But no reply was deigned; all the expostulations he could offer were without the slightest effect. He and Percy were dragged up to the hut of the chief, before whom the woman was standing. He had just put the important question for her to answer—whether if he went to war he should obtain success over his enemies.
“Success will attend those who are the bravest and most numerous. See yonder host spread out before you. Can you doubt, O Prince, that victory will be yours?” she replied, in a loud chanting tone.
Umbulazi looked highly pleased at this answer.
“You hear what the wise woman says?” he exclaimed, turning to his chiefs.
“We will fight, we will gain the victory,” they shouted.
Denis and Percy were all this time watching the proceedings with the greatest anxiety, wondering what would happen to them.
“What would you have me do with these white boys?” asked the chief.
“They have come as spies into your camp. They are the sons of those who have often tried to dispossess you of your lands. Let them, before the sun sets, be pierced through with assegais, and become as the dust of the earth.”
“What does she say?” asked Percy, observing the expression of Denis’s countenance.
“Something not very pleasant to us. She advises these fellows to kill us. But she has made a mistake, and not for the first time in her life; for she declares that we came into the camp to act as spies. Now the prince and the rest of the chiefs know perfectly well that we were brought in prisoners, and I should think they will have wit enough to see that she knows nothing about the matter.”