“Listen!” said Bomba. “You talk like foolish men. Is Bomba dead? Yet Sobrinini’s look fell upon Bomba. She is a wise woman. Did she not say that I would come back to Snake Island? And is Bomba not going back? I do not like her snakes. But she has done no evil to Bomba, and she will do no hurt to Bomba’s friends. And Ashati and Neram are my friends.”