"Well, but, Bombay, this is robbery. Shall we submit to be robbed?
Shall we give this fellow everything he asks? He might as well ask
me for all the cloth, and all my guns, without letting him see that
we can fight. I can kill Mionvu and his principal men myself, and
you can slay all those howlers out there without much trouble.
If Mionvu and his principal were dead we should not be troubled much,
and we could strike south to the Mala-garazi, and go west to Ujiji."
"No, no, dear master, don't think of it for a moment. If we went
neat the Malagarazi we should come across Lokanda-Mira."
"Well, then, we will go north."
"Up that way Uhha extends far; and beyond Uhha are the Watuta."
"Well, then, say what we shall do. We must do something; but we
must not be robbed."
"Pay Mionvu what he asks, and let us go away from here. This is
the last place we shall have to pay. And in four days we shall be
in Ujiji."
"Did Mionvu tell you that this is the last time we would have to
pay?"
"He did, indeed."
"What do you say, Asmani ? Shall we fight or pay?" Asmani's
face wore the usual smile, but he replied,
