y hands between
my hands and be my man? Wilt thou share the dangers that lie before me,
and help me to overthrow this tyrant and murderer, or wilt thou not?
Choose thou."

The old man put his hand to his head and thought. Then he rose, and
advancing to where Umbopa, or rather Ignosi, stood, he knelt before
him, and took his hand.

"Ignosi, rightful king of the Kukuanas, I put my hand between thy
hands, and am thy man till death. When thou wast a babe I dandled thee
upon my knees, now shall my old arm strike for thee and freedom."

"It is well, Infadoos; if I conquer, thou shalt be the greatest man in
the kingdom after its king. If I fail, thou canst only die, and death
is not far off from thee. Rise, my uncle."

"And ye, white men, will ye help me? What have I to offer you! The
white stones! If I conquer and can find them, ye shall have as many as
ye can carry hence. Will that suffice you?"

I translated this remark.

"Tell him," answered Sir Henry, "that he mistakes an Englishman. Wealth
is good, and if it comes in our way we will take it; but a gentleman
does not sell himself for wealth. Still, speaking for myself, I say
this. I have always liked Umbopa, and so far as lies in me I will stand
by him in this business. It will be very pleasant to me to try to
square matters with that cruel devil Twala. What do you say, Good, and
you, Quatermain?"

"Well," said Good, "to adopt the language of hyperbole, in which all
these people seem to indulge, you can tell him that a row is surely
good, and warms the cockles of the heart, and that so far as I am
concerned I'm his boy. My only stipulation is that he allows me to wear
trousers."

I translated the substance of these answers.

"It is well, my friends," said Ignosi, late Umbopa; "and what sayest
thou, Macumazahn, art thou also with me, old hunter, cleverer than a
wounded buffalo?"

I thought awhile and scratched my head.

"Umbopa, or Ignosi," I said, "I don't like revolutions. I am a man of
peace and a bit of a coward"--here Umbopa smiled--"but, on the other
hand, I stick up for my friends, Ignosi. You have stuck to us and
played the part of a man, and I will stick by you. But mind you, I am a
trader, and have to make my living, so I accept your offer about those
diamonds in case we should ever be in a position to avail ourselves of
it. Another thing: we came, as you know, to look for Incubu's (Sir
Henry's) lost brother. You must help us to find him."

"That