e dwell a
number of men who have sought refuge, and who will welcome thee among
them."

"A wanderer again! Well, if it must be. But how is it that these
people, if refugees, are allowed to dwell in the heart of the land
unsought for?"

"Because the King does not really desire their death. They are made up
of men who have been smelt out by the _izanusi_, and have managed to
escape; others whom the King has doomed, not really meaning that they
should be slain, or the _izinduna_ have plotted to destroy, and who
having been warned in time, fled; also the relatives of these men,
dreading lest the doom should fall upon them also. Now these men are so
numerous as almost to constitute a tribe in themselves; they are wild
and fierce, but will welcome such another fighter. That is the only
plan, Untuswa; thou must flee to the Bapongqolo. Did not even the
warning of Silwane convey that? Was it not about a hunted buffalo who
found safety in the Ngome forests?"

"That is so, Lalusini," I answered. "Yet it seems that I have found
thee after all this time of sorrow, only that we must lose sight of each
other immediately." And I looked at her sadly.

"Patience, Untuswa," she said. "I am planning to make thee great, that
thou and I together may rule the world. Say, are we not of the sort who
are born to that end?" And, coming over to me, she placed both hands
upon my shoulders, looking up into my face; nor had she to look _up_
very much, for, tall as I was, she, for a woman, was of splendid
stature.

"I think, indeed, we are well fitted to rule it," I answered, with
pride.

"Then go now, a wanderer once more, Untuswa, but only for a short while.
Besides, it may be that I will find thee but, even among the fierce
Bapongqolo, from time to time," she added.

"Why, then, go I forth with joy," I answered. "Farewell, Lalusini.
Delay not to find me out."

She gave me a few things which I might need, food, and a casting-spear
or two, and a large new war-shield--I having come forth with but a small
dancing shield--and thus once more fared I forth a wanderer, a fugitive
from the parent nation, even as from its offshoot. Verily it seemed as
though I were to find no rest.

Now the undertaking before me was, to a man of my experience and
familiarity with peril, no very great one, for by using ordinary caution
I could always travel unobserved. I avoided the kraals of men, moving
mostly at night. Twice I saw in the distanc