him in a dozen places till he streamed red with blood; but the
shield protected his head and the chain-shirt his vitals, and
for minute after minute, aided by the
gallant Zu-Vendi, he still
held the stair.
At last Kara's sword broke, and he grappled with a foe, and they
rolled down together, and he was cut to pieces, dying like the
brave man that he was.
Umslopogaas was alone now, but he never blenched or turned.
Shouting out some wild Zulu battle-cry, he beat down a foe, ay,
and another, and another, till at last they drew back from the
slippery blood-stained steps, and stared at him with amazement,
thinking that he was no
mortal man.
The wall of
marble block was four feet six high now, and hope
rose in my teeth as I leaned there against it a
miserable helpless
log, and ground my teeth, and watched that
glorious struggle.
I could do no more for I had lost my
revolver in the battle.
And old Umslopogaas, he leaned too on his good axe, and, faint
as he was with wounds, he mocked them, he called them 'women'
-- the grand old
warrior,
standing there one against so many!
And for a breathing space none would come against him, notwith
standingNasta's exhortations, till at last old Agon, who, to do him justice,
was a brave man, made with baffled rage, and
seeing that the
wall would soon be built and his plans defeated, shook the great
spear he held, and rushed up the dripping steps.
'Ah, ah!' shouted the Zulu, as he recognized the priest's flowing
white beard, 'it is thou, old "witch-finder"! Come on! I await
thee, white "medicine man"; come on! come on! I have sworn to
slay thee, and I ever keep my faith.'
On he came,
taking him at his word, and drave the big spear with
such force at Umslopogaas that it sunk right through the tough
shield and pierced him in the neck. The Zulu cast down the transfixed
shield, and that moment was Agon's last, for before he could
free his spear and strike again, with a shout of 'There's for
thee, Rain-maker!' Umslopogaas gripped Inkosi-kaas with both
hands and whirled on high and drave her right on to his venerable
head, so that Agon rolled down dead among the corpses of his
fellow-murderers, and there was an end to him and his plots altogether.
And even as he fell, a great cry rose from the foot of the stair,
and looking out through the
portion of the
doorway that was yet
unclosed, we saw armed men rushing up to the
rescue, and called
an answer to their shouts. Then the would-be murderers who yet
remained on the
stairway, and
amongst whom I saw several priests,
turned to fly, but, having
nowhere to go, were butchered as they
fled. Only one man stayed, and he was the great lord Nasta,
Nyleptha's
suitor, and the father of the plot. For a moment
the black-bearded Nasta stood with bowed face leaning on his
long sword as though in
despair, and then, with a
dreadful shout,
he too rushed up at the Zulu, and, swinging the glittering sword
around his head, dealt him such a
mighty blow beneath his guard,
that the keen steel of the heavy blade bit right through the
chain
armour and deep into Umslopogaas' side, for a moment
paralysing him and causing him to drop his axe.
Raising the sword again, Nasta
sprang forward to make an end
of him, but little he knew his foe. With a shake and a yell
of fury, the Zulu gathered himself together and
sprang straight
at Nasta's
throat, as I have sometimes seen a wounded lion spring.
He struck him full as his foot was on the topmost stair, and
his long arms closing round him like iron bands, down they rolled
together struggling
furiously. Nasta was a strong man and a
desperate, but he could not match the strongest man in Zululand,
sore wounded though he was, whose strength was as the strength
of a bull. In a minute the end came. I saw old Umslopogaas
stagger to his feet -- ay, and saw him by a single
gigantic effort
swing up the struggling Nasta and with a shout of
triumph hurl
him straight over the parapet of the
bridge, to be crushed to
powder on the rocks two hundred feet below.
The succour which had been summoned by the girl who had passed
down the stair before the assassins passed up was at hand, and
the loud shouts which reached us from the outer gates told us
that the town was also aroused, and the men awakened by the women
were
calling to be admitted. Some of Nyleptha's brave ladies,
who in their night-shifts and with their long hair streaming
down their backs, just as they had been aroused from rest, went
off to admit them at the side entrance,
whilst others,
assisted
by the rescuing party outside, pushed and pulled down the
marbleblocks they had placed there with so much labour.
Soon the wall was down again, and through the
doorway, followed
by a crowd of
rescuers, staggered old Umslopogaas, an awful and,
in a way, a
glorious figure. The man was a mass of wounds, and
a glance at his wild eye told me that he was dying. The 'keshla'
gum-ring upon his head was severed in two places by sword-cuts,
one just over the curious hold in his skull, and the blood poured
down his face from the gashes. Also on the right side of his
neck was a stab from a spear, inflicted by Agon; there was a
deep cut on his left arm just below where the mail shirt-sleeve
stopped, and on the right side of his body the
armour was severed
by a gash six inches long, where Nasta's
mighty sword had bitten
through it and deep into its wearer's vitals.
On, axe in hand, he staggered, that
dreadful-looking, splendid
savage, and the ladies forgot to turn faint at the scene of blood,
and cheered him, as well they might, but he never stayed or heeded.
With
outstretched arms and tottering gait he pursued his way,
followed by us all along the broad shell-strewn walk that ran
through the
courtyard, past the spot where the blocks of
marblelay, through the round
archeddoorway and the thick curtains
that hung within it, down the short passage and into the great
hall, which was now filling with hastily-armed men, who poured
through the side entrance. Straight up the hall he went, leaving
behind him a track of blood on the
marblepavement, till at last
he reached the
sacred stone, which stood in the centre of it,
and here his strength seemed to fail him, for he stopped and
leaned upon his axe. Then suddenly he lifted up his voice and
cried aloud --
'I die, I die -- but it was a
kingly fray. Where are they who
came up the great stair? I see them not. Art thou there, Macumazahn,
or art thou gone before to wait for me in the dark whither I
go? The blood blinds me -- the place turns round -- I hear the
voice of waters.'
Next, as though a new thought had struck him, he lifted the red
axe and kissed the blade.
'Farewell, Inkosi-kaas,' he cried. 'Nay, nay, we will go together;
we cannot part, thou and I. We have lived too long one with
another, thou and I.
'One more stroke, only one! A good stroke! a straight stroke!
a strong stroke!' and,
drawing himself to his full
height, with
a wild heart-shaking shout, he with both hands began to whirl
the axe round his head till it looked like a
circle of
flaming steel.
Then, suddenly, with awful force he brought it down straight
on to the crown of the mass of
sacred stone. A
shower of sparks
flew up, and such was the almost superhuman strength of the blow,
that the
massivemarble split with a rending sound into a score
of pieces,
whilst of Inkosi-kaas there remained but some fragments
of steel and a fibrous rope of shattered horn that had been the
handle. Down with a crash on to the
pavement fell the fragments
of the holy stone, and down with a crash on to them, still grasping
the knob of Inkosi-kaas, fell the brave old Zulu -- dead.
And thus the hero died.
A gasp of wonder and
astonishment rose from all those who witnessed
the
extraordinary sight, and then somebody cried, 'The
prophecy!
the
prophecy! He has shattered the
sacred stone!' and at once
a murmuring arose.
'Ay,' said Nyleptha, with that quick wit which distinguishes
her. 'Ay, my people, he has shattered the stone, and behold
the
prophecy is fulfilled, for a stranger king rules in Zu-Vendis.
Incubu, my lord, hath beat Sorais back, and I fear her no more,
and to him who hath saved the Crown it shall surely be. And
this man,' she said, turning to me and laying her hand upon my
shoulder, 'wot ye that, though wounded in the fight of yesterday,
he rode with that old
warrior who lies there, one hundred miles
'twixt sun set and rise to save me from the plots of cruel men.
Ay, and he has saved me, by a very little, and
therefore because
of the deeds that they have done -- deeds of glory such as our
history cannot shot the like --
therefore I say that the name
of Macumazahn and the name of dead Umslopogaas, ay, and the name
of Kara, my servant, who aided him to hold the stair, shall be
blazoned in letters of gold above my
throne, and shall be
gloriousfor ever while the land endures. I, the Queen, have said it.'
This spirited speech was met with loud cheering, and I said that
after all we had only done our duty, as it is the fashion of
both Englishmen and Zulus to do, and there was nothing to make
an
outcry about; at which they cheered still more, and then I
was supported across the outer
courtyard to my old quarters,
in order that I might be put to bed. As I went, my eyes lit
upon the brave horse Daylight that lay there, his white head
outstretched on the
pavement, exactly as he had fallen on entering
the yard; and I bade those who supported me take me near him,
that I might look on the good beast once more before he was dragged
away. And as I looked, to my
astonishment he opened his eyes
and, lifting his head a little, whinnied
faintly. I could have
shouted for joy to find that he was not dead, only unfortunately
I had not a shout left in me; but as it was, grooms were sent
for and he was lifted up and wine poured down his
throat, and
in a
fortnight he was as well and strong as ever, and is the
pride and joy of all the people of Milosis, who,
whenever they
see him, point him out to the little children as the 'horse which
saved the White Queen's life'.
Then I went on and got off to bed, and was washed and had my
mail shirt removed. They hurt me a great deal in getting it
off, and no wonder, for on my left breast and side was a black
bruise the size of a saucer.
The next thing that I remember was the tramp of horsemen outside
the palace wall, some ten hours later. I raised myself and asked
what was the news, and they told me that a large body of
cavalrysent by Curtis to
assist the Queen had arrived from the scene
of the battle, which they had left two hours after sundown.
When they left, the wreck of Sorais' army was in full retreat
upon M'Arstuna, followed by all our
effectivecavalry. Sir Henry
was encamping the remains of his worn-out forces on the site
(such is the fortune of war) that Sorais had occupied the night
before, and proposed marching to M'Arstuna on the
morrow. Having
heard this, I felt that I could die with a light heart, and then
everything became a blank.
When next I awoke the first thing I saw was the round disc of
a
sympathetic eyeglass, behind which was Good.
'How are you getting on, old chap?' said a voice from the
neighbourhood of the eyeglass.
'What are you doing here?' I asked
faintly. 'You ought to be
at M'Arstuna -- have you run away, or what?'
'M'Arstuna,' he replied
cheerfully. 'Ah, M'Arstuna fell last
week -- you've been
unconscious for a
fortnight, you see -- with
all the honours of war, you know -- trumpets blowing, flags flying,
just as though they had had the best of it; but for all that,
weren't they glad to go. Israel made for his tents, I can tell
you -- never saw such a sight in my life.'
'And Sorais?' I asked.
'Sorais -- oh, Sorais is a prisoner; they gave her up, the scoundrels,'
he added, with a change of tone -- 'sacrificed the Queen to save
their skins, you see. She is being brought up here, and I don't
know what will happen to her, poor soul!' and he sighed.
'Where is Curtis?' I asked.
'He is with Nyleptha. She rode out to meet us today, and there