"Old man, we go soon on the trail of the cannibals into the forest where you could not follow. What shall we do with you?"
"As Allah wills," was the resigned reply.
"Think. Is there any village where you would be safe until we return?"
"Few who enter the forest ever return. A day's journey in a canoe there is a path in the wood that leads to a village. If I could reach the path, it would do; but——"
The Okapi straightway continued up the dark river, through the silence of the sombre woods, and the old man drank his coffee, and then gave himself up to the pleasure of tobacco, with his dull eyes fixed on Compton.
In the afternoon he pointed to a palm-tree. "There is a path," he said.
"Is there anything you would like?" asked Compton.
"Coffee is good, and tobacco is a great comforter."
They made him up a packet of these luxuries, and added a blanket.
"Allah is good," he muttered.