“Of course I do,” was the unhesitating reply. But for the space of half a minute the white man and the savage gazed fixedly into each other’s faces in the starlight.
“Au! If I had known that!” muttered Josane in a disappointed tone. “If I had known that, I could have told you all that Xalasa has—could have told you many moons ago.”
“You knew it, then?”
“Yes.”
“And is it true—that—that he is alive now?”
“Yes.”
“But, Josane, how is it you kept your knowledge to yourself? He might have been rescued all this time. Now it may be too late.”
“Whau, Ixeshane! Did you want him rescued?” said the old fellow shrewdly. “Did the Inkosikazi want him rescued?”
This was putting matters with uncomfortable plainness. Eustace reddened in the darkness.
“Whatever we ‘wanted,’ or did not want, is nothing,” he answered. “This is a matter of life and death. He must be rescued.”