“A white boy! I look upon a white being once more! Welcome, whoever you are. You said some one was ill. What do you want of me?”
Stasch repeated that this sick person was Nell, the daughter of Mr. Rawlison, one of the directors of the Suez Canal; that she had already had two attacks of fever, and unless he were able to procure some quinine to prevent a third attack she must die.
“Two attacks—that’s bad!” answered the stranger. “But I can give you as much quinine as you want. I have several jars full of it, which I shall never need.”
At these words he told Nasibu to hand him a large tin box, which evidently contained a small medicine chest, and he took out of it two rather large jars filled with a white powder, and handed them to Stasch.
“That is half of what I have left. It will last a year!”
At first Stasch felt inclined to cry aloud for joy, but he controlled himself and began to thank his new friend as enthusiastically as though his own life were at stake.
The stranger nodded his head several times and said:
“Enough, enough. My name is Linde and I am a Swiss, from Zürich. Two days ago I met with an accident. A wild beast wounded me very severely.”
Then he turned toward the black boy.
“Nasibu, fill my pipe.”