Well, in payment we ask you to make a present of the remaining gods of your country, and to see us and them safe across the lake.

Do you accept or refuse ?" "I refuse," answered the Kalubi sullenly.

"To accept would mean the last curse upon my spirit; that is too horrible to tell." "And to refuse means the first curse upon your body; namely, that in a few hours it must be broken and chewed by a great monkey which you call a god.

Yes, broken and chewed, and afterwards, I think, cooked and eaten as a sacrifice.

Is it not so ?" The Kalubi nodded his head and groaned.
"Yet," I went on, "for our part we are glad that you have refused, since now we shall be rid of a troublesome and dangerous business and return in safety to Mazitu land." "How will you return in safety, O lord Macumazana, you who are doomed to the 'Hot Death' if you escape the fangs of the god ?" "Very easily, O Kalubi, by telling Komba, the Kalubi-to-be, of your plots against this god of yours, and how we have refused to listen to your wickedness.