he said, you must do no more, lest he should send another snake to stop
_you_."

"Did he?" I replied indignantly, for Zikali's power of seeing or
learning about things that happened at a distance puzzled and annoyed
me.

Only Hans grinned and said,

"I told you so, Baas."



On we travelled from day to day, meeting with such difficulties and
dangers as are common on roadless veld in Africa, but no more, for the
grass was good and there was plenty of game, of which we shot what we
wanted for meat. Indeed, here in the back regions of what is known as
Portuguese South East Africa, every sort of wild animal was so numerous
that personally I wished we could turn our journey into a shooting
expedition.

But of this Umslopogaas, whom hunting bored, would not hear. In fact,
he was much more anxious than myself to carry out our original purpose.
When I asked him why, he answered because of something Zikali had told
him. What this was he would not say, except that in the country whither
we wandered he would fight a great fight and win much honour.

Now Umslopogaas was by nature a fighting man, one who took a positive
joy in battle, and like an old Norseman, seemed to think that thus only
could a man decorously die. This amazed me, a peaceful person who