diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12555-0.txt | 5040 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12555-h/12555-h.htm | 5094 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12555-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 252122 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12555-0.txt | 5415 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12555-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 108480 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12555-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 355067 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12555-h/12555-h.htm | 5552 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12555-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 252122 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12555.txt | 5468 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12555.zip | bin | 0 -> 110135 bytes |
13 files changed, 26585 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12555-0.txt b/12555-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..935c289 --- /dev/null +++ b/12555-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5040 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12555 *** + +THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO + +SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +The public may possibly wonder why it is that they have never heard in +the papers of the fate of the passengers of the _Korosko_. In these +days of universal press agencies, responsive to the slightest stimulus, +it may well seem incredible that an international incident of such +importance should remain so long unchronicled. Suffice it that there +were very valid reasons, both of a personal and of a political nature, +for holding it back. The facts were well known to a good number of +people at the time, and some version of them did actually appear in a +provincial paper, but was generally discredited. They have now been +thrown into narrative form, the incidents having been collated from the +sworn statements of Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, of the Army and Navy +Club, and from the letters of Miss Adams, of Boston, Mass. + +These have been supplemented by the evidence of Captain Archer, of the +Egyptian Camel Corps, as given before the secret Government inquiry at +Cairo. Mr. James Stephens has refused to put his version of the matter +into writing, but as these proofs have been submitted to him, and no +correction or deletion has been made in them, it may be supposed that he +has not succeeded in detecting any grave misstatement of fact, and that +any objection which he may have to their publication depends rather upon +private and personal scruples. + +The _Korosko_, a turtle-bottomed, round-bowed stern-wheeler, with a +30-inch draught and the lines of a flat-iron, started upon the 13th of +February in the year 1895, from Shellal, at the head of the first +cataract, bound for Wady Halfa. I have a passenger card for the trip, +which I here reproduce: + + S.W. “KOROSKO,” FEBRUARY 13TH. + PASSENGERS. + + Colonel Cochrane Cochrane London. + Mr. Cecil Brown London. + John H. Headingly Boston, U.S.A. + Miss Adams Boston, U.S.A. + Miss S. Adams Worcester, Mass., U.S.A. + Mons. Fardet Paris. + Mr. and Mrs. Belmont Dublin. + James Stephens Manchester. + Rev. John Stuart Birmingham. + Mrs. Shlesinger, nurse and child Florence. + +This was the party as it started from Shellal, with the intention of +travelling up the two hundred miles of Nubian Nile which lie between the +first and the second cataract. + +It is a singular country, this Nubia. Varying in breadth from a few +miles to as many yards (for the name is only applied to the narrow +portion which is capable of cultivation), it extends in a thin, green, +palm-fringed strip upon either side of the broad coffee-coloured river. +Beyond it there stretches on the Libyan bank a savage and illimitable +desert, extending to the whole breadth of Africa. On the other side an +equally desolate wilderness is bounded only by the distant Red Sea. +Between these two huge and barren expanses Nubia writhes like a green +sandworm along the course of the river. Here and there it disappears +altogether, and the Nile runs between black and sun-cracked hills, with +the orange drift-sand lying like glaciers in their valleys. Everywhere +one sees traces of vanished races and submerged civilisations. +Grotesque graves dot the hills or stand up against the sky-line: +pyramidal graves, tumulus graves, rock graves--everywhere, graves. +And, occasionally, as the boat rounds a rocky point, one sees a deserted +city up above--houses, walls, battlements, with the sun shining through +the empty window squares. Sometimes you learn that it has been Roman, +sometimes Egyptian, sometimes all record of its name or origin has been +absolutely lost. You ask yourself in amazement why any race should +build in so uncouth a solitude, and you find it difficult to accept the +theory that this has only been of value as a guard-house to the richer +country down below, and that these frequent cities have been so many +fortresses to hold off the wild and predatory men of the south. +But whatever be their explanation, be it a fierce neighbour, or be it a +climatic change, there they stand, these grim and silent cities, and up +on the hills you can see the graves of their people, like the port-holes +of a man-of-war. It is through this weird, dead country that the +tourists smoke and gossip and flirt as they pass up to the Egyptian +frontier. + +The passengers of the _Korosko_ formed a merry party, for most of them +had travelled up together from Cairo to Assouan, and even Anglo-Saxon +ice thaws rapidly upon the Nile. They were fortunate in being without +the single disagreeable person who, in these small boats, is sufficient +to mar the enjoyment of the whole party. On a vessel which is little +more than a large steam launch, the bore, the cynic, or the grumbler +holds the company at his mercy. But the _Korosko_ was free from +anything of the kind. Colonel Cochrane Cochrane was one of those +officers whom the British Government, acting upon a large system of +averages, declares at a certain age to be incapable of further service, +and who demonstrate the worth of such a system by spending their +declining years in exploring Morocco, or shooting lions in Somaliland. +He was a dark, straight, aquiline man, with a courteously deferential +manner, but a steady, questioning eye; very neat in his dress and +precise in his habits, a gentleman to the tips of his trim finger-nails. +In his Anglo-Saxon dislike to effusiveness he had cultivated a +self-contained manner which was apt at first acquaintance to be +repellent, and he seemed to those who really knew him to be at some +pains to conceal the kind heart and human emotions which influenced his +actions. It was respect rather than affection which he inspired among +his fellow-travellers, for they felt, like all who had ever met him, +that he was a man with whom acquaintance was unlikely to ripen into a +friendship, though a friendship, when once attained, would be an +unchanging and inseparable part of himself. He wore a grizzled military +moustache, but his hair was singularly black for a man of his years. +He made no allusion in his conversation to the numerous campaigns in +which he had distinguished himself, and the reason usually given for his +reticence was that they dated back to such early Victorian days that he +had to sacrifice his military glory at the shrine of his perennial +youth. + +Mr. Cecil Brown--to take the names in the chance order in which they +appear upon the passenger list--was a young diplomatist from a +Continental Embassy, a man slightly tainted with the Oxford manner, and +erring upon the side of unnatural and inhuman refinement, but full of +interesting talk and cultured thought. He had a sad, handsome face, a +small wax-tipped moustache, a low voice and a listless manner, which was +relieved by a charming habit of suddenly lighting up into a rapid smile +and gleam when anything caught his fancy. An acquired cynicism was +eternally crushing and overlying his natural youthful enthusiasms, and +he ignored what was obvious while expressing keen appreciation for what +seemed to the average man to be either trivial or unhealthy. He chose +Walter Pater for his travelling author, and sat all day, reserved but +affable, under the awning, with his novel and his sketch-book upon a +camp-stool beside him. His personal dignity prevented him from making +advances to others, but if they chose to address him they found a +courteous and amiable companion. + +The Americans formed a group by themselves. John H. Headingly was a +New Englander, a graduate of Harvard, who was completing his education +by a tour round the world. He stood for the best type of young +American--quick, observant, serious, eager for knowledge and fairly +free from prejudice, with a fine balance of unsectarian but earnest +religious feeling which held him steady amid all the sudden gusts of +youth. He had less of the appearance and more of the reality of culture +than the young Oxford diplomatist, for he had keener emotions though +less exact knowledge. Miss Adams and Miss Sadie Adams were aunt and +niece, the former a little, energetic, hard-featured Bostonian old-maid, +with a huge surplus of unused love behind her stern and swarthy +features. She had never been from home before, and she was now busy +upon the self-imposed task of bringing the East up to the standard of +Massachusetts. She had hardly landed in Egypt before she realised that +the country needed putting to rights, and since the conviction struck +her she had been very fully occupied. The saddle-galled donkeys, the +starved pariah dogs, the flies round the eyes of the babies, the naked +children, the importunate beggars, the ragged, untidy women--they were +all challenges to her conscience, and she plunged in bravely at her work +of reformation. As she could not speak a word of the language, however, +and was unable to make any of the delinquents understand what it was +that she wanted, her passage up the Nile left the immemorial East very +much as she had found it, but afforded a good deal of sympathetic +amusement to her fellow-travellers. No one enjoyed her efforts more +than her niece, Sadie, who shared with Mrs. Belmont the distinction of +being the most popular person upon the boat. She was very young--fresh +from Smith College--and she still possessed many both of the virtues and +of the faults of a child. She had the frankness, the trusting +confidence, the innocent straightforwardness, the high spirits, and also +the loquacity and the want of reverence. But even her faults caused +amusement, and if she had preserved many of the characteristics of a +clever child, she was none the less a tall and handsome woman, who +looked older than her years on account of that low curve of the hair +over the ears, and that fullness of bodice and skirt which Mr. Gibson +has either initiated or imitated. The whisk of those skirts, and the +frank, incisive voice and pleasant, catching laugh were familiar and +welcome sounds on board of the _Korosko_. Even the rigid Colonel +softened into geniality, and the Oxford-bred diplomatist forgot to be +unnatural with Miss Sadie Adams as a companion. + +The other passengers may be dismissed more briefly. Some were +interesting, some neutral, and all amiable. Monsieur Fardet was a +good-natured but argumentative Frenchman, who held the most decided +views as to the deep machinations of Great Britain, and the illegality +of her position in Egypt. Mr. Belmont was an iron-grey, sturdy +Irishman, famous as an astonishingly good long-range rifle-shot, who had +carried off nearly every prize which Wimbledon or Bisley had to offer. +With him was his wife, a very charming and refined woman, full of the +pleasant playfulness of her country. Mrs. Shlesinger was a middle-aged +widow, quiet and soothing, with her thoughts all taken up by her +six-year-old child, as a mother’s thoughts are likely to be in a boat +which has an open rail for a bulwark. The Reverend John Stuart was a +Nonconformist minister from Birmingham--either a Presbyterian or a +Congregationalist--a man of immense stoutness, slow and torpid in his +ways, but blessed with a considerable fund of homely humour, which made +him, I am told, a very favourite preacher, and an effective speaker from +advanced Radical platforms. + +Finally, there was Mr. James Stephens, a Manchester solicitor (junior +partner of Hickson, Ward, and Stephens), who was travelling to shake off +the effects of an attack of influenza. Stephens was a man who, in the +course of thirty years, had worked himself up from cleaning the firm’s +windows to managing its business. For most of that long time he had +been absolutely immersed in dry, technical work, living with the one +idea of satisfying old clients and attracting new ones, until his mind +and soul had become as formal and precise as the laws which he +expounded. A fine and sensitive nature was in danger of being as warped +as a busy city man’s is liable to become. His work had become an +engrained habit, and, being a bachelor, he had hardly an interest in +life to draw him away from it, so that his soul was being gradually +bricked up like the body of a mediaeval nun. But at last there came +this kindly illness, and Nature hustled James Stephens out of his +groove, and sent him into the broad world far away from roaring +Manchester and his shelves full of calf-skin authorities. At first he +resented it deeply. Everything seemed trivial to him compared to his +own petty routine. But gradually his eyes were opened, and he began +dimly to see that it was his work which was trivial when compared to +this wonderful, varied, inexplicable world of which he was so ignorant. +Vaguely he realised that the interruption to his career might be more +important than the career itself. All sorts of new interests took +possession of him; and the middle-aged lawyer developed an after-glow of +that youth which had been wasted among his books. His character was +too formed to admit of his being anything but dry and precise in his +ways, and a trifle pedantic in his mode of speech; but he read and +thought and observed, scoring his “Baedeker” with underlinings and +annotations as he had once done his “Prideaux’s Commentaries.” He had +travelled up from Cairo with the party, and had contracted a friendship +with Miss Adams and her niece. The young American girl, with her +chatter, her audacity, and her constant flow of high spirits, amused and +interested him, and she in turn felt a mixture of respect and of pity +for his knowledge and his limitations. So they became good friends, and +people smiled to see his clouded face and her sunny one bending over the +same guide-book. + +The little _Korosko_ puffed and spluttered her way up the river, kicking +up the white water behind her, and making more noise and fuss over her +five knots an hour than an Atlantic liner on a record voyage. On deck, +under the thick awning, sat her little family of passengers, and every +few hours she eased down and sidled up to the bank to allow them to +visit one more of that innumerable succession of temples. The remains, +however, grow more modern as one ascends from Cairo, and travellers who +have sated themselves at Gizeh and Sakara with the contemplation of the +very oldest buildings which the hands of man have constructed, become +impatient of temples which are hardly older than the Christian era. +Ruins which would be gazed upon with wonder and veneration in any other +country are hardly noticed in Egypt. The tourists viewed with languid +interest the half-Greek art of the Nubian bas-reliefs; they climbed the +hill of Korosko to see the sun rise over the savage Eastern desert; they +were moved to wonder by the great shrine of Abou-Simbel, where some old +race has hollowed out a mountain as if it were a cheese; and, finally, +upon the evening of the fourth day of their travels they arrived at Wady +Halfa, the frontier garrison town, some few hours after they were due, +on account of a small mishap in the engine-room. The next morning was +to be devoted to an expedition to the famous rock of Abousir, from which +a great view may be obtained of the second cataract. At eight-thirty, +as the passengers sat on deck after dinner, Mansoor, the dragoman, half +Copt, half Syrian, came forward, according to the nightly custom, to +announce the programme for the morrow. + +“Ladies and gentlemen,” said he, plunging boldly into the rapid but +broken stream of his English, “to-morrow you will remember not to forget +to rise when the gong strikes you for to compress the journey before +twelve o’clock. Having arrived at the place where the donkeys expect +us, we shall ride five miles over the desert, passing a temple of +Ammon-ra, which dates itself from the eighteenth dynasty, upon the way, +and so reach the celebrated pulpit rock of Abousir. The pulpit rock is +supposed to have been called so, because it is a rock like a pulpit. +When you have reached it you will know that you are on the very edge of +civilisation, and that very little more will take you into the country +of the Dervishes, which will be obvious to you at the top. +Having passed the summit, you will perceive the full extremity of the +second cataract, embracing wild natural beauties of the most dreadful +variety. Here all very famous people carve their names--and so you will +carve your names also.” Mansoor waited expectantly for a titter, and +bowed to it when it arrived. “You will then return to Wady Halfa, and +there remain two hours to suspect the Camel Corps, including the +grooming of the beasts, and the bazaar before returning, so I wish you a +very happy good-night.” + +There was a gleam of his white teeth in the lamplight, and then his +long, dark petticoats, his short English cover-coat, and his red +tarboosh vanished successively down the ladder. The low buzz of +conversation which had been suspended by his coming broke out anew. + +“I’m relying on you, Mr. Stephens, to tell me all about Abousir,” said +Miss Sadie Adams. “I do like to know what I am looking at right there +at the time, and not six hours afterwards in my state-room. I haven’t +got Abou-Simbel and the wall pictures straight in my mind yet, though I +saw them yesterday.” + +“I never hope to keep up with it,” said her aunt. “When I am safe back +in Commonwealth Avenue, and there’s no dragoman to hustle me around, +I’ll have time to read about it all, and then I expect I shall begin to +enthuse, and want to come right back again. But it’s just too good of +you, Mr. Stephens, to try and keep us informed.” + +“I thought that you might wish precise information, and so I prepared a +small digest of the matter,” said Stephens, handing a slip of paper to +Miss Sadie. She looked at it in the light of the deck lamp, and broke +into her low, hearty laugh. + +“_Re_ Abousir,” she read; “now, what _do_ you mean by ‘_re_,’ Mr. +Stephens? You put ‘_re_ Rameses the Second’ on the last paper you gave +me.” + +“It is a habit I have acquired, Miss Sadie,” said Stephens; “it is the +custom in the legal profession when they make a memo.” + +“Make what, Mr. Stephens?” + +“A memo--a memorandum, you know. We put _re_ so-and-so to show what it +is about.” + +“I suppose it’s a good short way,” said Miss Sadie, “but it feels queer +somehow when applied to scenery or to dead Egyptian kings. +‘_Re_ Cheops’--doesn’t that strike you as funny?” + +“No, I can’t say that it does,” said Stephens. + +“I wonder if it is true that the English have less humour than the +Americans, or whether it’s just another kind of humour,” said the girl. +She had a quiet, abstracted way of talking as if she were thinking +aloud. “I used to imagine they had less, and yet, when you come to +think of it, Dickens and Thackeray and Barrie, and so many other of the +humourists we admire most are Britishers. Besides, I never in all my +days heard people laugh so hard as in that London theatre. There was a +man behind us, and every time he laughed Auntie looked round to see if a +door had opened, he made such a draught. But you have some funny +expressions, Mr. Stephens!” + +“What else strikes you as funny, Miss Sadie?” + +“Well, when you sent me the temple ticket and the little map, you began +your letter, ‘Enclosed, please find,’ and then at the bottom, in +brackets, you had ‘2 enclo.’” + +“That is the usual form in business.” + +“Yes, in business,” said Sadie demurely, and there was a silence. + +“There’s one thing I wish,” remarked Miss Adams, in the hard, metallic +voice with which she disguised her softness of heart, “and that is, that +I could see the Legislature of this country and lay a few cold-drawn +facts in front of them. I’d make a platform of my own, Mr. Stephens, +and run a party on my ticket. A Bill for the compulsory use of eyewash +would be one of my planks, and another would be for the abolition of +those Yashmak veil things which turn a woman into a bale of cotton goods +with a pair of eyes looking out of it.” + +“I never could think why they wore them,” said Sadie; “until one day I +saw one with her veil lifted. Then I knew.” + +“They make me tired, those women,” cried Miss Adams wrathfully. +“One might as well try to preach duty and decency and cleanliness to a +line of bolsters. Why, good land, it was only yesterday at Abou-Simbel, +Mr. Stephens, I was passing one of their houses--if you can call a +mud-pie like that a house--and I saw two of the children at the door +with the usual crust of flies round their eyes, and great holes in their +poor little blue gowns! So I got off my donkey, and I turned up my +sleeves, and I washed their faces well with my handkerchief, and sewed +up the rents--for in this country I would as soon think of going ashore +without my needle-case as without my white umbrella, Mr. Stephens. +Then as I warmed on the job I got into the room--such a room!--and I +packed the folks out of it, and I fairly did the chores as if I had been +the hired help. I’ve seen no more of that temple of Abou-Simbel than if +I had never left Boston; but, my sakes, I saw more dust and mess than +you would think they could crowd into a house the size of a Newport +bathing-hut. From the time I pinned up my skirt until I came out with +my face the colour of that smoke-stack, wasn’t more than an hour, or +maybe an hour and a half, but I had that house as clean and fresh as a +new pine-wood box. I had a _New York Herald_ with me, and I lined their +shelf with paper for them. Well, Mr. Stephens, when I had done washing +my hands outside, I came past the door again, and there were those two +children sitting on the stoop with their eyes full of flies, and all +just the same as ever, except that each had a little paper cap made out +of the _New York Herald_ upon his head. But, say, Sadie, it’s going on +to ten o’clock, and to-morrow an early excursion.” + +“It’s just too beautiful, this purple sky and the great silver stars,” +said Sadie. “Look at the silent desert and the black shadows of the +hills. It’s grand, but it’s terrible too; and then when you think that +we really _are_, as that dragoman said just now, on the very end of +civilisation, and with nothing but savagery and bloodshed down there +where the Southern Cross is twinkling so prettily, why, it’s like +standing on the beautiful edge of a live volcano.” + +“Shucks, Sadie, don’t talk like that, child,” said the older woman +nervously. “It’s enough to scare any one to listen to you.” + +“Well, but don’t you feel it yourself, Auntie? Look at that great +desert stretching away and away until it is lost in the shadows. +Hear the sad whisper of the wind across it! It’s just the most solemn +thing that ever I saw in my life.” + +“I’m glad we’ve found something that will make you solemn, my dear,” +said her Aunt. “I’ve sometimes thought--Sakes alive, what’s that?” + +From somewhere amongst the hill shadows upon the other side of the river +there had risen a high shrill whimpering, rising and swelling, to end in +a long weary wail. + +“It’s only a jackal, Miss Adams,” said Stephens. “I heard one when we +went out to see the Sphinx by moonlight.” + +But the American lady had risen, and her face showed that her nerves had +been ruffled. + +“If I had my time over again I wouldn’t have come past Assouan,” said +she. “I can’t think what possessed me to bring you all the way up here, +Sadie. Your mother will think that I am clean crazy, and I’d never dare +to look her in the eye if anything went wrong with us. I’ve seen all I +want to see of this river, and all I ask now is to be back at Cairo +again.” + +“Why, Auntie,” cried the girl, “it isn’t like you to be faint-hearted.” + +“Well, I don’t know how it is, Sadie, but I feel a bit unstrung, and +that beast caterwauling over yonder was just more than I could put up +with. There’s one consolation, we are scheduled to be on our way home +to-morrow, after we’ve seen this one rock or temple, or whatever it is. +I’m full up of rocks and temples, Mr. Stephens. I shouldn’t mope if I +never saw another. Come, Sadie! Good-night!” + +“Good-night! Good-night, Miss Adams!” + +And the two ladies passed down to their cabins. + +Monsieur Fardet was chatting, in a subdued voice, with Headingly, the +young Harvard graduate, bending forward confidentially between the +whiffs of his cigarette. + +“Dervishes, Mister Headingly!” said he, speaking excellent English, but +separating his syllables as a Frenchman will. “There are no Dervishes. +They do not exist.” + +“Why, I thought the woods were full of them,” said the American. + +Monsieur Fardet glanced across to where the red core of Colonel +Cochrane’s cigar was glowing through the darkness. + +“You are an American, and you do not like the English,” he whispered. +“It is perfectly comprehended upon the Continent that the Americans are +opposed to the English.” + +“Well,” said Headingly, with his slow, deliberate manner, “I won’t say +that we have not our tiffs, and there are some of our people--mostly of +Irish stock--who are always mad with England; but the most of us have a +kindly thought for the mother country. You see they may be aggravating +folk sometimes, but after all they are our _own_ folk, and we can’t wipe +that off the slate.” + +“_Eh bien!_” said the Frenchman. “At least I can say to you what I +could not without offence say to these others. And I repeat that there +_are_ no Dervishes. They were an invention of Lord Cromer in the year +1885.” + +“You don’t say!” cried Headingly. + +“It is well known in Paris, and has been exposed in _La Patrie_ and +other of our so well-informed papers.” + +“But this is colossal,” said Headingly. “Do you mean to tell me, +Monsieur Fardet, that the siege of Khartoum and the death of Gordon and +the rest of it was just one great bluff?” + +“I will not deny that there was an émeute, but it was local, you +understand, and now long forgotten. Since then there has been profound +peace in the Soudan.” + +“But I have heard of raids, Monsieur Fardet, and I’ve read of battles, +too, when the Arabs tried to invade Egypt. It was only two days ago +that we passed Toski, where the dragoman said there had been a fight. +Is that all bluff also?” + +“Pah, my friend, you do not know the English. You look at them as you +see them with their pipes and their contented faces, and you say, ‘Now, +these are good, simple folk, who will never hurt any one.’ But all the +time they are thinking and watching and planning. ‘Here is Egypt weak,’ +they cry. ‘_Allons!_’ and down they swoop like a gull upon a crust. +‘You have no right there,’ says the world. ‘Come out of it!’ +But England has already begun to tidy everything, just like the good +Miss Adams when she forces her way into the house of an Arab. +‘Come out,’ says the world. ‘Certainly,’ says England; ‘just wait one +little minute until I have made everything nice and proper.’ So the +world waits for a year or so, and then it says once again, ‘Come out.’ +‘Just wait a little,’ says England; ‘there is trouble at Khartoum, and +when I have set that all right I shall be very glad to come out.’ +So they wait until it is all over, and then again they say, ‘Come out.’ +‘How can I come out,’ says England, ‘when there are still raids and +battles going on? If we were to leave, Egypt would be run over.’ +‘But there are no raids,’ says the world. ‘Oh, are there not?’ says +England, and then within a week sure enough the papers are full of some +new raid of Dervishes. We are not all blind, Mister Headingly. +We understand very well how such things can be done. A few Bedouins, a +little backsheesh, some blank cartridges, and, behold--a raid!” + +“Well, well,” said the American, “I’m glad to know the rights of this +business, for it has often puzzled me. But what does England get out of +it?” + +“She gets the country, monsieur.” + +“I see. You mean, for example, that there is a favourable tariff for +British goods?” + +“No, monsieur; it is the same for all.” + +“Well, then, she gives the contracts to Britishers?” + +“Precisely, monsieur.” + +“For example, the railroad that they are building right through the +country, the one that runs alongside the river, that would be a valuable +contract for the British?” + +Monsieur Fardet was an honest man, if an imaginative one. + +“It is a French company, monsieur, which holds the railway contract,” +said he. + +The American was puzzled. + +“They don’t seem to get much for their trouble,” said he. “Still, of +course, there must be some indirect pull somewhere. For example, Egypt +no doubt has to pay and keep all those red-coats in Cairo.” + +“Egypt, monsieur! No, they are paid by England.” + +“Well, I suppose they know their own business best, but they seem to me +to take a great deal of trouble, and to get mighty little in exchange. +If they don’t mind keeping order and guarding the frontier, with a +constant war against the Dervishes on their hands, I don’t know why any +one should object. I suppose no one denies that the prosperity of the +country has increased enormously since they came. The revenue returns +show that. They tell me also that the poorer folks have justice, which +they never had before.” + +“What are they doing here at all?” cried the Frenchman angrily. +“Let them go back to their island. We cannot have them all over the +world.” + +“Well, certainly, to us Americans, who live all in our own land, it does +seem strange how you European nations are for ever slopping over into +some other country which was not meant for you. It’s easy for us to +talk, of course, for we have still got room and to spare for all our +people. When we begin pushing each other over the edge we shall have to +start annexing also. But at present just here in North Africa there is +Italy in Abyssinia, and England in Egypt, and France in Algiers--” + +“France!” cried Monsieur Fardet. “Algiers belongs to France. +You laugh, monsieur. I have the honour to wish you a very good-night.” +He rose from his seat, and walked off, rigid with outraged patriotism, +to his cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The young American hesitated for a little, debating in his mind whether +he should not go down and post up the daily record of his impressions +which he kept for his home-staying sister. But the cigars of Colonel +Cochrane and of Cecil Brown were still twinkling in the far corner of +the deck, and the student was acquisitive in the search of information. +He did not quite know how to lead up to the matter, but the Colonel very +soon did it for him. + +“Come on, Headingly,” said he, pushing a camp-stool in his direction. +“This is the place for an antidote. I see that Fardet has been pouring +politics into your ear.” + +“I can always recognise the confidential stoop of his shoulders when he +discusses _la haute politique_,” said the dandy diplomatist. “But what +a sacrilege upon a night like this! What a nocturne in blue and silver +might be suggested by that moon rising above the desert. There is a +movement in one of Mendelssohn’s songs which seems to embody it all-- +a sense of vastness, of repetition, the cry of the wind over an +interminable expanse. The subtler emotions which cannot be translated +into words are still to be hinted at by chords and harmonies.” + +“It seems wilder and more savage than ever to-night,” remarked the +American. “It gives me the same feeling of pitiless force that the +Atlantic does upon a cold, dark, winter day. Perhaps it is the +knowledge that we are right there on the very edge of any kind of law +and order. How far do you suppose that we are from any Dervishes, +Colonel Cochrane?” + +“Well, on the Arabian side,” said the Colonel, “we have the Egyptian +fortified camp of Sarras about forty miles to the south of us. Beyond +that are sixty miles of very wild country before you would come to the +Dervish post at Akasheh. On this other side, however, there is nothing +between us and them.” + +“Abousir is on this side, is it not?” + +“Yes. That is why the excursion to the Abousir Rock has been forbidden +for the last year. But things are quieter now.” + +“What is to prevent them from coming down on that side?” + +“Absolutely nothing,” said Cecil Brown, in his listless voice. + +“Nothing, except their fears. The coming of course would be perfectly +simple. The difficulty would lie in the return. They might find it +hard to get back if their camels were spent, and the Halfa garrison with +their beasts fresh got on their track. They know it as well as we do, +and it has kept them from trying.” + +“It isn’t safe to reckon upon a Dervish’s fears,” remarked Brown. +“We must always bear in mind that they are not amenable to the same +motives as other people. Many of them are anxious to meet death, and +all of them are absolute, uncompromising believers in destiny. +They exist as a _reductio ad absurdum_ of all bigotry--a proof of how +surely it leads towards blank barbarism.” + +“You think these people are a real menace to Egypt?” asked the American. +“There seems from what I have heard to be some difference of opinion +about it. Monsieur Fardet, for example, does not seem to think that the +danger is a very pressing one.” + +“I am not a rich man,” Colonel Cochrane answered after a little pause, +“but I am prepared to lay all I am worth, that within three years of the +British officers being withdrawn, the Dervishes would be upon the +Mediterranean. Where would the civilisation of Egypt be? Where would +the hundreds of millions which have been invested in this country? +Where the monuments which all nations look upon as most precious +memorials of the past?” + +“Come now, Colonel,” cried Headingly, laughing, “surely you don’t mean +that they would shift the pyramids?” + +“You cannot foretell what they would do. There is no iconoclast in the +world like an extreme Mohammedan. Last time they overran this country +they burned the Alexandrian Library. You know that all representations +of the human features are against the letter of the Koran. A statue is +always an irreligious object in their eyes. What do these fellows care +for the sentiment of Europe? The more they could offend it, the more +delighted they would be. Down would go the Sphinx, the Colossi, the +Statues of Abou-Simbel--as the saints went down in England before +Cromwell’s troopers.” + +“Well now,” said Headingly, in his slow, thoughtful fashion, “suppose I +grant you that the Dervishes could overrun Egypt, and suppose also that +you English are holding them out, what I’m never done asking is, what +reason have you for spending all these millions of dollars and the lives +of so many of your men? What do you get out of it, more than France +gets, or Germany, or any other country, that runs no risk and never lays +out a cent?” + +“There are a good many Englishmen who are asking themselves that +question,” remarked Cecil Brown. “It’s my opinion that we have been the +policemen of the world long enough. We policed the seas for pirates and +slavers. Now we police the land for Dervishes and brigands and every +sort of danger to civilisation. There is never a mad priest or a witch +doctor, or a firebrand of any sort on this planet, who does not report +his appearance by sniping the nearest British officer. One tires of it +at last. If a Kurd breaks loose in Asia Minor, the world wants to know +why Great Britain does not keep him in order. If there is a military +mutiny in Egypt, or a Jehad in the Soudan, it is still Great Britain who +has to set it right. And all to an accompaniment of curses such as the +policeman gets when he seizes a ruffian among his pals. We get hard +knocks and no thanks, and why should we do it? Let Europe do its own +dirty work.” + +“Well,” said Colonel Cochrane, crossing his legs and leaning forward +with the decision of a man who has definite opinions, “I don’t at all +agree with you, Brown, and I think that to advocate such a course is to +take a very limited view of our national duties. I think that behind +national interests and diplomacy and all that there lies a great guiding +force--a Providence, in fact--which is for ever getting the best out of +each nation and using it for the good of the whole. When a nation +ceases to respond, it is time that she went into hospital for a few +centuries, like Spain or Greece--the virtue has gone out of her. A man +or a nation is not placed upon this earth to do merely what is pleasant +and what is profitable. It is often called upon to carry out what is +both unpleasant and unprofitable, but if it is obviously right it is +mere shirking not to undertake it.” + +Headingly nodded approvingly. + +“Each has its own mission. Germany is predominant in abstract thought; +France in literature, art, and grace. But we and you--for the +English-speakers are all in the same boat, however much the _New York +Sun_ may scream over it--we and you have among our best men a higher +conception of moral sense and public duty than is to be found in any +other people. Now, these are the two qualities which are needed for +directing a weaker race. You can’t help them by abstract thought or by +graceful art, but only by that moral sense which will hold the scales of +Justice even, and keep itself free from every taint of corruption. +That is how we rule India. We came there by a kind of natural law, like +air rushing into a vacuum. All over the world, against our direct +interests and our deliberate intentions, we are drawn into the same +thing. And it will happen to you also. The pressure of destiny will +force you to administer the Whole of America from Mexico to the Horn.” + +Headingly whistled. + +“Our Jingoes would be pleased to hear you, Colonel Cochrane,” said he. +“They’d vote you into our Senate and make you one of the Committee on +Foreign Relations.” + +“The world is small, and it grows smaller every day. It’s a single +organic body, and one spot of gangrene is enough to vitiate the whole. +There’s no room upon it for dishonest, defaulting, tyrannical, +irresponsible Governments. As long as they exist they will always be +sources of trouble and of danger. But there are many races which appear +to be so incapable of improvement that we can never hope to get a good +Government out of them. What is to be done, then? The former device of +Providence in such a case was extermination by some more virile stock-- +an Attila or a Tamerlane pruned off the weaker branch. Now, we have a +more merciful substitution of rulers, or even of mere advice from a more +advanced race. That is the case with the Central Asian Khanates and +with the protected States of India. If the work has to be done, and if +we are the best fitted for the work, then I think that it would be a +cowardice and a crime to shirk it.” + +“But who is to decide whether it is a fitting case for your +interference?” objected the American. “A predatory country could grab +every other land in the world upon such a pretext.” + +“Events--inexorable, inevitable events--will decide it. Take this +Egyptian business as an example. In 1881 there was nothing in this +world further from the minds of our people than any interference with +Egypt; and yet 1882 left us in possession of the country. There was +never any choice in the chain of events. A massacre in the streets of +Alexandria, and the mounting of guns to drive out our fleet--which was +there, you understand, in fulfilment of solemn treaty obligations--led +to the bombardment. The bombardment led to a landing to save the city +from destruction. The landing caused an extension of operations--and +here we are, with the country upon our hands. At the time of trouble we +begged and implored the French, or any one else, to come and help us to +put the thing to rights, but they all deserted us when there was work to +be done, although they are ready enough to scold and to impede us now. +When we tried to get out of it, up came this wild Dervish movement, and +we had to sit tighter than ever. We never wanted the task; but, now +that it has come, we must put it through in a workmanlike manner. +We’ve brought justice into the country, and purity of administration, +and protection for the poor man. It has made more advance in the last +twelve years than since the Moslem invasion in the seventh century. +Except the pay of a couple of hundred men, who spend their money in the +country, England has neither directly nor indirectly made a shilling out +of it, and I don’t believe you will find in history a more successful +and more disinterested bit of work.” + +Headingly puffed thoughtfully at his cigarette. + +“There is a house near ours, down on the Back Bay at Boston, which just +ruins the whole prospect,” said he. “It has old chairs littered about +the stoop, and the shingles are loose, and the garden runs wild; but I +don’t know that the neighbours are exactly justified in rushing in, and +stamping around, and running the thing on their own lines.” + +“Not if it were on fire?” asked the Colonel. + +Headingly laughed, and rose from his camp-stool. + +“Well, it doesn’t come within the provisions of the Monroe Doctrine, +Colonel,” said he. “I’m beginning to realise that modern Egypt is every +bit as interesting as ancient, and that Rameses the Second wasn’t the +last live man in the country.” + +The two Englishmen rose and yawned. + +“Yes, it’s a whimsical freak of fortune which has sent men from a little +island in the Atlantic to administer the land of the Pharaohs,” remarked +Cecil Brown. “We shall pass away again, and never leave a trace among +these successive races who have held the country, for it is not an +Anglo-Saxon custom to write their deeds upon rocks. I dare say that the +remains of a Cairo drainage system will be our most permanent record, +unless they prove a thousand years hence that it was the work of the +Hyksos kings. But here is the shore party come back.” + +Down below they could hear the mellow Irish accents of Mrs. Belmont and +the deep voice of her husband, the iron-grey rifle-shot. Mr. Stuart, +the fat Birmingham clergyman, was thrashing out a question of piastres +with a noisy donkey-boy, and the others were joining in with chaff and +advice. Then the hubbub died away, the party from above came down the +ladder, there were “good-nights,” the shutting of doors, and the little +steamer lay silent, dark, and motionless in the shadow of the high Halfa +bank. And beyond this one point of civilisation and of comfort there +lay the limitless, savage, unchangeable desert, straw-coloured and +dream-like in the moonlight, mottled over with the black shadows of the +hills. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +“Stoppa! Backa!” cried the native pilot to the European engineer. + +The bluff bows of the stern-wheeler had squelched into the soft brown +mud, and the current had swept the boat alongside the bank. The long +gangway was thrown across, and the six tall soldiers of the Soudanese +escort filed along it, their light-blue gold-trimmed zouave uniforms, +and their jaunty yellow and red forage-caps, showing up bravely in the +clear morning light. Above them, on the top of the bank, was ranged the +line of donkeys, and the air was full of the clamour of the boys. +In shrill strident voices each was crying out the virtues of his own +beast, and abusing that of his neighbour. + +Colonel Cochrane and Mr. Belmont stood together in the bows, each +wearing the broad white puggareed hat of the tourist. Miss Adams and +her niece leaned against the rail beside them. + +“Sorry your wife isn’t coming, Belmont,” said the Colonel. + +“I think she had a touch of the sun yesterday. Her head aches very +badly.” + +His voice was strong and thick like his figure. + +“I should stay to keep her company, Mr. Belmont,” said the little +American old maid; “but I learn that Mrs. Shlesinger finds the ride too +long for her, and has some letters which she must mail to-day, so Mrs. +Belmont will not be lonesome.” + +“You’re very good, Miss Adams. We shall be back, you know, by two +o’clock.” + +“Is that certain?” + +“It must be certain, for we are taking no lunch with us, and we shall be +famished by then.” + +“Yes, I expect we shall be ready for a hock and seltzer at any rate,” +said the Colonel. “This desert dust gives a flavour to the worst +wine.” + +“Now, ladies and gentlemen!” cried Mansoor, the dragoman, moving forward +with something of the priest in his flowing garments and smooth, +clean-shaven face. “We must start early that we may return before the +meridial heat of the weather.” He ran his dark eyes over the little +group of his tourists with a paternal expression. “You take your green +glasses, Miss Adams, for glare very great out in the desert. Ah, Mr. +Stuart, I set aside very fine donkey for you--prize donkey, sir, always +put aside for the gentleman of most weight. Never mind to take your +monument ticket to-day. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if _you_ please!” + +Like a grotesque frieze the party moved one by one along the plank +gangway and up the brown crumbling bank. Mr. Stephens led them, a thin, +dry, serious figure, in an English straw hat. His red “Baedeker” +gleamed under his arm, and in one hand he held a little paper of notes, +as if it were a brief. He took Miss Sadie by one arm and her aunt by +the other as they toiled up the bank, and the young girl’s laughter rang +frank and clear in the morning air as “Baedeker” came fluttering down at +their feet. Mr. Belmont and Colonel Cochrane followed, the brims of +their sun-hats touching as they discussed the relative advantages of the +Mauser, the Lebel, and the Lee-Metford. Behind them walked Cecil Brown, +listless, cynical, self-contained. The fat clergyman puffed slowly up +the bank, with many gasping witticisms at his own defects. “I’m one of +those men who carry everything before them,” said he, glancing ruefully +at his rotundity, and chuckling wheezily at his own little joke. +Last of all came Headingly, slight and tall, with the student stoop +about his shoulders, and Fardet, the good-natured, fussy, argumentative +Parisian. + +“You see we have an escort to-day,” he whispered to his companion. + +“So I observed.” + +“Pah!” cried the Frenchman, throwing out his arms in derision; “as well +have an escort from Paris to Versailles. This is all part of the play, +Monsieur Headingly. It deceives no one, but it is part of the play. +_Pourquoi ces droles de militaires, dragoman, hein?_” + +It was the dragoman’s _role_ to be all things to all men, so he looked +cautiously round before he answered, to make sure that the English were +mounted and out of earshot. + +“_C’est ridicule, monsieur!_” said he, shrugging his fat shoulders. +“_Mais que voulez-vous? C’est l’ordre official Egyptien._” + +“_Egyptien! Pah, Anglais, Anglais--toujours Anglais!_” cried the angry +Frenchman. + +The frieze now was more grotesque than ever, but had changed suddenly to +an equestrian one, sharply outlined against the deep-blue Egyptian sky. +Those who have never ridden before have to ride in Egypt, and when the +donkeys break into a canter, and the Nile Irregulars are at full charge, +such a scene of flying veils, clutching hands, huddled swaying figures, +and anxious faces is nowhere to be seen. Belmont, his square figure +balanced upon a small white donkey, was waving his hat to his wife, who +had come out upon the saloon-deck of the _Korosko_. Cochrane sat very +erect with a stiff military seat, hands low, head high, and heels down, +while beside him rode the young Oxford man, looking about him with +drooping eyelids as if he thought the desert hardly respectable, and had +his doubts about the Universe. Behind them the whole party was strung +along the bank in varying stages of jolting and discomfort, a +brown-faced, noisy donkey-boy running after each donkey. Looking back, +they could see the little lead-coloured stern-wheeler, with the gleam of +Mrs. Belmont’s handkerchief from the deck. Beyond ran the broad, brown +river, winding down in long curves to where, five miles off, the square, +white block-houses upon the black, ragged hills marked the outskirts of +Wady Halfa, which had been their starting-point that morning. + +“Isn’t it just too lovely for anything?” cried Sadie joyously. “I’ve +got a donkey that runs on casters, and the saddle is just elegant. +Did you ever see anything so cunning as these beads and things round his +neck? You must make a memo. _re_ donkey, Mr. Stephens. Isn’t that +correct legal English?” + +Stephens looked at the pretty, animated, boyish face looking up at him +from under the coquettish straw hat, and he wished that he had the +courage to tell her in her own language that she was just too sweet for +anything. But he feared above all things lest he should offend her, and +so put an end to their present pleasant intimacy. So his compliment +dwindled into a smile. + +“You look very happy,” said he. + +“Well, who could help feeling good with this dry, clear air, and the +blue sky, and the crisp yellow sand, and a superb donkey to carry you? +I’ve just got everything in the world to make me happy.” + +“Everything?” + +“Well, everything I have any use for just now.” + +“I suppose you never know what it is to be sad?” + +“Oh, when I _am_ miserable, I am just too miserable for words. I’ve sat +and cried for days and days at Smith’s College, and the other girls were +just crazy to know what I was crying about, and guessing what the reason +was that I wouldn’t tell them, when all the time the real true reason +was that I didn’t know myself. You know how it comes like a great dark +shadow over you, and you don’t know why or wherefore, but you’ve just +got to settle down to it and be miserable.” + +“But you never had any real cause?” + +“No, Mr. Stephens, I’ve had such a good time all my life that I really +don’t think, when I look back, that I ever had any real cause for +sorrow.” + +“Well, Miss Sadie, I hope with all my heart that you will be able to say +the same when you are the same age as your aunt. Surely I hear her +calling.” + +“I wish, Mr. Stephens, you would strike my donkey-boy with your whip if +he hits the donkey again,” cried Miss Adams, jogging up on a high, +raw-boned beast. “Hi, dragoman, Mansoor, you tell this boy that I won’t +have the animals ill used, and that he ought to be ashamed of himself. +Yes, you little rascal, you ought! He’s grinning at me like an +advertisement for a tooth paste. Do you think, Mr. Stephens, that if I +were to knit that black soldier a pair of woollen stockings he would be +allowed to wear them? The poor creature has bandages round his legs.” + +“Those are his putties, Miss Adams,” said Colonel Cochrane, looking +back at her. “We have found in India that they are the best support to +the leg in marching. They are very much better than any stocking.” + +“Well, you don’t say! They remind me mostly of a sick horse. But it’s +elegant to have the soldiers with us, though Monsieur Fardet tells me +there’s nothing for us to be scared about.” + +“That is only my opinion, Miss Adams,” said the Frenchman hastily. +“It may be that Colonel Cochrane thinks otherwise.” + +“It is Monsieur Fardet’s opinion against that of the officers who have +the responsibility of caring for the safety of the frontier,” said the +Colonel coldly. “At least we will all agree that they have the effect +of making the scene very much more picturesque.” + +The desert upon their right lay in long curves of sand, like the dunes +which might have fringed some forgotten primeval sea. Topping them they +could see the black, craggy summits of the curious volcanic hills which +rise upon the Libyan side. On the crest of the low sand-hills they +would catch a glimpse every now and then of a tall, sky-blue soldier, +walking swiftly, his rifle at the trail. For a moment the lank, warlike +figure would be sharply silhouetted against the sky. Then he would dip +into a hollow and disappear, while some hundred yards off another would +show for an instant and vanish. + +“Wherever are they raised?” asked Sadie, watching the moving figures. +“They look to me just about the same tint as the hotel boys in the +States.” + +“I thought some question might arise about them,” said Mr. Stephens, who +was never so happy as when he could anticipate some wish of the pretty +American. “I made one or two references this morning in the ship’s +library. Here it is--_re_--that’s to say, about black soldiers. I have +it on my notes that they are from the 10th Soudanese battalion of the +Egyptian army. They are recruited from the Dinkas and the Shilluks--two +negroid tribes living to the south of the Dervish country, near the +Equator.” + +“How can the recruits come through the Dervishes, then?” asked Headingly +sharply. + +“I dare say there is no such very great difficulty over that,” said +Monsieur Fardet, with a wink at the American. + +“The older men are the remains of the old black battalions. Some of +them served with Gordon at Khartoum, and have his medal to show. +The others are many of them deserters from the Mahdi’s army,” said the +Colonel. + +“Well, so long as they are not wanted, they look right elegant in those +blue jackets,” Miss Adams observed. “But if there was any trouble, I +guess we would wish they were less ornamental and a bit whiter.” + +“I am not so sure of that, Miss Adams,” said the Colonel. “I have seen +these fellows in the field, and I assure you that I have the utmost +confidence in their steadiness.” + +“Well, I’ll take your word without trying,” said Miss Adams, with a +decision which made every one smile. + +So far their road had lain along the side of the river, which was +swirling down upon their left hand deep and strong from the cataracts +above. Here and there the rush of the current was broken by a black +shining boulder over which the foam was spouting. Higher up they could +see the white gleam of the rapids, and the banks grew into rugged +cliffs, which were capped by a peculiar, outstanding semi-circular rock. +It did not require the dragoman’s aid to tell the party that this was +the famous landmark to which they were bound. A long, level stretch lay +before them, and the donkeys took it at a canter. At the farther side +were scattered rocks, black upon orange; and in the midst of them rose +some broken shafts of pillars and a length of engraved wall, looking in +its greyness and its solidity more like some work of Nature than of man. +The fat, sleek dragoman had dismounted, and stood waiting in his +petticoats and his cover-coat for the stragglers to gather round him. + +“This temple, ladies and gentlemen,” he cried, with the air of an +auctioneer who is about to sell it to the highest bidder, “very fine +example from the eighteenth dynasty. Here is the cartouche of Thotmes +the Third,” he pointed up with his donkey-whip at the rude, but deep, +hieroglyphics upon the wall above him. “He live sixteen hundred years +before Christ, and this is made to remember his victorious exhibition +into Mesopotamia. Here we have his history from the time that he was +with his mother, until he return with captives tied to his chariot. +In this you see him crowned with Lower Egypt, and with Upper Egypt +offering up sacrifice in honour of his victory to the God Ammon-ra. +Here he bring his captives before him, and he cut off each his right +hand. In this corner you see little pile--all right hands.” + +“My sakes, I shouldn’t have liked to be here in those days,” said Miss +Adams. + +“Why, there’s nothing altered,” remarked Cecil Brown. “The East is +still the East. I’ve no doubt that within a hundred miles, or perhaps a +good deal less, from where you stand--” + +“Shut up!” whispered the Colonel, and the party shuffled on down the +line of the wall with their faces up and their big hats thrown +backwards. The sun behind them struck the old grey masonry with a +brassy glare, and carried on to it the strange black shadows of the +tourists, mixing them up with the grim, high-nosed, square-shouldered +warriors, and the grotesque, rigid deities who lined it. The broad +shadow of the Reverend John Stuart, of Birmingham, smudged out both the +heathen King and the god whom he worshipped. + +“What’s this?” he was asking in his wheezy voice, pointing up with a +yellow Assouan cane. + +“That is a hippopotamus,” said the dragoman; and the tourists all +tittered, for there was just a suspicion of Mr. Stuart himself in the +carving. + +“But it isn’t bigger than a little pig,” he protested. “You see that +the King is putting his spear through it with ease.” + +“They make it small to show that it was a very small thing to the King,” +said the dragoman. “So you see that all the King’s prisoners do not +exceed his knee--which is not because he was so much taller, but so much +more powerful. You see that he is bigger than his horse, because he is +a king and the other is only a horse. The same way, these small women +whom you see here and there are just his trivial little wives.” + +“Well, now!” cried Miss Adams indignantly. “If they had sculpted that +King’s soul it would have needed a lens to see it. Fancy his allowing +his wives to be put in like that.” + +“If he did it now, Miss Adams,” said the Frenchman, “he would have more +fighting than ever in Mesopotamia. But time brings revenge. Perhaps +the day will soon come when we have the picture of the big strong wife +and the trivial little husband--_hein?_” + +Cecil Brown and Headingly had dropped behind, for the glib comments of +the dragoman, and the empty, light-hearted chatter of the tourists +jarred upon their sense of solemnity. They stood in silence watching +the grotesque procession, with its sun-hats and green veils, as it +passed in the vivid sunshine down the front of the old grey wall. +Above them two crested hoopoes were fluttering and calling amid the +ruins of the pylon. + +“Isn’t it a sacrilege?” said the Oxford man at last. + +“Well, now, I’m glad you feel that about it, because it’s how it always +strikes me,” Headingly answered with feeling. “I’m not quite clear in +my own mind how these things should be approached--if they are to be +approached at all--but I am sure this is not the way. On the whole, I +prefer the ruins that I have not seen to those which I have.” + +The young diplomatist looked up with his peculiarly bright smile, which +faded away too soon into his languid, _blase_ mask. + +“I’ve got a map,” said the American, “and sometimes far away from +anything in the very midst of the waterless, trackless desert, I see +‘ruins’ marked upon it--or ‘remains of a temple,’ perhaps. For example, +the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was one of the most considerable +shrines in the world, was hundreds of miles away back of anywhere. +Those are the ruins, solitary, unseen, unchanging through the centuries, +which appeal to one’s imagination. But when I present a check at the +door, and go in as if it were Barnum’s show, all the subtle feeling of +romance goes right out of it.” + +“Absolutely!” said Cecil Brown, looking over the desert with his dark, +intolerant eyes. “If one could come wandering here alone--stumble upon +it by chance, as it were--and find one’s self in absolute solitude in +the dim light of the temple, with these grotesque figures all round, it +would be perfectly overwhelming. A man would be prostrated with wonder +and awe. But when Belmont is puffing his bulldog pipe, and Stuart is +wheezing, and Miss Sadie Adams is laughing--” + +“And that jay of a dragoman speaking his piece,” said Headingly; +“I want to stand and think all the time, and I never seem to get the +chance. I was ripe for manslaughter when I stood before the Great +Pyramid, and couldn’t get a quiet moment because they would boost me on +to the top. I took a kick at one man which would have sent _him_ to the +top in one jump if I had hit meat. But fancy travelling all the way +from America to see the pyramid, and then finding nothing better to do +than to kick an Arab in front of it!” + +The Oxford man laughed in his gentle, tired fashion. “They are starting +again,” said he, and the two hastened forwards to take their places at +the tail of the absurd procession. + +Their route ran now among large, scattered boulders, and between stony, +shingly hills. A narrow winding path curved in and out amongst the +rocks. Behind them their view was cut off by similar hills, black and +fantastic, like the slag-heaps at the shaft of a mine. A silence fell +upon the little company, and even Sadie’s bright face reflected the +harshness of Nature. The escort had closed in, and marched beside them, +their boots scrunching among the loose black rubble. Colonel Cochrane +and Belmont were still riding together in the van. + +“Do you know, Belmont,” said the Colonel, in a low voice, “you may think +me a fool, but I don’t like this one little bit.” + +Belmont gave a short gruff laugh. + +“It seemed all right in the saloon of the _Korosko_, but now that we are +here we _do_ seem rather up in the air,” said he. “Still, you know, a +party comes here every week, and nothing has ever gone wrong.” + +“I don’t mind taking my chances when I am on the war-path,” the Colonel +answered. “That’s all straightforward and in the way of business. +But when you have women with you, and a helpless crowd like this, it +becomes really dreadful. Of course, the chances are a hundred to one +that we have no trouble; but if we should have--well, it won’t bear +thinking about. The wonderful thing is their complete unconsciousness +that there is any danger whatever.” + +“Well, I like the English tailor-made dresses well enough for walking, +Mr. Stephens,” said Miss Sadie from behind them. “But for an afternoon +dress, I think the French have more style than the English. Your +milliners have a more severe cut, and they don’t do the cunning little +ribbons and bows and things in the same way.” + +The Colonel smiled at Belmont. + +“_She_ is quite serene in her mind, at any rate,” said he. “Of course, +I wouldn’t say what I think to any one but you, and I daresay it will +all prove to be quite unfounded.” + +“Well, I could imagine parties of Dervishes on the prowl,” said Belmont. +“But what I cannot imagine is that they should just happen to come to +the pulpit rock on the very morning when we are due there.” + +“Considering that our movements have been freely advertised, and that +every one knows a week beforehand what our programme is, and where we +are to be found, it does not strike me as being such a wonderful +coincidence.” + +“It is a very remote chance,” said Belmont stoutly, but he was glad in +his heart that his wife was safe and snug on board the steamer. + +And now they were clear of the rocks again, with a fine stretch of firm +yellow sand extending to the very base of the conical hill which lay +before them. “Ay-ah! Ay-ah!” cried the boys, whack came their sticks +upon the flanks of the donkeys, which broke into a gallop, and away they +all streamed over the plain. It was not until they had come to the end +of the path which curves up the hill that the dragoman called a halt. + +“Now, ladies and gentlemen, we are arrived for the so famous pulpit rock +of Abousir. From the summit you will presently enjoy a panorama of +remarkable fertility. But first you will observe that over the rocky +side of the hill are everywhere cut the names of great men who have +passed it in their travels, and some of these names are older than the +time of Christ.” + +“Got Moses?” asked Miss Adams. + +“Auntie, I’m surprised at you!” cried Sadie. + +“Well, my dear, he was in Egypt, and he was a great man, and he may have +passed this way.” + +“Moses’s name very likely there, and the same with Herodotus,” said the +dragoman gravely. “Both have been long worn away. But there on the +brown rock you will see Belzoni. And up higher is Gordon. There is +hardly a name famous in the Soudan which you will not find, if you like. +And now, with your permission, we shall take good-bye of our donkeys and +walk up the path, and you will see the river and the desert from the +summit of the top.” + +A minute or two of climbing brought them out upon the semicircular +platform which crowns the rock. Below them on the far side was a +perpendicular black cliff, a hundred and fifty feet high, with the +swirling, foam-streaked river roaring past its base. The swish of the +water and the low roar as it surged over the mid-stream boulders boomed +through the hot, stagnant air. Far up and far down they could see the +course of the river, a quarter of a mile in breadth, and running very +deep and strong, with sleek black eddies and occasional spoutings of +foam. On the other side was a frightful wilderness of black, scattered +rocks, which were the _debris_ carried down by the river at high flood. +In no direction were there any signs of human beings or their dwellings. + +“On the far side,” said the dragoman, waving his donkey-whip towards the +east, “is the military line which conducts Wady Halfa to Sarras. +Sarras lies to the south, under that black hill. Those two blue +mountains which you see very far away are in Dongola, more than a +hundred miles from Sarras. The railway there is forty miles long, and +has been much annoyed by the Dervishes, who are very glad to turn the +rails into spears. The telegraph wires are also much appreciated +thereby. Now, if you will kindly turn round, I will explain, also, what +we see upon the other side.” + +It was a view which, when once seen, must always haunt the mind. +Such an expanse of savage and unrelieved desert might be part of some +cold and burned-out planet rather than of this fertile and bountiful +earth. Away and away it stretched to die into a soft, violet haze in +the extremest distance. In the foreground the sand was of a bright +golden yellow, which was quite dazzling in the sunshine. Here and +there, in a scattered cordon, stood the six trusty negro soldiers +leaning motionless upon their rifles, and each throwing a shadow which +looked as solid as himself. But beyond this golden plain lay a low line +of those black slag-heaps, with yellow sand-valleys winding between +them. These in their turn were topped by higher and more fantastic +hills, and these by others, peeping over each other’s shoulders until +they blended with that distant violet haze. None of these hills were of +any height--a few hundred feet at the most--but their savage, +saw-toothed crests, and their steep scarps of sun-baked stone, gave them +a fierce character of their own. + +“The Libyan Desert,” said the dragoman, with a proud wave of his hand. +“The greatest desert in the world. Suppose you travel right west from +here, and turn neither to the north nor to the south, the first houses +you would come to would be in America. That make you home-sick, Miss +Adams, I believe?” + +But the American old maid had her attention drawn away by the conduct of +Sadie, who had caught her arm by one hand and was pointing over the +desert with the other. + +“Well, now, if that isn’t too picturesque for anything!” she cried, with +a flush of excitement upon her pretty face. “Do look, Mr. Stephens! +That’s just the one only thing we wanted to make it just perfectly +grand. See the men upon the camels coming out from between those +hills!” + +They all looked at the long string of red-turbaned riders who were +winding out of the ravine, and there fell such a hush that the buzzing +of the flies sounded quite loud upon their ears. Colonel Cochrane had +lit a match, and he stood with it in one hand and the unlit cigarette in +the other until the flame licked round his fingers. Belmont whistled. +The dragoman stood staring with his mouth half-open, and a curious slaty +tint in his full, red lips. The others looked from one to the other +with an uneasy sense that there was something wrong. It was the Colonel +who broke the silence. + +“By George, Belmont, I believe the hundred-to-one chance has come off!” +said he. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +“What’s the meaning of this, Mansoor?” cried Belmont harshly. “Who are +these people, and why are you standing staring as if you had lost your +senses?” + +The dragoman made an effort to compose himself, and licked his dry lips +before he answered. + +“I do not know who they are,” said he in a quavering voice. + +“Who they are?” cried the Frenchman. “You can see who they are. +They are armed men upon camels, Ababdeh, Bishareen--Bedouins, in short, +such as are employed by the Government upon the frontier.” + +“Be Jove, he may be right, Cochrane,” said Belmont, looking inquiringly +at the Colonel. “Why shouldn’t it be as he says? why shouldn’t these +fellows be friendlies?” + +“There are no friendlies upon this side of the river,” said the Colonel +abruptly; “I am perfectly certain about that. There is no use in +mincing matters. We must prepare for the worst.” + +But in spite of his words, they stood stock-still, in a huddled group, +staring out over the plain. Their nerves were numbed by the sudden +shock, and to all of them it was like a scene in a dream, vague, +impersonal, and un-real. The men upon the camels had streamed out from +a gorge which lay a mile or so distant on the side of the path along +which they had travelled. Their retreat, therefore, was entirely cut +off. It appeared, from the dust and the length of the line, to be quite +an army which was emerging from the hills, for seventy men upon camels +cover a considerable stretch of ground. Having reached the sandy plain, +they very deliberately formed to the front, and then at the harsh call +of a bugle they trotted forward in line, the parti-coloured figures all +swaying and the sand smoking in a rolling yellow cloud at the heels of +their camels. At the same moment the six black soldiers doubled in from +the front with their Martinis at the trail, and snuggled down like +well-trained skirmishers behind the rocks upon the haunch of the hill. +Their breech blocks all snapped together as their corporal gave them the +order to load. + +And now suddenly the first stupor of the excursionists passed away, and +was succeeded by a frantic and impotent energy. They all ran about upon +the plateau of rock in an aimless, foolish flurry, like frightened fowls +in a yard. They could not bring themselves to acknowledge that there +was no possible escape for them. Again and again they rushed to the +edge of the great cliff which rose from the river, but the youngest and +most daring of them could never have descended it. The two women clung +one on each side of the trembling Mansoor, with a feeling that he was +officially responsible for their safety. When he ran up and down in his +desperation, his skirts and theirs all fluttered together. Stephens, +the lawyer, kept close to Sadie Adams, muttering mechanically, “Don’t be +alarmed, Miss Sadie; don’t be at all alarmed!” though his own limbs were +twitching with agitation. Monsieur Fardet stamped about with a guttural +rolling of r’s, glancing angrily at his companions as if they had in +some way betrayed him; while the fat clergyman stood with his umbrella +up, staring stolidly with big, frightened eyes at the camel-men. +Cecil Brown curled his small, prim moustache, and looked white, but +contemptuous. The Colonel, Belmont, and the young Harvard graduate were +the three most cool-headed and resourceful members of the party. + +“Better stick together,” said the Colonel. “There’s no escape for us, +so we may as well remain united.” + +“They’ve halted,” said Belmont. + +“They are reconnoitring us. They know very well that there is no escape +from them, and they are taking their time. I don’t see what we can do.” + +“Suppose we hide the women,” Headingly suggested. “They can’t know how +many of us are here. When they have taken us, the women can come out of +their hiding-place and make their way back to the boat.” + +“Admirable!” cried Colonel Cochrane. “Admirable! This way, please, Miss +Adams. Bring the ladies here, Mansoor. There is not an instant to be +lost.” + +There was a part of the plateau which was invisible from the plain, and +here in feverish haste they built a little cairn. Many flaky slabs of +stone were lying about, and it did not take long to prop the largest of +these against a rock, so as to make a lean-to, and then to put two +side-pieces to complete it. The slabs were of the same colour as the +rock, so that to a casual glance the hiding-place was not very visible. +The two ladies were squeezed into this, and they crouched together, +Sadie’s arms thrown round her aunt. When they had walled them up, the +men turned with lighter hearts to see what was going on. As they did so +there rang out the sharp, peremptory crack of a rifle-shot from the +escort, followed by another and another, but these isolated shots were +drowned in the long, spattering roll of an irregular volley from the +plain, and the air was full of the phit-phit-phit of the bullets. +The tourists all huddled behind the rocks, with the exception of the +Frenchman, who still stamped angrily about, striking his sun-hat with +his clenched hand. Belmont and Cochrane crawled down to where the +Soudanese soldiers were firing slowly and steadily, resting their rifles +upon the boulders in front of them. + +The Arabs had halted about five hundred yards away, and it was evident +from their leisurely movements that they were perfectly aware that there +was no possible escape for the travellers. They had paused to ascertain +their number before closing in upon them. Most of them were firing from +the backs of their camels, but a few had dismounted and were kneeling +here and there--little shimmering white spots against the golden +back-ground. Their shots came sometimes singly in quick, sharp throbs, +and sometimes in a rolling volley, with a sound like a boy’s stick drawn +across iron railings. The hill buzzed like a bee-hive, and the bullets +made a sharp crackling as they struck against the rocks. + +“You do no good by exposing yourself,” said Belmont, drawing Colonel +Cochrane behind a large jagged boulder, which already furnished a +shelter for three of the Soudanese. “A bullet is the best we have to +hope for,” said Cochrane grimly. “What an infernal fool I have been, +Belmont, not to protest more energetically against this ridiculous +expedition! I deserve whatever I get, but it _is_ hard on these poor +souls who never knew the danger.” + +“I suppose there’s no help for us?” + +“Not the faintest.” + +“Don’t you think this firing might bring the troops up from Halfa?” + +“They’ll never hear it. It is a good six miles from here to the +steamer. From that to Halfa would be another five.” + +“Well, when we don’t return, the steamer will give the alarm.” + +“And where shall we be by that time?” + +“My poor Norah! My poor little Norah!” muttered Belmont, in the depths +of his grizzled moustache. + +“What do you suppose that they will do with us, Cochrane?” he asked +after a pause. + +“They may cut our throats, or they may take us as slaves to Khartoum. +I don’t know that there is much to choose. There’s one of us out of his +troubles anyhow.” + +The soldier next them had sat down abruptly, and leaned forward over his +knees. His movement and attitude were so natural that it was hard to +realise that he had been shot through the head. He neither stirred nor +groaned. His comrades bent over him for a moment, and then, shrugging +their shoulders, they turned their dark faces to the Arabs once more. +Belmont picked up the dead man’s Martini and his ammunition-pouch. + +“Only three more rounds, Cochrane,” said he, with the little brass +cylinders upon the palm of his hand. “We’ve let them shoot too soon, +and too often. We should have waited for the rush.” + +“You’re a famous shot, Belmont,” cried the Colonel. “I’ve heard of you +as one of the cracks. Don’t you think you could pick off their leader?” + +“Which is he?” + +“As far as I can make out, it is that one on the white camel on their +right front. I mean the fellow who is peering at us from under his two +hands.” + +Belmont thrust in his cartridge and altered the sights. “It’s a +shocking bad light for judging distance,” said he. “This is where the +low point-blank trajectory of the Lee-Metford comes in useful. Well, +we’ll try him at five hundred.” He fired, but there was no change in +the white camel or the peering rider. + +“Did you see any sand fly?” + +“No, I saw nothing.” + +“I fancy I took my sight a trifle too full.” + +“Try him again.” + +Man and rifle and rock were equally steady, but again the camel and +chief remained un-harmed. The third shot must have been nearer, for he +moved a few paces to the right, as if he were becoming restless. +Belmont threw the empty rifle down, with an exclamation of disgust. + +“It’s this confounded light,” he cried, and his cheeks flushed with +annoyance. “Think of my wasting three cartridges in that fashion! +If I had him at Bisley I’d shoot the turban off him, but this vibrating +glare means refraction. What’s the matter with the Frenchman?” + +Monsieur Fardet was stamping about the plateau with the gestures of a +man who has been stung by a wasp. “_S’cre nom! S’cre nom!_” he +shouted, showing his strong white teeth under his black waxed moustache. +He wrung his right hand violently, and as he did so he sent a little +spray of blood from his finger-tips. A bullet had chipped his wrist. +Headingly ran out from the cover where he had been crouching, with the +intention of dragging the demented Frenchman into a place of safety, but +he had not taken three paces before he was himself hit in the loins, and +fell with a dreadful crash among the stones. He staggered to his feet, +and then fell again in the same place, floundering up and down like a +horse which has broken its back. “I’m done!” he whispered, as the +Colonel ran to his aid, and then he lay still, with his china-white +cheek against the black stones. When, but a year before, he had +wandered under the elms of Cambridge, surely the last fate upon this +earth which he could have predicted for himself would be that he should +be slain by the bullet of a fanatical Mohammedan in the wilds of the +Libyan Desert. + +Meanwhile the fire of the escort had ceased, for they had shot away +their last cartridge. A second man had been killed, and a third--who +was the corporal in charge--had received a bullet in his thigh. He sat +upon a stone, tying up his injury with a grave, preoccupied look upon +his wrinkled black face, like an old woman piecing together a broken +plate. The three others fastened their bayonets with a determined +metallic rasp and snap, and the air of men who intended to sell their +lives dearly. + +“They’re coming!” cried Belmont, looking over the plain. + +“Let them come!” the Colonel answered, putting his hands into his +trouser-pockets. Suddenly he pulled one fist out, and shook it +furiously in the air. “Oh, the cads! the confounded cads!” he shouted, +and his eyes were congested with rage. + +It was the fate of the poor donkey-boys which had carried the +self-contained soldier out of his usual calm. During the firing they +had remained huddled, a pitiable group, among the rocks at the base of +the hill. Now upon the conviction that the charge of the Dervishes must +come first upon them, they had sprung upon their animals with shrill, +inarticulate cries of fear, and had galloped off across the plain. +A small flanking-party of eight or ten camel-men had worked round while +the firing had been going on, and these dashed in among the flying +donkey-boys, hacking and hewing with a cold-blooded, deliberate +ferocity. One little boy, in a flapping Galabeeah, kept ahead of his +pursuers for a time, but the long stride of the camels ran him down, and +an Arab thrust his spear into the middle of his stooping back. The +small, white-clad corpses looked like a flock of sheep trailing over the +desert. + +But the people upon the rock had no time to think of the cruel fate of +the donkey-boys. Even the Colonel, after that first indignant outburst, +had forgotten all about them. The advancing camel-men had trotted to +the bottom of the hill, had dismounted, and leaving their camels +kneeling, had rushed furiously onward. Fifty of them were clambering up +the path and over the rocks together, their red turbans appearing and +vanishing again as they scrambled over the boulders. Without a shot or +a pause they surged over the three black soldiers, killing one and +stamping the other two down under their hurrying feet. So they burst on +to the plateau at the top, where an unexpected resistance checked them +for an instant. + +The travellers, nestling up against one another, had awaited, each after +his own fashion, the coming of the Arabs. The Colonel, with his hands +back in his trouser-pockets, tried to whistle out of his dry lips. +Belmont folded his arms and leaned against a rock, with a sulky frown +upon his lowering face. So strangely do our minds act that his three +successive misses, and the tarnish to his reputation as a marksman, was +troubling him more than his impending fate. Cecil Brown stood erect, +and plucked nervously at the up-turned points of his little prim +moustache. Monsieur Fardet groaned over his wounded wrist. +Mr. Stephens, in sombre impotence, shook his head slowly, the living +embodiment of prosaic law and order. Mr. Stuart stood, his umbrella +still over him, with no expression upon his heavy face, or in his +staring brown eyes. Headingly lay with that china-white cheek resting +motionless upon the stones. His sun-hat had fallen off, and he looked +quite boyish with his ruffled yellow hair and his un-lined, clean-cut +face. The dragoman sat upon a stone and played nervously with his +donkey-whip. So the Arabs found them when they reached the summit of +the hill. + +And then, just as the foremost rushed to lay hands upon them, a most +unexpected incident arrested them. From the time of the first +appearance of the Dervishes the fat clergyman of Birmingham had looked +like a man in a cataleptic trance. He had neither moved nor spoken. +But now he suddenly woke at a bound into strenuous and heroic energy. +It may have been the mania of fear, or it may have been the blood of +some Berserk ancestor which stirred suddenly in his veins; but he broke +into a wild shout, and, catching up a stick, he struck right and left +among the Arabs with a fury which was more savage than their own. +One who helped to draw up this narrative has left it upon record that, +of all the pictures which have been burned into his brain, there is none +so clear as that of this man, his large face shining with perspiration, +and his great body dancing about with unwieldy agility, as he struck at +the shrinking, snarling savages. Then a spear-head flashed from behind +a rock with a quick, vicious, upward thrust, the clergyman fell upon his +hands and knees, and the horde poured over him to seize their +unresisting victims. Knives glimmered before their eyes, rude hands +clutched at their wrists and at their throats, and then, with brutal and +unreasoning violence, they were hauled and pushed down the steep winding +path to where the camels were waiting below. The Frenchman waved his +unwounded hand as he walked. “_Vive le Khalifa! Vive le Madhi!_” he +shouted, until a blow from behind with the butt-end of a Remington beat +him into silence. + +And now they were herded in at the base of the Abousir rock, this little +group of modern types who had fallen into the rough clutch of the +seventh century--for in all save the rifles in their hands there was +nothing to distinguish these men from the desert warriors who first +carried the crescent flag out of Arabia. The East does not change, and +the Dervish raiders were not less brave, less cruel, or less fanatical +than their forebears. They stood in a circle, leaning upon their guns +and spears, and looking with exultant eyes at the dishevelled group of +captives. They were clad in some approach to a uniform, red turbans +gathered around the neck as well as the head, so that the fierce face +looked out of a scarlet frame; yellow, untanned shoes, and white tunics +with square brown patches let into them. All carried rifles, and one +had a small discoloured bugle slung over his shoulder. Half of them +were negroes--fine, muscular men, with the limbs of a jet Hercules; and +the other half were Baggara Arabs--small, brown, and wiry, with little, +vicious eyes, and thin, cruel lips. The chief was also a Baggara, but +he was a taller man than the others, with a black beard which came down +over his chest, and a pair of hard, cold eyes, which gleamed like glass +from under his thick, black brows. They were fixed now upon his +captives, and his features were grave with thought. Mr. Stuart had been +brought down, his hat gone, his face still flushed with anger, and his +trousers sticking in one part to his leg. The two surviving Soudanese +soldiers, their black faces and blue coats blotched with crimson, stood +silently at attention upon one side of this forlorn group of castaways. + +The chief stood for some minutes, stroking his black beard, while his +fierce eyes glanced from one pale face to another along the miserable +line of his captives. In a harsh, imperious voice he said something +which brought Mansoor, the dragoman, to the front, with bent back and +outstretched supplicating palms. To his employers there had always +seemed to be something comic in that flapping skirt and short cover-coat +above it; but now, under the glare of the mid-day sun, with those faces +gathered round them, it appeared rather to add a grotesque horror to the +scene. The dragoman salaamed and salaamed like some ungainly automatic +doll, and then, as the chief rasped out a curt word or two, he fell +suddenly upon his face, rubbing his forehead into the sand, and flapping +upon it with his hands. + +“What’s that, Cochrane?” asked Belmont. “Why is he making an exhibition +of himself?” + +“As far as I can understand, it is all up with us,” the Colonel +answered. + +“But this is absurd,” cried the Frenchman excitedly; “why should these +people wish any harm to me? I have never injured them. On the other +hand, I have always been their friend. If I could but speak to them, I +would make them comprehend. Hola, dragoman, Mansoor!” + +The excited gestures of Monsieur Fardet drew the sinister eyes of the +Baggara chief upon him. Again he asked a curt question, and Mansoor, +kneeling in front of him, answered it. + +“Tell him that I am a Frenchman, dragoman. Tell him that I am a friend +of the Khalifa. Tell him that my countrymen have never had any quarrel +with him, but that his enemies are also ours.” + +“The chief asks what religion you call your own,” said Mansoor. “The +Khalifa, he says, has no necessity for any friendship from those who are +infidels and unbelievers.” + +“Tell him that in France we look upon all religions as good.” + +“The chief says that none but a blaspheming dog and the son of a dog +would say that all religions are one as good as the other. He says that +if you are indeed the friend of the Khalifa, you will accept the Koran +and become a true believer upon the spot. If you will do so he will +promise on his side to send you alive to Khartoum.” + +“And if not?” + +“You will fare in the same way as the others.” + +“Then you may make my compliments to monsieur the chief, and tell him +that it is not the custom for Frenchmen to change their religion under +compulsion.” + +The chief said a few words, and then turned to consult with a short, +sturdy Arab at his elbow. + +“He says, Monsieur Fardet,” said the dragoman, “that if you speak again +he will make a trough out of you for the dogs to feed from. Say nothing +to anger him, sir, for he is now talking what is to be done with us.” + +“Who is he?” asked the Colonel. + +“It is Ali Wad Ibrahim, the same who raided last year, and killed all of +the Nubian village.” + +“I’ve heard of him,” said the Colonel. “He has the name of being one of +the boldest and the most fanatical of all the Khalifa’s leaders. Thank +God that the women are out of his clutches.” + +The two Arabs had been talking in that stern, restrained fashion which +comes so strangely from a southern race. Now they both turned to the +dragoman, who was still kneeling upon the sand. They plied him with +questions, pointing first to one and then to another of their prisoners. +Then they conferred together once more, and finally said something to +Mansoor, with a contemptuous wave of the hand to indicate that he might +convey it to the others. + +“Thank Heaven, gentlemen, I think that we are saved for the present +time,” said Mansoor, wiping away the sand which had stuck to his +perspiring forehead. “Ali Wad Ibrahim says that though an unbeliever +should have only the edge of the sword from one of the sons of the +Prophet, yet it might be of more profit to the beit-el-mal at Omdurman +if it had the gold which your people will pay for you. Until it comes +you can work as the slaves of the Khalifa, unless he should decide to +put you to death. You are to mount yourselves upon the spare camels and +to ride with the party.” + +The chief had waited for the end of the explanation. “Now he gave a +brief order, and a negro stepped forward with a long, dull-coloured +sword in his hand. The dragoman squealed like a rabbit who sees a +ferret, and threw himself frantically down upon the sand once more. + +“What is it, Cochrane?” asked Cecil Brown--for the Colonel had served in +the East, and was the only one of the travellers who had a smattering of +Arabic. + +“As far as I can make out, he says there is no use keeping the dragoman, +as no one would trouble to pay a ransom for him, and he is too fat to +make a good slave.” + +“Poor devil!” cried Brown. “Here, Cochrane, tell them to let him go. +We can’t let him be butchered like this in front of us. Say that we +will find the money amongst us. I will be answerable for any reasonable +sum.” + +“I’ll stand in as far as my means will allow,” cried Belmont. + +“We will sign a joint bond or indemnity,” said the lawyer. “If I had a +paper and pencil I could throw it into shape in an instant, and the +chief could rely upon its being perfectly correct and valid.” + +But the Colonel’s Arabic was insufficient, and Mansoor himself was too +maddened by fear to understand the offer which was being made for him. +The negro looked a question at the chief, and then his long black arm +swung upwards and his sword hissed over his shoulder. But the dragoman +had screamed out something which arrested the blow, and which brought +the chief and the lieutenant to his side with a new interest upon their +swarthy faces. The others crowded in also, and formed a dense circle +around the grovelling, pleading man. + +The Colonel had not understood this sudden change, nor had the others +fathomed the reason of it, but some instinct flashed it upon Stephens’s +horrified perceptions. + +“Oh, you villain!” he cried furiously. “Hold your tongue, you miserable +creature! Be silent! Better die--a thousand times better die!” + +But it was too late, and already they could all see the base design by +which the coward hoped to save his own life. He was about to betray the +women. They saw the chief, with a brave man’s contempt upon his stern +face, make a sign of haughty assent, and then Mansoor spoke rapidly and +earnestly, pointing up the hill. At a word from the Baggara, a dozen of +the raiders rushed up the path and were lost to view upon the top. +Then came a shrill cry, a horrible strenuous scream of surprise and +terror, and an instant later the party streamed into sight again, +dragging the women in their midst. Sadie, with her young, active limbs, +kept up with them, as they sprang down the slope, encouraging her aunt +all the while over her shoulder. The older lady, struggling amid the +rushing white figures, looked with her thin limbs and open mouth like a +chicken being dragged from a coop. + +The chief’s dark eyes glanced indifferently at Miss Adams, but gazed +with a smouldering fire at the younger woman. Then he gave an abrupt +order, and the prisoners were hurried in a miserable, hopeless drove to +the cluster of kneeling camels. Their pockets had already been +ransacked, and the contents thrown into one of the camel-food bags, the +neck of which was tied up by Ali Wad Ibrahim’s own hands. + +“I say, Cochrane,” whispered Belmont, looking with smouldering eyes at +the wretched Mansoor, “I’ve got a little hip revolver which they have +not discovered. Shall I shoot that cursed dragoman for giving away the +women?” + +The Colonel shook his head. + +“You had better keep it,” said he, with a sombre face. “The women may +find some other use for it before all is over.” + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The camels, some brown and some white, were kneeling in a long line, +their champing jaws moving rhythmically from side to side, and their +gracefully poised heads turning to right and left in a mincing, +self-conscious fashion. Most of them were beautiful creatures, true +Arabian trotters, with the slim limbs and finely turned necks which mark +the breed; but among them were a few of the slower, heavier beasts, with +ungroomed skins, disfigured by the black scars of old firings. These +were loaded with the doora and the waterskins of the raiders, but a few +minutes sufficed to redistribute their loads and to make place for the +prisoners. None of these had been bound with the exception of Mr. +Stuart--for the Arabs, understanding that he was a clergyman, and +accustomed to associate religion with violence, had looked upon his +fierce outburst as quite natural, and regarded him now as the most +dangerous and enterprising of their captives. His hands were therefore +tied together with a plaited camel-halter, but the others, including the +dragoman and the two wounded blacks, were allowed to mount without any +precaution against their escape, save that which was afforded by the +slowness of their beasts. Then, with a shouting of men and a roaring of +camels, the creatures were jolted on to their legs, and the long, +straggling procession set off with its back to the homely river, and its +face to the shimmering, violet haze, which hung round the huge sweep of +beautiful, terrible desert, striped tiger-fashion with black rock and +with golden sand. + +None of the white prisoners, with the exception of Colonel Cochrane, had +ever been upon a camel before. It seemed an alarming distance to the +ground when they looked down, and the curious swaying motion, with the +insecurity of the saddle, made them sick and frightened. But their +bodily discomfort was forgotten in the turmoil of bitter thoughts +within. What a chasm gaped between their old life and their new! And +yet how short was the time and space which divided them! Less than an +hour ago they had stood upon the summit of that rock, and had laughed +and chattered, or grumbled at the heat and flies, becoming peevish at +small discomforts. Headingly had been hypercritical over the tints of +Nature. They could not forget his own tint as he lay with his cheek +upon the black stone. Sadie had chattered about tailor-made dresses and +Parisian chiffons. Now she was clinging, half-crazy, to the pommel of a +wooden saddle, with suicide rising as a red star of hope in her mind. +Humanity, reason, argument--all were gone, and there remained the brutal +humiliation of force. And all the time, down there by the second rocky +point, their steamer was waiting for them--their saloon, with the white +napery and the glittering glasses, the latest novel, and the London +papers. The least imaginative of them could see it so clearly: the +white awning, Mrs. Shlesinger with her yellow sun-hat, Mrs. Belmont +lying back in the canvas chair. There it lay almost in sight of them, +that little floating chip broken off from home, and every silent, +ungainly step of the camels was carrying them more hopelessly away from +it. That very morning how beneficent Providence had appeared, how +pleasant was life!--a little commonplace, perhaps, but so soothing and +restful. And now! + +The red head-gear, patched jibbehs, and yellow boots had already shown +to the Colonel that these men were no wandering party of robbers, but a +troop from the regular army of the Khalifa. Now, as they struck across +the desert, they showed that they possessed the rude discipline which +their work demanded. A mile ahead, and far out on either flank, rode +their scouts, dipping and rising among the yellow sand-hills. Ali Wad +Ibrahim headed the caravan, and his short, sturdy lieutenant brought up +the rear. The main party straggled over a couple of hundred yards, and +in the middle was the little, dejected clump of prisoners. No attempt +was made to keep them apart, and Mr. Stephens soon contrived that his +camel should be between those of the two ladies. + +“Don’t be down-hearted, Miss Adams,” said he. “This is a most +indefensible outrage, but there can be no question that steps will be +taken in the proper quarter to set the matter right. I am convinced +that we shall be subjected to nothing worse than a temporary +inconvenience. If it had not been for that villain Mansoor, you need +not have appeared at all.” + +It was shocking to see the change in the little Bostonian lady, for she +had shrunk to an old woman in an hour. Her swarthy cheeks had fallen +in, and her eyes shone wildly from sunken, darkened sockets. +Her frightened glances were continually turned upon Sadie. There is +surely some wrecker angel which can only gather her best treasures in +moments of disaster. For here were all these worldlings going to their +doom, and already frivolity and selfishness had passed away from them, +and each was thinking and grieving only for the other. Sadie thought of +her aunt, her aunt thought of Sadie, the men thought of the women, +Belmont thought of his wife--and then he thought of something else also, +and he kicked his camel’s shoulder with his heel, until he found himself +upon the near side of Miss Adams. + +“I’ve got something for you here,” he whispered. “We may be separated +soon, so it is as well to make our arrangements.” + +“Separated!” wailed Miss Adams. + +“Don’t speak loud, for that infernal Mansoor may give us away again. +I hope it won’t be so, but it might. We must be prepared for the worst. +For example, they might determine to get rid of us men and to keep you.” + +Miss Adams shuddered. + +“What am I to do? For God’s sake tell me what I am to do, Mr. Belmont! +I am an old woman. I have had my day. I could stand it if it was only +myself. But Sadie--I am clean crazed when I think of her. There’s her +mother waiting at home, and I--” She clasped her thin hands together in +the agony of her thoughts. + +“Put your hand out under your dust-cloak,” said Belmont, sidling his +camel up against hers. “Don’t miss your grip of it. There! Now hide +it in your dress, and you’ll always have a key to unlock any door.” + +Miss Adams felt what it was which he had slipped into her hand, and she +looked at him for a moment in bewilderment. Then she pursed up her lips +and shook her stern, brown face in disapproval. But she pushed the +little pistol into its hiding-place, all the same, and she rode with her +thoughts in a whirl. Could this indeed be she, Eliza Adams, of Boston, +whose narrow, happy life had oscillated between the comfortable house in +Commonwealth Avenue and the Tremont Presbyterian Church? Here she was, +hunched upon a camel, with her hand upon the butt of a pistol, and her +mind weighing the justifications of murder. Oh, life, sly, sleek, +treacherous life, how are we ever to trust you? Show us your worst and +we can face it, but it is when you are sweetest and smoothest that we +have most to fear from you. + +“At the worst, Miss Sadie, it will only be a question of ransom,” said +Stephens, arguing against his own convictions. “Besides, we are still +close to Egypt, far away from the Dervish country. There is sure to be +an energetic pursuit. You must try not to lose your courage, and to +hope for the best.” + +“No, I am not scared, Mr. Stephens,” said Sadie, turning towards him a +blanched face which belied her words. “We’re all in God’s hands, and +surely He won’t be cruel to us. It is easy to talk about trusting Him +when things are going well, but now is the real test. If He’s up there +behind that blue heaven--” + +“He is,” said a voice behind them, and they found that the Birmingham +clergyman had joined the party. His tied hands clutched on to his +Makloofa saddle, and his fat body swayed dangerously from side to side +with every stride of the camel. His wounded leg was oozing with blood +and clotted with flies, and the burning desert sun beat down upon his +bare head, for he had lost both hat and umbrella in the scuffle. +A rising fever flecked his large, white cheeks with a touch of colour, +and brought a light into his brown ox-eyes. He had always seemed a +somewhat gross and vulgar person to his fellow-travellers. Now, this +bitter healing draught of sorrow had transformed him. He was purified, +spiritualised, exalted. He had become so calmly strong that he made the +others feel stronger as they looked upon him. He spoke of life and of +death, of the present, and their hopes of the future; and the black +cloud of their misery began to show a golden rift or two. Cecil Brown +shrugged his shoulders, for he could not change in an hour the +convictions of his life; but the others, even Fardet, the Frenchman, +were touched and strengthened. They all took off their hats when he +prayed. Then the Colonel made a turban out of his red silk cummerbund, +and insisted that Mr. Stuart should wear it. With his homely dress and +gorgeous headgear, he looked like a man who has dressed up to amuse the +children. + +And now the dull, ceaseless, insufferable torment of thirst was added to +the aching weariness which came from the motion of the camels. The sun +glared down upon them, and then up again from the yellow sand, and the +great plain shimmered and glowed until they felt as if they were riding +over a cooling sheet of molten metal. Their lips were parched and +dried, and their tongues like tags of leather. They lisped curiously in +their speech, for it was only the vowel sounds which would come without +an effort. Miss Adams’s chin had dropped upon her chest, and her great +hat concealed her face. + +“Auntie will faint if she does not get water,” said Sadie. “Oh, Mr. +Stephens, is there nothing we could do?” + +The Dervishes riding near were all Baggara with the exception of one +negro--an uncouth fellow with a face pitted with small-pox. +His expression seemed good-natured when compared with that of his Arab +comrades, and Stephens ventured to touch his elbow and to point to his +water-skin, and then to the exhausted lady. The negro shook his head +brusquely, but at the same time he glanced significantly towards the +Arabs, as if to say that, if it were not for them, he might act +differently. Then he laid his black forefinger upon the breast of his +jibbeh. + +“Tippy Tilly,” said he. + +“What’s that?” asked Colonel Cochrane. + +“Tippy Tilly,” repeated the negro, sinking his voice as if he wished +only the prisoners to hear him. + +The Colonel shook his head. + +“My Arabic won’t bear much strain. I don’t know what he is saying,” +said he. + +“Tippy Tilly. Hicks Pasha,” the negro repeated. + +“I believe the fellow is friendly to us, but I can’t quite make him +out,” said Cochrane to Belmont. “Do you think that he means that his +name is Tippy Tilly, and that he killed Hicks Pasha?” + +The negro showed his great white teeth at hearing his own words coming +back to him. “Aiwa!” said he. “Tippy Tilly--Bimbashi Mormer--Boum!” + +“By Jove, I’ve got it!” cried Belmont. “He’s trying to speak English. +Tippy Tilly is as near as he can get to Egyptian Artillery. He has +served in the Egyptian Artillery under Bimbashi Mortimer. He was taken +prisoner when Hicks Pasha was destroyed, and had to turn Dervish to save +his skin. How’s that?” + +The Colonel said a few words of Arabic and received a reply, but two of +the Arabs closed up, and the negro quickened his pace and left them. + +“You are quite right,” said the Colonel. “The fellow is friendly to us, +and would rather fight for the Khedive than for the Khalifa. I don’t +know that he can do us any good, but I’ve been in worse holes than this, +and come out right side up. After all, we are not out of reach of +pursuit, and won’t be for another forty-eight hours.” + +Belmont calculated the matter out in his slow, deliberate fashion. + +“It was about twelve that we were on the rock,” said he. “They would +become alarmed aboard the steamer if we did not appear at two.” + +“Yes,” the Colonel interrupted, “that was to be our lunch hour. +I remember saying that when I came back I would have--O Lord, it’s best +not to think of it!” + +“The reis was a sleepy old crock,” Belmont continued, “but I have +absolute confidence in the promptness and decision of my wife. +She would insist upon an immediate alarm being given. Suppose they +started back at two-thirty, they should be at Halfa by three, since the +journey is down stream. How long did they say that it took to turn out +the Camel Corps?” + +“Give them an hour.” + +“And another hour to get them across the river. They would be at the +Abousir Rock and pick up the tracks by six o’clock. After that it is a +clear race. We are only four hours ahead, and some of these beasts are +very spent. We may be saved yet, Cochrane!” + +“Some of us may. I don’t expect to see the padre alive to-morrow, nor +Miss Adams either. They are not made for this sort of thing either of +them. Then again we must not forget that these people have a trick of +murdering their prisoners when they see that there is a chance of a +rescue. See here, Belmont, in case you get back and I don’t, there’s a +matter of a mortgage that I want you to set right for me.” They rode on +with their shoulders inclined to each other, deep in the details of +business. + +The friendly negro who had talked of himself as Tippy Tilly had managed +to slip a piece of cloth soaked in water into the hand of Mr. Stephens, +and Miss Adams had moistened her lips with it. Even the few drops had +given her renewed strength, and now that the first crushing shock was +over, her wiry, elastic, Yankee nature began to reassert itself. + +“These people don’t look as if they would harm us, Mr. Stephens,” said +she. “I guess they have a working religion of their own, such as it is, +and that what’s wrong to us is wrong to them.” + +Stephens shook his head in silence. He had seen the death of the +donkey-boys, and she had not. + +“Maybe we are sent to guide them into a better path,” said the old lady. +“Maybe we are specially singled out for a good work among them.” + +If it were not for her niece her energetic and enterprising temperament +was capable of glorying in the chance of evangelising Khartoum, and +turning Omdurman into a little well-drained broad-avenued replica of a +New England town. + +“Do you know what I am thinking of all the time?” said Sadie. +“You remember that temple that we saw--when was it? Why, it was this +morning.” + +They gave an exclamation of surprise, all three of them. Yes, it had +been this morning; and it seemed away and away in some dim past +experience of their lives, so vast was the change, so new and so +overpowering the thoughts which had come between. They rode in silence, +full of this strange expansion of time, until at last Stephens reminded +Sadie that she had left her remark unfinished. + +“Oh yes; it was the wall picture on that temple that I was thinking of. +Do you remember the poor string of prisoners who are being dragged along +to the feet of the great king--how dejected they looked among the +warriors who led them? Who could--who _could_ have thought that within +three hours the same fate should be our own? And Mr. Headingly--” +She turned her face away and began to cry. + +“Don’t take on, Sadie,” said her aunt; “remember what the minister said +just now, that we are all right there in the hollow of God’s hand. +Where do you think we are going, Mr. Stephens?” + +The red edge of his Baedeker still projected from the lawyer’s pocket, +for it had not been worth their captor’s while to take it. He glanced +down at it. + +“If they will only leave me this, I will look up a few references when +we halt. I have a general idea of the country, for I drew a small map +of it the other day. The river runs from south to north, so we must be +travelling almost due west. I suppose they feared pursuit if they kept +too near the Nile bank. There is a caravan route, I remember, which +runs parallel to the river, about seventy miles inland. If we continue +in this direction for a day we ought to come to it. There is a line of +wells through which it passes. It comes out at Assiout, if I remember +right, upon the Egyptian side. On the other side, it leads away into +the Dervish country--so, perhaps--” + +His words were interrupted by a high, eager voice, which broke suddenly +into a torrent of jostling words, words without meaning, pouring +strenuously out in angry assertions and foolish repetitions. The pink +had deepened to scarlet upon Mr. Stuart’s cheeks, his eyes were vacant +but brilliant, and he gabbled, gabbled, gabbled as he rode. +Kindly mother Nature! she will not let her children be mishandled too +far. “This is too much,” she says; “this wounded leg, these crusted +lips, this anxious, weary mind. Come away for a time, until your body +becomes more habitable.” And so she coaxes the mind away into the +Nirvana of delirium, while the little cell-workers tinker and toil +within to get things better for its homecoming. When you see the veil +of cruelty which nature wears, try and peer through it, and you will +sometimes catch a glimpse of a very homely, kindly face behind. + +The Arab guards looked askance at this sudden outbreak of the clergyman, +for it verged upon lunacy, and lunacy is to them a fearsome and +supernatural thing. One of them rode forward and spoke with the Emir. +When he returned he said something to his comrades, one of whom closed +in upon each side of the minister’s camel, so as to prevent him from +falling. The friendly negro sidled his beast up to the Colonel, and +whispered to him. + +“We are going to halt presently, Belmont,” said Cochrane. + +“Thank God! They may give us some water. We can’t go on like this.” + +“I told Tippy Tilly that, if he could help us, we would turn him into a +Bimbashi when we got him back into Egypt. I think he’s willing enough +if he only had the power. By Jove, Belmont, do look back at the river.” + +Their route, which had lain through sand-strewn khors with jagged, black +edges--places up which one would hardly think it possible that a camel +could climb--opened out now on to a hard, rolling plain, covered thickly +with rounded pebbles, dipping and rising to the violet hills upon the +horizon. So regular were the long, brown pebble-strewn curves, that +they looked like the dark rollers of some monstrous ground-swell. Here +and there a little straggling sage-green tuft of camel-grass sprouted up +between the stones. Brown plains and violet hills--nothing else in +front of them! Behind lay the black jagged rocks through which they had +passed with orange slopes of sand, and then far away a thin line of +green to mark the course of the river. How cool and beautiful that +green looked in the stark, abominable wilderness! On one side they +could see the high rock--the accursed rock which had tempted them to +their ruin. On the other the river curved, and the sun gleamed upon the +water. Oh, that liquid gleam, and the insurgent animal cravings, the +brutal primitive longings, which for the instant took the soul out of +all of them! They had lost families, countries, liberty, everything, +but it was only of water, water, water, that they could think. Mr. +Stuart in his delirium began roaring for oranges, and it was +insufferable for them to have to listen to him. Only the rough, sturdy +Irishman rose superior to that bodily craving. That gleam of river must +be somewhere near Halfa, and his wife might be upon the very water at +which he looked. He pulled his hat over his eyes, and rode in gloomy +silence, biting at his strong, iron-grey moustache. + +Slowly the sun sank towards the west, and their shadows began to trail +along the path where their hearts would go. It was cooler, and a desert +breeze had sprung up, whispering over the rolling, stone-strewed plain. +The Emir at their head had called his lieutenant to his side, and the +pair had peered about, their eyes shaded by their hands, looking for +some landmark. Then, with a satisfied grunt, the chief’s camel had +seemed to break short off at its knees, and then at its hocks, going +down in three curious, broken-jointed jerks until its stomach was +stretched upon the ground. As each succeeding camel reached the spot it +lay down also, until they were all stretched in one long line. +The riders sprang off, and laid out the chopped tibbin upon cloths in +front of them, for no well-bred camel will eat from the ground. +In their gentle eyes, their quiet, leisurely way of eating, and their +condescending, mincing manner, there was something both feminine and +genteel, as though a party of prim old maids had foregathered in the +heart of the Libyan Desert. + +There was no interference with the prisoners, either male or female, for +how could they escape in the centre of that huge plain? The Emir came +towards them once, and stood combing out his blue-black beard with his +fingers, and looking thoughtfully at them out of his dark, sinister +eyes. Miss Adams saw with a shudder that it was always upon Sadie that +his gaze was fixed. Then, seeing their distress, he gave an order, and +a negro brought a water-skin, from which he gave each of them about half +a tumblerful. It was hot and muddy, and tasted of leather, but oh how +delightful it was to their parched palates! The Emir said a few abrupt +words to the dragoman, and left. + +“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mansoor began, with something of his old +consequential manner; but a glare from the Colonel’s eyes struck the +words from his lips, and he broke away into a long, whimpering excuse +for his conduct. + +“How could I do anything otherwise,” he wailed, “with the very knife at +my throat?” + +“You will have the very rope round your throat if we all see Egypt +again,” growled Cochrane savagely. “In the meantime--” + +“That’s all right, Colonel,” said Belmont. “But for our own sakes we +ought to know what the chief has said.” + +“For my part I’ll have nothing to do with the blackguard.” + +“I think that that is going too far. We are bound to hear what he has +to say.” Cochrane shrugged his shoulders. Privations had made him +irritable, and he had to bite his lip to keep down a bitter answer. +He walked slowly away, with his straight-legged military stride. + +“What did he say, then?” asked Belmont, looking at the dragoman with an +eye which was as stern as the Colonel’s. + +“He seems to be in a somewhat better manner than before. He said that +if he had more water you should have it, but that he is himself short in +supply. He said that to-morrow we shall come to the wells of Selimah, +and everybody shall have plenty--and the camels too.” + +“Did he say how long we stopped here?” + +“Very little rest, he said, and then forward! Oh, Mr. Belmont--” + +“Hold your tongue!” snapped the Irishman, and began once more to count +times and distances. If it all worked out as he expected, if his wife +had insisted upon the indolent reis giving an instant alarm at Halfa, +then the pursuers should be already upon their track. The Camel Corps +or the Egyptian Horse would travel by moonlight better and faster than +in the day-time. He knew that it was the custom at Halfa to keep at +least a squadron of them all ready to start at any instant. He had +dined at the mess, and the officers had told him how quickly they could +take the field. They had shown him the water-tanks and the food beside +each of the beasts, and he had admired the completeness of the +arrangements, with little thought as to what it might mean to him in the +future. It would be at least an hour before they would all get started +again from their present halting-place. That would be a clear hour +gained. Perhaps by next morning-- + +And then, suddenly, his thoughts were terribly interrupted. +The Colonel, raving like a madman, appeared upon the crest of the +nearest slope, with an Arab hanging on to each of his wrists. His face +was purple with rage and excitement, and he tugged and bent and writhed +in his furious efforts to get free. “You cursed murderers!” he +shrieked, and then, seeing the others in front of him, “Belmont,” he +cried, “they’ve killed Cecil Brown.” + +What had happened was this. In his conflict with his own ill-humour, +Cochrane had strolled over this nearest crest, and had found a group of +camels in the hollow beyond, with a little knot of angry, loud-voiced +men beside them. Brown was the centre of the group, pale, heavy-eyed, +with his upturned, spiky moustache and listless manner. They had +searched his pockets before, but now they were determined to tear off +all his clothes in the hope of finding something which he had secreted. +A hideous negro with silver bangles in his ears, grinned and jabbered in +the young diplomatist’s impassive face. There seemed to the Colonel to +be something heroic and almost inhuman in that white calm, and those +abstracted eyes. His coat was already open, and the Negro’s great black +paw flew up to his neck and tore his shirt down to the waist. And at +the sound of that r-r-rip, and at the abhorrent touch of those coarse +fingers, this man about town, this finished product of the nineteenth +century, dropped his life-traditions and became a savage facing a +savage. His face flushed, his lips curled back, he chattered his teeth +like an ape, and his eyes--those indolent eyes which had always twinkled +so placidly--were gorged and frantic. He threw himself upon the negro, +and struck him again and again, feebly but viciously, in his broad, +black face. He hit like a girl, round arm, with an open palm. The man +winced away for an instant, appalled by this sudden blaze of passion. +Then with an impatient, snarling cry, he slid a knife from his long +loose sleeve and struck upwards under the whirling arm. Brown sat down +at the blow and began to cough--to cough as a man coughs who has choked +at dinner, furiously, ceaselessly, spasm after spasm. Then the angry +red cheeks turned to a mottled pallor, there were liquid sounds in his +throat, and, clapping his hand to his mouth, he rolled over on to his +side. The negro, with a brutal grunt of contempt, slid his knife up his +sleeve once more, while the Colonel, frantic with impotent anger, was +seized by the bystanders, and dragged, raving with fury, back to his +forlorn party. His hands were lashed with a camel-halter, and he lay at +last, in bitter silence, beside the delirious Nonconformist. + +So Headingly was gone, and Cecil Brown was gone, and their haggard eyes +were turned from one pale face to another, to know which they should +lose next of that frieze of light-hearted riders who had stood out so +clearly against the blue morning sky, when viewed from the deck-chairs +of the _Korosko_. Two gone out of ten, and a third out of his mind. +The pleasure trip was drawing to its climax. + +Fardet, the Frenchman, was sitting alone with his chin resting upon his +hands, and his elbows upon his knees, staring miserably out over the +desert, when Belmont saw him start suddenly and prick up his head like a +dog who hears a strange step. Then, with clenched fingers, he bent his +face forward and stared fixedly towards the black eastern hills through +which they had passed. Belmont followed his gaze, and, yes-yes--there +was something moving there! He saw the twinkle of metal, and the sudden +gleam and flutter of some white garment. A Dervish vedette upon the +flank turned his camel twice round as a danger signal, and discharged +his rifle in the air. The echo of the crack had hardly died away before +they were all in their saddles, Arabs and negroes. Another instant, and +the camels were on their feet and moving slowly towards the point of +alarm. Several armed men surrounded the prisoners, slipping cartridges +into their Remingtons as a hint to them to remain still. + +“By Heaven, they are men on camels!” cried Cochrane, his troubles all +forgotten as he strained his eyes to catch sight of these new-comers. +“I do believe that it is our own people.” In the confusion he had tugged +his hands free from the halter which bound them. + +“They’ve been smarter than I gave them credit for,” said Belmont, his +eyes shining from under his thick brows. “They are here a long two +hours before we could have reasonably expected them. Hurrah, Monsieur +Fardet, _ça va bien, n’est ce pas?_” + +“Hurrah, hurrah! _merveilleusement bien! Vivent les Anglais! Vivent +les Anglais!_” yelled the excited Frenchman, as the head of a column of +camelry began to wind out from among the rocks. + +“See here, Belmont,” cried the Colonel. “These fellows will want to +shoot us if they see it is all up. I know their ways, and we must be +ready for it. Will you be ready to jump on the fellow with the blind +eye? and I’ll take the big nigger, if I can get my arms round him. +Stephens, you must do what you can. You, Fardet, _comprenez vous? +Il est necessaire_ to plug these Johnnies before they can hurt us. +You, dragoman, tell those two Soudanese soldiers that they must be +ready--but, but” ... his words died into a murmur, and he swallowed +once or twice. “These are Arabs,” said he, and it sounded like another +voice. + +Of all the bitter day, it was the very bitterest moment. Happy Mr. +Stuart lay upon the pebbles with his back against the ribs of his camel, +and chuckled consumedly at some joke which those busy little +cell-workers had come across in their repairs. His fat face was +wreathed and creased with merriment. But the others, how sick, how +heart-sick, were they all! The women cried. The men turned away in +that silence which is beyond tears. Monsieur Fardet fell upon his face, +and shook with dry sobbings. + +The Arabs were firing their rifles as a welcome to their friends, and +the others as they trotted their camels across the open returned the +salutes and waved their rifles and lances in the air. They were a +smaller band than the first one--not more than thirty--but dressed in +the same red headgear and patched jibbehs. One of them carried a small +white banner with a scarlet text scrawled across it. But there was +something there which drew the eyes and the thoughts of the tourists +away from everything else. The same fear gripped at each of their +hearts, and the same impulse kept each of them silent. They stared at a +swaying white figure half seen amidst the ranks of the desert warriors. + +“What’s that they have in the middle of them?” cried Stephens at last. +“Look, Miss Adams! Surely it is a woman!” + +There was something there upon a camel, but it was difficult to catch a +glimpse of it. And then suddenly, as the two bodies met, the riders +opened out, and they saw it plainly. + +“It’s a white woman!” + +“The steamer has been taken!” + +Belmont gave a cry that sounded high above everything. + +“Norah, darling,” he shouted, “keep your heart up! I’m here, and it is +all well!” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +So the _Korosko_ had been taken, and the chances of rescue upon which +they had reckoned--all those elaborate calculations of hours and +distances--were as unsubstantial as the mirage which shimmered upon the +horizon. There would be no alarm at Halfa until it was found that the +steamer did not return in the evening. Even now, when the Nile was only +a thin green band upon the farthest horizon, the pursuit had probably +not begun. In a hundred miles, or even less, they would be in the +Dervish country. How small, then, was the chance that the Egyptian +forces could overtake them. They all sank into a silent, sulky despair, +with the exception of Belmont, who was held back by the guards as he +strove to go to his wife’s assistance. + +The two bodies of camel-men had united, and the Arabs, in their grave, +dignified fashion, were exchanging salutations and experiences, while +the negroes grinned, chattered, and shouted, with the careless +good-humour which even the Koran has not been able to alter. The leader +of the new-comers was a greybeard, a worn, ascetic, high-nosed old man, +abrupt and fierce in his manner, and soldierly in his bearing. +The dragoman groaned when he saw him, and flapped his hands miserably +with the air of a man who sees trouble accumulating upon trouble. + +“It is the Emir Abderrahman,” said he. “I fear now that we shall never +come to Khartoum alive.” + +The name meant nothing to the others, but Colonel Cochrane had heard of +him as a monster of cruelty and fanaticism, a red-hot Moslem of the old +fighting, preaching dispensation, who never hesitated to carry the +fierce doctrines of the Koran to their final conclusions. He and the +Emir Wad Ibrahim conferred gravely together, their camels side by side, +and their red turbans inclined inwards, so that the black beard mingled +with the white one. Then they both turned and stared long and fixedly +at the poor, head-hanging huddle of prisoners. The younger man pointed +and explained, while his senior listened with a sternly impassive face. + +“Who’s that nice-looking old gentleman in the white beard?” asked Miss +Adams, who had been the first to rally from the bitter disappointment. + +“That is their leader now,” Cochrane answered. + +“You don’t say that he takes command over that other one?” + +“Yes, lady,” said the dragoman; “he is now the head of all.” + +“Well, that’s good for us. He puts me in mind of Elder Mathews who was +at the Presbyterian Church in Minister Scott’s time. Anyhow, I had +rather be in his power than in the hands of that black-haired one with +the flint eyes. Sadie, dear, you feel better now its cooler, don’t +you?” + +“Yes, auntie; don’t you fret about me. How are you yourself?” + +“Well, I’m stronger in faith than I was. I set you a poor example, +Sadie, for I was clean crazed at first at the suddenness of it all, and +at thinking of what your mother, who trusted you to me, would think +about it. My land, there’ll be some head-lines in the _Boston Herald_ +over this! I guess somebody will have to suffer for it.” + +“Poor Mr. Stuart!” cried Sadie, as the monotonous droning voice of the +delirious man came again to their ears. “Come, auntie, and see if we +cannot do something to relieve him.” + +“I’m uneasy about Mrs. Shlesinger and the child,” said Colonel Cochrane. +“I can see your wife, Belmont, but I can see no one else.” + +“They are bringing her over,” cried he. “Thank God! We shall hear all +about it. They haven’t hurt you, Norah, have they?” He ran forward to +grasp and kiss the hand which his wife held down to him as he helped her +from the camel. + +The kind grey eyes and calm sweet face of the Irishwoman brought comfort +and hope to the whole party. She was a devout Roman Catholic, and it is +a creed which forms an excellent prop in hours of danger. To her, to +the Anglican Colonel, to the Nonconformist minister, to the Presbyterian +American, even to the two Pagan black riflemen, religion in its various +forms was fulfilling the same beneficent office--whispering always that +the worst which the world can do is a small thing, and that, however +harsh the ways of Providence may seem, it is, on the whole, the wisest +and best thing for us that we should go cheerfully whither the Great +Hand guides us. They had not a dogma in common, these fellows in +misfortune; but they held the intimate, deep-lying spirit, the calm, +essential fatalism which is the world-old framework of religion, with +fresh crops of dogmas growing like ephemeral lichens upon its granite +surface. + +“You poor things!” she said. “I can see that you have had a much worse +time than I have. No, really, John, dear, I am quite well--not even +very thirsty, for our party filled their water-skins at the Nile, and +they let me have as much as I wanted. But I don’t see Mr. Headingly and +Mr. Brown. And poor Mr. Stuart--what a state he has been reduced to!” + +“Headingly and Brown are out of their troubles,” her husband answered. +“You don’t know how often I have thanked God to-day, Norah, that you +were not with us. And here you are, after all.” + +“Where should I be but by my husband’s side? I had much, _much_ rather +be here than safe at Halfa.” + +“Has any news gone to the town?” asked the Colonel. + +“One boat escaped. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child and maid were in it. +I was downstairs in my cabin when the Arabs rushed on to the vessel. +Those on deck had time to escape, for the boat was alongside. I don’t +know whether any of them were hit. The Arabs fired at them for some +time.” + +“Did they?” cried Belmont exultantly, his responsive Irish nature +catching the sunshine in an instant. “Then, be Jove, we’ll do them yet, +for the garrison must have heard the firing. What d’ye think, Cochrane? +They must be full cry upon our scent this four hours. Any minute we +might see the white puggaree of a British officer coming over that +rise.” + +But disappointment had left the Colonel cold and sceptical. + +“They need not come at all unless they come strong,” said he. +“These fellows are picked men with good leaders, and on their own ground +they will take a lot of beating.” Suddenly he paused and looked at the +Arabs. “By George!” said he, “that’s a sight worth seeing!” + +The great red sun was down with half its disc slipped behind the violet +bank upon the horizon. It was the hour of Arab prayer. An older and +more learned civilisation would have turned to that magnificent thing +upon the skyline and adored _that_. But these wild children of the +desert were nobler in essentials than the polished Persian. To them the +ideal was higher than the material, and it was with their backs to the +sun and their faces to the central shrine of their religion that they +prayed. And how they prayed, these fanatical Moslems! Rapt, absorbed, +with yearning eyes and shining faces, rising, stooping, grovelling with +their foreheads upon their praying carpets. Who could doubt, as he +watched their strenuous, heart-whole devotion, that here was a great +living power in the world, reactionary but tremendous, countless +millions all thinking as one from Cape Juby to the confines of China? +Let a common wave pass over them, let a great soldier or organiser arise +among them to use the grand material at his hand, and who shall say that +this may not be the besom with which Providence may sweep the rotten, +decadent, impossible, half-hearted south of Europe, as it did a thousand +years ago, until it makes room for a sounder stock? + +And now as they rose to their feet the bugle rang out, and the prisoners +understood that, having travelled all day, they were fated to travel all +night also. Belmont groaned, for he had reckoned upon the pursuers +catching them up before they left this camp. But the others had already +got into the way of accepting the inevitable. A flat Arab loaf had been +given to each of them--what effort of the _chef_ of the post-boat had +ever tasted like that dry brown bread?--and then, luxury of luxuries, +they had a second ration of a glass of water, for the fresh-filled bags +of the newcomers had provided an ample supply. If the body would but +follow the lead of the soul as readily as the soul does that of the +body, what a heaven the earth might be! Now, with their base material +wants satisfied for the instant, their spirits began to sing within +them, and they mounted their camels with some sense of the romance of +their position. Mr. Stuart remained babbling upon the ground, and the +Arabs made no effort to lift him into his saddle. His large, white, +upturned face glimmered through the gathering darkness. + +“Hi, dragoman, tell them that they are forgetting Mr. Stuart,” cried the +Colonel. + +“No use, sir,” said Mansoor. “They say that he is too fat, and that +they will not take him any farther. He will die, they say, and why +should they trouble about him?” + +“Not take him!” cried Cochrane. “Why, the man will perish of hunger and +thirst. Where’s the Emir? Hi!” he shouted, as the black-bearded Arab +passed, with a tone like that in which he used to summon a dilatory +donkey-boy. The chief did not deign to answer him, but said something +to one of the guards, who dashed the butt of his Remington into the +Colonel’s ribs. The old soldier fell forward gasping, and was carried +on half senseless, clutching at the pommel of his saddle. The women +began to cry, and the men, with muttered curses and clenched hands, +writhed in that hell of impotent passion, where brutal injustice and +ill-usage have to go without check or even remonstrance. Belmont +gripped at his hip-pocket for his little revolver, and then remembered +that he had already given it to Miss Adams. If his hot hand had +clutched it, it would have meant the death of the Emir and the massacre +of the party. + +And now as they rode onwards they saw one of the most singular of the +phenomena of the Egyptian desert in front of them, though the +ill-treatment of their companion had left them in no humour for the +appreciation of its beauty. When the sun had sunk, the horizon had +remained of a slaty-violet hue. But now this began to lighten and to +brighten until a curious false dawn developed, and it seemed as if a +vacillating sun was coming back along the path which it had just +abandoned. A rosy pink hung over the west, with beautifully delicate +sea-green tints along the upper edge of it. Slowly these faded into +slate again, and the night had come. It was but twenty-four hours since +they had sat in their canvas chairs discussing politics by starlight on +the saloon deck of the _Korosko_; only twelve since they had breakfasted +there and had started spruce and fresh upon their last pleasure trip. +What a world of fresh impressions had come upon them since then! +How rudely they had been jostled out of their take-it-for-granted +complacency! The same shimmering silver stars, as they had looked upon +last night, the same thin crescent of moon--but they, what a chasm lay +between that old pampered life and this! + +The long line of camels moved as noiselessly as ghosts across the +desert. Before and behind were the silent, swaying white figures of the +Arabs. Not a sound anywhere, not the very faintest sound, until far +away behind them they heard a human voice singing in a strong, droning, +unmusical fashion. It had the strangest effect, this far-away voice, in +that huge inarticulate wilderness. And then there came a well-known +rhythm into that distant chant, and they could almost hear the words-- + + We nightly pitch our moving tent, + A day’s march nearer home. + +Was Mr. Stuart in his right mind again, or was it some coincidence of +his delirium, that he should have chosen this for his song? With moist +eyes his friends looked back through the darkness, for well they knew +that home was very near to this wanderer. Gradually the voice died away +into a hum, and was absorbed once more into the masterful silence of the +desert. + +“My dear old chap, I hope you’re not hurt?” said Belmont, laying his +hand upon Cochrane’s knee. + +The Colonel had straightened himself, though he still gasped a little in +his breathing. + +“I am all right again, now. Would you kindly show me which was the man +who struck me?” + +“It was the fellow in front there--with his camel beside Fardet’s.” + +“The young fellow with the moustache--I can’t see him very well in this +light, but I think I could pick him out again. Thank you, Belmont!” + +“But I thought some of your ribs were gone.” + +“No, it only knocked the wind out of me.” + +“You must be made of iron. It was a frightful blow. How could you +rally from it so quickly?” + +The Colonel cleared his throat and hummed and stammered. + +“The fact is, my dear Belmont--I’m sure you would not let it go +further--above all not to the ladies; but I am rather older than I used +to be, and rather than lose the military carriage which has always been +dear to me, I--” + +“Stays, be Jove!” cried the astonished Irishman. + +“Well, some slight artificial support,” said the Colonel stiffly, and +switched the conversation off to the chances of the morrow. + +It still comes back in their dreams to those who are left, that long +night’s march in the desert. It was like a dream itself, the silence of +it as they were borne forward upon those soft, shuffling sponge feet, +and the flitting, flickering figures which oscillated upon every side of +them. The whole universe seemed to be hung as a monstrous time-dial in +front of them. A star would glimmer like a lantern on the very level of +their path. They looked again, and it was a hand’s-breadth up, and +another was shining beneath it. Hour after hour the broad stream flowed +sedately across the deep blue background, worlds and systems drifting +majestically overhead, and pouring over the dark horizon. In their +vastness and their beauty there was a vague consolation to the +prisoners; for their own fate, and their own individuality, seemed +trivial and unimportant amid the play of such tremendous forces. +Slowly the grand procession swept across the heaven, first climbing, +then hanging long with little apparent motion, and then sinking grandly +downwards, until away in the east the first cold grey glimmer appeared, +and their own haggard faces shocked each other’s sight. + +The day had tortured them with its heat, and now the night had brought +the even more intolerable discomfort of cold. The Arabs swathed +themselves in their gowns and wrapped up their heads. The prisoners +beat their hands together and shivered miserably. Miss Adams felt it +most, for she was very thin, with the impaired circulation of age. +Stephens slipped off his Norfolk jacket and threw it over her shoulders. +He rode beside Sadie, and whistled and chatted to make her believe that +her aunt was really relieving him by carrying his jacket for him, but +the attempt was too boisterous not to be obvious; and yet it was so far +true that he probably felt the cold less than any of the party, for the +old, old fire was burning in his heart, and a curious joy was +inextricably mixed with all his misfortunes, so that he would have found +it hard to say if this adventure had been the greatest evil or the +greatest blessing of his lifetime. Aboard the boat, Sadie’s youth, her +beauty, her intelligence and humour, all made him realise that she could +at the best only be expected to charitably endure him. But now he felt +that he was really of some use to her, that every hour she was learning +to turn to him as one turns to one’s natural protector; and above all, +he had begun to find himself--to understand that there really was a +strong, reliable man behind all the tricks of custom which had built up +an artificial nature, which had imposed even upon himself. A little +glow of self-respect began to warm his blood. He had missed his youth +when he was young, and now in his middle age it was coming up like some +beautiful belated flower. + +“I do believe that you are all the time enjoying it, Mr. Stephens,” said +Sadie with some bitterness. + +“I would not go so far as to say that,” he answered. “But I am quite +certain that I would not leave you here.” + +It was the nearest approach to tenderness which he had ever put into a +speech, and the girl looked at him in surprise. + +“I think I’ve been a very wicked girl all my life,” she said after a +pause. “Because I have had a good time myself, I never thought of those +who were unhappy. This has struck me serious. If ever I get back I +shall be a better woman--a more earnest woman--in the future.” + +“And I a better man. I suppose it is just for that that trouble comes +to us. Look how it has brought out the virtues of all our friends. +Take poor Mr. Stuart, for example. Should we ever have known what a +noble, constant man he was? And see Belmont and his wife, in front of +us there, going fearlessly forward, hand in hand, thinking only of each +other. And Cochrane, who always seemed on board the boat to be a rather +stand-offish, narrow sort of man! Look at his courage, and his +unselfish indignation when any one is ill used. Fardet, too, is as +brave as a lion. I think misfortune has done us all good.” + +Sadie sighed. + +“Yes, if it would end right here one might say so; but if it goes on and +on for a few weeks or months of misery, and then ends in death, I don’t +know where we reap the benefit of those improvements of character which +it brings. Suppose you escape, what will you do?” + +The lawyer hesitated, but his professional instincts were still strong. + +“I will consider whether an action lies, and against whom. It should be +with the organisers of the expedition for taking us to the Abousir +Rock--or else with the Egyptian Government for not protecting their +frontiers. It will be a nice legal question. And what will you do, +Sadie?” + +It was the first time that he had ever dropped the formal Miss, but the +girl was too much in earnest to notice it. + +“I will be more tender to others,” she said. “I will try to make some +one else happy in memory of the miseries which I have endured.” + +“You have done nothing all your life but made others happy. You cannot +help doing it,” said he. The darkness made it more easy for him to +break through the reserve which was habitual with him. “You need this +rough schooling far less than any of us. How could your character be +changed for the better?” + +“You show how little you know me. I have been very selfish and +thoughtless.” + +“At least you had no need for all these strong emotions. You were +sufficiently alive without them. Now it has been different with me.” + +“Why did you need emotions, Mr. Stephens?” + +“Because anything is better than stagnation. Pain is better than +stagnation. I have only just begun to live. Hitherto I have been a +machine upon the earth’s surface. I was a one-ideaed man, and a +one-ideaed man is only one remove from a dead man. That is what I have +only just begun to realise. For all these years I have never been +stirred, never felt a real throb of human emotion pass through me. +I had no time for it. I had observed it in others, and I had vaguely +wondered whether there was some want in me which prevented my sharing +the experience of my fellow-mortals. But now these last few days have +taught me how keenly I can live--that I can have warm hopes, and deadly +fears--that I can hate, and that I can--well, that I can have every +strong feeling which the soul can experience. I have come to life. I +may be on the brink of the grave, but at least I can say now that I have +lived.” + +“And why did you lead this soul-killing life in England?” + +“I was ambitious--I wanted to get on. And then there were my mother and +my sisters to be thought of. Thank Heaven, here is the morning coming. +Your aunt and you will soon cease to feel the cold.” + +“And you without your coat!” + +“Oh, I have a very good circulation. I can manage very well in my +shirt-sleeves.” + +And now the long, cold, weary night was over, and the deep blue-black +sky had lightened to a wonderful mauve-violet, with the larger stars +still glinting brightly out of it. Behind them the grey line had crept +higher and higher, deepening into a delicate rose-pink, with the +fan-like rays of the invisible sun shooting and quivering across it. +Then, suddenly, they felt its warm touch upon their backs, and there +were hard black shadows upon the sand in front of them. The Dervishes +loosened their cloaks and proceeded to talk cheerily among themselves. +The prisoners also began to thaw, and eagerly ate the doora which was +served out for their breakfasts. A short halt had been called, and a +cup of water handed to each. + +“Can I speak to you, Colonel Cochrane?” asked the dragoman. + +“No, you can’t,” snapped the Colonel. + +“But it is very important--all our safety may come from it.” + +The Colonel frowned and pulled at his moustache. + +“Well, what is it?” he asked at last. + +“You must trust to me, for it is as much to me as to you to get back to +Egypt. My wife and home, and children, are on one part, and a slave for +life upon the other. You have no cause to doubt it.” + +“Well, go on!” + +“You know the black man who spoke with you--the one who had been with +Hicks?” + +“Yes, what of him?” + +“He has been speaking with me during the night. I have had a long talk +with him. He said that he could not very well understand you, nor you +him, and so he came to me.” + +“What did he say?” + +“He said that there were eight Egyptian soldiers among the Arabs--six +black and two fellaheen. He said that he wished to have your promise +that they should all have very good reward if they helped you to +escape.” + +“Of course they shall.” + +“They asked for one hundred Egyptian pounds each.” + +“They shall have it.” + +“I told him that I would ask you, but that I was sure that you would +agree to it.” + +“What do they propose to do?” + +“They could promise nothing, but what they thought best was that they +should ride their camels not very far from you, so that if any chance +should come they would be ready to take advantage.” + +“Well, you can go to him and promise two hundred pounds each if they +will help us. You do not think we could buy over some Arabs?” + +Mansoor shook his head. “Too much danger to try,” said he. +“Suppose you try and fail, then that will be the end to all of us. +I will go tell what you have said.” He strolled off to where the old +negro gunner was grooming his camel and waiting for his reply. + +The Emirs had intended to halt for a half-hour at the most, but the +baggage-camels which bore the prisoners were so worn out with the long, +rapid march, that it was clearly impossible that they should move for +some time. They had laid their long necks upon the ground, which is the +last symptom of fatigue. The two chiefs shook their heads when they +inspected them, and the terrible old man looked with his hard-lined, +rock features at the captives. Then he said something to Mansoor, whose +face turned a shade more sallow as he listened. + +“The Emir Abderrahman says that if you do not become Moslem, it is not +worth while delaying the whole caravan in order to carry you upon the +baggage-camels. If it were not for you, he says that we could travel +twice as fast. He wishes to know therefore, once for ever, if you will +accept the Koran.” Then in the same tone, as if he were still +translating, he continued: “You had far better consent, for if you do +not he will most certainly put you all to death.” + +The unhappy prisoners looked at each other in despair. The two Emirs +stood gravely watching them. + +“For my part,” said Cochrane, “I had as soon die now as be a slave in +Khartoum.” + +“What do you say, Norah?” asked Belmont. + +“If we die together, John, I don’t think I shall be afraid.” + +“It is absurd that I should die for that in which I have never had +belief,” said Fardet. “And yet it is not possible for the honour of a +Frenchman that he should be converted in this fashion.” He drew himself +up, with his wounded wrist stuck into the front of his jacket, “_Je suis +Chretien. J’y reste,_” he cried, a gallant falsehood in each sentence. + +“What do you say, Mr. Stephens?” asked Mansoor in a beseeching voice. +“If one of you would change, it might place them in a good humour. +I implore you that you do what they ask.” + +“No, I can’t,” said the lawyer quietly. + +“Well then, you, Miss Sadie? You, Miss Adams? It is only just to say +it once, and you will be saved.” + +“Oh, auntie, do you think we might?” whimpered the frightened girl. +“Would it be so very wrong if we said it?” + +The old lady threw her arms round her. “No, no, my own dear little +Sadie,” she whispered. “You’ll be strong! You would just hate yourself +for ever after. Keep your grip of me, dear, and pray if you find your +strength is leaving you. Don’t forget that your old aunt Eliza has you +all the time by the hand.” + +For an instant they were heroic, this line of dishevelled, bedraggled +pleasure-seekers. They were all looking Death in the face, and the +closer they looked the less they feared him. They were conscious rather +of a feeling of curiosity, together with the nervous tingling with which +one approaches a dentist’s chair. The dragoman made a motion of his +hands and shoulders, as one who has tried and failed. The Emir +Abderrahman said something to a negro, who hurried away. + +“What does he want a scissors for?” asked the Colonel. + +“He is going to hurt the women,” said Mansoor, with the same gesture of +impotence. + +A cold chill fell upon them all. They stared about them in helpless +horror. Death in the abstract was one thing, but these insufferable +details were another. Each had been braced to endure any evil in his +own person, but their hearts were still soft for each other. The women +said nothing, but the men were all buzzing together. + +“There’s the pistol, Miss Adams,” said Belmont. “Give it here! +We won’t be tortured! We won’t stand it!” + +“Offer them money, Mansoor! Offer them anything!” cried Stephens. +“Look here, I’ll turn Mohammedan if they’ll promise to leave the women +alone. After all, it isn’t binding--it’s under compulsion. But I can’t +see the women hurt.” + +“No, wait a bit, Stephens!” said the Colonel. “We mustn’t lose our +heads. I think I see a way out. See here, dragoman! You tell that +grey-bearded old devil that we know nothing about his cursed tinpot +religion. Put it smooth when you translate it. Tell him that he cannot +expect us to adopt it until we know what particular brand of rot it is +that he wants us to believe. Tell him that if he will instruct us, we +are perfectly willing to listen to his teaching, and you can add that +any creed which turns out such beauties as him, and that other bounder +with the black beard, must claim the attention of every one.” + +With bows and suppliant sweepings of his hands the dragoman explained +that the Christians were already full of doubt, and that it needed but a +little more light of knowledge to guide them on to the path of Allah. +The two Emirs stroked their beards and gazed suspiciously at them. +Then Abderrahman spoke in his crisp, stern fashion to the dragoman, and +the two strode away together. An instant later the bugle rang out as a +signal to mount. + +“What he says is this,” Mansoor explained, as he rode in the middle of +the prisoners. “We shall reach the wells by mid-day, and there will be +a rest. His own Moolah, a very good and learned man, will come to give +you an hour of teaching. At the end of that time you will choose one +way or the other. When you have chosen, it will be decided whether you +are to go to Khartoum or to be put to death. That is his last word.” + +“They won’t take ransom?” + +“Wad Ibrahim would, but the Emir Abderrahman is a terrible man. +I advise you to give in to him.” + +“What have you done yourself? You are a Christian, too.” + +Mansoor blushed as deeply as his complexion would allow. + +“I was yesterday morning. Perhaps I will be to-morrow morning. I serve +the Lord as long as what He ask seem reasonable; but this is very +otherwise.” + +He rode onwards amongst the guards with a freedom which showed that his +change of faith had put him upon a very different footing to the other +prisoners. + +So they were to have a reprieve of a few hours, though they rode in that +dark shadow of death which was closing in upon them. What is there in +life that we should cling to it so? It is not the pleasures, for those +whose hours are one long pain shrink away screaming when they see +merciful Death holding his soothing arms out for them. It is not the +associations, for we will change all of them before we walk of our own +free-wills down that broad road which every son and daughter of man must +tread. Is it the fear of losing the I, that dear, intimate I, which we +think we know so well, although it is eternally doing things which +surprise us? Is it that which makes the deliberate suicide cling madly +to the bridge-pier as the river sweeps him by? Or is it that Nature is +so afraid that all her weary workmen may suddenly throw down their tools +and strike, that she has invented this fashion of keeping them constant +to their present work? But there it is, and all these tired, harassed, +humiliated folk rejoiced in the few more hours of suffering which were +left to them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +There was nothing to show them as they journeyed onwards that they were +not on the very spot that they had passed at sunset upon the evening +before. The region of fantastic black hills and orange sand which +bordered the river had long been left behind, and everywhere now was the +same brown, rolling, gravelly plain, the ground-swell with the shining +rounded pebbles upon its surface, and the occasional little sprouts of +sage-green camel-grass. Behind and before it extended, to where far +away in front of them it sloped upwards towards a line of violet hills. +The sun was not high enough yet to cause the tropical shimmer, and the +wide landscape, brown with its violet edging, stood out with a hard +clearness in that dry, pure air. The long caravan straggled along at +the slow swing of the baggage-camels. Far out on the flanks rode the +vedettes, halting at every rise, and peering backwards with their hands +shading their eyes. In the distance their spears and rifles seemed to +stick out of them, straight and thin, like needles in knitting. + +“How far do you suppose we are from the Nile?” asked Cochrane. He rode +with his chin on his shoulder and his eyes straining wistfully to the +eastern skyline. + +“A good fifty miles,” Belmont answered. + +“Not so much as that,” said the Colonel. “We could not have been moving +more than fifteen or sixteen hours, and a camel does not do more than +two and a half miles an hour unless it is trotting. That would only +give about forty miles, but still it is, I fear, rather far for a +rescue. I don’t know that we are much the better for this postponement. +What have we to hope for? We may just as well take our gruel.” + +“Never say die!” cried the cheery Irishman. “There’s plenty of time +between this and mid-day. Hamilton and Hedley of the Camel Corps are +good boys, and they’ll be after us like a streak. They’ll have no +baggage-camels to hold them back, you can lay your life on that! Little +did I think, when I dined with them at mess that last night, and they +were telling me all their precautions against a raid, that I should +depend upon them for our lives.” + +“Well, we’ll play the game out, but I’m not very hopeful,” said +Cochrane. “Of course, we must keep the best face we can before the +women. I see that Tippy Tilly is as good as his word, for those five +niggers and the two brown Johnnies must be the men he speaks of. +They all ride together and keep well up, but I can’t see how they are +going to help us.” + +“I’ve got my pistol back,” whispered Belmont, and his square chin and +strong mouth set like granite. “If they try any games on the women, I +mean to shoot them all three with my own hand, and then we’ll die with +our minds easy.” + +“Good man!” said Cochrane, and they rode on in silence. None of them +spoke much. A curious, dreamy, irresponsible feeling crept over them. +It was as if they had all taken some narcotic drug--the merciful anodyne +which Nature uses when a great crisis has fretted the nerves too far. +They thought of their friends and of their past lives in the +comprehensive way in which one views that which is completed. A subtle +sweetness mingled with the sadness of their fate. They were filled with +the quiet serenity of despair. + +“It’s devilish pretty,” said the Colonel, looking about him. “I always +had an idea that I should like to die in a real, good, yellow London +fog. You couldn’t change for the worse.” + +“I should have liked to have died in my sleep,” said Sadie. +“How beautiful to wake up and find yourself in the other world! +There was a piece that Hetty Smith used to say at the College: ‘Say not +good-night, but in some brighter world wish me good-morning.’” + +The Puritan aunt shook her head at the idea. “It’s a terrible thing to +go unprepared into the presence of your Maker,” said she. + +“It’s the loneliness of death that is terrible,” said Mrs. Belmont. +“If we and those whom we loved all passed over simultaneously, we should +think no more of it than of changing our house.” + +“If the worst comes to the worst, we won’t be lonely,” said her husband. +“We’ll all go together, and we shall find Brown and Headingly and Stuart +waiting on the other side.” + +The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders. He had no belief in survival +after death, but he envied the two Catholics the quiet way in which they +took things for granted. He chuckled to think of what his friends in +the Café Cubat would say if they learned that he had laid down his life +for the Christian faith. Sometimes it amused and sometimes it maddened +him, and he rode onwards with alternate gusts of laughter and of fury, +nursing his wounded wrist all the time like a mother with a sick baby. + +Across the brown of the hard, pebbly desert there had been visible for +some time a single long, thin, yellow streak, extending north and south +as far as they could see. It was a band of sand not more than a few +hundred yards across, and rising at the highest to eight or ten feet. +But the prisoners were astonished to observe that the Arabs pointed at +this with an air of the utmost concern, and they halted when they came +to the edge of it like men upon the brink of an unfordable river. +It was very light, dusty sand, and every wandering breath of wind sent +it dancing into the air like a whirl of midges. The Emir Abderrahman +tried to force his camel into it, but the creature, after a step or two, +stood still and shivered with terror. The two chiefs talked for a +little, and then the whole caravan trailed off with their heads for the +north, and the streak of sand upon their left. + +“What is it?” asked Belmont, who found the dragoman riding at his elbow. +“Why are we going out of our course?” + +“Drift sand,” Mansoor answered. “Every sometimes the wind bring it all +in one long place like that. To-morrow, if a wind comes, perhaps there +will not be one grain left, but all will be carried up into the air +again. An Arab will sometimes have to go fifty or a hundred miles to go +round a drift. Suppose he tries to cross, his camel breaks its legs, +and he himself is sucked in and swallowed.” + +“How long will this be?” + +“No one can say.” + +“Well, Cochrane, it’s all in our favour. The longer the chase the +better chance for the fresh camels!” and for the hundredth time he +looked back at the long, hard skyline behind them. There was the great, +empty, dun-coloured desert, but where the glint of steel or the twinkle +of white helmet for which he yearned? + +And soon they cleared the obstacle in their front. It spindled away +into nothing, as a streak of dust would which has been blown across an +empty room. It was curious to see that when it was so narrow that one +could almost jump it, the Arabs would still go for many hundreds of +yards rather than risk the crossing. Then, with good, hard country +before them once more, the tired beasts were whipped up, and they ambled +on with a double-jointed jogtrot, which set the prisoners nodding and +bowing in grotesque and ludicrous misery. It was fun at first, and they +smiled at each other, but soon the fun had become tragedy as the +terrible camel-ache seized them by spine and waist, with its deep, dull +throb, which rises gradually to a splitting agony. + +“I can’t stand it, Sadie,” cried Miss Adams suddenly. “I’ve done my +best. I’m going to fall.” + +“No, no, auntie, you’ll break your limbs if you do. Hold up, just a +little, and maybe they’ll stop.” + +“Lean back, and hold your saddle behind,” said the Colonel. +“There, you’ll find that will ease the strain.” He took the puggaree +from his hat, and tying the ends together, he slung it over her front +pommel. “Put your foot in the loop,” said he. “It will steady you like +a stirrup.” + +The relief was instant, so Stephens did the same for Sadie. +But presently one of the weary doora camels came down with a crash, its +limbs starred out as if it had split asunder, and the caravan had to +come down to its old sober gait. + +“Is this another belt of drift sand?” asked the Colonel presently. + +“No, it’s white,” said Belmont. “Here, Mansoor, what is that in front +of us?” + +But the dragoman shook his head. + +“I don’t know what it is, sir. I never saw the same thing before.” + +Right across the desert, from north to south, there was drawn a white +line, as straight and clear as if it had been slashed with chalk across +a brown table. It was very thin, but it extended without a break +from horizon to horizon. Tippy Tilly said something to the dragoman. + +“It’s the great caravan route,” said Mansoor. + +“What makes it white, then?” + +“The bones.” + +It seemed incredible, and yet it was true, for as they drew nearer they +saw that it was indeed a beaten track across the desert, hollowed out by +long usage, and so covered with bones that they gave the impression of a +continuous white ribbon. Long, snouty heads were scattered everywhere, +and the lines of ribs were so continuous that it looked in places like +the framework of a monstrous serpent. The endless road gleamed in the +sun as if it were paved with ivory. For thousands of years this had +been the highway over the desert, and during all that time no animal of +all those countless caravans had died there without being preserved by +the dry, antiseptic air. No wonder, then, that it was hardly possible +to walk down it now without treading upon their skeletons. + +“This must be the route I spoke of,” said Stephens. “I remember marking +it upon the map I made for you, Miss Adams. Baedeker says that it has +been disused on account of the cessation of all trade which followed the +rise of the Dervishes, but that it used to be the main road by which the +skins and gums of Darfur found their way down to Lower Egypt.” + +They looked at it with a listless curiosity, for there was enough to +engross them at present in their own fates. The caravan struck to the +south along the old desert track, and this Golgotha of a road seemed to +be a fitting avenue for that which awaited them at the end of it. +Weary camels and weary riders dragged on together towards their +miserable goal. + +And now, as the critical moment approached which was to decide their +fate, Colonel Cochrane, weighed down by his fears lest something +terrible should befall the women, put his pride aside to the extent of +asking the advice of the renegade dragoman. The fellow was a villain +and a coward, but at least he was an Oriental, and he understood the +Arab point of view. His change of religion had brought him into closer +contact with the Dervishes, and he had overheard their intimate talk. +Cochrane’s stiff, aristocratic nature fought hard before he could bring +himself to ask advice from such a man, and when he at last did so, it +was in the gruffest and most unconciliatory voice. + +“You know the rascals, and you have the same way of looking at things,” +said he. “Our object is to keep things going for another twenty-four +hours. After that it does not much matter what befalls us, for we shall +be out of the reach of rescue. But how can we stave them off for +another day?” + +“You know my advice,” the dragoman answered; “I have already answered it +to you. If you will all become as I have, you will certainly be carried +to Khartoum in safety. If you do not, you will never leave our next +camping-place alive.” + +The Colonel’s well-curved nose took a higher tilt, and an angry flush +reddened his thin cheeks. He rode in silence for a little, for his +Indian service had left him with a curried-prawn temper, which had had +an extra touch of cayenne added to it by his recent experiences. It was +some minutes before he could trust himself to reply. + +“We’ll set that aside,” said he at last. “Some things are possible and +some are not. This is not.” + +“You need only pretend.” + +“That’s enough,” said the Colonel abruptly. + +Mansoor shrugged his shoulders. + +“What is the use of asking me, if you become angry when I answer? +If you do not wish to do what I say, then try your own attempt. +At least you cannot say that I have not done all I could to save you.” + +“I’m not angry,” the Colonel answered after a pause, in a more +conciliatory voice, “but this is climbing down rather farther than we +care to go. Now, what I thought is this. You might, if you chose, give +this priest, or Moolah, who is coming to us, a hint that we really are +softening a bit upon the point. I don’t think, considering the hole +that we are in, that there can be very much objection to that. +Then, when he comes, we might play up and take an interest and ask for +more instruction, and in that way hold the matter over for a day or two. +Don’t you think that would be the best game?” + +“You will do as you like,” said Mansoor. “I have told you once for ever +what I think. If you wish that I speak to the Moolah, I will do so. +It is the fat, little man with the grey beard, upon the brown camel in +front there. I may tell you that he has a name among them for +converting the infidel, and he has a great pride in it, so that he would +certainly prefer that you were not injured if he thought that he might +bring you into Islam.” + +“Tell him that our minds are open, then,” said the Colonel. “I don’t +suppose the _padre_ would have gone so far, but now that he is dead I +think we may stretch a point. You go to him, Mansoor, and if you work +it well we will agree to forget what is past. By the way, has Tippy +Tilly said anything?” + +“No, sir. He has kept his men together, but he does not understand yet +how he can help you.” + +“Neither do I. Well, you go to the Moolah, then, and I’ll tell the +others what we have agreed.” + +The prisoners all acquiesced in the Colonel’s plan, with the exception +of the old New England lady, who absolutely refused even to show any +interest in the Mohammedan creed. “I guess I am too old to bow the knee +to Baal,” she said. The most that she would concede was that she would +not openly interfere with anything which her companions might say or do. + +“And who is to argue with the priest?” asked Fardet, as they all rode +together, talking the matter over. “It is very important that it should +be done in a natural way, for if he thought that we were only trying to +gain time, he would refuse to have any more to say to us.” + +“I think Cochrane should do it, as the proposal is his,” said Belmont. + +“Pardon me!” cried the Frenchman. “I will not say a word against our +friend the Colonel, but it is not possible that a man should be fitted +for everything. It will all come to nothing if he attempts it. +The priest will see through the Colonel.” + +“Will he?” said the Colonel with dignity. + +“Yes, my friend, he will, for, like most of your countrymen, you are +very wanting in sympathy for the ideas of other people, and it is the +great fault which I find with you as a nation.” + +“Oh, drop the politics!” cried Belmont impatiently. + +“I do not talk politics. What I say is very practical. How can Colonel +Cochrane pretend to this priest that he is really interested in his +religion when, in effect, there is no religion in the world to him +outside some little church in which he has been born and bred? I will +say this for the Colonel, that I do not believe he is at all a +hypocrite, and I am sure that he could not act well enough to deceive +such a man as this priest.” + +The Colonel sat with a very stiff back and the blank face of a man who +is not quite sure whether he is being complimented or insulted. + +“You can do the talking yourself if you like,” said he at last. +“I should be very glad to be relieved of it.” + +“I think that I am best fitted for it, since I am equally interested in +all creeds. When I ask for information, it is because in verity I +desire it, and not because I am playing a part.” + +“I certainly think that it would be much better if Monsieur Fardet would +undertake it,” said Mrs. Belmont with decision, and so the matter was +arranged. + +The sun was now high, and it shone with dazzling brightness upon the +bleached bones which lay upon the road. Again the torture of thirst +fell upon the little group of survivors, and again, as they rode with +withered tongues and crusted lips, a vision of the saloon of the +_Korosko_ danced like a mirage before their eyes, and they saw the white +napery, the wine-cards by the places, the long necks of the bottles, the +siphons upon the sideboard. Sadie, who had borne up so well, became +suddenly hysterical, and her shrieks of senseless laughter jarred +horribly upon their nerves. Her aunt on one side of her, and Mr. +Stephens on the other, did all they could to soothe her, and at last the +weary, overstrung girl relapsed into something between a sleep and a +faint, hanging limp over her pommel, and only kept from falling by the +friends who clustered round her. The baggage-camels were as weary as +their riders, and again and again they had to jerk at their nose-ropes +to prevent them from lying down. From horizon to horizon stretched that +one huge arch of speckless blue, and up its monstrous concavity crept +the inexorable sun, like some splendid but barbarous deity, who claimed +a tribute of human suffering as his immemorial right. + +Their course still lay along the old trade route, but their progress was +very slow, and more than once the two Emirs rode back together, and +shook their heads as they looked at the weary baggage-camels on which +the prisoners were perched. The greatest laggard of all was one which +was ridden by a wounded Soudanese soldier. It was limping badly with a +strained tendon, and it was only by constant prodding that it could be +kept with the others. The Emir Wad Ibrahim raised his Remington, as the +creature hobbled past, and sent a bullet through its brain. The wounded +man flew forwards out of the high saddle, and fell heavily upon the hard +track. His companions in misfortune, looking back, saw him stagger to +his feet with a dazed face. At the same instant a Baggara slipped down +from his camel with a sword in his hand. + +“Don’t look! don’t look!” cried Belmont to the ladies, and they all rode +on with their faces to the south. They heard no sound, but the Baggara +passed them a few minutes afterwards. He was cleaning his sword upon +the hairy neck of his camel, and he glanced at them with a quick, +malicious gleam of his teeth as he trotted by. But those who are at the +lowest pitch of human misery are at least secured against the future. +That vicious, threatening smile which might once have thrilled them left +them now unmoved--or stirred them at most to vague resentment. +There were many things to interest them in this old trade route, had +they been in a condition to take notice of them. Here and there along +its course were the crumbling remains of ancient buildings, so old that +no date could be assigned to them, but designed in some far-off +civilisation to give the travellers shade from the sun or protection +from the ever-lawless children of the desert. The mud bricks with which +these refuges were constructed showed that the material had been carried +over from the distant Nile. Once, upon the top of a little knoll, they +saw the shattered plinth of a pillar of red Assouan granite, with the +wide-winged symbol of the Egyptian god across it, and the cartouche of +the second Rameses beneath. After three thousand years one cannot get +away from the ineffaceable footprints of the warrior-king. It is surely +the most wonderful survival of history that one should still be able to +gaze upon him, high-nosed and masterful, as he lies with his powerful +arms crossed upon his chest, majestic even in decay, in the Gizeh +Museum. To the captives, the cartouche was a message of hope, as a sign +that they were not outside the sphere of Egypt. “They’ve left their +card here once, and they may again,” said Belmont, and they all tried to +smile. + +And now they came upon one of the most satisfying sights on which the +human eye can ever rest. Here and there, in the depressions at either +side of the road, there had been a thin scurf of green, which meant that +water was not very far from the surface. And then, quite suddenly, the +track dipped down into a bowl-shaped hollow, with a most dainty group of +palm-trees, and a lovely green sward at the bottom of it. The sun +gleaming upon that brilliant patch of clear, restful colour, with the +dark glow of the bare desert around it, made it shine like the purest +emerald in a setting of burnished copper. And then it was not its +beauty only, but its promise for the future: water, shade, all that +weary travellers could ask for. Even Sadie was revived by the cheery +sight, and the spent camels snorted and stepped out more briskly, +stretching their long necks and sniffing the air as they went. +After the unhomely harshness of the desert, it seemed to all of them +that they had never seen anything more beautiful than this. They looked +below at the green sward with the dark, star-like shadows of the +palm-crowns; then they looked up at those deep green leaves against the +rich blue of the sky, and they forgot their impending death in the +beauty of that Nature to whose bosom they were about to return. + +The wells in the centre of the grove consisted of seven large and two +small saucer-like cavities filled with peat-coloured water, enough to +form a plentiful supply for any caravan. Camels and men drank it +greedily, though it was tainted by the all-pervading natron. The camels +were picketed, the Arabs threw their sleeping-mats down in the shade, +and the prisoners, after receiving a ration of dates and of doora, were +told that they might do what they would during the heat of the day, and +that the Moolah would come to them before sunset. The ladies were given +the thicker shade of an acacia tree, and the men lay down under the +palms. The great green leaves swished slowly above them; they heard the +low hum of the Arab talk, and the dull champing of the camels, and then +in an instant, by that most mysterious and least understood of miracles, +one was in a green Irish valley, and another saw the long straight line +of Commonwealth Avenue, and a third was dining at a little round table +opposite to the bust of Nelson in the Army and Navy Club, and for him +the swishing of the palm branches had been transformed into the +long-drawn hum of Pall Mall. So the spirits went their several ways, +wandering back along the strange, un-traced tracks of the memory, while +the weary, grimy bodies lay senseless under the palm-trees in the Oasis +of the Libyan Desert. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Colonel Cochrane was awakened from his slumber by some one pulling at +his shoulder. As his eyes opened they fell upon the black, anxious face +of Tippy Tilly, the old Egyptian gunner. His crooked finger was laid +upon his thick, liver-coloured lips, and his dark eyes glanced from left +to right with ceaseless vigilance. + +“Lie quiet! Do not move!” he whispered, in Arabic. “I will lie here +beside you, and they cannot tell me from the others. You can understand +what I am saying?” + +“Yes, if you will talk slowly.” + +“Very good. I have no great trust in this black man, Mansoor. I had +rather talk direct with the Miralai.” + +“What have you to say?” + +“I have waited long, until they should all be asleep, and now in another +hour we shall be called to evening prayer. First of all, here is a +pistol, that you may not say that you are without arms.” + +It was a clumsy, old-fashioned thing, but the Colonel saw the glint of a +percussion cap upon the nipple, and knew that it was loaded. He slipped +it into the inner pocket of his Norfolk jacket. + +“Thank you,” said he; “speak slowly, so that I may understand you.” + +“There are eight of us who wish to go to Egypt. There are also four men +in your party. One of us, Mehemet Ali, has fastened twelve camels +together, which are the fastest of all save only those which are ridden +by the Emirs. There are guards upon watch, but they are scattered in +all directions. The twelve camels are close beside us here--those +twelve behind the acacia tree. If we can only get mounted and started, +I do not think that many can overtake us, and we shall have our rifles +for them. The guards are not strong enough to stop so many of us. +The water-skins are all filled, and we may see the Nile again by +to-morrow night.” + +The Colonel could not follow it all, but he understood enough to set a +little spring of hope bubbling in his heart. The last terrible day had +left its mark in his livid face and his hair, which was turning rapidly +to grey. He might have been the father of the spruce well-preserved +soldier who had paced with straight back and military stride up and down +the saloon deck of the Korosko. + +“That is excellent,” said he. “But what are we to do about the three +ladies?” The black soldier shrugged his shoulders. “Mefeesh!” said he. +“One of them is old, and in any case there are plenty more women if we +get back to Egypt. These will not come to any hurt, but they will be +placed in the harem of the Khalifa.” + +“What you say is nonsense,” said the Colonel sternly. “We shall take +our women with us, or we shall not go at all.” + +“I think it is rather you who talk the thing without sense,” the black +man answered angrily. “How can you ask my companions and me to do that +which must end in failure? For years we have waited for such a chance +as this, and now that it has come, you wish us to throw it away owing to +this foolishness about the women.” + +“What have we promised you if we come back to Egypt?” asked Cochrane. + +“Two hundred Egyptian pounds and promotion in the army--all upon the +word of an Englishman.” + +“Very good. Then you shall have three hundred each if you can make some +new plan by which you can take the women with you.” + +Tippy Tilly scratched his woolly head in his perplexity. + +“We might, indeed, upon some excuse, bring three more of the faster +camels round to this place. Indeed, there are three very good camels +among those which are near the cooking fire. But how are we to get the +women upon them?--and if we had them upon them, we know very well that +they would fall off when they began to gallop. I fear that you men will +fall off, for it is no easy matter to remain upon a galloping camel; but +as to the women, it is impossible. No, we shall leave the women, and if +you will not leave the women, then we shall leave all of you and start +by ourselves.” + +“Very good! Go!” said the Colonel abruptly, and settled down as if to +sleep once more. He knew that with Orientals it is the silent man who +is most likely to have his way. + +The negro turned and crept away for some little distance, where he was +met by one of his fellaheen comrades, Mehemet Ali, who had charge of the +camels. The two argued for some little time--for those three hundred +golden pieces were not to be lightly resigned. Then the negro crept +back to Colonel Cochrane. + +“Mehemet Ali has agreed,” said he. “He has gone to put the nose-rope +upon three more of the camels. But it is foolishness, and we are all +going to our death. Now come with me, and we shall awaken the women and +tell them.” + +The Colonel shook his companions and whispered to them what was in the +wind. Belmont and Fardet were ready for any risk. Stephens, to whom +the prospect of a passive death presented little terror, was seized with +a convulsion of fear when he thought of any active exertion to avoid it, +and shivered in all his long, thin limbs. Then he pulled out his +Baedeker and began to write his will upon the flyleaf, but his hand +twitched so that he was hardly legible. By some strange gymnastic of +the legal mind a death, even by violence, if accepted quietly, had a +place in the order of things, while a death which overtook one galloping +frantically over a desert was wholly irregular and discomposing. It was +not dissolution which he feared, but the humiliation and agony of a +fruitless struggle against it. + +Colonel Cochrane and Tippy Tilly had crept together under the shadow of +the great acacia tree to the spot where the women were lying. Sadie and +her aunt lay with their arms round each other, the girl’s head pillowed +upon the old woman’s bosom. Mrs. Belmont was awake, and entered into +the scheme in an instant. + +“But you must leave me,” said Miss Adams earnestly. “What does it +matter at my age, anyhow?” + +“No, no, Aunt Eliza; I won’t move without you! Don’t you think it!” +cried the girl. “You’ve got to come straight away or else we both stay +right here where we are.” + +“Come, come, ma’am, there is no time for arguing, or nonsense,” said the +Colonel roughly. “Our lives all depend upon your making an effort, and +we cannot possibly leave you behind.” + +“But I will fall off.” + +“I’ll tie you on with my puggaree. I wish I had the cummerbund which I +lent poor Stuart. Now, Tippy, I think we might make a break for it!” + +But the black soldier had been staring with a disconsolate face out over +the desert, and he turned upon his heel with an oath. + +“There!” said he sullenly. “You see what comes of all your foolish +talking! You have ruined our chances as well as your own!” + +Half-a-dozen mounted camel-men had appeared suddenly over the lip of the +bowl-shaped hollow, standing out hard and clear against the evening sky +where the copper basin met its great blue lid. They were travelling +fast, and waved their rifles as they came. An instant later the bugle +sounded an alarm, and the camp was up with a buzz like an overturned +bee-hive. The Colonel ran back to his companions, and the black soldier +to his camel. Stephens looked relieved, and Belmont sulky, while +Monsieur Fardet raved, with his one uninjured hand in the air. + +“Sacred name of a dog!” he cried. “Is there no end to it, then? Are we +never to come out of the hands of these accursed Dervishes?” + +“Oh, they really are Dervishes, are they?” said the Colonel in an acid +voice. “You seem to be altering your opinions. I thought they were an +invention of the British Government.” + +The poor fellows’ tempers were getting frayed and thin. The Colonel’s +sneer was like a match to a magazine, and in an instant the Frenchman +was dancing in front of him with a broken torrent of angry words. +His hand was clutching at Cochrane’s throat before Belmont and Stephens +could pull him off. + +“If it were not for your grey hairs--” he said. + +“Damn your impudence!” cried the Colonel. + +“If we have to die, let us die like gentlemen, and not like so many +corner-boys,” said Belmont with dignity. + +“I only said I was glad to see that Monsieur Fardet has learned +something from his adventures,” the Colonel sneered. + +“Shut up, Cochrane! What do you want to aggravate him for?” cried the +Irishman. + +“Upon my word, Belmont, you forget yourself! I do not permit people to +address me in this fashion.” + +“You should look after your own manners, then.” + +“Gentlemen, gentlemen, here are the ladies!” cried Stephens, and the +angry, over-strained men relapsed into a gloomy silence, pacing up and +down, and jerking viciously at their moustaches. It is a very catching +thing, ill-temper, for even Stephens began to be angry at their anger, +and to scowl at them as they passed him. Here they were at a crisis in +their fate, with the shadow of death above them, and yet their minds +were all absorbed in some personal grievance so slight that they could +hardly put it into words. Misfortune brings the human spirit to a rare +height, but the pendulum still swings. + +But soon their attention was drawn away to more important matters. +A council of war was being held beside the wells, and the two Emirs, +stern and composed, were listening to a voluble report from the leader +of the patrol. The prisoners noticed that, though the fierce, old man +stood like a graven image, the younger Emir passed his hand over his +beard once or twice with a nervous gesture, the thin, brown fingers +twitching among the long, black hair. + +“I believe the Gippies are after us,” said Belmont. “Not very far off +either, to judge by the fuss they are making.” + +“It looks like it. Something has scared them.” + +“Now he’s giving orders. What can it be? Here, Mansoor, what is the +matter?” + +The dragoman came running up with the light of hope shining upon his +brown face. + +“I think they have seen something to frighten them. I believe that the +soldiers are behind us. They have given the order to fill the +water-skins, and be ready for a start when the darkness comes. But I am +ordered to gather you together, for the Moolah is coming to convert you +all. I have already told him that you are all very much inclined to +think the same with him.” + +How far Mansoor may have gone with his assurances may never be known, +but the Mussulman preacher came walking towards them at this moment with +a paternal and contented smile upon his face, as one who has a pleasant +and easy task before him. He was a one-eyed man, with a fringe of +grizzled beard and a face which was fat, but which looked as if it had +once been fatter, for it was marked with many folds and creases. He had +a green turban upon his head, which marked him as a Mecca pilgrim. +In one hand he carried a small brown carpet, and in the other a +parchment copy of the Koran. Laying his carpet upon the ground, he +motioned Mansoor to his side, and then gave a circular sweep of his arm +to signify that the prisoners should gather round him, and a downward +wave which meant that they should be seated. So they grouped themselves +round him, sitting on the short green sward under the palm-tree, these +seven forlorn representatives of an alien creed, and in the midst of +them sat the fat little preacher, his one eye dancing from face to face +as he expounded the principles of his newer, cruder, and more earnest +faith. They listened attentively and nodded their heads as Mansoor +translated the exhortation, and with each sign of their acquiescence the +Moolah became more amiable in his manner and more affectionate in his +speech. + +“For why should you die, my sweet lambs, when all that is asked of you +is that you should set aside that which will carry you to everlasting +Gehenna, and accept the law of Allah as written by his prophet, which +will assuredly bring you unimaginable joys, as is promised in the Book +of the Camel? For what says the chosen one?”--and he broke away into +one of those dogmatic texts which pass in every creed as an argument. +“Besides, is it not clear that God is with us, since from the beginning, +when we had but sticks against the rifles of the Turks, victory has +always been with us? Have we not taken El Obeid, and taken Khartoum, +and destroyed Hicks and slain Gordon, and prevailed against every one +who has come against us? How, then, can it be said that the blessing of +Allah does not rest upon us?” + +The Colonel had been looking about him during the long exhortation of +the Moolah, and he had observed that the Dervishes were cleaning their +guns, counting their cartridges, and making all the preparations of men +who expected that they might soon be called upon to fight. The two +Emirs were conferring together with grave faces, and the leader of the +patrol pointed, as he spoke to them, in the direction of Egypt. It was +evident that there was at least a chance of a rescue if they could only +keep things going for a few more hours. The camels were not recovered +yet from their long march, and the pursuers, if they were indeed close +behind, were almost certain to overtake them. + +“For God’s sake, Fardet, try and keep him in play,” said he. “I believe +we have a chance if we can only keep the ball rolling for another hour +or so.” + +But a Frenchman’s wounded dignity is not so easily appeased. Monsieur +Fardet sat moodily with his back against the palm-tree, and his black +brows drawn down. He said nothing, but he still pulled at his thick, +strong moustache. + +“Come on, Fardet! We depend upon you,” said Belmont. + +“Let Colonel Cochrane do it,” the Frenchman answered snappishly. +“He takes too much upon himself this Colonel Cochrane.” + +“There! There!” said Belmont soothingly, as if he were speaking to a +fractious child. “I am quite sure that the Colonel will express his +regret at what has happened, and will acknowledge that he was in the +wrong--” + +“I’ll do nothing of the sort,” snapped the Colonel. + +“Besides, that is merely a personal quarrel,” Belmont continued hastily. +“It is for the good of the whole party that we wish you to speak with +the Moolah, because we all feel that you are the best man for the job.” + +But the Frenchman only shrugged his shoulders and relapsed into a deeper +gloom. + + +The Moolah looked from one to the other, and the kindly expression began +to fade away from his large, baggy face. His mouth drew down at the +corners, and became hard and severe. + +“Have these infidels been playing with us, then?” said he to the +dragoman. “Why is it that they talk among themselves and have nothing +to say to me?” + +“He’s getting impatient about it,” said Cochrane. “Perhaps I had better +do what I can, Belmont, since this damned fellow has left us in the +lurch.” + +But the ready wit of a woman saved the situation. + +“I am sure, Monsieur Fardet,” said Mrs. Belmont, “that you, who are a +Frenchman, and therefore a man of gallantry and honour, would not permit +your own wounded feelings to interfere with the fulfilment of your +promise and your duty towards three helpless ladies.” + +Fardet was on his feet in an instant, with his hand over his heart. + +“You understand my nature, madame,” he cried. “I am incapable of +abandoning a lady. I will do all that I can in this matter. Now, +Mansoor, you may tell the holy man that I am ready to discuss through +you the high matters of his faith with him.” + +And he did it with an ingenuity which amazed his companions. He took +the tone of a man who is strongly attracted, and yet has one single +remaining shred of doubt to hold him back. Yet as that one shred was +torn away by the Moolah, there was always some other stubborn little +point which prevented his absolute acceptance of the faith of Islam. +And his questions were all so mixed up with personal compliments to the +priest and self-congratulations that they should have come under the +teachings of so wise a man and so profound a theologian, that the +hanging pouches under the Moolah’s eyes quivered with his satisfaction, +and he was led happily and hopefully onwards from explanation to +explanation, while the blue overhead turned into violet, and the green +leaves into black, until the great serene stars shone out once more +between the crowns of the palm-trees. + +“As to the learning of which you speak, my lamb,” said the Moolah, in +answer to some argument of Fardet’s, “I have myself studied at the +University of El Azhar at Cairo, and I know that to which you allude. +But the learning of the faithful is not as the learning of the +unbeliever, and it is not fitting that we pry too deeply into the ways +of Allah. Some stars have tails, oh my sweet lamb, and some have not; +but what does it profit us to know which are which? For God made them +all, and they are very safe in His hands. Therefore, my friend, be not +puffed up by the foolish learning of the West, and understand that there +is only one wisdom, which consists in following the will of Allah as His +chosen prophet has laid it down for us in this book. And now, my lambs, +I see that you are ready to come into Islam, and it is time, for that +bugle tells that we are about to march, and it was the order of the +excellent Emir Abderrahman that your choice should be taken, one way or +the other, before ever we left the wells.” + +“Yet, my father, there are other points upon which I would gladly have +instruction,” said the Frenchman, “for, indeed, it is a pleasure to hear +your clear words after the cloudy accounts which we have had from other +teachers.” + +But the Moolah had risen, and a gleam of suspicion twinkled in his +single eye. + +“This further instruction may well come afterwards,” said he, “since we +shall travel together as far as Khartoum, and it will be a joy to me to +see you grow in wisdom and in virtue as we go.” He walked over to the +fire, and stooping down, with the pompous slowness of a stout man, he +returned with two half-charred sticks, which he laid cross-wise upon the +ground. The Dervishes came clustering over to see the new converts +admitted into the fold. They stood round in the dim light, tall and +fantastic, with the high necks and supercilious heads of the camels +swaying above them. + +“Now,” said the Moolah, and his voice had lost its conciliatory and +persuasive tone, “there is no more time for you. Here upon the ground I +have made out of two sticks the foolish and superstitious symbol of your +former creed. You will trample upon it, as a sign that you renounce it, +and you will kiss the Koran, as a sign that you accept it, and what more +you need in the way of instruction shall be given to you as you go.” + +They stood up, the four men and the three women, to meet the crisis of +their fate. None of them, except perhaps Miss Adams and Mrs. Belmont, +had any deep religious convictions. All of them were children of this +world, and some of them disagreed with everything which that symbol upon +the earth represented. But there was the European pride, the pride of +the white race which swelled within them, and held them to the faith of +their countrymen. It was a sinful, human, un-Christian motive, and yet +it was about to make them public martyrs to the Christian creed. In the +hush and tension of their nerves low sounds grew suddenly loud upon +their ears. Those swishing palm-leaves above them were like a +swift-flowing river, and far away they could hear the dull, soft +thudding of a galloping camel. + +“There’s something coming,” whispered Cochrane. “Try and stave them off +for five minutes longer, Fardet.” + +The Frenchman stepped out with a courteous wave of his uninjured arm, +and the air of a man who is prepared to accommodate himself to anything. + +“You will tell this holy man that I am quite ready to accept his +teaching, and so I am sure are all my friends,” said he to the dragoman. +“But there is one thing which I should wish him to do in order to set at +rest any possible doubts which may remain in our hearts. Every true +religion can be told by the miracles which those who profess it can +bring about. Even I who am but a humble Christian, can, by virtue of my +religion, do some of these. But you, since your religion is superior, +can no doubt do far more, and so I beg you to give us a sign that we may +be able to say that we know that the religion of Islam is the more +powerful.” + +Behind all his dignity and reserve, the Arab has a good fund of +curiosity. The hush among the listening Arabs showed how the words of +the Frenchman as translated by Mansoor appealed to them. + +“Such things are in the hands of Allah,” said the priest. “It is not for +us to disturb His laws. But if you have yourself such powers as you +claim, let us be witnesses to them.” + +The Frenchman stepped forward, and raising his hand he took a large, +shining date out of the Moolah’s beard. This he swallowed and +immediately produced once more from his left elbow. He had often given +his little conjuring entertainment on board the boat, and his +fellow-passengers had had some good-natured laughter at his expense, for +he was not quite skilful enough to deceive the critical European +intelligence. But now it looked as if this piece of obvious palming +might be the point upon which all their fates would hang. A deep hum of +surprise rose from the ring of Arabs, and deepened as the Frenchman drew +another date from the nostril of a camel and tossed it into the air, +from which, apparently, it never descended. That gaping sleeve was +obvious enough to his companions, but the dim light was all in favour of +the performer. So delighted and interested was the audience +that they paid little heed to a mounted camel-man who trotted swiftly +between the palm trunks. All might have been well had not Fardet, +carried away by his own success, tried to repeat his trick once more, +with the result that the date fell out of his palm, and the deception +stood revealed. In vain he tried to pass on at once to another of his +little stock. The Moolah said something, and an Arab struck Fardet +across the shoulders with the thick shaft of his spear. + +“We have had enough child’s play,” said the angry priest. “Are we men +or babes, that you should try to impose upon us in this manner? Here is +the cross and the Koran--which shall it be?” + +Fardet looked helplessly round at his companions. + +“I can do no more; you asked for five minutes. You have had them,” said +he to Colonel Cochrane. + +“And perhaps it is enough,” the soldier answered. “Here are the Emirs.” + +The camel-man, whose approach they had heard from afar, had made for the +two Arab chiefs, and had delivered a brief report to them, stabbing with +his forefinger in the direction from which he had come. There was a +rapid exchange of words between the Emirs, and then they strode forward +together to the group around the prisoners. Bigots and barbarians, they +were none the less two most majestic men, as they advanced through the +twilight of the palm grove. The fierce old greybeard raised his hand +and spoke swiftly in short, abrupt sentences, and his savage followers +yelped to him like hounds to a huntsman. The fire that smouldered in +his arrogant eyes shone back at him from a hundred others. Here were to +be read the strength and danger of the Mahdi movement; here in these +convulsed faces, in that fringe of waving arms, in these frantic, +red-hot souls, who asked nothing better than a bloody death, if their +own hands might be bloody when they met it. + +“Have the prisoners embraced the true faith?” asked the Emir +Abderrahman, looking at them with his cruel eyes. + +The Moolah had his reputation to preserve, and it was not for him to +confess to a failure. + +“They were about to embrace it, when-- + +“Let it rest for a little time, O Moolah.” He gave an order, and the +Arabs all sprang for their camels. The Emir Wad Ibrahim filed off at +once with nearly half the party. The others were mounted and ready, +with their rifles unslung. + +“What’s happened?” asked Belmont. + +“Things are looking up,” cried the Colonel. “By George, I think we are +going to come through all right. The Gippy Camel Corps are hot on our +trail.” + +“How do you know?” + +“What else could have scared them?” + +“O Colonel, do you really think we shall be saved?” sobbed Sadie. +The dull routine of misery through which they had passed had deadened +all their nerves until they seemed incapable of any acute sensation, but +now this sudden return of hope brought agony with it like the recovery +of a frost-bitten limb. Even the strong, self-contained Belmont was +filled with doubts and apprehensions. He had been hopeful when there +was no sign of relief, and now the approach of it set him trembling. + +“Surely they wouldn’t come very weak,” he cried. “Be Jove, if the +Commandant let them come weak, he should be court-martialled.” + +“Sure we’re in God’s hands, anyway,” said his wife, in her soothing, +Irish voice. “Kneel down with me, John, dear, if it’s the last time, +and pray that, earth or heaven, we may not be divided.” + +“Don’t do that! Don’t!” cried the Colonel anxiously, for he saw that +the eye of the Moolah was upon them. But it was too late, for the two +Roman Catholics had dropped upon their knees and crossed themselves. +A spasm of fury passed over the face of the Mussulman priest at this +public testimony to the failure of his missionary efforts. He turned +and said something to the Emir. + +“Stand up!” cried Mansoor. “For your life’s sake, stand up! He is +asking for leave to put you to death.” + +“Let him do what he likes!” said the obstinate Irishman; “we will rise +when our prayers are finished, and not before.” + +The Emir stood listening to the Moolah, with his baleful gaze upon the +two kneeling figures. Then he gave one or two rapid orders, and four +camels were brought forward. The baggage-camels which they had hitherto +ridden were standing unsaddled where they had been tethered. + +“Don’t be a fool, Belmont!” cried the Colonel; “everything depends upon +our humouring them. Do get up, Mrs. Belmont! You are only putting +their backs up!” + +The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders as he looked at them. +“_Mon Dieu!_” he cried, “were there ever such impracticable people? +_Voila!_” he added, with a shriek, as the two American ladies fell upon +their knees beside Mrs. Belmont. “It is like the camels--one down, all +down! Was ever anything so absurd?” + +But Mr. Stephens had knelt down beside Sadie and buried his haggard face +in his long, thin hands. Only the Colonel and Monsieur Fardet remained +standing. Cochrane looked at the Frenchman with an interrogative eye. + +“After all,” said he, “it is stupid to pray all your life, and not to +pray now when we have nothing to hope for except through the goodness of +Providence.” He dropped upon his knees with a rigid, military back, but +his grizzled, unshaven chin upon his chest. The Frenchman looked at his +kneeling companions, and then his eyes travelled onwards to the angry +faces of the Emir and Moolah. + +“_Sapristi!_” he growled. “Do they suppose that a Frenchman is afraid +of them?” and so, with an ostentatious sign of the cross, he took his +place upon his knees beside the others. Foul, bedraggled, and wretched, +the seven figures knelt and waited humbly for their fate under the black +shadow of the palm-tree. + +The Emir turned to the Moolah with a mocking smile, and pointed at the +results of his ministrations. Then he gave an order, and in an instant +the four men were seized. A couple of deft turns with a camel-halter +secured each of their wrists. Fardet screamed out, for the rope had +bitten into his open wound. The others took it with the dignity of +despair. + +“You have ruined everything. I believe you have ruined me also!” cried +Mansoor, wringing his hands. “The women are to get upon these three +camels.” + +“Never!” cried Belmont. “We won’t be separated!” He plunged madly, but +he was weak from privation, and two strong men held him by each elbow. + +“Don’t fret, John!” cried his wife, as they hurried her towards the +camel. “No harm shall come to me. Don’t struggle, or they’ll hurt you, +dear.” + +The four men writhed as they saw the women dragged away from them. +All their agonies had been nothing to this. Sadie and her aunt appeared +to be half senseless from fear. Only Mrs. Belmont kept a brave face. +When they were seated the camels rose, and were led under the tree +behind where the four men were standing. + +“I’ve a pistol in me pocket,” said Belmont, looking up at his wife. +“I would give me soul to be able to pass it to you.” + +“Keep it, John, and it may be useful yet. I have no fears. Ever since +we prayed I have felt as if our guardian angels had their wings round +us.” She was like a guardian angel herself as she turned to the +shrinking Sadie, and coaxed some little hope back into her despairing +heart. + +The short, thick Arab, who had been in command of Wad Ibrahim’s +rearguard, had joined the Emir and the Moolah; the three consulted +together, with occasional oblique glances towards the prisoners. +Then the Emir spoke to Mansoor. + +“The chief wishes to know which of you four is the richest man?” said +the dragoman. His fingers were twitching with nervousness and plucking +incessantly at the front of his covercoat. + +“Why does he wish to know?” asked the Colonel. + +“I do not know.” + +“But it is evident,” cried Monsieur Fardet. “He wishes to know which is +the best worth keeping for his ransom.” + +“I think we should see this thing through together,” said the Colonel. +“It’s really for you to decide, Stephens, for I have no doubt that you +are the richest of us.” + +“I don’t know that I am,” the lawyer answered; “but in any case, I have +no wish to be placed upon a different footing to the others.” + +The Emir spoke again in his harsh rasping voice. + +“He says,” Mansoor translated, “that the baggage-camels are spent, and +that there is only one beast left which can keep up. It is ready now +for one of you, and you have to decide among yourselves which is to have +it. If one is richer than the others, he will have the preference.” + +“Tell him that we are all equally rich.” + +“In that case he says that you are to choose at once which is to have +the camel.” + +“And the others?” + +The dragoman shrugged his shoulders. + +“Well,” said the Colonel, “if only one of us is to escape, I think you +fellows will agree with me that it ought to be Belmont, since he is the +married man.” + +“Yes, yes, let it be Monsieur Belmont,” cried Fardet. + +“I think so also,” said Stephens. + +But the Irishman would not hear of it. + +“No, no, share and share alike,” he cried. “All sink or all swim, and +the devil take the flincher.” + +They wrangled among themselves until they became quite heated in this +struggle of unselfishness. Some one had said that the Colonel should go +because he was the oldest, and the Colonel was a very angry man. + +“One would think I was an octogenarian,” he cried. “These remarks are +quite uncalled for.” + +“Well, then,” said Belmont, “let us all refuse to go.” + +“But this is not very wise,” cried the Frenchman. “See, my friends! +Here are the ladies being carried off alone. Surely it would be far +better that one of us should be with them to advise them.” + +They looked at one another in perplexity. What Fardet said was +obviously true, but how could one of them desert his comrades? The Emir +himself suggested the solution. + +“The chief says,” said Mansoor, “that if you cannot settle who is to go, +you had better leave it to Allah and draw lots.” + +“I don’t think we can do better,” said the Colonel, and his three +companions nodded their assent. + +It was the Moolah who approached them with four splinters of palm-bark +protruding from between his fingers. + +“He says that he who draws the longest has the camel,” said Mansoor. + +“We must agree to abide absolutely by this,” said Cochrane, and again +his companions nodded. + +The Dervishes had formed a semicircle in front of them, with a fringe of +the oscillating heads of the camels. Before them was a cooking fire, +which threw its red light over the group. The Emir was standing with +his back to it, and his fierce face towards the prisoners. Behind the +four men was a line of guards, and behind them again the three women, +who looked down from their camels upon this tragedy. With a malicious +smile, the fat, one-eyed Moolah advanced with his fist closed, and the +four little brown spicules protruding from between his fingers. + +It was to Belmont that he held them first. The Irishman gave an +involuntary groan, and his wife gasped behind him, for the splinter came +away in his hand. Then it was the Frenchman’s turn, and his was half an +inch longer than Belmont’s. Then came Colonel Cochrane, whose piece was +longer than the two others put together. Stephens’ was no bigger than +Belmont’s. The Colonel was the winner of this terrible lottery. + +“You’re welcome to my place, Belmont,” said he. “I’ve neither wife nor +child, and hardly a friend in the world. Go with your wife, and I’ll +stay.” + +“No, indeed! An agreement is an agreement. It’s all fair play, and the +prize to the luckiest.” + +“The Emir says that you are to mount at once,” said Mansoor, and an Arab +dragged the Colonel by his wrist-rope to the waiting camel. + +“He will stay with the rearguard,” said the Emir to his lieutenant. +“You can keep the women with you also.” + +“And this dragoman dog?” + +“Put him with the others.” + +“And they?” + +“Put them all to death.” + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +As none of the three could understand Arabic, the order of the Emir +would have been unintelligible to them had it not been for the conduct +of Mansoor. The unfortunate dragoman, after all his treachery and all +his subservience and apostasy, found his worst fears realised when the +Dervish leader gave his curt command. With a shriek of fear the poor +wretch threw himself forward upon his face, and clutched at the edge of +the Arab’s jibbeh, clawing with his brown fingers at the edge of the +cotton skirt. The Emir tugged to free himself, and then, finding that +he was still held by that convulsive grip, he turned and kicked at +Mansoor with the vicious impatience with which one drives off a +pestering cur. The dragoman’s high red tarboosh flew up into the air, +and he lay groaning upon his face where the stunning blow of the Arab’s +horny foot had left him. + +All was bustle and movement in the camp, for the old Emir had mounted +his camel, and some of his party were already beginning to follow their +companions. The squat lieutenant, the Moolah, and about a dozen +Dervishes surrounded the prisoners. They had not mounted their camels, +for they were told off to be the ministers of death. The three men +understood as they looked upon their faces that the sand was running +very low in the glass of their lives. Their hands were still bound, but +their guards had ceased to hold them. They turned round, all three, and +said good-bye to the women upon the camels. + +“All up now, Norah,” said Belmont. “It’s hard luck when there was a +chance of a rescue, but we’ve done our best.” + +For the first time his wife had broken down. She was sobbing +convulsively, with her face between her hands. + +“Don’t cry, little woman! We’ve had a good time together. Give my love +to all friends at Bray! Remember me to Amy McCarthy and to the +Blessingtons. You’ll find there is enough and to spare, but I would +take Roger’s advice about the investments. Mind that!” + +“O John, I won’t live without you!” Sorrow for her sorrow broke the +strong man down, and he buried his face in the hairy side of her camel. +The two of them sobbed helplessly together. + +Stephens meanwhile had pushed his way to Sadie’s beast. She saw his +worn earnest face looking up at her through the dim light. + +“Don’t be afraid for your aunt and for yourself,” said he. “I am sure +that you will escape. Colonel Cochrane will look after you. +The Egyptians cannot be far behind. I do hope you will have a good +drink before you leave the wells. I wish I could give your aunt my +jacket, for it will be cold to-night. I’m afraid I can’t get it off. +She should keep some of the bread, and eat it in the early morning.” + +He spoke quite quietly, like a man who is arranging the details of a +picnic. A sudden glow of admiration for this quietly consistent man +warmed her impulsive heart. + +“How unselfish you are!” she cried. “I never saw any one like you. +Talk about saints! There you stand in the very presence of death, and +you think only of us.” + +“I want to say a last word to you, Sadie, if you don’t mind. I should +die so much happier. I have often wanted to speak to you, but I thought +that perhaps you would laugh, for you never took anything very +seriously, did you? That was quite natural of course with your high +spirits, but still it was very serious to me. But now I am really a +dead man, so it does not matter very much what I say.” + +“Oh don’t, Mr. Stephens!” cried the girl. + +“I won’t, if it is very painful to you. As I said, it would make me die +happier, but I don’t want to be selfish about it. If I thought it would +darken your life afterwards, or be a sad recollection to you, I would +not say another word.” + +“What did you wish to say?” + +“It was only to tell you how I loved you. I always loved you. From the +first I was a different man when I was with you. But of course it was +absurd, I knew that well enough. I never said anything, but I tried not +to make myself ridiculous. But I just want you to know about it now +that it can’t matter one way or the other. You’ll understand that I +really do love you when I tell you that, if it were not that I knew you +were frightened and unhappy, these last two days in which we have been +always together would have been infinitely the happiest of my life.” + +The girl sat pale and silent, looking down with wondering eyes at his +upturned face. She did not know what to do or say in the solemn +presence of this love which burned so brightly under the shadow of +death. To her child’s heart it seemed incomprehensible--and yet she +understood that it was sweet and beautiful also. + +“I won’t say any more,” said he; “I can see that it only bothers you. +But I wanted you to know, and now you do know, so it is all right. +Thank you for listening so patiently and gently. Good-bye, little +Sadie! I can’t put my hand up. Will you put yours down?” + +She did so and Stephens kissed it. Then he turned and took his place +once more between Belmont and Fardet. In his whole life of struggle and +success he had never felt such a glow of quiet contentment as suffused +him at that instant when the grip of death was closing upon him. +There is no arguing about love. It is the innermost fact of life--the +one which obscures and changes all the others, the only one which is +absolutely satisfying and complete. Pain is pleasure, and want is +comfort, and death is sweetness when once that golden mist is round it. +So it was that Stephens could have sung with joy as he faced his +murderers. He really had not time to think about them. The important, +all-engrossing, delightful thing was that she could not look upon him as +a casual acquaintance any more. Through all her life she would think of +him--she would know. + +Colonel Cochrane’s camel was at one side, and the old soldier, whose +wrists had been freed, had been looking down upon the scene, and +wondering in his tenacious way whether all hope must really be +abandoned. It was evident that the Arabs who were grouped round the +victims were to remain behind with them, while the others who were +mounted would guard the three women and himself. He could not +understand why the throats of his companions had not been already cut, +unless it were that with an Eastern refinement of cruelty this rearguard +would wait until the Egyptians were close to them, so that the warm +bodies of their victims might be an insult to the pursuers. No doubt +that was the right explanation. The Colonel had heard of such a trick +before. + +But in that case there would not be more than twelve Arabs with the +prisoners. Were there any of the friendly ones among them? If Tippy +Tilly and six of his men were there, and if Belmont could get his arms +free and his hand upon his revolver, they might come through yet. +The Colonel craned his neck and groaned in his disappointment. He could +see the faces of the guards in the firelight. They were all Baggara +Arabs, men who were beyond either pity or bribery. Tippy Tilly and the +others must have gone on with the advance. For the first time the stiff +old soldier abandoned hope. + +“Good-bye, you fellows! God bless you!” he cried, as a negro pulled at +his camel’s nose-ring and made him follow the others. The women came +after him, in a misery too deep for words. Their departure was a relief +to the three men who were left. + +“I am glad they are gone,” said Stephens, from his heart. + +“Yes, yes, it is better,” cried Fardet. “How long are we to wait?” + +“Not very long now,” said Belmont grimly, as the Arabs closed in around +them. + +The Colonel and the three women gave one backward glance when they came +to the edge of the oasis. Between the straight stems of the palms they +saw the gleam of the fire, and above the group of Arabs they caught a +last glimpse of the three white hats. An instant later, the camels +began to trot, and when they looked back once more the palm grove was +only a black clump with the vague twinkle of a light somewhere in the +heart of it. As with yearning eyes they gazed at that throbbing red +point in the darkness, they passed over the edge of the depression, and +in an instant the huge, silent, moonlit desert was round them without a +sign of the oasis which they had left. On every side the velvet, +blue-black sky, with its blazing stars, sloped downwards to the vast, +dun-coloured plain. The two were blurred into one at their point of +junction. + +The women had sat in the silence of despair, and the Colonel had been +silent also--for what could he say?--but suddenly all four started in +their saddles, and Sadie gave a sharp cry of dismay. In the hush of the +night there had come from behind them the petulant crack of a rifle, +then another, then several together, with a brisk rat-tat-tat, and then +after an interval, one more. + +“It may be the rescuers! It may be the Egyptians!” cried Mrs. Belmont, +with a sudden flicker of hope. “Colonel Cochrane, don’t you think it +may be the Egyptians?” + +“Yes, yes,” Sadie whimpered. “It must be the Egyptians.” + +The Colonel had listened expectantly, but all was silent again. Then he +took his hat off with a solemn gesture. + +“There is no use deceiving ourselves, Mrs. Belmont,” said he; “we may as +well face the truth. Our friends are gone from us, but they have met +their end like brave men.” + +“But why should they fire their guns? They had ... they had spears.” +She shuddered as she said it. + +“That is true,” said the Colonel. “I would not for the world take away +any real grounds of hope which you may have; but on the other hand, +there is no use in preparing bitter disappointments for ourselves. +If we had been listening to an attack, we should have heard some reply. +Besides, an Egyptian attack would have been an attack in force. +No doubt it _is_, as you say, a little strange that they should have +wasted their cartridges--by Jove, look at that!” + +He was pointing over the eastern desert. Two figures were moving across +its expanse, swiftly and stealthily, furtive dark shadows against the +lighter ground. They saw them dimly, dipping and rising over the +rolling desert, now lost, now reappearing in the uncertain light. +They were flying away from the Arabs. And then, suddenly they halted +upon the summit of a sand-hill, and the prisoners could see them +outlined plainly against the sky. They were camel-men, but they sat +their camels astride as a horseman sits his horse. + +“Gippy Camel Corps!” cried the Colonel. + +“Two men,” said Miss Adams, in a voice of despair. + +“Only a vedette, ma’am! Throwing feelers out all over the desert. +This is one of them. Main body ten miles off, as likely as not. +There they go giving the alarm! Good old Camel Corps!” + +The self-contained, methodical soldier had suddenly turned almost +inarticulate with his excitement. There was a red flash upon the top of +the sand-hill, and then another, followed by the crack of the rifles. +Then with a whisk the two figures were gone, as swiftly and silently as +two trout in a stream. + +The Arabs had halted for an instant, as if uncertain whether they should +delay their journey to pursue them or not. There was nothing left to +pursue now, for amid the undulations of the sand-drift the vedettes +might have gone in any direction. The Emir galloped back along the +line, with exhortations and orders. Then the camels began to trot, and +the hopes of the prisoners were dulled by the agonies of the terrible +jolt. Mile after mile, mile after mile, they sped onwards over that +vast expanse, the women clinging as best they might to the pommels, the +Colonel almost as spent as they, but still keenly on the look-out for +any sign of the pursuers. + +“I think ... I think,” cried Mrs. Belmont, “that something is moving +in front of us.” + +The Colonel raised himself upon his saddle, and screened his eyes from +the moonshine. + +“By Jove, you’re right there, ma’am. There are men over yonder.” + +They could all see them now, a straggling line of riders far ahead of +them in the desert. + +“They are going in the same direction as we,” cried Mrs. Belmont, whose +eyes were very much better than the Colonel’s. + +Cochrane muttered an oath into his moustache. + +“Look at the tracks there,” said he; “of course, it’s our own vanguard +who left the palm grove before us. The chief keeps us at this infernal +pace in order to close up with them.” + +As they drew closer they could see plainly that it was indeed the other +body of Arabs, and presently the Emir Wad Ibrahim came trotting back to +take counsel with the Emir Abderrahman. They pointed in the direction +in which the vedettes had appeared, and shook their heads like men who +have many and grave misgivings. Then the raiders joined into one long, +straggling line, and the whole body moved steadily on towards the +Southern Cross, which was twinkling just over the skyline in front of +them. Hour after hour the dreadful trot continued, while the fainting +ladies clung on convulsively, and Cochrane, worn out but indomitable, +encouraged them to hold out, and peered backwards over the desert for +the first glad signs of their pursuers. The blood throbbed in his +temples, and he cried that he heard the roll of drums coming out of the +darkness. In his feverish delirium he saw clouds of pursuers at their +very heels, and during the long night he was for ever crying glad +tidings which ended in disappointment and heartache. The rise of the +sun showed the desert stretching away around them with nothing moving +upon its monstrous face except themselves. With dull eyes and heavy +hearts they stared round at that huge and empty expanse. Their hopes +thinned away like the light morning mist upon the horizon. + +It was shocking to the ladies to look at their companion, and to think +of the spruce, hale old soldier who had been their fellow-passenger from +Cairo. As in the case of Miss Adams, old age seemed to have pounced +upon him in one spring. His hair, which had grizzled hour by hour +during his privations, was now of a silvery white. White stubble, too, +had obscured the firm, clean line of his chin and throat. The veins of +his face were injected, and his features were shot with heavy wrinkles. +He rode with his back arched and his chin sunk upon his breast, for the +old, time-rotted body was worn out, but in his bright, alert eyes there +was always a trace of the gallant tenant who lived in the shattered +house. Delirious, spent, and dying, he preserved his chivalrous, +protecting air as he turned to the ladies, shot little scraps of advice +and encouragement at them, and peered back continually for the help +which never came. + +An hour after sunrise the raiders called a halt, and food and water +were served out to all. Then at a more moderate pace they pursued their +southern journey, their long, straggling line trailing out over a +quarter of a mile of desert. From their more careless bearing and the +way in which they chatted as they rode, it was clear that they thought +that they had shaken off their pursuers. Their direction now was east +as well as south, and it was evidently their intention after this long +detour to strike the Nile again at some point far above the Egyptian +outposts. Already the character of the scenery was changing, and they +were losing the long levels of the pebbly desert, and coming once more +upon those fantastic, sunburned, black rocks, and that rich orange sand +through which they had already passed. On every side of them rose the +scaly, conical hills with their loose, slag-like debris, and +jagged-edged khors, with sinuous streams of sand running like +water-courses down their centre. The camels followed each other, +twisting in and out among the boulders, and scrambling with their +adhesive, spongy feet over places which would have been impossible for +horses. Among the broken rocks those behind could sometimes only see +the long, undulating, darting necks of the creatures in front, as if it +were some nightmare procession of serpents. Indeed, it had much the +effect of a dream upon the prisoners, for there was no sound, save the +soft, dull padding and shuffling of the feet. The strange, wild frieze +moved slowly and silently onwards amid a setting of black stone and +yellow sand, with the one arch of vivid blue spanning the rugged edges +of the ravine. + +Miss Adams, who had been frozen into silence during the long cold night, +began to thaw now in the cheery warmth of the rising sun. She looked +about her, and rubbed her thin hands together. + +“Why, Sadie,” she remarked, “I thought I heard you in the night, dear, +and now I see that you have been crying.” + +“I’ve been thinking, auntie.” + +“Well, we must try and think of others, dearie, and not of ourselves.” + +“It’s not of myself, auntie.” + +“Never fret about me, Sadie.” + +“No, auntie, I was not thinking of you.” + +“Was it of any one in particular?” + +“Of Mr. Stephens, auntie. How gentle he was, and how brave! To think +of him fixing up every little thing for us, and trying to pull his +jacket over his poor roped-up hands, with those murderers waiting all +round him. He’s my saint and hero from now ever after.” + +“Well, he’s out of his troubles anyhow,” said Miss Adams, with that +bluntness which the years bring with them. + +“Then I wish I was also.” + +“I don’t see how that would help him.” + +“Well, I think he might feel less lonesome,” said Sadie, and drooped her +saucy little chin upon her breast. + +The four had been riding in silence for some little time, when the +Colonel clapped his hand to his brow with a gesture of dismay. + +“Good God!” he cried, “I am going off my head.” + +Again and again they had perceived it during the night, but he had +seemed quite rational since daybreak. They were shocked therefore at +this sudden outbreak, and tried to calm him with soothing words. + +“Mad as a hatter,” he shouted. “Whatever do you think I saw?” + +“Don’t trouble about it, whatever it was,” said Mrs. Belmont, laying +her hand soothingly upon his as the camels closed together. “It is no +wonder that you are overdone. You have thought and worked for all of us +so long. We shall halt presently, and a few hours’ sleep will quite +restore you.” + +But the Colonel looked up again, and again he cried out in his agitation +and surprise. + +“I never saw anything plainer in my life,” he groaned. “It is on the +point of rock on our right front--poor old Stuart with my red cummerbund +round his head just the same as we left him.” + +The ladies had followed the direction of the Colonel’s frightened gaze, +and in an instant they were all as amazed as he. + +There was a black, bulging ridge like a bastion upon the right side of +the terrible khor up which the camels were winding. At one point it +rose into a small pinnacle. On this pinnacle stood a solitary, +motionless figure, clad entirely in black, save for a brilliant dash of +scarlet upon his head. There could not surely be two such short sturdy +figures, or such large colourless faces, in the Libyan Desert. His +shoulders were stooping forward, and he seemed to be staring intently +down into the ravine. His pose and outline were like a caricature of +the great Napoleon. + +“Can it possibly be he?” + +“It must be. It is!” cried the ladies. “You see he is looking towards +us and waving his hand.” + +“Good Heavens! They’ll shoot him! Get down, you fool, or you’ll be +shot!” roared the Colonel. But his dry throat would only emit a +discordant croaking. + +Several of the Dervishes had seen the singular apparition upon the hill, +and had unslung their Remingtons, but a long arm suddenly shot up behind +the figure of the Birmingham clergyman, a brown hand seized upon his +skirts, and he disappeared with a snap. Higher up the pass, just below +the spot where Mr. Stuart had been standing, appeared the tall figure of +the Emir Abderrahman. He had sprung upon a boulder, and was shouting +and waving his arms, but the shouts were drowned in a long, rippling +roar of musketry from each side of the khor. The bastion-like cliff was +fringed with gun-barrels, with red tarbooshes drooping over the +triggers. From the other lip also came the long spurts of flame and the +angry clatter of the rifles. The raiders were caught in an ambuscade. +The Emir fell, but was up again and waving. There was a splotch of +blood upon his long white beard. He kept pointing and gesticulating, +but his scattered followers could not understand what he wanted. +Some of them came tearing down the pass, and some from behind were +pushing to the front. A few dismounted and tried to climb up sword in +hand to that deadly line of muzzles, but one by one they were hit, and +came rolling from rock to rock to the bottom of the ravine. +The shooting was not very good. One negro made his way unharmed up the +whole side, only to have his brains dashed out with the butt-end of a +Martini at the top. The Emir had fallen off his rock and lay in a +crumpled heap, like a brown and white patchwork quilt, at the bottom of +it. And then when half of them were down it became evident, even to +those exalted fanatical souls, that there was no chance for them, and +that they must get out of these fatal rocks and into the desert again. +They galloped down the pass, and it is a frightful thing to see a camel +galloping over broken ground. The beast’s own terror, his ungainly +bounds, the sprawl of his four legs all in the air together, his hideous +cries, and the yells of his rider who is bucked high from his saddle +with every spring, make a picture which is not to be forgotten. +The women screamed as this mad torrent of frenzied creatures came +pouring past them, but the Colonel edged his camel and theirs farther +and farther in among the rocks and away from the retreating Arabs. +The air was full of whistling bullets, and they could hear them smacking +loudly against the stones all round them. + +“Keep quiet, and they’ll pass us,” whispered the Colonel, who was all +himself again now that the hour for action had arrived. “I wish to +Heaven I could see Tippy Tilly or any of his friends. Now is the time +for them to help us.” He watched the mad stream of fugitives as they +flew past upon their shambling, squattering, loose-jointed beasts, but +the black face of the Egyptian gunner was not among them. + +And now it really did seem as if the whole body of them, in their haste +to get clear of the ravine, had not a thought to spend upon the +prisoners. The rush was past, and only stragglers were running the +gauntlet of the fierce fire which poured upon them from above. The last +of all, a young Baggara with a black moustache and pointed beard, looked +up as he passed and shook his sword in impotent passion at the Egyptian +riflemen. At the same instant a bullet struck his camel, and the +creature collapsed, all neck and legs, upon the ground. The young Arab +sprang off its back, and, seizing its nose-ring, he beat it savagely +with the flat of his sword to make it stand up. But the dim, glazing +eye told its own tale, and in desert warfare the death of the beast is +the death of the rider. The Baggara glared round like a lion at bay, +his dark eyes flashing murderously from under his red turban. A crimson +spot, and then another, sprang out upon his dark skin, but he never +winced at the bullet wounds. His fierce gaze had fallen upon the +prisoners, and with an exultant shout he was dashing towards them, his +broad-bladed sword gleaming above his head. Miss Adams was the nearest +to him, but at the sight of the rushing figure and the maniac face she +threw herself off the camel upon the far side. The Arab bounded on to a +rock and aimed a thrust at Mrs. Belmont, but before the point could +reach her the Colonel leaned forward with his pistol and blew the man’s +head in. Yet with a concentrated rage, which was superior even to the +agony of death, the fellow lay kicking and striking, bounding about +among the loose stones like a fish upon the shingle. + +“Don’t be frightened, ladies,” cried the Colonel. “He is quite dead, I +assure you. I am so sorry to have done this in your presence, but the +fellow was dangerous. I had a little score of my own to settle with +him, for he was the man who tried to break my ribs with his Remington. +I hope you are not hurt, Miss Adams! One instant, and I will come down +to you.” + +But the old Boston lady was by no means hurt, for the rocks had been so +high that she had a very short distance to fall from her saddle. +Sadie, Mrs. Belmont, and Colonel Cochrane had all descended by slipping +on to the boulders and climbing down from them. But they found Miss +Adams on her feet, and waving the remains of her green veil in triumph. + +“Hurrah, Sadie! Hurrah, my own darling Sadie!” she was shrieking. +“We are saved, my girl, we are saved after all.” + +“By George, so we are!” cried the Colonel, and they all shouted in an +ecstasy together. + +But Sadie had learned to think more about others during those terrible +days of schooling. Her arms were round Mrs. Belmont, and her cheek +against hers. + +“You dear, sweet angel,” she cried, “how can we have the heart to be +glad when you--when you--” + +“But I don’t believe it is so,” cried the brave Irishwoman. “No, I’ll +never believe it until I see John’s body lying before me. And when I +see that, I don’t want to live to see anything more.” + +The last Dervish had clattered down the khor, and now above them on +either cliff they could see the Egyptians--tall, thin, square shouldered +figures, looking, when outlined against the blue sky, wonderfully like +the warriors in the ancient bas-reliefs. Their camels were in the +background, and they were hurrying to join them. At the same time +others began to ride down from the farther end of the ravine, their dark +faces flushed and their eyes shining with the excitement of victory and +pursuit. A very small Englishman, with a straw-coloured moustache and a +weary manner, was riding at the head of them. He halted his camel +beside the fugitives and saluted the ladies. He wore brown boots and +brown belts with steel buckles, which looked trim and workmanlike +against his khaki uniform. + +“Had ’em that time--had ’em proper!” said he. “Very glad to have been +of any assistance, I’m sure. Hope you’re none the worse for it all. +What I mean, it’s rather rough work for ladies.” + +“You’re from Halfa, I suppose?” asked the Colonel. + +“No, we’re from the other show. We’re the Sarras crowd, you know. +We met in the desert, and we headed ’em off, and the other Johnnies +herded ’em behind. We’ve got ’em on toast, I tell you. Get up on that +rock and you’ll see things happen. It’s going to be a knockout in one +round this time.” + +“We left some of our people at the Wells. We are very uneasy about +them,” said the Colonel. “I suppose you haven’t heard anything of +them?” + +The young officer looked serious and shook his head. “Bad job that!” +said he. “They’re a poisonous crowd when you put ’em in a corner. +What I mean, we never expected to see you alive, and we’re very glad to +pull any of you out of the fire. The most we hoped was that we might +revenge you.” + +“Any other Englishman with you?” + +“Archer is with the flanking party. He’ll have to come past, for I +don’t think there is any other way down. We’ve got one of your chaps up +there--a funny old bird with a red top-knot. See you later, I hope! +Good day, ladies!” He touched his helmet, tapped his camel, and trotted +on after his men. + +“We can’t do better than stay where we are until they are all past,” +said the Colonel, for it was evident now that the men from above would +have to come round. In a broken single file they went past, black men +and brown, Soudanese and fellaheen, but all of the best, for the Camel +Corps is the _corps d’elite_ of the Egyptian army. Each had a brown +bandolier over his chest and his rifle held across his thigh. A large +man with a drooping black moustache and a pair of binoculars in his hand +was riding at the side of them. “Hulloa, Archer!” croaked the Colonel. +The officer looked at him with the vacant, unresponsive eye of a +complete stranger. + +“I’m Cochrane, you know! We travelled up together.” + +“Excuse me, sir, but you have the advantage of me,” said the officer. +“I knew a Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, but you are not the man. He was +three inches taller than you, with black hair and--” + +“That’s all right,” cried the Colonel testily. “You try a few days with +the Dervishes, and see if your friends will recognise you!” + +“Good God, Cochrane, is it really you? I could not have believed it. +Great Scott, what you must have been through! I’ve heard before of +fellows going grey in a night, but, by Jove--” + +“Quite so,” said the Colonel, flushing. + +“Allow me to hint to you, Archer, that if you could get some food and +drink for these ladies, instead of discussing my personal appearance, it +would be much more practical.” + +“That’s all right,” said Captain Archer. “Your friend Stuart knows that +you are here, and he is bringing some stuff round for you. Poor fare, +ladies, but the best we have! You’re an old soldier, Cochrane. Get up +on the rocks presently, and you’ll see a lovely sight. No time to stop, +for we shall be in action again in five minutes. Anything I can do +before I go?” + +“You haven’t got such a thing as a cigar?” asked the Colonel wistfully. + +Archer drew a thick satisfying partaga from his case, and handed it +down, with half-a-dozen wax vestas. Then he cantered after his men, and +the old soldier leaned back against the rock and drew in the fragrant +smoke. It was then that his jangled nerves knew the full virtue of +tobacco, the gentle anodyne which stays the failing strength and soothes +the worrying brain. He watched the dim blue reek swirling up from him, +and he felt the pleasant aromatic bite upon his palate, while a restful +languor crept over his weary and harassed body. The three ladies sat +together upon a flat rock. + +“Good land, what a sight you are, Sadie!” cried Miss Adams suddenly, and +it was the first reappearance of her old self. “What _would_ your +mother say if she saw you? Why, sakes alive, your hair is full of straw +and your frock clean crazy!” + +“I guess we all want some setting to rights,” said Sadie, in a voice +which was much more subdued than that of the Sadie of old. +“Mrs. Belmont, you look just too perfectly sweet anyhow, but if you’ll +allow me I’ll fix your dress for you.” + +But Mrs. Belmont’s eyes were far away, and she shook her head sadly as +she gently put the girl’s hands aside. + +“I do not care how I look. I cannot think of it,” said she; “could +_you_, if you had left the man you love behind you, as I have mine?” + +“I’m begin--beginning to think I have,” sobbed poor Sadie, and buried +her hot face in Mrs. Belmont’s motherly bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The Camel Corps had all passed onwards down the khor in pursuit of the +retreating Dervishes, and for a few minutes the escaped prisoners had +been left alone. But now there came a cheery voice calling upon them, +and a red turban bobbed about among the rocks, with the large white face +of the Nonconformist minister smiling from beneath it. He had a thick +lance with which to support his injured leg, and this murderous crutch +combined with his peaceful appearance to give him a most incongruous +aspect--as of a sheep which has suddenly developed claws. Behind him +were two negroes with a basket and a water-skin. + +“Not a word! Not a word!” he cried, as he stumped up to them. “I know +exactly how you feel. I’ve been there myself. Bring the water, Ali! +Only half a cup, Miss Adams; you shall have some more presently. +Now your turn, Mrs. Belmont! Dear me, dear me, you poor souls, how my +heart does bleed for you! There’s bread and meat in the basket, but you +must be very moderate at first.” He chuckled with joy, and slapped his +fat hands together as he watched them. + +“But the others?” he asked, his face turning grave again. + +The Colonel shook his head. “We left them behind at the wells. I fear +that it is all over with them.” + +“Tut, tut!” cried the clergyman, in a boisterous voice, which could not +cover the despondency of his expression; “you thought, no doubt, that it +was all over with me, but here I am in spite of it. Never lose heart, +Mrs. Belmont. Your husband’s position could not possibly be as hopeless +as mine was.” + +“When I saw you standing on that rock up yonder, I put it down to +delirium,” said the Colonel. “If the ladies had not seen you, I should +never have ventured to believe it.” + +“I am afraid that I behaved very badly. Captain Archer says that I +nearly spoiled all their plans, and that I deserved to be tried by a +drumhead court-martial and shot. The fact is that, when I heard the +Arabs beneath me, I forgot myself in my anxiety to know if any of you +were left.” + +“I wonder that you were not shot without any drumhead court-martial,” +said the Colonel. “But how in the world did you get here?” + +“The Halfa people were close upon our track at the time when I was +abandoned, and they picked me up in the desert. I must have been +delirious, I suppose, for they tell me that they heard my voice, singing +hymns, a long way off, and it was that, under the providence of God, +which brought them to me. They had a camel ambulance, and I was quite +myself again by next day. I came with the Sarras people after we met +them, because they have the doctor with them. My wound is nothing, and +he says that a man of my habit will be the better for the loss of blood. +And now, my friends”--his big, brown eyes lost their twinkle, and became +very solemn and reverent--“we have all been upon the very confines of +death, and our dear companions may be so at this instant. The same +Power which saved us may save them, and let us pray together that it may +be so, always remembering that if, in spite of our prayers, it should +_not_ be so, then that also must be accepted as the best and wisest +thing.” + +So they knelt together among the black rocks, and prayed as some of them +had never prayed before. It was very well to discuss prayer and treat +it lightly and philosophically upon the deck of the _Korosko_. It was +easy to feel strong and self-confident in the comfortable deck-chair, +with the slippered Arab handing round the coffee and liqueurs. But they +had been swept out of that placid stream of existence, and dashed +against the horrible, jagged facts of life. Battered and shaken, they +must have something to cling to. A blind, inexorable destiny was too +horrible a belief. A chastening power, acting intelligently and for a +purpose--a living, working power, tearing them out of their grooves, +breaking down their small sectarian ways, forcing them into the better +path--that was what they had learned to realise during these days of +horror. Great hands had closed suddenly upon them, and had moulded them +into new shapes, and fitted them for new uses. Could such a power be +deflected by any human supplication? It was that or nothing--the last +court of appeal, left open to injured humanity. And so they all prayed, +as a lover loves, or a poet writes, from the very inside of their souls, +and they rose with that singular, illogical feeling of inward peace and +satisfaction which prayer only can give. + +“Hush!” said Cochrane. “Listen!” + +The sound of a volley came crackling up the narrow khor, and then +another and another. The Colonel was fidgeting about like an old horse +which hears the bugle of the hunt and the yapping of the pack. + +“Where can we see what is going on?” + +“Come this way! This way, if you please! There is a path up to the +top. If the ladies will come after me, they will be spared the sight of +anything painful.” + +The clergyman led them along the side to avoid the bodies which were +littered thickly down the bottom of the khor. It was hard walking over +the shingly, slaggy stones, but they made their way to the summit at +last. Beneath them lay the vast expanse of the rolling desert, and in +the foreground such a scene as none of them are ever likely to forget. +In that perfectly dry and clear light, with the unvarying brown tint of +the hard desert as a background, every detail stood out as clearly as if +these were toy figures arranged upon a table within hand’s-touch of +them. + +The Dervishes--or what was left of them--were riding slowly some little +distance out in a confused crowd, their patchwork jibbehs and red +turbans swaying with the motion of their camels. They did not present +the appearance of men who were defeated, for their movements were very +deliberate, but they looked about them and changed their formation as if +they were uncertain what their tactics ought to be. It was no wonder +that they were puzzled, for upon their spent camels their situation was +as hopeless as could be conceived. The Sarras men had all emerged from +the khor, and had dismounted, the beasts being held in groups of four, +while the rifle-men knelt in a long line with a woolly, curling fringe +of smoke, sending volley after volley at the Arabs, who shot back in a +desultory fashion from the backs of their camels. But it was not upon +the sullen group of Dervishes, nor yet upon the long line of kneeling +rifle-men, that the eyes of the spectators were fixed. Far out upon the +desert, three squadrons of the Halfa Camel Corps were coming up in a +dense close column, which wheeled beautifully into a widespread +semicircle as it approached. The Arabs were caught between two fires. + +“By Jove!” cried the Colonel. “See that!” + +The camels of the Dervishes had all knelt down simultaneously, and the +men had sprung from their backs. In front of them was a tall, stately +figure, who could only be the Emir Wad Ibrahim. They saw him kneel for +an instant in prayer. Then he rose, and taking something from his +saddle he placed it very deliberately upon the sand and stood upon it. + +“Good man!” cried the Colonel. “He is standing upon his sheepskin.” + +“What do you mean by that?” asked Stuart. + +“Every Arab has a sheepskin upon his saddle. When he recognises that +his position is perfectly hopeless, and yet is determined to fight to +the death, he takes his sheepskin off and stands upon it until he dies. +See, they are all upon their sheepskins. They will neither give nor +take quarter now.” + +The drama beneath them was rapidly approaching its climax. The Halfa +Corps was well up, and a ring of smoke and flame surrounded the clump of +kneeling Dervishes, who answered it as best they could. Many of them +were already down, but the rest loaded and fired with the unflinching +courage which has always made them worthy antagonists. A dozen +khaki-dressed figures upon the sand showed that it was no bloodless +victory for the Egyptians. But now there was a stirring bugle call from +the Sarras men, and another answered it from the Halfa Corps. +Their camels were down also, and the men had formed up into a single, +long, curved line. One last volley, and they were charging inwards with +the wild inspiriting yell which the blacks had brought with them from +their central African wilds. For a minute there was a mad vortex of +rushing figures, rifle butts rising and falling, spear-heads gleaming +and darting among the rolling dust cloud. Then the bugle rang out once +more, the Egyptians fell back and formed up with the quick precision of +highly disciplined troops, and there in the centre, each upon his +sheepskin, lay the gallant barbarian and his raiders. The nineteenth +century had been revenged upon the seventh. + +The three women had stared horror-stricken and yet fascinated at the +stirring scene before them. Now Sadie and her aunt were sobbing +together. The Colonel had turned to them with some cheering words when +his eyes fell upon the face of Mrs. Belmont. It was as white and set as +if it were carved from ivory, and her large grey eyes were fixed as if +she were in a trance. + +“Good Heavens, Mrs. Belmont, what _is_ the matter?” he cried. + +For answer she pointed out over the desert. Far away, miles on the +other side of the scene of the fight, a small body of men were riding +towards them. + +“By Jove, yes; there’s some one there. Who can it be?” + +They were all straining their eyes, but the distance was so great that +they could only be sure that they were camel-men and about a dozen in +number. + +“It’s those devils who were left behind in the palm grove,” said +Cochrane. “There’s no one else it can be. One consolation, they can’t +get away again. They’ve walked right into the lion’s mouth.” + +But Mrs. Belmont was still gazing with the same fixed intensity, and the +same ivory face. Now, with a wild shriek of joy, she threw her two +hands into the air. “It’s they!” she screamed. “They are saved! +It’s they, Colonel, it’s they! Oh, Miss Adams, Miss Adams, it is they!” +She capered about on the top of the hill with wild eyes like an excited +child. + +Her companions would not believe her, for they could see nothing, but +there are moments when our mortal senses are more acute than those who +have never put their whole heart and soul into them can ever realise. +Mrs. Belmont had already run down the rocky path, on the way to her +camel, before they could distinguish that which had long before carried +its glad message to her. In the van of the approaching party, three +white dots shimmered in the sun, and they could only come from the three +European hats. The riders were travelling swiftly, and by the time +their comrades had started to meet them they could plainly see that it +was indeed Belmont, Fardet, and Stephens, with the dragoman Mansoor, and +the wounded Soudanese rifleman. As they came together they saw that +their escort consisted of Tippy Tilly and the other old Egyptian +soldiers. Belmont rushed onwards to meet his wife, but Fardet stopped +to grasp the Colonel’s hand. + +“_Vive la France! Vivent les Anglais!_” he was yelling. “_Tout va +bien, n’est ce pas_, Colonel? Ah, _canaille! Vivent la croix et +les Chretiens!_” He was incoherent in his delight. + +The Colonel, too, was as enthusiastic as his Anglo-Saxon standard would +permit. He could not gesticulate, but he laughed in the nervous +crackling way which was his top-note of emotion. + +“My dear boy, I am deuced glad to see you all again. I gave you up for +lost. Never was as pleased at anything in my life! How did you get +away?” + +“It was all your doing.” + +“Mine?” + +“Yes, my friend, and I have been quarrelling with you--ungrateful wretch +that I am!” + +“But how did I save you?” + +“It was you who arranged with this excellent Tippy Tilly and the others +that they should have so much if they brought us alive into Egypt again. +They slipped away in the darkness and hid themselves in the grove. +Then, when we were left, they crept up with their rifles and shot the +men who were about to murder us. That cursed Moolah, I am sorry they +shot him, for I believe that I could have persuaded him to be a +Christian. And now, with your permission, I will hurry on and embrace +Miss Adams, for Belmont has his wife, and Stephens has Miss Sadie, so I +think it is very evident that the sympathy of Miss Adams is reserved for +me.” + +A fortnight had passed away, and the special boat which had been placed +at the disposal of the rescued tourists was already far north of +Assiout. Next morning they would find themselves at Baliani, where one +takes the express for Cairo. It was, therefore, their last evening +together. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child, who had escaped unhurt, had +already been sent down from the frontier. Miss Adams had been very ill +after her privations, and this was the first time that she had been +allowed to come upon deck after dinner. She sat now in a lounge chair, +thinner, sterner, and kindlier than ever, while Sadie stood beside her +and tucked the rugs around her shoulders. Mr. Stephens was carrying +over the coffee and placing it on the wicker table beside them. On the +other side of the deck Belmont and his wife were seated together in +silent sympathy and contentment. + +Monsieur Fardet was leaning against the rail, and arguing about the +remissness of the British Government in not taking a more complete +control of the Egyptian frontier, while the Colonel stood very erect in +front of him, with the red end of a cigar-stump protruding from under +his moustache. + +But what was the matter with the Colonel? Who would have recognised him +who had only seen the broken old man in the Libyan Desert? There might +be some little grizzling about the moustache, but the hair was back once +more at the fine glossy black which had been so much admired upon the +voyage up. With a stony face and an unsympathetic manner he had +received, upon his return to Halfa, all the commiserations about the +dreadful way in which his privations had blanched him, and then diving +into his cabin, he had reappeared within an hour exactly as he had been +before that fatal moment when he had been cut off from the manifold +resources of civilisation. And he looked in such a sternly questioning +manner at every one who stared at him, that no one had the moral +courage to make any remark about this modern miracle. It was observed +from that time forward that, if the Colonel had only to ride a hundred +yards into the desert, he always began his preparations by putting a +small black bottle with a pink label into the side-pocket of his coat. +But those who knew him best at times when a man may best be known, said +that the old soldier had a young man’s heart and a young man’s spirit-- +so that if he wished to keep a young man’s colour also it was not very +unreasonable after all. + +It was very soothing and restful up there on the saloon deck, with no +sound but the gentle lipping of the water as it rippled against the +sides of the steamer. The red after-glow was in the western sky, and it +mottled the broad, smooth river with crimson. Dimly they could discern +the tall figures of herons standing upon the sand-banks, and farther off +the line of riverside date-palms glided past them in a majestic +procession. Once more the silver stars were twinkling out, the same +clear, placid, inexorable stars to which their weary eyes had been so +often upturned during the long nights of their desert martyrdom. + +“Where do you put up in Cairo, Miss Adams?” asked Mrs. Belmont at last. + +“Shepheard’s, I think.” + +“And you, Mr. Stephens?” + +“Oh, Shepheard’s, decidedly.” + +“We are staying at the Continental. I hope we shall not lose sight of +you.” + +“I don’t want ever to lose sight of you, Mrs. Belmont,” cried Sadie. +“Oh, you must come to the States, and we’ll give you just a lovely +time.” + +Mrs. Belmont laughed, in her pleasant, mellow fashion. + +“We have our duty to do in Ireland, and we have been too long away from +it already. My husband has his business, and I have my home, and they +are both going to rack and ruin. Besides,” she added slyly, “it is just +possible that if we did come to the States we might not find you there.” + +“We must all meet again,” said Belmont, “if only to talk our adventures +over once more. It will be easier in a year or two. We are still too +near them.” + +“And yet how far away and dream-like it all seems!” remarked his wife. +“Providence is very good in softening disagreeable remembrances in our +minds. All this feels to me as if it had happened in some previous +existence.” + +Fardet held up his wrist with a cotton bandage still round it. + +“The body does not forget as quickly as the mind. This does not look +very dream-like or far away, Mrs. Belmont.” + +“How hard it is that some should be spared, and some not! If only Mr. +Brown and Mr. Headingly were with us, then I should not have one care in +the world,” cried Sadie. “Why should they have been taken, and we +left?” + +Mr. Stuart had limped on to the deck with an open book in his hand, a +thick stick supporting his injured leg. + +“Why is the ripe fruit picked, and the unripe left?” said he in answer +to the young girl’s exclamation. “We know nothing of the spiritual +state of these poor dear young fellows, but the great Master Gardener +plucks His fruit according to His own knowledge. I brought you up a +passage to read to you.” + +There was a lantern upon the table, and he sat down beside it. +The yellow light shone upon his heavy cheek and the red edges of his +book. The strong, steady voice rose above the wash of the water. + +“‘Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed and delivered from +the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands, from the +east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They went +astray in the wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in. +Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. So they cried unto the +Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. +He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where +they dwelt. Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for His +goodness, and declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of +men.’ + +“It sounds as if it were composed for us, and yet it was written two +thousand years ago,” said the clergyman, as he closed the book. +“In every age man has been forced to acknowledge the guiding hand which +leads him. For my part I don’t believe that inspiration stopped two +thousand years ago. When Tennyson wrote with such fervour and +conviction”:-- + + ‘Oh, yet we trust that somehow good + Will be the final goal of ill,’ + +“He was repeating the message which had been given to him, just as Micah +or Ezekiel, when the world was younger, repeated some cruder and more +elementary message.” + +“That is all very well, Mr. Stuart,” said the Frenchman; “you ask me to +praise God for taking me out of danger and pain, but what I want to know +is why, since He has arranged all things, He ever put me into that pain +and danger. I have, in my opinion, more occasion to blame than to +praise. You would not thank me for pulling you out of that river if it +was also I who pushed you in. The most which you can claim for your +Providence is that it has healed the wound which its own hand +inflicted.” + +“I don’t deny the difficulty,” said the clergyman slowly; “no one who is +not self-deceived _can_ deny the difficulty. Look how boldly Tennyson +faced it in that same poem, the grandest and deepest and most obviously +inspired in our language. Remember the effect which it had upon him.” + + ‘I falter where I firmly trod, + And falling with my weight of cares + Upon the great world’s altar stairs + Which slope through darkness up to God; + + I stretch lame hands of faith and grope + And gather dust and chaff, and call + To what I feel is Lord of all, + And faintly trust the larger hope.’ + +“It is the central mystery of mysteries--the problem of sin and +suffering, the one huge difficulty which the reasoner has to solve in +order to vindicate the dealings of God with man. But take our own case +as an example. I, for one, am very clear what I have got out of our +experience. I say it with all humility, but I have a clearer view of my +duties than ever I had before. It has taught me to be less remiss in +saying what I think to be true, less indolent in doing what I feel to be +right.” + +“And I,” cried Sadie. “It has taught me more than all my life put +together. I have learned so much and unlearned so much. I am a +different girl.” + +“I never understood my own nature before,” said Stephens. “I can hardly +say that I had a nature to understand. I lived for what was +unimportant, and I neglected what was vital.” + +“Oh, a good shake-up does nobody any harm,” the Colonel remarked. +“Too much of the feather-bed-and-four-meals-a-day life is not good for +man or woman.” + +“It is my firm belief,” said Mrs. Belmont gravely, “that there was not +one of us who did not rise to a greater height during those days in the +desert than ever before or since. When our sins come to be weighed, +much may be forgiven us for the sake of those unselfish days.” + +They all sat in thoughtful silence for a little, while the scarlet +streaks turned to carmine, and the grey shadows deepened, and the +wild-fowl flew past in dark straggling V’s over the dull metallic +surface of the great smooth-flowing Nile. A cold wind had sprung up +from the eastward, and some of the party rose to leave the deck. +Stephens leaned forward to Sadie. + +“Do you remember what you promised when you were in the desert?” he +whispered. + +“What was that?” + +“You said that if you escaped you would try in future to make some one +else happy.” + +“Then I must do so.” + +“You have,” said he, and their hands met under the shadow of the table. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12555 *** diff --git a/12555-h/12555-h.htm b/12555-h/12555-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f392262 --- /dev/null +++ b/12555-h/12555-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5094 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> + <head> <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> +<title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tragedy Of The Korosko, by Conan Doyle. +</title> +<style type="text/css"> + +a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + + link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + +a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} + +a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} + +body{margin-left:4%;margin-right:6%;background:#ffffff;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} + +.big {font-size:150%; +text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + +.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + + h1 {margin-top:5%;text-align:center;clear:both; +font-weight:normal;} + + h2 {margin-top:4%;margin-bottom:2%;text-align:center;clear:both; + font-size:100%;font-weight:normal;} + + hr {width:90%;margin:2em auto 2em auto;clear:both;color:black;} + + hr.full {width: 60%;margin:2% auto 2% auto;border-top:1px solid black; +padding:.1em;border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left:none;border-right:none;} + + img {border:none;} + +.lftspc {margin-left:.25em;} + +.letra {font-size:250%;float:left;margin-top:-1%;} + +.nind {text-indent:0%;} + + p {margin-top:.2em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.2em;text-indent:4%;} + +.rt {text-align:right;} + +table {margin:2% auto;border:none;} + +div.poetry {text-align:center;} +div.poem {font-size:90%;margin:auto auto;text-indent:0%; +display: inline-block; text-align: left;} +.poem .stanza {margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom:1em;} +.poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: .45em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +</style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12555 ***</div> +<hr class="full" /> + +<div class="c"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" height="500" alt="" /> +</div> + +<h1>THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO</h1> + +<p class="big">SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.</p> + +<table cellpadding="0"><tr><td> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a><br /></td><td> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a><br /></td></tr> +</table> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE public may possibly wonder why it is that they have never heard in +the papers of the fate of the passengers of the <i>Korosko</i>. In these +days of universal press agencies, responsive to the slightest stimulus, +it may well seem incredible that an international incident of such +importance should remain so long unchronicled. Suffice it that there +were very valid reasons, both of a personal and of a political nature, +for holding it back. The facts were well known to a good number of +people at the time, and some version of them did actually appear in a +provincial paper, but was generally discredited. They have now been +thrown into narrative form, the incidents having been collated from the +sworn statements of Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, of the Army and Navy +Club, and from the letters of Miss Adams, of Boston, Mass.</p> + +<p>These have been supplemented by the evidence of Captain Archer, of the +Egyptian Camel Corps, as given before the secret Government inquiry at +Cairo. Mr. James Stephens has refused to put his version of the matter +into writing, but as these proofs have been submitted to him, and no +correction or deletion has been made in them, it may be supposed that he +has not succeeded in detecting any grave misstatement of fact, and that +any objection which he may have to their publication depends rather upon +private and personal scruples.</p> + +<p>The <i>Korosko</i>, a turtle-bottomed, round-bowed stern-wheeler, with a +30-inch draught and the lines of a flat-iron, started upon the 13th of +February in the year 1895, from Shellal, at the head of the first +cataract, bound for Wady Halfa. I have a passenger card for the trip, +which I here reproduce:</p> + +<table cellpadding="0"> +<tr><td class="c" colspan="2">S.W. “KOROSKO,” FEBRUARY 13TH.<br /> +PASSENGERS.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Colonel Cochrane Cochrane</td><td align="left">London.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mr. Cecil Brown</td><td align="left">London.</td></tr> +<tr><td>John H. Headingly</td><td align="left">Boston, U.S.A.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Miss Adams</td><td align="left">Boston, U.S.A.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Miss S. Adams</td><td align="left">Worcester, Mass., U.S.A.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mons. Fardet</td><td align="left">Paris.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mr. and Mrs. Belmont</td><td align="left">Dublin.</td></tr> +<tr><td>James Stephens</td><td align="left">Manchester.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Rev. John Stuart</td><td align="left">Birmingham.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mrs. Shlesinger, nurse and child    </td><td align="left">Florence.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>This was the party as it started from Shellal, with the intention of +travelling up the two hundred miles of Nubian Nile which lie between the +first and the second cataract.</p> + +<p>It is a singular country, this Nubia. Varying in breadth from a few +miles to as many yards (for the name is only applied to the narrow +portion which is capable of cultivation), it extends in a thin, green, +palm-fringed strip upon either side of the broad coffee-coloured river. +Beyond it there stretches on the Libyan bank a savage and illimitable +desert, extending to the whole breadth of Africa. On the other side an +equally desolate wilderness is bounded only by the distant Red Sea. +Between these two huge and barren expanses Nubia writhes like a green +sandworm along the course of the river. Here and there it disappears +altogether, and the Nile runs between black and sun-cracked hills, with +the orange drift-sand lying like glaciers in their valleys. Everywhere +one sees traces of vanished races and submerged civilisations. +Grotesque graves dot the hills or stand up against the sky-line: +pyramidal graves, tumulus graves, rock graves—everywhere, graves. +And, occasionally, as the boat rounds a rocky point, one sees a deserted +city up above—houses, walls, battlements, with the sun shining through +the empty window squares. Sometimes you learn that it has been Roman, +sometimes Egyptian, sometimes all record of its name or origin has been +absolutely lost. You ask yourself in amazement why any race should +build in so uncouth a solitude, and you find it difficult to accept the +theory that this has only been of value as a guard-house to the richer +country down below, and that these frequent cities have been so many +fortresses to hold off the wild and predatory men of the south. +But whatever be their explanation, be it a fierce neighbour, or be it a +climatic change, there they stand, these grim and silent cities, and up +on the hills you can see the graves of their people, like the port-holes +of a man-of-war. It is through this weird, dead country that the +tourists smoke and gossip and flirt as they pass up to the Egyptian +frontier.</p> + +<p>The passengers of the <i>Korosko</i> formed a merry party, for most of them +had travelled up together from Cairo to Assouan, and even Anglo-Saxon +ice thaws rapidly upon the Nile. They were fortunate in being without +the single disagreeable person who, in these small boats, is sufficient +to mar the enjoyment of the whole party. On a vessel which is little +more than a large steam launch, the bore, the cynic, or the grumbler +holds the company at his mercy. But the <i>Korosko</i> was free from +anything of the kind. Colonel Cochrane Cochrane was one of those +officers whom the British Government, acting upon a large system of +averages, declares at a certain age to be incapable of further service, +and who demonstrate the worth of such a system by spending their +declining years in exploring Morocco, or shooting lions in Somaliland. +He was a dark, straight, aquiline man, with a courteously deferential +manner, but a steady, questioning eye; very neat in his dress and +precise in his habits, a gentleman to the tips of his trim finger-nails. +In his Anglo-Saxon dislike to effusiveness he had cultivated a +self-contained manner which was apt at first acquaintance to be +repellent, and he seemed to those who really knew him to be at some +pains to conceal the kind heart and human emotions which influenced his +actions. It was respect rather than affection which he inspired among +his fellow-travellers, for they felt, like all who had ever met him, +that he was a man with whom acquaintance was unlikely to ripen into a +friendship, though a friendship, when once attained, would be an +unchanging and inseparable part of himself. He wore a grizzled military +moustache, but his hair was singularly black for a man of his years. +He made no allusion in his conversation to the numerous campaigns in +which he had distinguished himself, and the reason usually given for his +reticence was that they dated back to such early Victorian days that he +had to sacrifice his military glory at the shrine of his perennial +youth.</p> + +<p>Mr. Cecil Brown—to take the names in the chance order in which they +appear upon the passenger list—was a young diplomatist from a +Continental Embassy, a man slightly tainted with the Oxford manner, and +erring upon the side of unnatural and inhuman refinement, but full of +interesting talk and cultured thought. He had a sad, handsome face, a +small wax-tipped moustache, a low voice and a listless manner, which was +relieved by a charming habit of suddenly lighting up into a rapid smile +and gleam when anything caught his fancy. An acquired cynicism was +eternally crushing and overlying his natural youthful enthusiasms, and +he ignored what was obvious while expressing keen appreciation for what +seemed to the average man to be either trivial or unhealthy. He chose +Walter Pater for his travelling author, and sat all day, reserved but +affable, under the awning, with his novel and his sketch-book upon a +camp-stool beside him. His personal dignity prevented him from making +advances to others, but if they chose to address him they found a +courteous and amiable companion.</p> + +<p>The Americans formed a group by themselves. John H. Headingly was a +New Englander, a graduate of Harvard, who was completing his education +by a tour round the world. He stood for the best type of young +American—quick, observant, serious, eager for knowledge and fairly +free from prejudice, with a fine balance of unsectarian but earnest +religious feeling which held him steady amid all the sudden gusts of +youth. He had less of the appearance and more of the reality of culture +than the young Oxford diplomatist, for he had keener emotions though +less exact knowledge. Miss Adams and Miss Sadie Adams were aunt and +niece, the former a little, energetic, hard-featured Bostonian old-maid, +with a huge surplus of unused love behind her stern and swarthy +features. She had never been from home before, and she was now busy +upon the self-imposed task of bringing the East up to the standard of +Massachusetts. She had hardly landed in Egypt before she realised that +the country needed putting to rights, and since the conviction struck +her she had been very fully occupied. The saddle-galled donkeys, the +starved pariah dogs, the flies round the eyes of the babies, the naked +children, the importunate beggars, the ragged, untidy women—they were +all challenges to her conscience, and she plunged in bravely at her work +of reformation. As she could not speak a word of the language, however, +and was unable to make any of the delinquents understand what it was +that she wanted, her passage up the Nile left the immemorial East very +much as she had found it, but afforded a good deal of sympathetic +amusement to her fellow-travellers. No one enjoyed her efforts more +than her niece, Sadie, who shared with Mrs. Belmont the distinction of +being the most popular person upon the boat. She was very young—fresh +from Smith College—and she still possessed many both of the virtues and +of the faults of a child. She had the frankness, the trusting +confidence, the innocent straightforwardness, the high spirits, and also +the loquacity and the want of reverence. But even her faults caused +amusement, and if she had preserved many of the characteristics of a +clever child, she was none the less a tall and handsome woman, who +looked older than her years on account of that low curve of the hair +over the ears, and that fullness of bodice and skirt which Mr. Gibson +has either initiated or imitated. The whisk of those skirts, and the +frank, incisive voice and pleasant, catching laugh were familiar and +welcome sounds on board of the <i>Korosko</i>. Even the rigid Colonel +softened into geniality, and the Oxford-bred diplomatist forgot to be +unnatural with Miss Sadie Adams as a companion.</p> + +<p>The other passengers may be dismissed more briefly. Some were +interesting, some neutral, and all amiable. Monsieur Fardet was a +good-natured but argumentative Frenchman, who held the most decided +views as to the deep machinations of Great Britain, and the illegality +of her position in Egypt. Mr. Belmont was an iron-grey, sturdy +Irishman, famous as an astonishingly good long-range rifle-shot, who had +carried off nearly every prize which Wimbledon or Bisley had to offer. +With him was his wife, a very charming and refined woman, full of the +pleasant playfulness of her country. Mrs. Shlesinger was a middle-aged +widow, quiet and soothing, with her thoughts all taken up by her +six-year-old child, as a mother’s thoughts are likely to be in a boat +which has an open rail for a bulwark. The Reverend John Stuart was a +Nonconformist minister from Birmingham—either a Presbyterian or a +Congregationalist—a man of immense stoutness, slow and torpid in his +ways, but blessed with a considerable fund of homely humour, which made +him, I am told, a very favourite preacher, and an effective speaker from +advanced Radical platforms.</p> + +<p>Finally, there was Mr. James Stephens, a Manchester solicitor (junior +partner of Hickson, Ward, and Stephens), who was travelling to shake off +the effects of an attack of influenza. Stephens was a man who, in the +course of thirty years, had worked himself up from cleaning the firm’s +windows to managing its business. For most of that long time he had +been absolutely immersed in dry, technical work, living with the one +idea of satisfying old clients and attracting new ones, until his mind +and soul had become as formal and precise as the laws which he +expounded. A fine and sensitive nature was in danger of being as warped +as a busy city man’s is liable to become. His work had become an +engrained habit, and, being a bachelor, he had hardly an interest in +life to draw him away from it, so that his soul was being gradually +bricked up like the body of a mediaeval nun. But at last there came +this kindly illness, and Nature hustled James Stephens out of his +groove, and sent him into the broad world far away from roaring +Manchester and his shelves full of calf-skin authorities. At first he +resented it deeply. Everything seemed trivial to him compared to his +own petty routine. But gradually his eyes were opened, and he began +dimly to see that it was his work which was trivial when compared to +this wonderful, varied, inexplicable world of which he was so ignorant. +Vaguely he realised that the interruption to his career might be more +important than the career itself. All sorts of new interests took +possession of him; and the middle-aged lawyer developed an after-glow of +that youth which had been wasted among his books. His character was +too formed to admit of his being anything but dry and precise in his +ways, and a trifle pedantic in his mode of speech; but he read and +thought and observed, scoring his “Baedeker” with underlinings and +annotations as he had once done his “Prideaux’s Commentaries.” He had +travelled up from Cairo with the party, and had contracted a friendship +with Miss Adams and her niece. The young American girl, with her +chatter, her audacity, and her constant flow of high spirits, amused and +interested him, and she in turn felt a mixture of respect and of pity +for his knowledge and his limitations. So they became good friends, and +people smiled to see his clouded face and her sunny one bending over the +same guide-book.</p> + +<p>The little <i>Korosko</i> puffed and spluttered her way up the river, kicking +up the white water behind her, and making more noise and fuss over her +five knots an hour than an Atlantic liner on a record voyage. On deck, +under the thick awning, sat her little family of passengers, and every +few hours she eased down and sidled up to the bank to allow them to +visit one more of that innumerable succession of temples. The remains, +however, grow more modern as one ascends from Cairo, and travellers who +have sated themselves at Gizeh and Sakara with the contemplation of the +very oldest buildings which the hands of man have constructed, become +impatient of temples which are hardly older than the Christian era. +Ruins which would be gazed upon with wonder and veneration in any other +country are hardly noticed in Egypt. The tourists viewed with languid +interest the half-Greek art of the Nubian bas-reliefs; they climbed the +hill of Korosko to see the sun rise over the savage Eastern desert; they +were moved to wonder by the great shrine of Abou-Simbel, where some old +race has hollowed out a mountain as if it were a cheese; and, finally, +upon the evening of the fourth day of their travels they arrived at Wady +Halfa, the frontier garrison town, some few hours after they were due, +on account of a small mishap in the engine-room. The next morning was +to be devoted to an expedition to the famous rock of Abousir, from which +a great view may be obtained of the second cataract. At eight-thirty, +as the passengers sat on deck after dinner, Mansoor, the dragoman, half +Copt, half Syrian, came forward, according to the nightly custom, to +announce the programme for the morrow.</p> + +<p>“Ladies and gentlemen,” said he, plunging boldly into the rapid but +broken stream of his English, “to-morrow you will remember not to forget +to rise when the gong strikes you for to compress the journey before +twelve o’clock. Having arrived at the place where the donkeys expect +us, we shall ride five miles over the desert, passing a temple of +Ammon-ra, which dates itself from the eighteenth dynasty, upon the way, +and so reach the celebrated pulpit rock of Abousir. The pulpit rock is +supposed to have been called so, because it is a rock like a pulpit. +When you have reached it you will know that you are on the very edge of +civilisation, and that very little more will take you into the country +of the Dervishes, which will be obvious to you at the top. +Having passed the summit, you will perceive the full extremity of the +second cataract, embracing wild natural beauties of the most dreadful +variety. Here all very famous people carve their names—and so you will +carve your names also.” Mansoor waited expectantly for a titter, and +bowed to it when it arrived. “You will then return to Wady Halfa, and +there remain two hours to suspect the Camel Corps, including the +grooming of the beasts, and the bazaar before returning, so I wish you a +very happy good-night.”</p> + +<p>There was a gleam of his white teeth in the lamplight, and then his +long, dark petticoats, his short English cover-coat, and his red +tarboosh vanished successively down the ladder. The low buzz of +conversation which had been suspended by his coming broke out anew.</p> + +<p>“I’m relying on you, Mr. Stephens, to tell me all about Abousir,” said +Miss Sadie Adams. “I do like to know what I am looking at right there +at the time, and not six hours afterwards in my state-room. I haven’t +got Abou-Simbel and the wall pictures straight in my mind yet, though I +saw them yesterday.”</p> + +<p>“I never hope to keep up with it,” said her aunt. “When I am safe back +in Commonwealth Avenue, and there’s no dragoman to hustle me around, +I’ll have time to read about it all, and then I expect I shall begin to +enthuse, and want to come right back again. But it’s just too good of +you, Mr. Stephens, to try and keep us informed.”</p> + +<p>“I thought that you might wish precise information, and so I prepared a +small digest of the matter,” said Stephens, handing a slip of paper to +Miss Sadie. She looked at it in the light of the deck lamp, and broke +into her low, hearty laugh.</p> + +<p>“<i>Re</i> Abousir,” she read; “now, what <i>do</i> you mean by ‘<i>re</i>,’ Mr. +Stephens? You put ‘<i>re</i> Rameses the Second’ on the last paper you gave +me.”</p> + +<p>“It is a habit I have acquired, Miss Sadie,” said Stephens; “it is the +custom in the legal profession when they make a memo.”</p> + +<p>“Make what, Mr. Stephens?”</p> + +<p>“A memo—a memorandum, you know. We put <i>re</i> so-and-so to show what it +is about.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose it’s a good short way,” said Miss Sadie, “but it feels queer +somehow when applied to scenery or to dead Egyptian kings. +‘<i>Re</i> Cheops’—doesn’t that strike you as funny?”</p> + +<p>“No, I can’t say that it does,” said Stephens.</p> + +<p>“I wonder if it is true that the English have less humour than the +Americans, or whether it’s just another kind of humour,” said the girl. +She had a quiet, abstracted way of talking as if she were thinking +aloud. “I used to imagine they had less, and yet, when you come to +think of it, Dickens and Thackeray and Barrie, and so many other of the +humourists we admire most are Britishers. Besides, I never in all my +days heard people laugh so hard as in that London theatre. There was a +man behind us, and every time he laughed Auntie looked round to see if a +door had opened, he made such a draught. But you have some funny +expressions, Mr. Stephens!”</p> + +<p>“What else strikes you as funny, Miss Sadie?”</p> + +<p>“Well, when you sent me the temple ticket and the little map, you began +your letter, ‘Enclosed, please find,’ and then at the bottom, in +brackets, you had ‘2 enclo.’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> + +<p>“That is the usual form in business.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, in business,” said Sadie demurely, and there was a silence.</p> + +<p>“There’s one thing I wish,” remarked Miss Adams, in the hard, metallic +voice with which she disguised her softness of heart, “and that is, that +I could see the Legislature of this country and lay a few cold-drawn +facts in front of them. I’d make a platform of my own, Mr. Stephens, +and run a party on my ticket. A Bill for the compulsory use of eyewash +would be one of my planks, and another would be for the abolition of +those Yashmak veil things which turn a woman into a bale of cotton goods +with a pair of eyes looking out of it.”</p> + +<p>“I never could think why they wore them,” said Sadie; “until one day I +saw one with her veil lifted. Then I knew.”</p> + +<p>“They make me tired, those women,” cried Miss Adams wrathfully. +“One might as well try to preach duty and decency and cleanliness to a +line of bolsters. Why, good land, it was only yesterday at Abou-Simbel, +Mr. Stephens, I was passing one of their houses—if you can call a +mud-pie like that a house—and I saw two of the children at the door +with the usual crust of flies round their eyes, and great holes in their +poor little blue gowns! So I got off my donkey, and I turned up my +sleeves, and I washed their faces well with my handkerchief, and sewed +up the rents—for in this country I would as soon think of going ashore +without my needle-case as without my white umbrella, Mr. Stephens. +Then as I warmed on the job I got into the room—such a room!—and I +packed the folks out of it, and I fairly did the chores as if I had been +the hired help. I’ve seen no more of that temple of Abou-Simbel than if +I had never left Boston; but, my sakes, I saw more dust and mess than +you would think they could crowd into a house the size of a Newport +bathing-hut. From the time I pinned up my skirt until I came out with +my face the colour of that smoke-stack, wasn’t more than an hour, or +maybe an hour and a half, but I had that house as clean and fresh as a +new pine-wood box. I had a <i>New York Herald</i> with me, and I lined their +shelf with paper for them. Well, Mr. Stephens, when I had done washing +my hands outside, I came past the door again, and there were those two +children sitting on the stoop with their eyes full of flies, and all +just the same as ever, except that each had a little paper cap made out +of the <i>New York Herald</i> upon his head. But, say, Sadie, it’s going on +to ten o’clock, and to-morrow an early excursion.”</p> + +<p>“It’s just too beautiful, this purple sky and the great silver stars,” +said Sadie. “Look at the silent desert and the black shadows of the +hills. It’s grand, but it’s terrible too; and then when you think that +we really <i>are</i>, as that dragoman said just now, on the very end of +civilisation, and with nothing but savagery and bloodshed down there +where the Southern Cross is twinkling so prettily, why, it’s like +standing on the beautiful edge of a live volcano.”</p> + +<p>“Shucks, Sadie, don’t talk like that, child,” said the older woman +nervously. “It’s enough to scare any one to listen to you.”</p> + +<p>“Well, but don’t you feel it yourself, Auntie? Look at that great +desert stretching away and away until it is lost in the shadows. +Hear the sad whisper of the wind across it! It’s just the most solemn +thing that ever I saw in my life.”</p> + +<p>“I’m glad we’ve found something that will make you solemn, my dear,” +said her Aunt. “I’ve sometimes thought—Sakes alive, what’s that?”</p> + +<p>From somewhere amongst the hill shadows upon the other side of the river +there had risen a high shrill whimpering, rising and swelling, to end in +a long weary wail.</p> + +<p>“It’s only a jackal, Miss Adams,” said Stephens. “I heard one when we +went out to see the Sphinx by moonlight.”</p> + +<p>But the American lady had risen, and her face showed that her nerves had +been ruffled.</p> + +<p>“If I had my time over again I wouldn’t have come past Assouan,” said +she. “I can’t think what possessed me to bring you all the way up here, +Sadie. Your mother will think that I am clean crazy, and I’d never dare +to look her in the eye if anything went wrong with us. I’ve seen all I +want to see of this river, and all I ask now is to be back at Cairo +again.”</p> + +<p>“Why, Auntie,” cried the girl, “it isn’t like you to be faint-hearted.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I don’t know how it is, Sadie, but I feel a bit unstrung, and +that beast caterwauling over yonder was just more than I could put up +with. There’s one consolation, we are scheduled to be on our way home +to-morrow, after we’ve seen this one rock or temple, or whatever it is. +I’m full up of rocks and temples, Mr. Stephens. I shouldn’t mope if I +never saw another. Come, Sadie! Good-night!”</p> + +<p>“Good-night! Good-night, Miss Adams!”</p> + +<p>And the two ladies passed down to their cabins.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet was chatting, in a subdued voice, with Headingly, the +young Harvard graduate, bending forward confidentially between the +whiffs of his cigarette.</p> + +<p>“Dervishes, Mister Headingly!” said he, speaking excellent English, but +separating his syllables as a Frenchman will. “There are no Dervishes. +They do not exist.”</p> + +<p>“Why, I thought the woods were full of them,” said the American.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet glanced across to where the red core of Colonel +Cochrane’s cigar was glowing through the darkness.</p> + +<p>“You are an American, and you do not like the English,” he whispered. +“It is perfectly comprehended upon the Continent that the Americans are +opposed to the English.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Headingly, with his slow, deliberate manner, “I won’t say +that we have not our tiffs, and there are some of our people—mostly of +Irish stock—who are always mad with England; but the most of us have a +kindly thought for the mother country. You see they may be aggravating +folk sometimes, but after all they are our <i>own</i> folk, and we can’t wipe +that off the slate.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Eh bien!</i>” said the Frenchman. “At least I can say to you what I +could not without offence say to these others. And I repeat that there +<i>are</i> no Dervishes. They were an invention of Lord Cromer in the year +1885.”</p> + +<p>“You don’t say!” cried Headingly.</p> + +<p>“It is well known in Paris, and has been exposed in <i>La Patrie</i> and +other of our so well-informed papers.”</p> + +<p>“But this is colossal,” said Headingly. “Do you mean to tell me, +Monsieur Fardet, that the siege of Khartoum and the death of Gordon and +the rest of it was just one great bluff?”</p> + +<p>“I will not deny that there was an émeute, but it was local, you +understand, and now long forgotten. Since then there has been profound +peace in the Soudan.”</p> + +<p>“But I have heard of raids, Monsieur Fardet, and I’ve read of battles, +too, when the Arabs tried to invade Egypt. It was only two days ago +that we passed Toski, where the dragoman said there had been a fight. +Is that all bluff also?”</p> + +<p>“Pah, my friend, you do not know the English. You look at them as you +see them with their pipes and their contented faces, and you say, ‘Now, +these are good, simple folk, who will never hurt any one.’ But all the +time they are thinking and watching and planning. ‘Here is Egypt weak,’ +they cry. ‘<i>Allons!</i>’ and down they swoop like a gull upon a crust. +‘You have no right there,’ says the world. ‘Come out of it!’ +But England has already begun to tidy everything, just like the good +Miss Adams when she forces her way into the house of an Arab. +‘Come out,’ says the world. ‘Certainly,’ says England; ‘just wait one +little minute until I have made everything nice and proper.’ So the +world waits for a year or so, and then it says once again, ‘Come out.’ +‘Just wait a little,’ says England; ‘there is trouble at Khartoum, and +when I have set that all right I shall be very glad to come out.’ +So they wait until it is all over, and then again they say, ‘Come out.’ +‘How can I come out,’ says England, ‘when there are still raids and +battles going on? If we were to leave, Egypt would be run over.’ +‘But there are no raids,’ says the world. ‘Oh, are there not?’ says +England, and then within a week sure enough the papers are full of some +new raid of Dervishes. We are not all blind, Mister Headingly. +We understand very well how such things can be done. A few Bedouins, a +little backsheesh, some blank cartridges, and, behold—a raid!”</p> + +<p>“Well, well,” said the American, “I’m glad to know the rights of this +business, for it has often puzzled me. But what does England get out of +it?”</p> + +<p>“She gets the country, monsieur.”</p> + +<p>“I see. You mean, for example, that there is a favourable tariff for +British goods?”</p> + +<p>“No, monsieur; it is the same for all.”</p> + +<p>“Well, then, she gives the contracts to Britishers?”</p> + +<p>“Precisely, monsieur.”</p> + +<p>“For example, the railroad that they are building right through the +country, the one that runs alongside the river, that would be a valuable +contract for the British?”</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet was an honest man, if an imaginative one.</p> + +<p>“It is a French company, monsieur, which holds the railway contract,” +said he.</p> + +<p>The American was puzzled.</p> + +<p>“They don’t seem to get much for their trouble,” said he. “Still, of +course, there must be some indirect pull somewhere. For example, Egypt +no doubt has to pay and keep all those red-coats in Cairo.”</p> + +<p>“Egypt, monsieur! No, they are paid by England.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I suppose they know their own business best, but they seem to me +to take a great deal of trouble, and to get mighty little in exchange. +If they don’t mind keeping order and guarding the frontier, with a +constant war against the Dervishes on their hands, I don’t know why any +one should object. I suppose no one denies that the prosperity of the +country has increased enormously since they came. The revenue returns +show that. They tell me also that the poorer folks have justice, which +they never had before.”</p> + +<p>“What are they doing here at all?” cried the Frenchman angrily. +“Let them go back to their island. We cannot have them all over the +world.”</p> + +<p>“Well, certainly, to us Americans, who live all in our own land, it does +seem strange how you European nations are for ever slopping over into +some other country which was not meant for you. It’s easy for us to +talk, of course, for we have still got room and to spare for all our +people. When we begin pushing each other over the edge we shall have to +start annexing also. But at present just here in North Africa there is +Italy in Abyssinia, and England in Egypt, and France in Algiers—”</p> + +<p>“France!” cried Monsieur Fardet. “Algiers belongs to France. +You laugh, monsieur. I have the honour to wish you a very good-night.” +He rose from his seat, and walked off, rigid with outraged patriotism, +to his cabin.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE young American hesitated for a little, debating in his mind whether +he should not go down and post up the daily record of his impressions +which he kept for his home-staying sister. But the cigars of Colonel +Cochrane and of Cecil Brown were still twinkling in the far corner of +the deck, and the student was acquisitive in the search of information. +He did not quite know how to lead up to the matter, but the Colonel very +soon did it for him.</p> + +<p>“Come on, Headingly,” said he, pushing a camp-stool in his direction. +“This is the place for an antidote. I see that Fardet has been pouring +politics into your ear.”</p> + +<p>“I can always recognise the confidential stoop of his shoulders when he +discusses <i>la haute politique</i>,” said the dandy diplomatist. “But what +a sacrilege upon a night like this! What a nocturne in blue and silver +might be suggested by that moon rising above the desert. There is a +movement in one of Mendelssohn’s songs which seems to embody it all— +a sense of vastness, of repetition, the cry of the wind over an +interminable expanse. The subtler emotions which cannot be translated +into words are still to be hinted at by chords and harmonies.”</p> + +<p>“It seems wilder and more savage than ever to-night,” remarked the +American. “It gives me the same feeling of pitiless force that the +Atlantic does upon a cold, dark, winter day. Perhaps it is the +knowledge that we are right there on the very edge of any kind of law +and order. How far do you suppose that we are from any Dervishes, +Colonel Cochrane?”</p> + +<p>“Well, on the Arabian side,” said the Colonel, “we have the Egyptian +fortified camp of Sarras about forty miles to the south of us. Beyond +that are sixty miles of very wild country before you would come to the +Dervish post at Akasheh. On this other side, however, there is nothing +between us and them.”</p> + +<p>“Abousir is on this side, is it not?”</p> + +<p>“Yes. That is why the excursion to the Abousir Rock has been forbidden +for the last year. But things are quieter now.”</p> + +<p>“What is to prevent them from coming down on that side?”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely nothing,” said Cecil Brown, in his listless voice.</p> + +<p>“Nothing, except their fears. The coming of course would be perfectly +simple. The difficulty would lie in the return. They might find it +hard to get back if their camels were spent, and the Halfa garrison with +their beasts fresh got on their track. They know it as well as we do, +and it has kept them from trying.”</p> + +<p>“It isn’t safe to reckon upon a Dervish’s fears,” remarked Brown. +“We must always bear in mind that they are not amenable to the same +motives as other people. Many of them are anxious to meet death, and +all of them are absolute, uncompromising believers in destiny. +They exist as a <i>reductio ad absurdum</i> of all bigotry—a proof of how +surely it leads towards blank barbarism.”</p> + +<p>“You think these people are a real menace to Egypt?” asked the American. +“There seems from what I have heard to be some difference of opinion +about it. Monsieur Fardet, for example, does not seem to think that the +danger is a very pressing one.”</p> + +<p>“I am not a rich man,” Colonel Cochrane answered after a little pause, +“but I am prepared to lay all I am worth, that within three years of the +British officers being withdrawn, the Dervishes would be upon the +Mediterranean. Where would the civilisation of Egypt be? Where would +the hundreds of millions which have been invested in this country? +Where the monuments which all nations look upon as most precious +memorials of the past?”</p> + +<p>“Come now, Colonel,” cried Headingly, laughing, “surely you don’t mean +that they would shift the pyramids?”</p> + +<p>“You cannot foretell what they would do. There is no iconoclast in the +world like an extreme Mohammedan. Last time they overran this country +they burned the Alexandrian Library. You know that all representations +of the human features are against the letter of the Koran. A statue is +always an irreligious object in their eyes. What do these fellows care +for the sentiment of Europe? The more they could offend it, the more +delighted they would be. Down would go the Sphinx, the Colossi, the +Statues of Abou-Simbel—as the saints went down in England before +Cromwell’s troopers.”</p> + +<p>“Well now,” said Headingly, in his slow, thoughtful fashion, “suppose I +grant you that the Dervishes could overrun Egypt, and suppose also that +you English are holding them out, what I’m never done asking is, what +reason have you for spending all these millions of dollars and the lives +of so many of your men? What do you get out of it, more than France +gets, or Germany, or any other country, that runs no risk and never lays +out a cent?”</p> + +<p>“There are a good many Englishmen who are asking themselves that +question,” remarked Cecil Brown. “It’s my opinion that we have been the +policemen of the world long enough. We policed the seas for pirates and +slavers. Now we police the land for Dervishes and brigands and every +sort of danger to civilisation. There is never a mad priest or a witch +doctor, or a firebrand of any sort on this planet, who does not report +his appearance by sniping the nearest British officer. One tires of it +at last. If a Kurd breaks loose in Asia Minor, the world wants to know +why Great Britain does not keep him in order. If there is a military +mutiny in Egypt, or a Jehad in the Soudan, it is still Great Britain who +has to set it right. And all to an accompaniment of curses such as the +policeman gets when he seizes a ruffian among his pals. We get hard +knocks and no thanks, and why should we do it? Let Europe do its own +dirty work.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Colonel Cochrane, crossing his legs and leaning forward +with the decision of a man who has definite opinions, “I don’t at all +agree with you, Brown, and I think that to advocate such a course is to +take a very limited view of our national duties. I think that behind +national interests and diplomacy and all that there lies a great guiding +force—a Providence, in fact—which is for ever getting the best out of +each nation and using it for the good of the whole. When a nation +ceases to respond, it is time that she went into hospital for a few +centuries, like Spain or Greece—the virtue has gone out of her. A man +or a nation is not placed upon this earth to do merely what is pleasant +and what is profitable. It is often called upon to carry out what is +both unpleasant and unprofitable, but if it is obviously right it is +mere shirking not to undertake it.”</p> + +<p>Headingly nodded approvingly.</p> + +<p>“Each has its own mission. Germany is predominant in abstract thought; +France in literature, art, and grace. But we and you—for the +English-speakers are all in the same boat, however much the <i>New York +Sun</i> may scream over it—we and you have among our best men a higher +conception of moral sense and public duty than is to be found in any +other people. Now, these are the two qualities which are needed for +directing a weaker race. You can’t help them by abstract thought or by +graceful art, but only by that moral sense which will hold the scales of +Justice even, and keep itself free from every taint of corruption. +That is how we rule India. We came there by a kind of natural law, like +air rushing into a vacuum. All over the world, against our direct +interests and our deliberate intentions, we are drawn into the same +thing. And it will happen to you also. The pressure of destiny will +force you to administer the Whole of America from Mexico to the Horn.”</p> + +<p>Headingly whistled.</p> + +<p>“Our Jingoes would be pleased to hear you, Colonel Cochrane,” said he. +“They’d vote you into our Senate and make you one of the Committee on +Foreign Relations.”</p> + +<p>“The world is small, and it grows smaller every day. It’s a single +organic body, and one spot of gangrene is enough to vitiate the whole. +There’s no room upon it for dishonest, defaulting, tyrannical, +irresponsible Governments. As long as they exist they will always be +sources of trouble and of danger. But there are many races which appear +to be so incapable of improvement that we can never hope to get a good +Government out of them. What is to be done, then? The former device of +Providence in such a case was extermination by some more virile stock— +an Attila or a Tamerlane pruned off the weaker branch. Now, we have a +more merciful substitution of rulers, or even of mere advice from a more +advanced race. That is the case with the Central Asian Khanates and +with the protected States of India. If the work has to be done, and if +we are the best fitted for the work, then I think that it would be a +cowardice and a crime to shirk it.”</p> + +<p>“But who is to decide whether it is a fitting case for your +interference?” objected the American. “A predatory country could grab +every other land in the world upon such a pretext.”</p> + +<p>“Events—inexorable, inevitable events—will decide it. Take this +Egyptian business as an example. In 1881 there was nothing in this +world further from the minds of our people than any interference with +Egypt; and yet 1882 left us in possession of the country. There was +never any choice in the chain of events. A massacre in the streets of +Alexandria, and the mounting of guns to drive out our fleet—which was +there, you understand, in fulfilment of solemn treaty obligations—led +to the bombardment. The bombardment led to a landing to save the city +from destruction. The landing caused an extension of operations—and +here we are, with the country upon our hands. At the time of trouble we +begged and implored the French, or any one else, to come and help us to +put the thing to rights, but they all deserted us when there was work to +be done, although they are ready enough to scold and to impede us now. +When we tried to get out of it, up came this wild Dervish movement, and +we had to sit tighter than ever. We never wanted the task; but, now +that it has come, we must put it through in a workmanlike manner. +We’ve brought justice into the country, and purity of administration, +and protection for the poor man. It has made more advance in the last +twelve years than since the Moslem invasion in the seventh century. +Except the pay of a couple of hundred men, who spend their money in the +country, England has neither directly nor indirectly made a shilling out +of it, and I don’t believe you will find in history a more successful +and more disinterested bit of work.”</p> + +<p>Headingly puffed thoughtfully at his cigarette.</p> + +<p>“There is a house near ours, down on the Back Bay at Boston, which just +ruins the whole prospect,” said he. “It has old chairs littered about +the stoop, and the shingles are loose, and the garden runs wild; but I +don’t know that the neighbours are exactly justified in rushing in, and +stamping around, and running the thing on their own lines.”</p> + +<p>“Not if it were on fire?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>Headingly laughed, and rose from his camp-stool.</p> + +<p>“Well, it doesn’t come within the provisions of the Monroe Doctrine, +Colonel,” said he. “I’m beginning to realise that modern Egypt is every +bit as interesting as ancient, and that Rameses the Second wasn’t the +last live man in the country.”</p> + +<p>The two Englishmen rose and yawned.</p> + +<p>“Yes, it’s a whimsical freak of fortune which has sent men from a little +island in the Atlantic to administer the land of the Pharaohs,” remarked +Cecil Brown. “We shall pass away again, and never leave a trace among +these successive races who have held the country, for it is not an +Anglo-Saxon custom to write their deeds upon rocks. I dare say that the +remains of a Cairo drainage system will be our most permanent record, +unless they prove a thousand years hence that it was the work of the +Hyksos kings. But here is the shore party come back.”</p> + +<p>Down below they could hear the mellow Irish accents of Mrs. Belmont and +the deep voice of her husband, the iron-grey rifle-shot. Mr. Stuart, +the fat Birmingham clergyman, was thrashing out a question of piastres +with a noisy donkey-boy, and the others were joining in with chaff and +advice. Then the hubbub died away, the party from above came down the +ladder, there were “good-nights,” the shutting of doors, and the little +steamer lay silent, dark, and motionless in the shadow of the high Halfa +bank. And beyond this one point of civilisation and of comfort there +lay the limitless, savage, unchangeable desert, straw-coloured and +dream-like in the moonlight, mottled over with the black shadows of the +hills.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">“S</span>TOPPA! Backa!” cried the native pilot to the European engineer.</p> + +<p>The bluff bows of the stern-wheeler had squelched into the soft brown +mud, and the current had swept the boat alongside the bank. The long +gangway was thrown across, and the six tall soldiers of the Soudanese +escort filed along it, their light-blue gold-trimmed zouave uniforms, +and their jaunty yellow and red forage-caps, showing up bravely in the +clear morning light. Above them, on the top of the bank, was ranged the +line of donkeys, and the air was full of the clamour of the boys. +In shrill strident voices each was crying out the virtues of his own +beast, and abusing that of his neighbour.</p> + +<p>Colonel Cochrane and Mr. Belmont stood together in the bows, each +wearing the broad white puggareed hat of the tourist. Miss Adams and +her niece leaned against the rail beside them.</p> + +<p>“Sorry your wife isn’t coming, Belmont,” said the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“I think she had a touch of the sun yesterday. Her head aches very +badly.”</p> + +<p>His voice was strong and thick like his figure.</p> + +<p>“I should stay to keep her company, Mr. Belmont,” said the little +American old maid; “but I learn that Mrs. Shlesinger finds the ride too +long for her, and has some letters which she must mail to-day, so Mrs. +Belmont will not be lonesome.”</p> + +<p>“You’re very good, Miss Adams. We shall be back, you know, by two +o’clock.”</p> + +<p>“Is that certain?”</p> + +<p>“It must be certain, for we are taking no lunch with us, and we shall be +famished by then.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I expect we shall be ready for a hock and seltzer at any rate,” +said the Colonel. “This desert dust gives a flavour to the worst +wine.”</p> + +<p>“Now, ladies and gentlemen!” cried Mansoor, the dragoman, moving forward +with something of the priest in his flowing garments and smooth, +clean-shaven face. “We must start early that we may return before the +meridial heat of the weather.” He ran his dark eyes over the little +group of his tourists with a paternal expression. “You take your green +glasses, Miss Adams, for glare very great out in the desert. Ah, Mr. +Stuart, I set aside very fine donkey for you—prize donkey, sir, always +put aside for the gentleman of most weight. Never mind to take your +monument ticket to-day. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if <i>you</i> please!”</p> + +<p>Like a grotesque frieze the party moved one by one along the plank +gangway and up the brown crumbling bank. Mr. Stephens led them, a thin, +dry, serious figure, in an English straw hat. His red “Baedeker” +gleamed under his arm, and in one hand he held a little paper of notes, +as if it were a brief. He took Miss Sadie by one arm and her aunt by +the other as they toiled up the bank, and the young girl’s laughter rang +frank and clear in the morning air as “Baedeker” came fluttering down at +their feet. Mr. Belmont and Colonel Cochrane followed, the brims of +their sun-hats touching as they discussed the relative advantages of the +Mauser, the Lebel, and the Lee-Metford. Behind them walked Cecil Brown, +listless, cynical, self-contained. The fat clergyman puffed slowly up +the bank, with many gasping witticisms at his own defects. “I’m one of +those men who carry everything before them,” said he, glancing ruefully +at his rotundity, and chuckling wheezily at his own little joke. +Last of all came Headingly, slight and tall, with the student stoop +about his shoulders, and Fardet, the good-natured, fussy, argumentative +Parisian.</p> + +<p>“You see we have an escort to-day,” he whispered to his companion.</p> + +<p>“So I observed.”</p> + +<p>“Pah!” cried the Frenchman, throwing out his arms in derision; “as well +have an escort from Paris to Versailles. This is all part of the play, +Monsieur Headingly. It deceives no one, but it is part of the play. +<i>Pourquoi ces droles de militaires, dragoman, hein?</i>”</p> + +<p>It was the dragoman’s <i>role</i> to be all things to all men, so he looked +cautiously round before he answered, to make sure that the English were +mounted and out of earshot.</p> + +<p>“<i>C’est ridicule, monsieur!</i>” said he, shrugging his fat shoulders. +“<i>Mais que voulez-vous? C’est l’ordre official Egyptien.</i>”</p> + +<p>“<i>Egyptien! Pah, Anglais, Anglais—toujours Anglais!</i>” cried the angry +Frenchman.</p> + +<p>The frieze now was more grotesque than ever, but had changed suddenly to +an equestrian one, sharply outlined against the deep-blue Egyptian sky. +Those who have never ridden before have to ride in Egypt, and when the +donkeys break into a canter, and the Nile Irregulars are at full charge, +such a scene of flying veils, clutching hands, huddled swaying figures, +and anxious faces is nowhere to be seen. Belmont, his square figure +balanced upon a small white donkey, was waving his hat to his wife, who +had come out upon the saloon-deck of the <i>Korosko</i>. Cochrane sat very +erect with a stiff military seat, hands low, head high, and heels down, +while beside him rode the young Oxford man, looking about him with +drooping eyelids as if he thought the desert hardly respectable, and had +his doubts about the Universe. Behind them the whole party was strung +along the bank in varying stages of jolting and discomfort, a +brown-faced, noisy donkey-boy running after each donkey. Looking back, +they could see the little lead-coloured stern-wheeler, with the gleam of +Mrs. Belmont’s handkerchief from the deck. Beyond ran the broad, brown +river, winding down in long curves to where, five miles off, the square, +white block-houses upon the black, ragged hills marked the outskirts of +Wady Halfa, which had been their starting-point that morning.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t it just too lovely for anything?” cried Sadie joyously. “I’ve +got a donkey that runs on casters, and the saddle is just elegant. +Did you ever see anything so cunning as these beads and things round his +neck? You must make a memo. <i>re</i> donkey, Mr. Stephens. Isn’t that +correct legal English?”</p> + +<p>Stephens looked at the pretty, animated, boyish face looking up at him +from under the coquettish straw hat, and he wished that he had the +courage to tell her in her own language that she was just too sweet for +anything. But he feared above all things lest he should offend her, and +so put an end to their present pleasant intimacy. So his compliment +dwindled into a smile.</p> + +<p>“You look very happy,” said he.</p> + +<p>“Well, who could help feeling good with this dry, clear air, and the +blue sky, and the crisp yellow sand, and a superb donkey to carry you? +I’ve just got everything in the world to make me happy.”</p> + +<p>“Everything?”</p> + +<p>“Well, everything I have any use for just now.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose you never know what it is to be sad?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, when I <i>am</i> miserable, I am just too miserable for words. I’ve sat +and cried for days and days at Smith’s College, and the other girls were +just crazy to know what I was crying about, and guessing what the reason +was that I wouldn’t tell them, when all the time the real true reason +was that I didn’t know myself. You know how it comes like a great dark +shadow over you, and you don’t know why or wherefore, but you’ve just +got to settle down to it and be miserable.”</p> + +<p>“But you never had any real cause?”</p> + +<p>“No, Mr. Stephens, I’ve had such a good time all my life that I really +don’t think, when I look back, that I ever had any real cause for +sorrow.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Miss Sadie, I hope with all my heart that you will be able to say +the same when you are the same age as your aunt. Surely I hear her +calling.”</p> + +<p>“I wish, Mr. Stephens, you would strike my donkey-boy with your whip if +he hits the donkey again,” cried Miss Adams, jogging up on a high, +raw-boned beast. “Hi, dragoman, Mansoor, you tell this boy that I won’t +have the animals ill used, and that he ought to be ashamed of himself. +Yes, you little rascal, you ought! He’s grinning at me like an +advertisement for a tooth paste. Do you think, Mr. Stephens, that if I +were to knit that black soldier a pair of woollen stockings he would be +allowed to wear them? The poor creature has bandages round his legs.”</p> + +<p>“Those are his putties, Miss Adams,” said Colonel Cochrane, looking +back at her. “We have found in India that they are the best support to +the leg in marching. They are very much better than any stocking.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you don’t say! They remind me mostly of a sick horse. But it’s +elegant to have the soldiers with us, though Monsieur Fardet tells me +there’s nothing for us to be scared about.”</p> + +<p>“That is only my opinion, Miss Adams,” said the Frenchman hastily. +“It may be that Colonel Cochrane thinks otherwise.”</p> + +<p>“It is Monsieur Fardet’s opinion against that of the officers who have +the responsibility of caring for the safety of the frontier,” said the +Colonel coldly. “At least we will all agree that they have the effect +of making the scene very much more picturesque.”</p> + +<p>The desert upon their right lay in long curves of sand, like the dunes +which might have fringed some forgotten primeval sea. Topping them they +could see the black, craggy summits of the curious volcanic hills which +rise upon the Libyan side. On the crest of the low sand-hills they +would catch a glimpse every now and then of a tall, sky-blue soldier, +walking swiftly, his rifle at the trail. For a moment the lank, warlike +figure would be sharply silhouetted against the sky. Then he would dip +into a hollow and disappear, while some hundred yards off another would +show for an instant and vanish.</p> + +<p>“Wherever are they raised?” asked Sadie, watching the moving figures. +“They look to me just about the same tint as the hotel boys in the +States.”</p> + +<p>“I thought some question might arise about them,” said Mr. Stephens, who +was never so happy as when he could anticipate some wish of the pretty +American. “I made one or two references this morning in the ship’s +library. Here it is—<i>re</i>—that’s to say, about black soldiers. I have +it on my notes that they are from the 10th Soudanese battalion of the +Egyptian army. They are recruited from the Dinkas and the Shilluks—two +negroid tribes living to the south of the Dervish country, near the +Equator.”</p> + +<p>“How can the recruits come through the Dervishes, then?” asked Headingly +sharply.</p> + +<p>“I dare say there is no such very great difficulty over that,” said +Monsieur Fardet, with a wink at the American.</p> + +<p>“The older men are the remains of the old black battalions. Some of +them served with Gordon at Khartoum, and have his medal to show. +The others are many of them deserters from the Mahdi’s army,” said the +Colonel.</p> + +<p>“Well, so long as they are not wanted, they look right elegant in those +blue jackets,” Miss Adams observed. “But if there was any trouble, I +guess we would wish they were less ornamental and a bit whiter.”</p> + +<p>“I am not so sure of that, Miss Adams,” said the Colonel. “I have seen +these fellows in the field, and I assure you that I have the utmost +confidence in their steadiness.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I’ll take your word without trying,” said Miss Adams, with a +decision which made every one smile.</p> + +<p>So far their road had lain along the side of the river, which was +swirling down upon their left hand deep and strong from the cataracts +above. Here and there the rush of the current was broken by a black +shining boulder over which the foam was spouting. Higher up they could +see the white gleam of the rapids, and the banks grew into rugged +cliffs, which were capped by a peculiar, outstanding semi-circular rock. +It did not require the dragoman’s aid to tell the party that this was +the famous landmark to which they were bound. A long, level stretch lay +before them, and the donkeys took it at a canter. At the farther side +were scattered rocks, black upon orange; and in the midst of them rose +some broken shafts of pillars and a length of engraved wall, looking in +its greyness and its solidity more like some work of Nature than of man. +The fat, sleek dragoman had dismounted, and stood waiting in his +petticoats and his cover-coat for the stragglers to gather round him.</p> + +<p>“This temple, ladies and gentlemen,” he cried, with the air of an +auctioneer who is about to sell it to the highest bidder, “very fine +example from the eighteenth dynasty. Here is the cartouche of Thotmes +the Third,” he pointed up with his donkey-whip at the rude, but deep, +hieroglyphics upon the wall above him. “He live sixteen hundred years +before Christ, and this is made to remember his victorious exhibition +into Mesopotamia. Here we have his history from the time that he was +with his mother, until he return with captives tied to his chariot. +In this you see him crowned with Lower Egypt, and with Upper Egypt +offering up sacrifice in honour of his victory to the God Ammon-ra. +Here he bring his captives before him, and he cut off each his right +hand. In this corner you see little pile—all right hands.”</p> + +<p>“My sakes, I shouldn’t have liked to be here in those days,” said Miss +Adams.</p> + +<p>“Why, there’s nothing altered,” remarked Cecil Brown. “The East is +still the East. I’ve no doubt that within a hundred miles, or perhaps a +good deal less, from where you stand—”</p> + +<p>“Shut up!” whispered the Colonel, and the party shuffled on down the +line of the wall with their faces up and their big hats thrown +backwards. The sun behind them struck the old grey masonry with a +brassy glare, and carried on to it the strange black shadows of the +tourists, mixing them up with the grim, high-nosed, square-shouldered +warriors, and the grotesque, rigid deities who lined it. The broad +shadow of the Reverend John Stuart, of Birmingham, smudged out both the +heathen King and the god whom he worshipped.</p> + +<p>“What’s this?” he was asking in his wheezy voice, pointing up with a +yellow Assouan cane.</p> + +<p>“That is a hippopotamus,” said the dragoman; and the tourists all +tittered, for there was just a suspicion of Mr. Stuart himself in the +carving.</p> + +<p>“But it isn’t bigger than a little pig,” he protested. “You see that +the King is putting his spear through it with ease.”</p> + +<p>“They make it small to show that it was a very small thing to the King,” +said the dragoman. “So you see that all the King’s prisoners do not +exceed his knee—which is not because he was so much taller, but so much +more powerful. You see that he is bigger than his horse, because he is +a king and the other is only a horse. The same way, these small women +whom you see here and there are just his trivial little wives.”</p> + +<p>“Well, now!” cried Miss Adams indignantly. “If they had sculpted that +King’s soul it would have needed a lens to see it. Fancy his allowing +his wives to be put in like that.”</p> + +<p>“If he did it now, Miss Adams,” said the Frenchman, “he would have more +fighting than ever in Mesopotamia. But time brings revenge. Perhaps +the day will soon come when we have the picture of the big strong wife +and the trivial little husband—<i>hein?</i>”</p> + +<p>Cecil Brown and Headingly had dropped behind, for the glib comments of +the dragoman, and the empty, light-hearted chatter of the tourists +jarred upon their sense of solemnity. They stood in silence watching +the grotesque procession, with its sun-hats and green veils, as it +passed in the vivid sunshine down the front of the old grey wall. +Above them two crested hoopoes were fluttering and calling amid the +ruins of the pylon.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t it a sacrilege?” said the Oxford man at last.</p> + +<p>“Well, now, I’m glad you feel that about it, because it’s how it always +strikes me,” Headingly answered with feeling. “I’m not quite clear in +my own mind how these things should be approached—if they are to be +approached at all—but I am sure this is not the way. On the whole, I +prefer the ruins that I have not seen to those which I have.”</p> + +<p>The young diplomatist looked up with his peculiarly bright smile, which +faded away too soon into his languid, <i>blase</i> mask.</p> + +<p>“I’ve got a map,” said the American, “and sometimes far away from +anything in the very midst of the waterless, trackless desert, I see +‘ruins’ marked upon it—or ‘remains of a temple,’ perhaps. For example, +the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was one of the most considerable +shrines in the world, was hundreds of miles away back of anywhere. +Those are the ruins, solitary, unseen, unchanging through the centuries, +which appeal to one’s imagination. But when I present a check at the +door, and go in as if it were Barnum’s show, all the subtle feeling of +romance goes right out of it.”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely!” said Cecil Brown, looking over the desert with his dark, +intolerant eyes. “If one could come wandering here alone—stumble upon +it by chance, as it were—and find one’s self in absolute solitude in +the dim light of the temple, with these grotesque figures all round, it +would be perfectly overwhelming. A man would be prostrated with wonder +and awe. But when Belmont is puffing his bulldog pipe, and Stuart is +wheezing, and Miss Sadie Adams is laughing—”</p> + +<p>“And that jay of a dragoman speaking his piece,” said Headingly; +“I want to stand and think all the time, and I never seem to get the +chance. I was ripe for manslaughter when I stood before the Great +Pyramid, and couldn’t get a quiet moment because they would boost me on +to the top. I took a kick at one man which would have sent <i>him</i> to the +top in one jump if I had hit meat. But fancy travelling all the way +from America to see the pyramid, and then finding nothing better to do +than to kick an Arab in front of it!”</p> + +<p>The Oxford man laughed in his gentle, tired fashion. “They are starting +again,” said he, and the two hastened forwards to take their places at +the tail of the absurd procession.</p> + +<p>Their route ran now among large, scattered boulders, and between stony, +shingly hills. A narrow winding path curved in and out amongst the +rocks. Behind them their view was cut off by similar hills, black and +fantastic, like the slag-heaps at the shaft of a mine. A silence fell +upon the little company, and even Sadie’s bright face reflected the +harshness of Nature. The escort had closed in, and marched beside them, +their boots scrunching among the loose black rubble. Colonel Cochrane +and Belmont were still riding together in the van.</p> + +<p>“Do you know, Belmont,” said the Colonel, in a low voice, “you may think +me a fool, but I don’t like this one little bit.”</p> + +<p>Belmont gave a short gruff laugh.</p> + +<p>“It seemed all right in the saloon of the <i>Korosko</i>, but now that we are +here we <i>do</i> seem rather up in the air,” said he. “Still, you know, a +party comes here every week, and nothing has ever gone wrong.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t mind taking my chances when I am on the war-path,” the Colonel +answered. “That’s all straightforward and in the way of business. +But when you have women with you, and a helpless crowd like this, it +becomes really dreadful. Of course, the chances are a hundred to one +that we have no trouble; but if we should have—well, it won’t bear +thinking about. The wonderful thing is their complete unconsciousness +that there is any danger whatever.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I like the English tailor-made dresses well enough for walking, +Mr. Stephens,” said Miss Sadie from behind them. “But for an afternoon +dress, I think the French have more style than the English. Your +milliners have a more severe cut, and they don’t do the cunning little +ribbons and bows and things in the same way.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel smiled at Belmont.</p> + +<p>“<i>She</i> is quite serene in her mind, at any rate,” said he. “Of course, +I wouldn’t say what I think to any one but you, and I daresay it will +all prove to be quite unfounded.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I could imagine parties of Dervishes on the prowl,” said Belmont. +“But what I cannot imagine is that they should just happen to come to +the pulpit rock on the very morning when we are due there.”</p> + +<p>“Considering that our movements have been freely advertised, and that +every one knows a week beforehand what our programme is, and where we +are to be found, it does not strike me as being such a wonderful +coincidence.”</p> + +<p>“It is a very remote chance,” said Belmont stoutly, but he was glad in +his heart that his wife was safe and snug on board the steamer.</p> + +<p>And now they were clear of the rocks again, with a fine stretch of firm +yellow sand extending to the very base of the conical hill which lay +before them. “Ay-ah! Ay-ah!” cried the boys, whack came their sticks +upon the flanks of the donkeys, which broke into a gallop, and away they +all streamed over the plain. It was not until they had come to the end +of the path which curves up the hill that the dragoman called a halt.</p> + +<p>“Now, ladies and gentlemen, we are arrived for the so famous pulpit rock +of Abousir. From the summit you will presently enjoy a panorama of +remarkable fertility. But first you will observe that over the rocky +side of the hill are everywhere cut the names of great men who have +passed it in their travels, and some of these names are older than the +time of Christ.”</p> + +<p>“Got Moses?” asked Miss Adams.</p> + +<p>“Auntie, I’m surprised at you!” cried Sadie.</p> + +<p>“Well, my dear, he was in Egypt, and he was a great man, and he may have +passed this way.”</p> + +<p>“Moses’s name very likely there, and the same with Herodotus,” said the +dragoman gravely. “Both have been long worn away. But there on the +brown rock you will see Belzoni. And up higher is Gordon. There is +hardly a name famous in the Soudan which you will not find, if you like. +And now, with your permission, we shall take good-bye of our donkeys and +walk up the path, and you will see the river and the desert from the +summit of the top.”</p> + +<p>A minute or two of climbing brought them out upon the semicircular +platform which crowns the rock. Below them on the far side was a +perpendicular black cliff, a hundred and fifty feet high, with the +swirling, foam-streaked river roaring past its base. The swish of the +water and the low roar as it surged over the mid-stream boulders boomed +through the hot, stagnant air. Far up and far down they could see the +course of the river, a quarter of a mile in breadth, and running very +deep and strong, with sleek black eddies and occasional spoutings of +foam. On the other side was a frightful wilderness of black, scattered +rocks, which were the <i>debris</i> carried down by the river at high flood. +In no direction were there any signs of human beings or their dwellings.</p> + +<p>“On the far side,” said the dragoman, waving his donkey-whip towards the +east, “is the military line which conducts Wady Halfa to Sarras. +Sarras lies to the south, under that black hill. Those two blue +mountains which you see very far away are in Dongola, more than a +hundred miles from Sarras. The railway there is forty miles long, and +has been much annoyed by the Dervishes, who are very glad to turn the +rails into spears. The telegraph wires are also much appreciated +thereby. Now, if you will kindly turn round, I will explain, also, what +we see upon the other side.”</p> + +<p>It was a view which, when once seen, must always haunt the mind. +Such an expanse of savage and unrelieved desert might be part of some +cold and burned-out planet rather than of this fertile and bountiful +earth. Away and away it stretched to die into a soft, violet haze in +the extremest distance. In the foreground the sand was of a bright +golden yellow, which was quite dazzling in the sunshine. Here and +there, in a scattered cordon, stood the six trusty negro soldiers +leaning motionless upon their rifles, and each throwing a shadow which +looked as solid as himself. But beyond this golden plain lay a low line +of those black slag-heaps, with yellow sand-valleys winding between +them. These in their turn were topped by higher and more fantastic +hills, and these by others, peeping over each other’s shoulders until +they blended with that distant violet haze. None of these hills were of +any height—a few hundred feet at the most—but their savage, +saw-toothed crests, and their steep scarps of sun-baked stone, gave them +a fierce character of their own.</p> + +<p>“The Libyan Desert,” said the dragoman, with a proud wave of his hand. +“The greatest desert in the world. Suppose you travel right west from +here, and turn neither to the north nor to the south, the first houses +you would come to would be in America. That make you home-sick, Miss +Adams, I believe?”</p> + +<p>But the American old maid had her attention drawn away by the conduct of +Sadie, who had caught her arm by one hand and was pointing over the +desert with the other.</p> + +<p>“Well, now, if that isn’t too picturesque for anything!” she cried, with +a flush of excitement upon her pretty face. “Do look, Mr. Stephens! +That’s just the one only thing we wanted to make it just perfectly +grand. See the men upon the camels coming out from between those +hills!”</p> + +<p>They all looked at the long string of red-turbaned riders who were +winding out of the ravine, and there fell such a hush that the buzzing +of the flies sounded quite loud upon their ears. Colonel Cochrane had +lit a match, and he stood with it in one hand and the unlit cigarette in +the other until the flame licked round his fingers. Belmont whistled. +The dragoman stood staring with his mouth half-open, and a curious slaty +tint in his full, red lips. The others looked from one to the other +with an uneasy sense that there was something wrong. It was the Colonel +who broke the silence.</p> + +<p>“By George, Belmont, I believe the hundred-to-one chance has come off!” +said he.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">“W</span>HAT’S the meaning of this, Mansoor?” cried Belmont harshly. “Who are +these people, and why are you standing staring as if you had lost your +senses?”</p> + +<p>The dragoman made an effort to compose himself, and licked his dry lips +before he answered.</p> + +<p>“I do not know who they are,” said he in a quavering voice.</p> + +<p>“Who they are?” cried the Frenchman. “You can see who they are. +They are armed men upon camels, Ababdeh, Bishareen—Bedouins, in short, +such as are employed by the Government upon the frontier.”</p> + +<p>“Be Jove, he may be right, Cochrane,” said Belmont, looking inquiringly +at the Colonel. “Why shouldn’t it be as he says? why shouldn’t these +fellows be friendlies?”</p> + +<p>“There are no friendlies upon this side of the river,” said the Colonel +abruptly; “I am perfectly certain about that. There is no use in +mincing matters. We must prepare for the worst.”</p> + +<p>But in spite of his words, they stood stock-still, in a huddled group, +staring out over the plain. Their nerves were numbed by the sudden +shock, and to all of them it was like a scene in a dream, vague, +impersonal, and un-real. The men upon the camels had streamed out from +a gorge which lay a mile or so distant on the side of the path along +which they had travelled. Their retreat, therefore, was entirely cut +off. It appeared, from the dust and the length of the line, to be quite +an army which was emerging from the hills, for seventy men upon camels +cover a considerable stretch of ground. Having reached the sandy plain, +they very deliberately formed to the front, and then at the harsh call +of a bugle they trotted forward in line, the parti-coloured figures all +swaying and the sand smoking in a rolling yellow cloud at the heels of +their camels. At the same moment the six black soldiers doubled in from +the front with their Martinis at the trail, and snuggled down like +well-trained skirmishers behind the rocks upon the haunch of the hill. +Their breech blocks all snapped together as their corporal gave them the +order to load.</p> + +<p>And now suddenly the first stupor of the excursionists passed away, and +was succeeded by a frantic and impotent energy. They all ran about upon +the plateau of rock in an aimless, foolish flurry, like frightened fowls +in a yard. They could not bring themselves to acknowledge that there +was no possible escape for them. Again and again they rushed to the +edge of the great cliff which rose from the river, but the youngest and +most daring of them could never have descended it. The two women clung +one on each side of the trembling Mansoor, with a feeling that he was +officially responsible for their safety. When he ran up and down in his +desperation, his skirts and theirs all fluttered together. Stephens, +the lawyer, kept close to Sadie Adams, muttering mechanically, “Don’t be +alarmed, Miss Sadie; don’t be at all alarmed!” though his own limbs were +twitching with agitation. Monsieur Fardet stamped about with a guttural +rolling of r’s, glancing angrily at his companions as if they had in +some way betrayed him; while the fat clergyman stood with his umbrella +up, staring stolidly with big, frightened eyes at the camel-men. +Cecil Brown curled his small, prim moustache, and looked white, but +contemptuous. The Colonel, Belmont, and the young Harvard graduate were +the three most cool-headed and resourceful members of the party.</p> + +<p>“Better stick together,” said the Colonel. “There’s no escape for us, +so we may as well remain united.”</p> + +<p>“They’ve halted,” said Belmont.</p> + +<p>“They are reconnoitring us. They know very well that there is no escape +from them, and they are taking their time. I don’t see what we can do.”</p> + +<p>“Suppose we hide the women,” Headingly suggested. “They can’t know how +many of us are here. When they have taken us, the women can come out of +their hiding-place and make their way back to the boat.”</p> + +<p>“Admirable!” cried Colonel Cochrane. “Admirable! This way, please, Miss +Adams. Bring the ladies here, Mansoor. There is not an instant to be +lost.”</p> + +<p>There was a part of the plateau which was invisible from the plain, and +here in feverish haste they built a little cairn. Many flaky slabs of +stone were lying about, and it did not take long to prop the largest of +these against a rock, so as to make a lean-to, and then to put two +side-pieces to complete it. The slabs were of the same colour as the +rock, so that to a casual glance the hiding-place was not very visible. +The two ladies were squeezed into this, and they crouched together, +Sadie’s arms thrown round her aunt. When they had walled them up, the +men turned with lighter hearts to see what was going on. As they did so +there rang out the sharp, peremptory crack of a rifle-shot from the +escort, followed by another and another, but these isolated shots were +drowned in the long, spattering roll of an irregular volley from the +plain, and the air was full of the phit-phit-phit of the bullets. +The tourists all huddled behind the rocks, with the exception of the +Frenchman, who still stamped angrily about, striking his sun-hat with +his clenched hand. Belmont and Cochrane crawled down to where the +Soudanese soldiers were firing slowly and steadily, resting their rifles +upon the boulders in front of them.</p> + +<p>The Arabs had halted about five hundred yards away, and it was evident +from their leisurely movements that they were perfectly aware that there +was no possible escape for the travellers. They had paused to ascertain +their number before closing in upon them. Most of them were firing from +the backs of their camels, but a few had dismounted and were kneeling +here and there—little shimmering white spots against the golden +back-ground. Their shots came sometimes singly in quick, sharp throbs, +and sometimes in a rolling volley, with a sound like a boy’s stick drawn +across iron railings. The hill buzzed like a bee-hive, and the bullets +made a sharp crackling as they struck against the rocks.</p> + +<p>“You do no good by exposing yourself,” said Belmont, drawing Colonel +Cochrane behind a large jagged boulder, which already furnished a +shelter for three of the Soudanese. “A bullet is the best we have to +hope for,” said Cochrane grimly. “What an infernal fool I have been, +Belmont, not to protest more energetically against this ridiculous +expedition! I deserve whatever I get, but it <i>is</i> hard on these poor +souls who never knew the danger.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose there’s no help for us?”</p> + +<p>“Not the faintest.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you think this firing might bring the troops up from Halfa?”</p> + +<p>“They’ll never hear it. It is a good six miles from here to the +steamer. From that to Halfa would be another five.”</p> + +<p>“Well, when we don’t return, the steamer will give the alarm.”</p> + +<p>“And where shall we be by that time?”</p> + +<p>“My poor Norah! My poor little Norah!” muttered Belmont, in the depths +of his grizzled moustache.</p> + +<p>“What do you suppose that they will do with us, Cochrane?” he asked +after a pause.</p> + +<p>“They may cut our throats, or they may take us as slaves to Khartoum. +I don’t know that there is much to choose. There’s one of us out of his +troubles anyhow.”</p> + +<p>The soldier next them had sat down abruptly, and leaned forward over his +knees. His movement and attitude were so natural that it was hard to +realise that he had been shot through the head. He neither stirred nor +groaned. His comrades bent over him for a moment, and then, shrugging +their shoulders, they turned their dark faces to the Arabs once more. +Belmont picked up the dead man’s Martini and his ammunition-pouch.</p> + +<p>“Only three more rounds, Cochrane,” said he, with the little brass +cylinders upon the palm of his hand. “We’ve let them shoot too soon, +and too often. We should have waited for the rush.”</p> + +<p>“You’re a famous shot, Belmont,” cried the Colonel. “I’ve heard of you +as one of the cracks. Don’t you think you could pick off their leader?”</p> + +<p>“Which is he?”</p> + +<p>“As far as I can make out, it is that one on the white camel on their +right front. I mean the fellow who is peering at us from under his two +hands.”</p> + +<p>Belmont thrust in his cartridge and altered the sights. “It’s a +shocking bad light for judging distance,” said he. “This is where the +low point-blank trajectory of the Lee-Metford comes in useful. Well, +we’ll try him at five hundred.” He fired, but there was no change in +the white camel or the peering rider.</p> + +<p>“Did you see any sand fly?”</p> + +<p>“No, I saw nothing.”</p> + +<p>“I fancy I took my sight a trifle too full.”</p> + +<p>“Try him again.”</p> + +<p>Man and rifle and rock were equally steady, but again the camel and +chief remained un-harmed. The third shot must have been nearer, for he +moved a few paces to the right, as if he were becoming restless. +Belmont threw the empty rifle down, with an exclamation of disgust.</p> + +<p>“It’s this confounded light,” he cried, and his cheeks flushed with +annoyance. “Think of my wasting three cartridges in that fashion! +If I had him at Bisley I’d shoot the turban off him, but this vibrating +glare means refraction. What’s the matter with the Frenchman?”</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet was stamping about the plateau with the gestures of a +man who has been stung by a wasp. “<i>S’cre nom! S’cre nom!</i>” he +shouted, showing his strong white teeth under his black waxed moustache. +He wrung his right hand violently, and as he did so he sent a little +spray of blood from his finger-tips. A bullet had chipped his wrist. +Headingly ran out from the cover where he had been crouching, with the +intention of dragging the demented Frenchman into a place of safety, but +he had not taken three paces before he was himself hit in the loins, and +fell with a dreadful crash among the stones. He staggered to his feet, +and then fell again in the same place, floundering up and down like a +horse which has broken its back. “I’m done!” he whispered, as the +Colonel ran to his aid, and then he lay still, with his china-white +cheek against the black stones. When, but a year before, he had +wandered under the elms of Cambridge, surely the last fate upon this +earth which he could have predicted for himself would be that he should +be slain by the bullet of a fanatical Mohammedan in the wilds of the +Libyan Desert.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the fire of the escort had ceased, for they had shot away +their last cartridge. A second man had been killed, and a third—who +was the corporal in charge—had received a bullet in his thigh. He sat +upon a stone, tying up his injury with a grave, preoccupied look upon +his wrinkled black face, like an old woman piecing together a broken +plate. The three others fastened their bayonets with a determined +metallic rasp and snap, and the air of men who intended to sell their +lives dearly.</p> + +<p>“They’re coming!” cried Belmont, looking over the plain.</p> + +<p>“Let them come!” the Colonel answered, putting his hands into his +trouser-pockets. Suddenly he pulled one fist out, and shook it +furiously in the air. “Oh, the cads! the confounded cads!” he shouted, +and his eyes were congested with rage.</p> + +<p>It was the fate of the poor donkey-boys which had carried the +self-contained soldier out of his usual calm. During the firing they +had remained huddled, a pitiable group, among the rocks at the base of +the hill. Now upon the conviction that the charge of the Dervishes must +come first upon them, they had sprung upon their animals with shrill, +inarticulate cries of fear, and had galloped off across the plain. +A small flanking-party of eight or ten camel-men had worked round while +the firing had been going on, and these dashed in among the flying +donkey-boys, hacking and hewing with a cold-blooded, deliberate +ferocity. One little boy, in a flapping Galabeeah, kept ahead of his +pursuers for a time, but the long stride of the camels ran him down, and +an Arab thrust his spear into the middle of his stooping back. The +small, white-clad corpses looked like a flock of sheep trailing over the +desert.</p> + +<p>But the people upon the rock had no time to think of the cruel fate of +the donkey-boys. Even the Colonel, after that first indignant outburst, +had forgotten all about them. The advancing camel-men had trotted to +the bottom of the hill, had dismounted, and leaving their camels +kneeling, had rushed furiously onward. Fifty of them were clambering up +the path and over the rocks together, their red turbans appearing and +vanishing again as they scrambled over the boulders. Without a shot or +a pause they surged over the three black soldiers, killing one and +stamping the other two down under their hurrying feet. So they burst on +to the plateau at the top, where an unexpected resistance checked them +for an instant.</p> + +<p>The travellers, nestling up against one another, had awaited, each after +his own fashion, the coming of the Arabs. The Colonel, with his hands +back in his trouser-pockets, tried to whistle out of his dry lips. +Belmont folded his arms and leaned against a rock, with a sulky frown +upon his lowering face. So strangely do our minds act that his three +successive misses, and the tarnish to his reputation as a marksman, was +troubling him more than his impending fate. Cecil Brown stood erect, +and plucked nervously at the up-turned points of his little prim +moustache. Monsieur Fardet groaned over his wounded wrist. +Mr. Stephens, in sombre impotence, shook his head slowly, the living +embodiment of prosaic law and order. Mr. Stuart stood, his umbrella +still over him, with no expression upon his heavy face, or in his +staring brown eyes. Headingly lay with that china-white cheek resting +motionless upon the stones. His sun-hat had fallen off, and he looked +quite boyish with his ruffled yellow hair and his un-lined, clean-cut +face. The dragoman sat upon a stone and played nervously with his +donkey-whip. So the Arabs found them when they reached the summit of +the hill.</p> + +<p>And then, just as the foremost rushed to lay hands upon them, a most +unexpected incident arrested them. From the time of the first +appearance of the Dervishes the fat clergyman of Birmingham had looked +like a man in a cataleptic trance. He had neither moved nor spoken. +But now he suddenly woke at a bound into strenuous and heroic energy. +It may have been the mania of fear, or it may have been the blood of +some Berserk ancestor which stirred suddenly in his veins; but he broke +into a wild shout, and, catching up a stick, he struck right and left +among the Arabs with a fury which was more savage than their own. +One who helped to draw up this narrative has left it upon record that, +of all the pictures which have been burned into his brain, there is none +so clear as that of this man, his large face shining with perspiration, +and his great body dancing about with unwieldy agility, as he struck at +the shrinking, snarling savages. Then a spear-head flashed from behind +a rock with a quick, vicious, upward thrust, the clergyman fell upon his +hands and knees, and the horde poured over him to seize their +unresisting victims. Knives glimmered before their eyes, rude hands +clutched at their wrists and at their throats, and then, with brutal and +unreasoning violence, they were hauled and pushed down the steep winding +path to where the camels were waiting below. The Frenchman waved his +unwounded hand as he walked. “<i>Vive le Khalifa! Vive le Madhi!</i>” he +shouted, until a blow from behind with the butt-end of a Remington beat +him into silence.</p> + +<p>And now they were herded in at the base of the Abousir rock, this little +group of modern types who had fallen into the rough clutch of the +seventh century—for in all save the rifles in their hands there was +nothing to distinguish these men from the desert warriors who first +carried the crescent flag out of Arabia. The East does not change, and +the Dervish raiders were not less brave, less cruel, or less fanatical +than their forebears. They stood in a circle, leaning upon their guns +and spears, and looking with exultant eyes at the dishevelled group of +captives. They were clad in some approach to a uniform, red turbans +gathered around the neck as well as the head, so that the fierce face +looked out of a scarlet frame; yellow, untanned shoes, and white tunics +with square brown patches let into them. All carried rifles, and one +had a small discoloured bugle slung over his shoulder. Half of them +were negroes—fine, muscular men, with the limbs of a jet Hercules; and +the other half were Baggara Arabs—small, brown, and wiry, with little, +vicious eyes, and thin, cruel lips. The chief was also a Baggara, but +he was a taller man than the others, with a black beard which came down +over his chest, and a pair of hard, cold eyes, which gleamed like glass +from under his thick, black brows. They were fixed now upon his +captives, and his features were grave with thought. Mr. Stuart had been +brought down, his hat gone, his face still flushed with anger, and his +trousers sticking in one part to his leg. The two surviving Soudanese +soldiers, their black faces and blue coats blotched with crimson, stood +silently at attention upon one side of this forlorn group of castaways.</p> + +<p>The chief stood for some minutes, stroking his black beard, while his +fierce eyes glanced from one pale face to another along the miserable +line of his captives. In a harsh, imperious voice he said something +which brought Mansoor, the dragoman, to the front, with bent back and +outstretched supplicating palms. To his employers there had always +seemed to be something comic in that flapping skirt and short cover-coat +above it; but now, under the glare of the mid-day sun, with those faces +gathered round them, it appeared rather to add a grotesque horror to the +scene. The dragoman salaamed and salaamed like some ungainly automatic +doll, and then, as the chief rasped out a curt word or two, he fell +suddenly upon his face, rubbing his forehead into the sand, and flapping +upon it with his hands.</p> + +<p>“What’s that, Cochrane?” asked Belmont. “Why is he making an exhibition +of himself?”</p> + +<p>“As far as I can understand, it is all up with us,” the Colonel +answered.</p> + +<p>“But this is absurd,” cried the Frenchman excitedly; “why should these +people wish any harm to me? I have never injured them. On the other +hand, I have always been their friend. If I could but speak to them, I +would make them comprehend. Hola, dragoman, Mansoor!”</p> + +<p>The excited gestures of Monsieur Fardet drew the sinister eyes of the +Baggara chief upon him. Again he asked a curt question, and Mansoor, +kneeling in front of him, answered it.</p> + +<p>“Tell him that I am a Frenchman, dragoman. Tell him that I am a friend +of the Khalifa. Tell him that my countrymen have never had any quarrel +with him, but that his enemies are also ours.”</p> + +<p>“The chief asks what religion you call your own,” said Mansoor. “The +Khalifa, he says, has no necessity for any friendship from those who are +infidels and unbelievers.”</p> + +<p>“Tell him that in France we look upon all religions as good.”</p> + +<p>“The chief says that none but a blaspheming dog and the son of a dog +would say that all religions are one as good as the other. He says that +if you are indeed the friend of the Khalifa, you will accept the Koran +and become a true believer upon the spot. If you will do so he will +promise on his side to send you alive to Khartoum.”</p> + +<p>“And if not?”</p> + +<p>“You will fare in the same way as the others.”</p> + +<p>“Then you may make my compliments to monsieur the chief, and tell him +that it is not the custom for Frenchmen to change their religion under +compulsion.”</p> + +<p>The chief said a few words, and then turned to consult with a short, +sturdy Arab at his elbow.</p> + +<p>“He says, Monsieur Fardet,” said the dragoman, “that if you speak again +he will make a trough out of you for the dogs to feed from. Say nothing +to anger him, sir, for he is now talking what is to be done with us.”</p> + +<p>“Who is he?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“It is Ali Wad Ibrahim, the same who raided last year, and killed all of +the Nubian village.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve heard of him,” said the Colonel. “He has the name of being one of +the boldest and the most fanatical of all the Khalifa’s leaders. Thank +God that the women are out of his clutches.”</p> + +<p>The two Arabs had been talking in that stern, restrained fashion which +comes so strangely from a southern race. Now they both turned to the +dragoman, who was still kneeling upon the sand. They plied him with +questions, pointing first to one and then to another of their prisoners. +Then they conferred together once more, and finally said something to +Mansoor, with a contemptuous wave of the hand to indicate that he might +convey it to the others.</p> + +<p>“Thank Heaven, gentlemen, I think that we are saved for the present +time,” said Mansoor, wiping away the sand which had stuck to his +perspiring forehead. “Ali Wad Ibrahim says that though an unbeliever +should have only the edge of the sword from one of the sons of the +Prophet, yet it might be of more profit to the beit-el-mal at Omdurman +if it had the gold which your people will pay for you. Until it comes +you can work as the slaves of the Khalifa, unless he should decide to +put you to death. You are to mount yourselves upon the spare camels and +to ride with the party.”</p> + +<p>The chief had waited for the end of the explanation. “Now he gave a +brief order, and a negro stepped forward with a long, dull-coloured +sword in his hand. The dragoman squealed like a rabbit who sees a +ferret, and threw himself frantically down upon the sand once more.</p> + +<p>“What is it, Cochrane?” asked Cecil Brown—for the Colonel had served in +the East, and was the only one of the travellers who had a smattering of +Arabic.</p> + +<p>“As far as I can make out, he says there is no use keeping the dragoman, +as no one would trouble to pay a ransom for him, and he is too fat to +make a good slave.”</p> + +<p>“Poor devil!” cried Brown. “Here, Cochrane, tell them to let him go. +We can’t let him be butchered like this in front of us. Say that we +will find the money amongst us. I will be answerable for any reasonable +sum.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll stand in as far as my means will allow,” cried Belmont.</p> + +<p>“We will sign a joint bond or indemnity,” said the lawyer. “If I had a +paper and pencil I could throw it into shape in an instant, and the +chief could rely upon its being perfectly correct and valid.”</p> + +<p>But the Colonel’s Arabic was insufficient, and Mansoor himself was too +maddened by fear to understand the offer which was being made for him. +The negro looked a question at the chief, and then his long black arm +swung upwards and his sword hissed over his shoulder. But the dragoman +had screamed out something which arrested the blow, and which brought +the chief and the lieutenant to his side with a new interest upon their +swarthy faces. The others crowded in also, and formed a dense circle +around the grovelling, pleading man.</p> + +<p>The Colonel had not understood this sudden change, nor had the others +fathomed the reason of it, but some instinct flashed it upon Stephens’s +horrified perceptions.</p> + +<p>“Oh, you villain!” he cried furiously. “Hold your tongue, you miserable +creature! Be silent! Better die—a thousand times better die!”</p> + +<p>But it was too late, and already they could all see the base design by +which the coward hoped to save his own life. He was about to betray the +women. They saw the chief, with a brave man’s contempt upon his stern +face, make a sign of haughty assent, and then Mansoor spoke rapidly and +earnestly, pointing up the hill. At a word from the Baggara, a dozen of +the raiders rushed up the path and were lost to view upon the top. +Then came a shrill cry, a horrible strenuous scream of surprise and +terror, and an instant later the party streamed into sight again, +dragging the women in their midst. Sadie, with her young, active limbs, +kept up with them, as they sprang down the slope, encouraging her aunt +all the while over her shoulder. The older lady, struggling amid the +rushing white figures, looked with her thin limbs and open mouth like a +chicken being dragged from a coop.</p> + +<p>The chief’s dark eyes glanced indifferently at Miss Adams, but gazed +with a smouldering fire at the younger woman. Then he gave an abrupt +order, and the prisoners were hurried in a miserable, hopeless drove to +the cluster of kneeling camels. Their pockets had already been +ransacked, and the contents thrown into one of the camel-food bags, the +neck of which was tied up by Ali Wad Ibrahim’s own hands.</p> + +<p>“I say, Cochrane,” whispered Belmont, looking with smouldering eyes at +the wretched Mansoor, “I’ve got a little hip revolver which they have +not discovered. Shall I shoot that cursed dragoman for giving away the +women?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his head.</p> + +<p>“You had better keep it,” said he, with a sombre face. “The women may +find some other use for it before all is over.”</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE camels, some brown and some white, were kneeling in a long line, +their champing jaws moving rhythmically from side to side, and their +gracefully poised heads turning to right and left in a mincing, +self-conscious fashion. Most of them were beautiful creatures, true +Arabian trotters, with the slim limbs and finely turned necks which mark +the breed; but among them were a few of the slower, heavier beasts, with +ungroomed skins, disfigured by the black scars of old firings. These +were loaded with the doora and the waterskins of the raiders, but a few +minutes sufficed to redistribute their loads and to make place for the +prisoners. None of these had been bound with the exception of Mr. +Stuart—for the Arabs, understanding that he was a clergyman, and +accustomed to associate religion with violence, had looked upon his +fierce outburst as quite natural, and regarded him now as the most +dangerous and enterprising of their captives. His hands were therefore +tied together with a plaited camel-halter, but the others, including the +dragoman and the two wounded blacks, were allowed to mount without any +precaution against their escape, save that which was afforded by the +slowness of their beasts. Then, with a shouting of men and a roaring of +camels, the creatures were jolted on to their legs, and the long, +straggling procession set off with its back to the homely river, and its +face to the shimmering, violet haze, which hung round the huge sweep of +beautiful, terrible desert, striped tiger-fashion with black rock and +with golden sand.</p> + +<p>None of the white prisoners, with the exception of Colonel Cochrane, had +ever been upon a camel before. It seemed an alarming distance to the +ground when they looked down, and the curious swaying motion, with the +insecurity of the saddle, made them sick and frightened. But their +bodily discomfort was forgotten in the turmoil of bitter thoughts +within. What a chasm gaped between their old life and their new! And +yet how short was the time and space which divided them! Less than an +hour ago they had stood upon the summit of that rock, and had laughed +and chattered, or grumbled at the heat and flies, becoming peevish at +small discomforts. Headingly had been hypercritical over the tints of +Nature. They could not forget his own tint as he lay with his cheek +upon the black stone. Sadie had chattered about tailor-made dresses and +Parisian chiffons. Now she was clinging, half-crazy, to the pommel of a +wooden saddle, with suicide rising as a red star of hope in her mind. +Humanity, reason, argument—all were gone, and there remained the brutal +humiliation of force. And all the time, down there by the second rocky +point, their steamer was waiting for them—their saloon, with the white +napery and the glittering glasses, the latest novel, and the London +papers. The least imaginative of them could see it so clearly: the +white awning, Mrs. Shlesinger with her yellow sun-hat, Mrs. Belmont +lying back in the canvas chair. There it lay almost in sight of them, +that little floating chip broken off from home, and every silent, +ungainly step of the camels was carrying them more hopelessly away from +it. That very morning how beneficent Providence had appeared, how +pleasant was life!—a little commonplace, perhaps, but so soothing and +restful. And now!</p> + +<p>The red head-gear, patched jibbehs, and yellow boots had already shown +to the Colonel that these men were no wandering party of robbers, but a +troop from the regular army of the Khalifa. Now, as they struck across +the desert, they showed that they possessed the rude discipline which +their work demanded. A mile ahead, and far out on either flank, rode +their scouts, dipping and rising among the yellow sand-hills. Ali Wad +Ibrahim headed the caravan, and his short, sturdy lieutenant brought up +the rear. The main party straggled over a couple of hundred yards, and +in the middle was the little, dejected clump of prisoners. No attempt +was made to keep them apart, and Mr. Stephens soon contrived that his +camel should be between those of the two ladies.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be down-hearted, Miss Adams,” said he. “This is a most +indefensible outrage, but there can be no question that steps will be +taken in the proper quarter to set the matter right. I am convinced +that we shall be subjected to nothing worse than a temporary +inconvenience. If it had not been for that villain Mansoor, you need +not have appeared at all.”</p> + +<p>It was shocking to see the change in the little Bostonian lady, for she +had shrunk to an old woman in an hour. Her swarthy cheeks had fallen +in, and her eyes shone wildly from sunken, darkened sockets. +Her frightened glances were continually turned upon Sadie. There is +surely some wrecker angel which can only gather her best treasures in +moments of disaster. For here were all these worldlings going to their +doom, and already frivolity and selfishness had passed away from them, +and each was thinking and grieving only for the other. Sadie thought of +her aunt, her aunt thought of Sadie, the men thought of the women, +Belmont thought of his wife—and then he thought of something else also, +and he kicked his camel’s shoulder with his heel, until he found himself +upon the near side of Miss Adams.</p> + +<p>“I’ve got something for you here,” he whispered. “We may be separated +soon, so it is as well to make our arrangements.”</p> + +<p>“Separated!” wailed Miss Adams.</p> + +<p>“Don’t speak loud, for that infernal Mansoor may give us away again. +I hope it won’t be so, but it might. We must be prepared for the worst. +For example, they might determine to get rid of us men and to keep you.”</p> + +<p>Miss Adams shuddered.</p> + +<p>“What am I to do? For God’s sake tell me what I am to do, Mr. Belmont! +I am an old woman. I have had my day. I could stand it if it was only +myself. But Sadie—I am clean crazed when I think of her. There’s her +mother waiting at home, and I—” She clasped her thin hands together in +the agony of her thoughts.</p> + +<p>“Put your hand out under your dust-cloak,” said Belmont, sidling his +camel up against hers. “Don’t miss your grip of it. There! Now hide +it in your dress, and you’ll always have a key to unlock any door.”</p> + +<p>Miss Adams felt what it was which he had slipped into her hand, and she +looked at him for a moment in bewilderment. Then she pursed up her lips +and shook her stern, brown face in disapproval. But she pushed the +little pistol into its hiding-place, all the same, and she rode with her +thoughts in a whirl. Could this indeed be she, Eliza Adams, of Boston, +whose narrow, happy life had oscillated between the comfortable house in +Commonwealth Avenue and the Tremont Presbyterian Church? Here she was, +hunched upon a camel, with her hand upon the butt of a pistol, and her +mind weighing the justifications of murder. Oh, life, sly, sleek, +treacherous life, how are we ever to trust you? Show us your worst and +we can face it, but it is when you are sweetest and smoothest that we +have most to fear from you.</p> + +<p>“At the worst, Miss Sadie, it will only be a question of ransom,” said +Stephens, arguing against his own convictions. “Besides, we are still +close to Egypt, far away from the Dervish country. There is sure to be +an energetic pursuit. You must try not to lose your courage, and to +hope for the best.”</p> + +<p>“No, I am not scared, Mr. Stephens,” said Sadie, turning towards him a +blanched face which belied her words. “We’re all in God’s hands, and +surely He won’t be cruel to us. It is easy to talk about trusting Him +when things are going well, but now is the real test. If He’s up there +behind that blue heaven—”</p> + +<p>“He is,” said a voice behind them, and they found that the Birmingham +clergyman had joined the party. His tied hands clutched on to his +Makloofa saddle, and his fat body swayed dangerously from side to side +with every stride of the camel. His wounded leg was oozing with blood +and clotted with flies, and the burning desert sun beat down upon his +bare head, for he had lost both hat and umbrella in the scuffle. +A rising fever flecked his large, white cheeks with a touch of colour, +and brought a light into his brown ox-eyes. He had always seemed a +somewhat gross and vulgar person to his fellow-travellers. Now, this +bitter healing draught of sorrow had transformed him. He was purified, +spiritualised, exalted. He had become so calmly strong that he made the +others feel stronger as they looked upon him. He spoke of life and of +death, of the present, and their hopes of the future; and the black +cloud of their misery began to show a golden rift or two. Cecil Brown +shrugged his shoulders, for he could not change in an hour the +convictions of his life; but the others, even Fardet, the Frenchman, +were touched and strengthened. They all took off their hats when he +prayed. Then the Colonel made a turban out of his red silk cummerbund, +and insisted that Mr. Stuart should wear it. With his homely dress and +gorgeous headgear, he looked like a man who has dressed up to amuse the +children.</p> + +<p>And now the dull, ceaseless, insufferable torment of thirst was added to +the aching weariness which came from the motion of the camels. The sun +glared down upon them, and then up again from the yellow sand, and the +great plain shimmered and glowed until they felt as if they were riding +over a cooling sheet of molten metal. Their lips were parched and +dried, and their tongues like tags of leather. They lisped curiously in +their speech, for it was only the vowel sounds which would come without +an effort. Miss Adams’s chin had dropped upon her chest, and her great +hat concealed her face.</p> + +<p>“Auntie will faint if she does not get water,” said Sadie. “Oh, Mr. +Stephens, is there nothing we could do?”</p> + +<p>The Dervishes riding near were all Baggara with the exception of one +negro—an uncouth fellow with a face pitted with small-pox. +His expression seemed good-natured when compared with that of his Arab +comrades, and Stephens ventured to touch his elbow and to point to his +water-skin, and then to the exhausted lady. The negro shook his head +brusquely, but at the same time he glanced significantly towards the +Arabs, as if to say that, if it were not for them, he might act +differently. Then he laid his black forefinger upon the breast of his +jibbeh.</p> + +<p>“Tippy Tilly,” said he.</p> + +<p>“What’s that?” asked Colonel Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“Tippy Tilly,” repeated the negro, sinking his voice as if he wished +only the prisoners to hear him.</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his head.</p> + +<p>“My Arabic won’t bear much strain. I don’t know what he is saying,” +said he.</p> + +<p>“Tippy Tilly. Hicks Pasha,” the negro repeated.</p> + +<p>“I believe the fellow is friendly to us, but I can’t quite make him +out,” said Cochrane to Belmont. “Do you think that he means that his +name is Tippy Tilly, and that he killed Hicks Pasha?”</p> + +<p>The negro showed his great white teeth at hearing his own words coming +back to him. “Aiwa!” said he. “Tippy Tilly—Bimbashi Mormer—Boum!”</p> + +<p>“By Jove, I’ve got it!” cried Belmont. “He’s trying to speak English. +Tippy Tilly is as near as he can get to Egyptian Artillery. He has +served in the Egyptian Artillery under Bimbashi Mortimer. He was taken +prisoner when Hicks Pasha was destroyed, and had to turn Dervish to save +his skin. How’s that?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel said a few words of Arabic and received a reply, but two of +the Arabs closed up, and the negro quickened his pace and left them.</p> + +<p>“You are quite right,” said the Colonel. “The fellow is friendly to us, +and would rather fight for the Khedive than for the Khalifa. I don’t +know that he can do us any good, but I’ve been in worse holes than this, +and come out right side up. After all, we are not out of reach of +pursuit, and won’t be for another forty-eight hours.”</p> + +<p>Belmont calculated the matter out in his slow, deliberate fashion.</p> + +<p>“It was about twelve that we were on the rock,” said he. “They would +become alarmed aboard the steamer if we did not appear at two.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” the Colonel interrupted, “that was to be our lunch hour. +I remember saying that when I came back I would have—O Lord, it’s best +not to think of it!”</p> + +<p>“The reis was a sleepy old crock,” Belmont continued, “but I have +absolute confidence in the promptness and decision of my wife. +She would insist upon an immediate alarm being given. Suppose they +started back at two-thirty, they should be at Halfa by three, since the +journey is down stream. How long did they say that it took to turn out +the Camel Corps?”</p> + +<p>“Give them an hour.”</p> + +<p>“And another hour to get them across the river. They would be at the +Abousir Rock and pick up the tracks by six o’clock. After that it is a +clear race. We are only four hours ahead, and some of these beasts are +very spent. We may be saved yet, Cochrane!”</p> + +<p>“Some of us may. I don’t expect to see the padre alive to-morrow, nor +Miss Adams either. They are not made for this sort of thing either of +them. Then again we must not forget that these people have a trick of +murdering their prisoners when they see that there is a chance of a +rescue. See here, Belmont, in case you get back and I don’t, there’s a +matter of a mortgage that I want you to set right for me.” They rode on +with their shoulders inclined to each other, deep in the details of +business.</p> + +<p>The friendly negro who had talked of himself as Tippy Tilly had managed +to slip a piece of cloth soaked in water into the hand of Mr. Stephens, +and Miss Adams had moistened her lips with it. Even the few drops had +given her renewed strength, and now that the first crushing shock was +over, her wiry, elastic, Yankee nature began to reassert itself.</p> + +<p>“These people don’t look as if they would harm us, Mr. Stephens,” said +she. “I guess they have a working religion of their own, such as it is, +and that what’s wrong to us is wrong to them.”</p> + +<p>Stephens shook his head in silence. He had seen the death of the +donkey-boys, and she had not.</p> + +<p>“Maybe we are sent to guide them into a better path,” said the old lady. +“Maybe we are specially singled out for a good work among them.”</p> + +<p>If it were not for her niece her energetic and enterprising temperament +was capable of glorying in the chance of evangelising Khartoum, and +turning Omdurman into a little well-drained broad-avenued replica of a +New England town.</p> + +<p>“Do you know what I am thinking of all the time?” said Sadie. +“You remember that temple that we saw—when was it? Why, it was this +morning.”</p> + +<p>They gave an exclamation of surprise, all three of them. Yes, it had +been this morning; and it seemed away and away in some dim past +experience of their lives, so vast was the change, so new and so +overpowering the thoughts which had come between. They rode in silence, +full of this strange expansion of time, until at last Stephens reminded +Sadie that she had left her remark unfinished.</p> + +<p>“Oh yes; it was the wall picture on that temple that I was thinking of. +Do you remember the poor string of prisoners who are being dragged along +to the feet of the great king—how dejected they looked among the +warriors who led them? Who could—who <i>could</i> have thought that within +three hours the same fate should be our own? And Mr. Headingly—” +She turned her face away and began to cry.</p> + +<p>“Don’t take on, Sadie,” said her aunt; “remember what the minister said +just now, that we are all right there in the hollow of God’s hand. +Where do you think we are going, Mr. Stephens?”</p> + +<p>The red edge of his Baedeker still projected from the lawyer’s pocket, +for it had not been worth their captor’s while to take it. He glanced +down at it.</p> + +<p>“If they will only leave me this, I will look up a few references when +we halt. I have a general idea of the country, for I drew a small map +of it the other day. The river runs from south to north, so we must be +travelling almost due west. I suppose they feared pursuit if they kept +too near the Nile bank. There is a caravan route, I remember, which +runs parallel to the river, about seventy miles inland. If we continue +in this direction for a day we ought to come to it. There is a line of +wells through which it passes. It comes out at Assiout, if I remember +right, upon the Egyptian side. On the other side, it leads away into +the Dervish country—so, perhaps—”</p> + +<p>His words were interrupted by a high, eager voice, which broke suddenly +into a torrent of jostling words, words without meaning, pouring +strenuously out in angry assertions and foolish repetitions. The pink +had deepened to scarlet upon Mr. Stuart’s cheeks, his eyes were vacant +but brilliant, and he gabbled, gabbled, gabbled as he rode. +Kindly mother Nature! she will not let her children be mishandled too +far. “This is too much,” she says; “this wounded leg, these crusted +lips, this anxious, weary mind. Come away for a time, until your body +becomes more habitable.” And so she coaxes the mind away into the +Nirvana of delirium, while the little cell-workers tinker and toil +within to get things better for its homecoming. When you see the veil +of cruelty which nature wears, try and peer through it, and you will +sometimes catch a glimpse of a very homely, kindly face behind.</p> + +<p>The Arab guards looked askance at this sudden outbreak of the clergyman, +for it verged upon lunacy, and lunacy is to them a fearsome and +supernatural thing. One of them rode forward and spoke with the Emir. +When he returned he said something to his comrades, one of whom closed +in upon each side of the minister’s camel, so as to prevent him from +falling. The friendly negro sidled his beast up to the Colonel, and +whispered to him.</p> + +<p>“We are going to halt presently, Belmont,” said Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“Thank God! They may give us some water. We can’t go on like this.”</p> + +<p>“I told Tippy Tilly that, if he could help us, we would turn him into a +Bimbashi when we got him back into Egypt. I think he’s willing enough +if he only had the power. By Jove, Belmont, do look back at the river.”</p> + +<p>Their route, which had lain through sand-strewn khors with jagged, black +edges—places up which one would hardly think it possible that a camel +could climb—opened out now on to a hard, rolling plain, covered thickly +with rounded pebbles, dipping and rising to the violet hills upon the +horizon. So regular were the long, brown pebble-strewn curves, that +they looked like the dark rollers of some monstrous ground-swell. Here +and there a little straggling sage-green tuft of camel-grass sprouted up +between the stones. Brown plains and violet hills—nothing else in +front of them! Behind lay the black jagged rocks through which they had +passed with orange slopes of sand, and then far away a thin line of +green to mark the course of the river. How cool and beautiful that +green looked in the stark, abominable wilderness! On one side they +could see the high rock—the accursed rock which had tempted them to +their ruin. On the other the river curved, and the sun gleamed upon the +water. Oh, that liquid gleam, and the insurgent animal cravings, the +brutal primitive longings, which for the instant took the soul out of +all of them! They had lost families, countries, liberty, everything, +but it was only of water, water, water, that they could think. Mr. +Stuart in his delirium began roaring for oranges, and it was +insufferable for them to have to listen to him. Only the rough, sturdy +Irishman rose superior to that bodily craving. That gleam of river must +be somewhere near Halfa, and his wife might be upon the very water at +which he looked. He pulled his hat over his eyes, and rode in gloomy +silence, biting at his strong, iron-grey moustache.</p> + +<p>Slowly the sun sank towards the west, and their shadows began to trail +along the path where their hearts would go. It was cooler, and a desert +breeze had sprung up, whispering over the rolling, stone-strewed plain. +The Emir at their head had called his lieutenant to his side, and the +pair had peered about, their eyes shaded by their hands, looking for +some landmark. Then, with a satisfied grunt, the chief’s camel had +seemed to break short off at its knees, and then at its hocks, going +down in three curious, broken-jointed jerks until its stomach was +stretched upon the ground. As each succeeding camel reached the spot it +lay down also, until they were all stretched in one long line. +The riders sprang off, and laid out the chopped tibbin upon cloths in +front of them, for no well-bred camel will eat from the ground. +In their gentle eyes, their quiet, leisurely way of eating, and their +condescending, mincing manner, there was something both feminine and +genteel, as though a party of prim old maids had foregathered in the +heart of the Libyan Desert.</p> + +<p>There was no interference with the prisoners, either male or female, for +how could they escape in the centre of that huge plain? The Emir came +towards them once, and stood combing out his blue-black beard with his +fingers, and looking thoughtfully at them out of his dark, sinister +eyes. Miss Adams saw with a shudder that it was always upon Sadie that +his gaze was fixed. Then, seeing their distress, he gave an order, and +a negro brought a water-skin, from which he gave each of them about half +a tumblerful. It was hot and muddy, and tasted of leather, but oh how +delightful it was to their parched palates! The Emir said a few abrupt +words to the dragoman, and left.</p> + +<p>“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mansoor began, with something of his old +consequential manner; but a glare from the Colonel’s eyes struck the +words from his lips, and he broke away into a long, whimpering excuse +for his conduct.</p> + +<p>“How could I do anything otherwise,” he wailed, “with the very knife at +my throat?”</p> + +<p>“You will have the very rope round your throat if we all see Egypt +again,” growled Cochrane savagely. “In the meantime—”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right, Colonel,” said Belmont. “But for our own sakes we +ought to know what the chief has said.”</p> + +<p>“For my part I’ll have nothing to do with the blackguard.”</p> + +<p>“I think that that is going too far. We are bound to hear what he has +to say.” Cochrane shrugged his shoulders. Privations had made him +irritable, and he had to bite his lip to keep down a bitter answer. +He walked slowly away, with his straight-legged military stride.</p> + +<p>“What did he say, then?” asked Belmont, looking at the dragoman with an +eye which was as stern as the Colonel’s.</p> + +<p>“He seems to be in a somewhat better manner than before. He said that +if he had more water you should have it, but that he is himself short in +supply. He said that to-morrow we shall come to the wells of Selimah, +and everybody shall have plenty—and the camels too.”</p> + +<p>“Did he say how long we stopped here?”</p> + +<p>“Very little rest, he said, and then forward! Oh, Mr. Belmont—”</p> + +<p>“Hold your tongue!” snapped the Irishman, and began once more to count +times and distances. If it all worked out as he expected, if his wife +had insisted upon the indolent reis giving an instant alarm at Halfa, +then the pursuers should be already upon their track. The Camel Corps +or the Egyptian Horse would travel by moonlight better and faster than +in the day-time. He knew that it was the custom at Halfa to keep at +least a squadron of them all ready to start at any instant. He had +dined at the mess, and the officers had told him how quickly they could +take the field. They had shown him the water-tanks and the food beside +each of the beasts, and he had admired the completeness of the +arrangements, with little thought as to what it might mean to him in the +future. It would be at least an hour before they would all get started +again from their present halting-place. That would be a clear hour +gained. Perhaps by next morning—</p> + +<p>And then, suddenly, his thoughts were terribly interrupted. +The Colonel, raving like a madman, appeared upon the crest of the +nearest slope, with an Arab hanging on to each of his wrists. His face +was purple with rage and excitement, and he tugged and bent and writhed +in his furious efforts to get free. “You cursed murderers!” he +shrieked, and then, seeing the others in front of him, “Belmont,” he +cried, “they’ve killed Cecil Brown.”</p> + +<p>What had happened was this. In his conflict with his own ill-humour, +Cochrane had strolled over this nearest crest, and had found a group of +camels in the hollow beyond, with a little knot of angry, loud-voiced +men beside them. Brown was the centre of the group, pale, heavy-eyed, +with his upturned, spiky moustache and listless manner. They had +searched his pockets before, but now they were determined to tear off +all his clothes in the hope of finding something which he had secreted. +A hideous negro with silver bangles in his ears, grinned and jabbered in +the young diplomatist’s impassive face. There seemed to the Colonel to +be something heroic and almost inhuman in that white calm, and those +abstracted eyes. His coat was already open, and the Negro’s great black +paw flew up to his neck and tore his shirt down to the waist. And at +the sound of that r-r-rip, and at the abhorrent touch of those coarse +fingers, this man about town, this finished product of the nineteenth +century, dropped his life-traditions and became a savage facing a +savage. His face flushed, his lips curled back, he chattered his teeth +like an ape, and his eyes—those indolent eyes which had always twinkled +so placidly—were gorged and frantic. He threw himself upon the negro, +and struck him again and again, feebly but viciously, in his broad, +black face. He hit like a girl, round arm, with an open palm. The man +winced away for an instant, appalled by this sudden blaze of passion. +Then with an impatient, snarling cry, he slid a knife from his long +loose sleeve and struck upwards under the whirling arm. Brown sat down +at the blow and began to cough—to cough as a man coughs who has choked +at dinner, furiously, ceaselessly, spasm after spasm. Then the angry +red cheeks turned to a mottled pallor, there were liquid sounds in his +throat, and, clapping his hand to his mouth, he rolled over on to his +side. The negro, with a brutal grunt of contempt, slid his knife up his +sleeve once more, while the Colonel, frantic with impotent anger, was +seized by the bystanders, and dragged, raving with fury, back to his +forlorn party. His hands were lashed with a camel-halter, and he lay at +last, in bitter silence, beside the delirious Nonconformist.</p> + +<p>So Headingly was gone, and Cecil Brown was gone, and their haggard eyes +were turned from one pale face to another, to know which they should +lose next of that frieze of light-hearted riders who had stood out so +clearly against the blue morning sky, when viewed from the deck-chairs +of the <i>Korosko</i>. Two gone out of ten, and a third out of his mind. +The pleasure trip was drawing to its climax.</p> + +<p>Fardet, the Frenchman, was sitting alone with his chin resting upon his +hands, and his elbows upon his knees, staring miserably out over the +desert, when Belmont saw him start suddenly and prick up his head like a +dog who hears a strange step. Then, with clenched fingers, he bent his +face forward and stared fixedly towards the black eastern hills through +which they had passed. Belmont followed his gaze, and, yes-yes—there +was something moving there! He saw the twinkle of metal, and the sudden +gleam and flutter of some white garment. A Dervish vedette upon the +flank turned his camel twice round as a danger signal, and discharged +his rifle in the air. The echo of the crack had hardly died away before +they were all in their saddles, Arabs and negroes. Another instant, and +the camels were on their feet and moving slowly towards the point of +alarm. Several armed men surrounded the prisoners, slipping cartridges +into their Remingtons as a hint to them to remain still.</p> + +<p>“By Heaven, they are men on camels!” cried Cochrane, his troubles all +forgotten as he strained his eyes to catch sight of these new-comers. +“I do believe that it is our own people.” In the confusion he had tugged +his hands free from the halter which bound them.</p> + +<p>“They’ve been smarter than I gave them credit for,” said Belmont, his +eyes shining from under his thick brows. “They are here a long two +hours before we could have reasonably expected them. Hurrah, Monsieur +Fardet, <i>ça va bien, n’est ce pas?</i>”</p> + +<p>“Hurrah, hurrah! <i>merveilleusement bien! Vivent les Anglais! Vivent +les Anglais!</i>” yelled the excited Frenchman, as the head of a column of +camelry began to wind out from among the rocks.</p> + +<p>“See here, Belmont,” cried the Colonel. “These fellows will want to +shoot us if they see it is all up. I know their ways, and we must be +ready for it. Will you be ready to jump on the fellow with the blind +eye? and I’ll take the big nigger, if I can get my arms round him. +Stephens, you must do what you can. You, Fardet, <i>comprenez vous? +Il est necessaire</i> to plug these Johnnies before they can hurt us. +You, dragoman, tell those two Soudanese soldiers that they must be +ready—but, but” ... his words died into a murmur, and he swallowed +once or twice. “These are Arabs,” said he, and it sounded like another +voice.</p> + +<p>Of all the bitter day, it was the very bitterest moment. Happy Mr. +Stuart lay upon the pebbles with his back against the ribs of his camel, +and chuckled consumedly at some joke which those busy little +cell-workers had come across in their repairs. His fat face was +wreathed and creased with merriment. But the others, how sick, how +heart-sick, were they all! The women cried. The men turned away in +that silence which is beyond tears. Monsieur Fardet fell upon his face, +and shook with dry sobbings.</p> + +<p>The Arabs were firing their rifles as a welcome to their friends, and +the others as they trotted their camels across the open returned the +salutes and waved their rifles and lances in the air. They were a +smaller band than the first one—not more than thirty—but dressed in +the same red headgear and patched jibbehs. One of them carried a small +white banner with a scarlet text scrawled across it. But there was +something there which drew the eyes and the thoughts of the tourists +away from everything else. The same fear gripped at each of their +hearts, and the same impulse kept each of them silent. They stared at a +swaying white figure half seen amidst the ranks of the desert warriors.</p> + +<p>“What’s that they have in the middle of them?” cried Stephens at last. +“Look, Miss Adams! Surely it is a woman!”</p> + +<p>There was something there upon a camel, but it was difficult to catch a +glimpse of it. And then suddenly, as the two bodies met, the riders +opened out, and they saw it plainly.</p> + +<p>“It’s a white woman!”</p> + +<p>“The steamer has been taken!”</p> + +<p>Belmont gave a cry that sounded high above everything.</p> + +<p>“Norah, darling,” he shouted, “keep your heart up! I’m here, and it is +all well!”</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">S</span>O the <i>Korosko</i> had been taken, and the chances of rescue upon which +they had reckoned—all those elaborate calculations of hours and +distances—were as unsubstantial as the mirage which shimmered upon the +horizon. There would be no alarm at Halfa until it was found that the +steamer did not return in the evening. Even now, when the Nile was only +a thin green band upon the farthest horizon, the pursuit had probably +not begun. In a hundred miles, or even less, they would be in the +Dervish country. How small, then, was the chance that the Egyptian +forces could overtake them. They all sank into a silent, sulky despair, +with the exception of Belmont, who was held back by the guards as he +strove to go to his wife’s assistance.</p> + +<p>The two bodies of camel-men had united, and the Arabs, in their grave, +dignified fashion, were exchanging salutations and experiences, while +the negroes grinned, chattered, and shouted, with the careless +good-humour which even the Koran has not been able to alter. The leader +of the new-comers was a greybeard, a worn, ascetic, high-nosed old man, +abrupt and fierce in his manner, and soldierly in his bearing. +The dragoman groaned when he saw him, and flapped his hands miserably +with the air of a man who sees trouble accumulating upon trouble.</p> + +<p>“It is the Emir Abderrahman,” said he. “I fear now that we shall never +come to Khartoum alive.”</p> + +<p>The name meant nothing to the others, but Colonel Cochrane had heard of +him as a monster of cruelty and fanaticism, a red-hot Moslem of the old +fighting, preaching dispensation, who never hesitated to carry the +fierce doctrines of the Koran to their final conclusions. He and the +Emir Wad Ibrahim conferred gravely together, their camels side by side, +and their red turbans inclined inwards, so that the black beard mingled +with the white one. Then they both turned and stared long and fixedly +at the poor, head-hanging huddle of prisoners. The younger man pointed +and explained, while his senior listened with a sternly impassive face.</p> + +<p>“Who’s that nice-looking old gentleman in the white beard?” asked Miss +Adams, who had been the first to rally from the bitter disappointment.</p> + +<p>“That is their leader now,” Cochrane answered.</p> + +<p>“You don’t say that he takes command over that other one?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, lady,” said the dragoman; “he is now the head of all.”</p> + +<p>“Well, that’s good for us. He puts me in mind of Elder Mathews who was +at the Presbyterian Church in Minister Scott’s time. Anyhow, I had +rather be in his power than in the hands of that black-haired one with +the flint eyes. Sadie, dear, you feel better now its cooler, don’t +you?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, auntie; don’t you fret about me. How are you yourself?”</p> + +<p>“Well, I’m stronger in faith than I was. I set you a poor example, +Sadie, for I was clean crazed at first at the suddenness of it all, and +at thinking of what your mother, who trusted you to me, would think +about it. My land, there’ll be some head-lines in the <i>Boston Herald</i> +over this! I guess somebody will have to suffer for it.”</p> + +<p>“Poor Mr. Stuart!” cried Sadie, as the monotonous droning voice of the +delirious man came again to their ears. “Come, auntie, and see if we +cannot do something to relieve him.”</p> + +<p>“I’m uneasy about Mrs. Shlesinger and the child,” said Colonel Cochrane. +“I can see your wife, Belmont, but I can see no one else.”</p> + +<p>“They are bringing her over,” cried he. “Thank God! We shall hear all +about it. They haven’t hurt you, Norah, have they?” He ran forward to +grasp and kiss the hand which his wife held down to him as he helped her +from the camel.</p> + +<p>The kind grey eyes and calm sweet face of the Irishwoman brought comfort +and hope to the whole party. She was a devout Roman Catholic, and it is +a creed which forms an excellent prop in hours of danger. To her, to +the Anglican Colonel, to the Nonconformist minister, to the Presbyterian +American, even to the two Pagan black riflemen, religion in its various +forms was fulfilling the same beneficent office—whispering always that +the worst which the world can do is a small thing, and that, however +harsh the ways of Providence may seem, it is, on the whole, the wisest +and best thing for us that we should go cheerfully whither the Great +Hand guides us. They had not a dogma in common, these fellows in +misfortune; but they held the intimate, deep-lying spirit, the calm, +essential fatalism which is the world-old framework of religion, with +fresh crops of dogmas growing like ephemeral lichens upon its granite +surface.</p> + +<p>“You poor things!” she said. “I can see that you have had a much worse +time than I have. No, really, John, dear, I am quite well—not even +very thirsty, for our party filled their water-skins at the Nile, and +they let me have as much as I wanted. But I don’t see Mr. Headingly and +Mr. Brown. And poor Mr. Stuart—what a state he has been reduced to!”</p> + +<p>“Headingly and Brown are out of their troubles,” her husband answered. +“You don’t know how often I have thanked God to-day, Norah, that you +were not with us. And here you are, after all.”</p> + +<p>“Where should I be but by my husband’s side? I had much, <i>much</i> rather +be here than safe at Halfa.”</p> + +<p>“Has any news gone to the town?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“One boat escaped. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child and maid were in it. +I was downstairs in my cabin when the Arabs rushed on to the vessel. +Those on deck had time to escape, for the boat was alongside. I don’t +know whether any of them were hit. The Arabs fired at them for some +time.”</p> + +<p>“Did they?” cried Belmont exultantly, his responsive Irish nature +catching the sunshine in an instant. “Then, be Jove, we’ll do them yet, +for the garrison must have heard the firing. What d’ye think, Cochrane? +They must be full cry upon our scent this four hours. Any minute we +might see the white puggaree of a British officer coming over that +rise.”</p> + +<p>But disappointment had left the Colonel cold and sceptical.</p> + +<p>“They need not come at all unless they come strong,” said he. +“These fellows are picked men with good leaders, and on their own ground +they will take a lot of beating.” Suddenly he paused and looked at the +Arabs. “By George!” said he, “that’s a sight worth seeing!”</p> + +<p>The great red sun was down with half its disc slipped behind the violet +bank upon the horizon. It was the hour of Arab prayer. An older and +more learned civilisation would have turned to that magnificent thing +upon the skyline and adored <i>that</i>. But these wild children of the +desert were nobler in essentials than the polished Persian. To them the +ideal was higher than the material, and it was with their backs to the +sun and their faces to the central shrine of their religion that they +prayed. And how they prayed, these fanatical Moslems! Rapt, absorbed, +with yearning eyes and shining faces, rising, stooping, grovelling with +their foreheads upon their praying carpets. Who could doubt, as he +watched their strenuous, heart-whole devotion, that here was a great +living power in the world, reactionary but tremendous, countless +millions all thinking as one from Cape Juby to the confines of China? +Let a common wave pass over them, let a great soldier or organiser arise +among them to use the grand material at his hand, and who shall say that +this may not be the besom with which Providence may sweep the rotten, +decadent, impossible, half-hearted south of Europe, as it did a thousand +years ago, until it makes room for a sounder stock?</p> + +<p>And now as they rose to their feet the bugle rang out, and the prisoners +understood that, having travelled all day, they were fated to travel all +night also. Belmont groaned, for he had reckoned upon the pursuers +catching them up before they left this camp. But the others had already +got into the way of accepting the inevitable. A flat Arab loaf had been +given to each of them—what effort of the <i>chef</i> of the post-boat had +ever tasted like that dry brown bread?—and then, luxury of luxuries, +they had a second ration of a glass of water, for the fresh-filled bags +of the newcomers had provided an ample supply. If the body would but +follow the lead of the soul as readily as the soul does that of the +body, what a heaven the earth might be! Now, with their base material +wants satisfied for the instant, their spirits began to sing within +them, and they mounted their camels with some sense of the romance of +their position. Mr. Stuart remained babbling upon the ground, and the +Arabs made no effort to lift him into his saddle. His large, white, +upturned face glimmered through the gathering darkness.</p> + +<p>“Hi, dragoman, tell them that they are forgetting Mr. Stuart,” cried the +Colonel.</p> + +<p>“No use, sir,” said Mansoor. “They say that he is too fat, and that +they will not take him any farther. He will die, they say, and why +should they trouble about him?”</p> + +<p>“Not take him!” cried Cochrane. “Why, the man will perish of hunger and +thirst. Where’s the Emir? Hi!” he shouted, as the black-bearded Arab +passed, with a tone like that in which he used to summon a dilatory +donkey-boy. The chief did not deign to answer him, but said something +to one of the guards, who dashed the butt of his Remington into the +Colonel’s ribs. The old soldier fell forward gasping, and was carried +on half senseless, clutching at the pommel of his saddle. The women +began to cry, and the men, with muttered curses and clenched hands, +writhed in that hell of impotent passion, where brutal injustice and +ill-usage have to go without check or even remonstrance. Belmont +gripped at his hip-pocket for his little revolver, and then remembered +that he had already given it to Miss Adams. If his hot hand had +clutched it, it would have meant the death of the Emir and the massacre +of the party.</p> + +<p>And now as they rode onwards they saw one of the most singular of the +phenomena of the Egyptian desert in front of them, though the +ill-treatment of their companion had left them in no humour for the +appreciation of its beauty. When the sun had sunk, the horizon had +remained of a slaty-violet hue. But now this began to lighten and to +brighten until a curious false dawn developed, and it seemed as if a +vacillating sun was coming back along the path which it had just +abandoned. A rosy pink hung over the west, with beautifully delicate +sea-green tints along the upper edge of it. Slowly these faded into +slate again, and the night had come. It was but twenty-four hours since +they had sat in their canvas chairs discussing politics by starlight on +the saloon deck of the <i>Korosko</i>; only twelve since they had breakfasted +there and had started spruce and fresh upon their last pleasure trip. +What a world of fresh impressions had come upon them since then! +How rudely they had been jostled out of their take-it-for-granted +complacency! The same shimmering silver stars, as they had looked upon +last night, the same thin crescent of moon—but they, what a chasm lay +between that old pampered life and this!</p> + +<p>The long line of camels moved as noiselessly as ghosts across the +desert. Before and behind were the silent, swaying white figures of the +Arabs. Not a sound anywhere, not the very faintest sound, until far +away behind them they heard a human voice singing in a strong, droning, +unmusical fashion. It had the strangest effect, this far-away voice, in +that huge inarticulate wilderness. And then there came a well-known +rhythm into that distant chant, and they could almost hear the words—</p> + +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We nightly pitch our moving tent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A day’s march nearer home.<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>Was Mr. Stuart in his right mind again, or was it some coincidence of +his delirium, that he should have chosen this for his song? With moist +eyes his friends looked back through the darkness, for well they knew +that home was very near to this wanderer. Gradually the voice died away +into a hum, and was absorbed once more into the masterful silence of the +desert.</p> + +<p>“My dear old chap, I hope you’re not hurt?” said Belmont, laying his +hand upon Cochrane’s knee.</p> + +<p>The Colonel had straightened himself, though he still gasped a little in +his breathing.</p> + +<p>“I am all right again, now. Would you kindly show me which was the man +who struck me?”</p> + +<p>“It was the fellow in front there—with his camel beside Fardet’s.”</p> + +<p>“The young fellow with the moustache—I can’t see him very well in this +light, but I think I could pick him out again. Thank you, Belmont!”</p> + +<p>“But I thought some of your ribs were gone.”</p> + +<p>“No, it only knocked the wind out of me.”</p> + +<p>“You must be made of iron. It was a frightful blow. How could you +rally from it so quickly?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel cleared his throat and hummed and stammered.</p> + +<p>“The fact is, my dear Belmont—I’m sure you would not let it go +further—above all not to the ladies; but I am rather older than I used +to be, and rather than lose the military carriage which has always been +dear to me, I—”</p> + +<p>“Stays, be Jove!” cried the astonished Irishman.</p> + +<p>“Well, some slight artificial support,” said the Colonel stiffly, and +switched the conversation off to the chances of the morrow.</p> + +<p>It still comes back in their dreams to those who are left, that long +night’s march in the desert. It was like a dream itself, the silence of +it as they were borne forward upon those soft, shuffling sponge feet, +and the flitting, flickering figures which oscillated upon every side of +them. The whole universe seemed to be hung as a monstrous time-dial in +front of them. A star would glimmer like a lantern on the very level of +their path. They looked again, and it was a hand’s-breadth up, and +another was shining beneath it. Hour after hour the broad stream flowed +sedately across the deep blue background, worlds and systems drifting +majestically overhead, and pouring over the dark horizon. In their +vastness and their beauty there was a vague consolation to the +prisoners; for their own fate, and their own individuality, seemed +trivial and unimportant amid the play of such tremendous forces. +Slowly the grand procession swept across the heaven, first climbing, +then hanging long with little apparent motion, and then sinking grandly +downwards, until away in the east the first cold grey glimmer appeared, +and their own haggard faces shocked each other’s sight.</p> + +<p>The day had tortured them with its heat, and now the night had brought +the even more intolerable discomfort of cold. The Arabs swathed +themselves in their gowns and wrapped up their heads. The prisoners +beat their hands together and shivered miserably. Miss Adams felt it +most, for she was very thin, with the impaired circulation of age. +Stephens slipped off his Norfolk jacket and threw it over her shoulders. +He rode beside Sadie, and whistled and chatted to make her believe that +her aunt was really relieving him by carrying his jacket for him, but +the attempt was too boisterous not to be obvious; and yet it was so far +true that he probably felt the cold less than any of the party, for the +old, old fire was burning in his heart, and a curious joy was +inextricably mixed with all his misfortunes, so that he would have found +it hard to say if this adventure had been the greatest evil or the +greatest blessing of his lifetime. Aboard the boat, Sadie’s youth, her +beauty, her intelligence and humour, all made him realise that she could +at the best only be expected to charitably endure him. But now he felt +that he was really of some use to her, that every hour she was learning +to turn to him as one turns to one’s natural protector; and above all, +he had begun to find himself—to understand that there really was a +strong, reliable man behind all the tricks of custom which had built up +an artificial nature, which had imposed even upon himself. A little +glow of self-respect began to warm his blood. He had missed his youth +when he was young, and now in his middle age it was coming up like some +beautiful belated flower.</p> + +<p>“I do believe that you are all the time enjoying it, Mr. Stephens,” said +Sadie with some bitterness.</p> + +<p>“I would not go so far as to say that,” he answered. “But I am quite +certain that I would not leave you here.”</p> + +<p>It was the nearest approach to tenderness which he had ever put into a +speech, and the girl looked at him in surprise.</p> + +<p>“I think I’ve been a very wicked girl all my life,” she said after a +pause. “Because I have had a good time myself, I never thought of those +who were unhappy. This has struck me serious. If ever I get back I +shall be a better woman—a more earnest woman—in the future.”</p> + +<p>“And I a better man. I suppose it is just for that that trouble comes +to us. Look how it has brought out the virtues of all our friends. +Take poor Mr. Stuart, for example. Should we ever have known what a +noble, constant man he was? And see Belmont and his wife, in front of +us there, going fearlessly forward, hand in hand, thinking only of each +other. And Cochrane, who always seemed on board the boat to be a rather +stand-offish, narrow sort of man! Look at his courage, and his +unselfish indignation when any one is ill used. Fardet, too, is as +brave as a lion. I think misfortune has done us all good.”</p> + +<p>Sadie sighed.</p> + +<p>“Yes, if it would end right here one might say so; but if it goes on and +on for a few weeks or months of misery, and then ends in death, I don’t +know where we reap the benefit of those improvements of character which +it brings. Suppose you escape, what will you do?”</p> + +<p>The lawyer hesitated, but his professional instincts were still strong.</p> + +<p>“I will consider whether an action lies, and against whom. It should be +with the organisers of the expedition for taking us to the Abousir +Rock—or else with the Egyptian Government for not protecting their +frontiers. It will be a nice legal question. And what will you do, +Sadie?”</p> + +<p>It was the first time that he had ever dropped the formal Miss, but the +girl was too much in earnest to notice it.</p> + +<p>“I will be more tender to others,” she said. “I will try to make some +one else happy in memory of the miseries which I have endured.”</p> + +<p>“You have done nothing all your life but made others happy. You cannot +help doing it,” said he. The darkness made it more easy for him to +break through the reserve which was habitual with him. “You need this +rough schooling far less than any of us. How could your character be +changed for the better?”</p> + +<p>“You show how little you know me. I have been very selfish and +thoughtless.”</p> + +<p>“At least you had no need for all these strong emotions. You were +sufficiently alive without them. Now it has been different with me.”</p> + +<p>“Why did you need emotions, Mr. Stephens?”</p> + +<p>“Because anything is better than stagnation. Pain is better than +stagnation. I have only just begun to live. Hitherto I have been a +machine upon the earth’s surface. I was a one-ideaed man, and a +one-ideaed man is only one remove from a dead man. That is what I have +only just begun to realise. For all these years I have never been +stirred, never felt a real throb of human emotion pass through me. +I had no time for it. I had observed it in others, and I had vaguely +wondered whether there was some want in me which prevented my sharing +the experience of my fellow-mortals. But now these last few days have +taught me how keenly I can live—that I can have warm hopes, and deadly +fears—that I can hate, and that I can—well, that I can have every +strong feeling which the soul can experience. I have come to life. I +may be on the brink of the grave, but at least I can say now that I have +lived.”</p> + +<p>“And why did you lead this soul-killing life in England?”</p> + +<p>“I was ambitious—I wanted to get on. And then there were my mother and +my sisters to be thought of. Thank Heaven, here is the morning coming. +Your aunt and you will soon cease to feel the cold.”</p> + +<p>“And you without your coat!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I have a very good circulation. I can manage very well in my +shirt-sleeves.”</p> + +<p>And now the long, cold, weary night was over, and the deep blue-black +sky had lightened to a wonderful mauve-violet, with the larger stars +still glinting brightly out of it. Behind them the grey line had crept +higher and higher, deepening into a delicate rose-pink, with the +fan-like rays of the invisible sun shooting and quivering across it. +Then, suddenly, they felt its warm touch upon their backs, and there +were hard black shadows upon the sand in front of them. The Dervishes +loosened their cloaks and proceeded to talk cheerily among themselves. +The prisoners also began to thaw, and eagerly ate the doora which was +served out for their breakfasts. A short halt had been called, and a +cup of water handed to each.</p> + +<p>“Can I speak to you, Colonel Cochrane?” asked the dragoman.</p> + +<p>“No, you can’t,” snapped the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“But it is very important—all our safety may come from it.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel frowned and pulled at his moustache.</p> + +<p>“Well, what is it?” he asked at last.</p> + +<p>“You must trust to me, for it is as much to me as to you to get back to +Egypt. My wife and home, and children, are on one part, and a slave for +life upon the other. You have no cause to doubt it.”</p> + +<p>“Well, go on!”</p> + +<p>“You know the black man who spoke with you—the one who had been with +Hicks?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, what of him?”</p> + +<p>“He has been speaking with me during the night. I have had a long talk +with him. He said that he could not very well understand you, nor you +him, and so he came to me.”</p> + +<p>“What did he say?”</p> + +<p>“He said that there were eight Egyptian soldiers among the Arabs—six +black and two fellaheen. He said that he wished to have your promise +that they should all have very good reward if they helped you to +escape.”</p> + +<p>“Of course they shall.”</p> + +<p>“They asked for one hundred Egyptian pounds each.”</p> + +<p>“They shall have it.”</p> + +<p>“I told him that I would ask you, but that I was sure that you would +agree to it.”</p> + +<p>“What do they propose to do?”</p> + +<p>“They could promise nothing, but what they thought best was that they +should ride their camels not very far from you, so that if any chance +should come they would be ready to take advantage.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you can go to him and promise two hundred pounds each if they +will help us. You do not think we could buy over some Arabs?”</p> + +<p>Mansoor shook his head. “Too much danger to try,” said he. +“Suppose you try and fail, then that will be the end to all of us. +I will go tell what you have said.” He strolled off to where the old +negro gunner was grooming his camel and waiting for his reply.</p> + +<p>The Emirs had intended to halt for a half-hour at the most, but the +baggage-camels which bore the prisoners were so worn out with the long, +rapid march, that it was clearly impossible that they should move for +some time. They had laid their long necks upon the ground, which is the +last symptom of fatigue. The two chiefs shook their heads when they +inspected them, and the terrible old man looked with his hard-lined, +rock features at the captives. Then he said something to Mansoor, whose +face turned a shade more sallow as he listened.</p> + +<p>“The Emir Abderrahman says that if you do not become Moslem, it is not +worth while delaying the whole caravan in order to carry you upon the +baggage-camels. If it were not for you, he says that we could travel +twice as fast. He wishes to know therefore, once for ever, if you will +accept the Koran.” Then in the same tone, as if he were still +translating, he continued: “You had far better consent, for if you do +not he will most certainly put you all to death.”</p> + +<p>The unhappy prisoners looked at each other in despair. The two Emirs +stood gravely watching them.</p> + +<p>“For my part,” said Cochrane, “I had as soon die now as be a slave in +Khartoum.”</p> + +<p>“What do you say, Norah?” asked Belmont.</p> + +<p>“If we die together, John, I don’t think I shall be afraid.”</p> + +<p>“It is absurd that I should die for that in which I have never had +belief,” said Fardet. “And yet it is not possible for the honour of a +Frenchman that he should be converted in this fashion.” He drew himself +up, with his wounded wrist stuck into the front of his jacket, “<i>Je suis +Chretien. J’y reste,</i>” he cried, a gallant falsehood in each sentence.</p> + +<p>“What do you say, Mr. Stephens?” asked Mansoor in a beseeching voice. +“If one of you would change, it might place them in a good humour. +I implore you that you do what they ask.”</p> + +<p>“No, I can’t,” said the lawyer quietly.</p> + +<p>“Well then, you, Miss Sadie? You, Miss Adams? It is only just to say +it once, and you will be saved.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, auntie, do you think we might?” whimpered the frightened girl. +“Would it be so very wrong if we said it?”</p> + +<p>The old lady threw her arms round her. “No, no, my own dear little +Sadie,” she whispered. “You’ll be strong! You would just hate yourself +for ever after. Keep your grip of me, dear, and pray if you find your +strength is leaving you. Don’t forget that your old aunt Eliza has you +all the time by the hand.”</p> + +<p>For an instant they were heroic, this line of dishevelled, bedraggled +pleasure-seekers. They were all looking Death in the face, and the +closer they looked the less they feared him. They were conscious rather +of a feeling of curiosity, together with the nervous tingling with which +one approaches a dentist’s chair. The dragoman made a motion of his +hands and shoulders, as one who has tried and failed. The Emir +Abderrahman said something to a negro, who hurried away.</p> + +<p>“What does he want a scissors for?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“He is going to hurt the women,” said Mansoor, with the same gesture of +impotence.</p> + +<p>A cold chill fell upon them all. They stared about them in helpless +horror. Death in the abstract was one thing, but these insufferable +details were another. Each had been braced to endure any evil in his +own person, but their hearts were still soft for each other. The women +said nothing, but the men were all buzzing together.</p> + +<p>“There’s the pistol, Miss Adams,” said Belmont. “Give it here! +We won’t be tortured! We won’t stand it!”</p> + +<p>“Offer them money, Mansoor! Offer them anything!” cried Stephens. +“Look here, I’ll turn Mohammedan if they’ll promise to leave the women +alone. After all, it isn’t binding—it’s under compulsion. But I can’t +see the women hurt.”</p> + +<p>“No, wait a bit, Stephens!” said the Colonel. “We mustn’t lose our +heads. I think I see a way out. See here, dragoman! You tell that +grey-bearded old devil that we know nothing about his cursed tinpot +religion. Put it smooth when you translate it. Tell him that he cannot +expect us to adopt it until we know what particular brand of rot it is +that he wants us to believe. Tell him that if he will instruct us, we +are perfectly willing to listen to his teaching, and you can add that +any creed which turns out such beauties as him, and that other bounder +with the black beard, must claim the attention of every one.”</p> + +<p>With bows and suppliant sweepings of his hands the dragoman explained +that the Christians were already full of doubt, and that it needed but a +little more light of knowledge to guide them on to the path of Allah. +The two Emirs stroked their beards and gazed suspiciously at them. +Then Abderrahman spoke in his crisp, stern fashion to the dragoman, and +the two strode away together. An instant later the bugle rang out as a +signal to mount.</p> + +<p>“What he says is this,” Mansoor explained, as he rode in the middle of +the prisoners. “We shall reach the wells by mid-day, and there will be +a rest. His own Moolah, a very good and learned man, will come to give +you an hour of teaching. At the end of that time you will choose one +way or the other. When you have chosen, it will be decided whether you +are to go to Khartoum or to be put to death. That is his last word.”</p> + +<p>“They won’t take ransom?”</p> + +<p>“Wad Ibrahim would, but the Emir Abderrahman is a terrible man. +I advise you to give in to him.”</p> + +<p>“What have you done yourself? You are a Christian, too.”</p> + +<p>Mansoor blushed as deeply as his complexion would allow.</p> + +<p>“I was yesterday morning. Perhaps I will be to-morrow morning. I serve +the Lord as long as what He ask seem reasonable; but this is very +otherwise.”</p> + +<p>He rode onwards amongst the guards with a freedom which showed that his +change of faith had put him upon a very different footing to the other +prisoners.</p> + +<p>So they were to have a reprieve of a few hours, though they rode in that +dark shadow of death which was closing in upon them. What is there in +life that we should cling to it so? It is not the pleasures, for those +whose hours are one long pain shrink away screaming when they see +merciful Death holding his soothing arms out for them. It is not the +associations, for we will change all of them before we walk of our own +free-wills down that broad road which every son and daughter of man must +tread. Is it the fear of losing the I, that dear, intimate I, which we +think we know so well, although it is eternally doing things which +surprise us? Is it that which makes the deliberate suicide cling madly +to the bridge-pier as the river sweeps him by? Or is it that Nature is +so afraid that all her weary workmen may suddenly throw down their tools +and strike, that she has invented this fashion of keeping them constant +to their present work? But there it is, and all these tired, harassed, +humiliated folk rejoiced in the few more hours of suffering which were +left to them.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HERE was nothing to show them as they journeyed onwards that they were +not on the very spot that they had passed at sunset upon the evening +before. The region of fantastic black hills and orange sand which +bordered the river had long been left behind, and everywhere now was the +same brown, rolling, gravelly plain, the ground-swell with the shining +rounded pebbles upon its surface, and the occasional little sprouts of +sage-green camel-grass. Behind and before it extended, to where far +away in front of them it sloped upwards towards a line of violet hills. +The sun was not high enough yet to cause the tropical shimmer, and the +wide landscape, brown with its violet edging, stood out with a hard +clearness in that dry, pure air. The long caravan straggled along at +the slow swing of the baggage-camels. Far out on the flanks rode the +vedettes, halting at every rise, and peering backwards with their hands +shading their eyes. In the distance their spears and rifles seemed to +stick out of them, straight and thin, like needles in knitting.</p> + +<p>“How far do you suppose we are from the Nile?” asked Cochrane. He rode +with his chin on his shoulder and his eyes straining wistfully to the +eastern skyline.</p> + +<p>“A good fifty miles,” Belmont answered.</p> + +<p>“Not so much as that,” said the Colonel. “We could not have been moving +more than fifteen or sixteen hours, and a camel does not do more than +two and a half miles an hour unless it is trotting. That would only +give about forty miles, but still it is, I fear, rather far for a +rescue. I don’t know that we are much the better for this postponement. +What have we to hope for? We may just as well take our gruel.”</p> + +<p>“Never say die!” cried the cheery Irishman. “There’s plenty of time +between this and mid-day. Hamilton and Hedley of the Camel Corps are +good boys, and they’ll be after us like a streak. They’ll have no +baggage-camels to hold them back, you can lay your life on that! Little +did I think, when I dined with them at mess that last night, and they +were telling me all their precautions against a raid, that I should +depend upon them for our lives.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we’ll play the game out, but I’m not very hopeful,” said +Cochrane. “Of course, we must keep the best face we can before the +women. I see that Tippy Tilly is as good as his word, for those five +niggers and the two brown Johnnies must be the men he speaks of. +They all ride together and keep well up, but I can’t see how they are +going to help us.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve got my pistol back,” whispered Belmont, and his square chin and +strong mouth set like granite. “If they try any games on the women, I +mean to shoot them all three with my own hand, and then we’ll die with +our minds easy.”</p> + +<p>“Good man!” said Cochrane, and they rode on in silence. None of them +spoke much. A curious, dreamy, irresponsible feeling crept over them. +It was as if they had all taken some narcotic drug—the merciful anodyne +which Nature uses when a great crisis has fretted the nerves too far. +They thought of their friends and of their past lives in the +comprehensive way in which one views that which is completed. A subtle +sweetness mingled with the sadness of their fate. They were filled with +the quiet serenity of despair.</p> + +<p>“It’s devilish pretty,” said the Colonel, looking about him. “I always +had an idea that I should like to die in a real, good, yellow London +fog. You couldn’t change for the worse.”</p> + +<p>“I should have liked to have died in my sleep,” said Sadie. +“How beautiful to wake up and find yourself in the other world! +There was a piece that Hetty Smith used to say at the College: ‘Say not +good-night, but in some brighter world wish me good-morning.’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> + +<p>The Puritan aunt shook her head at the idea. “It’s a terrible thing to +go unprepared into the presence of your Maker,” said she.</p> + +<p>“It’s the loneliness of death that is terrible,” said Mrs. Belmont. +“If we and those whom we loved all passed over simultaneously, we should +think no more of it than of changing our house.”</p> + +<p>“If the worst comes to the worst, we won’t be lonely,” said her husband. +“We’ll all go together, and we shall find Brown and Headingly and Stuart +waiting on the other side.”</p> + +<p>The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders. He had no belief in survival +after death, but he envied the two Catholics the quiet way in which they +took things for granted. He chuckled to think of what his friends in +the Café Cubat would say if they learned that he had laid down his life +for the Christian faith. Sometimes it amused and sometimes it maddened +him, and he rode onwards with alternate gusts of laughter and of fury, +nursing his wounded wrist all the time like a mother with a sick baby.</p> + +<p>Across the brown of the hard, pebbly desert there had been visible for +some time a single long, thin, yellow streak, extending north and south +as far as they could see. It was a band of sand not more than a few +hundred yards across, and rising at the highest to eight or ten feet. +But the prisoners were astonished to observe that the Arabs pointed at +this with an air of the utmost concern, and they halted when they came +to the edge of it like men upon the brink of an unfordable river. +It was very light, dusty sand, and every wandering breath of wind sent +it dancing into the air like a whirl of midges. The Emir Abderrahman +tried to force his camel into it, but the creature, after a step or two, +stood still and shivered with terror. The two chiefs talked for a +little, and then the whole caravan trailed off with their heads for the +north, and the streak of sand upon their left.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” asked Belmont, who found the dragoman riding at his elbow. +“Why are we going out of our course?”</p> + +<p>“Drift sand,” Mansoor answered. “Every sometimes the wind bring it all +in one long place like that. To-morrow, if a wind comes, perhaps there +will not be one grain left, but all will be carried up into the air +again. An Arab will sometimes have to go fifty or a hundred miles to go +round a drift. Suppose he tries to cross, his camel breaks its legs, +and he himself is sucked in and swallowed.”</p> + +<p>“How long will this be?”</p> + +<p>“No one can say.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Cochrane, it’s all in our favour. The longer the chase the +better chance for the fresh camels!” and for the hundredth time he +looked back at the long, hard skyline behind them. There was the great, +empty, dun-coloured desert, but where the glint of steel or the twinkle +of white helmet for which he yearned?</p> + +<p>And soon they cleared the obstacle in their front. It spindled away +into nothing, as a streak of dust would which has been blown across an +empty room. It was curious to see that when it was so narrow that one +could almost jump it, the Arabs would still go for many hundreds of +yards rather than risk the crossing. Then, with good, hard country +before them once more, the tired beasts were whipped up, and they ambled +on with a double-jointed jogtrot, which set the prisoners nodding and +bowing in grotesque and ludicrous misery. It was fun at first, and they +smiled at each other, but soon the fun had become tragedy as the +terrible camel-ache seized them by spine and waist, with its deep, dull +throb, which rises gradually to a splitting agony.</p> + +<p>“I can’t stand it, Sadie,” cried Miss Adams suddenly. “I’ve done my +best. I’m going to fall.”</p> + +<p>“No, no, auntie, you’ll break your limbs if you do. Hold up, just a +little, and maybe they’ll stop.”</p> + +<p>“Lean back, and hold your saddle behind,” said the Colonel. +“There, you’ll find that will ease the strain.” He took the puggaree +from his hat, and tying the ends together, he slung it over her front +pommel. “Put your foot in the loop,” said he. “It will steady you like +a stirrup.”</p> + +<p>The relief was instant, so Stephens did the same for Sadie. +But presently one of the weary doora camels came down with a crash, its +limbs starred out as if it had split asunder, and the caravan had to +come down to its old sober gait.</p> + +<p>“Is this another belt of drift sand?” asked the Colonel presently.</p> + +<p>“No, it’s white,” said Belmont. “Here, Mansoor, what is that in front +of us?”</p> + +<p>But the dragoman shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know what it is, sir. I never saw the same thing before.”</p> + +<p>Right across the desert, from north to south, there was drawn a white +line, as straight and clear as if it had been slashed with chalk across +a brown table. It was very thin, but it extended without a break +from horizon to horizon. Tippy Tilly said something to the dragoman.</p> + +<p>“It’s the great caravan route,” said Mansoor.</p> + +<p>“What makes it white, then?”</p> + +<p>“The bones.”</p> + +<p>It seemed incredible, and yet it was true, for as they drew nearer they +saw that it was indeed a beaten track across the desert, hollowed out by +long usage, and so covered with bones that they gave the impression of a +continuous white ribbon. Long, snouty heads were scattered everywhere, +and the lines of ribs were so continuous that it looked in places like +the framework of a monstrous serpent. The endless road gleamed in the +sun as if it were paved with ivory. For thousands of years this had +been the highway over the desert, and during all that time no animal of +all those countless caravans had died there without being preserved by +the dry, antiseptic air. No wonder, then, that it was hardly possible +to walk down it now without treading upon their skeletons.</p> + +<p>“This must be the route I spoke of,” said Stephens. “I remember marking +it upon the map I made for you, Miss Adams. Baedeker says that it has +been disused on account of the cessation of all trade which followed the +rise of the Dervishes, but that it used to be the main road by which the +skins and gums of Darfur found their way down to Lower Egypt.”</p> + +<p>They looked at it with a listless curiosity, for there was enough to +engross them at present in their own fates. The caravan struck to the +south along the old desert track, and this Golgotha of a road seemed to +be a fitting avenue for that which awaited them at the end of it. +Weary camels and weary riders dragged on together towards their +miserable goal.</p> + +<p>And now, as the critical moment approached which was to decide their +fate, Colonel Cochrane, weighed down by his fears lest something +terrible should befall the women, put his pride aside to the extent of +asking the advice of the renegade dragoman. The fellow was a villain +and a coward, but at least he was an Oriental, and he understood the +Arab point of view. His change of religion had brought him into closer +contact with the Dervishes, and he had overheard their intimate talk. +Cochrane’s stiff, aristocratic nature fought hard before he could bring +himself to ask advice from such a man, and when he at last did so, it +was in the gruffest and most unconciliatory voice.</p> + +<p>“You know the rascals, and you have the same way of looking at things,” +said he. “Our object is to keep things going for another twenty-four +hours. After that it does not much matter what befalls us, for we shall +be out of the reach of rescue. But how can we stave them off for +another day?”</p> + +<p>“You know my advice,” the dragoman answered; “I have already answered it +to you. If you will all become as I have, you will certainly be carried +to Khartoum in safety. If you do not, you will never leave our next +camping-place alive.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel’s well-curved nose took a higher tilt, and an angry flush +reddened his thin cheeks. He rode in silence for a little, for his +Indian service had left him with a curried-prawn temper, which had had +an extra touch of cayenne added to it by his recent experiences. It was +some minutes before he could trust himself to reply.</p> + +<p>“We’ll set that aside,” said he at last. “Some things are possible and +some are not. This is not.”</p> + +<p>“You need only pretend.”</p> + +<p>“That’s enough,” said the Colonel abruptly.</p> + +<p>Mansoor shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“What is the use of asking me, if you become angry when I answer? +If you do not wish to do what I say, then try your own attempt. +At least you cannot say that I have not done all I could to save you.”</p> + +<p>“I’m not angry,” the Colonel answered after a pause, in a more +conciliatory voice, “but this is climbing down rather farther than we +care to go. Now, what I thought is this. You might, if you chose, give +this priest, or Moolah, who is coming to us, a hint that we really are +softening a bit upon the point. I don’t think, considering the hole +that we are in, that there can be very much objection to that. +Then, when he comes, we might play up and take an interest and ask for +more instruction, and in that way hold the matter over for a day or two. +Don’t you think that would be the best game?”</p> + +<p>“You will do as you like,” said Mansoor. “I have told you once for ever +what I think. If you wish that I speak to the Moolah, I will do so. +It is the fat, little man with the grey beard, upon the brown camel in +front there. I may tell you that he has a name among them for +converting the infidel, and he has a great pride in it, so that he would +certainly prefer that you were not injured if he thought that he might +bring you into Islam.”</p> + +<p>“Tell him that our minds are open, then,” said the Colonel. “I don’t +suppose the <i>padre</i> would have gone so far, but now that he is dead I +think we may stretch a point. You go to him, Mansoor, and if you work +it well we will agree to forget what is past. By the way, has Tippy +Tilly said anything?”</p> + +<p>“No, sir. He has kept his men together, but he does not understand yet +how he can help you.”</p> + +<p>“Neither do I. Well, you go to the Moolah, then, and I’ll tell the +others what we have agreed.”</p> + +<p>The prisoners all acquiesced in the Colonel’s plan, with the exception +of the old New England lady, who absolutely refused even to show any +interest in the Mohammedan creed. “I guess I am too old to bow the knee +to Baal,” she said. The most that she would concede was that she would +not openly interfere with anything which her companions might say or do.</p> + +<p>“And who is to argue with the priest?” asked Fardet, as they all rode +together, talking the matter over. “It is very important that it should +be done in a natural way, for if he thought that we were only trying to +gain time, he would refuse to have any more to say to us.”</p> + +<p>“I think Cochrane should do it, as the proposal is his,” said Belmont.</p> + +<p>“Pardon me!” cried the Frenchman. “I will not say a word against our +friend the Colonel, but it is not possible that a man should be fitted +for everything. It will all come to nothing if he attempts it. +The priest will see through the Colonel.”</p> + +<p>“Will he?” said the Colonel with dignity.</p> + +<p>“Yes, my friend, he will, for, like most of your countrymen, you are +very wanting in sympathy for the ideas of other people, and it is the +great fault which I find with you as a nation.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, drop the politics!” cried Belmont impatiently.</p> + +<p>“I do not talk politics. What I say is very practical. How can Colonel +Cochrane pretend to this priest that he is really interested in his +religion when, in effect, there is no religion in the world to him +outside some little church in which he has been born and bred? I will +say this for the Colonel, that I do not believe he is at all a +hypocrite, and I am sure that he could not act well enough to deceive +such a man as this priest.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel sat with a very stiff back and the blank face of a man who +is not quite sure whether he is being complimented or insulted.</p> + +<p>“You can do the talking yourself if you like,” said he at last. +“I should be very glad to be relieved of it.”</p> + +<p>“I think that I am best fitted for it, since I am equally interested in +all creeds. When I ask for information, it is because in verity I +desire it, and not because I am playing a part.”</p> + +<p>“I certainly think that it would be much better if Monsieur Fardet would +undertake it,” said Mrs. Belmont with decision, and so the matter was +arranged.</p> + +<p>The sun was now high, and it shone with dazzling brightness upon the +bleached bones which lay upon the road. Again the torture of thirst +fell upon the little group of survivors, and again, as they rode with +withered tongues and crusted lips, a vision of the saloon of the +<i>Korosko</i> danced like a mirage before their eyes, and they saw the white +napery, the wine-cards by the places, the long necks of the bottles, the +siphons upon the sideboard. Sadie, who had borne up so well, became +suddenly hysterical, and her shrieks of senseless laughter jarred +horribly upon their nerves. Her aunt on one side of her, and Mr. +Stephens on the other, did all they could to soothe her, and at last the +weary, overstrung girl relapsed into something between a sleep and a +faint, hanging limp over her pommel, and only kept from falling by the +friends who clustered round her. The baggage-camels were as weary as +their riders, and again and again they had to jerk at their nose-ropes +to prevent them from lying down. From horizon to horizon stretched that +one huge arch of speckless blue, and up its monstrous concavity crept +the inexorable sun, like some splendid but barbarous deity, who claimed +a tribute of human suffering as his immemorial right.</p> + +<p>Their course still lay along the old trade route, but their progress was +very slow, and more than once the two Emirs rode back together, and +shook their heads as they looked at the weary baggage-camels on which +the prisoners were perched. The greatest laggard of all was one which +was ridden by a wounded Soudanese soldier. It was limping badly with a +strained tendon, and it was only by constant prodding that it could be +kept with the others. The Emir Wad Ibrahim raised his Remington, as the +creature hobbled past, and sent a bullet through its brain. The wounded +man flew forwards out of the high saddle, and fell heavily upon the hard +track. His companions in misfortune, looking back, saw him stagger to +his feet with a dazed face. At the same instant a Baggara slipped down +from his camel with a sword in his hand.</p> + +<p>“Don’t look! don’t look!” cried Belmont to the ladies, and they all rode +on with their faces to the south. They heard no sound, but the Baggara +passed them a few minutes afterwards. He was cleaning his sword upon +the hairy neck of his camel, and he glanced at them with a quick, +malicious gleam of his teeth as he trotted by. But those who are at the +lowest pitch of human misery are at least secured against the future. +That vicious, threatening smile which might once have thrilled them left +them now unmoved—or stirred them at most to vague resentment. +There were many things to interest them in this old trade route, had +they been in a condition to take notice of them. Here and there along +its course were the crumbling remains of ancient buildings, so old that +no date could be assigned to them, but designed in some far-off +civilisation to give the travellers shade from the sun or protection +from the ever-lawless children of the desert. The mud bricks with which +these refuges were constructed showed that the material had been carried +over from the distant Nile. Once, upon the top of a little knoll, they +saw the shattered plinth of a pillar of red Assouan granite, with the +wide-winged symbol of the Egyptian god across it, and the cartouche of +the second Rameses beneath. After three thousand years one cannot get +away from the ineffaceable footprints of the warrior-king. It is surely +the most wonderful survival of history that one should still be able to +gaze upon him, high-nosed and masterful, as he lies with his powerful +arms crossed upon his chest, majestic even in decay, in the Gizeh +Museum. To the captives, the cartouche was a message of hope, as a sign +that they were not outside the sphere of Egypt. “They’ve left their +card here once, and they may again,” said Belmont, and they all tried to +smile.</p> + +<p>And now they came upon one of the most satisfying sights on which the +human eye can ever rest. Here and there, in the depressions at either +side of the road, there had been a thin scurf of green, which meant that +water was not very far from the surface. And then, quite suddenly, the +track dipped down into a bowl-shaped hollow, with a most dainty group of +palm-trees, and a lovely green sward at the bottom of it. The sun +gleaming upon that brilliant patch of clear, restful colour, with the +dark glow of the bare desert around it, made it shine like the purest +emerald in a setting of burnished copper. And then it was not its +beauty only, but its promise for the future: water, shade, all that +weary travellers could ask for. Even Sadie was revived by the cheery +sight, and the spent camels snorted and stepped out more briskly, +stretching their long necks and sniffing the air as they went. +After the unhomely harshness of the desert, it seemed to all of them +that they had never seen anything more beautiful than this. They looked +below at the green sward with the dark, star-like shadows of the +palm-crowns; then they looked up at those deep green leaves against the +rich blue of the sky, and they forgot their impending death in the +beauty of that Nature to whose bosom they were about to return.</p> + +<p>The wells in the centre of the grove consisted of seven large and two +small saucer-like cavities filled with peat-coloured water, enough to +form a plentiful supply for any caravan. Camels and men drank it +greedily, though it was tainted by the all-pervading natron. The camels +were picketed, the Arabs threw their sleeping-mats down in the shade, +and the prisoners, after receiving a ration of dates and of doora, were +told that they might do what they would during the heat of the day, and +that the Moolah would come to them before sunset. The ladies were given +the thicker shade of an acacia tree, and the men lay down under the +palms. The great green leaves swished slowly above them; they heard the +low hum of the Arab talk, and the dull champing of the camels, and then +in an instant, by that most mysterious and least understood of miracles, +one was in a green Irish valley, and another saw the long straight line +of Commonwealth Avenue, and a third was dining at a little round table +opposite to the bust of Nelson in the Army and Navy Club, and for him +the swishing of the palm branches had been transformed into the +long-drawn hum of Pall Mall. So the spirits went their several ways, +wandering back along the strange, un-traced tracks of the memory, while +the weary, grimy bodies lay senseless under the palm-trees in the Oasis +of the Libyan Desert.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">C</span>OLONEL COCHRANE was awakened from his slumber by some one pulling at +his shoulder. As his eyes opened they fell upon the black, anxious face +of Tippy Tilly, the old Egyptian gunner. His crooked finger was laid +upon his thick, liver-coloured lips, and his dark eyes glanced from left +to right with ceaseless vigilance.</p> + +<p>“Lie quiet! Do not move!” he whispered, in Arabic. “I will lie here +beside you, and they cannot tell me from the others. You can understand +what I am saying?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, if you will talk slowly.”</p> + +<p>“Very good. I have no great trust in this black man, Mansoor. I had +rather talk direct with the Miralai.”</p> + +<p>“What have you to say?”</p> + +<p>“I have waited long, until they should all be asleep, and now in another +hour we shall be called to evening prayer. First of all, here is a +pistol, that you may not say that you are without arms.”</p> + +<p>It was a clumsy, old-fashioned thing, but the Colonel saw the glint of a +percussion cap upon the nipple, and knew that it was loaded. He slipped +it into the inner pocket of his Norfolk jacket.</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said he; “speak slowly, so that I may understand you.”</p> + +<p>“There are eight of us who wish to go to Egypt. There are also four men +in your party. One of us, Mehemet Ali, has fastened twelve camels +together, which are the fastest of all save only those which are ridden +by the Emirs. There are guards upon watch, but they are scattered in +all directions. The twelve camels are close beside us here—those +twelve behind the acacia tree. If we can only get mounted and started, +I do not think that many can overtake us, and we shall have our rifles +for them. The guards are not strong enough to stop so many of us. +The water-skins are all filled, and we may see the Nile again by +to-morrow night.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel could not follow it all, but he understood enough to set a +little spring of hope bubbling in his heart. The last terrible day had +left its mark in his livid face and his hair, which was turning rapidly +to grey. He might have been the father of the spruce well-preserved +soldier who had paced with straight back and military stride up and down +the saloon deck of the Korosko.</p> + +<p>“That is excellent,” said he. “But what are we to do about the three +ladies?” The black soldier shrugged his shoulders. “Mefeesh!” said he. +“One of them is old, and in any case there are plenty more women if we +get back to Egypt. These will not come to any hurt, but they will be +placed in the harem of the Khalifa.”</p> + +<p>“What you say is nonsense,” said the Colonel sternly. “We shall take +our women with us, or we shall not go at all.”</p> + +<p>“I think it is rather you who talk the thing without sense,” the black +man answered angrily. “How can you ask my companions and me to do that +which must end in failure? For years we have waited for such a chance +as this, and now that it has come, you wish us to throw it away owing to +this foolishness about the women.”</p> + +<p>“What have we promised you if we come back to Egypt?” asked Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“Two hundred Egyptian pounds and promotion in the army—all upon the +word of an Englishman.”</p> + +<p>“Very good. Then you shall have three hundred each if you can make some +new plan by which you can take the women with you.”</p> + +<p>Tippy Tilly scratched his woolly head in his perplexity.</p> + +<p>“We might, indeed, upon some excuse, bring three more of the faster +camels round to this place. Indeed, there are three very good camels +among those which are near the cooking fire. But how are we to get the +women upon them?—and if we had them upon them, we know very well that +they would fall off when they began to gallop. I fear that you men will +fall off, for it is no easy matter to remain upon a galloping camel; but +as to the women, it is impossible. No, we shall leave the women, and if +you will not leave the women, then we shall leave all of you and start +by ourselves.”</p> + +<p>“Very good! Go!” said the Colonel abruptly, and settled down as if to +sleep once more. He knew that with Orientals it is the silent man who +is most likely to have his way.</p> + +<p>The negro turned and crept away for some little distance, where he was +met by one of his fellaheen comrades, Mehemet Ali, who had charge of the +camels. The two argued for some little time—for those three hundred +golden pieces were not to be lightly resigned. Then the negro crept +back to Colonel Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“Mehemet Ali has agreed,” said he. “He has gone to put the nose-rope +upon three more of the camels. But it is foolishness, and we are all +going to our death. Now come with me, and we shall awaken the women and +tell them.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his companions and whispered to them what was in the +wind. Belmont and Fardet were ready for any risk. Stephens, to whom +the prospect of a passive death presented little terror, was seized with +a convulsion of fear when he thought of any active exertion to avoid it, +and shivered in all his long, thin limbs. Then he pulled out his +Baedeker and began to write his will upon the flyleaf, but his hand +twitched so that he was hardly legible. By some strange gymnastic of +the legal mind a death, even by violence, if accepted quietly, had a +place in the order of things, while a death which overtook one galloping +frantically over a desert was wholly irregular and discomposing. It was +not dissolution which he feared, but the humiliation and agony of a +fruitless struggle against it.</p> + +<p>Colonel Cochrane and Tippy Tilly had crept together under the shadow of +the great acacia tree to the spot where the women were lying. Sadie and +her aunt lay with their arms round each other, the girl’s head pillowed +upon the old woman’s bosom. Mrs. Belmont was awake, and entered into +the scheme in an instant.</p> + +<p>“But you must leave me,” said Miss Adams earnestly. “What does it +matter at my age, anyhow?”</p> + +<p>“No, no, Aunt Eliza; I won’t move without you! Don’t you think it!” +cried the girl. “You’ve got to come straight away or else we both stay +right here where we are.”</p> + +<p>“Come, come, ma’am, there is no time for arguing, or nonsense,” said the +Colonel roughly. “Our lives all depend upon your making an effort, and +we cannot possibly leave you behind.”</p> + +<p>“But I will fall off.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll tie you on with my puggaree. I wish I had the cummerbund which I +lent poor Stuart. Now, Tippy, I think we might make a break for it!”</p> + +<p>But the black soldier had been staring with a disconsolate face out over +the desert, and he turned upon his heel with an oath.</p> + +<p>“There!” said he sullenly. “You see what comes of all your foolish +talking! You have ruined our chances as well as your own!”</p> + +<p>Half-a-dozen mounted camel-men had appeared suddenly over the lip of the +bowl-shaped hollow, standing out hard and clear against the evening sky +where the copper basin met its great blue lid. They were travelling +fast, and waved their rifles as they came. An instant later the bugle +sounded an alarm, and the camp was up with a buzz like an overturned +bee-hive. The Colonel ran back to his companions, and the black soldier +to his camel. Stephens looked relieved, and Belmont sulky, while +Monsieur Fardet raved, with his one uninjured hand in the air.</p> + +<p>“Sacred name of a dog!” he cried. “Is there no end to it, then? Are we +never to come out of the hands of these accursed Dervishes?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, they really are Dervishes, are they?” said the Colonel in an acid +voice. “You seem to be altering your opinions. I thought they were an +invention of the British Government.”</p> + +<p>The poor fellows’ tempers were getting frayed and thin. The Colonel’s +sneer was like a match to a magazine, and in an instant the Frenchman +was dancing in front of him with a broken torrent of angry words. +His hand was clutching at Cochrane’s throat before Belmont and Stephens +could pull him off.</p> + +<p>“If it were not for your grey hairs—” he said.</p> + +<p>“Damn your impudence!” cried the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“If we have to die, let us die like gentlemen, and not like so many +corner-boys,” said Belmont with dignity.</p> + +<p>“I only said I was glad to see that Monsieur Fardet has learned +something from his adventures,” the Colonel sneered.</p> + +<p>“Shut up, Cochrane! What do you want to aggravate him for?” cried the +Irishman.</p> + +<p>“Upon my word, Belmont, you forget yourself! I do not permit people to +address me in this fashion.”</p> + +<p>“You should look after your own manners, then.”</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen, gentlemen, here are the ladies!” cried Stephens, and the +angry, over-strained men relapsed into a gloomy silence, pacing up and +down, and jerking viciously at their moustaches. It is a very catching +thing, ill-temper, for even Stephens began to be angry at their anger, +and to scowl at them as they passed him. Here they were at a crisis in +their fate, with the shadow of death above them, and yet their minds +were all absorbed in some personal grievance so slight that they could +hardly put it into words. Misfortune brings the human spirit to a rare +height, but the pendulum still swings.</p> + +<p>But soon their attention was drawn away to more important matters. +A council of war was being held beside the wells, and the two Emirs, +stern and composed, were listening to a voluble report from the leader +of the patrol. The prisoners noticed that, though the fierce, old man +stood like a graven image, the younger Emir passed his hand over his +beard once or twice with a nervous gesture, the thin, brown fingers +twitching among the long, black hair.</p> + +<p>“I believe the Gippies are after us,” said Belmont. “Not very far off +either, to judge by the fuss they are making.”</p> + +<p>“It looks like it. Something has scared them.”</p> + +<p>“Now he’s giving orders. What can it be? Here, Mansoor, what is the +matter?”</p> + +<p>The dragoman came running up with the light of hope shining upon his +brown face.</p> + +<p>“I think they have seen something to frighten them. I believe that the +soldiers are behind us. They have given the order to fill the +water-skins, and be ready for a start when the darkness comes. But I am +ordered to gather you together, for the Moolah is coming to convert you +all. I have already told him that you are all very much inclined to +think the same with him.”</p> + +<p>How far Mansoor may have gone with his assurances may never be known, +but the Mussulman preacher came walking towards them at this moment with +a paternal and contented smile upon his face, as one who has a pleasant +and easy task before him. He was a one-eyed man, with a fringe of +grizzled beard and a face which was fat, but which looked as if it had +once been fatter, for it was marked with many folds and creases. He had +a green turban upon his head, which marked him as a Mecca pilgrim. +In one hand he carried a small brown carpet, and in the other a +parchment copy of the Koran. Laying his carpet upon the ground, he +motioned Mansoor to his side, and then gave a circular sweep of his arm +to signify that the prisoners should gather round him, and a downward +wave which meant that they should be seated. So they grouped themselves +round him, sitting on the short green sward under the palm-tree, these +seven forlorn representatives of an alien creed, and in the midst of +them sat the fat little preacher, his one eye dancing from face to face +as he expounded the principles of his newer, cruder, and more earnest +faith. They listened attentively and nodded their heads as Mansoor +translated the exhortation, and with each sign of their acquiescence the +Moolah became more amiable in his manner and more affectionate in his +speech.</p> + +<p>“For why should you die, my sweet lambs, when all that is asked of you +is that you should set aside that which will carry you to everlasting +Gehenna, and accept the law of Allah as written by his prophet, which +will assuredly bring you unimaginable joys, as is promised in the Book +of the Camel? For what says the chosen one?”—and he broke away into +one of those dogmatic texts which pass in every creed as an argument. +“Besides, is it not clear that God is with us, since from the beginning, +when we had but sticks against the rifles of the Turks, victory has +always been with us? Have we not taken El Obeid, and taken Khartoum, +and destroyed Hicks and slain Gordon, and prevailed against every one +who has come against us? How, then, can it be said that the blessing of +Allah does not rest upon us?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel had been looking about him during the long exhortation of +the Moolah, and he had observed that the Dervishes were cleaning their +guns, counting their cartridges, and making all the preparations of men +who expected that they might soon be called upon to fight. The two +Emirs were conferring together with grave faces, and the leader of the +patrol pointed, as he spoke to them, in the direction of Egypt. It was +evident that there was at least a chance of a rescue if they could only +keep things going for a few more hours. The camels were not recovered +yet from their long march, and the pursuers, if they were indeed close +behind, were almost certain to overtake them.</p> + +<p>“For God’s sake, Fardet, try and keep him in play,” said he. “I believe +we have a chance if we can only keep the ball rolling for another hour +or so.”</p> + +<p>But a Frenchman’s wounded dignity is not so easily appeased. Monsieur +Fardet sat moodily with his back against the palm-tree, and his black +brows drawn down. He said nothing, but he still pulled at his thick, +strong moustache.</p> + +<p>“Come on, Fardet! We depend upon you,” said Belmont.</p> + +<p>“Let Colonel Cochrane do it,” the Frenchman answered snappishly. +“He takes too much upon himself this Colonel Cochrane.”</p> + +<p>“There! There!” said Belmont soothingly, as if he were speaking to a +fractious child. “I am quite sure that the Colonel will express his +regret at what has happened, and will acknowledge that he was in the +wrong—”</p> + +<p>“I’ll do nothing of the sort,” snapped the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“Besides, that is merely a personal quarrel,” Belmont continued hastily. +“It is for the good of the whole party that we wish you to speak with +the Moolah, because we all feel that you are the best man for the job.”</p> + +<p>But the Frenchman only shrugged his shoulders and relapsed into a deeper +gloom.</p> + +<p>The Moolah looked from one to the other, and the kindly expression began +to fade away from his large, baggy face. His mouth drew down at the +corners, and became hard and severe.</p> + +<p>“Have these infidels been playing with us, then?” said he to the +dragoman. “Why is it that they talk among themselves and have nothing +to say to me?”</p> + +<p>“He’s getting impatient about it,” said Cochrane. “Perhaps I had better +do what I can, Belmont, since this damned fellow has left us in the +lurch.”</p> + +<p>But the ready wit of a woman saved the situation.</p> + +<p>“I am sure, Monsieur Fardet,” said Mrs. Belmont, “that you, who are a +Frenchman, and therefore a man of gallantry and honour, would not permit +your own wounded feelings to interfere with the fulfilment of your +promise and your duty towards three helpless ladies.”</p> + +<p>Fardet was on his feet in an instant, with his hand over his heart.</p> + +<p>“You understand my nature, madame,” he cried. “I am incapable of +abandoning a lady. I will do all that I can in this matter. Now, +Mansoor, you may tell the holy man that I am ready to discuss through +you the high matters of his faith with him.”</p> + +<p>And he did it with an ingenuity which amazed his companions. He took +the tone of a man who is strongly attracted, and yet has one single +remaining shred of doubt to hold him back. Yet as that one shred was +torn away by the Moolah, there was always some other stubborn little +point which prevented his absolute acceptance of the faith of Islam. +And his questions were all so mixed up with personal compliments to the +priest and self-congratulations that they should have come under the +teachings of so wise a man and so profound a theologian, that the +hanging pouches under the Moolah’s eyes quivered with his satisfaction, +and he was led happily and hopefully onwards from explanation to +explanation, while the blue overhead turned into violet, and the green +leaves into black, until the great serene stars shone out once more +between the crowns of the palm-trees.</p> + +<p>“As to the learning of which you speak, my lamb,” said the Moolah, in +answer to some argument of Fardet’s, “I have myself studied at the +University of El Azhar at Cairo, and I know that to which you allude. +But the learning of the faithful is not as the learning of the +unbeliever, and it is not fitting that we pry too deeply into the ways +of Allah. Some stars have tails, oh my sweet lamb, and some have not; +but what does it profit us to know which are which? For God made them +all, and they are very safe in His hands. Therefore, my friend, be not +puffed up by the foolish learning of the West, and understand that there +is only one wisdom, which consists in following the will of Allah as His +chosen prophet has laid it down for us in this book. And now, my lambs, +I see that you are ready to come into Islam, and it is time, for that +bugle tells that we are about to march, and it was the order of the +excellent Emir Abderrahman that your choice should be taken, one way or +the other, before ever we left the wells.”</p> + +<p>“Yet, my father, there are other points upon which I would gladly have +instruction,” said the Frenchman, “for, indeed, it is a pleasure to hear +your clear words after the cloudy accounts which we have had from other +teachers.”</p> + +<p>But the Moolah had risen, and a gleam of suspicion twinkled in his +single eye.</p> + +<p>“This further instruction may well come afterwards,” said he, “since we +shall travel together as far as Khartoum, and it will be a joy to me to +see you grow in wisdom and in virtue as we go.” He walked over to the +fire, and stooping down, with the pompous slowness of a stout man, he +returned with two half-charred sticks, which he laid cross-wise upon the +ground. The Dervishes came clustering over to see the new converts +admitted into the fold. They stood round in the dim light, tall and +fantastic, with the high necks and supercilious heads of the camels +swaying above them.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said the Moolah, and his voice had lost its conciliatory and +persuasive tone, “there is no more time for you. Here upon the ground I +have made out of two sticks the foolish and superstitious symbol of your +former creed. You will trample upon it, as a sign that you renounce it, +and you will kiss the Koran, as a sign that you accept it, and what more +you need in the way of instruction shall be given to you as you go.”</p> + +<p>They stood up, the four men and the three women, to meet the crisis of +their fate. None of them, except perhaps Miss Adams and Mrs. Belmont, +had any deep religious convictions. All of them were children of this +world, and some of them disagreed with everything which that symbol upon +the earth represented. But there was the European pride, the pride of +the white race which swelled within them, and held them to the faith of +their countrymen. It was a sinful, human, un-Christian motive, and yet +it was about to make them public martyrs to the Christian creed. In the +hush and tension of their nerves low sounds grew suddenly loud upon +their ears. Those swishing palm-leaves above them were like a +swift-flowing river, and far away they could hear the dull, soft +thudding of a galloping camel.</p> + +<p>“There’s something coming,” whispered Cochrane. “Try and stave them off +for five minutes longer, Fardet.”</p> + +<p>The Frenchman stepped out with a courteous wave of his uninjured arm, +and the air of a man who is prepared to accommodate himself to anything.</p> + +<p>“You will tell this holy man that I am quite ready to accept his +teaching, and so I am sure are all my friends,” said he to the dragoman. +“But there is one thing which I should wish him to do in order to set at +rest any possible doubts which may remain in our hearts. Every true +religion can be told by the miracles which those who profess it can +bring about. Even I who am but a humble Christian, can, by virtue of my +religion, do some of these. But you, since your religion is superior, +can no doubt do far more, and so I beg you to give us a sign that we may +be able to say that we know that the religion of Islam is the more +powerful.”</p> + +<p>Behind all his dignity and reserve, the Arab has a good fund of +curiosity. The hush among the listening Arabs showed how the words of +the Frenchman as translated by Mansoor appealed to them.</p> + +<p>“Such things are in the hands of Allah,” said the priest. “It is not for +us to disturb His laws. But if you have yourself such powers as you +claim, let us be witnesses to them.”</p> + +<p>The Frenchman stepped forward, and raising his hand he took a large, +shining date out of the Moolah’s beard. This he swallowed and +immediately produced once more from his left elbow. He had often given +his little conjuring entertainment on board the boat, and his +fellow-passengers had had some good-natured laughter at his expense, for +he was not quite skilful enough to deceive the critical European +intelligence. But now it looked as if this piece of obvious palming +might be the point upon which all their fates would hang. A deep hum of +surprise rose from the ring of Arabs, and deepened as the Frenchman drew +another date from the nostril of a camel and tossed it into the air, +from which, apparently, it never descended. That gaping sleeve was +obvious enough to his companions, but the dim light was all in favour of +the performer. So delighted and interested was the audience +that they paid little heed to a mounted camel-man who trotted swiftly +between the palm trunks. All might have been well had not Fardet, +carried away by his own success, tried to repeat his trick once more, +with the result that the date fell out of his palm, and the deception +stood revealed. In vain he tried to pass on at once to another of his +little stock. The Moolah said something, and an Arab struck Fardet +across the shoulders with the thick shaft of his spear.</p> + +<p>“We have had enough child’s play,” said the angry priest. “Are we men +or babes, that you should try to impose upon us in this manner? Here is +the cross and the Koran—which shall it be?”</p> + +<p>Fardet looked helplessly round at his companions.</p> + +<p>“I can do no more; you asked for five minutes. You have had them,” said +he to Colonel Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“And perhaps it is enough,” the soldier answered. “Here are the Emirs.”</p> + +<p>The camel-man, whose approach they had heard from afar, had made for the +two Arab chiefs, and had delivered a brief report to them, stabbing with +his forefinger in the direction from which he had come. There was a +rapid exchange of words between the Emirs, and then they strode forward +together to the group around the prisoners. Bigots and barbarians, they +were none the less two most majestic men, as they advanced through the +twilight of the palm grove. The fierce old greybeard raised his hand +and spoke swiftly in short, abrupt sentences, and his savage followers +yelped to him like hounds to a huntsman. The fire that smouldered in +his arrogant eyes shone back at him from a hundred others. Here were to +be read the strength and danger of the Mahdi movement; here in these +convulsed faces, in that fringe of waving arms, in these frantic, +red-hot souls, who asked nothing better than a bloody death, if their +own hands might be bloody when they met it.</p> + +<p>“Have the prisoners embraced the true faith?” asked the Emir +Abderrahman, looking at them with his cruel eyes.</p> + +<p>The Moolah had his reputation to preserve, and it was not for him to +confess to a failure.</p> + +<p>“They were about to embrace it, when—</p> + +<p>“Let it rest for a little time, O Moolah.” He gave an order, and the +Arabs all sprang for their camels. The Emir Wad Ibrahim filed off at +once with nearly half the party. The others were mounted and ready, +with their rifles unslung.</p> + +<p>“What’s happened?” asked Belmont.</p> + +<p>“Things are looking up,” cried the Colonel. “By George, I think we are +going to come through all right. The Gippy Camel Corps are hot on our +trail.”</p> + +<p>“How do you know?”</p> + +<p>“What else could have scared them?”</p> + +<p>“O Colonel, do you really think we shall be saved?” sobbed Sadie. +The dull routine of misery through which they had passed had deadened +all their nerves until they seemed incapable of any acute sensation, but +now this sudden return of hope brought agony with it like the recovery +of a frost-bitten limb. Even the strong, self-contained Belmont was +filled with doubts and apprehensions. He had been hopeful when there +was no sign of relief, and now the approach of it set him trembling.</p> + +<p>“Surely they wouldn’t come very weak,” he cried. “Be Jove, if the +Commandant let them come weak, he should be court-martialled.”</p> + +<p>“Sure we’re in God’s hands, anyway,” said his wife, in her soothing, +Irish voice. “Kneel down with me, John, dear, if it’s the last time, +and pray that, earth or heaven, we may not be divided.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t do that! Don’t!” cried the Colonel anxiously, for he saw that +the eye of the Moolah was upon them. But it was too late, for the two +Roman Catholics had dropped upon their knees and crossed themselves. +A spasm of fury passed over the face of the Mussulman priest at this +public testimony to the failure of his missionary efforts. He turned +and said something to the Emir.</p> + +<p>“Stand up!” cried Mansoor. “For your life’s sake, stand up! He is +asking for leave to put you to death.”</p> + +<p>“Let him do what he likes!” said the obstinate Irishman; “we will rise +when our prayers are finished, and not before.”</p> + +<p>The Emir stood listening to the Moolah, with his baleful gaze upon the +two kneeling figures. Then he gave one or two rapid orders, and four +camels were brought forward. The baggage-camels which they had hitherto +ridden were standing unsaddled where they had been tethered.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be a fool, Belmont!” cried the Colonel; “everything depends upon +our humouring them. Do get up, Mrs. Belmont! You are only putting +their backs up!”</p> + +<p>The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders as he looked at them. +“<i>Mon Dieu!</i>” he cried, “were there ever such impracticable people? +<i>Voilà!</i>” he added, with a shriek, as the two American ladies fell upon +their knees beside Mrs. Belmont. “It is like the camels—one down, all +down! Was ever anything so absurd?”</p> + +<p>But Mr. Stephens had knelt down beside Sadie and buried his haggard face +in his long, thin hands. Only the Colonel and Monsieur Fardet remained +standing. Cochrane looked at the Frenchman with an interrogative eye.</p> + +<p>“After all,” said he, “it is stupid to pray all your life, and not to +pray now when we have nothing to hope for except through the goodness of +Providence.” He dropped upon his knees with a rigid, military back, but +his grizzled, unshaven chin upon his chest. The Frenchman looked at his +kneeling companions, and then his eyes travelled onwards to the angry +faces of the Emir and Moolah.</p> + +<p>“<i>Sapristi!</i>” he growled. “Do they suppose that a Frenchman is afraid +of them?” and so, with an ostentatious sign of the cross, he took his +place upon his knees beside the others. Foul, bedraggled, and wretched, +the seven figures knelt and waited humbly for their fate under the black +shadow of the palm-tree.</p> + +<p>The Emir turned to the Moolah with a mocking smile, and pointed at the +results of his ministrations. Then he gave an order, and in an instant +the four men were seized. A couple of deft turns with a camel-halter +secured each of their wrists. Fardet screamed out, for the rope had +bitten into his open wound. The others took it with the dignity of +despair.</p> + +<p>“You have ruined everything. I believe you have ruined me also!” cried +Mansoor, wringing his hands. “The women are to get upon these three +camels.”</p> + +<p>“Never!” cried Belmont. “We won’t be separated!” He plunged madly, but +he was weak from privation, and two strong men held him by each elbow.</p> + +<p>“Don’t fret, John!” cried his wife, as they hurried her towards the +camel. “No harm shall come to me. Don’t struggle, or they’ll hurt you, +dear.”</p> + +<p>The four men writhed as they saw the women dragged away from them. +All their agonies had been nothing to this. Sadie and her aunt appeared +to be half senseless from fear. Only Mrs. Belmont kept a brave face. +When they were seated the camels rose, and were led under the tree +behind where the four men were standing.</p> + +<p>“I’ve a pistol in me pocket,” said Belmont, looking up at his wife. +“I would give me soul to be able to pass it to you.”</p> + +<p>“Keep it, John, and it may be useful yet. I have no fears. Ever since +we prayed I have felt as if our guardian angels had their wings round +us.” She was like a guardian angel herself as she turned to the +shrinking Sadie, and coaxed some little hope back into her despairing +heart.</p> + +<p>The short, thick Arab, who had been in command of Wad Ibrahim’s +rearguard, had joined the Emir and the Moolah; the three consulted +together, with occasional oblique glances towards the prisoners. +Then the Emir spoke to Mansoor.</p> + +<p>“The chief wishes to know which of you four is the richest man?” said +the dragoman. His fingers were twitching with nervousness and plucking +incessantly at the front of his covercoat.</p> + +<p>“Why does he wish to know?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“I do not know.”</p> + +<p>“But it is evident,” cried Monsieur Fardet. “He wishes to know which is +the best worth keeping for his ransom.”</p> + +<p>“I think we should see this thing through together,” said the Colonel. +“It’s really for you to decide, Stephens, for I have no doubt that you +are the richest of us.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know that I am,” the lawyer answered; “but in any case, I have +no wish to be placed upon a different footing to the others.”</p> + +<p>The Emir spoke again in his harsh rasping voice.</p> + +<p>“He says,” Mansoor translated, “that the baggage-camels are spent, and +that there is only one beast left which can keep up. It is ready now +for one of you, and you have to decide among yourselves which is to have +it. If one is richer than the others, he will have the preference.”</p> + +<p>“Tell him that we are all equally rich.”</p> + +<p>“In that case he says that you are to choose at once which is to have +the camel.”</p> + +<p>“And the others?”</p> + +<p>The dragoman shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the Colonel, “if only one of us is to escape, I think you +fellows will agree with me that it ought to be Belmont, since he is the +married man.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes, let it be Monsieur Belmont,” cried Fardet.</p> + +<p>“I think so also,” said Stephens.</p> + +<p>But the Irishman would not hear of it.</p> + +<p>“No, no, share and share alike,” he cried. “All sink or all swim, and +the devil take the flincher.”</p> + +<p>They wrangled among themselves until they became quite heated in this +struggle of unselfishness. Some one had said that the Colonel should go +because he was the oldest, and the Colonel was a very angry man.</p> + +<p>“One would think I was an octogenarian,” he cried. “These remarks are +quite uncalled for.”</p> + +<p>“Well, then,” said Belmont, “let us all refuse to go.”</p> + +<p>“But this is not very wise,” cried the Frenchman. “See, my friends! +Here are the ladies being carried off alone. Surely it would be far +better that one of us should be with them to advise them.”</p> + +<p>They looked at one another in perplexity. What Fardet said was +obviously true, but how could one of them desert his comrades? The Emir +himself suggested the solution.</p> + +<p>“The chief says,” said Mansoor, “that if you cannot settle who is to go, +you had better leave it to Allah and draw lots.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think we can do better,” said the Colonel, and his three +companions nodded their assent.</p> + +<p>It was the Moolah who approached them with four splinters of palm-bark +protruding from between his fingers.</p> + +<p>“He says that he who draws the longest has the camel,” said Mansoor.</p> + +<p>“We must agree to abide absolutely by this,” said Cochrane, and again +his companions nodded.</p> + +<p>The Dervishes had formed a semicircle in front of them, with a fringe of +the oscillating heads of the camels. Before them was a cooking fire, +which threw its red light over the group. The Emir was standing with +his back to it, and his fierce face towards the prisoners. Behind the +four men was a line of guards, and behind them again the three women, +who looked down from their camels upon this tragedy. With a malicious +smile, the fat, one-eyed Moolah advanced with his fist closed, and the +four little brown spicules protruding from between his fingers.</p> + +<p>It was to Belmont that he held them first. The Irishman gave an +involuntary groan, and his wife gasped behind him, for the splinter came +away in his hand. Then it was the Frenchman’s turn, and his was half an +inch longer than Belmont’s. Then came Colonel Cochrane, whose piece was +longer than the two others put together. Stephens’ was no bigger than +Belmont’s. The Colonel was the winner of this terrible lottery.</p> + +<p>“You’re welcome to my place, Belmont,” said he. “I’ve neither wife nor +child, and hardly a friend in the world. Go with your wife, and I’ll +stay.”</p> + +<p>“No, indeed! An agreement is an agreement. It’s all fair play, and the +prize to the luckiest.”</p> + +<p>“The Emir says that you are to mount at once,” said Mansoor, and an Arab +dragged the Colonel by his wrist-rope to the waiting camel.</p> + +<p>“He will stay with the rearguard,” said the Emir to his lieutenant. +“You can keep the women with you also.”</p> + +<p>“And this dragoman dog?”</p> + +<p>“Put him with the others.”</p> + +<p>“And they?”</p> + +<p>“Put them all to death.”</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">A</span>S none of the three could understand Arabic, the order of the Emir +would have been unintelligible to them had it not been for the conduct +of Mansoor. The unfortunate dragoman, after all his treachery and all +his subservience and apostasy, found his worst fears realised when the +Dervish leader gave his curt command. With a shriek of fear the poor +wretch threw himself forward upon his face, and clutched at the edge of +the Arab’s jibbeh, clawing with his brown fingers at the edge of the +cotton skirt. The Emir tugged to free himself, and then, finding that +he was still held by that convulsive grip, he turned and kicked at +Mansoor with the vicious impatience with which one drives off a +pestering cur. The dragoman’s high red tarboosh flew up into the air, +and he lay groaning upon his face where the stunning blow of the Arab’s +horny foot had left him.</p> + +<p>All was bustle and movement in the camp, for the old Emir had mounted +his camel, and some of his party were already beginning to follow their +companions. The squat lieutenant, the Moolah, and about a dozen +Dervishes surrounded the prisoners. They had not mounted their camels, +for they were told off to be the ministers of death. The three men +understood as they looked upon their faces that the sand was running +very low in the glass of their lives. Their hands were still bound, but +their guards had ceased to hold them. They turned round, all three, and +said good-bye to the women upon the camels.</p> + +<p>“All up now, Norah,” said Belmont. “It’s hard luck when there was a +chance of a rescue, but we’ve done our best.”</p> + +<p>For the first time his wife had broken down. She was sobbing +convulsively, with her face between her hands.</p> + +<p>“Don’t cry, little woman! We’ve had a good time together. Give my love +to all friends at Bray! Remember me to Amy McCarthy and to the +Blessingtons. You’ll find there is enough and to spare, but I would +take Roger’s advice about the investments. Mind that!”</p> + +<p>“O John, I won’t live without you!” Sorrow for her sorrow broke the +strong man down, and he buried his face in the hairy side of her camel. +The two of them sobbed helplessly together.</p> + +<p>Stephens meanwhile had pushed his way to Sadie’s beast. She saw his +worn earnest face looking up at her through the dim light.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be afraid for your aunt and for yourself,” said he. “I am sure +that you will escape. Colonel Cochrane will look after you. +The Egyptians cannot be far behind. I do hope you will have a good +drink before you leave the wells. I wish I could give your aunt my +jacket, for it will be cold to-night. I’m afraid I can’t get it off. +She should keep some of the bread, and eat it in the early morning.”</p> + +<p>He spoke quite quietly, like a man who is arranging the details of a +picnic. A sudden glow of admiration for this quietly consistent man +warmed her impulsive heart.</p> + +<p>“How unselfish you are!” she cried. “I never saw any one like you. +Talk about saints! There you stand in the very presence of death, and +you think only of us.”</p> + +<p>“I want to say a last word to you, Sadie, if you don’t mind. I should +die so much happier. I have often wanted to speak to you, but I thought +that perhaps you would laugh, for you never took anything very +seriously, did you? That was quite natural of course with your high +spirits, but still it was very serious to me. But now I am really a +dead man, so it does not matter very much what I say.”</p> + +<p>“Oh don’t, Mr. Stephens!” cried the girl.</p> + +<p>“I won’t, if it is very painful to you. As I said, it would make me die +happier, but I don’t want to be selfish about it. If I thought it would +darken your life afterwards, or be a sad recollection to you, I would +not say another word.”</p> + +<p>“What did you wish to say?”</p> + +<p>“It was only to tell you how I loved you. I always loved you. From the +first I was a different man when I was with you. But of course it was +absurd, I knew that well enough. I never said anything, but I tried not +to make myself ridiculous. But I just want you to know about it now +that it can’t matter one way or the other. You’ll understand that I +really do love you when I tell you that, if it were not that I knew you +were frightened and unhappy, these last two days in which we have been +always together would have been infinitely the happiest of my life.”</p> + +<p>The girl sat pale and silent, looking down with wondering eyes at his +upturned face. She did not know what to do or say in the solemn +presence of this love which burned so brightly under the shadow of +death. To her child’s heart it seemed incomprehensible—and yet she +understood that it was sweet and beautiful also.</p> + +<p>“I won’t say any more,” said he; “I can see that it only bothers you. +But I wanted you to know, and now you do know, so it is all right. +Thank you for listening so patiently and gently. Good-bye, little +Sadie! I can’t put my hand up. Will you put yours down?”</p> + +<p>She did so and Stephens kissed it. Then he turned and took his place +once more between Belmont and Fardet. In his whole life of struggle and +success he had never felt such a glow of quiet contentment as suffused +him at that instant when the grip of death was closing upon him. +There is no arguing about love. It is the innermost fact of life—the +one which obscures and changes all the others, the only one which is +absolutely satisfying and complete. Pain is pleasure, and want is +comfort, and death is sweetness when once that golden mist is round it. +So it was that Stephens could have sung with joy as he faced his +murderers. He really had not time to think about them. The important, +all-engrossing, delightful thing was that she could not look upon him as +a casual acquaintance any more. Through all her life she would think of +him—she would know.</p> + +<p>Colonel Cochrane’s camel was at one side, and the old soldier, whose +wrists had been freed, had been looking down upon the scene, and +wondering in his tenacious way whether all hope must really be +abandoned. It was evident that the Arabs who were grouped round the +victims were to remain behind with them, while the others who were +mounted would guard the three women and himself. He could not +understand why the throats of his companions had not been already cut, +unless it were that with an Eastern refinement of cruelty this rearguard +would wait until the Egyptians were close to them, so that the warm +bodies of their victims might be an insult to the pursuers. No doubt +that was the right explanation. The Colonel had heard of such a trick +before.</p> + +<p>But in that case there would not be more than twelve Arabs with the +prisoners. Were there any of the friendly ones among them? If Tippy +Tilly and six of his men were there, and if Belmont could get his arms +free and his hand upon his revolver, they might come through yet. +The Colonel craned his neck and groaned in his disappointment. He could +see the faces of the guards in the firelight. They were all Baggara +Arabs, men who were beyond either pity or bribery. Tippy Tilly and the +others must have gone on with the advance. For the first time the stiff +old soldier abandoned hope.</p> + +<p>“Good-bye, you fellows! God bless you!” he cried, as a negro pulled at +his camel’s nose-ring and made him follow the others. The women came +after him, in a misery too deep for words. Their departure was a relief +to the three men who were left.</p> + +<p>“I am glad they are gone,” said Stephens, from his heart.</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes, it is better,” cried Fardet. “How long are we to wait?”</p> + +<p>“Not very long now,” said Belmont grimly, as the Arabs closed in around +them.</p> + +<p>The Colonel and the three women gave one backward glance when they came +to the edge of the oasis. Between the straight stems of the palms they +saw the gleam of the fire, and above the group of Arabs they caught a +last glimpse of the three white hats. An instant later, the camels +began to trot, and when they looked back once more the palm grove was +only a black clump with the vague twinkle of a light somewhere in the +heart of it. As with yearning eyes they gazed at that throbbing red +point in the darkness, they passed over the edge of the depression, and +in an instant the huge, silent, moonlit desert was round them without a +sign of the oasis which they had left. On every side the velvet, +blue-black sky, with its blazing stars, sloped downwards to the vast, +dun-coloured plain. The two were blurred into one at their point of +junction.</p> + +<p>The women had sat in the silence of despair, and the Colonel had been +silent also—for what could he say?—but suddenly all four started in +their saddles, and Sadie gave a sharp cry of dismay. In the hush of the +night there had come from behind them the petulant crack of a rifle, +then another, then several together, with a brisk rat-tat-tat, and then +after an interval, one more.</p> + +<p>“It may be the rescuers! It may be the Egyptians!” cried Mrs. Belmont, +with a sudden flicker of hope. “Colonel Cochrane, don’t you think it +may be the Egyptians?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes,” Sadie whimpered. “It must be the Egyptians.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel had listened expectantly, but all was silent again. Then he +took his hat off with a solemn gesture.</p> + +<p>“There is no use deceiving ourselves, Mrs. Belmont,” said he; “we may as +well face the truth. Our friends are gone from us, but they have met +their end like brave men.”</p> + +<p>“But why should they fire their guns? They had ... they had spears.” +She shuddered as she said it.</p> + +<p>“That is true,” said the Colonel. “I would not for the world take away +any real grounds of hope which you may have; but on the other hand, +there is no use in preparing bitter disappointments for ourselves. +If we had been listening to an attack, we should have heard some reply. +Besides, an Egyptian attack would have been an attack in force. +No doubt it <i>is</i>, as you say, a little strange that they should have +wasted their cartridges—by Jove, look at that!”</p> + +<p>He was pointing over the eastern desert. Two figures were moving across +its expanse, swiftly and stealthily, furtive dark shadows against the +lighter ground. They saw them dimly, dipping and rising over the +rolling desert, now lost, now reappearing in the uncertain light. +They were flying away from the Arabs. And then, suddenly they halted +upon the summit of a sand-hill, and the prisoners could see them +outlined plainly against the sky. They were camel-men, but they sat +their camels astride as a horseman sits his horse.</p> + +<p>“Gippy Camel Corps!” cried the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“Two men,” said Miss Adams, in a voice of despair.</p> + +<p>“Only a vedette, ma’am! Throwing feelers out all over the desert. +This is one of them. Main body ten miles off, as likely as not. +There they go giving the alarm! Good old Camel Corps!”</p> + +<p>The self-contained, methodical soldier had suddenly turned almost +inarticulate with his excitement. There was a red flash upon the top of +the sand-hill, and then another, followed by the crack of the rifles. +Then with a whisk the two figures were gone, as swiftly and silently as +two trout in a stream.</p> + +<p>The Arabs had halted for an instant, as if uncertain whether they should +delay their journey to pursue them or not. There was nothing left to +pursue now, for amid the undulations of the sand-drift the vedettes +might have gone in any direction. The Emir galloped back along the +line, with exhortations and orders. Then the camels began to trot, and +the hopes of the prisoners were dulled by the agonies of the terrible +jolt. Mile after mile, mile after mile, they sped onwards over that +vast expanse, the women clinging as best they might to the pommels, the +Colonel almost as spent as they, but still keenly on the look-out for +any sign of the pursuers.</p> + +<p>“I think ... I think,” cried Mrs. Belmont, “that something is moving +in front of us.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel raised himself upon his saddle, and screened his eyes from +the moonshine.</p> + +<p>“By Jove, you’re right there, ma’am. There are men over yonder.”</p> + +<p>They could all see them now, a straggling line of riders far ahead of +them in the desert.</p> + +<p>“They are going in the same direction as we,” cried Mrs. Belmont, whose +eyes were very much better than the Colonel’s.</p> + +<p>Cochrane muttered an oath into his moustache.</p> + +<p>“Look at the tracks there,” said he; “of course, it’s our own vanguard +who left the palm grove before us. The chief keeps us at this infernal +pace in order to close up with them.”</p> + +<p>As they drew closer they could see plainly that it was indeed the other +body of Arabs, and presently the Emir Wad Ibrahim came trotting back to +take counsel with the Emir Abderrahman. They pointed in the direction +in which the vedettes had appeared, and shook their heads like men who +have many and grave misgivings. Then the raiders joined into one long, +straggling line, and the whole body moved steadily on towards the +Southern Cross, which was twinkling just over the skyline in front of +them. Hour after hour the dreadful trot continued, while the fainting +ladies clung on convulsively, and Cochrane, worn out but indomitable, +encouraged them to hold out, and peered backwards over the desert for +the first glad signs of their pursuers. The blood throbbed in his +temples, and he cried that he heard the roll of drums coming out of the +darkness. In his feverish delirium he saw clouds of pursuers at their +very heels, and during the long night he was for ever crying glad +tidings which ended in disappointment and heartache. The rise of the +sun showed the desert stretching away around them with nothing moving +upon its monstrous face except themselves. With dull eyes and heavy +hearts they stared round at that huge and empty expanse. Their hopes +thinned away like the light morning mist upon the horizon.</p> + +<p>It was shocking to the ladies to look at their companion, and to think +of the spruce, hale old soldier who had been their fellow-passenger from +Cairo. As in the case of Miss Adams, old age seemed to have pounced +upon him in one spring. His hair, which had grizzled hour by hour +during his privations, was now of a silvery white. White stubble, too, +had obscured the firm, clean line of his chin and throat. The veins of +his face were injected, and his features were shot with heavy wrinkles. +He rode with his back arched and his chin sunk upon his breast, for the +old, time-rotted body was worn out, but in his bright, alert eyes there +was always a trace of the gallant tenant who lived in the shattered +house. Delirious, spent, and dying, he preserved his chivalrous, +protecting air as he turned to the ladies, shot little scraps of advice +and encouragement at them, and peered back continually for the help +which never came.</p> + +<p>An hour after sunrise the raiders called a halt, and food and water +were served out to all. Then at a more moderate pace they pursued their +southern journey, their long, straggling line trailing out over a +quarter of a mile of desert. From their more careless bearing and the +way in which they chatted as they rode, it was clear that they thought +that they had shaken off their pursuers. Their direction now was east +as well as south, and it was evidently their intention after this long +detour to strike the Nile again at some point far above the Egyptian +outposts. Already the character of the scenery was changing, and they +were losing the long levels of the pebbly desert, and coming once more +upon those fantastic, sunburned, black rocks, and that rich orange sand +through which they had already passed. On every side of them rose the +scaly, conical hills with their loose, slag-like debris, and +jagged-edged khors, with sinuous streams of sand running like +water-courses down their centre. The camels followed each other, +twisting in and out among the boulders, and scrambling with their +adhesive, spongy feet over places which would have been impossible for +horses. Among the broken rocks those behind could sometimes only see +the long, undulating, darting necks of the creatures in front, as if it +were some nightmare procession of serpents. Indeed, it had much the +effect of a dream upon the prisoners, for there was no sound, save the +soft, dull padding and shuffling of the feet. The strange, wild frieze +moved slowly and silently onwards amid a setting of black stone and +yellow sand, with the one arch of vivid blue spanning the rugged edges +of the ravine.</p> + +<p>Miss Adams, who had been frozen into silence during the long cold night, +began to thaw now in the cheery warmth of the rising sun. She looked +about her, and rubbed her thin hands together.</p> + +<p>“Why, Sadie,” she remarked, “I thought I heard you in the night, dear, +and now I see that you have been crying.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve been thinking, auntie.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we must try and think of others, dearie, and not of ourselves.”</p> + +<p>“It’s not of myself, auntie.”</p> + +<p>“Never fret about me, Sadie.”</p> + +<p>“No, auntie, I was not thinking of you.”</p> + +<p>“Was it of any one in particular?”</p> + +<p>“Of Mr. Stephens, auntie. How gentle he was, and how brave! To think +of him fixing up every little thing for us, and trying to pull his +jacket over his poor roped-up hands, with those murderers waiting all +round him. He’s my saint and hero from now ever after.”</p> + +<p>“Well, he’s out of his troubles anyhow,” said Miss Adams, with that +bluntness which the years bring with them.</p> + +<p>“Then I wish I was also.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t see how that would help him.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I think he might feel less lonesome,” said Sadie, and drooped her +saucy little chin upon her breast.</p> + +<p>The four had been riding in silence for some little time, when the +Colonel clapped his hand to his brow with a gesture of dismay.</p> + +<p>“Good God!” he cried, “I am going off my head.”</p> + +<p>Again and again they had perceived it during the night, but he had +seemed quite rational since daybreak. They were shocked therefore at +this sudden outbreak, and tried to calm him with soothing words.</p> + +<p>“Mad as a hatter,” he shouted. “Whatever do you think I saw?”</p> + +<p>“Don’t trouble about it, whatever it was,” said Mrs. Belmont, laying +her hand soothingly upon his as the camels closed together. “It is no +wonder that you are overdone. You have thought and worked for all of us +so long. We shall halt presently, and a few hours’ sleep will quite +restore you.”</p> + +<p>But the Colonel looked up again, and again he cried out in his agitation +and surprise.</p> + +<p>“I never saw anything plainer in my life,” he groaned. “It is on the +point of rock on our right front—poor old Stuart with my red cummerbund +round his head just the same as we left him.”</p> + +<p>The ladies had followed the direction of the Colonel’s frightened gaze, +and in an instant they were all as amazed as he.</p> + +<p>There was a black, bulging ridge like a bastion upon the right side of +the terrible khor up which the camels were winding. At one point it +rose into a small pinnacle. On this pinnacle stood a solitary, +motionless figure, clad entirely in black, save for a brilliant dash of +scarlet upon his head. There could not surely be two such short sturdy +figures, or such large colourless faces, in the Libyan Desert. His +shoulders were stooping forward, and he seemed to be staring intently +down into the ravine. His pose and outline were like a caricature of +the great Napoleon.</p> + +<p>“Can it possibly be he?”</p> + +<p>“It must be. It is!” cried the ladies. “You see he is looking towards +us and waving his hand.”</p> + +<p>“Good Heavens! They’ll shoot him! Get down, you fool, or you’ll be +shot!” roared the Colonel. But his dry throat would only emit a +discordant croaking.</p> + +<p>Several of the Dervishes had seen the singular apparition upon the hill, +and had unslung their Remingtons, but a long arm suddenly shot up behind +the figure of the Birmingham clergyman, a brown hand seized upon his +skirts, and he disappeared with a snap. Higher up the pass, just below +the spot where Mr. Stuart had been standing, appeared the tall figure of +the Emir Abderrahman. He had sprung upon a boulder, and was shouting +and waving his arms, but the shouts were drowned in a long, rippling +roar of musketry from each side of the khor. The bastion-like cliff was +fringed with gun-barrels, with red tarbooshes drooping over the +triggers. From the other lip also came the long spurts of flame and the +angry clatter of the rifles. The raiders were caught in an ambuscade. +The Emir fell, but was up again and waving. There was a splotch of +blood upon his long white beard. He kept pointing and gesticulating, +but his scattered followers could not understand what he wanted. +Some of them came tearing down the pass, and some from behind were +pushing to the front. A few dismounted and tried to climb up sword in +hand to that deadly line of muzzles, but one by one they were hit, and +came rolling from rock to rock to the bottom of the ravine. +The shooting was not very good. One negro made his way unharmed up the +whole side, only to have his brains dashed out with the butt-end of a +Martini at the top. The Emir had fallen off his rock and lay in a +crumpled heap, like a brown and white patchwork quilt, at the bottom of +it. And then when half of them were down it became evident, even to +those exalted fanatical souls, that there was no chance for them, and +that they must get out of these fatal rocks and into the desert again. +They galloped down the pass, and it is a frightful thing to see a camel +galloping over broken ground. The beast’s own terror, his ungainly +bounds, the sprawl of his four legs all in the air together, his hideous +cries, and the yells of his rider who is bucked high from his saddle +with every spring, make a picture which is not to be forgotten. +The women screamed as this mad torrent of frenzied creatures came +pouring past them, but the Colonel edged his camel and theirs farther +and farther in among the rocks and away from the retreating Arabs. +The air was full of whistling bullets, and they could hear them smacking +loudly against the stones all round them.</p> + +<p>“Keep quiet, and they’ll pass us,” whispered the Colonel, who was all +himself again now that the hour for action had arrived. “I wish to +Heaven I could see Tippy Tilly or any of his friends. Now is the time +for them to help us.” He watched the mad stream of fugitives as they +flew past upon their shambling, squattering, loose-jointed beasts, but +the black face of the Egyptian gunner was not among them.</p> + +<p>And now it really did seem as if the whole body of them, in their haste +to get clear of the ravine, had not a thought to spend upon the +prisoners. The rush was past, and only stragglers were running the +gauntlet of the fierce fire which poured upon them from above. The last +of all, a young Baggara with a black moustache and pointed beard, looked +up as he passed and shook his sword in impotent passion at the Egyptian +riflemen. At the same instant a bullet struck his camel, and the +creature collapsed, all neck and legs, upon the ground. The young Arab +sprang off its back, and, seizing its nose-ring, he beat it savagely +with the flat of his sword to make it stand up. But the dim, glazing +eye told its own tale, and in desert warfare the death of the beast is +the death of the rider. The Baggara glared round like a lion at bay, +his dark eyes flashing murderously from under his red turban. A crimson +spot, and then another, sprang out upon his dark skin, but he never +winced at the bullet wounds. His fierce gaze had fallen upon the +prisoners, and with an exultant shout he was dashing towards them, his +broad-bladed sword gleaming above his head. Miss Adams was the nearest +to him, but at the sight of the rushing figure and the maniac face she +threw herself off the camel upon the far side. The Arab bounded on to a +rock and aimed a thrust at Mrs. Belmont, but before the point could +reach her the Colonel leaned forward with his pistol and blew the man’s +head in. Yet with a concentrated rage, which was superior even to the +agony of death, the fellow lay kicking and striking, bounding about +among the loose stones like a fish upon the shingle.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be frightened, ladies,” cried the Colonel. “He is quite dead, I +assure you. I am so sorry to have done this in your presence, but the +fellow was dangerous. I had a little score of my own to settle with +him, for he was the man who tried to break my ribs with his Remington. +I hope you are not hurt, Miss Adams! One instant, and I will come down +to you.”</p> + +<p>But the old Boston lady was by no means hurt, for the rocks had been so +high that she had a very short distance to fall from her saddle. +Sadie, Mrs. Belmont, and Colonel Cochrane had all descended by slipping +on to the boulders and climbing down from them. But they found Miss +Adams on her feet, and waving the remains of her green veil in triumph.</p> + +<p>“Hurrah, Sadie! Hurrah, my own darling Sadie!” she was shrieking. +“We are saved, my girl, we are saved after all.”</p> + +<p>“By George, so we are!” cried the Colonel, and they all shouted in an +ecstasy together.</p> + +<p>But Sadie had learned to think more about others during those terrible +days of schooling. Her arms were round Mrs. Belmont, and her cheek +against hers.</p> + +<p>“You dear, sweet angel,” she cried, “how can we have the heart to be +glad when you—when you—”</p> + +<p>“But I don’t believe it is so,” cried the brave Irishwoman. “No, I’ll +never believe it until I see John’s body lying before me. And when I +see that, I don’t want to live to see anything more.”</p> + +<p>The last Dervish had clattered down the khor, and now above them on +either cliff they could see the Egyptians—tall, thin, square shouldered +figures, looking, when outlined against the blue sky, wonderfully like +the warriors in the ancient bas-reliefs. Their camels were in the +background, and they were hurrying to join them. At the same time +others began to ride down from the farther end of the ravine, their dark +faces flushed and their eyes shining with the excitement of victory and +pursuit. A very small Englishman, with a straw-coloured moustache and a +weary manner, was riding at the head of them. He halted his camel +beside the fugitives and saluted the ladies. He wore brown boots and +brown belts with steel buckles, which looked trim and workmanlike +against his khaki uniform.</p> + +<p>“Had ’em that time—had ’em proper!” said he. “Very glad to have been +of any assistance, I’m sure. Hope you’re none the worse for it all. +What I mean, it’s rather rough work for ladies.”</p> + +<p>“You’re from Halfa, I suppose?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“No, we’re from the other show. We’re the Sarras crowd, you know. +We met in the desert, and we headed ’em off, and the other Johnnies +herded ’em behind. We’ve got ’em on toast, I tell you. Get up on that +rock and you’ll see things happen. It’s going to be a knockout in one +round this time.”</p> + +<p>“We left some of our people at the Wells. We are very uneasy about +them,” said the Colonel. “I suppose you haven’t heard anything of +them?”</p> + +<p>The young officer looked serious and shook his head. “Bad job that!” +said he. “They’re a poisonous crowd when you put ’em in a corner. +What I mean, we never expected to see you alive, and we’re very glad to +pull any of you out of the fire. The most we hoped was that we might +revenge you.”</p> + +<p>“Any other Englishman with you?”</p> + +<p>“Archer is with the flanking party. He’ll have to come past, for I +don’t think there is any other way down. We’ve got one of your chaps up +there—a funny old bird with a red top-knot. See you later, I hope! +Good day, ladies!” He touched his helmet, tapped his camel, and trotted +on after his men.</p> + +<p>“We can’t do better than stay where we are until they are all past,” +said the Colonel, for it was evident now that the men from above would +have to come round. In a broken single file they went past, black men +and brown, Soudanese and fellaheen, but all of the best, for the Camel +Corps is the <i>corps d’elite</i> of the Egyptian army. Each had a brown +bandolier over his chest and his rifle held across his thigh. A large +man with a drooping black moustache and a pair of binoculars in his hand +was riding at the side of them. “Hulloa, Archer!” croaked the Colonel. +The officer looked at him with the vacant, unresponsive eye of a +complete stranger.</p> + +<p>“I’m Cochrane, you know! We travelled up together.”</p> + +<p>“Excuse me, sir, but you have the advantage of me,” said the officer. +“I knew a Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, but you are not the man. He was +three inches taller than you, with black hair and—”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” cried the Colonel testily. “You try a few days with +the Dervishes, and see if your friends will recognise you!”</p> + +<p>“Good God, Cochrane, is it really you? I could not have believed it. +Great Scott, what you must have been through! I’ve heard before of +fellows going grey in a night, but, by Jove—”</p> + +<p>“Quite so,” said the Colonel, flushing.</p> + +<p>“Allow me to hint to you, Archer, that if you could get some food and +drink for these ladies, instead of discussing my personal appearance, it +would be much more practical.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” said Captain Archer. “Your friend Stuart knows that +you are here, and he is bringing some stuff round for you. Poor fare, +ladies, but the best we have! You’re an old soldier, Cochrane. Get up +on the rocks presently, and you’ll see a lovely sight. No time to stop, +for we shall be in action again in five minutes. Anything I can do +before I go?”</p> + +<p>“You haven’t got such a thing as a cigar?” asked the Colonel wistfully.</p> + +<p>Archer drew a thick satisfying partaga from his case, and handed it +down, with half-a-dozen wax vestas. Then he cantered after his men, and +the old soldier leaned back against the rock and drew in the fragrant +smoke. It was then that his jangled nerves knew the full virtue of +tobacco, the gentle anodyne which stays the failing strength and soothes +the worrying brain. He watched the dim blue reek swirling up from him, +and he felt the pleasant aromatic bite upon his palate, while a restful +languor crept over his weary and harassed body. The three ladies sat +together upon a flat rock.</p> + +<p>“Good land, what a sight you are, Sadie!” cried Miss Adams suddenly, and +it was the first reappearance of her old self. “What <i>would</i> your +mother say if she saw you? Why, sakes alive, your hair is full of straw +and your frock clean crazy!”</p> + +<p>“I guess we all want some setting to rights,” said Sadie, in a voice +which was much more subdued than that of the Sadie of old. +“Mrs. Belmont, you look just too perfectly sweet anyhow, but if you’ll +allow me I’ll fix your dress for you.”</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Belmont’s eyes were far away, and she shook her head sadly as +she gently put the girl’s hands aside.</p> + +<p>“I do not care how I look. I cannot think of it,” said she; “could +<i>you</i>, if you had left the man you love behind you, as I have mine?”</p> + +<p>“I’m begin—beginning to think I have,” sobbed poor Sadie, and buried +her hot face in Mrs. Belmont’s motherly bosom.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE Camel Corps had all passed onwards down the khor in pursuit of the +retreating Dervishes, and for a few minutes the escaped prisoners had +been left alone. But now there came a cheery voice calling upon them, +and a red turban bobbed about among the rocks, with the large white face +of the Nonconformist minister smiling from beneath it. He had a thick +lance with which to support his injured leg, and this murderous crutch +combined with his peaceful appearance to give him a most incongruous +aspect—as of a sheep which has suddenly developed claws. Behind him +were two negroes with a basket and a water-skin.</p> + +<p>“Not a word! Not a word!” he cried, as he stumped up to them. “I know +exactly how you feel. I’ve been there myself. Bring the water, Ali! +Only half a cup, Miss Adams; you shall have some more presently. +Now your turn, Mrs. Belmont! Dear me, dear me, you poor souls, how my +heart does bleed for you! There’s bread and meat in the basket, but you +must be very moderate at first.” He chuckled with joy, and slapped his +fat hands together as he watched them.</p> + +<p>“But the others?” he asked, his face turning grave again.</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his head. “We left them behind at the wells. I fear +that it is all over with them.”</p> + +<p>“Tut, tut!” cried the clergyman, in a boisterous voice, which could not +cover the despondency of his expression; “you thought, no doubt, that it +was all over with me, but here I am in spite of it. Never lose heart, +Mrs. Belmont. Your husband’s position could not possibly be as hopeless +as mine was.”</p> + +<p>“When I saw you standing on that rock up yonder, I put it down to +delirium,” said the Colonel. “If the ladies had not seen you, I should +never have ventured to believe it.”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid that I behaved very badly. Captain Archer says that I +nearly spoiled all their plans, and that I deserved to be tried by a +drumhead court-martial and shot. The fact is that, when I heard the +Arabs beneath me, I forgot myself in my anxiety to know if any of you +were left.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder that you were not shot without any drumhead court-martial,” +said the Colonel. “But how in the world did you get here?”</p> + +<p>“The Halfa people were close upon our track at the time when I was +abandoned, and they picked me up in the desert. I must have been +delirious, I suppose, for they tell me that they heard my voice, singing +hymns, a long way off, and it was that, under the providence of God, +which brought them to me. They had a camel ambulance, and I was quite +myself again by next day. I came with the Sarras people after we met +them, because they have the doctor with them. My wound is nothing, and +he says that a man of my habit will be the better for the loss of blood. +And now, my friends”—his big, brown eyes lost their twinkle, and became +very solemn and reverent—“we have all been upon the very confines of +death, and our dear companions may be so at this instant. The same +Power which saved us may save them, and let us pray together that it may +be so, always remembering that if, in spite of our prayers, it should +<i>not</i> be so, then that also must be accepted as the best and wisest +thing.”</p> + +<p>So they knelt together among the black rocks, and prayed as some of them +had never prayed before. It was very well to discuss prayer and treat +it lightly and philosophically upon the deck of the <i>Korosko</i>. It was +easy to feel strong and self-confident in the comfortable deck-chair, +with the slippered Arab handing round the coffee and liqueurs. But they +had been swept out of that placid stream of existence, and dashed +against the horrible, jagged facts of life. Battered and shaken, they +must have something to cling to. A blind, inexorable destiny was too +horrible a belief. A chastening power, acting intelligently and for a +purpose—a living, working power, tearing them out of their grooves, +breaking down their small sectarian ways, forcing them into the better +path—that was what they had learned to realise during these days of +horror. Great hands had closed suddenly upon them, and had moulded them +into new shapes, and fitted them for new uses. Could such a power be +deflected by any human supplication? It was that or nothing—the last +court of appeal, left open to injured humanity. And so they all prayed, +as a lover loves, or a poet writes, from the very inside of their souls, +and they rose with that singular, illogical feeling of inward peace and +satisfaction which prayer only can give.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” said Cochrane. “Listen!”</p> + +<p>The sound of a volley came crackling up the narrow khor, and then +another and another. The Colonel was fidgeting about like an old horse +which hears the bugle of the hunt and the yapping of the pack.</p> + +<p>“Where can we see what is going on?”</p> + +<p>“Come this way! This way, if you please! There is a path up to the +top. If the ladies will come after me, they will be spared the sight of +anything painful.”</p> + +<p>The clergyman led them along the side to avoid the bodies which were +littered thickly down the bottom of the khor. It was hard walking over +the shingly, slaggy stones, but they made their way to the summit at +last. Beneath them lay the vast expanse of the rolling desert, and in +the foreground such a scene as none of them are ever likely to forget. +In that perfectly dry and clear light, with the unvarying brown tint of +the hard desert as a background, every detail stood out as clearly as if +these were toy figures arranged upon a table within hand’s-touch of +them.</p> + +<p>The Dervishes—or what was left of them—were riding slowly some little +distance out in a confused crowd, their patchwork jibbehs and red +turbans swaying with the motion of their camels. They did not present +the appearance of men who were defeated, for their movements were very +deliberate, but they looked about them and changed their formation as if +they were uncertain what their tactics ought to be. It was no wonder +that they were puzzled, for upon their spent camels their situation was +as hopeless as could be conceived. The Sarras men had all emerged from +the khor, and had dismounted, the beasts being held in groups of four, +while the rifle-men knelt in a long line with a woolly, curling fringe +of smoke, sending volley after volley at the Arabs, who shot back in a +desultory fashion from the backs of their camels. But it was not upon +the sullen group of Dervishes, nor yet upon the long line of kneeling +rifle-men, that the eyes of the spectators were fixed. Far out upon the +desert, three squadrons of the Halfa Camel Corps were coming up in a +dense close column, which wheeled beautifully into a widespread +semicircle as it approached. The Arabs were caught between two fires.</p> + +<p>“By Jove!” cried the Colonel. “See that!”</p> + +<p>The camels of the Dervishes had all knelt down simultaneously, and the +men had sprung from their backs. In front of them was a tall, stately +figure, who could only be the Emir Wad Ibrahim. They saw him kneel for +an instant in prayer. Then he rose, and taking something from his +saddle he placed it very deliberately upon the sand and stood upon it.</p> + +<p>“Good man!” cried the Colonel. “He is standing upon his sheepskin.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean by that?” asked Stuart.</p> + +<p>“Every Arab has a sheepskin upon his saddle. When he recognises that +his position is perfectly hopeless, and yet is determined to fight to +the death, he takes his sheepskin off and stands upon it until he dies. +See, they are all upon their sheepskins. They will neither give nor +take quarter now.”</p> + +<p>The drama beneath them was rapidly approaching its climax. The Halfa +Corps was well up, and a ring of smoke and flame surrounded the clump of +kneeling Dervishes, who answered it as best they could. Many of them +were already down, but the rest loaded and fired with the unflinching +courage which has always made them worthy antagonists. A dozen +khaki-dressed figures upon the sand showed that it was no bloodless +victory for the Egyptians. But now there was a stirring bugle call from +the Sarras men, and another answered it from the Halfa Corps. +Their camels were down also, and the men had formed up into a single, +long, curved line. One last volley, and they were charging inwards with +the wild inspiriting yell which the blacks had brought with them from +their central African wilds. For a minute there was a mad vortex of +rushing figures, rifle butts rising and falling, spear-heads gleaming +and darting among the rolling dust cloud. Then the bugle rang out once +more, the Egyptians fell back and formed up with the quick precision of +highly disciplined troops, and there in the centre, each upon his +sheepskin, lay the gallant barbarian and his raiders. The nineteenth +century had been revenged upon the seventh.</p> + +<p>The three women had stared horror-stricken and yet fascinated at the +stirring scene before them. Now Sadie and her aunt were sobbing +together. The Colonel had turned to them with some cheering words when +his eyes fell upon the face of Mrs. Belmont. It was as white and set as +if it were carved from ivory, and her large grey eyes were fixed as if +she were in a trance.</p> + +<p>“Good Heavens, Mrs. Belmont, what <i>is</i> the matter?” he cried.</p> + +<p>For answer she pointed out over the desert. Far away, miles on the +other side of the scene of the fight, a small body of men were riding +towards them.</p> + +<p>“By Jove, yes; there’s some one there. Who can it be?”</p> + +<p>They were all straining their eyes, but the distance was so great that +they could only be sure that they were camel-men and about a dozen in +number.</p> + +<p>“It’s those devils who were left behind in the palm grove,” said +Cochrane. “There’s no one else it can be. One consolation, they can’t +get away again. They’ve walked right into the lion’s mouth.”</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Belmont was still gazing with the same fixed intensity, and the +same ivory face. Now, with a wild shriek of joy, she threw her two +hands into the air. “It’s they!” she screamed. “They are saved! +It’s they, Colonel, it’s they! Oh, Miss Adams, Miss Adams, it is they!” +She capered about on the top of the hill with wild eyes like an excited +child.</p> + +<p>Her companions would not believe her, for they could see nothing, but +there are moments when our mortal senses are more acute than those who +have never put their whole heart and soul into them can ever realise. +Mrs. Belmont had already run down the rocky path, on the way to her +camel, before they could distinguish that which had long before carried +its glad message to her. In the van of the approaching party, three +white dots shimmered in the sun, and they could only come from the three +European hats. The riders were travelling swiftly, and by the time +their comrades had started to meet them they could plainly see that it +was indeed Belmont, Fardet, and Stephens, with the dragoman Mansoor, and +the wounded Soudanese rifleman. As they came together they saw that +their escort consisted of Tippy Tilly and the other old Egyptian +soldiers. Belmont rushed onwards to meet his wife, but Fardet stopped +to grasp the Colonel’s hand.</p> + +<p>“<i>Vive la France! Vivent les Anglais!</i>” he was yelling. “<i>Tout va +bien, n’est ce pas</i>, Colonel? Ah, <i>canaille! Vivent la croix et +les Chretiens!</i>” He was incoherent in his delight.</p> + +<p>The Colonel, too, was as enthusiastic as his Anglo-Saxon standard would +permit. He could not gesticulate, but he laughed in the nervous +crackling way which was his top-note of emotion.</p> + +<p>“My dear boy, I am deuced glad to see you all again. I gave you up for +lost. Never was as pleased at anything in my life! How did you get +away?”</p> + +<p>“It was all your doing.”</p> + +<p>“Mine?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, my friend, and I have been quarrelling with you—ungrateful wretch +that I am!”</p> + +<p>“But how did I save you?”</p> + +<p>“It was you who arranged with this excellent Tippy Tilly and the others +that they should have so much if they brought us alive into Egypt again. +They slipped away in the darkness and hid themselves in the grove. +Then, when we were left, they crept up with their rifles and shot the +men who were about to murder us. That cursed Moolah, I am sorry they +shot him, for I believe that I could have persuaded him to be a +Christian. And now, with your permission, I will hurry on and embrace +Miss Adams, for Belmont has his wife, and Stephens has Miss Sadie, so I +think it is very evident that the sympathy of Miss Adams is reserved for +me.”</p> + +<p>A fortnight had passed away, and the special boat which had been placed +at the disposal of the rescued tourists was already far north of +Assiout. Next morning they would find themselves at Baliani, where one +takes the express for Cairo. It was, therefore, their last evening +together. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child, who had escaped unhurt, had +already been sent down from the frontier. Miss Adams had been very ill +after her privations, and this was the first time that she had been +allowed to come upon deck after dinner. She sat now in a lounge chair, +thinner, sterner, and kindlier than ever, while Sadie stood beside her +and tucked the rugs around her shoulders. Mr. Stephens was carrying +over the coffee and placing it on the wicker table beside them. On the +other side of the deck Belmont and his wife were seated together in +silent sympathy and contentment.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet was leaning against the rail, and arguing about the +remissness of the British Government in not taking a more complete +control of the Egyptian frontier, while the Colonel stood very erect in +front of him, with the red end of a cigar-stump protruding from under +his moustache.</p> + +<p>But what was the matter with the Colonel? Who would have recognised him +who had only seen the broken old man in the Libyan Desert? There might +be some little grizzling about the moustache, but the hair was back once +more at the fine glossy black which had been so much admired upon the +voyage up. With a stony face and an unsympathetic manner he had +received, upon his return to Halfa, all the commiserations about the +dreadful way in which his privations had blanched him, and then diving +into his cabin, he had reappeared within an hour exactly as he had been +before that fatal moment when he had been cut off from the manifold +resources of civilisation. And he looked in such a sternly questioning +manner at every one who stared at him, that no one had the moral +courage to make any remark about this modern miracle. It was observed +from that time forward that, if the Colonel had only to ride a hundred +yards into the desert, he always began his preparations by putting a +small black bottle with a pink label into the side-pocket of his coat. +But those who knew him best at times when a man may best be known, said +that the old soldier had a young man’s heart and a young man’s spirit— +so that if he wished to keep a young man’s colour also it was not very +unreasonable after all.</p> + +<p>It was very soothing and restful up there on the saloon deck, with no +sound but the gentle lipping of the water as it rippled against the +sides of the steamer. The red after-glow was in the western sky, and it +mottled the broad, smooth river with crimson. Dimly they could discern +the tall figures of herons standing upon the sand-banks, and farther off +the line of riverside date-palms glided past them in a majestic +procession. Once more the silver stars were twinkling out, the same +clear, placid, inexorable stars to which their weary eyes had been so +often upturned during the long nights of their desert martyrdom.</p> + +<p>“Where do you put up in Cairo, Miss Adams?” asked Mrs. Belmont at last.</p> + +<p>“Shepheard’s, I think.”</p> + +<p>“And you, Mr. Stephens?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Shepheard’s, decidedly.”</p> + +<p>“We are staying at the Continental. I hope we shall not lose sight of +you.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t want ever to lose sight of you, Mrs. Belmont,” cried Sadie. +“Oh, you must come to the States, and we’ll give you just a lovely +time.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Belmont laughed, in her pleasant, mellow fashion.</p> + +<p>“We have our duty to do in Ireland, and we have been too long away from +it already. My husband has his business, and I have my home, and they +are both going to rack and ruin. Besides,” she added slyly, “it is just +possible that if we did come to the States we might not find you there.”</p> + +<p>“We must all meet again,” said Belmont, “if only to talk our adventures +over once more. It will be easier in a year or two. We are still too +near them.”</p> + +<p>“And yet how far away and dream-like it all seems!” remarked his wife. +“Providence is very good in softening disagreeable remembrances in our +minds. All this feels to me as if it had happened in some previous +existence.”</p> + +<p>Fardet held up his wrist with a cotton bandage still round it.</p> + +<p>“The body does not forget as quickly as the mind. This does not look +very dream-like or far away, Mrs. Belmont.”</p> + +<p>“How hard it is that some should be spared, and some not! If only Mr. +Brown and Mr. Headingly were with us, then I should not have one care in +the world,” cried Sadie. “Why should they have been taken, and we +left?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart had limped on to the deck with an open book in his hand, a +thick stick supporting his injured leg.</p> + +<p>“Why is the ripe fruit picked, and the unripe left?” said he in answer +to the young girl’s exclamation. “We know nothing of the spiritual +state of these poor dear young fellows, but the great Master Gardener +plucks His fruit according to His own knowledge. I brought you up a +passage to read to you.”</p> + +<p>There was a lantern upon the table, and he sat down beside it. +The yellow light shone upon his heavy cheek and the red edges of his +book. The strong, steady voice rose above the wash of the water.</p> + +<p>“<span class="lftspc">‘</span>Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed and delivered from +the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands, from the +east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They went +astray in the wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in. +Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. So they cried unto the +Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. +He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where +they dwelt. Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for His +goodness, and declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of +men.’</p> + +<p>“It sounds as if it were composed for us, and yet it was written two +thousand years ago,” said the clergyman, as he closed the book. +“In every age man has been forced to acknowledge the guiding hand which +leads him. For my part I don’t believe that inspiration stopped two +thousand years ago. When Tennyson wrote with such fervour and +conviction”:—</p> + +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Oh, yet we trust that somehow good<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will be the final goal of ill,’<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>“He was repeating the message which had been given to him, just as Micah +or Ezekiel, when the world was younger, repeated some cruder and more +elementary message.”</p> + +<p>“That is all very well, Mr. Stuart,” said the Frenchman; “you ask me to +praise God for taking me out of danger and pain, but what I want to know +is why, since He has arranged all things, He ever put me into that pain +and danger. I have, in my opinion, more occasion to blame than to +praise. You would not thank me for pulling you out of that river if it +was also I who pushed you in. The most which you can claim for your +Providence is that it has healed the wound which its own hand +inflicted.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t deny the difficulty,” said the clergyman slowly; “no one who is +not self-deceived <i>can</i> deny the difficulty. Look how boldly Tennyson +faced it in that same poem, the grandest and deepest and most obviously +inspired in our language. Remember the effect which it had upon him.”</p> + +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘I falter where I firmly trod,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And falling with my weight of cares<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Upon the great world’s altar stairs<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Which slope through darkness up to God;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">I stretch lame hands of faith and grope<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And gather dust and chaff, and call<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To what I feel is Lord of all,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And faintly trust the larger hope.’<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>“It is the central mystery of mysteries—the problem of sin and +suffering, the one huge difficulty which the reasoner has to solve in +order to vindicate the dealings of God with man. But take our own case +as an example. I, for one, am very clear what I have got out of our +experience. I say it with all humility, but I have a clearer view of my +duties than ever I had before. It has taught me to be less remiss in +saying what I think to be true, less indolent in doing what I feel to be +right.”</p> + +<p>“And I,” cried Sadie. “It has taught me more than all my life put +together. I have learned so much and unlearned so much. I am a +different girl.”</p> + +<p>“I never understood my own nature before,” said Stephens. “I can hardly +say that I had a nature to understand. I lived for what was +unimportant, and I neglected what was vital.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, a good shake-up does nobody any harm,” the Colonel remarked. +“Too much of the feather-bed-and-four-meals-a-day life is not good for +man or woman.”</p> + +<p>“It is my firm belief,” said Mrs. Belmont gravely, “that there was not +one of us who did not rise to a greater height during those days in the +desert than ever before or since. When our sins come to be weighed, +much may be forgiven us for the sake of those unselfish days.”</p> + +<p>They all sat in thoughtful silence for a little, while the scarlet +streaks turned to carmine, and the grey shadows deepened, and the +wild-fowl flew past in dark straggling V’s over the dull metallic +surface of the great smooth-flowing Nile. A cold wind had sprung up +from the eastward, and some of the party rose to leave the deck. +Stephens leaned forward to Sadie.</p> + +<p>“Do you remember what you promised when you were in the desert?” he +whispered.</p> + +<p>“What was that?”</p> + +<p>“You said that if you escaped you would try in future to make some one +else happy.”</p> + +<p>“Then I must do so.”</p> + +<p>“You have,” said he, and their hands met under the shadow of the table.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12555 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/12555-h/images/cover.jpg b/12555-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c7d80b --- /dev/null +++ b/12555-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..63dca8e --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12555 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12555) diff --git a/old/12555-0.txt b/old/12555-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ff1b5ff --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12555-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5415 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tragedy of The Korosko, by Arthur +Conan Doyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Tragedy of The Korosko + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Release Date: June 8, 2004 [eBook #12555] +Last updated: March 27, 2022 + +Language: English + +Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF THE +KOROSKO *** + + + + + +THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO + +SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +The public may possibly wonder why it is that they have never heard in +the papers of the fate of the passengers of the _Korosko_. In these +days of universal press agencies, responsive to the slightest stimulus, +it may well seem incredible that an international incident of such +importance should remain so long unchronicled. Suffice it that there +were very valid reasons, both of a personal and of a political nature, +for holding it back. The facts were well known to a good number of +people at the time, and some version of them did actually appear in a +provincial paper, but was generally discredited. They have now been +thrown into narrative form, the incidents having been collated from the +sworn statements of Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, of the Army and Navy +Club, and from the letters of Miss Adams, of Boston, Mass. + +These have been supplemented by the evidence of Captain Archer, of the +Egyptian Camel Corps, as given before the secret Government inquiry at +Cairo. Mr. James Stephens has refused to put his version of the matter +into writing, but as these proofs have been submitted to him, and no +correction or deletion has been made in them, it may be supposed that he +has not succeeded in detecting any grave misstatement of fact, and that +any objection which he may have to their publication depends rather upon +private and personal scruples. + +The _Korosko_, a turtle-bottomed, round-bowed stern-wheeler, with a +30-inch draught and the lines of a flat-iron, started upon the 13th of +February in the year 1895, from Shellal, at the head of the first +cataract, bound for Wady Halfa. I have a passenger card for the trip, +which I here reproduce: + + S.W. “KOROSKO,” FEBRUARY 13TH. + PASSENGERS. + + Colonel Cochrane Cochrane London. + Mr. Cecil Brown London. + John H. Headingly Boston, U.S.A. + Miss Adams Boston, U.S.A. + Miss S. Adams Worcester, Mass., U.S.A. + Mons. Fardet Paris. + Mr. and Mrs. Belmont Dublin. + James Stephens Manchester. + Rev. John Stuart Birmingham. + Mrs. Shlesinger, nurse and child Florence. + +This was the party as it started from Shellal, with the intention of +travelling up the two hundred miles of Nubian Nile which lie between the +first and the second cataract. + +It is a singular country, this Nubia. Varying in breadth from a few +miles to as many yards (for the name is only applied to the narrow +portion which is capable of cultivation), it extends in a thin, green, +palm-fringed strip upon either side of the broad coffee-coloured river. +Beyond it there stretches on the Libyan bank a savage and illimitable +desert, extending to the whole breadth of Africa. On the other side an +equally desolate wilderness is bounded only by the distant Red Sea. +Between these two huge and barren expanses Nubia writhes like a green +sandworm along the course of the river. Here and there it disappears +altogether, and the Nile runs between black and sun-cracked hills, with +the orange drift-sand lying like glaciers in their valleys. Everywhere +one sees traces of vanished races and submerged civilisations. +Grotesque graves dot the hills or stand up against the sky-line: +pyramidal graves, tumulus graves, rock graves--everywhere, graves. +And, occasionally, as the boat rounds a rocky point, one sees a deserted +city up above--houses, walls, battlements, with the sun shining through +the empty window squares. Sometimes you learn that it has been Roman, +sometimes Egyptian, sometimes all record of its name or origin has been +absolutely lost. You ask yourself in amazement why any race should +build in so uncouth a solitude, and you find it difficult to accept the +theory that this has only been of value as a guard-house to the richer +country down below, and that these frequent cities have been so many +fortresses to hold off the wild and predatory men of the south. +But whatever be their explanation, be it a fierce neighbour, or be it a +climatic change, there they stand, these grim and silent cities, and up +on the hills you can see the graves of their people, like the port-holes +of a man-of-war. It is through this weird, dead country that the +tourists smoke and gossip and flirt as they pass up to the Egyptian +frontier. + +The passengers of the _Korosko_ formed a merry party, for most of them +had travelled up together from Cairo to Assouan, and even Anglo-Saxon +ice thaws rapidly upon the Nile. They were fortunate in being without +the single disagreeable person who, in these small boats, is sufficient +to mar the enjoyment of the whole party. On a vessel which is little +more than a large steam launch, the bore, the cynic, or the grumbler +holds the company at his mercy. But the _Korosko_ was free from +anything of the kind. Colonel Cochrane Cochrane was one of those +officers whom the British Government, acting upon a large system of +averages, declares at a certain age to be incapable of further service, +and who demonstrate the worth of such a system by spending their +declining years in exploring Morocco, or shooting lions in Somaliland. +He was a dark, straight, aquiline man, with a courteously deferential +manner, but a steady, questioning eye; very neat in his dress and +precise in his habits, a gentleman to the tips of his trim finger-nails. +In his Anglo-Saxon dislike to effusiveness he had cultivated a +self-contained manner which was apt at first acquaintance to be +repellent, and he seemed to those who really knew him to be at some +pains to conceal the kind heart and human emotions which influenced his +actions. It was respect rather than affection which he inspired among +his fellow-travellers, for they felt, like all who had ever met him, +that he was a man with whom acquaintance was unlikely to ripen into a +friendship, though a friendship, when once attained, would be an +unchanging and inseparable part of himself. He wore a grizzled military +moustache, but his hair was singularly black for a man of his years. +He made no allusion in his conversation to the numerous campaigns in +which he had distinguished himself, and the reason usually given for his +reticence was that they dated back to such early Victorian days that he +had to sacrifice his military glory at the shrine of his perennial +youth. + +Mr. Cecil Brown--to take the names in the chance order in which they +appear upon the passenger list--was a young diplomatist from a +Continental Embassy, a man slightly tainted with the Oxford manner, and +erring upon the side of unnatural and inhuman refinement, but full of +interesting talk and cultured thought. He had a sad, handsome face, a +small wax-tipped moustache, a low voice and a listless manner, which was +relieved by a charming habit of suddenly lighting up into a rapid smile +and gleam when anything caught his fancy. An acquired cynicism was +eternally crushing and overlying his natural youthful enthusiasms, and +he ignored what was obvious while expressing keen appreciation for what +seemed to the average man to be either trivial or unhealthy. He chose +Walter Pater for his travelling author, and sat all day, reserved but +affable, under the awning, with his novel and his sketch-book upon a +camp-stool beside him. His personal dignity prevented him from making +advances to others, but if they chose to address him they found a +courteous and amiable companion. + +The Americans formed a group by themselves. John H. Headingly was a +New Englander, a graduate of Harvard, who was completing his education +by a tour round the world. He stood for the best type of young +American--quick, observant, serious, eager for knowledge and fairly +free from prejudice, with a fine balance of unsectarian but earnest +religious feeling which held him steady amid all the sudden gusts of +youth. He had less of the appearance and more of the reality of culture +than the young Oxford diplomatist, for he had keener emotions though +less exact knowledge. Miss Adams and Miss Sadie Adams were aunt and +niece, the former a little, energetic, hard-featured Bostonian old-maid, +with a huge surplus of unused love behind her stern and swarthy +features. She had never been from home before, and she was now busy +upon the self-imposed task of bringing the East up to the standard of +Massachusetts. She had hardly landed in Egypt before she realised that +the country needed putting to rights, and since the conviction struck +her she had been very fully occupied. The saddle-galled donkeys, the +starved pariah dogs, the flies round the eyes of the babies, the naked +children, the importunate beggars, the ragged, untidy women--they were +all challenges to her conscience, and she plunged in bravely at her work +of reformation. As she could not speak a word of the language, however, +and was unable to make any of the delinquents understand what it was +that she wanted, her passage up the Nile left the immemorial East very +much as she had found it, but afforded a good deal of sympathetic +amusement to her fellow-travellers. No one enjoyed her efforts more +than her niece, Sadie, who shared with Mrs. Belmont the distinction of +being the most popular person upon the boat. She was very young--fresh +from Smith College--and she still possessed many both of the virtues and +of the faults of a child. She had the frankness, the trusting +confidence, the innocent straightforwardness, the high spirits, and also +the loquacity and the want of reverence. But even her faults caused +amusement, and if she had preserved many of the characteristics of a +clever child, she was none the less a tall and handsome woman, who +looked older than her years on account of that low curve of the hair +over the ears, and that fullness of bodice and skirt which Mr. Gibson +has either initiated or imitated. The whisk of those skirts, and the +frank, incisive voice and pleasant, catching laugh were familiar and +welcome sounds on board of the _Korosko_. Even the rigid Colonel +softened into geniality, and the Oxford-bred diplomatist forgot to be +unnatural with Miss Sadie Adams as a companion. + +The other passengers may be dismissed more briefly. Some were +interesting, some neutral, and all amiable. Monsieur Fardet was a +good-natured but argumentative Frenchman, who held the most decided +views as to the deep machinations of Great Britain, and the illegality +of her position in Egypt. Mr. Belmont was an iron-grey, sturdy +Irishman, famous as an astonishingly good long-range rifle-shot, who had +carried off nearly every prize which Wimbledon or Bisley had to offer. +With him was his wife, a very charming and refined woman, full of the +pleasant playfulness of her country. Mrs. Shlesinger was a middle-aged +widow, quiet and soothing, with her thoughts all taken up by her +six-year-old child, as a mother’s thoughts are likely to be in a boat +which has an open rail for a bulwark. The Reverend John Stuart was a +Nonconformist minister from Birmingham--either a Presbyterian or a +Congregationalist--a man of immense stoutness, slow and torpid in his +ways, but blessed with a considerable fund of homely humour, which made +him, I am told, a very favourite preacher, and an effective speaker from +advanced Radical platforms. + +Finally, there was Mr. James Stephens, a Manchester solicitor (junior +partner of Hickson, Ward, and Stephens), who was travelling to shake off +the effects of an attack of influenza. Stephens was a man who, in the +course of thirty years, had worked himself up from cleaning the firm’s +windows to managing its business. For most of that long time he had +been absolutely immersed in dry, technical work, living with the one +idea of satisfying old clients and attracting new ones, until his mind +and soul had become as formal and precise as the laws which he +expounded. A fine and sensitive nature was in danger of being as warped +as a busy city man’s is liable to become. His work had become an +engrained habit, and, being a bachelor, he had hardly an interest in +life to draw him away from it, so that his soul was being gradually +bricked up like the body of a mediaeval nun. But at last there came +this kindly illness, and Nature hustled James Stephens out of his +groove, and sent him into the broad world far away from roaring +Manchester and his shelves full of calf-skin authorities. At first he +resented it deeply. Everything seemed trivial to him compared to his +own petty routine. But gradually his eyes were opened, and he began +dimly to see that it was his work which was trivial when compared to +this wonderful, varied, inexplicable world of which he was so ignorant. +Vaguely he realised that the interruption to his career might be more +important than the career itself. All sorts of new interests took +possession of him; and the middle-aged lawyer developed an after-glow of +that youth which had been wasted among his books. His character was +too formed to admit of his being anything but dry and precise in his +ways, and a trifle pedantic in his mode of speech; but he read and +thought and observed, scoring his “Baedeker” with underlinings and +annotations as he had once done his “Prideaux’s Commentaries.” He had +travelled up from Cairo with the party, and had contracted a friendship +with Miss Adams and her niece. The young American girl, with her +chatter, her audacity, and her constant flow of high spirits, amused and +interested him, and she in turn felt a mixture of respect and of pity +for his knowledge and his limitations. So they became good friends, and +people smiled to see his clouded face and her sunny one bending over the +same guide-book. + +The little _Korosko_ puffed and spluttered her way up the river, kicking +up the white water behind her, and making more noise and fuss over her +five knots an hour than an Atlantic liner on a record voyage. On deck, +under the thick awning, sat her little family of passengers, and every +few hours she eased down and sidled up to the bank to allow them to +visit one more of that innumerable succession of temples. The remains, +however, grow more modern as one ascends from Cairo, and travellers who +have sated themselves at Gizeh and Sakara with the contemplation of the +very oldest buildings which the hands of man have constructed, become +impatient of temples which are hardly older than the Christian era. +Ruins which would be gazed upon with wonder and veneration in any other +country are hardly noticed in Egypt. The tourists viewed with languid +interest the half-Greek art of the Nubian bas-reliefs; they climbed the +hill of Korosko to see the sun rise over the savage Eastern desert; they +were moved to wonder by the great shrine of Abou-Simbel, where some old +race has hollowed out a mountain as if it were a cheese; and, finally, +upon the evening of the fourth day of their travels they arrived at Wady +Halfa, the frontier garrison town, some few hours after they were due, +on account of a small mishap in the engine-room. The next morning was +to be devoted to an expedition to the famous rock of Abousir, from which +a great view may be obtained of the second cataract. At eight-thirty, +as the passengers sat on deck after dinner, Mansoor, the dragoman, half +Copt, half Syrian, came forward, according to the nightly custom, to +announce the programme for the morrow. + +“Ladies and gentlemen,” said he, plunging boldly into the rapid but +broken stream of his English, “to-morrow you will remember not to forget +to rise when the gong strikes you for to compress the journey before +twelve o’clock. Having arrived at the place where the donkeys expect +us, we shall ride five miles over the desert, passing a temple of +Ammon-ra, which dates itself from the eighteenth dynasty, upon the way, +and so reach the celebrated pulpit rock of Abousir. The pulpit rock is +supposed to have been called so, because it is a rock like a pulpit. +When you have reached it you will know that you are on the very edge of +civilisation, and that very little more will take you into the country +of the Dervishes, which will be obvious to you at the top. +Having passed the summit, you will perceive the full extremity of the +second cataract, embracing wild natural beauties of the most dreadful +variety. Here all very famous people carve their names--and so you will +carve your names also.” Mansoor waited expectantly for a titter, and +bowed to it when it arrived. “You will then return to Wady Halfa, and +there remain two hours to suspect the Camel Corps, including the +grooming of the beasts, and the bazaar before returning, so I wish you a +very happy good-night.” + +There was a gleam of his white teeth in the lamplight, and then his +long, dark petticoats, his short English cover-coat, and his red +tarboosh vanished successively down the ladder. The low buzz of +conversation which had been suspended by his coming broke out anew. + +“I’m relying on you, Mr. Stephens, to tell me all about Abousir,” said +Miss Sadie Adams. “I do like to know what I am looking at right there +at the time, and not six hours afterwards in my state-room. I haven’t +got Abou-Simbel and the wall pictures straight in my mind yet, though I +saw them yesterday.” + +“I never hope to keep up with it,” said her aunt. “When I am safe back +in Commonwealth Avenue, and there’s no dragoman to hustle me around, +I’ll have time to read about it all, and then I expect I shall begin to +enthuse, and want to come right back again. But it’s just too good of +you, Mr. Stephens, to try and keep us informed.” + +“I thought that you might wish precise information, and so I prepared a +small digest of the matter,” said Stephens, handing a slip of paper to +Miss Sadie. She looked at it in the light of the deck lamp, and broke +into her low, hearty laugh. + +“_Re_ Abousir,” she read; “now, what _do_ you mean by ‘_re_,’ Mr. +Stephens? You put ‘_re_ Rameses the Second’ on the last paper you gave +me.” + +“It is a habit I have acquired, Miss Sadie,” said Stephens; “it is the +custom in the legal profession when they make a memo.” + +“Make what, Mr. Stephens?” + +“A memo--a memorandum, you know. We put _re_ so-and-so to show what it +is about.” + +“I suppose it’s a good short way,” said Miss Sadie, “but it feels queer +somehow when applied to scenery or to dead Egyptian kings. +‘_Re_ Cheops’--doesn’t that strike you as funny?” + +“No, I can’t say that it does,” said Stephens. + +“I wonder if it is true that the English have less humour than the +Americans, or whether it’s just another kind of humour,” said the girl. +She had a quiet, abstracted way of talking as if she were thinking +aloud. “I used to imagine they had less, and yet, when you come to +think of it, Dickens and Thackeray and Barrie, and so many other of the +humourists we admire most are Britishers. Besides, I never in all my +days heard people laugh so hard as in that London theatre. There was a +man behind us, and every time he laughed Auntie looked round to see if a +door had opened, he made such a draught. But you have some funny +expressions, Mr. Stephens!” + +“What else strikes you as funny, Miss Sadie?” + +“Well, when you sent me the temple ticket and the little map, you began +your letter, ‘Enclosed, please find,’ and then at the bottom, in +brackets, you had ‘2 enclo.’” + +“That is the usual form in business.” + +“Yes, in business,” said Sadie demurely, and there was a silence. + +“There’s one thing I wish,” remarked Miss Adams, in the hard, metallic +voice with which she disguised her softness of heart, “and that is, that +I could see the Legislature of this country and lay a few cold-drawn +facts in front of them. I’d make a platform of my own, Mr. Stephens, +and run a party on my ticket. A Bill for the compulsory use of eyewash +would be one of my planks, and another would be for the abolition of +those Yashmak veil things which turn a woman into a bale of cotton goods +with a pair of eyes looking out of it.” + +“I never could think why they wore them,” said Sadie; “until one day I +saw one with her veil lifted. Then I knew.” + +“They make me tired, those women,” cried Miss Adams wrathfully. +“One might as well try to preach duty and decency and cleanliness to a +line of bolsters. Why, good land, it was only yesterday at Abou-Simbel, +Mr. Stephens, I was passing one of their houses--if you can call a +mud-pie like that a house--and I saw two of the children at the door +with the usual crust of flies round their eyes, and great holes in their +poor little blue gowns! So I got off my donkey, and I turned up my +sleeves, and I washed their faces well with my handkerchief, and sewed +up the rents--for in this country I would as soon think of going ashore +without my needle-case as without my white umbrella, Mr. Stephens. +Then as I warmed on the job I got into the room--such a room!--and I +packed the folks out of it, and I fairly did the chores as if I had been +the hired help. I’ve seen no more of that temple of Abou-Simbel than if +I had never left Boston; but, my sakes, I saw more dust and mess than +you would think they could crowd into a house the size of a Newport +bathing-hut. From the time I pinned up my skirt until I came out with +my face the colour of that smoke-stack, wasn’t more than an hour, or +maybe an hour and a half, but I had that house as clean and fresh as a +new pine-wood box. I had a _New York Herald_ with me, and I lined their +shelf with paper for them. Well, Mr. Stephens, when I had done washing +my hands outside, I came past the door again, and there were those two +children sitting on the stoop with their eyes full of flies, and all +just the same as ever, except that each had a little paper cap made out +of the _New York Herald_ upon his head. But, say, Sadie, it’s going on +to ten o’clock, and to-morrow an early excursion.” + +“It’s just too beautiful, this purple sky and the great silver stars,” +said Sadie. “Look at the silent desert and the black shadows of the +hills. It’s grand, but it’s terrible too; and then when you think that +we really _are_, as that dragoman said just now, on the very end of +civilisation, and with nothing but savagery and bloodshed down there +where the Southern Cross is twinkling so prettily, why, it’s like +standing on the beautiful edge of a live volcano.” + +“Shucks, Sadie, don’t talk like that, child,” said the older woman +nervously. “It’s enough to scare any one to listen to you.” + +“Well, but don’t you feel it yourself, Auntie? Look at that great +desert stretching away and away until it is lost in the shadows. +Hear the sad whisper of the wind across it! It’s just the most solemn +thing that ever I saw in my life.” + +“I’m glad we’ve found something that will make you solemn, my dear,” +said her Aunt. “I’ve sometimes thought--Sakes alive, what’s that?” + +From somewhere amongst the hill shadows upon the other side of the river +there had risen a high shrill whimpering, rising and swelling, to end in +a long weary wail. + +“It’s only a jackal, Miss Adams,” said Stephens. “I heard one when we +went out to see the Sphinx by moonlight.” + +But the American lady had risen, and her face showed that her nerves had +been ruffled. + +“If I had my time over again I wouldn’t have come past Assouan,” said +she. “I can’t think what possessed me to bring you all the way up here, +Sadie. Your mother will think that I am clean crazy, and I’d never dare +to look her in the eye if anything went wrong with us. I’ve seen all I +want to see of this river, and all I ask now is to be back at Cairo +again.” + +“Why, Auntie,” cried the girl, “it isn’t like you to be faint-hearted.” + +“Well, I don’t know how it is, Sadie, but I feel a bit unstrung, and +that beast caterwauling over yonder was just more than I could put up +with. There’s one consolation, we are scheduled to be on our way home +to-morrow, after we’ve seen this one rock or temple, or whatever it is. +I’m full up of rocks and temples, Mr. Stephens. I shouldn’t mope if I +never saw another. Come, Sadie! Good-night!” + +“Good-night! Good-night, Miss Adams!” + +And the two ladies passed down to their cabins. + +Monsieur Fardet was chatting, in a subdued voice, with Headingly, the +young Harvard graduate, bending forward confidentially between the +whiffs of his cigarette. + +“Dervishes, Mister Headingly!” said he, speaking excellent English, but +separating his syllables as a Frenchman will. “There are no Dervishes. +They do not exist.” + +“Why, I thought the woods were full of them,” said the American. + +Monsieur Fardet glanced across to where the red core of Colonel +Cochrane’s cigar was glowing through the darkness. + +“You are an American, and you do not like the English,” he whispered. +“It is perfectly comprehended upon the Continent that the Americans are +opposed to the English.” + +“Well,” said Headingly, with his slow, deliberate manner, “I won’t say +that we have not our tiffs, and there are some of our people--mostly of +Irish stock--who are always mad with England; but the most of us have a +kindly thought for the mother country. You see they may be aggravating +folk sometimes, but after all they are our _own_ folk, and we can’t wipe +that off the slate.” + +“_Eh bien!_” said the Frenchman. “At least I can say to you what I +could not without offence say to these others. And I repeat that there +_are_ no Dervishes. They were an invention of Lord Cromer in the year +1885.” + +“You don’t say!” cried Headingly. + +“It is well known in Paris, and has been exposed in _La Patrie_ and +other of our so well-informed papers.” + +“But this is colossal,” said Headingly. “Do you mean to tell me, +Monsieur Fardet, that the siege of Khartoum and the death of Gordon and +the rest of it was just one great bluff?” + +“I will not deny that there was an émeute, but it was local, you +understand, and now long forgotten. Since then there has been profound +peace in the Soudan.” + +“But I have heard of raids, Monsieur Fardet, and I’ve read of battles, +too, when the Arabs tried to invade Egypt. It was only two days ago +that we passed Toski, where the dragoman said there had been a fight. +Is that all bluff also?” + +“Pah, my friend, you do not know the English. You look at them as you +see them with their pipes and their contented faces, and you say, ‘Now, +these are good, simple folk, who will never hurt any one.’ But all the +time they are thinking and watching and planning. ‘Here is Egypt weak,’ +they cry. ‘_Allons!_’ and down they swoop like a gull upon a crust. +‘You have no right there,’ says the world. ‘Come out of it!’ +But England has already begun to tidy everything, just like the good +Miss Adams when she forces her way into the house of an Arab. +‘Come out,’ says the world. ‘Certainly,’ says England; ‘just wait one +little minute until I have made everything nice and proper.’ So the +world waits for a year or so, and then it says once again, ‘Come out.’ +‘Just wait a little,’ says England; ‘there is trouble at Khartoum, and +when I have set that all right I shall be very glad to come out.’ +So they wait until it is all over, and then again they say, ‘Come out.’ +‘How can I come out,’ says England, ‘when there are still raids and +battles going on? If we were to leave, Egypt would be run over.’ +‘But there are no raids,’ says the world. ‘Oh, are there not?’ says +England, and then within a week sure enough the papers are full of some +new raid of Dervishes. We are not all blind, Mister Headingly. +We understand very well how such things can be done. A few Bedouins, a +little backsheesh, some blank cartridges, and, behold--a raid!” + +“Well, well,” said the American, “I’m glad to know the rights of this +business, for it has often puzzled me. But what does England get out of +it?” + +“She gets the country, monsieur.” + +“I see. You mean, for example, that there is a favourable tariff for +British goods?” + +“No, monsieur; it is the same for all.” + +“Well, then, she gives the contracts to Britishers?” + +“Precisely, monsieur.” + +“For example, the railroad that they are building right through the +country, the one that runs alongside the river, that would be a valuable +contract for the British?” + +Monsieur Fardet was an honest man, if an imaginative one. + +“It is a French company, monsieur, which holds the railway contract,” +said he. + +The American was puzzled. + +“They don’t seem to get much for their trouble,” said he. “Still, of +course, there must be some indirect pull somewhere. For example, Egypt +no doubt has to pay and keep all those red-coats in Cairo.” + +“Egypt, monsieur! No, they are paid by England.” + +“Well, I suppose they know their own business best, but they seem to me +to take a great deal of trouble, and to get mighty little in exchange. +If they don’t mind keeping order and guarding the frontier, with a +constant war against the Dervishes on their hands, I don’t know why any +one should object. I suppose no one denies that the prosperity of the +country has increased enormously since they came. The revenue returns +show that. They tell me also that the poorer folks have justice, which +they never had before.” + +“What are they doing here at all?” cried the Frenchman angrily. +“Let them go back to their island. We cannot have them all over the +world.” + +“Well, certainly, to us Americans, who live all in our own land, it does +seem strange how you European nations are for ever slopping over into +some other country which was not meant for you. It’s easy for us to +talk, of course, for we have still got room and to spare for all our +people. When we begin pushing each other over the edge we shall have to +start annexing also. But at present just here in North Africa there is +Italy in Abyssinia, and England in Egypt, and France in Algiers--” + +“France!” cried Monsieur Fardet. “Algiers belongs to France. +You laugh, monsieur. I have the honour to wish you a very good-night.” +He rose from his seat, and walked off, rigid with outraged patriotism, +to his cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The young American hesitated for a little, debating in his mind whether +he should not go down and post up the daily record of his impressions +which he kept for his home-staying sister. But the cigars of Colonel +Cochrane and of Cecil Brown were still twinkling in the far corner of +the deck, and the student was acquisitive in the search of information. +He did not quite know how to lead up to the matter, but the Colonel very +soon did it for him. + +“Come on, Headingly,” said he, pushing a camp-stool in his direction. +“This is the place for an antidote. I see that Fardet has been pouring +politics into your ear.” + +“I can always recognise the confidential stoop of his shoulders when he +discusses _la haute politique_,” said the dandy diplomatist. “But what +a sacrilege upon a night like this! What a nocturne in blue and silver +might be suggested by that moon rising above the desert. There is a +movement in one of Mendelssohn’s songs which seems to embody it all-- +a sense of vastness, of repetition, the cry of the wind over an +interminable expanse. The subtler emotions which cannot be translated +into words are still to be hinted at by chords and harmonies.” + +“It seems wilder and more savage than ever to-night,” remarked the +American. “It gives me the same feeling of pitiless force that the +Atlantic does upon a cold, dark, winter day. Perhaps it is the +knowledge that we are right there on the very edge of any kind of law +and order. How far do you suppose that we are from any Dervishes, +Colonel Cochrane?” + +“Well, on the Arabian side,” said the Colonel, “we have the Egyptian +fortified camp of Sarras about forty miles to the south of us. Beyond +that are sixty miles of very wild country before you would come to the +Dervish post at Akasheh. On this other side, however, there is nothing +between us and them.” + +“Abousir is on this side, is it not?” + +“Yes. That is why the excursion to the Abousir Rock has been forbidden +for the last year. But things are quieter now.” + +“What is to prevent them from coming down on that side?” + +“Absolutely nothing,” said Cecil Brown, in his listless voice. + +“Nothing, except their fears. The coming of course would be perfectly +simple. The difficulty would lie in the return. They might find it +hard to get back if their camels were spent, and the Halfa garrison with +their beasts fresh got on their track. They know it as well as we do, +and it has kept them from trying.” + +“It isn’t safe to reckon upon a Dervish’s fears,” remarked Brown. +“We must always bear in mind that they are not amenable to the same +motives as other people. Many of them are anxious to meet death, and +all of them are absolute, uncompromising believers in destiny. +They exist as a _reductio ad absurdum_ of all bigotry--a proof of how +surely it leads towards blank barbarism.” + +“You think these people are a real menace to Egypt?” asked the American. +“There seems from what I have heard to be some difference of opinion +about it. Monsieur Fardet, for example, does not seem to think that the +danger is a very pressing one.” + +“I am not a rich man,” Colonel Cochrane answered after a little pause, +“but I am prepared to lay all I am worth, that within three years of the +British officers being withdrawn, the Dervishes would be upon the +Mediterranean. Where would the civilisation of Egypt be? Where would +the hundreds of millions which have been invested in this country? +Where the monuments which all nations look upon as most precious +memorials of the past?” + +“Come now, Colonel,” cried Headingly, laughing, “surely you don’t mean +that they would shift the pyramids?” + +“You cannot foretell what they would do. There is no iconoclast in the +world like an extreme Mohammedan. Last time they overran this country +they burned the Alexandrian Library. You know that all representations +of the human features are against the letter of the Koran. A statue is +always an irreligious object in their eyes. What do these fellows care +for the sentiment of Europe? The more they could offend it, the more +delighted they would be. Down would go the Sphinx, the Colossi, the +Statues of Abou-Simbel--as the saints went down in England before +Cromwell’s troopers.” + +“Well now,” said Headingly, in his slow, thoughtful fashion, “suppose I +grant you that the Dervishes could overrun Egypt, and suppose also that +you English are holding them out, what I’m never done asking is, what +reason have you for spending all these millions of dollars and the lives +of so many of your men? What do you get out of it, more than France +gets, or Germany, or any other country, that runs no risk and never lays +out a cent?” + +“There are a good many Englishmen who are asking themselves that +question,” remarked Cecil Brown. “It’s my opinion that we have been the +policemen of the world long enough. We policed the seas for pirates and +slavers. Now we police the land for Dervishes and brigands and every +sort of danger to civilisation. There is never a mad priest or a witch +doctor, or a firebrand of any sort on this planet, who does not report +his appearance by sniping the nearest British officer. One tires of it +at last. If a Kurd breaks loose in Asia Minor, the world wants to know +why Great Britain does not keep him in order. If there is a military +mutiny in Egypt, or a Jehad in the Soudan, it is still Great Britain who +has to set it right. And all to an accompaniment of curses such as the +policeman gets when he seizes a ruffian among his pals. We get hard +knocks and no thanks, and why should we do it? Let Europe do its own +dirty work.” + +“Well,” said Colonel Cochrane, crossing his legs and leaning forward +with the decision of a man who has definite opinions, “I don’t at all +agree with you, Brown, and I think that to advocate such a course is to +take a very limited view of our national duties. I think that behind +national interests and diplomacy and all that there lies a great guiding +force--a Providence, in fact--which is for ever getting the best out of +each nation and using it for the good of the whole. When a nation +ceases to respond, it is time that she went into hospital for a few +centuries, like Spain or Greece--the virtue has gone out of her. A man +or a nation is not placed upon this earth to do merely what is pleasant +and what is profitable. It is often called upon to carry out what is +both unpleasant and unprofitable, but if it is obviously right it is +mere shirking not to undertake it.” + +Headingly nodded approvingly. + +“Each has its own mission. Germany is predominant in abstract thought; +France in literature, art, and grace. But we and you--for the +English-speakers are all in the same boat, however much the _New York +Sun_ may scream over it--we and you have among our best men a higher +conception of moral sense and public duty than is to be found in any +other people. Now, these are the two qualities which are needed for +directing a weaker race. You can’t help them by abstract thought or by +graceful art, but only by that moral sense which will hold the scales of +Justice even, and keep itself free from every taint of corruption. +That is how we rule India. We came there by a kind of natural law, like +air rushing into a vacuum. All over the world, against our direct +interests and our deliberate intentions, we are drawn into the same +thing. And it will happen to you also. The pressure of destiny will +force you to administer the Whole of America from Mexico to the Horn.” + +Headingly whistled. + +“Our Jingoes would be pleased to hear you, Colonel Cochrane,” said he. +“They’d vote you into our Senate and make you one of the Committee on +Foreign Relations.” + +“The world is small, and it grows smaller every day. It’s a single +organic body, and one spot of gangrene is enough to vitiate the whole. +There’s no room upon it for dishonest, defaulting, tyrannical, +irresponsible Governments. As long as they exist they will always be +sources of trouble and of danger. But there are many races which appear +to be so incapable of improvement that we can never hope to get a good +Government out of them. What is to be done, then? The former device of +Providence in such a case was extermination by some more virile stock-- +an Attila or a Tamerlane pruned off the weaker branch. Now, we have a +more merciful substitution of rulers, or even of mere advice from a more +advanced race. That is the case with the Central Asian Khanates and +with the protected States of India. If the work has to be done, and if +we are the best fitted for the work, then I think that it would be a +cowardice and a crime to shirk it.” + +“But who is to decide whether it is a fitting case for your +interference?” objected the American. “A predatory country could grab +every other land in the world upon such a pretext.” + +“Events--inexorable, inevitable events--will decide it. Take this +Egyptian business as an example. In 1881 there was nothing in this +world further from the minds of our people than any interference with +Egypt; and yet 1882 left us in possession of the country. There was +never any choice in the chain of events. A massacre in the streets of +Alexandria, and the mounting of guns to drive out our fleet--which was +there, you understand, in fulfilment of solemn treaty obligations--led +to the bombardment. The bombardment led to a landing to save the city +from destruction. The landing caused an extension of operations--and +here we are, with the country upon our hands. At the time of trouble we +begged and implored the French, or any one else, to come and help us to +put the thing to rights, but they all deserted us when there was work to +be done, although they are ready enough to scold and to impede us now. +When we tried to get out of it, up came this wild Dervish movement, and +we had to sit tighter than ever. We never wanted the task; but, now +that it has come, we must put it through in a workmanlike manner. +We’ve brought justice into the country, and purity of administration, +and protection for the poor man. It has made more advance in the last +twelve years than since the Moslem invasion in the seventh century. +Except the pay of a couple of hundred men, who spend their money in the +country, England has neither directly nor indirectly made a shilling out +of it, and I don’t believe you will find in history a more successful +and more disinterested bit of work.” + +Headingly puffed thoughtfully at his cigarette. + +“There is a house near ours, down on the Back Bay at Boston, which just +ruins the whole prospect,” said he. “It has old chairs littered about +the stoop, and the shingles are loose, and the garden runs wild; but I +don’t know that the neighbours are exactly justified in rushing in, and +stamping around, and running the thing on their own lines.” + +“Not if it were on fire?” asked the Colonel. + +Headingly laughed, and rose from his camp-stool. + +“Well, it doesn’t come within the provisions of the Monroe Doctrine, +Colonel,” said he. “I’m beginning to realise that modern Egypt is every +bit as interesting as ancient, and that Rameses the Second wasn’t the +last live man in the country.” + +The two Englishmen rose and yawned. + +“Yes, it’s a whimsical freak of fortune which has sent men from a little +island in the Atlantic to administer the land of the Pharaohs,” remarked +Cecil Brown. “We shall pass away again, and never leave a trace among +these successive races who have held the country, for it is not an +Anglo-Saxon custom to write their deeds upon rocks. I dare say that the +remains of a Cairo drainage system will be our most permanent record, +unless they prove a thousand years hence that it was the work of the +Hyksos kings. But here is the shore party come back.” + +Down below they could hear the mellow Irish accents of Mrs. Belmont and +the deep voice of her husband, the iron-grey rifle-shot. Mr. Stuart, +the fat Birmingham clergyman, was thrashing out a question of piastres +with a noisy donkey-boy, and the others were joining in with chaff and +advice. Then the hubbub died away, the party from above came down the +ladder, there were “good-nights,” the shutting of doors, and the little +steamer lay silent, dark, and motionless in the shadow of the high Halfa +bank. And beyond this one point of civilisation and of comfort there +lay the limitless, savage, unchangeable desert, straw-coloured and +dream-like in the moonlight, mottled over with the black shadows of the +hills. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +“Stoppa! Backa!” cried the native pilot to the European engineer. + +The bluff bows of the stern-wheeler had squelched into the soft brown +mud, and the current had swept the boat alongside the bank. The long +gangway was thrown across, and the six tall soldiers of the Soudanese +escort filed along it, their light-blue gold-trimmed zouave uniforms, +and their jaunty yellow and red forage-caps, showing up bravely in the +clear morning light. Above them, on the top of the bank, was ranged the +line of donkeys, and the air was full of the clamour of the boys. +In shrill strident voices each was crying out the virtues of his own +beast, and abusing that of his neighbour. + +Colonel Cochrane and Mr. Belmont stood together in the bows, each +wearing the broad white puggareed hat of the tourist. Miss Adams and +her niece leaned against the rail beside them. + +“Sorry your wife isn’t coming, Belmont,” said the Colonel. + +“I think she had a touch of the sun yesterday. Her head aches very +badly.” + +His voice was strong and thick like his figure. + +“I should stay to keep her company, Mr. Belmont,” said the little +American old maid; “but I learn that Mrs. Shlesinger finds the ride too +long for her, and has some letters which she must mail to-day, so Mrs. +Belmont will not be lonesome.” + +“You’re very good, Miss Adams. We shall be back, you know, by two +o’clock.” + +“Is that certain?” + +“It must be certain, for we are taking no lunch with us, and we shall be +famished by then.” + +“Yes, I expect we shall be ready for a hock and seltzer at any rate,” +said the Colonel. “This desert dust gives a flavour to the worst +wine.” + +“Now, ladies and gentlemen!” cried Mansoor, the dragoman, moving forward +with something of the priest in his flowing garments and smooth, +clean-shaven face. “We must start early that we may return before the +meridial heat of the weather.” He ran his dark eyes over the little +group of his tourists with a paternal expression. “You take your green +glasses, Miss Adams, for glare very great out in the desert. Ah, Mr. +Stuart, I set aside very fine donkey for you--prize donkey, sir, always +put aside for the gentleman of most weight. Never mind to take your +monument ticket to-day. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if _you_ please!” + +Like a grotesque frieze the party moved one by one along the plank +gangway and up the brown crumbling bank. Mr. Stephens led them, a thin, +dry, serious figure, in an English straw hat. His red “Baedeker” +gleamed under his arm, and in one hand he held a little paper of notes, +as if it were a brief. He took Miss Sadie by one arm and her aunt by +the other as they toiled up the bank, and the young girl’s laughter rang +frank and clear in the morning air as “Baedeker” came fluttering down at +their feet. Mr. Belmont and Colonel Cochrane followed, the brims of +their sun-hats touching as they discussed the relative advantages of the +Mauser, the Lebel, and the Lee-Metford. Behind them walked Cecil Brown, +listless, cynical, self-contained. The fat clergyman puffed slowly up +the bank, with many gasping witticisms at his own defects. “I’m one of +those men who carry everything before them,” said he, glancing ruefully +at his rotundity, and chuckling wheezily at his own little joke. +Last of all came Headingly, slight and tall, with the student stoop +about his shoulders, and Fardet, the good-natured, fussy, argumentative +Parisian. + +“You see we have an escort to-day,” he whispered to his companion. + +“So I observed.” + +“Pah!” cried the Frenchman, throwing out his arms in derision; “as well +have an escort from Paris to Versailles. This is all part of the play, +Monsieur Headingly. It deceives no one, but it is part of the play. +_Pourquoi ces droles de militaires, dragoman, hein?_” + +It was the dragoman’s _role_ to be all things to all men, so he looked +cautiously round before he answered, to make sure that the English were +mounted and out of earshot. + +“_C’est ridicule, monsieur!_” said he, shrugging his fat shoulders. +“_Mais que voulez-vous? C’est l’ordre official Egyptien._” + +“_Egyptien! Pah, Anglais, Anglais--toujours Anglais!_” cried the angry +Frenchman. + +The frieze now was more grotesque than ever, but had changed suddenly to +an equestrian one, sharply outlined against the deep-blue Egyptian sky. +Those who have never ridden before have to ride in Egypt, and when the +donkeys break into a canter, and the Nile Irregulars are at full charge, +such a scene of flying veils, clutching hands, huddled swaying figures, +and anxious faces is nowhere to be seen. Belmont, his square figure +balanced upon a small white donkey, was waving his hat to his wife, who +had come out upon the saloon-deck of the _Korosko_. Cochrane sat very +erect with a stiff military seat, hands low, head high, and heels down, +while beside him rode the young Oxford man, looking about him with +drooping eyelids as if he thought the desert hardly respectable, and had +his doubts about the Universe. Behind them the whole party was strung +along the bank in varying stages of jolting and discomfort, a +brown-faced, noisy donkey-boy running after each donkey. Looking back, +they could see the little lead-coloured stern-wheeler, with the gleam of +Mrs. Belmont’s handkerchief from the deck. Beyond ran the broad, brown +river, winding down in long curves to where, five miles off, the square, +white block-houses upon the black, ragged hills marked the outskirts of +Wady Halfa, which had been their starting-point that morning. + +“Isn’t it just too lovely for anything?” cried Sadie joyously. “I’ve +got a donkey that runs on casters, and the saddle is just elegant. +Did you ever see anything so cunning as these beads and things round his +neck? You must make a memo. _re_ donkey, Mr. Stephens. Isn’t that +correct legal English?” + +Stephens looked at the pretty, animated, boyish face looking up at him +from under the coquettish straw hat, and he wished that he had the +courage to tell her in her own language that she was just too sweet for +anything. But he feared above all things lest he should offend her, and +so put an end to their present pleasant intimacy. So his compliment +dwindled into a smile. + +“You look very happy,” said he. + +“Well, who could help feeling good with this dry, clear air, and the +blue sky, and the crisp yellow sand, and a superb donkey to carry you? +I’ve just got everything in the world to make me happy.” + +“Everything?” + +“Well, everything I have any use for just now.” + +“I suppose you never know what it is to be sad?” + +“Oh, when I _am_ miserable, I am just too miserable for words. I’ve sat +and cried for days and days at Smith’s College, and the other girls were +just crazy to know what I was crying about, and guessing what the reason +was that I wouldn’t tell them, when all the time the real true reason +was that I didn’t know myself. You know how it comes like a great dark +shadow over you, and you don’t know why or wherefore, but you’ve just +got to settle down to it and be miserable.” + +“But you never had any real cause?” + +“No, Mr. Stephens, I’ve had such a good time all my life that I really +don’t think, when I look back, that I ever had any real cause for +sorrow.” + +“Well, Miss Sadie, I hope with all my heart that you will be able to say +the same when you are the same age as your aunt. Surely I hear her +calling.” + +“I wish, Mr. Stephens, you would strike my donkey-boy with your whip if +he hits the donkey again,” cried Miss Adams, jogging up on a high, +raw-boned beast. “Hi, dragoman, Mansoor, you tell this boy that I won’t +have the animals ill used, and that he ought to be ashamed of himself. +Yes, you little rascal, you ought! He’s grinning at me like an +advertisement for a tooth paste. Do you think, Mr. Stephens, that if I +were to knit that black soldier a pair of woollen stockings he would be +allowed to wear them? The poor creature has bandages round his legs.” + +“Those are his putties, Miss Adams,” said Colonel Cochrane, looking +back at her. “We have found in India that they are the best support to +the leg in marching. They are very much better than any stocking.” + +“Well, you don’t say! They remind me mostly of a sick horse. But it’s +elegant to have the soldiers with us, though Monsieur Fardet tells me +there’s nothing for us to be scared about.” + +“That is only my opinion, Miss Adams,” said the Frenchman hastily. +“It may be that Colonel Cochrane thinks otherwise.” + +“It is Monsieur Fardet’s opinion against that of the officers who have +the responsibility of caring for the safety of the frontier,” said the +Colonel coldly. “At least we will all agree that they have the effect +of making the scene very much more picturesque.” + +The desert upon their right lay in long curves of sand, like the dunes +which might have fringed some forgotten primeval sea. Topping them they +could see the black, craggy summits of the curious volcanic hills which +rise upon the Libyan side. On the crest of the low sand-hills they +would catch a glimpse every now and then of a tall, sky-blue soldier, +walking swiftly, his rifle at the trail. For a moment the lank, warlike +figure would be sharply silhouetted against the sky. Then he would dip +into a hollow and disappear, while some hundred yards off another would +show for an instant and vanish. + +“Wherever are they raised?” asked Sadie, watching the moving figures. +“They look to me just about the same tint as the hotel boys in the +States.” + +“I thought some question might arise about them,” said Mr. Stephens, who +was never so happy as when he could anticipate some wish of the pretty +American. “I made one or two references this morning in the ship’s +library. Here it is--_re_--that’s to say, about black soldiers. I have +it on my notes that they are from the 10th Soudanese battalion of the +Egyptian army. They are recruited from the Dinkas and the Shilluks--two +negroid tribes living to the south of the Dervish country, near the +Equator.” + +“How can the recruits come through the Dervishes, then?” asked Headingly +sharply. + +“I dare say there is no such very great difficulty over that,” said +Monsieur Fardet, with a wink at the American. + +“The older men are the remains of the old black battalions. Some of +them served with Gordon at Khartoum, and have his medal to show. +The others are many of them deserters from the Mahdi’s army,” said the +Colonel. + +“Well, so long as they are not wanted, they look right elegant in those +blue jackets,” Miss Adams observed. “But if there was any trouble, I +guess we would wish they were less ornamental and a bit whiter.” + +“I am not so sure of that, Miss Adams,” said the Colonel. “I have seen +these fellows in the field, and I assure you that I have the utmost +confidence in their steadiness.” + +“Well, I’ll take your word without trying,” said Miss Adams, with a +decision which made every one smile. + +So far their road had lain along the side of the river, which was +swirling down upon their left hand deep and strong from the cataracts +above. Here and there the rush of the current was broken by a black +shining boulder over which the foam was spouting. Higher up they could +see the white gleam of the rapids, and the banks grew into rugged +cliffs, which were capped by a peculiar, outstanding semi-circular rock. +It did not require the dragoman’s aid to tell the party that this was +the famous landmark to which they were bound. A long, level stretch lay +before them, and the donkeys took it at a canter. At the farther side +were scattered rocks, black upon orange; and in the midst of them rose +some broken shafts of pillars and a length of engraved wall, looking in +its greyness and its solidity more like some work of Nature than of man. +The fat, sleek dragoman had dismounted, and stood waiting in his +petticoats and his cover-coat for the stragglers to gather round him. + +“This temple, ladies and gentlemen,” he cried, with the air of an +auctioneer who is about to sell it to the highest bidder, “very fine +example from the eighteenth dynasty. Here is the cartouche of Thotmes +the Third,” he pointed up with his donkey-whip at the rude, but deep, +hieroglyphics upon the wall above him. “He live sixteen hundred years +before Christ, and this is made to remember his victorious exhibition +into Mesopotamia. Here we have his history from the time that he was +with his mother, until he return with captives tied to his chariot. +In this you see him crowned with Lower Egypt, and with Upper Egypt +offering up sacrifice in honour of his victory to the God Ammon-ra. +Here he bring his captives before him, and he cut off each his right +hand. In this corner you see little pile--all right hands.” + +“My sakes, I shouldn’t have liked to be here in those days,” said Miss +Adams. + +“Why, there’s nothing altered,” remarked Cecil Brown. “The East is +still the East. I’ve no doubt that within a hundred miles, or perhaps a +good deal less, from where you stand--” + +“Shut up!” whispered the Colonel, and the party shuffled on down the +line of the wall with their faces up and their big hats thrown +backwards. The sun behind them struck the old grey masonry with a +brassy glare, and carried on to it the strange black shadows of the +tourists, mixing them up with the grim, high-nosed, square-shouldered +warriors, and the grotesque, rigid deities who lined it. The broad +shadow of the Reverend John Stuart, of Birmingham, smudged out both the +heathen King and the god whom he worshipped. + +“What’s this?” he was asking in his wheezy voice, pointing up with a +yellow Assouan cane. + +“That is a hippopotamus,” said the dragoman; and the tourists all +tittered, for there was just a suspicion of Mr. Stuart himself in the +carving. + +“But it isn’t bigger than a little pig,” he protested. “You see that +the King is putting his spear through it with ease.” + +“They make it small to show that it was a very small thing to the King,” +said the dragoman. “So you see that all the King’s prisoners do not +exceed his knee--which is not because he was so much taller, but so much +more powerful. You see that he is bigger than his horse, because he is +a king and the other is only a horse. The same way, these small women +whom you see here and there are just his trivial little wives.” + +“Well, now!” cried Miss Adams indignantly. “If they had sculpted that +King’s soul it would have needed a lens to see it. Fancy his allowing +his wives to be put in like that.” + +“If he did it now, Miss Adams,” said the Frenchman, “he would have more +fighting than ever in Mesopotamia. But time brings revenge. Perhaps +the day will soon come when we have the picture of the big strong wife +and the trivial little husband--_hein?_” + +Cecil Brown and Headingly had dropped behind, for the glib comments of +the dragoman, and the empty, light-hearted chatter of the tourists +jarred upon their sense of solemnity. They stood in silence watching +the grotesque procession, with its sun-hats and green veils, as it +passed in the vivid sunshine down the front of the old grey wall. +Above them two crested hoopoes were fluttering and calling amid the +ruins of the pylon. + +“Isn’t it a sacrilege?” said the Oxford man at last. + +“Well, now, I’m glad you feel that about it, because it’s how it always +strikes me,” Headingly answered with feeling. “I’m not quite clear in +my own mind how these things should be approached--if they are to be +approached at all--but I am sure this is not the way. On the whole, I +prefer the ruins that I have not seen to those which I have.” + +The young diplomatist looked up with his peculiarly bright smile, which +faded away too soon into his languid, _blase_ mask. + +“I’ve got a map,” said the American, “and sometimes far away from +anything in the very midst of the waterless, trackless desert, I see +‘ruins’ marked upon it--or ‘remains of a temple,’ perhaps. For example, +the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was one of the most considerable +shrines in the world, was hundreds of miles away back of anywhere. +Those are the ruins, solitary, unseen, unchanging through the centuries, +which appeal to one’s imagination. But when I present a check at the +door, and go in as if it were Barnum’s show, all the subtle feeling of +romance goes right out of it.” + +“Absolutely!” said Cecil Brown, looking over the desert with his dark, +intolerant eyes. “If one could come wandering here alone--stumble upon +it by chance, as it were--and find one’s self in absolute solitude in +the dim light of the temple, with these grotesque figures all round, it +would be perfectly overwhelming. A man would be prostrated with wonder +and awe. But when Belmont is puffing his bulldog pipe, and Stuart is +wheezing, and Miss Sadie Adams is laughing--” + +“And that jay of a dragoman speaking his piece,” said Headingly; +“I want to stand and think all the time, and I never seem to get the +chance. I was ripe for manslaughter when I stood before the Great +Pyramid, and couldn’t get a quiet moment because they would boost me on +to the top. I took a kick at one man which would have sent _him_ to the +top in one jump if I had hit meat. But fancy travelling all the way +from America to see the pyramid, and then finding nothing better to do +than to kick an Arab in front of it!” + +The Oxford man laughed in his gentle, tired fashion. “They are starting +again,” said he, and the two hastened forwards to take their places at +the tail of the absurd procession. + +Their route ran now among large, scattered boulders, and between stony, +shingly hills. A narrow winding path curved in and out amongst the +rocks. Behind them their view was cut off by similar hills, black and +fantastic, like the slag-heaps at the shaft of a mine. A silence fell +upon the little company, and even Sadie’s bright face reflected the +harshness of Nature. The escort had closed in, and marched beside them, +their boots scrunching among the loose black rubble. Colonel Cochrane +and Belmont were still riding together in the van. + +“Do you know, Belmont,” said the Colonel, in a low voice, “you may think +me a fool, but I don’t like this one little bit.” + +Belmont gave a short gruff laugh. + +“It seemed all right in the saloon of the _Korosko_, but now that we are +here we _do_ seem rather up in the air,” said he. “Still, you know, a +party comes here every week, and nothing has ever gone wrong.” + +“I don’t mind taking my chances when I am on the war-path,” the Colonel +answered. “That’s all straightforward and in the way of business. +But when you have women with you, and a helpless crowd like this, it +becomes really dreadful. Of course, the chances are a hundred to one +that we have no trouble; but if we should have--well, it won’t bear +thinking about. The wonderful thing is their complete unconsciousness +that there is any danger whatever.” + +“Well, I like the English tailor-made dresses well enough for walking, +Mr. Stephens,” said Miss Sadie from behind them. “But for an afternoon +dress, I think the French have more style than the English. Your +milliners have a more severe cut, and they don’t do the cunning little +ribbons and bows and things in the same way.” + +The Colonel smiled at Belmont. + +“_She_ is quite serene in her mind, at any rate,” said he. “Of course, +I wouldn’t say what I think to any one but you, and I daresay it will +all prove to be quite unfounded.” + +“Well, I could imagine parties of Dervishes on the prowl,” said Belmont. +“But what I cannot imagine is that they should just happen to come to +the pulpit rock on the very morning when we are due there.” + +“Considering that our movements have been freely advertised, and that +every one knows a week beforehand what our programme is, and where we +are to be found, it does not strike me as being such a wonderful +coincidence.” + +“It is a very remote chance,” said Belmont stoutly, but he was glad in +his heart that his wife was safe and snug on board the steamer. + +And now they were clear of the rocks again, with a fine stretch of firm +yellow sand extending to the very base of the conical hill which lay +before them. “Ay-ah! Ay-ah!” cried the boys, whack came their sticks +upon the flanks of the donkeys, which broke into a gallop, and away they +all streamed over the plain. It was not until they had come to the end +of the path which curves up the hill that the dragoman called a halt. + +“Now, ladies and gentlemen, we are arrived for the so famous pulpit rock +of Abousir. From the summit you will presently enjoy a panorama of +remarkable fertility. But first you will observe that over the rocky +side of the hill are everywhere cut the names of great men who have +passed it in their travels, and some of these names are older than the +time of Christ.” + +“Got Moses?” asked Miss Adams. + +“Auntie, I’m surprised at you!” cried Sadie. + +“Well, my dear, he was in Egypt, and he was a great man, and he may have +passed this way.” + +“Moses’s name very likely there, and the same with Herodotus,” said the +dragoman gravely. “Both have been long worn away. But there on the +brown rock you will see Belzoni. And up higher is Gordon. There is +hardly a name famous in the Soudan which you will not find, if you like. +And now, with your permission, we shall take good-bye of our donkeys and +walk up the path, and you will see the river and the desert from the +summit of the top.” + +A minute or two of climbing brought them out upon the semicircular +platform which crowns the rock. Below them on the far side was a +perpendicular black cliff, a hundred and fifty feet high, with the +swirling, foam-streaked river roaring past its base. The swish of the +water and the low roar as it surged over the mid-stream boulders boomed +through the hot, stagnant air. Far up and far down they could see the +course of the river, a quarter of a mile in breadth, and running very +deep and strong, with sleek black eddies and occasional spoutings of +foam. On the other side was a frightful wilderness of black, scattered +rocks, which were the _debris_ carried down by the river at high flood. +In no direction were there any signs of human beings or their dwellings. + +“On the far side,” said the dragoman, waving his donkey-whip towards the +east, “is the military line which conducts Wady Halfa to Sarras. +Sarras lies to the south, under that black hill. Those two blue +mountains which you see very far away are in Dongola, more than a +hundred miles from Sarras. The railway there is forty miles long, and +has been much annoyed by the Dervishes, who are very glad to turn the +rails into spears. The telegraph wires are also much appreciated +thereby. Now, if you will kindly turn round, I will explain, also, what +we see upon the other side.” + +It was a view which, when once seen, must always haunt the mind. +Such an expanse of savage and unrelieved desert might be part of some +cold and burned-out planet rather than of this fertile and bountiful +earth. Away and away it stretched to die into a soft, violet haze in +the extremest distance. In the foreground the sand was of a bright +golden yellow, which was quite dazzling in the sunshine. Here and +there, in a scattered cordon, stood the six trusty negro soldiers +leaning motionless upon their rifles, and each throwing a shadow which +looked as solid as himself. But beyond this golden plain lay a low line +of those black slag-heaps, with yellow sand-valleys winding between +them. These in their turn were topped by higher and more fantastic +hills, and these by others, peeping over each other’s shoulders until +they blended with that distant violet haze. None of these hills were of +any height--a few hundred feet at the most--but their savage, +saw-toothed crests, and their steep scarps of sun-baked stone, gave them +a fierce character of their own. + +“The Libyan Desert,” said the dragoman, with a proud wave of his hand. +“The greatest desert in the world. Suppose you travel right west from +here, and turn neither to the north nor to the south, the first houses +you would come to would be in America. That make you home-sick, Miss +Adams, I believe?” + +But the American old maid had her attention drawn away by the conduct of +Sadie, who had caught her arm by one hand and was pointing over the +desert with the other. + +“Well, now, if that isn’t too picturesque for anything!” she cried, with +a flush of excitement upon her pretty face. “Do look, Mr. Stephens! +That’s just the one only thing we wanted to make it just perfectly +grand. See the men upon the camels coming out from between those +hills!” + +They all looked at the long string of red-turbaned riders who were +winding out of the ravine, and there fell such a hush that the buzzing +of the flies sounded quite loud upon their ears. Colonel Cochrane had +lit a match, and he stood with it in one hand and the unlit cigarette in +the other until the flame licked round his fingers. Belmont whistled. +The dragoman stood staring with his mouth half-open, and a curious slaty +tint in his full, red lips. The others looked from one to the other +with an uneasy sense that there was something wrong. It was the Colonel +who broke the silence. + +“By George, Belmont, I believe the hundred-to-one chance has come off!” +said he. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +“What’s the meaning of this, Mansoor?” cried Belmont harshly. “Who are +these people, and why are you standing staring as if you had lost your +senses?” + +The dragoman made an effort to compose himself, and licked his dry lips +before he answered. + +“I do not know who they are,” said he in a quavering voice. + +“Who they are?” cried the Frenchman. “You can see who they are. +They are armed men upon camels, Ababdeh, Bishareen--Bedouins, in short, +such as are employed by the Government upon the frontier.” + +“Be Jove, he may be right, Cochrane,” said Belmont, looking inquiringly +at the Colonel. “Why shouldn’t it be as he says? why shouldn’t these +fellows be friendlies?” + +“There are no friendlies upon this side of the river,” said the Colonel +abruptly; “I am perfectly certain about that. There is no use in +mincing matters. We must prepare for the worst.” + +But in spite of his words, they stood stock-still, in a huddled group, +staring out over the plain. Their nerves were numbed by the sudden +shock, and to all of them it was like a scene in a dream, vague, +impersonal, and un-real. The men upon the camels had streamed out from +a gorge which lay a mile or so distant on the side of the path along +which they had travelled. Their retreat, therefore, was entirely cut +off. It appeared, from the dust and the length of the line, to be quite +an army which was emerging from the hills, for seventy men upon camels +cover a considerable stretch of ground. Having reached the sandy plain, +they very deliberately formed to the front, and then at the harsh call +of a bugle they trotted forward in line, the parti-coloured figures all +swaying and the sand smoking in a rolling yellow cloud at the heels of +their camels. At the same moment the six black soldiers doubled in from +the front with their Martinis at the trail, and snuggled down like +well-trained skirmishers behind the rocks upon the haunch of the hill. +Their breech blocks all snapped together as their corporal gave them the +order to load. + +And now suddenly the first stupor of the excursionists passed away, and +was succeeded by a frantic and impotent energy. They all ran about upon +the plateau of rock in an aimless, foolish flurry, like frightened fowls +in a yard. They could not bring themselves to acknowledge that there +was no possible escape for them. Again and again they rushed to the +edge of the great cliff which rose from the river, but the youngest and +most daring of them could never have descended it. The two women clung +one on each side of the trembling Mansoor, with a feeling that he was +officially responsible for their safety. When he ran up and down in his +desperation, his skirts and theirs all fluttered together. Stephens, +the lawyer, kept close to Sadie Adams, muttering mechanically, “Don’t be +alarmed, Miss Sadie; don’t be at all alarmed!” though his own limbs were +twitching with agitation. Monsieur Fardet stamped about with a guttural +rolling of r’s, glancing angrily at his companions as if they had in +some way betrayed him; while the fat clergyman stood with his umbrella +up, staring stolidly with big, frightened eyes at the camel-men. +Cecil Brown curled his small, prim moustache, and looked white, but +contemptuous. The Colonel, Belmont, and the young Harvard graduate were +the three most cool-headed and resourceful members of the party. + +“Better stick together,” said the Colonel. “There’s no escape for us, +so we may as well remain united.” + +“They’ve halted,” said Belmont. + +“They are reconnoitring us. They know very well that there is no escape +from them, and they are taking their time. I don’t see what we can do.” + +“Suppose we hide the women,” Headingly suggested. “They can’t know how +many of us are here. When they have taken us, the women can come out of +their hiding-place and make their way back to the boat.” + +“Admirable!” cried Colonel Cochrane. “Admirable! This way, please, Miss +Adams. Bring the ladies here, Mansoor. There is not an instant to be +lost.” + +There was a part of the plateau which was invisible from the plain, and +here in feverish haste they built a little cairn. Many flaky slabs of +stone were lying about, and it did not take long to prop the largest of +these against a rock, so as to make a lean-to, and then to put two +side-pieces to complete it. The slabs were of the same colour as the +rock, so that to a casual glance the hiding-place was not very visible. +The two ladies were squeezed into this, and they crouched together, +Sadie’s arms thrown round her aunt. When they had walled them up, the +men turned with lighter hearts to see what was going on. As they did so +there rang out the sharp, peremptory crack of a rifle-shot from the +escort, followed by another and another, but these isolated shots were +drowned in the long, spattering roll of an irregular volley from the +plain, and the air was full of the phit-phit-phit of the bullets. +The tourists all huddled behind the rocks, with the exception of the +Frenchman, who still stamped angrily about, striking his sun-hat with +his clenched hand. Belmont and Cochrane crawled down to where the +Soudanese soldiers were firing slowly and steadily, resting their rifles +upon the boulders in front of them. + +The Arabs had halted about five hundred yards away, and it was evident +from their leisurely movements that they were perfectly aware that there +was no possible escape for the travellers. They had paused to ascertain +their number before closing in upon them. Most of them were firing from +the backs of their camels, but a few had dismounted and were kneeling +here and there--little shimmering white spots against the golden +back-ground. Their shots came sometimes singly in quick, sharp throbs, +and sometimes in a rolling volley, with a sound like a boy’s stick drawn +across iron railings. The hill buzzed like a bee-hive, and the bullets +made a sharp crackling as they struck against the rocks. + +“You do no good by exposing yourself,” said Belmont, drawing Colonel +Cochrane behind a large jagged boulder, which already furnished a +shelter for three of the Soudanese. “A bullet is the best we have to +hope for,” said Cochrane grimly. “What an infernal fool I have been, +Belmont, not to protest more energetically against this ridiculous +expedition! I deserve whatever I get, but it _is_ hard on these poor +souls who never knew the danger.” + +“I suppose there’s no help for us?” + +“Not the faintest.” + +“Don’t you think this firing might bring the troops up from Halfa?” + +“They’ll never hear it. It is a good six miles from here to the +steamer. From that to Halfa would be another five.” + +“Well, when we don’t return, the steamer will give the alarm.” + +“And where shall we be by that time?” + +“My poor Norah! My poor little Norah!” muttered Belmont, in the depths +of his grizzled moustache. + +“What do you suppose that they will do with us, Cochrane?” he asked +after a pause. + +“They may cut our throats, or they may take us as slaves to Khartoum. +I don’t know that there is much to choose. There’s one of us out of his +troubles anyhow.” + +The soldier next them had sat down abruptly, and leaned forward over his +knees. His movement and attitude were so natural that it was hard to +realise that he had been shot through the head. He neither stirred nor +groaned. His comrades bent over him for a moment, and then, shrugging +their shoulders, they turned their dark faces to the Arabs once more. +Belmont picked up the dead man’s Martini and his ammunition-pouch. + +“Only three more rounds, Cochrane,” said he, with the little brass +cylinders upon the palm of his hand. “We’ve let them shoot too soon, +and too often. We should have waited for the rush.” + +“You’re a famous shot, Belmont,” cried the Colonel. “I’ve heard of you +as one of the cracks. Don’t you think you could pick off their leader?” + +“Which is he?” + +“As far as I can make out, it is that one on the white camel on their +right front. I mean the fellow who is peering at us from under his two +hands.” + +Belmont thrust in his cartridge and altered the sights. “It’s a +shocking bad light for judging distance,” said he. “This is where the +low point-blank trajectory of the Lee-Metford comes in useful. Well, +we’ll try him at five hundred.” He fired, but there was no change in +the white camel or the peering rider. + +“Did you see any sand fly?” + +“No, I saw nothing.” + +“I fancy I took my sight a trifle too full.” + +“Try him again.” + +Man and rifle and rock were equally steady, but again the camel and +chief remained un-harmed. The third shot must have been nearer, for he +moved a few paces to the right, as if he were becoming restless. +Belmont threw the empty rifle down, with an exclamation of disgust. + +“It’s this confounded light,” he cried, and his cheeks flushed with +annoyance. “Think of my wasting three cartridges in that fashion! +If I had him at Bisley I’d shoot the turban off him, but this vibrating +glare means refraction. What’s the matter with the Frenchman?” + +Monsieur Fardet was stamping about the plateau with the gestures of a +man who has been stung by a wasp. “_S’cre nom! S’cre nom!_” he +shouted, showing his strong white teeth under his black waxed moustache. +He wrung his right hand violently, and as he did so he sent a little +spray of blood from his finger-tips. A bullet had chipped his wrist. +Headingly ran out from the cover where he had been crouching, with the +intention of dragging the demented Frenchman into a place of safety, but +he had not taken three paces before he was himself hit in the loins, and +fell with a dreadful crash among the stones. He staggered to his feet, +and then fell again in the same place, floundering up and down like a +horse which has broken its back. “I’m done!” he whispered, as the +Colonel ran to his aid, and then he lay still, with his china-white +cheek against the black stones. When, but a year before, he had +wandered under the elms of Cambridge, surely the last fate upon this +earth which he could have predicted for himself would be that he should +be slain by the bullet of a fanatical Mohammedan in the wilds of the +Libyan Desert. + +Meanwhile the fire of the escort had ceased, for they had shot away +their last cartridge. A second man had been killed, and a third--who +was the corporal in charge--had received a bullet in his thigh. He sat +upon a stone, tying up his injury with a grave, preoccupied look upon +his wrinkled black face, like an old woman piecing together a broken +plate. The three others fastened their bayonets with a determined +metallic rasp and snap, and the air of men who intended to sell their +lives dearly. + +“They’re coming!” cried Belmont, looking over the plain. + +“Let them come!” the Colonel answered, putting his hands into his +trouser-pockets. Suddenly he pulled one fist out, and shook it +furiously in the air. “Oh, the cads! the confounded cads!” he shouted, +and his eyes were congested with rage. + +It was the fate of the poor donkey-boys which had carried the +self-contained soldier out of his usual calm. During the firing they +had remained huddled, a pitiable group, among the rocks at the base of +the hill. Now upon the conviction that the charge of the Dervishes must +come first upon them, they had sprung upon their animals with shrill, +inarticulate cries of fear, and had galloped off across the plain. +A small flanking-party of eight or ten camel-men had worked round while +the firing had been going on, and these dashed in among the flying +donkey-boys, hacking and hewing with a cold-blooded, deliberate +ferocity. One little boy, in a flapping Galabeeah, kept ahead of his +pursuers for a time, but the long stride of the camels ran him down, and +an Arab thrust his spear into the middle of his stooping back. The +small, white-clad corpses looked like a flock of sheep trailing over the +desert. + +But the people upon the rock had no time to think of the cruel fate of +the donkey-boys. Even the Colonel, after that first indignant outburst, +had forgotten all about them. The advancing camel-men had trotted to +the bottom of the hill, had dismounted, and leaving their camels +kneeling, had rushed furiously onward. Fifty of them were clambering up +the path and over the rocks together, their red turbans appearing and +vanishing again as they scrambled over the boulders. Without a shot or +a pause they surged over the three black soldiers, killing one and +stamping the other two down under their hurrying feet. So they burst on +to the plateau at the top, where an unexpected resistance checked them +for an instant. + +The travellers, nestling up against one another, had awaited, each after +his own fashion, the coming of the Arabs. The Colonel, with his hands +back in his trouser-pockets, tried to whistle out of his dry lips. +Belmont folded his arms and leaned against a rock, with a sulky frown +upon his lowering face. So strangely do our minds act that his three +successive misses, and the tarnish to his reputation as a marksman, was +troubling him more than his impending fate. Cecil Brown stood erect, +and plucked nervously at the up-turned points of his little prim +moustache. Monsieur Fardet groaned over his wounded wrist. +Mr. Stephens, in sombre impotence, shook his head slowly, the living +embodiment of prosaic law and order. Mr. Stuart stood, his umbrella +still over him, with no expression upon his heavy face, or in his +staring brown eyes. Headingly lay with that china-white cheek resting +motionless upon the stones. His sun-hat had fallen off, and he looked +quite boyish with his ruffled yellow hair and his un-lined, clean-cut +face. The dragoman sat upon a stone and played nervously with his +donkey-whip. So the Arabs found them when they reached the summit of +the hill. + +And then, just as the foremost rushed to lay hands upon them, a most +unexpected incident arrested them. From the time of the first +appearance of the Dervishes the fat clergyman of Birmingham had looked +like a man in a cataleptic trance. He had neither moved nor spoken. +But now he suddenly woke at a bound into strenuous and heroic energy. +It may have been the mania of fear, or it may have been the blood of +some Berserk ancestor which stirred suddenly in his veins; but he broke +into a wild shout, and, catching up a stick, he struck right and left +among the Arabs with a fury which was more savage than their own. +One who helped to draw up this narrative has left it upon record that, +of all the pictures which have been burned into his brain, there is none +so clear as that of this man, his large face shining with perspiration, +and his great body dancing about with unwieldy agility, as he struck at +the shrinking, snarling savages. Then a spear-head flashed from behind +a rock with a quick, vicious, upward thrust, the clergyman fell upon his +hands and knees, and the horde poured over him to seize their +unresisting victims. Knives glimmered before their eyes, rude hands +clutched at their wrists and at their throats, and then, with brutal and +unreasoning violence, they were hauled and pushed down the steep winding +path to where the camels were waiting below. The Frenchman waved his +unwounded hand as he walked. “_Vive le Khalifa! Vive le Madhi!_” he +shouted, until a blow from behind with the butt-end of a Remington beat +him into silence. + +And now they were herded in at the base of the Abousir rock, this little +group of modern types who had fallen into the rough clutch of the +seventh century--for in all save the rifles in their hands there was +nothing to distinguish these men from the desert warriors who first +carried the crescent flag out of Arabia. The East does not change, and +the Dervish raiders were not less brave, less cruel, or less fanatical +than their forebears. They stood in a circle, leaning upon their guns +and spears, and looking with exultant eyes at the dishevelled group of +captives. They were clad in some approach to a uniform, red turbans +gathered around the neck as well as the head, so that the fierce face +looked out of a scarlet frame; yellow, untanned shoes, and white tunics +with square brown patches let into them. All carried rifles, and one +had a small discoloured bugle slung over his shoulder. Half of them +were negroes--fine, muscular men, with the limbs of a jet Hercules; and +the other half were Baggara Arabs--small, brown, and wiry, with little, +vicious eyes, and thin, cruel lips. The chief was also a Baggara, but +he was a taller man than the others, with a black beard which came down +over his chest, and a pair of hard, cold eyes, which gleamed like glass +from under his thick, black brows. They were fixed now upon his +captives, and his features were grave with thought. Mr. Stuart had been +brought down, his hat gone, his face still flushed with anger, and his +trousers sticking in one part to his leg. The two surviving Soudanese +soldiers, their black faces and blue coats blotched with crimson, stood +silently at attention upon one side of this forlorn group of castaways. + +The chief stood for some minutes, stroking his black beard, while his +fierce eyes glanced from one pale face to another along the miserable +line of his captives. In a harsh, imperious voice he said something +which brought Mansoor, the dragoman, to the front, with bent back and +outstretched supplicating palms. To his employers there had always +seemed to be something comic in that flapping skirt and short cover-coat +above it; but now, under the glare of the mid-day sun, with those faces +gathered round them, it appeared rather to add a grotesque horror to the +scene. The dragoman salaamed and salaamed like some ungainly automatic +doll, and then, as the chief rasped out a curt word or two, he fell +suddenly upon his face, rubbing his forehead into the sand, and flapping +upon it with his hands. + +“What’s that, Cochrane?” asked Belmont. “Why is he making an exhibition +of himself?” + +“As far as I can understand, it is all up with us,” the Colonel +answered. + +“But this is absurd,” cried the Frenchman excitedly; “why should these +people wish any harm to me? I have never injured them. On the other +hand, I have always been their friend. If I could but speak to them, I +would make them comprehend. Hola, dragoman, Mansoor!” + +The excited gestures of Monsieur Fardet drew the sinister eyes of the +Baggara chief upon him. Again he asked a curt question, and Mansoor, +kneeling in front of him, answered it. + +“Tell him that I am a Frenchman, dragoman. Tell him that I am a friend +of the Khalifa. Tell him that my countrymen have never had any quarrel +with him, but that his enemies are also ours.” + +“The chief asks what religion you call your own,” said Mansoor. “The +Khalifa, he says, has no necessity for any friendship from those who are +infidels and unbelievers.” + +“Tell him that in France we look upon all religions as good.” + +“The chief says that none but a blaspheming dog and the son of a dog +would say that all religions are one as good as the other. He says that +if you are indeed the friend of the Khalifa, you will accept the Koran +and become a true believer upon the spot. If you will do so he will +promise on his side to send you alive to Khartoum.” + +“And if not?” + +“You will fare in the same way as the others.” + +“Then you may make my compliments to monsieur the chief, and tell him +that it is not the custom for Frenchmen to change their religion under +compulsion.” + +The chief said a few words, and then turned to consult with a short, +sturdy Arab at his elbow. + +“He says, Monsieur Fardet,” said the dragoman, “that if you speak again +he will make a trough out of you for the dogs to feed from. Say nothing +to anger him, sir, for he is now talking what is to be done with us.” + +“Who is he?” asked the Colonel. + +“It is Ali Wad Ibrahim, the same who raided last year, and killed all of +the Nubian village.” + +“I’ve heard of him,” said the Colonel. “He has the name of being one of +the boldest and the most fanatical of all the Khalifa’s leaders. Thank +God that the women are out of his clutches.” + +The two Arabs had been talking in that stern, restrained fashion which +comes so strangely from a southern race. Now they both turned to the +dragoman, who was still kneeling upon the sand. They plied him with +questions, pointing first to one and then to another of their prisoners. +Then they conferred together once more, and finally said something to +Mansoor, with a contemptuous wave of the hand to indicate that he might +convey it to the others. + +“Thank Heaven, gentlemen, I think that we are saved for the present +time,” said Mansoor, wiping away the sand which had stuck to his +perspiring forehead. “Ali Wad Ibrahim says that though an unbeliever +should have only the edge of the sword from one of the sons of the +Prophet, yet it might be of more profit to the beit-el-mal at Omdurman +if it had the gold which your people will pay for you. Until it comes +you can work as the slaves of the Khalifa, unless he should decide to +put you to death. You are to mount yourselves upon the spare camels and +to ride with the party.” + +The chief had waited for the end of the explanation. “Now he gave a +brief order, and a negro stepped forward with a long, dull-coloured +sword in his hand. The dragoman squealed like a rabbit who sees a +ferret, and threw himself frantically down upon the sand once more. + +“What is it, Cochrane?” asked Cecil Brown--for the Colonel had served in +the East, and was the only one of the travellers who had a smattering of +Arabic. + +“As far as I can make out, he says there is no use keeping the dragoman, +as no one would trouble to pay a ransom for him, and he is too fat to +make a good slave.” + +“Poor devil!” cried Brown. “Here, Cochrane, tell them to let him go. +We can’t let him be butchered like this in front of us. Say that we +will find the money amongst us. I will be answerable for any reasonable +sum.” + +“I’ll stand in as far as my means will allow,” cried Belmont. + +“We will sign a joint bond or indemnity,” said the lawyer. “If I had a +paper and pencil I could throw it into shape in an instant, and the +chief could rely upon its being perfectly correct and valid.” + +But the Colonel’s Arabic was insufficient, and Mansoor himself was too +maddened by fear to understand the offer which was being made for him. +The negro looked a question at the chief, and then his long black arm +swung upwards and his sword hissed over his shoulder. But the dragoman +had screamed out something which arrested the blow, and which brought +the chief and the lieutenant to his side with a new interest upon their +swarthy faces. The others crowded in also, and formed a dense circle +around the grovelling, pleading man. + +The Colonel had not understood this sudden change, nor had the others +fathomed the reason of it, but some instinct flashed it upon Stephens’s +horrified perceptions. + +“Oh, you villain!” he cried furiously. “Hold your tongue, you miserable +creature! Be silent! Better die--a thousand times better die!” + +But it was too late, and already they could all see the base design by +which the coward hoped to save his own life. He was about to betray the +women. They saw the chief, with a brave man’s contempt upon his stern +face, make a sign of haughty assent, and then Mansoor spoke rapidly and +earnestly, pointing up the hill. At a word from the Baggara, a dozen of +the raiders rushed up the path and were lost to view upon the top. +Then came a shrill cry, a horrible strenuous scream of surprise and +terror, and an instant later the party streamed into sight again, +dragging the women in their midst. Sadie, with her young, active limbs, +kept up with them, as they sprang down the slope, encouraging her aunt +all the while over her shoulder. The older lady, struggling amid the +rushing white figures, looked with her thin limbs and open mouth like a +chicken being dragged from a coop. + +The chief’s dark eyes glanced indifferently at Miss Adams, but gazed +with a smouldering fire at the younger woman. Then he gave an abrupt +order, and the prisoners were hurried in a miserable, hopeless drove to +the cluster of kneeling camels. Their pockets had already been +ransacked, and the contents thrown into one of the camel-food bags, the +neck of which was tied up by Ali Wad Ibrahim’s own hands. + +“I say, Cochrane,” whispered Belmont, looking with smouldering eyes at +the wretched Mansoor, “I’ve got a little hip revolver which they have +not discovered. Shall I shoot that cursed dragoman for giving away the +women?” + +The Colonel shook his head. + +“You had better keep it,” said he, with a sombre face. “The women may +find some other use for it before all is over.” + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The camels, some brown and some white, were kneeling in a long line, +their champing jaws moving rhythmically from side to side, and their +gracefully poised heads turning to right and left in a mincing, +self-conscious fashion. Most of them were beautiful creatures, true +Arabian trotters, with the slim limbs and finely turned necks which mark +the breed; but among them were a few of the slower, heavier beasts, with +ungroomed skins, disfigured by the black scars of old firings. These +were loaded with the doora and the waterskins of the raiders, but a few +minutes sufficed to redistribute their loads and to make place for the +prisoners. None of these had been bound with the exception of Mr. +Stuart--for the Arabs, understanding that he was a clergyman, and +accustomed to associate religion with violence, had looked upon his +fierce outburst as quite natural, and regarded him now as the most +dangerous and enterprising of their captives. His hands were therefore +tied together with a plaited camel-halter, but the others, including the +dragoman and the two wounded blacks, were allowed to mount without any +precaution against their escape, save that which was afforded by the +slowness of their beasts. Then, with a shouting of men and a roaring of +camels, the creatures were jolted on to their legs, and the long, +straggling procession set off with its back to the homely river, and its +face to the shimmering, violet haze, which hung round the huge sweep of +beautiful, terrible desert, striped tiger-fashion with black rock and +with golden sand. + +None of the white prisoners, with the exception of Colonel Cochrane, had +ever been upon a camel before. It seemed an alarming distance to the +ground when they looked down, and the curious swaying motion, with the +insecurity of the saddle, made them sick and frightened. But their +bodily discomfort was forgotten in the turmoil of bitter thoughts +within. What a chasm gaped between their old life and their new! And +yet how short was the time and space which divided them! Less than an +hour ago they had stood upon the summit of that rock, and had laughed +and chattered, or grumbled at the heat and flies, becoming peevish at +small discomforts. Headingly had been hypercritical over the tints of +Nature. They could not forget his own tint as he lay with his cheek +upon the black stone. Sadie had chattered about tailor-made dresses and +Parisian chiffons. Now she was clinging, half-crazy, to the pommel of a +wooden saddle, with suicide rising as a red star of hope in her mind. +Humanity, reason, argument--all were gone, and there remained the brutal +humiliation of force. And all the time, down there by the second rocky +point, their steamer was waiting for them--their saloon, with the white +napery and the glittering glasses, the latest novel, and the London +papers. The least imaginative of them could see it so clearly: the +white awning, Mrs. Shlesinger with her yellow sun-hat, Mrs. Belmont +lying back in the canvas chair. There it lay almost in sight of them, +that little floating chip broken off from home, and every silent, +ungainly step of the camels was carrying them more hopelessly away from +it. That very morning how beneficent Providence had appeared, how +pleasant was life!--a little commonplace, perhaps, but so soothing and +restful. And now! + +The red head-gear, patched jibbehs, and yellow boots had already shown +to the Colonel that these men were no wandering party of robbers, but a +troop from the regular army of the Khalifa. Now, as they struck across +the desert, they showed that they possessed the rude discipline which +their work demanded. A mile ahead, and far out on either flank, rode +their scouts, dipping and rising among the yellow sand-hills. Ali Wad +Ibrahim headed the caravan, and his short, sturdy lieutenant brought up +the rear. The main party straggled over a couple of hundred yards, and +in the middle was the little, dejected clump of prisoners. No attempt +was made to keep them apart, and Mr. Stephens soon contrived that his +camel should be between those of the two ladies. + +“Don’t be down-hearted, Miss Adams,” said he. “This is a most +indefensible outrage, but there can be no question that steps will be +taken in the proper quarter to set the matter right. I am convinced +that we shall be subjected to nothing worse than a temporary +inconvenience. If it had not been for that villain Mansoor, you need +not have appeared at all.” + +It was shocking to see the change in the little Bostonian lady, for she +had shrunk to an old woman in an hour. Her swarthy cheeks had fallen +in, and her eyes shone wildly from sunken, darkened sockets. +Her frightened glances were continually turned upon Sadie. There is +surely some wrecker angel which can only gather her best treasures in +moments of disaster. For here were all these worldlings going to their +doom, and already frivolity and selfishness had passed away from them, +and each was thinking and grieving only for the other. Sadie thought of +her aunt, her aunt thought of Sadie, the men thought of the women, +Belmont thought of his wife--and then he thought of something else also, +and he kicked his camel’s shoulder with his heel, until he found himself +upon the near side of Miss Adams. + +“I’ve got something for you here,” he whispered. “We may be separated +soon, so it is as well to make our arrangements.” + +“Separated!” wailed Miss Adams. + +“Don’t speak loud, for that infernal Mansoor may give us away again. +I hope it won’t be so, but it might. We must be prepared for the worst. +For example, they might determine to get rid of us men and to keep you.” + +Miss Adams shuddered. + +“What am I to do? For God’s sake tell me what I am to do, Mr. Belmont! +I am an old woman. I have had my day. I could stand it if it was only +myself. But Sadie--I am clean crazed when I think of her. There’s her +mother waiting at home, and I--” She clasped her thin hands together in +the agony of her thoughts. + +“Put your hand out under your dust-cloak,” said Belmont, sidling his +camel up against hers. “Don’t miss your grip of it. There! Now hide +it in your dress, and you’ll always have a key to unlock any door.” + +Miss Adams felt what it was which he had slipped into her hand, and she +looked at him for a moment in bewilderment. Then she pursed up her lips +and shook her stern, brown face in disapproval. But she pushed the +little pistol into its hiding-place, all the same, and she rode with her +thoughts in a whirl. Could this indeed be she, Eliza Adams, of Boston, +whose narrow, happy life had oscillated between the comfortable house in +Commonwealth Avenue and the Tremont Presbyterian Church? Here she was, +hunched upon a camel, with her hand upon the butt of a pistol, and her +mind weighing the justifications of murder. Oh, life, sly, sleek, +treacherous life, how are we ever to trust you? Show us your worst and +we can face it, but it is when you are sweetest and smoothest that we +have most to fear from you. + +“At the worst, Miss Sadie, it will only be a question of ransom,” said +Stephens, arguing against his own convictions. “Besides, we are still +close to Egypt, far away from the Dervish country. There is sure to be +an energetic pursuit. You must try not to lose your courage, and to +hope for the best.” + +“No, I am not scared, Mr. Stephens,” said Sadie, turning towards him a +blanched face which belied her words. “We’re all in God’s hands, and +surely He won’t be cruel to us. It is easy to talk about trusting Him +when things are going well, but now is the real test. If He’s up there +behind that blue heaven--” + +“He is,” said a voice behind them, and they found that the Birmingham +clergyman had joined the party. His tied hands clutched on to his +Makloofa saddle, and his fat body swayed dangerously from side to side +with every stride of the camel. His wounded leg was oozing with blood +and clotted with flies, and the burning desert sun beat down upon his +bare head, for he had lost both hat and umbrella in the scuffle. +A rising fever flecked his large, white cheeks with a touch of colour, +and brought a light into his brown ox-eyes. He had always seemed a +somewhat gross and vulgar person to his fellow-travellers. Now, this +bitter healing draught of sorrow had transformed him. He was purified, +spiritualised, exalted. He had become so calmly strong that he made the +others feel stronger as they looked upon him. He spoke of life and of +death, of the present, and their hopes of the future; and the black +cloud of their misery began to show a golden rift or two. Cecil Brown +shrugged his shoulders, for he could not change in an hour the +convictions of his life; but the others, even Fardet, the Frenchman, +were touched and strengthened. They all took off their hats when he +prayed. Then the Colonel made a turban out of his red silk cummerbund, +and insisted that Mr. Stuart should wear it. With his homely dress and +gorgeous headgear, he looked like a man who has dressed up to amuse the +children. + +And now the dull, ceaseless, insufferable torment of thirst was added to +the aching weariness which came from the motion of the camels. The sun +glared down upon them, and then up again from the yellow sand, and the +great plain shimmered and glowed until they felt as if they were riding +over a cooling sheet of molten metal. Their lips were parched and +dried, and their tongues like tags of leather. They lisped curiously in +their speech, for it was only the vowel sounds which would come without +an effort. Miss Adams’s chin had dropped upon her chest, and her great +hat concealed her face. + +“Auntie will faint if she does not get water,” said Sadie. “Oh, Mr. +Stephens, is there nothing we could do?” + +The Dervishes riding near were all Baggara with the exception of one +negro--an uncouth fellow with a face pitted with small-pox. +His expression seemed good-natured when compared with that of his Arab +comrades, and Stephens ventured to touch his elbow and to point to his +water-skin, and then to the exhausted lady. The negro shook his head +brusquely, but at the same time he glanced significantly towards the +Arabs, as if to say that, if it were not for them, he might act +differently. Then he laid his black forefinger upon the breast of his +jibbeh. + +“Tippy Tilly,” said he. + +“What’s that?” asked Colonel Cochrane. + +“Tippy Tilly,” repeated the negro, sinking his voice as if he wished +only the prisoners to hear him. + +The Colonel shook his head. + +“My Arabic won’t bear much strain. I don’t know what he is saying,” +said he. + +“Tippy Tilly. Hicks Pasha,” the negro repeated. + +“I believe the fellow is friendly to us, but I can’t quite make him +out,” said Cochrane to Belmont. “Do you think that he means that his +name is Tippy Tilly, and that he killed Hicks Pasha?” + +The negro showed his great white teeth at hearing his own words coming +back to him. “Aiwa!” said he. “Tippy Tilly--Bimbashi Mormer--Boum!” + +“By Jove, I’ve got it!” cried Belmont. “He’s trying to speak English. +Tippy Tilly is as near as he can get to Egyptian Artillery. He has +served in the Egyptian Artillery under Bimbashi Mortimer. He was taken +prisoner when Hicks Pasha was destroyed, and had to turn Dervish to save +his skin. How’s that?” + +The Colonel said a few words of Arabic and received a reply, but two of +the Arabs closed up, and the negro quickened his pace and left them. + +“You are quite right,” said the Colonel. “The fellow is friendly to us, +and would rather fight for the Khedive than for the Khalifa. I don’t +know that he can do us any good, but I’ve been in worse holes than this, +and come out right side up. After all, we are not out of reach of +pursuit, and won’t be for another forty-eight hours.” + +Belmont calculated the matter out in his slow, deliberate fashion. + +“It was about twelve that we were on the rock,” said he. “They would +become alarmed aboard the steamer if we did not appear at two.” + +“Yes,” the Colonel interrupted, “that was to be our lunch hour. +I remember saying that when I came back I would have--O Lord, it’s best +not to think of it!” + +“The reis was a sleepy old crock,” Belmont continued, “but I have +absolute confidence in the promptness and decision of my wife. +She would insist upon an immediate alarm being given. Suppose they +started back at two-thirty, they should be at Halfa by three, since the +journey is down stream. How long did they say that it took to turn out +the Camel Corps?” + +“Give them an hour.” + +“And another hour to get them across the river. They would be at the +Abousir Rock and pick up the tracks by six o’clock. After that it is a +clear race. We are only four hours ahead, and some of these beasts are +very spent. We may be saved yet, Cochrane!” + +“Some of us may. I don’t expect to see the padre alive to-morrow, nor +Miss Adams either. They are not made for this sort of thing either of +them. Then again we must not forget that these people have a trick of +murdering their prisoners when they see that there is a chance of a +rescue. See here, Belmont, in case you get back and I don’t, there’s a +matter of a mortgage that I want you to set right for me.” They rode on +with their shoulders inclined to each other, deep in the details of +business. + +The friendly negro who had talked of himself as Tippy Tilly had managed +to slip a piece of cloth soaked in water into the hand of Mr. Stephens, +and Miss Adams had moistened her lips with it. Even the few drops had +given her renewed strength, and now that the first crushing shock was +over, her wiry, elastic, Yankee nature began to reassert itself. + +“These people don’t look as if they would harm us, Mr. Stephens,” said +she. “I guess they have a working religion of their own, such as it is, +and that what’s wrong to us is wrong to them.” + +Stephens shook his head in silence. He had seen the death of the +donkey-boys, and she had not. + +“Maybe we are sent to guide them into a better path,” said the old lady. +“Maybe we are specially singled out for a good work among them.” + +If it were not for her niece her energetic and enterprising temperament +was capable of glorying in the chance of evangelising Khartoum, and +turning Omdurman into a little well-drained broad-avenued replica of a +New England town. + +“Do you know what I am thinking of all the time?” said Sadie. +“You remember that temple that we saw--when was it? Why, it was this +morning.” + +They gave an exclamation of surprise, all three of them. Yes, it had +been this morning; and it seemed away and away in some dim past +experience of their lives, so vast was the change, so new and so +overpowering the thoughts which had come between. They rode in silence, +full of this strange expansion of time, until at last Stephens reminded +Sadie that she had left her remark unfinished. + +“Oh yes; it was the wall picture on that temple that I was thinking of. +Do you remember the poor string of prisoners who are being dragged along +to the feet of the great king--how dejected they looked among the +warriors who led them? Who could--who _could_ have thought that within +three hours the same fate should be our own? And Mr. Headingly--” +She turned her face away and began to cry. + +“Don’t take on, Sadie,” said her aunt; “remember what the minister said +just now, that we are all right there in the hollow of God’s hand. +Where do you think we are going, Mr. Stephens?” + +The red edge of his Baedeker still projected from the lawyer’s pocket, +for it had not been worth their captor’s while to take it. He glanced +down at it. + +“If they will only leave me this, I will look up a few references when +we halt. I have a general idea of the country, for I drew a small map +of it the other day. The river runs from south to north, so we must be +travelling almost due west. I suppose they feared pursuit if they kept +too near the Nile bank. There is a caravan route, I remember, which +runs parallel to the river, about seventy miles inland. If we continue +in this direction for a day we ought to come to it. There is a line of +wells through which it passes. It comes out at Assiout, if I remember +right, upon the Egyptian side. On the other side, it leads away into +the Dervish country--so, perhaps--” + +His words were interrupted by a high, eager voice, which broke suddenly +into a torrent of jostling words, words without meaning, pouring +strenuously out in angry assertions and foolish repetitions. The pink +had deepened to scarlet upon Mr. Stuart’s cheeks, his eyes were vacant +but brilliant, and he gabbled, gabbled, gabbled as he rode. +Kindly mother Nature! she will not let her children be mishandled too +far. “This is too much,” she says; “this wounded leg, these crusted +lips, this anxious, weary mind. Come away for a time, until your body +becomes more habitable.” And so she coaxes the mind away into the +Nirvana of delirium, while the little cell-workers tinker and toil +within to get things better for its homecoming. When you see the veil +of cruelty which nature wears, try and peer through it, and you will +sometimes catch a glimpse of a very homely, kindly face behind. + +The Arab guards looked askance at this sudden outbreak of the clergyman, +for it verged upon lunacy, and lunacy is to them a fearsome and +supernatural thing. One of them rode forward and spoke with the Emir. +When he returned he said something to his comrades, one of whom closed +in upon each side of the minister’s camel, so as to prevent him from +falling. The friendly negro sidled his beast up to the Colonel, and +whispered to him. + +“We are going to halt presently, Belmont,” said Cochrane. + +“Thank God! They may give us some water. We can’t go on like this.” + +“I told Tippy Tilly that, if he could help us, we would turn him into a +Bimbashi when we got him back into Egypt. I think he’s willing enough +if he only had the power. By Jove, Belmont, do look back at the river.” + +Their route, which had lain through sand-strewn khors with jagged, black +edges--places up which one would hardly think it possible that a camel +could climb--opened out now on to a hard, rolling plain, covered thickly +with rounded pebbles, dipping and rising to the violet hills upon the +horizon. So regular were the long, brown pebble-strewn curves, that +they looked like the dark rollers of some monstrous ground-swell. Here +and there a little straggling sage-green tuft of camel-grass sprouted up +between the stones. Brown plains and violet hills--nothing else in +front of them! Behind lay the black jagged rocks through which they had +passed with orange slopes of sand, and then far away a thin line of +green to mark the course of the river. How cool and beautiful that +green looked in the stark, abominable wilderness! On one side they +could see the high rock--the accursed rock which had tempted them to +their ruin. On the other the river curved, and the sun gleamed upon the +water. Oh, that liquid gleam, and the insurgent animal cravings, the +brutal primitive longings, which for the instant took the soul out of +all of them! They had lost families, countries, liberty, everything, +but it was only of water, water, water, that they could think. Mr. +Stuart in his delirium began roaring for oranges, and it was +insufferable for them to have to listen to him. Only the rough, sturdy +Irishman rose superior to that bodily craving. That gleam of river must +be somewhere near Halfa, and his wife might be upon the very water at +which he looked. He pulled his hat over his eyes, and rode in gloomy +silence, biting at his strong, iron-grey moustache. + +Slowly the sun sank towards the west, and their shadows began to trail +along the path where their hearts would go. It was cooler, and a desert +breeze had sprung up, whispering over the rolling, stone-strewed plain. +The Emir at their head had called his lieutenant to his side, and the +pair had peered about, their eyes shaded by their hands, looking for +some landmark. Then, with a satisfied grunt, the chief’s camel had +seemed to break short off at its knees, and then at its hocks, going +down in three curious, broken-jointed jerks until its stomach was +stretched upon the ground. As each succeeding camel reached the spot it +lay down also, until they were all stretched in one long line. +The riders sprang off, and laid out the chopped tibbin upon cloths in +front of them, for no well-bred camel will eat from the ground. +In their gentle eyes, their quiet, leisurely way of eating, and their +condescending, mincing manner, there was something both feminine and +genteel, as though a party of prim old maids had foregathered in the +heart of the Libyan Desert. + +There was no interference with the prisoners, either male or female, for +how could they escape in the centre of that huge plain? The Emir came +towards them once, and stood combing out his blue-black beard with his +fingers, and looking thoughtfully at them out of his dark, sinister +eyes. Miss Adams saw with a shudder that it was always upon Sadie that +his gaze was fixed. Then, seeing their distress, he gave an order, and +a negro brought a water-skin, from which he gave each of them about half +a tumblerful. It was hot and muddy, and tasted of leather, but oh how +delightful it was to their parched palates! The Emir said a few abrupt +words to the dragoman, and left. + +“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mansoor began, with something of his old +consequential manner; but a glare from the Colonel’s eyes struck the +words from his lips, and he broke away into a long, whimpering excuse +for his conduct. + +“How could I do anything otherwise,” he wailed, “with the very knife at +my throat?” + +“You will have the very rope round your throat if we all see Egypt +again,” growled Cochrane savagely. “In the meantime--” + +“That’s all right, Colonel,” said Belmont. “But for our own sakes we +ought to know what the chief has said.” + +“For my part I’ll have nothing to do with the blackguard.” + +“I think that that is going too far. We are bound to hear what he has +to say.” Cochrane shrugged his shoulders. Privations had made him +irritable, and he had to bite his lip to keep down a bitter answer. +He walked slowly away, with his straight-legged military stride. + +“What did he say, then?” asked Belmont, looking at the dragoman with an +eye which was as stern as the Colonel’s. + +“He seems to be in a somewhat better manner than before. He said that +if he had more water you should have it, but that he is himself short in +supply. He said that to-morrow we shall come to the wells of Selimah, +and everybody shall have plenty--and the camels too.” + +“Did he say how long we stopped here?” + +“Very little rest, he said, and then forward! Oh, Mr. Belmont--” + +“Hold your tongue!” snapped the Irishman, and began once more to count +times and distances. If it all worked out as he expected, if his wife +had insisted upon the indolent reis giving an instant alarm at Halfa, +then the pursuers should be already upon their track. The Camel Corps +or the Egyptian Horse would travel by moonlight better and faster than +in the day-time. He knew that it was the custom at Halfa to keep at +least a squadron of them all ready to start at any instant. He had +dined at the mess, and the officers had told him how quickly they could +take the field. They had shown him the water-tanks and the food beside +each of the beasts, and he had admired the completeness of the +arrangements, with little thought as to what it might mean to him in the +future. It would be at least an hour before they would all get started +again from their present halting-place. That would be a clear hour +gained. Perhaps by next morning-- + +And then, suddenly, his thoughts were terribly interrupted. +The Colonel, raving like a madman, appeared upon the crest of the +nearest slope, with an Arab hanging on to each of his wrists. His face +was purple with rage and excitement, and he tugged and bent and writhed +in his furious efforts to get free. “You cursed murderers!” he +shrieked, and then, seeing the others in front of him, “Belmont,” he +cried, “they’ve killed Cecil Brown.” + +What had happened was this. In his conflict with his own ill-humour, +Cochrane had strolled over this nearest crest, and had found a group of +camels in the hollow beyond, with a little knot of angry, loud-voiced +men beside them. Brown was the centre of the group, pale, heavy-eyed, +with his upturned, spiky moustache and listless manner. They had +searched his pockets before, but now they were determined to tear off +all his clothes in the hope of finding something which he had secreted. +A hideous negro with silver bangles in his ears, grinned and jabbered in +the young diplomatist’s impassive face. There seemed to the Colonel to +be something heroic and almost inhuman in that white calm, and those +abstracted eyes. His coat was already open, and the Negro’s great black +paw flew up to his neck and tore his shirt down to the waist. And at +the sound of that r-r-rip, and at the abhorrent touch of those coarse +fingers, this man about town, this finished product of the nineteenth +century, dropped his life-traditions and became a savage facing a +savage. His face flushed, his lips curled back, he chattered his teeth +like an ape, and his eyes--those indolent eyes which had always twinkled +so placidly--were gorged and frantic. He threw himself upon the negro, +and struck him again and again, feebly but viciously, in his broad, +black face. He hit like a girl, round arm, with an open palm. The man +winced away for an instant, appalled by this sudden blaze of passion. +Then with an impatient, snarling cry, he slid a knife from his long +loose sleeve and struck upwards under the whirling arm. Brown sat down +at the blow and began to cough--to cough as a man coughs who has choked +at dinner, furiously, ceaselessly, spasm after spasm. Then the angry +red cheeks turned to a mottled pallor, there were liquid sounds in his +throat, and, clapping his hand to his mouth, he rolled over on to his +side. The negro, with a brutal grunt of contempt, slid his knife up his +sleeve once more, while the Colonel, frantic with impotent anger, was +seized by the bystanders, and dragged, raving with fury, back to his +forlorn party. His hands were lashed with a camel-halter, and he lay at +last, in bitter silence, beside the delirious Nonconformist. + +So Headingly was gone, and Cecil Brown was gone, and their haggard eyes +were turned from one pale face to another, to know which they should +lose next of that frieze of light-hearted riders who had stood out so +clearly against the blue morning sky, when viewed from the deck-chairs +of the _Korosko_. Two gone out of ten, and a third out of his mind. +The pleasure trip was drawing to its climax. + +Fardet, the Frenchman, was sitting alone with his chin resting upon his +hands, and his elbows upon his knees, staring miserably out over the +desert, when Belmont saw him start suddenly and prick up his head like a +dog who hears a strange step. Then, with clenched fingers, he bent his +face forward and stared fixedly towards the black eastern hills through +which they had passed. Belmont followed his gaze, and, yes-yes--there +was something moving there! He saw the twinkle of metal, and the sudden +gleam and flutter of some white garment. A Dervish vedette upon the +flank turned his camel twice round as a danger signal, and discharged +his rifle in the air. The echo of the crack had hardly died away before +they were all in their saddles, Arabs and negroes. Another instant, and +the camels were on their feet and moving slowly towards the point of +alarm. Several armed men surrounded the prisoners, slipping cartridges +into their Remingtons as a hint to them to remain still. + +“By Heaven, they are men on camels!” cried Cochrane, his troubles all +forgotten as he strained his eyes to catch sight of these new-comers. +“I do believe that it is our own people.” In the confusion he had tugged +his hands free from the halter which bound them. + +“They’ve been smarter than I gave them credit for,” said Belmont, his +eyes shining from under his thick brows. “They are here a long two +hours before we could have reasonably expected them. Hurrah, Monsieur +Fardet, _ça va bien, n’est ce pas?_” + +“Hurrah, hurrah! _merveilleusement bien! Vivent les Anglais! Vivent +les Anglais!_” yelled the excited Frenchman, as the head of a column of +camelry began to wind out from among the rocks. + +“See here, Belmont,” cried the Colonel. “These fellows will want to +shoot us if they see it is all up. I know their ways, and we must be +ready for it. Will you be ready to jump on the fellow with the blind +eye? and I’ll take the big nigger, if I can get my arms round him. +Stephens, you must do what you can. You, Fardet, _comprenez vous? +Il est necessaire_ to plug these Johnnies before they can hurt us. +You, dragoman, tell those two Soudanese soldiers that they must be +ready--but, but” ... his words died into a murmur, and he swallowed +once or twice. “These are Arabs,” said he, and it sounded like another +voice. + +Of all the bitter day, it was the very bitterest moment. Happy Mr. +Stuart lay upon the pebbles with his back against the ribs of his camel, +and chuckled consumedly at some joke which those busy little +cell-workers had come across in their repairs. His fat face was +wreathed and creased with merriment. But the others, how sick, how +heart-sick, were they all! The women cried. The men turned away in +that silence which is beyond tears. Monsieur Fardet fell upon his face, +and shook with dry sobbings. + +The Arabs were firing their rifles as a welcome to their friends, and +the others as they trotted their camels across the open returned the +salutes and waved their rifles and lances in the air. They were a +smaller band than the first one--not more than thirty--but dressed in +the same red headgear and patched jibbehs. One of them carried a small +white banner with a scarlet text scrawled across it. But there was +something there which drew the eyes and the thoughts of the tourists +away from everything else. The same fear gripped at each of their +hearts, and the same impulse kept each of them silent. They stared at a +swaying white figure half seen amidst the ranks of the desert warriors. + +“What’s that they have in the middle of them?” cried Stephens at last. +“Look, Miss Adams! Surely it is a woman!” + +There was something there upon a camel, but it was difficult to catch a +glimpse of it. And then suddenly, as the two bodies met, the riders +opened out, and they saw it plainly. + +“It’s a white woman!” + +“The steamer has been taken!” + +Belmont gave a cry that sounded high above everything. + +“Norah, darling,” he shouted, “keep your heart up! I’m here, and it is +all well!” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +So the _Korosko_ had been taken, and the chances of rescue upon which +they had reckoned--all those elaborate calculations of hours and +distances--were as unsubstantial as the mirage which shimmered upon the +horizon. There would be no alarm at Halfa until it was found that the +steamer did not return in the evening. Even now, when the Nile was only +a thin green band upon the farthest horizon, the pursuit had probably +not begun. In a hundred miles, or even less, they would be in the +Dervish country. How small, then, was the chance that the Egyptian +forces could overtake them. They all sank into a silent, sulky despair, +with the exception of Belmont, who was held back by the guards as he +strove to go to his wife’s assistance. + +The two bodies of camel-men had united, and the Arabs, in their grave, +dignified fashion, were exchanging salutations and experiences, while +the negroes grinned, chattered, and shouted, with the careless +good-humour which even the Koran has not been able to alter. The leader +of the new-comers was a greybeard, a worn, ascetic, high-nosed old man, +abrupt and fierce in his manner, and soldierly in his bearing. +The dragoman groaned when he saw him, and flapped his hands miserably +with the air of a man who sees trouble accumulating upon trouble. + +“It is the Emir Abderrahman,” said he. “I fear now that we shall never +come to Khartoum alive.” + +The name meant nothing to the others, but Colonel Cochrane had heard of +him as a monster of cruelty and fanaticism, a red-hot Moslem of the old +fighting, preaching dispensation, who never hesitated to carry the +fierce doctrines of the Koran to their final conclusions. He and the +Emir Wad Ibrahim conferred gravely together, their camels side by side, +and their red turbans inclined inwards, so that the black beard mingled +with the white one. Then they both turned and stared long and fixedly +at the poor, head-hanging huddle of prisoners. The younger man pointed +and explained, while his senior listened with a sternly impassive face. + +“Who’s that nice-looking old gentleman in the white beard?” asked Miss +Adams, who had been the first to rally from the bitter disappointment. + +“That is their leader now,” Cochrane answered. + +“You don’t say that he takes command over that other one?” + +“Yes, lady,” said the dragoman; “he is now the head of all.” + +“Well, that’s good for us. He puts me in mind of Elder Mathews who was +at the Presbyterian Church in Minister Scott’s time. Anyhow, I had +rather be in his power than in the hands of that black-haired one with +the flint eyes. Sadie, dear, you feel better now its cooler, don’t +you?” + +“Yes, auntie; don’t you fret about me. How are you yourself?” + +“Well, I’m stronger in faith than I was. I set you a poor example, +Sadie, for I was clean crazed at first at the suddenness of it all, and +at thinking of what your mother, who trusted you to me, would think +about it. My land, there’ll be some head-lines in the _Boston Herald_ +over this! I guess somebody will have to suffer for it.” + +“Poor Mr. Stuart!” cried Sadie, as the monotonous droning voice of the +delirious man came again to their ears. “Come, auntie, and see if we +cannot do something to relieve him.” + +“I’m uneasy about Mrs. Shlesinger and the child,” said Colonel Cochrane. +“I can see your wife, Belmont, but I can see no one else.” + +“They are bringing her over,” cried he. “Thank God! We shall hear all +about it. They haven’t hurt you, Norah, have they?” He ran forward to +grasp and kiss the hand which his wife held down to him as he helped her +from the camel. + +The kind grey eyes and calm sweet face of the Irishwoman brought comfort +and hope to the whole party. She was a devout Roman Catholic, and it is +a creed which forms an excellent prop in hours of danger. To her, to +the Anglican Colonel, to the Nonconformist minister, to the Presbyterian +American, even to the two Pagan black riflemen, religion in its various +forms was fulfilling the same beneficent office--whispering always that +the worst which the world can do is a small thing, and that, however +harsh the ways of Providence may seem, it is, on the whole, the wisest +and best thing for us that we should go cheerfully whither the Great +Hand guides us. They had not a dogma in common, these fellows in +misfortune; but they held the intimate, deep-lying spirit, the calm, +essential fatalism which is the world-old framework of religion, with +fresh crops of dogmas growing like ephemeral lichens upon its granite +surface. + +“You poor things!” she said. “I can see that you have had a much worse +time than I have. No, really, John, dear, I am quite well--not even +very thirsty, for our party filled their water-skins at the Nile, and +they let me have as much as I wanted. But I don’t see Mr. Headingly and +Mr. Brown. And poor Mr. Stuart--what a state he has been reduced to!” + +“Headingly and Brown are out of their troubles,” her husband answered. +“You don’t know how often I have thanked God to-day, Norah, that you +were not with us. And here you are, after all.” + +“Where should I be but by my husband’s side? I had much, _much_ rather +be here than safe at Halfa.” + +“Has any news gone to the town?” asked the Colonel. + +“One boat escaped. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child and maid were in it. +I was downstairs in my cabin when the Arabs rushed on to the vessel. +Those on deck had time to escape, for the boat was alongside. I don’t +know whether any of them were hit. The Arabs fired at them for some +time.” + +“Did they?” cried Belmont exultantly, his responsive Irish nature +catching the sunshine in an instant. “Then, be Jove, we’ll do them yet, +for the garrison must have heard the firing. What d’ye think, Cochrane? +They must be full cry upon our scent this four hours. Any minute we +might see the white puggaree of a British officer coming over that +rise.” + +But disappointment had left the Colonel cold and sceptical. + +“They need not come at all unless they come strong,” said he. +“These fellows are picked men with good leaders, and on their own ground +they will take a lot of beating.” Suddenly he paused and looked at the +Arabs. “By George!” said he, “that’s a sight worth seeing!” + +The great red sun was down with half its disc slipped behind the violet +bank upon the horizon. It was the hour of Arab prayer. An older and +more learned civilisation would have turned to that magnificent thing +upon the skyline and adored _that_. But these wild children of the +desert were nobler in essentials than the polished Persian. To them the +ideal was higher than the material, and it was with their backs to the +sun and their faces to the central shrine of their religion that they +prayed. And how they prayed, these fanatical Moslems! Rapt, absorbed, +with yearning eyes and shining faces, rising, stooping, grovelling with +their foreheads upon their praying carpets. Who could doubt, as he +watched their strenuous, heart-whole devotion, that here was a great +living power in the world, reactionary but tremendous, countless +millions all thinking as one from Cape Juby to the confines of China? +Let a common wave pass over them, let a great soldier or organiser arise +among them to use the grand material at his hand, and who shall say that +this may not be the besom with which Providence may sweep the rotten, +decadent, impossible, half-hearted south of Europe, as it did a thousand +years ago, until it makes room for a sounder stock? + +And now as they rose to their feet the bugle rang out, and the prisoners +understood that, having travelled all day, they were fated to travel all +night also. Belmont groaned, for he had reckoned upon the pursuers +catching them up before they left this camp. But the others had already +got into the way of accepting the inevitable. A flat Arab loaf had been +given to each of them--what effort of the _chef_ of the post-boat had +ever tasted like that dry brown bread?--and then, luxury of luxuries, +they had a second ration of a glass of water, for the fresh-filled bags +of the newcomers had provided an ample supply. If the body would but +follow the lead of the soul as readily as the soul does that of the +body, what a heaven the earth might be! Now, with their base material +wants satisfied for the instant, their spirits began to sing within +them, and they mounted their camels with some sense of the romance of +their position. Mr. Stuart remained babbling upon the ground, and the +Arabs made no effort to lift him into his saddle. His large, white, +upturned face glimmered through the gathering darkness. + +“Hi, dragoman, tell them that they are forgetting Mr. Stuart,” cried the +Colonel. + +“No use, sir,” said Mansoor. “They say that he is too fat, and that +they will not take him any farther. He will die, they say, and why +should they trouble about him?” + +“Not take him!” cried Cochrane. “Why, the man will perish of hunger and +thirst. Where’s the Emir? Hi!” he shouted, as the black-bearded Arab +passed, with a tone like that in which he used to summon a dilatory +donkey-boy. The chief did not deign to answer him, but said something +to one of the guards, who dashed the butt of his Remington into the +Colonel’s ribs. The old soldier fell forward gasping, and was carried +on half senseless, clutching at the pommel of his saddle. The women +began to cry, and the men, with muttered curses and clenched hands, +writhed in that hell of impotent passion, where brutal injustice and +ill-usage have to go without check or even remonstrance. Belmont +gripped at his hip-pocket for his little revolver, and then remembered +that he had already given it to Miss Adams. If his hot hand had +clutched it, it would have meant the death of the Emir and the massacre +of the party. + +And now as they rode onwards they saw one of the most singular of the +phenomena of the Egyptian desert in front of them, though the +ill-treatment of their companion had left them in no humour for the +appreciation of its beauty. When the sun had sunk, the horizon had +remained of a slaty-violet hue. But now this began to lighten and to +brighten until a curious false dawn developed, and it seemed as if a +vacillating sun was coming back along the path which it had just +abandoned. A rosy pink hung over the west, with beautifully delicate +sea-green tints along the upper edge of it. Slowly these faded into +slate again, and the night had come. It was but twenty-four hours since +they had sat in their canvas chairs discussing politics by starlight on +the saloon deck of the _Korosko_; only twelve since they had breakfasted +there and had started spruce and fresh upon their last pleasure trip. +What a world of fresh impressions had come upon them since then! +How rudely they had been jostled out of their take-it-for-granted +complacency! The same shimmering silver stars, as they had looked upon +last night, the same thin crescent of moon--but they, what a chasm lay +between that old pampered life and this! + +The long line of camels moved as noiselessly as ghosts across the +desert. Before and behind were the silent, swaying white figures of the +Arabs. Not a sound anywhere, not the very faintest sound, until far +away behind them they heard a human voice singing in a strong, droning, +unmusical fashion. It had the strangest effect, this far-away voice, in +that huge inarticulate wilderness. And then there came a well-known +rhythm into that distant chant, and they could almost hear the words-- + + We nightly pitch our moving tent, + A day’s march nearer home. + +Was Mr. Stuart in his right mind again, or was it some coincidence of +his delirium, that he should have chosen this for his song? With moist +eyes his friends looked back through the darkness, for well they knew +that home was very near to this wanderer. Gradually the voice died away +into a hum, and was absorbed once more into the masterful silence of the +desert. + +“My dear old chap, I hope you’re not hurt?” said Belmont, laying his +hand upon Cochrane’s knee. + +The Colonel had straightened himself, though he still gasped a little in +his breathing. + +“I am all right again, now. Would you kindly show me which was the man +who struck me?” + +“It was the fellow in front there--with his camel beside Fardet’s.” + +“The young fellow with the moustache--I can’t see him very well in this +light, but I think I could pick him out again. Thank you, Belmont!” + +“But I thought some of your ribs were gone.” + +“No, it only knocked the wind out of me.” + +“You must be made of iron. It was a frightful blow. How could you +rally from it so quickly?” + +The Colonel cleared his throat and hummed and stammered. + +“The fact is, my dear Belmont--I’m sure you would not let it go +further--above all not to the ladies; but I am rather older than I used +to be, and rather than lose the military carriage which has always been +dear to me, I--” + +“Stays, be Jove!” cried the astonished Irishman. + +“Well, some slight artificial support,” said the Colonel stiffly, and +switched the conversation off to the chances of the morrow. + +It still comes back in their dreams to those who are left, that long +night’s march in the desert. It was like a dream itself, the silence of +it as they were borne forward upon those soft, shuffling sponge feet, +and the flitting, flickering figures which oscillated upon every side of +them. The whole universe seemed to be hung as a monstrous time-dial in +front of them. A star would glimmer like a lantern on the very level of +their path. They looked again, and it was a hand’s-breadth up, and +another was shining beneath it. Hour after hour the broad stream flowed +sedately across the deep blue background, worlds and systems drifting +majestically overhead, and pouring over the dark horizon. In their +vastness and their beauty there was a vague consolation to the +prisoners; for their own fate, and their own individuality, seemed +trivial and unimportant amid the play of such tremendous forces. +Slowly the grand procession swept across the heaven, first climbing, +then hanging long with little apparent motion, and then sinking grandly +downwards, until away in the east the first cold grey glimmer appeared, +and their own haggard faces shocked each other’s sight. + +The day had tortured them with its heat, and now the night had brought +the even more intolerable discomfort of cold. The Arabs swathed +themselves in their gowns and wrapped up their heads. The prisoners +beat their hands together and shivered miserably. Miss Adams felt it +most, for she was very thin, with the impaired circulation of age. +Stephens slipped off his Norfolk jacket and threw it over her shoulders. +He rode beside Sadie, and whistled and chatted to make her believe that +her aunt was really relieving him by carrying his jacket for him, but +the attempt was too boisterous not to be obvious; and yet it was so far +true that he probably felt the cold less than any of the party, for the +old, old fire was burning in his heart, and a curious joy was +inextricably mixed with all his misfortunes, so that he would have found +it hard to say if this adventure had been the greatest evil or the +greatest blessing of his lifetime. Aboard the boat, Sadie’s youth, her +beauty, her intelligence and humour, all made him realise that she could +at the best only be expected to charitably endure him. But now he felt +that he was really of some use to her, that every hour she was learning +to turn to him as one turns to one’s natural protector; and above all, +he had begun to find himself--to understand that there really was a +strong, reliable man behind all the tricks of custom which had built up +an artificial nature, which had imposed even upon himself. A little +glow of self-respect began to warm his blood. He had missed his youth +when he was young, and now in his middle age it was coming up like some +beautiful belated flower. + +“I do believe that you are all the time enjoying it, Mr. Stephens,” said +Sadie with some bitterness. + +“I would not go so far as to say that,” he answered. “But I am quite +certain that I would not leave you here.” + +It was the nearest approach to tenderness which he had ever put into a +speech, and the girl looked at him in surprise. + +“I think I’ve been a very wicked girl all my life,” she said after a +pause. “Because I have had a good time myself, I never thought of those +who were unhappy. This has struck me serious. If ever I get back I +shall be a better woman--a more earnest woman--in the future.” + +“And I a better man. I suppose it is just for that that trouble comes +to us. Look how it has brought out the virtues of all our friends. +Take poor Mr. Stuart, for example. Should we ever have known what a +noble, constant man he was? And see Belmont and his wife, in front of +us there, going fearlessly forward, hand in hand, thinking only of each +other. And Cochrane, who always seemed on board the boat to be a rather +stand-offish, narrow sort of man! Look at his courage, and his +unselfish indignation when any one is ill used. Fardet, too, is as +brave as a lion. I think misfortune has done us all good.” + +Sadie sighed. + +“Yes, if it would end right here one might say so; but if it goes on and +on for a few weeks or months of misery, and then ends in death, I don’t +know where we reap the benefit of those improvements of character which +it brings. Suppose you escape, what will you do?” + +The lawyer hesitated, but his professional instincts were still strong. + +“I will consider whether an action lies, and against whom. It should be +with the organisers of the expedition for taking us to the Abousir +Rock--or else with the Egyptian Government for not protecting their +frontiers. It will be a nice legal question. And what will you do, +Sadie?” + +It was the first time that he had ever dropped the formal Miss, but the +girl was too much in earnest to notice it. + +“I will be more tender to others,” she said. “I will try to make some +one else happy in memory of the miseries which I have endured.” + +“You have done nothing all your life but made others happy. You cannot +help doing it,” said he. The darkness made it more easy for him to +break through the reserve which was habitual with him. “You need this +rough schooling far less than any of us. How could your character be +changed for the better?” + +“You show how little you know me. I have been very selfish and +thoughtless.” + +“At least you had no need for all these strong emotions. You were +sufficiently alive without them. Now it has been different with me.” + +“Why did you need emotions, Mr. Stephens?” + +“Because anything is better than stagnation. Pain is better than +stagnation. I have only just begun to live. Hitherto I have been a +machine upon the earth’s surface. I was a one-ideaed man, and a +one-ideaed man is only one remove from a dead man. That is what I have +only just begun to realise. For all these years I have never been +stirred, never felt a real throb of human emotion pass through me. +I had no time for it. I had observed it in others, and I had vaguely +wondered whether there was some want in me which prevented my sharing +the experience of my fellow-mortals. But now these last few days have +taught me how keenly I can live--that I can have warm hopes, and deadly +fears--that I can hate, and that I can--well, that I can have every +strong feeling which the soul can experience. I have come to life. I +may be on the brink of the grave, but at least I can say now that I have +lived.” + +“And why did you lead this soul-killing life in England?” + +“I was ambitious--I wanted to get on. And then there were my mother and +my sisters to be thought of. Thank Heaven, here is the morning coming. +Your aunt and you will soon cease to feel the cold.” + +“And you without your coat!” + +“Oh, I have a very good circulation. I can manage very well in my +shirt-sleeves.” + +And now the long, cold, weary night was over, and the deep blue-black +sky had lightened to a wonderful mauve-violet, with the larger stars +still glinting brightly out of it. Behind them the grey line had crept +higher and higher, deepening into a delicate rose-pink, with the +fan-like rays of the invisible sun shooting and quivering across it. +Then, suddenly, they felt its warm touch upon their backs, and there +were hard black shadows upon the sand in front of them. The Dervishes +loosened their cloaks and proceeded to talk cheerily among themselves. +The prisoners also began to thaw, and eagerly ate the doora which was +served out for their breakfasts. A short halt had been called, and a +cup of water handed to each. + +“Can I speak to you, Colonel Cochrane?” asked the dragoman. + +“No, you can’t,” snapped the Colonel. + +“But it is very important--all our safety may come from it.” + +The Colonel frowned and pulled at his moustache. + +“Well, what is it?” he asked at last. + +“You must trust to me, for it is as much to me as to you to get back to +Egypt. My wife and home, and children, are on one part, and a slave for +life upon the other. You have no cause to doubt it.” + +“Well, go on!” + +“You know the black man who spoke with you--the one who had been with +Hicks?” + +“Yes, what of him?” + +“He has been speaking with me during the night. I have had a long talk +with him. He said that he could not very well understand you, nor you +him, and so he came to me.” + +“What did he say?” + +“He said that there were eight Egyptian soldiers among the Arabs--six +black and two fellaheen. He said that he wished to have your promise +that they should all have very good reward if they helped you to +escape.” + +“Of course they shall.” + +“They asked for one hundred Egyptian pounds each.” + +“They shall have it.” + +“I told him that I would ask you, but that I was sure that you would +agree to it.” + +“What do they propose to do?” + +“They could promise nothing, but what they thought best was that they +should ride their camels not very far from you, so that if any chance +should come they would be ready to take advantage.” + +“Well, you can go to him and promise two hundred pounds each if they +will help us. You do not think we could buy over some Arabs?” + +Mansoor shook his head. “Too much danger to try,” said he. +“Suppose you try and fail, then that will be the end to all of us. +I will go tell what you have said.” He strolled off to where the old +negro gunner was grooming his camel and waiting for his reply. + +The Emirs had intended to halt for a half-hour at the most, but the +baggage-camels which bore the prisoners were so worn out with the long, +rapid march, that it was clearly impossible that they should move for +some time. They had laid their long necks upon the ground, which is the +last symptom of fatigue. The two chiefs shook their heads when they +inspected them, and the terrible old man looked with his hard-lined, +rock features at the captives. Then he said something to Mansoor, whose +face turned a shade more sallow as he listened. + +“The Emir Abderrahman says that if you do not become Moslem, it is not +worth while delaying the whole caravan in order to carry you upon the +baggage-camels. If it were not for you, he says that we could travel +twice as fast. He wishes to know therefore, once for ever, if you will +accept the Koran.” Then in the same tone, as if he were still +translating, he continued: “You had far better consent, for if you do +not he will most certainly put you all to death.” + +The unhappy prisoners looked at each other in despair. The two Emirs +stood gravely watching them. + +“For my part,” said Cochrane, “I had as soon die now as be a slave in +Khartoum.” + +“What do you say, Norah?” asked Belmont. + +“If we die together, John, I don’t think I shall be afraid.” + +“It is absurd that I should die for that in which I have never had +belief,” said Fardet. “And yet it is not possible for the honour of a +Frenchman that he should be converted in this fashion.” He drew himself +up, with his wounded wrist stuck into the front of his jacket, “_Je suis +Chretien. J’y reste,_” he cried, a gallant falsehood in each sentence. + +“What do you say, Mr. Stephens?” asked Mansoor in a beseeching voice. +“If one of you would change, it might place them in a good humour. +I implore you that you do what they ask.” + +“No, I can’t,” said the lawyer quietly. + +“Well then, you, Miss Sadie? You, Miss Adams? It is only just to say +it once, and you will be saved.” + +“Oh, auntie, do you think we might?” whimpered the frightened girl. +“Would it be so very wrong if we said it?” + +The old lady threw her arms round her. “No, no, my own dear little +Sadie,” she whispered. “You’ll be strong! You would just hate yourself +for ever after. Keep your grip of me, dear, and pray if you find your +strength is leaving you. Don’t forget that your old aunt Eliza has you +all the time by the hand.” + +For an instant they were heroic, this line of dishevelled, bedraggled +pleasure-seekers. They were all looking Death in the face, and the +closer they looked the less they feared him. They were conscious rather +of a feeling of curiosity, together with the nervous tingling with which +one approaches a dentist’s chair. The dragoman made a motion of his +hands and shoulders, as one who has tried and failed. The Emir +Abderrahman said something to a negro, who hurried away. + +“What does he want a scissors for?” asked the Colonel. + +“He is going to hurt the women,” said Mansoor, with the same gesture of +impotence. + +A cold chill fell upon them all. They stared about them in helpless +horror. Death in the abstract was one thing, but these insufferable +details were another. Each had been braced to endure any evil in his +own person, but their hearts were still soft for each other. The women +said nothing, but the men were all buzzing together. + +“There’s the pistol, Miss Adams,” said Belmont. “Give it here! +We won’t be tortured! We won’t stand it!” + +“Offer them money, Mansoor! Offer them anything!” cried Stephens. +“Look here, I’ll turn Mohammedan if they’ll promise to leave the women +alone. After all, it isn’t binding--it’s under compulsion. But I can’t +see the women hurt.” + +“No, wait a bit, Stephens!” said the Colonel. “We mustn’t lose our +heads. I think I see a way out. See here, dragoman! You tell that +grey-bearded old devil that we know nothing about his cursed tinpot +religion. Put it smooth when you translate it. Tell him that he cannot +expect us to adopt it until we know what particular brand of rot it is +that he wants us to believe. Tell him that if he will instruct us, we +are perfectly willing to listen to his teaching, and you can add that +any creed which turns out such beauties as him, and that other bounder +with the black beard, must claim the attention of every one.” + +With bows and suppliant sweepings of his hands the dragoman explained +that the Christians were already full of doubt, and that it needed but a +little more light of knowledge to guide them on to the path of Allah. +The two Emirs stroked their beards and gazed suspiciously at them. +Then Abderrahman spoke in his crisp, stern fashion to the dragoman, and +the two strode away together. An instant later the bugle rang out as a +signal to mount. + +“What he says is this,” Mansoor explained, as he rode in the middle of +the prisoners. “We shall reach the wells by mid-day, and there will be +a rest. His own Moolah, a very good and learned man, will come to give +you an hour of teaching. At the end of that time you will choose one +way or the other. When you have chosen, it will be decided whether you +are to go to Khartoum or to be put to death. That is his last word.” + +“They won’t take ransom?” + +“Wad Ibrahim would, but the Emir Abderrahman is a terrible man. +I advise you to give in to him.” + +“What have you done yourself? You are a Christian, too.” + +Mansoor blushed as deeply as his complexion would allow. + +“I was yesterday morning. Perhaps I will be to-morrow morning. I serve +the Lord as long as what He ask seem reasonable; but this is very +otherwise.” + +He rode onwards amongst the guards with a freedom which showed that his +change of faith had put him upon a very different footing to the other +prisoners. + +So they were to have a reprieve of a few hours, though they rode in that +dark shadow of death which was closing in upon them. What is there in +life that we should cling to it so? It is not the pleasures, for those +whose hours are one long pain shrink away screaming when they see +merciful Death holding his soothing arms out for them. It is not the +associations, for we will change all of them before we walk of our own +free-wills down that broad road which every son and daughter of man must +tread. Is it the fear of losing the I, that dear, intimate I, which we +think we know so well, although it is eternally doing things which +surprise us? Is it that which makes the deliberate suicide cling madly +to the bridge-pier as the river sweeps him by? Or is it that Nature is +so afraid that all her weary workmen may suddenly throw down their tools +and strike, that she has invented this fashion of keeping them constant +to their present work? But there it is, and all these tired, harassed, +humiliated folk rejoiced in the few more hours of suffering which were +left to them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +There was nothing to show them as they journeyed onwards that they were +not on the very spot that they had passed at sunset upon the evening +before. The region of fantastic black hills and orange sand which +bordered the river had long been left behind, and everywhere now was the +same brown, rolling, gravelly plain, the ground-swell with the shining +rounded pebbles upon its surface, and the occasional little sprouts of +sage-green camel-grass. Behind and before it extended, to where far +away in front of them it sloped upwards towards a line of violet hills. +The sun was not high enough yet to cause the tropical shimmer, and the +wide landscape, brown with its violet edging, stood out with a hard +clearness in that dry, pure air. The long caravan straggled along at +the slow swing of the baggage-camels. Far out on the flanks rode the +vedettes, halting at every rise, and peering backwards with their hands +shading their eyes. In the distance their spears and rifles seemed to +stick out of them, straight and thin, like needles in knitting. + +“How far do you suppose we are from the Nile?” asked Cochrane. He rode +with his chin on his shoulder and his eyes straining wistfully to the +eastern skyline. + +“A good fifty miles,” Belmont answered. + +“Not so much as that,” said the Colonel. “We could not have been moving +more than fifteen or sixteen hours, and a camel does not do more than +two and a half miles an hour unless it is trotting. That would only +give about forty miles, but still it is, I fear, rather far for a +rescue. I don’t know that we are much the better for this postponement. +What have we to hope for? We may just as well take our gruel.” + +“Never say die!” cried the cheery Irishman. “There’s plenty of time +between this and mid-day. Hamilton and Hedley of the Camel Corps are +good boys, and they’ll be after us like a streak. They’ll have no +baggage-camels to hold them back, you can lay your life on that! Little +did I think, when I dined with them at mess that last night, and they +were telling me all their precautions against a raid, that I should +depend upon them for our lives.” + +“Well, we’ll play the game out, but I’m not very hopeful,” said +Cochrane. “Of course, we must keep the best face we can before the +women. I see that Tippy Tilly is as good as his word, for those five +niggers and the two brown Johnnies must be the men he speaks of. +They all ride together and keep well up, but I can’t see how they are +going to help us.” + +“I’ve got my pistol back,” whispered Belmont, and his square chin and +strong mouth set like granite. “If they try any games on the women, I +mean to shoot them all three with my own hand, and then we’ll die with +our minds easy.” + +“Good man!” said Cochrane, and they rode on in silence. None of them +spoke much. A curious, dreamy, irresponsible feeling crept over them. +It was as if they had all taken some narcotic drug--the merciful anodyne +which Nature uses when a great crisis has fretted the nerves too far. +They thought of their friends and of their past lives in the +comprehensive way in which one views that which is completed. A subtle +sweetness mingled with the sadness of their fate. They were filled with +the quiet serenity of despair. + +“It’s devilish pretty,” said the Colonel, looking about him. “I always +had an idea that I should like to die in a real, good, yellow London +fog. You couldn’t change for the worse.” + +“I should have liked to have died in my sleep,” said Sadie. +“How beautiful to wake up and find yourself in the other world! +There was a piece that Hetty Smith used to say at the College: ‘Say not +good-night, but in some brighter world wish me good-morning.’” + +The Puritan aunt shook her head at the idea. “It’s a terrible thing to +go unprepared into the presence of your Maker,” said she. + +“It’s the loneliness of death that is terrible,” said Mrs. Belmont. +“If we and those whom we loved all passed over simultaneously, we should +think no more of it than of changing our house.” + +“If the worst comes to the worst, we won’t be lonely,” said her husband. +“We’ll all go together, and we shall find Brown and Headingly and Stuart +waiting on the other side.” + +The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders. He had no belief in survival +after death, but he envied the two Catholics the quiet way in which they +took things for granted. He chuckled to think of what his friends in +the Café Cubat would say if they learned that he had laid down his life +for the Christian faith. Sometimes it amused and sometimes it maddened +him, and he rode onwards with alternate gusts of laughter and of fury, +nursing his wounded wrist all the time like a mother with a sick baby. + +Across the brown of the hard, pebbly desert there had been visible for +some time a single long, thin, yellow streak, extending north and south +as far as they could see. It was a band of sand not more than a few +hundred yards across, and rising at the highest to eight or ten feet. +But the prisoners were astonished to observe that the Arabs pointed at +this with an air of the utmost concern, and they halted when they came +to the edge of it like men upon the brink of an unfordable river. +It was very light, dusty sand, and every wandering breath of wind sent +it dancing into the air like a whirl of midges. The Emir Abderrahman +tried to force his camel into it, but the creature, after a step or two, +stood still and shivered with terror. The two chiefs talked for a +little, and then the whole caravan trailed off with their heads for the +north, and the streak of sand upon their left. + +“What is it?” asked Belmont, who found the dragoman riding at his elbow. +“Why are we going out of our course?” + +“Drift sand,” Mansoor answered. “Every sometimes the wind bring it all +in one long place like that. To-morrow, if a wind comes, perhaps there +will not be one grain left, but all will be carried up into the air +again. An Arab will sometimes have to go fifty or a hundred miles to go +round a drift. Suppose he tries to cross, his camel breaks its legs, +and he himself is sucked in and swallowed.” + +“How long will this be?” + +“No one can say.” + +“Well, Cochrane, it’s all in our favour. The longer the chase the +better chance for the fresh camels!” and for the hundredth time he +looked back at the long, hard skyline behind them. There was the great, +empty, dun-coloured desert, but where the glint of steel or the twinkle +of white helmet for which he yearned? + +And soon they cleared the obstacle in their front. It spindled away +into nothing, as a streak of dust would which has been blown across an +empty room. It was curious to see that when it was so narrow that one +could almost jump it, the Arabs would still go for many hundreds of +yards rather than risk the crossing. Then, with good, hard country +before them once more, the tired beasts were whipped up, and they ambled +on with a double-jointed jogtrot, which set the prisoners nodding and +bowing in grotesque and ludicrous misery. It was fun at first, and they +smiled at each other, but soon the fun had become tragedy as the +terrible camel-ache seized them by spine and waist, with its deep, dull +throb, which rises gradually to a splitting agony. + +“I can’t stand it, Sadie,” cried Miss Adams suddenly. “I’ve done my +best. I’m going to fall.” + +“No, no, auntie, you’ll break your limbs if you do. Hold up, just a +little, and maybe they’ll stop.” + +“Lean back, and hold your saddle behind,” said the Colonel. +“There, you’ll find that will ease the strain.” He took the puggaree +from his hat, and tying the ends together, he slung it over her front +pommel. “Put your foot in the loop,” said he. “It will steady you like +a stirrup.” + +The relief was instant, so Stephens did the same for Sadie. +But presently one of the weary doora camels came down with a crash, its +limbs starred out as if it had split asunder, and the caravan had to +come down to its old sober gait. + +“Is this another belt of drift sand?” asked the Colonel presently. + +“No, it’s white,” said Belmont. “Here, Mansoor, what is that in front +of us?” + +But the dragoman shook his head. + +“I don’t know what it is, sir. I never saw the same thing before.” + +Right across the desert, from north to south, there was drawn a white +line, as straight and clear as if it had been slashed with chalk across +a brown table. It was very thin, but it extended without a break +from horizon to horizon. Tippy Tilly said something to the dragoman. + +“It’s the great caravan route,” said Mansoor. + +“What makes it white, then?” + +“The bones.” + +It seemed incredible, and yet it was true, for as they drew nearer they +saw that it was indeed a beaten track across the desert, hollowed out by +long usage, and so covered with bones that they gave the impression of a +continuous white ribbon. Long, snouty heads were scattered everywhere, +and the lines of ribs were so continuous that it looked in places like +the framework of a monstrous serpent. The endless road gleamed in the +sun as if it were paved with ivory. For thousands of years this had +been the highway over the desert, and during all that time no animal of +all those countless caravans had died there without being preserved by +the dry, antiseptic air. No wonder, then, that it was hardly possible +to walk down it now without treading upon their skeletons. + +“This must be the route I spoke of,” said Stephens. “I remember marking +it upon the map I made for you, Miss Adams. Baedeker says that it has +been disused on account of the cessation of all trade which followed the +rise of the Dervishes, but that it used to be the main road by which the +skins and gums of Darfur found their way down to Lower Egypt.” + +They looked at it with a listless curiosity, for there was enough to +engross them at present in their own fates. The caravan struck to the +south along the old desert track, and this Golgotha of a road seemed to +be a fitting avenue for that which awaited them at the end of it. +Weary camels and weary riders dragged on together towards their +miserable goal. + +And now, as the critical moment approached which was to decide their +fate, Colonel Cochrane, weighed down by his fears lest something +terrible should befall the women, put his pride aside to the extent of +asking the advice of the renegade dragoman. The fellow was a villain +and a coward, but at least he was an Oriental, and he understood the +Arab point of view. His change of religion had brought him into closer +contact with the Dervishes, and he had overheard their intimate talk. +Cochrane’s stiff, aristocratic nature fought hard before he could bring +himself to ask advice from such a man, and when he at last did so, it +was in the gruffest and most unconciliatory voice. + +“You know the rascals, and you have the same way of looking at things,” +said he. “Our object is to keep things going for another twenty-four +hours. After that it does not much matter what befalls us, for we shall +be out of the reach of rescue. But how can we stave them off for +another day?” + +“You know my advice,” the dragoman answered; “I have already answered it +to you. If you will all become as I have, you will certainly be carried +to Khartoum in safety. If you do not, you will never leave our next +camping-place alive.” + +The Colonel’s well-curved nose took a higher tilt, and an angry flush +reddened his thin cheeks. He rode in silence for a little, for his +Indian service had left him with a curried-prawn temper, which had had +an extra touch of cayenne added to it by his recent experiences. It was +some minutes before he could trust himself to reply. + +“We’ll set that aside,” said he at last. “Some things are possible and +some are not. This is not.” + +“You need only pretend.” + +“That’s enough,” said the Colonel abruptly. + +Mansoor shrugged his shoulders. + +“What is the use of asking me, if you become angry when I answer? +If you do not wish to do what I say, then try your own attempt. +At least you cannot say that I have not done all I could to save you.” + +“I’m not angry,” the Colonel answered after a pause, in a more +conciliatory voice, “but this is climbing down rather farther than we +care to go. Now, what I thought is this. You might, if you chose, give +this priest, or Moolah, who is coming to us, a hint that we really are +softening a bit upon the point. I don’t think, considering the hole +that we are in, that there can be very much objection to that. +Then, when he comes, we might play up and take an interest and ask for +more instruction, and in that way hold the matter over for a day or two. +Don’t you think that would be the best game?” + +“You will do as you like,” said Mansoor. “I have told you once for ever +what I think. If you wish that I speak to the Moolah, I will do so. +It is the fat, little man with the grey beard, upon the brown camel in +front there. I may tell you that he has a name among them for +converting the infidel, and he has a great pride in it, so that he would +certainly prefer that you were not injured if he thought that he might +bring you into Islam.” + +“Tell him that our minds are open, then,” said the Colonel. “I don’t +suppose the _padre_ would have gone so far, but now that he is dead I +think we may stretch a point. You go to him, Mansoor, and if you work +it well we will agree to forget what is past. By the way, has Tippy +Tilly said anything?” + +“No, sir. He has kept his men together, but he does not understand yet +how he can help you.” + +“Neither do I. Well, you go to the Moolah, then, and I’ll tell the +others what we have agreed.” + +The prisoners all acquiesced in the Colonel’s plan, with the exception +of the old New England lady, who absolutely refused even to show any +interest in the Mohammedan creed. “I guess I am too old to bow the knee +to Baal,” she said. The most that she would concede was that she would +not openly interfere with anything which her companions might say or do. + +“And who is to argue with the priest?” asked Fardet, as they all rode +together, talking the matter over. “It is very important that it should +be done in a natural way, for if he thought that we were only trying to +gain time, he would refuse to have any more to say to us.” + +“I think Cochrane should do it, as the proposal is his,” said Belmont. + +“Pardon me!” cried the Frenchman. “I will not say a word against our +friend the Colonel, but it is not possible that a man should be fitted +for everything. It will all come to nothing if he attempts it. +The priest will see through the Colonel.” + +“Will he?” said the Colonel with dignity. + +“Yes, my friend, he will, for, like most of your countrymen, you are +very wanting in sympathy for the ideas of other people, and it is the +great fault which I find with you as a nation.” + +“Oh, drop the politics!” cried Belmont impatiently. + +“I do not talk politics. What I say is very practical. How can Colonel +Cochrane pretend to this priest that he is really interested in his +religion when, in effect, there is no religion in the world to him +outside some little church in which he has been born and bred? I will +say this for the Colonel, that I do not believe he is at all a +hypocrite, and I am sure that he could not act well enough to deceive +such a man as this priest.” + +The Colonel sat with a very stiff back and the blank face of a man who +is not quite sure whether he is being complimented or insulted. + +“You can do the talking yourself if you like,” said he at last. +“I should be very glad to be relieved of it.” + +“I think that I am best fitted for it, since I am equally interested in +all creeds. When I ask for information, it is because in verity I +desire it, and not because I am playing a part.” + +“I certainly think that it would be much better if Monsieur Fardet would +undertake it,” said Mrs. Belmont with decision, and so the matter was +arranged. + +The sun was now high, and it shone with dazzling brightness upon the +bleached bones which lay upon the road. Again the torture of thirst +fell upon the little group of survivors, and again, as they rode with +withered tongues and crusted lips, a vision of the saloon of the +_Korosko_ danced like a mirage before their eyes, and they saw the white +napery, the wine-cards by the places, the long necks of the bottles, the +siphons upon the sideboard. Sadie, who had borne up so well, became +suddenly hysterical, and her shrieks of senseless laughter jarred +horribly upon their nerves. Her aunt on one side of her, and Mr. +Stephens on the other, did all they could to soothe her, and at last the +weary, overstrung girl relapsed into something between a sleep and a +faint, hanging limp over her pommel, and only kept from falling by the +friends who clustered round her. The baggage-camels were as weary as +their riders, and again and again they had to jerk at their nose-ropes +to prevent them from lying down. From horizon to horizon stretched that +one huge arch of speckless blue, and up its monstrous concavity crept +the inexorable sun, like some splendid but barbarous deity, who claimed +a tribute of human suffering as his immemorial right. + +Their course still lay along the old trade route, but their progress was +very slow, and more than once the two Emirs rode back together, and +shook their heads as they looked at the weary baggage-camels on which +the prisoners were perched. The greatest laggard of all was one which +was ridden by a wounded Soudanese soldier. It was limping badly with a +strained tendon, and it was only by constant prodding that it could be +kept with the others. The Emir Wad Ibrahim raised his Remington, as the +creature hobbled past, and sent a bullet through its brain. The wounded +man flew forwards out of the high saddle, and fell heavily upon the hard +track. His companions in misfortune, looking back, saw him stagger to +his feet with a dazed face. At the same instant a Baggara slipped down +from his camel with a sword in his hand. + +“Don’t look! don’t look!” cried Belmont to the ladies, and they all rode +on with their faces to the south. They heard no sound, but the Baggara +passed them a few minutes afterwards. He was cleaning his sword upon +the hairy neck of his camel, and he glanced at them with a quick, +malicious gleam of his teeth as he trotted by. But those who are at the +lowest pitch of human misery are at least secured against the future. +That vicious, threatening smile which might once have thrilled them left +them now unmoved--or stirred them at most to vague resentment. +There were many things to interest them in this old trade route, had +they been in a condition to take notice of them. Here and there along +its course were the crumbling remains of ancient buildings, so old that +no date could be assigned to them, but designed in some far-off +civilisation to give the travellers shade from the sun or protection +from the ever-lawless children of the desert. The mud bricks with which +these refuges were constructed showed that the material had been carried +over from the distant Nile. Once, upon the top of a little knoll, they +saw the shattered plinth of a pillar of red Assouan granite, with the +wide-winged symbol of the Egyptian god across it, and the cartouche of +the second Rameses beneath. After three thousand years one cannot get +away from the ineffaceable footprints of the warrior-king. It is surely +the most wonderful survival of history that one should still be able to +gaze upon him, high-nosed and masterful, as he lies with his powerful +arms crossed upon his chest, majestic even in decay, in the Gizeh +Museum. To the captives, the cartouche was a message of hope, as a sign +that they were not outside the sphere of Egypt. “They’ve left their +card here once, and they may again,” said Belmont, and they all tried to +smile. + +And now they came upon one of the most satisfying sights on which the +human eye can ever rest. Here and there, in the depressions at either +side of the road, there had been a thin scurf of green, which meant that +water was not very far from the surface. And then, quite suddenly, the +track dipped down into a bowl-shaped hollow, with a most dainty group of +palm-trees, and a lovely green sward at the bottom of it. The sun +gleaming upon that brilliant patch of clear, restful colour, with the +dark glow of the bare desert around it, made it shine like the purest +emerald in a setting of burnished copper. And then it was not its +beauty only, but its promise for the future: water, shade, all that +weary travellers could ask for. Even Sadie was revived by the cheery +sight, and the spent camels snorted and stepped out more briskly, +stretching their long necks and sniffing the air as they went. +After the unhomely harshness of the desert, it seemed to all of them +that they had never seen anything more beautiful than this. They looked +below at the green sward with the dark, star-like shadows of the +palm-crowns; then they looked up at those deep green leaves against the +rich blue of the sky, and they forgot their impending death in the +beauty of that Nature to whose bosom they were about to return. + +The wells in the centre of the grove consisted of seven large and two +small saucer-like cavities filled with peat-coloured water, enough to +form a plentiful supply for any caravan. Camels and men drank it +greedily, though it was tainted by the all-pervading natron. The camels +were picketed, the Arabs threw their sleeping-mats down in the shade, +and the prisoners, after receiving a ration of dates and of doora, were +told that they might do what they would during the heat of the day, and +that the Moolah would come to them before sunset. The ladies were given +the thicker shade of an acacia tree, and the men lay down under the +palms. The great green leaves swished slowly above them; they heard the +low hum of the Arab talk, and the dull champing of the camels, and then +in an instant, by that most mysterious and least understood of miracles, +one was in a green Irish valley, and another saw the long straight line +of Commonwealth Avenue, and a third was dining at a little round table +opposite to the bust of Nelson in the Army and Navy Club, and for him +the swishing of the palm branches had been transformed into the +long-drawn hum of Pall Mall. So the spirits went their several ways, +wandering back along the strange, un-traced tracks of the memory, while +the weary, grimy bodies lay senseless under the palm-trees in the Oasis +of the Libyan Desert. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Colonel Cochrane was awakened from his slumber by some one pulling at +his shoulder. As his eyes opened they fell upon the black, anxious face +of Tippy Tilly, the old Egyptian gunner. His crooked finger was laid +upon his thick, liver-coloured lips, and his dark eyes glanced from left +to right with ceaseless vigilance. + +“Lie quiet! Do not move!” he whispered, in Arabic. “I will lie here +beside you, and they cannot tell me from the others. You can understand +what I am saying?” + +“Yes, if you will talk slowly.” + +“Very good. I have no great trust in this black man, Mansoor. I had +rather talk direct with the Miralai.” + +“What have you to say?” + +“I have waited long, until they should all be asleep, and now in another +hour we shall be called to evening prayer. First of all, here is a +pistol, that you may not say that you are without arms.” + +It was a clumsy, old-fashioned thing, but the Colonel saw the glint of a +percussion cap upon the nipple, and knew that it was loaded. He slipped +it into the inner pocket of his Norfolk jacket. + +“Thank you,” said he; “speak slowly, so that I may understand you.” + +“There are eight of us who wish to go to Egypt. There are also four men +in your party. One of us, Mehemet Ali, has fastened twelve camels +together, which are the fastest of all save only those which are ridden +by the Emirs. There are guards upon watch, but they are scattered in +all directions. The twelve camels are close beside us here--those +twelve behind the acacia tree. If we can only get mounted and started, +I do not think that many can overtake us, and we shall have our rifles +for them. The guards are not strong enough to stop so many of us. +The water-skins are all filled, and we may see the Nile again by +to-morrow night.” + +The Colonel could not follow it all, but he understood enough to set a +little spring of hope bubbling in his heart. The last terrible day had +left its mark in his livid face and his hair, which was turning rapidly +to grey. He might have been the father of the spruce well-preserved +soldier who had paced with straight back and military stride up and down +the saloon deck of the Korosko. + +“That is excellent,” said he. “But what are we to do about the three +ladies?” The black soldier shrugged his shoulders. “Mefeesh!” said he. +“One of them is old, and in any case there are plenty more women if we +get back to Egypt. These will not come to any hurt, but they will be +placed in the harem of the Khalifa.” + +“What you say is nonsense,” said the Colonel sternly. “We shall take +our women with us, or we shall not go at all.” + +“I think it is rather you who talk the thing without sense,” the black +man answered angrily. “How can you ask my companions and me to do that +which must end in failure? For years we have waited for such a chance +as this, and now that it has come, you wish us to throw it away owing to +this foolishness about the women.” + +“What have we promised you if we come back to Egypt?” asked Cochrane. + +“Two hundred Egyptian pounds and promotion in the army--all upon the +word of an Englishman.” + +“Very good. Then you shall have three hundred each if you can make some +new plan by which you can take the women with you.” + +Tippy Tilly scratched his woolly head in his perplexity. + +“We might, indeed, upon some excuse, bring three more of the faster +camels round to this place. Indeed, there are three very good camels +among those which are near the cooking fire. But how are we to get the +women upon them?--and if we had them upon them, we know very well that +they would fall off when they began to gallop. I fear that you men will +fall off, for it is no easy matter to remain upon a galloping camel; but +as to the women, it is impossible. No, we shall leave the women, and if +you will not leave the women, then we shall leave all of you and start +by ourselves.” + +“Very good! Go!” said the Colonel abruptly, and settled down as if to +sleep once more. He knew that with Orientals it is the silent man who +is most likely to have his way. + +The negro turned and crept away for some little distance, where he was +met by one of his fellaheen comrades, Mehemet Ali, who had charge of the +camels. The two argued for some little time--for those three hundred +golden pieces were not to be lightly resigned. Then the negro crept +back to Colonel Cochrane. + +“Mehemet Ali has agreed,” said he. “He has gone to put the nose-rope +upon three more of the camels. But it is foolishness, and we are all +going to our death. Now come with me, and we shall awaken the women and +tell them.” + +The Colonel shook his companions and whispered to them what was in the +wind. Belmont and Fardet were ready for any risk. Stephens, to whom +the prospect of a passive death presented little terror, was seized with +a convulsion of fear when he thought of any active exertion to avoid it, +and shivered in all his long, thin limbs. Then he pulled out his +Baedeker and began to write his will upon the flyleaf, but his hand +twitched so that he was hardly legible. By some strange gymnastic of +the legal mind a death, even by violence, if accepted quietly, had a +place in the order of things, while a death which overtook one galloping +frantically over a desert was wholly irregular and discomposing. It was +not dissolution which he feared, but the humiliation and agony of a +fruitless struggle against it. + +Colonel Cochrane and Tippy Tilly had crept together under the shadow of +the great acacia tree to the spot where the women were lying. Sadie and +her aunt lay with their arms round each other, the girl’s head pillowed +upon the old woman’s bosom. Mrs. Belmont was awake, and entered into +the scheme in an instant. + +“But you must leave me,” said Miss Adams earnestly. “What does it +matter at my age, anyhow?” + +“No, no, Aunt Eliza; I won’t move without you! Don’t you think it!” +cried the girl. “You’ve got to come straight away or else we both stay +right here where we are.” + +“Come, come, ma’am, there is no time for arguing, or nonsense,” said the +Colonel roughly. “Our lives all depend upon your making an effort, and +we cannot possibly leave you behind.” + +“But I will fall off.” + +“I’ll tie you on with my puggaree. I wish I had the cummerbund which I +lent poor Stuart. Now, Tippy, I think we might make a break for it!” + +But the black soldier had been staring with a disconsolate face out over +the desert, and he turned upon his heel with an oath. + +“There!” said he sullenly. “You see what comes of all your foolish +talking! You have ruined our chances as well as your own!” + +Half-a-dozen mounted camel-men had appeared suddenly over the lip of the +bowl-shaped hollow, standing out hard and clear against the evening sky +where the copper basin met its great blue lid. They were travelling +fast, and waved their rifles as they came. An instant later the bugle +sounded an alarm, and the camp was up with a buzz like an overturned +bee-hive. The Colonel ran back to his companions, and the black soldier +to his camel. Stephens looked relieved, and Belmont sulky, while +Monsieur Fardet raved, with his one uninjured hand in the air. + +“Sacred name of a dog!” he cried. “Is there no end to it, then? Are we +never to come out of the hands of these accursed Dervishes?” + +“Oh, they really are Dervishes, are they?” said the Colonel in an acid +voice. “You seem to be altering your opinions. I thought they were an +invention of the British Government.” + +The poor fellows’ tempers were getting frayed and thin. The Colonel’s +sneer was like a match to a magazine, and in an instant the Frenchman +was dancing in front of him with a broken torrent of angry words. +His hand was clutching at Cochrane’s throat before Belmont and Stephens +could pull him off. + +“If it were not for your grey hairs--” he said. + +“Damn your impudence!” cried the Colonel. + +“If we have to die, let us die like gentlemen, and not like so many +corner-boys,” said Belmont with dignity. + +“I only said I was glad to see that Monsieur Fardet has learned +something from his adventures,” the Colonel sneered. + +“Shut up, Cochrane! What do you want to aggravate him for?” cried the +Irishman. + +“Upon my word, Belmont, you forget yourself! I do not permit people to +address me in this fashion.” + +“You should look after your own manners, then.” + +“Gentlemen, gentlemen, here are the ladies!” cried Stephens, and the +angry, over-strained men relapsed into a gloomy silence, pacing up and +down, and jerking viciously at their moustaches. It is a very catching +thing, ill-temper, for even Stephens began to be angry at their anger, +and to scowl at them as they passed him. Here they were at a crisis in +their fate, with the shadow of death above them, and yet their minds +were all absorbed in some personal grievance so slight that they could +hardly put it into words. Misfortune brings the human spirit to a rare +height, but the pendulum still swings. + +But soon their attention was drawn away to more important matters. +A council of war was being held beside the wells, and the two Emirs, +stern and composed, were listening to a voluble report from the leader +of the patrol. The prisoners noticed that, though the fierce, old man +stood like a graven image, the younger Emir passed his hand over his +beard once or twice with a nervous gesture, the thin, brown fingers +twitching among the long, black hair. + +“I believe the Gippies are after us,” said Belmont. “Not very far off +either, to judge by the fuss they are making.” + +“It looks like it. Something has scared them.” + +“Now he’s giving orders. What can it be? Here, Mansoor, what is the +matter?” + +The dragoman came running up with the light of hope shining upon his +brown face. + +“I think they have seen something to frighten them. I believe that the +soldiers are behind us. They have given the order to fill the +water-skins, and be ready for a start when the darkness comes. But I am +ordered to gather you together, for the Moolah is coming to convert you +all. I have already told him that you are all very much inclined to +think the same with him.” + +How far Mansoor may have gone with his assurances may never be known, +but the Mussulman preacher came walking towards them at this moment with +a paternal and contented smile upon his face, as one who has a pleasant +and easy task before him. He was a one-eyed man, with a fringe of +grizzled beard and a face which was fat, but which looked as if it had +once been fatter, for it was marked with many folds and creases. He had +a green turban upon his head, which marked him as a Mecca pilgrim. +In one hand he carried a small brown carpet, and in the other a +parchment copy of the Koran. Laying his carpet upon the ground, he +motioned Mansoor to his side, and then gave a circular sweep of his arm +to signify that the prisoners should gather round him, and a downward +wave which meant that they should be seated. So they grouped themselves +round him, sitting on the short green sward under the palm-tree, these +seven forlorn representatives of an alien creed, and in the midst of +them sat the fat little preacher, his one eye dancing from face to face +as he expounded the principles of his newer, cruder, and more earnest +faith. They listened attentively and nodded their heads as Mansoor +translated the exhortation, and with each sign of their acquiescence the +Moolah became more amiable in his manner and more affectionate in his +speech. + +“For why should you die, my sweet lambs, when all that is asked of you +is that you should set aside that which will carry you to everlasting +Gehenna, and accept the law of Allah as written by his prophet, which +will assuredly bring you unimaginable joys, as is promised in the Book +of the Camel? For what says the chosen one?”--and he broke away into +one of those dogmatic texts which pass in every creed as an argument. +“Besides, is it not clear that God is with us, since from the beginning, +when we had but sticks against the rifles of the Turks, victory has +always been with us? Have we not taken El Obeid, and taken Khartoum, +and destroyed Hicks and slain Gordon, and prevailed against every one +who has come against us? How, then, can it be said that the blessing of +Allah does not rest upon us?” + +The Colonel had been looking about him during the long exhortation of +the Moolah, and he had observed that the Dervishes were cleaning their +guns, counting their cartridges, and making all the preparations of men +who expected that they might soon be called upon to fight. The two +Emirs were conferring together with grave faces, and the leader of the +patrol pointed, as he spoke to them, in the direction of Egypt. It was +evident that there was at least a chance of a rescue if they could only +keep things going for a few more hours. The camels were not recovered +yet from their long march, and the pursuers, if they were indeed close +behind, were almost certain to overtake them. + +“For God’s sake, Fardet, try and keep him in play,” said he. “I believe +we have a chance if we can only keep the ball rolling for another hour +or so.” + +But a Frenchman’s wounded dignity is not so easily appeased. Monsieur +Fardet sat moodily with his back against the palm-tree, and his black +brows drawn down. He said nothing, but he still pulled at his thick, +strong moustache. + +“Come on, Fardet! We depend upon you,” said Belmont. + +“Let Colonel Cochrane do it,” the Frenchman answered snappishly. +“He takes too much upon himself this Colonel Cochrane.” + +“There! There!” said Belmont soothingly, as if he were speaking to a +fractious child. “I am quite sure that the Colonel will express his +regret at what has happened, and will acknowledge that he was in the +wrong--” + +“I’ll do nothing of the sort,” snapped the Colonel. + +“Besides, that is merely a personal quarrel,” Belmont continued hastily. +“It is for the good of the whole party that we wish you to speak with +the Moolah, because we all feel that you are the best man for the job.” + +But the Frenchman only shrugged his shoulders and relapsed into a deeper +gloom. + + +The Moolah looked from one to the other, and the kindly expression began +to fade away from his large, baggy face. His mouth drew down at the +corners, and became hard and severe. + +“Have these infidels been playing with us, then?” said he to the +dragoman. “Why is it that they talk among themselves and have nothing +to say to me?” + +“He’s getting impatient about it,” said Cochrane. “Perhaps I had better +do what I can, Belmont, since this damned fellow has left us in the +lurch.” + +But the ready wit of a woman saved the situation. + +“I am sure, Monsieur Fardet,” said Mrs. Belmont, “that you, who are a +Frenchman, and therefore a man of gallantry and honour, would not permit +your own wounded feelings to interfere with the fulfilment of your +promise and your duty towards three helpless ladies.” + +Fardet was on his feet in an instant, with his hand over his heart. + +“You understand my nature, madame,” he cried. “I am incapable of +abandoning a lady. I will do all that I can in this matter. Now, +Mansoor, you may tell the holy man that I am ready to discuss through +you the high matters of his faith with him.” + +And he did it with an ingenuity which amazed his companions. He took +the tone of a man who is strongly attracted, and yet has one single +remaining shred of doubt to hold him back. Yet as that one shred was +torn away by the Moolah, there was always some other stubborn little +point which prevented his absolute acceptance of the faith of Islam. +And his questions were all so mixed up with personal compliments to the +priest and self-congratulations that they should have come under the +teachings of so wise a man and so profound a theologian, that the +hanging pouches under the Moolah’s eyes quivered with his satisfaction, +and he was led happily and hopefully onwards from explanation to +explanation, while the blue overhead turned into violet, and the green +leaves into black, until the great serene stars shone out once more +between the crowns of the palm-trees. + +“As to the learning of which you speak, my lamb,” said the Moolah, in +answer to some argument of Fardet’s, “I have myself studied at the +University of El Azhar at Cairo, and I know that to which you allude. +But the learning of the faithful is not as the learning of the +unbeliever, and it is not fitting that we pry too deeply into the ways +of Allah. Some stars have tails, oh my sweet lamb, and some have not; +but what does it profit us to know which are which? For God made them +all, and they are very safe in His hands. Therefore, my friend, be not +puffed up by the foolish learning of the West, and understand that there +is only one wisdom, which consists in following the will of Allah as His +chosen prophet has laid it down for us in this book. And now, my lambs, +I see that you are ready to come into Islam, and it is time, for that +bugle tells that we are about to march, and it was the order of the +excellent Emir Abderrahman that your choice should be taken, one way or +the other, before ever we left the wells.” + +“Yet, my father, there are other points upon which I would gladly have +instruction,” said the Frenchman, “for, indeed, it is a pleasure to hear +your clear words after the cloudy accounts which we have had from other +teachers.” + +But the Moolah had risen, and a gleam of suspicion twinkled in his +single eye. + +“This further instruction may well come afterwards,” said he, “since we +shall travel together as far as Khartoum, and it will be a joy to me to +see you grow in wisdom and in virtue as we go.” He walked over to the +fire, and stooping down, with the pompous slowness of a stout man, he +returned with two half-charred sticks, which he laid cross-wise upon the +ground. The Dervishes came clustering over to see the new converts +admitted into the fold. They stood round in the dim light, tall and +fantastic, with the high necks and supercilious heads of the camels +swaying above them. + +“Now,” said the Moolah, and his voice had lost its conciliatory and +persuasive tone, “there is no more time for you. Here upon the ground I +have made out of two sticks the foolish and superstitious symbol of your +former creed. You will trample upon it, as a sign that you renounce it, +and you will kiss the Koran, as a sign that you accept it, and what more +you need in the way of instruction shall be given to you as you go.” + +They stood up, the four men and the three women, to meet the crisis of +their fate. None of them, except perhaps Miss Adams and Mrs. Belmont, +had any deep religious convictions. All of them were children of this +world, and some of them disagreed with everything which that symbol upon +the earth represented. But there was the European pride, the pride of +the white race which swelled within them, and held them to the faith of +their countrymen. It was a sinful, human, un-Christian motive, and yet +it was about to make them public martyrs to the Christian creed. In the +hush and tension of their nerves low sounds grew suddenly loud upon +their ears. Those swishing palm-leaves above them were like a +swift-flowing river, and far away they could hear the dull, soft +thudding of a galloping camel. + +“There’s something coming,” whispered Cochrane. “Try and stave them off +for five minutes longer, Fardet.” + +The Frenchman stepped out with a courteous wave of his uninjured arm, +and the air of a man who is prepared to accommodate himself to anything. + +“You will tell this holy man that I am quite ready to accept his +teaching, and so I am sure are all my friends,” said he to the dragoman. +“But there is one thing which I should wish him to do in order to set at +rest any possible doubts which may remain in our hearts. Every true +religion can be told by the miracles which those who profess it can +bring about. Even I who am but a humble Christian, can, by virtue of my +religion, do some of these. But you, since your religion is superior, +can no doubt do far more, and so I beg you to give us a sign that we may +be able to say that we know that the religion of Islam is the more +powerful.” + +Behind all his dignity and reserve, the Arab has a good fund of +curiosity. The hush among the listening Arabs showed how the words of +the Frenchman as translated by Mansoor appealed to them. + +“Such things are in the hands of Allah,” said the priest. “It is not for +us to disturb His laws. But if you have yourself such powers as you +claim, let us be witnesses to them.” + +The Frenchman stepped forward, and raising his hand he took a large, +shining date out of the Moolah’s beard. This he swallowed and +immediately produced once more from his left elbow. He had often given +his little conjuring entertainment on board the boat, and his +fellow-passengers had had some good-natured laughter at his expense, for +he was not quite skilful enough to deceive the critical European +intelligence. But now it looked as if this piece of obvious palming +might be the point upon which all their fates would hang. A deep hum of +surprise rose from the ring of Arabs, and deepened as the Frenchman drew +another date from the nostril of a camel and tossed it into the air, +from which, apparently, it never descended. That gaping sleeve was +obvious enough to his companions, but the dim light was all in favour of +the performer. So delighted and interested was the audience +that they paid little heed to a mounted camel-man who trotted swiftly +between the palm trunks. All might have been well had not Fardet, +carried away by his own success, tried to repeat his trick once more, +with the result that the date fell out of his palm, and the deception +stood revealed. In vain he tried to pass on at once to another of his +little stock. The Moolah said something, and an Arab struck Fardet +across the shoulders with the thick shaft of his spear. + +“We have had enough child’s play,” said the angry priest. “Are we men +or babes, that you should try to impose upon us in this manner? Here is +the cross and the Koran--which shall it be?” + +Fardet looked helplessly round at his companions. + +“I can do no more; you asked for five minutes. You have had them,” said +he to Colonel Cochrane. + +“And perhaps it is enough,” the soldier answered. “Here are the Emirs.” + +The camel-man, whose approach they had heard from afar, had made for the +two Arab chiefs, and had delivered a brief report to them, stabbing with +his forefinger in the direction from which he had come. There was a +rapid exchange of words between the Emirs, and then they strode forward +together to the group around the prisoners. Bigots and barbarians, they +were none the less two most majestic men, as they advanced through the +twilight of the palm grove. The fierce old greybeard raised his hand +and spoke swiftly in short, abrupt sentences, and his savage followers +yelped to him like hounds to a huntsman. The fire that smouldered in +his arrogant eyes shone back at him from a hundred others. Here were to +be read the strength and danger of the Mahdi movement; here in these +convulsed faces, in that fringe of waving arms, in these frantic, +red-hot souls, who asked nothing better than a bloody death, if their +own hands might be bloody when they met it. + +“Have the prisoners embraced the true faith?” asked the Emir +Abderrahman, looking at them with his cruel eyes. + +The Moolah had his reputation to preserve, and it was not for him to +confess to a failure. + +“They were about to embrace it, when-- + +“Let it rest for a little time, O Moolah.” He gave an order, and the +Arabs all sprang for their camels. The Emir Wad Ibrahim filed off at +once with nearly half the party. The others were mounted and ready, +with their rifles unslung. + +“What’s happened?” asked Belmont. + +“Things are looking up,” cried the Colonel. “By George, I think we are +going to come through all right. The Gippy Camel Corps are hot on our +trail.” + +“How do you know?” + +“What else could have scared them?” + +“O Colonel, do you really think we shall be saved?” sobbed Sadie. +The dull routine of misery through which they had passed had deadened +all their nerves until they seemed incapable of any acute sensation, but +now this sudden return of hope brought agony with it like the recovery +of a frost-bitten limb. Even the strong, self-contained Belmont was +filled with doubts and apprehensions. He had been hopeful when there +was no sign of relief, and now the approach of it set him trembling. + +“Surely they wouldn’t come very weak,” he cried. “Be Jove, if the +Commandant let them come weak, he should be court-martialled.” + +“Sure we’re in God’s hands, anyway,” said his wife, in her soothing, +Irish voice. “Kneel down with me, John, dear, if it’s the last time, +and pray that, earth or heaven, we may not be divided.” + +“Don’t do that! Don’t!” cried the Colonel anxiously, for he saw that +the eye of the Moolah was upon them. But it was too late, for the two +Roman Catholics had dropped upon their knees and crossed themselves. +A spasm of fury passed over the face of the Mussulman priest at this +public testimony to the failure of his missionary efforts. He turned +and said something to the Emir. + +“Stand up!” cried Mansoor. “For your life’s sake, stand up! He is +asking for leave to put you to death.” + +“Let him do what he likes!” said the obstinate Irishman; “we will rise +when our prayers are finished, and not before.” + +The Emir stood listening to the Moolah, with his baleful gaze upon the +two kneeling figures. Then he gave one or two rapid orders, and four +camels were brought forward. The baggage-camels which they had hitherto +ridden were standing unsaddled where they had been tethered. + +“Don’t be a fool, Belmont!” cried the Colonel; “everything depends upon +our humouring them. Do get up, Mrs. Belmont! You are only putting +their backs up!” + +The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders as he looked at them. +“_Mon Dieu!_” he cried, “were there ever such impracticable people? +_Voila!_” he added, with a shriek, as the two American ladies fell upon +their knees beside Mrs. Belmont. “It is like the camels--one down, all +down! Was ever anything so absurd?” + +But Mr. Stephens had knelt down beside Sadie and buried his haggard face +in his long, thin hands. Only the Colonel and Monsieur Fardet remained +standing. Cochrane looked at the Frenchman with an interrogative eye. + +“After all,” said he, “it is stupid to pray all your life, and not to +pray now when we have nothing to hope for except through the goodness of +Providence.” He dropped upon his knees with a rigid, military back, but +his grizzled, unshaven chin upon his chest. The Frenchman looked at his +kneeling companions, and then his eyes travelled onwards to the angry +faces of the Emir and Moolah. + +“_Sapristi!_” he growled. “Do they suppose that a Frenchman is afraid +of them?” and so, with an ostentatious sign of the cross, he took his +place upon his knees beside the others. Foul, bedraggled, and wretched, +the seven figures knelt and waited humbly for their fate under the black +shadow of the palm-tree. + +The Emir turned to the Moolah with a mocking smile, and pointed at the +results of his ministrations. Then he gave an order, and in an instant +the four men were seized. A couple of deft turns with a camel-halter +secured each of their wrists. Fardet screamed out, for the rope had +bitten into his open wound. The others took it with the dignity of +despair. + +“You have ruined everything. I believe you have ruined me also!” cried +Mansoor, wringing his hands. “The women are to get upon these three +camels.” + +“Never!” cried Belmont. “We won’t be separated!” He plunged madly, but +he was weak from privation, and two strong men held him by each elbow. + +“Don’t fret, John!” cried his wife, as they hurried her towards the +camel. “No harm shall come to me. Don’t struggle, or they’ll hurt you, +dear.” + +The four men writhed as they saw the women dragged away from them. +All their agonies had been nothing to this. Sadie and her aunt appeared +to be half senseless from fear. Only Mrs. Belmont kept a brave face. +When they were seated the camels rose, and were led under the tree +behind where the four men were standing. + +“I’ve a pistol in me pocket,” said Belmont, looking up at his wife. +“I would give me soul to be able to pass it to you.” + +“Keep it, John, and it may be useful yet. I have no fears. Ever since +we prayed I have felt as if our guardian angels had their wings round +us.” She was like a guardian angel herself as she turned to the +shrinking Sadie, and coaxed some little hope back into her despairing +heart. + +The short, thick Arab, who had been in command of Wad Ibrahim’s +rearguard, had joined the Emir and the Moolah; the three consulted +together, with occasional oblique glances towards the prisoners. +Then the Emir spoke to Mansoor. + +“The chief wishes to know which of you four is the richest man?” said +the dragoman. His fingers were twitching with nervousness and plucking +incessantly at the front of his covercoat. + +“Why does he wish to know?” asked the Colonel. + +“I do not know.” + +“But it is evident,” cried Monsieur Fardet. “He wishes to know which is +the best worth keeping for his ransom.” + +“I think we should see this thing through together,” said the Colonel. +“It’s really for you to decide, Stephens, for I have no doubt that you +are the richest of us.” + +“I don’t know that I am,” the lawyer answered; “but in any case, I have +no wish to be placed upon a different footing to the others.” + +The Emir spoke again in his harsh rasping voice. + +“He says,” Mansoor translated, “that the baggage-camels are spent, and +that there is only one beast left which can keep up. It is ready now +for one of you, and you have to decide among yourselves which is to have +it. If one is richer than the others, he will have the preference.” + +“Tell him that we are all equally rich.” + +“In that case he says that you are to choose at once which is to have +the camel.” + +“And the others?” + +The dragoman shrugged his shoulders. + +“Well,” said the Colonel, “if only one of us is to escape, I think you +fellows will agree with me that it ought to be Belmont, since he is the +married man.” + +“Yes, yes, let it be Monsieur Belmont,” cried Fardet. + +“I think so also,” said Stephens. + +But the Irishman would not hear of it. + +“No, no, share and share alike,” he cried. “All sink or all swim, and +the devil take the flincher.” + +They wrangled among themselves until they became quite heated in this +struggle of unselfishness. Some one had said that the Colonel should go +because he was the oldest, and the Colonel was a very angry man. + +“One would think I was an octogenarian,” he cried. “These remarks are +quite uncalled for.” + +“Well, then,” said Belmont, “let us all refuse to go.” + +“But this is not very wise,” cried the Frenchman. “See, my friends! +Here are the ladies being carried off alone. Surely it would be far +better that one of us should be with them to advise them.” + +They looked at one another in perplexity. What Fardet said was +obviously true, but how could one of them desert his comrades? The Emir +himself suggested the solution. + +“The chief says,” said Mansoor, “that if you cannot settle who is to go, +you had better leave it to Allah and draw lots.” + +“I don’t think we can do better,” said the Colonel, and his three +companions nodded their assent. + +It was the Moolah who approached them with four splinters of palm-bark +protruding from between his fingers. + +“He says that he who draws the longest has the camel,” said Mansoor. + +“We must agree to abide absolutely by this,” said Cochrane, and again +his companions nodded. + +The Dervishes had formed a semicircle in front of them, with a fringe of +the oscillating heads of the camels. Before them was a cooking fire, +which threw its red light over the group. The Emir was standing with +his back to it, and his fierce face towards the prisoners. Behind the +four men was a line of guards, and behind them again the three women, +who looked down from their camels upon this tragedy. With a malicious +smile, the fat, one-eyed Moolah advanced with his fist closed, and the +four little brown spicules protruding from between his fingers. + +It was to Belmont that he held them first. The Irishman gave an +involuntary groan, and his wife gasped behind him, for the splinter came +away in his hand. Then it was the Frenchman’s turn, and his was half an +inch longer than Belmont’s. Then came Colonel Cochrane, whose piece was +longer than the two others put together. Stephens’ was no bigger than +Belmont’s. The Colonel was the winner of this terrible lottery. + +“You’re welcome to my place, Belmont,” said he. “I’ve neither wife nor +child, and hardly a friend in the world. Go with your wife, and I’ll +stay.” + +“No, indeed! An agreement is an agreement. It’s all fair play, and the +prize to the luckiest.” + +“The Emir says that you are to mount at once,” said Mansoor, and an Arab +dragged the Colonel by his wrist-rope to the waiting camel. + +“He will stay with the rearguard,” said the Emir to his lieutenant. +“You can keep the women with you also.” + +“And this dragoman dog?” + +“Put him with the others.” + +“And they?” + +“Put them all to death.” + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +As none of the three could understand Arabic, the order of the Emir +would have been unintelligible to them had it not been for the conduct +of Mansoor. The unfortunate dragoman, after all his treachery and all +his subservience and apostasy, found his worst fears realised when the +Dervish leader gave his curt command. With a shriek of fear the poor +wretch threw himself forward upon his face, and clutched at the edge of +the Arab’s jibbeh, clawing with his brown fingers at the edge of the +cotton skirt. The Emir tugged to free himself, and then, finding that +he was still held by that convulsive grip, he turned and kicked at +Mansoor with the vicious impatience with which one drives off a +pestering cur. The dragoman’s high red tarboosh flew up into the air, +and he lay groaning upon his face where the stunning blow of the Arab’s +horny foot had left him. + +All was bustle and movement in the camp, for the old Emir had mounted +his camel, and some of his party were already beginning to follow their +companions. The squat lieutenant, the Moolah, and about a dozen +Dervishes surrounded the prisoners. They had not mounted their camels, +for they were told off to be the ministers of death. The three men +understood as they looked upon their faces that the sand was running +very low in the glass of their lives. Their hands were still bound, but +their guards had ceased to hold them. They turned round, all three, and +said good-bye to the women upon the camels. + +“All up now, Norah,” said Belmont. “It’s hard luck when there was a +chance of a rescue, but we’ve done our best.” + +For the first time his wife had broken down. She was sobbing +convulsively, with her face between her hands. + +“Don’t cry, little woman! We’ve had a good time together. Give my love +to all friends at Bray! Remember me to Amy McCarthy and to the +Blessingtons. You’ll find there is enough and to spare, but I would +take Roger’s advice about the investments. Mind that!” + +“O John, I won’t live without you!” Sorrow for her sorrow broke the +strong man down, and he buried his face in the hairy side of her camel. +The two of them sobbed helplessly together. + +Stephens meanwhile had pushed his way to Sadie’s beast. She saw his +worn earnest face looking up at her through the dim light. + +“Don’t be afraid for your aunt and for yourself,” said he. “I am sure +that you will escape. Colonel Cochrane will look after you. +The Egyptians cannot be far behind. I do hope you will have a good +drink before you leave the wells. I wish I could give your aunt my +jacket, for it will be cold to-night. I’m afraid I can’t get it off. +She should keep some of the bread, and eat it in the early morning.” + +He spoke quite quietly, like a man who is arranging the details of a +picnic. A sudden glow of admiration for this quietly consistent man +warmed her impulsive heart. + +“How unselfish you are!” she cried. “I never saw any one like you. +Talk about saints! There you stand in the very presence of death, and +you think only of us.” + +“I want to say a last word to you, Sadie, if you don’t mind. I should +die so much happier. I have often wanted to speak to you, but I thought +that perhaps you would laugh, for you never took anything very +seriously, did you? That was quite natural of course with your high +spirits, but still it was very serious to me. But now I am really a +dead man, so it does not matter very much what I say.” + +“Oh don’t, Mr. Stephens!” cried the girl. + +“I won’t, if it is very painful to you. As I said, it would make me die +happier, but I don’t want to be selfish about it. If I thought it would +darken your life afterwards, or be a sad recollection to you, I would +not say another word.” + +“What did you wish to say?” + +“It was only to tell you how I loved you. I always loved you. From the +first I was a different man when I was with you. But of course it was +absurd, I knew that well enough. I never said anything, but I tried not +to make myself ridiculous. But I just want you to know about it now +that it can’t matter one way or the other. You’ll understand that I +really do love you when I tell you that, if it were not that I knew you +were frightened and unhappy, these last two days in which we have been +always together would have been infinitely the happiest of my life.” + +The girl sat pale and silent, looking down with wondering eyes at his +upturned face. She did not know what to do or say in the solemn +presence of this love which burned so brightly under the shadow of +death. To her child’s heart it seemed incomprehensible--and yet she +understood that it was sweet and beautiful also. + +“I won’t say any more,” said he; “I can see that it only bothers you. +But I wanted you to know, and now you do know, so it is all right. +Thank you for listening so patiently and gently. Good-bye, little +Sadie! I can’t put my hand up. Will you put yours down?” + +She did so and Stephens kissed it. Then he turned and took his place +once more between Belmont and Fardet. In his whole life of struggle and +success he had never felt such a glow of quiet contentment as suffused +him at that instant when the grip of death was closing upon him. +There is no arguing about love. It is the innermost fact of life--the +one which obscures and changes all the others, the only one which is +absolutely satisfying and complete. Pain is pleasure, and want is +comfort, and death is sweetness when once that golden mist is round it. +So it was that Stephens could have sung with joy as he faced his +murderers. He really had not time to think about them. The important, +all-engrossing, delightful thing was that she could not look upon him as +a casual acquaintance any more. Through all her life she would think of +him--she would know. + +Colonel Cochrane’s camel was at one side, and the old soldier, whose +wrists had been freed, had been looking down upon the scene, and +wondering in his tenacious way whether all hope must really be +abandoned. It was evident that the Arabs who were grouped round the +victims were to remain behind with them, while the others who were +mounted would guard the three women and himself. He could not +understand why the throats of his companions had not been already cut, +unless it were that with an Eastern refinement of cruelty this rearguard +would wait until the Egyptians were close to them, so that the warm +bodies of their victims might be an insult to the pursuers. No doubt +that was the right explanation. The Colonel had heard of such a trick +before. + +But in that case there would not be more than twelve Arabs with the +prisoners. Were there any of the friendly ones among them? If Tippy +Tilly and six of his men were there, and if Belmont could get his arms +free and his hand upon his revolver, they might come through yet. +The Colonel craned his neck and groaned in his disappointment. He could +see the faces of the guards in the firelight. They were all Baggara +Arabs, men who were beyond either pity or bribery. Tippy Tilly and the +others must have gone on with the advance. For the first time the stiff +old soldier abandoned hope. + +“Good-bye, you fellows! God bless you!” he cried, as a negro pulled at +his camel’s nose-ring and made him follow the others. The women came +after him, in a misery too deep for words. Their departure was a relief +to the three men who were left. + +“I am glad they are gone,” said Stephens, from his heart. + +“Yes, yes, it is better,” cried Fardet. “How long are we to wait?” + +“Not very long now,” said Belmont grimly, as the Arabs closed in around +them. + +The Colonel and the three women gave one backward glance when they came +to the edge of the oasis. Between the straight stems of the palms they +saw the gleam of the fire, and above the group of Arabs they caught a +last glimpse of the three white hats. An instant later, the camels +began to trot, and when they looked back once more the palm grove was +only a black clump with the vague twinkle of a light somewhere in the +heart of it. As with yearning eyes they gazed at that throbbing red +point in the darkness, they passed over the edge of the depression, and +in an instant the huge, silent, moonlit desert was round them without a +sign of the oasis which they had left. On every side the velvet, +blue-black sky, with its blazing stars, sloped downwards to the vast, +dun-coloured plain. The two were blurred into one at their point of +junction. + +The women had sat in the silence of despair, and the Colonel had been +silent also--for what could he say?--but suddenly all four started in +their saddles, and Sadie gave a sharp cry of dismay. In the hush of the +night there had come from behind them the petulant crack of a rifle, +then another, then several together, with a brisk rat-tat-tat, and then +after an interval, one more. + +“It may be the rescuers! It may be the Egyptians!” cried Mrs. Belmont, +with a sudden flicker of hope. “Colonel Cochrane, don’t you think it +may be the Egyptians?” + +“Yes, yes,” Sadie whimpered. “It must be the Egyptians.” + +The Colonel had listened expectantly, but all was silent again. Then he +took his hat off with a solemn gesture. + +“There is no use deceiving ourselves, Mrs. Belmont,” said he; “we may as +well face the truth. Our friends are gone from us, but they have met +their end like brave men.” + +“But why should they fire their guns? They had ... they had spears.” +She shuddered as she said it. + +“That is true,” said the Colonel. “I would not for the world take away +any real grounds of hope which you may have; but on the other hand, +there is no use in preparing bitter disappointments for ourselves. +If we had been listening to an attack, we should have heard some reply. +Besides, an Egyptian attack would have been an attack in force. +No doubt it _is_, as you say, a little strange that they should have +wasted their cartridges--by Jove, look at that!” + +He was pointing over the eastern desert. Two figures were moving across +its expanse, swiftly and stealthily, furtive dark shadows against the +lighter ground. They saw them dimly, dipping and rising over the +rolling desert, now lost, now reappearing in the uncertain light. +They were flying away from the Arabs. And then, suddenly they halted +upon the summit of a sand-hill, and the prisoners could see them +outlined plainly against the sky. They were camel-men, but they sat +their camels astride as a horseman sits his horse. + +“Gippy Camel Corps!” cried the Colonel. + +“Two men,” said Miss Adams, in a voice of despair. + +“Only a vedette, ma’am! Throwing feelers out all over the desert. +This is one of them. Main body ten miles off, as likely as not. +There they go giving the alarm! Good old Camel Corps!” + +The self-contained, methodical soldier had suddenly turned almost +inarticulate with his excitement. There was a red flash upon the top of +the sand-hill, and then another, followed by the crack of the rifles. +Then with a whisk the two figures were gone, as swiftly and silently as +two trout in a stream. + +The Arabs had halted for an instant, as if uncertain whether they should +delay their journey to pursue them or not. There was nothing left to +pursue now, for amid the undulations of the sand-drift the vedettes +might have gone in any direction. The Emir galloped back along the +line, with exhortations and orders. Then the camels began to trot, and +the hopes of the prisoners were dulled by the agonies of the terrible +jolt. Mile after mile, mile after mile, they sped onwards over that +vast expanse, the women clinging as best they might to the pommels, the +Colonel almost as spent as they, but still keenly on the look-out for +any sign of the pursuers. + +“I think ... I think,” cried Mrs. Belmont, “that something is moving +in front of us.” + +The Colonel raised himself upon his saddle, and screened his eyes from +the moonshine. + +“By Jove, you’re right there, ma’am. There are men over yonder.” + +They could all see them now, a straggling line of riders far ahead of +them in the desert. + +“They are going in the same direction as we,” cried Mrs. Belmont, whose +eyes were very much better than the Colonel’s. + +Cochrane muttered an oath into his moustache. + +“Look at the tracks there,” said he; “of course, it’s our own vanguard +who left the palm grove before us. The chief keeps us at this infernal +pace in order to close up with them.” + +As they drew closer they could see plainly that it was indeed the other +body of Arabs, and presently the Emir Wad Ibrahim came trotting back to +take counsel with the Emir Abderrahman. They pointed in the direction +in which the vedettes had appeared, and shook their heads like men who +have many and grave misgivings. Then the raiders joined into one long, +straggling line, and the whole body moved steadily on towards the +Southern Cross, which was twinkling just over the skyline in front of +them. Hour after hour the dreadful trot continued, while the fainting +ladies clung on convulsively, and Cochrane, worn out but indomitable, +encouraged them to hold out, and peered backwards over the desert for +the first glad signs of their pursuers. The blood throbbed in his +temples, and he cried that he heard the roll of drums coming out of the +darkness. In his feverish delirium he saw clouds of pursuers at their +very heels, and during the long night he was for ever crying glad +tidings which ended in disappointment and heartache. The rise of the +sun showed the desert stretching away around them with nothing moving +upon its monstrous face except themselves. With dull eyes and heavy +hearts they stared round at that huge and empty expanse. Their hopes +thinned away like the light morning mist upon the horizon. + +It was shocking to the ladies to look at their companion, and to think +of the spruce, hale old soldier who had been their fellow-passenger from +Cairo. As in the case of Miss Adams, old age seemed to have pounced +upon him in one spring. His hair, which had grizzled hour by hour +during his privations, was now of a silvery white. White stubble, too, +had obscured the firm, clean line of his chin and throat. The veins of +his face were injected, and his features were shot with heavy wrinkles. +He rode with his back arched and his chin sunk upon his breast, for the +old, time-rotted body was worn out, but in his bright, alert eyes there +was always a trace of the gallant tenant who lived in the shattered +house. Delirious, spent, and dying, he preserved his chivalrous, +protecting air as he turned to the ladies, shot little scraps of advice +and encouragement at them, and peered back continually for the help +which never came. + +An hour after sunrise the raiders called a halt, and food and water +were served out to all. Then at a more moderate pace they pursued their +southern journey, their long, straggling line trailing out over a +quarter of a mile of desert. From their more careless bearing and the +way in which they chatted as they rode, it was clear that they thought +that they had shaken off their pursuers. Their direction now was east +as well as south, and it was evidently their intention after this long +detour to strike the Nile again at some point far above the Egyptian +outposts. Already the character of the scenery was changing, and they +were losing the long levels of the pebbly desert, and coming once more +upon those fantastic, sunburned, black rocks, and that rich orange sand +through which they had already passed. On every side of them rose the +scaly, conical hills with their loose, slag-like debris, and +jagged-edged khors, with sinuous streams of sand running like +water-courses down their centre. The camels followed each other, +twisting in and out among the boulders, and scrambling with their +adhesive, spongy feet over places which would have been impossible for +horses. Among the broken rocks those behind could sometimes only see +the long, undulating, darting necks of the creatures in front, as if it +were some nightmare procession of serpents. Indeed, it had much the +effect of a dream upon the prisoners, for there was no sound, save the +soft, dull padding and shuffling of the feet. The strange, wild frieze +moved slowly and silently onwards amid a setting of black stone and +yellow sand, with the one arch of vivid blue spanning the rugged edges +of the ravine. + +Miss Adams, who had been frozen into silence during the long cold night, +began to thaw now in the cheery warmth of the rising sun. She looked +about her, and rubbed her thin hands together. + +“Why, Sadie,” she remarked, “I thought I heard you in the night, dear, +and now I see that you have been crying.” + +“I’ve been thinking, auntie.” + +“Well, we must try and think of others, dearie, and not of ourselves.” + +“It’s not of myself, auntie.” + +“Never fret about me, Sadie.” + +“No, auntie, I was not thinking of you.” + +“Was it of any one in particular?” + +“Of Mr. Stephens, auntie. How gentle he was, and how brave! To think +of him fixing up every little thing for us, and trying to pull his +jacket over his poor roped-up hands, with those murderers waiting all +round him. He’s my saint and hero from now ever after.” + +“Well, he’s out of his troubles anyhow,” said Miss Adams, with that +bluntness which the years bring with them. + +“Then I wish I was also.” + +“I don’t see how that would help him.” + +“Well, I think he might feel less lonesome,” said Sadie, and drooped her +saucy little chin upon her breast. + +The four had been riding in silence for some little time, when the +Colonel clapped his hand to his brow with a gesture of dismay. + +“Good God!” he cried, “I am going off my head.” + +Again and again they had perceived it during the night, but he had +seemed quite rational since daybreak. They were shocked therefore at +this sudden outbreak, and tried to calm him with soothing words. + +“Mad as a hatter,” he shouted. “Whatever do you think I saw?” + +“Don’t trouble about it, whatever it was,” said Mrs. Belmont, laying +her hand soothingly upon his as the camels closed together. “It is no +wonder that you are overdone. You have thought and worked for all of us +so long. We shall halt presently, and a few hours’ sleep will quite +restore you.” + +But the Colonel looked up again, and again he cried out in his agitation +and surprise. + +“I never saw anything plainer in my life,” he groaned. “It is on the +point of rock on our right front--poor old Stuart with my red cummerbund +round his head just the same as we left him.” + +The ladies had followed the direction of the Colonel’s frightened gaze, +and in an instant they were all as amazed as he. + +There was a black, bulging ridge like a bastion upon the right side of +the terrible khor up which the camels were winding. At one point it +rose into a small pinnacle. On this pinnacle stood a solitary, +motionless figure, clad entirely in black, save for a brilliant dash of +scarlet upon his head. There could not surely be two such short sturdy +figures, or such large colourless faces, in the Libyan Desert. His +shoulders were stooping forward, and he seemed to be staring intently +down into the ravine. His pose and outline were like a caricature of +the great Napoleon. + +“Can it possibly be he?” + +“It must be. It is!” cried the ladies. “You see he is looking towards +us and waving his hand.” + +“Good Heavens! They’ll shoot him! Get down, you fool, or you’ll be +shot!” roared the Colonel. But his dry throat would only emit a +discordant croaking. + +Several of the Dervishes had seen the singular apparition upon the hill, +and had unslung their Remingtons, but a long arm suddenly shot up behind +the figure of the Birmingham clergyman, a brown hand seized upon his +skirts, and he disappeared with a snap. Higher up the pass, just below +the spot where Mr. Stuart had been standing, appeared the tall figure of +the Emir Abderrahman. He had sprung upon a boulder, and was shouting +and waving his arms, but the shouts were drowned in a long, rippling +roar of musketry from each side of the khor. The bastion-like cliff was +fringed with gun-barrels, with red tarbooshes drooping over the +triggers. From the other lip also came the long spurts of flame and the +angry clatter of the rifles. The raiders were caught in an ambuscade. +The Emir fell, but was up again and waving. There was a splotch of +blood upon his long white beard. He kept pointing and gesticulating, +but his scattered followers could not understand what he wanted. +Some of them came tearing down the pass, and some from behind were +pushing to the front. A few dismounted and tried to climb up sword in +hand to that deadly line of muzzles, but one by one they were hit, and +came rolling from rock to rock to the bottom of the ravine. +The shooting was not very good. One negro made his way unharmed up the +whole side, only to have his brains dashed out with the butt-end of a +Martini at the top. The Emir had fallen off his rock and lay in a +crumpled heap, like a brown and white patchwork quilt, at the bottom of +it. And then when half of them were down it became evident, even to +those exalted fanatical souls, that there was no chance for them, and +that they must get out of these fatal rocks and into the desert again. +They galloped down the pass, and it is a frightful thing to see a camel +galloping over broken ground. The beast’s own terror, his ungainly +bounds, the sprawl of his four legs all in the air together, his hideous +cries, and the yells of his rider who is bucked high from his saddle +with every spring, make a picture which is not to be forgotten. +The women screamed as this mad torrent of frenzied creatures came +pouring past them, but the Colonel edged his camel and theirs farther +and farther in among the rocks and away from the retreating Arabs. +The air was full of whistling bullets, and they could hear them smacking +loudly against the stones all round them. + +“Keep quiet, and they’ll pass us,” whispered the Colonel, who was all +himself again now that the hour for action had arrived. “I wish to +Heaven I could see Tippy Tilly or any of his friends. Now is the time +for them to help us.” He watched the mad stream of fugitives as they +flew past upon their shambling, squattering, loose-jointed beasts, but +the black face of the Egyptian gunner was not among them. + +And now it really did seem as if the whole body of them, in their haste +to get clear of the ravine, had not a thought to spend upon the +prisoners. The rush was past, and only stragglers were running the +gauntlet of the fierce fire which poured upon them from above. The last +of all, a young Baggara with a black moustache and pointed beard, looked +up as he passed and shook his sword in impotent passion at the Egyptian +riflemen. At the same instant a bullet struck his camel, and the +creature collapsed, all neck and legs, upon the ground. The young Arab +sprang off its back, and, seizing its nose-ring, he beat it savagely +with the flat of his sword to make it stand up. But the dim, glazing +eye told its own tale, and in desert warfare the death of the beast is +the death of the rider. The Baggara glared round like a lion at bay, +his dark eyes flashing murderously from under his red turban. A crimson +spot, and then another, sprang out upon his dark skin, but he never +winced at the bullet wounds. His fierce gaze had fallen upon the +prisoners, and with an exultant shout he was dashing towards them, his +broad-bladed sword gleaming above his head. Miss Adams was the nearest +to him, but at the sight of the rushing figure and the maniac face she +threw herself off the camel upon the far side. The Arab bounded on to a +rock and aimed a thrust at Mrs. Belmont, but before the point could +reach her the Colonel leaned forward with his pistol and blew the man’s +head in. Yet with a concentrated rage, which was superior even to the +agony of death, the fellow lay kicking and striking, bounding about +among the loose stones like a fish upon the shingle. + +“Don’t be frightened, ladies,” cried the Colonel. “He is quite dead, I +assure you. I am so sorry to have done this in your presence, but the +fellow was dangerous. I had a little score of my own to settle with +him, for he was the man who tried to break my ribs with his Remington. +I hope you are not hurt, Miss Adams! One instant, and I will come down +to you.” + +But the old Boston lady was by no means hurt, for the rocks had been so +high that she had a very short distance to fall from her saddle. +Sadie, Mrs. Belmont, and Colonel Cochrane had all descended by slipping +on to the boulders and climbing down from them. But they found Miss +Adams on her feet, and waving the remains of her green veil in triumph. + +“Hurrah, Sadie! Hurrah, my own darling Sadie!” she was shrieking. +“We are saved, my girl, we are saved after all.” + +“By George, so we are!” cried the Colonel, and they all shouted in an +ecstasy together. + +But Sadie had learned to think more about others during those terrible +days of schooling. Her arms were round Mrs. Belmont, and her cheek +against hers. + +“You dear, sweet angel,” she cried, “how can we have the heart to be +glad when you--when you--” + +“But I don’t believe it is so,” cried the brave Irishwoman. “No, I’ll +never believe it until I see John’s body lying before me. And when I +see that, I don’t want to live to see anything more.” + +The last Dervish had clattered down the khor, and now above them on +either cliff they could see the Egyptians--tall, thin, square shouldered +figures, looking, when outlined against the blue sky, wonderfully like +the warriors in the ancient bas-reliefs. Their camels were in the +background, and they were hurrying to join them. At the same time +others began to ride down from the farther end of the ravine, their dark +faces flushed and their eyes shining with the excitement of victory and +pursuit. A very small Englishman, with a straw-coloured moustache and a +weary manner, was riding at the head of them. He halted his camel +beside the fugitives and saluted the ladies. He wore brown boots and +brown belts with steel buckles, which looked trim and workmanlike +against his khaki uniform. + +“Had ’em that time--had ’em proper!” said he. “Very glad to have been +of any assistance, I’m sure. Hope you’re none the worse for it all. +What I mean, it’s rather rough work for ladies.” + +“You’re from Halfa, I suppose?” asked the Colonel. + +“No, we’re from the other show. We’re the Sarras crowd, you know. +We met in the desert, and we headed ’em off, and the other Johnnies +herded ’em behind. We’ve got ’em on toast, I tell you. Get up on that +rock and you’ll see things happen. It’s going to be a knockout in one +round this time.” + +“We left some of our people at the Wells. We are very uneasy about +them,” said the Colonel. “I suppose you haven’t heard anything of +them?” + +The young officer looked serious and shook his head. “Bad job that!” +said he. “They’re a poisonous crowd when you put ’em in a corner. +What I mean, we never expected to see you alive, and we’re very glad to +pull any of you out of the fire. The most we hoped was that we might +revenge you.” + +“Any other Englishman with you?” + +“Archer is with the flanking party. He’ll have to come past, for I +don’t think there is any other way down. We’ve got one of your chaps up +there--a funny old bird with a red top-knot. See you later, I hope! +Good day, ladies!” He touched his helmet, tapped his camel, and trotted +on after his men. + +“We can’t do better than stay where we are until they are all past,” +said the Colonel, for it was evident now that the men from above would +have to come round. In a broken single file they went past, black men +and brown, Soudanese and fellaheen, but all of the best, for the Camel +Corps is the _corps d’elite_ of the Egyptian army. Each had a brown +bandolier over his chest and his rifle held across his thigh. A large +man with a drooping black moustache and a pair of binoculars in his hand +was riding at the side of them. “Hulloa, Archer!” croaked the Colonel. +The officer looked at him with the vacant, unresponsive eye of a +complete stranger. + +“I’m Cochrane, you know! We travelled up together.” + +“Excuse me, sir, but you have the advantage of me,” said the officer. +“I knew a Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, but you are not the man. He was +three inches taller than you, with black hair and--” + +“That’s all right,” cried the Colonel testily. “You try a few days with +the Dervishes, and see if your friends will recognise you!” + +“Good God, Cochrane, is it really you? I could not have believed it. +Great Scott, what you must have been through! I’ve heard before of +fellows going grey in a night, but, by Jove--” + +“Quite so,” said the Colonel, flushing. + +“Allow me to hint to you, Archer, that if you could get some food and +drink for these ladies, instead of discussing my personal appearance, it +would be much more practical.” + +“That’s all right,” said Captain Archer. “Your friend Stuart knows that +you are here, and he is bringing some stuff round for you. Poor fare, +ladies, but the best we have! You’re an old soldier, Cochrane. Get up +on the rocks presently, and you’ll see a lovely sight. No time to stop, +for we shall be in action again in five minutes. Anything I can do +before I go?” + +“You haven’t got such a thing as a cigar?” asked the Colonel wistfully. + +Archer drew a thick satisfying partaga from his case, and handed it +down, with half-a-dozen wax vestas. Then he cantered after his men, and +the old soldier leaned back against the rock and drew in the fragrant +smoke. It was then that his jangled nerves knew the full virtue of +tobacco, the gentle anodyne which stays the failing strength and soothes +the worrying brain. He watched the dim blue reek swirling up from him, +and he felt the pleasant aromatic bite upon his palate, while a restful +languor crept over his weary and harassed body. The three ladies sat +together upon a flat rock. + +“Good land, what a sight you are, Sadie!” cried Miss Adams suddenly, and +it was the first reappearance of her old self. “What _would_ your +mother say if she saw you? Why, sakes alive, your hair is full of straw +and your frock clean crazy!” + +“I guess we all want some setting to rights,” said Sadie, in a voice +which was much more subdued than that of the Sadie of old. +“Mrs. Belmont, you look just too perfectly sweet anyhow, but if you’ll +allow me I’ll fix your dress for you.” + +But Mrs. Belmont’s eyes were far away, and she shook her head sadly as +she gently put the girl’s hands aside. + +“I do not care how I look. I cannot think of it,” said she; “could +_you_, if you had left the man you love behind you, as I have mine?” + +“I’m begin--beginning to think I have,” sobbed poor Sadie, and buried +her hot face in Mrs. Belmont’s motherly bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The Camel Corps had all passed onwards down the khor in pursuit of the +retreating Dervishes, and for a few minutes the escaped prisoners had +been left alone. But now there came a cheery voice calling upon them, +and a red turban bobbed about among the rocks, with the large white face +of the Nonconformist minister smiling from beneath it. He had a thick +lance with which to support his injured leg, and this murderous crutch +combined with his peaceful appearance to give him a most incongruous +aspect--as of a sheep which has suddenly developed claws. Behind him +were two negroes with a basket and a water-skin. + +“Not a word! Not a word!” he cried, as he stumped up to them. “I know +exactly how you feel. I’ve been there myself. Bring the water, Ali! +Only half a cup, Miss Adams; you shall have some more presently. +Now your turn, Mrs. Belmont! Dear me, dear me, you poor souls, how my +heart does bleed for you! There’s bread and meat in the basket, but you +must be very moderate at first.” He chuckled with joy, and slapped his +fat hands together as he watched them. + +“But the others?” he asked, his face turning grave again. + +The Colonel shook his head. “We left them behind at the wells. I fear +that it is all over with them.” + +“Tut, tut!” cried the clergyman, in a boisterous voice, which could not +cover the despondency of his expression; “you thought, no doubt, that it +was all over with me, but here I am in spite of it. Never lose heart, +Mrs. Belmont. Your husband’s position could not possibly be as hopeless +as mine was.” + +“When I saw you standing on that rock up yonder, I put it down to +delirium,” said the Colonel. “If the ladies had not seen you, I should +never have ventured to believe it.” + +“I am afraid that I behaved very badly. Captain Archer says that I +nearly spoiled all their plans, and that I deserved to be tried by a +drumhead court-martial and shot. The fact is that, when I heard the +Arabs beneath me, I forgot myself in my anxiety to know if any of you +were left.” + +“I wonder that you were not shot without any drumhead court-martial,” +said the Colonel. “But how in the world did you get here?” + +“The Halfa people were close upon our track at the time when I was +abandoned, and they picked me up in the desert. I must have been +delirious, I suppose, for they tell me that they heard my voice, singing +hymns, a long way off, and it was that, under the providence of God, +which brought them to me. They had a camel ambulance, and I was quite +myself again by next day. I came with the Sarras people after we met +them, because they have the doctor with them. My wound is nothing, and +he says that a man of my habit will be the better for the loss of blood. +And now, my friends”--his big, brown eyes lost their twinkle, and became +very solemn and reverent--“we have all been upon the very confines of +death, and our dear companions may be so at this instant. The same +Power which saved us may save them, and let us pray together that it may +be so, always remembering that if, in spite of our prayers, it should +_not_ be so, then that also must be accepted as the best and wisest +thing.” + +So they knelt together among the black rocks, and prayed as some of them +had never prayed before. It was very well to discuss prayer and treat +it lightly and philosophically upon the deck of the _Korosko_. It was +easy to feel strong and self-confident in the comfortable deck-chair, +with the slippered Arab handing round the coffee and liqueurs. But they +had been swept out of that placid stream of existence, and dashed +against the horrible, jagged facts of life. Battered and shaken, they +must have something to cling to. A blind, inexorable destiny was too +horrible a belief. A chastening power, acting intelligently and for a +purpose--a living, working power, tearing them out of their grooves, +breaking down their small sectarian ways, forcing them into the better +path--that was what they had learned to realise during these days of +horror. Great hands had closed suddenly upon them, and had moulded them +into new shapes, and fitted them for new uses. Could such a power be +deflected by any human supplication? It was that or nothing--the last +court of appeal, left open to injured humanity. And so they all prayed, +as a lover loves, or a poet writes, from the very inside of their souls, +and they rose with that singular, illogical feeling of inward peace and +satisfaction which prayer only can give. + +“Hush!” said Cochrane. “Listen!” + +The sound of a volley came crackling up the narrow khor, and then +another and another. The Colonel was fidgeting about like an old horse +which hears the bugle of the hunt and the yapping of the pack. + +“Where can we see what is going on?” + +“Come this way! This way, if you please! There is a path up to the +top. If the ladies will come after me, they will be spared the sight of +anything painful.” + +The clergyman led them along the side to avoid the bodies which were +littered thickly down the bottom of the khor. It was hard walking over +the shingly, slaggy stones, but they made their way to the summit at +last. Beneath them lay the vast expanse of the rolling desert, and in +the foreground such a scene as none of them are ever likely to forget. +In that perfectly dry and clear light, with the unvarying brown tint of +the hard desert as a background, every detail stood out as clearly as if +these were toy figures arranged upon a table within hand’s-touch of +them. + +The Dervishes--or what was left of them--were riding slowly some little +distance out in a confused crowd, their patchwork jibbehs and red +turbans swaying with the motion of their camels. They did not present +the appearance of men who were defeated, for their movements were very +deliberate, but they looked about them and changed their formation as if +they were uncertain what their tactics ought to be. It was no wonder +that they were puzzled, for upon their spent camels their situation was +as hopeless as could be conceived. The Sarras men had all emerged from +the khor, and had dismounted, the beasts being held in groups of four, +while the rifle-men knelt in a long line with a woolly, curling fringe +of smoke, sending volley after volley at the Arabs, who shot back in a +desultory fashion from the backs of their camels. But it was not upon +the sullen group of Dervishes, nor yet upon the long line of kneeling +rifle-men, that the eyes of the spectators were fixed. Far out upon the +desert, three squadrons of the Halfa Camel Corps were coming up in a +dense close column, which wheeled beautifully into a widespread +semicircle as it approached. The Arabs were caught between two fires. + +“By Jove!” cried the Colonel. “See that!” + +The camels of the Dervishes had all knelt down simultaneously, and the +men had sprung from their backs. In front of them was a tall, stately +figure, who could only be the Emir Wad Ibrahim. They saw him kneel for +an instant in prayer. Then he rose, and taking something from his +saddle he placed it very deliberately upon the sand and stood upon it. + +“Good man!” cried the Colonel. “He is standing upon his sheepskin.” + +“What do you mean by that?” asked Stuart. + +“Every Arab has a sheepskin upon his saddle. When he recognises that +his position is perfectly hopeless, and yet is determined to fight to +the death, he takes his sheepskin off and stands upon it until he dies. +See, they are all upon their sheepskins. They will neither give nor +take quarter now.” + +The drama beneath them was rapidly approaching its climax. The Halfa +Corps was well up, and a ring of smoke and flame surrounded the clump of +kneeling Dervishes, who answered it as best they could. Many of them +were already down, but the rest loaded and fired with the unflinching +courage which has always made them worthy antagonists. A dozen +khaki-dressed figures upon the sand showed that it was no bloodless +victory for the Egyptians. But now there was a stirring bugle call from +the Sarras men, and another answered it from the Halfa Corps. +Their camels were down also, and the men had formed up into a single, +long, curved line. One last volley, and they were charging inwards with +the wild inspiriting yell which the blacks had brought with them from +their central African wilds. For a minute there was a mad vortex of +rushing figures, rifle butts rising and falling, spear-heads gleaming +and darting among the rolling dust cloud. Then the bugle rang out once +more, the Egyptians fell back and formed up with the quick precision of +highly disciplined troops, and there in the centre, each upon his +sheepskin, lay the gallant barbarian and his raiders. The nineteenth +century had been revenged upon the seventh. + +The three women had stared horror-stricken and yet fascinated at the +stirring scene before them. Now Sadie and her aunt were sobbing +together. The Colonel had turned to them with some cheering words when +his eyes fell upon the face of Mrs. Belmont. It was as white and set as +if it were carved from ivory, and her large grey eyes were fixed as if +she were in a trance. + +“Good Heavens, Mrs. Belmont, what _is_ the matter?” he cried. + +For answer she pointed out over the desert. Far away, miles on the +other side of the scene of the fight, a small body of men were riding +towards them. + +“By Jove, yes; there’s some one there. Who can it be?” + +They were all straining their eyes, but the distance was so great that +they could only be sure that they were camel-men and about a dozen in +number. + +“It’s those devils who were left behind in the palm grove,” said +Cochrane. “There’s no one else it can be. One consolation, they can’t +get away again. They’ve walked right into the lion’s mouth.” + +But Mrs. Belmont was still gazing with the same fixed intensity, and the +same ivory face. Now, with a wild shriek of joy, she threw her two +hands into the air. “It’s they!” she screamed. “They are saved! +It’s they, Colonel, it’s they! Oh, Miss Adams, Miss Adams, it is they!” +She capered about on the top of the hill with wild eyes like an excited +child. + +Her companions would not believe her, for they could see nothing, but +there are moments when our mortal senses are more acute than those who +have never put their whole heart and soul into them can ever realise. +Mrs. Belmont had already run down the rocky path, on the way to her +camel, before they could distinguish that which had long before carried +its glad message to her. In the van of the approaching party, three +white dots shimmered in the sun, and they could only come from the three +European hats. The riders were travelling swiftly, and by the time +their comrades had started to meet them they could plainly see that it +was indeed Belmont, Fardet, and Stephens, with the dragoman Mansoor, and +the wounded Soudanese rifleman. As they came together they saw that +their escort consisted of Tippy Tilly and the other old Egyptian +soldiers. Belmont rushed onwards to meet his wife, but Fardet stopped +to grasp the Colonel’s hand. + +“_Vive la France! Vivent les Anglais!_” he was yelling. “_Tout va +bien, n’est ce pas_, Colonel? Ah, _canaille! Vivent la croix et +les Chretiens!_” He was incoherent in his delight. + +The Colonel, too, was as enthusiastic as his Anglo-Saxon standard would +permit. He could not gesticulate, but he laughed in the nervous +crackling way which was his top-note of emotion. + +“My dear boy, I am deuced glad to see you all again. I gave you up for +lost. Never was as pleased at anything in my life! How did you get +away?” + +“It was all your doing.” + +“Mine?” + +“Yes, my friend, and I have been quarrelling with you--ungrateful wretch +that I am!” + +“But how did I save you?” + +“It was you who arranged with this excellent Tippy Tilly and the others +that they should have so much if they brought us alive into Egypt again. +They slipped away in the darkness and hid themselves in the grove. +Then, when we were left, they crept up with their rifles and shot the +men who were about to murder us. That cursed Moolah, I am sorry they +shot him, for I believe that I could have persuaded him to be a +Christian. And now, with your permission, I will hurry on and embrace +Miss Adams, for Belmont has his wife, and Stephens has Miss Sadie, so I +think it is very evident that the sympathy of Miss Adams is reserved for +me.” + +A fortnight had passed away, and the special boat which had been placed +at the disposal of the rescued tourists was already far north of +Assiout. Next morning they would find themselves at Baliani, where one +takes the express for Cairo. It was, therefore, their last evening +together. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child, who had escaped unhurt, had +already been sent down from the frontier. Miss Adams had been very ill +after her privations, and this was the first time that she had been +allowed to come upon deck after dinner. She sat now in a lounge chair, +thinner, sterner, and kindlier than ever, while Sadie stood beside her +and tucked the rugs around her shoulders. Mr. Stephens was carrying +over the coffee and placing it on the wicker table beside them. On the +other side of the deck Belmont and his wife were seated together in +silent sympathy and contentment. + +Monsieur Fardet was leaning against the rail, and arguing about the +remissness of the British Government in not taking a more complete +control of the Egyptian frontier, while the Colonel stood very erect in +front of him, with the red end of a cigar-stump protruding from under +his moustache. + +But what was the matter with the Colonel? Who would have recognised him +who had only seen the broken old man in the Libyan Desert? There might +be some little grizzling about the moustache, but the hair was back once +more at the fine glossy black which had been so much admired upon the +voyage up. With a stony face and an unsympathetic manner he had +received, upon his return to Halfa, all the commiserations about the +dreadful way in which his privations had blanched him, and then diving +into his cabin, he had reappeared within an hour exactly as he had been +before that fatal moment when he had been cut off from the manifold +resources of civilisation. And he looked in such a sternly questioning +manner at every one who stared at him, that no one had the moral +courage to make any remark about this modern miracle. It was observed +from that time forward that, if the Colonel had only to ride a hundred +yards into the desert, he always began his preparations by putting a +small black bottle with a pink label into the side-pocket of his coat. +But those who knew him best at times when a man may best be known, said +that the old soldier had a young man’s heart and a young man’s spirit-- +so that if he wished to keep a young man’s colour also it was not very +unreasonable after all. + +It was very soothing and restful up there on the saloon deck, with no +sound but the gentle lipping of the water as it rippled against the +sides of the steamer. The red after-glow was in the western sky, and it +mottled the broad, smooth river with crimson. Dimly they could discern +the tall figures of herons standing upon the sand-banks, and farther off +the line of riverside date-palms glided past them in a majestic +procession. Once more the silver stars were twinkling out, the same +clear, placid, inexorable stars to which their weary eyes had been so +often upturned during the long nights of their desert martyrdom. + +“Where do you put up in Cairo, Miss Adams?” asked Mrs. Belmont at last. + +“Shepheard’s, I think.” + +“And you, Mr. Stephens?” + +“Oh, Shepheard’s, decidedly.” + +“We are staying at the Continental. I hope we shall not lose sight of +you.” + +“I don’t want ever to lose sight of you, Mrs. Belmont,” cried Sadie. +“Oh, you must come to the States, and we’ll give you just a lovely +time.” + +Mrs. Belmont laughed, in her pleasant, mellow fashion. + +“We have our duty to do in Ireland, and we have been too long away from +it already. My husband has his business, and I have my home, and they +are both going to rack and ruin. Besides,” she added slyly, “it is just +possible that if we did come to the States we might not find you there.” + +“We must all meet again,” said Belmont, “if only to talk our adventures +over once more. It will be easier in a year or two. We are still too +near them.” + +“And yet how far away and dream-like it all seems!” remarked his wife. +“Providence is very good in softening disagreeable remembrances in our +minds. All this feels to me as if it had happened in some previous +existence.” + +Fardet held up his wrist with a cotton bandage still round it. + +“The body does not forget as quickly as the mind. This does not look +very dream-like or far away, Mrs. Belmont.” + +“How hard it is that some should be spared, and some not! If only Mr. +Brown and Mr. Headingly were with us, then I should not have one care in +the world,” cried Sadie. “Why should they have been taken, and we +left?” + +Mr. Stuart had limped on to the deck with an open book in his hand, a +thick stick supporting his injured leg. + +“Why is the ripe fruit picked, and the unripe left?” said he in answer +to the young girl’s exclamation. “We know nothing of the spiritual +state of these poor dear young fellows, but the great Master Gardener +plucks His fruit according to His own knowledge. I brought you up a +passage to read to you.” + +There was a lantern upon the table, and he sat down beside it. +The yellow light shone upon his heavy cheek and the red edges of his +book. The strong, steady voice rose above the wash of the water. + +“‘Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed and delivered from +the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands, from the +east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They went +astray in the wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in. +Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. So they cried unto the +Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. +He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where +they dwelt. Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for His +goodness, and declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of +men.’ + +“It sounds as if it were composed for us, and yet it was written two +thousand years ago,” said the clergyman, as he closed the book. +“In every age man has been forced to acknowledge the guiding hand which +leads him. For my part I don’t believe that inspiration stopped two +thousand years ago. When Tennyson wrote with such fervour and +conviction”:-- + + ‘Oh, yet we trust that somehow good + Will be the final goal of ill,’ + +“He was repeating the message which had been given to him, just as Micah +or Ezekiel, when the world was younger, repeated some cruder and more +elementary message.” + +“That is all very well, Mr. Stuart,” said the Frenchman; “you ask me to +praise God for taking me out of danger and pain, but what I want to know +is why, since He has arranged all things, He ever put me into that pain +and danger. I have, in my opinion, more occasion to blame than to +praise. You would not thank me for pulling you out of that river if it +was also I who pushed you in. The most which you can claim for your +Providence is that it has healed the wound which its own hand +inflicted.” + +“I don’t deny the difficulty,” said the clergyman slowly; “no one who is +not self-deceived _can_ deny the difficulty. Look how boldly Tennyson +faced it in that same poem, the grandest and deepest and most obviously +inspired in our language. Remember the effect which it had upon him.” + + ‘I falter where I firmly trod, + And falling with my weight of cares + Upon the great world’s altar stairs + Which slope through darkness up to God; + + I stretch lame hands of faith and grope + And gather dust and chaff, and call + To what I feel is Lord of all, + And faintly trust the larger hope.’ + +“It is the central mystery of mysteries--the problem of sin and +suffering, the one huge difficulty which the reasoner has to solve in +order to vindicate the dealings of God with man. But take our own case +as an example. I, for one, am very clear what I have got out of our +experience. I say it with all humility, but I have a clearer view of my +duties than ever I had before. It has taught me to be less remiss in +saying what I think to be true, less indolent in doing what I feel to be +right.” + +“And I,” cried Sadie. “It has taught me more than all my life put +together. I have learned so much and unlearned so much. I am a +different girl.” + +“I never understood my own nature before,” said Stephens. “I can hardly +say that I had a nature to understand. I lived for what was +unimportant, and I neglected what was vital.” + +“Oh, a good shake-up does nobody any harm,” the Colonel remarked. +“Too much of the feather-bed-and-four-meals-a-day life is not good for +man or woman.” + +“It is my firm belief,” said Mrs. Belmont gravely, “that there was not +one of us who did not rise to a greater height during those days in the +desert than ever before or since. When our sins come to be weighed, +much may be forgiven us for the sake of those unselfish days.” + +They all sat in thoughtful silence for a little, while the scarlet +streaks turned to carmine, and the grey shadows deepened, and the +wild-fowl flew past in dark straggling V’s over the dull metallic +surface of the great smooth-flowing Nile. A cold wind had sprung up +from the eastward, and some of the party rose to leave the deck. +Stephens leaned forward to Sadie. + +“Do you remember what you promised when you were in the desert?” he +whispered. + +“What was that?” + +“You said that if you escaped you would try in future to make some one +else happy.” + +“Then I must do so.” + +“You have,” said he, and their hands met under the shadow of the table. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF THE +KOROSKO *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and + most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no + restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it + under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this + eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the + United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where + you are located before using this eBook. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that: + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without +widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/12555-0.zip b/old/12555-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad64069 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12555-0.zip diff --git a/old/12555-h.zip b/old/12555-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ea064a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12555-h.zip diff --git a/old/12555-h/12555-h.htm b/old/12555-h/12555-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a26d80e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12555-h/12555-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5552 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> + <head> <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> +<title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tragedy Of The Korosko, by Conan Doyle. +</title> +<style type="text/css"> + +a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + + link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} + +a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} + +a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} + +body{margin-left:4%;margin-right:6%;background:#ffffff;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} + +.big {font-size:150%; +text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + +.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} + + h1 {margin-top:5%;text-align:center;clear:both; +font-weight:normal;} + + h2 {margin-top:4%;margin-bottom:2%;text-align:center;clear:both; + font-size:100%;font-weight:normal;} + + hr {width:90%;margin:2em auto 2em auto;clear:both;color:black;} + + hr.full {width: 60%;margin:2% auto 2% auto;border-top:1px solid black; +padding:.1em;border-bottom:1px solid black;border-left:none;border-right:none;} + + img {border:none;} + +.lftspc {margin-left:.25em;} + +.letra {font-size:250%;float:left;margin-top:-1%;} + +.nind {text-indent:0%;} + + p {margin-top:.2em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.2em;text-indent:4%;} + +.rt {text-align:right;} + +table {margin:2% auto;border:none;} + +div.poetry {text-align:center;} +div.poem {font-size:90%;margin:auto auto;text-indent:0%; +display: inline-block; text-align: left;} +.poem .stanza {margin-top: 1em;margin-bottom:1em;} +.poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: .45em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +</style> + </head> +<body> +<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Tragedy of The Korosko, by Arthur Conan Doyle</p> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> + +<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Tragedy of The Korosko</p> +<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Arthur Conan Doyle</p> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: June 8, 2004 [eBook #12555]<br /> +Last updated: March 27, 2022</p> +<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> + <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer</p> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO ***</div> +<hr class="full" /> + +<div class="c"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" height="500" alt="" /> +</div> + +<h1>THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO</h1> + +<p class="big">SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE.</p> + +<table cellpadding="0"><tr><td> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a><br /></td><td> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a><br /></td></tr> +</table> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE public may possibly wonder why it is that they have never heard in +the papers of the fate of the passengers of the <i>Korosko</i>. In these +days of universal press agencies, responsive to the slightest stimulus, +it may well seem incredible that an international incident of such +importance should remain so long unchronicled. Suffice it that there +were very valid reasons, both of a personal and of a political nature, +for holding it back. The facts were well known to a good number of +people at the time, and some version of them did actually appear in a +provincial paper, but was generally discredited. They have now been +thrown into narrative form, the incidents having been collated from the +sworn statements of Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, of the Army and Navy +Club, and from the letters of Miss Adams, of Boston, Mass.</p> + +<p>These have been supplemented by the evidence of Captain Archer, of the +Egyptian Camel Corps, as given before the secret Government inquiry at +Cairo. Mr. James Stephens has refused to put his version of the matter +into writing, but as these proofs have been submitted to him, and no +correction or deletion has been made in them, it may be supposed that he +has not succeeded in detecting any grave misstatement of fact, and that +any objection which he may have to their publication depends rather upon +private and personal scruples.</p> + +<p>The <i>Korosko</i>, a turtle-bottomed, round-bowed stern-wheeler, with a +30-inch draught and the lines of a flat-iron, started upon the 13th of +February in the year 1895, from Shellal, at the head of the first +cataract, bound for Wady Halfa. I have a passenger card for the trip, +which I here reproduce:</p> + +<table cellpadding="0"> +<tr><td class="c" colspan="2">S.W. “KOROSKO,” FEBRUARY 13TH.<br /> +PASSENGERS.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Colonel Cochrane Cochrane</td><td align="left">London.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mr. Cecil Brown</td><td align="left">London.</td></tr> +<tr><td>John H. Headingly</td><td align="left">Boston, U.S.A.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Miss Adams</td><td align="left">Boston, U.S.A.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Miss S. Adams</td><td align="left">Worcester, Mass., U.S.A.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mons. Fardet</td><td align="left">Paris.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mr. and Mrs. Belmont</td><td align="left">Dublin.</td></tr> +<tr><td>James Stephens</td><td align="left">Manchester.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Rev. John Stuart</td><td align="left">Birmingham.</td></tr> +<tr><td>Mrs. Shlesinger, nurse and child    </td><td align="left">Florence.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p>This was the party as it started from Shellal, with the intention of +travelling up the two hundred miles of Nubian Nile which lie between the +first and the second cataract.</p> + +<p>It is a singular country, this Nubia. Varying in breadth from a few +miles to as many yards (for the name is only applied to the narrow +portion which is capable of cultivation), it extends in a thin, green, +palm-fringed strip upon either side of the broad coffee-coloured river. +Beyond it there stretches on the Libyan bank a savage and illimitable +desert, extending to the whole breadth of Africa. On the other side an +equally desolate wilderness is bounded only by the distant Red Sea. +Between these two huge and barren expanses Nubia writhes like a green +sandworm along the course of the river. Here and there it disappears +altogether, and the Nile runs between black and sun-cracked hills, with +the orange drift-sand lying like glaciers in their valleys. Everywhere +one sees traces of vanished races and submerged civilisations. +Grotesque graves dot the hills or stand up against the sky-line: +pyramidal graves, tumulus graves, rock graves—everywhere, graves. +And, occasionally, as the boat rounds a rocky point, one sees a deserted +city up above—houses, walls, battlements, with the sun shining through +the empty window squares. Sometimes you learn that it has been Roman, +sometimes Egyptian, sometimes all record of its name or origin has been +absolutely lost. You ask yourself in amazement why any race should +build in so uncouth a solitude, and you find it difficult to accept the +theory that this has only been of value as a guard-house to the richer +country down below, and that these frequent cities have been so many +fortresses to hold off the wild and predatory men of the south. +But whatever be their explanation, be it a fierce neighbour, or be it a +climatic change, there they stand, these grim and silent cities, and up +on the hills you can see the graves of their people, like the port-holes +of a man-of-war. It is through this weird, dead country that the +tourists smoke and gossip and flirt as they pass up to the Egyptian +frontier.</p> + +<p>The passengers of the <i>Korosko</i> formed a merry party, for most of them +had travelled up together from Cairo to Assouan, and even Anglo-Saxon +ice thaws rapidly upon the Nile. They were fortunate in being without +the single disagreeable person who, in these small boats, is sufficient +to mar the enjoyment of the whole party. On a vessel which is little +more than a large steam launch, the bore, the cynic, or the grumbler +holds the company at his mercy. But the <i>Korosko</i> was free from +anything of the kind. Colonel Cochrane Cochrane was one of those +officers whom the British Government, acting upon a large system of +averages, declares at a certain age to be incapable of further service, +and who demonstrate the worth of such a system by spending their +declining years in exploring Morocco, or shooting lions in Somaliland. +He was a dark, straight, aquiline man, with a courteously deferential +manner, but a steady, questioning eye; very neat in his dress and +precise in his habits, a gentleman to the tips of his trim finger-nails. +In his Anglo-Saxon dislike to effusiveness he had cultivated a +self-contained manner which was apt at first acquaintance to be +repellent, and he seemed to those who really knew him to be at some +pains to conceal the kind heart and human emotions which influenced his +actions. It was respect rather than affection which he inspired among +his fellow-travellers, for they felt, like all who had ever met him, +that he was a man with whom acquaintance was unlikely to ripen into a +friendship, though a friendship, when once attained, would be an +unchanging and inseparable part of himself. He wore a grizzled military +moustache, but his hair was singularly black for a man of his years. +He made no allusion in his conversation to the numerous campaigns in +which he had distinguished himself, and the reason usually given for his +reticence was that they dated back to such early Victorian days that he +had to sacrifice his military glory at the shrine of his perennial +youth.</p> + +<p>Mr. Cecil Brown—to take the names in the chance order in which they +appear upon the passenger list—was a young diplomatist from a +Continental Embassy, a man slightly tainted with the Oxford manner, and +erring upon the side of unnatural and inhuman refinement, but full of +interesting talk and cultured thought. He had a sad, handsome face, a +small wax-tipped moustache, a low voice and a listless manner, which was +relieved by a charming habit of suddenly lighting up into a rapid smile +and gleam when anything caught his fancy. An acquired cynicism was +eternally crushing and overlying his natural youthful enthusiasms, and +he ignored what was obvious while expressing keen appreciation for what +seemed to the average man to be either trivial or unhealthy. He chose +Walter Pater for his travelling author, and sat all day, reserved but +affable, under the awning, with his novel and his sketch-book upon a +camp-stool beside him. His personal dignity prevented him from making +advances to others, but if they chose to address him they found a +courteous and amiable companion.</p> + +<p>The Americans formed a group by themselves. John H. Headingly was a +New Englander, a graduate of Harvard, who was completing his education +by a tour round the world. He stood for the best type of young +American—quick, observant, serious, eager for knowledge and fairly +free from prejudice, with a fine balance of unsectarian but earnest +religious feeling which held him steady amid all the sudden gusts of +youth. He had less of the appearance and more of the reality of culture +than the young Oxford diplomatist, for he had keener emotions though +less exact knowledge. Miss Adams and Miss Sadie Adams were aunt and +niece, the former a little, energetic, hard-featured Bostonian old-maid, +with a huge surplus of unused love behind her stern and swarthy +features. She had never been from home before, and she was now busy +upon the self-imposed task of bringing the East up to the standard of +Massachusetts. She had hardly landed in Egypt before she realised that +the country needed putting to rights, and since the conviction struck +her she had been very fully occupied. The saddle-galled donkeys, the +starved pariah dogs, the flies round the eyes of the babies, the naked +children, the importunate beggars, the ragged, untidy women—they were +all challenges to her conscience, and she plunged in bravely at her work +of reformation. As she could not speak a word of the language, however, +and was unable to make any of the delinquents understand what it was +that she wanted, her passage up the Nile left the immemorial East very +much as she had found it, but afforded a good deal of sympathetic +amusement to her fellow-travellers. No one enjoyed her efforts more +than her niece, Sadie, who shared with Mrs. Belmont the distinction of +being the most popular person upon the boat. She was very young—fresh +from Smith College—and she still possessed many both of the virtues and +of the faults of a child. She had the frankness, the trusting +confidence, the innocent straightforwardness, the high spirits, and also +the loquacity and the want of reverence. But even her faults caused +amusement, and if she had preserved many of the characteristics of a +clever child, she was none the less a tall and handsome woman, who +looked older than her years on account of that low curve of the hair +over the ears, and that fullness of bodice and skirt which Mr. Gibson +has either initiated or imitated. The whisk of those skirts, and the +frank, incisive voice and pleasant, catching laugh were familiar and +welcome sounds on board of the <i>Korosko</i>. Even the rigid Colonel +softened into geniality, and the Oxford-bred diplomatist forgot to be +unnatural with Miss Sadie Adams as a companion.</p> + +<p>The other passengers may be dismissed more briefly. Some were +interesting, some neutral, and all amiable. Monsieur Fardet was a +good-natured but argumentative Frenchman, who held the most decided +views as to the deep machinations of Great Britain, and the illegality +of her position in Egypt. Mr. Belmont was an iron-grey, sturdy +Irishman, famous as an astonishingly good long-range rifle-shot, who had +carried off nearly every prize which Wimbledon or Bisley had to offer. +With him was his wife, a very charming and refined woman, full of the +pleasant playfulness of her country. Mrs. Shlesinger was a middle-aged +widow, quiet and soothing, with her thoughts all taken up by her +six-year-old child, as a mother’s thoughts are likely to be in a boat +which has an open rail for a bulwark. The Reverend John Stuart was a +Nonconformist minister from Birmingham—either a Presbyterian or a +Congregationalist—a man of immense stoutness, slow and torpid in his +ways, but blessed with a considerable fund of homely humour, which made +him, I am told, a very favourite preacher, and an effective speaker from +advanced Radical platforms.</p> + +<p>Finally, there was Mr. James Stephens, a Manchester solicitor (junior +partner of Hickson, Ward, and Stephens), who was travelling to shake off +the effects of an attack of influenza. Stephens was a man who, in the +course of thirty years, had worked himself up from cleaning the firm’s +windows to managing its business. For most of that long time he had +been absolutely immersed in dry, technical work, living with the one +idea of satisfying old clients and attracting new ones, until his mind +and soul had become as formal and precise as the laws which he +expounded. A fine and sensitive nature was in danger of being as warped +as a busy city man’s is liable to become. His work had become an +engrained habit, and, being a bachelor, he had hardly an interest in +life to draw him away from it, so that his soul was being gradually +bricked up like the body of a mediaeval nun. But at last there came +this kindly illness, and Nature hustled James Stephens out of his +groove, and sent him into the broad world far away from roaring +Manchester and his shelves full of calf-skin authorities. At first he +resented it deeply. Everything seemed trivial to him compared to his +own petty routine. But gradually his eyes were opened, and he began +dimly to see that it was his work which was trivial when compared to +this wonderful, varied, inexplicable world of which he was so ignorant. +Vaguely he realised that the interruption to his career might be more +important than the career itself. All sorts of new interests took +possession of him; and the middle-aged lawyer developed an after-glow of +that youth which had been wasted among his books. His character was +too formed to admit of his being anything but dry and precise in his +ways, and a trifle pedantic in his mode of speech; but he read and +thought and observed, scoring his “Baedeker” with underlinings and +annotations as he had once done his “Prideaux’s Commentaries.” He had +travelled up from Cairo with the party, and had contracted a friendship +with Miss Adams and her niece. The young American girl, with her +chatter, her audacity, and her constant flow of high spirits, amused and +interested him, and she in turn felt a mixture of respect and of pity +for his knowledge and his limitations. So they became good friends, and +people smiled to see his clouded face and her sunny one bending over the +same guide-book.</p> + +<p>The little <i>Korosko</i> puffed and spluttered her way up the river, kicking +up the white water behind her, and making more noise and fuss over her +five knots an hour than an Atlantic liner on a record voyage. On deck, +under the thick awning, sat her little family of passengers, and every +few hours she eased down and sidled up to the bank to allow them to +visit one more of that innumerable succession of temples. The remains, +however, grow more modern as one ascends from Cairo, and travellers who +have sated themselves at Gizeh and Sakara with the contemplation of the +very oldest buildings which the hands of man have constructed, become +impatient of temples which are hardly older than the Christian era. +Ruins which would be gazed upon with wonder and veneration in any other +country are hardly noticed in Egypt. The tourists viewed with languid +interest the half-Greek art of the Nubian bas-reliefs; they climbed the +hill of Korosko to see the sun rise over the savage Eastern desert; they +were moved to wonder by the great shrine of Abou-Simbel, where some old +race has hollowed out a mountain as if it were a cheese; and, finally, +upon the evening of the fourth day of their travels they arrived at Wady +Halfa, the frontier garrison town, some few hours after they were due, +on account of a small mishap in the engine-room. The next morning was +to be devoted to an expedition to the famous rock of Abousir, from which +a great view may be obtained of the second cataract. At eight-thirty, +as the passengers sat on deck after dinner, Mansoor, the dragoman, half +Copt, half Syrian, came forward, according to the nightly custom, to +announce the programme for the morrow.</p> + +<p>“Ladies and gentlemen,” said he, plunging boldly into the rapid but +broken stream of his English, “to-morrow you will remember not to forget +to rise when the gong strikes you for to compress the journey before +twelve o’clock. Having arrived at the place where the donkeys expect +us, we shall ride five miles over the desert, passing a temple of +Ammon-ra, which dates itself from the eighteenth dynasty, upon the way, +and so reach the celebrated pulpit rock of Abousir. The pulpit rock is +supposed to have been called so, because it is a rock like a pulpit. +When you have reached it you will know that you are on the very edge of +civilisation, and that very little more will take you into the country +of the Dervishes, which will be obvious to you at the top. +Having passed the summit, you will perceive the full extremity of the +second cataract, embracing wild natural beauties of the most dreadful +variety. Here all very famous people carve their names—and so you will +carve your names also.” Mansoor waited expectantly for a titter, and +bowed to it when it arrived. “You will then return to Wady Halfa, and +there remain two hours to suspect the Camel Corps, including the +grooming of the beasts, and the bazaar before returning, so I wish you a +very happy good-night.”</p> + +<p>There was a gleam of his white teeth in the lamplight, and then his +long, dark petticoats, his short English cover-coat, and his red +tarboosh vanished successively down the ladder. The low buzz of +conversation which had been suspended by his coming broke out anew.</p> + +<p>“I’m relying on you, Mr. Stephens, to tell me all about Abousir,” said +Miss Sadie Adams. “I do like to know what I am looking at right there +at the time, and not six hours afterwards in my state-room. I haven’t +got Abou-Simbel and the wall pictures straight in my mind yet, though I +saw them yesterday.”</p> + +<p>“I never hope to keep up with it,” said her aunt. “When I am safe back +in Commonwealth Avenue, and there’s no dragoman to hustle me around, +I’ll have time to read about it all, and then I expect I shall begin to +enthuse, and want to come right back again. But it’s just too good of +you, Mr. Stephens, to try and keep us informed.”</p> + +<p>“I thought that you might wish precise information, and so I prepared a +small digest of the matter,” said Stephens, handing a slip of paper to +Miss Sadie. She looked at it in the light of the deck lamp, and broke +into her low, hearty laugh.</p> + +<p>“<i>Re</i> Abousir,” she read; “now, what <i>do</i> you mean by ‘<i>re</i>,’ Mr. +Stephens? You put ‘<i>re</i> Rameses the Second’ on the last paper you gave +me.”</p> + +<p>“It is a habit I have acquired, Miss Sadie,” said Stephens; “it is the +custom in the legal profession when they make a memo.”</p> + +<p>“Make what, Mr. Stephens?”</p> + +<p>“A memo—a memorandum, you know. We put <i>re</i> so-and-so to show what it +is about.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose it’s a good short way,” said Miss Sadie, “but it feels queer +somehow when applied to scenery or to dead Egyptian kings. +‘<i>Re</i> Cheops’—doesn’t that strike you as funny?”</p> + +<p>“No, I can’t say that it does,” said Stephens.</p> + +<p>“I wonder if it is true that the English have less humour than the +Americans, or whether it’s just another kind of humour,” said the girl. +She had a quiet, abstracted way of talking as if she were thinking +aloud. “I used to imagine they had less, and yet, when you come to +think of it, Dickens and Thackeray and Barrie, and so many other of the +humourists we admire most are Britishers. Besides, I never in all my +days heard people laugh so hard as in that London theatre. There was a +man behind us, and every time he laughed Auntie looked round to see if a +door had opened, he made such a draught. But you have some funny +expressions, Mr. Stephens!”</p> + +<p>“What else strikes you as funny, Miss Sadie?”</p> + +<p>“Well, when you sent me the temple ticket and the little map, you began +your letter, ‘Enclosed, please find,’ and then at the bottom, in +brackets, you had ‘2 enclo.’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> + +<p>“That is the usual form in business.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, in business,” said Sadie demurely, and there was a silence.</p> + +<p>“There’s one thing I wish,” remarked Miss Adams, in the hard, metallic +voice with which she disguised her softness of heart, “and that is, that +I could see the Legislature of this country and lay a few cold-drawn +facts in front of them. I’d make a platform of my own, Mr. Stephens, +and run a party on my ticket. A Bill for the compulsory use of eyewash +would be one of my planks, and another would be for the abolition of +those Yashmak veil things which turn a woman into a bale of cotton goods +with a pair of eyes looking out of it.”</p> + +<p>“I never could think why they wore them,” said Sadie; “until one day I +saw one with her veil lifted. Then I knew.”</p> + +<p>“They make me tired, those women,” cried Miss Adams wrathfully. +“One might as well try to preach duty and decency and cleanliness to a +line of bolsters. Why, good land, it was only yesterday at Abou-Simbel, +Mr. Stephens, I was passing one of their houses—if you can call a +mud-pie like that a house—and I saw two of the children at the door +with the usual crust of flies round their eyes, and great holes in their +poor little blue gowns! So I got off my donkey, and I turned up my +sleeves, and I washed their faces well with my handkerchief, and sewed +up the rents—for in this country I would as soon think of going ashore +without my needle-case as without my white umbrella, Mr. Stephens. +Then as I warmed on the job I got into the room—such a room!—and I +packed the folks out of it, and I fairly did the chores as if I had been +the hired help. I’ve seen no more of that temple of Abou-Simbel than if +I had never left Boston; but, my sakes, I saw more dust and mess than +you would think they could crowd into a house the size of a Newport +bathing-hut. From the time I pinned up my skirt until I came out with +my face the colour of that smoke-stack, wasn’t more than an hour, or +maybe an hour and a half, but I had that house as clean and fresh as a +new pine-wood box. I had a <i>New York Herald</i> with me, and I lined their +shelf with paper for them. Well, Mr. Stephens, when I had done washing +my hands outside, I came past the door again, and there were those two +children sitting on the stoop with their eyes full of flies, and all +just the same as ever, except that each had a little paper cap made out +of the <i>New York Herald</i> upon his head. But, say, Sadie, it’s going on +to ten o’clock, and to-morrow an early excursion.”</p> + +<p>“It’s just too beautiful, this purple sky and the great silver stars,” +said Sadie. “Look at the silent desert and the black shadows of the +hills. It’s grand, but it’s terrible too; and then when you think that +we really <i>are</i>, as that dragoman said just now, on the very end of +civilisation, and with nothing but savagery and bloodshed down there +where the Southern Cross is twinkling so prettily, why, it’s like +standing on the beautiful edge of a live volcano.”</p> + +<p>“Shucks, Sadie, don’t talk like that, child,” said the older woman +nervously. “It’s enough to scare any one to listen to you.”</p> + +<p>“Well, but don’t you feel it yourself, Auntie? Look at that great +desert stretching away and away until it is lost in the shadows. +Hear the sad whisper of the wind across it! It’s just the most solemn +thing that ever I saw in my life.”</p> + +<p>“I’m glad we’ve found something that will make you solemn, my dear,” +said her Aunt. “I’ve sometimes thought—Sakes alive, what’s that?”</p> + +<p>From somewhere amongst the hill shadows upon the other side of the river +there had risen a high shrill whimpering, rising and swelling, to end in +a long weary wail.</p> + +<p>“It’s only a jackal, Miss Adams,” said Stephens. “I heard one when we +went out to see the Sphinx by moonlight.”</p> + +<p>But the American lady had risen, and her face showed that her nerves had +been ruffled.</p> + +<p>“If I had my time over again I wouldn’t have come past Assouan,” said +she. “I can’t think what possessed me to bring you all the way up here, +Sadie. Your mother will think that I am clean crazy, and I’d never dare +to look her in the eye if anything went wrong with us. I’ve seen all I +want to see of this river, and all I ask now is to be back at Cairo +again.”</p> + +<p>“Why, Auntie,” cried the girl, “it isn’t like you to be faint-hearted.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I don’t know how it is, Sadie, but I feel a bit unstrung, and +that beast caterwauling over yonder was just more than I could put up +with. There’s one consolation, we are scheduled to be on our way home +to-morrow, after we’ve seen this one rock or temple, or whatever it is. +I’m full up of rocks and temples, Mr. Stephens. I shouldn’t mope if I +never saw another. Come, Sadie! Good-night!”</p> + +<p>“Good-night! Good-night, Miss Adams!”</p> + +<p>And the two ladies passed down to their cabins.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet was chatting, in a subdued voice, with Headingly, the +young Harvard graduate, bending forward confidentially between the +whiffs of his cigarette.</p> + +<p>“Dervishes, Mister Headingly!” said he, speaking excellent English, but +separating his syllables as a Frenchman will. “There are no Dervishes. +They do not exist.”</p> + +<p>“Why, I thought the woods were full of them,” said the American.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet glanced across to where the red core of Colonel +Cochrane’s cigar was glowing through the darkness.</p> + +<p>“You are an American, and you do not like the English,” he whispered. +“It is perfectly comprehended upon the Continent that the Americans are +opposed to the English.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Headingly, with his slow, deliberate manner, “I won’t say +that we have not our tiffs, and there are some of our people—mostly of +Irish stock—who are always mad with England; but the most of us have a +kindly thought for the mother country. You see they may be aggravating +folk sometimes, but after all they are our <i>own</i> folk, and we can’t wipe +that off the slate.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Eh bien!</i>” said the Frenchman. “At least I can say to you what I +could not without offence say to these others. And I repeat that there +<i>are</i> no Dervishes. They were an invention of Lord Cromer in the year +1885.”</p> + +<p>“You don’t say!” cried Headingly.</p> + +<p>“It is well known in Paris, and has been exposed in <i>La Patrie</i> and +other of our so well-informed papers.”</p> + +<p>“But this is colossal,” said Headingly. “Do you mean to tell me, +Monsieur Fardet, that the siege of Khartoum and the death of Gordon and +the rest of it was just one great bluff?”</p> + +<p>“I will not deny that there was an émeute, but it was local, you +understand, and now long forgotten. Since then there has been profound +peace in the Soudan.”</p> + +<p>“But I have heard of raids, Monsieur Fardet, and I’ve read of battles, +too, when the Arabs tried to invade Egypt. It was only two days ago +that we passed Toski, where the dragoman said there had been a fight. +Is that all bluff also?”</p> + +<p>“Pah, my friend, you do not know the English. You look at them as you +see them with their pipes and their contented faces, and you say, ‘Now, +these are good, simple folk, who will never hurt any one.’ But all the +time they are thinking and watching and planning. ‘Here is Egypt weak,’ +they cry. ‘<i>Allons!</i>’ and down they swoop like a gull upon a crust. +‘You have no right there,’ says the world. ‘Come out of it!’ +But England has already begun to tidy everything, just like the good +Miss Adams when she forces her way into the house of an Arab. +‘Come out,’ says the world. ‘Certainly,’ says England; ‘just wait one +little minute until I have made everything nice and proper.’ So the +world waits for a year or so, and then it says once again, ‘Come out.’ +‘Just wait a little,’ says England; ‘there is trouble at Khartoum, and +when I have set that all right I shall be very glad to come out.’ +So they wait until it is all over, and then again they say, ‘Come out.’ +‘How can I come out,’ says England, ‘when there are still raids and +battles going on? If we were to leave, Egypt would be run over.’ +‘But there are no raids,’ says the world. ‘Oh, are there not?’ says +England, and then within a week sure enough the papers are full of some +new raid of Dervishes. We are not all blind, Mister Headingly. +We understand very well how such things can be done. A few Bedouins, a +little backsheesh, some blank cartridges, and, behold—a raid!”</p> + +<p>“Well, well,” said the American, “I’m glad to know the rights of this +business, for it has often puzzled me. But what does England get out of +it?”</p> + +<p>“She gets the country, monsieur.”</p> + +<p>“I see. You mean, for example, that there is a favourable tariff for +British goods?”</p> + +<p>“No, monsieur; it is the same for all.”</p> + +<p>“Well, then, she gives the contracts to Britishers?”</p> + +<p>“Precisely, monsieur.”</p> + +<p>“For example, the railroad that they are building right through the +country, the one that runs alongside the river, that would be a valuable +contract for the British?”</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet was an honest man, if an imaginative one.</p> + +<p>“It is a French company, monsieur, which holds the railway contract,” +said he.</p> + +<p>The American was puzzled.</p> + +<p>“They don’t seem to get much for their trouble,” said he. “Still, of +course, there must be some indirect pull somewhere. For example, Egypt +no doubt has to pay and keep all those red-coats in Cairo.”</p> + +<p>“Egypt, monsieur! No, they are paid by England.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I suppose they know their own business best, but they seem to me +to take a great deal of trouble, and to get mighty little in exchange. +If they don’t mind keeping order and guarding the frontier, with a +constant war against the Dervishes on their hands, I don’t know why any +one should object. I suppose no one denies that the prosperity of the +country has increased enormously since they came. The revenue returns +show that. They tell me also that the poorer folks have justice, which +they never had before.”</p> + +<p>“What are they doing here at all?” cried the Frenchman angrily. +“Let them go back to their island. We cannot have them all over the +world.”</p> + +<p>“Well, certainly, to us Americans, who live all in our own land, it does +seem strange how you European nations are for ever slopping over into +some other country which was not meant for you. It’s easy for us to +talk, of course, for we have still got room and to spare for all our +people. When we begin pushing each other over the edge we shall have to +start annexing also. But at present just here in North Africa there is +Italy in Abyssinia, and England in Egypt, and France in Algiers—”</p> + +<p>“France!” cried Monsieur Fardet. “Algiers belongs to France. +You laugh, monsieur. I have the honour to wish you a very good-night.” +He rose from his seat, and walked off, rigid with outraged patriotism, +to his cabin.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE young American hesitated for a little, debating in his mind whether +he should not go down and post up the daily record of his impressions +which he kept for his home-staying sister. But the cigars of Colonel +Cochrane and of Cecil Brown were still twinkling in the far corner of +the deck, and the student was acquisitive in the search of information. +He did not quite know how to lead up to the matter, but the Colonel very +soon did it for him.</p> + +<p>“Come on, Headingly,” said he, pushing a camp-stool in his direction. +“This is the place for an antidote. I see that Fardet has been pouring +politics into your ear.”</p> + +<p>“I can always recognise the confidential stoop of his shoulders when he +discusses <i>la haute politique</i>,” said the dandy diplomatist. “But what +a sacrilege upon a night like this! What a nocturne in blue and silver +might be suggested by that moon rising above the desert. There is a +movement in one of Mendelssohn’s songs which seems to embody it all— +a sense of vastness, of repetition, the cry of the wind over an +interminable expanse. The subtler emotions which cannot be translated +into words are still to be hinted at by chords and harmonies.”</p> + +<p>“It seems wilder and more savage than ever to-night,” remarked the +American. “It gives me the same feeling of pitiless force that the +Atlantic does upon a cold, dark, winter day. Perhaps it is the +knowledge that we are right there on the very edge of any kind of law +and order. How far do you suppose that we are from any Dervishes, +Colonel Cochrane?”</p> + +<p>“Well, on the Arabian side,” said the Colonel, “we have the Egyptian +fortified camp of Sarras about forty miles to the south of us. Beyond +that are sixty miles of very wild country before you would come to the +Dervish post at Akasheh. On this other side, however, there is nothing +between us and them.”</p> + +<p>“Abousir is on this side, is it not?”</p> + +<p>“Yes. That is why the excursion to the Abousir Rock has been forbidden +for the last year. But things are quieter now.”</p> + +<p>“What is to prevent them from coming down on that side?”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely nothing,” said Cecil Brown, in his listless voice.</p> + +<p>“Nothing, except their fears. The coming of course would be perfectly +simple. The difficulty would lie in the return. They might find it +hard to get back if their camels were spent, and the Halfa garrison with +their beasts fresh got on their track. They know it as well as we do, +and it has kept them from trying.”</p> + +<p>“It isn’t safe to reckon upon a Dervish’s fears,” remarked Brown. +“We must always bear in mind that they are not amenable to the same +motives as other people. Many of them are anxious to meet death, and +all of them are absolute, uncompromising believers in destiny. +They exist as a <i>reductio ad absurdum</i> of all bigotry—a proof of how +surely it leads towards blank barbarism.”</p> + +<p>“You think these people are a real menace to Egypt?” asked the American. +“There seems from what I have heard to be some difference of opinion +about it. Monsieur Fardet, for example, does not seem to think that the +danger is a very pressing one.”</p> + +<p>“I am not a rich man,” Colonel Cochrane answered after a little pause, +“but I am prepared to lay all I am worth, that within three years of the +British officers being withdrawn, the Dervishes would be upon the +Mediterranean. Where would the civilisation of Egypt be? Where would +the hundreds of millions which have been invested in this country? +Where the monuments which all nations look upon as most precious +memorials of the past?”</p> + +<p>“Come now, Colonel,” cried Headingly, laughing, “surely you don’t mean +that they would shift the pyramids?”</p> + +<p>“You cannot foretell what they would do. There is no iconoclast in the +world like an extreme Mohammedan. Last time they overran this country +they burned the Alexandrian Library. You know that all representations +of the human features are against the letter of the Koran. A statue is +always an irreligious object in their eyes. What do these fellows care +for the sentiment of Europe? The more they could offend it, the more +delighted they would be. Down would go the Sphinx, the Colossi, the +Statues of Abou-Simbel—as the saints went down in England before +Cromwell’s troopers.”</p> + +<p>“Well now,” said Headingly, in his slow, thoughtful fashion, “suppose I +grant you that the Dervishes could overrun Egypt, and suppose also that +you English are holding them out, what I’m never done asking is, what +reason have you for spending all these millions of dollars and the lives +of so many of your men? What do you get out of it, more than France +gets, or Germany, or any other country, that runs no risk and never lays +out a cent?”</p> + +<p>“There are a good many Englishmen who are asking themselves that +question,” remarked Cecil Brown. “It’s my opinion that we have been the +policemen of the world long enough. We policed the seas for pirates and +slavers. Now we police the land for Dervishes and brigands and every +sort of danger to civilisation. There is never a mad priest or a witch +doctor, or a firebrand of any sort on this planet, who does not report +his appearance by sniping the nearest British officer. One tires of it +at last. If a Kurd breaks loose in Asia Minor, the world wants to know +why Great Britain does not keep him in order. If there is a military +mutiny in Egypt, or a Jehad in the Soudan, it is still Great Britain who +has to set it right. And all to an accompaniment of curses such as the +policeman gets when he seizes a ruffian among his pals. We get hard +knocks and no thanks, and why should we do it? Let Europe do its own +dirty work.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Colonel Cochrane, crossing his legs and leaning forward +with the decision of a man who has definite opinions, “I don’t at all +agree with you, Brown, and I think that to advocate such a course is to +take a very limited view of our national duties. I think that behind +national interests and diplomacy and all that there lies a great guiding +force—a Providence, in fact—which is for ever getting the best out of +each nation and using it for the good of the whole. When a nation +ceases to respond, it is time that she went into hospital for a few +centuries, like Spain or Greece—the virtue has gone out of her. A man +or a nation is not placed upon this earth to do merely what is pleasant +and what is profitable. It is often called upon to carry out what is +both unpleasant and unprofitable, but if it is obviously right it is +mere shirking not to undertake it.”</p> + +<p>Headingly nodded approvingly.</p> + +<p>“Each has its own mission. Germany is predominant in abstract thought; +France in literature, art, and grace. But we and you—for the +English-speakers are all in the same boat, however much the <i>New York +Sun</i> may scream over it—we and you have among our best men a higher +conception of moral sense and public duty than is to be found in any +other people. Now, these are the two qualities which are needed for +directing a weaker race. You can’t help them by abstract thought or by +graceful art, but only by that moral sense which will hold the scales of +Justice even, and keep itself free from every taint of corruption. +That is how we rule India. We came there by a kind of natural law, like +air rushing into a vacuum. All over the world, against our direct +interests and our deliberate intentions, we are drawn into the same +thing. And it will happen to you also. The pressure of destiny will +force you to administer the Whole of America from Mexico to the Horn.”</p> + +<p>Headingly whistled.</p> + +<p>“Our Jingoes would be pleased to hear you, Colonel Cochrane,” said he. +“They’d vote you into our Senate and make you one of the Committee on +Foreign Relations.”</p> + +<p>“The world is small, and it grows smaller every day. It’s a single +organic body, and one spot of gangrene is enough to vitiate the whole. +There’s no room upon it for dishonest, defaulting, tyrannical, +irresponsible Governments. As long as they exist they will always be +sources of trouble and of danger. But there are many races which appear +to be so incapable of improvement that we can never hope to get a good +Government out of them. What is to be done, then? The former device of +Providence in such a case was extermination by some more virile stock— +an Attila or a Tamerlane pruned off the weaker branch. Now, we have a +more merciful substitution of rulers, or even of mere advice from a more +advanced race. That is the case with the Central Asian Khanates and +with the protected States of India. If the work has to be done, and if +we are the best fitted for the work, then I think that it would be a +cowardice and a crime to shirk it.”</p> + +<p>“But who is to decide whether it is a fitting case for your +interference?” objected the American. “A predatory country could grab +every other land in the world upon such a pretext.”</p> + +<p>“Events—inexorable, inevitable events—will decide it. Take this +Egyptian business as an example. In 1881 there was nothing in this +world further from the minds of our people than any interference with +Egypt; and yet 1882 left us in possession of the country. There was +never any choice in the chain of events. A massacre in the streets of +Alexandria, and the mounting of guns to drive out our fleet—which was +there, you understand, in fulfilment of solemn treaty obligations—led +to the bombardment. The bombardment led to a landing to save the city +from destruction. The landing caused an extension of operations—and +here we are, with the country upon our hands. At the time of trouble we +begged and implored the French, or any one else, to come and help us to +put the thing to rights, but they all deserted us when there was work to +be done, although they are ready enough to scold and to impede us now. +When we tried to get out of it, up came this wild Dervish movement, and +we had to sit tighter than ever. We never wanted the task; but, now +that it has come, we must put it through in a workmanlike manner. +We’ve brought justice into the country, and purity of administration, +and protection for the poor man. It has made more advance in the last +twelve years than since the Moslem invasion in the seventh century. +Except the pay of a couple of hundred men, who spend their money in the +country, England has neither directly nor indirectly made a shilling out +of it, and I don’t believe you will find in history a more successful +and more disinterested bit of work.”</p> + +<p>Headingly puffed thoughtfully at his cigarette.</p> + +<p>“There is a house near ours, down on the Back Bay at Boston, which just +ruins the whole prospect,” said he. “It has old chairs littered about +the stoop, and the shingles are loose, and the garden runs wild; but I +don’t know that the neighbours are exactly justified in rushing in, and +stamping around, and running the thing on their own lines.”</p> + +<p>“Not if it were on fire?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>Headingly laughed, and rose from his camp-stool.</p> + +<p>“Well, it doesn’t come within the provisions of the Monroe Doctrine, +Colonel,” said he. “I’m beginning to realise that modern Egypt is every +bit as interesting as ancient, and that Rameses the Second wasn’t the +last live man in the country.”</p> + +<p>The two Englishmen rose and yawned.</p> + +<p>“Yes, it’s a whimsical freak of fortune which has sent men from a little +island in the Atlantic to administer the land of the Pharaohs,” remarked +Cecil Brown. “We shall pass away again, and never leave a trace among +these successive races who have held the country, for it is not an +Anglo-Saxon custom to write their deeds upon rocks. I dare say that the +remains of a Cairo drainage system will be our most permanent record, +unless they prove a thousand years hence that it was the work of the +Hyksos kings. But here is the shore party come back.”</p> + +<p>Down below they could hear the mellow Irish accents of Mrs. Belmont and +the deep voice of her husband, the iron-grey rifle-shot. Mr. Stuart, +the fat Birmingham clergyman, was thrashing out a question of piastres +with a noisy donkey-boy, and the others were joining in with chaff and +advice. Then the hubbub died away, the party from above came down the +ladder, there were “good-nights,” the shutting of doors, and the little +steamer lay silent, dark, and motionless in the shadow of the high Halfa +bank. And beyond this one point of civilisation and of comfort there +lay the limitless, savage, unchangeable desert, straw-coloured and +dream-like in the moonlight, mottled over with the black shadows of the +hills.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">“S</span>TOPPA! Backa!” cried the native pilot to the European engineer.</p> + +<p>The bluff bows of the stern-wheeler had squelched into the soft brown +mud, and the current had swept the boat alongside the bank. The long +gangway was thrown across, and the six tall soldiers of the Soudanese +escort filed along it, their light-blue gold-trimmed zouave uniforms, +and their jaunty yellow and red forage-caps, showing up bravely in the +clear morning light. Above them, on the top of the bank, was ranged the +line of donkeys, and the air was full of the clamour of the boys. +In shrill strident voices each was crying out the virtues of his own +beast, and abusing that of his neighbour.</p> + +<p>Colonel Cochrane and Mr. Belmont stood together in the bows, each +wearing the broad white puggareed hat of the tourist. Miss Adams and +her niece leaned against the rail beside them.</p> + +<p>“Sorry your wife isn’t coming, Belmont,” said the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“I think she had a touch of the sun yesterday. Her head aches very +badly.”</p> + +<p>His voice was strong and thick like his figure.</p> + +<p>“I should stay to keep her company, Mr. Belmont,” said the little +American old maid; “but I learn that Mrs. Shlesinger finds the ride too +long for her, and has some letters which she must mail to-day, so Mrs. +Belmont will not be lonesome.”</p> + +<p>“You’re very good, Miss Adams. We shall be back, you know, by two +o’clock.”</p> + +<p>“Is that certain?”</p> + +<p>“It must be certain, for we are taking no lunch with us, and we shall be +famished by then.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I expect we shall be ready for a hock and seltzer at any rate,” +said the Colonel. “This desert dust gives a flavour to the worst +wine.”</p> + +<p>“Now, ladies and gentlemen!” cried Mansoor, the dragoman, moving forward +with something of the priest in his flowing garments and smooth, +clean-shaven face. “We must start early that we may return before the +meridial heat of the weather.” He ran his dark eyes over the little +group of his tourists with a paternal expression. “You take your green +glasses, Miss Adams, for glare very great out in the desert. Ah, Mr. +Stuart, I set aside very fine donkey for you—prize donkey, sir, always +put aside for the gentleman of most weight. Never mind to take your +monument ticket to-day. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if <i>you</i> please!”</p> + +<p>Like a grotesque frieze the party moved one by one along the plank +gangway and up the brown crumbling bank. Mr. Stephens led them, a thin, +dry, serious figure, in an English straw hat. His red “Baedeker” +gleamed under his arm, and in one hand he held a little paper of notes, +as if it were a brief. He took Miss Sadie by one arm and her aunt by +the other as they toiled up the bank, and the young girl’s laughter rang +frank and clear in the morning air as “Baedeker” came fluttering down at +their feet. Mr. Belmont and Colonel Cochrane followed, the brims of +their sun-hats touching as they discussed the relative advantages of the +Mauser, the Lebel, and the Lee-Metford. Behind them walked Cecil Brown, +listless, cynical, self-contained. The fat clergyman puffed slowly up +the bank, with many gasping witticisms at his own defects. “I’m one of +those men who carry everything before them,” said he, glancing ruefully +at his rotundity, and chuckling wheezily at his own little joke. +Last of all came Headingly, slight and tall, with the student stoop +about his shoulders, and Fardet, the good-natured, fussy, argumentative +Parisian.</p> + +<p>“You see we have an escort to-day,” he whispered to his companion.</p> + +<p>“So I observed.”</p> + +<p>“Pah!” cried the Frenchman, throwing out his arms in derision; “as well +have an escort from Paris to Versailles. This is all part of the play, +Monsieur Headingly. It deceives no one, but it is part of the play. +<i>Pourquoi ces droles de militaires, dragoman, hein?</i>”</p> + +<p>It was the dragoman’s <i>role</i> to be all things to all men, so he looked +cautiously round before he answered, to make sure that the English were +mounted and out of earshot.</p> + +<p>“<i>C’est ridicule, monsieur!</i>” said he, shrugging his fat shoulders. +“<i>Mais que voulez-vous? C’est l’ordre official Egyptien.</i>”</p> + +<p>“<i>Egyptien! Pah, Anglais, Anglais—toujours Anglais!</i>” cried the angry +Frenchman.</p> + +<p>The frieze now was more grotesque than ever, but had changed suddenly to +an equestrian one, sharply outlined against the deep-blue Egyptian sky. +Those who have never ridden before have to ride in Egypt, and when the +donkeys break into a canter, and the Nile Irregulars are at full charge, +such a scene of flying veils, clutching hands, huddled swaying figures, +and anxious faces is nowhere to be seen. Belmont, his square figure +balanced upon a small white donkey, was waving his hat to his wife, who +had come out upon the saloon-deck of the <i>Korosko</i>. Cochrane sat very +erect with a stiff military seat, hands low, head high, and heels down, +while beside him rode the young Oxford man, looking about him with +drooping eyelids as if he thought the desert hardly respectable, and had +his doubts about the Universe. Behind them the whole party was strung +along the bank in varying stages of jolting and discomfort, a +brown-faced, noisy donkey-boy running after each donkey. Looking back, +they could see the little lead-coloured stern-wheeler, with the gleam of +Mrs. Belmont’s handkerchief from the deck. Beyond ran the broad, brown +river, winding down in long curves to where, five miles off, the square, +white block-houses upon the black, ragged hills marked the outskirts of +Wady Halfa, which had been their starting-point that morning.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t it just too lovely for anything?” cried Sadie joyously. “I’ve +got a donkey that runs on casters, and the saddle is just elegant. +Did you ever see anything so cunning as these beads and things round his +neck? You must make a memo. <i>re</i> donkey, Mr. Stephens. Isn’t that +correct legal English?”</p> + +<p>Stephens looked at the pretty, animated, boyish face looking up at him +from under the coquettish straw hat, and he wished that he had the +courage to tell her in her own language that she was just too sweet for +anything. But he feared above all things lest he should offend her, and +so put an end to their present pleasant intimacy. So his compliment +dwindled into a smile.</p> + +<p>“You look very happy,” said he.</p> + +<p>“Well, who could help feeling good with this dry, clear air, and the +blue sky, and the crisp yellow sand, and a superb donkey to carry you? +I’ve just got everything in the world to make me happy.”</p> + +<p>“Everything?”</p> + +<p>“Well, everything I have any use for just now.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose you never know what it is to be sad?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, when I <i>am</i> miserable, I am just too miserable for words. I’ve sat +and cried for days and days at Smith’s College, and the other girls were +just crazy to know what I was crying about, and guessing what the reason +was that I wouldn’t tell them, when all the time the real true reason +was that I didn’t know myself. You know how it comes like a great dark +shadow over you, and you don’t know why or wherefore, but you’ve just +got to settle down to it and be miserable.”</p> + +<p>“But you never had any real cause?”</p> + +<p>“No, Mr. Stephens, I’ve had such a good time all my life that I really +don’t think, when I look back, that I ever had any real cause for +sorrow.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Miss Sadie, I hope with all my heart that you will be able to say +the same when you are the same age as your aunt. Surely I hear her +calling.”</p> + +<p>“I wish, Mr. Stephens, you would strike my donkey-boy with your whip if +he hits the donkey again,” cried Miss Adams, jogging up on a high, +raw-boned beast. “Hi, dragoman, Mansoor, you tell this boy that I won’t +have the animals ill used, and that he ought to be ashamed of himself. +Yes, you little rascal, you ought! He’s grinning at me like an +advertisement for a tooth paste. Do you think, Mr. Stephens, that if I +were to knit that black soldier a pair of woollen stockings he would be +allowed to wear them? The poor creature has bandages round his legs.”</p> + +<p>“Those are his putties, Miss Adams,” said Colonel Cochrane, looking +back at her. “We have found in India that they are the best support to +the leg in marching. They are very much better than any stocking.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you don’t say! They remind me mostly of a sick horse. But it’s +elegant to have the soldiers with us, though Monsieur Fardet tells me +there’s nothing for us to be scared about.”</p> + +<p>“That is only my opinion, Miss Adams,” said the Frenchman hastily. +“It may be that Colonel Cochrane thinks otherwise.”</p> + +<p>“It is Monsieur Fardet’s opinion against that of the officers who have +the responsibility of caring for the safety of the frontier,” said the +Colonel coldly. “At least we will all agree that they have the effect +of making the scene very much more picturesque.”</p> + +<p>The desert upon their right lay in long curves of sand, like the dunes +which might have fringed some forgotten primeval sea. Topping them they +could see the black, craggy summits of the curious volcanic hills which +rise upon the Libyan side. On the crest of the low sand-hills they +would catch a glimpse every now and then of a tall, sky-blue soldier, +walking swiftly, his rifle at the trail. For a moment the lank, warlike +figure would be sharply silhouetted against the sky. Then he would dip +into a hollow and disappear, while some hundred yards off another would +show for an instant and vanish.</p> + +<p>“Wherever are they raised?” asked Sadie, watching the moving figures. +“They look to me just about the same tint as the hotel boys in the +States.”</p> + +<p>“I thought some question might arise about them,” said Mr. Stephens, who +was never so happy as when he could anticipate some wish of the pretty +American. “I made one or two references this morning in the ship’s +library. Here it is—<i>re</i>—that’s to say, about black soldiers. I have +it on my notes that they are from the 10th Soudanese battalion of the +Egyptian army. They are recruited from the Dinkas and the Shilluks—two +negroid tribes living to the south of the Dervish country, near the +Equator.”</p> + +<p>“How can the recruits come through the Dervishes, then?” asked Headingly +sharply.</p> + +<p>“I dare say there is no such very great difficulty over that,” said +Monsieur Fardet, with a wink at the American.</p> + +<p>“The older men are the remains of the old black battalions. Some of +them served with Gordon at Khartoum, and have his medal to show. +The others are many of them deserters from the Mahdi’s army,” said the +Colonel.</p> + +<p>“Well, so long as they are not wanted, they look right elegant in those +blue jackets,” Miss Adams observed. “But if there was any trouble, I +guess we would wish they were less ornamental and a bit whiter.”</p> + +<p>“I am not so sure of that, Miss Adams,” said the Colonel. “I have seen +these fellows in the field, and I assure you that I have the utmost +confidence in their steadiness.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I’ll take your word without trying,” said Miss Adams, with a +decision which made every one smile.</p> + +<p>So far their road had lain along the side of the river, which was +swirling down upon their left hand deep and strong from the cataracts +above. Here and there the rush of the current was broken by a black +shining boulder over which the foam was spouting. Higher up they could +see the white gleam of the rapids, and the banks grew into rugged +cliffs, which were capped by a peculiar, outstanding semi-circular rock. +It did not require the dragoman’s aid to tell the party that this was +the famous landmark to which they were bound. A long, level stretch lay +before them, and the donkeys took it at a canter. At the farther side +were scattered rocks, black upon orange; and in the midst of them rose +some broken shafts of pillars and a length of engraved wall, looking in +its greyness and its solidity more like some work of Nature than of man. +The fat, sleek dragoman had dismounted, and stood waiting in his +petticoats and his cover-coat for the stragglers to gather round him.</p> + +<p>“This temple, ladies and gentlemen,” he cried, with the air of an +auctioneer who is about to sell it to the highest bidder, “very fine +example from the eighteenth dynasty. Here is the cartouche of Thotmes +the Third,” he pointed up with his donkey-whip at the rude, but deep, +hieroglyphics upon the wall above him. “He live sixteen hundred years +before Christ, and this is made to remember his victorious exhibition +into Mesopotamia. Here we have his history from the time that he was +with his mother, until he return with captives tied to his chariot. +In this you see him crowned with Lower Egypt, and with Upper Egypt +offering up sacrifice in honour of his victory to the God Ammon-ra. +Here he bring his captives before him, and he cut off each his right +hand. In this corner you see little pile—all right hands.”</p> + +<p>“My sakes, I shouldn’t have liked to be here in those days,” said Miss +Adams.</p> + +<p>“Why, there’s nothing altered,” remarked Cecil Brown. “The East is +still the East. I’ve no doubt that within a hundred miles, or perhaps a +good deal less, from where you stand—”</p> + +<p>“Shut up!” whispered the Colonel, and the party shuffled on down the +line of the wall with their faces up and their big hats thrown +backwards. The sun behind them struck the old grey masonry with a +brassy glare, and carried on to it the strange black shadows of the +tourists, mixing them up with the grim, high-nosed, square-shouldered +warriors, and the grotesque, rigid deities who lined it. The broad +shadow of the Reverend John Stuart, of Birmingham, smudged out both the +heathen King and the god whom he worshipped.</p> + +<p>“What’s this?” he was asking in his wheezy voice, pointing up with a +yellow Assouan cane.</p> + +<p>“That is a hippopotamus,” said the dragoman; and the tourists all +tittered, for there was just a suspicion of Mr. Stuart himself in the +carving.</p> + +<p>“But it isn’t bigger than a little pig,” he protested. “You see that +the King is putting his spear through it with ease.”</p> + +<p>“They make it small to show that it was a very small thing to the King,” +said the dragoman. “So you see that all the King’s prisoners do not +exceed his knee—which is not because he was so much taller, but so much +more powerful. You see that he is bigger than his horse, because he is +a king and the other is only a horse. The same way, these small women +whom you see here and there are just his trivial little wives.”</p> + +<p>“Well, now!” cried Miss Adams indignantly. “If they had sculpted that +King’s soul it would have needed a lens to see it. Fancy his allowing +his wives to be put in like that.”</p> + +<p>“If he did it now, Miss Adams,” said the Frenchman, “he would have more +fighting than ever in Mesopotamia. But time brings revenge. Perhaps +the day will soon come when we have the picture of the big strong wife +and the trivial little husband—<i>hein?</i>”</p> + +<p>Cecil Brown and Headingly had dropped behind, for the glib comments of +the dragoman, and the empty, light-hearted chatter of the tourists +jarred upon their sense of solemnity. They stood in silence watching +the grotesque procession, with its sun-hats and green veils, as it +passed in the vivid sunshine down the front of the old grey wall. +Above them two crested hoopoes were fluttering and calling amid the +ruins of the pylon.</p> + +<p>“Isn’t it a sacrilege?” said the Oxford man at last.</p> + +<p>“Well, now, I’m glad you feel that about it, because it’s how it always +strikes me,” Headingly answered with feeling. “I’m not quite clear in +my own mind how these things should be approached—if they are to be +approached at all—but I am sure this is not the way. On the whole, I +prefer the ruins that I have not seen to those which I have.”</p> + +<p>The young diplomatist looked up with his peculiarly bright smile, which +faded away too soon into his languid, <i>blase</i> mask.</p> + +<p>“I’ve got a map,” said the American, “and sometimes far away from +anything in the very midst of the waterless, trackless desert, I see +‘ruins’ marked upon it—or ‘remains of a temple,’ perhaps. For example, +the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was one of the most considerable +shrines in the world, was hundreds of miles away back of anywhere. +Those are the ruins, solitary, unseen, unchanging through the centuries, +which appeal to one’s imagination. But when I present a check at the +door, and go in as if it were Barnum’s show, all the subtle feeling of +romance goes right out of it.”</p> + +<p>“Absolutely!” said Cecil Brown, looking over the desert with his dark, +intolerant eyes. “If one could come wandering here alone—stumble upon +it by chance, as it were—and find one’s self in absolute solitude in +the dim light of the temple, with these grotesque figures all round, it +would be perfectly overwhelming. A man would be prostrated with wonder +and awe. But when Belmont is puffing his bulldog pipe, and Stuart is +wheezing, and Miss Sadie Adams is laughing—”</p> + +<p>“And that jay of a dragoman speaking his piece,” said Headingly; +“I want to stand and think all the time, and I never seem to get the +chance. I was ripe for manslaughter when I stood before the Great +Pyramid, and couldn’t get a quiet moment because they would boost me on +to the top. I took a kick at one man which would have sent <i>him</i> to the +top in one jump if I had hit meat. But fancy travelling all the way +from America to see the pyramid, and then finding nothing better to do +than to kick an Arab in front of it!”</p> + +<p>The Oxford man laughed in his gentle, tired fashion. “They are starting +again,” said he, and the two hastened forwards to take their places at +the tail of the absurd procession.</p> + +<p>Their route ran now among large, scattered boulders, and between stony, +shingly hills. A narrow winding path curved in and out amongst the +rocks. Behind them their view was cut off by similar hills, black and +fantastic, like the slag-heaps at the shaft of a mine. A silence fell +upon the little company, and even Sadie’s bright face reflected the +harshness of Nature. The escort had closed in, and marched beside them, +their boots scrunching among the loose black rubble. Colonel Cochrane +and Belmont were still riding together in the van.</p> + +<p>“Do you know, Belmont,” said the Colonel, in a low voice, “you may think +me a fool, but I don’t like this one little bit.”</p> + +<p>Belmont gave a short gruff laugh.</p> + +<p>“It seemed all right in the saloon of the <i>Korosko</i>, but now that we are +here we <i>do</i> seem rather up in the air,” said he. “Still, you know, a +party comes here every week, and nothing has ever gone wrong.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t mind taking my chances when I am on the war-path,” the Colonel +answered. “That’s all straightforward and in the way of business. +But when you have women with you, and a helpless crowd like this, it +becomes really dreadful. Of course, the chances are a hundred to one +that we have no trouble; but if we should have—well, it won’t bear +thinking about. The wonderful thing is their complete unconsciousness +that there is any danger whatever.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I like the English tailor-made dresses well enough for walking, +Mr. Stephens,” said Miss Sadie from behind them. “But for an afternoon +dress, I think the French have more style than the English. Your +milliners have a more severe cut, and they don’t do the cunning little +ribbons and bows and things in the same way.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel smiled at Belmont.</p> + +<p>“<i>She</i> is quite serene in her mind, at any rate,” said he. “Of course, +I wouldn’t say what I think to any one but you, and I daresay it will +all prove to be quite unfounded.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I could imagine parties of Dervishes on the prowl,” said Belmont. +“But what I cannot imagine is that they should just happen to come to +the pulpit rock on the very morning when we are due there.”</p> + +<p>“Considering that our movements have been freely advertised, and that +every one knows a week beforehand what our programme is, and where we +are to be found, it does not strike me as being such a wonderful +coincidence.”</p> + +<p>“It is a very remote chance,” said Belmont stoutly, but he was glad in +his heart that his wife was safe and snug on board the steamer.</p> + +<p>And now they were clear of the rocks again, with a fine stretch of firm +yellow sand extending to the very base of the conical hill which lay +before them. “Ay-ah! Ay-ah!” cried the boys, whack came their sticks +upon the flanks of the donkeys, which broke into a gallop, and away they +all streamed over the plain. It was not until they had come to the end +of the path which curves up the hill that the dragoman called a halt.</p> + +<p>“Now, ladies and gentlemen, we are arrived for the so famous pulpit rock +of Abousir. From the summit you will presently enjoy a panorama of +remarkable fertility. But first you will observe that over the rocky +side of the hill are everywhere cut the names of great men who have +passed it in their travels, and some of these names are older than the +time of Christ.”</p> + +<p>“Got Moses?” asked Miss Adams.</p> + +<p>“Auntie, I’m surprised at you!” cried Sadie.</p> + +<p>“Well, my dear, he was in Egypt, and he was a great man, and he may have +passed this way.”</p> + +<p>“Moses’s name very likely there, and the same with Herodotus,” said the +dragoman gravely. “Both have been long worn away. But there on the +brown rock you will see Belzoni. And up higher is Gordon. There is +hardly a name famous in the Soudan which you will not find, if you like. +And now, with your permission, we shall take good-bye of our donkeys and +walk up the path, and you will see the river and the desert from the +summit of the top.”</p> + +<p>A minute or two of climbing brought them out upon the semicircular +platform which crowns the rock. Below them on the far side was a +perpendicular black cliff, a hundred and fifty feet high, with the +swirling, foam-streaked river roaring past its base. The swish of the +water and the low roar as it surged over the mid-stream boulders boomed +through the hot, stagnant air. Far up and far down they could see the +course of the river, a quarter of a mile in breadth, and running very +deep and strong, with sleek black eddies and occasional spoutings of +foam. On the other side was a frightful wilderness of black, scattered +rocks, which were the <i>debris</i> carried down by the river at high flood. +In no direction were there any signs of human beings or their dwellings.</p> + +<p>“On the far side,” said the dragoman, waving his donkey-whip towards the +east, “is the military line which conducts Wady Halfa to Sarras. +Sarras lies to the south, under that black hill. Those two blue +mountains which you see very far away are in Dongola, more than a +hundred miles from Sarras. The railway there is forty miles long, and +has been much annoyed by the Dervishes, who are very glad to turn the +rails into spears. The telegraph wires are also much appreciated +thereby. Now, if you will kindly turn round, I will explain, also, what +we see upon the other side.”</p> + +<p>It was a view which, when once seen, must always haunt the mind. +Such an expanse of savage and unrelieved desert might be part of some +cold and burned-out planet rather than of this fertile and bountiful +earth. Away and away it stretched to die into a soft, violet haze in +the extremest distance. In the foreground the sand was of a bright +golden yellow, which was quite dazzling in the sunshine. Here and +there, in a scattered cordon, stood the six trusty negro soldiers +leaning motionless upon their rifles, and each throwing a shadow which +looked as solid as himself. But beyond this golden plain lay a low line +of those black slag-heaps, with yellow sand-valleys winding between +them. These in their turn were topped by higher and more fantastic +hills, and these by others, peeping over each other’s shoulders until +they blended with that distant violet haze. None of these hills were of +any height—a few hundred feet at the most—but their savage, +saw-toothed crests, and their steep scarps of sun-baked stone, gave them +a fierce character of their own.</p> + +<p>“The Libyan Desert,” said the dragoman, with a proud wave of his hand. +“The greatest desert in the world. Suppose you travel right west from +here, and turn neither to the north nor to the south, the first houses +you would come to would be in America. That make you home-sick, Miss +Adams, I believe?”</p> + +<p>But the American old maid had her attention drawn away by the conduct of +Sadie, who had caught her arm by one hand and was pointing over the +desert with the other.</p> + +<p>“Well, now, if that isn’t too picturesque for anything!” she cried, with +a flush of excitement upon her pretty face. “Do look, Mr. Stephens! +That’s just the one only thing we wanted to make it just perfectly +grand. See the men upon the camels coming out from between those +hills!”</p> + +<p>They all looked at the long string of red-turbaned riders who were +winding out of the ravine, and there fell such a hush that the buzzing +of the flies sounded quite loud upon their ears. Colonel Cochrane had +lit a match, and he stood with it in one hand and the unlit cigarette in +the other until the flame licked round his fingers. Belmont whistled. +The dragoman stood staring with his mouth half-open, and a curious slaty +tint in his full, red lips. The others looked from one to the other +with an uneasy sense that there was something wrong. It was the Colonel +who broke the silence.</p> + +<p>“By George, Belmont, I believe the hundred-to-one chance has come off!” +said he.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">“W</span>HAT’S the meaning of this, Mansoor?” cried Belmont harshly. “Who are +these people, and why are you standing staring as if you had lost your +senses?”</p> + +<p>The dragoman made an effort to compose himself, and licked his dry lips +before he answered.</p> + +<p>“I do not know who they are,” said he in a quavering voice.</p> + +<p>“Who they are?” cried the Frenchman. “You can see who they are. +They are armed men upon camels, Ababdeh, Bishareen—Bedouins, in short, +such as are employed by the Government upon the frontier.”</p> + +<p>“Be Jove, he may be right, Cochrane,” said Belmont, looking inquiringly +at the Colonel. “Why shouldn’t it be as he says? why shouldn’t these +fellows be friendlies?”</p> + +<p>“There are no friendlies upon this side of the river,” said the Colonel +abruptly; “I am perfectly certain about that. There is no use in +mincing matters. We must prepare for the worst.”</p> + +<p>But in spite of his words, they stood stock-still, in a huddled group, +staring out over the plain. Their nerves were numbed by the sudden +shock, and to all of them it was like a scene in a dream, vague, +impersonal, and un-real. The men upon the camels had streamed out from +a gorge which lay a mile or so distant on the side of the path along +which they had travelled. Their retreat, therefore, was entirely cut +off. It appeared, from the dust and the length of the line, to be quite +an army which was emerging from the hills, for seventy men upon camels +cover a considerable stretch of ground. Having reached the sandy plain, +they very deliberately formed to the front, and then at the harsh call +of a bugle they trotted forward in line, the parti-coloured figures all +swaying and the sand smoking in a rolling yellow cloud at the heels of +their camels. At the same moment the six black soldiers doubled in from +the front with their Martinis at the trail, and snuggled down like +well-trained skirmishers behind the rocks upon the haunch of the hill. +Their breech blocks all snapped together as their corporal gave them the +order to load.</p> + +<p>And now suddenly the first stupor of the excursionists passed away, and +was succeeded by a frantic and impotent energy. They all ran about upon +the plateau of rock in an aimless, foolish flurry, like frightened fowls +in a yard. They could not bring themselves to acknowledge that there +was no possible escape for them. Again and again they rushed to the +edge of the great cliff which rose from the river, but the youngest and +most daring of them could never have descended it. The two women clung +one on each side of the trembling Mansoor, with a feeling that he was +officially responsible for their safety. When he ran up and down in his +desperation, his skirts and theirs all fluttered together. Stephens, +the lawyer, kept close to Sadie Adams, muttering mechanically, “Don’t be +alarmed, Miss Sadie; don’t be at all alarmed!” though his own limbs were +twitching with agitation. Monsieur Fardet stamped about with a guttural +rolling of r’s, glancing angrily at his companions as if they had in +some way betrayed him; while the fat clergyman stood with his umbrella +up, staring stolidly with big, frightened eyes at the camel-men. +Cecil Brown curled his small, prim moustache, and looked white, but +contemptuous. The Colonel, Belmont, and the young Harvard graduate were +the three most cool-headed and resourceful members of the party.</p> + +<p>“Better stick together,” said the Colonel. “There’s no escape for us, +so we may as well remain united.”</p> + +<p>“They’ve halted,” said Belmont.</p> + +<p>“They are reconnoitring us. They know very well that there is no escape +from them, and they are taking their time. I don’t see what we can do.”</p> + +<p>“Suppose we hide the women,” Headingly suggested. “They can’t know how +many of us are here. When they have taken us, the women can come out of +their hiding-place and make their way back to the boat.”</p> + +<p>“Admirable!” cried Colonel Cochrane. “Admirable! This way, please, Miss +Adams. Bring the ladies here, Mansoor. There is not an instant to be +lost.”</p> + +<p>There was a part of the plateau which was invisible from the plain, and +here in feverish haste they built a little cairn. Many flaky slabs of +stone were lying about, and it did not take long to prop the largest of +these against a rock, so as to make a lean-to, and then to put two +side-pieces to complete it. The slabs were of the same colour as the +rock, so that to a casual glance the hiding-place was not very visible. +The two ladies were squeezed into this, and they crouched together, +Sadie’s arms thrown round her aunt. When they had walled them up, the +men turned with lighter hearts to see what was going on. As they did so +there rang out the sharp, peremptory crack of a rifle-shot from the +escort, followed by another and another, but these isolated shots were +drowned in the long, spattering roll of an irregular volley from the +plain, and the air was full of the phit-phit-phit of the bullets. +The tourists all huddled behind the rocks, with the exception of the +Frenchman, who still stamped angrily about, striking his sun-hat with +his clenched hand. Belmont and Cochrane crawled down to where the +Soudanese soldiers were firing slowly and steadily, resting their rifles +upon the boulders in front of them.</p> + +<p>The Arabs had halted about five hundred yards away, and it was evident +from their leisurely movements that they were perfectly aware that there +was no possible escape for the travellers. They had paused to ascertain +their number before closing in upon them. Most of them were firing from +the backs of their camels, but a few had dismounted and were kneeling +here and there—little shimmering white spots against the golden +back-ground. Their shots came sometimes singly in quick, sharp throbs, +and sometimes in a rolling volley, with a sound like a boy’s stick drawn +across iron railings. The hill buzzed like a bee-hive, and the bullets +made a sharp crackling as they struck against the rocks.</p> + +<p>“You do no good by exposing yourself,” said Belmont, drawing Colonel +Cochrane behind a large jagged boulder, which already furnished a +shelter for three of the Soudanese. “A bullet is the best we have to +hope for,” said Cochrane grimly. “What an infernal fool I have been, +Belmont, not to protest more energetically against this ridiculous +expedition! I deserve whatever I get, but it <i>is</i> hard on these poor +souls who never knew the danger.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose there’s no help for us?”</p> + +<p>“Not the faintest.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t you think this firing might bring the troops up from Halfa?”</p> + +<p>“They’ll never hear it. It is a good six miles from here to the +steamer. From that to Halfa would be another five.”</p> + +<p>“Well, when we don’t return, the steamer will give the alarm.”</p> + +<p>“And where shall we be by that time?”</p> + +<p>“My poor Norah! My poor little Norah!” muttered Belmont, in the depths +of his grizzled moustache.</p> + +<p>“What do you suppose that they will do with us, Cochrane?” he asked +after a pause.</p> + +<p>“They may cut our throats, or they may take us as slaves to Khartoum. +I don’t know that there is much to choose. There’s one of us out of his +troubles anyhow.”</p> + +<p>The soldier next them had sat down abruptly, and leaned forward over his +knees. His movement and attitude were so natural that it was hard to +realise that he had been shot through the head. He neither stirred nor +groaned. His comrades bent over him for a moment, and then, shrugging +their shoulders, they turned their dark faces to the Arabs once more. +Belmont picked up the dead man’s Martini and his ammunition-pouch.</p> + +<p>“Only three more rounds, Cochrane,” said he, with the little brass +cylinders upon the palm of his hand. “We’ve let them shoot too soon, +and too often. We should have waited for the rush.”</p> + +<p>“You’re a famous shot, Belmont,” cried the Colonel. “I’ve heard of you +as one of the cracks. Don’t you think you could pick off their leader?”</p> + +<p>“Which is he?”</p> + +<p>“As far as I can make out, it is that one on the white camel on their +right front. I mean the fellow who is peering at us from under his two +hands.”</p> + +<p>Belmont thrust in his cartridge and altered the sights. “It’s a +shocking bad light for judging distance,” said he. “This is where the +low point-blank trajectory of the Lee-Metford comes in useful. Well, +we’ll try him at five hundred.” He fired, but there was no change in +the white camel or the peering rider.</p> + +<p>“Did you see any sand fly?”</p> + +<p>“No, I saw nothing.”</p> + +<p>“I fancy I took my sight a trifle too full.”</p> + +<p>“Try him again.”</p> + +<p>Man and rifle and rock were equally steady, but again the camel and +chief remained un-harmed. The third shot must have been nearer, for he +moved a few paces to the right, as if he were becoming restless. +Belmont threw the empty rifle down, with an exclamation of disgust.</p> + +<p>“It’s this confounded light,” he cried, and his cheeks flushed with +annoyance. “Think of my wasting three cartridges in that fashion! +If I had him at Bisley I’d shoot the turban off him, but this vibrating +glare means refraction. What’s the matter with the Frenchman?”</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet was stamping about the plateau with the gestures of a +man who has been stung by a wasp. “<i>S’cre nom! S’cre nom!</i>” he +shouted, showing his strong white teeth under his black waxed moustache. +He wrung his right hand violently, and as he did so he sent a little +spray of blood from his finger-tips. A bullet had chipped his wrist. +Headingly ran out from the cover where he had been crouching, with the +intention of dragging the demented Frenchman into a place of safety, but +he had not taken three paces before he was himself hit in the loins, and +fell with a dreadful crash among the stones. He staggered to his feet, +and then fell again in the same place, floundering up and down like a +horse which has broken its back. “I’m done!” he whispered, as the +Colonel ran to his aid, and then he lay still, with his china-white +cheek against the black stones. When, but a year before, he had +wandered under the elms of Cambridge, surely the last fate upon this +earth which he could have predicted for himself would be that he should +be slain by the bullet of a fanatical Mohammedan in the wilds of the +Libyan Desert.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the fire of the escort had ceased, for they had shot away +their last cartridge. A second man had been killed, and a third—who +was the corporal in charge—had received a bullet in his thigh. He sat +upon a stone, tying up his injury with a grave, preoccupied look upon +his wrinkled black face, like an old woman piecing together a broken +plate. The three others fastened their bayonets with a determined +metallic rasp and snap, and the air of men who intended to sell their +lives dearly.</p> + +<p>“They’re coming!” cried Belmont, looking over the plain.</p> + +<p>“Let them come!” the Colonel answered, putting his hands into his +trouser-pockets. Suddenly he pulled one fist out, and shook it +furiously in the air. “Oh, the cads! the confounded cads!” he shouted, +and his eyes were congested with rage.</p> + +<p>It was the fate of the poor donkey-boys which had carried the +self-contained soldier out of his usual calm. During the firing they +had remained huddled, a pitiable group, among the rocks at the base of +the hill. Now upon the conviction that the charge of the Dervishes must +come first upon them, they had sprung upon their animals with shrill, +inarticulate cries of fear, and had galloped off across the plain. +A small flanking-party of eight or ten camel-men had worked round while +the firing had been going on, and these dashed in among the flying +donkey-boys, hacking and hewing with a cold-blooded, deliberate +ferocity. One little boy, in a flapping Galabeeah, kept ahead of his +pursuers for a time, but the long stride of the camels ran him down, and +an Arab thrust his spear into the middle of his stooping back. The +small, white-clad corpses looked like a flock of sheep trailing over the +desert.</p> + +<p>But the people upon the rock had no time to think of the cruel fate of +the donkey-boys. Even the Colonel, after that first indignant outburst, +had forgotten all about them. The advancing camel-men had trotted to +the bottom of the hill, had dismounted, and leaving their camels +kneeling, had rushed furiously onward. Fifty of them were clambering up +the path and over the rocks together, their red turbans appearing and +vanishing again as they scrambled over the boulders. Without a shot or +a pause they surged over the three black soldiers, killing one and +stamping the other two down under their hurrying feet. So they burst on +to the plateau at the top, where an unexpected resistance checked them +for an instant.</p> + +<p>The travellers, nestling up against one another, had awaited, each after +his own fashion, the coming of the Arabs. The Colonel, with his hands +back in his trouser-pockets, tried to whistle out of his dry lips. +Belmont folded his arms and leaned against a rock, with a sulky frown +upon his lowering face. So strangely do our minds act that his three +successive misses, and the tarnish to his reputation as a marksman, was +troubling him more than his impending fate. Cecil Brown stood erect, +and plucked nervously at the up-turned points of his little prim +moustache. Monsieur Fardet groaned over his wounded wrist. +Mr. Stephens, in sombre impotence, shook his head slowly, the living +embodiment of prosaic law and order. Mr. Stuart stood, his umbrella +still over him, with no expression upon his heavy face, or in his +staring brown eyes. Headingly lay with that china-white cheek resting +motionless upon the stones. His sun-hat had fallen off, and he looked +quite boyish with his ruffled yellow hair and his un-lined, clean-cut +face. The dragoman sat upon a stone and played nervously with his +donkey-whip. So the Arabs found them when they reached the summit of +the hill.</p> + +<p>And then, just as the foremost rushed to lay hands upon them, a most +unexpected incident arrested them. From the time of the first +appearance of the Dervishes the fat clergyman of Birmingham had looked +like a man in a cataleptic trance. He had neither moved nor spoken. +But now he suddenly woke at a bound into strenuous and heroic energy. +It may have been the mania of fear, or it may have been the blood of +some Berserk ancestor which stirred suddenly in his veins; but he broke +into a wild shout, and, catching up a stick, he struck right and left +among the Arabs with a fury which was more savage than their own. +One who helped to draw up this narrative has left it upon record that, +of all the pictures which have been burned into his brain, there is none +so clear as that of this man, his large face shining with perspiration, +and his great body dancing about with unwieldy agility, as he struck at +the shrinking, snarling savages. Then a spear-head flashed from behind +a rock with a quick, vicious, upward thrust, the clergyman fell upon his +hands and knees, and the horde poured over him to seize their +unresisting victims. Knives glimmered before their eyes, rude hands +clutched at their wrists and at their throats, and then, with brutal and +unreasoning violence, they were hauled and pushed down the steep winding +path to where the camels were waiting below. The Frenchman waved his +unwounded hand as he walked. “<i>Vive le Khalifa! Vive le Madhi!</i>” he +shouted, until a blow from behind with the butt-end of a Remington beat +him into silence.</p> + +<p>And now they were herded in at the base of the Abousir rock, this little +group of modern types who had fallen into the rough clutch of the +seventh century—for in all save the rifles in their hands there was +nothing to distinguish these men from the desert warriors who first +carried the crescent flag out of Arabia. The East does not change, and +the Dervish raiders were not less brave, less cruel, or less fanatical +than their forebears. They stood in a circle, leaning upon their guns +and spears, and looking with exultant eyes at the dishevelled group of +captives. They were clad in some approach to a uniform, red turbans +gathered around the neck as well as the head, so that the fierce face +looked out of a scarlet frame; yellow, untanned shoes, and white tunics +with square brown patches let into them. All carried rifles, and one +had a small discoloured bugle slung over his shoulder. Half of them +were negroes—fine, muscular men, with the limbs of a jet Hercules; and +the other half were Baggara Arabs—small, brown, and wiry, with little, +vicious eyes, and thin, cruel lips. The chief was also a Baggara, but +he was a taller man than the others, with a black beard which came down +over his chest, and a pair of hard, cold eyes, which gleamed like glass +from under his thick, black brows. They were fixed now upon his +captives, and his features were grave with thought. Mr. Stuart had been +brought down, his hat gone, his face still flushed with anger, and his +trousers sticking in one part to his leg. The two surviving Soudanese +soldiers, their black faces and blue coats blotched with crimson, stood +silently at attention upon one side of this forlorn group of castaways.</p> + +<p>The chief stood for some minutes, stroking his black beard, while his +fierce eyes glanced from one pale face to another along the miserable +line of his captives. In a harsh, imperious voice he said something +which brought Mansoor, the dragoman, to the front, with bent back and +outstretched supplicating palms. To his employers there had always +seemed to be something comic in that flapping skirt and short cover-coat +above it; but now, under the glare of the mid-day sun, with those faces +gathered round them, it appeared rather to add a grotesque horror to the +scene. The dragoman salaamed and salaamed like some ungainly automatic +doll, and then, as the chief rasped out a curt word or two, he fell +suddenly upon his face, rubbing his forehead into the sand, and flapping +upon it with his hands.</p> + +<p>“What’s that, Cochrane?” asked Belmont. “Why is he making an exhibition +of himself?”</p> + +<p>“As far as I can understand, it is all up with us,” the Colonel +answered.</p> + +<p>“But this is absurd,” cried the Frenchman excitedly; “why should these +people wish any harm to me? I have never injured them. On the other +hand, I have always been their friend. If I could but speak to them, I +would make them comprehend. Hola, dragoman, Mansoor!”</p> + +<p>The excited gestures of Monsieur Fardet drew the sinister eyes of the +Baggara chief upon him. Again he asked a curt question, and Mansoor, +kneeling in front of him, answered it.</p> + +<p>“Tell him that I am a Frenchman, dragoman. Tell him that I am a friend +of the Khalifa. Tell him that my countrymen have never had any quarrel +with him, but that his enemies are also ours.”</p> + +<p>“The chief asks what religion you call your own,” said Mansoor. “The +Khalifa, he says, has no necessity for any friendship from those who are +infidels and unbelievers.”</p> + +<p>“Tell him that in France we look upon all religions as good.”</p> + +<p>“The chief says that none but a blaspheming dog and the son of a dog +would say that all religions are one as good as the other. He says that +if you are indeed the friend of the Khalifa, you will accept the Koran +and become a true believer upon the spot. If you will do so he will +promise on his side to send you alive to Khartoum.”</p> + +<p>“And if not?”</p> + +<p>“You will fare in the same way as the others.”</p> + +<p>“Then you may make my compliments to monsieur the chief, and tell him +that it is not the custom for Frenchmen to change their religion under +compulsion.”</p> + +<p>The chief said a few words, and then turned to consult with a short, +sturdy Arab at his elbow.</p> + +<p>“He says, Monsieur Fardet,” said the dragoman, “that if you speak again +he will make a trough out of you for the dogs to feed from. Say nothing +to anger him, sir, for he is now talking what is to be done with us.”</p> + +<p>“Who is he?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“It is Ali Wad Ibrahim, the same who raided last year, and killed all of +the Nubian village.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve heard of him,” said the Colonel. “He has the name of being one of +the boldest and the most fanatical of all the Khalifa’s leaders. Thank +God that the women are out of his clutches.”</p> + +<p>The two Arabs had been talking in that stern, restrained fashion which +comes so strangely from a southern race. Now they both turned to the +dragoman, who was still kneeling upon the sand. They plied him with +questions, pointing first to one and then to another of their prisoners. +Then they conferred together once more, and finally said something to +Mansoor, with a contemptuous wave of the hand to indicate that he might +convey it to the others.</p> + +<p>“Thank Heaven, gentlemen, I think that we are saved for the present +time,” said Mansoor, wiping away the sand which had stuck to his +perspiring forehead. “Ali Wad Ibrahim says that though an unbeliever +should have only the edge of the sword from one of the sons of the +Prophet, yet it might be of more profit to the beit-el-mal at Omdurman +if it had the gold which your people will pay for you. Until it comes +you can work as the slaves of the Khalifa, unless he should decide to +put you to death. You are to mount yourselves upon the spare camels and +to ride with the party.”</p> + +<p>The chief had waited for the end of the explanation. “Now he gave a +brief order, and a negro stepped forward with a long, dull-coloured +sword in his hand. The dragoman squealed like a rabbit who sees a +ferret, and threw himself frantically down upon the sand once more.</p> + +<p>“What is it, Cochrane?” asked Cecil Brown—for the Colonel had served in +the East, and was the only one of the travellers who had a smattering of +Arabic.</p> + +<p>“As far as I can make out, he says there is no use keeping the dragoman, +as no one would trouble to pay a ransom for him, and he is too fat to +make a good slave.”</p> + +<p>“Poor devil!” cried Brown. “Here, Cochrane, tell them to let him go. +We can’t let him be butchered like this in front of us. Say that we +will find the money amongst us. I will be answerable for any reasonable +sum.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll stand in as far as my means will allow,” cried Belmont.</p> + +<p>“We will sign a joint bond or indemnity,” said the lawyer. “If I had a +paper and pencil I could throw it into shape in an instant, and the +chief could rely upon its being perfectly correct and valid.”</p> + +<p>But the Colonel’s Arabic was insufficient, and Mansoor himself was too +maddened by fear to understand the offer which was being made for him. +The negro looked a question at the chief, and then his long black arm +swung upwards and his sword hissed over his shoulder. But the dragoman +had screamed out something which arrested the blow, and which brought +the chief and the lieutenant to his side with a new interest upon their +swarthy faces. The others crowded in also, and formed a dense circle +around the grovelling, pleading man.</p> + +<p>The Colonel had not understood this sudden change, nor had the others +fathomed the reason of it, but some instinct flashed it upon Stephens’s +horrified perceptions.</p> + +<p>“Oh, you villain!” he cried furiously. “Hold your tongue, you miserable +creature! Be silent! Better die—a thousand times better die!”</p> + +<p>But it was too late, and already they could all see the base design by +which the coward hoped to save his own life. He was about to betray the +women. They saw the chief, with a brave man’s contempt upon his stern +face, make a sign of haughty assent, and then Mansoor spoke rapidly and +earnestly, pointing up the hill. At a word from the Baggara, a dozen of +the raiders rushed up the path and were lost to view upon the top. +Then came a shrill cry, a horrible strenuous scream of surprise and +terror, and an instant later the party streamed into sight again, +dragging the women in their midst. Sadie, with her young, active limbs, +kept up with them, as they sprang down the slope, encouraging her aunt +all the while over her shoulder. The older lady, struggling amid the +rushing white figures, looked with her thin limbs and open mouth like a +chicken being dragged from a coop.</p> + +<p>The chief’s dark eyes glanced indifferently at Miss Adams, but gazed +with a smouldering fire at the younger woman. Then he gave an abrupt +order, and the prisoners were hurried in a miserable, hopeless drove to +the cluster of kneeling camels. Their pockets had already been +ransacked, and the contents thrown into one of the camel-food bags, the +neck of which was tied up by Ali Wad Ibrahim’s own hands.</p> + +<p>“I say, Cochrane,” whispered Belmont, looking with smouldering eyes at +the wretched Mansoor, “I’ve got a little hip revolver which they have +not discovered. Shall I shoot that cursed dragoman for giving away the +women?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his head.</p> + +<p>“You had better keep it,” said he, with a sombre face. “The women may +find some other use for it before all is over.”</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE camels, some brown and some white, were kneeling in a long line, +their champing jaws moving rhythmically from side to side, and their +gracefully poised heads turning to right and left in a mincing, +self-conscious fashion. Most of them were beautiful creatures, true +Arabian trotters, with the slim limbs and finely turned necks which mark +the breed; but among them were a few of the slower, heavier beasts, with +ungroomed skins, disfigured by the black scars of old firings. These +were loaded with the doora and the waterskins of the raiders, but a few +minutes sufficed to redistribute their loads and to make place for the +prisoners. None of these had been bound with the exception of Mr. +Stuart—for the Arabs, understanding that he was a clergyman, and +accustomed to associate religion with violence, had looked upon his +fierce outburst as quite natural, and regarded him now as the most +dangerous and enterprising of their captives. His hands were therefore +tied together with a plaited camel-halter, but the others, including the +dragoman and the two wounded blacks, were allowed to mount without any +precaution against their escape, save that which was afforded by the +slowness of their beasts. Then, with a shouting of men and a roaring of +camels, the creatures were jolted on to their legs, and the long, +straggling procession set off with its back to the homely river, and its +face to the shimmering, violet haze, which hung round the huge sweep of +beautiful, terrible desert, striped tiger-fashion with black rock and +with golden sand.</p> + +<p>None of the white prisoners, with the exception of Colonel Cochrane, had +ever been upon a camel before. It seemed an alarming distance to the +ground when they looked down, and the curious swaying motion, with the +insecurity of the saddle, made them sick and frightened. But their +bodily discomfort was forgotten in the turmoil of bitter thoughts +within. What a chasm gaped between their old life and their new! And +yet how short was the time and space which divided them! Less than an +hour ago they had stood upon the summit of that rock, and had laughed +and chattered, or grumbled at the heat and flies, becoming peevish at +small discomforts. Headingly had been hypercritical over the tints of +Nature. They could not forget his own tint as he lay with his cheek +upon the black stone. Sadie had chattered about tailor-made dresses and +Parisian chiffons. Now she was clinging, half-crazy, to the pommel of a +wooden saddle, with suicide rising as a red star of hope in her mind. +Humanity, reason, argument—all were gone, and there remained the brutal +humiliation of force. And all the time, down there by the second rocky +point, their steamer was waiting for them—their saloon, with the white +napery and the glittering glasses, the latest novel, and the London +papers. The least imaginative of them could see it so clearly: the +white awning, Mrs. Shlesinger with her yellow sun-hat, Mrs. Belmont +lying back in the canvas chair. There it lay almost in sight of them, +that little floating chip broken off from home, and every silent, +ungainly step of the camels was carrying them more hopelessly away from +it. That very morning how beneficent Providence had appeared, how +pleasant was life!—a little commonplace, perhaps, but so soothing and +restful. And now!</p> + +<p>The red head-gear, patched jibbehs, and yellow boots had already shown +to the Colonel that these men were no wandering party of robbers, but a +troop from the regular army of the Khalifa. Now, as they struck across +the desert, they showed that they possessed the rude discipline which +their work demanded. A mile ahead, and far out on either flank, rode +their scouts, dipping and rising among the yellow sand-hills. Ali Wad +Ibrahim headed the caravan, and his short, sturdy lieutenant brought up +the rear. The main party straggled over a couple of hundred yards, and +in the middle was the little, dejected clump of prisoners. No attempt +was made to keep them apart, and Mr. Stephens soon contrived that his +camel should be between those of the two ladies.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be down-hearted, Miss Adams,” said he. “This is a most +indefensible outrage, but there can be no question that steps will be +taken in the proper quarter to set the matter right. I am convinced +that we shall be subjected to nothing worse than a temporary +inconvenience. If it had not been for that villain Mansoor, you need +not have appeared at all.”</p> + +<p>It was shocking to see the change in the little Bostonian lady, for she +had shrunk to an old woman in an hour. Her swarthy cheeks had fallen +in, and her eyes shone wildly from sunken, darkened sockets. +Her frightened glances were continually turned upon Sadie. There is +surely some wrecker angel which can only gather her best treasures in +moments of disaster. For here were all these worldlings going to their +doom, and already frivolity and selfishness had passed away from them, +and each was thinking and grieving only for the other. Sadie thought of +her aunt, her aunt thought of Sadie, the men thought of the women, +Belmont thought of his wife—and then he thought of something else also, +and he kicked his camel’s shoulder with his heel, until he found himself +upon the near side of Miss Adams.</p> + +<p>“I’ve got something for you here,” he whispered. “We may be separated +soon, so it is as well to make our arrangements.”</p> + +<p>“Separated!” wailed Miss Adams.</p> + +<p>“Don’t speak loud, for that infernal Mansoor may give us away again. +I hope it won’t be so, but it might. We must be prepared for the worst. +For example, they might determine to get rid of us men and to keep you.”</p> + +<p>Miss Adams shuddered.</p> + +<p>“What am I to do? For God’s sake tell me what I am to do, Mr. Belmont! +I am an old woman. I have had my day. I could stand it if it was only +myself. But Sadie—I am clean crazed when I think of her. There’s her +mother waiting at home, and I—” She clasped her thin hands together in +the agony of her thoughts.</p> + +<p>“Put your hand out under your dust-cloak,” said Belmont, sidling his +camel up against hers. “Don’t miss your grip of it. There! Now hide +it in your dress, and you’ll always have a key to unlock any door.”</p> + +<p>Miss Adams felt what it was which he had slipped into her hand, and she +looked at him for a moment in bewilderment. Then she pursed up her lips +and shook her stern, brown face in disapproval. But she pushed the +little pistol into its hiding-place, all the same, and she rode with her +thoughts in a whirl. Could this indeed be she, Eliza Adams, of Boston, +whose narrow, happy life had oscillated between the comfortable house in +Commonwealth Avenue and the Tremont Presbyterian Church? Here she was, +hunched upon a camel, with her hand upon the butt of a pistol, and her +mind weighing the justifications of murder. Oh, life, sly, sleek, +treacherous life, how are we ever to trust you? Show us your worst and +we can face it, but it is when you are sweetest and smoothest that we +have most to fear from you.</p> + +<p>“At the worst, Miss Sadie, it will only be a question of ransom,” said +Stephens, arguing against his own convictions. “Besides, we are still +close to Egypt, far away from the Dervish country. There is sure to be +an energetic pursuit. You must try not to lose your courage, and to +hope for the best.”</p> + +<p>“No, I am not scared, Mr. Stephens,” said Sadie, turning towards him a +blanched face which belied her words. “We’re all in God’s hands, and +surely He won’t be cruel to us. It is easy to talk about trusting Him +when things are going well, but now is the real test. If He’s up there +behind that blue heaven—”</p> + +<p>“He is,” said a voice behind them, and they found that the Birmingham +clergyman had joined the party. His tied hands clutched on to his +Makloofa saddle, and his fat body swayed dangerously from side to side +with every stride of the camel. His wounded leg was oozing with blood +and clotted with flies, and the burning desert sun beat down upon his +bare head, for he had lost both hat and umbrella in the scuffle. +A rising fever flecked his large, white cheeks with a touch of colour, +and brought a light into his brown ox-eyes. He had always seemed a +somewhat gross and vulgar person to his fellow-travellers. Now, this +bitter healing draught of sorrow had transformed him. He was purified, +spiritualised, exalted. He had become so calmly strong that he made the +others feel stronger as they looked upon him. He spoke of life and of +death, of the present, and their hopes of the future; and the black +cloud of their misery began to show a golden rift or two. Cecil Brown +shrugged his shoulders, for he could not change in an hour the +convictions of his life; but the others, even Fardet, the Frenchman, +were touched and strengthened. They all took off their hats when he +prayed. Then the Colonel made a turban out of his red silk cummerbund, +and insisted that Mr. Stuart should wear it. With his homely dress and +gorgeous headgear, he looked like a man who has dressed up to amuse the +children.</p> + +<p>And now the dull, ceaseless, insufferable torment of thirst was added to +the aching weariness which came from the motion of the camels. The sun +glared down upon them, and then up again from the yellow sand, and the +great plain shimmered and glowed until they felt as if they were riding +over a cooling sheet of molten metal. Their lips were parched and +dried, and their tongues like tags of leather. They lisped curiously in +their speech, for it was only the vowel sounds which would come without +an effort. Miss Adams’s chin had dropped upon her chest, and her great +hat concealed her face.</p> + +<p>“Auntie will faint if she does not get water,” said Sadie. “Oh, Mr. +Stephens, is there nothing we could do?”</p> + +<p>The Dervishes riding near were all Baggara with the exception of one +negro—an uncouth fellow with a face pitted with small-pox. +His expression seemed good-natured when compared with that of his Arab +comrades, and Stephens ventured to touch his elbow and to point to his +water-skin, and then to the exhausted lady. The negro shook his head +brusquely, but at the same time he glanced significantly towards the +Arabs, as if to say that, if it were not for them, he might act +differently. Then he laid his black forefinger upon the breast of his +jibbeh.</p> + +<p>“Tippy Tilly,” said he.</p> + +<p>“What’s that?” asked Colonel Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“Tippy Tilly,” repeated the negro, sinking his voice as if he wished +only the prisoners to hear him.</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his head.</p> + +<p>“My Arabic won’t bear much strain. I don’t know what he is saying,” +said he.</p> + +<p>“Tippy Tilly. Hicks Pasha,” the negro repeated.</p> + +<p>“I believe the fellow is friendly to us, but I can’t quite make him +out,” said Cochrane to Belmont. “Do you think that he means that his +name is Tippy Tilly, and that he killed Hicks Pasha?”</p> + +<p>The negro showed his great white teeth at hearing his own words coming +back to him. “Aiwa!” said he. “Tippy Tilly—Bimbashi Mormer—Boum!”</p> + +<p>“By Jove, I’ve got it!” cried Belmont. “He’s trying to speak English. +Tippy Tilly is as near as he can get to Egyptian Artillery. He has +served in the Egyptian Artillery under Bimbashi Mortimer. He was taken +prisoner when Hicks Pasha was destroyed, and had to turn Dervish to save +his skin. How’s that?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel said a few words of Arabic and received a reply, but two of +the Arabs closed up, and the negro quickened his pace and left them.</p> + +<p>“You are quite right,” said the Colonel. “The fellow is friendly to us, +and would rather fight for the Khedive than for the Khalifa. I don’t +know that he can do us any good, but I’ve been in worse holes than this, +and come out right side up. After all, we are not out of reach of +pursuit, and won’t be for another forty-eight hours.”</p> + +<p>Belmont calculated the matter out in his slow, deliberate fashion.</p> + +<p>“It was about twelve that we were on the rock,” said he. “They would +become alarmed aboard the steamer if we did not appear at two.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” the Colonel interrupted, “that was to be our lunch hour. +I remember saying that when I came back I would have—O Lord, it’s best +not to think of it!”</p> + +<p>“The reis was a sleepy old crock,” Belmont continued, “but I have +absolute confidence in the promptness and decision of my wife. +She would insist upon an immediate alarm being given. Suppose they +started back at two-thirty, they should be at Halfa by three, since the +journey is down stream. How long did they say that it took to turn out +the Camel Corps?”</p> + +<p>“Give them an hour.”</p> + +<p>“And another hour to get them across the river. They would be at the +Abousir Rock and pick up the tracks by six o’clock. After that it is a +clear race. We are only four hours ahead, and some of these beasts are +very spent. We may be saved yet, Cochrane!”</p> + +<p>“Some of us may. I don’t expect to see the padre alive to-morrow, nor +Miss Adams either. They are not made for this sort of thing either of +them. Then again we must not forget that these people have a trick of +murdering their prisoners when they see that there is a chance of a +rescue. See here, Belmont, in case you get back and I don’t, there’s a +matter of a mortgage that I want you to set right for me.” They rode on +with their shoulders inclined to each other, deep in the details of +business.</p> + +<p>The friendly negro who had talked of himself as Tippy Tilly had managed +to slip a piece of cloth soaked in water into the hand of Mr. Stephens, +and Miss Adams had moistened her lips with it. Even the few drops had +given her renewed strength, and now that the first crushing shock was +over, her wiry, elastic, Yankee nature began to reassert itself.</p> + +<p>“These people don’t look as if they would harm us, Mr. Stephens,” said +she. “I guess they have a working religion of their own, such as it is, +and that what’s wrong to us is wrong to them.”</p> + +<p>Stephens shook his head in silence. He had seen the death of the +donkey-boys, and she had not.</p> + +<p>“Maybe we are sent to guide them into a better path,” said the old lady. +“Maybe we are specially singled out for a good work among them.”</p> + +<p>If it were not for her niece her energetic and enterprising temperament +was capable of glorying in the chance of evangelising Khartoum, and +turning Omdurman into a little well-drained broad-avenued replica of a +New England town.</p> + +<p>“Do you know what I am thinking of all the time?” said Sadie. +“You remember that temple that we saw—when was it? Why, it was this +morning.”</p> + +<p>They gave an exclamation of surprise, all three of them. Yes, it had +been this morning; and it seemed away and away in some dim past +experience of their lives, so vast was the change, so new and so +overpowering the thoughts which had come between. They rode in silence, +full of this strange expansion of time, until at last Stephens reminded +Sadie that she had left her remark unfinished.</p> + +<p>“Oh yes; it was the wall picture on that temple that I was thinking of. +Do you remember the poor string of prisoners who are being dragged along +to the feet of the great king—how dejected they looked among the +warriors who led them? Who could—who <i>could</i> have thought that within +three hours the same fate should be our own? And Mr. Headingly—” +She turned her face away and began to cry.</p> + +<p>“Don’t take on, Sadie,” said her aunt; “remember what the minister said +just now, that we are all right there in the hollow of God’s hand. +Where do you think we are going, Mr. Stephens?”</p> + +<p>The red edge of his Baedeker still projected from the lawyer’s pocket, +for it had not been worth their captor’s while to take it. He glanced +down at it.</p> + +<p>“If they will only leave me this, I will look up a few references when +we halt. I have a general idea of the country, for I drew a small map +of it the other day. The river runs from south to north, so we must be +travelling almost due west. I suppose they feared pursuit if they kept +too near the Nile bank. There is a caravan route, I remember, which +runs parallel to the river, about seventy miles inland. If we continue +in this direction for a day we ought to come to it. There is a line of +wells through which it passes. It comes out at Assiout, if I remember +right, upon the Egyptian side. On the other side, it leads away into +the Dervish country—so, perhaps—”</p> + +<p>His words were interrupted by a high, eager voice, which broke suddenly +into a torrent of jostling words, words without meaning, pouring +strenuously out in angry assertions and foolish repetitions. The pink +had deepened to scarlet upon Mr. Stuart’s cheeks, his eyes were vacant +but brilliant, and he gabbled, gabbled, gabbled as he rode. +Kindly mother Nature! she will not let her children be mishandled too +far. “This is too much,” she says; “this wounded leg, these crusted +lips, this anxious, weary mind. Come away for a time, until your body +becomes more habitable.” And so she coaxes the mind away into the +Nirvana of delirium, while the little cell-workers tinker and toil +within to get things better for its homecoming. When you see the veil +of cruelty which nature wears, try and peer through it, and you will +sometimes catch a glimpse of a very homely, kindly face behind.</p> + +<p>The Arab guards looked askance at this sudden outbreak of the clergyman, +for it verged upon lunacy, and lunacy is to them a fearsome and +supernatural thing. One of them rode forward and spoke with the Emir. +When he returned he said something to his comrades, one of whom closed +in upon each side of the minister’s camel, so as to prevent him from +falling. The friendly negro sidled his beast up to the Colonel, and +whispered to him.</p> + +<p>“We are going to halt presently, Belmont,” said Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“Thank God! They may give us some water. We can’t go on like this.”</p> + +<p>“I told Tippy Tilly that, if he could help us, we would turn him into a +Bimbashi when we got him back into Egypt. I think he’s willing enough +if he only had the power. By Jove, Belmont, do look back at the river.”</p> + +<p>Their route, which had lain through sand-strewn khors with jagged, black +edges—places up which one would hardly think it possible that a camel +could climb—opened out now on to a hard, rolling plain, covered thickly +with rounded pebbles, dipping and rising to the violet hills upon the +horizon. So regular were the long, brown pebble-strewn curves, that +they looked like the dark rollers of some monstrous ground-swell. Here +and there a little straggling sage-green tuft of camel-grass sprouted up +between the stones. Brown plains and violet hills—nothing else in +front of them! Behind lay the black jagged rocks through which they had +passed with orange slopes of sand, and then far away a thin line of +green to mark the course of the river. How cool and beautiful that +green looked in the stark, abominable wilderness! On one side they +could see the high rock—the accursed rock which had tempted them to +their ruin. On the other the river curved, and the sun gleamed upon the +water. Oh, that liquid gleam, and the insurgent animal cravings, the +brutal primitive longings, which for the instant took the soul out of +all of them! They had lost families, countries, liberty, everything, +but it was only of water, water, water, that they could think. Mr. +Stuart in his delirium began roaring for oranges, and it was +insufferable for them to have to listen to him. Only the rough, sturdy +Irishman rose superior to that bodily craving. That gleam of river must +be somewhere near Halfa, and his wife might be upon the very water at +which he looked. He pulled his hat over his eyes, and rode in gloomy +silence, biting at his strong, iron-grey moustache.</p> + +<p>Slowly the sun sank towards the west, and their shadows began to trail +along the path where their hearts would go. It was cooler, and a desert +breeze had sprung up, whispering over the rolling, stone-strewed plain. +The Emir at their head had called his lieutenant to his side, and the +pair had peered about, their eyes shaded by their hands, looking for +some landmark. Then, with a satisfied grunt, the chief’s camel had +seemed to break short off at its knees, and then at its hocks, going +down in three curious, broken-jointed jerks until its stomach was +stretched upon the ground. As each succeeding camel reached the spot it +lay down also, until they were all stretched in one long line. +The riders sprang off, and laid out the chopped tibbin upon cloths in +front of them, for no well-bred camel will eat from the ground. +In their gentle eyes, their quiet, leisurely way of eating, and their +condescending, mincing manner, there was something both feminine and +genteel, as though a party of prim old maids had foregathered in the +heart of the Libyan Desert.</p> + +<p>There was no interference with the prisoners, either male or female, for +how could they escape in the centre of that huge plain? The Emir came +towards them once, and stood combing out his blue-black beard with his +fingers, and looking thoughtfully at them out of his dark, sinister +eyes. Miss Adams saw with a shudder that it was always upon Sadie that +his gaze was fixed. Then, seeing their distress, he gave an order, and +a negro brought a water-skin, from which he gave each of them about half +a tumblerful. It was hot and muddy, and tasted of leather, but oh how +delightful it was to their parched palates! The Emir said a few abrupt +words to the dragoman, and left.</p> + +<p>“Ladies and gentlemen,” Mansoor began, with something of his old +consequential manner; but a glare from the Colonel’s eyes struck the +words from his lips, and he broke away into a long, whimpering excuse +for his conduct.</p> + +<p>“How could I do anything otherwise,” he wailed, “with the very knife at +my throat?”</p> + +<p>“You will have the very rope round your throat if we all see Egypt +again,” growled Cochrane savagely. “In the meantime—”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right, Colonel,” said Belmont. “But for our own sakes we +ought to know what the chief has said.”</p> + +<p>“For my part I’ll have nothing to do with the blackguard.”</p> + +<p>“I think that that is going too far. We are bound to hear what he has +to say.” Cochrane shrugged his shoulders. Privations had made him +irritable, and he had to bite his lip to keep down a bitter answer. +He walked slowly away, with his straight-legged military stride.</p> + +<p>“What did he say, then?” asked Belmont, looking at the dragoman with an +eye which was as stern as the Colonel’s.</p> + +<p>“He seems to be in a somewhat better manner than before. He said that +if he had more water you should have it, but that he is himself short in +supply. He said that to-morrow we shall come to the wells of Selimah, +and everybody shall have plenty—and the camels too.”</p> + +<p>“Did he say how long we stopped here?”</p> + +<p>“Very little rest, he said, and then forward! Oh, Mr. Belmont—”</p> + +<p>“Hold your tongue!” snapped the Irishman, and began once more to count +times and distances. If it all worked out as he expected, if his wife +had insisted upon the indolent reis giving an instant alarm at Halfa, +then the pursuers should be already upon their track. The Camel Corps +or the Egyptian Horse would travel by moonlight better and faster than +in the day-time. He knew that it was the custom at Halfa to keep at +least a squadron of them all ready to start at any instant. He had +dined at the mess, and the officers had told him how quickly they could +take the field. They had shown him the water-tanks and the food beside +each of the beasts, and he had admired the completeness of the +arrangements, with little thought as to what it might mean to him in the +future. It would be at least an hour before they would all get started +again from their present halting-place. That would be a clear hour +gained. Perhaps by next morning—</p> + +<p>And then, suddenly, his thoughts were terribly interrupted. +The Colonel, raving like a madman, appeared upon the crest of the +nearest slope, with an Arab hanging on to each of his wrists. His face +was purple with rage and excitement, and he tugged and bent and writhed +in his furious efforts to get free. “You cursed murderers!” he +shrieked, and then, seeing the others in front of him, “Belmont,” he +cried, “they’ve killed Cecil Brown.”</p> + +<p>What had happened was this. In his conflict with his own ill-humour, +Cochrane had strolled over this nearest crest, and had found a group of +camels in the hollow beyond, with a little knot of angry, loud-voiced +men beside them. Brown was the centre of the group, pale, heavy-eyed, +with his upturned, spiky moustache and listless manner. They had +searched his pockets before, but now they were determined to tear off +all his clothes in the hope of finding something which he had secreted. +A hideous negro with silver bangles in his ears, grinned and jabbered in +the young diplomatist’s impassive face. There seemed to the Colonel to +be something heroic and almost inhuman in that white calm, and those +abstracted eyes. His coat was already open, and the Negro’s great black +paw flew up to his neck and tore his shirt down to the waist. And at +the sound of that r-r-rip, and at the abhorrent touch of those coarse +fingers, this man about town, this finished product of the nineteenth +century, dropped his life-traditions and became a savage facing a +savage. His face flushed, his lips curled back, he chattered his teeth +like an ape, and his eyes—those indolent eyes which had always twinkled +so placidly—were gorged and frantic. He threw himself upon the negro, +and struck him again and again, feebly but viciously, in his broad, +black face. He hit like a girl, round arm, with an open palm. The man +winced away for an instant, appalled by this sudden blaze of passion. +Then with an impatient, snarling cry, he slid a knife from his long +loose sleeve and struck upwards under the whirling arm. Brown sat down +at the blow and began to cough—to cough as a man coughs who has choked +at dinner, furiously, ceaselessly, spasm after spasm. Then the angry +red cheeks turned to a mottled pallor, there were liquid sounds in his +throat, and, clapping his hand to his mouth, he rolled over on to his +side. The negro, with a brutal grunt of contempt, slid his knife up his +sleeve once more, while the Colonel, frantic with impotent anger, was +seized by the bystanders, and dragged, raving with fury, back to his +forlorn party. His hands were lashed with a camel-halter, and he lay at +last, in bitter silence, beside the delirious Nonconformist.</p> + +<p>So Headingly was gone, and Cecil Brown was gone, and their haggard eyes +were turned from one pale face to another, to know which they should +lose next of that frieze of light-hearted riders who had stood out so +clearly against the blue morning sky, when viewed from the deck-chairs +of the <i>Korosko</i>. Two gone out of ten, and a third out of his mind. +The pleasure trip was drawing to its climax.</p> + +<p>Fardet, the Frenchman, was sitting alone with his chin resting upon his +hands, and his elbows upon his knees, staring miserably out over the +desert, when Belmont saw him start suddenly and prick up his head like a +dog who hears a strange step. Then, with clenched fingers, he bent his +face forward and stared fixedly towards the black eastern hills through +which they had passed. Belmont followed his gaze, and, yes-yes—there +was something moving there! He saw the twinkle of metal, and the sudden +gleam and flutter of some white garment. A Dervish vedette upon the +flank turned his camel twice round as a danger signal, and discharged +his rifle in the air. The echo of the crack had hardly died away before +they were all in their saddles, Arabs and negroes. Another instant, and +the camels were on their feet and moving slowly towards the point of +alarm. Several armed men surrounded the prisoners, slipping cartridges +into their Remingtons as a hint to them to remain still.</p> + +<p>“By Heaven, they are men on camels!” cried Cochrane, his troubles all +forgotten as he strained his eyes to catch sight of these new-comers. +“I do believe that it is our own people.” In the confusion he had tugged +his hands free from the halter which bound them.</p> + +<p>“They’ve been smarter than I gave them credit for,” said Belmont, his +eyes shining from under his thick brows. “They are here a long two +hours before we could have reasonably expected them. Hurrah, Monsieur +Fardet, <i>ça va bien, n’est ce pas?</i>”</p> + +<p>“Hurrah, hurrah! <i>merveilleusement bien! Vivent les Anglais! Vivent +les Anglais!</i>” yelled the excited Frenchman, as the head of a column of +camelry began to wind out from among the rocks.</p> + +<p>“See here, Belmont,” cried the Colonel. “These fellows will want to +shoot us if they see it is all up. I know their ways, and we must be +ready for it. Will you be ready to jump on the fellow with the blind +eye? and I’ll take the big nigger, if I can get my arms round him. +Stephens, you must do what you can. You, Fardet, <i>comprenez vous? +Il est necessaire</i> to plug these Johnnies before they can hurt us. +You, dragoman, tell those two Soudanese soldiers that they must be +ready—but, but” ... his words died into a murmur, and he swallowed +once or twice. “These are Arabs,” said he, and it sounded like another +voice.</p> + +<p>Of all the bitter day, it was the very bitterest moment. Happy Mr. +Stuart lay upon the pebbles with his back against the ribs of his camel, +and chuckled consumedly at some joke which those busy little +cell-workers had come across in their repairs. His fat face was +wreathed and creased with merriment. But the others, how sick, how +heart-sick, were they all! The women cried. The men turned away in +that silence which is beyond tears. Monsieur Fardet fell upon his face, +and shook with dry sobbings.</p> + +<p>The Arabs were firing their rifles as a welcome to their friends, and +the others as they trotted their camels across the open returned the +salutes and waved their rifles and lances in the air. They were a +smaller band than the first one—not more than thirty—but dressed in +the same red headgear and patched jibbehs. One of them carried a small +white banner with a scarlet text scrawled across it. But there was +something there which drew the eyes and the thoughts of the tourists +away from everything else. The same fear gripped at each of their +hearts, and the same impulse kept each of them silent. They stared at a +swaying white figure half seen amidst the ranks of the desert warriors.</p> + +<p>“What’s that they have in the middle of them?” cried Stephens at last. +“Look, Miss Adams! Surely it is a woman!”</p> + +<p>There was something there upon a camel, but it was difficult to catch a +glimpse of it. And then suddenly, as the two bodies met, the riders +opened out, and they saw it plainly.</p> + +<p>“It’s a white woman!”</p> + +<p>“The steamer has been taken!”</p> + +<p>Belmont gave a cry that sounded high above everything.</p> + +<p>“Norah, darling,” he shouted, “keep your heart up! I’m here, and it is +all well!”</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">S</span>O the <i>Korosko</i> had been taken, and the chances of rescue upon which +they had reckoned—all those elaborate calculations of hours and +distances—were as unsubstantial as the mirage which shimmered upon the +horizon. There would be no alarm at Halfa until it was found that the +steamer did not return in the evening. Even now, when the Nile was only +a thin green band upon the farthest horizon, the pursuit had probably +not begun. In a hundred miles, or even less, they would be in the +Dervish country. How small, then, was the chance that the Egyptian +forces could overtake them. They all sank into a silent, sulky despair, +with the exception of Belmont, who was held back by the guards as he +strove to go to his wife’s assistance.</p> + +<p>The two bodies of camel-men had united, and the Arabs, in their grave, +dignified fashion, were exchanging salutations and experiences, while +the negroes grinned, chattered, and shouted, with the careless +good-humour which even the Koran has not been able to alter. The leader +of the new-comers was a greybeard, a worn, ascetic, high-nosed old man, +abrupt and fierce in his manner, and soldierly in his bearing. +The dragoman groaned when he saw him, and flapped his hands miserably +with the air of a man who sees trouble accumulating upon trouble.</p> + +<p>“It is the Emir Abderrahman,” said he. “I fear now that we shall never +come to Khartoum alive.”</p> + +<p>The name meant nothing to the others, but Colonel Cochrane had heard of +him as a monster of cruelty and fanaticism, a red-hot Moslem of the old +fighting, preaching dispensation, who never hesitated to carry the +fierce doctrines of the Koran to their final conclusions. He and the +Emir Wad Ibrahim conferred gravely together, their camels side by side, +and their red turbans inclined inwards, so that the black beard mingled +with the white one. Then they both turned and stared long and fixedly +at the poor, head-hanging huddle of prisoners. The younger man pointed +and explained, while his senior listened with a sternly impassive face.</p> + +<p>“Who’s that nice-looking old gentleman in the white beard?” asked Miss +Adams, who had been the first to rally from the bitter disappointment.</p> + +<p>“That is their leader now,” Cochrane answered.</p> + +<p>“You don’t say that he takes command over that other one?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, lady,” said the dragoman; “he is now the head of all.”</p> + +<p>“Well, that’s good for us. He puts me in mind of Elder Mathews who was +at the Presbyterian Church in Minister Scott’s time. Anyhow, I had +rather be in his power than in the hands of that black-haired one with +the flint eyes. Sadie, dear, you feel better now its cooler, don’t +you?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, auntie; don’t you fret about me. How are you yourself?”</p> + +<p>“Well, I’m stronger in faith than I was. I set you a poor example, +Sadie, for I was clean crazed at first at the suddenness of it all, and +at thinking of what your mother, who trusted you to me, would think +about it. My land, there’ll be some head-lines in the <i>Boston Herald</i> +over this! I guess somebody will have to suffer for it.”</p> + +<p>“Poor Mr. Stuart!” cried Sadie, as the monotonous droning voice of the +delirious man came again to their ears. “Come, auntie, and see if we +cannot do something to relieve him.”</p> + +<p>“I’m uneasy about Mrs. Shlesinger and the child,” said Colonel Cochrane. +“I can see your wife, Belmont, but I can see no one else.”</p> + +<p>“They are bringing her over,” cried he. “Thank God! We shall hear all +about it. They haven’t hurt you, Norah, have they?” He ran forward to +grasp and kiss the hand which his wife held down to him as he helped her +from the camel.</p> + +<p>The kind grey eyes and calm sweet face of the Irishwoman brought comfort +and hope to the whole party. She was a devout Roman Catholic, and it is +a creed which forms an excellent prop in hours of danger. To her, to +the Anglican Colonel, to the Nonconformist minister, to the Presbyterian +American, even to the two Pagan black riflemen, religion in its various +forms was fulfilling the same beneficent office—whispering always that +the worst which the world can do is a small thing, and that, however +harsh the ways of Providence may seem, it is, on the whole, the wisest +and best thing for us that we should go cheerfully whither the Great +Hand guides us. They had not a dogma in common, these fellows in +misfortune; but they held the intimate, deep-lying spirit, the calm, +essential fatalism which is the world-old framework of religion, with +fresh crops of dogmas growing like ephemeral lichens upon its granite +surface.</p> + +<p>“You poor things!” she said. “I can see that you have had a much worse +time than I have. No, really, John, dear, I am quite well—not even +very thirsty, for our party filled their water-skins at the Nile, and +they let me have as much as I wanted. But I don’t see Mr. Headingly and +Mr. Brown. And poor Mr. Stuart—what a state he has been reduced to!”</p> + +<p>“Headingly and Brown are out of their troubles,” her husband answered. +“You don’t know how often I have thanked God to-day, Norah, that you +were not with us. And here you are, after all.”</p> + +<p>“Where should I be but by my husband’s side? I had much, <i>much</i> rather +be here than safe at Halfa.”</p> + +<p>“Has any news gone to the town?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“One boat escaped. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child and maid were in it. +I was downstairs in my cabin when the Arabs rushed on to the vessel. +Those on deck had time to escape, for the boat was alongside. I don’t +know whether any of them were hit. The Arabs fired at them for some +time.”</p> + +<p>“Did they?” cried Belmont exultantly, his responsive Irish nature +catching the sunshine in an instant. “Then, be Jove, we’ll do them yet, +for the garrison must have heard the firing. What d’ye think, Cochrane? +They must be full cry upon our scent this four hours. Any minute we +might see the white puggaree of a British officer coming over that +rise.”</p> + +<p>But disappointment had left the Colonel cold and sceptical.</p> + +<p>“They need not come at all unless they come strong,” said he. +“These fellows are picked men with good leaders, and on their own ground +they will take a lot of beating.” Suddenly he paused and looked at the +Arabs. “By George!” said he, “that’s a sight worth seeing!”</p> + +<p>The great red sun was down with half its disc slipped behind the violet +bank upon the horizon. It was the hour of Arab prayer. An older and +more learned civilisation would have turned to that magnificent thing +upon the skyline and adored <i>that</i>. But these wild children of the +desert were nobler in essentials than the polished Persian. To them the +ideal was higher than the material, and it was with their backs to the +sun and their faces to the central shrine of their religion that they +prayed. And how they prayed, these fanatical Moslems! Rapt, absorbed, +with yearning eyes and shining faces, rising, stooping, grovelling with +their foreheads upon their praying carpets. Who could doubt, as he +watched their strenuous, heart-whole devotion, that here was a great +living power in the world, reactionary but tremendous, countless +millions all thinking as one from Cape Juby to the confines of China? +Let a common wave pass over them, let a great soldier or organiser arise +among them to use the grand material at his hand, and who shall say that +this may not be the besom with which Providence may sweep the rotten, +decadent, impossible, half-hearted south of Europe, as it did a thousand +years ago, until it makes room for a sounder stock?</p> + +<p>And now as they rose to their feet the bugle rang out, and the prisoners +understood that, having travelled all day, they were fated to travel all +night also. Belmont groaned, for he had reckoned upon the pursuers +catching them up before they left this camp. But the others had already +got into the way of accepting the inevitable. A flat Arab loaf had been +given to each of them—what effort of the <i>chef</i> of the post-boat had +ever tasted like that dry brown bread?—and then, luxury of luxuries, +they had a second ration of a glass of water, for the fresh-filled bags +of the newcomers had provided an ample supply. If the body would but +follow the lead of the soul as readily as the soul does that of the +body, what a heaven the earth might be! Now, with their base material +wants satisfied for the instant, their spirits began to sing within +them, and they mounted their camels with some sense of the romance of +their position. Mr. Stuart remained babbling upon the ground, and the +Arabs made no effort to lift him into his saddle. His large, white, +upturned face glimmered through the gathering darkness.</p> + +<p>“Hi, dragoman, tell them that they are forgetting Mr. Stuart,” cried the +Colonel.</p> + +<p>“No use, sir,” said Mansoor. “They say that he is too fat, and that +they will not take him any farther. He will die, they say, and why +should they trouble about him?”</p> + +<p>“Not take him!” cried Cochrane. “Why, the man will perish of hunger and +thirst. Where’s the Emir? Hi!” he shouted, as the black-bearded Arab +passed, with a tone like that in which he used to summon a dilatory +donkey-boy. The chief did not deign to answer him, but said something +to one of the guards, who dashed the butt of his Remington into the +Colonel’s ribs. The old soldier fell forward gasping, and was carried +on half senseless, clutching at the pommel of his saddle. The women +began to cry, and the men, with muttered curses and clenched hands, +writhed in that hell of impotent passion, where brutal injustice and +ill-usage have to go without check or even remonstrance. Belmont +gripped at his hip-pocket for his little revolver, and then remembered +that he had already given it to Miss Adams. If his hot hand had +clutched it, it would have meant the death of the Emir and the massacre +of the party.</p> + +<p>And now as they rode onwards they saw one of the most singular of the +phenomena of the Egyptian desert in front of them, though the +ill-treatment of their companion had left them in no humour for the +appreciation of its beauty. When the sun had sunk, the horizon had +remained of a slaty-violet hue. But now this began to lighten and to +brighten until a curious false dawn developed, and it seemed as if a +vacillating sun was coming back along the path which it had just +abandoned. A rosy pink hung over the west, with beautifully delicate +sea-green tints along the upper edge of it. Slowly these faded into +slate again, and the night had come. It was but twenty-four hours since +they had sat in their canvas chairs discussing politics by starlight on +the saloon deck of the <i>Korosko</i>; only twelve since they had breakfasted +there and had started spruce and fresh upon their last pleasure trip. +What a world of fresh impressions had come upon them since then! +How rudely they had been jostled out of their take-it-for-granted +complacency! The same shimmering silver stars, as they had looked upon +last night, the same thin crescent of moon—but they, what a chasm lay +between that old pampered life and this!</p> + +<p>The long line of camels moved as noiselessly as ghosts across the +desert. Before and behind were the silent, swaying white figures of the +Arabs. Not a sound anywhere, not the very faintest sound, until far +away behind them they heard a human voice singing in a strong, droning, +unmusical fashion. It had the strangest effect, this far-away voice, in +that huge inarticulate wilderness. And then there came a well-known +rhythm into that distant chant, and they could almost hear the words—</p> + +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We nightly pitch our moving tent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A day’s march nearer home.<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>Was Mr. Stuart in his right mind again, or was it some coincidence of +his delirium, that he should have chosen this for his song? With moist +eyes his friends looked back through the darkness, for well they knew +that home was very near to this wanderer. Gradually the voice died away +into a hum, and was absorbed once more into the masterful silence of the +desert.</p> + +<p>“My dear old chap, I hope you’re not hurt?” said Belmont, laying his +hand upon Cochrane’s knee.</p> + +<p>The Colonel had straightened himself, though he still gasped a little in +his breathing.</p> + +<p>“I am all right again, now. Would you kindly show me which was the man +who struck me?”</p> + +<p>“It was the fellow in front there—with his camel beside Fardet’s.”</p> + +<p>“The young fellow with the moustache—I can’t see him very well in this +light, but I think I could pick him out again. Thank you, Belmont!”</p> + +<p>“But I thought some of your ribs were gone.”</p> + +<p>“No, it only knocked the wind out of me.”</p> + +<p>“You must be made of iron. It was a frightful blow. How could you +rally from it so quickly?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel cleared his throat and hummed and stammered.</p> + +<p>“The fact is, my dear Belmont—I’m sure you would not let it go +further—above all not to the ladies; but I am rather older than I used +to be, and rather than lose the military carriage which has always been +dear to me, I—”</p> + +<p>“Stays, be Jove!” cried the astonished Irishman.</p> + +<p>“Well, some slight artificial support,” said the Colonel stiffly, and +switched the conversation off to the chances of the morrow.</p> + +<p>It still comes back in their dreams to those who are left, that long +night’s march in the desert. It was like a dream itself, the silence of +it as they were borne forward upon those soft, shuffling sponge feet, +and the flitting, flickering figures which oscillated upon every side of +them. The whole universe seemed to be hung as a monstrous time-dial in +front of them. A star would glimmer like a lantern on the very level of +their path. They looked again, and it was a hand’s-breadth up, and +another was shining beneath it. Hour after hour the broad stream flowed +sedately across the deep blue background, worlds and systems drifting +majestically overhead, and pouring over the dark horizon. In their +vastness and their beauty there was a vague consolation to the +prisoners; for their own fate, and their own individuality, seemed +trivial and unimportant amid the play of such tremendous forces. +Slowly the grand procession swept across the heaven, first climbing, +then hanging long with little apparent motion, and then sinking grandly +downwards, until away in the east the first cold grey glimmer appeared, +and their own haggard faces shocked each other’s sight.</p> + +<p>The day had tortured them with its heat, and now the night had brought +the even more intolerable discomfort of cold. The Arabs swathed +themselves in their gowns and wrapped up their heads. The prisoners +beat their hands together and shivered miserably. Miss Adams felt it +most, for she was very thin, with the impaired circulation of age. +Stephens slipped off his Norfolk jacket and threw it over her shoulders. +He rode beside Sadie, and whistled and chatted to make her believe that +her aunt was really relieving him by carrying his jacket for him, but +the attempt was too boisterous not to be obvious; and yet it was so far +true that he probably felt the cold less than any of the party, for the +old, old fire was burning in his heart, and a curious joy was +inextricably mixed with all his misfortunes, so that he would have found +it hard to say if this adventure had been the greatest evil or the +greatest blessing of his lifetime. Aboard the boat, Sadie’s youth, her +beauty, her intelligence and humour, all made him realise that she could +at the best only be expected to charitably endure him. But now he felt +that he was really of some use to her, that every hour she was learning +to turn to him as one turns to one’s natural protector; and above all, +he had begun to find himself—to understand that there really was a +strong, reliable man behind all the tricks of custom which had built up +an artificial nature, which had imposed even upon himself. A little +glow of self-respect began to warm his blood. He had missed his youth +when he was young, and now in his middle age it was coming up like some +beautiful belated flower.</p> + +<p>“I do believe that you are all the time enjoying it, Mr. Stephens,” said +Sadie with some bitterness.</p> + +<p>“I would not go so far as to say that,” he answered. “But I am quite +certain that I would not leave you here.”</p> + +<p>It was the nearest approach to tenderness which he had ever put into a +speech, and the girl looked at him in surprise.</p> + +<p>“I think I’ve been a very wicked girl all my life,” she said after a +pause. “Because I have had a good time myself, I never thought of those +who were unhappy. This has struck me serious. If ever I get back I +shall be a better woman—a more earnest woman—in the future.”</p> + +<p>“And I a better man. I suppose it is just for that that trouble comes +to us. Look how it has brought out the virtues of all our friends. +Take poor Mr. Stuart, for example. Should we ever have known what a +noble, constant man he was? And see Belmont and his wife, in front of +us there, going fearlessly forward, hand in hand, thinking only of each +other. And Cochrane, who always seemed on board the boat to be a rather +stand-offish, narrow sort of man! Look at his courage, and his +unselfish indignation when any one is ill used. Fardet, too, is as +brave as a lion. I think misfortune has done us all good.”</p> + +<p>Sadie sighed.</p> + +<p>“Yes, if it would end right here one might say so; but if it goes on and +on for a few weeks or months of misery, and then ends in death, I don’t +know where we reap the benefit of those improvements of character which +it brings. Suppose you escape, what will you do?”</p> + +<p>The lawyer hesitated, but his professional instincts were still strong.</p> + +<p>“I will consider whether an action lies, and against whom. It should be +with the organisers of the expedition for taking us to the Abousir +Rock—or else with the Egyptian Government for not protecting their +frontiers. It will be a nice legal question. And what will you do, +Sadie?”</p> + +<p>It was the first time that he had ever dropped the formal Miss, but the +girl was too much in earnest to notice it.</p> + +<p>“I will be more tender to others,” she said. “I will try to make some +one else happy in memory of the miseries which I have endured.”</p> + +<p>“You have done nothing all your life but made others happy. You cannot +help doing it,” said he. The darkness made it more easy for him to +break through the reserve which was habitual with him. “You need this +rough schooling far less than any of us. How could your character be +changed for the better?”</p> + +<p>“You show how little you know me. I have been very selfish and +thoughtless.”</p> + +<p>“At least you had no need for all these strong emotions. You were +sufficiently alive without them. Now it has been different with me.”</p> + +<p>“Why did you need emotions, Mr. Stephens?”</p> + +<p>“Because anything is better than stagnation. Pain is better than +stagnation. I have only just begun to live. Hitherto I have been a +machine upon the earth’s surface. I was a one-ideaed man, and a +one-ideaed man is only one remove from a dead man. That is what I have +only just begun to realise. For all these years I have never been +stirred, never felt a real throb of human emotion pass through me. +I had no time for it. I had observed it in others, and I had vaguely +wondered whether there was some want in me which prevented my sharing +the experience of my fellow-mortals. But now these last few days have +taught me how keenly I can live—that I can have warm hopes, and deadly +fears—that I can hate, and that I can—well, that I can have every +strong feeling which the soul can experience. I have come to life. I +may be on the brink of the grave, but at least I can say now that I have +lived.”</p> + +<p>“And why did you lead this soul-killing life in England?”</p> + +<p>“I was ambitious—I wanted to get on. And then there were my mother and +my sisters to be thought of. Thank Heaven, here is the morning coming. +Your aunt and you will soon cease to feel the cold.”</p> + +<p>“And you without your coat!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I have a very good circulation. I can manage very well in my +shirt-sleeves.”</p> + +<p>And now the long, cold, weary night was over, and the deep blue-black +sky had lightened to a wonderful mauve-violet, with the larger stars +still glinting brightly out of it. Behind them the grey line had crept +higher and higher, deepening into a delicate rose-pink, with the +fan-like rays of the invisible sun shooting and quivering across it. +Then, suddenly, they felt its warm touch upon their backs, and there +were hard black shadows upon the sand in front of them. The Dervishes +loosened their cloaks and proceeded to talk cheerily among themselves. +The prisoners also began to thaw, and eagerly ate the doora which was +served out for their breakfasts. A short halt had been called, and a +cup of water handed to each.</p> + +<p>“Can I speak to you, Colonel Cochrane?” asked the dragoman.</p> + +<p>“No, you can’t,” snapped the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“But it is very important—all our safety may come from it.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel frowned and pulled at his moustache.</p> + +<p>“Well, what is it?” he asked at last.</p> + +<p>“You must trust to me, for it is as much to me as to you to get back to +Egypt. My wife and home, and children, are on one part, and a slave for +life upon the other. You have no cause to doubt it.”</p> + +<p>“Well, go on!”</p> + +<p>“You know the black man who spoke with you—the one who had been with +Hicks?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, what of him?”</p> + +<p>“He has been speaking with me during the night. I have had a long talk +with him. He said that he could not very well understand you, nor you +him, and so he came to me.”</p> + +<p>“What did he say?”</p> + +<p>“He said that there were eight Egyptian soldiers among the Arabs—six +black and two fellaheen. He said that he wished to have your promise +that they should all have very good reward if they helped you to +escape.”</p> + +<p>“Of course they shall.”</p> + +<p>“They asked for one hundred Egyptian pounds each.”</p> + +<p>“They shall have it.”</p> + +<p>“I told him that I would ask you, but that I was sure that you would +agree to it.”</p> + +<p>“What do they propose to do?”</p> + +<p>“They could promise nothing, but what they thought best was that they +should ride their camels not very far from you, so that if any chance +should come they would be ready to take advantage.”</p> + +<p>“Well, you can go to him and promise two hundred pounds each if they +will help us. You do not think we could buy over some Arabs?”</p> + +<p>Mansoor shook his head. “Too much danger to try,” said he. +“Suppose you try and fail, then that will be the end to all of us. +I will go tell what you have said.” He strolled off to where the old +negro gunner was grooming his camel and waiting for his reply.</p> + +<p>The Emirs had intended to halt for a half-hour at the most, but the +baggage-camels which bore the prisoners were so worn out with the long, +rapid march, that it was clearly impossible that they should move for +some time. They had laid their long necks upon the ground, which is the +last symptom of fatigue. The two chiefs shook their heads when they +inspected them, and the terrible old man looked with his hard-lined, +rock features at the captives. Then he said something to Mansoor, whose +face turned a shade more sallow as he listened.</p> + +<p>“The Emir Abderrahman says that if you do not become Moslem, it is not +worth while delaying the whole caravan in order to carry you upon the +baggage-camels. If it were not for you, he says that we could travel +twice as fast. He wishes to know therefore, once for ever, if you will +accept the Koran.” Then in the same tone, as if he were still +translating, he continued: “You had far better consent, for if you do +not he will most certainly put you all to death.”</p> + +<p>The unhappy prisoners looked at each other in despair. The two Emirs +stood gravely watching them.</p> + +<p>“For my part,” said Cochrane, “I had as soon die now as be a slave in +Khartoum.”</p> + +<p>“What do you say, Norah?” asked Belmont.</p> + +<p>“If we die together, John, I don’t think I shall be afraid.”</p> + +<p>“It is absurd that I should die for that in which I have never had +belief,” said Fardet. “And yet it is not possible for the honour of a +Frenchman that he should be converted in this fashion.” He drew himself +up, with his wounded wrist stuck into the front of his jacket, “<i>Je suis +Chretien. J’y reste,</i>” he cried, a gallant falsehood in each sentence.</p> + +<p>“What do you say, Mr. Stephens?” asked Mansoor in a beseeching voice. +“If one of you would change, it might place them in a good humour. +I implore you that you do what they ask.”</p> + +<p>“No, I can’t,” said the lawyer quietly.</p> + +<p>“Well then, you, Miss Sadie? You, Miss Adams? It is only just to say +it once, and you will be saved.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, auntie, do you think we might?” whimpered the frightened girl. +“Would it be so very wrong if we said it?”</p> + +<p>The old lady threw her arms round her. “No, no, my own dear little +Sadie,” she whispered. “You’ll be strong! You would just hate yourself +for ever after. Keep your grip of me, dear, and pray if you find your +strength is leaving you. Don’t forget that your old aunt Eliza has you +all the time by the hand.”</p> + +<p>For an instant they were heroic, this line of dishevelled, bedraggled +pleasure-seekers. They were all looking Death in the face, and the +closer they looked the less they feared him. They were conscious rather +of a feeling of curiosity, together with the nervous tingling with which +one approaches a dentist’s chair. The dragoman made a motion of his +hands and shoulders, as one who has tried and failed. The Emir +Abderrahman said something to a negro, who hurried away.</p> + +<p>“What does he want a scissors for?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“He is going to hurt the women,” said Mansoor, with the same gesture of +impotence.</p> + +<p>A cold chill fell upon them all. They stared about them in helpless +horror. Death in the abstract was one thing, but these insufferable +details were another. Each had been braced to endure any evil in his +own person, but their hearts were still soft for each other. The women +said nothing, but the men were all buzzing together.</p> + +<p>“There’s the pistol, Miss Adams,” said Belmont. “Give it here! +We won’t be tortured! We won’t stand it!”</p> + +<p>“Offer them money, Mansoor! Offer them anything!” cried Stephens. +“Look here, I’ll turn Mohammedan if they’ll promise to leave the women +alone. After all, it isn’t binding—it’s under compulsion. But I can’t +see the women hurt.”</p> + +<p>“No, wait a bit, Stephens!” said the Colonel. “We mustn’t lose our +heads. I think I see a way out. See here, dragoman! You tell that +grey-bearded old devil that we know nothing about his cursed tinpot +religion. Put it smooth when you translate it. Tell him that he cannot +expect us to adopt it until we know what particular brand of rot it is +that he wants us to believe. Tell him that if he will instruct us, we +are perfectly willing to listen to his teaching, and you can add that +any creed which turns out such beauties as him, and that other bounder +with the black beard, must claim the attention of every one.”</p> + +<p>With bows and suppliant sweepings of his hands the dragoman explained +that the Christians were already full of doubt, and that it needed but a +little more light of knowledge to guide them on to the path of Allah. +The two Emirs stroked their beards and gazed suspiciously at them. +Then Abderrahman spoke in his crisp, stern fashion to the dragoman, and +the two strode away together. An instant later the bugle rang out as a +signal to mount.</p> + +<p>“What he says is this,” Mansoor explained, as he rode in the middle of +the prisoners. “We shall reach the wells by mid-day, and there will be +a rest. His own Moolah, a very good and learned man, will come to give +you an hour of teaching. At the end of that time you will choose one +way or the other. When you have chosen, it will be decided whether you +are to go to Khartoum or to be put to death. That is his last word.”</p> + +<p>“They won’t take ransom?”</p> + +<p>“Wad Ibrahim would, but the Emir Abderrahman is a terrible man. +I advise you to give in to him.”</p> + +<p>“What have you done yourself? You are a Christian, too.”</p> + +<p>Mansoor blushed as deeply as his complexion would allow.</p> + +<p>“I was yesterday morning. Perhaps I will be to-morrow morning. I serve +the Lord as long as what He ask seem reasonable; but this is very +otherwise.”</p> + +<p>He rode onwards amongst the guards with a freedom which showed that his +change of faith had put him upon a very different footing to the other +prisoners.</p> + +<p>So they were to have a reprieve of a few hours, though they rode in that +dark shadow of death which was closing in upon them. What is there in +life that we should cling to it so? It is not the pleasures, for those +whose hours are one long pain shrink away screaming when they see +merciful Death holding his soothing arms out for them. It is not the +associations, for we will change all of them before we walk of our own +free-wills down that broad road which every son and daughter of man must +tread. Is it the fear of losing the I, that dear, intimate I, which we +think we know so well, although it is eternally doing things which +surprise us? Is it that which makes the deliberate suicide cling madly +to the bridge-pier as the river sweeps him by? Or is it that Nature is +so afraid that all her weary workmen may suddenly throw down their tools +and strike, that she has invented this fashion of keeping them constant +to their present work? But there it is, and all these tired, harassed, +humiliated folk rejoiced in the few more hours of suffering which were +left to them.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HERE was nothing to show them as they journeyed onwards that they were +not on the very spot that they had passed at sunset upon the evening +before. The region of fantastic black hills and orange sand which +bordered the river had long been left behind, and everywhere now was the +same brown, rolling, gravelly plain, the ground-swell with the shining +rounded pebbles upon its surface, and the occasional little sprouts of +sage-green camel-grass. Behind and before it extended, to where far +away in front of them it sloped upwards towards a line of violet hills. +The sun was not high enough yet to cause the tropical shimmer, and the +wide landscape, brown with its violet edging, stood out with a hard +clearness in that dry, pure air. The long caravan straggled along at +the slow swing of the baggage-camels. Far out on the flanks rode the +vedettes, halting at every rise, and peering backwards with their hands +shading their eyes. In the distance their spears and rifles seemed to +stick out of them, straight and thin, like needles in knitting.</p> + +<p>“How far do you suppose we are from the Nile?” asked Cochrane. He rode +with his chin on his shoulder and his eyes straining wistfully to the +eastern skyline.</p> + +<p>“A good fifty miles,” Belmont answered.</p> + +<p>“Not so much as that,” said the Colonel. “We could not have been moving +more than fifteen or sixteen hours, and a camel does not do more than +two and a half miles an hour unless it is trotting. That would only +give about forty miles, but still it is, I fear, rather far for a +rescue. I don’t know that we are much the better for this postponement. +What have we to hope for? We may just as well take our gruel.”</p> + +<p>“Never say die!” cried the cheery Irishman. “There’s plenty of time +between this and mid-day. Hamilton and Hedley of the Camel Corps are +good boys, and they’ll be after us like a streak. They’ll have no +baggage-camels to hold them back, you can lay your life on that! Little +did I think, when I dined with them at mess that last night, and they +were telling me all their precautions against a raid, that I should +depend upon them for our lives.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we’ll play the game out, but I’m not very hopeful,” said +Cochrane. “Of course, we must keep the best face we can before the +women. I see that Tippy Tilly is as good as his word, for those five +niggers and the two brown Johnnies must be the men he speaks of. +They all ride together and keep well up, but I can’t see how they are +going to help us.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve got my pistol back,” whispered Belmont, and his square chin and +strong mouth set like granite. “If they try any games on the women, I +mean to shoot them all three with my own hand, and then we’ll die with +our minds easy.”</p> + +<p>“Good man!” said Cochrane, and they rode on in silence. None of them +spoke much. A curious, dreamy, irresponsible feeling crept over them. +It was as if they had all taken some narcotic drug—the merciful anodyne +which Nature uses when a great crisis has fretted the nerves too far. +They thought of their friends and of their past lives in the +comprehensive way in which one views that which is completed. A subtle +sweetness mingled with the sadness of their fate. They were filled with +the quiet serenity of despair.</p> + +<p>“It’s devilish pretty,” said the Colonel, looking about him. “I always +had an idea that I should like to die in a real, good, yellow London +fog. You couldn’t change for the worse.”</p> + +<p>“I should have liked to have died in my sleep,” said Sadie. +“How beautiful to wake up and find yourself in the other world! +There was a piece that Hetty Smith used to say at the College: ‘Say not +good-night, but in some brighter world wish me good-morning.’<span class="lftspc">”</span></p> + +<p>The Puritan aunt shook her head at the idea. “It’s a terrible thing to +go unprepared into the presence of your Maker,” said she.</p> + +<p>“It’s the loneliness of death that is terrible,” said Mrs. Belmont. +“If we and those whom we loved all passed over simultaneously, we should +think no more of it than of changing our house.”</p> + +<p>“If the worst comes to the worst, we won’t be lonely,” said her husband. +“We’ll all go together, and we shall find Brown and Headingly and Stuart +waiting on the other side.”</p> + +<p>The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders. He had no belief in survival +after death, but he envied the two Catholics the quiet way in which they +took things for granted. He chuckled to think of what his friends in +the Café Cubat would say if they learned that he had laid down his life +for the Christian faith. Sometimes it amused and sometimes it maddened +him, and he rode onwards with alternate gusts of laughter and of fury, +nursing his wounded wrist all the time like a mother with a sick baby.</p> + +<p>Across the brown of the hard, pebbly desert there had been visible for +some time a single long, thin, yellow streak, extending north and south +as far as they could see. It was a band of sand not more than a few +hundred yards across, and rising at the highest to eight or ten feet. +But the prisoners were astonished to observe that the Arabs pointed at +this with an air of the utmost concern, and they halted when they came +to the edge of it like men upon the brink of an unfordable river. +It was very light, dusty sand, and every wandering breath of wind sent +it dancing into the air like a whirl of midges. The Emir Abderrahman +tried to force his camel into it, but the creature, after a step or two, +stood still and shivered with terror. The two chiefs talked for a +little, and then the whole caravan trailed off with their heads for the +north, and the streak of sand upon their left.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” asked Belmont, who found the dragoman riding at his elbow. +“Why are we going out of our course?”</p> + +<p>“Drift sand,” Mansoor answered. “Every sometimes the wind bring it all +in one long place like that. To-morrow, if a wind comes, perhaps there +will not be one grain left, but all will be carried up into the air +again. An Arab will sometimes have to go fifty or a hundred miles to go +round a drift. Suppose he tries to cross, his camel breaks its legs, +and he himself is sucked in and swallowed.”</p> + +<p>“How long will this be?”</p> + +<p>“No one can say.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Cochrane, it’s all in our favour. The longer the chase the +better chance for the fresh camels!” and for the hundredth time he +looked back at the long, hard skyline behind them. There was the great, +empty, dun-coloured desert, but where the glint of steel or the twinkle +of white helmet for which he yearned?</p> + +<p>And soon they cleared the obstacle in their front. It spindled away +into nothing, as a streak of dust would which has been blown across an +empty room. It was curious to see that when it was so narrow that one +could almost jump it, the Arabs would still go for many hundreds of +yards rather than risk the crossing. Then, with good, hard country +before them once more, the tired beasts were whipped up, and they ambled +on with a double-jointed jogtrot, which set the prisoners nodding and +bowing in grotesque and ludicrous misery. It was fun at first, and they +smiled at each other, but soon the fun had become tragedy as the +terrible camel-ache seized them by spine and waist, with its deep, dull +throb, which rises gradually to a splitting agony.</p> + +<p>“I can’t stand it, Sadie,” cried Miss Adams suddenly. “I’ve done my +best. I’m going to fall.”</p> + +<p>“No, no, auntie, you’ll break your limbs if you do. Hold up, just a +little, and maybe they’ll stop.”</p> + +<p>“Lean back, and hold your saddle behind,” said the Colonel. +“There, you’ll find that will ease the strain.” He took the puggaree +from his hat, and tying the ends together, he slung it over her front +pommel. “Put your foot in the loop,” said he. “It will steady you like +a stirrup.”</p> + +<p>The relief was instant, so Stephens did the same for Sadie. +But presently one of the weary doora camels came down with a crash, its +limbs starred out as if it had split asunder, and the caravan had to +come down to its old sober gait.</p> + +<p>“Is this another belt of drift sand?” asked the Colonel presently.</p> + +<p>“No, it’s white,” said Belmont. “Here, Mansoor, what is that in front +of us?”</p> + +<p>But the dragoman shook his head.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know what it is, sir. I never saw the same thing before.”</p> + +<p>Right across the desert, from north to south, there was drawn a white +line, as straight and clear as if it had been slashed with chalk across +a brown table. It was very thin, but it extended without a break +from horizon to horizon. Tippy Tilly said something to the dragoman.</p> + +<p>“It’s the great caravan route,” said Mansoor.</p> + +<p>“What makes it white, then?”</p> + +<p>“The bones.”</p> + +<p>It seemed incredible, and yet it was true, for as they drew nearer they +saw that it was indeed a beaten track across the desert, hollowed out by +long usage, and so covered with bones that they gave the impression of a +continuous white ribbon. Long, snouty heads were scattered everywhere, +and the lines of ribs were so continuous that it looked in places like +the framework of a monstrous serpent. The endless road gleamed in the +sun as if it were paved with ivory. For thousands of years this had +been the highway over the desert, and during all that time no animal of +all those countless caravans had died there without being preserved by +the dry, antiseptic air. No wonder, then, that it was hardly possible +to walk down it now without treading upon their skeletons.</p> + +<p>“This must be the route I spoke of,” said Stephens. “I remember marking +it upon the map I made for you, Miss Adams. Baedeker says that it has +been disused on account of the cessation of all trade which followed the +rise of the Dervishes, but that it used to be the main road by which the +skins and gums of Darfur found their way down to Lower Egypt.”</p> + +<p>They looked at it with a listless curiosity, for there was enough to +engross them at present in their own fates. The caravan struck to the +south along the old desert track, and this Golgotha of a road seemed to +be a fitting avenue for that which awaited them at the end of it. +Weary camels and weary riders dragged on together towards their +miserable goal.</p> + +<p>And now, as the critical moment approached which was to decide their +fate, Colonel Cochrane, weighed down by his fears lest something +terrible should befall the women, put his pride aside to the extent of +asking the advice of the renegade dragoman. The fellow was a villain +and a coward, but at least he was an Oriental, and he understood the +Arab point of view. His change of religion had brought him into closer +contact with the Dervishes, and he had overheard their intimate talk. +Cochrane’s stiff, aristocratic nature fought hard before he could bring +himself to ask advice from such a man, and when he at last did so, it +was in the gruffest and most unconciliatory voice.</p> + +<p>“You know the rascals, and you have the same way of looking at things,” +said he. “Our object is to keep things going for another twenty-four +hours. After that it does not much matter what befalls us, for we shall +be out of the reach of rescue. But how can we stave them off for +another day?”</p> + +<p>“You know my advice,” the dragoman answered; “I have already answered it +to you. If you will all become as I have, you will certainly be carried +to Khartoum in safety. If you do not, you will never leave our next +camping-place alive.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel’s well-curved nose took a higher tilt, and an angry flush +reddened his thin cheeks. He rode in silence for a little, for his +Indian service had left him with a curried-prawn temper, which had had +an extra touch of cayenne added to it by his recent experiences. It was +some minutes before he could trust himself to reply.</p> + +<p>“We’ll set that aside,” said he at last. “Some things are possible and +some are not. This is not.”</p> + +<p>“You need only pretend.”</p> + +<p>“That’s enough,” said the Colonel abruptly.</p> + +<p>Mansoor shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“What is the use of asking me, if you become angry when I answer? +If you do not wish to do what I say, then try your own attempt. +At least you cannot say that I have not done all I could to save you.”</p> + +<p>“I’m not angry,” the Colonel answered after a pause, in a more +conciliatory voice, “but this is climbing down rather farther than we +care to go. Now, what I thought is this. You might, if you chose, give +this priest, or Moolah, who is coming to us, a hint that we really are +softening a bit upon the point. I don’t think, considering the hole +that we are in, that there can be very much objection to that. +Then, when he comes, we might play up and take an interest and ask for +more instruction, and in that way hold the matter over for a day or two. +Don’t you think that would be the best game?”</p> + +<p>“You will do as you like,” said Mansoor. “I have told you once for ever +what I think. If you wish that I speak to the Moolah, I will do so. +It is the fat, little man with the grey beard, upon the brown camel in +front there. I may tell you that he has a name among them for +converting the infidel, and he has a great pride in it, so that he would +certainly prefer that you were not injured if he thought that he might +bring you into Islam.”</p> + +<p>“Tell him that our minds are open, then,” said the Colonel. “I don’t +suppose the <i>padre</i> would have gone so far, but now that he is dead I +think we may stretch a point. You go to him, Mansoor, and if you work +it well we will agree to forget what is past. By the way, has Tippy +Tilly said anything?”</p> + +<p>“No, sir. He has kept his men together, but he does not understand yet +how he can help you.”</p> + +<p>“Neither do I. Well, you go to the Moolah, then, and I’ll tell the +others what we have agreed.”</p> + +<p>The prisoners all acquiesced in the Colonel’s plan, with the exception +of the old New England lady, who absolutely refused even to show any +interest in the Mohammedan creed. “I guess I am too old to bow the knee +to Baal,” she said. The most that she would concede was that she would +not openly interfere with anything which her companions might say or do.</p> + +<p>“And who is to argue with the priest?” asked Fardet, as they all rode +together, talking the matter over. “It is very important that it should +be done in a natural way, for if he thought that we were only trying to +gain time, he would refuse to have any more to say to us.”</p> + +<p>“I think Cochrane should do it, as the proposal is his,” said Belmont.</p> + +<p>“Pardon me!” cried the Frenchman. “I will not say a word against our +friend the Colonel, but it is not possible that a man should be fitted +for everything. It will all come to nothing if he attempts it. +The priest will see through the Colonel.”</p> + +<p>“Will he?” said the Colonel with dignity.</p> + +<p>“Yes, my friend, he will, for, like most of your countrymen, you are +very wanting in sympathy for the ideas of other people, and it is the +great fault which I find with you as a nation.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, drop the politics!” cried Belmont impatiently.</p> + +<p>“I do not talk politics. What I say is very practical. How can Colonel +Cochrane pretend to this priest that he is really interested in his +religion when, in effect, there is no religion in the world to him +outside some little church in which he has been born and bred? I will +say this for the Colonel, that I do not believe he is at all a +hypocrite, and I am sure that he could not act well enough to deceive +such a man as this priest.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel sat with a very stiff back and the blank face of a man who +is not quite sure whether he is being complimented or insulted.</p> + +<p>“You can do the talking yourself if you like,” said he at last. +“I should be very glad to be relieved of it.”</p> + +<p>“I think that I am best fitted for it, since I am equally interested in +all creeds. When I ask for information, it is because in verity I +desire it, and not because I am playing a part.”</p> + +<p>“I certainly think that it would be much better if Monsieur Fardet would +undertake it,” said Mrs. Belmont with decision, and so the matter was +arranged.</p> + +<p>The sun was now high, and it shone with dazzling brightness upon the +bleached bones which lay upon the road. Again the torture of thirst +fell upon the little group of survivors, and again, as they rode with +withered tongues and crusted lips, a vision of the saloon of the +<i>Korosko</i> danced like a mirage before their eyes, and they saw the white +napery, the wine-cards by the places, the long necks of the bottles, the +siphons upon the sideboard. Sadie, who had borne up so well, became +suddenly hysterical, and her shrieks of senseless laughter jarred +horribly upon their nerves. Her aunt on one side of her, and Mr. +Stephens on the other, did all they could to soothe her, and at last the +weary, overstrung girl relapsed into something between a sleep and a +faint, hanging limp over her pommel, and only kept from falling by the +friends who clustered round her. The baggage-camels were as weary as +their riders, and again and again they had to jerk at their nose-ropes +to prevent them from lying down. From horizon to horizon stretched that +one huge arch of speckless blue, and up its monstrous concavity crept +the inexorable sun, like some splendid but barbarous deity, who claimed +a tribute of human suffering as his immemorial right.</p> + +<p>Their course still lay along the old trade route, but their progress was +very slow, and more than once the two Emirs rode back together, and +shook their heads as they looked at the weary baggage-camels on which +the prisoners were perched. The greatest laggard of all was one which +was ridden by a wounded Soudanese soldier. It was limping badly with a +strained tendon, and it was only by constant prodding that it could be +kept with the others. The Emir Wad Ibrahim raised his Remington, as the +creature hobbled past, and sent a bullet through its brain. The wounded +man flew forwards out of the high saddle, and fell heavily upon the hard +track. His companions in misfortune, looking back, saw him stagger to +his feet with a dazed face. At the same instant a Baggara slipped down +from his camel with a sword in his hand.</p> + +<p>“Don’t look! don’t look!” cried Belmont to the ladies, and they all rode +on with their faces to the south. They heard no sound, but the Baggara +passed them a few minutes afterwards. He was cleaning his sword upon +the hairy neck of his camel, and he glanced at them with a quick, +malicious gleam of his teeth as he trotted by. But those who are at the +lowest pitch of human misery are at least secured against the future. +That vicious, threatening smile which might once have thrilled them left +them now unmoved—or stirred them at most to vague resentment. +There were many things to interest them in this old trade route, had +they been in a condition to take notice of them. Here and there along +its course were the crumbling remains of ancient buildings, so old that +no date could be assigned to them, but designed in some far-off +civilisation to give the travellers shade from the sun or protection +from the ever-lawless children of the desert. The mud bricks with which +these refuges were constructed showed that the material had been carried +over from the distant Nile. Once, upon the top of a little knoll, they +saw the shattered plinth of a pillar of red Assouan granite, with the +wide-winged symbol of the Egyptian god across it, and the cartouche of +the second Rameses beneath. After three thousand years one cannot get +away from the ineffaceable footprints of the warrior-king. It is surely +the most wonderful survival of history that one should still be able to +gaze upon him, high-nosed and masterful, as he lies with his powerful +arms crossed upon his chest, majestic even in decay, in the Gizeh +Museum. To the captives, the cartouche was a message of hope, as a sign +that they were not outside the sphere of Egypt. “They’ve left their +card here once, and they may again,” said Belmont, and they all tried to +smile.</p> + +<p>And now they came upon one of the most satisfying sights on which the +human eye can ever rest. Here and there, in the depressions at either +side of the road, there had been a thin scurf of green, which meant that +water was not very far from the surface. And then, quite suddenly, the +track dipped down into a bowl-shaped hollow, with a most dainty group of +palm-trees, and a lovely green sward at the bottom of it. The sun +gleaming upon that brilliant patch of clear, restful colour, with the +dark glow of the bare desert around it, made it shine like the purest +emerald in a setting of burnished copper. And then it was not its +beauty only, but its promise for the future: water, shade, all that +weary travellers could ask for. Even Sadie was revived by the cheery +sight, and the spent camels snorted and stepped out more briskly, +stretching their long necks and sniffing the air as they went. +After the unhomely harshness of the desert, it seemed to all of them +that they had never seen anything more beautiful than this. They looked +below at the green sward with the dark, star-like shadows of the +palm-crowns; then they looked up at those deep green leaves against the +rich blue of the sky, and they forgot their impending death in the +beauty of that Nature to whose bosom they were about to return.</p> + +<p>The wells in the centre of the grove consisted of seven large and two +small saucer-like cavities filled with peat-coloured water, enough to +form a plentiful supply for any caravan. Camels and men drank it +greedily, though it was tainted by the all-pervading natron. The camels +were picketed, the Arabs threw their sleeping-mats down in the shade, +and the prisoners, after receiving a ration of dates and of doora, were +told that they might do what they would during the heat of the day, and +that the Moolah would come to them before sunset. The ladies were given +the thicker shade of an acacia tree, and the men lay down under the +palms. The great green leaves swished slowly above them; they heard the +low hum of the Arab talk, and the dull champing of the camels, and then +in an instant, by that most mysterious and least understood of miracles, +one was in a green Irish valley, and another saw the long straight line +of Commonwealth Avenue, and a third was dining at a little round table +opposite to the bust of Nelson in the Army and Navy Club, and for him +the swishing of the palm branches had been transformed into the +long-drawn hum of Pall Mall. So the spirits went their several ways, +wandering back along the strange, un-traced tracks of the memory, while +the weary, grimy bodies lay senseless under the palm-trees in the Oasis +of the Libyan Desert.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">C</span>OLONEL COCHRANE was awakened from his slumber by some one pulling at +his shoulder. As his eyes opened they fell upon the black, anxious face +of Tippy Tilly, the old Egyptian gunner. His crooked finger was laid +upon his thick, liver-coloured lips, and his dark eyes glanced from left +to right with ceaseless vigilance.</p> + +<p>“Lie quiet! Do not move!” he whispered, in Arabic. “I will lie here +beside you, and they cannot tell me from the others. You can understand +what I am saying?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, if you will talk slowly.”</p> + +<p>“Very good. I have no great trust in this black man, Mansoor. I had +rather talk direct with the Miralai.”</p> + +<p>“What have you to say?”</p> + +<p>“I have waited long, until they should all be asleep, and now in another +hour we shall be called to evening prayer. First of all, here is a +pistol, that you may not say that you are without arms.”</p> + +<p>It was a clumsy, old-fashioned thing, but the Colonel saw the glint of a +percussion cap upon the nipple, and knew that it was loaded. He slipped +it into the inner pocket of his Norfolk jacket.</p> + +<p>“Thank you,” said he; “speak slowly, so that I may understand you.”</p> + +<p>“There are eight of us who wish to go to Egypt. There are also four men +in your party. One of us, Mehemet Ali, has fastened twelve camels +together, which are the fastest of all save only those which are ridden +by the Emirs. There are guards upon watch, but they are scattered in +all directions. The twelve camels are close beside us here—those +twelve behind the acacia tree. If we can only get mounted and started, +I do not think that many can overtake us, and we shall have our rifles +for them. The guards are not strong enough to stop so many of us. +The water-skins are all filled, and we may see the Nile again by +to-morrow night.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel could not follow it all, but he understood enough to set a +little spring of hope bubbling in his heart. The last terrible day had +left its mark in his livid face and his hair, which was turning rapidly +to grey. He might have been the father of the spruce well-preserved +soldier who had paced with straight back and military stride up and down +the saloon deck of the Korosko.</p> + +<p>“That is excellent,” said he. “But what are we to do about the three +ladies?” The black soldier shrugged his shoulders. “Mefeesh!” said he. +“One of them is old, and in any case there are plenty more women if we +get back to Egypt. These will not come to any hurt, but they will be +placed in the harem of the Khalifa.”</p> + +<p>“What you say is nonsense,” said the Colonel sternly. “We shall take +our women with us, or we shall not go at all.”</p> + +<p>“I think it is rather you who talk the thing without sense,” the black +man answered angrily. “How can you ask my companions and me to do that +which must end in failure? For years we have waited for such a chance +as this, and now that it has come, you wish us to throw it away owing to +this foolishness about the women.”</p> + +<p>“What have we promised you if we come back to Egypt?” asked Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“Two hundred Egyptian pounds and promotion in the army—all upon the +word of an Englishman.”</p> + +<p>“Very good. Then you shall have three hundred each if you can make some +new plan by which you can take the women with you.”</p> + +<p>Tippy Tilly scratched his woolly head in his perplexity.</p> + +<p>“We might, indeed, upon some excuse, bring three more of the faster +camels round to this place. Indeed, there are three very good camels +among those which are near the cooking fire. But how are we to get the +women upon them?—and if we had them upon them, we know very well that +they would fall off when they began to gallop. I fear that you men will +fall off, for it is no easy matter to remain upon a galloping camel; but +as to the women, it is impossible. No, we shall leave the women, and if +you will not leave the women, then we shall leave all of you and start +by ourselves.”</p> + +<p>“Very good! Go!” said the Colonel abruptly, and settled down as if to +sleep once more. He knew that with Orientals it is the silent man who +is most likely to have his way.</p> + +<p>The negro turned and crept away for some little distance, where he was +met by one of his fellaheen comrades, Mehemet Ali, who had charge of the +camels. The two argued for some little time—for those three hundred +golden pieces were not to be lightly resigned. Then the negro crept +back to Colonel Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“Mehemet Ali has agreed,” said he. “He has gone to put the nose-rope +upon three more of the camels. But it is foolishness, and we are all +going to our death. Now come with me, and we shall awaken the women and +tell them.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his companions and whispered to them what was in the +wind. Belmont and Fardet were ready for any risk. Stephens, to whom +the prospect of a passive death presented little terror, was seized with +a convulsion of fear when he thought of any active exertion to avoid it, +and shivered in all his long, thin limbs. Then he pulled out his +Baedeker and began to write his will upon the flyleaf, but his hand +twitched so that he was hardly legible. By some strange gymnastic of +the legal mind a death, even by violence, if accepted quietly, had a +place in the order of things, while a death which overtook one galloping +frantically over a desert was wholly irregular and discomposing. It was +not dissolution which he feared, but the humiliation and agony of a +fruitless struggle against it.</p> + +<p>Colonel Cochrane and Tippy Tilly had crept together under the shadow of +the great acacia tree to the spot where the women were lying. Sadie and +her aunt lay with their arms round each other, the girl’s head pillowed +upon the old woman’s bosom. Mrs. Belmont was awake, and entered into +the scheme in an instant.</p> + +<p>“But you must leave me,” said Miss Adams earnestly. “What does it +matter at my age, anyhow?”</p> + +<p>“No, no, Aunt Eliza; I won’t move without you! Don’t you think it!” +cried the girl. “You’ve got to come straight away or else we both stay +right here where we are.”</p> + +<p>“Come, come, ma’am, there is no time for arguing, or nonsense,” said the +Colonel roughly. “Our lives all depend upon your making an effort, and +we cannot possibly leave you behind.”</p> + +<p>“But I will fall off.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll tie you on with my puggaree. I wish I had the cummerbund which I +lent poor Stuart. Now, Tippy, I think we might make a break for it!”</p> + +<p>But the black soldier had been staring with a disconsolate face out over +the desert, and he turned upon his heel with an oath.</p> + +<p>“There!” said he sullenly. “You see what comes of all your foolish +talking! You have ruined our chances as well as your own!”</p> + +<p>Half-a-dozen mounted camel-men had appeared suddenly over the lip of the +bowl-shaped hollow, standing out hard and clear against the evening sky +where the copper basin met its great blue lid. They were travelling +fast, and waved their rifles as they came. An instant later the bugle +sounded an alarm, and the camp was up with a buzz like an overturned +bee-hive. The Colonel ran back to his companions, and the black soldier +to his camel. Stephens looked relieved, and Belmont sulky, while +Monsieur Fardet raved, with his one uninjured hand in the air.</p> + +<p>“Sacred name of a dog!” he cried. “Is there no end to it, then? Are we +never to come out of the hands of these accursed Dervishes?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, they really are Dervishes, are they?” said the Colonel in an acid +voice. “You seem to be altering your opinions. I thought they were an +invention of the British Government.”</p> + +<p>The poor fellows’ tempers were getting frayed and thin. The Colonel’s +sneer was like a match to a magazine, and in an instant the Frenchman +was dancing in front of him with a broken torrent of angry words. +His hand was clutching at Cochrane’s throat before Belmont and Stephens +could pull him off.</p> + +<p>“If it were not for your grey hairs—” he said.</p> + +<p>“Damn your impudence!” cried the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“If we have to die, let us die like gentlemen, and not like so many +corner-boys,” said Belmont with dignity.</p> + +<p>“I only said I was glad to see that Monsieur Fardet has learned +something from his adventures,” the Colonel sneered.</p> + +<p>“Shut up, Cochrane! What do you want to aggravate him for?” cried the +Irishman.</p> + +<p>“Upon my word, Belmont, you forget yourself! I do not permit people to +address me in this fashion.”</p> + +<p>“You should look after your own manners, then.”</p> + +<p>“Gentlemen, gentlemen, here are the ladies!” cried Stephens, and the +angry, over-strained men relapsed into a gloomy silence, pacing up and +down, and jerking viciously at their moustaches. It is a very catching +thing, ill-temper, for even Stephens began to be angry at their anger, +and to scowl at them as they passed him. Here they were at a crisis in +their fate, with the shadow of death above them, and yet their minds +were all absorbed in some personal grievance so slight that they could +hardly put it into words. Misfortune brings the human spirit to a rare +height, but the pendulum still swings.</p> + +<p>But soon their attention was drawn away to more important matters. +A council of war was being held beside the wells, and the two Emirs, +stern and composed, were listening to a voluble report from the leader +of the patrol. The prisoners noticed that, though the fierce, old man +stood like a graven image, the younger Emir passed his hand over his +beard once or twice with a nervous gesture, the thin, brown fingers +twitching among the long, black hair.</p> + +<p>“I believe the Gippies are after us,” said Belmont. “Not very far off +either, to judge by the fuss they are making.”</p> + +<p>“It looks like it. Something has scared them.”</p> + +<p>“Now he’s giving orders. What can it be? Here, Mansoor, what is the +matter?”</p> + +<p>The dragoman came running up with the light of hope shining upon his +brown face.</p> + +<p>“I think they have seen something to frighten them. I believe that the +soldiers are behind us. They have given the order to fill the +water-skins, and be ready for a start when the darkness comes. But I am +ordered to gather you together, for the Moolah is coming to convert you +all. I have already told him that you are all very much inclined to +think the same with him.”</p> + +<p>How far Mansoor may have gone with his assurances may never be known, +but the Mussulman preacher came walking towards them at this moment with +a paternal and contented smile upon his face, as one who has a pleasant +and easy task before him. He was a one-eyed man, with a fringe of +grizzled beard and a face which was fat, but which looked as if it had +once been fatter, for it was marked with many folds and creases. He had +a green turban upon his head, which marked him as a Mecca pilgrim. +In one hand he carried a small brown carpet, and in the other a +parchment copy of the Koran. Laying his carpet upon the ground, he +motioned Mansoor to his side, and then gave a circular sweep of his arm +to signify that the prisoners should gather round him, and a downward +wave which meant that they should be seated. So they grouped themselves +round him, sitting on the short green sward under the palm-tree, these +seven forlorn representatives of an alien creed, and in the midst of +them sat the fat little preacher, his one eye dancing from face to face +as he expounded the principles of his newer, cruder, and more earnest +faith. They listened attentively and nodded their heads as Mansoor +translated the exhortation, and with each sign of their acquiescence the +Moolah became more amiable in his manner and more affectionate in his +speech.</p> + +<p>“For why should you die, my sweet lambs, when all that is asked of you +is that you should set aside that which will carry you to everlasting +Gehenna, and accept the law of Allah as written by his prophet, which +will assuredly bring you unimaginable joys, as is promised in the Book +of the Camel? For what says the chosen one?”—and he broke away into +one of those dogmatic texts which pass in every creed as an argument. +“Besides, is it not clear that God is with us, since from the beginning, +when we had but sticks against the rifles of the Turks, victory has +always been with us? Have we not taken El Obeid, and taken Khartoum, +and destroyed Hicks and slain Gordon, and prevailed against every one +who has come against us? How, then, can it be said that the blessing of +Allah does not rest upon us?”</p> + +<p>The Colonel had been looking about him during the long exhortation of +the Moolah, and he had observed that the Dervishes were cleaning their +guns, counting their cartridges, and making all the preparations of men +who expected that they might soon be called upon to fight. The two +Emirs were conferring together with grave faces, and the leader of the +patrol pointed, as he spoke to them, in the direction of Egypt. It was +evident that there was at least a chance of a rescue if they could only +keep things going for a few more hours. The camels were not recovered +yet from their long march, and the pursuers, if they were indeed close +behind, were almost certain to overtake them.</p> + +<p>“For God’s sake, Fardet, try and keep him in play,” said he. “I believe +we have a chance if we can only keep the ball rolling for another hour +or so.”</p> + +<p>But a Frenchman’s wounded dignity is not so easily appeased. Monsieur +Fardet sat moodily with his back against the palm-tree, and his black +brows drawn down. He said nothing, but he still pulled at his thick, +strong moustache.</p> + +<p>“Come on, Fardet! We depend upon you,” said Belmont.</p> + +<p>“Let Colonel Cochrane do it,” the Frenchman answered snappishly. +“He takes too much upon himself this Colonel Cochrane.”</p> + +<p>“There! There!” said Belmont soothingly, as if he were speaking to a +fractious child. “I am quite sure that the Colonel will express his +regret at what has happened, and will acknowledge that he was in the +wrong—”</p> + +<p>“I’ll do nothing of the sort,” snapped the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“Besides, that is merely a personal quarrel,” Belmont continued hastily. +“It is for the good of the whole party that we wish you to speak with +the Moolah, because we all feel that you are the best man for the job.”</p> + +<p>But the Frenchman only shrugged his shoulders and relapsed into a deeper +gloom.</p> + +<p>The Moolah looked from one to the other, and the kindly expression began +to fade away from his large, baggy face. His mouth drew down at the +corners, and became hard and severe.</p> + +<p>“Have these infidels been playing with us, then?” said he to the +dragoman. “Why is it that they talk among themselves and have nothing +to say to me?”</p> + +<p>“He’s getting impatient about it,” said Cochrane. “Perhaps I had better +do what I can, Belmont, since this damned fellow has left us in the +lurch.”</p> + +<p>But the ready wit of a woman saved the situation.</p> + +<p>“I am sure, Monsieur Fardet,” said Mrs. Belmont, “that you, who are a +Frenchman, and therefore a man of gallantry and honour, would not permit +your own wounded feelings to interfere with the fulfilment of your +promise and your duty towards three helpless ladies.”</p> + +<p>Fardet was on his feet in an instant, with his hand over his heart.</p> + +<p>“You understand my nature, madame,” he cried. “I am incapable of +abandoning a lady. I will do all that I can in this matter. Now, +Mansoor, you may tell the holy man that I am ready to discuss through +you the high matters of his faith with him.”</p> + +<p>And he did it with an ingenuity which amazed his companions. He took +the tone of a man who is strongly attracted, and yet has one single +remaining shred of doubt to hold him back. Yet as that one shred was +torn away by the Moolah, there was always some other stubborn little +point which prevented his absolute acceptance of the faith of Islam. +And his questions were all so mixed up with personal compliments to the +priest and self-congratulations that they should have come under the +teachings of so wise a man and so profound a theologian, that the +hanging pouches under the Moolah’s eyes quivered with his satisfaction, +and he was led happily and hopefully onwards from explanation to +explanation, while the blue overhead turned into violet, and the green +leaves into black, until the great serene stars shone out once more +between the crowns of the palm-trees.</p> + +<p>“As to the learning of which you speak, my lamb,” said the Moolah, in +answer to some argument of Fardet’s, “I have myself studied at the +University of El Azhar at Cairo, and I know that to which you allude. +But the learning of the faithful is not as the learning of the +unbeliever, and it is not fitting that we pry too deeply into the ways +of Allah. Some stars have tails, oh my sweet lamb, and some have not; +but what does it profit us to know which are which? For God made them +all, and they are very safe in His hands. Therefore, my friend, be not +puffed up by the foolish learning of the West, and understand that there +is only one wisdom, which consists in following the will of Allah as His +chosen prophet has laid it down for us in this book. And now, my lambs, +I see that you are ready to come into Islam, and it is time, for that +bugle tells that we are about to march, and it was the order of the +excellent Emir Abderrahman that your choice should be taken, one way or +the other, before ever we left the wells.”</p> + +<p>“Yet, my father, there are other points upon which I would gladly have +instruction,” said the Frenchman, “for, indeed, it is a pleasure to hear +your clear words after the cloudy accounts which we have had from other +teachers.”</p> + +<p>But the Moolah had risen, and a gleam of suspicion twinkled in his +single eye.</p> + +<p>“This further instruction may well come afterwards,” said he, “since we +shall travel together as far as Khartoum, and it will be a joy to me to +see you grow in wisdom and in virtue as we go.” He walked over to the +fire, and stooping down, with the pompous slowness of a stout man, he +returned with two half-charred sticks, which he laid cross-wise upon the +ground. The Dervishes came clustering over to see the new converts +admitted into the fold. They stood round in the dim light, tall and +fantastic, with the high necks and supercilious heads of the camels +swaying above them.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said the Moolah, and his voice had lost its conciliatory and +persuasive tone, “there is no more time for you. Here upon the ground I +have made out of two sticks the foolish and superstitious symbol of your +former creed. You will trample upon it, as a sign that you renounce it, +and you will kiss the Koran, as a sign that you accept it, and what more +you need in the way of instruction shall be given to you as you go.”</p> + +<p>They stood up, the four men and the three women, to meet the crisis of +their fate. None of them, except perhaps Miss Adams and Mrs. Belmont, +had any deep religious convictions. All of them were children of this +world, and some of them disagreed with everything which that symbol upon +the earth represented. But there was the European pride, the pride of +the white race which swelled within them, and held them to the faith of +their countrymen. It was a sinful, human, un-Christian motive, and yet +it was about to make them public martyrs to the Christian creed. In the +hush and tension of their nerves low sounds grew suddenly loud upon +their ears. Those swishing palm-leaves above them were like a +swift-flowing river, and far away they could hear the dull, soft +thudding of a galloping camel.</p> + +<p>“There’s something coming,” whispered Cochrane. “Try and stave them off +for five minutes longer, Fardet.”</p> + +<p>The Frenchman stepped out with a courteous wave of his uninjured arm, +and the air of a man who is prepared to accommodate himself to anything.</p> + +<p>“You will tell this holy man that I am quite ready to accept his +teaching, and so I am sure are all my friends,” said he to the dragoman. +“But there is one thing which I should wish him to do in order to set at +rest any possible doubts which may remain in our hearts. Every true +religion can be told by the miracles which those who profess it can +bring about. Even I who am but a humble Christian, can, by virtue of my +religion, do some of these. But you, since your religion is superior, +can no doubt do far more, and so I beg you to give us a sign that we may +be able to say that we know that the religion of Islam is the more +powerful.”</p> + +<p>Behind all his dignity and reserve, the Arab has a good fund of +curiosity. The hush among the listening Arabs showed how the words of +the Frenchman as translated by Mansoor appealed to them.</p> + +<p>“Such things are in the hands of Allah,” said the priest. “It is not for +us to disturb His laws. But if you have yourself such powers as you +claim, let us be witnesses to them.”</p> + +<p>The Frenchman stepped forward, and raising his hand he took a large, +shining date out of the Moolah’s beard. This he swallowed and +immediately produced once more from his left elbow. He had often given +his little conjuring entertainment on board the boat, and his +fellow-passengers had had some good-natured laughter at his expense, for +he was not quite skilful enough to deceive the critical European +intelligence. But now it looked as if this piece of obvious palming +might be the point upon which all their fates would hang. A deep hum of +surprise rose from the ring of Arabs, and deepened as the Frenchman drew +another date from the nostril of a camel and tossed it into the air, +from which, apparently, it never descended. That gaping sleeve was +obvious enough to his companions, but the dim light was all in favour of +the performer. So delighted and interested was the audience +that they paid little heed to a mounted camel-man who trotted swiftly +between the palm trunks. All might have been well had not Fardet, +carried away by his own success, tried to repeat his trick once more, +with the result that the date fell out of his palm, and the deception +stood revealed. In vain he tried to pass on at once to another of his +little stock. The Moolah said something, and an Arab struck Fardet +across the shoulders with the thick shaft of his spear.</p> + +<p>“We have had enough child’s play,” said the angry priest. “Are we men +or babes, that you should try to impose upon us in this manner? Here is +the cross and the Koran—which shall it be?”</p> + +<p>Fardet looked helplessly round at his companions.</p> + +<p>“I can do no more; you asked for five minutes. You have had them,” said +he to Colonel Cochrane.</p> + +<p>“And perhaps it is enough,” the soldier answered. “Here are the Emirs.”</p> + +<p>The camel-man, whose approach they had heard from afar, had made for the +two Arab chiefs, and had delivered a brief report to them, stabbing with +his forefinger in the direction from which he had come. There was a +rapid exchange of words between the Emirs, and then they strode forward +together to the group around the prisoners. Bigots and barbarians, they +were none the less two most majestic men, as they advanced through the +twilight of the palm grove. The fierce old greybeard raised his hand +and spoke swiftly in short, abrupt sentences, and his savage followers +yelped to him like hounds to a huntsman. The fire that smouldered in +his arrogant eyes shone back at him from a hundred others. Here were to +be read the strength and danger of the Mahdi movement; here in these +convulsed faces, in that fringe of waving arms, in these frantic, +red-hot souls, who asked nothing better than a bloody death, if their +own hands might be bloody when they met it.</p> + +<p>“Have the prisoners embraced the true faith?” asked the Emir +Abderrahman, looking at them with his cruel eyes.</p> + +<p>The Moolah had his reputation to preserve, and it was not for him to +confess to a failure.</p> + +<p>“They were about to embrace it, when—</p> + +<p>“Let it rest for a little time, O Moolah.” He gave an order, and the +Arabs all sprang for their camels. The Emir Wad Ibrahim filed off at +once with nearly half the party. The others were mounted and ready, +with their rifles unslung.</p> + +<p>“What’s happened?” asked Belmont.</p> + +<p>“Things are looking up,” cried the Colonel. “By George, I think we are +going to come through all right. The Gippy Camel Corps are hot on our +trail.”</p> + +<p>“How do you know?”</p> + +<p>“What else could have scared them?”</p> + +<p>“O Colonel, do you really think we shall be saved?” sobbed Sadie. +The dull routine of misery through which they had passed had deadened +all their nerves until they seemed incapable of any acute sensation, but +now this sudden return of hope brought agony with it like the recovery +of a frost-bitten limb. Even the strong, self-contained Belmont was +filled with doubts and apprehensions. He had been hopeful when there +was no sign of relief, and now the approach of it set him trembling.</p> + +<p>“Surely they wouldn’t come very weak,” he cried. “Be Jove, if the +Commandant let them come weak, he should be court-martialled.”</p> + +<p>“Sure we’re in God’s hands, anyway,” said his wife, in her soothing, +Irish voice. “Kneel down with me, John, dear, if it’s the last time, +and pray that, earth or heaven, we may not be divided.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t do that! Don’t!” cried the Colonel anxiously, for he saw that +the eye of the Moolah was upon them. But it was too late, for the two +Roman Catholics had dropped upon their knees and crossed themselves. +A spasm of fury passed over the face of the Mussulman priest at this +public testimony to the failure of his missionary efforts. He turned +and said something to the Emir.</p> + +<p>“Stand up!” cried Mansoor. “For your life’s sake, stand up! He is +asking for leave to put you to death.”</p> + +<p>“Let him do what he likes!” said the obstinate Irishman; “we will rise +when our prayers are finished, and not before.”</p> + +<p>The Emir stood listening to the Moolah, with his baleful gaze upon the +two kneeling figures. Then he gave one or two rapid orders, and four +camels were brought forward. The baggage-camels which they had hitherto +ridden were standing unsaddled where they had been tethered.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be a fool, Belmont!” cried the Colonel; “everything depends upon +our humouring them. Do get up, Mrs. Belmont! You are only putting +their backs up!”</p> + +<p>The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders as he looked at them. +“<i>Mon Dieu!</i>” he cried, “were there ever such impracticable people? +<i>Voilà!</i>” he added, with a shriek, as the two American ladies fell upon +their knees beside Mrs. Belmont. “It is like the camels—one down, all +down! Was ever anything so absurd?”</p> + +<p>But Mr. Stephens had knelt down beside Sadie and buried his haggard face +in his long, thin hands. Only the Colonel and Monsieur Fardet remained +standing. Cochrane looked at the Frenchman with an interrogative eye.</p> + +<p>“After all,” said he, “it is stupid to pray all your life, and not to +pray now when we have nothing to hope for except through the goodness of +Providence.” He dropped upon his knees with a rigid, military back, but +his grizzled, unshaven chin upon his chest. The Frenchman looked at his +kneeling companions, and then his eyes travelled onwards to the angry +faces of the Emir and Moolah.</p> + +<p>“<i>Sapristi!</i>” he growled. “Do they suppose that a Frenchman is afraid +of them?” and so, with an ostentatious sign of the cross, he took his +place upon his knees beside the others. Foul, bedraggled, and wretched, +the seven figures knelt and waited humbly for their fate under the black +shadow of the palm-tree.</p> + +<p>The Emir turned to the Moolah with a mocking smile, and pointed at the +results of his ministrations. Then he gave an order, and in an instant +the four men were seized. A couple of deft turns with a camel-halter +secured each of their wrists. Fardet screamed out, for the rope had +bitten into his open wound. The others took it with the dignity of +despair.</p> + +<p>“You have ruined everything. I believe you have ruined me also!” cried +Mansoor, wringing his hands. “The women are to get upon these three +camels.”</p> + +<p>“Never!” cried Belmont. “We won’t be separated!” He plunged madly, but +he was weak from privation, and two strong men held him by each elbow.</p> + +<p>“Don’t fret, John!” cried his wife, as they hurried her towards the +camel. “No harm shall come to me. Don’t struggle, or they’ll hurt you, +dear.”</p> + +<p>The four men writhed as they saw the women dragged away from them. +All their agonies had been nothing to this. Sadie and her aunt appeared +to be half senseless from fear. Only Mrs. Belmont kept a brave face. +When they were seated the camels rose, and were led under the tree +behind where the four men were standing.</p> + +<p>“I’ve a pistol in me pocket,” said Belmont, looking up at his wife. +“I would give me soul to be able to pass it to you.”</p> + +<p>“Keep it, John, and it may be useful yet. I have no fears. Ever since +we prayed I have felt as if our guardian angels had their wings round +us.” She was like a guardian angel herself as she turned to the +shrinking Sadie, and coaxed some little hope back into her despairing +heart.</p> + +<p>The short, thick Arab, who had been in command of Wad Ibrahim’s +rearguard, had joined the Emir and the Moolah; the three consulted +together, with occasional oblique glances towards the prisoners. +Then the Emir spoke to Mansoor.</p> + +<p>“The chief wishes to know which of you four is the richest man?” said +the dragoman. His fingers were twitching with nervousness and plucking +incessantly at the front of his covercoat.</p> + +<p>“Why does he wish to know?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“I do not know.”</p> + +<p>“But it is evident,” cried Monsieur Fardet. “He wishes to know which is +the best worth keeping for his ransom.”</p> + +<p>“I think we should see this thing through together,” said the Colonel. +“It’s really for you to decide, Stephens, for I have no doubt that you +are the richest of us.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know that I am,” the lawyer answered; “but in any case, I have +no wish to be placed upon a different footing to the others.”</p> + +<p>The Emir spoke again in his harsh rasping voice.</p> + +<p>“He says,” Mansoor translated, “that the baggage-camels are spent, and +that there is only one beast left which can keep up. It is ready now +for one of you, and you have to decide among yourselves which is to have +it. If one is richer than the others, he will have the preference.”</p> + +<p>“Tell him that we are all equally rich.”</p> + +<p>“In that case he says that you are to choose at once which is to have +the camel.”</p> + +<p>“And the others?”</p> + +<p>The dragoman shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said the Colonel, “if only one of us is to escape, I think you +fellows will agree with me that it ought to be Belmont, since he is the +married man.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes, let it be Monsieur Belmont,” cried Fardet.</p> + +<p>“I think so also,” said Stephens.</p> + +<p>But the Irishman would not hear of it.</p> + +<p>“No, no, share and share alike,” he cried. “All sink or all swim, and +the devil take the flincher.”</p> + +<p>They wrangled among themselves until they became quite heated in this +struggle of unselfishness. Some one had said that the Colonel should go +because he was the oldest, and the Colonel was a very angry man.</p> + +<p>“One would think I was an octogenarian,” he cried. “These remarks are +quite uncalled for.”</p> + +<p>“Well, then,” said Belmont, “let us all refuse to go.”</p> + +<p>“But this is not very wise,” cried the Frenchman. “See, my friends! +Here are the ladies being carried off alone. Surely it would be far +better that one of us should be with them to advise them.”</p> + +<p>They looked at one another in perplexity. What Fardet said was +obviously true, but how could one of them desert his comrades? The Emir +himself suggested the solution.</p> + +<p>“The chief says,” said Mansoor, “that if you cannot settle who is to go, +you had better leave it to Allah and draw lots.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t think we can do better,” said the Colonel, and his three +companions nodded their assent.</p> + +<p>It was the Moolah who approached them with four splinters of palm-bark +protruding from between his fingers.</p> + +<p>“He says that he who draws the longest has the camel,” said Mansoor.</p> + +<p>“We must agree to abide absolutely by this,” said Cochrane, and again +his companions nodded.</p> + +<p>The Dervishes had formed a semicircle in front of them, with a fringe of +the oscillating heads of the camels. Before them was a cooking fire, +which threw its red light over the group. The Emir was standing with +his back to it, and his fierce face towards the prisoners. Behind the +four men was a line of guards, and behind them again the three women, +who looked down from their camels upon this tragedy. With a malicious +smile, the fat, one-eyed Moolah advanced with his fist closed, and the +four little brown spicules protruding from between his fingers.</p> + +<p>It was to Belmont that he held them first. The Irishman gave an +involuntary groan, and his wife gasped behind him, for the splinter came +away in his hand. Then it was the Frenchman’s turn, and his was half an +inch longer than Belmont’s. Then came Colonel Cochrane, whose piece was +longer than the two others put together. Stephens’ was no bigger than +Belmont’s. The Colonel was the winner of this terrible lottery.</p> + +<p>“You’re welcome to my place, Belmont,” said he. “I’ve neither wife nor +child, and hardly a friend in the world. Go with your wife, and I’ll +stay.”</p> + +<p>“No, indeed! An agreement is an agreement. It’s all fair play, and the +prize to the luckiest.”</p> + +<p>“The Emir says that you are to mount at once,” said Mansoor, and an Arab +dragged the Colonel by his wrist-rope to the waiting camel.</p> + +<p>“He will stay with the rearguard,” said the Emir to his lieutenant. +“You can keep the women with you also.”</p> + +<p>“And this dragoman dog?”</p> + +<p>“Put him with the others.”</p> + +<p>“And they?”</p> + +<p>“Put them all to death.”</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">A</span>S none of the three could understand Arabic, the order of the Emir +would have been unintelligible to them had it not been for the conduct +of Mansoor. The unfortunate dragoman, after all his treachery and all +his subservience and apostasy, found his worst fears realised when the +Dervish leader gave his curt command. With a shriek of fear the poor +wretch threw himself forward upon his face, and clutched at the edge of +the Arab’s jibbeh, clawing with his brown fingers at the edge of the +cotton skirt. The Emir tugged to free himself, and then, finding that +he was still held by that convulsive grip, he turned and kicked at +Mansoor with the vicious impatience with which one drives off a +pestering cur. The dragoman’s high red tarboosh flew up into the air, +and he lay groaning upon his face where the stunning blow of the Arab’s +horny foot had left him.</p> + +<p>All was bustle and movement in the camp, for the old Emir had mounted +his camel, and some of his party were already beginning to follow their +companions. The squat lieutenant, the Moolah, and about a dozen +Dervishes surrounded the prisoners. They had not mounted their camels, +for they were told off to be the ministers of death. The three men +understood as they looked upon their faces that the sand was running +very low in the glass of their lives. Their hands were still bound, but +their guards had ceased to hold them. They turned round, all three, and +said good-bye to the women upon the camels.</p> + +<p>“All up now, Norah,” said Belmont. “It’s hard luck when there was a +chance of a rescue, but we’ve done our best.”</p> + +<p>For the first time his wife had broken down. She was sobbing +convulsively, with her face between her hands.</p> + +<p>“Don’t cry, little woman! We’ve had a good time together. Give my love +to all friends at Bray! Remember me to Amy McCarthy and to the +Blessingtons. You’ll find there is enough and to spare, but I would +take Roger’s advice about the investments. Mind that!”</p> + +<p>“O John, I won’t live without you!” Sorrow for her sorrow broke the +strong man down, and he buried his face in the hairy side of her camel. +The two of them sobbed helplessly together.</p> + +<p>Stephens meanwhile had pushed his way to Sadie’s beast. She saw his +worn earnest face looking up at her through the dim light.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be afraid for your aunt and for yourself,” said he. “I am sure +that you will escape. Colonel Cochrane will look after you. +The Egyptians cannot be far behind. I do hope you will have a good +drink before you leave the wells. I wish I could give your aunt my +jacket, for it will be cold to-night. I’m afraid I can’t get it off. +She should keep some of the bread, and eat it in the early morning.”</p> + +<p>He spoke quite quietly, like a man who is arranging the details of a +picnic. A sudden glow of admiration for this quietly consistent man +warmed her impulsive heart.</p> + +<p>“How unselfish you are!” she cried. “I never saw any one like you. +Talk about saints! There you stand in the very presence of death, and +you think only of us.”</p> + +<p>“I want to say a last word to you, Sadie, if you don’t mind. I should +die so much happier. I have often wanted to speak to you, but I thought +that perhaps you would laugh, for you never took anything very +seriously, did you? That was quite natural of course with your high +spirits, but still it was very serious to me. But now I am really a +dead man, so it does not matter very much what I say.”</p> + +<p>“Oh don’t, Mr. Stephens!” cried the girl.</p> + +<p>“I won’t, if it is very painful to you. As I said, it would make me die +happier, but I don’t want to be selfish about it. If I thought it would +darken your life afterwards, or be a sad recollection to you, I would +not say another word.”</p> + +<p>“What did you wish to say?”</p> + +<p>“It was only to tell you how I loved you. I always loved you. From the +first I was a different man when I was with you. But of course it was +absurd, I knew that well enough. I never said anything, but I tried not +to make myself ridiculous. But I just want you to know about it now +that it can’t matter one way or the other. You’ll understand that I +really do love you when I tell you that, if it were not that I knew you +were frightened and unhappy, these last two days in which we have been +always together would have been infinitely the happiest of my life.”</p> + +<p>The girl sat pale and silent, looking down with wondering eyes at his +upturned face. She did not know what to do or say in the solemn +presence of this love which burned so brightly under the shadow of +death. To her child’s heart it seemed incomprehensible—and yet she +understood that it was sweet and beautiful also.</p> + +<p>“I won’t say any more,” said he; “I can see that it only bothers you. +But I wanted you to know, and now you do know, so it is all right. +Thank you for listening so patiently and gently. Good-bye, little +Sadie! I can’t put my hand up. Will you put yours down?”</p> + +<p>She did so and Stephens kissed it. Then he turned and took his place +once more between Belmont and Fardet. In his whole life of struggle and +success he had never felt such a glow of quiet contentment as suffused +him at that instant when the grip of death was closing upon him. +There is no arguing about love. It is the innermost fact of life—the +one which obscures and changes all the others, the only one which is +absolutely satisfying and complete. Pain is pleasure, and want is +comfort, and death is sweetness when once that golden mist is round it. +So it was that Stephens could have sung with joy as he faced his +murderers. He really had not time to think about them. The important, +all-engrossing, delightful thing was that she could not look upon him as +a casual acquaintance any more. Through all her life she would think of +him—she would know.</p> + +<p>Colonel Cochrane’s camel was at one side, and the old soldier, whose +wrists had been freed, had been looking down upon the scene, and +wondering in his tenacious way whether all hope must really be +abandoned. It was evident that the Arabs who were grouped round the +victims were to remain behind with them, while the others who were +mounted would guard the three women and himself. He could not +understand why the throats of his companions had not been already cut, +unless it were that with an Eastern refinement of cruelty this rearguard +would wait until the Egyptians were close to them, so that the warm +bodies of their victims might be an insult to the pursuers. No doubt +that was the right explanation. The Colonel had heard of such a trick +before.</p> + +<p>But in that case there would not be more than twelve Arabs with the +prisoners. Were there any of the friendly ones among them? If Tippy +Tilly and six of his men were there, and if Belmont could get his arms +free and his hand upon his revolver, they might come through yet. +The Colonel craned his neck and groaned in his disappointment. He could +see the faces of the guards in the firelight. They were all Baggara +Arabs, men who were beyond either pity or bribery. Tippy Tilly and the +others must have gone on with the advance. For the first time the stiff +old soldier abandoned hope.</p> + +<p>“Good-bye, you fellows! God bless you!” he cried, as a negro pulled at +his camel’s nose-ring and made him follow the others. The women came +after him, in a misery too deep for words. Their departure was a relief +to the three men who were left.</p> + +<p>“I am glad they are gone,” said Stephens, from his heart.</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes, it is better,” cried Fardet. “How long are we to wait?”</p> + +<p>“Not very long now,” said Belmont grimly, as the Arabs closed in around +them.</p> + +<p>The Colonel and the three women gave one backward glance when they came +to the edge of the oasis. Between the straight stems of the palms they +saw the gleam of the fire, and above the group of Arabs they caught a +last glimpse of the three white hats. An instant later, the camels +began to trot, and when they looked back once more the palm grove was +only a black clump with the vague twinkle of a light somewhere in the +heart of it. As with yearning eyes they gazed at that throbbing red +point in the darkness, they passed over the edge of the depression, and +in an instant the huge, silent, moonlit desert was round them without a +sign of the oasis which they had left. On every side the velvet, +blue-black sky, with its blazing stars, sloped downwards to the vast, +dun-coloured plain. The two were blurred into one at their point of +junction.</p> + +<p>The women had sat in the silence of despair, and the Colonel had been +silent also—for what could he say?—but suddenly all four started in +their saddles, and Sadie gave a sharp cry of dismay. In the hush of the +night there had come from behind them the petulant crack of a rifle, +then another, then several together, with a brisk rat-tat-tat, and then +after an interval, one more.</p> + +<p>“It may be the rescuers! It may be the Egyptians!” cried Mrs. Belmont, +with a sudden flicker of hope. “Colonel Cochrane, don’t you think it +may be the Egyptians?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, yes,” Sadie whimpered. “It must be the Egyptians.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel had listened expectantly, but all was silent again. Then he +took his hat off with a solemn gesture.</p> + +<p>“There is no use deceiving ourselves, Mrs. Belmont,” said he; “we may as +well face the truth. Our friends are gone from us, but they have met +their end like brave men.”</p> + +<p>“But why should they fire their guns? They had ... they had spears.” +She shuddered as she said it.</p> + +<p>“That is true,” said the Colonel. “I would not for the world take away +any real grounds of hope which you may have; but on the other hand, +there is no use in preparing bitter disappointments for ourselves. +If we had been listening to an attack, we should have heard some reply. +Besides, an Egyptian attack would have been an attack in force. +No doubt it <i>is</i>, as you say, a little strange that they should have +wasted their cartridges—by Jove, look at that!”</p> + +<p>He was pointing over the eastern desert. Two figures were moving across +its expanse, swiftly and stealthily, furtive dark shadows against the +lighter ground. They saw them dimly, dipping and rising over the +rolling desert, now lost, now reappearing in the uncertain light. +They were flying away from the Arabs. And then, suddenly they halted +upon the summit of a sand-hill, and the prisoners could see them +outlined plainly against the sky. They were camel-men, but they sat +their camels astride as a horseman sits his horse.</p> + +<p>“Gippy Camel Corps!” cried the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“Two men,” said Miss Adams, in a voice of despair.</p> + +<p>“Only a vedette, ma’am! Throwing feelers out all over the desert. +This is one of them. Main body ten miles off, as likely as not. +There they go giving the alarm! Good old Camel Corps!”</p> + +<p>The self-contained, methodical soldier had suddenly turned almost +inarticulate with his excitement. There was a red flash upon the top of +the sand-hill, and then another, followed by the crack of the rifles. +Then with a whisk the two figures were gone, as swiftly and silently as +two trout in a stream.</p> + +<p>The Arabs had halted for an instant, as if uncertain whether they should +delay their journey to pursue them or not. There was nothing left to +pursue now, for amid the undulations of the sand-drift the vedettes +might have gone in any direction. The Emir galloped back along the +line, with exhortations and orders. Then the camels began to trot, and +the hopes of the prisoners were dulled by the agonies of the terrible +jolt. Mile after mile, mile after mile, they sped onwards over that +vast expanse, the women clinging as best they might to the pommels, the +Colonel almost as spent as they, but still keenly on the look-out for +any sign of the pursuers.</p> + +<p>“I think ... I think,” cried Mrs. Belmont, “that something is moving +in front of us.”</p> + +<p>The Colonel raised himself upon his saddle, and screened his eyes from +the moonshine.</p> + +<p>“By Jove, you’re right there, ma’am. There are men over yonder.”</p> + +<p>They could all see them now, a straggling line of riders far ahead of +them in the desert.</p> + +<p>“They are going in the same direction as we,” cried Mrs. Belmont, whose +eyes were very much better than the Colonel’s.</p> + +<p>Cochrane muttered an oath into his moustache.</p> + +<p>“Look at the tracks there,” said he; “of course, it’s our own vanguard +who left the palm grove before us. The chief keeps us at this infernal +pace in order to close up with them.”</p> + +<p>As they drew closer they could see plainly that it was indeed the other +body of Arabs, and presently the Emir Wad Ibrahim came trotting back to +take counsel with the Emir Abderrahman. They pointed in the direction +in which the vedettes had appeared, and shook their heads like men who +have many and grave misgivings. Then the raiders joined into one long, +straggling line, and the whole body moved steadily on towards the +Southern Cross, which was twinkling just over the skyline in front of +them. Hour after hour the dreadful trot continued, while the fainting +ladies clung on convulsively, and Cochrane, worn out but indomitable, +encouraged them to hold out, and peered backwards over the desert for +the first glad signs of their pursuers. The blood throbbed in his +temples, and he cried that he heard the roll of drums coming out of the +darkness. In his feverish delirium he saw clouds of pursuers at their +very heels, and during the long night he was for ever crying glad +tidings which ended in disappointment and heartache. The rise of the +sun showed the desert stretching away around them with nothing moving +upon its monstrous face except themselves. With dull eyes and heavy +hearts they stared round at that huge and empty expanse. Their hopes +thinned away like the light morning mist upon the horizon.</p> + +<p>It was shocking to the ladies to look at their companion, and to think +of the spruce, hale old soldier who had been their fellow-passenger from +Cairo. As in the case of Miss Adams, old age seemed to have pounced +upon him in one spring. His hair, which had grizzled hour by hour +during his privations, was now of a silvery white. White stubble, too, +had obscured the firm, clean line of his chin and throat. The veins of +his face were injected, and his features were shot with heavy wrinkles. +He rode with his back arched and his chin sunk upon his breast, for the +old, time-rotted body was worn out, but in his bright, alert eyes there +was always a trace of the gallant tenant who lived in the shattered +house. Delirious, spent, and dying, he preserved his chivalrous, +protecting air as he turned to the ladies, shot little scraps of advice +and encouragement at them, and peered back continually for the help +which never came.</p> + +<p>An hour after sunrise the raiders called a halt, and food and water +were served out to all. Then at a more moderate pace they pursued their +southern journey, their long, straggling line trailing out over a +quarter of a mile of desert. From their more careless bearing and the +way in which they chatted as they rode, it was clear that they thought +that they had shaken off their pursuers. Their direction now was east +as well as south, and it was evidently their intention after this long +detour to strike the Nile again at some point far above the Egyptian +outposts. Already the character of the scenery was changing, and they +were losing the long levels of the pebbly desert, and coming once more +upon those fantastic, sunburned, black rocks, and that rich orange sand +through which they had already passed. On every side of them rose the +scaly, conical hills with their loose, slag-like debris, and +jagged-edged khors, with sinuous streams of sand running like +water-courses down their centre. The camels followed each other, +twisting in and out among the boulders, and scrambling with their +adhesive, spongy feet over places which would have been impossible for +horses. Among the broken rocks those behind could sometimes only see +the long, undulating, darting necks of the creatures in front, as if it +were some nightmare procession of serpents. Indeed, it had much the +effect of a dream upon the prisoners, for there was no sound, save the +soft, dull padding and shuffling of the feet. The strange, wild frieze +moved slowly and silently onwards amid a setting of black stone and +yellow sand, with the one arch of vivid blue spanning the rugged edges +of the ravine.</p> + +<p>Miss Adams, who had been frozen into silence during the long cold night, +began to thaw now in the cheery warmth of the rising sun. She looked +about her, and rubbed her thin hands together.</p> + +<p>“Why, Sadie,” she remarked, “I thought I heard you in the night, dear, +and now I see that you have been crying.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve been thinking, auntie.”</p> + +<p>“Well, we must try and think of others, dearie, and not of ourselves.”</p> + +<p>“It’s not of myself, auntie.”</p> + +<p>“Never fret about me, Sadie.”</p> + +<p>“No, auntie, I was not thinking of you.”</p> + +<p>“Was it of any one in particular?”</p> + +<p>“Of Mr. Stephens, auntie. How gentle he was, and how brave! To think +of him fixing up every little thing for us, and trying to pull his +jacket over his poor roped-up hands, with those murderers waiting all +round him. He’s my saint and hero from now ever after.”</p> + +<p>“Well, he’s out of his troubles anyhow,” said Miss Adams, with that +bluntness which the years bring with them.</p> + +<p>“Then I wish I was also.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t see how that would help him.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I think he might feel less lonesome,” said Sadie, and drooped her +saucy little chin upon her breast.</p> + +<p>The four had been riding in silence for some little time, when the +Colonel clapped his hand to his brow with a gesture of dismay.</p> + +<p>“Good God!” he cried, “I am going off my head.”</p> + +<p>Again and again they had perceived it during the night, but he had +seemed quite rational since daybreak. They were shocked therefore at +this sudden outbreak, and tried to calm him with soothing words.</p> + +<p>“Mad as a hatter,” he shouted. “Whatever do you think I saw?”</p> + +<p>“Don’t trouble about it, whatever it was,” said Mrs. Belmont, laying +her hand soothingly upon his as the camels closed together. “It is no +wonder that you are overdone. You have thought and worked for all of us +so long. We shall halt presently, and a few hours’ sleep will quite +restore you.”</p> + +<p>But the Colonel looked up again, and again he cried out in his agitation +and surprise.</p> + +<p>“I never saw anything plainer in my life,” he groaned. “It is on the +point of rock on our right front—poor old Stuart with my red cummerbund +round his head just the same as we left him.”</p> + +<p>The ladies had followed the direction of the Colonel’s frightened gaze, +and in an instant they were all as amazed as he.</p> + +<p>There was a black, bulging ridge like a bastion upon the right side of +the terrible khor up which the camels were winding. At one point it +rose into a small pinnacle. On this pinnacle stood a solitary, +motionless figure, clad entirely in black, save for a brilliant dash of +scarlet upon his head. There could not surely be two such short sturdy +figures, or such large colourless faces, in the Libyan Desert. His +shoulders were stooping forward, and he seemed to be staring intently +down into the ravine. His pose and outline were like a caricature of +the great Napoleon.</p> + +<p>“Can it possibly be he?”</p> + +<p>“It must be. It is!” cried the ladies. “You see he is looking towards +us and waving his hand.”</p> + +<p>“Good Heavens! They’ll shoot him! Get down, you fool, or you’ll be +shot!” roared the Colonel. But his dry throat would only emit a +discordant croaking.</p> + +<p>Several of the Dervishes had seen the singular apparition upon the hill, +and had unslung their Remingtons, but a long arm suddenly shot up behind +the figure of the Birmingham clergyman, a brown hand seized upon his +skirts, and he disappeared with a snap. Higher up the pass, just below +the spot where Mr. Stuart had been standing, appeared the tall figure of +the Emir Abderrahman. He had sprung upon a boulder, and was shouting +and waving his arms, but the shouts were drowned in a long, rippling +roar of musketry from each side of the khor. The bastion-like cliff was +fringed with gun-barrels, with red tarbooshes drooping over the +triggers. From the other lip also came the long spurts of flame and the +angry clatter of the rifles. The raiders were caught in an ambuscade. +The Emir fell, but was up again and waving. There was a splotch of +blood upon his long white beard. He kept pointing and gesticulating, +but his scattered followers could not understand what he wanted. +Some of them came tearing down the pass, and some from behind were +pushing to the front. A few dismounted and tried to climb up sword in +hand to that deadly line of muzzles, but one by one they were hit, and +came rolling from rock to rock to the bottom of the ravine. +The shooting was not very good. One negro made his way unharmed up the +whole side, only to have his brains dashed out with the butt-end of a +Martini at the top. The Emir had fallen off his rock and lay in a +crumpled heap, like a brown and white patchwork quilt, at the bottom of +it. And then when half of them were down it became evident, even to +those exalted fanatical souls, that there was no chance for them, and +that they must get out of these fatal rocks and into the desert again. +They galloped down the pass, and it is a frightful thing to see a camel +galloping over broken ground. The beast’s own terror, his ungainly +bounds, the sprawl of his four legs all in the air together, his hideous +cries, and the yells of his rider who is bucked high from his saddle +with every spring, make a picture which is not to be forgotten. +The women screamed as this mad torrent of frenzied creatures came +pouring past them, but the Colonel edged his camel and theirs farther +and farther in among the rocks and away from the retreating Arabs. +The air was full of whistling bullets, and they could hear them smacking +loudly against the stones all round them.</p> + +<p>“Keep quiet, and they’ll pass us,” whispered the Colonel, who was all +himself again now that the hour for action had arrived. “I wish to +Heaven I could see Tippy Tilly or any of his friends. Now is the time +for them to help us.” He watched the mad stream of fugitives as they +flew past upon their shambling, squattering, loose-jointed beasts, but +the black face of the Egyptian gunner was not among them.</p> + +<p>And now it really did seem as if the whole body of them, in their haste +to get clear of the ravine, had not a thought to spend upon the +prisoners. The rush was past, and only stragglers were running the +gauntlet of the fierce fire which poured upon them from above. The last +of all, a young Baggara with a black moustache and pointed beard, looked +up as he passed and shook his sword in impotent passion at the Egyptian +riflemen. At the same instant a bullet struck his camel, and the +creature collapsed, all neck and legs, upon the ground. The young Arab +sprang off its back, and, seizing its nose-ring, he beat it savagely +with the flat of his sword to make it stand up. But the dim, glazing +eye told its own tale, and in desert warfare the death of the beast is +the death of the rider. The Baggara glared round like a lion at bay, +his dark eyes flashing murderously from under his red turban. A crimson +spot, and then another, sprang out upon his dark skin, but he never +winced at the bullet wounds. His fierce gaze had fallen upon the +prisoners, and with an exultant shout he was dashing towards them, his +broad-bladed sword gleaming above his head. Miss Adams was the nearest +to him, but at the sight of the rushing figure and the maniac face she +threw herself off the camel upon the far side. The Arab bounded on to a +rock and aimed a thrust at Mrs. Belmont, but before the point could +reach her the Colonel leaned forward with his pistol and blew the man’s +head in. Yet with a concentrated rage, which was superior even to the +agony of death, the fellow lay kicking and striking, bounding about +among the loose stones like a fish upon the shingle.</p> + +<p>“Don’t be frightened, ladies,” cried the Colonel. “He is quite dead, I +assure you. I am so sorry to have done this in your presence, but the +fellow was dangerous. I had a little score of my own to settle with +him, for he was the man who tried to break my ribs with his Remington. +I hope you are not hurt, Miss Adams! One instant, and I will come down +to you.”</p> + +<p>But the old Boston lady was by no means hurt, for the rocks had been so +high that she had a very short distance to fall from her saddle. +Sadie, Mrs. Belmont, and Colonel Cochrane had all descended by slipping +on to the boulders and climbing down from them. But they found Miss +Adams on her feet, and waving the remains of her green veil in triumph.</p> + +<p>“Hurrah, Sadie! Hurrah, my own darling Sadie!” she was shrieking. +“We are saved, my girl, we are saved after all.”</p> + +<p>“By George, so we are!” cried the Colonel, and they all shouted in an +ecstasy together.</p> + +<p>But Sadie had learned to think more about others during those terrible +days of schooling. Her arms were round Mrs. Belmont, and her cheek +against hers.</p> + +<p>“You dear, sweet angel,” she cried, “how can we have the heart to be +glad when you—when you—”</p> + +<p>“But I don’t believe it is so,” cried the brave Irishwoman. “No, I’ll +never believe it until I see John’s body lying before me. And when I +see that, I don’t want to live to see anything more.”</p> + +<p>The last Dervish had clattered down the khor, and now above them on +either cliff they could see the Egyptians—tall, thin, square shouldered +figures, looking, when outlined against the blue sky, wonderfully like +the warriors in the ancient bas-reliefs. Their camels were in the +background, and they were hurrying to join them. At the same time +others began to ride down from the farther end of the ravine, their dark +faces flushed and their eyes shining with the excitement of victory and +pursuit. A very small Englishman, with a straw-coloured moustache and a +weary manner, was riding at the head of them. He halted his camel +beside the fugitives and saluted the ladies. He wore brown boots and +brown belts with steel buckles, which looked trim and workmanlike +against his khaki uniform.</p> + +<p>“Had ’em that time—had ’em proper!” said he. “Very glad to have been +of any assistance, I’m sure. Hope you’re none the worse for it all. +What I mean, it’s rather rough work for ladies.”</p> + +<p>“You’re from Halfa, I suppose?” asked the Colonel.</p> + +<p>“No, we’re from the other show. We’re the Sarras crowd, you know. +We met in the desert, and we headed ’em off, and the other Johnnies +herded ’em behind. We’ve got ’em on toast, I tell you. Get up on that +rock and you’ll see things happen. It’s going to be a knockout in one +round this time.”</p> + +<p>“We left some of our people at the Wells. We are very uneasy about +them,” said the Colonel. “I suppose you haven’t heard anything of +them?”</p> + +<p>The young officer looked serious and shook his head. “Bad job that!” +said he. “They’re a poisonous crowd when you put ’em in a corner. +What I mean, we never expected to see you alive, and we’re very glad to +pull any of you out of the fire. The most we hoped was that we might +revenge you.”</p> + +<p>“Any other Englishman with you?”</p> + +<p>“Archer is with the flanking party. He’ll have to come past, for I +don’t think there is any other way down. We’ve got one of your chaps up +there—a funny old bird with a red top-knot. See you later, I hope! +Good day, ladies!” He touched his helmet, tapped his camel, and trotted +on after his men.</p> + +<p>“We can’t do better than stay where we are until they are all past,” +said the Colonel, for it was evident now that the men from above would +have to come round. In a broken single file they went past, black men +and brown, Soudanese and fellaheen, but all of the best, for the Camel +Corps is the <i>corps d’elite</i> of the Egyptian army. Each had a brown +bandolier over his chest and his rifle held across his thigh. A large +man with a drooping black moustache and a pair of binoculars in his hand +was riding at the side of them. “Hulloa, Archer!” croaked the Colonel. +The officer looked at him with the vacant, unresponsive eye of a +complete stranger.</p> + +<p>“I’m Cochrane, you know! We travelled up together.”</p> + +<p>“Excuse me, sir, but you have the advantage of me,” said the officer. +“I knew a Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, but you are not the man. He was +three inches taller than you, with black hair and—”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” cried the Colonel testily. “You try a few days with +the Dervishes, and see if your friends will recognise you!”</p> + +<p>“Good God, Cochrane, is it really you? I could not have believed it. +Great Scott, what you must have been through! I’ve heard before of +fellows going grey in a night, but, by Jove—”</p> + +<p>“Quite so,” said the Colonel, flushing.</p> + +<p>“Allow me to hint to you, Archer, that if you could get some food and +drink for these ladies, instead of discussing my personal appearance, it +would be much more practical.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right,” said Captain Archer. “Your friend Stuart knows that +you are here, and he is bringing some stuff round for you. Poor fare, +ladies, but the best we have! You’re an old soldier, Cochrane. Get up +on the rocks presently, and you’ll see a lovely sight. No time to stop, +for we shall be in action again in five minutes. Anything I can do +before I go?”</p> + +<p>“You haven’t got such a thing as a cigar?” asked the Colonel wistfully.</p> + +<p>Archer drew a thick satisfying partaga from his case, and handed it +down, with half-a-dozen wax vestas. Then he cantered after his men, and +the old soldier leaned back against the rock and drew in the fragrant +smoke. It was then that his jangled nerves knew the full virtue of +tobacco, the gentle anodyne which stays the failing strength and soothes +the worrying brain. He watched the dim blue reek swirling up from him, +and he felt the pleasant aromatic bite upon his palate, while a restful +languor crept over his weary and harassed body. The three ladies sat +together upon a flat rock.</p> + +<p>“Good land, what a sight you are, Sadie!” cried Miss Adams suddenly, and +it was the first reappearance of her old self. “What <i>would</i> your +mother say if she saw you? Why, sakes alive, your hair is full of straw +and your frock clean crazy!”</p> + +<p>“I guess we all want some setting to rights,” said Sadie, in a voice +which was much more subdued than that of the Sadie of old. +“Mrs. Belmont, you look just too perfectly sweet anyhow, but if you’ll +allow me I’ll fix your dress for you.”</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Belmont’s eyes were far away, and she shook her head sadly as +she gently put the girl’s hands aside.</p> + +<p>“I do not care how I look. I cannot think of it,” said she; “could +<i>you</i>, if you had left the man you love behind you, as I have mine?”</p> + +<p>“I’m begin—beginning to think I have,” sobbed poor Sadie, and buried +her hot face in Mrs. Belmont’s motherly bosom.</p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HE Camel Corps had all passed onwards down the khor in pursuit of the +retreating Dervishes, and for a few minutes the escaped prisoners had +been left alone. But now there came a cheery voice calling upon them, +and a red turban bobbed about among the rocks, with the large white face +of the Nonconformist minister smiling from beneath it. He had a thick +lance with which to support his injured leg, and this murderous crutch +combined with his peaceful appearance to give him a most incongruous +aspect—as of a sheep which has suddenly developed claws. Behind him +were two negroes with a basket and a water-skin.</p> + +<p>“Not a word! Not a word!” he cried, as he stumped up to them. “I know +exactly how you feel. I’ve been there myself. Bring the water, Ali! +Only half a cup, Miss Adams; you shall have some more presently. +Now your turn, Mrs. Belmont! Dear me, dear me, you poor souls, how my +heart does bleed for you! There’s bread and meat in the basket, but you +must be very moderate at first.” He chuckled with joy, and slapped his +fat hands together as he watched them.</p> + +<p>“But the others?” he asked, his face turning grave again.</p> + +<p>The Colonel shook his head. “We left them behind at the wells. I fear +that it is all over with them.”</p> + +<p>“Tut, tut!” cried the clergyman, in a boisterous voice, which could not +cover the despondency of his expression; “you thought, no doubt, that it +was all over with me, but here I am in spite of it. Never lose heart, +Mrs. Belmont. Your husband’s position could not possibly be as hopeless +as mine was.”</p> + +<p>“When I saw you standing on that rock up yonder, I put it down to +delirium,” said the Colonel. “If the ladies had not seen you, I should +never have ventured to believe it.”</p> + +<p>“I am afraid that I behaved very badly. Captain Archer says that I +nearly spoiled all their plans, and that I deserved to be tried by a +drumhead court-martial and shot. The fact is that, when I heard the +Arabs beneath me, I forgot myself in my anxiety to know if any of you +were left.”</p> + +<p>“I wonder that you were not shot without any drumhead court-martial,” +said the Colonel. “But how in the world did you get here?”</p> + +<p>“The Halfa people were close upon our track at the time when I was +abandoned, and they picked me up in the desert. I must have been +delirious, I suppose, for they tell me that they heard my voice, singing +hymns, a long way off, and it was that, under the providence of God, +which brought them to me. They had a camel ambulance, and I was quite +myself again by next day. I came with the Sarras people after we met +them, because they have the doctor with them. My wound is nothing, and +he says that a man of my habit will be the better for the loss of blood. +And now, my friends”—his big, brown eyes lost their twinkle, and became +very solemn and reverent—“we have all been upon the very confines of +death, and our dear companions may be so at this instant. The same +Power which saved us may save them, and let us pray together that it may +be so, always remembering that if, in spite of our prayers, it should +<i>not</i> be so, then that also must be accepted as the best and wisest +thing.”</p> + +<p>So they knelt together among the black rocks, and prayed as some of them +had never prayed before. It was very well to discuss prayer and treat +it lightly and philosophically upon the deck of the <i>Korosko</i>. It was +easy to feel strong and self-confident in the comfortable deck-chair, +with the slippered Arab handing round the coffee and liqueurs. But they +had been swept out of that placid stream of existence, and dashed +against the horrible, jagged facts of life. Battered and shaken, they +must have something to cling to. A blind, inexorable destiny was too +horrible a belief. A chastening power, acting intelligently and for a +purpose—a living, working power, tearing them out of their grooves, +breaking down their small sectarian ways, forcing them into the better +path—that was what they had learned to realise during these days of +horror. Great hands had closed suddenly upon them, and had moulded them +into new shapes, and fitted them for new uses. Could such a power be +deflected by any human supplication? It was that or nothing—the last +court of appeal, left open to injured humanity. And so they all prayed, +as a lover loves, or a poet writes, from the very inside of their souls, +and they rose with that singular, illogical feeling of inward peace and +satisfaction which prayer only can give.</p> + +<p>“Hush!” said Cochrane. “Listen!”</p> + +<p>The sound of a volley came crackling up the narrow khor, and then +another and another. The Colonel was fidgeting about like an old horse +which hears the bugle of the hunt and the yapping of the pack.</p> + +<p>“Where can we see what is going on?”</p> + +<p>“Come this way! This way, if you please! There is a path up to the +top. If the ladies will come after me, they will be spared the sight of +anything painful.”</p> + +<p>The clergyman led them along the side to avoid the bodies which were +littered thickly down the bottom of the khor. It was hard walking over +the shingly, slaggy stones, but they made their way to the summit at +last. Beneath them lay the vast expanse of the rolling desert, and in +the foreground such a scene as none of them are ever likely to forget. +In that perfectly dry and clear light, with the unvarying brown tint of +the hard desert as a background, every detail stood out as clearly as if +these were toy figures arranged upon a table within hand’s-touch of +them.</p> + +<p>The Dervishes—or what was left of them—were riding slowly some little +distance out in a confused crowd, their patchwork jibbehs and red +turbans swaying with the motion of their camels. They did not present +the appearance of men who were defeated, for their movements were very +deliberate, but they looked about them and changed their formation as if +they were uncertain what their tactics ought to be. It was no wonder +that they were puzzled, for upon their spent camels their situation was +as hopeless as could be conceived. The Sarras men had all emerged from +the khor, and had dismounted, the beasts being held in groups of four, +while the rifle-men knelt in a long line with a woolly, curling fringe +of smoke, sending volley after volley at the Arabs, who shot back in a +desultory fashion from the backs of their camels. But it was not upon +the sullen group of Dervishes, nor yet upon the long line of kneeling +rifle-men, that the eyes of the spectators were fixed. Far out upon the +desert, three squadrons of the Halfa Camel Corps were coming up in a +dense close column, which wheeled beautifully into a widespread +semicircle as it approached. The Arabs were caught between two fires.</p> + +<p>“By Jove!” cried the Colonel. “See that!”</p> + +<p>The camels of the Dervishes had all knelt down simultaneously, and the +men had sprung from their backs. In front of them was a tall, stately +figure, who could only be the Emir Wad Ibrahim. They saw him kneel for +an instant in prayer. Then he rose, and taking something from his +saddle he placed it very deliberately upon the sand and stood upon it.</p> + +<p>“Good man!” cried the Colonel. “He is standing upon his sheepskin.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean by that?” asked Stuart.</p> + +<p>“Every Arab has a sheepskin upon his saddle. When he recognises that +his position is perfectly hopeless, and yet is determined to fight to +the death, he takes his sheepskin off and stands upon it until he dies. +See, they are all upon their sheepskins. They will neither give nor +take quarter now.”</p> + +<p>The drama beneath them was rapidly approaching its climax. The Halfa +Corps was well up, and a ring of smoke and flame surrounded the clump of +kneeling Dervishes, who answered it as best they could. Many of them +were already down, but the rest loaded and fired with the unflinching +courage which has always made them worthy antagonists. A dozen +khaki-dressed figures upon the sand showed that it was no bloodless +victory for the Egyptians. But now there was a stirring bugle call from +the Sarras men, and another answered it from the Halfa Corps. +Their camels were down also, and the men had formed up into a single, +long, curved line. One last volley, and they were charging inwards with +the wild inspiriting yell which the blacks had brought with them from +their central African wilds. For a minute there was a mad vortex of +rushing figures, rifle butts rising and falling, spear-heads gleaming +and darting among the rolling dust cloud. Then the bugle rang out once +more, the Egyptians fell back and formed up with the quick precision of +highly disciplined troops, and there in the centre, each upon his +sheepskin, lay the gallant barbarian and his raiders. The nineteenth +century had been revenged upon the seventh.</p> + +<p>The three women had stared horror-stricken and yet fascinated at the +stirring scene before them. Now Sadie and her aunt were sobbing +together. The Colonel had turned to them with some cheering words when +his eyes fell upon the face of Mrs. Belmont. It was as white and set as +if it were carved from ivory, and her large grey eyes were fixed as if +she were in a trance.</p> + +<p>“Good Heavens, Mrs. Belmont, what <i>is</i> the matter?” he cried.</p> + +<p>For answer she pointed out over the desert. Far away, miles on the +other side of the scene of the fight, a small body of men were riding +towards them.</p> + +<p>“By Jove, yes; there’s some one there. Who can it be?”</p> + +<p>They were all straining their eyes, but the distance was so great that +they could only be sure that they were camel-men and about a dozen in +number.</p> + +<p>“It’s those devils who were left behind in the palm grove,” said +Cochrane. “There’s no one else it can be. One consolation, they can’t +get away again. They’ve walked right into the lion’s mouth.”</p> + +<p>But Mrs. Belmont was still gazing with the same fixed intensity, and the +same ivory face. Now, with a wild shriek of joy, she threw her two +hands into the air. “It’s they!” she screamed. “They are saved! +It’s they, Colonel, it’s they! Oh, Miss Adams, Miss Adams, it is they!” +She capered about on the top of the hill with wild eyes like an excited +child.</p> + +<p>Her companions would not believe her, for they could see nothing, but +there are moments when our mortal senses are more acute than those who +have never put their whole heart and soul into them can ever realise. +Mrs. Belmont had already run down the rocky path, on the way to her +camel, before they could distinguish that which had long before carried +its glad message to her. In the van of the approaching party, three +white dots shimmered in the sun, and they could only come from the three +European hats. The riders were travelling swiftly, and by the time +their comrades had started to meet them they could plainly see that it +was indeed Belmont, Fardet, and Stephens, with the dragoman Mansoor, and +the wounded Soudanese rifleman. As they came together they saw that +their escort consisted of Tippy Tilly and the other old Egyptian +soldiers. Belmont rushed onwards to meet his wife, but Fardet stopped +to grasp the Colonel’s hand.</p> + +<p>“<i>Vive la France! Vivent les Anglais!</i>” he was yelling. “<i>Tout va +bien, n’est ce pas</i>, Colonel? Ah, <i>canaille! Vivent la croix et +les Chretiens!</i>” He was incoherent in his delight.</p> + +<p>The Colonel, too, was as enthusiastic as his Anglo-Saxon standard would +permit. He could not gesticulate, but he laughed in the nervous +crackling way which was his top-note of emotion.</p> + +<p>“My dear boy, I am deuced glad to see you all again. I gave you up for +lost. Never was as pleased at anything in my life! How did you get +away?”</p> + +<p>“It was all your doing.”</p> + +<p>“Mine?”</p> + +<p>“Yes, my friend, and I have been quarrelling with you—ungrateful wretch +that I am!”</p> + +<p>“But how did I save you?”</p> + +<p>“It was you who arranged with this excellent Tippy Tilly and the others +that they should have so much if they brought us alive into Egypt again. +They slipped away in the darkness and hid themselves in the grove. +Then, when we were left, they crept up with their rifles and shot the +men who were about to murder us. That cursed Moolah, I am sorry they +shot him, for I believe that I could have persuaded him to be a +Christian. And now, with your permission, I will hurry on and embrace +Miss Adams, for Belmont has his wife, and Stephens has Miss Sadie, so I +think it is very evident that the sympathy of Miss Adams is reserved for +me.”</p> + +<p>A fortnight had passed away, and the special boat which had been placed +at the disposal of the rescued tourists was already far north of +Assiout. Next morning they would find themselves at Baliani, where one +takes the express for Cairo. It was, therefore, their last evening +together. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child, who had escaped unhurt, had +already been sent down from the frontier. Miss Adams had been very ill +after her privations, and this was the first time that she had been +allowed to come upon deck after dinner. She sat now in a lounge chair, +thinner, sterner, and kindlier than ever, while Sadie stood beside her +and tucked the rugs around her shoulders. Mr. Stephens was carrying +over the coffee and placing it on the wicker table beside them. On the +other side of the deck Belmont and his wife were seated together in +silent sympathy and contentment.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Fardet was leaning against the rail, and arguing about the +remissness of the British Government in not taking a more complete +control of the Egyptian frontier, while the Colonel stood very erect in +front of him, with the red end of a cigar-stump protruding from under +his moustache.</p> + +<p>But what was the matter with the Colonel? Who would have recognised him +who had only seen the broken old man in the Libyan Desert? There might +be some little grizzling about the moustache, but the hair was back once +more at the fine glossy black which had been so much admired upon the +voyage up. With a stony face and an unsympathetic manner he had +received, upon his return to Halfa, all the commiserations about the +dreadful way in which his privations had blanched him, and then diving +into his cabin, he had reappeared within an hour exactly as he had been +before that fatal moment when he had been cut off from the manifold +resources of civilisation. And he looked in such a sternly questioning +manner at every one who stared at him, that no one had the moral +courage to make any remark about this modern miracle. It was observed +from that time forward that, if the Colonel had only to ride a hundred +yards into the desert, he always began his preparations by putting a +small black bottle with a pink label into the side-pocket of his coat. +But those who knew him best at times when a man may best be known, said +that the old soldier had a young man’s heart and a young man’s spirit— +so that if he wished to keep a young man’s colour also it was not very +unreasonable after all.</p> + +<p>It was very soothing and restful up there on the saloon deck, with no +sound but the gentle lipping of the water as it rippled against the +sides of the steamer. The red after-glow was in the western sky, and it +mottled the broad, smooth river with crimson. Dimly they could discern +the tall figures of herons standing upon the sand-banks, and farther off +the line of riverside date-palms glided past them in a majestic +procession. Once more the silver stars were twinkling out, the same +clear, placid, inexorable stars to which their weary eyes had been so +often upturned during the long nights of their desert martyrdom.</p> + +<p>“Where do you put up in Cairo, Miss Adams?” asked Mrs. Belmont at last.</p> + +<p>“Shepheard’s, I think.”</p> + +<p>“And you, Mr. Stephens?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Shepheard’s, decidedly.”</p> + +<p>“We are staying at the Continental. I hope we shall not lose sight of +you.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t want ever to lose sight of you, Mrs. Belmont,” cried Sadie. +“Oh, you must come to the States, and we’ll give you just a lovely +time.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Belmont laughed, in her pleasant, mellow fashion.</p> + +<p>“We have our duty to do in Ireland, and we have been too long away from +it already. My husband has his business, and I have my home, and they +are both going to rack and ruin. Besides,” she added slyly, “it is just +possible that if we did come to the States we might not find you there.”</p> + +<p>“We must all meet again,” said Belmont, “if only to talk our adventures +over once more. It will be easier in a year or two. We are still too +near them.”</p> + +<p>“And yet how far away and dream-like it all seems!” remarked his wife. +“Providence is very good in softening disagreeable remembrances in our +minds. All this feels to me as if it had happened in some previous +existence.”</p> + +<p>Fardet held up his wrist with a cotton bandage still round it.</p> + +<p>“The body does not forget as quickly as the mind. This does not look +very dream-like or far away, Mrs. Belmont.”</p> + +<p>“How hard it is that some should be spared, and some not! If only Mr. +Brown and Mr. Headingly were with us, then I should not have one care in +the world,” cried Sadie. “Why should they have been taken, and we +left?”</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart had limped on to the deck with an open book in his hand, a +thick stick supporting his injured leg.</p> + +<p>“Why is the ripe fruit picked, and the unripe left?” said he in answer +to the young girl’s exclamation. “We know nothing of the spiritual +state of these poor dear young fellows, but the great Master Gardener +plucks His fruit according to His own knowledge. I brought you up a +passage to read to you.”</p> + +<p>There was a lantern upon the table, and he sat down beside it. +The yellow light shone upon his heavy cheek and the red edges of his +book. The strong, steady voice rose above the wash of the water.</p> + +<p>“<span class="lftspc">‘</span>Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed and delivered from +the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands, from the +east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They went +astray in the wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in. +Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. So they cried unto the +Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. +He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where +they dwelt. Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for His +goodness, and declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of +men.’</p> + +<p>“It sounds as if it were composed for us, and yet it was written two +thousand years ago,” said the clergyman, as he closed the book. +“In every age man has been forced to acknowledge the guiding hand which +leads him. For my part I don’t believe that inspiration stopped two +thousand years ago. When Tennyson wrote with such fervour and +conviction”:—</p> + +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Oh, yet we trust that somehow good<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will be the final goal of ill,’<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>“He was repeating the message which had been given to him, just as Micah +or Ezekiel, when the world was younger, repeated some cruder and more +elementary message.”</p> + +<p>“That is all very well, Mr. Stuart,” said the Frenchman; “you ask me to +praise God for taking me out of danger and pain, but what I want to know +is why, since He has arranged all things, He ever put me into that pain +and danger. I have, in my opinion, more occasion to blame than to +praise. You would not thank me for pulling you out of that river if it +was also I who pushed you in. The most which you can claim for your +Providence is that it has healed the wound which its own hand +inflicted.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t deny the difficulty,” said the clergyman slowly; “no one who is +not self-deceived <i>can</i> deny the difficulty. Look how boldly Tennyson +faced it in that same poem, the grandest and deepest and most obviously +inspired in our language. Remember the effect which it had upon him.”</p> + +<div class="poetry"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘I falter where I firmly trod,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And falling with my weight of cares<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Upon the great world’s altar stairs<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Which slope through darkness up to God;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">I stretch lame hands of faith and grope<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And gather dust and chaff, and call<br /></span> +<span class="i2">To what I feel is Lord of all,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And faintly trust the larger hope.’<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<p>“It is the central mystery of mysteries—the problem of sin and +suffering, the one huge difficulty which the reasoner has to solve in +order to vindicate the dealings of God with man. But take our own case +as an example. I, for one, am very clear what I have got out of our +experience. I say it with all humility, but I have a clearer view of my +duties than ever I had before. It has taught me to be less remiss in +saying what I think to be true, less indolent in doing what I feel to be +right.”</p> + +<p>“And I,” cried Sadie. “It has taught me more than all my life put +together. I have learned so much and unlearned so much. I am a +different girl.”</p> + +<p>“I never understood my own nature before,” said Stephens. “I can hardly +say that I had a nature to understand. I lived for what was +unimportant, and I neglected what was vital.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, a good shake-up does nobody any harm,” the Colonel remarked. +“Too much of the feather-bed-and-four-meals-a-day life is not good for +man or woman.”</p> + +<p>“It is my firm belief,” said Mrs. Belmont gravely, “that there was not +one of us who did not rise to a greater height during those days in the +desert than ever before or since. When our sins come to be weighed, +much may be forgiven us for the sake of those unselfish days.”</p> + +<p>They all sat in thoughtful silence for a little, while the scarlet +streaks turned to carmine, and the grey shadows deepened, and the +wild-fowl flew past in dark straggling V’s over the dull metallic +surface of the great smooth-flowing Nile. A cold wind had sprung up +from the eastward, and some of the party rose to leave the deck. +Stephens leaned forward to Sadie.</p> + +<p>“Do you remember what you promised when you were in the desert?” he +whispered.</p> + +<p>“What was that?”</p> + +<p>“You said that if you escaped you would try in future to make some one +else happy.”</p> + +<p>“Then I must do so.”</p> + +<p>“You have,” said he, and their hands met under the shadow of the table.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/12555-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/12555-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c7d80b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12555-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/old/12555.txt b/old/12555.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd9db15 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12555.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5468 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Tragedy of The Korosko, by Arthur Conan +Doyle + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Tragedy of The Korosko + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Release Date: June 8, 2004 [eBook #12555] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO*** + + +E-text prepared by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer + + + +THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO + +SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +The public may possibly wonder why it is that they have never heard in +the papers of the fate of the passengers of the _Korosko_. In these +days of universal press agencies, responsive to the slightest stimulus, +it may well seem incredible that an international incident of such +importance should remain so long unchronicled. Suffice it that there +were very valid reasons, both of a personal and of a political nature, +for holding it back. The facts were well known to a good number of +people at the time, and some version of them did actually appear in a +provincial paper, but was generally discredited. They have now been +thrown into narrative form, the incidents having been collated from the +sworn statements of Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, of the Army and Navy +Club, and from the letters of Miss Adams, of Boston, Mass. + +These have been supplemented by the evidence of Captain Archer, of the +Egyptian Camel Corps, as given before the secret Government inquiry at +Cairo. Mr. James Stephens has refused to put his version of the matter +into writing, but as these proofs have been submitted to him, and no +correction or deletion has been made in them, it may be supposed that he +has not succeeded in detecting any grave misstatement of fact, and that +any objection which he may have to their publication depends rather upon +private and personal scruples. + +The _Korosko_, a turtle-bottomed, round-bowed stern-wheeler, with a +30-inch draught and the lines of a flat-iron, started upon the 13th of +February in the year 1895, from Shellal, at the head of the first +cataract, bound for Wady Halfa. I have a passenger card for the trip, +which I here reproduce: + + S.W. "KOROSKO," FEBRUARY 13TH. + PASSENGERS. + + Colonel Cochrane Cochrane London. + Mr. Cecil Brown London. + John H. Headingly Boston, U.S.A. + Miss Adams Boston, U.S.A. + Miss S. Adams Worcester, Mass., U.S.A. + Mons. Fardet Paris. + Mr. and Mrs. Belmont Dublin. + James Stephens Manchester. + Rev. John Stuart Birmingham. + Mrs. Shlesinger, nurse and child Florence. + +This was the party as it started from Shellal, with the intention of +travelling up the two hundred miles of Nubian Nile which lie between the +first and the second cataract. + +It is a singular country, this Nubia. Varying in breadth from a few +miles to as many yards (for the name is only applied to the narrow +portion which is capable of cultivation), it extends in a thin, green, +palm-fringed strip upon either side of the broad coffee-coloured river. +Beyond it there stretches on the Libyan bank a savage and illimitable +desert, extending to the whole breadth of Africa. On the other side an +equally desolate wilderness is bounded only by the distant Red Sea. +Between these two huge and barren expanses Nubia writhes like a green +sandworm along the course of the river. Here and there it disappears +altogether, and the Nile runs between black and sun-cracked hills, with +the orange drift-sand lying like glaciers in their valleys. Everywhere +one sees traces of vanished races and submerged civilisations. +Grotesque graves dot the hills or stand up against the sky-line: +pyramidal graves, tumulus graves, rock graves--everywhere, graves. +And, occasionally, as the boat rounds a rocky point, one sees a deserted +city up above--houses, walls, battlements, with the sun shining through +the empty window squares. Sometimes you learn that it has been Roman, +sometimes Egyptian, sometimes all record of its name or origin has been +absolutely lost. You ask yourself in amazement why any race should +build in so uncouth a solitude, and you find it difficult to accept the +theory that this has only been of value as a guard-house to the richer +country down below, and that these frequent cities have been so many +fortresses to hold off the wild and predatory men of the south. +But whatever be their explanation, be it a fierce neighbour, or be it a +climatic change, there they stand, these grim and silent cities, and up +on the hills you can see the graves of their people, like the port-holes +of a man-of-war. It is through this weird, dead country that the +tourists smoke and gossip and flirt as they pass up to the Egyptian +frontier. + +The passengers of the _Korosko_ formed a merry party, for most of them +had travelled up together from Cairo to Assouan, and even Anglo-Saxon +ice thaws rapidly upon the Nile. They were fortunate in being without +the single disagreeable person who, in these small boats, is sufficient +to mar the enjoyment of the whole party. On a vessel which is little +more than a large steam launch, the bore, the cynic, or the grumbler +holds the company at his mercy. But the _Korosko_ was free from +anything of the kind. Colonel Cochrane Cochrane was one of those +officers whom the British Government, acting upon a large system of +averages, declares at a certain age to be incapable of further service, +and who demonstrate the worth of such a system by spending their +declining years in exploring Morocco, or shooting lions in Somaliland. +He was a dark, straight, aquiline man, with a courteously deferential +manner, but a steady, questioning eye; very neat in his dress and +precise in his habits, a gentleman to the tips of his trim finger-nails. +In his Anglo-Saxon dislike to effusiveness he had cultivated a +self-contained manner which was apt at first acquaintance to be +repellent, and he seemed to those who really knew him to be at some +pains to conceal the kind heart and human emotions which influenced his +actions. It was respect rather than affection which he inspired among +his fellow-travellers, for they felt, like all who had ever met him, +that he was a man with whom acquaintance was unlikely to ripen into a +friendship, though a friendship, when once attained, would be an +unchanging and inseparable part of himself. He wore a grizzled military +moustache, but his hair was singularly black for a man of his years. +He made no allusion in his conversation to the numerous campaigns in +which he had distinguished himself, and the reason usually given for his +reticence was that they dated back to such early Victorian days that he +had to sacrifice his military glory at the shrine of his perennial +youth. + +Mr. Cecil Brown--to take the names in the chance order in which they +appear upon the passenger list--was a young diplomatist from a +Continental Embassy, a man slightly tainted with the Oxford manner, and +erring upon the side of unnatural and inhuman refinement, but full of +interesting talk and cultured thought. He had a sad, handsome face, a +small wax-tipped moustache, a low voice and a listless manner, which was +relieved by a charming habit of suddenly lighting up into a rapid smile +and gleam when anything caught his fancy. An acquired cynicism was +eternally crushing and overlying his natural youthful enthusiasms, and +he ignored what was obvious while expressing keen appreciation for what +seemed to the average man to be either trivial or unhealthy. He chose +Walter Pater for his travelling author, and sat all day, reserved but +affable, under the awning, with his novel and his sketch-book upon a +camp-stool beside him. His personal dignity prevented him from making +advances to others, but if they chose to address him they found a +courteous and amiable companion. + +The Americans formed a group by themselves. John H. Headingly was a +New Englander, a graduate of Harvard, who was completing his education +by a tour round the world. He stood for the best type of young +American--quick, observant, serious, eager for knowledge and fairly +free from prejudice, with a fine balance of unsectarian but earnest +religious feeling which held him steady amid all the sudden gusts of +youth. He had less of the appearance and more of the reality of culture +than the young Oxford diplomatist, for he had keener emotions though +less exact knowledge. Miss Adams and Miss Sadie Adams were aunt and +niece, the former a little, energetic, hard-featured Bostonian old-maid, +with a huge surplus of unused love behind her stern and swarthy +features. She had never been from home before, and she was now busy +upon the self-imposed task of bringing the East up to the standard of +Massachusetts. She had hardly landed in Egypt before she realised that +the country needed putting to rights, and since the conviction struck +her she had been very fully occupied. The saddle-galled donkeys, the +starved pariah dogs, the flies round the eyes of the babies, the naked +children, the importunate beggars, the ragged, untidy women--they were +all challenges to her conscience, and she plunged in bravely at her work +of reformation. As she could not speak a word of the language, however, +and was unable to make any of the delinquents understand what it was +that she wanted, her passage up the Nile left the immemorial East very +much as she had found it, but afforded a good deal of sympathetic +amusement to her fellow-travellers. No one enjoyed her efforts more +than her niece, Sadie, who shared with Mrs. Belmont the distinction of +being the most popular person upon the boat. She was very young--fresh +from Smith College--and she still possessed many both of the virtues and +of the faults of a child. She had the frankness, the trusting +confidence, the innocent straightforwardness, the high spirits, and also +the loquacity and the want of reverence. But even her faults caused +amusement, and if she had preserved many of the characteristics of a +clever child, she was none the less a tall and handsome woman, who +looked older than her years on account of that low curve of the hair +over the ears, and that fullness of bodice and skirt which Mr. Gibson +has either initiated or imitated. The whisk of those skirts, and the +frank, incisive voice and pleasant, catching laugh were familiar and +welcome sounds on board of the _Korosko_. Even the rigid Colonel +softened into geniality, and the Oxford-bred diplomatist forgot to be +unnatural with Miss Sadie Adams as a companion. + +The other passengers may be dismissed more briefly. Some were +interesting, some neutral, and all amiable. Monsieur Fardet was a +good-natured but argumentative Frenchman, who held the most decided +views as to the deep machinations of Great Britain, and the illegality +of her position in Egypt. Mr. Belmont was an iron-grey, sturdy +Irishman, famous as an astonishingly good long-range rifle-shot, who had +carried off nearly every prize which Wimbledon or Bisley had to offer. +With him was his wife, a very charming and refined woman, full of the +pleasant playfulness of her country. Mrs. Shlesinger was a middle-aged +widow, quiet and soothing, with her thoughts all taken up by her +six-year-old child, as a mother's thoughts are likely to be in a boat +which has an open rail for a bulwark. The Reverend John Stuart was a +Nonconformist minister from Birmingham--either a Presbyterian or a +Congregationalist--a man of immense stoutness, slow and torpid in his +ways, but blessed with a considerable fund of homely humour, which made +him, I am told, a very favourite preacher, and an effective speaker from +advanced Radical platforms. + +Finally, there was Mr. James Stephens, a Manchester solicitor (junior +partner of Hickson, Ward, and Stephens), who was travelling to shake off +the effects of an attack of influenza. Stephens was a man who, in the +course of thirty years, had worked himself up from cleaning the firm's +windows to managing its business. For most of that long time he had +been absolutely immersed in dry, technical work, living with the one +idea of satisfying old clients and attracting new ones, until his mind +and soul had become as formal and precise as the laws which he +expounded. A fine and sensitive nature was in danger of being as warped +as a busy city man's is liable to become. His work had become an +engrained habit, and, being a bachelor, he had hardly an interest in +life to draw him away from it, so that his soul was being gradually +bricked up like the body of a mediaeval nun. But at last there came +this kindly illness, and Nature hustled James Stephens out of his +groove, and sent him into the broad world far away from roaring +Manchester and his shelves full of calf-skin authorities. At first he +resented it deeply. Everything seemed trivial to him compared to his +own petty routine. But gradually his eyes were opened, and he began +dimly to see that it was his work which was trivial when compared to +this wonderful, varied, inexplicable world of which he was so ignorant. +Vaguely he realised that the interruption to his career might be more +important than the career itself. All sorts of new interests took +possession of him; and the middle-aged lawyer developed an after-glow of +that youth which had been wasted among his books. His character was +too formed to admit of his being anything but dry and precise in his +ways, and a trifle pedantic in his mode of speech; but he read and +thought and observed, scoring his "Baedeker" with underlinings and +annotations as he had once done his "Prideaux's Commentaries." He had +travelled up from Cairo with the party, and had contracted a friendship +with Miss Adams and her niece. The young American girl, with her +chatter, her audacity, and her constant flow of high spirits, amused and +interested him, and she in turn felt a mixture of respect and of pity +for his knowledge and his limitations. So they became good friends, and +people smiled to see his clouded face and her sunny one bending over the +same guide-book. + +The little _Korosko_ puffed and spluttered her way up the river, kicking +up the white water behind her, and making more noise and fuss over her +five knots an hour than an Atlantic liner on a record voyage. On deck, +under the thick awning, sat her little family of passengers, and every +few hours she eased down and sidled up to the bank to allow them to +visit one more of that innumerable succession of temples. The remains, +however, grow more modern as one ascends from Cairo, and travellers who +have sated themselves at Gizeh and Sakara with the contemplation of the +very oldest buildings which the hands of man have constructed, become +impatient of temples which are hardly older than the Christian era. +Ruins which would be gazed upon with wonder and veneration in any other +country are hardly noticed in Egypt. The tourists viewed with languid +interest the half-Greek art of the Nubian bas-reliefs; they climbed the +hill of Korosko to see the sun rise over the savage Eastern desert; they +were moved to wonder by the great shrine of Abou-Simbel, where some old +race has hollowed out a mountain as if it were a cheese; and, finally, +upon the evening of the fourth day of their travels they arrived at Wady +Halfa, the frontier garrison town, some few hours after they were due, +on account of a small mishap in the engine-room. The next morning was +to be devoted to an expedition to the famous rock of Abousir, from which +a great view may be obtained of the second cataract. At eight-thirty, +as the passengers sat on deck after dinner, Mansoor, the dragoman, half +Copt, half Syrian, came forward, according to the nightly custom, to +announce the programme for the morrow. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said he, plunging boldly into the rapid but +broken stream of his English, "to-morrow you will remember not to forget +to rise when the gong strikes you for to compress the journey before +twelve o'clock. Having arrived at the place where the donkeys expect +us, we shall ride five miles over the desert, passing a temple of +Ammon-ra, which dates itself from the eighteenth dynasty, upon the way, +and so reach the celebrated pulpit rock of Abousir. The pulpit rock is +supposed to have been called so, because it is a rock like a pulpit. +When you have reached it you will know that you are on the very edge of +civilisation, and that very little more will take you into the country +of the Dervishes, which will be obvious to you at the top. +Having passed the summit, you will perceive the full extremity of the +second cataract, embracing wild natural beauties of the most dreadful +variety. Here all very famous people carve their names--and so you will +carve your names also." Mansoor waited expectantly for a titter, and +bowed to it when it arrived. "You will then return to Wady Halfa, and +there remain two hours to suspect the Camel Corps, including the +grooming of the beasts, and the bazaar before returning, so I wish you a +very happy good-night." + +There was a gleam of his white teeth in the lamplight, and then his +long, dark petticoats, his short English cover-coat, and his red +tarboosh vanished successively down the ladder. The low buzz of +conversation which had been suspended by his coming broke out anew. + +"I'm relying on you, Mr. Stephens, to tell me all about Abousir," said +Miss Sadie Adams. "I do like to know what I am looking at right there +at the time, and not six hours afterwards in my state-room. I haven't +got Abou-Simbel and the wall pictures straight in my mind yet, though I +saw them yesterday." + +"I never hope to keep up with it," said her aunt. "When I am safe back +in Commonwealth Avenue, and there's no dragoman to hustle me around, +I'll have time to read about it all, and then I expect I shall begin to +enthuse, and want to come right back again. But it's just too good of +you, Mr. Stephens, to try and keep us informed." + +"I thought that you might wish precise information, and so I prepared a +small digest of the matter," said Stephens, handing a slip of paper to +Miss Sadie. She looked at it in the light of the deck lamp, and broke +into her low, hearty laugh. + +"_Re_ Abousir," she read; "now, what _do_ you mean by '_re_,' Mr. +Stephens? You put '_re_ Rameses the Second' on the last paper you gave +me." + +"It is a habit I have acquired, Miss Sadie," said Stephens; "it is the +custom in the legal profession when they make a memo." + +"Make what, Mr. Stephens?" + +"A memo--a memorandum, you know. We put _re_ so-and-so to show what it +is about." + +"I suppose it's a good short way," said Miss Sadie, "but it feels queer +somehow when applied to scenery or to dead Egyptian kings. +'_Re_ Cheops'--doesn't that strike you as funny?" + +"No, I can't say that it does," said Stephens. + +"I wonder if it is true that the English have less humour than the +Americans, or whether it's just another kind of humour," said the girl. +She had a quiet, abstracted way of talking as if she were thinking +aloud. "I used to imagine they had less, and yet, when you come to +think of it, Dickens and Thackeray and Barrie, and so many other of the +humourists we admire most are Britishers. Besides, I never in all my +days heard people laugh so hard as in that London theatre. There was a +man behind us, and every time he laughed Auntie looked round to see if a +door had opened, he made such a draught. But you have some funny +expressions, Mr. Stephens!" + +"What else strikes you as funny, Miss Sadie?" + +"Well, when you sent me the temple ticket and the little map, you began +your letter, 'Enclosed, please find,' and then at the bottom, in +brackets, you had '2 enclo.'" + +"That is the usual form in business." + +"Yes, in business," said Sadie demurely, and there was a silence. + +"There's one thing I wish," remarked Miss Adams, in the hard, metallic +voice with which she disguised her softness of heart, "and that is, that +I could see the Legislature of this country and lay a few cold-drawn +facts in front of them. I'd make a platform of my own, Mr. Stephens, +and run a party on my ticket. A Bill for the compulsory use of eyewash +would be one of my planks, and another would be for the abolition of +those Yashmak veil things which turn a woman into a bale of cotton goods +with a pair of eyes looking out of it." + +"I never could think why they wore them," said Sadie; "until one day I +saw one with her veil lifted. Then I knew." + +"They make me tired, those women," cried Miss Adams wrathfully. +"One might as well try to preach duty and decency and cleanliness to a +line of bolsters. Why, good land, it was only yesterday at Abou-Simbel, +Mr. Stephens, I was passing one of their houses--if you can call a +mud-pie like that a house--and I saw two of the children at the door +with the usual crust of flies round their eyes, and great holes in their +poor little blue gowns! So I got off my donkey, and I turned up my +sleeves, and I washed their faces well with my handkerchief, and sewed +up the rents--for in this country I would as soon think of going ashore +without my needle-case as without my white umbrella, Mr. Stephens. +Then as I warmed on the job I got into the room--such a room!--and I +packed the folks out of it, and I fairly did the chores as if I had been +the hired help. I've seen no more of that temple of Abou-Simbel than if +I had never left Boston; but, my sakes, I saw more dust and mess than +you would think they could crowd into a house the size of a Newport +bathing-hut. From the time I pinned up my skirt until I came out with +my face the colour of that smoke-stack, wasn't more than an hour, or +maybe an hour and a half, but I had that house as clean and fresh as a +new pine-wood box. I had a _New York Herald_ with me, and I lined their +shelf with paper for them. Well, Mr. Stephens, when I had done washing +my hands outside, I came past the door again, and there were those two +children sitting on the stoop with their eyes full of flies, and all +just the same as ever, except that each had a little paper cap made out +of the _New York Herald_ upon his head. But, say, Sadie, it's going on +to ten o'clock, and to-morrow an early excursion." + +"It's just too beautiful, this purple sky and the great silver stars," +said Sadie. "Look at the silent desert and the black shadows of the +hills. It's grand, but it's terrible too; and then when you think that +we really _are_, as that dragoman said just now, on the very end of +civilisation, and with nothing but savagery and bloodshed down there +where the Southern Cross is twinkling so prettily, why, it's like +standing on the beautiful edge of a live volcano." + +"Shucks, Sadie, don't talk like that, child," said the older woman +nervously. "It's enough to scare any one to listen to you." + +"Well, but don't you feel it yourself, Auntie? Look at that great +desert stretching away and away until it is lost in the shadows. +Hear the sad whisper of the wind across it! It's just the most solemn +thing that ever I saw in my life." + +"I'm glad we've found something that will make you solemn, my dear," +said her Aunt. "I've sometimes thought--Sakes alive, what's that?" + +From somewhere amongst the hill shadows upon the other side of the river +there had risen a high shrill whimpering, rising and swelling, to end in +a long weary wail. + +"It's only a jackal, Miss Adams," said Stephens. "I heard one when we +went out to see the Sphinx by moonlight." + +But the American lady had risen, and her face showed that her nerves had +been ruffled. + +"If I had my time over again I wouldn't have come past Assouan," said +she. "I can't think what possessed me to bring you all the way up here, +Sadie. Your mother will think that I am clean crazy, and I'd never dare +to look her in the eye if anything went wrong with us. I've seen all I +want to see of this river, and all I ask now is to be back at Cairo +again." + +"Why, Auntie," cried the girl, "it isn't like you to be faint-hearted." + +"Well, I don't know how it is, Sadie, but I feel a bit unstrung, and +that beast caterwauling over yonder was just more than I could put up +with. There's one consolation, we are scheduled to be on our way home +to-morrow, after we've seen this one rock or temple, or whatever it is. +I'm full up of rocks and temples, Mr. Stephens. I shouldn't mope if I +never saw another. Come, Sadie! Good-night!" + +"Good-night! Good-night, Miss Adams!" + +And the two ladies passed down to their cabins. + +Monsieur Fardet was chatting, in a subdued voice, with Headingly, the +young Harvard graduate, bending forward confidentially between the +whiffs of his cigarette. + +"Dervishes, Mister Headingly!" said he, speaking excellent English, but +separating his syllables as d Frenchman will. "There are no Dervishes. +They do not exist." + +"Why, I thought the woods were full of them," said the American. + +Monsieur Fardet glanced across to where the red core of Colonel +Cochrane's cigar was glowing through the darkness. + +"You are an American, and you do not like the English," he whispered. +"It is perfectly comprehended upon the Continent that the Americans are +opposed to the English." + +"Well," said Headingly, with his slow, deliberate manner, "I won't say +that we have not our tiffs, and there are some of our people--mostly of +Irish stock--who are always mad with England; but the most of us have a +kindly thought for the mother country. You see they may be aggravating +folk sometimes, but after all they are our _own_ folk, and we can't wipe +that off the slate." + +"_Eh bien!_" said the Frenchman. "At least I can say to you what I +could not without offence say to these others. And I repeat that there +_are_ no Dervishes. They were an invention of Lord Cromer in the year +1885." + +"You don't say!" cried Headingly. + +"It is well known in Paris, and has been exposed in _La Patrie_ and +other of our so well-informed papers." + +"Hut this is colossal," said Headingly. "Do you mean to tell me, +Monsieur Fardet, that the siege of Khartoum and the death of Gordon and +the rest of it was just one great bluff?" + +"I will not deny that there was an emeute, but it was local, you +understand, and now long forgotten. Since then there has been profound +peace in the Soudan." + +"But I have heard of raids, Monsieur Fardet, and I've read of battles, +too, when the Arabs tried to invade Egypt. It was only Two days ago +that we passed Toski, where the dragoman said there had been a fight. +Is that all bluff also?" + +"Pah, my friend, you do not know the English. You look at them as you +see them with their pipes and their contented faces, and you say, 'Now, +these are good, simple folk, who will never hurt any one.' But all the +time they are thinking and watching and planning. 'Here is Egypt weak,' +they cry. '_Allons!_' and down they swoop like a gull upon a crust. +'You have no right there,' says the world. 'Come out of it!' +But England has already begun to tidy everything, just like the good +Miss Adams when she forces her way into the house of an Arab. +'Come out,' says the world. 'Certainly,' says England; 'just wait one +little minute until I have made everything nice and proper.' So the +world waits for a year or so, and then it says once again, 'Come out.' +'Just wait a little,' says England; 'there is trouble at Khartoum, and +when I have set that all right I shall be very glad to come out.' +So they wait until it is all over, and then again they say, 'Come out.' +'How can I come out,' says England, 'when there are still raids and +battles going on? If we were to leave, Egypt would be run over.' +'But there are no raids,' says the world. 'Oh, are there not?' says +England, and then within a week sure enough the papers are full of some +new raid of Dervishes. We are not all blind, Mister Headingly. +We understand very well how such things can be done. A few Bedouins, a +little backsheesh, some blank cartridges, and, behold--a raid!" + +"Well, well," said the American, "I'm glad to know the rights of this +business, for it has often puzzled me. But what does England get out of +it?" + +"She gets the country, monsieur." + +"I see. You mean, for example, that there is a favourable tariff for +British goods?" + +"No, monsieur; it is the same for all." + +"Well, then, she gives the contracts to Britishers?" + +"Precisely, monsieur." + +"For example, the railroad that they are building right through the +country, the one that runs alongside the river, that would be a valuable +contract for the British?" + +Monsieur Fardet was an honest man, if an imaginative one. + +"It is a French company, monsieur, which holds the railway contract," +said he. + +The American was puzzled. + +"They don't seem to get much for their trouble," said he. "Still, of +course, there must be some indirect pull somewhere. For example, Egypt +no doubt has to pay and keep all those red-coats in Cairo." + +"Egypt, monsieur! No, they are paid by England." + +"Well, I suppose they know their own business best, but they seem to me +to take a great deal of trouble, and to get mighty little in exchange. +If they don't mind keeping order and guarding the frontier, with a +constant war against the Dervishes on their hands, I don't know why any +one should object. I suppose no one denies that the prosperity of the +country has increased enormously since they came. The revenue returns +show that. They tell me also that the poorer folks have justice, which +they never had before." + +"What are they doing here at all?" cried the Frenchman angrily. +"Let them go back to their island. We cannot have them all over the +world." + +"Well, certainly, to us Americans, who live all in our own land, it does +seem strange how you European nations are for ever slopping over into +some other country which was not meant for you. It's easy for us to +talk, of course, for we have still got room and to spare for all our +people. When we begin pushing each other over the edge we shall have to +start annexing also. But at present just here in North Africa there is +Italy in Abyssinia, and England in Egypt, and France in Algiers--" + +"France!" cried Monsieur Fardet. "Algiers belongs to France. +You laugh, monsieur. I have the honour to wish you a very good-night." +He rose from his seat, and walked off, rigid with outraged patriotism, +to his cabin. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +The young American hesitated for a little, debating in his mind whether +he should not go down and post up the daily record of his impressions +which he kept for his home-staying sister. But the cigars of Colonel +Cochrane and of Cecil Brown were still twinkling in the far corner of +the deck, and the student was acquisitive in the search of information. +He did not quite know how to lead up to the matter, but the Colonel very +soon did it for him. + +"Come on, Headingly," said he, pushing a camp-stool in his direction. +"This is the place for an antidote. I see that Fardet has been pouring +politics into your ear." + +"I can always recognise the confidential stoop of his shoulders when he +discusses _la haute politique_," said the dandy diplomatist. "But what +a sacrilege upon a night like this! What a nocturne in blue and silver +might be suggested by that moon rising above the desert. There is a +movement in one of Mendelssohn's songs which seems to embody it all-- +a sense of vastness, of repetition, the cry of the wind over an +interminable expanse. The subtler emotions which cannot be translated +into words are still to be hinted at by chords and harmonies." + +"It seems wilder and more savage than ever to-night," remarked the +American. "It gives me the same feeling of pitiless force that the +Atlantic does upon a cold, dark, winter day. Perhaps it is the +knowledge that we are right there on the very edge of any kind of law +and order. How far do you suppose that we are from any Dervishes, +Colonel Cochrane?" + +"Well, on the Arabian side," said the Colonel, "we have the Egyptian +fortified camp of Sarras about forty miles to the south of us. Beyond +that are sixty miles of very wild country before you would come to the +Dervish post at Akasheh. On this other side, however, there is nothing +between us and them." + +"Abousir is on this side, is it not?" + +"Yes. That is why the excursion to the Abousir Rock has been forbidden +for the last year. But things are quieter now." + +"What is to prevent them from coming down on that side?" + +"Absolutely nothing," said Cecil Brown, in his listless voice. + +"Nothing, except their fears. The coming of course would be perfectly +simple. The difficulty would lie in the return. They might find it +hard to get back if their camels were spent, and the Halfa garrison with +their beasts fresh got on their track. They know it as well as we do, +and it has kept them from trying." + +"It isn't safe to reckon upon a Dervish's fears," remarked Brown. +"We must always bear in mind that they are not amenable to the same +motives as other people. Many of them are anxious to meet death, and +all of them are absolute, uncompromising believers in destiny. +They exist as a _reductio ad absurdum_ of all bigotry--a proof of how +surely it leads towards blank barbarism." + +"You think these people are a real menace to Egypt?" asked the American. +"There seems from what I have heard to be some difference of opinion +about it. Monsieur Fardet, for example, does not seem to think that the +danger is a very pressing one." + +"I am not a rich man," Colonel Cochrane answered after a little pause, +"but I am prepared to lay all I am worth, that within three years of the +British officers being withdrawn, the Dervishes would be upon the +Mediterranean. Where would the civilisation of Egypt be? Where would +the hundreds of millions which have been invested in this country? +Where the monuments which all nations look upon as most precious +memorials of the past?" + +"Come now, Colonel," cried Headingly, laughing, "surely you don't mean +that they would shift the pyramids?" + +"You cannot foretell what they would do. There is no iconoclast in the +world like an extreme Mohammedan. Last time they overran this country +they burned the Alexandrian Library. You know that all representations +of the human features are against the letter of the Koran. A statue is +always an irreligious object in their eyes. What do these fellows care +for the sentiment of Europe? The more they could offend it, the more +delighted they would be. Down would go the Sphinx, the Colossi, the +Statues of Abou-Simbel--as the saints went down in England before +Cromwell's troopers." + +"Well now," said Headingly, in his slow, thoughtful fashion, "suppose I +grant you that the Dervishes could overrun Egypt, and suppose also that +you English are holding them out, what I'm never done asking is, what +reason have you for spending all these millions of dollars and the lives +of so many of your men? What do you get out of it, more than France +gets, or Germany, or any other country, that runs no risk and never lays +out a cent?" + +"There are a good many Englishmen who are asking themselves that +question," remarked Cecil Brown. "It's my opinion that we have been the +policemen of the world long enough. We policed the seas for pirates and +slavers. Now we police the land for Dervishes and brigands and every +sort of danger to civilisation. There is never a mad priest or a witch +doctor, or a firebrand of any sort on this planet, who does not report +his appearance by sniping the nearest British officer. One tires of it +at last. If a Kurd breaks loose in Asia Minor, the world wants to know +why Great Britain does not keep him in order. If there is a military +mutiny in Egypt, or a Jehad in the Soudan, it is still Great Britain who +has to set it right. And all to an accompaniment of curses such as the +policeman gets when he seizes a ruffian among his pals. We get hard +knocks and no thanks, and why should we do it? Let Europe do its own +dirty work." + +"Well," said Colonel Cochrane, crossing his legs and leaning forward +with the decision of n man who has definite opinions, "I don't at all +agree with you, Brown, and I think that to advocate such a course is to +take a very limited view of our national duties. I think that behind +national interests and diplomacy and all that there lies a great guiding +force--a Providence, in fact--which is for ever getting the best out of +each nation and using it for the good of the whole. When a nation +ceases to respond, it is time that she went into hospital for a few +centuries, like Spain or Greece--the virtue has gone out of her. A man +or a nation is not placed upon this earth to do merely what is pleasant +and what is profitable. It is often called upon to carry out what is +both unpleasant and unprofitable, but if it is obviously right it is +mere shirking not to undertake it." + +Headingly nodded approvingly. + +"Each has its own mission. Germany is predominant in abstract thought; +France in literature, art, and grace. But we and you--for the +English-speakers are all in the same boat, however much the _New York +Sun_ may scream over it--we and you have among our best men a higher +conception of moral sense and public duty than is to be found in any +other people. Now, these are the two qualities which are needed for +directing a weaker race. You can't help them by abstract thought or by +graceful art, but only by that moral sense which will hold the scales of +Justice even, and keep itself free from every taint of corruption. +That is how we rule India. We came there by a kind of natural law, like +air rushing into a vacuum. All over the world, against our direct +interests and our deliberate intentions, we are drawn into the same +thing. And it will happen to you also. The pressure of destiny will +force you to administer the Whole of America from Mexico to the Horn." + +Headingly whistled. + +"Our Jingoes would be pleased to hear you, Colonel Cochrane," said he. +"They'd vote you into our Senate and make you one of the Committee on +Foreign Relations." + +"The world is small, and it grows smaller every day. It's a single +organic body, and one spot of gangrene is enough to vitiate the whole. +There's no room upon it for dishonest, defaulting, tyrannical, +irresponsible Governments. As long as they exist they will always be +sources of trouble and of danger. But there are many races which appear +to be so incapable of improvement that we can never hope to get a good +Government out of them. What is to be done, then? The former device of +Providence in such a case was extermination by some more virile stock-- +an Attila or a Tamerlane pruned off the weaker branch. Now, we have a +more merciful substitution of rulers, or even of mere advice from a more +advanced race. That is the case with the Central Asian Khanates and +with the protected States of India. If the work has to be done, and if +we are the best fitted for the work, then I think that it would be a +cowardice and a crime to shirk it." + +"But who is to decide whether it is a fitting case for your +interference?" objected the American. "A predatory country could grab +every other land in the world upon such a pretext." + +"Events--inexorable, inevitable events--will decide it. Take this +Egyptian business as an example. In 1881 there was nothing in this +world further from the minds of our people than any interference with +Egypt; and yet 1882 left us in possession of the country. There was +never any choice in the chain of events. A massacre in the streets of +Alexandria, and the mounting of guns to drive out our fleet--which was +there, you understand, in fulfilment of solemn treaty obligations--led +to the bombardment. The bombardment led to a landing to save the city +from destruction. The landing caused an extension of operations--and +here we are, with the country upon our hands. At the time of trouble we +begged and implored the French, or any one else, to come and help us to +put the thing to rights, but they all deserted us when there was work to +be done, although they are ready enough to scold and to impede us now. +When we tried to get out of it, up came this wild Dervish movement, and +we had to sit tighter than ever. We never wanted the task; but, now +that it has come, we must put it through in a workmanlike manner. +We've brought justice into the country, and purity of administration, +and protection for the poor man. It has made more advance in the last +twelve years than since the Moslem invasion in the seventh century. +Except the pay of a couple of hundred men, who spend their money in the +country, England has neither directly nor indirectly made a shilling out +of it, and I don't believe you will find in history a more successful +and more disinterested bit of work." + +Headingly puffed thoughtfully at his cigarette. + +"There is a house near ours, down on the Back Bay at Boston, which just +ruins the whole prospect," said he. "It has old chairs littered about +the stoop, and the shingles are loose, and the garden runs wild; but I +don't know that the neighbours are exactly justified in rushing in, and +stamping around, and running the thing on their own lines." + +"Not if it were on fire?" asked the Colonel. + +Headingly laughed, and rose from his camp-stool. + +"Well, it doesn't come within the provisions of the Monroe Doctrine, +Colonel," said he. "I'm beginning to realise that modern Egypt is every +bit as interesting as ancient, and that Rameses the Second wasn't the +last live man in the country." + +The two Englishmen rose and yawned. + +"Yes, it's a whimsical freak of fortune which has sent men from a little +island in the Atlantic to administer the land of the Pharaohs," remarked +Cecil Brown. "We shall pass away again, and never leave a trace among +these successive races who have held the country, for it is not an +Anglo-Saxon custom to write their deeds upon rocks. I dare say that the +remains of a Cairo drainage system will be our most permanent record, +unless they prove a thousand years hence that it was the work of the +Hyksos kings. But here is the shore party come back." + +Down below they could hear the mellow Irish accents of Mrs. Belmont and +the deep voice of her husband, the iron-grey rifle-shot. Mr. Stuart, +the fat Birmingham clergyman, was thrashing out a question of piastres +with a noisy donkey-boy, and the others were joining in with chaff and +advice. Then the hubbub died away, the party from above came down the +ladder, there were "good-nights," the shutting of doors, and the little +steamer lay silent, dark, and motionless in the shadow of the high Halfa +bank. And beyond this one point of civilisation and of comfort there +lay the limitless, savage, unchangeable desert, straw-coloured and +dream-like in the moonlight, mottled over with the black shadows of the +hills. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"Stoppa! Backa!" cried the native pilot to the European engineer. + +The bluff bows of the stern-wheeler had squelched into the soft brown +mud, and the current had swept the boat alongside the bank. The long +gangway was thrown across, and the six tall soldiers of the Soudanese +escort filed along it, their light-blue gold-trimmed zouave uniforms, +and their jaunty yellow and red forage-caps, showing up bravely in the +clear morning light. Above them, on the top of the bank, was ranged the +line of donkeys, and the air was full of the clamour of the boys. +In shrill strident voices each was crying out the virtues of his own +beast, and abusing that of his neighbour. + +Colonel Cochrane and Mr. Belmont stood together in the bows, each +wearing the broad white puggareed hat of the tourist. Miss Adams and +her niece leaned against the rail beside them. + +"Sorry your wife isn't coming, Belmont," said the Colonel. + +"I think she had a touch of the sun yesterday. Her head aches very +badly." + +His voice was strong and thick like his figure. + +"I should stay to keep her company, Mr. Belmont," said the little +American old maid; "but I learn that Mrs. Shlesinger finds the ride too +long for her, and has some letters which she must mail to-day, so Mrs. +Belmont will not be lonesome." + +"You're very good, Miss Adams. We shall be back, you know, by two +o'clock." + +"Is that certain?" + +"It must be certain, for we are taking no lunch with us, and we shall be +famished by then." + +"Yes, I expect we shall be ready for a hock and seltzer at any rate," +said the Colonel. "This desert dust gives a flavour to the worst +wine." + +"Now, ladies and gentlemen!" cried Mansoor, the dragoman, moving forward +with something of the priest in his flowing garments and smooth, +clean-shaven face. "We must start early that we may return before the +meridial heat of the weather." He ran his dark eyes over the little +group of his tourists with a paternal expression. "You take your green +glasses, Miss Adams, for glare very great out in the desert. Ah, Mr. +Stuart, I set aside very fine donkey for you--prize donkey, sir, always +put aside for the gentleman of most weight. Never mind to take your +monument ticket to-day. Now, ladies and gentlemen, if _you_ please!" + +Like a grotesque frieze the party moved one by one along the plank +gangway and up the brown crumbling bank. Mr. Stephens led them, a thin, +dry, serious figure, in an English straw hat. His red "Baedeker" +gleamed under his arm, and in one hand he held a little paper of notes, +as if it were a brief. He took Miss Sadie by one arm and her aunt by +the other as they toiled up the bank, and the young girl's laughter rang +frank and clear in the morning air as "Baedeker" came fluttering down at +their feet. Mr. Belmont and Colonel Cochrane followed, the brims of +their sun-hats touching as they discussed the relative advantages of the +Mauser, the Lebel, and the Lee-Metford. Behind them walked Cecil Brown, +listless, cynical, self-contained. The fat clergyman puffed slowly up +the bank, with many gasping witticisms at his own defects. "I'm one of +those men who carry everything before them," said he, glancing ruefully +at his rotundity, and chuckling wheezily at his own little joke. +Last of all came Headingly, slight and tall, with the student stoop +about his shoulders, and Fardet, the good-natured, fussy, argumentative +Parisian. + +"You see we have an escort to-day," he whispered to his companion. + +"So I observed." + +"Pah!" cried the Frenchman, throwing out his arms in derision; "as well +have an escort from Paris to Versailles. This is all part of the play, +Monsieur Headingly. It deceives no one, but it is part of the play. +_Pourquoi ces droles de militaires, dragoman, hein?_" + +It was the dragoman's _role_ to be all things to all men, so he looked +cautiously round before he answered, to make sure that the English were +mounted and out of earshot. + +"_C'est ridicule, monsieur!_" said he, shrugging his fat shoulders. +"_Mais que voulez-vous? C'est l'ordre official Egyptien._" + +"_Egyptien! Pah, Anglais, Anglais--toujours Anglais!_" cried the angry +Frenchman. + +The frieze now was more grotesque than ever, but had changed suddenly to +an equestrian one, sharply outlined against the deep-blue Egyptian sky. +Those who have never ridden before have to ride in Egypt, and when the +donkeys break into a canter, and the Nile Irregulars are at full charge, +such a scene of flying veils, clutching hands, huddled swaying figures, +and anxious faces is nowhere to be seen. Belmont, his square figure +balanced upon a small white donkey, was waving his hat to his wife, who +had come out upon the saloon-deck of the _Korosko_. Cochrane sat very +erect with a stiff military seat, hands low, head high, and heels down, +while beside him rode the young Oxford man, looking about him with +drooping eyelids as if he thought the desert hardly respectable, and had +his doubts about the Universe. Behind them the whole party was strung +along the bank in varying stages of jolting and discomfort, a +brown-faced, noisy donkey-boy running after each donkey. Looking back, +they could see the little lead-coloured stern-wheeler, with the gleam of +Mrs. Belmont's handkerchief from the deck. Beyond ran the broad, brown +river, winding down in long curves to where, five miles off, the square, +white block-houses upon the black, ragged hills marked the outskirts of +Wady Halfa, which had been their starting-point that morning. + +"Isn't it just too lovely for anything?" cried Sadie joyously. "I've +got a donkey that runs on casters, and the saddle is just elegant. +Did you ever see anything so cunning as these beads and things round his +neck? You must make a memo. _re_ donkey, Mr. Stephens. Isn't that +correct legal English?" + +Stephens looked at the pretty, animated, boyish face looking up at him +from under the coquettish straw hat, and he wished that he had the +courage to tell her in her own language that she was just too sweet for +anything. But he feared above all things lest he should offend her, and +so put an end to their present pleasant intimacy. So his compliment +dwindled into a smile. + +"You look very happy," said he. + +"Well, who could help feeling good with this dry, clear air, and the +blue sky, and the crisp yellow sand, and a superb donkey to carry you? +I've just got everything in the world to make me happy." + +"Everything?" + +"Well, everything I have any use for just now." + +"I suppose you never know what it is to be sad?" + +"Oh, when I _am_ miserable, I am just too miserable for words. I've sat +and cried for days and days at Smith's College, and the other girls were +just crazy to know what I was crying about, and guessing what the reason +was that I wouldn't tell them, when all the time the real true reason +was that I didn't know myself. You know how it comes like a great dark +shadow over you, and you don't know why or wherefore, but you've just +got to settle down to it and be miserable." + +"But you never had any real cause?" + +"No, Mr. Stephens, I've had such a good time all my life that I really +don't think, when I look back, that I ever had any real cause for +sorrow." + +"Well, Miss Sadie, I hope with all my heart that you will be able to say +the same when you are the same age as your aunt. Surely I hear her +calling." + +"I wish, Mr. Stephens, you would strike my donkey-boy with your whip if +he hits the donkey again," cried Miss Adams, jogging up on a high, +raw-boned beast. "Hi, dragoman, Mansoor, you tell this boy that I won't +have the animals ill used, and that he ought to be ashamed of himself. +Yes, you little rascal, you ought! He's grinning at me like an +advertisement for a tooth paste. Do you think, Mr. Stephens, that if I +were to knit that black soldier a pair of woollen stockings he would be +allowed to wear them? The poor creature has bandages round his legs." + +"Those are his putties, Miss Adams," said Colonel Cochrane, looking +back at her. "We have found in India that they are the best support to +the leg in marching. They are very much better than any stocking." + +"Well, you don't say! They remind me mostly of a sick horse. But it's +elegant to have the soldiers with us, though Monsieur Fardet tells me +there's nothing for us to be scared about." + +"That is only my opinion, Miss Adams," said the Frenchman hastily. +"It may be that Colonel Cochrane thinks otherwise." + +"It is Monsieur Fardet's opinion against that of the officers who have +the responsibility of caring for the safety of the frontier," said the +Colonel coldly. "At least we will all agree that they have the effect +of making the scene very much more picturesque." + +The desert upon their right lay in long curves of sand, like the dunes +which might have fringed some forgotten primeval sea. Topping them they +could see the black, craggy summits of the curious volcanic hills which +rise upon the Libyan side. On the crest of the low sand-hills they +would catch a glimpse every now and then of a tall, sky-blue soldier, +walking swiftly, his rifle at the trail. For a moment the lank, warlike +figure would be sharply silhouetted against the sky. Then he would dip +into a hollow and disappear, while some hundred yards off another would +show for an instant and vanish. + +"Wherever are they raised?" asked Sadie, watching the moving figures. +"They look to me just about the same tint as the hotel boys in the +States." + +"I thought some question might arise about them," said Mr. Stephens, who +was never so happy as when he could anticipate some wish of the pretty +American. "I made one or two references this morning in the ship's +library. Here it is--_re_--that's to say, about black soldiers. I have +it on my notes that they are from the 10th Soudanese battalion of the +Egyptian army. They are recruited from the Dinkas and the Shilluks--two +negroid tribes living to the south of the Dervish country, near the +Equator." + +"How can the recruits come through the Dervishes, then?" asked Headingly +sharply. + +"I dare say there is no such very great difficulty over that," said +Monsieur Fardet, with a wink at the American. + +"The older men are the remains of the old black battalions. Some of +them served with Gordon at Khartoum, and have his medal to show. +The others are many of them deserters from the Mahdi's army," said the +Colonel. + +"Well, so long as they are not wanted, they look right elegant in those +blue jackets," Miss Adams observed. "But if there was any trouble, I +guess we would wish they were less ornamental and a bit whiter." + +"I am not so sure of that, Miss Adams," said the Colonel. "I have seen +these fellows in the field, and I assure you that I have the utmost +confidence in their steadiness." + +"Well, I'll take your word without trying," said Miss Adams, with a +decision which made every one smile. + +So far their road had lain along the side of the river, which was +swirling down upon their left hand deep and strong from the cataracts +above. Here and there the rush of the current was broken by a black +shining boulder over which the foam was spouting. Higher up they could +see the white gleam of the rapids, and the banks grew into rugged +cliffs, which were capped by a peculiar, outstanding semi-circular rock. +It did not require the dragoman's aid to tell the party that this was +the famous landmark to which they were bound. A long, level stretch lay +before them, and the donkeys took it at a canter. At the farther side +were scattered rocks, black upon orange; and in the midst of them rose +some broken shafts of pillars and a length of engraved wall, looking in +its greyness and its solidity more like some work of Nature than of man. +The fat, sleek dragoman had dismounted, and stood waiting in his +petticoats and his cover-coat for the stragglers to gather round him. + +"This temple, ladies and gentlemen," he cried, with the air of an +auctioneer who is about to sell it to the highest bidder, "very fine +example from the eighteenth dynasty. Here is the cartouche of Thotmes +the Third," he pointed up with his donkey-whip at the rude, but deep, +hieroglyphics upon the wall above him. "He live sixteen hundred years +before Christ, and this is made to remember his victorious exhibition +into Mesopotamia. Here we have his history from the time that he was +with his mother, until he return with captives tied to his chariot. +In this you see him crowned with Lower Egypt, and with Upper Egypt +offering up sacrifice in honour of his victory to the God Ammon-ra. +Here he bring his captives before him, and he cut off each his right +hand. In this corner you see little pile--all right hands." + +"My sakes, I shouldn't have liked to be here in those days," said Miss +Adams. + +"Why, there's nothing altered," remarked Cecil Brown. "The East is +still the East. I've no doubt that within a hundred miles, or perhaps a +good deal less, from where you stand--" + +"Shut up!" whispered the Colonel, and the party shuffled on down the +line of the wall with their faces up and their big hats thrown +backwards. The sun behind them struck the old grey masonry with a +brassy glare, and carried on to it the strange black shadows of the +tourists, mixing them up with the grim, high-nosed, square-shouldered +warriors, and the grotesque, rigid deities who lined it. The broad +shadow of the Reverend John Stuart, of Birmingham, smudged out both the +heathen King and the god whom he worshipped. + +"What's this?" he was asking in his wheezy voice, pointing up with a +yellow Assouan cane. + +"That is a hippopotamus," said the dragoman; and the tourists all +tittered, for there was just a suspicion of Mr. Stuart himself in the +carving. + +"But it isn't bigger than a little pig," he protested. "You see that +the King is putting his spear through it with ease." + +"They make it small to show that it was a very small thing to the King," +said the dragoman. "So you see that all the King's prisoners do not +exceed his knee--which is not because he was so much taller, but so much +more powerful. You see that he is bigger than his horse, because he is +a king and the other is only a horse. The same way, these small women +whom you see here and there are just his trivial little wives." + +"Well, now!" cried Miss Adams indignantly. "If they had sculpted that +King's soul it would have needed a lens to see it. Fancy his allowing +his wives to be put in like that." + +"If he did it now, Miss Adams," said the Frenchman, "he would have more +fighting than ever in Mesopotamia. But time brings revenge. Perhaps +the day will soon come when we have the picture of the big strong wife +and the trivial little husband--_hein?_" + +Cecil Brown and Headingly had dropped behind, for the glib comments of +the dragoman, and the empty, light-hearted chatter of the tourists +jarred upon their sense of solemnity. They stood in silence watching +the grotesque procession, with its sun-hats and green veils, as it +passed in the vivid sunshine down the front of the old grey wall. +Above them two crested hoopoes were fluttering and calling amid the +ruins of the pylon. + +"Isn't it a sacrilege?" said the Oxford man at last. + +"Well, now, I'm glad you feel that about it, because it's how it always +strikes me," Headingly answered with feeling. "I'm not quite clear in +my own mind how these things should be approached--if they are to be +approached at all--but I am sure this is not the way. On the whole, I +prefer the ruins that I have not seen to those which I have." + +The young diplomatist looked up with his peculiarly bright smile, which +faded away too soon into his languid, _blase_ mask. + +"I've got a map," said the American, "and sometimes far away from +anything in the very midst of the waterless, trackless desert, I see +'ruins' marked upon it--or 'remains of a temple,' perhaps. For example, +the temple of Jupiter Ammon, which was one of the most considerable +shrines in the world, was hundreds of miles away back of anywhere. +Those are the ruins, solitary, unseen, unchanging through the centuries, +which appeal to one's imagination. But when I present a check at the +door, and go in as if it were Barnum's show, all the subtle feeling of +romance goes right out of it." + +"Absolutely!" said Cecil Brown, looking over the desert with his dark, +intolerant eyes. "If one could come wandering here alone--stumble upon +it by chance, as it were--and find one's self in absolute solitude in +the dim light of the temple, with these grotesque figures all round, it +would be perfectly overwhelming. A man would be prostrated with wonder +and awe. But when Belmont is puffing his bulldog pipe, and Stuart is +wheezing, and Miss Sadie Adams is laughing--" + +"And that jay of a dragoman speaking his piece," said Headingly; +"I want to stand and think all the time, and I never seem to get the +chance. I was ripe for manslaughter when I stood before the Great +Pyramid, and couldn't get a quiet moment because they would boost me on +to the top. I took a kick at one man which would have sent _him_ to the +top in one jump if I had hit meat. But fancy travelling all the way +from America to see the pyramid, and then finding nothing better to do +than to kick an Arab in front of it!" + +The Oxford man laughed in his gentle, tired fashion. "They are starting +again," said he, and the two hastened forwards to take their places at +the tail of the absurd procession. + +Their route ran now among large, scattered boulders, and between stony, +shingly hills. A narrow winding path curved in and out amongst the +rocks. Behind them their view was cut off by similar hills, black and +fantastic, like the slag-heaps at the shaft of a mine. A silence fell +upon the little company, and even Sadie's bright face reflected the +harshness of Nature. The escort had closed in, and marched beside them, +their boots scrunching among the loose black rubble. Colonel Cochrane +and Belmont were still riding together in the van. + +"Do you know, Belmont," said the Colonel, in a low voice, "you may think +me a fool, but I don't like this one little bit." + +Belmont gave a short gruff laugh. + +"It seemed all right in the saloon of the _Korosko_, but now that we are +here we _do_ seem rather up in the air," said he. "Still, you know, a +party comes here every week, and nothing has ever gone wrong." + +"I don't mind taking my chances when I am on the war-path," the Colonel +answered. "That's all straightforward and in the way of business. +But when you have women with you, and a helpless crowd like this, it +becomes really dreadful. Of course, the chances are a hundred to one +that we have no trouble; but if we should have--well, it won't bear +thinking about. The wonderful thing is their complete unconsciousness +that there is any danger whatever." + +"Well, I like the English tailor-made dresses well enough for walking, +Mr. Stephens," said Miss Sadie from behind them. "But for an afternoon +dress, I think the French have more style than the English. Your +milliners have a more severe cut, and they don't do the cunning little +ribbons and bows and things in the same way." + +The Colonel smiled at Belmont. + +"_She_ is quite serene in her mind, at any rate," said he. "Of course, +I wouldn't say what I think to any one but you, and I daresay it will +all prove to be quite unfounded." + +"Well, I could imagine parties of Dervishes on the prowl," said Belmont. +"But what I cannot imagine is that they should just happen to come to +the pulpit rock on the very morning when we are due there." + +"Considering that our movements have been freely advertised, and that +every one knows a week beforehand what our programme is, and where we +are to be found, it does not strike me as being such a wonderful +coincidence." + +"It is a very remote chance," said Belmont stoutly, but he was glad in +his heart that his wife was safe and snug on board the steamer. + +And now they were clear of the rocks again, with a fine stretch of firm +yellow sand extending to the very base of the conical hill which lay +before them. "Ay-ah! Ay-ah!" cried the boys, whack came their sticks +upon the flanks of the donkeys, which broke into a gallop, and away they +all streamed over the plain. It was not until they had come to the end +of the path which curves up the hill that the dragoman called a halt. + +"Now, ladies and gentlemen, we are arrived for the so famous pulpit rock +of Abousir. From the summit you will presently enjoy a panorama of +remarkable fertility. But first you will observe that over the rocky +side of the hill are everywhere cut the names of great men who have +passed it in their travels, and some of these names are older than the +time of Christ." + +"Got Moses?" asked Miss Adams. + +"Auntie, I'm surprised at you!" cried Sadie. + +"Well, my dear, he was in Egypt, and he was a great man, and he may have +passed this way." + +"Moses's name very likely there, and the same with Herodotus," said the +dragoman gravely. "Both have been long worn away. But there on the +brown rock you will see Belzoni. And up higher is Gordon. There is +hardly a name famous in the Soudan which you will not find, if you like. +And now, with your permission, we shall take good-bye of our donkeys and +walk up the path, and you will see the river and the desert from the +summit of the top." + +A minute or two of climbing brought them out upon the semicircular +platform which crowns the rock. Below them on the far side was a +perpendicular black cliff, a hundred and fifty feet high, with the +swirling, foam-streaked river roaring past its base. The swish of the +water and the low roar as it surged over the mid-stream boulders boomed +through the hot, stagnant air. Far up and far down they could see the +course of the river, a quarter of a mile in breadth, and running very +deep and strong, with sleek black eddies and occasional spoutings of +foam. On the other side was a frightful wilderness of black, scattered +rocks, which were the _debris_ carried down by the river at high flood. +In no direction were there any signs of human beings or their dwellings. + +"On the far side," said the dragoman, waving his donkey-whip towards the +east, "is the military line which conducts Wady Halfa to Sarras. +Sarras lies to the south, under that black hill. Those two blue +mountains which you see very far away are in Dongola, more than a +hundred miles from Sarras. The railway there is forty miles long, and +has been much annoyed by the Dervishes, who are very glad to turn the +rails into spears. The telegraph wires are also much appreciated +thereby. Now, if you will kindly turn round, I will explain, also, what +we see upon the other side." + +It was a view which, when once seen, must always haunt the mind. +Such an expanse of savage and unrelieved desert might be part of some +cold and burned-out planet rather than of this fertile and bountiful +earth. Away and away it stretched to die into a soft, violet haze in +the extremest distance. In the foreground the sand was of a bright +golden yellow, which was quite dazzling in the sunshine. Here and +there, in a scattered cordon, stood the six trusty negro soldiers +leaning motionless upon their rifles, and each throwing a shadow which +looked as solid as himself. But beyond this golden plain lay a low line +of those black slag-heaps, with yellow sand-valleys winding between +them. These in their turn were topped by higher and more fantastic +hills, and these by others, peeping over each other's shoulders until +they blended with that distant violet haze. None of these hills were of +any height--a few hundred feet at the most--but their savage, +saw-toothed crests, and their steep scarps of sun-baked stone, gave them +a fierce character of their own. + +"The Libyan Desert," said the dragoman, with a proud wave of his hand. +"The greatest desert in the world. Suppose you travel right west from +here, and turn neither to the north nor to the south, the first houses +you would come to would be in America. That make you home-sick, Miss +Adams, I believe?" + +But the American old maid had her attention drawn away by the conduct of +Sadie, who had caught her arm by one hand and was pointing over the +desert with the other. + +"Well, now, if that isn't too picturesque for anything!" she cried, with +a flush of excitement upon her pretty face. "Do look, Mr. Stephens! +That's just the one only thing we wanted to make it just perfectly +grand. See the men upon the camels coming out from between those +hills!" + +They all looked at the long string of red-turbaned riders who were +winding out of the ravine, and there fell such a hush that the buzzing +of the flies sounded quite loud upon their ears. Colonel Cochrane had +lit a match, and he stood with it in one hand and the unlit cigarette in +the other until the flame licked round his fingers. Belmont whistled. +The dragoman stood staring with his mouth half-open, and a curious slaty +tint in his full, red lips. The others looked from one to the other +with an uneasy sense that there was something wrong. It was the Colonel +who broke the silence. + +"By George, Belmont, I believe the hundred-to-one chance has come off!" +said he. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"What's the meaning of this, Mansoor?" cried Belmont harshly. "Who are +these people, and why are you standing staring as if you had lost your +senses?" + +The dragoman made an effort to compose himself, and licked his dry lips +before he answered. + +"I do not know who they are," said he in a quavering voice. + +"Who they are?" cried the Frenchman. "You can see who they are. +They are armed men upon camels, Ababdeh, Bishareen--Bedouins, in short, +such as are employed by the Government upon the frontier." + +"Be Jove, he may be right, Cochrane," said Belmont, looking inquiringly +at the Colonel. "Why shouldn't it be as he says? why shouldn't these +fellows be friendlies?" + +"There are no friendlies upon this side of the river," said the Colonel +abruptly; "I am perfectly certain about that. There is no use in +mincing matters. We must prepare for the worst." + +But in spite of his words, they stood stock-still, in a huddled group, +staring out over the plain. Their nerves were numbed by the sudden +shock, and to all of them it was like a scene in a dream, vague, +impersonal, and un-real. The men upon the camels had streamed out from +a gorge which lay a mile or so distant on the side of the path along +which they had travelled. Their retreat, therefore, was entirely cut +off. It appeared, from the dust and the length of the line, to be quite +an army which was emerging from the hills, for seventy men upon camels +cover a considerable stretch of ground. Having reached the sandy plain, +they very deliberately formed to the front, and then at the harsh call +of a bugle they trotted forward in line, the parti-coloured figures all +swaying and the sand smoking in a rolling yellow cloud at the heels of +their camels. At the same moment the six black soldiers doubled in from +the front with their Martinis at the trail, and snuggled down like +well-trained skirmishers behind the rocks upon the haunch of the hill. +Their breech blocks all snapped together as their corporal gave them the +order to load. + +And now suddenly the first stupor of the excursionists passed away, and +was succeeded by a frantic and impotent energy. They all ran about upon +the plateau of rock in an aimless, foolish flurry, like frightened fowls +in a yard. They could not bring themselves to acknowledge that there +was no possible escape for them. Again and again they rushed to the +edge of the great cliff which rose from the river, but the youngest and +most daring of them could never have descended it. The two women clung +one on each side of the trembling Mansoor, with a feeling that he was +officially responsible for their safety. When he ran up and down in his +desperation, his skirts and theirs all fluttered together. Stephens, +the lawyer, kept close to Sadie Adams, muttering mechanically, "Don't be +alarmed, Miss Sadie; don't be at all alarmed!" though his own limbs were +twitching with agitation. Monsieur Fardet stamped about with a guttural +rolling of r's, glancing angrily at his companions as if they had in +some way betrayed him; while the fat clergyman stood with his umbrella +up, staring stolidly with big, frightened eyes at the camel-men. +Cecil Brown curled his small, prim moustache, and looked white, but +contemptuous. The Colonel, Belmont, and the young Harvard graduate were +the three most cool-headed and resourceful members of the party. + +"Better stick together," said the Colonel. "There's no escape for us, +so we may as well remain united." + +"They've halted," said Belmont. + +"They are reconnoitring us. They know very well that there is no escape +from them, and they are taking their time. I don't see what we can do." + +"Suppose we hide the women," Headingly suggested. "They can't know how +many of us are here. When they have taken us, the women can come out of +their hiding-place and make their way back to the boat." + +"Admirable!" cried Colonel Cochrane. "Admirable! This way, please, Miss +Adams. Bring the ladies here, Mansoor. There is not an instant to be +lost." + +There was a part of the plateau which was invisible from the plain, and +here in feverish haste they built a little cairn. Many flaky slabs of +stone were lying about, and it did not take long to prop the largest of +these against a rock, so as to make a lean-to, and then to put two +side-pieces to complete it. The slabs were of the same colour as the +rock, so that to a casual glance the hiding-place was not very visible. +The two ladies were squeezed into this, and they crouched together, +Sadie's arms thrown round her aunt. When they had walled them up, the +men turned with lighter hearts to see what was going on. As they did so +there rang out the sharp, peremptory crack of a rifle-shot from the +escort, followed by another and another, but these isolated shots were +drowned in the long, spattering roll of an irregular volley from the +plain, and the air was full of the phit-phit-phit of the bullets. +The tourists all huddled behind the rocks, with the exception of the +Frenchman, who still stamped angrily about, striking his sun-hat with +his clenched hand. Belmont and Cochrane crawled down to where the +Soudanese soldiers were firing slowly and steadily, resting their rifles +upon the boulders in front of them. + +The Arabs had halted about five hundred yards away, and it was evident +from their leisurely movements that they were perfectly aware that there +was no possible escape for the travellers. They had paused to ascertain +their number before closing in upon them. Most of them were firing from +the backs of their camels, but a few had dismounted and were kneeling +here and there--little shimmering white spots against the golden +back-ground. Their shots came sometimes singly in quick, sharp throbs, +and sometimes in a rolling volley, with a sound like a boy's stick drawn +across iron railings. The hill buzzed like a bee-hive, and the bullets +made a sharp crackling as they struck against the rocks. + +"You do no good by exposing yourself," said Belmont, drawing Colonel +Cochrane behind a large jagged boulder, which already furnished a +shelter for three of the Soudanese. "A bullet is the best we have to +hope for," said Cochrane grimly. "What an infernal fool I have been, +Belmont, not to protest more energetically against this ridiculous +expedition! I deserve whatever I get, but it _is_ hard on these poor +souls who never knew the danger." + +"I suppose there's no help for us?" + +"Not the faintest." + +"Don't you think this firing might bring the troops up from Halfa?" + +"They'll never hear it. It is a good six miles from here to the +steamer. From that to Halfa would be another five." + +"Well, when we don't return, the steamer will give the alarm." + +"And where shall we be by that time?" + +"My poor Norah! My poor little Norah!" muttered Belmont, in the depths +of his grizzled moustache. + +"What do you suppose that they will do with us, Cochrane?" he asked +after a pause. + +"They may cut our throats, or they may take us as slaves to Khartoum. +I don't know that there is much to choose. There's one of us out of his +troubles anyhow." + +The soldier next them had sat down abruptly, and leaned forward over his +knees. His movement and attitude were so natural that it was hard to +realise that he had been shot through the head. He neither stirred nor +groaned. His comrades bent over him for a moment, and then, shrugging +their shoulders, they turned their dark faces to the Arabs once more. +Belmont picked up the dead man's Martini and his ammunition-pouch. + +"Only three more rounds, Cochrane," said he, with the little brass +cylinders upon the palm of his hand. "We've let them shoot too soon, +and too often. We should have waited for the rush." + +"You're a famous shot, Belmont," cried the Colonel. "I've heard of you +as one of the cracks. Don't you think you could pick off their leader?" + +"Which is he?" + +"As far as I can make out, it is that one on the white camel on their +right front. I mean the fellow who is peering at us from under his two +hands." + +Belmont thrust in his cartridge and altered the sights. "It's a +shocking bad light for judging distance," said he. "This is where the +low point-blank trajectory of the Lee-Metford comes in useful. Well, +we'll try him at five hundred." He fired, but there was no change in +the white camel or the peering rider. + +"Did you see any sand fly?" + +"No, I saw nothing." + +"I fancy I took my sight a trifle too full." + +"Try him again." + +Man and rifle and rock were equally steady, but again the camel and +chief remained un-harmed. The third shot must have been nearer, for he +moved a few paces to the right, as if he were becoming restless. +Belmont threw the empty rifle down, with an exclamation of disgust. + +"It's this confounded light," he cried, and his cheeks flushed with +annoyance. "Think of my wasting three cartridges in that fashion! +If I had him at Bisley I'd shoot the turban off him, but this vibrating +glare means refraction. What's the matter with the Frenchman?" + +Monsieur Fardet was stamping about the plateau with the gestures of a +man who has been stung by a wasp. "_S'cre nom! S'cre nom!_" he +shouted, showing his strong white teeth under his black waxed moustache. +He wrung his right hand violently, and as he did so he sent a little +spray of blood from his finger-tips. A bullet had chipped his wrist. +Headingly ran out from the cover where be had been crouching, with the +intention of dragging the demented Frenchman into a place of safety, but +he had not taken three paces before he was himself hit in the loins, and +fell with a dreadful crash among the stones. He staggered to his feet, +and then fell again in the same place, floundering up and down like a +horse which has broken its back. "I'm done!" he whispered, as the +Colonel ran to his aid, and then he lay still, with his china-white +cheek against the black stones. When, but a year before, he had +wandered under the elms of Cambridge, surely the last fate upon this +earth which he could have predicted for himself would be that he should +be slain by the bullet of a fanatical Mohammedan in the wilds of the +Libyan Desert. + +Meanwhile the fire of the escort had ceased, for they had shot away +their last cartridge. A second man had been killed, and a third--who +was the corporal in charge--had received a bullet in his thigh. He sat +upon a stone, tying up his injury with a grave, preoccupied look upon +his wrinkled black face, like an old woman piecing together a broken +plate. The three others fastened their bayonets with a determined +metallic rasp and snap, and the air of men who intended to sell their +lives dearly. + +"They're coming!" cried Belmont, looking over the plain. + +"Let them come!" the Colonel answered, putting his hands into his +trouser-pockets. Suddenly he pulled one fist out, and shook it +furiously in the air. "Oh, the cads! the confounded cads!" he shouted, +and his eyes were congested with rage. + +It was the fate of the poor donkey-boys which had carried the +self-contained soldier out of his usual calm. During the firing they +had remained huddled, a pitiable group, among the rocks at the base of +the hill. Now upon the conviction that the charge of the Dervishes must +come first upon them, they had sprung upon their animals with shrill, +inarticulate cries of fear, and had galloped off across the plain. +A small flanking-party of eight or ten camel-men had worked round while +the firing had been going on, and these dashed in among the flying +donkey-boys, hacking and hewing with a cold-blooded, deliberate +ferocity. One little boy, in a flapping Galabeeah, kept ahead of his +pursuers for a time, but the long stride of the camels ran him down, and +an Arab thrust his spear into the middle of his stooping back. The +small, white-clad corpses looked like a flock of sheep trailing over the +desert. + +But the people upon the rock had no time to think of the cruel fate of +the donkey-boys. Even the Colonel, after that first indignant outburst, +had forgotten all about them. The advancing camel-men had trotted to +the bottom of the hill, had dismounted, and leaving their camels +kneeling, had rushed furiously onward. Fifty of them were clambering up +the path and over the rocks together, their red turbans appearing and +vanishing again as they scrambled over the boulders. Without a shot or +a pause they surged over the three black soldiers, killing one and +stamping the other two down under their hurrying feet. So they burst on +to the plateau at the top, where an unexpected resistance checked them +for an instant. + +The travellers, nestling up against one another, had awaited, each after +his own fashion, the coming of the Arabs. The Colonel, with his hands +back in his trouser-pockets, tried to whistle out of his dry lips. +Belmont folded his arms and leaned against a rock, with a sulky frown +upon his lowering face. So strangely do our minds act that his three +successive misses, and the tarnish to his reputation as a marksman, was +troubling him more than his impending fate. Cecil Brown stood erect, +and plucked nervously at the up-turned points of his little prim +moustache. Monsieur Fardet groaned over his wounded wrist. +Mr. Stephens, in sombre impotence, shook his head slowly, the living +embodiment of prosaic law and order. Mr. Stuart stood, his umbrella +still over him, with no expression upon his heavy face, or in his +staring brown eyes. Headingly lay with that china-white cheek resting +motionless upon the stones. His sun-hat had fallen off, and he looked +quite boyish with his ruffled yellow hair and his un-lined, clean-cut +face. The dragoman sat upon a stone and played nervously with his +donkey-whip. So the Arabs found them when they reached the summit of +the hill. + +And then, just as the foremost rushed to lay hands upon them, a most +unexpected incident arrested them. From the time of the first +appearance of the Dervishes the fat clergyman of Birmingham had looked +like a man in a cataleptic trance. He had neither moved nor spoken. +But now he suddenly woke at a bound into strenuous and heroic energy. +It may have been the mania of fear, or it may have been the blood of +some Berserk ancestor which stirred suddenly in his veins; but he broke +into a wild shout, and, catching up a stick, he struck right and left +among the Arabs with a fury which was more savage than their own. +One who helped to draw up this narrative has left it upon record that, +of all the pictures which have been burned into his brain, there is none +so clear as that of this man, his large face shining with perspiration, +and his great body dancing about with unwieldy agility, as he struck at +the shrinking, snarling savages. Then a spear-head flashed from behind +a rock with a quick, vicious, upward thrust, the clergyman fell upon his +hands and knees, and the horde poured over him to seize their +unresisting victims. Knives glimmered before their eyes, rude hands +clutched at their wrists and at their throats, and then, with brutal and +unreasoning violence, they were hauled and pushed down the steep winding +path to where the camels were waiting below. The Frenchman waved his +unwounded hand as he walked. "_Vive le Khalifa! Vive le Madhi!" he +shouted, until a blow from behind with the butt-end of a Remington beat +him into silence. + +And now they were herded in at the base of the Abousir rock, this little +group of modern types who had fallen into the rough clutch of the +seventh century--for in all save the rifles in their hands there was +nothing to distinguish these men from the desert warriors who first +carried the crescent flag out of Arabia. The East does not change, and +the Dervish raiders were not less brave, less cruel, or less fanatical +than their forebears. They stood in a circle, leaning upon their guns +and spears, and looking with exultant eyes at the dishevelled group of +captives. They were clad in some approach to a uniform, red turbans +gathered around the neck as well as the head, so that the fierce face +looked out of a scarlet frame; yellow, untanned shoes, and white tunics +with square brown patches let into them. All carried rifles, and one +had a small discoloured bugle slung over his shoulder. Half of them +were negroes--fine, muscular men, with the limbs of a jet Hercules; and +the other half were Baggara Arabs--small, brown, and wiry, with little, +vicious eyes, and thin, cruel lips. The chief was also a Baggara, but +he was a taller man than the others, with a black beard which came down +over his chest, and a pair of hard, cold eyes, which gleamed like glass +from under his thick, black brows. They were fixed now upon his +captives, and his features were grave with thought. Mr. Stuart had been +brought down, his hat gone, his face still flushed with anger, and his +trousers sticking in one part to his leg. The two surviving Soudanese +soldiers, their black faces and blue coats blotched with crimson, stood +silently at attention upon one side of this forlorn group of castaways. + +The chief stood for some minutes, stroking his black beard, while his +fierce eyes glanced from one pale face to another along the miserable +line of his captives. In a harsh, imperious voice he said something +which brought Mansoor, the dragoman, to the front, with bent back and +outstretched supplicating palms. To his employers there had always +seemed to be something comic in that flapping skirt and short cover-coat +above it; but now, under the glare of the mid-day sun, with those faces +gathered round them, it appeared rather to add a grotesque horror to the +scene. The dragoman salaamed and salaamed like some ungainly automatic +doll, and then, as the chief rasped out a curt word or two, he fell +suddenly upon his face, rubbing his forehead into the sand, and flapping +upon it with his hands. + +"What's that, Cochrane?" asked Belmont. "Why is he making an exhibition +of himself?" + +"As far as I can understand, it is all up with us," the Colonel +answered. + +"But this is absurd," cried the Frenchman excitedly; "why should these +people wish any harm to me? I have never injured them. On the other +hand, I have always been their friend. If I could but speak to them, I +would make them comprehend. Hola, dragoman, Mansoor!" + +The excited gestures of Monsieur Fardet drew the sinister eyes of the +Baggara chief upon him. Again he asked a curt question, and Mansoor, +kneeling in front of him, answered it. + +"Tell him that I am a Frenchman, dragoman. Tell him that I am a friend +of the Khalifa. Tell him that my countrymen have never had any quarrel +with him, but that his enemies are also ours." + +"The chief asks what religion you call your own," said Mansoor. "The +Khalifa, he says, has no necessity for any friendship from those who are +infidels and unbelievers." + +"Tell him that in France we look upon all religions as good." + +"The chief says that none but a blaspheming dog and the son of a dog +would say that all religions are one as good as the other. He says that +if you are indeed the friend of the Khalifa, you will accept the Koran +and become a true believer upon the spot. If you will do so he will +promise on his side to send you alive to Khartoum." + +"And if not?" + +"You will fare in the same way as the others." + +"Then you may make my compliments to monsieur the chief, and tell him +that it is not the custom for Frenchmen to change their religion under +compulsion." + +The chief said a few words, and then turned to consult with a short, +sturdy Arab at his elbow. + +"He says, Monsieur Fardet," said the dragoman, "that if you speak again +he will make a trough out of you for the dogs to feed from. Say nothing +to anger him, sir, for he is now talking what is to be done with us." + +"Who is he?" asked the Colonel. + +"It is Ali Wad Ibrahim, the same who raided last year, and killed all of +the Nubian village." + +"I've heard of him," said the Colonel. "He has the name of being one of +the boldest and the most fanatical of all the Khalifa's leaders. Thank +God that the women are out of his clutches." + +The two Arabs had been talking in that stern, restrained fashion which +comes so strangely from a southern race. Now they both turned to the +dragoman, who was still kneeling upon the sand. They plied him with +questions, pointing first to one and then to another of their prisoners. +Then they conferred together once more, and finally said something to +Mansoor, with a contemptuous wave of the hand to indicate that he might +convey it to the others. + +"Thank Heaven, gentlemen, I think that we are saved for the present +time," said Mansoor, wiping away the sand which had stuck to his +perspiring forehead. "Ali Wad Ibrahim says that though an unbeliever +should have only the edge of the sword from one of the sons of the +Prophet, yet it might be of more profit to the beit-el-mal at Omdurman +if it had the gold which your people will pay for you. Until it comes +you can work as the slaves of the Khalifa, unless he should decide to +put you to death. You are to mount yourselves upon the spare camels and +to ride with the party." + +The chief had waited for the end of the explanation. "Now he gave a +brief order, and a negro stepped forward with a long, dull-coloured +sword in his hand. The dragoman squealed like a rabbit who sees a +ferret, and threw himself frantically down upon the sand once more. + +"What is it, Cochrane?" asked Cecil Brown--for the Colonel had served in +the East, and was the only one of the travellers who had a smattering of +Arabic. + +"As far as I can make out, he says there is no use keeping the dragoman, +as no one would trouble to pay a ransom for him, and he is too fat to +make a good slave." + +"Poor devil!" cried Brown. "Here, Cochrane, tell them to let him go. +We can't let him be butchered like this in front of us. Say that we +will find the money amongst us. I will be answerable for any reasonable +sum." + +"I'll stand in as far as my means will allow," cried Belmont. + +"We will sign a joint bond or indemnity," said the lawyer. "If I had a +paper and pencil I could throw it into shape in an instant, and the +chief could rely upon its being perfectly correct and valid." + +But the Colonel's Arabic was insufficient, and Mansoor himself was too +maddened by fear to understand the offer which was being made for him. +The negro looked a question at the chief, and then his long black arm +swung upwards and his sword hissed over his shoulder. But the dragoman +had screamed out something which arrested the blow, and which brought +the chief and the lieutenant to his side with a new interest upon their +swarthy faces. The others crowded in also, and formed a dense circle +around the grovelling, pleading man. + +The Colonel had not understood this sudden change, nor had the others +fathomed the reason of it, but some instinct flashed it upon Stephens's +horrified perceptions. + +"Oh, you villain!" he cried furiously. "Hold your tongue, you miserable +creature! Be silent! Better die--a thousand times better die!" + +But it was too late, and already they could all see the base design by +which the coward hoped to save his own life. He was about to betray the +women. They saw the chief, with a brave man's contempt upon his stern +face, make a sign of haughty assent, and then Mansoor spoke rapidly and +earnestly, pointing up the hill. At a word from the Baggara, a dozen of +the raiders rushed up the path and were lost to view upon the top. +Then came a shrill cry, a horrible strenuous scream of surprise and +terror, and an instant later the party streamed into sight again, +dragging the women in their midst. Sadie, with her young, active limbs, +kept up with them, as they sprang down the slope, encouraging her aunt +all the while over her shoulder. The older lady, struggling amid the +rushing white figures, looked with her thin limbs and open mouth like a +chicken being dragged from a coop. + +The chief's dark eyes glanced indifferently at Miss Adams, but gazed +with a smouldering fire at the younger woman. Then he gave an abrupt +order, and the prisoners were hurried in a miserable, hopeless drove to +the cluster of kneeling camels. Their pockets had already been +ransacked, and the contents thrown into one of the camel-food bags, the +neck of which was tied up by Ali Wad Ibrahim's own hands. + +"I say, Cochrane," whispered Belmont, looking with smouldering eyes at +the wretched Mansoor, "I've got a little hip revolver which they have +not discovered. Shall I shoot that cursed dragoman for giving away the +women?" + +The Colonel shook his head. + +"You had better keep it," said he, with a sombre face. "The women may +find some other use for it before all is over." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The camels, some brown and some white, were kneeling in a long line, +their champing jaws moving rhythmically from side to side, and their +gracefully poised heads turning to right and left in a mincing, +self-conscious fashion. Most of them were beautiful creatures, true +Arabian trotters, with the slim limbs and finely turned necks which mark +the breed; but among them were a few of the slower, heavier beasts, with +ungroomed skins, disfigured by the black scars of old firings. These +were loaded with the doora and the waterskins of the raiders, but a few +minutes sufficed to redistribute their loads and to make place for the +prisoners. None of these had been bound with the exception of Mr. +Stuart--for the Arabs, understanding that he was a clergyman, and +accustomed to associate religion with violence, had looked upon his +fierce outburst as quite natural, and regarded him now as the most +dangerous and enterprising of their captives. His hands were therefore +tied together with a plaited camel-halter, but the others, including the +dragoman and the two wounded blacks, were allowed to mount without any +precaution against their escape, save that which was afforded by the +slowness of their beasts. Then, with a shouting of men and a roaring of +camels, the creatures were jolted on to their legs, and the long, +straggling procession set off with its back to the homely river, and its +face to the shimmering, violet haze, which hung round the huge sweep of +beautiful, terrible desert, striped tiger-fashion with black rock and +with golden sand. + +None of the white prisoners, with the exception of Colonel Cochrane, had +ever been upon a camel before. It seemed an alarming distance to the +ground when they looked down, and the curious swaying motion, with the +insecurity of the saddle, made them sick and frightened. But their +bodily discomfort was forgotten in the turmoil of bitter thoughts +within. What a chasm gaped between their old life and their new! And +yet how short was the time and space which divided them! Less than an +hour ago they had stood upon the summit of that rock, and had laughed +and chattered, or grumbled at the heat and flies, becoming peevish at +small discomforts. Headingly had been hypercritical over the tints of +Nature. They could not forget his own tint as he lay with his cheek +upon the black stone. Sadie had chattered about tailor-made dresses and +Parisian chiffons. Now she was clinging, half-crazy, to the pommel of a +wooden saddle, with suicide rising as a red star of hope in her mind. +Humanity, reason, argument--all were gone, and there remained the brutal +humiliation of force. And all the time, down there by the second rocky +point, their steamer was waiting for them--their saloon, with the white +napery and the glittering glasses, the latest novel, and the London +papers. The least imaginative of them could see it so clearly: the +white awning, Mrs. Shlesinger with her yellow sun-hat, Mrs. Belmont +lying back in the canvas chair. There it lay almost in sight of them, +that little floating chip broken off from home, and every silent, +ungainly step of the camels was carrying them more hopelessly away from +it. That very morning how beneficent Providence had appeared, how +pleasant was life!--a little commonplace, perhaps, but so soothing and +restful. And now! + +The red head-gear, patched jibbehs, and yellow boots had already shown +to the Colonel that these men were no wandering party of robbers, but a +troop from the regular army of the Khalifa. Now, as they struck across +the desert, they showed that they possessed the rude discipline which +their work demanded. A mile ahead, and far out on either flank, rode +their scouts, dipping and rising among the yellow sand-hills. Ali Wad +Ibrahim headed the caravan, and his short, sturdy lieutenant brought up +the rear. The main party straggled over a couple of hundred yards, and +in the middle was the little, dejected clump of prisoners. No attempt +was made to keep them apart, and Mr. Stephens soon contrived that his +camel should be between those of the two ladies. + +"Don't be down-hearted, Miss Adams," said he. "This is a most +indefensible outrage, but there can be no question that steps will be +taken in the proper quarter to set the matter right. I am convinced +that we shall be subjected to nothing worse than a temporary +inconvenience. If it had not been for that villain Mansoor, you need +not have appeared at all." + +It was shocking to see the change in the little Bostonian lady, for she +had shrunk to an old woman in an hour. Her swarthy cheeks had fallen +in, and her eyes shone wildly from sunken, darkened sockets. +Her frightened glances were continually turned upon Sadie. There is +surely some wrecker angel which can only gather her best treasures in +moments of disaster. For here were all these worldlings going to their +doom, and already frivolity and selfishness had passed away from them, +and each was thinking and grieving only for the other. Sadie thought of +her aunt, her aunt thought of Sadie, the men thought of the women, +Belmont thought of his wife--and then he thought of something else also, +and he kicked his camel's shoulder with his heel, until he found himself +upon the near side of Miss Adams. + +"I've got something for you here," he whispered. "We may be separated +soon, so it is as well to make our arrangements." + +"Separated!" wailed Miss Adams. + +"Don't speak loud, for that infernal Mansoor may give us away again. +I hope it won't be so, but it might. We must be prepared for the worst. +For example, they might determine to get rid of us men and to keep you." + +Miss Adams shuddered. + +"What am I to do? For God's sake tell me what I am to do, Mr. Belmont! +I am an old woman. I have had my day. I could stand it if it was only +myself. But Sadie--I am clean crazed when I think of her. There's her +mother waiting at home, and I--" She clasped her thin hands together in +the agony of her thoughts. + +"Put your hand out under your dust-cloak," said Belmont, sidling his +camel up against hers. "Don't miss your grip of it. There! Now hide +it in your dress, and you'll always have a key to unlock any door." + +Miss Adams felt what it was which he had slipped into her hand, and she +looked at him for a moment in bewilderment. Then she pursed up her lips +and shook her stern, brown face in disapproval. But she pushed the +little pistol into its hiding-place, all the same, and she rode with her +thoughts in a whirl. Could this indeed be she, Eliza Adams, of Boston, +whose narrow, happy life had oscillated between the comfortable house in +Commonwealth Avenue and the Tremont Presbyterian Church? Here she was, +hunched upon a camel, with her hand upon the butt of a pistol, and her +mind weighing the justifications of murder. Oh, life, sly, sleek, +treacherous life, how are we ever to trust you? Show us your worst and +we can face it, but it is when you are sweetest and smoothest that we +have most to fear from you. + +"At the worst, Miss Sadie, it will only be a question of ransom," said +Stephens, arguing against his own convictions. "Besides, we are still +dose to Egypt, far away from the Dervish country. There is sure to be +an energetic pursuit. You must try not to lose your courage, and to +hope for the best." + +"No, I am not scared, Mr. Stephens," said Sadie, turning towards him a +blanched face which belied her words. "We're all in God's hands, and +surely He won't be cruel to us. It is easy to talk about trusting Him +when things are going well, but now is the real test. If He's up there +behind that blue heaven--" + +"He is," said a voice behind them, and they found that the Birmingham +clergyman had joined the party. His tied hands clutched on to his +Makloofa saddle, and his fat body swayed dangerously from side to side +with every stride of the camel. His wounded leg was oozing with blood +and clotted with flies, and the burning desert sun beat down upon his +bare head, for he had lost both hat and umbrella in the scuffle. +A rising fever flecked his large, white cheeks with a touch of colour, +and brought a light into his brown ox-eyes. He had always seemed a +somewhat gross and vulgar person to his fellow-travellers. Now, this +bitter healing draught of sorrow had transformed him. He was purified, +spiritualised, exalted. He had become so calmly strong that he made the +others feel stronger as they looked upon him. He spoke of life and of +death, of the present, and their hopes of the future; and the black +cloud of their misery began to show a golden rift or two. Cecil Brown +shrugged his shoulders, for he could not change in an hour the +convictions of his life; but the others, even Fardet, the Frenchman, +were touched and strengthened. They all took off their hats when he +prayed. Then the Colonel made a turban out of his red silk cummerbund, +and insisted that Mr. Stuart should wear it. With his homely dress and +gorgeous headgear, he looked like a man who has dressed up to amuse the +children. + +And now the dull, ceaseless, insufferable torment of thirst was added to +the aching weariness which came from the motion of the camels. The sun +glared down upon them, and then up again from the yellow sand, and the +great plain shimmered and glowed until they felt as if they were riding +over a cooling sheet of molten metal. Their lips were parched and +dried, and their tongues like tags of leather. They lisped curiously in +their speech, for it was only the vowel sounds which would come without +an effort. Miss Adams's chin had dropped upon her chest, and her great +hat concealed her face. + +"Auntie will faint if she does not get water," said Sadie. "Oh, Mr. +Stephens, is there nothing we could do?" + +The Dervishes riding near were all Baggara with the exception of one +negro--an uncouth fellow with a face pitted with small-pox. +His expression seemed good-natured when compared with that of his Arab +comrades, and Stephens ventured to touch his elbow and to point to his +water-skin, and then to the exhausted lady. The negro shook his head +brusquely, but at the same time he glanced significantly towards the +Arabs, as if to say that, if it were not for them, he might act +differently. Then he laid his black forefinger upon the breast of his +jibbeh. + +"Tippy Tilly," said he. + +"What's that?" asked Colonel Cochrane. + +"Tippy Tilly," repeated the negro, sinking his voice as if he wished +only the prisoners to hear him. + +The Colonel shook his head. + +"My Arabic won't bear much strain. I don't know what he is saying," +said he. + +"Tippy Tilly. Hicks Pasha," the negro repeated. + +"I believe the fellow is friendly to us, but I can't quite make him +out," said Cochrane to Belmont. "Do you think that he means that his +name is Tippy Tilly, and that he killed Hicks Pasha?" + +The negro showed his great white teeth at hearing his own words coming +back to him. "Aiwa!" said he. "Tippy Tilly--Bimbashi Mormer--Boum!" + +"By Jove, I've got it!" cried Belmont. "He's trying to speak English. +Tippy Tilly is as near as he can get to Egyptian Artillery. He has +served in the Egyptian Artillery under Bimbashi Mortimer. He was taken +prisoner when Hicks Pasha was destroyed, and had to turn Dervish to save +his skin. How's that?" + +The Colonel said a few words of Arabic and received a reply, but two of +the Arabs closed up, and the negro quickened his pace and left them. + +"You are quite right," said the Colonel. "The fellow is friendly to us, +and would rather fight for the Khedive than for the Khalifa. I don't +know that he can do us any good, but I've been in worse holes than this, +and come out right side up. After all, we are not out of reach of +pursuit, and won't be for another forty-eight hours." + +Belmont calculated the matter out in his slow, deliberate fashion. + +"It was about twelve that we were on the rock," said he. "They would +become alarmed aboard the steamer if we did not appear at two." + +"Yes," the Colonel interrupted, "that was to be our lunch hour. +I remember saying that when I came back I would have--O Lord, it's best +not to think of it!" + +"The reis was a sleepy old crock," Belmont continued, "but I have +absolute confidence in the promptness and decision of my wife. +She would insist upon an immediate alarm being given. Suppose they +started back at two-thirty, they should be at Halfa by three, since the +journey is down stream. How long did they say that it took to turn out +the Camel Corps?" + +"Give them an hour." + +"And another hour to get them across the river. They would be at the +Abousir Rock and pick up the tracks by six o'clock. After that it is a +clear race. We are only four hours ahead, and some of these beasts are +very spent. We may be saved yet, Cochrane!" + +"Some of us may. I don't expect to see the padre alive to-morrow, nor +Miss Adams either. They are not made for this sort of thing either of +them. Then again we must not forget that these people have a trick of +murdering their prisoners when they see that there is a chance of a +rescue. See here, Belmont, in case you get back and I don't, there's a +matter of a mortgage that I want you to set right for me." They rode on +with their shoulders inclined to each other, deep in the details of +business. + +The friendly negro who had talked of himself as Tippy Tilly had managed +to slip a piece of cloth soaked in water into the hand of Mr. Stephens, +and Miss Adams had moistened her lips with it. Even the few drops had +given her renewed strength, and now that the first crushing shock was +over, her wiry, elastic, Yankee nature began to reassert itself. + +"These people don't look as if they would harm us, Mr. Stephens," said +she. "I guess they have a working religion of their own, such as it is, +and that what's wrong to us is wrong to them." + +Stephens shook his head in silence. He had seen the death of the +donkey-boys, and she had not. + +"Maybe we are sent to guide them into a better path," said the old lady. +"Maybe we are specially singled out for a good work among them." + +If it were not for her niece her energetic and enterprising temperament +was capable Of glorying in the chance of evangelising Khartoum, and +turning Omdurman into a little well-drained broad-avenued replica of a +New England town. + +"Do you know what I am thinking of all the time?" said Sadie. +"You remember that temple that we saw--when was it? Why, it was this +morning." + +They gave an exclamation of surprise, all three of them. Yes, it had +been this morning; and it seemed away and away in some dim past +experience of their lives, so vast was the change, so new and so +overpowering the thoughts which had come between. They rode in silence, +full of this strange expansion of time, until at last Stephens reminded +Sadie that she had left her remark unfinished. + +"Oh yes; it was the wall picture on that temple that I was thinking of. +Do you remember the poor string of prisoners who are being dragged along +to the feet of the great king--how dejected they looked among the +warriors who led them? Who could--who _could_ have thought that within +three hours the same fate should be our own? And Mr. Headingly--" +She turned her face away and began to cry. + +"Don't take on, Sadie," said her aunt; "remember what the minister said +just now, that we are all right there in the hollow of God's hand. +Where do you think we are going, Mr. Stephens?" + +The red edge of his Baedeker still projected from the lawyer's pocket, +for it had not been worth their captor's while to take it. He glanced +down at it. + +"If they will only leave me this, I will look up a few references when +we halt. I have a general idea of the country, for I drew a small map +of it the other day. The river runs from south to north, so we must be +travelling almost due west. I suppose they feared pursuit if they kept +too near the Nile bank. There is a caravan route, I remember, which +runs parallel to the river, about seventy miles inland. If we continue +in this direction for a day we ought to come to it. There is a line of +wells through which it passes. It comes out at Assiout, if I remember +right, upon the Egyptian side. On the other side, it leads away into +the Dervish country--so, perhaps--" + +His words were interrupted by a high, eager voice, which broke suddenly +into a torrent of jostling words, words without meaning, pouring +strenuously out in angry assertions and foolish repetitions. The pink +had deepened to scarlet upon Mr. Stuart's cheeks, his eyes were vacant +but brilliant, and he gabbled, gabbled, gabbled as he rode. +Kindly mother Nature! she will not let her children be mishandled too +far. "This is too much," she says; "this wounded leg, these crusted +lips, this anxious, weary mind. Come away for a time, until your body +becomes more habitable." And so she coaxes the mind away into the +Nirvana of delirium, while the little cell-workers tinker and toil +within to get things better for its homecoming. When you see the veil +of cruelty which nature wears, try and peer through it, and you will +sometimes catch a glimpse of a very homely, kindly face behind. + +The Arab guards looked askance at this sudden outbreak of the clergyman, +for it verged upon lunacy, and lunacy is to them a fearsome and +supernatural thing. One of them rode forward and spoke with the Emir. +When he returned he said something to his comrades, one of whom closed +in upon each side of the minister's camel, so as to prevent him from +falling. The friendly negro sidled his beast up to the Colonel, and +whispered to him. + +"We are going to halt presently, Belmont," said Cochrane. + +"Thank God! They may give us some water. We can't go on like this." + +"I told Tippy Tilly that, if he could help us, we would turn him into a +Bimbashi when we got him back into Egypt. I think he's willing enough +if he only had the power. By Jove, Belmont, do look back at the river." + +Their route, which had lain through sand-strewn khors with jagged, black +edges--places up which one would hardly think it possible that a camel +could climb--opened out now on to a hard, rolling plain, covered thickly +with rounded pebbles, dipping and rising to the violet hills upon the +horizon. So regular were the long, brown pebble-strewn curves, that +they looked like the dark rollers of some monstrous ground-swell. Here +and there a little straggling sage-green tuft of camel-grass sprouted up +between the stones. Brown plains and violet hills--nothing else in +front of them! Behind lay the black jagged rocks through which they had +passed with orange slopes of sand, and then far away a thin line of +green to mark the course of the river. How cool and beautiful that +green looked in the stark, abominable wilderness! On one side they +could see the high rock--the accursed rock which had tempted them to +their ruin. On the other the river curved, and the sun gleamed upon the +water. Oh, that liquid gleam, and the insurgent animal cravings, the +brutal primitive longings, which for the instant took the soul out of +all of them! They had lost families, countries, liberty, everything, +but it was only of water, water, water, that they could think. Mr. +Stuart in his delirium began roaring for oranges, and it was +insufferable for them to have to listen to him. Only the rough, sturdy +Irishman rose superior to that bodily craving. That gleam of river must +be somewhere near Halfa, and his wife might be upon the very water at +which he looked. He pulled his hat over his eyes, and rode in gloomy +silence, biting at his strong, iron-grey moustache. + +Slowly the sun sank towards the west, and their shadows began to trail +along the path where their hearts would go. It was cooler, and a desert +breeze had sprung up, whispering over the rolling, stone-strewed plain. +The Emir at their head had called his lieutenant to his side, and the +pair had peered about, their eyes shaded by their hands, looking for +some landmark. Then, with a satisfied grunt, the chief's camel had +seemed to break short off at its knees, and then at its hocks, going +down in three curious, broken-jointed jerks until its stomach was +stretched upon the ground. As each succeeding camel reached the spot it +lay down also, until they were all stretched in one long line. +The riders sprang off, and laid out the chopped tibbin upon cloths in +front of them, for no well-bred camel will eat from the ground. +In their gentle eyes, their quiet, leisurely way of eating, and their +condescending, mincing manner, there was something both feminine and +genteel, as though a party of prim old maids had foregathered in the +heart of the Libyan Desert. + +There was no interference with the prisoners, either male or female, for +how could they escape in the centre of that huge plain? The Emir came +towards them once, and stood combing out his blue-black beard with his +fingers, and looking thoughtfully at them out of his dark, sinister +eyes. Miss Adams saw with a shudder that it was always upon Sadie that +his gaze was fixed. Then, seeing their distress, he gave an order, and +a negro brought a water-skin, from which he gave each of them about half +a tumblerful. It was hot and muddy, and tasted of leather, but oh how +delightful it was to their parched palates! The Emir said a few abrupt +words to the dragoman, and left. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," Mansoor began, with something of his old +consequential manner; but a glare from the Colonel's eyes struck the +words from his lips, and he broke away into a long, whimpering excuse +for his conduct. + +"How could I do anything otherwise," he wailed, "with the very knife at +my throat?" + +"You will have the very rope round your throat if we all see Egypt +again," growled Cochrane savagely. "In the meantime--" + +"That's all right, Colonel," said Belmont. "But for our own sakes we +ought to know what the chief has said." + +"For my part I'll have nothing to do with the blackguard." + +"I think that that is going too far. We are bound to hear what he has +to say." Cochrane shrugged his shoulders. Privations had made him +irritable, and he had to bite his lip to keep down a bitter answer. +He walked slowly away, with his straight-legged military stride. + +"What did he say, then?" asked Belmont, looking at the dragoman with an +eye which was as stern as the Colonel's. + +"He seems to be in a somewhat better manner than before. He said that +if he had more water you should have it, but that he is himself short in +supply. He said that to-morrow we shall come to the wells of Selimah, +and everybody shall have plenty--and the camels too." + +"Did he say how long we stopped here?" + +"Very little rest, he said, and then forward! Oh, Mr. Belmont--" + +"Hold your tongue!" snapped the Irishman, and began once more to count +times and distances. If it all worked out as he expected, if his wife +had insisted upon the indolent reis giving an instant alarm at Halfa, +then the pursuers should be already upon their track. The Camel Corps +or the Egyptian Horse would travel by moonlight better and faster than +in the day-time. He knew that it was the custom at Halfa to keep at +least a squadron of them all ready to start at any instant. He had +dined at the mess, and the officers had told him how quickly they could +take the field. They had shown him the water-tanks and the food beside +each of the beasts, and he had admired the completeness of the +arrangements, with little thought as to what it might mean to him in the +future. It would be at least an hour before they would all get started +again from their present halting-place. That would be a clear hour +gained. Perhaps by next morning-- + +And then, suddenly, his thoughts were terribly interrupted. +The Colonel, raving like a madman, appeared upon the crest of the +nearest slope, with an Arab hanging on to each of his wrists. His face +was purple with rage and excitement, and he tugged and bent and writhed +in his furious efforts to get free. "You cursed murderers!" he +shrieked, and then, seeing the others in front of him, "Belmont," he +cried, "they've killed Cecil Brown." + +What had happened was this. In his conflict with his own ill-humour, +Cochrane had strolled over this nearest crest, and had found a group of +camels in the hollow beyond, with a little knot of angry, loud-voiced +men beside them. Brown was the centre of the group, pale, heavy-eyed, +with his upturned, spiky moustache and listless manner. They had +searched his pockets before, but now they were determined to tear off +all his clothes in the hope of finding something which he had secreted. +A hideous negro with silver bangles in his ears, grinned and jabbered in +the young diplomatist's impassive face. There seemed to the Colonel to +be something heroic and almost inhuman in that white calm, and those +abstracted eyes. His coat was already open, and the Negro's great black +paw flew up to his neck and tore his shirt down to the waist. And at +the sound of that r-r-rip, and at the abhorrent touch of those coarse +fingers, this man about town, this finished product of the nineteenth +century, dropped his life-traditions and became a savage facing a +savage. His face flushed, his lips curled back, he chattered his teeth +like an ape, and his eyes--those indolent eyes which had always twinkled +so placidly--were gorged and frantic. He threw himself upon the negro, +and struck him again and again, feebly but viciously, in his broad, +black face. He hit like a girl, round arm, with an open palm. The man +winced away for an instant, appalled by this sudden blaze of passion. +Then with an impatient, snarling cry, he slid a knife from his long +loose sleeve and struck upwards under the whirling arm. Brown sat down +at the blow and began to cough--to cough as a man coughs who has choked +at dinner, furiously, ceaselessly, spasm after spasm. Then the angry +red cheeks turned to a mottled pallor, there were liquid sounds in his +throat, and, clapping his hand to his mouth, he rolled over on to his +side. The negro, with a brutal grunt of contempt, slid his knife up his +sleeve once more, while the Colonel, frantic with impotent anger, was +seized by the bystanders, and dragged, raving with fury, back to his +forlorn party. His hands were lashed with a camel-halter, and he lay at +last, in bitter silence, beside the delirious Nonconformist. + +So Headingly was gone, and Cecil Brown was gone, and their haggard eyes +were turned from one pale face to another, to know which they should +lose next of that frieze of light-hearted riders who had stood out so +clearly against the blue morning sky, when viewed from the deck-chairs +of the _Korosko_. Two gone out of ten, and a third out of his mind. +The pleasure trip was drawing to its climax. + +Fardet, the Frenchman, was sitting alone with his chin resting upon his +hands, and his elbows upon his knees, staring miserably out over the +desert, when Belmont saw him start suddenly and prick up his head like a +dog who hears a strange step. Then, with clenched fingers, he bent his +face forward and stared fixedly towards the black eastern hills through +which they had passed. Belmont followed his gaze, and, yes-yes--there +was something moving there! He saw the twinkle of metal, and the sudden +gleam and flutter of some white garment. A Dervish vedette upon the +flank turned his camel twice round as a danger signal, and discharged +his rifle in the air. The echo of the crack had hardly died away before +they were all in their saddles, Arabs and negroes. Another instant, and +the camels were on their feet and moving slowly towards the point of +alarm. Several armed men surrounded the prisoners, slipping cartridges +into their Remingtons as a hint to them to remain still. + +"By Heaven, they are men on camels!" cried Cochrane, his troubles all +forgotten as he strained his eyes to catch sight of these new-comers. +"I do believe that it is our own people." In the confusion he had tugged +his hands free from the halter which bound them. + +"They've been smarter than I gave them credit for," said Belmont, his +eyes shining from under his thick brows. "They are here a long two +hours before we could have reasonably expected them. Hurrah, Monsieur +Fardet, _ca va bien, n'est ce pas?_" + +"Hurrah, hurrah! _merveilleusement bien! Vivent les Anglais! Vivent +les Anglais!_" yelled the excited Frenchman, as the head of a column of +camelry began to wind out from among the rocks. + +"See here, Belmont," cried the Colonel. "These fellows will want to +shoot us if they see it is all up. I know their ways, and we must be +ready for it. Will you be ready to jump on the fellow with the blind +eye? and I'll take the big nigger, if I can get my arms round him. +Stephens, you must do what you can. You, Fardet, _comprenez vous? +Il est necessaire_ to plug these Johnnies before they can hurt us. +You, dragoman, tell those two Soudanese soldiers that they must be +ready--but, but". . . his words died into a murmur, and he swallowed +once or twice. "These are Arabs," said he, and it sounded like another +voice. + +Of all the bitter day, it was the very bitterest moment. Happy Mr. +Stuart lay upon the pebbles with his back against the ribs of his camel, +and chuckled consumedly at some joke which those busy little +cell-workers had come across in their repairs. His fat face was +wreathed and creased with merriment. But the others, how sick, how +heart-sick, were they all! The women cried. The men turned away in +that silence which is beyond tears. Monsieur Fardet fell upon his face, +and shook with dry sobbings. + +The Arabs were firing their rifles as a welcome to their friends, and +the others as they trotted their camels across the open returned the +salutes and waved their rifles and lances in the air. They were a +smaller band than the first one--not more than thirty--but dressed in +the same red headgear and patched jibbehs. One of them carried a small +white banner with a scarlet text scrawled across it. But there was +something there which drew the eyes and the thoughts of the tourists +away from everything else. The same fear gripped at each of their +hearts, and the same impulse kept each of them silent. They stared at a +swaying white figure half seen amidst the ranks of the desert warriors. + +"What's that they have in the middle of them?" cried Stephens at last. +"Look, Miss Adams! Surely it is a woman!" + +There was something there upon a camel, but it was difficult to catch a +glimpse of it. And then suddenly, as the two bodies met, the riders +opened out, and they saw it plainly. + +"It's a white woman!" + +"The steamer has been taken!" + +Belmont gave a cry that sounded high above everything. + +"Norah, darling," he shouted, "keep your heart up! I'm here, and it is +all well!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +So the _Korosko_ had been taken, and the chances of rescue upon which +they had reckoned--all those elaborate calculations of hours and +distances--were as unsubstantial as the mirage which shimmered upon the +horizon. There would be no alarm at Halfa until it was found that the +steamer did not return in the evening. Even now, when the Nile was only +a thin green band upon the farthest horizon, the pursuit had probably +not begun. In a hundred miles, or even less, they would be in the +Dervish country. How small, then, was the chance that the Egyptian +forces could overtake them. They all sank into a silent, sulky despair, +with the exception of Belmont, who was held back by the guards as he +strove to go to his wife's assistance. + +The two bodies of camel-men had united, and the Arabs, in their grave, +dignified fashion, were exchanging salutations and experiences, while +the negroes grinned, chattered, and shouted, with the careless +good-humour which even the Koran has not been able to alter. The leader +of the new-comers was a greybeard, a worn, ascetic, high-nosed old man, +abrupt and fierce in his manner, and soldierly in his bearing. +The dragoman groaned when he saw him, and flapped his hands miserably +with the air of a man who sees trouble accumulating upon trouble. + +"It is the Emir Abderrahman," said he. "I fear now that we shall never +come to Khartoum alive." + +The name meant nothing to the others, but Colonel Cochrane had heard of +him as a monster of cruelty and fanaticism, a red-hot Moslem of the old +fighting, preaching dispensation, who never hesitated to carry the +fierce doctrines of the Koran to their final conclusions. He and the +Emir Wad Ibrahim conferred gravely together, their camels side by side, +and their red turbans inclined inwards, so that the black beard mingled +with the white one. Then they both turned and stared long and fixedly +at the poor, head-hanging huddle of prisoners. The younger man pointed +and explained, while his senior listened with a sternly impassive face. + +"Who's that nice-looking old gentleman in the white beard?" asked Miss +Adams, who had been the first to rally from the bitter disappointment. + +"That is their leader now," Cochrane answered. + +"You don't say that he takes command over that other one?" + +"Yes, lady," said the dragoman; "he is now the head of all." + +"Well, that's good for us. He puts me in mind of Elder Mathews who was +at the Presbyterian Church in Minister Scott's time. Anyhow, I had +rather be in his power than in the hands of that black-haired one with +the flint eyes. Sadie, dear, you feel better now its cooler, don't +you?" + +"Yes, auntie; don't you fret about me. How are you yourself?" + +"Well, I'm stronger in faith than I was. I set you a poor example, +Sadie, for I was clean crazed at first at the suddenness of it all, and +at thinking of what your mother, who trusted you to me, would think +about it. My land, there'll be some head-lines in the _Boston Herald_ +over this! I guess somebody will have to suffer for it." + +"Poor Mr. Stuart!" cried Sadie, as the monotonous droning voice of the +delirious man came again to their ears. "Come, auntie, and see if we +cannot do something to relieve him." + +"I'm uneasy about Mrs. Shlesinger and the child," said Colonel Cochrane. +"I can see your wife, Belmont, but I can see no one else." + +"They are bringing her over," cried he. "Thank God! We shall hear all +about it. They haven't hurt you, Norah, have they?" He ran forward to +grasp and kiss the hand which his wife held down to him as he helped her +from the camel. + +The kind grey eyes and calm sweet face of the Irishwoman brought comfort +and hope to the whole party. She was a devout Roman Catholic, and it is +a creed which forms an excellent prop in hours of danger. To her, to +the Anglican Colonel, to the Nonconformist minister, to the Presbyterian +American, even to the two Pagan black riflemen, religion in its various +forms was fulfilling the same beneficent office--whispering always that +the worst which the world can do is a small thing, and that, however +harsh the ways of Providence may seem, it is, on the whole, the wisest +and best thing for us that we should go cheerfully whither the Great +Hand guides us. They had not a dogma in common, these fellows in +misfortune; but they held the intimate, deep-lying spirit, the calm, +essential fatalism which is the world-old framework of religion, with +fresh crops of dogmas growing like ephemeral lichens upon its granite +surface. + +"You poor things!" she said. "I can see that you have had a much worse +time than I have. No, really, John, dear, I am quite well--not even +very thirsty, for our party filled their water-skins at the Nile, and +they let me have as much as I wanted. But I don't see Mr. Headingly and +Mr. Brown. And poor Mr. Stuart--what a state he has been reduced to!" + +"Headingly and Brown are out of their troubles," her husband answered. +"You don't know how often I have thanked God to-day, Norah, that you +were not with us. And here you are, after all." + +"Where should I be but by my husband's side? I had much, _much_ rather +be here than safe at Halfa." + +"Has any news gone to the town?" asked the Colonel. + +"One boat escaped. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child and maid were in it. +I was downstairs in my cabin when the Arabs rushed on to the vessel. +Those on deck had time to escape, for the boat was alongside. I don't +know whether any of them were hit. The Arabs fired at them for some +time." + +"Did they?" cried Belmont exultantly, his responsive Irish nature +catching the sunshine in an instant. "Then, be Jove, we'll do them yet, +for the garrison must have heard the firing. What d'ye think, Cochrane? +They must be full cry upon our scent this four hours. Any minute we +might see the white puggaree of a British officer coming over that +rise." + +But disappointment had left the Colonel cold and sceptical. + +"They need not come at all unless they come strong," said he. +"These fellows are picked men with good leaders, and on their own ground +they will take a lot of beating." Suddenly he paused and looked at the +Arabs. "By George!" said he, "that's a sight worth seeing!" + +The great red sun was down with half its disc slipped behind the violet +bank upon the horizon. It was the hour of Arab prayer. An older and +more learned civilisation would have turned to that magnificent thing +upon the skyline and adored _that_. But these wild children of the +desert were nobler in essentials than the polished Persian. To them the +ideal was higher than the material, and it was with their backs to the +sun and their faces to the central shrine of their religion that they +prayed. And how they prayed, these fanatical Moslems! Rapt, absorbed, +with yearning eyes and shining faces, rising, stooping, grovelling with +their foreheads upon their praying carpets. Who could doubt, as he +watched their strenuous, heart-whole devotion, that here was a great +living power in the world, reactionary but tremendous, countless +millions all thinking as one from Cape Juby to the confines of China? +Let a common wave pass over them, let a great soldier or organiser arise +among them to use the grand material at his hand, and who shall say that +this may not be the besom with which Providence may sweep the rotten, +decadent, impossible, half-hearted south of Europe, as it did a thousand +years ago, until it makes room for a sounder stock? + +And now as they rose to their feet the bugle rang out, and the prisoners +understood that, having travelled all day, they were fated to travel all +night also. Belmont groaned, for he had reckoned upon the pursuers +catching them up before they left this camp. But the others had already +got into the way of accepting the inevitable. A flat Arab loaf had been +given to each of them--what effort of the _chef_ of the post-boat had +ever tasted like that dry brown bread?--and then, luxury of luxuries, +they had a second ration of a glass of water, for the fresh-filled bags +of the newcomers had provided an ample supply. If the body would but +follow the lead of the soul as readily as the soul does that of the +body, what a heaven the earth might be! I Now, with their base material +wants satisfied for the instant, their spirits began to sing within +them, and they mounted their camels with some sense of the romance of +their position. Mr. Stuart remained babbling upon the ground, and the +Arabs made no effort to lift him into his saddle. His large, white, +upturned face glimmered through the gathering darkness. + +"Hi, dragoman, tell them that they are forgetting Mr. Stuart," cried the +Colonel. + +"No use, sir," said Mansoor. "They say that he is too fat, and that +they will not take him any farther. He will die, they say, and why +should they trouble about him?" + +"Not take him!" cried Cochrane. "Why, the man will perish of hunger and +thirst. Where's the Emir? Hi!" he shouted, as the black-bearded Arab +passed, with a tone like that in which he used to summon a dilatory +donkey-boy. The chief did not deign to answer him, but said something +to one of the guards, who dashed the butt of his Remington into the +Colonel's ribs. The old soldier fell forward gasping, and was carried +on half senseless, clutching at the pommel of his saddle. The women +began to cry, and the men, with muttered curses and clenched hands, +writhed in that hell of impotent passion, where brutal injustice and +ill-usage have to go without check or even remonstrance. Belmont +gripped at his hip-pocket for his little revolver, and then remembered +that he had already given it to Miss Adams. If his hot hand had +clutched it, it would have meant the death of the Emir and the massacre +of the party. + +And now as they rode onwards they saw one of the most singular of the +phenomena of the Egyptian desert in front of them, though the +ill-treatment of their companion had left them in no humour for the +appreciation of its beauty. When the sun had sunk, the horizon had +remained of a slaty-violet hue. But now this began to lighten and to +brighten until a curious false dawn developed, and it seemed as if a +vacillating sun was coming back along the path which it had just +abandoned. A rosy pink hung over the west, with beautifully delicate +sea-green tints along the upper edge of it. Slowly these faded into +slate again, and the night had come. It was but twenty-four hours since +they had sat in their canvas chairs discussing politics by starlight on +the saloon deck of the _Korosko_; only twelve since they had breakfasted +there and had started spruce and fresh upon their last pleasure trip. +What a world of fresh impressions had come upon them since then! +How rudely they had been jostled out of their take-it-for-granted +complacency! The same shimmering silver stars, as they had looked upon +last night, the same thin crescent of moon--but they, what a chasm lay +between that old pampered life and this! + +The long line of camels moved as noiselessly as ghosts across the +desert. Before and behind were the silent, swaying white figures of the +Arabs. Not a sound anywhere, not the very faintest sound, until far +away behind them they heard a human voice singing in a strong, droning, +unmusical fashion. It had the strangest effect, this far-away voice, in +that huge inarticulate wilderness. And then there came a well-known +rhythm into that distant chant, and they could almost hear the words-- + + We nightly pitch our moving tent, + A day's march nearer home. + +Was Mr. Stuart in his right mind again, or was it some coincidence of +his delirium, that he should have chosen this for his song? With moist +eyes his friends looked back through the darkness, for well they knew +that home was very near to this wanderer. Gradually the voice died away +into a hum, and was absorbed once more into the masterful silence of the +desert. + +"My dear old chap, I hope you're not hurt?" said Belmont, laying his +hand upon Cochrane's knee. + +The Colonel had straightened himself, though he still gasped a little in +his breathing. + +"I am all right again, now. Would you kindly show me which was the man +who struck me?" + +"It was the fellow in front there--with his camel beside Fardet's." + +"The young fellow with the moustache--I can't see him very well in this +light, but I think I could pick him out again. Thank you, Belmont!" + +"But I thought some of your ribs were gone." + +"No, it only knocked the wind out of me." + +"You must be made of iron. It was a frightful blow. How could you +rally from it so quickly?" + +The Colonel cleared his throat and hummed and stammered. + +"The fact is, my dear Belmont--I'm sure you would not let it go +further--above all not to the ladies; but I am rather older than I used +to be, and rather than lose the military carriage which has always been +dear to me, I--" + +"Stays, be Jove!" cried the astonished Irishman. + +"Well, some slight artificial support," said the Colonel stiffly, and +switched the conversation off to the chances of the morrow. + +It still comes back in their dreams to those who are left, that long +night's march in the desert. It was like a dream itself, the silence of +it as they were borne forward upon those soft, shuffling sponge feet, +and the flitting, flickering figures which oscillated upon every side of +them. The whole universe seemed to be hung as a monstrous time-dial in +front of them. A star would glimmer like a lantern on the very level of +their path. They looked again, and it was a hand's-breadth up, and +another was shining beneath it. Hour after hour the broad stream flowed +sedately across the deep blue background, worlds and systems drifting +majestically overhead, and pouring over the dark horizon. In their +vastness and their beauty there was a vague consolation to the +prisoners; for their own fate, and their own individuality, seemed +trivial and unimportant amid the play of such tremendous forces. +Slowly the grand procession swept across the heaven, first climbing, +then hanging long with little apparent motion, and then sinking grandly +downwards, until away in the east the first cold grey glimmer appeared, +and their own haggard faces shocked each other's sight. + +The day had tortured them with its heat, and now the night had brought +the even more intolerable discomfort of cold. The Arabs swathed +themselves in their gowns and wrapped up their heads. The prisoners +beat their hands together and shivered miserably. Miss Adams felt it +most, for she was very thin, with the impaired circulation of age. +Stephens slipped off his Norfolk jacket and threw it over her shoulders. +He rode beside Sadie, and whistled and chatted to make here believe that +her aunt was really relieving him by carrying his jacket for him, but +the attempt was too boisterous not to be obvious; and yet it was so far +true that he probably felt the cold less than any of the party, for the +old, old fire was burning in his heart, and a curious joy was +inextricably mixed with all his misfortunes, so that he would have found +it hard to say if this adventure had been the greatest evil or the +greatest blessing of his lifetime. Aboard the boat, Sadie's youth, her +beauty, her intelligence and humour, all made him realise that she could +at the best only be expected to charitably endure him. But now he felt +that he was really of some use to her, that every hour she was learning +to turn to him as one turns to one's natural protector; and above all, +he had begun to find himself--to understand that there really was a +strong, reliable man behind all the tricks of custom which had built up +an artificial nature, which had imposed even upon himself. A little +glow of self-respect began to warm his blood. He had missed his youth +when he was young, and now in his middle age it was coming up like some +beautiful belated flower. + +"I do believe that you are all the time enjoying it, Mr. Stephens," said +Sadie with some bitterness. + +"I would not go so far as to say that," he answered. "But I am quite +certain that I would not leave you here." + +It was the nearest approach to tenderness which he had ever put into a +speech, and the girl looked at him in surprise. + +"I think I've been a very wicked girl all my life," she said after a +pause. "Because I have had a good time myself, I never thought of those +who were unhappy. This has struck me serious. If ever I get back I +shall be a better woman--a more earnest woman--in the future." + +"And I a better man. I suppose it is just for that that trouble comes +to us. Look how it has brought out the virtues of all our friends. +Take poor Mr. Stuart, for example. Should we ever have known what a +noble, constant man he was? And see Belmont and his wife, in front of +us there, going fearlessly forward, hand in hand, thinking only of each +other. And Cochrane, who always seemed on board the boat to be a rather +stand-offish, narrow sort of man! Look at his courage, and his +unselfish indignation when any one is ill used. Fardet, too, is as +brave as a lion. I think misfortune has done us all good." + +Sadie sighed. + +"Yes, if it would end right here one might say so; but if it goes on and +on for a few weeks or months of misery, and then ends in death, I don't +know where we reap the benefit of those improvements of character which +it brings. Suppose you escape, what will you do?" + +The lawyer hesitated, but his professional instincts were still strong. + +"I will consider whether an action lies, and against whom. It should be +with the organisers of the expedition for taking us to the Abousir +Rock--or else with the Egyptian Government for not protecting their +frontiers. It will be a nice legal question. And what will you do, +Sadie?" + +It was the first time that he had ever dropped the formal Miss, but the +girl was too much in earnest to notice it. + +"I will be more tender to others," she said. "I will try to make some +one else happy in memory of the miseries which I have endured." + +"You have done nothing all your life but made others happy. You cannot +help doing it," said he. The darkness made it more easy for him to +break through the reserve which was habitual with him. "You need this +rough schooling far less than any of us. How could your character be +changed for the better?" + +"You show how little you know me. I have been very selfish and +thoughtless." + +"At least you had no need for all these strong emotions. You were +sufficiently alive without them. Now it has been different with me." + +"Why did you need emotions, Mr. Stephens?" + +"Because anything is better than stagnation. Pain is better than +stagnation. I have only just begun to live. Hitherto I have been a +machine upon the earth's surface. I was a one-ideaed man, and a +one-ideaed man is only one remove from a dead man. That is what I have +only just begun to realise. For all these years I have never been +stirred, never felt a real throb of human emotion pass through me. +I had no time for it. I had observed it in others, and I had vaguely +wondered whether there was some want in me which prevented my sharing +the experience of my fellow-mortals. But now these last few days have +taught me how keenly I can live--that I can have warm hopes, and deadly +fears--that I can hate, and that I can--well, that I can have every +strong feeling which the soul can experience. I have come to life. I +may be on the brink of the grave, but at least I can say now that I have +lived." + +"And why did you lead this soul-killing life in England?" + +"I was ambitious--I wanted to get on. And then there were my mother and +my sisters to be thought of. Thank Heaven, here is the morning coming. +Your aunt and you will soon cease to feel the cold." + +"And you without your coat!" + +"Oh, I have a very good circulation. I can manage very well in my +shirt-sleeves." + +And now the long, cold, weary night was over, and the deep blue-black +sky had lightened to a wonderful mauve-violet, with the larger stars +still glinting brightly out of it. Behind them the grey line had crept +higher and higher, deepening into a delicate rose-pink, with the +fan-like rays of the invisible sun shooting and quivering across it. +Then, suddenly, they felt its warm touch upon their backs, and there +were hard black shadows upon the sand in front of them. The Dervishes +loosened their cloaks and proceeded to talk cheerily among themselves. +The prisoners also began to thaw, and eagerly ate the doora which was +served out for their breakfasts. A short halt had been called, and a +cup of water handed to each. + +"Can I speak to you, Colonel Cochrane?" asked the dragoman. + +"No, you can't," snapped the Colonel. + +"But it is very important--all our safety may come from it." + +The Colonel frowned and pulled at his moustache. + +"Well, what is it?" he asked at last. + +"You must trust to me, for it is as much to me as to you to get back to +Egypt. My wife and home, and children, are on one part, and a slave for +life upon the other. You have no cause to doubt it." + +"Well, go on!" + +"You know the black man who spoke with you--the one who had been with +Hicks?" + +"Yes, what of him?" + +"He has been speaking with me during the night. I have had a long talk +with him. He said that he could not very well understand you, nor you +him, and so he came to me." + +"What did he say?" + +"He said that there were eight Egyptian soldiers among the Arabs--six +black and two fellaheen. He said that he wished to have your promise +that they should all have very good reward if they helped you to +escape." + +"Of course they shall." + +"They asked for one hundred Egyptian pounds each." + +"They shall have it." + +"I told him that I would ask you, but that I was sure that you would +agree to it." + +"What do they propose to do?" + +"They could promise nothing, but what they thought best was that they +should ride their camels not very far from you, so that if any chance +should come they would be ready to take advantage." + +"Well, you can go to him and promise two hundred pounds each if they +will help us. You do not think we could buy over some Arabs?" + +Mansoor shook his head. "Too much danger to try," said he. +"Suppose you try and fail, then that will be the end to all of us. +I will go tell what you have said." He strolled off to where the old +negro gunner was grooming his camel and waiting for his reply. + +The Emirs had intended to halt for a half-hour at the most, but the +baggage-camels which bore the prisoners were so worn out with the long, +rapid march, that it was clearly impossible that they should move for +some time. They had laid their long necks upon the ground, which is the +last symptom of fatigue. The two chiefs shook their heads when they +inspected them, and the terrible old man looked with his hard-lined, +rock features at the captives. Then he said something to Mansoor, whose +face turned a shade more sallow as he listened. + +"The Emir Abderrahman says that if you do not become Moslem, it is not +worth while delaying the whole caravan in order to carry you upon the +baggage-camels. If it were not for you, he says that we could travel +twice as fast. He wishes to know therefore, once for ever, if you will +accept the Koran." Then in the same tone, as if he were still +translating, he continued: "You had far better consent, for if you do +not he will most certainly put you all to death." + +The unhappy prisoners looked at each other in despair. The two Emirs +stood gravely watching them. + +"For my part," said Cochrane, "I had as soon die now as be a slave in +Khartoum." + +"What do you say, Norah?" asked Belmont. + +"If we die together, John, I don't think I shall be afraid." + +"It is absurd that I should die for that in which I have never had +belief," said Fardet. "And yet it is not possible for the honour of a +Frenchman that he should be converted in this fashion." He drew himself +up, with his wounded wrist stuck into the front of his jacket, "_Je suis +Chretien. J'y reste,_" he cried, a gallant falsehood in each sentence. + +"What do you say, Mr. Stephens?" asked Mansoor in a beseeching voice. +"If one of you would change, it might place them in a good humour. +I implore you that you do what they ask." + +"No, I can't," said the lawyer quietly. + +"Well then, you, Miss Sadie? You, Miss Adams? It is only just to say +it once, and you will be saved." + +"Oh, auntie, do you think we might?" whimpered the frightened girl. +"Would it be so very wrong if we said it?" + +The old lady threw her arms round her. "No, no, my own dear little +Sadie," she whispered. "You'll be strong! You would just hate yourself +for ever after. Keep your grip of me, dear, and pray if you find your +strength is leaving you. Don't forget that your old aunt Eliza has you +all the time by the hand." + +For an instant they were heroic, this line of dishevelled, bedraggled +pleasure-seekers. They were all looking Death in the face, and the +closer they looked the less they feared him. They were conscious rather +of a feeling of curiosity, together with the nervous tingling with which +one approaches a dentist's chair. The dragoman made a motion of his +hands and shoulders, as one who has tried and failed. The Emir +Abderrahman said something to a negro, who hurried away. + +"What does he want a scissors for?" asked the Colonel. + +"He is going to hurt the women," said Mansoor, with the same gesture of +impotence. + +A cold chill fell upon them all. They stared about them in helpless +horror. Death in the abstract was one thing, but these insufferable +details were another. Each had been braced to endure any evil in his +own person, but their hearts were still soft for each other. The women +said nothing, but the men were all buzzing together. + +"There's the pistol, Miss Adams," said Belmont. "Give it here! +We won't be tortured! We won't stand it!" + +"Offer them money, Mansoor! Offer them anything!" cried Stephens. +"Look here, I'll turn Mohammedan if they'll promise to leave the women +alone. After all, it isn't binding--it's under compulsion. But I can't +see the women hurt." + +"No, wait a bit, Stephens!" said the Colonel. "We mustn't lose our +heads. I think I see a way out. See here, dragoman! You tell that +grey-bearded old devil that we know nothing about his cursed tinpot +religion. Put it smooth when you translate it. Tell him that he cannot +expect us to adopt it until we know what particular brand of rot it is +that he wants us to believe. Tell him that if he will instruct us, we +are perfectly willing to listen to his teaching, and you can add that +any creed which turns out such beauties as him, and that other bounder +with the black beard, must claim the attention of every one." + +With bows and suppliant sweepings of his hands the dragoman explained +that the Christians were already full of doubt, and that it needed but a +little more light of knowledge to guide them on to the path of Allah. +The two Emirs stroked their beards and gazed suspiciously at them. +Then Abderrahman spoke in his crisp, stern fashion to the dragoman, and +the two strode away together. An instant later the bugle rang out as a +signal to mount. + +"What he says is this," Mansoor explained, as he rode in the middle of +the prisoners. "We shall reach the wells by mid-day, and there will be +a rest. His own Moolah, a very good and learned man, will come to give +you an hour of teaching. At the end of that time you will choose one +way or the other. When you have chosen, it will be decided whether you +are to go to Khartoum or to be put to death. That is his last word." + +"They won't take ransom?" + +"Wad Ibrahim would, but the Emir Abderrahman is a terrible man. +I advise you to give in to him." + +"What have you done yourself? You are a Christian, too." + +Mansoor blushed as deeply as his complexion would allow. + +"I was yesterday morning. Perhaps I will be to-morrow morning. I serve +the Lord as long as what He ask seem reasonable; but this is very +otherwise." + +He rode onwards amongst the guards with a freedom which showed that his +change of faith had put him upon a very different footing to the other +prisoners. + +So they were to have a reprieve of a few hours, though they rode in that +dark shadow of death which was closing in upon them. What is there in +life that we should cling to it so? It is not the pleasures, for those +whose hours are one long pain shrink away screaming when they see +merciful Death holding his soothing arms out for them. It is not the +associations, for we will change all of them before we walk of our own +free-wills down that broad road which every son and daughter of man must +tread. Is it the fear of losing the I, that dear, intimate I, which we +think we know so well, although it is eternally doing things which +surprise us? Is it that which makes the deliberate suicide cling madly +to the bridge-pier as the river sweeps him by? Or is it that Nature is +so afraid that all her weary workmen may suddenly throw down their tools +and strike, that she has invented this fashion of keeping them constant +to their present work? But there it is, and all these tired, harassed, +humiliated folk rejoiced in the few more hours of suffering which were +left to them. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +There was nothing to show them as they journeyed onwards that they were +not on the very spot that they had passed at sunset upon the evening +before. The region of fantastic black hills and orange sand which +bordered the river had long been left behind, and everywhere now was the +same brown, rolling, gravelly plain, the ground-swell with the shining +rounded pebbles upon its surface, and the occasional little sprouts of +sage-green camel-grass. Behind and before it extended, to where far +away in front of them it sloped upwards towards a line of violet hills. +The sun was not high enough yet to cause the tropical shimmer, and the +wide landscape, brown with its violet edging, stood out with a hard +clearness in that dry, pure air. The long caravan straggled along at +the slow swing of the baggage-camels. Far out on the flanks rode the +vedettes, halting at every rise, and peering backwards with their hands +shading their eyes. In the distance their spears and rifles seemed to +stick out of them, straight and thin, like needles in knitting. + +"How far do you suppose we are from the Nile?" asked Cochrane. He rode +with his chin on his shoulder and his eyes straining wistfully to the +eastern skyline. + +"A good fifty miles," Belmont answered. + +"Not so much as that," said the Colonel. "We could not have been moving +more than fifteen or sixteen hours, and a camel does not do more than +two and a half miles an hour unless it is trotting. That would only +give about forty miles, but still it is, I fear, rather far for a +rescue. I don't know that we are much the better for this postponement. +What have we to hope for? We may just as well take our gruel." + +"Never say die!" cried the cheery Irishman. "There's plenty of time +between this and mid-day. Hamilton and Hedley of the Camel Corps are +good boys, and they'll be after us like a streak. They'll have no +baggage-camels to hold them back, you can lay your life on that! Little +did I think, when I dined with them at mess that last night, and they +were telling me all their precautions against a raid, that I should +depend upon them for our lives." + +"Well, we'll play the game out, but I'm not very hopeful," said +Cochrane. "Of course, we must keep the best face we can before the +women. I see that Tippy Tilly is as good as his word, for those five +niggers and the two brown Johnnies must be the men he speaks of. +They all ride together and keep well up, but I can't see how they are +going to help us." + +"I've got my pistol back," whispered Belmont, and his square chin and +strong mouth set like granite. "If they try any games on the women, I +mean to shoot them all three with my own hand, and then we'll die with +our minds easy." + +"Good man!" said Cochrane, and they rode on in silence. None of them +spoke much. A curious, dreamy, irresponsible feeling crept over them. +It was as if they had all taken some narcotic drug--the merciful anodyne +which Nature uses when a great crisis has fretted the nerves too far. +They thought of their friends and of their past lives in the +comprehensive way in which one views that which is completed. A subtle +sweetness mingled with the sadness of their fate. They were filled with +the quiet serenity of despair. + +"It's devilish pretty," said the Colonel, looking about him. "I always +had an idea that I should like to die in a real, good, yellow London +fog. You couldn't change for the worse." + +"I should have liked to have died in my sleep," said Sadie. +"How beautiful to wake up and find yourself in the other world! +There was a piece that Hetty Smith used to say at the College: 'Say not +good-night, but in some brighter world wish me good-morning.'" + +The Puritan aunt shook her head at the idea. "It's a terrible thing to +go unprepared into the presence of your Maker," said she. + +"It's the loneliness of death that is terrible," said Mrs. Belmont. +"If we and those whom we loved all passed over simultaneously, we should +think no more of it than of changing our house." + +"If the worst comes to the worst, we won't be lonely," said her husband. +"We'll all go together, and we shall find Brown and Headingly and Stuart +waiting on the other side." + +The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders. He had no belief in survival +after death, but he envied the two Catholics the quiet way in which they +took things for granted. He chuckled to think of what his friends in +the Cafe Cubat would say if they learned that he had laid down his life +for the Christian faith. Sometimes it amused and sometimes it maddened +him, and he rode onwards with alternate gusts of laughter and of fury, +nursing his wounded wrist all the time like a mother with a sick baby. + +Across the brown of the hard, pebbly desert there had been visible for +some time a single long, thin, yellow streak, extending north and south +as far as they could see. It was a band of sand not more than a few +hundred yards across, and rising at the highest to eight or ten feet. +But the prisoners were astonished to observe that the Arabs pointed at +this with an air of the utmost concern, and they halted when they came +to the edge of it like men upon the brink of an unfordable river. +It was very light, dusty sand, and every wandering breath of wind sent +it dancing into the air like a whirl of midges. The Emir Abderrahman +tried to force his camel into it, but the creature, after a step or two, +stood still and shivered with terror. The two chiefs talked for a +little, and then the whole caravan trailed off with their heads for the +north, and the streak of sand upon their left. + +"What is it?" asked Belmont, who found the dragoman riding at his elbow. +"Why are we going out of our course?" + +"Drift sand," Mansoor answered. "Every sometimes the wind bring it all +in one long place like that. To-morrow, if a wind comes, perhaps there +will not be one grain left, but all will be carried up into the air +again. An Arab will sometimes have to go fifty or a hundred miles to go +round a drift. Suppose he tries to cross, his camel breaks its legs, +and he himself is sucked in and swallowed." + +"How long will this be?" + +"No one can say." + +"Well, Cochrane, it's all in our favour. The longer the chase the +better chance for the fresh camels!" and for the hundredth time he +looked back at the long, hard skyline behind them. There was the great, +empty, dun-coloured desert, but where the glint of steel or the twinkle +of white helmet for which he yearned? + +And soon they cleared the obstacle in their front. It spindled away +into nothing, as a streak of dust would which has been blown across an +empty room. It was curious to see that when it was so narrow that one +could almost jump it, the Arabs would still go for many hundreds of +yards rather than risk the crossing. Then, with good, hard country +before them once more, the tired beasts were whipped up, and they ambled +on with a double-jointed jogtrot, which set the prisoners nodding and +bowing in grotesque and ludicrous misery. It was fun at first, and they +smiled at each other, but soon the fun had become tragedy as the +terrible camel-ache seized them by spine and waist, with its deep, dull +throb, which rises gradually to a splitting agony. + +"I can't stand it, Sadie," cried Miss Adams suddenly. "I've done my +best. I'm going to fall." + +"No, no, auntie, you'll break your limbs if you do. Hold up, just a +little, and maybe they'll stop." + +"Lean back, and hold your saddle behind," said the Colonel. +"There, you'll find that will ease the strain." He took the puggaree +from his hat, and tying the ends together, he slung it over her front +pommel. "Put your foot in the loop," said he. "It will steady you like +a stirrup." + +The relief was instant, so Stephens did the same for Sadie. +But presently one of the weary doora camels came down with a crash, its +limbs starred out as if it had split asunder, and the caravan had to +come down to its old sober gait. + +"Is this another belt of drift sand?" asked the Colonel presently. + +"No, it's white," said Belmont. "Here, Mansoor, what is that in front +of us?" + +But the dragoman shook his head. + +"I don't know what it is, sir. I never saw the same thing before." + +Right across the desert, from north to south, there was drawn a white +line, as straight and clear as if it had been slashed with chalk across +a brown table. It was very thin, but it extended without a break +from horizon to horizon. Tippy Tilly said something to the dragoman. + +"It's the great caravan route," said Mansoor. + +"What makes it white, then?" + +"The bones." + +It seemed incredible, and yet it was true, for as they drew nearer they +saw that it was indeed a beaten track across the desert, hollowed out by +long usage, and so covered with bones that they gave the impression of a +continuous white ribbon. Long, snouty heads were scattered everywhere, +and the lines of ribs were so continuous that it looked in places like +the framework of a monstrous serpent. The endless road gleamed in the +sun as if it were paved with ivory. For thousands of years this had +been the highway over the desert, and during all that time no animal of +all those countless caravans had died there without being preserved by +the dry, antiseptic air. No wonder, then, that it was hardly possible +to walk down it now without treading upon their skeletons. + +"This must be the route I spoke of," said Stephens. "I remember marking +it upon the map I made for you, Miss Adams. Baedeker says that it has +been disused on account of the cessation of all trade which followed the +rise of the Dervishes, but that it used to be the main road by which the +skins and gums of Darfur found their way down to Lower Egypt." + +They looked at it with a listless curiosity, for there was enough to +engross them at present in their own fates. The caravan struck to the +south along the old desert track, and this Golgotha of a road seemed to +be a fitting avenue for that which awaited them at the end of it. +Weary camels and weary riders dragged on together towards their +miserable goal. + +And now, as the critical moment approached which was to decide their +fate, Colonel Cochrane, weighed down by his fears lest something +terrible should befall the women, put his pride aside to the extent of +asking the advice of the renegade dragoman. The fellow was a villain +and a coward, but at least he was an Oriental, and he understood the +Arab point of view. His change of religion had brought him into closer +contact with the Dervishes, and he had overheard their intimate talk. +Cochrane's stiff, aristocratic nature fought hard before he could bring +himself to ask advice from such a man, and when he at last did so, it +was in the gruffest and most unconciliatory voice. + +"You know the rascals, and you have the same way of looking at things," +said he. "Our object is to keep things going for another twenty-four +hours. After that it does not much matter what befalls us, for we shall +be out of the reach of rescue. But how can we stave them off for +another day?" + +"You know my advice," the dragoman answered; "I have already answered it +to you. If you will all become as I have, you will certainly be carried +to Khartoum in safety. If you do not, you will never leave our next +camping-place alive." + +The Colonel's well-curved nose took a higher tilt, and an angry flush +reddened his thin cheeks. He rode in silence for a little, for his +Indian service had left him with a curried-prawn temper, which had had +an extra touch of cayenne added to it by his recent experiences. It was +some minutes before he could trust himself to reply. + +"We'll set that aside," said he at last. "Some things are possible and +some are not. This is not." + +"You need only pretend." + +"That's enough," said the Colonel abruptly. + +Mansoor shrugged his shoulders. + +"What is the use of asking me, if you become angry when I answer? +If you do not wish to do what I say, then try your own attempt. +At least you cannot say that I have not done all I could to save you." + +"I'm not angry," the Colonel answered after a pause, in a more +conciliatory voice, "but this is climbing down rather farther than we +care to go. Now, what I thought is this. You might, if you chose, give +this priest, or Moolah, who is coming to us, a hint that we really are +softening a bit upon the point. I don't think, considering the hole +that we are in, that there can be very much objection to that. +Then, when he comes, we might play up and take an interest and ask for +more instruction, and in that way hold the matter over for a day or two. +Don't you think that would be the best game?" + +"You will do as you like," said Mansoor. "I have told you once for ever +what I think. If you wish that I speak to the Moolah, I will do so. +It is the fat, little man with the grey beard, upon the brown camel in +front there. I may tell you that he has a name among them for +converting the infidel, and he has a great pride in it, so that he would +certainly prefer that you were not injured if he thought that he might +bring you into Islam." + +"Tell him that our minds are open, then," said the Colonel. "I don't +suppose the _padre_ would have gone so far, but now that he is dead I +think we may stretch a point. You go to him, Mansoor, and if you work +it well we will agree to forget what is past. By the way, has Tippy +Tilly said anything?" + +"No, sir. He has kept his men together, but he does not understand yet +how he can help you." + +"Neither do I. Well, you go to the Moolah, then, and I'll tell the +others what we have agreed." + +The prisoners all acquiesced in the Colonel's plan, with the exception +of the old New England lady, who absolutely refused even to show any +interest in the Mohammedan creed. "I guess I am too old to bow the knee +to Baal," she said. The most that she would concede was that she would +not openly interfere with anything which her companions might say or do. + +"And who is to argue with the priest?" asked Fardet, as they all rode +together, talking the matter over. "It is very important that it should +be done in a natural way, for if he thought that we were only trying to +gain time, he would refuse to have any more to say to us." + +"I think Cochrane should do it, as the proposal is his," said Belmont. + +"Pardon me!" cried the Frenchman. "I will not say a word against our +friend the Colonel, but it is not possible that a man should be fitted +for everything. It will all come to nothing if he attempts it. +The priest will see through the Colonel." + +"Will he?" said the Colonel with dignity. + +"Yes, my friend, he will, for, like most of your countrymen, you are +very wanting in sympathy for the ideas of other people, and it is the +great fault which I find with you as a nation." + +"Oh, drop the politics!" cried Belmont impatiently. + +"I do not talk politics. What I say is very practical. How can Colonel +Cochrane pretend to this priest that he is really interested in his +religion when, in effect, there is no religion in the world to him +outside some little church in which he has been born and bred? I will +say this for the Colonel, that I do not believe he is at all a +hypocrite, and I am sure that he could not act well enough to deceive +such a man as this priest." + +The Colonel sat with a very stiff back and the blank face of a man who +is not quite sure whether he is being complimented or insulted. + +"You can do the talking yourself if you like," said he at last. +"I should he very glad to be relieved of it." + +"I think that I am best fitted for it, since I am equally interested in +all creeds. When I ask for information, it is because in verity I +desire it, and not because I am playing a part." + +"I certainly think that it would be much better if Monsieur Fardet would +undertake it," said Mrs. Belmont with decision, and so the matter was +arranged. + +The sun was now high, and it shone with dazzling brightness upon the +bleached bones which lay upon the road. Again the torture of thirst +fell upon the little group of survivors, and again, as they rode with +withered tongues and crusted lips, a vision of the saloon of the +_Korosko_ danced like a mirage before their eyes, and they saw the white +napery, the wine-cards by the places, the long necks of the bottles, the +siphons upon the sideboard. Sadie, who had borne up so well, became +suddenly hysterical, and her shrieks of senseless laughter jarred +horribly upon their nerves. Her aunt on one side of her, and Mr. +Stephens on the other, did all they could to soothe her, and at last the +weary, overstrung girl relapsed into something between a sleep and a +faint, hanging limp over her pommel, and only kept from falling by the +friends who clustered round her. The baggage-camels were as weary as +their riders, and again and again they had to jerk at their nose-ropes +to prevent them from lying down. From horizon to horizon stretched that +one huge arch of speckless blue, and up its monstrous concavity crept +the inexorable sun, like some splendid but barbarous deity, who claimed +a tribute of human suffering as his immemorial right. + +Their course still lay along the old trade route, but their progress was +very slow, and more than once the two Emirs rode back together, and +shook their heads as they looked at the weary baggage-camels on which +the prisoners were perched. The greatest laggard of all was one which +was ridden by a wounded Soudanese soldier. It was limping badly with a +strained tendon, and it was only by constant prodding that it could be +kept with the others. The Emir Wad Ibrahim raised his Remington, as the +creature hobbled past, and sent a bullet through its brain. The wounded +man flew forwards out of the high saddle, and fell heavily upon the hard +track. His companions in misfortune, looking back, saw him stagger to +his feet with a dazed face. At the same instant a Baggara slipped down +from his camel with a sword in his hand. + +"Don't look! don't look!" cried Belmont to the ladies, and they all rode +on with their faces to the south. They heard no sound, but the Baggara +passed them a few minutes afterwards. He was cleaning his sword upon +the hairy neck of his camel, and he glanced at them with a quick, +malicious gleam of his teeth as he trotted by. But those who are at the +lowest pitch of human misery are at least secured against the future. +That vicious, threatening smile which might once have thrilled them left +them now unmoved--or stirred them at most to vague resentment. +There were many things to interest them in this old trade route, had +they been in a condition to take notice of them. Here and there along +its course were the crumbling remains of ancient buildings, so old that +no date could be assigned to them, but designed in some far-off +civilisation to give the travellers shade from the sun or protection +from the ever-lawless children of the desert. The mud bricks with which +these refuges were constructed showed that the material had been carried +over from the distant Nile. Once, upon the top of a little knoll, they +saw the shattered plinth of a pillar of red Assouan granite, with the +wide-winged symbol of the Egyptian god across it, and the cartouche of +the second Rameses beneath. After three thousand years one cannot get +away from the ineffaceable footprints of the warrior-king. It is surely +the most wonderful survival of history that one should still be able to +gaze upon him, high-nosed and masterful, as he lies with his powerful +arms crossed upon his chest, majestic even in decay, in the Gizeh +Museum. To the captives, the cartouche was a message of hope, as a sign +that they were not outside the sphere of Egypt. "They've left their +card here once, and they may again," said Belmont, and they all tried to +smile. + +And now they came upon one of the most satisfying sights on which the +human eye can ever rest. Here and there, in the depressions at either +side of the road, there had been a thin scurf of green, which meant that +water was not very far from the surface. And then, quite suddenly, the +track dipped down into a bowl-shaped hollow, with a most dainty group of +palm-trees, and a lovely green sward at the bottom of it. The sun +gleaming upon that brilliant patch of clear, restful colour, with the +dark glow of the bare desert around it, made it shine like the purest +emerald in a setting of burnished copper. And then it was not its +beauty only, but its promise for the future: water, shade, all that +weary travellers could ask for. Even Sadie was revived by the cheery +sight, and the spent camels snorted and stepped out more briskly, +stretching their long necks and sniffing the air as they went. +After the unhomely harshness of the desert, it seemed to all of them +that they had never seen anything more beautiful than this. They looked +below at the green sward with the dark, star-like shadows of the +palm-crowns; then they looked up at those deep green leaves against the +rich blue of the sky, and they forgot their impending death in the +beauty of that Nature to whose bosom they were about to return. + +The wells in the centre of the grove consisted of seven large and two +small saucer-like cavities filled with peat-coloured water, enough to +form a plentiful supply for any caravan. Camels and men drank it +greedily, though it was tainted by the all-pervading natron. The camels +were picketed, the Arabs threw their sleeping-mats down in the shade, +and the prisoners, after receiving a ration of dates and of doora, were +told that they might do what they would during the heat of the day, and +that the Moolah would come to them before sunset. The ladies were given +the thicker shade of an acacia tree, and the men lay down under the +palms. The great green leaves swished slowly above them; they heard the +low hum of the Arab talk, and the dull champing of the camels, and then +in an instant, by that most mysterious and least understood of miracles, +one was in a green Irish valley, and another saw the long straight line +of Commonwealth Avenue, and a third was dining at a little round table +opposite to the bust of Nelson in the Army and Navy Club, and for him +the swishing of the palm branches had been transformed into the +long-drawn hum of Pall Mall. So the spirits went their several ways, +wandering back along the strange, un-traced tracks of the memory, while +the weary, grimy bodies lay senseless under the palm-trees in the Oasis +of the Libyan Desert. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Colonel Cochrane was awakened from his slumber by some one pulling at +his shoulder. As his eyes opened they fell upon the black, anxious face +of Tippy Tilly, the old Egyptian gunner. His crooked finger was laid +upon his thick, liver-coloured lips, and his dark eyes glanced from left +to right with ceaseless vigilance. + +"Lie quiet! Do not move!" he whispered, in Arabic. "I will lie here +beside you, and they cannot tell me from the others. You can understand +what I am saying?" + +"Yes, if you will talk slowly." + +"Very good. I have no great trust in this black man, Mansoor. I had +rather talk direct with the Miralai." + +"What have you to say?" + +"I have waited long, until they should all be asleep, and now in another +hour we shall be called to evening prayer. First of all, here is a +pistol, that you may not say that you are without arms." + +It was a clumsy, old-fashioned thing, but the Colonel saw the glint of a +percussion cap upon the nipple, and knew that it was loaded. He slipped +it into the inner pocket of his Norfolk jacket. + +"Thank you," said he; "speak slowly, so that I may understand you." + +"There are eight of us who wish to go to Egypt. There are also four men +in your party. One of us, Mehemet Ali, has fastened twelve camels +together, which are the fastest of all save only those which are ridden +by the Emirs. There are guards upon watch, but they are scattered in +all directions. The twelve camels are close beside us here--those +twelve behind the acacia tree. If we can only get mounted and started, +I do not think that many can overtake us, and we shall have our rifles +for them. The guards are not strong enough to stop so many of us. +The water-skins are all filled, and we may see the Nile again by +to-morrow night." + +The Colonel could not follow it all, but he understood enough to set a +little spring of hope bubbling in his heart. The last terrible day had +left its mark in his livid face and his hair, which was turning rapidly +to grey. He might have been the father of the spruce well-preserved +soldier who had paced with straight back and military stride up and down +the saloon deck of the Korosko. + +"That is excellent," said he. "But what are we to do about the three +ladies?" The black soldier shrugged his shoulders. "Mefeesh!" said he. +"One of them is old, and in any case there are plenty more women if we +get back to Egypt. These will not come to any hurt, but they will be +placed in the harem of the Khalifa." + +"What you say is nonsense," said the Colonel sternly. "We shall take +our women with us, or we shall not go at all." + +"I think it is rather you who talk the thing without sense," the black +man answered angrily. "How can you ask my companions and me to do that +which must end in failure? For years we have waited for such a chance +as this, and now that it has come, you wish us to throw it away owing to +this foolishness about the women." + +"What have we promised you if we come back to Egypt?" asked Cochrane. + +"Two hundred Egyptian pounds and promotion in the army--all upon the +word of an Englishman." + +"Very good. Then you shall have three hundred each if you can make some +new plan by which you can take the women with you." + +Tippy Tilly scratched his woolly head in his perplexity. + +"We might, indeed, upon some excuse, bring three more of the faster +camels round to this place. Indeed, there are three very good camels +among those which are near the cooking fire. But how are we to get the +women upon them?--and if we had them upon them, we know very well that +they would fall off when they began to gallop. I fear that you men will +fall off, for it is no easy matter to remain upon a galloping camel; but +as to the women, it is impossible. No, we shall leave the women, and if +you will not leave the women, then we shall leave all of you and start +by ourselves." + +"Very good! Go!" said the Colonel abruptly, and settled down as if to +sleep once more. He knew that with Orientals it is the silent man who +is most likely to have his way. + +The negro turned and crept away for some little distance, where he was +met by one of his fellaheen comrades, Mehemet Ali, who had charge of the +camels. The two argued for some little time--for those three hundred +golden pieces were not to be lightly resigned. Then the negro crept +back to Colonel Cochrane. + +"Mehemet Ali has agreed," said he. "He has gone to put the nose-rope +upon three more of the camels. But it is foolishness, and we are all +going to our death. Now come with me, and we shall awaken the women and +tell them." + +The Colonel shook his companions and whispered to them what was in the +wind. Belmont and Fardet were ready for any risk. Stephens, to whom +the prospect of a passive death presented little terror, was seized with +a convulsion of fear when he thought of any active exertion to avoid it, +and shivered in all his long, thin limbs. Then he pulled out his +Baedeker and began to write his will upon the flyleaf, but his hand +twitched so that he was hardly legible. By some strange gymnastic of +the legal mind a death, even by violence, if accepted quietly, had a +place in the order of things, while a death which overtook one galloping +frantically over a desert was wholly irregular and discomposing. It was +not dissolution which he feared, but the humiliation and agony of a +fruitless struggle against it. + +Colonel Cochrane and Tippy Tilly had crept together under the shadow of +the great acacia tree to the spot where the women were lying. Sadie and +her aunt lay with their arms round each other, the girl's head pillowed +upon the old woman's bosom. Mrs. Belmont was awake, and entered into +the scheme in an instant. + +"But you must leave me," said Miss Adams earnestly. "What does it +matter at my age, anyhow?" + +"No, no, Aunt Eliza; I won't move without you! Don't you think it!" +cried the girl. "You've got to come straight away or else we both stay +right here where we are." + +"Come, come, ma'am, there is no time for arguing, or nonsense," said the +Colonel roughly. "Our lives all depend upon your making an effort, and +we cannot possibly leave you behind." + +"But I will fall off." + +"I'll tie you on with my puggaree. I wish I had the cummerbund which I +lent poor Stuart. Now, Tippy, I think we might make a break for it!" + +But the black soldier had been staring with a disconsolate face out over +the desert, and he turned upon his heel with an oath. + +"There!" said he sullenly. "You see what comes of all your foolish +talking! You have ruined our chances as well as your own!" + +Half-a-dozen mounted camel-men had appeared suddenly over the lip of the +bowl-shaped hollow, standing out hard and clear against the evening sky +where the copper basin met its great blue lid. They were travelling +fast, and waved their rifles as they came. An instant later the bugle +sounded an alarm, and the camp was up with a buzz like an overturned +bee-hive. The Colonel ran back to his companions, and the black soldier +to his camel. Stephens looked relieved, and Belmont sulky, while +Monsieur Fardet raved, with his one uninjured hand in the air. + +"Sacred name of a dog!" he cried. "Is there no end to it, then? Are we +never to come out of the hands of these accursed Dervishes?" + +"Oh, they really are Dervishes, are they?" said the Colonel in an acid +voice. "You seem to be altering your opinions. I thought they were an +invention of the British Government." + +The poor fellows' tempers were getting frayed and thin. The Colonel's +sneer was like a match to a magazine, and in an instant the Frenchman +was dancing in front of him with a broken torrent of angry words. +His hand was clutching at Cochrane's throat before Belmont and Stephens +could pull him off. + +"If it were not for your grey hairs--" he said. + +"Damn your impudence!" cried the Colonel. + +"If we have to die, let us die like gentlemen, and not like so many +corner-boys," said Belmont with dignity. + +"I only said I was glad to see that Monsieur Fardet has learned +something from his adventures," the Colonel sneered. + +"Shut up, Cochrane! What do you want to aggravate him for?" cried the +Irishman. + +"Upon my word, Belmont, you forget yourself! I do not permit people to +address me in this fashion." + +"You should look after your own manners, then." + +"Gentlemen, gentlemen, here are the ladies!" cried Stephens, and the +angry, over-strained men relapsed into a gloomy silence, pacing up and +down, and jerking viciously at their moustaches. It is a very catching +thing, ill-temper, for even Stephens began to be angry at their anger, +and to scowl at them as they passed him. Here they were at a crisis in +their fate, with the shadow of death above them, and yet their minds +were all absorbed in some personal grievance so slight that they could +hardly put it into words. Misfortune brings the human spirit to a rare +height, but the pendulum still swings. + +But soon their attention was drawn away to more important matters. +A council of war was being held beside the wells, and the two Emirs, +stern and composed, were listening to a voluble report from the leader +of the patrol. The prisoners noticed that, though the fierce, old man +stood like a graven image, the younger Emir passed his hand over his +beard once or twice with a nervous gesture, the thin, brown fingers +twitching among the long, black hair. + +"I believe the Gippies are after us," said Belmont. "Not very far off +either, to judge by the fuss they are making." + +"It looks like it. Something has scared them." + +"Now he's giving orders. What can it be? Here, Mansoor, what is the +matter?" + +The dragoman came running up with the light of hope shining upon his +brown face. + +"I think they have seen something to frighten them. I believe that the +soldiers are behind us. They have given the order to fill the +water-skins, and be ready for a start when the darkness comes. But I am +ordered to gather you together, for the Moolah is coming to convert you +all. I have already told him that you are all very much inclined to +think the same with him." + +How far Mansoor may have gone with his assurances may never be known, +but the Mussulman preacher came walking towards them at this moment with +a paternal and contented smile upon his face, as one who has a pleasant +and easy task before him. He was a one-eyed man, with a fringe of +grizzled beard and a face which was fat, but which looked as if it had +once been fatter, for it was marked with many folds and creases. He had +a green turban upon his head, which marked him as a Mecca pilgrim. +In one hand he carried a small brown carpet, and in the other a +parchment copy of the Koran. Laying his carpet upon the ground, he +motioned Mansoor to his side, and then gave a circular sweep of his arm +to signify that the prisoners should gather round him, and a downward +wave which meant that they should be seated. So they grouped themselves +round him, sitting on the short green sward under the palm-tree, these +seven forlorn representatives of an alien creed, and in the midst of +them sat the fat little preacher, his one eye dancing from face to face +as he expounded the principles of his newer, cruder, and more earnest +faith. They listened attentively and nodded their heads as Mansoor +translated the exhortation, and with each sign of their acquiescence the +Moolah became more amiable in his manner and more affectionate in his +speech. + +"For why should you die, my sweet lambs, when all that is asked of you +is that you should set aside that which will carry you to everlasting +Gehenna, and accept the law of Allah as written by his prophet, which +will assuredly bring you unimaginable joys, as is promised in the Book +of the Camel? For what says the chosen one?"--and he broke away into +one of those dogmatic texts which pass in every creed as an argument. +"Besides, is it not clear that God is with us, since from the beginning, +when we had but sticks against the rifles of the Turks, victory has +always been with us? Have we not taken El Obeid, and taken Khartoum, +and destroyed Hicks and slain Gordon, and prevailed against every one +who has come against us? How, then, can it be said that the blessing of +Allah does not rest upon us?" + +The Colonel had been looking about him during the long exhortation of +the Moolah, and he had observed that the Dervishes were cleaning their +guns, counting their cartridges, and making all the preparations of men +who expected that they might soon be called upon to fight. The two +Emirs were conferring together with grave faces, and the leader of the +patrol pointed, as he spoke to them, in the direction of Egypt. It was +evident that there was at least a chance of a rescue if they could only +keep things going for a few more hours. The camels were not recovered +yet from their long march, and the pursuers, if they were indeed close +behind, were almost certain to overtake them. + +"For God's sake, Fardet, try and keep him in play," said he. "I believe +we have a chance if we can only keep the ball rolling for another hour +or so." + +But a Frenchman's wounded dignity is not so easily appeased. Monsieur +Fardet sat moodily with his back against the palm-tree, and his black +brows drawn down. He said nothing, but he still pulled at his thick, +strong moustache. + +"Come on, Fardet! We depend upon you," said Belmont. + +"Let Colonel Cochrane do it," the Frenchman answered snappishly. +"He takes too much upon himself this Colonel Cochrane." + +"There! There!" said Belmont soothingly, as if he were speaking to a +fractious child. "I am quite sure that the Colonel will express his +regret at what has happened, and will acknowledge that he was in the +wrong--" + +"I'll do nothing of the sort," snapped the Colonel. + +"Besides, that is merely a personal quarrel," Belmont continued hastily. +"It is for the good of the whole party that we wish you to speak with +the Moolah, because we all feel that you are the best man for the job." + +But the Frenchman only shrugged his shoulders and relapsed into a deeper +gloom. + + +The Moolah looked from one to the other, and the kindly expression began +to fade away from his large, baggy face. His mouth drew down at the +corners, and became hard and severe. + +"Have these infidels been playing with us, then?" said he to the +dragoman. "Why is it that they talk among themselves and have nothing +to say to me?" + +"He's getting impatient about it," said Cochrane. "Perhaps I had better +do what I can, Belmont, since this damned fellow has left us in the +lurch." + +But the ready wit of a woman saved the situation. + +"I am sure, Monsieur Fardet," said Mrs. Belmont, "that you, who are a +Frenchman, and therefore a man of gallantry and honour, would not permit +your own wounded feelings to interfere with the fulfilment of your +promise and your duty towards three helpless ladies." + +Fardet was on his feet in an instant, with his hand over his heart. + +"You understand my nature, madame," he cried. "I am incapable of +abandoning a lady. I will do all that I can in this matter. Now, +Mansoor, you may tell the holy man that I am ready to discuss through +you the high matters of his faith with him." + +And he did it with an ingenuity which amazed his companions. He took +the tone of a man who is strongly attracted, and yet has one single +remaining shred of doubt to hold him back. Yet as that one shred was +torn away by the Moolah, there was always some other stubborn little +point which prevented his absolute acceptance of the faith of Islam. +And his questions were all so mixed up with personal compliments to the +priest and self-congratulations that they should have come under the +teachings of so wise a man and so profound a theologian, that the +hanging pouches under the Moolah's eyes quivered with his satisfaction, +and he was led happily and hopefully onwards from explanation to +explanation, while the blue overhead turned into violet, and the green +leaves into black, until the great serene stars shone out once more +between the crowns of the palm-trees. + +"As to the learning of which you speak, my lamb," said the Moolah, in +answer to some argument of Fardet's, "I have myself studied at the +University of El Azhar at Cairo, and I know that to which you allude. +But the learning of the faithful is not as the learning of the +unbeliever, and it is not fitting that we pry too deeply into the ways +of Allah. Some stars have tails, oh my sweet lamb, and some have not; +but what does it profit us to know which are which? For God made them +all, and they are very safe in His hands. Therefore, my friend, be not +puffed up by the foolish learning of the West, and understand that there +is only one wisdom, which consists in following the will of Allah as His +chosen prophet has laid it down for us in this book. And now, my lambs, +I see that you are ready to come into Islam, and it is time, for that +bugle tells that we are about to march, and it was the order of the +excellent Emir Abderrahman that your choice should be taken, one way or +the other, before ever we left the wells." + +"Yet, my father, there are other points upon which I would gladly have +instruction," said the Frenchman, "for, indeed, it is a pleasure to hear +your clear words after the cloudy accounts which we have had from other +teachers." + +But the Moolah had risen, and a gleam of suspicion twinkled in his +single eye. + +"This further instruction may well come afterwards," said he, "since we +shall travel together as far as Khartoum, and it will be a joy to me to +see you grow in wisdom and in virtue as we go." He walked over to the +fire, and stooping down, with the pompous slowness of a stout man, he +returned with two half-charred sticks, which he laid cross-wise upon the +ground. The Dervishes came clustering over to see the new converts +admitted into the fold. They stood round in the dim light, tall and +fantastic, with the high necks and supercilious heads of the camels +swaying above them. + +"Now," said the Moolah, and his voice had lost its conciliatory and +persuasive tone, "there is no more time for you. Here upon the ground I +have made out of two sticks the foolish and superstitious symbol of your +former creed. You will trample upon it, as a sign that you renounce it, +and you will kiss the Koran, as a sign that you accept it, and what more +you need in the way of instruction shall be given to you as you go." + +They stood up, the four men and the three women, to meet the crisis of +their fate. None of them, except perhaps Miss Adams and Mrs. Belmont, +had any deep religious convictions. All of them were children of this +world, and some of them disagreed with everything which that symbol upon +the earth represented. But there was the European pride, the pride of +the white race which swelled within them, and held them to the faith of +their countrymen. It was a sinful, human, un-Christian motive, and yet +it was about to make them public martyrs to the Christian creed. In the +hush and tension of their nerves low sounds grew suddenly loud upon +their ears. Those swishing palm-leaves above them were like a +swift-flowing river, and far away they could hear the dull, soft +thudding of a galloping camel. + +"There's something coming," whispered Cochrane. "Try and stave them off +for five minutes longer, Fardet." + +The Frenchman stepped out with a courteous wave of his uninjured arm, +and the air of a man who is prepared to accommodate himself to anything. + +"You will tell this holy man that I am quite ready to accept his +teaching, and so I am sure are all my friends," said he to the dragoman. +"But there is one thing which I should wish him to do in order to set at +rest any possible doubts which may remain in our hearts. Every true +religion can be told by the miracles which those who profess it can +bring about. Even I who am but a humble Christian, can, by virtue of my +religion, do some of these. But you, since your religion is superior, +can no doubt do far more, and so I beg you to give us a sign that we may +be able to say that we know that the religion of Islam is the more +powerful." + +Behind all his dignity and reserve, the Arab has a good fund of +curiosity. The hush among the listening Arabs showed how the words of +the Frenchman as translated by Mansoor appealed to them. + +"Such things are in the hands of Allah," said the priest. "It is not for +us to disturb His laws. But if you have yourself such powers as you +claim, let us be witnesses to them." + +The Frenchman stepped forward, and raising his hand he took a large, +shining date out of the Moolah's beard. This he swallowed and +immediately produced once more from his left elbow. He had often given +his little conjuring entertainment on board the boat, and his +fellow-passengers had had some good-natured laughter at his expense, for +he was not quite skilful enough to deceive the critical European +intelligence. But now it looked as if this piece of obvious palming +might be the point upon which all their fates would hang. A deep hum of +surprise rose from the ring of Arabs, and deepened as the Frenchman drew +another date from the nostril of a camel and tossed it into the air, +from which, apparently, it never descended. That gaping sleeve was +obvious enough to his companions, but the dim light was all in favour of +the performer. So delighted and interested was the audience +that they paid little heed to a mounted camel-man who trotted swiftly +between the palm trunks. All might have been well had not Fardet, +carried away by his own success, tried to repeat his trick once more, +with the result that the date fell out of his palm, and the deception +stood revealed. In vain he tried to pass on at once to another of his +little stock. The Moolah said something, and an Arab struck Fardet +across the shoulders with the thick shaft of his spear. + +"We have had enough child's play," said the angry priest. "Are we men +or babes, that you should try to impose upon us in this manner? Here is +the cross and the Koran--which shall it be?" + +Fardet looked helplessly round at his companions. + +"I can do no more; you asked for five minutes. You have had them," said +he to Colonel Cochrane. + +"And perhaps it is enough," the soldier answered. "Here are the Emirs." + +The camel-man, whose approach they had heard from afar, had made for the +two Arab chiefs, and had delivered a brief report to them, stabbing with +his forefinger in the direction from which he had come. There was a +rapid exchange of words between the Emirs, and then they strode forward +together to the group around the prisoners. Bigots and barbarians, they +were none the less two most majestic men, as they advanced through the +twilight of the palm grove. The fierce old greybeard raised his hand +and spoke swiftly in short, abrupt sentences, and his savage followers +yelped to him like hounds to a huntsman. The fire that smouldered in +his arrogant eyes shone back at him from a hundred others. Here were to +be read the strength and danger of the Mahdi movement; here in these +convulsed faces, in that fringe of waving arms, in these frantic, +red-hot souls, who asked nothing better than a bloody death, if their +own hands might be bloody when they met it. + +"Have the prisoners embraced the true faith?" asked the Emir +Abderrahman, looking at them with his cruel eyes. + +The Moolah had his reputation to preserve, and it was not for him to +confess to a failure. + +"They were about to embrace it, when-- + +"Let it rest for a little time, O Moolah." He gave an order, and the +Arabs all sprang for their camels. The Emir Wad Ibrahim filed off at +once with nearly half the party. The others were mounted and ready, +with their rifles unslung. + +"What's happened?" asked Belmont. + +"Things are looking up," cried the Colonel. "By George, I think we are +going to come through all right. The Gippy Camel Corps are hot on our +trail." + +"How do you know?" + +"What else could have scared them?" + +"O Colonel, do you really think we shall be saved?" sobbed Sadie. +The dull routine of misery through which they had passed had deadened +all their nerves until they seemed incapable of any acute sensation, but +now this sudden return of hope brought agony with it like the recovery +of a frost-bitten limb. Even the strong, self-contained Belmont was +filled with doubts and apprehensions. He had been hopeful when there +was no sign of relief, and now the approach of it set him trembling. + +"Surely they wouldn't come very weak," he cried. "Be Jove, if the +Commandant let them come weak, he should be court-martialled." + +"Sure we're in God's hands, anyway," said his wife, in her soothing, +Irish voice. "Kneel down with me, John, dear, if it's the last time, +and pray that, earth or heaven, we may not be divided." + +"Don't do that! Don't!" cried the Colonel anxiously, for he saw that +the eye of the Moolah was upon them. But it was too late, for the two +Roman Catholics had dropped upon their knees and crossed themselves. +A spasm of fury passed over the face of the Mussulman priest at this +public testimony to the failure of his missionary efforts. He turned +and said something to the Emir. + +"Stand up!" cried Mansoor. "For your life's sake, stand up! He is +asking for leave to put you to death." + +"Let him do what he likes!" said the obstinate Irishman; "we will rise +when our prayers are finished, and not before." + +The Emir stood listening to the Moolah, with his baleful gaze upon the +two kneeling figures. Then he gave one or two rapid orders, and four +camels were brought forward. The baggage-camels which they had hitherto +ridden were standing unsaddled where they had been tethered. + +"Don't be a fool, Belmont!" cried the Colonel; "everything depends upon +our humouring them. Do get up, Mrs. Belmont! You are only putting +their backs up!" + +The Frenchman shrugged his shoulders as he looked at them. +"_Mon Dieu!_" he cried, "were there ever such impracticable people? +_Voila!_" he added, with a shriek, as the two American ladies fell upon +their knees beside Mrs. Belmont. "It is like the camels--one down, all +down! Was ever anything so absurd?" + +But Mr. Stephens had knelt down beside Sadie and buried his haggard face +in his long, thin hands. Only the Colonel and Monsieur Fardet remained +standing. Cochrane looked at the Frenchman with an interrogative eye. + +"After all," said he, "it is stupid to pray all your life, and not to +pray now when we have nothing to hope for except through the goodness of +Providence." He dropped upon his knees with a rigid, military back, but +his grizzled, unshaven chin upon his chest. The Frenchman looked at his +kneeling companions, and then his eyes travelled onwards to the angry +faces of the Emir and Moolah. + +"_Sapristi!_" he growled. "Do they suppose that a Frenchman is afraid +of them?" and so, with an ostentatious sign of the cross, he took his +place upon his knees beside the others. Foul, bedraggled, and wretched, +the seven figures knelt and waited humbly for their fate under the black +shadow of the palm-tree. + +The Emir turned to the Moolah with a mocking smile, and pointed at the +results of his ministrations. Then he gave an order, and in an instant +the four men were seized. A couple of deft turns with a camel-halter +secured each of their wrists. Fardet screamed out, for the rope had +bitten into his open wound. The others took it with the dignity of +despair. + +"You have ruined everything. I believe you have ruined me also!" cried +Mansoor, wringing his hands. "The women are to get upon these three +camels." + +"Never!" cried Belmont. "We won't be separated!" He plunged madly, but +he was weak from privation, and two strong men held him by each elbow. + +"Don't fret, John!" cried his wife, as they hurried her towards the +camel. "No harm shall come to me. Don't struggle, or they'll hurt you, +dear." + +The four men writhed as they saw the women dragged away from them. +All their agonies had been nothing to this. Sadie and her aunt appeared +to be half senseless from fear. Only Mrs. Belmont kept a brave face. +When they were seated the camels rose, and were led under the tree +behind where the four men were standing. + +"I've a pistol in me pocket," said Belmont, looking up at his wife. +"I would give me soul to be able to pass it to you." + +"Keep it, John, and it may be useful yet. I have no fears. Ever since +we prayed I have felt as if our guardian angels had their wings round +us." She was like a guardian angel herself as she turned to the +shrinking Sadie, and coaxed some little hope back into her despairing +heart. + +The short, thick Arab, who had been in command of Wad Ibrahim's +rearguard, had Joined the Emir and the Moolah; the three consulted +together, with occasional oblique glances towards the prisoners. +Then the Emir spoke to Mansoor. + +"The chief wishes to know which of you four is the richest man?" said +the dragoman. His fingers were twitching with nervousness and plucking +incessantly at the front of his covercoat. + +"Why does he wish to know?" asked the Colonel. + +"I do not know." + +"But it is evident," cried Monsieur Fardet. "He wishes to know which is +the best worth keeping for his ransom." + +"I think we should see this thing through together," said the Colonel. +"It's really for you to decide, Stephens, for I have no doubt that you +are the richest of us." + +"I don't know that I am," the lawyer answered; "but in any case, I have +no wish to be placed upon a different footing to the others." + +The Emir spoke again in his harsh rasping voice. + +"He says," Mansoor translated, "that the baggage-camels are spent, and +that there is only one beast left which can keep up. It is ready now +for one of you, and you have to decide among yourselves which is to have +it. If one is richer than the others, he will have the preference." + +"Tell him that we are all equally rich." + +"In that case he says that you are to choose at once which is to have +the camel." + +"And the others?" + +The dragoman shrugged his shoulders. + +"Well," said the Colonel, "if only one of us is to escape, I think you +fellows will agree with me that it ought to be Belmont, since he is the +married man." + +"Yes, yes, let it be Monsieur Belmont," cried Fardet. + +"I think so also," said Stephens. + +But the Irishman would not hear of it. + +"No, no, share and share alike," he cried. "All sink or all swim, and +the devil take the flincher." + +They wrangled among themselves until they became quite heated in this +struggle of unselfishness. Some one had said that the Colonel should go +because he was the oldest, and the Colonel was a very angry man. + +"One would think I was an octogenarian," he cried. "These remarks are +quite uncalled for." + +"Well, then," said Belmont, "let us all refuse to go." + +"But this is not very wise," cried the Frenchman. "See, my friends! +Here are the ladies being carried off alone. Surely it would be far +better that one of us should be with them to advise them." + +They looked at one another in perplexity. What Fardet said was +obviously true, but how could one of them desert his comrades? The Emir +himself suggested the solution. + +"The chief says," said Mansoor, "that if you cannot settle who is to go, +you had better leave it to Allah and draw lots." + +"I don't think we can do better," said the Colonel, and his three +companions nodded their assent. + +It was the Moolah who approached them with four splinters of palm-bark +protruding from between his fingers. + +"He says that he who draws the longest has the camel," said Mansoor. + +"We must agree to abide absolutely by this," said Cochrane, and again +his companions nodded. + +The Dervishes had formed a semicircle in front of them, with a fringe of +the oscillating heads of the camels. Before them was a cooking fire, +which threw its red light over the group. The Emir was standing with +his back to it, and his fierce face towards the prisoners. Behind the +four men was a line of guards, and behind them again the three women, +who looked down from their camels upon this tragedy. With a malicious +smile, the fat, one-eyed Moolah advanced with his fist closed, and the +four little brown spicules protruding from between his fingers. + +It was to Belmont that he held them first. The Irishman gave an +involuntary groan, and his wife gasped behind him, for the splinter came +away in his hand. Then it was the Frenchman's turn, and his was half an +inch longer than Belmont's. Then came Colonel Cochrane, whose piece was +longer than the two others put together. Stephens' was no bigger than +Belmont's. The Colonel was the winner of this terrible lottery. + +"You're welcome to my place, Belmont," said he. "I've neither wife nor +child, and hardly a friend in the world. Go with your wife, and I'll +stay." + +"No, indeed! An agreement is an agreement. It's all fair play, and the +prize to the luckiest." + +"The Emir says that you are to mount at once," said Mansoor, and an Arab +dragged the Colonel by his wrist-rope to the waiting camel. + +"He will stay with the rearguard," said the Emir to his lieutenant. +"You can keep the women with you also." + +"And this dragoman dog?" + +"Put him with the others." + +"And they?" + +"Put them all to death." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +As none of the three could understand Arabic, the order of the Emir +would have been unintelligible to them had it not been for the conduct +of Mansoor. The unfortunate dragoman, after all his treachery and all +his subservience and apostasy, found his worst fears realised when the +Dervish leader gave his curt command. With a shriek of fear the poor +wretch threw himself forward upon his face, and clutched at the edge of +the Arab's jibbeh, clawing with his brown fingers at the edge of the +cotton skirt. The Emir tugged to free himself, and then, finding that +he was still held by that convulsive grip, he turned and kicked at +Mansoor with the vicious impatience with which one drives off a +pestering cur. The dragoman's high red tarboosh flew up into the air, +and he lay groaning upon his face where the stunning blow of the Arab's +horny foot had left him. + +All was bustle and movement in the camp, for the old Emir had mounted +his camel, and some of his party were already beginning to follow their +companions. The squat lieutenant, the Moolah, and about a dozen +Dervishes surrounded the prisoners. They had not mounted their camels, +for they were told off to be the ministers of death. The three men +understood as they looked upon their faces that the sand was running +very low in the glass of their lives. Their hands were still bound, but +their guards had ceased to hold them. They turned round, all three, and +said good-bye to the women upon the camels. + +"All up now, Norah," said Belmont. "It's hard luck when there was a +chance of a rescue, but we've done our best." + +For the first time his wife had broken down. She was sobbing +convulsively, with her face between her hands. + +"Don't cry, little woman! We've had a good time together. Give my love +to all friends at Bray! Remember me to Amy McCarthy and to the +Blessingtons. You'll find there is enough and to spare, but I would +take Roger's advice about the investments. Mind that!" + +"O John, I won't live without you!" Sorrow for her sorrow broke the +strong man down, and he buried his face in the hairy side of her camel. +The two of them sobbed helplessly together. + +Stephens meanwhile had pushed his way to Sadie's beast. She saw his +worn earnest face looking up at her through the dim light. + +"Don't be afraid for your aunt and for yourself," said he. "I am sure +that you will escape. Colonel Cochrane will look after you. +The Egyptians cannot be far behind. I do hope you will have a good +drink before you leave the wells. I wish I could give your aunt my +jacket, for it will be cold to-night. I'm afraid I can't get it off. +She should keep some of the bread, and eat it in the early morning." + +He spoke quite quietly, like a man who is arranging the details of a +picnic. A sudden glow of admiration for this quietly consistent man +warmed her impulsive heart. + +"How unselfish you are!" she cried. "I never saw any one like you. +Talk about saints! There you stand in the very presence of death, and +you think only of us." + +"I want to say a last word to you, Sadie, if you don't mind. I should +die so much happier. I have often wanted to speak to you, but I thought +that perhaps you would laugh, for you never took anything very +seriously, did you? That was quite natural of course with your high +spirits, but still it was very serious to me. But now I am really a +dead man, so it does not matter very much what I say." + +"Oh don't, Mr. Stephens!" cried the girl. + +"I won't, if it is very painful to you. As I said, it would make me die +happier, but I don't want to be selfish about it. If I thought it would +darken your life afterwards, or be a sad recollection to you, I would +not say another word." + +"What did you wish to say?" + +"It was only to tell you how I loved you. I always loved you. From the +first I was a different man when I was with you. But of course it was +absurd, I knew that well enough. I never said anything, but I tried not +to make myself ridiculous. But I just want you to know about it now +that it can't matter one way or the other. You'll understand that I +really do love you when I tell you that, if it were not that I knew you +were frightened and unhappy, these last two days in which we have been +always together would have been infinitely the happiest of my life." + +The girl sat pale and silent, looking down with wondering eyes at his +upturned face. She did not know what to do or say in the solemn +presence of this love which burned so brightly under the shadow of +death. To her child's heart it seemed incomprehensible--and yet she +understood that it was sweet and beautiful also. + +"I won't say any more," said he; "I can see that it only bothers you. +But I wanted you to know, and now you do know, so it is all right. +Thank you for listening so patiently and gently. Good-bye, little +Sadie! I can't put my hand up. Will you put yours down?" + +She did so and Stephens kissed it. Then he turned and took his place +once more between Belmont and Fardet. In his whole life of struggle and +success he had never felt such a glow of quiet contentment as suffused +him at that instant when the grip of death was closing upon him. +There is no arguing about love. It is the innermost fact of life--the +one which obscures and changes all the others, the only one which is +absolutely satisfying and complete. Pain is pleasure, and want is +comfort, and death is sweetness when once that golden mist is round it. +So it was that Stephens could have sung with joy as he faced his +murderers. He really had not time to think about them. The important, +all-engrossing, delightful thing was that she could not look upon him as +a casual acquaintance any more. Through all her life she would think of +him--she would know. + +Colonel Cochrane's camel was at one side, and the old soldier, whose +wrists had been freed, had been looking down upon the scene, and +wondering in his tenacious way whether all hope must really be +abandoned. It was evident that the Arabs who were grouped round the +victims were to remain behind with them, while the others who were +mounted would guard the three women and himself. He could not +understand why the throats of his companions had not been already cut, +unless it were that with an Eastern refinement of cruelty this rearguard +would wait until the Egyptians were close to them, so that the warm +bodies of their victims might be an insult to the pursuers. No doubt +that was the right explanation. The Colonel had heard of such a trick +before. + +But in that case there would not be more than twelve Arabs with the +prisoners. Were there any of the friendly ones among them? If Tippy +Tilly and six of his men were there, and if Belmont could get his arms +free and his hand upon his revolver, they might come through yet. +The Colonel craned his neck and groaned in his disappointment. He could +see the faces of the guards in the firelight. They were all Baggara +Arabs, men who were beyond either pity or bribery. Tippy Tilly and the +others must have gone on with the advance. For the first time the stiff +old soldier abandoned hope. + +"Good-bye, you fellows! God bless you!" he cried, as a negro pulled at +his camel's nose-ring and made him follow the others. The women came +after him, in a misery too deep for words. Their departure was a relief +to the three men who were left. + +"I am glad they are gone," said Stephens, from his heart. + +"Yes, yes, it is better," cried Fardet. "How long are we to wait?" + +"Not very long now," said Belmont grimly, as the Arabs closed in around +them. + +The Colonel and the three women gave one backward glance when they came +to the edge of the oasis. Between the straight stems of the palms they +saw the gleam of the fire, and above the group of Arabs they caught a +last glimpse of the three white hats. An instant later, the camels +began to trot, and when they looked back once more the palm grove was +only a black clump with the vague twinkle of a light somewhere in the +heart of it. As with yearning eyes they gazed at that throbbing red +point in the darkness, they passed over the edge of the depression, and +in an instant the huge, silent, moonlit desert was round them without a +sign of the oasis which they had left. On every side the velvet, +blue-black sky, with its blazing stars, sloped downwards to the vast, +dun-coloured plain. The two were blurred into one at their point of +junction. + +The women had sat in the silence of despair, and the Colonel had been +silent also--for what could he say?--but suddenly all four started in +their saddles, and Sadie gave a sharp cry of dismay. In the hush of the +night there had come from behind them the petulant crack of a rifle, +then another, then several together, with a brisk rat-tat-tat, and then +after an interval, one more. + +"It may be the rescuers! It may be the Egyptians!" cried Mrs. Belmont, +with a sudden flicker of hope. "Colonel Cochrane, don't you think it +may be the Egyptians?" + +"Yes, yes," Sadie whimpered. "It must be the Egyptians." + +The Colonel had listened expectantly, but all was silent again. Then he +took his hat off with a solemn gesture. + +"There is no use deceiving ourselves, Mrs. Belmont," said he; "we may as +well face the truth. Our friends are gone from us, but they have met +their end like brave men." + +"But why should they fire their guns? They had . . . they had spears." +She shuddered as she said it. + +"That is true," said the Colonel. "I would not for the world take away +any real grounds of hope which you may have; but on the other hand, +there is no use in preparing bitter disappointments for ourselves. +If we had been listening to an attack, we should have heard some reply. +Besides, an Egyptian attack would have been an attack in force. +No doubt it _is_, as you say, a little strange that they should have +wasted their cartridges--by Jove, look at that!" + +He was pointing over the eastern desert. Two figures were moving across +its expanse, swiftly and stealthily, furtive dark shadows against the +lighter ground. They saw them dimly, dipping and rising over the +rolling desert, now lost, now reappearing in the uncertain light. +They were flying away from the Arabs. And then, suddenly they halted +upon the summit of a sand-hill, and the prisoners could see them +outlined plainly against the sky. They were camel-men, but they sat +their camels astride as a horseman sits his horse. + +"Gippy Camel Corps!" cried the Colonel. + +"Two men," said Miss Adams, in a voice of despair. + +"Only a vedette, ma'am! Throwing feelers out all over the desert. +This is one of them. Main body ten miles off, as likely as not. +There they go giving the alarm! Good old Camel Corps!" + +The self-contained, methodical soldier had suddenly turned almost +inarticulate with his excitement. There was a red flash upon the top of +the sand-hill, and then another, followed by the crack of the rifles. +Then with a whisk the two figures were gone, as swiftly and silently as +two trout in a stream. + +The Arabs had halted for an instant, as if uncertain whether they should +delay their journey to pursue them or not. There was nothing left to +pursue now, for amid the undulations of the sand-drift the vedettes +might have gone in any direction. The Emir galloped back along the +line, with exhortations and orders. Then the camels began to trot, and +the hopes of the prisoners were dulled by the agonies of the terrible +jolt. Mile after mile, mile after mile, they sped onwards over that +vast expanse, the women clinging as best they might to the pommels, the +Colonel almost as spent as they, but still keenly on the look-out for +any sign of the pursuers. + +"I think . . . I think," cried Mrs. Belmont, "that something is moving +in front of us." + +The Colonel raised himself upon his saddle, and screened his eyes from +the moonshine. + +"By Jove, you're right there, ma'am. There are men over yonder." + +They could all see them now, a straggling line of riders far ahead of +them in the desert. + +"They are going in the same direction as we," cried Mrs. Belmont, whose +eyes were very much better than the Colonel's. + +Cochrane muttered an oath into his moustache. + +"Look at the tracks there," said he; "of course, it's our own vanguard +who left the palm grove before us. The chief keeps us at this infernal +pace in order to close up with them." + +As they drew closer they could see plainly that it was indeed the other +body of Arabs, and presently the Emir Wad Ibrahim came trotting back to +take counsel with the Emir Abderrahman. They pointed in the direction +in which the vedettes had appeared, and shook their heads like men who +have many and grave misgivings. Then the raiders joined into one long, +straggling line, and the whole body moved steadily on towards the +Southern Cross, which was twinkling just over the skyline in front of +them. Hour after hour the dreadful trot continued, while the fainting +ladies clung on convulsively, and Cochrane, worn out but indomitable, +encouraged them to hold out, and peered backwards over the desert for +the first glad signs of their pursuers. The blood throbbed in his +temples, and he cried that he heard the roll of drums coming out of the +darkness. In his feverish delirium he saw clouds of pursuers at their +very heels, and during the long night he was for ever crying glad +tidings which ended in disappointment and heartache. The rise of the +sun showed the desert stretching away around them with nothing moving +upon its monstrous face except themselves. With dull eyes and heavy +hearts they stared round at that huge and empty expanse. Their hopes +thinned away like the light morning mist upon the horizon. + +It was shocking to the ladies to look at their companion, and to think +of the spruce, hale old soldier who had been their fellow-passenger from +Cairo. As in the case of Miss Adams, old age seemed to have pounced +upon him in one spring. His hair, which had grizzled hour by hour +during his privations, was now of a silvery white. White stubble, too, +had obscured the firm, clean line of his chin and throat. The veins of +his face were injected, and his features were shot with heavy wrinkles. +He rode with his back arched and his chin sunk upon his breast, for the +old, time-rotted body was worn out, but in his bright, alert eyes there +was always a trace of the gallant tenant who lived in the shattered +house. Delirious, spent, and dying, he preserved his chivalrous, +protecting air as he turned to the ladies, shot little scraps of advice +and encouragement at them, and peered back continually for the help +which never came. + +An hour after sunrise the raiders called a halt, and food and water +were served out to all. Then at a more moderate pace they pursued their +southern journey, their long, straggling line trailing out over a +quarter of a mile of desert. From their more careless bearing and the +way in which they chatted as they rode, it was clear that they thought +that they had shaken off their pursuers. Their direction now was east +as well as south, and it was evidently their intention after this long +detour to strike the Nile again at some point far above the Egyptian +outposts. Already the character of the scenery was changing, and they +were losing the long levels of the pebbly desert, and coming once more +upon those fantastic, sunburned, black rocks, and that rich orange sand +through which they had already passed. On every side of them rose the +scaly, conical hills with their loose, slag-like debris, and +jagged-edged khors, with sinuous streams of sand running like +water-courses down their centre. The camels followed each other, +twisting in and out among the boulders, and scrambling with their +adhesive, spongy feet over places which would have been impossible for +horses. Among the broken rocks those behind could sometimes only see +the long, undulating, darting necks of the creatures in front, as if it +were some nightmare procession of serpents. Indeed, it had much the +effect of a dream upon the prisoners, for there was no sound, save the +soft, dull padding and shuffling of the feet. The strange, wild frieze +moved slowly and silently onwards amid a setting of black stone and +yellow sand, with the one arch of vivid blue spanning the rugged edges +of the ravine. + +Miss Adams, who had been frozen into silence during the long cold night, +began to thaw now in the cheery warmth of the rising sun. She looked +about her, and rubbed her thin hands together. + +"Why, Sadie," she remarked, "I thought I heard you in the night, dear, +and now I see that you have been crying." + +"I've been thinking, auntie." + +"Well, we must try and think of others, dearie, and not of ourselves." + +"It's not of myself, auntie." + +"Never fret about me, Sadie." + +"No, auntie, I was not thinking of you." + +"Was it of any one in particular?" + +"Of Mr. Stephens, auntie. How gentle he was, and how brave! To think +of him fixing up every little thing for us, and trying to pull his +jacket over his poor roped-up hands, with those murderers waiting all +round him. He's my saint and hero from now ever after." + +"Well, he's out of his troubles anyhow," said Miss Adams, with that +bluntness which the years bring with them. + +"Then I wish I was also." + +"I don't see how that would help him." + +"Well, I think he might feel less lonesome," said Sadie, and drooped her +saucy little chin upon her breast. + +The four had been riding in silence for some little time, when the +Colonel clapped his hand to his brow with a gesture of dismay. + +"Good God!" he cried, "I am going off my head." + +Again and again they had perceived it during the night, but he had +seemed quite rational since daybreak. They were shocked therefore at +this sudden outbreak, and tried to calm him with soothing words. + +"Mad as a hatter," he shouted. "Whatever do you think I saw?" + +"Don't trouble about it, whatever it was," said Mrs. Belmont, laying +her hand soothingly upon his as the camels closed together. "It is no +wonder that you are overdone. You have thought and worked for all of us +so long. We shall halt presently, and a few hours' sleep will quite +restore you." + +But the Colonel looked up again, and again he cried out in his agitation +and surprise. + +"I never saw anything plainer in my life," he groaned. "It is on the +point of rock on our right front--poor old Stuart with my red cummerbund +round his head just the same as we left him." + +The ladies had followed the direction of the Colonel's frightened gaze, +and in an instant they were all as amazed as he. + +There was a black, bulging ridge like a bastion upon the right side of +the terrible khor up which the camels were winding. At one point it +rose into a small pinnacle. On this pinnacle stood a solitary, +motionless figure, clad entirely in black, save for a brilliant dash of +scarlet upon his head. There could not surely be two such short sturdy +figures, or such large colourless faces, in the Libyan Desert. His +shoulders were stooping forward, and he seemed to be staring intently +down into the ravine. His pose and outline were like a caricature of +the great Napoleon. + +"Can it possibly be he?" + +"It must be. It is!" cried the ladies. "You see he is looking towards +us and waving his hand." + +"Good Heavens! They'll shoot him! Get down, you fool, or you'll be +shot!" roared the Colonel. But his dry throat would only emit a +discordant croaking. + +Several of the Dervishes had seen the singular apparition upon the hill, +and had unslung their Remingtons, but a long arm suddenly shot up behind +the figure of the Birmingham clergyman, a brown hand seized upon his +skirts, and he disappeared with a snap. Higher up the pass, just below +the spot where Mr. Stuart had been standing, appeared the tall figure of +the Emir Abderrahman. He had sprung upon a boulder, and was shouting +and waving his arms, but the shouts were drowned in a long, rippling +roar of musketry from each side of the khor. The bastion-like cliff was +fringed with gun-barrels, with red tarbooshes drooping over the +triggers. From the other lip also came the long spurts of flame and the +angry clatter of the rifles. The raiders were caught in an ambuscade. +The Emir fell, but was up again and waving. There was a splotch of +blood upon his long white beard. He kept pointing and gesticulating, +but his scattered followers could not understand what he wanted. +Some of them came tearing down the pass, and some from behind were +pushing to the front. A few dismounted and tried to climb up sword in +hand to that deadly line of muzzles, but one by one they were hit, and +came rolling from rock to rock to the bottom of the ravine. +The shooting was not very good. One negro made his way unharmed up the +whole side, only to have his brains dashed out with the butt-end of a +Martini at the top. The Emir had fallen off his rock and lay in a +crumpled heap, like a brown and white patchwork quilt, at the bottom of +it. And then when half of them were down it became evident, even to +those exalted fanatical souls, that there was no chance for them, and +that they must get out of these fatal rocks and into the desert again. +They galloped down the pass, and it is a frightful thing to see a camel +galloping over broken ground. The beast's own terror, his ungainly +bounds, the sprawl of his four legs all in the air together, his hideous +cries, and the yells of his rider who is bucked high from his saddle +with every spring, make a picture which is not to be forgotten. +The women screamed as this mad torrent of frenzied creatures came +pouring past them, but the Colonel edged his camel and theirs farther +and farther in among the rocks and away from the retreating Arabs. +The air was full of whistling bullets, and they could hear them smacking +loudly against the stones all round them. + +"Keep quiet, and they'll pass us," whispered the Colonel, who was all +himself again now that the hour for action had arrived. "I wish to +Heaven I could see Tippy Tilly or any of his friends. Now is the time +for them to help us." He watched the mad stream of fugitives as they +flew past upon their shambling, squattering, loose-jointed beasts, but +the black face of the Egyptian gunner was not among them. + +And now it really did seem as if the whole body of them, in their haste +to get clear of the ravine, had not a thought to spend upon the +prisoners. The rush was past, and only stragglers were running the +gauntlet of the fierce fire which poured upon them from above. The last +of all, a young Baggara with a black moustache and pointed beard, looked +up as he passed and shook his sword in impotent passion at the Egyptian +riflemen. At the same instant a bullet struck his camel, and the +creature collapsed, all neck and legs, upon the ground. The young Arab +sprang off its back, and, seizing its nose-ring, he beat it savagely +with the flat of his sword to make it stand up. But the dim, glazing +eye told its own tale, and in desert warfare the death of the beast is +the death of the rider. The Baggara glared round like a lion at bay, +his dark eyes flashing murderously from under his red turban. A crimson +spot, and then another, sprang out upon his dark skin, but he never +winced at the bullet wounds. His fierce gaze had fallen upon the +prisoners, and with an exultant shout he was dashing towards them, his +broad-bladed sword gleaming above his head. Miss Adams was the nearest +to him, but at the sight of the rushing figure and the maniac face she +threw herself off the camel upon the far side. The Arab bounded on to a +rock and aimed a thrust at Mrs. Belmont, but before the point could +reach her the Colonel leaned forward with his pistol and blew the man's +head in. Yet with a concentrated rage, which was superior even to the +agony of death, the fellow lay kicking and striking, bounding about +among the loose stones like a fish upon the shingle. + +"Don't be frightened, ladies," cried the Colonel. "He is quite dead, I +assure you. I am so sorry to have done this in your presence, but the +fellow was dangerous. I had a little score of my own to settle with +him, for he was the man who tried to break my ribs with his Remington. +I hope you are not hurt, Miss Adams! One instant, and I will come down +to you." + +But the old Boston lady was by no means hurt, for the rocks had been so +high that she had a very short distance to fall from her saddle. +Sadie, Mrs. Belmont, and Colonel Cochrane had all descended by slipping +on to the boulders and climbing down from them. But they found Miss +Adams on her feet, and waving the remains of her green veil in triumph. + +"Hurrah, Sadie! Hurrah, my own darling Sadie!" she was shrieking. +"We are saved, my girl, we are saved after all." + +"By George, so we are!" cried the Colonel, and they all shouted in an +ecstasy together. + +But Sadie had learned to think more about others during those terrible +days of schooling. Her arms were round Mrs. Belmont, and her cheek +against hers. + +"You dear, sweet angel," she cried, "how can we have the heart to be +glad when you--when you--" + +"But I don't believe it is so," cried the brave Irishwoman. "No, I'll +never believe it until I see John's body lying before me. And when I +see that, I don't want to live to see anything more." + +The last Dervish had clattered down the khor, and now above them on +either cliff they could see the Egyptians--tall, thin, square shouldered +figures, looking, when outlined against the blue sky, wonderfully like +the warriors in the ancient bas-reliefs. Their camels were in the +background, and they were hurrying to join them. At the same time +others began to ride down from the farther end of the ravine, their dark +faces flushed and their eyes shining with the excitement of victory and +pursuit. A very small Englishman, with a straw-coloured moustache and a +weary manner, was riding at the head of them. He halted his camel +beside the fugitives and saluted the ladies. He wore brown boots and +brown belts with steel buckles, which looked trim and workmanlike +against his khaki uniform. + +"Had 'em that time--had 'em proper!" said he. "Very glad to have been +of any assistance, I'm sure. Hope you're none the worse for it all. +What I mean, it's rather rough work for ladies." + +"You're from Halfa, I suppose?" asked the Colonel. + +"No, we're from the other show. We're the Sarras crowd, you know. +We met in the desert, and we headed 'em off, and the other Johnnies +herded 'em behind. We've got 'em on toast, I tell you. Get up on that +rock and you'll see things happen. It's going to be a knockout in one +round this time." + +"We left some of our people at the Wells. We are very uneasy about +them," said the Colonel. "I suppose you haven't heard anything of +them?" + +The young officer looked serious and shook his head. "Bad job that!" +said he. "They're a poisonous crowd when you put 'em in a corner. +What I mean, we never expected to see you alive, and we're very glad to +pull any of you out of the fire. The most we hoped was that we might +revenge you." + +"Any other Englishman with you?" + +"Archer is with the flanking party. He'll have to come past, for I +don't think there is any other way down. We've got one of your chaps up +there--a funny old bird with a red top-knot. See you later, I hope! +Good day, ladies!" He touched his helmet, tapped his camel, and trotted +on after his men. + +"We can't do better than stay where we are until they are all past," +said the Colonel, for it was evident now that the men from above would +have to come round. In a broken single file they went past, black men +and brown, Soudanese and fellaheen, but all of the best, for the Camel +Corps is the _corps d'elite_ of the Egyptian army. Each had a brown +bandolier over his chest and his rifle held across his thigh. A large +man with a drooping black moustache and a pair of binoculars in his hand +was riding at the side of them. "Hulloa, Archer!" croaked the Colonel. +The officer looked at him with the vacant, unresponsive eye of a +complete stranger. + +"I'm Cochrane, you know! We travelled up together." + +"Excuse me, sir, but you have the advantage of me," said the officer. +"I knew a Colonel Cochrane Cochrane, but you are not the man. He was +three inches taller than you, with black hair and--" + +"That's all right," cried the Colonel testily. "You try a few days with +the Dervishes, and see if your friends will recognise you!" + +"Good God, Cochrane, is it really you? I could not have believed it. +Great Scott, what you must have been through! I've heard before of +fellows going grey in a night, but, by Jove--" + +"Quite so," said the Colonel, flushing. + +"Allow me to hint to you, Archer, that if you could get some food and +drink for these ladies, instead of discussing my personal appearance, it +would be much more practical." + +"That's all right," said Captain Archer. "Your friend Stuart knows that +you are here, and he is bringing some stuff round for you. Poor fare, +ladies, but the best we have! You're an old soldier, Cochrane. Get up +on the rocks presently, and you'll see a lovely sight. No time to stop, +for we shall be in action again in five minutes. Anything I can do +before I go?" + +"You haven't got such a thing as a cigar?" asked the Colonel wistfully. + +Archer drew a thick satisfying partaga from his case, and handed it +down, with half-a-dozen wax vestas. Then he cantered after his men, and +the old soldier leaned back against the rock and drew in the fragrant +smoke. It was then that his jangled nerves knew the full virtue of +tobacco, the gentle anodyne which stays the failing strength and soothes +the worrying brain. He watched the dim blue reek swirling up from him, +and he felt the pleasant aromatic bite upon his palate, while a restful +languor crept over his weary and harassed body. The three ladies sat +together upon a flat rock. + +"Good land, what a sight you are, Sadie!" cried Miss Adams suddenly, and +it was the first reappearance of her old self. "What _would_ your +mother say if she saw you? Why, sakes alive, your hair is full of straw +and your frock clean crazy!" + +"I guess we all want some setting to rights," said Sadie, in a voice +which was much more subdued than that of the Sadie of old. +"Mrs. Belmont, you look just too perfectly sweet anyhow, but if you'll +allow me I'll fix your dress for you." + +But Mrs. Belmont's eyes were far away, and she shook her head sadly as +she gently put the girl's hands aside. + +"I do not care how I look. I cannot think of it," said she; "could +_you_, if you had left the man you love behind you, as I have mine?" + +"I'm begin--beginning to think I have," sobbed poor Sadie, and buried +her hot face in Mrs. Belmont's motherly bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The Camel Corps had all passed onwards down the khor in pursuit of the +retreating Dervishes, and for a few minutes the escaped prisoners had +been left alone. But now there came a cheery voice calling upon them, +and a red turban bobbed about among the rocks, with the large white face +of the Nonconformist minister smiling from beneath it. He had a thick +lance with which to support his injured leg, and this murderous crutch +combined with his peaceful appearance to give him a most incongruous +aspect--as of a sheep which has suddenly developed claws. Behind him +were two negroes with a basket and a water-skin. + +"Not a word! Not a word!" he cried, as he stumped up to them. "I know +exactly how you feel. I've been there myself. Bring the water, Ali! +Only half a cup, Miss Adams; you shall have some more presently. +Now your turn, Mrs. Belmont! Dear me, dear me, you poor souls, how my +heart does bleed for you! There's bread and meat in the basket, but you +must be very moderate at first." He chuckled with joy, and slapped his +fat hands together as he watched them. + +"But the others?" he asked, his face turning grave again. + +The Colonel shook his head. "We left them behind at the wells. I fear +that it is all over with them." + +"Tut, tut!" cried the clergyman, in a boisterous voice, which could not +cover the despondency of his expression; "you thought, no doubt, that it +was all over with me, but here I am in spite of it. Never lose heart, +Mrs. Belmont. Your husband's position could not possibly be as hopeless +as mine was." + +"When I saw you standing on that rock up yonder, I put it down to +delirium," said the Colonel. "If the ladies had not seen you, I should +never have ventured to believe it." + +"I am afraid that I behaved very badly. Captain Archer says that I +nearly spoiled all their plans, and that I deserved to be tried by a +drumhead court-martial and shot. The fact is that, when I heard the +Arabs beneath me, I forgot myself in my anxiety to know if any of you +were left." + +"I wonder that you were not shot without any drumhead court-martial," +said the Colonel. "But how in the world did you get here?" + +"The Halfa people were close upon our track at the time when I was +abandoned, and they picked me up in the desert. I must have been +delirious, I suppose, for they tell me that they heard my voice, singing +hymns, a long way off, and it was that, under the providence of God, +which brought them to me. They had a camel ambulance, and I was quite +myself again by next day. I came with the Sarras people after we met +them, because they have the doctor with them. My wound is nothing, and +he says that a man of my habit will be the better for the loss of blood. +And now, my friends"--his big, brown eyes lost their twinkle, and became +very solemn and reverent--"we have all been upon the very confines of +death, and our dear companions may be so at this instant. The same +Power which saved us may save them, and let us pray together that it may +be so, always remembering that if, in spite of our prayers, it should +_not_ be so, then that also must be accepted as the best and wisest +thing." + +So they knelt together among the black rocks, and prayed as some of them +had never prayed before. It was very well to discuss prayer and treat +it lightly and philosophically upon the deck of the _Korosko_. It was +easy to feel strong and self-confident in the comfortable deck-chair, +with the slippered Arab handing round the coffee and liqueurs. But they +had been swept out of that placid stream of existence, and dashed +against the horrible, jagged facts of life. Battered and shaken, they +must have something to cling to. A blind, inexorable destiny was too +horrible a belief. A chastening power, acting intelligently and for a +purpose--a living, working power, tearing them out of their grooves, +breaking down their small sectarian ways, forcing them into the better +path--that was what they had learned to realise during these days of +horror. Great hands had closed suddenly upon them, and had moulded them +into new shapes, and fitted them for new uses. Could such a power be +deflected by any human supplication? It was that or nothing--the last +court of appeal, left open to injured humanity. And so they all prayed, +as a lover loves, or a poet writes, from the very inside of their souls, +and they rose with that singular, illogical feeling of inward peace and +satisfaction which prayer only can give. + +"Hush!" said Cochrane. "Listen!" + +The sound of a volley came crackling up the narrow khor, and then +another and another. The Colonel was fidgeting about like an old horse +which hears the bugle of the hunt and the yapping of the pack. + +"Where can we see what is going on?" + +"Come this way! This way, if you please! There is a path up to the +top. If the ladies will come after me, they will be spared the sight of +anything painful." + +The clergyman led them along the side to avoid the bodies which were +littered thickly down the bottom of the khor. It was hard walking over +the shingly, slaggy stones, but they made their way to the summit at +last. Beneath them lay the vast expanse of the rolling desert, and in +the foreground such a scene as none of them are ever likely to forget. +In that perfectly dry and clear light, with the unvarying brown tint of +the hard desert as a background, every detail stood out as clearly as if +these were toy figures arranged upon a table within hand's-touch of +them. + +The Dervishes--or what was left of them--were riding slowly some little +distance out in a confused crowd, their patchwork jibbehs and red +turbans swaying with the motion of their camels. They did not present +the appearance of men who were defeated, for their movements were very +deliberate, but they looked about them and changed their formation as if +they were uncertain what their tactics ought to be. It was no wonder +that they were puzzled, for upon their spent camels their situation was +as hopeless as could be conceived. The Sarras men had all emerged from +the khor, and had dismounted, the beasts being held in groups of four, +while the rifle-men knelt in a long line with a woolly, curling fringe +of smoke, sending volley after volley at the Arabs, who shot back in a +desultory fashion from the backs of their camels. But it was not upon +the sullen group of Dervishes, nor yet upon the long line of kneeling +rifle-men, that the eyes of the spectators were fixed. Far out upon the +desert, three squadrons of the Halfa Camel Corps were coming up in a +dense close column, which wheeled beautifully into a widespread +semicircle as it approached. The Arabs were caught between two fires. + +"By Jove!" cried the Colonel. "See that!" + +The camels of the Dervishes had all knelt down simultaneously, and the +men had sprung from their backs. In front of them was a tall, stately +figure, who could only be the Emir Wad Ibrahim. They saw him kneel for +an instant in prayer. Then he rose, and taking something from his +saddle he placed it very deliberately upon the sand and stood upon it. + +"Good man!" cried the Colonel. "He is standing upon his sheepskin." + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Stuart. + +"Every Arab has a sheepskin upon his saddle. When he recognises that +his position is perfectly hopeless, and yet is determined to fight to +the death, he takes his sheepskin off and stands upon it until he dies. +See, they are all upon their sheepskins. They will neither give nor +take quarter now." + +The drama beneath them was rapidly approaching its climax. The Halfa +Corps was well up, and a ring of smoke and flame surrounded the clump of +kneeling Dervishes, who answered it as best they could. Many of them +were already down, but the rest loaded and fired with the unflinching +courage which has always made them worthy antagonists. A dozen +khaki-dressed figures upon the sand showed that it was no bloodless +victory for the Egyptians. But now there was a stirring bugle call from +the Sarras men, and another answered it from the Halfa Corps. +Their camels were down also, and the men had formed up into a single, +long, curved line. One last volley, and they were charging inwards with +the wild inspiriting yell which the blacks had brought with them from +their central African wilds. For a minute there was a mad vortex of +rushing figures, rifle butts rising and falling, spear-heads gleaming +and darting among the rolling dust cloud. Then the bugle rang out once +more, the Egyptians fell back and formed up with the quick precision of +highly disciplined troops, and there in the centre, each upon his +sheepskin, lay the gallant barbarian and his raiders. The nineteenth +century had been revenged upon the seventh. + +The three women had stared horror-stricken and yet fascinated at the +stirring scene before them. Now Sadie and her aunt were sobbing +together. The Colonel had turned to them with some cheering words when +his eyes fell upon the face of Mrs. Belmont. It was as white and set as +if it were carved from ivory, and her large grey eyes were fixed as if +she were in a trance. + +"Good Heavens, Mrs. Belmont, what _is_ the matter?" he cried. + +For answer she pointed out over the desert. Far away, miles on the +other side of the scene of the fight, a small body of men were riding +towards them. + +"By Jove, yes; there's some one there. Who can it be?" + +They were all straining their eyes, but the distance was so great that +they could only be sure that they were camel-men and about a dozen in +number. + +"It's those devils who were left behind in the palm grove," said +Cochrane. "There's no one else it can be. One consolation, they can't +get away again. They've walked right into the lion's mouth." + +But Mrs. Belmont was still gazing with the same fixed intensity, and the +same ivory face. Now, with a wild shriek of joy, she threw her two +hands into the air. "It's they!" she screamed. "They are saved! +It's they, Colonel, it's they! Oh, Miss Adams, Miss Adams, it is they!" +She capered about on the top of the hill with wild eyes like an excited +child. + +Her companions would not believe her, for they could see nothing, but +there are moments when our mortal senses are more acute than those who +have never put their whole heart and soul into them can ever realise. +Mrs. Belmont had already run down the rocky path, on the way to her +camel, before they could distinguish that which had long before carried +its glad message to her. In the van of the approaching party, three +white dots shimmered in the sun, and they could only come from the three +European hats. The riders were travelling swiftly, and by the time +their comrades had started to meet them they could plainly see that it +was indeed Belmont, Fardet, and Stephens, with the dragoman Mansoor, and +the wounded Soudanese rifleman. As they came together they saw that +their escort consisted of Tippy Tilly and the other old Egyptian +soldiers. Belmont rushed onwards to meet his wife, but Fardet stopped +to grasp the Colonel's hand. + +"_Vive la France! Vivent les Anglais!_" he was yelling. "_Tout va +bien, n'est ce pas_, Colonel? Ah, _canaille! Vivent la croix et +les Chretiens!_" He was incoherent in his delight. + +The Colonel, too, was as enthusiastic as his Anglo-Saxon standard would +permit. He could not gesticulate, but he laughed in the nervous +crackling way which was his top-note of emotion. + +"My dear boy, I am deuced glad to see you all again. I gave you up for +lost. Never was as pleased at anything in my life! How did you get +away?" + +"It was all your doing." + +"Mine?" + +"Yes, my friend, and I have been quarrelling with you--ungrateful wretch +that I am!" + +"But how did I save you?" + +"It was you who arranged with this excellent Tippy Tilly and the others +that they should have so much if they brought us alive into Egypt again. +They slipped away in the darkness and hid themselves in the grove. +Then, when we were left, they crept up with their rifles and shot the +men who were about to murder us. That cursed Moolah, I am sorry they +shot him, for I believe that I could have persuaded him to be a +Christian. And now, with your permission, I will hurry on and embrace +Miss Adams, for Belmont has his wife, and Stephens has Miss Sadie, so I +think it is very evident that the sympathy of Miss Adams is reserved for +me." + +A fortnight had passed away, and the special boat which had been placed +at the disposal of the rescued tourists was already far north of +Assiout. Next morning they would find themselves at Baliani, where one +takes the express for Cairo. It was, therefore, their last evening +together. Mrs. Shlesinger and her child, who had escaped unhurt, had +already been sent down from the frontier. Miss Adams had been very ill +after her privations, and this was the first time that she had been +allowed to come upon deck after dinner. She sat now in a lounge chair, +thinner, sterner, and kindlier than ever, while Sadie stood beside her +and tucked the rugs around her shoulders. Mr. Stephens was carrying +over the coffee and placing it on the wicker table beside them. On the +other side of the deck Belmont and his wife were seated together in +silent sympathy and contentment. + +Monsieur Fardet was leaning against the rail, and arguing about the +remissness of the British Government in not taking a more complete +control of the Egyptian frontier, while the Colonel stood very erect in +front of him, with the red end of a cigar-stump protruding from under +his moustache. + +But what was the matter with the Colonel? Who would have recognised him +who had only seen the broken old man in the Libyan Desert? There might +be some little grizzling about the moustache, but the hair was back once +more at the fine glossy black which had been so much admired upon the +voyage up. With a stony face and an unsympathetic manner he had +received, upon his return to Halfa, all the commiserations about the +dreadful way in which his privations had blanched him, and then diving +into his cabin, he had reappeared within an hour exactly as he had been +before that fatal moment when he had been cut off from the manifold +resources of civilisation. And he looked in such a sternly questioning +manner at every one who stared at him, that no one had the moral +courage to make any remark about this modern miracle. It was observed +from that time forward that, if the Colonel had only to ride a hundred +yards into the desert, he always began his preparations by putting a +small black bottle with a pink label into the side-pocket of his coat. +But those who knew him best at times when a man may best be known, said +that the old soldier had a young man's heart and a young man's spirit-- +so that if he wished to keep a young man's colour also it was not very +unreasonable after all. + +It was very soothing and restful up there on the saloon deck, with no +sound but the gentle lipping of the water as it rippled against the +sides of the steamer. The red after-glow was in the western sky, and it +mottled the broad, smooth river with crimson. Dimly they could discern +the tall figures of herons standing upon the sand-banks, and farther off +the line of riverside date-palms glided past them in a majestic +procession. Once more the silver stars were twinkling out, the same +clear, placid, inexorable stars to which their weary eyes had been so +often upturned during the long nights of their desert martyrdom. + +"Where do you put up in Cairo, Miss Adams?" asked Mrs. Belmont at last. + +"Shepheard's, I think." + +"And you, Mr. Stephens?" + +"Oh, Shepheard's, decidedly." + +"We are staying at the Continental. I hope we shall not lose sight of +you." + +"I don't want ever to lose sight of you, Mrs. Belmont," cried Sadie. +"Oh, you must come to the States, and we'll give you just a lovely +time." + +Mrs. Belmont laughed, in her pleasant, mellow fashion. + +"We have our duty to do in Ireland, and we have been too long away from +it already. My husband has his business, and I have my home, and they +are both going to rack and ruin. Besides," she added slyly, "it is just +possible that if we did come to the States we might not find you there." + +"We must all meet again," said Belmont, "if only to talk our adventures +over once more. It will be easier in a year or two. We are still too +near them." + +"And yet how far away and dream-like it all seems!" remarked his wife. +"Providence is very good in softening disagreeable remembrances in our +minds. All this feels to me as if it had happened in some previous +existence." + +Fardet held up his wrist with a cotton bandage still round it. + +"The body does not forget as quickly as the mind. This does not look +very dream-like or far away, Mrs. Belmont." + +"How hard it is that some should be spared, and some not! If only Mr. +Brown and Mr. Headingly were with us, then I should not have one care in +the world," cried Sadie. "Why should they have been taken, and we +left?" + +Mr. Stuart had limped on to the deck with an open book in his hand, a +thick stick supporting his injured leg. + +"Why is the ripe fruit picked, and the unripe left?" said he in answer +to the young girl's exclamation. "We know nothing of the spiritual +state of these poor dear young fellows, but the great Master Gardener +plucks His fruit according to His own knowledge. I brought you up a +passage to read to you." + +There was a lantern upon the table, and he sat down beside it. +The yellow light shone upon his heavy cheek and the red edges of his +book. The strong, steady voice rose above the wash of the water. + +"'Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed and delivered from +the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands, from the +east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They went +astray in the wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in. +Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. So they cried unto the +Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. +He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to the city where +they dwelt. Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for His +goodness, and declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of +men.' + +"It sounds as if it were composed for us, and yet it was written two +thousand years ago," said the clergyman, as he closed the book. +"In every age man has been forced to acknowledge the guiding hand which +leads him. For my part I don't believe that inspiration stopped two +thousand years ago. When Tennyson wrote with such fervour and +conviction":-- + + 'Oh, yet we trust that somehow good + Will be the final goal of ill,' + +"He was repeating the message which had been given to him, just as Micah +or Ezekiel, when the world was younger, repeated some cruder and more +elementary message." + +"That is all very well, Mr. Stuart," said the Frenchman; "you ask me to +praise God for taking me out of danger and pain, but what I want to know +is why, since He has arranged all things, He ever put me into that pain +and danger. I have, in my opinion, more occasion to blame than to +praise. You would not thank me for pulling you out of that river if it +was also I who pushed you in. The most which you can claim for your +Providence is that it has healed the wound which its own hand +inflicted." + +"I don't deny the difficulty," said the clergyman slowly; "no one who is +not self-deceived _can_ deny the difficulty. Look how boldly Tennyson +faced it in that same poem, the grandest and deepest and most obviously +inspired in our language. Remember the effect which it had upon him." + + 'I falter where I firmly trod, + And falling with my weight of cares + Upon the great world's altar stairs + Which slope through darkness up to God; + + I stretch lame hands of faith and grope + And gather dust and chaff, and call + To what I feel is Lord of all, + And faintly trust the larger hope.' + +"It is the central mystery of mysteries--the problem of sin and +suffering, the one huge difficulty which the reasoner has to solve in +order to vindicate the dealings of God with man. But take our own case +as an example. I, for one, am very clear what I have got out of our +experience. I say it with all humility, but I have a clearer view of my +duties than ever I had before. It has taught me to be less remiss in +saying what I think to be true, less indolent in doing what I feel to be +right." + +"And I," cried Sadie. "It has taught me more than all my life put +together. I have learned so much and unlearned so much. I am a +different girl." + +"I never understood my own nature before," said Stephens. "I can hardly +say that I had a nature to understand. I lived for what was +unimportant, and I neglected what was vital." + +"Oh, a good shake-up does nobody any harm," the Colonel remarked. +"Too much of the feather-bed-and-four-meals-a-day life is not good for +man or woman." + +"It is my firm belief," said Mrs. Belmont gravely, "that there was not +one of us who did not rise to a greater height during those days in the +desert than ever before or since. When our sins come to be weighed, +much may be forgiven us for the sake of those unselfish days." + +They all sat in thoughtful silence for a little, while the scarlet +streaks turned to carmine, and the grey shadows deepened, and the +wild-fowl flew past in dark straggling V's over the dull metallic +surface of the great smooth-flowing Nile. A cold wind had sprung up +from the eastward, and some of the party rose to leave the deck. +Stephens leaned forward to Sadie. + +"Do you remember what you promised when you were in the desert?" he +whispered. + +"What was that?" + +"You said that if you escaped you would try in future to make some one +else happy." + +"Then I must do so." + +"You have," said he, and their hands met under the shadow of the table. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO*** + + +******* This file should be named 12555.txt or 12555.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/5/5/12555 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +https://gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/12555.zip b/old/12555.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7dfb52 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12555.zip |
