It was about one o'clock in the afternoon when we seemed to be quiteclose to the green flanks of Umpondwana, that of a sudden we cut a widespoor trampled by thousands of naked feet. Jan and Gaasha got off thewaggon to examine it, but Ralph did not move.
"An impi has passed here," said Jan presently.
"Yes, and a Zulu impi as I think, Baas, but more than one whole dayago," and Gaasha began to hunt about amongst some low bushes which grewnear the trail. Presently he held up his hand and shouted, and Jan ranto him.
"Look, Baas," he said, pointing to a bush.
Jan looked, and there beneath the bush lay a man, a Zulu soldier, forhis tall grey plume was still fixed upon his head, and near him was hisbroad assegai. At that moment the man, who was still alive, although hewas very near his death from dysentry, seemed to hear, for he sat upand opened his eyes, saying, "_Manzie, umlungho, manzie_." (Water, whiteman, water.)
"Bring a pannikin of water, here lies a sick Kaffir," shouted Jan toRalph, who was still seated on the waggon-box staring at the mountain.
Ralph brought the water, and the soldier drank it greedily.
"Who are you, and how come you here?" asked Jan.
"I am a soldier of Dingaan," answered the man, "but when we wereattacking the little people on that mountain I fell sick. Still I cameaway with the impi, but here my strength failed me, and here I have lainfor a round of the sun and a round of the moon. I begged them to killme, but my brothers would not, for they said that I might recover andjoin them."
"Where have they gone?" asked Jan.
"They have gone to eat up the Boers in Natal," the Zulu answered ina hollow voice, his empty eyes wandering towards the mountains of theQuathlamba range. "Yes, they have gone to do the King's bidding on thewhite men, for his word came to us while we besieged yonder stronghold.To-morrow at the dawn they attack the little laager beneath the whitekoppie by the banks of the Tugela, and I must reach them by then--yes,yes, now I am strong again, and I shall attack with them to-morrow atthe dawn. Farewell, white men, I will not kill you because you gave methe water which has made me strong again," and, rising from the ground,he grasped his spear and started forward at a run.
"Stay," cried Ralph. "I would question you as to what has happened onthat mountain;" but the man did not seem to hear him. For thirty pacesor so he ran on, then suddenly he halted and saluted with his spear,crying in a loud voice:
"Chief, I report myself, I am present."
Next he stretched his arms wide and fell forward upon his face. Whenthey reached him he was quite dead.
"This is a strange story that we have heard about the Zulus and the folkin Natal," said Jan, rubbing his forehead.
"I think that the man was wandering in his mind," answered Ralph, "stillthere may be truth in it; but, father," he added, with a gasp offear, and, catching Jan by the arm, "what has happened on the mountainUmpondwana? The Zulus have been there, and--what has happened on themountain?"
Jan shook his head, but did not answer, for he knew too well whathappens where the Zulu impis pass.
Notwithstanding that Ralph was mad with impatience we halted the waggonfor a few minutes to take counsel, and in the end decided to send thevoorlooper back to the camp which we had left to warn our friends ofwhat we had learned as to the onslaught on our brethren in Natal, thoughwe had small faith in the story. But either the lad ran away, or someaccident befell him, or he failed to find the Boers who had alreadytrekked, at the least our message never reached them, nor did we see himagain. Then we went on, Gaasha leading the oxen as quickly as they couldwalk. All that afternoon we travelled almost in silence, following thespoor of the impi backwards, for our hearts were full of fear. We met noman, but once or twice we saw groups of cattle wandering unherded,and this astonished us, giving us hope, for it was not the custom of avictorious impi to leave the cattle of its enemy behind it, thoughif the people of the Umpondwana had conquered, it was strange that weshould see no herds with the beasts.
At length, within two hours of sunset, we passed round the shoulder ofthe mountain and beheld its eastern slope.
"It is the very place of my vision," cried Ralph, and certainly therebefore us were the stone ridges shaped like the thumb and fingers of aman, while between the thumb and first finger gushed the river, upon thebanks of which grew flat-topped green-leaved trees.
"Onward, onward!" he cried again, and, taking the long waggon whip, hethrashed the oxen till they bellowed in the yokes. But I, who was seatedbeneath the tent of the waggon, turned to look behind me, and in thefar distance saw that men were driving herds of cattle towards themountains.
"We are too late," I thought in my heart, "for, without doubt, whetherit be the Zulus or others, the place has been taken, since yonder go thevictors with the cattle. Now they will fall upon us and kill us. Well,should God will it, so let it be, for if Suzanne is dead indeed I carelittle if we die also; and to Ralph at least death will be welcome, forI think that then death alone can save him from madness."
Now we had reached the banks of the river, and were trekking upthem towards the spot where it issued from the side of the mountain.Everywhere was spoor, but we saw no people, although here and therethe vultures were hissing and quarrelling over the bones of a man or abeast.
"There has been war in this place," whispered Jan, "and now the peace ofdeath has fallen upon it," but Ralph only flogged the weary oxen, sayingnothing.
At length they could drag the waggon no further, for the path grew toosteep for them, whereupon Ralph, seizing the first weapon that came tohand, which, as it chanced, was the broad assegai that Gaasha hadtaken that day from the side of the dead Zulu, ran forward up the trailfollowed by Jan and myself. Another two hundred yards and the path tooka turn which led to the entrance of the first scherm, the same that theZulus had captured by forcing the passage of the river. The gateway wasopen now, and Ralph entered.
At first he could see no one, but presently he heard a voice saying:
"Will you not tell, for death is very near you? Drink, witch, tell anddrink."
"Fool," answered another voice, a grating, broken voice, "I say thatdeath is near to both of us, and since she is saved I die gladly, takingmy secret with me."
"Then witch, I will try steel," said the first voice.
Now Ralph looked over the rock from behind which the sound of voicescame and saw the body of a little woman tied to a stone by the edge ofthe water, while over her leant a man, a white man, holding a knife inone hand and in the other a gourd of water, which he now placed closeto her lips, and now withdrew from them. He knew that woman, it wasSihamba. Just at this moment the man looked up and their eyes met, andRalph knew him also.
It was Piet Van Vooren.