"Oho!" answered Stas, somewhat ruffled, "that does not depend upon you."
"Kali is going with us," she repeated.
"No, he will not go."
Suddenly she stamped her little foot.
"I want it."
And she burst into a genuine flood of tears.
Stas stared at her with the greatest amazement, as though he did not understand what had happened to the little maid who was always so good and gentle, but seeing that she stuck both of her little fists in her eyes and, like a little bird, caught the air with her opened mouth, he began to exclaim with great haste:
"Kali is going with us! He is going! He is going! Why are you crying? How unbearable you are! He is going! My, how pale you are! He is going! Do you hear?"
And thus it happened. Stas was ashamed until the evening of his weakness for the "Good Mzimu," and the "Good Mzimu" having carried her point, was as quiet, gentle, and obedient as ever.
