idst, and I knew we had looked upon each other's
faces for the last time, unless perchance we should look upon them once
more again at the place of doom."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

THE KING'S SENTENCE.

"As we drew near Ekupumuleni we passed by the mound where the slayers
were wont to do their work, and which robe at no long distance from the
great kraal. I could see skulls glistening white among the grass on the
mound, and I knew that in a very brief space my bones would lie there
too, picked clean by the wild beasts of the waste. But even then I
cannot say that I exactly feared. Too often had I gazed upon Death's
face and laughed--for, indeed, to look for death was the daily portion
of a warrior. Still, that was in the roar and excitement of battle,
feeling an enemy sink down beneath each of my blows, while now--It might
be that the King in his wrath would order me, would order us, a
lingering death of torture. Well, still I was a warrior, and must die,
in whatsoever manner death met me, strong, fearless to the last.

"As we entered the lower gate of the kraal, I, in the midst of my
guards, unarmed, but unbound and free of limb, I began to hum a song--a
song which came to me at the moment, a wild, elated song of battle and
of death. My head was thrown back, my eyes looked straight in front of
me while I sang, as though I were marching in the ranks of the _impi_ to
victory instead of to the evil-doer's doom. Those who guarded me stared
and shrugged their shoulders.

"`_Hau_!' one of them cried. `He must be mad! The coming anger of the
King, the Great Great One, has turned his brain.'

"`Not so, Ncongula,' I answered, for the speaker was well known to me.
`I come of a House which knows how to die--whose brain the fear of death
can never turn. I, Untuswa, the son of Ntelani, can walk forward to
death, and sing the while.'

"This was foolish talk and boasting, _Nkose_. Still, I believed it at
the time, and it helped to keep my heart from quailing; for it was a
terrible thing I had done, and from its consequences there was no
escape.

"The warriors were not mustered under arms, but there was an enormous
crowd filling the whole of the great open space, so that it was with
difficulty we could make our way through the densely-packed mass. But
the peremptory summons of my guards to make way for the property of the
King soon opened a lane in the midst. I threw side-glances upon the sea
of faces hemming me in