d that the side they were on was
uninhabited, and that their provisions were exhausted, but the other
side was cultivated, and possessed many villages and plantations.
Forgetting the advice of the old woman, they crossed the river to the
opposite shore, and they admired the beauty of the land, and joyed in
the odours that came from the gardens and the plantations, and they
dreamily listened to the winds that crumpled and tossed the great fronds
of banana, and fancied that they had seen no sky so blue. And while
they thus dreamed, lo! the river current was bearing them both swiftly
along, and they saw the island which was at the entrance to the great
lake, and in an instant the beauty of the land which had charmed them
had died away, and they now heard the thunderous booming of waters, and
saw them surging upward in great sweeps, and one great wave curved
underneath them, and they were lifted up, up, up, and dropped down into
the roaring abyss, and neither chief nor princess was ever seen again.
They were both swallowed up in the deep.

"Is _that_ all?" asked Safeni, who had been listening breathlessly to
the story.

"That is all," replied Katembo.

"Why, what kind of a story is this, that finishes in that way?"

"It is not mine," answered Katembo. "The telling of it has been
according to the words I heard, and it is not good to alter a tale."

"Then what is the object of such a story?" demanded Safeni, in an
irritable tone.

"Why, to warn people from following their inclinations. Did not the
girl find her father? Did not her father welcome her, and pardon the
mother for very joy? Was not her own choice of a husband found for her?
Was not the young chief fortunate in possessing such a beautiful wife?
Why should they have become discontented? Why not have stayed at home
instead of wandering into strange lands of which they knew nothing? Did
not the old woman warn them of what would happen, and point to them how
they might live in peace once again? But it was all to no purpose. We
never know the value of anything until we have lost it. Ruin follows
the wilful always. They left their home and took to the river, the
river was not still, but moved on, and as their heads were already full
of their own thoughts, they could not keep advice. But Katembo has
ended."

CHAPTER SIX.

THE STORY OF MARANDA.

"Master," said Baruti, "I have been trying hard to recall some of the
other legends I used to hear wh