“The old ones kicked the best looking one out,” said Niellsen, grinning a little bit. “Well, age has to protect itself. Now that they’ve banded together to get rid of her, however, they’ll probably fall to fighting amongst themselves.”
The noisy quarrelling subsided, however, as if by magic, and once more peace reigned in Chief Ungaba’s household. The lord and master who had cowered away from the door as if trying to squeeze into the wall, when the fight was carried into the open, now, upon the withdrawal of the women, stood up and stretched his arms wide in a yawn. The boys couldn’t repress a laugh, but they smothered it with their hands so as not to let the sound reach his ears.
Then, as Mr. Hampton approached, the chief for the first time became cognizant of their presence, and a smile of welcome broke over his broad, full-lipped, humorous face.
“A quarrelsome woman is worse than a hyena, and five are enough to defend a town,” he said. “My white brother will understand.”
He spoke in the Kavirondo tongue, but Mr. Hampton and the boys had been studying the simple language with the aid of their interpreter Mabele, and during their lengthy stay they had acquired a rough working knowledge of it which made the chief’s words understandable.
“Chief Ungaba speaks words of wisdom,” answered Mr. Hampton, gravely, but with twinkling eye.
And the chief, observing the twinkle, laughed outright.
Thereupon, Mr. Hampton broached the subject of the proposed rhinoceros hunt, to which the chief readily agreed. He was willing enough to lend his warriors for the purpose of beating up the reeds of a nearby marsh, as Mr. Hampton promised him in return the carcass of the slain beast. The high-powered rifles of the Hampton party would prove far more efficient weapons against the tough hide armor of the monster than the bows or spears of the villagers. And the obtaining of fresh meat was always a consideration. Indeed, there would be a great feast in the village.
Negotiations concluded, the whites returned to camp with the assurance that on the edge of the reedy marsh some two miles west of the village in the middle of the afternoon they would find Chief Ungaba’s men awaiting them for the hunt.