"
"If Dogeetah is your friend, then you are my friends," answered Bausi,
"for in this land he rules as I rule, he whose blood flows in my
veins, as my blood flows in his veins. But you lie. Dogeetah is no
brother of slave-dealers, his heart is good and yours are evil. You
say that he will meet you here. When will he meet you? Tell me, and if
it is soon, I will hold my hand and wait to hear his report of you
before I put you to death, for if he speaks well of you, you shall not
die."
Now I hesitated, as well I might, for I felt that looking at our case
from his point of view, Bausi, believing us to be slave-traders, was
not angry without cause. While I was racking my brains for a reply
that might be acceptable to him and would not commit us too deeply, to
my astonishment Mavovo stepped forward and confronted the king.
"Who are you, fellow?" shouted Bausi.
"I am a warrior, O King, as my scars show," and he pointed to the
assegai wounds upon his breast and to his cut nostril. "I am a chief
of a people from whom your people sprang and my name is Mavovo, Mavovo
who is ready to fight you or any man whom you may name, and to kill
him or you if you will.
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