e mentioned six of us to you, O doctor!"

"It did," replied Mavovo, drawing a pinch of snuff up his uninjured
nostril, "and our brother there was the first of the six. Be not afraid,
the other five will certainly join him in due course, for my Snake must
speak the truth. Still, if anyone is in a hurry," and he glared round
the little circle, "let him stop and talk with me alone. Perhaps I could
arrange that his turn----" here he stopped, for they were all gone.

"Glad _I_ didn't pay a shilling to have my fortune told by Mavovo," said
Stephen, when we were back in the _boma_, "but why did they bury his
pots and spears with him?"

"To be used by the spirit on its journey," I answered. "Although they do
not quite know it, these Zulus believe, like all the rest of the world,
that man lives on elsewhere."

CHAPTER VIII

THE MAGIC MIRROR

I did not sleep very well that night, for now that the danger was over
I found that the long strain of it had told upon my nerves. Also there
were many noises. Thus, the bearers who were shot had been handed over
to their companions, who disposed of them in a simple fashion, namely by
throwing them into the bush where they attracted the notice of hyenas.
Then the four wounded men who lay near to me groaned a good deal, or
when they were not groaning uttered loud prayers to their local gods.
We had done the best we could for these unlucky fellows. Indeed, that
kind-hearted little coward, Sammy, who at some time in his career served
as a dresser in a hospital, had tended their wounds, none of which were
mortal, very well indeed, and from time to time rose to minister to
them.

But what disturbed me most was the fearful hubbub which came from
the camp below. Many of the tropical African tribes are really
semi-nocturnal in their habits, I suppose because there the night is
cooler than the day, and on any great occasion this tendency asserts
itself.

Thus every one of these freed slaves seemed to be howling his loudest to
an accompaniment of clashing iron pots or stones, which, lacking their
native drums, they beat with sticks.

Moreover, they had lit large fires, about which they flitted in an
ominous and unpleasant fashion, that reminded me of some mediaeval
pictures of hell, which I had seen in an old book.

At last I could stand it no longer, and kicking Hans who, curled up like
a dog, slept at my feet, asked him what was going on. His answer cause