till more so from the effects of
the gunpowder explosion, which had scorched its skin, and there it sat,
peeping from side to side of Luji's head, moaning, grimacing, stroking
the Hottentot's face, and showing his teeth to all who came near. The
large tears were streaming down the captive's cheeks, mixing with the
blood and dirt with which they were begrimed.

The chief concluded his speech just as the two white men emerged into
the open air, pointing as he did so to the crouching captive, and the
whole band started up, shouting and yelling, to dash past Luji into the
bush. One loud scream of anguish burst from the man's chest, for he had
heard his fate, and knew that it was death by fire.

Rudely thrust back by the men who had been left to guard them, Wyzinski
and the soldier were powerless, but felt their blood boil within them as
they noted the preparations made. The savages seemed to be holding high
festival in the bush and in the tall, parched-up reeds, and then one
after another appeared bearing bundles of branches and inflammable
grass, throwing them down only to return for more, and thus, laughing,
singing, and yelling, they collected a large pile.

A mass of bare, splintered rock rose in the plain, and towards this
Umhleswa and his subordinate chiefs took their way, while several of the
half-maddened savages laid hold of the Hottentot, the rest dancing
wildly around him. Shriek after shriek rose from the captive as he
resisted, and the points of the assegais, urging him on in rear, drew
blood, the baboon nearly strangling him in his fearful efforts to
escape.

Turning, the poor fellow caught sight of his late masters, and as he
held out his fettered hands, they marked the big tears of agony rolling
down his yellow-black cheeks.

Again Hughes made an effort to escape.

"By heavens, they are going to kill Luji! Oh! for my rifle. At all
events he shall not go alone," he shouted, as he dashed from the
entrance of the hut, and was rudely repulsed by the Amatonga guard.

Wyzinski's eyes were closed, and his thin, finely-cut lips moving as if
in prayer. It was, indeed, a terrible sight.

Two strong stakes had been driven into the ground against the smooth
face of the rock, and the prisoner was now bound firmly to them, in the
fashion of a spread eagle, while all round, in a semicircle, were piled
heaps of dried reeds, branches, and grass, near enough to roast the man
gradually, but not to burn at once,