"They are not pursuing us," said Ayari.

"Perhaps they only wished to drive us away," said Alice.

"Perhaps," said Ayari, "they know the river better than us, and do not desire to travel further eastward upon it."

"Perhaps," I said.

"What shall we do?" asked Ayari.

"Continue on," said Kisu.

Tende Speaks To Kisu

I looked up at the stars.

I listened to the jungle noises, and the small, quiet crackle of the burning wood in the campfire.

Tende knelt beside Kisu, bending over him. I could hear her licking and kissing softly at his body. Her hands were tied behind her, a line running to the small tree which served us in the camp as slave post. Her ankles, too, were crossed and tied.

Both Janice and Alice, now asleep, lay near me. Neither was secured.

"Ah, excellent, Slave," said Kisu. He then took her by the hair. "Excellent," he said.

He then released her hair, and she put her head down on his belly. "Find me pleasing, Master," she begged.

"I do," he said.

"I love you, Master," she said.

"You are the daughter of my hated enemy, Aibu," he said.

"No, Master," she said. "I am now only your conquered love slave."

"Perhaps," he said.

"Do you think me any the less conquered than Janice and Alice, my white sisters in bondage?" she asked.

"Perhaps not," said Kisu. "It is not easy to tell about such matters."

"I, too," she said, "am only a slave, lovingly and helplessly a slave."

"But you are black," he said.

"It makes no difference," she said. "I, too, am a woman. And you have made yourself my master, fully."

He did not speak.

"Do you hate me, Master?" she asked.

"No," he said.

"Do you not like me, just a little?" she asked.

"Perhaps," he said.

"I love you," she said.

"Perhaps," he said.

"Can you not trust me, just a little?" she asked.

"I do not choose to do so," he said.

"It is strange," she said. "The other girls sleep free beside their master and I, who am so helplessly yours, surely as much a slave as they, am kept in severe constraints."

He did not speak.

"Why, my master?" she asked.

"It pleases me," he said.

"How can I convince you of my love?" she asked. "How can I earn your trust?"

"Do you wish to be whipped?" he asked.

"No, Master," she said.

He rolled over and took her by the arms, and put her to her back.

"It seems a small thing," she said, "that a girl beg to be permitted to sleep at her master's feet." She lifted her lips and kissed him. Then she lay back. "Do you think me less than the white slaves?" she asked.

"No," he said. "You are neither more nor less than they. You are all alike in being slaves."

"But I am the only tied slave," she said.

"Yes," he said.

"Could you not at least unfasten my ankles?" she asked.

"Ah," he laughed. "You are a little slave, Tende."

When he had finished with her, he did not retie her ankles.

"You have not retied my ankles," she said. "Does this mean that you are now moved to treat me with a bit more kindness?"

"No," he said. "It is merely that I may want you again before morning."

"Yes, my master," she laughed. She then snuggled against him. Soon they were both asleep.

41

The Net In The River

"Look out!" cried Ayari.

It seemed to rip up from the water, extending across the river.

It rose before us, reticulated and wet, dripping, a net, a barrier of interwoven vines.

"Cut through!" shouted Kisu.

At the same time, behind us, we heard shouting. From each side of the river, about two hundred yards behind, we saw canoes, dozens, being thrust into the river.

"Cut through!" cried Kisu.

Ayari, with his knife, slashed at the vines.

We brought the canoe against the net, so that I and Kisu, too, each armed with a panga, might slash at the woven wall which had, on vine ropes, sprung from shore, lifted up before us.

The shouting behind us came closer.

The trap, weighted, just below the surface, is activated by two vine ropes, slung over tree branches, ropes which are drawn taut when two logs, to which they are attached, one on each shore, are rolled or dropped from a concealed scaffolding. A signal which we had failed to note had doubtless been given.

The keen steel of our pangas smote apart thick vines, Water from the wet vines, struck loose by our blows, showered upon us.

"Get the canoe through!" cried Kisu.

We turned the canoe. A spear splashed near us. Ayari lifted aside vines. The canoe, vines sliding against its side, slipped through.

"Paddle!" said Kisu. "Paddle for your lives!"

We Leave A Village At Night

"Tarl," whispered Ayari.

"Yes," I said.

"We must leave this village," he said.

We had now been on the river four months since we had, first, on the looming height of the falls, observed the many ships and canoes of the forces of Bila Huruma far behind us. We did not even know, now, if they were behind us or not. Too, we had seen no new evidence of Shaba ahead of us. A month ago we had eluded the net of vines and, by paddling into the darkness, had escaped our pursuers. They would not remain on the river at night. It is impossible to convey, in any brief measure, the glory and length of the river, and the hundreds of geographical features, and the varieties of animal and vegetable life characterizing it and its environs. The river alone seems a world of nature in its own right, let alone the marvels of its associated terrain. It was like a road to wonders, a shining, perilous, enchanted path leading into the heart of rich, hitherto unknown countries. It, in its ruggedness, its expanse, its tranquility, its rages, was like a key to unlock a great portion of a burgeoning continent, a device whereby might be opened a new, fresh world, green, mysterious and vast. Not a geographer, I could scarcely conjecture the riches and resources which lay about me. I had seen traces of copper and gold in cliffs. The river and forests teemed with life. Fibrous, medicinal, and timber resources alone seemed inexhaustible. A new world, untapped, beautiful, dangerous, was opened by the river. I think it would be impossible to overestimate its importance.

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"I have been looking about the village in the darkness," he whispered.

"Yes?" I said.

"I have found the refuse dump," he said.

"Within the walls?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"That is strange," I said. Normally a village would have its refuse dump outside the walls.

"I thought it strange, too," said Ayari. "I took the liberty of examining it."

"Yes?" I said.

"It contains human bones," he said.

"That is doubtless why it is kept within the walls," I said.

"I think so," said Ayari. "That way strangers will not see it before, unsuspecting, they enter the village."

"They seemed friendly fellows," I said. They were, however, I admitted to myself, not the most attractive lot I had ever seen. Their teeth had been filed to points.

"I never trust a man," said Ayari, "until I know what he eats"

"Where are the men of the village?" I asked.

"They are not asleep," said Ayari. "They are gathered in one of the huts."

"I shall awaken Janice and Alice," I said. "Awaken Kisu and Tende."

"I shall do so," he whispered.

In a few Ehn, our things in hand, we crept from the village. By the time we heard men crying out in rage, and saw torches on the shore, we were safely on the river.