San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-07-27

water was quiet but the stream strong.
"Ahl my brother, what shall we do?"
gasped Baleka.
4 '"There is this to choose" answered,
perish on the spears of our people or
! try the river
Easier to die by water than on iron"
she answered.
"Goodr said Now may our snakes
look toward us and the spirits of our
! fathers be with us! At the least we can
swim" And led her to the head of the
pool. We threw away everything ex-
cept an assegai-which | held in my
teeth-and plunged in, wading and swim
ming, the dog Koos leading the way
Then it was that the soldiers appeared
upon the bank. "Ah! little people"
one cried, you swim, do you? Well,
you will drown and if you do not
drown we know a ford, and we will
catch you and kill you" And he hurled
an asseagi after us, which fell between
| us.
! Now we swan hard, for we could
swim we'll. 1t was just this: If we
could reach the bank before we got into
the rapids we were safe; if not, then
! good night! We strained, we struggled
Baleka was brave girl, and she swan
bravely; but the water pushed her down
below me. and | could do nothing to
help her. got my foot upon the rock
and looked around. There she was, and
eight PAGES from her the broken water
boiled, could not go back. But the
dog Koos saw He swan to her bark
ing, then turned around heading for the
shore. She grasped him by the tail
with her right hand. She too struck
out with her feet and her left hand, and
slowly, very slowly, drew near Then
l stretched out the handle of my assegai
toward her. She caught it with her
left hand. pulled and Koos pulled,
and'we brought her to the bank, and
there she fell gasping.
! Now when the soldiers on the other
bank saw that we had crossed, they
shouted threats at us, then ran away
down the bank.
Arise, Baleka," | said; "they have
gone to seek ford"
'Ah, let me der she answered.
But | forced her to rise, and we walked
on till at last far away, we saw large
kraal
Keep heart" said. "See, there is
the kraal of Chaka."
Presently we came to path that ran
to the kraal from the ford of the UNI
folozi. We followed the path till at
last we were but half an hours journey
from the kraal. Then we looked back,
and 10! there behind us were the pursuers.
Again we ran, but they gained upon
us. Then once more | thought of the |
dog. called him and told him what to |
do. He understood, and flew toward
them growing. They tried to kill him
with spears and kerries, but he jumped |
around them, biting at them and kept |
them back. At last man hit him, and |
he sprang up and seized the man by the |
throat. There he chung, man and dog |
rolling over and over together, till the
end of it was that they both died to-
gether.
Meanwhile we were but three hundred |
PAGES from the gate of the kraal.
Run on, Baleka, run onr' said,
dropping behind. Now she staggered
on toward the kraal. | sat down to get
my breath again, for was about to fight
four men.
The men were running, two and two,
with the length of spear throw between
them. But of the first pair one was five
or six PAGES in front of the other. This
man shouted out loud and charged me,
shield and spear up. stood waiting for
him till he drew back the spear to stab
me. Then suddenly | dropped to my
knees and thrust upward with all my
strength beneath the rim of his shield;
and he also thrust, but over me, his
spear only cutting the skin of my shout
der. And my assegai? Ali it ran
through and through his middle. He
rolled over and over ON the plain.
was now weaponless, for the haft of my
spear-it was but a light throwing asse-
in two, leaving nothing but
a little bit of stick in my hand. And
the other one was on mel He looked tall
as tree above me.
| fell onto my hands and knees and
flung myself over sideways. Ny body
struck the legs of the man about to stab
me, lifting his feet from beneath him.
Down he came heavily. Before he had
touched the ground | was off it. His :
spear had fallen from his hand. Istoop- :
ed, seized it, and as he rose stabbed him
through the back. In the shake of a
eaf he also was dead. Then ran, for =
ny valor was gone. About a hundred
PAGES from me Baleka was staggering
llong. By the time caught her she =
vas some forty PAGES from the gate of !
he kraal. But then her powers left =
Ter altogether. Yesl there she fell :,