But Nasibu came near paying for his zeal with his life, or at least a very strange kind of imprisonment. For it happened that once when he was gathering bananas on the edge of a steep, overhanging cliff he suddenly saw in a crevice a horrible face, covered with black skin, with eyes that blinked at him as it laughingly showed its front teeth. At first the boy was nearly petrified with fear—then he began to run for his life. But before he had gone far a hairy arm encircled him; he was lifted into the air, and the night-black monster started off running with him toward a gorge.
Fortunately the enormous monkey could only run on two feet; consequently Saba, who happened to be near, easily overtook it and buried his enormous jaws in his back. A terrible fight ensued, in which the dog, notwithstanding his great size and strength, would certainly have been worsted had not succor arrived in time to save him; for a gorilla can even conquer lions, and monkeys seldom let go their prey, even when it is a matter of regaining their freedom or their lives.[[27]] The gorilla, having been attacked from behind, could not easily get at Saba, but in spite of that he picked him up by the neck with his left hand and was lifting him in the air when the ground shook under a heavy tread, and King came running up.
A slight blow with his trunk was sufficient, and the terrible “forest devil,” as the negroes call the gorilla, sank to the ground with brains and neck crushed. But to make sure that the monster was dead, or from his natural antipathy to it, King nailed it to the ground with his tusks and then continued to wreak his vengeance on it until Stasch, who had become alarmed at the roaring and screaming, came running up from the direction of the huts, gun in hand, and ordered him to stop.
The gorilla lay in a pool of blood, which Saba began to lick up, and King’s tusks were stained with gore. It was a very large gorilla, and, though dead, its upturned eyes and its teeth made it still a horrible looking object. The elephant trumpeted triumphantly, and Nasibu, ash-gray with terror, told Stasch what had happened. For a moment he considered whether he should fetch Nell and show her the horrible monkey, but he dismissed the thought, for suddenly a great fear took possession of him. Nell often went out walking alone on the island, and might not the very same thing happen to her?
This proved that Linde Mountain was not such a safe refuge as it at first seemed. Stasch returned to the hut and told Nell what had happened; she listened in curiosity and fright, her eyes wide open, continually repeating:
“You see what would have happened without King?”
“That’s right! One need not worry about a child with a nurse like him; so while we are here don’t take a step away without him.”
“And when are we going to leave?”
“The provisions are ready, the baggage sorted, and there is nothing to do but pack the loads on the animals; and so we can start to-morrow.”
“To see our papas?”