With a supreme effort Twala swung the Englishman clean off his feet,and down they came together,rolling over and over on the lime paving,Twala striking out at Curtis's head with the battle-axe,and Sir Henry trying to drive the tolla he had drawn from his belt through Twala's armor.
It was a mighty struggle and an awful thing to see.
"Get his axe!"yelled Good;and perhaps our champion heard him.
At any rate,dropping the tolla,he made a grab at the axe,which was fastened to Twala's wrist by a strip of buffalo-hide,and,still rolling over and over,they fought for it like wildcats,drawing their breath in heavy gasps.Suddenly the hide string burst,and then,with a great effort,Sir Henry freed himself,the weapon remaining in his grasp.Another second and he was up on his feet,the red blood streaming from the wound in his face,and so was Twala.Drawing the heavy tolla from his belt,he staggered straight at Curtis and struck him upon the breast.The blow came home true and strong,but whoever it was made that chain armor understood his art,for it withstood the steel.Again Twala struck out with a savage yell,and again the heavy knife rebounded and Sir Henry went staggering back.
Once more Twala came on,and as he came our great Englishman gathered himself together,and,swinging the heavy axe round his head,hit at him with all his force.There was a shriek of excitement from a thousand throats,and behold!Twala's head seemed to spring from his shoulders,and then fell and came rolling and bounding along the ground towards Ignosi,stopping just at his feet.For a second the corpse stood upright,the blood spouting in fountains from the severed arteries;then with a dull crash it fell to the earth,and the gold torque from the neck went rolling away across the pavement.As it did so Sir Henry,overpowered by faintness and loss of blood,fell heavily across it.
In a second he was lifted up,and eager hands were pouring water on his face.Another minute,and the great gray eyes opened wide.He was not dead.
Then I,just as the sun sank,stepping to where Twala's head lay in the dust,unloosed the diamond from the dead brows and handed it to Ignosi.
"Take it,"I said,"lawful king of the Kukuanas."Ignosi bound the diadem upon his brows,and then advancing placed his foot upon the broad chest of his headless foe and broke out into a chant,or rather a paean of victory,so beautiful,and yet so utterly savage,that I despair of being able to give an adequate idea of it.I once heard a scholar with a fine voice read aloud from the Greek poet Homer,and Iremember that the sound of the rolling lines seemed to make my blood stand still.Ignosi's chant,uttered as it was in a language as beautiful and sonorous as the old Greek,produced exactly the same effect on me,although I was exhausted with toil and many emotions.
"Now ,"he began,"now is our rebellion swallowed up in victory,and our evil-doing justified by strength .
"In the morning the oppressors rose up and shook themselves;they bound on their plumes and made them ready for war .
"They rose up and grasped their spears;the soldiers called to the captains,`Come,lead us and the captains cried to the king,`Direct thou the battle .'
"They rose up in their pride,twenty thousand men,and yet a twenty thousand.
"Their plumes covered the earth as the plumes of a bird cover her nest;they shook their spears and shouted,yea,they hurled their spears into the sunlight;they lusted for the battle and were glad."They came up against me;their strong ones came running swiftly to crush me;they cried,`Ha!ha!he is as one already dead .'
"Then breathed I on them,and my breath was as the breath of a storm,and lo!they were not .
"My lightnings pierced them;I licked up their strength with the lightning of my spears;I shook them to the earth with the thunder of my shouting .
"They broke -they scattered -they were gone as the mists of the morning .
"They are food for the crows and the foxes,and the place of battle is fat with their blood .
"Where are the mighty ones who rose up in the morning ?
"Where are the proud ones who tossed their plumes and cried,`He is as one already dead'?
"They bow their heads,but not in sleep;they are stretched out,but not in sleep .
"They are forgotten;they have gone into the blackness,and shall not return;yea,others shall lead away their wives,and their children shall remember them no more .
"And I -I!the king -like an eagle have I found my eyrie .
"Behold!far have I wandered in the night-time,yet have Ireturned to my little ones at the daybreak .
"Creep ye under the shadow of my wings,O people,and I will comfort ye,and ye shall not be dismayed .
"Now is the good time,the time of spoil .
"Mine are the cattle in the valleys,the virgins in the kraals are mine also .
"The winter is overpast,the summer is at hand .
"Now shall Evil cover up her face,and prosperity shall bloom in the land like a lily .
"Rejoice,rejoice,my people!let all the land rejoice in that the tyranny is trodden down,in that I am the king ."He paused,and out of the gathering gloom there came back the deep deeply:
"Thou art the king ."
Thus it was that my prophecy to the herald came true,and within the forty-eight hours Twala's headless corpse was stiffening at Twala's gate.