f Urundi, was
in his own mind never a slave, so the word troubled him. Simba might
long ago have been free, had he wished it, but he loved his master,
Amer, and Sheikh Amer's son; so he remained their servant, and while
being their servant he never forgot that he was a man. Simba is
grateful to Amer and his son Selim, and while he remembers that he is
free, Simba will be happy only in remembering also that he is their
servant;" saying which, he bent his knee and kissed the right hand of
father and son.

"Ah, Simba, my friend!" cried Selim, "I shall call thee friend in
future, and thou shalt say `thou' to me, and I `thou' to thee, as my
father and I say to each other; and if thou art grateful, Selim has also
a heart, and can feel."

"Then, boys," said Amer, breaking in upon this interchange of
compliments, "to bed, and sleep your sleep out. Let a watch be kept,
lest the Wahehe robbers come to avenge the dead dog of a thief, and upon
the first appearance of anything suspicious, sound the alarm instantly."

The night passed without further alarm or disturbance of any kind, and
at the usual hour of the morning the signal horns aroused the camp for
the fatigue of another day's march.

As the caravans were about leaving their camp, a group of Wahehe
strolled up carelessly, similarly armed to the one who had met his fate
so suddenly at the hands of Simba. As they were advancing towards the
central gate of the camp, their quick eyes caught sight of the dead body
of their comrade, and hastening towards it, they regarded it with wonder
depicted on their faces. On stooping down to examine the head, they
found it elongated into a hideous, formless shape, and not being able to
contain their surprise, they questioned as to why and how it all came
about.

Said Moto, who had keenly noted these signs, and had approached the
group to answer their expected queries, "Ah, my brothers! some men are
bad, very bad, and fools. What could have possessed this man to try and
rob a caravan of 600 armed souls, I cannot say, unless it was the evil
spirit. Do you see that big man with the great battle-axe in his belt,
and a long ivory horn slung to his shoulder? That big man caught this
thief in the tent of Amer bin Osman: he seized him by the feet, and
whirling him around, he brought his head down flat on that stone."

"Eyah! eyah!" said the astonished Wahehe. "He must be the evil spirit
himself; but all thieves should die, and if, as