e I bear.

"'Come here, little one,' he said in his gentle voice.

"'I am the daughter of Sheik Sonni-Azkia, and I do only what I wish,'
I replied, vexed at his informality.

"'You are right,' he answered smiling, 'for you are pretty. Will you
give me the flowers that you have around your neck?'

"It was a great necklace of purple hibiscus. I held it out to him. He
kissed me. The peace was made.

"Meantime, under the direction of my father, the native soldiers and
strong men of the tribe had hauled the gunboat into a pocket of the
river.

"'There is work there for all day to-morrow, Colonel,' said the chief
mechanic, after inspecting the leaks. 'We won't be able to get away
before the day after to-morrow. And, if we're to do that, these lazy
soldiers mustn't loaf on the job.'

"'What an awful bore,' groaned my new friend.

"But his ill-humor did not last long, so ardently did my little
companions and I seek to distract him. He listened to our most
beautiful songs; and, to thank us, made us taste the good things that
had been brought from the boat for his dinner. He slept in our great
cabin, which my father gave up to him; and for a long time, before I
went to sleep, I looked through the cracks of the cabin where I lay
with my mother, at the lights of the gunboat trembling in red ripples
on the surface of the dark waves.

"That night, I had a frightful dream. I saw my friend, the French
officer, sleeping in peace, while a great crow hung croaking above his
head: 'Caw,--caw--the shade of the gum trees of Gao--caw, caw--will
avail nothing tomorrow night--caw, caw--to the white chief nor to his
escort.'

"Dawn had scarcely begun, when I went to find the native soldiers.
They were stretched out on the bridge of the gunboat, taking advantage
of the fact that the whites were still sleeping, to do nothing.

"I approached the oldest one and spoke to him with authority:

'Listen, I saw the black crow in a dream last night. He told me that
the shade of the gum trees of Gao would be fatal to your chief in the
coming night!...'

"And, as they all remained motionless, stretched out, gazing at the
sky, without even seeming to have heard, I added:

"'And to his escort!'

"It was the hour when the sun was highest, and the Colonel was eating
in the cabin with the other Frenchmen, when the chief mechanic
entered.

"'I don't know what has come over the natives. They are working like
angels. If they keep on this way, C