ng his hand. "Fare ye well, El
Khanac; Afa, fare ye well!"

But before his followers could form into marching rank, several men
rushed from the forest, with every appearance of importance and alarm.
Making straight to where stood their white leaders, they began hurriedly
to confer with the latter.

"Your discontent was needless," cried Hazon, after a minute or two of
such conference, turning to his rebellious followers, the whole body of
whom had now paused to learn what tidings these had brought. "Your
discontent comes a day too late. Those whom we spared have even now been
eaten up, and their village given over to the flames."

The short, sharp gasp of amazement which greeted this announcement gave
place to growls of renewed discontent. Some rival band of slave-hunters
had fallen upon the village and taken that which they themselves had so
weakly left. Such was their first thought.

"The Ba-gcatya have found them," continued Hazon calmly.

If there had been marvel before in the ejaculation now there was more.
There was even a note of dismay. Forgetting their mutinous intentions
now, all crowded around their white leaders, eager to learn full
particulars. And in that moment Laurence, ever observant, was not slow
to perceive, both in the looks and tones of the party, quite enough to
confirm all that Hazon had said as to the terror inspired by the very
name of the redoubtable Ba-gcatya. Even the savage and truculent Wangoni
seemed for the moment overawed. It was striking, too, how, in the hour
of impending peril, all turned to the white leaders, whom a moment
before they had been entirely defying and more than half threatening.

"The Ba-gcatya are in great force," went on Hazon, as calmly as though
he were merely announcing the proximity of one more well-nigh
defenceless and slave-supplying village. "We shall have to fight, and
that hard, but not here. We must fight them in the open."

A murmur of assent went up. Every head was craned forward, eager to hear
more. Briefly and concisely Hazon set forth his commands.

Their then encampment was situate on the edge of the forest belt. Beyond
the latter the country stretched away in vast, well-nigh treeless
plains. Now a peculiar feature of these plains was the frequent
recurrence of abrupt granite _kopjes_, at first glance not unlike
moorland tors. But more than one of them, when arrived at, wore the
aspect of a complete Druidical ring--a circle of stones crowning the