fled for the huts, so that in
another minute we ourselves, the would-be victim Foulata, Infadoos, and
most of the chiefs who had interviewed us on the previous night, were
left alone upon the scene, together with the dead body of Scragga,
Twala's son.

"Chiefs," I said, "we have given you the sign. If ye are satisfied, let
us fly swiftly to the place of which ye spoke. The charm cannot now be
stopped. It will work for an hour and the half of an hour. Let us cover
ourselves in the darkness."

"Come," said Infadoos, turning to go, an example which was followed by
the awed captains, ourselves, and the girl Foulata, whom Good took by
the arm.

Before we reached the gate of the kraal the moon went out utterly, and
from every quarter of the firmament the stars rushed forth into the
inky sky.

Holding each other by the hand we stumbled on through the darkness.

CHAPTER XII

BEFORE THE BATTLE

Luckily for us, Infadoos and the chiefs knew all the paths of the great
town perfectly, so that we passed by side-ways unmolested, and
notwithstanding the gloom we made fair progress.

For an hour or more we journeyed on, till at length the eclipse began
to pass, and that edge of the moon which had disappeared the first
became again visible. Suddenly, as we watched, there burst from it a
silver streak of light, accompanied by a wondrous ruddy glow, which
hung upon the blackness of the sky like a celestial lamp, and a wild
and lovely sight it was. In another five minutes the stars began to
fade, and there was sufficient light to see our whereabouts. We then
discovered that we were clear of the town of Loo, and approaching a
large flat-topped hill, measuring some two miles in circumference. This
hill, which is of a formation common in South Africa, is not very high;
indeed, its greatest elevation is scarcely more than 200 feet, but it
is shaped like a horseshoe, and its sides are rather precipitous and
strewn with boulders. On the grass table-land at its summit is ample
camping-ground, which had been utilised as a military cantonment of no
mean strength. Its ordinary garrison was one regiment of three thousand
men, but as we toiled up the steep side of the mountain in the
returning moonlight we perceived that there were several of such
regiments encamped there.

Reaching the table-land at last, we found crowds of men roused from
their sleep, shivering with fear and huddled up together in the utmost
consternation at the nat