The King's Assegai Part 11

"_Whau, Nkose_! How shall I tell what followed? We had reached the top of the slope, albeit somewhat breathless, and saw nothing before us but the cliff face. Then suddenly the mountain seemed to crack and totter, and there fell forward upon us with a sound as of thunder such huge ma.s.ses of rock that we thought the whole cliff had come away upon us.

_Hau_! that was a sight! Clouds of dust rose from the slope and towered aloft to the heavens as these immense rocks struck the ground and went tearing and crashing downward as though the earth were rent up by the roots; and then the wild, shrill yells of surprise and alarm which went up from our people as they rolled and flung themselves out of the way of the falling mountain--as we thought it! _Hau_! Many were crushed, powdered, lying there stamped flat into the earth as the rocks had pa.s.sed over them; and I--I had escaped the same fate by no wider a s.p.a.ce than the thickness of my shield.

"The way was clear for us now, for we saw before us a great dark opening in the base of the cliff extending for some length. But before we could gain it there was a high ridge, as it were a rampart of rock, crowning the rounded spur in a semicircle. Soaring the war-shout, we were about to leap across this, when a loud call from our leaders peremptorily forbade as, and we paused in the very leap.

"Not all, though. Some in the wild impetuosity of their course had already sprung, and these were writhing below in the agony of death and wounds, writhing transfixed. For on the other side of this ridge lay a depressed hollow studded with bristling spear-points, standing upright from the ground.

"And now, as we stood there ma.s.sed upon the ridge, a.s.segais began to whiz among as, hurled from the dark mouth in the cliff in front; arrows, too, the dreaded little poison sticks, one scratch from which would kill a man. Yet here our broad shields stood us in good stead, and were soon quivering with spears and arrows, which but for them would have found a home in our bodies. But we stayed not there. Following our _indunas_, we leapt along the ridge, making for each end thereof; and so fiercely was this done that Gungana and Kalipe, the second _induna_ in command under him, both entered the cave at the head of their divisions at the same time. _Hau_! Then it was that the fight began. With a roar that seemed to split the heart of the very mountain itself we sprang at them.

They could not stand against our furious charge and the weight of our numbers, yet as fast as we beat them down beneath our k.n.o.bsticks and shields they would half rise, or, lying wounded unto death, would grip the legs of our warriors and overthrow them, driving their spears or poisoned arrows into their bodies, until we were veritably treading our way over piles and layers of the slain, both friend and foe. Still others would rise up in front of us just when we reckoned the last were reached. _Whau_! How they fought, those wizards who dwelt in caves!

how they died! It seemed as though a warrior who had fought right hard before only began to fight after he had been beaten down, for then it was that, fierce and desperate, and in the throes of death, he would grip and stab, and even tear with his teeth, those who were slaying him.

_Haul_ I was mad that day! I was bleeding from wounds, but at this I laughed, even though they might be the poison wounds for which there is no cure. I struck till my heavy k.n.o.bstick was painted with gore. I slashed with my broad _umkonto_, and it seemed that my arm was shivered beneath the blows that rained upon my great war-shield. Yet fought I no more bravely than many another.

"Further and further had we pressed them back into the cavern, until now we were fighting almost beyond the light of day, and still fresh warriors seemed to rise up to meet us, only to be borne back beneath the weight of our numbers, the fury of our blows. And, indeed, had more than twice our own numbers sprung suddenly upon us, we could not have fallen back had we wished, for the eagerness of those who pressed on behind. But where were their women, where their cattle?

"Stumbling, rolling, catching our footing again, choking with the dust and hot foetid atmosphere, we beat them backward step by step, the now black gloom ringing with a deafening and hideous clamour, the roar of our war-shout, the shrill, vengeful yells of the maddened Baputi, and the shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying. _Hau_! I saw flames, sparks! I bathed in a sea of fire, of blood! That was a fight! That was a fight!

"And then the gloom seemed to brighten, and we saw a glimmer of daylight in front. This came from above; and now we could see that the cavern branched out into several forks, some seeming to ascend into the light, others holding on straight into the blackest of gloom. And down these latter we heard the lowing of cattle, the shrill voices of women and of children.

"'Ha! Izinkomo!' shouted the bulk of our warriors, pouring after these in pursuit. But I, with several others, was so hard engaged with an extra fierce and resolute body of Baputi that we thought little of spoil either in cattle or women, in the delirious madness of hard fighting.

We pressed this group step by step up one of these lightening tunnels, slaying and being slain, until at length we gained the outer day; and here, poised high above the world, we continued the battle in the golden sunlight once more, on the flat-topped summit of the mountain. Then our enemies broke and fled, but flee as they would we followed them swift of foot, sheathing our spears in their backs as they ran, or in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s as they turned. One whom I had pursued till I could draw breath no longer ran straight to the brow of the cliff. _Au_! it was an awful and dizzy height, as though one were looking down from the heaven itself. I sprang after him roaring, my a.s.segai--now wet and foul with blood--uplifted. He did not wait, though. He leaped forth into s.p.a.ce, but in the very act of leaping from that dreadful brink he half turned and hurled his k.n.o.bstick; and as I saw him leap the heavy k.n.o.b met me in the forehead with a mighty crash. Then was whirling, roaring night, and after it silent darkness."

CHAPTER TEN.

"FAREWELL, GUNGANA!"

"To that night of dreamless sleep there came an awakening at last. The sun was pouring down upon my naked shoulders, and, wounded and exhausted as I was, it seemed that I had awakened in the fire. We had begun the fight at daybreak, but now, as I lifted my head and looked about, the sun was within an hour of his rest. A silence as of the dead reigned around, and from the lofty height where I lay I could see other mountain-tops, some flat like this one, others rent into jagged peaks, rolling around in a confused sea.

"A shadow swept between me and the sun, followed by another and another.

I looked up. They were vultures. Then came a flap, flap of wings as a number of them rose from the corpse of a slain Baputi upon which they had already been feeding. A little longer of sleep, of insensibility, and the horrible creatures would have begun upon me likewise!

"Then I rose to my feet. I was covered with blood, and stiff and sore.

I ached all over from the blows I had received, but as I stretched my limbs I knew that not a bone was injured, although my bruises were many.

But now--to get away from here.

"I looked around. There was no sign of life on the flat summit of the mountain. I looked over the brink of the cliff, which fell straight and sheer to a great depth. There was no sign of life beneath. Our _impi_ would long since have departed, driving before it the spoils in cattle and women, and yet, as I looked down, I seemed not to be looking into the defile by which we had advanced. I, of course, would not be much missed. I should simply be reported as one of the slain.

"And now, as I took in thoroughly the situation, I reckoned that I must have covered a long distance in pursuit of the flying Baputi; for I could not find the outlet by which I had emerged, though more than once I nearly fell headlong into a black fissure or hole which, well-nigh hidden in the long gra.s.s, yawned for the bodies of men. These pits, _Nkose_, were ugly to look upon, so straight and black did they go down.

And the depth! _Whau_! I would drop a stone in and listen, but it seemed long before any sound was heard, and then so far down. Nor was that all; for again I would hear it farther down still, and yet again, till it was enough to chill a man's blood to listen, such was the depth of these black and horrible holes. And so many of them were there that the difficulty of finding the one by which I had come up would be very great.

"Yet this must be done, for by the flat formation of the mountain, and the height and straightness of the cliffs that belted it, I feared there was no way hence but that by which I had come; and could I even find this, now that the heat of battle was over, I relished not the task of creeping back alone through that gruesome cavern in the darkness, treading over those stark and piled-up corpses both of our warriors and of our foes. _Hau_! that would be a feat of terror indeed. And then came back to me the visions I had beheld in the _muti_ bowl of old Masuka, and I, who feared no man, nor any number of men coming against me with spear and shield, now trembled. For had not his magic so far proved true--the mountain, the dark crowd of men swarming like ants up the slope, the crash and splitting of the rock, the towering cloud of dust? _Ou_! it was terrible. The first vision had been fulfilled exactly as I had beheld it in the bowl. In the heat of the a.s.sault, the fierceness of the battle, I had lost sight of this; but now it came back with renewed force. As to the other visions also, my memory was strangely beclouded, yet that they too would befall I doubted not.

"Now, as I explored the summit of the mountain, I did so warily, and not showing myself over-much at the edge, for it might well be that some of our enemies had escaped and called together others of the tribe, if others there were, and these, catching sight of me from beneath, might well waylay and kill me by whatever way I might manage to descend. Also I proceeded cautiously, with my broad-bladed, short-hafted a.s.segai in my right hand and my large war-shield in readiness in my left, and thus was prepared for any enemy who might spring up, as it were, out of the ground. Yet, if I would find my way down that night, it must be quickly, for the sun was already touching the mountain-peaks opposite, causing the great ironstone cliff faces to glow like fire.

"Suddenly, rounding a large rock, I came upon a man--a tall man--armed.

Up went his shield and a.s.segai in readiness, even as did mine, as I stopped short. Then I saw he was one of ourselves.

"'Greeting, son of Ntelani,' he said. 'What do you here?'

"'Greeting, Gungana, _induna_ of the King,' I answered. 'What do _you_ here?'

"'_Au_!' he cried, springing up from the rock against which he had been leaning, his eyes flashing with anger. 'Is it in that tone thou talkest to me, thou jackal-whelp--to _me_, dog-cub?'

"'Spare me, father,' I answered in mock fear, for I had a design in deceiving him, 'spare me! My head has had a hard knock. It may be that.'

"'In truth, thou speakest only just in time to save thy head from a far harder knock, _umfane_, for the k.n.o.bsticks of the King's executioners come down hard upon the skulls of rebellious soldiers who disobey and insult their commanders.'

"Now, _Nkose_, my blood boiled within me. The sneering '_umfane_' to me, who, although not ringed, was yet an _inceku_, was too much.

Gungana should pay for that sneer. Moreover, self-preservation called out loudly within me. For nothing less than my death would satisfy this chief, the deadly import of whose words struck full upon my mind. A charge of mutiny and disobedience brought against me by a commander of Gungana's standing, the King, reproaching me as he often did with rashness and lack of judgment, could hardly discredit, and would certainly not pardon. It was my death or that of Gungana. But I answered with deference:

"'How is it you are all alone here, my father? Have all men gone away and left their chief?'

"'They have, but they shall mourn for it,' he answered. 'I followed those _abatagati_ dogs up here alone, but so many and so perilous are the holes that I know not by which one of them we came up nor by which we shall go down.'

"'By none of them shall _we_ go down, my father,' I shouted. 'By none of them shall _we_ go down, for one of us shall remain up here for ever!'

"'Truly that knock on the head was a hard one,' he said. 'The _umfane_ has gone mad, quite mad!'

"'Not so, _induna_ of the King,' I answered. 'It is your death or mine.

Now--stand ready!'

"I could have rushed upon and killed him in his first surprise, _Nkose_, and this was my original intention, yet, much as I hated him, he was a brave man, and had led me to battle almost ever since I was able to fight. Nor, though I have slain many, did I ever like to strike a man unprepared. Wherefore I called upon him to stand to his defence.

"I had not to call upon him twice. As soon as he saw that I meant my words, no time did he give me, for he came at me with his spear uplifted. But I caught it on my shield, and at the same time the stab which I aimed at him glanced off the surface of his. Not a moment did we thus remain together, for, withdrawing, we sprang at each other again. Still, each was so dexterous in the art of handling his shield that we could not hurt each other. Our chests heaved and panted, and our eyes glared, yet not a word did we speak, not a sound did we utter; in silence we fought, for this was a combat to the death.

"As we charged each other for the third time, I hurled my heavy k.n.o.bstick with all my force at Gungana's forehead. But so quick was his eye that he just moved his head and the kerrie went whizzing away into the gra.s.s behind him. Then once more we closed. Ha, I was wounded!

The keen flash of the blade ripped and seared my shoulder like hot iron, but, regardless of risk, I now became impetuous, and struck down wildly over his guard. But this the chief easily parried, uttering a short contemptuous laugh, which angering me, I pressed him so hard that he began to fall back step by step, nor could he get in a fair stroke at me, so close put to it was he to defend himself from mine.

"And now it seemed that his age was beginning to go against him, for, skilful fighter as he was, Gungana was long past the flower of his youth, and in a protracted struggle my strength was bound to tell. Yet even then I know not how the matter might have ended but for what next befell.

"I had pressed him back further and further. He was on higher ground than myself. _Yau_! sometimes I see him now in my thoughts as he stood that evening, thrown out blackly against the heavens, which were flaming blood red where the sun had just sunk down. I myself had drawn back a few paces to make a feint before rushing in at him again, when suddenly he disappeared feet foremost as he stood; disappeared into the earth, flinging his shield and a.s.segais wildly on high as he clutched at the gra.s.s and roots in vain.

"I sprang to the spot warily, for I knew what had befallen. He had sunk into one of those chasms or fissures of which I have spoken as gaping half concealed by the gra.s.s. Kneeling at the brink, I peered in, and doing so I thought I could hear the sound of laboured breathing.

"'Are you alive, my father?' I called out. 'Is the hole deep?'

"'I have not reached the bottom, Untuswa,' he answered. 'I am holding myself up where the chasm narrows. There are some bushes growing where we met. Go, cut some, that you may draw me out.'

"But at this I laughed.

"'I am young, O my father--only an _umfane_, as you said just now--but I am not completely a fool. The k.n.o.bsticks of the King's executioners come down hard upon the skulls of rebellious soldiers, O Gungana, _induna_ of the King,' I mocked.

"'I was but angry, Untuswa. Thou art young, and hast fought right well.

I will name thee to the King, and will "point at" thee in the next _Tyay'igama_ dance.'

"'Not so, my father. It is Kalipe who will do that--Kalipe, who will now be in chief command of the King's troops; Kalipe, who does _not_ try and rob one of the King's brave soldiers of more than half the praise due to him; Kalipe, who does _not_ rob the soldier of the chance of obtaining his head-ring, who does _not lobola_ for the girl that soldier wants. So now, Gungana, I will promote Kalipe to command the King's army--I, Untuswa the _inceku_; I, Untuswa the _umfane_--and I will do this _by making the post vacant_.'

"'Thou jackal whelp!' he snarled, disdaining further to ask for mercy, realising, too, that it was useless, for he knew he had intended my death, and that I was fully aware he had. 'Thou jackal whelp! I would that I had not spared thee all this while!'