A voice said in the Kaffir tongue:
"Seize that fellow and bind him."
Instantly, before he could do anything, before he could even turn, Richard
was torn from her, struggling furiously, and thrown to the ground. Rachel
sprang to the wall and stood with her back to it, raising the spear she
held. It flashed into her mind that these were Zulus, and of Zulus she was
not afraid.
"What dogs are these," she cried, "that dare to lift a hand against the
Inkosazana and her servant?"
The black men about her swayed and murmured, then made way for a man who
walked up the steps of the stoep. The moonlight fell upon him and she saw
that it was Ishmael.
"Rachel," he said, taking off his hat politely, "these are my people. We
saw that white scoundrel assault you, and of course seized him at once. As
you know a dreadful thing has happened here. This afternoon the Zulus
killed your father and mother, or rather they killed your father, and your
mother, who was ill, died with the shock, because they refused to go to
Zululand whither Dingaan had ordered that they should be taken. So seeing
that you were travelling here I came to rescue you, lest you should fall
into their hands, and," he added lamely, "you know the rest."
Ishmael had spoken in English, but Rachel answered him in Zulu.
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