Haviland obeyed, telling Oakley to do the same, for the speaker was Kumbelwa. The whole vast crowd continued its vociferations. It was evident, too, to the two white spectators that the word was a royal title, or form of salute. Still the roar continued, but nobody appeared. Then the impi struck up a kind of swaying dance. Faster and faster this grew, stimulated by a wild whirling chant. The whole body would prostrate itself, rising as one man, and taking extravagant leaps into the air. At last, when the frenzy had reached its height, and throats were hoarse with bawling, and dusky bodies were streaming with perspiration, the uproar ceased--ceased so suddenly that the dead silence which succeeded was even more startling than the tumult of a second before. CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE. THE KING. "Down, _Amakosi_," whispered Kumbelwa again. "Down." The whole assembly had fallen flat, but our two friends drew the line at that. However, they compromised by dropping into a kind of squatting attitude, and at once the King's gaze rested upon them. It was a sufficiently terror-striking glance. They saw before them a magnificent specimen of a savage, very tall and broad, and of a rich red copper colour. He was clad in a _mutya_ of leopard skin, and wore a short cloak of the same, dangling from one shoulder. His head was shaven, but it and the large thick ring were partly concealed by a towering head-dress of black ostrich plumes, a continuation of which fell on either side so as to cover his shoulders. But the face would have commanded attention anywhere, such an impression did it convey of relentless ferocity, of absolute pitilessness, and, at the same time, of indomitable courage. Yet it was the countenance of quite a young man. For some time the King's eyes rested on the two white men with a fierce and penetrating stare. Then, pointing at them with the broad-bladed assegai in his hand, he said: "Who are these?" A confused murmur arose among the crowd, a sort of deprecatory wail. Then the chiefs of the impi crawled to the King's feet and began to make their report, a mere matter of ceremony, for of course swift runners had already been sent on ahead to tell what had happened. He listened in silence, gazing down upon them with a haughty stare. "It is well," he said at last. "Bring these people now before me." He strode forth, proceeding along the edge of the prostrate crowd. Three or four old indunas were with him, keeping just a pace in the rear. When he had passed, the whole impi sprang to its feet--and broke into shouts of praise: "Fire-maker!" "Mighty tree that crackleth into sparks!" "Burner up of the sun at noon!" "Thou, whose glance scorches up men!" "Heat of two suns!" "Scorcher up of the world!"