Without, however, giving him time to utter a word, which might have been dangerous for us, de Morin went on to say—
"We have made a long and perilous journey to obtain an interview with you. We beg you, therefore, to tell us all you know about him who was your guest."
"Yes, he was both my guest and my friend," said the Malegga chief, in a tone almost of affection.
"Where is he?" asked de Morin, quickly. "Can he still be in your dominions?"
"No, no," said the King, sadly; "he left me long ago."
We all shared in the emotion now exhibited by Madame de Guéran. She had risen from her seat, and pale and trembling, but determined to know all as soon as possible, she herself questioned the African monarch through the medium of Nassar.
These questions were not, perhaps, put in the order in which I now write them, but the interview, so interesting to all of us, not excepting Munza, is to this day so vividly impressed on my memory, that I feel sure I do not forget a single incident, nor err, either as to the sense of the questions, or the answers to them, which were given without the slightest hesitation, and with the utmost candour.
"Is he who was your guest still living?" asked Madame de Guéran, abruptly.
"I do not know," was the reply. "Since the day he crossed my frontier, I have had no news of him."
"When did he leave you?"