"Two moons ago," he said, "there came to me a hunting man of the Akasava, who told me that in the forest of the Ochori, on the very border of the Isisi, was a place where five trees grew in the form of a crescent——"
"Praise be to God and to His prophet Mohammed," said the pious Bosambo, and crossed himself with some inconsequence.
"In the form of a crescent," Sanders went on, "and beneath the centre tree, so said this young man of the Akasava, is a great store of dead ivory" (i.e., old ivory which has been buried or stored).
He stopped and Bosambo looked at him.
"Such stories are often told," he said.
"Let it be told again," said Sanders significantly.
Intelligence dawned on Bosambo's eyes.
Two days later he was again in his own city, and at night he called his brother to a secret palaver.
"Brother," he said, "for many days have I thought about you and how I might serve you best. As you know, I am a poor man."
"'A king is a poor man and a beggar is poorer,'" quoted Siskolo, insolently incredulous.