ttle.

The mist was all in his favour, in fact it had suggested his plan, which
was an ingenious one. He ascended the nearest ridge of the Sipazi
mountain, his ears open. Presently both sound and scent told him he had
come upon the object of his quest. In a moment more the forms of
grazing cattle all round him, told that he was in the middle of the
herd.

Some of the beasts snuffed and started, showing a tendency to canter
away; others merely raised their heads and went on grazing as though
nothing had happened. But this was not how he proposed to obtain beef.
He had a broad assegai beneath his blanket, but he would not use it--not
yet.

He crooned a milking song in a low tone as he went through the herd This
had the effect of keeping quiet any of the wilder animals which might
have been disposed to panic and stampede at the suddenness of his
appearance in their midst. But he kept on edging more and more to the
left; with the result that the animals on that side gave way more and
more in the same direction, as he intended they should.

The cloud wreaths on this side took the form of spiral twirls, and a
fresh, cold draught struck Manamandhla on the left ear. This was as it
should be. Here the ground ended and the cliff began.

It was not the great overhanging cliff at the summit of the mountain,
but the beginning of the same, and might have meant a sixty or seventy
feet drop. But between the apparent brow of the krantz and the actual
one was about ten feet of grass slope--a slope so steep as to be
well-nigh precipitous, and in weather like this, deadly slippery. Now,
as Manamandhla uttered a quick bark, at the same time flapping his
blanket, the suddenly terrified animals between him and the brow,
started at a run, plunging wildly, some this way, some that, to gallop
off in wild panic. Not all though--all save one--and that a nearly full
grown call It, he saw disappear over the brow, instinctively seeking
safety upon the precipitous slope.

The Zulu chuckled. Crouching low, he was upon the brink in a moment,
and peering over. There stood the poor stupid beast--a white one--its
head down, and with difficulty keeping its footing. Manamandhla sprang
up suddenly, again uttering a bark and flapping his blanket downwards.
The poor animal, frenzied now with panic, made a wild frantic plunge,
lost its footing and slid over the brink of the sheer cliff.
Manamandhla had obtained his beef.

He emitted a chuck