least in this place--would ever be rifled by the
rude hand of man.

"When the alluvial workings pan out like this," he said, "what must the
fountain head be! A wretched old Kaffir once told me that he had seen
an entire mountain of solid gold in these parts, and, i' faith, I begin
to believe that he was not telling such a colossal he as I at the time
gave him credit for. If we could only carry the stuff away, I would
risk a good deal to get at the spot; but as it is, we have quite as much
as the quagga can well carry, and if we ever succeed in getting through
again to the cave under the waterfall, it will puzzle us to raise either
the animal or the gold up to the surface."

These days of restful peace were, however, suddenly and rudely disturbed
by an accidental discovery, which once again brought home to our friends
the cunning and unscrupulous nature of the fiendish enemies with whom
they had to deal.

Amaxosa, with the perversity of a native, had always insisted--all
danger to the contrary notwithstanding--in sleeping outside the house of
rock, in a sort of hollow in the scrub which he had dignified by the
name of "bed"; but one night, just as Grenville was comfortably dozing
off to sleep, whilst Myzukulwa kept watch, a hand was placed on his
shoulder, and the voice of Amaxosa whispered, "Let my father rise and
follow me; there is danger and witchcraft afoot."

Springing to his feet, Grenville instantly joined the Zulus outside the
cave, and heard strange and terrible tidings. It appeared that Amaxosa,
when on the point of falling asleep in his "bed," had been disturbed by
singular noises, which apparently issued from the very bowels of the
earth. Concluding, however, that the "spout of fire" was again about to
burst out, he had paid but little attention, until the stroke of some
iron instrument upon a rock and the muffled sound of a human voice had
brought him to his senses in an instant.

Following the Zulu to the place indicated, Grenville listened for some
little time, and clearly heard the sounds of mining underground, with
now and then a word evidently of command or direction, the purport of
which it was, however, impossible to guess, the voices being too deeply
buried to admit of the words being heard.

After a moment of paralysed stupor Grenville realised the extent of the
frightful danger to which his party was exposed by this diabolical plot.
The Mormons _were undermining their position, and in a