ght hand and shouted out with all the strength of his feeble
voice, saying:

"Hearken, thou Ferodia, and ye savage Watuta. Ye think to triumph now,
and make Ferodia king; but the will of the Sky-spirit must be done.
Soltali had not made Kalulu king had it not been his will; Soltali
obeyed but the voice of the Sky-spirit. Thou hast triumphed only for a
time, Ferodia. Kalulu shall be king, must be king. Thou shalt see a
bitter end, O Ferodia, to which my sufferings may not be compared; and
thou, Tifum, shalt have thy head taken from off thy body, and the kite
and the vulture shall pick out thine eyes. Moshono, who was burnt by
the Wa-marungu, calls to Soltali. Soltali goes before thee, Tifum; and
thou shalt follow me, O Ferodia. I come, great Moshono, I come.
Mosh--"

Before he could utter the last word Soltali's aged head fell upon his
breast, while still the flames leaped up and embraced him with their
fiery arms, until, finally, the green bark cords which bound him
shrivelled up and snapped beneath the weight of the superincumbent mass,
and Soltali's body fell forward, while the sparks were shot up and the
flames blazed anew. The warriors hastened to pile up wood, but Selim
and Abdullah turned their faces away, unable to bear the horrid scene.

Ferodia turned to Kalulu and said, "To-morrow thou shalt die, as sure as
Soltali has died. To-night lie where thou art, and when the sun rises
be thou prepared to follow him. Tifum shall try his hand on thee."

"Ah, Ferodia, thou hast heard the voice of the good Soltali. The
Sky-spirit has said I shall be king. Look to thyself, for I shall kill
thee yet. Thou robber, cutthroat, and coward, dost thou hear me?" cried
Kalulu.

"Talk away, and crow, my little cockling. Talk as long as thou canst,
if it give thee any comfort. Nay, thou mayst burst thyself with talking
if thereby thou wilt ease thyself, but to-morrow Tifum shall cut thy
head off, and I will get strong medicine out of it. I have said it."

So saying Ferodia walked away, but Tifum could not refrain from going up
to Kalulu. He encircled his neck with his hand, and, giving it a gentle
pressure, said:

"Ah, Kalulu, to-morrow my knife shall sever that head of thine from thy
body. The pain will soon be over, for Tifum's knife is sharp, and I
will sharpen it still more, Kalulu, to-night, so that thou mayst suffer
but little pain. Am I not good, Kalulu? I shall boil those cheeks of
thine with my por