. the warrior, however, trained in the desert observes facts which would escape the attention of the civilised, or half-civilised man, and notices and attaches a meaning to trifling circumstances quite beyond the perception of the other. just as the matabili were within the shortest distance at which their path would bring them near the white fugitives, some vultures, attracted probably by the horses of the dutchmen, halted in their steady flight, and commenced circling overhead hans observed this at once, and knew the danger of the circumstance. "the matabili will see this and will become suspicious," hans exclaimed; "they are not men to overlook the vultures' signal." scarcely had he spoken before the matabili halted and stood gazing at the bushes amidst which the party were crouching. a very short examination seemed to satisfy them, for, dividing into two parties, they started at a run towards the ravine, beating their shields and muttering a low-toned song. "we had better ride for it," said hans; "we might kill half their number, but the remainder would finish us. come, katie, mount the schimmel horse; we will have a gallop." the two girls were soon mounted, and though they had to ride on a man's saddle, with one stirrup crossed over to supply the place of a pommel, they had been too much accustomed to horses from their childhood to find much difficulty in this performance. victor and bernhard were soon ready also, and merely waiting for the signal to gallop off. "let the men descend into that hollow," said hans, "then they will not see us ride away. we will keep the slope of the hill, as the streams are smaller there than in the valley below. now, be ready, men, and off with you." the horses, though far from fresh, in consequence of the small amount of food they had eaten, yet responded to the application of the impromptu whip which each rider had provided himself with, and started at a pace which, if continued, would have placed the riders far beyond the possibility of capture from any pedestrians. hans, however, knew the infectious nature of the sickness, and watched with anxiety the action of the various horses, for if another horse died, one animal would have to carry double weight, a fact which would prevent any rapid progress. he knew too that the matabili could journey fully fifty miles a day for several days, and this would be more than the half-starved horses could manage; so that the present position was one of extreme danger. by the time the matabili had reached the spot on which hans and his party had been concealed, he had ridden nearly two miles away, and his spoor alone showed the matabili how near they had been to their enemies; for they at once recognised the freshness of this spoor, whilst the dying horse showed that he had not been long deserted. not knowing that two out of the five riders were women, the matabili fortunately did not pursue in a body, but despatching two of their fastest and best runners to watch the enemy and to bring back the latest intelligence, the remainder continued their journey towards the head-quarters of their chief. during fully three hours hans rode steadily onwards, the sun, the ranges of hills, and the streams serving to show him in which direction he should travel. wishing to give the horses every chance, he then deemed it advisable to halt, and allow the animals to graze, as also to try and procure some food for the party. selecting the bank of a stream, where a clear open space round prevented much chance of a surprise, he again off-saddled the horses; and telling victor and bernhard to prepare a fire, he started in search of food. to a hunter as well skilled as was hans in the habits of animals it was not difficult to procure game when provided with a gun. some patches of grass and weeds on the leeward side of a ravine at once attracted him; there he thought either a reitbok or a duiker should be found, and either would supply enough food for two days. hans was correct in his judgment, and obtained an easy shot at a reitbok, which he killed, and thus provided his companions with food sufficient for two days. roughly cooked as it was, and eaten with nothing else, it yet was not despised by any one of the party. about two hours' additional riding from the last resting-place completed the day's journey, and a suitable locality having been chosen, the party halted for the night, hans agreeing to sleep first whilst victor watched, and then to take his turn about midnight. chapter eleven. night in the wilderness--the lions roar--the savage outwitted by a lion--the party take up a good position. there are few more singular experiences to the civilised man than to camp in the wilderness; and there are now but few countries in the world where such an event can occur. man has now spread so widely over our planet, that but few spots can be found in the state in which nature framed them. to find any spot so far removed from the residence of man that no sound can reach it which is indicative of a human being, is indeed a rarity. the distant bark of a dog, the tinkle of a bell, the bleating of a sheep, or the sound of a signal gun, can all be heard on a still night for many miles. thus, when we say that to experience the full effects of a night in the wilderness, we should be at least forty or fifty miles from any residence of human beings, and in a country where the wild animals are as yet no more than partially thinned by the occasional visits of hunters, probably africa alone of all the continents yields to the hunter the thorough wilderness, with its attendant thrilling additions. india is generally too much populated: america somewhat destitute of numerous members of the ferae which abound in africa. europe is the land of men and cities, and thus we return to africa as the true hunter's paradise. scarcely has the sun disappeared below the african horizon, than the hunter realises the novelty of his position in the wilderness; for a space of nearly half an hour the air vibrates with the sharp cricket-like cry, or deep hum of hundreds of insect creatures who are thus signalling their presence to each other. from amidst a lofty ruined mass of rocks, which appeared by day deserted by every living creature, except a few lizards and poisonous snakes, a grim gaunt figure stalks out, and ascending a prominent block of stone, gazes around at the domain over which darkness has again given it dominion. man may by day be monarch of the hill-side and plain, but by night the lion may well be called monarch of all he surveys. from the dimly-seen, statue-like figure on the rock, a few deep, dissatisfied growls come rolling over the plain, strike the face of the rock, and echo back again in confused murmurs, evincing the power of the mighty beast who thus, with no apparent effort, speaks to all within a range of several miles. from a far-distant and woody ravine, a fiend-like yell next breaks the silence of the night, and is followed by a deep-drawn, howling sigh, as the strand wolf wanders forth to search for the carrion of the day, or to capture such prey as he is capable of doing. busy, silent-moving forms glide past the hunter, and, with a snort of terror or a growl of anger, move away to the distance, scarce liking to let alone so apparently defenceless a creature as man seems to be, yet awed by a certain presence which the brute creation never thoroughly overcome. tiny creeping animals again crackle the crisp leaves as they scamper about in their fastnesses among the bushes, and sniff the scent of the strange intruder; whilst the noiseless flapping of wings attracts for an instant the hunter's sight as some ghost-like moving night-bird flies around him, and examines the strange being that has intruded into its domain. suddenly the sound of a struggle startles the hunter, and a cry of distress from a stricken creature is audible, whilst frightened animals rush hither and thither for a time, and then again relapse into their former indifference. a lion, perhaps, has captured its evening prey from amongst a grazing herd; or a leopard has struck down the antelope that it has been cautiously watching and stalking during the past half-hour. and then again a silence so still, so unbroken, follows the past turmoil, that the desert wanderer fancies he can hear the thin, fleecy clouds moving above him, or the long-absent but deeply-loved voice of one who should be near him. amidst all the danger, all the novelty of the scene, however, exhausted nature usually exerts her sway, and the hyena's laugh or leopard's cry ceases to be heard, whilst the traveller passes into the unconsciousness of sleep, and dreams probably of scenes the very opposite of those amidst which he then is, and awakes, scarcely knowing which is the reality--the dream of old, well-known scenes, amidst which the greater part of his life has been passed, or the wild, unusual events transpiring around him. to men of adventure such as hans and his companions, a night in the desert was not unusual, and they experienced but few of the sensations which a more civilised man undoubtedly would feel; yet to these hunters there was something awe-inspiring in the calm stillness of the night, broken only by the shrieks and cries of night wanderers among the wild animals, or the snorts of terror from their horses as these sounds met their ears. it was past midnight when hans commenced his watch, and was the only one of the five who was awake. the sisters were sheltered from the dew by a blanket supported by two or three sticks, and arranged so as to form a kind of tent. the two dutchmen were lying beneath some bushes with merely the blanket over them that served during the day to protect their horses' backs from a badly-stuffed saddle. although hans believed that any attack from an enemy was unlikely, yet, being a man who knew the value of guarding against every possible, not every likely danger only, he placed himself within a few yards of katrine and her sister, and there listened attentively to every sound that broke the silence of the night. when darkness spreads her mantle over the earth it is by sound alone that an enemy can be discovered; for sight is then useless, and a man who has thoroughly trained his hearing can distinguish sounds which are inaudible and unintelligible to the mere tyro. to the ears of hans the tread of an animal with a hoof would have been recognised from that of a soft-footed animal, such as a lion or leopard, and the footsteps of a man could have been distinguished from those of a quadruped. it is almost impossible for the civilised man to realise the acuteness of the senses of one accustomed to trust his life to his senses, the sight, hearing, and even scent seem to become added to in power, and in fact to have an additional sense given to each. we all know how we can readily distinguish the footstep of some particular friend from that of a stranger, though how we do so it would puzzle us to explain; but thus it is that the trained hunter can instantly decide that a hyaena or antelope is walking past him, that a man is near, or that some other animal is moving in his vicinity. it was with mingled feelings of surprise and half-doubt that hans heard what he was confident was the footstep of a man soon after he had taken his position near katrine. for several minutes not a sound disturbed the stillness of the night except the somewhat heavy breathing of the sleepers; this, however, was a source of great danger. to the acute ears of a lion, or even of a kaffir, this heavy breathing could have been heard at a distance of several yards, and could thus serve as a guide to either dangerous enemy. hans, however, did not like to disturb the sleepers until the last moment, or unless he found he alone was unable to deal with the foe. it was evident to hans that whoever or whatever was the foe who approached, it was one who used the greatest caution: but two or three steps at a time were taken, and then all was quiet. from this fact hans was convinced that a man was the enemy who was near him, for no other creature could act with so much caution. he was also aware of the peculiar individual daring of members of the kaffir race. many men are brave in a crowd, and when led on by example or enthusiasm, but the kaffir is an epicure in excitement. he likes to venture upon feats of daring alone, and the night is to him the most suitable time for such deeds. it matters not how great is the risk, the greater the risk the greater seems to be the excitement. knowing this, hans believed it possible that one single kaffir might have followed on their spoor, have watched him as he halted for the night, and was now desirous of capturing his guns or assagying some of the sleepers, and then retreating, boast at his kraal of his deeds. believing this, hans had an additional reason for remaining silent, for he knew that should he awake his companions, the kaffir would readily escape, or wait for a more favourable opportunity for attack. grasping his hunting-knife firmly, hans crouched close to the ground and waited anxiously for the nearer approach of his foe. the slow, stealthy tread of the man was evidently guided by the sound of the sleepers, for no eyes could distinguish forms amidst the darkness, and hans soon found that light as was the breathing of katrine and her sister, yet this sound was guiding the man towards them. for several minutes hans could hear no sound, and he began to fancy the man feared to approach nearer, but at length to his surprise and almost fear, he could distinguish within ten feet of him the figure of a man with arm erect, and in his hand a spear ready to cast. the figure seemed to have risen out of the earth, so silently had it gained its position in the midst of the party; and had not a man as well-trained and as keenly sensed as hans been on watch, a complete surprise could have been effected. with a movement as slow and cautious as that of the kaffir, hans gathered himself together for a spring on his enemy, who stood listening to the sleepers' long-drawn breaths, then with a sudden bound he dashed forward, and stabbed with his long knife at where he believed he would reach the kaffir. he had however either miscalculated his distance, or his enemy was too quick for him, for nothing resisted his stabs, and he fell headlong to the ground, having stumbled over the underwood before him. in an instant he was on his feet again, and crouched down to catch sight if possible of his foe, but nothing was to be seen, and had it not been for a slight rustling of the leaves and the crushing of a few sticks, he would have doubted whether his eyes had not been deceived. these sounds, however, would have convinced him, had he been in doubt, that no vision had crossed his sight, but a substantial and quick-witted enemy; and thus when victor and bernhard, awakened by the noise made by hans' fall, inquired what was the matter, he was able to whisper in reply, "a single matabili has tried to becroup us as we slept." "where is he?" said victor: "has he escaped?" before hans could reply, a sound struck upon the ears of the three men which caused them to grasp their rifles with firmness, whilst the two girls started up with a shriek of terror. this noise was the savage roar of a lion, followed by the agonised yell of a human being in fear and suffering, a momentary struggle, the cracking of some brittle substance, and then the deep, guttural, satisfied grunts of a monster which has captured its prey. "the matabili is killed by a man-eater," whispered hans; "and perhaps he has saved one of us. i believed i smelt a lion some two hours ago, and perhaps he has been crouching near us, watching for one of us." "katie, dear," exclaimed hans, "don't be afraid. there is no danger: keep quiet, and lie and rest, and, if you can, sleep. we need not start for two hours yet." "what was that fearful noise, hans? i dreamed you were killed." "no, katie, i am well, thank god, and ready to do good service yet: it was only some wild animal made a noise; but trust us three to keep you safe. don't talk, dear, but try and sleep, at least keep quiet; for a human voice in this place is so unusual, that even the bats will come and look at us if they hear it. sleep again, katie, all is safe." "we must all keep awake now," hans whispered to his companions: "that lion may attract others. let us sit back to back, and let no man speak without a cause, and then let it be in the lowest whisper: our lives and those of the poor girls depend now upon such apparent trifles as these." the three men sat back to back, and thus each had one-third of the horizon to examine, so that no enemy could approach from any direction where a pair of eyes were not on watch. the night was a still and clear one, and sounds were audible from a considerable distance; near them, however, were noises which kept these hardy hunters in a state of excitement. the lion having captured its prey, had dragged it but a few yards, and had then commenced feasting on it. the sound of the powerful brute's jaws was distinctly heard as it crunched the bones of its victim, and when at length it had satisfied its hunger, and seemed to have retired a short distance to sleep, other and smaller carnivora squabbled over the remains of the monarch's feast, and with even more noise fought for their supper. the poor half-starved horses were carefully hobbled and made fast to each other and to the bushes near, and thus could not escape. their snorting and uneasiness showed that they were well aware of the presence of their formidable enemy; but the feeble state to which they were reduced caused them to seem almost indifferent to dangers which at other times would have rendered them almost frantic. after a long silence and most intent listening had convinced the hunters that no immediate danger threatened them, hans, speaking in a whisper, said-- "that lion must have been stalking our horses when the matabili came in his way. i wonder was there another man with this one? they often venture alone on these risky journeys. this man, however, will never hunt again in these fields." "it is strange that he should have been thus trapped by a lion whilst trying to stalk us," whispered victor: "it is the first time i ever found a lion to be my friend, but he has saved us powder and shot. tell us, hans, how the man approached us." hans gave a brief description of the manner in which he had heard the man approaching, and of his precautions to prevent an accident, and explained all details until the roar of the lion announced the unexpected termination of the matabili's expedition. "the morning will soon break now," said hans; "the eastern sky is getting lighter; it will be an anxious moment to see how the horses are, for on them mainly depends our safety. how far, think you, are we from our people?" "we shall take three days' riding at least to reach them, i think," said bernhard. "yes, quite that," said victor, "and more too, if there are enemies in the way, for then we may have to ride round." "there is light enough now to look about us; so let us examine the horses, and allow them to feed if they will," said hans; "we shall want all their strength." the three men arose, and stretching themselves after their somewhat cramped positions, examined their horses, which were standing quietly near. to the experienced eyes of the hunters, these animals presented a very pitiable condition. out of the five horses one only seemed lively, and inclined to eat; the remaining four, with hanging heads, lustreless eyes, and drooping ears, seemed indifferent to all around them. a look of despair was exchanged by the three men, as this fact was presented to them. "in a few hours we shall have but one horse," exclaimed hans; "strong as katie is, her sister is weak, and they can never walk to our people. if the matabili follow us, we must die. can you see a remedy, men?" "we can sell our lives dearly," exclaimed bernhard; "that we can at least do. i have thirty bullets at least in my pouch, and in my horn thirty charges of powder. we may beat off a large party of the enemy." "the matabili are not easily beaten off," remarked hans: "they rush on in a body, and though you may kill some, the others are upon you before you can have time to load. if we could have some of those many-barrelled guns that i have heard of which fire off several times one after the other, we could do nothing but kill more before we were killed; but with our roers only, we can do but little." whilst the men were thus talking in the twilight, katie and her sister, fully awake, joined them before their presence was known; and hearing this last remark, the quick-witted girl at once suspected that the horses were unfit to continue their journey. "we can walk, hans," said katrine, as she touched his shoulder, "we can walk, though, perhaps, not so fast as you can; but we can walk ever so far." "if it were walking only, katie, it would not be much; but it may be we should have to run, and that at a greater speed than a matabili could follow; that is why i fear." "well, leave us here, and you go on, and bring us back help. the `_mensch_' will soon come to us, and we could stop here till they arrive." "we live or die together, katie; i will never leave you here," exclaimed hans. "but there is something to be thought of, though. victor and bernhard, let me tell you my plan." the two men turned from the horses, whose pitiable condition they had been contemplating, to hans, and waited for his words. after a moment's thought, hans exclaimed, "it is our best chance, and it will succeed. this is the plan:--the black horse is as yet well. you bernhard, or you victor, as you may choose, upsaddle at once, and ride for our lager. as soon as you reach it, tell maritz, or any one who is our friend, of our being left in the desert. i have horses among the people, and there are those who will help us. come back with help and with horses, and we will get safe again among our people." "and where will you be, hans?" was victor's inquiry. "i," said hans, "will move on to that range of hills; there are kloofs and rocks there amidst which i can easily find a place of security for katie and her sister; for the rest trust a hunter. they shall neither starve nor be made prisoners whilst i live. so now, which of you will go? it is the post of danger to go as much as to remain. you, bernhard, are the lightest man, and ought thus to ride fastest. in six days you should be back, and by that time we shall be accustomed to a rough life." "if victor agrees to this, i will go," said bernhard; "and the sooner i go the better: first, though, shall we shoot the lion that killed the kaffir? otherwise he might be an unpleasant neighbour to you, as he has tasted human flesh." "we had better let him stand," said hans: "a shot fired here now might be heard on this still day twenty miles. we need not tell every pair of ears within twenty miles that white men are about, for then, perhaps, we might have curious eyes coming to look at us; besides, the lion may be useful to us again." "how?" exclaimed the two hunters; "not in killing another matabili?" "no," said hans; "but the sooner our horses are eaten the better. the vultures will be streaming in this direction very shortly, and as long as a scrap of flesh is on the bones of the animals the _vogels_ will be hovering around this spot. a matabili would naturally come to see what was dead here, and might find our spoor; so, instead of one, i wish there were twenty lions ready to feast on our horses. i have no fear of lions when i get to those hills, for i will soon make a place there suitable for our safety. so we had better save our powder and bullets for even more cruel enemies than a lion." "that is true," exclaimed hans' two companions: "so we will not seek to kill him. let us look at the spot where he struck down the matabili." the three hunters walked cautiously in the direction in which the lion might be yet concealed, and examined every bush and patch of grass around them. the footprints of the matabili could be easily traced by these expert spoorers, and they soon found the spot on which the man had been killed. the lion had apparently followed the man from the direction of the hunters, and had struck him down at once, the assagies of the savage being found in a cluster, as though dropped from the helpless hand of the stricken man; the body had then been dragged away about forty yards to some long grass, where the lion had commenced his feast, which had been finished by hyenas and jackalls; so that except a few bones, nothing remained to indicate that a human being had been, sacrificed to the fury of a wild beast. "this might have been the fate of one of us," said hans, as he pointed to the few remains before him. "it is the will of god to have spared us, and to have destroyed our enemy. we will trust that our fate may not be like his. we had better return now and make our arrangements at once. we will conceal the saddles and bridles, and then they may be of use if you bring spare horses. so now for work, men, and you, bernhard, had better ride on. you will not mistake your way, will you?" "no. i shall find the line easy, and my only fear is whether the horse will carry me. i will bring you help, and that very shortly, or my life will be lost in the attempt--trust me, hans;" and with a hearty farewell to the party, bernhard rode off, on an expedition fraught with no little danger, for he had pathless plains to traverse, rivers to cross, mountain-ranges to find a pass through, and all this with the constant possibility of enemies around him, who would follow him till a chance occurred of taking him at a disadvantage. chapter twelve. preparations for a siege--the rock and caves--wild bees and rock rabbits--the baboons--the night watch. when bernhard's course had been watched for some time, hans decided at once to make his preparations for a week's residence in the wilderness. he called victor to his side, and explained to him the advantage of selecting the range of hills which were distant about two miles. these hills were rocky and steep, and thus an enemy could approach only from one side. there was much underwood, and thus there seemed every probability of a secure retreat being found. the difficulty, however, seemed to be how to reach these hills without leaving a visible trail. these advantages and drawbacks having been discussed between the two hunters, it was decided to run the risk of leaving a trail rather than wait where they then were; but scarcely had hans come to this conclusion than, upon looking westwards, from which direction the wind was blowing, he eagerly exclaimed-- "god is good, and favours us. look, victor, a storm is coming." "and what of that, hans?" exclaimed victor. "our spoor will be washed out, victor: make haste, let us move on rapidly and gain those hills, and if we do so before the rain, the keenest-eyed matabili will not be able to trace us; so come along. if no eyes are now on us, we may live here for a week without being discovered. keep close together, katie, and by my side, take advantage of every bush or slope of ground, and we will yet live to join our people again." the two hunters and their charges walked rapidly towards the hills which had been referred to, and entering on an old water-course, worked their way up towards the summit of the kloof. large blocks of rocks were lying about in all directions, and the water during heavy rains had worked its way among these, so that several hollows were scooped out so as to form caves large enough to hold one or two human beings; these, however, were not places which an experienced man like hans would select for a resting-place, for he knew that the same cause which had produced these holes would render them unsuitable for habitations. he advanced, therefore, until he found some overhanging rocks which offered an ample protection against any rains which might fall, or winds that might blow, and here putting down the saddles and other articles that he had carried from the last outspan, he requested victor to remain with katrine and her sister until he had examined the surrounding ground. "you know the call of the grey monkey, victor?" said hans: "let three distinct calls be a signal that one of us requires the presence of the other. and now i will go and examine round us." hans ascended the kloof, and keeping along the edge of the bush, walked onwards along what at first seemed an old game path; but at length, as he examined this, he became convinced it had once been used and worn by human beings, though now it had been long untrodden; he followed this path until it led him to a small piece of table-land not much larger than a good-sized english drawing-room, which was reached by a very narrow path along a ridge of rocks; this table-land was formed by a solid block of rock, which descended perpendicularly for fully sixty feet on three sides, whilst on the fourth there was a wall of rock rising feet above him. to the eyes of hans, this place was a fort almost impregnable, and as he scanned the country round, he felt that with twenty trusty men he could hold it against a nation of savages. the face of the rock had been scooped out by artificial means, and two caves about eight feet deep and six feet high had been formed evidently with great labour. this hans knew must be the work of bushmen, who for some reason had now apparently deserted the locality. from these caves the surrounding country could be seen in all directions, and water being within a few yards, hans at once selected this place for the residence of his companions. inside the cave were rough carvings of various creatures, scratched on the stone of the rock, whilst just outside a valuable article lay neglected; this was a large gourd, capable of containing about two quarts of water. hans at once placed this inside the cave, and then commenced cutting some long, dry grass, that grew on the slope near; having procured sufficient of this to make a soft bed in one of the caves, he descended the ravine, and rejoined victor and the two girls. "a storm is coming," he said, "and that will wash out our spoor; so now come with me, and i will show you a nice quiet retreat before the rain falls." victor, aided by hans and the two girls, ascended the ravine, and on seeing the caves and the security of the retreat, which were evident at once even to the inexperienced eyes of the girls, they were delighted. "no one can find us here, hans," said katrine; "and if they found us, they could not get at us. however did you come to know of it?" "i found it by chance," said hans; "but now, katie, you must cover your dress with this grass, and don't let a sign of a ribbon be seen, for there may be eyes in every bush, and our safety depends on escaping being seen." "here comes the rain," exclaimed victor, as the heavy drops of a thunder-shower came pouring down, followed by a deluge of rain: "that will wash out our footprints, and now we cannot be traced; so if we avoid being seen we must be safe. but hans, what food have we? i am starving, and the girls must sadly want food." "there is still some venison, but i am going out after the rain is over to get something else. now, katie, you can be useful; use your bright eyes, and you yours too, meechy, and look all over those hills and plains and see what passes or moves about there. victor, get some dry wood from out of that next cave, and some grass. we will have a fire presently, and cook some more food, for i can get something, i believe, without firing a shot, for the kaffir's spears are not bad weapons." victor did as requested, and hans, carrying his gun for his protection, and in case of danger, left the caves and walked slowly along the old path, looking in all directions for signs of game. many brilliant flowers grew on this hill-side, and thus added to the beauty of the scene, whilst flowering acacias scented the air with their fragrance. on one of the branches of an acacia that hung low, hans noticed several bees busily engaged gathering honey; from among these he selected one whose legs were thickly covered with the spoil from the flowers; this bee he struck roughly from the branch and carefully watched. the creature, after buzzing angrily round hans' head once or twice, darted off up the ravine. hans watched it as long as it was in sight, and then followed the direction in which the creature had retreated. after walking about yards hans disturbed another bee that was busily engaged gathering honey; this creature flew away also up the ravine, and hans quickly followed it. he knew that when a bee laden with honey is alarmed it will fly to its hive, and he, being desirous of procuring honey, adopted this means to discover the nest or hive. hans was soon guided by the bees to their hive, and the african bee, being by no means so formidable a creature as its english brother, allows its honey to be taken by those who understand how to do it. the method is, if the honey be in a hollow tree, or in a cleft of the rock, or such a locality, to pay no attention to the buzzing of the bees, or to attempt in any way to knock them away, should they settle on you, but to slowly insert the hand into the nest, and withdraw the honeycomb and carry it away. it rarely happens that the bees attack any one, and should they do so their sting is far less painful than is that of the english bee. [having taken many bees' nests in africa, we were but once attacked by the bees. this took place in consequence of accidentally squeezing a bee between our hand and the tree in which was its honey; the little creature gave a sharp, angry buzz, which seemed the signal for attack, as about twenty bees flew on our head, and several on the face; they all stung, the majority leaving their stings in, but in less than five minutes all the smarting had gone away. one sting from an english red-hipped humble bee is worse than twenty african bees' stings.] hans procured a large heap of honeycomb, with which he proceeded to the caves. he knew that the time might come when they could not leave the caves, and thus, to collect any thing that might serve for food was a proceeding not to be neglected; and honey, though not very substantial, was yet food which made a change from mere flesh. what hans hoped to get were some rock rabbits, the daas of the dutch, and the coney of scripture. these little creatures, not much bigger than a common rabbit, are usually found among rocks, and are very good eating; they are, however, very watchful, and require an expert shot to be able to hit them, for they rarely allow a hunter to approach nearer than one hundred yards to them. hans found that the kloofs were full of game. there were guinea-fowl and pheasants in abundance, whilst buck of various kinds had left so many footmarks, that it was evident they abounded in the neighbourhood. he soon discovered the traces of rock rabbits, and with the help of the broad blade of the kaffir's assagy he was able to dig out four of these creatures. thus provided with food he returned to the caves, and observing that the wood which had been collected was all more or less damp, he at once decided that cooking must be left till the night. "you see, victor, if we made a fire now, the smoke could be seen for miles, and would thus guide an enemy to us. there is no possible means of preventing this smoke from ascending, so we must not make a fire by day with damp wood. by night we must not show the light of a fire; but that is more easily avoided. we can cover the mouth of the cave, or we can make a fire below here, and can thus cook our food safely, for the smoke cannot be seen by night. we ought to cook enough to do without a fire for a week, and then one risk only is run." "in the water-course we came up the water has run under ground," remarked victor; "there is room for a fire in that, and no light could be seen from the distance." "i remember," said hans. "we will collect wood and grass, so as to be ready for the night; then i will try to knock down some guinea-fowl or pheasants." hans, having cut some stout sticks with a knob at the end, again made an expedition into the kloof, and succeeded in knocking down several guinea-fowl with these sticks, which he threw with the skill of a kaffir. the guinea-fowl, endeavouring to conceal themselves by hiding or crouching amidst the long grass, would allow themselves almost to be trodden on before they would fly away. in addition to the rabbits and guinea-fowl, hans collected a great many eggs, and thus was provided with food enough to last a week, without incurring the necessity of firing a shot. no sooner had this essential preparation been completed than hans cut several long, straight sticks, which he thrust into the ground in front of the caves, and at about a foot apart: across these he fastened several horizontal twigs; first by lacing them in and out, and secondly by lashing the ends with the bark that he peeled off a tall, soft-wooded greenish shrub. having thus traced out a framework, he thatched this with the long tambookie grass which grew in the kloof, and thus before sundown he had formed a very complete room, perfectly sheltered from the wind and rain. in front of this thatched doorway he placed some branches of trees, and thus prevented any person at a distance from being attracted by an artificial-looking construction. hans was much pleased with his work, and called to katrine to examine it from a short distance. "you could not tell there was any thing there, katie, except a few bushes, unless you went much closer." "no, hans, it is cleverly done; but i fear there would be no escape for us if any enemy once came on to this bit of ground." "no, there would be none, katie; so we will hope they will not come here; some of them would leave their bones here, that is certain; so it is better for them they should not come. i will now go down and see about cooking our rabbits, for some hot food will be good for us." hans descended to the natural hole in the rocks where he intended lighting his fire as soon as it was dark enough to prevent the smoke from being seen, and having waited till he thought his attempt might be safely made, he lighted his fire, and adding plenty of wood, soon had a sufficient quantity of heat to cook all his game. upon leaving the fire and re-ascending the ravine he was startled by seeing the outline of several figures on the summits of the rocks above them. darkness had now set in, but it would not have been too dark to have enabled him to distinguish these objects, had he not been lately dazzled by the fire-light; this, however, had damaged his keenness of vision for a time, and as the objects disappeared as soon as he moved in the bushes, he had no second chance of examining them. from what he saw, however, he was certain that either kaffirs or bushmen were on the rocks above him. in either case his condition would be unpleasant, for with the bushman, every man's hand was against him, and his against every man's; and if the matabili had traced him to his present retreat, his career would be soon terminated. in either case not a moment was to be lost; so he rapidly moved over the distance which separated him from the caves, when whispering to victor what he had seen, they cautioned katrine to keep quiet and concealed, and grasping their rifles, they took up a position from which they could obtain a commanding view of the ridge on which hans had seen the men. they had not long to wait before their enemy appeared, drawn out in relief against the sky for a background. objects on the ridge were visible which could not have been seen had they not been thus situated. for this reason both hans and victor soon saw above twenty figures slowly ascend the ridge, and there stand and examine the surrounding country. as he saw the number of the enemy hans raised his arm and touched victor, whilst in a whisper he said, "they must be bushmen." it seemed impossible that the whisper of hans could be audible at the distance at which the supposed bushmen were examining the kloofs, and still more improbable that the movement of hans could have been seen even by a bushman's eyes, yet, on the instant, each figure disappeared as though by magic, whilst no sound met the ears of the hunters. "victor," exclaimed hans, "those are not mortal enemies. i have killed in my day more than twenty kaffirs, principally amakosa: can these be the men's ghosts, sent here now to torment me? i shot them in fair fight and for the defence of my life or cattle,--yet no mortal could have seen me move or heard me speak, but when i did both, they sank into the rocks to a man." "wait, hans, let us see what happens; our cause is a good one, and in such a case though the devil may be powerful, god must be more than a match for him. god would not allow the dead kaffirs to worry us." "there! there! hans, see there are more; they stand up on the rocks, and are carrying something to hurl at us. a bullet could not touch a being belonging to the dead, or i would fire." "i wish i had consulted the missionary about such a case," earnestly exclaimed hans; "too many mensch laugh at the kaffirs who believe their fathers come and talk to them; but whatever may be this enemy, i, for one, would never laugh at a nation's belief, when i knew nothing about it. victor, we might as well have been bred in the towns; we are weak and ill, or we should have seen before that these are baboons, some of the females carry their young, and that is what we fancied they were going to throw at us. that is good: if baboons come here, and stay here, it shows that neither bushmen or other men have been much here lately, and so we may not be disturbed. we must watch, though; shall i or will you take the first watch? whoever does, he can keep guard till those three bright stars set, and then can call the other. i _can_ sleep to-night, for i feel in this retreat that i have the best chance of success now. if two days pass without the matabili finding us, we shall escape, provided bernhard can procure horses; but i would as soon stand up at fifty yards to be shot at with a bushman's arrows, as go on foot with katie towards our lager, for we should then be captured and slain in less than twelve hours. here, if we keep close, we may be secure for a long time, but moving we should be exposed to all dangers; so now all depends on bernhard. will you watch first, victor, and place yourself near this wall of rock? then every sound from the plain will be heard clearer and more distinctly, for sound comes against this rock like a wave, and is not lost. call me if you feel too sleepy to watch, for that is possible; and a little sleep when we want it, is better than much--when we court it. i will sleep at once, so call me when you want me." hans listened at the door of katrine's cave, but hearing only the slightest breathing, he concluded that she and her sister slept; and so retiring to his own cave, he, with that necessary capacity of the hunter or soldier, was in five minutes fast asleep, and untroubled by dreams or anxieties. "half the night is past, hans," said victor, as he entered the cave and gently touched hans. "i am ready," said hans; "is all quiet?" "no, not quiet: there are more lions here than in any part of the country i have ever been in; they have been fighting about our horses; the roars and growls have been tremendous ever since you left. the baboons too have been barking occasionally; but there seems no other creatures about except jackalls and hyenas. it would not do to walk down on those plains alone by night, we should be lions' food in a very few minutes. now, i am for sleep, so you watch, hans." it was now victor's turn to sleep whilst hans kept watch, and sat with his back to the rocks, a couple of assagies within reach of his hand, and his trusty roer resting on his arm. he listened attentively to every sound that broke the stillness of the night, and pictured to himself the scene that was going on near his poor horses. the occasional deep growl of the lion, or its angry roar, caused him considerable anxiety, not on his own account, but for that of bernhard. "if bernhard's horse is killed or falls sick," he thought, "we may never leave this place; and poor katie! what will become of her?" chapter thirteen. the matabili appear, and follow the spoor of hans' party--the discovery--the attack--the repulse of the savages. the day broke with all the splendour of an african morning; the rain of the previous day had refreshed the ground, and filled the various pools with water, and thus the animals and feathered denizens of the plains were cheerful and busy in their various occupations. numbers of green parrots were screaming in the kloofs near hans' retreat, whilst the sweet double whistle of the quail resounded from every patch of grass. the vulture, with its graceful sweeping flight, circled high in the air over the spot where the carcases of the horses still remained; whilst here and there a black-breasted eagre sat on a withered tree, and scanned the surrounding earth and sky, in order to select the most dainty morsel for his morning meal. the baboons from the summit of the hills had descended into the plains in order to dig up roots, which there grew in abundance, and served them for food. this was a sight which pleased hans, for there are scarcely any creatures more watchful than baboons, and thus he knew that no enemy could approach without these creatures giving notice by their rapid retreat to the mountain peaks. having found a hole in the rocks close to the caves, which was full of fresh water, there was no need to quit the small plateau for that necessary, and thus hans sat and watched the changing effects of the rising sun, whilst he listened to the long-drawn breaths of the sleepers, who, exhausted by the anxiety of the previous night, needed more sleep than was usual. the plains beneath hans' hiding-place offered a beautiful panorama to the sportsman or artist; the bright glowing tints of the foreground were mellowed in the middle distance, whilst far away the mountains assumed a rich blue colour, and yet stood out in bold relief against the distant sky, the dry air failing to give the subdued effect of distance usually observed in our climate. amidst the groves of wide-spreading acacia, or near the banks of the many tiny streams that wound along the plain, were groups of game. herds of elands, buffaloes, and quaggas were scattered here and there, whilst smaller and solitary bucks could be seen, now bounding away from some fancied danger, then grazing on the green and fresh grass. the sportsman, provided with ammunition and gun, could keep his camp in plenty here, and need have no fear of starving, were it not that the game at times migrates and leaves a district, when the food ceases to be attractive or plentiful. as hans watched the various animals, he noticed a troop of quaggas galloping rapidly across the flats; their passage seemed to alarm various other creatures which had previously been feeding in quietness, and there was a general movement among the quadrupeds. the baboons ceased their labours and moved leisurely up the ravine, till reaching commanding positions on the summits of rocky eminences, they stood erect, and barked their displeasure at some threatening danger. hans, determining to obtain a better view of whatever might be the cause, ascended the rocks above his cave, and, taking care to screen himself from observation, scanned the distant country. he soon saw that the animals had not been alarmed without cause, for coming forward at a rapid pace were a party of dark men, who hans made out to be armed matabili. there were more than a hundred of them, and from all being armed, from the rapid pace at which they advanced, and from their coming exactly over the same ground that he had ridden forty-eight hours previously, he concluded they were following his horses' footmarks. the advance of such a party was not unexpected by hans. had he supposed that he would not have been followed, he would have suggested that the whole party should walk on towards his people's lager. with but one horse the two girls might have ridden turn and turn about, and so have lessened the fatigue of the journey, but even under these circumstances the matabili would be sure to overtake them, and so he decided that hiding would be the safer plan. he noticed that three or four men, probably the most experienced, led the main body of the matabili; these men succeeded each other in the lead, and by acting as guides, often enabled the main body to make short cuts, and thus to save themselves much walking, or rather running, for a slow run seemed the pace that was adopted. though the enemy followed very accurately the spoor of the horses on which the rain had fallen, and thus seemed capable of tracing him even under these disadvantageous circumstances, yet hans was in hopes that when the horses were no longer used the matabili would not be able to follow him. he had, however, seen enough to render it advisable to descend at once from his position, to give the alarm to his companions below, and to seek a place of concealment from which he might observe all the movements of his pursuers. these arrangements were soon made, and victor and hans sat watching with anxiety the approach of their enemies. the matabili followed the traces of hans' party with the accuracy of hounds on a hot scent, and when they spied some vultures sitting on the trees near the carcases of the horses, their speed was increased, and they hastened to examine what was the cause that attracted these carrion feeders. the nearly-consumed horses were immediately discovered, and shortly afterwards the skull of the matabili killed by the lion. the ground around was searched by the various men, and the conclusion was soon arrived at, that although the horses were all dead but one, yet their late captives had by some means managed to escape. the next proceeding was, therefore, to find the spoor, so as to discover in which direction they were to pursue. this was a work of time, for the late heavy rain had washed out nearly every trace from the previously hard soil; but the skilled spoorers spread out in various directions, and some of them at length found the traces of the horse that bernhard had ridden away. the matabili at this were delighted; they believed that the three men had started on foot and had placed one or both of the females on horseback: thus they believed their journey could be accomplished only slowly, so that there was every chance of the fleet-footed savages overtaking their escaped captives, and shortly bringing them back to their prison. the whole party soon assembled round the traces of the horses and held a brief consultation. no time was to be lost in following this spoor; and the most quick-sighted matabili were at once sent forward to trace it on before. the remainder followed, and looked anxiously for the footprint of man. when, however, some very soft ground had been passed, and no footprints were seen, the leader, an experienced and cunning savage, called on his men to halt, and explained to them that there should be some other footprints besides those which they had seen. "there were three men, and two women; one of these has been killed and eaten by a lion," said the matabili chief: for he knew not that the skull belonged to one of his own people. "we can see the spoor of but one horse; on that the women would probably ride;--but where are the men's footprints? we must find these. they have not crossed this soft ground: there is no spoor here. they may have crossed higher up, where the ground is harder. look, men, and find some spoor, or we may be making a mistake." every search was made for several hundred yards on either side of the soft ground on which was the spoor of bernhard's horse, but with no satisfactory results. "the rain must have washed out the spoor," was at length the expressed opinion of the majority of the matabili, and the whole party would immediately have followed the traces of the horse, had not another old matabili agreed with the chief man that it was not wise to go on without some more spoor being seen. the chief, being thus strengthened in his suspicions, decided to leave ten men behind to examine every likely place near, especially the kloofs on the hill-sides, and then to follow with all speed the main body, who would push on in hopes of overtaking the fugitives. hans and victor watched the matabili as all these proceedings were carried on. they guessed what the doubts were which delayed the pursuit of the spoor, and they counted with considerable anxiety the number of the matabili who were detailed for the purpose of examining the kloofs. from the smallness of this party both men believed that the matabili did not consider it very probable that their captives were concealed thereabouts, and they were also inclined to think that ten matabili were by no means a match for two dutch mensch armed with their trusty roers. "we shall have a fight for it, victor," said hans; "and we ought not to let one of these men escape, or they will bring a host of savages down upon us before bernhard can return with help. they don't know where we are, and so we shall have the full advantage of a surprise, and we should, if possible, shoot so as to send our bullets through two men at a time." "see, they are going back to our last outspan, and will there try to pick up our spoor; but even a matabili will be puzzled to find any traces that the heavy rains have not washed out. it will be good to tie up some powder and bullets in cartridges," continued hans; "we shall want quick loading; and let us take care not to both fire at once, unless in extremities,--then we shall always have two bullets ready for them. we must kill or wound four matabili with each barrel; and i think a bullet cut into four, and two bits put on the top of each charge, will be good; thus we shall do more than give one wound. we must not think of the cruelty, victor; for it is for life, and for those poor girls, we fight. we shall be tortured and then killed like oxen if we are defeated. luckily the wind is not fair for the main body to hear our guns, and a part of the hill is between us, or the report might bring them all back again." "katrine," said hans, "keep quiet in your cave, and on no account show yourself. we shall have to fire some shots soon, but never fear for our success." "is it the matabili murderers again, hans?" inquired katrine. "i will pray for you, hans; but take care of yourself, and don't run more risk than is necessary." the matabili who were left behind searched carefully for spoor, but without success; they therefore advanced to the nearest kloof, determined to search each of these in succession. "in that kloof," said hans, "i don't think my spoor could be seen; for i merely walked once a part of the way down it; at the top, however, they may find my footprints; at least, if they can read them on the grass." it occupied the enemy fully half an hour to ascend the kloof and reach the summit, where hans and victor had a distinct view of them; they halted on reaching the top of the kloof, and examined the ground in all directions, and scanned the various ridges and rocks. "they do not seem to think there is an enemy here, victor," said hans: "i believe they would take more care of themselves if they did. they stand quite unconcerned, though they might be made targets of at once. this i don't think they would do if they suspected us of being concealed hereabouts. we must not fire a shot as long as there is a chance of our escaping detection, for it may be better far to escape being seen, than even to kill all these men." "we will not fire, hans, unless a man comes across the little causeway there leading to this table-land; then it would be better to make sure of our foe. see, hans," whispered victor; "they have discovered your footprints, and are coming on rapidly: we shall find fighting a necessity now." "they bring it on their own heads, then," said hans, as he tapped his gun to secure the powder being up in each nipple: "you fire first, victor, and take two in a line if you can, whilst i wait for the next shot." the matabili had undoubtedly discovered the footmarks of hans, as they ran rapidly along the pathway which he had trodden the day previously; but they seemed to entirely underrate their enemy, as they took no precautions for concealment. as they approached the caves the men jostled each other in their eagerness to get first, and grasping their spears, they waved them in the air as though they already felt them penetrating the white men's flesh. in a very short time they had reached the ridge leading to the caves, and upon the first men arriving at this point they saw the caves and the means adopted by hans to make these secure from wind and rain; the matabili at once recognised this as the work of men, and with a yell of pleasure they dashed forward. "now," whispered hans; and victor, whose gun was at his shoulder, pressed the trigger, and the loud report of the heavy gun (for it was an eight to the pound that victor used) for a moment deafened all other sounds. hans and victor stooped low to see under the smoke, and saw two of their enemies lying dead, whilst a third was jumping about in pain and rage, a wound from one of the cut bullets having rendered him unfit for further service. the remaining matabili, however, though daunted for a moment, beat their shields and rushed forward: there was, however, only room for one at a time on the ridge, and their endeavour to precede each other caused a moment's delay. "my turn now, victor," said hans; and raising his gun, a second discharge brought two more matabili to the ground. "fire at the leader, victor," said hans: "they are going to retreat i'll pick off the large man near him;" and the two shots in quick succession killed the two men against whom the aim was taken. "in with the bullets, victor," whispered hans, "before we move. six out of ten killed, and one or two wounded, is good; the others will never stay, they will run for aid to those on before; and i must stop this, or we shall have near a hundred men upon us in twelve hours or less. you keep guard here, victor; i'll cut off these rascals' retreat: mind those fellows are not shamming. katrine," called hans, "it is well; we have driven away the murdering hounds, and i'm going now to stop the few that have escaped from telling tales. i'll be back soon." hans, by means of some wild vine and creepers, descended from the opposite side of the small plateau to that by which the matabili had advanced: he then ran along the top of the ridge, and made his way rapidly down to the edge of the bush. he thus commanded the plain along which he expected the three matabili would run, who he believed were likely to follow their main body in order to procure assistance. he soon saw he was not mistaken in his suppositions; for, crouching so as to be concealed as much as possible from the view of any one at the caves, the three men who had escaped the bullets of the two hunters ran rapidly onwards, and were soon within fifty yards of hans' position. as they passed him he raised his gun and made an excellent shot at the leader, who never moved after he touched the ground, on which he fell headlong. the two remaining men with wonderful agility darted from right to left like snipe in their course, and thus gave hans merely a snap shot at about one hundred yards. he fired, however, but heard the harmless whistle of his bullet as it struck the ground, and whizzed far on ahead of his enemies. had the matabili been aware that he had no other weapon than his gun, they would upon this second discharge have endeavoured to close with him, and with their assagies they might easily have done so before he could reload; but they knew not either the weapons he used, or whether there was more than one white man near them, so they were intent only on retreat. it was with deep disappointment that hans saw the failure of his second shot, and at first he thought he might obtain another chance if he reloaded and ran in pursuit, but the speed at which the matabili ran and their well-known endurance, reminded him that he was no match for them in a foot-race; and so he decided to return at once to victor, in order to consult as to the best means to be adopted to meet what he now, looked upon as certain, viz. an attack in about twelve hours from at least a hundred infuriated matabili, who were brave to a degree, and who would not mind sacrificing some dozen men, in order to at length be able to bring back to their chief the captives who had, by a temporary neglect, been given a chance to escape. chapter fourteen. the fortification--waiting relief--fight to the last--fresh weapons--the maidens keep watch--the savages' night attack--their defeat--the battle--new allies--the poisoned arrows--more of the enemy arrive. "it is a bad business, hans, that the matabili escaped; but it cannot be helped," was victor's answer to hans, upon hearing the result of his attempt to prevent the escape of any of the party. "what are we to do, hans? if we stay here we shall be unable to beat off a hundred men, though we might succeed against half that number; what shall we do?" "if the matabili were not such keen-eyed spoorers, i would recommend that we made all speed in retreating from this; but it would be no use, for they would be certain to trace us, and to be hunted down in that way would be worse than to die here fighting to the last." "i agree, hans; so we will stay here. i think, too, we can make this place stronger. suppose we cut through that narrow path that leads here, and raise a bank to protect us from any spears that might be thrown. we might cut down some stout branches and make a difficult fence to force a way through, every obstacle will stop the enemy, and give us time to load. i have found what may be a useful weapon, too, when our ammunition is all gone, that is a bushman's bow, and a case of poisoned arrows. there are ten arrows, and each arrow is a man's life. it will be doubtful whether the matabili will continue the attack when their first rush fails, and they lose several men. they dread fire-arms now, though they have gained victories against those who use them. let us now prepare our defences; if we only hold out three days we ought to obtain help, if bernhard has been lucky." the two men sat to work to remove the bodies of the matabili who were shot, and having secured their weapons, they used these to dig up the ground and undermine large stones, which they carried to the plateau, and thus formed a breastwork, whilst the removal of these stones and the earth rendered access to the flat rock impossible except by climbing. in two hours the rock was therefore rendered almost impregnable, and it would have been quite so had a dozen men occupied it who were well provided with guns and ammunition. "victor," exclaimed hans, "i can make a good weapon for the defence of this place, which may save us ammunition. i will cut some of those long bamboos near the stream below, then the broad, sharp blade of an assagy fastened to the end of this will make a lance twelve feet long; we can thus stab the matabili as they attempt to climb up, and can reach them, whilst their short assagies cannot come near us. they have no guns; so that we have no fear of being hit by them if we stand on our breastwork." "that is a good thought, hans," replied victor; "we will have four of these, then if we break one we can each have another. oh! if we had only a hundred bullets each, and enough powder for them, we would fight a hundred of these treacherous rascals." "we must do what we can with the means we have," answered hans. "now i will go and cut the bamboo, then we shall be all ready." it was only with great difficulty that hans descended from the block on which he had taken up his position, he then cut some straight, strong canes which grew to a great height near the marshy bottom of the ravine; and returning with these, he found that to ascend the perpendicular face of the rock was exceedingly difficult, and whilst thus climbing with both hands occupied, he knew that a determined man above with a long lance, such as he could construct from the bamboo and blades of the assagies, could defy a dozen men at a time, and stab them as they ascended. this conviction gave him additional hope that he might either destroy his enemy, or be able to hold his position until relief came, that was, if bernhard had succeeded in reaching the lager. "_if_ bernhard has," said hans. "ah! all depends on good bernhard now." the day slowly passed away, though the whole four were engaged in superintending or executing the defences. katrine was able to give assistance in tying up cartridges and in holding the canes whilst hans fastened the iron blades to their ends: thus victor was at liberty to make the defences more secure. from the experience which hans had gained in ascending the rock, he knew that there was only one place where an enemy could ascend, and thus if the narrow causeway could be defended, he saw no means for the matabili to approach him. "two to a hundred are long odds, though," said hans to victor; "but we can only die at last, and our last fight shall be a good one. we can do no more, i think, so now suppose we sleep for two hours; we are safe till sunset, and i don't think we shall be attacked before daybreak to-morrow. katrine and her sister can be trusted to keep watch, and we shall be stronger for sleep." it was some time after sundown when victor was called by katrine. "i can trust my eyes by day, victor," said the dutch maiden, "but i don't think i am fit to keep guard by night. an enemy might be too cunning or too quick for me." "that is true, katie," replied victor: "you had better sleep now, and i will take care no enemy comes to us. have you heard any strange sounds since sunset?" "yes, many," said katrine: "there are lions about, and i think hyenas have already scented death near here, for i heard some savage animals fighting below here; but i think only animals have been about us." "we may have a great fight to-morrow, katie," said victor: "the enemy may be fifty to one against us." "a brave man from the vaderland like hans and you would scarcely like to fight at less odds, victor. if you are hard pressed i can use one of those spears, and i can pull a trigger too; but we can trust to you two. see how strong this place is, too," continued katrine: "a child might hold this against an army." "if you had been down-hearted, katie, i should have fought, but it would have been doggedly and down-heartedly; now that you are so hopeful, i shall fight cheerfully and confidently. good-night, katie, and thank you for your support." victor took up a sheltered position under the rocks, where the dew could not fall upon him, and commenced his lonely watch. strange thoughts crossed his brain as he there sat for hours: one was the readiness with which he surrendered a fair chance of life for the sake of two dutch girls whom he knew but slightly. "it is odd," he thought, "for were it not for their slow feet, hans and i could easily escape the whole body of the matabili, and in a race for life we could shoot down the fleetest, and run from the slowest. it is a strange tie that binds a strong man to a weak woman, for tie it is. i, who never yet loved a woman, would sooner die in defending katie than escape at her expense; and yet, were she captured, her fate would only be to become one among a hundred wives of moselekatse. to-morrow's sun will not set, i expect, without deciding her fate, and that of hans and myself." the night had half passed when hans, having, as he termed it, "finished all his sleep," came out of his cave and told victor to take his rest. "if i hear the slightest noise that indicates an enemy, i will signal to you," said hans; "for it may be that at daybreak we may have an attack. sleep whilst you can, though: our aim is always better after a good rest." the calm of the previous day had been succeeded by a fresh breeze, which was blowing from the westward, and thus hans could not depend so much on discovering the approach of an enemy by the sound which he would make in moving through the underwood in the ravines. he was thus particularly anxious and watchful in order to guard against a surprise. the darkness of night had been succeeded by the grey twilight of morning, and hans had neither seen nor heard any thing to cause him fresh alarm. as the daylight increased he strained his eyes to examine every suspicious-looking object, in his endeavour to discover an enemy. the mist which for a time hung about the streams and in the kloofs, prevented him from seeing distinctly over the surrounding plains, and thus before the sun rose the view was not very distinct. whilst he examined the distant plains and rising-ground his eye was suddenly attracted by what seemed an object moving near the edge of the rock close to him. so momentary was the view he obtained that he was not certain the waving of a branch in the wind might not be the cause. he was, however, too keen a sportsman not to know that it is by paying attention to these glimpses of objects that the best chances are frequently obtained, and thus with his gun in readiness he remained motionless under the shadow of the rock, whilst he watched the grass near the edge. in a moment after he saw the head of a matabili slowly raised above the edge of the rock, and then the man, as though believing he could effect a surprise, endeavoured to pull himself up to the level plateau. hans saw the chance that offered, so, instantly grasping the long bamboo lance, he charged the matabili with such speed, that though the man saw him coming, yet he could neither raise himself to the rock nor get down quick enough to avoid the deadly thrust which hans made at him. the man, pierced through the chest, fell on to a matabili who was following him, and the two dashed headlong to the ground, some thirty feet below. a yell of rage and disappointment was uttered by a hundred savages, until now concealed in the ravines below. the noise they thus made was the first intimation that victor or the two girls had that their enemies had arrived. the three rushed from their respective caves at this unearthly yell, and victor eagerly inquiring of hans the cause, received a hasty explanation, whilst the blood-stained lance was an earnest of its success as a weapon to restrain invaders. "we will not waste a shot, victor," exclaimed hans; "let us thrust the brutes down with these lances. they can never succeed in climbing this place, as long as we meet them boldly. have your gun ready, but let us use these lances whilst we find them useful." the defeat of the surprise party, or rather spies,--for it was to ascertain whether an enemy really was in the caves that the matabili ventured on this errand,--caused a momentary delay on the part of the matabili; but their system of warfare was one quite different from that of the amakosa kaffirs. the latter like to fight in the bush, and much after the fashion of the north american indians. the matabili, however, like to come to close quarters with their enemy, and to stab him at arm's length. confident in his numbers, the leader of this party gave the order to attack the dutchmen's stronghold. the matabili who had been wounded in the first attack had remained concealed in the ravines until the arrival of his companions, and it was by his information that the chief learnt that there was a causeway by which he could reach the position of his enemy. dividing his forces into three divisions, he ordered one to climb the rock where the spy had just been hurled down. the second division he directed to attack by the causeway, whilst the third was to endeavour to find some third means of ascent, or at least to make such a demonstration as to prevent the dutchmen from giving undivided attention to the other parts of attack. these arrangements having been completed, the matabili, with loud yells, and beating their shields to add to the noise, rushed towards the points of attack. whilst one party endeavoured to ascend the wall of rock, the other suddenly found themselves opposed by stakes, and a steep rock and bank. expecting momentarily to feel the deadly bullet amongst them, they were surprised to find no attempt made to attack them; attributing this to only one cause, they shouted to each other that the white man's powder was finished, and thus encouraged they climbed on one another's shoulders, and thus reached the level of the rock. no sooner, however, did the body of a matabili rise above the level of the plateau, than the deadly thrust of a lance hurled the intruder back lifeless amongst his comrades. three times did the persevering enemy succeed in raising one of their numbers to the level of the rock, but it was only to find him fall amongst them pierced through and through with the broad blade of one of their own iron spear-heads. still the shouts "their powder is all done" gave encouragement to others to attempt an entrance to the fortification; and it was only when ten men had been sacrificed, that the chief ordered his men to desist, in order that some other plan of attack should be adopted. "so far it has been all gain on our side," said hans; "we have not fired a shot yet we have beaten them off. that was a good thought of mine, to make those spears. we must not let them know we have powder; for if they believe we have none, they may make plans which we can easily defeat." for more than an hour the matabili made no attempt to attack the fortress, for such it might well be termed: then, however, they again advanced to the attack, shouting as before. hans and victor prepared to resist their foes, and stood behind the breastwork they had raised ready to thrust down the intruders. whilst their attention was thus directed below them, a slight noise above attracted their attention, and both turned to look at the rock above, when they instantly saw the plot of their crafty enemies. the matabili, by a circuitous path, had ascended the summit of the ridge, and then climbed to the rocks above the plateau: they had then loosened some large stones, and were preparing to cast these down on the two dutchmen, when the latter, attracted by the noise, turned and saw their danger. the rocks above the plateau on which were the white men rather overhung than receded from the perpendicular, so that it required the man who hurled the stone to lean forward in order to cast it on the right spot: had it fallen attracted by gravity alone, the stones would have passed clear of the plateau, and would have descended into the ravine below. the ground above the slight ridge on which the matabili had taken up their position was nearly perpendicular, and being bare of underwood, offered no cover to the men who had to descend it, a single false step would have resulted in the fall of the man into the ravine below, where he would be undoubtedly dashed to pieces. thus it was a most daring proceeding to descend to the ridge above the plateau. this position, however, entirely commanded the dutchmen's defences, and had not the matabili made a slight noise, the white men might have remained ignorant of the position of their enemies, until the fall of heavy stones on or near them warned them of their danger. immediately hans saw the matabili preparing to cast these heavy stones on him, he called to victor to keep close to the rocks. "they cannot touch us here," said hans; "but we must use some bullets on them, or they may drop stones on us as we are resisting the men who venture to climb up. yes," he continued, "that is their plan, and it is clever. these men above hope to keep us back whilst the others obtain a footing on our rock, then it would be all over with us; but we will just teach them a lesson. now, victor, we must be quicker than those stones; we must run out and back so rapidly that we shall get the men to hurl their rocks down, but we must avoid them; then instantly, before they have another rock ready, we must shoot them down. they are not sixty yards above us, and we can each drop a running ourebi at that distance. are you ready now?" "yes," replied victor, and the two men ran out into an exposed position, and, waiting an instant, sprang back under cover of the rock. they were only just in time to avoid two heavy masses of stone that were hurled at them by the matabili above them; whilst those below shouted defiantly, and instantly commenced again to ascend to their enemies. "now for our bullets on those above," said hans; "we must be quick. i will take the fellow on the sunny side, you the man in the shade." as the dutchmen raised their guns, there was a shout of ridicule from those below, as well as those above. "their powder is done" was the cry, mingled with taunting laughs. this, however, did not affect the aim of the two hunters, who covered each his man, and the two shots fired in rapid succession were echoed from ridge to ridge. one of the matabili sank instantly to the ground motionless, and there remained, as still as the rocks around him: the other, who had been busy in hurling stones, rose on his feet, and with a tremendous bound sprang off from the rocks into the air: with upraised arms and struggling body he cleaved through the air, struck against a projecting rock in his descent, and, crashing through the branches of the trees below, fell mangled among his comrades. the effect of the shot on the other matabili was instantly visible. those who were climbing up the rock at once retreated under cover, for they now knew that they were opposed to desperate men, whose ammunition was not gone, and who, it was evident, could use their weapons with skill. the two remaining men who had ascended the rocks at once endeavoured to escape. one, in his eagerness, missed his footing, and sliding down the incline, bounded off into the air, and was killed by his fall into the depths below. the other, however, managed to effect his escape. "they will not be anxious to try that again," said hans. "i wonder what their next plan of attack will be. they can't burn us out, for these solid old rocks are fire-proof; neither are they likely to starve us out. as long as they have no fire-arms we are tolerably certain to be able to defeat them, and to prevent them from ascending this place; so i am curious to know what they will try to do next." for fully two hours the matabili were quiet, no sound indicating that they were near. "do you think it possible they have decided to leave us?" inquired victor. "no, they will not leave us, you may be certain; they will try to starve us out rather, and that reminds me that we may as well eat. we may be busy again before long." without any loss of appetite from their late excitement, the two men ate heartily, and were soon again ready for a fresh attack. "something fresh is going to take place," exclaimed victor; "they are coming again. what have they there? it is two bushmen prisoners. now, hans, there _is_ danger for us. see you what they will do?" "the rascals--yes, they have made the bushmen understand that unless they shoot us with their poisoned arrows they will be themselves assagied. now we must shoot straight for our lives, indeed. down, victor, under cover," shouted hans, and both men dropped behind their barricade just before two poisoned arrows flew over them, and struck the rock behind. "the schelms are behind trees, victor. we shall find it hard to get a shot at them. we must watch and wait for our chance. we must shoot the bushmen, for no matabili can handle their weapons. let us kill them, and we shall have escaped our most threatening danger." the thorough bushman of africa is the most formidably armed man amongst the aborigines. the amakosa or kaffir tribes on the eastern frontier of the cape colony have for their national weapon the light throwing assagy. this is a spear about six feet in length, an iron head about one-third or one-fourth the length being inserted into a wooden handle. an expert kaffir will throw one of these assagies with precision about eighty yards, and with sufficient force to penetrate a man's body at that distance. the zulu kaffir and the matabili use the heavier assagy, which is not so much suited for throwing, but is more fitted for close quarters, and is mainly used as a weapon for stabbing. both this and the lighter assagy of the amakosa are far less deadly than is the tiny arrow of the bushman. the bushman's arrow is about two feet long, the haft is made of reed, the end of the arrow is made either of hard wood or bone. this end is merely inserted into the hollow reed, and can be taken out and reversed if required, so that a bushman places the poisoned end of his assagy in a reed-sheath as it were, until it is required for use, when he reverses it, and thus keeps the poison fresh. the poison itself is said to be a combination of animal, vegetable, and mineral poison. the animal is procured from poisonous snakes, many species of which are common in the country inhabited by bushmen, among these the cobra, puff-adder, ring-hals, etc., being numerous. the vegetable is obtained from roots known to the bushmen, and of species of the cactus. the mineral is supposed to be some preparation of copper, which the bushmen find in the country; but about, this composition there seems considerable uncertainty. an animal, though little more than scratched with a bushman's arrow, is almost sure to die, rarely surviving more than one or two hours. the bushman is a most accurate shot, and can discharge his arrows with such speed, that he will often have three arrows in the air at the same time, the third being discharged before the first has struck the ground. knowing the accuracy of the bushmen's aim, and the deadly nature of the poison they used, hans and victor fully comprehended the danger, they now encountered. the bushman is as active as a baboon; and could these men have been trusted, they would have been ordered to ascend the rocks above the dutchmen and shoot them from that position; but the matabili dare not trust them: they had captured these two men, and now showed them that they must shoot the dutchmen or be assagied themselves; thus the two tiny bushmen used all their skill and watchfulness in order to save their own lives. the bushmen finding that the dutchmen kept under cover and gave no chance for a shot, requested to be allowed to ascend the rock and thus get a shot at their targets. the matabili, however, would not trust them to do this, as they feared they might go over to their enemies, when once away from the range of their spears; so they directed them to watch their chance of a shot, and if the white men showed even a hand above the rocks, this hand was to be at once struck with an arrow. both parties were now watching to obtain a chance of a shot at the other: the white men shifted their position, so as not to give the bushmen a chance of firing even at the rocks near where they were concealed; and the bushmen dodged from tree to tree, in order to try to obtain a shot at some part of the dutchmen. "i will try what sort of a shot i can make with a bushman's bow and arrow," said hans; "i know a fellow is behind that tree stem, so i will try and hit that with one of the arrows of the bow we have." "don't expose an arm, though, hans," said victor; "for it is death even to be scratched by one of their arrows." "i will be careful," replied hans, as he fitted an arrow to the bowstring, and crouching below the rocks they had piled up as a breastwork, drew the bow and discharged the arrow. the little reed flew on, and fell at the side of the tree near which one of the bushmen was crouching. the little man saw the arrow fall, though he knew not who had discharged it, and, with an eagerness to possess himself of the weapon which quite overcame his caution, he sprang from behind the tree and grasped the arrow which he at once saw amidst the dry leaves and grass. victor, who was watching the result of this, saw the act of the bushman, and instantly lowering his gun, he discharged a bullet at him. true to its direction, the bullet struck the bushman on the shoulder, and passing through his arm, rendered him incapable of again using his bow. the wounded man had not much compassion from his captors; for the matabili, seeing he could no longer be of service of them, and having a natural hatred of bushmen, instantly despatched him with their spears, intimating to the remaining bushman that unless he succeeded in shooting the white men, he would soon meet the same fate as his companion. scarcely had the two men taken their eyes off the tree behind which the bushman had been killed, when katrine's voice and words caused them to look on the plain to the eastward of their position. "hans, hans!" she called, "look what is coming: there are more matabili. are there not two hundred more at least coming to help those who are now here? what can we do?" hans and victor looked towards the east, and there saw a large body of matabili coming rapidly over the plains, and evidently directed, by some guide, towards their present position. "they will be too many for us, victor, i am afraid; what are we to do now, i wonder?" "keep down, hans! keep down!" said victor; "see what is in your hat!" hans instinctively crouched behind the breastwork, and taking off his hat, saw in the crown a bushman's arrow. "there's another struck the rock behind us; we must shoot this fellow any how, he is savage now that his brother is killed. there he is, victor, in that fork of the tree, the rascal, he may hit us from there; but here goes for two ounces of lead in him." the loud report of hans' gun was followed by the dull sound of the bushman's body falling to the ground, he being dead before he reached it. from the plain, however, a savage vengeful yell answered the report of the gun, and the additional party of matabili rushed onwards, their shouts being responded to by their companions around hans' stronghold. chapter fifteen. bernhard's journey--his success--to the rescue. bernhard, upon leaving his companions at the resting-place where the lion had killed the matabili spy, rode on with speed; he knew that the lives of the females at least depended upon his gaining the lager of his countrymen, and bringing back aid without delay. he was impelled, by friendship alone for hans and victor, to use every endeavour in his power to bring help to them, but even a stronger impulse urged him, viz. that he had fallen in love with katrine's sister. bernhard had never devoted much time or thought to the frauleins, he having always found hunting attractive enough for him; so that there was something quite novel in finding himself incurring so much risk for a couple of girls. when, however, he was thrown into daily communication with one as pleasing as katrine's sister, and thus could observe her trusting, unselfish nature, he seemed suddenly to awake to quite a new sensation. thus as he rode on he murmured, "yes, i'll save her! i'll save her, if it is for man to do it." and onward he rode, with a speed more fitted for a brief ride than for the journey which he was now undertaking. onward rode bernhard. rivers were forded or swum, plains were passed across, hills ascended, and with but two brief halts, bernhard continued his journey till the fading light began to warn him it was time to prepare a halting-place for the night. fatigue to a man of bernhard's age, frame, and condition was almost unknown, especially when he had been kept up by excitement, as he had been all day; when, however, he determined to halt for the night, he remembered that he had scarcely sufficient food for more than his evening and morning meal, and that before again starting it would be better to provide himself with this necessary. allowing his horse to graze as long as there was sufficient light to enable him to see around him, he also cut a large quantity of grass, and placed this near some bushes where he intended to camp for the night. knowing the caution of most nocturnal wanderers, he cut down some brushwood, and placed this around an open space in which he and his horse would pass the night. many animals, fearing a trap of some kind, would not venture over these bushes, though most of them could have leaped the obstacle with scarcely any difficulty. a continued and refreshing sleep, under the conditions in which bernhard passed the night, were almost impossible. he knew that lions and leopards, hyenas and other carnivora infested the country in which he then was. if his horse should be killed, or even badly mauled by any of these fierce, strong-jawed brutes, his own state would be one of danger; so that to rest was as much as he felt inclined to do, and when sleep made her claims upon him he could scarcely close his eyes before he started up wide awake, as some howling monster scented the horse and its owner, and feared to gratify its appetite lest the dreaded man should have to be encountered. there are few comparisons more singular than that between the pathless wilds of portions of africa and the crowded streets of some of our cities. when we walk for hours in london and meet an ever-changing mass of men; when we see streets thronged with thousands, houses over-crowded, and vehicles crammed--we wonder whether our planet must not soon be too densely populated to be a suitable residence for man; but when we travel over immense tracts of land traversed only by the brute creation, and observe these roaming in a state of undisturbed freedom, we almost doubt the fact of men being crowded together in cities, as we believe we have seen them--the two extremes seeming a complete anomaly. we who live in the present century have the advantage of witnessing scenes which our successors will undoubtedly envy us for. at the rate at which civilisation advances, and man and his arts take the place of untrodden nature, it may not be improbable that the wilds of africa, australia, and america may cease to be wilds, but will be colonies of various races, whose countries are too small for their requirements. in the year or the report that the men of two centuries previous actually hunted such creatures as camelopards, may seem as odd to the then denizens of our planet as it would be to us to think that men ever had the chance of hurling their flint-headed weapons at the mammoth on the banks of the great estuary of the thames. the men too of that time may often exclaim, "ah, those lucky fellows of the nineteenth century who had the chance of hunting elephants in africa!" thus the changes that now occur in localities will then have occurred by time, and as it now appears strange to the man who can scarcely find elbow-room for himself, to hear of a country where you may ride for two days and not see a fellow-creature, so will it in a century hence seem strange to reflect on the conditions of the past. scarcely had daylight began to break than bernhard gave his horse liberty to feed, he himself being intent on procuring a supply of food for his journey. this he was not long in doing, for the morning was foggy, and he came upon three elands, within a few hundred yards of his night's resting-place. knowing that he would soon be miles away from his present position, he did not hesitate to fire a shot, and therefore killed one of the elands, selected the choice portions of the animal, and returning to his horse, upsaddled, and at once commenced his journey. a two hours' ride brought him to a convenient place for a halt, several dead trees yielded firewood, a stream supplied water, and grass was abundant. making a careful examination of the surrounding country, and seeing no signs of an enemy, bernhard off-saddled, lighted a fire, and commenced cooking his breakfast. whilst thus occupied he heard distinctly the sound of a heavy gun; this was to him better than the voice of a friend, and when he heard a second and a third shot, which he found came from some hills about four miles off, he shouted with delight. seizing his roer, and regardless of the expenditure of his scarce and valued ammunition, he placed the barrels of his gun towards the direction from which he had heard the firing, and in quick succession fired off both barrels. loading again with a heavy charge of powder only, which he rammed down tightly in both barrels, he waited a few minutes, and again pulled both triggers. bernhard knew that if the report of fire-arms which he had heard came from any of his own people, the signal which he had given would be soon answered--at least, it would be if it could be heard. in less than five minutes after his signal was given he heard it answered, and he was thus aware that aid was at hand; what that aid was he did not know. great as was his requirement for food, yet he was more anxious to discover what assistance was likely to be afforded him, so he ran to a rising-ground near and looked in the direction from which the sounds of firing had been heard. he then saw a party of about thirty mounted men riding at a canter towards him, their general appearance seeming to indicate that they were dutchmen. his uncertainty was soon set at rest, for as they approached, he recognised familiar forms; and waving his hat as a signal, he was answered by more than one, who, though ignorant as yet as to who he was, were yet aware that a friend was greeting them. it was not long before bernhard was the centre of an eager and inquiring circle, amongst whom were uncles, cousins, and other relations of katrine and hans. upon hearing the condition of those whom bernhard had lately left, there was a general cry of "on, on! let us go help them." bernhard, however, stopped this eagerness, and made inquiries as to the amount of ammunition amongst the parties, the number of horses, etc. "we should take extra horses, and as much ammunition as we can carry," he urged; "we shall very likely have to right, and certainly there must be enough horses to carry all the party." the most experienced at once agreed that this step was necessary, and it was therefore decided that whilst the main body moved forward some five or six should return to the waggons, which were about five miles off, bring extra horses, and all the ammunition, and follow the main body. great was the anxiety of all the party to get forward. hans was a favourite with them all; and the general opinion was, that it would be very odd if hans had not managed to be a match in some way for any matabili who might have discovered him. during the whole day the cavalcade advanced with speed, led by bernhard, and, with but two brief halts, continued their progress, until darkness set in and they were compelled to halt. bernhard was now in great hopes that he would be enabled to rescue hans and the girls; for thirty mounted boers, all well-armed and amply supplied with ammunition, was a formidable force, and one that, against savages armed with spears only, was not easy to withstand. he was therefore much better pleased with the aspect of affairs than he was on the previous night, when he had camped within a few miles of this same locality. although a watch was kept and other precautions taken against a surprise, the dutchmen made no great efforts to conceal themselves: they thus lighted a fire and cooked their provisions, amongst which coffee was one of the items, a steaming tea-cup of which can only be fully appreciated by those who have for days had water as the mere quencher of thirst. soon after the camp had been formed the party which had been sent back for extra horses regained their brother hunters, and the reinforcement for hans now amounted to thirty-two hunters, all dutchmen, and four hottentots; whilst forty-two horses in all were either ridden or led by the party. bernhard estimated that he could reach the ground near which hans would be concealed by about mid-day on the morrow, and thus, instead of taking a week to obtain aid, he would be able to return in half that time, and with as efficient a force as could be expected. reflecting upon the probable results of the morrow, he sank to sleep, and enjoyed a night's rest undisturbed by any of the numerous sounds that broke the silence of the wilderness. chapter sixteen. the fight for life--grand attack of the matabili--help arrives--the meeting of old friends--retreat from the stronghold. "they may yell, victor," exclaimed hans, "but they have not taken us yet: at least fifty of them will not see to-morrow's sun rise, before they capture us. if we had only half a dozen more _mensch_ here, we would give them a lesson; or if we had an unlimited supply of ammunition. now i dare not fire a shot unless i am certain of my man; so we cannot be as dangerous as we otherwise should be. when these new arrivals come, they will try to scale our stronghold, and we shall then have to use our long spears again." in half an hour the reinforcement had joined their dark brethren, and there was evidently a consultation going on in the ravine below: there was much talking audible, whilst the men did not show themselves in the neighbourhood. after a time there was a sound as if trees were being felled, and hans and victor then knew some plan was going to be put in practice against them. they were not long left in doubt, for, upon a loud yell being uttered, five parties of matabili, each consisting of above twenty men, rushed towards the rocks, each carrying a slender tree about forty feet in length. these they had cut, and left a few branches on, so that they could be easily climbed. the trees were to be placed against the face of the rock, and in fact were not a bad imitation of a scaling-ladder. "our guns for this, victor," said hans; "let us thin them as they come; then our spears as they come within reach of them." to men fighting for their lives as were the two dutchmen, a shot was a matter of deep importance; and so steady was their aim, that after four discharges the bearers of two of the trees had suffered so severely that they retreated precipitately to the cover of the bush. the others, however, placed theirs upright against the rock, and had they been able to ascend three or four abreast, the fate of hans and his party would soon have been decided; the matabili, however, would not quit their shields or spears, and therefore, with only one hand to aid them, and being able to ascend merely one after the other, hans and victor had time to reload, and before the most active savage could set his foot on the rock, he was thrust back with the long spears, a second and a third stabbed in the same manner, whilst, dropping the spear and seizing his gun, hans shot two matabili who were urging on those before them. such rapid slaughter caused a panic among those who were exposed to the deadly aim of the hunters, and they gave up their first attempt of climbing on the rock, and fled amongst the bushes and trees. "now, hans," said victor, "let us push these trees down: it will take them some time to put them up again." the two men pushed the tops of the trees which reached to their position on one side, and then by aid of their long bamboos shoved them so much out of the perpendicular that they fell by their own weight to the ground. having accomplished this, they were able to turn their attention to their numerous enemies below them, who seemed to be clustering together for a second rush, and another attempt on their stronghold. the whole force had now assembled for a determined assault, and were merely waiting for the signal of the chief who was to direct them. at this instant hans heard the voice of katrine, which was audible amidst the din of the yelling savages below. knowing that she would not take off his attention unless for a special reason, he called out-- "what is it, katie?" "help is near, hans: i am certain i saw three mounted mensch ride at a gallop over the far ridge, and enter the bush. i just looked there, and as i looked i saw these three an instant before they disappeared." "are you certain, katie? but three men, unless they could come up here to us, will only be slaughtered if they get into the bush." "there might have been many more, hans, and they might have gone out of sight before i looked up; but they must come here in a very few minutes. oh, the fiends, how they yell!" exclaimed katrine, as the matabili, preparing for their rush, shrieked at the top of their voices. "don't let us waste a shot, victor: we must hold on another half-hour, and we may get aid. rate has seen white men near." "the matabili are very numerous, hans: i hope there will be plenty of aid, if it does come." "look, victor! look! what are they doing?" exclaimed hans, as the matabili, suddenly ceasing their yells, turned from the rock, and ran rapidly into the bush. the two besieged men were not long left in uncertainty as to the change in the matabili's proceedings, for from the bush below there came the loud report of a gun, followed by a second, and then half a dozen at a time. the threatening yells of the matabili were changed into shrieks of agony, as they felt the deadly effects of the double-barrelled guns of nearly thirty experienced hunters. for a few minutes the black warriors stood their ground, and even attempted a charge; but their ox-hide shields offering no resistance to the bullets of their opponents, the boldest among them were soon shot, and the remainder fled in disorder, staying not until they had reached the more open plain, or when exhausted and out of breath they could run no more. the hunters were not yet aware whether their friends and connexions were all safe, but they determined to revenge themselves on their savage foes; so, signalling for their horses, which had been left concealed in the ravines below, and in charge of five of their party, about twenty hunters mounted their steeds, and galloping after their retreating enemies, shot them down without mercy. out of that yelling and exulting band, which an hour before had been threatening hans' party with instant death, not half a dozen men remained to sneak by night over the plain, and to report to their chief the disasters that had occurred to them. bernhard's anxiety was so great to ascertain the fate of katrine's sister and the others of the party, that he no sooner found the matabili in retreat than he came back to the rock from which he had heard the firing, and there recognised hans and victor, who with katrine and her sister were watching their enemies driven rapidly before their friends and brethren. upon recognising bernhard, hans threw his cap in the air and shouted for joy. "come up, bernhard," he exclaimed. "come and see our strong kraal; two hundred matabili could not take it from us. come up, that we may welcome you." guided by the numbers of slain to what he supposed must be the place for the ascent, bernhard, with considerable difficulty, managed to climb up the rock; but he would not have been able to secure a footing on it had it not been for the aid of his two friends, who pulled him up when no other means of ascent existed. bernhard's welcome was a hearty one. no formalities or rules laid down by cold-hearted reasoners checked the natural affection of these people: katrine threw her arms round him, and amidst her tears and kisses thanked him as the preserver of her sister and hans. the two men, though less demonstrative, were not less sincere in their welcome, and for a few minutes they could think of nothing but gratitude to their preserver, and thankfulness for their escape. "how did you manage to return so soon, bernhard?" inquired hans: "we feared you could not return under a week." "i luckily came across all our people as they were out on a patrol. they expected some matabili might be coming near them to spy, and so they came out in a large body, both to hunt and to look out for an enemy. we are not safe any where from moselekatse, and unless we give him a lesson, we shall be eaten up by him. what weapon is this?" exclaimed bernhard, as he saw the long lance which hans had made with the blade of the matabili's assagy and the bamboo stick. hans explained how he had made it, and how effective it had proved against their assailants, whilst he led bernhard round the small rock, and showed him the method he had adopted to make his retreat secure. all his expedients were fully appreciated by bernhard, who listened attentively to hans' description of the bushmen's death, the attempt of the matabili to cast rocks upon him, and their last endeavour to climb the rock by aid of trees. "the rock is not easy to ascend even when friends help you," said bernhard; "and when you are to be rewarded with a thrust from that lance the instant you reach the summit, it is no wonder the matabili did not get up. you could not have slept much, hans, during the last three nights, nor have you had very good dinners. when the men all come back from finishing those rascals, we will have a good feast; and you must tell the mensch all your adventures. we have been lucky, hans: few men go through such scenes as we have, and live to tell it. poor katie looks worn out, and no wonder; and her sister too is ill. but we have horses for them to ride home, and they shall sleep in peace to-night, for there will be plenty to watch." the hunters who had followed the matabili returned slowly from the pursuit, but at length all of them assembled around or on the rock. much interest and curiosity were manifested by them all to examine the means which had enabled hans to hold out against such overwhelming odds. each hunter appreciated the strength of the place after he had climbed up the rock; and so formidable was this ascent, that several declined to attempt it: by raising one of the trees against the rock, and securing this there, they were all enabled to ascend. the means taken by hans to cut off his communication with the neighbouring ground, by destroying the narrow causeway that had joined the two, was approved of by the most experienced men, whilst hans' long spear delighted the hunters. firewood having been collected in the ravine below, a fire was soon made, and some dozen or more tin pannikins were brewing coffee, whilst large eland steaks were being broiled, and the victorious hunters and their rescued relatives enjoyed a hearty meal. being aware of the strength and cunning of their enemy, the leader of the party decided to lose no time in escaping beyond where it was likely he would be followed; so, as the horses were now refreshed, as well as their riders, the steeds were saddled, and the whole party rode forward, towards the country in which their main body had taken up their residence. fearing no immediate attack from the matabili, though aware of the necessity of watchfulness, hunting was carried on only to a sufficient extent to supply the bivouac with food. eland beef, therefore, was plentiful, and other varieties of game not wanting; so that but little hardship was encountered even by katrine and her sister during the four days that they took to ride to the lager of their relatives. chapter seventeen. the boers' camp--the plans for the future--off to natal--treaty with the zulu chief--his treachery--slaughter of the boers--the defence of the boers. on the return of hans and the party of hunters to the head-quarters of the boers on the branches of the vet river, matters were in a very unsettled state. amongst the boers who, dissatisfied with the british laws, had emigrated into the interior, there were dissensions. some of the men of wealth and influence were for remaining on the ground they then occupied, trusting the lesson they had already given to the matabili would be a sufficient warning to prevent them from again venturing into the country which the emigrants now laid claim to. a large majority, however, were in favour of another commando against the matabili, and this party eventually carried the day, and preparations were at once commenced for an expedition against this formidable savage. others again, and amongst these was retief, the elected leader of the emigrants, was in favour of treking to the fertile plains south of the quathlamba mountains, and near the bay of natal. he was induced to take this step in consequence of the reports which he had received from some connexions who had just previously started from uitenhage and had joined a small party of english at the bay of natal. finding these dissensions going on, hans placed katrine under the charge of an aunt, and placed himself at the disposal of those whom he considered fitted to rule the affairs of the emigrants. "as soon as things are settled, katie," he said, "when we have decided where we are to rest, i will build a house, and we will marry; but i doubt if i should be as ready for the trek and for fighting if i left you a young wife behind, as if i left you free; and so we will wait." the winter passed away, and towards the spring intelligence reached the boers' encampment that the matabili, having heard of their enemy's preparation for an attack, had driven all their cattle far into the interior, and had themselves withdrawn so far that to pursue them would neither be a wise nor a profitable proceeding. thus the proposed expedition against the matabili was given up, and the whole attention of the emigrants directed to emigrating to natal a general movement of the camp was immediately commenced, and hans, attaching himself, with his two companions victor and bernhard, to the waggons of katrine and her relatives, followed the leaders, who started for the long and adventurous journey to the south-east. during many weeks the emigrants journeyed on, following the track of retief and his party, who had found a means of passing through the quathlamba mountains with their waggons, and in reaching the fertile plains beyond. here, on the banks of the bushmen's river, hans, with a large party of his connexions, decided to halt. the country was well watered and fertile, the climate all that could be wished, and abundance of pasturage for the cattle; thus seeming to possess all those qualifications which the emigrants had sought for when they started on their expedition from the old colony of the cape. "we may rest here in peace," said hans to his two friends. "we shall not have english interference; we have plenty of grazing-ground; there are enough of us to prevent any enemy from attacking us; there are plains under the mountains on which we can hunt elands when we choose, and we can cultivate our land with no fear of having to leave our farms in a hurry. so, as soon as i can build a house, i shall many katrine, and settle quietly down here. we must take a hunt after the elephant, though, now and then, victor, just to get some ivory, for the gold is thus easily procured. it was good to trek from the old colony, friends, was it not?" the party to which hans had attached himself had been located some months on the banks of the bushmen's river, and had begun to gather some of the produce of their agricultural labours. about the same period, retief, the leader of those emigrants who had gone further into the country, paid a visit to the chief of the zulus, the nation which lived to the east of the natal district. it was a lovely, calm evening, early in february, that hans, having returned from a day's successful shooting, was sitting on the front of his waggon cleaning his gun, and describing his day's sport to katrine, who was engaged knitting. in all directions round them waggons were grouped, whilst large herds of cattle grazed on the surrounding hills and in the valleys. every thing looked peaceable, and suitable for freedom and enjoyment, and each emigrant was rejoicing at the fair prospect before him. "we shall have a large addition to our forces from the colony," said an emigrant named uys, as he came to hans' waggon and examined the fine reitbok he had brought back with him; "for the news has gone down that this country is very fine, and is full of game. retief, too, will make good terms with dingaan, and that will enable us to live here quietly. we have fought enough with the amakosa and with moselekatse; we should now grow corn." "yes," replied hans; "i must grow corn soon and in plenty, for i shall marry in the winter, and therefore shall have two to feed." "where is victor?" inquired uys. "he has gone down towards the coast to see his cousin there, and to trade for a horse he wants. i hear the country down there is very fine, and elephants come into the bush every year." "yes; that is the truth: there is game in plenty, and the forests contain good timber. cess, who is this riding over the hill? he will kill his horse if he comes at that rate." "it is victor," said hans. "something must be wrong, or he would never ride like that, and so near home." as victor approached the encampment he raised his hat and shouted, "to arms, men; to arms for your lives!" such a cry to a people who had long had to deal with dangerous foes was not to be neglected: a rush was made to hans' waggon, where victor had reined in his panting steed, and a hundred men were eagerly inquiring what was the danger. "the whole zulu army is upon us," shouted victor. "retief and all his party are murdered. between us and the zulus not a dutchman is left alive. men, women, and children are all slain." shrieks of horror from the women and cries of vengeance from the men greeted this intelligence, whilst an organised defence was hastily arranged. the waggons were brought together and formed into a square, whilst brushwood was cut to fill up the intervals. a three-pounder gun was mounted on a waggon, and pointed in the direction from which the enemy was expected. guns and ammunition having been served out to all who could use them,--even the females tended their services as loaders of spare guns,--and the party having sent out mounted spies, they waited in momentary expectation of being attacked. victor had now time to give a detailed account of the events which had come to his knowledge, and which subsequent inquiry proved to be in the main correct. retief, having entered the natal district with his party, decided after some time to visit the residence of the zulu chief, in order to negotiate a treaty of peace, and, if possible, to obtain from him a grant or sale of land. an english missionary, mr owen, was resident at the kraal of dingaan, and believed he had so influenced the mind of the monarch that a friendly reception would be given to the dutchmen. the mind of a savage despot is, however, very intricate, and neither retief nor the missionary had any idea of the plot that was working in the chief's mind. after having welcomed retief and his party, dingaan agreed to yield a large portion of land to his friends, the white men, when they had proved themselves friends, and they were to prove their friendship by retaking from sikonyella a quantity of cattle which this chief, a mantatee, had captured from the zulus. this retief promised to do, and having first sent messengers to sikonyella, demanding restitution, they made preparations for attacking him in case of his refusal. sikonyella immediately gave up about seven hundred head of cattle, as well as horses and guns, some of which he had taken from parties of farmers, and retief returned with these, and with a party of about seventy of his best-mounted and best-equipped young men. dingaan again welcomed the return of retief and his party, and actually affixed his signature to a document which ceded to the emigrants the greater part of the natal district. during all this time, however, a plot had been thickening in the mind of the crafty savage. he had heard how his powerful enemy, moselekatse, had been defeated by these white men; how he had been compelled to quit his kraal, and retreat into the interior; and he therefore decided that they were dangerous neighbours. with a mistaken, short-sighted policy, he fancied that, could he destroy all those who were now near his country, he would deter others from again venturing near him; but such an act, instead of freeing him from his neighbours, was only likely to bring destruction on his head. his proceedings, however, had been determined on, and his acts may be described as follows. having acted in every way so as to gain the confidence of his guests, he invited them to witness a great war-dance, as a fit termination to the visit; and as it was against custom to bring any weapons into the royal presence, the visitors were requested to leave their guns outside the kraal. dingaan had assembled about three thousand warriors, all armed with the broad-bladed stabbing assagy, and with the heavy knob-kerrie, or clubbed stick. the boers were invited into the centre of a circle of these warriors, and invited to sit down and drink itchuala, a species of beer; whilst the warriors, striking their shields and beating their feet in time, continued to advance and retire, whilst they shouted one of their popular songs. the very ground seemed to tremble beneath the heavy beat of six thousand feet, and the boers began to regret that they had left their trusty weapons outside the kraal. the zulu warriors advanced and retired, shaking their assagies and knob-kerries with threatening gestures, the chief dingaan watching the effect upon his guests. suddenly withdrawing from the immediate presence of his men, he from a distance exclaimed, "bulala," and on the signal the warriors closed in on their victims, whom they outnumbered forty to one, and after a brief struggle,--for the dutchmen drew their hunting-knives, and fought desperately, slaying several of their enemies,--killed them all, not before they had tortured several who had been the most formidable in the defence. as soon as this slaughter was complete, dingaan ordered ten thousand men to dash into the natal territory, and destroy the white men there located. the zulus spread like locusts over the land, [a detailed description of the slaughter of retief and his party was given us by two eye-witnesses, one a kaffir, who subsequently deserted from panda, dingaan's successor, and who was a warrior in dingaan's service at the time of the slaughter of retief. this man stated that two boers had concealed their guns, and had time to use them, but not to reload; thus evincing that some at least of the party suspected treachery. the other account was from a kaffir named copen, who spoke english well, and who was a boy at the time in dingaan's kraal. both accounts agreed in the main facts.] and, as the emigrants were principally scattered about in small parties, they fell easy victims to their numerous foes. some emigrants near the blue krantz river were killed to a man, and the place was henceforth termed "weenen" (weeping). it was from this neighbourhood that victor, being fortunately at a short distance from the detachment when the zulus attacked it, escaped, and was able to ride forward and warn his friends of their danger. contrary to expectation, the night arrived and passed with no signs of the enemy; but scarcely had day begun to break than the spies came galloping in, and announced that the zulus were swarming over the hills, and coming rapidly on to the lager. all was ready for their reception, and before they came within three hundred yards several of their number were laid low by the deadly weapons of the boers. hans, with his two old companions victor and bernhard, had selected a position near one of the angles of the square, this being the shape in which the dutchmen usually drew up their waggons. as the solid mass of the zulus charged up to the waggons, an irregular discharge from the emigrants was poured upon them with fearful effect. the three-pounder gun, loaded with bullets, sent its messengers of death among them, and covered the ground with the slain. even the highly-trained zulus could not face this deadly rain of lead, and they turned and fled to a secure distance, where they were again drawn up in order by their chiefs, and once more launched against their foes. their recent victories over the white men had caused them to underrate their foes; and this, added to the dread of returning to their chief without having carried out his orders of exterminating the white men, gave them great determination in their charges; and though mowed down by scores in their advance, still those in the rear leapt over the bodies of the slain in front, and endeavoured to force an entrance through the rampart made by the dutchmen. in their second charge, several zulus reached the waggon on which hans was standing; and he, having discharged both barrels of his gun with fatal effect, was for an instant unarmed. the zulus seemed to be aware of this, and boldly leapt on to the wheel, and with a yell of triumph raised their assagies above their heads, as they prepared for their next spring. victor and bernhard, however, saw the danger, and with rapid aim, such as sportsmen alone can take, the savages were dropped from their advanced position; whilst katrine, pushing a freshly-loaded gun into hans' hands, grasped his empty weapon, and was soon ready again to supply him with his loaded gun. many times did the zulus renew their charges on their foes, but without avail; and from sunrise to sunset the dutchmen maintained this unequal contest. as the day advanced the ammunition began to grow scarce, and there was a general demand for powder and bullets, but none were forthcoming; many men having placed their last charge in their guns. should the zulus again charge, the fate of the whole party would be slaughter; for if a hand-to-hand fight occurred, the numbers being about forty to one, there could be no doubt as to the result. fortunately at this crisis a shot was fired from the three-pounder into the midst of the zulus, and this shot striking some of the zulu chiefs at a great distance, caused a panic, and a rapid retreat of the whole body, leaving the boers masters of the field, though their cattle were nearly all carried off. as soon as the zulus retired, the dutchmen assembled, and mounting their horses, sallied out to learn the fate of those emigrants who were scattered about in various parts. whenever the boers had been able to collect and form a lager with their waggons, they had beaten off their savage foes; but in other cases the slaughter had been complete. that night was one of deep sorrow at the lager of bushmen's river. fortunately the loss on the part of the dutch had been very slight, and their victory complete; but the intelligence brought in from all sides was most disastrous. at least men, women, and children had been slaughtered, in addition to the party of retief. men with whom most of the survivors had been in the habit of mixing for years, and who were known as the good shot, the brave rider, and the generous-hearted friend, had been slaughtered with wife and children, their mangled corpses being found near those of their family. war in most aspects is bad, but this was a mere wanton massacre; and it was only natural that but one cry should arise from the men, old and young, and also from the women: that cry was vengeance, retribution for all this. "we have the power to teach the barbarian that he cannot slaughter us with impunity, and that mere numbers will not avail. let us arm and invade his territory," was the exclamation; and this being the general wish, a party of about men was hastily assembled, and placed under the direction of an experienced and gallant leader, piet uys, seconded by potgieter, and was soon ready for the expedition. hans and his two friends joined this party, and were anxious to revenge the losses of their friends and relatives. it was in april, , that this party left the klip river, and advanced towards zulu land. each man was mounted and armed with a double-barrelled gun, and supplied with ample ammunition; and considering the foe against whom they were advancing was armed only with spears, the result of the conflict did not seem for a moment doubtful. the savage, however, as we have found to our cost in africa and new zealand, is crafty and practical; he knows both his strength and his weakness, and he appears to know the weak points of our routine system; of these he takes advantage, and not unusually for a long time sets us at defiance. the party of boers rode on steadily from their lager at klip river towards zulu land. rivers were crossed, and plains and bush traversed, whilst every caution was taken to guard against surprise. the first night's halting-place was reached, and the party bivouacked, having appointed sentries and reliefs, and detailed the position for each man to occupy in case of attack. it was a singularly wild scene, this bivouack of some experienced hunters. there were among them lion and elephant hunters, men who had lived for years by the chase; there were others who had fought in several wars against the amakosa kaffirs, and had witnessed strange scenes in the land. "we shall capture all the lost cattle and horses," said the veteran uys, as he approached hans, who was cleaning his guns and examining his bullets. "yes; and revenge retief's murder too, i hope. i think it was not wise of retief to leave his guns behind him, for a savage is ever a treacherous creature." "ah! retief fancied he had won dingaan over to his side, and he went with so many men because he wanted to show his power to the zulus: if he had followed the advice given, he would have taken only four or five men, with the cattle that he captured from sikonyella." "do you think we are strong enough, piet," inquired hans, "to meet the zulus in bush country?" "i think we are; but we will try not to meet them there: we will meet them in the open country. dingaan has never yet fought against men armed with fire-arms and mounted on horses; if he had he might be more careful than i expect he will be when he hears there are only men come to invade his territory." "we shall kill many hundred zulus if they attempt to fight us as do the matabili. it is only the amakosa who have been taught lessons, and who keep to the bush, as they know their weakness." "zulu spies are out," said victor, who had returned from some neighbouring hills, near which he had been on watch. "i saw three men running rapidly over the open ground beyond my station; they are going to report to dingaan our approach." "we shall be ready for him whenever he shows himself," exclaimed uys; "and we have our relatives and friends to avenge; so let us remember this as well as that our own safety depends upon the defeat of the zulus." "i cannot help thinking," whispered hans to victor, "that if we had more men it would be better for us. i understand that some of our people, with some english and deserters from the zulus, are making an attack on dingaan from near the coast; if now we all were to join, it would be better. one stick is easy to break after another, but if you tie ten together it is not so easy." "we must trust to our leaders, hans," replied victor, "and fight well for our cause." chapter eighteen. the boers advance towards zulu land--their battle with the zulus--hans' danger--lost--the artifice--the race for life. the emigrant fanners advanced through the ceded territory of natal, crossed the tugela river, and approached the kraal of dingaan. only a few spies were observed in their march, and it was feared that the zulu monarch had become alarmed, and had retreated into some stronghold in the interior. near the kraal of um kung kunglovo, dingaan's residence, there was a defile between two hills, and upon the emigrants entering this the zulu army first showed itself, but, as though fearing the emigrants, the army rapidly retired towards the kraal. "there stand the murderer's soldiers," exclaimed uys: "let us follow them." and the emigrants pursued their foes, who shortly showed a front, and, with fearful yells, charged their invaders. another division of the zulu army, which had remained concealed until the emigrants had passed it, suddenly emerged and cut off the retreat of the horsemen, who were thus attacked from front and rear. on either side too the zulus sprang up, and the emigrants were thus prevented from adopting their usual successful mode of warfare; viz. loading whilst retreating or advancing, halting and firing, and again riding away. it became evident to all the party that their crafty enemy had inveigled them into a trap, and had thus drawn them on, until they had entered this very unfavourable place for fighting on horseback. with a rapidly-arranged system, the boers directed their fire upon one portion of the mass of their enemies, and thus slaying them by hundreds, cleared a way for themselves out of their difficulty. hans, with his two companions, had ridden near their leader from the beginning of the combat. the heavy weapons carried by these three hunters, and their accurate aim, had produced terrific effects on the zulus, the bullets in many cases having passed through two men and wounded a third. hans had been one of the first to see the threatened danger of being irrecoverably hemmed in by the enemy, and had shouted the advice, "all fire on the rear zulus: clear a way out over them." had the whole party adopted this plan, there would not have been any great loss on the part of the white men; unfortunately, however, the leader uys turned from the direction in which the main body were firing, and followed by hans and about twenty others, dashed through a weak party of zulus, and thus hoped to escape. the zulus, however, were dangerous even to death: several men who had fallen wounded raised themselves as they saw their enemies approaching, and even as the horses trod on their limbs these hard-lived warriors stabbed the steeds which were above them, and, in several cases, wounded the riders. onward rode the emigrants, however, and their escape seemed certain, although separated from the main body of the party, until they suddenly found themselves on the edge of a ravine, which their horses could not get over. at this time uys the leader was badly wounded, and his horse sinking under him, he called to his followers to escape, though he could not. at this time hans' horse received a second wound, and he, finding it could carry him no longer, and that hundreds of the enemy were rushing up to finish the work they had begun on the gallant uys, he jumped from his horse, and rushed into the ravine, the side of which was densely wooded; and thus, whilst the zulus were occupied in slaying uys and his son, who would not leave his father, hans managed to run or force his way through the underwood, and reached a slope beyond, from which none of his enemies or friends could be seen. the main body of the dutch, having cleared a way for themselves by shooting all the zulus who opposed them, rode on at a gallop till they had cleared the ravine and bushy ground near dingaan's kraal, and obtained a position in the plains where the zulus dared not follow them, even had the dutch waited for them; but finding that the zulus were a more powerful enemy than they had imagined, and hearing from those of their party who had followed uys that he, his son, and one or two others had been killed, amongst whom hans was stated to be, the farmers became disheartened, and returned at once to their head-quarters. several of the farmers had seen hans' horse badly wounded, and when they had escaped from uys and his son, they saw hans leave his horse and enter the ravine on foot. they believed he would have no chance of escape, for the enemy were in hundreds, and they therefore reported without hesitation that he was killed, for they believed he must be so. had either victor or bernhard believed that he was still alive, they would have been disposed to venture back in the hope of aiding their friend; but hearing he was dead, they knew they could be of no service, and therefore rode on with their companions. upon reaching their head-quarters, and reporting the loss of their gallant leader, his son, and a few others, there was great grief at the lager. all who knew hans liked him, and expected him some day to be a useful guide to them in all matters of war; so that he was bewailed by all. katrine bore her grief silently; she would not move from her waggon, and sat rigid and corpse-like for hours, refusing all consolation, and asserting her belief that hans was not dead. the emigrants immediately sent messengers to their countrymen, demanding aid; but having heard that the english settlers at natal bay, and the other emigrants near there, had been defeated in their attack on dingaan, they gave up all hope for the present of any favourable results of an expedition against the strong chief of the amazulu. when hans found himself on the slope of a hill, with no signs either of his friends or enemies, he knew his position was one of extreme danger. one of two courses he intuitively knew must be adopted: either to try at once to overtake his friends, or to lie concealed until the night, and then to endeavour to find his way towards the bay of natal or the lager of his friends. after a short reflection he decided on the latter plan, and had no sooner done so than he was convinced of its being the safer of the two, for he saw several parties of zulus on the hill-tops before him on the watch, either to pick off the stragglers, or to observe the proceedings of the retreating enemy. having, with the caution and skill which his hunter's experience had enabled him to adopt, forced his way into the densest part of the bush, and left scarcely any trail, hans remained perfectly quiet, though he was enabled to see the hills on both sides of him, and even to hear the triumphant shouts of the zulus, as they carried off the spoils of the veteran leader and his son. hans, however, knew that the slightest movement on his part, even so much as would cause a branch to shake, would most probably attract the attention of his watchful enemies. thus he dare not move hand or foot, but remained as still as was his brave leader. he had determined to sell his life dearly if he should be discovered, and only to cease using his weapons when he himself was slain. he had some hopes that his countrymen would halt as soon as they had cleared the unfavourable ground from which they had retreated, and either wait there for stragglers to rejoin them, or return and inflict a defeat on the zulus. during the whole day hans remained concealed, and as dusk was setting in he ventured to raise his head among the bushes, in order to examine the surrounding country, so as to decide which would be the safest direction for him to pursue. whilst thus looking about him he observed a whitish-looking object in the bush about two hundred yards from him, which at first he believed to be a portion of the dress of a white man. after examining this more carefully, hans concluded that it was the shield of a zulu, and therefore believed that it belonged to a man who must be on watch there. as long as daylight existed, hans continued to examine this shield, and finding that no movement whatever occurred, he fancied the owner of the shield was either killed, or it had been dropped by some man in his retreat. when darkness spread on all around, hans as silently as possible moved through the bush, and being desirous of examining the zulu's shield, made his way towards it. it was not without difficulty that hans reached the exact spot on the opposite slope on which was the shield, for it is very difficult to keep to any particular line in a dense forest. he, however, reached the spot, and there found a zulu dead. the man had been shot through the body, and had evidently sought this retired locality to die quietly. when hans saw the thick skin tails that the man wore round his body and neck, and the shield which had proved so useless against the dutchmen's bullets, he thought that these articles might be of some use to himself. divesting the body of these scanty articles of attire, he fastened them on himself, and found that they in a great measure covered him from the neck to the knee. knowing the extreme danger of his position, and the risk he ran of being discovered and at once overwhelmed by numbers, hans decided on a bold and novel expedient. divesting himself of his coat, he rolled this up, and fastened it inside the kaffir's shield. his trousers he cut off at the knee, to which point the tails of the dead kaffir reached. his felt hat he also fastened up with the coat, and was thus bare-headed and bare-legged, whilst his body was concealed by the kaffir's strips of skin. in the ravine below him there were some pools of water, in which was dark black mud. to these pools hans quietly stole, and walking into the water, lifted out handfuls of the mud, with which he covered his face, hair, legs, and hands. thus besmeared with black, there was no sign of his white complexion, and if viewed from a distance he might easily have been taken for a zulu even by day. by night, however, it was impossible to distinguish him, and this he concluded would be the case, although he had no looking-glass to guide him. his gun he carried with the shield, so as not to attract attention, and his powder-horn and bullets, being slung over his shoulder, were covered by the long skin strips that fell over his shoulders. having performed these various operations, he offered a prayer for his safety, and boldly commenced his journey. he knew that the more he kept to the bush by day the better, but the open plains might be traversed by night. fortunately for hans, the night was bright and clear, and plenty of stars shone, so that he could by them find the direction in which he should travel. hastening onwards, he avoided all the kaffirs' kraals that stood in his way, and had passed over upwards of three miles without meeting with any obstacles. as, however, he was passing some dense bush, and following a beaten track which he remembered riding along in the morning, he suddenly heard voices at no great distance, and before he could make up his mind whether to walk on or retreat, a voice in kaffir called out, "where are you going?" fortunately there is a great similarity between the various dialects of south africa. the language of the amakosa kaffirs could be understood by the zulus, and a matabili could understand both. hans had always an aptitude for languages, and had become aware of the principal peculiarities or differences between the zulu and amakosa, in consequence of having inquired from those men who had come as cattle-guards to the emigrants, when the latter entered the natal district. he therefore immediately understood the question put to him, and without stopping replied, "the chief sends me." the answer satisfied his inquirers, who in the darkness could but discover a figure with a shield, which seemed to them one of their own people, and thus this watchful party allowed hans to pass without further inquiry, never dreaming that he was an enemy disguised. during the greater part of the night, hans continued to walk, and when the first dawn of day enabled him to see objects around him, he entered a dense bush, and there remained concealed. although his disguise might succeed by night, he was aware that a kaffir would be curious to see who it was that carried a gun with his shield, and thus he would soon be discovered. having, therefore, succeeded in escaping one night, he hoped to be able to continue his journey again, and thus he would soon be within so short a distance of his friends that the zulus would not dare to appear in force near them. during the day hans adopted the same caution that he had on the previous evening, and scarcely moved a limb. he saw no kaffirs until the sun had begun to increase the length of the shadows, when he knew it was past noon. from his retreat he could see far around in all directions, and could thus at once perceive if the enemy approached from any part; but he saw no signs of them during the greater part of the day. as the afternoon passed on, however, he was at once on the alert, when he observed a party of above twenty zulus following the course he had taken, and evidently tracing him by his spoor. although he had adopted a kaffir's attire in most respects, he had not given up his veldt schoens (skin-shoes), for to walk bare-footed would soon have lamed him. the footprint, therefore, which he left, especially when he walked by night and could not see how to avoid mole-hills and soft ground, which took an impression easily, could be easily seen and traced by a kaffir; and he was therefore tolerably certain that his enemies would trace him to his present retreat. the party of zulus were still more than a quarter of a mile from him, when he thought of a bold expedient. partly concealed, as he would be, among the bushes, he trusted that even a zulu would not be able to see through his disguise; so, standing erect, he shouted "_mena-bo_" (the method of hailing a man, like "hi," "hullo," in england), and waved his shield to attract attention. the zulus instantly saw him, and all listened to hear the news, for they immediately concluded that one of their tribe had forestalled them on the spoor, and could give them intelligence of the enemy they were hunting. hans, pointing with his shield to the hill on his right, and in an opposite direction to that in which he intended to travel, sung out in true kaffir style, "_um lungo hambili kona_." ("the white man has gone there.") "have you seen him?" was the inquiry, called with great distinctness. "yes; he went when the sun was up high," was hans' reply. fearing that he might be asked to come to his supposed friends, he shouted, "the chief sends me;" "_hamba guthle_;" ("travel on well;") and, with no apparent effort at concealment, hans walked rapidly through the bush in the opposite direction to that in which he had said the white man had retreated. at first hans believed his plan had proved entirely successful; for the zulus ceased following the traces of his footmarks, and ran in the nearly opposite direction, looking all the time on the ground for any signs of the white man's footmarks. hans had made such good use of his time that he had advanced nearly a mile in the direction he knew he ought to travel, whilst the zulus were endeavouring by a short cut to come on to the spoor of the white man. he could see the zulus hesitating as they found no signs of footprints, and then he saw them halt and apparently consult. the result of this consultation was soon evident. the party rapidly retraced their steps, and again followed the footprints which hans had made. on seeing this, hans used his utmost speed to reach the banks of the tugela river, which he knew was not more than two miles from him. on the banks of this river there were wooded krantzs and dark ravines, in which an army almost might lie concealed; and if he were pursued, he believed that in this locality he would have the best chance of escaping the keen eyes of his foes; or if unable to do this, he could fight with the best chance of success. as he moved quickly on, he lost sight of the zulus, who had retraced their steps in order to continue their spooring; but he was not left long in doubt as to their proceedings, for upon looking round he saw the whole party on the crest of the hill over which he had passed, running rapidly after him, their shields held aloft, and their assagies waving over their heads. these men had discovered the ruse that had been practised upon them. even at first one or two suspicious kaffirs had wished to call the stranger to them, but the fear of stopping the chief's messenger had deterred them. when, however, they found no spoor where the strange zulu had told them the white man had gone, they became more suspicious, and upon retracing their steps,--and finding that the traces of the covered foot led them to the spot on which the strange zulu had been seen, and then led on in the direction in which he had retreated, they at once were almost certain they had been cheated by a bold and quick-witted enemy. there was but a moment's doubt in the mind of one or two that the man might have been one of their own people, who had possessed himself of a dutchman's shoes, and had worn these to protect his feet; but the style of walk was not that of a kaffir, at least the most experienced men decided that this was not so. whilst this matter was being discussed, a keen-sighted kaffir observed on a thorn-bush a small piece of white substance, which on examination proved to be a portion of a white man's garment; and thus it was at once decided that the man they had seen was a white man, who had disguised himself as a zulu in order to avoid detection. the rage of the kaffirs at having been thus deceived was somewhat decreased when, on reaching the crest of the hill over which hans had retreated, they saw him in the distance moving rapidly towards the tugela river. compared to their own speed and power of endurance, they, had but a poor idea of that of any white man. all white men, they believed, travelled on horseback, and were not, therefore, fitted to take long journeys on foot. thus the mile start which hans had obtained, they did not consider of so much consequence as that it only wanted about two hands' breath of sundown. the savage usually estimates the time in this way, and when near the tropics, where the angle made by the sun's course with the horizon does not vary much during the year, this method gives very close results. by holding the arm out from the body, and measuring the number of hands'-breadths the sun is above the horizon, the savage knows how far he can journey before it sets. the four fingers only of the hand, when closed and held out at arm's length, subtend an angle of about seven degrees, and as the sun moves obliquely down towards the horizon, the sun being two hands' breadth above the horizon would give it an altitude of about fourteen degrees. near the tropics this would indicate about two hours, or one hour and three-quarters towards sunset. if, however, a person were at the equator it would indicate about seventy minutes to sunset. it was by the sun's position that the zulus knew they should have daylight scarcely more than two hours, and they must capture the white man before that time, or they would fail in capturing him at all. they therefore ran with all speed after their enemy, who, finding it was no use attempting any longer to deceive his pursuers, threw off his zulu attire, dropped his shield, and bringing his gun to the trail, ran forward towards the river. hans soon found that he was not in condition for a pedestrian race against such enemies as those who were pursuing him. the zulu is a born athlete; he is usually a spare man, with not an ounce of superfluous flesh about him; he is kept too in training by constant exercise and no great excess of food, and thus can at a moment's notice run his eight or ten miles, or walk his fifty miles without breaking down. had the race been one on horseback hans would have felt more confidence, for to him the saddle was the natural condition, whilst pedestrianism had not so much been practised. being, however, young and muscular, and prepared by his late hardships for an active life, he was not a very easy prey to his pursuers. he, however, found himself losing ground rapidly, and therefore that it was necessary to put in practice some scheme in order to save himself by his head, if he could not do so by his heels. the ground over which he had run was grassy, and thus easily took an impression, so that, even had hans not known that he could be seen by his pursuers, he would have known that any attempt at concealment would have been fruitless, as his traces would show where he had gone. he ran on, therefore, with all the speed he could until he entered the ravine, which led eventually down to the tugela, and he then tried an expedient which he believed would throw off his pursuers, at least for a time. having found a hard piece of stony ground, on which a footprint was scarcely visible, and finding that he could not be seen by his pursuers, he left one or two distinct impressions of his foot on the mole-hills, and then retracing his steps for about fifty yards, he trod carefully on large stones or hard ground, so as to leave no traces, and then took a direction at right angles to that he had formerly adopted. the country was here sprinkled with low thorn-bushes, and was rocky and gravelly, so that footprints were not so easily seen and followed as in more open grassy country. hans having thus endeavoured to throw his pursuers out, stopped for a few minutes in order to regain his breath, and to listen to his enemies' proceedings. the zulus came straggling on, eager to overtake their victim, and hoping soon to do so, for they had noticed the want of firmness in hans' step, and concluded he was like some of their fat men, unable to run far or fast. noting here and there a footprint which served to show them they were on the right track, the zulus dashed down the ravine and beyond where hans had turned and retraced his steps. the whole party had gone nearly two hundred yards onwards before the leaders halted in consequence of finding no spoor; they then spread out in various directions endeavouring to find some sign. fortunately one of the footprints of hans had been half concealed by that of a zulu, who had trodden on the same soft place, and this having been observed, the kaffirs believed that they might have entirely obliterated other traces in their hasty rush down the ravine. this induced them to seek on further for fresh footprints instead of trying back, and hans, who could hear their loud voices, knew he should at least obtain a good start even if they did discover his change of direction. having regained his breath, hans decided to move on, not in great haste, but quietly and with care, that he might not be seen by his enemies; for this purpose he moved with the utmost caution over a ridge, and entered a woody valley beyond; he was thus covered from the view of his pursuers, who were still puzzled to find his footprints. he then walked quickly on until he found an open plain about half a mile across, between him and a line of willow-like trees, which he believed grew on the banks of the tugela. hans knew that here he must encounter great risk, not so much from the enemy behind, for he believed he should be able to escape them, but from any parties of zulus who might be out spying, and who would see him and wait in ambuscade for him. he had, however, so firm a conviction that the zulus behind would only be temporarily puzzled by his artifice that he decided the least risk would be incurred by at once making a rush across this open ground. waiting a moment to decide for what part of the river he should run, he took one glance around, and then ran off into the plain. hans had scarcely gone two hundred yards than he knew he had been discovered by the zulus in rear, who, immediately they were confused by the spoor, had sent three men to the hill-tops to look out, in order, if possible, to catch sight of him. these spies at once shouted to their companions below, and joining them, the whole body were quickly in pursuit. hans had, however, more than five hundred yards start, and he knew that he could reach the river long before he could be overtaken. how or where to cross this river he knew not. in some places the tugela is deep and wide, in other places shallow, the banks marshy, and covered with long reeds. again the river forces itself between deep precipices, where the baboon alone can ascend or descend. seeing the willow-like trees, hans believed that the river might be deep where they grew; and he had therefore selected another part where low bushes prevailed, and where there was an indication of a rapid slope in the ground. the zulus were more than a quarter of a mile behind when hans reached the bank of the river, which he found steep and rocky, the river itself running rapidly over a stony bed. this was just the condition he required; for although he could swim well, yet hans knew that he could not swim with his heavy gun, nor could he keep his powder dry, and that therefore his last defence would be taken away. on examining the bed of the river he concluded it was not out of his depth, so he instantly decided to cross. taking his powder-horn in one hand, and his gun in the other, he scrambled down the bank, and selecting those parts where there seemed most ripples on the water, he waded to the opposite bank, the depth in no part being greater than to cover him above his waist, although the rapidity of the stream rendered it difficult for him to retain his footing. he succeeded, however, in reaching the opposite bank without wetting his gun or powder, and he here determined to make a stand: for he thought it possible that some of the farmers might be in the neighbourhood, and that the sound of a gun would call them to his aid. he was also indisposed to give up so good a defence as the river offered. so concealing himself behind some bushes, he waited for his enemies' approach. hans had not long to wait. as hounds follow the scent of their game, so came the zulus to the banks of the river, looked for a moment at the bank, and then leapt into the stream. four. kaffirs who had outstripped the others in speed, were the first to enter the stream, which was at this point about eighty yards wide; they could only advance at a slow pace in consequence of the slippery nature of the rocks and stones on which they had to tread, and also of the rapidity of the stream. so entirely did they look upon their adventure in the light of chasing a feeble enemy, that they had no idea of any risk as they thus ventured into the stream. they believed the white man's only chance of escape was his speed or cunning in throwing them off his spoor, and they fancied themselves more than a match for these. hans watched the men enter the stream, and had noted the leader, a tall, thin, long-legged man, who had invariably taken a decided lead whenever the zulus had run any distance. he was the first to enter the river, and was midway across before any of the others had advanced twenty yards. resting his gun on the branch of a small acacia, hans aimed from his cover at this man, and in another instant the banks of the tugela re-echoed the novel sound of a heavy gun. the skill of the elephant hunter did not desert him on this occasion; his shot went truly, and the tall zulu sank beneath the waters of the tugela, an arm partly raised as the body was whirled down by the rapid current being the only indication of the man's fate, after hans' bullet had struck him. the zulus had fresh in their memory the fatal effects of the white men's guns in the late battle, and those who were already in the stream, and who saw the fate of their fastest runner, instantly turned and scrambled to the opposite bank. hans now decided on waiting for a time on this river bank, for he began to feel the effect of a long fast, and of the exertion he had used to escape his pursuers; but a movement of the zulus on the opposite bank showed him that this step could not be ventured on. no sooner had those who were in the stream when he fired returned to land, than the chief of the party detailed four men to go down the stream, and four up, who were to cross at once, and go round and cut off the retreat of the white man. this plan would at once have prevented hans' escape, had he not seen the men leave, and had thus become aware of the plot. taking off his hat, he moved slightly from his cover, so that the kaffirs might see him, and then crouched down again, as though waiting for another shot. instead of doing this, however, he placed his hat on a branch where it could be seen by the enemy on the other side of the stream; then lying flat on the ground, he worked his way along, so as not to be seen from the opposite shore. having thus got out of sight, he rose, and finding he could not be seen, ran rapidly away from the river bank, and finding an old game path, followed this at speed, until he had gone fully a mile from the banks of the tugela river. chapter nineteen. unexpected meeting--hans tells his story--the ambuscade--greek meets greek in war--the country near natal--the news--the solitary hunt in the bush. believing that as soon as the zulus found that they had been again cheated they would follow on his trace, hans ran and walked as fast as he could, avoiding all detached bushes in order to escape any ambuscade which stragglers might have prepared for him. he thus continued his course until it became too dark to find his way, when having chosen a tree, near an open space, where he believed he could have good warning if any enemy approached him, he sat himself down, and began to think how he could procure some food for himself. to light a fire in order to cook was too dangerous a proceeding to adopt, and though almost starving with hunger, yet he could not bring himself to eat raw flesh, and thus he did not see any means of procuring a supper. for two nights he had had no sleep, and though the excitement of his escapes had kept him up, and the water of the river had refreshed him, still nature would not be denied, and he had not long been seated beneath the tree before he felt sleep stealing over him. "i can sleep safely for an hour or two," thought hans, "and will then awake, be ready to proceed at daybreak, and shall certainly find some means of procuring food." arranging himself so as to be ready to grasp his gun at a moment's notice, he turned on his side, and in a very few minutes was fast asleep, undisturbed by a dream of any kind. the sun had risen, and was well above the horizon before hans awoke from his deep sleep, which he did with a sudden start of alarm, as he perceived that it was broad daylight. he instantly stretched out his hand for his gun, but could not find it. jumping up, he saw that he was surrounded by a large party of kaffirs, who, armed with assagies and shields, had surrounded him. without a single weapon to defend himself with, he knew that resistance was useless, and therefore stood calmly awaiting his fate, which he expected was to be assagied immediately. as soon as he stood up, however, several of the kaffirs called as though to some chief or other person in the distance, and hans, turning in the direction in which it appeared the person was whom the kaffirs had called, he first saw the smoke of a fire, and even his strong heart quailed as the thought occurred to him that he was to be roasted alive. his astonishment, however, was extreme, when he saw four white men coming towards him, one of whom was decidedly dutch in his appearance. "could these also be prisoners?" was hans' first thought, "and are we all to be burnt together?" but seeing that the white men carried their guns, he was more puzzled than before. he waited till the men came close to him before he spoke; he then said, "you have caught me asleep; few men have ever done that before." for an instant the men looked at one another, and then the stranger, addressing hans in dutch, said, "you must be one of the mensch, but what, in god's name, are you doing here, and why is your face black?" hans, forgetting for the moment that he had blackened his face with mud, and that though the water had partly washed off that which had been on his legs, still they had a very kaffir-like tinge about them, whilst his hair was so matted with mud, that it was unlike a white man's, burst out laughing at the remark of the dutchman. "my face may be black," he replied, "but i am hans sterk, a true-born africander." "you hans sterk!" said the other with incredulity. "we heard he was killed with the two uys." "you hans sterk!" the man repeated, as he came nearer, and examined hans closely, "and how did you escape? you must be a dutchman by your speech, though in the dim light of the morning i took you for a kaffir spy, wearing the clothes of some of retief's murdered men. come to the fire and let us hear your story." "let me eat and drink first," said hans. "i have been two days without food, and have travelled on foot at a rate that would have puzzled an ostrich. then, when i'm washed, you shall hear of my escape. but tell me the news. how came you here? and have all my people escaped?" "we are out on patrol from the bay, for we, too, were defeated when your people were; and we came up yesterday to pick up any stragglers. your people have gone back to bushman's river, but it is bad for them. their cattle are swept away, and they have little or no food. their crops are destroyed, and they dare not again attack the zulus, at least not till they get more help." having gained this information, hans commenced his meal, which consisted of grilled buffaloe. he knew there was a journey before him, so he did not eat to excess; but, having taken sufficient to satisfy his immediate craving for food, he inquired for the nearest stream, and, accompanied by the white men, soon washed off his disguise, and showed himself in his natural colours. "then all those kaffirs are from natal bay?" inquired hans. "yes, these are our kaffirs," replied the dutchman. "there were many kaffirs killed in the battle, and these men have come up to look after any of their friends who may be hidden hereabouts. our people had a greater defeat than yours, and we lost ten or twelve white men, whilst hundreds of our kaffirs were killed." "how is it that you don't fear a strong party coming now?" inquired hans; "for i was followed to within three miles of this place by a party of zulus." "we have our spies out, and one is hidden in that tree on the hill there, and if he saw danger he would signal to us at once. a man reported yesterday afternoon that he heard a shot fired from near the tugela, but as no one else heard it we began to doubt his report. still we came on this way on the chance of its being true, and we camped last night about a mile from here, and at daybreak crossed your spoor, and followed it for some time, when a spy came in, and said he had seen a man asleep under a tree, and thought he was a zulu. you were lucky to escape being assagied at once, before we found out our mistake." "ah!" said the dutchman, "there's a signal. matuan, come here. what does kangela mean?" a kaffir approached at this remark, and looking steadily towards a kaffir who was signalling from a hill on which the dutchman had said a spy was concealed, he at once replied-- "zulus are coming. not many; we can fight them." the kaffir's words were heard with delight by the assembled men, who waited for the dutchman's directions before acting in any way. "select three men," said the dutchman, who answered to the name of berg, "and let them be good runners. they must draw the zulus into an ambush. conceal the remainder, matuan, hereabouts." berg having given these directions, and seen the three kaffirs despatched in the direction in which the zulus were advancing, followed the kaffirs, who had run to some bushes, and were all concealed amongst them. "next to cattle, these fellows will like to carry off the spears and shields of their enemies," said berg, "and we may please them. they are disheartened at the defeat of their people. our guns will ensure us a victory, so we need not fear the results. we will wait here." the kaffirs on the hill had again disappeared, and a traveller who passed this way, and could not read the spoor that was written on the ground, would have fancied that no human being was within miles of him. there were, however, half-a-dozen white men, and nearly a hundred kaffirs, crouching among the bushes, waiting to slay an enemy. "i expect the zulus who have hunted me are those who are now coming this way," said hans. "how many are there?" inquired berg. "upwards of twenty." "here they come!" exclaimed the dutchman. "they are in haste to be slain, for not a man will escape." the three kaffirs who had been sent on had soon discovered the zulus, but pretending not to have seen them, they looked about on the ground as though searching for something. the zulus soon perceived the three men, and taking advantage of the bushes dodged from one to another, till within a hundred yards of the supposed unsuspicious kaffirs. suddenly the natal kaffirs, giving a shout of alarm, ran back towards where their people were concealed, but not with such speed as to make their pursuers imagine pursuit would be useless. a race then commenced, in which the natal kaffirs had more than once to use their utmost speed, on account of the number of their enemy, and to keep beyond the effective range of an assagy. at length the three men ran past the bushes among which their companions were concealed, and one of them uttering a shrill whistle, the pursuing zulus suddenly found themselves face to face with five times their number of those who, though almost of the same race, were now their deadly enemies. the trained zulus were not the men, however, to be slaughtered like sheep. they immediately closed together, and feeling after their late run that they stood no chance of escaping by speed from men who had been lying quiet whilst they had been running, determined to fight where they were. shortening their grasp on their assagies, they moved slowly forwards against the natal force, a fine example of trained savages. berg, upon seeing this, called to his people, who were between him and the zulus, to lie down. the natalians having learnt to trust their dutch masters, obeyed instantly, when berg and his companions fired a volley at the zulus with the usual effect. three zulus fell dead, and one rolled on the ground mortally wounded. the natal kaffirs instantly started to their feet, and rushed on to their enemies, and for a minute a scene of skill and agility was exhibited, such as is rarely witnessed by white men. the two opposing parties met, and rapidly exchanged thrusts, which were, however, parried by the ox-hide shield, which, held sideways, turned the stab. here and there an assagy was hurled at a foe with deadly aim and great velocity, but the kaffir seeing its approach, either sprang on one side, and thus avoided it, or received it obliquely on his shield, and sent it glancing in another direction. where there was no great difference in the style of weapons used, or in the skill of the combatants, numbers very soon decided the encounter, and in less than two minutes only two or three zulus were seen fleeing over the plain with speed, pursued by a host of relentless enemies, who returned before long, shouting triumphantly, and carrying the shields and assagies of their enemies. not one out of the party had escaped, and thus hans, who would be no party to this slaughter, saw the whole of those who had so nearly terminated his existence cut up to a man at the instant that they were under the belief that they were in such force as to be formidable to the small party they were pursuing. such are the changes which often occur in savage warfare, the strong party becoming the weak, and being again outnumbered unexpectedly. "it will not be safe for you to join your people by walking from here," said berg to hans. "there are many spies out from dingaan, and you would not be likely to reach bushman's river. you had better return to the bay with us; then we can talk about our best plan of acting, and you can carry the news up to your people." hans agreed to this proposal, and joined his new friends on their return journey to the bay, on reaching which he was delighted at the beauty of the country and the fertility of the soil. though the settlers had as yet done little towards cultivating the land, yet it was evident that there were immense capabilities for agricultural pursuits, and it was thus considered a place likely eventually to become of great importance. the vicinity of their treacherous neighbour dingaan alone seemed to be a drawback, but the emigrants had no doubt that with more caution and fresh strength they would be able to overcome this despot, and prevent him from in future molesting the white men. hans remained at natal bay for a week, and then started on horseback for the head-quarters of his people, which he reached in four days. hans was received like one risen from among the dead, for his loss had been mourned by his friends, and by katrine, so that his return was never expected, and was as much a surprise as any thing could be. he found the camp in a sad state, a want of food being actually felt. having informed the leaders of his party what were the views of the few residents at natal, and having pointed out the necessity for maintaining a system of espionage on the zulus, he made preparations for a hunting expedition into the plains under the draakensberg for the purpose of supplying his people with eland beef. it is a common practice of those farmers who reside in the vicinity of the plains on which large game are found to devote a certain portion of their time to hunting, in order to supply themselves with a stock of meat. this meat is either salted, or made into beltong; that is, it is cut into strips, rubbed with salt and pepper, and hung in a sunny place, where it gets dry, and can be eaten with no further cooking; or it can be placed in water for a short time, and then boiled. thus provided with a supply of meat, the fanner need not kill his own cattle, but can allow his live stock to increase, and can thus have very shortly a plentiful supply of cows and oxen, so that he has no want of milk or means to draw his waggons. running in nearly a northerly direction, and varying in distance from the coast between and miles, are a range of lofty mountains known as the quathlamba or draakenberg. from these mountains all the rivers rise which flow through the natal district, and empty themselves into the indian ocean. the principal rivers that there take their rise are the umzimkulu, the umkomazi, the umgani, the tugela, with its tributaries, the mooi river, the bushman's, the klip river, and the umzimyati or buffalo river. the quathlamba mountains descend into the plains, in many cases, by a series of terraces, which extend several miles, and on which are grassy plains of great extent. these plains being well watered and fertile, were, in the days when the first dutch emigrants visited this district, inhabited by large herds of game. troops of magnificent elands, amounting to three and four hundred, would be found herding on these terraces. the hartebeest and wildebeest, the wild boar, the quagga, and numberless other animals, could be seen and hunted. thus, as the african farmer is by nature a sportsman, this neighbourhood was to him a paradise. the englishman in his overtrodden land, but with a love for sport, is compelled to put up with a feeble or artificial imitation of it. the hunting of a half-tame fox, following a stabled deer, or even galloping after the hounds who are hunting the boy who pulls the drag, is considered sport. this substitute, however, cannot fairly be termed sport, though it supplies excitement. it is, in fact, not very different from a steeple-chase, but produces utterly different sensations from those which are engendered when hunting the wildest of wild game in a country where man is so rarely seen that he is gazed at as an intruder, and where hunting is a practical reality and necessity as a means of subsistence, upon which the hunter depends, and not as a mere pastime to kill a few hours, or to endeavour to obtain a little excitement. very much has been written by those who have never tasted the real sport of the wilderness, in favour of the artificial production in our own land, or those have advanced their opinions who from imperfect knowledge of the art, or from a mere glimpse of some of the minor sports of foreign lands, have found nothing in it to gratify them, whilst from long habit and practice these same men were habituated to english sports. such persons are not competent judges, and cannot be impartial writers. let us ask those who, having been accustomed to our english field sports, and having enjoyed all the pleasure of a good day among the turnips, have watched with delight the cautious rover, or the keen-nosed fan,--who have lived in the front rank during a twenty minutes' burst over the grass land, enclosed with ox-fences, have at the death been there,--and such will undoubtedly tell us it is good sport, and very exciting. but let these same witnesses tell us what were their feelings as, treading cautiously the rough and tangled buffalo or elephant track, they first comprehended the singular feeling of being utterly alone in the forest, dependent not only for success, but safety, upon their own unaided caution and skill. how fully, too, they appreciated the scene, when a glancing flash of something seemed to dart from out of a tree-fork on to the ground beneath, whilst the light, graceful leopard was recognised as his gorgeous-spotted coat flashed in the sunlight! how thoroughly in harmony seemed the whole scene, as the brilliant trogan or crimson-winged lowry skimmed amidst the festoons of forest vines! the social chattering monkey on the distant branches has long since seen the intruders into his domain, and now performs antics and acts in a manner so like those which illiterate human beings would practise under similar conditions, that we are not surprised at the opinion of those who trace man's origin to his tailed caricature. it is not, however, in the trees, or in the actual living creatures themselves, that all the interest need be concentrated: the very path we tread is a page deeply written. the ploughed field, meadow, or road of england rarely produces much that is noticed as the hunter rides over them. the forest path in the wilderness must, however, be read with care. here, at our feet, is a record which must be noted. a smooth-looking spot attracts our attention; the leaves are all pressed down, and it is at once seen that some animal has rested there. down on your knees, and look with microscopic eyes for some sign of the creature. there are one, two, three hairs, all lying together. they are from the coat of a leopard, whose lair we find warm, evincing that he has been lately disturbed. there, beyond, is the mark of a heavy animal; a hoof is impressed on the soil, and we see a buffalo has lately trodden the path before us. so fresh is the footprint that the buffalo probably disturbed the leopard. now that our large game is near, we scarcely notice the graceful festoons of wild vine, the masses of rich foliage, or the many rare insects that we disturb as we move the bushes. before us is the spoor, and we follow this, till we hear a slight movement amidst the dense mass of tangled brushwood before us, and for a few seconds we stand with half-raised rifle, watching for some sign to guide us; but all is still, and with cautiously-raised foot we advance one pace, then a second, and are preparing for a third, when, like a thunderbolt, a magnificent buffalo dashes from his dense cover, bounds over a bush as though he were a mere antelope, crashes through the underwood, and scarcely seeming to feel the heavy bullet which has struck him as he fled, is lost to sight in an instant. a few seconds' quiet, and then the crack of a heavy branch being broken is heard; then another and another, and the hunter stands half disappointed as these sounds tell him he has disturbed a herd of elephants who were taking their mid-day siesta in the forest near him, but are now striding through the bush, and carrying all before them. this to some constitutions seems more complete sport than england can afford, though there are men who tell us that nothing can be equal to that which they have seen and daily enjoy in the hunting counties of england. _nous verrons_. let the man who angles in his tank, and catches the home-fed gold-fish, tell the norwegian salmon-fisher that tank fishing is the best sport of the two, and we can but conclude that either his skill or frame is unfitted for the nobler sport, or he has never had the opportunity of seeing more than that of which he is so fond. on the plains there is, perhaps, less excitement than in the bush, when hunting the creatures that are there found; yet to see several herds of wild animals grazing in undisturbed freedom on plains glowing like satin, and through which silver streams wind their way, is to the eye of the man who has been accustomed to crowded cities a gratifying sight. to the hunter who purposes supplying his larder from these herds, it becomes even more interesting; and thus, as hans and his companions, riding on a commanding ridge, waiting for the morning mist to clear off the valleys beneath them, saw the plains sprinkled with small herds of elands, they rejoiced at their anticipated success, and at once, made their plans for hunting their game. when disturbed by the sight of man, the antelopes of africa, to which class the eland belongs, will almost invariably start at a long trot with their heads towards the wind. they pursue this course because they are very keen-scented, and as they meet the wind can tell whether any enemy is concealed before them. even when they have to run the gauntlet of the hunters, the eland will usually prefer doing so and keeping his head to the wind, rather than run down wind. the only exception to this rule is when the animals know that a very difficult country for hunting is in any one direction. they will then run to this country as to a sanctuary, and can thus escape the hunter; for whilst an eland can descend a steep hill on which are large masses of loose stones at the most rapid trot, a horseman is obliged to dismount and lead his horse until riding becomes possible. thus it is always one of the objects of a hunter to cut off the retreat of a herd of game from any portion of country in which he knows he could not hunt them with advantage. a fortnight in the plains enabled hans to fill his waggons with beltong, and he then returned to the head-quarters of his friends, ready to take any part in the expedition which he knew must be carried out before long. chapter twenty. the emigrants collect their forces--battle with dingaan, the zulu chief--formation of the natal settlement--the treachery of the zulu chief--brother against brother. having partially recovered from the defeat that dingaan had given them, the emigrants endeavoured to obtain sufficient aid from their countrymen who had hitherto failed to join them, to enable them to attack the zulus and recover their lost cattle. not only was this aid promised, but supplies of food and ammunition were sent from the cape, so that the winter of was passed over, though not without considerable suffering and privation. scarcely had the winter passed, and spring commenced, than dingaan, who had been carefully preparing his army, and who had been employing his spies so as to learn the state of his neighbours, suddenly gave the word, and in august of the same year the zulu army suddenly rushed into the natal district, and attacked the emigrants. the farmers, however, were now on the alert. they had sent out scouts, and these brought them timely notice of the advance of their enemies. the waggons were used as fortifications, and every precaution was taken to make as effective a defence as possible. the result was that the zulus failed to obtain an entrance into any one of the lagers, and were beaten off with great loss. this victory on the part of the emigrants, although a barren one, had the effect of encouraging those who had before been undecided about joining them, and small parties continued to come in until the beginning of december, when a party of above four hundred and fifty men were assembled, all mounted, and armed with good guns. these were joined by another party from the bay of natal, the whole combined being a formidable force. the leader of this force had formerly been a field-cornet at graaf reinet, and was acquainted in a measure with some of the precautions used in military manoeuvres or movements. the advance was cautiously conducted, and each night a camp was formed and defences prepared. the advance had been thus conducted until the umslatoos river was reached, when hans, who had joined this party, and had ridden on before in order to guard against surprise, saw the first portion of the zulu army. instantly riding back, he gave the alarm, and the camp was at once on the alert, making every effort for defence. instead of following the plan of uys, and entering the enemy's country, and thus giving him the advantage of position, enabling him to attack where it best suited him, the new commander had from the first decided on forcing the enemy to attack him, and there now seemed every probability of this desire being accomplished. during the whole night a careful watch was kept, and each map slept with his weapons beside him; but it was not until the first gleams of daylight that the enemy showed themselves. it was an important day in the history of this now well-known settlement, this th of december, ,--a sunday too. on that day a trial of strength took place between the whole of dingaan's warriors, amounting to from ten to twelve thousand men, and about four hundred and fifty emigrant farmers. even considering the difference in the weapons, yet twenty to one were great odds; and should the zulu warriors succeed in forcing the camp, their numbers would enable them to annihilate their enemy, even though they sacrificed thousands in the endeavour. forming themselves into a dense mass, the zulus rushed on to the farmers' defences, and endeavoured to tear a way through them. met every where with a shower of bullets, the dark-skinned soldiers fell fast, and their first effort was a failure. nothing daunted, however, they again and again renewed their charge, and for three hours never relaxed their efforts. at length a vast number of the enemy having concentrated on one side of the camp only, a party of two hundred mounted farmers dashed out from the opposite side, and, charging both flanks, poured in volley after volley, which soon discomfited the bravest of dingaan's chieftains: "even as they fell they lay, like the mower's grass at the close of day," and a panic seizing them, they at length retreated, leaving not less than three thousand men dead upon the field. the emigrants' loss was most disproportionate, three men only being killed, and some half-dozen wounded. immediately after this victory the emigrants pushed forward to dingaan's kraal, which they found burning, he having retreated to the bush with the remnant of his forces. here, on a hill outside the town, they found the remains of their ill-fated countrymen, retief and his party, many individuals being recognised by the leather pouches they wore. a fierce retribution had, however, been now taken for the treacherous slaughter of these guests, and the power of the great zulu chief was broken by a mere handful of well-trained men. finding that their ammunition was falling short, and their horses losing condition, the farmers did not consider it advisable to continue their attacks on dingaan in their present state; they therefore seized about five thousand head of cattle, and gradually returned to their lager. after this decisive victory the emigrants' position was much improved. they could now venture upon many of those agricultural pursuits which they had before considered it useless to attempt. a town was laid out and named pietermaritzberg, and at the bay of natal another town was formed, now called d'urban. _landdrosts_ were appointed at both places, and a regular system of government was established, and the dutch emigrants were under the impression that they would peaceably possess the land for which they and their relatives had suffered so much; but this was not yet to be. the intelligence of the scenes of bloodshed which had been going on between the emigrants, who were still considered british subjects, and the zulus, had reached the english government at cape town, which, justly claiming the district of natal as a portion of south africa belonging to england, despatched a party of troops to occupy the district, and to endeavour to put a stop to these scenes of bloodshed. very serious results might have occurred between the british troops and the boers, had not the officer in command acted with considerable judgment, he having received orders to seize the arms and gunpowder of the emigrants, in order to stop their slaughter of the zulus. as it was, however, the english and dutch maintained friendly intercourse until the winter of , when the british troops were withdrawn, and the emigrants left for a time in undisturbed possession of natal. the zulu chief dingaan gradually recovered his defeat, and recruited his army; but being bent on the destruction of the emigrants, he proceeded cunningly to discover what they were doing. in order to throw them off their guard, he sent to them above three hundred horses which he had captured from them, and promised to return cattle and guns, desiring to make terms with them. the emigrants replied that when he had returned the whole of the cattle he had taken, and had made restitution for the losses he had occasioned them, they would make peace with him, but not before. the crafty zulu promised to do this, and therefore employed ambassadors to visit the emigrants occasionally, in order to convey messages backwards and forwards, these ambassadors being actually used as spies, in order to discover whether the emigrants continued together in force, or whether they were scattered, and thus offered a chance of success should an attack be made on them. this treacherous proceeding having been discovered by the emigrants, they dared not yet settle down, and they were in uncertainty what to do, when a singular event occurred in connexion with the native politics. dingaan had but two brothers remaining alive: one a youth, the other just reaching manhood, and called umpanda. umpanda was unlike dingaan, inasmuch as the latter lived only for war, the former was a lover of peace. many of the zulus, having suffered severely in consequence of the many battles in which dingaan had engaged, were disposed in favour of peace, and of "panda," as he was sometimes called. this fact coming to the ears of dingaan, this able savage politician decided upon getting rid of his brother by murdering him. panda, having friends at court, heard of this decision of his worthy brother, and at once fled, and crossing the tugela river with a number of followers, stopped there, and sent messengers requesting the aid of the emigrants against his treacherous brother. the result of these negotiations was, that the emigrants, finding that there was no chance of safety as long as dingaan was chief of the zulus, decided to aid panda, which they did, and the result was a great and last battle between the zulus under dingaan and the boers with panda's forces. during this battle two whole regiments deserted from dingaan, and joined panda, whilst the boers took little or no part in the battle. the result, however, was the total defeat of dingaan, who was driven from his kingdom far up the country, where he soon after perished; and thus an ally of the farmers occupied the chieftainship of the zulus, and they could now rest in peace, each seeking the location that suited him best, and requiring his ammunition and gun no longer for the purpose of slaying his enemy, but merely to supply himself with game; and thus the wishes of the emigrants seemed about to be gratified. chapter twenty one. a hunting trip--round the bivouac fire--the hunter's tale--carried off by a lion--the shooting laws in the desert--the ophir of scripture-- baboons hunting a leopard--the natal rock snake. we have for a time omitted the individual adventures of hans, and have endeavoured to give a brief account of those events in all of which he was an active participator, and which led to the emigrants possessing for a time the natal district. so occupied had hans been with the wars of the time, that katrine had seen but little of him. now that affairs were more peaceable, hans wished to marry at once; but katrine was mourning for several relatives who had been murdered with reliefs party, or slaughtered at weenen; she therefore put it off for six months, a proceeding to which her lover greatly objected. finding she was determined, however, he had no alternative; and so, to make the time pass as rapidly as possible, he arranged with his old companions, victor and bernhard, and three other farmers, to go on an elephant-hunting expedition up the country to the north-east, where it was reported elephants abounded. the party who started on this expedition each took a waggon, which was drawn by fourteen oxen. accompanying the waggon was a hottentot driver and three kaffirs. from four to five horses were taken by each hunter, so that the party amounted to nearly thirty in all. it was quite an unexplored country where these hunters intended to travel, and so there was an additional interest in this expedition. guns and ammunition were in plenty, and it was anticipated that considerable profit would be derived from the ivory and skins which would be taken during the journey. "well, victor," said hans, as the two sat in a tent which had been brought with them, "we have scarcely had a long chat since our battles with the zulus. tell me of your escapes." "i had several," replied victor; "the nearest, though, was when we went with uys, and we thought you were killed. there were bernhard and cobus and some half-dozen of us who wanted to turn back and look after you, but the others would not. the zulus were closing on us again, and the hill swarmed with them, but we waited for a minute to try and persuade the others to turn back. during that minute the zulus closed on us, and a great brawny kaffir threw his knob-kerrie at me. i tried to dodge it, but it came so quickly i could not, and it struck me fairly on the head. cess, i fell as if i had been shot. i did not lose my senses, but felt paralysed for a time. the zulus yelled triumphantly as they saw me fall, and the assagies flew thick about us; but the few men with me were my staunch friends, and a dozen bullets answered the triumphant shouts of the kaffirs. i think it was old piet who lifted me on my horse, and holding the reins dragged my horse along, till i got right again, and could hold the reins. i returned the kindness before long; for as we rode through the bush a zulu started up close to him, and would have had an assagy through him before he could have saved himself, for the kaffir was quite round on his right side, but i was behind him a little, and just as the assagy was leaving the kaffir's hands, i sent my bullet through him." "those zulus fought well!" exclaimed hans. "if they ever get possessed of guns, they may give us trouble." "some had guns in the last engagement, but they were not much use to them, and the horses they rode caused the death of one of the party, who being unable to manage his horse, which was running away with him into our camp, the zulu stabbed himself with his own spear." "the man was a fool!" exclaimed hans; "why did he not stab the horse instead?" "talking over your battles!" exclaimed hofman, an old hunter, as he entered the tent. "ah! we have had plenty of fighting for some time to come, and we may talk about it now, for there will be peace in the land for some time. we have been fortunate in our last battles, though we ought not to have been beaten before. it all arose from underrating the enemy. though we had guns, and they had none, yet when you fight in bushy country, and there are twenty to one against you, even a savage armed with an assagy is not to be despised. i fought against the amakosa tribes when they attacked graham's town, and i know how these africans can fight. you will see more fighting before you die, hans, depend upon it." "i am ready to defend my own and my home," replied hans, "though i have no wish to shed any more human blood; though i can say i never shot a kaffir, unless it was to save my own life." "now we shall have to try our strength against dangerous game, instead of against savages," said hofman, "and that will try your nerves at times. i know that i never found in any battle i have been in such nervous work as the first time i shot a lion, and that i did in self-defence, and when little more than a boy." "tell us the tale, hofman," said one or two of the party, who had all assembled in the tent, and were busily occupied in smoking. "it is not much of a tale," replied the hunter, "and hans there, i know, has had many more narrow escapes; but it was when i lived under the winterberg. i had been over to our neighbours, who lived twenty-five miles from us, and i rode an old horse that was almost past work. i was to ride there and back in the day, and bring some seeds with me for the farm. well, i had ridden there and got the seeds, and should have soon returned, only there was somebody there i liked to stop and talk to, and so i waited rather late. it was near sundown when i started, and i had a good three hours' ride before me. this i did not think much of, though i had to pass a place called lions' fountain, where lions were usually seen, and if they were not seen, their footprints always were, showing that they lived in the neighbourhood. i rode on, however, and as it got darker i rode quicker; but before long i found the old horse was knocked up, and could not go beyond a walk. i knew my father was fond of the old horse, so i determined to dismount and lead him. i did so, and walked slowly enough, for the horse would not hurry himself. presently i found him snorting as from fear, and getting quite lively, for which i could not account at first; but noting that the old horse kept turning his head as though looking at something, i strained my eyes to see what it was. i was, as i said, young at the time, and so you may not be surprised when i tell you my heart beat quickly when i saw, not a single lion, for that, i think, i might have felt a match for, but no less than four lions trotting along about sixty yards from the side of the waggon-track i was following. i could scarcely believe my eyes at first, but the night was clear and starlight, and there was light enough for me to see that. what was most strange, too, was that one lion seemed to be afraid that the others should take his prey away from him, for every now and then he would turn on them, and with a smothered growl rush at them, sending them scampering away like cur dogs; then he would trot up again within forty yards, and go along in the same direction. this he did once or twice, till i began to think he was taking care of me, and didn't mean to eat me or the horse. i was armed with only a single-barrelled gun, and that not a very large bore; so i did not feel at all a match for four lions, and began to try and remember some prayers i had heard might help one at a pinch like this; but i couldn't well call to mind any thing suitable, and was beginning to think i had better leave the old horse and run for it, when the big lion, having driven off the others to some distance, came up within thirty yards of me, and right in my path. if i led the horse on, i should be nearest the lion, and i believed he would kill me first, and the horse afterwards. i hesitated what to do, and had i been more experienced, i believe i should not have done what i did; for a wounded lion is a terrible creature, even worse than a hungry one. however, i determined to fire at him. aiming at his forehead, i pulled the trigger, and instantly bolted behind the old horse. before i could see what happened, i waited a moment, expecting to hear the monster roar; but there was no sound, except of creatures scampering away in the distance; and when i looked to see where the lion was, there he lay dead. my little bullet had struck him between the eyes, and killed him on the spot i remember it all now as if it had just happened, and i think i never was more alarmed than on that night." "you were once carried off by a lion, were you not, hans?" inquired the last speaker. "yes, i was carried a hundred yards or more, and scarcely had my skin broken. a lion is like a cat in that; he can hold a live creature in his mouth, and not damage it, just as i have seen a cat carry a mouse, and when it put the mouse down the little creature would run away just as though it hadn't been touched." "i heard you had been carried, hans, but never heard all the story. how was it?" "i was out after porcupines, and was lying down one night near a porcupine's hole, waiting for him to come out. i had no gun, but only my hunting-knife and a large knob-kerrie, with which to knock the porcupine on the nose; for that, as you know, kills him at once. i did not hear a sound until i found the grass near me move, and a lion put his paw on me, and holding me down by it, gripped my back and lifted me up. the brute pressed his claws into me, but luckily my leather belt prevented his teeth from damaging me, and he carried me by holding on to my belt and coat. if either of these had given way, i should have soon been laid hold of in a far more rough manner. i knew the nature of a lion well enough to know that if i struggled i should have my neck broken or my head smashed in an instant, so i did not struggle, but quietly drew my knife, and thought what was best to do. i thought at first of trying to stab him in the heart, but i could not reach that part of him, and his skin looked so loose that i feared i could not strike deep enough, carried as i was. i knew it would be life or death with me in an instant, so turning myself a bit, i gashed the lion's nose, and cut it through. the lion dropped me as i would drop a poisonous snake, and jumped away roaring with pain. he stood for an instant looking at me, but i did not move, and he did not seem to like to carry me again. more than once he came up to within a few yards, licking the blood as it poured from his nose; but there i remained like a stone, and he was fairly afraid to tackle me again. i know a buffalo and an ox are very sensitive about the nose, and a cat, if just tapped on the nose, can't stand it; so i thought a lion might be the same, and so it proved, or i should not be here to tell you the story. i think we may have good sport up the country," continued hans, "and lions may be plentiful." "i don't go out of my way to shoot lions," replied hofman. "there is more danger with a lion than even with an elephant, and when you have shot a lion, what is he worth? his skin will not fetch thirty rix-dollars, and his teeth are only used for ornaments. now if you kill an elephant, he is worth twenty or thirty pounds at least. so i will leave the lions to you, hans, and i will go after the elephants; but shall we arrange our shooting laws?" "yes, we had better do so now," replied hans, "before we come to any large game." "well, my plan always has been, let us shoot for food in turns; or if we all shoot together, divide the meat amongst us. when we come to elephants, let it be that the first bullet entitles the shooter to half the ivory; and whoever puts in another bullet, to a share. what say you to this, men?" "it is not good," said hans; "for men will shoot wild in order just to get a bullet into an elephant, and may thus spoil sport. i propose that whenever we are together, and kill our game together, we mark the tusks, and all share alike. if we are alone, and kill alone, the tusks belong to whoever kills. we are honest men and tried; none of us will shirk his fair risk, and no man will shoot the worse because he knows his friend may get a share of the ivory." "hans' plan is the best," exclaimed several. "i have seen friendships lessened by the disputes over dead elephants," exclaimed victor, "and hans' plan will prevent disputes. if you and i fire together, we may both think our bullet struck the elephant first. it is better to share, or to shoot alone." "my kaffir tells me we shall find elephants in plenty up the country. now if we could but capture a young elephant, and bring him safely back to natal, we should make much money, for i hear in england they will pay large sums for a live animal from africa." "the english must know very little of africa, and of the game here," said hans. "they are, i have heard, all crowded together in that country, and have no elephants or large game wild, so they must wish for our land, and some of them come out here to see what sport is." "there is more in the land we shall hunt in than game," said hofman; "and if we are lucky, we shall find it. for, though ivory is valuable, gold is more so." "gold!" exclaimed the hunters in one voice; "what makes you think there is gold there?" "about two years ago i met a man at algoa bay, who came from the faderland. he had come in a ship from delagoa bay, and he said that from delagoa bay inland, and to the west, gold was found in the rivers. he showed me that he had some gold dust, and that this he had bought from natives. the country about there is very unhealthy, and oxen or horses don't live well; therefore white men can't go in from there to find it. he said, too, that the country called sofala was really ophir, and that the patriarchs got their gold from about there." "i think, hofman," said hans, "if you search for the gold, i will be content to hunt for elephants. one is certain, the other is risky." "we are out to hunt elephants, hans," replied hofman, "and that is what we will do; but if we at any time find ourselves near rivers where there are no elephants, we might look for gold." "yes, that might be done," replied hans, "but my gold shall be skins and ivory. hark to the hyenas! how they yell to-night! there is a lion about, i should fancy." "a lion or a leopard," replied victor. "it is very strange how the weaker animals often club together to defend themselves against a stronger one. before i left the borders of the old country, i more than once saw my cattle beat off a hyena. they would form a circle, and show a bold front of horns, and run at the hyena if he came near them." "for that there is nothing equal to a troop of baboons," said hofman; "they are as cunning and as wise as men. i have watched them often, and they set one of their number to watch for enemies; and if he does not do his duty, the others will beat him. i often amused myself by trying to stalk near the baboons that lived near me when i was near the winterberg, and they never but once were caught asleep. i managed once to get quite close to them without the sentry seeing me, and then stood up and ran at them. i was soon sorry i had ventured amongst them, for they were savage, and so powerful they could have torn me to pieces had they attacked me; but they at once bit and tore the sentry, who scarcely attempted to defend himself, just as though he knew he deserved to be punished. i can tell you a strange story about these baboons. "there came into our neighbourhood a leopard, and he lived well for some time, till we hunted him, and he had to keep to the bush. now it turned out that the leopard killed a baboon, and ate him. the baboons feared to attack the leopard, as he would be too much for them, but they had decided on revenging themselves on him. they therefore followed him about, but at a cautious distance. after a time the leopard wanted to drink, but no sooner did he go to the water than the baboons came around threatening him, and they were so active that the leopard could not attack them successfully. the leopard started off to leave the country, but the baboons followed, barking and screaming after him. for three days the baboons followed him, and would neither let him eat nor drink, when the leopard became quite weak from thirst and want of food. there were so many baboons, too, that they never let the leopard rest, and thus he was worn out as soon as the baboons found he was weak, they assembled around him, and attacked him in earnest, and killed him in a few minutes. i had missed the baboons from my krantzes [steep ravines], and i heard from the neighbours that they had seen baboons following and worrying a leopard, and at last the baboons were heard worrying something, and this turned out to be the leopard, which was found dead and fearfully mangled." "i have heard that same thing before," said bernhard, "and i know the baboons are capable of it; they are very wise." "yes," said hans, "they are useful too; for whatever a baboon eats, a man may venture to eat also. this is the case with monkeys, too. a man ought never to starve, if he lives near where monkeys are; for you can watch what fruit or sorts a monkey eats, and that will show you what you may venture upon. you have been down at the bay for some time, hofman," continued hans; "can you tell us any thing about the large snakes that are there?" "yes, i can. there are very large snakes there, but these large snakes are not poisonous. they live in the long grass near rocks or old trees, and feed on birds, small buck, and such things. they will not attack you, i believe; but they could kill a man, as one i shot there had killed and eaten a calf. it was about twenty-five feet long, and two men could not lift it. there are snakes said to be much larger than this one, and i have heard from the kaffirs of a snake near the coast as long as a span of oxen; but this i cannot speak to, for i never even saw the spoor; yet they may grow to a great size. but there are puff-adders, cobras, ring-hals, and many snakes there, and it is not good to walk much in very long grass. there are elephants, too, near the bay, but the bush is very dense, and the elephants are fierce; it does not do to attempt shooting them there." "we have a fine country about us," exclaimed hans, "and now that panda is chief of the zulus we may rejoice at leaving the old colony to come here. the game was nearly all gone from about there, and the place was worn out. my father shot elephants near algoa bay, and all the game was to be seen in the colony; but now there is nothing there, though it is not so far from us. it will be a long time before the elands are driven away from the plains here, and there are buck in plenty. we can go after elephants when we choose, and now that we have won our land we may enjoy it. good luck to us on our trek, karls! and i think now we will sleep, and by and by we may sit up at night to becroup large game; so we had better sleep now, when it is not so plentiful." the advice of hans was relished by all the party, who having directed two hottentots to watch, and to call others in succession, the hunters sought their waggons, and wrapping themselves in their blankets, lay down to rest in these vehicles, which to the hunter are like a ship to a sailor. the camp was soon quiet, the only sounds being the low guttural voices of the hottentots, or the low tones of the more harmonious zulu, as the kaffirs talked over the scenes of the past few months, and wondered at the power of the white man, which had enabled him to break the strength of the mighty zulu chieftain who had so long been the terror of those tribes, which, having either fled from him or from other nations near, had settled at natal, had welcomed the arrival of the white man, and had at once accepted him as an ally: the distant moaning of a wolf, and the shrill barking cry of the jackal, being the other sounds that plainly told that the wilderness was around. chapter twenty two. elephants found--the hunt--the evening at the camp--an elephant adventure--encounter with a kaffir spy--more elephants--strange men-- hans made prisoner. during the first few days of their journey the only game that the hunters encountered were elands, buffaloes, and antelopes of various kinds. of these numbers were killed, so as to supply the camp with food, and also to lay in a stock of beltong for the future; for in some parts of africa the game suddenly disappears, apparently without cause, and the hunter finds it extremely difficult to obtain even the necessaries for his daily meals. more than once there had been expectations raised in consequence of elephants' footmarks having been discovered, but on examination these proved to be old, and the elephants were evidently journeying northwards when they left their traces on the ground. the party had now reached the sources of the pongola river, and the traces of elephants were most numerous. "we must have passed many herds of elephants in the forests," said victor, as he rode beside hans, and followed the spoor of some bull elephants which was very fresh, and which had been traced since daybreak. "we should have stopped and hunted them." "we can do that on our return, if we do not obtain enough ivory hereabouts to fill our waggons; but i think this country much better suited for hunting than the thicker bush further down. we can always ride our horses here, which we could not in the bush we have passed; and so our success here will be probably greater. we ought soon to sight these elephants, for the spoor is quite fresh. hark! did you not hear a trumpet? there are elephants near, and we shall get them to-day. where are the rest of our party?" "they have all gone after the spoor that led along the river's bank, and i don't think that was as fresh as this; but need we wait for them? they may have found their game, and will not wish to join us." "we will ride on," said hans. "it was among those trees in that slope i heard the trumpet, and see! there is a bull elephant. pull up; let us watch him awhile; he is a magnificent tusker, and there are at least half-a-dozen others. victor, we must get nearly all these. we shall have a good day's work to do that, though, for they will carry away many bullets. ah! there was a shot from down to leeward: so the others have found elephants. see! the bull has heard the shot, and is alarmed." it was true that the sound of a gun, though probably not an unusual sound, was yet one that alarmed the elephants, for they collected hurriedly together, and strode away at a rapid pace. "i wish we could have lodged our bullets in them before they became alarmed," said hans; "but we may do that now, if we ride on before them, and keep a little wide. the elephant has very bad sight, and he may not see us." hans and victor galloped forward in the direction in which they had seen the elephants, taking care not to follow exactly in their footmarks, and in a very short time they saw the huge animals had collected under some spreading acacias, and were elevating their ears to endeavour to hear if any danger threatened them, whilst their trunks were raised to catch the scent of any foe. "now," said hans, "we may drop an elephant before we give them the alarm. they don't know what to fear; they only know not what to make of the sound of a gun. they have not been much hunted, it is evident, or they would not stop so soon after being alarmed. we will now fasten our horses to these trees, and stalk the elephants; then we can retreat to our horses, and follow them on horseback." "we ought to put four bullets into that large bull first," said victor; "then the others, not having a leader, will not know what to do." "we will stop his getting away, victor. i can hit him in the leg, and can then take him between the eye and the ear. unless your bullet is very large, it is between the eye and the ear that you had better shoot, on the chance of a death-shot. i have killed many of my elephants by hitting them there." the two hunters fastened their horses to a tree at about yards from the elephants, and then commenced stalking their noble game. the elephants, although but lately disturbed by the discharge of a gun, had recovered from their alarm, and stood beneath the trees, occasionally raising their ears to listen; but the cautious advance of hans and his companion was conducted so quietly that even the acute hearing of the elephant could not discover that an enemy was near him, and the two hunters succeeded in reaching a tree that was within eighty yards of the largest bull without being seen or heard by their formidable game. the stake for which these men were playing was too important a one to allow of a single chance being thrown away. thus no word was uttered by either, and merely a signal was given by one or the other to draw attention to some fact which it was necessary to notice. the breaking of a dead stick by treading on it would have been fatal to their success, and thus it was necessary to watch where each foot was placed, in order to avoid such a contingency. upon reaching the corner of the tree hans signalled to victor that they would fire at the same time, and without delay; for the elephants were getting uneasy, and were uttering short sharp cries, which seemed signals of danger. the great bull of the herd, whose polished white teeth protruded far out of his mouth, stood broadside to the hunters; but his watchful manner and uneasy movements indicated that he might at any moment turn and retreat, or at least alter his position; so hans, taking aim between the eye and the ear, fired, whilst victor, aiming at his fore-leg just above the knee, fired at the same instant. the aim of hans was true, and his bullet found its way through a mass of bone to the elephant's brain, for it fell dead to the shot, and there was, therefore, no need for the second bullet. the instant the sound of the guns was heard, the remaining elephants retreated over the bushy ground with a headlong, reckless speed. trees that stood in the way were knocked down, the noise of their being broken sounding like the crack of a rifle. there are few things which give one a greater idea of animal power than the headlong rush of a troop of elephants through a forest. the elephant is usually a quiet animal, and when it moves through the bush it proceeds with scarcely any noise, its feet being well suited for walking quietly. when alarmed, however, it rushes forward almost blindly, for its great weight causes it to move onwards in nearly a straight line, rapid turns being almost impossible. thus if a tree stand in its way, and is of moderate size only, the elephant runs against it, and breaks it off. on several occasions we have had opportunities of measuring the diameter of the stems of trees thus broken off, and we have found many which were eight inches in diameter. the noise caused by a number of such trees being snapped in two, one after the other may be readily imagined. as soon as hans saw the elephant fall, he said, "bring up the horses, victor; i'll cut off the tail, in case any one comes this way." hans had completed his work before victor had reached him with the horses; so, having reloaded his gun, he ran back to meet victor. the two then mounted their horses, and rode after the remaining elephants, which by this time had gained a long start; but elephants which have led a quiet, unhunted life for a considerable time soon get too fat to keep up a rapid pace for any length of time, and stand no chance with a horse, except for a few hundred yards. if, however, the huge animals are not hurried, they will continue striding on at a speed of eight or ten miles an hour for some time. after about a mile's gallop, the hunters were once more near their game, and now quite a different kind of sport commenced to the stalking which had been previously practised. riding forward, so as to be slightly in advance of the elephants, the hunters pulled up their horses, jumped off, and as the animals shuffled past, sent their four bullets into the largest elephant that remained. feeling itself hit, the creature turned on its assailants, and with upraised trunk and shrill piercing shrieks rushed on. to mount their horses and gallop off was a momentary proceeding with both hans and victor; but so furious was the savage animal's charge, that it was nearly catching victor's horse, and did not cease to pursue until it had followed its enemies for several hundred yards, when, finding further pursuit useless, it followed the other elephants. it was not allowed to go so quietly, however; for the hunters, having reloaded, followed it, and with a second volley brought it to the ground. "we must let none of those elephants escape," said hans, when a second tail was added to that previously taken. "bernhard is with the other party, and depend upon it they will kill more than an elephant each. there are fine tusks in those elephants' heads on before us, and the creatures are so blown they cannot run fast now. two more each will make it a good day's sport." setting spurs to their horses, the pursuit was once more carried on, and with a discharge of several bullets four more elephants were laid low. "now," said hans, "i will say the sport is good. we can return to our outspan to-night, and can tell what we have done, not boastfully, but as men who have done well. i hope the others have been as successful." on returning to camp, hofman said-- "come into my tent to-night, karls, and eat there; we will then talk over our day's sport. what have _you_ done, hans?" hans briefly related the results of his day's work, and described the size of the tusks which his elephants carried. "you have done better than we have," said hofman, "for we have only shot seven amongst us, and two are not full-grown bulls." as might be expected, the conversation during the evening was mostly about elephants and elephant hunting; and as we may learn much about the habits of this singular animal, and the method of hunting it adopted by the africans, we will relate some of the anecdotes connected therewith. "you ask me where i shot my first elephant," said hofman. "it was where few men now hunt elephants, because there are not many there now, and because it is a dangerous place to hunt them in. it was in the fish-river bush in the old colony. that bush, as you know, is very thick and thorny, and if they would only lie close, and didn't leave a footmark, a hundred elephants might live there peaceably for years even now; but when i was quite a boy there were not many men could say they had walked ten miles in the fish-river bush. my father used to go down to graham's town about twice a year to get various things he wanted, and when he went he generally took me. i was little more than fifteen when he went down on the occasion i will tell you of. "we had to pass the fish-river bush on the way from our place down to graham's town, and as we were going along i saw near the road,--or rather waggon-track, for it was nothing more,--a broken tree. i turned into the bush to look, and then saw what i knew was the spoor of an elephant. i didn't say what i had seen, for all of a sudden i got very ambitious, and i thought i would make myself a name, and not be thought a boy any longer. i knew that we outspanned about half a mile further on, and as the day was very hot, i asked my father if he would go on after a short outspan, or wait a bit. "`i'll wait till near sundown,' he replied, `for it is full moon to-night, and we can trek better in the night than in this heat, and we can sleep a little now.' "`i'd rather go and shoot,' said i, `if you'd lend me your big gun.' "`what do you want the big gun for?' inquired my father. `that is for elephants or rhinoster, and you will find nothing bigger than a buck.' "`i can always shoot better with that big gun,' i replied. "`very well,' said my father. `don't lose yourself in the bush; but you can't do that with the sun shining as it is.' "`i'd like blueboy to come with me, father; he'd carry my buck.' "now blueboy was a bush-boy who was _fore-looper_ [fore-looper is the leader of the team of oxen; he holds a string fastened to the horns of the first two.] to the oxen sometimes, and who had taught me more spooring than any one else, and i wanted to consult him about this elephant. "`oh yes! take him,' said my father. so, beckoning blueboy, i told him i wanted him to come with me, and the little fellow was glad enough to come, as we always had some sport together. "`there's the gun,' said my father; `it's loaded with two bullets. i'll just give you two more bullets, and two charges of powder, for you must not waste the ammunition. mind you're back an hour before sundown.' "this parting advice i hoped to comply with, and blueboy and i walked off. "i kept quite silent till we were away from the waggons, when i instantly said, `blueboy, we are after an elephant.' "`yes,' said the sharp little fellow in his broken dutch, `i thought so. i saw you go into the bush where the tree was broken. when did elephant break tree?' "`the marks were quite fresh, blueboy; i think not long before we got there.' "`we shall see when we look,' was his reply. "we hurried on, and entered the bush, blueboy going first. he carefully examined the ground, picked up the grass, and at length rushed at a small broken branch as though he had seen a treasure. after turning this over once or twice, he pointed to the eastern part of the sky, and said, `when sun there, elephant here. he may now be far off, may be close here; we see soon. follow me now.' "i followed him, but with difficulty. he moved like a snake among the bushes, as noiseless as a bird, and as quick as one. we went nearly a mile, when we came to a steep bank, at which blueboy stopped, and whispered to me, `we find him here; water near, and he very hot. elephant love water. now come slowly.' "we moved down the bank, and came to a large pool of water, which was muddy and bubbling. i knew from this the elephant had only just drunk there. presently i heard a sound as of water being poured out of a narrow-necked bottle, when blueboy, turning quickly, pointed to some bushes below us, and there was the elephant half buried in bushes, but his back visible above them. i now felt very excited. i knew it was very dangerous work, but i fancied i might be successful. all depended on a surprise. i had heard so much about elephants, and had in imagination so often shot them, that i knew every vital part, and where it was best to fire; so, though i had never seen an elephant before, i knew lots about them. i noticed that the bank was above the elephant, and about twenty yards from it; so if i could get to the nearest place, i should get a good shot in safety. to get to that place i had to retrace my steps, and make a guess at the whereabouts; so pointing this out to blueboy, he at once led the way, and soon pointed out where i must go. `fire both at once,' he said, pointing to my barrels. `you aim well first time, badly second.' i crept to the edge of the bank, and was almost afraid as i saw the elephant so close to me. i aimed on the shoulder, just outside his ear, and pulled both triggers. i was knocked right down by the recoil, and fell among the bushes, and the elephant went off very fast for nearly a hundred yards. we could see him plainly, and i began to fear i must have missed him. i didn't know then how tough elephants were, and how much shooting they required. "well, the elephant then stopped, and pulled up some grass, and seemed to be stuffing it into his wounds, for he was losing strength very fast; and then he turned and climbed up the bank, and went away through the bush towards the road we had come with our waggon. "`he'll take to the old track,' whispered blueboy; `we shall get him again at the tree he broke to-day. come along quick now, and get there before him. you'll never do any good following, for you will have to fire at him from behind.' "i didn't think we should see much of him by going on before, but i trusted the quick-witted bush-boy, and tried to follow him, but he went away again so quick i called him to stop. "`no, no,' he replied; `you must come on, the elephant will get there first else.' "i ran on as well as i could, and in time we got to the tree. "`is bullet there?' said blueboy, pointing to the gun. "i had not had time to load yet, so i set to work, and put in my remaining bullets. i had scarcely done this before i saw blueboy point to the bush before us. he pointed eagerly, and said, `oliphant kom, oliphant kom,' and i heard a very slight noise, as of an animal moving in the bush. i collected my thoughts, and determined to try again what i could do; and having cocked my gun, stood ready. "i first saw the elephant's head, but had been taught not to fire at this, if the elephant was facing me; so i waited, and soon saw the chest of the great creature. i aimed steadily, and fired at the chest both barrels, as before. as i fired, blueboy pulled me on one side. i saw a mass of bush pressed down, and was knocked down by a branch of a tree; but though not much hurt, i couldn't get up easily, as the tree held me down, but i forced myself out after a bit with blueboy's help. i didn't know at first what it was had knocked me down, but blueboy said, `he dodt, he dodt,' and on looking round i saw a great black mass among the bushes, and there was the elephant lying dead. "i went up to the creature, and was astonished with its size; it was, as it lay, far higher than i was. i noticed that there were big tusks, and this delighted me too. i didn't know that to cut off the tail proved ownership, so i left the animal, and with no little excitement went off to my father at the waggons. he was just getting up from a sleep, and upon seeing me said,-- "`well, where's the buck? i heard a shot: did you miss him?' "`i fired all four bullets, father,' i said. "`and missed with all four. that won't do; you must shoot with a smaller gun, boy, or you'll waste powder and lead.' "`i didn't miss with one bullet, father; i hit with all.' "`then you've killed your buck; and where is it?' "`it wasn't a buck, father,' i said. "`not a buck! what was it then? not a buffalo; you don't mean to say that you've fired at a buffalo?' "`it was bigger than a buffalo,' i answered. "my father looked at me incredulously for some time, but i couldn't wait any longer, so i said, `i've shot an elephant with large tusks.' "my father jumped off the waggon-box as if he'd been shot, as he exclaimed, `shot an elephant! you--you shot an elephant! where is he?' "`ja, bas, [yes, master], he's shot an elephant!' exclaimed blueboy. `i showed him where the elephant was.' "`get a hatchet--get your knives!' shouted my father to the hottentots; `the boy has shot an elephant!' and off we ran, i leading, till we came to the place where the elephant lay. there he was, sure enough, and my father was delighted. we didn't get the tusks out in a hurry, and then we cut up lots of meat, and took the trunk, and a foot, and carried these with us to graham's town. just for curiosity lots of people bought the elephant's flesh to taste, and the teeth being fresh weighed very heavy, and fetched a good price. "`keep the money,' said my father; `that shall be your first prize; and i now give you my gun that you shot the elephant with;' and here, hans, you see that mark in the stock. that stands for the first elephant i ever shot." "there are plenty since then," replied hans. "see, your stock is covered with cuts." "yes, i've made the old gun do her duty. she has tried her hand at several kinds of things, and has settled amakosa, zulus, and all; and what do you think besides, hans?" "lions in numbers, i suppose." "yes, that is true; but this one mark is for a white man. not for a true africander, but an english-dutch fellow. this gun shot him, and well he deserved it." "how was that?" inquired all the party, to whom the information was news. "i'll tell you here, for we are friends; but don't mention it again, for few people know it, and i might not be liked by some people for having done what i did, though in my heart i feel i was right, and according to the laws of war i was right; still i don't want it talked about. have i all your promises?" "yes," was the universal reply. "well, then, it was when the amakosa had been beaten back from graham's town, that i, who was in the town at the time, saw a fellow half clothed among the kaffirs. i watched this fellow for some time, and when the kaffirs rushed on and fought bravely, this fellow stayed behind, and only urged them on. the more i looked, the more certain i was that the fellow was a white man, rubbed over with something to disguise his skin; but i knew the walk and look of the fellow, and fancied if i should see him again, i should know him. we beat the kaffirs off, as you know, and they lost hundreds in the battle. i stayed in graham's town for some days, but was going down to algoa bay in a short time, when, as i was going to a store, who should i see before me but a fellow whose walk i could swear to. it was the fellow i'd seen with the kaffirs. "he walked on and turned into the store, so i followed him, and found him buying powder and lead. i waited till he had gone, when i inquired of the owner of the store who he was. "`he's an officer's servant,' said the owner. "`have you ever seen him before?' i asked. "`never,' he replied; `but he told me he was an officer's servant.' "i bought what i wanted, and then went out, and seeing the man walking on before me, i quickened my pace, went to my house, got my gun, and traced him to a low hottentot house. having seen him housed, i suspected at once he would wait there till dark, and then go off somewhere; so i set watch, and sure enough it was no sooner dark than out he came, and walked right away out of the town, and away over the hills. "i followed him cautiously, but more than once he stopped to listen; but i was as cute as he was, and dropped on the ground immediately he stopped, so that he could not see me, and then on we went again. as it got darker, i followed by the sound, and kept rather closer; but this wasn't very safe work, for if he had liked he might just have waited behind a bush till i came up, and then shot me or stabbed me; but i was very careful, and as long as he kept to the open country i felt i was a match for him. after a while, though, he struck into the bush, and took a narrow path, and then i thought it wouldn't do to follow him, for he would be sure to hear me if i kept close enough to hear him; so i reluctantly gave up, but i had seen enough to make me suspicious. "i now thought of returning, and should have done so at once, but determined now i was so far off to wait a bit, and see what might happen; so taking shelter under a bush, i sat down on watch. i hadn't sat long before i saw a gleam of fire away in the bush towards where the man had gone, and this shone out pretty clearly. `that's your camping-ground, my man,' i said, `and i'll have a trial to find out what your company is.' i determined to creep up near enough to this fire to see what was going on, and started at once. i had to walk a good mile before i came near the fire, and then i crawled along on all fours till i got a view of the fire. i was sorry for myself when i found where i was, for i saw nearly fifty kaffirs, some of them wounded, and all of them armed with assagies or muskets, and with them was the man i'd seen in the town. he was giving the chief kaffir some powder, and seemed well-known among them. i think i could have shot the fellow from where i was, but i knew i should be assagied to a certainty if i did; so marking all i saw, i crawled back again, and off i went to graham's town. "the next day i went to the store-man, and told him what i had seen. "`if that blackguard comes here again, then,' said the man, `i'll have him taken, and it's death to sell ammunition to the kaffirs.' "`he fought against us, too,' said i; `that i can swear to.' "`he must be a deserter from some regiment,' said the store-man, `for he is just like a soldier in all his ways.' "two or three weeks after this i was out looking about graham's town for some pouw [a bustard], for they came there sometimes, when, in a bush path, who should i see just coming close to me but the deserter and spy! he'd got a gun, a single-barrelled one, and seemed looking out for game. forgetting the risk i ran in my eagerness, and never thinking whether he might not have a lot of kaffirs with him, i said, `you're a kaffir spy and deserter; you come into graham's town with me.' "`i'm a spy, am i?' said the fellow; `and who the d--l are you?' "as he said this, i saw him cock his gun, which he still held at his side, and bring the muzzle round towards me. "`turn your gun the other way,' i said, `or i'll fire!' "`fire, then!' said the schelm [rascal], as he raised his gun and aimed at me. "the gun hung fire a little, i think, or quick as i was he'd have hit me; but i jumped on one side behind a bush, and then back again, so as not to give him a steady shot. bang went the gun, and whiz went the bullet i think it struck a branch, and thus turned; any way it missed me. the fellow was off like a duiker [the duiker is a small, quick antelope], but he'd an old hunter to deal with. i caught sight of him as he jumped, and he never got up again when he came to the ground. i didn't care to meddle with him, for i didn't know who might be near him. i knew i'd saved a court-martial some trouble, and a file of soldiers some ammunition, so i reported at graham's town what i had done. a party went out at once, but they found the body stripped, and the man's musket gone, and no one could identify him except the owner of the store, and a hottentot woman, who said he had been a soldier, but had been supposed to have left the colony long ago. the hottentots in the house where i had seen him said he had come there to get a light to light his pipe, and sat talking with them till it was dark. this might or might not have been true, but he never fought against his white countrymen again, nor did he sell any more ammunition. this long notch is for him, and i think i did my duty to my fellow-men when i shot that fellow, who would have murdered me if he could have shot quick enough, as well as aid those rascally kaffirs against us." "i have always heard there were deserters from the english soldiers who aided the kaffirs in this outbreak," said hans, "and it seems your man was one of them." "yes, there were several deserters among the kaffirs, but, as is usually the case, they received very rough treatment at the hands of their new friends, who, knowing that they dared not leave them or rejoin the english, made them work like slaves." "do you think," inquired hans, "that the amakosa kaffirs fought as bravely when they attacked graham's town as the zulus have done lately against us?" "yes, i think they did. all savages fight well; there is no want of courage amongst them; and when they are assured by their prophets that bullets won't touch them, and assagies will be blunted against them, they will fight like demons, and will rush up to the very muzzles of the guns without fear or hesitation. the amakosa, however, fear the zulus, and have an idea that the zulu is brave and very strong. this is because the zulus drove the fetcani down the country from the east, and the fetcani, taking a lesson from the zulus, drove the amakosa kaffirs before them, so that the latter sought the aid of the english against these invaders, whom they then defeated." "most of those who now claim portions of the country seem to have won it from some one weaker than themselves," said hans. "we lost the country we had won, and the kaffirs seem to have lost their country, or a great part of it. i hope we shall never lose natal." "natal is too far away to make people anxious for it," replied hofman; "though if people knew how fine a place it was, they would come to it from many parts of the world. i wonder the portuguese never took possession of it, as they have delagoa bay close to it." "they have enough land there, and don't want more, so i have heard," replied hofman. "they send parties to hunt elephants near this. did you see any spoor to-day, or do you think your elephants had been hunted lately?" "no, my elephants knew what a gun was, but they did not seem disposed to trouble themselves much about it; for though they ran at first, they soon stopped again, and i thus shot my first elephant on foot." "to-morrow we will collect our ivory, and we must search for fresh game, for the elephants will trek from here. we shall have much work, so we will do well to sleep now." with this parting advice hofman made his brief arrangements for sleeping, a proceeding that was followed by all the other hunters, and the camp was soon in a state of repose. the horses were fastened to the waggon wheels, the oxen tied to stakes driven into the ground, and thus prevented from straying or wandering where they might tempt a hungry lion or hyena, and with but few exceptions every human being slept, for hunters sleep lightly even when tired, and the oxen or horses soon give an alarm, should any danger threaten. by the aid of their hottentots and kaffirs, the hunters had cut out all the tusks from their elephants by mid-day, and these being carried to the waggons, were placed therein, each owner's mark being cut on the tusk. after a hasty meal, it was decided to hunt during the afternoon, and return before sundown to a new outspanning-place which had been agreed upon. some very likely-looking ground was seen from a hill, and which lay in the north-easterly direction. this country was not at all known by the hunters, and, in fact, to this day it is not well explored. two parties were formed, one of which was to take the more easterly direction, and then to return by a southerly course; the other to take the more northerly, and return by a westerly and southerly course. thus the whole country would be hunted thoroughly. hans and his two companions took the more easterly course, the companions on this occasion being bernhard and victor. "i know we shall get ivory down by that dark-looking forest," said victor, as he pointed to a distant slope on which were masses of trees. "elephants will be found there, if there are any about." "it looks good elephant ground," said hans; "and it will be well to try it. there is none better looking round about." "it was unlucky you lost your far-seer, hans; that would have told us what game there was about us." "yes, it was unlucky; but let us dismount, and let our horses feed awhile, whilst we look closely over the country. i can recognise an elephant a long way off, if i take my time in looking." the hunters dismounted, and knee-haltering their horses, sat quietly examining the distant country for several minutes. "i can see an elephant," at length said hans. "come, victor, your eyes are good; look in a line with that distant pointed tree; look at that third cluster of forest trees, and on the right side there is an elephant. watch, and you will see him move." "i see him now you have pointed him out, but i could not say it was an elephant; it might be a buffalo or rhinoster." "no, an elephant is more square than either, and does not look so pointed; it is an elephant, too, by the way it turns. we shall have more sport to-day, but it will be a long ride to get to those elephants. we ought to drive them this way, and therefore ought to go round from the other side, and that will make our ride six miles at least; so we had better let them feed well now. they will be quite fit for a gallop after a six-miles' canter, though they are full of grass." "the country would be fine for elephant shooting about here. the loose sharp stones damage their feet, and they would rush from clump to clump of wood, so that between them we should get shots from the saddle; don't you think so, hans?" asked bernhard. "yes, we should be very successful here, and i think our trip altogether will be a lucky one. when we return, we shall have plenty of dollars' worth of ivory, and i shall then be quiet for a while." having upsaddled their horses, the hunters rode towards the forest, near which hans had seen the elephants. the country was one magnificent field of flowers and game. bucks bounded in all directions, whilst the most stately antelopes continually crossed their path. the stately koodoo, the noble water-buck, the striped eland, and many other creatures rarely, if ever, seen in england, except in our museums, were seen in numbers. but the game upon which the hunters were bent was elephants. no temptation could induce these men to fire a shot at less noble game, for the sound of a gun would alarm the country, and disturb the elephants; so that there would be but slight chance of finding these acute-scented, sharp-eared animals after they had been alarmed by a shot. riding steadily on, therefore, with an indifference to the animals that they disturbed, the hunters reached the position they desired, and there saw the game they expected. there were but four elephants, but they were all bulls, and with fine tusks, and were browsing without any signs of alarm. "that elephant alone to the right i will take, if you like," said hans; "you ride for the other two." "yes, they seem all alike in tusks, so you take him. we will ride down on them, and shoot from the saddle," said victor. the three hunters separated slightly, each riding down towards the elephant he had selected, and each regulating his pace in such a manner that he should reach his elephant at the same time that the others did. hans was the last to reach his elephant, as he had the farthest to go, but was nearly ready to fire, when the double shots of victor and bernhard alarmed his elephant. firing rather hurriedly, he aimed high, and his bullet striking the animal in the head, enraged it, so that it charged him instantly with a fierce trumpet hans, being well mounted, easily avoided the charge, and the elephant continued on its course, thus travelling in the opposite direction to that in which the elephants ran which victor and bernhard had wounded. hans quickly pursued his elephant, and firing at it behind the shoulder, lodged his two bullets there. this the huge animal seemed to be indifferent to, and still charged on with great speed. loading as he rode at full gallop, hans continued bombarding the elephant, but apparently with no great effect, and he found himself far away from his companions, and riding in the opposite direction to that in which they had gone. powerful as was the elephant, still it was mortal; and as the heavy gun of hans was discharged time after time close to the animal's side, the bullets passed nearly through it, and at length compelled it to cease struggling for life, and resign the combat. standing near a large tree, against which it leaned for support, the animal received its death wound, and fell to the ground, breaking off both its tusks as it came to the earth. hans immediately took the saddle off his tired steed, and allowed it to graze, whilst he sat down beside his prize. he estimated that he had ridden about eight miles away from the spot on which he had first started the elephants, and in a nearly easterly direction. the country was entirely unknown to him, and there was no sun to guide him as to the points of the compass, but the instinct of a hunter would tell him which way he should go in order to retrace his steps, or he might follow his spoor back. he determined to rest about an hour, and then to ride back; so, lighting his pipe, he enjoyed a quiet smoke. whilst thus occupied, he was surprised to hear human voices near him, and still more so when he saw a party of about a dozen men, some of them partially clothed, and all armed with guns, who were coming rapidly towards him. hans' first idea was to mount his horse and ride away; but he saw that before he could reach his horse the men would be close to him, and if they intended to injure him, they could easily shoot him at the short distance which they would then be from him. the fact of their having guns rather disposed hans to think that they must be partially civilised, and that therefore he need not fear them as enemies. it was evident that these men, having heard the report of his gun, had come to search out the cause of so unusual a noise in this neighbourhood, and the elephant soon attracted their attention, and with a shout as they saw it they ran rapidly down towards it. hans stood up as they approached, and showed no signs of fear; and when they came close, he noticed that three of the men were evidently half-castes, and one seemed the leader of the party. the men saw hans, and immediately transferred their attention from the dead elephant to him. he spoke to them in dutch, then in english, but they seemed to understand neither language; so he said a few words in zulu, which were equally unintelligible. the men spoke rapidly amongst themselves, and hans could not understand what they said, and was at a loss to comprehend from whence these hunters--for such they seemed to be--had come. after several attempts at communication, the chief shook his head, and pointing to the west, then at hans, seemed thus to signal that it was from the west that hans had come. hans, who was accustomed to aid his imperfect knowledge of language by signs, immediately nodded his assent to this pantomime, and pointing to the men around, then to the east, thus inquired whether these hunters came from the east. the chief nodded to this, and thus explained to hans that he must have come from the neighbourhood of delagoa bay, and was probably a cross between some natives there and the portuguese. whilst this communication was going on between hans and the chief, some of the men had pulled the teeth from under the elephant, and had cut off the flesh that hung to them. they then lifted up the teeth, and seemed preparing to carry them away. to this appropriation of his property hans objected, and made signs to the chief that the men should place the tusks on the ground. the chief uttered a few words to the men, who immediately dropped the tusks, and stood waiting for further directions. the chief now came close to hans, and commenced making signs, which, however seemed to hans unintelligible. he was, however, endeavouring to discover what these signals meant, when his arms were grasped from behind, his gun taken from him, and in the struggle which ensued he was thrown violently to the ground, and there held by three of the men of the party. though strong enough to have mastered any one of the strange men singly, still hans was no match for three of them; and thus he ceased to struggle on finding himself disarmed, and surrounded by such a force. immediately he was thus quiet, some leather straps were produced, and his hands were firmly tied behind him. his legs were then tied by a powerful strap, so that he could walk by taking an average length-pace; but if he attempted to go beyond this, he could not do so: thus running was out of the question. whilst this sudden attack, and being thus bound as a prisoner, made hans very angry, yet he knew that it was no use showing this anger; he therefore submitted quietly, and began to hope that as there seemed no intention of murdering him, he might be merely kept a prisoner for some time, and then released. "perhaps they will steal my horse, gun, and ivory, and leave me here unable to follow them," thought hans. "if so, i shall have a long journey on foot to reach my people." this idea, however, was soon relinquished, when hans saw the chief mount his horse, take his gun, and whilst others of the party carried the tusks, three men, who seemed detailed especially to him, signalled to him to walk on before them, and after their chief. pulling long knives from out of their belts, they signed to him that these would be used if he did not willingly comply, and thus threatened he followed, as best he could with bound hands and encumbered legs, the leaders of the party. hans could tell that the direction in which he walked was nearly east, and therefore away from where his people would be expecting him. none of the dutchmen would be likely, therefore, to come across him or to find him, so that a rescue was out of the question. the only chance seemed to be that victor and bernhard might come in search of him, and might trace him up; but then two men against twelve men armed with muskets might result only in the death of his two friends. chapter twenty three. hans carried away--his fellow-prisoners--slavery--thoughts of escape-- carried off to sea--the voyage--pursued--the chase--the night battle-- the repulse--the capture. with no hesitation as to the direction in which they were to travel, the party who had so unceremoniously captured hans marched on till near sunset. it was evident they knew the country well, and had decided in which direction they were to proceed. they talked freely amongst each other, and hans was often apparently the subject of their conversation, but he could not comprehend a word of their language. it was no compound of either dutch, english, or kaffir, and he therefore concluded it must be portuguese. hans could not understand why he should be taken prisoner. he had not, he believed, committed any crime, and was merely hunting in a free country; but having failed to think of any likely reason, he did not further trouble himself about the matter. when the sun was so near the horizon that the shadow of the trees made the forest through which they walked nearly dark, the party halted. some wood was quickly gathered, a fire was lighted, and some elephant's flesh was broiled; hans was given his share of the food, and also supplied with water. he was carefully tied to one of the men of the party, whose duty it was to watch him, and thus all chance of escape was prevented. the party then set one man to act as sentry, and, forming a ring round hans, laid themselves down to sleep. bound as he was, hans could not for a long time sleep; but at length, long exposure to danger having rendered him very much of a philosopher, he slept as soundly as the remainder of the party. the sun had scarcely risen on the following morning before hans and his capturers, having breakfasted, again travelled on to the eastward. the march was continued till mid-day, when a halt was made, and one or two shots were fired, apparently as signals. after a short interval these shots were replied to by other shots, and soon after a second party of very similar-looking men appeared from the south, and brought with them three zulus, bound in the same manner as hans. an immense number of questions and answers passed between the two parties of men, those who last arrived evidently describing to their friends some adventure which had happened to them, and which from the action hans supposed to be a fight of some kind, probably with a hunting-party of zulus, some of the members of which were taken prisoners. hans was quite sufficiently acquainted with the zulu dialect to have made inquiries from his fellow-prisoners as to the manner in which they had been captured, but as this would have been merely through curiosity, he thought it more prudent to keep silence, and not to let his captors know that he could speak the language of his dark-coloured fellow-prisoners; besides, he believed that he would soon be able to overhear enough of their conversation to find out in what manner they had been captured; and in this supposition he was correct, for he soon gathered enough information to know that the zulus had been out hunting, and were surprised by their capturers, who shot several men who offered resistance, but seemed more inclined to take prisoners than to kill. the chief whom hans had seen at first, came up to the zulus, and commenced feeling their arms and bodies, as a purchaser pinches cattle. at first a feeling of alarm came across hans, as he fancied he had fallen among a party of cannibals, who captured men to eat at their great feasts; but this he could not reconcile with the half-civilised look of the men, and their having guns. only one other explanation seemed probable, however, and when this occurred to him, hans was surprised he had not thought of it before. rumours had often been heard amongst the old colonists that up the east coast the white men used to persuade the natives sometimes to go on board ship, and then to make them prisoners, and sell them in distant lands for slaves. hans now thought that he and the zulus could be captured for no other reason, and this idea was little less satisfactory than was that of being eaten by cannibals. that a kaffir could be thus captured and sold, hans did not doubt; but it seemed to him impossible that a white man could be thus treated, and he therefore hoped that, as soon as he reached the head-quarters of wherever he might be going, he would be liberated. for four days the party marched on through a country in which there seemed no inhabitants. game was shot occasionally, and the zulus, as well as hans, were well fed, this convincing hans that he and they were destined to be sold for slaves, as a fat, plump, healthy-looking slave would always fetch more than one who was thinner or weakly-looking. at the end of the fourth day hans saw the sea, distant only a few miles, and near the sea he saw, as he advanced, several huts built two stories high, and indicating much more architectural skill than the kraals of the zulus. several men, women, and children came out from these huts to welcome the return of the expedition, which had evidently been out slave-hunting. they all looked at hans with great interest, but took not the slightest notice of his remonstrances or earnest appeals for liberty. he was taken with the zulus to a large hut, in which there were benches and large wooden rails. to these were attached chains and fastenings for the hands and legs. the men were evidently accustomed to the work of securing prisoners, and fastened hans and the zulus in a very few minutes, shortly afterwards bringing them some boiled rice and milk; then locking them in, left them to their own resources; a man, however, being placed on guard just outside of the hut to watch them, and to report if any attempt was made to escape from their fetters. on the morning after his arrival at the coast, hans was surprised to find that he was taken away from the other prisoners, and was conducted to a distant hut, where some coloured men were assembled, whom he had not previously seen. as soon as hans arrived, one of these men commenced clipping his hair and beard, until as little was left as is found on the woolly pate of a zulu. it was in vain hans remonstrated against this outrage; the men paid not the slightest attention to his words, and seemed not to understand them; and as his hands were fastened by irons he was completely in their power. having clipped his hair to their satisfaction, the men produced a vessel in which was a thick black composition. removing hans' clothing from his neck and arms, they deliberately painted his face, neck, hands, and arms with this composition, which shortly dried; and hans, judging what his lace must be from what he could see his hands were, knew he must look very like a negro or zulu. the ethiopian singers whom we are accustomed to see in our streets are not nearly such good imitations of black men as hans was after his wash. hans concluded that this disguise was effected in order that it should not be known that he was a white man; but he remembered that though his hands and face were blackened, yet his tongue remained white, and he could speak dutch, and his knowledge of english was sufficient to enable him to converse with tolerable freedom; so that if it was intended to conceal his nationality, that was hopeless. on his being taken back to the hut where the zulus were confined, he discovered how complete had been his disguise, for his late companions did not recognise him, and believed that a stranger had been brought to them. during ten days hans was kept a prisoner in the hut, along with the zulus, but on the morning of the eleventh day some change was evidently anticipated by his jailors. the men who had been on guard came in early to the room, and by signs intimated that the prisoners were to follow them. the irons and shackles were taken off, and with a hint that a spear would be used should any attempt be made to escape, the zulus and hans were conducted towards the beach. hans soon saw what he supposed was the cause of this change. near the shore, and partly sheltered by a woody promontory, was a long, low, small vessel. her look was what sailors would decidedly term suspicious, and such she really was. the prisoners were taken to a shed near the coast, and were immediately visited by half a dozen sailor-looking men, all of whom were dark, ruffianly-looking fellows. hans spoke in dutch and in english to them, but obtained no attention, the sailors either not understanding him, or else purposely declining to listen to his complaint. after what appeared to be a bargain between the sailors and hans' capturers, the former brought some rope from their boat, and tying hans and the zulus together, led them down to the boat, their capturers following them with cudgels and spears to employ force should any resistance be offered. upon reaching the boat, the prisoners were dragged in, and ordered into the stem, where they were compelled to lie down. the boat was pushed off and rowed to the vessel. no sooner did hans get on board the vessel than the horrible smell which he encountered, and the first peep down below, convinced him that all the tales he had heard connected with slavery were true. upwards of two hundred dark-skinned men were crowded together and chained like wild beasts to the deck, and to benches. hans, who had all his life been accustomed to the pure air of the open country, who had left the least sign of a town to obtain the freedom of the wilderness, found himself thus brought into that condition of all others which was to him the most repulsive. that he should be chained like a wild beast, and brought into contact with some hundreds of foul natives, whom he and all his class looked upon as little better than animals, was more than he could endure. "even death is better than this," he thought; and with a sudden wrench he drew his hands from the fastenings with which he was held, seized a handspike that was near him, and in an instant had felled two of the sailors that had brought him on board. several of the ship's crew who were standing near, on seeing this sudden attack, recoiled from hans; but being armed with pistols and cutlasses, hans' career would soon, have been terminated, had not the captain, who witnessed the proceeding, called to his men, and given them some directions which hans could not understand. the captain, seizing another handspike, approached hans, as though to decide by single combat the question whether or not he was to obtain freedom; at least such was for a moment hans' idea. concentrating all his attention and energy towards defeating the captain, he approached him cautiously, his handspike in readiness for a blow, when having reached nearly the required distance, something flashed before hans' eyes, a noose settled over his shoulders, and before he could understand what had occurred he was jerked to the deck, and there pinioned by half a dozen sailors. protesting in alternate dutch and english, hans was dragged down below, and placed in irons alongside of some africans, whose nationality or language he was unacquainted with. at first hans supposed that his words had been unintelligible to those to whom he spoke, but after some hours a sailor came down, and seeing him said-- "you speak ingleese." "yes," said hans; "i am a dutch farmer: why am i made a prisoner like this?" "captain pay silber for you; that why," said the sailor. "if he get more silber from you, he let you go, not without." "i have no silver to give him here," said hans; "but if he could send any one with me to natal, i could procure plenty of silver, enough to pay him back more than he gave for me." "ah! captain no like go to natal; english gun-ships sometimes there; he no go there; no, he sell you in america." with this remark the man left, and hans was now alone amidst a crowd; for the black men around him had no sympathy with him, and did not understand a word of the language he spoke. hans had now time to look around at the scene in which he was a partaker. at least two hundred negroes were crowded together between decks. there was no attempt at cleanliness, and the foul state of all around convinced hans that a fearful mortality would shortly overtake the negroes. the heat was suffocating, and the ventilation scarcely perceptible. a hot steamy atmosphere pervaded the hold of the vessel, and rose from it as from a furnace. in such a situation hans looked back longingly to his free life in the forest and on the plains of africa, and he reflected, like many people, on the immense value of that which he had lost, and which he had not half appreciated when he possessed it. "what would i not give," said hans, "even to be the fore-looper of a waggon, so that i might see the light of day, and breathe the fresh air of heaven! oh, bernhard, and you, victor, how happy are you, and how little you know of the sad fate of hans! poor katrine too, you will wait expecting me for many a long day, and you will wonder why i have not come back; but i may never be able to tell you how hard a fate is mine." the day after hans came on board he began to experience the style of treatment he would receive from the hands of the sailors. the fact of his having knocked down two of them seemed to have drawn special attention to himself, for whenever food was brought down for the slaves, the very worst was given to hans, whilst kicks and cuffs were freely bestowed upon him whenever an opportunity offered. at daybreak on the third day the vessel's anchor was weighed, and with a fair wind from the north-east she ran offshore and steered down the coast. as long as the ship was protected by the headland, she did not feel any influence from the waves; but no sooner was she out at sea than, being a very small vessel and drawing but little water, she was very lively, and danced merrily on the waves. hans had never been to sea before, nor been on board ship; and cooped up as he was in the close, foul atmosphere between decks, he was very soon, in addition to his other miseries, suffering from sea-sickness, and was thus utterly prostrated, and unable to do more than rest his head and wearied limbs as best he could, and wish for some release from his sufferings. as the day wore on, and night once more came, hans believed that no human being could be in a more miserable plight than he was. he reflected upon his sensations when he discovered that katrine had been carried off by the matabili; he thought over his feelings when he fought on the solitary rock with victor, and when a rescue seemed very improbable; but there was excitement and uncertainty in those conditions, whereas now there seemed not even the remotest chance of any help coming to him. he was on board a vessel, a chained prisoner, and determined men his jailors; and thus his fate was sealed. for three days and nights the little vessel rolled steadily on her course, at the end of which time hans had in a great measure recovered from his sea-sickness, and had begun to plan some means of escape. he had made up his mind that death was preferable to a life of slavery, and it is surprising what a desperate man will plan and very often accomplish. hans decided that the only possible means of escape was to induce the slaves to mutiny. if the slaves could be freed from their irons, and could be organised in any way, they would number more than ten to one of the crew, and thus the vessel could be captured. what to do, then, hans did not know; but he thought that if all the sails were taken off the vessel, and she was allowed to remain still on the ocean, some ship would be sure to see them, and give the aid he required. the great difficulty was to get up any organised attack, for, except the zulus who had been brought down the country with him, there was no one with whom he could communicate. the zulus did not seem to understand the language of the other slaves, and thus it was impossible to obtain any uniformity of action. still hans thought over every possible chance, and decided that if no other means presented themselves, he would, by the aid of the zulus alone, endeavour to do something. on the fourth day hans found by the motion of the vessel, that some change had occurred in the weather, or in the sea. instead of rolling steadily onwards with an easy movement, the ship jerked and plunged very uneasily, seeming sometimes as though rushing furiously onwards, and then suddenly being checked in her course. there was, too, a great commotion among the sailors, and the noise made by the wind in the rigging of the vessel prevented even the groans and yells of the slaves from being heard. during the whole of the fourth day and night these conditions prevailed, heavy seas striking the small vessel, and spray in abundance finding its way down amongst the crowded human beings below. the night was a long and dreary one. the hatchway which led down to the slaves' den was narrow, and scarcely allowed enough ventilation to prevent suffocation. the darkness was such that not even a hand could be seen when held close to the face, and as hans could not sleep, his torture in being thus confined was almost unbearable. the first signs of daylight had just begun to appear, when hans heard a shout on deck, followed by the sound of rushing feet; then a series of shouts, and what appeared to him execrations, uttered in a language which he could not comprehend. he endeavoured to discover what was the cause of this sudden commotion, and after a time he believed that either the ship had met with some accident, and was likely to go down, or her direction had been changed for some reason with which he was not acquainted. as the daylight increased, he could obtain glimpses through the hatchway of the masts, and he then found that the vessel was crowded with sails, and from the bounding sort of feeling, and the rushing sound of the water, he knew the vessel must be forcing her way with great speed. for what reason this sudden change had been made hans had no idea, but that there was some cause for anxiety there seemed to be no doubt, for the crew were so fully occupied that none of the slaves had received any food up to mid-day, and consequently their groans and yells were incessant. without apparently being influenced by these sounds, shortly after mid-day some of the sailors rushed down among the slaves, and after inflicting several lashes on the more noisy, they unlocked the irons of about half a dozen slaves, among whom was hans, and signed to them to go on deck. hans willingly complied with this request or order, for even had it been to meet his death he would willingly have purchased a few breaths of fresh air at this price. upon ascending to the deck of the vessel, the sight to hans was one of wonder and astonishment. he had seen the vast plains of africa extending far as the eye could reach in all directions, and had admired the extent of these, but never before had he at all realised the vastness of the ocean. as he held for an instant to the shrouds on the ship's side, he saw around him a wide expanse of water, tossing and dancing as though possessed with life. he saw vast masses of water come rushing after the vessel, foaming as though eager to swallow her up; then the little vessel, rising as though by instinct, seemed to allow these to pass beneath her, whilst she rested for a few seconds, before again springing forward in her mad career. hans had scarcely time to observe even this, before he was dragged to the after-part of the ship, and was given a pail with which he was directed to bale out the water that had descended into the hold of the vessel. at first hans was inclined to refuse this, but a moment's reflection told him that it might be wiser to obey, and wait for some chance of a mutiny at another time. he therefore lowered his bucket by the rope which was attached, and empted its contents over the side as directed. whilst employed in this manner, hans observed that the sailors were continually looking astern, even ascending the rigging in order to obtain a better view of something. his trained eyes soon observed an object on the horizon, but at a considerable distance, and this object he knew must be a ship. nothing of her was visible but a mass of white sails, which were seen when the little vessel in which he was rose on the summit of a wave, and were lost sight of as she again descended. the short glance that he had given at the distant ship caused a heavy log of wood to be hurled at him by the captain, who, pointing to his bucket, indicated that he was to go on baling. hans, believing that the distant ship might be one which was in pursuit of the slaver, was so anxious to watch her that he at once set to work baling vigorously, fearing that if he did not do so, he might be sent down below, and another slave liberated to take his place. during an hour or more hans remained near the stern of the vessel, and continued his labours as well as the motion of the vessel would allow him to do. in this interval the strange vessel astern had evidently gained on the slaver, there being a taller mass of canvas visible than when first hans had noticed her. the captain of the slaver seemed to be aware of this fact, and though the masts seemed to bend under the heavy press of canvas on them, he yet sent some men aloft in order to get another stern-sail on his vessel. this extra sail, small as it seemed to be, yet added to the speed of the slaver, which now bounded over the water like a fresh horse on the springy turf. during another hour hans could see no difference in the apparent distance of the chasing ship, and he began to fear that this chance would fail him. could he venture to cut any of the many mysterious ropes that held the sails, he would, he knew, temporarily stop or retard the vessel; but he knew not what to cut, and he did not possess a knife, even had he known. thus he was helpless in this particular, and had to continue working, only resting occasionally when an opportunity occurred of doing so. nearer and nearer the sun travelled towards the horizon, and yet the pursuing vessel seemed scarcely to decrease her distance from the slaver; and if night should come before the distance was decreased, it would be very probable that the slaver might escape. hans, although totally unacquainted with nautical affairs, could yet see that such a result was very possible, and therefore, as the afternoon passed on, his hopes fell, and he became at length disheartened, especially when he noticed that the distant ship had suddenly begun to increase instead of decreasing her distance. it was some time before the cause of this increase in the slaver's rate of sailing became apparent, and even then hans could not quite comprehend it; but the fact was, that the slaver was very light, and was built mainly for running before the wind. her sails were large, and she thus sailed in a light wind better than could a larger, heavier ship, to which a strong breeze was better adapted. thus as the wind was falling lighter, she gradually increased her distance from her pursuer, and bid fair to escape out of sight. the wind, which had decreased from a fresh breeze to merely a light air, ceased altogether about sundown, and before dark the slaver was becalmed, not having even enough way on her to enable her head to be kept in one direction. the last rays of the setting sun just illumined the royals and topgallant sails of the distant vessel, and at this hans cast a lingering look as he left the deck and was sent below, and again chained to the benches. some of the negroes, who had been taken on deck for various labours, had seen the pursuing ship, and were evidently under the belief that she was an enemy of the captain's, and therefore was a friend of theirs. a great deal of talking was going on amongst these men, evidently with reference to what they had seen on deck, though their words were unintelligible to hans. night closed in, and all was silent on deck. the groaning of the bulkheads could alone be heard as the vessel rolled lazily on the now tolerably quiet sea. the effect of the fresh sea breeze, and the labour he had undergone, rendered hans sleepy, and though his position was a most uncomfortable one, he yet managed to sleep for short intervals. from one of these brief minutes of repose he awoke, and heard the sailors on deck talking in subdued tones. the rattle of swords or some such weapons on the deck was audible, whilst the ring of a ramrod, as bullets were rammed down, was a sound which to hans' ears was very intelligible. what all these preparations were for he could not imagine unless it was that the captain and crew expected the slaves to mutiny, and were thus making preparations to meet them. when the sailors appeared to have loaded several muskets, all was again quiet on deck, and no sound seemed to indicate that there was a living soul there--the groans of some of the slaves, and the snores of others, being audible to those only who were with them. for some time this quietness continued, when hans heard a slight movement on deck, and some loud whispering. his being near the hatchway enabled him thus to distinguish sounds in the open air. several sailors hurriedly ran to and fro on the deck, and hans could hear that nearly if not quite all the crew were on deck. suddenly the captain of the slaver called out in a loud voice, as though he were hailing some one at a distance, and hans distinctly heard from the sea a voice in english call out, "what ship is that?" there was some hesitation on the part of the captain of the slaver, for no answer was at first returned; but when a second demand, "what ship is that?" was uttered, one of the crew, who had before spoken to hans in english, answered, "portugee ship, pedro: what you want?" "i must come on board," was the reply from the sea; for hans could not tell in what sort of vessel the inquirer was, though he hoped a rescue was at hand. he strained every muscle to try and free his arms from the irons that held him, but without effect; for he feared that perhaps the inquirer, whoever it might be, might not venture beyond inquiries, and thus would avoid seeing all that he must see should he come on board. the inquirer, however, was not satisfied, as his remark indicated, and the sound of oars was audible amidst the stillness which followed. presently the grating of a boat on the vessel's side was heard; then the fall of a heavy substance, the crashing of planks, and a heavy splash in the water, followed by the shouts of men, who, some crushed, others struggling in the sea, were able to call for aid, and thus announced their distress. a loud cheer given by english lungs responded to their calls, and three other boats, which had before kept back in the darkness, now dashed at the slaver. the captain of the slaver was a desperate man, and his all was risked in the vessel he now commanded. having either suspected that the ship which had chased him would send her boats to capture him, or having heard an incautious speaker or the imperfectly muffled oars, he had made his arrangements for defence. supported from the mainyard arm, he had suspended three or four solid iron bars, each of which exceeded a hundred pounds in weight. a man with a sharp knife was placed close to this, with orders to cut the rope by which the iron was held immediately a boat came beneath him. the man obeyed his orders well, and the mass of iron, having gained great velocity by the distance it had fallen, stove in the boat, killing two men in its descent. four boats had been sent from the ship in order to capture the slaver, and the three that remained pulled eagerly forward to avenge their first check. the crew of the disabled boat were struggling in the water as their comrades came near, and, as is too often the case, the sailors could not swim, and were therefore in great risk of being drowned. the boats, therefore, were checked in their advance, in consequence of stopping to take up their comrades. whilst thus delayed, their position could be distinctly seen from the slaver, because of the phosphorescence of the water, which gave a line of brilliant light following the boat like a comet's tail in the skies. the captain of the slaver saw his opportunity, and directing his men to fire at the boats, he set the example by discharging both barrels of his fowling-piece at the leading boat; and then waiting a short time, followed this by a shot from each of the double barrels of his pistol. his men, being all well-armed and desperadoes, knowing that their lives would be sacrificed if they were captured, and believing in their present superiority of numbers, fired with a deadly aim at the boats, and immediately afterwards dropped behind the bulwarks, where they were comparatively secure from the irregular discharge delivered from the boats. the english sailors did not, however, retreat, though fully half their number were already either killed or wounded. having aided their companions to get into the boats, they pulled on to the slaver, and were preparing to board her, when the slaver crew, having reloaded, poured another shower of bullets on to their assailants with almost as fatal an effect as before. to attempt a further assault would have been merely a reckless throwing away of life, and this the commander seeing, he ordered an immediate retreat, which seemed the signal for a general discharge of fire-arms from the crew of the slaver. hans' heart beat rapidly as this tumult went on, whilst all the slaves had uttered groans and savage yells. the hold of the vessel seemed more like a den of infuriated beasts than a prison filled with human beings. the slaves all seemed to comprehend that those who were attacking their vessel were their friends, and that they had been defeated; and their groans and yells were therefore redoubled when the boats pulled away from them. the noise they made caused the infuriated crew to come amongst them with whips and canes, which they used freely in all directions, thus quelling in a measure the disturbance. after the din and tumult of the combat the silence on the deck of the slaver was a most painful contrast to hans, who believed it improbable that another attempt could be made to take the slaver before the following day, because the distance of the ship to which the boats belonged was so great that they could not reach her and bring a stronger force before daybreak, at which time there was usually a fresh breeze on the coast; so that hans feared his fate as a slave was decided. before daybreak hans could feel by the movement of the vessel that a light breeze had sprung up, and this he now knew was just the style of wind that would best enable the slaver to creep away from the heavy ship in pursuit of her. he therefore obeyed unwillingly the order of one of the crew, who came down below to drive him and half a dozen other slaves on the deck to aid the sailors in pulling on the braces, etc. the night was rather foggy, and but few stars were visible; but hans noticed that the clouds seemed to pass rapidly before the stars, as though the wind up high blew stronger than down below. from this fact he hoped that an increase would take place in the wind soon after sunrise, when there might be a chance of the large vessel again overhauling the slaver. hans remained on deck till the first streak of light appeared, but as the sea-line was not visible on account of the fog, he could not obtain a view of the vessel that was pursuing the slaver. as the light very rapidly increased, hans looked eagerly astern in hopes of seeing the ship there. he was not aware that the vessel's course had been altered, and that it was no longer astern that he must look for the ship. he noticed that the sailors were all anxiously looking out in a different direction, over the slaver's quarter in fact, and there all was foggy. soon, however, the fog rose, and there, to the surprise of the slaver's crew, was the strange ship, distant scarcely more than two miles. to hans it seemed little short of a miracle how she had reached such a position; but the fact was that the breeze which had enabled the slaver to move on had been first felt by the ship, which had brought it up with her, and she had thus seen the manoeuvre of the slaver in changing her course before the fog had hidden her from view. all sail was already spread on the slaver, and nothing more could therefore be done. light as she was, and built entirely for running before the wind, she was able to maintain her distance from the ship, and for several hours the two did not alter their position. to the captain of the ship this must have been a sad trial of patience. he knew that if he could once come within gun-shot of the slaver, he could capture or sink her in a few minutes; but there she was tantalisingly just out of gun-shot, and maintaining this position, if not increasing her distance. steam-vessels in those days were not common off the coast of africa, and slavers or pirates had to be captured by sailing vessels alone. hans feared that the second chance of release would be lost, and he began to speculate upon what could be done to enable the vessel following them to come alongside. he believed that it might be possible to cut some of the many ropes which held the sails, and thus cause them to fall, and by this means to bring the slaver under the guns of the english ship; but the knife was wanting to accomplish this. thus, though hans thought over every plan, he could see nothing quite practical, or that could be effected without enormous risk. as the day advanced it was evident that the slaver had the best of the race, the light breeze favouring her, and by sunset the english man-of-war brig--for such she was--had dropped back to nearly five miles' distance. when darkness had completely set in the captain of the slaver altered his course, and ran in towards the shore. he had for two days sailed in the opposite direction to that in which he wished to go, the english brig having stood in his way. he now wished to let her pass, and thus renew his original intention of running over to the coast of south america, where his slaves would soon be disposed of. having steered for about an hour in the direction of the coast, the captain ordered the vessel's head to be kept south-west; and thus he expected to run past the english brig, and avoid her in the darkness. it seemed impossible that any eyes could distinguish the vessel even at the distance of half a mile, and the crew of the slaver were unable to see the brig shortly after sunset. whether it was, however, that they possessed admirable glasses on board the brig, or some light was visible on board the slaver, the change of course of the latter had been seen; and scarcely had she altered her course, and had begun to beat up wind in a south-westerly direction, than the crew of the slaver found themselves within half a mile of the brig, which was steering towards them. all was immediately hurry and confusion on board the slaver. her course was altered, and additional sails were ordered to be placed on her, which, now that she was again put before the wind, she could carry. the english brig, however, was determined to put a stop to this, if possible: altering her course to suit that of the slaver, she also prepared to carry additional sails, but at the same time showed her intention of endeavouring to stop her quick-sailing enemy. the flash of a cannon, followed by the whistle of a shot over the ship, which was accompanied by the report, showed that she was in earnest. in rapid succession shot after shot flew over the brig and between her masts, yet none struck a mast, yard or spar. already had the slaver begun to draw ahead, when a shot from the brig struck the main-mast of the slaver, and so nearly cut it in two that it could not bear the pressure of the sails upon it, and the next instant it snapped like a reed, and a mass of canvas and rope fell partly on the deck, and was partly supported by the mainyard, and immediately checked the speed of the vessel. the captain shouted his directions to the men to clear the deck, whilst he swore at his luck; for he now saw that capture was almost certain. he dared fight the boats of the brig, but he had no means of successfully combating a vessel armed as she was. finding that capture was almost a certainty, he called to the mate next in command, rushed to the side of the vessel, and lowered a boat which hung there; then rushing to the cabin, he brought up a heavy bag, apparently containing gold, and before any of his crew were aware of his intention he had left the vessel with the mate alone, and thus hoped to escape to the coast, which was not more than fifty miles distant. the lucky shot which had struck the slaver's mast enabled the brig to come alongside, and several shots having been fired into the rigging, the slaver became unmanageable, and entirely lost her way, lying a wreck on the water. the brig, having come close to her, hailed to know if she had surrendered; but as no one except hans seemed to understand what was said, no answer was at first returned; so hans shouted in reply, "the captain has left the ship in a boat. come on board, and free us." still fearing treachery, the commander of the brig would not despatch a small force to take the slaver, but sent two boats of armed men, who at once polled alongside, and springing on deck ordered the slaver's crew to throw down their arms. this order, given as much by signs as by words, was at once obeyed, and the crew were rapidly sent into the two boats, and transferred to the brig. hans was at first taken for one of the crew, but the irons on his legs indicated that he was a slave, and his explanation of himself was considered so satisfactory by the officer sent to take charge of the slaver, that hans was sent on board the brig to the captain to give all the information he could relative to the slaver. hans' account of the manner in which he had been captured, and also the manner in which he had been treated on board the slaver, enraged the captain of the brig, who was already irritated at the loss of some of the best men of his crew. he therefore determined to run up the coast, and, if possible, discover the head-quarters of these slave-catchers, and destroy it. hans was quite delighted at this proposition, for all that he had suffered was still fresh in his memory, and he considered that if this slave establishment remained, some of his companions might be captured when on their next hunting expedition; so that he was most anxious that it should be destroyed. the captain of the brig at once made his plans, which were that the slaver only should run up the coast after she had got rid of her slaves and the crew. thus the slave-catchers would imagine she had put back for some reason, and might not be alarmed as they otherwise would be if the brig showed herself. the only objection to this plan seemed to be the delay which must occur before the slaver could return, for it would be necessary for her to go at least to simon's bay in order to get rid of her slaves. this plan, however, the captain of the brig decided on, and therefore, placing a portion of his crew with an officer in charge of the slaver, he sent the prisoners on board her, and secured them so that they could not interfere with the regular sailors, and gave directions to the officer in charge to make sail for simon's bay, and return as soon as possible. in the mean time a boat which had been sent in pursuit of the captain and mate of the slaver returned, having found the boat they had escaped in bottom upwards, and no signs of its late occupants, who with their treasure had gone to the bottom, or been eaten by sharks. chapter twenty four. off to simon's bay--mutiny of the slaves--their repulse--ship on fire-- the black demons--the zulus' escape--the vessel sinks. although the slaver had been the scene of so much misery to hans, yet when he knew that she was going to the cape he begged the captain's permission to go in her. he was anxious to get back to natal, or at least to let his friends know that he was alive and well. the captain of the brig did not like to let hans go, because from him he hoped to discover the head-quarters of the slavers; but hans informed him of all he knew, and urged that he could tell no more even if with him, for he did not know what part of the coast the slavers lived on, except that it was not far from delagoa bay. after vainly endeavouring to persuade hans to stay with him, the captain consented to his going in the slaver, and so hans once more set foot on this ship, though under very different conditions from those with which he had previously boarded her. he was now given a hammock in the captain's cabin, and was able to roam about the ship without hindrance. by dint of soap and much scrubbing he had succeeded in rubbing off the composition that the slavers had painted him with, and he therefore now looked a thorough white man. it was not considered safe to free the slaves and allow them all to come on deck, but a portion of them were liberated at a time, and brought up to the fresh air; and when these had been again secured, others were allowed to come up, so that during the twenty-four hours every slave passed a certain portion of his time in the fresh air. the wind being fair for the slaver, she ran rapidly with the current that runs down the coast to the south-west, and was supposed to be about forty miles south of cape l'agulhas on the day after she had parted company with the brig. towards the evening of this day it fell calm, and at sunset there was not a breeze stirring. hans was leaning over the side of the vessel, talking to the lieutenant who commanded her, when the sun-setting attracted their attention. "we shall have enough wind before the morning," said the lieutenant, "for the sun looks windy." "yes, that is the truth," replied hans. "how long will it be before we get to the cape?" "we could drift down there in little more than two days even if there was no wind, for there is a current of three miles an hour running down this coast; but with a fair wind we shall get there in less time. where shall you go to when you get to the cape?" "i must get up to natal as soon as i can," replied hans; "but i know not how to do that i have no money, and know no one there. hark to the slaves! they are more noisy than ever." "yes," replied the officer, "they are just letting out some, and chaining up others. it is disagreeable work having slaves on board, but there ought not to be all this noise; something must be wrong." this last remark had scarcely been made than from the hatchway leading to where the slaves were confined four of the sailors rushed up on deck, two of them bleeding from wounds in the face, whilst the other two were helping them along. they shouted, "the slaves have mutinied, sir," "look out, sir," "they have freed themselves," and ran towards the officer and hans. closely following these sailors nearly a score of the negroes rushed on deck, yelling like maniacs, and flourishing portions of planking and benches, with which they had armed themselves. from the shouts which arose from below, it was evident that the negroes had possessed themselves of the means of unfastening their chains and handcuffs; and thus the situation of the prize crew was rather critical. the trained sailor, however, saw that instant action was the only chance. calling to the two sailors to follow him, he drew his sword, and rushed at the nearest negro, whom he cut down at one blow. drawing a pistol from his belt, he shot another, and was looking round for another victim, when the negroes, panic-stricken by the sudden exhibition of power, rushed to the hatchway, and tumbled one after the other down amongst their companions, leaving only their two slain comrades on deck. "on with the hatch," shouted the lieutenant; and the two sailors, who were now joined by the man who had stood by the wheel, and by the two wounded sailors and hans, placed the hatch over the hatchway, and immediately secured it so that no man could come up. "who's below?" inquired the lieutenant of one of his men. "steel and roberts, yer honour. they're torn to bits by this time." "how did this occur, men?" "just the devil in these fellows, sir. we was taking them quietly down, after giving 'em a look at the sea, when one of 'em whistles, and at once the whole lot turns upon us, snatches my cutlass afore i could get hold of it, knocks down steel and roberts, slices those two across the face, and so begins it. i knocked two of 'em over with my fist, but them niggers' heads is tarnal hard, and fists is no account against a hundred of them fellows, when they have your cutlass, too; so i comes up to you to tell you, sir." "are all the men on deck?" asked the lieutenant. "yes, sir, all." "get the arms out of the chest, jones. let each man have fifty rounds of ammunition. four men keep watch over this hatch, and shoot any slave who attempts to force it up. blake, you take two men, and see that the slaver's crew are quiet. give them a hint that we are not to be trifled with, and then wait for orders." these directions having been given by the lieutenant, he reloaded his pistol, and turning to hans, said, "the two hundred slaves, if on this deck, would murder us, and throw us into the sea, in spite of our weapons; but if we can keep them under hatches, they can do nothing, though they all get free of their chains. if a breeze does spring up, we shall be in simon's bay in twenty-four hours, and we can then obtain force enough to defy all these savages. two of my men are murdered, i fear, and i can give them no aid even if they are not. these savages are like infuriated wild beasts when they have once tasted blood, and to open that hatch now would risk all our lives. you have no weapons," he remarked, seeing that hans had neither sword nor pistol. "go into my cabin; you will find a double-barrelled pistol above the cot in which i sleep. we may all want to use our weapons." hans entered the cabin, and found the pistol, with which he returned on deck, when he immediately joined the lieutenant, who was directing his men how to oppose the efforts of the slaves to force the hatchway; one or two thrusts with a cutlass, and the exhibition of a pistol, being found effective to check these attempts on the part of the slaves. yells and groans were uttered for some time by the slaves, when a loud voice, as of one directing them, resounded above the tumult, and all was for a time hushed. the lieutenant, with hans and the crew, fancied that a combined effort would be made to force the hatches up, and they therefore prepared to resist this; but as time went on, and no resistance seemed to be offered, they began to think this attempt would not be made. darkness came on with great rapidity, as it always does in the tropics; and before any attempt was made by the slaves to force their way on deck, the sun had gone down, and darkness had set in. finding that there seemed no immediate cause for action, the lieutenant asked hans to come with him into the cabin, and eat something, an invitation which hans willingly accepted. "whenever we english have any fighting," said the lieutenant, "we always like to eat i don't know if it is so with you dutch." "i am english on my mother's side," said hans, "so i suppose that is why i am hungry; but man must eat if he uses great exertion, and fighting requires exertion." "have you ever seen a man killed before to-day?" inquired the lieutenant. "i will not say it boastingly," replied hans, "for no man should boast; but i tell you as the truth that in fair fight--fighting for my life, or for my goods, of which i had been robbed--i have shot perhaps as many black men as you have now on board this ship." "have you, indeed?" said the lieutenant, his opinion of hans being thereby much enhanced; "then you have had to fight in africa?" "to fight!" said hans. "have you not heard of our battles with moselekatse and dingaan, and how we defeated them? have you never heard of eus, pretorius, retief, or landman?" "never heard of one of them," was the calm reply of the lieutenant. "are they niggers?" what would have been hans' indignant reply to this remark there is no saying, but a shout from the sailors caused the lieutenant and hans to rush to the hatchway, before approaching which they saw some suspicious-looking smoke rising from the side of the ship. "what is it?" shouted the lieutenant, as he approached his men. "the slaves have set the ship on fire, yer honour," replied an old sailor. "curse them!" said the lieutenant; "they will destroy themselves and us too." "the boats will swim, i think, sir," said the sailor, "and we can reach simon's bay very soon. we needn't be burnt, unless yer honour thought it a point of duty to be so. them slaves and slave crew might make the best of a burning ship, and perhaps the sooner we get out of the ship the better for them, as they could then put the fire out." "and let them re-take the slaver; eh, roberts? what would the admiral say to us then, if it were found that the slavers had driven us out by a little smoke?" "it wouldn't do, yer honour; but the slavers, nor the slaves either, won't stop the flames on this ship, for she's built of pine-wood, and she'll be ablaze from stem to stern in half an hour." the sailor's remark seemed very likely to be verified, for the ship being, as he said, built of pine-wood, and having been long exposed to the heat of an almost tropical sun, was so dry and inflammable that the fire caught the timbers, and burnt as though it were fed with shavings. in order to get at the situation of the fire, it would be necessary to go into the hold where the slaves were, and thus it would be necessary to raise the hatch. with above two hundred furious savages, who had just murdered two white men, in the hold, the lieutenant knew no chance existed of putting out a fire, which, whenever it occurs in a ship, requires a thoroughly well-disciplined body of men to be called together in order to put it out. "take three hands with you, and lower the quarter boats," said the lieutenant to one of the men. "sterk, will you stay here, and help to guard the hatch? i will put a few things into the boat. we must lose no time, i see; the ship is like tinder." during the few minutes that the officer was absent, the fire had made great progress, and the yells and shouts from the slaves were almost deafening. "we must free the slavers from their irons," said the lieutenant. "we must give them a chance. come along and help me, you two." and with the aid of hans and a sailor the lieutenant freed the crew of the slaver, and signed to them to follow on deck. "now into the two boats, men!" said the officer. "if we have any room, we'll save whoever we can. stand by to let me in, for i'm going to free the hatch, and let the slaves up. they must have a chance for life, and god help them! for i see no possibility of human aid being of benefit." the sailors having hurried into the boats, the lieutenant seized a handspike, and knocking off the fastening of the hatchway, left it so that a very moderate amount of strength would force it up. he then lowered himself into the boat, and ordered the men to pull away a short distance from the slaver, where he purposed watching the struggle that he hoped might take place between the crew and the fire. "i could do nothing else, i think," said the officer to hans. "i have the lives of my men under my charge, and if i had waited on board, these slaves would have tried to murder us. now they have a chance for their lives, but i run a risk now. if the slaver is burnt, and her crew and slaves go down with her, i may be called cruel for having left them to themselves, whilst i saved my own and my men's lives. if the fire is put out, i must again go on board, though we lose half our number in the attempt, or i should never dare show myself to the admiral. ah! there's a specimen of the negro's habits." the slaves, upon being able to raise the hatches, rushed on deck, shouting and yelling like demons. seeing some of the slaver's crew, who had also come on deck, they rushed at them, and with such weapons as each possessed a fight took place on the deck of the doomed vessel. utterly reckless as regards the fire, which was now raging, and illuminating the deck, the two parties fought for revenge and life. the numbers of the negroes soon enabled them to overcome the slaver's crew, who were stiff from their late confinement, and the negroes were consequently masters of the ship. the use they made of this temporary possession was not to endeavour to quell the flames, or in any way to make preparations for their own safety; but, rushing into the cabins, they searched for plunder, and more particularly for drink, which, however, did not consist of any thing more than a few bottles of inferior brandy. for the possession of this brandy terrific struggles took place, handspikes and planking being used for weapons. to view this scene from the boats was like obtaining a temporary view of the imaginary infernal regions on which so many civilised beings delight to enlarge and dwell. the raging fire, which now was catching the rigging, was below the mass of yelling, dancing, fighting blacks, who seemed only intent on a few minutes' maniac-like orgies. standing calm spectators of the scene, hans observed the zulus who had been his fellow-prisoners. though nearly black in colour, these men were unlike the negro in features, and seemed altogether a superior race. though he had so lately been engaged in combats against the zulus, yet when hans saw these men thus calmly awaiting their death, he was desirous of saving them. "see those men standing near the mast," said hans: "they are zulus. i should like, to save their lives." "how can you do that?" inquired the lieutenant. "will you let them come in the boat?" inquired hans. "yes, if they can get in; but i cannot allow the boat to go near the slaver: she would be swamped in a minute, and all our lives would be sacrificed." "i will try to make them understand," said hans, "if you will help them into the boat if they swim to us." saying this, hans called in a shrill voice, "mena-bo," at which the zulus started up, and looked eagerly in the direction of the boats, which they could just perceive by aid of the light given by the burning ship. having thus called their attention to him, hans called in the zulu language, "jump into the water, and swim to me, or the fire will soon kill you." the zulus for a few seconds seemed to hesitate, but looking round at the fire, which was rapidly closing round them, the three men stepped on the side of the vessel, and jumped feet first into the sea. in an instant afterwards their heads appeared above water, as they swam rapidly towards the boats, into which they were dragged by the sailors. "the men are all mad," said one of the zulus to hans. "they put fire to the ship to free themselves, and now they will not put water to the fire." "are the white men dead?" inquired hans, referring to the sailors who had been attacked in the hold. "yes, and they would be cold by now were they not kept warm by the fire... it is all fire where we were." the escape of the zulus had either not been noticed by the negroes, or they supposed it was an act of desperation on the part of these men; for no notice was taken of it, the negroes still continuing their frantic proceedings. the slaver was evidently burning inside more than out. the flames every now and then shot up, whilst at two places in her hull they had forced a way out. every now and then there was a hissing sound, as though water had fallen on a red-hot surface, and steam in abundance came up from below; the flames again arose, and after a time the same hissing occurred. "i believe," said the lieutenant, "the flames have eaten a way through her somewhere, and the water is entering her; that is what causes the steam. it is so; look! she is settling down." as he thus called attention to the slaver, all eyes were turned to her. the flames, which had previously risen half-way up her masts, suddenly ceased, whilst a sheet of white steam arose in their stead. the vessel's hull gradually descended; and the boat's crew had but just time to obey the command to "pull and together," and to move the two boats a safer distance from the ship, when the beautifully-modelled slaver, her yelling cargo of demons, and her mutilated bodies, sank together beneath the smooth surface of the ocean. though she went down gradually till within a few inches of the water's edge, she yet raised a large wave by her submergence, which lifted the boats, and caused them to dance for some minutes. the darkness was fearful after the late glare of the burning ship; and so awful was the sight of this crowd of human beings, hurried into a next existence whilst their spirits were stirred with feelings of murder and rapine, that a dead silence of near a minute prevailed in the two boats, the sailors even being awe-struck at the catastrophe. the voice of the lieutenant first broke the silence, and it seemed to all a relief to hear a human being speak. "i will light a lantern, that we may keep together," said the lieutenant, "and to show any poor struggling wretch, who may not have gone to the bottom, that there is help at hand. keep near us with your boat, jones, and we'll pull off in ten minutes." "ay, ay, sir," was the reply. "there won't be any come up again alive. a sinking ship takes down her crew with her." allowing about fifteen minutes for a chance of saving a life, during which time the lieutenant pulled over the spot beneath which the slaver had sunk, he consulted a compass which he had placed in the boat, and taking the rudder, directed the men to arrange themselves at the oars, and to commence their long pull towards simon's bay. "if no wind comes against us," said the officer, "and the sea remains smooth, we shall reach simon's bay by steady pulling before to-morrow night: so give way, men, and let's make the most of smooth water." chapter twenty five. off in the boats--the storm--a fair wind--a council--they steer for islands--land. it was soon found that a lantern was not necessary to enable the second boat to follow that in which were the lieutenant and hans. the singular and beautiful phosphorescent light caused by the dipping of the oars and the passage of the boat through the water was so brilliant, that even the faces of the crew were visible every now and then to each other, whilst a long star-spangled wake trailed behind the boats, and showed long after, where they had passed. to the sailors accustomed to traverse these regions there was nothing new in this sight, though they fully appreciated the advantages of it as a means of keeping a straight course, and of being able to follow the leading boat. to hans and the zulus it was a subject of wonder and admiration. the latter in some manner connected it with the burning ship, and seemed to consider that the latter had been the cause of the apparent fire in the water. the attention of the crews of both boats was, however, soon drawn to the brilliancy of the ocean by a shoal of porpoises, which, rushing along near the surface of the water, occasionally rolled half over as they took breath, and again pursued their pathless course. "we shall have a wind against us before long, i fear," said the lieutenant, "for those porpoises usually go up towards where the wind will blow from." "can they feel the wind when in the water, and before it blows?" said hans. "i don't know what they feel," replied the lieutenant; "i only know that when they swim in calm weather in any direction, the wind usually comes from that direction in a few hours. give way, men; we'll near the coast as much as possible before a wind comes, and the current is strongest about ten miles off land." "what makes this current run down the coast?" inquired hans. "water won't run up hill, at least on shore. is it lower at the cape than up by natal?" "well i don't know why it is exactly," said the lieutenant; "but it has something to do with the trade winds. as long as i know where the current runs, i am satisfied; i don't trouble myself about why it runs. here comes a breeze, and right in our teeth. it must not blow too hard, or we shall have some difficulty in keeping our course." the sea, which had previously been as calm as a pond, soon became broken even with the slight breeze that was blowing. the wind and current being opposed to each other caused the waves to break more than they otherwise would have done, and seen from the small boat, these waves soon began to appear dangerously large. as the breeze gradually increased, it was found too dangerous to force the boat against the seas, and thus she was obliged to change her direction and go with them. orders were given for the men to nail up some tarpaulin round the stem, and to sit close together, so as to keep out as much as possible any water that might otherwise come in as the seas broke over or near the boats. men were also told off for baling, and thus every precaution was taken to prevent the boats from being swamped. if the breeze did not freshen, there seemed every probability of the boats keeping afloat; but as a constant wind would for a time cause the seas to increase, the sailors became very anxious, and began to strain their eyes in all directions for the chance of catching sight of a ship or land. the course in which they were was not far out of that of homeward-bound vessels, or those which might be bound from india to the cape, and thus there was a fair prospect of being picked up. still the night was so dark that no vessel without lights could be seen, unless within a stone's throw. thus daylight was anxiously looked for. the day at length dawned, and a beautiful fresh morning it was. a breeze which in a ship would have been only sufficient to fill all her sails, was to the small boats too much to be pleasant or safe. still by the aid of repeated baling, they were kept comparatively free of water. no sign of a vessel, however, appeared, and it approached noon, when the lieutenant, arranging his sextant, prepared to find out where he was. after waiting several minutes, he was at length satisfied that he had obtained the sun's meridian altitude, and having from this deduced the latitude, he announced that the boat was not more than thirty miles from land, though what part of the land she was opposite he could not exactly tell. "my chronometer is not a very trustworthy one, and this knocking about in the boat may have unsettled it; but if it is near right, i fancy we are actually west of the cape; and this is possible, if the current has been very strong." during the day the breeze somewhat abated, and by sunset it was again nearly calm. the direction in which he was to steer was now a matter of considerable uncertainty to the lieutenant: whether he should place any trust in his chronometer, or steer according to what he believed his true course. considering the rough use to which his chronometer had been subjected, he decided that he would steer a westerly course, keeping a little north, so as to make the cape, and thus reach simon's bay. soon after the sun had set, a breeze sprung up from the north-east, and this being nearly favourable, a small sail was set on each boat, and they by this aid dashed merrily onwards. for the first few hours of the night the wind was not too strong for the boats to carry a sail, but it afterwards came on to blow so hard that it was no longer possible to do so. the sea, however, was not, even with this breeze, nearly so dangerous as it had been when the wind and current had been opposed to each other; and though it was necessary to keep the boats before the wind, yet both were comparatively dry. "if this wind lasts," said the lieutenant to hans, "we shall be carried far past the cape, and how to regain it i don't know, for we shall have the current dead against us, and we have neither water nor provisions for a long voyage. there is only one cask of water, and the biscuit is, i fear, wet with salt water, so that our provisions are short; but there is no help for us; we must go on as long as this wind and this sea last, and trust to being picked up, though i believe we may be three hundred miles from the cape." during the whole of the night the boats kept a westerly course, and before the wind. as morning dawned, the horizon was anxiously scanned in order to find a ship, but the ocean seemed deserted, and mid-day came without any signs of a vessel. the officer again tried to find his latitude, and decided that he was still upwards of twenty miles south of the cape. from an observation he had made in the morning, he also concluded that, allowing every likely error for the chronometer, he must yet be many degrees west of the cape, and was drifting rapidly westward. having come to this conclusion, he signalled for the second boat to come close alongside, when he said-- "now, my lads, we have drifted so far from the cape that i fear with these small boats, and such a sea as we may have to meet, we can't reach the cape before our provisions and water are all done. we have, then, two chances: we may hang about here, and take our chance of being picked up by a vessel, or we can run on with all speed, and try to make some islands which lie out westward. i'm not sure we can get water on those islands, but we may do so, and i believe they have no inhabitants. as this is a question you are all concerned in, i'll hear what you have to say." the sailors talked among themselves for some minutes, and then jones, who was in charge of the second boat, said-- "we think, sir, that we should make sail for the islands. we don't lose our chance of sighting a ship by doing so, though it be a bit away from the outward-bound course; but if a gale comes up, we just go down in these cockle-shells, and that's all about it. i have heerd from whalers that there is water in some of them islands, and any way we get a bit of a rest, and with our boats we can go out and look for ships when the weather suits. we think, sir, that's our best chance." "i am of the same opinion," said the lieutenant. "has any one else any thing to say?" "we all think that's our best chance, sir," said several of the men. "give way then, my lads," said their officer. "we ought not to be more than two days reaching the islands. we have guns, and so ought to be able to get birds or seals; and if we can only find water, we may get on well." the north-east wind, which assumes almost the character of a trade wind off the cape, and which blows sometimes for weeks together, continued steadily for the next two days; and the boats during part of the time being able to carry sail, made rapid progress through the water, so that on the morning of the third day all hands were eagerly on the look out for land. it was about ten o'clock in the morning that jones, in the second boat, called the lieutenant's attention to what he thought was land about south-west of them. the telescope being used to discover what this was, revealed the fact of land, which was rather low, and was estimated at not more than ten miles' distance. the boat's course having been altered to enable them to make direct for this land or island, as it was known it must be, the lieutenant called to jones to bring his boat close, in order to tell him what should be now done. "i'll take the lead, jones, and we must have a man standing up in each boat to look out for broken water. i think it will be better to go to the leeward of the island, and land there, unless we can see some kind of a bay. don't you follow too close, for in case we strike a rock, or are swamped, you must be far enough off not to fall in the same way." "i've heerd, sir," replied jones, "that these islands are surrounded by long sea-weeds that make boat navigation rather difficult; but if you know where the channel is, then you are all right, as weeds and rocks don't come near the surface there." as the boats neared the island, the lieutenant used his telescope in the endeavour to discover if any ships were there, for he believed it possible that whalers might have made use of this island, as afterwards he found had been the case. the wind seemed to have blown itself out towards mid-day, and shortly after it fell quite calm, and as the boats neared the island, the sea had considerably diminished. upon reaching within about a mile of the shore, the surface of the sea began to be sprinkled with sea-weed in abundance, which was some of it floating, and other portions evidently growing from the rocks beneath. advancing slowly and cautiously, the lieutenant directed the man who was steering, and thus threading his way through thick masses of weed, approached sufficiently close to the shore to see where the surf was breaking. having noted a headland jutting out into the sea, the sailor, from his knowledge of the general form of coasts, concluded that behind this he would very probably find a bay, and such proved to be the case. this bay was covered at the water-line with a white sand, up which the waves washed; but there seemed no sign of rocks near this, and thus it appeared in every way suitable for a landing. steering the boat carefully round the promontory, the lieutenant made for this beach, and watching his opportunity ran the boat up, so that as the sailors jumped out, and seized her to haul her up, they were high and dry as the waves receded. the second boat, being thus guided, followed the example of the leader, and was also securely beached, the men jumping out, and being rejoiced to stretch their legs once more, after being cramped on board their small boats for so many days. chapter twenty six. game found on the islands--want of water--water at last--sea-lions--fish and eggs--a ship--rescued and carried to simon's bay--the traveller among the cockneys. "carry the boats up high and dry," said the lieutenant; "out with the sails and oars; cover them with the tarpaulin; then get out the water casks and biscuit bag. let's see what provisions we have." these orders were rapidly obeyed by the sailors, who never for a moment forgot their discipline, and acted just as though they were on board ship. the water was found to be very low, there being scarcely more than two pints for each man. at this all looked blank, for so essential is water that it is a matter of certain death, at least to a great many, to be without water for many days. having divided the biscuit into as many portions as there were men, the lieutenant gave each his share, saying, "we shall be able to keep this biscuit for any voyage we may make; for on this island we shall get birds. we can shoot as many birds as we require for food, so be careful of the biscuit." whilst these arrangements were being made, the zulus had been wandering along the shore, looking at the ground in various directions, and pointing out to each other something which had attracted their attention. returning to hans, who alone understood their language, they said, "_amasondo m'culu kona_" ("there are large footprints there.") "of what?" inquired hans. "we don't know," replied the zulus. "the game lives in the water that makes these footmarks." hans, guided by the zulus, went to the shore where the footprints were visible, and there saw a spoor which to him was quite new. several footprints of a large animal were to be seen, and near these some circular cuts in the sand, as though an arc of a circle had been traced with an instrument. though well acquainted with the spoor of all south african animals, yet hans could not remember any similar to this. the zulus, however, with a quickness of perception often possessed by semi-wild men, pointed out to hans that there were only marks of two feet, then that the circular scrapes were marked over these footmarks. one of the zulus then lay down on the sand, and dragged himself along by his hands only, thus indicating that the creature must progress much in that manner. still, neither hans nor the zulus had ever seen any creature at all like this in south africa. returning to the sailors, hans asked the lieutenant if he knew of any creature that had only two legs, that was large and heavy, and lived in the sea, but could come on shore. "yes, seals, and sea-lions," replied the lieutenant. "then they come here," said hans; "there is spoor of the creatures on the beach." "then we are safe for food, and that is something: for we shall not starve as long as seals or sea-lions can be captured or shot. as soon as all is made snug here, we'll examine the island." in half an hour every item of the stores being safely secured, the lieutenant left three men in charge of the boats and stores, and two others with directions to collect all the dry sea-weed and pieces of wood or reed that they could find. these were to be heaped together to make a fire, for great numbers of birds were seen flying about, this island seeming to be a favourite resort or breeding-place for many sea-birds. the lieutenant, with hans and the zulus, and the remaining men, went in shore to examine all that was to be seen. the island was rocky and barren, and destitute of vegetation. there seemed no stream or rivulet, or fresh water of any description, and no living creatures except birds. the centre of the island was elevated about three hundred feet, and from the top of this a good view, it was expected, might be obtained all around. ascending to this plateau, the lieutenant and hans were both occupied in looking round the horizon for some signs of a vessel, and the latter was therefore startled by hearing one of the zulus in a loud voice exclaim "_amanzi_!" "water!" shouted hans; "where?" "there it is," said the zulu, pointing to a hollow piece of ground which they had passed, and in which there was a large rocky basin about thirty feet across, and in which there was water. a rush was at once made to the place by the whole party. officer and sailors, zulus and hans, were each equally interested. upon reaching the side of this pool, or reservoir, a clear mass of water some six feet deep was visible; it was evidently the deposit of rain water which had drained from the neighbouring slopes. stooping over this, hans reached his hat into the pool, and bringing it up full of water, drank a few mouthfuls, and announced it to be fresh. a loud hurrah from all the sailors answered this statement, and several of the men immediately employed several ingenious methods to obtain a good drink of the fresh water. a temperance advocate would have been delighted, could he have seen these stalwart, hardy men so anxious to obtain merely cold water, yet not one man present would have been willing to exchange this well of fresh water for its quantity in wine or spirits; for every experienced man knows that there is nothing which quells the thirst so effectually as water or tea, the latter being essentially water, merely flavoured by a herb. "there are very heavy rains here," said hans, "and this pool is the result of them. we shall not want for water." "no; we are favoured," said the lieutenant; "for there must be times in the dry season when no water is here. we have sea-weed for fuel, we can get birds and sea-lions for food, and thus we can live for some time. we must then try to get to the cape." "ah! i am afraid that much evil may happen before i can get away from here and regain my people," said hans. "they must all think me dead, and so i am anxious to return among them as soon as possible." "yes, i can fancy that you are," said the officer; "and so am i anxious to get to my ship. we shall have some more work up the coast, i expect, with these slavers, though it does not pay when their ships are burnt. however, we must be satisfied at having reached some land, and found food and water. if we had not obtained water here, we might have dug each other's graves. we will go to that peak and look round, and judge of the size of our island. i should like to go all round it before i return to the boats--so come along." the whole party ascended the highest peak on the island, from which a view was obtained all round. the island was very small, and appeared alone. it was evidently a volcanic production, and might possibly be of no great age. in many places the birds had congregated in such numbers that they had covered the ground with manure, the thin soil thus produced was merely waiting for some seeds to be brought there by strong-winged birds which had swallowed them in distant regions, and would then drop them in his locality, where, taking root, they would produce the first vegetation. after scanning the horizon with his telescope, the naval officer examined the shore, which was visible from this peak nearly all round the island. scarcely had he directed it to one part of the shore nearly on the opposite side of the island to that on which he had landed, than giving the telescope to hans, he told him to look at the shore and say what he saw. hans, taking the telescope, directed it at the spot indicated, and immediately exclaimed, "there is _wilde_ (game) there. what are they?" "they are sea-lions," said the lieutenant, "and we can eat them, and can make tents out of their skins. there are scores of them, and we must manage to shoot them." "are they very shy?" inquired hans. "i think not. they don't know much about men on these islands, i expect, but still we had better stalk them." "yes, that must be done, and let no one shoot who is not certain where his bullet will go to at a hundred yards." "now shooting these creatures is more in your line than mine, as you are an elephant hunter," said the lieutenant; "so you just arrange the matter, and tell me what to do, and i'll direct the men." "i don't know any thing of the animal," said hans, "and each animal ought to be hunted differently, so i cannot give safe advice; but i think we must approach them along shore, for if we go down this way they will smell us." "that's a thing i should not have thought of, unless you had told me," replied the lieutenant. "of course if we go to them from windward they will smell us. very well; we'll go along shore, and what then?" "we can stalk them then, and i think at eighty yards we ought to be able to kill them at a single shot. perhaps, too, these creatures don't know what the report of a gun is, and we may reload and refire before they think of escaping." "we'll try that plan, and so perhaps only two or three of us had better go after them, or the others may be seen. let us take two men, and leave the others to gather eggs." hans and the officer, with two seamen, at once started after the sea-lions, and taking the coast-line found that on the rocks there were plenty of oysters, which were fixed to the solid rock, but could be opened on the spot. hans was quite at home in this stalking expedition, but found much fault both with the lieutenant and the sailors. the latter, especially, would speak every now and then, and seemed not to understand in the least the signals which hans made to them. in spite, however, of the clumsy manner in which the sailors and their officer practised stalking, yet the sea-lions were approached to within eighty yards without being alarmed. at this distance the hunters were concealed by some rocks, and hans now signalled that the four should fire. one of the sailors, however, stopped hans as he was raising his musket, and whispered-- "them brutes, sir, can only hop, and not very fast either. won't it be better to board them, and shoot them at close quarters? i and my mate can't make certain of hitting at this distance?" hans, who did not understand every word of this, but comprehended the drift of the speech, replied-- "you and your companion run forward, as soon as i have fired; then you can try your plan, i mine." this plan being agreed upon, hans took steady aim at a monster that was lying apparently asleep on the beach, and fired, whilst the lieutenant selected another victim. upon the report of the gun being heard all the animals raised their heads, and began with a most awkward motion struggling to reach the water. the sailor had been quite correct as regards the speed at which the lions could move, for without difficulty the sailors overtook them long before they reached the water, and each putting the muzzle of his gun close to the head of one of the lions, killed it at a single shot. the monster that hans had wounded had almost reached the sea, when noting the success of the sailors' method of attack, he ran up to this creature, and discharged his rapidly-loaded gun into its head. thus three lions were killed, the lieutenant having either missed his aim, or wounded his lion so slightly that the creature easily escaped to the water before he could again discharge his gun. all the lions that had been shot were very large, and measured nearly fourteen feet in length. hans, being aware of the skill of the zulus as skinners of creatures, shouted to these men to come and aid him, and shortly after they, followed by the remainder of the sailors, came down to examine the sea-lions, and aid in carrying back the flesh to the boats. at this work the kaffirs were quite at home, and bore on their shoulders huge pieces of sea-lion, enough to last any man but a zulu at least a week. this was borne to the shore, where the boats had been left, and a fire having been lighted by the aid of a flint and steel, the flesh was cooked, and though not probably affording a dish that an epicure would select, yet by hungry men who for several days had eaten nothing but biscuit, the solid food was relished. having partaken of dinner, as the lieutenant called this meal, he assembled the men round him and said, "we can live here for a long time, as you can see, for we have food and water, and can get tolerable shelter; but none of you would be satisfied to live here long, so we must try all we can to escape. to do this, we must keep a watch from daybreak till dusk upon the top of the hill, and try to catch sight of a vessel coming from the west, because that is the direction from which we may expect them. then, if we have due notice, we may pull out in the boats, and attract her attention by firing a gun, and so get on board: so that two men must take duty on the hill. this will come round in turn for each of you, as i'll keep the roster. two men must always remain with the boats, but the others who are not on duty may go about the island; only take care to be all ready in case a ship is signalled. you'd better take the boat-hook and tie a handkerchief to it; the waving of that will be the signal that a ship is in sight." "there are fish about here, sir. if you'd like, i'll try and catch some," said one of the sailors. "there are turtle too, sir. i saw one when you were away: he swam past that point." "catch as many fish and turtle as you can. we will share every thing whilst we are on shore here, and each man must do his best to procure food for the whole of us," said the lieutenant. "we can get egg; and birds, fish and turtle, and sea-lions, and so shall have a variety of rations." during the remainder of the day hans, with the lieutenant, and attended by the two zulus, roamed about the island. the zulus had found some pieces of wood on the beach, evidently the spars of some vessel, and having borrowed a knife from one of the sailors, they had cut these into knobbed sticks similar to their knob-kerries. with these they soon exhibited their skill against the birds which swarmed over many parts of the island, and which were so tame that they would allow a man to approach within a few yards of them. the knob stick was thrown at these birds, and in an hour the zulus had knocked down a dozen or more birds. as the sun drew near the horizon, the various parties of two or three returned to the meeting-place near the boats, and exhibited their trophies. two moderate-sized turtle, four rock cod of goodly size, a large sack nearly full of turtles' eggs, about two dozen sea-birds, some of them as large as wild geese, were brought together. there was plenty of dry sea-weed, and this served for fuel, so that the men were busily occupied in cooking their respective prizes, and reckless as sailors generally are, they were now as cheerful and happy as though surrounded by plenty, and able to obtain a supply for all their wants. immediately after their evening meal, the men selected the most comfortable situations, and were soon fast asleep. hans and the lieutenant, however, sat talking for a long time, until they also felt disposed to rest, when they followed the example of the sailors. the first streaks of dawn awoke the party, and after a meal the lieutenant and hans walked round the island, and ascended the central peak. scarcely had they been there many minutes, before the naval officer, who was using his telescope to scan the horizon, exclaimed, "a sail in the west, and a large ship, or i am mistaken. look, jones! what do you make her out to be?" "a full-rigged ship, i think, sir. shall i hoist the signal?" "yes, up with the oar. we must get the boats out at once, and pull hard, or she will pass too far off." the oar waved on high, with a crimson handkerchief fastened to it, was seen by all the wanderers, who very soon assembled near the boats, and were joined by the lieutenant and hans. the boats were run down to the water, launched, and manned, and in a few minutes were pulled away from the island, impelled by the fresh and vigorous arms of the sailors, who were now aware that there was some object in pulling. the ship, which had been easily distinguished from the peak on shore, could not be seen from the boat, and this fact was somewhat puzzling to hans. "why is it," he asked, "that the ship cannot be seen from out boat, though it could from the peak of the island? there is no hill to see over." "it is because the world is round, and we can only look straight forward. i expect that when we are able to see that vessel's sails, she will be nearly twelve miles off from us; so that now she is more than that, but that will enable us to cut her off in her course." "i never noticed this on shore," said hans, "though we have large flats there." "none so level as the ocean," replied the officer: "that alone shows every thing in its beauty. you will not, i expect, ever like your inland life again, after having seen the real sea." hans looked astonished at this remark, and hesitated a minute before he replied. he then said, "do you mean to compare this salt, dull-looking water, over which you creep in a boat, and fear getting drowned every minute, to our beautiful flowery plains or forests amongst which we can ride? why, you cannot get on a horse here ever." "and never want to," replied the lieutenant. "i always tumble off when i do; but that's not often. when a man can ride over the waves. i don't see what he wants with a horse on dry land." "ah! you don't know what the plains are, that is evident," replied hans, "or you'd be discontented with the sea." "there's the ship," said the lieutenant; "she's coming along fast. we must hoist a flag now. a red handkerchief must be our flag. easy with the oars, men; we've way enough." the ship came steadily on, and when within about two miles of the boats she lowered her studding sails and made indications of lying to, so that the lieutenant at once knew his boats had been seen. the captain of the ship was standing in the rigging, watching the boats, and on coming within hailing distance inquired where the boats were from. the lieutenant answered him, and pulling alongside was soon with his boat's crew on the deck of the ship, his boats being hauled on board also. the vessel proved to be an indiaman bound for madras, and was a well-appointed vessel in every way. the lieutenant and hans were immediately given accommodation in the after-part of the vessel, whilst the sailors and zulus were quartered amongst the crew. the captain of the indiaman, having heard the account of the lieutenant, was surprised to find the island was so well supplied in various ways, as was the small rock which he had passed so often on his outward-bound voyage, and which he had always looked upon as a mere barren rock. having no intention of putting into table bay, he asked the lieutenant whether, if he altered his course and kept closer in to the land, he would be able to get into false bay, and hence to simon's bay by the aid of his boats. knowing how much value these indian traders set upon their time, the lieutenant at once accepted this proposition; so the captain, steering slightly more northerly, kept a course which would bring him within a few miles of the cape of good hope, at which point, if the weather were favourable, he proposed lowering the lieutenant's boats, and starting him on his short voyage into the bay. the distance which had taken the boats several days to pass over, was run by the indiaman in about fifty hours, and when the entrance to false bay was directly north of them, the boats were lowered, and the lieutenant, with hans and the crew, were wished a hearty farewell; and being supplied with some provisions in case of need, commenced their few hours' rowing expedition, and shortly pulled round into simon's bay, approached a man-of-war there lying at anchor, and having gone alongside, the lieutenant, with the systematic method induced by discipline, went on board and reported his arrival. no intimation having been received either of the capture of the slaver or of her destruction by fire, the arrival of the lieutenant was a great surprise to the admiral at the station, and hans, from having been captured by the slavers, soon found himself an object of curiosity and interest. the account which the lieutenant gave of him to the naval officers was so flattering, and the account given of his proceedings on the island and in the boats so much to his credit, that he stood in no need of friends. from the indiaman he had received presents of various articles of clothes, of which he stood much in need, and having received invitations to dine on shore with various official people who were interested in his adventures, he was additionally supplied with all necessaries by the officers of the ship. the residents of cape town and the vicinity are proverbially hospitable, and many of them being of dutch extraction, hans' adventures, and his experience of the matabili and zulu warfare, were the very subjects on which they were deeply interested. it is sometimes surprising how little the inhabitants of one part of the world know about the lives and occupations of those in another part, but at the cape, in former times, it was more singular still to find the residents there knowing little or nothing of the principal events occurring up the country, or if they knew of the general facts, these were in transmission so perverted or distorted as to be very far from the truth when they reached cape town; so that hans, both from his nationality and experiences, was sought as a guest by many of the leading merchants at the cape. having despatched to some friends in the eastern frontier letters which he requested might be sent by the first opportunity to bernhard and katrine, hans had no objection to partake for a time of the hospitality offered to him at the cape. to him it was an entire novelty to sit down to formal dinners, and to live in the ceremonial manner which it struck him was adopted by the people with whom he now mixed; yet he was not long before he fully appreciated the good things which were set before him. though hans was deficient in many of those necessary items of education and refinement which belong to civilised and polite society, yet from his known wild life these were overlooked, and as he warmed with his subject, and described in brief graphic language, either in english or dutch, the scenes through which he had passed, and gave in detail his adventures in elephant and lion hunting, his hearers forgot that he had used his knife to carry his peas to his mouth, and had seemed unconscious he had so long delayed eating his fish that the table had been kept waiting for him. very many of the residents of cape town and the neighbourhood were men who had either come to settle there from holland or england, or had been born at cape town, and had never travelled far from it. thus to these men the wilderness of africa was as much an unknown land as are the highlands of scotland, with their sports, to the london cockney, whose travels have been confined to richmond, kew, or greenwich. as a natural consequence, hans was often supposed to be inventing tales when he was stating the most sober matters of fact; and not imagining for a moment that his hearers were doubting his veracity, he rarely gave any of those additional details which might have smoothed the difficulties to belief; consequently, amongst many of the fast young gentlemen of the cape, who had never themselves travelled a hundred miles from the table mountain, hans was termed "the lying dutchman." two months were passed by hans at cape town and its vicinity, when an opportunity occurred for his reaching algoa bay by sea, a merchant having a vessel which was about to sail for port elizabeth from table bay. some dutch merchants, having subscribed amongst themselves, offered hans above one hundred pounds to enable him to purchase horses for his journey from the colony to natal. this sum hans accepted as a loan, being unwilling to be a debtor whilst he had the means when he reached natal of repayment; and bidding good-bye to many kind friends, he set sail from table bay on the brief voyage to algoa bay, the port of the eastern frontier. after a fair-weather voyage of eight days, hans once more set foot on the eastern frontier, and losing no time in this part of the colony, he at once purchased a horse which would do to carry him until he went farther inland, where horse-flesh was cheaper and better; and having at cape town purchased a good double-barrelled gun, hans joined the waggon of a dutch trader who was bound on an expedition across the orange river, and was once more leading the life of a south african boer. it must often have been a subject of thought and comparison in the mind of a man who has seen both the life of the natural and civilised man, to compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. by the natural man, we refer to one who leads a life of nature, who gains his bread by the sweat of his brow in agricultural labours or in hunting, who considers the necessities of life to consist in food and raiment, and in a dwelling which is wind and water tight, and who, possessing these, thirsts for nothing more. the majority of south african boers lead this life. they by inheritance are possessors of a certain quantity of cattle and horses. these increase in the natural course of events, and if taken care of, the horses especially soon multiply, for a couple of horses may be counted on to produce about two foals in two years: thus in six years the two have increased to eight. about the sixth year the first foals may begin to produce stock, and the increase then becomes doubled. about the eighth year it becomes trebled, and so on. thus, in a suitable district for horses (and many parts of the cape colony are admirably suited for them), a boy presented with a mare may ten years afterwards be the owner of upwards of a dozen horses, the produce of this one present, and his cattle having increased in like manner, he may begin to live upon his stock. the time of the youth may then be occupied in cultivating a certain portion of ground, in hunting as a means of supplying food, and in watching his stock; and thus he has but few cares or anxieties, and lives what may fairly be termed a natural life. he is at least twelve hours a day in the open air, and enjoys consequently most robust health. let us compare the daily occupations of this man with those of hundreds of thousands of men of similar position as regards a first start in life among civilised nations. a youth is educated, but he must gain his own living, because his predecessors have not been able to do much more than secure the means of living and of educating their children. the youth is found a situation in an office in one of the cities of europe. in this office it is competition, a race for wealth, and none but the hard worker can hope even to avoid ruin. a youth thus started leads a life probably as follows. he rises early in the morning, hurriedly eats a breakfast, walks down to the train, is carried rapidly to a smoky city, enters an office in which the light of the sun is a rarity, labours in this office amidst a crowd until near the hour of sunset, again enters his train, and amidst the darkness is deposited near his dwelling, where the remaining hours are occupied. day after day, and year after year, this life is passed, until the man becomes fitted for nothing else, and cares for nothing else, even his recreations often being partaken of as a matter of business. it seems strange to reflect that perhaps on the very spot that is now the scene of such artificial life, our ancestors, before caesar had `taught them to clothe their pinked and painted hides,' may have enjoyed the greatest freedom, may have hurled their darts at the bounding stag, or transfixed the passing salmon, and each day may have enjoyed sport and feasted upon their game in a manner which few of these day-labourers are able to do. here, however, is the singular comparison of lives of the two divisions of mankind, and hans having for a time seen the civilised man's life, and having partaken in a measure of this, could not, now that he was once more free, imagine how any man could endure the life which he had seen many pursue in their offices or on board their ships. the life of the sailor he considered strange and unnatural, but that of the clerk he could not comprehend. long and patiently he thought over what he had seen during his visit to cape town, for that locality was to him the most advanced civilisation he had seen; but he could come to no other conclusion than that a mistake had been made by those who selected this life. a conversation which took place on this subject between victor and hans some time after his return to his own people may well explain his view of the subject, and though anticipating the future slightly, we will venture to insert it here. "what is cape town like?" inquired victor. "is it much bigger than graham's town?" "yes, much bigger. there are many houses, and these are large, whilst the shops are supplied with every thing." "do the people there want much more, then, than we do in the country, that the shops are so well supplied?" "yes, victor, that is so. we here are accounted rich if we have plenty of horses and cattle, a waggon, or perhaps two, two good guns, a house that keeps out the rain, and just clothes enough to change about. it is not so in the great towns. your house must be very large. a man is poor who is not able to eat his breakfast in one room, his dinner in a second, and to drink his tea in a third. you may not sit in a room whilst your servant places the dinner plates on a table: that would show you were poor. you must not eat your dinner either in the same clothes that you would wear at breakfast: that would show you were a poor fellow. there are regular clothes for eating dinner in; and, victor, the young frauleins come to their dinner with scarcely any clothes on." "is this true, hans?" "it is, victor. we turn up our sleeves when we skin an eland, and we take off our coats and turn down our collars when we are too hot. the frauleins in the towns turn down their dresses far lower than we do, and their sleeves are turned up higher than we turn ours." "cess, this is strange. and you saw all this, hans?" "i did, victor, and much more." "what more did you see, hans?" "i will tell you. i saw a roebargie officer come into a room where there were many of these frauleins. he had never seen one of them before, but looking at one, he asked a man near to take him to her. he went up, victor, bent his head very slowly, then--i tell you truth--he seized the fraulein round the waist, and as some music played he ran round the room with her, twisting round and round like a wounded pouw." "that, i have heard, the folks do in the towns. the hottentots, too, are fond of it, though they don't run about in the same manner. but what do the men during the day? is there much game about there?" "this, victor, is the strangest thing of all. the men pass all their lives in the stores or in the shops, or they just walk about the town, or go in parties to ride out and ride home again. there is no game at all there, or so little that no one goes after it. "then, hans, i will tell you what it is. the mensch have no means of proving themselves men by riding and shooting, or training their oxen and horses, or even spooring, as we have here. we can make a mark on a man, and we know him by his deeds. we know you, hans; you are a safe man to stand near one when a wounded lion is preparing to make his spring. you can be trusted to stop an elephant in his charge, and you can tell at a glance a buffalo's spoor from an ox's. in the towns they can't do this, and so they amuse themselves with these trifles. and do they not try to exceed each other in their clothes, hans?" "yes, they do; and by this means they show how much money they have." "you are not sorry to come back to the country again, hans?" "no, victor, i am not. the town men, i knew, laughed at me because my clothes were not like theirs. i should like to see some of these spoc-karls [the boers are fond of terming a man whom they consider a dandy a spoc-karl.] on wilde paard, hunting an angry bull elephant. i think we should laugh then." "yes, hans; and they laughed at you because you were not clever at what is not a manly business, and we should laugh at them because they could not do what it requires a man with a head, heart, and hand to succeed in. i don't think we shall ever want to live in a town." chapter twenty seven. hans tires of the towns--reaches the wilderness--adventures with wild beasts--meets his old companions, and starts for his old haunts. to a man with the habits and training of hans sterk, the journey from the eastern frontier to the locality north-west of natal bay, in which his friends were residing, was merely a pleasant trip. he had to pass over many hundred miles of wild country, in which were savage men and beasts, the former of which would not hesitate, should the opportunity occur, to slay a solitary traveller for the sake of his gun or clothes, whilst the latter would consider a white man a very good meal for dinner or supper. as hans intended to pursue his journey alone, should no other means present themselves, he trusted that his knowledge of the habits of wild beasts, and his weapon, which he well knew how to use, would enable him to defend himself against any number of these enemies. he also hoped that he should be able to gain from his countrymen such information as would enable him to judge where and when he must travel in order to avoid any enemies who might endanger his safe transit across the country. thus hans without hesitation left the last lager of the farmers near the orange river, and with no other guide than an old waggon-track, and the knowledge that he must ride in a north-easterly direction, he started for the pass in the draakensberg mountains by which he should be able to reach his friends near the bushman's river. having exchanged the horse which had carried him from port elizabeth for another well suited to carry pack-saddles, and having bought a hardy, well-trained, shooting horse, hans was amply provided for a week's ride. the country through which he intended riding was well supplied with game; there was water in abundance; and thus to the hunter supplied with ammunition there was all that might be needed to be obtained on the journey. during two days hans rode steadily onwards, passing principally over plains where ostriches scoured away on seeing him. herds of gnus and bontebok bounded over the plains, and many solitary antelopes started from their lairs as he approached them. as these old familiar sights once more greeted him, hans felt a sensation of freedom which he had in vain sought for since his capture by the slavers. as he looked around at the free, open, untrodden country, and saw the creatures on it, he went back in memory to cape town and the life led there, and he could not help being thankful that he had been to that town, in order that now he might more fully appreciate his free life. having brought with him some cooked meat and biscuit, he had no need of shooting in order to supply himself with food; and thus on the third evening of his ride he stopped near a narrow ravine where a clear stream ran over the rocks, and where there were several fine trees, underneath which broken branches were scattered in abundance, and where there was consequently plenty of fuel for fire. having knee-haltered his horses, so that they could not stray far, hans started with his gun to examine the edge of a vlei or marsh into which the little stream flowed, and where hans believed he might find some game. having reached the edge of this vlei, hans commenced examining the ground to look for spoor, as by that means he could tell what creatures he might probably find there. the first footprint that attracted his attention was that of a buffalo, which from the size of the hoof and the wide-spread toes he concluded was a very old bull. this buffalo, from the freshness of the spoor, was evidently in the reeds not far from him. being a thorough sportsman, hans was not one who shot for the mere object of killing. he, on the present occasion, wished to obtain fresh meat, and a small buck was what he wanted, an old bull buffalo being rather too tough. as hans decided to seek for some other game, he noticed a movement in the reeds about fifty yards from him, and there saw the bull buffalo stalk slowly out, raise its head as it scented danger, and then trot slowly away in the opposite direction. from curiosity hans stood watching this noble-looking brute as it moved apparently unwillingly away from a danger which it would have readily encountered. having reached a covert about two hundred yards from where hans stood watching it, the creature entered this, crushing the long canes as though they were nothing stronger than grass, and expecting there to obtain a sanctuary. as far as hans was concerned the buffalo was safe; but his attention was soon drawn to an object which, scarcely visible above the long grass, seemed rapidly advancing to the reeds in which the buffalo had retreated. at first hans supposed this to be a buck, but a glance which he obtained as the animal bounded over a tangled mass of reeds showed him it was a full-sized lion. the defenceless state of his horses at once occurred to hans, whose first thought was to return to them; but being convinced that the lion was in pursuit of the buffalo, he determined to wait in order to see the result of the combat. the buffalo was evidently aware of some danger, for it did not rest amongst the thick canes, but slowly stalked out on the opposite side, thus giving to hans a good view of itself. the lion soon followed, and as the buffalo turned about and sniffed the air, the lion with a rapid bound sprang on the buffalo's shoulder, and endeavoured to drag it to the ground. the great height and giant strength of the buffalo prevented the lion from at once succeeding, and with a bound and a shake it shook off its foe. in an instant, however, the lion with a savage roar was again on its prey, which with its claws and teeth it tore fearfully. hans, who had been an idle spectator of this combat, almost regretted he had not done something to prevent the lion from killing the buffalo, but it was too late now to save the animal. the sight, too, was one which hans had never before witnessed. he had often found the remains of creatures that lions had killed and partly eaten; he had also seen a lion kill a zebra, but that was an almost instantaneous event. to see somewhat of a combat between a lion and a buffalo in their native desert, the one the most powerful among the carnivora, the other the most formidable among the bovine species, was a scene to be remembered. "what would they say to this in cape town?" thought hans, as he saw the buffalo, after dragging the lion some distance, and vainly striving to cast him off, sink to the ground, and shortly after lie quietly down, as though merely fatigued by a day's journey. since his arrival in the eastern frontier, hans had enjoyed no real sport. to a man who has tasted the excitement of large game shooting, the sport to be obtained from merely shooting birds or small buck is scarcely worthy of the name. as the whist player who has been accustomed to play for a high stake scarcely feels any interest in a game on which a postage stamp only may depend, so the south african hunter does not deem it sport unless there is some risk encountered or skill required in slaying his game. when hans saw the buffalo killed by the lion, his old instinct came to him; and though he was alone in the desert, and had no object in running a risk, still the idea at once occurred to him of showing the lion that man was its master. thus he determined on a no less daring feat than to approach the buffalo, and select from it a choice piece of meat for dinner. having made up his mind to this proceeding, hans walked round a portion of the marsh, and then approached the buffalo, which was by this time quite dead. the lion saw hans when about eighty yards from him, and the brute seemed quite astonished at the sight. standing erect on the buffalo, it stared at hans, its blood-stained paws giving it a most formidable aspect. as the animal saw hans steadily advancing, it gave a savage warning growl; but finding that this seemed to have no effect, it then appeared much puzzled, and as hans came steadily on, the lion turned and trotted slowly away from its freshly-slaughtered prey. hans, having taken about four or five pounds of meat, and a great portion of the tongue, walked quietly back again, giving every attention to the lion, which had trotted about two hundred yards off, and was sitting on its haunches, watching the cool proceeding of the two-legged creature that had thus presumed to rob it. when hans found himself at a sufficient distance from the lion to know he was safe from a charge, he turned round, and was about proceeding towards his horses, when a strange-looking object amongst the reeds attracted his attention. he had not been able to see what this was, as the object sank down among the reeds just as he turned, but it seemed to hans like a human figure. bringing his gun to the shoulder, hans advanced rapidly towards the spot, in order to discover what the object was, when, to his surprise, up started three figures from among the grass, and one shouted, "that is hans; no other man would rob a lion of his supper." hans lowered his gun at this remark, and, to his surprise and delight, saw that his old companions, victor and bernhard, were two of the figures, and hotman, a farmer, the third. hans ran to his friends, who welcomed him like brothers, and to his inquiry as to how they happened to be there, they replied that they heard he was coming up the country, and so they expected him by the old waggon-track; thus they had come that way with their waggons to shoot ostriches and other game: that they had outspanned about two miles off, and were walking round to look for game before the sun set, when they saw a man standing near the vlei. believing this might possibly be hans, they had determined to try to stalk him. when, however, they saw that he was going single-handed at the lion, they came on quickly, and were not far behind him when the lion retreated. whilst he was watching the lion, and cutting off the meat from the buffalo, the three hunters managed to get near him, and to conceal themselves amongst the reeds. "we will lead the horses to the waggons, hans. you will come there at once," said bernhard. "all the mensch will be glad to see you on your return. we all thought you must be dead. you must tell us all about your adventures after you shot the elephant; for we found your spoor, and came to that, though too late to rescue you." that evening was pleasantly passed at the waggons. hans informed his friends of all the adventures he had gone through, and of the strange scenes he had encountered, and his account was listened to with great interest. "and now, victor, tell me the news." "all the mensch are well," replied victor, "and katrine is getting well now she knows you are alive. when she heard from us that you were lost, and were probably dead, we thought at first that it would have killed her, and she was like a body with no life in it. when your letters came, we thought you would soon come too, but then we heard you might stop in cape town some time." "did you know who had taken me?" inquired hans. "no; we could not find any spoor after the first day, because of the rain that had fallen; but having stopped a week near where your elephant lay, and having gone out each day in various directions firing our guns, we were compelled to believe that you must have been carried right away. we were very sad, hans, when we were obliged to return without you; but when a month passed, and we heard nothing of you, we felt sure you must be dead. all you possess is safe, though; it has been kept for you, and it is as you left it." "and has there been peace in the land?" "yes, all has been peace. panda has kept faith with us, and will do so, i believe. we have thus been able to sow corn, and the english soldiers have left us in possession of our country; and so we shall have peace in the district, and can govern ourselves as we wish to do." "that is good news, indeed," said hans; "and now i am only anxious to get to the natal district and settle down." we must here close the history of our hero, though he afterwards passed through many adventures, and encountered dangers of various kinds. natal was not yielded to the dutch boers, but was claimed by the british government, and is even now any thing but a region of entire peace. that portion of the history of the dutch emigrants which we have here referred to is probably one of the most extraordinary on record, and it needs neither exaggeration nor high colouring to endow it with interest to those who study the great movements which sometimes influence society, or the singular legislation which may convert friends into foes. the fruitful and prosperous district of natal had for years remained unnoticed, until the dutch emigrants rendered it famous by their battles with the zulus. thus england has eventually derived an advantage from those proceedings which drove away above two thousand of her colonists; and now the emigrant who desires a crop with but little trouble, a lovely climate free from disease, and a country well watered and fertile, may find these near where hans sterk selected his farm, and where katrine became his bride. appendix. the dutch boer of south africa. the term "boer," which in english is used to describe a man who is rough, uneducated, and illiterate, means in the dutch language merely a farmer, or a man who gains his living by rural pursuits. it is not uncommon to hear the boers speak of their companions as "_mensch_" (men), a distinction which they employ especially when referring to the disputes or battles which have taken place between the english "_roe-barges_" (red coats) and themselves. the boers may be divided into two classes, viz. the "field boer," and the "town boer." the field boer is a man who usually resides on his farm, and breeds cattle, horses, or sheep. he is generally the owner of two or three "_spans_" of oxen, as the teams are named, of two or three waggons, and several horses for his own riding, which he is at all times ready to sell, if a chance offers. he passes his time principally in looking after his farm, but the amount of ground that he cultivates is usually very small, an acre or two being about the utmost. to hunt and shoot are the great delight of the field boer, and he is very expert, both in following game by their tracks, and in knowing where, even in a strange country, are the most likely spots for various kinds of game. "i think we shall here a rietbok find," a dutchman would remark as he rode along the side of a marshy piece of ground covered with long grass and reeds; or "here--so look for a duikerbok," as he rides amongst a number of large loose stones near which are low thorny bushes and grass. the boer is commonly a large, heavy man, and disposed to become very fleshy as he advances in years. this latter characteristic probably arises from the fact that he eats very largely at his meals, and is disinclined to take walking exercise. riding becomes to him a sort of second nature, and a man who is found walking from one place to another is considered at once to be either eccentric or very poor. from some reason the field boer is rather disposed to look down upon the sporting prowess of englishmen, but he not unusually finds himself beaten in a competition with those very men whose inefficiency he considered to be a certainty. within quite modern times there have been two wars between the boers and the english; viz. when the boers attacked the english troops in the natal district, in ; and again in , when the english, under sir harry smith, attacked and defeated the confederate boers at the battle of the berea. in both these encounters the dutchmen showed an entire inability to withstand the attacks of disciplined troops, but at the same time displayed much skill in the use of their weapons, in selecting such stations that they might be protected from the enemy's fire whilst he was exposed to theirs, and in retreating so rapidly that they escaped the usual results of a defeat as a companion in the field, the boer, although coarse and vulgar, is still an amusing companion, and a good instructor in hunting-craft. it is from him that you may learn the habits and peculiarities of the many rare animals which inhabit south africa. the footprints of the various creatures, the localities where they may be found at different times of the year, the best method of pursuing them, the means to adopt when encountering dangerous animals, and, lastly, the adventures, successes, and escapes that have occurred either to him or to his immediate friends, form the main subjects of his conversation; at least, after he has gained from you a full account of the height and breadth of your father and grandfather, mother and grandmother, sisters, brothers, and friends, and received also a short account of the sporting capabilities of your male relatives. the town boer is usually a trader, and keeps a sort of general store, selling every thing, from a yard of linen to a pound of gunpowder, and a patent cure-every-thing pill. the hottentot. the hottentot has possessed certain peculiar characteristics ever since he was first discovered by europeans. he is dirty, idle, drunken, and hardy. his idea of luxury is to dance to the music of a fiddle, whilst unlimited brandy is being imbibed. the hottentot is a small, ugly, yellow man, with very high cheek-bones, small eyes, and large pouting lips. his dress usually consists of yellow leather trousers termed crackers, skin-shoes, a ragged jacket, and a large felt hat, in which are ostrich feathers. the hottentots are usually waggon-drivers, grooms, domestic servants, or aids in hunting. in this latter position they excel almost all other men. they are hardy and quick-sighted, daring riders, and very fair shots, and thus are useful to the white hunter. they can eat at one meal as much as would satisfy three hungry englishmen, and they can go without food longer than most men. they are generous to their friends, and it is rare indeed for "totty" to refuse to share his all with a friend. between the totty and the kaffir a deadly hatred exists, the former seeming to have a natural love for hunting the latter. the amakosa kaffir. the general term kaffir is used for many of the tribes bordering on the colony of the cape. these differ only in minute respects one from the other, though their connexion with the english history of the cape is very different. the amakosa kaffirs are those who inhabit the district to the eastward of the cape colony, and it is with these tribes that we have very frequently been at war. the men of the amakosa are fine, active, and well-made, standing not unusually six feet in height. their clothing consists of a blanket, which is discarded when a long journey is undertaken and it is not necessary to sleep out at night. their weapon is the light assagy, termed by them "umkonto." this spear can be thrown to the distance of seventy or eighty yards, and it will have sufficient force to penetrate through a man's body. lately the kaffirs have found that an assagy is no match for a gun, and thus they have procured large numbers of guns. the kaffirs are very fond of horses, and many of our disputes with these tribes arose from their love of stealing both horses and cattle. like most of the african tribes, the kaffirs build wicker-work huts, and thatch these with the long tambookie grass, arrange the huts in a circle, and thus form a village, or what we term a kraal. the zulu tribe are those kaffirs who inhabit the country east of natal. they are, as a rule, shorter and stouter than the amakosa, though they differ but slightly from them in most particulars. they use a stabbing assagy instead of the light throwing spear of the amakosa, and are consequently in war more disposed to fight at close quarters than are the amakosa. the english have never yet been at war with the zulus, but before our occupation of natal the dutch emigrants had several encounters, the events connected with which have been detailed in the preceding pages. the matabili are a tribe of kaffirs in the interior, nearly due north of natal. they are a branch of the zulu nation, and occupy the country situated in about degrees south latitude, and about degrees east longitude. the bushmen may be called the gipsies of africa. they are usually wanderers, travelling from place to place according as the game travels. they are small men, but immensely hardy and strong, arrant thieves, and almost untamable. they usually live in caves among the rocks, or build rough huts in the bush. they are the only inhabitants of south africa who use the bow and arrow, and these men poison their arrows with so deadly a composition as to produce certain death in the creature struck by an arrow. the end. appendix. the dutch boer of south africa. the term "boer," which in english is used to describe a man who is rough, uneducated, and illiterate, means in the dutch language merely a farmer, or a man who gains his living by rural pursuits. it is not uncommon to hear the boers speak of their companions as "_mensch_" (men), a distinction which they employ especially when referring to the disputes or battles which have taken place between the english "_roe-barges_" (red coats) and themselves. the boers may be divided into two classes, viz. the "field boer," and the "town boer." the field boer is a man who usually resides on his farm, and breeds cattle, horses, or sheep. he is generally the owner of two or three "_spans_" of oxen, as the teams are named, of two or three waggons, and several horses for his own riding, which he is at all times ready to sell, if a chance offers. he passes his time principally in looking after his farm, but the amount of ground that he cultivates is usually very small, an acre or two being about the utmost. to hunt and shoot are the great delight of the field boer, and he is very expert, both in following game by their tracks, and in knowing where, even in a strange country, are the most likely spots for various kinds of game. "i think we shall here a rietbok find," a dutchman would remark as he rode along the side of a marshy piece of ground covered with long grass and reeds; or "here--so look for a duikerbok," as he rides amongst a number of large loose stones near which are low thorny bushes and grass. the boer is commonly a large, heavy man, and disposed to become very fleshy as he advances in years. this latter characteristic probably arises from the fact that he eats very largely at his meals, and is disinclined to take walking exercise. riding becomes to him a sort of second nature, and a man who is found walking from one place to another is considered at once to be either eccentric or very poor. from some reason the field boer is rather disposed to look down upon the sporting prowess of englishmen, but he not unusually finds himself beaten in a competition with those very men whose inefficiency he considered to be a certainty. within quite modern times there have been two wars between the boers and the english; viz. when the boers attacked the english troops in the natal district, in ; and again in , when the english, under sir harry smith, attacked and defeated the confederate boers at the battle of the berea. in both these encounters the dutchmen showed an entire inability to withstand the attacks of disciplined troops, but at the same time displayed much skill in the use of their weapons, in selecting such stations that they might be protected from the enemy's fire whilst he was exposed to theirs, and in retreating so rapidly that they escaped the usual results of a defeat as a companion in the field, the boer, although coarse and vulgar, is still an amusing companion, and a good instructor in hunting-craft. it is from him that you may learn the habits and peculiarities of the many rare animals which inhabit south africa. the footprints of the various creatures, the localities where they may be found at different times of the year, the best method of pursuing them, the means to adopt when encountering dangerous animals, and, lastly, the adventures, successes, and escapes that have occurred either to him or to his immediate friends, form the main subjects of his conversation; at least, after he has gained from you a full account of the height and breadth of your father and grandfather, mother and grandmother, sisters, brothers, and friends, and received also a short account of the sporting capabilities of your male relatives. the town boer is usually a trader, and keeps a sort of general store, selling every thing, from a yard of linen to a pound of gunpowder, and a patent cure-every-thing pill. the hottentot. the hottentot has possessed certain peculiar characteristics ever since he was first discovered by europeans. he is dirty, idle, drunken, and hardy. his idea of luxury is to dance to the music of a fiddle, whilst unlimited brandy is being imbibed. the hottentot is a small, ugly, yellow man, with very high cheek-bones, small eyes, and large pouting lips. his dress usually consists of yellow leather trousers termed crackers, skin-shoes, a ragged jacket, and a large felt hat, in which are ostrich feathers. the hottentots are usually waggon-drivers, grooms, domestic servants, or aids in hunting. in this latter position they excel almost all other men. they are hardy and quick-sighted, daring riders, and very fair shots, and thus are useful to the white hunter. they can eat at one meal as much as would satisfy three hungry englishmen, and they can go without food longer than most men. they are generous to their friends, and it is rare indeed for "totty" to refuse to share his all with a friend. between the totty and the kaffir a deadly hatred exists, the former seeming to have a natural love for hunting the latter. the amakosa kaffir. the general term kaffir is used for many of the tribes bordering on the colony of the cape. these differ only in minute respects one from the other, though their connexion with the english history of the cape is very different. the amakosa kaffirs are those who inhabit the district to the eastward of the cape colony, and it is with these tribes that we have very frequently been at war. the men of the amakosa are fine, active, and well-made, standing not unusually six feet in height. their clothing consists of a blanket, which is discarded when a long journey is undertaken and it is not necessary to sleep out at night. their weapon is the light assagy, termed by them "umkonto." this spear can be thrown to the distance of seventy or eighty yards, and it will have sufficient force to penetrate through a man's body. lately the kaffirs have found that an assagy is no match for a gun, and thus they have procured large numbers of guns. the kaffirs are very fond of horses, and many of our disputes with these tribes arose from their love of stealing both horses and cattle. like most of the african tribes, the kaffirs build wicker-work huts, and thatch these with the long tambookie grass, arrange the huts in a circle, and thus form a village, or what we term a kraal. the zulu tribe are those kaffirs who inhabit the country east of natal. they are, as a rule, shorter and stouter than the amakosa, though they differ but slightly from them in most particulars. they use a stabbing assagy instead of the light throwing spear of the amakosa, and are consequently in war more disposed to fight at close quarters than are the amakosa. the english have never yet been at war with the zulus, but before our occupation of natal the dutch emigrants had several encounters, the events connected with which have been detailed in the preceding pages. the matabili are a tribe of kaffirs in the interior, nearly due north of natal. they are a branch of the zulu nation, and occupy the country situated in about degrees south latitude, and about degrees east longitude. the bushmen may be called the gipsies of africa. they are usually wanderers, travelling from place to place according as the game travels. they are small men, but immensely hardy and strong, arrant thieves, and almost untamable. they usually live in caves among the rocks, or build rough huts in the bush. they are the only inhabitants of south africa who use the bow and arrow, and these men poison their arrows with so deadly a composition as to produce certain death in the creature struck by an arrow. the end.