We cut her loose, and the Zulu hunters, who are
kind folk enough when they are not at war, carried her to camp. In the
end with much trouble we saved the lives of that mother and child. I
sent for the two Mazitus, with whom I could by now talk fairly well,
and asked them why the slavers did these things.
They shrugged their shoulders and one of them answered with a rather
dreadful laugh:
"Because, Chief, these Arabs, being black-hearted, kill those who can
walk no more, or tie them up to die. If they let them go they might
recover and escape, and it makes the Arabs sad that those who have
been their slaves should live to be free and happy."
"Does it? Does it indeed?" exclaimed Stephen with a snort of rage that
reminded me of his father. "Well, if ever I get a chance I'll make
them sad with a vengeance."
Stephen was a tender-hearted young man, and for all his soft and
indolent ways, an awkward customer when roused.
Within forty-eight hours he got his chance, thus: That day we camped
early for two reasons.
Pages:
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179