RESIDENCE AT SOCCATOO. 
273 
For twenty days my poor master remained in a low and dis- 
tressed state. He told me he felt no pain ; but this was spoken 
only to comfort me, for he saw I was dispirited. His sufferings 
must have been acute. During this time he was gradually, but 
perceptibly, declining ; his body, from being robust and vigorous, 
became weak and emaciated, and indeed was little better than a 
skeleton. I was the only person, with one exception, he saw in 
his sickness. Abderachman, an Arab from Fezzan, came to him 
one day, and wished to pray with him, after the manner of his coun- 
trymen, but was desired to leave the apartment instantly, ilis 
sleep was uniformly short and disturbed, and troubled with fright- 
ful dreams. In them he frequently reproached the Arabs aloud 
with much bitterness; but being an utter stranger to the language, 
I did not understand the tenor of his remarks. I read to him 
daily some portions of the New Testament, and the ninety- fifth 
Psalm, which he was never weary of listening to, and on Sundays 
added the church service, to which he invariably paid the pro- 
foundest attention. The constant agitation of mind and exertions 
of body I had myself undergone for so long a time, never having 
in a single instance slept out of my clothes, weakened me exceed- 
ingly, and a fever came on not long before my master’s death, which 
hung upon me for fifteen days, and ultimately brought me to the 
very verge of the grave. Finding myself unequal to pay that 
attention to my master’s wants which his situation so particularly 
required, 1 solicited and obtained his consent to have old Pascoe 
once more to assist me. On entering the hut, he fell on his knees, 
and prayed to be forgiven, promising to be faithful to my master’s 
service. Master immediately pardoned him, and said he would 
forget all that had passed, if he conducted himself well : by this 
means the washing and all the drudgery was taken from my shoul- 
ders, and I was enabled to devote all my time and attention to my 
master’s person. I fanned him for hours together, and this seemed 
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