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I will!" cried Gouie. "Swear it by the bones of your grandfather!" commanded Keo, remembering that black men have no tusks to swear by. And Gouie swore it by the bones of his grandfather. Then Keo swam to the black one, who clambered upon his back again.
Keo was so pleased when he found himself upon the surface of the earth again that he indulged in a merry fit of laughter, after which he said: "Good-by, Gouie; in a year and a day you will see me again." Then he waddled away toward the river to see his mother and get his breakfast, and Gouie returned to his village.
Then before them, on the opposite side of the river, appeared the black mouth of Glinkomok's cave. Keo dashed into the water, dived to the bottom and left the black people struggling to swim out. But Glinkomok had heard the laughter of Keo and knew what to do. When the Jolly One rose to the surface and blew the water from his throat there was no black man to be seen.
At the far end of this imposing room an enormous, pyramidal shrine of gold rises almost to the roof, its dazzling brilliancy somewhat subdued by the semi-obscurity of the interior. Wat Phra Keo is unique amongst Siamese temples in containing objects of real value.
The mother's heart was full of joy; Uncle Nep shivered once or twice as he remembered a glimpse he had caught of Glinkomok; but Keo was as jolly as possible, and, not content to swim with his dignified elders, he dived under their bodies, raced all around them and laughed merrily every inch of the way home.
Finally but a week of freedom remained to Keo, and his mother, the queen, became so nervous and worried that another meeting of the tribe was called. By this time the laughing hippopotamus had grown to enormous size, and measured nearly fifteen feet long and six feet high, while his sharp tusks were whiter and harder than those of an elephant.
Keo returned alone to the village, and Gouie asked, with surprise: "Where are my brothers:" "I do not know," answered Keo. "I took them far away, and they remained where I left them." Gouie would have asked more questions then, but another crowd of black men impatiently waited to ride on the back of the laughing hippopotamus.
During the months that followed, as the black man lay in his hut or hunted in the forest, he heard at times the faraway "Guk-uk-uk-uk!" of the laughing hippopotamus. But he only smiled to himself and thought: "A year and a day will soon pass away!" Now when Keo returned to his mother safe and well every member of his tribe was filled with joy, for the Jolly One was a general favorite.
So they paid the price and climbed to their seats, after which the foremost said: "Run, mud-wallower run!" And Keo ran as before and carried them to the mouth of Glinkomok's cave, and returned alone. But now Gouie became anxious to know the fate of his fellows, for he was the only black man left in his village. So he mounted the hippopotamus and cried: "Run, river-hog run!"
Gouie had counted the days and knew when to expect Keo; but he was astonished at the monstrous size to which his captive had grown, and congratulated himself on the wise bargain he had made. And Keo was so fat that Gouie determined to eat him that is, all of him he possibly could, and the remainder of the carcass he would trade off to his fellow villagers.
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