The 29th of April was the last day of his travels. In the morning he
directed Susi to take down the side of the hut that the kitanda might be
brought along, as the door would not admit it, and he was quite unable
to walk to it. Then came the crossing of a river; then progress through
swamps and plashes; and when they got to anything like a dry plain, he
would ever and anon beg of them to lay him down. At last they got him to
Chitambo's village, in Ilala, where they had to put him under the eaves
of a house during a drizzling rain, until the hut they were building
should be got ready.
Then they laid him on a rough bed in the hut, where he spent the night.
Next day he lay undisturbed. He asked a few wandering questions about
the country--especially about the Luapula. His people knew that the end
could not be far off. Nothing occurred to attract notice during the
early part of the night, but at four in the morning, the boy who lay at
his door called in alarm for Susi, fearing that their master was dead.
By the candle still burning they saw him, not in bed, but kneeling at
the bedside with his head buried in his hands upon the pillow.
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