“Is it settled that it is to happen to-morrow night?” asked Songoza.
“Yes,” replied Philip; “and I shall stay here to see that all is arranged. I must try and dispose of Mamiekwa. If I can manage it, I will get her to sleep in the hut too.”
Bit by bit the horrible conspiracy was unfolded. In the middle of the following night, the door of Dogolwana’s hut was to be fastened from the outside, and then the hut was to be burnt with its inmates. Songoza particularly wished the thing to be done in his absence, but Philip, whilst agreeing to fasten the door some time after the inmates had gone to sleep, insisted that Songoza’s should be the hand to apply the fire. Philip knew Songoza well, and did not desire to run the risk of being made a scapegoat.
The day seemed very long to Mamiekwa stretched amongst the mats, and it was with a keen sense of relief that she heard at sundown the voice of old Dogolwana at the door saying that a pot of beer of a fresh brew, which had risen splendidly, was waiting to be discussed, and that they must be sure and bring the children to have some of it. Shortly afterwards every one else left the hut, so she came down from her shelf. After ascertaining that the coast was clear, she ran along the pathway at the back of the kraal, and darted into the forest, whence she emerged in a few moments, carrying some “mootie” (medicine) roots which she had dug out, scraped, and hidden on the previous day.
That night she communicated what she had heard to old Dogolwana, his wife, and Notemba, and then under the influence of black wrath and despair, a counter-plot, equally appalling, was hatched.
The Vengeance
Next morning Songoza took a friendly farewell, saying that he was going away on a three days’ visit. Late in the afternoon, Mahlokoza went to the forest to collect fuel, and her two boys went down to the field to gather sticks of “imfe” (sweet reed). Old Dogolwana had been plying Philip heavily with beer, and consequently the latter was somewhat mellow. When the coast was clear, Mamiekwa, to whom Philip had been making love all day, brought him an earthen pot of beer, over the edge of which the pink foam was temptingly protruding. She lifted the pot for him to drink from, and as he stretched forth his head, old Dogolwana struck him a violent blow behind the ear with a knobbed stick, and he fell to the ground, stunned. Dogolwana and the two women then bound his hands and feet securely with thongs which they had in readiness. They then lashed him firmly to a heavy loose pole which was lying in the hut, passing the thongs round and round his body and the pole together, so firmly that he could hardly writhe. They then fastened a gag in his mouth. Just as they had finished, he regained consciousness, and glared at them like the trapped animal that he was. A blanket was tied loosely over his head, and he was than left to his own reflections.
Upon the return of Mahlokoza with the load of fuel she was treated in exactly the same way in her own hut. After dark she was carried into the other hut and laid alongside Philip. The two boys had been easily secured on their return from the field. They were trussed and gagged in the same manner, and laid on the ground between their mother and uncle.
The door of the hut was then securely fastened by lacing a strand of soft copper wire through the wicker-work, and round stout poles placed across the entrance, after the manner agreed upon by the conspirators, as overheard by Mamiekwa.
Old Dogolwana, his wife, and Notemba, with little Gqomisa, Mamiekwa, and her baby moved into the hut which Mahlokoza had occupied. Little Gqomisa had been kept out of the way whilst the terrible preparations described had been carried out.