Stasch’s horses had been stung by these flies, and not only the horses, but the donkey, too. Kali rubbed them daily with a plant that smelled like an onion, which he found in the jungle. He said that the smell of it would drive away the “tsetse”; but notwithstanding all his efforts the horses continued to grow thinner. Stasch was terrified when he thought of what would happen if all the animals were to die. How could Nell, the rugs, the tent, the cartridges, and the crockery be taken along? There were so many things that at best King was the only one who could carry them. But to release King would mean sacrificing two-thirds of the gunpowder.
Further and greater troubles were now heaped on Stasch’s head, like the clouds in the heavens, which rained down incessantly in the jungle. And at last came the greatest misfortune, the one before which everything else seemed as nothing—the fever.
CHAPTER IX
One day at table, just as Nell was putting a small piece of smoked meat into her mouth, she drew back suddenly, as if disgusted, and said:
“I can’t eat anything to-day.”
Stasch, who had found out from Kali where the bees were, and had smoked them out daily and taken the honey, was certain that the child had eaten too much of the sweets, and therefore he paid no further attention to her loss of appetite. But presently she arose and began to run quickly round and round the campfire, each time making larger circles.
“Don’t go too far away,” called the boy to her; “something might happen to you.”
But he was not afraid of any harm coming to her, for the presence of the elephant, whom the wild animals scented, and his trumpeting, that reached their keen, attentive ears, kept them at a respectful distance. This afforded protection to them as well as their horses, because even the most ferocious beasts of prey in the jungle, such as lions, panthers, and leopards, do not care to come in contact with an elephant, or in too close proximity to his tusks and trunk.
As the girl continued running faster and faster around the fire, Stasch followed her and asked:
“Nell, you little moth, why do you run around the fire like that?”