114 GOD'S BLACK DIAMONDS. 
watch upon him, and found it was even so. Dis- 
covering where the cricket made its home, the snail 
placed all round the entrance to the hole some of 
that sticky stuff which snails know how to manu- 
facture, and then waited. When the cricket came 
forth it got stuck fast in the sticky stuff and was 
easily taken prisoner. As fast as the snail could 
travel— and you know how SLOVi^ that is — it made 
off with its prisoner to the chiefs to claim the re- 
ward. On the way there, a lizard met them, and 
guessing what had happened, it took the cricket by 
forcible means from the snail and ran off as fast as an 
express train to claim the prize. It took some time 
to get the chiefs together, and to hear the lizard's 
story of how he captured the enemy which had 
wrought such havoc on the farm. Just as he had 
finished and was about to receive the prize, the 
snail came upon the scene and begged to be heard. 
After the snail's recital, the chiefs knew not what 
to do. They all knew that one had spoken falsely, 
but which one? After much palaver, they threw 
both the claimants into a deep, dark pit, asking the 
Great x\basi (God) to deliver the honest and truth- 
ful applicant, and punish the other. The fall down 
the pit broke the lizard's back, but after a time the 
snail came forth unhurt and received its just 
reward. 
