Kitabı oku: «The King's Assegai: A Matabili Story», sayfa 5
“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 Pangúlwe. 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; Untúswa,’ 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 múti, 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 múti, father?’ I went on, with a glance at the stuff.
“He chuckled.
“‘Múti? Do I need it, Untúswa? Yet if you would see what múti 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, Untúswa, 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, Untúswa. 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 múti 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, Untúswa, 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 múti can restore life where that of Isilwana cannot. And since the múti 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 múti 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 Bayéte 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.
