"The feast was made by us, so that while the people ate we could loosen your bonds."
"Wow! Never yet have I known any to give such thought to a stranger."
"It is our way to stand by those who stand by us."
"It is a great word that;" and the chief turned the thought over in his mind. "Ow aye! They came again to the feast, and Muata went out into the woods in peace."
"And was that all?"
"There was a man gathering fruit in the morning as I passed through a garden, and his knife I took."
"And what did the man do?"
"He took a message to my father, the chief," said Muata, enigmatically. "The chief's son has been like a hunted dog. His stomach hungers for red meat. His spirit thirsts for the hunt. Wow! O hunter, set your shining boat for the shore, and let us follow the trail. There be buffalo in the lands beyond the hills which line the river."
"That's a splendid idea!" cried Venning. "I'm beginning to get mouldy. A trip ashore would be ripping, now that we have distanced our pursuers."
"I second that motion," said Compton, with a longing glance shorewards. "Do you know, sir, that we have not shot a thing since we entered the Congo?"