But they went away the day you were born , and I have never heard of them since . ' Then the girl said , ' I will go and look for them till I find them . ' ` My dear child , ' answered her mother , ` it is fifteen years since they left , and no man has seen them . How will you know which way to go ? ' ` Oh , I will follow them , north and south , east and west , and though I may travel far , yet some day I will find them . ' Then her mother said no more , but gave her a camel and some food , and a negro and his wife to take care of her , and she fastened a cowrie shell round the camel 's neck for a charm , and bade her daughter go in peace . During the first day the party journeyed on without any adventures , but the second morning the negro said to the girl , ` Get down , and let the negress ride instead of you . ' ` Mother , ' cried Udea . ` What is it ? ' asked her mother . ` Barka wants me to dismount from my camel . ' ` Leave her alone , Barka , ' commanded the mother , and Barka did not dare to persist . But on the following day he said again to Udea , ` Get down , and let the negress ride instead of you , ' and though Udea called to her mother she was too far away , and the mother never heard her . Then the negro seized her roughly and threw her on the ground , and said to his wife , ` Climb up , ' and the negress climbed up , while the girl walked by the side . She had meant to ride all the way on her camel as her feet were bare and the stones cut them till the blood came . But she had to walk on till night , when they halted , and the next morning it was the same thing again . Weary and bleeding the poor girl began to cry , and implored the negro to let her ride , if only for a little . But he took no notice , except to bid her walk a little faster . -LSB- Illustration : THE NEGRO COMPELS UDEA TO WALK -RSB- By-and-by they passed a caravan , and the negro stopped and asked the leader if they had come across seven young men , who were thought to be hunting somewhere about . And the man answered , ` Go straight on , and by mid-day you will reach the castle where they live . '
When he heard this , the black melted some pitch in the sun , and smeared the girl with it , till she looked XXXXX much a negro as he did .
as by if of on since though till to while