Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz
Category: Nonfiction
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rest on the cool heights of Kenia Mountain or MountKilima-Njaro. From there they also decided to send news to the parentsand summon them to come to Mombasa.
The return journey began, after due rest and baths in the warm springs,on the third day. It was at the same time a day of parting from Kali.Stas persuaded the little one that to take him farther with them--tothe ocean or to Egypt--would be selfishness on their part. He said toher that in Egypt, and even in England, Kali would be nothing more thana servant, while when he assumed the government of his nation, he, asking, could spread and establish Christianity, soften the savagecustoms of the Wahimas, and make of them not only a civilized but agood people. The same thing he repeated in substance to Kali.
At the leave-taking, however, a multitude of tears were shed of whicheven Stas was not ashamed, for he and Nell had passed with Kali throughmany evil and good moments and not only had learned to appreciate hishonest heart, but had conceived a sincere affection for him. The youngnegro lay long at the feet of his "Bwana kubwa" and the "Good Mzimu."Twice he returned to look at them for a while, but finally the momentof separation came and the two caravans started in opposite directions.
It was only during the journey that the narrative of the adventures ofthe two little travelers began. Stas, at one time prone to be a trifleboastful, now did not brag at all. He simply had performed too manygreat deeds, he had undergone too much, and was too developed not tounderstand that words should not be greater than acts. There was, afterall, enough of deeds, though related in the most modest manner. Eachday during the scorching "white hours" and at evening during the stopsthere glided before the eyes of Captain Glenn and Doctor Clarypictures, as it were, of those occurrences and incidents through whichthe children had passed. So they saw the kidnapping fromMedinet-el-Fayum and the awful journey on camel-back across thedesert--and Khartum and Omdurman, resembling hell on earth, and theill-boding Mahdi. When Stas related his reply to the Mahdi, when thelatter tried to induce him to change his faith, both friends rose andeach of them warmly shook Stas' right hand, after which the captainsaid:
"The Mahdi is not living!"
"The Mahdi is not living?" Stas repeated with astonishment.
"Yes," spoke out the doctor. "He choked himself with his own fat, or,in other words, he died of heart trouble, and the succession of hisgovernment has been assumed by Abdullahi."
A long silence ensued.
"Ha!" said Stas. "He did not expect when he despatched us for ourdestruction to Fashoda that death would first overtake him."
And later he added:
"But Abdullahi is still more cruel than the Mahdi."
"For that reason mutinies and massacres have already begun," thecaptain replied, "and the whole edifice which the Mahdi reared willsooner or later tumble down."
"And after that who will succeed?"
"England," the captain answered.* [*The reign of Abdullahi continuedfor ten years. The decisive blow to the dervish power was delivered byLord Kitchener, who almost totally annihilated them in a great bloodybattle and afterwards ordered the Mahdi's tomb to be razed.]
In the further course of the journey, Stas told about his journey toFashoda, about the death of old Dinah, of their start from Fashoda touninhabited regions, and their search for Smain in them. When hereached that part where he killed the lion and afterwards Gebhr,Chamis, and the two Bedouins, the captain interrupted him with only twowords: "All right!" after which he again squeezed his right hand, andwith Clary listened with increasing interest about the taming of theKing, about settling in Cracow, about Nell's fever, of finding Linde,and the kites which the children sent up from Karamojo Mountains. Thedoctor who, with each day, became more and more deeply attached tolittle Nell, was impressed so much by everything which threatened hermost, that from time to time he had to strengthen himself with a fewswallows of brandy, and when Stas began to narrate how she almostbecame the prey of the dreadful "wobo" or "abasanto," he caught thelittle maid in his arms as if in fear that some new beast of prey wasthreatening her life.
And what he and the captain thought of Stas was best evidenced by twodespatches, which within two weeks after their arrival at thefoot-hills of Kilima-Njaro they expressly sent to the captain's deputyin Mombasa with instructions that the latter should transmit them tothe fathers. The first one, edited carefully, for fear that it shouldcreate too astounding a sensation, and forwarded to Port Said,contained the following words:
"Thanks to boy, favorable news about children. Come to Mombasa."
The second, more explicit, addressed to Aden, was of this purport:
"Children are with us. Well. Boy a hero."
On the cool heights at the foot of Kilima-Njaro they stopped fifteendays, as Doctor Clary insisted that this was imperative for Nell'shealth, and even for Stas'. The children with their whole souls admiredthis heaven-kissing mountain, which possesses all the climates of theworld. Its two peaks, Kibo and Kima-Wenze, during daytime were mostfrequently hidden in thick fogs. But when in fair nights the fogssuddenly dispersed and from the twilight the eternal snows onKima-Wenze blushed with a rosy luster at a time when the whole worldwas plunged in darkness, the mountain appeared like a bright altar ofGod, and the hands of both children at this sight involuntarily werefolded in prayer.
For Stas the days of worry, uneasiness and exertion had passed. Theyhad yet before them a month of travel to Mombasa and the road ledthrough the charming but unhealthy forest of Taveta; but how mucheasier it was to travel now, with a numerous caravan well provided witheverything and over familiar trails, than formerly to stray in thewilderness with only Kali and Mea. Besides, Captain Glenn was nowresponsible for the journey. Stas rested and hunted. Aside from this,having found among the implements of the caravan a chisel and hammers,he was in the cooler hours engaged in chiseling upon a great gneissrock the inscription "Jeszcze Polska nie zginela,"* [* "Poland is notyet lost." The title of the most popular Polish nationalmarch.--_Translator's note_.] for he wished to leave some trace oftheir sojourn in that region.
The Englishmen, to whom he translated the inscription, were astonishedthat it never occurred to the boy to perpetuate his own name on thatrock. But he preferred to carve the words he had chosen.
He did not cease, however, to take care of Nell and awoke in her suchunbounded confidence that when Clary asked her whether she did not fearthe storms on the Red Sea, the little maid raised her beautiful, calmeyes and only answered, "Stas will know what to do." Captain Glennclaimed that truer evidence of what Stas was to the little one andgreater praise for the boy no one would be able to pronounce.
Though the first despatch to Pan Tarkowski at Port Said had been wordedwith much care, it nevertheless created such a powerful sensation thatjoy almost killed Nell's father. But Pan Tarkowski, though he was anexceptionally self-controlled person, in the first moments after thereceipt of the despatch, knelt in prayer and began to beseech God thatthe intelligence should not prove to be a delusion, a morbid chimera,bred from sorrow, longing, and pain. Why, they had both toiled so hardto learn that the children were even alive! Mr. Rawlinson haddespatched to the Sudan whole caravans, while Pan Tarkowski, disguisedas an Arab, had penetrated with the greatest danger to his life as faras Khartum, but all was futile. The men who could have given any newsdied of smallpox, of starvation, or perished during the continualmassacres, and of the children there was not the slightest clue. In theend both fathers lost all hope and lived only on recollections, in thedeep conviction that here in life now nothing awaited them and thatonly death would unite them with those dearest beings who wereeverything for them in the world.
In the meantime unexpected joy, almost beyond their strength, fell uponthem. But it was linked with uncertainty and amazement. Neither couldby any means comprehend in what manner news of the children came fromthat part of Africa, that is, Mombasa. Pan Tarkowski supposed that theymight have been ransomed or stolen by some Arabian caravan which fromthe eastern coast ventured into the interior for ivory and penetratedas far as the Nile. The wo
rds of the despatch, "Thanks to boy," heexplained in this manner: that Stas had notified the captain and thedoctor by letter where he with Nell could be found. Nevertheless, manythings it was impossible to unravel. On the other hand, Pan Tarkowskiunderstood quite clearly that the information not only was favorable,but very favorable, as otherwise the captain and the doctor would nothave dared to awaken hopes in them, and above all would not havesummoned them to Mombasa.
The preparations for the journey were brief, and the second day afterthe receipt of the despatches both engineers, with Nell's teacher, wereon the deck of a great steamer of the "Peninsular and OrientalCompany," which was en route for India and on the way stopped at Aden,Mombasa, and Zanzibar. At Aden awaited them the second despatch:"Children are with us. Well.