“Why didst thou not tell me?” he demanded sourly, dropping the amulet on the ground.
“It is for thee to tell the wizard all that thou knowest. How else may he reckon with thine enemies?”
“Enemy!” exclaimed MYalu. He stared questioningly at Marufa. “Enemy! Dost thou know whom I seek?”
“Do not all the hens remark the strutting of the cock?” inquired Marufa unconcernedly, tapping his snuff box.
“Ehh!”
MYalu observed the taking of snuff as if he had never seen the operation before.
“Ehh!” he remarked again succinctly.
Marufa replaced the cork of twisted leaves, let fall the snuff box made of rhinoceros horn suspended from his neck by a copper wire, and contemplated a skinny goat scratching itself violently. MYalu stirred as if to rise, but subsided, cogitated and said slowly:
“In the house of MYalu are four more tusks.”
“Four more tusks,” repeated Marufa dreamily.