“The place where we had first rested was on the edge of an open glade, and the distance we had withdrawn from this while retiring before the serpents was about twice that to which a man could fling a spear. On one side of this glade stood a tall rock.
“‘Men are coming,’ I whispered—‘armed men.’
“We stood thus as still as stones, listening hard. Then I could hear, re-echoed back from the face of the rock, the light tread of feet, the rustle of branches pushed aside, and now and then the rattle of assegai hafts; and soon, as we crouched low to the earth, we could hear an armed force advance into the open glade and halt.
“Now, Nkose, my heart stood still, for I remembered the King’s words that morning. Could it be that he who knew everything had sent men after us to surprise us two together and kill us? Then I heard a warrior’s deep tones say:
“‘Au! here are footprints—those of an intombi. Those of a man, too!’ he added, as one who has made a discovery. ‘Come, let us see where they lead.’
“Crouching down among the thorns and long dry grass we lay, expecting our end; for to be found thus together, at this distance from the camp, meant certain death. There was not a chance for us. We heard the parting of the bushes—then, from where we lay, we could see the heads of several men following our trail, and, but that the trees threw a darkness around and they were too intent on reading their way, they could not have failed to see us. No, there was no escape. We should be seized, dragged before the King, and not another sun should we see rise.
“But then, while the bitterness of death lay dark upon our hearts, we saw the foremost of the men stop, with a startled look upon his face. Then a quick exclamation escaped him, and he and the rest turned, and went back again. And we knew the meaning of that hissing noise, and the prayer to the serpents cried out by the warriors as they retreated was the same as my own.
“When they returned to the impi, the leader was angry with them.
“‘What?’ we could hear him say. ‘Are we come out to do the King’s errand, that a number of you should turn from your way to follow upon the tracks of a man and a maid? What have we to do with such, I say? Good indeed was it, that the Izinyoka should have been there to teach so many fools their duty. Now we must on.’
“Then we heard the rattle of assegais and shields as once more the impi fell into rank, and soon the sound of their footsteps died into silence. We left our hiding-place cautiously, and as we went we were very full of thankfulness to our Izinyoka, who had come in our path, and in the path of those who would have found us, and had saved us from destruction; and we debated as to the part our serpents had played, and we decided that the serpent of Nangeza, being that of prudence, was the one which had obliged us to retire from our first hiding-place, while the influence of my serpent, being that of the warrior, was the one which availed to drive back the searchers—as befitting the serpent of such a warrior as myself—and who may say that this was not so.? At any rate, the joining together of our two Izinyoka, to protect us, struck us as a good omen for the future; for where should we have been had we remained in our first resting-place—where now, had not those who were searching been frightened back?