"She does not know we are so near her," said I. "How did you leave her?"
"Very much grieved," said he, "that they brought me away; but they have
not done me any harm,--they are so kind; and we shall soon all go back
to her. Oh! what joy for her and our friends!"
"One word about Jack," said Fritz; "how does his wound go on?"
"Oh, pretty well," answered he; "he has no pain now, and Sophia nurses
him and amuses him. How little Matilda would weep when the savages
carried me off! If you knew, papa, how kind and good she is!"
I had no time to ask who Sophia and Matilda were. They had allowed me to
speak to my son to tranquillize him, but the king now commanded silence,
and, still elevated on the shoulders of his people, began to harangue
the assembly. He was a middle-aged man, with striking features; his
thick lips, his hair tinged with red paint, his dark brown face, which,
as well as his body, was tattooed with white, gave him a formidable
aspect; yet his countenance was not unpleasant, and announced no
ferocity. In general, these savages have enormous mouths, with long
white teeth; they wear a tunic of reeds or leaves from the waist to the
knees. My wife's handkerchief, which I had recognized at first, was
gracefully twisted round the head of the king; his hair was fastened up
high, and ornamented with feathers, but he had nearly removed them all
to deck my boy.
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