ng it.
There were captains among them too, ha! Now I would ask if the fighting
Amakiwa feared this _isanusi_ and his _muti_--they fearing nothing--how
then shall we have power against him? It may not be."

Notwithstanding his peril a ripple of mirth ran through the listener, as
he grasped what the speaker was feeling around--and which meant that
that unlearned savage had by some means or other obtained a glimpse into
the church at Buluwayo what time his travelling companion was exercising
his sacerdotal functions, and was now recording his impressions of that
experience.

"But Qubani--he too is an _isanusi_" said another voice. "He can match
his power against that of this white one. Is it not so, Qubani, thou
wise one?"

And from the tone, the listener gathered that the man addressed was held
in great respect. It inspired in him no surprise, only rekindled
interest, for he had heard of this Qubani as an _isanusi_ of some
renown.

"Meddle not with the white _isanusi_" was the laconic but decided
answer. It was received with a hum of respectful assent, followed by a
moment of silence.

"And the other, U' Lamonti. Shall we not kill him, my father?"

Again the listener's nerves thrilled as he crept a little more forward
to catch the answer. It came.

"He may not be hurt--not now. He is under the protection of the white
_isanusi_."

This dictum was accepted without question, and, very considerably
relieved in his mind, Lamont was preparing to creep away, when a new
discussion arose, and the first few words of it were of so momentous and
startling a nature, that he decided to remain and hear more--and that at
any risk. And such risk became graver and graver with every moment.

CHAPTER NINE.

WHAT LAMONT HEARD.

In telling Ancram that the Matabele were likely to give trouble in the
event of a further extensive destruction of their cattle, Lamont had
been indulging in prophecy that was a good deal _in nubibus_. He had
thought such trouble might very likely occur, but not just yet. Now, as
he lay there in the darkness, a participator, unknown to them, in the
most secret counsels of the plotting savages, he was simply aghast at
the magnitude and imminence of the peril which the whole white
population of the country either laughed at or ignored.

"Not yet the time for killing," went on the voice of the one who had
first proposed the listener's own death. "_Hau_! But something else
was said by Uml