last, he shook his fist at them in
grim defiance, and the next instant the Mormons saw his body cutting the
air feet downwards as it passed with the speed of lightning the three
hundred feet which lay between it and the awful horror of destruction
below. Just then the sun went out, and plunged everything into utter
tangible darkness.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

MORE DARK DAYS.

We must now return perforce to the little party at the plateau, and
observe the actions of its members which led up to the awful denouement
portrayed in the preceding chapter. After the departure of the Zulus,
Leigh had spent a dreadful night of it, the suspense and anxiety of
these long silent hours almost driving him mad.

It was the last cast of the dice, and he well knew that if his beloved
cousin was not rescued now, he never would be, for the failure of one
such audacious attempt as this would put the Mormons strictly on their
guard, and any further trials would simply lead to battle and murder and
sudden death for all his party.

His state, therefore, may be better imagined than described, when
Amaxosa returned alone in the grey dawn with lagging steps and dejected
mien, and without even raising his head to look Leigh in the face,
quietly said, "All is lost, Inkoos." Then with an exceeding bitter cry,
"Alas! my father, why did I leave thee? Alas! my brother, the people of
the Undi has lost its leader, the oak-tree has lost its strongest
branch, and I, Amaxosa, am the last surviving chief of the ancient race.
Ow, my brother, why didst thou leave me? Thou, Myzukulwa, the chief of
the Undi, wast a man after my own heart; thou wast swifter than an
eagle, and stronger than a lion. Pride of the Undi, why hast thou left
us? Thou art gone, my brother, though thy glory has been even as the
sun in his noonday brightness; who that saw thee yesternight would have
believed that thou couldst thus have died? Yet hast thou fallen like a
warrior, and thrice one hundred foes of the evil men, the witch-finders,
have gone before to do thee service and to clear thy path to the shades.
The face of the sun is hidden by storm clouds, and the heart of Amaxosa
is very heavy. Pride of the Undi, how art thou fallen!"

The Zulu then sat himself down, with his face between his knees, and
never moved until the girls, who had been awakened by his arrival, put
in their hurried appearance and tearfully begged him to tell them all.

Pulling himself together, t