hinted to him that an elderly, unlovely suitor, with four
wives already, and much cattle, had more than once cast his eyes upon
her, and had been palavering with her father in rather an ominous way.

Then, suddenly, the whole situation had changed. Tekana owned another
relative, who in turn was related to the induna of the court at
Ezulwini, and this man had pointed out to him insidiously how money was
to be made, and plenty of it. This would bring him Ntombisa at once.
But he did not like the method of it--not at first. Not at first. But
his relative proved that nothing would come of it. No harm would come
to anybody, least of all to his chief. It would be a mere matter of
Government officialism, and there the affair would end. Besides, he
would actually be serving his chief if anything, in that the latter
would be obliged to sit still, and thus be saved from joining in any
trouble, which could only end in disaster and ruin. So Tekana swallowed
the bait and accepted the price.

Thus Tekana was found to be wending his way in the blithe early morning,
blithe at heart, to the kraal of his prospective father-in-law. He had
got the balance of the _lobola_ in good English sovereigns, and soon all
the preliminary ceremonies of the marriage would be settled. Everything
looked rosy.

"_Au_! Thou art hurried, brother. Whither bound?"

Four men were sitting on the grass by the side of the path. These had
risen as he approached.

"For the kraal of Sondisi, but a short way hence," he replied.

"First sit and take snuff," one of them answered. "Thine errand will
break no ox's head."

He could not refuse; yet it was with ill-concealed impatience that he
sat down among them. Yet not quite among them. He knew them for
Sapazani's people, yet they were wearing European clothes. Tekana was
no fool of a Zulu, wherefore this fact struck him as singular; moreover,
his own conscience was not clear. So he squatted as much as he could on
the edge of the group. Incidentally he squatted in such wise as to be
able to spring to his feet in a fraction of a second.

The snuff-horn went round, and they chatted on about ordinary topics.
The while Tekana was wondering why they were wearing clothes contrary to
the chief's deadly prejudice. They were wearing them awkwardly, too.

One of them, the nearest to Tekana, rose. But while in the act of
passing behind him Tekana rose also, and not a moment too soon. From
under the