is thine errand?" asked Dingaan.

"Justice, O King," she answered.

"Ask for blood, it shall be easier to find."

"I ask blood, O King."

"The blood of whom?"

"The blood of Bulalio the Slaughterer, Chief of the People of the Axe,
the blood of Nada the Lily, and of all those who cling to her."

Now Dingaan sprang up and swore an oath by the head of the Black One who
was gone.

"What?" he cried, "does the Lily, then, live as the soldier thought?"

"She lives, O King. She is wife to the Slaughterer, and because of
her witchcraft he has put me, his first wife, away against all law and
honour. Therefore I ask vengeance on the witch and vengeance also on him
who was my husband."

"Thou art a good wife," said the king. "May my watching spirit save me
from such a one. Hearken! I would gladly grant thy desire, for I, too,
hate this Slaughterer, and I, too, would crush this Lily. Yet, woman,
thou comest in a bad hour. Here I have but one regiment, and I think
that the Slaughterer may take some killing. Wait till my impis return
from wiping out the white Amaboona, and it shall be as thou dost desire.
Whose are those children?"

"They are my children and the children of Bulalio, who was my husband."

"The children of him whom thou wouldst cause to be slain."

"Yea, King."

"Surely, woman, thou art as good a mother as wife!" said Dingaan. "Now I
have spoken--begone!"

But the heart of Zinita was hungry for vengeance, vengeance swift and
terrible, on the Lily, who lay in her place, and on her husband, who had
thrust her aside for the Lily's sake. She did not desire to wait--no,
not even for an hour.

"Hearken, O King!" she cried, "the tale is not yet all told. This man,
Bulalio, plots against thy throne with Mopo, son of Makedama, who was
thy councillor."

"He plots against my throne, woman? The lizard plots against the cliff
on which it suns itself? Then let him plot; and as for Mopo, I will
catch him yet!"

"Yes, O King! but that is not all the tale. This man has another
name--he is named Umslopogaas, son of Mopo. But he is no son of Mopo:
he is son to the Black One who is dead, the mighty king who was thy
brother, by Baleka, sister to Mopo. Yes, I know it from the lips of
Mopo. I know all the tale. He is heir to thy throne by blood, O King,
and thou sittest in his place."

For a little while Dingaan sat astounded. Then he commanded Zinita to
draw near and tell him that tale.

Now behind the stool on whic