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You shall not let this stranger out of your sight, nor shall you allow approach him any such evil men as the N'gombi iron sellers or the fishing men of N'gar or makers of wooden charms, for the government has said this man must not be robbed, but must be treated well, and you of the guard shall all salute him, also, when the time arrives." Hamilton meant no disrespect in his graphic illustration.
He was a ghost respected by all peoples Akasava, Ochori, Isisi, N'gombi, and Bush folk. By the Bolengi, the Bomongo, and even the distant Upper Congo people feared him.
"You die alone, Tibbetti," he said, "though I planned a great death for you, with Bosambo at your side; and in the matter of ju-jus, behold! you shall call for Sandi whilst you have a tongue." He took from the raw-hide sheath that was strapped to the calf of his bare leg, a short N'gombi knife, and drew it along the palm of his hand. "Call now, O Moon-in-the-Eye!" he scoffed.
"It is not of you I speak, nor of your people, but of the Akasava and the N'gombi and the evil little men who live in the forest now is it true that they speak mockingly of my lord Tibbetti?" Bosambo hesitated. "Lord," said he, "what dogs are they, that they should speak of the mighty? Yet I will not lie to you, M'ilitani: they mock Tibbetti, because he is young and his heart is pure."
Bones, despite the character he gave himself, was no fool, and, moreover, he had the advantage of knowing of the new N'gombi spears that were going out to the Akasava day by day; and when Bosambo told of the midnight summons that had come to him, Bones did the rapid exercise of mental figuring which is known as putting two and two together.
"Efobi of the Isisi has stolen goats, and because he is the brother of the chief's wife goes unpunished; T'mara of the Akasava has put a curse upon the wife of O'femo the headman, and she has burnt his hut; N'kema of the Ochori will not pay his tax, saying that he is no Ochori man, but a true N'gombi; Bosambo's men have beaten a woodman of B'limi Saka, because he planted trees on Ochori land; the well folk are on the edge of the N'gomb forest, building huts and singing "
Neither akin to the N'gombi, the Isisi, the Akasava nor the Ochori, they took on the worst attributes of each race. Seldom in open warfare did they challenge the Administration, but there was a long tale of slain and mutilated enemies who floated face downwards in the stream; of disappearance of faithful servants of Government, and of acts of cannibalism which went unidentified and unpunished.
All that day he sat before his hut and even sent away the wife of his heart and the child M'sambo, that the rest of M'gani of the N'gombi should not be disturbed. That night when darkness had come and the glowing red of hut fires grew dimmer, M'gani came from the hut. Bosambo had sent away the guard and accompanied his guest to the end of the village.
Two nights after, the call was repeated this time with greater detail. An N'gombi force of countless spears had seized the village of Doozani and was threatening the capital. Again Bosambo carried his spears to a killing, and again was met by an apologetic N'gori.
The Isisi threw the call northward; the N'gombi village, sent it westward, and presently first the Isisi, then the N'gombi, heard the faint answer: "Coming the Breaker of Lives," and returned the message to N'gori. "Now I shall also break lives," said N'gori, and sacrificed a goat to his success.
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