"If he is so great, why, then, did he not save your father also,
Saduko?" I asked, as though I knew nothing of this Zikali.
"I cannot say, Macumazahn. Perhaps the spirits plant a tree for
themselves, and to do so cut down many other trees. At least, so it
happened. It happened thus: Bangu, chief of the Amakoba, whispered into
Dingaan's ear that Matiwane, my father, was a wizard; also that he was
very rich. Dingaan listened because he thought a sickness that he had
came from Matiwane's witchcraft. He said: 'Go, Bangu, and take a company
with you and pay Matiwane a visit of honour, and in the night, O in the
night! Afterwards, Bangu, we will divide the cattle, for Matiwane is
strong and clever, and you shall not risk your life for nothing.'"
Saduko paused and looked down at the ground, brooding heavily.
"Macumazahn, it was done," he said presently. "They ate my father's
meat, they drank his beer; they gave him a present from the king, they
praised him with high names; yes, Bangu took snuff with him and called
him brother. Then in the night, O in the night--!
"My father was in the hut with my mother, and I, so big only"--and he
held his hand at the height of a boy of ten--"was with them. The cry
arose, the flames began to eat; my father looked out and saw. 'Break
through the fence and away, woman,' he said; 'away with Saduko, that he
may live to avenge me. Begone while I hold the gate! Begone to Zikali,
for whose witchcrafts I pay with my blood.' "Then he kissed me on the brow, saying but one word, 'Remember,' and
thrust us from the hut.
"My mother broke a way through the fence; yes, she tore at it with her
nails and teeth like a hyena. I looked back out of the shadow of the hut
and saw Matiwane my father fighting like a buffalo. Men went down before
him, one, two, three, although he had no shield: only his spear. Then
Bangu crept behind him and stabbed him in the back and he threw up his
arms and fell. I saw no more, for by now we were through the fence. We
ran, but they perceived us. They hunted us as wild dogs hunt a buck.
They killed my mother with a throwing assegai; it entered at her back
and came out at her heart. I went mad, I drew it from her body, I ran at
them. I dived beneath the shield of the first, a very tall man, and held
the spear, so, in both my little hands. His weight came upon its point
and it went through him as though he were but a bowl of buttermilk. Yes,
he rolled over, quite dead, and the handle of the spear broke upon the
ground. Now the others stopped astonished, for never had they seen such
a thing. That a child should kill a tall warrior, oh! that tale had not
been told. Some of them would have let me go, but just then Bangu came
up and saw the dead man, who was his brother.