ather than sit there in doubt.
The minutes slipped by slowly; each slowly spun its time out, as if
every minute were an hour, each hour a week, and the moisture
gathered on his brow, when at last the tension was broken.

"Sisters, I smell smoke!"

"Thank God," was the man's thought, "they are living." The suspense
fell from him. He pulled himself together, and was ready for
anything.

"Smoke!" The voice reached him in sharp shrill accents that pierced
the continual growling of the waters. "Who is here?"

"Ngonyama!" was the reply uttered by several.

"He is terrible, sisters. Hear the thunder of his voice. Let us fly,
lest he tear us." And the speaker laughed.

"That is not his voice! He is afraid; he crouches like the panther
in the trap, trembling. His strength has gone from him."

"I heard a lion was in the plains, and the cows ran together in a
cluster, for they were afraid."

A shrill laughter was the response, but the dull lights remained
where they were, and again there was a long spell of silence, as far
as the voices were concerned. Then the lights went out. The Hunter
stooped forward, listening, but he could hear no footfall. He put
the gun down, and grasped the knife in his right hand, for he could
use it with better effect in a sudden assault.

"I smell meat!"

The voice came now from another quarter, and then the lights shone
out one after another.

"What meat is this, sister?"

"Indhlovu."

"Wow! There are fat pickings on the bones of the great one; but he
is powerful. I hear his trumpeting."

"Haw! it is the voice of the unseen, mother. Indhlovu has fallen
into the pit that was set for him. His power has gone."

Again the voices ceased, again the strange lights were dimmed; but
the Hunter was ready, for he knew now they were quartering the cave
in search of him. He had no fear, only a feeling of intense disgust,
coupled with a determination to scare the lives out of these ghouls,
if they ventured on an attack. By-and-by he beard faint rustlings,
and then breathings; but it was impossible to see, and he sat
perfectly still. Then the voices broke out again at another point.

"He is here, my sisters."

"Wow! We are hungry; let us eat. We are thirsty; let us drink."

"Sisters, terrible is the power in the arm of Indhlovu. He strikes,
and lo! as a falling tree sweeps a passage through the forest, so
would he sweep us away. Let him weaken; let hunger fasten on his
vitals, and fear trou