Notallthesehadbeenslain，however。Bashtihadissuedsterninjunctionsagainstwholesaleslaughter。Butthiswasnotbecausehisheartwaskind。Ratherwasitbecausehisheadwasshrewd。
Slaintheywouldallbeintheend。Bashtihadneverseenice，didnotknowitexisted，andwasunversedinthescienceofrefrigeration。Theonlywayheknewtokeepmeatwastokeepitalive。Andinthebiggestcanoehouse，theclubhouseofthestags，wherenoMarymightcomeunderpenaltyofdeathbytorture，thecaptiveswerestored。
Tiedortrussedlikefowlsorpigs，theyweretumbledonthehard—
packedearthenfloor，beneathwhich，shallowlyburied，laytheremainsofancientchiefs，while，overhead，inwrappingsofgrassmats，swungallthatwasleftofseveralofBashti’simmediatepredecessors，hisfatherlatestamongthemandsoswingingfortwofullgenerations。Here，too，sinceshewastobeeatenandsincethetaboohadnobearingupononecondemnedtobecooked，thethinlittleMaryfromthelazarettewastumbledtrussedupontheflooramongthemanyblackswhohadteasedandmockedherforbeingfattenedbyVanHornfortheeating。
AndtothiscanoehouseJerrywasalsobroughttojointheothersonthefloor。Agno，chiefofthedevildevildoctors，hadstumbledacrosshimonthebeach，and，despitetheprotestationsoftheboywhoclaimedhimaspersonaltrove，hadorderedhimtothecanoehouse。Carriedpastthefiresofthefeasting，hiskeennostrilshadtoldhimofwhatthefeastconsisted。And，newastheexperiencewas，hehadbristledandsnarledandstruggledagainsthisbondstobefree。Likewise，atfirst，tosseddowninthecanoehouse，hehadbristledandsnarledathisfellowcaptives，notrealizingtheirplight，and，sincealwayshehadbeentrainedtolookuponniggersastheeternalenemy，consideringthemresponsibleforthecatastrophetotheArangiandtoSkipper。