Indeed, I am so sure of it
that if ever Dogeetah turns up at a time of trouble in that land
whither we are journeying, I will make you a present of that double-
barrelled rifle of mine which you admired so much."
One of his rare smiles appeared upon Mavovo's ugly face.
"Then give it to me now, /Baba/," he said, "for it is already earned.
My Snake cannot lie--especially when the fee is half-a-crown."
I shook my head and declined, politely but with firmness.
"Ah!" said Mavovo, "you white men are very clever and think that you
know everything. But it is not so, for in learning so much that is
new, you have forgotten more that is old. When the Snake that is in
you, Macumazana, dwelt in a black savage like me a thousand thousand
years ago, you could have done and did what I do. But now you can only
mock and say, 'Mavovo the brave in battle, the great hunter, the loyal
man, becomes a liar when he blows the burnt feather, or reads what the
wind writes upon the charmed ashes.'"
"I do not say that you are a liar, Mavovo, I say that you are deceived
by your own imaginings.
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