334 FEMALE HEROISM. 



for, as a last resource, she appealed to the chief ; but, 

 in spite of her tears and entreaties, he refused to 

 interfere, and at length the marriage took place. 



Three months afterwards, the aged bridegroom, 

 accompanied by his child-wife, visited a mealie 

 garden, some distance from Kania, in which there 

 was a solitary hut. Next day the old man was 

 found murdered, his body being fearfully mutilated. 

 It was evident to all, from the nature and severity 

 of the wounds, that they could not have been in- 

 flicted by this girl unaided, but that she must have 

 had an assistant, or more probably still, that the 

 crime was the action of another, and that she took 

 no active part in its accomplishment. 



After a patient and lengthened hearing, in which 

 every effort was made to compel her to reveal the 

 name of the assassin, the girl was condemned to death. 

 However, no restraint was put upon her actions. 

 Her hut remained unwatched, and every opportunity 

 was afforded her to fly the country. But this she 

 would not do. Times innumerable the old chief and 

 his attendants visited her, promising her her life on 

 condition that she would reveal the name of the 

 person who had committed the deed. This was of no 

 avail. Days drifted into weeks, and weeks into more 

 than a month, when one chilly morning two execu- 

 tioners and a superior officer came to her hut. The 

 last-named placed a noosed rope round her neck, and 

 led her away to the rocks at the back of an adjoining 



