Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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said. "This was in the fish. We could make a pane for ourwindow from about a dozen of these."
And he pointed at the upper opening in the tree.
But reflecting for a time he added:
"And even something more."
"What is it?" asked Nell.
"A kite."
"Such as you used to send up in Port Said? Oh good! Do."
"I will. With thin, cut pieces of bamboo I will make a frame and I willuse these membranes instead of paper for they are lighter and the rainwill not soak them. Such a kite will go away up in the air and with apowerful wind will fly the Lord knows where--"
Here he suddenly struck his forehead.
"I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"You shall see. As soon as I figure it out better, I will tell you. Nowthat elephant of yours is making such a racket that one cannot eventalk."
Indeed, the elephant, from longing for Nell, and perhaps for bothchildren, trumpeted so that the whole ravine shook, together with theadjacent trees.
"We must show ourselves to him," Nell said. "That will quiet him."
And they strolled to the ravine. But Stas, entirely absorbed in histhoughts, began in an undertone to say:
"'Nelly Rawlinson and Stanislas Tarkowski of Port Said, having escapedfrom the dervishes in Fashoda, are at--'"
And stopping abruptly, he asked:
"How to designate the place?"
"What, Stas?"
"Nothing, nothing. I already know,--'are about a month's journey westof the Blue Nile and beg for immediate aid.' When the wind blows to thenorth or to the west I will send twenty, fifty, a hundred of such kitesand you, Nell, shall help me to paste them."
"Kites?"
"Yes, and I tell you that they can be of greater service to us than tenelephants."
In the meantime they reached the brink. And now began the shuffling ofthe elephant's feet, the nodding, the movements of the ears, thegurgling, and again the mournful trumpeting when Nell attempted toretire even for a moment. In the end the little maid began to explainto the "dear elephant" that she could not be with him all the time,for, of course, she had to sleep, eat, work, and keep house in"Cracow." But he became quiet only when she shoved down to him with apitchfork provisions prepared by Kali; at night he again began totrumpet.
The children that same evening named him "The King," as Nell was surethat before he got caught in the ravine he undoubtedly was the king ofall the elephants in Africa.
VIII
During the few days following Nell passed all the moments during whichthe rain did not fall with the King, who did not oppose her departure,having understood that the little maiden would return a few timesdaily. Kali, who as a rule feared elephants, gazed at this one withamazement but in the end came to the conclusion that the mighty, "GoodMzimu" had bewitched the giant, so he began to visit him also.
The King was well disposed in his behavior towards Kali as well astowards Mea, but Nell alone could do with him whatever she pleased, sothat after a week she ventured even to bring Saba to him. For Stas thiswas a great relief as he could with perfect peace leave Nell under theprotection, or, as he expressed it, "under the trunk of the elephant,"and without any fear he went hunting and even at times took Kali withhim. He was certain now that the noble animal would not desert themunder any circumstances and began to consider how to free him from hisconfinement.
And to speak properly, he long ago had discovered a way, but itrequired such sacrifices that he wrestled with his thoughts as towhether he would use it and afterwards postponed doing it from day today. As he had no one to speak to about this, he finally decided toacquaint Nell with his intentions, though he regarded her as a merechild.
"The rock can be blasted with powder, but for that it is necessary tospoil a great number of cartridges; that is, to extract the bullets,pour out the powder, and make one big charge out of it all. Such acharge I will insert in the deepest fissure which I can find in themiddle; afterwards I will plug it and light a fire. Then the rock willburst into a few or even a score of pieces and we can lead the Kingout."
"But if there is a great explosion, will he not get scared?"
"Let him get scared," answered Stas quickly. "That bothers me theleast. Really, it is not worth while to talk to you seriously."
Nevertheless he continued, or rather thought aloud:
"But if I do not use enough cartridges the rock will not burst and Ishall waste them in vain; if I use a sufficient number, then not manywill remain. And if I should be in want of them before the end of thejourney, death clearly threatens us. For with what will I hunt, withwhat will I defend you in case of an attack? You well know, of course,that if it were not for this rifle and the cartridges we would haveperished long ago, either at Gebhr's hands or from starvation. And itis very fortunate too that we have horses for without them we could nothave carried all these things and the cartridges."
At this Nell raised her finger and declared with great positiveness:
"When I tell the King, he will carry everything."
"How will he carry the cartridges, if very few of them remain?"
"As to that, he will defend us."
"But he won't fire from his trunk as I do from the rifle."
"Then we can eat figs and big gourds which grow on the trees, and Kaliwill catch fish."
"That is, as long as we stay near the river. We still have to pass therainy season here, as these continual downpours would surely prostrateyou with the fever. Remember, however, that later we shall start upon afurther journey and we might chance upon a desert."
"Such as Sahara?" Nell asked in alarm.
"No; one where there are neither rivers, nor fruit-trees, and only lowacacias and mimosas grow. There one can live only upon what is securedby hunting. The King will find grass there and I antelopes, but if I donot have anything to shoot them with, then the King will not catchthem."
And Stas, in reality, had something to worry about, as by that time,when the elephant was already tamed and had become friendly it wasimpossible to abandon him and doom him to death by starvation; and toliberate him meant the loss of a greater portion of the ammunition andexposing themselves to unavoidable destruction.
So Stas postponed the work from day to day, repeating to himself in hissoul each evening:
"Perhaps to-morrow I may devise some other scheme".
In the meantime to this trouble others were added. At first Kali wasstung at the river below by wild bees to which he was led by a smallgray-greenish bird, well-known in Africa and called bee-guide. Theblack boy, through indolence, did not smoke out the bees sufficientlyand returned with honey, but so badly stung and swollen that an hourlater he lost all consciousness. The "Good Mzimu," with Mea's aid,extracted stings from him until night and afterwards plastered him withearth upon which Stas poured water. Nevertheless, towards morning itseemed as if the poor negro were dying. Fortunately, the nursing andhis strong constitution overcame the danger; he did not, however,recover his health until the lapse of ten days.
The second mishap was met by the horses. Stas, who during Kali'ssickness had to fetter the horses and lead them to water, observed thatthey began to grow terribly lean. This could not be explained by a lackof fodder as in consequence of the rains grass shot up high and therewas excellent pasturage near the ford. And yet the horses wasted away.After a few days their hair bristled, their eyes became languid, andfrom their nostrils a thick slime flowed. In the end they ceased to eatand instead drank eagerly, as if fever consumed them. When Kaliregained his health they were merely two skeletons. But he only glancedat them and understood at once what had happened.
"Tsetse!" he said, addressing Stas. "They must die."
Stas also understood, for while in Port Said he had often heard of theAfrican fly, called "tsetse," which is such a terrible plague in someregions that wherever it has its permanent habitat the negroes do notpossess any cattle at all, and wherever, as a result of temporaryfavorable conditions it multiplies unexpected
ly, cattle perish. Ahorse, ox, or donkey bitten by a tsetse wastes and dies in the courseof a fortnight or even in a few days. The local animals understand thedanger which threatens them, for it happens that whole herds of oxen,when they hear its hum near a waterfall, are thrown into a wildstampede and scamper in all directions.
Stas' horses were bitten; these horses and the donkey Kali now rubbeddaily with some kind of plant, the odor of which resembled that ofonions and which he found in the jungles. He said that the odor woulddrive away the tsetse, but notwithstanding this preventative remedy thehorses grew thinner. Stas, with dread, thought of what might happen ifall the animals should succumb; how then could he convey Nell, thesaddle-cloth, the tent, the cartridges and the utensils? There was somuch of