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He mounted upon Keo's back and commanded him to march. So Keo trotted briskly through the village, his little eyes twinkling with merriment. The other blacks were delighted with Gouie's captive, and begged permission to ride upon the Jolly One's back. So Gouie bargained with them for bracelets and shell necklaces and little gold ornaments, until he had acquired quite a heap of trinkets.
"That I will not do," declared Gouie; "unless," he added, as an afterthought, "you will make a bargain with me." "Let me hear about the bargain, black one, for I am hungry," said Keo. "I will let your go if you swear by the tusks of your grandfather that you will return to me in a year and a day and become my prisoner again."
In this fashion they came to the bank, where Keo told his mother and all the tribe of the bargain he had made with Gouie, who was to return in a year and a day and become his slave. Therefore the black man was permitted to depart in peace, and once more the Jolly One lived with his own people and was happy.
Keo laughed his jolly "guk-uk-uk-uk!" and ran with the speed of the wind. But this time he made straight for the river bank where his own tribe lived, and when he reached it he waded into the river, dived to the bottom and left Gouie floating in the middle of the stream.
Then Gouie uttered loud screams of terror, and, spying the Jolly One, who swam near him, he cried: "Save me, Keo! Save me, and I will release you from slavery!" "That is not enough," laughed Keo. "I will serve you all my life!" screamed Gouie; "I will do everything you bid me!" "Will you return to me in a year and a day and become my captive, if I allow you to escape?" asked Keo. "I will! I will!
When the pit was finished he covered it over with small branches of trees, and strewed earth upon them, smoothing the surface so artfully that no one would suspect there was a big hole underneath. Then Gouie laughed softly to himself and went home to supper.
But Gouie, being a thoughtful black man, went away without further talk, and did not return until the following morning. When he again leaned over the pit Keo was so weak from hunger that he could hardly laugh at all. "Do you give up?" asked Gouie, "or do you still wish to fight?" "What will happen if I give up?" inquired Keo. The black man scratched his woolly head in perplexity.
Gouie lived in one of the little villages of the blacks. He was the son of the chief's brother and grandson of the village sorcerer, the latter being an aged man known as the "the boneless wonder," because he could twist himself into as many coils as a serpent and had no bones to hinder his bending his flesh into any position.
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