"Quick!" Kadok cried to her, "We find cave now!" and he pushed aside some close growing tree branches and showed her the entrance of a little cave hollowed out of the rock. "Here we be safe till storm go over," he said, and Jean gladly crouched in the shelter, watching with frightened eyes the play of the lightning. Kadok gave her more roots to chew and talked kindly to her to soothe her fears.
"This not much storm," he said. "See many worse than this. Soon over and we go on. Think Missa see Mother to-morrow. Not many hours far now."
"Kadok," said Jean, "why are you so good to me?"
"What you mean?" asked Kadok.
"Why do you take me home?" she asked.
"Black boy not forget friend," he said. "Not forget enemy. Do mean to Kadok, Kadok do mean to you, if he has to wait five, ten years. Do Kadok good, he do good to you when he make chance."
"But I never did you any good," said Jean, puzzled.
"No, little Missa not. Missa McDonald do me heap good.[15] There was bad man at Station. He no like Blacks near his cattle camp. Blacks not bad, not hurt white man. White man very bad. He make feast and tell Blacks to eat. Black men all eat. Next day all black men dead, all but Kadok and his father, great Chief. They very sick, but they not had eat much of white man's pudding. Chief tell Missa McDonald they very sick here,"—putting his hand on his stomach—"She look very sorry and give them hot drink. It make them very sick and all white man's pudding come up. Think very strange that Kadok and Chief only ones not die, but like Missa McDonald very well for hot drink. Chief father say to me, 'Some day do kind to Missa McDonald,' and I say 'Yes.' When little Missa taken by bad Blacks, Chief say to me, 'Now time to pay Missa McDonald, take little Missa home!' I go, take," and the boy nodded his head.
Jean did not understand all of his story, but she could take in enough to know that her Aunt Mildred had saved the life of Kadok and his father, and she felt that the boy would do all he could for her.
The storm had ceased and the rain lay in sparkling drops upon bush and leaf.