At length he spoke.
"White men," he said, "Imbozwi, the head of the witch-finders here,
whose hair you burnt off by your evil magic, says that it would be
better to kill you at once as your hearts are bad and you are planning
mischief against my people. So I think also. But Babemba my General,
with whom I am angry because he did not obey my orders and put you to
death on the borders of my country when he met you there with your
caravan of slaves, thinks otherwise. He prays me to hold my hand,
first because you have bewitched him into liking you and secondly
because if you should happen to be speaking the truth--which we do not
believe--and to have come here at the invitation of my brother
Dogeetah, he, Dogeetah, would be pained if he arrived and found you
dead, nor could even he bring you to life again. This being so, since
it matters little whether you die now or later, my command is that you
be kept prisoners till sunset of the second day from this, and that
then you will be led out and tied to stakes in the market-place, there
to wait till the approach of darkness, by when you say Dogeetah will
be here.
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