a man who scorns me, no, not even to share his place and power, though
it is true that I love them both. Nay, I will return to Hokosa my
guardian, and to his wife, Zinti, who has been as my mother, and with
them be at peace."

"It is well," said the king, "and perhaps, girl, your choice is wise;
perhaps your loss is not so great as you have thought. Hafela, take you
the hand of Hokosa and release the girl back to him according to the
law, promising in the ears of men before the first month of winter to
pay him two hundred head of cattle as forfeit, to be held by him in
trust for the girl."

In a sullen voice, his lips trembling with rage, Hafela did as the
king commanded; and when the hands of the conspirators unclasped, Owen
perceived that in that of the prince lay a tiny packet.

"Mix me the cup of the first-fruits, and swiftly," said the king again,
"for the sun grows low in the heavens, and ere it sinks I have words to
say."

Now a polished gourd filled with native beer was handed to Nodwengo, the
second son of the king, and one by one the great councillors approached,
and, with appropriate words, let fall into it offerings emblematic of
fertility and increase. The first cast in a grain of corn; the second,
a blade of grass; the third, a shaving from an ox's horn; the fourth,
a drop of water; the fifth, a woman's hair; the sixth, a particle
of earth; and so on, until every ingredient was added to it that was
necessary to the magic brew.

Then Hokosa, as chief of the medicine men, blessed the cup according