Page:In Desert and Wilderness (Sienkiewicz, tr. Drezmal).djvu/218

 210 "Is that a great nation?"

"Great, which is making war upon the bad Samburus and takes their cattle."

"Is that country like this?"

"No. There are mountains and great water."

"How is that water called?"

"We call it 'The Dark Water.'"

Stas thought that the boy might come from the neighborhood of the Albert Nyanza, which up to that time had been in the hands of Emin Pasha; so, desiring to confirm this, he asked further:

"Does not a white chief live there who has black smoking boats and troops?"

"No, the old men with us say that they saw white men, (here Kali parted his fingers) one, two, three. Yes. There were three of them in long white dresses. They were looking for tusks. Kali did not see them for he was not in the world, but Kali's father received them and gave them many cows."

"What is your father?"

"The king of Wahima."

Stas was flattered a little by the idea that he had a Prince Royal for a servant.

"Would you like to see your father?"

"Kali wants to see his mother."

"What would you do if we met the Wahimas, and what would they do?"

"The Wahimas would fall on their faces before Kali."

"Lead us to them; then you shall remain with them and rule after your father, and we will go farther to the sea."

"Kali cannot find the way to them, and cannot remain, for Kali loves the great master and the daughter of the moon."