Like the people the horses have always
been there. The first and last of these chariots were occupied
by guards, but the centre two were empty, except for the driver,
and to these we were conducted. Alphonse and I got into the
first, and Sir Henry, Good, and Umslopogaas into the one behind,
and then suddenly off we went. And we did go! Among the Zu-Vendi
it is not usual to trot horses either riding or driving, especially
when the journey to be made is a short one -- they go at full
gallop. As soon as we were seated the driver called out, the
horses sprang forward, and we were whirled away at a speed sufficient
to take one's breath, and which, till I got accustomed to it,
kept me in momentary fear of an upset. As for the wretched Alphonse,
he clung with a despairing face to the side of what he called
this 'devil of a fiacre', thinking that every moment was his
last. Presently it occurred to him to ask where we were going,
and I told him that, as far as I could ascertain, we were going
to be sacrificed by burning. You should have seen his face as
he grasped the side of the vehicle and cried out in his terror.
But the wild-looking charioteer only leant forward over his flying
steeds and shouted; and the air, as it went singing past, bore
away the sound of Alphonse's lamentations.
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