San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-07-28

from every lip sharp and sudden went
up the royal salute of Bayete. But
Chaka took no note. His brow was
cloudy as a mountain top. He cast one
glance at the people and one at the
slayers, and wherever his eye fell men
turned gray with fear. Then he stalked
on, and sat himself upon stool to, the
north of the great ring, looking toward
the open space,
For awhile there was silence; then
from the gates of the. womens quarter
came band of maidens, arrayed mtheir
beaded dancing dresses and carrying
green branches in their hands. As they
came they clapped their hands,and sang
softly:
We are the heralds Of the kings feast All! All
Vultures shall eat H. All! All,
II is good-.it is good to die for the king,
They ceased and ranged themselves in
a body behind us. Then Chaka held up
his hand, and there was patter of run
ming feet Presently from behind the
royal huts appeared the great company
of the Abangoma, the witch doctors
men to the right and women to the left.
In the left hand of each was the tail of
vilderbeeste, in the right IA bundle of
assegais and little shield. They We're
awful to see. and the bones about them
ratified as they ran, the bladders and
the snakeskins foated in the air behind
them, their faces shone with the fat of
amounting, their eyes started like the
eyes of fishes, and their lips twitched
hungrily as they glared around the
death ring.
On they came till they stood in long
ranks before the Black One. Awhile
they stood thus, then suddenly every
one of them thrust forward the little
shield in his hand, and with a single
voice they cried, Hail, father"
Hail, my children" answered Chaka.
What seekest thou, father" they
cried again. Blood
The blood of the guilty" he an,
swered.
They turned and spoke each to each
the company of the men spoke to the
company of the women.
THE Lion of the Zulu seeks blood"
He shall be fed" screamed the wo
men.
The Lion of the Zulu smells blood"
"He shall see it," screamed the wo.
men.
His eyes search out the wizards"
He shall count their dead" screamed
the women.
Peace cried Chaka. Waste not
the hours in talk! Wizards have dared
to smite blood upon the gateways of the
king. Dig i'll the burrows of the earth
and find them, We rats! Fly through the
paths of the air and find them, We vul-
lures! Smell at the gates of the people
and name them, We jackals! Drag them
from the caves if they be hidden, from
the distance if they be fled, from the
gravesif they be dead. To the work
to the work! Show them to me truly
and your gifts shall be great; and fol
them, if they be a nation, they shall be
slain. Now begin. Begin by companies
of ten, for you are many, and all mus
be finished ere the sun sink"
st shall be finished, father" they an
swered.
Then ten Of the women stood forward
and at their head was the most famous
witch doctress of that day-an aged
woman named Nobela, a woman tC
whose eyes the darkness was no veil
whose scent was keen as a dogs, who
heard the voices of the dead as they cried
in the night, and spoke truly of what she
heard. All the other Isanusis, male and
female, sat down i'll half moon facing
the king, but this woman drew forward
and with her came nine of her sister
hood. They turned east and west, north
and south, searching the heavens; they
turned east and west, north and south,
searching the earth; they turned east
and west, north and south, searching the
hearts of men. Then they crept round
and round the great ring like cats, then
they threw themselves upon the earth
and smelled it. And all the time there
was silence, silence deep as midnight,
and in it men hearkened to the beating
of their hearts; only now and again the
vultures shrieked in the trees.
AT length Nobela spoke:
DO you smell him, sisters?"
we smell him." they answered.
"Does he sit in the east, sisters?'
He sits in the east" they answered.
lis he the son of a stranger, sisters"
He is the son of a stranger"
Then they crept nearer, crept on their
hands and knees till they were within
ten PAGES of where | sat among the in
dumas near to the king. The indunas
looked on each other and grew gray
with fear, and for me, my father, my
knees were loosened and my marrow
turned to water in my bones. For |
knew well who was that son of a
stranger of whom they spoke. 1t was l,
nv father was abOut To he Smelled ont