“Wait; I know this man well. There is no treachery in him, and he may prove our friend.” Still he waited breathlessly.
Sirayo stopped when he was near the enemy, and then, striking his assegai against his shield, he told them they had lied.
“You brought me against these people with false stories; I find they are my friends, and my shield is their shield, my assegai is their assegai. But, inasmuch as you came here thinking you had the help of Sirayo, I stand here to meet any of you hand to hand, lest you say I fled from you when there was danger.”
No one took up the challenge, which was received with a howl of rage, but presently man called to man until the news was carried to the Induna, who directed the attack from afar, and at his command there was a general movement towards that end of the laager where Sirayo stood.
At this the chief, not carrying defiance to the point of foolishness, returned into the camp, closing up the fence after him, and entered the laager. There was no time for talk, for the enemy appeared to be gathering for another rush, and fire was opened to check them, but when they altered their minds and drew off, Hume asked the chief the paramount question, whether the laager was strong enough to resist a determined attack.
Sirayo stretched his arms.
“You are in a hole; good if you can keep them out, but a death-trap if they enter, and when the night comes they will pull away the thorns. See this tree? I already had marked it, and meant in the dark to send six young men. They would have climbed secretly into its branches and dropped among you. No; if you would live you must steal away.”
“They will be on the watch.”
“No. They know you cannot attack them, and before the dawn, after they have drawn away the thorns, they will come. By that time you must be away.”
Hume interpreted, and it was resolved to take the chief’s advice. It was necessary, however, to get together as many necessaries as they could carry, and while Hume busied himself with this work, the others went out beyond the laager, for, as Sirayo advised, it was better to show they were not afraid. They paced round and round, longing, yet fearing, for the night to come, and frequently the glances of Miss Anstrade and Webster stole to the tall figure of the chief, half doubtful still of his intentions, while the Gaika regarded him sullenly in the light of an interloper.