“Why do you look like that?” asked Stasch; “do you believe that there is another snake hidden in the tree?”
“No, but Kali has heard the dreadful noise made by Msimu in the sorcerers’ huts.”
“So your sorcerers are not afraid of him?”
“The sorcerers fully believe in him; they enter our huts and tell us that Msimu is angry, and the negroes bring them bananas, honey, pombe (a beer made from a certain plant), eggs and meat, with which to propitiate Msimu.”
“I should think it would be delightful to be one of your sorcerers. But could this snake have been Msimu?”
“If this had been so the elephant would not have killed Msimu, but Msimu would have killed the elephant. Msimu is dead.”
A weird crackling sound suddenly interrupted him. From the lower cavity in the tree came a strange-looking cloud of red dust; after which the crackling became louder.
Kali at once prostrated himself on his face and began to scream in terror:
At first Stasch drew back, too, but he soon regained his composure, and when Nell and Mea came running up he explained the probable cause to them.
“It is most likely,” he said, “that layers of mold, loosened by the heat, have fallen down and smothered the fire. But Kali believes it was Msimu. Mea shall pour water into the cavity, for if the fire is not smothered and the mold should ignite, it might burst out and the whole tree be consumed.”
Stasch saw that Kali still lay prostrate in terror, repeating “Aka! Aka!” so he picked up his rifle, shot into the cavity, then touched the boy with the butt of the gun and said:
“Your Msimu is shot. Don’t be frightened.”
Kali raised himself a little, but remained on his knees.
“O great, great sir! Is the master not even afraid of Msimu?”
After a while the negro became calm, and sat down to the meal prepared by Mea. It was very evident that his momentary fright had not affected his appetite, for in addition to a substantial helping of smoked meat he ate the raw liver of the young zebra, not to mention the wild figs, quantities of which grew on a neighboring sycamore. Then he and Stasch returned to the tree, where there was still plenty of work to be done, for it took more than two hours to take out the mold and ashes, the burned bats, the piles of roasted beetles, and other large insects.