nd deep went through the Wangoni ranks. What
was this? They had been ordered to charge--been signalled to charge, and
now they were forbidden to enter the village. "El Afa" (the serpent) had
been absent from the expedition, and now turned up here, alone. Savages
are ever suspicious, and these were no exception to the rule of their
kind.

"_Whau_, what does it mean?" half sneered their leader, scowling
resentfully upon Laurence as the warriors crowded around, growling like
a pack of baffled wolves. "Had we not better send some in to see if
these dogs are indeed all dead?"

"Not so, Mashumbwe," was the unconcerned reply. "Tarry until the others
arrive, then will we act together."

But a furious clamour arose at the words. The Wangoni did not entirely
believe the explanation; and to further their doubts there now arose
from the inside of the huts the puling wail of infants which the mothers
had not been entirely able to stifle.

"_Au_, we will add those to the death number, at least," said the chief,
giving the signal to his followers to advance.

"Not so!" said Laurence decisively. "Hearken, Mashumbwe, you are chief
of your own people, but I am chief of all--_of all_! Not a man stirs
until El Khanac comes up. Not a man, do you hear?"

Mashumbwe tossed back his ringed head, and his eyes glared. He was a
tall, fine savage, with all the pride of mien inseparable from his rank
and Zulu blood. Thus they stood, the savage and the white man, looking
into each other's eyes; the one in a blaze of haughty anger, the other
cool, resolute, and absolutely unflinching. How it would end Heaven
alone knew.

But now the very thing that Laurence had been longing for happened. A
hurried murmur ran through the Wangoni lines. The main body of the
slave-hunters had emerged from the scrub, and had quietly surrounded the
village. Laurence was satisfied. He had gained time so far, and with it
his object.

"What astonishing freak is this, Stanninghame?" said Hazon, who, having
taken in the situation at a glance, was promptly at his colleague's
side, displaying, too, the piece of pencilled board. "What becomes of
our pact when such a consideration as this comes in?" he continued,
meaningly tapping the inscription on the board. "Have we obtained all we
wanted on those terms up till now, or not?"

"No, we haven't; but now, having obtained almost all we wanted, we can
afford to do this for once. If it had been your life instead of mine
the