y fled--
those wild creatures of the night--after the manner of beasts who
disperse when suddenly startled from their prey.

Then there came to my ears a low wail, as the moaning of a woman in
fear, or in pain, perhaps both.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

THE REFUGEES OF THE NGOME.

At first I liked it not, for strange _tagati_ beings are about in the
darkness--half-man, half-beast--who rend those that wander alone at
night. But even of such I felt no fear then, wherefore I went straight
to the spot whence the sound came; and, ready to use my spear if need
be, called out to know who it was that spoke.

The answer came almost beneath my feet, and in the darkness I could make
out a form lying there. I bent down and touched it. It was the form of
a woman.

"Remain by me till dawn," gasped a voice hoarse with pain and fear.
"Those horrible beasts. They will rend me again. Oh, kill me, for I
suffer agonies!"

"Who art thou?" I said, not liking this encounter.

"Nomshasa, the wife of Untuswa," came the feeble answer.

_Whau, Nkose_! Then, indeed, did I well-nigh leap for amazement. For
the name was that of one of my Swazi wives--that one who had
mysteriously disappeared, and whom I had never expected to behold again.
Bending over her, I strove, to raise her head; but as I moved her,
though ever so gently, she shrieked.

"Ah--touch me not! I am torn in pieces. Those horrible beasts! Put me
out of my pain. One blow at the back of the head will do it."

Now the first streak of dawn had begun to lighten the earth, and by it I
could see that what she said was so indeed. The hyenas which I had
disturbed had indeed begun to devour her, and her body was hideously
torn. But how had she come into that helpless plight? Then, by the
fast increasing light, she knew me, and called me by name.

And I, _Nkose_, gazing at her, I was filled with horror. The whole of
her scalp was one mass of blood, and it seemed as though her skull had
been battered in. Her elbow joints were smashed and swollen; so too,
were her wrists, and there were marks of frightful burns upon her body.
The marvel was she was alive at all. I was full of pity for her, for
she had been a handsome and pleasing girl, and during the short time
since the King had given her to me to wife she had always done well by
me.

Now, making a great effort, she told me her tale. During my absence
against, the Amabuna she had been seized by order of Umhlela, and