saved me ; but if our own king says ' Kill ! ' we kill ! 

 We see red ; we kill all that lives. I must kill you, 

 your wife, your mother, your children, your horses, 

 your oxen, your dog, the fowls that run with the 

 waggons all that lives I kill. The blood must run." < 

 And I believed him ; for that was the Zulu fighting 

 spirit. So this time I knew it was useless to order or 

 to talk : he was beyond control, and the fit must run 

 its course. 



The night closed in and there was quiet once more. 

 The flames of the camp fires had died down ; the big 

 thorn logs had burnt into glowing coals like the pink 

 crisp hearts of giant water-melons ; Jock lay sleeping, 

 tired out, but even in his sleep came little spells of 

 panting now and then, like the after-sobs of a child 

 that has cried itself to sleep ; we lay rolled in our 

 blankets, and no sound came from where the kaffirs 

 slept. But Jim only Jim sat on his rough three- 

 legged stool, elbows on knees and hands clasped 

 together, staring intently into the coals. The fit 

 worked slowly off, and his excitement died gradually 

 away ; now and then there was a fresh burst, but 

 always milder and at longer intervals, as you may see 

 it in a dying fire or at the end of a great storm ; slowly 

 but surely he subsided until at last there were only 

 occasional mutterings of " Ow, Jock ! " followed by 

 the Zulu click, the expressive shake of the head, and 

 that appreciative half grunt, half chuckle, by which 

 they pay tribute to what seems truly wonderful. He 

 wanted no sleep that night : he sat on, waiting for the 

 morning trek, staring into the red coals, and thinking 

 169 



