And the black boy stopped, and when Stas drew near to him said with a mysterious countenance:
"Kali is going to another tree to place meat for the wicked Mzimu."
"Why?"
"That the wicked Mzimu should not kill the 'Good Mzimu.'"
Stas wanted to say something in reply, but suddenly grief seized his bosom; so he only set his teeth and walked away in silence.
When he returned to the tree Nell's eyes were closed, her hands, lying on the saddle-cloth, quivered indeed strongly, but it seemed that she was slumbering. Stas sat down near her, and from fear of waking her he sat motionless. Mea, sitting on the other side, readjusted every little while pieces of ivory protruding out of her ears, in order to defend herself in this manner from drowsiness. It became still; only from the river below, from the direction of the overflow, came the croaking of frogs and the melancholy piping of toads.
Suddenly Nell sat up on the bedding.
"Stas!"
"I am here, Nell."
And she, shaking like a leaf in the breeze, began to seek his hands and repeat hurriedly: