第25章

So shall they pass in peace. And travelling thus， on the evening of the seventh day we shall come to the gates of the place of Wambe， and nigh the gates there is， so says Maiwa， a koppie very strong and full of rocks and caves， but having no soldiers on it except in time of war， or at the worst but a few such as can easily be overpowered.

"'This being done， at the dawn of day the impi on the mountain behind the town must light a fire and put wet grass on it， so that the smoke goes up. Then at the sight of the smoke we in the koppie will begin to shoot into the town of Wambe， and all the soldiers will run to kill us. But we will hold our own， and while we fight the impi shall charge down the mountain side and climb the schanses， and put those who defend them to the assegai， and then falling upon the town shall surprise it， and drive the soldiers of Wambe as a wind blows the dead husks of corn. This is my plan. I have spoken.'

"'/Ou！/' said Nala， 'it is good， it is very good. The white man is cleverer than a jackal. Yes， so shall it be； and may the snake of the Butiana people stand up upon its tail and prosper the war， for so shall we be rid of Wambe and the tyrannies of Wambe.'

"After that the girl Maiwa stood up， and once more producing the dreadful little dried hand， made her father and several of his head councillors swear by it and upon it that they would carry out the war of vengeance to the bitter end. It was a very curious sight to see.

And by the way， the fight that ensued was thereafter known among the tribes of that district as the War of the Little Hand.

"The next two days were busy ones for us. Messengers were sent out， and every available man of the Butiana tribe was ordered up to 'a great dance.' The country was small， and by the evening of the second day， some twelve hundred and fifty men were assembled with their assegais and shields， and a fine hardy troop they were. At dawn of the following day， the fourth from the departure of the heralds， the main impi， having been doctored in the usual fashion， started under the command of Nala himself， who， knowing that his life and chieftainship hung upon the issue of the struggle， wisely determined to be present to direct it. With them went Maiwa， who was to guide them up the secret path. Of course we were obliged to give them two days' start， as they had more than a hundred miles of rough country to pass， including the crossing of the great mountain range which ran north and south， for it was necessary that the impi should make a wide détour in order to escape detection.

"At length， however， at dawn on the sixth day， I took the road， accompanied by my most unwilling bearers， who did not at all like the idea of thus putting their heads into the lion's mouth. Indeed， it was only the fear of Nala's spears， together with a vague confidence in myself， that induced them to accept the adventure. With me also were about two hundred Butianas， all armed with guns of various kinds， for many of these people had guns， though they were not very proficient in the use of them. But they carried no shields and wore no head-dress or armlets； indeed， every warlike appearance was carefully avoided. With our party went also a sister of Maiwa's， though by a different mother， who strongly resembled her in face and form， and whose mission it was to impersonate the runaway wife.

"That evening we camped upon the top of the cliff up which we had so barely escaped， and next morning at the first breaking of the light we rolled away the stones with which we had blocked the passage some days before， and descended to the hill-side beneath. Here the bodies， or rather the skeletons of the men who had fallen before my rifle， still lay about. The Matuku soldiers had left their comrades to be buried by the vultures. I descended the gully into which poor Gobo had fallen， and searched for his body， but in vain， although I found the spot where he and the other man had struck， together with the bones of the latter， which I recognized by the waist-cloth. Either some beast of prey had carried Gobo off， or the Matuku people had disposed of his remains， and also of my express rifle which he carried. At any rate， I never saw or heard any more of him.

"Once in Wambe's country， we adopted a very circumspect method of proceeding. About fifty men marched ahead in loose order to guard against surprise， while as many more followed behind. The remaining hundred were gathered in a bunch between， and in the centre of these men I marched， together with the girl who was personating Maiwa， and all my bearers. We were disarmed， and some of my men were tied together to show that we were prisoners， while the girl had a blanket thrown over her head， and moved along with an air of great dejection.

We headed straight for Wambe's place， which was at a distance of about twenty-five miles from the mountain-pass.