After the turn had once been taken,Good's recovery was rapid and complete.It was not till he was nearly well that Sir Henry told him of all he owed to Foulata;and when he came to the story of how she sat by his side for eighteen hours fearing lest by moving she should wake him,the honest sailor's eyes filled with tears.He turned and went straight to the hut where Foulata was preparing the midday meal (we were back in our old quarters now),taking me with him to interpret in case he could not make his meaning clear to her,though I am bound to say she understood him marvellously as a rule,considering how extremely limited was his foreign vocabulary.
"Tell her,"said Good,"that I owe her my life,and that I will never forget her kindness."I interpreted,and under her dark skin she actually seemed to blush.
Turning to him with one of those swift and graceful motions that in her always reminded me of the flight of a wild bird,she answered softly,glancing at him with her large brown eyes:
"Nay,my lord;my lord forgets!Did he not save my life,and am I not my lord's handmaiden?"It will be observed that the young lady appeared to have entirely forgotten the share which Sir Henry and myself had had in her preservation from Twala's clutches.But that is the way of women!I remember my dear wife was just the same.I retired from that little interview sad at heart.
I did not like Miss Foulata's soft glances,for I knew the fatal amorous propensities of sailors in general,and Good in particular.
There are two things in the world,as I have found it,which cannot be prevented:you cannot keep a Zulu from fighting,or a sailor from falling in love upon the slightest provocation!
It was a few days after this last occurrence that Ignosi held his great "indaba"(council),and was formally recognized as king by the "indunas"(head men)of Kukuanaland.The spectacle was a most imposing one,including,as it did,a great review of troops.On this day the remaining fragment of the Grays were formally paraded,and in the face of the army thanked for their splendid conduct in the great battle.To each man the king made a large present of cattle,promoting them one and all to the rank of officers in the new corps of Grays which was in process of formation.
An order was also promulgated throughout the length and breadth of Kukuanaland that,while we honored the country with our presence,we three were to be greeted with the royal salute,to be treated with the same ceremony and respect that was by custom accorded to the king,and the power of life and death was publicly conferred upon us.Ignosi,too,in the presence of his people,reaffirmed the promises that he had made,to the effect that no man's blood should be shed without trial,and that witch-hunting should cease in the land.
When the ceremony was over we waited upon Ignosi,and informed him that we were now anxious to investigate the mystery of the mines to which Solomon's Road ran,asking him if he had discovered anything about them.
"My friends,"he answered,"this have I discovered.It is there that the three great figures sit,who here are called the `Silent Ones,'
and to whom Twala would have offered the girl,Foulata,as a sacrifice.
It is there,too,in a great cave deep in the mountain,that the kings of the land are buried;there ye shall find Twala's body,sitting with those who went before him.There,too,is a great pit which,at some time,long dead men dug out,mayhap for the stones ye speak of,such as I have heard men in Natal speak of at Kimberley.There,too,in the Place of Death is a secret chamber,known to none but the king and Gagool.But Twala,who knew it,is dead,and I know it not,nor know I what is in it.But there is a legend in the land that once,many generations gone,a white man crossed the mountains,and was led by a woman to the secret chamber and shown the wealth,but before he could take it she betrayed him,and he was driven by the king of the day back to the mountains,and since then no man has entered the chamber.""The story is surely true,Ignosi,for on the mountain we found the white man,"I said.