Part 5 (1/2)

The old _induna_, his brow clouded with anxiety, advanced to the side of the King

”_Hau_!” he cried, with a start of amazement ”It is indeed a face, Great Great One It is the face of Ncwelo”

A deep h a chief of some influence, was not an _induna_ His place at the head of his people was nearat him, I could see that his look was that of a ain, Mcu ”I see another face Whose is it?”

”Ha!” cried the old _induna_, tre with awe ”It is the face of Senkonya”

A cruel sain

”It is the face of Ntelani, Great Great One,” alain, Mcu

”I see now Tyuyuasp ”Now I see a head, and it is wreathed in snakes--a head, a face

It is the face of Notalwa, the chief of the _izanusi_”

The terror-stricken countenance, the shaking limbs, of the old _induna_ were too true, too real, for any suspicion of make-believe There was a silence of indescribable awe upon all who heard, all who beheld It was broken by Notalwa

Uttering hideous yells, the head _isanusi_ leaped in the air, dancing and roaring, bellowing forth all his incantations and wizardry

Stripping off his zebra robe, he gashed hi out wild predictions as to the fate that would speedily befall our race for supplanting its own sorcerers in favour of the , with a frown, bade hiic for himself The others named sat still as stones, but their demeanour was various Upon the face of my father Ntelani, was the set drawnness of despair, but it was the courage of a dogged despair; fierce, fearless to the last

Senkonya, too, looked as one who had already tasted death, but Tyuyumane, ah! his look was that of one who had tasted death a hundred ti man, with a sullen and evil face, very near in blood to the King--indeed, it had been whispered, though cautiously--that he was an elder son of Matyobane Now he showed signs of strong and restless fear His glance rolled to right and to left, as though seeking means of escape But behind each of those thus naroup of armed warriors

And now the attention of all was diverted to old Masuka, who had fallen into one of his trances, and was an to speak He told of a pool, overhung by rocks, and whose waters reflected the stars and the waningof ether of e hats Then he described so exactly the _indaba_ which we had witnessed--the Great Great One and I-- that it seemed he must have been present concealed on the spot where we had lain and listened to it But all this he told in a very low, and scarcely audible, voice, only to be heard by such feere i ashad beckoned me to his side Then, when he had finished, he lay as still as though dead, and the faces had faded out of the _ as before

”I think we have heard enough,” said Ua_, he bade them cry aloud to the people to depart, but that, until the third day after the new moon, none should venture beyond the chain of the furthest tattle-posts And the people leaped gladly to their feet, shouting the _Bayete_, for their hearts were light again

Death had passed through their ranks, yet there were still many left

As for those _izinduna_ ere named last, few at that time knehat their fate was, or what became of them, nor yet of Notalwa, the head of the _izanusi_, who lay at first pretending to be dead But I knew; likewise did I know that every one of those who had gone forth that day to the hill of slaughter was concerned in the treasonable plot which had for its object the death of the King Yet, because of its e scale, and the slaughter of so reat fear rested upon all the people for ician was in the minds of all; for, of course, none knew that the Great Great One and I had witnessed that dark and treasonable ; nor, indeed, that any had

CHAPTER FIVE

THE BOER LAAGER

It was our custoati_, that his whole family and kraal should be eaten up too; but U for its own sake, except in war, forbore to observe this custom in its entirety He spared the relatives of those who had been na a fine of cattle froarded as the worst of the lot; for Ncwelo occupied a position of trust at an important outpost; and this position he had turned to account by hatching treason; wherefore, i named, a party of armed ai-- even to his very dogs--and to sweep off all his cattle into the royal herds The saarded the others, the Great Great One was of opinion that sufficient exah it meant death to whisper a word as to what had become of those five principal evildoers who had been naive me no rest on the subject; for herein was a er in it; so, thinking I would tell her, she tried all sorts of devices, such as creeping up to listen whenever I talked with another _induna_ At last, losing patience, I sh we Amazulu do not beat our wives overmuch, as you white people say, yet there are tiue Besides, Nangeza was beco warriors would laugh a themselves, and put their hands to their hter who strikes hard

But--a chief? _Hau_! A woone far enough in this direction, wherefore I seza

She snarled like a she-leopard first struck by the spear

”Good, Untuswa! Thou hast struck her through whoreat

Thou shalt weep for it in blood one day”