Having pronounced those last words, Negoro stopped suddenly. He seized
his companion's arm, and listened.
"Harris," said he, lowering his voice, "was there not a trembling in
that papyrus bush?"
"Yes, indeed," replied Harris, seizing his gun, always ready to fire.
Negoro and he stood up, looked around them, and listened with the
greatest attention.
"There is nothing there," said Harris. "It is this brook, swelled by
the storm, which runs more noisily. For two years, comrade, you have
been unaccustomed to the noises of the forest, but you will get used
to them again. Continue, then, the narration of your adventures. When
I understand the past, we shall talk of the future."
Negoro and Harris sat down again at the foot of the banyan. The
Portuguese continued, in these terms:
"For eighteen months I vegetated in Auckland. When the steamer arrived
there I was able to leave it without being seen; but not a piastre,
not a dollar in my pocket! In order to live I had to follow all
trades--"
"Even the trade of an honest man, Negoro?"
"As you say, Harris."
"Poor boy!"
"Now, I was always waiting for an opportunity, which was long coming,
when the 'Pilgrim,' a whaler, arrived at the port of Auckland."
"That vessel which went ashore on the coast of Angola?"
"Even the same, Harris, and on which Mrs. Weldon, her child, and her
cousin were going to take passage. Now, as an old sailor, having even
been second on board a slave ship, I was not out of my element in
taking service on a ship. I then presented myself to the 'Pilgrim's'
captain, but the crew was made up. Very fortunately for me, the
schooner's cook had deserted. Now, he is no sailor who does not know
how to cook. I offered myself as head cook. For want of a better, I
was accepted. A few days after, the 'Pilgrim' had lost sight of the
land of New Zealand."
"But," asked Harris, "according to what my young friend has told me,
the 'Pilgrim' did not set sail at all for the coast of Africa. How
then has she arrived here?"
"Dick Sand ought not to be able to understand it yet, and perhaps he
will never understand it," replied Negoro; "but I am going to explain
to you what has passed, Harris, and you will be able to tell it again
to your young friend, if it pleases you to do so."
"How, then?" replied Harris. "Speak, comrade, speak!"
"The 'Pilgrim,'" continued Negoro, "as on the way to Valparaiso. When
I went on board, I only intended to go to Chili. It was always a good
half of the way between New Zealand and Angola, and I was drawing
nearer Africa's coast by several thousand miles. But it so happened
that only three weeks after leaving Auckland, Captain Hull, who
commanded the 'Pilgrim,' disappeared with all his crew, while chasing
a whale. On that day, then, only two sailors remained on board--the
novice and the cook, Negoro."
"And you took command of the ship?" asked Harris.
"I had that idea at first, but I saw that they distrusted me. There
were live strong blacks on board, free men. I would not have been
the master, and, on reflection, I remained what I was at the
departure--the 'Pilgrim's' cook."
"Then it was chance that led this ship to the coast of Africa?"
"No, Harris," replied Negoro; "there has been no chance in all this
adventure except meeting you, in one of your journeys, just on that
part of the coast where the 'Pilgrim' was wrecked. But as to coming
in sight of Angola, it was by my will, my secret will, that that was
done. Your young friend, still much of a novice in navigation, could
only tell his position by means of the log and the compass. Well, one
day, the log went to the bottom. One night the compass was made false,
and the 'Pilgrim,' driven by a violent tempest, took the wrong route.
The length of the voyage, inexplicable to Dick Sand, would be the same
to the most experienced seaman. Without the novice knowing or even
suspecting it, Cape Horn was doubled, but I, Harris, I recognized
it in the midst of the fogs. Then, thanks to me, the needle in the
compass took its true direction again, and the ship, blown to the
northeast by that frightful hurricane, has just been cast on the coast
of Africa, just on this land of Angola which I wished to reach."
"And even at that moment, Negoro," replied Harris, "chance had led me
there to receive you, and guide those honest people to the interior.
They believed themselves--they could only believe themselves in
America. It was easy for me to make them take this province for lower
Bolivia, to which it has really some resemblance."
"Yes, they believed it, as your young friend believed they had made
the Isle of Paques, when they passed in sight of Tristan d'Acunha."
"Anybody would be deceived by it, Negoro."
"I know it, Harris, and I even counted on profiting by that error.
Finally, behold Mrs. Weldon and her companions one hundred miles in
the interior of this Africa, where I wanted to bring them!"
"But," replied Harris, "they know now where they are."
"Ah! what matter at present!" cried Negoro.
"And what will you do with them?" asked Harris.
"What will I do with them?" replied Negoro. "Before telling you,
Harris, give me news of our master, the slave-trader, Alvez, whom I
have not seen for two years."
"Oh, the old rascal is remarkably well," replied Harris, "and he will
be enchanted to see you again."
"Is he at the Bihe market?" asked Negoro.
"No, comrade, he has been at his establishment at Kazounde for a
year."
"And business is lively?"
"Yes, a thousand devils!" exclaimed Harris, "although the slave
trade becomes more and more difficult, at least on this coast. The
Portuguese authorities on one side, and the English cruisers on
the other, limit exportations. There are few places, except in the
environs of Mossamedes, to the south of Angola, that the shipping of
blacks can now be made with any chance of success. So, at this time,
the pens are filled with slaves, waiting for the ships which ought to
carry them to Spanish colonies. As to passing them by Benguela, or
St. Paul de Loanda, that is not possible. The governors no longer
understand reason, no more do the chiefs (title given to the
Portuguese governors of secondary establishments). We must, then,
return to the factories of the interior. This is what old Alvez
intends to do. He will go from the Nyangwe and Tanganyika side to
change his stuffs for ivory and slaves. Business is always profitable
with upper Egypt and the Mozambique coast, which furnishes all
Madagascar. But I fear the time will come when the trade can be no
longer carried on. The English are making great progress in the
interior of Africa. The missionaries advance and work against us. That
Livingstone, curse him, after exploring the lake region, is going,
they say, to travel toward Angola. Then they speak of a Lieutenant
Cameron, who proposes to cross the continent from east to west. They
also fear that the American, Stanley, wishes to do as much. All these
visits will end by damaging our operations, Negoro, and if we care for
our own interests, not one of those visitors will return to relate in
Europe what he has had the indiscretion to come to see in Africa."
Would not one say, to hear them, the rascals, that they were speaking
like honest merchants whose affairs were momentarily cramped by a
commercial crisis? Who would believe that, instead of sacks of coffee
or casks of sugar, they were talking of human beings to export like
merchandise? These traders have no other idea of right or wrong. The
moral sense is entirely lacking in them, and if they had any, how
quickly they would lose it among the frightful atrocities of the
African slave trade.
But where Harris was right, was when he said that civilization was
gradually penetrating those savage countries in the wake of those
hardy travelers, whose names are indissoluble linked to the
discoveries of Equatorial Africa. At the head, David Livingstone,
after him, Grant, Speke, Burton, Cameron, Stanley, those heroes will
leave imperishable names as benefactors of humanity.
When their conversation reached that point, Harris knew what the last
two years of Negoro's life had been. The trader Alvez's old agent, the
escaped prisoner from the Loanda penitentiary, reappeared the same as
Harris had always known him, that is, ready to do anything. But what
plan Negoro intended to take in regard to the shipwrecked from the
"Pilgrim," Harris did not yet know. He asked his accomplice about it.
"And now," said he, "what are you going to do with those people?"
"I shall make two parties of them," replied Negoro, like a man whose
plan had been long formed, "those whom I shall sell as slaves, and
those whom----"
The Portuguese did not finish, but his ferocious physiognomy spoke
plainly enough.
"Which will you sell?" asked Harris.
"Those blacks who accompany Mrs. Weldon," replied Negoro. "Old Tom is
not perhaps of much value, but the others are four strong fellows, who
will bring a high price in the Kazounde market."
"I well believe it, Negoro," replied Harris. "Four negroes, well made,
accustomed to work, have very little resemblance to those brutes which
come to us from the interior. Certainly, you will sell them at a high
price. Slaves, born in America, and exported to the markets of Angola;
that is rare merchandise! But," added the American, "you have not told
me if there was any money on board the 'Pilgrim.'"
"Oh! a few hundred dollars only, which I have succeeded in saving.
Fortunately, I count on certain returns."
"Which, then, comrade?" asked Harris, with curiosity.
"Nothing!" replied Negoro, who appeared to regret having spoken more
than he intended.
"It now remains to take possession of all that high-priced
merchandise," said Harris.
"Is it, then, so difficult?" asked Negoro.
"No, comrade. Ten miles from here, on the Coanza, a caravan of slaves
is encamped, conducted by the Arab, Ibn Hamis. He only awaits my
return to take the road for Kazounde. There are more native soldiers
there than are needed to capture Dick Sand and his companions. It will
be sufficient for my young friend to conceive the idea of going to the
Coanza."
"But will he get that idea?" asked Negoro.
"Surely," replied Harris, "because he is intelligent, and cannot
suspect the danger that awaits him. Dick Sand would not think of
returning to the coast by the way we have followed together. He would
be lost among these immense forests. He will seek, then, I am sure, to
reach one of the rivers that flow toward the coast, so as to descend
it on a raft. He has no other plan to take, and I know he will take
it."
"Yes, perhaps so," replied Negoro, who was reflecting.
"It is not 'perhaps so,' it is 'assuredly so,' that must be said,"
continued Harris. "Do you see, Negoro? It is as if I had appointed a
rendezvous with my young friend on the banks of the Coanza."
"Well, then," replied Negoro, "let us go. I know Dick Sand. He will
not delay an hour, and we must get before him."
"Let us start, comrade."
Harris and Negoro both stood up, when the noise that had before
attracted the Portuguese's attention was renewed. It was a trembling
of the stems between the high papyrus.
Negoro stopped, and seized Harris's hand.
Suddenly a low barking was heard. A dog appeared at the foot of the
bank, with its mouth open, ready to spring.
"Dingo!" cried Harris.
"Ah! this time it shall not escape me!" replied Negoro.
Dingo was going to jump upon him, when Negoro, seizing Harris's gun,
quickly put it to his shoulder and fired.
A long howl of pain replied to the detonation, and Dingo disappeared
between the double row of bushes that bordered the brook.
Negoro descended at once to the bottom of the bank.
Drops of blood stained some of the papyrus stems, and a long red track
was left on the pebbles of the brook.
"At last that cursed animal is paid off!" exclaimed Negoro.
Harris had been present at this whole scene without saying a word.
"Ah now, Negoro," said he, "that dog had a particular grudge against
you."
"It seemed so, Harris, but it will have a grudge against me no
longer!"
"And why did it detest you so much, comrade?"
"Oh! an old affair to settle between it and me."
"An old affair?" replied Harris.
Negoro said no more about it, and Harris concluded that the Portuguese
had been silent on some past adventure, but he did not insist on
knowing it.
A few moments later, both, descending the course of the brook, went
toward the Coanza, across the forest.
* * * * *
CHAPTER III.
ON THE MARCH.
Africa! That name so terrible under the present circumstances, that
name which he must now substitute for that of America, was not for an
instant out of Dick Sand's thoughts. When the young novice traced back
the last weeks, it was to ask himself how the "Pilgrim" had ended
by reaching this dangerous shore, how it had doubled Cape Horn, and
passed from one ocean to the other! He could now explain to himself
why, in spite of the rapid motion of his vessel, land was so long
coming in sight, because the length of the distance which he should
have made to reach the American coast had been doubled without his
knowledge.
"Africa! Africa!" Dick Sand repeated.
Then, suddenly, while he called up with tenacious mind all the
incidents of this inexplicable voyage, he felt that his compass must
have been injured. He remembered, too, that the first compass had been
broken, and that the log-line had snapped--a fact which had made it
impossible for him to establish the speed of the "Pilgrim."
"Yes," thought he, "there remained but one compass on board, one only,
the indications of which I could not control! And one night I was
awakened by a cry from old Tom. Negoro was there, aft. He had just
fallen on the binnacle. May he not have put it out of order?"
Dick Sand was growing enlightened. He had his finger on the truth. He
now understood all that was ambiguous in Negoro's conduct. He saw
his hand in this chain of incidents which had led to the loss of the
"Pilgrim," and had so fearfully endangered those on board of her.
But what, then, was this miserable man? Had he been a sailor and known
so well how to hide the fact? Was he capable of contriving this odious
plot which had thrown the ship on the coast of Africa?
At any rate, if obscure points still existed in the past, the present
could offer no more of them. The young novice knew only too well that
he was in Africa, and very probably in the fatal province of Angola,
more than a hundred miles from the coast. He also knew that Harris's
treason could no longer be doubted. From this fact, the most simple
logic led him to conclude that the American and the Portuguese had
long known each other, that a fatal chance had united them on this
coast, and that a plan had been concerted between them, the result of
which would be dreadful for the survivors of the "Pilgrim."
And now, why these odious actions? That Negoro wished, at all hazards,
to seize Tom and his companions, and sell them for slaves in this
slave-trading country, might be admitted. That the Portuguese, moved
by a sentiment of hatred, would seek to be revenged on him, Dick Sand,
who had treated him as he deserved, might also be conceived. But Mrs.
Weldon, this mother, and this young child--what would the wretch
do with them? If Dick Sand could have overheard a little of the
conversation between Harris and Negoro, he would have known what to
expect, and what dangers menaced Mrs. Weldon, the blacks, and himself.
The situation was frightful, but the young novice did not yield under
it. Captain on board, he remained captain on land. He must save Mrs.
Weldon, little Jack, all those whose fate Heaven had placed in his
hands. His task was only commencing. He would accomplish it to the
end.
After two or three hours, during which the present and the future were
summed up in his mind, with their good and their evil chances--the
last, alas! the most numerous--Dick Sand rose, firm and resolved.
The first glimmer of light then touched the summits of the forest.
With the exception of the novice and Tom, all slept. Dick Sand
approached the old black.
"Tom," he said to him, in a low tone, "you have recognized the roaring
of the lion, you have remembered the instruments of the slave-traders.
You know that we are in Africa!"
"Yes, Mr. Dick, I know it."
"Well, Tom, not a word of all that, neither to Mrs. Weldon nor to your
companions. We must be the only ones to know, the only ones to have
any fears."
"Alone--in fact. It is necessary," replied Tom.
"Tom," continued the novice, "we have to watch more carefully than
ever. We are in an enemy's country--and what enemies! what a country!
To keep our companions on their guard, it will be enough to tell them
that we have been betrayed by Harris. They will think that we fear an
attack from wandering Indians, and that will suffice."
"You can count absolutely on their courage and devotion, Mr. Dick."
"I know it, as I count on your good sense and your experience. You
will come to my help, old Tom?"
"Always, and everywhere, Mr. Dick."
Dick Sand's plan was accepted and approved by the old black. If Harris
were detected in open treason before the hour for action, at least
the young novice and his companions were not in fear of any immediate
danger. In fact, it was the discovery of the irons abandoned by some
slaves, and the roaring of the lion, that had caused the American's
sudden disappearance.
He knew that he was discovered, and he had fled probably before the
little party which he guided had reached the place where an attack
had been arranged. As for Negoro, whose presence Dingo had certainly
recognized during these last days of the march, he must have rejoined
Harris, so as to consult with him. At any rate, several hours would
pass before Dick Sand and his friends would be assailed, and it was
necessary to profit by them.
The only plan was to regain the coast as quickly as possible. This
coast, as the young novice had every reason to believe, was that of
Angola. After having reached it, Dick Sand would try to gain, either
to the north or to the south, the Portuguese settlements, where his
companions could await in safety some opportunity to return to their
country.
But, to effect this return to the coast, should they take the road
already passed over? Dick Sand did not think so, and in that he
was going to agree with Harris, who had clearly foreseen that
circumstances would oblige the young novice to shorten the road.
In fact, it would have been difficult, not to say imprudent, to
recommence this difficult journey through the forest, which, besides,
could only tend to bring them out at the place they had started from.
This would also allow Negoro's accomplices to follow an assured track.
The only thing they could do was to cross a river, without leaving any
traces, and, later on, to descend its course. At the same time, there
was less to fear from an attack by animals, which by a happy chance
had so far kept at a good distance. Even the animosity of the natives,
under these circumstances, seemed less important. Once embarked on a
solid raft, Dick Sand and his companions, being well armed, would be
in the best condition to defend themselves. The whole thing was to
find the river.
It must be added that, given the actual state of Mrs. Weldon and her
little Jack, this mode of traveling would be the most suitable. Arms
would not fail to carry the sick child. Lacking Harris's horse, they
could even make a litter of branches, on which Mrs. Weldon could be
borne. But this would require two men out of five, and Dick Sand
wished, with good reason, that all his companions might be free in
their movements in case of a sudden attack.
And then, in descending the current of a river, the young novice would
find himself in his element!
The question now was, whether a navigable stream of water existed in
the neighborhood. Dick Sand thought it probable, and for this reason:
The river which emptied into the Atlantic at the place where the
"Pilgrim" had stranded could not ascend much to the north, nor much to
the east, of the province, because a chain of mountains quite close to
them--those which they had mistaken for the Cordilleras--shut in the
horizon on these two sides. Then, either the river descended from
these heights, or it made a bend toward the south, and, in these two
cases, Dick Sand could not take long to find the course. Perhaps, even
before reaching the river--for it had a right to this qualification,
being a direct tributary of the ocean--one of its affluents would be
met with which would suffice for the transport of the little party.
At any rate, a stream of some sort could not be far away.
In fact, during the last miles of the journey the nature of the earth
had been modified. The declivities diminished and became damp. Here
and there ran narrow streams, which indicated that the sub-soil
enclosed everywhere a watery network. During the last day's march the
caravan had kept along one of these rivulets, whose waters, reddened
with oxyde of iron, eat away its steep, worn banks. To find it again
could not take long, or be very difficult. Evidently they could not
descend its impetuous course, but it would be easy to follow it to its
junction with a more considerable, possibly a navigable, affluent.
Such was the very simple plan which Dick Sand determined upon, after
having conferred with old Tom.
Day came, all their companions gradually awoke. Mrs. Weldon placed
little Jack in Nan's arms. The child was drowsy and faded-looking
during the intermittent periods, and was sad to see.
Mrs. Weldon approached Dick Sand. "Dick," she asked, after a steady
glance, "where is Harris? I do not perceive him."
The young novice thought that, while letting his companions believe
that they were treading on the soil of Bolivia, it would not do to
hide from them the American's treason. So he said, without hesitation:
"Harris is no longer here."
"Has he, then, gone ahead?" asked Mrs. Weldon. "He has fled, Mrs.
Weldon," replied Dick Sand. "This Harris is a traitor, and it is
according to Negoro's plan that he led us this far." "For what
motive?" quickly asked Mrs. Weldon. "I do not know," replied Dick
Sand; "but what I do know is, that we must return, without delay, to
the coast."
"That man--a traitor!" repeated Mrs. Weldon. "I had a presentiment of
it! And you think, Dick, that he is in league with Negoro?"
"That may be, Mrs. Weldon. The wretch is on our track. Chance has
brought these two scoundrels together, and--"
"And I hope that they will not be separated when I find them again!"
said Hercules. "I will break the head of one against the other's
head!" added the giant, holding out his formidable fists.
"But my child!" cried Mrs. Weldon. "The care that I hoped to find for
him at the farm of San Felice--"
"Jack will get well," said old Tom, "when he approaches the more
healthy part of the coast."
"Dick," remarked Mrs. Weldon, "you are sure that this Harris has
betrayed us?"
"Yes, Mrs. Weldon," replied the young novice, who would have liked to
avoid any explanation on this subject.
He also hastened to add, while looking at the old black:
"This very night Tom and I discovered his treason, and if he had not
jumped on his horse and fled, I would have killed him."
"So this farm--"
"There is neither farm, nor village, nor settlement in the
neighborhood," replied Dick Sand. "Mrs. Weldon, I repeat to you, we
must return to the coast."
"By the same road, Dick?"
"No, Mrs. Weldon, but by descending a river which will take us to the
sea without fatigue and without danger. A few more miles on foot, and
I do not doubt--"
"Oh, I am strong, Dick!" replied Mrs. Weldon, who struggled against
her own weakness. "I will walk! I will carry my child!"
"We are here, Mrs. Weldon," said Bat, "and we will carry you!"
"Yes. yes," added Austin. "Two branches of a tree, foliage laid
across."
"Thanks, my friends," replied Mrs. Weldon; "but I want to march. I
will march. Forward!"
"Forward!" exclaimed the young novice.
"Give me Jack," said Hercules, who took the child from Nan's arms.
"When I am not carrying something, I am tired."
The brave negro gently took in his strong arms the little sleeping
boy, who did not even wake.
Their arms were carefully examined. What remained of the provisions
was placed in one package, so as to be carried by one man. Austin
threw it on his back, and his companions thus became free in their
movements.
Cousin Benedict, whose long limbs were like steel and defied all
fatigue, was ready to set out. Had he remarked Harris's disappearance?
It would be imprudent to affirm it. Little disturbed him. Besides, he
was under the effects of one of the most terrible catastrophes that
could befall him.
In fact, a grave complication, Cousin Benedict had lost his
magnifying-glass and his spectacles. Very happily, also, but without
his suspecting it, Bat had found the two precious articles in the tall
grass where they had slept, but, by Dick Sand's advice, he kept them
safely. By this means they would be sure that the big child would keep
quiet during the march, because he could see no farther, as they say,
than the end of his nose.
Thus, placed between Acteon and Austin, with the formal injunction not
to leave them, the woful Benedict uttered no complaint, but followed
in his place, like a blind man led by a string.
The little party had not gone fifty steps when old Tom suddenly
stopped it with one word.
"Dingo?" said he.
"In fact, Dingo is not here!" replied Hercules.
The black called the dog several times with his powerful voice.
No barking replied to him.
Dick Sand remained silent. The absence of the dog, was to be
regretted, for he had preserved the little party from all surprise.
"Could Dingo have followed Harris?" asked Tom.
"Harris? No," replied Dick Sand; "but he may have put himself on
Negoro's scent. He felt him in our steps."
"This cook of misfortune would quickly end him with a ball!" cried
Hercules.
"Provided Dingo did not first strangle him," replied Bat.
"Perhaps so," replied the young novice. "But we cannot wait for
Dingo's return. Besides, if he is living, the intelligent animal will
know how to find us. Forward!"
The weather was very warm. Since daybreak large clouds obscured the
horizon. Already a storm was threatened in the air. Probably the day
would not end without some thunder-claps. Happily the forest, more or
less dense, retained a little freshness of the surface of the soil.
Here and there great forest trees inclosed prairies covered with
a tall, thick grass. In certain spots enormous trunks, already
petrified, lay on the ground, indicating the presence of coal mines,
which are frequently met with on the African continent. Then, in the
clearings, where the green carpet was mingled with some sprigs of
roses, the flowers were various in color, yellow and blue ginger
plants, pale lobelias, red orchids, incessantly visited by the insects
which fertilized them.
The trees no longer formed impenetrable masses, but their nature was
more varied. There were a kind of palm-tree, which gives an oil found
only in Africa; cotton-trees forming thickets from eight to ten feet
high, whose wood-stalks produce a cotton with long hairs, almost
analogous to that of Fernambouc. From the copals there oozes, by the
holes which certain insects make, an odorous gum, which runs along
the ground and collects for the wants of the natives. Here spread the
lemon-trees, the grenadiers of a savage condition of a country, and
twenty other odorous plants, which prove the prodigious fertility of
this plateau of Central Africa. In several places, also, the perfume
was agreeably mingled with the tine odor of vanilla, although they
could not discover what tree exhaled it.
This whole collection of trees and plants was perfectly green,
although it was in the middle of the dry season, and only rare storms
could water these luxuriant forests. It was then the time for fevers;
but, as Livingstone has observed, they can be cured by leaving the
place where they have been contracted. Dick Sand knew this remark of
the great traveler, and he hoped that little Jack would not contradict
it. He told it to Mrs. Weldon, after having observed that the
periodical access had not returned as they feared, and that the child
slept quietly in Hercules' arms.
Thus they went forward carefully and rapidly. Sometimes they
discovered traces where men or animals had recently passed. The
twisted and broken branches of the brushwood and the thickets afforded
an opportunity to walk with a more equal step. But the greater part of
the time numerous obstacles, which they had to overcome, retarded the
little party, to Dick Sand's great disappointment.
There were twisted lianes that might justly be compared with the
disordered rigging of a ship, certain vines similar to bent swords,
whose blades were ornamented with long thorns, vegetable serpents,
fifty or sixty feet long, which had the faculty of turning to prick
the passer-by with their sharp spikes. The blacks, hatchet in
hand, cut them down with vigorous blows, but the lianes reappeared
constantly, reaching from the earth to the top of the highest trees
which they encircled.
The animal kingdom was not less curious than the vegetable kingdom
in this part of the province. Birds flew in vast numbers under these
powerful branches; but it will be understood that they had no gunshot
to fear from the men, who wished to pass as secretly as rapidly. There
were Guinea fowls in large flocks, heath-cocks of various kinds, very
difficult to approach, and some of those birds which the Americans
of the North have, by onomatopoeia, called "whip-poor-wills," three
syllables which exactly reproduce their cries. Dick Sand and Tom might
truly have believed themselves in some province of the new continent.
But, alas! they knew what to expect.
Until then the deer, so dangerous in Africa, had not approached the
little troop. They again saw, in this first halt, some giraffes, which
Harris had undoubtedly called ostriches. These swift animals
passed rapidly, frightened by the apparition of a caravan in these
little-frequented forests. In the distance, on the edge of the
prairie, there arose at times a thick cloud of dust. It was a herd of
buffaloes, which galloped with the noise of wagons heavily laden.
For two miles Dick Sand thus followed the course of the rivulet which
must end in a more important river. He was in haste to confide his
companions to the rapid current of one of the coast rivers. He felt
sure that the dangers and the fatigue would be much less than on the
shore.
Towards noon three miles had been cleared without any bad incident or
meeting. There was no trace of either Harris or Negoro. Dingo had not
reappeared. It was necessary to halt to take rest and nourishment.
The encampment was established in a bamboo thicket, which completely
sheltered the little party.
They talked very little during this repast. Mrs. Weldon had taken her
little boy in her arms; she could not take her eyes off of him; she
could not eat.
"You must take some nourishment, Mrs. Weldon," Dick Sand repeated
several times. "What will become of you if your strength gives out?
Eat, eat! We will soon start again, and a good current will carry us
without fatigue to the coast."
Mrs. Weldon looked in Dick Sand's face while he thus talked. The young
novice's burning eyes spoke of the courage by which he felt animated.
In seeing him thus, in observing these brave, devoted blacks, wife
and mother, she could not yet despair; and, besides, why was she
abandoned? Did she not think herself on hospitable ground? Harris's
treason could not, in her eyes, have any very serious consequences.
Dick Sand read her thought, and he kept his eyes on the ground.
* * * * *
CHAPTER IV.
THE BAD ROADS OF ANGOLA.
At this moment little Jack awoke, and put his arms around his mother's
neck. His eyes looked better. The fever had not returned.
"You are better, my darling," said Mrs. Weldon, pressing the sick
child to her heart.
"Yes, mama," replied Jack, "but I am a little thirsty."
They could only give the child some fresh water, of which he drank
with pleasure.
"And my friend Dick?" he said.
"Here I am, Jack," replied Dick Sand, coming to take the young child's
hand.
"And my friend Hercules?"
"Hercules is here, Mr. Jack," replied the giant, bringing nearer his
good face.
"And the horse?" demanded little Jack.
"The horse? Gone, Mr. Jack," replied Hercules. "I will carry you. Will
you find that I trot too hard?"
"No," replied little Jack; "but then I shall no longer have any bridle
to hold."
"Oh! you will put a bit in -my- mouth, if you wish," said Hercules,
opening his large mouth, "and you may pull back so long as that will
give you pleasure."
"You know very well that I shall not pull back."
"Good! You would be wrong! I have a hard mouth."
"But Mr. Harris's farm?" the little boy asked again.
"We shall soon arrive there, my Jack," replied Mrs. Weldon. "Yes,
soon!"
"Will we set out again?" then said Dick Sand, in order to cut short
this conversation.
"Yes, Dick, let us go," replied Mrs. Weldon.
The camp was broken up, and the march continued again in the same
order. It was necessary to pass through the underwood, so as not to
leave the course of the rivulet. There had been some paths there,
formerly, but those paths were dead, according to the native
expression--that is, brambles and brushwood had usurped them. In these
painful conditions they might spend three hours in making one mile.
The blacks worked without relaxation. Hercules, after putting little
Jack back in Nan's arms, took his part of the work; and what a part!
He gave stout "heaves," making his ax turn round, and a hole was made
before them, as if he had been a devouring fire.
Fortunately, this fatiguing work would not last. This first mile
cleared, they saw a large hole, opened through the underwood, which
ended obliquely at the rivulet and followed its bank. It was a passage
made by elephants, and those animals, doubtless by hundreds, were in
the habit of traversing this part of the forest. Great holes, made by
the feet of the enormous pachyderms, riddled a soil softened during
the rainy season. Its spongy nature also prepared it for those large
imprints.
It soon appeared that this passage did not serve for those gigantic
animals alone. Human beings had more than once taken this route, but
as flocks, brutally led to the slaughter-house, would have followed
it. Here and there bones of dead bodies strewed the ground; remains
of skeletons, half gnawed by animals, some of which still bore the
slave's fetters.
There are, in Central Africa, long roads thus marked out by human
débris. Hundreds of miles are traversed by caravans, and how many
unhappy wretches fall by the way, under the agents' whips, killed by
fatigue or privations, decimated by sickness! How many more massacred
by the traders themselves, when food fails! Yes, when they can no
longer feed them, they kill them with the gun, with the sword, with
the knife! These massacres are not rare.
So, then, caravans of slaves had followed this road. For a mile Dick
Sand and his companions struck against these scattered bones at each
step, putting to flight enormous fern-owls. Those owls rose at their
approach, with a heavy flight, and turned round in the air.
Mrs. Weldon looked without seeing. Dick Sand trembled lest she should
question him, for he hoped to lead her back to the coast without
telling her that Harris's treachery had led them astray in an African
province. Fortunately, Mrs. Weldon did not explain to herself what
she had under her eyes. She had desired to take her child again, and
little Jack, asleep, absorbed all her care. Nan walked near her, and
neither of them asked the young novice the terrible questions he
dreaded.
Old Tom went along with his eyes down. He understood only too well why
this opening was strewn with human bones.
His companions looked to the right, to the left, with an air of
surprise, as if they were crossing an interminable cemetery, the
tombs of which had been overthrown by a cataclysm; but they passed in
silence.
Meanwhile, the bed of the rivulet became deeper and wider at the same
time. Its current was less impetuous. Dick Sand hoped that it would
soon become navigable, or that it would before long reach a more
important river, tributary to the Atlantic.
Cost what it might, the young novice was determined to follow this
stream of water. Neither did he hesitate to abandon this opening;
because, as ending by an oblique line, it led away from the rivulet.
The little party a second time ventured through the dense underwood.
They marched, ax in hand, through leaves and bushes inextricably
interlaced.
But if this vegetation obstructed the ground, they were no longer in
the thick forest that bordered the coast. Trees became rare. Large
sheaves of bamboo alone rose above the grass, and so high that even
Hercules was not a head over them. The passage of the little party was
only revealed by the movement of these stalks.
Toward three o'clock in the afternoon of that day, the nature of the
ground totally changed. Here were long plains, which must have been
entirely inundated in the rainy season. The earth, now more swampy,
was carpeted by thick mosses, beneath charming ferns. Should it be
diversified by any steep ascents, they would see brown hematites
appear, the last deposits of some rich vein of mineral.
Dick Sand then recalled--and very fortunately--what he had read in
"Livingstone's Travels." More than once the daring doctor had nearly
rested in these marshes, so treacherous under foot.
"Listen to me, my friends," said he, going ahead. "Try the ground
before stepping on it."
"In fact," replied Tom, "they say that these grounds have been
softened by the rain; but, however, it has not rained during these
last days."
"No," replied Bat; "but the storm is not far off."
"The greater reason," replied Dick Sand, "why we should hurry and get
clear of this swamp before it commences. Hercules, take little Jack
in your arms. Bat, Austin, keep near Mrs. Weldon, so as to be able to
help her if necessary. You, Mr. Benedict--Why, what are you doing,
Mr. Benedict?"
"I am falling!" innocently replied Cousin Benedict, who had just
disappeared as if a trap had been suddenly opened beneath his feet.
In fact, the poor man had ventured on a sort of quagmire, and had
disappeared half-way in the sticky mud. They stretched out their
hands, and he rose, covered with slime, but quite satisfied at not
having injured his precious entomologist's box. Acteon went beside
him, and made it his duty to preserve the unlucky, near-sighted man
from any new disasters.
Besides, Cousin Benedict had made rather a bad choice of the quagmire
for his plunge. When they drew him out of the sticky earth a large
quantity of bubbles rose to the surface, and, in bursting, they
emitted some gases of a suffocating odor. Livingstone, who had been
sunk up to his chest in this slime, compared these grounds to a
collection of enormous sponges, made of black, porous earth, from
which numerous streams of water spouted when they were stepped upon.
These places were always very dangerous.
For the space of half a mile Dick Sand and his companions must march
over this spongy soil. It even became so bad that Mrs. Weldon was
obliged to stop, for she sank deep in the mire. Hercules, Bat, and
Austin, wishing to spare her the unpleasantness more than the fatigue
of a passage across this marshy plain, made a litter of bamboos, on
which she consented to sit. Her little Jack was placed in her arms,
and they endeavored to cross that pestilential marsh in the quickest
manner.
The difficulties were great. Acteon held Cousin Benedict firmly. Tom
aided Nan, who, without him, would have disappeared several times in
some crevice. The three other blacks carried the litter. At the head,
Dick Sand sounded the earth. The choice of the place to step on was
not made without trouble. They marched from preference on the edges,
which were covered by a thick and tough grass. Often the support
failed, and they sank to the knees in the slime.
At last, about five o'clock in the evening, the marsh being cleared,
the soil regained sufficient firmness, thanks to its clayey nature;
but they felt it damp underneath. Very evidently these lands lay below
the neighboring rivers, and the water ran through their pores.
At that time the heat had become overwhelming. It would even have
been unbearable, if thick storm clouds had not interposed between the
burning rays and the ground. Distant lightnings began to rend the sky
and low rollings of thunder grumbled in the depths of the heavens. A
formidable storm was going to burst forth.
Now, these cataclysms are terrible in Africa: rain in torrents,
squalls of wind which the strongest trees cannot resist, clap after
clap of thunder, such is the contest of the elements in that latitude.
Dick Sand knew it well, and he became very uneasy. They could not pass
the night without shelter. The plain was likely to be inundated, and
it did not present a single elevation on which it was possible to seek
refuge.
But refuge, where would they seek it in this low desert, without a
tree, without a bush? The bowels of the earth even would not give it.
Two feet below the surface they would find water.
However, toward the north a series of low hills seemed to limit the
marshy plain. It was as the border of this depression of land. A few
trees were profiled there on a more distant, clearer belt, left by the
clouds on the line of the horizon.
There, if shelter were still lacking, the little band would at least
no longer risk being caught in a possible inundation. There perhaps
was salvation for all.
"Forward, my friends, forward!" repeated Dick Sand. "Three miles more
and we shall be safer than in these bottom-lands."
"Hurry! hurry!" cried Hercules.
The brave black would have wished to take that whole world in big arms
and carry it alone.
Those words inspired those courageous men, and in spite of the fatigue
of a day's march, they advanced more quickly than they had done at the
commencement from the halting-place.
When the storm burst forth the end to be attained was still more than
two miles off. Now--a fact which was the more to be feared--the rain
did not accompany the first lightnings exchanged between the ground
and the electrical clouds. Darkness then became almost complete,
though the sun had not disappeared below the horizon. But the dome of
vapors gradually lowered, as if it threatened to fall in--a falling in
which must result in a torrent of rain. Lightnings, red or blue, split
it in a thousand places, and enveloped the plain in an inextricable
network of fire.
Twenty times Dick and his companions ran the risk of being struck by
lightning. On this plateau, deprived of trees, they formed the only
projecting points which could attract the electrical discharges. Jack,
awakened by the noise of the thunder, hid himself in Hercules' arms.
He was very much afraid, poor little boy, but he did not wish to let
his mother see it, for fear of afflicting her more. Hercules, while
taking great steps, consoled him as well as he could.
"Do not be afraid, little Jack," he repeated. "If the thunder comes
near us, I will break it in two with a single hand. I am stronger than
it!"
And, truly, the giant's strength reassured Jack a little.
Meanwhile the rain must soon fall, and then it would in torrents,
poured out by those clouds in condensing. What would become of Mrs.
Weldon and her companions, if they did not find a shelter?
Dick Sand stopped a moment near old Tom.
"What must be done?" said he.
"Continue our march, Mr. Dick," replied Tom. "We cannot remain on this
plain, that the rain is going to transform into a marsh!"
"No, Tom, no! But a shelter! Where? What? If it were only a hut--"
Dick Sand had suddenly broken off his sentence. A more vivid flash of
lightning had just illuminated the whole plain.
"What have I seen there, a quarter of a mile off?" exclaimed Dick
Sand.
"Yes, I also, I have seen--" replied old Tom, shaking his head.
"A camp, is it not?"
"Yes, Mr. Dick, it must be a camp, but a camp of natives!"
A new flash enabled them to observe this camp more closely. It
occupied a part of the immense plain.
There, in fact, rose a hundred conical tents, symmetrically arranged,
and measuring from twelve to fifteen feet in height. Not a soldier
showed himself, however. Were they then shut up under their tents, so
as to let the storm pass, or was the camp abandoned?
In the first case, whatever Heaven should threaten, Dick Sand must
flee in the quickest manner. In the second, there was, perhaps, the
shelter he asked.
"I shall find out," he said to himself; then, addressing old Tom:
"Stay here. Let no one follow me. I shall go to reconnoiter that
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.
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470
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471
472
.
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473
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474
475
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476
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.
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478
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479
480
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481
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483
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485
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486
487
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489
490
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491
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492
493
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494
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495
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496
497
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498
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499
500
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501
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502
503
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504
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505
506
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507
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508
509
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510
511
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512
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513
514
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-
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515
516
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517
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519
520
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525
526
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528
529
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533
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536
537
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538
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542
543
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544
545
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546
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547
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548
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549
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552
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553
554
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555
556
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558
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559
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560
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561
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562
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563
564
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565
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567
568
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574
575
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576
577
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583
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586
587
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588
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589
590
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592
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597
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600
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605
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607
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608
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610
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614
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615
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624
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625
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627
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632
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633
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634
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636
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639
640
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646
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647
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651
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670
671
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675
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676
677
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678
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679
680
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683
684
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689
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694
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695
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696
697
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698
699
700
701
702
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703
704
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705
706
707
,
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708
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709
710
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716
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760
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772
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773
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775
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779
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780
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787
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.
788
789
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790
791
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792
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793
794
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795
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796
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797
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800
801
.
802
803
.
804
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805
806
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807
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809
.
810
811
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812
.
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813
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814
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815
816
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817
.
;
818
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819
820
.
821
,
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822
.
823
824
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825
.
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826
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827
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.
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834
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835
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837
-
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.
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.
840
841
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.
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;
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.
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847
848
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;
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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855
856
"
!
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,
857
.
858
859
,
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860
-
.
861
,
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862
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.
863
,
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-
864
.
865
866
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867
.
868
,
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869
.
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870
,
871
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872
.
873
.
874
875
876
.
.
877
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.
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,
879
,
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.
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881
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.
883
884
.
.
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,
,
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.
.
,
887
.
888
.
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889
.
890
,
.
891
892
,
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,
,
893
,
;
894
.
895
,
.
896
897
.
898
,
899
.
900
.
901
.
902
903
,
:
,
904
,
905
,
.
906
907
,
.
908
.
,
909
910
.
911
912
,
,
913
,
?
.
914
.
915
916
,
917
.
.
918
,
,
919
.
920
921
,
,
922
.
923
.
924
925
"
,
,
!
"
.
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926
-
.
"
927
928
"
!
!
"
.
929
930
931
.
932
933
,
934
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,
935
-
.
936
937
938
.
-
-
-
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939
940
.
,
941
.
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.
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,
945
.
946
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948
.
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949
.
,
950
,
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.
951
,
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952
,
.
,
953
,
.
954
955
"
,
,
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.
"
956
,
.
957
!
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958
959
,
,
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.
960
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.
.
963
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964
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.
966
967
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.
968
969
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,
.
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.
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970
,
!
"
971
972
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,
,
!
!
?
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-
-
"
973
974
.
975
.
976
977
"
,
?
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978
.
979
980
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-
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.
981
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983
984
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,
.
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"
985
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.
987
.
988
989
,
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990
.
991
,
.
,
992
,
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993
994
,
,
995
.
,
,
,
996
.
997
998
"
,
"
;
,
:
999
"
.
.
1000