“It’s funny, Baas, that those _carles_ did not get out of their canoe and come to kill us with their spears. I suppose they were afraid of the rifles.” “No, Hans,” I answered, “they are brave men who would not have stopped because of the bullets. They were afraid of more than these: they feared the Curse which says that those who leave their land will die and go to hell. Heu-Heu has done us a good turn there, Hans.” “Yes, Baas, no doubt he has become Christian in the Place of Fires and is repaying good for evil, turning the other cheek, Baas. Bad people often grow holy when they are dying, Baas. I felt like that myself when I thought those Walloos were going to catch us, but now I feel quite different. Baas, you remember how your Reverend Father used to say that if you love Heaven, Heaven looks after you and pulls you out of every kind of mudhole. That’s why I’m sitting here smoking, Baas, instead of making meat for crocodiles. If it wasn’t for our forgetting about those jewels, it has looked after us very well, but there are so many up there that perhaps Heaven forgot them also.” “No, Hans,” I said, “Heaven remembered that if we had tried to carry bags of stones out of that boat, as well as Zikali’s medicine and the rest, the Walloos would have caught us before we got away. They were quite close, Hans.” “Yes, Baas, I see, and that was very nice of Heaven. And now, Baas, I think we had better be moving. Those Walloos might forget about the curse for a little while and come back to look for us. Heaven is a queer thing, Baas. Sometimes it changes its face all of a sudden and grows angry—just like the lady Dramana did when you said that you wouldn’t take her with you in the canoe yesterday.” Allan paused to help himself to a little weak whisky and water, then said in his jerky fashion, “Well, that’s the end of the story, of which I am glad, whatever you may be, for my throat is dry with talking. We got back to the wagon all right after sundry difficulties and a tiring march across the desert, and it was time we did so, for when we arrived we had only three rifle cartridges left between us. You see we were obliged to fire such a lot at the Heuheua when they attacked us on the lake, and afterwards at those Walloos to prevent them from catching us that night. However, there were more in the wagon, and I shot four elephants with them going home. They had very large tusks, which afterwards I sold for about enough to cover the expenses of the journey.” “Did old Zikali make you pay for those oxen?” I asked.