“And now,” began Mr. Lewis, stretching out to retire after two hours of chatting, “we’d better get to sleep. Noko says we’ll run into a native village tomorrow. That may delay us for a while.”
Shortly before noon of the next day the explorers heard a chorus of shouts and yells, which came from around a bend, and they soon found themselves facing a large group of natives.
Noko at once fell into conversation with the chief, with whom he was well acquainted. They talked for several minutes, and in the end the chief motioned for the safari to follow him into the village.
That village the two youths found very interesting. It was made up of several rows of thatched huts, about which sat natives dozing or conversing. Apparently there was no work being done, the natives probably resting to escape the terrible heat of the sun.
The chief escorted the safari to his own huge hut, where he asked that they remain for a while. The bearers were glad to do as requested, so as to get out of the fierce heat. And as Mr. Holton and Mr. Lewis were also reluctant to continue the journey at this time of day, they also consented.
Both the naturalists had picked up a good knowledge of the native language on their frequent trips to Africa and so had no difficulty in taking part in the conversation. They translated occasionally to Bob and Joe.
During the course of the talk the chief mentioned something that was of great interest to Mr. Lewis and Mr. Holton, and also to the chums. The section around the village was being made unsafe for hunting by a huge, bad-tempered buffalo which would charge any of the natives on sight. One man had been killed and two others severely wounded by the beast, and although numerous parties had set out to kill it, they had so far been unsuccessful in doing so. For some reason the animal never would wander far from a certain spot near a stream. So dangerous was the buffalo that the villagers were afraid to go to the stream to get water and had to follow a roundabout trail.
When the chief had finished, Mr. Lewis spoke up at once.