Allan and the Holy Flower | Page 7

an Arab type. His left hand was bandaged, and on
his face was an expression of great anxiety. Lastly, he appeared to be
about fifty years of age. So still did he stand that I began to wonder
whether he were one of those ghosts which the Mazitu swore the Pongo
wizards send out to haunt their country.
"For a long while we stared at each other, for I was determined that I
would not speak first or show any concern. At last he spoke in a low,

deep voice and in Mazitu, or a language so similar that I found it easy
to understand.
"'Is not your name Dogeetah, O White Lord, and are you not a master
of medicine?'
"'Yes,' I answered, 'but who are you who dare to wake me from my
sleep?'
"'Lord, I am the Kalubi, the Chief of the Pongo, a great man in my own
land yonder.'
"'Then why do you come here alone at night, Kalubi, Chief of the
Pongo?'
"'Why do /you/ come here alone, White Lord?' he answered evasively.
"'What do you want, anyway?' I asked.
"'O! Dogeetah, I have been hurt, I want you to cure me,' and he looked
at his bandaged hand.
"'Lay down that spear and open your robe that I may see you have no
knife.'
"He obeyed, throwing the spear to some distance.
"'Now unwrap the hand.'
"He did so. I lit a match, the sight of which seemed to frighten him
greatly, although he asked no questions about it, and by its light
examined the hand. The first joint of the second finger was gone. From
the appearance of the stump which had been cauterized and was tied
tightly with a piece of flexible grass, I judged that it had been bitten off.
"'What did this?' I asked.
"'Monkey,' he answered, 'poisonous monkey. Cut off the finger, O
Dogeetah, or tomorrow I die.'

"'Why do you not tell your own doctors to cut off the finger, you who
are Kalubi, Chief of the Pongo?'
"'No, no,' he replied, shaking his head. 'They cannot do it. It is not
lawful. And I, I cannot do it, for if the flesh is black the hand must
come off too, and if the flesh is black at the wrist, then the arm must be
cut off.'
"I sat down on my camp stool and reflected. Really I was waiting for
the sun to rise, since it was useless to attempt an operation in that light.
The man, Kalubi, thought that I had refused his petition and became
terribly agitated.
"'Be merciful, White Lord,' he prayed, 'do not let me die. I am afraid to
die. Life is bad, but death is worse. O! If you refuse me, I will kill
myself here before you and then my ghost will haunt you till you die
also of fear and come to join me. What fee do you ask? Gold or ivory
or slaves? Say and I will give it.'
"'Be silent,' I said, for I saw that if he went on thus he would throw
himself into a fever, which might cause the operation to prove fatal. For
the same reason I did not question him about many things I should have
liked to learn. I lit my fire and boiled the instruments--he thought I was
making magic. By the time that everything was ready the sun was up.
"'Now,' I said, 'let me see how brave you are.'
"Well, Allan, I performed that operation, removing the finger at the
base where it joins the hand, as I thought there might be something in
his story of the poison. Indeed, as I found afterwards on dissection, and
can show you, for I have the thing in spirits, there was, for the
blackness of which he spoke, a kind of mortification, I presume, had
crept almost to the joint, though the flesh beyond was healthy enough.
Certainly that Kalubi was a plucky fellow. He sat like a rock and never
even winced. Indeed, when he saw that the flesh was sound he uttered a
great sigh of relief. After it was all over he turned a little faint, so I
gave him some spirits of wine mixed with water which revived him.

"'O Lord Dogeetah,' he said, as I was bandaging his hand, 'while I live I
am your slave. Yet, do me one more service. In my land there is a
terrible wild beast, that which bit off my finger. It is a devil; it kills us
and we fear it. I have heard that you white men have magic weapons
which slay with a noise. Come to my land and kill me that wild beast
with your magic weapon. I say, Come, Come, for I am terribly afraid,'
and