r, and then you must help me."

So he went, and the end of it was that before nightfall they had enough
things for their immediate needs, and by the second night, working
very hard, were more or less comfortably established in their strange
habitation. The canvas flap from the waggon was arranged as a tent for
Benita, the men sleeping beneath a thick-leaved tree near by. Close at
hand, under another tree, was their cooking place. The provisions of all
sorts, including a couple of cases of square-face and a large supply
of biltong from the slaughtered cattle, they stored with a quantity of
ammunition in the mouth of the cave. Fresh meat also was brought to
them daily, and hauled up in baskets--that is, until there was none
to bring--and with it grain for bread, and green mealies to serve as
vegetables. Therefore, as the water from the well proved to be excellent
and quite accessible, they were soon set up in all things necessary, and
to these they added from time to time as opportunity offered.

In all these preparations the old Molimo took a part, nor, when they
were completed, did he show any inclination to leave them. In the
morning he would descend to his people below, but before nightfall he
always returned to the cave, where for many years it had been his custom
to sleep--at any rate several times a week, in the gruesome company of
the dead Portuguese. Jacob Meyer persuaded Mr. Clifford that his object
was to spy upon them, and talked of turning him out; but Benita, between
whom and the old man had sprung up a curious friendship and sympathy,
prevented it, pointing out that they were much safer with the Molimo,
as a kind of hostage, than they could be without him; also, that his
knowledge of the place, and of other things, might prove of great help
to them. So in the end he was allowed to remain, as indeed he had a
perfect right to do.

All this while there was no sign of any attack by the Matabele. Indeed,
the fear of such a thing was to some extent dying away, and Benita,
watching from the top of the wall, could see that their nine remaining
oxen, together with the two horses--for that belonging to Jacob Meyer
had died--and the Makalanga goats and sheep, were daily driven out to
graze; also, that the women were working in the crops upon the fertile
soil around the lowest wall. Still, a strict watch was kept, and at
night everyone slept within the fortifications; moreover, the drilling
of the men and their instr