So still was the great kraal that it might have been the abode of the dead--the clustering huts so many mausoleums. Not even a dog was astir, which might be accounted for by the fact that there were but few in the place, and they probably away on the farther side. And then it occurred to Lamont that nocturnal perambulation with no external, and therefore legitimate, object, especially during the small hours, was an unpopular form of exercise among natives. Only _abatagati_, or evil-disposed wizards, prowled about at night, they held, wherefore his present wandering was injudicious--might even prove dangerous. He had better go in. Now, as he arrived at this conclusion, his perambulations had brought him to the other side of the open space above described--that farthest removed from his own hut, and as he turned to carry it into effect he stopped short--a thrill of astonishment tingling through his frame. For his ear had caught the low murmur of voices and--in among them--the native version of his own name. Yes, there it was again, distinctly--`U' Lamonti.' What did it mean? The whole kraal should by rights have been plunged in slumber, yet here was quite a conclave of its inhabitants, not only very wide awake, but engaged in some apparently earnest discussion--in which his own name seemed to hold no unimportant a place. A curious warning prescience took possession of his mind, and moved him to adopt a course from which he would, by every natural instinct, have recoiled with loathing. He was going to play eavesdropper. The hut from which the sounds proceeded was an outer one just within the main circle, standing almost against the thorn stockade. By creeping up on this side, the shadows of both would be in his favour, and, lying flat, with his ear as close to the doorway as he dared venture, it would be hard if he could not catch at any rate the gist of their discussion. Lying there in the darkness it seemed to the listener that the loudness of his own heart-beats must betray him, for no sooner was he in position than the very first words he caught were such as to thrill him through with excitement and eagerness. "It is not yet the time for killing," a voice was saying. "Not the time?" hummed several others. "Not the time. He has said it. Before the next moon is dead, were the words of Umlimo. And it is not yet born." "But that was for the eating up of all Amakiwa," objected another voice. "These who are in our midst are only two. No one will miss them. Who saw them come into our midst? None but our own people." "_Eh! he_!" assented the others. "U' Lamonti. He has fire-weapons, and we need such," went on the last speaker. "These will be ours."