"Tell me, when thou wast little, didst thou know Gagaoola the witch doctress?"
"Ay, my lord the king!"
"How was she then—young, like thee?"
"Not so, my lord the king! She was even as she is now and as she was in the days of my great grandfather before me; old and dried, very ugly, and full of wickedness."
"She is no more; she is dead."
"So, O king! then is an ancient curse taken from the land."
"Go!"
" Koom! I go, Black Puppy, who tore out the old dog's throat. Koom! "
"Ye see, my brothers," said Ignosi, "this was a strange woman, and I rejoice that she is dead. She would have let you die in the dark place, and mayhap afterwards she had found a way to slay me, as she found a way to slay my father, and set up Twala, whom her black heart loved, in his place. Now go on with the tale; surely there never was its like!"
After I had narrated all the story of our escape, as we had agreed between ourselves that I should, I took the opportunity to address Ignosi as to our departure from Kukuanaland.