where I was they fined me twenty pound--_an'_ the
ivory! By cripes, they won't monkey twice with McAllister Montenay
though! Well, let's be movin'. It'll be vera tiresome gettin' these
blacks to work."

As they passed a water cooler on their way out the captain paused. The
boys saw him take a bottle from his pocket and pour out a palmful of
white powder into a cigarette paper. This he rolled up and threw into
his mouth, tossing a glass of water after it.

"Quinine," he explained, although he called it "queeneen."

"Pretty big dose, wasn't it?" asked Mr. Wallace.

"'Bout fifty grain," replied the other calmly, to the intense
astonishment of the boys. "Fever gets me bad down here on the coast. By
cripes, ye're a lucky beggar!" he continued as they came in sight of
John standing guard over their valises. "That's your man Washington?
I've heard o' him. They say he's a magneeficent cook."

"Better than that," laughed Mr. Wallace. "He'll take charge of your
blacks and get real work out of 'em. Do you mean what you said about
going up the Aruwimi?"

"Aye." Montenay nodded. "We'll talk that over later. Ye'll be wantin'
yer mosquito nets, so better bring the stuff down to the _Belgique_.
We'll sleep on board her to-night."

As they had stayed at the hotel the night before, the boys had not been
troubled much by the insects. They were much more worried by the
quantities of quinine that Mr. Wallace insisted on their taking. When
Burt had protested at taking ten grains all at once his uncle had
laughed.

"Nonsense! I'm running this trip! Why, it's nothing unusual for men to
take seventy and eighty grains out here. So put it down and shut up or
I'll send you back home!"

They found the _Belgique_ to be a small but comfortable little steamer
manned by a crew of a dozen blacks and a Swiss pilot. The _Benguela_
came up the river that afternoon and the smaller steamer was placed
alongside her. By special arrangement with the customs people the boxes
belonging to Mr. Wallace were slung right out to the deck of _La
Belgique_. Here John was in charge of the blacks and under his
heavy-handed rule the cases were rapidly stowed away.

Mr. Wallace and the boys got out all their personal equipment at once.
The heat was intense and the boys naturally suffered from it greatly at
first, although the two older men did not seem to mind it in the least.
By the next afternoon their loading was completed and the _Belgique_
headed upstream