So he took a knife and tried to stick it into the hippopotamus, but the skin was so tough the knife was blunted against it.  Then he tried other means; but Keo remained unhurt.

And now indeed the Jolly One laughed his most gleeful laugh, till all the forest echoed the “guk-uk-uk-uk-uk!” And Gouie decided not to kill him, since that was impossible, but to use him for a beast of burden.  He mounted upon Keo’s back and commanded him to march.  So Keo trotted briskly through the village, his little eyes twinkling with merriment.

The other blacks were delighted with Gouie’s captive, and begged permission to ride upon the Jolly One’s back.  So Gouie bargained with them for bracelets and shell necklaces and little gold ornaments, until he had acquired quite a heap of trinkets.  Then a dozen black men climbed upon Keo’s back to enjoy a ride, and the one nearest his nose cried out: 

“Run, Mud-dog—­run!”

And Keo ran.  Swift as the wind he strode, away from the village, through the forest and straight up the river bank.  The black men howled with fear; the Jolly One roared with laughter; and on, on, on they rushed!

Then before them, on the opposite side of the river, appeared the black mouth of Glinkomok’s cave.  Keo dashed into the water, dived to the bottom and left the black people struggling to swim out.  But Glinkomok had heard the laughter of Keo and knew what to do.  When the Jolly One rose to the surface and blew the water from his throat there was no black man to be seen.

Keo returned alone to the village, and Gouie asked, with surprise: 

“Where are my brothers:” 

“I do not know,” answered Keo.  “I took them far away, and they remained where I left them.”

Gouie would have asked more questions then, but another crowd of black men impatiently waited to ride on the back of the laughing hippopotamus.  So they paid the price and climbed to their seats, after which the foremost said: 

“Run, mud-wallower—­run!”

And Keo ran as before and carried them to the mouth of Glinkomok’s cave, and returned alone.

But now Gouie became anxious to know the fate of his fellows, for he was the only black man left in his village.  So he mounted the hippopotamus and cried: 

“Run, river-hog—­run!”

Keo laughed his jolly “guk-uk-uk-uk!” and ran with the speed of the wind.  But this time he made straight for the river bank where his own tribe lived, and when he reached it he waded into the river, dived to the bottom and left Gouie floating in the middle of the stream.

The black man began swimming toward the right bank, but there he saw Uncle Nep and half the royal tribe waiting to stamp him into the soft mud.  So he turned toward the left bank, and there stood the queen mother and Uncle Nikki, red-eyed and angry, waiting to tear him with their tusks.

Then Gouie uttered loud screams of terror, and, spying the Jolly One, who swam near him, he cried: