Although he said this jokingly, in his heart he was frightened, for in broad daylight Nell really looked ill, and for the first time it occurred to him that the poor child, if she continued to look like this, not only might die, but was sure to die. At this thought his knees trembled, for he suddenly felt that in case of her death he would have no reason to live or to return to Port Said.
“For what would there be in life for me?” he continually thought.
He turned away for a minute, so that Nell should not see the look of sadness and fear in his eyes, and then he went to the baggage, which was piled up under the tree, took off the cloth which covered the cartridge-case, opened it, and began to search for something.
It was there, in a little glass phial, that he kept the last quinine powder and guarded it as the apple of his eye for a “dark hour”; that is, in case Nell should take the fever. But now it was almost certain that after such a night the first attack would come on, and so he decided to take precautions against it. This he did with a heavy heart, thinking of what might follow—and if he had not felt the impropriety of a man and leader of a caravan weeping, he would surely have dissolved into tears on parting with his last powder.
In order to hide his emotion he assumed a stern look, turned to the girl, and said:
“Nell, I want you to take the rest of the quinine before you eat.”
“And if you get the fever?” she asked.
“Then I will shake myself. Take it, I say.”
She took it without further resistance; for since he had shot the Sudanese she was a little afraid of him, notwithstanding the attention and kindness he showed her. Then they all sat down to breakfast; and after the toils of the night thoroughly enjoyed a plate of good soup. Nell fell asleep as soon as the meal was finished and slept some hours. Meanwhile Stasch, Kali, and Mea prepared the caravan for the journey, brought the top part of the tent from the ravine, saddled the horses, put the pack on the donkey, and hid under the roots of shrubs everything they were unable to take with them. They were almost overcome with sleep while performing these duties, so Stasch arranged that they should take turns in having a short nap, fearing that otherwise they might go to sleep during the journey.
It was about two o’clock when they set out again. Stasch held Nell in front of him on the saddle and Kali rode with Mea on the second horse. They did not ride straight into the gorge, but kept between its upper side and the forest. The new jungle had grown considerably during this last night of rain, but the ground under the new grass was black and still bore traces of fire. It was easy to surmise that either Smain had passed that way with his men, or that a fire, caused by lightning, had swept over the dried jungle, and, having at last struck the wet forest, had wound itself through the rather narrow course between it and the ravine. Therefore Stasch tried to see whether traces of Smain’s encampment or imprints of his horses’ hoofs could be found on this route, and to his great joy he was convinced that nothing of the kind was to be seen. Kali, who understood such things, insisted that the fire must have been driven there by the wind more than ten days ago.