htened them as though it was the
roar of a lion in their midst. I heard and felt the hiss of the King's
Assegai as it rushed through the body of the warrior nearest to me,
splitting it nigh in twain. Then, as a buffet from my great shield sent
another staggering, he, too, was devoured by the dark-handled spear.
_Whau, Nkose_! I know not how many we slew. Leaping hither and
thither, roaring like lions, we hewed our way; yet we were but two, and
they were hundreds. They yielded before us, only to close up again
immediately. _Au_! they had never seen Zulus in battle before. But
even Zulus, being but two, cannot go on fighting all day against the
might of a whole nation, and surrounded on all sides. We might kill a
number, but our death was certain at last.

Now, of death we thought not at all, for in battle it is not our custom
to think of aught beyond how many enemies we could kill. But to me came
the thought that I would like to live, if only to assist in destroying
the whole of this den of jackals. And I saw the means of attaining to
that purpose.

"The wall, Mgwali!" I cried. "Through them--to the wall! We can hold
that. It is our only chance."

I spoke in Zulu, which they understood not. During the conflict we had
been drawing nearer and nearer to the wall. Now, as we turned to face
it, we were confronted by a double line of Bakoni. Their shields and
spears were ready. We could not hope to break through them.

"Leap, Mgwali, leap!" I growled, feeling the searing burn of a spear
blade grazing my shoulder. Covered by our shields, we gathered our legs
under us, and leaped. _Au_! we could leap in those days. Right over
the heads of the lines of our foes we flew, and immediately, and before
they had time to recover their amaze, we had gained the shelter of the
stone walls.

Not too soon, though, for we had only just time to turn and receive
them, as a crowd of our enemies flung themselves against the opening.
Then the King's Assegai had meat to eat. _Au_! in a moment the opening
was so filled up with bodies that they alone formed a defence; and, as I
have said, the opening was narrow, and would only admit one man at a
time.

The Bakoni fell back, yelling shrilly in their rage. We two were
covered with blood from head to foot, and our spears were dripping. My
brother had a deep spear-cut in his leg, from which the blood was
welling in a manner I did not like. Both of us had other wounds, but