Our prisoner was very much frightened when he saw this, and looked at me with imploring eyes. He had divined instinctively that I was the master; his looks seemed to say: "Do not kill me!"
After a pause I said: "Rogala, if our prisoner tries to run away, let us spare his life and not shoot him; every man tries to run away from the people he fears in search of liberty. You would do likewise if Rotembo were not a good master."
"Suddenly Rogala uttered a terrible war-cry and ran towards the man."
Rogala looked at me in blank astonishment, and then said: "Oguizi, I will not try to kill him if he runs away; but," he added, "he must not run away."
We let our prisoner crack more koola nuts, and waited until his appetite was satisfied; then we started for our camp, our captive walking between Rogala, who led, and myself in the rear. Rogala had taken the precaution to tie his hands behind his back before starting. We walked silently, not one of us uttering a word until we came to our palisade. Our captive then showed signs of great fear.
I told Rogala to go over first and tie Andekko, for I was sure the dog would try to bite him. When we were all inside, we gave our prisoner a good warm meal of plantains—a few of which still remained—and a piece of monkey. Rogala washed his body with warm water and then rubbed it with oil, for his skin was dried and parched; he seemed very grateful. Soon he fell asleep on the bare ground.
Looking at him as he slept, I said to Rogala: "The poor fellow may have been days and weeks in the forest subsisting on nuts, berries, and fruit when he could find them, avoiding all the time the paths for fear of coming in contact with people. For you know," I continued, "that as soon as a man is out of his country, and comes out of his circle of friends belonging to another tribe, he is sure to be captured and made a slave."
"That is true," replied Rogala. "To-morrow morning we will try to learn something about him."
Andekko did not take kindly to our new-comer, and growled at him all the time. We agreed to watch in turn over the captive during the night, as his bonds were not very strong. We lighted several fires round him, and tied Andekko for fear that he might bite him.