ave heard the
words of our king, Bahanga, and they are good. I--even I--his slave, am
able to reach the moon, and to do the king's pleasure, if the king's
authority will assist me."

The confident air of the man, and the ring of assurance in his voice
made the other wise men, who had been so ready to believe the king and
prince mad, feel shame, and they turned their faces to him curiously,
more than half willing to believe that after all the thing was possible.
The king also lost his puzzled look, and appeared relieved.

"Say on. How may you be able to perform what you promise?"

"If it please the king," answered _the_ man, boldly, "I will ascend from
the top of the high mountain near the Cataract of Panga. But I shall
first build a high scaffold on it, the base of which shall be as broad
as the mountain top, and on that scaffold I will build another, and on
the second I shall build a third, and so on and so on until my shoulder
touches the moon."

"But is it possible to reach the moon in this manner?" asked the king
doubtingly.

"Most certainly, if I were to erect a sufficient number of scaffolds,
one above another, but it will require a vast quantity of timber, and a
great army of workmen. If the king commands it, the work will be done."

"Be it so, then," said the king. "I place at your service every
able-bodied man in the kingdom."

"Ah, but all the men in your kingdom are not sufficient, O king. All
the grown-up men will be wanted to fell the trees, square the timber and
bear it to the works; and every grown-up woman will be required to
prepare the food for the workmen; and every boy must carry water to
satisfy their thirst, and bark rope for the binding of the timbers; and
every girl, big and little, must be sent to till the fields to raise
cassava for food. Only in this manner can the prince obtain the moon as
his toy."

"I say, then, let it be done as you think it ought to be done. All the
men, women, and children in the kingdom I devote to this service, that
my only son may enjoy what he desires."

Then it was proclaimed throughout the wide lands of the Bandimba that
all the people should be gathered together to proceed at once with the
work of obtaining the moon for the king's son. And the forest was cut
down, and while some of the workmen squared the trees, others cut deep
holes in the ground, to make a broad and sure base for the lower
scaffold; and the boys made thousands of rope coils t