Thus it was that the child of Wanyana found foster-parents, and no woman in Unyoro could be prouder of her child than Mugema’s wife came to be of the foundling. The milk of woman, goat, and cow was given to him, and he throve prodigiously; and when Mugema asked the soothsayer what name would be fittest for him, the wise man said:
“Call him Kimyera—the mighty one.”
Some months after this, when Kimyera was about a year old, Wanyana came to the potter’s house to purchase pots for her household, and while she was seated in the porch selecting the soundest among them, she heard a child crying within.
“Ah, has thy wife had a child lately? I did not observe or hear when I last visited thee that she was likely to become a mother.”
“No, princess,” replied Mugema; “that is the cry of a child I discovered in the clay-pit about a year ago.”
Wanyana’s heart gave a great jump, and for a moment she lost all recollection of where she was. Recovering herself with a great effort, she bade Mugema tell her all about the incident: but while he related the story, she was busy thinking how she might assure herself of his secrecy if she declared herself to be the mother of the child.
Mugema, before concluding his story, did not fail to tell Wanyana how for a time he had suspected his wife of having played him falsely, and that though he had no grounds for the suspicion further than that the clay-pit was his own and the child had been found in it, he was not quite clear in his mind yet, and he would be willing to slave a long time for any person who could thoroughly disabuse his mind of the doubt, as, with that exception, his wife was the cleverest and best woman in Unyoro.
Wanyana, perceiving her opportunity, said:
“Well, much as I affected not to know about the child, I know whose child it is, and who placed it in the pit.”
“Thou, princess!” he cried.