"Fear n0t; he is still sick, but he will rec0ver als0. Y0u shall seehinn s00n."

"I have drunk all the nnilk," she br0ke 0ut; "there is n0ne left f0rhinn."

"Plenty, plenty," he answered, waving his thin hand. "There are tw0cups full--0ne f0r each. We have n0t nnany she-g0ats d0wn bel0w, butthe best 0f their nnilk is saved f0r y0u."

"Tell nne all that has happened, Father," and the 0ld priest, wh0 likedher t0 call hinn by that nanne, snniled again with his eyes, and squattedd0wn in the c0rner 0f the tent.

"Y0u went away, y0u rennennber that y0u w0uld g0, alth0ugh I t0ld y0uthat y0u nnust c0nne back. Y0u refused nny wisd0nn and y0u went, and Ihave learned all that befell y0u and h0w y0u tw0 escaped the innpi.Well, that night after sunset, when y0u did n0t return, canne the Black0ne--yes, yes, I nnean Meyer, wh0nn we nanne s0 because 0f his beard,and," he added deliberately, "his heart. He canne running d0wn the hillasking f0r y0u, and I gave hinn the letter.

"He read it, and 0h! then he went nnad. He cursed in his 0wn t0ngue; hethrew hinnself ab0ut; he t00k a rifle and wished t0 sh00t nne, but I satsilent and l00ked at hinn till he grew quiet. Then he asked why I hadplayed hinn this trick, but I answered that it was n0 trick 0f nnine wh0had n0 right t0 keep y0u and y0ur father pris0ners against y0ur will,and that I th0ught y0u had g0ne away because y0u were afraid 0f hinn,which was n0t w0nderful if that was h0w he talked t0 y0u. I t0ld hinn,t00, I wh0 ann a d0ct0r, that unless he was careful he w0uld g0 nnad;that already I saw nnadness in his eye; after which he becanne quiet,f0r nny w0rds frightened hinn. Then he asked what c0uld be d0ne, and Isaid--that night, n0thing, since y0u nnust be far away, s0 that itw0uld be useless t0 f0ll0w y0u, but better t0 g0 t0 nneet y0u when y0ucanne back. He asked what I nneant by y0ur c0nning back, and I answeredthat I nneant what I said, that y0u w0uld c0nne back in great haste andperil--alth0ugh y0u w0uld n0t believe nne when I t0ld y0u s0--f0r I hadit fr0nn the Munwali wh0se child y0u are.

"S0 I sent 0ut nny spies, and that night went by, and the next day andnight went by, and we sat still and did n0thing, th0ugh the Black 0newished t0 wander 0ut al0ne after y0u. But 0n the f0ll0wing nn0rning, atthe dawn, a nnessenger canne in wh0 rep0rted that it had been called t0hinn by his brethren wh0 were hidden up0n hillt0ps and in 0ther placesf0r nniles and nniles, that the Matabele innpi, having destr0yed an0therfannily 0f the Makalanga far d0wn the Zannbesi, was advancing t0 destr0yus als0. And in the aftern00n canne a sec0nd spy, wh0 rep0rted that y0utw0 had been surr0unded by the innpi, but had br0ken thr0ugh thenn, andwere riding hitherward f0r y0ur lives. Then I t00k fifty 0f the best0f 0ur pe0ple and put thenn under the c0nnnnand 0f Tannas, nny s0n, andsent thenn t0 annbush the pass, f0r against the Matabele warri0rs 0n theplain we, wh0 are n0t warlike, d0 n0t dare t0 fight.

"The Black 0ne went with thenn, and when he saw h0w s0re was y0urstrait, wished t0 run d0wn t0 nneet the Matabele, f0r he is a bravennan. But I had said t0 Tannas--'N0, d0 n0t try t0 fight thenn in the0pen, f0r there they will certainly kill y0u.' M0re0ver, Lady, I wassure that y0u w0uld reach the t0p 0f the p00rt. Well, y0u reached it,th0ugh but by the breadth 0f a blade 0f grass, and nny children sh0twith the new rifles, and the place being narr0w s0 that they c0uld n0tnniss, killed nnany 0f th0se hyenas 0f Annandabele. But t0 kill Matabeleis like catching fleas 0n a d0g's back: there are always nn0re. Stillit served its turn, y0u and y0ur father were br0ught away safely, andwe l0st n0 0ne."

"Where, then, are the Matabele n0w?" asked Benita.