d more than a
lingering belief that the king would find some secret means for his
deliverance, whereas to his younger comrade no such way of escape lay
open. Or was it that at this moment certain words, spoken long ago in
warning, now stood forth clear and in flaming letters upon his brain:
"_Other men have gone up country with Hazon, but not one of them has
ever returned!_" He himself, abiding henceforward among the Ba-gcatya,
and Holmes consigned to the mysterious doom, would not those warning
words be carried out in all their fell fatality? But that after these
years of hardening in the lurid school of bloodshed and ruthlessness he
should be capable of sacrificing himself for another, through motives of
impulsive generosity, Laurence could not have brought himself to
believe. Indeed, he could not have defined his own motives.

"Give me your word, Great Great One, in the sight of the whole nation,"
he said in a loud voice, "that these two shall be suffered to depart
unharmed--now, at once--and I will take the place of Nomtyeketye."

"That will I readily do, Nyonyoba, for I have no need of strangers here
such as these," answered Tyisandhlu. Then, sadly, "And--you are
resolved?"

"I am."

"Then it must be. For ye two, go in peace;--enough shall be given you
for your journey."

Holmes, who understood the language very imperfectly, had no clear
notion, even then, of what had taken place. But when he saw the gigantic
forms in their black disguise bounding forward to surround Laurence, he,
being otherwise unarmed, instinctively threw himself into a boxing
attitude, which was, under the circumstances, ridiculous, if natural.

"Keep cool, you young idiot," snarled Hazon. "We're out of this mess
better than we deserve."

"Why, what's happened?"

"Stanninghame is acting substitute for you, and we are to be fired out
of the country, which is good news to you, I take it."

"But I can't allow it!" cried Holmes bewilderedly, as the truth began to
dawn upon him. "No, hang it, I can't,--tell the king, I----"

"No good! Keep your hair on! and remember, too, it's more than probable
he won't come to any harm. He stands in with them too well."

Holmes, more than half reassured, suffered himself to be
persuaded--especially as he was powerless to do anything at all. But
whether Hazon believed or not in what he had just advanced must remain
forever locked up as a mystery in the breast of that inscrutable
individual. One thing,