"M'tana is good. He would not do that."
"But if he should do it?"
"Then Kali will again go to the great water—to the great master and the 'bibi.'"
"We shall not be there then."
"Then Kali will sit beside the water and weep from grief."
Speaking thus he crossed his hands above his head; after a while he whispered:
"Kali loves the great master and the 'bibi' very much—very much!"
And two big tears glistened in his eyes.
Stas hesitated how to act. He was sorry for Kali, nevertheless, he did not assent to his entreaty. He understood—not to speak of the dangers of return—that if M'Tana or the fetish-men stirred up the negroes, then the boy was threatened not only with expulsion from the country but with death.
"It is better for you to remain," he said, "better without question."