Inclining toward Stasch, he continued:
“At night I always have more fever than in the daytime, and attacks of dizziness as well. But the pipe brightens me up and freshens my thoughts. You just said that you had escaped from the Dervishes, who held you captive, and that you had hidden in the jungle. Am I right?”
“Yes, sir; that is what I said.”
“And what do you intend to do?”
“To flee to Abyssinia.”
“You will fall into the hands of the Mahdists, for whole troupes of them are hanging around the frontier.”
“But what else can we do?”
“Ah, only a month ago I could have been of assistance to you. But now I find myself at the mercy of God and this black boy.”
Stasch looked at him in surprise.
“And this camp?”