Page:In Desert and Wilderness (Sienkiewicz, tr. Drezmal).djvu/223

 Rh Nell became more and more worried and finally began to cry.

Stas with difficulty persuaded her to lie down, promising her that he would wait for Saba, and as soon as the day should break, he himself would search for the dog and bring him back. Nell indeed entered the tent, but at intervals she put out her little head from under its folds, asking whether the dog had not returned. Sleep overcame her only after midnight, when Mea came out to relieve Kali, who watched the fire.

"Why does the daughter of the moon weep?" the young negro asked Stas, when both lay down on the saddle-cloths. "Kali does not want that."

"She is sorry for Saba, whom the buffalo has surely killed."

"But perhaps he did not kill him," replied the black boy.

After this they became silent and Stas fell into a deep sleep. It was still dark, however, when he awoke, for the chill began to incommode him. The fire was partly extinct. Mea, who was to watch the fire, dozed and after a time had ceased throwing fuel upon the flames.

The saddle-cloth on which Kali slept was unoccupied.

Stas himself threw brushwood onto the fire, after which he shook the negress and asked:

"Where is Kali?"

For a time she stared at him unconsciously; afterwards coming to her senses, she said:

"Kali took Gebhr's sword and went beyond the zareba. I thought he wanted to cut more brushwood, but he did not return at all."

"Did he go long ago?"

"Long."

Stas waited for some time, but as the negro did not return, he involuntarily propounded to himself the question: