“Well, can you tell how many journeys we have made since we left Fayoum?” asked Stasch.

“Yes.”

The girl raised her eyebrows and began to count on her fingers.

“Let me see: From Fayoum to Khartum—the first journey; from Khartum to Fashoda—the second; from Fashoda to the gorge, where we found King—the third; from Linde Mountain to the lake—the fourth!”

“Right. Perhaps there is not another fly in the world who has flown through so much of Africa.”

“This fly would have been in a nice plight without you.”

And he began to laugh.

“A fly on an elephant! A fly on an elephant!”

“But no tsetse. Ah, Stasch, no tsetse?”

“No,” he replied; “a more agreeable kind of fly.”

Nell, satisfied with this praise, leaned her little face on his arm and asked:

“And when shall we start on our fifth journey?”

“As soon as you are rested and I have taught these people, whom Kali has promised to send along with us, how to shoot a little.”

“And are we going to travel very long?”

“Oh, long, Nell, long! Who knows if this won’t be the longest road?”

“And you will, as you always do, find a way out of all our difficulties?”

“I must.”

Stasch really did the best he could, but the fifth journey required great preparation. They were going once more into unknown districts, in which there lurked innumerable dangers, and against these the boy wished to take greater precautions than he had ever done before. For this reason he taught forty young Wa-himas to shoot with Remington rifles, for he thought they would form a picked troop and would also serve as a guard for Nell. He could not train more men to shoot, for King had only carried twenty-five rifles and the horses had carried fifteen. The rest of the army was to be made up of a hundred Wa-himas and a hundred Samburus armed with lances and bows, which Faru promised to supply, and whose presence solved the difficulties of the journey through the long stretch of wild country inhabited by the Samburu tribes. Stasch recollected with pride how he had fled from Fashoda, traveling with no one but Nell and two negroes, and that he had had no help of any kind; so he now thought that, being in command of two hundred armed men, and having an elephant and some horses, he could soon reach the coast. He tried to imagine what Englishmen, who lay such stress on forming resolutions, would say to this, and especially what his father and Mr. Rawlison would say, and this made every difficulty appear light.

Nevertheless, he was very uneasy for Nell’s safety and for his own. Sure enough, he would most likely have little difficulty in passing through the Wa-hima and Samburu territory, but what would follow? What kind of tribes would he be likely to meet, through what countries and how many miles would he have to travel? Linde’s directions had not been specific enough. Stasch was very much worried because he had no idea where he was, for this part of Africa was represented as a white spot on the maps which he had studied. Besides, he had not the least idea what the Basso-Narok Lake really was like or how large it was. He happened to be on its south bank, where it appeared to be some ten kilometers wide. But how far the lake stretched toward the north was something that neither the Wa-himas nor the Samburus could tell him. Kali, who knew the Ki-swahili language fairly well, answered all questions with “bali, bali,” which meant “far, far,” and that was all that Stasch could get him to say.

As in the north, the mountains at the horizon appeared to be fairly near, and he supposed that this water was a small salt lake, many of which are to be found in Africa. Several years later it was evident that he had been mistaken.^[41] For the present it was not absolutely necessary to be more familiar with the banks of the Basso-Narok, but it was important to find out whether a river flowed from it, eventually emptying itself into the ocean. The Samburus, Faru’s subjects, declared that to the east of their country lay a large, waterless desert, which no one had ever crossed. Stasch knew the negroes well from the stories of travelers and from Linde’s adventures, as well as from his own experiences with them, and he was convinced that as soon as danger and weariness would overtake them many would return home, and perhaps not a single one remain with him. In this case he would find himself in the middle of the desert alone with Nell, Mea, and the little Nasibu. But, above all, he recognized that the lack of water would break up and disperse the caravan. Following the water-course, it would be impossible to suffer the tortures which attack all travelers in arid regions, so he inquired where a stream could be found.

But the Samburus were unable to give him any reliable information, and he could not take a lengthy excursion along the eastern bank of the lake because other duties retained him at the boma. He was of the opinion that of all the kites he had sent up from Linde Mountain and from the negro villages through which they had passed, probably not one had flown over the chain of mountains surrounding the Basso-Narok. For this reason it was necessary to make new ones and send them up, for these were the only ones the wind could carry far off over the flat desert, perhaps to the ocean. He had to give his personal attention to this matter, for Nell was very skilful in making the kites and Kali had learned how to send them up, but neither was able to write on them the necessary message. Stasch believed this to be a matter of the greatest importance, which should on no account be neglected.

These duties occupied so much time that the caravan was not ready to start for three weeks. On the evening before they intended to depart the young king of the Wa-himas appeared before Stasch, made a low bow, and said:

“Kali will go with the master and with Bibi as far as the sheet of water on which the large rafts of the white men swim.”

This proof of devotion touched Stasch, but he did not feel he had the right to take the boy on such an extended journey, from which he might not be able to return in safety.

“Why do you want to go with us?” he asked.

“Kali loves the Great Man and Bibi.”

Stasch laid his hand on the woolly head.

“Kali, I know that you are a true and faithful boy. But what will happen to your kingdom, and who will reign over the Wa-himas in your place?”

“M’Lana, a brother of Kali’s mother.”

Stasch knew that negroes fight for the throne, that power attracts them just as it does white people; he thought a while and then said:

“No, Kali! I can not take you along. You must stay with the Wa-himas in order to make good people of them.”

“Kali return to them.”

“M’Lana has many sons, and what would happen if he should aspire to be king himself and to leave his kingdom to his sons, and therefore instigate the Wa-himas against you, so that they drive you away when you seek to return?”

“M’Lana is good. He no do that!”

“But if he does do it?”

“Then Kali will go to the great sheet of water, to the Great Man and Bibi.”

“We shall not be there then.”

“Then Kali will sit down near the water and weep for sorrow.”

At these words he folded his hands over his head and whispered:

“Kali loves the Great Man and Bibi—very much!” And two large tears shone in his eyes.

Stasch hesitated, not knowing what to do. He felt sorry for Kali, but he did not grant his request at once. He knew that—apart from the dangers he might encounter on the return journey—if M’Lana or the sorcerers were to incite the negroes, not only would the young negro be banished from his country, but his life would be endangered.

“It will be much better for you to stay here,” he said; “much better!”

But while he was speaking Nell appeared; she had overheard the whole conversation through the thin partition which separated the caravan, and when she saw tears in Kali’s eyes she wiped them away with her little fingers, and turning to Stasch, said:

“Kali will go with us!” This she spoke in a decided tone.

“Oho!” answered Stasch, a little hurt. “You are not the one to decide.”

“Kali will go with us!” she repeated.

“Perhaps not!”

Then she suddenly stamped her little foot, saying:

“I wish it!” And burst into tears.

Stasch looked at her in great surprise, as if unable to understand what had happened to the child, who was usually so good and so gentle, but when he saw how she put both little fists up to her eyes and with open mouth gasped for air like a little bird, he at once said:

“Kali shall go with us—yes, he shall go with us! Why are you crying? How unreasonable you are! He shall go! Do you hear? He shall go!”

And so it was settled. Stasch felt ashamed of himself all that day because of his weakness in giving in to the “good Msimu,” and she, having gained her point, was as quiet, gentle, and submissive as ever.