Further words were interrupted by Saba's joyful barking which filled the whole ravine. Nell threw the comb on the ground and wanted to rush out to meet him. She was prevented, however, by the thorns of the zareba.
Stas, with the greatest haste, began to scatter them about, but before he had opened a passage Saba appeared and after him Kali, as shiny and wet from the dew as if after the greatest rain.
Immense joy possessed both children, and when Kali, out of breath from fatigue, came inside the enclosure, Nell flung her white hands around his black neck and hugged him with all her strength.
And he said:
"Kali did not want to see the 'bibi' cry, so Kali found the dog."
"Good boy, Kali!" answered Stas, slapping him on the shoulders. "Did you not fear in the night that you would meet a lion or a panther?"
"Kali feared, but Kali went," answered the boy.
These words gained still more the hearts of the children. Stas, at Nell's request, took out from one of the small pieces of luggage a string of glass beads with which they had been provided by the Greek, Kaliopuli, on their departure from Omdurmân; with it he decorated Kali's splendid throat; while the latter, overjoyed with the gift, glanced at once with pride at Mea and said:
"Mea has no beads and Kali has, for Kali is 'the great world.'"
In this manner was the devotion of the black boy rewarded. On the other hand Saba received a sharp rebuke, from which, for the second time in Nell's service, he learned that he was perfectly horrid, and that if he once more did anything like that he would be led by a string like a puppy. He heard this, wagging his tail in quite an equivocal manner. Nell, however, claimed that it could be seen from his eyes that he was ashamed and that he certainly blushed; only this could not be seen because his mouth was covered with hair.
After this followed breakfast, consisting of excellent wild figs and a rump of venison. During the breakfast Kali related his adventures, while Stas interpreted them in English for Nell who did not understand the Kiswahili language. The buffalo, as it appeared, fled far. It was difficult for Kali to find the tracks as it was a moonless night. Fortunately, rain had fallen two days before and the ground was not too hard; in consequence of this the heavy animal's hoofs left deep imprints upon it. Kali sought them with the aid of his toes and walked a long distance. The buffalo finally fell and must have dropped dead as there was no sign of a fight between him and Saba. When Kali found them Saba already had devoured the greater part of the fore quarter of the buffalo, and although he was fully sated he would not permit the approach of two hyenas and about a dozen of jackals, which stood waiting until the more powerful rapacious creature finished his feast and left. The boy complained that the dog also growled at him, but he then threatened him with the anger of the "great master" and the "bibi," after which he grabbed him by the collar and dragged him from the buffalo, and did not let go of him until they reached the ravine.
With this ended the narrative of Kali's nocturnal adventures, after which all in good humor mounted their horses and proceeded on their journey.
One alone, long-limbed Mea, though quiet and meek, gazed with envy at the young negro's necklace and Saba's collar, and with sorrow in her heart thought:
"Both of them are 'the great world,' and I have only a brass ring on one leg."
III
During the following three days they rode continuously in the ravine and always upwards. The days were as a rule scorching, the nights alternately cool or sultry; the rainy season was approaching. From beyond the horizon here and there emerged clouds, white as milk but deep and heavy. At the sides could already be seen stripes of rain and distant rainbows. Towards the morning of the third day one of these clouds burst above their heads like a barrel from which the hoops had flown off and sprinkled them with a warm and copious rain which fortunately was of brief duration. Afterwards the weather became fine and they could ride farther. Guinea-fowls again appeared in such numbers that Stas shot at them without dismounting from his horse, and in this manner got five, which more than sufficed for one meal, even counting Saba. Travel in the refreshed air was not burdensome, and the abundance of game and water removed fears of hunger and thirst. On the whole everything passed more easily than they had anticipated. So then good humor did not desert Stas, and, riding beside the little girl, he chattered merrily with her and at times even joked.
"Do you know, Nell," he said, when for a while he stopped the horses under a great bread-fruit tree from which Kali and Mea cut off fruit resembling huge melons, "at times it seems to me that I am a knight-errant."
"And what is a knight-errant?" asked Nell, turning her pretty head towards him.
"Long, long ago in the mediaeval days there were knights who rode over the world, looking for adventure. They fought with giants and dragons, and do you know that each one had his lady, whom he protected and defended?"
"And am I such a lady?"
Stas pondered for a while, after which he replied:
"No, you are too small. All those others were grown up."
And it never occurred to him that probably no knight-errant had ever performed as much for his lady as he had done for his little sister. Plainly it appeared to him that whatever he had done was done as a matter of course.
But Nell felt aggrieved at his words; so with a pout she said:
"And you once said in the desert that I acted like a person of thirteen. Aha!"
"Well, that was once. But you are eight."
"Then after ten years I shall be eighteen."
"A great thing! And I shall be twenty-four! At such age a man does not think of any ladies for he has something else to do; that is self-evident."
"And what will you do?"
"I shall be an engineer or a sailor or, if there is a war in Poland, I shall go to fight, just as my father did."
While she asked uneasily:
"But you will return to Port Said?"
"We both must return there first."
"To papa!" the little girl replied.
And her eyes were dimmed with sorrow and longing. Fortunately there flew at that moment a small flock of wonderfully fine parrots, gray, with rosy heads, and a rosy lining under their wings. The children at once forgot about their previous conversation and began to follow the flight with their eyes.
The little flock circled about a group of euphorbias and lighted upon sycamores, growing at some distance, amidst the branches of which resounded voices similar to a wordy conference or a quarrel.
"Those are parrots which are very easily taught to talk," Stas said. "When we stop at a place for a length of time, I will try to catch one for you."
"Oh, Stas, thank you!" answered Nell gleefully. "I will call it Daisy."
In the meantime Mea and Kali, having cut off fruit from the bread-fruit tree, loaded the horses with it, and the little caravan proceeded. In the afternoon it began to cloud and at times brief showers occurred, filling the crevices and the depressions in the earth. Kali predicted a great downpour, so it occurred to Stas that the ravine, which was becoming narrower and narrower, would not be a safe shelter for the night, for it could change into a torrent. For this reason he determined to pass the night above, and this decision delighted Nell, particularly when Kali, who was sent to reconnoitre, returned and announced that not far away was a small grove composed of various trees, and in it many monkeys, not as ugly as the baboons which up to that time they had met.
Chancing thereafter upon a place at which the rocky walls were low and sloped gradually, he led the horses out, and before it grew dark they built a barricade for the night. Nell's tent stood on a high and dry spot close to a big white-ant hillock, which barred the access from one side and for that reason lessened the labor of building the zareba.
Near-by stood a large tree with widely spread boughs which, covered by dense foliage, furnished shelter against rain. In front of the zareba grew single clumps of trees and further a thick forest entangled with climbing plants, beyond which loftily shot out crowns of strange palm trees resembling gigantic fans or outspread peacock tails.
Stas learned from Kali that before the second rainy season, that is, in autumn, it was dangerous to pass the night under these palm trees, for the huge-fruit, at that time ripe, breaks off unexpectedly and falls from a considerable distance with such force that it can kill a person or even a horse. At present, however, the fruit was in bud, and in the distance before the sun set there could be seen, under the crowns, agile little monkeys, which, leaping gaily, chased each other.
Stas, with Kali, prepared a great supply of wood, sufficient for the whole night, and, as at times strong blasts of hot air broke out, they reinforced the zareba with pickets which the young negro whittled with Gebhr's sword and stuck in the ground. This precaution was not at all superfluous, as a powerful whirlwind could scatter the thorny boughs with which the zareba was constructed and facilitate an attack by beasts of prey.
However, immediately after sunset the wind ceased, and instead, the air became sultry and heavy. Through the rifts in the clouds the stars glittered here and there, but afterwards the night became so utterly dark that one could not see a step ahead. The little wanderers grouped about the fire, while their ears were assailed by the loud cries and shrieks of monkeys who in the adjacent forest created a veritable bedlam. This was accompanied by the whining of jackals and by various other voices in which could be recognized uneasiness and fright before something which under the cover of darkness threatened every living being in the wilderness.
Suddenly the voices subsided for in the dusky depths resounded the groans of a lion. The horses, which were pastured at some distance on the young jungle, began to approach the fire, starting up suddenly on their fettered fore legs, while the hair on Saba, who usually was so brave, bristled, and with tail curled under him, he nestled close to the people, evidently seeking their protection.
The groaning again resounded, as though it came from under the ground; deep, heavy, strained, as if the beast with difficulty drew it from its powerful lungs. It proceeded lowly over the ground, alternately increased and subsided, passing at times into a hollow, prodigiously mournful moan.
"Kali, throw fuel into the fire," commanded Stas.
The negro threw upon the camp-fire an armful of boughs so hastily that at first whole sheaves of sparks burst out, after which a high flame shot up.
"Stas, the lion will not attack us, will he?" whispered Nell, pulling the boy by the sleeve.
"No, he will not attack us. See how high the zareba is."
And speaking thus, he actually believed that danger did not threaten them, but he was alarmed about the horses, which pressed more and more closely to the fence and might trample it down.
In the meantime the groans changed into the protracted, thunderous roar by which all living creatures are struck with terror, and the nerves of people, who do not know what fear is, shake, just as the window-panes rattle from distant cannonading.
Stas cast a fleeting glance at Nell, and seeing her quivering chin and moist eyes, said:
"Do not fear; don't cry."
And she answered as if with difficulty:
"I do not want to cry—only my eyes perspire—oh!"
The last ejaculation burst from her lips because at that moment from the direction of the forest thundered a second roar even stronger than the first for it was nearer. The horses began to push upon the zareba and were it not for the long and hard-as-steel thorns of the acacia branches, they would have demolished it. Saba growled and at the same time trembled like a leaf, while Kali began to repeat with a broken voice:
"Master, two! two! two!"
And the lions, aware of each other's presence, did not cease roaring, and the horrible concert continued in the darkness incessantly, for when one beast became silent the other began again. Stas soon could not distinguish from where the sounds came, as the echoes repeated them in the ravine; rock sent them back to rock, they ascended and descended, filling the forest and the jungle, and the entire darkness with thunder and fear.
To the boy one thing seemed certain, and that was that they approached nearer and nearer. Kali perceived likewise that the lions ran about the encampment making a smaller circle each moment, and that, prevented from making an attack only by the glare of the flames, they were expressing their dissatisfaction and fear by their roar.
Evidently, however, he thought that danger threatened only the horses, as, spreading his fingers, he said:
"The lions will kill one, two, not all! not all!"
"Throw wood into the fire," repeated Stas.
A livelier flame burst forth; the roars suddenly ceased. But Kali, raising his head and gazing upwards, began to listen.
"What is it?" Stas asked.
"Rain," replied the negro.
Stas in turn listened. The branches of the tree mantled the tent and the whole zareba so that not a drop of rain fell upon the ground, but above could be heard the rustle of leaves. As the sultry air was not stirred by the slightest breeze, it was easy to surmise that it was the rain which began to murmur in the jungle.
The rustle increased with each moment and after a time the children saw drops flowing from the leaves, similar in the luster of the fire to ruddy pearls. As Kali had forecast, a downpour began. The rustle changed into a roar. Ever-increasing drops fell, and finally through the dense foliage whole streams of water began to penetrate.
The camp-fire darkened. In vain Kali threw whole armfuls into it. On the surface the wet boughs smoked only, and below, the burning wood began to hiss and the flame, however much it was replenished, began to be extinguished.
"When the downpour quenches the fire, the zareba will defend us," Stas said to pacify Nell.
After which he conducted the little girl into the tent and wrapped her in plaids, but he himself went out as quickly as possible as the briefly interrupted roars had broken out again. This time they sounded considerably nearer and as if they were gleeful.
The downpour intensified with each moment. The rain pattered on the hard leaves and splashed. If the camp-fire had not been under the shelter of the boughs, it would have been quenched at once, but as it was there hovered over it mainly smoke, amid which narrow, blue little flames glittered. Kali gave up the task and did not add any more deadwood. Instead he flung a rope around the tree and with its aid climbed higher and higher on the trunk.
"What are you doing?" Stas asked.
"Kali climbs the tree."
"What for?" shouted the boy, indignant at the negro's selfishness.
Bright, dreadful flashes of lightning rent the darkness and Kali's reply was drowned by a peal of thunder which shook heaven and the wilderness. Simultaneously a whirlwind broke out, tugged the boughs of the tree, swept away in the twinkling of an eye the camp-fire, seized the embers, still burning under the ashes, and carried them with sheaves of sparks into the jungle.
Impenetrable darkness temporarily encompassed the camp. A terrible tropical storm raged on earth and in the sky. Thunder followed thunder, lightning, lightning. The gory zigzags of thunderbolts rent the sky, black as a pall. On the neighboring rocks appeared strange blue balls, which sometimes rolled along the ravine and then burst with a blinding light and broke out with a peal so terrible that it seemed as if the rocks would be reduced to powder from the shock.
Afterwards darkness again followed.
Stas became alarmed about Nell and went groping in the darkness to the tent. The tent, protected by the white-ant hillock and the giant tree-trunk, stood yet, but the first strong buffet of the whirlwind might pull out the ropes and carry it the Lord knows where. And the whirlwind subsided, then broke out again with a fury, carrying waves of rain, and clouds of leaves, and branches broken off in the adjacent forest. Stas was beset with despair. He did not know whether to leave Nell in the tent or lead her out of it. In the first case she might get entangled in the ropes and be seized with the linen folds, and in the other she would get a thorough drenching and also would be carried away, as Stas, though beyond comparison stronger, with the greatest difficulty could keep on his feet.
The problem was solved by the whirlwind which a moment later carried away the top of the tent. The linen walls now did not afford any shelter. Nothing else remained to do but to wait in the darkness in which the lions lurked, until the storm passed away.
Stas conjectured that probably the lions had sought shelter from the tempest in the neighboring forest, but he was certain that after the storm they would return. The danger of the situation increased because the wind had totally swept away the zareba.
Everything was threatened with destruction. The rifle could not avail for anything, nor could his energy. In the presence of the storm, thunderbolts, hurricane, rain, darkness, and the lions, which might be concealed but a few paces away, he felt disarmed and helpless. The linen walls tugged by the wind splashed them with water from all sides, so, enclosing Nell in his arms, he led her from the tent; after which both nestled close to the trunk of the tree, awaiting death or divine mercy.
At this moment, between one blow of the wind and another, Kali's voice reached them, barely audible amidst the splashing of the rain.
"Great master! Up the tree! up the tree!"
And simultaneously the end of a wet rope, lowered from above, touched the boy's shoulder.
"Tie the 'bibi,' and Kali will pull her up!" the negro continued to shout.
Stas did not hesitate a moment. Wrapping Nell in a saddle-cloth in order that the rope should not cut her body, he tied a girdle around her; after which he lifted her and shouted:
"Pull!"
The first boughs of the tree were quite low so Nell's aerial journey was brief. Kali soon seized her with his powerful arms and placed her between the trunk and a giant bough, where there was sufficient room for half a dozen of such diminutive beings. No wind could blow her away from there and in addition, even although water flowed all over the tree, the trunk, about fifteen feet thick, shielded her at least from new waves of rain borne obliquely by the wind.
Having attended to the safety of the little "bibi," the negro again lowered the rope for Stas, but he, like a captain who is the last to leave a sinking ship, ordered Mea to go ahead of him.
Kali did not at all need to pull her as in a moment she climbed the rope with skill and agility as if she were the full sister of a chimpanzee. For Stas it was considerably more difficult, but he was too well-trained an athlete not to overcome the weight of his own body together with the rifle and a score of cartridges with which he filled his pockets.
In this manner all four found themselves in the tree. Stas was so accustomed to think of Nell in every situation that now he was occupied, above all, in ascertaining whether she was not in danger of falling, whether she had sufficient room and whether she could lie down comfortably. Satisfied in this respect, he began to wrack his brains as to how to protect her from the rain. But for this there was no help. It would have been easy to construct during the daytime some kind of roof over her head, but now they were enveloped in such darkness that they could not see each other at all. If the storm at last passed away and if they succeeded in starting the fire again, they might dry Nell's dress! Stas, with despair, thought that the little girl, soaked to the skin, would undoubtedly on the following day suffer from the first attack of fever.
He feared that towards the morning, after the storm, it would be as cool as it was on the previous night. Thus far the wind was rather warm and the rain as though heated. Stas was surprised at its persistence as he knew that the more strongly a storm raged the shorter was its duration.
After a long time the thunder abated and the buffets of the wind weakened, but the rain continued to fall, less copious, indeed, than before, but so heavy and thick that the leaves did not afford any protection against it. From below came the murmur of water as if the whole jungle were transformed into a lake. Stas thought that in the ravine certain death would have awaited them. Immense sorrow possessed him at the thought of what might have become of Saba, and he did not dare to speak of him to Nell. He, nevertheless, had a slight hope that the intelligent dog would find a safe haven among the rocks projecting above the ravine. There was not, however, a possibility of going to him with any aid.
They sat, therefore, one beside the other amid the expanding boughs, drenched and waiting for the day. After the lapse of a few more hours the air began to cool and the rain finally ceased. The water too flowed down the slope to a lower place as they could not hear a splash or a murmur. Stas had observed on the previous days that Kali understood how to stir up a fire with wet twigs, so it occurred to him to order the negro to descend and try whether he would not succeed this time. But at the moment in which he turned to him something happened which froze the blood in the veins of all four.
The deep silence of the night was rent suddenly by the squeaking of horses, horrible, shrill, full of pain, fears, and mortal dismay. Some mischief was afoot in the darkness; there resounded short rattlings in the throat, afterwards hollow groans, a snorting, a second squeak yet more penetrating, after which all was quiet.
"Lions, great Master! Lions killing horses!" whispered Kali.
There was something so horrible in this night attack, in the superior force of the monsters, and in the sudden slaughter of the defenseless animals that Stas for a time was struck with consternation, and forgot about the rifle. What, after all, would it have availed him to shoot in such darkness? Unless for this, that those midnight assassins, if the flash and report should frighten them, would abandon the horses already killed, and start after those which were scared away and had run from the camp as far as their fettered legs would permit them.
Stas' flesh began to creep at the thought of what would have happened if they had remained below. Nell, nestling close to him, shook as if she already were suffering the first attack of fever, but the tree at least protected them from an attack of lions. Kali plainly had saved their lives.
It was, however, a horrible night—the most horrible in the entire journey.
They sat like drenched birds on a twig, listening to what was happening below. And there for some time a deep silence continued, but soon came a peculiar sound as though of lapping, smacking of torn-off pieces of flesh, together with the horses' heavy breathing and the groans of the monsters.
The odor of the raw meat and blood reached up to the tree, as the lions feasted not farther than twenty paces from the zareba.
And they feasted so long that in the end anger seized Stas. He seized the rifle and fired in the direction of the sounds.
But he was answered only by a broken, irritated roar, after which resounded the cracking of bones, rattling in powerful jaws. In the depths glared the blue and red eyes of hyenas and jackals waiting for their turn.
And thus the long hours of the night passed away.
IV
The sun finally rose and illuminated the jungle, groups of trees, and the forest. The lions had disappeared before the first ray began to gleam on the horizon. Stas commanded Kali to build a fire. Mea was ordered to take Nell's clothes out of the leather bag in which they were packed, to dry them, and to dress anew the little girl as soon as possible; while Stas himself, taking his rifle, proceeded to visit the camp and at the same time to view the devastation wrought by the storm and the two midnight assassins.
Immediately beyond the zareba, of which only the pickets remained, lay the first horse almost half devoured; about a hundred paces farther the second, barely touched, and immediately behind him the third, disemboweled, and with crushed head. All presented a horrible sight; their eyes were open, full of settled terror, and their teeth were bared. The ground was trampled upon; in the depressions were whole puddles of blood. Stas was seized with such rage that at the moment he almost wished that the shaggy head of a marauder, sluggish after the nocturnal feast, would emerge from some cluster of trees that he might put a bullet in him. But he had to postpone his revenge to a later time for at present he had something else to do. It was necessary to find and capture the remaining horses. The boy assumed that they must have sought shelter in the forest, and that the same was true of Saba, whose body was nowhere to be seen. The hope that the faithful companion in misfortune had not fallen a victim to the predaceous beasts pleased Stas so much that he gained more courage. His happiness was yet augmented by the discovery of the donkey. It appeared that the sagacious, long-eared creature did not wish to fatigue himself by a too distant flight. He had ensconced himself outside of the zareba in a corner formed by the white-ant hillock and the tree and there, having his head and sides protected, had awaited developments, prepared in an emergency to repel an attack by kicking heroically with his heels. But the lions, apparently, did not perceive him at all, so when the sun rose and danger passed away he deemed it proper to lie down and rest after the dramatic sensations of the night.
Stas, strolling about the camp, finally discovered upon the softened ground the imprint of horses' hoofs. The tracks led in the direction of the forest and afterwards turned towards the ravine. This was a favorable circumstance for the capture of the horses in the ravine did not present any great difficulties. Between ten and twenty paces farther he found in the grass the fetters which one of the horses had broken in his escape. This one must have run away so far that for the time being he must be regarded as lost. On the other hand, the two espied by Stas were behind a low rock, not in the hollow itself, but on the brink. One of them was rolling about, while the other was cropping the new light-green grass. Both looked unusually exhausted, as if after a long journey. But the daylight had banished fear from their hearts, so they greeted Stas with a short, friendly neigh. The horse which was rolling about started to his feet. The boy observed that this one also had freed himself from his fetters, but fortunately he apparently preferred to remain with his companion instead of running away wherever his eyes should lead him.
Stas left both horses near the rock and went to the brink of the ravine to ascertain whether a farther journey by way of it was feasible. And he saw that owing to the great declivity the water had flowed away and the bottom was almost dry.
After a while his attention was attracted to a white object entangled in the climbing plants in the recess of the opposite rocky wall. It appeared that it was the top of the tent which the wind had carried as far as that and driven into the thicket so that the water could not carry it away. The tent, at any rate, assured Nell of a better protection than a hut hurriedly constructed of boughs; so its recovery greatly delighted Stas.
But his joy increased still more when from a lower recess partly hidden by lianas Saba sprang out, holding in his teeth some kind of animal whose head and tail hung from his jaws. The powerful dog, in the twinkling of an eye, reached the top, and laid at Stas' feet a striped hyena with broken back and gnawed foot. After which he began to wag his tail and bark joyfully as if he wanted to say:
"I admit that I behaved like a coward before the lions, but to tell the truth, you sat perched on the tree like guinea-fowls. Look, however! I did not waste the night altogether."
And he was so proud of himself that Stas was barely able to induce him to leave the bad-smelling animal on the spot and not to carry it as a gift to Nell.
When they both returned a good fire was burning in the camp; water was bubbling in the utensils in which boiled durra grain, two guinea-fowls, and smoked strips of venison. Nell was already attired in a dry dress but looked so wretched and pale that Stas became alarmed about her, and, taking her hand to ascertain whether she had a fever, asked:
"Nell, what ails you?"
"Nothing, Stas; only I do want to sleep so much."
"I believe you! After such a night! Thank God, your hands are cool. Ah, what a night it was! No wonder you want to sleep. I do also. But don't you feel sick?"
"My head aches a little."
Stas placed his palm on her head. Her little head was as cold as her hands; this, however, only proved great exhaustion and weakness, so the boy sighed and said:
"Eat something warm and immediately afterwards lie down to sleep and you will sleep until the evening. To-day, at least, the weather is fine and it will not be as it was yesterday."
And Nell glanced at him with fear.
"But we will not pass the night here."
"No, not here, for there lie the gnawed remains of the horses; we will select some other tree, or will go to the ravine and there will build a zareba such as the world has not seen. You will sleep as peacefully as in Port Said."
But she folded her little hands and began to beg him with tears that they should ride farther, as in that horrible place she would not be able to close her eyes and surely would become ill. And in this way she begged him, in this way she repeated, gazing into his eyes, "What, Stas? Well?" so that he agreed to everything.
"Then we shall ride by way of the ravine," he said, "for there is shade there. Only promise me that if you feel weak or sick, you will tell me."
"I am strong enough. Tie me to the saddle and I will sleep easily on the road."
"No. I shall place you on my horse and I shall hold you. Kali and Mea will ride on the other and the donkey will carry the tent and things."
"Very well! very well!"
"Immediately after breakfast you must take a nap. We cannot start anyway before noon. It is necessary to catch the horses, to fold the tent, to rearrange the packs. Part of the things we shall leave here for now we have but two horses altogether. This will require a few hours and in the meantime you will sleep and refresh yourself. To-day will be hot, but shade will not be lacking under the tree."
"And you—and Mea and Kali? I am so sorry that I alone shall sleep while you will be tiring yourselves—"
"On the contrary, we shall have time to nap. Don't worry about me. In Port Said during examination time I often did not sleep whole nights; of which my father knew nothing. My classmates also did not sleep. But a man is not a little fly like you. You have no idea how you look to-day—just like glass. There remain only eyes and tufts of hair; there is no face at all."
He said this jestingly, but in his soul he feared, as by the strong daylight Nell plainly had a sickly countenance and for the first time he clearly understood that if it continued thus the poor child not only might, but must, die. At this thought his legs trembled for he suddenly felt that in case of her death he would not have anything to live for, or a reason for returning to Port Said.
"For what would I then have to do?" he thought.
For a while he turned away in order that Nell might not observe the grief and fear in his eyes, and afterwards went to the things deposited under the tree. He threw aside the saddle-cloth with which the cartridge box was covered, opened it, and began to search for something.
He had hidden there in a small glass bottle the last of the quinine powders and had guarded it like an "eye in the head" for "the black hour," that is, for the emergency when Nell should be fever-stricken. But now he was almost certain that after such a night the first attack would come, so he determined to prevent it. He did this with a heavy heart, thinking of what would happen later, and were it not that it did not become a man and the leader of a caravan to weep, he would have burst into tears over this last powder.
So, desiring to conceal his emotion, he assumed a very stern mien and, addressing the little girl, said:
"Nell, before you eat, take the rest of the quinine."
She, on the other hand, asked:
"But if you catch the fever?"
"Then I will shiver. Take it, I tell you."
She took it without further resistance, for from the time he killed the Sudânese she feared him a little, notwithstanding all his efforts for her comfort and the kindness he evinced towards her. Afterwards they sat down to breakfast, and after the fatigue of the night, the hot broth of guinea-fowl tasted delicious. Nell fell asleep immediately after the refreshment and slept for several hours. Stas, Kali, and Mea during that time put the caravan in order. They brought from the ravine the top of the tent, saddled the horses, and put the packages on the donkey and buried under the roots of the tree those things which they could not take with them. Drowsiness terribly assailed them at the work, and Stas, from fear that they should fall asleep, permitted himself and them to take short naps in turn.
It was perhaps two o'clock when they started on their further journey. Stas held Nell before him; Kali rode with Mea on the other horse. They did not ride at once down the ravine, but proceeded between its brink and the forest. The young jungle had grown considerably during the rainy night; the soil under it, however, was black and bore traces of fire. It was easy to surmise that Smain had passed that way with his division, or that the fire driven from far by a strong gale had swept over the dry jungle and, finally encountering a damp forest, had passed on by a not very wide track between it and the ravine. Stas wanted to ascertain whether traces of Smain's camp or imprints of hoofs could not be found on this track; and with pleasure he became convinced that nothing resembling them could be seen. Kali, who was well versed in such matters, claimed positively that the fire must have been borne by the wind and that since that time at least a fortnight must have elapsed.
"This proves," observed Stas, "that Smain, with his Mahdists, is already the Lord knows where, and in no case shall we fall into his hands."
Afterwards he and Nell began to gaze curiously at the vegetation, as thus far they had not ridden so close to a tropical forest. They rode now along its very edge in order to have the shade over their heads. The soil here was moist and soft, overgrown with dark-green grass, moss, and ferns. Here and there lay decomposed trunks, covered as though with a carpet of most beautiful orchids, with flowers brightly colored like butterflies and brightly colored cups in the center of the crown. Wherever the sun reached, the ground was gilded by other odd orchids, small and yellow, in which two petals protruding on the sides of a third petal created a resemblance to the head of a little animal with big ears ending abruptly. In some places the forest was lined with bushes of wild jasmine draped in garlands with thin, climbing plants, blooming rose-colored. The shallow hollows and depressions were overgrown with ferns, compressed into one impenetrable thicket, here low and expansive, there high, entwined with climbing plants, as though distaffs, reaching up to the first boughs of the trees and spreading under them in delicate green lace. In the depths there was a great variety of trees; date, raffia, fan-palm, sycamore, bread-fruit, euphorbia, immense varieties of senna, acacia; trees with foliage dark and glittering and light or red as blood grew side by side, trunk by trunk, with entangled branches from which shot yellow and purple flowers resembling candlesticks. In some groups the tree-tops could not be seen as the climbing plants covered them from top to bottom, and leaping from trunk to trunk formed the letters W and M and hung in form of festoons, portières, and whole curtains. Caoutchouc lianas just strangled the trees with thousands of serpentine tendrils and transformed them into pyramids, buried with white flowers like snow. About the greater lianas the smaller entwined and the medley became so thick that it formed a wall through which neither man nor animal could penetrate. Only in places where the elephants, whose strength nothing can resist, forced their way, were there beaten down in the thicket deep and winding passageways, as it were.
The song of birds which so pleasantly enlivens the European forest could not be heard at all; instead, on the tree-tops resounded the strangest calls, similar to the sound of a saw, to the beating of a drum, to the clatter of a stork, to the squeaking of old doors, to the clapping of hands, to caterwauling, or even to the loud, excited talk of men. From time to time soared above the trees flocks of parrots, gray, green, white, or a small bevy of gaudily plumaged toucans in a quiet, wavy flight. On the snowy background of the rubber climbing plants glimmered like sylvan sprites, little monkey-mourners, entirely black with the exception of white tails, a white girdle on the sides, and white whiskers enveloping faces of the hue of coal.
The children gazed with admiration at this virgin forest which the eyes of a white man perhaps had never beheld. Saba every little while plunged into the thicket from which came his happy barks. The quinine, breakfast, and sleep had revived little Nell. Her face was animated and assumed bright colors, her eyes sparkled. Every moment she asked Stas the names of various trees and birds and he answered as well as he could. Finally she announced that she wanted to dismount from the horse and pluck a bunch of flowers.
But the boy smiled and said:
"The siafu would eat you at once."
"What is a siafu? Is it worse than a lion?"
"Worse and not worse. They are ants which bite terribly. There are a great many of them on the branches from which they fall on people's backs like a rain of fire. But they also walk on the ground. Dismount from the horse and try merely to walk a little in the forest and at once you will begin to jump and whine like a monkey. It is easier to defend one's self against a lion. At times they move in immense ranks and then everything gives way to them."
"And would you be able to cope with them?"
"I? Of course. With the help of fire or boiling water."
"You always know how to take care of yourself," she said with deep conviction.
These words flattered Stas greatly; so he replied conceitedly and at the same time merrily:
"If you were only well, then as to the rest depend upon me."
"My head does not even ache now."
"Thank God! Thank God!"
Speaking thus they passed the forest, but one flank of which reached the hollow way. The sun was still high in the heaven and broiled intensely, as the weather cleared and in the sky not a cloud could be seen. The horses were covered with sweat and Nell began to complain of the heat. For this reason Stas, having selected a suitable place, turned to the ravine in which the western wall cast a deep shadow. It was cool there, and the water remaining in the depressions after the downpour was also comparatively cool. Over the little travelers' heads continually flew from one brink of the ravine to the other toucans with purple heads, blue breasts and yellow wings; so the boy began to tell Nell what he knew from books about their habits.
"Do you know," he said, "there are certain toucans which during the breeding season seek hollows in trees; there the female lays eggs and sits upon them, while the male pastes the opening with clay so that only her head is visible, and not until the young are hatched does the male begin to peck with his long beak and free the mother."
"And what does she eat during that time?"
"The male feeds her. He continually flies about and brings her all kind of berries."
"And does he permit her to sleep?" she asked in a sleepy voice. Stas smiled.
"If Mrs. Toucan has the same desire that you have at this moment, then he permits her."
In fact, in the cold ravine an unconquerable drowsiness oppressed the little girl, as from morning until early in the afternoon she had rested but little. Stas had a sincere desire to follow her example, but could not as he had to hold her, fearing that she might fall; besides, it was immensely uncomfortable for him to sit man-fashion on the flat and wide saddle which Hatim and Seki Tamala had provided for the little one in Fashoda. He did not dare to move and rode the horse as slowly as possible in order not to awaken her.
She, in the meantime, leaning backwards, supported her little head upon his shoulder and slept soundly.
But she breathed so regularly and calmly that Stas ceased to regret the last quinine powder. He felt that danger of fever was removed and commenced to reason thus:
"The ravine continually leads upwards and even now is quite steep. We are higher and the country is drier and drier. It is necessary only to find some sort of elevation, well shaded, near some swift stream, and there establish quarters and give the little one a few weeks' rest, and perhaps wait through the whole massica (the spring rainy season). Not every girl could endure even one tenth of these hardships, but it is necessary that she should rest! After such a night another girl would have been stricken with fever and she—how soundly she sleeps!—Thank God!"
And these thoughts brought him into a good humor; so looking down at Nell's little head resting on his bosom, he said to himself merrily and at the same time with certain surprise:
"It is odd, however, how fond I am of this little fly! To tell the truth, I always liked her, but now more and more."
And not knowing how to explain such a strange symptom he came to the following conclusion:
"It is because we have passed together through so much and because she is under my protection."
In the meantime he held that "fly" very carefully with his right hand around her waist in order that she should not slip from the saddle and bruise her little nose. They advanced slowly in silence; only Kali hummed under his nose—a song in praise of Stas.
"Great master kills Gebhr, kills a lion and a buffalo! Yah! Yah! Much meat! Much meat! Yah! Yah!"
"Kali," Stas asked in a low tone, "do the Wahimas hunt lions?"
"The Wahimas fear lions but the Wahimas dig pits and if in the night time the lion falls in, then the Wahimas laugh."
"What do you then do?"
"The Wahimas hurl lot of spears until lion is like a hedgehog. Then they pull him out of the pit and eat him. Lion is good." And according to his habit, he stroked his stomach.
Stas did not like this method of hunting; so he began to ask what other game there was in the Wahima country and they conversed further about antelopes, ostriches, giraffes, and rhinoceroses until the roar of a waterfall reached them.
"What is that?" Stas exclaimed. "Are there a river and waterfall ahead of us?"
Kali nodded his head in sign that obviously such was the fact.
And for some time they rode more quickly, listening to the roar which each moment became more and more distinct.
"A waterfall!" repeated Stas, whose curiosity was aroused.
But they had barely passed one or two bends when their way was barred by an impassable obstruction.
Nell, whom the motion of the horse had lulled to sleep, awoke at once.
"Are we already stopping for the night?" she asked.
"No, but look! A rock closes the ravine."
"Then what shall we do?"
"It is impossible to slip beside it for it is too close there; so it will be necessary that we turn back a little, get on top, and ride around the obstruction; but it is yet two hours to night; therefore we have plenty of time. Let us rest the horses a little. Do you hear the waterfall?"
"I do."
"We will stop near it for the night."
After which he turned to Kali, ordered him to climb to the brink of the ridge and see whether, beyond, the ravine was not filled with similar obstructions; he himself began to examine the rock carefully, and after a while he exclaimed:
"It broke off and tumbled down not long ago. Nell, do you see that fragment? Look how fresh it is. There is no moss on it, nor vegetation. I already understand, I understand!"
And with his hand he pointed at a baobab tree growing on the brink of the ravine whose huge roots hung over the wall and were parallel with the fragment.
"That root grew in a crevice between the wall and the rock, and growing stronger, it finally split the rock. That is a singular matter for stone is harder than wood; I know, however, that in mountains this often happens. After that anything can shake such a stone which barely keeps its place, and the stone falls off."
"But what could shake it?"
"It is hard to say. Maybe some former storm, perhaps yesterday's."
At this moment Saba, who previously had remained behind the caravan, came running up; he suddenly stood still as if pulled from behind by the tail, scented; afterwards squeezed into the narrow passage between the wall and the detached rock, but immediately began to retreat with bristling hair.
Stas dismounted from the horse to see what could have scared the dog.
"Stas, don't go there," Nell begged; "a lion might be there."
The boy, who was something of a swashbuckler and who from the previous day had taken extraordinary offense at lions, replied:
"A great thing. A lion in daylight!"
However, before he approached the passageway, Kali's voice resounded from above:
"Bwana kubwa! Bwana kubwa!"
"What is it?" Stas asked.
The negro slid down the stalk of the climbing plant in the twinkling of an eye. From his face it was easy to perceive that he brought some important news.
"An elephant!" he shouted.
"An elephant?"
"Yes," answered the young negro, waving his hands; "there thundering water, here a rock. The elephant cannot get out. Great master kill the elephant and Kali will eat him. Oh, eat, eat!"
And at this thought he was possessed by such joy that he began to leap, slapping his knees with his palms and laughing as if insane, in addition rolling his eyes and displaying his white teeth.
Stas at first did not understand why Kali said that the elephant could not get out of the ravine. So, desiring to see what had happened, he mounted his horse and entrusting Nell to Mea in order to have his hands free in an emergency, he ordered Kali to sit behind him; after which they all turned back and began to seek a place by which they could reach the top. On the way Stas questioned him how the elephant got into such a place and from Kali's replies he ascertained more or less what had happened.
The elephant evidently ran before the fire by way of the ravine during the burning of the jungle; on the way he forcibly bumped against a loosened rock, which tumbled down and cut off his retreat. After that, having reached the end of the hollow, he found himself on the edge of a precipice below which a river ran, and in this manner was imprisoned.
After a while they discovered an outlet but so steep that it was necessary to dismount from the horses and lead them after. As the negro assured them that the river was very near they proceeded on foot. They finally reached a promontory, bounded on one side by a river, on the other by the hollow, and glancing downward they beheld on the bottom of a dell an elephant.
The huge beast was lying on its stomach and to Stas' great surprise did not start up at the sight of them. Only when Saba came running to the brink of the dell and began to bark furiously did he for a moment move his enormous ears and raise his trunk, but he dropped it at once.
The children, holding hands, gazed long at him in silence, which finally was broken by Kali.
"He is dying of hunger," he exclaimed.
The elephant was really so emaciated that his spine protruded, his sides were shrunken, his ribs were distinctly outlined notwithstanding the thickness of his hide, and it was easy to conjecture that he did not rise because he did not now have sufficient strength.
The ravine, which was quite wide at its opening, changed into a dell, locked in on two sides by perpendicular rocks, and on its bottom a few trees grew. These trees were broken; their bark was peeled and on the branches there was not a leaf. The climbing plants hanging from the rocks were torn to pieces and gnawed, and the grass in the dell was cropped to the last blade.
Stas, examining the situation thoroughly, began to share his observations with Nell, but being impressed with the inevitable death of the huge beast he spoke in a low tone as if he feared to disturb the last moments of its life.
"Yes, he really is dying of starvation. He certainly has been confined here at least two weeks, that is, from the time when the old jungle was burnt. He ate everything that there was to eat and now is enduring torments; particularly as, here above, bread-fruit trees and acacias with great pods are growing, and he sees them but cannot reach them."
And for a while they again gazed in silence. The elephant from time to time turned towards them his small, languid eyes and something in the nature of a gurgle escaped from his throat.
"Indeed," the boy declared, "it is best to cut short his pangs."
Saying this, he raised the rifle to his face, but Nell clutched his jacket and, braced upon both of her little feet, began to pull him with all her strength away from the brink of the hollow.
"Stas! Don't do that! Stas, let us give him something to eat! He is so wretched! I don't want you to kill him! I don't want it! I don't!"
And stamping with her little feet, she did not cease pulling him, and he looked at her with great astonishment and, seeing her eyes filled with tears, said:
"But, Nell!—"
"I don't want it. I won't let him be killed! I shall get the fever if you kill him."
For Stas this threat was sufficient to make him forego his murderous design in regard to the elephant before them and in regard to anything else in the world. For a time he was silent, not knowing what reply to make to the little one, after which he said:
"Very well! very well! I tell you it is all right! Nell, let go of me!"
And Nell at once hugged him and through her tear-dimmed eyes a smile gleamed. Now she was concerned only about giving the elephant something to eat as quickly as possible. Kali and Mea were greatly astonished when they learned that the Bwana kubwa not only would not kill the elephant, but that they were to pluck at once as many melons from the bread-fruit trees, as many acacia pods, and as much of all kinds of weeds as they were able. Gebhr's two-edged Sudânese sword was of great use to Kali at this labor, and were it not for that the work would not have proceeded so easily. Nell, however, did not want to wait for its completion and when the first melon fell from the tree she seized it with both her hands and, carrying it to the ravine, she repeated rapidly as if from fear that some one else might want to supplant her:
"I! I! I!"
But Stas did not in the least think of depriving her of this pleasure, but from fear that through too much zeal she might fall over with the melon, he seized her by the belt and shouted:
"Throw!"
The huge fruit rolled over the steep declivity and fell close to the elephant's feet, while the latter in the twinkling of an eye stretched out his trunk and seized it; afterwards he bent his trunk as if he wanted to place the melon under his throat and this much the children saw of him.
"He ate it!" exclaimed the happy girl.
"I suppose so," answered Stas, laughing.
And the elephant stretched out his trunk towards them as if he wanted to beg for more and emitted in a powerful tone:
"Hruumf!"
"He wants more!"
"I suppose so!" repeated Stas.
The second melon followed in the track of the first and in the same manner afterwards disappeared in a moment a third, fourth, tenth; later acacia pods and whole bundles of grass and great leaves began to fly down. Nell did not allow any one to take her place, and when her little hands grew tired from the work, she shoved new supplies with her little feet; while the elephant ate and, raising his trunk, from time to time trumpeted his thunderous "hruumf" as a sign that he wanted to eat still more, but Nell claimed that it was a sign of gratitude.
But Kali and Mea finally were fatigued with the work which they performed with great alacrity under the impression that Bwana kubwa wanted first to fatten the elephant and afterwards to kill him. At last, however, Bwana kubwa ordered them to stop, as the sun was setting and it was time to start the construction of the zareba. Fortunately this was not a difficult matter, for two sides of the triangular promontory were utterly inaccessible, so that it was necessary only to fence in the third. Acacias with big thorns also were not lacking.
Nell did not retire a step from the ravine and, squatting upon its brink, announced from a distance to Stas what the elephant was doing. At frequent intervals her thin little voice resounded:
"He is searching about with his trunk!"
Or: "He is moving his ears. What big ears he has!"
"Stas! Stas! He is getting up! Oh!"
Stas approached hurriedly and seized Nell's hand.
The elephant actually rose, and now the children could observe his immense size. They had previously seen huge elephants which were carried on vessels through the Suez Canal bound from India to Europe, but not one of them could compare with this colossus, who actually looked like a huge slate-colored rock walking on four feet. He differed from the others in the size of his tusks which reached five or more feet and, as Nell already observed, his ears, which were of fabulous proportions. His fore legs were high but comparatively thin, which was undoubtedly due to the fast of many days.
"Oh, that is a Lilliputian!" laughed Stas. "If he should rear himself and stretch out his trunk, he might catch you by the feet."
But the colossus did not think of rearing or catching any one by the feet. With an unsteady gait he approached the egress of the ravine, gazed for a while over the precipice, at the bottom of which water was seething; afterwards he turned to the wall close to the waterfall, directed his trunk towards it, and, having immersed it as best he could, began to drink.
"It is his good fortune," Stas said, "that he can reach the water with his trunk. Otherwise he would have died."
The elephant drank so long that finally the little girl became alarmed.
"Stas, won't he harm himself?" she asked.
"I don't know," he replied, laughing, "but since you have taken him under your care, warn him now."
So Nell leaned over the edge and cried:
"Enough, dear elephant, enough!"
And the dear elephant, as if he understood what was the matter, stopped drinking at once, and instead, began to splash water over himself. First he splashed water on his feet, then on his back, and afterwards on both sides.
But in the meantime it grew dark; so Stas conducted the little girl to the zareba where supper already awaited them.
Both were in excellent humor—Nell because she had saved the elephant's life and Stas because he saw her eyes sparkling like two stars and her gladdened face which was ruddier and healthier than it had been at any time since their departure from Khartûm. A promise of a quiet and perfect night also conduced to the boy's contentment. The two inaccessible sides of the promontory absolutely secured them from attacks from those directions, and on the third side Kali and Mea reared so high a wall of thorny branches of acacias and of passion flowers that there could be no thought of any predacious beasts being able to surmount such a barrier. In addition the weather was fine and the heavens immediately after sunset were studded with countless stars. The air, which was cool, owing to the proximity of the waterfall, and which was saturated with the odor of the jungle and newly broken branches, was agreeable to breathe.
"This fly will not get the fever here," Stas thought joyfully.
Afterwards they commenced to converse about the elephant, as Nell was incapable of talking of anything else and did not cease going into transports over his stature, trunk, and tusks, which in reality were prodigious. Finally she asked:
"Honestly, Stas, isn't he wise?"
"As Solomon," answered Stas. "But what makes you think so?"
"Because when I asked him not to drink any more, he obeyed me at once."
"If before that time he had not taken any lessons in English and nevertheless understands it, that really is miraculous."
Nell perceived that Stas was making merry with her, so she gave him a scolding; after which she said:
"Say what you wish, but I am sure that he is very intelligent and will become tame at once."
"Whether at once I don't know, but he may be tamed. The African elephants are indeed more savage than the Asiatic; nevertheless, I think that Hannibal, for instance, used African elephants."
"And who was Hannibal?"
Stas glanced at her indulgently and with pity.
"Really," he said, "at your age, you are not supposed to know such things. Hannibal was a great Carthaginian commander, who used elephants in his war with the Romans, and as Carthage was in Africa, he must have used African—"
Further conversation was interrupted by the resounding roar of the elephant, who, having eaten and drunk his fill, began to trumpet; it could not be known whether from joy or from longing for complete freedom. Saba started up and began to bark, while Stas said:
"There you have it! Now he is calling companions. We will be in a nice predicament if he attracts a whole herd here."
"He will tell them that we were kind to him," Nell responded hastily.
But Stas, who indeed was not alarmed, as he reckoned that even if a herd should rush towards them, the glare of the fire would frighten them away, smiled spitefully and said:
"Very well! very well! But if the elephants appear, you won't cry, oh no! Your eyes will only perspire as they did twice before."
And he began to tease her:
"I do not cry, only my eyes perspire—"
Nell, however, seeing his happy mien, conjectured that no immediate danger threatened them.
"When he gets tame," she said, "my eyes will not perspire, though ten lions should roar."
"Why?"
"For he will defend us."
Stas quieted Saba, who would not stop replying to the elephant; after which he deliberated somewhat and spoke thus:
"You did not think of one thing, Nell. Of course, we will not stay here for ages but will proceed farther; I do not say at once. On the contrary, the place is good and healthy; I have decided to stop here—a week, perhaps,—perhaps two, for you, and all of us as well, are entitled to a rest. Well, very good! As long as we stay here we will feed the elephant, though that will be a big task for us all. But he is locked up and we cannot take him with us. Well then, what later? We shall go and he will remain here and again will endure the pangs of hunger until he dies. Then we shall be all the more sorry for him."
Nell saddened very much and for some time sat in silence, evidently not knowing what reply to make to these just remarks, but after a while she raised her head and, brushing aside the tufts of hair which fell over her eyes, turned her gaze, full of confidence, on the boy.
"I know," she said, "that if you want to, you will get him out of the ravine."
"I?"
And she stretched out her little finger, touched Stas' hand with it, and repeated:
"You."
The sly little woman understood that her confidence would flatter the boy and from that moment he would ponder on how to free the elephant.
V
The night passed quietly and though, on the southern side of the sky, big clouds gathered, the morning was beautiful. By Stas' orders, Kali and Mea, immediately after breakfast, began to gather melons and acacia pods as well as fresh leaves and all kinds of fodder, which they deposited upon the brink of the ravine.
As Nell firmly insisted upon feeding her new friend herself, Stas cut for her from a young bifurcated fig tree something in the shape of a pitchfork in order to make it easier for her to shove down the supplies to the bottom of the ravine. The elephant trumpeted from morn, evidently calling for his refreshments, and when afterwards he beheld on the brink that same little white being who had fed him the previous day, he greeted her with a joyful gurgle and at once stretched out his trunk towards her. In the morning light he appeared to the children still more prodigious than on the preceding day. He was lean but already looked brisker and turned his small eyes almost joyfully on Nell. Nell even claimed that his fore legs had grown thicker during the night, and began to shove fodder with such zeal that Stas had to restrain her and in the end when she got out of breath too much, take her place at the work. Both enjoyed themselves immensely; the elephant's "whims" amused them especially. In the beginning he ate everything which fell at his feet, but soon, having satisfied the first cravings of hunger, he began to grow fastidious. Chancing upon a plant which was not to his taste, he beat it over his fore leg and afterwards tossed it upwards with his trunk, as if he wanted to say, "Eat this dainty yourselves;" finally, after having appeased his hunger and thirst, he began to fan with his prodigious ears with evident contentment.
"I am sure," said Nell, "that if we went down to him he would not hurt us."
And she began to call to him:
"Elephant, dear elephant, isn't it true you would not do any harm to us?"
And when the elephant nodded his trunk in reply she turned to Stas:
"There, you see he says 'Yes.'"
"That may be," Stas replied. "Elephants are very intelligent animals and this one undoubtedly understands that we both are necessary to him. Who knows whether he does not feel a little gratitude towards us? But it would be better not to try yet, and particularly not to let Saba try, as the elephant surely would kill him. But with time they become even friendly."
Further transports over the elephant were interrupted by Kali who, foreseeing that he should have to work every day to feed the gigantic beast, approached Stas with an ingratiating smile and said:
"Great master, kill the elephant, and Kali will eat him instead of gathering grass and branches."
But the "great master" was now a hundred miles from a desire to kill the elephant and, as in addition he was impulsive, he retorted:
"You are a donkey."
Unfortunately he forgot the Kiswahili word for donkey and said it in English. Kali, not understanding English, evidently took it for some kind of compliment or praise for himself, as a moment later the children heard how he, addressing Mea, boastfully said:
"Mea has a dark skin and dark brain, but Kali is a donkey."
After which he added with pride:
"The great master himself said that Kali is a donkey."
In the meantime Stas, ordering both to tend the little lady as the eye in the head and in case of any accident to summon him at once, took the rifle and went to the detached rock which blocked the ravine. Arriving at the place he inspected if attentively, examined all its cracks, inserted a stick into a crevice which he found near the bottom, and carefully measured its depths; afterwards he returned slowly to the camp and, opening the cartridge box, began to count the cartridges.
He had barely counted three hundred when from a baobab tree growing about fifty paces from the tent Mea's voice resounded.