it. This they had now almost reached.

Suddenly a warning cry went up from Josane, who recoiled a step.

"_Au! Kangela_!" ["Look there!"]

A face was peering at them from over a rock slab a few feet overhead. A
black face, with glazing eyes and half-parted lips, and such a scowl of
hate upon the distorted features, in the darkness, as was perfectly
devilish. Quickly every weapon was aimed at the head and as quickly
lowered. For they realised that it was the head of a dead man.

"Why, it's Hlangani! Let's see where we pinked him," said Shelton,
climbing up to the ledge, followed by Hoste. "By Jove! he's plugged
himself where we plugged him," he went on. "That accounts for his
leaving no blood spoor."

He had. There were two great holes in the dead man's ribs, where the
bullets had entered. Both wounds were mortal. But, with the desperate
endurance of his race, the stricken warrior had rent off fragments of
his blanket and _had deliberately plugged the gaping orifices_. Then,
crawling away, the fierce savage had sought out a position where he
might lurk in ambush, and had found it, too. Here he lay, a broad
assegai still grasped in his hand, waiting to strike one fell and fatal
blow at his slayers ere death should come upon him. But death had
overtaken him too quickly; and luckily, indeed, for the objects of his
enmity that it had.

"Why, how's this?" cried Shelton in amazement. "I could have sworn I
hit him, and yet there are only two bullet holes!"

"So could I," said Hoste emphatically. "Sure there are only two?"

"Dead certain," replied the other, after a second investigation.

"I think I can solve the mystery," cut in Eustace quietly. "You both
hit, all right. The fact is, I never fired."

"Never fired!" they echoed. "And why the deuce not?"

"Well, you see, this very Hlangani saved my life. I might have been put
down there with poor Tom, but for him. Whatever he had done I couldn't
bring myself to `draw' on a fellow who had done that much for me."

There was something in that, yet Eustace thought he detected a curious
look pass between his two friends. But it mattered nothing.

Leaving the body of the dead Gcaleka, the two climbed down from the
ledge again. Further surprise was in store for them. Josane had
disappeared.

"He'll be back directly," said Eustace. "He said he had forgotten
something."

Whether it was that the sight of the dead warrior's body had inspired in
hi