So I changed my mind, thereby making myself a partaker of the sin, and coming forward said instead: "What is it that you do here by night, in this solitary place, Sihamba ?" Now although, as I suppose, she had neither seen nor heard me, for I came up from behind her, Sihamba did not start or cry out as any other woman would have done; she did not even turn to look at me as she answered in a clear and steady voice: "Now while she is still a girl I read the fate of Swallow and of those who love her according to my lore, O mother of Swallow.

Look, I read it there." I looked and saw that the large bowl was filled to the brim with pure water.

At the bottom of it lay some white sand, and on the sand were placed five pieces of broken looking-glass, all of which had been filed carefully to a round shape.

The largest of these pieces was of the size of a crown of English money.

This lay in the exact centre of the bowl.
Above it and almost touching its edge, was another piece the size of a half-crown, then to the right and left at a little distance, two more pieces of the size of a shilling, and below, but some way off, where the bowl began to curve, a very small piece not larger than a six-penny bit.
"Swallow," said Sihamba, pointing to the two largest of the fragments, "and husband of Swallow.