ispering into my ear. "A quarter of a hundred years have gone
by since we talked together in this haunted kloof," she seemed to
whisper, "and before we talk again face to face there remain to
pass of years"--

Here she ceased, though naturally I should have liked to hear the
number. But that is just where dreams break down. They tell us
only of what we know, or can evolve therefrom. Of what it is
impossible for us to know they tell us nothing--at least as a
general rule.

I woke up with a start, and feeling stifled in that hot place and
aggravated by the sound of Anscombe's peaceful breathing, threw a
coat about me and, removing the door-board, crept into the air.
The night was still, the stars shone, and at a little distance
the embers of the fire still glowed. By it was seated a figure
wrapped in a kaross. The end of a piece of wood that the fire
had eaten through fell on to the red ashes and flamed up
brightly. By its light I saw that the figure was Nombe's. The
eternal smile was still upon her face, the smile which suggested
a knowledge of hidden things that from moment to moment amused
her soul. Her lips moved as though she were talking to an
invisible companion, and from time to time, like one who acts
upon directions, she took a pinch of ashes and blew them, either
towards Heda's hut or ours. Yes, she did this when all decent
young women should have been asleep, like one who keeps some
unholy, midnight assignation.

Talking with her master, Zikali, or trying to cast spells upon
us, confound her! thought I to myself, and very silently crept
back into the hut. Afterwards it occurred to me that she might
have had another motive, namely of watching to see that none of
us left the huts.

The rest of the night went by somehow. Once, listening with all
my ears, I thought that I caught the sound of a number of men
tramping and of some low word of command, but as I heard no more,
concluded that fancy had deceived me. There I lay, puzzling over
the situation till my head ached, and wondering how we were to
get clear of the Black Kloof and Zikali, and out of Zululand
which I gathered was no place for white people at the moment.

It seemed to me that the only thing was to make start for Dundee
on the Natal border, and for the rest to trust to fortune. If we
got into trouble over the death of Rodd, unpleasant as this would
be, the matter must be faced out, that was all. For even if any
witness appeared