other as they ran; the lowing of cows, with calves racing at their
sides, the gleam of the sun on the black and red and white and spotted
hides, the forest of horns and the rolling eyes, and the trampling, and
the dust-clouds, and the dark, leaping figures of the young men who,
with shouts, and flourishing their shields, kept the herd from straying
too far on either side. And then the _impi_, a full regiment strong,
marching behind, the glitter of spear-points and the flash of shields as
they advanced in column, singing a song of war--_Whau_! that was a
goodly sight, and my eyes kindled as, with head thrown back, I watched
it, feeling as though I were indeed among my own people once more,
instead of among the children of Dingane, that mighty Elephant whose
tread shaketh the earth at his great kraal Nkunkundhlovu.
["Nkunkundhlovu" means "the rumble of the Elephant."] And from that
great place I knew I could not now be many days distant.

As I watched, the _impi_ halted, squatting on the plain a little
distance off. Several men detached themselves from it and came to the
kraal, foremost among them being Nomapela, the chief. He gave me
greeting, and bade me sit with them, while bowls of _tywala_ were handed
round, and food. But these men also were gazing at me curiously,
knowing not what to make of me, for they seemed to divine I was not one
of themselves, and also that I was a man of standing and authority.
This they could readily see, for the habit of commanding men will soon
stamp upon the very countenance of him who exercises it a look of
command; and the face of the man who practically commanded the whole of
Umzilikazi's army was likely to bear that stamp. So they knew not what
to think, and could not ask direct.

"Do you fare our way, brother?" said Nomapela presently, while we ate
together.

"I seek speech with the King," I answered, "and would fain travel in
your company, ye who return conquerors."

These half-dozen men were all ringed and chiefs. Nomapela I knew by
name as an induna of Dingane, and now I thought more than one of the
others were known to me by sight. One indeed seemed to think the same
as regards myself, for him had I seen eyeing me from time to time, as
though he were trying to recollect me. Then, as he turned, displaying a
certain scar upon his shoulder, I remembered him well--remembered the
scar, too. It was a broad scar, as though the point of his shoulder had
been sliced nearly