"Praise on now, ye _izimbonga_, shout aloud, my children," said the
King, "for we are rid of a most pestilent witch, even though Untuswa has
lost his _inkosikazi_. Well, what matter? We can find him a new one.
Look, Untuswa. This stranger is fair. Will she not make a noble
substitute for the evildoer who sleeps yonder beneath the water?"
Now, _Nkose_, my heart leaped within me at the words; yet I did not like
the tone, for I could see that the King was mocking me, and I suspected
a trap; for Umzilikazi's ways were dark at times, and of late his
suspicions, in one direction or the other, were seldom at rest. Still,
I answered, as was my wont, boldly--
"She would indeed, Father. Is this, then, the `word' of the Lion to the
lion-cub?"
All gazed silently and in wonder at my boldness, for none doubted but
that this beautiful stranger should reign queen in the _isigodhlo_.
"Ah, ah, Untuswa," mocked the King. "Know you not that she is a
sorceress, and such can wed with none? Yet, it is a pity--a pity," he
added, gazing longingly at the beauty of Lalusini, who stood with a half
smile on her lips, looking down at us as though we were a couple of
children discussing our games. Indeed, there were not wanting some who
thought, that, noble and stately as the King's presence was, the aspect
of this strange woman was the more royal of the two.
Now, Umzilikazi took up the great white shield, and began examining the
little hole, or rather slit, made by the poisoned dart, murmuring softly
to himself the while. Then, carefully, he picked up the little weapon
itself, which I had immediately plucked from the royal shield, and flung
down in disgust. An idea seemed to strike him.
"See, Untuswa, here is a great _muti_ shield," he said. "It will make a
fitting mate to the dark-handled _umkonto_. And as it has once stood
between my life and treason, so may it always. Take it, Untuswa, my
shield-bearer. It will be seen afar in the line of battle, when the
meat stands ready to the teeth of the lion-cubs. Take it, Untuswa. It
is thine."
Speaking thick and fast the words of _bonga_, I bent down and received
this great gift from the hand of the King. It was a splendid bull-hide
shield, of pure white, and not bound with black facings, as was the way
with those borne by the royal guard. It was a royal shield, and of the
royal colour, and was tufted with the tail-tuft of a bull, also pure
white. And now I held two royal gifts: the King's Assegai, and the
great white shield of the King. And since I had held the first naught
but success had been mine. What would not follow upon the possession of
the last?
The arrow which Nangeza had thrown we examined also. It was larger
somewhat than those usually shot by the mountain tribes, and looked as
though it had been made for this purpose. The point, too, was thick and
green with an ugly poison, which was not all snake-poison, but a mixture
of such with something of the nature of distilled herbs. Now, from whom
had she obtained that secret? Then the King and I put our heads
together, and whispered, and some of the royal guard bounded forth, to
return immediately, dragging two men whom we knew to be of our own
_izanusi_; yet not altogether, for they were of a lower class, who
assisted our witch-doctors without being altogether of them. They were
not our own people, both being of the Bapedi, and as they were brought
before the presence, their knees knocked together, and their eyes
protruded with fear.
"Take that arrow, ye dogs who are no _izanusi_, but cheats," said the
King. "Now touch each other with the point thereof."
"We are but dust beneath the feet of the King," whined one, yet not
obeying.
"To do this is death, Great Great One," moaned the other.
"Ha! And do ye hesitate? Who hesitates to face death at the word of
the King? And if it is death for most men, ye jackals, is not your
_muti_ strong enough to render this of no avail? I speak not twice."
So these two grasped the arrow--first one, then the other--and obeyed
the King's word. And we, bending forward, watched them keenly and with
joy; for we hated these crawling snakes of _izanusi_, who would have
made of themselves, King, army, nation, all rolled into one. And we
took care that there was no trickery in what they now did. So it
happened that not long after they had pricked each other with the arrow
they grew heavy and sleepy, and soon rolled over dead, and frothing at
the mouth. For Umzilikazi judged that these two had supplied Nangeza
with the poison, and there was nothing he loved so much as making the
evil which one had prepared for another the manner whereby that one
himself should fall.
"Now talk we of Kwelanga," he said, when the bodies had been removed.
"Thou, Lalusini, will the little one ever return to us?"
"They who wander abroad by night without weapons of defence run great
danger, O Elephant," she replied. "When such are but little children,
what chance have they?"
"Yet the witch who is gone accused thee of a hand in her disappearance?"
"Then did she lie, Great Great One," answered Lalusini softly. "No part
did I bear in this. Yet one thing my serpent tells me. Not for ill was
this child of the sunshine saved from reddening the Amandebeli spears
what time the other children of the Amabuna perished thereby.
Wherefore, when her voice again shall be heard, neglect it not, lest a
nation be a nation no more. Lo, it groweth dark and all things are
night! I hear the sound of a trampling of feet, of the quiver of spears
as the forest boughs in a gale, the clash and roar of hosts in battle,
the song of victory!"
"And to whom the victory, my sister?" said the King.
Lalusini turned wonderingly at the voice and passed her hand once or
twice over her brow. Her eyes came back to earth again, and she seemed
as one who has but awakened from a long, deep sleep. And we who beheld
it were stricken with awe, for we knew that the sorceress had parted
with her spirit for a time; and this, soaring away through the fields of
space and of the future, had beheld that to which her lips had given
utterance, and, indeed, a great deal more to which they had not. And
now, her vision ended, it; was not within her power to reply to the
King's question.
"Get thee gone now, and rest, my sister, for I perceive that thy powers
are great," said Umzilikazi with a wave of the hand. And at the signal,
some of the women who hung upon the outskirts of the crowd, came forward
to lead the stranger to a large new hut which had been prepared for her
reception.
When the assembly of the people had dispersed, the King and I still
lingered talking over these matters.
"Is it for good or for ill she has come among us, Untuswa?" he said.
"For good, Great Great One."
"Ha! So thou ever sayest. Yet her prophecy as regarded the little one
was strange."
"Strange it was, Black Elephant, but it was not lightly spoken."
"She is a greater magician than this white man, for no such saying,
light or dark, did he ever utter concerning us."
"That is true, Father. Yet he is a good man."
"And the sayings of that witch who was thy chief wife, Untuswa. They,
too, were strange."
"_Whau_! They were the ravings of a jealous and evil-tongued woman,
Calf of a Black Bull. But now I am without a chief wife, give me, I
pray thee, this sorceress, Father, for there is that about her which I
love, O Stabber of the Sun."
"So, so!" said Umzilikazi, laughing softly, and there was a look on his
face which brought back the days when I, being a boy, desired leave to
_tunga_. "So, so, Untuswa? She would make a noble substitute for thy
dead witch? Ha! Yet be content, thou holder of the royal spear and the
royal shield."
There was that in the words--in the look--as the King dismissed me which
left an uncomfortable load upon my mind; and, indeed, I felt as though I
had acted like a fool.
Now, as I returned to the huts I occupied when at Kwa'zingwenya upon the
King's business, my two younger wives came about me with words of love
and thankfulness, because my voice had been raised on their behalf when
they were adjudged to die the death which had overtaken Nangeza. Yet
for these I had no ears and but little patience, for my mind was filled
with the Bakoni sorceress. Moreover, I now foresaw strife between these
two; for, Nangeza being gone, these would not rest until one or other of
them had taken her place, nor would they suffer me to rest--for so it is
with women: each must always be the greater. So I answered them but
shortly, bidding them gather up their possessions and start back at once
to my kraal--happy that they could go back well and strong in the flesh,
and not as weeping ghosts whose bodies were dead moaning over the ashes
of their former home. But for my part I chose to remain at
Kwa'zingwenya for a space, for I feared lest Lalusini should escape me
again. Yet was I as powerless with regard to her as the lowest of our
Amaholi; for was not her life the property of the King, even as the
lives of all of us? Truly within the nation I was great. Yet did my
will cross that of the King and--_Au_! where is the smoke of yesterday's
fire?
Thinking such thoughts, I was wandering at eventide between the great
kraal and the river when I came upon old Masuka gathering herbs.
"Greeting, thou holder of the royal spear and the royal shield," said
the old man, looking at me sideways, like a bird, out of his bright
eyes. Again I felt uneasy, for his words were exactly those which the
King had uttered--his tone mocking and ill-omened.
"Greeting, my father," I answered, trying to seem unconcerned. "Now we
have yet another magician among us--this time a female one."
"That is so, Untuswa. Ah, ah! what was my `word' to thee? `The
she-eagle will return and--the alligators shall be fed.' Did I lie in
that?"
"Not so, my father. Truth was there in the word, for it has been shown
this day."
"Your black cow has given good milk, my son. _Whau_, Untuswa! You
should be an _isanusi_ yourself, who did so readily read the way of the
Bakoni witch-song. But now great things are to come upon us--upon you:
yes--strange things."
"What is the strangest thing which is to come upon me, my father?" I
said, again seeking to pry into the future.
"Ha! The place of the Three Rifts," he answered, darkly.
"But I know not such a place, my father."
"Thou wilt know it, Untuswa; thou wilt know it--one day."
No more would the old man tell, and so I left him, pondering greatly
over these things as I went. And it seemed to me that the air was dark
with sorcery and magic, and that snares lay spread all around, lurking
for the steps of him who should tread unwarily; and, indeed, this was
so, for the old Mosutu's foresight was no mere empty frothing, but of
portentous weight, as, indeed, were all his utterances.
While these things were in progress, _Nkose_, the white priest was
absent from Kwa'zingwenya; for since the day of his interference at the
Pool of the Alligators, the King chose, when possible, to find some
pretext for removing him to a distance what time evil-doers were to die
the death. For if the stranger were again to interfere, he, too, must
die, for it would be impossible to overlook such rebellion a second
time, even from a white man. Now, Umzilikazi did not desire his death,
wherefore he would direct that some should lure the stranger to a
distant kraal, on the pretence that certain people there were eager to
listen to his teaching, all in accordance with the crafty scheme which
had kept him from pursuing his journey to the south, and rendered him
content to remain among us. And, no matter what the weather, no matter
how great his own fatigue, upon receiving such a call, the white priest
would start immediately, through heat or cold or storm, though the
rivers were in flood or sickness lurked in the low-lying swamps. So it
had been in this instance; and not until several days had gone by since
the death of Nangeza did he return, weary with travel, and sad that his
teachings should be of so small avail.
But very much more sad was he on learning of the disappearance of
Kwelanga, and he wept, that white _isanusi_; for he loved the little
one, who, after all, was of his own colour, the only one of such among
us. And he, like ourselves, doubted not but that she had been slain and
devoured by wild beasts. Yet, loudly did he give thanks to the King who
had permitted him to perform the water-rite over her; since by this, he
said, though her body were dead, her spirit should live in happiness
forever. And we, hearing these words, glanced at one another with
meaning. Did they not accord with Lalusini's saying, that again should
Kwelanga's voice be heard, though with a warning, forasmuch that not for
ill had we saved her alive when all others were slain?
Now, although this white priest had declared in a friendly manner
towards old Masuka, and, indeed, showed no enmity towards our own
_izanusi_, his mind seemed evil towards Lalusini. Her he could never be
brought to regard with over-great friendliness, but yet was guarded in
his utterances; and, while he looked upon her coldly, said naught
against her. But she, for her part, in nowise seemed to return his
manner, for she ever spake softly and kindly to him--even as she did to
all--but in a way as though she herself were too great to feel enmity or
ill-will to such small things as those around her. And this, indeed,
was partly true.