good use of his
time that he had advanced nearly a mile in the direction he knew he
ought to travel, whilst the Zulus were endeavouring by a short cut to
come on to the spoor of the white man. He could see the Zulus
hesitating as they found no signs of footprints, and then he saw them
halt and apparently consult. The result of this consultation was soon
evident. The party rapidly retraced their steps, and again followed the
footprints which Hans had made.

On seeing this, Hans used his utmost speed to reach the banks of the
Tugela river, which he knew was not more than two miles from him. On
the banks of this river there were wooded krantzs and dark ravines, in
which an army almost might lie concealed; and if he were pursued, he
believed that in this locality he would have the best chance of escaping
the keen eyes of his foes; or if unable to do this, he could fight with
the best chance of success.

As he moved quickly on, he lost sight of the Zulus, who had retraced
their steps in order to continue their spooring; but he was not left
long in doubt as to their proceedings, for upon looking round he saw the
whole party on the crest of the hill over which he had passed, running
rapidly after him, their shields held aloft, and their assagies waving
over their heads. These men had discovered the ruse that had been
practised upon them. Even at first one or two suspicious Kaffirs had
wished to call the stranger to them, but the fear of stopping the
chief's messenger had deterred them. When, however, they found no spoor
where the strange Zulu had told them the white man had gone, they became
more suspicious, and upon retracing their steps,--and finding that the
traces of the covered foot led them to the spot on which the strange
Zulu had been seen, and then led on in the direction in which he had
retreated, they at once were almost certain they had been cheated by a
bold and quick-witted enemy. There was but a moment's doubt in the mind
of one or two that the man might have been one of their own people, who
had possessed himself of a Dutchman's shoes, and had worn these to
protect his feet; but the style of walk was not that of a Kaffir, at
least the most experienced men decided that this was not so. Whilst
this matter was being discussed, a keen-sighted Kaffir observed on a
thorn-bush a small piece of white substance, which on examination proved
to be a portion of a white man's garment; and thus it was at once
deci