noon before
But the young doctor had not yet finished with his patient , by any means ; he intended to see him safely into his own home before he left him , and this he did , a half-dozen of the soldiers fetching the man 's bed from his house , carefully lifting him thereon , and carrying him in , under Dick 's watchful care , aided by Grosvenor as interpreter . This done , he administered a soothing and fever-allaying draught ; after which , upon being informed by the young officer that he would probably have no opportunity of seeing his patient again , he hypnotised the man and subjected him to a powerful mental suggestion that all danger was now past , that no complications of any kind would arise , and that he would rapidly get well without further attention . This done , he and Grosvenor rejoined the wagon and resumed their march . The delay occasioned by this incident of the buffalo so retarded their progress that it was close upon noon before they arrived at the margin of the lake ; and here they were curtly informed that they were about to be conveyed to the island , and that as it was not proposed to take the wagon or any of the animals with them , they must indicate what few articles they thought they might require during the next few days , and those articles would be conveyed across with them . There was a certain indefinable , sinister suggestiveness in the character of this communication that seemed to imply a doubt in the mind of the official who made it whether the individuals to whom it was made would require anything at all after `` the next few days '' ; but Dick and Grosvenor , acting as usual upon the general principle of taking an optimistic view of everything , gave no sign that they detected anything of a covert character in the intimation , and calmly indicated the trunks containing their clothing , the medicine chest , their rifles and revolvers , and a case of ammunition for the same , all of which were duly placed in a large craft , in shape something between a canoe and a lighter , which they afterward discovered was propelled by sixty paddles . At the last moment it transpired that their black attendants , Mafuta , Jantje , and ` Nkuku were to be left behind on the mainland -- which arrangement also appeared to bear a certain sinister significance -- whereupon Grosvenor suggested the extreme importance of placing them in charge of the wagon and its remaining contents , part of which -- two cases of ammunition , to wit -- he explained , consisted of terribly powerful magic , any tampering with which by unauthorised persons must inevitably have the most appallingly disastrous results . This suggestion , Grosvenor was informed , would receive the most careful consideration of the authorities ; and he had the satisfaction of believing that not only would this probably result in saving the lives of the blacks , at least for a time , but he also perceived that his hint respecting the `` magic '' had made a very distinct impression .