peals of thunder, loud as the trump of doom,
which shook the earth and appeared to rend the very vault of heaven
itself; the hellish clamour being returned in varying and deafening
tones by every rugged rock and echoing glen in the mountain-range, till
the whole craggy chaos quivered with the conflicting reverberations.

Flash succeeded flash in rapid succession, until the sultry air seemed
instinct with blazing levin brands, whilst the forked streams of arrowy
fire darted hither and thither, as if impelled by the hand of a giant.

Then all of a sudden came the tropic rain. Rain! It was simply a vast
steaming sheet of vaporish water, which in one instant blotted out the
landscape, flooded the veldt, and sent the sullen sluggish River of
Death roaring down its active course, where it enlivened the rocks with
hoarse and angry murmurings, and clothed the sides of the dreadful chasm
with weird and ghostly echoes.

Grenville now suggested to his followers that it would be a good
opportunity to blow up the bridge, before the powder, which they were
protecting to the best of their somewhat limited ability, began to get
damp; but when Amaxosa understood this wish, he replied--

"Why should my father destroy the bridge? Let him withdraw it, and keep
the witch-finders on the other side. Amaxosa thought he wished to kill
them all to-night."

On being questioned, the Zulu explained that these bridges all hinged on
pivots which worked on the outer side of the river; this, he said, was
to enable the Holy Three and their immediate satellites to effectually
prevent any spying upon their movements when they undertook their
murderous errands either inside or outside their own country.

"Good!" said Grenville; "the evil deeds of these scoundrels will recoil
upon their own heads." And in a few moments more, with the help of the
Zulus, the bridge was open and lying flush with their own side of the
river, and Grenville and his two sable friends were stealing away with
cautious steps, carefully carrying the powder and a score of Mormon
guns.

Ere the party had reached the fringe of bush less than a mile away, the
rain ceased, as suddenly as it had come on, the moon again shed her soft
and beauteous radiance on mountain, veldt, and forest, sparkling in
every direction with lovely raindrops, which glistened as if all Nature
were smiling through her happy bridal tears. As the little party
entered the scrub a wild, angry shout was wa