“The Zulus and the white men are brothers,” he said. “The enemies of the one are the enemies of the other. How comes it then that I see the white chief in arms against us? We have long been seeking one who is a traitor to his country, and who has defied our king Panda, the lion of the world, and I desire to know whether he is still flying across the country, or has been received into the house of our friend. If he has, we demand that he may be delivered up to us forthwith, to be treated as he deserves.”
Captain Broderick listened patiently until the chief had come to an end.
“I wish to be friends with the Zulus, as well as with all the people among whom I live,” said the captain. “I have no desire to protect any one because he is an enemy to the Zulus, but I cannot allow any injury to be inflicted on persons who have rendered essential service to those dear to me. There is no one in this house I can consent to deliver up to you, and therefore if you expect it you must go away disappointed. I have said it, it is useless to ask more.”
The chief, on hearing this, looked very angry, and muttered something which Captain Broderick could not understand. The Zulus appeared doubtful how to proceed; at length Captain Broderick spoke to them.
“To show you that I wish to be friends, if you are hungry, I will feed you,” he said. “You shall have a heifer, which I was going to kill to-night, but you must retire with it across the river, where you can feast as you desire.”
This promise had evidently a good effect on the Zulus. They saw, indeed, that they were not likely to gain anything by force from a white man, who was well prepared to repel it, and was not to be intimidated.
They accordingly shouted out, “Give us the heifer. We will go.”
On this Captain Broderick ordered one of the Hottentots to bring out the animal from a shed at a short distance off. The Hottentot obeyed the order with evident unwillingness; indeed, the poor animal seemed to know, by the way it walked, the fate prepared for it. As it approached, the Zulus rushed forward to seize it, for they considered it rather gained by their own prowess than as a gift.
“We take the heifer because we want food; but understand, we do not abandon the right of search for the fugitives who have rebelled and deserve death,” said the chief, turning to Captain Broderick.
Having thus delivered himself, he stalked off with his followers to the bank of the river, when, plunging in, they waded and swam across the stream, driving the heifer before them.