here's what I can get of the error.  Elephant-0.2.1 and SBCL-0.8.16.37, uffi-1.4.28

#<STORE-CONTROLLER {9877909}>
* (get-from-root "hi")


debugger invoked on a TYPE-ERROR in thread 18664:
  The value 7103848 is not of type (UNSIGNED-BYTE 8).

You can type HELP for debugger help, or (SB-EXT:QUIT) to exit from SBCL.

restarts (invokable by number or by possibly-abbreviated name):
  0: [ABORT   ] Reduce debugger level (leaving debugger, returning to toplevel).
  1: [TOPLEVEL] Restart at toplevel READ/EVAL/PRINT loop.
(SB-IMPL::OUTPUT-BYTES/LATIN-1
 5
 #<FILE-STREAM for "standard output" {9002009}>

debugger invoked on a TYPE-ERROR in thread 18664:
  The value 7103848 is not of type (UNSIGNED-BYTE 8).

You can type HELP for debugger help, or (SB-EXT:QUIT) to exit from SBCL.

restarts (invokable by number or by possibly-abbreviated name):
  0: [ABORT   ] Reduce debugger level (leaving debugger, returning to toplevel).
  1: [TOPLEVEL] Restart at toplevel READ/EVAL/PRINT loop.
(SB-IMPL::OUTPUT-BYTES/LATIN-1
 5
 #<FILE-STREAM for "the terminal" {9002171}>

debugger invoked on a TYPE-ERROR in thread 18664:
  The value 7103848 is not of type (UNSIGNED-BYTE 8).

You can type HELP for debugger help, or (SB-EXT:QUIT) to exit from SBCL.

restarts (invokable by number or by possibly-abbreviated name):
  0: [ABORT   ] Reduce debugger level (leaving debugger, returning to toplevel).
  1: [TOPLEVEL] Restart at toplevel READ/EVAL/PRINT loop.
(SB-IMPL::OUTPUT-BYTES/LATIN-1
 5
 #<FILE-STREAM for "the terminal" {9002171}>

debugger invoked on a TYPE-ERROR in thread 18664:
  The value 7103848 is not of type (UNSIGNED-BYTE 8).

You can type HELP for debugger help, or (SB-EXT:QUIT) to exit from SBCL.

restarts (invokable by number or by possibly-abbreviated name):
  0: [ABORT   ] Reduce debugger level (leaving debugger, returning to toplevel).
  1: [TOPLEVEL] Restart at toplevel READ/EVAL/PRINT loop.
(SB-IMPL::OUTPUT-BYTES/LATIN-1
 5
 #<FILE-STREAM for "the terminal" {9002171}>

debugger invoked on a TYPE-ERROR in thread 18664:
  The value 7103848 is not of type (UNSIGNED-BYTE 8).

You can type HELP for debugger help, or (SB-EXT:QUIT) to exit from SBCL.

restarts (invokable by number or by possibly-abbreviated name):
  0: [ABORT   ] Reduce debugger level (leaving debugger, returning to toplevel).
  1: [TOPLEVEL] Restart at toplevel READ/EVAL/PRINT loop.
(SB-IMPL::OUTPUT-BYTES/LATIN-1
 5
 #<FILE-STREAM for "the terminal" {9002171}>
Help! 11 nested errors. SB-KERNEL:*MAXIMUM-ERROR-DEPTH* exceeded.