message came to me from old Umbezi, who begged
me to delay my departure till after noon, as a friend of his, a big
chief, had come to visit him who wished much to have the honour of
making my acquaintance. Now, I wished the big chief farther off, but, as
it seemed rude to refuse the request of one who had been so kind to me,
I ordered the oxen to be unyoked but kept at hand, and in an irritable
frame of mind walked up to the kraal. This was about half a mile from
my place of outspan, for as soon as I was sufficiently recovered I
had begun to sleep in my wagon, leaving the big hut to the
"Worn-out-Old-Cow."

There was no particular reason why I should be irritated, since time
in those days was of no great account in Zululand, and it did not much
matter to me whether I trekked in the morning or the afternoon. But the
fact was that I could not get over the prophecy of Zikali, "the Little
and Wise," that I was destined to share Saduko's expedition against
Bangu, and, although he had been right about the buffalo and Mameena, I
was determined to prove him wrong in this particular.

If I had left the country, obviously I could not go against Bangu, at
any rate at present. But while I remained in it Saduko might return at
any moment, and then, doubtless, I should find it hard to escape from
the kind of half-promise that I had given to him.

Well, as soon as I reached the kraal I saw that some kind of festivity
was in progress, for an ox had been killed and was being cooked, some of
it in pots and some by roasting; also there were several strange Zulus
present. Within the fence of the kraal, seated in its shadow, I found
Umbezi and some of his headmen, and with them a great, brawny "ringed"
native, who wore a tiger-skin moocha as a mark of rank, and some of
_his_ headmen. Also Mameena was standing near the gate, dressed in her
best beads and holding a gourd of Kafir beer which, evidently, she had
just been handing to the guests.

"Would you have run away without saying good-bye to me, Macumazahn?" she
whispered to me as I came abreast of her. "That is unkind of you, and I
should have wept much. However, it was not so fated."

"I was going to ride up and bid farewell when the oxen were inspanned,"
I answered. "But who is that man?"

"You will find out presently, Macumazahn. Look, my father is beckoning
to us."

So I went on to the circle, and as I advanced Umbezi rose and, taking me
by the hand, led me to the big man, sa