begun to increase the length of the shadows, when he knew it was past
noon. From his retreat he could see far around in all directions, and
could thus at once perceive if the enemy approached from any part; but
he saw no signs of them during the greater part of the day. As the
afternoon passed on, however, he was at once on the alert, when he
observed a party of above twenty Zulus following the course he had
taken, and evidently tracing him by his spoor. Although he had adopted
a Kaffir's attire in most respects, he had not given up his veldt
schoens (skin-shoes), for to walk bare-footed would soon have lamed him.
The footprint, therefore, which he left, especially when he walked by
night and could not see how to avoid mole-hills and soft ground, which
took an impression easily, could be easily seen and traced by a Kaffir;
and he was therefore tolerably certain that his enemies would trace him
to his present retreat. The party of Zulus were still more than a
quarter of a mile from him, when he thought of a bold expedient. Partly
concealed, as he would be, among the bushes, he trusted that even a Zulu
would not be able to see through his disguise; so, standing erect, he
shouted "_Mena-bo_" (the method of hailing a man, like "Hi," "Hullo," in
England), and waved his shield to attract attention. The Zulus
instantly saw him, and all listened to hear the news, for they
immediately concluded that one of their tribe had forestalled them on
the spoor, and could give them intelligence of the enemy they were
hunting. Hans, pointing with his shield to the hill on his right, and
in an opposite direction to that in which he intended to travel, sung
out in true Kaffir style, "_Um lungo hambili Kona_." ("The white man
has gone there.")

"Have you seen him?" was the inquiry, called with great distinctness.

"Yes; he went when the sun was up high," was Hans' reply.

Fearing that he might be asked to come to his supposed friends, he
shouted, "The chief sends me;" "_Hamba guthle_;" ("Travel on well;")
and, with no apparent effort at concealment, Hans walked rapidly through
the bush in the opposite direction to that in which he had said the
white man had retreated.

At first Hans believed his plan had proved entirely successful; for the
Zulus ceased following the traces of his footmarks, and ran in the
nearly opposite direction, looking all the time on the ground for any
signs of the white man's footmarks. Hans had made such