They will not need them to kill meat, for
meat shall be given to them in plenty; moreover, among the Pongo they
will be safe, unless they offer insult to the god.'"
These words Komba spoke very slowly and with much emphasis, his
piercing eyes fixed upon my face as though to read the thoughts it
hid. As I heard them my courage sank into my boots. Well, I knew that
the Kalubi was asking us to Pongo-land that we might kill this Great
White Devil that threatened his life, which, I took it, was a
monstrous ape. And how could we face that or some other frightful
brute without firearms? My mind was made up in a minute.
"O Komba," I said, "my gun is my father, my mother, my wife and all my
other relatives. I do not stir from here without it."
"Then, white lord," answered Komba, "you will do well to stop in this
place in the midst of your family, since, if you try to bring it with
you to Pongo-land, you will be killed as you set foot upon the shore."
Before I could find an answer Brother John spoke, saying:
"It is natural that the great hunter, Macumazana, should not wish to
be parted from what which to him is as a stick to a lame man.
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