soon he sank down
into unconsciousness and death. And all the warriors shouted in assent
of my words, save some few--near friends of Sifadu; but for them I cared
nothing. And presently some of the older among them came to me, and we
talked. We agreed to carry out my plan of returning to the nation, and
that at once.

"_Whau_, Untuswa! Thou hast commanded men from thy youth; it is fitting
that thou shouldst be our leader now," said one of them, after he had
talked. "Say I not well, brothers?" turning to the rest.

"_E-he! Siyavuma_!" ["We consent"] they cried as one man. Thus,
_Nkose_, I became chief of the Bapongqolo, the tribe of the Wanderers;
but, in truth, the honour might be brief, indeed, for it might please
the King to make a quick end both of chief and tribe.

Now that we had thus decided, we sent out men to find out how things
were going between Dingane and the enemy, and from their report we
judged that the time had arrived to come in and lie beneath the foot of
the Elephant. The Bapongqolo women were left in concealment in the
recesses of the Ngome forests, while we, to the number of several
hundreds, marched forth.

Before we crossed the White Umfolosi, I and other of the principal of
the refugees climbed to the heights overlooking the Mahlabatini plain.
It was somewhat early in the morning, but the brightness of the new day
was dimmed--dimmed by a great cloud. Far away to the southward it rose,
that cloud--thicker and thicker, higher and higher--a great dull pillar
of smoke. Nkunkundhlovu was in flames.

Through the thickness of the smoke-cloud we could see the red leap of
the fire. Then was amazement our master. Had the Amabuna gained a
victory--so great a victory that they had been able to penetrate to the
Great Place of the Elephant whose tread shaketh the world? _Whau_! it
could not be. The marvel was too great.

But as we looked, lo! over the rise which lay back from the river came
dense black masses--masses of men--of warriors--for in the morning
sunlight we could see the glint of their spears. They moved in regular
rank, marching in columns, in perfect order. In perfect order! There
lay the whole situation. This was no defeat. The Great Great One, for
reasons of his own, had fired Nkunkundhlovu before retreating.

Nearer they drew, those masses of warriors--on, on--rank upon rank of
them. We saw them enter the river and cross, and for long it seemed
that the flood of the