“Oho!” answered Stasch, a little hurt. “You are not the one to decide.”
“Kali will go with us!” she repeated.
“Perhaps not!”
Then she suddenly stamped her little foot, saying:
“I wish it!” And burst into tears.
Stasch looked at her in great surprise, as if unable to understand what had happened to the child, who was usually so good and so gentle, but when he saw how she put both little fists up to her eyes and with open mouth gasped for air like a little bird, he at once said:
“Kali shall go with us—yes, he shall go with us! Why are you crying? How unreasonable you are! He shall go! Do you hear? He shall go!”
And so it was settled. Stasch felt ashamed of himself all that day because of his weakness in giving in to the “good Msimu,” and she, having gained her point, was as quiet, gentle, and submissive as ever.
| [41] | This was the large lake discovered by the famous explorer Teleki in 1888, and named Rudolf Lake. |