two hours before midday
Bend forward , O Princes , that I may whisper in your ears . '' So they bent forward , and I whispered awhile of the death of a king , and the sons of Senzangacona nodded their heads as one man in answer . Then I rose up , and crept from the hut as I had entered it , and rousing certain trusty messengers , I dispatched them , running swiftly through the night . Now , on the morrow , two hours before midday , Chaka came from the hut where he had sat through the night , and moved to a little kraal surrounded by a fence that was some fifty paces distant from the hut . For it was my duty , day by day , to choose that place where the king should sit to hear the counsel of his indunas , and give judgment on those whom he would kill , and to-day I had chosen this place . Chaka went alone from his hut to the kraal , and , for my own reasons , I accompanied him , walking after him . As we went the king glanced back at me over his shoulder , and said in a low voice : -- `` Is all prepared , Mopo ? ''