leeping together in a native house one night. In view of a certain
incident recorded in this history I leave the reader to draw his own
conclusions as to this curious incident. I have none to offer, or if I
have I prefer to keep them to myself.

Leaving Ragnall and his wife, I staggered off to look for Hans and found
him lying senseless near the north wall of the temple. Evidently he was
beyond human help, for Jana seemed to have crushed most of his ribs in
his iron trunk. We carried him to one of the priest's cells and there I
watched him till the end, which came at sundown.

Before he died he became quite conscious and talked with me a good deal.

"Don't grieve about missing Jana, Baas," he said, "for it wasn't you who
missed him but some devil that turned your bullets. You see, Baas, he
was bewitched against you white men. When you look at him closely you
will find that the Lord Igeza missed him also" (strange as it may seem,
this proved to be the case), "and when you managed to hit the tip of his
tusk with the last ball the magic was wearing off him, that's all.
But, Baas, those Black Kendah wizards forgot to bewitch him against
the little yellow man, of whom they took no account. So I hit him sure
enough every time I fired at him, and I hope he liked the taste of my
bullets in that great mouth of his. He knew who had sent them there very
well. That's why he left you alone and made for me, as I had hoped he
would. Oh! Baas, I die happy, quite happy since I have killed Jana and
he caught me and not you, me who was nearly finished anyhow. For, Baas,
though I didn't say anything about it, a thrown spear struck my groin
when I went down among the Black Kendah this morning. It was only a
small cut, which bled little, but as the fighting went on something gave
way and my inside began to come through it, though I tied it up with a
bit of cloth, which of course means death in a day or two." (Subsequent
examination showed me that Hans's story of this wound was perfectly
true. He could not have lived for very long.)

"Baas," he went on after a pause, "no doubt I shall meet that Zulu lady
Mameena to-night. Tell me, is she really entitled to the royal salute?
Because if not, when I am as much a spook as she is I will not give it
to her again. She never gave me my titles, which are good ones in their
way, so why should I give her the _Bayete_, unless it is hers by right
of blood, although I am only a little 'yellow dog' as she