his 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