"That was best," he said. "Now we will all go to sleep, and in the morning I will go back to Sandi and tell him a tale."
In the morning his relatives scratched his legs with thorns and threw dust over him, and an hour later, artificially exhausted, he staggered to the hut before which Mr. Commissioner Sanders sat at breakfast.
Sanders glanced keenly at the travel-worn figure.
"My friend," he said softly, "you have come a long way?"
"Lord," said M'Kovo, weak of voice, "since I left you I have not rested save before my father, who sent me away with evil words concerning your honour."
And the exact and unabridged text of those "evil words" he delivered with relish.
Sanders reached down and took the little silver box that lay upon the heaving chest.
"And this you showed to your father?" he asked.
"Lord, I showed him this," repeated the man.
"And you travelled through the night—many miles?"