The White Shield Part 25

They were fully armed, these men. Each carried the large war-shield and broad a.s.segai. 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_!"

Yes; to me they cried the _Bayete_, these warriors--_Bayete_, the salute of a King--to me, Untuswa! In truth, the old Mosutu _isa.n.u.si_ spoke not falsely when he declared that the strangest thing would happen to me in the Place of the Three Rifts, for here was I being hailed by armed warriors as a King. For a moment the thought crossed my mind that the Great Great One was no more, and that the people had elected me to sit in his seat, and had sent to find me, but only for a moment. For the light of the moon was strong, and of the faces of these not one did I know.

"_Yeh-bo_!" I answered, in a deep, muttering tone, some instinct moving me to hide my real voice as much as might be. And I stood straight and erect, waiting for them to continue.

"We have explored this mountain range far on either hand, O Greater of the Twin Stars of the Heavens," said the foremost, "yet there is no way by which our _impis_ may cross save by yon gloomy pa.s.s. And in the mouth thereof sits some strange wizard beast and dismally howls."

"It is even as Silwane has said, more valiant of two Kings," declared another.

"Greater of the Twin Stars of the Heavens!"

"Way by which our _impis_ may cross!" Who was the man addressing? To what _impis_ did he make reference? _Hau_! was this part of the wizardry of the place? And then, _Nkose_, as the real truth flashed upon me, I knew not whether I were living or dead. These warriors were the advance guard of an _impi_ coming from Zululand. "_Bayete_,"--the royal salute; "Greater of the Twin Stars," must have been intended for one of the two Kings, brothers, then reigning over Zululand, Dingane or Mhlangana. And for one of them these men were mistaking me.

I would ask you, _Nkose_, was ever any man in such a position? The invading _impi_ must be of immense size if commanded in person by a King, and it was sent to crush us. That was as clear as noonday. Now, indeed, I had a part to play. Were the mistake discovered, I could hardly escape with my life, and, in that case, our whole nation, taken completely by surprise, would be a.s.sailed without warning, and, it might be, utterly exterminated. Fortunately, my back was to the moon, whereas they were facing it.

"What is thy will, Father?" went on the man who had been named Silwane.

"Shall we send back to hurry on the companies, and force this pa.s.s tomorrow night? Yet, it will be better to leave it until the night after."

"Till the night after?" I said, questioningly, desiring to speak in as few words as possible, lest my voice should betray me, and yet thirsting for more information.

"It will be better so, Greater of two Kings," went on Silwane. "Unless we fall upon these Amandebeli by surprise, _au_! the good fortune which was theirs on the Kwahlamba may still be with them; for, unless they have _impis_ out elsewhere, the force they can bring against us can hardly be less than our own."

This was news which caused my heart to leap with joy, only to droop again immediately, for I recollected that a large _impi_ had gone forth under Kalipe to eat up two chiefs who dwelt to the northward, and who had failed to pay their tribute, thinking themselves strong enough.

True, its return was daily expected, but up till now there had been no sign thereof. Of course, in my character of supposed King, I was in favour of the delay, and, indeed, would have ordered yet further, but dared not. The more uncertain were my orders the better, for he whom I was now personating might really have decided views of his own of a contrary policy. _Whau, Nkose_! in truth was I walking between spears, even as when I put my own words into the mouth of the Bakoni chief in the sight of Umzilikazi and the whole nation. Fortunately, boy as I was before we left Zululand, I had often seen the princes of the House of Senzangakona, and remembered their voices, which I now strove to imitate. And I wanted to find out which of the two Kings I was supposed to be.

"Thy plan is good, Silwane," I said, and then, carelessly, "_Whau_! I know not. I who am but a child. I would that the other of the Twin Stars of the Heavens were by me now, for his judgment in such matters is greater than mine. What think you, Silwane?"

"_Au_!" he cried. "He who sits at Umkunkundhlovu has the wisdom of nations. But it is thou who art skilled in war, O Mhlangana, Twin Star of the Amazulu."

Ha! It was Mhlangana then whom I was representing, not Dingane. But where was that prince himself? He might appear at any moment, and then--

"Umzilikazi knows well how to use mountain pa.s.ses," I said, laughing to myself as I thought of the way we beat back Tshaka's _impi_.

"Wherefore, move not the soldiers until moonrise to-morrow night, and enter the pa.s.s when darkness shall fall on the night after. Meanwhile let none draw near this mountain chain, lest they be sighted by those whom we are come to stamp flat--none, no, not one."

"And those who are already posted upon the height, father?"

"Let them remain," I said, "but let them keep well concealed. Stay, where are they posted?"

"Yonder, where the two patches of scrub crown the projecting spur, Great Great One," said the _induna_, pointing to a place which I could see, luckily without turning my head, for had the moonbeams fallen on my face that moment I were lost.

"Ha! But one picket? It seems I ordered two to be posted," I said carelessly.

"One was indeed thy order, Serpent of Wisdom," replied Silwane. "Yet there are five men in it. Shall I send up and bid two of them take up other position elsewhere?"

"Let be, it matters not," I answered, still carelessly. "Ten eyes should surely, from such a point, command half the world."

You will observe, _Nkose_, that I had found out four things: that a huge Zulu _impi_ was advancing to surprise and utterly destroy us; that in strength it scarcely exceeded that of our whole nation; that it was led in person by Mhlangana, one of the brother Kings of Zululand; and that it would cross the mountains at a certain time. It only remained for me now to do one thing more to complete the trap into which I intended that the might of Zululand should advance--and fall.

"That look-out is sufficient," I continued, after a moment's pause.

"Yet I think that it is not needful to wait until dark to enter the pa.s.s. It may be done at mid-day, if those upon the watch-place signal that none are about. Then that night shall the flames of Kwa'zingwenya light the triumph dance of the might of the People of the Heavens. Let it be known, then, that a white blanket be waved thrice if the way is open."

"We hear you, Father," answered the warriors. "The plan will not fail.

By the King's white shield, but the rebel Umzilikazi may soon sit down in darkness forever."

"_The King's white shield_!" Now I saw yet further light. For, accompanying these words, the glances of the warriors had fallen meaningly upon the white shield which I carried--the pure white shield without spot of any other colour--the shield which had saved the life of a king, and was now the means of saving the life of a king once more, and also the life of a nation. This was how the mistake occurred; this was how they had taken me for Mhlangana, seeing the great white royal shield in the moonlight. But where was Mhlangana?

I said just now, _Nkose_, that there only remained for me one thing more to do, yet, having done it, I found there remained another; and this was, to effect a speedy and safe retreat from a position to which any moment might bring an end--resulting in my own death and the destruction of our nation. How was this to be effected? I dared not move or turn ever so slightly lest the light, falling upon my face, should betray me.

To send these men away, and myself remain behind, might arouse their suspicion, and, over and above these considerations, the real Mhlangana might appear at any moment. Truly, _Nkose_, it required all the _muti_ that old Masuka, and the white _isa.n.u.si_, and Lalusini, and all the greatest magicians the world ever saw, could devise to find me a way out of that trap.

But while these thoughts were racing through my mind a confused murmur rose among the group of warriors. A murmur of astonishment, even of a little alarm. Their faces were turned skyward, seeming to look beyond me as I stood; and, lo! the light had grown so dim that scarcely could I distinguish their features, up till now so plainly visible.

"_Au_!" they cried. "The moon! The moon! It grows black!"

Now I turned also, deeming it safe to do so, yet with caution, and covering half my face as though bringing my hand up in astonishment.

And what I beheld was indeed portentous.

Over the face of the moon a black curtain was spreading slowly, slowly-- veiling it not as a cloud veils it, but completely. While we had been talking, we had not noticed the fading light. Now, as we looked, lo!

the half of the great golden ball was black. Higher, higher--farther, farther, crept this curtain, till none was left but the outside rim.

All the rest of it was black. The world was in darkness.

Now, I had seen something of this kind before; but never before or since have I seen the moon grow so utterly, so completely, black. It seemed darker than the darkest night; yet, in reality, it was not so; but there was a cold and wizard-like breathing in the night air, and even the voices of the creatures of the waste were hushed. And heavy upon my mind lay Lalusini's warning, and the words of her waking vision, uttered before the King, and relating to the blackening of the moon and of the feast which awaited the vultures. It was all plain enough now; ah, yes!

the vultures would soon have a gigantic feast, indeed; but--of whom would it consist--of ourselves, or of the invading might of the two brothers, the Zulu Kings?

Now I saw in the darkness a wide door open for my escape from my perilous position.

"We will return now, my children, having found out all we desire to know," I said.

"_Yeh-bo, Nkulu 'nkulu_!" a.s.sented the warriors, bending down and uttering words of _bonga_. Then they opened for me to pa.s.s, but I signed them to precede me; and so we all climbed up the rocks till we soon found ourselves on the slope of one of those great rifts which ran down into the half-circular hollow or basin which I had marked out for the deathtrap of Mhlangana's _impi_.

"_Whau_!" muttered Silwane, who walked just in front of me. "The moon is dark for the mourning of a nation, for the death of a king."

"I think that is even so, Silwane," I said grimly, my meaning not being his.

The steep slope along which we were proceeding was thickly sprinkled with growths of bush, and here and there great formations of boulders and stones, which rendered the way difficult and toilsome. And now a bit of the moon began to reappear. At all risks I must slip away, even if it aroused suspicion.

I had already drawn back somewhat, falling farther and farther into the rear. Already I judged the distance between myself and the warriors great enough, and the spot favourable, for it was rugged and rock-strewn, and overgrown with bush. Already I had turned the darker side of my shield towards them, and in a moment more would have dropped into concealment, and glided away with the silence and rapidity of a serpent, when, _Nkose_, the strangest of strange things happened.

Between myself and the warriors in front there was a shape. It seemed to appear out of empty air, for a.s.suredly I had seen it spring out of nowhere. It was the shape of a man, tall and broad. Unlike the warriors in front, he was not adorned as for war, but like myself, though wearing only the _mutya_ as usual, he was fully armed. His back was towards me, and, as I stared wildly at him in the now fast lightening darkness, a movement he made brought full into my view the large war-shield which he carried. _Hau_! The shield was pure white, like my own--a royal shield. This, then, must be the real Mhlangana.

The time had come, _Nkose_--had fully come--to take leave of that party, for a.s.suredly had Mhlangana looked back he would have taken me for his ghost, stalking behind him, and who would wish to frighten any so great as one of the brother Kings of Zululand? _Whau_! So I dropped quietly behind a bush to wait until the party were out of hearing. But before it was so I could hear Mhlangana talking to the warriors; but his words were few, and their tones were even and showed no suspicion that they had been receiving their orders and plan of battle from Umzilikazi's second fighting _induna_. And, indeed, as I thought of it, I laughed so to myself that I was forced to sit down upon the ground and take snuff.

For these skilled warriors and captains had cried the _Bayete_ and bent low and uttered _bonga_ to me, Untuswa, who was but yesterday, it seemed, a boy in Zululand; and from me had they taken their orders, which would be for their own destruction. _Whau! Nkose_! The world may have contained more ridiculous positions, but somehow I hardly think it possible.

"_Hamba gahle_, Mhlangana! _Hambani gahle_, warriors of Dingane!" I murmured in scornful farewell.