over me. Then I heard the voice of
Zikali challenging you to shoot him, and to tell the truth, hoped
that you would do so. Just before you fired for the second time,
Nombe whispered to me--'Throw' and I threw the little red-handled
spear into the air. Then as the pistol went off Nombe
whispered--'Come.' I slipped away down the path and back with
her into the hut, where she kissed me and said that I had done
well indeed, after which she took off my strange robe and helped
me to put on my own dress.

"That is all I know, except that some hours later I was awakened
from sleep and put into the litter where I went to sleep again,
for what I had gone through tired me very much. I need not
trouble you with the rest, for we journeyed here in the same way
that we had journeyed to Ulundi--by night. I did not see Zikali,
but in answer to my questions, Nombe told me that the Zulus had
declared war against the English. What part in the business I
had played, she would not tell me, and I do not know to this
hour, but I am sure that it was a great one.

"So we came back to the Black Kloof, where I found Maurice quite
well, and now he had better go on with the tale, for if I begin
to tell you of our meeting I shall become foolish."

"There isn't much more to tell," said Anscombe, "except about
yourself. While Heda was away I was kept a prisoner and watched
day and night by Zikali's people who would not let me stir a
yard, but otherwise treated me kindly. Then one day at sunrise,
or shortly after it, Heda re-appeared and told me all this story,
for the end of which, as you may imagine, I thanked God.

"After that we just lived on here, happily enough since we were
together, until one day Nombe told us that there had been a great
battle in which the Zulus had wiped out the English, killing
hundreds and hundreds of them, although for every soldier that
they killed, they had lost two. Of course this made us very sad,
especially as we were afraid you might be with our troops. We
asked Nombe if you were present at the battle. She answered that
she would inquire of her Spirit and went through some very
strange performances with ashes and knuckle bones, after which
she announced that you had been in the battle but were alive and
coming this way with a dog that had silver on it. We laughed at
her, saying that she could not possibly know anything of the
sort, also that dogs as a rule did not carry silver. Whereon she
only s