named the Yellow Devil by the black people, but his Portuguese name is
Pereira, and he has his place in a secret spot down by one of the mouths
of the Zambesi. Here he collects the slaves, and here the traders come
twice a year with their dhows to carry them to market.

"Now this man looked at my mistress as she stood terrified with her back
against the wall; then he laughed and cried aloud in Portuguese, 'Here
we have a pretty prize. This must be that Juanna of whose beauty I have
heard. Where is your father, my dove? Gone trading up the river, has he
not? Ah! I knew it, or perhaps I should not have ventured here. But it
was wrong of him to leave one so pretty all alone. Well, well, he is
about his business, and I must be about mine, for I am a merchant also,
my dove, a merchant who trades in blackbirds. One with silver feathers
does not often come my way, and I must make the most of her. There
is many a young man in our part who will bid briskly for such eyes as
yours. Never fear, my dove, we will soon find you a husband.'

"Thus the Yellow Devil spoke, White Man, while the Shepherdess my
mistress crouched against the wall and stared at him with frightened
eyes, and the slave-traders his servants laughed aloud at his evil
words. Presently she seemed to understand, and I saw her slowly lift her
hand towards her head. Then I knew her purpose.

"Now, there is a certain deadly poison, White Man, of which I have
the secret, and that secret I taught long ago to my mistress. It is so
deadly that a piece of it no larger than the smallest ant can kill
a man--yes, the instant after it touches his tongue he will be dead.
Living alone as she does in the wilds, it is the custom of my mistress
to carry a portion of this poison hidden in her hair, since a time might
come when she must use it to save herself from worse than death. Now it