came so accustomed to blood that at last they
slew their brothers and sisters. T h e y became
so madly in love with blood that th ey wished
to shed that o f their good father Kintu. Then
Kintu saw that Uganda was no more a land for
him, that it was unfit for him to live in, and,
oh! when he looked on the face o f the land at
first, it was so fair and pure that it delighted
his e y e s , but when it became red and filthy
with the blood o f innocent men and women and
children, it became hateful to Kintu, and he departed
from the horrid, cruel land. From Chwa
down to Ma’anda each king has sought to find
Kintu, though in vain. Thou, Ma’anda, shalt see
Kintu face to face, and thou shalt hear him
speak; but first I have somewhat to tell thee
from him. Listen, and mark well his words—
but tell me who was that man that followed
thee hither?” he suddenly asked.
Ma’anda, well pleased that he o f all his predecessors
was selected to see and converse with
Kintu, had become all attention, and every fibre
and nerve quivered to hear the prelude to the
introduction; but when interrogated b y the old
man again upon a subject already satisfactorily
answered, he asked impatiently, “ W h y dost
thou ask again when I have already told thee
that no man followed me here, because no man
could have known whither I went?”
“ But I ,” said the old man calmly, “ saw a
man follow thee step b y step. W h y didst thou
let him come, when I expressly told thee thou
must come only with thy mother and this peasant?”
T he king’s mother and the peasant declared
that Ma’anda had spoken truly, and that no man
followed them.
“ I saw him behind that tree listening. Behold!
there he stands,” said the old man, suddenly
pointing to the Katekiro, w h o , perceiving that
he was discovered, now came forward.
The three turned their eyes on hearing the
words of the old man, and at the sight o f the
Katekiro, Ma’anda grew desperately enraged,
and with passionate fury he seized his spear,
launched it, and pierced his faithful servant
through the heart, who, with a short sharp
shriek, fell dead at his feet.
But, lo! when King Ma’anda and his companions'turned
to discover what effect this scene
had upon the old man and the seated warriors,
th ey found that they had vanished, and that
not even the slightest trace o f them was left;
at which the three stared at one another m the
wildest astonishment. Then the king, recovering
from his surprise, fell u p o n the ground and wept
aloud, calling upon the name o f Kintu; and the
king’s mother and the peasant added their cries
to his, and wept as if their hearts would break.
But no blood-hating Kintu answered to them,