“Or you, N’Ampata?” pressed the king.
“Only this, O Great One! that I think it would have been better had we approached thee and opened our minds to thee before conspiring against thee. But the plan was Sekosini’s, and he would listen to no such proposal; while I, who had been sworn to secrecy, dared not break my oath,” answered N’Ampata.
“Why not?” demanded Lobelalatutu. “When I was placed upon the throne, did not you, N’Ampata, with all the other chiefs, swear allegiance and loyalty to me? Yet you have dared to break that oath. Why, then, should you not dare to break your oath to Sekosini? Was he greater than I, or his power more than mine?”
“He persuaded me that it was; and also that, since in the opinion of many you were misgoverning the nation, I should be justified in breaking my oath of allegiance,” was the answer.
“Take them away!” commanded the king. And when they had gone he called upon the two remaining chiefs, Moroosi and Sekukuni, to justify themselves, if they could.
“I have naught to say, O Great One!” answered Moroosi, “save that, as it was with Ingona so was it with me.”
“And you, Sekukuni?” demanded the king.
“I also am the victim of Sekosini’s wiles and his serpent tongue,” answered the chief. “I should never have joined the conspiracy had he not led me secretly to believe that when thou wert gone I should be made king in thy stead. And the prospect dazzled me, for I believed that I could govern better than thou.”
Again the king waved his hand, and the last two of the conspirators were led away, amid an intense, breathless, almost ominous silence. For a few minutes Lobelalatutu sat, with his chin resting upon his chest, apparently reviewing the situation; then, lifting his head, he spoke.
“Chiefs of the Makolo,” he said, “ye have to-day heard how Sekosini, the chief witch doctor, and seven of the most powerful and influential among you secretly plotted together to destroy me, and, by so doing, to set you at each other’s throats like wolves fighting over a carcass, and ye have also heard what means were adopted to render the plot successful; how six of your number were sent along the Dark Path by the witchcraft of Sekosini, and how another would have taken the same journey but for the superior witchcraft of him who sits here at my side. It was his power that compelled Sekosini to come hither to-day and tell the truth; and it is to his power that ’Nkuni will owe his life, for the Healer has promised to save him and make him whole again. Think ye that it was mere chance that brought the Healer and his friend the Mighty Hunter into the land of the Makolo at the moment when, but for them, Sekosini’s plot must have been crowned with success? I tell you, nay; it is because it has been ordained that I, whom the Four Spirits of the Winds set upon the throne, should continue to rule over you! It is useless to plot against me, who am under the protection of the Spirits; for, as ye have seen, it can but lead to the detection and overthrow of the plotters. Yet the eight who have to-day confessed their guilt before you are not all equally guilty, and therefore their punishment shall not be equally severe. Had such a thing as this happened in the days of M’Bongwele they had all died lingering and painful deaths; but I have been taught to temper justice with mercy; therefore, while all must be punished for conspiring against me, their lawful king, their punishment shall be in strict proportion to their guilt. And this is a matter that requires careful consideration; for while, on the one hand, I am determined that the punishment shall not be too severe, I am equally determined that it shall not be weakly lenient. Go, therefore, now; and to-morrow I will summon you again to hear sentence pronounced upon the guilty ones. You are dismissed.”