At first I hesitated, but curiosity overcame me. I was young in those days and weary with suspense.
“Very well,” I said, “we will go.”
So we started. I had my elephant gun and ammunition. Indaba-zimbi had his medicine bag and an assegai. We crept to the top of the rise like sportsmen stalking a buck. The slope on the other side was strewn with rocks, among which grew bushes and tall grass.
“They must have gone down the Donga,” I said to Indaba-zimbi, “I can’t see one of them.”
As I spoke there came a roar of men all round me. From every rock, from every tuft of grass rose a Zulu warrior. Before I could turn, before I could lift a gun, I was seized and thrown.
“Hold him! Hold the White Spirit fast!” cried a voice. “Hold him, or he will slip away like a snake. Don’t hurt him, but hold him fast. Let Indaba-zimbi walk by his side.”
I turned on Indaba-zimbi. “You black devil, you have betrayed me!” I cried.
“Wait and see, Macumazahn,” he answered, coolly. “Now the fight is going to begin.”
CHAPTER V.
THE END OF THE LAAGER
I gasped with wonder and rage. What did that scoundrel Indaba-zimbi mean? Why had I been drawn out of the laager and seized, and why, being seized, was I not instantly killed? They called me the “White Spirit.” Could it be that they were keeping me to make me into medicine? I had heard of such things being done by Zulus and kindred tribes, and my blood ran cold at the thought. What an end! To be pounded up, made medicine of, and eaten!