I proffered him the whole box, but he would not take it, saying that the
King would like me to give it to him myself. Now I understood that this
was a summons to an audience, and asked when it would please Panda
to receive me and "the-little-black-stones-that-work-wonders." He
answered--at once.
So we started, and within an hour I stood, or rather sat, before Panda.
Like all his family, the King was an enormous man, but, unlike Chaka and
those of his brothers whom I had known, one of a kindly countenance.
I saluted him by lifting my cap, and took my place upon a wooden stool
that had been provided for me outside the great hut, in the shadow of
which he sat within his isi-gohlo, or private enclosure.
"Greeting, O Macumazana," he said. "I am glad to see you safe and well,
for I understand that you have been engaged upon a perilous adventure
since last we met."
"Yes, King," I answered; "but to which adventure do you refer--that
of the buffalo, when Saduko helped me, or that of the Amakoba, when I
helped Saduko?"
"The latter, Macumazahn, of which I desire to hear all the story."
So I told it to him, he and I being alone, for he commanded his
councillors and servants to retire out of hearing.
"Wow!" he said, when I had finished, "you are clever as a baboon,
Macumazahn. That was a fine trick to set a trap for Bangu and his
Amakoba dogs and bait it with his own cattle. But they tell me that you
refused your share of those cattle. Now, why was that, Macumazahn?"
By way of answer I repeated to Panda my reasons, which I have set out
already.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, when I had finished. "Every one seeks greatness in
his own way, and perhaps yours is better than ours. Well, the White man
walks one road--or some of them do--and the Black man another. They both
end at the same place, and none will know which is the right road till
the journey is done. Meanwhile, what you lose Saduko and his people
gain. He is a wise man, Saduko, who knows how to choose his friends, and
his wisdom has brought him victory and gifts. But to you, Macumazahn, it
has brought nothing but honour, on which, if a man feeds only, he will
grow thin."
"I like to be thin, O Panda," I answered slowly.
"Yes, yes, I understand," replied the King, who, in common with most
natives, was quick enough to seize a point, "and I, too, like people who
keep thin on such food as yours, people, also, whose hands are always
clean. We Zulus trust you, Macumazahn, as we trust few white men, for we
have known for years that your lips say what your heart thinks, and
that your heart always thinks the thing which is good. You may be named
Watcher-by-Night, but you love light, not darkness."