CHAPTER TEN.
DICK'S "MAGIC".
The king was reclining upon a sort of sofa, with two or three of hiswives fanning him to drive away the flies, when The Healer wasannounced; but a word caused the women to scuttle off to their ownquarters like frightened rabbits, while Lobelalatutu rose to a sittingposition as Dick entered, followed by Mafuta.
"I see you, O Healer!" exclaimed the king with cordiality, before Dickcould say a word. "Draw near and sit beside me. It is said that youhave news of 'Nkuni for me. Have you seen him?"
"Twice this day have I seen him," answered Dick; "once when I went forthfrom your presence this morning, and again but a short time since. Icame hither directly from his hut."
"And has your skill enabled you to find out what is wrong with him?"demanded the king.
"It has," answered Dick. "Your friend 'Nkuni was slowly dying from theeffects of the same poison that slew the others. But I can save him,and he shall live, it may be to serve you better than some of thosechiefs who, professing to be loyal to you, are secretly planning youroverthrow and death."
"_Au_!" ejaculated Lobelalatutu; "is it so? Then my suspicions were notill-founded. But, tell me, how came you to learn this?"
"When I first visited the hut of 'Nkuni this morning, conducted thitherby the chief Ingona, whom you thought to be 'Nkuni's friend," answeredDick, "I found that Sekosini, the chief witch doctor, had beenadministering to the sick man certain medicines with the alleged purposeof healing him of his sickness. When I entered his hut 'Nkuni seemed tobe nigh unto death, having endured much pain after swallowing a draughtof milk containing medicine supplied by Sekosini. The symptoms werethose of poisoning; I, therefore, took possession of the unwashed vesselwhich had contained the milk, and also the remainder of the medicinesupplied by Sekosini, with the object of examining both. I have not yetdone that, for the examination would take time, and 'Nkuni's case seemedurgent; therefore I went to Sekosini's hut to talk with him about it.And when at length I stood face to face with the witch doctor I laid mymagic upon him, so that he was perforce obliged to tell me all the truthof the matter; and he confessed that 'Nkuni's illness was part of aconspiracy to remove your friends from you, that you might be deposedand slain, and the iniquitous system of government practised byM'Bongwele restored."
"_Au_, it is well!" exclaimed the king in a low stern voice; "it is verywell. The vile, treacherous witch doctor shall be brought hither andplaced before a slow fire until he gives up the names of those who areconspiring with him, and then--"
"Nay," interrupted Dick, "there is no need; Sekosini has alreadyvoluntarily given me the names of those chiefs who are his partners inthe conspiracy against you. They are,"--Dick drew out his pocket bookand read--"Ingona, Lambati, Mapela, Moroosi, Amakosa, N'Ampata, andSekukuni--nay, do nothing rashly, I pray you, but sit still and hearwhat I have to say." For at the mention of those seven names the kinghad sprung to his feet in an access of fury, and seemed about to summonhis guard. But at Dick's persuasion he seated himself again, though hewas much too excited for the moment to listen to his white visitor,muttering over to himself the names of the conspirators.
"Ingona--Ingona," he hissed through his clenched teeth, "the man whom Ibelieved to be the most loyal of all my chiefs, the man who evidentlyfeigned friendship with 'Nkuni only to betray him to his death! But Iwill make a terrible example of these rebels; they shall die such deathsthat--"
"Stop!" commanded Dick. "Is this how the Four Spirits who placed you onthe throne of the Makolo taught you to administer justice?"
"Nay," answered the king. "But this is no ordinary crime; it is asvile, in intention at least, as that of those who conspired againstSeketulo and restored M'Bongwele. Those chiefs were not onlyresponsible for the death of Seketulo, but also for the horrors thatfollowed; they were--"
"Just so," interrupted Dick; "they were all that and more. But eventhat does not justify you in torturing these men to death. Destroythem, by all means, if you will, so that they may never again have theopportunity to do perhaps irreparable mischief; and let their death beso ignominious that it shall be a warning to all others; but let it behumane. In a word, hang them, even as M'Bongwele and M'Pusa, his chiefwitch doctor, were hanged. That surely ought to suffice for allpractical purposes, should it not?"
"Possibly," assented the king unwillingly. "The death by hanging andthe disgrace of it are greatly feared, and it may be that--"
"Yes," interrupted Dick soothingly, "of course it will. Then that issettled, eh? Because I want you to understand that unless youdefinitely promise me that there shall be no torture I shall be obligedto withdraw from this business altogether; moreover, I will take mymagic off Sekosini, and then nothing that you can do will make himconfess or incriminate the others. You know that, don't you?"
"Yes, it is true," admitted the king reluctantly; "Sekosini is veryobstinate; and if he were so minded he would refuse to confess, evenwere he staked out on an ant's nest."
"Of course he would," agreed Dick. "Therefore you see for yourself howfutile anything of that kind would be. It would only make of him amartyr, and of you a cruel, revengeful, suspicious brute in the eyes ofyour people. But if he and his fellow conspirators can be brought toadmit their guilt publicly, you at once become the righteous judge, andscore accordingly. And I can make them confess if they are reallyguilty, as Sekosini asserts."
"Then tell me, O Healer! what do you advise?" asked the king.
"This," answered Dick. "I advise that you summon the whole of yourchiefs to present themselves before you, and when they are assembled,Sekosini shall be called into your presence and commanded to tell hisversion of the story of the conspiracy in the hearing of all the chiefs.Then, if the chiefs implicated have any excuse to offer, let them offerit; if they have not, let them be hanged as plotters against theauthority and person of the king."
"It is well said; the advice is good, and shall be followed," exclaimedthe king. "It shall be done forthwith. I will send forth a messengercommanding all chiefs to present themselves before me in the GreatPlace, in connection with a matter of import; and when they haveassembled, Sekosini also shall be brought hither."
"There is no need for you to trouble about Sekosini," answered Dick."When you require his presence I will bring him to you by the power ofmy magic."
About an hour later Lobelalatutu, having summoned his chiefs, sat uponhis throne in the centre of the Great Place before his palace, with Dickbeside him, and his bodyguard of some five hundred warriors, fullyarmed, arranged in a wide circle round him. Then the chiefs began toarrive, singly, or in twos or threes, until all were present; and aseach arrived he was admitted to the interior of the circle of guards,where he squatted on his haunches before the king, the entire assemblageof chiefs, some thirty in number, forming themselves into an arc of acircle at a distance of about twenty feet from the throne. When atlength it had been ascertained that every chief except the sick 'Nkuniwas present, the king turned to Dick and said:
"Now, O Healer! by the power of your magic, cause Sekosini, the chiefwitch doctor, to come hither, I pray you."
At the king's words there occurred an uneasy movement among theassembled chiefs, some of whom exchanged quick, furtive glances ofapprehension, which were duly noted by Dick and the king. The lattersmiled somewhat sardonically and, beckoning the chief of his bodyguardtoward him, murmured certain instructions in his ear. Meanwhile Dick,concentrating his thoughts upon Sekosini, mentally commanded him at onceto present himself before the king in the Great Place. A quarter of anhour of somewhat painful tension followed, during which no word wasspoken by any one of those who were hemmed in by the circle of armedguards, and then the chief witch doctor was seen approaching. Heentered the circle of the guards, through a gap which was opened to givehim passage--and which instantly closed again behind him--did _bonga_(homage) to the king, and then stood, silent and serene, about midwaybetween the king and the line of sitting chiefs. His aspect of perfect
serenity, due to the fact that he was still completely under Dick'shypnotic influence, seemed to reassure certain of the assembled chiefs,whose faces had shown signs of anxiety; but the fact that The Healer,sitting there silent and impassive beside the king, had been able tosummon Sekosini from a distance, and compel his presence, had been dulynoted, and hands were placed over mouths, and low murmurs of "_Au!'mtagati; 'mkulu 'mtagati_" (a wizard; a great wizard) ran round theassembly.
The king himself was by no means unimpressed by this evidence of Dick'swonderful power. He decided that it was a thing to be remembered; butit in nowise troubled him, for it was being exercised in his behalf.He, however, allowed time for the effect to sink into and take good holdof the minds of the spectators, for he was shrewd enough to recognisethat the possession of such an ally must materially strengthen his ownposition; and at length, when he believed that the incident had producedits full effect, he sprang a new surprise upon his audience by saying,in a loud voice:
"Stand forth, O Sekosini! and tell us what you know concerning thesickness of the chief, 'Nkuni, and the deaths of those other six whohave recently travelled along the Dark Path!"
Then, to the unutterable confusion and dismay of his fellowconspirators, the chief witch doctor, speaking in a loud, clear voice,proceeded clearly and succinctly to unfold detail after detail of theplot for the overthrow of the king, and the means whereby it had beenhoped to accomplish it, including the murder of the six chiefs who, itwas believed, were powerful enough to render the scheme abortive. Asthe full, cold-blooded atrocity of the conspiracy became revealed,murmurs of anger and detestation, low at first, but louder as the storyproceeded, began to run round the line of chiefs, while those who satnext the parties implicated edged away from them on either side as faras possible, until they crouched, isolated, crestfallen, and self-condemned by their guilty countenances, a target for all eyes. Atlength Sekosini's story came to an end, and for a few tense moments aprofound silence ensued. There was not an individual present who didnot realise the vital importance to the entire nation of the issues thathad been raised by the witch doctor's confession, and the manner inwhich those issues would be dealt with by the king. Disaffection,secretly fomented and carefully nurtured, had grown so strong that itnow threatened to disintegrate the whole nation, and unless it werefirmly dealt with would probably split up the Makolo into a number ofpetty tribes, at enmity with each other, and an easy prey to those othernations who surrounded them. Would the king have the courage boldly toseize the hydra-headed menace and choke the life out of it, or would heresort to a policy of temporising and concession? Everybody presentawaited the king's action in breathless suspense, while some werealready grimly counting the number of spears upon which they mightreckon to back them. But the anxious broodings of the assemblage weresuddenly broken in upon by the voice of the king, who, lifting his head,cried in a loud voice:
"Ingona, trusted friend and counsellor of the king, induna of theMakolosi regiment, the very flower and backbone of my army, you haveheard the tale told by Sekosini. Say now, is that tale false, or is ittrue?"
Ingona, a war-scarred veteran of perhaps fifty years of age, tall,straight as a spear shaft, and of commanding presence, rose to his feetand answered in a clear, deep voice:
"It is true, O Mighty One! true in every detail."
"It is true," repeated the king, in a tone of deep sorrow; "yes,unhappily there is no room to doubt it; every word carried conviction ofits truthfulness to my mind. It is true; and the meaning of that isthat the chiefs of the Makolo are divided into two factions, one ofwhich would leave the government of the nation in my hands, while theother would entrust it to--whom?"
"Nay, O Great One! who can say? We had not agreed as to that," answeredIngona.
"Then--after my death--how was the matter to have been decided?"demanded the king.
"Who can say?" again answered Ingona. "We should probably have foughtit out, and the victor would have seized the throne."
"And ye would have set the Makolo at each other's throats for--what?"demanded Lobelalatutu.
"Truly, I know not," answered Ingona, "unless it were to satisfy theambition of Sekosini. He has already confessed that he was theoriginator of the conspiracy, and therein he spoke no more than thetruth. He is guileful as a snake; he has the gift of persuasive speech,and knowing that some of us were chafing under prolonged inaction, heused his cunning and the power of his tongue to stir our discontent intoindignation, and finally into hatred and a fierce determination toeffect a change. By the power of his magic he turned our hearts fromthee, O Great One! and made us long, even as he did, for a return ofsuch days as those when M'Bongwele reigned, when we were ever at war,when our young men became warriors instead of husbandmen, and when weenriched ourselves with the spoils of the vanquished. It was a dazzlingdream that he brought before our eyes, and for a time it blinded me tothe evils that lay behind it, and it is only now, when it is too late,that I perceive that evil, and understand that Sekosini befooled andbewitched me to the end that he might be raised to such power as M'Pusaenjoyed during the reign of M'Bongwele, when he and not M'Bongweleactually ruled the Makolo people. It is enough; I have said!"
"Take him away to his hut; set a guard over him; and see that he escapenot," ordered the king. "If he be not forthcoming when wanted, theofficer and guard who have him in charge shall be crucified. Lambati,you too are implicated in this conspiracy. Have you aught to say inyour defence?"
"Nay, O Great One!" answered Lambati; "I could but repeat the words ofIngona; and what would that avail me? Nothing! I, too, have said!"
"Let him also be taken away, and watched as carefully as Ingona,"ordered the king. "Mapela, have you aught to say in justification ofyour conspiracy against me?"
"Ay, that have I," answered Mapela, springing to his feet and speakingin a defiant tone of voice. "My justification, O Lobelalatutu! is thatunder your governance the Makolo, formerly the most powerful and warlikenation in the world, is fast becoming a nation of women, and thecontempt and laughing-stock of our neighbours. Soon shall we forget theart of war, our young men will sicken at the sight and smell of blood,and we shall become the prey of the first nation that dares attack us.Are not these sufficient reasons for our desire to see thee removed, anda man placed upon the throne in thy stead?"
A low murmur, whether of approval or the reverse it was difficult tosay, ran round the line of assembled chiefs at this defiant speech fromthe mouth of one of the most powerful chiefs of the nation, but itsubsided again instantly.
"Have you aught further to say, O Mapela?" demanded the king.
"Nay," answered Mapela, still in the same defiant tone of voice. "WhatI have already said should surely be sufficient."
"It is," answered the king dryly, as he signed the guards to remove therebel. "Is there anyone present who thinks and feels as does Mapela?"
"Yea!" answered two of the implicated chiefs, named respectively Amakosaand N'Ampata, as they simultaneously sprang to their feet.
"And have you, Amakosa, anything to add to, or take from, what Mapelahas said?" demanded the king.
"Nothing!" briefly answered Amakosa.
"Or you, N'Ampata?" pressed the king.
"Only this, O Great One! that I think it would have been better had weapproached thee and opened our minds to thee before conspiring againstthee. But the plan was Sekosini's, and he would listen to no suchproposal; while I, who had been sworn to secrecy, dared not break myoath," 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 andloyalty 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 thanI, or his power more than mine?"
"He persuaded me that it was; and also that, since in the opinion ofmany you were misgoverning the nation, I should be justified in breakingmy oath of allegiance," was the answer.
"Take the
m away!" commanded the king. And when they had gone he calledupon the two remaining chiefs, Moroosi and Sekukuni, to justifythemselves, if they could.
"I have naught to say, O Great One!" answered Moroosi, "save that, as itwas 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 henot led me secretly to believe that when thou wert gone I should be madeking in thy stead. And the prospect dazzled me, for I believed that Icould govern better than thou."
Again the king waved his hand, and the last two of the conspirators wereled away, amid an intense, breathless, almost ominous silence. For afew 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, thechief witch doctor, and seven of the most powerful and influential amongyou secretly plotted together to destroy me, and, by so doing, to setyou at each other's throats like wolves fighting over a carcass, and yehave also heard what means were adopted to render the plot successful;how six of your number were sent along the Dark Path by the witchcraftof Sekosini, and how another would have taken the same journey but forthe superior witchcraft of him who sits here at my side. It was hispower 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 haspromised to save him and make him whole again. Think ye that it wasmere chance that brought the Healer and his friend the Mighty Hunterinto the land of the Makolo at the moment when, but for them, Sekosini'splot must have been crowned with success? I tell you, nay; it isbecause it has been ordained that I, whom the Four Spirits of the Windsset upon the throne, should continue to rule over you! It is useless toplot against me, who am under the protection of the Spirits; for, as yehave seen, it can but lead to the detection and overthrow of theplotters. Yet the eight who have to-day confessed their guilt beforeyou are not all equally guilty, and therefore their punishment shall notbe equally severe. Had such a thing as this happened in the days ofM'Bongwele they had all died lingering and painful deaths; but I havebeen taught to temper justice with mercy; therefore, while all must bepunished for conspiring against me, their lawful king, their punishmentshall be in strict proportion to their guilt. And this is a matter thatrequires careful consideration; for while, on the one hand, I amdetermined that the punishment shall not be too severe, I am equallydetermined that it shall not be weakly lenient. Go, therefore, now; andto-morrow I will summon you again to hear sentence pronounced upon theguilty ones. You are dismissed."
Five minutes later the Great Place was empty, Dick having followed theking, by the invitation of the latter, into his house. For severalminutes Lobelalatutu remained sunk in a profound reverie, evidentlypondering upon some question of exceeding difficulty; at length,however, he raised his head and said:
"I give you hearty thanks, O Healer, for the help which you haveafforded me in the discovery of those who are concerned in theconspiracy that has this day been revealed. I have for some timesuspected that something of the kind existed, but I dreamed not that itwas so serious, or that so many of my chiefs were involved in it; norcould I devise a means by which to discover the truth. It is yourwisdom, O Healer, that found a way; and now I again desire the help ofthat wisdom to enable me to apportion to each offender a punishmentproportionate to his crime. You heard what each culprit had to say inhis defence, and I doubt not that you saw, as I did, that all were notequally guilty. I am not troubled about Sekosini, Mapela, and Amakosa;their guilt is indisputable, and they die the death; if they werepermitted to live they would but plot against me again. N'Ampata alsois a dangerous man; he, too, is opposed to my system of government, andis not to be trusted; it were better that he should die, than that heshould live and perchance stir up another conspiracy against me, to besuppressed only at the cost of many more lives. A chief is not likeordinary men; he wields power, influence, authority; as he thinks, so dohis followers; and if he were to call his people to arms against evenme, they would obey him, and the country would thus be involved in acivil war, resulting in much slaughter. For the sake of my people Imust prevent this; and the only way to do this is to remove thedisaffected. Is not this the truth, O Healer?"
"Undoubtedly," answered Dick. "It is better that a few should die thanmany; and those who foment rebellion, stir up strife, and incite to actsof violence and murder are even more guilty than the misguidedindividuals who listen to them and act upon their suggestions."
The king nodded his agreement with this expression of opinion.
"Therefore," said he, "in order to prevent the stirring up of strife andthe incitement to bloodshed, Sekosini, Mapela, Amakosa, and N'Ampatamust die. But as to the others I am not so sure. They have conspiredagainst me, it is true; they consented to the slaying of seven of mymost trusted chiefs and counsellors; and they would have brought anarchyupon the people; therefore must they also be punished. Yet Ingona,Lambati, Moroosi, and Sekukuni have all been my friends; they have aidedme with valuable counsel when I have been confronted with problems ofgreat difficulty and danger; and never until now have they shown theleast sign of disloyalty. They are valuable servants whom it would bemost difficult if not altogether impossible to replace; and, above all,I feel almost certain that in their hearts they are not disloyal, butthat, as Ingona said, they have been bewitched and led astray by thecraft of Sekosini. I think that, the head Witch Doctor and his evilinfluence removed, they would henceforward be, as they were aforetime,true, loyal subjects; and I would not destroy them if they may otherwisebe safely dealt with. What does your wisdom advise in their case, OHealer?"
It was a very difficult and delicate question upon which to advise, andDick never, perhaps, felt more heavily handicapped by his youth andinexperience than he did at that moment; yet it was evident that thissavage king, himself at a loss how to deal with the problem, waspractically leaving the decision as to the fate of those four men in hishands, and that, whatever his advice might be, it would be followed.For several minutes he anxiously pondered upon the situation, and thenlight and inspiration suddenly came to him. Why should he not againemploy his marvellous hypnotic powers to solve the problem? He hadalready done so with perfect success in the case of Sekosini; why not inthat of these others? He could place them under his influence and thencompel them to disclose the innermost secrets of their hearts, thusdetermining beyond a doubt exactly how deep their feeling of disloyaltywent and whether it went too deep to be capable of being uprooted andreplaced by one of absolute fidelity in the future. This pointdetermined, he would be able to advise with absolute confidence, or,better still, enable the king to decide for himself. Yes, that wasundoubtedly the best thing to be done, and he turned to Lobelalatutuwith a sigh of relief.
"Listen, O Great One!" he said. "You ask for my advice, and now I amready to give it. Let the four chiefs, Ingona, Lambati, Moroosi, andSekukuni, be brought hither in charge of the guards which you haveplaced over them; then will I lay my magic upon them so that they shallspeak only the plain, simple truth, even as Sekosini spoke it just nowto his own condemnation; and thus shall ye be able to judge exactly howfar each man may be trusted in the future. Is my advice good andacceptable?"
"It is very good, and we will act upon it forthwith," answeredLobelalatutu; and, clapping his hands to summon a messenger, he gaveinstructions that the four chiefs should be at once brought into hispresence. A few minutes later they stood before him, each in charge oftwo fully armed guards; and Dick, after allowing them to stand for afull minute in the oppressive silence that prevailed, in order thattheir minds might be suitably attuned to the ordeal which they were toundergo, suddenly rose to his feet, and, walking up to each man, gazedsteadfastly at him in the peculiar manner which he had already found somarvellously effective, and at once brought him under hypnotic control.
Then, retiring to the seat which he had just quitted, he powerfullywilled that each man should reply with absolute truth and candour to allquestions asked him, concealing nothing, and laying bare the inmostsecrets of his heart. As he thus concentrated his will upon theirs hewatched each man narrowly, and presently, seeing that they were allabsolutely under his control, he raised his hand, and said, in a low,impressive voice:
"Listen, O Ingona, Lambati, Moroosi, and Sekukuni! Lobelatatutu, theking, the Great One, is about to question you further concerning theconspiracy in which ye have been engaged with Sekosini, and it is mywill that ye shall answer his every question truthfully and withoutreservation or concealment of any kind. Ye hear?"
"We hear, O Healer, and we will obey," answered the four, as with onevoice.
"It is well," said Dick. "Now, O Great One! proceed with yourquestions, and be assured that ye shall learn the whole truth."
"Listen, O Ingona," said the king. "A while ago ye attempted to explainto me why ye had joined this conspiracy fomented by Sekosini. Is thereaught more that ye would say in extenuation of your crime?"
"Nothing, O Great One," answered Ingona sadly. "Our crime is too rankto admit of extenuation. It is true that there are those among us whothink that even peace may be bought at too high a price, if that priceincludes the forgetting by our warriors of the art of war, and theimpossibility of training our young men to fight. Never since the deathof M'Bongwele have we been allowed to wash our spears in the blood ofour enemies; and, in the opinion of many, those enemies are consequentlygrowing overbold and insolent. But who are we that we should presume tojudge the king's actions, or to say to him: `Ye shall do this,' or `Yeshall not do that'? To do so is a crime; and the king who tamelysuffers it is too weak to govern so powerful a nation as the Makolo.Yet I committed that crime; and now, when it is too late, when that hasbeen done which may never be undone, my greatest shame and grief arethat I was ever weak enough to open my ears to the beguilings of thatserpent Sekosini, that I ever permitted him to turn my eyes from thestraight path and hide from them, until too late, the dreadfulconsequences that must have ensued had Sekosini's plot succeeded."
"Tis pity that ye saw not all this in time, Ingona," said the kingreproachfully. "Tell me, now--If this conspiracy had ripened tofruition, would you, O Ingona, have taken the field and led yourwarriors against me?"
"Nay," answered Ingona, "that would I not. The time was when, blindedand misled by Sekosini's plausible arguments and misrepresentations, Imight have done so. But that time is past; even before the arrival ofthe Healer I had begun dimly to foresee the evil that must come to thenation through the plot; and it was in my mind to take steps for itsfrustration, but he forestalled me."
"And you, Lambati?" demanded the king.
"Nay, O Great One," answered the chief. "That I conspired against you,and joined your enemies, is true; but I know now that my madness was butmomentary, and that, had the time come, I should have arrayed myself onyour side, and against your enemies."
"And you, Moroosi?" questioned the king.
"As I answered you a while ago, O Great One, as it was with Ingona, sowas it and is it with me. I have no gift of fluent speech, but I prayyou to recall what he said, and to believe that I agree with every word,and would fain say them all again."
"And you, Sekukuni?" reiterated Lobelalatutu.
"I spoke falsely, O King, when I said that I was the victim ofSekosini's wiles," answered Sekukuni. "I think as he thinks, andanswered as I did only in the hope that my punishment might bemitigated. But I tell you, Lobelalatutu, that if yonder white man hadnot interfered and saved you by his magic, I would have fought againstyou, even to the last man; for I was to have been king in your stead;and I know that under my rule the Makolo nation would have recovered allits lost greatness."
The king for a moment looked astounded at this bold and defiant speech,for he had hitherto regarded Sekukuni as one of his most trustworthychiefs; but he quickly recovered from his astonishment, and signed theguards to lead away their prisoners.