As Erich von Harben turned to face the thing that he had heard approaching behind him, he saw a n***o armed with a rifle coming toward him.
“Gabula!” exclaimed the white man, lowering his weapon. “What are you doing here?”
“Bwana,” said the black, “I could not desert you. I could not leave you to die alone at the hands of the spirits that dwell upon these mountains.”
Von Harben eyed the n***o incredulously. “But if you believe that, Gabula, are you not afraid that they will kill you, too?”
“I expect to die, Bwana,” replied Gabula. “I cannot understand why you were not killed the first night or the second night. We shall both surely be killed tonight.”
“And yet you followed me! Why?”
“You have been kind to me, Bwana,” replied the black. “Your father has been kind to me. When the other
