“Dear Paul. Good little Paul,” said Nora.
“I do feel proud of him,” said Mike, with a funny little break in his voice.
And then Captain Arnold stepped forward and shouted in such a tremendous voice that everyone jumped.
“Stop! I command you to stop!”
The tall chief stopped in his walk and glared round at Captain Arnold. He did not understand the words that the captain said — but he understood their meaning. There was no mistaking that at all!
“Come here Mafumu,” commanded Captain Arnold. The little boy came to him, trembling. “Tell the chief that I will kill the sun if he does anything to Paul,” said the Captain. Mafumu did not understand, so Jack explained as best he could in simple words.
Mafumu nodded. He knelt down before the chief, and banged his forehead on the ground before him.
Mafumu cried out some strange words to the chief, and then banged his forehead on the ground again. The chief frowned and looked at Captain Arnold. He said something sharp to Mafumu.
“Chief say no, Captain will not kill sun,” said the little boy. “He say that when the sun is high, high, high, Paul will go to the sun.”
“When the sun is high,” repeated Captain Arnold. “That means noon — twelve o’clock — and the eclipse is due at about a quarter to. Well — that will just about do it! Tell the chief I will kill the sun unless he sets us all free, Mafumu,”