So soon as they reached it Sihamba told Sigwe what had passed and he sent men to scour the cliff and the bush behind it, but of Van Vooren they could find no trace, no, not even the spot where he had been hidden, so that Sigwe came to believe that they had been fooled by echoes and had never heard him at all.
But both Suzanne and Sihamba knew that this was not so; indeed, this hearing of the voice of Swart Piet filled Suzanne with fear, since where the voice was, there was the man, her hateful enemy, who had given his life to her ruin and to that of those she loved.

Whatever lies he might have spoken--and her heart told her that all his ill tidings were but a cruel falsehood--this at least was true, that he had dogged her step by step through the vast wilderness, and so craftily that none guessed his presence.

What might not be feared from such a foe as this, half mad and all wicked, armed with terrible cunning and untiring patience?
If the Umpondwana would not receive her she must fall into his hands at once, and if they did receive her she would never dare to leave their kraal, for always, always he would be watching and waiting for her.

Little wonder then that she felt afraid, though, just as the sun shines ever behind the blackest cloud, still in her heart shone the sure comfort of her hope, and more than hope that in the end God would give her back her husband and her to him unharmed.

Yet, which ever way she looked the cloud was very black, and through it she could see no ray of light.
When the mists had vanished and the air was warm with the sun, the army of Sigwe marched from the pass heading for the great mountain.