ed his life; and the King
favoured him, and the old Mosutu lived to a great age and died
peacefully."

"And why did you leave the Amandebili, Untuswa?" I said.

"The man who is high in favour with one King is not always high in
favour with him who reigns next, nor with those who sit at his right
hand," he answered. "Umzilikazi has long been dead. Then I heard that
a great and merciful King sat in Zululand in the seat of Tshaka. So I
returned to _konza_ to Cetywayo, who received me well; nor was I too old
to strike a blow for him, for I was enrolled in the Undi regiment, and
fought against you English _Kwa Jim_ [at Rorke's Drift], and again at
Kambula. Yes, after all my wanderings, I returned to die in Zululand.
And now, _Nkose_, the sun is getting low, and I have some distance to
travel, wherefore I must be gone."

The like held good as regarded myself. The heat of the day was over,
and my "boys," who all this time had been asleep beneath the waggon,
were waking up and preparing to in span for the evening trek. So I
loaded up Untuswa with sundry unconsidered trifles, but very precious in
Zulu eyes at that time. He was loud in his thanks.

"The story I have told, _Nkose_, is but that of a small portion of my
own life--of a small portion of the earlier wanderings of the
Amandebili. Afterwards, how we met and fought the Boers and other
peoples--_au_! that would take long in telling. But if you are in this
part again before leaving the Zulu country, it may be that we shall
meet, and other strange tales and wonders I shall relate."

And, uttering a sonorous farewell, the fine old warrior turned, and soon
his tall, straight form was out of sight.

Such was the story of the King's Assegai, as told by Untuswa, the son of
Ntelani, and as an episode in the early stages of the Amandebili
migration it seems worthy of being retold.

The End.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The King's Assegai, by Bertram Mitford

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