To attempt to describe the fearful despair, the agony of self-reproach,
which took possession of poor Gerard's heart as he awoke to find himself
once more in the power of the savages is impossible. The very stars in
their courses seemed to be fighting against him. Had he not gone
through enough in all conscience? And now all his past perils and
experiences were thrown away. He and his comrade were no better off
than before his attempted escape, probably indeed worse. Again, it was
while he slept that the enemy had stolen upon him--while he slept. He
had sacrificed his companion for the sake of a few hours' sleep! Well,
he himself deserved all he might meet with; but Dawes--he had sold him--
had fallen asleep at his post like a cowardly and untrustworthy
sentinel. The poor fellow was in agonies of self-torment at the
thought.
But for the perturbed and flurried state of mind, into which these
reflections had thrown him, he would have perceived that the Zulus were
every bit as astonished at his appearance as he was at theirs. As it
was, he only saw the same dark resolute countenances and ringed heads,
the same great broad-bladed assegais. These men, however, carried great
white shields with black facings.
"Who are you, _Umlungu_, and where do you come from?" said one of them
after a moment of silence.
Gerard looked at the speaker, and collecting his ideas, replied, with
all the dignity at his command, that he was carrying a message to the
king.
A smothered ejaculation burst from the group, and they exchanged
glances.
"Does a white man, carrying a message to the king, travel through the
country in that state?" said the first who had spoken.
Gerard followed his glance, and appreciated the meaning with which the
words were uttered, as he remembered the travel-worn and rather
disreputable appearance which he must present. His rifle, too, was
beginning to rust, for in the fatigue and exhaustion which had come upon
him before falling asleep, he had neglected to do more than just wipe
it. The broken hunting-knife was still spliced to the muzzle.
"I lost my horse, and an alligator attacked me in the river," he
replied. "I speared him with this, struck him through the eye, and I
believe I killed him."
"_Hau_!" broke from the listeners, staring at the broken knife-blade.
"That was well done, _Umlungu_. But--where do you come from?"
"Who is your chief?" said Gerard, fencing the question after their own
fashion.
"He is not here," was the characteristic reply. "But he is close at
hand."
"Take me to him."
And Gerard rose, as decisive apparently in purpose as he was in speech.
"Come!" said the spokesman, laconically.
Then, with Gerard in their midst, the group moved off. For upwards of
half an hour they filed through the bush at a rapid pace, in process
whereof Gerard's attempts at further enlightenment were met by an
intimation, terse but not discourteous, that under present circumstances
silence was preferable to speech. But he noticed one thing, overlooked
at first in his despair and confusion. These warriors, whoever they
might be, did not show the red-painted disc on forehead and breast which
distinguished the dreaded Igazipuza.
The way had grown wilder and wilder, and instead of the straggling and
more or less scattered bush, the party was now proceeding beneath tall
forest trees, from whose gnarled and massive boughs dangled monkey ropes
and trailers. The shade was almost a gloom, into which the last rays of
the now setting sun shot redly. And now a strange, eerie, fluttering
sort of life seemed to spring up within the gloom of those forest
shades, and Gerard could not repress an exclamation of astonishment as
he looked. For the place was alive with armed warriors, starting up
like ghosts, silently, noiselessly, out of nowhere. There seemed to be
no end to their number, and he could mark the surprise on each dark
face, could hear the low ejaculation and the quivering rattle of assegai
hafts as they became aware of his presence.
"Who--what are these?" he asked.
"You wanted to see the chief, _Umlungu_," was the reply. "Have
patience. You shall see him."
Gerard's first thought was that the talked of Anglo-Zulu war had
actually broken out, and this was a force proceeding against his
countrymen, and his heart sank. For if that were so, what chance was
there for Dawes, in the power of one of Cetywayo's savage vassals? The
king was not likely to risk offending one of his most influential chiefs
by demanding the release of a member of the race which was making war
upon his nation and dynasty. His meditations on this head were promptly
cut short, for his escort had emerged upon a small open glade overhung
by a high rock, whose summit was plumed by a dark line of
straight-stemmed euphorbia, and beneath this sat a group of men, in
whose aspect there was something which instinctively told him they were
men of the highest authority.
His escort made a sign for him to halt, while a couple of them went
forward to confer with these. Then he was told to advance.
"The chief--that is he!" said one of them.
The man indicated, a large finely built Zulu, was seated in the centre
of the group. As his gaze fell upon him Gerard stared; then he started
with astonishment--this time openly and undisguisedly--then stared
again.
"Sobuza!" he cried. And to the unbounded amazement of his escort, and
indeed of all beholders, he dropped his rifle and stepped forward to the
chief with outstretched hand.
The latter, indeed, was hardly less astonished than himself, but, with
the self-control of his race and rank, showed it but little. A slight
smile came over his face, and there was a twinkle in his eye as he shook
Gerard by the hand with a hearty grip.
"_Au_! Jeriji. I remember you," he said kindly.
There was that in the act, in the tone, which went straight to Gerard's
heart. Here, in this unknown wilderness, after his perilous escapes, he
felt that he had found a friend. In the hands of this savage chieftain,
surrounded by his armed host, he felt perfectly safe. Whatever the
errand of destruction upon which this formidable force was engaged, in
the presence of the man he had succoured twice in the hour of danger and
difficulty he felt no distrust, no misgiving.
The astonishment of the onlookers at this strange and unexpected
recognition knew no bounds. They bent eagerly forward, with many a
smothered "_whou_!" of amazement. But the frank, open, impulsive way in
which Gerard had greeted their chief had made the best of impressions,
for the Zulu in those days was not without his share of real chivalrous
feeling, and the complete absence of any lingering distrust on the part
of their prisoner--or guest--appealed powerfully to them. His rifle lay
on the ground exactly where he had placed it. Not one of them would
pick it up, lest the act might be construed into one of distrust, of
disarming him, so to say.
"Sit here, Jeriji," said the chief, motioning him to a place at his
side. "Did you come into the Zulu country all alone to kill alligators,
or to pay me a visit?" he went on, with a comical smile, as Gerard
promptly acted upon the invitation.
"Neither the one nor the other, Sobuza. But, first tell me, are you and
your men out against--my countrymen?"
"Not so," said the chief. "We are not at war with the English."
"I am glad of that. Now listen. You asked me why I came into your
country. I did not come into it; I was brought into it."
"Brought into it?" repeated the chief in some astonishment. "By whom?"
"By Ingonyama's people. Those, who call themselves Igazipuza."
"_Hau_! Igazipuza!"
The astonishment, emphatic and unfeigned, with which his statement was
echoed, not by the chief only, but by the whole group, might well strike
Gerard.
"You know him--you know them?" he said.
A humorous flash flitted across each dark face, the corners of every
mouth turned down grimly. Sobuza proceeded to take snuff.
"Tell us about it," he said. "Begin at the very beginning, Jeriji, for
this is no light matter."
Then Gerard began his tale--from the very outset of their enforced visit
to the fastness of that redoubtable clan, throughout the period during
which their condition had become one of open and undisguised captivity,
down to his own headlong dash for liberty and succour, their untiring
and persistent pursuit of him, and his perilous hiding-place on the
river-bank. His feat in slaying the alligator caused great sensation;
and Sobuza having ordered the rifle, on which was still spliced the
broken knife, to be brought, he and his assembled chiefs examined this
cleverly devised weapon with the greatest interest. Gerard went up a
hundred per cent, in their estimation.
Now our friend's knowledge of the Zulu tongue comprised a prodigious
number of words, but his grammar was of the shakiest description.
However, the vital importance of his narrative soon rendered him
oblivious to any mere self-consciousness, and in his hearers he found a
most eager and patient audience. Once or twice only did they interrupt
him when his meaning was unintelligible, and then only to help him
through. But, when he had finished, they questioned him on every
conceivable detail, cross-examined him so deftly, that they had promptly
got out of him his own plans, his own errand, without his being in the
least aware of it. More than one there present knew "Jandosi," from
trading trips which he had made among them.
"How many fighting men has Ingonyama, Jeriji?" said Sobuza again.
Gerard replied that he thought there must be at least five hundred.
Besides the large kraal there were two smaller ones under the rocks at
the further end of the hollow. There was only one approach to the
place, and they used to boast that by massing at this point they could
hold their own against any odds. He had already sketched on the ground
an elaborate map of the place.
"Good!" said Sobuza, grimly. "Life is full of deceptions, and that is
one of them, as they shall find out. Listen, Jeriji. You may spare
yourself the trouble of carrying Jandosi's `word' to the king. You
asked against whom we were out. Well, we are the king's hunting-dogs,
and the Igazipuza are the game."
Gerard stared as though he could hardly believe his ears. He had
thought the whole population of the northern country, including these
among whom he had fallen, was in league with that evil and bloodthirsty
clan, if not actively in membership with it. But the armed warriors
around him had actually been sent forth to suppress it. Then he
remembered how different was their bearing and demeanour to that of his
late enemies. There was no boisterous swash-bucklering savagery about
these. They were king's troops, the flower of the Zulu nation, they and
their chiefs, even as the Igazipuza were the scum.
"It is as I say," went on Sobuza, smiling at his air of incredulity.
"The Great Great One has long borne with this rebellious dog of his, and
these were his words to us, to me Sobuza the son of Panhla, second in
command of the Udhloko, and to Gcopo, the third _induna_ of the
Ngobamakosi," designating the chief at his side, whose magnificent
physique had struck Gerard the moment he arrived--
"`There sits among the mountains in the north, a dog who dares call
himself by my name [Note 1]--who dares to insult the majesty of my state
by his miserable imitation of the same; who gathers around him all the
evil-doers of the nation, and levies tribute from my subjects, and kills
and plunders men of nations between whom and myself there is peace, so
that I am in danger of becoming embroiled by their ill-doings. Moreover
these claim the power of immunity from harm by sundry abominable
practices abhorrent in the eyes of the People of the Heavens, [Note 2.],
and make it their boast that they drink the blood of men. To such
lengths have these _abatagati_ carried their enormities, that not only
is there no longer peace or security for any who dwell near the northern
border on either side thereof, but there is a danger that men may be led
to think this dog greater than his master.
"`Further, this dog who calls himself lion, plots that one day he may
roar where the Lion of the Zulu roars alone. Now shall he feel the
Lion's paw, for the time has come when such disturbances and such
abominations shall cease out of the land.
"`Now, Sobuza, and you Gcopo, pick from the Udhloko and the Ngobamakosi
one thousand of your best warriors, half from each--for I hear these
_abatagati_, who call themselves blood-drinkers, are numerous and hold a
strong place--and go up against them. If they dare to resist _eat them
up_--every man who bears a weapon--otherwise, slay only the dog who
calls himself Ingonyama, also Vunawayo, and all who hold rank or
standing among this pestilent clan. The remainder, with their women and
cattle, drive before you hither. Burn their kraal that no stick or
straw be left, and return here by the sixth day from this. Depart.'
"Such were the words of the king to us, Jeriji. _Whau_! We leaped up
shouting the _bonga_ [Note 3], and that same evening we left Undini, as
you see us. By this time to-morrow there will be nothing left of the
Igazipuza kraal but its smoke, and the vultures of the northern heights
will be gorged. It is good that you have fallen in with us, Jeriji, you
who are familiar with the place. We will strike them at dawn to-morrow,
and Jandosi shall be brought out alive. See--the sun is nearly down.
Then we will march."
"I am very hungry, Sobuza," said Gerard.
The chief started. Zulus on a war expedition seldom eat more than once
a day, and that in the morning. Then he laughed, and gave orders
accordingly.
"It is war rations," he said, as some dried meat and mealies stamped to
a kind of flaky paste were produced.
The first was rather "high," but Gerard was, as he had said, very
hungry, and fell to, untroubled by overmuch fastidiousness. While thus
engaged he heard a voice say in a jaunty, bantering tone--
"_Saku bona, 'mlungu_! Surely we have met before."
The group of chiefs had temporarily left him, to supervise the few
simple preparations for their march. Looking up he saw a young Zulu,
unringed, who stood there, laughing all over his face. The features
were familiar, but Gerard, who had seen so many natives of late, could
not quite locate them.
"Have you any more guns to sell, _Umlungu_?" said the young fellow,
roguishly.
And then Gerard knew him in a moment.
"Nkumbi-ka-zulu," he said, holding out his hand to show that he bore no
ill-will from their previous very decided misunderstanding. "Why, how
is it that you are here?"
"_Ha_!" said the other, with a laugh, "I am in the Ngobamakosi regiment.
I am going to help `eat up' the Igazipuza."
"Well, Nkumbi, you wanted that double gun badly. Listen to me now.
Jandosi is in the midst of those Igazipuza, and when we attack them they
may rush upon him and kill him. If you are the first to reach his side
that double gun shall be yours. I promise it."
"What if the gun is broken in the battle?"
"Then you shall have as good a one. Only collect some of your
companions, and manage to get near Jandosi when we attack, and that gun
shall be yours."
"You are a straight man, _Umlungu_, and I believe your word. I will try
and win the gun." And then a short and sharp mandate from his superiors
interrupting him, the young warrior turned away abruptly to fall into
his place in the ranks.
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Note 1. "The Lion" was one of the titles of the Zulu kings.
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