"For ten days longer we wandered through the mountains, and, in truth,
it seemed that we were but getting deeper and deeper into them, for we
knew not the way, and often our wanderings would bring us into a closed
defile, which meant perhaps a whole day's journey thrown away, for we
would have to retrace our steps. Still no sign did we see of the
presence of man, no sign of that tribe which was waiting to hail me as
chief.
"And now, as the days sped on, the gloom of the mountains, the iron
solitude in which we moved, began to tell upon us. At first, with the
excitement of our flight stirring our blood, we laughed, and sang, and
loved, and were happy as children. But as the days went by we grew more
client. We began to think of the life and cheeriness of Ekupumuleni, of
our dances and fun, of our laughter from morning till night. I, too,
thought of the fierce excitement of the war-dance, of the mad shock and
joy of battle, of my comrades in arms whom I delighted to rival in the
field, of the King, who had ever shown me favour, whom, in spite of my
soreness and anger, I still loved with a loyal affection, and whom I had
deserted--for the sake of a girl. Then my good spirit, as well as my
evil one, cried out upon me for the chief of all fools. I had deserted
my nation; I had renounced bearing arms in its behalf; I had become a
wanderer and an outcast--never more to behold the face of my people,
never more to converse with their tongue. I might have lived to become
head _induna_, head fighting chief of our armies; and all this I had
thrown away--for the sake of a girl.
"Then my heart would grow heavy and bitter as I went forth to hunt,
leaving Nangeza in order that I might be alone with my heaviness. There
were times when my heart so weighed me down that I was minded to return
and pay forfeit with my life, rather than drag it on in ignominy and
exile; for now my eyes were opened, and I saw clearly that the man who
should throw away his career as a warrior, and such dazzling chances as
mine were--for the sake of a girl--is such a fool that he deserves not
to live at all.
"Now, of all this, I said nothing to Nangeza; yet I could see that she
divined in great measure my thoughts; nor was she pleased thereat--nor,
indeed, did she more than slightly share them. For to a woman it
matters not overmuch where she is, being devoid of mind; but to
us--_au_! we may become fools, but we know it, _Nkose_; whereas the more
a woman acts like a fool, the more will she cry aloud her wisdom.
"The nights became gloomy and wet and cold, and at times we would see
gigantic spectres of men stalking aloft in the mists which overwreathed
the cliff-brows; and strange wailing cries would go forth upon the
night, as though the ghosts of those who had been slain and devoured by
the _Izimu_ and such _abatagati_ were wandering abroad; and we would
cower over our fire and still more wish we were back at Ekupumuleni, for
we seemed to have got into the drear strongholds of wizardry, which
would only end where the limits of the world fall off into dark space.
But Nangeza would speak words of encouragement, how any day we might
suddenly find ourselves looking down upon a fair and beauteous land
beyond this region of gloom, even as we had done when we passed the
Kwahlamba mountains to build up a new nation.
"One morning we were journeying, I with my shield and weapons in hand,
Nangeza bearing the skin coverings and baskets we had made, for we had
brought scarcely anything with us in our flight--thus were we
journeying, when suddenly upon the mountain-side we came upon some
people. There were perhaps thirty, and they, like ourselves, seemed to
be moving from place to place, for the women were laden with household
goods as well as with their infants. There were about twelve men with
the party, and these, as soon as they saw us, stopped short and held
their assegais and axes ready for defence. But I made signs to them
that we were for peace, naming to them Masuka's name, and calling out
such words of his language as Masuka had taught me. For I judged these
people to be akin to him in race, because in appearance they closely
resembled the Baputi against whom we had fought. And it seemed to
answer, for they turned to each other and talked very fast, but I could
hear the names Masuka and Bapedi often repeated. Then, seeing that we
were but two, and one of these a woman, they suffered us to draw near.
"These people were short, but broadly formed, especially as to the
flanks. So short were they that Nangeza and I towered above them by the
height of our heads, in many cases by even more. Their faces were ugly
and wrinkled, and though shrewd, it was the craft and cunning of the
monkey. That they were _Izimu_ I had little doubt, so like were they to
those I had seen in the cave, and for this reason I did not care to
partake of their food, not knowing whether they might set before me the
flesh of men. For they seemed desirous of treating us well, once we had
made it clear that no _impi_ followed on behind. Yet I bade Nangeza be
on the alert, for their fair treatment might be a blind to cover the
revenge they should take for their own people whom we had slain.
"So we journeyed with them, discoursing by signs and such few words as
Masuka had taught me, and at night we lay down together, but it was
little I slept, fearing treachery, and the next day joined others of
their people. These, seeing a big Zulu warrior, fully armed, marching
towards them, were at first almost as frightened as those others when I
had burst upon them from out of the cave. However, they were at length
shown we were not enemies.
"The camp of these people was a round hollow under the cliffs, and,
indeed, it was as foul and uncleanly as were their persons. _Au_! it
was a horrible place! But we endured it, for we did not wish to arouse
their hostility, and also we hoped they would show us some way out of
the mountains. So we lay by their fires, yet, as before, not sleeping
very soundly.
"`So this is the tribe of which I am to be chief!' I said grimly to
Nangeza. `These are the people out of which we are to weld a nation!'
"`Not so,' she answered. `We shall find others better than these.'
"It was towards morning, when all is dark and cold, and slumber lieth
heaviest upon the eyelids of men. Even then it lay not heavy upon mine,
although Nangeza, beside me, was slumbering deeply. But it seemed to me
that somebody moved--stealthily moved. And then, in the dim light of
dawn, I beheld the man who slept nearest to me roll over towards me, and
roll over again--this time nearer. Then he raised his head, I through
my eyelids watching him. Nearer still he crept, looked hard at me, and
listened. But the sound of my breathing was regular. He was satisfied
that I was fast asleep, and crawled back to where he first had lain.
"`Ha-ha!' laughed I to myself, gripping my broad spear beneath the skin
blanket. `Now we shall see! Now we shall see!'
"I dared not waken Nangeza, lest, moving too suddenly, she should put
these treacherous _abatagati_ on their guard; wherefore I lay still and
watched. Then I saw the man who had first moved raise his arm, and in
his hand was a long wand. With this he touched lightly the faces of
five or six sleepers lying beyond him. They rose quickly, noiselessly,
and in their hideous faces was the expression of a snake which is angry
and about to strike. Each held in his hand an assegai and a battle-axe.
"Then I sprang to my feet with a fearful roar. I whirled in among them
while yet the terror of surprise was upon them, and cut down two,
ripping them with my broad spear. Another I brained with my knobstick,
but by that time the whole tribe was upon me shrieking. Assegais
whizzed past my ears, one slightly wounding Nangeza, who, wakened
suddenly, had sprung to my aid armed with a heavy knobstick of her own.
"`Come, Nangeza!' I cried. `They are too many. We must run!'
"So we plunged over the lip of the hollow, and side by side coursed down
the steep slope without, the whole evil tribe howling upon our heels and
flinging their long light-handled spears, too near us to be pleasant.
But we soon distanced them, and reaching the bottom of the valley, where
the thorn bushes grew thick, we slackened speed and, turning our heads
back, jeered those who came on.
"`Ho, dogs!' I cried, `who are ye that think to outstrip the fastest of
the King's runners?'
"`Who is running back to the King!' called out a great voice behind.
And starting round to deal with this new enemy, lo! we were surrounded
by our own people, hemmed in by spear-points as by a thorn fence, each
blade ready to enter our hearts. Our doom had overtaken us at last.
"`Drop thy weapons or die, son of Ntelani,' said the leader of the
_impi_. `The "word" of the Great Great One was "dead or alive"; if not
alive, then dead.'
"I glanced swiftly at the force surrounding us. It numbered about fifty
men, all young, strong, determined warriors like myself. To resist
would be to die. I looked at the leader, who was well known to me, and
friendly. Then I said:
"`I will disarm, Ngubu. But first let me aid you in stamping out yon
race of evil-doers. Then I will offer no resistance. This will be my
last battle.'
"`The King's orders did not say that, Untuswa. Nothing was in them
about fighting,' answered Ngubu; yet there was a longing look in his
face as he glanced at the Baputi who had clustered on the ridge and were
watching us, uncertain whether to stand or to fly.
"`And the girl?' he said, looking at Nangeza. `I will answer for her.
You know my word stands, Ngubu, and not to save my own life will I
sacrifice yours and those of all here to the wrath of the King. Come!
Tarry no longer!'
"`I will trust you, Untuswa. _Whou_! but it will be a strange battle
for you, and I fear it will indeed be thy last, for I think no man ever
yet took away an inmate of the _Isigodhlo_ and lived.'
"`This cannot be!' cried another, running up. `The King's orders were
to bring back these two. How, then, can you loosen them, perhaps to
flee again, Ngubu?'
"`Peace, Njalo-njalo! I know Untuswa. Now--at them!'
"While we charged up the hill I made up my mind as to one thing, which
was, that if this was to be my last battle, so also should it be
Njalo-njalo's last. But the Baputi did not wait for us; they scattered
and fled among the rocks, and although we spent half the day hunting
them out and slaying all whom we found, the greater portion of them
escaped; which enraged me, whom they had treacherously tried to kill
when a guest at their fires. In the eagerness of the pursuit I had
distanced my own people, when I heard Njalo-njalo's voice crying: `After
him! He is trying to escape!' I turned at this and ran straight back
to where he stood amid a group of others.
"`Trying to escape, is he?' I roared. `Now, Njalo-njalo, come forth
and meet me! Assuredly thou art well named--as to thy sleeping powers,
that is--for to-day thou shalt sleep "for ever and ever"--but in death!'
[Njalo-njalo means "for ever and ever."]
"Most of them grinned at this, and Njalo-njalo answered:
"`You are talking like a fool, boy! Why should I fight one whose life
is forfeited to the King?'
"`Good! Then I will treat thee even as one of these miserable Baputi.'
And, quick as thought, before a hand could be lifted to prevent it, I
hurled my great knobstick at his head. It struck him fair between the
eyes, crashing with terrific force. Njalo-njalo dropped like an ox
smitten by lightning. He never moved afterward:
"`He is a coward and deserved such an end!' I cried. `I am not, and my
word stands. Take my weapons, men--I disarm.' And I threw my assegais
and shield on the ground beyond reach, and stood waiting.
"They surrounded me at once. Nangeza, who had been helping to kill the
Baputi, stood by, also cool, brave, and fearless.
"`You have made more trouble by slaying Njalo-njalo,' said Ngubu
discontentedly. `_Whau_, Untuswa! It is on us the King's wrath will
fall.'
"`The King's wrath never yet fell upon anybody who slew a coward, for he
loves not such,' I answered. `And now, Ngubu, being unarmed, I need no
bonds. I have done with hope. I care not to flee again into this
region of wizards and ghosts.'
"Herein I spoke the truth. So weighed down had my mind become by the
gloom and the solitude, and being cut off from my kind, that I welcomed
capture. So joyous a sound in my ears was that of their voices, so
cheering a sight to my eyes was that of my fellow-warriors in their
fighting array, that I even looked with calmness upon the now near
approach of my certain death; and thus walking in their midst as one of
themselves, except that I was unarmed, I journeyed back to doom.
"Indeed, when after many days we got clear of the mountains and drew
near to Ekupumuleni, my guards were even more sad of heart than myself
as they thought upon my sure fate. But so glad was I to see the great
kraal--`the resting-place,' and, as regarded myself, too surely the
last--once more, that it was like coming home; but it would be to me in
a brief space a home of darkness and of night!
"A guard of women presently met us, accompanied by an _inceku_, bringing
word from the King that Nangeza was to be handed over to them. So they
led her away in their midst, and I knew we had looked upon each other's
faces for the last time, unless perchance we should look upon them once
more again at the place of doom."