On the following day it rained a little, but as there were also some hours between showers, Stasch began as soon as possible to explore his surroundings, and by noon he had penetrated every corner. The inspection proved very satisfactory. In the first place, Linde Mountain was the most secure place in the whole of Africa. Monkeys alone could scale its heights. Neither lions nor panthers could climb the plateau. As to guarding the mountain pass, they had only to install King at the entrance and then lie down and go to sleep peacefully. Stasch was convinced that he could now resist attacks of small troups of Dervishes, for the road leading to the mountain was very narrow, and one man alone, provided he had a good gun, could block the entrance so effectually that not a soul would be able to pass.

In the center of the “island” there bubbled forth a spring of cool, crystal-clear water, the outlet of which was a small brook that wound its way through the banana-grove and at last plunged over the edge of an overhanging cliff into the river, thus forming a narrow waterfall, which glistened like a white ribbon. On the south side of the peninsula there were fields covered with a luxuriant growth of manioc roots, which are much relished by the negroes. Behind these fields grew very high cocoanut palms, their crowns shaped like beautiful feather-dusters.

A mass of jungle surrounded the “island,” and the view was very extensive. On the east could be seen the blue chain of the Karamajo Mountains. On the south rose high hills, which, judging from their dark color, must have been covered with trees. On the west, however, the view extended to the horizon, where the jungle melted into the sky. But looking through Linde’s telescope Stasch perceived various narrow passes, and here and there enormous trees, rising above the grasses like churches. In some places, where the grass had not as yet grown very high, one could see with the naked eye herds of antelopes and zebras, elephants and buffaloes. Here and there giraffes made paths through the gray-blue jungle like ships furrowing through the sea. Close to the edge of the river some water-bucks were playing, while others raised their horned heads above the deep water. In places where the surface of the water was calmer, every now and then fish, the same kind Kali had caught, would spring up, glitter like silver stars and then sink back into the water. Stasch resolved that, as soon as the weather was better, he would take Nell around and show her the menagerie. There were no large animals on the island, but immense numbers of butterflies and birds. Large, snow-white parrots with black beaks and yellow breasts flew above the shrubbery, tiny whidah-birds, with beautiful plumage, glittering like jewels, swung from the thin stalks of manioc, and from the high branches of the cocoanut-tree could be heard the sound of the African cuckoo and the sad, soft cooing of the turtle-dove.

Stasch returned from his inspection feeling very happy.

“The air here is good,” he said to himself; “this place is proof against attack, there is plenty of food to be had, and in fact it is a perfect Paradise.”

But as he entered Nell’s hut he saw that a larger animal had put in an appearance on the island—indeed, there were two—for during his absence Nasibu had found in the banana thicket a goat with her young one, which the Dervishes had been obliged to leave behind. The goat was indeed somewhat wild, but the young one immediately made friends with Nasibu, who was very proud that he had found her, for he thought that now “Bibi” would be able to have excellent milk every day.

“Stasch, what shall we do now?” asked Nell one day, after they had settled down and grown accustomed to the island.

“There is plenty to do,” answered the boy, and he counted on his outstretched fingers all the tasks awaiting them.

“To begin: Kali and Mea are heathens, and Nasibu, a child from Zanzibar, is a Mohammedan, and so everything must be explained to them; they must be taught the true Faith and baptized. In the second place, meat for the coming journey must be smoked, so I must shoot it; in the third place, as I have so many weapons and so much ammunition, I am going to teach Kali how to shoot, so that two of us will be armed and ready to act on the defensive; and, in the fourth place, have you forgotten about the flying kites?”

“The flying kites?”

“Yes, that you are going to glue together, or, better still, sew together. That will be your work.”

“I want to do something besides play.”

“That will by no means be play, but a very important work, perhaps the most important of all. Do not imagine that one kite will amount to anything; you must make fifty or more.”

“Why so many?” asked the girl, grown curious.

Then Stasch began to tell her his plans and hopes. He wanted to write on each kite their names, how they had escaped from the Dervishes, where they were to be found, and where they expected to go. He was also going to write on them that they needed help, and to beg some one to send a telegram to Port Said. He intended to send up these kites only when the wind was southwest.

“Many of them,” he said, “will soon fall to the ground, but if only one of them reaches the coast and falls into the hands of Europeans we are saved.”

Nell was quite delighted with this idea, and declared that even King was not a match for Stasch when it came to cleverness. Yes, she was convinced that a great many of the kites would even fly to their papas, and promised to glue such kites from morning till night. Her joy was so excessive that Stasch was afraid it might bring on the fever again, and he was therefore obliged to calm her enthusiasm.

The work which Stasch had mentioned was immediately begun in earnest. Kali, who had been told to catch as many of the flying-fish as possible, stopped fishing, but on the other hand he erected a high fence of thin bamboo rods, or, to be more accurate, a kind of trellis, and this weir he fastened across the river. In the middle of the trellis was a large opening, through which the fish would be obliged to swim in order to reach the open water. At this opening Kali placed a strong net made from palm-threads, and so caught a plentiful supply of fish every day.

He drove the fish into the murderous net with the help of King, who, being led into the water, darkened and disturbed it so that not only those shimmering silver fish, but all other creatures living in the water, tried to escape into the clearer depths. At this point the weir was often damaged by crocodiles overturning the trellis in their efforts to escape, and King himself would often overturn it, for he cherished an inborn hatred against crocodiles. So he followed them, and as soon as they reached shallow water he would pick them up with his trunk and throw them on the bank, and he took the greatest satisfaction and delight in stamping them to death.

Turtles also were often caught in the net, and of them the little wanderers made a delicious soup. Kali prepared the fish by drying them in the sun, but the air-bladders he brought to Nell, who cut them in two, stretched them out on boards, and thus converted them into two sheets of paper the size of one’s hand.

Stasch and Mea helped Nell in this work, for it was by no means easy. The skins were thicker than the bladders of our river fish, but after being dried they became quite brittle and were easily broken. Stasch at last discovered that they should be dried in the shade. But sometimes his patience was nearly exhausted, and that he did not give up the plan of making kites out of the bladders was due to the fact that he considered them lighter and better able to withstand the rain than paper. Though the dry season had now begun, he was not quite sure whether, during the summer, especially in the mountains, there would not be showers.

But he also glued together kites made out of paper, a quantity of which had been found among Linde’s effects. The first light, large paper kite, which he let loose in a west wind, at once rose very high, and when Stasch cut the string was carried by a strong current of air toward the chain of the Karamajo Mountains. Stasch followed its flight with the aid of a telescope until it got as small as a butterfly—yes, even until it looked like a fly—and at last disappeared in the pale azure of the sky. On the following day he loosed a second one, this time made of fish bladders, which ascended even more quickly into the air, but probably was soon lost to view because of the transparency of the skins.

It was Nell who worked most perseveringly, and her little fingers soon became so skilful that she excelled Stasch and Mea. She was quite strong now. The healthy climate of Linde Mountain had completely restored her. The time for the third attack of the deadly fever to make its appearance had passed. On that day Stasch hid himself in the banana thicket and cried for joy. After a stay of two weeks in the mountains he noticed that the “Good Msimu” now looked quite differently than when in the jungle. Her cheeks had become fuller, the former yellow and transparent complexion had disappeared, she looked rosy once more, and from beneath her luxuriant mass of hair her eyes looked out on everything shining with happiness. From the bottom of his heart the boy was thankful for the cool nights, the transparent spring water, the flour from the dried bananas, and above all, Linde.

He had become thin and sunburned, which was a proof that he would not have the fever, for fever patients do not become tanned by the sun. He had grown taller and more manly. His quick movements and the labors he had performed had increased his ability and strength. The muscles of his arms and hands, legs and feet were hard as steel. Now, in fact, he had actually become a seasoned African traveler. As he hunted daily and used bullets only, he had become a sure shot. He no longer feared wild animals, for he knew that the wild and horned hunters were in more danger from him than he was from them. At one shot he had killed a large rhinoceros which unexpectedly attacked him. He never paid the least attention to the numerous African buffaloes, which sometimes disperse whole caravans.

Besides the gluing of the kites and the other daily tasks, Stasch and Nell also set to work to convert Kali, Mea, and Nasibu, and they found this more difficult than they had expected. The black trefoil took great pleasure in being taught, but looked at the lessons from the negro’s point of view. When Stasch told them of the creation of the world, of Paradise, and the serpent, everything went well, but when he got as far as the murder of Abel by Cain, Kali unconsciously patted his stomach and asked with great calmness:

“And did he eat him up then?”

The black boy had always insisted that the Wa-himas never eat human beings, but apparently the remembrance of the days when they did so still remained with him as a national tradition.

Neither could he understand why the Lord God had not killed the “wicked Msimu,” and many similar things. His ideas of good and evil were also quite African, which led to the following conversation between teacher and pupil:

“Tell me,” asked Stasch, “what is an evil deed?”

“If any one takes cows away from Kali,” he answered, after some consideration, “that is an evil deed.”

“Excellent!” cried Stasch; “and now give me a good one.”

This time he answered at once:

“A good one—for instance—if Kali takes cows away from any one.”

Stasch was too young to know that similar ideas of good and evil are prevalent also in Europe, and are practised by politicians and even approved by entire nations.

But gradually light began to dawn in the black brains, and what brains could not understand, warm hearts received. They were shortly ready for Baptism, which was performed with great ceremony. The god-parents presented each of the children with four doti (equal to about sixteen yards) of white percale and a string of blue glass beads. They felt somewhat disappointed, however, for they were so childlike that they thought their skins would turn white immediately after Baptism, and they were greatly surprised when they saw that they were just as black as before. But Nell calmed them by convincing them that they now had white souls.