Child of Storm | Page 8

is so
great and has such mighty spirits for his servants, saved and sheltered
me."
"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.
"'Wow!' he said when he knew how the man had died. 'This lion's cub
is a wizard also, for how else could he have killed a soldier who has
known war? Hold out his arms that I may finish him slowly.'
"So two of them held out my arms, and Bangu came up with his spear."
Saduko ceased speaking, not that his tale was done, but because his
voice choked in his throat. Indeed, seldom have I seen a man so moved.
He breathed in great gasps, the sweat poured from him, and his muscles
worked convulsively. I gave him a pannikin of water and he drank, then
he went on:
"Already the spear had begun to prick--look, here is the mark of
it"--and opening his kaross he pointed to a little white line just below
the breast-bone--"when a strange shadow thrown by the fire of the
burning huts came between Bangu and me, a shadow as that of a toad
standing on its hind legs. I looked round and saw that it was the shadow
of Zikali, whom I had seen once or twice. There he stood, though
whence he came I know not, wagging his great white head that sits on
the top of his body like a pumpkin on an ant-heap, rolling his big eyes
and laughing loudly.
"'A merry sight,' he cried in his deep voice that sounded like water in a
hollow cave. 'A merry sight, O Bangu, Chief of the Amakoba! Blood,
blood, plenty of blood! Fire,