aves, and branches broken off in the adjacent
forest. Stas was beset with despair. He did not know whether to leave
Nell in the tent or lead her out of it. In the first case she might get
entangled in the ropes and be seized with the linen folds, and in the
other she would get a thorough drenching and also would be carried
away, as Stas, though beyond comparison stronger, with the greatest
difficulty could keep on his feet.

The problem was solved by the whirlwind which a moment later carried
away the top of the tent. The linen walls now did not afford any
shelter. Nothing else remained to do but to wait in the darkness in
which the lions lurked, until the storm passed away.

Stas conjectured that probably the lions had sought shelter from the
tempest in the neighboring forest, but he was certain that after the
storm they would return. The danger of the situation increased because
the wind had totally swept away the zareba.

Everything was threatened with destruction. The rifle could not avail
for anything, nor could his energy. In the presence of the storm,
thunderbolts, hurricane, rain, darkness, and the lions, which might be
concealed but a few paces away, he felt disarmed and helpless. The
linen walls tugged by the wind splashed them with water from all sides,
so, enclosing Nell in his arms, he led her from the tent; after which
both nestled close to the trunk of the tree, awaiting death or divine
mercy.

At this moment, between one blow of the wind and another, Kali's voice
reached them, barely audible amidst the splashing of the rain.

"Great master! Up the tree! up the tree!"

And simultaneously the end of a wet rope, lowered from above, touched
the boy's shoulder.

"Tie the 'bibi,' and Kali will pull her up!" the negro continued to
shout.

Stas did not hesitate a moment. Wrapping Nell in a saddle-cloth in
order that the rope should not cut her body, he tied a girdle around
her; after which he lifted her and shouted:

"Pull!"

The first boughs of the tree were quite low so Nell's aerial journey
was brief. Kali soon seized her with his powerful arms and placed her
between the trunk and a giant bough, where there was sufficient room
for half a dozen of such diminutive beings. No wind could blow her away
from there and in addition, even although water flowed all over the
tree, the trunk, about fifteen feet thick, shielded her at least from
new waves of rain borne obliquely by the wind.

Having attende