t of it.

"What is it?" said the men. "What do you eat?"

"I eat the sweet flower of this little plant. If you eat of this, you
shall not thirst," said the girl.

Now they had ridden far and hard and the day was very warm, so when the
men heard this, they bent and gathered bits of the plant. It was sweet and
pleasing to the taste, so they ate more and more of it. And the Indian
girl watched them and smiled when none could see.

It was decided to get the evening meal while the oldest chief bound the
ankle of the girl. So they hurriedly cooked it. But before it was ready,
the leader leaned against the old tree and he was asleep. Then another and
another slept. Stronger than opium had been the flower that they had
eaten.

* * * * *

Kagigegabo watched them while her own eyes began to droop. She must not go
to sleep. Oh! what could she do? She must ride when they were asleep. What
could she do? She turned and twisted the broken ankle. That helped a bit,
for the pain was intense. She pulled great locks of her hair and tied them
about her fingers so that the blood would have to force its way about. And
after what seemed to her to be hours, she was still awake and the five
men were all sleeping.

Slowly, very slowly, she pulled herself away from the fire out into the
bush where her pony was tied. Her feet seemed determined not to move and
she wanted so much to lie down and sleep. But she kept on till she had led
the pony away from the group. Then she mounted and started on her ride.

But it was no use. She could not stay awake. Now what was she to do? They
were on the direct road to the valley. For a moment she hesitated. Then
quickly she tore her dress in strips. Taking a sharp stone, she cut her
arm and with the blood she made two pictures on a piece of wood--the one
showed five Indians asleep--the other showed an Indian girl by the road.
Taking the strips from her dress, she fastened the bit of wood to the
saddle.

She took from her arm the circle of brass which would tell her father from
whom the message had come, and fastened it to the saddle. Then a cut of
the whip across the legs sent the pony flying down the path.

After he had gone, the girl sat in a dazed way near the path. She was so
tired. If only they would hurry, then she could tell them which way to
go--but sleep came before the pony had gone even one mile.

Five days later, Kagigegabo opened her eyes slowly