See, I beat my mouth for the ill word I spoke;" and he struck his mouth.

"But see, O chief, we move on, and the bad men will see us going, and make a plan to escape." "Let it be so.

If they see us they will see we are passing on, and be comforted.

And who will pay the price that is set on their heads ?" "They have the price with them," said the man, with a cunning look, "in ivory, in palm-oil, and in many things they have robbed from the villages." "And what avails them, all those things--which are heavy things--if they have no canoes to carry them in to the traders ?" "Did I say they had no canoes?
A great fleet they have waiting in hiding, till all the band come together from the hiding, waiting on the other shore.

It was because I saw the fleet of canoes on the river, crossing to the far side, that I hoped to surprise the few who were left." "And when may those canoes return ?" "The men collect their goods for the going; the time must be short before they leave." "And where do the others lie hid ?" "By the great palm-tree, over there." "Where there were men sitting watching?
It was because they had no canoes that they did not follow you?
Shall I tell you what was in my thought?
This, that you and they were friends, and that you were the bait to draw us into the trap." The man grinned nervously, and glanced at the water.