ot be neglected. But the apparition of my
dream had faded. I was alone in the silence of the night.

Then, _Nkose_, I could have wept, for I had loved the little one; and
now, deceived by my dream, had hoped to have, by some wonderful means,
discovered her, alive and well. For the moment, I forgot all wizardry
and presages, as I peered around, calling her softly by name. And then
came a sound which put all other thoughts to flight, and stirred my
blood until it tingled again--the sound which is as no other--the
quivering rattle of assegai-hafts held bunched together in the hands of
warriors.

Who were these, moving thus abroad at midnight? Surely, none of our
people would find themselves away here in this wizard spot at such an
hour. Ha! Could it be some of our own people who had come in search of
me, seeing I did not return? Yet, somehow, this did not seem the
explanation of it.

While I listened, the sounds were drawing nearer, and they were above
me; and now, with the rattle of the supple wood, came the deep smothered
tone of a voice or two. Then, before I could move to carry out the plan
of concealment which my instinct prompted, there dropped down into the
little hollow wherein I stood ten or a dozen men.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note: This is an allusion--first, to the Zulu method of burying the dead
in a sitting posture; second, to the custom of leaving the bodies of
those executed for a criminal offence exposed to the carrion beasts and
birds, a practice somewhat analogous to the not so very old English one
of gibbeting highwaymen and other malefactors in chains.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

OF THE BLACKENING OF THE MOON.

They were fully armed, these men. Each carried the large war-shield and
broad assegai. Further, they were plumed and otherwise adorned as
warriors upon a hostile expedition. In the light of the moon I could
see that they were all _amakehla_, or head-ringed men, of middle age,
straight and tall, and, indeed, the very pick and flower of such an
_impi_ as any _induna_ might be proud to command. But who were they?
Not one of their faces was known to me. Clearly they were not of our
own people; and, if not, who were they?

They halted on seeing me, uttering a quick murmur of surprise, yet not
of a surprise that was over great. Then they lowered their weapons,
and, tossing aloft their right hands, they exclaimed--

"_Bayete_!"