In chloroforming Koku he had taken the risk of
murdering the giant. Only the fact that the pad of saturated
cloth had fallen off Koku's face had, perhaps, saved the man from
suffocation.
Tom did not tell the giant when he aroused what the matter with
him was. Koku was ill enough! He was wrenched by interior spasms
that seemed almost to tear his huge body to pieces.
"What done got into dat big lump o' bone an' grizzle?" demanded
Eradicate. "He looks like, he swallowed a volcano, and it just
got to wo'kin' right. My lawsy!"
"He is a sick man, all right," admitted Tom. "Looks like he
wouldn't try to stab me to deaf wid no spear no mo'," went on
Rad, inclined to approve of Koku's sufferings.
"If he died you'd be mighty sorry, old man," declared Tom,
sternly.
"Sho' would. Be a mighty hard job to bury him," was the callous
response.
Just the same, the crotchety old colored man began to hop
around in lively fashion with hot water, and later with coffee
and other stimulants; and he nursed Koku all day as though he
were a big baby.
Koku, who had never been ill before in his life, was inclined
to lay the trouble to an evil genius of some kind. Perhaps, in
spite of his half-civilized state, he was still a devil-
worshiper. At any rate, he had a vital respect for the forces of
evil.
Naturally he considered this unknown and unexpected misery he
suffered the result of malignant influences of some kind.
Pages:
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84