'Yes, and my boy,' he said, as if that petition furnished a sort of limit to the mercy he invoked. 'And the mtoto,' he added a minute after.
'What's his name?' he asked innocently. He had forgotten the name of his boy's apprentice, and his forgetfulness was on his mind.
The strain was a bit too much for us when it came to that question.
We laughed rather hysterically. Then we pulled ourselves together, but we had not disturbed him. He spoke no more save for two or three detached words proper names I think. But he breathed long breaths peacefully.
The dawn was quite near on its way now. A dove called from the wood to its mate. Surely it desired to tell it that morning came.
'We've got some fresh Intelligence,' my host said gravely.
'Pentecostal Illumination, rather,' I said.
'Did you happen to remember what the Day was?'
He nodded. 'We'd better not sit up talking,' he told me. 'It might seem to spoil it somehow. We'd better try to get a little sleep. Come over here out of the ants.'
So we shifted my mattress.