Hadden received this information in silence, but its effect upon his brain was bracing, for instantly he began to search out some means of escape.
By now the party had halted near the two thorn trees that hung over the waters of the pool.
“Who dives first,” asked the captain of the Chief Maputa.
“The old wizard,” he replied, nodding at Umgona; “then his daughter after him, and last of all this fellow,” and he struck Nahoon in the face with his open hand.
“Come on, Wizard,” said the captain, grasping Umgona by the arm, “and let us see how you can swim.”
At the words of doom Umgona seemed to recover his self-command, after the fashion of his race.
“No need to lead me, soldier,” he said, shaking himself loose, “who am old and ready to die.” Then he kissed his daughter at his side, wrung Nahoon by the hand, and turning from Hadden with a gesture of contempt walked out upon the platform that joined the two thorn trunks. Here he stood for a moment looking at the setting sun, then suddenly, and without a sound, he hurled himself into the abyss below and vanished.
“That was a brave one,” said the captain with admiration. “Can you spring too, girl, or must we throw you?”
“I can walk my father’s path,” Nanea answered faintly, “but first I crave leave to say one word. It is true that we were escaping from the king, and therefore by the law we must die; but it was Black Heart here who made the plot, and he who has betrayed us. Would you know why he has betrayed us? Because he sought my favour, and I refused him, and this is the vengeance that he takes—a white man’s vengeance.”
“Wow!” broke in the chief Maputa, “this pretty one speaks truth, for the white man would have made a bargain with me under which Umgona, the wizard, and Nahoon, the soldier, were to be killed at the Crocodile Drift, and he himself suffered to escape with the girl. I spoke him softly and said ‘yes,’ and then like a loyal man I reported to the king.”