not said that you come
out to conquer or to die, you who have nothing to lose; and if you
conquer, you conquer; and if you die, you die and the tale is told. But
supposing that you conquer. What will Panda, King of the Zulus, say to
you, and to me also, who stir up war in his country?"

Now the Amangwane looked behind them, and Saduko cried out:

"Appear, messenger from Panda the King!"

Before his words had ceased to echo I saw a little, withered man
threading his way between the tall, gaunt forms of the Amangwane. He
came and stood before me, saying:

"Hail, Macumazahn. Do you remember me?"

"Aye," I answered, "I remember you as Maputa, one of Panda's indunas."

"Quite so, Macumazahn; I am Maputa, one of his indunas, a member of
his Council, a captain of his impis [that is, armies], as I was to his
brothers who are gone, whose names it is not lawful that I should name.
Well, Panda the King has sent me to you, at the request of Saduko there,
with a message."

"How do I know that you are a true messenger?" I asked. "Have you
brought me any token?"

"Aye," he answered, and, fumbling under his cloak, he produced something
wrapped in dried leaves, which he undid and handed to me, saying:

"This is the token that Panda sends to you, Macumazahn, bidding me
to tell you that you will certainly know it again; also that you are
welcome to it, since the two little bullets which he swallowed as you
directed made him very ill, and he needs no more of them."

I took the token, and, examining it in the moonlight, recognised it at
once.

It was a cardboard box of strong calomel pills, on the top of which was
written: "Allan Quatermain, Esq.: One _only_ to be taken as directed."
Without entering into explanations, I may state that I had taken "one as
directed," and subsequently presented the rest of the box to King Panda,
who was very anxious to "taste the white man's medicine."

"Do you recognise the token, Macumazahn?" asked the induna.

"Yes," I replied gravely; "and let the King return thanks to the spirits
of his ancestors that he did not swallow three of the balls, for if
he had done so, by now there would have been another Head in Zululand.
Well, speak on, Messenger."

But to myself I reflected, not for the first time, how strangely these
natives could mix up the sublime with the ridiculous. Here was a matter
that must involve the death of many men, and the token sent to me by the
autocrat who stood at the back