"Certainly not. He will then be our deliverer, not you, and the rifles must be his." "Umhleswa saved you when the knives of his people were about to drink your blood?" sententiously remarked the savage. Wyzinski shuddered. "Come, chief," he replied, taking from his belt a revolver, "send us on our journey, and this shall be yours." Raising his arm, he fired barrel after barrel into the air, pausing between each ere he drew the trigger to enhance the effect. The savage's eyes glistened, and he showed his filed teeth. He doubted not that Masheesh had been sent to bring down the Matabele warriors upon him, in which case he should lose the promised reward. The thought swayed him; the sight of the revolver finished the matter. Slowly rising, he walked away several paces, and the missionary's heart beat quickly, for all seemed lost. Turning, he pointed to the sky. "When the moon rises yonder, and my people are buried in sleep, let the white men be ready. Umhleswa does not lie," he said, moving away. Hardly had he gone a dozen paces, when he again paused, hesitated, and once more returned. "The rifles are for my braves," he said, again speaking slowly; "the small gun," pointing to the revolver, "is for Umhleswa. Will the chief give it now?" Wyzinski hesitated, and for a few moments seemed plunged in thought. "Take it," he said at length frankly, as he placed the coveted weapon in the hands of the savage. "Take it, but remember that at a chief's belt two such weapons should hang; the second will be yours when we reach the Zambesi." Umhleswa looked the speaker full in the face, slowly nodding his head three times, then once more pointing to the sky. "Let my white brethren be ready when the moon rises," he said, as he stalked away proudly; perhaps the only native in that part of the country possessed of a revolver. "Do you think he will keep his word, Wyzinski?" asked Hughes, when the conversation was translated to him. "He is sure to do so," replied the missionary, "simply because it is his interest." "Then the best thing we can do is to be in readiness. There are many things we must leave behind," returned Hughes. "The moon will rise in two hours." Entering the hut once more, and as they fervently hoped for the last time, they set about their preparations, no easy task, when out of the scanty materials, all of which had been deemed necessary a short time since, the greater part were to be left behind. They were still busy, when a body of men gliding out from among the huts by twos and by threes, assembled at the entrance, one of their number signing to its tenants to follow. Carrying their rifles in the hollow of the arm, their pistols at their belts, they cast one look round the interior of the hut which had served them so long as a home, and stepped out into the night.