erb that blooms at night on the tops
of mountains, and woe be to the ox that eats thereof. They have been
boiled in gall and blood, and ill will befall the hut in which they are
hidden by one who can speak the words of power. This is the bone of a
babe that has never lived to cut its teeth--I think of a babe that was
left to die alone in the bush because it was hated, or because none
would father it. Such a bone has strength to work ill against other
babes; moreover, it is filled with a charmed medicine. Look!" and,
pulling out the plug of wood, he scattered some grey powder from the
bone, then stopped it up again. "This," he added, picking up the fang,
"is the tooth of a deadly serpent, that, after it has been doctored, is
used by women to change the heart of a man from another to herself. I
have spoken."

And he turned to go.

"Stay!" said the King. "Who set these foul charms in the doorway of
Saduko's hut?"

"How can I tell, O King, unless I make preparation and cast the bones
and smell out the evil-doer? You have heard the story of the woman
Nahana. Accept it or reject it as your heart tells you."

"If that story be true, O Zikali, how comes it that you yourself smelt
out, not Mameena, the wife of Masapo, but Masapo, her husband, himself,
and caused him to be slain because of the poisoning of the child of
Nandie?"

"You err, O King. I, Zikali, smelt out the House of Masapo. Then I
smelt out the poison, searching for it first in the hair of Mameena, and
finding it in the kaross of Masapo. I never smelt out that it was Masapo
who gave the poison. That was the judgment of you and of your Council,
O King. Nay, I knew well that there was more in the matter, and had you
paid me another fee and bade me to continue to use my wisdom, without
doubt I should have found this magic stuff hidden in the hut, and mayhap
have learned the name of the hider. But I was weary, who am very old;
and what was it to me if you chose to kill Masapo or chose to let him
go? Masapo, who, being your secret enemy, was a man who deserved to
die--if not for this matter, then for others."

Now, all this while I had been watching Mameena, who sat, in the Zulu
fashion, listening to this deadly evidence, a slight smile upon her
face, and without attempting any interruption or comment. Only I saw
that while Zikali was examining the medicine, her eyes were seeking
the eyes of Saduko, who remained in his place, also silent, and, to all
appearance,