my surprise
she said that she thought I had acted wisely.

"If you stayed here," she added, "perhaps some new quarrel would arise
between you and my father which might make bitterness afterwards. Also,
dear, it would be foolish for you to offend the Commandant Retief, who
will be the great man in this country, and who is very fond of you.
After all, Allan, we shall only be separated for a little while, and
when that is done we have the rest of our lives to spend together. As
for me, do not be afraid, for you know I will never marry anyone but
you--no, not to save myself from death."

So I left her somewhat comforted, knowing how sound was her judgment,
and went off to make my preparations for the expedition to Sikonyela's
country.

All this conversation with Retief I have set down in full, as nearly as
I can remember it, because of its fateful consequences. Ah! if I could
have foreseen; if only I could have foreseen!

CHAPTER XVI. THE COUNCIL

Two days later we started to recover Dingaan's cattle, sixty or seventy
of us, all well armed and mounted. With us went two of Dingaan's
captains and a number of Zulus, perhaps a hundred, who were to drive the
cattle if we recovered them. As I could speak their language I was more
or less in command of this Zulu contingent, and managed to make myself
very useful in that capacity. Also, during the month or so of our
absence, by continually conversing with them, I perfected myself
considerably in my knowledge of their beautiful but difficult tongue.

Now it is not my intention to write down the details of this expedition,
during which there was no fighting and nothing serious happened. We
arrived in due course at Sikonyela's and stated our errand. When he
saw how numerous and well armed we were, and that behind us was all
the might of the Zulu army, that wily old rascal thought it well to
surrender the stolen cattle without further to-do, and with these some
horses which he had lifted from the Boers. So, having received them,
we delivered them over to the Zulu captains, with instructions to drive
them carefully to Umgungundhlovu. The commandant sent a message by these
men to the effect that, having fulfilled his part of the compact, he
would wait upon Dingaan as soon as possible in order to conclude the
treaty about the land.

This business finished, Retief took me and a number of the Boers
to visit other bodies of the emigrant Dutch who were beyond the
Drakensberg,