"So,Macumazahn,thou seest we have no water here,and but a little food,and we must choose between these three things -to languish like a starving lion in his den,or to strive to break away towards the north,or"-and here he rose and pointed towards the dense mass of our foes -"to launch ourselves straight at Twala's throat.Incubu,the great warrior -for to-day he fought like a buffalo in a net,and Twala's soldiers went down before his axe like corn before the hail;with these eyes I saw it -Incubu says `charge';but the Elephant is ever prone to charge.Now what says Macumazahn,the wily old fox,who has seen much and loves to bite his enemy from behind?The last word is in Ignosi,the king,for it is a king's right to speak of war;but let us hear thy voice,O Macumazahn,who watchest by night,and the voice too of him of the transparent eye.""What sayest thou,Ignosi?"'I asked.
"Nay,my father,"answered our quondam servant,who now,clad as he was in the full panoply of savage war,looked every inch a warrior king,"do thou speak,and let me,who am but a child in wisdom beside thee,hearken to thy words."Thus abjured,I,after taking hasty counsel with Good and Sir Henry,delivered my opinion briefly to the effect that,being trapped,our best chance,especially in view of the failure of our water supply,was to initiate an attack upon Twala's forces,and then I recommended that the attack should be delivered at once,"before our wounds grew stiff,"and also before the sight of Twala's overpowering force caused the hearts of our soldiers "to wax small like fat before a fire."Otherwise,I pointed out,some of the captains might change their minds,and,making peace with Twala,desert to him,or even betray us into his hands.
This expression of opinion seemed,on the whole,to be favorably received;indeed,among the Kukuanas my utterances met with a respect which has never been accorded to them before or since.But the real decision as to our course lay with Ignosi,who,since he had been recognized as rightful king,could exercise the almost unbounded rights of sovereignty,including,of course,the final decision on matters of generalship,and it was to him that all eyes were now turned.
At length,after a pause,during which he appeared to be thinking deeply,he spoke:
"Incubu,Macumazahn,and Bougwan,brave white men,and my friends;Infadoos,my uncle,and chiefs;my heart is fixed.I will strike at Twala this day,and set my fortunes on the blow,ay,and my life;my life and your lives also.Listen:thus will I strike.Ye see how the hill curves round like the half-moon,and how the plain runs like a green tongue towards us within the curve?""We see,"I answered.
"Good;it is now midday,and the men eat and rest after the toil of battle.When the sun has turned and travelled a little way towards the dark,let thy regiment,my uncle,advance with one other down to the green tongue.And it shall be that when Twala sees it he shall hurl his force at it to crush it.But the spot is narrow,and the regiments can come against thee one at a time only;so shall they be destroyed one by one,and the eyes of all Twala's army shall be fixed upon a struggle the like of which has not been seen by living man.And with thee,my uncle,shall go Incubu,my friend,that when Twala sees his battle-axe flashing in the first rank of the `Grays'his heart may grow faint.And I will come with the second regiment,that which follows thee,so that if ye are destroyed,as it may happen,there may yet be a king left to fight for;and with me shall come Macumazahn the wise.""It is well,O King,"said Infadoos,apparently contemplating the certainty of the complete annihilation of his regiment with perfect calmness.Truly these Kukuanas are a wonderful people.Death has no terrors for them when it is incurred in the course of duty.
"And while the eyes of the multitude of Twala's regiments are thus fixed upon the fight,"went on Ignosi,"behold,one third of the men who are left alive to us"(i.e.,about six thousand)"shall creep along the right horn of the hill and fall upon the left flank of Twala's force,and one third shall creep along the left horn and fall upon Twala's right flank.And when I see that the horns are ready to toss Twala,then will I,with the men who are left to me,charge home in Twala's face,and if fortune goes with us the day will be ours,and before Night drives her horses from the mountains to the mountains we shall sit in peace at Loo.
And now let us.eat and make ready;and,Infadoos,do thou prepare,that the plan be carried out;and stay,let my white father,Bougwan go with the right horn,that his shining eye may give courage to the men."The arrangements for the attack thus briefly indicated were set in motion with a rapidity that spoke well for the perfection of the Kukuana military system.Within little more than an hour rations had been served out to the men and devoured,the three divisions were formed,the plan of attack explained to the leaders,and the whole force,with the exception of a guard left with the wounded,now numbering about eighteen thousand men in all,was ready to be put in motion.
Presently Good came up and shook hands with Sir Henry and myself.
"Good-bye,you fellows,"he said,"I am off with the right wing,according to orders;and so I have come to shake hands in case we should not meet again,you know,"he added,significantly/We shook hands in silence,and not without the exhibition of as much emotion as Englishmen are wont to show.
"It is a queer business,"said Sir Henry,his deep voice shaking a little,"and I confess I never expect to see to-morrow's sun.As far as I can make out,the Grays,with whom I am to go,are to fight until they are wiped out in order to enable the wings to slip round unawares and outflank Twala.Well,so be it;at any rate,it will be a man's death!
Good-bye,old fellow.God bless you!I hope you will pull through and live to collar the diamonds;but if you do,take my advice and don't have anything more to do with pretenders!"In another second Good had wrung us both by the hand and gone;and then Infadoos came up and led off Sir Henry to his place in the forefront of the Grays,while,with many misgivings,I departed with Ignosi to my station in the second attacking regiment.