should all have been beyond the reach of recovery, for those devils of
thine would have slain us as they would have slain our servant," and I
pointed towards Mahomed.

The old man ground his teeth, and I saw an extraordinary expression of
malignity light up his eyes.

"Fear not, my son," he answered. "Vengeance shall be taken on them such
as would make the flesh twist upon the bones merely to hear of it. To
_She_ shall they go, and her vengeance shall be worthy of her greatness.
That man," pointing to Mahomed, "I tell thee that man would have died a
merciful death to the death these hyæna-men shall die. Tell me, I pray
of thee, how it came about."

In a few words I sketched what had happened.

"Ah, so," he answered. "Thou seest, my son, here there is a custom that
if a stranger comes into this country he may be slain by 'the pot,' and
eaten."

"It is hospitality turned upside down," I answered feebly. "In our
country we entertain a stranger, and give him food to eat. Here ye eat
him, and are entertained."

"It is a custom," he answered, with a shrug. "Myself I think it an evil
one; but then," he added by an afterthought, "I do not like the taste
of strangers, especially after they have wandered through the swamps and
lived on wild-fowl. When _She-who-must-be-obeyed_ sent orders that ye
were to be saved alive she said naught of the black man, therefore,
being hyænas, these men lusted after his flesh, and the woman it was,