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Therefore the spirit of vengeance will be cheated for there is no one to slay. There is no other man in the tribe without family upon which revenge could fall." "As I said before," Yaro admitted, "Choflo knows all things. He speaks truly and wisely." Then turning, he muttered to himself, "But he is determined to be rid of Oomah so that Wana, son of his sister may become leader of the people."
The terrible fever fast gained on the unfortunate hunter, racking his body and adding physical torture to his mental anguish. Still he struggled to overcome the insurmountable obstacles in his way. But, while a firm resolve may do many things there is also a limit to all things, and there came a day when Oomah could go no further. He had already wandered far from the country so well known to him.
Why, see," he exclaimed suddenly, pointing to the East "even now the sky is overcast where the sun rises and soon the rain will fall upon you. Look, Oomah! They can ask for no other proof. Tumwah has come to save you." Just then shouts from the forest announced the coming of the hunters and before long the excited youths had filed into the village and joined the circle.
Oomah asked incredulously, holding the plumes in his hand. "The decision of the Great Spirit has answered that. You must prove yourself worthy or pay the penalty. Either you will slay the Black Phantom and bring back evidence of the deed, or you will not return at all."
"Tell us, Oomah," one of the boys said in an awestruck tone, "are there still greater rivers than the Father of Waters we know?" "The Father of Waters is but as a drop compared to the great sea into which it empties," Oomah said wistfully. "It is so large that there is no other side. The fish in it are bigger than the tallest tree and when the wind blows the waves are high as mountains."
It was indeed a strange land but Oomah was too ill to take much heed of his surroundings. At noon he could go no further. The ground seemed to rise toward his flushed face and then smote him such a blow that all grew black before his eyes. When he awoke the screeching of the cicadas warned him that the day's end was at hand. The fever had relented and he felt somewhat refreshed.
"I am the bearer of a message," the newcomer greeted the emaciated youth, "from the fathers of the tribe." Oomah grunted. "Why have you come to add to my suffering? I know that I am an outcast, and I am ready to die." "No! You must come back with me. Your work is finished. Your reward will be great. Choflo's place shall be yours. That is the message I bear." Oomah stared blankly at the speaker.
And Oomah started on a run toward the cluster of hovels on the margin of the water. His cries brought out the men and women before he reached their midst, and it required but a moment to deliver his message. "Impossible," Choflo replied with a malicious gleam in his eyes. "The sign did not appear to me." "But, I saw it. The children saw it. Gather up what you can and run for your lives." "No!"
Agoo reached the village of the Patocos after a week's rapid journey through the forest. He had been sent by the Cantanas to look for Oomah. The twigs snapped from the undergrowth by the hunter as he walked along guided him unfailingly to the last camping site and from there a beaten trail led to the village. And Agoo was promptly made prisoner by the fierce enemies of the Cantanas.
Oomah was destined to be robbed of his prize and the sorcerer had beheld the youth for the last time. But despite these facts, the designing purveyor of magic had been also totally mistaken in his calculations. For, while both of his hopes were realized they, at the same time, strange as it may seem, were doomed to failure.
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