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Then, with it in my hand, I turned to the king and said: "Behold, Lomalindela! yonder is a flight of rock pigeons about to pass over our heads. If one of them should fall dead in this square, would you believe that I have told you the truth, and that you may break your oath with impunity?"
"Mapela," said Lomalindela, when the induna had drawn near and saluted, "I am perplexed, and know not what to believe. I can believe thy words, because I have proved thee, and know thee to be faithful and true. Thou didst know Logwane intimately; tell me, therefore, was he loyal to me, or was he not?" "There was no man in all Mashonaland more faithful to thee than Logwane," answered Mapela.
Many moons ago ay, before you were born, and before Lomalindela was king two white men came into Mashonaland, and only one of them went out again. The magic lies not in the tube itself, but in the few grains of black powder that are poured into it and the round lump of metal that is thrust down on the top of the powder. Au! I know. Though so many moons have passed I remember quite well.
"Then," retorted Lomalindela, with a malicious grin, "if thou art so sure of the effectiveness of the weapon, let me see thee use it in a real fight. Mapela, give 'Mfuni thy spear. And, hark ye, 'Mfuni, if thou canst slay the white man, or even disable him, thou shalt choose twenty head of cattle from mine own herd, and they shall be thine.
For perhaps ten minutes although it seemed more like half an hour to me this dreadful, breathless stillness remained unbroken; then a faint sound, like that of a sudden breeze sweeping over grass, but which was in reality an involuntary sigh of relief from suspense emanating from fifty thousand breasts, stirred the air as the curtain veiling the entrance to the itunkulu, or king's house, was drawn aside, and the figure of Lomalindela, fully clad in his hussar uniform, sword included, appeared.
And I held it up so that Lomalindela might see the reflection of his own visage in it. He took it doubtingly and hesitatingly in his hand for there is nothing a South African savage dreads so much as magic or witchcraft and a low, awestricken ejaculation of "Au!" escaped him at what he beheld. "And that is not all," I continued.
By dint of a little artful questioning I had contrived to gain the information that King Lomalindela was a man of about my own stature and build, and I kept this information in mind when selecting my gifts.
Lomalindela, it seemed, had received my envoy with a very considerable display of austerity, and had submitted him to a most rigorous cross-questioning; but, luckily, the Tottie had nothing to conceal, and was therefore able to tell a perfectly straightforward story, which, as Piet believed, had not only allayed the monarch's suspicions, but had also aroused in him a very lively curiosity to see the white man and his wonderful fire tubes which slew from afar.
It is not easy to shock a savage, but there could be no doubt that when the investigation was finished Lomalindela was shocked, not so much at the fact that a great deal of innocent blood had been shed, but that so many of his most loyal and devoted indunas had been removed, and could therefore no longer exercise their loyalty and fidelity on his behalf; and no one knows better than a savage autocrat the value of true loyalty and fidelity.
Then the smile passed, the scowl returned, and, with a glare that seemed to be concentrated especially on me, Lomalindela strode majestically forward, and, scarcely deigning to acknowledge my salute, slowly seated himself in his chair, or throne.
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