Hullo! what's that noise?"
Nahoon listened. In several quarters of the forest, but from how far
away it was impossible to tell, there rose a curious sound, as of people
calling to each other in fear but in no articulate language. Nahoon
shivered.
"It is the _Esemkofu_," he said, "the ghosts who have no tongue, and
who can only wail like infants. Let us be going; this place is bad for
mortals."
"And worse for buffaloes," said Hadden, giving the dead bull a kick,
"but I suppose that we must leave him here for your friends, the
_Esemkofu_, as we have got meat enough, and can't carry his head."
So they started back towards the open country. As they threaded their
way slowly through the tree trunks, a new idea came into Hadden's head.
Once out of this forest, he was within an hour's run of the Zulu border,
and once over the Zulu border, he would feel a happier man than he did
at that moment. As has been said, he had intended to attempt to escape
in the darkness, but the plan was risky. All the Zulus might not
over-eat themselves and go to sleep, especially after the death of their
comrade; Nahoon, who watched him day and night, certainly would not.
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