"All the more reason for getting rid of her at once. And now I leave you to give orders for her release, and I rely upon you to assist me in getting rid of her."
"You may rely upon me, since it is my duty," said Delange with a sigh.
As soon as de Morin had taken his departure, M. Delange had the Queen brought before him, and he gave the necessary orders for her to be set at liberty.
The men of the escort expected to see her give some sign of pleasure, but she did nothing of the kind. She, on the contrary, looked about her with an air of uneasiness.
"She thinks, perhaps, that we are going to kill her," said Nassar in reply to a question from M. Delange.
"Try to explain to her," replied the Doctor, "that she is at liberty, and may return to hor kingdom."
Did Walinda understand the interpreter? None could tell. She was crouching on a rock, and, instead of glancing towards the territory of Ulindi, which appeared in the far distance, and was pointed out to her, she in silence and immobility fixed her eyes on the caravan, now on the move once more, and winding like a serpent round the mountain.
M. Delange had not the courage to prolong the situation. He took a last look on the splendid creature whom he thought he should never see again, then turned away abruptly and, with his men, rejoined the rear guard of the caravan.
In an hour's time, when he had reached a dell commanded by the plateau he had just left, he turned his head once more.
Walinda, illumined by the burning rays of the setting sun, was still in the same place on the rock. He took his telescope and looked at her for a long time. Her head was always turned towards the caravan, but he could no longer distinguish either the covering left with her to protect her against the cold, or the bag of provisions which had been placed round her neck. She had hurled these presents from the Europeans into the abyss.