ut I had been foolish enough to think that, having
solicited me to destroy their enemy for them, they would have regarded
the carcass as sacred from mutilation. They had not done so, however,
and that ended the matter, for I knew that it would be quite useless to
make a fuss about it: not a soul in the village would ever admit the
least knowledge of the theft.

While I was taking breakfast, about an hour later, 'Ngaga came up from
the village to express the hearty thanks of himself and the rest of the
inhabitants for the service which I had rendered them by destroying the
leopard; and when we had chatted for half an hour or so, and 'Ngaga had
accepted a present of a yard of brass wire, a handful of parti-coloured
beads, and a cotton handkerchief gorgeously emblazoned in red, blue,
green, and yellow, he said:

"'Nkos', after I left you last night I went to the hut of Mafuta and was
permitted to enter. I told the nyanga that you had undertaken to slay
the leopard that had been troubling us, and after I had spoken many
words concerning the greatness of the boon you would thus confer upon
us, I ventured to mention that you were desirous of consulting him in
relation to a certain quest which you have undertaken. I think, 'Nkos',
that if you would go now with me to Mafuta's hut, perhaps taking with
you as a gift another handkerchief such as this, the nyanga would be
willing to grant your request."

"You think so?" I said. "Then in that case let us go." And,
extracting from the voorkissie a handkerchief distinguished by a
particularly startling combination of colours, which I tucked into my
belt in such a manner that it could not fail to attract attention, I set
out for the village, accompanied by 'Ngaga, who, I understood, proposed
to act as a sort of sponsor for me, and to introduce me personally to
the great man.

The nyanga's hut was, as is generally the case, built at some little
distance--in the present instance about a quarter of a mile--from the
village proper, standing quite by itself, close to the stream, and close
under the shadow of a great clump of bush. Apart from this circumstance
there was nothing to distinguish it from the rest of the huts, it being
of the usual beehive shape, constructed of closely interwoven wattles,
thickly thatched with reeds and grass, and having an entrance so small
that it was necessary to bend double and stoop low in order to pass
through it. Also it was windowless, the onl