“Ah, don’t, Kalulu, for my sake,” pleaded Selim with earnest eyes; “don’t, it is bad; only the lowest and most degraded do that. Cast the ugly thing away, and let it be food for the fowls of the air and the beasts of prey.”
“It has been the custom of the Watuta to do such things, and if I do not do it Kalulu will never be king,” replied the young chief, resolutely moving forward.
“It has been the custom of the Warundi too, and of all the tribes around here that I have met,” said Simba. “Let Kalulu do as he will with it, young master.”
“But thou art a Moslem, Simba; thou art not a Mrundi infidel now;” urged Selim, whose feelings revolted at such a degraded idea.
“Ay, I am a Moslem in name, but a Mrundi in heart, master; and when I think of all that Tifum the Wicked has done, and would have done, I myself should like to take medicine from it,” replied Simba, with a vengeful look.
“But Simba,” said Abdullah, “the Küran says we ‘are forbidden to eat that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine’s flesh, and that on which the name of any beside God hath been invoked, and that which hath been strangled.’”
“Al Forkan” (the Küran) “is a holy book, Simba, that may not be disregarded, and he that turneth his back to it shall surely perish,” added Selim.
“I am not going to eat Tifum’s head; the Warundi do not eat men. They only take medicine from them; but if the good book says it is wicked, I give you my word I shall not do it,” responded Simba. “But let us march, we have no time to talk,” and setting the example, by vigorous strides, he induced the little party to strain themselves to keep up with him; and from this time until sunset there were few words exchanged, except a remark now and then upon some exceptional feature of the forest through which they were travelling.
At sunset the fugitives were obliged to halt, and seeing a dense jungle clump before them, they sought an opening which led to it, which they presently discovered, narrow and a little inconvenient, but it led them into a delicious and secure resting-place. The camp, which they now intended to make, was surrounded by an impenetrable hedge, about fifty feet thick and about twelve feet high, of thorn and cactus, aloetic plants, convolvuli, all-interlacing, embracing, twining round each other, each leaf, or twig, or branch armed at all points with a myriad thorns, through which a boa-constrictor might in vain attempt to pass, a man never, were he armed in triple steel, least of all a rude savage; while inside was soft, green, silken grass, and a small circular depression in its centre like a “buffalo-wallow,” which contained water. Could anything have been more tempting than this? Surely not. Had the most cunning Moto devised the best protection he could, he had never conceived anything more formidable against naked man or beast! And the two Arab boys laughed merrily, and rubbed their hands together, as they thought how secure they were.
Simba, who had assumed the leadership, as though leadership was an everyday thing to him, looking around, said: