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Page 38
"It's all right," he said to Tom and the others. "The king takes us
for wonderful spirits from another land. He welcomes us, says we can
have whatever we want, and he begs us to make it rain. I have said
we will do our best, and I have asked that some food be sent us.
That's always the first thing to do. We'll be allowed to stay here
in peace until Tom can mend the ship, and then we'll hit the air
trail again."
The talk between Mr. Durban and the interpreter continued for some
little time longer. Then the king went back to his hut, refusing, as
Mr. Durban said, an invitation to come aboard and see how a modern
airship was constructed. The natives, too, seemed anxious to give
the craft a wide berth.
The excitement had quieted down now, and, in a short tine a crowd of
native women came toward the airship, bearing, in baskets on their
heads, food of various kinds. There were bananas, some wild fruits,
yams, big gourds of goats' milk, some boiled and stewed flesh of
young goats, nicely cooked, and other things, the nature of which
could only be guessed at.
"Shall we eat this stuff, or stick to Mr. Damon's cooking?" asked
Tom.
"Oh, you'll find this very good," explained Mr. Durban. "I've eaten
native cookery before. Some of it is excellent and as this appears
to be very good, Mr. Damon can have a vacation while we are here."
The old elephant hunter proved the correctness of his statement by
beginning to eat, and soon all the travelers were partaking of the
food left by the native women. They placed it down on the ground at
a discreet distance from the airship, and hurriedly withdrew. But if
the women and men were afraid, the children were not, and they were
soon swarming about the ship, timidly touching the sides with their
little black fingers, but not venturing on board.
Tom, with Ned and Mr. Damon to help him, began work on the motor
right after dinner. He found the break to be worse than he had
supposed, and knew that it would take at least four days to repair
it.
Meanwhile the airship continued to be a source of wonder to the
natives. They were always about it, save at night, but their
admiration was a respectful one. The king was anxious for the rain-
making incantations to begin, but Mr. Durban put him off.
"I don't want to deceive these simple natives," he said, "and for
our own safety we can't pretend to make rain, and fail. As soon as
we have a chance we'll slip away from here."
But an unexpected happening made a change in their plans. It was on,
the afternoon of their third day in the native village, and Tom and
his assistants were working hard at the motor. Suddenly there seemed
to be great excitement in the vicinity of the king's hut. A native
had rushed into the village from the jungle, evidently with some
news, for presently the whole place was in a turmoil.
Once more the king and his attendants filed out toward the airship.
Once more the interpreter talked to Mr. Durban, who listened
eagerly.
"By Jove! here's our chance!" he cried to Tom, when the little man
had finished.
"What is it?" asked the young inventor.
"A runner has just come in with news that a large herd of wild
elephants is headed this way. The king is afraid the big beasts will
trample down all their crops, as often occurs, and he begs us to go
out and drive the animals away. It's just what we want. Come on,
Tom, and all of you. The airship will be safe here, for the natives
think that to meddle with it would mean death or enchantment for
then. We'll get on our first elephant trail!"
The old hunter went into the cabin for his big game gun, while Tom
hastened to get out his electric rifle. Now he would have a chance
to try it on the powerful beasts which he had come to Africa to
hunt.
Amid the excited and joyous shouts of the natives, the hunters filed
out of the village, led by the dusky messenger who had brought the
news of the elephants. And, as Tom and the others advanced, they
could hear a distant trumpeting, and a crashing in the jungle that
told of the near presence of the great animals.
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