woman," I answered sternly; but my heart was
split in two within me.

Then Baleka said no more, but, turning her face to the wall of the hut,
she wept and groaned bitterly.

Now, as she wept I heard a stir without the hut, and the light in the
doorway was darkened. A woman entered alone. I looked round to see
who it was, then fell upon the ground in salutation, for before me was
Unandi, mother of the king, who was named "Mother of the Heavens," that
same lady to whom my mother had refused the milk.

"Hail, Mother of the Heavens!" I said.

"Greeting, Mopo," she answered. "Say, why does Baleka weep? Is it
because the sorrow of women is upon her?"

"Ask of her, great chieftainess," I said.

Then Baleka spoke: "I weep, mother of a king, because this man, who is
my brother, has come from him who is my lord and they son, to murder
that which shall be born of me. O thou whose breasts have given suck,
plead for me! Thy son was not slain at birth."

"Perhaps it were well if he had been so slain, Baleka," said Unandi;
"then had many another man lived to look upon the sun who is now dead."

"At the least, as an infant he was good and gentle, and thou mightest
love him, Mother of the Zulu."

"Never, Baleka! As a babe he bit my breast and tore my hair; as the man
is so was the babe."

"Yet may his child be otherwise, Mother of the Heavens! Think, thou hast
no grandson to comfort thee in thy age. Wilt thou, then, see all thy
stock wither? The king, our lord, lives in war. He too may die, and what
then?"

"Then the root of Senzangacona is still green. Has the king no
brothers?"

"They are not of they flesh, mother. What? thou dost not hearken! Then
as a woman to woman I plead with thee. Save my child or slay me with my
child!"

Now the heart of Unandi grew gentle, and she was moved to tears.

"How may this be done, Mopo?" she said. "The king must see the dead
infant, and if he suspect, and even reeds have ears, you know the heart
of Chaka and where we shall lie to-morrow."

"Are there then no other new-born babes in Zululand?" said Baleka,
sitting up and speaking in a whisper like the hiss of a snake. "Listen,
Mopo! Is not your wife also in labour? Now hear me, Mother of the
Heavens, and, my brother, hear me also. Do not think to play with me in
this matter. I will save my child or you twain will perish with it. For
I will tell the king that you came to me, the two of you, and whispered
plots into my ear--plots to