to no such
proposal; while I, who had been sworn to secrecy, dared not break my
oath," answered N'Ampata.

"Why not?" demanded Lobelalatutu. "When I was placed upon the throne,
did not you, N'Ampata, with all the other chiefs, swear allegiance and
loyalty to me? Yet you have dared to break that oath. Why, then,
should you not dare to break your oath to Sekosini? Was he greater than
I, or his power more than mine?"

"He persuaded me that it was; and also that, since in the opinion of
many you were misgoverning the nation, I should be justified in breaking
my oath of allegiance," was the answer.

"Take them away!" commanded the king. And when they had gone he called
upon the two remaining chiefs, Moroosi and Sekukuni, to justify
themselves, if they could.

"I have naught to say, O Great One!" answered Moroosi, "save that, as it
was with Ingona so was it with me."

"And you, Sekukuni?" demanded the king.

"I also am the victim of Sekosini's wiles and his serpent tongue,"
answered the chief. "I should never have joined the conspiracy had he
not led me secretly to believe that when thou wert gone I should be made
king in thy stead. And the prospect dazzled me, for I believed that I
could govern better than thou."

Again the king waved his hand, and the last two of the conspirators were
led away, amid an intense, breathless, almost ominous silence. For a
few minutes Lobelalatutu sat, with his chin resting upon his chest,
apparently reviewing the situation; then, lifting his head, he spoke.

"Chiefs of the Makolo," he said, "ye have to-day heard how Sekosini, the
chief witch doctor, and seven of the most powerful and influential among
you secretly plotted together to destroy me, and, by so doing, to set
you at each other's throats like wolves fighting over a carcass, and ye
have also heard what means were adopted to render the plot successful;
how six of your number were sent along the Dark Path by the witchcraft
of Sekosini, and how another would have taken the same journey but for
the superior witchcraft of him who sits here at my side. It was his
power that compelled Sekosini to come hither to-day and tell the truth;
and it is to his power that 'Nkuni will owe his life, for the Healer has
promised to save him and make him whole again. Think ye that it was
mere chance that brought the Healer and his friend the Mighty Hunter
into the land of the Makolo at the moment when, but for them, Sekosini's
plot mus