nzangakona, was the daughter of that mighty
king, the terror of whose name spread as far as it was known--and even
among ourselves--the great Tshaka, from whom we had revolted and fled.
Truly indeed had she spoken when saying that she came of a stock greater
than that of Umzilikazi.

"Wonderful things have we heard to-day," said the King. Then jestingly:
"Say, daughter of the Lion whose roar is now silent! Here is a valiant
fighter, my war-captain and councillor, Untuswa. Wouldst thou not wed
with such, the gates of the _isigodhlo_ being now closed?"

Lalusini turned her eyes full upon me for the first time, and the glance
expressed amusement, yet beneath it I could discern something more.

"Did I mate with any, it would indeed be with such a warrior," she said.
"But this is not the day for thoughts of such things, O son of
Matyobane, for great events are maturing."

"And these events--are they for good or for ill?" said Umzilikazi.

"For good or for ill? Ha! There is a darkness over the earth, yet not
the darkness of night. Lo, I see the world beneath the glow of the full
moon, and it is bright as noonday, though softer. And now it is dark,
and the face of the moon is wrapped in blackness until it shines forth
once more. Then beware, King and founder of a new nation; for the
scream of the vultures is borne upon the winds from afar, crying that a
banquet awaits--yes, a banquet awaits!"

Now, Lalusini had sunk back into the state of one who dreams, and when
she awakened, returning as it were to earth once more, she seemed not to
know what words she had uttered, or, indeed, if she had uttered any.
But the King and I forgot them not, and often afterwards did we talk
them over together.

Now Lalusini began to sing in a strange, far-distant tone, and low, but
the words were in the Bakoni tongue, and were mysterious enough even to
me. And the song was of a shield, and seemed to tell of battle and of
blood.

"See, Great Great One," she cried, ceasing, and pointing to the white
shield which the King had given me. "He who bears yonder shield must
not part from it, even for a space, until after the blackness of the
moon. Then it may be that he will part with it forever--yet not."

Her words were dark now, yet, in the fulness of time, were they to be
made plain enough. But the King, dissatisfied, pressed for an
explanation.

"Seek not to look into the mysteries of my magic, son of Matyobane," she
replied, u