"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.