7. THE SPLENDID THINGS
THE two Splendid Things which the people of the Inner N'gombi prized above all other communal possessions were kept in a secret place under a great stone in the bed of a river. Not a great river, because the N'gombi folk have an antipathy to water that runs in any volume.
Literally they were called the very—great—and—beautiful but only certain initiated witch doctors and wise men who dabbled in magic gave them their full title. For the common people they were K'sara—K'sura, "The Splendid Things." And after they had been dug up and nastily employed (as they were at times without the knowledge or approval of Mr. Commissioner Sanders) they were wiped clean and polished and laid in an oblong mould of clay into which the juices of a certain tree had been poured. More li
