below its summit.

These two hills, the man assured her, could be seen for some distance
before she reached them, and together formed an excellent guide to her
destination. He warned her, however, to abandon so foolish and
dangerous an adventure, emphasizing what she already quite well knew,
that if she escaped harm at the hands of Bukawai and his demons, the
chances were that she would not be so fortunate with the great
carnivora of the jungle through which she must pass going and returning.

The warrior even went to Momaya's husband, who, in turn, having little
authority over the vixenish lady of his choice, went to Mbonga, the
chief. The latter summoned Momaya, threatening her with the direst
punishment should she venture forth upon so unholy an excursion. The
old chief's interest in the matter was due solely to that age-old
alliance which exists between church and state. The local
witch-doctor, knowing his own medicine better than any other knew it,
was jealous of all other pretenders to accomplishments in the black
art. He long had heard of the power of Bukawai, and feared lest,
should he succeed in recovering Momaya's lost child, much of the tribal
patronage and consequent fees would be diverted to the unclean one. As
Mbonga received, as chief, a certain proportion of the witch-doctor's
fees and could expect nothing from Bukawai, his heart and soul were,
quite naturally, wrapped up in the orthodox church.

But if Momaya could view with intrepid heart an excursion into the
jungle and a visit to the fear-haunted abode of Bukawai, she was not
likely to be deterred by threats of future punishment at the hands of
old Mbonga, whom she secretly despised. Yet she appeared to accede to
his injunctions, returning to her hut in silence.

She would have preferred starting upon her quest by day-light, but this
was now out of the question, since she must carry food and a weapon of
some sort--things which she never could pass out of the village with by
day without being subjected to curious questioning that surely would
come immediately to the ears of Mbonga.

So Momaya bided her time until night, and just before the gates of the
village were closed, she slipped through into the darkness and the
jungle. She was much frightened, but she set her face resolutely
toward the north, and though she paused often to listen, breathlessly,
for the huge cats which, here, were her greatest terror, she
nevertheless continued her