ar and civilised parlance, taken down his man a peg or
two, Shiminya could afford to let the matter of Pukele stand over. Now
he said softly--

"And the other ten cartridges, those in thy bag, Nanzicele? Give them
to me, for I have a better revenge, here, ready at thy hand, and a safer
one."

"_Au_! They were to have been thine, my father; I was but keeping them
to the last," replied the ex-police sergeant, shamefacedly and utterly
mendaciously, as he placed the packet in the wizard's outstretched hand.
"And now, what is this vengeance?"

Shiminya rose, and, beckoning the other to follow, opened and crept
through the door of the hut behind him. A hollow groan rose from the
inside. Nanzicele, halfway in, made an instinctive move to draw back.
Then he recovered himself. "It is not a good omen to draw back when
half through a doorway," said Shiminya, as they both stood upright in
the darkness. "Yet--look."

He had struck a match, and lighted a piece of candle. Nanzicele looked
down, and a start of surprise leapt through his frame.

"_Whau_!" he cried. "It is Nompiza!"

"And--thy vengeance," murmured the wizard at his side.

But the sufferer heard it, and began to wail aloud--

"Thy promise, Great _Innyanga_! Thy promise. Give me not over to this
man, for I fear him. Thou didst swear I should be allowed to depart
hence; on the head of Umzilikazi thou didst swear it. Thy promise, O
Great _Innyanga_!"

"It shall be kept, sister," said Shiminya, softly, his eyes fairly
scintillating with devilish glee. "I swore to thee that thou shouldst
be _taken_ hence, and thou shalt, for this man and I will take thee."

The wretched creature broke into fresh outcries, which were partly
drowned, for already they were dragging her, still lashed to the pole,
outside.

"Ha, Nompiza!" jeered Nanzicele, bending down and peering into her face
as she lay in the moonlight. "Dost remember how I was driven from thy
father's kraal with jeers? Ha! Whose jeers were the loudest? Whose
mockeries the most biting? Thine. And now Kulula will have to buy
another wife. Thou hadst better have been the wife of Nanzicele than of
death. Of death, is it not, my father?" turning to Shiminya, who glared
a mirthless smile.

Wrought up to a pitch of frenzy by the recollection of the insults he
had then received, the vindictive savage continued to taunt and terrify
the wretched creature as she lay. Then he went over to pick up his