this very clear, if you please, for I must have no misunderstanding
on that point."

Aboh, who understood the chief part of what Charley had said,
immediately translated it to the old gentleman, with a good many
additions of his own. Iguma pouted a little at the thought, I suppose,
of having to wait so long, on which I told Aboh to remind her of the
quantity of beads I was to bring when I got our father's leave to marry
a black wife. I must own I had my doubts how far we were justified in
using this deceit, but our position was a difficult one and might become
dangerous, and just then we did not consider the consequences which
might result from the artifice we had resorted to. I tried to make
Iguma understand how much I was obliged to her by eating some of the
food she had brought, and assuring her how very nice I found it. At
last she appeared tolerably well satisfied, and as it was getting late
she and her grandfather took their departure. We were now left alone,
with only Aboh and Shimbo to attend on us.

"Things have turned out much better than I expected, and we are very
jolly here," observed Charley; "but I wonder whether Mr Sanga Tanga
will let us proceed on our journey."

"To my mind I am afraid that, now he has got us, he intends to keep us,"
observed Tom. "These nigger chiefs fancy that white men can do
everything, and as we have arms and ammunition, the king will, I
suspect, take it into his head to try and conquer all the country round
him. King Quagomolo, as he calls himself, is evidently afraid of him,
or he would not have given me and our traps up so easily."

"We, however, must try and get away," observed Harry; "we may be jolly
enough, as Charley says, just now, but we shall soon get weary of the
life."

"We must first try fair means, and endeavour to persuade the king to let
us go home to ask our father to allow Dick to marry Miss Iguma, as I
propose," said Charley; "that appears to me to be the safest plan to
pursue."

"But suppose the king says no, and insists on your brother marrying his
daughter with or without your father's leave, what's to be done then?"

"We must cut and run," I exclaimed; "I should be very sorry to treat the
young lady ill, but if her father insists on my marrying her, I shall
regret having been the means of saving her from the wild man of the
woods. I certainly thought that he would be grateful to me for what I
had done, but I confess that he exhibits his grati