with the anger of Bobolo.
When she returned to the white girl she merely nodded her head in the direction of one of the huts and said 'Come' again, but this time in a less peremptory tone; in other ways, too, her attitude seemed changed and far less unfriendly, or perhaps it would be better to say less threatening. That the terrible old woman could be friendly to any one seemed wholly beyond the range of possibility.
Having installed the girl in her own but, under the protection of two women slaves, Ubooga hobbled to the main entrance of the chief's compound, possibly in the hope of catching a glimpse of Bobolo, concerning whom she had left a number of things unsaid; but Bobolo was nowhere to be seen. There was, however, a warrior who had returned with the chief from up river squatting before a nearby but while his wife prepared food for him.
Ubooga, being a privileged character and thus permitted to leave the sacred precincts off the harem crossed over and squatted down near the warrior.
'Who is the white girl?' demanded the old woman.
The warrior was a very stupid fellow, and the fact that he had recently been very drunk and had had no sleep for two nights lent him no greater acumen. Furthermore, he was terribly afraid of Ubooga, as who was not? He looked up dully out of red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes.
'She is the new white priestess of the Leopard God,' he said.
'Where did Bobolo get her?' persisted Ubooga.
'We had come from the battle at Gato Mgungu's village, where we were defeated, and were on our way with Gato Mgungu back to the temp-' He stopped suddenly. 'I don't know where Bobolo got her,' he ended sullenly.
A wicked, toothless grin wrinkled Ubooga's unlovely features. 'I thought so,' she cackled enigmatically and, rising, hobbled back to the chief's compound.
The wife of the warrior looked at him with disgust. 'So you are a Leopard Man!' she whispered accusingly.
'It is a lie,' he cried; 'I said nothing of the sort.'
'You did,' contradicted his wife, 'and you told Ubooga that Bobolo is a Leopard Man. This will not be well for Bobolo or for you.'
'Women who talk too much sometimes have their tongues cut out,' he reminded her.
'It is you who have talked too much,' she retorted. 'I have said nothing. I shall say nothing. Do you think that I want the village to know that my man is a Leopard Man?' There was deep disgust in her tone.
The order of Leopard Men is a secret order. There are few villages and no entire tribes composed wholly of Leopard Men, who are looked upon with disgust and horror by all who are not members of the feared order. Their rites and practices are viewed with contempt by even the most degraded of tribes, and to be proved a Leopard Man is equivalent to the passing of a sentence of exile or death in practically any community.
Ubooga nursed the knowledge she had gained, metaphorically cuddling it to her breast. Squatting down before her hut, she mumbled to herself; and the other women of the harem who saw her were frightened, for they saw that Ubooga smiled, and when Ubooga smiled they knew that something unpleasant was going to happen to some one. When Bobolo entered the compound they saw that she smiled more broadly, and they were relieved, knowing that it was Bobolo and not they who was to be the victim.
'Where is the white girl?' demanded Bobolo as he halted before Ubooga. 'Has any harm befallen her?'
'Your priestess is quite safe, Leopard Man,' hissed Ubooga, but in a voice so low that only Bobolo might hear.
'What do you mean, you old she-devil?' Bobolo's face turned a livid blue from rage.
'For a long time I have suspected it,' cackled Ubooga. 'Now I know it.'
Bobolo seized his knife and grasped the woman by the hair, dragging her across one knee. 'You said I did not dare to kill you,' he growled.
'Nor do you. Listen. I have told another, who will say nothing unless I command it, or unless I die. If I die the whole village will know it, and you will be torn to pieces. Now kill me, if you dare!'
Bobolo let her fall to the ground. He did not know that Ubooga had lied to him, that she had told no one. He may have surmised as much; but he dared not take the chance, for he knew that Ubooga was right. His people would tear him to pieces should they discover he was a Leopard Man, nor would the other culprits in the tribe dare come to his defense. To divert suspicion from themselves they would join his executioners. Bobolo was very much worried.
'Who told you?' he demanded. 'It is a lie, whoever told you.'
'The girl is high priestess of the Leopard God,' taunted Ubooga. 'After you left the village of Gato Mgungu, following the fight in which you were defeated, you returned to the temple with Gato Mgungu who all men know is the chief of the Leopard Men. There you got the girl.'
'It is a lie. I stole her from the Leopard Men. I am no Leopard Man.'
'Then return her to the Leopard Men, and I will say nothing about the matter. I will tell no one that you are such a good friend of Gato Mgungu that you fight with him against his enemies, for then everyone will know that you must be a Leopard Man.'
'It is a lie,' repeated Bobolo, who could think of nothing else to say.
'Lie or no lie, will you get rid of her?'
'Very well,' said Bobolo; 'in a few days.' 'Today,' demanded Ubooga. 'Today, or I will kill her tonight.'
'Today,' assented Bobolo. He turned away.
'Where are you going?'
'To get someone to take her back where the Leopard Men can find her.'
'Why don't you kill her?'
'The Leopard Men would kill me if I did. They would kill many of my people. First of all they would kill my women if I killed theirs.'
'Go and get someone to take her away,' said Ubooga, 'but see that there is no trickery, you son of a wart hog, you pig, you-'
Bobolo heard no more. He had fled into the village. He was very angry, but he was more afraid. He knew that what Ubooga had said was true; but, on the other hand, his passion still ran high for the white girl. He must try to find some means to preserve her for himself; in case he failed, however, there were other uses to which she could be put. Such were the thoughts which occupied his mind as he walked the length of the village street toward the hut of his old crony Kapopa, the witch doctor, upon more than one occasion a valuable ally.
He found the old man engaged with a customer who desired a charm that would kill the mother of one of his wives, for which Kapopa had demanded three goats-in advance. There was considerable haggling, the customer insisting that his mother-in-law was not worth one goat, alive, which, he argued, would reduce her value when dead to not more than a single chicken; but Kapopa was obdurate, and finally the man departed to give the matter further thought.
Bobolo plunged immediately into the matter that had brought him to the witch-doctor. 'Kapopa knows,' he commenced, 'that when I returned from up the river I brought a white wife with me.'
Kapopa nodded. 'Who in the village does not?'
'Already she has brought me much trouble,' continued Bobolo.
'And you wish to be rid of her.'
'I do not. It is Ubooga who wishes to rid me of her.'
'You wish a charm to kill Ubooga?'
'I have already paid you for three such charms,' Bobolo reminded him, 'and Ubooga still lives. I do not wish another. Your medicine is not so strong as Ubooga.'
'What do you wish?'
'I will tell you. Because the white girl is a priestess of the Leopard God, Ubooga says that I must be a Leopard Man, but that is a lie. I stole her from the Leopard Men. Everyone knows that I am not a Leopard Man.'
'Of course,' assented Kapopa.
'But Ubooga says that she will tell everyone that I am a Leopard Man if I do not kill the girl or send her away. What can I do?'
Kapopa sat in silence for a moment; then he rummaged in a bag that lay beside him. Bobolo fidgeted. He
