“He watched her”
From that time on they never went alone into the forest or to the spring, and were always armed with spears or poisonous arrows. At night they kept many fires burning in the street, and consoled themselves by saying, “No matter how hungry a njego may be, he is afraid of fire.” They also danced all night and beat their tom-toms.
During that time the njego kept far out of the way in the jungle. But he thought all the time of the flesh of the human beings he had eaten, and said, “I will watch my opportunity.”
The villagers, after a while, thought the man-eater had been scared away and had left the country, and that he would never come back. So they stopped dancing every night, and went to sleep without any fear of the njego.
But, in the course of time, the njego returned. One night he walked toward the village, and, coming to the fence, turned around it, hoping to see some openings through which he could get. But he saw none. Then he leaped over the palings, falling so lightly that no one heard him. Noiselessly he passed through the dark street, his eyes looking everywhere, in search of prey. He listened to everything, and was very cautious and somewhat timid, for he had never entered a village of human beings before.
He scented human beings in every house; but the houses had doors, and these were all closed. The village was composed of a single street with houses on both sides. So he went in the rear of the houses and walked by them, but saw no openings to get in.
Finally he came to a goat-house; but there was no way for him to enter, for the house had been especially built to protect the goats against njegos. So, after walking several times around it, and saying to himself, “How I like goats!” he retreated, and soon after he leaped over the fence and went back into the jungle, and slept on a huge branch of a tree.
But he was thinking all the time of the flesh of the human beings he had eaten, and the following night he went again to the village and examined carefully every spot; but he was still very timid, for everything was yet very strange to him. He lingered much longer than on the first night, and walked several times the length of the street and back of the houses, scenting human beings everywhere, which gave him a tremendous appetite.
He remained uncertain what to do; but he had come to the conclusion that the roofs were the weakest parts of the houses. However, that night again he leaped back over the fence, went into the jungle, and slept on the same tree that he had slept on since he had first come to the village.
The next night there was a great thunderstorm, with terrible lightning, and the rain fell in torrents. The njego said: “This is good weather for me. I will enter the village of the human beings, and carry away one of them for a meal.” He waited as usual until the night was somewhat advanced, and then thought it was time for him to leave his place. He came down the tree and directed his steps toward the village.