“‘It is my brother, Sekweni!’ I cried. ‘Ha! I will have no more of this! It is tagati indeed.’
“‘Thy brother Sekweni!’ laughed the old man in a harsh, rattling voice—‘thy brother Sekweni! Forget not that, Untúswa, forget not that, when the time comes.’ And again he broke into that weird, mirthless laugh which was enough to curdle a man’s blood.
“So strong upon me was the effect of his magic, that on leaving Masuka’s hut I seemed to shrink from the eyes of all whom I met. It seemed that all must proclaim me aloud as Umtagati, and I walked in fear. How I hated the old Mosutu for the spell he had put upon me! I would have slain him if I had dared. I would have caused him to be smelt out; but that I dared still less. Indeed, it is probable that I myself would pay the penalty, and not he. I had looked into strange and terrifying mysteries, and was ever consumed by a longing to look once more into them, and this together with a horror of and repugnance to doing so.”
Chapter Nine.
The Kraal, Ekupumuleni.
“Many moons had now waxed and waned, and at length we began to feel secure from all pursuit and danger at the hands of Tshaka, and of a truth the impis of the Great King would have found it a difficult matter to travel over the dreadful waste we had left behind us. For we had carried off all the cattle and destroyed the crops of such tribes as we had fallen in with, and that designedly, in order to delay and harass by scarcity of food a force so large as would of necessity be sent in pursuit of us. Now, moreover, we began to feel great, for our flocks and herds had become considerable, and many captives had we spared in order to tend these along the march.
“We had come to a fair land, well watered with flowing streams, and waving with sweet grass. Here the King ordered a large kraal to be built, which was done, and this great circle, in size as that of Nodwengu, stood fair and large upon these plains where surely never such a royal dwelling was seen before. The huts stood three deep within the ring-fences of mimosa, and the great open space in the centre served for mustering the warriors and holding dances and ceremonies of state. At the upper side was the Isigodhlo, or royal enclosure, partitioned off by palisades of finely woven grass, and containing the King’s dwelling, together with the huts of the royal women and those of the Izinceku, or court attendants, of whom I was now one. It was a noble kraal, and we who had wandered those many moons a homeless people, looking upon our work with a shout of pride, named it ‘Ekupumuleni’—‘the place of rest.’
“At that time the jealousy wherewith I was regarded by many, including some of the indunas, grew apace, and by none was it shown more freely than by my father, Ntelani, and the induna Gungana. These were not slow to whisper abroad that I, being so young a man and unringed, was not the one to hold such a position of trust as that of inceku, having free access at all times to the Isigodhlo or royal enclosure; for this office was usually held by middle-aged or elderly men, and wearing the ring. But if any of such talk reached the ears of the King, as, indeed, what did not? he gave no sign of being influenced thereby, for he kept me about him, showing me the same favour as before. So I troubled not overmuch about the ill-will of the izinduna, but made light of it; wherein, Nkose, I was the very first among fools.