t have been crowned with success? I tell you, nay; it is
because it has been ordained that I, whom the Four Spirits of the Winds
set upon the throne, should continue to rule over you! It is useless to
plot against me, who am under the protection of the Spirits; for, as ye
have seen, it can but lead to the detection and overthrow of the
plotters. Yet the eight who have to-day confessed their guilt before
you are not all equally guilty, and therefore their punishment shall not
be equally severe. Had such a thing as this happened in the days of
M'Bongwele they had all died lingering and painful deaths; but I have
been taught to temper justice with mercy; therefore, while all must be
punished for conspiring against me, their lawful king, their punishment
shall be in strict proportion to their guilt. And this is a matter that
requires careful consideration; for while, on the one hand, I am
determined that the punishment shall not be too severe, I am equally
determined that it shall not be weakly lenient. Go, therefore, now; and
to-morrow I will summon you again to hear sentence pronounced upon the
guilty ones. You are dismissed."

Five minutes later the Great Place was empty, Dick having followed the
king, by the invitation of the latter, into his house. For several
minutes Lobelalatutu remained sunk in a profound reverie, evidently
pondering upon some question of exceeding difficulty; at length,
however, he raised his head and said:

"I give you hearty thanks, O Healer, for the help which you have
afforded me in the discovery of those who are concerned in the
conspiracy that has this day been revealed. I have for some time
suspected that something of the kind existed, but I dreamed not that it
was so serious, or that so many of my chiefs were involved in it; nor
could I devise a means by which to discover the truth. It is your
wisdom, O Healer, that found a way; and now I again desire the help of
that wisdom to enable me to apportion to each offender a punishment
proportionate to his crime. You heard what each culprit had to say in
his defence, and I doubt not that you saw, as I did, that all were not
equally guilty. I am not troubled about Sekosini, Mapela, and Amakosa;
their guilt is indisputable, and they die the death; if they were
permitted to live they would but plot against me again. N'Ampata also
is a dangerous man; he, too, is opposed to my system of government, and
is not to be trusted; it were bette