Still, being possessed with a
sincere desire to discover the truth and execute justice, she did very
well. The matter in dispute was a large one, that of the ownership of a
great herd of cattle which was claimed as an inheritance by each of the
parties. Rachel soon discovered that both these men were very powerful
chiefs, and that the reason of their cause being remitted to her was that
the King knew that if he decided in favour of either of them he would
mortally offend the other.
For a long while Rachel, seated on her stool, listened silently to the
impassioned pleadings of the plaintiff's lawyers. Presently this plaintiff
was called as a witness, and in the course of his evidence said something
which convinced her that he was lying. Then breaking her silence for the
first time, she asked him how he dared to give false witness before the
Inkosazana-y-Zoola, to whom the truth was always open, and who was
acquainted with every circumstance connected with the cattle in dispute.
The man, seeing her eyes fixed upon him, and being convinced of her
supernatural powers, grew afraid, broke down, and publicly confessed his
attempted fraud, into which he said he had been led by envy of his cousin,
the defendant's, riches.
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