ght it must be full of gold, because
the lightning never ceased to flash from it. So she crept across the
floor, and took the bag from off the end of the bamboo slat on which
it hung. Still the Basolo slept, and still the lightning continued
to play upon the bag. The woman looked inside the bag and saw a fine
gold betel-box, and when she lifted the lid, there in the box lay
a necklace of pure gold. Swiftly she closed the box, and stealthily
drew it out of the bag. Into the folds of her hemp skirt she slipped
the precious box with the gold necklace inside, and very quietly ran
down the bamboo ladder at the house-door.

When she got home, her brother smiled, and said to her, "What has
happened to you, my sister?"

Bright flashes of lightning seemed to be coming from the girl. She
looked almost as if she were made of gold, and the lightning could not
escape from her. Then she took out the betel-box and the necklace,
and showed them to her brother, saying that she had found them in
the Basolo's hut.

The Basolo awoke, and found his brass katakia and his fine necklace
gone.

"Who has been here?" he cried.

In a frenzy he hunted through his kabir, throwing out of it his old
work-knife and his rusty spear-head and all the poor things that he
kept in his bag. Then he began to moan and weep for his betel-box
and gold necklace.

By and by he started out to find his lost things. In the soft soil
close to the house, he found the footprints of the woman; and,
following the prints, he traced her to the Malaki's house. Right
there the footprints ended. The Basolo stood at the foot of the steps,
and called, "Who has been in my house?"

Then he ran up the ladder and rushed into the house, screaming to
the Malaki's sister, "Give me back my gold necklace! If you don't
give it back, I'll marry you."

Quick came the woman's answer, "I don't like you, and I will not
marry you."

But her brother was angry because she refused to marry the Basolo. At
last she agreed to the match, and said to the Basolo, "Yes, I will
marry you; but I can't let you live in my house. You must stay in
your own house over yonder."

So the Basolo and the Malaki's sister agreed to meet and try [103]
each other (talabana). Then the Basolo went home.

Not long after this, there came a day when many men went out to hunt
the wild pig and the deer. And from her house the woman heard the
sound of many men gathering in the meadow. There were Malaki T'oluk
Wa