I ask him good, and he tell me true, true." The Doctor,
however, said he did not believe it, for the Mazitu would not have
been satisfied with merely plundering a man, they would have
murdered him; but suggested, in order to allay the fears of his
Moslem subordinate, that they should both proceed to the chief
with whom they were staying, who, being a sensible man, would be
able to advise them as to the probability or improbability of the
tale being correct. Together, they proceeded to the Babisa chief,
who, when he had heard the Arab's story, unhesitatingly denounced
the Arab as a liar, and his story without the least foundation in
fact; giving as a reason that, if the Mazitu had been lately in
that vicinity, he should have heard of it soon enough.
But Musa broke out with "No, no, Doctor; no, no, no; I no want to
go to Mazitu. I no want Mazitu to kill me. I want to see my
father, my mother, my child, in Johanna. I want no Mazitu."
These are Musa's words _ipsissima verba_.
To which the Doctor replied, "I don't want the Mazitu to kill me
either; but, as you are afraid of them, I promise to go straight
west until we get far past the beat of the Mazitu."
Musa was not satisfied, but kept moaning and sorrowing, saying,
"If we had two hundred guns with us I would go; but our small
party of men they will attack by night, and kill all."
The Doctor repeated his promise, "But I will not go near them;
I will go west."
As soon as he turned his face westward, Musa and the Johanna men
ran away in a body.
