She was getting dangerously near, and we ran the risk of being discovered; then she might, in her fright, disappear in the jungle before we had time to take a good aim and shoot. Looking at Rogala, I raised "Bulldog" and fired. The big nshiego-mbouvé fell, and the little fellow ran up a tree, uttering shrill cries of terror.
I whispered to Rogala: "Now let us get our net ready to throw over the little nshiego when he comes down the tree to see his mother."
We kept perfectly still. Soon the baby nshiego-mbouvé came down the tree, and went up to his mother, who was lying dead on her back. He put his nose close to her face and moaned pitifully. He seemed to know that she was dead. Rogala ran up and threw the net over him. He shrieked fearfully. We took him in that manner to the camp, and having cut off the mother's head as a trophy, we took it with us. But our little captive died soon after. We could not keep him alive.
CHAPTER XIII
NDOVA'S THOUGHTFULNESS—HIS WINNING AND SPORTIVE WAYS—HE FEELS LONELY AND CALLS FOR OTHER MONKEYS TO COME TO HIM—A TROOP OF ELEVEN APPEAR—I FRIGHTEN THEM AWAY
I remained all alone in the camp one day while my hunters had gone hunting. Andekko had gone with them. Everything was very quiet.
Ndova was very still and was thinking. There was no mistake about it. His face showed it; his eyes showed it. He had a wonderful and thoughtful expression of sadness which went right to my heart.
I wondered if he was sorry for his lot among us; if he thought that he would be better off in the forest with his own folk. Perhaps poor Ndova wanted a mate to live with him. All I could tell, when I looked at him, was that he seemed supremely sorrowful. "What a pity," I said to myself, "that I cannot speak or understand the ndova talk, for I could then by talking to him find out what is the matter." Then I wished I could understand the language of all the monkeys of the forest. I knew about nine different kinds of monkeys living there; I could tell every species by hearing them, for no two uttered the same kind of sounds.