Brother
John put up a vigorous and well-directed prayer. Mavovo saluted with
the copper assegai and began to give me /sibonga/ or Zulu titles of
praise beneath his breath, and Mrs. Eversley said:
"Oh! I thank God that I have lived to see a brave English gentleman
again," which I thought a great compliment to my nation and myself,
though when I afterwards discovered that she herself was English by
birth, it took off some of the polish.
Next, just after a vivid flash of lightning, for the storm had broken
in earnest now, I ran swiftly to the water's edge, accompanied by
Hans, who was determined to see the last of me.
"Get back, Hans, before the lightning shows you," I said, as I slid
gently from a mangrove-root into that filthy stream, "and tell them to
keep my coat and trousers dry if they can."
"Good-bye, Baas," he murmured, and I heard that he was sobbing. "Keep
a good heart, O Baas of Baases. After all, this is nothing to the
vultures of the Hill of Slaughter. /Intombi/ pulled us through then,
and so she will again, for she knows who can hold her straight!"
That was the last I heard of Hans, for if he said any more, the hiss
of the torrential rain smothered his words.
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