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I am almost sure that he will come with you, so do not stop to ask questions about him." "Is there anyone else?" I inquired. Zikali glanced at the bones again, poking them about in the ashes with his toe, then replied with a yawn, "You seem to have a little yellow man in your service, a clever snake who knows how to creep through grass, and when to strike and when to lie hidden.
I tore out the sheet, folded, addressed it and presented it to Goza, remarking that although it seemed to be but paper, it really was fourteen blankets if given at once to Nombe. He nodded and handed it to one of his men, who departed in the direction of our huts. So, thought I to myself, Nombe knows all about this business, which means that it is being worked by Zikali.
I turned and next instant was out of the hut, pursued by the terrible laughter of Zikali. Outside in the cool night air I recovered myself, sufficiently at any rate to be able to think, and saw at once that the thing was an illusion for which Zikali had prepared my mind very carefully by means of the young witch-doctoress, Nombe.
"Very little, as I think, Umslopogaas, except that this queen has powers to which those of Zikali are as nothing, and can cause visions to float before the eyes of men. For know that such things as you saw, I saw, and in them those whom I have loved also seemed to take no thought of me but only to be concerned with each other.
Ten days had gone by when once more I found myself drawing near to the mouth of the Black Kloof where dwelt Zikali the Wizard. Our journey in Zululand had been tedious and uneventful. It seemed to me that we met extraordinarily few people; it was as though the place had suddenly become depopulated, and I even passed great kraals where there was no one to be seen.
Also, it is said that Zikali, Opener-of-Roads, who has all wisdom, has prophesied that Umbelazi will win more than he ever hoped for." "The King!" I said, "a straw blown hither and thither between two great winds, waiting to be wafted to rest by that which is strongest! The prophecy of Zikali! It seems to me that it can be read two ways, if, indeed, he ever made one.
"As you seem to know this witch so well, why do you not ask her yourself, Zikali?" "To ask is one thing, Macumazahn. To get an answer is another. I have asked in the watches of the night, and the reply was, 'Come hither and perchance I will tell you. 'Queen, I said, 'how can I come save in the spirit, who am an ancient and a crippled dwarf scarcely able to stand upon my feet?
Here, as it happened, I slipped off the stone on which I was standing and nearly went down with the stream myself. Emerging with my mouth full of muddy water I waited till they had done laughing and continued "Tell that old rogue, Zikali, that I know he has murdered my friends and that when we meet again he and all who were in the plot shall pay for it with their lives."
I went to say good-bye to Zikali, who said little, except that we should meet once more after many moons. Anscombe and Heda he would not see at all, but only sent them a message, to the effect that he hoped they would think kindly of him through the long years to come, since he had kept his promise and preserved them safe through many dangers.
I have seen many such; one at the kraal of your grandmother, for instance your grandmother the great Inkosikazi, when myself I escaped with my life because I was so old; but never do I remember a merrier than that which this moon shines on, and he pointed to the White Lady who just then broke through the clouds. "'I kill the wizard's cub, Zikali, that is all, answered Bangu.
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