Part 27 (1/2)

On that night I was indeed a hero in a small way Even Henri Marais thawed and spoke to ht to his child, he who always disliked lishhter and he was jealous, and partly for the reason that I stood in the path of his nephew, Hernan Pereira, whom he either loved or feared, or both As for the rest of them, men, women and children, they thanked and blessedas I was, thenceforth I and no other should be their leader As h it is true that she set down my success to her meal of bullock's liver and the nap which she had insisted on , the Vrouw Prinsloo was the most enthusiastic of the with her fat finger ather family ”If only I had such a husband or a son, instead of you lus to the heels of a she-ass, I should be happy”

”God did that in order to prevent you fro, old vrouw,” said her husband, a quiet man with a vein of sardonic huue, I should be happy also”; whereon the vrouw sering

But theof all was my intervieith Marie All that took place between us can best be left to the iination, since the talk of lovers, even in such circu to others Also, in a sense, it is too sacred to repeat One sentence I will set down, however, because in the light of after events I feel that it was prophetic, and not spoken merely by chance It was at the end of our talk, as she was handing iven her for a certain dreadful purpose

”Three times you have saved my life, Allan--once at Maraisfontein, once froaan, whose touch would have meant my death I wonder whether it will ever be my turn to save yours?”

She looked down for a little while, then lifted her head and laid her hand uponslowly: ”Do you know, Allan, I think that it will at the--” and suddenly she turned and left me with her sentence unfinished

So thus it came about that by the help of Providence I was enabled to rescue all these worthy folk from a miserable and a bloody death And yet I have often reflected since that if things had gone differently; if, for instance, that king aasvogel had found strength to carry itself away to die at a distance instead of soaring straight upwards like a towering partridge, as birds injured in the lungs will often do--I suppose in search of air--it ht have been better in the end Then I should certainly have shot Dingaan dead and every one of us would as certainly have been killed on the spot But if Dingaan had died that day, Retief and his companions would never have been massacred Also as the peaceful Panda, his brother, would, I suppose, have succeeded to the throne, probably the subsequent slaughter at Weenen, and all the after fighting, would never have taken place But so it was fated, and who am I that I should quarrel with or even question the decrees of fate?

Doubtless these things were doomed to happen, and they happened in due course There is nothingwe collected our oxen, which, although still footsore, were now full fed and soan our trek, word having coaan that we uides, under the command of the captain Kambula, to show us the road to Natal

I breakfasted that day with the Reverend Mr Owen and his people,to persuade him to come aith us, as I did not consider that Zululand was a safe place for white women and children My mission proved fruitless Mrs Hulley, the wife of the absent interpreter, who had three little ones, Miss Owen and the servant, Jane Williaested But Mr and Mrs Oere filled with the true fervour of missionaries, would not listen

They said that God would protect them; that they had only been a feeeks in the country, and that it would be the act of cowards and of traitors to fly at the very beginning of their work Here I ed their opinion, small blame to them, and fled as fast as anyone else

I told Mr Owen how very close I had gone to shooting Dingaan, in which event they ht all have been killed with us This news shocked him much Indeed, he lectured me severely on the sins of bloodthirstiness and a desire for revenge So, finding that we looked at things differently, and that it was of no use wasting breath in arguood fortune and went upon ain

An hour later we trekked Passing by the accursed hill, Hlo on the rocks, we caate of the Great Kraal Here, to aan with souard of over a hundredtreachery, I halted the wagons and advised the Boers to load their rifles and be ready for the worst AThoaan wished to speak with us I asked him if that meant that ere to be killed He answered, ”No, you are quite safe” The king had received soood humour with the white people, and he desired to bid us farewell, that was all

So we trekked boldly to where Dingaan was, and, stopping the wagons, went up to hiave me his fat hand to shake

”Maculad that your ic prevailed yesterday Had it not done so I should have killed all these your friends, which would have been a cause of war betweenI have learned that these A a friendly ereat chiefs, and I think that you will e you, therefore, to tell the no fear, as I will receive them well and listen to all they have to say”

I answered that I would do so

”Good,” he replied ”I a twelve head of cattle with you, six of the your journey, and six as a present to the ee to see you safely over the Tugela River”

I thanked hio, when suddenly his eye fell upon Marie, who, foolishly enough, took this opportunity to advance froet what

”Macumazahn, is that the aan; ”she who to marry?”

I answered, ”Yes”

”By the head of the Black One,” he exclaimed, ”she is very fair Will you not make a present of her to ive away”

”Well, then, Macumazahn, I will pay you a hundred head of cattle for her, which is the price of a royal wife, and give you ten of the fairest girls in Zululand in exchange”

I answered that it could not be

Now the king began to grow angry

”I will keep her, whether you wish it or no,” he said

”Then you will keep her dead, O Dingaan,” I replied, ”for there is ic which slew the vultures”