anxiety. That assegai had already been nearer my person than I found at
all pleasant, and I had no desire to make a further acquaintance with
it. Nor, indeed, was I sure that Indaba-zimbi was not really going to
kill me. I could not understand his proceedings at all, and at the best
I did not relish playing the _corpus vile_ to his magical experiments.

"_Look! look! look!_" he screamed.

Then suddenly the great spear flashed down towards my breast. I felt
nothing, but, to my sight, it seemed as though it had passed through me.

"See!" roared the Zulus. "Indaba-zimbi has speared him; the red assegai
stands out behind his back."

"Roll over, Macumazahn," Indaba-zimbi hissed in my ear, "roll over and
pretend to die--quick! quick!"

I lost no time in following these strange instructions, but falling
on to my side, threw my arms wide, kicked my legs about, and died as
artistically as I could. Presently I gave a stage shiver and lay still.

"See!" said the Zulus, "he is dead, the Spirit is dead. Look at the
blood upon the assegai!"

"Stand back! stand back!" cried Indaba-zimbi, "or the ghost will haunt
you. Yes, he is dead, and now I will call him back to life again. Look!"
and putting down his hand, he plucked the spear from wherever it was
fixed, and held it aloft. "The spear is red, is it not? Watch, men,
watch! _it grows white!_"