Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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crocodile seized thehand of one of their number. Others rushed to their companion's rescueand in one moment they pulled out of the water the loathsome lizard,which, however, did not let go of the man's hand though his jaws wereopened with spears and knives. The matter was only terminated by theKing who, placing his foot on him, crushed him as easily as if he werea mouldy mushroom.
When the men finally quenched their thirst, Stas ordered the erectionin the shallow water of a round enclosure of high bamboos with only oneentrance from the bank, in order that Nell might bathe with perfectsafety. And at the entrance he stationed the King. The bath greatlyrefreshed the little maid and a rest restored her strength somewhat.
To the great joy of the whole caravan and Nell, "Bwana kubwa" decidedto stop two days near this water. At this news the men fell intoexcellent humor and at once forgot the toils they had endured. Aftertaking a nap and refreshments the negroes began to wander among thetrees above the river, looking for palms bearing wild dates andso-called "Job's tears," from which necklaces are made. A few of themreturned to the camp before sunset, carrying some square objects whichStas recognized as his own kites.
One of these kites bore the number 7, which was evidence that it wassent out from Mount Linde, as the children flew from that place a fewscore. Stas was hugely overjoyed at this sight and it gave him renewedcourage.
"I did not expect," he said to Nell, "that kites could fly such adistance. I was certain that they would remain on the summits ofKaramojo and I only let them fly prepared for any accident. But now Isee that the wind can carry them where it wants to and I have a hopethat those which we sent from the mountains surrounding Bassa-Narok,and now on the road, will fly as far as the ocean."
"They surely will," Nell answered.
"God grant," the boy acquiesced, thinking of the dangers and hardshipsof the further journey.
The caravan started from the river on the third day, taking with them agreat supply of water in leather bags. Before nightfall they againentered upon a region grilled by the sun, in which not even acaciasgrew, and the ground in some places was as bare as a threshing-floor.Sometimes they met passion-flowers with trunks imbedded in the groundand resembling monstrous pumpkins two yards in diameter. In these hugeglobes there shot out lianas as thin as string, which, creeping overthe ground, covered immense distances, forming a thicket soimpenetrable that it would be difficult even for mice to penetrate it.But notwithstanding the beautiful color of these plants, resembling theEuropean acanthus, there were so many thorns in them that neither theKing nor the horses could find any nourishment in them. Only the donkeynibbled them cautiously.
Sometimes in the course of several English miles they did not seeanything except coarse, short grass and low plants, like immortelles,which crumbled upon being touched. After a night's bivouac, during thewhole of the following day a living fire descended from heaven. The airquivered as on the Libyan Desert. In the sky there was not even acloudlet. The earth was so flooded with light that everything appearedwhite, and not a sound, not even the buzz of insects, interrupted thisdeadly stillness surfeited with an ill-omened luster.
The men were dripping with sweat. At times they deposited their packsof dried meats and shields in one pile to find a little shade underthem. Stas issued orders to save the water, but the negroes are likechildren, who have no thought of the morrow. Finally it was necessaryto surround with a guard those who carried the supplies of water and toapportion the water to each one separately. Kali attended to this veryconscientiously, but this consumed a great deal of time and delayed themarch, and therefore the finding of some kind of watering-place. TheSamburus complained in addition that the Wahimas got more than theirshare to drink, and the Wahimas that the Samburus were favored. Theselatter began to threaten to return, but Stas declared to them that Faruwould cut off their heads. He himself ordered the men armed withRemingtons to go on guard and not let any one leave.
The next night was passed upon a level plain. They did not build aboma, or, as the Sudanese say, a zareba, for there was nothing to buildone with. The duties of sentinel were performed by the King and Saba.This was sufficient, but the King, who received only a tenth of thewater he needed, trumpeted for it until sunrise, and Saba, with hangingtongue, turned his eyes towards Stas and Nell in mute appeal for evenone drop. The little maid wanted Stas to give him a mouthful from arubber flask left by Linde, which Stas carried with a string across hisshoulder, but he was saving this remnant for the little one in the darkhour; therefore he declined.
On the fourth day towards evening only five bags with water remained,or not quite half a cupful for each member of the party. As the nights,however, at any rate were cooler than the days, and the thirst at suchtimes vexed them less than under the burning rays of the sun, and asthe people had received in the morning a small quantity of water, Stasordered those bags saved for the following day. The negroes grumbled atthis order, but fear of Stas was still great; so they did not dare torush at this last supply, especially as near it stood a guard of twomen armed with Remingtons, the guard being changed every hour.
The Wahimas and Samburus cheated their thirst by pulling out blades ofpoor grass and chewing its roots. Nevertheless, there was almost nomoisture in it, as the inexorable sun burnt it, even below the earth'ssurface.* [*About the waterless plains in this region see the excellentbook, entitled "Kilima-Njaro," by the Rev. Mr. Le Roy, at presentBishop of Gabon.]
Sleep, though it did not quench their thirst, at least permitted themto forget it; so when night followed, the men, weary and exhausted withthe whole day's march, dropped as though lifeless, wherever theystopped, and fell into deep slumber. Stas also fell asleep, but in hissoul he had too many worries and was disturbed too much to sleeppeacefully and long. After a few hours he awoke and began to meditateon what was to come, and where he could secure water for Nell, and forthe whole caravan, together with the people and the animals. Hissituation was hard and perhaps horrible, but the resourceful boy didnot yet yield to despair. He began to recall all the incidents, fromthe time of their abduction from Fayum until that moment: the greatjourney across the Sahara, the hurricane in the desert, the attempts toescape, Khartum, the Mahdi, Fashoda, their liberation from Gebhr'shands; afterwards the further journey after Linde's death untilreaching Lake Bassa-Narok and that place at which they were passing thenight. "So much did we undergo, so much have we suffered," hesoliloquized, "so often did it seem that all was lost and that therewas no help; nevertheless, God aided me and I always found help. Why,it is impossible that, after having passed over such roads and gonethrough so many terrible dangers, we should perish upon this the lastjourney. Now we have yet a little water and this region--why, it is nota Sahara, for if it were the people would know about it."
But hope was mainly sustained in him by this, that on the southeast heespied through the field-glass some kind of misty outlines as though ofmountains. Perhaps they were hundreds of English miles away, perhapsmore. But if they succeeded in reaching them, they would be saved, asmountains are seldom waterless. How much time that would consume wassomething he could not compute for it all depended upon the height ofthe mountains. Lofty peaks in such transparent atmosphere as that ofAfrica can be seen at an immeasurable distance; so it was necessary tofind water before that time. Otherwise destruction threatened them.
"It is necessary," Stas repeated to himself.
The harsh breathing of the elephant, who exhaled from his lungs as besthe could the burning heat, interrupted every little while the boy'smeditations. But after a certain time it seemed to him that he heardsome kind of sound, resembling groans, coming from the direction inwhich the water-bags lay covered in the grass for the night. As thegroans were repeated several times, he rose to see what was happeningand, walking towards the grass plot a few score paces distant from thetent, he perceived two dark bodies lying near each other and twoRemington barrels glistening in the moonlight.
"The negroes are always the same," he thought; "they were to watch overthe water, more precio
us now to us than anything in the world, and bothwent to sleep as though in their own huts. Ah! Kali's bamboo will havesome work to do to-morrow."
Under this impression he approached and shook the foot of one of thesentinels, but at once drew back in horror.
The apparently sleeping negro lay on his back with a knife sticking inhis throat up to the handle and beside him was the other, likewise cutso terribly that his head was almost severed from the trunk.
Two bags with water had disappeared; the other three lay in thelittered grass, slashed and sunken.
Stas felt that his hair stood on end.
XXIV
In response to his shout Kali was the first to come rushing; after himcame the two guardsmen who were to relieve the previous watch, and afew moments later all the Wahimas and Samburus assembled at the sceneof the crime, shouting and yelling. A