Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1892-08-05

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turned to water and they could not.
Then |, Mopo, sprang forward and
picked from the ground that little as.
scgai handled with the royal woOd-the
same assegai with which Chaka had
murdered Unandi his mother and
Moosa my son-and lifted it on high;
and while lifted it. my father, once
more, as when was young, red veil
seemed to wave before my eyes.
Wherefore wouldst thou kill me,
Mopo:" said the king.
For the sake of Baleka, my sister, to
whom l swore the deed, and of all my
KIM" l cried, and plunged the spear
through him. He sank down upon the
tanned OK hide and lay there dying.
Once more he spoke, and once only, say
ing. Would now that / had hearkened
to the voice of Nobela, who warned me
against thee, thou dog" Then he was
silent forever. But l knelt over him
and called in his ear the names Of those
Of my blood who had died at his hands
the name of Makedama my father, of
my mother, of Anadi my wife, of Moosa
my son. and all my other wives and
children. and Of Baleka my sister. His
eyes were open. and think that he saw
and understood. At the least, he turned
his head aside, shut his eyes and groaned.
Presently he was dead.
Thus. then, my father, did Chaka the
king, the greatest man who ever lived
in Zululand, and the most evil, pass by
my hand to those kraals of the Inkosa-
zaHa where he sleep is. In blood he
died rs he had lived in blood. But it is
lie to say, as some do, that he died a
coward, praying for mercy. Chaka died
as he had lived, a brave man.
Now he was dead and the regiment Of
the Bees drew near, nor could know
how they would take this matter, for,
though the Prince Umhlangana was
their general. yet all the soldiers loved
the king because he had no equal in bat
tie, and when he gave he gave with an
open hand. looked around; the princes
stood like men amazed; the girl had fed;
the chief Umxamama was dead at the
hands of dead Masilo, and the old chief
InguaZonca. who had killed Masilo,
stood by hurt and wondering There
were no others in the kraal.
Awake, we kings" l cried to the
brothers; 1.-The impi is at the gates!
Swift, now stab that mainland point
ed to the old chief-"and leave the mat
ter to my wit"
Then Dingaan reused himself, and
springing upon Inguazonca, the brother
Of Unandi. smote him great blow with
his spear, SO that he sank down dead
without a word. Then again the princes
stood silent and amazed.
This one will tell no tales" 1 cried,
pointing to the fallen chief.
Now a rumor of the Staying had got
abroad among the women, who had
heard cries and seen the flashing of
spears above the fence, and from the
women it had come to the regiment Of
the Bees, who had advanced to the gates
Of the kraal singing. Then of sudden
they ceased their singing and rushed
toward the little kraal where we stood.
Then / ran to meet them, uttering
cries Of woe. holding in my hand the
little assegai of the king red with the
kings blood, and spoke with the cap
tains in the gate. saying:
Lament. ye captsins and We soldiers,
weep and lament, for your father is no
more! He who nursed you is no more!
The king is deadi Now earth and
heaven will come together. for the king
is deadw
"How so. Mopo" cried the leader Of
the Bees. ''How is our father deadY'
HE is dead by the hand of a wicked
wanderer named Masilo, who, when he
was doomed to die by the king, snatched
this assegai from the kings hand and
stabbed him; and afterward, before he
could be cut down himself by us three,
the princes and myself. he killed the
chiefs Inguazonca and Umxamama also.
Draw near and look on him who was
the king; it is the command of Dingaan
and Umhlangana, the kings, that you
draw near and look ON him who was tho
king, that his death at the hand Of
Masilo may be told through all the
land"
Now my tale is not of the reign of
Chaka, but Of the lives Of handful of
people who lived in those days, and Of
whom ! and Umslopogaas alone are left
.afve-if indeed Umslopogaas, the son
OF Chaka, is still living on the earth.
Therefore in few words l will pass
over all that came about after the fall
Of Chaka and till was sent down by
Dingaan, the king, to summon him to
surrender to the king who was called
the Slaughterer and who ruled the Peo-
pie Of the Ak. Ali would that had
known for certain that this was none
other than Umslopogaas, for then had
Dingaan gone the way that Chaks
went and which Umhlangana followed,
and Umslopogaas had ruled the people
OF the Zulus as their king. But, alasi
my wisdom failed me. paid no heed
to the voice Of my heart which told me
that this was Umslopogaas who sent
the message to Chaka threatening venge-
ance for one Mopo, and l knew moth
ing till too late; surely, thought, the
man spoke Of some other Mopo. For
thus, my father, does destiny make
fools of us men.
This came about, my father. Matters
were made straight in the land after the
death Of Chaka. At first people said
that Masilo, the stranger, had stabbed
the king; then it was known that Mopo,
the wise man, the doctor and body serv-
ant Of the king, had slain the king,
and that the two great bulls, his broth
ers Umhlangana and Dingaan, children
of Senzangacona, had also lifted spears
against him. But he was dead and earth
and heaven had not come together. So
what did it matter? Moreover the two
new kings promised to deal gently with
the people and tighten the heavy yoke
of Chaka, and men in q bad case are
always ready to hope for better. So
it came about that the only enemies the
princes found were each other and
Engwade, the son of Unandi, Chaka's
half brother. But l, Mopo, who was
now the first man i'll the land after the
kings, ceasing to be doctor and becom-
ing a general, went up against Engwade
with the regiment Of the Bees and the
regiment of the Slayers and smote him
in his kraals. 1t was a hard fight, but
in the end l destroyed him and all his
x,ao,la E,n.rxaxla E;lla1 OF 0ht man with