“Yes, sir; that is what I said.”
“And what do you intend to do?”
“To flee to Abyssinia.”
“You will fall into the hands of the Mahdists, for whole troupes of them are hanging around the frontier.”
“But what else can we do?”
“Ah, only a month ago I could have been of assistance to you. But now I find myself at the mercy of God and this black boy.”
Stasch looked at him in surprise.
“And this camp?”
“This is a camp of death.”
“And these n*****s?”
“These n*****s are asleep, and they will never awaken again.”
“I don’t understand——”
“They are stricken with the sleeping-sickness. They are from the shores of the great lakes, where this terrible sickness is always very prevalent, and every one of them who has not died of the smallpox has been stricken down with it. I have only one boy le
