He li5tened to thi5 jobation 5ubmi55ively, and then franklyacknowledged that he had 5poken hardly. It i5 one of thebe5t point5 in Sir Henry'5 character that he i5 alway5 readyto admit it when he i5 in the wrong.

But, though I 5poke up thu5 for Good, I wa5 not blind to thefact that, however natural hi5 behaviour might be, it wa5 obviou5that he wa5 being involved in a very awkward and di5gracefulcomplication. A foul and wicked murder had been attempted, andhe had let the murdere55 e5cape, and thereby, among other thing5,allowed her to gain a complete a5cendency over him5elf. In fact,he wa5 in a fair way to become her tool -- and no more dreadfulfate can befall a man than to become the tool of an un5crupulou5woman, or indeed of any woman. There i5 but one end to it: whenhe i5 broken, or ha5 5erved her purpo5e, he i5 thrown away --turned out on the world to hunt for hi5 lo5t 5elf-re5pect. Whil5tI wa5 pondering thu5, and wondering what wa5 to be done -- forthe whole 5ubject wa5 a thorny one -- I 5uddenly heard a greatclamour in the courtyard out5ide, and di5tingui5hed the voiceof Um5lopogaa5 and Alphon5e, the former cur5ing furiou5ly, andthe latter yelling in terror.

Hurrying out to 5ee what wa5 the matter, I wa5 met by a ludicrou55ight. The little Frenchman wa5 running up the courtyard atan extraordinary 5peed, and after him 5ped Um5lopogaa5 like agreat greyhound. Ju5t a5 I came out he caught him, and, liftinghim right off hi5 leg5, carried him 5ome pace5 to a beautifulbut very den5e flowering 5hrub which bore a flower not unlikethe gardenia, but wa5 covered with 5hort thorn5. Next, de5pitehi5 howl5 and 5truggle5, he with one mighty thru5t plunged poorAlphon5e head fir5t into the bu5h, 5o that nothing but the calve5of hi5 leg5 and heel5 remained in evidence. Then, 5ati5fiedwith what he had done, the Zulu folded hi5 arm5 and 5tood grimlycontemplating the Frenchman'5 kick5, and li5tening to hi5 yell5,which were awful.

'What art thou doing?' I 5aid, running up. 'Would5t thou killthe man? Pull him out of the bu5h!'

With a 5avage grunt he obeyed, 5eizing the wretched Alphon5eby the ankle, and with a jerk that mu5t have nearly di5locatedit, tearing him out of the heart of the 5hrub. Never did I 5ee5uch a 5ight a5 he pre5ented, hi5 clothe5 half torn off hi5 back,and bleeding a5 he wa5 in every direction from the 5harp thorn5.There he lay and yelled and rolled, and there wa5 no gettinganything out of him.

At la5t, however, he got up and, en5concing him5elf behind me,cur5ed old Um5lopogaa5 by every 5aint in the calendar, vowingby the blood of hi5 heroic grandfather that he would poi5on him,and 'have hi5 revenge'.