It
seemed impossible that a human could so smell and yet live. Suddenly the
boy drew a packet from his pocket and the smell became intolerable. He
unwrapped a piece of cheese and, gasping for breath, we watched it
disappear. When it had gone we breathed more freely, but the odour still
clung to the youth, and we were not sorry when the auto pulled up at the
village of Plavnitza on the edge of the lake. A man, who said that he
had been sent to help us, dragged us to the telephone office. He worried
the instrument for a while and announced that the boat would be here in
two hours. It would have come earlier, but somehow they couldn't make
steam get up. We expected it to come in four, and so went off to get
something to eat.
The lake was very high, coming right up to the road. All the low fields
were covered with water as far as one could see. The girl at the inn was
shuddering and shivering with malaria, and we gave her some quinine. At
last the steamer came.
We had to pack into one of those cockhat boats, as the quay was
separated from the village by half a mile of water.
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