"
"Maiden," replied Maduna, in a shamed voice, "that was your fault, not
mine. If you had appealed to me I would have let you go. But you killed
my sentry, and then the chase began, and ere I knew who you were my
runners were out of call."
"Little time had I to ask your mercy; but so be it," said Benita. "I
accept your word, and I forgive you that offence. Now fulfil your oath.
Begone and leave us in peace."
Still Maduna hesitated.
"I must make report to the king," he said. "What is this white man to
you that I should spare him? I give you your life and your father's
life, not that of this white man who has tricked us. If he were your
father, or your brother, it would be otherwise. But he is a stranger,
and belongs to me, not to you."
"Maduna," she asked, "do women such as I am share the waggon of a
stranger? This man is more to me than father or brother. He is my
husband, and I claim his life."
"_Ow!_" said the spokesman of the audience, "we understand now. She is
his wife, and has a right to him. If she were not his wife she would not
be in his waggon. It is plain that she speaks the truth, though how she
came here we do not know, unless, as we think, she is a witch," and he
smiled at his own cleverness.
"Inkosi-kaas," said Maduna, "you have persuaded me.
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