Suddenly he fixed his eyes intently upon Dick’s, and said, in soft, sibilant tones:
“Well, ’mlungu, what want ye with Sekosini?”
It was the moment and the opportunity for which Dick had been waiting. Gazing intently into the eyes of the savage, in the peculiar manner that he had learned from Humphreys, the young doctor suddenly concentrated his will upon the effort to bring his foe—for as such he intuitively recognised Sekosini—under subjugation. For a moment the strangely contrasted pair gazed at each other, and then some strange sensation experienced by the witch doctor seemed to warn him of what was happening. But it was too late; Dick had caught him unawares, and so absolutely instantaneous was the hypnotic method which Humphreys had taught his pupil that before Sekosini could offer any effective resistance his will had completely succumbed to Dick’s, and he was in the latter’s power. In response to Dick’s unspoken thought he said:
“Ask what you will, and I will answer.”
“You hear?” demanded Dick, turning his gaze for a moment upon Ingona.
“I hear,” answered Ingona, unsuspectingly meeting Dick’s gaze as he replied, and in that moment he, too, was brought under the young doctor’s influence. For a few seconds longer Dick kept his unwinking gaze steadfastly fixed upon the chief, mentally commanding him to forget everything that he might see and hear during the interview; and then he again turned his attention to the witch doctor. He recalled to mind a declaration of Humphreys’ upon which the latter had laid great stress: “The spoken word, where you can use it, is always more potent than the unspoken, but whether it is understood or not is really a minor matter; it is the emphasis, the insistence which is conveyed by speech, added to the will power employed, that renders the operator absolutely irresistible.” As it was of the utmost importance that Sekosini should remain completely under his influence until the whole affair was brought to an end, he now once more sent his compelling gaze into the unblinking eyes of the ancient savage, and finally said to him, in English:
“Henceforth, until I release you, your will is mine; you will think and act only as I direct. You understand?”
“I understand, and will obey,” answered Sekosini.
“Good!” returned Dick. “Now I command you to tell me the absolute truth. Know you anything relative to the sickness from which the chief ’Nkuni is suffering, or the sickness from which ’Mtatu and the other five chiefs died?”
“Yes,” answered Sekosini—and the answer in nowise surprised Dick; “I know all. ’Nkuni is slowly dying of poison administered by me, the same poison that sent ’Mtatu and the other five chiefs along the Dark Path. The destruction of these men is preliminary to the destruction of the king, of whose method of government I and others disapprove. I might have destroyed Lobelalatutu alone; but if the chiefs whom I have destroyed had been allowed to live it would assuredly have led to trouble, therefore have I destroyed them first. When ’Nkuni dies the chiefs who think as I do will be strong enough to act without fear of opposition, and we shall be able to destroy Lobelalatutu and restore the system which prevailed when M’Bongwele reigned, the system by which the chiefs and the witch doctors were able to acquire much wealth instead of living, as we do now, in comparative poverty.”