ace. Whose is
it?"

"Ha!" cried the old _induna_, trembling with awe. "It is the face of
Senkonya."

A cruel smile played upon the King's lips as he bade him look again.

"It is the face of Ntelani, Great Great One," almost yelled the old
_induna_.

"Look again, Mcumbete, look again," laughed the King.

"I see now Tyuyumane," faltered the old man. "Ha," he went on, with a
gasp. "Now I see a head, and it is wreathed in snakes--a head, a face.
It is the face of Notalwa, the chief of the _izanusi_."

The terror-stricken countenance, the shaking limbs, of the old _induna_
were too true, too real, for any suspicion of make-believe. There was a
silence of indescribable awe upon all who heard, all who beheld. It was
broken by Notalwa.

Uttering hideous yells, the head _isanusi_ leaped in the air, dancing
and roaring, bellowing forth all his incantations and wizardry.
Stripping off his zebra robe, he gashed himself until his body streamed
with blood, mouthing out wild predictions as to the fate that would
speedily befall our race for supplanting its own sorcerers in favour of
the magic of a stranger. But the King, with a frown, bade him cease his
bellowing, for he might early need all his magic for himself. The
others named sat still as stones, but their demeanour was various. Upon
the face of my father Ntelani, was the set drawnness of despair, but it
was the courage of a dogged despair; fierce, fearless to the last.
Senkonya, too, looked as one who had already tasted death, but
Tyuyumane, ah! his look was that of one who had tasted death a hundred
times over. He was a tall, strong man, with a sullen and evil face,
very near in blood to the King--indeed, it had been whispered, though
cautiously--that he was an elder son of Matyobane. Now he showed signs
of strong and restless fear. His glance rolled to right and to left, as
though seeking means of escape. But behind each of those thus named had
stealthily closed up a group of armed warriors.

And now the attention of all was diverted to old Masuka, who had fallen
into one of his trances, and was mouthing wildly. Then he began to
speak. He told of a pool, overhung by rocks, and whose waters reflected
the stars and the waning moon. He told of the assembling of men by
stealth, and of the tramp of horses, of the talking together of men who
wore head-rings, and of men who wore large hats. Then he described so
exactly the _indaba_ which we had witnessed--t