"Say two dollars a month all told!" Will whispered to me behind his hand.
"I am a good gun-bearer!" the native answered. "My spirit is good. I am strong. There is nobody better than me as a gun-bearer!"
"We happen to want a headman," answered Fred. "Have you ever been headman?"
"Would you like to be?"
"Yes."
"Are you able?"
"Surely."
"Choose, then. Which of us would you like to work for?"
"You!" he answered promptly, pointing at Fred.
It was on the tip of the tongue of every one of us to ask him instantly why, but that would have been too rank indiscretion. It never pays to seem curious about a native's personal reasons, and it was many weeks before we knew why he had made up his mind in advance to choose Fred and not either of us for his master.