neither of us had any mind to writhe upon the stake of impalement.

We lay behind the rocks and gripped our weapons, for it was now too late
to fly. On they came, till nearly abreast of our position. Then they
halted, looking upward. Would they come?

Now we could just catch what the leader was saying--

"There is no hiding-place there, and we have travelled fast and far.
And see. Yonder buck, with her fawn, would not be feeding there so
peacefully were any man near. No! We had better hurry on."

Then we saw a new sight, and one for which we were entirely unprepared.
Quite close to us, peacefully and unconcernedly, was grazing a buck, of
the kind you white people call "pheebok," and beside her a little fawn,
skipping and whisking its white tail as it gazed open-eyed at the
_impi_. The other men seemed to agree with what their leader had said.
They looked towards our hiding-place, then at the bucks, then they
passed on their way.

For long we lay, not daring to move, scarcely to breathe. But we saw no
more of the searchers, and at last the sun went down, and the grey of
evening blotted out the world.

"A vow, Jambula," I whispered, as we travelled down the mountain side in
the darkness. "Never again--no, not even if starving, will I slay a
buck of that species--male or female, young or old--for it seems that
our snakes have taken that form to watch over us," And Jambula assented.

Now as we travelled onward Jambula told me of much that had happened
since my flight. Knowing by the uproar within the _isigodhlo_ that my
plan had failed, he was about to start and warn my kraal according to my
orders, when he saw me leap the fence and disappear into the darkness.
He, like myself, had not reckoned on the chance of my escape, and his
first impulse had been to follow me. But he remembered my orders, and,
running at full speed, he warned my people and saw them all take flight
before following on my track. Not too soon, either, had they done so,
for, looking back as he fled, he had seen from far the smoke from my
blazing kraals mounting to the heavens, which proved that the slayers
had been there. He thought, and indeed so did I, that there was little
probability of my people eventually escaping; but at any rate, they had
a warning and a start, which was something.

That night we got down the mountain side without any trouble, and by
dawn were far out over the open country. Yet not for a moment did we
relax