hich he said was that
of his daughter, and stroked it--"and I left him.

[*--The old Zulu smiths dipped their choicest blades in the blood
of men.--A. Q.]

"He was not wise, he should have killed one whom he had wronged,
but perhaps he knew that I could not be killed; perhaps he had
tried and found that he was but throwing spears at the moon which
fell back on his own head. I forget. It is so long ago, and
what does it matter? At least I took away from him the prop of
my wisdom, and he fell--to rise no more. And so it has been with
others. So it has been with others. Yet while he was great I
knew his heart who lived in his heart, and therefore I ask
myself, had he been sitting where the King sits to-day, what
would Chaka have done? I will tell you. If not only the English
but the Boers also and with them the Pondos, the Basutos and all
the tribes of Africa had threatened him, he would have fought
them--yes, and set his heel upon their necks. Therefore,
although I give no counsel upon such a matter, I say to you that
the counsel of Chaka is--fight--and conquer. Hearken to it or
pass it by--I care not which."

He paused and a loud "Ow" of wonder and admiration rose from his
audience. Myself I nearly joined in it, for I thought this one
of the cleverest bits of statecraft that ever I had heard of or
seen. The old wizard had taken no responsibility and given no
answer to the demand for advice. All this he had thrust on to
the shoulders of a dead man, and that man one whose name was
magical to every Zulu, the king whose memory they adored, the
great General who had gorged them with victory and power.
Speaking as Chaka, after a long period of peace, he urged them
once more to lift their spears and know the joys of triumph,
thereby making themselves the greatest nation in Southern Africa.
From the moment I heard this cunning appeal, I know what the end
would be; all the rest was but of minor and semi-personal
interest. I knew also for the first time how truly great was
Zikali and wondered what he might have become had Fortune set him
in different circumstances among a civilized people.

Now he was speaking again, and quickly before the impression died
away.

"Such is the word of Chaka spoken by me who was his secret
councillor, the Councillor who was seldom seen, and never heard.
Does not Sigananda yonder know the voice which amongst all those
present echoes in his ears alone?"

"I know it," cried the