The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-09-06

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Then OF sudde1i thTebO the blanket
from Ty face.
All that night we watched. but we
neither saw nor heard any more of the
wolves nor of the men who hunted with
them. On the morrow, at dawn. l sent
a runner to Dulalio, chief of the People
of the Ak. saying that a messenger came
| to him from Dingaan. the king. who de-
sired to speak with him in peace within
the gates of his kraal. charged the
messenger, however. that he should not
tell my name, but should say only that
it was Mouth of Dingaan." Then i
and those with me followed slowly on
the path.
Around the base of the great Ghost
mountain we met no one, but once we
came to the ruins of a kraal, and in it
lay the broken bones of many men, and
with the bones rusty aSsegais and the
remains of OK hide shields. black and
white in color Now | examined the
shields and knew from their color that
they had been carried i'll the hands of
those soldiers who years ago were sent
out by Chaka to seek for Omslopogaas
but who had returned no lore
Now said, lit hs Jared i'll with
those soldiers of the Black One who is
gone.
These are the shields they bore and
those are the skulls they wore" an
swered one. ''See. Mopo. son of Make
dana, this is no mans work that has
brought them to their death. Men do
not break the bones of their foes in
pieces as these bones are broken. Wow!
Men do not break them. but wolves do.
and last night we saw wolves a-hunting;
nor did they hunt alone. Mopo. Wow.
This is haunted land!"
At length, an hour before shutdown.
we came to the open lands, and there.
ON the crest of a rise beyond the river
we saw the kraa! of the People of the
AK. 1t was a great kraal and we'll
built, and their cattle were spread about
the plains like to herds of game for mum
Der. We went to the river and passed
it by the ford, then sat down and waited
till presently saw the man whom /
had sent forward returning toward us
He came and saluted Inc, and asked
him for news.
This is my news, Mopo," he said. Il
have seen him who is named Bulalio.
and he is a great nan-long and lean,
with fierce face and carrying a mighty
ax-such an ak as he bore last night
who hunted with the wolves. When
had been led before the chief l saluted
him and spoke 10 him-the words you
laid upon my tongue l spoke to him. He
listened, then laughed aloud and said
Tell him who sent you that the Month
of Dingaan shall be welcome and shall
speak the words of Dingaan IL peace.
yet l would that Ii We're the head Of
DinGaan that came, and not bis LIoUth
hnly, for then AK GrOannaEer should
;oin in our talk-aye, because Of one
Mopo, whom his brother Chal-a muir
dered, itwouh also speak with DinSaan.
Still, the mouth Is not the head, 50 the
mouth may come IN peace.
Now / started when for the second
time / heard talk of one Mopo, whose
name had been ON the lips of BulahO the
Slaughterer. Who was there who would !
thus have loved Mopo except one who |
was hong dead?
There were none to meet us at the |
gates, and none stood by the doors of
the huts within them but beyond. from |
the cattle kraal that was in the center of !
the butts, rose a dust and din as of men !
gathering for war. Now some of those |
with me were afraid and would SIave |
turned back. fearing treachery, and they |
We're yet more afraid when, on corning |
to the inner entrance OF the cattle kraal.
we saw some five hundred soldiers t,eing |
mustered there, company by company,
by two great men. who ran up and down
the ranks shouting.
But l cried: Nay, nay. Turn not
back! Bold looks melt the hearts of
foes. Moreover. if this Buialio would
have murdered rs there was 10 need for
him to call mp so many Of his warriors.
He Is a proud chief and would show his
might, not knowing that the king we
serve can muster company for every
man he has Let Us go on boldly"
So he walked forward toward the imp
that YVES gathered on the farther side of
the kraal. Now the two great men
who were Inarshafng the soldiers saw
Us and came to meet US, ono following
the other. lie who came first bore the
Ak upon his shoulder and he who fol-
lowed swung a huge club. looked
upon the foremost of them, and ahl my
father, my heart grew faint with JOY,
for knew HIM across the years. 1t was
Umslopogaas-my fostering, Umslopo-
yaas-and none other, now grown into
manhood-aye, into such man as was
not to he found beside him in Zululand.
He was great and fierce. somewhat
spare in frame. but wide shouldered
and shallow fanked. His arms were