I Had Slept, And Horrified As The Idea
Flashed Upon Me That She Must Be Dead And That I Had Not Been With Her,
I Started Up.
She lay upon her bed, pale as marble, and with that calm
serenity that the features assume when the cares of life no longer act
upon the mind and the body rests in death.
The dreadful thought bowed me
down; but as I gazed upon her in fear her chest gently heaved, not with
the convulsive throbs of fever, but naturally. She was asleep; and when
at a sudden noise she opened her eyes, they were calm and clear. She was
saved! When not a ray of hope remained, God alone knows what helped us.
The gratitude of that moment I will not attempt to describe.
Fortunately there were many fowls in this village. We found several
nests of fresh eggs in the straw which littered the hut; these were most
acceptable after our hard fare, and produced a good supply of soup.
Having rested for two days we again moved forward, Mrs. Baker being
carried on a litter.
The next day we reached the village of Parkani. For several days past
our guides had told us that we were very near to the lake, and we were
now assured that we should reach it on the morrow. I had noticed a lofty
range of mountains at an immense distance west, and I had imagined that
the lake lay on the other side of this chain; but I was now informed
that those mountains formed the western frontier of the M'wootan N'zige,
and that the lake was actually within a day's march of Parkani.
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