h country stretched away, and here and there
the dim blue line of a mountain in the distance. Beneath, the river
seemed to flow around a bend in a long smooth reach. It was probably
deep at this point, in which event he would have to ride eastward along
its bank in search of a drift. By comparing the direction it took with
the position of the sunrise he felt sure he had reached the Black
Umfolosi.

And now as the glorious hues of sunrise began to flush and glow in the
east, and the varying voices of the wilderness arose in glad and joyous
greeting of another day, the piping of birds, and the hum of insects,
Gerard's pulses beat with an unwonted sense of exhilaration, of vivid
delight in his new-found freedom. Fatigue or exhaustion he had not as
yet begun to feel, for, as we have shown, he was in splendid condition
by reason of his open-air life. But he began to feel uncommonly hungry,
and the only food he had been able to bring with him were a few pieces
of bread, crammed hurriedly into his pockets. These, however, hard and
stale as they were, came in uncommonly acceptable now, and he devoured
them ravenously.

"That's better," he said to himself, rising slowly. "Now for one
farewell survey, and then on again." And then he dropped back among the
bushes and aloes as if he had been shot.

He had left his horse in an open glade. From his elevated perch he
could see the animal peacefully grazing, and he saw something more.
Stealing upon it, flitting from bush to bush, came a number of armed
Zulus.

With a fatal fascination he watched their movements. On they crept,
half crouching, half gliding, but approaching with incredible rapidity.
He could mark them signalling to each other, then as two or three of
them rose to peer forward, he saw on their foreheads and chests the
blood-red disc, the ominous distinguishing mark of the Igazipuza. That
these were his pursuers of the previous night was established beyond a
doubt.

He watched them as they drew near the horse. But instead of running
forward to secure the animal, they suddenly crouched down and lay
motionless. The significance of this manoeuvre was plain enough to
Gerard. They reckoned that he would return to the horse, and their plan
was to lie in wait and pounce out upon him when he should do so.

He had a rifle with him--the double gun had been left with Dawes--and
now he thought how he could astonish them, how easily he could pick off,
at any rate,