The flaps opened and the gun-bearer Toto looked in. ‘May I speak, bwana?’ ‘Come in, Toto. What’s on your mind?’ The little leopard - Chu - the male - he is gone.’ ‘Probably just running around in the bushes somewhere,’ Hal said. ‘No, I saw a man take him and run. A man from the village. I chased him but could not catch him.’ ‘Why should they steal Chu?’ ‘I think I know why, bwana. Last night I was in the village. The headman is sick unto death. The witchdoctor said only one thing could cure him. A goat must be sacrificed. It must be burned alive in front of the headman’s house. The men caught a black goat and tied it to a stake and piled much wood around it. They set fire to the wood. The witchdoctor danced around the fire. The goat cried very loudly. The fire burned its legs and then its body, and it died. The witchdoctor took some of the hot ashes and mixed them with juice squeezed from the body of a toad and made the headman drink.’ Then what?’ John Hunt asked.
