Page:In Desert and Wilderness (Sienkiewicz, tr. Drezmal).djvu/254

 246 and the detached rock, but immediately began to retreat with bristling hair.

Stas dismounted from the horse to see what could have scared the dog.

"Stas, don't go there," Nell begged; "a lion might be there."

The boy, who was something of a swashbuckler and who from the previous day had taken extraordinary offense at lions, replied:

"A great thing. A lion in daylight!"

However, before he approached the passageway, Kali's voice resounded from above:

"Bwana kubwa! Bwana kubwa!"

"What is it?" Stas asked.

The negro slid down the stalk of the climbing plant in the twinkling of an eye. From his face it was easy to perceive that he brought some important news.

"An elephant!" he shouted.

"An elephant?"

"Yes," answered the young negro, waving his hands; "there thundering water, here a rock. The elephant cannot get out. Great master kill the elephant and Kali will eat him. Oh, eat, eat!"

And at this thought he was possessed by such joy that he began to leap, slapping his knees with his palms and laughing as if insane, in addition rolling his eyes and displaying his white teeth.

Stas at first did not understand why Kali said that the elephant could not get out of the ravine. So, desiring to see what had happened, he mounted his horse and entrusting Nell to Mea in order to have his hands free in an emergency, he ordered Kali to sit behind him; after which they all turned back and began to seek a place by which they could reach the top. On the way Stas